If you've ever wanted to push counters across the war that reshaped early modern Europe, GMT Games has finally posted Cuius Regio: The Thirty Years War to its retail schedule for May. Designer Francisco Gradaille's long-anticipated operational wargame on the 1618-1648 conflict carries a $71 retail price tag after years on GMT's P500 pre-order list (where it sat at $45).
Looking for board gamers near you? Browse local communities and find your next game night.
Find events near youThe title comes from the 1555 Peace of Augsburg compromise that lent the war its religious fuse: "cuius regio, eius religio", or "whose realm, their religion." Gradaille's design covers the whole arc at the operational scale, with each turn representing a year and each hex covering roughly nine miles of central European ground. Two players take the Catholic and Protestant sides through the Bohemian Revolt, the Danish intervention, the Swedish phase under Gustavus Adolphus and the French intervention that turned the war from a religious squabble into a continent-wide power struggle.
You don't have to commit to all 31 campaign turns to play. The game ships with shorter scenarios for each phase, the briefest of which run around 90 minutes, plus the full Thirty Years War campaign for groups willing to lose a long weekend (or several) to the Defenestration of Prague and its consequences.
Stop juggling Meetup, WhatsApp, and spreadsheets. One platform for your gaming group's events, RSVPs, and member management.
See how it worksThe Thirty Years War has had patchy treatment in tabletop, with most attention going to Gustavus Adolphus and the Swedish years rather than the messy political knot of the whole conflict. Gradaille's design tries to model the entire arc, with religion, foreign intervention and Wallenstein's mercenary armies all in play at the same time.
If you've been itching to game out a war where peace was actually harder than fighting, GMT's site has the details and your favourite UK historical wargame stockist will be taking copies in May. Worth rallying a club opponent for, just maybe not on a school night.
Sources: GMT Games | The Players' Aid | BoardGameGeek
