The Bell of Treason

“We Will Remain Faithful” – This was the title of a manifesto signed on May 15th, 1938, by 308 leading Czechoslovak figures and later by 1.5 million citizens, expressing their determination to resist German aggression.

The Bell of Treason allows players to explore the domestic and diplomatic tensions of this crisis. One player takes the role of Defend—pushing for resistance at all costs. The other represents the Concede faction—hoping to avoid war through territorial compromise. The game adapts the crisis model introduced in Fort Sumter by Mark Herman and developed further in Red Flag Over Paris by Fred Serval. A solo mode is included using Jason Carr’s elegant design system.

In 1938, Czechoslovakia was the only true democracy in Central Europe, with a well-trained, modern military commanded by experienced World War I veterans. Despite widespread public support for resistance and a strong network of border fortifications, the government ultimately agreed to the Munich Agreement, ceding the Sudetenland to Hitler under pressure from Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, and Benito Mussolini.

The game portrays the cascading effects of appeasement, international diplomacy, and internal political fragmentation. As a player, you can experience what it was like to face the impossible choices of the era—perhaps even changing the course of history.

Game Highlights:

• To win, the Defend player must either convince President Edvard Beneš to resist or oust him through a coup—achieved by controlling his space with green cubes and earning at least one Victory Point.
• Britain’s appeasement policy is modeled via asymmetric influence paths, showing how the UK, France, and the Soviet Union impacted internal Czechoslovak decisions.
• The radicalization of the Sudeten German population, led by Konrad Henlein and supported by Freikorps militias, is depicted through red discs that create both opportunities and risks for both factions.
• The game can end in an alternative history: Fall Grün, Hitler's never-executed plan to invade Czechoslovakia, may be triggered if the Defend side is clearly winning—resulting in a military clash that history never saw.

“There tolls the bell of treason, the bell of treason…”
– A line from František Halas’ 1938 poem Zpěv úzkosti

Components:

• 1 mounted game board
• 54 standard-sized cards
• 25 white wooden cubes (Concede)
• 27 green wooden cubes (Defend)
• 3 red wooden discs (Sudeten German actions)
• 1 wooden Victory Point marker
• 1 grey 6-sided die
• 2 player aids
• 1 rulebook
• 1 playbook

The Bell of Treason shines a light on a critical and often overlooked moment in European history—when the fate of a nation, and perhaps all of Europe, hung in the balance. Learn what it meant to choose between peace and resistance on the edge of world war.