An Impossible War: The First Carlist War in the North, 1834-1838 is a two-player block wargame from Bellica 3rd Generation, designed by David Gómez Relloso. It recreates the northern campaigns of Spain’s First Carlist War, the brutal civil conflict that erupted after the death of King Ferdinand VII pitted the traditionalist Carlists against the Liberal government forces backing the young Isabella II. The action is centered on Navarre, the Basque Provinces, and the surrounding regions of La Rioja, Burgos, and Cantabria, with a smaller secondary map tracking Carlist uprisings and expeditions across the rest of the country.
Wooden blocks handle the fog-of-war side of things for infantry and cavalry, while artillery and supply units are represented by counters, giving each side a genuinely different feel to play. The Carlist player leans on mobility, guerrilla tactics, and local support to wear down the enemy and threaten key cities, while the Liberal player has the numbers but has to wrestle with logistics and constant uprisings across the rest of Spain. It’s a lesser-known corner of 19th-century military history, and the design does a nice job of making that asymmetry the whole point of the game.
To see how all of this plays out on the table, check out the video below.
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