Conflict Dossier: Takistan

When Ty got me into Spectre Operations, it was met with a mixed response from me. It’s a slick, well written game with loads of rules for almost every conceivable situation when might encounter on a modern battlefield. But I’m a classic old Grognard, preferring my games set further in the past or in a fictional setting.

Ty was relentless though, and a after a few days binging on some modern war-movies I was sold. He got the rulebook, which we are currently sharing, and a smattering of elite, special forces types and Russian regular army. I on the other hand went with a horde of Afghani’s and some Iraqi style insurgents. This was years ago at this point, and we got distracted by a lot of other games.

It was simply chance when looking for a game to play this weekend, that Spectre got a chance again. We have a good amount of pre-painted Middle East terrain from Black Site Studios, and I had started painting some Canadian infantry for my Zona Alfa projects. I suggested we play it since we had almost everything ready. Ty is working on getting his ‘Deniable Ops’ Russians completed for the weekend. We should be able to feature a fully written and fully painted Battle Report for this weekend!

Now in terms of setting, we could have easily done Afghanistan, Iraq, or one of many other real Middle Eastern locations. But then we would be hamstringed by what is actually happening there, and using their real life history. I suggested a fictional location, using ArmA(a great PC military sim series) and adapting their fictional country of Takistan.

Takistan is great since it’s an Afghanistan influenced country with some serious Iraqi flair the further south you get. It has the best of both worlds in terms of wargaming. We aren’t using the game’s depiction as gospel, but rather using the geography and history to tell our own story. We are setting our game in 2022, after Covid-19 has receded and countries are left picking up the pieces.

Takistan in 2022 has been occupied by NATO forces for almost 10 years, and the local insurrection has not gone the way it has in Afghanistan and Iraq. Having learned their mistakes elsewhere, the occupying forces have instead opted for a ‘firm but gentle’ hand in keeping the peace. The Monarchy has been reinstated with the addition of a democratic parliament beneath him. Since this government was popular, the insurgency is manageable and is mainly split between radical islamists and hardline tribals who refuse to acknowledge the official Government. Funding for both groups has dwindled as has recruitment, as Covid-19 vaccine hubs and an accompanying cease-fire to halt the spread has lessened tensions quite a bit.

Still, the NATO controlled zones must watch for IEDS, ambushes, and suicide bombers. Many nations maintain troop levels, happy that this was has not developed into a quagmire much like Iraq and Afghanistan has. Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and more have troops ranging from Canada’s and the US’s rather large commitments to smaller elite forces or medical aid. The UK administers the southern oil-fields, a particularly valuable area to maintain control over. Canada, Germany, France, and a host of smaller nations help administer the North. The Chernarus(another fictional country) border is administered by the US. Finally, a large northern region was annexed by the Russians during the old regimes fall, but were prevented from advancing further by the appearance of western troops. This northern border is now a dangerous powder keg, with NATO forces being deployed to guard it.

The rest of the country is administered by the Takistani National Army, who have been heavily trained by the NATO forces involved. While not the best soldiers around, they have maintained good control of the country, with only a few missteps. They do have a problem with local insurgents infiltrating their ranks, and absconding with gear or causing chaos internally, but more stringent requirements to join have helped matters.

Takistan is actually not that dangerous, and most countries are reducing their combat presence. This has been noticed by the Russians, who have had attacks launched from their occupied territories by soldiers in unmarked gear. While Russia denies all official involvement, it is clear that these attacks are not insurgent in nature. Tensions begin to rise again, and the Green Sea Region prays for peace, but prepares for war.

I am really quite excited for this game! I enjoyed my brief trial game of Spectre, and with a setting locked in we can expand with terrain and figures to really go nuts. I have a lot of Afghani tribal infantry I can repurpose as Takistani hillmen, and some Iraqi looking types for urban Insurgents. I would like to grab some Takistani National Army, which could be easily represented by Afghan National Army models, or really any generic middle eastern models!

My Canadians are slowing getting done, and I got 5 more painted today! While bases for Zona Alfa, they should fare just fine for Spectre. I will be grabbing an LAV-III on payday for them to ride in. Lets take a peek at what I got done!

These Canadians will be fighting a force of Russian Special Forces on an HVT retrieval mission, the first instance of Russian on NATO violence in our new campaign. Of course, the Russians aren’t wearing flags or anything to identify them as Russians, so it’ll be a fun little narrative thing to write up once we are done.

My buddy Ty over at Hussars and Handgrenades will be posting his Russian forces tomorrow, or I will heckle him a second time. So feel free to go see his models! I’m amazed at how good his camo is, so it’ll be worth your time.

But anyways, that is all I have for you today. Feel free to join me tomorrow as I crack on with more Canadian infantry! Happy War-gaming wherever you are, and keep your head on a swivel eh!