The battle of Rahthkabir

When they came to write the history of the Malikastan War historians looked to the early days and found the battle of Rahthkabir.  Rahthkabir was once a thriving town before the Russian built their base on the ridge to the west.  The markets, schools, workshops and homes were soon rubbled.  Decades later when the ISAF and UNSAF forces occupied a new base on the ridge the town was all but a ghost town.  Once again the town became a favourite spot for insurgents as the MSR ran through the town. Once again the town was pummelled by artillery, air strikes and foot soldiers.  the town was about to host the first armour vs. armour fight in the Malikastan War,

Following the fight around Patrol Base 55 a platoon of Warriors and a transport platoon of trucks arrived to evacuate the survivors, with the burning base to their rear the Warriors headed back to the FOB.  The observers at the FOB soon noticed that several dust clouds were following the retreating Warriors.  When the Warriors stopped to deal with a suspected IED they soon the race was up and now it was time to fight.  Major D. Zaster, acting on information from a special force team in the hills above Azmakassar had ordered his two precious Challenger's out of the FOB to cover the retreat.

In the late afternoon a platoon of T-55's approached the outskirts of Rahthkabir.  The first battle between tanks of UNSAF and Hotakistan was about to play itself out.

A platoon of T-55's (Peter Pig) approach the old 19th Century British Fort wall. In the distance the Hotakistani commander sees a British soldier running for cover.

The Warriors herringboned off the road and the men debussed and began moving to fighting positions.  The British soldiers grabbed AT-4s and LAWs to meet the oncoming tanks.  The news that the Challenger's were on the way.

British soldiers debussing

The lead Hotakistani tank commander shouted for his driver to stop and his Gunner to wake up as British soldiers scampered across the road ahead of the tank.  His gunner scanned for targets, and found one, a lone British soldier firing an AT-4.  Before the Hotakistani could bring his gun to bear the missile smashed into the tank, killing the driver and gunner, the loader and commander escaped the burning wreck to fall injured next to the flaming tank.  The AT-4 had its first kill of the day, and it would not be the last.

An AT-4 fired straight down the road destroys the lead T-55

The infantry cheered, but knew this had still not bought enough time.  They hoped the sounds to the rear were their two Challengers.

The Challenger II's arrive (QRF)

The remaining two T-55's bravely bypassed the stricken lead tank and fired on a Warrior, eventually the Warrior's luck ran out and a 100mm AP shell smashed through the vehicle, bursting into flame.

A Warrior explodes.

Several insurgents arrived, but fell under a hail of bullets as they tried to attack a British team.  A second teams finished off the last surviving insurgent as an AT-4 slammed into the second T-55 which also started to burn.

A second T-55 is set alight with a AT-4, while a British fire team takes on a last surviving insurgent.

The Challenger's and T-72 now joined the fight and soon got into a knife fight in the fields in the forest, firing at each at point blank range.  One T-72 was immobilised, while a second had its main gun shot out.  Meanwhile, another AT-4 destroyed a third T-55.

A knife fight between a Challenger and T-72, surprisingly the Challenger struggled to destroy the T-72, merely blowing a track off with several of its wheels (both models QRF).

The Hotakistani mechanised infantry began to arrive, having debussed a mile or so from the fight.  The third T-55 had tried to find cover in a ruin, only to meet it fate at the rocket red glare of an AT-4.

Flames from the last T-55 flicker up over the ruins.

The rescued ODA team from Patrol Base 55 finally got their act together and debussed to give infantry support to the Challenger tanks.  The power of the Challenger's supported by the special force operators proved too much for the Hotakistani's and after a little more desultory fire both sides fell back from the battle.

The scene in the woods, two badly damaged T-72s.  

The first tank battle was over.  The AT-4's combined with the two Challenger's proved too much for the Hotakistanis.  The Hotakistani's fell back to consolidate and wait for reinforcements.  ICOM chatter of the Hotakistani commander in Azmakassar to his leader showed the Hotakistani's thought they had bumped into a "company of British tanks".  He asked for more tanks and air support.

A fair game, we spent too much time chatting, but that was good anyway :)

The Challenger's are mean, but battled to destroy the T-72s outright.  The game gave much for thought and now I think we can design the campaign to mission interface in a better manner.