La Bataille de Valmy is a board wargame published by Jeux Descartes in 1981 that simulates the Battle of Valmy.
La Bataille de Valmy is a board wargame published by Jeux Descartes in 1981 that simulates the Battle of Valmy.
In 1792, European leaders were worried that the French Revolution that had toppled Louis XVI from his throne would infect their countries as well. The First Coalition was formed to bring the Revolution down, and in September 1792, the Duke of Brunswick with 34,000 Prussian soldiers advanced upon Paris. Two French armies led by Generals François Kellermann and Charles Dumouriez stopped the advance near the northern village of Valmy in Champagne-Ardenne. The two sides engaged in an exchange of long-distance artillery as the Prussians advanced towards the French positions. At this stage, to everyone's surprise, Brunswick broke off the Prussian attack and retreated from the field, giving the Revolutionaries their first major military victory. [1]
La Bataille de Valmy is a Napoleonic board wargame for two players in which one player controls the French forces and the other the Prussian forces. There is no expectation in the rules that Prussia will retreat in the face of French artillery, so the players can try to discover who might have won the battle had the Duke of Brunswick pressed on.
The basic rules, which are based on the system from Napoleon's Last Battles (SPI, 1976), are not complex, taking up only 8 pages. Units that enter an opposing unit's zone of control are obligated to fight. [2] There are also rules for artillery, cavalry charges, demoralization and infantry formations. [2] The turn order is a simple "I Go, You Go" system, where the Prussian player moves and then engages in combat. The French player then has the same opportunities. [3]
More advanced rules allow for randomly variable reinforcements; leadership command, where units must be within a certain distance of a leader in order to receive orders to move forward and attack; and unit disorganization following skirmish. [2]
The game lasts for twenty turns. At the end of the game, each player adds up the strength points of enemy units eliminated. Whoever has the greater total is the winner. [3]
La Bataille de Valmy was designed by Jean-Jacques Petit, who carefully researched the battle before creating the game. (Ten history texts are listed in the game's bibliography.) [3] The game was published by Jeux Descartes in 1981.
In Issue 5 of the French games magazine Casus Belli , François Marcela-Froideval was impressed, writing, "Valmy is an excellent achievement in terms of gameplay and historical achievement." Marcela-Froideval concluded, "Its realism is the fruit of the time spent in research, documentation, and also successive tests and refinement of the game by the author." [4]
In Issue 8 of the same magazine, Henri Gregoire was impressed by most of the components, saying, "The map is magnificent, the production is excellent and I congratulate the entire team from the creator to the model maker to the technicians." His only disappointment was the cardboard counters, which he thought were too thin and difficult to pick up. Gregoire examined the game mechanics and commented that the game was "an excellent achievement in terms of playability and historical achievement. This realism is the fruit of the time spent in research, documentation, and also successive tests and refinements of the game by the author." Gregoire concluded, "Valmy is a well-designed simulation with classic rules that provide a pleasant game, and with a superb map." [2]
In Issue 13 of the French games magazine Jeux et Stratégie, Michel Brassinne thought the game was perfect for new players, pointing out, "The rules have the merit of being both short and clear; which is far from always being the case. Consequently Valmy can be quickly implemented and constitutes a happy initiation to classic wargames." [3]
The Battle of Valmy, also known as the Cannonade of Valmy, was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The battle took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris. Generals François Kellermann and Charles Dumouriez stopped the advance near the northern village of Valmy in Champagne-Ardenne.
Jeux Descartes was a French publisher of roleplaying games and board games. Their most popular lines included: Eurogames, a set of serious board games, previously published by Duccio Vitale's independent company; Blue Games, small card games for larger groups; and Games for Two.
Cry Havoc is a board wargame published by Standard Games and Publications in 1981 that uses a complex set of rules to simulate medieval one-on-one combat.
Panzergruppe Guderian is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. in 1976 that simulates the 1941 Battle of Smolensk during World War II.
François Marcela-Froideval is a French role-playing game creator, video game producer, and comic scenarist.
The Universal Military Simulator is a computer game developed by Rainbird Software in 1987 for the Macintosh, Tandy 4000, and IBM PC compatibles. In 1988, both Atari ST, Amiga versions were released. The game was created by Ezra Sidran. The PC and Amiga versions were ported by Ed Isenberg. The game spawned two sequels: UMS II: Nations at War and The War College: Universal Military Simulator 3.
Maléfices, subtitled "The role-playing game with the scent of sulphur", was published by Jeux Descartes in 1985 as the first original French-language horror role-playing game. Three editions, 13 adventures and a bestiary have been published, and a fourth edition is being developed.
Napoleon's Last Battles is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications in 1976 that simulates the last four battles fought by Napoleon. It was one of SPI's most popular games, and also received many positive reviews.
Casus Belli is a French magazine about role-playing games, published in different formats since 1980. It contains news, reviews, interviews, features, and role-playing game materials. The magazine was published by Excelsior Publications until 1999, by Arkana Press in 2000–2006, and by Casus Belli Presse in 2010–2011, and has been published by Black Book Éditions since 2011. Since 2020, it also has the online video companion Casus TV, which is produced in collaboration with Tric Trac.
Chronicles of Osgorth: The Shattered Alliance is a computer wargame published in 1981 by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers. Programmed by John Lyon, it relies on a new game engine, called RapidFire, intended to make faster and easier access to wargames published by the studio. During a turn, the program selects the units each in turn and the player only has to order them to move, attack or cast a spell. The order is then executed immediately before the program selects another unit. The game offers two categories of scenarios. The first is composed of medieval-fantasy confrontation, including a free adaptation of the Battle of Gondor against the Mordor forces in the Lord of the Rings. The second is composed of historical battles of antiquity.
Siege is a 1984 board game published by Standard Games and Publications.
La Bataille de la Moscowa is a board wargame published originally by Martial Enterprises in 1975, later republished by Game Designers Workshop in 1977, and by Clash of Arms in 2011.
Battle for Normandy is a computer wargame published in 1982 by Strategic Simulations.
Objective: Kursk is a 1984 computer wargame designed by Gary Grigsby and released by Strategic Simulations in 1984.
Warship is a 1986 computer wargame designed by Gary Grigsby and published by Strategic Simulations. It covers naval conflict during the Pacific War.
Tokyo Express: The Guadalcanal Naval Campaign – 1942 is a solitaire board wargame published Victory Games in 1988.
MBT is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1989 that simulates hypothetical World War Three tank combat between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces in Western Europe. A second edition was published by GMT Games in 2016.
La Bataille de Corunna–Espagnol is a board wargame published by Clash of Arms (CoA) in 1995 that simulates the Napoleonic-era Battle of Corunna.
Ligny: Incomplete Victory is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Ligny. Ligny was originally published as one of four games in the popular collection Napoleon's Last Battles, but was also released as an individual game.
Napoléon à Austerlitz is a board wargame published by Descartes Editeur in 1977 that simulates the Battle of Austerlitz. It was the first board wargame published in France.