'They Shall Not Pass'
Designer's Notes
By William Sariego
January 2007

They Shall Not Pass, which is quite a mouthful and will hereafter be referred to as TSNP because I’m too lazy to keep typing it, began as something of a challenge. In the spring of 2003 Franco-phobia was at a pretty high level, since France opposed the invasion of Iraq. (Almost four years later, the fact that France was right and there were no weapons of mass destruction there — unless Saddam’s dog ate them before coalition forces rolled across the border — has hardly toned down the irrational anger so many feel toward her.) An acquaintance of mine walked into my local hobby outlet at that time and proclaimed you could not search Google for “French military victories” and find one! He thought this incredibly funny, as did many others.

To prove such Googling people have far too much time on their hands, are badly in need of a girlfriend and just plain wrong, I decided to design a game on a French military victory. Actually the idea had been in the back of my mind for some time. When it comes to military history, the only thing that equals my fascination with the French army in World War I is my fascination with the Confederate army in the American Civil War. The only thing that surpasses either of those is, of course, my fascination with the Red Army in World War II, a fact which fans of Avalanche Press already know!

I had been toying with the idea of a game based on the 1914 campaign in the west for some time. Each of my previous designs had been at the campaign level, however, and I wanted to try my hand at a battle instead. A game on the campaign is still in mind but will have to wait.

My eyes were drawn toward Verdun, which more than any other battle epitomizes the horrors of warfare in the trenches. The Marne would have also worked, but would have been wrong for the scale of game I was contemplating. The fact that Verdun has not been oversimulated was also a plus. John Hill’s classic game from the 1970s has undergone several reprints and is currently available in a DTP version. My friend Joe Miranda visited the battle in his Over the Top! series. The battle seemed ripe for another simulation, and I started some preliminary research.

The Great War Not at Sea

Having decided on the subject, the next step was selling the idea to Avalanche Press. At that point in time, APL’s only venture into the Great War had been in naval games (patting myself on the back, I was one of the original playtesters for the Great War at Sea series). Convincing them to do a land battle on the subject was a problem.

Originally I had envisioned a battalion-level game at 500 meters per hex. The APL CEO cautious but willing to listen. Would I consider scaling the game down to fit the Series 140 games that I had pioneered with Defiant Russia? No problem, Comrade Mike, and thus TSNP was born. By upping the scale to regiments and the hex sizes to 700 meters I would be able to use the smaller format. In retrospect, I took little convincing. I love playing small games.

Now that the format was set, how to approach the subject? I decided quickly against the "bucket of dice" approach. Fun though such games are, I wanted combat results to have a more controlled feel to them, and combat results which gave losses to both sides was the answer. The end result works out well, and even at a high odds combat the attacker can stand to lose something.

Limiting the time frame was also an issue, in keeping the game small and with a reasonable playing time. The “battle” was actually a campaign from the opening guns in February to when the French pushed the Germans back to their starting lines in December. Most of the movement took place in spurts, and the first week was crucial. I ended up covering February 21st through 29th (1916 was a leap year). John and Joe also limited their games in this manner, though they carry the action farther.

I was determined to keep the game at the low-medium complexity scale. It is simple enough that a veteran can teach a novice without much difficulty. Still, I wanted more detail than I had put into my campaign level games. I’m particularly happy with the way artillery plays out. You have three levels or artillery assets: army, corps, and division. Each is capable of certain fire missions.

One aspect I was not happy with was supply. Developer Doug McNair helped put some teeth into those rules and did a great job with the game. It is more of a simulation than my previously published efforts, but still very much a player’s game.

Fun and Furious

I think the final result plays well, and I certainly hope those who purchase TSNP feel the same. The German player needs to push hard before French reinforcements stabilize the lines. Of course, the harder you push the more casualties are going to mount. Since the Germans need both territory and higher French casualties to win, interesting choices must be made. The French must not conduct a passive defense, which will keep the initiative firmly in German hands. Counterattacks are often necessary.

Both sides have some elite units, adding a bit of chrome. After the game has been out about a month I’ll put up some variant rules with Daily Content. I think TSNP is probably the first game to get a variant before it was ever published, as Dr. Bennighof has already written Daily Content on the German Zeppelin that made a nuisance of itself.

Sadly, a counter error crept in despite all. It is annoying but hardly a huge issue. The back of the French 16th infantry division’s artillery piece is misprinted. As artillery are flipped to indicate they have fired it really isn’t that big a deal. Nonetheless we will release a download to correct the mistake.

Designing TSNP was actually a lot of fun. There have been a few games I honestly could not say that about. A sequel is in the works and I hope to have it in Avalanche’s hands by midsummer. Whether I design anything beyond that will depend upon how popular the game proves to be. Is it the definitive game on the battle? Certainly not. I greatly anticipate Roger Nord adapting his The Big Push to the campaign. TSNP is a fast, furious little game designed to be set up and played in just a few hours. I sincerely hope you like it.

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