I love exploring new boardgames. Each year we are getting countless numbers of fresh titles, many of which will not survive the test of time. However some will become the so called all time classics. And believe me, despite playing numerous new titles each year, I still have some gaps in that category too!

Thus when my Dear Friend Clio asked me if I would like to try a game which just landed on Rally the Troops – Friedrich – I did not hesitate even for a moment. As this is a four-player game, we quickly convinced our good colleague, Dave, to accompany us. With Andy, friend of Clio, whom I had a pleasure to met during one of our Essen trips, we had full house.

I had high expectations to Friedrich (spoiler alert: they were fully fulfilled!) and knew that the Rally the Troops implementation will make that game fun. Before jumping into session reports and impressions, couple of words about platform and more details about the game. Enjoy!

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 impressive.

The platform develops and grows all the time. At the moment when I am writing this article, Rally the Troops consist of 22 wargames from various publishers; we have a pretty wide arrays of the most iconic and prominent designs in our hobby, but you can also find some of the less known. It is rapidly expanding, and we are getting a new position every couple of months – based on the bandwidth of its main developer, Tor Andersson. There is a forum and Discord server where you can discuss the next titles in pipeline, ask the rules questions or simply express your gratitude to the team!

The Game

Friedrich is a highly regarded strategy board game designed by Richard Sivél and first published in 2004 by Histogame. The game is set during the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) and focuses on the military and political struggles of the period, especially from the perspective of Frederick the Great of Prussia.

The game portrays the multi-front conflict of the Seven Years’ War, with players taking the roles of: Prussia (led by Frederick the Great) – the central power, fighting off multiple opponents; Austria – one of Prussia’s key adversaries; France and Russia – major powers also seeking to undermine Prussia; The Electorate of Saxony and Sweden (controlled by Austria and France/Russia respectively) – minor powers aiding the main allies.

The game revolves around strategic maneuvering, supply chain management, and tactical engagements based on a clever blend of deck-driven mechanics and map-based play. The key features – many of which makes the game simply unique – are:

  • Card Combat System – players resolve battles using standard playing cards (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs), adding a unique and thematic layer of randomness and strategy. The terrain affects which cards can be played, adding depth to positional considerations.
  • Asymmetric Objectives – Prussia’s goal is survival against overwhelming odds until its enemies withdraw due to historical events (e.g., the death of Empress Elizabeth of Russia). The other powers aim to control specific regions and defeat Prussia’s forces.
  • Historical Flavor – The game incorporates historical elements, such as the political alliances, strengths, and weaknesses of each faction, and key events that occurred during the war.
  • Player Interaction – each attacking faction has its own goals and benefits from weakening the Prussia; the question is who will do it first and in which type of terrain. Even without open communication (well, it is hard to stop commenting what other players are doing) you can clearly see and adjust. Example: if Prussia currently defends on Spades against two opponents in key locations, whoever fight first might make it easier for the second one.

All above elements, design decisions and concepts make Friedrich a pretty unique and innovative (although 20 years old!) historical boardgame.

The Sessions

Let us talk a bit now about our sessions. We played five in total during the six months. In the first play we distributed roles randomly – I was (un)lucky to start from the top of difficulty level, leading Prussia. And then, during following sessions, we made sure that the factions were changing among us, so everybody could test and feel how differently they play. Let us jump now to the brief reports!

PS. As always, feel free to click on below images for full details.

The Game 1

The sides and players:

  • Frederick (Prussia) – Michal
  • Elisabeth (Russia) – Andy
  • Maria Theresa (Austria) – Dave
  • Pompadour (France) – Clio – VICTORY

Comment & conclusion: well, playing as Prussia in your first game of Friedrich ever can be a challenge 🙂 On the other hand, Dave had a similarly difficult task of running the most powerful adversary of Friedrich – Austria. Russia was also a very decent opponent – however, I managed to threw away the plans to take over last VP by Andy. So it is not surprising that by clever play of his armies – and especially Supply Trains – Clio and France emerged as victor!

The Game 2

The sides and players:

  • Frederick (Prussia) – Andy – VICTORY
  • Elisabeth (Russia) – Clio
  • Maria Theresa (Austria) – Michal
  • Pompadour (France) – Dave

Comment & conclusion: that was a really fierce game – in which the Andy’s (Prussia) opponents were dying reasonably quickly. As Austria I had a decent power, however, no match for elite Friedrich troops. Dave this time led more quiet sector (France) while Clio was doing his best as Russia. Congrats to Andy!

The Game 3

The sides and players:

  • Frederick (Prussia) – Clio – VICTORY
  • Elisabeth (Russia) – Dave
  • Maria Theresa (Austria) – Andy
  • Pompadour (France) – Michal

Comment & conclusion: this time Clio took on the most difficult faction – Prussia. I had fun playing France while Dave was crushing north with Russia. Andy and his Austria were also at the throat of Friedrich. This was the longest game (22 turns), the most balanced and most fun. Clio just barely survived. Maybe if we play again we should do it exactly in that set-up?

The Game 4

The sides and players:

  • Frederick (Prussia) – Dave
  • Elisabeth (Russia) – Michal
  • Maria Theresa (Austria) – Clio – VICTORY
  • Pompadour (France) – Andy

Comment & conclusion: wow, that was painful game for Dave. His Prussian forces were repeatedly encircled by Clio’s Austrians and devastated. I got myself in some strange dance of armies in the north, not being able to even get to majority of my VPs. Andy and France expanded quickly but then was stuck at the border with Prussia. Congrats to Clio for victory!

The Game 5

The sides and players:

  • Frederick (Prussia) – Clio – VICTORY
  • Elisabeth (Russia) – Michal
  • Maria Theresa (Austria) – Dave
  • Pompadour (France) – Andy

Comment & conclusion: ok, so we switched sides multiple times and Dave & me had a chance to try each and every faction. So now the idea was to play with completely random sides, using all our skills and experiences. Well, again we had long and brutal game, where Dave’s Austrians were facing Clio’s Prussians in some very fierce battles. I was doing very well with Russia & Sweden but was prematurely removed by event. And Andy did his best with France but also got overwhelmed. Congrats Clio again!

The Impressions & Conclusion

That was such a fun and joy to play those games with Clio, Dave and Andy. There was a lot of table talk, exciting moments on all sides, suspense situations and sudden defeats. And one can only wonder, how Clio achieved four victories in five games! Congrats!

As for the game, Friedrich definitely lived up to my expectations. This is a no-dice game, with huge replayability, a lot of hidden information and bluffing, where main faction – Prussia – have two different paths to victory (offensive and defensive), where the rules make sure that there is no player elimination, while historical country elimination exists. I believe that one sentence if most succinct and brief summary of this game I can create.

At the same time, it does not stop to surprise me how fantastic the Rally the Troops is. It has limited number of titles developed – true; still the quality of prepared games is simply astonishing and if there are any errors, Tor resolves them almost online!

Post Scriptum

You really should not be surprised that Clio is so proficient with Friedrich. He created series of great strategic articles for this game, where he shares his experience and knowledge of the game. Among several, make sure to check How to Win at Friedrich as Prussia and How to Win at Friedrich as an Attacking Faction. Great read and intro to what and how can be achieved in that game.