From the Designers!
My name is Dave Shaw. I’m 46 years old, and been playing wargames since I was 12. Ryan Heilman and I have know each other for almost 40 years, and we’ve always enjoyed playing games together.

Thanks to Ryan, Brave Little Belgium is finally seeing the light of day after a very long wait – 25 years, to be exact.

In 1993, my then-girlfriend (now wife) and I traveled to Belgium to visit our friends who had spent a year as exchange students. They were staying in Leuven, and we spent two weeks there. In addition to Leuven, I visited Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, and Namur. (We also saw Paris, Cologne and Luxembourg City.)

I was completely enthralled by the Belgian culture, and fell in love with the country. I was impressed by the Belgians’ memorials to their struggles in both world wars. At the time I was very much into both wars, but always had a special fondness for World War I, particularly the opening months of the conflict. While touring Belgium, I learned much about that country’s valiant attempt to halt the Germans in 1914.

It was then that I formed the idea of a game that would focus on the battle for Belgium, and would challenge players to either exceed the Germans’ march through the country, or delay or even halt it and thus wreck the Schlieffen Plan. I had all sorts of ideas for the game, and filed it away mentally.

And that’s as far as I got.

Fast forward more than 20 years later, and I told Ryan about my idea for the game. He picked it up and ran with it. The result was what we have now – a game that is easy to play, offers a lot of choices for both sides, and gives players a quick and enjoyable look at “brave little Belgium’s” struggle against the kaiser’s armies.

In reality, the Belgians only delayed the German advance, although they did manage to hold out in a small parcel of Belgian territory for the remainder of the war. Brave Little Belgium is not a hardcore simulation of the German invasion, but it is close enough to history that players on both sides feel the pressures that the commanders of the armies in 1914 experienced.

In this game, the Germans are strong – but Belgium, with some timely help from Great Britain and France, may still surprise and even delay the German advance. I think that’s the best part of this game – it’s a topic not usually focused on in board games (most WWI games focus on the broader campaign in the west), and it gives players a fun yet challenging play experience that hopefully will keep them coming back to play again. Ryan and I have enjoyed creating and playing this game; I hope the rest of the gaming community enjoys the game as much as we have.

Thanks Gents!

So this should be coming up for Print on Demand at Hollandspiele very soon!! 

Look for this early 2019.