Brotherhood & Unity

Brotherhood & Unity

This edition of the game has been revised and improved in many aspects

Winston Churchill once said: "The Balkans produce more history than they can consume." And the history of Bosnia-Herzegovina demonstrated just that. The war that broke out in the spring of 1992 brought with it bitter fighting, indiscriminate bombings against civilians and a wave of atrocities. The war was fought by three local ethnic groups (Bosnians, Serbs and Croats), Serbian and Krajina paramilitary formations, Croatian armed forces, foreign Muslim volunteers, UN peacekeepers and NATO air forces. Events such as the Siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre became icons of the conflict, as the war became the most important historical event in the Balkans since World War II. And yet, its objective history remains to be written.

Brotherhood & Unity is a card-driven war game for 2 or 3 players that recreates the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 (or simply the "Bosnian War"). The game represents all the important events: from the siege of Sarajevo (shown on a separate, detailed map), to the fierce battles for the Posavina corridor, and the desperate defense of the Bosnian enclaves.

Its main features are: point-to-point movement system, thanks to the game directed by strategy cards, with quick resolution of combats. Thanks to its simplified rules, you can recreate this important conflict in less than 4 hours. The interaction between the opposing sides (Bosnians, Serbs and Croats) creates an intense and exciting gaming experience that will make the time fly by. There is no room for timeouts in this game. Each decision of your own or that of your rivals will require your constant attention.

The player's military strength fluctuates based on historical events, with the Serbs starting out superior in all aspects, and the Bosnians struggling to organize an effective combat formation. Military units represent brigades, standard military formations of the time, ranging between 1,500 and 2,000 soldiers. They have different combat and movement values (based on historical data), forcing players to use different tactics for different opponents. Most of these units are non-motorized infantry formations (which only move several spaces per round), but with the use of special offensive cards players can increase their mobility and surprise their opponents.

Brotherhood and Unity simulates three different sides in the war: Bosnians, Serbs and Croats, without a clear border separating them. This provides an interesting set of options for players: attack or fortify, who to ally with, and when to switch sides. This leads to many changes of course and pragmatic alliances with former enemies, as was the case historically.

Each player is given a deck of strategy cards, which simulate a variety of historical events. The player begins a round of action by playing a strategy card from his hand. A card can be played as an event (Combat Card, Offensive, Disruption, Foreign Units and Other) or as one of the game's actions (Movement, Attack, Strategic Redeployment, Diplomatic Action or Reinforcement). The events and card values have been carefully created to mimic historical events and elections. Since each game uses only part of the available deck of cards, players cannot be sure which cards will be drawn during the game. This creates a “fog of card war” and makes the game more replayable and interesting.

Additionally, you'll also find a Strategic Will point system to keep track of wins and losses, and to determine the final score. It is affected by a number of things: the capture or loss of regions, the capture or loss of key spaces, the elimination or loss of units, and as a result of events. One of the most important aspects of the game is the capture of the player's own key regions, which were different for each side, and which reflect the different objectives that each of them had.

Foreign Attitude is an important game marker that represents the diplomatic stance of foreign powers (European countries, USA, Russia and the UN) towards a player. It is affected by the capture of cities (thus creating refugee crises) and as a result of events, and generally represents a player's international reputation. When it reaches certain levels, negative effects occur: from reduced movement, to NATO airstrikes, to even game loss.

The game allows the player to invite the United Nations to create UN Safe Zones, which gives the player some form of protection from being invaded. The NATO airstrike occurs when the players overreach, capturing too many cities too quickly, creating a huge refugee crisis and a media outcry. Without careful diplomatic balance, the greatest offensive can derail and bring the player to the brink of destruction.
Supplies are scarce and can be cut off, causing undersupplied units to starve and be eliminated. Combat results are easy to calculate and are based on units' attack and defense values, modified by terrain and roll results (CRT is not used). The rules have been simplified to reduce clutter and unnecessary actions, allowing for quick play: the entire game is typically played in just over two hours.

The name "Brotherhood and Unity" comes from a socialist doctrine of Yugoslavia created to inspire unity among the 7 nations from which Yugoslavia was created. It was also one of the main mottos of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, nicknamed "Little Yugoslavia" for its ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. The irony is that when Bosnia and Herzegovina was embroiled in war, there was neither brotherhood nor unity... what followed was four years of bloody war. It remains to be seen whether HyU will overcome the legacy of the war and achieve (or surpass) the prosperity it enjoyed during socialist Yugoslavia.

Content:

• 1 mounted map measuring 56 x 87 cm.

• more than 340 game tokens

• 96 strategy cards (in 3 decks: Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian)

• 3 player help sheets

• 1 regulation

• 1 game book

• 3 ten-sided dice

Editing improvements:

• The game map has been redesigned

• Graphical improvements have been applied to the game squares, especially the river squares

• The flags and shields of the units have been unified, making them now much more distinguishable

• The rules have been completely reviewed and completed (with the help of the author of the game himself)

• In the scenario book, a game tutorial has been created to help reinforce the most important concepts

• Additional auxiliary markers have been added and are exclusive to this edition