Game of the Week, Nov 18 - 24

It has been several months, but this week we return to the Musket & Pike series for our Game of the Week feature. From now through Sunday, November 24th, this week's title will be 25% off. And that title is... Thirty Years War!

This is the first time this title has been discounted, as we have just crossed the one year anniversary since release. And speaking of anniversaries, we are now at the 3 Year mark since Wargame Design Studio announced the acquisition of the John Tiller portfolio... and what a busy three years it has been! Ok, onto our game specific content.

At the start of the 17th Century, Europe was in turmoil. Although largely centered on Germany and, at least initially, considered by many contemporaries to be a religious rather than political conflict, the Thirty Years War was in fact part of a complex series of interlinked conflicts. Some of which, such as the Dutch revolt from Spanish rule and the lengthy military rivalry between France and Spain, had their origins in the previous century. This title will weave in and out of these various conflicts with a focus on the larger battles and more predominant characters such as Tilly, Mansfeld, Gustavus Adolphus and Wallenstein.

The Bohemian Revolt of 1618 leads the way with initial battles between the Catholic (Imperialist) forces and the mercenary-led Protestant (Anti-Imperialist) forces at Sablat and White Mountain. With the failure of the Catholics to completely crush and demoralize the resistance, the Palatinate phase began which would lead to larger battles and stretch through 1623.

1625-6 would bring in a new phase with the entry of the Danish king Christian IV of Denmark aligning with other Protestant forces to challenge the Hapsburg Empire. Poor performance on the battlefield and loss of major leaders such as Christian of Brunswick emboldened the Hapsburg Emperor Ferdinand II to try and clamp down on the situation in 1629. This would spur the Swedish king, Gustavus Adolphus, to enter the fray on behalf of the Protestant cause. This change would lead to the first defeat of Catholic forces under Tilly in more than a decade, at Breitenfeld in 1631. This would also see much larger actions taking place over the subsequent four years.

This ebb and flow would continue across the continent with new armies being raised and battles being fought in many areas of the continent. Civilian populations, commerce, and civilization itself would be shaken to the core for most of the region during this time and the effects of this conflict would be felt for generations to come. When the dust began to settle, the "Holy Roman Empire" had been weakened beyond repair and the rise of the modern nation-state was solidifying.

For more info on the historical background of the time period, details on the forces involved and specifics on every scenario included with the game, see the 60-page Design Notes.

(All images can be clicked for full sized viewing.)

Thirty Years War comes with 76 stand alone scenarios plus a Getting Started tutorial to give you the basics of game play. It also includes an additional 4 "Boot Camp" scenarios setting up specific tactical puzzles for you to work through and learn how to use the unique forces included in this game.

A sampling of the battles included in this title are:

White Mountain
Mingolsheim
Wimpfen
Hochst
Fleurus
Lutter
1st Breitenfeld
Rain, the River Lech
Ingolstadt
Lutzen
1st Nordlingen
Wittstock
2nd Breitenfeld
Rocroi
Freiburg
2nd Nordlingen

Like many situations in the distant past, it is difficult to assemble a series of battles into a "campaign" like we think of - where a series of medium to large battles are fought over a relatively short amount of time. Things moved much slower in those time periods and often one major battle would decide the fate of an entire year worth of maneuvering. However, both 1622 and 1632 were years that did provide us situations that fit well within our campaign feature. Accordingly, we do have those two campaigns featured in the game and they bring an additional 47 scenarios into play.

It is worth noting that an expansion package is planned for this game at some point in the future. Can't give you a specific date, however we can say that existing owners will get a copy of it for free when it releases.

Ok, on to some video content. This first video is a lecture by one of our recommended authors on the subject:

Then we have a historical video covering multiple years of the conflict:

The above is part of a 10-video series on the period. You can visit the entire play list here.

Then we have The Mack, who's done a series of 14 videos focused on this game specifically:

And finally, SmartWargames also has a video review of the title:

Now we'll look at some book recommendations.

And finally, for those who really want to dig in to a key primary source, in German, check out the Theatrum Europaeum digital online text.

Here are a sampling of in-game screen shots. As with all titles in the Musket & Pike series, Thirty Years War has three different 2D views and two 3D views. Additionally, there are three different sets of 2D counters to choose from.