Fitz and I played a couple of new games tonight including Maneuvre, a age of napoleon warfare "boardgame" for two (2) players. Fitz played the French and I played the British. Step one each player chooses an army. The game comes with several armies, French, British, Prussian, Austrian, Russian, Turks, Spanish and even the U.S.A. Each army has eight (8) units and is slightly customized to give each army it's own flavor. After selecting armies players set up the "board" by selecting four (4) tiles to build the battlefield. I enjoy being able to change the "board" each game i.e. Settler's of Catan, Battle Cry, etc. Players place armies on the two (2) tiles closest to them, these tiles are considered controlled by your army. You can win either by eliminating five (5) of your opponents units or having more units controlling area on your opponents two (2) tiles at the end of the game. Each player has a control deck that has cards which allow you to attack, leaders, and special events. The game ends when both players have played all of the cards in their decks once.
Each turn you discard cards, draw back up to five (5) cards, move a unit, combat and rally. The game moves very quickly and encourages you to keep your army in line. Discarding and drawing cards is important because you have to have a card with a picture of the specific unit you wish to attack or they can not attack. The cards force you to look for ways to utilize the units available and support their attack. While playing the British I had two (2) cards for the 42nd foot, I moved them forward attacked, moved them forward again attacked and left them stranded far in front of my battle line to have them eliminated by two (2) cavalry on their flanks.
Needless to say I lost the game 5-0 Fitz's French only suffered one hit on one unit. The fact that I lost so badly and still want to play again is a tribute to the simplicity and fast pace of the game. I am sure we will play this game again.
This is my first game review so please be kind.
WarGaming total
Prinz Geoffrey - 0 Fitz - 1