Apocalypse: The Game of Nuclear Devastation

About this board game

Apocalypse: The Game of Nuclear Devastation is a 1980 Games Workshop licensed board game for 2–4 players, with a playing time of about 240 minutes. It is a distinct version of The Warlord, focused on a reduced map covering Western Europe.

This edition uses only half of the original mapboard and was designed for four players in its published format. Rather than beginning from fixed locations, players determine their starting cities through random allocation, creating a different opening position from the original game.

Nuclear devastation is represented through radiation markers placed during play. An army can clear these markers, but doing so requires an entire turn while it neither fights nor moves. This gives radiation removal a clear cost and makes the choice to pause an important part of the game’s amended rules.

• Western Europe map covering half of the original board
• Randomly allocated city starting locations
• Radiation markers that can be cleared as a full-turn action
• Rules amended from the earlier version of The Warlord

Unlike versions that restored the full map and H-Bombs, Apocalypse removes H-Bombs from the game completely. Its differences from the earlier release helped it earn a dedicated following of its own, even though Games Workshop did not develop or re-issue the product after its initial release.

When the Games Workshop licence eventually expired, ownership and rights reverted to Mike Hayes. He later republished the 2012 Classic Warlord version with the full map and H-Bombs restored, while reorganising the rules around the more classic gameplay of the earlier Red Box and Blue Box editions.