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).

Hugh O’Donnell has agreed to provide us with a few more thematically connected Event Card Spoilers to share on the blog. This upcoming set of 8 cards will be connected to the Loyalists Faction, which is 1 of the 2 para-military groups included in the 4 faction game.

The Loyalists (LOY)

Gusty Spence is alleged to have created Ulster Volunteer Force in 1966 as a response to growing suspicion that the Unionist-controlled Government of Northern Ireland was implementing concessions that would ultimately lead to a United Ireland. (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland had been split in 1922, with the United Kingdom ruling the Six Counties of the North.) The UVF’s reign would be the longest surviving of the many Loyalist paramilitaries that appeared during the thirty years that were known as The Troubles. And during this time, it was dedicated to the dissolution of the IRA and the maintenance of Northern Ireland’s status as part of the United Kingdom. The LOY Faction may travel abroad – undertaking short-term missions in the neighboring Republic or conducting bombing campaigns on mainland Britain and Europe. It may secure international support with materiel and finance coming from international donors. Similar to the IRA, the LOY have Counties that are ideologically aligned.

#6 Holy Cross Girl’s School Petrol Bombed

The first bombs of The Troubles were set off by Loyalists. Their intention was to blame the bombings on the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The IRA was dormant at the time of these bombings and not engaged in any active campaign but everyone believed that it was an IRA campaign until an attack on a power station in the Republic of Ireland went wrong. Later, continuing the pressure on the Terence O’Neill government, the UVF attacked this Catholic primary school days prior to the Prime Minister making an appearance at a reconciliation event to be held there.

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

#153 Blanket Protests

#174 Hunger Strikes Begin

#175 Death of Bobby Sands MP

#178 Hunger Strikes End

#180 Armalite and Ballot Box

#40 Harrison Arms Network USA

#93 M-16’s and AR-15’s – Harrison Arms Network USA

#156 M-60 MG’s; M-16 Rifles – Harrison Network USA

#164 Harrison Arms Network USA – Seizure

#181 Harrison Arms Network Break Up

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