From: John Best <cfjbb@EIU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Best 'Irregular War' game?

I've sort of lost track of where this thread came from (my
apologies) but somebody wanted to know:
>>
>> Are there any boxed "Irregular warfare" games?
>
>Omega's Ranger  was mentioned.

Also, I think Omega was responsible for a boxed game entitled War to the
Death that dealt with Nap's adventure in Iberia, and the subsequent
struggle of his Marshals to subdue the peninsula.  I think a second
edition of this game appeared in a zip-loc bag format.  As appropriate
for the subject matter, the game deals heavily with irregular (in this
case guerilla) warfare.  I remember playing the first edition some years
ago; as I recall it was a seemingly accurate depiction of the events in
Spain (the game's "take" on the peninsula was that Wellington and
company played an important, but not critical role in the French defeat.
The defeat was brought about by the incessant guerilla activity which
eroded the French logistical support as much as anything else.  For
example, the French can't forage too effectively in the peninsula, they
really need conventional supply trains. But these don't have a prayer of
making it unless they're *heavily* guarded en route (and it's a long
route too) to the receiving army.  Even when guarded, the attrition of
the convoying forces is spectacular. You can do the whole campaign, and
if you look at the mathematics of French reinforcements, against
probable attritional losses, the game shows you very graphically why, if
as the French, you don't win by 1810, you can forget it. Just a couple
of other features (if you're thinking about getting it): The map is one
of those "box and line" type of things, and somehow it just seems really
limiting.  It may be accurate, but as a game goes, I think I need more
of the "illusion of movement" to keep me interested.  The other feature
that I wanted to mention (and I thought was pretty cool) was that, as
the French, as they realized what type of campaign they were fighting,
they formed special anti-insurgency battalions standing outside the
regular order of battle.  You get to deploy these wherever you want, but
it helps to put them in places where the guerillas are becoming
particularly troublesome. The supply trains pass through those areas
unmolested, and I seem to recall that there is a mechanic to insure that
grain harvesting goes a lot more smoothly for the French in those areas
too (ie, the guerillas don't destroy the harvest).  All in all, I
thought that while the game was rather abstract in some regards, it had
a number of interesting ideas concerning the simulation of guerilla
warfare.

John Best
cfjbb@ux1.cts.eiu.edu