Popular Front

Popular Front is the sequel, harsh and brutal—especially when it meets the personalities of this particular group. At six players it is an epic game, and every time we bring it out it confirms its reputation. Perhaps by our twentieth play we will have settled some of our arguments over the historical figures; or at least learned who that damned partisan in Tangier was who repelled so many attacks by the democratic army of Franco the national saviour. The Chameleons knew something when they wrote that great song.

The game places us in the setting of the Spanish Civil War and, with six people at the table, its basic game finds exactly the intensity I want from a night like this. This is not merely a theme pasted onto rules: the conflict goes far enough to spark genuine discussion about people and events, even when we are trying to work out who did what and where.

There is also Escalation, which makes the game asymmetric, but in the later session we left it aside because the other players were new and returned to the basic game. That choice did not diminish it at all: even in its basic form, Popular Front retains its power, especially at this player count.

And after the Civil War had ended, naturally, came the necessary break for outrageous food and political discussion. Something in the game unlocks the New World safe house and brings everything out into the open. This time, at least, we did not get as far as threats of defenestration. For me, that is part of its value: a game that does not simply pass across the table, but leaves an entire evening behind it.

Updated session

In the newer play, although I had worked hard to find Escalation, the new players led us back to the basic game. My opinion did not change: it remains one of the few truly great games for six players. What I would genuinely like is a new edition with better production quality, because the game deserves an object worthy of the experience it delivers.