It's been a while since I've looked at Pub Battles from Command Post Games. I have many of the games in the series but haven't played them for, well, years. That's less a comment on their quality than a comment on the number of games I have to play and my attention span. I have to admit that I was finding the game play a little shallow at times unless I could get a group together to play kriegspiel style, and then I was always having to act as umpire rather than player.
Command post has just released a beta of their new Orders rules that will prompt me to play these again. These rules add some necessary complexity, depth, and restrictions to play. The new orders system, especially when combined with the Fog of War rules (allowing players to keep actual unit positions on the map hidden until spotted by the enemy) will no doubt make for much more interesting games. The flanking movement at Brandywine becomes an actual surprise but also much more difficult for the American player to respond to quickly. I'm looking forward to giving these a try.
