More Action in Afghanistan

Another Tuesday, and another Fistful of Lead dustup in Afghanistan!  In this game, we had a three-way battle for control of the town between ANP, ANBP and the insurgents.  Arthur assembled the terrain, with the ANP arriving on the left, ANBP coming in on the right and the insurgents from the far end of the table.

ANBP moved up to the shanty building, and start taking fire (smoke puffs represent shock).

Firefight breaks out, with the fighters using the available terrain for cover, including the ambulance.

Insurgent with the RPG sees a cluster of ANBP, and lines up a shot!

Two ANBP wounded and a third suppressed by the RPG gunner.

ANP moves toward the sound of the guns.

Insurgent takes a shot at the approaching ANP, but ends up out of ammo!

Insurgent and ANP RPG gunners get into their own, high-powered showdown!

Ultimately, both RPG men are taken out.  Firefight continues, as the ANP sergeant rushes into melee with the insurgent leader and subdues him.

Both the ANP sergeant and the insurgent leader are out of action, but the remaining fighters carry on fighting!

In the end, the two remaining insurgent warriors are the only ones left standing!

Failed loot transfer in Afghanistan

 

In place of our usual Tuesday night Traveller adventure, Arthur came up with some Fistful of Lead action in modern (or near modern) Afghanistan.  The scenario was slightly modified from the 'Hive of Scum and Villainy' scenario from Galactic Heroes.  In this version, a group of insurgents want to deliver some captured weapons to their colleagues, but word of the transfer has leaked, and rival Afghan National Police (ANP) and Afghan National Border Police (ANBP) are racing to intercept the insurgents.  The twist is that the ANP and ANBP are not on good terms with each other.

Each 4-man team starts on a different table edge.  One group of insurgents are escorting a mule-drawn cart that moves at a walking pace.  The ANP and ANBP start on opposite sides.

ANP team move to intercept.  Note that REAL ANP would never have access to anything as fancy as a Range Rover - but they might have had a brand new Ford Ranger pickup!

ANBP stepping out from their HESCO sangar.

The insurgent team with the contraband on the mule cart.

Insurgent group with jingle truck to remove the contraband once it arrives.

Insurgents and ANP maneuver around buildings, trying to get a superior position.

Sneaky sneaky!

First of the ANP is taken out.

But then the ANP sergeant dropped a grenade that injured two insurgents, including their leader.

Meanwhile the other two ANP engage the approaching smuggler insurgents.

The ANBP take advantage of the distractions on the far side of the table to quietly advance into better position.

ANBP used a combination of tactics, marksmanship and an uncanny ability to roll 10s to take out flanking insurgents.

The smuggler insurgents and ANP battled to a standstill but the mule cart kept up its advance.

One of the special rules for this scenario was that any time a Joker was played, a sandstorm would blow in, limiting vision to 12" and cutting all ranges to half usual.  This happened relatively early in the game.  There was a moment when it appeared that the sandstorm was about to lift, but then it rushed back in.  This meant my sniper wasn't able to control the table as he originally hoped, and then he was taken out by the ANBP and their uncanny ability to roll a 10.

Meanwhile the ANBP continued their advance, seizing control of the jingle truck.

Realising the truck is no longer available, the mule cart driver makes a break for the table edge!


Vicious fighting between the ANP sergeant and the insurgents left everyone wounded but the sergeant was finally defeated.

The remaining insurgents battle the ANBP for control of the mule cart, but the ANBP triumph and take control of the weapon shipment!

The end!  ANBP gain control of the mule cart with the contraband.

Weekend games

 Busy gaming weekend for a second week in a row!  Arthur and I went to the Trumpeters' May meeting at Bonsor on Friday, where we hosted an Afghan bash with The Men Who Would Be Kings, then on Saturday Sam and Doug came over for another go at Training the Entente with an attack on a strongpoint, and on Sunday Tyler and Oliver came over for a round of Settlers of Catan.  Sorry, no photos of the Catan game!

Friday night's game featured an expedition of the British Indian Army into Afghanistan.  The Afghan regular army starts off holding the heights in the centre of the board, where they hope to hold out against the British and Indian troops until their tribal allies come to the rescue.

Kevin's brigade swings to the left, while Arthur's brigade charges headlong at the hill.

Rattray's Sikhs advance, led by their piper/

Gordon Highlanders advance,

Supported by the Royal Artillery!

Afghan regulars hold the heights.

Gordons and Sikhs are pinned by artillery and rifle fire from the Afghans.

But then return fire from the Brits pins the Afghans!

On the British left, Kevin's brigade forms a battle line to face the advancing tribal warbands.

Afghan regular cavalry led by the Emir.

Defiance from the mountain top!  The browncoats wave their flag.

Gurkhas advance led by Billy Fish.

Afghan cavalry wipe out the 29th Baluchis,

then confront the 16th Bombay Infantry!  (looks bold, but the cavalry were subsequently wiped out by Indian firepower).  No more photos from the flank, but the Afghans pushed back the British and Indians, then moved to reinforce the mountain top.

Even reduced to two men, the Gordons charge and defeat the Afghan artillery!

Sorry, no more photos from Friday night, but the Gordons were wiped out, then the Gurkhas and Sikhs captured the heights.  We called it then for time, but the matter was not decided:  The battered remaining Sikhs and Gurkhas would have had a hard time holding the heights against the tribesmen, who were just about there to save the day!

On Saturday, Sam and Doug came over for some WWI Chain of Command.  This was a repeat of scenario 1 of Training the Entente from Stout Hearts and Iron Troopers.  Here is the battlefield with the white markers on the crossroads that the CEF have been instructed to capture.

The situation after the patrol phase.

Jumpoff points set out.

Riflemen advance with their footballer kicking the ball along to encourage the team!

German defenders prepare to defend their trenches.

Rifle grenadiers lay down fire on the Germans in the trenches.

CEF approach with tactical movement, subjected to fire from the German medium machine gun.

Canadian bombers use the shell craters for cover.

Canadian rifles lay down covering fire (the white smoke) as the Lewis gun section advances.

Germans in the trenches keep up defensive fire while the CEF tries to suppress them.

Canadian bombers throw their hand grenades (aka 'bombs').

Rifle section and Lewis gun section attack and overrun the German MMG, then push forward toward the German jumpoff point.

It was a hard fought battle, but the Canadians had a good battle plan, and followed it successfully.  Sam noted after the battle that we made a minor error with covering fire - it is supposed to only be in effect for the current phase, but I had allowed it to continue for several phases.  I don't think it made an overall difference in the result.  Looking forward to having another go at WWI CoC soon!  Next week, though, we will be joining in Lisa's Bolt Action Stalingrad campaign.  Battle report sometime next week.