91 DSSB Staff Game

A cooperative game for 3 players who represent staff sections in the fictional US Army 91st DSSB (Divisional Sustainment Support Battalion). They work together to prepare and send off daily supply convoys to divisional Brigade Combat Teams on the “front line”. Essentially a time management and planning game, with simple processes – features include an endless time track (a mechanic stolen from Bruno Faidutti’s very weird Red November) and roles and choices that put demands on the players as the situation continues to change and crises arise. The game has simple components – two pages of tracks and charts, some small player mats, 60 markers and a set of coloured cubes to represent supplies (a set of supply markers is provided if you don’t have cubes). Most civilian-market wargames have detailed procedures for movement and combat, with the logistics processes handwaved away. For a long time I have wanted to design a game that approached the inverse of this. It is not meant to be a simulation so much as a vehicle for delivering some insights to staff and combat arms officers on the unending challenges of life in the Quartermaster Corps. —description from the designer