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!

WWI Eastern Front - Between Kuropatniki and Taurow, Galicia 1917

Today, Lisa and I playtested another of her scenarios featuring Locker-Lampson's armoured cars on the eastern front in 1917.  In this one, the Austro-Hungarian troops (again proxied by my WWI Germans) must cross the table (bottom to top in the image below) as Locker-Lampson's cars try to stop them.

KuK troops - officer, three teams of 10 riflemen and a 2-man flamethrower team.

The armoured cars.  Ford Model T armoured car, which can only fire to the rear, plus the Rolls Royce and the Lanchester, all three armed with machine guns.

Lanchester AC advances on the table.

KuK move up, working up the nerve to cross the open ground.

KuK take advantage of the cover provided by the woods.

Infantry unnerved by the approaching cars open fire, and disable the Ford.

The Lanchester focussed its fire on the flamethrower team.  The flamerthrower was disabled before they had a chance to fire, so unfortunately we didn't get to see how devastating it could have been!

The infantry laid down fire on the Lanchester, imposing shock and forcing it to fall back.  They then attempted to dash across the open ground, thinking that the car was too suppressed to act.  Turns out they were wrong!  The crew made all their saves, and opened fire on the infantry when they were in the open.

Things went a bit better on the other side of the table had more success.  Heavy rifle fire managed to disable the Roller.

The Lanchester saw that the first group of infantry were making a break for the table edge.  It rushed forward to fire on them, but its fire was not enough, and the KuK got their first team off the table.

The last squad of infantry managed to disable the Lanchester.

Final result was that two teams of infantry plus the officer cleared the table in the time available, for three victory points.  The last rifle team would also have cleared the table as well, but not within the time limit.  The RNAS only eliminated one team, so final points count was 3:1 in favour of the KuK.  The scenario was tense, a near-run thing, and most importantly, fun!  We have two more scenarios yet to play, so there will be more reports before too long.

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.

Jhamjar Lancers

 I've had these Brigade Games Indian Lancers in my collection for nearly 20 years, so this post is a bit of a cheat as they aren't actually new, but they've been retouched.  The main problem I've had is figuring out the lances.  I've previously used copper wire and later styrene rod.  Neither of these stood up to regular use - the copper wire bent, and the styrene rod just snapped.  So as I am hoping to start up my Jhamjar campaign, I re-armed them with metal wire spears from North Star.  I clipped off the sharp points to save myself and my gaming mates from injury, though!

First up, here is the new wire spear lance on the right, and the old styrene rod lance on the left.  I decided not to paint on the simulated bamboo segmentation on the new lances that I did on the left.

Here is the full contingent of 22, including an officer in sun helmet and three Daffadars (sergeants).

A close up of the three Daffadars.

Jhamjar Insurgents

I've been very much enjoying the Star Wars series Andor, as it traces the journey of Cassian Andor from petty criminal to completely committed rebel against the Galactic Empire.  Naturally, I have been drawn to starting a series of games based on a rebellion against the empire, but rather than dive into the Star Wars universe, I will resume my long-lapsed plans for my Jhamjar campaign. 

I will use the Too Fat Lardies' Dawns and Departures to build the campaign.  I haven't decided which rules for fighting the actual battles that will be set up, but am looking at Fistful of Lead Bigger Battles (and possibly standard FFoL for skirmishes), Bolt Action, and The Men Who Would Be Kings.  Who knows, with the second edition of Chain of Command coming out soon, I might add CoC2 into the mix.  Hanging on in the background there will still be GDW's Soldiers' Companion and the venerable Sword and the Flame.  Most likely I'll plan games with each of these rules.

I already have established armies for both the Djelli of Jhamjar and for the British Raj.  However armies are never complete!  In addition to his uniformed army, the common people of Jhamjar may get involved in the fight.  Inspired by Indian activists like the famous revolutionary M.N.Roy, groups of insurgents may appear to ambush the Imperial forces.

These figures are from Pulp Figures.  I did careful research on their clothing (aka I rewatched RRR) and decided to add a bit more colour, plus use of red highlights with turbans, belts and sashes to represent their revolutionary inspiration.  The lady on the end is from Eureka Miniatures.

Now if I can only find a suitable mini of these two!