Robert at Bannockburn, subtitled "The Battle of Bannockburn, 1314", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1979 that simulates the Battle of Bannockburn between armies of the English and the Scottish. The game was originally published as part of Great Medieval Battles , a collection of four games.
In 1314, Robert The Bruce, seeking to re-establish the independence of Scotland, laid siege to Stirling Castle, an important Scottish castle that was occupied by English soldiers. In response, Edward II of England raised a large army and marched it into Scotland. The two armies met on boggy ground near the Firth of Forth. [1]
Robert at Bannockburn is one of four different games in the "quadrigame" Great Medieval Battles. All four games simulate different battles using the same set of rules. Each game also has their own set of counters, some of which are regular-sized (100 to 300 men) and some being double-sized (500 to 800 men). [2] Some of the counters, for multi-mode units, are also back-printed. [2]
The first player uses the following sequence:
The second player then repeats this series of phases to complete one Game Turn, which represents 15 minutes of the battle.
Robert at Bannockburn also has a number of exclusive rules to differentiate it from the other three games in the Great Medieval Battles box:
Combat, which involves both ranged and melee weapons, does not result in direct elimination of units, but effects the morale of the defending unit, causing it to gain a level of Rout. Further morale effects are cumulative, and any unit that reaches four levels of Rout is eliminated. [2]
Leader counters play an important part of the game, both in their ability to remove Rout conditions from a unit, and in the Victory Conditions to win the game. [3]
After the success of SPI's first quadrigame, Blue & Gray in 1975, the company quickly produced more quadrigames over the next four years. Great Medieval Battles, published in 1979 with graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen, rose to #5 on SPI's Top Ten Bestseller List the month it was published, and stayed on the list for the next four months. [4] All of the games in Great Medieval Battles, including Robert of Bannockburn, were also offered for individual sale. [4]
In 1999, Bannockburn was re-released by Decision Games in Strategy & Tactics #197, using the same rules, but with an updated map and counters. [3]
In Issue 98 of Campaign, Kevin Pollock commented "SPI has designed a nice game system to reflect conditions on the medieval battlefield while still holding on to the basic idea of the quad system - simplicity. The only problem I can see is that the game tends to be a bit slow due to the excessive number of die rolls." [2]
In Issue 15 of The Grenadier , Ralph Vickers was not sure the rules truly reflected a simulation of medieval warfare, noting "On the whole one must conclude that medieval warfare in the hobby still has a way to go in its development." Vickers concluded "Before medieval games get into the ballpark of realism, game mechanics will have to be developed similar to supply in WW II type games." [5]
In Issue 3 of Simulacrum, John Kula reviewed Decision Games' reissue of Bannockburn, and noted, "The counters themselves are the best example of the differences that have occurred in 20 years of graphic development. The original SPI counters are workmanlike and, quite frankly, boring. The newer Decision Games' counters use more color and they use it to much better effect." Kula admitted that, for gamers looking for exact historical accuracy, this game fails because it "ostensibly fails to capture the full and complete details of medieval combat." However, Kula concluded that the more important point was that the game was enjoyable, saying, "In any event, let us not fall into the trap that comes with age, of forgetting how to have fun." [3]
Terrible Swift Sword: Battle of Gettysburg Game is a grand tactical regimental level board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. A second edition was published by TSR in 1986.
Cemetery Hill, subtitled "The Battle of Gettysburg, 1–3 July 1863", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 as part of the "quadrigame" Blue & Gray: Four American Civil War Battles that simulated four battles of the American Civil War. Cemetery Hill was later released as a stand-alone "folio" game.
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.
King Arthur, subtitled "The Battle of Stonehenge, 536", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1979 that simulates the fictional Battle of Camlann between the forces of King Arthur and his son Mordred.
Blue & Gray: Four American Civil War Battles is a board wargame originally published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates four battles from the American Civil War.
Battles for the Ardennes is a "quadrigame" — a board wargame that contains four different battles using one set of rules — originally published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1978 that simulates Second World War battles in the Ardennes Forest region in 1940 and again in 1944.
The Art of Siege, subtitled "Four Great Siege Battles", is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1979 that simulates four famous sieges.
Island War: Four Pacific Battles is a collection of four board wargames published in 1975 by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) that simulates various battles between American and Japanese forces during the Pacific Campaign of World War II.
Marengo: Napoleon in Italy, 14 June 1800 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 as one of four games packaged together in the Napoleon at War "quadrigame". Marengo was also released as a separate game the same year. The game simulates the Battle of Marengo between Austrian and French forces.
Modern Battles: Four Contemporary Conflicts is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates four modern-day battles set in the early 1970s.
Napoleon at War, subtitled "Four Battles", is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates various battles fought by Napoleon.
Thirty Years War, subtitled "Four Battles", is a "quadrigame" — four separate board wargames packaged in one box that use a common set of rules — published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976. The four games simulate different battles during the Thirty Years' War, and were sold individually as well as in the quadrigame format. Some of the games were well received by critics, but overall, the quadrigame did not sell well.
Freiburg, subtitled "3–9 August 1644 – Conquest of the Rhine Valley", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the 1644 Battle of Freiburg during the Thirty Years' War. Freiburg was originally sold as one of four separate games packaged together in Thirty Years War, a "quadrigame", but it was also published as an individual game. It received poor reviews from critics, who called it the weakest of the four games in the Thirty Years War box, "a series of slogging matches", "not much fun", and "relatively boring."
Breitenfeld, subtitled "Triumph of the Swedish System", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the 1642 Battle of Breitenfeld during the Thirty Years' War. Breitenfeld was a free game that appeared in Strategy & Tactics, designed to promote SPI's soon-to-be-launched wargame Thirty Years War. Breitenfeld proved popular and was also published as part of SPI's "folio" series of games.
Blue & Gray II, subtitled "Four American Civil War Battles", is a collection of four board wargames originally published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that each simulate a battle from the American Civil War. It is the sequel to Blue & Gray published earlier in the year. Each of the four games was also published as individual "folio games."
The Great War in the East, subtitled "Four World War I Battles", is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1978 that simulates four battles of World War I on the Eastern Front and the Italian/Austrian front.
Modern Battles II: Four Contemporary Conflicts is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1977 that simulates three hypothetical contemporary battles as well as the battle for Jerusalem during the Six Day War in 1967. This collection was a sequel to SPI's popular Modern Battles published two years before.
Four Battles of Army Group South is a collection of four board wargames published in 1979 by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) that simulate various battles between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front of World War II.
Great Medieval Battles is a collection of four board wargames published in 1979 by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) that simulates historic battles that were fought during the Medieval period.
Supercharge: Battle of El Alamein, October 1942 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates Operation Supercharge during the Second Battle of El Alamein of World War II. The game was originally published as part of the Four Battles in North Africa "quadrigame" — a collection of four games simulating four separate battles that all use the same rules. Supercharge was also published as an individual "folio game."