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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I'm hoping to use the Zapata system to game other conflicts in which political positioning is just as important as military maneuver, and which give players considerable freedom of action to shape their faction's political image. In the meantime, I'm very much hoping to find players to get feedback.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Rebel and Army successes and failures affect their reputations for Order, Law, and Justice, which in turn affects the factions' ability to control characters. This reflects the tendency of different factions in the Mexican revolution to redefine what they stood for as the political climate shifted.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

The army meanwhile will need to stage offensives to catch the rebels off-balance, restore railroad connections between the capital and Morelos's potentially lucrative sugar haciendas, and take advantage of rebel dissent and missteps to set up assassination attempts.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Zapata and his deputies will be dashing back and forth across the map, trying to recruit new leaders to his cause, troubleshoot quarrels between his chieftains (and occasionally purge insubordinates), seize supplies, and - if he gets the chance - taking out army garrisons.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Zapata places a heavy emphasis on leaders, the colorful panoply of warlords, rancheros, army officers, intellectuals and others who joined the peasant rebellion, tried to suppress it, or (in many cases) switched back and forth for opportunistic, ideological and personal reasons.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Wanted to announce that a new game prototype is up on fieldofmars.com: Zapata: The Mexican Revolution in the South. The game is intended for two players but also has a basic solo AI to allow new players to learn the system.

fieldofmars.com

Campus Martius

Play historic board games on the web.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Thanks very much to @pushingcardboard.bsky.social for the shout-out on his Pushing Cardboard podcast for fieldofmars.com, my site for historical game prototypes. New game on the site: Zapata: The Mexican Revolution in the South.

fieldofmars.com

Campus Martius

Play historic board games on the web.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

I will! Hopefully it won't be much more than a few more weeks or so.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

The army for its part needs to try to keep rail lines open to the garrisons and sugar-producing haciendas, while courting Zapata's disgruntled lieutenants or laying traps for unwary revolutionaries. Military columns can also resort to devastating but politically costly scorched-earth tactics.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

The game represents mobile guerrilla warfare in some detail. Zapata and his lieutenants will constantly be galloping about the map to mass forces, raid rail lines, supervise the redistribution of land, appease (or purge) insubordinate followers, and dodge out of the way of army offensives.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

National politics also play a key role. In the beginning, Zapata stands for agrarian reform ("Justice") and Diaz for stability ("Order"), while both sides must also compete for the loyalties of Maderistas and other liberals who value constitutional succession and the sanctity of property ("Law").

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

The game focuses on the colorful characters that fought with or against Zapata. Many are charros, the central Mexican cowboys who formed the bulk of Zapata's revolutionaries, but generals, hacendados, and Mexico City intellectuals also have key roles.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Working on a new online boardgame, Zapata, on the Mexican revolution in Morelos and the surrounding states. Zapata's goal is to create a "liberated zone" of autonomous villages, but he also needs to extract resources from the area to defend it, and peasants aren't always going to go along.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Thanks! Any time you're up for a game, let me know. The Rally the Troops system is a great way to find opponents.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

If anyone's interested in how the game fits into the (highly contentious) historiography of religion in medieval India, here's an explanation of what I'm trying to represent. fieldofmars.com/digvijaya/in...

fieldofmars.com

For the best experience viewing the Digvijaya Rulebook on mobile devices, please use the link below to open the PDF in your device's PDF viewer.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Players take control of various movements whose theology evolves according to the tactics they employ to win converts.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Hi - announcing that I've put a new boardgame prototype, Digvijaya: Religious Rivalry in Medieval India, up on my fieldofmars.com website. It's designed for three players, but also has an AI to allow one- or two-player games. Thanks again to Tor Andersson for the use of his Rally the Troops system.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Hi - just announcing that I've put on online version of my boardgame Angria, on corsairs on the coasts of 18th century India on a new playtesting site, Campus Martius (fieldofmars.com) that uses the popular Rally the Troops system. I'd welcome any playtesters if you're up for a game!

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

The game draws from academic work done on the military competence of authoritarian regimes, and shows how the temptation of turning to strongman rule does not in fact make your nation any stronger, even in the old school sense of raw military might - it has the opposite effect, in fact.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Can't wait to try it again, especially when Akar is able to include some art from the two warring powers - whose propaganda poster game was probably superior to their military skills, at least at the start of the war.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

I played on a team representing Saddam and his inner circle, and we chose cautious investment in reforms that would pay off later - only to see the Iranians surge forward in the south and cut off part of our vital oil experts. Their problems with Khuzistani guerrillas were small consolation.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Each player starts off with loyal but incompetent commanders and a very limited supply of "Authority" cubes which are expended to (slowly) build up military capacity while also staving off a coup, as dissidents plot bombings and your enemy presses on multiple fronts.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

The game is unique, as far as I'm aware, in that the military operations are relatively simple and players are steered towards tough decisions on the internal political front: such as when to purge generals and when to empower them, and how far and how fast to press five different sets of reforms.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

I was really glad for the chance to play Chalice of Poison by Akar Bharadvaj, covering the Iran-Iraq war with a political focus: two fragile regimes locked in struggle, knowing that reforms that lead to victory on the battlefield (like letting generals communicate easily) could also lead to a coup.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

For Digvijaya, I need to make a lot more use of the map, reminding players which kinds of population carry which modifiers. Tokens also need a whole slew of improvements. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/44...

boardgamegeek.com

Digvijaya

Rival religious movements compete to spread their beliefs in medieval India.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

One particularly valuable suggestion for Angria was to add a new player aid card that provides a flowchart for the sequence of play. Also, I plan to tweak the trading system to put more importance on card placement and bluffing and less on die rolls. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43...

boardgamegeek.com

Angria

Fleets and corsairs battle to control trade on the coasts of 18th century India.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Thanks to everyone who played Angria and Digvijaya and gave feedback. First and foremost, I need to use every opportunity to use the components both to communicate the game design and remind the players of easy-to-forget modifiers!

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Back from @fortcircle.bsky.social's CircleDC, where I had a chance to demo Angria (18c Indian corsairs) and Digvijaya (medieval Indian religion), and try out Hellraisers of Kanawha County (1911 labor struggle), Drachen (WW1 recon), and Chalice of Poison (Iran-Iraq war). Impressions to follow.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Will also be running a pair of Teach and Plays for Angria, a two-player game on corsairs on western India's Konkan coast. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43...

boardgamegeek.com

Angria

Fleets and corsairs battle to control trade on the coasts of 18th century India.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

In this three-player game, Hindu and Muslim reformers, missionaries, rebels and holy warriors establish movements and dynasties and win converts, while a third Syncretic player tries to reshape their theologies in line with the Indian tradition of blending and harmonizing faiths.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Getting my prototype of Digvijaya: Religious Reform and Rivalry in Medieval India ready to show at @fortcircle.bsky.social's Circle DC convention starting Friday.

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Reposted by Steve Negus

Medievalist.net @medievalists.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

A group of researchers have recreated the clothing of medieval Nubian royalty and clergy from the wall paintings in the cathedral of Faras, which sits at the border of modern Egypt and Sudan.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Thanks for putting this together! I'd like to be added, if my account (mostly reviews of historical boardgames plus some of my own projects) fits your list.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Also looking for wargamers in eastern Los Angeles county or nearby (Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange County, etc) who might be interested in getting together one or two days a month.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Thanks for doing this! I'm working on a boardgame on corsairing and coastal warfare in 18th century India ("Angria"), and am also posting reviews/first impressions of historical boardgames on this account.

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Reposted by Steve Negus

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

I'm happy to share that a week ago I was part of the San Diego Historical Games Convention @sdhistcon.bsky.social for the first time. My main objective was to show my game, Palmares, to players, publishers, and designers to help determine which direction I should pursue next. #sdhist2024

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Anyway, Artur said he is working on single-player and cooperative variants where the Portuguese are played by the AI, but I would still think that two-player is the more rewarding gaming experience.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Palmares goes into considerable detail to model the bandeirantes' incentives. As a bandeirante, your superiors might expect you to recapture fugitives, clear out routes into the interior, or simply inflict punishment - and guessing that incentive helps the quilombos resist.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

We have a tendency to look at evil as something akin to a diabolical force that tests our morals and resolve. But, evil is usually a human institution, with its own incentives and limitations on its power, and one usually has to understand those to resist effectively.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Nonetheless, I'm usually on the side of making games two-player, and this is no different. The theme of the game is resistance - and this is clear from the art and how the sides are portrayed - and I think you learn much more by resisting a human than an AI bot.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

There was a bit of discussion about making this a two-player game. Many games have you play WW2 Germans, Confederates, ISIS, etc but this is perhaps different. If you play the Third Reich in a game, for example, you handle their conventional military, while the atrocities happen in the background.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

It was easy to envision a column of 60-odd rough leather-clad bandeirantes, picking their way through the thorn-bushes, as we watched from the slopes, strew traps in their path, or scattered to warn surrounding villages that they were coming.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

I like games that tell a story about terrain, that deal with asymmetry of forces, and that help you envision a common historical theme - like a "persisting strategy" that wears down a raiding column - that one reads about but rarely makes it to the gaming table. This hit all those bases.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

The column of manhunters winds its way up river valleys, as the quilombolo player tries to wear them down. I took the quilombolos, and the cards gave me a wide range of options - sometimes gathering to send a few bullets or arrows their way, or steal their supplies, sometimes scattering.

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Steve Negus @stevenegus.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

So, it's a two-player game. One player represents the quilombolas, who are scattered in small communities over the rugged hills of northeastern Brazil. The other player takes on the role of Portuguese manhunters sent to re-enslave them. (More on this below, after a discussion of game mechanics.)

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