Save: Afghanistan, Comrade!

From Fortress Games:

It is December, 1979. Hafizullah Amin, a dedicated communist, leads Afghanistan ineffectually. In Moscow, his Soviet handlers at the Politburo chafe under what they see as his failure to unify what may be an increasingly unravelling national unity. Leonid Brezhnev, the aging Party Secretary, has been slowly but certainly convinced by the hawks on the Politburo that, absent decisive Russian action, Afghanistan will fall from the Soviet orbit.

In what they see as a likely short and decisive “regime change” action, the Politburo signs an order on December 15th directing Soviet forces to deploy throughout Afghanistan under the guise of assisting Amin, while the elite Spetsnaz plan to storm Amin’s palace outside Kabul and liquidate him. In good order and according to plan, Soviet forces occupy bases throughout the country and on December 27, 1979, Amin’s palace is stormed and he is shot dead (then grenaded for good measure) and replaced by pliant Soviet puppet Babrak Karmal. Soviet casualties in the assault are acceptable in what is viewed as a tremendous success. That view, they would learn, could not have been further from the truth.

Welcome to the Great Game, Cold War version. “Save Afghanistan, Comrade!” pits you as the Soviets and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the rebellious Mujahadeen for dominance in Afghanistan. Can you defeat them and create a stable and lasting communist Afghan nation on the USSR’s southern border? Or will you, like Brezhnev’s Soviet Union, find the Mujahadeen to be a stubborn and ultimately indomitable enemy? You begin in December 1979. Amin is dead, Karmal in power, but unexpectedly the Afghan army and security forces have essentially dissolved.

COMRADE: REESTABLISH ORDER, CRUSH MUJAHADEEN RESISTANCE, AND REBUILD THE AFGHAN POLICE AND ARMY!!!

“Save Afghanistan, Comrade!”  Game contents: 30″ x 22″ game board (14-point, which is very thick and sturdy to last a lifetime, scored for easy folding and storage), 14 page game manual, 1 player aid, 221 one- and two-sided 5/8″ pre-punched high quality glossy counters, 2 dice.