Violent domestic disorder - in a sense, war between a people and its own government - is an event that occurs at least as frequently as wars between nations, has been the genesis of many such wars, and often yields more decisive results. I have come across several games devoted to the unpopular but I believe relevant topic of domestic revolt, and others that deal peripherally with it through scenarios or variants.
Components: 15 Issue Cards, 12 Vote Cards, pack of play money, sand timer, rules folder Map: 34" x 11" abstract map of a city, on light cardboard Scales: abstract
Comment: psychology today magazine published several boxed games in the early 1970's on contemporary issues - this one was on urban renewal (another title in the series was Drug Attack). Four players, respectively representing Government, Business, Agitators, and Slum Dwellers, vote and negotiate on a number of issues for ten turns, trying to build the consensus that will allow them all to reach the Future City (depicted optimistically on the map as a jolly purple geodesic dome on the horizon), or alternatively to end the game with the most money in their pocket. The game plays very much like a simple application of the Prisoner's Dilemma concept in game theory; for example, the Agitators and Slum Dwellers can vote for a Riot, which can be cancelled by a Government vote for a Police Action, but unnecessary Police Actions have consequences, and so on....
I'm not sure how rare or valuable this item is, since I have never seen it on auction. I found my copy in a thrift store for a couple of dollars.
Components: 200 counters (unmounted; later editions had diecut ones) Map: 22"x34" area-movement map, rules printed on the map Scales: Police platoons to National Guard battalions, Demonstrator groups and crowds; 8 hrs/ turn; no fixed scale/ area
This game is a simulation of the riots in Chicago in August 1968. This game was much more like a 'standard' wargame in its presentation, with coloured counters and a heavy paper map, but there were several wrinkles. This was one of the first of SPI's relatively few designs to use area movement, and it also introduced the concept of several Combat Results Tables (Harass, Disperse, and Assault) to reflect the different scales of violence/commitment by either side. The game also acknowledged the media-driven aspect of the event, since victory went to the player with the most points on the Exposure Index at the end of the game.
This game came out with unmounted counters in Strategy & Tactics #21. The map for the second game (Flight of the Goeben) was printed on the back of the Chicago-Chicago map. Both games were also later issued in SPI white box and flat tray format, with mounted counters. Hard to find now, and expect to pay a high price for it.
Components: 400 die-cut backprinted counters; rules folder Map: 22"x34" hex map of the continental United States Scales: individuals to Army divisions; about 50 miles/hex; 3 months/turn
Deals with a future popular revolt by the people of the United States around the year 2011, when American society has been divided into a small elite and a large underclass with no stake in the current order of things. Individuals called Minutemen travel around the map variously setting up Rebel networks, building Militia units, and subverting everything in sight. The Government responds by deploying Army divisions, Counter-Insurgency Groups and Agents to contain or fight the threat until the day the Rebel player declares the Revolution. Other scenarios dealt with foreign occupations (after the European Socialist Coalition won a match of Invasion: America) and a second Civil War.
It was not everyone's cup of tea (Redmond Simonsen sourly declared it should have been called Minuteburger, because the design could just as easily have been used to model the spread of a chain of restaurant franchises), but after almost twenty years of gaming, it's still one of my favourite designs. An extensive update and variant by Joe Miranda appeared in MOVES #79. Copies of this game are easily but usually not cheaply obtained through auctions or out-of-print game dealers.
Components: 120 unmounted counters Map: 11"x17" area-movement map bound in the magazine Scales: company/battalion for Authority, cadre to mob for the Rebels; 12 hours/turn; no fixed scale/ area
This game appeared in MOVES #75, one year after the April, 1992 Los Angeles riots. Its systems are clearly inspired by Chicago-Chicago. A few of the counter images from the earlier game are used, there are the same three CRTs and the general idea is to get your own Exposure Index as high as possible. However, Miranda works many new variations and systems into the game such as rules for helicopters, looting, command and control, "fog of war" and an extensive random events table particular to the incident. Miranda also includes an extensive analysis and set of notes on the game that was missing in Chicago-Chicago (although the situations were quite different).
Components: 200 unmounted counters Map: Two 8"x11" geomorphic maps Scales: individual to "large crowd"; no fixed time/ turn; 25 meters/area
A tactical study of riot making and breaking. Like many tactical games, this was a somewhat generic and open-ended design. The game had 12 scenarios with a variety of unusual situations (including one for the Warsaw Rising of 1944, two 3-player scenarios, and a Chicago 1968 campaign game), but the basic situation was that of police squaring off against a group of rioters, trying to disperse them (or, in the case of the 3-player scenarios, keep the warring factions apart).
Published in #294 (September 1996) of the Strategist, zine of the Strategy Gaming Society. Yes, I did this one.
abstract study of a coup d'etat in an imaginary country. Not like Junta, it tries to teach some of the lessons in Edward Luttwak's great book on the subject (Coup d'etat: A Practical Handbook). 50 counters, 8.5x11 area-movement map, abstract troop and time scale, playing time 30-45 minutes. I have developed a 'seminar' version of this one for nine players as well. Was published in Cry Havoc! #18 (an amateur zine put out by David Tschanz, January 1997 or so) and the seminar version has appeared in Academic Gaming Review. Currently available from Schutze Games.
About the Tupamaro urban guerrillas in Uruguay, 1968-72. 2 players, 80 double-sided counters, 8.5x11" non-representational map (rather, it is a sort of 'map of attitudes' of the people of the city of Montevideo), abstract troop and time scale. Lots of different things to do, rather subtle strategies for the guerrilla player to follow. Published in Strategist #287 (January 1996). Revised version currently available from Schutze Games.
About the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in Red China, 1966-69. For 2-6 players, 192 counters, 36 tiles, abstract troop and time scale. Different factions of the Chinese Communist Party fight and subvert their way to the top. Don't go too far or the whole country will collapse into chaos. Published in November 2002, in full colour and with diecut counters, by Schutze Games.
A mini-game inspired by the anti-WTO riots in Seattle November 30 - December 3, 1999. Sort of a hybrid of Civil Power and LA Lawless, this one has 96 counters, an 11x17" area map of downtown Seattle, and the usual 3-4 pages of rules and charts. Was published in the March 2000 issue of Strategist, and available for free download on the Internet.
This was the first and most enduringly popular of SPI's "Space Capsule" games, their effort to horn in on the market for small SF/fantasy games. The basic situation is the familiar B-movie "single monster takes on an entire city" one, but in MOVES #49 a variant written by Glenn. L. Williams appeared that allowed players to simulate situations of urban guerrilla warfare with all the attendant civil disorders. Rules for agent provocateurs, snipers, terrorist assault teams, riots, counter-terror teams, etc. were included, as was a "standard riot" scenario.
Components: 1400 die-cut counters, 833 of them markers; two rules folders; charts and tables Map: two identical 17"x22" hex maps of an imaginary German town Scales: individual vehicles to infantry squads; 16.7 metres/ hex; 20 seconds/turn
Cityfight is described on its box as a "Super-detailed Tactical Simulation Game." Boy, they weren't kidding - there are 42 pages of densely-packed rules describing the Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced versions of the game to plow through before getting to the scenarios. A second 40-page book contains an authoritative essay on the special problems of urban combat, and details down to the organization of a Chinese flamethrower platoon. Basically, this was a double-blind game (hence the twin maps) that took most of the day to play out just a few minutes of tactical action in a small town. Just finding the enemy was an achievement.
There are twenty scenarios included in the game, and three of them deal with urban strife: "Baader-Meinhof", in which a platoon of terrorists attacks the fictitious town of Gerlafingen; "London's Burning", in which a crowd of punks set fire to thw town after a good concert, and "Take the Money and Run", a scenario where some bank robbers have to evade the police and escape off the map. There are also some esoteric guerrilla war scenarios such as an attack by Khomeini faithfuls on Doshan Tappeh air base during the 1979 revolt against the Shah of Iran, and another 1979 scenario pitting Sandinista guerrillas against Somocista National Guardsmen.
Copies of Cityfight are not common, as the design was never very popular - a pity, because it took a tremendous amount of work to design.
Perhaps this is not appropriate, but it was the first game I thought of when I saw this list. All of the above games represent civil war very well, but this one in particular is pretty nasty, encouraging bloody revolution and uprisings, bribery, arson, and other wholesome family entertainment.
"Corteo" is a simulation of a demonstration in a city. A huge mass of people goes across it trying to occupy the most important spots: from embassies to the TV Station, from the government palace to the court, from the prison to the most fashionable shops. The 100 x 70 map is a traditional boardgame one, with hex grid and everything. Units have movement and combat scores. Combat is resolved with a 1d6 on a chart crossing the result with the attacker/defender ratio... It's a traditional simulation on an unusual subject, to be short.
On the student riots at Columbia University in 1968. Early design by Jim Dunnigan of SPI fame, then aged 25 and described in the game's "designer's notes" as a history major in the School of General Studies.
The game is for two players, Radicals and Administration. The map features eleven tracks for each of the political subgroups in the game (e.g. Black Students, Moderate Strikers, Alumni, Harlem Community). The objective for the players is to have the most influence, determined by the positions of markers on these tracks, for their side by the end of the twelfth turn. During a turn, players deploy abstracted units representing their political leverage onto the tracks to 'attack' the other player's units and so move the markers towards their 'end' of the tracks.
SPI sold photocopies of this game supplement for a couple of years after its start. They are hard to find now and command a high price, often $100 or more.
Fighting in the streets of Budapest, 1956 (with troops of the USSR standing in for the Hungarian government, since all the domestic secret police have been scattered).