"Siege of Pleven"

Today's youth view history as a series of clips on TikTok. Textbooks, meanwhile, are most often too steeped in politicization, transmitting a fashionable and convenient narrative. At the same time, what remains outside the brackets is not only the motives of the warring sides but also an understanding of what served as the causes for this or that action. Therefore, the goal of the game's developers was to model the real historical situation at Pleven, so that not only children but also their parents could replay this epic battle many times and understand the causes and consequences of the mistakes and victories of both sides. A good historical board game does not force you to "memorize" dates. It teaches you to make decisions - and then to see their consequences. This is precisely how history ceases to be dead text in a textbook and becomes real life experience.

And so, summer–autumn 1877. Near the Bulgarian town of Plevna (in Bulgarian - Pleven), Russian soldiers advance under the fire of Turkish redoubts. Many of them do not understand why this particular town is so important. Why did the previous assaults fail? Why did victory ultimately come not through bloodshed but through siege and blockade? A century and a half later, the board game "The Siege of Pleven" invites young players and their parents not to read the answers to these questions but to live through them together.

The asymmetry of the opposing forces - a tribute to history

The first thing that strikes you in the game is the inequality of the sides. The Ottomans begin with an advantage in manpower, control all the redoubts, and time works in their favor. The allies are forced to concentrate forces for a strike, but the enemy sees this and can react. This is not a designer's whim. It is an accurate model of the real situation in July 1877.

After the capture of Nikopol, where Hassan Pasha handed the key of the city to the Russian General Krüdener and about 7,000 Turkish soldiers surrendered, the allied forces were in a state of euphoria. General Schilder-Schuldner was allocated only 8,000 men to capture Pleven. He was opposed by Marshal Osman Pasha with 16,000 battle-hardened soldiers who had already fought against the Serbs and Bulgarian volunteer detachments. These troops made rapid marches and outran the Russians by literally one day.

In the game, this is conveyed through the mechanics of hidden cards and reconnaissance. Until the battle begins, you do not know exactly what forces stand opposite you. Reconnaissance gives a temporary effect but forces you to reveal your own cards as well. This is precisely the situation of 19th-century commanders: reports are contradictory, time is running out, and a decision must be made.

The interaction of the branches of service - the key to victory

Infantry, cavalry, artillery - in the game, each branch of service has its own role, and this reflects the real tactics of the era.

Infantry fights well in a redoubt and against an entrenched enemy. This explains why it was precisely the infantry units that bore the main losses during the assaults on Pleven. Cavalry is weak in defending fortifications but strong in open spaces and along supply lines, and it can be brought into battle with flanking strikes, changing the situation on the field. This is exactly how the Cossack units operated, cutting Turkish communications. Artillery can support neighboring sectors with crossfire, and reconnaissance enhances its effectiveness. This is a direct reference to how Russian artillerymen fired on the redoubts, but without precise data on the enemy's location their strikes were less effective.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the engineers - the weakest branch of service, but it is precisely they who help in defense, weakening the striking power of artillery. This is historically accurate: the engineering units under the command of Eduard Totleben played a key role in the blockade of Pleven, creating a system of trenches and fortifications that prevented Osman Pasha from breaking through.

One of the strongest historical details of the game is the interaction between factions within the different armies. For example, the confrontation between the Bashibazouks and the Bulgarian druzhinas. Irregular Ottoman troops strengthen each other when fighting in the same battle. But if Bulgarian units are fighting against them, then the strength of the latter increases. This is not a game convention. It is a tribute to the memory of the atrocities committed by the Bashibazouks during the suppression of the April Uprising of 1876 - on the eve of the events described. The Bulgarian opalchentsi went into battle with the awareness that their families and villages had been burned and massacred. This gave them a ferocity and hatred that are reflected in the game in the form of strength modifiers.

Tactics and military cunning

In effect, players seek to deceive one another by placing hidden cards opposite different sectors of the front. Until the battle begins, neither side can know exactly what forces are concentrated there. Tactically, it may be advantageous to lose one battle but win the neighboring one, knowing that the enemy has already committed all reserves and has nothing left to cover a breakthrough. This is no longer merely a game - it is a model of the strategic thinking of commanders.

Historical figures as (NOT) random game cards

Besides the armies, the game also includes special cards that can significantly influence the outcome of a battle. All of them are tied to real people and events. This makes the game not an abstract "board game" but a documentary reconstruction that allows the player to remember real historical figures and their achievements. Here are just some of them:

Emperor Alexander II the Liberator - had it not been for his decisive will, taken against the opinion of his retinue and even his own brother, the allied forces would have retreated back across the Danube after the failed assaults. This would have led to catastrophic consequences for the Bulgarian population of the liberated lands and probably to a loss in the war.

King Carol I - the Romanian king who took command of the troops besieging Pleven. For his country, this battle became a war of independence. In the game, his card grants an additional turn and strengthens the Romanian units.

General Skobelev - the brave darling of the soldiers, not favored at court. His personal example of courage led fighters into battle right under the fire of Ottoman guns. Flying detachments with Gatling guns were transferred to critical sectors of the front and stopped Turkish infantrymen.

Eduard Totleben - general and engineer who organized the blockade of Pleven and cut the supply lines of the Turkish troops. It was his system of trenches and fortifications that forced Osman Pasha to attempt a breakout, which ended in his capture. In the game, his card strengthens Russian troops in the defense of redoubts.

Nikolai Pirogov - the great surgeon who was the first in the world to apply a plaster cast and anesthesia in field conditions. In the game, he returns a card from the discard pile to the hand, symbolizing the rescue of the wounded, who in reality could return to the ranks.

Major Gortalov disobeyed Skobelev's order to retreat, covering the withdrawal of his soldiers, and died in an unequal fight. In the game, this card allows a detachment to be returned after a loss - the price of that return in reality was life.

The Samara Flag - a battle banner given by the residents of Samara to the Bulgarian druzhinas. In the game, it gives strength to the Bulgarian troops. In reality, this banner became a symbol of the brotherhood of peoples and fought at Pleven, Stara Zagora, and Shipka.

Osman Nuri Pasha - the brilliant and courageous commander of the Pleven garrison, who became a hero to both sides. His orders were carried out without question. In the game, his card prohibits retreat and gives a bonus during the assault on fortifications.

Mehmed Ali Pasha - the undeservedly forgotten German-born Ludwig Karl Friedrich Detroit, who commanded the Ottoman army in Bulgaria and oversaw the construction of the redoubts at Pleven before Osman Pasha's arrival. In the game, he adds an additional redoubt for the defenders, increasing their chances of victory.