I oftentimes supplement live multiplayer and solo sessions with possibility to bring the interesting titles to digital table. That allows me to play my friends and fellow wargamers from around the world as well as touch titles which otherwise I might not have a chance to play so often.

When it comes to the means by which you can play online, you of course have Vassal, Tabletop Simulator, Steam itself or Board Game Arena. However recently one of the fastest developing projects – where quality not quantity goes first – is definitely Rally the Troops which is becoming my preferred go to location for such plays.

So when Dave – who runs great blog Dude! Take Your Turn! – asked me if I would like to play couple of sessions of Red Flag Over Paris I did not hesitate for a moment!

The Platform

Rally the Troops is an online site where you can play board games in your browser, with fully automated rules enforcement. Play live or asynchronously with friends or strangers, or explore the games on your own. It is free to play, and you do not have to look at any ads – which is awesome.

At the moment when I am writing this article, the platform consist of 14 wargames from various publishers, featuring some of the most iconic and prominent designs in our hobby. It is constantly growing, with new position popping up every couple of months – based on the bandwidth of its main developer, Tor. There is a forum and discord server where you to discuss the next titles in pipeline, ask the rules questions or simply express your gratitude to the team!

The Game

First things first, let us talk about the title we were bringing to digital table.

Red Flag Over Paris, the spiritual successor to Mark Herman’s Fort Sumter, is a short, yet challenging, two-player card-driven game depicting the two months of intense confrontation between the Communards and the government in Versailles during the 1871 Paris Commune.

You will play as one of these factions and fight for control over Paris. But, you will also need to win the hearts and minds of the French population, as the board is divided into two areas– military and political – themselves divided into several dimensions (Political Institutions, Public Opinion, Paris Neighborhoods, and the Forts on the outskirts of the city). The game forces players to make tough decisions like when to focus on political influence or military dominance and how to optimize limited resources.

Neat and clever design by Fred Serval plays quickly, allows for multiple strategies (like whether to fight for initiative or maybe focus on) and plays so quickly, that you can easily switch sides for a rematch and still fit in 1 hours total play time.

The Sessions

Here is the game set-up – in this session (we played three) I was leading the Versailles Forces while Dave Was in charge of Commune.
At the beginning of the turn, you have to choose one of the objectives; you will play 3 cards and leave only 1 to execute as event in final crisis.
In the first turn I strongly focused on military dimension, bringing quite a lot of additional troops. Dave was focused on “hearts & minds of the people”, taking lead in this area.
Round 2 was pretty decisive for Versailles as royal forces built a strong military position on the map, nullifying also the Political advantage of Commune.
The third round and executing of the final crisis is always a blast. That was struggle till the end, with Dave bringing lots of Communards on the map. Sill, my forces held firmly, even getting some more military points and winning the game!

The Impressions

Well, here I would like to share the impression about plying Red Flag Over Paris via Rally the Troops platform. Thus it is for sure not full game review nor a platform detailed analysis.

First of all, something which you will be asking in first place, is accuracy of rules implementation in digital format. This is perfect – Tor does a great job, working directly with designers and publishers, making sure all nuances are taken into consideration. Secondly, the ease of play is great – you can do it from PC, from laptop, from tablet or EVEN from you phone! I ofttimes was doing my turns when on the move, during some trip, etc. This is perfect solution for such cases. Last but not least, the platform and this module is astonishingly beautiful & aesthetic. It is pure joy of playing it.

So if you have not tried yet the Rally the Troops, give it a go – highly recommended!