Brant Guillory, 17 June 2021 ~ #UnboxingDay
At the end of the Cold War, wargamers were stuck for ‘contemporary’ topics, as the Soviet horde invading Germany looked less and less likely. What other flashpoint were there? Well, the Persian Gulf had plenty of potential. And this was before Gulf I, 1990-91. Plus, the US had recently stood up CENTCOM and started assigning light divisions to it as a new concept. Fertile ground for a new wargame. Or 10.
The classic ‘chocolate chip’ style desert BDUs.
click images to enlarge
Good info on the back about what you’re getting into, and, well, the Russians are still in the box because we can’t help ourselves.
Here are the contents, including a map errata sheet.
US counters, mostly land forces.
US air counters and allied forces.
Glow-in-the-dark Iranians
Mandatory Soviets™ (they weren’t “Russian” just yet)
Clear rulebook, but completely unillustrated.
Some decent optional rules to bolt on some chrome.
Very detailed setup lists for the scenarios
Design notes from both designers. And both are still active today!
A couple of reference sheets with tables, plus the map errata.
One of the ugliest maps you’ve ever seen. Seriously;
And it doesn’t get any better up close.
Map terrain key includes a lot of special-purpose hexes.
Thanks for joining this month’s #UnboxingDay with the Armchair Dragoons and we hope you enjoyed our recon of our recent acquisitions.
You can always leave us your feedback in our #UnboxingDay thread, or in the comment area on this article, below.
The regiment also occasionally musters on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and occasionally at a convention near you, once we’re allowed to hold them again.
Joe Balkoski does good work. Austin Bay brings the bucket of tasty chrome paint.
Another really good game on this general subject, with a lighter rules touch, is Central Command by Charles Kamps that ran in S&T (#98?) in 1984.