SGS NATO's Nightmare

SGS NATO's Nightmare is a turn-based strategy game about a hypothetical Cold War turning hot in 1985, with the main conflict fought across Germany and central Europe. One player commands the Warsaw Pact, led mainly by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies; the other commands NATO forces from the USA, Canada and most of Western Europe. Austria may join NATO’s side if it is invaded.

The conflict

The scenario begins with Soviet hardliners taking power from Gorbachev and launching a pre-emptive attack while the Pact still has numerical superiority and the element of surprise. They fear losing that advantage over time and believe they cannot win the West’s technological arms race. NATO faces the attack it fears most, but is better placed than it was in the 1970s, when the Pact had a much larger advantage in morale, equipment and preparation.

The Pact starts with numerous and powerful land and air forces, but cannot sustain a prolonged offensive in the field or economically and politically. It must strike quickly and win fast. NATO must hold against the initial invasion until reinforcements arrive; its air and technological superiority, logistical capacity and economic strength can offset its smaller numbers, unless its initial losses of troops and territory are too great. The overall balance shifts from an early Pact advantage to a later NATO advantage, and both sides are playable.

Scenarios and campaigns

The game covers engagements in limited sectors as well as campaigns across half or all of the map. Its scenarios and campaigns include:

• FAR 1985: a 5-turn scenario about the Soviet invasion of Bavaria after Austria falls, and NATO’s Force d’Action Rapide (FAR) response.
• Fulda Gap: a 4-turn scenario about the expected Soviet breakthrough through the Fulda Gap toward the Rhine and Frankfurt.
• Austria Invasion: a 6-turn scenario about the Pact’s invasion of neutral Austria.
• Fall of Denmark: a 6-turn scenario about the northern conflict, in which the Pact aims to take Denmark and close the Baltic to NATO.
• BAOR 1985: a 15-turn campaign lasting one month in the North German Plain, with Soviet, Polish and East German forces against British, West German and Dutch-Belgian forces.
• CENTAG 1985: a 15-turn campaign lasting one month, focused on central and southern Germany from Fulda to Bavaria.
• NATO’s Nightmare European War Campaign: a 15-turn campaign covering the whole war and map, beginning in May 1985.

Each turn represents two days. Every scenario has a basic version, with a smaller number of divisions, brigades, assets, air squadrons and ship flotillas, and an advanced version with dozens of additional units. The advanced game includes more than 2,000 units and adds detail such as assets, electronic warfare and doctrines. Scenario duration varies from a few hours for the shortest engagements to over 100 hours for the full campaign in advanced mode.

Forces and operations

Land forces are represented at brigade or division level, alongside smaller units such as armour, anti-aircraft, electronic warfare, special forces and engineering assets. Air forces consist of squadrons, and naval forces operate in the Baltic Sea sector. The game also includes fortifications, minefields, headquarters, logistical depots, vehicles, refugees and stragglers.

You manage troop movements and manoeuvres, air operations, headquarters and support assets, breakthroughs and exploitation, logistics networks and defensive positions. Special forces, chemical warfare, possible tactical nuclear strikes, popular resistance, troop training and rebuilding, unit rotations, and operations behind enemy lines are also represented. Military operations on land and in the air take place in central Europe, while cards and events handle many military, political and diplomatic developments in regions including the Balkans, Scandinavia, the Middle East and the Far East.

The map and units

The map covers West Germany, the Benelux countries, eastern France, Austria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany and western Poland. Off-map areas represent parts of Denmark, the Baltic Sea, Italy, Hungary and the Soviet Union. Terrain types reflect both the natural landscape and differing levels of development, which affect military operations.

Units have individual illustrations of soldiers, vehicles, aircraft or ships. An alternative appearance using current NATO symbology is also available.