joserizal  - Mar 18, 2008 1:27 pm (#644 Total: 644)  

Dark Passage AAR

Just played a Perry Moore oldie with Clayton last week called Dark
Passage from Swedish Games. 

I found the game to be quite OK, and the rules were clear and had little
errata, in short the game flowed qiute smoothly and its a small
game(150-200 counters) in a small map covering the hypothetical and now
alternate history invasion of Pakistan by the USSR in the 80s. Has three
scenarios: Soviets vs. Mujahadeen, Soviets vs. Mujahadeen/Pakistan,
Soviets vs. Mujahadeen/Paks/U.S. Marines. 

It may seem that vs. the initial weak guerilla mujahadeen are useless
vs. teh Soviet hordes(supported by air, arty and paras as well as the
optional poison gas) but the really bad and rugged terrain of Western
Pakistan really helps the rebels as Soviet mechanized units move slower
in bad terrain and also being out of supply makes them move slower. The
Mujahadeen guerillas would initially serve as speed bumbs to slow down
the Soviets and possibly even cut the supply lines(Sovs must trace
supply via a highway to the North) to buy time for a the entry of major
pakistani army forces. Now the Pak forces are weaker as a whole vs. the
Soviets(and the Soviets have air superiority) but the poor terrain
really helps a lot and Soviet victory means that you have to exit
several units to the west and north of teh map, good luck when you
factor in the really horrible mountain terrain North and Center of the
map and the relatively clear terrain South of the map(though still hard
since its criss crossed with rivers). 

So the Soviets blast their way into Pakistan being delayed by delaying
actions by the Mujahadeen guerillas, the delay is effective enough for
the Pak reinforcements to come into force by turn 4 and take up
defenses(near an important pass in central Pakistan forming a long line
of defense along the central highway). The Mujahadeen also manage to cut
Soviet supply lines at a few crucial moments of the game. So this forced
the soviets to delay their offensive and garrison their supply lines.
The Soviets also had another prong which was going towards the
relatively clear east part of the map and the Pakistanis were forced to
divert major forces to contain them. 

The Paks were fighting a defensive war delaying and making it costly for
the Soviets to move south. The Paks were pushed to a crucial pass to the
south(which was the final barrier to the relatively clear South) and had
a seveal major battles in the South East. The Paks supported by heavy
artillery manage to encircle the SE Soviet prong and destroy several
Soviet units while the Soviets were bogged down trying to breakthrough
the vital mountain pass. 

The game ended with Pak victory. The Soviets manage to exit a few units
west of the map but were not able to exit units south of the map. 

But if the game went on, the Soviets would have eventually won but at
great cost. It was that close. 

In short nice game, easy to play and learn, clear rules with little
errata. I think that the game is deceptive at the start with really
strong looking Sov forces but I think the game is weighed vs. the Sovs
because of the horrible terrain on the map and made worse by the weaker
but OK pak forces. 

The Sovs should be pushing all the time but always watching and securing
their supply lines while the Pak player must be in defensive mode, using
the terrain as best and constantly delaying and probably
counterattacking when advatageous and making great use of the guerillas
for defensive and offensive(cut supply lines ) use. 

In short a nice game well made mini game. 

Note: I think this game is so obscure that I think we were the first to
play it in a decade.... 

Next up Southern Flank if we can find it....