Adam Thorp
Sweden
"I find that 'pinpoint' accuracy during a bombing run increases proportionally with the amount of munitions used."
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This is an after-action report of a game of the full Third World War (all four boxes) that me and some friends played earlier this year.
Spring of 1990. The Berlin Wall never fell, and the borderlands between the East and the West in Europe is one of the most heavily militarised regions of the world. A network of alliances guarantees that a conflict quickly will spread around the world. The only thing missing is a spark ...
That spark comes from the Middle-East when Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran days and leaves a power vacuum in the country. The USA fear an oil-rich Soviet satellite state on the Persian Gulf, and the Soviet Union will never accept a close US ally on their southern border.
NATO: Adam Thorp, Jens Svensson
Warsaw Pact: Pär Norén, Love Jansson
(We drew our diplomatic cards randomly.)
The initial setup around the Persian Gulf
1. The USA draws its blank card, the USSR plays "Arms for Iraq"
America stays passive (political paralysis in the White House?), the Soviet Union hopes for an ally in Iraq.
2. The US plays "Arms for the Mujaheddin", the USSR plays "Support Iranian Communists"
Both power realise the advantage of having allies within the borders of Iran. The US hope that the Mujaheddin will support them as they did in Afghanistan, and the Soviets throw their support behind the local communist party.
3. The US plays "Support an independent Kurdistan", the USSR plays "Support the Tudeh"
The US grab the kurds, to the dismay of Turkey. Iraq also frowns at this and are now a single step away from joining the USSR. At the same time, the Soviet Union support the Tudeh according to the principle of "Why settle for one communist party, when you can have two?" Saudi-Arabia joins the US. An air regiment of F-5s is never wrong, but Washington is not overly enthusiastic over a bunch of 1-1-3 units with "limited military capacity".
4. The US plays "Arms for Iraq", the USSR plays "Support an independent Kurdistan"
The US State Department realises that they are about to lose Iraq and shamelessly bribe Saddam. The Soviets make a statement showing their support for the Kurds but fail to realise that that train has already left the station. Iraq is immediately much more friendly with Uncle Sam.
5. Saudi Diplomacy, Denounce Israel
Both sides suck up to their friends a little and bicker with each other. The crisis worsens when the Syrians announce that they are joining the USSR in "the struggle against the imperialistic capitalism".
6. The US plays "Covert support for Iranian Army leaders", the USSR plays "Syrian Intervention"
The US get down and dirty with the Iranian army, while Syria goes to war. Unfortunately, the latter have nothing to go to war with, which is a bit of a mood breaker. The Tudeh plays their impressive forces (three 1-1-2 units) behind the Soviet struggle for freedom, while the Knesset send a note to the US State Department that they are prepared to put forces at the disposal of the US. Washingon relations with the Islamic government, which have been cordial so far, quickly sour and Teheran starts exchanging letters with Moscow again.
7. "Alert the RDF", "Support the Islamic Government"
In his State of the Union, President Bush announces that he has given instructions to send "military advisors" to the Persian Gulf to "observe" the situation. US Marine Corps units arrive in the Persian Gulf, but the Omani are cranky and refuse to allow them entry so the marines have to stay in Saudi-Arabia. The Iran government quickly move towards the Soviet bloc when the latter even announce their support for them. The Centrist party and the Iranian Army joins the US however, as does Jordania. A civil war in Iran is looming on the horison.
8. The US plays "Jordanian Intervention", the USSR plays "Arms for the Muhahideen"
The Jordanians see an opportunity to settle some grudges with their Syrian rivals and unleash their two divisions. Soviet diplomats in Iran have noticed that the Mujahideen has cautiously been inching towards their part of the political debate during the past weeks and ask Moscow to encourage this "improvement in attitude". The US and the Jordanians conduct air strikes against the Syrians, but their anti-air defences frighten off the "imperialist planes".
9. The US plays "Invade", the USSR plays "Mobilize southern military districts"
American forces land in Iran. A little over half of the Iranian army rebels and cheer for the yankees. Heavy American air attacks obliterate the goverment loyalists near the Persian gulf, but some "blue-on-blue" fire events occur as the US units run afoul of of UXO and damaged roads. Heated discussions follow among the Joint Chiefs of Staff concerning inter-service cooperation. The 82. Airborne Division attempts a paradrop at Esfahan, but is driven away by Iranian triple-A defences. The Islamic government of Iran, with their backs to the wall following the events of the past weeks, ask the Soviet Union for assistance, and STAVKA orders a mobilisation of the southern military districts when they realise that they are losing control of the situation.
American B-52 Stratofortresses bomb the Syrians, but Soviet-built AA systems manage to reduce the bombing raids to "only" 5 dice.
American and Saudi air units conduct air strikes in preparation for the landings. Friendly units suffer losses from the bombings, but the RDF commander thought it was worth it to secure the oil fields near the Persian Gulf. Iraqi forces observe with great interest.
Iraq is very close to joining the US side. With a little "luck", they will join the struggle for freedom, capitalism and Coca-Cola next week.
10. Israel sends an expeditionary force to the Persian Gulf (Israeli Intervention), but the Soviets stay passive (blank card). US relations with Iraq turn sour and American diplomats grumble about the IDF not waiting another few days to join the party ...
American Stratofortresses and Hornets bomb the Syrian forces, but the Soviet-build anti-air systems that Iran is using once again show their effectiveness and send the F-14s back from Chan-Bahar with their tails tucked between their legs. The Marine Corps still manages to land and secure the harbor and the air field. The Syrians realise that they are hemmed in by the Jordanian army and boldly circumvent the US led coalition forces before south at full speed. They enter Saudi-Arabia and push towards Medina! The Americans boldly order the local Saudi forces to leave the city and instead send in the 82. Airborne (which by now has recovered from the debacle at Esfahan) along with Israeli airborne rangers for support. The loud complaints from muslims around the world are ignored. US units attack Esfahan with carrier-based Harriers for air support. The Russians send their Su-25 with Syrian MiG-21 for escort, but the Russian aviators quickly withdraw when their air cover is eliminated by the the US Air Force. Esfahan is "liberated". The US-aligned Iranians cheer, while the Iranian government plead with their allies to the north for aid.
You need to be in the right mood when playing wargames. Translator's note: The music playing is "There is only war" by Raubtier, and the text on the cup says "Ambition and pride", the motto of the 7. Armor Brigade of the Swedish Army.
11. The US plays "Recognize the Centrist Government", the USSR plays "Intervene"
Coalition forces (they had the US flag on their uniforms, mind you) capture Teheran and install a center-right government. The Iranian Revolutionary regime comforts themselves with the fact that Soviet units now have the green light from the Supreme Soviet to cross the border and engage the American war machine. STAVKA, however, analyses the situation and chooses not to provoke a full-scale war until they are ready. They instead choose to wait with crossing the border until the reinforcements from the Southern Military Districts are ready to render assistance. Very unexpected! "General Mobilization" thus cannot be played by either side! The US-allied kurds block the mountain passes north of Tabriz, the last outpost of the Moscow-allied regime. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard receives orders to hold the ports around Bandar-e Anzali to the north of Teheran open and take up positions to do this.
12. No cards can be played since there is no "US-Soviet conflict"
The Iranian Revolutionary regime frantically appeals to Moscow for aid, but receive only a brusque "please wait" for an answer. The Iranian airforce once again manages to abort a US air strike, this time at Tabriz. The American war machine smells victory in the air, however, and the 24. Mechanized Division is moving at full speed towards Tabriz, the last stronghold of the Islamic government. Behind them, American and Israeli forces secure the inner regions of Iran. Syrian forces have suffered such severe losses that they withdraw from the war.
The air strikes toward Tabriz continue. Almost all the forces controlled by the Islamic government have been eliminated by now. The US-led coalition has the air space around Western Asia and the Persian Gulf in an iron grip.
13. No cards can be played
US air strike eliminate the last of the government forces in north-western Iran. The Iranian communist and Tudeh forces are now but a memory. The 24. Mechanized Division occupy Tabriz. The Iranian centrist government is now in control of all major Iranian urban areas. After an "exchange" between Iranian units on differing sides of the civil war, the kurds have to leave one of the mountain passes which quickly is secured by a Soviet motorised rifle division.
14. No cards are played, but the Warsaw pact receives seven category G mechanised divisions (5-6-4)! Saudi F-5s eliminate a Soviet airborne regiment trying to capture a port near the Persian Gulf, but suddenly the Soviet plan becomes clear: keep the port in Bandar-e Anzail open so that Soviet reinforcements can be shipped in from Baku across the Caspian Sea, thus completely circumventing the coalition forces in the mountain passes near Tabriz. A full Soviet Army also crosses the border from Afghanistan and eliminate a Marine Corps regiment at Chan-Bahar.
The WP receives seven category G divisions and has a choice of having them as mechanised or mountain divisions. Since they have secured the harbor at Bandar-e Anzali, they can bypass the mountain passes at the USSR/Iranian border (which are full of americans, kurds and other unsavory types anyway) so they take them mechanised. At the same time, a Soviet army is preparing to squash the 5. Marine Corps Regiment and "wash their boots in the Persian Gulf."
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Kev.
United States
Austin
Texas
TheBigBoard-Blog www.meshtime.com
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Epic.
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Martin Hogan
Canada
Vancouver
BC
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Thanks a ton for posting this. A gripping read. Makes me want to break out those games asap!
Please, keep 'em coming.
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Steve Arthur
Australia
New South Wales
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A great game and a great series...perfect for two a side...keep up the good work...
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Rob Ryan
United States
Bellevue
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Played the entire series campaign game back in the 80s when I was in high school. Good times! Be prepared to shift the B-52s to the other fronts once the real war breaks out in Europe. Lament the lack of breakdown forces for the American RDF Div in the Middle East and don't forget to use the nukes and chem for added realism...
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Stephen Gidney
England
Norwich (end of the line...)
NEVER IN THE FIELD OF CARDBOARD CONFLICT HAS ANYONE WAITED SO LONG AS FOR TOTAL WAR
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Awesome game, this series was one of my all-time favourites. I remember playing as the Soviets when I was at UNI against a bunch of housemate Noobs and capturing Rome!
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Kev.
United States
Austin
Texas
TheBigBoard-Blog www.meshtime.com
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i just got a line on the main module. !!!! I have the others all in shrink.
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Abe Delnore
United States
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
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I like to draw three diplomacy cards and choose one to play. This helps avoid completely crazy results.
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Steve Arthur
Australia
New South Wales
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Abe Delnore wrote: I like to draw three diplomacy cards and choose one to play. This helps avoid completely crazy results.
Not a bad idea...
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