AFRICA AT WAR LIFE IS
CHEAP, WEAPONS ARE NOT.
Africa at War is a
mod that covers 1960's-1990's central and southern Africa and uses Squad
Battles Pacific War as a host. Why PW? Because of all the
maps and terrain available. Making it for TOD or Nam would limit it to
strictly jungle terrain when some sparse bush and the like is needed.
Why not Korea? Not enough jungle. Getting new maps did not happen , so
PW was the mods' best option. The first batch of scenarios will be
concentrated on the Angolan Border Wars of the 70's and 80's, the
Nigeria-Biafra War, actions in the Congo 60's-80's as well as others
(some hypothetical).
Africa
at War is the end
result of a year and a half of effort and was a labor of love for me. I
have always been intrigued by African warfare. As a kid I used to
constantly watch movies such as Dogs of War and
the Wild Geese. I remember picking up countless
copies of Soldier of Fortune from the local 7-11
and reading the exploits of units such as the Selous
Scouts in Rhodesia and the Foreign Legion
in Chad until the covers fell off. As the years passed, I grew more
infatuated with the area of the globe that seems to be constantly torn
by war and largely ignored. Having been involved in the production of a
few SB games and working on another at the moment, I asked John Tiller
if he planned to cover this theater. To my disdain he replied to the
negative and right at that moment I decided I had to make this mod.
Africa at War is a very fast and
deadly game even in comparison to Vietnam. This is
due to the fact that game covers warfare until 1990. This game goes
leaps and bounds beyond the 1960's and the weapons of the 1980's almost
make WWII vets look like they were throwing stones.
To be able to use
these weapons during the entire 30 years Africa at War covers and to
give a more modern feel which comes from more contemporary military
hardware many loads had to be increased in their ability to cause
damage and penetrate armor as well increasing their ranges to more
modern distances. Needless to say this was bad for the bitmap ground
pounders.
Squads can be (and
usually are) gnarled to pieces in this game if they are caught in the
open or in unarmored vehicles or light cover. So to balance things a
bit I had to make one choose their targets more carefully
instead of allowing vehicles to move to and fro across the
battlefield unleashing limitless firepower. Certain heavy weapons were
moderately decreased in reliability to simulate ammunition consumption
vs. the amount there of and others made single use weapons. This makes
you pick your shots with your heavy weapons (practice holding fire) and
gives the grunts a chance to do so some damage if they make it through
the heavy fireworks.
After playtesting
this I have to say that this game gives a good feel of
infantry conflict in this day and age based on my own experience in "100
Hours" of the same. For the most part it's quick, deadly and
unforgiving. Welcome to modern warfare, welcome to Africa.
AFRICA AT WAR CONTENTS
Let me start by
saying that Africa at War is not just another mod that adds a few
weapons and nationalities. Though the units present use existing
folders, extensive work and research was put into things such as the
graphics and weapons-armor and the amount of material added is
extensive as well as many changes to bring the game up to date.
Nationalities-Armies-Small Arms
African-Eastern Client States - 15 soldier Images and 8 rally voices
African-Western Client States - 15 soldier Images and 8 rally voices
Ejercito Revolucionario (Cuba) - 10 soldier images and 3 rally voices
Exercito
Portugues (Portugal)
- 10 soldier images and 3 rally Voices (*)
La' Legion Entranger - 15 Legionnaire images and 6 rally voices
Rhodesian Army- 15 soldier images and 6 rally voices
South African Defense Force
-15
SADF images and 13 rally voices
United Nations -10 mixed soldier images and mixed rally
voices
White Mercenaries - 10 mixed soldier images and rally voices
(*) - Portuguese
troops had to use Spanish unless you know someone who speaks Portuguese
;-)
(%) - SADF troops are now speaking Afrikaans in
lieu of English.
New Unit Images- Over 100 images from
various sources
New Vehicle Art - Over 70 new images from various sources
Weapons
present (not complete listing
and not including weapons brought over from existing games)
73mm Autocannon, 30mm Autocannon, 125mm Tank Gun,
AGS-17 Automatic Grenade Launcher, AT-1 Snapper, AT-2 Swatter, AT-3
Sagger, AT-4 Spigot, AT-4 Carl Gustav, KPV 14.5mm HMG, M174 AGL, MAG
MG, MILAN ATGM, MILAN II, AAT-F1 LMG, AAT-52 HMG, AK47 w/GL, AK74, AK74
w/GL, AKM, AKM w/GL, AKSU (5.45), Ambrust 300, BM-59 Battle Rifle, Bren
L2A4, BRG-15 15mm HMG, Combat Shotgun (Auto), FA MAS, FA MAS w/RG, MAS
49/56, FMM 24/29, FN FAL, FR-F1, HK21, HKG3, HK69, HKPSG1, Galil ARM,
Galil SAR, L7A2 GPMG, M45 Swedish K, Madsen M50, MG3 LMG, MG3 HMG, PKM,
RPK47, RPK74, Sanna 77, Star Z45, Uzi, Vektor, Vektor w/GL, Vz24 SMG,
Vz52 LMG, Vz58 Assault Rifle, Vz61 Skorpion, plus many more.
Vehicles
French
Vehicles - Helicopters
Alouette, Alouette
II, Alouette II w/HE, Alouette III, Alouette III ATGM, AML/ERC-90,
AML-60/20, AMX-VCI, AMX-VTT 81, AMX VTT 4.2 (120), AMX-10 ATGM, AMX-10
P, AMX-10 RAC (105), AMX-13/75, AMX-13/90, AMX-13/105, AMX-13/105 (SB),
AMX-30 MBT, AMX-30 B2, AS 350, Ecureuil, Panhard M3, Panhard VBL, SA321
Super Frelon, SA330 Puma, SA332 Super Puma, SA341 Gazelle, VAB APC,
VBX-170 APC, Gazelle and variants
UK-SADF-Rhodesian
Vehicles
Buffel APC, Buffel
81, Casspir APC, Casspir 81, Casspir 106 RR, Casspir Command vehicle,
Centurion MBT, Crocodile APC, Ferret AC, Fox LAC, Kudu APC, Leopard
APC, LIW G-6 SPA, Mazda Escort Vehicle, Olifant I MBT, Olifant MkIA,
Olifant MkIB, Ratel 20, Ratel 81, Ratel 90, Ratle Command Vehicle,
Rooikat AFV, Selous Scout PIG, Saxon APC, Scorpion 76mm, Unimog Scout,
Unimog 122 MRL, Unimog 106RR, Unimog SP ZPU-1, Vickers MkIII MBT
Russian
- Chinese Vehicles - Helicopters
BMP-1, BMP-1 w/AGL,
BMP-2, BRDM-1, BRDM-2, BRDM-2 ATGM, BRDM-2 Command Vehicle, BTR-40 APC,
BTR-60 APC, BTR-60 PB, Mi-2 Hoplite, Mi-24 Hind, Mi-24 Hind D, Mi-6
Hook, Mi-8/17 Gunship, Mi-8/17 Transport, OT-64, SO-122 SPA, SO-152
SPA, T34/100 MBT, T54/55 MBT, T62 MBT, T64 MBT, T72 MBT, Type 59 MBT,
Type 64 MBT, UAZ 469, YW 531C APC, YW 531C 81mm MC, YW 531C 120mm MC,
ZSU-23-4
AFRICA AT WAR CHANGES
Note- The changes to weapons are for the
mod only and NOT endorsed by John Tiller/HPS!!
They are our
own special touches to "modernize" Squad Battles up to the 1990's.
Small Arms Assault and Battle
Rifles
These have been increased a bit more to real world
maximum effective ranges and also more in cohesion with the weapon
firing them. For those unaware, the AK-47 and NATO battle rifles do
indeed both fire 7.62mm, yet the Kalashkinov fires 7.62x39mm (7.62
short) where as NATO weapons fire 7.62x51mm (7.62 NATO). This gives
7.62N weapons a much farther range than 7.62S. Also, 5.56mm weapons
have longer effective ranges than 7.62x39mm weapons, but the latter
have much more punch and are generally more reliable.
New
Rifle Ranges
5.45mm (AK74) 10 hexes (400m)
5.45mm (AKSU) 5 hexes (200m)
30 M1G (7.62x63) 14 hexes (540m)
30 M1C (7.62x33) 8 hexes (320m)
5.56N Rifles - 10 hexes (400m)
7.5 MAS (MAS 49/56) 12 hexes (480m)
7.62N rifles - 14 hexes (560m)
7.62 (AK47) rifles - 8 hexes (320m) lethality
increase to 20
7.62 (AKM) 10 hexes (400m)
7.62L - 14 hexes (560m)
7.92 Mauser - 14 hexes (560m)
Heavy
Machineguns (Tripod Mounted)-
have been given a higher lethality to reflect
better accuracy on a tripod. HMG's and LMG's with extremely high rates
of fire like the German MG3 have also been given increased lethality.
HE
Rockets (Vehicle)
Vehicle mounted Rocket Pods have been given an
effective casualty radius (ECR) of 1 due to the scatter that comes
naturally. Vehicle mounted weapons have also been converted to single
use weapons that can be increased in the scenario editor to reflect
limited ammo. Normal movement restrictions apply as per general rules
for overcarrying, but helo's laden with ammunition do tend to move
slower.
.45 ACP (11.43x23mm) SMG's
Now have a higher lethality than 9mm Parabellum
SMG's (9x19mm). However they do have a shorter range, and lower
penetration value than SMG's that fire 9mmP rounds.
Select
Indirect Fire weapons
(MRL's - AGL's) have been given a bigger blast
radius' to reflect improved munitions of the 70's-80's. You'll have to
tinker. (That's the fun part.)
Automatic Grenade Launchers
These weapons are capable of indirect fire as any
grenade launcher with HVHE rounds only. In addition to HVHE, The Mk19
has a round unavailable to the AGS-17 or M-179 weapons = 40mm HVHEDP
(High Velocity-High Explosive-Dual Purpose). To use these types of
rounds (good vs. light vehicles as well as infantry) one must have line
of site to the target. HVHEDP is used in no other fashion.
Hand Grenades
These have been given an assault rating only and do
not possess the ability for ranged combat. This is due to the fact that
you average grunt cant throw a frag over 30-40m and throwing frags at
targets as such long ranges usually does not happen.
General
Weapons
All Special Weapons from all games have been put in
the DB. From Binoculars to K-9 Dogs.
Smoke Dischargers
have been added as a weapon for vehicles, but this has been
done so as per smoke grenades. Vehicles with Smoke Dischargers will
have to be given correct amounts during scenario creation. The
following is a list of vehicles with Smoke Dischargers and the amount
they should be given to simulate a full load. Also included is the year
that this vehicle came into service.
Helicopters The armor of all helicopters has been
increased from the original value. This is for no other reason than to
make them harder to shoot down as requested 'en masse by players of
modern squad battles games and simulates evasive and NAPE flying by
helo pilots. Unarmored transports have received a 2x AR rating, heavy
transports and gunships have received a 2.5x to 3 multiple.
Rotary Wing aircraft
are still far from invulnerable, but they are not likely to get picked
off by SKS rifles any longer.
FILES AND UPDATES
Africa
at War Self-Extractor
(Does all
the installation work for those of you who are technologically
challenged! ;-)
Africa
at War Self-Extracting Sound Mod
Greg
"Red Mike" Colman's infamous sound mod pre-packaged into a
convenient self-installer.
Africa
at War Update
(Added 10
June 2005) - Corrects error with 20mm AA autocannon range.
download
- Included in Operation Civet Scenario
Africa
at War Update
(Added 18
January 2004) (100kb)
Download
Africa at War
(32MB and Requires
ownership of Pacific War)
Africa
at War Scenarios
Africa
at War Screen Shots
Alternate
download site
CREDITS
Game
(Mod) Designer
Frank Harmon
Orders
of Battle
Frank Harmon
Ozgur Budak
Additional
Research and Research Assistance
Ozgur Budak
Mike Cox
Gerald Neumann
Graphics
Various Photos from
the web used w/o permission
Vehicle Graphics from
Janes AFV Sourcebook and various SB games
Some unit graphics
used w/o permission from various SB and PzC Mods
Sounds
Red Mike
Frank Harmon
Playtesters
TF Echo Four
Red Mike
Charles-Jean Gerard
Rally
Voices
French - Charles-Jean
Gerard
Spanish (Cubanos and
Portugues)- Tayete
Rhodesians - Queens'
English from SB Korea
United Nations- Taken
from various games in the SB Series
African Dialects-
Samples by Red Mike
Afrikaans - Gerald
Neumann and Mike Jansen
Africa at War
is free of charge and requires ownership of Pacific War and
is not
an HPS supported Squad Battles title. The Squad Battles series of
wargames are property of HPS Simulations and John Tiller Games,
copyright 1999-2003.
For further assistance please
do not contact HPS Simulations or John Tiller. All
assistance will be provided from Task Force Echo-Four
"Doing
it for the Grogs"
