We are now into the heat of summer and the July 4th holiday is just around the corner…this is my favorite time of year! We are also gearing up to attend the World Boardgaming Championships July 27th-31st at the 7 Springs Resort in Pennsylvania so if you are planning to be there please look us up and say hi. We are never hard to find with our TPA logoed shirts and Alexander’s annoying British accent ringing through the convention hall! This month, I found a good amount of games to share with you with 12 titles including 1 on Gamefound and 2 on Kickstarter. Not as many as last month, but definitely some very good titles. With titles from the likes of PHALANX, MMP, Flying Pig Games and GMT Games, there is plenty here to keep you engaged and entertained but that will probably drain your wallet of its precious resources.

If you missed the June Wargame Watch (and by it’s views numbers I think a lot of you forgot about it), you can you can read that here at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2022/06/01/wargame-watch-whats-new-upcoming-june-2022/

Pre-Order

1. Bretwalda from PHALANX Currently on Gamefound

I am a sucker for a good “Dudes on a Map” style game and especially when it is a freaking work of art and so beautiful it should be a wall painting and not a game. Bretwalda from PHALANX is a game for 1-4 players that plays in around 2 1/2 hours. Each player takes charge of one of the kingdoms of medieval England, including Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex and East Anglea, and each of these kingdoms has unique leaders and abilities. The goal is to be crowned the Bretwalda of England and victory will be achieved through a combination of controlling key areas with victory points, completing Chronicle Cards in the form of hidden objectives and also focusing on building various buildings such as Abbeys.

Recently, we played a 4-player game with Russ Wetli and Jacob Garis who are writers for the wargame blog Cardboard Conflicts and we all had a blast! Thanks to them for coming down to play and for offering their comments in our preview video.

If you are interested in learning more about the mechanics and design process for Bretwalda, we posted an interview on the blog with the game designer Leo Soloviey and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2022/06/13/interview-with-leo-soloviey-designer-of-bretwalda-from-phalanx-coming-to-gamefound-soon/

I also wrote a piece on the blog discussing how the design does things differently than other Lite Civ Building “Dudes on a Map” Area Control games in the genre. You can read that post at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2022/06/22/what-is-unique-about-bretwalda-a-look-at-what-the-game-does-differently-in-the-lite-civ-building-dudes-on-a-map-area-control-genre/

If you are interested in seeing what the Bretwalda game has to offer, you can check out the Gamefound page at the following link: https://gamefound.com/projects/phalanx/bretwalda

As of July 1st, the Gamefound campaign has raised €267,579 ($280,417) toward its €30,000 ($31,645) funding goal with 2,100 backers. The campaign will conclude on Thursday, July 7th at 12:00pm EDT. The campaign has unlocked 19 of 24 stretch goals to date and has also now offered 9 very cool add-ons including an upgraded resin first player marker, oversized neoprene mat, additional metal coins, a Bretwalda themed chess board, the Bretwalda: Danelag expansion that adds a fifth player and allows that player to play as and control the invading Danes, Vanished Kingoms expansion, upgraded Player Mats and Dice Trays and cardholders.

2. GTS The Greatest Day: Utah Beach from Multi-Man Publishing

Big monster wargames are always very interesting and frankly are usually very large! We really don’t have the space for large 3-5 mappers on our small gaming tables but one day I want to play some at a convention when you have the space and the time. The newest pre-order offering from Multi-Man Publishing in the Grand Tactical Series is The Greatest Day: Utah Beach, which is volume two in The Battle for Normandy Series. This one is a monster, but frankly it has some smaller scenarios and some additional maps and cards to use along with those so space may not be too much of a concern for those plays.

From the game page, we read the following:

The Greatest Day: Utah Beach is the second of three volumes in the Grand Tactical Series that covers the Battle for Normandy in June of 1944.

We at Multi-Man Publishing are proud to present our tribute to the brave men of yesteryear, who fought on Utah Beach and in the hedgerows of the Cotentin Peninsula. The Greatest Day: Utah Beach includes a wide array of scenarios from the beach landings, to airborne troops seizing Carentan, to cutting the Cotentin Peninsula. There are small 8.5”x11” scenarios up to full campaign games stretching across the entire peninsula.

Just to give you a look into the scale of this monster, the game has the following components: 16 full color counter sheets (5/8” counters), 1 full color half counter sheet (5/8” counters), 2 full color 22”x34” map sheets, 2 full color double-sided 22” x 34” map sheets, 1 full color 11” x 34” double-sided map sheet and 4 8.5” x 11” full color scenario maps/overlays. There is a lot in this box and the price reflects that.

This one is a monster but there appear to be several smaller scenarios that use smaller maps, such as the one shown to the right here showing the Carentan area, which is an airborne assault scenario. 16 full counter sheets is a lot of counters and I don’t have any idea how I would keep that organized as that would take at least 10 large counter trays and there is no way they are going back inside that box! Oh wait, my hand just cramped up thinking about having to clip that many counters!

If you are interested in The Greatest Day: Utah Beach, you can pre-order a copy for $249.00 from the Multi-Man Publishing website at the following link: https://mmpgamers.com/the-greatest-day-utah-beach-p-358

3. Werwolf: Insurgency in Occupied Germany, 1945-1948 from Legion Wargames

I don’t need to state this as I know you know that we love the COIN Series! A system that deals with multi-faction treatments of insurgencies and revolutions from across the centuries in a hybrid card assisted wargame that looks great and has a lot of player interaction and teaming with similiar factions. There is a lot to like! Over the past few years, we have seen a few of these COIN Series inspired games such as The Troubles from Compass Games dealing with the conflict in Northern Ireland. Now comes along an alternate history take on the occupation of Germany at the conclusion of World War II in Germany from 1945-1948 called Werwolf.

From the game page, we read the following about the background and history for the game:

It is 1945 and Germany has been invaded and occupied by the exhausted forces of the Soviet Union and Western Allies. Unlike in our timeline, the fighting continues as German resistance fighters engage in a prolonged guerrilla war. With the Manhattan Project still incomplete, Japan fighting on and the Allied invasion of Europe losing millions of men, the Allies are war-weary and there is pressure to bring the troops home. While the Wehrmacht was defeated, the Nazi leadership has spent 1943 onwards building up a huge secret guerrilla force – Werwolf – to turn the occupation of Germany into a costly quagmire. Other groups calling themselves the Edelweiss Movement are opposed to the Nazis but also to the invaders and will fight to restore an independent and patriotic Germany. The Fuhrer himself has gone missing, and many Nazi officials are in hiding, perhaps awaiting their chance to return to power.

The hallmark of these COIN Series games, and those that are inspired by them, is their focus on multiple competing factions, usually of which two are paired or teamed and have at least 1 victory condition in common and are required to somewhat work together toward this goal. Werwolf has a well fleshed out focus on these factions as we can read from the game page:

Four factions are now competing for control and the loyalty of the German population: the Allied Occupation Forces (Western Allied troops and German police, referred to as Allies in the rules) the Soviet Union (the Red Army and NKVD, referred to as Soviets in the rules), the Edelweiss Movement (patriotic but anti-Nazi German resistance, referred to as Edelweiss in the rules) and the Werwolf organization (former SS and other Nazi fanatics trained in guerrilla warfare, referred to as Werwolf in the rules). The struggle will be not only for military control and the hearts and minds of the German people but also over the remnants of the Nazi war machine and research programs. The Soviets and Allies may reluctantly co-operate to crush German guerrillas but will compete to secure top German scientists and prototypes for their own arms race. As the Allies try to de-Nazify the populace and entice them with American pop culture, the Soviets will use everything from indoctrination to mass deportation to keep Germany under control. Loyalties will be split between democracy, communism and resurgent fascism or nationalism. This will not be an easy occupation…

Frankly this one is very intriguing but might scare some folks away as one of the factions is the Nazis. But it does look amazing and the design team of Clint Warren-Davey and Ben Fiene have done their homework, talked with other COIN Series game designers and have a good foundation for what they are trying to accomplish with the game. I really look forward to taking this one out for a spin in the next year or so but first it has to make its CPO order requirment of 250 orders. I have reached out to the design team and we are working on an interview and I would also like to host a series of History Behind the Cards/Event Card Spoilers for the 98 Event Cards.

We have posted an interview on the blog with the game designers Clint-Warren Davey and Ben Fiene and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2022/06/27/interview-with-clint-warren-davey-and-ben-fiene-designers-of-werwolf-insurgency-in-occupied-germany-1945-1948-from-legion-wargames/

If you are interested in Werwolf: Insurgency in Occupied Germany, 1945-1948, you can pre-order a copy for $72.00 from the Legion Wargames website at the following link: https://www.legionwargames.com/legion_WER.html

4. Death in the Trenches: The Great War 1914-1918 2nd Edition from Compass Games Currently on Kickstarter

As you know, last year we did our Guns of August WWI game event that actually turned into the Guns of the 3rd Quarter as we played 11 games and just couldn’t get enough…until we developed trench foot and we had to tap out. But from the event, I have gained a new appreciation for WWI games and when I saw Death in the Trenches was being offered as a 2nd Edition I just knew I wanted to get in on the action.

From the game page, we read the following:

Death in the Trenches is a strategic-level World War I wargame covering the entire war, from the opening shots in Serbia and Belgium to the final defeat — or victory! — of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1918. The game includes a map illustrated by Jonathan Carnehl, stretching from the Pyrenees to Moscow, and from Norway to the Sudan, covering every square inch of territory in Europe and the Near East which saw combat from 1914 to 1918, in a manageable 34″x22″ format. An additional map shows the German colonies.

The game is a big one as it contains a total of 520 counters depicting the national armies that fought in the war — from the Germans, French, British and Russians all the way down to the Persians, Montenegrins, Armenians, South Africans, and a host of other specialized units (French Foreign Legion, Gurkhas, Italian “Arditi”, Cossacks, Tyrolean Kaiserjaeger, Zionists, Bavarians, “Dunsterforce”… even the Chinese may send a small expeditionary force). This one looks really intersting and I am very excited to see how it turns out.

I also am very intrigued by the game’s combat system as it supposedly uses no CRT and potrays the grinding nature of World War I combat in a realistic way that still gives players plenty of options to pursue.

If you are interested in Death in the Trenches: The Great War 1914-1918 2nd Edition, you can pre-order a copy from the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/compassgames/death-in-the-trenches?ref=csklg6

As of July 1st, the Gamefound campaign has raised $14,581 toward its $2,500 funding goal with 122 backers. The campaign will conclude on Sunday, July 3rd at 1:17pm EDT.

5. Alliance from Columbia Games Currently on Kickstarter

I love a good block wargame and Columbia Games is simply the best at them. They have a new game coming up that deals with diplomacy and war in the Napoleonic Era. The game is called Alliance and is currently on Kickstarer.

From the game page, we read the following:

Alliance is a 1-6 player game of diplomacy and warfare in the Napoleonic Era… with a Columbia Block System twist. Players make take on the role of Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, Russia, and Spain. These major powers cannot survive alone, however. They require the assistance and support of neighboring countries, the Minor States. The Columbia Block System adds a level of granularity to the traditional style of such games.

Even though Alliance is best with 3-6 players, the Minor States create added depth for the two-player game and solo rules are in the works for the growing demand for solitaire play.

The game looks very interesting and I really like the fact that they are adding a solo mode and that they make the 2-player mode more intersting with the addition of Minor States.

Players start each turn by receiving six cards, and discarding one. Afterwards, they take turns playing a card, moving and building units, and conducting combat operations if necessary. Then a political phase occurs in which the major powers make diplomatic plays for the Minor States.

Players can forge alliances lasting a year or more, with various conditions in effect: gold tributes, border disputes, non-aggression pacts, etc. By default, the winner is the player with the most Victory Points in cities by the game’s end. Other scenarios may have extra stipulations that also determine victory.

If you are interested in Alliance, you can pre-order a copy from the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/columbiagames/alliance-0?ref=discovery&term=Alliance

As of July 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has raised $21,634 toward its $10,000 funding goal with 150 backers. The campaign will conclude on Thursday, July 14th at 6:00pm EDT.

6. CDG Solo System Pack #2 from GMT Games

As you all know too well, it can be really challenging to find an interested opponent to play wargames with. It is not that they are not out there, but I sometimes feel like we have to trick them into playing with us. So with that in mind, solitaire play for any wargame is extremely important as that is most likely how most of us will experience them. But Card Driven Games can be very challenging to solo as there is hidden information in the opponent’s hand of cards and double handing the game isn’t always the best. In repsonse to this problem GMT Games created GMT One which is focused on solo systems for all of their great games, both those currently in design and development as well as their classics.

I have yet to play my copy of CDG Solo System Pack #1 but it looks really easy to use and should create a good opponent in the solo bot. Don’t get me wrong, it will never quite be the same as staring at Alexander’s face trying to glean his plans from his eye twitches but it’ll do.

From the game page, we read the following:

The CDG Solo System is a revised GMT Edition of Stuka Joe’s CDG solo method, which streamlines two-handed solitaire gameplay by decreasing turn to turn overhead and maintenance. This method of play increases narrative immersion as the great battles of history unfold on your tabletop. The GMT edition of the CDG Solo System includes professionally printed components, a custom screen-printed die, an official ruleset, and Playsheets for seven of GMT’s most popular Card Driven Games.

AND NOW WE’RE BACK! It is our goal to keep making Playsheets for GMT’s CDGs and so we are
back with six new Playsheets, two new Card Displays in Red and Yellow, and a Black Fate
Die.

Pack #2 provides for the following 6 games to be played with the system:

1960: The Making of the President, Commands & Colors: Napoleonics, Commands & Colors: Medieval, WW2: Barbarossa to Berlin, Pursuit of Glory and Wilderness War.

If you are interested in CDG Solo System Pack #2, you can pre-order a copy for $14.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-995-cdg-solo-system-pack-2.aspx

7. Tank Duel Tank Pack #2: The Eastern Front from GMT Games

If you like simple to learn but hard to master games that can be played by 2-8 players, then Tank Duel is for you. It is a fun tank on tank combat game that uses cards and player boards to play out some of the most brutal fighting in World War II. The series has been well received and done very well and now they are expanding it to include tanks from the Eastern Front.

From the game page, we read the following:

Tank Duel Tank Pack #2: The Eastern Front adds a wide variety of German and Soviet vehicles to the acclaimed Tank Duel System, from the early war Panzer 38(t) to the monster ISU-122 M44 and Jagdpanther. In addition to new vehicles, Tank Pack #2 includes new scenarios covering the Battle of Brody, Stalingrad, Kursk, and more. Even better, Tank Pack #2 comes with a mini-campaign, where the outcome of each scenario affects the next. All scenarios follow the format from Tank Pack #1 and North Africa, so they are quick to set up and have streamlined scenario rules so you can play immediately. And of course, all the scenarios support true solitaire play with the Robata system.

Remember though that Tank Duel Tank Pack #2 requires ownership of Tank Duel: Enemy in the Crosshairs and either Tank Duel 2nd Edition Update Kit or Tank Duel: North Africa. Tank Pack #2 can be combined with Tank Duel: North Africa as well as Tank Pack #1, and multiple sets can be combined to create an endless variety of matchups.

We published an interview a few years ago with the designer Mike Bertucelli and developer Jason Carr on Tank Duel and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2018/07/30/interview-with-mike-bertucelli-designer-and-jason-carr-developer-for-tank-duel-enemy-in-the-crosshairs-from-gmt-games/

If you are interested in Tank Duel Tank Pack #2: The Eastern Front, you can pre-order a copy for $28.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-993-tank-duel-tank-pack-2-the-eastern-front.aspx

8. Red Flag Over Paris: 1871, The Rise & Fall of the Paris Commune 2nd Printing from GMT Games

As you may know, I had a really good experience with the first game in GMT’s Lunchtime Series called Fort Sumter: The Secession Crisis, 1860-61. This series of card driven games is designed as fast playing small footprint games that can be played by both new players and veterans alike. I have played Fort Sumter over 30 times with my wife and she still is interested in playing it from time to time. So when a new game in the line was announced several years ago I was very interested. 

From the game page, we read the following:

Red Flag Over Paris: 1871, The Rise and Fall of the Paris Commune covers the two months of confrontation between the Communards and the government in Versailles during the 1871 Paris Commune. Players will take control of one of these factions and fight for control over Paris. But, you will also need to win the hearts and minds of the French population, as the board is divided into two areas, including military and political, as well as being divided into several dimensions (Political Institutions, Public Opinion, Paris neighborhoods, and the forts on the outskirts of the city). The game forces players to make tough decisions like when to focus on political influence or military dominance and how to optimize limited resources.

We really enjoyed this game and gave it really high marks, even seeing it appear at #7 on my Top 10 Wargames of 2021! list. The game is simply fantastic and really takes the series in a new direction.

We published an interview a few years ago with the designer Fred Serval and you can read that at the following link:  https://theplayersaid.com/2020/04/06/interview-with-fred-serval-designer-of-red-flag-over-paris-1871-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-paris-commune-from-gmt-games/

We also posted a review video on our YouTube Channel and you can view that here:

If you are interested in Red Flag Over Paris: 1871, The Rise & Fall of the Paris Commune 2nd Printing, you can pre-order a copy for $31.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-996-red-flag-over-paris-2nd-printing.aspx

New Release

1. A Most Fearful Sacrifice: The Three Days of Gettysburg from Flying Pig Games

Over the past few years, Hermann Luttmann has released a new series of games using a new system similar to his famous Blind Swords System to model combat in the American Civil War. The first game with this new focus was The Devil’s to Pay!: The First Day at Gettysburg from Tiny Battle Publishing.

Now comes this big game, which will take a look at the entire 3 days of the Battle of Gettysburg called A Most Fearful Sacrifice.

From the game page, we read the following:

A Most Fearful Sacrifice is an epic two-player wargame with over 15 square feet of playing area and 526 playing pieces depicting the fighting that occurred during all three days of this decisive clash. The game utilizes a new ACW operating system called the Black Swan System, which is closely related to the popular Blind Swords System first introduced in the game The Devil’s To Pay! by Tiny Battle Publishing. This version of the system is specifically designed to handle larger-scale battles yet keep rules overhead low.

One of the reasons for the development of the system was to allow for larger scale games with lots of units to be more playable and to cut down on the time it takes to play. I know that some of you are groaning at this but to me this is a good innovation that will get larger games back to the table for additional plays. How is this shortening of the game done with out taking out units and formations? The elimination of chit pull.

Players can simulate huge encounters in a reasonable amount of playing time. This is accomplished in one way through the use of card draws rather than chit pulls. Also, players will trigger activations by Corps instead of by lower-level formations but they still have tactical decision-making choices by needing to determine which Divisions get activation priority. Though at a grander scale, this system maintains a tactical feel about it and still emphasizes the three “FOW’s” of war … the Fortunes of War, the Friction of War and the Fog of War. Players will be challenged to deal with a constantly developing battle situation, never quite sure of what the Gods of War will throw at them, and thus they must always be prepared to deal with historically realistic “Black Swan” events. 

I am very interested in this new system and to see how it will change up these large games. I do love the chit pull mechanic but it does take a while to pull off, especially later in the game when there are more and more formations and event chits being placed into the draw cup.

We posted an interview with the designer prior to the Kickstarter last year and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2021/04/06/interview-with-hermann-luttmann-designer-of-a-most-fearful-sacrifice-the-three-days-of-gettysburg-from-flying-pig-games-coming-to-kickstarter-today/

If you are interested in A Most Fearful Sacrifice: The Three Days of Gettysburg you can order a copy for $125.00 from the Flying Pig Games website at the following link: https://flyingpiggames.com/products/a-most-fearful-sacrifice

2. The Long Road from Flying Pig Games

I love the games that Flying Pig Games produces. Mark Holt Walker is an interesting guy who just likes to put out playable and interesting games. He also is somewhat of a writer and story teller and has created an entire world, and in fact an RPG, around the undead intervening in a hypothetical World War III. He now has merged both of these things together into a very interesting and intriguing looking hex and counter wargame called The Long Road. The game has a very interesting sub-title in World War III…with a Twist and I am very interested in this twist!

From the game page, we read the following:

Based on the fiction that I created in my Dark War novels: Revelation and Retribution, and expanded in the Dark War RPG and Skirmish Game, The Long Road depicts a Third World War sparked not by conflicting ideologies, but rather the back-stage maneuvering of paranormal entities with their own set of agendas. Agendas that are fleshed out in the game’s 16 scenarios.

For many of the scenarios, gamers will take the role of a Soviet or NATO regimental or brigade commander, controlling platoons of 1985-era tanks, infantry, and weapons as they play through a story-driven campaign using the easy-to-learn, fun-to-play Platoon Commander System that I designed in 2015.

In some of these scenarios the game’s artificial intelligence will control paranormal elements that directly impact the combatants and move the story forward. For example, a strange, otherworldly electrical storm that roams the battlefield, hampering electronics and limiting engagement ranges. Or perhaps a zombie horde of unknown origin that pours from a city, attacking American and Soviet soldiers alike.

This game not only models typical things seen in a World War III 1985 setting, including Abrams tanks, ATGM’s, Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV), mine layers, mine clearers, anti-tank ditches, bridge layers, airstrikes, advanced imagers but also adds in some fanciful and interesting looking elements that are typically not found in a wargame. I like the look of this one and am very interested in playing it. We really enjoyed the Platoon Commander System when we played Kursk last year so this one uses that same system and then adds in the paranormal.

We posted an interview with the designer Mark Holt Walker on the blog and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2020/11/25/interview-with-mark-holt-walker-designer-of-the-long-road-from-flying-pig-games-currently-on-kickstarter/

If you are interested in The Long Road, you can order a copy for $100.00 from the Flying Pig Games website at the following link: https://flyingpiggames.com/products/the-long-road

3. Siege of Mantua from Hollandspiele

The innovative mind of Amabel Holland always comes up with something that is both interesting and highly gameable. She doesn’t do boring or conventional and such is the case with thh new game from Hollandspiele called Siege of Mantua.

From the game page, we read the following:

Two armies march to the relief of the fortress and its exhausted garrison. One from the East, and one from the North, converging on the outnumbered enemy. That enemy was the Army of Italy, the first field command of Napoleon Bonaparte. The fifteen days that followed would make him a legend.

Taking as its subject Bonaparte’s famous Arcole campaign, Siege of Mantua is a game of operational maneuver and tactical daring. Players move blocks on the mapsheet to threaten and deceive their opponent, with the object of bringing them to a decisive battle. These are fought on a battle display with counters drawn randomly from your unit pool. The quality of your pool improves with every victory; suffering losses will damage morale, degrading unit quality.

You must master both of these spheres if you wish to be victorious. Though outnumbered, the French player has the benefit of moving along interior lines, allowing greater coordination of forces. But those men are stretched thin to deal with two distinct lines of enemy advance. The Austrian player can use this to their advantage, bringing superior forces to bear at weak points in the enemy line. What results is a desperate battle of wits and nerve, and a novel take on the “block game” genre.

The interesting story behind this game and it genesis is that they had a gob of leftover red and blue blocks from a previous design that didn’t sell too well (Ribbit! by the venerable Mark Herman) and they decided to repurpose them by printing the units directdly onto the block. Genius! I love the look of this one and the game play is unique as it is a cat and mouse manevera dn avoidance style wargame that has some really intersting combat resolution. I really want this one and can’t wait to give it a play.

If you are interested in Siege of Mantua, you can order a copy for $50.00 from the Hollandspeiel website at the following link: https://hollandspiele.com/products/siege-of-mantua

4. 2 Minutes to Midnight from Plague Island Games

There have been many games that have tried to best Twilight Struggle at what it does in simulating the Cold War. Many have tried and many have failed….but there is a new game on the Cold War that might just give it a run for its money, even though it is a very different game than TS.

The game is called 2 Minutes to Midnight and is designed by Stuart Tonge who designed Blue Water Navy for Compass Games in 2019 and has now started up a new board game publishing company called Plague Island Games. 2 Minutes to Midnight is a strategic scale game about the Cold War – it covers the whole thing start to end in wargame style but it’s not really a wargame – because it’s not about war, so it’s actually kind of hard to classify.

From the game page, we read the following:

2 Minutes to Midnight is a fresh design using a chit-pull system to explore the cold war in 5-year turns starting in 1946 and running for 9 turns to 1990. The scale and depth of the game is unmatched by any other game on the market for this historical period – this is a detailed simulation of the cold war covering military, economics, politics, and trade, all in a playable package that hides the complexity and lets you focus on the strategy. A scenario runs 1-3 hours up to 6-7 hours for the full campaign game.

The game is highly asymmetrical – the US has presidential elections & national debt to worry about, while the Soviets must try to achieve their 5-year plan and navigate freedom (or lack thereof) within the Soviet Union itself, with the risk of the whole Communist system coming crashing down if you reform too quickly.

There are many other interesting elements to the game aside from the chit pull mechanic using cards. There is a fairly extensive technology tree that players can invest in to gain various advantages and special abilities but also players can utilize a spy network to steal secrets in the form of technology that was developed by the other player and to effect their actions as they are being taken.

We posted an interview with the designer Stuart Tonge on the blog and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2021/06/09/interview-with-stuart-tonge-designer-of-2-minutes-to-midnight-from-plague-island-games-coming-to-kickstarter-soon/

We also played a prototype copy and shot a preview video and you can watch that at the following link:

If you are interested in 2 Minutes to Midnight, you can order a copy for £75.00 ($92.13) from the Plague Island Games website at the following link: https://www.plagueislandgames.com/2mtm

Thanks for reading along this month. I love the look and feel of a lot of these games and really look forward to playing them in the next 6-12 months. Please let me know if you know of a new pre-order game, Kickstarter or new release that I missed.

-Grant