Description
Military Strategy Board Game of the key battle between George Washington and Howe in the American Revolution at Brandwine.
In this game, you will lead an army through a key historical battle in the musket era. With multiple players, you will run part of the army (Corps or Wing) on a team with other players. Unlike most games, you won’t have God like knowledge and control of everything. Like real generals, you will often not know what the enemy has, where they will attack from, when they will move or even when your own troops will move.
How do you win?
You win by sacking one of the enemy’s baggage trains or by inflicting 50% losses on their army first.
How does it work?
As you fight, your units take hits, fall back and become ‘Spent’. Spent units are vulnerable and easy to kill. You can unpack a baggage train to rally them back to Fresh, but unpacked baggage trains can no longer move. If the enemy sacks one or your baggage trains, you lose!
What makes this fun and very tense, is that all the pieces remain hidden on upright blocks. You can’t be sure which ones are fresh or spent, elite or poor grade troops. Where are the baggage trains?
Each command moves in random order by chit pull. This is very chaotic, just like real war. Who will move first? You can use your HQs to try to jump ahead or delay your move. Is it better to move first or last? It depends. Do you need to plug critical holes in the line or seize key terrain before the enemy does? Do you want the enemy to go first so that you can fall back and delay their advance? Or do you want the enemy to attack first so that you know where to commit your reserves? All combat is saved till the end of the turn. So movement during the turn is very fluid and up for grabs. Timing is everything.
In this battle, Washington has a sizable army but the British have better quality troops and where will they attack from? It is easy to defend when you know when and where the attack will be. This game forces you to fight as Washington did: against the unknown!
Historical Background
In September of 1777, Sir William Howe marched his British army towards the rebel capital in Philadelphia. Washington prepared a defense in the hills and woods behind the Brandywine Creek. Knyphausen demonstrated to Washington’s front, while Cornwallis launched a surprise attack on his right flank.
Rated Most Realistic & Accurate for:
• Command & Control limitations
• Fog of War -hidden units and chaotic move order
• Logistics -deployment crucial to victory and keeping your forces able to fight.
Used to train officers in the US military and in military academies around the world.
What the Professionals Play
Great for teams and solitaire play.
• Period style map.
• Kriegsspiel style, hardwood pieces.
Options
Scale: This small battle comes in the small Brigade blocks only. It still has a small foot print and few pieces for a fast playing time. Great for playing out at restaurants or pubs: Pub Battles!
Brigades blocks Only: Optional upgrade for players with the older big blocks.
Paper: A great way to get started on a budget. Folded and in a box.
Canvas: Real maps of the period were printed on canvas. This authentic, premium map is tough, durable and beautiful. Printed on 100 year, museum quality, archival canvas. It is water resistant, spill proof and lays flat and smooth. Truly a work of art. Canvas map games come rolled in a tube.
gull2112 –
I have always wanted to play a game that made me feel like I was in command of an army. I wanted a map that looked like a commander’s map. I wanted unit markers that tell me the names of the units and aren’t awash with ‘gamey’ information. I wanted a game that immersed me in the commander’s mindset. I thought that asking for that tall an order was asking too much. I was wrong, Command Post Games’ Pub Battles: Brandywine delivers all that and maybe even a little more than I had dared to ask. All that and a quick play game that’s design is intuitive. The “interface” with the rules is so smooth it is as if I were giving orders to subordinates. There’s no counting of hexes, consulting of endless charts, or delving through obscure tomes looking for an answer, for the “correct” way to do something. Yet, for all its low piece density and quick play/learn/fun, no game is ever the same. Each game is intense. You can set this game up quicker than you can turn on your computer, push start, and boot up your favorite computer game.
And here is the biggest kick; you can play it out. You can go to your favorite hangout and play it with your friends or even curious bystanders. Its cool and the canvas map is beautiful.
All those years of playing hundreds of different games, of refining in my mind what a wargame should be. A game that is so realistic the rules disappear, the decisions feel real, and the weight of command is visceral. This is what I have been waiting for. This is wargaming at its best.
Disclaimer – My enthusiasm might lead you to believe that I have some ‘skin’ in this game. I do not. I am not affiliated with Command Post games in any way. But for all the reasons listed in my review, I am very excited about this game.
mickey whitney –
What gull2112 said above. Seriously. Because like him I never thought I’d see a wargame that gives us all the precise things he specifies above and does it so consummately well. So hats off to gull for saying it all so well, and hats off to Marshall for his hard work in bringing this fantastic project to fruition. Many thanks, Marshall!
Gareth Griffiths –
Can I say your games are terrible? They are addictive!!
Friend and I have been playing Brandywine, we’re just gearing up for the Little Bighorn, and then you have Marengo on your blog. It’s terrible!!
Seriously, the Marengo game looks interesting, and I’ll be looking at it at some point in the future.
In the meantime, please keep up the good work.
With all best wishes
Gareth
Luigi Celada (verified owner) –
Brandywine captured my attention being without any hex grid and without many pages of rules.
Fast set-up, short playing time, nice tactile experience with the wooden blocks, chit draw system, no need to count my attack points vs. enemy defense points brought to me and my girlfriend a new and very entertaining way of playing. We had fun and that’s all about!
Michael Quigley (verified owner) –
Pub Battles caught my attention with your concept of simplicity, outstanding quality products, and the ease that this system captures the higher level decisions made during the battles of the 18th and 19th century without diving into many details. Brandywine has forced me to play this scenario time and time again to see what, if anything, Washington may have done to stave off the British flanking maneuver. Every time I play the results have been varied and different, while also allowing me to rapidly and easily explore other options during the battle. It’s been a historical delight and like the review above, forces you into the role of the Commander.
On the game play itself, the rules are rapid and easy to learn with good examples. I’ve been introducing my children to wargaming and Pub Battles will be one of the first true games they will play. The system is both friendly for newcomers and challenging for old hands. I see this system sitting on my table for years to come. The ease of setup, background briefings, and quick learning curve will also allow me to introduce this to my less then inclined friends for a quick game. Its abstract enough to allow decisions from afar as a commander while challenging enough to force planning and attempt to react to the unforeseen results of a die based system simulating the inherent randomness of an 18th century battlefield.
Truly worth splurging on for the wonderful map. I’ve already ordered Marengo and am looking forward to grabbing some of your Kreigsspeil products as well. Thanks for a great game, I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with next.
Robert Caplinger –
As good a Revolutionary game as out there, blocks give you a great feel like moving troops on a battlefield and chit draw never the same puts you in difficult positions, timing of enemy moves screws up plans like pronto. Five star and have four games and a friend has Marengo, next up checking on Monmouth and maybe….oooooh screech Dracula!