Merry Christmas¸ Mr Sankara
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On Christmas Day¸ 1985¸ Mali invaded Burkina Faso over a dispute in the contested Agacher Strip. In what became known as the Agacher Strip War¸ two of the poorest nations on earth fought over a strip of the southern Sahara. Air operations featured prominently¸ but there were no air-to-air combats. By the time of the Agacher Strip War¸ Burkina Faso had just one MiG-17¸ but until a few months before the Force Aérienne de Burkina Faso (FABF) had a force of eight Libyan supplied and manned MiG-21s. Merry Christmas¸ Mr Sankara imagines if these had still be available during the conflict.
Merry Christmas¸ Mr Sankara has a background of the war and the forces involved¸ a full campaign system¸ maps and a painting guide. Players have to balance offensive and defensive operations¸ keep an eye on public and world opinion and avoid attrition that they can ill afford.
In a short war players will use Soviet Cold War era jets MiG-17s and MiG-21s for air strikes¸ ground attack¸ escort and fighter missions and Mi-4 helicopters to transport troops. In the vastness of the Sahara players will need to form a strategy to seize key road junctions. For the Burkinabe player it will be a tough proposition; the Malian forces are more numerous but the Libyan pilots are more experienced.
The campaign should provide between 5 and 8 tactical games. Though designed with Wings at War: Thud Ridge in mind¸ it can be used with your favourite jet-age rules.
On Christmas Day¸ 1985¸ Mali invaded Burkina Faso over a dispute in the contested Agacher Strip. In what became known as the Agacher Strip War¸ two of the poorest nations on earth fought over a strip of the southern Sahara. Air operations featured prominently¸ but there were no air-to-air combats. By the time of the Agacher Strip War¸ Burkina Faso had just one MiG-17¸ but until a few months before the Force Aérienne de Burkina Faso (FABF) had a force of eight Libyan supplied and manned MiG-21s. Merry Christmas¸ Mr Sankara imagines if these had still be available during the conflict.
Merry Christmas¸ Mr Sankara has a background of the war and the forces involved¸ a full campaign system¸ maps and a painting guide. Players have to balance offensive and defensive operations¸ keep an eye on public and world opinion and avoid attrition that they can ill afford.
In a short war players will use Soviet Cold War era jets - MiG-17s and MiG-21s - for air strikes¸ ground attack¸ escort and fighter missions and Mi-4 helicopters to transport troops. In the vastness of the Sahara players will need to form a strategy to seize key road junctions. For the Burkinabe player it will be a tough proposition; the Malian forces are more numerous but the Libyan pilots are more experienced.
The campaign should provide between 5 and 8 tactical games. Though designed with Wings at War: Thud Ridge in mind¸ it can be used with your favourite jet-age rules.