Warriors of God is the latest offering in MMP’s excellent new International Game Series. The game is Adam Starkweather’s re-working of Makoto Nakajima’s 100 Years War Anglo Vs. French. In addition to the main Hundred Years War scenario is a "Lion in Winter" scenario set about 200 years earlier.

Components: The game includes 1” square and large round counters with beautiful and highly functional artwork. The only nits I could pick regard the Turn marker, which is supposed be flipped to show initiative but doesn’t really work well for that purpose, and the “missed” marker, which shows an anachronistic gunnery sight.
The map sheet is also highly functional, with a very nice turn track and some useful charts. The large, 3d-looking “sea connection” arrows and doubled area borders make gameplay clear but detract a bit from the period flavor the map seems otherwise designed to evoke. There is a strange background pattern to the map which may be meant to create the impression of a palimpsest, and at first I wondered if it might be a printing error. In play, this pattern disappears from notice. Also included are plenty of dice.

Gameplay: In a manner I find appealing, each turn is broken up into many phases, the order of which is cleverly designed to keep a high tension level in the game. The main phase moves along briskly with an “impulse” system which gives the “initiative” player the first and last move of each turn. The “non-initiative” player later gets certain advantages in leader and troop placement which tends to balance things out. To keep things simple, leaders move along with assigned troops at all times, with no “dropping off” or trading troops with other leaders. This means players need to carefully plan troop deployments. The bulk of the troops are “generic”, but there are a few special types, each with a couple of simple rules to differentiate them.

Leaders: The leaders are the heart of the game, not only being central to gameplay but are the main source of the period flavor and personality of the game. The French and English player each have two new leaders enter play each turn, along with two neutral leaders which can fight for each side. Each turn, all leaders left from previous turns are given a die-roll check to see if they die of “natural causes”. Each leader can last from 1-6 turns. This adds a great amount of uncertainty to the game, which might not appeal to all players. I found this phase to be one of the most enjoyable of the game, with much whooping and hollering when a great leader dies young or a crafty old man lives on for another campaign. Since each battle is led by the highest-ranking leader present, there are also some kings and princes who are so inept that you really might be happy to see them die. New leaders are placed after the old ones die, so you might be surprised to find the troops you deployed for one of your leaders suddenly come under control of your enemy. Leaders are also used to claim control of areas, the central method of gaining victory points. Each leader has a “home area” in which he (or she – Joan of Arc is here!) has a great advantage when trying for control.

Overall: I’ve only played once so far, and as is my practice I will refrain from rating the game until I can play it again. However, I am REALLY anxious to try it again, and I think this says a lot about the appeal of the game and the excitement it provides.