INTRODUCTION

Cactus Throne is an operational/strategic-level game that covers the war in Mexico between the Republican Mexican government forces, and the Imperial forces of France, Britain, Spain, Austria, and their Mexican allies. The war was originally fought between 1862-1867.

Although there were significant political machinations that affected the campaign, especially in Europe, the game focuses on the allocation of forces within Mexico, and control of the important areas of country.

Some of the political events are included as random events. Additionally, there are events that could have happened, but did not, such as the appearance of both Union and Confederate forces from the American Civil War. Cactus Throne does include some elements of seapower, but only to the extent that it affected the land battles. Ship-to-ship combat is not simulated.

PLOT & PRESENTATION

Cactus Throne is a straight-ahead, no-frills, no-gimmicks board wargame. In this day and age of flashy components, photo-realistic maps, card-game mechanics, and dice with sides that can go up to 100, it's almost downright nostalgic to punch out counters and chase each other around an unfolded map.

320 counters, one large map, and the rules (but no dice) inside the magazine make this a compact, yet robust, package. Against The Odds magazines come in two different kinds of packaging. The review copy provided to The Wargamer was a boxed one, with a clear plastic cover over a black divided tray, counters, map, and magazine tucked inside - shades of the old SPI flat-packs, but magazine-sized. My opponent on this day happened to be an Against The Odds subscriber, and he had his ziplock bag copy with him, for comparison.

The game components were identical, and while the tray seems like a useful touch, the walls of the individual sections do not fully extend to the walls of the tray itself, creating gaps through which counters can easily slip. Nevertheless, the counter trays are nice, and the sections are big enough to push counters around in while looking for specific units without pushing them into neighboring bins (again, shades of SPI).

Cactus Throne offers three scenarios. The first is the full campaign scenario that covers the entire war. The second and third are sub-games that cover only later turns from the larger campaign scenario (one starts on turn 5 and runs to turn 21; the other only covers the final two turns). Not only are there numerous historical notes throughout the rules, but the magazine includes several articles about the war, giving the players ample background material in which to immerse themselves.