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The March of Progress is a 2-player micro wargame. I do have a soft spot for quick-playing micro games and this one certainly intrigued me. Can you really abstract and simulate a variety of conflicts using a mere half-dozen troop pieces, a few marker dice and a handful of cards? Will I like this despite its historical setting and notable lack of orcs and elves? Let us march on and find out with The March of Progress.
Making Progress
Each scenario in The March of Progress follows broadly the same format. Each player has their home country map card and are separated by 1-2 neutral countries in between. Each player has an identical (mostly - it is scenario dependent) hand of cards that they select from to decide their action for the round. One of the cards is a score card, which will earn them victory points according to the value of the countries they control. More on this later. Playing the score card also allows players to retrieve all previously played cards and refresh their hand. The first to a set number of victory points is the winner, though some scenarios introduce other victory conditions.
Actions follow a strict order of resolution. Move, Recruit, Fortify, Attack, Strengthen, Score. There is an initiative card to resolve the order of action resolution when both players select move or both select attack. Having the initiative is an advantage as it can allow you to see your opponents move before deciding your own, or to attack first with a +1 bonus action card, defeating your opponent before theirs is resolved. Once initiative has been triggered, it flips so that the other player will have the choice next time.
It’s a very simple system, but one that leads to some interesting choices and the ability to anticipate your opponent’s action choice is advantageous. Played cards remain face up on the table, so you know when selecting your actions exactly which ones are currently available to your opponent.
Decisions, Decisions…
This card play provides satisfying dilemmas each turn.
My troops are stronger so should I attack? What if they play a move and leave before the attack triggers? Should I score instead, anticipating them leaving thus maximising my victory points? Do I need to use attack +1 in case they fortify and shore up their defence?
You can easily find yourself guessing and second guessing your opponent, as all moves available to them are so clear and open. It adds an interesting layer of spice to the card selection decision space that is the heart of the game. All the more so if you play with the same opponent regularly. Your own metagame will emerge, as you attempt to outwit one another, seeking the perfect counter to the typical moves of the opposition.
In This Wargame, It’s Not All About The Conflict...
The scoring and combat systems and ways to achieve victory are well worth discussing in further detail, as they may not be what you’d expect from a direct conflict game. Winning is not all about eliminating your opponents troops. Removing opposing forces off the table helps of course, but you need to take the score action regularly in order to gain victory points.
In theory, you could score every other action, picking up victory points regularly and rushing to victory in no time. So why not do this?
The Arms Race
If you are rushing the scoring, your opponent may be amassing greater combat strength. Combat in The March of Progress is entirely deterministic. Have more strength in a country than your opponent when you play an attack card? You take no losses and your opponent is wiped out. Same strength? Both sides are removed. Should you end up with less strength, it is you who are wiped. It is all or nothing. One side, or both, will be removed when an attack is made.
This is where it gets very clever. In order to boost the strength of your units, you must take the strengthen action. Using this, decreases the available victory points of a country you control by 1 and increases the strength of all of your units by the same amount. Let that sink in. To make your units stronger, you are sacrificing the number of victory points you get when you take the score action.
This adds up to some great interplay between you and your opponent and makes controlling those central, neutral countries crucial. They can provide extra scoring or be exploited to put you ahead in the arms race, ready to attack your opponent’s home country.
If you do manage to control your opponent’s capital, victory is all but assured. Provided it hasn’t taken too long and your opponent has been allowed to be within striking distance of the victory point total of course…
Progress Through The Eras..
The different scenarios supply added intrigue and replayability. It’s rather clever how subtle changes to the rules of this simple system provide a different experience. Stagnant WWI Trench warfare feels very different to using Napoleon’s powerful armies and I’ve enjoyed exploring the different scenarios on offer. WWII even offers a 2 part scenario, with the result of the first part impacting the second.
There are unique action cards that get swapped into your hand for some of the scenarios. Reverting the changes for another scenario is easy, thanks to clear labelling on all the cards, indicating which specific scenario they belong to. Plenty of baggies were included too, so storing the cards according to scenario is straight forward.
The slight downside here is that one scenario, The Thirty Years War, is pretty basic and very much a ‘getting to know the game’ mode. I can’t see many players using this one more than once, as the other 4 options are more substantial and enjoyable. You need to be aware of this, as in some games the basic mode is the accepted way of playing. That is not the case here and I believe you need to explore all of the scenarios, beyond the first, to get the most out of The March of Progress.
The March Of Production
The components are generally of good quality, with stylised meeples for your armies in bright blue and orange. The cards are all large and clear. What artwork there is is evocative of the theme, with maps forming the background of the country cards and there are plenty of nice thematic touches to the different card backs too.
Victory points are simple wooden cubes and the small wooden dice used to track the victory point values of each country and the strength of players’ armies do the job.
The game has a conveniently small box size, the same as some other titles in the Pocket Campaigns series from Surprised Stare Games, along with a small table footprint, making this an easy game to travel with and to play on limited table space.
Its worth mentioning that it is exceptional value too, with an RRP well south of £20. There is plenty of game here for your money.
Reasons To March With Caution
I’ve enjoyed my time with The March of Progress thus far and I’m very happy I took a chance on it. Why then, could it not be for you?
It can be punishing if you misread what your opponent will do. Mistakes can be difficult to recover from, though the game is quick enough that this aspect doesn’t matter to me: learn from what went wrong and go again!
The scoring can catch inexperienced players by surprise. The victory point total can be achieved quicker than you may think at first and I have definitely been caught out by my opponent snatching victory from me, when I thought I was in a dominant position. I find this a strength of the game, but it is something new players need to be aware of, as a sudden unexpected defeat could feel bad.
The advertised play time is 30 minutes. I think this is a generous allowance and many games will conclude in half that time. This is a very quick game, so make sure that is what you are looking for.
Concluding March
I’m not really a wargamer, so I’ve no idea how this micro wargame compares with other, larger wargames. Furthermore, I don’t tend to play conflict-heavy, area control games much these days, but The March of Progress has impressed me. Maybe because it’s not all about smashing your opponent off the table? Maybe it’s because the fate of your forces is entirely deterministic and there are no ‘feels bad’ dice rolls?
Either way, I’m finding this game to be a very enjoyable addition to my small-box game collection and it has eased its way into regular rotation alongside its diminutive brethren.
If you enjoy quick 2 player games and want to try something very different to what else is out there, you’d do well to try The March of Progress. It’s low luck, highly strategic and so quick that inglorious defeats can be quickly wiped from the memory, as it’s no trouble to simply set up and go again. As for the victories? Well, you’ll know that you’ve outplayed your opponent and truly earned them. Just be prepared for them to equally want to try again for revenge!
