As you all know, one of the hottest wargaming topics right now is Cold War Gone Hot! It is all the rage and there is a new and very interesting looking offering coming out soon from Tiny Battle Publishing called Blackhorse. As you know, the term Blackhorse typically refers to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment which has fought in different wars and theaters over the years. I reached out to the designer Arrigo Velicogna and he was more than interested in sharing about the design.

Grant: First off Arrigo please tell us a little about yourself. What are your hobbies? What’s your day job?

Arrigo: Hobbies…wargaming, wargaming  miniature painting, reading history books, and listening to classical music. I think that makes me an Otaku or at least someone with very specific interests. The exception is that I love to build Lego and other bricks together with my mom…a throwback to when I was a little kid! But I have military sets too! Recently my mother built a Japanese Zero and I built a Corsair.

By trade I am a military historian. I have taught for years at King’s College London until Brexit, politics, and pandemic. I am also a defense consultant. Right now I have no stable job, but I am still researching and writing.

Grant: What motivated you to break into game design? What have you enjoyed most about the experience thus far?

Arrigo: As every wargamer, I have always been tempted to design a game…until I had to design a wargame for a Master module. That was Thiet Giap, afterwards then acquired and published by Against the Odds Magazine as An Loc 1972: The North Vietnamese Push Towards Saigon. Once you do one game and see it get published you literally break the ice and have the opportunity to do more. Best part about game design is and will always be the research, followed by the more or less slow transition from an idea in your mind to a finished physical product you can touch. I really liked seeing my creation taking shape. That part is very satisfying and always makes the long work worth the effort.

Grant: What is your new game Blackhorse about? What time period of the Cold War Gone Hot does it attempt to tackle?

Arrigo: World War Three, hypothetical of course, in the summer of 1989. The game focuses on a specific and famous Soviet tank division against an element of the American 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 3rd Armored Division.

Grant: What does the title of the game reference? What should it convey to players about the situation?

Arrigo: Blackhorse is the nickname of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Armored Cavalry units were the forward screen of NATO forces in Germany. It should convey the idea that the game is about an initial Warsaw Pact strike into West Germany.

Grant: Why was this a subject that drew your interest?

Arrigo: I am a child of the Cold War. I read Tom Clancy, Larry Bond and Harold Coyle. The wall fell when I was in high school. When I joined the Italian army long time ago it was still literally rooted in the Cold War. Tactics, procedures, Opposing Forces. We were slowly moving to a new model, but it took time. The Cold War always held a special place in my interests, both academic and wargame related. Plus plenty of tanks, every wargamer loves tanks, right? On top of that now we have a good grasp of technical, operational, doctrinal, and strategic elements.

Grant: What is your design goal with the game?

Arrigo: My first goal is to portray the confusion and chaos of command on the modern battlefield. Too often the ability to transmit orders on the fly is considered just a force multiplier. This is something I have encountered in my work for the British Ministry of Defence. To a certain extent Blackhorse is an offshoot of some design I did as a consultant. My second objective…well it is a reaction to some of the glaring issues I saw in CSS Fulda Gap. Finally the game also shows why the Soviets never crossed the inter-German border. Despite all the myths about their numerical superiority the conventional balance in the 1980’s was quite close. By the end of the period it had swung all the way toward NATO. I got a bit bored of those people claiming the Soviets would have obliterated NATO frontline in a half an hour…

Grant: What elements from WWIII are most important to include in the design?

Arrigo: Command attrition is the foremost in my mind. Post 1945 military forces rely too much on issuing orders on the fly. It is easy to transmit orders by radio, especially if the communications are encrypted. But this put a lot of pressure on the executing units. It also fills the air with plenty of electronic signals that can be exploited by your opponent. There is also something that we rarely see in wargames, the slow but steady reduction in capabilities and tempo once units are engaged.  There is also the technological aspect. Despite claims of some fringe historian who tend to ignore technology, often because they cannot understand it, the nature and quality of your weapons matter. It is not the only factor but it is an important one.

Grant: What research did you do to get the details correct? What one must read source would you recommend?

Arrigo: This is a hypothetical game, thus I did not have the luxury of detailed after action reports and in depth secondary sources. On the other hand, there is a wealth of declassified manuals and technical materials. Plenty of study of armored vehicles and field manuals have been consulted. For armored vehicles one of my go to destinations are the works of Stephen J. Zaloga. Then, looking at almost contemporary conflict is a must. In specific this means Desert Storm and the first Chechen Wars. Yet these should be used with caution. In Desert Storm, the US military was literally at its peak form, enjoyed almost six months of preparation, and its adversary was second rate. In Chechnya, the Russian Army was probably at its lowest ebb, facing someone who knew their procedures from the inside, and under the most absurd command. Yet relative effectiveness of weaponry can be derived from both wars.

Grant: What is the scale of the game and force structure of units?

Arrigo: 1,000 meters per hex, companies with a smattering of platoons (especially Soviet air defense units), 3 hours per turn. At a higher level you have the usual battalion (squadron for the cavalry) and brigade levels for NATO, and regiment and division for the Soviets.

Grant: What different types of units are involved and what formations are included from both NATO and the Warsaw Pact forces?

Arrigo: The Soviets have a whole tank division, the 79th Guards Tank Division. Three regiments of tanks and one of motor rifle, plus the supports. Tanks are T-80B and the infantry vehicles are a mix of BMP-1 and BMP-2. I derived the Soviet Order of Battle from the data of the CFE Treaty, the numbers were published every five years and I looked at the 1985 and 1990 holdings. The US forces have squadrons from the 11th ACR reinforced with some regimental assets, and two brigades from the 3rd Armored Division, thus plenty of M1A1, M2A2 and M2A3. 

Grant: What is the anatomy of the various counters?

Arrigo: The counters, as often happens in tactical and grand tactical games, are quite busy. You have unit names and plenty of ratings. You have armor values, both against kinetic and chemical rounds, firepower in anti-tank and anti-personnel variants, and of course range. There is no movement range because movement is determined by the deployment mode of the formation. All my readings and a bit of first hand experience show that at this level speed tends to be a reflection of what you are doing rather than how fast your vehicle is. Once you deploy a company in line it is quite slow on real terrain, as opposed to parade ground. Speed is useful for sprinting from a fire position to the next rather than advancing fast. Keeping a line or even wedge formation of 14 tanks together is difficult when moving. Combat values reflect armor penetration and armor thickness and quality. Units, on average, have two sets of values antitank and anti-infantry, but infantry has three, including also their missile capability. 

Grant: The game is focused on mechanized command. How do players command and control their units on the field of battle?

Arrigo: Command is by formation, NATO battalion and PACT regiment. Players issue orders to their formation. An order is a single action, but can performed by all units in the formation. Of course, you have to be in command of your HQ. Here command ranges are based not on transmission range, but rather formation frontage.

Grant: What is the makeup of the “innovative system emphasizing friction and the importance of command and control”?

Arrigo: It is what I call command attrition. Each time a formation issues an order, its command level increases. At the start this is not an issue, but the higher the command level is, the higher the chance of an unpleasant event. They can go from simple disruption (a temporary loss of cohesion) or localized ammo shortage, to counterbattery strikes on supporting artillery or issuing HQ, to the formation ceasing to actively operate. Command levels are reduced at the end of a turn thus ‘refreshing’ formations. These reductions are based on my analysis of formation quality and re-supply abilities. Player must balance what they want to do with the ability of a formation to continue to operate effectively in the long run. The game also rewards keeping formations unengaged to act as reserve.

Grant: Why are these elements so important to include in the design?

Arrigo: Well, everything goes back to a planning exercise I was part of in 2014. I, and a British Army Major General, criticized the literal overtasking of units the officers in that exercise were implementing. I still remember the General insistence that engaged units could not be called reserves. Going back to the gaming table, I saw that we players were faulty of the same. We overuse our cardboard (or metal/plastic/resin) men to the maximum possible under the rules. We do complex maneuvers without too much difficulty and we react instantly to everything happening on the field of battle. Have you tried to shepherd a group of college students through a corridor or a large room? It takes time. It also taxes you. Do that in real combat. Weapon interplay is important, but command is also an element.

Grant: What is the general Sequence of Play?

Arrigo: The simplest and dumbest of SoP…:

Initiative

Command (to allocate or reallocate assets)

Orders (with each player performing a formation activation followed by its opponent until they both pass or all units are literally unable to function)

Clean up and house keeping.

Grant: What area of Central Europe does the map cover?

Arrigo: A very small bit between Fulda in the West, and the Inter-German Border on the east.

Grant: What strategic considerations does the terrain create and what pinch points are forced on the players?

Arrigo: The terrain is mainly rolling, wooded hills with valleys and villages. The terrain is deceptively gentle though. Woods actually help the Warsaw Pact player because they reduce the US advantage in long range fire (120mm guns with advanced Thermal Imaging and ballistic computerS), but slow down the attackers. Thus the terrain forces the player to balance protection with speed. Clear terrain is available, but leave vehicles vulnerable to enemy fire. Roads are aplenty, speed up movement a lot, but require you to move in march column being practically useless for combat.  Finally the picturesque German villages dotting the landscape provide good protection for defending units making them ideal strongpoints. The terrain overall favors NATO, but in almost every scenario NATO has not sufficient enough units to cover everything. Gambling on speed can be a useful and important Warsaw Pact tactic.

Grant: Who is the artist for the map? How did their style fit with your vision for the game?

Arrigo: Mark Walker, the publisher, assigned Jose Ramon Faura to the project. I have already worked with him in the past, and I like his work. He really hit the jackpot when he suggested the use, as base for the map style, of Soviet maps of the period. It works well to provide the player relevant information (clarity) and it is also immersive.

Grant: How does combat work in the design?

Arrigo: It is a differential system with armor value subtracted from the firepower. The firing player has to roll equal to or less than the difference. For anti-infantry fire the armor value is largely based on the terrain. It is easy to use, but incorporates plenty of nuances. I borrowed the concept from both the Grand Tactical Series from MMP and the Company Scale Series from Compass Games.

Grant: What is the makeup of the Combat Results Table?

Arrigo: You can have either disruption or step losses. The latter are more common when you roll high. This means a big positive difference between penetration and armor results in a higher likelihood of physical losses. I wanted to have the table to seamlessly integrate all the factors without overburdening the player. There is also a trick, a roll of zero always inflicts losses. This is the so-called “black swan effect”.

Grant: Why did you land on the use of a 10-sided die? What advantages does this offer?

Arrigo: It is more granular than a d6 and gives me the ability to work with percentage, albeit only in tens. I use a CRT derived from a roll to hit approach rather than odds, having more granularity is necessary. I could have used the sum of two 6 sided die, but then you introduce bell effects. At the end of the day, the D10 is the best option.

Grant: How is air support used in the design?

Arrigo: Air support is marginal. In the first days of an hypothetical invasion of West Germany both sides air forces had more pressing jobs above and beyond the forward edge of the battlefield. You can ask for airstrikes expending an order. You then have to roll to see what aircraft can be spared. Sorry, no A-10’s ready on call. Air strikes can be powerful in the right conditions, usually against marching columns and exposed artillery, but Pact air defenses are quite strong at tactical level, so you often end up just wasting an activation.

Grant: How is the game won?

Arrigo: In general terms you win by killing the enemy. This is largely an attritional battle for both sides. There are geographical objectives too either the capture of the town of Fulda or exiting Soviet units to the west, but these tend to be a by-product of attrition.

Grant: What has been the experience of your playtesters?

Arrigo: They are pleased with the game, and the scenarios provided. The most puzzling thing at first for them was the difference between Assault and Fire Combat coupled with the apparent weakness of Soviet tanks for the latter. In retrospect, this is a product of the scale. Assault Combat is largely fire considering we have 1,000 meters per hex. Fire is more long range fire. So it is not so much T-80B must assault, but is more they need to fire from 1,000 meters and below to really hurt an M1A1 with heavy armor. The other element is the vulnerability of advancing units to long range fire in the open. Soviet attackers need to use a lot of smoke.

Grant: What are you most pleased about with the design?

Arrigo: I will say that it is the way the process is implemented. Blackhorse is not an overly complex game, but shows you processes and not just effect. As I mentioned above, the importance of smoke screens during attacks. Something that we players often forgot or overlook.

Grant: What other games are you working on?

Arrigo: Right now, I am almost done with a scenario book about the Vietnam War for Pendraken Miniatures Cold War Commander System (miniatures). I have 2 designs I am slaving on. One is a game on MacArthur’s liberation of Luzon in 1945, the other is a new entry in the 65’ Series. Hopefully I will shed more light on these soon! The other two projects I am tinkering with at the moment are strategic/operational Vietnam game that I hope to have VUCA Simulations to publish, and a solitaire game on Vietnam using Joe Miranda’s Mike Force System as a base. The latter is more or less only in my mind for now…

If you are interested in Blackhorse, you can order a copy for $55.00 from the Tiny Battle Publishing website at the following link: https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/blackhorse