Foreword
In today’s post, we’d like to provide more detailed information about the upcoming Gods of War: Lee expansion: Crazy Horse. It has been announced since the first edition of the game, but editorial work on the rulebook for the second edition meant that the project was temporarily suspended. After the premiere of the rulebook, however, we returned with all force to this project. We invite you to start a fascinating journey to the Great Plains!
What do we get in this expansion?
1. New nations
“Crazy Horse” is the first addition to Gods of War: Lee, which simultaneously introduces two opposing armies: the Sioux and their allies under the leadership of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, and the US Army from the Department of the Platte, which included the famous 7th Cavalry Regiment of Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer . It is in line with the company’s new policy, which we described here: http://www.gmboardgames.com/blog/en/summary-of-2019-and-plans-for-2020/
Each new expansion will contain at least two opposing armies, so that players will have appropriate opponents.
OdB’s and organization of both armies are from the war of 1876. The US army will particularly please Union players, as they will mostly use the already available figurines, adding of course some new ones, e.g. the famous Gatling guns. US rooster will will have good infantry and cavalry, though only trace amounts of artillery (plus the Gatlings we already mentioned). Its strength will also be completely new special rules and some good commanders.
In contrast, the Sioux will be an ideal army for those who like high mobility on the battlefield, their cavalry will be unrivaled in terms of speed, it will also have the opportunity to rush and use the so-called stationary wheel – special tactics for fire fighting on horseback. They will not be easy to command, however, few leaders have sufficient authority to force others to listen. Therefore, they will receive some interesting rules regarding the chain of command, misunderstandings and rivalry between tribes, etc. On the battlefield they will have to be careful that their camp is not destroyed by opponents. They will have a village instead of the operational base of the standard armies. At first, its arrangement will be a secret, but it will be able to move. Their weakness will also be artillery sensitivity.
The rulers of the Great Plains – the bisons, will receive their special rules. Sioux players will be able to place them on the battlefield and they will interrupt opponents from moving. But their movement will be somewhat random, so be careful!
Of course, both nations will receive their battle cards, battle and cavalry tactics, and commander cards.
2. New weapons
The battle of Little Big Horn took place in 1876. The weapons used there were in many cases completely different than during the Civil War. The biggest change was the widespread use of breachloading rifles (like Springfield), including repeating (like Winchester) and early machine guns (Gatling, though they did not take part in this battle). Although these weapons were already constructed in the 1860s, but did not enter into widespread use during the Civil War, it was only after its end that they began to be used more and more widely. Due to the much greater firepower and changing tactics, we had to create new rules for them, which would also apply to armies such as Prussians or French from 1870. Breachloading rifles will have great firepower (+3 or even +4), as well as an impact on the morale of the units equipped with them (due to the increasingly loose formation) and several additional options (e.g., pinning other units, stopping the cavalry charge). Early machine guns, in turn, will operate on the same principles as shooting cartridges, their maximum range will be 6 inches.
New weapons will, however, also have an appropriate point cost, so it will be possible to play battles between armies from different periods, those less modern will have a clear numerical advantage.
3. “Little War” rules
We know that some readers may experience some dissonance. How will the rules of Gods of War: Lee, which are designed to play great battles, where several tens of thousands and more soldiers fought per side, will be useful for clashes, where fought several hundred, up to several thousand people?
The answer to this is the “Little War” rules. You can use them to play small battles and skirmishes. By creating them, we wanted to be as consistent as possible with the rules of Gods of War: Lee, and not create a new game whose rules should be learned from a scratch and which would be in some sense a complement for Lee, and not its competition. We want to harmoniously complement and permeate the rules – that’s why Togo naval rules, for example, can be combined with playing Lee. For the same reason, most of the rules of the “Little War” are practically the same as for Lee (the add-on will only describe what has been changed – you will still need a main rulebook to play). The size of the units has been scaled down (one base is about 100 soldiers, not 1500 like in Lee), distances on the table, command level and several other issues. Instead of field marshals or army generals, we’ll see colonels and majors. Orders, movement and firing ranges or unit statistics look the same. Thanks to this unification, it will be possible to play both the Battle of Rosebud and the fictional Sioux battle with the Army of Northern Virginia or the French Army of the Orient. It also means that the Sioux can participate in our campaign.
At the same time, the “Little War” rules will introduce special scenarios to the game – typical for smaller skirmishes, such as escorting columns of wagons, hijacking cattle, or intercepting a courier. They will be intended to play with beer and pretzels, using armies intended for “Little War”. One day we can fight the battle of Antietam (using Lee main rules), and soon after the Sioux can attack on the lumberjack camp (with “Little War” rules) 🙂
Over time, all existing armies will get additional army lists dedicated to the rules of “Little War”, where cavalry is usually more common. For example, the Confederates will receive a “Morgan Raid” list based on this famous expedition of the Rebel commander against the Union.
So the armies described in this expansion can be used in two ways. Either play battles according to the rules of the main rulebook (with any army) or play a special scenario of the “Little War” rules.
When will you be able to play?
When it comes to the English version, the most important thing is to translate the rules to Gods of War: Lee. We have already translated 7 chapters out of 16 contained in the manual (yay!), and our great proofreaders make many wonderful comments. Only after the premiere of the English version of the manual will we be able to translate the rules of “Crazy Horse” and other expansions. We will devote a separate entry for English-speaking players only.
Surely, miniatures dedicated to these nations will appear sooner. We presented Sioux warriors on Facebook yesterday, their sets will be available soon. They are sculpted in a traditional way and cast in metal. There are also bisons, mules or cows – all in metal. We will soon show a special miniature – Lieutenant Colonel Custer on a horseback. We guarantee that you will like him very much 🙂
As for the US Army – it will be possible to use all created so far by us miniatures for the Union army, but there will be some additional equipment, including the already mentioned Gatling guns (3D printed).
It is also worth remembering that the “Litte War” rules will also allow in the future to deal with such conflicts as the Zulu Wars, the 1st Boer War, conflicts on the Afghan border, the Boshin War, or other asymmetrical conflicts. Therefore, they open the whole spectrum of fantastic possibilities and adventures with 6-mm games.
The war on the great plains was merciless, and the parties used all means to defeat their opponents. Are you ready to take command of the entire tribe and defend the land of Sioux? Or maybe are you ready to head for the wild west and defend defenseless settlers from the Sioux attacks?
