Hammer of the Scots (HotS) has a great hook. While there are numerous games, both video and board, built around wargaming staples involving Romans, World War II, and the American Civil War – HotS not only focuses on a fresh topic, but also taps into something that many more people are at least familiar with thanks to the 1995 Mel Gibson film, Braveheart. Honestly, before that film, you could ask almost any American who William Wallace was and you’d be greeted with a blank stare. Historical accuracy issues aside, Braveheart the film made Wallace part of the pop culture lexicon and his “Freeeeedom!!!” scream at the conclusion is now part of American film lore.

Hammer of the Scots takes place during the era of Braveheart (and the decade after his death). One player plays the English lead by Edward I (and II) and the other player takes Wallace and his feisty band of rebels in an attempt to win Scottish freedom. (There’s also a 2nd scenario included called “The Bruce” which takes place after Wallace was killed.)

As wargames go, HotS is about as streamlined and as easy to learn as it gets without sacrificing playability. The eight page rulebook shouldn’t assume a lack of depth; it is a highly approachable game that can be taught in less than half an hour even to a complete wargaming novice. If you’re looking to get into this genre, this is an absolutely fantastic place to start.

HotS is a block game. There are no small cardboard chits here or ugly, miniscule cardboard pieces littering hard to digest maps. Instead, the units (nobles, infantry, knights, etc.) are wooden blocks with data on one side and a blank face on the other; the blank face is shown to the enemy to simulate fog of war to a certain degree. The blocks are well made, but you need to make sure that there are no scuff marks or any other identifiable marks on them because otherwise you may know which unit is which because of it. Also, you will need to manually place the unit stickers on the blocks. It’s not a big deal, but it doesn’t come completely assembled.

The map is of a sturdy cardboard stock – but it doesn’t lay completely flat on the table. The best option is to go to a hardware store (Lowe’s, Home Depot, whatever) and spend $5 on a sheet of thin, clear Plexiglas to ensure a smooth, flat board. This will be a particularly good purchase if you buy other games of this type or from certain publishers. Twilight Struggle, Commands & Colors: Ancients and others use this type of board so the Plexiglas is almost a gaming must if you want to venture into these sorts of games. Plus it helps protect the map from careless drink spills.

The map itself is fantastic – it’s brightly colored with notations where actual battles during the war took place with Scottish Heraldry showcasing where each noble family resides. In all, it’s very hard to complain about the quality of the components.

The game uses a combination of cards and dice. Cards are used by each player to determine group moves, or if an event card is played to perform other actions such as pillaging, moving by sea, etc. It’s pretty simple in theory: if you play a “1” card then you can move all units in one area; a “2” card allows two areas to move (and/or fight). There are more rules concerning movement across tough ground (the highlands) but that’s the general idea. Each “year” lasts five turns unless both players play an event, which ends the year immediately.

Six sided dice are used to determine combat results. Unlike a lot of games, here you want to roll low. For example, the Wallace block starts the game as “A3” with “4” Strength and a 3 Move Rate. The Move Rate of 3 simply means Wallace is fast, by game standards, and can move up to three adjacent regions unless crossing a red border (rough ground). The A is the unit’s initiative, so Wallace’s block attacks before all B and C units and all A units if he’s defending. The 3 is what Wallace needs to score a hit: a roll of a 1, 2, or 3. The 4 Strength is how many dice the units gets and it also represents unit health. A Strength 1 unit has one life to live and only gets 1 die in combat. The blocks show their worth here as well. When a unit takes damage there’s no record keeping involved, simply rotate the block to show the new Strength value. It’s a brilliant system.

There will inevitably be some large scale fights during a game so you’ll need to keep track of initiative to make sure units attack at the right time. There is a lot of planning required, and knowing when to attack, when to anticipate an attack, and when to retreat from combat is crucial in succeeding in the game, especially as the Scottish player. England just keeps on cranking out fresh troops at the start of each new year.

There is a means for combat outside of simple annihilation. The Scottish nobles, which are the key to winning the game, switch allegiance at the drop of a hat. Loyalty for most nobles changes with the breeze – in combat they are not eliminated but rather simply switch sides, and since you need nobles on your side to meet victory conditions, this game of Musical Noble Chairs becomes even more critical.

The game shines for many reasons, one of the most important being that playing each side is a very different experience. The Scots need to play a very different game compared to the English; as Edward keeps sending troops into Scotland each year the Scottish army needs to scramble to keep troops in play while snatching up nobler when possible and bringing in new units each winter. This adds a lot to the game’s replay value because you’ll need to employ different tactics each time you play.

The game’s mechanics work extremely well and while there can be some frustrations when you get dealt a very bad hand, limiting your actions for the upcoming year, or when your opponent plays a Herald card at the worst possible time (possibly switching a noble’s allegiance) and there are always times when you want to throw the dice out the window – particularly when Wallace or King Edward is in battle and nothing but 5s and 6s appear on the dice.

Even with these swings, most games end up coming down to mistakes – moving too many units, or too few units, playing an event at the wrong time, forgetting to fortify a home area, and so on. Usually, after a game when you lose, you can think back to a point where you made a tactical error. Yes, the dice can betray you but if you lose a game of Hammer of the Scots you will always have yourself to blame just as much as bad fortune.

A typical game lasts about two hours. Downtime is negligible being a two-player game and one that requires limited actions each round. Most game rounds consist of moving a couple of army groups and then fighting, which both players take part in resolving. Once everyone is familiar with the rules it moves along at a brisk pace.

Even for veteran gamers the term “wargame” can be intimidating. Images of small charts, hard to read maps and stacks of chits tend to the scare even the most experienced hobbyist. Wargames are indeed a different breed, but Hammer of the Scots flies in the face of all of that without making it too watered down and simple like other “intro” wargames; it’s approachable, easy to learn, and deep enough to satisfy most players –wargaming grognards or otherwise, and should absolutely be in the gaming library of anyone with a hint of attraction to the subject matter.