Designed by James F. “Jim” Dunnigan
Published by the Columbia Daily Spectator, 11 March 1969

What the magazine says:

“With the first anniversary of last spring’s demonstrations and of Connection (the supplement of the Columbia Daily Spectator -ed) fast approaching, we present a commemorative supplement to the supplement: a playable game-simulation of spring on Morningside Heights. It has been designed with the same kinds of operations research and game theory techniques that are used by mathematicians, business, and the military to generate models of interaction that can be used to predict events in real life. Jim Dunnigan, 25, is a history major in the School of General Studies. He has designed several commercial games, including 1914 and Confrontation (! -ed), and is currently working on a teaching game on the origins of World War II.”

What the designer says:

“The game is not a put-on. The flippancy stems from my realization that the game would not have to get past some blue-nosed ‘family market’ oriented publisher. Indulge me a little. As games go UAW, MF is closer to a simulation than most.”

What the reviewers say:

“While playing, it became apparent this was not a toy, but rather a point-of-view on the dynamics of a modern (well, by ‘60’s standards anyway) university and as the game notes explain, a real operational simulation. SPI reprinted the game as a special offering. ... For the collector, this game is a difficult find. Not many were printed and they were never in an SPI catalog. I’ve seen them advertised for $150. But if you like the rare esoterica, or are a rabid SPI collector, it’s worth it.” Rick Pavek in the Wargame Collector’s Journal issue 1 (Sept/Oct 1991).

“It can be recommended to any game player who does not mind shouting the name of the game, which is the way that the players make a particular move count more -- unrealistically, even the administration does this. By the way, prolific game designer Dunnigan has been heard to confess that this is his favorite.” Martin Campion in Moves 4.

Components

This game was originally printed on one full-sized sheet of newspaper, so the list of components is somewhat flexible.

Collector’s Value

Be warned, this is an exceedingly rare item (in the non-eBay sense), particularly the first edition which was newsprint and thus subject to rapid deterioration.

Boone lists low, high and average prices of 30/97/59.40 at auction and 150/ 150/150.00 for sale.

1 approx.14"x24" unmounted B&W map
1 approx.14"x24" sheet of rules with CRT and reinforcement chart
8.5x11" sheet of designer's comments
1 8.5"x11" sheet of 24 cards and 12 counters (11*PUC plus 1 blank)