Royals in Helmand

[bigjackmac]

All,

I've been using Ivan Sorensen's rules "Five Men at Kursk" quite a bit lately for skirmish gaming (not to mention his Five Men in Normandy and 5Core Company Command); a great set of rules 'as is,' but I just can't help myself when it comes to tinkering with rules.  I've been looking at getting heavily into Vietnam-era and Modern wargaming, but I wanted something a little different.  Being me, I wasn't exactly sure what all that entailed, but I definitely wanted to make it a bit more violent in order to take into account the greater lethality of modern warfare, as well as to better differentiate between modern, Western, professional forces and various hostile militia/insurgents.  So, without thinking too much about setting and forces, and wanting really just to play a game to see if any of my ideas would work, I jotted down some ideas, grabbed the closest forces to hand, threw up a quick table, came up with a quick scenario, and got to it.

The next thing I knew I'd played three linked games and decided I should sort of retroactively come up with/turn this into another campaign.  Put simply, I was having a great time and didn't want it to end.  I hope you guys like this much as I do.  So a quick background, which is only semi-historical (i.e., I'm taking liberties with the units and all town/village and hostile personality names are fictitious).

The time is May 2011, and the Royal Marines' 45 Commando has deployed for another tour in Afghanistan, this time to Helmand province.  The area has been semi-quiet the past few months, but as we move from Spring into Summer the Taliban is becoming more active and the Royals are taking steps to counter these new enemy initiatives.  The campaign will follow a Royal Marine rifle section during their missions in Helmand; I'm not going to do up a proper roster.  Owing to the fact I'm rolling up forces for each side based on the scenario, it's not likely I'll ever have the entire section on the table at once, so you'll see various characters come and go, though I plan (as usual) on following a key, central group.

The scenario is this: a team from our Royal Marine rifle section is on a normal, foot mobile presence patrol, having left their base and moving east to west.  About an hour and a half into the patrol the radio crackles; approximately two kilometers to their north a local Taliban commander, designated "Raven," has taken a force into the hamlet of Tashur, apparently on a tax collection mission.  The Royals quickly huddle up, do a quick map study, formulate a plan of attack, and begin moving in that direction.  HQ radios that no air is currently up, but should be in support by the time the Royals make the village.


Overview, north is up.  The village of Tashur is at top, and the Royals will enter via the road at bottom center right.  There are two craggy outcroppings (bottom left and bottom right) which may offer good vantage points, though the one in the southwest (bottom left) is not reachable as the river is deep enough to be not fordable.  The road is hardball though heavily potholed, and there are a few fields and trees spread throughout.


The Brits are, from left to right: Pvt "Gimlet" Grabowicz (SA80), LCpl "Sparks" Anderson (SA80), Pvt "Jonesy" Jones (SA80 w/UGL), LCpl "Knocker" Dawes (top center, Minimi), and Corporal "Corp" Choudhry.

Sorry for the crappy lighting...


Sparks and Knocker have gotten up top on the eastern hill; Sparks is on the radio while Knocker makes good use of his Minimi.  To see how the first fight went, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/06/royals-in-helmand-circa-2011.html

Well, what a fight!  That was a tremendous amount of fun!  Quick, bloody, decisive, a bit heroic, it really felt right to me, like what I want out of these games.  As I said, I'm writing after the fact, but at the time I wanted to see if this really worked the way I thought and I ended up playing two more games.  And yes, I'm very happy with them, and will get the batreps out as quick as I can, and hopefully play some more this weekend (baseball is over, so no reason I know of that it won't happen.

V/R,
Jack

[jimduncanuk]

Thought we were gonna get a Prince Arry story there ...

[nikharwood]

Nicely done, Jack

Thought we were gonna get a Prince Arry story there ...

Me too

[Techno]

Nicely done, Jack

Seconded !

Cheers - Phil

[Leman]

I also thought this would be a Prince Harry scenario.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Excellent report Jack, great trade.

[bigjackmac]

Sorry, couldn't find an 'Arry in 15mm  

Glad you guys like the batrep, I figured it would go over well, especially here with the large Brit population

And yeah, Lemmey, the trade worked out.  But my 6-year old boy put the beret on and said "Daddy, I'm going to be a Marine when I grow up."

I said, "sure boy, but real Marines don't wear berets." 

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Yes they do! 
Btw: Royals? most Marine units I thought referred to themselves as 45 Commando or the equivalent!

[jimduncanuk]

Btw: Royals? most Marine units I thought referred to themselves as 45 Commando or the equivalent!

Yup, I thought guys on horses too!

http://www.army.mod.uk/28089.aspx

And:

That would be four five Commando not fortyfive Commando.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Definitely

[bigjackmac]

Hell, I dunno, I'm (luckily) not British 

So, when I said "Royals," I was talking about Royal Marines in general, not a particular unit.  I recall hearing them called "RMs"; I went with "Royals" cause I liked how it sounded   And our own member, Sunray, referred to them as such, so I figured I'd follow suit.

In any case, quit yer cryin' about my terminology, and stand by for the next batrep, which I should have posted in a couple hours.

V/R,
Jack

[jimduncanuk]

In any case, quit yer cryin' about my terminology, and stand by for the next batrep, which I should have posted in a couple hours.

Look forward to it.

[bigjackmac]

All,

Alright, it's time for the next episode of Royals in Helmand!  In the last mission, Corp and the boys saved the village of Tashur from the evil clutches of the Raven and his Taliban henchmen.  It's now 7 May 2011, six days since the last fight.  After a couple down days and several patrols with no contact, trouble is brewing again.

This mission is pretty similar to the last (as I was playtesting I didn't really put a lot of thought into the scenarios, just lined them up and fought it out).  Corp and his men are out on foot patrol when a local farmer approached to inform them a Taliban cell was up ahead in the village of Lisham.  Corp brought the boys together and formed a plan of action then moved on the village, intent on evicting the unwelcome guests from the village.


Overview, north is up.  The Royals will enter from bottom right, attacking into the village of Lisham.  There are rocky outcroppings in the southwest and northeast, and a river running roughly west to east.  The river is fordable along its length, though with a movement penalty.  There are several fields and trees present, and stone walls throughout the village.  These are low walls, maybe four feet high, not the customary eight or nine foot walls often seen in Afghanistan.  A severely potholed hardball road runs through the village.

To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/07/royals-in-helmand-fight-2.html

Another great fight, a lot of fun.  I'm really enjoying the rules mods, and now I'm really enjoying the story of this group of guys.  I've got one more fight to post, wait 'til you see this!

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Excellent, Jack.

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Lovely report Jack