My Favorite Boardgames Mechanics – Card Driven Games

Time for the second installment of My Favorite Boardgames Mechanics! After the Chit-Pull System, let me move to the mechanic which is probably closest to my heart – Card Driven Games (CDGs). When I was starting my journey with wargames in the 1990s, they were a complete novelty to me, and many years later they are still the thrill I am yearning for. I already touched upon them back in 2020 in Card Driven Games (CDGs) – my 3 favorite, but since then a lot of sessions were played, so it is a good moment to come back to the topic. As before, I will explain what the mechanic is, share what I like about it and what sometimes bothers me, and finally point you to the games where it really shines.

The mechanic in question

The definition of a CDG can vary from interpretation to interpretation, so let me stipulate the main characteristics. First and foremost, almost all actions possible for the player to undertake stem from the cards – be it operations (moving and attacking with your forces), events, replacements, reinforcements or strategic redeployment. The first such title was We the People (1993) from Mark Herman, published by Avalon Hill – and since then the system spread to countless wargames covering almost every period of history.

At the heart of the system there is a simple but painful choice. Some games provide multi-use cards (see Paths of Glory), where each card can be played either for its event or for its operations value, while others have specific cards for particular actions (see We the People or Julius Caesar). Some designs go even further – if you play a card with your opponent’s event for operations, that event still takes place! Played events usually return to the deck, unless they are marked as one-time occurrences, and the deck itself often evolves during the game, for example with Early, Mid and Late War cards added as the time passes.

Usually, the board consists of spaces connected by lines – the point-to-point system, in stark contrast to the hexagonal maps of traditional wargames. Attention! Do not be misled by the hexagonal map of Empire of the Sun – the game moves the system closer to a classic hex wargame, still retaining all of the CDG tension. Cardboard counters often represent generic strength points rather than specific units, and the scale is usually strategic. Bear in mind that there are also many games using cards only as an additional dimension of play – such Card-Assisted titles are valuable too, but I leave them for another occasion.

What I like about it

• Tough and tense decisions – shall I play the event with a long-lasting effect, or rather focus on the immediate gains of the operations? Or maybe my armies are too depleted and I should recover them? The choice limited by your cards and the trade-offs connected to it – this is exactly what I enjoy most in wargames.
• History in your hand – the events are very much attached to the historical incidents, so with every card you replay pivotal moments of the period and create your own narrative of the conflict.
• Space for bluffing – your opponent does not know what is in your hand; you try to maximize the impact of your cards while hiding your intentions and traps. And believe me, the space for bluffing is really vast!
• Great replayability – each game you get a different set of cards, which you put to play based on the current map situation and your long-term plans. I often had a situation that I wanted to restart the game just after it was finished.
• Simple rules, enormous depth – the core is usually pretty straightforward (play the event or execute operations), yet out of it you get countless strategies and tactics.

What sometimes bothers me

• Knowing the deck – the true beauty and depth lies in the events, and their knowledge is crucial; so you may firmly state that most CDGs have a moderate entry barrier but could be really hard to master.
• Luck of the draw – a weak hand at a critical moment can hurt, and when your opponent gets all the key events, you need a lot of skill to recover.
• Time needed – many of the classics come with thick rulebooks and long campaigns, so you need a dedicated wargaming partner (or even five of them!) to bring them to the table.

Games where this mechanic shines

Empire of the Sun (GMT Games, design by Mark Herman) – one of the wargaming hobby behemoths, but also a fantastic simulation of strategic warfare in the Pacific during WWII, from Pearl Harbor until the surrender of Japan. The core card mechanics are pretty straightforward – you play the event or execute operations – but what will happen if your operation gets intercepted? The space for bluffing is really vast! I especially appreciate the concept of US Political Will, which allows Japan to win by forcing a negotiated peace – it is often in its darkest hour that the Japanese find victory. To be quite honest, I have not found a better game on that theme. If you would like to start the wonderful journey with it, start small: the 1943 scenario or the C3i South Pacific set-up will be good entry points.

Twilight Struggle (GMT Games, design by Ananda Gupta and Jason Matthews) – the USA and USSR rivalry between 1945 and 1989. I played it extensively when it was published, to the extent that I took part in Twilight Struggle conventions. It is a quick-playing, low-complexity game, but with enormous replayability and depth. The strict choice between event and operations is here at its best – and if you play the opponent’s card for operations, the event takes place anyway! The deck grows from Early War, through Mid War, up to Late War cards, and you know exactly how many VPs each region will yield – what you do not know is when this will happen. For me, an exemplification of simple rules out of which you get countless strategies – it never gets boring.

Paths of Glory (GMT Games, design by Ted Raicer) – a very special title for me: my first GMT game, my first wargame which was not a hex and counter type, and a quintessence of the CDG, where operations, events, replacement points and strategic redeployment all come from the cards. I remember in our initial sessions we treated it like a traditional wargame, spending almost all points on operations and bleeding each other to death. With time came experience and appreciation for events with long-lasting effects, the importance of replacement points or the need to fuel reinforcements to the front. You will experience the Bolshevik revolution, the US entry into the war and the escalation from Mobilization, through Limited to Total War. Since my first plays I am gladly coming back to it – and still cannot get enough!

Here I Stand (GMT Games, design by Ed Beach) – a truly large and thorough story of Europe during the time of the Reformation, which shows that a CDG does not have to be a 2-player game. Published in the golden years of Card Driven Games, it uses the mechanic to full potential to model both political and religious conflicts on a single point-to-point map. Each of the six factions plays completely differently, and you will always be faced with very interesting dilemmas and trade-offs. Add secret deal-making in the Diplomacy Phase – it can be really surprising when people come back to the table and start to announce what was agreed! You need a dedicated group, but a whole day with six players will be an experience nobody will forget.

Hannibal & Hamilcar (PHALANX, design by Mark Simonitch and Jaro Andruszkiewicz) – the 20th anniversary edition of the classic Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage, an asymmetric, 2-player CDG depicting the largest conflicts of ancient history – the Punic Wars. And we get two games in the price of one! As in any CDG, the cards are used for many purposes: moving armies and generals, levying new troops, taking political control of provinces and executing historical events – and they allow for nasty surprises during the battles, which are a game within the game. Still, the challenge stays: how to play as Hannibal and win? It is a really tough nut to crack, but with every defeat you just want to try another strategy from the start!

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It is great that our hobby comes in such a variety of mechanics – that allows each of us to find his preferred niche. I will not deny, CDGs are such games for me. From the Pacific bluffing of Empire of the Sun, through the Cold War dilemmas of Twilight Struggle, the trenches of Paths of Glory and the six-sided diplomacy of Here I Stand, all the way to the Punic Wars of Hannibal & Hamilcar, the simple question “event or operations?” keeps surprising me with how many different stories it can tell. And this is not the end of the list – Combat Commander: Europe, Washington’s War, Successors or Labyrinth: The War on Terror could easily get their own paragraphs here. And while it seemed that the golden years of CDGs are long gone, I still find them among the most engrossing positions.

What are your favorite Card Driven Games? Or maybe you prefer the uncertainty of the chit pull? Let me know in the comments – and stay tuned for the next installment of My Favorite Boardgames Mechanics!