TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY.

I have finally managed to get "Triumph and Tragedy" to the table with a couple of the regular grognards, Dave and Arthur. We stumbled through the rules and after six hours had reached 1940, almost half way if the game goes its full length. We had to finish the game early as midnight had come and the club was closing.

This game creates a wonderful sense of paranoia. Each of the three player's ever watchful for rival factions troop build ups on the boarders, threatening movement of navies or enemy military innovations. Previous encounters with fellow wargames in ones gaming back catalog also provide fuel to light fires and trigger the dreaded war which you may not be fully prepared for. There is so much going on in this game with the action and investment  cards being multi functional. The cards are able to be used for a number of different options including diplomacy, factory production, movement/combat, tech, intelligence and atomic research. The diplomacy mechanism reminds me of the coup, alignment and influence options from Twilight Struggle. The diplomatic back and forth is a large part of the early game and provides an interesting tug of war for neutral countries allegiances and there much needs resources and population. When war is triggered the game takes on your traditional block wargame feel with hidden movement and dice rolling.

This gem will definitely hit the table again. There is much more to explore in this game to try and identify the best strategy to play as each of the rivals, the West, the Axis or the Russians. Arthur took a copy of the rules home to peruse and he never does this unless he likes a game and is willing to invest time in it. A sign for me that a game is a keeper is when there is a lot of post game discussion on the what ifs, the whys and the if only. This game has this in spades.

I would highly recommend checking out Stuka Joe's excellent two part introductory video's on Triumph and Tragedy if you are at all interested in the game.