Interview with Jim Bourke - Battle for Arnhem

Hello! Welcome back to the PNP News! This post is part of a series of interview that I'll be conducting with game designers who are participating in board game design contests on Board Game Geek. Today, I'll be interviewing Jim Bourke who designed the game Battle for Arnhem for the 2015-16 Wargame Print and Play Contest.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your gaming history?
I have been playing wargames since the mid-80s. I live in Corvallis, Oregon. I am heavily involved in the R/C and "drone" hobbies with my companies, RCGroups.com and Knife Edge Software. I also fly an Extra 330 in aerobatic competitions and air shows. I have probably close to a thousand board games in my collection. I own youplay.it which many people use to play Blue Max games.

What is your favorite PNP game?
The only PNP game I've played is my own!

How did you first discover PNP design contests?
I read boardgamegeek daily.

Could you describe your game from a thematic point of view?
Battle for Arnhem is a decidedly traditional hex-and-counter wargame. The theme of the game matches the conflict: a disorganized enemy defends complicated terrain against a mobile but logistically hampered attacker.

Could you describe your game from a game mechanics point of view?
The game is traditionally of the "I go then you go" style of games. Players take turns moving their pieces. A single die is used to resolve combat. As in most wargames, units have different capabilities. Battle for Arnhem is a very easy game to learn but it takes many plays to see the correct strategies for each side.

What were your design goals with the game?
Create a complex, layered game in two pages of rules that successfully recreates the flow of the historic battle.

How long have you been working on your game?
At least five years, in various iterations.

Finish the sentence: “If you like , then you’ll probably like my game” and perhaps let us know, what the similarities and differences are.
Battle for Moscow. This lightweight wargame is a great introduction to the wargaming hobby. The similarities are that they are both lightweight wargames with a traditional rules base, but there are many differences as well. I strove to create original rules that I think make my game much more fun on subsequent plays.

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