From: Doug Murphy Subject: Review: Light Division (long) I want to contribute something game-related to the list...I picked up 3W's Light Division in spite of horrible reviews because it was in the discard bin for cheap and I figured I could always use the box for storage. What a pleasant surprise! This is clearly the best 3W game I have -- and I know, given their low reputation for development, that doesn't say much. Designers Joe Balkoski and Austin Bay have put together a little gem that would be better titled Light Infantry, as they themselves note the title calls to mind the USArmy's light div. "experiments" of the time. The designer notes are outstanding as well -- indeed, this game reminds me more of something from Victory Games than 3W. First, let me consider the map errata which give this game it's bad rap. Frankly, I think people have reacted based on reading the errata rather than actually looking at the map. While the map is functional and will not appear to those who worship detail graphics, the errata covers some miscoloring around the city of Bandar (which is easily remedied by noting the blob of hexes as "city") and 3 hexes that need to be designated mountain. In comparison with the Objective Tunis map from 3W's S&T of the time (and which I consider one of the worst maps of all time -- as it made that game unplayable), this is clear and eminently playable, with plenty of interesting terrain. The situation is a battalion-with-some companies-level game of various invasions of Iran around Bandar al Abbas (I can never spell that) to open the Straight of Hormuz in the Gulf. Five scenarios include a 2 turn invasion by the 82nd, some Rangers and a MEU against unwarned and unsupported Ir militia. I've played this one the most since one can finish inside of 2 hours, including setup. The other scenarios, add reinforcements from other Western nations, and for the Iranis, and Sov. intervention. The longest scenario covers about a week of "action" as the designers' noted after this time, significant reinforcement and resupply would be necessary. The tact situation facing the invaders is interesting. One has to seize enough VP hexes to win, basically taking enough airfields to bring in follow-on reinforcements and push out a perimeter outside of enemy arty range -- easier said than done. This game is very solitaire-playable as well do to it's mechanics. In a turn, one brings in reinforcements, rolls for random events that include Silkworm and B-52 attacks, plays "commando," and conducts the absolute glory of this game: two Operation Cycles. There's also standard supply and VP noting as well. In the Op cycle, the player with initiative (previously-rolled for or noted in the scenario) rolls a d10 which gives him Op points to expend activating his units. When a unit has completed an activity, it is "fatigued" and flipped over. A player must expend all his Op points or he passes and it's his opponent's turn to roll for Pts. This alternating goes on until both players' units are "fatigued" and the cycle ends. Units then recover and a new cycle begins. As I noted, there are two cycles to a turn. A unit expends diff. amount of Op pts to move (four diff. flavors: tac, op (x2 MF), strat (x3 MF), admin (x3 MF + road bonus), move via helo, support other combat with arty & air or fight (three diff. flavors: hasty (no support), deliberate (arty OK), intensive (arty + air OK)). All options are supported by simple on-map charts and tracks. Indeed, there's a nice centerfold to the rules which contain every chart needed, with rules reference and a sequence of play -- this is the only game in my entire collection in which I have re-written a sort of cheat-sheet for myself for this. The Op cycle forces you to plan ahead...where are you going to fight; with whom, supported by whom; and how are you going to get there. So unlike other games at this scale, one can't move and fight with everyone all at once. Attacks develop, fail or succeed and can be reinforced, or exploited. There is other nice chrome as well -- two types of naval support represented by units (light and heavy -- differentiated by amount of support pts and range). Lotsa interesting air units. The Iranis are outgunned but can dig in and cause the US all sorts of grief since the US doesn't have many units. There's a nice interface between target unit AT numbers and terrain which provide a multiple for tank and mech. combat. The most impressive thing I noted about this design is almost 10 years after its publication, and after the Gulf War and everything that action revealed about ops in this part of the world, this game really plays true. You can compare the capabilities of various types of US light forces, including the 10th Mtn and some minor forces from NATO allies and Sov. light units as well. In the expanded scenarios, the options for the Irani player expand as follow-on heavy reinforcements arrive, have to find their way past US interdiction and gather steam for attacks. In my most recent playthrough, the US suffered bad die rolls for low Op pts and NE combat results before eeking out a victory due to some foolish Irani decisions to counterattack rather than digin. All together, well worth it if you are interested in modern warfare in that part of the world. Doug Murphy From: Doug Murphy Subject: Replay: Light Division Ok, if you're not sick of this game, here's a brief replay recently concluded by yours truly and my dragooned sibling. We played the first scenario, I took the Iranis and he the US. After my deployment, he revealed his invasion plans: the 3 batt. & arty of the 82nd dropped in and around one of my 2 regt (combat value 8) located smack in the big Bandar airport complex; the Marine EU and accompany tank co. splashed ashore s. of Bandar port and 3 Ranger co. dropped east of Bandar to go after the airfields and Silkworm site. I put my F14, F4 and J6 in air superiority mode vs. 2 F18 and miraculously stalemated him. That still left him 2 AV8 and an A6 to support his ground combat. He first chose to try to clear Badar airport with the 82nd; I chose positional defense rather than mobile and got blasted. (The only down side to the CRT is you lose whole units if you can't retreat instead of some sort of step reduction.) In my part of the Op Cycle, I rolled high (IR loses 4 off the Op dr on turn 1) which enabled me to dig in the arty unit atop the mtn overlooking Badar. In his Op cycle, he rolled high, moved the 3 Rangers to surround a Coast defense unit and deleted it with help from an AV8. In my cycle, my Op roll was wiped out by the dr reduction. In his cycle, he rolled low and faced a big decision: use the Op pts for a hasty attack with unsupported Marines against my last big regt in Bandar city or pass. He passed. In my part of the cycle, I moved another CD batt. into Bandar city, then I passed. After everyone's units recovered from fatigue (which units enter when they conduct an action), we started the 2nd Op Cycle of turn 1. He went first and with his first high roll, attacked and killed my last big regt. with the Marines, naval and air support. In my turn of the cycle, the dr modifier again betrayed me. He then moved the Rangers to retreat another CD unit on an east coast airfield. I used my high roll to dig in around one of the 2 Silkworm sites. The 82nd moved into Bandar from the west but were repulsed 'round Govt. House. I could see him eyeing my arty dug in overlooking the airfield. End of turn one. Now he was in a quandry, needing to clear more VP in a hurry. His F18s got lucky and wiped out all my air. The Rangers moved down coast and were repulsed at the Silkworm site, losing a co. I dug in the arty from Improved position to Strongpoint. The Marines, along with a 2nd reinforcing MEU and tank co., sandwiched some CD units outside and on the outskirts of the city, killing them both with air support. I dug in another CD unit. He dropped a fourth 82d batt. around the 2nd far isolated Silkworm site, surprising my garrison there. The 82nd finally took Govt. House. End of first cycle. Last cycle of the game. I had a marginal victory thus far. He rolled high and sent a batt. of 82nd charging up the mtn to attack the arty, with all his air and naval support. He rolled well and fairly killed the arty. In my cycle, I dug in 2 other CD units. He again attacked my last Silkworm site with the help of 2 Marine tank co. and was repulsed AGAIN. Brave pasadaran! The other Marines pushed back CD units near Bandar city. Game over: marginal US victory. He'd barely secured the perimeter, but would probably kill the Silkworm next turn. I was in good shape with IP in the mountains so if we continued, it would've been interesting. I underestimated his capacity to reach and hit my arty overlooking Bandar. If he failed there, I would've won. Even though this scenario is biased against the IR, it was a good play. Doug Murphy