Twelve Million souls társasjáték

Angol leírás

"I have for my enemy a nation of twelve million souls, enraged beyond measure. All that was done here on the second of May was odious. No, Sire. You are mistaken. Your glory will sink in Spain."
-Joseph Bonaparte to his brother Napoleon.

"Twelve Million Souls" is a strategic game about the so-called Spanish War of Independence, "Peninsular War", "Guerre d'Espagne" or even "French War", during the years 1808 and 1814.

It is intended to be played by 2 to 4 players, divided between the three factions of the game: France, Spain and Great Britain-Portugal (Portuguese-British side). The main feature - very uncommon - that the game brings, is to be designed at regiment/battalion scale, so it is intended to be compatible and adaptable to many other tactical regulations on the so-called "Spanish War of Independence. The total number of units that we will see in the game is simplified and reduced, but always calculated proportionally to maintain the maximum historical rigor and the real balance and disposition of forces that was experienced at the beginning of the war, in July 1808, the starting date of the game.

Objective and duration of the game:

The objective of the game is to maintain control of the Iberian Peninsula and its cities, which provide resources and treasure (if plundered) in order to gain victory points, but also to be able to maintain and improve the armies, which, to a large extent, live off the terrain. However, it is a completely asymmetrical game, so the initial situation and characteristics of each nation require a different strategy. Whether this strategy is more or less faithful to the story depends on the players.

To achieve the objective at the end of the game, it will only be necessary to have obtained more victory points than your rivals. However, it must be taken into account that, on the one hand, the allied side (Spain and Great Britain-Portugal) will play as a team against the Imperials, but, on the other hand, they will also compete between the two factions - and against France - to be the one who gets the most points individually. In other words, you will play collaboratively and competitively at the same time.

The game also has a novel turn-counting system, which will almost always allow players to choose to end a session at the end of the turn they want, and thus be able to continue the war later on. It will be possible to compare the victory points obtained by your faction during the game with the victory points obtained historically by the same faction, at each moment of the war, regardless of the fact that the total VP count is inevitably favorable to one nation or another

Mechanics:

The mechanics of the strategic game is simple: Each player will be able to move his generals or guerrilla leaders (this only the Spanish player) through the provinces and cities delimited on the map of the strategic board. Each leader will control a series of units, which he will move during his movement, being able to dispose of them or leave them in other places or under the command of other allied leaders. These generals can attack, defend, besiege or liberate cities, intercept other armies during enemy movement, set ambushes or make forts in defensive positions. In addition, the units under their command, of very different types and qualities, can be promoted and gain experience, both as a result of planned training and by their participation in battles.

For a better learning experience, the game has a "Campaign Book", which not only helps us in the deployment, but also accompanies the player during each game turn, besides narrating the historical facts (as fixed events of the game) that were affecting or influencing, month by month, in the course of the war. Also, we can read in the campaign book about the most relevant battles and battles of the Peninsula, from 1808 to 1814. It could be considered a tutorial that introduces the players to the game, indicating which parts of the rules they have to read at each moment, so that it is not necessary to read the complete rules before starting to play. The campaign book will indicate which parts we have to understand and which to skip at each moment.

In addition to the campaign book, each faction will have a booklet of reference tables, where we will have all the tables and information necessary to complete each phase of the turn, so as not to have the need to make use of the rules at every moment. We will have casuistry and specific concepts, scripted help for calculating the duration of sieges, application of casualties, promotion scheme, order of battle, specific characteristics of each nation, etc. The simplified rules and regulations at hand.

Another main and completely original element in the game is its battle resolution mechanics. With the intention of giving players the opportunity to choose between playing their own battles with an external tactical miniatures rulebook or to be able to resolve each battle in a faster way, focusing, in this case, on the strategic aspect of the game, Twelve Million Souls features a semi-autoresolving system of battles (of any type). In the "quick battle", the quality, experience and size of each army will be key to the final result, but chance and also the possible tactical and organizational decisions taken by each player -before and during the battle- can be of great importance to change the most probable sign of victory.

Therefore, we are faced with a small and dynamic card game within the main game, which has its own board and supplement to be able to play it.

In a quick battle, the duels between units of both sides will follow one after the other, and each type of weapon (infantry, cavalry and artillery) will have, or not, bonuses to the force depending on which other weapon it faces, reflecting the famous tactical system of the three combined arms (and its sub-types) that proved so effective during the Napoleonic wars.

Game phases and turn sequence:

Each of the turns symbolizes a month of real time, starting in July 1808 and ending in April 1814.

The most relevant phases of each turn, obviating the protocol phases of "updating and checking of counters" (of turn, sieges and cities), "negotiations" or "escape and liberation of prisoners", will be the phases of:

Events: Fixed and random. Introduction, withdrawal or improvement of units. Application of random events or management of hand cards (shares exchangeable for money).

Income calculation: In addition to the income from the control of the peninsular territory, factions will count on income from their home territory or overseas territories.

Recruitment and Promotions: We will strengthen our armies. We will be able to instruct, to promote or to recruit new units of soldiers.

Movements: We will direct our leaders in the field and test the numerous possible strategies to take control of the territory. We will be able to use our favor the geographical accidents and the allied maritime transport, but also it will be able to play against us.

Battles: We will resolve all the military operations carried out in the previous phase, as well as possible assaults on besieged cities and attempts to liberate them. We will make decisions with the imprisoned armies and with the cities captured from the enemy.

—description from the designer