From: Roberto Chiavini Subject: Two more reviews Oil War (Strategy & Tactics 52) This was a very peculiar game back in 1975: in the days of the oil crisis, the folk at SPI came out with a simulation in three scenarios of a possible Gulf War in that period. The result is this little game, not really much of a simulation of contemporary warfare, but still fun in a strange sort of way. The format is the small S&T game of those days: half map, 100 counters, three colors graphics (but not really bad), seven pages of rules (with the real rules in only 4 pages). The rules are not particularly well written and there are several uncertain points in them. But, for a wargamer, nothing particularly hard to understand or resolve with patience, as the game is really very simple (perhaps too much). The US/Nato player start with all his units based off map, with several air squadrons and not many ground units: each turn he receives Air transport points that he must use to supply his units (1 point each for units supplied through a garrisoned airport, 3 points each for units supplied by air drops) and to take reinforcements on the map (he may use only half a dozen ground units to invade coastal hexes, so his strategy his based on the correct use of his superior air force). The Arab/Iranian player (in the third scenario, is US plus rest of the Arabs against Iran, sort of a prediction of the revolution of 1980) is on the defensive and must try to defend his oil wells and his ports, trying to inflict losses to the enemy. Victory is based on the control (or occupation) of the most oil wells and ports on the maps, with various degrees of victory. Movement is usual, with fluid ZOCs, stacking limited to 2 ground or air units (i.e., up to 4 in the same hex). Combat is with a differential CRT, with air combat (air units are rated both for air to air and air to ground combat, for the latter they need to be over the target) exactly the same than ground combat; both are a choice for the attacker, not forced to attack the units in his ZOC. And this is all, more or less. Too easy. True, especially the air combat, that is totally crazy. Anyway, the game is very fast (less than 2 hour in competitive play; about an hour solo), it reproduces adequately the US superiority in one-on -one combat and in air force, and so is not totally a turkey (but it falls very short from this abysmal result). I rate this game 5 ½ in a 1-10 scale.