This wargame was designed by O’Farell & Robinson and printed by Hely’s of Dublin in the 1940s (most likely the early 1940s). It may very well be a prototype. The game was first owned by a Dublin printer in the 1940s and remained within the same family until 2022.
Similar to some other wargames of the era, the objective is to capture the enemy’s GHQ using a variety of combat units while defending your own GHQ. In WARCHESS the units are comprised of infantry, tanks, artillery, forts (which remain stationary once placed), trucks, and trains. The latter two allow you to move eligible units a greater distance. WARCHESS is played on a game board showing a map of Western Europe with square “hexes” created using a vertical and horizontal grid.
Contemporary games to this include Dennis Wheatley’s Invasion (1938) and Campaign (1935) by Wills & Hepworth Ltd. Campaign would be the most similar in play, with WARCHESS being more complicated due to the availability of more unit types.