2014 · Lombardy Studios
A game based on the event that sparked the First World War, the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sofie. Utilizing die-roll and random-chit mechanics, it is designed for solitaire play but has rules for 2 players.
The game consists of two parts. In Part 1, "Assassination," the player tries to prevent the assassination or wounding of the royal couple by members of the Black Hand Serbian separatist group. In the 2-player version, one player takes the role of the Black Hand.
In Part 2, "July Crisis," the solitaire player tries to prevent the incident from starting a war; in the 2-player, one player is the peace faction, the other the war faction. The odds for peace are improved if the royal couple survived in Part 1, but that does not guarantee the "powder keg of Europe" won't explode.
This game originally appeared in World War One Illustrated magazine No. 2 and does not include the 13 six-sided dice necessary for play. Two-player rules that were not in the magazine are included in the stand-alone game.
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