Modern Tactics: Afghanistan
by
Vuca Simulations
Vuca Simulations started not too long ago at all. At first, it seemed like a small meteor in the lower night sky. Then it turned into a supernova in the center of the sky. It has turned itself into a wargaming powerhouse during that time. Of course, if your senses had been attuned correctly you would have expected it. Even their first game was exceedingly well crafted and a pleasure to play. Since then, the gameplay and graphics and design seem to have gotten better with every release.
This game was designed by Shayne Logan, who already has a good number of excellent games under his belt. I assume that insurgency wars are as hard to design for a wargame as they are for a country to win. Most have proven totally unwinnable for the nation that is trying to pacify an entire populace. The Romans finally learned how to deal with it better than any other empire or country. They would simply move the, or most of, rebelling population somewhere else. The insurgency wars of the last few hundred years are usually between a much greater military power and a home-grown movement. That is why they are probably harder to design than normal wars. The greater military power can simply stomp like an elephant onto the insurgents due to their overwhelming power. However, the insurgents are like a will o' wisp or ball lightning. They are always present but almost impossible to catch. So, the greater power cannot bring its might to bear. Let's take a look at the game and see how well Mr. Logan has done.
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| Back of the Box from Vuca Simulations |
This is what Vuca Simulations has to say about the game:
"Dust kicks off an unpaved road, echoes bounce inside walled compounds, and one radio call can change the plan. Modern Tactics: Afghanistan drops you into platoon-level firefights from 2006–2009, where coalition patrols trade impulses with a nimble insurgency across villages, vineyards, and wadis. Every activation is a hard choice—move, fire, breach, rally, call support—while civilians, contacts, and rules of engagement keep the battlefield tense.
What it feels like
Snap decisions, constant pressure: Alternating impulse play captures the push-and-pull of real operations.
Asymmetric warfare done right: Coalition (Canadian, U.S., ANA, SOF) faces Insurgent forces with Fanatics, Recruits, Bombers, Snipers, IEDs, and hidden contacts.
Terrain that tells a story: Walled and multi-hex compounds, high and low walls, irrigation ditches, grape fields, rough ground, and wadis shape LOS, cover, and movement.
Civilians and ROE matter: Unknown contacts, civilian presence, and collateral risk influence your tempo as much as raw firepower.
Combined arms, cleanly integrated: LAV III, Bison, RG-31, Leopard 2, and air support (including Apache gunship) join infantry, engineers, mortars, and AT weapons.
Highlights
Twenty scenarios spanning quick raids, relief missions, and set-piece assaults—e.g., Barton’s Holdouts, Open Market, Operation Medusa, High Value Target, Snake Pit, Outside the Wire, Strongpoint, and more.
Play the compounds right: Edge-hex firing arcs, interior LOS, and wall bonuses reward careful positioning and breaching.
Air & artillery windows: Timed off-board fire missions and gunship arrivals open corridors—or close them.
Risk vs. momentum: Smoke, interdiction, suppression, and morale create openings…but overreach gets punished fast.
What’s in the box
Scenario & theater playbook (Afghanistan) • Core rules (v1.0) • Geomorphic tactical maps • Coalition and Insurgent counters (infantry, leaders, weapon teams, vehicles, markers) • Player aids and reference tables.
Scale: ~50 m per hex; each turn ≈ a few minutes
System: Hex-and-counter, alternating impulses; leadership, morale, suppression, breaching, vehicles, OBA/air
Players: 1–2 (team play possible)
Playtime: 60–120 minutes per scenario (varies by scenario size)
Designer: Shayne Logan"
The game components are what we have come to expect from Vuca Simulations. The maps are naturally a depiction of the terrain that most battles in Afghanistan were fought. So, they are completely correct and look spot on. That being said, it is a pretty drab and inhospitable looking place. The maps are a little stranger than most. There is an eight-piece fold out one which is pretty much standard in size. Then there is a two-piece fold out one that is longer on one side and shorter on the other compared to the pieces of the other map. All of the map pieces are double-sided for as much differing terrain as possible that you would want in a game.
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| The Maps certainly do not give you a Garden of Eden feel. |
There are two three-piece fold out Players Aids. These are made of card stock but are more flexible than others I have seen. They are also laminated and in full color. The lamination was definitely an excellent choice on Vuca Simulations part. It will help them hold up for the game to have a long-life span. They are double-sided with the inside three being the different CRTs. The outside three are a Players Aid, with the Turn Sequence, Other Combat, and a Terrain Chart that is in spreadsheet form without any images of the terrain in question (do not worry there is another one that does have images).
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| Some pages from the Players' Aid fold out. |
Next up are two single-sided card stock, also laminated, Track Displays. These track Victory Points, Enemy Casualty Points, Impulse Points, and Impulse Point Modifiers. The last one is called the Scenario Display, and it has the Turn Track and the Terrain Key on it. This is the one has the images of all the terrain on it with all the pertinent information for each type listed to the right side of the image. It is made just like the other Aids but rectangular and is slightly longer than the other pages.
There are five decks of cards. Four of them, USA, Insurgent, Canadian, ANA (Afghan Army), are used to show all the information of each different types of units on both sides. The fifth deck is the Luck deck. This, naturally, represents the 'friction' of war as Moltke described it. The cards are a little bit smaller than a regular deck but also seem to be laminated. They have nice large writing, and the pictures of the different units and pieces of equipment are certainly what you would expect in a Vuca Simulations game.
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| Luck Cards |
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| U.S. and Insurgent Unit Cards |
Then we come to the five countersheets. The countersheets are split about 60/40 between each side's units and playing markers. The troop counters are 3/4" and the vehicle ones are 7/8". They also come pre-rounded for those of us who care about that. The artwork on them is nicely done without unnecessary gaudiness. The information on them is quite large but you also have it on the unit card decks.
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| Insurgents and other counters |
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| Canadian and more Insurgent counters |
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| U.S. and ANA counters |
The Rulebook and Playbook are also pretty much standard Vuca Simulations fare. Thet are both in full color and also seem to be slightly laminated. Not enough to give you horrific glare but certainly much more substantial than a magazine. The Rulebook is 48 pages long and is in double columns. However, the printing is nice and large, and it is filled with play examples. So, do not be daunted by the 48 pages. It also comes with an Appendix which is really just a very handy set of "common combats in flow chart form". This is an excellent player aid to keep at hand. The Playbook is 26 pages long and is set up the same way as the Rulebook. The first five pages are some designer notes and a little bit of history. The rest is taken up by the setup and rules for the 20 scenarios it comes with.
The game box is filled up with all of the wonderful things that we have come to expect from Vuca Simulations. All wargames are pricier now than ever before. However, with Vuca Simulations games you definitely get your money's worth.
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| Turn Track and Terrain Key |
With modern day simulation games, or even ones going back to a World War 3 in the 1970s or 80s, you can go one of two ways with the games. Most designers go for the kitchen sink approach to the modern battlefield and try to design a game that is full of micromanagement and flashy details on weapons systems. There is nothing wrong with this approach and it is also seen in other periods of war simulations. Sometimes, I love to get mired with minutiae. Other times, I am looking for a game that has some depth but is quicker to learn and you can get up and playing faster. This game was designed with the latter in mind. Do not get me wrong, it does have plenty of depth. However, you are not making die rolls to see where each bullet fired by your soldiers land. Mr. Logan has made a name for himself by designing all of the Old School Tactical, based in World War II, wargames. If you are conversant with those games, this new Modern War series will be very easy to learn. Sometimes an 'easier' game is decried by grognards as not being as good as a wargame with a 100-page rulebook and needing to phone a friend for help deciphering them. Please try and remember the gameplay is the thing.
This game is definitely based in the actuality of modern war. If you try to play it like the Eastern Front in World War II you will get your hand slapped, or lose victory points, because of it. Yes, the insurgent forces are more brittle. However, you cannot just sit in your helicopters and fire away, although that is very helpful. You as the USA and Cannada and its Afghan Allies will have to put boots on the ground. The bloody infantry are the deciders of war on the ground since time immemorial. This is a game about small unit engagements. Even the units with huge armies and supplies behind them only have a finite number of things. Those troops are also put in some of the most inhospitable and remote areas of combat. They are also faced with a homegrown enemy that has a lot going for it before the action even starts. If you expect to just steamroll your way through these villages etc. you have another thing coming. Likewise, the insurgents have to be completely aware of the modern armaments and mechanized units their enemies have, and their training. The Luck Cards can have a great effect on your plans for your units, especially if the Breakdown Card rears its ugly head. Your opponent gets to remove an enemy support weapon or flip a Weapons Team to its Team side, thereby becoming just infantry.
The coalition forces should try and keep their helicopters and armored vehicles out of harm's way. The helicopters are worth three victory points, and the armored vehicles are worth two, this is the same as a full squad. The insurgents have RPGs, a heavy machine gun unit at times, and a good number of light machine guns at their disposal. Naturally not in every scenario, but they can be there. The 'bomber' units of the insurgents are one of their most dangerous weapons. If possible, the Coalition forces should target them, and any heavy weapons, that the insurgents have early in each scenario. Then we come to the insidious IEDs. These are hidden until sniffed out by Coalition forces or by the blast that your units will suffer from them. The addition of civilians running amok during these firefights is another thing that the Coalition forces have to be aware of (these are also worth two points to the insurgents). The Rulebook also has some rules for tank-to-tank engagement but there is no chance in this game. This is just because they are Core Rules for the gaming system.
The game uses Impulse Points and an Initiative Phase. The scenarios go by fast and furious and you can easily get lost in the gameplay. The Luck Cards can, and will, change how a scenario is playing out. Lady Luck is equally distributed between the forces. This is a game for playing and not cross-referencing rules and yet it still gives a good approximation of the realities of the combat. It is a cat and mouse game played out with newer weaponry. Of course, drones are nowhere near as effective or muti-purpose as they are now. These battles took place roughly 20 years ago.
Thank you Vuca Simulations for letting me review another of your excellent games. A big thank you also to Mr. Logan for designing another great game system for me to get obsessed about.
Robert Peterson
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