Political Football

"Political Football" is a simulation of the infamous Rugby [football] Tour of New Zealand in 1981 by a racially segregated team from South Africa ( which was then governed by the Apartheid system of racial separation). The Tour was opposed by a coalition of anti-racist groups in New Zealand. The result was a watershed in NZ politics, as the previously peaceful and harmonious country was bitterly divided by the violence that resulted from the confrontation between these opposing elements. In particular, the NZ Police force emerged without its previous positive image as an agent of fairness and social cohesion.

The name “Political Football” is a play on the common expression in NZ and elsewhere, where a contentious issue may be referred to in this way, particularly where the original problem has a non-political nature but when there may be an element of political opportunism apparent. In the case of the Rugby Tour, as well as being literally descriptive, there was an element of cynicism readily evident in the controversy.

The Game

Game Play is generally intuitive, and the number of Counters ( total 21 only) means play is readily comprehensible as well as fast moving. There are no dice, but some small randomness in the appearance of some features earlier or later. There is only one “scenario” and the whole Game must be played to determine a winner. Time for whole Game is about 2 hours

The Game has four protagonists

1. The Demonstrators, who seek to disrupt the Tour to the extent that it must be abandoned
2. The Rugby groups, who seek to complete the scheduled Tour.
3. The Police, who seek to allow the Rugby to conduct their lawful business of playing Rugby
4. The Government, which manipulates the other Players, seeking to extract maximum political advantage from a Law & Order issue

Everybody except the Government has an inventory of Counters, which are able to move about the board under a movement allowance system, interacting with opposing counters. Players also have a suite of Action Cards which allow certain Actions to be played. Government uses its Turn to play certain cards influencing the other Players.

The Board is a stylized representation of  four Sports Grounds, where the Rugby matches are scheduled ;  a Court, where arrested demonstrators are processed;
 a Hospital, where “injured” Counters wait till released by Government.  between these venues, a gridded surface of “streets”, across which the Counters move from place to place. Only one Counter is allowed on any one square; counters cannot “jump” other counters.

The Tactics of the Game involve each Player trying to a. achieve certain mandatory objectives ( eg Rugby fielding sufficient Counters at the same time and place to actually play a match !). b. prevent Opposing Players establishing themselves in such a way as to frustrate opposition objectives.

Progress is measured and the Game won, by accumulation of Points for performing certain Actions ( eg for Rugby ,“Play the Match”; for Demonstrators “ Destroy the Goal posts” or “Confront Police”).

In short, each Player can ( and must) adopt a mix of Offensive and Defensive play. In general, all Counters can “bash” all other counters, putting them out of action for an extended but indeterminable time; while the Police have the power to arrest Demonstrators, removing them (briefly) from play. All counters can be also used to form defensive “walls”, preventing opponents from achieving their objectives (eg preventing Rugby Counters from getting to the Sports ground to play their game…).

These tactics will be familiar to anyone who has ever attended a political demonstration, particularly a violent one.

This Game has a number of very interesting features :

1. the protagonists are a-symmetrical in numbers, capacities and objectives yet play is finely balanced,
2. Both the Police and Rugby lose Points by attacking Demonstrators, but may lose more by NOT doing so!
3. While the non-Demonstrator Players have mutual interests, these are NOT identical – leading to subtle conflicts that preclude any lasting alliance.
4. The result see-saws wildly throughout the Game
5. Novice Players learn rapidly how their tactics need to change
6. No Player is ever permanently eliminated, which upsets novices !
7. Players offensive capacities are governed by non-recurring Action Cards : when to use them is a matter of judging opportunity.
8. Play often appears counter-intuitive to novices, but in fact is an accurate simulation of this particular variety of conflict, ie the maintenance of Law & Order in a democratic society where Police powers are limited by Human Rights considerations. Playing the Game itself demonstrates these principles powerfully.

In summary, this is a unique and workable game system that provides for very subtle calculations of both short term tactics as well as longer term objectives, within a simple set of rules.