The game is not just a military simulation but blends in the social and political influences of the period. A great example of how good the card driven system is when used by a game designer who truly knows the history.
Unhappy King Charles is among the best, if not the best, two-player card driven game I have played. The only possible exception I can note is Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage. UKC is also one of the best wargames I have enjoyed. It is among the most nuanced historical treats that one could find on a mapboard. Complexity is saved for where it belongs: in the area of strategy.
Elegant design, plays well and in a max of 4/5 hours. Top level product, hands down.
Whats not to like? Novel topic, well designed and easy to play.
Very good spin-off from We the People, this time its the English civil-war and diffrent designer. Its more complex and longer, but it sooo good.
Grant "sushidog" Linneberg
Cool CDG that plays very differently than others of this type. Your armies are always melting from deserters. The bigger your armies get, the harder they are too move.
I'm generally drawn to the CDG style of wargames over others, and this is an excellent example. Play on the map is very fluid, and the ace in the hole mechanic is excellent
So much finesse and very heavy on area control for me to solo quickly. A brain burner if I had to.
Scott "janos_hunyadi" Moore
I would strongly recommend Unhappy King Charles. It should provide a satisfying gaming experience (moderate element of chance, balanced victory conditions) and teach you something about the war in question. If you are new to 17th century warfare, then I would still commend the game to you, while advising that it has a relatively steep learning curve and some historically-justified quirks such as the difficulty in maintaining and moving large armies.
If you like card driven games, you will probably enjoy it. The play is fun. The mechanics work well to capture the theme. Plus, there are many innovative ideas, such as alt-history cards, core cards for each player (so that you never have a dead hand). It uses a combined deck, but with different time periods, kind of like the three decks in Paths of Glory or Shifting Sands. The designer notes are impressive.
William "williamhillis" Hillis
Play balance is excellent. If reading Churchill's retelling of the English Civil War bores you, buy this and play it instead.
A really fun, solid, historical feeling CDG. Lots of available strategies, each side of the conflict 'feels' correct & thematic, and some delicious tension in the battles/sieges.
A nice member of the card-driven family. Well designed, enjoyable and faster than other titles.
Simon "bluekingzog" Thornton
Good feel for the English civil war , with both side running out of steam as the war progress's and the minor nobles dissapear.
J-F "Marquis de Montcalm" Pakula
One of the most original and challenging (wel, especially for the royalist side!) existing card-driven wargames in the market.
Very different from most wargames with the draconian attrition of large armies making for a fascinating struggle.