GMT Games Churchill Strategy Board Game

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1. Anonymous Verified Buyer – 16 June 2024

   Great historical game.
   

2. Cody Carlson Verified Buyer – 5 December 2024

   Churchill, from GMT Games, is a unique and very interesting game. Though it takes place during World War II, it is not a wargame. Well, not exactly. Though there is a wargame component, one to three players actually recreate the historic conferences between Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The map itself is divided into two sections: the conference display and the military display. The conference display features the table with three tracks of six spaces each, one leading to each of the three leaders. After resolving a conference card, which sets the tone for the round by setting up certain conditions and events, players play staff cards (each player has seven staff cards each round, plus their leader card), and the highest number wins. Subtracting the lowest number card played, the winner can place an “issue” a number of spaces up his track equal to the difference. Players then go around selecting two issues each, bringing the total number of issues to be debated at the conference up to seven, assuming no issues came out with the conference card. Player then take turn debating the issues. A player plays a staff card, which may have special abilities on it, and moves the issue closer to their leader that number of spaces on the track. If ever an issue gets to the leader’s chair, they have won it. As soon as a player plays a card and moves an issue, however, another play can choose to debate it, playing their card and subtracting the difference in the number of spaces. Whoever ends up with the most issues on their track at the end of the conference (after all the cards have been played), wins that conference and gets bonus points. The issues to be debated are things like national production for each country, directed military offensives for your opponents, opening up the second front in Europe with D-Day, the USSR entering the war against Japan, various global issues, the ability to place political and military control markers on the military display, A-Bomb research, and more. Once the conference phase is over, players then move to the military display, where they enact the results of the issues they won. The military display is actually two maps, one of the European theater and one of the Asian theater. Different tracks lead to Germany and Japan, and players have military units advancing along those tracks. Players can spend production to create offensive support or naval support tokens, and also direct the military offensives of other players. Players can also place their military and political markers, which give certain advantages and points, in countries occupied by the Germans and Japanese- as though you are setting a up a government in exile to take control after liberation. Cubes are used to denote the Axis forces opposing your units, and once all opposition is cleared, players roll a ten-sided dice to advance along the track. Generally, players gain points and other advantages for moving along the track, though various events and conditions can trigger, not all of them helpful. At the end of each round players take score in order to measure their progress, but the score is not cumulative from round to round. Instead, it offers a barometer of how far ahead or behind you may be. This is important because in Churchill, unlike in most games, it’s not just about getting the most points. After the Axis powers are defeated, or after the 10th game round in the campaign game, players check for victory. There are three different victory conditions, and under certain circumstances a runaway leader in points will not win the game. Churchill is about balance, balance between what you do in the conference and on the fronts, balance in how you play cards, and balance in keeping your points close to your opponents. The game that Churchill reminds me the most of is Twilight Struggle, also from GMT Games. The way you play cards to influence the numbers is very similar, and the fact that you may not have very good cards- but you have to play- is very similar to Twilight Struggle as well. Twilight Struggle is an amazing game, and rather than simply imitating its mechanics, Churchill builds upon them in fun and interesting ways, and adds a level of negotiation to the mix. It is a really spectacular, challenging, and engaging contest. In addition to the mechanics, the theme here is just fantastic. To my knowledge, no other board game has covered the Allied conferences in World War II, at least not with such an elegant design. Each staff card represents the actual historical actors like George C. Marshall, Boris Shaposhnoikov, Lord Beaverbrook, and many, many more. Some Soviet cards can lead to other cards being arrested or shot- thrown out of the game, and when you play Churchill there is a risk of him having a heart attack and sitting out the next conference. When you play FDR, there is a chance that he could die and be replaced with Harry Truman. Churchill is a relatively complex game to learn, but a few turns into the learning game it flows pretty easily. It is really a lot of fun and another triumph for GMT Games. While this is certainly not a game for everybody, in my opinion I think it’s a good contender for Game of the Year. I highly recommend this game. Review copy provided.

   

3. southern_boy Verified Buyer – 3 January 2025

   Churchill does a great job of giving players an asymmetric romp without the usual beats of a competitive game.

   One player dominating the board will find himself a loser quite quickly as the other two Leaders will unite against him in the Post War World.

   The game is deviously simple, in spite of its labyrinthine rulebook, and quick to play. For every strategy there is a counterstrategy and timing is just as important as brief alliances.

   Well worth your gaming time and a solid addition to any shelf!
   

4. Alexander Klein Verified Buyer – 4 January 2025

   Unique ‘bidding’ style game, which has some pretty crunchy rules, but once you learn the rules and play the game the rules just blend into the background and you play the game, not the rules.
   

5. John A. Ghrist Verified Buyer – 11 January 2025

   This game uses a unique system for resolving policy disputes at the various war conferences while reducing the war itself to a high-level abstraction. This reflects how the conferences, while concerned with the war, were equally if not more focused on shaping the post-war world. It’s a fun game, historically accurate, and unusual in that it’s designed for three players. It’s often challenging to find a good game for exactly three to play.
   

6. Paul T. Franklin-bihary Verified Buyer – 22 January 2025

   An extremely unique, yet reasonably approachable game. The fact that it can be played solo is a definite plus, but would be best with three humans of course. So glad to be living in this era of boardgames that extend the idea of boardgames, and this is one of them.
   

7. Stephen Verified Buyer – 24 January 2025

   Brilliant!
   

8. Patrick J. Drohan Verified Buyer – 2 March 2025

   Very good, clever game.