Looking for a South African Border War video game? There's no standalone title - but BUSHWAR lets you fight the SADF's bush and cross-border war as a modern military game, built as a free community overhaul mod for Arma Reforger.
For nearly a quarter of a century, the South African Defence Force fought SWAPO's PLAN insurgents along the border of South West Africa - and, increasingly, fought conventional battles deep inside Angola against Cuban and FAPLA armoured forces. It was Africa's largest conventional war since 1945, fought at the very end of the Cold War.
The Conflict
SWAPO's armed wing PLAN sought to end South African administration of South West Africa (modern Namibia), infiltrating across the Angolan border to mine roads and attack installations in the operational area of Ovamboland. The SADF answered with a layered counter-insurgency: Koevoet police trackers, Romeo Mike reaction forces, and the famed 32 "Buffalo" Battalion recruited from former Angolan FNLA fighters.
After Angola's independence collapsed into civil war in 1975, the border war escalated into conventional cross-border operations - Savannah, Reindeer, Protea, Askari - culminating in the massive armoured battles around Cuito Cuanavale in 1987-88, where SADF G5 artillery and Ratel-90s met Cuban and FAPLA T-55s.
Mechanised War in the Bush
The Border War was a war of wheels: the Ratel infantry fighting vehicle, the Buffel and Casspir mine-protected carriers born of the war's landmine threat, and the Eland armoured car. SADF mechanised columns covered enormous distances through trackless bush, navigating by sun and odometer, to hit PLAN bases hundreds of kilometres inside Angola.
Above them, Mirages and Buccaneers contested a sky increasingly defended by one of the densest Soviet-supplied air-defence networks outside Europe - while Puma and Alouette helicopters lifted troops over the cutline.
In BUSHWAR
BUSHWAR fields period SADF kit: R1 and R4 rifles, nutria brown uniforms, and the vehicles that defined the war. Ride a mechanised column on a cross-border raid, track spoor as a Koevoet section, or defend a FAPLA position as the Ratels close in.
Operations span both faces of the war - shallow-area counter-insurgency sweeps and full conventional external operations against AI or live enemies.
Frequently Asked
Is there a South African Border War video game?
No studio has released a standalone South African Border War title, but you can play it today through BUSHWAR - a free community overhaul mod for Arma Reforger, Bohemia Interactive's current-generation military game on PC and Xbox. It fields period SADF kit, mine-protected vehicles, and cross-border operations.
Can you play as the SADF or SWAPO?
Both sides. Ride a mechanised column or track spoor as a Koevoet or 32 Battalion section, or defend a PLAN or FAPLA position as the Ratels close in.
What vehicles and weapons are in it?
The kit that defined the war: R1 and R4 rifles, nutria uniforms, and the Ratel IFV, Buffel and Casspir mine-protected carriers, and Eland armoured car used on long cross-border raids into Angola.
How do I play it - is it free?
BUSHWAR is a free, non-profit community mod. You need a copy of Arma Reforger; the mod and our PvP and PvE servers are free to join via Discord.
No political affiliations. We do not seek to glorify any participants in the conflicts we portray. Historical depiction only, within Arma Reforger.