View from the eastern side of the board. |
View from the north - Ansari al-Mawt board edge. |
Background
The
game took place in my imagi-nation of Alephstan, 12th February 2008. 1
Platoon, 3 Royal Sherwood Rangers, are engaged in a platoon house in
the village of Keren Jaghur. The local Emir of the Ansari al-Mawt, an
anti-coalition militia, has decided that today is the day to assault,
while the majority of the platoon are outside its walls patrolling.
It
is said that the decision was not his, but that of the commander of
the foreign fighters in his area, Jallaluddin Hussein.
The
Attack & Defence scenario pitted a British platoon with barbed
wire and Air Support against a large number of foreign fighters,
supported by a sniper team, some locals, a mortar and an MG team. The
patrol phase was over quickly, leaving the attacking
Ansari
al-Mawt
(AaM)
stuck on the far riverbank, and the British
defenders
strung out through town. My
initial plan had been to keep to the south-eastern quarter and defend
a small perimeter around the platoon house. Unfortunately, my desire
to lock down Kieran's probes left me out of position.
Part
I
The
game started with a series of double sixes for the Ansari
al-Mawt,
which saw their main squads deploy on a broad front down the table.
Luckily, the Brits had left a fireteam in the platoon house, and the
rest of the squad came back down the east road from their patrols
post-haste, only for the group to come under heavy fire from the AaM
on the far bank. Despite the mortar crew rolling out of their bunk to
join in,
and Lieutenant Raith
and medic deploying with them too, the section spent the whole first
half getting Pinned and rallied.
Platoon House begins its duel. |
Macaulay's men seize the south of Keren Yaghur. |
Foreign fighters move forward. |
In
the west, the AaM
advanced rapidly, outflanking the two squads under Sergeant Malone in
town and deploying an MG and snipers with a moved jump-off point. The
AaM
anchor in the riverside compound were kept in check by a fireteam on
overwatch, while
Sergeant Malone led
another fireteam over a compound wall to deny
it to
the enemy. This
led to the first Force Morale checks of the game as the Ansari
charged in guns blazing. In the
torrent of
bullets that
followed,
Sergeant Malone was the only Brit to emerge unscathed. His corporal
was wounded and the rest of the squad was critically injured in the
close confines of the courtyard. Luckily, the enemy were slaughtered
and the few survivors fled the field rather
than follow up their advantages.
The courtyard was thick with death. |
The
MG team was swiftly pinned, and then destroyed, by the other half of
the fire team blocking
the riverside compound. The third turn ended on a British CoC die,
opening the way for their
Air
Support to
arrive.
It
also ended Part I, as we had to go have dinner in town. Hurrah for
birthdays!
Both
sides were down to a Force Morale of 5, due to the compound
slaughter. Sergeant
Malone was out on a limb with several critical casualties, more
insurgents just a field away. Lieutenant Raith and the platoon house
were engaged in a tense duel with an enemy squad and mortar team. The
ACM position was similarly awkward, as
they need to “seek out, close with and destroy” to
win the scenario,
but were without the means to do this effectively. The
key to the battle was now Sergeant Malone's compound. If it was
taken, the British morale could be crushed. If
the incoming Air Support did its job, the ACM could be denied their
victory, or even comprehensively
beaten.
Part
II
British
Initiative:
66411 – 664411
– 54421 –
CoC Die achieved!
Lieutenant
Raith rallies
both fireteams in the platoon house as the mortar continues
its apparently futile counter-battery fire against the enemy 60mm. At
the other end of town, a fireteam rushes
to Sergeant Malone's assistance.
FAC
Andy Maclain's
requested Air Support finally arrives,
in the form of an F-16 flying low in a show of force. The insurgents
are
within sixty yards of the British lines at every point, so dropping
munitions is
not an option. The foreign fighters engaging the position are
however
barely phased, though
their
Force Morale
drops
to 4.
The riverside compound is
kept under fire, and troops keep
moving to support Malone.
Fire
continues
to be poured into the riverside compound, distracting them
from the four men joining Sergeant Malone in the far compound. His
gruff welcome shakes
them out of the disorder of their pellmell run to help their friends.
At
the eastern end of town, Raith orchestrates
a symphony of fire from the platoon house that leaves
three men dead, the enemy Leader pinned, and the unit as a whole
nearly pinned.
ACM
Phase 5541
The
Emir finally arrives
on the board to rally the group in the compound. The
sniper reveals
himself, but misses
his crucial first shot.
British
Phase 44422
Malone
decides
to risk it and urges
his men out of the compound, carrying their injured comrades. Under
Raith's direction, the mortarman continues
his rain of fire into the lush greenery across
the river,
and the fireteams keep
pounding the enemy opposite – breaking
them!
The third section keep
the compound under fire, and the medic leaves
the platoon house to try and rendezvous with Malone in town.
Malone's men move out. |
The medic starts his lonely walk. |
Raith moves his men out. |
ACM
Phase 22
With
his men's morale near breaking, the Emir knows
that despite
Jallaluddin's flight, nothing
good could come of this day – but perhaps he can
save it from being altogether bad. He
urges
the callow youths in the field forward to capture the injured
Angrezi, and kicks
the surviving men in his compound into shape – enough to pin the
men in the house opposite.
British
Phase 66651
Mortar
fire continues apace.
British
Phase 65422
Malone
urges his men down the back road. The blocking force, now thoroughly
miserable, keeps
up a desultory fire on the Emir's
compound.
Raith,
in a daring move, leads the section in the platoon house out around
the fire to counterattack across the bridge.
ACM
Phase 34
The
Emir rallies his men and gets them firing again – and they
critically injure one man in the blocking section and severely injure
the corporal too! Wilkinson
is a popular man, and hearing his screams on the radio puts a real
dent in the platoon's morale.
British
Phase 66322 – 433
(should
have been 3 dice the first
time too)
Macaulay,
Malone's second, sees movement in the fields and hustles his men
onwards. They are pinned in place however by the paralyzing knowledge
that one of the compound survivors has died in
their arms.
Raith's squad carries on gung-ho across the bridge, while the medic
travels on, alone, into town.
Raith
leads his men fearlessly into the Green Zone, while Macaulay again
chivvies his men on towards the medic trying to find them in the
streets.
He
also finally gets a trooper to drop smoke and cover their escape.
The Brits enter the Green Zone. |
ACM
Phase 51
The
mortar team fire at the oncoming Brits, and by incredible luck manage
to place the round just right,
killing two and critically injuring a third.
British
Phase 543
Raith
leads a fireteam in a charge on the ACM mortar personally. He loses
another man, but routs the mortar squad. The medic finally reaches
Malone, Macaulay and the casualties. A CoC die ends the turn with
Raith on an enemy jump-off point, and the Emir is decisively beaten
off with -2 to his force morale.
Or not so decisively, since the British FM was hanging by a thread at
3 at this point.
Malone and Macaulay finally rendezvous with the medic. |
In
any case, the Ansari slink away, the firing dies down, and the fields
near the platoon house are declared clear for casevac helicopters
to
take the wounded to Bastion, and from there to Selly Oak.
The battlefield at the end of play. |
Too late for the men of 2/3 RSR, an Apache circles the battlefield. |
Butcher's
Bill
British:
4 KIA, 6 WIA, 1 wounded Leader
ACM:
12 confirmed kills, 33 suspected KIA.
Overview
CoC:
Herrick played really well, as I thought it would. I
made minimal changes to the rules to
bring it forward, most of which were about air support and
Western casevac. Kieran
was a little worried to begin with by the casualty difference (at
that point 12 KIA to 3 WIA), but appreciated that the Force Morale
mechanic
made a relatively bloodless victory very achievable. This
is really crucial, I feel, to modelling a modern firefight.
The
main difference that affected the game – other than the
aforementioned casevac – was
the change from Routing
to Battle Shock
for the Coalition troops. This
traps troops with double shock in place and renders them useless, as
well as
vulnerable to
enemy action. I
made this change after reading several memoirs
of Afghanistan, none of which mention fleeing – most of which
mention a state beyond pinning, where good troops temporarily snap
under intense pressure and require a good scream from an officer or
an NCO to get them back in some semblance of order. That,
or for the fight to be won without them.
Having
got
The Sharp End
as an early birthday
present, I look forward to integrating CoC: Herrick with it. In a
COIN and
asymmetric
context,
I think a campaign is vital to
make any sense of the various engagements, particularly
when it comes to the nauseating, permeating paranoia of platoon house
operations. I
will also be adapting
the Charlie Don't
Surf
Military & Political Victory charts for
modern use.
If
you're interested, please do keep coming back. If you want to look
through some of my notes, please contact me at infoatmorningstar at
gmail dot com.
Most interesting AAR - it sounds like you have the dynamic of Afghanistan down well, and your British Army figures looked spot on.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michael, it felt right during play. The patrol phase and Force Morale make for quite realistic commander's paranoia.
DeleteThere is a quick guide to my painting if you follow the "Modern British" label. I am very pleased with how the simple ?recipe? panned out.
Great AAR. I want to try out Chain for Lebanon '82. Sounds like you are on to something.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Chris. If you want my notes, just email the address above and I'll send them across.
DeleteI am having a PEBCAK issues (problem exists between chair and keyboard) and cant find your address. can you send them to chrisstoesen @ gmail dot com?
DeleteHow did you handle casevac and wounded/casualties in general? A great AAR, please keep them coming.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I adapted the rules from "Charlie Don't Surf", another TFL game. Basically, Shock covers light wounds and their effect on a squad, but I introduced a quick casualty check to see what happened to "killed" models and whether they needed assistance.
DeleteLooks very cool. Any chance to get my hands on your set of modifications?
ReplyDeleteOf course - email me at the address above and I'll send them across.
DeleteAh, thanks, I somehow glanced over that part without seeing the address. I´ve already wondered how I was suppose to email you without an address xD
DeleteAnd I already AM wearing glasses... ;)
I want to try out Chain of Command for Mogadisho. What do you think about this?
ReplyDeleteI think it would work perfectly well. The only problem with the sort of running battles that characterised Gothic Serpent is the issue of UN jump-off points.
DeleteOk, please can you send me your modifications, thanks.
Deletedyscordya at gmail com