17(21) - Kriegspiel with cards for gentlemen

In 17(21) players will take the role of Army generals in the Age of Reason, struggling to win battles with the proper use of terrain and the capability to understand how to maximize the army the King (or the Queen) mustered to their command. Think about 17(21) as a "divertissement du Roi" where the game of "21" gives an abstraction to play and pass those boring days at Kings's Court, waiting for news from the Danube or Low Countries campaigns.

Why the game of "21" (black jack) for a wargame? I like to play miniatures based wargame but sometimes i really have no time nor space to play them. Sometimes i just want to stay at the pub, tasting a beer, but playing a wargame. That's why i started to design a portable wargame with modular terrain and even modular armies. For this purpose i managed to think about this wargame like a traditional game that might be played at Kings' Court in the XVIII century; that is the main reason to take the game of "21" and use it to resolve units fight. In the end i liked to let the player feel the doctrines discussion on warfare for the period and to understand the way to wage war in the age of reason applying units to terrain and doctrines to units.

A neoprene play mat is available here at The Game Crafter: 17(21) - Kriegspiel card game for gentlemen Game Mat

Trailer on design goals

Game unboxing

The Setup

Sample units fight using the the game of "21"

Sample doctrine cost and activation