games - Axis of Evil

Est. Retail: $44 (Est. Pledge: $33)

A full panoply of special operations and strategic warfare "Advanced Game" rules will be provided by Joseph Miranda, who has long been recognized as a master at simulating those aspects of modern conflict.

The Chinese will field the most modern portion of their huge army for this war, including their eight heliborne "Fist" regiments, two artillery divisions, six tank divisions and 13 first-line infantry divisions.

The North Korean Peoples Army order of battle features 48 infantry divisions (all 1-1-2s), as well the corps-sized "Bodyguard Bureau" (a 3-4-2), the "Pyongyang Anti-Aircraft Artillery Command" (a 1-5-2), the "Training Unit Guidance Bureau" and "Reconnaissance Bureau" (both 4-4-4 special operations-capable units), and their vaunted "exploitation force," which consists of a tank corps (an 8-4-4-), four mechanized infantry corps (4-6-4s), and an artillery corps that works to double the attack factors of exploitation force units it supports in combat.

The entire active-duty divisional roster of the US Army, a USMC "Expeditionary Force" and the 6th Attack Helicopter Brigade, along with the 11 infantry corps and three elite mechanized infantry divisions of the South Korean army, plus two UK and one French division, and even a Pacific-area-allies "composite corps" (representing ANZACs, Fijians, Filipinos, etc.), are included in the order of battle.

There is little doubt that, despite their catastrophic economic problems, North Korea is militarily the toughest of three "Axis of Evil" nations named by President Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address. The Korean peninsula is heavily mountainous; the southern border of the communist state is fortified, and their People's Army order of battle and doctrine are well developed. The Coalition/Chines player will have to work hard and quickly to capture SAM launch sites, along with other weapons of mass destruction production and storage facilities scattered all across the country.

The operational balance will be such that the North Koreans are sure to go down militarily, the question being can they hold out long enough to score sufficient "Media Perception Points" to "win" with their SAMs, SCUDs and No-Dong-1 missile launches against urban targets in nearby Asian and Pacific nations (as well as within its own territory if that's what their desperate national command orders). There will be 176 large-size counters in this boxed game.

 The map will cover from the Seoul and Inchon area in the south to the Chinese and Russian borders in the north at eight miles per hex. The system will be an evolution of the one used in "Back to Iraq, 3rd Edition," allowing for easy solitaire play, and the work will be done by the same Ty Bomba/Joseph Miranda design and development team. Each playable in one sitting, scenarios will include a combined Chinese and US Coalition offensive, and a US Coalition-only campaign.

Set in the late 2003-2004 time frame, this a two-map (34x22 inch large-hex), two-player game examines the strategic and operational possibilities inherent in the US anti-terror coalition attempting a "regime change" campaign against North Korea.

The US Attacks North Korea.