Angolan War Veteran

[Tjaka Erasmus]

I'm a veteran of the Angolan Bush War and I discovered this game when I searched "Angola" on Steam. I litterally get a throb in my throat and tears in my eyes when I look at the graphics of the Ratels, Olifants, Impalas (we called it "Imps") and Buffels - I was a mounted infantery rifleman and sat in the command seat of a Buffalo - where I can communicate with the driver. Other South African hardware that were very prominent in the Angolan Bush War are the Hercules cargo planes (we called them "Flossies" - a flossy is a woman with a heart for many men! LOL). And then there were the beloved deadly "gunships" - the Allouette helicopters with a crew of 2 - a pilot and the gunner (music in out ears!). Also the Puma cargo helicopter was loved because it dropped rations and transported us from contact scenes back to base. We referred to South Africa as the "states" and to South West Africa (now Namibia) as "Nam" LOL. Every male citizen had to do his duty.We are now around age 45 upwards and the Angolan Bush War is still a major subject around barbeque fires. One of my best friends was a 4 SAI Ratel soldier in operations Moduler, Hooper and Packer. He was wounded and cassevacked. The memories have no boundaries! In our 19 year old minds we were fighting Communism. We we NOT fighting for Apartheid, believe me. Me myself served with 201 Battalion (ex FNLA soldiers). I was involved in anti-guerilla warfare (we called it "TEIN = Teen Insurgensie, meaning anti-insurgency"). I was involved in 3 minor skirmishes and saw many things to make me realise war is HORRIBLE! I have my own little "War Memorial" shrine exhibiting artifacts from Angola like FAPLA propaganda, SWAPO uniforms etch.

This game is complicated and difficult to master but I am going to play it, come hell or high water. And then I'm looking forward to a game recreating the Anglo-Boer War.

In the 1980's my highest aspiration was to kill a Cuban and a Russian, but now we marry Russian women! LOL

Thank you Graviteam Tactics.

[zaigre777]

i have 0 knowledge about this war,but i adored Ratels when i was a kid.Made lots of drawings of it in a mad max style :).Im normaly a ww2 enthusiast,but maybe i try this at later date

[Ozark Rebel]

Thanks for sharing. Really. I do hope you can get into the game. It seems daunting at first, but given time, it becomes easier. Not easy. But easier. Nothing worth this s*** is too easy.

If there's something you need help with, post it in the forums. All questions are welcome and seems to be good for reference.

I'm not sure if you like board games but there is a COIN series by GMT that are rather good. Fire in the Lake is the Vietnam one and it is excellent. It does a good job of replicating the politics and asymmetric Warfare of Viet Nam. The victory conditions are different for every faction and are quite interesting.

[Chaudard]

Thanks for your testimony!

[CobaLT]

How is op modular? Was thinking of trying it and I have a fascination with the mercenaries that fought in Africa. Do they have Merc units in game?

[A God Machine]

Mathew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you

[Tjaka Erasmus]

1) I forgot to mention the other major well-known hardware of the Angolan Bush War, namely the Caspir. It was used as armoured troop carrier mainly by the police in anti-insurgency operations. The army did the same thing but with the Buffalo. We operated alongside each other; 2) The "Noddy" armoured car was also there but of lesser importance; 3) Our personal weapons were R1 or R4. Personally I preferred the R4 because it never got stuck ("stoor" - what's the English word when a rifle's working parts gets stuck by dust etch?). We had an abundance of captured Russian hardware, especialy AK47's and RPG 7's!

[Tjaka Erasmus]

Originally posted by zaigre777:

i have 0 knowledge about this war,but i adored Ratels when i was a kid.Made lots of drawings of it in a mad max style :).Im normaly a ww2 enthusiast,but maybe i try this at later date

Cool. 100% South African anti-communist hardware - one of many :)

[Tjaka Erasmus]

Originally posted by Ozark Rebel:

Thanks for sharing. Really. I do hope you can get into the game. It seems daunting at first, but given time, it becomes easier. Not easy. But easier. Nothing worth this s*** is too easy.

If there's something you need help with, post it in the forums. All questions are welcome and seems to be good for reference.

I'm not sure if you like board games but there is a COIN series by GMT that are rather good. Fire in the Lake is the Vietnam one and it is excellent. It does a good job of replicating the politics and asymmetric Warfare of Viet Nam. The victory conditions are different for every faction and are quite interesting.

I'm looking for a Vietnam game on Steam but can't find any that I like, so thank you. Yes, there are many parallel's between the Angolan Bush War and the Vietnam Jungle War. One major difference - we (South Africa) won the war! LOL

[Tjaka Erasmus]

Originally posted by Chaudard:

Thanks for your testimony!

Cool

[Tjaka Erasmus]

Originally posted by CobaLT:

How is op modular? Was thinking of trying it and I have a fascination with the mercenaries that fought in Africa. Do they have Merc units in game?

I'm still in the tutorials! :)

[Tjaka Erasmus]

Originally posted by Sneed:

Mathew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you

???

[Goblin949]

No religion here, please.

[CobaLT]

Originally posted by TjakaErasmus:

Originally posted by Ozark Rebel:

Thanks for sharing. Really. I do hope you can get into the game. It seems daunting at first, but given time, it becomes easier. Not easy. But easier. Nothing worth this s*** is too easy.

If there's something you need help with, post it in the forums. All questions are welcome and seems to be good for reference.

I'm not sure if you like board games but there is a COIN series by GMT that are rather good. Fire in the Lake is the Vietnam one and it is excellent. It does a good job of replicating the politics and asymmetric Warfare of Viet Nam. The victory conditions are different for every faction and are quite interesting.

I'm looking for a Vietnam game on Steam but can't find any that I like, so thank you. Yes, there are many parallel's between the Angolan Bush War and the Vietnam Jungle War. One major difference - we (South Africa) won the war! LOL

Did you right with any Vietnam vets during the border war? My dad's mate fought in Rhodesia after vietnam

[Toni]

Welcome!

Originally posted by TjakaErasmus:

1) I forgot to mention the other major well-known hardware of the Angolan Bush War, namely the Caspir.

The devs posted that the Casspir will be in one of the next DLCs. Adding new vehicles takes its time, because vehicles are simulated with a lot of detail in GT (the engine GT is using was developed for tank simulators):

https://imgur.com/wINBECk

Originally posted by TjakaErasmus:

I'm still in the tutorials! :)

It takes some time to learn how to use GT. One thing: Do not try to micro-manage in the tactical battles; just giving general orders is better. It should not be played like a typical RTS "clicking" marathon... :)

[Tjaka Erasmus]

Originally posted by CobaLT:

Originally posted by TjakaErasmus:

Did you fight with any Vietnam vets during the border war? My dad's mate fought in Rhodesia after vietnam

Personally I never met veterans from other wars (except my ex-FNLA buddies, of cause - I was at 201 Battalion). Veterans from other wars were to be found at 32 Battalion and the Recces (short for "Reconnaissance" - our Special Forces were called "Reconnaissance Commandos").

There were many South African "Rambo's" in the Angolan Bush War but allow me to mention one of the bravest non-South African soldiers ever to wander the face of planet earth - a Mozambiquean Portugese by the name of Daniel Roxo. This man single-handedly ran on the trail of a group of 11 FAPLA's, killing them one-by-one, until no-one was left. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Roxo