Hot in Afganistan
Russians vs. Afghan hill tribes
by Thomo the Lost
 |
This week, it was time for the Russians to face the Afghan hill tribes. The game was a double sized "Hot" with the Russians under the able command of Peter Panzeri (maybe familiar to some of you as the author of the Osprey Campaign "Battle of the Little Bighorn") and Tony Cruz. The hill tribes were handled by Martin "the Hero Habib" Unwin, occasional (very occasional) wargamer and Thomo bin Thomo ibn Lost. Game was played on a 3x2 table with lots of steep hills and difficult terrain forming a ridge across the centre of the battlefield and stretching back into the Russian deployment area. The forces involved were: The Russians:
The Hill Tribes of the Hero Habib
Battle opened with the Afghans making a run across open ground for the steep hills, with the Russian making an attempt to get to the ridge line ahead of them. The Afghans won that race and took the high ground. A fierce fire fight erupted on the Afghan Right Flank where Thomo bin Thomo ibn Lost's fighters took a heavy tool of Russian infantry. In the meantime, the Russians kept saving PIP's for artillery bombardment called in by their forward observer but this fire was desultory at best. On the other flank, the Russian decided not to press the point with the hill and sent the Hind up to try an unsettle the Afghan. In the meantime, the Afghan Ambushers deployed and, due to using micro armour and missing the fact that the one of the infantry elements was actually artillery until after a combat, proceeding to destroy the mortar section. The Hero Habib, however, in true heroic fashion, rode in against the Russian BMP's with his jeep (driven ably by Mr T from the A team) and his cavalry. A furious melee resulted with the Hero Habib eventually succumbing to weight of numbers. However, the Afghan fire on the Russian infantry ensured that the Russian casualties were always slightly more than the Afghan ones. The Militia attacked another BMP and destroyed it by surrounding it and hitting it with mollies. The Russian then pulled back to reform and with a couple of quick concerted moves, managed to take sufficient Afghan casualties to tip the Afghans over 24 Points eliminated. At the end of the battle, the Afghans had lost 24AP including the hero Habib and the Russians had lost 23AP. A tight, interesting and fun battle all around. It was then time to adjourn to the Navy Club for the second largest glass of Micro Brewed beer I have ever seen along with a Kimchi-free dinner. Further adventures from the North West Frontier later when Thomo returns to Seoul. Thanks to Chowli and others for the assistance with the lists. Back to Veteran Campaigner October 2001 Table of Contents Back to Veteran Campaigner List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Pete Panzeri. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |