Angola (1988)

(from MMP's webpage:)

Angola recreates a brief portion of the violent, decades-long Angolan civil war that began in the 1970s with the fall of a colonial power and dragged its bloody way into the 21st century thanks in part to cold war politics.

Angola is a multi-player game in which players control the various Soviet- and US-backed factions that vied for control of Angola from 1975 to 1976. Originally released in limited quantities by Ragnar Brothers of the UK, Angola quickly became a rare and highly sought after game of almost cult status. Why? Angola features a number of innovative game systems that keep players guessing, create plenty of tension, and reward the right balance of boldness and caution. MMP is now updating this classic with the fabulous graphics of the IGS line of games and bringing it to a wider audiences.

The map is divided into areas, and units represent military formations and also special weapons, such as artillery, rockets, tanks, and airplanes. A unique command and activation system has players committing in secret to the order in which they will activate a limited number of their units for the turn. The players then take turns activating their units in the determined order. The result is like a tense game of poker, with players trying to analyze the map and out guess their enemies.

The game is finely balanced, and all players frequently feel as if they are simultaneously on the verge of victory or defeat thanks to an ingenious victory point system that rewards good play for both sides and allows players to absorb reversals and strike back with the right countermove.

Angola contains:
2 decks of cards (110 total)
32 page full-color rulebook
2 player aid cards
22" by 34" inch map
3 countersheets
4 six-sided dice

Developer: Adam Starkweather

This is a paraphrased description coming from an article written by Pietro Cremona about the first edition (1988, Ragnar Brothers, sold out):

"Game comes in a thin box (similar to the 3W ones) with a yellow cover depicting an typical African town with a soldier looking from a balcony.

Inside you find a rules booklet (20 pages - well done, with many examples and step by step explanations), four sets of counters for the different factions/players . The MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) aligned with the FAPLA (Popular Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola) against the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) who are aligned with UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), a set of "foreign" units (from Cuba-Zaire and South Africa), some markers, a six sided die, "column" cards and "special" cards, and a map depicting the Angola region and a small part of the border nations (Zaire and South Africa).

The game was designed for 2-3-4 players but appears best with 4 players playing on opposite sides of the two factions. The game can last up to 10 turns, but it may finish early if an Alliance wins a "decisive victory" (capturing Towns and Cities from the enemy).

The game begins in 1975

Each player collects 5 town counters (another 23 are mixed in a bag, to picked-up by players later), then you deploy your initial forces (each faction has different units), randomly draw some towns, deploy off map units onto your City/Town counters. You may create new troops which can be acquired by Direct Aid (foreign powers committing units of their own armed forces) or by Recruiting (raising extra units in the Towns or Cities of Angola) or by Bidding for Reinforcements .

VICTORY is determined by the number of VICTORY TOKENS that an alliance controls at the end of each turn [more specifically, the number it has taken control of in the current turn]. The Victory Track has Victory markers that moves up and down. If the number of Victory tokens for an alliance reaches a predetermined level on any turn then that side wins a decisive victory. Victory determination happens every turn. If no Decisive victory is accomplished during the game then at the end of turn 10 the alliance with the most points wins the game. (Probably a Marginal Victory)"

Angola Microbadges :