The library
Sixteen crises, two thousand years
Each scenario is a real turning point, researched and written so the dilemma you face is the one the leaders of the day actually faced. They run chronologically — pick any of them and take the chair.
Antiquity
Cannae's Shadow
Hannibal has annihilated a Roman army in a single afternoon and stands loose in Italy. As Rome reels, do you raise fresh legions and seek a decisive battle, or accept the slow, unglamorous strategy of attrition that might bleed the invader dry?
Medieval
The Last Siege
The walls that held for a thousand years face cannon they were never built to survive. As the Ottoman army closes in, you weigh sortie against endurance, faith against pragmatism, and the price of help that may never come.
The Age of Sail
The Great Armada
The largest fleet Europe has ever assembled is bearing down on a smaller, faster navy and an anxious realm. Husband your ships and your treasury, manage a jittery court, and decide when to fight and when to let wind and weather do the work.
Revolutions
The Glorious Cause
A ragged army, an empty treasury, and the most powerful empire on earth across the table. Hold a fragile coalition together, court foreign help, and keep a revolution alive long enough to matter.
A House Divided
A union splitting apart, armies in the field, and every choice freighted with the question of what the war is even for. Balance military necessity, public will, and the moral reckoning that could redefine the nation — or shatter it.
The Great War
The Guns of August
One assassination, a web of alliances, and mobilization timetables that turn weeks into hours. Try to find the off-ramp before a continental quarrel becomes the war that buries a generation.
World War II
The Price of Peace
A dictator's demands, a frightened public desperate to avoid another war, and a guarantee you may not be able to keep. Decide what deterrence is worth — and what concession really buys.
Their Finest Hour
The continent has fallen and the island stands alone. With invasion looming and the skies contested, you steel a nation, ration its resources, and decide how much truth the public can bear.
Cold War
The Free City
A blockaded city, two million people, and a single air corridor between standing firm and sparking a war. Keep Berlin alive without giving the other side the incident they're waiting for.
The Canal
A nationalized waterway, allies acting behind your back, and a superpower watching closely. Defend your standing in the world while the ground shifts under the old order.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Missiles ninety miles from shore and thirteen days to find a way down. Every option — blockade, strike, deal — carries the risk of the war nobody wants. The most famous brink in history is yours to walk back.
Able Archer 83
A routine NATO exercise rehearsing nuclear release — read by the other side as the real thing. With both arsenals on a hair trigger and no one sure it's a drill, you have ten days to keep a misunderstanding from ending the world.
Petrov 1983
The early-warning screen says missiles are inbound. Protocol says report and retaliate. Your judgment says wait. A single decision, made in minutes, between procedure and catastrophe.
Modern Crises
Four Hundred Forty-Four Days
An embassy seized, hostages held, and a nation watching the clock. Balance their safety, your credibility, and the pressure to act against the patience a rescue might require.
Line in the Sand
An invasion has redrawn a border overnight. Assemble a coalition, set the terms, and decide how far force should go once it starts.
The Strait
A near-future flashpoint where a third of the world's oil moves through a narrowing channel. Manage escalation, allies, and markets as warnings shade toward shots.