Description
This War Without an Enemy is a 2-player strategic block wargame on the first English Civil War, during which the Royalist forces fighting for King Charles I were opposed by the English Parliamentarian troops and their Scottish allies, the Covenanters, in a struggle for political, economic and religious control of England.
•The game engine will be familiar to anyone who has played a card-driven block wargame. A year consists of 6 turns. At the beginning of each year both players draw a hand of 6 cards.
•The game map depicts England and Wales, the scene of the conflict, split into five Regions and further divided into Areas, as well as parts of Scotland, Ireland and ‘Le Continent’, from which other forces may enter the war. New troops that can be raised in England and Wales are represented by blocks kept in the Recruitment Areas. Blocks that enter the game through major events or through card play remain off map.
•Blocks are blue for the Royalists, orange for the Parliamentarians & green for the Covenanter. Each block has a Tactical Rating, consisting of its class – Artillery (A), Cavalry (C) or Infantry (I) – & an effectiveness (1-3). Some blocks have a designation showing their home Region, which places restrictions on their abilities. The important generals are represented by their own blocks, & are Leaders (L) or Regional Leaders (R), with the ability to take Regional blocks out of their home Region.
•There is a deck of cards for each player. Every card has a number, from 2 to 4, which is the amount of Action Points it provides. 2- and 3-AP cards also have an event, described in the text, which can be activated in a specific phase. Some cards are removed from the decks at the end of a year, and other cards are added to the deck.
•Battles are resolved on the Battle Mat. This helps players to keep track of the timing of the battle and the interaction between the blocks. There are different sections for each class of block, as well as for reserves and for off-battlefield cavalry. There are specific rules for each class of block that reflect the use of the different types of soldier on the mid-17th century battlefield.
•The game engine will be familiar to anyone who has played a card-driven block wargame. A year consists of 6 turns. At the beginning of each year both players draw a hand of 6 cards.
•The game map depicts England and Wales, the scene of the conflict, split into five Regions and further divided into Areas, as well as parts of Scotland, Ireland and ‘Le Continent’, from which other forces may enter the war. New troops that can be raised in England and Wales are represented by blocks kept in the Recruitment Areas. Blocks that enter the game through major events or through card play remain off map.
•Blocks are blue for the Royalists, orange for the Parliamentarians & green for the Covenanter. Each block has a Tactical Rating, consisting of its class – Artillery (A), Cavalry (C) or Infantry (I) – & an effectiveness (1-3). Some blocks have a designation showing their home Region, which places restrictions on their abilities. The important generals are represented by their own blocks, & are Leaders (L) or Regional Leaders (R), with the ability to take Regional blocks out of their home Region.
•There is a deck of cards for each player. Every card has a number, from 2 to 4, which is the amount of Action Points it provides. 2- and 3-AP cards also have an event, described in the text, which can be activated in a specific phase. Some cards are removed from the decks at the end of a year, and other cards are added to the deck.
•Battles are resolved on the Battle Mat. This helps players to keep track of the timing of the battle and the interaction between the blocks. There are different sections for each class of block, as well as for reserves and for off-battlefield cavalry. There are specific rules for each class of block that reflect the use of the different types of soldier on the mid-17th century battlefield.