Lion of the North: The Dawn of Modern Warfare, 1631-1632

(From the publisher) The war for minds and souls had been raging for ten destructive years when the vaunted, virtually undefeated Catholic army of the Hapsburg emperor and his allied German states looked across the gentle valley of Breitenfeld directly into the blinding rays of the dawn of modern warfare. By the end of the day, Tilly's lumbering army lay smashed beyond redemption, the victim of rapid-firing artillery, fast-moving infantry and hard-charging cavalry. The prediction had come true: Breitenfeld signaled the ascendancy of Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden, the Lion of the North.

Lion of the North is the third volume in GMT's heralded Great Battles of History (GBoH) Series. The Thirty Years' War signaled the dawn of modern warfare ... a return to the supremacy of linear tactics, drill and discipline, to what some historians call "the return of the legion." Lion of the North represents two of the most famous battles of that period:

Breitenfeld, 1631
Lutzen, 1632

Scale: Time = 30 minutes per turn Map = 100 yards per hex Unit = 100 men per strength point

This is in the line of GBOH games which include Alexander, SPQR, Caesar: The Civil Wars, Caesar: Conquest of Gaul, and Cataphract. It won the Best Wargame Graphics in 1993.

Components: 480 full-color two-sided counters, featuring

• 17 full-color two-sided 1x1/2" counters representing heavy infantry (pikemen)
• 24 full-color two-sided 5/8" counters representing tercios
  One full-color 22x34" mapsheet and one full-color 17x22" mapsheet
  One 6-sided die, one 10-sided die 32-page Rule Book 16-page Scenario Book Optional Rules Sheet -- including Frenzied Units, Exploding Guns, and the Death of Gustavus Three different 8.5x11" Player Aid Cards