Europe Divided: the Post-Cold War Battle for Influence over Europe

[skirmish_tactics]

Greetings all, this is my first real post here on the Grogheads forums (other than an introduction post).  I'm new around these parts, so please be gentle! My introduction to the Grogheads came a few months back when I stumbled on the podcast. Since that time, I've been hooked. Listening to Season 2, Episode 3 of the podcast inspired me to post this thread here...

A few years back (mid-2000s), I started getting into board and card games. Over time my tastes have expanded, and I've started dabbling with more wargame-related stuff. Usually it's lighter fare, though my favorites are Waros/Weuros (with games like A Few Acres of Snow and Quartermaster General exemplifying my top choices). Last year I had my first wargame signed by a publisher. Since then, I've been working on a few different designs. I'm now at the stage where I really need some blind playtest groups for a new design...

I'm putting the last touches on the initial playtest version of Europe Divided. It's a two-player competitive game that plays in about 90 minutes. It takes place between 1992 and 2018. It focuses on the expansion of the EU and NATO into Eastern and Central Europe and the resurgence of Russia's influence.

In Europe Divided, you take control of Western Europe or Russia and battle for influence over Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus in a post-Cold War world. The goal of Europe Divided is to earn more Victory Points than your opponent by winning key historical events and gaining dominance over contested countries.

At this point, the game has been tested extensively. Now I want to expand to additional blind playtest groups with a specific focus on looking for "broken" strategies and minor balance tweaks.


The rules and PnP components for the game are here.

Components List:

• Game Board
• Turn and Event Board
• 13 Europe Country Cards
• 7 Russia Country Cards
• 12 Contested Country Cards (Europe Player)
• 12 Contested Country Cards (Russia Player)
• 14 Dominance Victory Point Cards
• 20 Period 1 (1992 - 2007) Event Cards
• 16 Period 2 (2008 - 2018) Event Cards
• Europe Player Screen
• Russia Player Screen
• 12 Red Russia Influence Dice (not included in PnP download)
• 12 Blue NATO Influence Dice (not included in PnP download)
• 12 Yellow EU Influence Dice (not included in PnP download)
• 15 Red Russia Army Meeples (not included in PnP download)
• 15 Blue NATO Army Meeples (not included in PnP download)
• 1 Turn Track Marker (not included in PnP download)
• 1 Event Track Marker (not included in PnP download)
• 50 Money Tokens (not included in PnP download)

Here are some pics of the game in progress:

[besilarius]

This looks very intriguing.   I know a few people who are interested in the Diplomatic aspects of the Cold War and will share this with them.
Good luck on your venture.

[skirmish_tactics]

Thanks - I definitely appreciate you spreading the word. I'm hoping to get at least 10 or so different blind playtest groups to test the game extensively, looking for any "broken" strategies or balance problems.

[panzerde]

Welcome! The game concept sounds interesting, too.

[skirmish_tactics]

Thanks, panzerde. Definitely hoping to get some feedback from this community. The only other place that I've really looked for blind playtest groups is BGG, so it is nice to cast the net a bit wider.