You have to be kidding me

Recent press release from FIREFIGHT GAMES, a desktop publisher (dtp) of really cheap wargames done by two notable game designers, Paul Rohrbaugh and Perry Moore:

The following post was made by Paul on Consimworld back in 20 Feb:

It all started when, in an attempt to get some posts going, I described what I was working on for ATO as well as scenarios for Axis and Allies miniatures, and a game on the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Resistance is Not Futile.

The game will have a two 11 by 34 map sections, 280 counters (if done as double-sided, 420 single-sided), and about 24 pages of rules/charts. The game will use a standard deck of cards to determine the sequence of play and resolve combat. I'm rather pleased/proud with how this technique works in my game on Hue, and I'm confident it will work really well in RINF.

I was inspired to do this battle in game form after reading an article on the subject, did a bibliography search, and turned up all sorts of primary source information (we've got an outstanding Oral and Holocaust History section here at YSU). This is an incredible story that, IMHO, needs to be told in game form.

Some have objected to the subject, likening those who would play the German side as being anti-Semitic and/or Nazi-loving $%^& (you fill in the epithet). For me, playing a game on this subject would be the same as reading books and articles. If it helps raise the level of understanding and appreciation for this pivotal event in history, that is wonderful. Would folks who read the books and articles, and enjoy/get something out of them, be similarly scorned? It is amazing to me sometimes how fast some will jump to a conclusion about someone or something and not even pay the faintest attention to what was actually said or posted. For some, the emotional factor is too high and they just don't have the capability to learn more. This is NOT a game about putting people in gas chambers or ovens. It is a game about a very desperate, and heroic stand by those who were faced with annihilation. With little hope for survival or help the Jewish and the few Polish Home Army fighters who stood with them, fought anyways and earned a place in history that should be remembered and considered.

I'm very much looking forward to designing this game. It is a tale worth telling and I'll give it my best shot.

Cheers!

Now, here's the first playtest report:

Warsaw went up in flames over the 4th holiday at our cabin. The Germans set up to cut the ghetto into chunks that could be systematically neutralized. The Jewish units set up with scattered snipers and low strength units throughout the ghetto, but concentrated in the northern areas. Of course, the first German card drawn was red, but the new option of card choices opens up all kinds of possibilities. Because it was a face card, I chose the air unit, and rolled the higher number in the attack. Two misses, one suppressed result. The Jews sat. The second German draw was red, so the Trawniki entered the Ghetto eliminating a sniper. The Jews sat.

Well, to make the long story short, it became more of a (bug) bandit hunt than anything else. Some ZZW Jews escaped.

(note: the term "bug hunt" was changed to "bandit hunt" after posting -- Mr. Nizz)

Suggestion: Allow the Jews to pass through areas occupied by German units. In this way, the Germans can push only to find the Jews behind them occupying victory hexes that were thought to be secure.

The system works and the more that I play, the more options that I find hidden in the system.

Later,

Dennis

It must be me, but I find the whole idea of a game celebrating the brutal extermination of Warsaw's Jewish population to be far from edifying. I know John Prados did a game on the same subject back in the S&T days, and I wouldn't have bought that one either.

There's a lot of fustian about how the true heroes of the game are the Jewish defenders, how they rose to the occassion, and fought valiantly. How this led to the creation of the state of Israel, and etc.

Well, they still went up to the wall.

Who the hell would want to play the Germans in a game like this? It's a little too disturbing for my tastes. Maybe we should do a game on the Killing Fields or Sand Creek massacre?