Clash of Sovereigns:
The War of the Austrian Succession, 1740-48
Original Retail Price:$69.00
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December 1740: Young King Frederick II leads the army of
upstart Prussia in a surprise invasion of Austrian Silesia. He hopes for an
easy conquest of the rich province at a time when the Austrian Empire appears
vulnerable following the death of Charles VI, King of Austria and Holy Roman
Emperor. But despite internal opposition to the ‘Pragmatic Sanction’ that
allowed a woman to inherit the throne, Austria’s new Queen, Maria Theresa, is
cowed neither by Frederick, nor by France’s scheme to place a Bavarian puppet
candidate on the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, nor by Spanish designs on
Austria’s holdings in Italy. Amid these conflicting dynastic ambitions,
Frederick’s local territorial coup proves to be only the opening act in a major
European war that none of the great powers had anticipated - but all wished to
profit from. It would ultimately span eight years and half the globe.
Clash of Sovereigns (COS), GMT’s 2-4 player card-driven game of
the War of the Austrian Succession, has been 9 years in the making. It is a
free-wheeling, faster-playing, stream-lined “nephew” of the widely-regarded
Clash of Monarchs (COM).
FEATURES
· A
12-hour campaign game and three shorter scenarios covering 2-3 years apiece
that can be played to completion in as little as three hours!
· 2-4
players.
· The
French, Prussians/Spanish (“Pr/Span”), Austrians, and British/ Piedmontese
(“Br/Pied”) each have their own separate card decks divided into Early, Middle,
and Late war periods
· Half a
dozen minor powers add their own blood and diplomatic wrinkles to the tableau –
and can sometimes reshape it utterly by switching sides.
· Leaders
are rated for Initiative, Offense and Defense modifiers, and Action Points.
· Distinctive
national tactics and troop quality factors are ‘captured’ by Army Battle
Ratings (which evolve over time) and event and Battle Tactics cards.
· A simple,
but significant, naval sub-game simulates naval operations in the Mediterranean
and Atlantic, including the annual Bourbon Treasure Fleet’s risky voyage home.
· Colonial
conflicts in Canada and India are simulated by event cards
· Design-for-Effect
economic factors are “baked into” the event and reinforcement cards and can
therefore be resolved in only a small fraction of the time required by COM’s
more complex economic model.
The Bourbon (French, Spanish, Prussian) and Pragmatic
(Austrian, British) alliances battle across central Europe from Paris to
Konigsberg and Naples to London. Each year is divided into five ‘seasons’ (Late
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Early Winter). Play moves quickly since major
campaigning is restricted to the Summer and Fall, and each power will typically
activate only 1-3 forces per season. Certain event cards allow limited
campaigning in the Early and Late Winter seasons as well. Each card has a
Campaign Point (CP) value, which may be expended to activate Leaders and the armies
they command, to perform Administrative Marches, and to conduct raids with
irregular Croat/Hussar light troops (Austrian player only). Each leader has an
Activation Point (AP) rating, which allows him to move, fight battles, and
conduct sieges. This system produces historically valid outcomes and a rich
narrative while keeping the pace of play brisk.
COS features asymmetrical armies with distinctive national
characteristics and capabilities that have banded together in alliances that
often struggle with conflicting goals. Both the Bourbons and Pragmatics will
benefit – or suffer from – interactions among the various nations in their
respective alliances.
The French player controls the largest,
best-led army on the continent but is constrained by its limited logistical
reach, King Louis XV’s quirks and maladies, court intrigue, and periodic
pressure from his Spanish ally. The French will welcome the Pr/Span player’s
powerful Prussian army lancing into the Austrian heartland in early/mid game
but chafe under Spanish demands for cooperation and campaigning in Italy – the
only place the Spanish can hope to gain the VPs necessary for victory.
The Pr/Span player is both blessed and cursed. In
Prussia, he has a powerful army, Frederick’s excellent generalship, and clear
objectives. Yet the politically naive Frederick can be “played” into neutrality
- or out of the war completely – by wily Austrian diplomacy. Spain itself has
an excellent but undersized army that so depends upon French support that the
French player decides when Spanish forces will be activated for the Pr/Span
player to campaign with! In order to win, the Pr/Span player needs either a
Decisive Prussian victory (rare) or for both Prussia and Spain to achieve
lesser levels of victory. Thus, the Prussian “frere” of 1740-1745 may become a
great nuisance in 1745-1748!
The Pragmatic allies must weather the early war
storms of 1740-1742, get their feet under them, and somehow gain traction to
push back their powerful French and Prussian foes. They are equal to the task.
The Austrian army has solid leaders and its unique Croat/Hussar light troops,
which devastated enemy supply lines throughout the war, leaving French and
Prussian commanders bewildered and their armies starving. Maria Theresa’s army
can prevail against the French and Prussians - if it’s robustly financed to
achieve maximum strength. For this, the Austrian player must rely upon the good
will and immense financial resources of the Br/Pied player.
The Br/Pied player has the most subtle, difficult
– and most important – role in the game. He has a high-quality British/allied
army, but it is small, led by indifferent leaders, and can generally be
augmented only by low-quality Dutch troops since Austria will have its hands
full fighting elsewhere. Yet this mediocre, polyglot army is often the primary
protector of the VP-rich Austrian Netherlands against the mighty French Marshal
De Saxe! The British player must also selflessly prop up his allies by playing
subsidy (reinforcement) cards, which are essential for Austria’s survival and
ability to launch counteroffensives in the mid and late war periods. But the
British player has a powerful fleet and, if he (literally) plays his cards
right, can use it to cut off France from its overseas resources, starving it of
reinforcements in the critical late war years.
The British player also controls the Kingdom of
Piedmont and can win the game only if it too achieves some level of victory.
Piedmont occupies a central position in Northern Italy that sits astride the
routes running to the VP-rich areas in Naples and southern France and is itself
the chief region where the Pr/Span player can harvest VPs. The Austrians can
accomplish little in Italy without the Pieds' help, and vice versa – though
they both covet the same Victory Point objectives! So if the Austrian player
wants all those subsidy cards played, he may have to help Piedmont achieve its
VP objectives, send more Austrian troops to defend the Netherlands, and share
late war opportunities to grab VP spaces on the French-Germany border with the
British.