To: admin@grognard.com From: Wendell Martin Subject: Soldier King There doesn't seem to be any info for Soldier King. Since it's a nifty little game (that I just acquired, after first seeing it in a GDW catalog about 17 years ago ) I've whipped up some myself... Soldier King, 1982, GDW Introductory complexity. Designed and developed by Frank Chadwick. For 2-4 players. Two 17"x22" mapsheets, 320 counters, 6 pages of rules. This game recreates a fictional war, nominally set in the 18th century, among the Kingdoms of Arcadia, Argozia, Bravance, and Hrvatska for control of the Estavian Empire. The "A House Divided" game system is used (the first edition of which appeared a year earlier in 1981). The box makes great mention of diplomacy, and there are a few diplomatic aspects (mostly being able to grant control of a province to an ally, presumably in exchange for help in conquering a shared enemy's territory), but there are no detailed diplomatic/political rules. Overall, though, it's a good, simple game (much like AHD; many of the items below largely apply to that game as well). The map consists of twenty provinces, each containing several cities which are connected to one another by rivers, roads, and highways. Units are always in one of these cities and may only move between cities that are connected. The map is paper, with mostly white city squares on a largely pastel green background, connected by brown (road) and red (highway) lines, and blue (river) wavy lines. There are three types of units: infantry (crossed muskets), light cavalry (sword), and heavy cavalry (two swords), with three levels of quality: levy, veteran, and guard. Each nominally represents 10,000-20,000 troops. Counters are red, green, gold, and blue, with a white-printed, full-strength side and a black-printed, reduced-strength side. The goal is to control at least four of the seven electoral cities on the map. The turns are seasonal and there is no turn limit. Each his turn, each player rolls a die to see how many marches he may make. All units which start in the same city may be moved as part of the same march, even if they move to separate cities. There are various movement rates and special conditions depending on unit type and terrain. When opposing forces end up in the same city, combat ensues. To resolve a battle, the opposing pieces face off against each other before firing. Each enemy unit must be engaged by one friendly unit before any ganging up can begin. The defender then fires and any casualties are inflicted before the attacker can fire. A unit fires by rolling a die; if the result is equal to or less than its combat value the enemy is hit (a full strength unit is flipped over with no loss of combat value, but a unit that has already been flipped over is eliminated). Retreats to and reinforcements from adjoining cities may then occur, then another round of combat is fought. There are several special rules to show the effects of troop quality, entrenchment, cavalry, etc. After combat, one winning unit per battle may be promoted to the next level of quality. During the winter turn, units may be promoted instead of marching. Also during the winter turn, recruitment takes place, with levy quality troops appearing in certain cities. There are two optional/advanced rules: supply and random events. Supply introduces magazine units which are needed to support attacks. Random events may be applied by each player to any province/player on the map, but the target must be named before the event (which can be beneficial or harmful) is drawn. Wendell Martin