06-29-2015, 10:05 AM
The Weekend" is an invitation-only* mini convention held sometime during June in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. This year's event was last week. ( * Yes you could just "show up" but then you would get charged ten bucks.)
The original game was from 1977's Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) regarding the reconstruction of the United States after a nuclear war. There are four factions in play each trying to rebuild the United States in its own twisted vision of what it was. As you may guess the original premise would have made for a lot of fun and interaction. However SPI as was its wont back in the day, opted to attempt an "accurate" simulation and made a dog. This was my latest attempt to simplify it and make it fun.
From the convention organizer:
I ran two sessions during "The Weekend", one on Friday morning, the second on Saturday afternoon. I had done my homework, pulling this one out of a hat from my earlier attempt at the Los Angeles Strategicon in 1997. But way back then there was a team of four GMs that smoothed out any discrepancies and made any last minute decisions on the fly. Faced with running the game by my lonesome I deigned for a redesign to allow for non-team play and one GM (or at worst, one Player to act as banker). I had also run two play-tests before The Weekend" seven days prior.
I also had a minor tradition of running Flying Buffalo's "Nuclear War" (and any expansions) prior to the game. The first game skipped this tradition while it was diligently applied before the second game.
The game is dependent upon the idea of owning areas of land on a map of the United States, including border areas of Canada but not Mexico. This includes the mineral resources thereof, only two of which are represented which are fuel and metal. Agriculture is represented simply by declaring areas self-sustaining and producing an extra dollar of income. (This was another simplification of the original rules, which had a complex Agriculture section.)
Each game Players started with little training and a lot of supervision. with explanations of certain rules as they were encountered. There were only a few surprises as Players learned if they do THIS, then they could do THAT. Or if they don't do THIS, they can't do THAT.
Of the four factions, the North faction always had a surplus of metal, but little fuel. The South and East factions always had surplus of fuel and a minimum of metal, while the Far West faction had a little of both. Early on emphasis was on horse trading of these resources to build factories and mechanization. But like any area expanse game with a limited map and victory conditions of a majority thereof, conflict eventually arises and players began to vie for control of areas, either politically or militarily.
Needless to say the game moved a lot quicker than the SPI version, which could take days. As mentioned above all four factions began to increase their areas until there arose a potential conflict. Since both games ended in a similar manner, below are the mid-game descriptions of each:
In the first game the South and Far West factions decided to fight for resources using several military options such as World War Two style rebuilds of tanks and expensive and gigantic mercenary units from the People's Holy and Apostolic Republic of Mexico. Meanwhile the North and East factions traded the rope they could hang themselves on and expanded.
In the second game there was very little military conflict. Especially in the North where Otto's Church of the Chosen Few never built a single military unit. Instead he opted for industry and plowshares. There was one attempt where the East faction threatened a military escalation. Thus the Holy See of the North knew his form of governance was a "river unto his people" and demonstrated that it could build military units threefold as faster than the East. As a result there was a stand-down of military buildup on all sides and peaceful coexistence followed.
Finally there is a clause in the rules that factions could merge. So it follows a victory condition can simply be achieved with a merger. Both games ended with everybody merging and of course everyone won.
So ends the purpose of reconstructing the United States. Getting there is half the journey!
The original game was from 1977's Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) regarding the reconstruction of the United States after a nuclear war. There are four factions in play each trying to rebuild the United States in its own twisted vision of what it was. As you may guess the original premise would have made for a lot of fun and interaction. However SPI as was its wont back in the day, opted to attempt an "accurate" simulation and made a dog. This was my latest attempt to simplify it and make it fun.
From the convention organizer:
Quote:To the rest of you, you really don't know what you missed. I had "After the Holocoust" back when it came out and Tracy has told the truth, it was the dog of dogs, a canine among hounds, completely unworkable, completely unplayable, completely unloveable.. Tracy has taken this sows ear and made a silk purse out of it.
I ran two sessions during "The Weekend", one on Friday morning, the second on Saturday afternoon. I had done my homework, pulling this one out of a hat from my earlier attempt at the Los Angeles Strategicon in 1997. But way back then there was a team of four GMs that smoothed out any discrepancies and made any last minute decisions on the fly. Faced with running the game by my lonesome I deigned for a redesign to allow for non-team play and one GM (or at worst, one Player to act as banker). I had also run two play-tests before The Weekend" seven days prior.
I also had a minor tradition of running Flying Buffalo's "Nuclear War" (and any expansions) prior to the game. The first game skipped this tradition while it was diligently applied before the second game.
The game is dependent upon the idea of owning areas of land on a map of the United States, including border areas of Canada but not Mexico. This includes the mineral resources thereof, only two of which are represented which are fuel and metal. Agriculture is represented simply by declaring areas self-sustaining and producing an extra dollar of income. (This was another simplification of the original rules, which had a complex Agriculture section.)
Each game Players started with little training and a lot of supervision. with explanations of certain rules as they were encountered. There were only a few surprises as Players learned if they do THIS, then they could do THAT. Or if they don't do THIS, they can't do THAT.
Of the four factions, the North faction always had a surplus of metal, but little fuel. The South and East factions always had surplus of fuel and a minimum of metal, while the Far West faction had a little of both. Early on emphasis was on horse trading of these resources to build factories and mechanization. But like any area expanse game with a limited map and victory conditions of a majority thereof, conflict eventually arises and players began to vie for control of areas, either politically or militarily.
Needless to say the game moved a lot quicker than the SPI version, which could take days. As mentioned above all four factions began to increase their areas until there arose a potential conflict. Since both games ended in a similar manner, below are the mid-game descriptions of each:
In the first game the South and Far West factions decided to fight for resources using several military options such as World War Two style rebuilds of tanks and expensive and gigantic mercenary units from the People's Holy and Apostolic Republic of Mexico. Meanwhile the North and East factions traded the rope they could hang themselves on and expanded.
In the second game there was very little military conflict. Especially in the North where Otto's Church of the Chosen Few never built a single military unit. Instead he opted for industry and plowshares. There was one attempt where the East faction threatened a military escalation. Thus the Holy See of the North knew his form of governance was a "river unto his people" and demonstrated that it could build military units threefold as faster than the East. As a result there was a stand-down of military buildup on all sides and peaceful coexistence followed.
Finally there is a clause in the rules that factions could merge. So it follows a victory condition can simply be achieved with a merger. Both games ended with everybody merging and of course everyone won.
So ends the purpose of reconstructing the United States. Getting there is half the journey!
Tracy Johnson
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