Labyrinth: War on Terror - 2001, an SDR and Barth experience

Started by Silent Disapproval Robot, January 22, 2017, 02:48:01 AM

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Silent Disapproval Robot

GJK and I had planned to play this a few months ago but it never came to fruition.   Now Barthheart and I are going to give it a whirl.  We're going to play a VASSAL PBEM game of the "Let's Roll" scenario from GMT's Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001 -?.

Barth will be taking on the role of the US while I play as the Jihadis.


We'll be playing the standard game which lasts for one run through of the card deck or ends early should one side achieve their victory conditions.


Scenario description:  It is September 12, 2001.  Al-Qaeda has just pulled off a devastating "martyrdom operation" in the United States that it hopes will light the fires of Islamist revolution.  the US - caught off guard - has awoken and is about to respond.

The Jihadis win if they can achieve one of the following conditions.

1)  Set up an Islamic Caliphate by converting at least 2 adjacent countries to Islamic rule and having control of 6 resources.
2)  Lower U.S. prestige to 1 and have at least 15 countries under Islamic rule or suffering from poor governance.
3)  Setting off a WMD on U.S. soil.


The U.S. wins if they can achieve one of the following:

1)  Have at least 15 countries with fair or good governance.
2)  Have at least 12 resources under good governance.
3)  Eliminate all terrorist cells from play.



Afghanistan starts under Islamist rule with 4 sleeper terrorist cells in play.  The U.S. government starts out with a hard stance on terror which matches global sentiment (thanks to Israel). If the global stance on the war on terror ever becomes at odds with the US stance, the US suffers penalties to operations they try to undertake around the globe.  The US starts with a prestige of 7 which is "high", giving them a bonus to attempts influence nations via "the war of ideas".   They have troops stationed in Saudi Arabia and in the Gulf States.

Each side starts with a hand of 9 cards which can be played for events listed on them or for operations.  The cards have a value of 1-3 points and they can be US associated, Jihadist associated, or neutral.

If a side plays a card associated with the opposing player, the opposing player gets to conduct the event listed on the card.  Jihadis can use the operations points to recruit new terror cells, move cells from country to country (and convert them from active to sleeper), launch major or minor jihads, or launch a terror plot.

The US can use points to influence governments through the "War of Ideas", deploy troops to a country, withdraw troops from a country, institute regime change, reassess US policy, disrupt terror cells, or go on alert for suspected terror plots.

The Jihadis have the initiative and can play two cards in a row, followed by the US reacting and playing two cards in a row. This back and forth continues until the each player's hand of cards is depleted. Once hands are depleted (the US can hold on to one card for future turns), hands are re-drawn (hand size can vary depending on game conditions) and adjustments are made to terrorist funding levels and US prestige.  Then play continues on as before until the deck runs out or one side fulfills a victory condition.



Silent Disapproval Robot

The Jihadis go first.  After drawing my nine cards, I decide to try and set world opinion against the U.S.

Chirac and Shroeder are elected in France and Germany and, unlike the US, oppose direct military intervention in the war on terror.  Their posture is set to soft, world opinion switches from hard -1 to soft -1 and the US loses prestige.







Next, Osama starts putting out videos decrying US imperialism and pointing out their impotence in the Muslim world (because Afghanistan is under Islamist rule, the US loses 4 prestige).








That's the end of my first two actions.  I've managed to greatly decrease US prestige and set them at odds with world opinion which will mean Barth will have a much tougher time of it should he decide to use his cards to try to influence governments via "the war of ideas".  This is the main way in which the US can improve relations and help bring about stable governments to Muslim countries.


Silent Disapproval Robot

The US responds with a full fledged invasion of Afghanistan.  They oust the ruling Islamic theocracy, quickly set up a puppet government and begin conducting offensive operations against the Jihadists.  All four of my cells there go from sleeper to active and Barth's forces hunt down and kill two of them.




In response, I recruit three more sleeper cells in Afghanistan and then send the two exposed cells over the border into Pakistan where they blend in with the populace and become sleepers again.







Silent Disapproval Robot

The US continued to focus on exposing terror cells in Afghanistan and flipped two of my units there to active (which makes them easier to kill).  They then sent a drone strike over the border into Pakistan and took out one of my units hiding there.






US prestige is on the rise thanks to all the casualties they're inflicting but it's still in the toilet.






I responded by recruiting another three cells in Afghanistan and then unleashing some radicalized Kurdish elements in Iraq.






Silent Disapproval Robot

Barth goes on a diplomatic offensive and tried to strong arm Germany's Schroeder into publicly supporting the US led war on terror.  His efforts fail and Germany's position stays the same.

In northwestern China, elements of the Uygar population become radicalized.  China cracks down in response and supports the US's hard stance on Islamic terror.  (China's stance becomes hard, shifting the world's overall stance to neutral and removing one of the penalties imposed on any War of Ideas attempts made by the US).  Uygar extremists cross the border from China to Kyrgyzstan and set up training camps there.  (I gain one cell in Central Asia).





With a lull in fighting in Afghanistan (Barth used his two ops turns to try and flip Germany's stance), I decide to send three cells across the border into Pakistan and launch a Jihad to try and destabilize the corrupt regime there.  Guess I underestimated the skill of the Pakistani ISI.  All three of my cells are wiped out while achieving nothing but martyrdom.  (I needed to roll a 1 or a 2 on a d6.  Had 3 chances to do so and ended up rolling three 3s.   #:-) )






Silent Disapproval Robot

The US continues to grind up jihadis in Afghanistan (Barth kills off another this turn) which seems to be playing well in the US Heartland.  The hawks hold on to the House and Senate during the mid-term elections and US posture remains hard.



European opinion is not on board however as France remains opposed to direct action despite coaxing from the Americans.


The Jihadis decide to show their displeasure with the election results by targeting US troops in Afghanistan.  We attempt to hatch a plot there but it comes to nothing.

Not willing to expose our last sleeper cell in the 'Stan, we decide to try to demonstrate our strength by hitting Saddam in Iraq with another plot.  This one has better success and is now in motion.  Will Barth be able to prevent it?  Tune in to our next installment.








MengJiao


  Its odd how this all didn't quite play out in reality ( with three or four-way wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen where the US is aligned with the Shia mostly though still shooting Tomahawks at Houthi radar sites occasionally).  You would need a whole Labyrinthine game just to represent Yemen these days.

Silent Disapproval Robot

That's in the expansion, Labyrinth: The Awakening 2010- ?.  It adds all the colour revolutions, Arab Spring, and collapse into civil wars. 

MengJiao

Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on January 31, 2017, 01:45:26 PM
That's in the expansion, Labyrinth: The Awakening 2010- ?.  It adds all the colour revolutions, Arab Spring, and collapse into civil wars.

  Good to know!

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Silent Disapproval Robot

US intelligence services are caught unawares by the plot.  Massive casualties occur in Iraq from the terrorist attack.  It is roundly condemned in the West and the hoped for increase in funding for the Jihadis never materializes (my funding was already maxed out.)

The US once again tries to win over Germany in light of the attacks but Schroeder's government remains staunchly opposed to US interventionism.  (Barth once again tries to switch Germany from soft to hard but the dice seem to have different ideas.)

Al-Shabaab becomes active in Somalia and the ruling government teeters on the brink of collapse.  (I gain a terror cell there and roll to determine the level of government.  It comes out as poor and the regime is besieged meaning it will be easier than normal for me to overthrow it via Jihad should I be able to amass at least 5 cells there).


That ends the first turn.  The Jihadis lose one level of funding bringing it from 9 to 8 (it drops by one each turn.  The funding level determines how many cards I get at the beginning of a new turn as well as the max number of terrorist cells I can have on the map).  Other than that, nothing changes

At the start of the second turn, I draw a new hand.  I still have enough funding to draw 9 cards.  I use my two card plays to recruit more cells.  I place two in Afghanistan (automatic success due to the war there) and I try to recruit 3 more in Somalia.   I have to roll equal to or less than the governance score on a d6 to succeed.  Because Somalia's government is poor, I need a 3 or less.  I roll one 3 and two 4s, gaining me one new cell there.





 





Silent Disapproval Robot

The meat grinder continues in Afghanistan.

The US sends special forces across the border into Waziristan and they knock out the last remaining cell in Pakistan.  Shia militants controlled by Muqtada al-Sadr launch a series of rash attacks against US forces in retaliation and are quickly wiped out.




With my cells in Pakistan gone and only two left in Afghanistan, I need to do some recruiting or else Barth will be able to wind up operations in Iraq and free up his troops currently bogged down there.

Pakistan seems like a lost cause.  Benazir Bhutto returns from exile and rallies the more secular elements of society there.  (I use the points from the card to recruit two cells in Afghanistan and try to get a third in Somalia but fail.)




The government in Somalia teeters ever closer to collapse.  (I manage to recruit two more cells there, bringing my total to 4.)






Silent Disapproval Robot

US pressure on the United Nations Security Council to support their military action in Afghanistan pays off.  With US efforts gaining further legitimacy from the UN resolutions, other NATO member nations agreed to send troops and aid to the region.  (Barth gains an additional two NATO troops in Afghanistan, the Afghan government improves from poor to fair, and also gains two aid markers that will make it easier for Barth to further improve government stability in the future).






Fundamentalist forces in Somalia storm government buildings in Mogadishu and overthrow the beleaguered government.  Somalia falls under Islamist rule.  (had to burn a card which would have made it easier for me to do the same in Yemen but both Yemen and Somalia are resource poor, so one's as good as the other for my purposes.)




Silent Disapproval Robot

US and NATO forces go on a tear in Afghanistan and blow the hell out of the Jihadists there.  Collateral damage upsets the neighbouring 'Stans and relations between the Central Asian countries and the US worsen.  I decide it's time to cut my losses in Afghanistan and fan out with the surviving cells.  I move cells into Central Asia and Iran.

In doing so, I manage to cut myself off from the Philippines as the Moro separatists decide that they're better off going it alone rather than working with Abu Sayyaf.


Silent Disapproval Robot

#14
Rather anti-climatic end of the turn.  Barth tries to influence the Gulf States and France and fails on both attempts.

I try to launch a terror attack on US troops in Afghanistan with my one remaining cell of true believers there.  They fail.

At the start of the new turn, I pull them out of Afghanistan and move them to Pakistan along with another cell that had been hiding in Iran.

US prestige is getting a little too high so I send out Zawahiri to muddy the waters a little.  This drops US prestige back into negative territory.