Driven by the victory conditions of the game, the UN forces are maneuvered closer and closer to the Chinese border. The North Korean player must adopt a defensive posture and try to weather the advancing storm of UN troops. UN troops (ROK/US/UN) now become the invaders, crossing the 38th parallel into North Korea. Careful deployment, skillful delaying tactics, and a good sense of when to counterattack and when to sit tight are required of the UN commander. If the fight is successful, the UN forces must trap and destroy as many NKPA units as possible in preparation for a counteroffensive into North Korea.
![strategic war map korean war strategic war map korean war](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WzN3JMZpmGA/TCKIzhpGtvI/AAAAAAAAAvc/ICJOyv5ISjI/s1600/korean+war+2.jpg)
The UN player, commanding US (United States), UN (United Nations) and ROK (Republic of Korea – South) forces begins the game fighting for survival. The attack is quickly turned into a rout and the communist troops flee towards what they believe is the safe zone north of the 38th parallel. If they fail to secure a military victory very quickly, the initiative rapidly shifts to the South Korean/UN player. The NKPA commander initially has the offensive momentum expected in a surprise attack situation initiated by a force with overwhelming firepower advantage. The North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) invasion force must attempt to force a decisive victory before the reinforcing UN troops arrive in strength. Each of the combatants is afforded an opportunity for calculated offensive and defensive operations. It is an operational level simulation which covers the war from the North Korean invasion of South Korea on Jto the stalemate which developed along the border of today’s North and South Korean states in the spring of 1951. The Korean War: July 1950-May 1951, designed by Joe Balkoski and published by Victory Games, is a gamer’s dream. Therefore planning for both offensive and defensive operations is critical. We know the Chinese are coming we just don’t know when. Since the UN forces didn’t know the Chinese would intervene, very little planning went into the advance into North Korea. The Korean War was unique in that both sides collapsed and the regained the initiative within a time span of 6 months. Both sides are required to plan for sustained offensive and defensive operations.
![strategic war map korean war strategic war map korean war](http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/03/uk_korean_war/img/3.jpg)
What follows is more of a mop-up operation that a true operational shift in initiative. But by this time the initial attacker is usually a spent force. If the initial defender survives, he may be able to transition to the offensive. One side acts as the aggressor until they either succeed or run out of steam. All of this makes for fascinating play, but many of these simulations are, well… lopsided. We try to beat Napoleon’s time to Moscow defend the tactical donut at Alesia more successfully than Caesar (although he did it well) and actually attempt to score a knockout against the British with our Continentals in 1776. The great challenge of playing historical military games is trying to surpass the achievements (or at least avoid the disasters) of the historical commanders. A Fighting Chance for the South in the Early Days of the Korean War Introduction