Review of Fangs of the Lone Wolf by Dodge Billingsley

Author:  Dodge Billingsley.
Title:  Fangs of the Lone Wolf - Chechen Tactics in the Russian Chechen Wars 1994-2009.
Publisher:  Helion and Company.
Date Published:  2013.
Pages:  181.
Price:  $45.00 (US).

Overview:
I started this book last weekend.  I finished this evening.  This has to be some of most depressing reading I've done.  However, the author does an excellent job describing the tactics and battles fought by the Chechen insurgents in their two wars with Russia.

There are thirty vignettes in the books.  Each is usable for different gaming scenarios.  The Chechens start the first war in high spirits.  But the strain of guerrilla warfare wore down the different bands of fighters.  The Second Chechen War of 1999-2009 proved the Russians learning from their mistakes and bought the fight back to the Chechen safe-havens in the mountains.  The split between the pro-Moscow Chechen government troops and the rebels also put another nail into the guerrilla movement.

The fighting still drags on in Chechnya.  The reason Russia wants the province is oil.  Barring the political reasons for the fighting, many of the Chechens fought because the Russians invaded their homeland or they;d lost love ones in the conflict.

Recommended hard copy with color maps, prints, and photos.