Wednesday 27 May 2015

April Games Photo Montage - Chain of Command/Muskets & Tomahawks


Last month I was playing  in Steve H's "Shepherdtown" ACW game, but as usual took some time out to grab some pictures of the other two games being played

http://devonwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/shepherdtown-virginia-1862-fire-fury.html

Nathan has already posted an AAR on his Chain of Command game featuring a Soviet relief column vs Mujahedeen.

http://devonwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/chain-of-command-afghanistan-1980s-club.html

and so my pictures seemed superfluous to requirements, but I thought you might like to see the best of them.

In addition Steve M was running a Muskets & Tomahawks skirmish with his new growing collection of 28mm French Indian Wars figures. Some of my pictures of that game were of questionable quality and so I have included the best of the bunch to give a flavour of his game.

"It's quiet, too quiet". "Don't say that, you know the soldier that says that in the movies is always the first to get - incoming!!!!"
The trap is sprung
Mujahedeen, fouzands of em
Behind you
Oh dear, how sad, never mind
This is fun!
Dice in wargames are like spent cartridges in battle, a sure sign of heavy combat
Soviet payback
I love the smell of burning APC's in the morning
It's no good Sarge, I'm afraid the cam belt is broken
And then we find ourselves transported to the French Canadian wilderness and the peace and tranquillity of that holiday home log cabin you've always dreamed off, where there is plenty of fish in the lakes, deer to hunt and Indians!!!






These pictures have been popping up on my screen saver for the past month so I thought you might like to see them as well. Next AAR for June coming soon

JJ

Friday 15 May 2015

Devon Wargames Defy a King


Well to be accurate only three of us did and it wasn’t at the club and as it was New Model Army v Scots there weren't any Kings involved but apart from that…

Previously on DWG.
(or was it on JJ’s blog, I don’t recall which)

JJ's (Editor's) Note: It was on JJ's; http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/warfare-2014.html

Last year at Warfare I bought the ECW rule set To Defy a King by Keith Johnson


and finally I was now ready to try them out but given that I hadn't actually read the rules I thought it best that this trial took place well away from public gaze and derision. We are big on derision.

So I borrowed both Mr. Land and his wargames room and then co-opted Nick into being my test Coypu’s (neither of them could now qualify as Guinea pigs) for an epic game of 15mm New Model Army v Scots.

First up, pick your forces:

Obviously you can just plonk down whatever you have but there is an option that comes with the rules and that is various small cards marked as Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery and Dragoons for both sides. On these cards are written various strengths such as:
6 stands consisting of, 4 Musket and 2 Pike or 5 Stands of Trotters.
The cards are numbered 1 to 11 and have different strengths, mixes or types on each one and there are different amounts of each card.

It is suggested that you choose ten cards per side for a typical game (again up to you) and there are Army Lists in the Rule Set organised by year and theatre.

Example:
1642,
Parliament can pick between 4 to 6 infantry cards, using cards numbered 2 to 6, and
3 to 5 cavalry cards, with numbers from 1-6.
Royalist’s can pick between 3 to 5 infantry Cards (No.4-9) and 4 to 6 cavalry cards (No.1 -7)
Both sides have the option to instead pick some dragoons/artillery cards.

As I said there are varied quantities of each card and if I take the above 1642 Parliamentary force as an example then you would be randomly picking from a total of 14 infantry cards.

The whole point of this is that early on you are more likely to get far more pistol armed cavalry as opposed to gallopers or bigger or smaller units with differing ratios of pikes to muskets.

Next you randomly pick out your quality ratings and allocate them face down to your units (again quantities of each vary with army or year). In our game the New Model Army (NMA) selected from 4 Raw, 7 Trained, 7 Veteran. (Scots were 7:7:2). Everyone finally gets an extra two free upgrades at the end.

Allocate Generals to your brigades (recommended is two regiments per) and off you go.

As this was trial of the rules we contrived to try out as much as possible whilst also enjoying a game that could later be flaunted in the face of the loser. Please disregard most of the markers shown in the pictures as we basically used whatever was at hand. We found that we needed to show, Quality levels, order status and Disruption level to assist in playing.


We started six inches on which seemed sensible at first but was actually a bit of a problem because field artillery cannot move after placement so we need to have a think about this for future. Turns are alternative and are decided by taking an initiative test at the start of each turn so you could move last in one turn and then first in the next. Movement is by brigades, winner’s choice on which player moves the first one and then the opponents move’s one of theirs and so on until all have moved. 

Sequence as follows:
Initiative
Change Orders
Declarations
Movement
Firing
Melee
Recover

Possible orders are: Defend ,Hold, Advance, Attack, Retire.
All brigades must have an order which can only be changed by their general passing a dice roll.


One occurrence we had in the game which confused us was; 
Two units were side by side defending a hedge on "Defend" orders. 
One unit is charged and engages in melee. 
What does the other unit do next turn? 

If defending it cannot join in so you need to change the brigade orders to attack therefore the original unit loses it’s defend bonus? 

The answer is probably in the rules somewhere.


The orders force you to do certain things within its scope so you need to choose correctly, e.g. "Advance" means all the brigade must advance until it’s in firing range or alternatively to a set obstacle. You defend obstacles, you hold ground.    


As usual in this era the cavalry got stuck in first. On the NMA right they had their best troops, consisting of gallopers, both were veteran and one was classed as "Ironsides" (all lists have some quirks ). 

Let me run through melee combat:
Everyone needs 8+ on two dice to hit:

NMA: Veteran +1
Charging +1
Gallopers (first round) +1,
Cav v Cav, no change 
So one pair of dice per base (5 bases = 10 dice) needing 5 or more
You need six hits to kill a base otherwise both sides dice roll against the number of actual hits (e.g. three hits then 1-3 kills)
Losers test against their discipline to avoid being pushed back the hits difference in inches.
Discipline and Morale are very similar but are not quite the same, sometimes you will need to roll against both.
Each unit can get pushed back only so many total pre-set inches before it then breaks (depending on its type and class).
If cavalry melees have two consecutive draws, then they both pull back.


The NMA crushed the Scots Lancers and Trotters facing them, mainly through me not following the above correctly, pursued for a short while until they got pulled back under control. This would of course have been more difficult if the game was set earlier as the NMA cavalry had by now gained the Disciplined advantage. (Another quirk).

On the other flank the cavalry melee was a bit more even as neither had any of the better fighting Gallopers and so swung back and forth for a while until unlucky Scots saving throws lost them the combat.

In the centre there was surprisingly time for the Infantry to get to grips, The Scots had pulled some quite big units out of the hat (10 bases strong) and very co-operatively attacked the NMA infantry defending the hedges so that we could test firing and infantry melee.

Firing is very similar to melee:

8+ to hit
Veterans +1
First Fire +1
Close range +1
Raw -1
Cover -1 or -2
These are the main points, there are others but only the -1 for firing at chargers came into our game.

Convert hits to kills as above and then we threw to see which stand had been hit, I am sure I read that in the rules somewhere but not sure if it is correct, if not then it should be.

Melee is the same as the cavalry but you need to see if a Pike stand is facing off against muskets. If so there is a +1/-1 on top


Morale;

6, 7 or 8 required on two dice depending on class, add in support for rear and flanks, disorder, generals and each stand lost etc, Depending on how much you fail by will determine your retreat distance or rout.

Conclusion:
Overall it worked Ok and quite quickly considering the forces on table and our total incompetence. I would guess on average we could play a game of this size in anything from two to four hours.
I had already pre-bought nine sets of different coloured pairs of dice which is a must.
If playing with the cards then you do need to make sure you can cover all the possible variations, get more generals as you do really need to operate in two units per brigade due to the orders. 

For anyone who wants to know how you recover from disorder then it is in the recover section of the book, do not expect it to be in the disorder section. There is at least one error between the QRF and the main rules, check before hand.


Finally, I definitely need more flags; having to be creative on forming the infantry due to my lack of figures I thought that the units which ended up with multiple flags looked far better than the ones with only one.

Recommended.

Sunday 10 May 2015

Talavera - Attack on the Pajar Vergara

Attack of the El Rey Cavalry at the Pajar de Vergara - Talavera, 28th July 1809
This month I rolled out my Spanish and German troops that I have been working on for the past nine months as part of my Talavera project as documented on "JJ's Wargames"

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/

I have always intended to play the collection at club and other outside venues and, to that end, ordered up a new 6 x 4 foot Terrain Mat to play smaller games away from home. The 9 x 5 foot mat is a bit big for deploying out for short games and I didn't want to keep on using the Games Workshop cloth which, though serviceable, doesn't show the figures off at their best.

The map of the Pajar table, one foot squares
The new mat also presented an opportunity to try out a new scenario with some new paper based rules on my unsuspecting "guinea pigs" at the Devon Wargames Group" who can be relied on for their honest opinions and wargaming input.

My turn to preference when wanting to play a serious Napoleonic game would be Carnage & Glory II but I am keen to develop my scenarios around paper based rules to allow them easy conversion for those who simply want to roll dice. So with this quest in mind I decided to play test a recent set of free home developed rules that appeared on TMP this week and have provided links below to that particular post together with the authors site discussing the rules and providing a link to download them.

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=382636
https://naprules.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/napoleonicnapoleonic-avant-garde-battles/
https://naprules.wordpress.com/

The principle appeal to try them was the familiar command pips, the use of units that match my own preference and a construction that lent themselves to changes of my own, such as British infantry countercharges following a successful volley fire, that is modelled so well in C&G and as it proved can be incorporated with these.

The game thus was very much a play test in all senses of the word and I would like to thank Steve L, Steve M., Ian and Tom for playing the game in that spirit as we sought to find out what we could do with the scenario and these rules.

I have shown below the orders of battle, game, terrain and victory parameters for the scenario. The unit stats are in small text indicate the effectiveness of these troops and I will attempt to summarise their key indicators. For a more in depth appreciation I suggest getting the rules and having a read through.

Thus a commander showing (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”) means a standard general officer who if attached to the unit would allow them to make successful morale/leadership test on 2d6, rolling 8 or less and he can, if with 4 inches, by using a command pip, add one to a similar test by the unit itself. The command radius indicates how close his units must be to activate on a command pip with additional pips required for every 8 inches or part over that range.

Similarly for units (4 stands, Line 8) indicates a battalion with four stands (16 infantry/12 cavalry figures) who are "Line" troops so will morale test when receiving 10% casualties in a turn (Spanish were "Raw" so tested every time they got hit) requiring eight or less on 2d6 to successfully pass morale/leadership tests.

Division Alexander Campbell – Defend
Brigadier General Alexander Campbell (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”)

Pajar de Vergara Redoubt Gun Battery
Lawson's Brigade Entrenched 3pdr [Light] 2 stands (Line 8)
**1st Spanish Battery Entrenched 12pdr [Hvy.] 1 stand (Raw 7)

Brigade William Myers - Defend
Lieutenant Colonel William Myers (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”)
2/7th Foot 388 4 stands (Line 8)
2/53rd Foot 483 4 stands (Line 8)
A. Campbell's Bde. Light Bn. 161 [2SB:1R] 2 Musk, 1 Rifle Sk Stands (Line 8)

Brigade James Kemmis - Defend
Colonel James Kemmis (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”)
1/40th Foot 670 6 stands (Veteran 9, Drilled)
97th Foot 452 4 Stands (Veteran 9, Drilled)
2nd Battalion of Detachments 562 6 stands (Line 7)
Kemmis' Bde. Light Bn. 244 4 Musk Sk Stands (Veteran 9)

Division Marques de Portago - Defend
Major General Marques de Portago (Uninspiring 7, +1@1”, Command Radius 7” -1PIP)
El Rey Cavalry Regiment 460 4 Stands (Raw 7, -2 Recovery)
1st Bn. Badajoz Regiment 571 6 stands (Militia 6, Raw)
2nd Bn. Badajoz Regiment 557 6 stands (Militia 6, Raw)
2nd Cazadores de Antequera 557 6 stands (Militia 6, Raw), 2 Musk Sk Stands
*Imperial de Toledo 792 6 stands (Militia 6, Raw)
*Provincial de Badajoz Militia 577 6 stands (Militia 6, Raw)
*Provincial de Guadix Militia 562 6 stands (Militia 6, Raw)

Strengths:
6576 Bayonets
460 Sabres
293 Artillerists
12 Cannon
7329 Total of all arms
13 Standards present

The German brigades of Chasse and Grandjean debouch from the olive grows in front of  Campbell's division nearest to camera.
Division Baron Jean-Francois Leval - Attack
General de Division Baron Jean-Francois Leval (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”)

Brigade Heinrich Freiherr von Porbeck - Attack
Oberst Heinrich Freiherr von Porbeck (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”)
III Fuss Batterien Steinmetz 4pdr [Light] 2 stands (Line 7)
I.von Harrant Nr.4 (Baden) 376 4 stands (Line 7)
II.von Harrant Nr.4 (Baden) 367 4 stands (Line 7)
I.Nassau IR Nr.2 360 4 stands (Line 7)
II.Nassau IR Nr.2 386 4 stands (Line 7)
Porbeck's Voltigeur Bn 317 5 Musk Sk Stands (Line 7)

Brigade David-Hendrik Chasse - Attack
Generalmajor David-Hendrik Chasse (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”)
3m3 Artillerie a Cheval Trip 4pdr [Light] 2 stands (Line 7)
I/2me Regiment Linie 393 4 stands (Line 7)
2/4me Regiment Linie 378 4 stands (Line 7)
Chasse's Voltigeur Bn 154 3 Musk Sk Stands (Line 7)

Brigade Balthazard-Grandjean - Attack
General de Brigade Balthazard-Grandjean (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”)
III. Fuss. Batterien Venator 4pdr [Light] 2 stands (Line 7)
1/Gross und Erbprinz Nr 4 398 4 stands (Line 7)
2/Gross und Erbprinz Nr 4 371 4 stands (Line 7)
Rheinbund Bttn von Frankfort 391 4 stands (Line 7)
Grandjean's Voltigeur Bn. 225 4 Musk Sk Stands (Line 7)

Brigade Feliks Potocki - Hold
Oberst Feliks Potocki (Competent 8, +1, Command Radius 8”)
I. IR Nr 4 (Polish) 761 6 stands (Line 8, Drilled)
II. IR Nr 4 (Polish) 782 6 stands (Line 8, Drilled)
Potocki's Voltigeur Bn. 260 4 Musk Sk Stands (Line 8)

Strengths:
5919 Bayonets
433 Artillerists
18 Cannon
6352 Total of all arms
11 Standards present

Spanish General Portago moves his infantry up to support the Pajar redoubt as the Baden/Nassau brigade advance
The Game starts at 13.00 (turn 1) and ends at 16.00 (turn 12)
Mission: Allies Defend, French Take, and hold the Pajar de Vergara redoubt at the end of the game.
  • A player is deemed to be in control if he has an unbroken unit within 4” and there are no enemy unbroken units within 6” of the Pajar.
  • *Spanish General Portago will only commit the Badajoz Regiment (two battalions) and the Antequera Light Infantry, the remaining battalions are held in reserve.
  • **Only four Spanish 12lbrs are placed in the Pajar redoubt with the other two placed further along the Spanish line off table.
* I informed the French players that they could deploy Potocki's Polish battalions that historically were held in reserve. If they chose to do so then Portago could deploy his other three battalions on table as a counter measure. 

In the end the French chose to play it historically.

The Anglo/Spanish guns open fire sending roundshot into the German/Dutch ranks
Terrain and Deployment
  • The Allied player may not deploy his troops initially further forward than the line indicated on the map for British and Spanish troops
  • The olive groves are classed as light woods. Artillery may only pass through the gaps in the trees or use the tracks.
  • The Portina stream holds no terrain significance.
  • The Pajar redoubt is classed as heavy cover (it was incomplete and hurriedly constructed but protected the gunners).
The view from the Pajar as the allied guns open fire
Victory Conditions
Broken brigade 5 VP
Shaken Unit 1VP
Shattered Unit 2VP
Pajar Vergara Redoubt 5VP

The Baden and Nassau battalions close in on a shaky Spanish line
So with the two lines faced off the German Division began its advance out of the tree line that marked the extent of the olive groves in front of the Pajar.

Their arrival in open ground was greeted with the first whistling rounds of 12lbr and 3lbr round shot and the light British pieces drew first blood as the Frankfurt battalion was hit.

Both sides deploy their reserves with the El Rey cavalry, bottom right, opposed by Baden artillery, top right
As the German line closed it became obvious that the Spanish right flank was chosen to receive the attention of Porbeck's Nassau and Baden columns, whilst the rest of the division focused on pinning their British allies and drawing fire from the redoubt.

The brigades of Myers and Kemmis deployed one behind the other with a solid skirmish screen out front
General Portago rose to the challenge pushing forward the Badajoz battalions to support the guns covered by a light skirmish screen from the Antequeran Light Infantry. The El Rey cavalry, hovered in the right rear looking to take advantage of any German discomfort.

The view from the German lines as the Frankfurt and Hesse Infantry approach the British line trying to make out they are Spanish and lost  "Ola, los Espagnol!" The British look confused
The Baden skirmish line soon overwhelmed its Spanish counterpart putting telling fire on to the Badajoz battalions and disordering them. The Baden artillery then added their fire to Spanish woes by sending the El Rey cavalry into panic. Suddenly the right flank of the Pajar looked very exposed.

The Baden/Nassau troops behind a very strong skirmish screen press the redoubt and the Spanish line
In response to this threat to their right, the Spanish and British guns found their mark on the Nassau regiment causing casualties to their first line and ploughing on into the follow up column causing both battalions to panic and fall back, leaving their Baden allies to press the assault alone.

Command pips become important as formations change close to the enemy
On the other flank the British skirmish line started to drive in their German opposite numbers and, with one of the British 3lbr guns supporting their efforts, started to bring telling fire to bear on the Hesse, Nassau and Dutch battalions.

First blood, with the red die showing a hit on the Frankfurt battalion
The Spanish flank was in the balance with General Porbeck trying desperately to coordinate the attack of his Baden battalions as he regrouped the Nassau troops, and Spanish General Portago left with two of his battalions and the El Rey cavalry in panic mode.

With the British flank looking more secure, General Campbell detached his strongest veteran battalion, the 40th (Somerset) Foot, who had seen all this before at Vimeiro and Rolica, to stabilise his allies line.

The allied guns "pour it on" as the feeble Spanish skirmish line is overwhelmed. The Baden guns at top open fire

The El Rey cavalry seriously disordered by the Baden artillery fire
Then suddenly as if inspired to show their metal all three disordered Spanish regiments rallied as the 40th Foot approached.

The skirmish battle preceding the Baden/Nassau attack
With the the German right coming under telling fire from the British guns, Campbell detaches the 40th foot, top right to support the hard pressed Spanish
It was now or never and the German troops put in charges as both ends of the allied line with the 7th Fusiliers and 53rd Foot charged by the Hesse Damrstadt battalions and the Badajoz regiment charged by the Badeners.

The red dice and trail of casualties indicate that the ruse was not working as British skirmishers go to work on the German lines
The Spanish line desperately holds against the Baden attack as the British 40th foot come up in support
The outcomes were quite different on each flank. The 7th Fusiliers calmly allowed the Hesse troops to get within 50 paces of their line before delivering a telling volley. To their credit the Hesse troops held their position though disordered. It was then that we tried out our own adaptation to the rules by allowing the British battalion to immediately test to countercharge, which they did being met by the resolute Hesse troops who successfully stood. However their resolve melted in the subsequent clash and the Fusiliers chased the Hesse battalion from their lines.

In the combat with the 53rd Foot the outcome was similar in that the other Hesse battalion was stopped with telling fire, but the British battalion refused to charge preparing to deliver another volley, only to see the Hesse battalion break in the next phase as they attempted to rally off their disorder.

The Hesse guns lend their fire in support of their hard pressed infantry as Chasse's Dutch infantry move up
On the Spanish flank the Baden battalion charged in on the Badajoz regiment causing then to go disordered in the charge response and thus unable to deliver a volley. The Spanish battalion broke to the rear.

However the Baden troops exultations were soon replaced with foreboding as the 40th Foot stepped into the breach and shot down any thoughts of following up their success.

The German right flank can make no impression on the British line
We had completed eight of the twelve turns and had started to develop a rhythm with the rules as we brought the game to a close with the German attack starting to stall. Indeed, after a quick casualty count, the allies were just edging things in their favour by still having a secure hold on the Pajar and with the Frankfurt battalion permanently shaken from the casualties it had suffered thus giving up one victory point.

Certainly any further action was close to offering up more with the weaker German units getting closer to a similar state due to the attrition they had already suffered.

With the arrival of the 40th Foot the Spanish disordered mass gets a much needed respite.
We all thought the rules played pretty well considering our inexperience with them and seemed to give a good simulation. We found the layout and writing a bit confusing and I had to make plenty of notes in my printed copy prior to playing so I felt we could play them as written. However that is not a big issue as we are experienced gamers and I plan to re write them for my own clarity and to allow some other changes I have in mind.

If you want to play this sort of battalion/regiment level game and have fun then you might want to have a look at them, but do take the time to read them thoroughly before playing. Personally, I will always prefer C&G and will be running this scenario using them.

The one key difference I notice between paper rules and the computer, is my head is not buzzing at the end of a computer driven game and I spend more time in the game rather than thinking through the rules leaving me feeling a lot fresher as I head to the pub. There is of course the element of unfamiliarity with this set that adds to that sense but we tend to play rule sets on and off at the club and so quick up take is important and these rules are certainly better than others I have come across in that regard.

Friday 8 May 2015

Chain of Command Afghanistan 1980's Club Game

Saturday 11th April was the date of our last meeting at the Devon Wargames Club, where I put on a game using Chain of Command Rules set, with my 28mm Russian and Mujahedeen figures.

The 6x8 board set up, based on a Afghan valley, with steep sided rough wooded hills either side, a dried river bed running down the valley floor, and a Russian held compound/village at the far end.

The scenario was based on a Russian Compound being held by a unit of Green recruits straight from the training fields, who were to be re-supplied by a platoon of regulars coming up the valley floor next to the river bed in 2 BTR's and a BMP1, and a Para troop platoon in the hills on hunter killer missions...

The Mujahedeen were gathering from various villages under a Senior Commander, they are to attack the compound and the relief convoy...

Chas, Chris and Mike took the Russians...




Russians

Paratroop Platoon
Platoon HQ - Elite- 6dice

Leytenant - Senior Leader- Pistol
Platoon Serzhant - Superior Junior Leader - AKM

Squads 1 to 2 in berets

Serzhant - Junior Leader-AKM
1 Sniper
1 RPG7
5 AKM

Squad 3 in sun hats

Serzhant - Junior Leader-AKM
1 RPK SAW
1 RPG7
5 AKM
Mechanised Platoon
Platoon HQ - Regular- 5dice

Leytenant - Senior Leader- Pistol
Platoon Serzhant - Superior Junior Leader - AKM

Squads 1 to 3 in helmets

Serzhant - Junior Leader-AKM
1 RPK SAW
1 RPG7
5 AKM

2 BTR 60's 1 BMP 1
Garrison Platoon
Platoon HQ - Green- 4dice

Leytenant - Senior Leader- Pistol

Squads 1 to 2 in Ushanka

Serzhant - Junior Leader-AKM
1 RPK SAW
1 RPG7
5 AKM

1 BMP 1
Special rules for the game:-
Advance for the Motherland
Russians forces may advance 1 dice and fire at full effect, 2 dice and fire at 1/2 effect...
Wrath of the Gods
The commander of the Paratroops may call in airstrikes using a CoC dice, Hinds with straffing runs 12x6" effect 16dice, or Frogfoot with Napalm attack 12x6" 20dice... this would be conducted as with barrage attacks, so deviation is always a possibility...


Vince, Tom and Jason took the Mujahedeen forces...


Mujahedeen

Command Team - 4 command dice, some of which can be allocated to other units...

1 Senior Commander - AKM

2 combat teams
1 junior leader-AKM
10 man team 9 AKM's/rifles 1 RPK SAW

1 HMG 3 man crew
1 RR 3 man crew
1 LMG belt fed 2 man crew
2 snipers
1 Technical with HMG
Combat Teams
2 Combat Units each with 4 command dice -

3 junior leader, 2 10 man teams all AKM/rifles 1 10man teams 9 AKM's/rifles 1 RPK SAW

Limited amounts of RPG's will be available...

Special rules for the game:-
Melt Away
Any Mujahedeen unit that is within 12" of jump off point may Melt Away so long as it is not pinned or within 12" of enemy units... they may then re-appear elsewhere on the board...
Home Ground
Mujahedeen forces may advance up to 2 dice and go Tactical...
Sneaky Beakies
Any single six rolled in command may be taken as a 5 and added to the CoC dice...

Mujahedeen players start with 3 CoC dice in hand...

To the game itself, the Taliban had the choice of first go which they handed over to the Russians...


 Chas deployed his green recruits into the compound with his BMP1...
The Relieve column of Mike came storming down the valley turn one, all three vehicle making it onto the board with his troops tucked up nicely inside their armed vehicles...
The Para force commanded by Chris deployed two of his three squads on turn one heading for the known Muja jump off points

The Muja's then deployed overlooking the valley... to be able to fire on the column of armoured vehicles and also to cover the advance of the Paras who have tried to outflank them... 
 
A lucky snap shot from a deployed Recoilless Rifle on the hillside takes out one of the BTR's, which bursts into flames, luckily all but one get out of the quickly burning vehicle, unfortunately this last man out was the Junior Leader of the squad...
 
They quickly run to the river bed to take cover...
Muja's under fire as the paras advance up the hill top... quickly pinning the first team with volume of fire from two para squads and fire from the vehicles in the valley...
Second squad bundles out of the BTR to take cover in a bit of dried rough ground...
Muja's under intense fire are about to break... they cannot melt away as they are pinned and the paras are too close... lesson No1... don't get too close...
Ambushes keep on springing up with snipers, and LMG's...

 HMG's add to the fire power... onto a flanking unit of paras infiltrating onto the Muja flanks threatening some jump off points...
Paras get to the edge of the wooded area to see their target lingering in front of them...
Veiw across the Valley as the armoured vehicles wind their way through the obstructions...
The Muja's deploy to defend their jump off point trying to hit and kill the tough paras...
Muja commander Al' Tom looking pensive with the Russians giving his troops some grief...

However Tom fires his RR again...


 And again Boom... the other BTR goes up in smoke... once hit they tend to burn you know...
fortunately this one was empty of troops...

Meanwhile at the compound Comrade Chas was holding the line very well, he had forced the enemy to recoil back with loads of shock to re-gather their momentum, in the lull in the fighting his troops aim and prepare the next onslaught with Overwatch on the hills...

Comrade Chris in command of the Paras calls in for air support with a shout of friendlies close the Frogfoot Napalm run overshoots the intended target by 14" and nearly fries the compound walls!!!

The forces of Vince's Mujas advance once again to the edge of the wood to be met with a hail of fire from the compound, however they then return fire back...

The Technical arrives (first outing so its going to die horribly you just know it...) with its HMG on board,  lets off a burst of fire onto the Russian paras, who reply with a couple of RPG rounds, one misses and the other hits the vehicle but amazing the rocket goes through the vehicle and out the other side, the driver so shocked by this slips on the accelerator and drives forward towards his assailants, who then shoot the crap out of it with crossfire from the remainders of the para squads and the regular squad...

The regular squad, climb the steep hill only to get into hard cover to have their Junior leader hit and killed... two NCO's down out of the three casualties received!!!

Another shot from Tom and his RR take out the BMP at the compound, its starting to look sticky for Chas in the compound now...

View from the hill top belt fed LMG firing down onto the Russians in the river bed...
The armour hasn't advance much in the last view phases but the BMP gets into action and deploys squad behind the burning BTR and starts fire fight with Muja's...

With the Muja's advancing onto the compound, and Chas down to a handful of men, Morale rocky for the relieving forces and the paras pinned down on the valley entrance, the commander of the paras orders a final airstrike with his Frogfoot Napalm attack, this overshoots again, but not far enough, hitting the wooded area where the senior commander of the Muja had just recovered one of his combat teams, 5 dead and 6 shock being the effect the commander has to get a lucky roll to survive, guess what he didn't and was fried... he-hoh one of the junior commanders now takes on his role...
With that as the last phase of the game, I stated a moral victory for the Mujahedeen who take the village, but at great loss in warriors and the sad sacrifice of a great leader...

Many thanks to all that played in the game, for being great sports and playing the game in good humour and the period well... well done lads, thank you... next time will the Russians re-capture the village?