I just read the latest Heliograph. Now that my letter has seen print, I better follow up on my promises... In this e-mail I will talk about AK-47 Republic. In following e-mails I will send you my game, which I will also send by post. I know my fans are eagerly awaiting everything I have to say...

AK-47 Republic Rules for Warlord level Battles in Africa, 1955-1990 published by Peter Pig, in the Rules for the Common Man series. Available by mail order from Brookhurst Hobbies (or go their in person if you live in L.A.) http://www.brookhursthobbies.com/index.htm

I thought I was the only one interested in this sort of thing. Apparently there are others, as Peter Pig has come out with an extensive line of figures for the era and, of course, the AK-47 rules. So, what bearing does this have on Colonial gaming? Well, to some extent the warfare covered by AK-47 is the child (bastard at that) of the colonial wars. So there is some connection. However it is tenuous at best and really, modern African warfare bears no resemblance to true "Colonial Wars." And no, I'm not even going to try and define what a true colonial war is.

Modern African warfare does have an attraction, and its own specific flavor, which is something these rules capture very well. The actual "game" part of AK-47 is quite simplistic, too much so for my taste. I use my own rules which are more complex than AK-47, but far less than some of the other modern rules like Command Decision or Spearpoint. The true value of AK-47 is in the game preparation mechanisms that it presents. For this alone it is probably worth the fairly hefty price of $13.95.

I admit I am not the most experienced wargamer; far from it. That said, I found many of the concepts presented by AK-47 to be new and refreshing. From the beginning, where the gamer is presented with a method for determining the name of his army (mine is "The Zaitu Socialist Sword for Freedom") and even what its flag looks like to the rules for force composition and the political maneuvering tables, AK47 provides a lot of ideas that are suitable for use in a colonial war battle, and especially a campaign.

The political maneuvering charts are perhaps the most interesting feature of AK-47. Each player is allowed to choose just what kind of army he has. The options are: Religious Movement, Colonial Power/Settlers, People's Popular Front, Superpower Backed Client Force, and Dictatorship. Based on the choice, the player is limited to what equipment he can buy and what kinds of morale his troops can have. Based on these limitations, the player expends points from his allotment of 600 and buys exactly five units, each having to be worth a minimum of 60 points.

For example, a basic infantry stand costs 7, 10 or 17 points depending on whether it is militia, regular or professional in quality. The player must reserve from 25 to 90 points for expenditure on the Political Maneuver Flow Charts. Each type of force has its own flow chart. You start at the top and work your way through it until you run out of points. Mostly the results are goods - units increase in morale, someone loans you some tanks, that kind of thing. For example, the first block of the Religious Movement flow chart is "Declare Religious War." This will cost you 4xd6 of your points. The player rolls a d6 to find the results:

1-3 One unit becomes zealous, +2 to all movement die rolls for the whole game

4-6 One unit becomes convinced of their own invincibility by use of Ju Ju berries, +4 to all movement dice for the whole game.

Some of the results in the political charts are quite funny and deserve a close reading. These charts could be easily adapted to actual colonial battles, especially the type Howard Whitehouse favors (see "Lords of the Atlas" in #115). 1 have whipped one up below.

Assuming you are a nascent religious movement, such as El Hiba in "Lords of the Atlas," your chart might look something like this (I have left out any costs because they would be meaningless without some sort of value to compare them to):

1. Proclaim Jihad against the infidel.

1-3 Oops. Everyone is off in the hills with their sheep. No new troops.
4-6 The time is right. X number of troops flock to your banner.

Now you have an option. You can go the aggressive route (2A), or the -more sneaky route (2B)

2A. Kill a few Europeans at random.

1-2 Uh oh. Subsequent European troop mobilization has caused some of your men to waver. Reduce one unit one morale grade.
3-4 No, no. You have to kill the important Europeans. No one notices what you did.
5-6 Your bravery reflects well upon you. Surely Allah will favor you. Your troops are infused with confidence. Raise one unit one morale grade.

2B. Coordinate with neighboring tribe for division of the eventual spoils.

1-2 Your preoccupation with the material world has caused some to lose faith in you. Lose X number of troops.
3-4 Neighboring tribe is skeptical and prefers to see some action before they commit to anything.
5-6 You have convinced them your cause is just. .Gain X number of troops.

If you went to 2A, now go to 3A. Likewise If you went to 2B, now go to 3B.

3A. Attack a police outpost in a small village.

1-2 How were you to know it was commanded by Danjou's younger brother? Lose X amount of troops. 3-4 The outpost is destroyed. Unfortunately you also freed a rival who was being held in the jail (it would be bad form to kill him). You gain respect (baraka?) but now a dangerous enemy is free.
5-6 Scared European merchants offer you bribes to leave their shops alone. You use the money to buy new weapons for your men (rifles, machineguns, artillery whatever).

3B. You arrange for innocent villagers (of another tribe) to all have accidents (a mass outbreak of smoking in bed) and make it look like the Europeans did it.

1-2 Witnesses saw you there with a torch in your hand. Europeans gain one unit of native allies.
3-4 Everyone thinks it was an accident (Mrs. O'Hussein's cow did it).
5-6 It works! The population rises against the infidel! Gain X amount of troops.

You can see from the example the possibilities that can arise from using flow charts. The key is to make sure the players use points that could otherwise be spent elsewhere to go through the charts. There has to be an element of risk.

AK-47 also provides an interesting way of determining the terrain on the game board. Five basic descriptions are given, ranging from fairly open (1) to pretty dense (5) terrain. Each player chooses the number of the terrain he wants to fight in and then each player rolls a d6. The loser of the roll moves 1 step closer to the winner's terrain number. For example, player 1 wants to fight in terrain #1, and player 2 wants terrain #4. They roll and player I wins. Player 2 now has to choose terrain #3. The dice continue to roll until each player has the same terrain description. Simple, yet elegant. I like it.

Although there are no provisions in AK-47 about campaign games, it seems clear to me that some sort of system could be worked out using victory points won in previous battles to spend on replacing losses, upgrading units and possibly buying new units.

All in all, I really like AK-47. My main complaint is the poor production quality. The rules are riddled with spelling, punctuation and formatting errors. Twenty years ago this might have been acceptable, but nowadays with modern word processors I find it unacceptable and indicative of a lack of concern towards the buyer. Hey, Peter! Send it to me next time and I'll be glad to proofread it! No charge! Don't let this stop you from buying the rules if you are interested. Peter Pig is making a name for themselves as a gamer-focused company, and they should be rewarded for that.