Versailles 1919
- 60 Issue Cards
- 60 Event Cards
- 4 sets of 15 cubes
- 4 sets of 3 Squares
- Mounted Mapboard (22"x34")
- 4 8x10 player displays
- 4 8x10 Playaids (identical)
- One set of two sided mounted counters
- 3 Special dice with custom symbols
- 1 d6
- 1 Rules booklet
- 1 Playbook
DESIGNER: Mark Herman and Geoff Engelstein
RULES EDITOR: Kai Jensen
MAP, COUNTER, and CARD ART: Donal Hegarty
PRODUCERS: Mark Simonitch, Andy Lewis, Tony Curtis, Rodger MacGowan, & Gene Billingsley
- Final Rules
- Italian Rules
- Spanish Rules (Translation 1)
- Spanish Rules (Translation 2)
- Spanish Playbook
- French Rules Translation from Ludistratege
- Versailles Prototype Overview of Play from Greg Schmittgens on BGG
- WBC Game Preview from The Players' Aid
-
- BoardgameGeek Page for Versailles 1919
- Consimworld Discussion Topic for Versailles 1919
- Article from Punched Magazine: "Becoming Churchill: Mark Herman's Great Statesmen Series and the Importance of Getting Into Character" (a comparative review of Churchill, Pericles, and Versailles 1919)
- 27 Minute Overview, Review, and How to Play Video from Fun With Boxes
- Articles on Versailles 1919 in InsideGMT:
- First Impressions of the Versailles 1919 Solo Variant, by The Boardgames Chronicle
- Podcast Review from So Very Wrong About Games (starts at 37:22)
- 30 Minute Unboxing and First Look Video from The Gaming Gang
- 15 Minute Video Review from Rob's Tabletop World
- 18 Minute Video Review from The Discriminating Gamer
- Reports from the Front Lines
- 37 Minute Video Review from The Players' Aid
- Gamers Alliance
- 15 Minute Unboxing Video from Ones Upon a Game
- Board Game Monkeys
- First Impressions Video from Victoria Parta Spiele [German]
- Jjomsae [Korean]
- #1 of The Discriminating Gamer's Top Ten Games of 2020
- Runner-Up in the Best Wargame Category of the 2020 Golden Geek Awards
- One of the Top Non-Wargames of 2020 from The Players' Aid
- One of The Discriminating Gamer's Top Ten World War I Games
- #2 on The Discriminating Gamer's List of Top 10 GMT Games
Description
On November 11th, 1918 an armistice halted the killing field that was The War to End All Wars. To make peace, Woodrow Wilson (United States), David Lloyd George (United Kingdom), and Vittorio Orlando (Italy), were hosted by President George Clemenceau (France) in Paris, and sat down to write what would become the Versailles Treaty. The treaty was signed on June 28, 1919, after six months of acrimonious debate and bargaining between the great powers.
Versailles 1919, created by designers Mark Herman and Geoff Engelstein, allows you to experience this piece of history as one of the four leaders with a national agenda that must be satisfied. As one of the Big Four, you sit in a conference room gaining influence on the issues present in the room. Hovering in the waiting room sit other issues and personages who are waiting their turn to make their case to meet regional aspirations such as self-determination. Will you support Ho Chi Minh’s attempt to free Vietnam from French colonialism? Help Prince Feisal establish a new nation in Mesopotamia or Chaim Weitzman create a Zionist state? Work with TE Lawrence to reduce unrest in the Middle East or with Ataturk in Anatolia?
As France, you are concerned with containing future German aggression while aligning with the British on reparations to pay for the destruction of the war. The British, however would like to see Germany restored as a trading partner while preserving their empire against the global aspiration for self-determination. Italy wants territorial concessions from the former Austro-Hungarian empire. Lurking in the background is the threat of Bolshevism. Towering above it all is President Woodrow Wilson with his 14 points that set global expectations soaring, ultimately ending in disappointment when the US does not join the League of Nations.
Versailles 1919 introduces a new card bidding mechanic, where you use your influence to settle issues aligned with your agenda while keeping domestic constituents in support of your actions. You need to balance the need to demobilize your military forces while simultaneously keeping regional unrest under control. All of these decisions are set against the backdrop of regional crises and uprisings. The player who writes more of the treaty prevails in this contest of wills and national agendas. Can you save the world from the rise of nationalism? Can you make a better world while satisfying your domestic electorate? Play Versailles 1919 and relive making the flawed peace that was the Treaty of Versailles.
--------
Note from Gene:
