Announcing a new game: The Momentous Issue of War

These last few weeks Arthur has had a new idea brewing. As big history fans, particularly of the late Early Modern Era (e.g. Napoleonics, American civil war) we have decided to start work on a  "block-based" strategy game, and proudly present!...

It is set in the American civil war (ACW), plays on an 8x8 grid,  uses wooden blocks to represent units, and plays in an I go, you go format. In keeping with our company creed of our games being fun and easy we have boiled down unit types to four varieties: infantry, cavalry, artillery, and command.

Our aims and ideas for this game are to give players:

• Enough variance across your force to scratch that itch for some tactical fun.
• Rules that are simplistic and enjoyable.
• A game playable in just half an hour or so.
• For it to all fit in a pretty and practical sized box. 

The idea came from a forum post on the Wargames Website here:

www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/topic/slow-mind-small-games/page/2/

Wherein the writer, a man who beautifully expresses his difficulties with gaming and how he prefers simple and small games, approaches the gaming style in his own way.

​Arthur immediately began thinking on the topic and went delving in the free Wargames Rules site for inspiration. He struck gold with a rule set written and released for free in 2014 called "See the Elephant".

Although its core was a fun rule set, it was dated, riddled with confusing passages and writing faux pas, and we just couldn't get it to work. Inspired by Andrew on The Wargames Website and this rule set on on the Wargames Rules site, we started working on our own game.

Ultimately, we kept little of the original rules other than the unit types (infantry, cavalry, artillery) and the grid, since 8X8 is very accessible. We've both learned in building Wicked Wargames that the inspiration for any idea need not be its end. It can serve its purpose by merely being a catalyst for something more.

For new units we added commanders and Gatling guns. We also innovated new rules for close combat, such as charging, and cleaned up the ideas presented in See The Elephant.

Why do we openly admit the "inspiration - redraft - new rules" idea? Because we're happy to admit our sources, and to applaud the work of previous authors in doing so. Although we are admittedly writing a brand new rule set, the idea of block gaming is over a century old, tracing its modern origin to the Prussian Kriegspiel of the 1800s.

The simple game blocks are easy to make, theraputic and enjoyable in apearence. Something about building a complete army in an hour is extremely satisfying.  

The book is currently speeding along as it's an extremely small rule set with few rules. The idea is to present it as a small pamphlet, likely A5, and the cover is designed to look like an old book with a scaly leather effect. Very exciting. Combined with the mottled pages, old imagery and few necessary images, it really pops and is invigorating to read.

It's a small project and likely will be out soon, and we'll keep you updated as we continue our playtests and iron out the kinks.

Keep your eyes peeled for more information soon. We'll have lots of exciting updates on this in the coming weeks.