Bucha, Ukraine - 27 Feb 2022 - 15mm

As we finally pass the end of February and the official end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, I thought I would take a quick look back at some of the recent highlights of the recent wargaming, video coverage, and discussions that have been offered … all condensed in one or two project system posts.

More than a few of us in this community were actually around for this conflict, and yes … there are a handful of us on OTT that were actually in this war to one varying degree or another.  It was for this reason above all that I wanted to make sure this coverage was done objectively, and try and cover all the nations that were involved.

Most of all, I wanted to try and show (in some small way) how historical wargaming really can be done with an eye toward respect, objectivity, and maybe even learning a little about how the world we live in was actually created.  The Persian Gulf War was the first wide-scale use of what we would soon call “the Internet” and definitely the field large “field use” of GPS.  So the very fact that we’re on this internet website, perhaps on a GPS-synced smartphone, shows how this war effects our everyday life.

First, the four OPS CENTER EPISODES presented on the Gulf War, discussing major aspects of the background, armies, equipment, tactics, and course of the Persian Gulf War, and how these can be reflected on the wargaming tabletop.

1. Background and Desert Shield – A look at the regional background of the Persian Gulf War, including the rise of Saddam Hussein, the Iran-Iaq War of 1980-88, and how the economic hardship this war brought to Iraq caused Hussein to gamble on the invasion of his the oil-rich neighbor, Kuwait.  We look at possible wargames in the invasion of Kuwait, and how the US-led Coalition, unprecendented since World War II, built the force to liberate Kuwait.

2. Desert Storm: The Air War – The Gulf War breaks wide open first in the skies with one of the most devaststing air campaigns in history.  Cruise missiles, stealth “fighters”, SAS and Delta force commandos, American F-15s and British Tornados, all were just some of the forces in play.  We also look at Schewartzkopf’s “Jedi Knights” – and their implementation of two new technologies … “GPS” and this  little thing the world would soon call “the Internet.”

3. Desert Storm: Opening the Ground War – Even after five weeks of aerial armegeddon, the Iraqi Army refuses to budge from occupied Kuwait.  We look at the preliminary ground actions, including Iraq’s invasion of Saudi Arabia at al-Khafji, the artillery duels that ranged across the imminent battlefield, preliminary actions at Wadi al Batin, and finally the eruption of the full-scale ground war  – “Desert Sabre” – on 24 Februrary 1991

4. Desert Storm: Conclusion – As Desert Sabre gets fully underway, we look at some of the biggest battles that took place, how and why they unfolded the way they did, and the best games that bring them to the tabletop.  Of course there aren’t a lot of Desert Storm-specific titles out there, but there are lots of games many of us already own that can be used to bring these battles to your hobby. We also pause for a look at the after effects of Desert Storm, and acknowledge how this “clean, good war” was really nothing of the sort.