This is a fictitious scenario set in Sudan circa 1990, but can be set anywhere with a variety forces. In fact just change the names and you have an anywhere / any place third world war game. Background The President of Sudan has made a very unpopular decision... (similar to the April 1985 peace with the (Christian) Southern Rebels and a move away from Islamic Law being the cause belli??? ) and so two factions determine to "Save" the nation.. The Mullah (who wishes Islamic law to continue) and The General (who believes that war with the Rebels must continue), as it happens the General and Mullah hate each other passionately and so no compromise/co-operation is possible between these two contenders. The Scenario is centred around the capital Khartoum. Map: On a 5" x 8" table.. the North and West edges being the Nile. In the SE corner is the Airport. The city and suburbs of Khartoum takes up most of the table with some desert, bush/scrub, fields, plantations and wadi as needed to make the table "interesting". The Presidential palace is in the city in the NW corner. The Radio station is on the western side of the city. The Mosque is on the eastern side of the city. The Republican Guards barracks is on the western side of thecity. The Armoured Divs barracks is on the eastern side of the city. The Airborne barracks is at the Airport. The Airport has 4 Weapon Pits and 4 Bunkers and is surrounded by barbed wire. Before the game the units are deployed on table: The Mullah first deploys Republican Guard units within 12" of it's Barracks. The General then deploys Armoured Divs Units within 12" of it's Barracks. The President then deploys the following: The Airborne Divs Units within 12" of it's Barracks. The Internal Security stands anywhere outside of these areas. The Airforce in a hangar at the Airport. The Navy in the Far NW corner. Each player (President, Mullah, General) has 20 morale points that they can distribute to *any* company sized units (The Airforce, Navy and Artillery Bty are company sized). (ie attempting to "buy" the loyalty of the units). Points issued are modified as follows: The President's points issued to any Republican Guard or Armoured companies are halved. The Mullah's points issued to any Airborne, Navy, Airforce, Internal Security or Armoured companies are halved. The General's points issued to any Airborne, Navy, Airforce, Internal Security or Republican Guard companies are halved. At the start of the game the forces on table need to roll Morale. Each Company (Art Battery, Airforce, Navy) rolls 2d10, halves it, then adds the points spent on it above to get its morale for Each Faction (President, Mullah, General) (round fractions down). (If a referee is available then only tell each player which unit(s) have declared for him/her.) The companys Highest morale is the faction that it declares for... If a company has a two (or three) equally high morale's then it is deemed to be neutral. It will not move or shoot unless shot at. Sole possession of the Radio Station allows the President or the General to increase his/her Factions troops morale by 1 (incl. neutral units). Sole possession of the Mosque allows the Mullah to increase his/her Factions troops morale by 1 (incl. neutral units). For example: When Rolling Morale for the Internal Security Company: Roll 2d10, halve it, add the Points from the President = P Morale. Roll 2d10, halve it, add 1/2 the Points from the Mullah = M Morale. Roll 2d10, halve it, add 1/2 the Points from the General = G Morale. (all fractions are rounded down) The Highest Morale (P/M/G) determines the loyalty and morale of this unit.... Thus a Battalion could be split over it's loyalties.. and extreme an case would be: for a 4 "coy" bn: 1 coy allied to each and 1 neutral... NB. Maximum Morale rating of *any* unit = 10. Victory: At the end of the game: The player in control of the Presidential palace, Radio station and Mosque Wins Completely. If a player controls two of these then he/she Wins Marginally. Any player who doesn't control even one of these is a loser.. ;-) Units The President 1 cmd std and Jeep (exp 10), deploys: Airforce: 1 Hind E attack helicopter (trained) Navy: 1 Patrol Boat (1 20L60 AAG, 1 AAHMG, 0/0 wt:IV) (trained) Internal Security: 1 cmd Saladin AC, 2 recon Ferrets SC, 1 recon Inf std (RPG) and Saracen APC. (Exp) Airborne AA Battery: 2 ZU-23-2 AAG, crews and light trucks. (Exp) Airborne Battalion: (all experienced) HQ coy: 1 cmd std (SA-7), 2 AAHMG (ZU-1) 3 coy, each: 1 cmd Weapons std (RPG), 3 Infantry stds (RPG) Mullah 1 cmd std and Jeep (exp 10), deploys: Republican Guard Tank Coy: 2 T-55 tanks (Regular) Republican Guard Art Bty: 1 122L28 Howitzer, gun crew & md truck. (Reg) Republican Guard Infantry Bn: (all Regular) HQ coy: 1 cmd std (SA-7) and Jeep, 1 jeep with 106mm RR, 1 82mm mtr std (ds) and medium truck. 3 coys, each: 3 Infantry stds (RPG) and 1 Walid APC (CC:3 stds) General 1 cmd std and Jeep (exp 10), Deploys: Armoured AA bty: 1 M-167 Vulcan, 1 Redeye std and Jeep (trained) Armoured Hvy Coy: 3 M-60A3s (trained) Armoured Mechanized Bn: (all Regular) HQ coy: 1 cmd std (SA-7) & Jeep, 1 Jeep w Swingfire ATGW, 1 M-125A1 3 coys, each: 2 Infantry stds (RPG) and 1 M113 APC (CC:2 stds) Note 1: (SA-7) or (RPG) indicates that these weapons are treated as "integral" to the stand. Note 2: Experience level is listed, morale is determined randomly + influence. Note 3: All stands loyal to a faction are subordinant to the faction leaders command stand and are treated as part of the same battalion for sharing spotting. Note 4: The CC (carry capacity) of the APCs is not to the CD scale.. I have gone with this for a couple of reasons... a) not enough models and b) not wanting too many AFVs on table. Back to Frontline Vol. 2 Iss. 1 Table of Contents Back to Frontline List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Rolfe Hedges This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com