Storm Over Dublin

On Easter Monday, 24th April 1916, the Irish Volunteer Force, Cumann na mBan, Fianna na hÉireann and Irish Citizen Army gathered at their mustering points across Dublin. 1,200 men, women and boy scouts seized control of the city centre, and at noon Patrick Pearce stood on the steps of the GPO and proclaimed the Irish Republic to a stunned crowd. Hopes that the British would be too preoccupied on the Western Front to deal with Ireland were soon dashed. Troops flooded in from Athlone, Belfast, the Curragh and Liverpool. The Rebels were outnumbered by ten to one, but held out for a week as Dublin was reduced to rubble. The Irish War of Independence (1919-21) ended with the partition of Ireland into North and South. This was accepted by the Provisional Government led by Mike Collins, but rejected by the IRA who wanted to unite all of Ireland in a Republic. Collins was given artillery by the British Army, surrounded the IRA HQ at the Four Courts and fired the first shots of the Irish Civil War on 28th June 1922. The Four Courts fell two days later, but it took another week to drive the IRA out of Dublin. Storm Over Dublin is an Area/Impulse game of the 1916 Easter Rising and 1922 Battle of Dublin. The Rebel Player must seize strategic buildings across Dublin and hold them against the odds. The Government Player must take back control of the city block by block, using cavalry, infantry, artillery, gunboats, bombers, tanks, and armoured cars, even if the city is reduced to ruins. Each side earns victory points for controlling areas and capturing enemy Leaders and Units. The Government Player needs a substantive lead as the rebels are court-martialled at the end of the game, and their martyrdom may sway the public opinion and give them victory. —description from the designer