Osprey Games to Publish Escape from Colditz

This is very exciting.
Set to be released Oct 2016 to coincide with Pat Reid's escape.
Osprey Press Release

Will political correctness and a 21st Century penchant for historical revision and scrubbing prevent printing Fylfots on any of its gaming materials?

Agreed! This is great news.

This is really one of the few remaining classics that hadn't been reprinted, and it truly deserves it.

If you have never played EfC do yourself a favor and pick up this reprint.

stoic wrote: Will political correctness and a 21st Century penchant for historical revision and scrubbing prevent printing Fylfots on any of its gaming materials?

Not sure what "fylfots" are, but if you mean swastikas it appears from the press release that osprey may be using the updated graphic design of the recent Spanish edition from Devir which uses the German eagle instead of the swastika.

I think this is an important game but I really can't recommend it. The concept is great, it's just that the gameplay is full of bugs, exploits and a general lack of balance.

Still, I'm really glad it's becoming available to a wider audience.

Hour of Glory next.

Erik Twice wrote: The concept is great, it's just that the gameplay is full of bugs, exploits and a general lack of balance.

Here's hoping they revise the rules in a manner that will allow me to play my vintage copy with them.

Escape From Colditz was the first game in my life that I declared broken.

stoic wrote: Will political correctness and a 21st Century penchant for historical revision and scrubbing prevent printing Fylfots on any of its gaming materials?

If by political correctness you mean not violating the law in several European countries, yes. Given the logo in the Press Release I think you're looking at the replacement.

S.

Hmm

sagrilarus wrote:

stoic wrote: Will political correctness and a 21st Century penchant for historical revision and scrubbing prevent printing Fylfots on any of its gaming materials?

If by political correctness you mean not violating the law in several European countries, yes. Given the logo in the Press Release I think you're looking at the replacement.

S.

I always side with absolute freedom of expression, even if that expression might offend others--the moment that we censor expression and limit it to only expression that somehow doesn't offend others is the day that we become a muted and stagnant society. Ideas can live or die on their own merits.

The Nazis regime was so odious, malicious, and evil that reference to it in a clearly historical context, e.g., a WWII game and in other war games, shouldn't be wrapped in bubble wrap and made an euphemism, lest history repeat itself.

The problem is not political correctness, the problem is a German law that says that all games, every single one of them, digital or analog are children's product and hence cannot contain "adult stuff" including nazi symbology, tame depictions of sex or even blood.

Most games are heavily censored for the German market, often by turning people into robots (Contra, Team Fortress 2). putting bikinis on XVIII century paintings (Dead Rising). Even Air Raid, the Atari 2600 was banned at some point there.

I'm aware of the laws, but, I believe that there are more important considerations.

www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/21386...swastika-on-box.html

www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/4060947...ing_kids_board_game/

I normally wouldn't let facts get in the way of a board game, but, in a way this is a war game, and, grognards like history. It's troublesome to remove the Nazi part from the Colditz escapes because an essential part of the Colditz story, and the popularity of Pat Reid's account of it, is the Nazi State's propaganda machine build up of the Colditz prison as a Nazi 'uberman' escape-proof prison, one from which the Allies could never escape. This is what makes the escapes there all the more amazing and courageous. Colditz prison is where the Nazis sent caught Allies who had previously escaped from their ordinary POW camps for confinement. More troublesome though is the fact that as the Allies approached, Leipzig, the Nazis intended to use Colditz's POW's as hostages with the likely intent of murdering them under SS orders.

At the end of March 1945 we knew that the Allied armies were only 150 miles away and advancing rapidly. Morale began to revive, but there remained the nagging doubt: how would it all end? Then on 11 April the radio reported the fighting to be close.

Now began the end game. Colonel Willy Tod, the senior British officer, went to the Kommandant and demanded to know his intentions. The reply was ominous: he awaited orders from Himmler, the notorious head of the SS.

Remember that at Colditz there were several special prisoners (Prominente) with relations in high places, including relations of the Queen. They were hostages for Hitler, although the Germans would never admit it. But the Kommandant was a worried man. He knew that if he failed to deliver the prisoners safely to the Allied forces he would be in trouble, but if he disobeyed orders he would likely be shot out of hand. Delicate negotiations continued.

In the town below we could see SS troops preparing defences and it looked as though there would be a battle, but for what? Hauptman Eggers, one of the camp officers, wrote in his diary, 'What do they think they are still fighting for?'

On 14 April we could hear gunfire. The SS demanded reinforcements from the prison guards, but the Kommandant maintained that they were all old and had few weapons. Later the same day the Kommandant received orders to destroy all records and evacuate the prisoners towards the east, ie the advancing Russians. Now was the crunch. If we stayed in the Schloss, under the protection of the German officers who knew on which side their bread was buttered, we should be safe. Outside, in the area between the advancing Allies and the Russians, anything might happen.

Willy Tod, with the senior French and American officers, refused to budge and threatened violence. The Kommandant phoned his HQ and finally they agreed that we stay put. Then, with impeccable timing, Willy Tod demanded, and received, the keys to the Schloss. Outside in the camp we knew nothing of these tense negotiations, but we now know that without question Willy Tod's courage had saved all our lives.

www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/27/a1119827.shtml


I'm beating a dead horse, I know, but, in the end, I wish the game success because, perhaps, people will go back and read about more WWII history after playing the game. It's rather personal to me, living in the city where the National WWII Museum is located, and, whose grandfather's picture is posted on one of the D-day exhibits.

stoic wrote: I'm aware of the laws, but, I believe that there are more important considerations.

www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/21386...swastika-on-box.html

www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/4060947...ing_kids_board_game/

I normally wouldn't let facts get in the way of a board game, but, in a way this is a war game, and, grognards like history. It's troublesome to remove the Nazi part from the Colditz escapes because an essential part of the Colditz story, and the popularity of Pat Reid's account of it, is the Nazi State's propaganda machine build up of the Colditz prison as a Nazi 'uberman' escape-proof prison, one from which the Allies could never escape. This is what makes the escapes there all the more amazing and courageous. Colditz prison is where the Nazis sent caught Allies who had previously escaped from their ordinary POW camps for confinement. More troublesome though is the fact that as the Allies approached, Leipzig, the Nazis intended to use Colditz's POW's as hostages with the likely intent of murdering them under SS orders.

At the end of March 1945 we knew that the Allied armies were only 150 miles away and advancing rapidly. Morale began to revive, but there remained the nagging doubt: how would it all end? Then on 11 April the radio reported the fighting to be close.

Now began the end game. Colonel Willy Tod, the senior British officer, went to the Kommandant and demanded to know his intentions. The reply was ominous: he awaited orders from Himmler, the notorious head of the SS.

Remember that at Colditz there were several special prisoners (Prominente) with relations in high places, including relations of the Queen. They were hostages for Hitler, although the Germans would never admit it. But the Kommandant was a worried man. He knew that if he failed to deliver the prisoners safely to the Allied forces he would be in trouble, but if he disobeyed orders he would likely be shot out of hand. Delicate negotiations continued.

In the town below we could see SS troops preparing defences and it looked as though there would be a battle, but for what? Hauptman Eggers, one of the camp officers, wrote in his diary, 'What do they think they are still fighting for?'

On 14 April we could hear gunfire. The SS demanded reinforcements from the prison guards, but the Kommandant maintained that they were all old and had few weapons. Later the same day the Kommandant received orders to destroy all records and evacuate the prisoners towards the east, ie the advancing Russians. Now was the crunch. If we stayed in the Schloss, under the protection of the German officers who knew on which side their bread was buttered, we should be safe. Outside, in the area between the advancing Allies and the Russians, anything might happen.

Willy Tod, with the senior French and American officers, refused to budge and threatened violence. The Kommandant phoned his HQ and finally they agreed that we stay put. Then, with impeccable timing, Willy Tod demanded, and received, the keys to the Schloss. Outside in the camp we knew nothing of these tense negotiations, but we now know that without question Willy Tod's courage had saved all our lives.

www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/27/a1119827.shtml


I'm beating a dead horse, I know, but, in the end, I wish the game success because, perhaps, people will go back and read about more WWII history after playing the game. It's rather personal to me, living in the city where the National WWII Museum is located, and, whose grandfather's picture is posted on one of the D-day exhibits.

You seem to have undermined your own argument by showing it was the Wehrmacht in charge of Colditz and not the SS, yes all of Germany fought under the swastika but as this game is about POWs escaping from a prison (not a wargame) I don't see the requirement to plaster swastikas over it. And even though Colditz was meant as the super escape proof prison it was run pretty much under international law (Geneva convention) control.

BTW, I own the orginal Parker edition covered in swastikas and have no issues bringing it out to play.

...Now began the end game. Colonel Willy Tod, the senior British officer, went to the Kommandant and demanded to know his intentions. The reply was ominous: he awaited orders from Himmler, the notorious head of the SS.

Remember that at Colditz there were several special prisoners (Prominente) with relations in high places, including relations of the Queen. They were hostages for Hitler, although the Germans would never admit it. But the Kommandant was a worried man. He knew that if he failed to deliver the prisoners safely to the Allied forces he would be in trouble, but if he disobeyed orders he would likely be shot out of hand. Delicate negotiations continued....