Fortress America (board Game)
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''Fortress America'' is a strategic
board wargame A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board game, board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby (as distinct from military ...
designed by Michael Gray and published in
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...
by
Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with Milton Bradley Company, his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased ...
. The game depicts a 21st Century United States being invaded on three sides by three world powers. ''Fortress America'' was the fourth of five games in the ''
Gamemaster A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, storyteller, or master of ceremonies) is a person who acts as a facilitator, organizer, officiant regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer r ...
'' series.


Overview

Set in the 21st century, the board game begins with the premise that during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, nuclear
terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
destroyed much of the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
's supply of oil. In response, the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
launched into orbit a satellite based solar-power system to solve the
energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant Bottleneck (production), bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particu ...
. At the same time, the U.S. had perfected the so-called "
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
" technology and incorporated a satellite-based laser system into the solar satellites. This system was capable of destroying
intercontinental ballistic missiles An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
(ICBMs) before impact. Thus, the USA was completely safe from nuclear threat, ending the era of
Mutual Assured Destruction Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy which posits that a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by an attacker on a nuclear-armed defender with second-strike capabilities would result in ...
. This creates a great deal of political turmoil - the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
is especially upset at the nuclear balance of power being shifted - and while the rest of the world realigns in various ways (through alliances and treaties as well as conventional military conflict) the United States, complacent in its technical superiority, becomes isolationist in nature. The game opens with the world divided into three major
world power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...
s outside of the US: 1) The Asian Peoples Alliance (yellow player) 2) The
Central American Central America is a Subregion#North America, subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Ce ...
Federation (blue player) 3) The
Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
-
Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
Pact (red player) These three powers have launched a surprise
invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
of the now-conventionally-weak United States: Asian invaders on the
Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...
, Central American invaders along the Southwestern border with
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, and the Euro-Soviet invaders along the Eastern Seaboard. The
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
is brushed aside. The
Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
and
Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
, still capable of resistance, are nevertheless insufficient to halt the multi-pronged invasions. The unique nature of this game is the notion of three of four players cooperating for the elimination of one player (the US). The game has an interesting dynamic of the US player being outnumbered 3:1 in military strength but steadily being reinforced by laser relay towers which each have a 60% chance to destroy an enemy unit anywhere on the board each turn. The rules of
combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...
also favor the defender. The invaders must place their reinforcements, which arrive on an even basis over the first few turns and then run out entirely, in their own invasion zones, which are sometimes far from the front, while the U.S. never runs out and can often be reinforced right at the front. The American player receives reinforcements by drawing two cards per turn, which sometimes specify for partisans or military forces to appear behind enemy lines. Others allow the U.S. to reconstruct shattered units from the dead pile in home cities, while all invading units are permanently out of play when lost in combat. The result is a game that - if played well by all players - will result in a very close contest. There are 30 cities represented on the board and the invaders must capture, and hold until the end of an entire turn, 18 or more of them to win the game. This allows the U.S. one round to counterattack and recapture after all the invaders have played a round and temporarily achieved their goal of 18.


Original Milton Bradley release

Commercially, this was considered to be the third most successful board game in Milton Bradley's ''Gamemaster Series'' placing it in the middle of the pack. However, world events and popular culture and Hollywood have influenced a small resurgence in the game's popularity evidenced by the 2012 remake and re-issue. The original game also had two different covers. The first had an image which resembled
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
and the other cover replaced the Saddam look-a-like with a bearded and sunglasses-wearing version.


Reception

In 1987, ''Fortress America'' won the
Charles S. Roberts Award The Charles S. Roberts Awards (or CSR Awards) is an annual award for excellence in manual, tabletop games, with a focus on "conflict simulations", which includes simulations of non-military as well as military conflicts. From its founding in 1975 ...
for ''Best 20th Century Game of 1986''.


Reviews

*''
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...
'' v10 n13 (1986 12 mid) *1986 Games 100


Fantasy Flight Game Release

In 2012
Fantasy Flight Games Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game developer based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing game, role-playing, board game, board, card game, card, and dice game, dice games. As of 2014, it is a division of ...
released a remake of Fortress America with a few design changes. A few new rule changes have been implemented. The game now has a fixed maximum number of turns. Mechanized units can "transport" foot units. A few objectives were changed on the map. Reflecting population shifts,
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
and Buffalo are no longer depicted.
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
and
Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...
have been added, and resource areas were juggled. The attackers have optional event cards. A few of the old cards were changed, and one new "free laser complex" card was added for a total of 31 cards.


Reviews

*''Family Games: The 100 Best''


See also

* Invasion America (board wargame) - a board game covering the same subject. * '' Objective Moscow''


References


External links

* *
Yahoo ''Fortress America'' Player's Group

''Fortress America'' 2012 Re-release
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Fantasy Flight Games
{{Gamemaster Board games introduced in 1986 Cold War board wargames Fiction about invasions Milton Bradley Company games Origins Award winners