The Marne: Home Before the Leaves Fall

In the opening days of the First World War, German armies, following the Schlieffen Plan, swept through Belgium and forced the French and British forces into a headlong retreat back to Paris. However, in maneuvering near the Marne River, the German line developed a gap between two armies, exposing their flanks, and the Allied forces exploited that, driving a wedge into the Germans and forcing them to fall back to defensive positions and dig in. Although a French defeat and surrender was averted, the result was four years of industrial trench warfare and millions of casualties.^[2]

The Marne is a two-player game in which one player takes the role of the German invaders, trying to avoid their historical defeat, and the other player controls the Allies, trying to re-create their historical victory.

The game box includes:

• 22" x 34" paper hex grid map scaled at 7.2 km (4.5 mi) per hex
• 200 ½" die-cut cardboard counters
• rules sheet
• errata sheet (dated October 31, 1973)
• a six-sided die

The game includes two historical scenarios:

• The German Pursuit starting on 30 August 1914 (7 turns). Unusually, both players enter the map from the same map edge.^[3]
• The Allied Counterattack starting on 6 September 1914 (10 turns)

These can be combined into one campaign game of 17 turns. In addition, the game includes four "what if?" scenarios that vary the number and variety of German forces.

Each turn represents one day of game time, and takes the classic "I Go, You Go" format, where the German player is active, followed by the Allied player, completing one turn. Each player completes four phases:^[3]

1. First movement phase: The player can move any or all units
2. First combat phase: any unit of the active player adjacent to an enemy can attack.
3. Second movement phase: The player can again move any or all units.
4. Second combat phase: Any unit that did not fire in the first combat phase can now attack.

This double move and combat turn was unique to SPI games up to this time.^[3]

Although units can be stacked three high, reviewers noted that this is impractical due to the wide front to be covered, and also because it might allow enemy units to flank the stack, which would give the attackers a special bonus.^[3]

The Marne was designed by John Young, with art and graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen and Manfred F. Milkuhn. Published only two years after the founding of SPI, it was one of the first games to feature SPI's "flatpack" box with an integral counter tray.^[4]