Upon hearing I was designing the Operation Drumbeat solitaire wargame someone asked me if I was really going to publish a game where the player captains a German u-boat sinking American ships during World War II. I tried not to get too discouraged, but the question challenged me to reflect on why I -- an American citizen descended from German immigrants who takes some degree of pride in his heritage -- was creating a game where the villainous Nazis preyed on the innocent, patriotic Americans.
These
stereotypes illustrate one reason I wanted to develop Operation Drumbeat. Throughout human history patriotic propaganda
has vilified “the enemy” during wars to dehumanize them and thus through fear
inspire citizens to join the fight. The Nazis and the SS tainted the German
collective history by committing horrific atrocities against humanity; this
game in no way serves to justify and glorify these crimes or their
perpetrators. They ultimately led, however, to a world-wide war, one fought
primarily by ordinary citizens on all fronts. As Americans we’re more apt to
appreciate our own nation’s soldiers during World War II, their sacrifices and
their heroism, as well as average non-combatant citizens on the home front
stepping up and taking responsibility to do “their part” for the war effort.
Yet citizens of other nations -- both Allied and Axis -- bowed to the wills of
their leaders and dutifully served in their own armed forces whether they
volunteered or were drafted into service. Regardless of nationality, they all
belong to a brotherhood of citizen-soldiers -- willing or unwilling -- whose
ordinary lives were interrupted to fight and die for their country.
Many games
refight World War II, requiring one player to take on the role of the
villainous Nazi forces. Whether you’re playing Wings of War: Dawn of World War II, Flames of War, Memoir ’44, or
any flavor of Axis & Allies,
someone needs to play the Germans. Do these games validate the atrocities committed
by the Nazis and the SS? Do they promote the continued perpetration of such
horrific and hateful behaviors and attitudes? Do they glorify the suffering of
combat and inspire younger generations to pursue the bloody wages of war? If
anything, such games put all the players in the position many dutiful soldiers
found themselves; doing what must be done, serving their country, right or
wrong, by slogging it out on the bloody battlefield. Wargames from any period
face this stigma that war shouldn’t be a game. Yet perhaps H.G. Wells -- one of
the fathers of science fiction and pioneer in the field of miniature wargames
-- summarized the best response, written for his own Little Wars game rules published only a few years before World War
I: “You have only to play at Little Wars three or four times to realize just
what a blundering thing Great War must be.”
By putting
us in the first-person perspective as a player, games might help us better
understand both our past and current events, giving us a personal perspective
on some of the battlefield challenges soldiers faced and the risk and courage
required to overcome them. Operation
Drumbeat enables players to experience some issues German sailors might
have experienced aboard u-boats during the last of the “Happy Times” of
submarine operations in the Atlantic:
Grid Map: Plotting patrols on a grid
map based on actual charts used by u-boat commanders offers some insight into
the German navy’s map reference system and gives players first-hand experience
in procedure and geography.
War Logbook (Kriegstagebuch): Recreating this historically based document
for each cruise offers players a chance to partake in an exercise required of
every u-boat captain; maintaining a detailed log of patrol activities as an
operational report for naval commanders back in Germany and, incidentally, as a
later historical account people today can use to further understand daily
routine, attack and evasive procedures, and the general attitudes aboard
u-boats. For players of solitaire games like this one, it provides a narrative
souvenir of the play experience.
Tension of Battle: Does the captain
continue to attack a freighter, or does he leave a stubborn target before
reinforcements arrive to hunt down the u-boat? In this “push your luck” game
players must choose whether to risk the survival of their crew and vessel to
ensure a successful attack.
Escalating Defense: Initially the
u-boat captains in Operation Drumbeat met with great success. They marveled at
the lack of defensive measures from American armed forces in the face of war
declared against Germany. They tracked targets silhouetted in the glowing
lights of coastal towns and cities that hadn’t yet realized the value of
blackout precautions. They took newsreel footage of New York City’s illuminated
skyline. In the few months after Operation Drumbeat began taking its toll on
shipping along the east coast, however, American forces so significantly
increased their patrol presence that Admiral Dönitz felt deploying u-boats to
that region no longer seemed a viable strategy.
By the end
of the war more than 30,000 u-boat crewmen -- more than 75% of all such crews
deployed by Germany -- were killed. They wreaked havoc on Allied shipping in
the Atlantic at a great cost in lives and materiel that could have more quickly
ended the war in Europe. They served diligently in perhaps one of the most
dangerous theaters of war; 48 men aboard lone submarines prowling the vast,
swelling ocean for targets and often hiding for their lives in the watery
depths. Operation Drumbeat invites
players to experience only a small part of their story.
