Great train robbery board game
Encyclopedia
The Great Train Robbery Board Game is a Board game
created by the British
military historian and Author
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny
in the early 1970s and is based upon the actual robbery that took place on the 8th August 1963. Although based on The Great Train Robbery
, the Board game
has been adapted on a few small points, one being the extra farm house that was added for playing purposes. The game is a form of strategy Race game
with the robber player trying to avoid the police players.
Bruce Halpenny
, who spent most of his time on the continent,, invented the game for Britain. The game itself took three days and three nights to layout by Bruce Halpenny and then three years to bring onto the market. Its rules are easy to interpret, but the players have to use a fair amount of judgement and skill in order to trap or avoid trapping each other.
Basically the board is made up of a quite complex and extensive road network down which the robbers escape from the train
and through which the police
chase the robbers or set road block traps.
The game, as well as having a good response in Britain in a year when the indoor games market had taken a knock, was equally popular in West Germany
, which at that time was divided, where a television
series called “Die Gentlemen Bitten Zur Kasse” based on the 1963 robbery had been a tremendous success.
The board of the game was original, which made a change from most board games that tend to be adaptations of other games. Bruce Halpenny the inventor is a great games enthusiast which explained why the game was successful.
As he said when interviewed, “With crime you deal with every basic human emotion and also have enough elements to combine action with melodrama. The player’s imagination is fired as they plan to rob the train. Because of the gamble they take in the early stage of the game there is a build up of tension, which is immediately released once the train is robbed. Release of tension is therapeutic and useful in our society, because most jobs are boring and repetitive.”
The famous train artist David Weston
was commissioned by the Games inventor Bruce Halpenny
to paint the Board Game Box. It was used as a prize on shows such as Tiswas
and Crackerjack. It is currently being brought out again by the ANZIO Group.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
created by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
military historian and Author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny is a widely respected English military historian and author, specialising in airfields and aircraft, as well as ghost stories and mysteries. He is also a broadcaster and games inventor.-Parents:...
in the early 1970s and is based upon the actual robbery that took place on the 8th August 1963. Although based on The Great Train Robbery
The Great Train Robbery
- Events :* Great Gold Robbery of 1855, took place during a train and sea journey from London to Paris on May 15* Great Train Robbery , took place near Linslade in England on August 8...
, the Board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
has been adapted on a few small points, one being the extra farm house that was added for playing purposes. The game is a form of strategy Race game
Race game
Race game is a large category of board games, in which the object is to be the first to move all one's pieces to the end of a track. This is both the earliest type of board game known, with implements and representations dating back to at least the 3rd millennium BC in Egypt, Iraq, and Iran; and...
with the robber player trying to avoid the police players.
Bruce Halpenny
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny is a widely respected English military historian and author, specialising in airfields and aircraft, as well as ghost stories and mysteries. He is also a broadcaster and games inventor.-Parents:...
, who spent most of his time on the continent,, invented the game for Britain. The game itself took three days and three nights to layout by Bruce Halpenny and then three years to bring onto the market. Its rules are easy to interpret, but the players have to use a fair amount of judgement and skill in order to trap or avoid trapping each other.
Basically the board is made up of a quite complex and extensive road network down which the robbers escape from the train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
and through which the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
chase the robbers or set road block traps.
The game, as well as having a good response in Britain in a year when the indoor games market had taken a knock, was equally popular in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, which at that time was divided, where a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series called “Die Gentlemen Bitten Zur Kasse” based on the 1963 robbery had been a tremendous success.
The board of the game was original, which made a change from most board games that tend to be adaptations of other games. Bruce Halpenny the inventor is a great games enthusiast which explained why the game was successful.
As he said when interviewed, “With crime you deal with every basic human emotion and also have enough elements to combine action with melodrama. The player’s imagination is fired as they plan to rob the train. Because of the gamble they take in the early stage of the game there is a build up of tension, which is immediately released once the train is robbed. Release of tension is therapeutic and useful in our society, because most jobs are boring and repetitive.”
The famous train artist David Weston
David Weston
David Weston – British Author and Railway Artist-Biography:David Weston was born in 1935.David Weston's first gallery and workshop was in Leicester in the late 1960s, on or near Barkby Road...
was commissioned by the Games inventor Bruce Halpenny
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny
Bruce Barrymore Halpenny is a widely respected English military historian and author, specialising in airfields and aircraft, as well as ghost stories and mysteries. He is also a broadcaster and games inventor.-Parents:...
to paint the Board Game Box. It was used as a prize on shows such as Tiswas
Tiswas
Tiswas was a Saturday morning children's British television series which ran from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network Limited....
and Crackerjack. It is currently being brought out again by the ANZIO Group.