4th Reich: Puremen vs. the Mutants for Control of the World (1985)

About this game

"4th Reich: Puremen vs. the Mutants for Control of the World" is a somewhat obscure wargame by Task Force Games based on (albeit without attribution) the SF-novel "The Iron Dream" by the Jewish author Norman Spinrad. This very controversial novel describes a parallel world in which Hitler wasn't successful with his "Kampf" in Germany and became a successful SF-pulp-novelist in the US. The main part of the book is the actual text of Hitler's "Iron Dream", a pulp-tale about "Ubermenschen" conquering a future world filled with mutant "scum." The idea of Spinrad's novel was to expose fascist tendencies in 50's American literature. The TFG designers transported this "theme" into a board game which plays like a wargame: future Nazis against future mutants. The names of all protagonists have been changed in an apparent attempt to avoid infringement, but the game clearly takes its slightly tongue-in-cheek approach directly from the book.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 2. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 2.1/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 12 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.