The Game

Children of the Mist is a tactical war game set in the horse and musket era and dealing with a small battle that took place in the Scottish Highlands during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Another of the many affrays that comprised the Jacobite Wars of the first half of the 18th Century it was unique in featuring a detachment of Spanish regulars, under the command of various Jacobite lords. They came ashore at Eilean Donan Castle, linked up with several hundred Highlanders, and marched up into the wilderness of Glen Shiel, bound for Inverness. They were supposed to be a diversion while the main Spanish army invaded England near Bristol, but that expedition was called off after being battered by storms off Cape Finisterre. (You would think after 1588 that the Spanish would know better.) More for honour's sake than anything else, the small band of Spanish and native warriors challenged the equally small force of British and Dutch regulars (and loyalist Highlanders) that had been sent to deal with them. The battle was a hard-fought draw. Good enough to satisfy honour, but the Spanish were abandoned by the Highlanders in the night and forced to surrender the next morning.

Number of Players: 1 or 2. There is no 'solitaire mode' but the game is small enough and simple enough for solo play.

Format

This is a stock old-school hex-and-counter war game. It uses a modified form of the system developed for the Battles of Louis XIV series found in Vae Victis magazine. The primary change is the scale: units are company size and hexes are 80 metres across. Featured in the game are a grab bag of Highland Clans fighting on both sides, including MacGregors led by the infamous Rob Roy, several other famous Jacobite lords of thoses days, a battalion of Spanish, an oversized regiment of Dutch mercenaries, some understrength British line battalions, a battery of Coehorn mortars, and a detachment from the Royal Scots Greys. The setting is a Highland glen, cut by a small river and walled by towering peaks. Turns represent twenty minutes and the battle lasts from midafternoon to nightfall.

Components

1) Rulebook, a Player Aid card with TEC and CRT, and Historical Commentary

2) 17”x22” paper map.

3) 120 counters.

Children of the Mist is currently only available in PnP form.