Can anyone recommend a cool cold war land invasion game?

[Sebastian Francis]

Back in the day, 1981, to be exact, there was this cool board game called SUPERIORITY. You can read about it here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/viewitem.php3?gameid=3680

Now although this game was, in retrospect, rather mediocre (it was kind of a sophisticated version of BATTLESHIP), I remember loving the concept. As a little kid (I was 10 years old in '81) I loved the idea of "modern" warfare, Soviet tanks plowing across Western Europe, limited nuclear exchange, chemical bombs, etc.

Can anyone recommend to me a fairly straightforward "Cold War Land Invasion" type of game that's available today? I don't want a horrifically complex wargame, but I want something a little better than SUPERIORITY.

 

[Sebastian Francis]

bump

 

[diaglo]

risk

chess


man, i can't remember the name of it now..... but we used to play a game set in WWII with the german invasion of russia. it was a semi card game in some cases. but used dice and a board... i'll have to think about it some more.

 

[Klaus]

www.fierydragon.com

Check out FDP's line, Counter Strike. Titles currently available:
Arriba España - Recreates the Spanish Civil War
Autumn Mist - Recreates the Battle of the Bulge in WWII
Battle for China - Recreates the war between Japan and China during WWII

Upcoming: Freikorps - an imaginary invasion of Germany by the USSR
Atomic City - comic-book-style slugfests in the universe designed by Jay "Tutenstein" Stephens

 

[DMScott]

Now although this game was, in retrospect, rather mediocre (it was kind of a sophisticated version of BATTLESHIP), I remember loving the concept. As a little kid (I was 10 years old in '81) I loved the idea of "modern" warfare, Soviet tanks plowing across Western Europe, limited nuclear exchange, chemical bombs, etc.

When I was in high school (early-mid 80s), we played the heck out of Supremacy, which was kinda like a more complicated version of Risk in a Cold War-style setting. In addition to pushing armies and fleets around, you had to tend to a simple economy, and you could manipulate world commodity markets or start wars over resources. Plus go nuclear if the issue was serious enough, or try to set up a missile defence system. Very cool game, as I recall.

Another good beer and pretzels type modernish wargame is "Fortress America", which was in the same style as Axis & Allies, and Shogun (now called Samurai Swords). It featured some kind of future history where an isolationist continental USA was invaded on both coasts and from Mexico by the Commie hordes. Units included helicopters, mechanized infantry, tanks (well, hovertanks) and so on, so it had a nicely modern feel.

For a more tactical approach, I had a game called "NATO, the next war in Europe" around the same time period, which was a traditional wargame based on the Warsaw Pact invading West Germany circa 1980. Two-player game, played well. As I recall, it was somewhat depressing because it always seemed that NATO had to start using tactical nukes to hold West Germany, which of course would've been a Bad Thing.

A less sombre game in the same vein is "NATO, Nukes, and Nazis" which is set in an alternate reality in which WWII ended with France and Scandinavia liberated, but Nazi Germany still a going concern that occupied a decent chunk of eastern Europe. NATO was established to guard against Nazi aggression, and the whole thing simmered until the 1980s when Nazi Germany invaded France. I've still got a copy of this game and play it once every blue moon, it's a lot of fun. This and the previous game might be more detailed than what you're looking for.

Hope that helps.

 

[Krieg]

The game based Clancy's Red Storm Rising (and titled the same) wasn't too shabby.

There are a number of independently produced "add-ons" for games like Axis & Allies that radically change the game, including some that are modern based.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Another good beer and pretzels type modernish wargame is "Fortress America", which was in the same style as Axis & Allies, and Shogun (now called Samurai Swords). It featured some kind of future history where an isolationist continental USA was invaded on both coasts and from Mexico by the Commie hordes. Units included helicopters, mechanized infantry, tanks (well, hovertanks) and so on, so it had a nicely modern feel.

I remember that game! In fact, my friends and I found it in the back of a closet a couple of years ago and played it a few times. We were especially fond of the partisan units in the game; mainly because the American player would always shout "Wolverines!" when using them.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Red Storm Rising is fun.

MBT (Avalon Hill) is my favorite tactical cold war/WWIII game.

But the best cold war game, IMO, isn't a land invasion one. It's Nuclear War, and its sequal, Nuclear Annihilation. It's a blast -- nothing like a game where you keep score with the 100,000's of people you've nuked, and as a player is eliminated he gets to fire one last retributive strike to take the others out of the game too.

 

[Kilmore]

I've played NATO: Next War in Europe too.

Best Rule Evar:
Tactical Nuclear Warfare
Beginning with Game-Turn 2, either player can declare Tactical Nuclear Warfare during his own Reinforcement/Activation/Declaration Phase. Immediately upon declaring Tactical Nuclear Warfare, the declaring player rolls the die. On a die roll of 1,2,or 3, the game instantly and the declaring player loses decisively; on a die roll of 4,5, or 6; the game continues, and the following adjustments are made:

(adjustments)

The tactical nuclear die roll mechanic is intended to reflect the possiblity of provoking a massive nuclear retaliatory strike when a player initiates Tactical Nuclear Warfare. In this case, the initiating player loses decisively for having brought down Armegeddon.

 

[Thorntangle]

For a more tactical approach, I had a game called "NATO, the next war in Europe" around the same time period, which was a traditional wargame based on the Warsaw Pact invading West Germany circa 1980. Two-player game, played well. As I recall, it was somewhat depressing because it always seemed that NATO had to start using tactical nukes to hold West Germany, which of course would've been a Bad Thing.

Great googely moogely! I thought of this game immediately and I'm glad somebody else confirmed my friends' and my opinion of this game. After a few hours play, nuclear conflagration was inevitable (sometimes just to get the game over with).

I don't think we ever finished a game of Nato without trading nukes. I always felt I was being constantly slapped with the Fish of Heavy-Handed Moral Lesson.