fortruss--2019-04-20--MAJOR Ukraine vs Donbass Skirmish 6 killed more wounded

MAJOR: Ukraine vs. Donbass Skirmish – 6 killed, more wounded

DONETSK, DPR – An emergency statement from the official representative of the People’s Police of the DPR on 4-19.  “The enemy does not give up in its attempts to exacerbate the situation on the front line the day before the second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine.”  So, at about 6 pm, hoping that our defenders were less vigilant, after a false statement by the Ukrainian side about unilaterally introducing the “Easter Truce” regime, the enemy, with two sabotage and reconnaissance groups of 10-12 people, attempted to secretly enter the territory of the Republic. During their attempt, our scouts discovered them.  Fortunately their forces entered a minefield. As a result of the explosion, three Ukrainian militants were killed, two more were injured. Under cover of artillery fire from 152 mm guns, as well as small arms of the second DRG, the enemy tried to evacuate the dead and wounded while in retreat. During the reckless attempt of the enemy to take the position of our troops, their losses amounted to four killed and five wounded. As of 19.00 one soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continues to be at the site of the explosion.  Unfortunately, during the battle, three of our Heroes gave their lives, fulfilling the duty to protect the Republic. Leading the battle, the company commander, lieutenant S. Pshenichny, E., and junior sergeant V. Zhiltsov, medical instructor, junior sergeant Egalegerdiyeva, LV, were seriously wounded. provided them with medical care. Seeing that the enemy was striving to get closer to the positions, she decided to join the battle. Moving away from the place where the wounded were, Egalegerdieva took fire upon herself, firing at the enemy with a machine gun.  They did not let the Ukrainian fascists bypass the position from the flank with aimed fire. The life of the sanitary instructor and the fighters was cut short after the military criminals attacked the armed forces unit’s 79 armed unit on the positions of a massive fire attack.  We appeal to the international community and the leadership of international organizations operating in the Donbass. This fact once again confirms all the falsity and emptiness of the statements of the Ukrainian side about adherence to the course of a peaceful settlement of the conflict. At a time when Poroshenko in Kiev loudly announced the introduction of the Easter Truce in order to at least somehow raise his zero rating, the command of the occupying troops, by his secret order, attempted to destabilize the situation on the contact line.  The actions of the Ukrainian side are criminal in nature and are aimed at disrupting the second round of elections for the presidency of Ukraine, during which Poroshenko’s victory is unlikely .


tass--2019-04-14--Four Ukrainian soldiers killed in skirmish with Right Sector activists in Donbass

DONETSK, April 14. /TASS/. Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a skirmish with activists of the Right Sector nationalist organization (outlawed in Russia) in the settlement of Avdeyevka, Daniil Bezsonov, a spokesman for the defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said on Sunday.  "Right Sector militants who arrived in Avdeyevka seized the premises of the Tsarskaya Okhota compound without consent from the command of the 93rd brigade," the Donetsk News Agency quoted him as saying.  According to the spokesman, Right Sector activists clashed with the military over the compound, with both parties sustaining losses. Thus, in his words, four Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the skirmish.  In other media


tass--2019-05-03--Over 1000 Ukrainian servicemen killed or injured in Donbass over last year DPR

Over 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen killed or injured in Donbass over last year — DPR

© Valentin Sprinchak/TASS  DONETSK, May 2. /TASS/. Over 1,000 Ukrainian army's servicemen have been killed or injured since the start of the military operation in Donbass under Sergey Nayev's command, head of the people's militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin said on Thursday.  "A total of 219 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 844 more injured since Nayev assumed command," Donetsk News Agency quoted Basurin as saying. He added that 1,252 Ukrainian servicemen are listed as missing or deserted. Basurin also said that over 70 pieces of Ukrainian military equipment broke down as a result of careless handling.  The head of the DPR people's militia also refuted Nayev's statement that Ukrainian forces have regained control over three settlements and the territory of 24 sq km in Donbass since last spring.  On 30 April 2018 Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko announced the start of the anti-terrorist operation in Donbass.  In other media


themoscowtimes--2019-08-07--Resume Peace Talks Ukraines Zelenskiy Urges Putin After 4 Soldiers Killed in Donbass

Resume Peace Talks, Ukraine's Zelenskiy Urges Putin After 4 Soldiers Killed in Donbass

Bringing peace to the Donbass region was a top campaign pledge for Zelenskiy, helping him to a landslide presidential election victory in April. He strengthened his power base in a parliamentary election last month.  Conflict between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed forces has killed an estimated 13,000 people since 2014. A ceasefire deal brokered by France and Germany ended major conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2015, though small-scale clashes still occur regularly.  Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday pressed Russian leader Vladimir Putin for a resumption of peace talks after four Ukrainian soldiers were killed by shelling in the eastern Donbass border region.  He said that, in a phone call with Putin on Wednesday, he had urged his Russian counterpart to exert influence over the Donbass fighters and agree to relaunch peace talks.  Tuesday's four deaths marked the highest toll of Ukrainian troops in a single day since Zelenskiy took office.  "I said that this doesn't bring us closer to peace," Zelenskiy said of the phone call. "I beg you to influence the other side so that they stop the killing of our people."  He said the Russian president had promised him something, details of which would be disclosed later.  Putin in turn said Ukrainian forces must stop the shelling of settlements in the Donbass that led to civilian casualties.  Both sides agreed to intensify work on prisoner exchanges. Russia holds dozens of Ukrainian captives from the conflict but it is unclear how many Russians are being held in Ukraine.  The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany last met in 2016 for their "Normandy Format" talks on the Donbass.  Zelenskiy said he planned to speak to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about arranging more talks. The Kremlin said Putin and Zelenskiy had discussed the prospect of such a meeting.


fortruss--2019-06-28--Ukraines Army has 19 Killed 143 Wounded in June

Ukraine’s Army has 19 Killed, 143 Wounded in June

LUGANSK – The losses of the Ukrainian troops in the zone of the so-called “OOS – Operation of the United Forces” in June amounted to 19 people killed and 143 people wounded. This was announced by the head of the press service of the People’s Police Department of the LPR, Yakov Osadchy.  “The commander of “OOS ”, General (Alexander) Syrsky, does not stop increasing losses among his personnel, which, according to official data, amounted to seven killed and 64 wounded. However, based on the published information of Ukrainian volunteer organizations and official data of military hospitals, we can conclude that the figures provided by the “OOS” headquarters are purposefully underestimated, ” said Osadchy.  As of June 28, the enemy’s losses amounted to 19 people killed, 143 people wounded.  Earlier in the network was published a  video, which captures the liquidation of the Ukrainian militants .  Also, a video of the liquidation of the Ukrainian militants who were masking the new position was made public  .  On June 10, a video of the liquidation of the Azov sniper * near Mariupol was published online .  On June 8,  the DPR militia opened heavy fire at Azov positions in the Donbas .  On June 6, the People’s Police of the DPR stopped the breakthrough of 30 Azov militants in the Gorlovka direction .  The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced that  two Azov militants * died as a result of a mine in a dugout . Another eight mercenaries were injured.


rferl--2019-01-02--Soldier Killed Two Wounded In Eastern Ukraine Clashes Despite Truce

Soldier Killed, Two Wounded In Eastern Ukraine Clashes, Despite Truce

Ukraine says one of its soldiers has been killed and two others wounded in clashes in the country’s east despite a fresh cease-fire agreement between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists.      The Defense Ministry said on January 2 that separatist fighters violated a cease-fire three times on January 1 by firing guns, grenade launchers, and mortars.      It said Ukrainian government forces returned fire, killing one separatist and wounding four others.      The separatists accused Kyiv’s forces of violating the truce.      Since April 2014, more than 10,300 people have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.      Fighting persists despite cease-fire deals reached as part of the September 2014 and February 2015 Minsk accords, and implementation of other measures set out in the deals has been slow.      A new truce between Ukrainian forces and the separatists took effect at midnight on December 29.


rferl--2019-08-07--Ukraines Zelenskiy Urges Putin To Resume Peace Talks After Four Soldiers Killed

Ukraine's Zelenskiy Urges Putin To Resume Peace Talks After Four Soldiers Killed

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he has called his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to urge him to help halt fighting in eastern Ukraine, following the killing of four soldiers there.      "I called him urgently. I told him that this brings us no closer to peace," Zelenskiy said during a news briefing in Kyiv, adding that he had urged Putin to ask the Moscow-backed separatists who are holding parts of eastern Ukraine to "stop killing our people."      He also said Putin had promised him something, details of which would be disclosed later.      The Kremlin said the two presidents discussed the prospects of cooperation under the so-called Normandy format for negotiations aimed at putting an end to the conflict, and agreed to intensify their work on prisoner exchange.      It was their second publicly announced phone call since Zelenskiy was elected president in April.      Later in the day, the Ukrainian president said he had also spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron, and that his French counterpart had supported his call for a new round of talks within the Normandy format, which involves France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia.      Fighting between Ukrainian forces and the separatists who control parts of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.      On August 6, Ukraine said four of its soldiers had lost their lives in clashes in the Donetsk region, the highest daily casualty toll in the Ukrainian conflict since a truce was agreed nearly three weeks ago.      The separatists opened fire at Ukrainian military positions, using grenade-launchers, machine guns, and assault rifles, the Defense Ministry said.      Cease-fire road maps announced as part of the Minsk accords -- September 2014 and February 2015 pacts -- have contributed to a decrease in fighting but have failed to hold.      A new truce agreement was supposed to go into effect on July 22.


rferl--2019-08-25--One Ukraine Soldier Killed Three Wounded In Donbas Conflict

One Ukraine Soldier Killed, Three Wounded In Donbas Conflict

One Ukrainian soldier was killed and three were wounded in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine after Russia-backed separatists opened fire with “grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, sniper rifles, and small arms,” according to the Ukrainian military.      All the casualties took place in the army’s “north” operational and tactical group, it said.  Sixty-six Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the first seven months of this year, according to Censor.net, a Ukrainian news portal.      After getting elected in April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for a four-way meeting with Russia, Germany, and France – known as the Normandy format – to revive peace talks with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.      Moscow has said there is interest in renewing peace discussions, but no date has been set.      More than 13,000 people have been killed in the Donbas conflict since April 2014, when Russian-backed separatists took up arms against government forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.  Russia’s invasion and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula preceded the armed uprising that prompted the European Union, United States, and other countries to impose sanctions on Russia.      An additional 1.5 million people have been internally displaced, the largest migration of people on the European continent since World War II.      Russia denies involvement in the Donbas conflict and has portrayed events there as Ukraine’s “internal” affair.


unian--2019-02-08--One Ukraine soldier killed two wounded amid shelling by Russian-led forces on Friday

One Ukraine soldier killed, two wounded amid shelling by Russian-led forces on Friday

The Ukrainian army fired back to suppress the enemy fire.  One Ukrainian soldier was killed in action, another two were wounded in action amid shelling by Russian-led forces in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, on Friday, February 8.  Enemy troops attacked Ukrainian positions eight times from 00:00 to 18:00 Kyiv time on Friday; proscribed weapons were used in one of the attacks, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said on Facebook in an evening update.  In particular, Russian-led forces used grenade launchers and small arms twice to attack JFO positions near the town of Avdiyivka in the Skhid (East) sector. An enemy sniper was also working there.  Ukrainian positions near the village of Vodiane came under fire opened from automatic grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns and small arms, while grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns were used to attack the village of Pavlopil.  What is more, Russian-led forces opened fire twice from large-caliber machine guns and small arms to attack the Ukrainian military near the village of Krymske and from grenade launchers near the village of Zaitseve in the Pivnich (North) sector.  Ukrainian positions near the village of Khutir Vilny were attacked with the use of proscribed 120mm mortars and small arms.  "The defending units fired back to suppress the enemy fire. Losses of the enemy are not known yet," the update said.


unian--2019-02-21--Donbas war update Ukraine reports one soldier killed in past day

Donbas war update: Ukraine reports one soldier killed in past day

According to intelligence reports, one invader was killed and another two were wounded.  Russia's hybrid military forces in the past 24 hours mounted 13 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as killed in action.  "One Ukrainian soldier was killed in the past day. According to intelligence reports, one invader was killed and another two were wounded," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update published on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on February 21, 2019.  Read alsoRussian armed formations in Donbas have more tanks than Germany or France – Poroshenko at UNGA  Russian occupation forces opened fire from 82mm and 120mm mortars, weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms, attacking the defenders of the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Lebedynske, Vodiane, Shyrokyne, Novo-Oleksandrivka, Khutir Vilniy, Katerynivka, and Novotoshkivske.  "Since Thursday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked Ukrainian positions yet," the report said.


unian--2019-04-06--One soldier killed in action in Ukraines Donbas in sniper fire

One soldier killed in action in Ukraine's Donbas in sniper fire

In response, Ukraine troops destroyed four militants and wounded another four.  Over the past day, April 5, Donbas militants carried out 17 shellings of Ukraine troops, including 10 times with the use of weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements.  In general, the enemy launched 59 mortar shells (120mm and 82 mm).  As a result of the activity of enemy snipers, one soldier of the Joint Forces died, two were injured, the JFO staff reported.  The invaders fired at the positions of Joint Forces from the weapons installed on an infantry fighting vehicle, from grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms.  In three attacks, enemy snipers were involved.  Read alsoJFO: Two Ukrainian soldiers wounded in action in Donbas April 5  Militants fired at Ukrainian defenders in the districts of Pisky, Avdiyivka, Pavlopil, Lebedynske,Vodiane, Novotroyitske, Maryinka, Zaitseve, Novo-oleksandrivka, Novoluhanske, Zolote-4, and Yuzhne.  "The Joint Forces gave an adequate response to the enemy shelling, eliminating four and wounding another four invaders. One unit of military equipment of the Russian occupation forces was also destroyed," the statement said.  From day-start on Saturday, the enemy fired three times at Ukrainian positions in the area of Shyrokyne, Starohnativka, and Zaitseve, including once using weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements.


unian--2019-06-23--One Ukraine soldier killed eight wounded as number of Russia-led forces attacks grows to 31 on Sat

One Ukraine soldier killed, eight wounded as number of Russia-led forces' attacks grows to 31 on Saturday

Ukrainian troops fired back, using weapons that are not banned by the Minsk agreements.  One Ukrainian soldier was killed and another eight were wounded in action as the number of Russia-led forces' attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, grew to 31 incidents on Saturday, June 22.  "Proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, which are banned by the Minsk agreements, were used in eight instances," the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said in a morning update on Sunday, June 23.  Along with the mortars, the enemy used grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns, and rifles.  Hot spots were the villages of Vodiane, Starohnativka, Shyrokyne, Hnutove, Pavlopil, Novotroyitske, Lebedynske, Opytne (all in the Skhid, or East, sector), Pisky, Pishchane, Pivdenne, Novoluhanske, Luhaske, Mayorske, Zaitseve and Novo-Oleksandrivka (all in the Pivnich, North, sector). The towns of Krasnohorivka and Avdiyivka also came under attack.  "In the past day, one Ukrainian serviceman was killed, eight were wounded," the JFO HQ said.  According to it, a fighter of the 24th separate mechanized brigade died from wounds sustained from the explosion of a booby trap near the village of Olenivka, Donetsk region, on June 22. Ukrainian troops were unable to evacuate his body because of intense enemy shelling.  Ukrainian troops fired back, using weapons that are not banned by the Minsk agreements.  One enemy fighter was wounded, according to Ukrainian intelligence reports. What is more, one enemy drone and one armored fighting vehicle were destroyed.  As UNIAN reported earlier, invaders violated the ceasefire in Donbas 25 times on June 21.  According to the JFO HQ, Russia-led forces mounted three attacks from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on June 23. They opened fire from a 120mm mortar near the village of Pavlopil, while grenade launchers were used near the villages of Shumy and Pivdenne.


unian--2019-10-06--Ukraine soldier killed in action in Donbas on Oct 6

The enemy used mortars, grenade launchers, sniper rifles to attack Ukrainian positions on that day.  A Ukrainian soldier was killed in action in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, on October 6.  "During the day today, one member of the Joint Forces was killed in action, and another one was wounded in action," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) headquarters said in an evening update on Sunday, October 6.  Read alsoUkrainian military expert rules out large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine: No resources  In total, Russia-led forces on October 6 mounted 17 attacks on Ukrainian positions in violation of the ceasefire, it said.  "The enemy attacked JFO positions, using proscribed 82mm mortars, as well as cannons on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of various systems, sniper rifles, small arms," the update said.  In the Skhid (East) sector, under attack were Ukrainian positions near the villages of Pavlopil, Novotroyitske, Bohdanivka, and the towns of Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka.  In the Pivnich (North) sector, the enemy attacked Ukrainian units stationed in the villages of Novoluhanske, Zolote-4, Zaitseve, and the town of Popasna.  As UNIAN reported earlier, one Ukrainian soldier was wounded in action and another one sustained a combat-related injury in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, on October 5. In total, there were 24 enemy attacks on that day.


fortruss--2019-07-22--NOT EVEN ONE DAY Ukraine breaks Donbass ceasefire in less than 24 hours

NOT EVEN ONE DAY! Ukraine breaks Donbass ceasefire in less than 24 hours  DONETSK – The Ukrainian army has violated six times in the last 24 hours the ceasefire set up in Donbass on Saturday.  The complaint was made by the representative of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk (RPD), Ruslan Yakubov, at the joint center for monitoring the truce.  “The new ceasefire did not last a day. In 24 hours the Ukrainian forces violated their commitments on at least six occasions,” Yakubov said in an interview.  Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky expressed earlier this month the readiness of his country to negotiate with Russia and comply with the Minsk Accords.  “We are ready to negotiate with Russia and comply with the Minsk Accords,” he said at the end of his meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.  However, Zelensky pointed out that Ukraine must first be able to “defend and strengthen itself in the economic, political and military spheres.”  This of course has obviously been a lie.  In addition, the president said that the Ukrainian people need a breakthrough toward “high European standards of quality of life and safety”.  “The aim of our reforms is to improve the quality of life of Ukrainians, eradicate corruption, modernize the state, all this is possible only if our security is guaranteed,” he said.  Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine on May 20.  Since April 2014, Ukraine has carried out an operation against militias in the eastern part of its territory – Donbass – where the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk have proclaimed themselves independent republics in response to the violent change of government in Kiev in February of the same year.  The Minsk Accords, signed in September 2014 and February 2015, laid the foundations for a political solution to the conflict, but has not so far resulted in the cessation of violence, with an estimated UN balance of some 13,000 dead, plus 1.3 million people displaced.  The Trilateral Contact Group (Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) has in the format of Normandy (Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine) the main consultation platform aimed at resolving the conflict between the government of Ukrainian militias and Donbass.


tass--2019-02-03--Ukraines militants violate ceasefire three times in one day - LPR peoples militia

Ukraine’s militants violate ceasefire three times in one day - LPR people’s militia

LUGANSK, February 3. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Armed forces have shelled positions of the People’s Militia of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) three times over the past day, the LPR People’s Militia told journalists on Sunday.  "Areas of the communities of Kalinovo, Veselogorovka and Logvinovo came under fire," the Lugansk Media Center quoted a People’s Militia as saying.  Kiev’s troops used mortars and arms of infantry fighting vehicles, he said.  A new ceasefire was launched in Donbass ahead of the New Year and Christmas holidays on December 29, 2018, after it had been coordinated by the Trilateral Contact Group members a day before. The sides have agreed to more than 20 ceasefires since the start of the conflict, but none of them was stable.  In other media


unian--2019-01-11--Donbas militants fire attack Ukraine troops three times over past 24 hours report

Donbas militants fire attack Ukraine troops three times over past 24 hours – report

Over the past day, January 10, Russian occupation forces violated the ceasefire three times, opening fire at the Ukrainian military.  At the same time, on one occasion, Russian proxies used weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation Staff reported on Facebook Friday morning.  "The enemy opened fire from 82mm mortars and large-caliber machine guns at positions of the Ukrainian military near the village of Zhovte on the Luhansk line, from grenade launchers of various types, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms – in the area of Vodiane and Pavlopil in the Mariupol direction," the report says.  Read alsoOne step short of causing another "Chornobyl" disaster in Donbas, Russia prepares to blame Ukraine – media  As a result of the shelling by Russian occupation forces, in the past 24 hours no Ukrainian military were injured.  "According to intelligence data, on January 10, one invader was killed and another two were wounded," the JFO Staff added.  It is also noted that, since day-start, Russian proxies have not opened fire.  Recall that on January 9, pro-Russian militants twice violated the ceasefire in Donbas.


unian--2019-02-09--Day in Donbas Militants attack Ukraine positions suffer losses as Joint Forces return fire

Day in Donbas: Militants attack Ukraine positions, suffer losses as Joint Forces return fire

According to intelligence, on February 8, six occupiers were killed in action and another seven – injured.  On February 8, Russian occupation troops nine times violated the cease-fire regime, including twice with the use of arms banned by Minsk accords.  The bombs were recorded in the area of the settlements of Vodiane, Pavlopil, Avdiyivka, Krymske, Zaitseve, and Vilyniy, the press service of the Joint Forces Operation reported Saturday morning.  The militants opened fire from grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns, mortars, and small arms. An enemy sniper was active near Avdiyivka.  Read alsoOne Ukraine soldier killed, two wounded amid shelling by Russian-led forces on Friday  "As a result of the treacherous shelling by Russian-occupation forces, one soldier of the Joint Forces was killed in action and two were injured," the report says.  Joint Forces suppressed enemy fire. Intel reports six invaders were killed in action and seven – injured," the statement said.  From midnight, the enemy did not open fire on Saturday.  Ukrainian defenders continue monitoring the enemy on the line of contact, while adhering to the terms of the ceasefire.


unian--2019-02-26--Occupation forces fire at Ukraine Army positions eight times Three WIAs reported

Occupation forces fire at Ukraine Army positions eight times: Three WIAs reported

Reports on enemy losses are being verified.  The situation in the Joint Forces Operation zone is generally under control of Ukraine forces.  Since day-start, Russian proxy forces have eight times shot at the positions of Ukrainian troops, including five times from weapons banned by the Minsk agreements.  According to the press center of the Joint Forces Operation HQ, Russian occupation troops also fired at the Ukrainian positions from the weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, as well as from grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms.  In the zone of responsibility of the Skhid [East] Operational-Tactical Grouping, the enemy twice fired at Ukrainian strongholds: from automatic mounted grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns – near the village of Verkhniotoretske, and from 120 mm mortars – near the village of Lebedynske.  Read alsoRussia planning offensive operations against Ukraine, General Staff in Kyiv saysIn the Pivnich [North] Operational-Tactical Grouping's responsibility zone, the invaders mounted six attacks on positions of Joint Forces: three times – from 120mm and 82mm mortars, and also from weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles and from small arms – in the area of Novoluhanske; twice – from 82mm mortars, weapons of infantry fighting vehicles, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms – near the town of Popasna; 120mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms – near the village of Khutir Vilniy.  Three Ukrainian troops were injured in the shelling.  Units that were attacked by the enemy returned fire from weapons that are not prohibited by the Minsk Agreements.


unian--2019-03-12--Almost ceasefire in Donbas Ukraine reports one enemy attack in past day

Almost ceasefire in Donbas: Ukraine reports one enemy attack in past day

There were no Ukrainian army casualties.  Russian-led forces mounted one attack on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the past 24 hours.  "No Ukrainian army casualties were reported in the past day," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on March 12, 2019.  During the period under review, the Russian occupation forces opened fire from small arms at the Ukrainian fortified position near the town of Avdiyivka.  "Since Tuesday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked Ukrainian positions yet," the report said.  "The Joint Forces reliably control the enemy's actions along the contact line, adhering to the ceasefire," the press center said.  As UNIAN reported earlier, a new truce was agreed after midnight on March 8. However, Russian proxies violated it on the same day.


unian--2019-07-22--Ukraine reports one enemy attack in Donbas on Sunday amid harvest ceasefire

Ukraine reports one enemy attack in Donbas on Sunday amid "harvest" ceasefire

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the village of Khutir Vilniy.  Russia's hybrid military forces on July 21 mounted one attack on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, as the so-called "harvest" ceasefire started at 00:01 local time on July 21.  Read also"Be afraid, Russia": Ukraine's military becoming a force to be reckoned with – media  "The armed forces of the Russian Federation and its mercenaries violated the ceasefire once on July 21. The enemy opened fire on our defenders from cannons installed on infantry fighting vehicles and heavy machine guns," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said in an update posted on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on July 22, 2019.  Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the village of Khutir Vilniy.  The JFO's HQ reiterated two servicemen had been killed and another two injured in Donbas as they had stepped on an explosive device planted by an enemy subversion group. The incident occurred just hours after the latest ceasefire, the so-called "harvest truce," was announced.  According to Ukrainian intelligence reports, one enemy troop was killed and another two were wounded.  "Since Monday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked Ukrainian positions yet," the report reads.


unian--2019-07-24--Ukraine reports one enemy attack in Donbas on Tuesday amid harvest ceasefire

Ukraine reports one enemy attack in Donbas on Tuesday amid "harvest" ceasefire

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the village of Luhanske.  Russia's hybrid military forces on July 23 mounted one attack on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, after the so-called "harvest" ceasefire started at 00:01 local time on July 21.  "The armed forces of the Russian Federation and its mercenaries violated the ceasefire once on July 23. The enemy opened fire on our defenders from an automatic grenade launcher and rifles," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said in an update posted on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on July 24, 2019.  Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the village of Luhanske.  According to Ukrainian intelligence reports, three enemy troops were killed and another one was wounded as a result of stepping on an explosive device.  Since Wednesday midnight, enemy troops have not violated an indefinite ban on the use of weapons.  "The Joint Forces reliably control the enemy along the contact line, while adhering to the ceasefire," reads the report.


unian--2019-11-03--Donbas war update: Two WIAs as enemy 15 times opens fire on Ukraine positions over past day

From day-start on Sunday, the invaders have not attacked Ukrainian troops.  Russian occupation forces in eastern Ukraine's Donbas on Saturday, Nov 2, violated the ceasefire 15 times, as reported by the Joint Forces Operation press center.  "The enemy fired on the positions of Ukrainian units from 120 mm mortars banned by the Minsk agreements, as well as grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and other small arms," reads the morning update posted on Facebook.  As a result of the shelling, two servicemen of the Joint Forces were wounded in action.  Read alsoUkraine announces completion of withdrawal of forces and weapons near Zolote in Donbas  The invaders opened fire near Novohryhoryivka, Avdiyivka, Talakivka, Vodiane, Pavlopil, Novozvanivka, Novoluhanske, Khutir Vilniy, Luhanske, Shumy, and Zaitseve.  "From day-start [on Nov 3], armed groups of the Russian Federation and its mercenaries showed no fire activity. There were no casualties among JF troops," the press center added.  As UNIAN reported earlier, on Nov 1, Russian occupation forces violated the ceasefire 13 times.


unian--2019-11-29--Ukraine to fire anti-aircraft missiles at Russian drones flying from Crimea

There were cases when enemy drones shot down army aviation helicopters, such as Mi-24.  The Ukrainian military intends to launch anti-aircraft missiles at Russian drones flying from the illegally annexed Crimea.  "If we are talking about quadrocopter drones, it's sufficient to use small arms, namely machine guns. If we are talking about serious UAVs of the Orlan or Forpost type, then anti-aircraft missiles are used in this case. Buk-M1 was often used against these drones, since there was a significant threat to our military. There were cases where enemy drones would shoot down army aviation helicopters, such as Mi-24s," said press secretary of the Command of the Air Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ihnat, RFE/RL's Krym Realii reports.  UNIAN memo. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 after its troops had occupied the peninsula. An illegal referendum was held for Crimeans to decide on accession to Russia. De-facto Crimean authorities reported that allegedly 96.77% of the Crimean population had voted for joining Russia.  On March 18, 2014, the so-called agreement on the accession of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was signed in the Kremlin. The West did not recognize the annexation in response to which sanctions against Russia were introduced.  Ukraine's parliament voted to designate February 20, 2014, as the official date when the temporary occupation of Crimea began.


tass--2019-02-06--One soldier killed another wounded in shelling by militants in Syria

One soldier killed, another wounded in shelling by militants in Syria

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. A Syrian soldier was killed and another was wounded when militants opened fire from the Idlib de-escalation zone, Lieutenant General Sergei Solomatin, head of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria, said on Wednesday.  "Over the past 24 hours, militants operating in the Idlib de-escalation zone shelled Zahra in the Aleppo province, killing a servicemen of the Syrian Armed Forces and injuring another," Solomatin said.  Apart from that, he said the Russian reconciliation center had handed out 500 food sets to people in need in Arbid (Aleppo province) during a humanitarian mission.  "Since the beginning of settlement process, the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides has carried out 2,057 humanitarian missions. A total weight of the humanitarian cargoes has amounted to 3,249.4 tonnes," he added.  Besides, the Russian military police ensured security for the UN humanitarian aid convoy consisting of 160 vehicles, which ran from Damascus to the Rukban refugee camp located on the Syrian-Jordanian border.  "According to UN officials, the humanitarian aid convoy was loaded with foodstuffs and nonfood goods, medicines, daily necessities, weighing a total of 1,080 tonnes," the general said.  The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.


tass--2019-05-29--One person killed in shelling by militants in Syria Russian reconciliation center

One person killed in shelling by militants in Syria — Russian reconciliation center

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. One woman was killed and three other local residents were injured in a shelling of the Skalbiya town in the Syrian province of Hama by militants, head of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides Viktor Kupchishin said on Wednesday.  "Militants from terrorist groups Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (also known as Jebhat al-Nusra, banned in Russia) and Jaush al-Izza shelled the town of Skalbiya from multiple rocket launcher systems. As a result, one local woman was killed, and three other people were injured," Kupchishin said.  Over the last 24 hours, militants shelled 11 settlements in the provinces of Latakia and Hama, he added.  In other media


sputnik--2019-01-26--At Least 13 Civilians Killed in Intl Coalition Strike in Syria - Reports

At Least 13 Civilians Killed in Int'l Coalition Strike in Syria - Reports

At least 13 civilians died as a result of an airstrike carried out by the international coalition in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Province, the DPA news agency reported on Saturday citing Syrian human rights watchdogs.  Earlier in the day, Iraqi Kurdistan's Rudaw English news outlet reported citing a conflict monitor that a heavy airstrike conducted by the US-led coalition fighting the Daesh* terrorist group might have resulted in children casualties in Syria.  This comes after earlier in the week, the Ikhbariya TV channel stated that US-led coalition jets struck vehicles carrying civilians who were fleeing the village, where US-led forces were battling Daesh. Following the reports, the Operation Inherent Resolve Joint Task Force said in a statement that the coalition was conducting an investigation into the attack to conclude if it had caused the deaths of civilians in Syria.  Syrian authorities have repeatedly called on the United Nations to hold those responsible for civilian deaths accountable and put an end to the US-led coalition's unauthorised presence on Syrian territory. The US-led coalition's activities in Syria are not endorsed by the Syrian government, President Bashar al-Assad nor the United Nations Security Council.


21stcenturywire--2019-07-01--Israels Latest Attack on Syria Launched From Lebanese Airspace Killed Civilians

Israel’s Latest Attack on Syria Launched From Lebanese Airspace, Killed Civilians

Israeli warplanes carried out more attacks on Syria early Monday morning, using Lebanese airspace once again, and targeting alleged Syrian and Iranian-backed military positions in Homs and southwest of Damascus in the town of Sahnaya.  Multiple media outlets, inside and outside Syria, are reporting at least over a dozen civilians killed and many more wounded. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported the dead included a baby and that other children were also wounded in the attacks.  What is still not clear is the true nature of Israel’s targets, specifically, the number of Hezbollah outposts it claims were targeted. This is not the first time Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace and Syria’s sovereignty.  Kevork Almassian of Syriana Analysis provides a detailed breakdown of Israel’s latest attack on Syria. Watch:


france24--2019-12-24--At least eight killed in NW Syria as thousands flee Russian, government attacks against militants

Part of Idlib province is still outside the control of the Syrian government.  At least eight people, including five children, were killed Tuesday in Russian air strikes in northwest Syria, as the UN warned youngsters were bearing the brunt of the violence.  The strikes targeted the village of Jubass near the town of Saraqeb in southern Idlib province, killing civilians sheltering in a school and nearby, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.  “Children are bearing the brunt of intensifying violence in northwest Syria,” the United Nations children’s organisation UNICEF said Tuesday.  “Nine years into the war, children in Syria continue to experience unspeakable violence, trauma and distress.”  Heightened regime and Russian bombardments on southern Idlib since December 16 have forced tens of thousands of vulnerable people to flee their homes, according to the UN.  Nearly 80 civilians have been killed by air strikes and artillery attacks over that same period, according to the Observatory, which puts the number of displaced in recent weeks at more than 40,000.  An uptick in attacks around Saraqeb over the past 24 hours has driven thousands more out, the Observatory added.  The UN has called for “immediate de-escalation” and warned of further mass displacement if the violence continues in Syria’s last major opposition bastion.  But Russian and regime air strikes have continued to pummel the region as Damascus loyalists advanced on the ground.  Since Thursday, regime forces have taken control of dozens of towns and villages in southern Idlib following battles with jihadists.  The clashes have killed 260 fighters on both sides, according to the Observatory.  Regime forces are now less than four kilometres (two miles) from the strategic city of Maaret al-Numan, the head of the Britain-based monitor, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.  In a statement on Tuesday, the Syrian army said it has seized 320 square kilometres from its rivals in recent days, pledging to continue its push until it recaptures all of Idlib.  “The Syrian army stresses its insistence on cleansing the province of Idlib from terrorism and its sponsors,” it said, calling on civilians to exit areas under jihadist control.  Fearing further advances, thousands of Maaret al-Numan’s residents have fled towards Idlib’s north.  “I did not expect to have to leave,” said Abu Ahmad, poking his head out of the pick-up truck driving him and his family towards a camp for the displaced.  “This is my home, this is where I grew up,” the father of ten told AFP.  Idlib is dominated by the country’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.  It hosts some three million people, including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.  The Damascus regime, which now controls 70 percent of Syria, has repeatedly vowed to take back the area.  Backed by Moscow, Damascus launched a blistering offensive against Idlib in April, killing around 1,000 civilians and displacing more than 400,000 people.  Despite a ceasefire announced in August, the bombardment has continued, killing hundreds of civilians and fighters.  The latest spike in violence comes after Russia and China on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended for a year cross-border aid deliveries to four million Syrians, many of them in Idlib.  The move raised fears that UN-funded assistance could stop entering opposition-held parts of Syria from January unless an alternative agreement is reached.  “Humanitarian access must be sustained to provide life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of children everywhere in the northwest and other parts of Syria,” UNICEF said in a statement.  Syria’s war has killed over 370,000 people and displaced millions since beginning in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.


sputnik--2019-03-31--Turkish Military Retaliates as its Soldier Killed in Syria Mortar Attack - MoD

According to Ankara, Turkey's military retaliated after one of its soldiers had been killed and another one injured in a mortar attack in northwestern Syria.  The Turkish Defence Ministry stated that the attack was carried out by the Kurdish YPG militia, which has been fighting Daesh* in Syria mostly as part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, in the Afrin region.  "After the incident, targets identified as belonging to terrorists were subject to fire," the Turkish ministry said in a statement.  Last year, Turkey launched a military operation against the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin in the north of Aleppo province in Syria, fighting the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which constitute a part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Ankara views YPG as an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey.  *Daesh (also known as Islamic State, ISIS, ISIL, IS) is a terrorist group banned in numerous countries, including Russia


sputnik--2019-10-11--First Turkish Soldier Killed During Ankara's 'Operation Peace Spring' in Syria - Defence Ministry

The Turkish Defence Ministry stated on Friday that the first officer had been killed during the country's ongoing military operation against the de facto autonomous Kurdish region known as Rojava in northeastern Syria.  The ministry also reported that the number of "PKK-YPG terrorists" neutralised during the operation reached 277. On Thursday, the Turkish military said that it had struck 181 Kurdish targets during the course of its offensive and had killed at least 219 fighters from the de facto autonomous region's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the beginning of so-called Operation Peace Spring Wednesday with an eye to creating a safe zone near the Syrian-Turkish border, clearing up "terrorists" and ensuring a safe return for the Syrian refugees currently hosted in Turkey.  The territory on the Syrian side of the border is currently controlled by the Kurdish-led, formerly American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Ankara considers to be affiliated with the PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation in Turkey.  Meanwhile, local media have reported civilian casualties inflicted by Turkish weapons.


sputnik--2019-10-11--Second Turkish Officer Killed in Country's Offensive in Northern Syria - Defence Minister

According to the Defence Ministry, the number of neutralised Syrian militia fighters has reached 342.  Earlier in the day, Akar announced the first Turkish military loss in the operation.  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the launch of the offensive, dubbed Operation Peace Spring, in northeastern Syria on Wednesday. The operation targets the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Daesh*. Turkey views the SDF in Syria as an extension of the PKK, which has been classified by Ankara as a terrorist organization.  According to recent statements by the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party of Syria, dozens of civilians have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced since the start of the incursion.  *Daesh (ISIS, ISIL, IS, Islamic State) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and many other countries.


tass--2019-07-26--Over 100 civilians killed in Syria in past ten days UN

Over 100 civilians killed in Syria in past ten days — UN

"At least ten different locations (eight in Idlib and two in rural Aleppo) have experienced civilian casualties as a result of airstrikes in the past ten days alone, causing a minimum of 103 civilian deaths, including at least 26 children," she said.  GENEVA, July 26. /TASS/. More than 100 civilians have been killed in airstrikes in the Syrian provinces of Idlib and Aleppo in the past ten days, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement on Friday.  "These are civilian objects, and it seems highly unlikely, given the persistent pattern of such attacks, that they are all being hit by accident," Bachelet noted, pointing out that "intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes, and those who have ordered them or carried them out are criminally responsible for their actions."  Bachelet expressed concern that the war in Syria "is no longer on the international radar." "Now, airstrikes kill and maim significant numbers of civilians several times a week, and the response seems to be a collective shrug, with the Security Council paralyzed by the persistent failure of its five Permanent Members to agree to use their power and influence to stop the fighting and killing once and for all," she pointed out.  According to the UN high commissioner for human rights, "influential parties, including those that agreed to reduce hostilities as part of the de-escalation agreement, should urgently use their influence to halt the current military campaign and bring the warring parties back to the negotiating table." "It is essential that there is a cessation of hostilities in order to give the on-going political negotiations room to breathe. The alternative is just more mindless death and destruction in a war without end," Bachelet emphasized.  In accordance with a decision made by Russia, Iran and Turkey - the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire - de-escalation zones were set up in Syria in May 2017. They include the Idlib Province, some parts of its neighboring areas in Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces, Eastern Ghouta, as well as some areas in the Daraa and al-Quneitra provinces in southern Syria. Damascus took control of three of the four zones in 2014, but the zone covering the Idlib province and certain parts of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces is still controlled by terrorists from the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group (outlawed in Russia).


tass--2019-10-12--Eight civilians killed in shelling of Turkish city near border with Syria — media

ANKARA, October 11. /TASS/. At least eight civilians were killed in a shelling of the Turkish city of Nusaybin near the border with Syria, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.  According to the news agency, members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and People's Protection Units (YPG) used mortars to shell Nusaybin. Thirty-five people were also injured in the attack.  Ankara is currently conducting a military operation against the PKK and YPG to the east of the Euphrates river in Syria.  In total, at least 13 residents of Turkish cities were killed in shellings by the PKK and YPG since the start of the military operation, including eight people in Nusaybin, three in Akcakale, and two in Suruc.  On October 9, Ankara announced the launch of Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria, which began with airstrikes on Kurdish positions. The operation’s goal is to create a buffer zone along the Turkish border, where, according to Ankara, Syrian refugees residing in Turkey could return. Syria's SANA news agency slammed the operation as an act of aggression. The international community condemned Ankara’s actions.


thebeaverton--2019-08-21--New indie board game takes 105 hours to set up

TORONTO – Tired of playing board games that were over before he had a chance to grow a beard or kill a plant through neglect, indie board game developer Patrick O’Gorman has created a revolutionary new game that not only takes days to play, it also takes days to construct before any playing can begin.  “I wanted to focus on the part of board games everyone loves and other designers always overlook: the setup,” O’Gorman explained. “It’s a history based game, so it was important to me to make it as accurate as possible. Yes, battles are fun, but who doesn’t want to experience the thrill and challenge of carefully positioning 24000 pieces of artillery first?”  O’Gorman’s game also takes a page from video games and allows (indeed, forces) players to customize their game pieces before starting. Weapons, costumes, physical attributes, psychological profiles, and faintly recalled childhood experiences all have to be carefully configured. Since everything from hair colour to the genetic effects of generational trauma will lead to different game play outcomes, players are encouraged to take a few days to really think about the decisions they’re making.  “It’s not just players’ characters that determine game play, the game also depends on the players carefully charting their own astrological signs and including the results of a battery of medical tests,” O’Gorman said. “It really contributes to a sense that you aren’t just playing the game, you’re a part of it. Literally, because there is a significant amount of wood whittling that goes into customizing the pieces and blood is usually spilled.”  O’Gorman is currently working on a travel version of the game, but even the hardier version is so intricate players have been known to destroy days of setup by breathing too hard.  Sales of the game, which has a name so complicated it can’t be rendered in any written language, have been slow to start, but several players have said that even though it can take weeks to play to completion, it’s still faster and less frustrating than Monopoly.


thebeaverton--2019-08-28--Party guest has less fun board game for everyone to play next

CALEDON, ON – A sense of dread filled the air midway through Kayla Dissellia’s party as one attendee claimed they have a great game for everyone to play next. Up until that point, the casual games night had been full of fun social activities, though that ideal would soon be coming to an end as 26-year-old Paul Revaissliun began to unpack an obscenely large box filled with hundreds of tokens and graphs.  “We were having a lot of fun just having some drinks and playing silly games, but then Paul forced us all to place this weird map game no one likes,” explained party guest Alanah Tokami. “I don’t know why he thought we would enjoy this, one of the rules is no one can even speak until it’s their turn, which he keeps saying is essential to maintaining the realism of geopolitical tension.”  Despite all those in attendance, being perfectly content continuing to socialize over a game of Codenames, a lighthearted party game that is both simple and enjoyable; Paul decided that those in attendance would find more joy in the needlessly complicated game Hierarchy of Valor: Thrones of the Northern World. A game which comes packaged with a 400-page rulebook.  “This game is a bit confusing when you start, but once it gets going everyone will love it,” said Paul while setting up a scaled map of 1492 Europe across the living room floor. “So, everyone will control a different dynasty, each with their own unique currency. Depending on what cards you draw and how you roll the dice, that will determine whether your economy succeeds or fails, causing your currency to grow or decline in value. Now unlike some simple game like Risk there’s no actual combat, we must instead use our economic wits to win this war  Any hopes that this game may be fun were quickly dashed as soon as each player was handed a stack of graphs and charts that must be consulted before every turn. A note in the rulebook explained this was the 1.3 edition of the game, where the main patch note was a 0.34% nerf to cod farming which previously gave Portugal and Norway an unfair advantage, allowing either dynasty to end the game within a brisk seven hours.    Despite constant reassurances of enjoyment being merely on the horizon, the party was ultimately derailed and made objectively worse thanks to the introduction of this new game. It’s complicated mechanics, lack of social element, and a total misunderstanding of what makes for an enjoyable casual games night has brought down the energy in a once vibrant evening, according to sources.   Ultimately Paul would go on to handedly win the game during a 38 minute long turn that saw every other player gather in the kitchen and begin a side game of Truth or Dare Jenga.


thedailybeast--2019-05-08--Scouted 4 Party Board Games Everyone Whos Got Friends Should Own

Scouted: 4 Party Board Games Everyone Who’s Got Friends Should Own

I’ve been regularly playing board games for more than a decade but only recently really understood how great they can be in a social setting. After moving to Washington, D.C., in 2013 for work in my late 20s, I found myself in a city where I didn’t know anyone. Making friends was challenging, but I finally found my social sanctuary through a Friday night board gaming group in the bowels of an underground mall in nearby Crystal City (which might ring a bell as one of the cities where Amazon decided to plop down its second headquarters). It was through that group that I evolved into an actual group of friends, sending me into social circles ranging from monthly dinner club socialites to improvisers and later rugby players.  All that to say: I know the power of the party game intimately and have stocked up on some favorites to have when folks are over or as the very reason to have them by. Important is the ease with which anyone can learn the game, the fun of playing it (obviously), and the social interaction inherent in the game itself. The more a game has you talk to the people around you, whether in a friendly or competitive sense, the more you’ll get to know them. If you want to take your boardgame pantry to a new level or just want to get started playing around with social games that are perfect for friends, I put together a few of my favorites for you to look through. Importantly, you won’t find any of the humdrum, forever-lasting boardgames of yore in this list, like Monopoly (which has a Game of Thrones edition, in case you were curious) or Risk* (which, sigh, also has a Game of Thrones edition).  Catan, $43 on Amazon: The mother of contemporary social board games, everyone’s heard (or should’ve heard) about the ubiquity of this game. It’s easy, colorful, and fun — pitting you against your friends or family in a race to dominate a randomly put together universe. You do your best to cultivate widely spread resources — like wood and wheat — in order to build roads, towns, and cities. Cooperation and competition work in tandem here, allowing you to forge, break, and negotiate allegiances and blockades. For fun, time how long it takes before the first time someone unwittingly asks the groups who’s got wood and everyone inevitably giggles. My favorite expansions include Seafarers, Cities & Knights, and Explorers & Pirates. I also just find out minutes ago about a standalone Game of Thrones Catan edition, which is now in my buy list.  Betrayal At House On The Hill, $30 on Amazon: This mostly cooperative game pits you in a haunted house whose door slams shut behind you, forcing you to explore. You actually draw rooms from a deck and lay them down, slowly building a three-story house full of traps and hidden items. Around each corner could lay a haunt, which triggers a die roll that eventually triggers the second phase of the game, by which one of the dozens and dozens of storylines turns one of the players into a monster, ghoul, or plain old bad person, who betrays the rest of the group and tries to beat them. This game delivers again and again with new storylines so you can bring it out on any evening, and the game explains everything simply and with lots of flair and lore. Some of the storylines are duds, but it’s an overall hit whenever I’ve played it. The Widow’s Walk expansion is a must and fans of Baldur’s Gate have their own edition.  Dixit, $32 on Amazon: This game will forever be closest to my heart since it was one of the first I ever played in that Crystal City basement and because I befriended one of my closest friends over it. It’s also a strange game. In order, each player chooses one of the abstract and imaginative drawings in their hand — each card is nothing but a unique drawing — and announce a clue for it in whatever form they want, be it a phrase, a dance, or a limerick. Then things get stranger. For the whimsy of the personal touch, this game wins my undying adoration, and expansions are really just extra sets of drawings, like Daydreams, Journey, and Harmonies.  Seasons, $38 on Amazon: One of my long-time favorites, you spend the hour or so it takes to play this game flying through three years of seasons, the cycling of each increasing and reducing respective abundances of resources. You use said resources, like water and earth, to gather energy and win the game — but action cards let you both enhance your own progress and inhibit the others’ endeavors. While competitive, the cartoonish, light, and earthy game is great for unwinding — and great for wine. The Enchanted Kingdom expansion is great for some extra versatility and artwork.  *I have played many editions of Risk and enjoyed them greatly — my favorite, in order, are the 2210 A.D. edition, the Star Wars edition, and the Legacy edition. I don’t think these make for good party games and some of them have a pretty steep learning curve.  Scouted is internet shopping with a pulse. Follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter for even more recommendations and exclusive content. Please note that if you buy something featured in one of our posts, The Daily Beast may collect a share of sales.


theguardianuk--2019-04-18--Its supposed to be fun Ed Miliband helps exhibition secure socialist board game

'It's supposed to be fun': Ed Miliband helps exhibition secure socialist board game

Life for the young Ed Miliband was not always like that of other children. As the sons of the Marxist historian Ralph, the former Labour leader and his older brother David grew up in a household where socialist principles extended even to the games they played.  One game in particular has been described by Miliband as “fun for all the socialist family”, an anti-capitalist alternative to Monopoly called Class Struggle, which describes itself as a battle between “Socialism (workers win) [and] barbarism (capitalists win)”.  More than three decades after the board game was first released in the US, and its creator, the politics professor Bertell Ollman, sent a copy to his friend Ralph Miliband for his young sons to enjoy, a copy of Class Struggle has gone on display at the British Museum, thanks to the intervention of the younger Miliband brother.  A new British Museum exhibition, Playing with Money, aims to tell the story of the history of toy money, from the early 20th-century board games which first featured banknotes to more recent examples, including Game of Thrones coins, and tiny Euro notes designed for Lego figurines.  Included in the exhibits are several dozen versions of Monopoly, which was originally developed as the Landlord’s Game in 1903 as an intended critique of US land tax, but which has since spawned more than a thousand different versions.  The museum’s curators were having trouble tracking down a copy of Class Struggle, however, until someone heard Ed Miliband’s podcast Reasons to be Cheerful, in which he mentioned that he had played the game as a child, prompting a listener to loan him a copy of the game. The curators contacted the MP and his parliamentary team, who helped secure the loan of the game to the exhibition.  Miliband told the Guardian: “It’s time to challenge the monopoly of Monopoly – every family should play Class Struggle at least once.” The board had 75 squares, he said, “and you roll at the beginning to work out whether you get to be the worker, the capitalist, the small businessperson, the shopkeeper or the student. You are then supposed to form alliances between the different classes and somebody is supposed to win the game eventually”.  Though he confessed he did not actually play the game with David much as a child, he said: “I think it’s supposed to be fun. It does bear this resemblance to Monopoly: it takes a very long time, but then the class struggle does take a long time.”  Tom Hockenhull, the curator of modern money at the museum, said it was a new kind of exhibition for his department. “Toy money is an integral part of the discourse of growing up. It’s about how we learn to operate and understand the world through our experiences in playing with money, playing with board games.”  Many games, he said, had originally been produced with an educational or satirical agenda. Nineteenth-century board games were often designed with a moral and educational purpose: “you land on a square and are read out some moral lesson, such as don’t be idle.” The 20th century had seen “a clear shift, almost a revolution in games design, where games start to feature money. So that, actually, acquisition or preservation of wealth becomes the main function and purpose”.  Other exhibits in the free display include the stockmarket game Stock Ticker, the horse racing game Totopoly, and the relatively recent Black Friday, of which Hockenhull said: “The goal is to predict when the stock market will crash … which is easier in the game than in real life.”


theguardianuk--2019-04-20--The board games turning science into playtime

When Elizabeth Hargrave created a board game inspired by her love of birdwatching, she had no expectation it would become a tabletop phenomenon. Yet Wingspan sold out within a week of its release in January, earned glowing reviews and was the subject of a New York Times article.  “It’s just so far beyond what you could ever hope for, right?” says Hargrave, a health policy researcher in Washington DC. Given that most modern board games have geek-friendly fantasy, science fiction or historical themes, she admits she was uncertain as to “how it would go with a theme so far outside the mainstream”. But that theme “got people really excited”, as it turned out.  It’s one that is rooted in solid science, too. Self-confessed “spreadsheet geek” Hargrave dived deep into her research to make sure each of the game’s bird cards bore close relation to its real-world counterpart, from the acorn woodpecker to the yellow-rumped warbler. You don’t need to be into birds to enjoy it, but you’ll come away from a game of Wingspan knowing far more about them. “I want it to be accidentally educational,” says Hargrave. “I wasn’t trying to make a game that’s teaching actively, but more drawing on the fact that people connect to these things because they’re real things in the world around them.”  Wingspan is part of a new wave of Stem-inspired (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)board and card games that has been building over the past five or six years, with themes including cell biology, evolution, epidemics and the colonisation of Mars. While the connection between science and gaming isn’t new, it has become far more innovative and elegant.  “EduGames” have been around for a long time, though according to Sam Illingworth, senior lecturer in science communication at Manchester Metropolitan University, they are “basically crap, normally designed by people who have never played games before and think, ‘Let’s do a reskin of Monopoly!’”  While their science is sound, Illingworth says, most EduGames are forgettably dull to play, thus rendering them pointless.  It was a problem that John Coveyou, a designer based in St Louis, Missouri, was keen to solve. A former chemistry teacher, Coveyou even went as far as to form a company, Genius Games, devoted to player-friendly Stem games. After realising how “intimidated” many of his students were by scientific concepts, and noticing how he and his gaming friends would remember “useless information about sci-fi worlds and things that didn’t exist”, he reasoned that well-crafted strategy games would be ideal for making science approachable. So far, Coveyou has designed and published games about ionic bonding, covalent bonding, protein building, atom building, DNA and cell biology.  “It’s really fun to take the science and try to make a game out of it,” he says. “I will sometimes spend weeks on research, then mapping out what all of the components and the processes in the game look like and how they interplay.” He will never, he insists, take “liberties” with the science for the sake of the gameplay. “We can’t do anything we want, right? We can’t say, ‘Let’s just make the zombie have a chainsaw now.’ We go back to the textbook to find a way to make the science match what we’re trying to do.”  To Illingworth, who regularly uses board games to engage the public with science concepts, a great Stem game isn’t one that bombards you with information; rather, it’s one that “elegantly communicates the key messages through its mechanics”. He cites Terraforming Mars, designed by Swedish science teacher Jacob Fryxelius, as a great example. “What board games do really well is they encourage you to process the facts you learn in your own way – to join the dots,” says Illingworth. “When you play Terraforming Mars, you think to yourself: ‘Wow, terraforming Mars is really difficult. Why do we want to do that when we’ve got our own planet to look after?’”  The Stem trend in gaming shows no sign of abating. “I just finished a game about monarch butterfly migration,” says Hargrave, who is also working on a game based on a 1950s Soviet genetics experiment involving the domestication of foxes. Coveyou’s next release, meanwhile, is Periodic: A Game of the Elements, to tie in with the 150th anniversary of the periodic table.  The inspiration science provides to game designers is endless, Coveyou says. “There are thousands of different ideas out there, and they already provide you with this amazing framework. There’s an outrageous amount of science concepts. The sky is the limit.”  Coveyou’s most successful game to date, Cytosis is a worker-placement game, which means each player has a set of “worker” pawns they place on the board in specific locations to trigger different actions or rewards.  Here, that board is a colourful depiction of a human cell, and those “workers” are placed on organelles, where they can collect carbohydrates or ATP, or purchase cell-component cards. Their resources can then be used to build enzymes, hormones and hormone receptors, or to help detoxify the cell, all of which earn the player “health points”; at the game’s end, whoever has the most health points wins.  As the box-front boasts, Cytosis is so faithful to the real processes that occur in a human cell, it’s been endorsed by The Journal of Cell Science.  According to the scientific journal Nature, this game’s evolution theme isn’t just tacked on, “it drives play”. By collecting and combining different trait cards (such as Hard Shell, Horns and Carnivore), players compete to combat starvation and predation, and win by creating the most adaptable and populous species.  Each species is represented by a small player board which tracks their size and population, while food tokens are collected for points at the game’s end. With 129 trait cards, there’s a lot of variety – around 12,000 potential species to create – and you can split your play style between spawning peaceful plant-eaters or creating carnivores to feed on other players’ beasts. Though there is always the danger that with no other valid prey on the table, your carnivore may have to feed on your own plant-eaters.  Matt Leacock’s disease-combating game Pandemic is a hugely successful title, which has been recast several times since its publication in 2008.  One recent iteration is Pandemic: Iberia, which switches from the original’s modern global setting to the Iberian peninsula of 1848. Each player must take a specific role – nurse, sailor or railwayman, for example – and travel around Iberia, cooperating to find cures for four diseases: malaria, typhus, yellow fever and cholera.  Sam Illingworth has used this game to help teach schoolchildren about the different causes of disease and the importance of water purification, but he says Pandemic also has “a brilliant central message that it’s not just one scientist in a lab, fighting disease, it’s lots of people working together”.  This isn’t just a great science game, it’s a great game full stop, and is currently ranked the fourth best in the world by hobbyist gamer website BoardGameGeek.  Each player takes the role of a 24th-century corporation, whose efforts combine with those of the other players to make Mars habitable through raising the temperature (to 8C), ocean coverage (to 9% of the planet’s surface) and oxygen level (to 14%).  At the same time, they are each seeking to earn the highest “Terraforming Rating” by building infrastructure on the planet via tile placement on an accurately rendered Mars map, and executing successful projects by playing project cards, which synergise in many different and rewarding ways.  Few games look more appealing when spread out on your table than Wingspan. It features a “bird feeder” dice tower, dozens of pastel-coloured egg miniatures and 170 cards, each with vibrant artwork and deeply researched information on birds. But there is far more to this game than impressive plumage.  Each player has his or her own board, representing a habitat divided into woodland, grassland and wetland, on to which they must play bird cards, each with a different point value. These birds can also earn extra points through laying eggs, storing food and activating their powers (for example, a bird of prey can allow you to draw a card from the deck and, if its wingspan is under a certain size, keep it for a bonus point at the game’s end).  It’s elegant, easy to learn and a joy to play; it deserves to be a hit.


theindependent--2019-11-05--12 best family board games that provide hours of fun

Let’s face it, today’s little digital natives can be difficult to tear away from their screens. But if there’s one thing virtually guaranteed to get them gleefully ditching their gadgets, it’s got to be a board game.  The secret to finding the right game for your family is choosing something that is fun to play at every age. This is a tough task, especially with kids at different ages and grandparents joining in, but the best kind of games will allow everyone to muck in, as younger siblings can be on an adult team but still enjoy the fun.  Check the age rating on games, and factor in things like each family member’s attention span and their level of interest in the theme or premise of the game.  If everyone grows tired of a board game quickly and it gets consigned to a dusty corner of the house, it hasn’t done its job. All the games on this list are ones that our testers wanted to play again and again. Anything that felt tiresome after a few goes didn’t make the list, and a few games which had novelty value that didn’t last have also been left out.  You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.  This modern twist on the ultimate family board game comes with an interactive Mr Monopoly banking unit, which is voice-activated and handles all of the game’s transactions. He keeps tabs on players’ money and properties so there’s no cash or cards to think about. It’s a lot of fun but we did initially miss some of the elements of the original game – there are fewer streets, for starters – and Mr Monopoly didn’t seem to understand some of our testers’ accents. Nevertheless, after a few goes this quickly became one of the most popular games among the pile we tried. We’re total converts.  Billed as a card game for “people who are into kittens, explosions, laser beams and sometimes goats”, this is apparently the most-backed project in Kickstarter history. Players take it in turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten and loses the game. Yes, it’s that simple. Technically it’s a card game rather than a board game, if you want to be fussy, but we couldn’t leave this out – the whole family loved it. It’s suitable for two to five players.  This is a fun collaborative game in which you have to work together as criminal masterminds to crack the vault and release the loot hidden inside before the alarm goes off. There are six different levels of gameplay which get increasingly difficult, so it doesn’t get boring. It’s tricky to find a game that both a six-year-old and a teenager enjoy, but this ticks that box. You get an electronic safe as well as the money and gold bars, plus accessories including a drill, explosives and a laptop.  This high-speed guessing game is a bit like charades. It pits teams of players against each other to see how many alliterative phrases they can guess per 90-second round. Clarendon is an independent board and card game publisher, so this is a good buy if you like the idea of supporting an independent business. Plus, it’ll provide endless hours of fun.  The aim of this puzzle game is to help allocate a seat on the flight to as many passengers as possible. It’s a fairly intricate game, so we had to play a few rounds before we really got the hang of things, but it’s basically a colour matching puzzle affair. You take it in turns to choose cards which detail various passenger seating patterns, which you then need to fit into the plane.  Suitable for one to four players, there are three levels of rules so you can change the complexity of the game to suit the age of those playing. There’s lots to keep you entertained in this game – the score system is a baggage carousel and the artwork is really engaging.  This fast-paced word game is all about racing against the other players to get rid of all your tiles by creating words, swapping letters and even attacking other players’ words. We tested a special edition Harry Potter version of the original game with four spell tiles which increase your chances of winning the game. There’s a “polyjuice potion” tile which can be used as any letter and if you can spell the word snitch, you win that round. We love that this comes in its own canvas bag as it’s ideal for travelling.  Another bank heist board game, this one is all about one player being the bank while the others are bank robbers who have to try and plan a heist, trick the guards and steal the loot. The bank, meanwhile, has to try and stop the robbers before they make off with the contents of the vault. It’s suitable for two to four players and it’s essentially an entertaining game of strategy.  The first board game to be powered by Google Assistant, this is a multi-activity quiz game that’s always evolving. There are a series of games you can play, all of which involve challenges based on intuition, fun, creativity and knowledge. You can play it online with the Google Assistant (download the app free from the Google Play Store or the App Store) or play it offline – but online is more fun.  It’s suitable for three to six players but online play is for ages 16+ as it requires users to have a Google account. It took us a while to get this set up and it’s definitely a bit tricky for younger family members but pre-teens and teenagers loved showing off their extensive knowledge.  This is a classic strategy game that every family should own. Granted, it might not capture your eye amid the brightly coloured board games on sale but it quickly became a favourite for family games nights in our household. Participants play a card from their hand and then place a chip on a corresponding space on the game board. When you have five in a row, you’ve got a sequence. You can block your opponents by removing their chips.  This was an unexpected hit with a houseful of teens. It’s essentially a guessing game based around storytelling – one player, the storyteller, chooses an image from the six cards in their hand and makes up a sentence based on it, telling the other players without showing their card. The other players then choose a card from their hands which best matches the sentence and gives those to the storyteller.  The storyteller’s cards are then shuffled and shown and each player has to guess which picture was the storyteller’s. It’s hard to explain and we weren’t convinced when we read the instructions, but it kept a rowdy crowd quiet for ages so it’s a definite winner.  Orchard Toys counting mountain, suitable for four to eight-year-olds: £10.25, Orchard Toys  This fun counting game was a huge hit with our six-year-old tester who loved putting her adding skills to the test and trying to be the first to scale the mountain. You can make the game more complicated by using the yeti cards, which can send you back down the mountain, but our tester didn’t fancy that. Much less chance of winning.  This comes in packaging that looks like a box of doughnuts which fans of Bake Off will probably enjoy. It’s a bakery themed card game whereby you have to keep an eye on the cards and race to grab the corresponding doughnut if you spot a match. You can make the game more complex with action cards, and the winner gets to wear a head baker’s hat.  Monopoly voice banking wins our best buy for its fun, fresh take on a classic, and Exploding Kittens takes second spot as it appeals to all ages.  IndyBest product reviews are unbiased, independent advice you can trust. On some occasions, we earn revenue if you click the links and buy the products, but we never allow this to bias our coverage. The reviews are compiled through a mix of expert opinion and real-world testing.  Black Friday 2019 is nearly here. Read our guide on how to get the best deals.


theindependent--2019-11-25--Playing board games 'helps keep your memory sharp in old age'

Playing board games may help elderly people keep their memories sharp, a study has claimed.  Those who regularly played games such as chess and bingo were more likely to have maintained their thinking skills, researchers found.  For the study, University of Edinburgh academics assessed 1,091 individuals, all of whom were born in 1939.  The participants’ general cognitive function was noted at the age of 11 and 70, and then a series of cognitive tests were conducted at the ages of 70, 73, 76 and 79.  At the ages of 70 and 76, the respondents were asked how often they took part in activities such as playing cards, chess and bingo and crosswords.  Researchers then tried to determine if there was any link between the games they played and their cognitive abilities.  The study, which was published in The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences, found that those who began playing more games in their later years were less likely to exhibit a decline in thinking skills.  This was made especially apparent with regards to the participant’s memory function and thinking speed.  The researchers concluded that their findings could help establish what sorts of activities may benefit our cognitive abilities in old age.  Dr Drew Altschul, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, explained: “For those in their 70s or beyond, another message seems to be that playing non-digital games may be a positive behaviour in terms of reducing cognitive decline.”  Professor Ian Deary, director of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, said the research is “narrowing down the sorts of activities that might help to keep people sharp in older age”.  “It’d be good to find out if some of these games are more potent than others,” Professor Deary added. “We also point out that several other things are related to better cognitive ageing, such as being physically fit and not smoking.”  Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said that the findings of the study are “further evidence” that the decline of thinking skills in old age “doesn’t have to be inevitable”.  “The connection between playing board games and other non-digital games later in life and sharper thinking and memory skills adds to what we know about steps we can take to protect our cognitive health, including not drinking excess alcohol, being active and eating a healthy diet,” said Ms Abrahams.


thesun--2019-01-12--What time is The Chase on ITV TODAY who is The Beast and is there a board game

What time is The Chase on ITV TODAY, who is The Beast and is there a board game?

THE Chase is coming back to ITV this afternoon for another fun-filled episode, featuring a team of challengers hoping to take on a brainy quiz mastermind intent on blocking their path to big bucks.  Here is everything you need to know about the popular teatime show, its host Bradley Walsh and the infamous Chasers...  The Chase will be on ITV this afternoon at 5pm.  It goes head-to-head with the likes of Final Score on BBC One, Escape to the Country on BBC Two and A Place in the Sun: Winter on Channel 4 in the early-evening ratings war.  The Chasers are the quiz geniuses contestants go head-to-head with to win a cash prize.  The Beast is one of them - his real name, however, is Mark Labbett.  Joining him are Anne Hegerty (nicknamed The Governess), Shaun Wallace (The Dark Destroyer) and Paul Sinha (The Sinnerman).  The Chasers are back and as intimidating as ever  Yes there is - and it's actually pretty popular.  In fact, the game has a 4 star rating on Amazon.  It costs £15.99 and is suitable for people aged 8 years and older.  The teatime game show sees four plucky contestants go up against one of Britain’s best quiz brains in a bid to win thousands of pounds.  The teams compete against the chaser, one of six know-it-all quizzers, in a bid to keep the money that they win.  The Chase has amassed a huge cult following and is ITV's most successful daytime show ever.  As well as catching the show on ITV at 5pm, there are some hilarious highlights that see host Bradley Walsh laugh uncontrollably at some of the questions.  Actor, singer and game show host Bradley Walsh is the presenter of The Chase and Cash Trapped.  He's beloved by fans for his outbursts of laughter at some of the dafter questions on the show, which have helped it go viral a number of times and sealed its cult following of regular viewers.  Before The Chase, he also presented Supermarket Sweep in the 1990's, and the National Lottery from 2004. Besides that he's had roles in Coronation Street, Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, and ITV’s crime drama Law and Order: UK.  Bradley has been plagued by accusations of being drunk on the job while hosting The Chase, but recently revealed he actually has a medical condition that makes him look like he's had a few too many.  He revealed on This Morning that he suffers from blepharitis, which makes his eyes look red and swollen as if he has been on the booze.  He said: "I have to take [one pill] a day for it or I really struggle. I am going to need my eyes operated on at some point to sort it out.  "So many times, people have commented on [how I look]. But they don't realise. If I take [medication] though, I'm fine."  Blepharitis is a chronic eye condition which causes itchy, sore and swollen eyelids, and Bradley has been suffering with it since he was a teenager.  He had to deny being drunk during an appearance on weekend cookery show Sunday Brunch late last year.  Viewers flocked to Twitter to ask if the TV star had been boozing, but he later insisted he was sober.


thesun--2019-02-14--Play our saucy board game to get steamy in the bedroom this Valentines Day

Play our saucy board game to get steamy in the bedroom this Valentine’s Day

WE’VE got the perfect gift for any of you wanting to put the spark back in the bedroom this Valentine’s Day – a saucy version of Snakes & Ladders.  All you need is a dice, a couple of tiddlywinks . . . and no inhibitions.  Climb the ladders and slide down the snakes, acting out the sexy forfeits as you go.  You might end up having your partner lick chocolate sauce from your body. Scaling one of the ladders could mean you have to act out six different sex positions in 60 seconds.  The aim of the game is to get your counter to the finish line first to win a gourmet dinner – cooked by your partner, the naked chef.  Whatever happens, you won’t be bored with this bawdy board game.


thesun--2019-11-01--Best Christmas board games for 2019: For families, children, teams and solo players

CHRISTMAS is drawing near, which means shoppers are desperately hunting for the best board games to while away the hours over the festive period.  While Monopoly is a nation's favourite game for all the family to enjoy, there are tonnes of other options.  Whether you are looking for games for just kids, or the family, there is something for everyone.  Game night has also become hugely popular among friends and colleagues, especially when a drink or two is involved.  While some may be looking for wild drinking games ahead of a night out on the town, others may prefer trivia games to test their knowledge.  Sun Selects have found the best board games to suit everyone's needs and budgets.  This article and featured products have been independently chosen by Sun journalists. It contains links which are ads, and if you click a link and buy a product we will earn revenue.  Monopoly is the ultimate board game everyone knows and loves.  Put your bargaining and investment skills to the test with this buy, which will guarantee fun for hours on end. • Monopoly for £17 from Argos - buy here  Don't want to let your children loose in the kitchen just yet, then this is the perfect solution.  Treat the little ones in your life to the Crazy Chef's Game to teach your children about different foods.  This creation is a huge hit with customers who have rated it five stars. One review read: "Great learning game as it aids memory." • (AD) Orchard Toys Crazy Chefs Game for £6.80 from Amazon - buy here  Whether you are wanting to have a laugh with your pals or family, Game for Fame is for you.  This board game includes a range of games, from tongue twisters, to slow motion and charades, which makes for hours of fun and giggles. • (AD) Game For Fame for £20 from Amazon - buy here  Is Santa Claus real? Put your festive knowledge to the test with Lakeland's True or False game.  The set comes complete with pads and questions, and will no doubt get the brain ticking after you've filled your stomachs with roast dinner. • True or False Christmas Quiz Game for £7.99 from Lakeland - buy here  Put your film knowledge to the test over Christmas with this Blockbuster movie game, which has been hailed a must play by customers.  The game has received glowing reviews from shoppers, as it is perfect for all film buffs and is perfect for up to 12 players. • (AD) Big Potato Blockbuster Game: The Movie Board Game for £19.99 from Amazon - buy here  Looking for other bargain buys to help you on your way? Sun Selects has everything you need.  If you're on the hunt for even more bargain buys for your home, check out our dedicated home section.  Want to continue your shopping spree and find the best dressing gowns for men and women to snuggle up in on the weekend, we've got you covered.  This article and any featured products have been independently chosen by The Sun journalists. All recommendations within the article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click a link and buy a product we may earn revenue: this helps to support The Sun, and in no way affects our recommendations.


thesun--2019-11-08--Beat the boredom on winter nights by picking up some bargain board games — plus win £50k in the Sun

Beat the boredom on winter nights by picking up some bargain board games — plus win £50k in the Sun Savers Raffle

ARE you looking for tips for a fun night in?  Now the evenings are dark and chilly, I am much less likely to make plans to go out. But that does not mean Horlicks and bed. Instead, it is the perfect time to host a games night. If you fancy following suit, these ideas will help make your bash a success — and they will not take a gamble with your bank account . . . • DO NOT GET BOARD: You will find deals on classic board games at Smyths. Monopoly is down from £21.99 to £16.99 and Mouse Trap is reduced from £23.99 to £14.99. Buckaroo is now £12.99, RRP £16.99. There is also a two-for-£10 offer on games such as Bingo and Word Stax at The Works, usually £7 each.   SAVE: £9 on Mouse Trap • WILD CARD: Get a pack of £1 playing cards at Wilko and look up the rules for Spoons or Crazy Eights. They are two of my favourites. If you are a quiz show fan, The Chase cards are £4 at B&M — £1.99 less than at John Lewis. Head to sendit.co.uk for a £9.99 poker set. It is much cheaper than Argos’ £25 version.   SAVE: £15.01 on a poker game • SWEET DEAL: Sillier games include the After Eight challenge, which involves you having to get a chocolate from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands. Poundland’s £1 Mint Nights are a great After Eight dupe, £2 at Waitrose. You will already know how to play musical chairs, two truths and a lie and Mr and Mrs – these cost nothing but your imagination.   SAVE: £1 on mint chocolates • APPY DAYS: There are loads of great party game apps out there, most of which are free, but have in-app purchases. I love Psych!, Who Can’t Draw? and Just Dance Now. The latter is a digital dance mat — a physical one would set you back £24.99 at very.co.uk.   SAVE: £24.99 on mat • QUESTION MASTER: Pub quizzes are fun, but you usually end up spending at least £10 on drinks. Luckily, there are ready-made free quizzes online._   SAVE: Around £10 on drinks • PRICES correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability.  THE Even Bigger Night In deal at dominos.co.uk is simply dough-licious. You get two large pizzas, potato wedges, cookies and large soft drink for £28.99, usually £52.95.   SAVE: £23.96  SNACKS are key to a great games night, so get to Asda for a share size bag of sea salt & balsamic vinegar Kettle Chips for £1, down from £1.99.   SAVE: 99p    KP Dry Roasted Peanuts will go down a treat, pick up a 415g pack at Sainsbury’s for £2.50, down from £3.50.   SAVE: £1  SAVE 20 per cent on all Nerf, Play-Doh and Power Rangers toys at argos.co.uk with code PLAY20.  Play now to win £50,000 on the Sun Savers Raffle  YOU could win £50,000 in our Sun Raffle – just by picking up The Sun paper.  Whether you’re saving for a new car or have started preparing for Christmas, we know just how expensive life can be.  That is why we’re trying to help by giving away £50,000 to one lucky reader every month in our Raffle.  To enter, download the Sun Savers app or sign up at sunsavers.co.uk. Then, opt in to each month’s Sun Raffle by clicking “Yes!” when prompted and start collecting the codes printed daily inside the paper – scanning in the app or entering online.  Today’s code is on Page 20 of the paper. Make sure you collect and enter your code today as the next giveaway is Saturday, November 30.  With every code you enter, you will earn a ticket into that month’s £50k Raffle.  There is no limit to how many tickets you can collect per month, so as November has just begun now is the perfect time to start entering codes to give yourself the best chance of winning.  Not already a Sun Savers member? Find out all about the great treats and rewards that you can earn with Sun Savers in the paper.  YOU can get FREE cash with super Sun Savers just for buying your favourite paper.  Our brilliant new rewards club will pay back our most loyal readers.  Just pick up the paper each day to collect your Sun Savers codes and we will GIVE YOU £5 when you have collected 28.  This isn’t a one-off and there is no limit to how much cash you can save.  For every 28 codes you enter, we will give you a fiver. So over the course of a year, that could add up to £65.  We are keeping it super-simple. You don’t have to enter codes from consecutive days, so don’t worry if you forget a day or two.  Download our easy Sun Savers app and quickly scan your code using your smartphone. Or go online and enter your code at sunsavers.co.uk.  To get you on your way, join today and we will put a bonus £1 in your Sun Savers wallet tomorrow. And the good news doesn’t stop with free cash.  With Sun Savers, we give you the best hacks, deals and tips to save money every single day.  TO JOIN: Don’t worry, folks — joining takes just 30 seconds, in three steps. • PRICES correct at time of going to press. Deals/offers subject to availability.  GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk


thesun--2019-11-26--Playing cards or board games may protect against dementia, researchers find

PLAYING cards or board games may protect against dementia.  Researchers found pensioners who played bridge, chess and Monopoly were more likely to stay mentally sharp.  They analysed data on 1,091 people who sat tests on memory, problem solving and thinking speed.  The tests started when they were 70 and then were repeated every three years until they were 79.  Those who played “non-digital” games, such as bingo, dominoes or crosswords suffered less decline in brain power.  This was particularly the case for memory and thinking speed, the University of Edinburgh study found.  The average IQ score of pensioners who played games several times a week was one to three points higher.  Results took into account other potentially influential factors, such as wealth, education and exercise.  Professor Ian Deary said: “We are narrowing down the sorts of activities that might help to keep people sharp in older age.  “It’d be good to find out if some of these games are more potent than others.”  Age UK’s Caroline Abrahams said: “Even though some people’s thinking skills can decline as they get older, this research is further evidence it doesn’t have to be inevitable. • GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk