What Makes These Little Wooden Blocks So Special?

In a previous post I explained what defines a block wargame, beginning first and foremost with the blocks themselves. Recently I came across an excellent explanation of the central game mechanic of block wargames written nearly twenty years ago by game designer Steffan O’Sullivan. 

So what makes these little wooden blocks so special? As O’Sullivan explains:

“The wooden blocks are roughly 1" by 1" by 0.5" - like half a domino that can stand on end a little easier...Only one face has unit information on it. Normally, that side is kept towards the owner of the piece. This means that you can see all of your units, and what they are, and how strong they are, but you can only see the backs of your opponent's pieces. You can tell where he has units, but not what they are nor how strong they are.”

This is what’s known as fog of war and it’s key to capturing the realism and confusion historically found in war. It also means that you do not know the strength of your opponent until you actually engage them in battle. O’Sullivan continues:

“There are numbers around the edges of the side facing you. The number on top represents the current strength of the unit. As the unit takes a hit in combat, it is rotated to the next lower number, one step per hit until eliminated. In combat, you roll a number of six-sided dice equal to the current strength...” 

The brilliance of this system, pioneered and perfected by Columbia Games, permits players to record step reduction with minimal effort. In the above picture, featuring a Roman legion from the game Julius Caesar, we see a block which initially plays at a four dice strength, which then decreases (rotating counter clockwise) with each hit taken in battle. 

“These two factors - easy fog of war and step reduction - mean that a wooden block game can achieve very sophisticated simulation with a minimum of strain on the gamer...consequently, even the most complicated wooden block game is still on the low side of moderate complexity by wargame standards.”

Don’t be fooled, however: strategic depth and satisfaction of play are not sacrificed for this simplicity. And that, in the end, is the brilliance of the block system. 

If you haven’t done so yet, check it out for yourself!