Trench Club – All-In (Kickstarter)

During the First World War, France and Britain wrestle with Germany and Austria-Hungary for the dominance of a decisive front section. Take on the role of a general and send your troops into battle. Barrage enemy units with artillery fire and attack them with your tanks and infantry or surround and annihilate them.

Trench Club is a complex strategy game in which, in addition to attack strength and armor of the troops, their tactical setup, combat experience, damage and terrain have a decisive influence on the outcome of the battle. Since each unit brings its own strengths, you must cleverly assemble your army to win the victory over your opponents.

Key Features:

• Exciting strategy game set in World War I
• Complex combat system
• Nevertheless easy to learn rules
• Detailed miniatures
• For 1-4 players (age 14+)
• 2-4h duration (~1h per player)

Damage and combat experience

Each unit can suffer damage in battles and gain combat experience, in the form of markers added to the units.

The game includes two detailed maps (on the front and back of the game board). The movement range of the different units depends on their speed and the terrain they are moving on. For example, streets allow for faster movement and forests slow you down.

You can conquer strategically important forts in the game. The forts will produce money you can use to repair your damaged units or buy reinforcements.

The game has high re-playability because no game starts like the other. Each player uses their starting units to build 3 armies. These armies are then randomly placed on the game board for the start setup. This puts you right into action and allows for different strategies with high variability.

Combat

Combat is a lot of fun in this game! So let’s talk about how it works:

The combat mechanic is very complex, yet intuitive to understand. The amount of damage a  unit has, determines the number of dice you may role. For example, if a  unit has 2 damage (indicated by the grey markers), it can attack with 10 dice. If you attack from a  strategic position (“flank” or “surround”), then you get extra (red) dice.

The type of unit and its combat experience determines which number on  the dice will land a hit. For example, an infantry only lands a hit with  every dice showing a “2” or less, versus a tank will land a hit with  dices showing “6” or less. If the tank already has combat experience, it  will hit even with every dice showing “8” or less. These numbers are  shown on a “Unit Chart” every player has in front of them.

The hits will translate into damage, depending on the units’ armor and the terrain. 5 hits will for example give the infantry 3 damage. If the attacked infantry is however entrenched in a forest, it would require 6 hits to receive 3 damage.

Game Genre: Wargames

Ages: 14+
Players: 1-4
Game Length: 120-240 minutes