Hermann Luttmann is a very prolific designer and frankly has designed a few of my most favorite games including In Magnificent Style: Pickett’s Charge, Dawn of the Zeds and At Any Cost: Metz 1870 among others. His games are always fun, well designed and...
Hermann Luttmann is a very prolific designer and frankly has designed a few of my most favorite games including In Magnificent Style: Pickett’s Charge, Dawn of the Zeds and At Any Cost: Metz 1870 among others. His games are always fun, well designed and very playable. Recently, his newest game was announced and is called The Struggle for Zorn: The Red Blight and is being published by Blue Panther. The game is being marketed as a semi-cooperative fantasy wargame and looks really interesting. I reached out to Hermann and as always he was very willing to do this interview with us.
Grant: What was your inspiration for your new game The Struggle for Zorn: The Red Blight?
Hermann: Well, I’ve always been a fan of the fantasy genre and still play many fantasy adventure games and dungeon crawlers. I also enjoy fantasy-themed TV shows and movies, like Game of Thrones for example. It occurred to me earlier this year that we haven’t had very many fantasy-themed games designed for the wargame space in the hobby. Why couldn’t a wargame be created that simulated a Game of Thrones style epic fantasy world of conflict and intrigue? I combined this desire with my obsession (yes, I’ll call it that) to design more multi-player wargames and specifically, more cooperative play wargames (of which there are way too few). I know wargamers will enjoy a good fictional wargame, and that not every wargame designed needs to be a historical simulation. Almost all wargaming “grognards” will grudgingly admit to enjoying games like D&D, Space Hulk, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Nemesis, and the like. So, with that all in mind, I set about constructing a multiplayer, semi-cooperative fantasy wargame that was both accessible and challenging, but ultimately hopefully a lot of fun to play too.
Grant: What is your definition of a semi-cooperative fantasy wargame?
Hermann: Good question! I don’t know that there has ever been such a design before, has there? In any case, the term “semi-cooperative” is a style of game where the players, as a group, work together toward a common goal. They can lose the game as a group, so if the team does not succeed in the game, the game wins (represented by whatever enemy the players are collectively fighting against) and there is no player winner – everyone loses. If the group’s goals have been achieved and they beat the game, then a determination is made as to which individual player is the actual winner. This can be measured by players each keeping track of one or more victory points they’ve earned during the game. In Struggle for Zorn, these victory points are measured with Glory Points. And Glory Points are earned by a player defeating Red Blight enemy units, capturing “Relics”, and hoarding valuables, gold, and fresh units. So, the semi-cooperative fantasy wargame aspect of the design is the players representing the various Houses of Zorn (our fantasy kingdom) and they must team together to rid the land of The Red Blight, which is the evil entity controlled by the game itself. The wargame part comes in because primarily, the players must have their units move across the map and engage Red Blight units in combat in order to defeat them and capture back important territory.
Grant: What other games out there compare?
Hermann: Well, I can’t think of many wargames that compare to this. Some of the old SPI and Avalon Hill fantasy titles would qualify and I’d include Columbia Game’s Wizard Kings as well. There are certainly a number of mass market games like Defenders of the Realm, War of the Ring, etc. that scratch the same itch. And I suspect Compass’ Burning Banners will be in the same ballpark.
Grant: Who is your design team on the game? What do they each bring to the table?
Hermann: The design team consists of myself, Ryan Heilman, and Fred Manzo. We’ve taken to calling ourselves the X-Man Team because we all have a portion of “man” in our last names. 
Ryan has been instrumental in almost every single aspect of the design – art, layout, development, testing, marketing … you name it, and Ryan has been involved. He is a one-man wrecking crew when it comes to work ethic and getting stuff done – and more importantly, getting stuff done correctly. Fred, as many of you know, has been at my side for the majority of my game designs. But despite our friendship and familiarity with one another, he never fails at his primary responsibility – to break whatever it is I design. And I’m not being facetious – Fred’s job is not only to playtest and develop a game, but he will use whatever means necessary to find loopholes, weak spots, inconsistencies, and outright errors in the rules. Part two of that job is to then help find ways to fix up any issues in the design. In this particular game, Fred designed the core of the magic system, which is an entertaining yet simple mechanic and a highlight of the design. Also, David Shaw (who has designed a couple of popular games with Ryan) has contributed some testing, development, proofreading and he wrote the background history of Zorn.
Grant: What is the Kingdom of Zorn? Why is it in distress?
Hermann: Zorn is a fantasy land which has a rich history and is just coming into its own, finally beginning to unite under the steady leadership of King Rufus V. A happy and peaceful kingdom with a bright future … until the first signs of trouble showed themselves with the arrival of the Red Blight Ambushers. These marauders began raiding along the roads entering the Slumbering Troll Valley from the north, taking prisoners, looting valuables, and destroying villages. After that initial wave of lightning strikes, larger and more powerful evil forces marched down on the unsuspecting valley. And with no military presence in the region – the people of Slumbering Troll Valley forbid men-at-arms in their community – the entire valley was overrun and subsumed. The Red Blight forces consolidated their gains and established Blight Dens, in which they housed their ill-gotten gains and kept their captives. And then they moved in the Tortoses Garrisons – mutated turtle-like creatures who stationed themselves in the dens and kept all secure.
Grant: Who put together the background world and what role does it play in the game?
Hermann: I came up with the basic outline of the “world” and the premise for the game. Then as we developed the design, all of us contributed more and more to the overall story and to its details. Each of us added something to the background stories of each of the Commanders and Magic Users (who are actual characters in the game), and then parlayed some of those details into other aspects of the design. Granted, most of this is “fluff” and only there for context, but one of the hallmarks of a good fantasy game is providing a believable and relatable background story into which the players can immerse themselves. And quite often, while developing those background stories, they will give us a hint as to what a unit’s special capabilities should be and how they would act on the battlefield. So, for us, the story behind the game actually helped us design the game play itself. Moreover, creating a deep viable world will allow us to continue to tell the story in future expansions and games.
Grant: Who is the Red Blight and what powers do they have to vex the heroes?
Hermann: Oh, the Red Blight is an unpleasant bunch, that’s for sure! Little is known about their origins but what is known is that they have some kind of supernatural qualities combined with an ability to mutate otherwise normal beings into horrible creatures. There have been rumors of their existence for hundreds of years and even appear in nursery rhymes and religious texts. For this game, the Red Blight consists of a number of different types of units including:
Grant: How must players work together to defeat the Red Blight? What happens if they fail?
Hermann: Players enter the game together from the south end of the map, each with a Commander, a Magic User (either chosen or selected randomly) and their House’s armed forces. They then advance up the map and will attempt to recapture valuables, hostages, relics, etc. (represented by hidden Treasure Tokens) while engaging and (hopefully) defeating any Red Blight units they may encounter. These actions will not only win them Glory Points but also reduce the number of Terror Points the Red Blight can score. What are Terror Points? Well, that’s the way the players can lose the game. If the Red Blight scores too many Terror Points (21+), the players all immediately lose the game and adios, the game is over. The Red Blight scores Terror Points by destroying House units, holding on to a number of “Relics” at the end of the game, by exiting Red Blight units from the south end of the map (representing those units escaping into Zorn proper) and by some events occurring. If the players do not lose the game by the Red Blight scoring enough Terror Points, then the players win as a group (yea!) and then find out which player will be made “Hand of the Crown” by having the most Glory Points.
Grant: What is the makeup of the forces controlled by each player and what various types of military units are there?
Hermann: Each player will first choose a House to play (there are five to select from) and each House has its own color, coat-of-arms, and a slightly different unit makeup. The five Houses are named House Vandalay, House Jerrold, House St. Bennetts, House Remarque, and House New Mahn. Bonus points to anyone who can figure out what inspired those names!
There are eight standard types of House units in the game, and each appears in different numbers in each House’s force (or not at all in some cases). The eight types of military units are:
Royal Ironmen Squadron: Armored knights on horseback with great melee power and good speed. Swordstrikers Regiment: Tenacious foot swordsmen with good melee combat ability. Boomstickers Regiment: Arquebusiers with great Missile Combat skill, but very slow. Harassers Team: Versatile light troops who can throw javelins, forage for food or supplies and can scout out the enemy. Royal Archers Regiment: Long bow archers with good range and who are deadly shots. Rock Thrower Machine Team: A very old-school name that was kept by the unit for posterity. These are trebuchet type catapult artillery units. Levy Division: Huge mobs of lightly armed peasant units. Not a very valuable unit but easy to replace. Pikers Wedge Regiment: Specially trained soldiers armed with very long pikes and able to push enemies away.The exact number of units each Player gets is dependent on the number of players – the more players the fewer units in each House’s army. Each player then also gets a named Commander standee and a named Magic User standee. These can be chosen by the player or be determined randomly. More on them below.
Grant: What roles does the Commander, the Magic User, and the House Army play?
Hermann: The House Army is explained above and makes up the bulk of the fighting force for each House. The leader of each House is the Commander, who is represented by a standee and is a named character. Each Commander has very high personal combat ratings and additionally has three Special Abilities that may involve combat, rallying of units, etc. So, Commanders are the single most powerful units in each House’s army.
The same is true for Magic Users – they are each named and represented by a standee. They do not have great ratings for personal combat, though some can toss a mean knife or swing a heavy staff. Their main skill is being able to cast one of two possible devastating magic spells. Every Magic User has two unique spells that represent their particular School of Magic. However, casting a magic spell successfully is a tricky business, especially at the lower Magic Levels. Players must commit their Magic User to the spell they will attempt to cast and then must roll to see if they, in fact, cast that spell. If unsuccessful, most of the time nothing happens. But if you roll poorly enough, a mana backlash occurs and the Magic User can actually become injured. If successful, the type of spell cast will indicate the effect of the spell on the enemy units and sometimes on that area in which they are located.
Grant: What is the anatomy of the unit counters? Can you show us a few examples?
Hermann: Each unit counter is laid out basically the same way. The unit counter’s color indicates which House they belong to (Red Blight units are all red, obviously). The name and illustration of the unit is the top part of the counter. Along the bottom are a set of ratings, in the following order:
Melee Combat Rating (in red font) Missile Combat Rating and Range (in blue font) Bravery Rating (in black font) Movement Allowance (in green font)Ratings for Combat and Bravery are indicated by the type of die the unit rolls for that attribute (there are four different dice that can be rolled by units).
Grant: What are Treasure Tokens? How are Glory Points earned?
Hermann: The Treasure Tokens represent, for the most part, the stolen goods, looted valuables, and captured citizens that the Red Blight has collected across the now-conquered Slumbering Troll Valley. These 20 tokens are placed randomly, face down, across the map in each of the 20 Blight Dens, which are also each guarded by a Tortoses Garrison unit. The players do not know the exact identity of each of the Treasure Tokens (unless they are able to scout the location successfully) so they won’t know what they will earn when they find them. They could award Supplies, Food and/or Gold (the three Resources in the game) and also provide extra fighting troops (in the form of mercenaries and militia). Two special Treasure Tokens are Relics and Traps. Relics are especially important in that they not only reward the capturing player with Glory Points, but they also increase the Magic Level of that House’s Magic User. Equally important is that finding them denies them to the Red Blight – they will score 3 Terror Points for each Relic Token the players don’t find! The other unusual tokens are the Traps. These are prepared traps that the Red Blight has readied to ambush the players. There are four different traps and each one does something different (but yes, all four are awful).
Glory Points are earned by each player during the course of the game for each Red Blight unit they destroy in combat (more points are earned for eliminating the more powerful units). They are also earned for each Relic Treasure Token that is captured by that player. Finally, at the end of the game, players get Glory Points for Resources they’ve accumulated and saved (with Gold being worth the most) along with bonus points for each “fresh” (undamaged) unit remaining in their army.
Grant: What is the overall victory condition?
Hermann: Simply put, the victory condition is not to lose (see below)! If the players do not lose, then they total their earned Glory Points and the player with the most points wins the game.
Grant: What conditions achieved by the Red Blight will lead to the players losing the game?
Hermann: The Red Blight will win if it scores 21 or more Terror Points by the end of the game (which includes adding 3 Terror Points per Relic the players don’t capture by game end). The other way for the players to lose is to have one House wiped out (i.e., lose all their units plus their Commander and Magic User).
Grant: What information is contained on the Player Boards? Can you show us a few examples?
Hermann: Each House has its own House Player Board, and the controlling player places this board in front of them. This Board is in the House’s color, shows its coat-of-arms, and lists every type of unit available to that House and that unit’s Special Ability. Each player then takes the Commander Board (a “half-moon” board) for the Commander they’ve chosen (or had randomly assigned) and abuts that board to the left side of the House Player Board. This board indicates the name of the Commander, has a watermark image of the standee, lists all three Special Abilities of that Commander and at the bottom has its ratings (Melee/Missile Combat/Bravery/Movement). Finally, the player does the same with the appropriate Magic User Board, abutting it to the right side of the House Player Board. This board also has the name, standee image and ratings of the Magic User along with the two Magic Spells that they can cast and that spells effects.
Grant: How does combat work?
Hermann: One of my main goals with this game design was to make sure it remains playable – accessible to all experience levels of game player. Though the term “wargame” might scare off some players, thinking they’re going to see CRT’s, laundry lists of modifiers and all sorts of other charts and tables, that’s just not the case here. Like most of you, I love rolling dice and I love rolling all sorts of different types of dice. To that end, units’ combat abilities are rated by the type of die they will roll in combat. The better the rating, the more sides (and possible results) to the die. So, a low rating is “D6”, with the unit rolling a normal six-sided die and possible results anywhere from “1” to “6” while the highest rating is “D12”, with the unit rolling a twelve-sided die and results from “1” to “12”. The thing I really like about this system is that even if you have a D6 unit versus a D12 unit, it is still mathematically possible for the D6 unit to win. And that means constant tension (and yes, fun) with every single combat.
To resolve Missile Combat, the firing unit rolls its Missile Combat Rating die against the Area Protection Value of the area the target unit is in. Towns have the highest protection value at “6” (which can be increased if there is a Tortoses Garrison unit in the area or an Entrenchments/Camp marker) while Bogs, Bridges and Fords have the lowest at “3”. The firing unit rolls its die and divides the die roll by the Area Protection Value and that’s the number of Hits scored. However, with Missile Combat, a unit can never score more than 2 Hits in one combat, unless they have a Special Ability that grants them a bonus Hit.
With Melee Combat, units must be in the same area with each other, and the combat is resolved as one big swirling fight. All units involved will roll their Melee Combat die and a total die roll result is achieved. Then the totals are compared, and the lower total is divided into the higher to achieve the number of Hits scored by the higher side. With Melee Combat however, the maximum Hits allowed is 4 Hits (plus any Special Abilities), so this type of combat can be more decisive. Melees with a larger number of units on both sides will tend to be lighter net casualties with one side pushing the other side one area away, unless a severely high or low total is achieved. This is by design and reflects two large armies scrumming with one another, finding it harder to discover a hole in the enemy lines or exploit an exposed flank.
As an extra layer to the combat, many units have Special Abilities that allow for superior tactics, extra tenacity, stalwart defense, etc. Here is where players can utilize these Special Abilities to gain an edge against the enemy. For example, if fighting in Melee Combat with the Swordstrikers unit, they have the “Assault” ability. That says if the unit attacks in Melee Combat and is not eliminated, it can attack again. So, remembering to use this ability is key – either to continue a successful attack or to launch a renewed attack after a bad die roll. Thereby, there are ways to mitigate bad luck in the game and take advantage of good luck as well.
Grant: What are the uses for the different type of dice?
Hermann: The dice have many uses in the game’s mechanics. The basic set of four – D6, D8, D10 and D12 – are primarily used for resolution of combat and for taking Bravery Tests. Speaking of Bravery Tests, these test a unit’s will to fight and as usual, the higher the die the braver the unit tends to be. The mechanic for resolving Bravery Tests is simple – the testing unit must roll higher than “4” to pass. Thus, this is much easier to do with a D12 than with a D6.
The D6 dice are also used for the random placement of Red Blight reinforcements and for determining in which direction Red Blight units move from the Trollburg Gap area.
There is one D20 included in the game and that is used to resolve which Event occurs on the Event Table and for special types of attacks that can result from those events or for attacks made during the Night of Terror.
Grant: How long does the game take to play?
Hermann: Generally, I would say you can count on 1 hour per House on average. So, a solo game should take a couple of hours (as you are controlling two Houses). Obviously, the more players the more interaction there will be and that is encouraged in the game. Cooperative games by their nature will take a bit longer, as players discuss and negotiate. And that is an integral part of the intent of this design – the players represent a coalition of Houses who are forced to work together, whether they like it or not. That will breed discussion of strategy and tactics and in some cases, hostility between players (which is allowed in the game).
Grant: Is there an option for solitaire play? What priorities does the bot use to make its decisions and what is the experience like?
Hermann: Solitaire play is seamlessly incorporated as you just play two Houses, as if in a two-player game. The Red Blight always works via its “bot”, regardless of player count. The way that works revolves around the use of Blight Activation Cards and the Blight Movement Arrows on the map. Each time the Red Blight activates, the players draw an Activation Card and follow its instructions. This could lead to the spawning of new Red Blight units, the movement of certain types of units, Red Blight units conducting an attack, an Event, etc. The Red Blight units will attack as instructed and when ordered to move, will follow the Red Blight Movement arrows printed on the map. This will generally lead them south, towards the bottom of the map and towards potential trouble for the House players! The Red Blight scores Terror Points for every unit that moves off the south edge of the map and the more powerful the unit, the more Terror Points are scored. The Blight Movement Arrows will dictate an adjacent area for the monstrous units to move to. In some cases, there will be two arrows leaving an area and this is called a Forked Area. The exact path taken depends on the Forked Area Direction indicator, which will be either odd or even as established at the start of turn. So, each game turn, the Red Blight units will be preferring different paths.
Grant: What changes have come about through play testing?
Hermann: Oh, my goodness – more than I can possibly list here! Every playtest session involves the massaging, tweaking and in some cases, wholesale re-designing of parts of the game. These sessions take quite a while as I am constantly altering values, mechanics, procedures, etc. It is a gelatinous cube that is constantly moving, expanding, and contracting and I’m trying to shape and trim it with tiny scissors as it moves around! Designs never – or rarely – look exactly like they did when the project started. The first prototype is just a mold, and it requires many hours of testing to shape it exactly how you want. So yeah – there were a ton of changes made and every member of the team contributed something to those changes, and I think they have made this a much better game than it was when it began life.
Grant: What do you feel the game design excels at?
Hermann: The main goal of this design is to provide a solid multiplayer experience, with the semi-cooperative play dynamic, while still also offering a legitimate fantasy wargame narrative at the same time. In other words, mechanics plus theme married together into a cohesive whole. I think we’ve made the game easy to play, yet fulfilling as far as player decision-making, both strategically and tactically. So, players can get that experience of good, deep gameplay but without all the rules weight. At the same time, I think the design allows players an adventure – to get lost in a fantasy world where almost anything can happen. The game will throw all sorts of curveballs at you, but those surprises will make sense in the context of this fantasy world. And this design definitely provides variety – no two sessions will ever be the same. We’re hoping that the “fun factor” of the theme combined with the solid wargame mechanics will give the players a fulfilling gameplay experience. I understand our goal here was a little lofty, but I’m confident that we have a game design that will make wargamers, fantasy gamers, new gamers, and veteran gamers pleased.
Grant: What other designs are you currently working on?
Hermann: Oh boy … do you have an hour? OK, as far as Blue Panther is concerned, there is a lot of stuff upcoming. And especially with Ryan Heilman on board, because he keeps coming up with cool new design ideas every week for me to ponder. The next project will be a re-implementation of my very first game design Gettysburg: The Wheatfield. This new version will be called Tattered Flags and will use what I think may be a brand new approach to melding miniatures and boardgame play together into one cohesive and very playable system. Sometime next year, I will definitely be doing another design using the Vive L’Empereur system – possibly covering Verdun. Also, another design using By Iron and Blood, handling either a Franco-Prussian War battle or perhaps Solferino. After that, there are a string of really neat ideas which I can’t yet talk about but stay tuned! Otherwise, I’m working on The Rock of Chickamauga right now, the next game in the Black Swan Series from Flying Pig Games, and an expansion is underway for The Plum Island Horror at GMT. I’m finishing up a WWI game called Death By Flags and Trumpets for Worthington and Miracle at Dunkerque should be released early next year by Legion Wargames. And next year’s big project will be They March Against Us: Leipzig 1813, which will be the first of the Napoleonic Blind Swords titles published by Revolution Games. Oh yeah, and two designs by European publishers that should be ready by next year … a game on the Caporetto campaign of 1917 for Hexasim called The Twelfth Battle and a huge, epic science fiction wargame for Nuts Publishing called Assault on Zoltar. And there may be some other surprises, who knows!
Thanks again for letting me do this! You guys rock!
Thank you for your time in answering our questions Hermann and for all of your fantastic designs that we have played over the years, or look forward to playing. They are always well done and have brought us hours of enjoyment and that is what gaming is about. We have played many of your board games including Dawn of the Zeds, Attack of the 50? Colossi, Escape from Hades and also have a new copy of Volters Lead the Way! that I look forward to playing soon as well as dozens of your wargames and always have a good experience. Thank you and I wish you luck in all of your upcoming projects!
If you are interested in The Struggle for Zorn: The Red Blight, you can order a copy for $85.00 from the Blue Panther website at the following link: https://www.bluepantherllc.com/products/the-red-blight
-Grant