We really enjoy Gregory M. Smith. He is a good guy and moreover he is a great designer, particularly of solitaire wargames such as Silent Victory, The Hunters, The Hunted, Nightfighter Ace, Interceptor Ace and others. He also has designed a few 2-player wargames in the Tide Series that are very interesting including Pacific Tide, Imperial Tide and now an upcoming title called Rebel Tide that is focused on the American Civil War. With that in mind, I contacted him to get the scoop on this new design coming from Compass Games.

*Note: The images of the cards, map and other components and their event text used in this interview are still the prototype versions only intended for playtesting and the design might still change prior to final development.

Grant: Your new upcoming game Rebel Tide uses a similar system to Pacific Tide and Imperial Tide but covers the American Civil War. Any challenges with using the system in this conflict?

Greg: There were more similarities to Imperial Tide than Pacific Tide, but I had to rethink the effects of trenches (now called “breastworks”) and artillery. So, it’s certainly not a straight reboot. I also had to add completely new features (Leaders, the Political Track) because they made sense and were needed. Overall, the system fit quite well. I usually don’t personally enjoy political tracks in games (I’m here to fight, not talk! LOL) but this one serves an important purpose so it worked out nicely.

Grant: What assumptions did you make about the overall war that you had to fit into this system? Any challenges?

Greg: I think that overwhelming Northern production should be a given in any strategic Civil War game and the (generally) better Confederate leadership. To use a trite phrase, it is what it is. A Confederate win is going to have to come about politically, early, or not at all. So, the challenge was to make the Political Track dangerous, like a knife’s edge for the Union, in the first half of the war. Another challenge was to balance the victory conditions at the end so that the Confederates also have a chance to win the “long” game. They aren’t winning the war, of course (in reality), but if they did a bit better than the actual Confederacy did by the end of April 1865, I wanted them to be able to get a win in those game terms even though the actual war would be lost.

Grant: What was your design goal for the game?

Greg: Well, as in all the Tide Series games, I wanted a game with a lot of decisions (not difficult, really, when it is card driven) but the main goal was to make the game playable in an evening – say, three hours tops. There are some gorgeous ACW games out there (Mark Simonitch’s The US Civil War comes to mind) but many of them take a considerable time to play, certainly not in a single evening. I feel Rebel Tide will fill that niche.

Grant: Where does the name come from? What did you want it to convey about the American Civil War?

Greg: As it shares the same core game engine as the other games in the Tide Series, I thought I should have Tide in there somewhere….and since the tides of war ebbed and flowed…it seemed appropriate. Plus, “United States Tide” just didn’t sound jazzy enough! 😊 I do like the idea of the Rebels at high tide in 1863 and low tide in 1865, so to me the name fits.

Grant: What sources did you consult on the history of the game? What one must read source would you recommend to our readers?

Greg: The two main sources, of course, are Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote, who both have done three-volume sets on the war along with other works. Personally, I liked Catton’s books a bit better, I found the prose a bit easier to read. But that’s just personal preference, both are excellent overall accounts. Another book I found useful was Lee’s Lieutenants by Douglas S. Freeman, which tells a lot about the different leaders. There’s a partial bibliography in the game, but of course there was an absolute avalanche of material to draw from. One of the cooler things I found online was an 1860 railroad map of the United States which was put to good use in building the backbone of the game board and making sure all of the major lines and connections were properly included.

Grant: What units are represented on the counters and what does each represent?

Greg: The main counters are INF (for infantry), CAV (for cavalry) and ART (for artillery). There are also Leader counters, which play a key role in the game, along with your typical group of status markers, etc. The units have strength points, which are used in the CRT for combat.

Grant: The game uses cards to drive the action. What type of cards are included in the game?

Greg: There are three main types of cards included in the game. The majority have some kind of attack or movement options (or both) and are used for moving units in position and then initiating combat. Some are specialized in that after play, they are removed from the game. These are for major historical events, such as the Gettysburg Address, for example. These cards typically have big benefits and if they were allowed to remain in the game would imbalance the outcome. Finally, there are several cards which must be played first (placed on the table) before they can be used. These are typically used to cancel an attack or advance after combat when the situation or opportunity arises.

Grant: Can you give us a few examples of Union and Confederate cards?

Greg: Here’s is a look at a Union card for the Gettysburg Address mentioned above, as an example of a card that is removed from the game after play (it cannot be rebought, obviously). At the top of the card is the year that the card becomes available to stick to the history and the card title. Located on the bottom left is the card number, while the bottom right is the re-buy cost (a star in this case, denoting no re-buy is possible). The text in the center tells the player what the card does in the game. Finally, the green “B” located in the center bottom is the Solitaire Bot rating for the card, which is used only in the solitaire game. “B” means Balanced and reflects the stance of the Bot during the game as you can have either Balanced, Aggressive or Defensive to differentiate the game and make the experience different. These letters are ignored in the two-player game as they have no effect.

For the Confederacy, this card Rebel Yell is an example of what I’d call a “standard” attack card. One attack into one area, followed by one movement action. This one is slightly better than most attack cards through due to the shift to the right on the CRT when using it. The legend is the same as the above Union card, but in the case of this card, we see the Bot letter is a red “A” denoting that the Bot is Aggressive, and it does have a re-buy cost of two. Allowing players to re-buy cards like this is one of the best design points of the game as it presents the player with some really difficult decisions about how to use their scarce resources to their advantage. This is a great card but re-buying it loses the opportunity to re-buy another card.

Grant: How many cards are included in each player’s deck? How did you distill this number down?

Greg: Each player, Confederate and Union, has their own deck of 24 cards. It was difficult to achieve this and still incorporate all the major historical events, but in some cases I was able to consolidate things in order to make the decks “tight.” I felt this was an important design decision in order to keep the game to a manageable length, but fortunately I was able to get there. It would have been very easy to get carried away and all of a sudden, you’ve got 200 cards. I had to be very judicious in what the cards said, and did.

Grant: How does the card re-buy system work? What does this represent from the period?

Greg: The card re-buy system is really at the heart of the game. You get each current year’s cards for free, but have to spend your Build Points (representing production, mainly) to re-buy previous years’ cards. So, in a sense, it’s a bit of a deck building game from that perspective, and of course, you’ll always (hopefully) be a point short of what you really want to buy and will need to make touch choices.

Grant: How does a player’s annual production determine their card draws? What does this represent from history?

Greg: The production for the Union is higher than the Confederacy, of course, as discussed above. Typically, they’ll be able to buy roughly an extra card, so the CSA player really has to not allow the blockade to strangle him (meaning, the “Blockade Runners” card should probably be re-bought every turn to keep that hand strong.) As the war progresses the North’s production really outstrips the South, and this is not just a function of Build Points, but also the cards available (for free) in 1864 and 1865. The Confederacy can have roughly the same amount of cards in hand, but the quality is lower than the Union’s, which is another method by which the production mismatch is represented.

Grant: What is the function of the Year Cards? Can you show us a few examples?

Greg: The Year Cards set the stage for the operations of the upcoming year. It informs both players who is the first player for the year, how many build points they have (for card rebuy), how many Resource Points, and finally, how many Leaders. For example, here is the 1862 card shown next to the 1865 card for contrast.

Grant: How are Naval operations depicted in the game?

Greg: Naval operations are mainly abstracted, to be honest. Yes, they are depicted by card play (Blockade, Blockade Runners, Farragut, River Gunboats) but basically, they’ve been abstracted for the most part. You can build river gunboat points, but only in areas with a river running through it. The Farragut card is fun because you first conduct the historical naval invasion of New Orleans, but in later years can use it on any Confederate port. Overall, the game does focus on land operations, with naval operations represented but more abstracted.

Grant: What role does the new Political Track play in the game?

Greg: The Political Track allows the Confederacy a chance to be recognized by England and France and thereby win a negotiated settlement to the war. There’s some discussion of this in the game rules, as many people will consider that to be a bit of a stretch, but it was perhaps faintly possible, as both those countries had divided sentiments in their political power structures.

Grant: How do players manipulate the Political Track?

Greg: The Political Track starts at zero, and has boxes that go both directions to +5 and -5. At +5, the Confederacy is recognized by England and France, and at -5, no further possibility of that exists. It is moved by winning major battles, with some movement through card play. The trick for the Union is to survive until 1863 when he can play 4 boxes worth of movement with the Gettysburg Address card and its sister card Emancipation Proclamation. Once those two cards are played, the chances for a Confederate political win are essentially zero, so if the Confederate player is trying for the early win, he is definitely on the clock.

Grant: How does combat work in the design?

Greg: The CRT is fairly simple – add up strength points and roll. Each side does this, however, so each side usually inflicts losses. The side who inflicts the most wins, of course, and may possibly advance after combat (but this is not a given). There is a combined arms bonus, and a one-point bonus for river gunboats and forts.

Grant: How do historical Leaders affect the game?

Greg: Leaders are rated from 2 (the lowest) to 5 (the highest). If your leader is rated two points higher than the opposing leader (or, you are attacking an area with no named leader present) you gain a point on the CRT. Additionally, to be able to advance after combat, you must pass a check versus the rating of your leader. If no leader is present you roll against a nominal value of “2”.

Grant: What is their Leader Rating and what does it represent? How did you go about assigning these values?

Greg: The Leader Rating represents, among other things, their aggressiveness, their judgement, and their effectiveness historically. Rating them was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, as a lot of material has been written that basically ranks the leaders. Admittedly, there are some granularity issues with a rating scheme that only includes the integers 2 through 5, but after having conferred with a lot of testers, most felt the ratings were right on track.

Grant: How can players remove bad leaders? What are the effects of this sacking?

Greg: Removing bad leaders can be done by “sacking” them via the expenditure of a Movement Action. Movement Actions are obviously limited and important, but at times you’ll have one to spare and getting rid of a “2” leader permanently might be worth it (unless you pull another “2” out of the Leader Cup.) Unlike Wounded Leaders, who are returned to the Leader Cup to be possibly drawn again, Sacked Leaders are removed from play completely. I had a lot of fun with this in testing – it might be my favorite mechanic in the game.

Grant: How are Resource Points obtained? What can these points be used for in the game?

Greg: Resource Points are listed on each year’s Year Card, although you can increase them by one (only) via the expenditure of a Build Point at the start of the year. They are the Swiss Army Knife in a player’s toolkit – you can build INF, CAV, ART, a naval point, get an attack action, or get a movement action. They are very flexible and should really be used for emergencies.

Grant: What are the Victory Conditions for each side?

Greg: The Confederate can win a political victory up until 1863, but after that, victory for both sides is based on the retention of major population centers (Richmond, Montgomery, Charleston, and Jackson.)

Grant: How long does the game take to play?

Greg: Two players who know the rules can probably knock out a game in two or two and a half hours. Obviously, brand new players will take more time to make decisions on what cards to play, so they’ll be a bit longer. But it can easily be played in an evening.

Grant: Is there an option for solitaire play? What priorities does the Bot use to make its decisions and what is the experience like?

Greg: Although primarily designed as a two-player game, Rebel Tide’s solitaire Bot is a combination of specific and general guidance. The solitaire Bot uses the A, B, and D card ratings to help it decide what card to play (Aggressive, Balanced, or Defensive) based on the current Bot “personality.” But the Bot card also has general guidance on what you should be trying to do. By combining those, you get a Bot experience that is not overly tedious. My main concern was to not have a Bot that was so painful to use, it detracted from the game. You do have to “give yourself a good game” but the Bot assists you with card play, which is one of the key decisions each round.

Grant: What changes have come about through play testing?

Greg: There were numerous changes. For example, to name a few, Combined Arms Bonus became a +1 DRM instead of a column shift, leaders got a “once per year” long range move, the leader “sack” rule was developed, and others. The testers did great work on this one and came up with a lot of proposals, many of which were implemented.

Grant: What do you feel the game design excels at?

Greg: I think it hits the design objective: the whole war in an evening. It’s fun, it gives you a sense of the history, and it’s not overly complicated. I would say the design is “tight” if that makes sense.

Grant: What new subjects are you contemplating for this system?

Greg: I am actively working on Insurgent Tide which I’ve jokingly referred to as, “How I Spent My Summer Vacation in 2005.”  Testers have been very positive so far so that’s a good sign. It’s been slow going though, as it is significantly different from the other Tide Series games. After that, I’m not sure if I’m done or not with the Tide system, although Alexander will be happy to hear I am seriously considering Spartan Tide as he mentioned at our meetup at WBC this past July. But I have to get smart on the Peloponnesian War first, and that’s going to take some time. I may yet have another Tide Series game in me yet. Thanks for your questions and interest, you know I have the utmost respect for the work you do and am grateful for your attention here.

Thanks for your time in answering my questions Greg and for all of the hard work that you put in with your games. I know that you have been pretty busy working away on all your irons in the fire and I look forward to having these designs see the light of day very soon.

If you are interested in Rebel Tide: The American Civil War, 1861-1865 you can pre-order a copy for $54.00 from the Compass Games website at the following link: https://www.compassgames.com/product/rebel-tide-the-american-civil-war-pay-later/?sfw=pass1701199592

-Grant