Won by the Sword: Great Campaigns of the Thirty Years War, Vol. 1

About this board game

Won by the Sword: Great Campaigns of the Thirty Years War, Vol. 1 is a two-player game of operational warfare in 17th-century Southern Germany, with games lasting about 360 minutes. Each scenario centers on a major battle or a full campaign season during the later Thirty Years War.

Armies maneuver across a point-to-point map based on the period road network. Forces remain concealed off map, creating limited knowledge of the enemy and making every march, counter-march, siege, and surprise attack a dangerous decision.

Each turn represents a month and contains a variable number of impulses. During every impulse, each army plays one Campaign Card. These cards determine how much activity an army can perform, the supplies it must expend, and the special action available to its commander.

• Maneuver armies along the roads of Southern Germany.
• Forage to support operations in the field.
• Besiege fortifications and contest crucial positions.
• Engage in an occasional battle when armies come to grips.

The historical setting follows the shifting struggle between the Habsburg Emperor, Bavaria, Sweden, and France. After Swedish successes and the defeat at Nördlingen, France took a more active role as campaigns brought generals such as Turenne, Condé, Mercy, and de Werth into the contest for Bavaria.

Won by the Sword keeps its rules complexity low so players can focus on managing a campaign rather than navigating an overburdened rules system. With neither side guaranteed a clear superiority of forces, careful card play, supply management, and positioning are central to breaking the opponent’s enterprise.