The Momentous Issue of War is a 8x8 grid-based tabletop game loosely based on the American Civil War, and that takes about an hour to play. The game is easy to learn and has a great amount of tactical depth, high-stakes decisions and dramatic narrative beats for players to enjoy. Visually inspired by the traditional Kriegsspiel games, players use blocks to represent units with individual abilities, each conferring varying tactical elements to the gameplay. Different types of terrain encourage a strategic approach and the game includes varied elements, from brutal action to meticulous planning phases. A unique activation system called the Tide of Battle enables players to feel the ebbs and flows of battle. As players lose units they roll fewer and fewer activation dice making it harder for them to retain control over the battlefield. We decided to go with an 8x8 grid for the board and for all gameplay measurements to be orthogonal (in straight lines). This means that evaluating distances for movements and for ranges of fire is much easier, making the game quicker to learn and snappier to play. Units in the game are based on the type of unit one might find on an American Civil War battlefield: infantry, cavalry and artillery, and lastly the commander and his retinue. Each unit has different strengths and weaknesses. Armies can be picked in secret and revealed to the other player simultaneously, creating an extremely fun way of starting a battle. Blue (Union) and grey (Rebel) units are provided in the book and players can stick them onto any kind of block they wish. For playtesting we used simple wooden blocks we bought at the craft shop. Building an army is inexpensive and players will field ten units per game. So this game is very portable and quick to get going. Recommended deployment for a starter game. INFANTRY: Troops on foot fighting with rifles. High health points but slow moving and great firing at close range. CAVALRY: Fast moving and have almost as much firepower as infantry but are more vulnerable with less health. Can disengage from close combat without a penalty. ARTILLERY: Artillery units have low health but are deadly when given a good shot. They have excellent range and benefit from abilities such as being able to fire over obstructions from height, and their cannon balls sometimes bounce dangerously. COMMANDERS: Have the same strengths and vulnerabilities as cavalry units, but also confer special abilities to other units, such as bolstering the front line and supporting units that retreat. We include rules for a varied mix of terrain types which one might have found on the battlefields of the American Civil War. The terrain effects in the game are chiefly: providing cover, obstructing line of sight and rough ground which obstructs movement. By mixing these effects differently for the terrain types, the game provides surprisingly deep tactical opportunities on the battlefield, and ensures players can satisfy desires for both strategic gameplay elements and a pleasing aesthetic. We include: forests, fields, hills, fences or walls, buildings, roads, rivers and bridges. Maps are created with terrain placement using the traditional "I place a piece, you place a piece" method or by using our fantastic map generator. The map generator has been meticulously created to provide a mix of terrain types with a semi-random placement, and avoids players being biased toward making their part of the map more favourable. Detailed and structured with steps, it's been an favourite part of the game to our playtesters. It appears that people just love the play element of building a map and watching the battlefield evolve and come to life. The amount of text might seem daunting, but it takes you step by step, a lot of it is example text, and it's the most revised part of the book. The game is a "I go, you go" system. At the start of each turn, players roll for the Tide of Battle, determining simulta

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