PLAYING THE GAME
Both sides should set up at the same time, using deployment maps. Once troops are visible to the enemy, leave them on the board for the remainder of the game.
The game starts at 0630 on the morning of the 27th, and lasts to the end of the 0845 turn. Turns 0630 and 0645 are twilight turns, with the following special rules on visibility.
- 0630 Visibility is set at 15" for this first turn.
0645 Visibility increases to 50" at this time, and remains at that level for the remainder of the game, due to the burning oil wells and other effects of weather.
TERRAIN
Scrub is considered as heath, i.e., it gives cover but does not block line of sight. The swamp is considered as heath for visibility, and as swamp for movement. LAVs may enter the Swamp at a cost of 4" per 1" moved.
All buildings are concrete, and hold 6 points worth of troops, with the exception of the double building at the north end of the runway. This counts as a double building, i.e., 12 points of troops but still only takes 15 points of damage to destroy it. (Those glass airport terminals can hold a lot of people, but are a bad place for a bombardment.)
As this was an international airfield, these blocks of buildings are separate, and not considered as part of a built up area. Thus, the area between the buildings is considered as open, and not as a street.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Victory is determined at the end of the 0845 turn.
Strategic Iraqi: Hold at the end of the game the built up areas about the runway, and have the equivalent of two tank battalions left in Good morale (14 tanks). To hold an area, the Iraqis must have at least two stands present in Good morale, i.e., not pinned or forced back.
Tactical Iraqi: Hold at the end of the game the built up area at the north end of the runway, and have the equivalent of two tank battalions left in good morale (14 tanks). To hold the area, the Iraqis must have at least 2 stands present in good morale, i.e., not pinned or forced back.
Draw: Neither side is able to fulfill its victory conditions.
Tactical Marine: To have reduced the Iraqi armored force to less than two battalions in Good morale, and to have captured the area at the south end of the airfield. The area is captured if at least two Marine stands are in the area, and all Iraqi stands are in Bad morale.
Strategic Marine: To have reduced the Iraqi armored force to less than a battalion in Good morale, and to have captured the area at the south end of the airfield. The area is captured if at least two Marine stands are in the area, and all Iraqi stands are in Bad morale.
Keep track of the Iraqi and Marine AFVs (not just tanks) lost in the course of the game. If the ratio of Iraqi losses to Marine losses is less than 2: 1, shift the victory conditions one level in favor of the Iraqis. If the ratio of Iraqi losses to Marine losses is greater than 4: 1, shift the victory conditions one level in favor of the Marines. If the ratio of Iraqi losses to Marine losses is greater than 6:1, shift the victory conditions two levels in favor of the Marines.
Stands which are forced to exit the board, or which voluntarily exit the board are considered as destroyed for victory purposes, and may not return.
REFEREE'S NOTES
This scenario can be short and bloody. If the Iraqis attempt to hold their forces at the north end of the field and let the Marines come to them, they will be hammered by the Marine artillery, after which the Marine armor will sit off at long range and kill what's left.
On the other hand, the Marines have to destroy the Iraqi armor, so that they can continue their operations to the north, and allow TF Taro to sweep thought the area. If any armor is left behind, TF Taro is not going to have an easy time. The Marines need to close and destroy.
HISTORICAL NOTES
The Iraqis allowed the Marines to close in to the southern end of the airfield. Then, under artillery fire from the Marines, they launched a series of counterattacks on the Marine units, losing most of their armor in the process. By 0900, it was over, with the 3rd Armored Division destroyed. TF Papa Bear was able to push north, while TF Taro came up later in the morning and secured the airfield with minimum resistance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Melson, Major Charles D. U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf, 1990-1991, History and Museums Division, Headquarters, USMC, 1992.
Moore, Molly. A Woman at War, Scribners, New York, 1993.
Myatt, Major General J.M. USMC. "The 1st Marine Division in the
Attack," US Naval Institute Proceedings, November 1991.
Kuwait International Airfield February 27, 1991
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© Copyright 1993 by Greg Novak.
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