Cruel Necessity: The English Civil Wars 1640-1653

A solitaire historical game that recreates the political and military crises of the English Civil Wars (1640–1653). The player represents Parliament and Puritan interests and must resist the advance of four enemy armies; holding London alone does not secure victory. Play proceeds through three separate card decks, each representing one of the civil wars and their period-specific military and political events. Concurrent conflicts in Scotland and Ireland influence play at different times, forcing the player to respond to shifting threats and decision points. The game supports cooperative group or classroom play while remaining designed for solo challenge.

Players: 1
Playing time: 60 min
Age: 13+
Complexity: 2.8 / 5

6.4 on LudoyaWargamePike and ShotPoint to Point MovementDice RollingHand Management

Play it with Ludoya

About the game

Design: John Welch
Art: Tim Allen
Vinh Ha
Publisher: Victory Point Games

On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya

15
Plays logged: 6
Players: 1h 30m
Average play: 9
In collections: 1
On wishlists

6.4/10

from 6 Ludoya reviews

1e3er6.5
This is the only "war" game I own, and although it abstracts the English Civil war way down it is still good game. I really feel the history in this game. All of the event cards tell you exactly what important event happened on a certain day in the war, as well as other things to do with religious struggles and riots and things of that sort. All of this is great but man is it a difficult game. Ideally a solo game should be at least a little difficult or else you would have little incentive to play it often but to some degree in my opinion it is a little too difficult. If it really was this hard for the Parliament to beat Charles than boy did they get lucky, because that is the only way I even barely survive is extremely lucky dice rolling.
Played it 5 times
Wayne6.0
Not enjoying the single dice rolls to determine success. Through a full game it averages out but the individual rolls just create frustration when you are rolling poorly.
Played it 6 times