Tod Kershner and Dale Wood recently released a supplement to their Age of Reason rules called Campaigns and Battles From the Age of Reason. The booklet is a soft cover 8.5" by 11" book with some nice color pictures on the cover of the Prussian army in action. It's priced at $15.00 per copy and includes 100 new tactical maps for wargaming as well as three distinct parts: the Bohemian Blitzkrieg Campaign Game, His Most Catholic Majesty's Domains - which adds Spain to the Sport of Kings campaign game, and seven new wargame scenarios for the 18th Century. All in all, a nice production and a must have for anyone who plays Age of Reason on a regular basis.

Bohemian Blitzkrieg

This is really the heart and meat of the booklet, and features Frederick the Great's 1757 invasion of Bohemia, which kicked off the Seven Years War. It's a two player game that can be concluded within two or three game sessions. I helped with the play testing, assisted by Paul Petri and Brian Vizek, and we elected to play the game with one judge and two players, with only the judge knowing where troops actually were, at least until two opposing armies came into contact. This is not a part of the system, but it worked fairly well for us and created several amusing events, including one session where Frederick and Daun's armies passed each other at a cross roads , each unaware of the presence of the other army.

The campaign uses strength points (SP's) which translate into combat units on the wargame table, should the players elect to actually fight. Battles are not a for sure thing in this system. Once two armies come into contact, there begins a pre-battle minuet in which each side may elect to offer/accept battle, withdraw, or continue to maneuver for better position. Once battle is accepted, Age of Reason rules are applied tactically. The side that gobbles up the most points at the end of 12 turns wins the game. It's a nice, well-thought out game system that merits a try if you want to see what it is like to be an army commander in the 18th Century.

The Spanish Are Coming!

Dale Wood is responsible for developing a way to add Spain to the Sport of Kings campaign game, and I like the way that this works out. Spain owns Naples and Sicily in Europe and most of the Caribbean posessions in the New World. Dale has also developed army lists for Spain in both Europe and the Americas. Add to this a few treasure fleets, tropical storms and the dreaded fever, and the result is what appears to be an excellent addition to a fine campaign game.

More SYW Scenarios

Finally, the booklet includes seven wargame scenarios that cover a variety of mid 18th Century conflicts as well as one from the War of 1812. This latter scenario interests me because I have often thought that the mechanics of Age of Reason could produce an enjoyable and very playable set of Napoleonic rules.

Scenarios include Sheriffinuir 1715 from the Jacobite Rebellions, a generic Austrian-Ottoman Turk conflict in the Balkans, Mollwitz, Kolin, Pondicherry 1761, Guilford Courthouse from the American Revolution, and the Battle of New Orleans from the War of 1812. I must commend Messers Kirshner and Wood for coming up with a wide variety of battles from popular and obscure settings. I especially enjoyed the Ottoman Turk and India scenarios. Kirshner's writing style is humorous and makes for a good read, whether or not you actually get around to playing the scenarios and there is a reasonable amount of historical information that makes this book a handy reference item on your bookshelf.

The campaign system is interesting and hopefully the authors will prepare additional campaign modules in the future. Flanders in the 1740's and Prince Ferdinand's campaigns in Western Germany are two that would work well with this system.

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