About the game:
On August 3rd, 1914, Germany declared war on France. German armies poured into France and Belgium. Britain protested, then declared war on Germany on August 4th. The famous British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was sent to France and marched into Belgium on August 21st. They halted on the Conde Canal at Mons to defend against what they thought was a small German force to their north. Once that was brushed aside, they planned to turn east and roll up the German flank. However, they actually faced the entire German 1. Armee. The next morning, in a thick mist, German cavalry patrols stumbled into outlying British pickets. So began the long fight between the British and Germans in The Great War.
The Battle of Mons (August 23rd-24th, 1914) looms large in the legends of the British Army. Here the plucky BEF with their “rifle fire like machine guns” gave the dastardly Germans a bloody nose, or so the story goes. The Germans for their part were well satisfied. In their view, they met the “English,” pushed them back, then chased them all the way to the Marne. Which view is correct?
Mons had surprises for both armies. They expected a battle like in The Boer War or the Franco-Prussian War. Mons did have maneuver and even cavalry charges, but hard lessons were learned.
Mons, 1914: The Mad Minute is the second game in the Rifle and Spade Series, first used in Gallipoli, 1915: Churchill’s Greatest Gamble. The series rules have been completely overhauled to speed play and ease learning. Key charts have been simplified and rules that were rarely used have been dropped, resulting in faster and smoother games. Gallipoli can be played with the 2.0 rules with some short upgrade instructions and a few replacement charts.
