AAR-37: The Mouse Roars

The following battle was the result of my previous post, Out of His Element.

The situation was simple, the Soviet Union was not willing to be dragged into war with the west over the interests of Mugabia, nor those of the ULF.  The Soviet Colonel didn't expect the ULF leader to like this, but had expected that he had enough sense to understand the situation.

As the Soviet Colonel ordered his forces to mount up, the Mugabian representative chased after him, attempting to salvage the situation.  This resulted in the Soviet delegation pulling away from the compound; while, the the Mugabians were still standing around watching the Soviets leave.

Hurriedly, the Mugabian tried to get his forces to mount up and catch the Soviets.  He certainly didn't want to be caught alone at the compound, given what had just happened. 

Colonel Petrov, the Soviet Commander, hurried to the SUV and considered the situation:

"I thought the their leader would be a more sophisticated man.  He is a warrior, certainly not a politician; dictating terms to him is pointless.   The sooner we get out of the here, the better."

As Petrov got into his vehicle, he immediately issued the order over the radio net to stay alert.

The Soviets leave the compound.

The Colonel's vehicle made the turn onto the main road, and the radio sparked to life.  Through the chaos coming over the receiver, he immediately realized that the rebels had attacked the convoy.  

The policy in Afghanistan had been to race through the ambush zone, but Colonel Petrov could see from the fireball ahead, that that option was no longer available.  The gunships were already been called in, and Soviet paratroops were tryng to find cover along the road ahead.

The Mugabians had not followed the plan, which was simply to follow the lead of the Soviet Colonel, and not break formation.  As the ULF began to attack, the Mugabians were still attempting to get in their vehicles and get organized.  

The Mugabian leader, Colonel Kajinga, despite being a member of the elite Presidential Guard, was not a combat leader.  He had spent his career behind a desk in the Presidential Palace, saying , "Yes" to the president.  Now he found himself the leader of an unprepared force, ambushed, and in combat.  

Moments apart, the delegation meeting the ULF, found itself separated and fighting two different battles.  One group on the road to the way home, surrounded by winderness and  farms scratched out of the countryside, the other a short distance away, at the ULF compound.  

The Battlefield

The battle took place in the middle of nowhere, on an east-west dirt road through the countryside, and at a small compound located on a side road south the main dirt road.

The view looking west with the primary road in the center of 

the view.  The compound is actualy just out of view to the 

right (south) near the two trucks roughly center right

A westerly view of the table, the compound is not obvious 

in the trees in the upper left.

Soviet Forces

3x  Squads of Paratroops in BTR60

1x  Colonel with two aids in Dodge SUV

2x  Mi-24D helicopter

Mugabian force

1x Dodge SUV

3x GAZ-66  w/Presidential Guard Infantry Squads, 24 troops

ULF force 

5x  Groups of fighters, 49 men, plus the ULF leader and five guards

1x GAZ69

1x Toyota pickup.

Initial Deployment

The ULF had two sections of men along the main road, two sections along the side road leading to the meeting, one section and five guards in the immediae area of the building.  

Firing started along the primary road with four RPGs, two at the lead BTR-60 with one hit, a single RPG hit on the second BTR-60, and a miss that crossed behind the trailing SUV, as soviet paras began to bail out of the BTRs, ULF rebels unloaded their AKMs on the Paras with Soviets returning fire as soon as they got their bearings.  Though the Soviets took the worst of it, both sides took casualties.  

The Soviet column under fire, heading east on the 

primary road.

The third BTR fired its turret machinegun into the source of an RPG ahead of it, while driving into the field north of the road.  The SUV accelerated and followed, but was hit from behind by an RPG, killing the colonel and driver instantly.

The Third BTR also took an RPG, with survivors bailing out of the vehicle.  By this point, surviving Soviets on the road were firing on the rebels in the trees from behind cover provided by the burning BTRs.  Some of these men had done this in another more barren land, and against better soldiers.  The result was that in the ensueing exchange, the Soviets started to balance out the casualties.  

Chaos and death.

The survivng CHQ radioman from the SUV called for the Mi-24s, trying to direct them to the enemy.  The  firing died down, and Soviet survivors began to make their way east in cover on the north side of the road.

Soviet survivors start to move east and re-group.

After a coupe of minutes, the first Mi-24 appeared, looking for enemy soldiers, and eventually landed in the field north of the surviving paratroops, who were lifted out.

Private Zakharov was happy to get into the Mi-24, his only thought oddly removed from the situation at hand: "A year in Afghanistan, and this is the first time that I've ridden in one of these".

The Mi-24D picks up the survivors.

Meanwhile, back at meeting site:

The Mugabian, Colonel Kajinga came out of the building still trying to talk his way into another meeting with ULF leader.  Presidential Guard troops were loading into their trucks.

Mugabian Presidential Guard still loading into their trucks.

The Soviets had already loaded and moved up the road out of view, when the explosions were heard from the RPGs.  Immediately, two of the GAZ trucks exploaded as RPGs hit them, with many Presidiential Guard troops being killed or disoriented.

Presidential Guard in a hopeless situation.

ULF rebels shot several more Presidential Guard troops before they began to return fire.  The assistant to the Mugabian representative was killed trying to get in the SUV, and it took off with only Colonel Kajinga on board, followed by the third GAZ truck with a small number of Presidential Guard troopson board.

Presidential Guard trying to escape the turkey shoot.

Presidential Guards on the GAZ returned fire on the ULF rebels, as did  the momentarily surviving guard spread about the burning trucks.  Their fire made possible the escape of the third truck.  Unfortunately, as it followed the SUV into the trees behind the meeting building, a rebel with an RPG on the other side of the building scored a lucky hit, destroying the last truck.

The last truck is hit.

A rebel pickup with a machinegunner in the bed, chased after the escaping vehicles. As it passed the third, now burning, GAZ, nobody saw the surviving Presidential Guardsman with his RPK machinegun.  He opened up on the pickup truck, killing both rebels in the bed, and securing both his and the Mugabian SUV's escape.

The SUV with the Mugabian Colonel escapes, leaving 

the lone surviving Mugabian soldier behind.

On the front side of the building, the remaining Guardsmen continued to exchange with the rebels, but out numbered, surrounded, and without any significant cover, they were doomed.  No prisoners were taken.

It appeared that that the ULF had officially rejected the Soviet ultimatum.

Loses:

The Soviets lost three BTR-60s, the Colonel, and 17 paratroops KIA.

The Mugabians lost three GAZ-66 trucks, an aid,  and 23 Presidential Guard KIA.

The ULF lost 30 fighters KIA, with 9 WIA.

Surprisingly, despite the ambush, the Soviets actually inflicted more casualties than they received, excluding the lost vehicles.

___________________________________

A long time coming, this scenario was rolled up over two years ago.  It was a little anticlimactic in that it was such a fast game, taking less than an hour to play out.

The Soviets faired better than I expected.  I mean it was an ambush, and brutal, but they had 8 troops survive a hopeless situation.  Their shooting (die rolls) was exceptional, resuting in the ULF losing a lot of men quickly.

I was really bummed that the Soviet Colonel was killed, hoping and sort of expecting that the SUV would get him out of harms way quick enough to survive and maybe be a recurring character.

I was also quite surprised that the Mugabian leader managed to get out.  I really expected all of the Presidential Guard and their colonel to be toast.