Sometime around the turn of the 19^th century, on an alternate earth, the militaries of eight countries met to hold the first international wargame tournament. A series of seven mock battles were to be fought under conditions made as real as possible, with random assignment of opponents. Some came to test their skill, others to learn new tactics, and still others with an eye toward scouting the opposition in case of a real war. All came to compete, but only one nation would leave the games as the champion.

If Jeff Horger’s Manoeuvre was not exactly designed for tournament play, it certainly lends itself to that use with a great deal of ease, as many before me have pointed out. Not to mention the Distant Lands expansion, which makes tournaments even easier. So, in this article series, I plan to run through a March Madness-style bracket tournament, with this first article laying the groundwork and each successive one covering one of the games.

First, for those who are unfamiliar with the game, Manoeuvre is a small, lightweight, card-driven wargame in which you can pit any two of eight different Napoleonic armies against each other. Gameplay is fast and simple, and has been compared (by Tom Vasel and others) to Star Wars: Epic Duels in the way combat is handled. That was one of the factors that drew me in, but this game has a lot to offer in terms of variety, manageable game length (≈1 hour), and strategic depth with low rules overhead.

On to the tournament! I will be playing this tournament solo, which has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that the game is not designed for solo play, and works best with two people going head to head. The advantage is that you will not have to factor in the skill/experience level of two different players, and should (hopefully) be able to focus on the performance of the individual armies. And I am, like many wargamers, well-practiced in the lonely art of playing against myself. More about my playing style will follow.

The blank bracket looks like this:

(Click Through for PDF)

Slots 1 through 8 will be filled with the eight nations randomly (one card from each deck will be blind shuffled together, then dealt in a row with the leftmost card equaling the number one slot and so on). I will roll 1 d6 for every match to determine first player—if the result is odd, the odd-numbered slot will go first, if even, the even-numbered slot. First player will be marked with an asterisk in the box on the bracket.

All seven battles will be fought on the same randomly generated battlefield, to allow everyone the same advantages or disadvantages due to terrain. The only variables will be whether the north/south sides of the battlefield will be used or the east/west, and which side each army will start on. This will be randomly decided for all matches before any battles are fought, by rolling 1d8 for each match: the first player will start on the north edge if the result is a 1-2, the east edge if it is a 3-4, south if 5-6, and west if 7-8. The second player will, of course, start at the opposite edge. Starting edges will be marked on the bracket as N,S,E, or W.

To begin, then. Random slot assignment turned up as follows: Russia, Spain, United States, France, Austrian Empire, Prussia, Great Britain, Ottoman Empire. First player determination and entry sides are shown on the seeded bracket, below:

(Click through for PDF)

Four map quarters were selected, oriented, and put together randomly, generating the following result (the top of the map is the north edge):

And with that, the tournament is ready to begin!  Games will be played top to bottom and left to right, so the first contestants will be Russia vs. Spain, with Russia setting up first on the south edge of the map. Feel free to fill out a bracket and follow along, if you like. In order to aide you in calculating who you think will win each match, here are some points about my strategy, skill level, and playing style:

• My bias when playing against myself tends to be for underdogs. But if the underdog starts walloping the other guy, my allegiance might shift. I try to play both sides fairly, but bias is impossible to eliminate completely.
• I play this game tactically, seizing the opportunities as they come. I am not a very good chess player.
• My style is more offensive than defensive, for the most part.
• I think most armies have a chance of beating each other. The Americans have been acknowledged as the weakest army in the game, but I have beat the second-strongest British with them 2 games to none. I thought the Ottoman Empire could not beat the top-tier French, but then I did manage to pull off a victory once (though possibly through French negligence).

In next week’s article I will bring you game one of the tournament, complete with analysis and commentary. Can Spain manage to beat Russia? Russia is the favorite according to the tie-breaker rules, but Spain has all those Guerrillas to worry about . . .

Next Article in this Series: Manoeuvre Tournament Part Two: Russia vs. Spain

Author: David Waldorf