A Work in Progress

On the 31^st of July I blogged on Combat - Bernal’s story and concluded by saying that I wanted Have a Heart to be able to reflect that sort of fighting.  Bernal’s story is important because he was there as a soldier and he wrote, remarkably frankly, about his experience of the Conquest.

We have had two play tests so far, and shortly there will be a third, with one victory a piece.

So onto the game itself.  First, I think the outnumbered Cortez lost because he fought an offensive battle on bad ground.  Had he taken a defensive position and made the Mexica fight on the plain he would have done better.  In fairness a couple of Spanish sub commanders would have helped too. 

Where they could be brought into play the cavalry and Lombard guns were powerful.  The Spanish foot should have been flanked by allies and given more space to work and in the next test I’ll ensure that. 

I liked how the use of Morale Points worked in terms of improving chances.

The Heroes of the game were undoubtedly the Jaguars of Texcoco and the nobles of Tlaxcala, elite troops, and like all Heroes they were lucky.

Did Have a Heart reflect the sort of fighting Bernal Diaz described? You can read the extract and the play test and decide for yourself.

I still see Have a Heart as a work in progress but I'm happy enough so far.