Madera Contra Acero: La Conquista de Canarias is a Strategic level board-wargame.
Masqueoca NAC wargames in its project to promote games with a national theme has been kind enough to include in its programme one with a hitherto unpublished and original theme, and as a Canarian designer it is a great satisfaction for me to present it.
Wood Against Steel: The Conquest of the Canary Islands.
Already the title gives us a small clue of the inequality in weaponry on the sides involved in this war. The wooden and stone weapons of the Guanches against the iron and steel of the conquerors of the Crown of Castile. But make no mistake, even though it was a very unequal struggle, the conquest of the whole archipelago lasted no less than 94 years, practically a whole century of fighting, precisely in the 15th century, which is enough to show that it was not a military stroll. By way of comparison, the conquest of America took about 40 years. It should be noted that the clash between the indigenous Canary Islanders and the Castilian troops was brutal.
This war involved the Canary aborigines, called Guanches, and the conquistadors, on the one hand sent by the Crown of Castile and on the other sent by the Crown of Portugal. Both kingdoms coveted control of these islands, which were so strategic in their overseas territorial expansion.
It is a wargame for two players, where the Castilians slowly but continuously land on each of the 7 islands through the arrival of ships loaded with conquerors and the Guanches try by all means to stop and expel the newcomers to their earthly paradise. The game is played by secret and simultaneous orders and with the help of two decks of event cards, so the turns are a lot of fun and with variable strategy adapted to the moment.
The battles are resolved on a Battle mat with special rules for mountain regions. There are also naval battles. The Castilian player wins if he has conquered the 7 Canary Islands in the last turn.
