Burning Mountains 1916

About this board game

Burning Mountains 1916 is a two-player operational-level wargame about the Austro-Hungarian Spring 1916 offensive on the Italian Front, with an approximately 240-minute playing time.

One player commands the Austro-Hungarian forces, while the other directs the Italian forces. The Austro-Hungarian offensive seeks to break through toward the Veneto plain, west of Venice, potentially cutting off Italian forces deployed in Friuli, Carnia, and along the Isonzo River. Italy must achieve or maintain geographical objectives while responding to the developing attack.

The battle is shaped by mountainous terrain, which channels Austro-Hungarian efforts and turns the offensive into an attrition battle. It is also a race against time: Italian reinforcements hurry forward to close the gaps created by the advance. Victory depends on controlling the right geographical objectives as the front changes.

• Players: 2
• Time scale: 2 days per game turn
• Map scale: 2 km per hex
• Unit scale: Brigades and some regiments
• Solitaire suitability: rated 8 out of 10

Originally released in Italian as Inferno sugli Altopiani in the Para Bellum #1 magazine, the game later appeared in English as Burning Mountains: The Austro-Hungarian Spring 1916 Offensive against Italy in the Spring 2018 issue of Paper Wars magazine and game. The English edition offers access to this little-known First World War battle, whose outcome could have changed the balance of the war.

Burning Mountains 1916 presents a focused historical contest of offensive pressure, defensive reaction, terrain, time, and objective control.