Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to main navigation
Go to homepage
More than 30,000 items!
Manufacturer: Compass Games

The Lamps Are Going Out is a game simulating World War I in Europe at the grand strategic level, with economic and military factors streamlined to make game play as easy as possible while still accurately portraying the balance of forces, strategies, constraints, and ultimately the grand decision-making involved. This is a two to four player game pitting the Central Powers against the Triple Entente and spans the entire war in Europe from August, 1914 until November, 1918.

The core of the game is conducting the movement and offensives of field armies in an attempt to deplete, breakthrough, and force retreats of enemy armies to gain territory and/or eliminate opposing forces. Mobilizing new armies and supplying depleted armies requires the allocation of Production Points, a scarce commodity that varies from nation to nation. Each side also races for the next technological breakthrough in order to gain an advantage on the battlefield, from advances in aviation and artillery to U-Boats and poison gas. Event cards allow for all sorts of historic situations, conditions, leaders, political events and so on. Everything that would be important in a WWI simulation is considered in this game.

In The Lamps Are Going Out, there is plenty of room for improvisation and varied strategies, but the geography, manpower, and resources available will lead to many of the same dilemmas felt by the historic leaders. Players must balance the potential rewards of available opportunities against the risk of grand disaster.

The second edition incorporates all supplemental material from the original game and includes a mounted map board, additional event cards, expanded rules, and improved systems.

Contents:
1 Mounted Map (22" x 34")
176 Square Counters (5/8")
88 Event Cards
20 Technology Cards
4 Player Aid Sheets
4 Six-sided Dice
1 Rules Booklet


Ages: 14+
Players: 1-4 (Best with 2)
Game Length: 300 minutes

5 out of 5 stars

1 of 1 reviews


100%

0%

0%

0%

0%

Leave a review!

Share your experiences with other customers.


1 review

Keep your game lamp burning!

Average rating of 5 out of 5 stars

I've owned Guns of August, SPI's WWI, Paths of Glory, Quartermaster General WWI and An Attrition of Souls, but in my opinion none of them comes close to The Lamps are Going Out. The rules are fairly simple and playing time is not too long (especially compared to POG) yet still comprehensive enough to include most every aspect you would think of (e.g. the blockade) and a few you might not think of (e.g. Africa). Although QuG and AAofS are fun games, to me Lamps IS World War I. It's also an excellent game to play both sides solitaire, and its only real negative is that you will lose sleep keeping the midnight oil burning as you try to refine your strategy of using too few resources to manage too many crises, year after year after year.

May 10, 2021 10:19 PM

create.description

create.requiredInput