Rob F. Winslow  - Apr 11, 2007 10:44 am (#18145 Total: 18197)  
As cuddly as a sweet little bunny. 	 

Cross-posted in the Angola folder...

Angola

Played in Tonawanda, NY yesterday (a Buffalo 'burb) at Grant Ladue's
place. Cory Wells and Bob Titran were also there. 

We picked sides randomly. Grant was the FAPLA and I was the MPLA, so we
were paired, trying to make Angola a commie paradise. Bob was UNITA
(South Africa-backed) while Cory was the FNLA (Zaire-backed), so they
were trying to make Angola into a fascist dictatorship, those bastards! 

The game took us all day, as neither Cory nor Grant had played before,
and it had been a looooooooooooooong time for both Bob and me. 

The first few turns saw some small battles and a little jockeying for
position. Bob's UNITA was the first side "hurt," so he got some early
South African Infantry. Other than that, not a lot of action in the
first couple of turns, as forces consolidated and non-controlled towns
were gobbled up. 

My MPLA had a tough turn 3, and we were rewarded with some nice Cuban
tanks. I took them in Lobito (south of Luanda), intending to drive South
with a large force and wrest the coastline from UNITA's hands. Well, I
made a tactical mistake, since during the reinforcement phase, both Bob
and Cory were receiving many toys (AT and AA missiles especially), while
Grant and I were receiving mostly units. Anyway, my Cuban tanks attacked
a UNITA force with no other armor support. In a hail of AT missiles,
they were no more -- the attack was repulsed and my forces were hurting.
During this time, Grant had been holding onto Luanada, I had Cabina (and
the oil!), while Cory's FNLA had been bottlenecked on the roads leading
South. Grant turned his attention to the center of the map, blocking
some key areas. But Bob and Cory were winning the "Propoganda battle,"
having generally outsmarted us on reinforcements -- they were usually
about 2 victory spaces ahead of us (sometimes 3) for most of the game. 

Turn 6 was when things turned badly for the commies, as Cory's
methodical advance put him outside Luanda with a big force. Grant and I
thought we could hold, but the defending air force and artillery shot
duds, and Cory's victorious FNLA bandits entered the capital city. A big
swing... In the South, Bob's UNITA forces were consolidating and
starting to pressure us, taking the key city of "New Lisbon" (Nova
Lisboa, I think). 

We were on the ropes, but not out of it, for on Turn 7, my MPLA forces
handed over the defense of Lobito to Grant's battle-hardened FAPLA
fighters and swung north, into Luanda. An epic battle ensued, and Cory's
FNLA hotheads were thrown back while my forces tried to calm the
civilian population and assure them they were now safe. Well, safe for a
turn, as Cory retook, lost, retook, and lost Luanada over the rest of
the game! We also faced a disaster at Nova Lisboa, as Grant sent a force
with his Cuban tanks to wrest control from Bob's UNITA forces. Bob had
laid a mnefield, and Grant didn't have any engineers. There were no AT
missiles fired, but both the Cuban tanks and the armored cars had to
dice for minefield survival (1s are bad). Guess what Grant rolled?
Snake-eyes! LOL! That was probably our last shot, but we played to the
end. 

Bob and Cory killed us on the last turn, with Bob sending a large force
into the interior and even reaching the North/central city of Melange,
unopposed. A decisive victory was won for fascism on Turn 10, and we
were wiped, though I think we were all ready to play again, now that
everyone knew what they were doing (and remembered the perils tanks face
on their own...). 

As for the game getting a makeover (Brian, you listening? ), there are
several things: 

Better components -- this goes without saying! 

Color the equipment a dfferent color than yellow, which is a faction
(MPLA) color! 

Better map! 

Clean up rules, better organization. 

"Flow-chart" play aid for reinforcement placement, which we were
constantly looking up. 

Better play aids, period. 

I do hope MMP redoes this one, as it's a little gem.