In no field of battle would armies try to line them self up in a long supply chain so it doesn't replicate much of anything that would have occurred in Waterloo. I don't feel like I have been placed on the field of battle at that time as I think should be the attempt when making a battlefield dueling board. I don't know how to fix this aspect... Maybe if it was controlling supply to the center of the board, or maybe if each side had a headquarters territory that had to be supplied to and if it was held for x number of turns by their opponent, they would be eliminated... Something like that... But, as it is, it lacks a feel for the reality of what this battle was like. I would have to research the actual battle more to really know how to suggest a 'feel like the real thing' win mechanism.

Then, when two near same skill level players are up against each other, the dice have the opportunity to be far too fatalistic and deterministic. I have been thinking about this and believe the best solution would be to increase the territory caps. In doing so the number of rolls in each battle would be increased so as to allow results closer to the statistical expectations. It would also force more choices with regard to where to reinforce one's troops to create boundaries, and those boundaries would likely not often reach the territory max. In so doing on each player's offensive turns they would have the ability to exploit opportunities rather then sometimes being forced to flip coins. As it is now, with coin flips and short fatalistic stacks it seems like one is just more in for a ride rather then actually driving the car.

Even though historically inaccurate, I do like the off-road versus on-road paradigm. I do not believe a time piece battlefield board is trying to recreate history, but, more importantly should try to create a feeling of it. In this case I think the win mechanism is detracting from the feel of it more-so then the terrain. As-of-such I think that the off-road/on-road is something that is visually easy to discern and it creates a great easy-to-understand terrain effect. It is an interesting system applied to the board that one can try to manipulate to their advantage, just that the current territory maxes frequently makes the paradigm unwieldy and too restrictive. It's the troop limits that are forcing the dice to become way to fatalistic and restricting strategic choices. With low troop counts then every attack, which should statistically succeed but ultimately fails, is quite damning on a board with limited attacks per turn and where every loss goes 4% towards your opponents goals and even more so when it stops additional attacks afterwards that could lead to a total 24% gain by one's opponent (or retention, if you prefer) on any given turn. Once this happens two or three times, especially early on, the game can be lost before it has even started. If the territory maxes were greater then skilled players should be able to manage their attacks to maximize towards a no-failed-attacks strategy of play so that even if they are having bad dice they should hopefully still at least be able to reduce the possibility and number of actual failed attacks.

I understand why return to attack cannot be on. Because if it were then one need only reach the other side of the board without making a supply line, fortify, return to attack, win. That said, this board would be way more strategically variable if return to attack was on. If the win mechanism could be tweaked to allow for it while simultaneously creating a greater feel as if this battle was actually Waterloo, then that would be excellent!

I will keep at it, but fundamentally the board is flawed and cannot be mastered to a level where the dice will not still have their heyday and throw a game here or there, which is quite unfortunate.

Pretty accurately replicates the feel of fighting on the field of battle during such times. From the use of terrain to the use of artillery to turn the tide of battle at pivotal moments. Fight from the elevated hills, ambush from the forests or rush down the roads with your best dice odds to accomplish your objectives. Maintain your supply lines and hold crucial spots to allow your reconnaissance to gather you important battlefield information. Just when you think you have gotten the upper hand, the 6v7 dice will give you a lesson in futility and offer up their own brand of momentum swing. Do you rush your objectives or cut your opponent off at the knees by crippling their supply. These are the decisions you'll have to make as you attempt to win the Battle of Bladensburg!

It's the original, but I wish that somehow one could choose either to play the escalating trades OR the flat rate 4 for troops, 6 for cavalry, 8 for canons, or 10 for one of each. Love the strategy that comes with flat rate cards on this map. So if that were a choice for game play, it would be great! As is, it's good.