1631: Empire in Flames

My precious

Hot off the press, I hold in my hands my first commercially published wargame, 1631: Empire in Flames. The game is a culmination of two years' work and is published and distributed by French gaming magazine VaeVictis, who are also responsible for the superb graphics.

The game is a two-player operational level wargame set during the Thirty Years War. 1631 was one of the pivotal years of that long and gruesome war, during which the Swedes under Gustav Adolf overwhelmeed the Imperial armies sent against them and managed to gain control of most of northern Germany. The campaign was dominated by the drama of the siege and subsequent sack of Magdeburg and culminated in the battle of Breitenfeld, which ended in a resounding Swedish victory.

The game comes with issue 127 of VaeVictis

Counters

Objectives

The Imperial defenders are caught off-guard in 1631 both militarily and politically. Imperial forces are in a sorry state, dispersed and weakened, which makes it difficult for them to counter the Swedes' initial advance. Massive reinforcements are on the way though, and skillful Fabian tactics followed by a counter-attack should halt the Swedish invasion before it snowballs out of control.

The Swedes' main objective is to gain an alliance with the powerful electorates of Brandenburg and Saxony - protestant powers that are initially neutral in the struggle but which might eventually join the Lion of the North, at least if he shows himself capable. Ultimately, the Swedes are seeking to penetrate deep south into the Imperial heartlands, which is represented in the game by awarding victory points for Swedish units that move into various strategic areas (Silesia and Franconia being the most important targets).

Jacques Callot - The Enlistment of Troops (1633)

Basic mechanics

Each game turn represents a month in real time, during which the players take alternate actions to move individual armies, regroup or pursue diplomatic negotiations. One player has the initiative, which gives a massive advantage as that player can conduct one more action and (in all likelihood) conduct two consecutive manoeuvres. The game takes about three hours to play and is of "medium complexity".

Map

Following historical precedent, the game revolves around control of cities and resources. Rivers play a major role as they can only be crossed via friendly cities and the defender can easily repel any attempted crossings with inferior forces. On the other hand, moving an army along the length of a river is much easier, which enables an army to move and attack further if moving along rivers.

The combat mechanics are simple, yet capture the nature of various tactical situations and emphasize the different roles of infantry, cavalry and artillery. The defender is at an advantage, as defenders gain bonuses in combat and are able to avoid battle by evading or bring up reinforcements with an intercept move. The attacker will also be slowed down with the necessity of capturing the enemy's strongholds.

I wanted to represent the "high stakes" nature of battles and explain the sudden collapse of armies in certain situations with the victory conditions of combats. Units that are "spent" (have suffered losses, have not been supplied properly, etc.) fight almost as well as fresh units but lack their staying power. Battlefield victory is more about staying power than damage inflicted, which is why it is a liability to fight with an army comprising mostly of spent units. Such an army will also be more likely to rout, turning an otherwise minor defeat into a catastrophic affair.

Attrition - theme of the game

During the Thirty Years' War, most of the belligerents were fighting a war they could not possibly afford and, even if they could, poor logistics would ruin their plans more often than the enemy. In 1631: Empire in Flames both sides are struggling with the problem of how to supply their forces. The commanders must balance between concentrating their forces to overwhelm the enemy, and spreading them out to facilitate logistics. Armies can't remain in the same place too long lest they run out of supplies. On the other hand, defeat is not final as losses can be slowly replenished by recruiting more mercenaries.

It's not a happy war (Jacques Callot - The Hanging (1633))

Why did I make this game?

This game started off as a university project, which then took on a life of its own. Making this game was a fun way to combine my hobby with my academic work of research in the field of early modern military history. I chose to concentrate on the operational level for several reasons. Firstly, this is the level at which early modern generals normally operated and at which campaigns (and often wars themselves) were won or lost. I find this topic immensely interesting and fun to play, reserving the tactical level gaming to be done with miniatures and a different mindset.

My biggest challenge with making this game was to find a balance between complexity and playability (including ease of learning the rules and speed of play). I had to leave out a number of elements, such as, such as the possibility to recruit enemies captured in the field or further rules for lines of communication. A more complex representation of the nuances of the "neutral" state of Brandenburg and Saxony during the 1631 campaign had to be left out as well. However, in many ways "less is more" holds true and rigorous play testing plus the view of "new people" helped me focus on the most important aspects and get the balance right. I am quite pleased with the end result, which is the type of game I like to play.

How do I buy the game?

The game can be purchased via VaeVictis at http://www.vaevictismag.fr/en/special-game-issue/79-vaevictis-n127-game-issue-empire-in-flammes-1631.html

Strategikon III

Saturday was spent playing wargames and chatting about military history at Strategikon - a small scale gaming day organized by a local historical wargaming club: Stadin Strategit. It was great to play a few games, see others in action and chat with friends, all in a cozy cottage by the seaside.

The battle of Czarnowo being fought using Command & Colours - a popular rules set at the club

There was a bring & buy - I couldn't resist getting GMTs "The Napoleonic Wars" for only 5 euros

A demo game of a 15mm ancients system being developed by some club members

Republican Romans...

... against Macedonians

Platoon level skirmish from the Battle of the Bulge

A naval game of the Battle of Vyborg Bay 1790

 

W1815 - a "15 minute" wargame of the battle of Waterloo designed by a club mate

W1815 is simple, elegant, fast, yet profound. I really like the game, although I lost once again (haven't won a single game with the French so far).

I also ran a demo / test game of my own 1631 wargame. It's an operational level game of the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years War in 1631. The game will hopefully be published next year and is going through final developmental stages. More on that later.

My 1631 game in action - the Imperial side won this time around, as the Swedes alienate all their would-be allies.

Won by the Sword

Lately I've been playing a lot of Ben Hull's "Won by the Sword", which is an operational level board game of the Thirty Years War. As I've written previously, this is the historical period which most excites me and from a military history point of view I am more interested on the operational level of war (campaign manoeuvres, logistics, etc.) than on the tactical or strategic levels. Thus, this was a game right up my alley.

The game itself uses a node-based map where armies are activated alternately by the players by varying campaign cards. The map represents South-West Germany, and the game comes with a number of scenarios enabling you to game the major campaigns that took place in this theatre during the war. Other theatres and campaigns are expected to be released in the future. You can either play a shorter 2-3 month scenario or a full year of campaigning (8-9 months).

The map / game board

We decided to play the 1632 campaign, where Gustav Adolph's Swedish army attempts to conquer southern Germany and knock Bavaria out of the war. I played the Imperial-Bavarian side. The campaign took some 18-20 hours to complete, which isn't so bad for beginners.

I started the campaign strongly by holding the Swedes at bay. I had two main armies operating with the intention of securing the Main and Neckar rivers, whilst laying the mighty Swedish controlled city of Nuremberg under siege. Using a combination of cunning and speed, the Swedes thwarted my attempts to gain control of these rivers, but I managed to capture Nuremberg just before Gustav Adolph's relief column reached it. After defeating Tilly in a battle near Nuremberg, Gustav Adolph proceeded to besiege the might Nuremberg in turn. However, an imperial army under Wallenstein attacked the Swedish king in the nick of time and defeated the Swedes in battle. This was a major blow for the Swedes, who had lost over a month in the siege and were defeated in battle to boot.

Nuremberg is about to fall whilst Gustav Adolph is racing to the rescue

I used my triumph secure the Main river, but then proceeded to balance the scales by blundering with Tilly's army into Johan Baner's veteran army. This mistake was due to my misevaluation of our respective army strengths. With the exact contents of armies hidden from the opposing player and having failed to reconnoitre the enemy, I estimated Baner's army to be smaller and to include less veterans. I was further prompted to my rash move since I had several tactical advantages which I was about to lose unless I attacked promptly. The result of this blunder was that Tilly's army was practically wiped out and I had to send off half of Wallenstein's force to plug the gap in the western sector of the map.

Contest over the Neckar river moments before things go horribly wrong for myself

My blunder put me on the defensive for a long time. Using artillery captured from Tilly, Baner proceeded to capture city after city on the Neckar and Rhine rivers. Wallenstein, now outnumbered by Gustav, resorted to scorched earth tactics. These tactics worked remarkably well as it Gustav was severely constrained on where he could move his army if it wished to have supplies and had to spend a great deal of time husbanding supplies from where they could be got. I used this time to rebuild my strength but, after two months of relative inactivity Gustav was able to push through the devastated cordon I had created and lead his army south to the Danube.

The gaming board while the armies are still duelling in the north

Units are kept on a separate force card, which is hidden from the opposition

Campaign cards are played alternately, with the players controlling which cards to allocate to the first two armies but subsequent (3rd and 4th) armies drawing cards at random

The remainder of the campaign, from July to October saw a great drama unfolding in the south. Gustav seemed unstoppable as he captured the fortresses of Ulm and Augsburg and plunged into Swabia and Bavaria. A wary Wallenstein was hesitant to engage Gustav's army, but burned up the countryside around the Swedes. 

Whilst this game of cat and mouse was going on, an Imperial army under Heinrich von Holk and Baner's Swedish army were wresting for control of the Rhine. I made a spirited attempt at making reconquests on the Rhine and even taking the offensive north to Swedish controlled areas. However, Holk's army had no artillery and insufficient subordinates to establish a detachment to collect supplies. This combination was crippling, since his army made little headway against the Swedish-controlled cities whilst he could not sustain his force.

With the situation becoming untenable and Baner tied down besieging the fortress of Breisach, Holk made a feint followed by a hard march east, where he joined forces with Wallenstein. This left the Rhine undefended but gave Wallenstein the overwhelming force he needed to face Gustav. I further calculated that the siege of Breisach would take sufficiently long to give me time to defeat Gustav and retake some important cities.

It was the Swedish turn to make a blunder. Wallenstein managed to retake the few crossings seized by the Swedes on the Danube through a combination of wily stratagems and brutal assaults. Meanwhile a small Imperial detachment was laying waste to Swabia so that the Swedes could not sustain themselves in the area. 

Gustav's army cut off in Swabia surrounded by a hostile populace and Wallenstein's imposing army

Gustav's army was in quite a pickle. He could not retreat out from the area, nor sustain himself for long. Wallenstein's army was strong and only growing stronger. In the end, Gustav made a dash for seizing the otherwise insignificant crossing of Memmingen and escaping west towards the Rhine. Wallenstein pounced before this could happen and severely defeated the Swedish king. A relief force detached from Baner managed to take Memmingen from the opposite (western) bank, thus enabling the remnants of Gustav's army to escape.

Wallenstein faces off with Gustav in Swabia - battles are conducted by wings, with the cavalry wings on either side being more decisive as they can support the centre if they win their own fight

The position of the same battle after pre-battle manoeuvring. Wallenstein has strengthened his wings with infantry from the centre whereas the Swedes have concentrated as much force as possible on their right - hoping to win at least one of the three wings.

I used my success to retake much of the Necker line whilst harrying Gustav's army with another force. The campaign was drawing to a close and time was against me. Breisach fell much faster than I had anticipated, yielding control of the Rhine and a great number of victory points to the Swedes, who then began advancing east once again.

Before the campaign came to an end, I managed to corner Gustav a second time and effect a second crushing defeat on the humiliated "Lion of the North". However, this triumph was somewhat offset by Baner's army recapturing the Necker line and, with winter closing in, I did not have sufficient time to further capitalize on my success. Both armies had been mauled very badly and were only too happy to retire to winter quarters.

The end result was a narrow Swedish victory with 181 victory points to my 167. The Swedes had gained control of the Rhine whilst I had pushed them out of Franconia (most of the eastern sector of the map). I had won 3 out of 5 of the battles fought during the campaign.

All in all a very fun game, which modelled 17th century operational level war quite nicely. The game mechanics were quite simple, the game flowed nicely and the players had plenty of alternatives and abilities to interact with one another. I particularly liked the system of using smaller detachments to harass the enemy and collect provisions for the larger forces, whose actions largely revolved around the control of places via sieges.

The game did suffer from horrendous editing, including unclear and misspelled rules as well as misprinted cards and charts. However, the rules were not hard to figure out using the published errata coupled with a light sprinkling of common sense and the misprints were easy to amend.