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Book & Game Pairings from Clio’s Board Games: Russia’s War and No Retreat! The Russian Front

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Welcome to a new (irregular) series on Clio’s Board Games! As you know, I love playing history in board games, and as you also know, I also love reading about history. So, we’re pairing the two! (Think of it like a sommelier recommending a wine & cheese pairing.) Here’s a book and a board game that match each other for gaming/reading that is as enjoyable as it is educational. We begin with the Eastern Front of World War II: I recommend Russia’s War (Richard Overy) and No Retreat! The Russian Front (Carl Paradis, GMT Games).

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The Many Lives of Napoleon Bonaparte

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My goal in designing I, Napoleon was not to produce a competitive game since as a solo design the only opponent to beat is the game itself. While it is quite possible to “lose” the game, and there are a wide variety of different potential “wins” that can be achieved, in I, Napoleon the play is the thing. I wanted players to experience the narrative of Napoleon’s extraordinary life, and also the narratives that could have been.

But from the start, I was faced with the question of how far from Napoleon’s actual biography I could go. That Napoleon remains such an object of fascination 200 years after his death has less to do with his achievements or his crimes, than the sheer improbability of an obscure Corsican artillery officer rising to rule over the greatest European empire since Charles V.  In a period of only 22 years Napoleon packed in more events than a score of normal lives. Simply including the events that did happen was obviously going to take up the bulk of the game’s 220 cards.

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How to Win at Unconditional Surrender! — Three Basic Tips

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When you have just learned a shiny new board game, especially one which is a bit longer and more complex than others, it’s nice to have some strategic direction. That’s what I aim to provide with my series Three Basic Tips – strategy advice for beginner and intermediate players that is easy to remember and yet gets you places.

Today’s game is Unconditional Surrender! (Salvatore Vasta, GMT Games). With its 56-page rulebook and a playtime of 50-100 hours for a full campaign, the game can look a little daunting. Worry not! It’s a surprisingly beginner-friendly system – in fact, it was the first classic hex-and-counter game I ever played, and I turned out just fine. (My mother had me tested!) Follow the recommended learning path of playing the four tutorial scenarios (along with the rules reading each requires), and you’ll be all set up.

While this article is about improving your chances to win, remember that winning is not everything – particularly not in a game that can take this long. In my current two-player game (online via boardgamearena.com), a combination of suboptimal play and bad luck on my part made it clear early on that I was unlikely to win the game. Nonetheless, it’s been a fun experience, and I always look forward to the weekly meeting with my opponent. Remember what the designer himself states as the objective of the game: “Have fun playing” (rule 1.1.1).

Without further ado, let’s get into the tips – one operational, one strategic, one grand strategic.

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Sovereign of Discord Bonus Events: Women’s Role in the Vietnam War

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For my final article on the new Sovereign of Discord expansion, I will focus on one of the themes of the Bonus Events that are included for the base game. The expansion includes 40 new Events to be used with the original Fire in the Lake scenarios and the two additional base game scenarios that are provided (“Long 1964” and “Turning Point”). I chose the Bonus Events to reflect some new scholarship on the war since the release of Fire in the Lake in 2014 and to further emphasize a few themes: women’s role in the war, civilian victimization, the effect of the war on South Vietnamese society, North Vietnamese strategies, and the 1964 escalation debate. In this article, we will focus on just one of these themes: women’s role in the war.

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The Powers of Baltic Empires — Denmark-Norway

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This is the fifth and final article in the series presenting each of the five powers of Baltic Empires in turn. This time I will cover Denmark.

Just like Poland-Lithuania, Denmark-Norway (or “Denmark” for short) starts near the height of their historical power, with a far-flung empire with possessions across the Baltic Sea, and a strong navy to help control it. Their territories may not be the richest on the map, but they are blessed with a varied economy (a decent distribution of different Goods), and geography is also Denmark´s friend in another crucial aspect: the Øresund.

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Infernal Machine: The March of Time — An Overview of the Fortunes of War Cyclopedias

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The American Civil War lasted from April, 1861 to May, 1865, just over forty eight months.

When I was researching the background information for “Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare” I knew there would have to be some way of showing the influence of the outside world on the Player’s project.

The Player’s role in the game is that of Inventor and entrepreneur.

As such, you must be forever cognizant that, while that team of engineering wizards you’ve hired are busy constructing that underwater terror of yours, there is a Civil War raging across the formerly United States.

Current events generated by that Civil War will occur both near and far in relation to your machine shop’s front door, frequently accompanied by a frisson of dread.

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Battles for the Shenandoah: Developer’s Notes for the Death Valley Expansion Pack

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This coming August will mark the third anniversary of Death Valley’s publication. During the GMT Seminar at CSW-Expo 2019, six weeks or so before the game shipped to customers, I announced that designer Greg Laubach was working on a follow-up battle, Piedmont.

As time went on, those listening that evening might have wondered what had become of this mini-game on a single rather smallish Civil War battle.  The answer is that, just as Death Valley’s initial concept grew to encompass the Shenandoah’s big-name 1864 battles in addition to the 1862 battles, so the expansion pack grew to include McDowell, Second Winchester, and Cool Spring, yielding a total of nine scenarios or variants.

The expansion pack battles are not exactly household words, but interested readers can easily find accounts of them online.  Thus, this article will focus on the challenges each posed to the design and development process, detouring into history only as necessary for an understanding of those challenges.

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All Bridges Burning: A 2-Player Variant

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At the time of writing this, All Bridges Burning, COIN Series Volume X, is the latest released COIN Series game.The game tells the story of the Finnish Civil War of 1918 including the lead up to the war during the previous year.

In this article, we will introduce you to a new variant to All Bridges Burning for two players. The 2-player variant is released as free download with this article. All the rules and procedures needed to play are contained in this PDF file.

I want to thank Adrian Rubiero for testing and preparing the variant with me.

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Commands & Colors: Ancients – Skirmishing and Evasion Strategy by BrentS

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It never ceases to amaze me how a few tweaks in the basic C&C engine can create genuine variation in play experience between different games, presenting new strategic challenges and modeling different tactical imperatives across widely divergent historical periods and genres.

Some of these differences are minor and modular, such as national unit characteristics in Napoleonics or elephant units in Ancients, but each game has one or two major elements that define the game and are the fundamental features that differentiate it from its C&C cousins. For base game Napoleonics reduction in firepower with block loss, for Samurai Battles the Honour and Fortune economy and the Dragon deck, for Medieval the Inspired Action tokens, and so on.

I enjoy many of the C&C games but Ancients is still my favorite. In part this is my personal historical interest, part is what I perceive to be the lean, clean interplay between units and the perfectly balanced deck, giving me a feeling of battlefield control that I never quite get with the other C&C games. Most important, though, is what I consider to be Ancients’ two defining features, the critical importance of leader positioning, and evasion. The latter will be one of the subjects of this article.

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Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) Part 8 — Acquiring Letters Patent

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By Ed Ostermeyer, Master Engineer (Grade 2)

Good day to you, young Inventor.

In these chaotic days of this accursed Civil War, it is well that you have all your important papers in order.

Especially important is to have in your possession documents known as “letters patent.”

Today’s session of instruction from the Inventor’s Vade Mecum will discuss the acquisition of two of these letters patent from the War Department.  

The first of the letters patent can be useful, though you may not need its help right away.

Of the other letter patent, a young Inventor and his fishboat cannot afford to be without one.