Phantom Fury

Phantom Fury - The 2nd Battle for Fallujah

This solitaire game simulates, at tactical scale, the combat waged by US forces during the month of November 2004 to secure the city of Fallujah and crush insurgent resistance. The game particularly focuses on the fighting of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in the Jolan District in the north-west part of the city in the morning of November 9th.

The player controls USMC troops while the system handles the insurgents. This design is based mainly on the article "Infantry Squad Tactics: Some of the lessons learned during MOUT (military operations in urbanized terrain) in the battle for Fallujah", published in the September 2005 issue of the Marine Corps Gazette.

The map includes a part of the Jolan District, divided into 61 zones of approximately 50x50 meters and sections of road of equal size. Each zone is made-up of several locations (open ground, courtyard, first storey, second storey, rooftop) represented by boxes that are used to manage movement. Tracks and charts are also on the map edges.

The troops of each side are represented by ‘unit’ counters, each corresponding to one Marine squad (six to 12 men) or a group of insurgents (about six men each). The total strength of USMC forces is about that of a reinforced company. Each squad has a combat factor that is used to resolve firing and assaults. The attachment of a Combined Anti-Armor Team (CAAT) to a squad increases its combat factor in certain cases. When a USMC squad suffers a step loss during combat, the counter is flipped to its reduced side. If it suffers another loss, the unit is removed from the game (i.e., the squad is no longer operational and the wounded are evacuated to the rear). Insurgent units appear in two distinct types: guerrilla units and martyr units, also each with their own combat factors. Guerrilla units fight USMC troops but withdraw rather than be destroyed. Martyr units, instead, have vowed to die where they stand and kill as many enemies as possible. These units are immobile and, within their fortified positions, await the attacks of USMC forces. At all times, insurgent units are eliminated after suffering one step loss.

Insurgent units do not appear directly on the map. Initially, the player deploys “suspect” markers which represent a potential, non-identified danger to USMC troops. Their placement is partially random. Once fired upon or assaulted, these “suspect” markers are activated and their true nature (dummy, guerrilla, martyr, IED, or sniper) is revealed. However, USMC troops can also count on the support and fire power of a pair of M1A2 Abrams tanks. A section of Iraqi soldiers from the Iraqi Intervention Force (IIF) is also available, their mission being the capture of the mosque in Jolan, as the USMC troops do not have the right to enter that zone.