I’ve been working on some projects for SDHistCon, including the inaugural Summit Award. A press release on the 2022 Summit Award Finalists I helped draft is below. Please contact me with any questions or comments!

San Diego Historical Games Convention Announces 2022 Summit Award Finalists

The San Diego Historical Games Convention (SDHistCon) is proud to announce the four finalists for the first annual Summit Award. The Summit Award aims to recognize a historical board game published in the preceding year that most broadened the hobby through the ease of teaching and/or play, uniqueness of topic, or novel approach. The four finalists for the 2022 Summit Award (for games published in 2021) are (in alphabetical order):

Atlantic Chase. Designed by Jeremy White, published by GMT Games

Nicaea. Designed by Amabel Holland, published by Hollandspiele Games

No Motherland Without. Designed by Dan Bullock, published by Compass Games

Red Flag over Paris. Designed by Fred Serval, published by GMT Games

Each of these four games will be demoed at the November 11-13 2022 San Diego Historical Games Convention. Following that event, board members, advisors and other invited judges will vote on which game will win the 2022 Summit Award. The winner will be announced to the public by the end of 2022. Here are short descriptions of these games, based on their Board Game Geek pages: 

Atlantic Chase is a 30-120 minute game of naval movement and combat for one to two players, depicting North Atlantic surface naval campaigns between the British Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine between 1939 and 1942. It uses a trajectory system to model the fog of war these adversaries faced. It can be played as individual scenarios or a campaign, and includes nine operational scenarios and 12 mini-scenarios for two players. It also includes 15 solitaire scenarios, eight where the player takes the role of the Kriegsmarine and seven where they take the role of the Royal Navy.

Nicaea is a 60-90 minute game of tableau-building and alliances for four to six players, depicting the 325 AD Council of Nicaea and the struggles over what would become orthodoxy or heresy. Players commit to sides in theological disputes, scoring points when issues go their way. The player with the most points wins, unless the player with the least points has the most political influence and can splinter the church in a schism to steal the win.

No Motherland Without is a 60-to-120 minute card-driven game for one to two players, depicting the struggles of North Korea’s Kim Regime against the West from 1953 until the present day. One player takes the role of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, seeking nuclear deterrence, improving living standards, and purging elites to prevent a coup. The other player takes the role of The West, aiding defectors, stymieing the missile program, implementing economic sanctions, and pressuring the regime through international isolation. A solitaire variant is included where the player takes the role of the DPRK.

Red Flag Over Paris is a 20-40 minute card-driven game for one to two players, depicting the two months of intense confrontation between the Communards and the government in Versailles during the 1871 Paris Commune. Players take control of one of those factions and battle not just for physical control of the city, but also for the hearts and minds of the population. Solitaire variants are included for both factions.

The creation of the Summit Award was announced in Issue 1 of SDHistCon’s free Conflicts of Interest web magazine in June, with a call for nominations from members of the historical gaming community at that time. More than 48 nominations were received over the next three months. Red Flag Over Paris was selected as a finalist for the 2022 Summit Award based on public nominations. The SDHistCon Board and Advisory Board met to determine the other three finalists, with public nominations also considered there.

About The Summit Award: The Summit Award is an opportunity for the SDHistCon team to recognize the positive impact of a game that broadens the historical gaming hobby by drawing in more players or by introducing a new and unique subject or perspective. Our ultimate hope is that the Summit Award helps foster a discussion amongst players, designers and publishers about new ways to broaden the hobby through teaching, play, topic, and approach. Games are judged on five criteria: Ease of Teaching, Ease of Play, Novelty/Uniqueness of Topic, Novelty of Approach, Effectiveness as a historical game. More details on the award and eligibility guidelines can be found here.

About SD HistCon: The mission of SDHistCon is to create a diverse and supportive gaming community dedicated to playing, discussing, designing, and promoting historically-based board games. Through this commitment, SDHC seeks to serve both the existing historical board gaming community as well as grow it through the addition of new voices and perspectives. This is done through physical conventions (including the 2022 San Diego Historical Games Convention from Nov. 11-13), online conventions, the Conflicts of Interest magazine, the Summit Award, and more. SD HistCon is run by a volunteer board, and also has an advisory board comprised of prominent members of the gaming industry.

For more info on the Summit Award, please contact Andrew here.