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:

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 Gusty Spence Sentenced

Born in June 1933, Spence was a prominent member of the Ulster Volunteer Force for over ten years. He was one of the first to be convicted of murder after a spate of fatal incidents between May 1966 and July of that year: the death of Matilda Gould after her house was set alight as a result of a petrol-bomb attack on an adjacent Catholic pub; the fatal shooting of John Scullion; and the shooting of Peter Ward outside a pub in Malvern Street. Spence was sentenced to life, but on release from the Maze prison he embarked on a political path and played an important part in the Loyalist Ceasefire on 13th October 1994. Spence died in 2011.

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

#13 1966 The Times: John Bull’s Political Slum

We have finally come to the end of our journey covering The Troubles: Shadow War in Northern Ireland 1964-1998 from Compass Games. We have had bits and pieces about this game on the blog since 2019 and I have appreciated Hugh’s sticking with us and providing more information. I am not sure that there is any clear news on the release date for this game but on the Compass Games website it mentions “expected release 2026”.

We 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