Crossing the Wire 2006

Subtitled "Brigade Level Combat - Western Front 1916".

"A command post game about commanding brigades and divisions in WW1 - particularly focused on 1916. The rules are intended to be run in real time, and by umpires - who then write messages to the HQ players in the form they would have been historically, and subject to the delays and inaccuracies that would have existed at the time."

"The players never see the rules at all, and must work from a map (ideally in a smelly cellar by the light of a flickering oil lantern while umpires chuck buckets of earth at then)."

"Players must not be allowed to use game counters, plastic overlays or any modern aids. If a telephone is available it must be unreliable."

"The basic player team is probably a Brigade HQ - but with a few more players it can be expanded to a division of 2-3 brigades."

"The rules are simplistic and built around a few, hopefully easy to remember, die rolls - because umpires will need to spend time writing as well as adjudicating. Verbal reports from junior officers are possible, but rarely happened - the HQ builds its picture of the battle from a collection of highly unreliable information sources."