Attack! (board game)
Attack! is a board game created by Glenn Drover and published by Eagle Games in 2003. It is a light war game that is midway between Risk and Axis and Allies in complexity. The game is loosely set in the 1930s and includes plastic pieces featuring tanks, planes, infantry, and artillery. Attack! won the Origins Award for Best Historical Game 2003.[1]
Overview
Like Risk, Attack! allows the players to create their own military states on a board showing a map of the Earth divided into territories and attack other players in an attempt to conquer the world, although the victory conditions for Attack! are a bit different from world domination. In the original game the victor is determined by how many territories each player has. When a player is knocked out by losing all of his or her territories or a pre-determined time limit is reached, each players' territories are then tallied and the player with the most is the victor. In the expansion to the board game, victory points are added. Whichever player has the most victory points by the end of the game wins. Victory points are tallied differently depending on what government type one has. The game is supposed to be set in the pre-World War II era.
Players start with 12 infantry, six tanks, four artillery, and two planes. They also start with one battleship, two destroyers, and two subs. Each player chooses 4 territories of their liking, and sets their capital on 1 of the four territories. You choose to do one of these actions: a move, a Blitzkrieg move, an attack, a diplomacy, or spend on units. In one turn, player is able to do three actions. Each player does his/her turn in a circle, the person with the highest die roll going first.
You can prevent trades and movement if you control the oceans. You can attack minor powers. The economic card you draw shows the number of the minor nation's army. You annex it if you defeat its vast army. You can also peacefully persuade the minor power to join your "great” cause. In the Expansion version of Attack technology cards, trade route cards, and p.p (Production Points) are added to your cause. Technology cards are gained by a player if he or she successfully rolls a 10 or higher with the blue dice. Every time you chip in 5 P.P, the dice roll number needed to win a technology card is subtracted by one. The technology cards give you vital advantages like tanks take three hits to destroy or planes get one extra die roll in battles. Trade Route cards are actioned cards starting at 20 p.p. every player attempts to gain it by bidding higher. The highest bid wins. You place the trade route card on the sea zone listed in bold print on the card. Subs can attempt to torpedo the precious trade route card until it’s gone. Two hits sink the trade route cards. You can, however attempt to stop this threat by guarding the much needed trade route card with carriers and destroyers. P.P is paper money that you spend on war materials such as battleships and infantry. You get more at the end of the round when you total up your economic cards' money value.
Another vital factor in the expansion is political cards. With these cards, you can wreak havoc on your enemies or aid yourself or your allies. Every time you successfully launch a diplomatic blitz or at the end of the round, you gain a new political card. Some political action cards can block other political action cards. The expansion includes the Eastern side of the world which you can add on to the western map board to make a gigantic map of the world Earth circa 1935.
References
- ↑ "Origins Award Winners (2003)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2008-01-06. Retrieved 2008-01-13.