A las Barricadas! (2nd Edition)

About this board game

A las Barricadas! (2nd Edition) is a two-player tactical wargame with a playing time of approximately 120 minutes, simulating battles of the Spanish Civil War at platoon and company level.

Set against the conflict that began after the failed military coup of 18 July 1936, the game reflects the struggle between defenders of the Second Republic and the backers of the uprising. The war lasted nearly three years and brought together forces with very different structures, training, equipment, and political backgrounds.

Its rules focus on tactical combat involving the major arms of mid-20th-century warfare. Players encounter the battlefield roles of:

• Armored vehicles and infantry
• Artillery support
• Aircraft and the importance of air superiority

The Republican side combined a limited number of professional soldiers with popular militias from political parties and labor unions, as well as the highly motivated but often poorly coordinated International Brigades. Franco’s forces included much of the professional military, Carlist and fascist militias, native Moroccan troops, and foreign volunteers from Germany and Italy.

The Spanish Civil War also served as a testing ground for military ideas and weapons that would shape the wider conflict soon to come. Armored tactics associated with motorized armies and “lightning war” were rehearsed by both Nazi and Soviet forces in Spain, while the war demonstrated the growing strategic importance of control of the skies.

As the first title in the War Storms series, A las Barricadas! presents a focused simulation of combat on the different fronts of the war. Its tactical orientation also makes the system suited to representing many 20th-century armed conflicts as they occurred.