Lines of Effort: Zurmat is a game of counterinsurgency, influence, and control that sees players striving to balance competing priorities in GWOT-era Afghanistan. Zurmat is a medium-weight, small-scale asymmetric warfare board game with hidden information, variable game length, and a cooldown-driven action economy. It is a lot of fun to play, yet teaches several serious concepts. 

Designed by U.S. Army veteran Tim Densham, Zurmat (first published in 2021) was nominated for the 2022 Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Modern Wargame. It has also been recommended by the Australian Army as a professional gaming tool for exploring modern conflict. Now, Headstamp Publishing is bringing Zurmat back, better than ever, in a completely revised and expanded edition, and with two exciting new expansions, Opium Wars and Coalitions of Good & Evil.

New illustrations have been commissioned for every card, every component has been redesigned and features new artwork, the rules have been completely revised and expanded, and plain marker cubes have been replaced by detailed 3D miniatures representing the two opposing factions. The game also features a new calendar board design, action-tracking chits, redesigned map tiles, and additional rules and scenarios. Combined with Headstamp Publishing’s renowned editorial and production quality—and a brand new Rivers & Mountains mini-expansion in every Kickstarter Edition of the Core Box—we are offering a totally re-imagined and remastered experience.

Overview

Fighting a small-scale counterinsurgency in the remote areas of Afghanistan presents a very different challenge from the sweeping scale of conventional battlefields familiar to many wargamers. In Lines of Effort: Zurmat, players move their forces across a modular map, engaging their opponent’s forces while pursuing their own secret objectives. Each turn, both players secretly commit influence or decoys before taking an action. Actions lose their potency after use, creating a constant tension between acting immediately and building towards a more powerful operation. The game ends when winter arrives—which varies with each game—so neither player can be certain exactly how much time remains to accomplish their objectives.

The result is a game in which the most important decision is often not whether you can conduct an action, but whether it is the right action to take at that moment. Combat plays an important role, but your decisions need to be in service of achieving your hidden objectives and securing the loyalty of the local population. A successful player will consider their competing priorities holistically and act accordingly, rather than concentrating on the destruction of the enemy.