Hold the Line Frederick's War

The Prussians trying to reorganize into a more effective offensive formation while the Austrians rally their center

Had a great time today playing Hold the Line Frederick's War from Worthington Games with my friend Bob Ellis via Vassal.



The Hold the Line system is a system from the past few years that Worthington recently rebooted. I have to admit I'm not wild about their choice of plastic soldiers rather than counters for the new game, or the fact that they no longer seem interested in the Seven Years War period. Nonetheless the system itself is great.

A few turns later, repeated Austrian cavalry charges have destroyed enough of the Prussian right flank that Frederick's men quit the field.

No, this system doesn't have the historical fidelity of Prussia's Glory  or  Battles of the Age of Reason, but damn, this game is fun. Moreover it plays quickly, isn't overburdened with rules...but still very successfully gives an 18th Century period feel. This game has tons and tons of narrative.

The Vassal module is also very nicely done. Bob and I, both Vassal novices, were able to play without having to struggle with the software at all.

Friends of mine know that I'm no big fan of Command & Colors due to the card system and the (to me) odd "left/center/right" mechanic that I feel really detracts from the immersion and period feel of the game. This is my C&C. No cards, no weird, abstract "lanes" to keep units in. In most other ways it is very similar, extremely playable, and easy to make new scenarios for. Also unlike C&C, there's no expensive add-on block packs you need to buy. If you want armies that aren't in the core game, go visit the BGG forum and download them.

I expect to be playing a lot more of this, mostly because at about an hour a game, I can play a lot more of this.