What Counterinsurgency Looks Like in the Field – “Zurmat” Board Game Review.

By Ray Garbee Zurmat. Publisher: Catastrophe Games. Designer: Tim Densham.  Price $ 70.00 At Origins in 2021, Catastrophe Games had a demo copy of an upcoming game Zurmat, which depicted counter insurgency (COIN) operations of the Afghan war. Fast forward a year (well, nine months) and I picked up a copy of the recently released game from their booth at Origins 2022. Zurmat looks at counter-insurgency from the perspective of a Coalition military officer assigned to a district in Afghanistan. You have orders to build a secure space within which the residents will support the government.  Of course, this being a two-player game, the Taliban insurgents will be acting to achieve the opposite result in which the populace supports their efforts to build an Islamic state standing in opposition to the government in Kabul. Cover of the box The game description on the Catastrophe Games website sums up the game nicely; Zurmat pits the Taliban versus the Coalition, as players secretly add influence or decoys each turn, then taking...