Category: Postnapoleonic

Brass: Birmingham is an economic strategy game sequel to Martin Wallace's 2007 masterpiece Brass. Brass: Birmingham tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the industrial revolution between the years of 1770 and 1870.It offers a very different story arc and experience from its predecessor. As in its predecessor you must develop build and establish your industries and network in an effort to exploit low or high market demands. The game is played over two halves: the canal era (years 1770-1830) and the rail era (years 1830-1870). To win the game score the most VPs. VPs are counted at the end of each half for the canals rails and established (flipped) industry tiles.Each round players take turns according to the turn order track receiving two actions to perform any of the following actions (found in the original game):1) Build - Pay required resources and place an industry tile. 2) Network - Add a rail / canal link expanding your network. 3) Develop - Increase the VP value of an industry. 4) Sell - Sell your cotton manufactured goods and pottery. 5) Loan - Take a £30 loan and reduce your income.Brass: Birmingham also features a new sixth action:6) Scout - Discard three cards and take a wild location and wild industry card. (This action replaces Double Action Build in original Brass.)

In Pax Pamir players assume the role of nineteenth century Afghan leaders attempting to forge a new state after the collapse of the Durrani Empire. Western histories often call this period The Great Game because of the role played by the Europeans who attempted to use central Asia as a theater for their own rivalries. In this game those empires are viewed strictly from the perspective of the Afghans who sought to manipulate the interloping ferengi (foreigners) for their own purposes.In terms of game play Pax Pamir is a pretty straightforward tableau builder. Players spend most of their turns purchasing cards from a central market then playing those cards in front of them in a single row called a court. Playing cards adds units to the game's map and grants access to additional actions that can be taken to disrupt other players and influence the course of the game. That last point is worth emphasizing. Though everyone is building their own row of cards the game offers many ways for players to interfere with each other directly and indirectly.To survive players will organize into coalitions. Throughout the game the dominance of the different coalitions will be evaluated by the players when a special card called a Dominance Check is resolved. If a single coalition has a commanding lead during one of these checks those players loyal to that coalition will receive victory points based on their influence in their coalition. However if Afghanistan remains fragmented during one of these checks players instead will receive victory points based on their personal power base.After each Dominance Check victory is checked and the game will be partially reset offering players a fresh attempt to realize their ambitions. The game ends when a single player is able to achieve a lead of four or more victory points or after the fourth and final Dominance Check is resolved.

You are the head of a respected but troubled family estate in mid-19th century Victorian England. After several lean decades family fortunes are looking up! Your goal is to improve your estate so as to be in better standing with the truly influential families in Derbyshire.Obsession is a game of 16 to 20 turns in which players build a deck of Victorian gentry (British social upper class) renovate their estate by acquiring building tiles from a centralized builders' market and manipulate an extensive service staff of butlers housekeepers underbutlers maids valets and footmen utilizing a novel worker placement mechanic. Successfully hosting prestigious social activities such as Fox Hunts Music Recitals Billiards Political Debates and Grand Balls increases a player's wealth reputation and connections among the elite.Each turn players choose a building tile representing a room or outdoor space in and around their 19th century British country house. The tile chosen dictates the event that can be hosted and the guests to be invited. Players must carefully plan however to have the proper staff available to service the event and support guests as needed. The reward for success is new investment opportunities permitting further renovation of the estate (acquisition of more valuable/powerful building tiles) an increase in reputation in the county an expanding circle of influential acquaintances and a larger and highly-trained domestic staff.Throughout the game a competitive courtship for the hand of the most eligible young gentleman and lady in the county presents specific renovation and reputation objectives. The player who best meets these objectives while accumulating victory points will win the hand of the wealthy love interest and the game.—description from the publisher

Trickerion is a competitive Euro-style strategy game set in a fictional world inspired by the late 19th century urban life and culture spiced with a pinch of supernatural.Players take on the roles of rival stage illusionists each with their own strengths and characteristics. They are striving for fortune and fame in a competition hosted by a legendary magician looking for a successor worthy of the mighty Trickerion Stone which is fabled to grant supernatural power to its owner.Using worker placement and simultaneous action selection mechanisms the Illusionists and their teams of helpers — the Engineer the Assistant the Manager and a handful of Apprentices – obtain blueprints and components for increasingly complex magic tricks expand the team and set up performances by visiting the Downtown Dark Alley Market Row and Theater locations on the main game board depicting a late 19th century cityscape.The tricks are stored and prepared on the Magician's own Workshop game board while the performances themselves take place at the Theater in the form of a tile placement mini-game with lots of player interaction. The performances yield Fame points and Coins to their owners based on the tricks they consist of. Fame points have multiple uses but they also serve as a win condition - After turn 7 when the last Performance card is revealed the game ends and the illusionist with the most Fame points wins.The game offers 48 different Tricks to be learned from the Optical Spiritual Mechanical and Escape categories over 90 character abilities and 40 Special Assignment cards that influence the actions taken at the various game locations. The base game can be expanded with two optional rule modules to add further strategic depth to the game.The Dark Alley expansion included in the base game adds a new location to the game. It also comes with 48 new Special Assignment cards a new tier of Tricks and 27 Prophecy tokens that can alter certain game rules turn by turn giving the game additional variety.

Carnegie was inspired by the life of Andrew Carnegie who was born in Scotland in 1835. Andrew Carnegie and his parents emigrated to the United States in 1848. Although he started his career as a telegraphist his role as one of the major players in the rise of the United States’ steel industry made him one of the richest men in the world and an icon of the American dream.Andrew Carnegie was also a benefactor and philanthropist; upon his death in 1919 more than $350 million of his wealth was bequeathed to various foundations with another $30 million going to various charities. His endowments created nearly 2,500 free public libraries that bear his name: the Carnegie Libraries.During the game you will recruit and manage employees expand your business invest in real estate produce and sell goods and create transport chains across the United States; you may even work with important personalities of the era. Perhaps you will even become an illustrious benefactor who contributes to the greatness of his country through deeds and generosity!The game takes place over 20 rounds; players will each have one turn per round. On each turn the active player will choose one of four actions which the other players may follow.The goal of the game is to build the most prestigious company as symbolized by victory points.   —description from the publisher

Welcome to the Iberian Peninsula! Set in 1848 Pandemic Iberia asks you to take on the roles of nurse railwayman rural doctor sailor and more to find the cures to malaria typhus the yellow fever and cholera.From Barcelona to Lisboa you will need to travel by carriage by boat or by train to help the Iberian populace. While doing so distributing purified water and developing railways will help you slow the spread of diseases in this new version of Pandemic.Discover a unique part of the world during a historically significant time period: the construction of the first railroad in the Iberian Peninsula during the Spring of Nations.Part of the Pandemic series.

In the tile-laying game Castles of Mad King Ludwig players are tasked with building an amazing extravagant castle for King Ludwig II of Bavaria...one room at a time. You see the King loves castles having built Neuschwanstein (the castle that inspired the Disney theme park castles) and others but now he's commissioned you to build the biggest best castle ever — subject of course to his ever-changing whims. Each player acts as a building contractor who is adding rooms to the castle he's building while also selling his services to other players.In the game each player starts with a simple foyer. One player takes on the role of the Master Builder and that player sets prices for a set of rooms that can be purchased by the other players with him getting to pick from the leftovers after the other players have paid him for their rooms. When a room is added to a castle the player who built it gains castle points based on the size and type of room constructed as well as bonus points based on the location of the room. When a room is completed with all entranceways leading to other rooms in the castle the player receives one of seven special rewards.After each purchasing round a new player becomes the Master Builder who sets prices for a new set of rooms. After several rounds the game ends then additional points are awarded for achieving bonus goals having the most popular rooms and being the most responsive to the King's demands which change each game. Whoever ends up with the most castle points wins.

The Hallertau in Bavaria Germany is the largest continuous hop-producing region in the world. It prides itself upon being the first in Middle Europe to cultivate hops. This game is set around 1850 when the Hallertau became what it is today.As chief of a small Bavarian village in the Hallertau your objective is to increase its wealth and prestige in the eyes of the world.To achieve this you will need to supply the local crafts folk with goods from agriculture and sheep breeding.Place your workers play your cards right and let your village shine!—description from the back of the box

Furnace is an engine-building Eurogame in which players take on the roles of 19th-century capitalists building their industrial corporations and aspiring to make as much money as they can by purchasing companies extracting resources and processing them in the best combinations possible.Each player starts the game with a random start-up card the resources depicted at the top of that card and four colored discs valued 1-4.The game is played over four rounds and each round consists of two phases: Auction and Production. During the auction 6-8 company cards are laid out with their basic sides face up. Players take turns placing one of their discs on one of these cards but you cannot place a disc on a card if a disc of the same value or color is already present. Thus you'll place discs on four cards.Once all the discs are placed the cards are resolved from left to right. Whoever placed the highest-valued disc will claim this card but first anyone with a lower-valued disc on this card will gain compensation either the resources depicted multiplied by the value of their disc or a processing ability (exchange X for Y) up to as many times as the value of their disc.Once all the cards have been claimed or discarded players enter the production phase using their cards in the order of their choice. Each company card has one action — either production or processing — on its basic side and two actions on its upgraded side. During the production phase you can use each of your cards once to gain resources process those resources into other resources or money and upgrade your cards.At the end of four rounds whoever has the most money wins.Furnace also includes capitalist cards that contain unique effects and if you want you can choose to deal one out to each player at the start of the game. For an additional challenge you can require players to create a production chain with each newly acquired company card being placed somewhere in that chain and locked in position for the remainder of the game.

Get ready to enter the poor and dreary Whitechapel district in London 1888 – the scene of the mysterious Jack the Ripper murders – with its crowded and smelly alleys hawkers shouting merchants dirty children covered in rags who run through the crowd and beg for money and prostitutes – called the wretched – on every street corner.The board game Letters from Whitechapel which plays in 90-150 minutes takes the players right there. One player plays Jack the Ripper and his goal is to take five victims before being caught. The other players are police detectives who must cooperate to catch Jack the Ripper before the end of the game. The game board represents the Whitechapel area at the time of Jack the Ripper and is marked with 199 numbered circles linked together by dotted lines. During play Jack the Ripper the Policemen and the Wretched are moved along the dotted lines that represent Whitechapel's streets. Jack the Ripper moves stealthily between numbered circles while policemen move on their patrols between crossings and the Wretched wander alone between the numbered circles.

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Jack the Ripper & West End Adventures is a standalone expansion to Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective with updated graphics that features ten more cases to be solved in Sherlock Holmes' Victorian-era London England. A London Directory map and newspaper archives are included with the cases.Included are six independent West End Adventures cases (redesigned and updated from the 1995 expansion) and a series of four new cases based on the Jack the Ripper murders.

Pax Porfiriana – Latin for The Porfirian Peace – refers to the 33-year reign of dictator Porfirio Díaz who ruled Mexico with an iron hand until toppled by the 1910 Revolution.As a rich businessman (Hacendado) in the turbulent pre-revolutionary borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico players compete to build business empires of ranches mines rails troops and banks while subverting opponents with bandidos Native Americans and lawsuits. Each turn goes as follows:1. Action Phase: Perform three actions such as play new cards get new cards from the market speculate on cards in the market buy land or redeploy troops. 2. Discard Headlines: Remove any Headlines (i.e. cards with the Bull-Bear icon) that have reached the leftmost position in the Market. 3. Restore Market: Restore the Market to twelve cards. 4. Income Phase: Collect one gold per Income Extortion and Connection Cube in play. If Depression pay one gold for each card in play (includes Partners and Enterprises in your Row and all of your Troops).Four scoring cards (Toppling) are in the game and their effect depends on the current form of government. The government can change if troops are played and as a result of other cards. The form of government also influences different production values of the game such as how much mines produce. Players win by toppling Díaz either by coup succession revolution or annexation of Mexico by the U.S. If Díaz remains firmly seated at the end of the game then the player with the most gold wins.Pax Porfiriana includes 220 cards but only fifty cards (along with ten for each player) are used in a game so no two games will be the same!

October 1888: During the construction of the Metropolitan Police headquarters near Whitehall which would later be known as Scotland Yard the remains of a body were found. In September a severed arm had already been discovered in the muddy shore of the River Thames.There is another murderer roaming the streets of London in Whitehall amusing himself by spreading the pieces of a poor woman around Whitehall like some kind of macabre treasure hunt. The identity of this monster and his unfortunate victim are a mystery the Whitehall Mystery.

Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is published by Stonemaier Games as part of a collaboration with Bezier Games.The king demands a castle! You are a world-renowned master builder who has been asked by the Mad King Ludwig to help design his castles. Projects of such significance require the expertise of more than one person so for each assignment you are paired with another master builder to execute your grandiose plans. Will your planning and collaborative skills be enough to design the most impressive castles in the world?Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a competitive tile-drafting game in which each tile is a room in a castle. You work together with the player on your left to design one castle and with the player on your right on another castle. On each turn you select two tiles from your hand reveal them then work with your partners to place them. To win you have to share your attention and your devotion between two castles.This game includes 147 regular room tiles with unique art 83 other tiles 20 bonus cards 7 custom wooden castle tokens 1 full-color double-sided scorepad and a 4-piece Game Trayz custom insert that reduces setup time to less than 60 seconds.—description from the publisher

France 1831: In a remote corner of Ardèche the little village of Peyrebeille sees numerous travelers pass through. A family of greedy rural farmers is determined to make its fortune and has devised a diabolical stratagem to achieve this goal: Invest in an inn so they can rob traveling guests getting rich without arousing the suspicions of the police! Whether or not their plan will work out one thing is certain: Not every guest will leave this inn alive.At the end of the round if any room of the inn contains one of the police then they conduct an investigation; if a player has any unburied victims then he must pay 10F per victim to the local gravedigger to hurredly — and quietly — bury the bodies! Lastly in the round any cards (accomplices) in each player's hand must be paid 1F each. After the guest deck has been depleted the second time players take a final round then tally their francs. The player with the most money wins!

The Industrial Age is starting to boom. You are in need of more workers for your factories and you also need more workers to build railroad tracks to expand your railway network. This in turn will enable you to deliver the goods from your factories to cities with high demand — but be sure to earmark goods for fulfilling profitable public contracts because when the connection to Trieste is made your net worth is all that matters.Imperial Steam is a highly strategic yet accessible economic and logistics game that sees you making difficult decisions as you manage your business's operations while navigating fierce competition to ensure your victory!—description from the publisher

In 2014 Castles of Mad King Ludwig brought out the interior designer in all of us with its unique combination of mechanisms and opportunity to be a visionary architect at work! It became an instant classic for many wanting to play again and again creating endless luxurious castles while also attempting to achieve the most victory points over their opponents. This incredible collector's edition of the tile placement classic would be oh-so-pleasing to King Ludwig II of Bavaria…—description from the publisher

The World's Fair of 1893 in Chicago was a spectacular international exhibition that showcased many great achievements in science technology culture and entertainment. Acting as organizers of the fair players work diligently to increase their influence throughout the fair and obtain the grand exhibits that will be put on display. The organizer who has earned the best reputation when the fair begins will emerge the victor.On each turn of World's Fair 1893 the active player sends a supporter to one of the five areas and gathers all of the cards in it. New cards are then added to some of the areas and the next player takes a turn.The five areas represent sections of exhibits like Fine Arts and Electricity. Cards may represent exhibit proposals in one of those five areas influential people who provide bonus supporters or tickets for attractions and concessions along the Midway.The game consists of three scoring rounds each triggered when players collectively gather a certain number of Midway tickets. Players gain reputation points for leading in number of supporters in an area and for gathering the most tickets in each round. The leaders in an area also receive approval for exhibit proposals they have gathered that match the area. Players gain reputation points at the end of the game based on the breadth and diversity of their approved exhibits.

Explore Paris in the 19th century. Discover its renowned architecture and obtain the most eminent buildings in the right districts to achieve victory.Paris is a typical medium-weight Kramer and Kiesling Eurostyle-game with straightforward gameplay short player turns and an ingenious point salad mechanism. You mainly score points by obtaining the right buildings and collecting the right bonus cards.In Paris you take on the role of wealthy real estate investors in the Paris of the 1900s. Paris is at the height of its transformation into one of the most beautiful cities in the world. After having successfully organized the World Fair in 1889 topped by the construction of the Eiffel Tower and celebrating the centennial of the Storming of the Bastille Paris goes through a period known as “la Belle Époque”. The architecture of Paris created during this period ranged from the Beaux-Arts neo-Byzantine and neo-Gothic to Art Nouveau and Art Deco. It is your task to purchase some of these magnificent Parisian buildings in order to make a profit and invest in the development and upkeep of some of Paris’ most iconic buildings and landmarks.

Immersed deeply in the world of Dickens’s and Doyle’s literature Nanty Narking moves you into the realities of the myths and legends of the Victorian era. The events in the game are tied to real and fictional characters and places in Victorian London The same London which inspired so many stories…The action takes place on the city map with players placing their agents and buildings on the board through card play. Every card is unique. The cards bring the game to life as they include most of the famous characters who have appeared in the various books. The rules are relatively simple: Play a card and do what it says. Most cards have more than one action on them and you can choose to do some or all of these actions. Some cards also allow you to play a second card so you can chain actions.At the beginning of the game each player draws a secret personality with specific victory conditions which means that you can never be sure what the other players need to do in order to win. You need to fulfill your goal while also trying to prevent others from winning!

Welcome to the Carlton House. Enjoy the luxury and solve the murders! How about a stroll in beautiful Queen's Park? Beware dogs and the occasional crime scene…Return to the streets of Victorian London but also venture into brand new locations in the latest installment in the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective line: Carlton House & Queen's Park! Like the previously released The Thames Murders and Other Cases Carlton House & Queen's Park introduces ten exciting cases each one drawing players deep into the world of Sherlock Holmes. Among these cases includes two classic long out-of-print expansions which are now revised and updated. Whether you're playing solo or with up to eight possible players you need your wits about you to solve the cases and beat Holmes himself!—description from the publisher

Navajo Wars is a solitaire card driven game which places the player into the role of the Diné (Navajo) from the time of the Spanish incursion in 1595 through the time of their subjugation at the hands of an American Army led by Kit Carson in 1864.“Diné” (pronounced 'dih-nay') is the word the Navajo use to refer to their tribe. It means “the people.”The term “Navajo” comes from a Spanish rendering of a Tewa (one of the Pueblo tribes) word for “planted fields.” The Diné were and are still known for their planting of corn in the high desert of New Mexico and Arizona.The objective for the Navajo player hereinafter referred to as player is to avoid being subjugated by either the Spanish Mexicans or the Americans hereinafter referred to as enemy. The player will be taking actions during the course of the game to try and increase both culture and military tracks. If both of those reach zero at any time during the game you will be subjugated by the enemy and immediately lose the game. There are also cultural developments in the form of a tech tree that the player will have to develop to increase his chances of winning. The developments are; weaving horsemanship religion masters of the Mesas and sharp trades each having three levels of development. Navajo Wars also has historical event cards for each period. These cards have their own rules and effects that really add a historical feel to the game.As the player you will be trying to get your family units counter on the map. Your family units could consist of a man woman and child. With those counters you will be conducting individual actions with your families that are on the map. These actions could include raids on New Mexico raids on an outpost tribal warfare & tribal diplomacy both conducted against the Comanche or the Ute. Create trade goods husbandry and travel.During the enemy portion of the turn the enemy will be conducting operations against the Navajo tribe. These operations could include: to subvert the natives (player) build outpost build and subvert raids (the enemy will try to send raids deep into the Navajo territory) and many other actions.The enemy receives their orders by a unique order matrix. As the player you are never sure what will be coming next.Navajo Wars can be played as individual scenarios for the Spanish Mexican and American periods. You can play all three periods as a campaign game.

The U.S. Civil War is a 2-player strategic-level war game of the American Civil War. The game covers the entire war from 1861-65 on a large 30” x 44” map area (2 mounted maps) of the Southeastern United States. Turns represent 3 months during the winter and 2 months during the summer with four Action Phases to each turn.Military forces are represented by generals and strength-points (SPs). Each SP represents approximately 5,000 soldiers. Game mechanics stress strategy maneuver and leadership but details like ironclads naval battles leader promotions forts and commerce raiders are included.Shorter scenarios are included that cover just 1861 1862 and 1863.Players of Eric Lee Smith’s The Civil War (VG) and Mark Herman’s For the People (AH and GMT) will see many similarities between this game and those two benchmark games. Those two wonderful games inspired many of the rules and concepts used in this game.CONTENTS: • a rules booklet • Two mounted maps (30 x 44 play area) • Three die-cut counter sheets (9/16 playing pieces) • Two identical 11” x 17” Player Aid Cards • Three 8.5 x 11 scenario cards • One deck of 30 Special Action CardsTIME SCALE: 2-3 weeks per Phase; 4 Action Phase per turn MAP SCALE: 24 miles per hex UNIT SCALE: Each Strength Point = 5,000 men NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2DESIGNER & DEVELOPER: Mark Simonitch MAP ART: Mark Simonitch COUNTER & CARD ART: Mark Simonitch & Rodger B. MacGowan(source: GMT website)RULES FAQ

A heinous crime has been committed. A team of the Kingdom's finest detectives has been assembled and put on the case. They have a prime suspect they have a motive and they know what the opportunity to commit the crime was. Now all they have to do is prove it.Using powers of deduction and communication the players work as a team to eliminate dead leads and find clues to prove who how and why. All the relevant clues are available to them to do so. They just won't know it. On top of that Sherlock Holmes himself is already on the case. Can they solve the crime before he does?At the start of Beyond Baker Street players select one of the crimes to solve and a number of suspects motives and opportunities will be available for the players to convict of the crime. Each player holds a set of clues but they won't be able to see their own clues — only those of their counterparts. Each turn a player must take exactly one of the following actions:Players win together if they can gather enough evidence to make a conviction before Holmes does; otherwise they crumble under the stress of the case.

The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch is a Victorian adventure board game for 2 to 5 players set in an alternate England where magic and technology have taken an extraordinary turn. Playable as a campaign or individual adventures Rise of Moloch puts one player in the position of the Nemesis against the intrepid Gentlemen controlled by the other players trying to save the Crown. Secretly activate the order of your characters through different scenarios enjoy your steam power weapons and save your special actions for the most opportune moments - you surely don't want to make your opponent stronger!Rise of Moloch is a campaign driven adventure played over a series of missions each telling part of the overall story of Moloch's rise to power (or defeat at the hands of the fearless Gentlemen!). Each mission features a unique board setup and goals for both the Nemesis player and Gentlemen players to complete. More so subsequent missions will be impacted by the outcome of the one before it weaving the overall story and game-play together to make each campaign unique.Players will each control one or more of the intrepid Gentlemen or in the case of the Nemesis player cunning Agents and Minions all with unique powers and upgrades they will utilize to complete the various goals of each mission.

Comanchería is the second game in Joel Toppen's First Nations series. Like its predecessor Navajo Wars Comanchería is a solitaire game in which the player plays from the Native American tribe's point of view.In Comanchería the player takes command of the Comanche nation. The player must drive hostile tribes from the southern plains establish dominance over the region set up trade networks with both friendly tribes and colonial powers and finally defend all of this against relentless military and cultural attack.While many mechanics will feel similar to Navajo Wars Comanchería is a very different game. Comanchería promises to deliver all the tough decisions and drama that Navajo Wars players have come to expect but with a faster playing time and more streamlined victory objectives.

Votes for Women is a card-driven game covering the American women's suffrage movement from 1848-1920 culminating with the ratification (or rejection) of the Nineteenth Amendment. The game provides competitive co-operative and solitaire play with co-operative and solitaire play against the Oppobot.To win the Suffragist player must have Congress pass the proposed Amendment and then have three-fourths of the states (36 of the then 48 states) ratify the Amendment. The Opposition player wins by either preventing Congress from passing the proposed Amendment or by having 13 states reject the Amendment.The game lasts for six turns - a turn consisting of drawing cards from the players' own decks bidding on strategy cards and then six rounds of card play where a player may play a card for an event or discard a card to campaign organize or lobby Congress. If Congress has proposed the Amendment but neither 36 states have ratified nor 13 states have rejected then the game goes to Final Voting.

Description from the publisher:King Ludwig II of Bavaria has called all great architects to design his greatest achievement: a world-renowned palace. Only the best will do! Gorgeous appointments white stone surrounded by water with swans everywhere. Oh and the Ludwig touch? All the architects must design the palace together. The designer who shows the strongest influence will receive the order to build it.In The Palace of Mad King Ludwig each player builds rooms one at a time in a single gigantic palace. As rooms are completed a moat slowly forms around the outside. Once the ends of the moat connect the palace is finished and the player who has contributed the most to the palace wins!In more detail this sequel to Castles of Mad King Ludwig shares a few similarities to its predecessor such as tile-laying room rewards and the magic of watching a unique palace take shape through the course of the game but the gameplay is entirely different with no auction a clever endgame timer that graphically builds pressure for players as the moat slowly closes in around the palace and a twist on resource management with multi-colored swan tokens being used as currency points and the keys to new abilities.

It’s 1833. The East India Company has just had its monopoly of trade revoked by an official act of Parliament. You and others like you see a golden opportunity for profit in China. For too long the Company’s polite deference to the Qing has smothered progress and stifled trade. There is real money to be made here and you intend to make it.An Infamous Traffic is a brutal economic board game for two to five souls brave enough to conduct the opium trade in the fracturing political landscape of 19th century Qing China. Initially you will need to rely on smugglers in order to get your products into the interior but if Parliament can be swayed perhaps an open war can make the trade more secure. At the same time you’ll want to be careful. If British aggression goes unchecked the region may become a failed state which could jeopardize your hard fought gains.Of course the massive wealth you’ll earn won’t be enough. Trade is still a dirty word among those in the top rungs of society. You certainly haven't forgotten how your business holdings were sneered at by some prodigal baronet during your brief stint at Oxford. They don’t understand. The empire they enjoy was built on trade not pedigree. So you’ll play their game snatching up the precious symbols of nobility with your hard won cash. Perhaps you can restore a beloved castle and stuff it full of the latest luxuries. The right marriage or government post would certainly guarantee your place in society. You might even be tempted to rob your own firm to get that extra edge back home.In any case there’s demand for opium in China and you intend to meet it.—description from the publisherSee the Living Rules. (Source)

Lincoln is a fast-paced light two-player card-driven strategic level board-wargame set in the American Civil War that allows you to re-fight the entire American Civil War in under two hours.Game play uses point-to-point movement and area control hidden army strengths and decks of cards providing the command choices and luck; there are no dice. The Union and Confederate players each have their own card decks reflecting the relative strengths and weaknesses of both sides. The Union player must do all the running to win the game by the time they have cycled through the Union card deck for the third time having accumulated the required amount of victory points by capturing Confederate controlled areas as well as squeezing the Confederate player with a naval blockade. The Confederate player must hold on and thwart the North's victory ambitions to win!Each time the decks are cycled the Union player adds some better quality cards becoming stronger as the game progresses where as the Confederate player adds lower quality cards becoming weaker. The underlying game mechanism is one of deck destruction rather than the more normal deck-building.Cards have multiple uses and can be recycled if used one way but during the course of the game you have to decide which cards are going to be permanently sacrificed from your deck cycle to allow you to build units.

Red Flag Over Paris the spiritual successor to Mark Herman's Fort Sumter is a short yet challenging two-player card-driven wargame depicting the two months of intense confrontation between the Communards and the government in Versailles during the 1871 Paris Commune. You will play as one of these factions and fight for control over Paris. But you will also need to win the hearts and minds of the French population as the board is divided into two areas–military and political–themselves divided into several dimensions (Political Institutions Public Opinion Paris neighborhoods and the forts on the outskirts of the city). The game forces players to make tough decisions like when to focus on political influence or military dominance and how to optimize limited resources.On top of controlling the military and political spaces and fulfilling your objectives to score Victory Points you will have to manage your momentum. Versailles needs to collaborate with the Prussian invader to build up an army that will restore order in the Capital. On the other hand the Commune needs to build a robust revolutionary momentum to ensure that the population stays mobilized after months of siege and food shortages.Each card represents either a critical personality or a significant event of the Paris commune. You may use a card for its event for its operational value (which allows you to place or remove influence cubes in any given area) to buy an event discarded by your opponent or build your momentum. After up to three rounds Red Flag Over Paris culminates in a Final Crisis where each player will have to play all the cards they left aside earlier in the game as the last opportunity to place influence before determining the winner.—description from the publisher

The unusual and asymmetric game Ladies & Gentlemen brings players into the world of glamour. In teams of two – one playing a man the other a woman – the players try to pull together the best-looking and most famous couple who will attend the big ball. The gentleman's duty is to make as much money as possible which the lady will then spend on jewelry clothes and exclusive accessories. Each team has its own action cards to carry out its tasks and the more that the players embody their characters – flirtatious fashion-obsessed ladies and rich arrogant pretentious gentlemen – the more fun and explosive the game will be!

Findorff is one of the 23 districts of Bremen the hometown of Friedemann Friese. Findorff has three “F”s and is named after Jürgen Christian Findorff (1720-1792) who was responsible for draining and surveying the bog in the north of Bremen for extracting the peat and for populating the bog with residents.In Findorff the game you build up the district of Findorff in the period from 1803 to 1916. Historically six major railway stations stood in Findorff during this period to connect to Hannover Hamburg Oldenburg and Bremerhaven. While they were all later replaced by a single big main train station you raise another three new rail stations at one of the two main roadbeds. Besides using boats on the peat canal this small railway helped to transport even more peat from the bog in the north of Bremen to Findorff. During the first half of the 19th Century peat was the most important commodity for heating the houses and for supplying energy to the industry. In the late 19th century (and in the game) peat lost its importance once when replaced by the energy-rich coal.Findorff offers an economic engine builder with a resource market for peat known from Power Grid and an innovative resource management required when building rail tracks and houses in Findorff. Your focus is on raising the right combination of the 25 historical structures from the period of 1803-1916. Do you raise the Chair Pipes Factory or the Slaughterhouse to gain a lot of thalers or smaller structures like Schools the Beer Hall or the Peat Skipper Shelter to win the game in small steps. You can even profit from the high mortality rate of this period by running a Cemetery.Only by adapting your strategy to your structures you honor Mr. Findorff and win the game when the roadbed to Hamburg is finished.Findorff offers a challenging solo game as well.

I am very anxious to see the Galapagos Islands -- I think both the Geology & Zoology cannot fail to be very interesting. -- Charles Darwin Letter to his sister Catherine in August 1835.Assist Charles Darwin during the Beagle journey across the Galapagos Islands discovering new species and researching them in order to improve your knowledge.The game finishes when the Beagle reaches the last space of its trip leaving the archipelago through New Zealand. The players score the evolution points according to the final goal card adding them to the points obtained during the game. The player with more points in the scoring track wins.—description from the publisher

In Magnificent Style: Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg is a Solitaire-only Tactical level board-wargame depicting the final desperate Confederate attack on 3 July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg popularly known as Pickett’s Charge. As General Longstreet you must decide how quickly to press your troops across this deadly open ground before allowing the men to regroup for another bound. But time is not on your side and the longer your stalwart soldiers remain in this maelstrom of enemy fire.. the more dangerous it becomes and the less likely they will arrive with the verve and numbers required to carry the day.With only five turns in which to reach your objective and attack how far can you push your luck? Your options are simple: Death or Glory!Game Data:Complexity: 3 on a 9 scale Solitaire Suitability: 9 on a 9 scale Scale: Each turn is approx. 10 minutes of real timeGame Components:• One color Rules sheet (some come with a rule book with 18 pages) • 11 x 17 map • 1 Player Aid sheet • 45 double-sided 1/2 round small troop markers • 28 double-sided 5/8 round large troop markers • 20 double-sided 1/2 square counters

Test your architectural skills in Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig a flip-and-sketch strategy game to draw the most extravagant blueprints for King Ludwig's next castle!Select rooms to add to your castle's floor plan. As you complete rooms' entrances by connecting them to other rooms earn new abilities such as adding or removing entrances earning new bonus cards and taking extra turns. Keep your eye on the King's favors to beat out your opponents for public goals as well as create courtyards and moats around your castle for some massive points to get ahead! The player who sketches the castle most suited to the whims of King Ludwig takes the royal victory!—description from the publisher

Description from the publisher:Fort Sumter is a two-player Card Driven Game (CDG) portraying the 1860 secession crisis that led to the bombardment of Fort Sumter and the American Civil War. Fort Sumter is a small footprint game (11x17” mounted map) that takes approximately 25-40 minutes to play. The game pits a Unionist versus a Secessionist player. Each player uses the area control mechanic pioneered in Mark Herman's We The People design and immortalized in Twilight Struggle to place move and remove political capital. The location of political capital determines who controls each of the four crisis dimensions (Political Secession Public Opinion and Armaments). After three rounds of play the game culminates in a Final Crisis confrontation to determine the winner.The heart of the Fort Sumter design is Mark's CDG system where you use Strategy cards for their value or historic event to acquire political capital from the crisis track. Political capital tokens are used to compete for control of the twelve map spaces. Here the likes of William Lloyd Garrison Sam Houston Jefferson Davis and Harriet Beecher Stowe walk on stage while the Southern states dissolve the Union.The twelve map spaces are grouped into the four dimensions of the crisis. You gain a victory point each round that you control a dimension’s three spaces. For example the Armaments dimension is characterized by Federal Arsenals Fort Pickens and of course Fort Sumter. In addition each round you score a victory point for controlling your secret objective space. But beware; either player can score active objective spaces. At the end of the dual Presidential inaugurations (round three) a new Final Crisis mechanic drives the game to its hotly contested conclusion.Utilizing a new Final Crisis Series mechanic you may accelerate the crisis by breaching zones (escalation tension final crisis) that yield bonus political capital. However beware as the first person to breach the final crisis zone gains political advantage yet loses victory point ground. Each game ends with a Final Crisis where cards set-aside during the three rounds complete your final political maneuvers that determine the winner.

Game description from the publisher:Having just arrived in 19th century Vienna one is struck by the many possibilities offered by this great city and you need to ask yourself how best to get ahead. Should you try to win some fast money or take a long-term approach by trying to win over influential patrons in the city?You'll be faced with many important questions in Vienna many of which involve where best to place your dice so that you can get hold of as many victory points as possible? Naturally these tactical decisions will be influenced by the plans of others and by the favor of the dice. In the end whoever best plans wisely and use her resources will win!

At Any Cost: Metz 1870 is a game simulating the situation west of the Metz fortress during those few days of August 1870. The game is designed to be a playable two-player brigade-scale game that allows players to experience the unique tactical warfare matchups that characterized fighting during the Franco-Prussian War.This era though generally overlooked in the gaming industry is a fascinating study in Napoleonic tactics (and uniforms) slamming head-on into modern killing technology. The Prussian military juggernaut is armed with the new steel Krupp breach-loading artillery pieces that far outclassed the French guns. Prussian doctrine adapted to the lessons learned during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 allowed junior officers to exercise initiative and aggressiveness. The French army meanwhile was armed with the modern and deadly Chassepot rifle a firearm so advanced that many argue its deployment alone should have won the war for the French. In addition the French army was now equipped with their ultimate secret weapon - the Mitrailleuse which was the first machinegun used en masse. Moreover the game system makes clear that the French soldier despite misconceptions to the contrary fought valiantly during these battles. By all rights they could have – and should have – won many of these engagements. But leadership morale and tenacity won the day for the Prussians.All these factors are seamlessly embedded into the At Any Cost game system and players will be challenged to utilize their advantages and minimize their disadvantages throughout the game. Will YOU as the Prussian player be able to withstand an early severe numerical disadvantage and use the brave audacity of the Prussian soldier and artilleryman to win the day? Can YOU as the French player overcome the lethargic and uninspired command structure of the Army of the Rhine and allow your tough and well-equipped infantry to fight unhindered?At Any Cost: Metz 1870 also features the Blind Swords chit-pull system which emphasizes the three “FOW’s” of military conflict: fog-of-war friction-of-war and fortunes-of-war. With each chit pull players will be challenged to make tough decisions based on their assessment of the current situation. Unlike traditional chit-pull mechanisms the Blind Swords system ensures that no combat units can be counted on or conversely counted out. This yields an environment of tense action and constant surprises – an environment that will challenge each player.UNITSAll brigades and artillery groups of both the French Army of the Rhine and the Prussian First and Second Armies that took part in these actions are represented in the Order of Battle. Each Strength Point equals 600 infantrymen 450 cavalry troopers 3 heavy artillery pieces or 4 light artillery pieces. In addition units have a Cohesion Rating representing the unit’s morale training and experience plus a Movement Allowance.SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTSCombat and Cohesion System: The combat system is “firepower” based and utilizes the unit’s size and Cohesion Rating to determine its effectiveness. The combat system is driven by a two-D10 dice mechanic. Two differently-colored dice are rolled simultaneously. The first (colored) die generates an initial result and the second (white) die simultaneously informs the players of any physical casualties suffered by the unit and any morale effect of the enemy’s fire. The assault combat system uses a differential mechanism and results in a more dynamic combat outcome.Orders System: A player must first choose one of four possible Orders that an activated Brigade will operate under – Attack Defend March or Regroup. Each Order has specific parameters that provide benefits and restrictions. This Order choice can be critical to a unit’s performance during its activation.Chit-Pull System: The Blind Swords chit-pull system generates challenging actions and difficult decisions for both players. It features three different types of chits all of which reside in the same cup each with special effects:Activation Chits = these activate all units of the listed Corps or Cavalry Division. In some scenarios Activation chits for the French player are fed into the game piece-meal to represent the slow reaction time of the French command structure. But the French player does have some options to speed up this process (see below). CIC Chits = these are special Activation Chits. The Prussian player has a Chief-of-Staff chit and the French player has a Commander-in-Chief chit. These chits allow players to select any one Division (for the Prussian player) or any one Brigade (for the French player) for activation - even if it has already activated or will be activated later in the turn. Thus this is the opportunity to activate units twice in the turn. Event Chits = there are nine Event chits assigned to each player. At the start of a turn players select any one of these chits to place in the cup (obviously an Event they really want). Three Event chits are randomly thrown out of the turn and will not be used – the remaining five Event chits are then placed into the cup with the pre-selected chit. In this manner players are never assured of drawing any particular Event chit except for the one they initially chose.Each Event chit has a Unique Event side (all of which are different) and a Command (or Common) Event side. The Unique Event is tactical in nature and has specific effects and options for the player to consider. Event examples are Auftragstaktik Krupp’s Guns Beaten Zone Moulin a’ Cafe and Battlefield Conditions. The Command (Common) Event side is used for more strategic options. The Prussian player may attempt to speed up his reinforcements and/or change their arrival location and to curtail the effects of the Prussian Aggressive Tactics Event that the French player may play against him. The French player can use his Command Events to hasten his Activation chit availability and to attempt to cancel the effects of the crippling Bazaine’s Malaise Event.Prussian Strategic Movement: In order to add player input into the strategic off-map movement of the approaching Prussian forces some scenarios offer the opportunity to use the unique hidden Prussian Strategic Movement system. This involves the Prussian player openly moving units on a special point-to-point map whose results nevertheless are hidden from the French player. This will vary where and when the Prussian forces arrive on the map. However the system is set up so that even the Prussian player cannot be assured of the arrival time or the content of his forces. There will be a solitaire friendly version of this feature as well.MAPThe map is 22” x 34” hexagonal map of the entire west of Metz. Each hex equal approximately 500 yards and contains all the significant terrain details – elevations slopes woods towns quarries etc.SCENARIOSThe game includes six scenarios:The Afternoon Crisis - a small limited battle depicting the French advance across the Fond de la Cove on August 16th 1870. This scenario serves as a teaching experience for new players. Twilight Of The Guards – a small limited battle depicting the fighting around St. Privat on August 16th which at one point resulted in 6,000 Prussian Guardsmen casualties being inflicted in 15 minutes! This scenario serves as a teaching experience for new players. The Battle of Mars-La-Tour – the whole battle beginning at 8:00 am and continuing the entire day. There are two variations offered – historical and free-setup deployments. There are also options for a historical reinforcements schedule or a variable schedule utilizing the Prussian Strategic Movement system. The Battle of Gravelotte-St. Privat – – the entire day-long battle. There are two variations offered – historical and free-setup deployments. There are also options for a historical reinforcements schedule or a variable schedule utilizing the Prussian Strategic Movement system. Campaign Scenario #1 – the game begins with the Mars-La-Tour scenario but continues past the first day until the campaign victory conditions are achieved. Campaign Scenario #2 – the game begins on August 15th and the French player must march the entire Army of the Rhine across the map to escape to Verdun or as a secondary option protect the army from destruction. The Prussian army’s movement is done entirely via the Prussian Strategic Movement system until they enter the game map. This scenario gives players the option to shape an entirely new campaign.COMPONENTS1 – 22” x 34” map 2 – 9/16” countersheets 1 – Rulebook 1 – Playbook (Scenarios Historical Notes and Examples of Play) 1 – Game Tracks Card 1 – Prussian Strategic Movement Card 4 – Player Aids (2 Prussian and 2 French) 4 – Ten-Sided Dice (1 Blue 1 Red and 2 White)

Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah is the seventh installment of the Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) series published by GMT Games.Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah contains eight battle games with multiple scenarios. They range from division level contests on half sized maps to two map battles between armies. Experienced players will be able to play many of the scenarios in one sitting. The rules compare the development of the cavalry and the changes in infantry and artillery organization and tactics in 1862 and 1864.The Great Battles of the American Civil War Series:This series is one of the hobby’s longest-lived design concepts springing from the legendary regimental level Gettysburg game – Terrible Swift Sword (SPI) – designed by Richard Berg in 1976. Under GMT the rules system has remained stable but has shown remarkable flexibility to allow each game to smoothly incorporate additional rules to reflect the historical battles. The series relies on interactive chit-pull mechanics to simulate the oftentimes-chaotic nature of the 19th Century battlefield at the regimental level.Changes have been made to the series rules for Death Valley in order to enhance their clarity and simulation value. Veteran players will find the revised rules to be very familiar with the main differences being in the user-friendliness of the rulebook as well as how the game feels especially for players versed in Civil War tactics.TIME SCALE: Each Turn = 1 Hour MAP SCALE: 145 Yards Per Hex with 25-Foot Elevations UNIT SCALE: 50 Men or 1 Cannon per Strength Pointdescription from GMT website

Freedom! is a siege game a test of will endurance and tactics between the besieged freedom fighters and the besieging imperial forces who have come to crush the rebellion. This universal contest is presented through a dramatic history of the siege of a Greek Holy City (Messolonghi) by Ottoman forces during the Greek War of Independence.The battle takes place in two maps: one showing the actual city and the forces involved in the siege and one with the surrounding areas highlighting the support that each of them provides to both players.This game features asymmetrical play. The goal of the invading forces is to manage to get inside the city before the end of the game or force the citizens to abandon the cause by dropping their morale to zero. The defenders on the other hand try to withstand the siege and protect the city long enough for the invaders to abandon their attempt either by deciding to leave on their own or by having their morale dropped to zero. The actions of the players are driven by the cards in their hands which highlight actual events and personalities of that time while the combat is dice-driven to allow for quick and exciting game-play.

Longstreet Attacks: The Second Day at Gettysburg is a two-player Tactical level board-wargame simulating the fighting on July 2nd 1863 during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg and focuses on the southern portion of the battlefield. These engagements involved General Longstreet’s attack against Sickles’ positions with troops from Hood’s and McLaws’ Divisions assisted as well by Anderson’s Division of A.P. Hill’s Corps.The game is specifically designed to be a playable regimental-scale game that players can complete in a long evening. It allows the players the immersive experience of tactical combat without the heavy rules overhead normally found in such games while also delivering a comprehensive experience of limited intelligence and unexpected events. The game features the Blind Swords chit-pull system which emphasizes the three “FOW’s” of military conflict: fog-of-war friction-of-war and fortunes-of-war. With each chit pull players will be challenged to make tough decisions based on their assessment of the situation at that moment. Unlike traditional chit-pull systems the Blind Swords system ensures that no combat units can be counted on or conversely counted out. This yields an environment of tense action and constant surprises – an environment that will challenge each player.UNITSAll regiments and batteries of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac that took part in these actions are represented in the Order of Battle. Each unit has a Strength Point number with each point equaling 50 men or 1 artillery piece and a Cohesion Rating representing the unit’s morale training and experience.SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTSCombat and Cohesion System: The combat system is “firepower” based and utilizes the unit’s size and Cohesion Rating to determine its effectiveness. The combat system is driven by a unique four-D6 dice mechanic. All four differently-colored dice are rolled simultaneously. The black and white dice generate an initial result ranging from 11 to 66. The other two dice (red and blue) simultaneously give the players the tangible effect of the initial result and represent physical casualties suffered by the unit (the red die) and the morale effect of the enemy’s fire (the blue die).Orders System: A player must first choose one of four possible Orders that an activated Brigade will operate under – Attack Defend Maneuver or Rally. Each Order has specific parameters that provide benefits and restrictions. This Order choice can be critical to a unit’s performance during its activation.Chit-Pull System: The Blind Swords chit-pull system is a unique mechanic and generates challenging actions and difficult decisions for the players. It features four different types of chits all of which reside in the same cup each with special effects:MAPThe map is 22” x 34” hexagonal map of the entire south end of the Gettysburg battlefield. Each hex equal 150 yards and contains all the significant terrain details – elevations slopes woods swamps buildings orchards etc.SCENARIOSThe game will include at least five scenarios:The Round Tops. A small scenario to introduce people to the games rules.The Whirlpool. A ten turn scenario about the most contested part of the battlefield. The Wheatfield Devils Den Houck's Ridge and the Peach Orchard. 4:20 to 7:20pmAssault on the Emmitsburg Road. A 9 turn scenario of the battle for the Peach Orchard and Cemetery Ridge. 5:40 to 8:20 PMHammerin' Sickles. The full second days action on this part of the field. 14 turns. 4:00 to 8:20 pm.Sickles Stays Put. A what if scenario exploring a set up closer to what Meade intended for Sickles before his forward advance.Map by Rick Barber Counters by Charlie Kibler Box by Mark Mahaffey

Gettysburg is a simple wargame focused on the epic Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3 1863). One player take the role of the Army of Potomac (General Meade) and the other controls the Army of Northern Virginia (General Lee). The game is played in half-day turns (6 turns total) in which time Lee’s Confederates attempt to open the road to Baltimore/Washington or destroy Meade’s army.The first volume in the C3i Series(description from the publisher)This is a standalone game included with RBM Studio's C3i magazine number 32 and is also in a Designer's Deluxe Boxed Edition.Solitaire Playability: High Complexity Level: Medium Players: 2 or more Playing Time: 1-2 hoursPlayers will need to provide two 6-sided dice for game play.

Hood Strikes North is the latest design in the award-winning Great Campaigns of the American Civil War (GCACW) series. It depicts the desperate offensive undertaken by General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee in November 1864 through central Tennessee in an effort to capture Union-held Nashville. Union forces defending the critical Nashville-Chattanooga corridor led by Maj. Gen. George Thomas (“The Rock of Chickamauga”) were initially scattered and ill-prepared to meet Hood’s thrust. But under Thomas’ prudent and patient leadership the Rebels were stopped at the gates of Nashville and then thoroughly defeated by a Union offensive in mid-December.Hood Strikes North will include a single map two countersheets and limited special rules thereby making it a highly suitable game for newcomers to the Great Campaigns of the American Civil War series. The game is designed by Joe Balkoski (the original GCACW series creator) Chris Withers and Ed Beach. Based on mid-19th century Tennessee county maps the game map will adhere to the high graphic standards of its predecessors with map design executed by artist Charlie Kibler—whose work on the series dates back to its creation in 1992.Hood Strikes North will use the latest version of the GCACW Standard Basic Game Rules that all other games in the series use. After more than a quarter of a century of refinement these rules are extremely well organized and relatively easy to learn even for series newcomers. The Advanced Game rules will cover situations specifically applicable to the November – December 1864 timeframe.—description from the publisher

Stonewall's Sword: The Battle of Cedar Mountain is a two-player wargame on The Battle of Cedar Mountain August 9th 1862. One player commands Thomas Stonewall Jackson's Confederate troops and the other controls Nathaniel Banks' Union troops.Players win by controlling key areas of the map and by earning victory points by eliminating enemy units. There are two scenarios available each with their own victory conditions length and aspect of the battle that is focused on.Stonewall's Sword: The Battle of Cedar Mountain also features the Blind Swords chit-pull system which emphasizes the three “FOW’s” of military conflict: fog-of-war friction-of-war and fortunes-of-war. With each chit pull players will be challenged to make tough decisions based on their assessment of the current situation. Unlike traditional chit-pull mechanisms the Blind Swords system ensures that no combat units can be counted on or conversely counted out. This yields an environment of tense action and constant surprises – an environment that will challenge each player.Charles Kibler created the artwork for the counters and Rick Barber is the artist for the map.

Colonialism is a game of 19th Century imperialistic struggle. In this game each player assumes the role of a nondescript colonial power. Players proceed to struggle for influence in the unindustrialized regions of the world and the subsequent resources such influence entails.Each turn is divided into action phases and colonization phases. During action phases players use cards to secretly bid influence in the six regions of the game board. During colonization phases all cards in play are revealed the placement of influence is resolved and conflict occurs.Whenever all native influence is eliminated from a region that region's resources are collected. The amount of resources collected by each player depends on each players' influence in the region. At the end of the game the player who collects the most resources wins.

Chancellorsville 1863 is a card-driven game on the American Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville. Playable by 1 to 2 players in 1 hour the game comes with a card-driven solitaire engine. Designed by Maurice Suckling (designer of Freeman's Farm 1777) the game uses many of the concepts from that game. However added hidden movement much more maneuver and other design tweaks make this a truly unique game.Each turn players will play 1 of their 3 in-hand formation cards to maneuver or attack enemy forces gaining momentum cubes based on the formation activated. Each formation is a Confederate division or Union corps. Each formation card will allow a major and possibly an additional minor activation major allowing two moves for a formation while the minor allows one move. After each formation moves combat can occur if a move ends in a location with an enemy formation. Tactic cards may be played during the formation's activation giving it movement or combat bonuses.At the end of the formation card activation players may spend their momentum cubes to buy tactics cards which may give them benefits in combat or movement in future turns.Players then draw a new formation card refilling their hands to 3. Hooker Lee and Jackson have bonuses that can be played once a game adding to movement and combat.Victory is determined by destroying enemy formations through morale/strength loss or the Union occupying the three victory locations which represent cutting off the Confederate army from Richmond.Additional rules allow for fixed defensive positions Jackson's Flank March -- and even his death.—description from the publisher

Description from the publisher:Thunder in the Ozarks is a two-player wargame about The Battle of Pea Ridge which was a critical engagement in the American Civil War fought on March 8th and 9th 1862 between the Confederate Army of the West under Major General Earl Van Dorn and the Federal Army of the Southwest under Brigadier General Samuel Curtis.Brig. General Sam Curtis was not a man to be intimidated and he realized that he had a fighting chance even in this seemingly impossible position. Perseverance and hard smart fighting by men like Colonel Grenville Dodge and others turned what looked to be a potential disaster into a grand victory. The Battle of Pea Ridge secured for the Union all of Missouri and the northern part of Arkansas resulting in approximately 85,000 square miles becoming Federal-controlled territory.This is the second game in the Revolution Games/GMT series of American Civil War games. The first game Stonewall’s Sword simulates the Battle of Cedar Mountain in 1862.

Take on the role of an artist managing an atelier or art studio during the 19th century. Roll dice manage your assistants collect needed paint and complete famous works of art. Will you be a prolific artist completing many works for your patrons or will you be known for just a few masterpieces that stand the test of time?Atelier: The Painter's Studio is played in rounds. During each round players take turns using one or more of their dice to accomplish tasks. Turns proceed clockwise around the table until all players have used all four of their dice. Once the round is over all players recover their dice pass the starting player token clockwise and start the next round. Players use their dice to collect students paint colors and ultimately complete paintings. The completed paintings contribute to their studio's reputation which will in turn open up additional actions that can be taken.When any player has completed their third painting with the masterpiece symbol the game enters the final round. Players then total the victory points from their paintings patrons and First Master token to determine the winner.—description from publisher

Rebel Fury Volume I of the Civil War Heritage Series uses the low-complexity Gettysburg system featured in C3i #32. The Battles featured are Chickamauga Chattanooga Wilderness Spotsylvania Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg (solitaire).This design features a new system on Civil War combat akin to the old SPI Blue and Gray Quads. Each game in Rebel Fury is quick-set-up quick-playing and deeply interactive. The density of counters in each scenario is low allowing you to see and experience the big picture of the battle.Rebel Fury places you the player in the role of the Army Commander (Lee Burnside Hooker Bragg Rosecrans Grant). You maneuver your army to find the enemy’s flanks concentrate your forces for an attack and determine where to commit your artillery assets.Units are portrayed at the Infantry/Cavalry division level. The Civil War Heritage Series game system features a new Zone of Influence/Zone of Control mechanic that controls unit formation (March/Battle) based on their proximity to your opponent. As your units close with the enemy your forces naturally break into battle formation where they then maneuver the last distance to engage. Unlike most hex and counter wargames this system allows you total freedom to move units in any order multiple times unleashing the full range of historical tactics in a simple and clean format.—description from the publisherGame Scale: Game Turn: 12 hours Hex: 0.5 mile / 0.8 kilometer Units: Regiment to DivisionGame Inventory: Three 22 x 34 full color mapsheets Two dual-side printed countersheets (320 5/8 & 80 1/2 counters) One 24-page Rulebook One 24-page Playbook Two Player Aid TEC/CRT cards One Union Off-Map Display card One Game Turn Display card Two 10-sided dice One special 6-sided die Fifteen 4x4 Zip BagsSolitaire Playability: Medium Complexity Level: Medium-Low Players: 2 or more Playing Time: 1-2 hours

Rebel Raiders on the High Seas is a comparatively short and simple game of the naval conflict at sea and on the great rivers in the American Civil War. Easily playable in less than three hours Rebel Raiders on the High Seas is a strategic contest between two players one seeking to reunite the Union by force the other to maintain its new independence in the face of the escalating industrial might and resolve of its northern brother. More of a representation than a detailed simulation of that conflict the game is intensely engaging highly interactive and moves along quickly with players constantly responding and reacting to their opponent’s moves.Components* One 22 x 28 map * One Rule Book * One Play Book * One Players Aid Card * Eight six-sided dice * Two decks of 55 cards each (one Union one Confederate) * 6 Plastic Stands for Leaders * 176 5/8” ship counters * various round hexagonal rectangular cargo victory point leader control and informational counters * 30 small red opaque plastic tokens (to mark pieces which have moved)

DEAD MAN'S HAND is the 28mm skirmish game by Great Escape Games. Bands of tough and wily Cowboys stoic Lawmen ruthless Outlaws and crazy Desperados fight for fame and respect in the Old West.With an accompanying range of 28mm miniatures and pre-painted buildings now you can fight legendary gunfights of the historical Old West and the silver screen. This rule book contains all the rules you need to recreate your gunfights and twelve blood-soaked scenarios.Initiative order is determined randomly by placing cards face down next to each character. The cards are then revealed and play proceeds in the order of the cards from high to low. Various actions or cards can alter this if you so desire and are lucky enough but in general the winds of fate decide who goes when.Once activated each model has three actions each turn these must be declared at the start of each figures activation. This speeds things up and allows you opponent to play the odd special effect on you and catch you off guard.Movement is simple. There are no terrain modifiers to worry about and other than reduced movement rates for climbing and jumping.Combat is fast and simple as befits the game and while it is possible to kill somebody in a single shot attrition is going to be the real deciding factor for most characters.Weapons come in one of four types; Pistol Rifle Repeater and Shotgun.