Persian Incursion Sample Rules

Persian Incursion explores the political and military effects of an Israeli air campaign against Iran to prevent them from building a nuclear weapon. It uses rules adapted from Harpoon to resolve the military action. But its goal is to look beyond the military action by modeling the political and intelligence actions and consequences of a potential political conflict by including a card-based political component to the game.

         The game allows one player to take the role of the Israeli leadership and armed forces, while the other becomes the Iranian leadership and its armed forces. The Israelis will attempt to use air strikes, commando attacks, and political tactics to force the Iranians to abandon their nuclear weapons development program. The Iranian air defenses are badly overmatched, and they must depend on other asymmetric means to counter the Israelis: Ballistic missiles, terror attacks, and political persuasion.

         The game includes variable starting conditions, different force “upgrades” that can be selected by the players before the game starts, and alternate strategies. The Israelis can choose to attack the Iranian oil infrastructure instead of, or in addition to, the their nuclear installations. The Iranians can threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz influence world opinion.

         These sample rules include chapters one and two. The physical components include a map, two sets of cards, counters, and dice. These are available in an attractive game box from Clash of Arms for $35. The briefing Booklets and Target Folders booklet are also recommended for better game play, and all three booklets are also available as a bundled package for $32.