In 1995 Mel Gibson released Braveheart, Hollywood’s take on the legendary Scottish warrior William Wallace (1270-1305 AD). The movie would go on to make over $200 million at the box office and earn 10 Academy Award nominations, eventually winning 5, including Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for Gibson.
In 2002 Columbia Games released their version of the Scottish Wars of Independence, Hammer of the Scots. Over 15 years later, Hammer is still regarded by many gamers as one of Columbia’s very best, and one of the most popular block games on the market. The secret of its ongoing success can be attributed to several factors.
First, Hammer of the Scots tells a great story. With so many games on the market to choose from, many featuring similar mechanics, a compelling theme can often make or break a game. In the case of HotS, the history and theme is beautifully captured, both through its components and through game play.
Columbia broke out the “big guns” for HotS, treating fans to their 24mm blocks. Anyone who has played a game with these bigger blocks knows how appealing they are on the board. Even more importantly, the labels for the 56 blocks beautifully capture the Scottish nobles heraldic arms, as well as English knights, archers, infantry, and even Wallace himself. Add to that a deck of 25 illustrated movement and event cards, and an outstanding map designed by artist Karim Chakroun, and you have a game that just looks good on your table.
The game itself was designed by Tom Dalgliesh and Jerry Taylor, introducing a formula that would later appear in such popular offerings as Crusader Rex and Julius Caesar. Game turns consist of the following: Card Phase, Move Phase, Battle Phase, and Winter. Cards determine initiative and movement points per turn, with 5 event cards in the mix to capture the unexpected element of war.
Since this is a block game, fog of war and step reduction are present. Blocks in HotS each have a corresponding combat rating, which is indicated by a letter and number, such as A1 or B2. The letter determines when a block attacks. All A blocks attack first, then all B blocks, then all C blocks. The number indicates the maximum roll that will score a hit. This elegant feature allows for the fighting prowess of Wallace’s forces (A3) to be simulated without burdening the players with excessive rules or charts to reference. It keeps the learning curve short and the game play fast.
Hammer of the Scots is not a hard game to learn. It’s also a simple game to introduce to someone new. However, it’s not an easy game to win. In the Braveheart scenario, which is what I usually play, the English and the Scots each face their own unique paths to victory.
In addition, HotS contains a neat mechanic in which Scottish nobles switch their loyalty when they are eliminated in battle. The game includes double blocks for nearly all nobles, allowing for them to play for either the English (red blocks) or Scottish (blue blocks) at any given moment. By the end of a 2-3 hour game a noble might very well have flipped their allegiance back and forth several times. The object of the game is to control a majority of Nobles at the end of the scenario. There are also several sudden death conditions for victory too.
If there is such a thing as the quintessential block war game, Hammer of the Scots might just be it. The component quality is there, the theme compelling, and the game play elegant and easy without sacrificing strategic depth. If it’s been awhile since you’ve played Hammer, it might be time for you to get this classic back on the table.
Photo credit: Brian Williams
