At War with the Evil Empire: A Review of "The Red Storm" Part I

J. Michael Hemphill, designer.  Yaquinto Games, 1983.

Upon its release in 1983, I bought a copy of this game.  At the time, however, I was more into RPGs with my friends than solitaire historical wargaming, so a few years later it was sold, unplayed. 

Last year I acquired a copy of it unpunched and in very good condition, albeit yellowed with age.  Since my recent attempt to unbox and play the newest addition to the collection---Blue Water Navy---has been put on hiatus for a number of reasons, I got out RS and began setup.

Since I like historical wargames, I was curious as to how accurate the designer's unit designations and overall historicity fared twenty-five years after the scenario was relegated to "alternate history" status.

On the NATO side, Hemphill really did his homework; considering that he had to have developed the game between 1979-1982, his unit IDs and their placement for 1983 is excellent with very few errors.  I am particularly impressed with his inclusion of the six established Heimatschutzbrigaden (HSchBrig), or Homeland Security Brigades.  These were units consisting of mostly reservists that provided rear-area security and defense against para-troops or infiltration groups. While he chose not to reproduce what has been called NATO's "layer-cake defense," he did assign initial unit placement with the proper army groups, dividing the map into BALTAP (Area K), NORTHAG (Area N), and CENTAG (Area C) and assigning units with almost complete historical accuracy.  In my setup, I went one step further and ensured that my divisions were placed within their proper "layers" in each Area Command.  I also researched the location of numerous army airfields and bases so my placement of the various air assault and attack helicopter brigades would be a bit more historical.

On the Pact side, however, Hemphill is on shakier ground.  To be fair, the up-to-date placement and assigning of Soviet and Pact divisions within the German Democratic Republic (DDR) would have been difficult to obtain even by people familiar with the intelligence community, and would probably have been classified information even if it were available.  Still, Hemphill does get quite a few of the units right, in particular the Soviet divisions present in the DDR, but there are inconsistencies in the OB although they do not affect the game in any significant way.

The game, itself, was very well produced, and bears the trademarks of Yaquinto's all-too-brief history: double-thick counters, and maps of heavy, coated paper that neither tear nor wear easily. 
The artwork is well-done, with the map featuring a somewhat-abstracted West Germany divided into scaled hexes, with top-down views of terrain features and surrounded by both allied and enemy countries.  For the counters, the designers chose to go with silhouettes for the various unit-types, rather than the NATO Standard symbols, and the unit nationality is indicated by color variation.  This makes the game more approachable and easier to play, especially for new or first-time players not familiar with wargaming.  Personally, I could have gone either way as I am comfortable with either format.

The calm before the storm: initial NATO unit placement

The game is played at the operation level with most units at the division level, with a small number of brigade-units when necessary, or when breaking down Airborne or Air Assault divisions.  Combat is resolved using an Odds system, which, while not my favorite mechanic, works fairly well once you've used it.  Provision for counter-assault is made by allowing a defender to engage an attacker, although at slightly reduced effectiveness.  Terrain effects are straightforward and easy to remember.  Airborne drop survival rules are a weak point, in my opinion, since distance from friendly units would have no bearing in drop survival unless the division is being dropped in "Indian country."  There is also no provision for drift.

I will detail combat more extensively in Part II.