Origins Of World War II By Avalon Hill's 1971 Bookcase Game

Origins of World War II, published by Avalon Hill way back in the Before Time called 1971, is a wonderful game of diplomacy, negotiation, and strategy. Players take on the roles of the pre-WWII great powers- the United States, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and Germany. Every player has a number of political factor chits (FPs) that they get every turn, and may place those in any of the other great powers' countries to try to come to a political understanding with them- essentially preventing them from playing dirty tricks on your FPs around the board. Also, players can place their FPs in neutral territories like Poland, the Baltic States, Austria, the Rhineland, and more. In this way players can attempt to control those neutral territories. The game is played over the course of six round, and after every player has placed his FPs on his turn, players can then attack each other depending on the number of FPs they and their target has in a given territory. You can attack on a 1-1 basis, a 1-2 basis, a 1-3 basis, etc... Dice rolls can result in the enemy losing his FPs in a given territory, a draw, or the attacker losing FPs. Each player has a list of objectives. Some players gain victory points for controlling certain nations, having an understanding with other nations, or preventing other players from achieving their goals. After six rounds, victory points are added up and whoever accomplished the most diplomatically is the winner. If Britain, France, or the USA win, thematically it means they prevented World War II.Origins of World War II is a very fun game that is highly thematic. Each round, Germany always goes last and always has the most FPs to place. This forces other players, particularly the British, French, and American players because of their objectives, to work together against Germany. The Soviet Union is often out for themselves, but must frequently work with both the Western powers and the Germans in order to win. This is a great game of negotiation and teamwork, despite the fact that there can be only one winner. It's not just a game of "Who can you trust?" it's also a game of "How far can you trust them?". It's also a game of tight victories. In a recent game I was playing Germany and I was convinced I was winning- I had Austria, the Rhineland, and Poland locked up, and was doing quite well on other fronts. I even managed to deal significant blows to Britain and the other players from time to time. Then, when we added up the scores, I had 17. Britain had 19- I hadn't been paying close enough attention to Britain's actions on the rest of the board. It's a thrilling contest right up until the end.Sadly, this game is only available used. If any game is in need of a 21st century reprint, it's Origins of World War II. Here's hoping one of the great game designers out there today will pick this title up and run with it. It is a fantastic game that really deserves a modern makeover. In the meantime, if you can get your hands on a used edition- pick it up. You'll be glad you did.