In late 2019, we hosted a 3-part series on an upcoming game called The Troubles: Shadow War in Northern Ireland 1964-1998. Through that process I came to appreciate the designer Hugh O’Donnell’s take on this difficult conflict and really felt he was going about dealing with the nature of this bloody war as tactfully as possible as well as simultaneously providing some enlightenment and understanding about some of the salient issues.

Here are links to those three posts:

Part 1 – Uncomfortable questions about a game on this subject

Part 2 – Look at the map and the process behind it’s creation and genesis of events

Part 3 – Design progress to date and what “victory” looks like?

After those posts were received well, we asked Hugh if he would be interested in doing a series of Event Card spoilers for the game. The game is not yet published but has finished playtesting and gone through near final art so we are getting closer.

*Please keep in mind that the artwork and layout of these cards is not yet finalized (although they are getting close).

#153 Blanket Protests

The Blanket Protests, commencing on 14th September 1976, were led by convicted IRA paramilitaries in response to the Secretary of State’s revocation of Special Category Status to paramilitary prisoners held in the Maze Prison in Belfast, which meant that they were no longer allowed to wear civilian clothing but prison issue; instead they wrapped themselves in blankets.

This protest would lead to an escalation of disobedience known as the Hunger Strikes.

Development: BLANKET PROTESTS – Until the HUNGER STRIKES end, any IRA fatality/imprisonment
results in British Prestige being reduced by 1, and the IRA Funds increasing by 1.

‘They’ll have to nail it on my back’ – Kieran Nugent, September 1976

In The Troubles, the NAT (Nationalist) Faction’s aim is to achieve fair and democratic representation for its Nationalist communities. The SDLP was the most popular voice and unreservedly and publicly condemned the actions of the IRA; other Nationalists within parties such as Sinn Fein have been constantly accused of having dual membership of both organizations. The NAT Faction can be hampered by the activities of both the IRA and the UNI Faction, but it did benefit from public support of the former’s ‘Blanket Protests’ and ‘Hunger Strikes’, as the world’s media turned its spotlight on the Maze prison.

Listen to ‘Life on the Blanket with Richard O’Rawe’ from The Troubles Podcast here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/life-on-the-blanket-with-richard-
orawe/id1500971966?i=1000658720372

And the Hunger Strikes are also covered here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-1981-hunger-strike-part-
one/id1500971966?i=1000540464001

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-1981-hunger-strike-part-
two/id1500971966?i=1000542047764

You can catch up on the series to date by following these links:

#34 Provisional IRA Formed

#63 Four Square Laundry/MRF

#24 RTÉ Television Centre Attack

#122 Brighton Hotel Bombing

#108 SAS – Peter Cleary

#103 General Election 1974 & #130 Labour Government: No Confidence

#20 People’s Democracy March: Burntollet

#108 Dublin and Monaghan Bombings

Triple Feature including #166 Shergar, #169 Don Tidey Kidnapping and #154 Ben Dunne Kidnapping

#31b Bernadette Devlin Elected

#114 Birmingham Pub Bombings

#2 The Hand of Friendship

#35 Prime Minister Terence O’Neill Resigns

#184 The Loughgall Ambush

#105R Enoch Powell’s Last Stand

As always thank you Hugh for this great insight into the history behind the game and the issues. One of the things that draws me to these irregular counter insurgency games is the learning of something about history and this game is going to shed some really interesting light on the subject for many who do not know much about the details.

We also posted an interview with Hugh on our blog and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2021/08/02/interview-with-hugh-odonnell-designer-of-the-troubles-shadow-war-in-northern-ireland-1964-1998-from-compass-games/

If you are interested in The Troubles: Shadow War in Northern Ireland 1964-1998, you can pre-order a copy for $85.00 from the Compass Games website at the following link: https://www.compassgames.com/product/the-troubles-shadow-war-in-northern-ireland-pay-later/?sfw=pass1718299181

-Grant