The World War III Project

The last couple weeks I've been collaborating with Mike, the author of the blog "Third World War 1987" to launch a new project appropriately titled "The World War III Project."

The banner over at 3WW1987

If you haven't yet seen this blog take a minute and check it out [click].  You'll be glad you did.  And if you're like me, you'll end up staying there much longer than you anticipated.  So grab a cup of coffee first and settle in! 

Nowhere else have I seen such a definitive "history" of the Third World War outside of the pages of popular fiction like The Third World War, Red Army, The Red Effect, or Red Storm Rising.  Mike writes from a strategic and operational viewpoint, and he's been working the tactical picture into the storyline as well.  

On the blog, you can research the preparations of both sides, the movement of assets and forces into the respective areas of operations, as well as the courses of action available to both sides as the situations develop.  His blog is meticulously researched, plausible, and written from the perspective of someone who has worn the uniform and worked at various echelons. 

THE WORLD WAR III PROJECT

I approached Mike recently about gaming some of the battles he discusses in his blog, specifically the land component and the Central Front in Germany, with an emphasis on NORTHAG and CENTAG, and if he wouldn't mind linking some of the action.  He was agreeable and so here we are.  I'm pretty excited to say the least.  The first battle we're going to game takes place in the NORTHAG area of operations, specifically in the 1st (NL) Corps.  Dutch Leopards are fighting a covering force battle to buy time for the Corps reserve elements to deploy.  It's a classic World War III battle scenario.

COVERING FORCE BATTLE 

Here is a snippet from the Third World War 1987 blog:

1 NL Corps held a hasty defense line from Seevetal to Radbruch. This line, and the counterattack, kept the Soviet tank division bottled up and covered the withdrawal of Dutch forces from around Luneburg. At 1000, the movement was successfully completed and corps reserve units had moved forward to take up position east of Autobahn 7. In late afternoon, the 43rdArmored Infantry Brigade and attached units had abandoned the Seevetal-Radbruch line and were pulling back under the watchful cover of Leopard 2 tanks belonging to the 41st Armored Battalion.

I hope you are as excited as I am!  Most wargamers are always looking for a linked campaign, and a great scenario to add context to our battles.  While the historical battles already have that done for us, with fictional wars it gets a little trickier.  The work Mike is doing right now has the added benefit that he has provided a backdrop for us to game in.  The leadup to the war, the strategy and the decisions have all been filled in.

First battle is coming soon so watch this space!  (The  Third World War 1987 blog is also linked over on the right hand side of the page).