The video games based on the 1990s wars take their scenarios from military operations in Bosnia, Croatia or Kosovo and tend to be much more violently hostile and historically dubious than the board games. That leads to many turnarounds and pragmatical alliances with former enemies – as was historically the case,” the website adds.īIRN approached game designer Tomislav Cipcic for comment but he did not respond. “That provides an interesting set of choices to players: to attack or to fortify, whom to ally with, and when to change sides. Designed for two or three players, it “simulates three distinct sides in the war: Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats – with no clear border separating them”, says the BoardGameGeek website. ‘ Brotherhood & Unity’ focuses on the 1992-95 Bosnian war. ‘ War Returns to Europe: Yugoslavia 1991’ covers the period from June 1991 to early 1992, in the early stages of the violent collapse of Yugoslavia when Slovenia and Croatia were fighting to secede.Īccording to descriptions published on the Boardgamegeek website, an online resource for board gamers, the game is played by a Federalist player – basically the commander of the Yugoslav People’s Army – and a Separatist player, who represents “governments of the breakaway republics of Slovenia and Croatia fighting for independence and a free market economy”.
BIRN found two board games that focus on the wars that broke out as Yugoslavia collapsed in the 1990s.
