Arriba Espana
From: Fiery Dragon Productions
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
Arriba Espana is a new mini-war game from Fiery Dragon Productions.
Another game by Brian Train, Arriba Espanais similar in look and feel to Autumn Mist.The scale is considerably different, so the rules are different to compensate for that. Arriba Espanais a simulation game of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. The game is for 2 players, one representing the left-wing coalition government of the Spanish Republic and the other representing the alliance of right-wing forces that rose in revolt against it.
From page #19:
“I’ve always been interested in the area where politics and military cross paths,…”
Components:The game is contained within small 7.5″ by 5.25″ tin container, with a paper hex map, several boards of counters or chits and reference cards as well as 2 six-sided dice. There are several types of chits, and this time they are more understandable, clearly defined in the rulebook, and marked clearly. There are units for all the multiple factions of each side, artillery, armor, and air, as well as counters for the political aspects of the game. The playing space is 15″ by 10″ full color piece of paper with a map of Spain divided out by regions and areas. Each area has a city, which is usually the capitol of that province and the key to who controls the province. Some cities are also ports and are essential in getting supplies in for your forces.
From page #19 :
“The simulations of the Spanish Civil War I had played in the past had been too tactical in scale, or else they were abstract counter-pushing exercises with no political context.”
System:Turn sequence starts out with Random events, the Political Phase, the Strategic Phase, and the Organization Phase. Then the Rebel Player takes his turn phases followed by the Government Player. Each player sequence goes the same: Movement, Combat, Counterattack, and Recover.
The Random events table is one of the aspects I like. The player rolls on the table, and different events happen and effect the game, like British or French National Elections, Propaganda, Deal with Texaco, and Politically Mandated Offensive.Many of them are based on historical events that actually happened while others are in the “what if” realm.
The Political Phase is an essential phase that effects the amount of foreign and local support each faction gets. Throughout the game, events and other factors make the political track for each player go up and down. If one player falls to zero, that player automatically loses. There is also a Foreign support track that measures the support for each side other foreign powers are giving. Foreign powers of the time were the US, Britain, Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, France, Italy and Portugal. The player can gain support and intervention from these foreign powers.
Strategic phase is where the players spend their Equipment Points (EP) to create new units, rebuild existing units, improve or convert units, and buy Asset Points (air, armor and artillery) from foreign sources. The Organization Phase is where players form their Battle Groups (BGs) by stacking units. This can get cumbersome with small chits, however.
Because of the macro-scale of things, movement is pretty open-ended. In most cases it is simply move until you find an enemy and stop. A BG may occupy a city or be “at large” in open space in the area. Combat is handled through totaling Combat Factors of units in the BG, adding in Asset Points from armor, air and artillery, rolling a die and cross referencing numbers on a table. The table shows casualties and other special results. It is actually a very compact and sleek system, much like Autumn Mistbut even simpler. I like the use of Asset Points for armor, artillery and air.
In conclusion,I liked this a lot better than Autumn Mist (AM).The rulebook was more clear, concise, and well written. Perhaps after dealing with AM,I was used to the way he did things, but the game seemed a little easier to handle than AM.I especially liked the political aspects of the game, as well as the simple and sleek combat system. The game plays smoothly and is entertaining. Replayability is pretty good because of the Random Events table and variances in political support. The game was also an education for me, because I knew very little about Spanish Civil War and its importance in history.
For more details on Fiery Dragon Productions and their new mini-war game “Arriba Espana” check them out at their website http://http://www.fierydragon.com/ and at all of your local game stores.
Arriba Espana
From: Fiery Dragon Productions
Type of Game: mini-war game
Written by: Brian Train
Game Design by: Brian Train
Cover Art by: Peter Bergting
Additional Art by: Ed Bourelle, Kerry Anderson
Number of Pages: 20
Game Components Included: Rulebook, 280 counters, one full color map. several reference cards and two dice
Retail Price: $ 21.95 (US)
Number of Players: 2
Player Ages: 14+
Play Time: 4+
Item Number: FDP5000
ISBN: 781894 693288
Website: www.fierydragon.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung