HMS Sheffield burns after hit by Argentinian Exocet anti-ship Missile | Imperial War Museum Website.
Introduction
It’s been 39 years since the outbreak of the Falklands War, and the islands, once the center stage of some of the fiercest aero-naval conflicts since the Second World War, are still a bone of contention in Anglo-Argentinian relations. This article isn’t so much to recount the war itself. The Imperial War Museum website, as well as this article from Smithsonian Magazine, do an excellent job of laying out the events of the conflict. What I want to discuss today is the possibilities of wargaming the conflict, some 39 years later, in both board and miniatures format.
The Falklands War was a war where old met new. You had the latest French-made anti-ship missiles being used in combat for the first time and nuclear submarines sinking World War II-era light cruisers with torpedoes barely more advanced than the technology of their target. Argentinian A-4s relied on WWII technology to sink modern British ships and faced Harriers with the latest mark of Sidewinder missiles. And the British, when they finally did land on the island, walked all the way to Stanley in a process that would have been familiar to many armies throughout history.
It was also something of an internationalized conflict. Both sides fielded weapons from at least half a dozen nations, and the Exocet, the “star” of the conflict, was made by the French. The conflict could have expanded into a regional one, but happily, it did not, but we are learning new things about the conflict from year to year, especially with the end of the Cold War.
Board Wargames
This won’t be so much an exhaustive list, but a list of games that are representative of the conflict and present a good potential game with a lot of options.
Board Game Geek
This game put out by White Dog Games is a solitaire simulation of the conflict. It reflects both the air/naval and the march to Port Stanley. The game uses area movement for both maps in the conflict and has tons of chrome for a variety of options (including rules for the Pope!) which reflects the efforts by many outside players to affect a diplomatic solution to the war before the arrival of the British task force.
The game is available in Folio and Boxed format, and there’s even a description of the rules for buyers to familiarize themselves with before they purchase the game. It’s been highly rated on BGG, and if you’re interested in the conflict, it looks as If this is a good place to start. The game can be purchased from White Dog Games here.
Board Game Geek
Where There is Discord is a game by the late Fifth Column Games, which was something of a self-publishing enterprise. This game is also at the level of Mrs. Thatcher’s War, but it was a far more involved and massive affair. The game is not as highly rated as Ms. Thatcher’s War, but it was good enough to be nominated for a Charles S. Roberts award in 2005. The board and components were rather on the large side:
Board Game Geek
Right now, you can find the game on Board Game Geek, but it’s not cheap at all; but from all accounts, it looks like another good game on the topic if you can get past the price tag.
Board Game Geek
I’ve always liked the Lock N’ Load system. It’s a pretty simple game system that does well to simulate WWII and Modern tactical level combat with fairly simple mechanics. It can play a bit gimmicky, and it’s written to err on the side of simple, but Heroes of the Falklands was a very good entry into the series. In many ways, the land phase of the Falklands, with the nature of the conflict being borne by mostly battalion and regimental sized units of light infantry, is perfect for these sorts of games. The British are high quality, few, and at the end of a very tenuous supply line. The Argentinians are more numerous, but they are poorly motivated conscripts for the most part, and the Royal Navy has cut the islands off from resupply. It’s actually a very even contest, which is not so good for a military operation but makes for some great games.
The game has 13 scenarios stretching from the initial Argentinian landings to a hypothetical attempt by the Argentinians to hold Port Stanley. I have played a few scenarios from this game on VASSAL, so I can say this is a solid game. The game is available at Lock N’ Load’s Website, and I’d recommend picking up a copy if this sort of thing interests you.
Miniatures Games
Board Game Geek
Harpoon is the set of Modern Naval Wargames rules out today, and it’s on its 5th edition, currently published by Clash of Arms games and available from Wargames Vault in either POD or PDF download. The game isn’t a simple one, but it does a very good and very exhaustive job of simulating naval combat. The game’s creator, Larry Bond, was Tom Clancy’s collaborator on Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising, and many of the pivotal scenes in both books were wargamed out using the rules.
That said, if you want to game out the South Atlantic specifically, you should get your hands on a copy of this book:
Wargames Vault
This book is basically going to have all the information you need to game out the war for Harpoon in one volume. Like Harpoon, it’s also available from Wargames Vault.
Another option for a game is to do the airwar, which was very contentious over the Falklands. My preferred rules set for this sort of thing is Check Your Six: Jet Age, which I recommended in my Desert Storm article. The best part about it is, is that the numbers of aircraft in each fight are on the small side, and it’s one of the cheaper modern conflicts to do from an air standpoint. There are even five scenarios for the Falklands included in the rules set.
Board Game Geek
As for the land part of the fighting, my recommendations are for the following rules sets. Of course, Force on Force is my go-to for Modern platoon-level combat and even has a scenario set in the Falklands in the basic rules.
Board Game Geek
For larger actions, and I use that sparingly, I’d recommend Fistful of Tows 3 to handle up to a couple of battalions on each side. These are going to be small FFT 3 games by comparison, and I’d make the tables small, as most infantry stands only move 4” in a turn, to start the scenario off right and get the players playing.
Closing Thoughts
Some things to keep in mind about the terrain. The Falklands is a lot of windswept hills with few if any trees. Because of this, the British launched all of their assaults at night, to take advantage of their better training, the cover of night and the limited amount of night vision gear available (and consider that in 1982, night vision gear was in its buggy infancy, and was considered more of a “nice to have” than the essential it is now.)
Also consider that most of the Argentinian garrison troops were conscripts and very unhappy to be there. Morale was low at best, and most of the time, the Argentinians fought from their positions, and did not maneuver much to deal with the British assaults on their hilltop positions.
I hope this article was helpful, and maybe it interested you in gaming out one of the largest aeronaval battles since the end of World War II.
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(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)