Osprey Games like their variations and sequels. You just need to look at their back catalogue for the evidence that when they find something that works, they’re going to roll out several different flavours. Undaunted, Wildlands and Imperium spring to mind, all games with slightly differing flavours, like the ice cream parlour of olden times, where flavours are varied and often tempting. When General Orders first appeared, I admit I was hooked on its simplicity and cold take on worker placement war gaming, to the point where I almost gave it my game of the year in 2023. Now we have the ‘sequel’ in our hands and it’s time to once again to be placing anonymous hexagonal commanders and discs and wonder (and hope) that there aren’t too many changes for the sake of change.
For those unfamiliar, the best way to describe General Orders is as a strategic working placement order issuing area control game. Where the a map of hexes are placed before you and withing these hexes are much smaller action hexes. Carrying out actions is a simple case of placing one of your hexagonal shape commanders in the hexagonal shaped smaller space and then actioning that order. Some orders give you movement of your disc like troops, others will let you move you ships. There are action spaces so you can bombard from the sea and others that let you attack from the ground, but once a commander is placed, the space is block off until the beginning of the next round. To the side of the board there’s another even smaller board where the big boy trouser decisions can be made about reinforcements and strategy cards, which play a significant role in your overall strategy.
General Orders has always been about supply lines and unit movement, and ultimately unit attrition. The action spaces are about advancing and bombarding, and units facing off against each other will normally favour the defenders. Combat is faceless and cold, where dice are rolled to decide which soldiers don’t even make the assault and then opposing units are paired and removed until normally only one unit remains. As I commented on the first general orders, you don’t go into battle knowing you’ll rout the opposition, you go into battle knowing that you are whittling down their forces for a follow up assault. It is the part of war they rarely show, even in other games in Osprey’s catalogue.
If that was all that was on offer when it can to face offs, then General Orders Sengoku Jidai would suffer, becoming an impossible task that would easily reach a stalemate after the limited number of rounds on offer. Thankfully both players have access to a range of tactic cards, and these exist to give that unexpected advantage but gathering them comes at a cost of actions on the main field, just like when the reinforcement decision is made. What they offer is a chance to smash the stalemate and create a breakthrough, potentially allowing you to charge towards the opponents head quarters, or hold on to the star point scoring territories. Ignoring the collection of these cards is likely to leave you bruised and battered in the fields, while your enemy smirks on at you, physically only inches away from you face, not only because of the size of the board.
But isn’t this just General Orders reskinned? For the most part you could argue yes, as those who have played the previous game will be able to jump in and start playing quickly without hesitation, but this version has ships and no planes, which means that advancement is always from the front, and supply lines are more likely to remain intact through the game. You’re more likely to see where you can probe and launch multiple pronged attacks instead of hoping for a strong team, swift steel and straight on for breakfast with crumpets. It still suffers from feeling like you’re at the roulette table and everything is stacked with chips, especially if you’re trying to place your next commander. While the artwork is trying to be atmospheric and periodic, I prefer the strong colour scheme and iconography of the first game. This is like complaining like your pillow is slightly squint in the best bed you’ve ever slept in. General Orders Sengoku Jidai offers small box tactical wonder that is staying on the shelf, partly because it’s so tiny, but mostly because its really good.
Made by David Thompson & Trevor Benjamin.
Find out more by visiting their website
This review is based on the retail version of the game provided to us by the designer and publisher. We were not paid monetary compensation for this review. We give a general overview of the gameplay and so not all of the mechanical aspects of the game may be mentioned. The majority of the games that we are play are going to take a reasonable number of sessions and playthroughs to fully understand every possibility that they offer. We hope this write up gives you an idea of whether or not this game is something that you will consider playing or even add to your collection. Even if we don't like something, hopefully it helps you to decide if it is something that you should find out more about. We always suggest you check out a gameplay video to give you a better understanding of the game as it is played. If you would like to support more content on the blog then please consider backing us on Patreon. www.patreon.com/werenotwizards
