White Mountain
8 November 1620
The Bohemian Revolt
Cards 7A-10A
Morale: 4
Imperials & Catholic League
Cards 1A-6A
Morale: 2
A strong defensive position is squandered by the hapless rebel leadership, effectively ending the Bohemian Revolt. Incredibly, the war it ignited would continue on, engulfing most of Europe for three decades. A simple battle to get your feet wet.
1
Royalists
Cards 11A-17A
Morale: 2
Parliament & Covenanters
Cards 18A-24A
Morale: 3
A letter from King Charles convinced Prince Rupert of the Rhine that he ought to fight a much larger army. Parliament won a lopsided victory. Only the stubborn stand of the Whitecoats prevented total disaster. This has more moving parts than the White Mountain scenario.
2
The Plains of Abraham
13 September 1759
British
Cards 25A-28A
Morale: see below
French
Cards 29A-32A
Morale: see below
To win, the British must Rout all 3 French cards without losing any of their own. If the French Rout a single card, they win (even if they lose their last card when doing so).
The battle that won Canada for the British. This battle introduces Counter-attack Reactions.
3
Bosworth Field
22 August 1485
House of York
Cards 33A-35A
Morale: 2
House of Lancaster (Tudor)
Cards 36A-38A
Morale: 1
The battle that ended the Wars of the Roses, and saw the ascendancy of the Tudors. This small and curious scenario gives you a peek at the Absorb reaction and introduces Command actions, turning on the timely arrival of fresh troops.
4
Malplaquet
11 September 1709
French
Cards 39A-42A
Morale: 2
The Grand Alliance
Cards 1B-6B
Morale: 3
The Grand Alliance broke the French line – but paid for it with heavy losses. French commander Villars wrote to the king after the battle: "If it pleases God to give your majesty's enemies another such victory, they are ruined."
5
Royalists
Cards 7B-13B
Morale: 4
The Catholic (Holy) League
Cards 14B-20B
Morale: 4
Henri IV defeated his Catholic opposition, thanks in part to enemy mercenaries who were sympathetic to his cause. It wasn't enough to win over Paris; his rule would not be accepted until he converted. This is a tricky scenario – a dance of screens.
6
French & English
Cards 21B-28B
Morale: 2
Spanish, French & English
Cards 29B-35B
Morale: 3
Complicated politics saw French and English troops on both sides of this battlefield, widely admired as Turenne's masterpiece. You will need to master all three Reaction types to triumph here.
7
Brooklyn Heights
27 August 1776
Colonials
Cards 39B-42B
Morale: 1
British & Their Vile Hessians
Cards 36B-38B
Morale: 1
A diversionary attack by Grant disguised Clinton's advance on the Patriot flank. Outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered and outplanned, they've gotta make an all-out stand – at least until the main body of the army can escape. For experienced players.
8
Chaeronea
2 August 338 BCE
Philip II
Cards 92A-96A
Morale: 1
Greek Alliance
Cards 97A-101A
Morale: 3
If Polyaenus is to be believed (a big if!), Philip isolated the Greek left with a faked retreat, while the teenaged Alexander destroyed the famous Sacred Band of Thebes and smashed the Greek right.
17
Various Squabbling Satraps
Cards 102A-108A
Morale: 3
Alexander III
Cards 109A-114A
Morale: 1
Persia's light cavalry is no match for our boy's infantry and Companions, and it doesn't help the Persian cause that no one is really in charge. About the only thing they have going for them is they're on the other side of a river. Will it be enough?
18
Darius III
Cards 115A-121A
Morale: 3
Alexander III
Cards 122A-129A
Morale: 1
Darius had a numerical advantage – how much exactly is impossible to say – but most of his troops were ineffectual light infantry that weren't actually engaged. Both sides concentrated their strength on their right, and it was a race to see which side's left would collapse first.
19
Gaugamela
1 October 331 BCE
Alexander III
Cards 130A-135A
Morale: 1
Darius III
Cards 92B-100B
Morale: 4
Numbering somewhere between 100,000 and one million (!), Darius's army vastly outnumbered Alexander's. But he was still trying to fight the Macedonians with Persian methods, and after some hard fighting, Alexander broke the Persian left.
20
Alexander III
Cards 101B-107B
Morale: 1
Porus
Cards 108B-113B
Morale: 3
Crossing the river with a small part of his army, Alexander was initially outnumbered, and the enemy's fearsome elephants threatened to break the phalanx. But daring and complicated maneuvers threw the Indian army into disarray, securing victory for Alexander in his last major battle.
21
Eumenes
Cards 114B-119B
Morale: 2
Antigonus
Cards 120B-123B
Morale: 2
One of the many battles fought by Alexander's successors (the Diadochi), this one proved tactically inconclusive. But the capture of Eumenes's baggage was enough for his Silver Shields to turn him over to Antigonus for execution.
22
Antigonus
Cards 124B-129B
Morale: 2
Seleucus
Cards 130B-135B
Morale: 2
Like Gabiene and many other battles from the Wars of the Diadochi, this battle saw two armies that were mostly identical in structure and tactics. And like many ancient battles, the death of a single man, the enemy commander (in this case Antigonus), was sufficient to secure victory.
23
Pharsalus
9 August 48 BCE
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
Cards 217A-220A
Morale: 2
Gaius Iulius Caesar
Cards 221A-225A
Morale: 2
The decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War saw him square off against his old ally Pompey the Great. Knowing he would lose a straightforward clash of arms, Caesar gambled everything on a bold stratagem.
36
Russian Empire
Cards 217B-220B
Morale: 1
Anglo-French Alliance
Cards 221B-225B
Morale: 2
In a dense fog, a massive – but badly coordinated – Russian army launched a surprise attack. As the fog lifted and fresh Allied troops poured in, their desperate, doomed defense improbably turned into a lopsided victory.
37