Don't Cry For Me - the truth at last! Falklands War Matrix Game - part 1

This week's game was another outing for my Falklands War Matrix Game - 

Don't Cry For Me, or how I stopped worrying about the bomb and learned to love penguins

Originally unleashed in 2000, I last ran it to mark the 25th anniversary of the conflict in 2007 and it has subsequently been included in this book:

If you'd like to have the full details of this game and several others you might care to speculate £12.95 on a copy here.My memories of the original game can be found here.

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It is early April 1982.  A few days ago, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands, which the Junta claims are the Islas Malvinas, historically part of Argentina.  The United Nations has passed Resolution 502 calling for the withdrawal of Argentine troops.

A British task force is being readied and it’s first units, including elements of the Parachute Regiment and Royal Marines, are ready to sail for the South Atlantic.  The British Government has declared a Maritime Exclusion Zone (MEZ) around the Falklands.

The game lasts up to eight turns, each representing approximately 10 days. 

	Entity	Character	Player
1	UK Government	Mrs Thatcher	John
2	Argentine Junta	General Galtieri	Martin
3	US President	Ronald Reagan	Pete
4	UK Task Force	Rear Admiral Woodward	Simon
5	Chile	General Pinochet	Richard
6	United Nations	Perez De Quela	Tim C
7	US State Department	General Haig	Graham

The (rather stylised) map was drawn on two sheets of flip chart paper.  Military units were represented by various boardgame parts.

Having set the scene, a future post will present the narrative of events.