From: Markus Stumptner Subject: Re: Games you want to play but can't A late answer... is the originator still on this list or did he unsubscribe over the latest flamewar? :-) On Thu, 29 Jul 1999, Grand Trunk wrote: > Decision Game's Chad - the Toyota Wars. I have pulled that one out so many > times and yet have never been able to get into the rules to play this thing. > I keep getting the acronyms for the the various rebel and government units > all mixed up and can never seem to keep them straight. Has anyone ever > actually played this game???? I played a couple of scenarios and the campaign about a year after the game came out. For those who can stomach the concept of low intensity conflict in a game, this is a fascinating experience, a worthy companion to S&T's earlier Nicaragua. Rating units separately for conventional and guerrilla combat means you have to escort all those shiny Libyan tanks with irregulars so they don't get their paintjob all burned in an ambush. The economic game in the background means that the non-government player has a great time spoiling the development money the government player sends into the underdeveloped provinces, but if this is too effective the country goes down the drain in the end and both lose. In addition, external as well as rebel alliances can change and drastically alter the situation in a short time. Great Simonitch map, stretching from the desert and salt swamps in the north to the jungle in the south. Negative points: The game is indeed hard to get into, less because of the faction names (once you set it up, that goes fairly easily), but because the game has a hefty amount of errata (it was produced in the takeover period of DG from 3W which combined both side's worst aspects it seems) and with its focus on unconventional warfare and politics it does require getting the rules right. However, the errata did fix the problems as far as I was concerned and it's a great experience. I won't vouch for game balance, but I still want to try it with a human opponent one day. Markus Last 3 games: Guderian's Gambit, Objective Schmidt, Hunters from the Sky ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Bakayaro! Bakayaro!" ("Stupid Bastards! Stupid Bastards!") -- Admiral Aritomo Goto's last words to his staff, October 11, 1942 From: Juha Metsäkallas Subject: Chad - the Toyota wars (S&T 144) [long] (was: Re: Games you want to play but can't) I hope I'm not late [read as Markus Stumptner put it: all participants have unsubscribed to the list due to flamebaits] in this diskussion. It's a long time since I played this game so I hope I remember correct. Intervention forces =================== Shiny Libyan tanks are not at all suitable for rebel hunting; they are for garnison duties in cities where the defender can choose conventional warfare. I've successfully employed Libyan mechanized units (I called them "BTR raiders", IIRC) in antiguerilla warfare. The problem with Libyans is that their replacements have a loooooooong way to "front" (usually middle portion of the country) from their sanctuary. The OAU troops can pacify a tiny part of the country at most. The option that gives them fighting capability doesn't help much. They lack the fire-power of Libyan tanks and the mobility of mechanized infantry, yet they are dummies when it comes to guerilla warfare. The French have some of the most useful units in the whole conflict: the paras. The French are, OTOH, severely hampered by two factors: the restriction to remain in the south and the marshy terrain that covers most of it. Regular Chadian army ==================== Same as for Libyan army, except the government player normally -if the rebel player plays correctly- has a constant cash crisis. Chadian air forces or tank units are therefore mostly economical impossibilities. As a government player build a sufficient infantry force for garnison duties, and try to scrap money to build recce units for offensives (don't underestimate gamels!!). Pro-government guerillas ======================== There is a nasty tendency that once you've been appointed as head of the state all your friends desert. Spare your loyal guerillas as much as possible. The more a guerilla fraction is eager to desert, the more its units should be sent to die. Contra-government guerillas =========================== No problem here with keeping your forces fully deployed. Those foreign powers (guess who?) are more than willing to pour you more money you can possibly spend. Facts of life for the government player ======================================= - A government that is not backed up the Libyans is a toppling one. - A government that besides the Libyans is backed up the French is a stabile one. - Much fighting in a prefecture helps the rebels, unless you think to burn the whole country in which case both lose (if the option of the rebel budget is used, a sneaky government player can try to force the rebel player to invest to aggriculture to prevent mutual destruction). - You can really count on support of only few guerilla fractions. The game favours a player who starts as a rebel, ruins the economy of the country, and only in the end of game makes a coup-de-etat and declares to be the sole hope of the poor Chadian people and the defender of the human rights and... !! Metsis