The Seven Years War In Europe, 1756-1763

Clash of Monarchs lets two to four players recreate the titantic struggle that raged across Europe and the world, pitting Frederick the Great’s Prussia and its Hanoverian allies against Maria Theresa’s Coalition of Austrian, French, Russian, Saxon, Swedish, and Holy Roman Empire forces. Each player directs the effort of one or more of the major powers, plus their minor allies, using the card-driven operations and point-to-point movement system of many of GMT’s most highly-regarded games. The cards help players enact Frederick’s pre-war invasion planning, Austrian minister Kaunitz’s diplomatic triumph in the 2nd Treaty of Versailles, the operational ascendancy of Prussian and Hanoverian light troops, formation of the Austrian General Staff, huge financial loans, court intrigue at Versailles, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, and dozens of other key political, economic, and military events. COM also uses split decks, which foster play of each power’s events in two phases — Early War (usually through mid-1758), and Wider War (1758 to conclusion) – and allow a multi-player game to use exactly the same rules as a 2-player contest. COM augments the CDG system with a Colonial Conflict sub-game, a fully-integrated treatment of light unit operations, and a Fortunes of War chit pull, which varies the occurrence and/or timing of events beyond players’ control each year — severe weather, desertion, attrition, possible deaths of English king George II, Empress Elizabeth of Russia, et al, and Madame Pompadour’s political influence over the French commanders, to add further uncertainty and drama to the campaigns.

~ GMT

Intro

Review

DAR

Enrico

Recovering hobo, one-time actor and street corner philosopher, now trying to enjoy the less fine things in life (like everyone else does).

One thing has been nearly constant in my life – gaming. Even before discovering wargames (at the tender age of 10 or so – purely fortuitous), I would play out family games (including the 3M series) solitaire. But, life situations interfered not too long ago, and I was largely without board gaming for the better part of a decade. The last couple of years have seen me devoting myself to the hobby again – and learning a lot of the newer designs – so, I’m looking from the eyes of an old grognard (ah, how I fought against THAT term when first used on me) but an open mind and willingness to see if newer games appeal.