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Spotlight Articles

Outstanding articles that are not necessarily linked to one particular game, but may have broad appeal to gamers.

Obituary: Alan Emrich, game designer and writer, has died

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The site Game Developer brings us news of the passing of this industry titan.

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 1/10/2025


2024 Christmas Newsletter

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"Hopefully all the socks and after shave that one could ever dream of, have graced your Christmas stocking and perhaps a wargame treat or two has sneaked in and brought a smile!" Norm Smith, in Battlefields and Warriors, brings us another entertaining sum up of his wargaming year!

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 12/25/2024


Pournelle on “Does it matter if you call it a wargame?”

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"Much of what the Department of Defense calls wargaming is not actually wargaming, and that matters." Rex Brynen, in PAXsims, taps in on a discussion by analyst and former officer Phil Pournelle on what passes for "wargaming" in the DOD. "Failing to wargame properly in advance may mean having to learn in actual combat and risk it all."

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 12/20/2024


Princeton 1777

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"...this one proved to be the decisive battle that really cemented the American survival in the early months of the Revolution." Jeff Berry, in Obscure Battles, covers the fascinating follow-up engagement to Trenton. Check out the action as "Just when everything seemed to be falling apart, Washington came galloping up."

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 12/13/2024


Armchair Dragoons Digital Convention

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The Armchair Dragoons Digital Convention is coming up next month, registration is open now!

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 12/3/2024


Trenton 1776

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"...not many may know that if it weren't for this tiny, half-hour battle, the American Revolution was on the verge of collapsing. The United States might never have existed." Jeff Berry, in Obscure Battles, brings us a fascinating, in-depth look at why this was a key engagement. Check out why he asserts that Trenton "...was like one of those Schrödinger moments in quantum theory where the universe split into two metaverses."

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 11/1/2024


Data Diving Into the 2024 Solo & Solitaire Wargaming & Historical Gaming Survey

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The Armchair Dragoons look into their 2024 solo/solitaire wargame survey, finding top ranked games "...based on how long respondents reported they’d been playing, as well as how much of their overall gaming diet is wargaming."

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 10/14/2024


More Spotlight articles...


Gaming Conventions

Gaming Conventions

Another new feature for Grognard.com, the Gaming Convention calendar will make it a snap to keep up with all the latest gaming conventions in your area. But we need your gaming convention information, so please contribute.



Grognard News

Grognard Challenge - Expanded Room for Comments! (6/25/2023)

The Comments entry area has been resized to 512 characters.

Grognard Originals

In addition to our links to great content all around the internet, expect to see more Grognard.com "originals" in the future.

PE TANG 1900 Q&A with Marco Campari

Some Q & A between myself and Marco Campari, designer of Pe Tang 1900 from Lumaca Games.

PE TANG 1900 Strategy Tips

This is the strategy I developed after playing Pe Tang 1900 from Lumaca Games.

PE TANG 1900 Optional Line of Sight Table

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PE TANG 1900 Introductory War Game Review

My review for this great introductory war game concerning an obscure siege of a cathedral during the Boxer Rebellion. Use this game to recruit new war game players.

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Grognard Challenge

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Grognards Lost


A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z '-9

Game: Congress of Vienna



(c10078)
 
 




Publisher: GMT Games
Series: Great Statesmen Series
Game Type: Board
Designer(s): Frank Esparrago
Search for this game with GMT Games


Description:


We are pleased to announce an exciting new P500 offering: Congress of Vienna (CoV). Congress of Vienna is a diplomatic Strategy CDG for one to four players. It is based on Churchill, the superb, award-winning Mark Herman design, and was well received during GMT’s Spring 2019 Weekend at the Warehouse and June’s CSW Expo in Tempe, Arizona. It is the third game after Churchill and Pericles in GMT’s “Great Statesmen” series. CoV creates an enthralling gaming arena. It allows players to become the main characters of the dramatic, titanic struggle between the struggling Napoleonic Empire and the coalition of Russia, Austria, and Great Britain (with their Prussian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swedish allies). The game starts after Napoleon’s disastrous 1812 retreat from Moscow, covering the decisive years of 1813 and 1814. The abstract game map involves a strategic theatre portraying Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the boundaries of Poland and Prussia. It also includes the secondary front of Italy, an area for depicting maritime warfare and the British/American War of 1812. This game by designer Frank Esparrago and developer Dick Sauer (with much appreciated input from Mark Herman) has been created to be played as both a diplomatic and strategic military conflict without losing the taste of the Napoleonic era’s great battles.


Articles


Article ID
Pub Date
Article Description
Source
12
Date: 12/27/2024
Poster: Doug Holt
How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: Britain (2024 Edition)

"...it is you who have many opportunities available to truly rule Britain and make her “Great”! It is an appellation to be earned!" Frank Esparrago and Fred Schachter continue their tips on play articles for the major powers in this Great Statesmen series game. Find out about the "...special ability [that] can allow you to win the Diplomacy Phase many times with 2 VP each or decide which tied player will obtain them."
Web Link
11
Date: 10/25/2024
Poster: Doug Holt
How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: France (2024 Edition) Part 1 of 2, Emphasis on Diplomacy

"Which approach France pursues depends on the means you have available each turn and the other players’ idiosyncrasies as gamers." Frank Esparrago and Fred Schachter begin a number of tips on play articles for the major powers in this Great Statesmen series game. Make sure you don't neglect game dimensions of which players "...who lose sight of this are severely limiting their opportunities for victory."
Web Link
10
Date: 8/19/2024
Poster: Doug Holt
Congress of Vienna Scenario Set-Up Maps with Associated Historical Backgrounds

"...some gamers prefer a graphic approach in the form of Scenario Set Up Maps." Frank Esparrago and Fred Schachter provide some scenario oriented player aids. They point out that the intent of the scenarios is "... for players to gain experience with the system and control the pace and facets of the war to their best advantages."
Web Link
9
Date: 11/18/2022
Poster: Doug Holt
Designing the Congress of Vienna Solitaire Game, Part 1of 2: Diplomacy and The French Bot

"Challenge: How to retain some of the variability four independently minded players seek in attaining personal victory?" Frank Esparrago and David Schoellhamer begin a series looking at solitaire adaptation for GMT Games' Congress of Vienna. Check out why they make the claim that "We found the Sorcerer’s Stone to solve our game’s Diplomacy Phase challenge!"
Web Link
8
Date: 12/10/2021
Poster: Doug Holt
Congress of Vienna’s Tactical Battle Matrix Option Part 2 of 2 – An Example of Battle

"...players will regret not having withdrawn, not using a military card which was held back for another battle, a bad tactical chit choice, and of course, the inevitable final dice rolls! Oh the pain hindsight can bring!" Frank Esparrago and Fred Schachter continue discussing the tactical expansion for GMT Games' Congress of Vienna, this time with an example of play. They demonstrate the richness the expansion brings with a well laid out example, and then point out that "…readers should be reassured that the game time this takes in actual play is very fast."
Web Link
7
Date: 12/8/2021
Poster: Doug Holt
A Congress of Vienna Option: Adding Tactical Flavor to Battles (A Tactical Battle Matrix) Part 1 of 2

"Some play testers wanted an option to study what could happen if they decided the big tactical choices in a decisive battle...". Frank Esparrago and David Schoellhamer begin an effort to make GMT Games' Congress of Vienna more grognard friendly. Check out the results when they "…could not resist the opportunity to address their desire!"
Web Link
6
Date: 10/20/2021
Poster: Doug Holt
War or Diplomacy? The Struggle Between the Wargamer vs Eurogamer Soul in the Design and Development of Congress of Vienna

"When you create a game like Congress of Vienna with its major political and diplomatic elements; you know some of the 'certainties' of a standard wargame which must be exceeded...". Frank Esparrago and Fred Schachter discuss the character of GMT Games' Congress of Vienna card driven game, in terms of how players view it. There seems to be a classic divide, in which it's "…almost like Designer Frank had two angels perched on his shoulders as he labored on his game creation… one a 'Wargamer Angel' and the other a 'Eurogamer Angel' each whispering their imprecations into his ears. Whom did he heed?
Web Link
5
Date: 9/22/2021
Poster: Doug Holt
Congress of Vienna Standard Game After-Action-Report: “The Clash of Armies” Scenario (Turn 1 of 4 – Aug. 1813)

"...the more experienced of our Congress of Vienna Play Test Teams already know that when there is disunity among Allied players France may prevail!" Frank Esparrago and Fred Schachter begin a scenario AAR for their GMT Games' Congress of Vienna card driven game. Check out how this first game turn delivers a lopsided result in which "…the Allied bed has been made. Will they be able to recuperate from this turn’s set-backs or will Napoleon go on to victory?"
Web Link
4
Date: 4/5/2021
Poster: Doug Holt
Congress of Vienna: Designing Its Solitaire Game

"...how can a good solitaire system be devised?" Frank Esparrago begins a series describing efforts to create a solitaire system for GMT Games' Congress of Vienna. Things look promising, in that Jim Gutt has already been creating flowcharts that "…sometimes generate better play results by his [Congress of Vienna] Bots than an average human player can accomplish!"
Web Link
3
Date: 8/26/2020
Poster: Doug Holt
Interview with Frank Esparrago Designer of Congress of Vienna from GMT Games

"With this title, I want players to be reminded that Clausewitz’s maxim 'war is politics with other means' is very true...". Grant Kleinhenz interviews designer Frank Esparrago about his GMT Games' Congress of Vienna, a card driven simulation of the close of the Napoleonic wars. Frank is clearly focused on both a sound design and fun: "…you have to endow the cards with characters containing 'soul'…"!
Web Link
2
Date: 7/27/2020
Poster: Doug Holt
Congress of Vienna July 2020 Development Update

"...the effort to edit and 'professionalize' Congress of Vienna‘s Rulebook is well underway...". Frank Esparrago and Fred Schachter relate the progress being made on GMT Games' Congress of Vienna, now that it has made the P500 "cut". Updates include changes to the map board, combat balancing, the card deck and the solitaire game system. Looking good!
Web Link
1
Date: 1/31/2020
Poster: Doug Holt
A Historical Introduction to the Congress of Vienna Period Part 2 of 4: Napoleon Resurgent (Spring 1813)

"At the beginning of April 1813, the French withdrawal in Central Europe caused the Allies to acquire a false sense of security...". Designer Frank Esparrago continues a series of articles familiarizing readers with the historical background for his GMT Games' Congress of Vienna, which covers the intense dynamics of the period after Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. Check out some awesome history intended to whet your appetite: "…it was time to spring Napoleon’s trap."
Web Link