Introduction

Invasion America is a corps level simulation for two or more players of a hypothetical amphibious invasion of the North American continent within the next generation. Invasion America postulates that the North American continent is being invaded by up to three aggressor forces: the European Socialist Coalition (ESC), the South American Union (SAU) and the Pan Asiatic League (PAL). Defending the North American continent are the armed forces of the United States and Canada. Each separate force has differing capabilities and objectives.

Credits
Publisher: SPI 1975
Designer: James F. Dunnigan
Developer: J. A. Nelson
Graphics: Redmond A. Simonsen

Scale

Each Game-Turn represents one month, and each hexagon on the map is equivalent to 130 kilometers from side to side. The units are corps-level size.

Components

2 35"x42" Maps from Arctic to Venezuela
400 die-cut counters
1 Rules folder
1 cardboard box
1 six-sided die

USA (black on green)

18 Armor units
21 Mechanized Infantry units
22 Infantry units
40 Militia units
4 Railroad units
12 Close air support units
16 Long-range bomber units

CANADA (black on light blue)

6 Armor units
8 Mechanized Infantry units
8 Infantry units
10 Militia units
2 Railroad units
4 Close air support units

ESC (black on medium blue)

6 Aircraft Carrier naval units
3 Amphibious naval units
6 Transports naval units
4 Supply units
6 Hovercraft units
12 Armor units
16 Mechanized Infantry units
20 Infantry units
10 Close air support units
6 Long-range bomber units

SAU (black on brown)

3 Amphibious naval units
4 Transports naval units
3 Supply units
10 Armor units
16 Mechanized Infantry units
18 Infantry units
8 Close air support units
4 Long-range bomber units

PAL (black on yellow)

3 Aircraft Carrier naval units
3 Amphibious naval units
6 Transports naval units
3 Supply units
3 Hovercraft units
4 Special Infantry units
12 Mechanized Infantry units
20 Infantry units
8 Close air support units
4 Long-range bomber units

Player’s Value

What is more interesting for an American inhabitant than to defend or invade his own country in a future-fiction war of conquest? In Invasion: America (IA), all elements are mustered to create a fun game to play: there are a lot of various units, four sides with potentially different goals and specific troops, and a large continent full of beaches to invade and space to maneuver.

The game is playable by two, three or four players, through six scenarios dealing with an amphibious invasion, different inland offensives, and a militia rebellion against the new order with special partisans rules. A campaign game over five years is even possible to invade the whole continent.

The rules are simple, amounting to only a few pages, standard for the period and very easy to learn. The sequence of play is classical, the SAU side begins, followed by ESC, PAL, and the US- Canadian sides. First, each player gets some replacements, moves naval units if he is an invader, moves land and air units (some by railway if US-Canadian), fights and moves mechanized units again. The invaders are allied together to conquer the continent, but move and fight separately and cannot stack. However, of course, their main goal is to grab as much of America as possible, so they need a common strategy, even if played by different players.

The map is beautiful for the period and shows all of North America on two full sized maps. The continent is represented from the Arctic circle with Alaska and North Canada to central America with the Panama Canal. Mexico and Central America have become US territory. There are enough kinds of terrain to give a good representation of the geography of America with open space, mountain, broken, rough and tundra terrains. The state and provincial boundaries are not badly rendered, so that every IA gaming session does not become a geography lesson.

They is some variety among the troops and they are not SF or high tech units. The rationale for this is that in a near future (the game is from 1975), the economy will be in bad shape, so the troops are the same as today without helicopters, missiles or robot units. The only oddity is the hovercraft units, but they are rather weak. What is more original is the untried side of nearly every land and air unit. The front side strength of the corps is a question mark with an average strength and the movement allowance. The real strength is only given on the back, revealed the first time the unit fights. The untried system was widely used later, but IA is probably the first game to use the concept. The untried units add a lot to the game, because the gamut of strengths is wide and can make or break a battle.

Another interesting concept is the unit replacement. All sides can add replacements from the dead pile each turn, depending on the scenario played. As all non set-up troops are put in the dead pile, replacements are a type of reinforcement and mobilization, especially for the US-Canadian side.

The final interesting concept, sometimes strange, is the air superiority. There are two kinds of air units: Close Air support with weak strength and short range, and Long Range Bomber with good strength and long range, especially for US planes. All the defending LRB must be attacked before any land unit can be air attacked.

As air attack in coordination with land units remove defending terrain bonus, this rule is very important. The only problem is, as the US LRB have a longer range, they can neutralize all invader air support while staying just beyond enemy maximum range. Of course, if US LRB want to attack, they have to come closer, but with their longer range, they can block all invader air units with just one LRB. It is perhaps a little too powerful. In my opinion, the invasion scenarios are the most interesting, because they need a real analysis about where to land for the three invaders, and what to do after to get all necessary victory points to win. Depending on the scenario, the strategy will be quite different. The invaders must size up their ambition depending on the forces available.

As an article from S&T states, and after few playings demonstrate, the perfect landing places are rare and well known. Sure, you can invade Alaska or the Gaspé Peninsula, but you’ll have no hope of victory. The games played will be fluid for the first half, but after, as the US-Canadian brings more units by rail and mobilizes an important pool of units, the front line will crystallize, and the second half of the game will be more static, with perhaps some focused breakthroughs to gain victory hexs.

To win, the American must retain control of a specific amount of victory points depending on the scenario played. The supply centers (read large cities), the urban centers and the resource hexes are worth between 3 and 5 points each. In counting the initial possession of US-Canadian, the assiduous player reaches 385 victory points; this is a large number and a strange way to keep track of the victory. What is more strange is that to win scenarios 2 and 3, the US player needs 400 VP. In The Complete Book of Wargames, John Freeman gets the same calculation, and suggests counting the supply hexes at eight VP each.

All in all, IA is a very interesting game to play, quick, fun and with strategies to develop depending on the geography. The only problem is that after a few plays, the strategies and the game flow seem the same; as there is no history behind them, the scenarios lose interest. But with a large map to discover and a full campaign game to play, it takes a while before boredom sets in.

Collector’s Value

As the game is purely science fiction, it is hardly old fashioned. The fantasy of America invaded is always pleasant. There were two versions of the game, one in a cardboard box with the map mounted, and another sold in a flat tray box with an unmounted map.

[Zocchi’s List suggests that there were at least three versions: a z-pak (coded ZIA and 1131), a boxed version with unmounted map (1130), and a designer’s edition boxed with mounted map (1132 and HIA 968). -ed]

Boone quotes low, high and average prices of 7/90/32.20 at auction and 10/100/41.67 for sale, but gives no indication of the edition.

Support Material

In a four-page article in S&T 57, Phil Kosnett gives some explanation about the rationale behind the game, and he reviews the coastal geography of North America corresponding to the game.

In The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming and The Best of Board Wargaming, Nicholas Palmer reviews briefly but accurately the game.

In The Complete Book of Wargames, John Freeman gives an acute review and presents some change to the victory points computation, as mentioned earlier.

In Moves 61, Ares 1 and Space Gamer 16, capsule reviews are provided. Space Gamer 18 offers a new scenario.

Other games of this type

Objective Moscow by SPI is said to be the same type of game, but with the protagonists reveresed. Jacksonville: Beaches of Doom (JagdPanther) is an invasion of USA by USSR.

Other games by this designer

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