Thoughts on my first play and designer comments about the VC’s which I raise in the video:

[Crossposted from Consimworld]

Designer notes:
Hi Kevin

The Ukr player must try to advance as much as he can prior to the Russian intervention. Advancing along the Russian-Ukr border is a suitable tactic (and historical too-the Ukrainians tried to isolate the Rebel regions from the Russian border. See the attached map), so, if the Ukr player wants to win militarily, he must gain decisive advantage during the first few turns. In this regards, developer Dough Johnson commented that there were more Russian wins, but only by a small margin. Most players commented on how the game did hinge on the UKr player being aggressive early on and forcing the mods to the ceasefire die rolls.

It is true that victory might depend on ceasefire die rolls, which simulate factors such as diplomacy, events elsewhere (Syria, Libya, the EU…), that is, factors beyond the control of the operational commanders. Global wars in a global world. Plus, the peace agreements brokered by various European powers and “backstage diplomacy” goes against the chances of achieving total victory on the battlefield, and ensures that it is far more possible that the war ends in a frozen conflict, as happened historically, instead of ending in a credible victory of one side over the other. The post-Cold War world is full of these conflicts: Nagorno-Karabakh, Eritrea, Transdniester, Donbass, etc., etc. Clean operational victories such as Operation Oluja (The August 1995 Croatian offensive) or Desert Storm are the exceptions.

This is what I want to simulate with Opaque War.