Nate Dray & Diluvian Games present: "Versuch eines aufs Schachspiel gebaueten taktischen Spiels von zwei und mehrern Personen zu spielen" in English

 Diluvian Enterprises presents...

"Hellwig's Conquest: A Tactical Game bases on Chess"

Translated from the German by Nate Dray. 

This book is available on Etsy or ebay. Or direct from me.

Letter-sized, perfect bound, w/ color plates, 144 pages, $30 + shipping.

ISBN: 978-0-9822892-5-9

Hellwig's Conquest on Etsy

Hellwig's Conquest on ebay

Now for the first time, this classic groundbreaking game is available in a high fidelity English translation by Nate Dray and Diluvian Games.

Originally released in Germany in 1780 under the title "Versuch eines aufs Schachspiel gebaueten taktischen Spiels von zwei und mehrern Personen zu spielen" and also known as the Brunswick Wargame or Braunschweiger Kriegsspiel, this is probably the oldest published set of modern wargame rules. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repost from 2021: Wars of Beleriand Unpublished Wargame designed by Nate Dray.

 Edit 2/6/26 - Reposting this because I want to. I worked on this for like 20 years and it actually works pretty well. It's a shame I can't really share it with people because I can't quite bring myself to make it free because it was a ton - and I mean a ton - of work. :)

I should, though. Part of me would really like to...

 

Wars of Beleriand Update.

Still on it or back on it, really. 

Typing up the rulebook. Tweaking some graphics. But that about wraps it. There were some things - still are -- in the endgame latter stages of play, situations that only arise during the endgame part of the game, that weren't thoroughly played through before. Unique situations and things. The last few Turns are the most mechanically complex parts of the game. I'm sure there are things I missed, but...it should work and we'll correct as we go from here on.

Probably just release the rules online, post a link somewhere, something. 

 Wars of Beleriand rulebooks. Only two exist. They are different from each other and unique. 

 

 

Wars of Beleriand game Control Display. Players keep track of different Force types they control on this chart.

Players can have Complete or Incomplete Control of different Force types, or some Forces may be Controlled by a rudimentary AI algorithm unique to each class of Force.

 

 

 Wars of Beleriand game Dragon Maturation Track. The Morgoth player tracks the development of Dragon units Inside Angband with this. Dragons must be mature before they can be deployed and used against the Noldor Player.

 

 

 Sample Game of Wars of Beleriand in progress.

Note the Eagles counter, City Markers, and Ents and Green Elves in Taur-Im-Duinath. 

 

Nate Dray on Avalon Hill's Magic Realm

 "Good ol' Magic Realm"

 

Last played Magic Realm about 5 years ago or so but since setting up is a bit of a commitment (particularly after not playing for a while) it hasn't been on the table since. 

The selection of chits I use for MR is a little odd. I really don't like punching out components and cards for games and when my copy arrived in decent shape,  I was a little disappointed that all the cards and more than half of the counters were unpunched. 

 

 

So, I made print and play versions of all the components in my copy that hadn't been punched. That said, the redesigned counters are probably a little better functionally because they're labeled and have the Fame and Notoriety scores printed on them.

As long as I've been looking at fantasy gaming things Magic Realm has been there. I can remember seeing ads for it in magazines or maybe comics, somewhere. But I never saw it in a store. Not once. Well maybe once, but then it was only once. And I believe I also asked someone about it long ago, someone more worldly and knowledgeable about such things, and was told that it was really complicated and not at all like D&D or AD&D. At that point, I guess, I sort of wrote it off, but years later I ran across people talking about it online and instantly recalled how curious I'd been about this game a million years ago - who can forget the cover once you've seen it. Shortly thereafter I bought myself copy.

I've only ever  played Magic Realm solitaire. The game is a bit much for the casual gamer, so roping people into a game and then them not hating you for it afterwards... 

One of the issues with MR is that while it's really not that complex, it's very difficult to explain some of the mechanisms. Always an issue with your more sophisticated games and things to be sure, but something about some of these mechanisms makes them difficult to describe.

Combat, for example. It’s this odd rock-paper-scissors system combined with resource management. Combat also has these discrete mass and speed factors that stack and affect outcomes and...see? Hard to explain.

It is a unique game. It has presence. It creates a definite mood that's integrated into the whole. It has depth. And I can tell that while it's soloable, that's not what it's meant for. It's meant for campaigns with friends and frenemies. I am certain that's where it shines brightest.

For the most part, I play 2nd edition, but I look at both 1st and 3rd edition rules sometimes as I play just because I like to.

And that's the important thing. Whatever else one can say about Magic Realm, the most outstanding thing to me, the most important, is that it amuses me. I'm entertained when I'm playing with it. It's fun to play with. A great toy. That's all one can really ask of this sort of thing, isn’t it?

 

Nate Dray Game Reviews - A brief on Avalon Hill's "The Legend of Robin Hood"

 The Legend

There’s really nothing else quite like Avalon Hill's "The Legend of Robin Hood."  

 

Established AH game conventions and mechanics, but applied a little differently...

All the special case chrome is easy to remember, intuitive, and effectively models the main Robin Hood tropes; the archery contest, Maid Marion, disguises, Merry Men, robberies, rescues etc. all present, simple and tastefully built in to the course of the game.

 

 

 

But the game also easily slips into non-Robin Hood situations. Often hilariously so. I think it's a fantastic period narrative generator, really, as it often does a great job simulating medieval "local trouble" situations, i.e. squabbling nobles, people running around the countryside, murder, sham justice, rich bishops to plunder, a little sex & romance, etc. just not necessarily Robin Hood situations.

 

 

You could rename this game "Merovingian Mayhem” or “Squabbling Saxons.”

It could be a game about some Frankish princes trying to squash each other or it could be Alfred the Great's triumphant return.

The story of native son versus new intruder overlord class is familiar to everyone, even if it has perhaps earned extra emphasis in the Anglosphere. And the game models all that sort of thing, those stories.

And with that said, you could play it, each player sort of adhering to the basic Robin Hood legend outline, more or less, in the general course of play, and it could potentially simulate true-to-the-source-material Robin Hood stories, I believe. The elements are certainly all there.

And then there is this chess-like energy that creeps in at certain points which is a thing I look for in games. It usually indicates that something is right with the design. Randomness, which is necessary here, is constrained to allow for deeper strategic play, a balance optimal for modeling a situation like this properly as a game.

 

As further evidence as an example of a finer game, the almost perfectly divided opinion of players who feel it lacks balance; half of those people think the game favors the Sheriff and swear the Sheriff player is guaranteed a win if he truly understands the game, and the other half making the same claims for the Robin Hood player.

I really dig it will almost certainly play "The Legend of Robin Hood" again.