A Lesser Wrath

By order of her Imperial Highness, by the Grace of God, Empress and Autocrat of All the Russians, you are hereby appointed Generalissimo of all imperial troops currently serving in Finland. Your instructions are to carry the war to the enemy in the manner you best see fit, but not so as to endanger either the realm or the royal purse. If you fail, there will be... displeasure. Your duties commence at once. Do not return without victory.

In 1741, while the rest of Europe involved itself in yet another interminable succession war, Sweden and Russia squared off in yet another of their own squabbles for dominance in the Baltic. The Russian monarchy was unstable, and a cabal of Swedish hawks - whose party was known as the Hats - sought to replace the current empress with one friendly to Sweden. France, Sweden's paymaster, encouraged the plan, hoping to distract Russia from affairs in Europe. The Swedes would claim some of the territory taken from them during the Great Northern War. Either the new empress would grant them the land out of gratitude for their aid, or their armies would simply take it. It was a daring plan, and one beyond Sweden's means. And yet it came very close to success. The coup went off as planned, but the Russian Army, led by one of Europe's best marshals - Peter Lacy of County Clare - struck first, upsetting the Swedish timetable. Instead of the Swedish army managing the palace coup from the Winter Palace, it was floundering in the snows of Karelia when the new regime took power. Now, unable to acquire the territory they desired through negotiations, the Hats foolishly challenged the full might of Russia to a trial of arms...

The Russo-Swedish War of 1741-1743, otherwise called the Hats' War or the War of the Hats, has to be the most obscure conflict Red Sash Games has tackled so far. Measured by the butcher's bill, it was hardly a minor one, however, with something like 50,000 casualties. Historically, it was a fiasco for the Swedes, but partly this was due to bad luck - an epidemic ravaged their fleet - and partly due to internal politics. Surely, as the Swedish generalissimo, YOU can do better? If you choose to play the Russians instead, you will have many, many troops, and excellent commanders to lead them, but you will be faced by deadlines as the diplomats are already discussing peace terms. Will you be able to make a name for yourself before they pull the curtain down?

The Game

ALW is a two-player operational study of the War of the Hats, fought between the Swedes and the Russians in the years 1741-1743. Included in the game is a set of the latest basic rules, charts, and tables (version 3.75) for the Lace Wars system.

A few key concepts in this system include Operations Points, Campaign Plans, Prestige, and Auxiliaries. Operations Points are accumulated during periods of inactivity, in order to be spent during the course of active campaigning. If a player is unable or unwilling to spend OPs, his forces suffer attrition instead. The further forces are from their base of operations, the more severe the penalties will be. Whoever has the most OPs also has the initiative.

The heart of the game is the Operations Phase, where the players alternate moving their formations, laying siege to fortresses and engaging in battle with the enemy field forces. The players have a degree of flexibility in what they do with their forces, but they are constrained by the Campaign Plan or plans that they choose. These dictate what objectives (usually fortresses) must be taken. A successfully completed plan will garner Prestige for a player. At the end of the game, the player with the highest prestige wins. In addition, bonuses can be won for victory in battle, and these may be used to buy rewards that improve a player's chances, or be used as influence.

The combat system has a tactical feel - while not a full sub-system with battlefield maps, it addresses the key issues of frontage, reserves, and supports, as well as firepower and morale. Winning a battle will bring you the acclaim of your noble peers, but may not gain you any strategic advantage; losing a battle can be catastrophic.


Sommar Skråla - The Baltic, 1741-1743

Sommar Skråla is the second of a set of games covering the Age of Sail at an Operational level. While the War of the Austrian Succession raged elsewhere in Europe, and around the globe, in the Baltic Sweden and Russia faced off in the little known War of the Hats. At one level, the war had been engineered by France to keep Russia from helping Austria, but at another level, it was a war to reclaim Sweden's lost empire. The war was poorly managed by Sweden, and for a number of reasons they suffered a catastrophe of the first water – especially, the war was begun to help a Russian princess overthrow the current dynasty (in return for territorial concessions that were not forthcoming); a war with such an object was sure to be a confused affair.

Sommar Skråla also examines the possibility of Danish intervention. In reality, the Danish Prince Royal was an heir-presumptive candidate for the Swedish crown (the Swedes having an elective monarchy), and the Danish King assembled men and ships to help Sweden defend this choice against Russia. But Sweden, in the end chose a candidate favored by Russia (as the price of peace) and the Danes very nearly went to war against Sweden instead.

The Game

Sommar Skråla is a two player strategy game. You command either the Swedish or Muscovite (Russian) fleets. Orders are handed down to you from your Admiralty, and you must try to fulfill them within the framework of the wider war, which is represented by a set of events. Your opponent will have orders of his own to fulfill, but with his spare forces he will be attempting to foil your plans. Success will earn you Prestige (victory points), and may even have an impact on the land campaign. You must decide when and where to commit resources, where to feint and where to strike, organizing your "sail" (ships) into squadrons, and your squadrons into flotillas commanded by leaders (commodores and admirals). Maintaining sufficient forces at "battle readiness" is critical, but very difficult, since ships constantly suffer wear and tear – a battle may be won and the campaign lost. Scenarios are one year (16 turns) long, playable in 3-4 hours (the number of counters in play is quite small). The campaign game consists of a number of years pre-chosen by the players. A special campaign scenario allows the players to link Sommar Skråla with its companion Lace Wars game – A Lesser Wrath.