Operation Bøllebank

About this board game

Operation Bøllebank is a solitaire wargame for 1 player, with an estimated play time of 60 minutes, depicting a UN armored operation in Bosnia during the night of 29–30 April 1994.

You control tanks and armored personnel carriers from DANSQN2 as they engage Bosnian-Serb forces around Kalesija, near the border between Bosnia and Serbia. Your mission is to reach base TANGO 2 with at least two Leopard tanks, while complying with restrictive Rules of Engagement.

The opposition is driven by the game system. Machine guns, rockets, tanks, and artillery threaten the UN force, while every casualty counts as a mission failure. You must constantly balance movement, defense, and offense as the operation develops.

At the heart of Operation Bøllebank is a system of orders that vehicles follow until those orders are achieved or changed. Orders are issued from the commanding APC and must be relayed to individual vehicles, a process that becomes increasingly difficult when vehicles take damage.

Success is judged on more than simply completing the mission. The outcome is evaluated across four levels:

• Operational: complete the mission.
• Tactical: defeat the opposition forces.
• Strategical: respect the UN mandate.
• Political: follow the player’s government orders.

These layered objectives make every decision consequential. The 1990s magazine-style presentation, created with art by Nils Johansson and the SNAFU Design Team, gives the rules, map, and player aids the look of military computer interfaces from the period.