Wallenstein (German)

One year of play consist of:
1. Year start
   a. Event cards
   b. Grain counters reset  
2. Springs
   a. Lay out action cards
   b. Action planning
   c. Player turn order
   d. Current event
   e. Action resolution    
3. Summer
   Like springs    
4. Autumn
   Like springs    
5. Winter
   a. Grain loss
   b. Revolts
   c. Victory points
   d. Remove revolt markers    
6. Year end
   At the end of the second year, the game is over  

This game is on the edge to be called a war game, but the resource handling is really crucial in this game, not least to defend and keep enough territories to be able to maintain the upkeep cost of grain at the end of the year, as well as being able to buy new armies and expand. The most important is to buy trading houses, churches and palaces in regions you can have a majority in, as they are necesssary to get victory points.

The cube tower is a nice change instead of dice. If you loose a battle because some of your cubes get stuck in the tower, you have a better chance that they will fall down during the next battle, so it balances the battles. Also all extra cubes which falls down ends up as an army in the territory you are battling in, so yo may actually end up with more armies then from the start of the battle.

Another thing I like with the game is the theme including the Swedish war history in Germany with Gustaf II Adolf. The main fault with the game is that if someone have an army advantage on you and keep battle you, it's a risk that you fall behind.