L.A. Lawless: The Los Angeles Riots -April ‘92
Decision Games (1993, $5.95)
Designed by Joseph Miranda
Magazine Game: Moves 75 (April / May 1993)
P layers 2
Period Modern
Scale Operational
Turn 1/2 day
Map abstract areas
Unit groups of people (up to several thousand)

Components
1 11"x17" mapsheet
120 uncut and unmounted counters
5 pages of rules
2 pages of charts
3 pages of designer notes
Note No inserts, all components are printed on the pages of the magazine

Counter Manifest
63 blue (30 PD; 5 TAC; 3 CR; 3 HELI; 9 VIG; 4 MP; 6 CBT; 1 Turn; 1"x1"; 1 " x 10")
37 red (5 AGIT; 10 GANG; 20 MOB; 1 "x1"; 1 "x10") 2 0 white (Looted)

Decision Games says:

“The purpose of the game is to give players a chance to use different game strategies to simulate the confrontation between police and rioters. There are two players in the game: Authority (representing the city government, law enforcement agencies, and the general forces of law and order); and the Rioters (representing the people conducting the disturbances.)”

The designer says:

“The basic idea behind LA Lawless is to show the tradeoff between the use of force and popular reaction. A riot is a form of ‘propaganda of the deed’. The purpose isn’t just to tear up the city, but to get certain political ideas across. Riot control is the same; obviously, the police could suppress a riot in short order by shooting to kill, but to do so would be a political disaster.”

Comments

Decision called this “somewhat controversial”, but some might say that it was just plain bad taste to release this only a year after the riots it depicts. Nonetheless, an interesting though somewhat abstract treatment of the subject.

Collector’s Notes

If you are searching the Internet for a copy of L.A. Lawless, you should focus your search around Moves 75. As the game is printed on the pages of the magazine rather than being an insert, it is easy to overlook — so sale/auction notices may not note the name of the game.

This probably explains the lack of price data in Boone. Boone 4th lists low/ high/average prices of $4/$4/$4 at auction. No prices were listed in Boone 3rd.

Capsule Profiles:

Longest Day
LA Lawless
Last Frontier
Laser Tank
Lesnaja 1708
Legend of Robin Hood
Lords of the Middle Sea
Luftschiff