The Franco-Prussian War (wargame)

The Franco-Prussian War, subtitled August 1 to September 2 1870, is a board wargame designed by Jim Dunnigan with graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen and published by Simulations Publications Inc. in 1972. It simulates the opening weeks of the 1870 war between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia, presented as a boxed set with a mounted map, counters and a rulebook in the style SPI used for its wargame line at the time. The game is played by two players, one commanding the Prussian led German forces and the other commanding the French army, using a comparatively small number of pieces, with a maximum of eighteen German corps opposing eleven French corps on the map. French units are given greater combat strength than their German counterparts but move more slowly, reflecting the historical mismatch between French firepower and German mobility. Play follows a turn sequence that accounts for combat outcomes, rail movement used to redeploy forces, and the effect of army leadership on units in the field.