GAME DETAILS
A Grand Endeavour (AGE) is a set of grand-tactical wargames rules covering the entire Horse & Musket era, and includes special rules to extend into the Age of Rifles.
Armies changed – The challenges of command did not.
A Grand Endeavour (AGE) is a grand-tactical historical wargame that allows huge armies to sweep majestically across the battlefield over the course of one or more days. To achieve this it is built on the an epic foundation: a game turn represents 90 minutes of action, while 1 inch is equal to approximately 100 yards (18” to the mile). A unit of model soldiers typically represents a brigade or regimental sized formation of units.
AGE attempts to model how armies were commanded, not merely how they moved. Rather than relying on artificial restrictions or period-specific exceptions, the rules seek to recreate the command problems faced by generals in the age of increasingly large and unwieldy armies. Operational endurance, command quality, fatigue and personal intervention combine to create a coherent system in which players are confronted with the same decisions as their historical counterparts: where to concentrate effort, when to intervene, and how to maintain momentum with dwindling resources. This is achieved through the ENDEAVOUR system.
The overriding objective has been to create a fast-playing set of rules that delivers both tactical and operational depth without burdening players with excessive bookkeeping or continual mental calculation. The result is a system capable of resolving significant historical battles in 2-4 hours, while even the greatest multi-day engagements can usually be fought to their conclusion in a single gaming session of four to eight hours.
Endeavour
AGE uses the ENDEAVOUR system, that acts as action currency, army morale, and the game clock. The result is a deceptively simple system that produces constant command challenges.
Battle Fatigue
Both units and leaders degrade as the shock and duration of combat build, tracked through the BATTLE FATIGUE system. There is no casualty removal: a single set of BF counters manages the entire game.
Engagement
AGE is not slowed down by artificial firing and close combat phases, instead replacing them with a single Engagement phase that encompasses both simultaneously.
Unique Battle Builder Card Deck
AGE comes with a set of printable ‘Battle Builder’ cards that rapidly generate a context for your game. These are optional and do not have to be used.
Choose your strategy from the dealt cards and deploy. Not enough formations in your army to carry out your plan? Then create an additional ‘Field Force’ to build it, allowing the formation of grand batteries and reserves under their own control.
You may also receive ‘Surprise’ cards. These give you even more tactical options, allowing you to launch a surprise attack, build fieldworks, launch a rapid bombardment, or redeploy units on the battlefield after deployment.
The AGE Battle Builder deck is an innovative system that banishes mindless ‘line them up and smash them together’ games, instead delivering a believable context and challenge within minutes.