Progress Report

The South Africans arrived last week courtesy of Peter Pig. Great service - I only ordered thm what seems like a few days ago - and lovely figures and models.

So, I now have my Cuban/UNITA/FAPLA/SWAPO infantry to finish (and after a marathon session yesterday these are coming along nicely - pictures to follow) as well as tanks, APCs, technicals, a couple of helicopters (Mi 24 and Mi 17) and a MiG 21 as well as the South Africans. My forthcoming month off is going to be busy.

I've been thinking about terrain and have decided that whilst my miniature world maker river and roads will suffice I'm going to get new hills, trees and buildings as well as a new basecloth for this project. The thinking at present is 'teddy bear fur' in a light beige or sandy colour for the basecloth: three of Battlefront's desert hills, one extra large and two large; and about a dozen or so buildings from Peter Pig & Timecast. For the vegetation I'll use Irishserb's technique of model railway trees and lichen.

I hope to be able to play my first game by mid February.

Up to know events in War for Slow Readers hae mirrored what actually happened. That will change soon. Once the South African 2nd Infantry Division crosses the border to secure the  Ruacana-Calueque hydro-electric scheme and the US begins to send money and arms to back UNITA then the Cuban response may or may not follow history's script.

FNLA on the rampage...

A number of counterfactuals are possible:

• A stronger or weaker Cuban intervention than what actually occured
• UNITA and or the FNLA capture Luanda in late 1975 or early 1976
• South Africa intervenes more decisively
• The Soviets airlift Cuban troops en mass and provide naval and air support on a large scale
• The US and British, through mercenary troops and covert assistance to UNITA and the FNLA, shore up the South African position far more than they really did.

And that only takes us to March 1976!

There are the fascists Helmut!

As the war unfolds we may get an SAS raid on Luanda airport to destroy Soviet spy planes shadowing the Royal Navy Task Force heading for the Falklands; East German Kommandoes and Soviet Spetsnatz being deployed along and across the Namibian border; and Cuban mechanized troops taking on the SADF in support of SWAPO.

Soviet Tupolov Luanda 1982

The 80s are going to be very interesting in Angola...