Dictator (1939)

There were a few more real life dictators in the world when this game was published in 1939. Very little information can be found about this board game.

Update - The game comes with many lead minatures (8 Aviators representing each player, 12 submarines, 8 Battleships and 16 aeroplanes). Definitely the king of game play pieces by weight alone. The map contains a circle of spaces surrounded by 3 territories which hold the game's key resources- Manchukuo (Iron), Dutch East Indies (Oil) & Ukraine (Wheat). The game play spaces have actions (like collect $4 million or capture enemy plane) or consequences (sub sunk) and even political events (revolt, coup or treaty - which are separate cards).

The center of the board represents the armament factory and all the minatures begin there to be bought by the player as they build up their forces. The players move around the circle by the roll of the dice collecting and losing money, armaments and political cards to be used in the game. The goal of the game is to collect military forces so that you can control the 3 territories (1 at a time or if you are strong enough, all at once). The players move military units into and out of the territories on their turns, conquering weaker opponents (and taking their units). If you have the required military units in the territory and you have earned a propaganda card (by landing on the right space) you gain the resource of that territory. Having all 3 resources wins the game.

It is believed that even copies in very good to very fine condition, used copies that may even be missing a part or two, were worth between $500 and $600 as recently as the year 2000. For those looking for this game, it comes in a long red box with the word "Dictator" written across the front in red lettering on top of a curved white stripe.