The First Cold War (In production)

The First Cold War puts you in the headquarters of a NATO or Communist bloc country during the Cold War era (from 1950 to 1990, and possibly beyond). The game can be played between two players or with as many as six players as teams (each playing a separate empire during the Cold War era). International tensions are high, and World War III is about to start!

The game begins during an arms race period whereby players buy land, air, and naval forces to be deployed around the world. The forces of NATO (Western Europe), the United States, and Israel must face the Communist bloc (the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, the Arab Coalition, and China). All of the players are confronted with the historically tough decisions of the Cold War era…

What are your strategic objectives, political or resources (oil)?

Will you employ your Special Forces conventionally or to facilitate coups?

Are you prepared to use atomic weapons, and even wage a thermonuclear war?

The game is won by achieving victory point map objectives; various locations on the map are printed with victory points based upon real-world historical significance. Some territories have political significance, while some have strategic significance. To achieve victory, each empire is provided with unique armies comprised of the iconic units of the Cold War from the 1950’s to the 1990’s…tanks, fighter jets, aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, strategic bombers, special forces, missile launchers, and more! There are even upgraded pieces for 2nd and 3rd generation tanks and jets (such as M-1 Abrams and T-72s, or F-15’s and MiG-29’s).

Historically modeled, the rules nevertheless utilize a simple colored-dice system to make combat quick and intuitive, using over nine different colors of dice to resolve combat (a different color for each type of combat), and so this easy system keeps each category of combat (land, sea, and air) completely compatible without subsystems or disparate mechanisms.

Best of all, the map is enormous…three 22 x 34″ maps that are arranged to form the entire world and representing the geopolitical geography of the Cold War era…from Alaska to Siberia, from the North Pole to the South Pole, including such features as oil territories (oil is the currency of the game), world capitals (the epicenters of international decisions), and political objectives printed as victory points based upon actual Cold War era hot-spots (such as Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, the Falklands, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and more). This game is not merely a representation of the Cold War, it is a simulation of the Cold War era and how World War Three might have been!

The fate of the world is the stakes of this ultimate game of the Third World War. The First Cold War is designed upon three specific fundamentals, attractive components, simple rules, and ease-of-play. Indeed, the game has been designed to be very playable and can be finished in one session, quicker than other games of comparable size. The rules emphasize fluid and intuitive mechanisms, but with all the strategic depth of a simulation. Though mechanically simple, The First Cold War integrates every aspect of regional and global conflicts during the actual Cold War, everything from naval operations to strategic warfare, and even unconventional missions. No other game is as comprehensive and historic as this interesting recreation of the latter 20th Century!