What do you get when you mix designer Brian Train, COIN in Algeria, and nukes? I’m going to find out soon!
I recently acquired a new-in-shrink copy of Colonial Twilight: The French-Algerian War, 1954-62 (GMT Games, 2017). This is my second COIN-series game (the other being Harold Buchanan’s Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection, GMT Games, 2016). This is also my third owned game by designer Brian Train.
I never really thought I would be interested in the French-Algerian War, but curiosity is sometimes born in unusual places. In my case, it was an article I ran across recently. A “Nuclear Coup”? France, the Algerian War and the April 1961 Nuclear Test is a paper that details the days before an April 1961 French nuclear test in the Algerian desert. The test takes place at the same time there is a coup by French generals in Algeria against DeGaulle. That event is captured on Event Card 66 – Coup d’Etat, and reflects the “General’s Putsch” to seize power. Nuclear tests do not appear in any of the event cards in Colonial Twilight so one cannot play out the scenario of the rebels getting a device. Granted, that situation exceeds the design focus of the game but it’s an interesting thought experiment. Hopefully by playing Colonial Twilight I will get a better sense of the background and the general situation in Algeria during that time.
I also am looking forward to playing this game because of the designer. I always find Brian Train’s games interesting to play and educational. He certainly picks topics that are not the usual. I have played his Reichswehr & Freikorps (Strategy & Tactics, 2012) and more recently his Finnish Civil War (Compass Games, Paper Wars, 2017) – both games of civil wars. I am very happy to finally own Colonial Twilight as I believe Mr. Train is one of the foremost designers on “civil war” and counter-insurgency games and look forward to what his design can teach me. It also doesn’t hurt that Colonial Twilight is also a 2-player version of the COIN-series; a player-count that I want to explore more.
I am also looking forward to Mr. Train’s collaboration with Hollandspiele in his new District Commander-series coming this year. As Hollandspiele’s Tom Russell describes it:
“One more series we’re proud to be launching is Brian Train’s District Commander. These four diceless games for two players cover counter-insurgency operations in the twenty and twenty-first century. Our plan is to release the first two games (Maracas and Bin Dinh) in 2019, with the other two games seeing your table in 2020. Brian is one of our favorite designers – there’s a reason why one of his designs got our very first hex number – so we’re very pleased to be working with him on this project.”
(Darn it, Tom! Now I am going to have to get The Scheldt Campaign!)
Wargames; they’re not only for fun, but educational too.
Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Thanks a lot for getting a copy of Colonial Twilight! I think you’ll enjoy it.
Get a copy of the updated Playbook from the GMT website if you are going to play the Tutorial scenario.
Very interesting paper! But it does answer its own questions – even if the rebel generals had taken control of the weapon, what would they have done with it? certainly not drop it on Paris (setting aside the fact that it could not be dropped on anything, and as it happened detonated with 5% of the yield expected).
The Force de Frappe is referenced in Card #16, NATO.
Finally, you can get a free PnP copy of the Maracas module for a while yet at my WordPress blog: https://brtrain.wordpress.com/free-games/
See how you like it.
Interesting….Thanks for the tip!
Yes, when it comes to political-military conflicts, Brian Train is quite distinguished! Hope you enjoy the game!
Thanks a lot!