I purchased a copy of these rules for the Franco-Prussian War. I've not yet had a chance to play either the campaign or tactical game, so this is a cursory review based on my initial reading.
The rules have a campaign board game and a tactical set of rules. Battles generated by the campaign can be resolved using miniatures on the table or off-table using a simplified combat system. Some battles with flanking moves may be resolved using both miniatures in the main battle and the simplified combat system for flanking forces that clash off table.
The rules are black and white with a color cover. The photos are cursory and explanatory rather than eye candy. It is not a fancy set of rules like the recent FOW or GW offerings. That's fine with me, since I want a good set of rules rather than a coffee table book. The attached board game is rather like a good desk top publishing board game. The point-to-point maps of eastern France are heavy and in color. The counter sheet is un-mounted. You have to glue them to matt board or something similar and cut them out. The counters are in color. They are not great works of art but are legible, with the tricolor on French units and the Prussian flag on German units.
The campaign is based on the first three months of the Franco-Prussian War, when the regular forces of the French Empire blundered to disaster. The game has daily turns. There are political points, used to try to influence the neutral powers of Austria, Italy, Denmark and the South German states. Winning or losing battles affects political points. If the French lose enough points, their government may fall. There are two flavors of Imperial government and then the Republic. The Germans don't have this problem though they must ensure that they have more political points than the French or see all the neutrals turn against them.
Corps and the odd independent divisions moving on the map must be within two towns of an army HQ or have a 50/50 chance of not moving. The army HQ's have their own command and control problems, with Bazaine likely to do nothing. Other also may balk, though aggressive Germans may attack the nearest enemy regardless of the player's wishes. Steinmetz (First Army) is more prone to do this, as he was. He may also do nothing. Some of the French marshals might roll a die and only move that number of units.
Once units make contact, play moves to a display showing battlefield, flank areas, reserves and possible reinforcements marching to the sound of the guns from nearby towns. The main battle can be played on the table or on the display, while all other movement and combat is on the display – unless you have a gigantic table. Each unit has morale calculated, which determines the size of each battalion fielded. Prussian line battalions may have 3-5 stands, while line French may have 2-4 stands. Combat on the display is fairly simple. The German side rolls two dice and picks one to show the hits inflicted on the French. The other is the hits taken. I presume this reflects the general tactical advantage of the Germans due to their superior artillery. Each player adds hits to the enemy or subtracts hits based on modifiers like number of units involved, defensive cover, etc. Once the total hits are calculated, morale is checked. Formations have morale numbers, based on size of unit. Once a unit's morale is down to zero it breaks and flees to the next town. The winner then may cause some more losses as prisoners. If the defender holds out until nightfall the attackers will probably have to withdraw unless they have taken most of the flanking boxes on the display.
There are rules for resting units to recover loss, similar to the way French units mobilize at the start of the game. There are also rules for sieges, with the attacker having the option of formal siege, bombardment or assault.
For those times when you wish to play the battle on the table, they have fairly simple tactical rules. The battlefield is divided into 10 inch squares, similar to the games "Poor Bloody Infantry" and "Square Bashing". Each square contains a terrain type and may include up to 8 units of both sides. Only the first 4 units for one side count for fighting. German infantry may fire one square, French infantry and artillery may fire two, and Krupp guns may fire 3 squares. The battlefield is usually 5 X 7 squares, though this can be increased if you have a big table. Combat is a simple method of rolling dice to cause hits. If you enter the same square as the enemy, it is called an assault. Combat is still done by fire but every unit in the square must check morale. Failing units must retreat. Formations such as corps and independent divisions have morale ratings. Once they have suffered losses that bring morale down to 50% or less, they must roll to check. If they roll more than their morale number, that number of squares on the table top must retreat. When the formation's morale is down to zero or less, the whole formation must withdraw. The number of turns in a day is not fixed. It can vary from 12-80. Either extreme is unlikely. Each turn, both sides roll a die for initiative. The side that wins may move first (and reinforce undecided assaults) or instead decide which dice to add to the daily clock. So a French player who rolled 6 and is desperately waiting for reinforcements might decide to let the Germans move first and instead count the present turn as using 6 clock turns. Whichever option the player winning the initiative chooses, the other option is It is an interesting idea. Towards the end of the day the initiative winner can declare dusk, which cuts all artillery fire down to 2 squares. At the end of the day a winner can say night fell and end the day early.
The rules are succinct. In most cases they have extensive examples which explain the short rules. There are a couple typos on the examples, most involving numbers which sometimes don't quite add up. But you get the idea. One place I've noted a lack of explanation is how casualties from a table-top battle are carried back onto the campaign. One of their examples would have been appreciated. I emailed the designers with that and some other questions and got a tinmely response.
I hope to arrange a playtest of the campaign in the next month or so, resolving all combat without figures. The tactical rules are based on about a corps per side. This is troublesome since I have a reinforced division of French, no more. One of my friends has a brigade of Bavarians and another is putting the finishing touches on his reinforced division of Prussians. We can't manage to put a corps on each side. I may just halve the number of units allowed per square and field a division per side, just to see how the game feels.
Any comments from those of you who've played the game would be appreciated.
finds bridges to match the river sets.
