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Greetings,

As someone who has an interest in "modern" wargames, I was wondering if we could get a bit of an ongoing list of "Global Hot Spots" that are going on to potentially set a few games, read up on for scenarios, understand force orgs, etc. It will also help fuel potential for Imagi-Nations situations.

It seems like there is some political instability or security concerns in the following areas right now:

1. Yemen
2. Libya
3. Kashmir
4. Niger
5. Central African Republic

.... I am sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of off hand.

Bongkok
Oriental setting.
And the city don't know what the city is getting.
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble.
Not much between despair and ecstasy.
One night in Bangkok makes the tough guys tumble.
I can feel the Devil sliding next to me.

Easy E wrote:Greetings,

As someone who has an interest in "modern" wargames, I was wondering if we could get a bit of an ongoing list of "Global Hot Spots" that are going on to potentially set a few games, read up on for scenarios, understand force orgs, etc. It will also help fuel potential for Imagi-Nations situations.

It seems like there is some political instability or security concerns in the following areas right now:

1. Yemen
2. Libya
3. Kashmir
4. Niger
5. Central African Republic

.... I am sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of off hand.

Looking at modern spots that either are seeing active fighting, or are potential spots that could easily flare up, to add to this list we have Korea, Syria, Somalia, Kashmir, Phillipine Sea, Taiwan, Gaza/Golan/West Bank, potentially Venezuela and Columbia, Eastern Ukraine/Crimea, Armenia/Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Myanmar, and the Suez desert.

Maybe add in something like Serbia/Kosovo or Baltic states vs Little Green Men too.

I didn't realize Armenia/Azerbaijan was still an ongoing concern.....

Good call on Crimea! I totally spaced that one. Thanks.

You can essentially add most of the Northern Caucasus to that list.

 Vaktathi wrote:

Easy E wrote:Greetings,

As someone who has an interest in "modern" wargames, I was wondering if we could get a bit of an ongoing list of "Global Hot Spots" that are going on to potentially set a few games, read up on for scenarios, understand force orgs, etc. It will also help fuel potential for Imagi-Nations situations.

It seems like there is some political instability or security concerns in the following areas right now:

1. Yemen
2. Libya
3. Kashmir
4. Niger
5. Central African Republic

.... I am sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of off hand.

Looking at modern spots that either are seeing active fighting, or are potential spots that could easily flare up, to add to this list we have Korea, Syria, Somalia, Kashmir, Phillipine Sea, Taiwan, Gaza/Golan/West Bank, potentially Venezuela and Columbia, Eastern Ukraine/Crimea, Armenia/Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Myanmar, and the Suez desert.

Maybe add in something like Serbia/Kosovo or Baltic states vs Little Green Men too.

Hong Kong is getting a little tense and building up a fair bit of steam. Not a direct conflict but definitely not a calm situation.

Egypt while calmed still is not entirely peaceful and 100% stable.

To add to Vakathi's list, don't forget (Afghanistan and Iraq) the southern Phillipines, Moldova and Sudan. As Cruxeh said, the Caucasus with Chechnya, and the Russian separatist states in Georgia. Those are some of the more major ones, but there are more small pockets if instability.

I think a Modern Wargame would be interesting. It could even not be framed as specific conflicts in the rules or scenarios to avoid ruffling any feathers, just have various real world factions and allow the players to pit them against each other.

The issue is that if there was a conflict in any of those hotspots listed, and a major power was involved, it will be another operation Desert Storm. A crushing steamroll unless it turns into irregular warfare with insurgents and guerilla warfare. And I'm not sure how 'whack-a-mole' with bombs and random dudes with AKs would be entertaining to play.

The Cold War period, NATO vs Warsaw pact, technological superiority vs overwhelming numbers, was the last time with relatively even odds when a massive, regular war could occur without going too fictional. IIRC & IMHO

I think there are simply loads of possibilities for Imagi-Nations style modern conflicts. I wouldn't concentrate so heavily on existing conflicts (mainly because this can drum up painful memories for service members, or offend other people/nationalities, etc.) but simply use them as inspiration. You have a bunch of "types" of continual conflict in the world.

1) Nation vs. Drug Cartel. Look no further than Mexico or South America to see how a well armed and funded cartel can fight a country's (questionably loyal) national police and armed forces for decades. Add to this that you normally have more than one cartel, foreign interest, and paid-off politicians, police officials and military officers and the sky is the limit. This kind of conflict lends itself well to wargaming too since it's mostly small arms, an occasional helicopter or handful of vehicles (trucks, etc. mainly). A very playable idea at 28mm.

2) Nation vs. Terrorist Insurgency. Look no further than Russia. Russia is constantly deploying its federal police and military to combat continued insurgency style attacks within Russia and some of its previous states. Most of it is an extension of the Islamic extremist stuff, but you can justify yours however you want. Are you fighting for genuine justice or are you using heavy handed tactics to exert control over a region? Again very useful for wargaming considering you're dealing with small counter-terrorism elements, an occasional BTR, a helicopter, some armored Urals, etc.

3) Nation vs. Pirates. A fun one, and an easy one. Considered the main logistical path around Indonesia (which consists of literally thousands of islands...so many that the government has admitted they can not realistically police all of them). National or international efforts against piracy either on the water, or moving ashore to destroy camps, boats, equipment, or track down notorious pirates. Loads of potential here. Perhaps pirates get too big for their britches and seize an oil platform etc. Can take place anywhere from the Med to the Indian Ocean, the gulf, or the straits of the South East island nations.

4) Nation vs. Nation Cold War: See also Ukraine and Syria. Major nations subtly backing national interests in a lower-economy country. Perhaps you're concerned over resources, or a port that you used to have access to (Ukraine). Perhaps you're concerned with human rights violations, or you're backing a dictator because you feel a dictator over a stable country is better than another failed state (in the grand scheme of things). Maybe you're just using a conflict to test weaponry and tech. Pick any poor country in the world and then place a larger power behind it. Maybe skip the stereotypical US/Russian conflict in place of China/India...or some slightly less common powers.

5) Border disputes: See South America, India/Pakistan, Israel/Everyone etc. There have been loads of ongoing conflicts which don't escalate into full out war. Perhaps both countries have a vested interest in a border area, but seemingly both realize that going to full war isn't the best idea. Introduce some elements of terrorism, refugees, international pressure, UN monitoring groups, etc.

6) Full on insurgency: In 2019 with political views skewing harder and harder to opposing sides we're only going to see an increase in civil war type situations. In almost any country you could probably find a fringe element, exaggerate it and create the justification for conflict.

I think the things you can take into account for a "modern" assymmetrical warfare game are endless.

-Rules of engagement? Perhaps one side is severely hampered by unnecessarily strict rules of engagement, allowing the other side to take advantage.
-Technology. One side might be passionate and resourceful, but the other side might have satellite imagery, drones, technological advantages, etc.
-Wishy-washy allegiances. We see, in any lawless place, how frequently people change loyalties, simply to stay alive. This could be a present element in a wargame. Units failing to show up, or turning mid-game, or traps being laid...
-International pressure. Do you have rules for mobs of civilians, TV/news crews, UN monitors.observers, Red Cross volunteers, etc.
-Combine rules of engagement and politics to have a social media/media reputation element. Did you do everything right, or did someone get film of you doing something wrong (even if it just "appears" wrong)?
-If your game has a campaign system, maybe an element to determine who you deal with for weapons/supplies. Do you have a reputation monitoring system for say: US, Europe, Russia, China? If you do X, does your reputation go down, increasing your cost or likelihood of getting equipment you've requested?
-If you have civilians or rioters, do you have rules for riot police? Smoke grenades, tear gas, hoses, dogs, etc. Is there a "wargaming" element to crowd control outside of your embassy as people are hurling rocks or molotov cocktails? Do your rules of engagement prevent you from responding with lethal force?
-Are you manipulating information and outcomes to prevent the interruption of your conlfict by a large outside power? If you do, X, Y or Z...will it cause a larger more powerful nation to intervene on your opponents behalf?
-Do you risk dealing with funding sources that would ruin your reputation if exposed? Do you accept questionable money from a source which would cause you to lose credibility or support from within your party/government?
-Do you just say screw it and operate however the hell you want, regardless of international pressure?

etc. There are so many "elements" you could introduce to a cool modern wargame. It'd be neat to see a game which structured all of this into an elegant and playable format.

Gangs/cartels against rivals.

Citizens trying to 'take back their neighborhood' from the local gang or corrupt cops (modern Magnificent Seven). I actually saw this on a small scale in Haiti back in the late 90s.

A good one for interesting forces and terrain is the Peru vs Ecuador conflict they are always about to start over where the border is (yep, I done the MOMEP thang).

Didn't Peru/Ecuador have the famous Soccer War or whatnot?

South America is full of friggin' conflicts but they're often ignored because they have such minimal international implications.

You could rewind to the 80's and have Argentina and Chile's opposing juntas actually go to war, tie it in with the Falklands or something.

 Hawky wrote:
The issue is that if there was a conflict in any of those hotspots listed, and a major power was involved, it will be another operation Desert Storm. A crushing steamroll unless it turns into irregular warfare with insurgents and guerilla warfare. And I'm not sure how 'whack-a-mole' with bombs and random dudes with AKs would be entertaining to play.

The Toyota War called


Which, while not mentioned yet, I think would make a decent fairly recent history conflict that a game could be based around.

 Elbows wrote:
Didn't Peru/Ecuador have the famous Soccer War or whatnot?

I think that was in Central America and not South America. IIRC it was Guatamala and Honduras? I maybe mis-remembering.