''Reich'', subtitled "The Iron Dream of German Unification", is a board game published by

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. ( ) is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford (game designer), Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fic ...

in 1979 that simulates the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...

Background

In the mid-19th century, what is now Germany was fragmented into 26 duchies, kingdoms, principalities and free cities. Several politicians expressed interested in unification as long as their home state dominated the new country.

Description

''Reich'' is a board game for up to 4 players, where each player is a Prince trying to unify Germany through social forces such Marxist agitation, religious riots, peasant uprisings, revolts, Papal recognition, key ministers, foreign intervention and aid, mobilizations, and wars. The color map shows the German-speaking states (except Bohemia and Austria). Other components include 300 counters, money counters and 40 player cards. The concept of the game is to gather enough states, either through diplomacy or military conquest, to be declared Emperor.

Gameplay

After each player has chosen a Prince and has received starting money, the first player draws a card. Then all players can choose to play a card. After card play, the active player then decides to either * tax their states to raise more money * emplace or remove a diplomat from another player's state * or mobilize troops with the intention of using them.

Publication history

''Reich'' was created by Jonathan Michael and published by Chaosium in 1979 as a

boxed set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

with cover art by William Church.

Reception

In Issue 45 of the British wargaming magazine '' Perfidious Albion'', Charles Vasey commented, "The whole style of the game is towards the abstract ...with the skill eededbeing mastering play and diplomacy." Although the rulebook stated that a game could be played in two hours, Vasey noted that his three-player test game had been abandoned without a winner after five hours. Vasey concluded, "Far from a stupid game, I found it a little too ahistorical for my tastes but it was certainly challenging." In Issue 29 of ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' (September 1979), Jim Ward initially liked the game, finding, "It is easy to play; the concept is clean and neat ... Unfortunately, it does have some serious design flaws that can make it difficult to play." Ward noted that the player cards were the root of the problem, pointing out, "Problems arise in the duration of effect for some cards, the concept of assassination and how it is prevented; and cards demand action that is sometimes not possible. There are just too many terms that can be used in more than one way, forcing the game to be unclear." Despite this, Ward concluded, "I would recommend that wargamers try this game. It only requires an agreement by all players on the meaning of a batch of cards that are used. It is a fun game."

References

{{reflist Board wargames set in Modern history Chaosium games Wargames introduced in 1979