War on Terror, the boardgame Blog

You make the rules

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Want to be credited with changing the path of the 'War on Terror'? How could you refuse? Now is your chance to help us develop the 2nd Edition of the game.

The official version won't be released until next year, but we are making the new rules available for FREE during its testing period so that you can tell us what you think. We've changed rules, added rules and introduced new cards so there are now such evils as permanent military bases, extraordinary rendition and terrorist groups with indigenous territory claims...all in the interests of improving game play and keeping it as up to date as possible. We are keeping a few ideas back until the official release so you will just have to wait for those surprises, unless of course we leave our top secret details on a train for anybody to pick up - We've checked with our government and these things do happen quite often apparently.

Because we want Edition 2 to be the best it can all constructive feedback is welcome and for those ideas that make it into the final game you will receive a respectful accreditation. If you fear that having your name associated with our board game would bring a cloud of shame upon you and your family, you'll lose your job and maybe your home, or you simply think that receiving the odd death threat would niggle somewhat then you are welcome to use a false name when submitting ideas. But then the terrorists would win.

You can download a document which will help you to convert your existing set without too much trouble. And you can see what everybody else is thinking about these changes on this board game geek thread. So let the games begin...and we look forward to hearing from you, you crazy bastards.

A quickie with Naomi Klein

Thu, 22 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

On Tuesday, journalist and best selling author Naomi Klein made a special appearance at Housmans Booksellers in London. We went along to buy a copy of her latest book 'The Shock Doctrine' , and as the sun was out we decided to treat the lady too - so we slipped a copy of our game across the table into her welcoming hands, and she appeared to like it!

We were in a chipper and up beat mood, which was lucky, as Andy was 'surprise interviewed' by a Finnish journalist whilst queuing to see Naomi. Well, if you can't get to the main attraction because the room is too packed then why not talk to a satirical board game inventor whilst you wait? So for all the Finns reading this, the next time you pick up the 'Helsinki Journal' keep an eye out for Andy's off the cuff, clear and concise interview ramblings.

Interview over and it was time to meet Naomi who was all smiles when she was presented with a copy of War on Terror, and was amused at the possibility of being able to play it when 'on the road' - which we gather she is a lot at the moment. Perhaps we should develop that magnetic travel set version after all? An in-flight version could be pretty special. If anybody has any ideas for different formats of our game then drop us a line at the usual address. If you're not familiar with Naomi Klein's work her previous book was the hugely influential No Logo, an International best seller no less. If you fancy a taster of Naomi's new book then have a look at this 6 minute film.Thanks once more to Housmans for organising this event and to Naomi for being so friendly.

11,000 games sold so far ...

Sun, 18 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

We meant to post this after we sold 10,000, but we forgot, so we thought, sod it, eleven is as good as ten, if not better. One better. We'll just wait until we pass the eleven boundary. Why be slaves to the decimal system anyway?

And then we passed 11,000 and still forgot. So here it is, a glorious celebration post to commemorate 11,763 games, or something like that ... Whew! It's been quite a ride.

Naturally, we're really chuffed with how well War on Terror has done. For a first, independent release, this is phenomenal news and we have to thank each and every one of you for buying the game, being so supportive, spreading the word and generally recognising what it is we're trying to do. In fact, some of you seem to understand better than we do. Thank you. Without you, obviously, we couldn't achieve what we have - so the Playboy endorsement and the New Internationalist review, the appearance on the IT Crowd, the Imperial War Museum, the V&A, the ICA, the WoT tournament in L.A. and more ... all these successes are yours too; you helped carry it this far.

Of course, we've had our fair share of problems too, as followers of this blog will know only too well. We'd like to report that these troubles are behind us, but far from it. We're still prevented from reaching the mass market in any way, the result being that we can never generate the level of sales we need in order to move TerrorBull Games forwards and publish the many games we have in various stages of development.

So the fight continues. It's a long war, as we've pointed out many times and there'll be a press release soon, exploring this aspect in more detail. In the meantime, we've written a press release that celebrates hitting the significant 10,000 figure and reflecting back on a year of War on Terror. Enjoy!

Edition 2 Game Report: Tom, Ben, Jenn and Andy S

Fri, 16 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Otherwise known as 'attack of the animals', tonight's game was quite different for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it was perhaps the most well-intentioned, genuinely benevolent game ever played. Ben in particular trailblazed a strategy of 'killing with kindness' after he became unfathomably rich through oil early on in the game.

It seemed to work. Ben's random acts of generosity made everyone else feel profoundly guilty and it was really difficult to be nasty back. The end result is that peace was seriously threatening to break out. Jenn, who normally revels in the lowliest gutters of evildom, was transformed and spent the game exchanging cards, money and even developments with Ben.

Andy S tried to spice things up half way through by nuking Tom (who, at that time was close to winning and having been EVIL four times in a row had about 30 cards in his hand). This failed thanks to Tom's cunning earlier acquisition of a nuclear bunker. Andy S tried exporting democracy, but this only had a short-lived benefit for the people in Western Russia. Tom's dictatorship soon reclaimed the country.

From there, it was a foregone conclusion - Tom retaliated and wiped Andy S's Empire down to two villages, instead of concentrating on Ben's exponentially growing wealth. Andy S turned terrorist and had to try and keep both Tom and Ben in check, while Jenn nudged close to the final goal with 7 Liberation Points.

Unless someone started acting soon, the game was going to be won pretty quick, with all three remaining Empires looking strong. Andy S tried to pull a truce with Ben, sending him into a deep moral quandry. It backfired (or succeeded, depending on where you stand) when Ben accepted the truce and thus his Empire remained virtually intact.

One round later and Ben had it in the bag. He even had one point more than was required. And in a crass attempt to impress, before he won, he decided to buy off all the terrorists in the world 'just so we'd remember' for next game. Ben took the game easily with Europe, North America and a sprinkling of cities in what was undoubtedly the nicest victory ever recorded. Quizzed about his unusual playing style, Ben claimed 'I just played an economic strategy'. What a smug git.

The military bases weren't used much, but the other rule tweaks once again gave the impression of a faster, more stable game. The big test will be a six-player game lined up for next week, especially as the terrorist player hasn't been given much of a chance to try out the new rules.

1968 - We weren't there, but we should remember

Tue, 13 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

We had a crackingly good day at Conway Hall, in London on Saturday. The '1968 and all that' conference was a hot pot of revolutionary thinkers, revolutionary doers, revolutionary speakers, revolutionary listeners, peacemakers, pacifists, agitators, activists, children with bagels, books, badges and even a board game besides ours. Outrageous. Everyone appeared to be jolly friendly which was probably due to the excellent real ale, or the excellent bagels.

We entered the main hall to find our good friends Housmans Booksellers were to be our stall neighbours - Their backdrop was a fine collection of artworks from 1968, some of which can be found on the '1968 and all that' site. They were so friendly they gave us a set of posters. The bunker that we hide away in by day has never looked so good, sexy, sixties, revolutionary. Needless to say we got to work and did our best to match these design classics with our own tried and tested stall classics - quality quotes, unexploded bomb signs, camo netting and a rubber vulture, naturally.

We met many good people including Dr Richard Barbrook, who is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages at the University of Westminster and a founding member of Class Wargames. Class Wargames are great advocates of Guy Debord's board game (a life long project no less), 'The Game of War', which was demonstrated on the day.

We have a little something scheduled in with Class Wargames in July which is most likely to be a visit to The Flea Pit for a talk/Q&A/gaming session so watch this space. He happens to be a very nice chap too with a good story about his sister and the Sex Pistols which, we discovered, he will divulge if you ply him with enough red wine.

The range of talks throughout the day was impressive and the crowning glory was the rally that packed the main hall at the close of play. We caught Adrian Mitchell on film reciting an interesting variation of his classic poem 'To whom it may concern'. The Rally was topped off by the activist and journalist Eamonn McCann, who pulled a corking cry for action out of his left tilting hat. Eamonn gave a rousing speech, urging us not to forget '68 and apply learnt lessons now, as well as adapting our approaches as we face new problems, because lets face it, the need for change is greater than ever before.

Eamonn's oratorial skills were so inspiring that we awarded him the much coveted 'Rousing speech' gong - to you and me that's a copy of our game.

In summary, it was a beautiful day, not just for the sunshine but the general air of camaraderie (which started early with a cry of 'Traffic Wardens outside!'). But for all the nostalgia and hope and excellent speeches - and maybe we're just part of a new, cancerous and cynical generation - we wondered how to apply it all in the face of today's wide-ranging and complex, interwoven problems. Is revolution - especially Marxist revolution - really a realistic or relevant goal? While a shift in mindset would certainly be welcome, shouldn't we be working towards sustainability, regardless of the political/economic model used to achieve this? In other words, is a dramatic, traumatic revolution the best vehicle for progression? Then again, maybe we won't even have the luxury of choice since it looks like (climate) change will be thrust upon us regardless. How we adapt and respond to that change will be the true test of our generation.

Edition 2 Game Report: Tom, Ben and Andy S

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

We've spent the last couple of months quietly making changes for what will eventually become War on Terror, v 2.0. We have a few aims with this next edition: 1) changing the rules to tighten up the looser aspects of the game and make it more strategically rewarding; 2) introducing some new cards and maybe the odd new rule to keep the game fresh and new; 3) changing the components to make the game lighter. This is our third test game so far ...

It's a school night and a late start. Never a good mix. We're playing with reduced amounts of pieces and money in an attempt to get this thing under 2kg. And there's a new 'piece'. The rumours of some kind of overseas base are correct; War on Terror now has Permanent Military Bases, denoted by two village counters - and boy are they fun.

It turns out to be one of the better games that we've played. There's the classic pattern of peaceful growth, followed by prosperity, followed by fear of losing that prosperity, followed by violence, followed by collapse, followed by a final push to win. This game even saw a 'failed win' as Tom thought he had it in the bag, but his inability to count up to four (developments) let him down and he ended up one point short.

Tom's near miss, opened up the game for Ben and Andy S. Ben was dying to turn terrorist to sample some of the new terrorist cards, but he was prevented by the fact that if he did turn, Tom would automatically win on the remaining points. So despite having been double-nuked by Tom, Ben had to limp on and rebuild his empire. This gave Andy S a chance to slip in under the radar when the entire game had been a two horse race between Tom and Ben... but that's how these things happen. A lucky mix of cards meant that a Regime Change, followed by a free City clinched the game. Andy S gets another win notched on the belt.

There are some lovely new cards, some of which we will divulge, but some we want to keep as a surprise. But we can tell you that moving terrorists around as an Empire is now much more fun. And the 'Democracy Export' card has quickly risen to be the most coveted card in the deck, not quite as devastating as Nukes, but they do have nasty, long-term effects.

The little changes we've made seem to result in a more stable and tactical game, with slightly quicker round times. All of this is great news if it sticks. Another test game this week should tell if it's a one-off fluke or not.

If all goes well, we'll release the v2.0 rules and instructions on how to 'upgrade' your current game. We'll then be relying on you lot to fine tune our fat-fingered attempts at game improvement and then it's off to the printers ...

1968 and all that...

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

It's orange jumpsuit time again. We're joining a bloody interesting group of people gathering at Conway Hall (near Holborn tube) this Saturday, 10 May. '1968 and all that' is an international conference and bookfair, celebrating and reflecting upon the tumultuous and rebellious events of May '68 when virtually all of Europe was experiencing strikes, protests and variously successful bids for social change.

With over 47 talks, 7 films and a whole load of other stuff, '1968 And All That' is an event that should excite and nourish lobes you didn't know you had. How can you refuse? Even if you miss us during the day, it's worth it alone if you just turn up to hear these guys at 6pm : Adrian Mitchell - political poet & dramatist ( Here's Adrian in action back in 1965 at the Royal Albert Hall: 'To Whom it May Concern'), Alain Krivine - one of the leaders of the May 1968 revolt in Paris , Astrid Proll - a former member of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, Sheila Rowbotham - a British socialist feminist, and Eamonn McCann - an Irish journalist, author, and political activist.

It's free to attend, but you have to register by emailing them (instructions on their homepage). We're particularly looking forward to hearing Astrid Proll talk - as someone who has turned to violence in pursuing a 'higher cause' and has then lived to reject it, she offers a unique and rare insight into the nature of protest and activism.

So if you fancy whiling away the day, arguing with lefties and reliving the hopes and dreams of a distant, more optimistic age, then do join us. We'll happily shatter your dreams for you. And then we'll laugh at you for being so ideologically naive.

Cafe Press Censorship

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Last week, the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed we added a Souvenir Shop to our navigation. This blog entry was to be celebration of that shop. A virtual ribbon-cutting, amid trumpet blasts, champagne cork-popping and rented 'beauties' adding the necessary sexy ingredient to get you all salivating for our new wares.

But, my friends, the inaugural unveiling ceremony has been soured by the lemon-tipped finger of suppression. For, no sooner had we finished work on the shop, than Cafe Press summarily censored one of our designs. No reason was given. It simply disappeared.

After 4 days, we were finally told why: "We find your image in bad taste and at this time we cannot have it on our site."

However, as we're sure you won't be surprised, Cafe Press can happily satisfy the needs of the most bigoted, racist, hate-spreading members of society. But an image that calls into question the widely-condemned (mis)treatment of 'prisoners of war' by America is quite clearly too near the knuckle for such a morally upstanding social network as Cafe Press.

We need your help! This is a clear-cut example of political censorship; a smothering of free speech that Americans hold so dear. Please write to Cafe Press (citing design #27364559) and ask them to explain in their own words why they object so much to our design but apparently endorse numerous pro-violence and pro-hate designs.

If you get anything other than a stock response out of the customer service team, we'd love for you to forward it on to us.

Thanks for your help and in the meantime, why not take a look at the other splendid War on Terror related and 'war on terror' related t-shirts on sale.

We salute Salute.

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Salute 08 was officially a success - we met loads of great people, chuckled and laughed, didn't notice we hadn't eaten breakfast until about three in the afternoon, didn't have time to eat breakfast until about four in the afternoon, saw a bunch of stormtroopers making kids do press ups, sold all the stock we took and nearly ran out of petrol on the way home, but didn't. Phew. We couldn't have asked for more.

The day got off to a corking start when we set the stand up in record time. And boy did it look good. Gone were the pornographic magazines and other bits of 'apocalyptic' rubbish we collected and displayed on our Vegas stand, instead, for Salute 08, we heralded in poster sized quotes about the game. The most common response all day was 'Are these for real?' All we could do was reply honestly that we couldn't make this stuff up if we tried.

It doesn't stop being surreal to meet people whose faces light up when they say they have played our game, and there were a lot at Salute 08. People reported 'awesome' and 'epic evenings', and then thanked us for making it and making it so well. It really flattered and tickled us.

Unfortunately for a lot of people we sold out our entire stock before the end of play. Our apologies once more go out to those of you who were left wanting. This success came despite Tom's sales tactics which hit an all time low when he was distracted by a passing remote controlled mini tank. His excitement was so infectious that the young customer he was talking to darted off through the gathered crowd to get a better view. Tom's defence was weak: 'Yeah but you don't see one of those every day and it did have flashing lights on it'

We must thank the organisers for letting us exhibit, and everybody who spoke to us at Salute 08 for their warm support and encouragement which blew us away. Nobody got upset and people laughed a lot. So when it comes to the war on terror, peace is an option after all.

Oh, one last thing, we now have it on good authority that The Office of Counter Terrorism have a copy of the game. Chaps, if your wondering how to defeat terrorism we've found the trick is not to fund it in the first place, but that's just from playing our game, what do we know?

Salute!

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Just a quick one. We've been so busy preparing for it that we've forgotten to mention we're attending Salute Zero Eight, a one day war game convention at Excel in London, tomorrow!

It's a lovely trip on the Docklands railway from London, so why not drop by and say 'hello'. It starts at 10am. We'll have competitions running, including our now highly popular 'Hunt the WMD'.

Last year, it appears there were Daleks, Guns, Chicks in robes and lots and lots and lots more models (the miniature kind, not the leggy kind). Mix in a sprinkle of terror and if that sounds like your thing, we'll see you tomorrow.