Description

Defeat the Threat! provides an exciting, fully solitaire and multi-player board game experience. At the game's core is a patented assembly that simulates a global attack by a mysterious alien Threat. The patented assembly is a multi-level 3D structure that simulates sending player's Gunships up into the atmosphere to defend Earth. One or more players advance R&D, defend cities, and maintain a World Treaty to Defeat the Threat! The game includes the patented board game assembly, magnifying glass, reference cards, dice, and playing pieces.

During each round of play, which represents a defensive action against an attack launched by the Threat, players advance R&D to strengthen armament and altitude capacity of their Gunship Fleets defending their respective City Regions. The combination of a Gunship Fleet’s Armament and Altitude for a given player yields a defensive value which, when equal to or greater than the Threat attack value provided by the patented Assembly, results in a successful defense of a given City Region defended by that Gunship Fleet. Because the Threat Attack values increase throughout the Threat’s campaign, each player serving as a Gunship Fleet Commander must steadily advance R&D to maintain the successful defense of protected City Regions. The goal is to successfully defend as many City Regions as possible for the entire duration of the Threat Campaign, which lasts on average about 8-9 rounds, but can be shorter or longer. In addition to operational decisions made during the Threat Campaign, players must also constantly reconsider the strategic impact of remaining in, or leaving, the Treaty. For example, remaining in or leaving the Treaty affects the availability of the Command Reserve and the cost of R&D advances, either of which may make the difference between saving or losing City Regions under particularly intense assaults by the Threat. The Latest Intelligence Board provides vital intelligence that players can consider in planning their strategies. During each round of play, players receive resources, cooperate to advance R&D, identify a Threat attack, decide whether to exit the Treaty, and defend against the Threat attack.

The game ends when Week 30 is reached based on operation of the Assembly per the Assembly Instruction Board (e.g., adding the rolled 6-sided die value to the existing week results in 30 or more). In any case, the last Threat Attack of the last round is resolved with the Yellow Pointer at the week “30” number on the board base.

If desired, Gunship Fleet Commanders may evaluate their performance by summing performance points listed below and checking the Performance Level listed below. You can even add your name to the “General Officer Promotion List” included in the game for particularly high scores! You can also see how high of an average score that all 4 players can achieve to measure the overall success of the players’ cooperative global effort.

Defeat the Threat! is based on two novellas, Guns of Shirlington and Forever Fight, which are available from major online booksellers.

—description from the publisher