BAR: Batailles de l’Ancien Régime
to its fans is a great horse and musket game for the Seven Years War. This is approximately the years 1740-1763. The war itself started in 1754 and lasted until 1763. As was with the times in Europe it was turbulent with many factions and thus a good topic for action on the tabletop. For those of us within the United States, we know this war as the French and Indian War when the young George Washington was a junior officer with the British Army.
This set of rules is more for Europe, and the author Bill Protz has another set of rules specifically for the French and Indian Wars called
Let’s talk about BAR, what makes it fun and why it might be the game you’re looking for. This period in history has much to offer. Across Europe the political map was complex and the variety of forces involved and their fickle loyalties offer many a what if as well as historical material to plan a game.

has become one of my favorite games over this past year. I was immediately drawn to it as Ive always been a big fan of Akira Kurosawas Samurai movies, but a years worth of gameplay with it has greatly heightened my appreciation for Test of Honour as a fast and exciting skirmish game.
It always amazed me how many comments I have heard over the last year or so about the “collapse” of the US tournament scene. For sure, Flames of War (FOW) tournament play has declined with Version 4, along with other factors. And though Im sure FOW has completely dried up in some areas, overall I never felt that the situation was particularly as dire as many have portrayed.