It seems like late summer and early fall always picks up momentum with respect to new games in that run up to the Christmas shopping season. So is the case this September as I found a lot of new and upcoming games that are out there. It really does amaze me that there are so many options for us as wargamers today. I found 17 total games and a whopping 5 of those are either currently on Kickstarter or their campaigns will kickoff by the end of the month.

If you missed the August Wargame Watch, you can read that here at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2020/08/03/wargame-watch-what-s-new-upcoming-august-2020/

Pre-Order

1. They Were Soldiers: Battle of the Ia Drang Valley from Cadet Games Currently on Kickstarter

I was initially drawn to this one because it is on the Vietnam War and the fact that there are really cool Axis & Allies style plastic miniatures included that can be used to play the game, along with a set of cardboard counters. The game is a turn-based operational level 2-player contest based on the battle for LZ X-Ray during the larger Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. They Were Soldiers: Battle of the Ia Drang Valley lasts 15 turns and each turn, players will alternate moving and attacking each other’s forces on the game map, which is divided into hexes. Combat can include small arms firefights between adjacent units or fire missions that target hexes with artillery, airstrikes, helicopter gunships and mortars. This one seems to have all of the elements of the battle and integrates them into a seemingly playable game.

From the Kickstarter page, we read the following:

The game concept was devised back in 2017 but the original design was just too granular. The game started out as a minis game where an MG team or a fire team was represented by a mini with disks underneath to represent individual soldiers. The hexes were originally about the size of the hexes used in A&A Battle of the Bulge – several squads (minis and chips) would occupy each hex. Playtesting the thing proved that a multi-battalion engagement  (consider all the NVA/VC soldiers also) was simply too much to be fun. The combat system was originally based on individual weapons having different hit probabilities at different distances and the combat took forever. The game was actually “dead” when it got resurrected unexpectedly…

The designer was working on a design for Hamburger Hill and the scale for that contest envisioned the platoon as the basic maneuver element. The map was going to be several kilometers on a side and so a platoon would have to occupy a small hex – maybe just large enough for one A&A style mini and associated chips (or a 5/8″ counter and some pennies under it). As Hamburger Hill progressed, the fire combat system, fire support and CQC turned out to be realistic, quick and fun…so one day the LZ X-Ray map came back out and we started putting the HH systems into the They Were Soldiers order of battle. We re-did the map scale and opened up the game area so more of the LZ X-Ray battlespace was available (which opened up the hidden unit dynamic for the NVA/VC). Once we started playing it we were immediately having a blast re-fighting the battle and we realized that the game had THE balance we were originally looking for in an operational X-Ray tabletop game – not too much and not too little. Doesn’t take forever, realistic and fun to play…yet historically true to the battle. Both sides can win and the issue is not decided until the last chopper-load of wounded are off the LZ (or not) and (sometimes) the last NVA unit has moved or fired.

On the Kickstarter page they have taken pictures of the rulebook pages and placed them there so you can see the rules. The game looks pretty interesting and is one that I am very interested in taking a look at a bit more closely.

If you are interested in They Were Soldiers: Battle of the Ia Drang Valley you can back the project on the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/647106057/they-were-soldiers

As of August 31st, the project has raised $5,780 toward the $39,900 goal from 59 backers. The campaign will end on Friday, September 18th at 2:59am EDT.

2. Cradle of Civilization from Compass Games Currently on Kickstarter

Sumeria to Persia is about the Bronze and Iron Age, when civilization was born and city states evolved into kingdoms and finally to large empires, culminating in the Persian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great. Players of History of the World will recognize the base mechanics whereby players randomly select civilizations from cards, although the player in last place has more power to decide which civilization they will play.

Sumeria to Persia is for two to six players and offers more options than previous games on the subject. Civilizations that survive can continue to expand in future turns. Random events create possibilities that defy history but were in the realm of possibility. The Minoans may have a brilliant military commander and the Egyptians could become a seafaring empire. There are also rules for constructing wonders, the placement of cities, and the general effects of the Bronze Age collapse. Lastly, the Persian Empire does appear, although any player choosing them must hand out victory points to their opponents.

Alexander vs. Darius: The Fall of the Persian Empire is a two-player game that simulates Alexander III’s conquest of the great Persian Empire. Sometimes portrayed as a foregone conclusion, this game argues that Persia certainly had a chance to win if they had used different strategies or had some luck on the battlefield. Darius III need not have been Persia’s last king.

The heart of Alexander vs. Darius is a war weariness track, which moves down steadily for Alexander’s army. Historically, it did not reach zero until after his invasion of India, but a Persian battlefield victory could have changed that. The game also allows players to explore Memnon’s strategy of using Persian naval supremacy to raid Alexander’s rear as well as exploring the possibilities of the Spartan rebellion. Lastly, the Persians themselves must worry about legitimacy, and therefore must be active in resisting Alexander, or risk losing their grip on the throne.

Since playing Genesis from GMT Games last year, I have become much more keenly interested in the Ancients period and this game looks very interesting. Not to mention that it is a huge value with 2 games for the price of one!

If you are interested in Cradle of Civilization you can back the project on the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/compassgames/cradle-of-civilization?ref=compass_website

As of August 31st, the project has fully funded raising $6,496 toward the $2,500 goal from 78 backers. The campaign will end on Sunday, September 13th at 10:40pm EDT.

3. Votes for Women from Fort Circle Games Currently on Kickstarter

After playing and really enjoying The Shores of Tripoli, I think that Fort Circle Games is a company to watch as they just know how to make a very interesting and engaging historical game that is pretty fun to play. Their next project is a card driven game covering the women’s suffrage movement leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

From the Kickstarter page, we read the following:

In Votes for Women, you are invited to join the movement for women’s suffrage, starting in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention and navigating the ups and downs of the next seventy years. Will you succeed in this card-driven game by winning support in three-fourths of the states needed for ratification? Or will the opposition stymie progress and prevent enough states from ratifying the Nineteenth Amendment, dashing our hopes for equality? Play this 60 minute game to determine who will out-campaign and out-organize their competition to win.

Votes for Women, designed by Tory Brown, can be played competitively, cooperatively, or in solitaire mode. Players may play cards for their events, to campaign, to organize or to call for a vote in state legislatures to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. Game play occurs over three eras that correspond to important historical periods of the movement up to the exciting culmination of ratification in 1919 and 1920. The Support player needs 36 states to pass ratification to win while the Opposition player needs only 13 states to bury the 19th amendment.

The gorgeous cards feature some of the famous leaders we already know, plus many suffragists who have been left out of the narrative but whose contributions were critical to the passage of the 19th amendment, as well as the events, publications and clubs that were instrumental to winning not just suffrage but to advancing the women’s rights movement overall. The opposition cards highlight the events, forces, industries and individuals, many of them women, who nearly thwarted the greatest expansion of citizenship in American history.

If you are interested in Votes for Women, you can back the project on the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fortcircle/votes-for-women-0

As of August 31st, the project has raised $13,619 toward the $15,000 goal from 211 backers. The campaign will end on Thursday, September 24th at 11:30pm EDT.

4. March on the Drina from Princeps Games on Kickstarter September 22nd

March on the Drina is a strategic area control war game set in World War I. The game covers the Balkan Peninsula theater where one small country, the Kingdom of Serbia, was invaded by three fierce Empires, including Germany, Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria.

From the Kickstarter preview page we read the following:

March on the Drina is a game for 2-4 players ages 14+. The game duration is from 120 to 180 minutes. Each player controls one of the powers in conflict: Serbia, Germany, Austro-Hungary or Bulgaria.

The setting from July 1914 to December 1918 is divided in 14 periods, where each period is described in one Calendar Card. Each Calendar Card also brings some effect to the game, so by using Calendar Cards, you will also learn highlights about the most important events of World War I.

Each power has four types of units: Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery and Generals. All units have their attacking and defending values used to resolve combat.

The game is a simple introductory wargame that focuses on the advantages of different unit types and requires players to plan well to ensure that they can inject reinforcements into their diminished front line troops by keeping their commanders in range of their units.

If you are interested in March on the Drina, you can preview the game on the Kickstarter preview page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/princepsgames/1087192708?ref=3y24q2&token=323b1184

The campaign is set to kickoff on September 22nd.

5. Hidden Strike: American Revolution from Worthington Publishing on Kickstarter September 29th

I really enjoyed Maurice Suckling’s take on the Battle of Freeman’s Farm in his game in 2019 called Freeman’s Farm 1777 from Worthington Publishing. Now he is back and this time the game is a bit different, an abstract wargame that plays in five different modes. These modes include Cooperative, Traitor, Solitaire, Versus and Mastermind.

From the words of one of the designers we read the following:

As the rules are laid out, the basic version of the game is the Co-op mode in which all players work together to defeat the British forces. The four additional modes are expansions of this mode and each introduces different Founding Fathers and British abilities.

The Traitor mode adds a possible traitor, who will secretly work against the other colonists. Revealing the traitor before they manage to do too much damage is of the essence. In this game if you’re dealt the Benedict Arnold card that doesn’t automatically mean you’re the traitor. It did early on in development, but that changed when we saw other opportunities. Benedict Arnold – as you might expect – has abilities that help him as a combat commander – turning Militia units into Regulars. But each time you use this ability he must draw another card from a Loyalty deck – and each time he does this the chance of him becoming a traitor is increasing (unless someone – unbeknownst to everyone else, is already a traitor).

The Solitaire mode lets players take on the British forces on their own. No easy task but a fun challenge.

Versus and Mastermind allow one player to switch sides and control the British forces. Versus is a one-on-one battle while Mastermind has several American players pitch their forces against one mighty British player.

If you are interested in Hidden Strike: American Revolution you can preview the game on the Kickstarter preview page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1456271622/311261307/?ref=1p5n7w&token=7e8c3481

The campaign is set to kickoff on September 27th.

6. Empire of the Sun 4th Printing from GMT Games

If you have followed us for long you know that we really love Empire of the Sun and have played it several times. The game is simply fantastic and really implements the CDG mechanic perfectly with the events of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Furthermore, if a game is on its 4th Printing, that says something about it.

From the game page we read the following:

Empire of the Sun is Mark Herman’s third card driven design since he introduced the system to the hobby in We The People. EotS is a strategic level look at the entire War in the Pacific from the attack on Pearl Harbor until the surrender of Japan. EotS is the first card driven game (CDG) to move the system closer to a classic hexagon wargame, while retaining all of the tension and uncertainty people have come to expect from a CDG. Players are cast in the role of MacArthur, Yamamoto, Nimitz, and Mountbatten as you direct your forces across the breadth of the globe from India to Hawaii and from Alaska to Australia. This is represented on a single map based on a 1942 equal area projection of the entire theater of conflict.

As in other games using the CDG system, players try to maximize the impact of their cards even as they hide their intentions and traps from their opponent. The player is faced with a wide set of clear strategic choices. The focus of EotS is on directing major offensive axes of advance. The Japanese early in the game are challenged to achieve their historical expansion as Allied forces battle the clock to react with their in-place forces trying to achieve maximum damage to the hard-to-replace Japanese veteran units.

If you don’t have this one, you need to get it now.  The price is right. The game is amazing. And it will be in a near perfect form with the 4th Printing.

If you are interested in Empire of the Sun 4th Printing, you can pre-order a copy for $55.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-880-empire-of-the-sun-4th-printing.aspx

7. Labyrinth: The Awakening, 2010-? 2nd Printing from GMT Games

Labyrinth is one of our favorites of all time and The Awakening expansion just makes the game that much more interesting with some new mechanics as well as new events on new cards.

From the game page we read the following:

If you are interested in Labyrinth: The Awakening, you can pre-order a copy for $25.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-881-labyrinth-the-awakening-2010-2nd-printing.aspx

8. Twilight Struggle Turn Zero Expansion 3rd Printing from GMT Games

More Twilight Struggle is a good thing and this expansion simply adds some new starting conditions from the normal game setup.

From the game page, we read the following:

Each of the two Promo Packs includes four new cards for the game, some including “What if” alternate history additions to the game. The Turn Zero expansion adds twelve new cards and a new starting point for Twilight Struggle. Also included in the expansion pack are rules for a new Optional Space Race Track, to add variability to your Twilight Struggle experience.

If you are interested in the Turn Zero Expansion 3rd Printing you can pre-order a copy for $14.00 on the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-883-twilight-struggle-turn-zero-and-promo-packs-3rd-printing.aspx

9. Aden from Tiny Battle Publishing

Greg Porter designed one of our favorite wargames from Flying Pig Games called Armageddon War. Now he is taking the elements of that system, mainly the dice and how they are used, and putting them into a game that focuses on the Civil War in Yemen.

From the game page, we read the following:

If you are interested in Aiden, you can pre-order a copy for $25.00 from the Tiny Battle Publishing website at the following link: https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/aden1

New Release

1. The Mission: Early Christianity from the Crucifixion to the Crusades from White Dog Games

I love a good solo game, and especially one about an interesting and rarely gamed subject. The Mission is a grand strategy solitaire game by Ben Madison that covers almost 1,300 years of Christian history.

From the game page, we read the following:

While the secular world of empires and politics plays out around you, your apostles and missionaries spread the faith, translating the Bible and converting areas of the map to Christianity. Each turn covers several decades. The flow of play teaches players about the expansion and doctrinal battles of early Christianity while you build institutions like universities, hospitals, and monasteries to educate, heal, and inspire the societies you touch.

Internally, heresies and schisms in the Church will try to thwart your plans while external forces threaten you. Pressing against you are barbarian hordes, some of which you may convert. And when the armies of Islam arrive, the game changes from one of missionary outreach to one of survival, as Christian communities hunker down under siege during the long Dark Ages. Perhaps you will rise again in a blaze of glory as Christendom finally fights back, using the Crusades and the Spanish Reconquista to recover lost provinces!

Beginners and experienced gamers will find this an intriguing and very different kind of game. While certainly a war of ideas, it is still very much a war game, where victory depends upon managing scarce resources (including Holy Relics!) and making shrewd strategic decisions to benefit the Church. The Mission is a power-politics overview of the Early Church from its beginnings through the Crusades, but one that never loses sight of the importance of church-building and pastoral ministry.

If you are interested in The Mission, you can order a copy in various formats (boxed, poly bag, print n play, etc.) from the White Dog Games website at the following link: https://www.whitedoggames.com/the-mission-1

2. 7 Days to the Rhine: Objective Munich in Modern War No. 49 from Strategy & Tactics Press

Ty Bomba has had a dream of resurrecting the former Central Front Series from SPI but in making them more playable with updated graphics and new OOB’s. The first volume in the series was published earlier this year in Objective Nuremberg.

Now has come Objective Munich taking the fight to southern Germany and the metropolis of Munich.

From the game page we read the following:

Objective Munich is a two-player alternative history wargame intended to investigate the operational parameters that would have been in place during the first four days of fighting in that border area of West Germany had the Soviet Union decided to try to attack sometime in the early 1980s. It was during that timeframe the Warsaw Pact achieved a possible decisive “correlation of forces” between their militaries and those of the West.

This game is the second volume of the 7DR (Seven Days to the Rhine) Series. Each single-volume game uses the same system and will be playable alone or mated to other games in the series. Each hexagon on the map represents 2.5 miles (four kilometers) from side to opposite side. The Warsaw Pact regiments, while the units of maneuver on the NATO side are battalions. Air power and electronic warfare counters and rules abstractly represent, the effects of one side or the other gaining temporary superiority within those sub-realms of conflict. Each day of real time consists of one nighttime and two daylight turns.

If you are interested in 7 Days to the Rhine: Objective Munich, the game currently is available and can be acquired for $39.99 from the Strategy & Tactics Press website at the following link: http://shop.strategyandtacticspress.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MW49

3. Last Stand: The Battle for Moscow 1941-42 from Multi-Man Publishing

Another reprint of a classic hex and counter wargame from Multi-Man Publishing is Last Stand: The Battle for Moscow 1941-42 from designer Masahiro Yamazaki.

From the game page, we read the following:

In October 1941, the German Army launched Operation Typhoon – the last major German offensive of the year. In an all-out attempt to defeat Russia and end World War Two, the Germans managed to see the spires of the Kremlin as their high water mark for both this battle and for the war. Over two million men fought in this desperate battle that would decide the war and the future of mankind.

Masahiro Yamazaki, the designer of the MMP games Red Star Rising and Stalingrad Pocket has designed his greatest game on this great conflict- Last Stand; The Battle for Moscow 1941-1942. Using all the tricks in his designer’s bag, Mas has made this titanic struggle playable but without sacrificing a great sense of history. Offering 3 scenarios to show different aspects of the campaign, and a unique way of showing the plight of the Soviet morale as a nation faces possible complete military defeat, all in a manageable size, Last Stand is a game that has no competitor.

If you are interested in Last Stand: The Battle for Moscow 1941-42, you can order a copy for $42.00 from the Multi-Man Publishing website at the following link: https://www.multimanpublishing.com/tabid/59/ProductID/96/Default.aspx

4. Guards and Martyrs: The Battle for Basra, December 1986-April 1987 from High Flying Dice Games

I have never played a game focused on the Iran-Iraq War of the late 1980’s but sure find the subject interesting. High Flying Dice Games have published several games on the subject and this one looks to be very interesting as it covers the largest and most important conflict of the war, the Battle for Basra.

From the game page, we read the following:

The Iran-Iraq War was starting its seventh year by the start of Winter in 1986. Casualties on both sides numbered in the hundreds of thousands and both sides had resorted to chemical weapons, missile attacks against their opponent’s cities, and an escalating air and sea campaign in the Persian Gulf that threatened to bring Super power intervention. The Iranian government felt that an offensive to take the crucial city of Basra, Iraq’s only port and primary gateway for shipping out its oil and receiving goods from abroad, could end the war with a victory. Dubbed “Karbala 5” the Iranians amassed much of their Revolutionary Guard formations supported by new weapons secretly purchased from the “Great Satan” USA (via the illegal Iran-Contra affair) as well as North Korea. A feint attack north of the battlefield, Karbala 6, by much of the Iranian armored force would tie up Iraq’s reserves. The resulting battle for Basra was one of the largest and bloodiest battles fought in the war, with both sides fighting with all they had. In the end the battle for Basra would prove just as indecisive as the larger war, with neither side able to claim a clear victory.

The game uses the talents of Nils Johannson for the art assets and the game simply looks amazing. I am working on an interview with the designer Paul Rohrbaugh but still don’t have it ready for posting on the blog.

If you are interested in Guards and Martyrs: The Battle for Basra, December 1986-April 1987, you can order a copy for $20.95 from the High Flying Dice Games website at the following link: http://www.hfdgames.com/gam.html

5. Trois Batailles en Allemagne from Legion Wargames

Legion Wargames does some really good quality games that we have enjoyed playing. For all you Napoleonics buffs out there the next volume in the Vive l’Empereur Series is out called Trois Batailles en Allemagne.

From the game page, we read the following:

Vive l’Empereur Series is a simulation of the battles fought during the Napoleonic Era in Europe, between 1805 and 1815. The scale is the regiment, a good compromise between the brigade level (with no formations) and the detailed battalions. The scale is 250 m/hex and a turn is 30 minutes.

Jéna, fought on 14 October 1806, is the turning point of the 1806 campaign against Prussia. Eventually a crushing French victory, starting in the fog by Lannes engaging a single Prussian division under Tauentzien, it escalated into a full battle against Hohenlohe and half of the Prussian army, at first not fully grasping what he was facing, engaging his army piece-meal. While starting outnumbered, the French are at the top of their military value and the masterful concentration of the army during the day makes Jéna the epitome of victories.

Auerstaedt, was fought on the same day, opposing Davout and his Third corps to the main Prussian army under Brunswick and the King of Prussia. An unexpected battle, as more troops enter the battlefield on both sides, a masterpiece where Davout earned his title of Duke of Auerstaedt. At the end of that day, the two Prussian armies, both beaten in this double battle, join in a common rout, followed by a legendary pursuit lead by Murat to the destruction of the arrogant Prussian army in a few weeks.

Both battles comes with many what-ifs and a total of 15 scenarios, using troops from both armies not historically engaged. Several scenarios give finally a real chance to the unlucky Prussians. .

Le siège de Danzig, simulates the siege of the great fortress of Danzig between March and May 1807, between the Eylau part of the campaign of Poland and its conclusion at Friedland. It is played on two maps, an operational map of the region of Danzig, using the regular Vive l’Empereur rules, and a siege map where the French player will build a siege network to get closer to the mighty walls to breach them. A lot happens on both maps, sorties, relief Russian forces under Kamenski, the Danzig morale that conditions victory goes up and down depending on the progress of the siege works and other events. The players will have to be patient, the siege can be won or lost on the last turn of play.

If you are interested in Trois Batailles en Allemagne you can order a copy for $80.00 from the Legion Wargames website at the following link: https://www.legionwargames.com/legion_TBA.html

6. Crusader Kingdoms: The War for the Holy Land from Worthington Publishing

Crusader Kingdoms: The War for the Holy Land is a game for 1-4 players set in the era of the Crusades, where each player controls one of Outremer’s main Christian or Muslim kingdoms, with the goal of expanding it through intrigue and conquest. Designed by Jesús Peralta, there are four different games between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Crusades. The game allows cooperative, competitive, and solitaire game play.

From the game page we read the following about how the game uses cards:

Comprised of two decks, one Muslim and another Christian. They can be of three types:

•  Events: Have an explanatory text that describes its operation.

•  Troops: Marked with a number that indicates their strength.

•  Response: Depending on the text of the card, it can be played during the player’s round or during the round of other players; and can be used alone or in combination with other cards of any kind.

There are two maps included in the game and both maps are divided into regions that have a number inside a shield to indicate its Region Defensive Value. The Saladin and the 2nd Crusade board is used for 3-4 player games and the 1st and 3rd Crusades board is used for both the Solitaire and 2-Player cooperative versions of the game against a Muslim BOT player.

From the game page, we read the following about game turns:

The game is divided into 3 turns, with multiple player actions. Each turn has the following sequence:

1. Each player draws an appropriate number of cards belonging to the player.
2. Players can make one game action during their portion of the turn.
3. The players perform actions consecutively until everyone has passed.

Available Game Actions

•  Attack: The player selects a border region and announces the attack.

•  Incursion: The player selects an opponent with whom he has a border and makes an incursion.

•  Play an event: The player shows the card and proceeds according to its text.

•  Discard: The player voluntarily discards one of his cards.

•  Pass: The player announces that he will not do any of the previous actions.

If you are interested in Crusader Kingdoms: The War for the Holy Land you can order a copy from the Worthington Publishing website at the following link: https://www.worthingtonpublishing.com/collection/crusader-kingdoms-pre-order-now-game-ships-in-september-2020

7. The French & Indian War 1757-1759 from Worthington Publishing

I have always had a fascination with the Colonial period in American History and the run up to it as it formed the way the original 13 colonies in America were formed. I have played several French & Indian War games such as Wilderness War from GMT Games, 1754 from Academy Games among others. I really like the genre and I was excited when I saw The French & Indian War from Worthington Publishing.

From the game page, we read the following:

The French and Indian War is a strategic game on that conflict in America during the peak war years of 1757 to 1759. One side commands the British and its allies while the other commands the French and its allies. The object of the game is for the British player to control enough key locations in New France to win the war. The French goals are to protect New France while pursuing its own strategy of gaining territory in the American colonies.

The game uses point to point movement and wooden blocks to represent the units. There are actually two different ways to play the game. One with a traditional I-Go-U-Go system and the other with hidden movement.

The game also uses custom dice as pictured below.

If you are interested in The French & Indian War 1757-1759 you can order a copy from the Worthington Publishing website at the following link: https://www.worthingtonpublishing.com/collection/french-amp-indian-war

8. Streets of Shadows: Resistance and Collaboration in Occupied Paris from Hollanspiele

I love Hollandspiele’s quirky and very interesting selection of games. They have found their niche and it is in the odd and out of the way games that we simply have a great time playing. And isn’t that the real reason that we play games?

Their newest offering is called Streets of Shadows and deals with the Resistance in occupied Paris during World War II.

From the game page, we read the following:

During the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, many brave men and women risked everything they had to continue fighting against fascism. Today, we know that the Resistance and the Allies would be victorious, but at that time – living moment-to-moment – it was far from inevitable. They are celebrated not because they won, but because they stood firm when the outcome was uncertain and dangerous.

There were others – often the wealthy and powerful – who stood for nothing, who risked nothing. The sorts of people who only do the right thing when it is safe and profitable for them to do so, who don’t care what side they’re on, so long as they’re not on the losing side. Throughout the occupation, they attempted a delicate balancing act, collaborating with the Germans while also helping the Resistance, allowing them to hedge their bets until the last possible moment, switching to the winning side so as to escape its wrath.

These are the sorts of people that players are asked to play in Streets of Shadows. Not the brave heroes of the Resistance, nor even the scared everyday people just trying to get by, but the sorts of people who see the occupation as an opportunity for advancement – as a way to pursue economic, social, and political influence. The game does not ask you to empathize with these unsavory people but does seek to demonstrate how they enable oppressive power structures to remain in place. Even today, even on the other side of an ocean, there are still those who risk everything to fight for a better world, and others who remain silent, safe, comfortable, and complicit.

If you are interested in Streets of Shadows: Resistance and Collaboration in Occupied Paris you can order a copy for $55.00 from the Hollandspiele website at the following link: https://hollandspiele.com/products/streets-of-shadows

Thanks as always for reading through this list of wargames every month. I really do enjoy putting this together as it gets me juiced up for what is upcoming. I always inevitably miss a few new games so if you know of any upcoming or new pre-orders out there, please let me know so I can look into them.

-Grant