News As History - May 9, 2008
News As History - May 9, 2008 |
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The Falklands WarShrapnel Games
 War at the Bottom of the WorldThree hundred miles off the Argentina coast in the south Atlantic lay the Falkland Islands, consisting of two main isles (East and West Falkland) and about two hundred smaller islands. The only town is also the capital of the region, Port Stanley, and it is from there that the British territories of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands are administered. With a total population of only a couple thousand stalwart individuals (and many more sheep and livestock) the Falklands seems an odd place to fight a war over, but that's exactly what happened in 1982. Ownership of the islands has always been a hotly contested issue between the governments of Argentina and Great Britain. Argentina had claimed the islands since 1820, but the British actually occupied the islands from 1833 onwards. On March 26th, 1982 the Argentinean dictatorship of General Galtieri decided to invade the islands in an operation titled Operación Rosario, not for any true military objective, but simply to save his skin, and the other heavy handed rulers of Argentina. Civil unrest had been steadily growing, inflation was taking its toll on the economy (which was already in shambles), and if the people did not have an external enemy they would soon turn on the junta. Why not take what they had claimed was theirs for all those decades? On April 2nd the war began, with thousands of Argentine troops landing on the Falklands. Seventy-two days later the conflict was over. The British forces, which had been outnumbered from the start, had cobbled together an invasion force of leaky ships without adequate air cover to fight a war thousands of miles away from England over mostly empty rock. While sounding like a recipe for defeat the British forces triumphed easily over the Argentine forces, capturing 11,000 prisoners and suffering only a couple hundred casualties. Galtieri, whose raison d'ętre for the war was to insure his political survival, ultimately gave up the power he was trying to tenaciously cling to. Now ProSIM and Shrapnel Games gives you the chance to relive history. Using an enhanced version of the highly regarded ATF: Armored Task Force engine, The Falklands War: 1982 is the ultimate real-time simulation of the conflict. From playing on the actual topographical maps the British forces used of the island, to the intensely accurate statistics for weapon platforms, to informative scenarios that present the player with the same challenges faced by real-world commanders in 1982, The Falklands War: 1982 will have you smelling cordite and diesel. The human element has not been neglected either, with skill ratings for troops made up of ten different areas of expertise in military operations and a detailed light infantry combat resolution system down to bayonet attacks. The Falklands War: 1982 is what true wargaming is all about; you don't just play history, you learn history (and perhaps even change it). Are you ready for the challenge? What makes this tactical simulation worth playing:
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