Battleline (1979, $12.95)
Designer: Blake W.H. Smith
Players 2 (up to 10 in team play)
Period Modern
Scale Operational
Turn not stated
Map abstract areas
Unit company/platoon

Components

Container 11"x 14"flatbox
1 21 1/2" x 27 1/2" unmounted mapsheet
321 die-cut counters
1 15 page rulebook
1 pad of Command Sheets
1 4 page Battleline catalog

Counter Manifest
Red 24 3/4" (4 blank)
16 1x1/2"
124 1/2" (49 blank)
Blue 24 3/4" (4 blank)
16 1x 1/2"
106 1/2" (36 blank
White: 1 Score; 10 markers numbered 1-10

Battleline says

“[A] game of political and military conflict set in a fictitious underdeveloped province in the second half of the twentieth century. The game provides an abstract model demonstrating many of the principles of the numerous insurrections and guerilla wars fought all over the world since 1945.”

The designer says:

“The war that Insurgency is copied from was a small but ferocious struggle that was observed in 1967 and 1968 in Sadec, a province in the Mekong delta of Vietnam ... The designer worked off and on over a period of ten years to develop this game. The Insurgency model is his own best way of communicating what he believes needs to be said about guerilla war, mass mobilization, and economic change in rural Asia.

This game is also, in many sections, a critique of the way Americans and the Vietnamese Government conducted their campaigns of war and pacification. Instead of killing enemy soldiers and civilians, the overall purpose of Insurgency is to gain control of population and territory, and to restrain the enemy from making claims to these basic assets ... If those who play Insurgency learn nothing else, the author hopes that they will come to understand how far from easy it is, in those booby-trapped rice fields and haunted mountains, to accomplish or to extinguish a revolution.”

The reviewer says:

“A simple framework of rules is used to demonstrate what the designer sees as the major tenets of strategy of modern guerilla warfare ... A game of Insurgency spans one or several campaigns. Each campaign, in turn, consists of a building and replacement phase, two turns of movement and combat, and a book keeping sequence in which the control of areas and players’ point totals are determined ...

To win, one player must attain a decisive advantage in points over his opponent. An average game will last for three to five campaigns ... Insurgency is similar in philosophy to Go. Both games aim primarily at the control of territory rather than at the destruction of opposing forces. The theory is that if you can control the populace you will control the base of power. Since most wargames tend to emphasize the destruction of the enemy’s military power, this difference is significant ...

Whether or not it is an accurate representation of principles of modern guerilla warfare ... [i]t is an excellent game regardless.” Rob Land in F&M 19.

Comments

According to the Simulacrum Database, there may have been an earlier self-published version of Insurgency released in 1969.

Collector’s Notes

Around 20 games were released under the Battleline name. Those seeking to collect these titles will find that some are extremely common while others seem impossible to find. Insurgency seems to fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum -- it can be found, but it may take some time to track down. Finally, demand for this game does not seem to be high, so you may not want to get sucked into a bidding war over the first copy you come across. Boone lists low/high/average prices of 7/14/10.00 at auction and 7/50/ 26.50 for sale.

Other games by this designer

None that I could find!

Capsule Profiles:

ICBM
Ice War
Iliad
Intruder
Imperium
Insurgency