"The Road to Victory," a color board game depicting the war between the Allied Forces and Nazi Germany. No printer or designer indicated. [Eretz Israel, 1942]. Hebrew.
The game board shows a 100-square path leading to Victory, consisting of one hundred stations located in North Africa and Europe. Along the path are color illustrations depicting various war scenes - British soldiers, tanks, warplanes and ships, an attack by Australian soldiers, a Japanese spy equipped with a camera, Spitfire and Messerschmitt planes, a British ship hitting a mine, a German ship sinking, and more. Progressing through the game leads to the defeat of the German Army. Near the end of the course Mussolini is shot, station 94 depicts Hitler's abduction, and the last station shows the surrender of the German army, illustrated by a kneeling German armored unit commander.
The goal of the game is to be the first player to reach the end of the course. Players advance by throwing dice and fulfilling the instructions at the different stations. (Red squares along the course impede progress, and green squares advance it. Instructions regarding the stations are printed on the bottom-center part of the board.) The game is intended for up to six players, with each player representing one of the Allied Forces: British, American, Russian, Chinese, Australian or Eretz Israeli.
The game was published in three versions - Hebrew, Arabic and English.
This is a scarce item.
Board 34X46.5 cm, folded in two. The back of the board shows the name of the game and the playing instructions. Good-fair condition. The top two corners are missing and professionally restored. Tears (to both sides of the board), some with damage to text. Stains. Scribbles in pencil and colored pencils.
See: "The Road to Victory: A WW2 Game" by Gadi Kfir, in: "Blog Games - the Gadi Kfir Blog" on the "HaAretz" website (Hebrew).