Invasion America (board wargame)
Encyclopedia
Invasion: America was a wargame
designed by Jim Dunnigan
and published by SPI
in 1976
. It depicted a hypothetical invasion of North America
by a coalition of three invaders. The game was played on a 35 inch by 42 inch map, with 400 cardboard pieces representing the armed forces in the war. As was typical of wargames of this genre, each piece had numerical combat and movement ratings printed on it. The board was divided up into small hexagons (each of which represented approximately 50,000 square kilometers). On each turn a player could move all of his pieces through a number of hexagon spaces equal to its movement rating. Then pieces in adjacent spaces would engage in combat by comparing their combat ratings and rolling dice. The combat ratings and the dice roll would be cross-referenced to determine the outcome of the combat. Many spaces on the map also had distinctive terrain features like forests or mountains which would affect the ratings of units in those spaces.
Invasion: America was intended as a four player game; one player was the defender and controlled the forces of the United States
and Canada
(Mexico and Central America were American-occupied territory). The other three players were the invaders; the European Socialist Coalition, the South American Union, and the Pan Asiatic League. Each turn of the game represented one month and the game lasted for 60 turns. The North American player won if he still controlled a portion of the continent by game's end. If the North American player lost, whichever of the invading players held the most territory was the winner. The result was that the invaders cooperated to an extent in attacking the North American player but ultimately were competing against each other.
Invasion: America was a popular game for SPI and led to a 1978 sequel; Objective Moscow in which it was the Soviet Union
that was being invaded.
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
designed by Jim Dunnigan
Jim Dunnigan
James F. Dunnigan is an author, military-political analyst, Defense and State Department consultant, and wargame designer currently living in New York City, notable for his matter-of-fact approach to military analysis.-Career:...
and published by SPI
Simulations Publications
Simulations Publications, Inc. was an influential American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s...
in 1976
1976 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1976. For video and console games, see 1976 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events of 1976:...
. It depicted a hypothetical invasion of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by a coalition of three invaders. The game was played on a 35 inch by 42 inch map, with 400 cardboard pieces representing the armed forces in the war. As was typical of wargames of this genre, each piece had numerical combat and movement ratings printed on it. The board was divided up into small hexagons (each of which represented approximately 50,000 square kilometers). On each turn a player could move all of his pieces through a number of hexagon spaces equal to its movement rating. Then pieces in adjacent spaces would engage in combat by comparing their combat ratings and rolling dice. The combat ratings and the dice roll would be cross-referenced to determine the outcome of the combat. Many spaces on the map also had distinctive terrain features like forests or mountains which would affect the ratings of units in those spaces.
Invasion: America was intended as a four player game; one player was the defender and controlled the forces of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(Mexico and Central America were American-occupied territory). The other three players were the invaders; the European Socialist Coalition, the South American Union, and the Pan Asiatic League. Each turn of the game represented one month and the game lasted for 60 turns. The North American player won if he still controlled a portion of the continent by game's end. If the North American player lost, whichever of the invading players held the most territory was the winner. The result was that the invaders cooperated to an extent in attacking the North American player but ultimately were competing against each other.
Invasion: America was a popular game for SPI and led to a 1978 sequel; Objective Moscow in which it was the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
that was being invaded.
See also
- Fortress America - for the plastic figures and area movement wargame covering the same subject