Another game of Hind & Seek, a follow-on from our last game. Soviets start the game with 13 Strength, while the Mujahideen start with 16 Strength. A slight advantage for the Mujahideen, but lets see if that actually helps them out or not…
The game was a "reconnoiter" mission, with Soviets needing to get a unit within 6" of any table edges in the opposite quarter of the table in order to complete their objectives.
Game Start. 4 squads of Soviet airborne troops are embarked in 2 Mi-8 helicopters, while a 3rd Mi-8 in a fire support configuration flies cover. On the ground we have 2 BTR-60 bronegruppa (fire support groups), with a ZSU-23-4 Shilka heading one of the groups on the road.
Mujahideen are mostly deployed in ambush, but a few 12.7mm DShL "Dashika" heavy machine guns are deployed straight away, ready to fire. A few other units are deployed 'dispersed' so they can be used immediately if necessary.
The Mujahideen have a weapons cache and plenty of good ambush positions around to make use of.
Turn 1, the Mi-8s make haste at high altitude to get to the drop zone, while the fire support Mi-8 conducts attack runs against the Dashika MG, coordinating with the Shikla at the head of the BTR-60 bronegruppa.
Soviet recon before the operation allowed them to reveal some Mujahideen units – using one of their assets.
Mujahideen turn 1, an RPG team sprints down the hill to fire at the shilka – scoring a direct hit! the shilka explodes. Mujahideen infantry appear all over the hills and open fire on advancing Soviet infantry. A DShK machine gun fires a few rounds at the incoming transport Mi-8s, but their high altitude and fast movement make it impossible to inflict any real damage.
Soviet infantry are caught in the open and on the move, and immediately hit the ground, many units completely suppressed.
Soviet turn 2, Mi-8s make a quick decent and begin to land behind the high terrain, and in the LZ they wanted – close enough for the airborne troops to carry out their recon mission as soon as they exit the helicopters.
More turn 2, the Mujahideen DShK fires at the landing Mi-8 but isn't able to inflict any damage, while BTR support groups begin to funnel fire down the open canyons. The fire support mi-8 conducts an attack run on the RPG team and combined with fire from the other BTR group, the team is annihilated – somewhat overkill! Mujahideen in the hills continue to pester Soviet infantry on the low ground, but begin to take quite a bit of fire themselves….
Overview from the other end of the table, you can see our quick reference sheets and the rear-most BTR bronegruppa.
Turn 2, a few Mujahideen armed with a stinger missile line up the landing mi-8, the missile miraculously hits! the Mi-8 is destroyed in a ball of flame and all the embarked soldiers perish.
Overview of the table, turn 2
Close up of Dashika team – at -5 morale! very close to breaking but holding on…
Turn 3, the transport Mi-8 bugs our rapidly after only just touching down to disembark 2 squads of airborne. The airborne troops are now on their own, deep behind Mujahideen positions. They're in the right place to carry out their recon, and fire at the dushman (enemy) units on the high ground. Meanwhile a Mujahideen infantry squad appears behind the forward-most Soviet squad, appearing from a building and opening fire on them. The Soviet squad is now completely surrounded by Mujahideen and taking heavy fire in the open ground (although now prone) The fire support Mi-8 conducts attack runs and generally makes life hell for the Mujahideen near the village
Turn 4, BTR-60 bronegruppas focus fire on the Mujahideen position in the hills, causing many units to be suppressed and lose morale. This tactic prevents the units on the hill from focusing too much fire on the recently deployed airborne troops, so is a good tactic.
A stinger team appears near the village and looses off a shot at the retreating transport Mi-8, the missile miraculously hits as well! (needing 5 or 6 on a D6 to hit – shaky quality Stinger teams…) The Mi-8 is totaled and tumbles to the ground in a ball of fire.
The stinger team who just downed the Mi-8 (in the foreground). Allah uakhbaaar!
End of turn 4, the Mujahideen realize their Goryunov MG might be enough to pick off some BTRs and give it a shot, causing one to burst into flames. Many of the Mujahideen units are suppressed but the airborne units still come under some small arms and HMG fire from the hills
Nearing the end of the game, the Fire Support Mi-8 and the stinger separated by a ridge-line and unable to shoot each other…
Turn 7 – last turn. While the morale of the Mujahideen all over the table had been severely damaged, they still didn't break and run. While some were near total collapse, the game ended as darkness set in. The Soviets didn't take too many more casualties, but the damage had been done from the Mi-8s going down and the loss of 3 entire infantry squads, as well as the Shilka and 3 or 4 BTR-60s. The Mujahideen on the other hand only lost a single squad, an RPG team and a Stinger MG team.
Post-Battle Results:
As with every Hind & Seek game, it always looks like the Mujahideen have lost until the losses are tallied up. The Soviets lost more than half of their deployed forces, but were able to complete their objectives, and so the game is a draw with regards to the scenario.
As for loss of each faction's Strength from casualties and losses, the Soviets had lost a total of 5 Strength, while the Mujahideen had lost 2 Strength.
The Soviets attempted to cultivate closer ties with locals, but this only gained them 1 reputation and had minimal effect on their reputation as a whole in this region. The locals are still very anti-Soviet.
This puts the faction Strength at 8 for the Soviets and 14 for the Mujahideen. The next game is going to be VERY difficult for the Soviet commander and he is tempted to try the tactic of just taking a few spotter teams and hoping to call in helicopter support the entire game – it could work!
As soon as one faction drops below 5 Strength, the mini-campaign is over.
reports from the final California Gen Con...
