Oil War: Iran Strikes
This near-future
what-if war game, designed by Ty Bomba, is an update and expansion of the
classic old-SPI Oil War game from the mid-1970s. It examines an Iranian strategic alternative
that’s becoming increasingly plausible in light of the draw down of US military
strength in the Middle East. That is, just as it did in Cold War Europe, the
prospect of both sides having nuclear weapons in this “zone of confrontation”
may work to create a deterrent umbrella that, at least for some time, could
allow for a potentially decisive conventional war to go on underneath the
threat of “mutually assured destruction.”
Oil War: Iran Strikes (OW) is a low-intermediate complexity design set in a time frame of
the near future – 2013 through 2017 – in which the Iranians may indeed have
developed some kind of nuclear capability. At that same time, with the “War on
Terror” having likely slithered to an indecisive end by then, and the US
therefore likely fallen back into another post-Vietnam-type “neo-isolationist”
phase, the possibility for a blitz-style Iranian conventional military victory
– aimed at establishing and certifying Tehran as the hegemon of the Gulf region
– moves to the fore.
OW examines the
strategic and operational possibilities and parameters inherent in the opening
Iranian offensive of such a war. There are no rules for the use of atomic bombs
or other weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The situation is on such a hair
trigger in regard to that aspect of things, if one such weapon were to go off,
many more detonations would be certain to follow. The idea is for Iran to gain
a victory without resorting to “game changing” WMD.
Each hex on the map
equals 18 miles (30 km) from side to opposite side, and its coverage stretches
from Turkey in the north to the UAE in the south, and from the Iranian border
and Persian Gulf on the east to Baghdad and Riyadh on the west. Each game turn
represents three days, with a full match covering the first month of the war.
Units of maneuver are
corps, divisions, brigades, and US brigade combat teams (BCT) of various kinds,
each containing from about 5,000 to 15,000 men and/or 50 to 400 armored
fighting vehicles or helicopters. The most up-to-date data available have been
used to establish each participant country’s detailed order or battle,
including the Iranian regular army (Artesh), Basij (martyr force) and
Revolutionary Guards, along with the ground forces of Iraq (loyalist and
insurgent militias and regulars, Kurds, and the “elite” Quick Reaction Force).
There are also the armies of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE,
Syria, Turkey and, of course, the US.
Special rules cover
such things as: sudden death victories and victories on points, variable phase
sequences, US naval supremacy, unique Saudi combat5 characteristics, geographic
and multi-national movement and combat restrictions, US locking zones of
control, US bases, Kuwaiti border defenses, Iraqi unit defections, Al Qods
terror attacks, massed Basij suicide attacks, Basra’s critical logistical
status, Iranian airborne and marine units, artillery, combat engineers,
airpower, UN intervention, unique US BCT capabilities, the legend of the 12th
Imam, and much more.
The game includes one map
(22x34”) and 228 counters.
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