Alan Snider  - Sep 19, 2006 12:22 pm (#15617 Total: 15626)  
Back to basics, like the latest S&T...Sedan 1870 on the table with
Marlborough at the ready. 

S&T #238 Marlborough

GAMENIGHT, Sept 17th/2006: Rick White, Brent Louie and myself sat down
to give the brand new S&T #238 Marlborough a try. Brent took the
Bourbons, and I took the Grand Alliance...with Rick there to help with
the overall finer points, as he is particularly good at figuring things
out in short order. It was really great to see these 2 guys again. 

The game operates by alternating operations, which designates any amount
of units in a single hex can be moved then attack. The hampering effect
to start the game is that the Bourbons can only activate France or Spain
for free (without the use of a 'forced march' campaign chit), and the
Grand alliance can only utilize the Austrians and United provinces (the
Dutch). the Grand Alliance sets up first and draws 3 campaign chits,
while the Bourbons get 5 campaign chits. 

Right out of the gate the French went hard at Antwerp (out of Ghent) and
managed to achieve a devastating blow to the troops there who lost half
their stregth and were forced to retreat. The combat system is an
interesting one: It has many similarities to GMT's Saratoga, in that you
have a combat matrix and battle strategy chits which are chosen secretly
before battle...this can cause column shifts on the CRT or drms to the
combat dieroll for either side. Leaders are also critical as they
provide column shifts as well. 

Movement is effected by terrain, whether you have a leader with the
troops, or whether you are able to utilize the rivers. This was my
favorite bit to reflect the period. Being positioned on the river hexes
can also be very important come 'provisioning/supply' phase, as the
rivers also extend range of supply (2 hexes to a friendly garrison over
land, or 4 if by river). Otherwise, it costs TRIPLE to provision troops
outside the range, and these are lost if left unsupplied. This forces an
attacking force to be quite deliberate in its' attacking movement, so as
to save some treasury points for buying more campaign chits. The only
other way to get more treasury points is to capture 'treasury cities' or
achieve a famous victory by eliminating at least 2 enemy units in a
battle (gain 1 chit, opponent loses 1 chit). For more than 5 units
eliminated you get 2 campaign chits and your enemy loses 2. There are
also shifts to the Balance of Power index when a famous victory is
achieved. 

On their first activation, the Austrians moved along the Danube river
from Vienna with Eugene in command and attacked Regensburg...Maxim and
troops in Inglostadt awaited. 

Followup advances by the French included taking a run at Liege, Kologne
and then Frankfurt. There could be little followup from the Grand
Alliance other than the attack at Inglostadt (which was unsucccessful).
What was discovered , however, was that during the supply phase the
Bourbons were now largely out of supply and this looked to really slow
their progress on the subsequent turn. They looked like they may lose
some units as well...So, there is a lesson learned. With all the
garrisons in the low countries, it takes a slow grinding process to keep
in supply and move forward. This will ensure the Grand Alliance has a
chance to stock up on more campaign chits. It looked to be dodgy to try
to get some of the Alliances allies motivated to join the conflict. 

Finally, there is the diplomacy phase also driven by campaign chits with
'diplomacy' and a value written on them. This offers a chance to shift a
country into or out of a players immediate control. Once again the chits
are chosen secretly and a diplomacy attempt vs. a particular country is
declared. 

Some of the other campaign chits will either help you or hinder your
opponent (not unlike in The Ottomans game). This chaotic element is
always fun to have in the mix. 

So far we've barely scratched surface of a really in depth treatment of
this conflict; well representing both the military and economic aspects.
It is kind of like running a country with military aspirations rather
than simply being a general. The game has so many things to enjoy about
it, and I can hardly wait to get further into some of the
scenarios...etc (1 battle, 2 scenarios, and the full campaign). I think
this is the best S&T game since #222 Rise of the Ottoman Empire.