explores the Master & Commander starter set for Black Seas.
Drums and Shakos Large Battles English PDF available now from Ganesha Games. Includes full color version, quick reference sheet, hi-rez covers, and inksaving version, 44 pages plus covers for $8 USD.
As usual, please let us know if you spot typos or weird formatting. It has been professionally edited, but mistakes always seem to crop up in the last-minute edits…
The printed version will be a full-color book, and will retail for $18 USD. It will be available at the end of the month.
Here's some info about the rules:
Each player controls a division of two or three brigades.
Designed to be played in less than three hours, its mechanics force participants to make tactical choices.
Drums & Shakos Large Battles rewards good management of reserves, right deployment of artillery, and historical use of cavalry. Maneuver your battalions and regiments, react to your opponent's actions, and launch the final attack at the right moment! Victory lies only a few steps away…
Combat mechanics detail the approach and contact phases of combat. Multiple dice are rolled, although this is not a bucket of dice approach (generally, you roll three to four dice per combat).
Easy measuring system with four measuring sticks.
The game makes a very limited use of counters and markers, no bookkeeping.
Victory conditions are based on losses inflicted and penetration into enemy territory.
No figure removal.
The rules allow for reactions in the opponent's turn: no player is ever truly inactive.
Four scenarios included.
An appendix lets you play at corps or army level.
Playable in any scale, 6mm to 28mm.
The book includes ready-made divisional army lists for major powers (Austria, France, Britain, Prussia, Russia, and Spain).
The book features simple guidelines to refight historical battles.