Strategy & Tactics # 353 - Ukraine Battles 2014, Ilovaisk & Debaltseve

From Decision Games:

The Magazine:

Ukraine War Preamble, 2014–15 In February 2014, Russian armed forces took Crimea from Ukraine in a quick, bloodless and smoothly professional operation. It was an impressive demonstration of Russian capabilities, so different from the botched operations in Chechnya in 1994–96 and 2000–09. The question therefore arises: how did that same Russian military manage to maneuver itself into a quagmire starting 2022?

Additional feature articles:

The Albigensian Crusade France was not a unified country at the end of the 12th century. In the south, it remained a collection of duchies and counties whose rulers behaved like independent monarchs. It was under those circumstances the Cathar heresy appeared across Languedoc. It thrived as an expression of independence and the unsettled relationship with the Roman church. Eight church councils condemned them. Here is our analysis of the crusade that followed.

17th Century Barbary Corsairs In 1609, King Phillip III of Spain expelled 300,000 Moriscos from that country. Many of them had guided or provided intelligence to the Barbary corsairs when they attacked the Spanish coast. Some 13,000 settled at the mouth of the Bou Regreg River in Morocco in the twin cities of Salé and New Salé (Rabat). They turned privateering into the main business of the region.

The Brusilov Offensive The Brusilov offensive of 1916 was a major Russian attack against the Central Powers that resulted in heavy losses for both sides. The core premise of the doctrine for it included overwhelming firepower and maintenance of the tempo of advance to achieve deep penetration of enemy territory. The attack’s outcome influenced future Red Army doctrine, as well as the postwar map of Central Eastern Europe.

The Game:

Ukraine Battles 2014: Ilovaisk & Debaltseve

Ukraine Battles is a grand tactical two-player simulation (battalion-brigade level) of the battles fought in the Donbass in 2014-2015. The game system incorporates the tactical and operational lessons learned from the operations in Ukraine, including tactical and operational drones, improved sub munitions, expanded range and lethality of artillery and MRLS systems, improved thermobaric ammunitions, Russian Battalion Tactical Groups, artillery radars, PSYOPs, Special Forces (Spetsnaz) as combat force multipliers, or networked Anti-Aircraft (AA) systems. The system simulates armor superiority, reactive armor, Shtora systems vs. Anti-Tank (AT) missiles and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), defensive positions and pre-arranged artillery fire, as well as the difficulties of command control and coordination of hybrid armies formed by regulars and militias.

Each game turn represents two to three days, each hex represents 10km or 6 miles, and combat units range from battalions to brigade sized units.

22 x 34-inch game map and a sheet of 176 5/8-inch counters. Design by Javier Romero