Late last year, we hosted a 3-part series on an upcoming COIN Series inspired game called The Troubles which deals with the struggle in Northern Ireland. 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 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 and has just started playtesting so there is a long road yet to travel but we thought an early look would be a good thing.
*Please keep in mind that the artwork and layout of these cards is not yet finalized (although they are getting close) and is only for playtest purposes at this point. Also, as this game is still in development, card details may still change prior to publication.
#108 Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
17th May 1974 and four bombs explode in the Republic of Ireland: three in Dublin and one in Monaghan. The UVF were responsible – admitting their role in 1993 – for the car bombs, which were responsible for 33 civilian deaths (one of which was an unborn child) and over 300 injuries. It is strongly suggested that these bombings were conducted in opposition to the Sunningdale Agreement (a power-sharing initiate that would involve the Irish Government having a say in Northern Ireland’s affairs); they occurred during the Ulster Workers’ Council Strike, facilitated by the UDA, which eventually caused the abandonment of the Agreement.
Rather than provide a full written narrative, we direct you to the excellent ‘The Troubles Podcast’ at the following link: https://shows.acast.com/the-troubles-podcast/episodes/dublin-and-monaghan-bombings
You can also read more about those who lost their lives in the bombings on the Justice for the Forgotten website at the following link: http://www.dublinmonaghanbombings.org/home/
You can catch up on the series to date by following these links:
#24 RTÉ Television Centre Attack
#103 General Election 1974 & #130 Labour Government: No Confidence
#20 People’s Democracy March: Burntollet
As always thank you Hugh for this great insight into the history behind the game and the salient issues. One of things that draws me to these COIN Series 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.
-Grant
The Players' Aid 