Ambush was a wargame about protecting vehicles
carrying nuclear materials during the Cold War.
Written by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
it allowed the personnel escorting the convoy to rehearse their counter
ambush drills to a variety of threats. The convoy chose the route, while
the players representing the hostile forces carefully study the ground
in order to place their ambush in the most effective position. While the
rules were straightforward compared to other skirmish wargames of the
era, they would have been useful in increasing engagement in training
the escorts for these convoys. This would have allowed them to save
training time by classroom-based rehearsal prior to live contact drill
exercises on the ground.
Moving nuclear materials was always a matter of
national security and it was always possible that nefarious actors could
have attempted to interfere with these convoys.
The rules are published by the History of Wargaming
Project as part of its ongoing work to document to development of
wargaming.
The rules are available
for purchase via online book stores such as Amazon.