The Next War (board game)

The Next War: Modern Conflict in Europe is a board wargame that simulates a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe in the late 1970s.   It was designed by James F. Dunnigan and published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1978.   The game used three 22" x 34" maps and 2400 diecut counters to simulate the war at a brigade/divisional level, making it a so-called "monster game". 

The game's combat results table was widely criticized by gamers and critics for its unorthodox combination of die roll modifiers, odds column shifts, and "bell curve" 2d6 die rolls.  This combination could paradoxically produce worse results when more favorable modifiers were applied to attacks. 

SPI intended to update the game annually and requested that players provide feedback in the form of unclassified information to improve the game's accuracy.   Subsequently, though, only a few pages of errata were added. 

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Category:Board games introduced in 1978
Category:Board wargames
Category:Simulations Publications games
Category:Jim Dunnigan games