Continuing along in this new series devoted to the best looking boards found in the wargaming world where I will highlight the art and layout of a different board in a wargame that we have played to show you the various talents of the artists and graphic designers involved. In my humble opinion, a well designed and attractive board can make all the difference in the world to me enjoying a wargame. Don’t get me wrong, the game has to be good, but if it’s also good looking it always is a better experience. A board can draw me in. Can make me feel that I’m there. Can set the stage for the thematic immersion that we all crave. And I have found many of these type of boards and I want to make sure that I share them with you.

Almoravid: Reconquista and Riposte in Spain, 1085-1086 is Volume II in Volko Ruhnke’s Levy & Campaign Series and takes the system from Nevsky’s frozen northeast frontier to medieval Spain, which is the site of the Reconquista. The same base rules show the muster of lords, their levy of forces and capabilities, and their command of armies on campaigns across 11th-Century Spain. But al-Andalus is a harsh landscape in a bit of a different way than Russia as the player’s have access a good Roman road network that aids travel and also a much gentler set of seasons. If you haven’t played any of the games in the Levy & Campaign Series, they are at their heart logistics games and as such the players will have to spend time assembling appropriate transportation assets such as Carts and even Mules. Yes, the game focuses again on the Mule, which has been a beast of burden for millennia and is key in this game as you have to supply armies across the inhospitable terrain of Spain. Carts or Mules can carry 1 Provender each across any Way during any Season. The difference between them is that the relatively less efficient Mules require more animals, so you have to Feed your Mules along with your Troops. But the advantage to Mules is that they can more readily get across the Passes than can Carts. It’s a less complicated logistical puzzle than in the harsh landscape of Nevsky but still presents a puzzle nonetheless.

The board is definitely an attractive work of art and the artist is Chechu Nieto who is a relative newcomer to the world of wargame board graphics but has worked on some real classics such as Fire in the Lake: Insurgency in Vietnam (2014), Colonial Twilight: The French-Algerian War, 1954-62 (2016), All Bridges Burning: Red Revolt and White Guard in Finland, 1917-1918 (2020) and most recently another board for the Levy & Campaign Series’ inaugural game in Nevsky: Teutons and Rus in Collision 1240-1242 (2019). Chechu has a skill to create a very nice overall appearance with his creations and I am very impressed with the quality of his graphics on Almoravid. The board for Almoravid is very similar in style to that of Nevsky being somewhat devoid of great detail, at least detail that is readily apparent, but does cover the basics of the region and clearly highlights the challenges of the terrain in the use of very subtle lines and images with shading. The roads and rivers are really clearly called out, as you would expect as this game is based on logistics, and the difficulties of logistics for campaigning over longer distances is readily apparent.

I also really like the color palette used here as it just works well together to create an inviting and colorful experience to play upon over a period of a 3-4 hour game. These colors, mostly made up of light brown, tan, green and blue really complement each other well and work to keep boundaries between areas clear while making each stand out and feel important.

The board is a small mounted mapboard which measures 22×25½ inches. The difference here with Almoravid from Nevsky though is that the area covered by the board is double that of Nevsky and the various play aids, such as the Calendar, take up considerably less real estate on the board allowing its real beauty to come through. The Calendar runs about 3/4 of the height of the left side of the board and it serves a very important role in the game and therefore should be a standout of the playing surface. The Calendar tracks both time and victory. During any one of the scenarios one or more Seasons, including Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter will be tracked on the Calendar. Each of these seasons has four spaces on the Calendar and each of these spaces are divided into separate 40 day periods that typically represent the amount of time a Vassal would commit their forces in service to their Lord.

Let’s take a bit of a closer look at this large feature and discuss how it works as well as the tiny graphical elements that make it truly stand out as an anchor for the board.

On the Calendar, players will place the Lords that they can Hire into service for a period of time which is 40 days. Players place the Lords that they can into the seasons for which they are available to hire and they can then be moved on the Calendar based on Event cards that are played by either you or your opponent.

One of the most interesting parts about the design is that you will have to worry about when the service periods will end for your Lords and Vassals. Unlike other wargames, your soldiers are not necessarily around and available for the entire game. They have a choice to leave and it is up to you to change their mind. This Calendar system places the onus on you as a player to plan and then to get going with that plan. You will have to know when your time is up and then plan for how to pay those whose time is expiring to get them to stay with you a bit longer. This payoff will be in the form of Coin or Loot and is a major focus of the Levy Phase.

As I look closely at the calendar, I really like that there are boxes that are superimposed in the background representing the various days in the period. This is a nice touch to this feature and really give me that feel of looking at a wall calendar hanging on my wall. I wonder if the feudal Lords had such calendars hanging up? I also really like the choice of colors for the different seasons here as Spring is green, Summer is gold/yellow, Autumn is an orange/pinkish shade representing the changing foliage and Winter is blue. I can feel the temperatures changing throughout the calendar and that is neat feeling.

I also really like the various personages shown in each turn segment of the calendar. They are a bit muted and washed out, faintly drawn in the background so as not to dominate the space or draw our attention away from what is important, but it as if the artist is trying to reproduce the worn and faded look of many such paintings from the period. They also are in different poses and somewhat portray the historical events that are listed in the spaces. In these spaces are written such things as “Al-Quadir appeals to Taifas”, “Fall of Toledo” and “Alfonso extends control beyond Tajo basin”. I found it very interesting to examine each of the pictures as well as the historical notes and enjoyed looking at them and marveling at their detail and the extra effort given to them to make them appear older than they actually are.

One final comment about the Calendar. Those are not coffee stains on my board. Or spots left by diet Coke. Those are water spots/stains that have been deftly put in by the artist and I think this touch is my favorite design choice as it wreaks of antiquity and the passage of time. It really adds some depth to the overall appearance of this section of the board and I am glad that Chechu went this route. The Calendar is such a highlight and main focus of the game and I really appreciate Chechu’s effort here with the end product. He also did this same style and approach with the Calendar in Nevsky and I appreciate that very much.

Now let’s take a look at the layout of the board itself and how it captures the geography of Al-Andulas and the time of Almoravid. Remember, in Almoravid the game board is much larger and spread out than that found in Nevsky and as such there are many more alternatives for maneuver and movement around the various Taifas. But, most of the movement will be kept to the good Roman roads and will go through many of the well defended areas with several garrisoned fortresses that will have to be sieged to control. To keep the playing area and the most focused regions front and center, the board intentionally leaves Portugal, Galicia, Asturias, and much of the Basque country and Catalunya off. There were seven consolidated Taifas of the time and in order to keep these straight and to differentiate them between their religious leanings, the Muslim Taifas are shaded green while the Christian Kingdoms being shown in yellowish/tan. Christian Territory comprises just two Kingdoms in the north including both León and Aragón. Muslim Territory consists of seven Taifas bordered in green including Badajoz, Toledo, Zaragoza, Lérida, Sevilla, Granada, and Valencia.

Let’s take a bit of a closer look at a one of these Taifas to give you an idea of the beautiful attention paid to each. Let’s take a look at the Zaragoza Taifa, which is located in the northeast section of the board up against León and Aragón. Locales are the spaces on the board that are made to hold markers and Lord cylinders. Locales include several different types including Cities, Fortresses, Towns, Castles, and Regions. Strongholds are areas of safety and protection for various Lords and they control each of the areas. These Strongholds can be conquered but require the attacker to siege the Strongholds. These Strongholds can host a certain number of Lords within their walls and this capacity is shown with the gray boxes to the left of each fortified area.

Here is a zoomed in look at the Stronghold at Zaragoza. I love these small drawings as they are super detailed and really add to the feel of the game. If you look closely, there are literally people drawn in milling about both inside and outside the walls. Flags are flying from the various ramparts and towers and you can simply look at these imposing fortifications and know that this will be a very tough nut to crack.

If you look closely in the upper right hand side of the Stronghold, you will see several symbols that identify important information graphically to the players. The small tree implies that this Stronghold has a Garden present which guarantees forage to any friendly force. The Lord icon here identifies what Lord starts in this location and you will find the corresponding symbols on their pieces as well as their Lord Mats. You will also see 3 dice symbols there which identifies the number of dice that will be rolled when forced to undertake a Surrender Check. There is so much beauty here but also amazing detail that all lends itself to creating a thematic immersion into the times of this conflict.

Staying in the Zaragoza Taifa, there are other smaller settlements shown on the board and they are much less permanent looking than the Strongholds. These include areas such as Iberico and Albarracin, which are shown almost as copses of trees with the name of the area showing in the middle of those trees. But another very subtle and nice touch though is that you can actually see a few scattered buildings drawn in amongst the trees to show signs of settlement. I imagine that these mainly represent small farming villas or local Lords homes. There are not a lot of these showing but there is enough to lend a feeling of civilization to the areas.

I also want to point out the extreme detail in the landscape itself as there are lots of little detail points included that accentuate and deepen the visual experience. The first of which is the way roads are treated. The Ways are truly magnificent in the means they are presented. As you look closely, you will see that there are actual cobblestones drawn into the gray of the road itself. These are good Roman built roads and here on the board you can almost feel that strength of engineering. The Paths are a bit different as they are more winding and thinly drawn on the board but they even have a certain graphical “feel” to them as you can see that they are not quite as good as the Ways.

If you also look at the landscape you will see clear signs of the artists attempt to replicate mountainous terrain in the background. Below, you can see a proper mountain range appearing in area between Zamora to the south and León in the north. This ridge line is very clear but doesn’t dominate the area as you would expect. The style is to be subtle and simply stand out upon closer inspection. I really like this technique and feel it does a great job of making the board have greater interest to the eye.

One other really nice touch was the inclusion of various battle scenes in the landscape itself, mainly in the brown areas of the board. In several areas of the board appear these black and gray drawings on the board itself that depict various gatherings of troops, battles and movements. In the picture below, that is found in the southern portion of the board around La Mancha is a drawing of such a scene. You can make out a city in the background, several men with pikes or spears gathered together and a leader on horseback in the center. Just a stunning little accent to the board that really tells the historical narrative with drawings that matter nothing to the game play itself. But, once again, this type of addition is what really ground the game in the historical narrative and I love their inclusion.

After playing this game a few years ago, and at that time studying the board, I knew that I was going to have to highlight this one in one of these posts. Chechu’s skill is very apparent here and I just think that it makes all the difference in the production. The color palette with the counters and markers is also just stunning as you can see below. I know that I am attracted to greens and yellows in games but this one is just completely beautiful! I love it. And the game play is also pretty damn good as well. I am not good at these Levy & Campaign Series games but they are enjoyable partly because they make me see things in a different way but also because they connect the combat and campaigning with the logistical side of war.

If you are interested, we posted an interview with the game’s designer Volko Ruhnke and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2020/08/04/interview-with-volko-ruhnke-designer-of-almoravid-reconquista-and-riposte-in-spain-1085-1086-from-gmt-games/

We also posted a review video of the game and you can watch it at the following link:

The next board that we will take a look at in the series is Walking a Bloody Path: The Battle of Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794 from High Flying Dice Games designed by Paul Rohrbaugh and illustrated by Nils Johansson.

Here are links to the previous entries in the series:

Kekionga!: A Dark and Bloody Battleground, 1790 from High Flying Dice Games

Campaigns of 1777 in Strategy & Tactics Magazine #316 from Decision Games

Battle Hymn Volume 1: Gettysburg and Pea Ridge from Compass Games

From Salerno to Rome: World War II – The Italian Campaign, 1943-1944 from Dissimula Edizioni

This War Without an Enemy: The English Civil War 1642-1646 from Nuts! Publishing

Holland ‘44: Operation Market-Garden, September 1944 from GMT Games

Maori Wars: The New Zealand Land Wars, 1845-1872 from Legion Wargames

Imperial Struggle: The Global Rivalry – Britain & France 1697-1789 from GMT Games

Stilicho: Last of the Romans from Hollandspiele

Nevsky: Teutons and Rus in Collision, 1240-1242 from GMT Games

A Most Fearful Sacrifice: The Three Days of Gettysburg from Flying Pig Games

Donnerschlag: Escape from Stalingrad from VUCA Simulations

Keep Up the Fire!: The Boxer Rebellion Deluxe Edition from Worthington Publishing

Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection from GMT Games

Lanzerath Ridge: Battle of the Bulge from Dan Verssen Games

Salerno ’43: The Allied Invasion of Italy, September 1943 from GMT Games

Bayonets & Tomahawks: The French and Indian War from GMT Games

Undaunted: Normandy from Osprey Games

Traces of War from VUCA Simulations

SCS Ardennes II from Multi-Man Publishing

-Grant