Lace Wars Series #1 - Cockpit of Europe, France & Flanders - 1744-48

Please note that this is a DTP (Desk Top Publishing) game designed on a desktop computer and all components, including the counters which will have to be cut and mounted, are printed on paper. These are designed by some very well-known designers and are a low cost alternative to today's professionally produced games. On rare occasions, some of these games are reproduced by other companies with higher quality components including die-cut counters but most of them are not. If you believe this game to have a professionally produced version, please contact us with your inquiry and we will help you to locate it if it does indeed exist.

Cockpit of Europe (CoE) covers the campaigns of the War of the Austrian Succession in the Flanders theatre between 1744 and 1748. From 1741 to 1748, the War of the Austrian Succession raged on the continent of Europe. From 1743 on, Britain and France were formally at war. The French leadership was divided into two schools of thought. The traditionalists believed that the Habsburg dynasty was the primary threat to France's position in Europe, and that the main thrust of the war should be made against their possessions in Italy and Germany. The other school feared the rise of the Maritime Powers (England and Holland) and counseled a hard blow in that direction. CoE looks at the five years that the French spent in the Low Countries attempting to smash the ring of enemies surrounding them.

Even though the French, thanks to the sublime leadership of their German-born Marshal, Maurice de Saxe, conquered Belgium and invaded Holland, defeating every army sent against them, the campaigns resulted in a draw. The subsequent peace merely restored the status quo. The stage was then set for the titanic Seven Years War.

Nevertheless, there is great scope for you as the King's Captain General. The armies involved were the largest yet seen on a European battlefield. The French fielded over 200,000 men, and the Allies tried their best to match them. The region is relatively compact, yet difficult to operate in, with the open country thickly studded with fortresses and cut by rivers. Seaward are tracts of swamp and fenland. On the other flank are the dense woods and rugged hills of the Ardennes.

The French player, with the strategic initiative, must constantly press forward, laying siege to town after town (and leaving many men idle in garrison), as he seeks to lever the Allies away from the French frontiers and ultimately threaten the Allies' own bases of operation. The Allied player must decide whether to defend everywhere, to bide his time and harass the enemy, or to launch an offensive of his own. Even if he makes the right choice, however, he must still get the agreement of all the nations under his command.

1) Two 12x18-inch full-color maps representing Northwest Europe from the Channel to Metz, and from Paris to the Zuider Zee. They were derived from a mix of modern cartography and period maps dating from 1715 to 1750. As mentioned above, the terrain is thickly studded with fortresses, woods, swamps, and cut by a multitude of waterways.

2) Two French and two Allied countersheets (four pages, as the counters are double-sided), one sheet of Leaders, and one sheet of markers. The markers are ½-inch (standard size) and the rest are 6/8 inch. One point to note, as this is a DTP game, you will have to mount the counters yourself, but they have been printed on adhesive paper - all you need is the cardboard and a pair of scissors.

3) A set of charts and tables on 8.5x11-inch cardstock, plus two 11x17-inch HQ display cards and an 8.5x11 inch record card.

4) A series rulebook (called the King's Regulations and Orders, or KR&Os) of about 40pp, a game-exclusive rulebook of about the same length, and a 50pp commentary.