Zambala – A Heart of Darkness

Overview

Introduction

Zambala is a turn-based strategy game set in a fictional nation on the cusp of civil war, where various factions, leaders, and their international backers all vie for control and dominance of the nation, its resources, and the hearts and minds of its people.

Geography

The Map

Zambala is represented by a hex map of 39 × 43 hexes covering a range of terrain types. Scattered throughout are urban centres where the population lives, works, and gets taxed for the benefit of the warring factions.

Terrain Types

Each hex contains one dominant terrain type that affects movement, combat, and line of sight.

Special Off-Map Hexes

A small number of hexes are "off map" and represent international bodies that factions can lobby for support and resources.

Economy

Resource Management

Players must manage resources, national infrastructure, and foreign aid to fund their faction's logistical and military operations. There are three core resource types.

Politics

Factions, Leaders & Political Alignment

Players can choose to play as the government or as a warlord seeking to overthrow it. Each faction is led by a Leader unit — your in-game avatar — whose calling determines their special bonuses.

Leader Callings

If Your Leader is Killed

A new leader will rise from among the people to fill the void. The replacement will be a random calling, placed in an uncontested population centre, your HQ, or stacked with an existing unit.

Headquarters

Each player starts with a nominated hex as their Headquarters and command post. A leader can issue a Move Headquarters order to relocate the HQ to their current position. Several orders — such as Train — require the issuing unit to be located within the HQ hex.

Population

Urban Centres

Urban centres are the villages, towns, and capital city of Zambala — where the people live, work, and are taxed. They start the game controlled by the government, with the exception of each warlord's starting town.

Political vs Military Control

A centre is politically controlled by the player with the highest influence there — they receive full resource production. If a hostile player occupies the hex with military units, they hold military control — both the political and military controllers each receive half the production until the hostile units withdraw.

Production by Centre Type

Ports

Any urban centre adjacent to a lake hex is considered a Port, enabling it to support naval units and naval power operations.

Recruits

The population loyal to your faction slowly accumulates volunteers each turn. Each urban centre has a per-turn chance of generating a Recruit Point up to its maximum. Recruit points reset to zero when a population centre changes ownership.

Infrastructure

Facilities

Before the outbreak of hostilities, Zambala was a productive nation with prestigious facilities boosting GDP and enriching the government. Controlling these facilities is key to sustaining a long campaign.

Sabotage & Repair

Facilities can be sabotaged by the owner or hostile operatives, reducing income to zero until repaired. Only the player with military control of the facility can pay the repair cost. Each facility has a Security Rating determining how easily it can be infiltrated — only the controlling player knows this value. The starting security value is 6 (or 4 for airfields).

Airfields

Airfields are special facilities that generate Air Power Points each turn for the controlling player. The Entebbe International Airport generates 4 AP per turn.

Agents & Operatives

Agents represent spies, informers, and agitators loyal to your cause. They do not require a recruit point to create, and can be posted to any hex at a cost of 2 IP and 4 RP. Agents can only be detected and attacked by rival operatives or special units such as Secret Police. They grow in ability through successful missions.

Arms Caches

Players can purchase arms from international dealers for delivery inside Zambala. Arms Cache units represent unarmed delivery personnel — they cannot garrison, train, or enter combat, and are captured by any enemy military unit that enters their hex unless protected by a friendly unit.

Stacking & Zones of Control

Units can stack up to a maximum of 8 units per hex. Stacked units move at the rate of the slowest unit in the stack. All active military units exert a Zone of Control into each adjacent hex, stopping hostile units' movement phase when entered.

Military

Special Unit Types

Beyond standard infantry, nine specialist unit types provide unique tactical abilities that can change the outcome of an engagement.

Doctrine

Air Power

Players who hold military control of airfields gain Air Power Points (AP) each turn. Air Power abstractly represents aircraft, facilities, and the infrastructure enabling fixed-wing transport operations.

Air Power Orders

1. 1
   Heavy Air Lift — Deliver a heavy equipment cache directly to a controlled airfield.
2. 2
   Small Arms Drop — Deliver a small arms cache to a population centre under military control.
3. 3
   Air Drop — Relocate a Paratroop unit from a controlled airfield to any hex on the map. Paratroopers landing in hexes containing enemy units will immediately enter close combat — defenders attack first, then paratroopers return fire, with the side taking the highest losses retreating.
4. 4
   Air Lift Troops — Relocate any infantry unit between any two airfields you own.

Doctrine

Naval Power

Zambala contains four major lakes — Lake George, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, and the mighty Lake Victoria. Naval Power Points (NP) abstractly represent boats, barges, and the port infrastructure enabling aquatic transport. Players who hold military control of a port gain 1 NP per turn; Kampala City Port generates 4 NP per turn, and the Murchison Falls Safari Centre provides 1 NP per turn.

Naval Orders

1. 1
   Heavy Cargo Drop — Deliver a heavy equipment cache directly to a controlled port.
2. 2
   Cargo Transport — Relocate any unit starting its movement phase in a port hex to any lake or connected coastal hex. If the destination hex is occupied by enemy units, close combat ensues.
3. 3
   Blockade — Commit naval power to harass and limit opposing factions' naval operations on the same lake. Naval power spent on blockade resolves in priority order: first cancelling opposing blockades, then blocking Heavy Cargo Drops, then blocking Cargo Transport, and finally reducing IP and RP income from adjacent urban centres and facilities at a rate of 10% per excess naval point over the next highest blockade investment.

Mechanics

Sequence of Play

1 — Economic Phase

Random events are resolved. External factions update their confidence levels with supported players based on prior-turn performance and activities such as sabotage. Each player then receives foreign aid based on their leader type, national will score, and standing with international factions.

2 — Movement Phase

Players issue movement orders to their units, including standard movement and special movement orders such as Air Drop, Air Lift, Cargo Transport, and Blockade.

3 — Combat Phase

Combat is resolved between opposing units. Relevant modifiers include:

• Fortifications — Each turn a unit spends fortifying increases its fortification level (0–3). Each level reduces damage taken by 10%.
• Ambush — Defending units may receive a free attack before normal combat resolves.
• Minefields — Units entering a minefield hex without the appropriate capability take damage.