Howdy,
The first battle of the In the Stans campaign was played on Saturday afternoon (12/9) at the Hobbytown in Frederick, Maryland. Played with 15mm figures, using a modified Men Under Fire from Test of Battle Games.
Blue Forces were attempting to move 2nd Platoon of Alpha Company along the Lush River Valley to the Town in Location 10. Little did they know a Red Force insurgent element (the Muffintops) was already present.
First, several photos of the forces involved and the table top terrain. In the game the defending Red Force units were kept off table until they were spotted.
Blue Forces
Red Forces
View of the table top, looking north – Blue forces enter from right side of the photo.
The Blue Force Platoon was moving east. As they approach the town, the SGT Stahl (recon element) led 1st Squad into the rough mountain side terrain on the southern side of the town (i.e., the Blue left flank).
2nd Squad established an overwatch position facing the town, while 3rd Squad followed a tree line toward the edge of town (the Blue right flank). As 3rd Squad neared closest building they were hit by intense small arms fire. They fell back to cover, incurring on a couple of figures lightly wounded. 2nd Squad returned fire, apparently silencing the Muffintop fire.
1st Squad advanced along the hillside, their movement hampered by the difficult terrain. SGT Stahl move in toward the town only to be cut down by accurate MG fire from the far side of town.
As 3rd Squad established a base of fire at the edge of town,
2nd Squad moved forward along the road, where they encountered an IED. PFC Smith went down. In photo, SGT Stahl down on left, Smith down on right.
1st Squad moved up to check on the downed SGT Stahl. Only to be taken under fire from same MG. 2nd Squad's MG returned fire silencing the insurgent fire.
Meanwhile the Muffintops head out the far side of town. Upon moving into the town, the Blue Forces find several arms caches.
It was an interesting and fun game. The Muffintops were rated as regulars, while the Blue Force elements were veteran. The Muffintop plan of engagement was to ambush, the Blue Force and then fall back without becoming engaged. Losses in the game: Blue lost 3 stands, Red lost 2. As both sides took losses, a cohesion roll was made for both sides at the end of the game.
The Red Force hidden deployment, made the Blue Force player very cautious. The Blue Force advantage in command and control was not apparent on the table top. This unknown, allowed the Red Force to disengage after contact. In an all troops on table setting, the Red Forces would likely have been decisively engaged.
The campaign game continues until one side's cohesion is reduced to zero, at which time the respective "Hearts and Minds" scores are compared to determine victory in the campaign.
More to come …
Ponder on,
JAS
