Cypher Scenario Consulting, has made its presence known over the past five seasons with its annual production of The Collapse at Outdoor Xtreme Chesapeake City. This year, they dipped into a deeper pool with a partnership with Skirmish USA, and developed an original game in 1943: The Italian Campaign.
A bit of context and a brief history lesson brought to you, in part, by Cypher Scenario Consulting:
Contrary to popular understanding the Allied Expeditionary Forces began working in tandem long before the storm of the beaches at Normandy. In fact, they were coordinating as early as 1941. By November of 1942, the Axis front in Africa collapsed, and the German lines pushed back into Italy.
The presence of the German troops in Italy further destabilized Italian support for their Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, and by early 1943, the fall of Fascist rule in Italy was well underway. This created a window opportunity for the Allies.
When it became clear that resources, planning, and development for the crosschannel invasion of France were not quite ready in 1943, Winston Churchill pushed an agenda to open a second European front in Italy with an understanding that the objective was to push the Germans out, but not to hang around afterward with further operation.
This was the framework for 1943: The Italian Campaign.
Although this game is not a part of Skirmish’ s seasonal Big 3( Stalingrad in March, Invasion of Normandy in July, and Battle for Berlin / Britain in October), the storyline was intentionally tangential, appealing to the established audience and pool of players.
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