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Men Of Iron - Volume I (The Rebirth of Infantry) : Warfare In The Middle Ages
From the Publisher...
Volume I : The Rebirth of Infantry
14th Century Western Europe
The Battles of Falkirk, Courtrai, Bannockburn, Creçy, Poitiers, and Najera Fast playing . . . easily understandable rules . . . unusual battles . . . lots of action . . . lots of color . . . lots of Fun.
Not too often gamers get to use those phrases for one game. But now you have the chance to do so with the first volume of GMT's series on Warfare in the Middle Ages, Men of Iron, because these Men deliver on all of the above.
Men of Iron's first volume covers the re-emergence of infantry in the early 14th century, along with a more perceptive understanding of the value of combined-arms warfare especially with good use of defensive terrain. The scenarios highlight the key elements that made these battles so fascinating: the defensive power of the longbow, especially when used in coordination with dismounted, or even mounted, men-at-arms. Given the right deployments and forces, the inability to take advantage of the marvelous abilities of the vaunted knights, the finest mounted force in Europe, became something of a surprise to many "experts."
Men of Iron is designed for quick learning and easy play. Game rules are short, there are no "turns" - play is Continual, with ample opportunities to steal play from your opponent - and combat resolution is a single dieroll. Playing time is about 1 hour per battle. Really!
Men of Iron is also GMT's gift to the gamer who enjoys playing solitaire - the system is designed for both individual and face-to-face play without any loss in insight or Fun - to see what happened in these famous battles and why. The units feature longbows, crossbows, men-at-arms (mounted, dismounted and unhorsed), hobilars, genitors, nasty Scots with axes, and even a couple of bombards! And the commanders! The great English King, Edward III and his son, The Black Prince, Wallace and The Bruce, Captal de Buch, and a host of kings.
The battles include:
Falkirk : Wallace's great disaster, despite his massive schiltron. Good infantry is fine, but it needs support. The ultimate solitaire scenario. Courtrai : The Flemish shock the great French army with one of the earliest displays of the power of solid infantry using defensive positions.
Bannockburn : Robert Bruce's great triumph over a numerically superior but literally bogged down English army.
Creçy : The first of the great 100 Years War Longbow battles.
Poitiers : The French try it dismounted this time and almost win. But the Longbow, and solid, even when vastly outnumbered, English infantry prevail again.
Najera : The Black Prince goes to Spain (Castille) with a marvelous combined arms force to further English plans of "expansion". The playtesters said this was the "best battle in the box".
For the cardboard oriented, Men of Iron includes 2 full sheets of combat units plus a half sheet of markers, 6 battle maps, on three mapsheets, backprinted, plus the usual gathering of play aids and rules booklets
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more information at the Board Game Geek website
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