Hexsides and Hand Grenades

In an alternate 1984, Iran emerges victorious from the bloody conflict with Iraq begun only three years earlier. After consolidating its gains and finally harnessing its professional army to the whims the Revolutionary Council, Iran is ready to strike again. This time, the stakes are the future of the entire Middle East. In a bold plan to destroy its enemies in the Gulf Council states and spread the fervor of the revolution beyond its borders, Iran will seize the Straits of Hormuz and come to its rightful place as a world power with control over the production and transport of oil from the region. After the Soviets perform a number of brilliant political maneuvers accompanied by a series of American foreign policy missteps, relations between the Soviet Union and Iran have grown closer. In the Iranian plan, the Soviets see their chance to become the dominant superpower in the Middle East by supporting Iranian military adventure in the Gulf. The Iranians are currently the strongest mil...

My recent playthrough of the first scenario from VG's 1987 classic, Central America , was tons of fun. I really love how insurgents work in this game and how they can pop in and out of existence anywhere on the map. But one of my absolute favorite scenarios from this game (and maybe almost any other game) is Scenario 4, "The SS-20 Incident". Yeah...it looks like a hot dog on wheels but you won't be laughing when it visits your city! Only one turn long, this scenario pits the US Navy and Air Force against the Nicaraguans in an effort to destroy an intermediate range nuclear weapon that the Soviets have so helpfully provided to a hostile regime in the Western hemisphere. The Americans only get one turn to dismantle the Nicaraguan Air Force and then pave the way for Special Forces guys to parachute out of a C-130 and destroy the missile launcher, Eat your heart out, Michael Bay. The US gets a huge number of aircraft to start with but so do the Nicaraguans. T...

In 1989, Avalon Hill released MBT  , a design by James M. Day.  Like its title heavily suggests, MBT was all about modern tank warfare. Set in Germany in the late Cold War period, MBT let players slug it out on a tactical level (100 meter hex, individual tanks and infantry squads) with the latest weaponry of the day. Fast forward 27 years later, and MBT is once again on our shelves - this time around published by GMT. 2016 GMT's MBT 1987: Avalon Hill's MBT With updated maps, counters, and scenarios, MBT has been loving revived and streamlined for today's gamers. I have never played the original MBT so I'm not sure what the exact differences are between the two versions, but if you're interested in a comparison, I suggest reading up on this thread over at BGG. The first scenario from the new MBT is called First Clash. This is a good introductory scenario for new players because it's vehicles-only. You can play this with just the basic rules set. ...