Research: Books for ideas for the Falklands

Just received some interesting scenario ideas from the Ambush Alley Games forum for the Falklands campaign.
The ideas include:

An SAS/ SBS raid on Stanley Airport with the mission objective to destroy an Argentinian Hercules to block the runway.

An Argentinian landing of paratroopers from the Argentine 2nd Airbourne Infantry Regiment near San Carlos to oppose the British landing. (The regiment was apparently put on standby at Menendez's request.)

Some reading material that was also suggested include:

Razors Edge by Hugh Bicheno
Nine Battles to Stanley by Nicholas van der Bijl

Painting: Sounds like the buggers mean it! (Argentinian Conscripts)

Another quite Sunday with the sniffles and no real motivation for any outdoor activity. (Plus, Mass Effect 3 is not out for another 2 weeks!) 

I had 9 Argentinians by Platoon 20 that had been undercoated with black and a thin dark green basecoat that was just waiting to be painted.

The miniatures are very much inspired by the Argentine miniatures on Sapper Joe's website, like his figures, I prefer my miniatures to be painted in a darker shade. Plus, if you look at the photo (Taken from the Daily Telegraph website) at the top of the page, their coats are mostly dark green. I'll have to paint a few of them in brown though! 

As a basic guide, the figures were Spray painted with a GW Chaos Black undercoat followed by a light spray of Dark green similar to the German Dark Green Camo by Vallejo. 

The flesh areas and are painted with German Camo Dark  Brown, before painted over with a coat of Dark Flesh, a heavy ink wash of Ogryn flesh and a touch up/ drybrush of Sunny skin tone.

The furry buts of the Parka hoods and the flaps on the 'crap hats' are also base coated with German Camo Dark Brown like the faces and hands and then dry bushed with English Uniform.

The rifles, boots and goggles are painted with black and the uniform is given a Green ink wash.

That's pretty much it, I'm thinking about giving the rifles a dry brushing of dark grey.
Also, I know the figures haven't been based, but I couldn't find my PVA glue.

Research: Falklands Scenarios

I just came across this on my travels through the internet. A series of scenarios for the Falklands campaign.
I will probably use these as a base to create some Force on Force Scenarios.

http://www-solar.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~aaron/SCEN/scenarios.html

AAR: Soviets in Afghanistan: The Wounded Beast

I read this scenario a while back on Donogh McCarthy's excellent Land War in Asia blog and it looked like it would be great fun.


As Peter, one of the participants in the game pointed out, the scenario appeared to be based on a 1988 film called 'The Beast' or 'The Beast of War'.


Taken from Donogh's briefing:

"A punitive column has been sent deep into Qandahar by the Soviets. A T-62 is with them, in order to test how it can cope with the green zone. It’s thrown a track when making a tight turn inside a village, and due to a command oversight, the T-62 was left behind. A single BMD carrying an engineer team has been sent back to get it moving again. "

3 out of the 4 man tank crew accompanied by a sharpshooter take up an overwatch position in the house next to the tank, the other crewman is on overwatch with the DShK on the tank.

It is assumed that the Mujahadeen have been hostile for some time before the arrival of the engineering team and that the area is declared a free-fire zone by Soviet high command.


The BMD (Yes, I know the scenario says BMP, but I don't have any BMP's in my collection just yet!).


The Mujahadeen and Russians were excellently painted by Piers Brand. 


====================================================

My dear comrades, welcome to the Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy, what you will see today, will be a textbook mission on the repair and extraction of a broken down armoured vehicle with a small, mobile and aggressive fighting force.

A T-62 tank breaks down during a show of force against an Afghan village harbouring anti-government militia, its escorting units had been extracted before the commander realised the tank was in trouble.

The tank crew and a VDV sharpshooter setup a defensive position and await assistance from an incoming engineering team with VDV escorts. The tank team ensured that firepower was on their side by employed the DsHK on the tank.


The local militia converge on the village and prepare to ambush the incoming Soviet reinforcements. 


The VDV squad were split into two fireteams, with one fireteam and the engineers stowed safely in the BMD while a Machine gun team (Which we treated as an independent weapons team with all the bonuses that carries.) and the second fireteam proceeded on foot as an escort for the BMD.

An RPG gunner was perched on top of the BMD, limiting the BMD to cruising speed but giving the vehicle additional firepower.


The exposed MG team and the escorts are peppered by shots coming from the fields to its left and insurgents converging on top of a hill. However, the fire is inaccurate and the combined firepower of the BMD, the RPG gunner on top and the escorting fireteam eliminate the resistance in the fields. While the Mujahadeen on the hill are engaged by the MG team. 


As the group advanced towards the village, two members of the VDV are caught in the crossfire coming from the hill and insurgents emerging  from some of the buildings in the village, the combined firepower of the ATGM on the BMD and the RPG gunner destroys the building. The wounded men are loaded into the BMD and replaced by two troopers in the BMD. The escorting fireteam fixed bayonets and charged screaming into the still smoking rubble, terrifying its occupants, breaking their morale as they fled from the elite warriors of the Soviet Union.


The tank crew, maintaining constant radio contact with the incoming engineering team, warn of an AT-RPG team waiting in ambush within the village. 


The DshK gunner maintains overwatch as the BMD team take the risk of drawing out the RPG team, the strategy is successful as the dangerous AT-RPG team is gunned down. 



A second insurgent team in the village decide that they cannot afford to wait much longer and that assualting the small group of tank crewmen would give them a better chance than facing a group of VDV paratroopers.

They are quickly gunned down as they made their way through the village streets towards the well entenched tank crew.

The VDV fireteams take up defensive positions around the village as the engineering team finally reaches the tank.

The resistance and reinforcements from the local Mujahadeen was less than expected, with only one Mujahadeen cell emerging on the outskirts of the village, who were quickly dealt with by the vigilent VDV and the firepower of the BMD's main gun.

The engineers quickly repair the tank with no problems, a second Mujahadeen cell emerge on the hills overlooking the village exit, but with the additional firepower of the tank and a still combat effective VDV squad, the Mujahadeen are suppressed as the Soviet team leaves the village.

=================================


Th scenario was great fun and one I wanted to play since I read it on Donogh's blog back in 2008/ 2009.


The VDV and Soviet mission was almost textbook, hence the tone of the AAR itself.


It was Michael's (The VDV commander) first ever game of Force on Force and he played really well. The BMD sped off towards the objective, leaving the VDV exposed and without cover or armoured escort as it came under inaccurate but heavy fire from two and later three sides. This would lead to the two casualties for the Soviets. 


The tank crew, commanded by Peter, who has appeared on many of the other AAR's made exceptional use of overwatch and kept the Mujahadeen at bay. The elimination of the lurking AT-RPG team also ensured that there were no late surprises.


The Mujahadeen, commanded by me, we unlucky with the reinforcements, with nothing arriving until late in the game and in all the wrong places. But the important thing is, we all had fun!


COMING NEXT: Cold War Gone Hot! American Special Forces Operatives killed and captured in Afghanistan. Senator Charlie Wilson to appear before Grand Jury.

Research: A useful website on the Falklands conflict.

With the Osprey books on the Falklands War being taken out of production, I assume in anticipation of the release of a 30th Anniversary bumper edition. I am left with only with the Max Hastings book and what videos are on Youtube for my research.
 
I've found an interesting website with lots of resources on various equipment and battles on the Falklands conflict during my search for the Argentinian Panhard AML-90's colour scheme here: 
Britain's Small Wars: The Falklands

And in case you're wondering, the Panhards that were tasked with guarding Port Stanley looked like this.

AAR: Contracting Trouble

I've got 4 AAR's to write up after a series of Force on Force games were played at our fortnightly meetings at the HKSW.

This is the second game and final game played on 4 Feb 2012.
The scenario is taken from the Force on Force rulebook, I have no idea who makes the buildings, they were an eBay purchase. The miniatures are by Elheim and painted by Piers Brand.

(N.B. The game was a spur of the moment choice after the first game ended early [more on that later!]. So I didn't have an SUV for the contractors, so I just used a BMD which was in my bag.)

Two contractors and their vehicle have come under attack while moving through the neighbourhood in one of the city's red zones. Two USMC fireteams have been sent in to recover the two contractors, their vehicle is out of action and they are running low on ammunition.

Intel indicates that a large number of insurgents are converging in on the contractors (The scenario has an 'automatic' insurgency level, which means insurgent reinforcements arrive at the end of every turn.), with this information, the Marine commander decides that speed should take priority above all else, race towards the objective, secure the contractors and exfil.

The marines arrive into the sector and immediately come under fire from an RPG, although the fire was ineffective, the mission goes FUBAR as the troopers are warned of an imminent gas attack, donning their gasmasks and sealing up their MOPP suits, the troopers find their situational awareness reduced and lose a significant part of their effectiveness as a combat unit. (The marine player rolls a one on his first reaction test and that's the first Fog of War card drawn before the Marines get a shot off.).

Nevertheless, the marines stick to their plan and sprint towards their objective, coming under heavy fire, with their abilities hindered by the heat and limited visibility offered by their gas masks, their shooting. While several threatening insurgents are taken out, including a dangerous RPG team, they fail to pin and suppress the larger groups of insurgents with small arms.

One of the USMC troopers is shot and killed as the marines reach the objective.
The contractors are assigned to the group with the casualty, to leave one Marine fireteam fully maneuverable.

However, as the team moves out, the sight of what is now a very large crowd of insurgents closing in on the squad from all sides, leaves the combat fireteam with a sense of dread and that something terrible is about to happen. (Another fog of war card).

The fireteam escorting the contractors and carrying a casualty are hit again, with another trooper seriously injured.

During all this, a sandstorm blows across the town and grounds all UAV assets for the marines, leaving them in the dark as to where the insurgents are arriving. Using this to their advantage, the insurgents growing in number and taking advantage of their knowledge of the local streets and allies bypass the marines setup a blocking position on the one road leading back towards the green zone.

The Marines fight their way forwards, but come under heavy fire, pinning the squads and slowing their progress to a crawl.

The blocking position proves effective as it allows a large group of insurgents to organise and prepare an ambush near the exit.

With the combat fireteam focused on eliminating the stubborn insurgents blocking the road, they fail to notice the group of 10 fighters advancing on their flank.

At the right moment, the fighters charge, the hand to hand combat was close with neither side gaining an advantage at the start, however, the insurgents, with numbers on their side kill 3 members of the fireteam and capture the remaining member. The remaining fireteam weighed down by dependants and casualties fail to make it out as the game ends.