The Black Prince: The Battle of Navarrete
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| Designers | Rob Mosca |
|---|---|
| Illustrators | Redmond A. Simonsen |
| Publishers | Simulations Publications Inc. |
| Publication | 1979 |
| Genres | Medieval |
The Black Prince: The Battle of Navarette is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1979 that was one of the games in the Great Medieval Battles "quadrigame" — a set of four thematically linked games that use the same set of rules. The game simulates the Battle of Navarrete in 1367.
In the mid-1360s, the Castilian Civil War between King Peter of Castile and his half-brother Count Henry of Trastámara started to involve other nations, with France taking the side of Henry. England opposed an alliance between France and Castile, and Edward III of England sent his son Edward the Black Prince, to shore up Peter's side. The Black Prince, backed by several great companies of mercenaries, met Peter's army near the Castilian town of Navarrete.[1]
Description
The Black Prince is one of four different games in the "quadrigame" Great Medieval Battles that simulate different battles using the same set of rules. Each game also has their own set of counters, some of which are regular-sized (100 to 300 men) and some being double-sized (500 to 800 men).[2] Some of the counters, for multi-mode units, are also back-printed.[2]
Gameplay
The first player uses the following sequence:
- Rout Movement: Both players move counters that have been routed
- Movement: The active player moves any or all units.
- Ranged fire: Both players fire arrows or other ranged weapons
- Active player melee
- Other player melee
The second player then repeats this series of phases to complete one Game Turn, which represents 20 minutes of the battle. The game ends after ten Game Turns.
The Black Prince also has a number of exclusive rules to differentiate it from the other three games in the Great Medieval Battles box:
- Rules controlling English longbowmen and European crossbowmen
- How the Najarilla River affects the battlefield[2]
Combat
Combat, which involves both ranged and melee weapons, does not result in direct elimination of units, but effects the morale of the defending unit, causing it to gain a level of Rout. Further morale effects are cumulative, and any unit that reaches four levels of Rout is eliminated.[2]
Leaders
Leader counters play an important part of the game, both in their ability to remove Rout conditions from a unit, and in the Victory Conditions to win the game.
Victory conditions
Both players earn Victory Points (VPs) for eliminating or capturing enemy units and leaders. At the end of the game, Castilian VPs are subtracted from English VPs. If the resultant total is more than 20, the English player is the winner. A result of 20 or less is a Castilian victory.
Publication history
After the success of SPI's first quadrigame, Blue & Gray in 1975, the company quickly produced more quadrigames over the next four years. One of these was 1979's Great Medieval Battles, which included The Black Prince designed by Rob Mosca, with graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen. Great Medieval Battles rose to #5 on SPI's Top Ten Bestseller List the month it was published, and stayed on the list for the next four months.[3] All of the games in Great Medieval Battles, including The Black Prince, were also offered for individual sale as "folio games" packaged in a cardstock folder.[3]