After the Holocaust (game)
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After the Holocaust, subtitled "The Nuclear Devastation of America: Recovery and Reunification", is a near-future board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the economic recovery of the United States following a nuclear war. The game was the third and last in SPI's "Power Politics" series.
Components
After the Holocaust is a 3–4 player game in which each player controls about a quarter of the United States.[1] The game is set in the year 2001, 20 years after the United States was devastated by the nuclear holocaust of World War III. The country has split into four regions: Northeast, Midwest, Southwest and Far West.[2] Each player attempts to raise their region from subsistence farming to a more advanced social and technological society through trade, diplomacy and possibly combat.
The game box contains:[3]
- two-piece 17" x 22" mounted hex grid map of the United States
- 400 die-cut counters
- 2-page rule book
- four player aid sheets
- paper money
- two six-sided dice
- counter tray
Gameplay
A standard game lasts ten turns, each of which represents one year. Each turn is divided into five rounds.
- Production Round: Players produce basic and secondary goods (expressed in points) and mobilize any military units.
- Trade Round: Players negotiate the exchange of goods and cash between themselves.
- Consumption Round: Players expend basic and secondary goods to feed and compensate their population and determine the "Social Status" of their region.
- Military/Political Round: Players move military units and engage in combat and attempt to gain control of other regions.
- Finance Round: Players reallocate labor and capital assets and set investment and tax rates.
As reviewer Phil Kosnett noted, the emphasis in the game is multiplayer co-operation and trade, and it only becomes a wargame if one player starts an arms race.[2]
Victory conditions
At the end of ten turns, each player calculates their victory points by a multi-step process:
- The number of controlled areas x Social State = Raw Victory Points
- Raw Victory Points - [(Number of military units + unemployed labor points) x Social State] - (starving Labor Points x Social State x 3) = Adjusted Victory Point Total
The player with the highest Adjusted Victory Point Total is the winner.
An optional rule dispenses with the ten-turn limit, and the game only ends when one player completely dominates the others.
Publication history
In 1976, SPI produced three games in its "Power Politics" series: Russian Civil War, The Plot to Assassinate Hitler, and After the Holocaust.[4] The latter was designed by Irad B. Hardy and Redmond A. Simonsen, with Simonsen also supplying the graphic design and cover art.[5] After its release in November 1976, the game appeared on SPI's Top Ten Bestseller list for four months.[6]