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.

#12 1966 The Times: John Bull’s Political Slum

On the 3rd of July 1966, the Sunday Times, coinciding with a royal visit to Northern Ireland, published the article ‘John Bull’s Political Slum’, criticizing Britain’s failure to intervene in the gerrymandering of the political architecture of Northern Ireland, and the high levels of unemployment in Catholic communities. This was against the backdrop of three recent killings carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force, which was led by Gusty Spence (and accomplice) who was later arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role.

“John Bull’s Political Slum” is a phrase used to describe Northern Ireland during the decades following its creation, a period characterized by discrimination, political oppression, and sectarian violence. The phrase highlighted how the British government and media largely ignored the systemic civil rights abuses, particularly against the Catholic minority, while sometimes criticizing similar issues in other countries. The term reflected a statelet that was structurally designed to maintain Protestant political dominance, with issues like gerrymandering, job and housing discrimination, and a general “blind eye” from Westminster. 

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

#6 1966 Holy Cross Girl’s School Petrol Bombed

#8 1966 Upper Charleville Street Pub Bombed

#9 1966 UVF Formed and Declare War

#10 1966 John Scullion Shot

#11 1966 Malvern Street Catholics Shot

#12 1966 UVF Declared Illegal

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