Chef Pierre Piper went Poppy Picking

A composite force of French and South African UN soldiers advanced on an opium producing village which had failed to pay the local warlord his dues.  The warlord told the local army commander who reported to the UN that the village was "financing the local guerrillas with their misbegotten opium money".  The UN reacted by sending in soldiers armed with Jerry cans of petrol.

[1] A French VAB enters and engages a VBIED, the VBIED reacts with an assault but is short on movement [2].  A Rooikat enters and destroys the VBIED [3].  In the distance a P4 Peugeot, a VBL and infantry on foot advance and engage a hidden group of guerillas armed with two RPGs

We played a second Force on Force game, introducing Breaching, Hotspots, Vehicles and Irregulars.  I realised how hard it is to play irregulars for a new player, they only react once, sometimes don't have leadership, die like flies and the only medics seem to be flies.

The local army commander's "lie" held some truth.  A group of guerrillas had moved into the area and were building up their force for an attack on the local city.  The attack by the UN was a surprise and the guerrillas were caught with only one "roadblocking" unit in place.  A suicide-bomber in a VBIED saw his chance at immortality and drove a B-line straight at the first UN force he saw, a French VAB.

The French VAB, commanded by Chef Pierre Piper opened fire with its Remote Weapon Station, peppering the car but not stopping it, the car got within 4m of the VAB but the occupants were suppressed.  A UN Rooikat then appeared on the road and with a single round hit the Golden Holden VBIED which exploded, luckily for the VAB the explosion did no damage.

On the French left flank a P4 Peugeot, a VBL and a unit of infantry spot and engage an ambush.  In the ensuing firefight (over two turns) the guerrillas are all killed, a VBL is destroyed and two crew are seriously injured.

Firefight between the French and the ambushing unit.  A VBL is hit and destroyed by an RPG.  At this moment the guerillas have 7 Points and the French 2.

The French continue their advance without any visible opposition, a fire team moves to the smaller of the poppy fields and using an petrol and phosphorous grenades set it on fire.

The French set fire to the Poppy plantation.  The last surviving guerrilla in the compound is hit.  In the distance a group of French snipers moves into the compound to setup an overwatch position.

On the left flank the P4 Peugeot advanced to protect that flank and was engaged by two units of guerrillas.  The guerillas suffered from indecision (hotspot spawned units without leaders, a harsh reality of an insurgency).

The Rooikat, a second VBL and a P4 move up to cover the compound entries [1], and fire team moved up to the nearest compound [2] and breaches the wall advancing into the compound.  A fire team of French advance to the main poppy field and set it on fire.  The local guerrilla leader assaults the breachers, but the French are victorious [4].  Meanwhile a massive mob of guerrillas with no leader attempt to flank the French.  Without anti-tank weapons the best they can hope for it so assault the infantry or cars.

The French then continued their main drive to the large poppy field.  Using three vehicles to cover the advance infantry breached the first compound and advanced on the fields setting fire to the last crop.  Four guerillas led by the local leader assaulted the team which had breached their compound.  French were surprised and a vicious melee ensured ending with the death of all four guerrillas.

With their objectives secured (i.e. on fire) the French began their orderly withdrawal.  Though a group of 20 enthusiastic leaderless guerrillas ran to get into the fight.

The Rooikat intercepted and the twenty guerrillas after taking a few hits ran for cover allowing the French infantry to fall back unharmed.  Except, as they crossed the road an IED was set-off hitting two teams of French soldiers, the first team was hit three times, the second escaped without harm.  Miraculously for the French all three hit men escaped with minor scratches.

And thus ended the poppy picking patrol.

Once again lessons were learnt.  The main one I was reminded of was how hard it is too play irregulars in Force on Force.  Hard from a morale point of view.  Who really have to think of your men as lunch money, without spending it you get no lunch...but you have money....

Next week we will just have a fun little game to reinforce the lessons, this time involving prey, hunters and hunter's of hunters.

Hostage Rescue

We played this game a couple of weeks ago, but then real life intervened... The subject was the rescue of a western hostage from a group of insurgents, which was based on ongoing events in Iraq and Syria. Possibly a little too sensitive, but set in our fictional country of Malikastan, and played with 15mm lead figures, dice, and the force on Force ruleset, I thought it made a good subject for a scenario. However, the very next day, there was a hostage situation ongoing in Sydney. I felt it was probably not appropriate to post this then, and, even a couple of weeks after, I'm not entirely comfortable. All I can fall back on is the standard disclaimer - "This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental." If anybody out there is still having trouble distinguishing reality from a game, I suggest that they refrain from visiting this site, and seek professional help.

The game - I tried to keep it as simple as possible, to make it run swiftly and involve a couple of new(ish) players. In Malikastan, insurgents allied to the WOZ militia have seized several westerners - journalists and aid workers - and have threatened to behead them. This does not play well in the western press, so their resue is high on the agenda of the governments.
Intelligence has identified the location of one of the hostages, and a team of special force operatives has been assembled to carry out the rescue. They will infiltrate into the area by night, moving on foot to the target compounds; arriving there, they will seach for the hostage, release him from his captors, and exfiltrate back to a waiting helicopter for extraction. Time is limited - they must get out before dawn, and the exact location of the captive is unknown.

The two players were each given four special operatives - highly trained and motivated individuals, armed with weapons of their choice (suppressed M16's with grenade launchers, with a SAW (unsuppressed) for additional firepower if needed; Night Vision Goggles; body armour; stun grenades and pistols). They were stealthy, elusive and were also trained medics. The table was set up as shown, with six buildings in four compounds. The special forces were told they could enter by either of the corners (top and bottom in the photo), and that they had to exit by the end of turn ten; they chose to have one team approach from each corner.

As umpire, I chose to randomise what the insurgents did; I placed six counters, face down, one in each of the buildings. Two of these counters denoted that the building was empty; two had 1D6 insurgents with AK's in; one had 1D6 civilians, one of whom had an AK (a local man with his family); and one with the hostages and four guards armed with AK's. (Yes, you read that correctly - unknown to the rescuers, there are two hostages - not one - being held in the same room). I didn't know what was in each room; the special forces operatives did not know what the counters represented, and would only find out when they actually entered the room, and then only in vague terms described by me - to simulate the confusion of a night raid. I then set up two groups of two sentries - using scatter dice to determine where they started and then moved - and a wandering dog, just to add to the mix, for the players to avoid. Insurgent reinforcements (1D6) would only arrive from the board edges once/if the alarm was raised.

Team one moved on from the top of the board, into the group of trees; a pair of sentries were lurking close by the corner of the building, and the team leader ordered them taken down. (Photo shows the situation at this point, game turn 2). The suppressed shots were hardly heard, and both insurgents went down - however, one wasn't dead, and started shouting for help. The alarm was raised, but the insurgents had no idea where their attackers were. however, team one's luck continued to run bad - reinforcements poured on to the table right next to their location, and there were several desperate turns where they were beating off attack after attack. During this, one of their number was seriously wounded, but their superior discipline and firepower enable them to hold on.

Team two, meanwhile, had approached from the bottom end of the board, found no sentries en route, and made it to the large central compound. Bursting in through the door of the nearest building, they discerned five individuals, one of whom appeared to be reaching for a weapon. He was quickly despatched, but he turned out to be a civilian trying to guard his family. At this point, shooting and shouting broke out from the other side of the village, and all attempts to keep silent were forgotten. The team swiftly searched the other nearby buildings, finding them both to be empty. Exiting the compound by the main gate, they broke into the isolated building, to find it occupied by a group of armed insurgents. Taking them by surprise (the insurgents were peering out the window at the firefight between their colleagues and team one), team two quickly eliminated them, and moved against the forces opposing team one.

With this help, team one finally overcame their opponents, and were able to break into the nearest building. This was found to be occupied by a half dozen individuals; a fierce hand to hand battle erupted in the darkness between the three active members of team one and the insurgents, during which they realised that they had found the hostage(s). Once again, speed, surprise, and the better training of the special forces told; all the insurgents were downed, and the hostages hustled from the building, and away from the compound. With team two covering their rear, and carrying their wounded colleague, both teams withdrew to safety, as, behind them, the village resembled an ants' nest, with armed men milling around in the pre-dawn darkness.

The mission was judged a success, despite the serious wounding of the team member, and the killing of a civilian. Two hostages were rescued unharmed, and up to thirty insurgents were eliminated. The whole game took just over an hour to play, and tension was high throughout; ranges were short in the darkness, and insurgent teams kept on appearing where they were least wanted. Team one came close to being overrun, but held out until rescued by Team two, who did most of the work, by searching most of the buildings and fighting off the reinforcements. Team one get the kudos for rescuing the hostages, though !

AAR- A Log...Fog in the Eye

Or, Playing Miniature Wargames over the web.

As a proof of concept we tried some long distance remote miniature gaming today.  It was a quick proof of concept and I think better than we could have hoped for.  Well, nightmarishly better.

Player Location 1 was 3,600km from Player Location 2.  The board was setup at Location 1 with a remote controllable webcam and player 2 got to swivel the camera and give orders.  The camera was always situated behind the leader unit and could only see what he could see (a little higher thank the gods!).  It was really like having a log stuck in your eye, suddenly your miniature gamers "god's eye" view had a huge log jammed in it by the devil (player 1).  Decisions of what to do are so much more difficult with lack of awareness and it feels as if every tree, wall or house is hiding something nasty.

We used Skype to communicate, and used the Share Screen option in Skype so Player 1 could see the EXCEL spreadsheet dice rolls of player 2 (makes it easier to compare) and also see what Player 2 can see through the webcam.

The interface as seen on the web browser.  The camera has a remote control swivel control

The After Action Report

Corporal Petersen was leading his section through a mostly deserted village on the far flank of the UN advance.  Over the radio he could hear chatter that the main column had been ambushed and he could hear distant exchanges of fire.  But, with the arrival of UN air support the insurgents began to melt away from the UN spearhead.  Corporal Petersen soon got a radio message from his platoon commander, a group of insurgents were heading straight for his position.

The world from an ants point of view - this is all you can see, and can swivel left and right.

Corporal Petersen shouted over to L/Cpl O'Donnel, "Donnyboy, get that GIMP up on a roof and see what you can see.  Watch out for civilians."

With that the Corporal ordered Private Bowles to kick in the door behind him.   The door gave away easily and the stack surged into the room, it was empty.  They moved up onto the roof for a better view of their surrounds.

With fireteam Charlie on the roof the better view is a breathe of fresh air.

Fireteam Delta climbed through the broken compound wall and advanced towards the doorways of the house.  The feeling of a hundred eyes following them across the empty courtyard could not be  shrugged off.

Fireteam Delta advancing across the compound courtyard

And now for something completely different - Cpl Petersen double takes thinking he saw a big hand come down from the sky, a swig from his camel pack clears his vision - at least it was not a big foot

The town seemed empty.  While Corporal Petersen and his men scanned the buildings for movement Private Cakubau in Fireteam Delta attempted to kick in the door in the compound, but all he got for his efforts was to fall backwards onto his arse to the nervous amusement of his team mates.

Fireteam Charlie scanning the houses on the left flank

Private Cakubau bouncing off the door

While Private Cakubau examined his trousers, "Gods, I think I am lying in human shit," the burly Private Lovett kicked the door in with a deafening crash.  The team surged into the room followed by the complaining Cakubau.  The team moved up onto the roof and setup the GPMG.

Both teams on the roofs

Now both teams had good eyes on each flank, but they had limited mutual support opportunities.

"I see movement," said the Charlie team SAW gunner, Private McLane.  Petersen grunted that McLane always saw something, then thought  how he had just hallucinated about the big hand in the sky.  He matched his scope on the doorway across the street that McLane was aiming at.  A figure moved furtively out into the street before motioning to men behind him to follow.

"Fucking Woz's," said the Corporal, the men were obviously armed with AKs and RPGs, they were definitely Woz insurgents [Successful Check on Intent].

A Woz insurgent leader appears in the doorway across the street

Corporal Petersen shouted into his radio for the L/Cpl to get eyes on.  Then he opened fire.  The fireteam poured in fire, some of the insurgents fell or scattered, but a few stood their ground and returned very heavy fire.  The fireteam ducked below the parapet, Corporal Perkins rolled to the ground, "Shite, shite, I've been hit in me face."

Corporal Petersen rolled him over, "It is just a graze, you pussy."

Private Bowles looked over and laughed, "Fuck Herky, I did not think you could get any uglier, but you just did!"

Perkins replied with an appropriate Queen's English reply, though his wave did not look at all like the Queen's.  But then he perked up and grinned through the blood, "I put a bigger fookin' hole in that Woz bastard's head" patting his L129 affectionately.

The Corporal ordered his men to get eyes on and give covering fire for Delta team as Delta moved up.

Fireteam Delta moves to bring fire to bear

Fireteam Delta moved into the other compound building, kicking in the door and rushing to the windows.  In the street in front of them they could see one insurgent being dragged to cover by his mate, and several others firing at Charlie.  The GPMG (only +1), the SAW and the UGL all fired, the insurgents turned to face the new threat.Charlie in its overwatch position poured in fire.  The insurgents all fell in the crossfire.

Lance-Corporal O'Donnel reported, "At least a dozen bodies, and one managed to crawl back through the doorway."

The UGL gunner on the roof fired one grenade into the doorway for good measure and then the teams fell back to their platoons position to the south.

I finally get a Gods Eye view

Comment:

As a proof of concept I give three thumbs up.  The lack of awareness is truly scary, every house was a threat.  I think this is a great way of playing, and would consider adding this in even if the players were not 3,600km apart.  It adds a very nice dimension to the game.

In the future we will also look to have the remote player being a JTAC offboard giving support fire to a larger battle.  But, commanding units from the ground view is heaps of fun (in a masochistic sort of way).  Thank you Marcus for setting this up.  100% Proof of Concept.  Highly recommended as a way of playing, even with FtF players.

I used an EXCEL sheet to do the dicing, but will get myself a camera now, and use real dice.

The Valley of Fog (AAR)

“War is an area of uncertainty; three quarters of the things on which all action in War is based are lying in a fog of uncertainty to a greater or lesser extent.” - Carl von Clausewitz

Mission Briefing here: http://bigfof.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/mission-briefing-valley-of-fog.html

In dawn’s early light the Australian’s advanced north into the valley.  They scanned the compounds, grape drying buildings and treelines for Hotakistanis, but to no avail.  All was silent.

The Australian armour and infantry advance (we substituted Challengers for the Abrams and a US infantry platoon for the Australians)

The Australian armour and accompanying infantry advanced to the compounds on the valley floor.  The Australian platoon commander entered the ancient ruined fortification to obtain a better view into the valley.  The Australian forward observer failed to materialize and the Australian 155mm artillery remained silent for the whole day.  A lone hidden Hotakistani forward observer lay hidden on a compound roof watching the Australian advance.  His request for an emergency barrage on the Australians fell on deaf ears.

(Turn 2 Reveal: Bombardment)

No one is sure who fired the bombardment, but heavy shells began to land across the valley.  The Australian platoon commander went down in a blast of rubble and shrapnel.

The unexpected bombardment lands, throwing up dust and downing the Australian platoon HQ.

(we forgot to implement the LOS reduction in Turn 2).  The Hotakistani FO directed an artillery strike on the left most Australian infantry unit, and seven rockets landed close to the Australians, causing many casualties and pinning the advance.

Two Australian units down after the first Hotakistani barrage, at least 80-90% of the Hotakistani VP would come from the artillery.  The Australian's never getting to use their artillery in return.

(this game witnessed the most swaps of initiative in any game we have played, I think there was only one round where a side held onto initiative, and the Hotakistanis seemed to get it each time when they really needed it!).

Following the barrage, the Hotakistani reinforcements arrived, not in the rear, but near the ruined fort.  The unexpected barrage had rotated all reinforcement entry points C/W around the battle zone.

The Hotakistani reinforcements arrive, two T-72s and a squad of infantry.  The Abrams advances to engage the new threat.

At the top left you can see the first MISSYL troops, poorly led, poorly armed and without a clue.  The disgruntled warlord (on roof on house on the right) engages the Abrams with two RPGs, but with no effect.

The Australians found Hotakistanis bearing down on their right flank, and soon found a bunch of Malikastani Independent Spiritual Student Youth League (MISSYL) insurgents on their left flank.  With artillery pouring down they needed to neutralize these threats on their flanks as quick as possible.

The Australian flanking unit, an Abrams and a squad of infantry arrived further east than expected and immediately engaged a T-80 on the hill, destroying the T-80's main gun.

The Abrams (substituted with a Challenger) surprises the T-80.

Fortuitously the Hotakistani's received another T-72, which sped past the new reinforcements heading to the main Australian force.  Meanwhile the golden Holden (a large VBIED) drove past the disgruntled warlord who tried to fire on it, but failed.

An extra T-72 arrives and speed past the Abrams towards the main front.

The final T-72 arrived on the Australian flank, but the first two T-72s had their guns damaged and destroyed by infantry AT weapons and the main force Abrams.  The main force Abrams was in turn ambushed by a hidden squad of Hotakistanis forcing the crippled (1/2 movement) Abrams to fall back around the corner of a compound.

Two T-72 with their guns damaged, a third arrives, and a squad of Hotakistani's ambush the Abrams (top right) forcing it to fall back with a damage (1/2 move).

The Australians surrounded the surviving MISSYL students and finished them off (mostly).

Australians surround MISSYL students and pour on the hurt.

Another Hotakistani Missile barrage slams into the Australians, with surprising accuracy.  A close miss suppressed the Abrams, while the building next to the central Australian infantry received two hits, wounding many Australians.  Unfortunately, one rocket landed close to the ambushing Hotaki infantry on the garage roof, causing two casualties.

A second barrage lands (red dots) inflicting further casualties on the Australians

The situation was becoming critical for the Australians, dealing with many seriously wounded, and having used up all their AT weapons (except for one fire team which carried a supply of LAWS) things could not possibly get worse - then it did.  A MISSYL T-55 arrived on the Australians flank, and a VBIED tried to ram into the Abrams.  Having to deal with dead and wounded comrades the Australian force was being robbed of its initiative.

A T-55 arrives on the Australian flank, driven by very inexperienced but fanatical MISSYL students.  The golden Holden VBIED charges at the Abrams but just falls short around the corner (can be seen through the gateway).

The VBIED exploded with no effect.  A unit of Australian SASR arrived, they had no AT weapons, but borrowed LAWs from the infantry and engaged the Hotakistani tanks.

SASR arrive and borrowing a bunch of LAWS (bouquet?)  take on the T-72s, but not before more Hotakistani rockets land causing more casualties.

The disgruntled local warlord grew tired of sniping from the top of the building he was in, and so snuck around a building to attack a T-72 with RPGs, he was, however, ambushed by a squad of Hotakistanis, whom poured on the hurt.  The Abrams then destroys the damaged T-80 on the hill.

Warlord and his men receiving pain from the T-72 and a squad - the ambush being ambushed (lower left corner)

The main force damaged Abrams now advanced and destroyed a T-72, then the Special Forces with a LAW destroyed a second T-72, the situation was starting to look good.  In one turn three Hotakistani tanks are destroyed.  Then another barrage landed on the Australian infantry with uncanny accuracy.

Another barrage lands (red dots), inflicting numerous casualties.

The barrage was to be the last, for finally Australian infantry found the forward observer and dispatched him with grenades and close-up gunfire.

The Hotakistani squad seeing the situation developing in a negative manner, exit the building and go Abrams hunting.  The local warlord tries to shoot them down, but instead dies in a hail of fire.

Abrams vs. T-72 - Winner: None.

An Abrams engages a flanking T-72 in the side, but in the excitement fails to score a hit.  The second Abrams now drove into the creek and prepared to engage the T-72, the T-72 however got off the first shot and one die made it through the armour to kill the Abrams - THE END.

The final shaky image, a burning Abrams.  AUSAF claimed it lost no Abrams in the attack, and that this image was a fake!

Outcome: Hotakistani Win (37VP) vs. AUSAF (24vp).  The Australians suffered a shocking 12 KIA and 9 Serious Wounds.  One Abrams was destroyed.  The Hotakistani lost 3 KIA, 3 seriously wounded and three T-72 destroyed.

Comments: The initial surprise bombardment started the trouble for the Australians.  The Hotakistanis managed to land a lot of artillery keeping the Australians dealing with dead and wounded, and thus robbing them of initiative.
The first three MISSYL insurgent units all arrived near the Australians to add to their woes.
The Australian first aid checks were abysmal, with more dead and seriously wounded each turn.  At game end the Australian infantry had suffered 24 casualties (50% dead, 38% seriously wounded and 12% lightly wounded, statistically it should have been closer to 20% dead, 40% SW and 40% LW!).
The Australians also quickly ran short of infantry AT weapons.  The loss of the platoon leader, and the heavy fire on the squad leaders did not give the Australians opportunity to call down artillery, and when they finally had good targets their communication failed.
The Hotakistani FO was perfectly positioned to bring down rocket attacks and the Hotakistani ambushers were patient waiting for the juiciest target.  A fun game, especially for me as I unleashed the fog :)

The minefield was not entered, though 3-4 IEDs were approached.

The minefield

During the game we wondered what armour on a vehicle is attacked by a mine/buried IED, and we could not find it in the rules.  Reading the Ambush Alley Forum it seems to be the consensus that it attacks a vehicles side armour.  Which I think is what we did.

AAR - The SMAFU prologue - The Russians smash through the roadblocks

We played an impromptu prologue to the SMAFU mission.  The mission was “designed” around the Russian paratrooper convoy heading into the city and their first contact with the insurgents at the city limits roadblock.  Basically any Russian unit destroyed in the mission would arrive on a TQ following turn 3 in the next mission (Mission: http://bigfof.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/smafu.html) .  All units exiting before Turn 7 in the prologue would arrive on Turn 1, others would arrive on Turn 2.

Units:

Russian VDV Paratroopers – 10/10, a platoon of VDV

Russian VDV Vehicle Crews – 8/10, three BMP-3

Russian Air support on TQ8 – HIND Gunship

Insurgents – Regular 6/10 (one primary and one secondary insurgent per turn, the insurgents start with three guarding units on board, each 1xleader, 2xAK, 1xRPK and 1xRPG(+1/+1M)) 

Russian hold initiative until Turn 3 from then on it is contested.

The Roadblock - The Russians advancing from the airport to the CBD

Two Russian BMP-3, fully loaded, headed up the main street.   A third turned left exiting the road and flanking through a truck-park.  The lead BMP approached a roadblock built of rubble and vehicles and opened fire on five insurgents it spotted behind the barricade.  Three went down in the opening fusillade.

 

The BMP's advance, while insurgents flank (taking advantage of Out of Sight movement

The second BMP moved to the right of the lead IFV and spotted a group of insurgents in the courtyard of a compound.  It fired on them, killing two.  The insurgents in the area now reacted to the threat and started moving around the right flank of the Russians.

The firefight hots up with two Russian paratrooper squads debussing and engaging the insurgent with deadly fire.

The two BMPs on the main road debussed their load and brought fire to bear on the flankers and on the survivors in the compounds.  Accurate fire whittled away the insurgents and any return fire was shrugged off.

The insurgents suffering under withering fire

The flanking BMP runs into growing resistance

The flanking BMP continued its march, and crossed the lateral load, seeing movement ahead it stopped and the troops debussed.  The Russian commander ordered his BMP driver to push through the roadblock, leaving two squads and the third BMP to clear away and surviving insurgents.

 

The insurgent T-55 advancing to cover the roadblock

The circling HIND warned the commander that a T-55 was approaching the area, but could not engage.  The Russian commander ordered a paratrooper with an RPG-27 to move up to the barricade and engage the tank.  The tank was destroyed before it could do any harm.  The commander continued his clearing of the roadblock.  By now the rear was cleared of opposition.  The flanking unit had however run into resistance that would continued to build, including a Hotakistani Scorpion.  The Russian shot down every insurgent they encountered and did not suffer in return.

 

The flanking Russians advance against opposition following the destruction of the T-55.  A brave technical swept in behind the Russians only to be destroyed.

A few RPGs were fired at the BMPs but with no effect.  The Russian commander received welcome support with the arrival of a "liberated" T-72 crewed by paratroopers.  With the destruction of the insurgent T-55 and the arrival of the T-72 the Russians now switched to full speed ahead.  The Russian commander moved to destroy the Scorpion which was holding up his flanking BMP.  Unfortunately, as he destroyed the Scorpion a second Malikastani turncoat T-55 arrived, at close range they fired at each other with no effect.  The second central BMP now moved ahead to support their commander, the T-55 fired on the second BMP and the BMP exploded killing all its crew.  The T-72 now surged through the barrier and smoke of the brewing BMP and destroyed the second T-55.  The road was now clear, the Russian commander ordered his men to now join up with him and move on out.

 

The Russian BMP push through the roadblock as insurgents attempt to knock them out with desultory fire.  In the top right a Russian paratrooper squad destroys a technical.

The roadblock rudely dismantled.

Just as the Russian had broken through an insurgent in an apartment building put an RPG through the flanking BMP,  which caught fire and injured its crew.

 

The second T-55 engages the lead BMP.  The first T-55 burns, while in the distance the exploding BMP is hidden in the smoke.  The Scorpion burns after being hit by a 100mm shell from the lead BMP.

The battle ended without a paratrooper injured, two BMPs destroyed, three Russian crew men dead and three wounded.  The insurgents had lost two T-55s, two technical’s, a Scorpion and a two score men.  However, their sacrifice at the roadblock had forewarned the insurgents at the prison, and they rallied to now meet the oncoming Russians. 

Effect: The insurgents receive a Turn 0 in the SMAFU mission, allowing them to receive one turn of extra reinforcements and have a free turn to move.  The Russians now arrive on Turn 1 with a full squad of paratroopers and only one BMP-3.  On turn four onwards the paratroopers can roll for a TQ for the arrival of a further two BMPs.

Comment: TQ10/MOR10 Russian Paratroopers are nasty.  I divided the squads into two fireteams.  With multiple UGL and SAW, plus the odd RPG, they spew a lot of lead.  And TQ10 in defense is a hard nut for TQ6 insurgents to harm.  The insurgents, however, were able to slow down the Russians enough to delay them and managed to destroy two of the IFV.  The insurgent commander was patient to setup positions and wait which made it painful for the Russians, having to slog through resistance line after resistance line.  The Russians never tried one to call in the HIND gunship, and after that failure no targets were available.  Maybe the squad leaders should have done something.   For an impromptu mission it proved to be fun and balanced.

This is the Russian Paratrooper organization we made and used for the mission (if anyone can give corrections on this they are most welcome):  

Washing Day in Azmakassar (AAR)

A jubilant mood swept through the frontier town of Azmakassar.  A change from the despondency of the days earlier in the week.  Several days ago a force of British armour and infantry had smashed into the invading Hotakistani force and roughly pushed the Hotaki's back into Azmakassar, the British had then advanced to the Azmakassar Ford to cut off the supply route to the Hotakistani's to the south of the river.

The British Armour and Mechanized Infantry must cross two bridges, run a gauntlet of Malikastani infantry and insurgents and exit to the west.

The Hotakistani MTLBs had been unable to resupply their southern forces while the British held the ford.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the British had over extended.  With the Hotakistani armour licking its wounds the infantry and insurgents pushed forward to cut-off the British and destroy them.

The British realizing their situation had become untenable departed their new defenses and headed west towards the road and onward to FOB Break-bone.  A force of UN Uruguayan and AUSAF US Special Forces hastily moved to keep the road open.  In the middle of the night with a new Moon rising the British left their laager to head down a road that would be known as Hell's Highway.  All that stood between them and freedom was a platoon of turncoat Malikastani soldiers and two bands of insurgents...and a lurking HIND gunship...and two batteries of 107mm Rockets.

The insurgents laughed that they were going down to the river to do the washing, to wash their land of the dirty westerners.

(see Mission Description) 

With the new Moon rising over the eastern horizon the British began their escape.

The British started their breakthrough with a light barrage of all the enemy units between themselves and safety, two enemy soldiers were wounded in the barrage.  The front Challenger now probed towards the bridge, spotting enemy troops in the scrub across the first stream they opened fire.

The Challenger was soon joined by two Warriors (with infantry on-board) and the second Challenger.

The initial British surge wounded hit the advance Malikastani hard, forcing them back.  In the rear the infantry in the third Warrior debussed to deal with insurgents to the rear.  And then the HIND arrived...  Mark has done an excellent job with the nice looking QRF HIND.

The two Warriors and second Challenger fired on the enemy forcing them back with a few wounds.  To the rear the infantry in the third Warrior debussed to  deal with the insurgent scourge in the rear.  The Malikastani Lieutenant jumped on his radio and called in the supporting HIND, the HIND swept in an fired an AT rocket at the lead Challenger.  The hit destroyed the Challenger's gun, the Malikastani's were a tad miffed at not seeing a fireball!

A bat's eye view of the HIND vs. Challenger.

With no AA the HIND was to enjoy the King of the Battle role through the battle, but in all its attacks it only managed to damage two vehicles and destroying a single Warrior.  The 107mm Artillery played no part in stopping the British, the British "forced" the Hotakistani side to burn most of its activations and thereby used his initiative to a 100% in controlling the battle.  Behind the British main line the Malikastani's moved onto the roof of a compound to bring RPG fire down on the British.

The British advance over the first bridge, the HIND returns to try destroy the Warrior on the bridge, but to no avail.

The British now began their crossing of the bridges.  The insurgents arriving at the battlefield hardly had a single RPG amongst them, and the Malikastani turncoats had only three.  Though many RPGs were fired only one ever did any damage (at the very end of the battle!).  The British slowly whittled away at both the insurgents and Malikastanis, and when the insurgents managed to contact a battery the 107mm rockets proved highly inaccurate and not one rocket found its target.

The British moved forward once more, with the second Challenger bogging twice during its attempt to cross the stream.  The HIND returned and immobilized the lead Challenger with a hit on its rear.  The Malikastanis and insurgents danced the Dance of Premature Joy.

The HIND returns and destroys the lead Challengers engine.  Its crew remain in their pillbox bringing fire to bear until the end of the fight.

The British continue to advance, one Warrior detouring around the immobilized Challenger.  The second Challenger escapes the faecal strewn canal and drives headlong into the Malikastanis

The British now pushed hard to bring fire to bear on the surviving Malikastanis, a Warrior shot up and bypassed the infantry while second Warrior and Challenger moved up.  Insurgents from Azmakassar started to arrive on the north side and all ran at top speed down the road to attack any infantry bailing from the tanks.

A close-up of the developing fight near the Golden Holden.

Insurgents in the building above the Challenger fired rocket of rocket into the British tanks without doing more than scouring a little armour from the vehicles.  The surviving Malikastani infantry started to feel like a sandwich as the British closed, surrounded and pummeled them in the stream.

The British squad and Warrior that remained as the rearguard destroyed the insurgents to the rear, though not without a few moments of danger.  An insanely advised assault on two British soldiers by four Malikastanis ended with 4-0 win for the British.  The rearguard mounted their vehicle and followed the now distant comrades.  They stopped and destroyed the insurgents advancing along the lateral road, but then the HIND returned and destroyed the Warrior, the crew and passengers bailed with two wounded.  The survivors then fired on the surviving insurgents in the lateral road and wiped them out and then the British fell back into the ruins and poppy fields and escaped on foot (though counted as VP to the Malikastanis)

The HIND returns to destroy a Warrior.

Back at the Golden Holden an RPG from the Malikastanis finally managed to destroy a Warrior, the crew and passenger bailed

A close-up of the final fight around the Golden Holden

The British managed to then move two of the surviving Warriors off board with their full crew and passenger compliment.

OUTCOME: British Decisive Win (Hotakistanis: 38 VP vs. British 77)

Mark played really well, burning our activations.  I think this was the best use of initiative I have seen.  The Fickle Finger of Fate also played a roll..role...  The AT rolls by the Hotakistani/Malikastani side were amazingly poor compared to the armour rolls of the British.  The HIND was a mean piece of equipment, and if I play the insurgents/Malikastani turncoats/Hotakistanis I hope to see that beast more often!  If the more attack helicopters arrive I think we will need the sides to start to obtain AA!  Or pick AA reinforcement cards.

An enjoyable day of gaming.

To top off the day, a surreal moment for me driving home when a Golden Holden appeared at the railway crossing!  The Golden Holden has been in nearly all our games, has been smashed by artillery, driven over by tanks, blown up on mines...but it still appears!  Spooky!