A fictional Falklands Fight.
Last night's Sabresquadron game. Playing the rules author, Nick. All figures are painted by me from Pendraken's British and Argentines ranges. Rock outcrops, Roads and Rivers by Timecast, with additional hills and boulders from Products From Wargames, mat by Lotz, photos by Nick.
Bit close that one!
Photos are rare and patchy due to the embedded photographer being under fire (and my phone camera being broken, so Nick had to take some hasty phone snaps)
Argentine Brief
Capitán Pablo Alonso
The British have landed, but not without loss. A carrier and two of their landing craft are sitting at the bottom of the South Atlantic, and their landings are not going well.
After their initial attempt at breaching our defenses and a failed thrust inland, many of our counterattacks have penned them in. Now is our opportunity to strike a blow against the imperialists.
Sit Rep:
As of this morning, a British mortar platoon has been cut off from their lines. You have been assigned a special forces platoon under Teniente Primeiro Escobar from Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios (APCA) to assist. They have arrived with an LVTP-7, and are looking to use the river to sweep in behind the mortars.
You are not too sure about your troops ability to assault the British, but they appear keen, you have a battery of artillery on call, and the possibility of air support too, but don't rely on the High Command to back you up. Also, Escobar has a reputation of being a close associate of the regime at home, watch him!
Forces:
Infantry Company (Trained Average, Irresolute High Command)
HQ and 2iC, plus AA stand with blowpipe
Sniper
AOP with 8 105mm Howitzers at Brigade Level.
3 x platoons each with 3 squads of 5 infantry stands and 3 FN-MAG stands, 1 super bazooka stand (you have had to leave the raw recruits behind, thankfully).
Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios, (APCA) (Trained Superior) Teniente Primeiro Escobar - (Political Officer Special Rule: there is a chance he may 'remove' the Company Commander if things are not progressing)
LVTP-7 carrying three stands of APCA Infantry, armed with small arms, one FN-MAG stand, an AA stand with Blowpipe and one sniper stand.
Possible air support (single strike of Pucaras with rocket pods. Level 1 air defenses and level 1 air attack)
British Briefing
Bugger!
This is not going according to plan. The landings have not been faultless, Welsh Guards came ashore recently but are badly beaten up, and the Argies have been busy counter-attacking!
Your mortar battery was ordered forward to this rise to support attacks, named Mount Cardin (lovingly renamed ‘Mount Crapon’ by some wag), and you have watched the too-ing and fro-ing of the PBI since then. Things appear to be at a rather low ebb right now, and you are now, bizarrely, in the front line.
Sit Rep:
You are holed up on a small rise. As the morning sleet clears, you observe approaching you a large body of enemy troops. You have plenty of ammo, and have repeatedly radioed in for air support and infantry back up. However, bugging out with all your tubes might be difficult at this point might be difficult.
To top it all, someone has put a hole in Atlantic Conveyor, so no promised heli-vac for you today.
Forces:
Full strength mortar battery with 8 tubes, platoon command and AOP, with attached AA stand with Blowpipe (Regular Trained).
Reinforcements
Welsh Guards Infantry squad (Regular Trained, arriving on 7+)
3 squads and command (3 LMG, 3 84mm Charlie Gs, command stand)
Royal Marine Squad (Superior Trained, arriving on 8+)
3 squads and command (3 LMG, 3 84mm Charlie Gs, command stand)
Air support (GR3 Harriers with twin rocket pods or Sea Harrier with cannon, randomly allocated, Air defenses level 3, air attack level 2) After first successful roll, further air support will arrive on 9 or 10.
Deployment:
The mortars deploy on the rocky ridge of Mount Cardin (a small hilly rise), Argentines will enter right. The stream to the front of the Mount is basically a boggy ditch, all rises block line of sight. There are two crossings for local vehicles, but the road is basically a track for the local farmer and his Land Rover. The river is deep enough until the confluence for amphibious vehicles to travel up it.
The mortar platoon deploy dug in on the Mount.
The Argentines arrive, en masse.
The APCA show off their kit by testing its aquatic capabilities (and it was the first time the model has been out).
Almost immediately the mortar tubes coughed into life, and their first shot killed two stands (not bad considering they only hit on 9 or 10). Very soon, the Argentinian forces were within their minimum range, and the crews had to switch to small arms.
Almost immediately, the Welsh Guards arrive (Nick's first reinforcement roll was a 9!), this was going to be rough. Argentine 2 and 3 platoon advance.
And almost immediately a Harrier GR3 arrived, and despite the Blowpipe achieving lock, the pilot knew he had too good a shot with his rockets to let this go. 1st Platoon was torn apart.
Ouch!
And there goes the unit moral. Unlikely this platoon would perform much more in this game. They hunkered down and decided to engage the enemy with their remaining stands.
2nd platoon achieved one long range rifle hit on the mortars, and despite being well dug in, someone stuck their head above the sandbags!
2 and 3 platoon advance towards the stream under constant and accurate fire from the Welsh Guards and Mortar platoon small arms.
The special forces dismount as their ride crest the rise. Almost immediately the Royal Marines arrived and started causing hits on them! Their first volley of anti-tank missiles missed, but that would not last long.
Amazingly, the Pucara airstrike came in, causing the Welsh Guards multiple worries. (it was on 9 or 10 to arrive) This was followed immediately by the only successful barrage by the Argentine 105s, (rolling in on a 5, they failed 6 times) which had been ranged in on the ridge and caught both the mortars and Guards. The guards in the open suffered heavily and were now on 'HALT' morale, the Mortars trenches saved their skins.
The second volley of three Marine Carl Gustavs make short work of the LVTP-7, while the fire from their small arms rips into the Special forces, these would pay no further part in the assault (much to the relief of Capitán Pablo Alonso). However, the return fire was telling, each time the Marines received hits, they failed their saves, three dead and a neutralized in moments, the relief force were to play no further part.
The Welsh Guard platoon, crumbled and broke after their battering, and a near constant firefight with the battered remnants of the Argentine 1st platoon, who were fast approaching their own breakpoint.
Despite near constant air support from the RAF and FAA, it was not enough to stop the Argentine surge. 2 platoon was halted by small arms fire on the very lip of the Mount, but 3 platoon broke into the trenchlines, and the British morale crumbled.
After action thoughts:
A good game, enjoyed by both sides with many tense but comedic moments, plus a lot of laughs.
It was good to use new and interesting kit (air power and amphibious), plus it was nice to get some different kit on table such as the mortars and newly painted Guards (who will morph into a British armoured Company for Western European actions soon). For an infantry game, there was a lot of mobility and forces were fairly balanced (and we both used Nick's dice, so he can't blame those for his appalling luck).
On reflection, the Guards and Marines should have been given a 6+ and 7+ to arrive (Nick did roll the Guards in straight away, but the Royal Marines were somewhat tardy, with him rolling anything lower than 8 for the Marines for most of the game). However, his luck with bringing in the Fleet Air Arm and Air Force Harriers was superb! He brought in at least 3 airstrikes in rapid succession, which slowed my advance no end, and his mortar teams rifles were crack shots too! Throughout the game, no AA stand successfully hit, despite constantly locking on from both sides.
The Argentinians, we decided,should only have had 4 105mms guns, and a lower command rating for them as high command dithered, but in the end, they did only bring their guns in once and got incredibly lucky with that barrage on the halted Guards.
The British infantry had atrocious saves, whereas the Argentinians succeed nearly every save they needed after the initial devastating artillery and airstrike on 1st Platoon. Their morale was incredible (even 1st Platoon managed to rally and advance after their 'Uncertain' result), apart from 2 platoon becoming 'Uncertain' at the last second, the forces took a huge amount of hits, including airstrikes, and somehow survived.
Luckily, Teniente Primeiro Escobar and his political machinations were not needed...
The Welsh Guards for this scenario were downgraded, to show their shaken status after the dreadful events at San Carlos Water. If the Royal Marines were rated Superior/Elite, they might have been even more effective. The APCA special forces are not rated Excellent/Expert as they were not as highly trained as Western Special forces. A possibility for this scenario would be to swap the aggressor or to have the line troops in this scenario were rated as 'raw/poor', it would have been a whole different ballgame.
This was a fun 'What If' Scenario. Historically, a feared Argentine counter attack never occurred on the landing grounds. Despite logistics losses, the British forces reached the shore and then launched a well organised and effective recapture of the Islands. The Argentinians, after early aggressive attacks by well trained troops, stalled. The majority of the decent Argentinian invasion troops had replaced by that year's conscript draft as a garrison. These raw soldiers were poorly treated by their own high command, their conditions were appalling, often going without food, orders or even basic sanitary facilities. The ranks held the Higher Command officers in contempt, and these officers failed their men, proving hesitant and ultimately inept. It must be remembered, that at company and lower levels, their line officers and troops fought bravely, but without lack of impetus and orders, they were doomed, morale crumbled and quickly the British forces regained possession of the Falklands. After 74 days, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders had died during the hostilities that should have never happened.
Last night's Sabresquadron game. Playing the rules author, Nick. All figures are painted by me from Pendraken's British and Argentines ranges. Rock outcrops, Roads and Rivers by Timecast, with additional hills and boulders from Products From Wargames, mat by Lotz, photos by Nick.
Bit close that one!
Photos are rare and patchy due to the embedded photographer being under fire (and my phone camera being broken, so Nick had to take some hasty phone snaps)
Argentine Brief
Capitán Pablo Alonso
The British have landed, but not without loss. A carrier and two of their landing craft are sitting at the bottom of the South Atlantic, and their landings are not going well.
After their initial attempt at breaching our defenses and a failed thrust inland, many of our counterattacks have penned them in. Now is our opportunity to strike a blow against the imperialists.
Sit Rep:
As of this morning, a British mortar platoon has been cut off from their lines. You have been assigned a special forces platoon under Teniente Primeiro Escobar from Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios (APCA) to assist. They have arrived with an LVTP-7, and are looking to use the river to sweep in behind the mortars.
You are not too sure about your troops ability to assault the British, but they appear keen, you have a battery of artillery on call, and the possibility of air support too, but don't rely on the High Command to back you up. Also, Escobar has a reputation of being a close associate of the regime at home, watch him!
Forces:
Infantry Company (Trained Average, Irresolute High Command)
HQ and 2iC, plus AA stand with blowpipe
Sniper
AOP with 8 105mm Howitzers at Brigade Level.
3 x platoons each with 3 squads of 5 infantry stands and 3 FN-MAG stands, 1 super bazooka stand (you have had to leave the raw recruits behind, thankfully).
Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios, (APCA) (Trained Superior) Teniente Primeiro Escobar - (Political Officer Special Rule: there is a chance he may 'remove' the Company Commander if things are not progressing)
LVTP-7 carrying three stands of APCA Infantry, armed with small arms, one FN-MAG stand, an AA stand with Blowpipe and one sniper stand.
Possible air support (single strike of Pucaras with rocket pods. Level 1 air defenses and level 1 air attack)
British Briefing
Bugger!
This is not going according to plan. The landings have not been faultless, Welsh Guards came ashore recently but are badly beaten up, and the Argies have been busy counter-attacking!
Your mortar battery was ordered forward to this rise to support attacks, named Mount Cardin (lovingly renamed ‘Mount Crapon’ by some wag), and you have watched the too-ing and fro-ing of the PBI since then. Things appear to be at a rather low ebb right now, and you are now, bizarrely, in the front line.
Sit Rep:
You are holed up on a small rise. As the morning sleet clears, you observe approaching you a large body of enemy troops. You have plenty of ammo, and have repeatedly radioed in for air support and infantry back up. However, bugging out with all your tubes might be difficult at this point might be difficult.
To top it all, someone has put a hole in Atlantic Conveyor, so no promised heli-vac for you today.
Forces:
Full strength mortar battery with 8 tubes, platoon command and AOP, with attached AA stand with Blowpipe (Regular Trained).
Reinforcements
Welsh Guards Infantry squad (Regular Trained, arriving on 7+)
3 squads and command (3 LMG, 3 84mm Charlie Gs, command stand)
Royal Marine Squad (Superior Trained, arriving on 8+)
3 squads and command (3 LMG, 3 84mm Charlie Gs, command stand)
Air support (GR3 Harriers with twin rocket pods or Sea Harrier with cannon, randomly allocated, Air defenses level 3, air attack level 2) After first successful roll, further air support will arrive on 9 or 10.
The mortars deploy on the rocky ridge of Mount Cardin (a small hilly rise), Argentines will enter right. The stream to the front of the Mount is basically a boggy ditch, all rises block line of sight. There are two crossings for local vehicles, but the road is basically a track for the local farmer and his Land Rover. The river is deep enough until the confluence for amphibious vehicles to travel up it.
The mortar platoon deploy dug in on the Mount.
The Argentines arrive, en masse.
The APCA show off their kit by testing its aquatic capabilities (and it was the first time the model has been out).
Almost immediately the mortar tubes coughed into life, and their first shot killed two stands (not bad considering they only hit on 9 or 10). Very soon, the Argentinian forces were within their minimum range, and the crews had to switch to small arms.
Almost immediately, the Welsh Guards arrive (Nick's first reinforcement roll was a 9!), this was going to be rough. Argentine 2 and 3 platoon advance.
And almost immediately a Harrier GR3 arrived, and despite the Blowpipe achieving lock, the pilot knew he had too good a shot with his rockets to let this go. 1st Platoon was torn apart.
And there goes the unit moral. Unlikely this platoon would perform much more in this game. They hunkered down and decided to engage the enemy with their remaining stands.
2nd platoon achieved one long range rifle hit on the mortars, and despite being well dug in, someone stuck their head above the sandbags!
2 and 3 platoon advance towards the stream under constant and accurate fire from the Welsh Guards and Mortar platoon small arms.
The special forces dismount as their ride crest the rise. Almost immediately the Royal Marines arrived and started causing hits on them! Their first volley of anti-tank missiles missed, but that would not last long.
Amazingly, the Pucara airstrike came in, causing the Welsh Guards multiple worries. (it was on 9 or 10 to arrive) This was followed immediately by the only successful barrage by the Argentine 105s, (rolling in on a 5, they failed 6 times) which had been ranged in on the ridge and caught both the mortars and Guards. The guards in the open suffered heavily and were now on 'HALT' morale, the Mortars trenches saved their skins.
The second volley of three Marine Carl Gustavs make short work of the LVTP-7, while the fire from their small arms rips into the Special forces, these would pay no further part in the assault (much to the relief of Capitán Pablo Alonso). However, the return fire was telling, each time the Marines received hits, they failed their saves, three dead and a neutralized in moments, the relief force were to play no further part.
The Welsh Guard platoon, crumbled and broke after their battering, and a near constant firefight with the battered remnants of the Argentine 1st platoon, who were fast approaching their own breakpoint.
Despite near constant air support from the RAF and FAA, it was not enough to stop the Argentine surge. 2 platoon was halted by small arms fire on the very lip of the Mount, but 3 platoon broke into the trenchlines, and the British morale crumbled.
After action thoughts:
A good game, enjoyed by both sides with many tense but comedic moments, plus a lot of laughs.
It was good to use new and interesting kit (air power and amphibious), plus it was nice to get some different kit on table such as the mortars and newly painted Guards (who will morph into a British armoured Company for Western European actions soon). For an infantry game, there was a lot of mobility and forces were fairly balanced (and we both used Nick's dice, so he can't blame those for his appalling luck).
On reflection, the Guards and Marines should have been given a 6+ and 7+ to arrive (Nick did roll the Guards in straight away, but the Royal Marines were somewhat tardy, with him rolling anything lower than 8 for the Marines for most of the game). However, his luck with bringing in the Fleet Air Arm and Air Force Harriers was superb! He brought in at least 3 airstrikes in rapid succession, which slowed my advance no end, and his mortar teams rifles were crack shots too! Throughout the game, no AA stand successfully hit, despite constantly locking on from both sides.
The Argentinians, we decided,should only have had 4 105mms guns, and a lower command rating for them as high command dithered, but in the end, they did only bring their guns in once and got incredibly lucky with that barrage on the halted Guards.
The British infantry had atrocious saves, whereas the Argentinians succeed nearly every save they needed after the initial devastating artillery and airstrike on 1st Platoon. Their morale was incredible (even 1st Platoon managed to rally and advance after their 'Uncertain' result), apart from 2 platoon becoming 'Uncertain' at the last second, the forces took a huge amount of hits, including airstrikes, and somehow survived.
Luckily, Teniente Primeiro Escobar and his political machinations were not needed...
The Welsh Guards for this scenario were downgraded, to show their shaken status after the dreadful events at San Carlos Water. If the Royal Marines were rated Superior/Elite, they might have been even more effective. The APCA special forces are not rated Excellent/Expert as they were not as highly trained as Western Special forces. A possibility for this scenario would be to swap the aggressor or to have the line troops in this scenario were rated as 'raw/poor', it would have been a whole different ballgame.
This was a fun 'What If' Scenario. Historically, a feared Argentine counter attack never occurred on the landing grounds. Despite logistics losses, the British forces reached the shore and then launched a well organised and effective recapture of the Islands. The Argentinians, after early aggressive attacks by well trained troops, stalled. The majority of the decent Argentinian invasion troops had replaced by that year's conscript draft as a garrison. These raw soldiers were poorly treated by their own high command, their conditions were appalling, often going without food, orders or even basic sanitary facilities. The ranks held the Higher Command officers in contempt, and these officers failed their men, proving hesitant and ultimately inept. It must be remembered, that at company and lower levels, their line officers and troops fought bravely, but without lack of impetus and orders, they were doomed, morale crumbled and quickly the British forces regained possession of the Falklands. After 74 days, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders had died during the hostilities that should have never happened.
A nice little punch up!
ReplyDeleteBlimey, those Argies were tough!
ReplyDeleteNice little game which produced a very readable narrative. Contrary to long established wargaming tradition of first outings, the LVTP didn’t sink, actually got out of the water and even delivered its payload (more or less).
ReplyDeleteSuperb game :) Just a small correction, it would be Teniente Primero ( primeiro would be portuguese I believe :) ) Sorry for bothering people!
ReplyDelete