Afghanistan 1980 - Xenos Rampant

Another run out of Xenos Rampant we wanted to push the rules a little further and picked on the scenario of a Russian Armoured column pushing into an Afghan town to rescue a downed helo crew. A Soviet version of Black Hawk Down if you will.

The Mi8 crew were pinned down with fighters closing in using the nearby compounds as cover to get close to the crew, the pilot and his comrades were not able to moved until they were reached by their rescuers.

The armoured column planned to sweep through the town but found their entry into town blocked by enemy armour which forced them to swing left and right off the tarmac surface. MBT's exchanged fire which left burning hulks on both sides. Wheeled vehicles ran the risk of bogging in the soft sand. Around every corner RPG's and HMG rounds seemed to find a Russian target, not enough to kill but to chip away at the advancing Russians.

The Soviets called in air support to help the rescue mission trying to get ahead of the rapidly closing irregulars.

As the Soviets entered the clearing with the down help they were confronted by a battered T72 who disabled a BMP causing the infantry to bail out. The Soviets were insight of the crew but before the could move to rescue them the crew were captured by the Mujahideen and were being forced at gun point away into the interior of the town.

Spetnaz dropped in to a nearby rooftop but were under fire from the deadly HMG who inflicted a number of casualties on the specialists. An aging PT76 tried to chase the hostage takers but it was peppered by RPG rounds as it attempted to close with gap.

Time was running out the for the Soviets stripped of much of their armour and the pilots dragged into the narrow streets and alleys the remaining infantry were in danger of also becoming prisoners of the Mujahideen 

It's fantastic to finally bring this game collection to the table after my friend had it stashed away for over 20 years. 

The rules are a blast—quick to play, with a plenty of toys on the table, and they really capture the essence of the modern encounters to my eye. We've once again learned that armour is extremely vulnerable in urban settings, and light infantry can be decimated if caught in the open by heavy weapons. Both scenarios seemed reasonable to me.

The helicopter statistics could use a minor adjustment to enhance their speed and combat radius.

Although the rules are set for 24 points, they're adaptable enough to accommodate larger units and formations within an evening's gaming session. I'm confident there will be many more games to come.

Pendraken Miniatures - American Militia

Nothing like a bank holiday and a day on the brushes.

After the uniformity of the British these took a little longer to bring to the table, having opted for a mix of colours in both trousers and tunics the switch from one base to another added several hours to the process. But I have to admit having flocked, based and adding in flags they look rather good.

My intention is to focus on the earlier encounters of the war, but I dare say some more regular looking line infantry will of course make their way into the collection. These militia types have standards from those at Bunker Hill.

Not quite ready to get them on the table yet, but the six foot units and a couple of commands will do for the core of the American forces sharpshooters and casualty bases and I should be ready to go.

As an old friend of mine used to say they pass the three foot test and look great on mass.

Wyre Forest Gamers - Pacific Landing - Rapid Fire.

One of the things about club gaming is the ability to put on that BIG game outside of the limits of gaming at home.....

What a fantastic table to play on.... John at the club really does like to do things on the grand scale.

US Marine forces look to storm the beaches and push in land but where were the Japanese?  Apart from the occasion artillery round the US had it their own way as they started to push through the jungle terrain.

The big reveal, bunkers and pill boxes littered the dense jungle and poured fire into the advancing US forces.

From further back Artillery pounded the advancing troops.

Fearing the tide was turning against them armour was called forward as the second wave had landed on the beach.

We had planned for that and with clear fields of fire hit the advancing armour with hidden anti-tank guns.... Despite being heavily out numbered as the defenders we were feeling pretty happy with our defensive positions.

However over time one by one our positions were ground down, we had one more throw of the dice and a large infantry attack if we could punch through to the beach we might be able to slow the US advance.

Despite over running the company HQ and destroying another tank, we were a spent force.... Time to retreat inland and the next line of defences.

A great looking game and fun to play, played using Rapid Fire V3 which made for a fast game given the numbers involved but they did leave a feel a little too thin for me, in other rule sets the US should have been pinned or forced to ground and given some of the various ambush and kills we inflicted on them. There are other rules that perhaps give a better feel but you would have been playing a lot longer to get a similar result.

The shortening of the rule book from previous versions perhaps leaves gaps in the understanding, but given the number of ambushes and the human wave attacks they are not a typical occurrence in every game so it's not surprising you players have to work out what might feel right in working this element out.

But at £5 a set very good value for money verse others on the market. If you want lots of toys on the table and plenty of action I can see the appeal.

American Patriot Cavalry -Rebels and Patriots

With the core of the British bare metal complete time to switch to the rebels and a couple of cavalry units for a change, 

I did think about basing them on the medium Flames of War bases but opted for the same pill bases as the skirmishers to give them a slightly smaller footprint on the table top.

Very nice castings with lots of character in the posses.

Russian Invasion of Chechnya 1994 - Battle for Lomaz.

The smallest of paragraphs can become inspiration for a game.

COLONEL HUSEIN ISKHANOV 

The first fighting took place in the village of Lomaz Yurt in Nadterechny raion where we had some defences to protect the frontier. We managed to delay the advance of the Russians for a few days. Our men blew up 2 APCs but because of lack of ammunitions were forced to withdraw. We did not plan any large-scale operations – trying to stop the Russians columns near the border would have been pointless because we did not have enough troops. Our “army” was a joke compared to the invading army. We decided to fight in Grozny.

I was looking over Xenos Rampant to convert Russian vehicles to the stats in the book and there is a scenario which seems to fit the initial attack into Lomaz. 

Could the Russians break through the Chechen lines and drive into Grozny to end the war. The Russians can draw upon units from the Mozdok Contingent which was made up of elements of the 106th Airborne Division and the 56th Airborne Brigade.

With unlimited points the Russians need to destroy the defenders, whilst the Chechen's get a point for every turn they stay on the table. 

A great opportunity to try Xenos Rampant in a modern setting, lets see how the rules handle a bunch of armoured vehicles vs RPG touting dug in light infantry. I tried to keep to what felt like the right doctrine. The column advanced up the road and was unable to react to the defenders until they fired or moved. Leading the column was a BRDM2 followed by a main battle tank and then a couple of BTR60's.

The lead vehicle comes under fire and takes a hit, the tank comes off the road to counter the RPG and small arms fire.

The Chechen's release a blaze of fire, HMG and HE rounds send the vehicles scattering, the infantry de-bus looking to lay down some fire on the defenders, but the Russian poor morale forces the MBT and Scout Car crew to bail out as they both took multiple hits.

Not a great start, desperate to get out of the multiple units all hitting the bogged down Russians, I sent the APC's to the right their infantry were looking for cover in the tree line, but if I could get these on the flank there was a chance I could roll up the defenders.

Striped of their infantry support the Chechens ambushed them as they crossed open ground and another vehicle was KO'd. Helped by an artillery strike from their own side which missed their intended target.

Reinforcements were on the way... let's see what the Auto-Cannon's would do to infantry in a building.

Pushing further forward would be madness, the abandoned vehicles littered the battlefield, the infantry were shattered and were hunkered down in the woods and all this for 3 defenders killed.

A really good encounter, giving the commander on both sides an off table Support option was a good way of representing mortars and the like, adding in a medic to help patch up wounded figures felt ok and made the commander more like a platoon or company HQ.

Decreasing the Russian morale made them quite fragile and forced them to go to ground or backwards which felt right.

All played in under 3 hours.... these rules are definitely growing on me for modern gaming. 

So much so that I ordered some extra support weapons and Russian infantry from Eureka.....

The full document is here a very interesting read, with so many echo's of the war in Ukraine today - it does appear the Russian's have not learnt or have forgotten the lessons of 30 years ago.

COLONEL HUSEIN ISKHANOV (smallwarsjournal.com)

Rebels & Patriots - British Grenadiers and Allies

Yet more off the production line and a couple of regiments of British Grenadiers to give the Brits that little bit of extra cold steel.

I figured two units would be enough looking across the unit values within the Rebel and Patriot rules.

Also clearing the paint table 4 units of German Jagers, based on the original Footsore cavalry pill bases (nothing like a bit of upcycling) to denote skirmish units with 6 figures to a unit, you do get quite a few units for your money within the Pendraken packs. It was one of the reasons that drew me towards Rebels and Patriots vs Live Free or Die those rules appeared to need so many more bases of troops than may painting timelines allow, although the scenario's are very useful.

The Jagers tended to be uniformed in Green with Red facings these would be suitable for the Hesse-Cassel, Anspach-Bayreuth, Brunswick or Hesse-Hanau contingents.

Time to switch to the Rebel's so this lot of some one to battle.

Until next time.