After the Holocaust (game)

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.

Cover art by Redmond A. Simonsen, 1976

Description

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 nuclear holocaust of World War III has devastated the United States. 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.

Components

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:

  1. The number of controlled areas x Social State = Raw Victory Points
  2. 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

After the Holocaust was designed by Irad B. Hardy and Redmond A. Simonsen, with Simonsen also supplying the graphic design and cover art.[4] After its release in November 1976, the game briefly appeared on SPI's Top Ten Bestseller list for four months.[5]

Reception

In Issue 11 of The Space Gamer, Norman S. Howe was enchanted by the game, saying, "This is a marvelous game. They even provide income tax forms for the players."[1]

In his 1977 book The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming, Nicholas Palmer called the game "a fascinating choice of strategies [...] Highly innovative."[6] In his 1980 sequel, The Best of Board Wargaming, Palmer added "An economic simulation thinly disguised as a wargame: if economics bore you, beware!" He concluded by giving the game an average "excitement" rating of 65%, a rules clarity rating of 85%, and a maximum complexity rating of 100%, saying, "it may well be a suitable classroom tool for basic economic concepts."[7]

In the inaugural issue of Ares, Eric Goldberg found that the "rules are muddy in places, and economic realities limit the 'payoff' a player can receive for good play." Despite this, Goldberg gave the game a recommendation, concluding, "After the Holocaust is a fine teaching device and an intriguing game. It falls short as a simulation only because of the difficult nature of its subject. The patient or the studious gamer will find After the Holocaust a worthwhile investment."[3]

In Issue 33 of Moves, Phil Kosnett called this a game of "Power Politics" rather than combat. He concluded, "No technological [science fiction] mechanics, but flavorful."[2]

Three years after its publication, Andrew McGee, writing in Phoenix, called the game "one of the most underrated of all contemporary simulation games." He admitted that "it is something quite different from the run-of-the-mill simulation game", and concluded "it does give a good basic understanding of the difficulties of managaing an economy."[8]

Other reviews and commentary

References
  1. Howe, Norman S. (April–June 1977). "Reviews". The Space Gamer. Metagaming (11): 43–44.
  2. Kosnett, Phil (June–July 1977). "Science Fiction Games in Print". Moves. No. 33. p. 16.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  3. Goldberg, Eric (March 1980). "A Galaxy of Games". Ares Magazine. Simulations Publications, Inc. (1): 27.
  4. "After the Holocaust: The Nuclear Devastation of America – Recovery and Reunification (1977)". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  5. "SPI Best Selling Games - 1977". spigames.net. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  6. Palmer, Nicholas (1977). The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming. London: Sphere Books. p. 128.
  7. Palmer, Nicholas (1980). The Best of Board Wargaming. London: Sphere Books. pp. 57–58.
  8. McGee, Andrew (July–August 1980). "After the Holocaust". Phoenix. No. 36. pp. 28–29.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
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