Coming to your desktop on 31JAN19, the next LIVE episode of Command (DLC, CMANO is required) is eery in its timing. As I write this, Reuters has reported that the Russian security company Wagner – AKA Chastnaya Voennaya Kompaniya, the same people who saw action in the Ukraine and Syria- has landed around 400 men in Venezuela to protect the embattled President Maduro and other high rank officials. If this report is true, the attention of the US is guaranteed beyond just the recognition of the opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the president of Venezuela.

The King of the Border DLC simulates a confrontation between Venezuela and Colombia that has escalated into way beyond the conspicuous involvement of the US and Russia. Both superpowers are putting real skin in this fight, both naval and aerial. We talking carrier groups, nuclear submarines and plenty of air squadrons with no restrictions to kill. This is war on top of a war.

The theater of operations is shown above. Colombia, with a nimble gathering of forces trained to fight guerrillas and contraband, has a tall task to protect its border, sea and airspace. Indeed, most of the hardware is from the US. Venezuela, according to the US side briefing has done basically the same, resorting to Russia as an ally.

The US bases in Puerto Rico offer a slight advantage to wage naval warfare, but that’s pretty much it for the Americans. The US bases in Panama are quite distant to offer a thorough protection of the Colombian-Venezuelan border, which is ~1,700 km long.

In a new entry, I will go through the US side assets and discuss a bit of the gameplay of this fascinating DLC.

Cheers,