6mm Moderns- Australians!

Well, it was inevitable after my trip to the Royal Australian Armoured Corps museum that I would write the rules for the Australians in Conflict '89.

The Australians adopted a pretty interesting formation in the modern period. Historically, the Australians (and New Zealanders) were regarded as some of the best light infantry in the world. Battles like Tobruk, El Alamein and the fighting in Papua New Guinea during the pacific campaign cemented that reputation.

But it was in those battles which the Australians realised the need for specific close supporting armoured formations- they were actually one of the first formations to be supported in big tank attacks in World War One. Through the later New Guinean campaign they were supported by Matilda tanks, using them as a jack of all trades style vehicle.

But on to the modern period. The Auzzies drove Centurions during the Vietnam War, by all counts they loved that tank, finding Splintex (flechette) rounds especially effective.

In the period of Conflict '89, the Australian armoured were equipped with Leopard 1AS4 tanks.

And here are my 10 Leopard 1AS4 Tanks, showing off the awesome colour scheme that is AUSCAM.

Supporting the Leopard tank formations is the Mechanised Infantry. Still equipped with the M113 of the Vietnam era (the AUSLAV is not available until the mid 90's), the Australians utilised multiple turret configurations, the most unique being the M113 MSV, which was an M113 equipped with the turret from a Scorpion light tank. This vehicle was tasked as an infantry support vehicle, based on their experience in Vietnam. Also in the formation is a mortar carrier also.

Again the M113s are showing off how cool AUSCAM is!

Of course, the M113s are transports, so need the infantry too

Infantry with 2 MILAN ATGMs and 2 Red Eye MANPAD

Also in support, there is a recon platoon of four M113, two equipped as MSV vehicles

I put them on bases with their dismounts, so I could tell which was which in relation to my formations.

Of course you also need someone to command it, this is the Battalion XO with his M577..

Another hallmark of modern warfare is using an unarmed helicopter as a forward observer for artillery batteries. The Australians use the Kiowa in this role.

So that is it, the whole lot!

What is next? Well.. These have been started..

But more on those soon.

CP

6mm Moderns- Israel and Britain on the attack...

So, another 6mm Moderns game was had on Friday, with us testing the new attacker/defender mission which had been tried last week and perfected (somewhat)over the week.

The scenario was simple, the Israelis and British were seeking to push through the lightly held Egyptian border guards, to recapture the Suez. But waiting behind the front lines were Jordanians and Egyptian Mechanised formations, made up of T-72, Chieftan and M60 battle tanks!

On table for the Egyptians were three rifle companies, one heavy (120mm) mortar company.

The forces which were trying to push the front were three Israeli Tank companies of M60 tanks, which were supported by a Warrior Company from the Scots, which were supported by a trio of Challenger 1 MBT from the Scots Guards. On the right flank, the Queen's Dragoon Guard (QDG) were ready to engage on the right flank.

The centre of the Allied battle line.

The QDG on the right flank, deployed in a protective wadi.

The battle was immediately joined by the Israeli Recon moving at high speed straight up the road, and opening fire upon the enemy roadblock. The fire was unsuccessful, but the infantry were forced to put their heads down. The QDG moved forward in the protective cover of the wadi, one Sultan APC was torn apart by a Sagger AT missile from one of the infantry formations.

In spite of the fire, the Scimitars were able to reap a terrible toll on to the centre infantry company, breaking the formation.

The Egyptian response was to send in a Crocodile (Hind-D) gunship onto the lead M60 formation. The AA fire was ineffective, the Hind's fire was ineffective and everyone involved was left confused as to what actually happened!

Pushing their advantage, the Challenger 1's advanced at double time to form a position alongside the M113's in the centre of the table. One Challenger was rendered inoperable by a Sagger hit to it's right hand track, the other two pushed forward and fired onto the centre company with their heavy weapons.

The lead armoured elements of the Egyptian and Jordanian forces were held up by H&I fire (or got stuck stopping at the pub or something) and were stalled for the first turn off table.

The Israeli M60s sought to push through the gap created by the British, but were stalled by damage to the road by the Hind strike, one company were stalled, but the other two were able to push forward to support the M113s.

The RAF Harrier's rolled in on the Crocodile, destroying it utterly with cannon fire. There were two MiG's attempting to catch the Harriers on the hop, but to no avail, the Harrier pilots were well up to the challenge, and were able to avoid any damage.

The defenders wrested initiative from the allies, dropping heavy 120mm mortar rounds onto the M113s and the two remaining Challengers. Both Challengers were rendered inoperable (yes, I failed 3 3+ saves from 3 dice rolls. Refer to previous outings with Challengers for more of this) and two M113s were destroyed.

The Black Watch raced forward in their Warriors, engaging the enemy infantry blocking the road. Casualties were light (Jas rolled amazing saves), but when the M60 tanks engaged the infantry, supported by the Black Watch, the casualties were far more extreme.

With the road now clear, it was time for the breakthrough. Except for that one sticky wicket, provided by the entire armoured reserve arriving...

Wave after wave of heavy tanks appeared, pouring fire onto the Israeli battle tanks. The Israelis did give as good as they got, dealing damage to the enemy T-72s, in spite of their losses.

It was at this point that the QDG elected to clear the nearby summit entirely of life. Using a Sustain Fire action, pouring on 30mm Raden, Swingfire missiles, GPMG and throwing an operations table, the recon formation was able to totally wipe out the defending infantry, without a single infantry man left to explain what happened.

The Egyptian and Jordanian tanks were beginning to take their toll onto the Israeli armour, with multiple formations of tanks being suppressed and destroyed. But, the weight of fire returning onto the tanks from the Israelis also began to toll- the T-72 lost half their number and broke under the weight of fire.

The final turn began with the initiative again with the attacking Israelis and British, who sought to punish the lead most company of enemy tanks, which was M60s. First, a company of Israeli M60s fired upon them, then the QDG moved forward to occupy two of the three forward objectives, then proceeded to knock out an M60 with the 30mm Raden on a Scimitar (lucky ish shot with a High Velocity 30mm), which broke the formation.

From here, it was a matter of the Jordanians and Egyptians having to recapture strongly held objectives, which they just couldn't do. One after the other, their tank formations were suppressed or destroyed, their main highlight being their Chieftans and 120mm mortars were able to force the Black Watch to break, but the Israeli M60s did not let up, knocking out the remaining enemy units to activate, the ZSU, the T-72s, all were destroyed before they could inflict further damage.

The last act of the game was two MiG-29s freshly rearmed for ground attack rolling in onto the Queen's Dragoon Guard. Naturally, the RAF were there to intercept...

And rolled in, first firing Anti-Aircraft missiles, then their 20mm cannon. Catching them as they flew through the canyons, the Harriers rolled no less than 5 hits!

And the MiGs passed their saves. All of them. On a 5+. God Damn pink dice!

But with that, the MiGs shot and failed to kill some Scimitars. On the whole the QDG were rather miffed about the whole ordeal, but they did claim two objectives thus winning the game...

Another game of Moderns done, another interesting mission. I am happy with a lot of what we have got at the moment, there are a few list things that need to be checked and balanced, but it is my fault that those haven't been done. Our new mission worked great, so no we have TWO missions to play! I will poke the guys with a stick until they think of a third....

We (I) have decided it needs a cool name, so Conflict 1989 is what I have come up with so far, it suits the lists we have made etc, so I think it works!

I will finish my school reports tomorrow, then I need to look at my Masters FOW army. Because that is next weekend! So it might be a FOW based week next week. Then again, usually when I say that, random stuff happens. So stay tuned...

CP

6mm Moderns- A Comparison of Abrams

My 6mm armies are growing rapidly, the 6mm counter on the right ticks ever higher, but what of the miniatures themselves?

So, here is three different company's take on the M1 Abrams.

The three competitors....

GHQ, Heroics and Ros and Scotia-Grendel

First up, GHQ.
Cost? Around $2.50 NZ per tank. Which for a 6mm tank gets pricy fast, but the quality is about what I expect from BF in 15mm scale. Most of my armies and miniatures are from GHQ, because I don't mind paying that bit more for quality. The unbuttoned crew look awesome, along with the cupola MGs.

All in all GHQ is the best in quality, hands down. But expensive, and very annoying how they only sell in packs of 5 tanks!

Next up Heroics and Ros
So H&R. Immediately you notice that the details are not as crisp, the turret is tiny and it is unpainted. Well, the paint is my fault, but the rest is with H&R!

I have used H&R miniatures to plug gaps in the GHQ range, things like specialist AA weapons, or howitzers (H&R come with crew, GHQ don't). My whole French army is H&R actually, and they look good.

A whole lot cheaper than GHQ (around $1 per vehicle), but in comparison, don't buy their Abrams!

Lastly Scotia
What to say here. Yes there is a fair layer of paint on the top (not done by me), but still, there are NO details on the model. There are barely any roadwheels on the tracks!

So, by far, the worst in the Abrams competition. But, the Scotia range is the best of the three, and I can honestly say that their AAVs are as good as GHQ's models. Which is tough, because it is hard to know if you would get this lump of lead, or an actual model.

Make your own choice, but the GHQ miniatures are consistely good, H&R is pretty consistently ok, and Scotia have some brilliant models, just not the Abrams! With GHQ running at twice the price of the others, maybe I will take the risk a couple of times to see what I get...

Till next update,

CP

6mm Moderns- A French holding action in Southern Germany

Last weekend I managed no less than two 6mm Moderns games. I forgot my camera for the first game, but it was a victory to the US. The USMC's official write up is here. The US Army correspondents didn't make it to the battlefield apparently, but the USMC guys got a good write up done.

As for the second game, Adam and I had a quick 1500 point each throw down, to try out a new mission that had been boiling around in my brain for the last wee while.

I was running part of the French 6th Light Division, which was tasked with holding the line in Southern Germany. The initial defensive line was covered by Armoured Cars and infantry.

The Armoured Cars in a wood

The Company of Foreign Legion defending the line of advance over the bridges.

The Soviet advance was quick and bloody- the armoured cars and infantry were immediatly assailed from the air by two Hind-D attack aircraft, the Man Portable missile in the Foreign Legion company was unable to draw line of sight onto the helicopters, meaning they could rake the armoured cars with ATGM, rocket pods and their nose mounted heavy cannon. Needless to say, the armour of the AMX-10RC was insufficient to stand up to such a heavy bombardment, their only saving grace came from the concealment from the woods.

With them distracted looking up, the Guards Motor Rifle Company advanced in line ahead of them, seeking to push the river crossing in their amphibious vehicles.

One AMX-10RC was still composed enough to fire, dutifully destroying an enemy vehicle with the 90mm gun. However, one destroyed from a company with 10 vehicles was never going to slow the Russians down, as they pushed forward to the river's edge.

The Foreign Legion sought to more securely capture the bridgehead, to deny quick access to the other side for the enemy heavy T-72 tanks.

However by pushing forward they opened themselves up to return fire from the T-72, which was ruthless in the extreme. The few survivors pulled back into the cornfield to await reinforcements.

The Chasseurs were set to reinforce the pickets of defenders, but they were too far away to influence the battle immediatly.

The Soviets claimed initiative, quickly sending their Motor Rifle Company over the river, to destroy the last of the AMX-10RC.

It was at this time that the first formation of AMX-30B2 tanks arrived from their staging area, immediatly put in to battle. They opened fire on the enemy Recon BMPs, destroying them outright.

But return fire was quick in coming from the enemy T-72, who could now push themselves over the bridge, opening up on the lightly armoured French vehicles with their heavy main guns. The Hind-D rolled in on them as well, losing one of their number to a Roland SAM, but when the smoke cleared, there were only three remaining AMX-30 in the company.

The Second company of AMX-30 rolled on behind the first, firing their cannon at the T-72, causing no less than five of the heavy soviet tanks to erupt into a ball of flame. The remaining two tanks moved behind the cover of the bridge to protect themselves.

The final French reserve arrived in the form of three VAB Mephisto ATGM launchers, which immediatly engaged the large Motor Rifle Company, registering further hits on the company.

But it was not long before the weight of Soviet Air Power began to toll, the Su-24 aircraft rolled in onto the lead company of AMX-30B2, destroying them outright, the Hind-D rolled in onto the second company causing a full half of their number to be destroyed. The remaining T-72 engaged the remaining company with their cannon, destroying even more. The remanents of the foreign legion were mopped up by the Motor Rifle Company, and the three VAB Mephisto, all that was left attempted to stem the advance, but the damage was done. The Soviets had claimed the bridgehead, and with enough numbers to force their advantage.

Smoking wrecks, but a captured road through...

This was a cool game. It was a chance for us to try out a new Attacker/Defender style of mission, which really made the game interesting. My garrisons tried to hold off the whole soviet army, before the AMX-30s could come on to save the day. As it was, it was too little, too piecemeal and they got picked off as they arrived. Credit has to go to Adam for totally smashing me with his Air Support!

I do not miss the Crocodile.....

Another game friday, where I will flesh these rules out a bit more. I need to paint my Masters army, plus have a lot more 6mm that I want to do. And need to write reports and do the work thing.

Busy!

Also, 40,000 people have looked at this blog (or one person has 40,000 times), so thanks very much for reading, I hope you have found something you liked!

CP

Epic Moderns- Israeli Incursion Repulsed!

It had been a long time coming, but it was time to break out the 6mm Moderns again!

This time it was a full 4000 points of Israelis against a defensive force of Soviets.

The Israelis had invaded one of the (many) Soviet client states, the invasion led by one of their heavy armoured formations based around numerous M60 tanks, and under the cover of the IAF.

To counter this massive armoured thrust, the Soviets sent a large detachment of Naval Infantry, supported by T-72 tanks. Also attached were elements of the 3rd Guards Tank Regiment, One full company of T-72s, three companies of T-55, with a mechanised company in BMP-1s in support.

A leading tank company was deployed forward in the centre, with two Recon platoons in BMP tracked vehicles holding the urban area on the Soviet right flank.

The opening blasts of Soviet Artillery and Air Support ushered in the battle, causing few casualties among the enemy Anti-Aircraft and Tank formations.

The Israelis were quick to respond, causing massive casualties among the lead tank platoon which had adopted the forward position in the centre. Thankfully for their supporting companies they had managed to cause a smokescreen to protect the tanks advancing behind them.

The lead company was annihilated by the combined fire of two Israeli tank companies, TOW equipped M113s.

The IAF made their force felt first onto the Soviet artillery, a flight of F-16 aircraft equipped with missiles destroyed the entire artillery battery, then two flights of AH-1 Cobra gunships unleashed punishing fire onto the Naval Infantry company destroying their supporting tanks and some of their transports.

The return AA fire was totally underwhelming as all aircraft were able to escape.

It was at this point that Nicholai Valivesky and his BMP recon units sought to push the advantage, deciding to stall the massive formation of Israeli Paratroopers outside of the city, lest they get inside the protective walls. Valivesky brought his guns onto the enemy anti-aircraft units, destroying multiple enemy AA vehicles.

Vengeance was quick in coming, the full force of the paratrooper company was unleashed onto Valivesky and his men. Merkava tanks, Paratroop infantry and heavy armoured personell carriers destroyed the small unit, but crucially their advance was stalled outside of the city.

Return fire was enacted for Valivesky from a full Guards Armoured Tank Company of 10 T72 tanks, destroying first the enemy Merkava tanks, then beginning to systematically destroy the enemy transport, stranding the paratroopers outside the city limits.

The T-72 tanks supporting the Naval Infantry joined in the firing at the Paratrooper company, totally destroying the enemy transport. By this time, weight of fire had begun to toll onto the paratroopers, and once a third tank company, this time of T-55s joined the firing at the paratroopers, the paratrooper company was totally destroyed.

The Cobras rolled in onto the tanks, but to no avail, the damage was done. A full tank company of M60 tanks attacked the T-55s at close range. The Israelis were hampered by the close in fighting among the buildings, while able to destroy the lead T-55 tanks, they were quickly flanked and overwhelmed by the so called inferior T-55 vehicles.

The area outside of the city was filled with smoke and burning wrecks of tanks. Somewhere, in the centre of the smoke was Valivesky and his 4 BMPs.

With the end of the Paratroopers and their supporting Tank Company, the road was clear for the Naval Infantry BMPs to rush forward and claim the enemy Blitz objective.

With that, the battle was won for the Soviets. The Israelis engaged into attacks to attempt to push the Soviets off the objective, but the Soviet tank forces were too strong, and the Israelis were unable to recapture the objective.

Another really cool game of Moderns, I think our best yet! Our rules are coming along really well, little tweaks left now and it will be great!

CP

6mm Moderns- US Forces in West Germany

Just a quick little update.

I acquired a very large amount of 6mm US Moderns through a trademe deal a while ago, and as part of what I got, I acquired some M1 Abrams (not M1A1) and a whole ton of M113s.

With the focus (for me) being on forces from Desert Storm, the M113 was no longer used en-mass by the Americans at this stage, and the M1 (not the M1A1) was gone also.

So, what I did was paint them up as some forces for West Germany, just in case of a hypothetical Russian Invasion or some such!


12 M1 Abrams


14 M113 APC and 1 M577 Command Vehicle


M113s with heavy weapons! 3 M901 TOW carriers, 1 M193 Vulcan


2 M109A6 Paladin 155mm, 1 M577 and 1 M991 Ammo loader

So, those are my spare US 6mm vehicles. As for the "real" US Army? All the vehicles are done, aircraft are on the painting table, then the Infantry.

Although, there is a lot of stuff on the painting table...

CP

6mm Moderns- Recon in Force

Last night was game two of our Epic Moderns rules. The Syrians and Soviets commanded by John and Adam were pushing further into Israeli territory following their last victory. As they pushed further forward, they encountered a defensive line manned by Jason's Israelis and my Americans.

I was running

Armoured Cav Company- 4 M1A1 Abrams, 6 M2 Bradley, 1 M6 Linebacker, 6 infantry, 1 stinger
Light Scout Company- 10 HMMWV, 4 HMMWV TOW
US Naval Aviation- 1 F-14A Tomcat


Which sure doesn't look like much....

The plan was simple. Armoured Cav would anchor the right objective, the HMMWVs would be up on the left hand objective on overwatch, ready to launch large amounts of TOW missiles at any enemy movement. Maverick in his F-14 would orbit looking for any enemy aircraft to shoot down. Cunning right?


The Humvee swarm capture the objective!

So, turn one, and the Soviets have the initiative. Clearly the element of suprise is with them and their 30 T-72 tanks. The first company of T-72 come roaring forward to engage the Armoured Cavalry. As they activate, the HMMWV company fires off it's four TOW launchers, causing no less than 4 T-72's to explode! The Israeli paratroopers fire their Dragon missiles also, but to no effect.

However the T-72s fire at the Armoured Cavalry platoon, causing two Abrams to make a 4+ save... which they fail. Uh oh.

The Syrians seize the initiative, rolling the next company of T-72s in behind the first, free from overwatching TOW missiles, they fire again at the Armoured Cavalry, scoring 5 hits (9 shots, hitting on a 5+) The 5 hits mean two Abrams have to roll a save of a 4+.... which they fail. The remaining 3 hits get allocated to Bradleys, all of which explode.


So... that would be no passed saves then?

With that, most of my force is now destroyed. And it didn't even get to do anything. Sigh. One day I will get to do something with a MBT....

The Merkava company which was occupying the nearby hill opened up with it's cannons, 9 shots hitting on a 2+ (for sustaining) and only managed 5 kills (that is four 1's). Desperate for kills, the Israelis bring in their F-16 geared for a ground attack roll, only for two MiG-29's to drop out of the sky to intercept!



The two MiGs loosed off a couple of missiles, only for them to be defeated by a combination of skilled flying and chaff from the F-16. Unfortunatly, all the ducking and weaving on the part of the F-16 caused it' bombing run to be unsuccessful.

With the two MiG's intercepting, it was time for the F-14 to enter the engagement!


Heading right into the danger zone...

The F-14 caught both MiG's on the hop, quickly dispatching them both with Sparrow missiles!

It was at this time that the HMMWVs were under heavy attack from the enemy troop carriers, their heavy MG's inflicting a heavy toll. With all of the NATO air support otherwise occupied, it was time for the Crocodile to spring it's attack...


Do you guys hear that ominous thump of rotors?

Casualties suffice to say, were extreme. The Humvees were now broken, and getting the hell out of there!

The Israeli Cobras were engaging the third company of T-72's, causing casualties not only with missiles, but one with a 20mm cannon!

By the time turn 2 rolled around, the west were back on initiative. The Merkavas immediately engaged the lead T-72 company, causing further casualties and breaking the company. Utilizing the air superiority gained last turn, the Cobras retained the initiative and roared in, engaging the second company of T-72, causing further casualties and putting the formation one casualty above break point.

The Syrians saw the need to press the advantage against the Israeli infantry, sending the T-72 in against them, engaging them in a close range firefight. The combination of cover and armour on either side meant casualties were light, until the Israelis forced the T-72 back, which caused no less than 3 casualties on combat resolution; which broke the formation!

The Armoured Cavalry seized their advantage (as much as 4 Bradleys can seize anything), firing TOW and Bushmaster cannons into the broken formation of T-72, destroying the remainder of the formation, as well as seizing the objective.



The Israeli infantry regained their lost ground, capturing the enemy blitz objective. This action would not go unpunished, as the all too familiar thump of five heavy rotor blades began to be heard in the distance.

Luckily for the infantry, the F-14 was on station, searching for more Anti-Aircraft kills. As soon as the Crocodile appeared, a Sparrow missile sought it out exploding nearby. However a Hind is a tough bird, and the F-14 drew in close, switched to guns and destroyed the Crocodile.


The Tomcat then proceeded to return to base and buzz the tower.

The Israeli F-16 continued the crippling fire on the remaining T-72 formation, causing further losses.

For the final turn, the game had swung drastically. From a very poor start, the West kept the initiative, and used it to send a full formation of Merkava against the enemy Motorised Rifles. Between the 120mm cannon and the multiple machine guns, casualties were immense amongst the Russian Guards, forcing them back from the objective. The F-16 rolled in once again, destroying two enemy recon vehicles which were lurking near the objective at the back of the table. The F-14 rolled in onto the formation of T-72, strafing it with guns, causing another destroyed tank. The Armoured Cav lost the last of their vehicles to enemy Recon fire (Saggers and 30mm cannon will do that), but left the infantry on the objective.

So, with that, the game ended. Victory was had! The count was 1-1 between Red and Blue team.

The Tomcat was just awesome, but it did roll very well. Still, 3 Anti-Air and one Anti-Armour kill is pretty darn cool!

One day I will pass an armour save, and get to use a MBT. One day.....

Next game will have a bit more stuff, I am waiting on a big GHQ order to finish off the British and Americans, so once I get them done, I will do a big whole army shot etc.

Back to painting,

CP

The tipping point...

That is a single Saladin armoured car. Why is this so important? Well, it is the last of my 6mm miniatures to be painted. I have painted every 6mm figure that I own!

I bought most of the 6mm off of trademe, so I ended up with a bit of a motley selection. To complete what I want for our Epic Moderns (Kool-Aid special edition), I needed to order more stuff. And if you are doing an order, paying postage, you might as well order a lot. So, I did that last night too! Hopefully heaps more 6mm goodness will be winging it's way to me as you read this, to complete both my British and my American armies. Once I have them all completed, I will put the pictures up on here.

If you can't wait that long, our next game of Moderns is on Friday, so I will post up what I plan to bring tomorrow.

So with more 6mm in the post, I have probably a fortnight before it all arrives. So to keep up my productivity, I have jumped on Jamie's SAGA Lord of the Rings bandwagon. Needing to choose something different to everyone else, I have opted to make a Minas Tirith force.



I picked up most of what I needed for them yesterday, and will hopefully finish all the assembling and get them undercoated tonight.

So that's what is on my painting table at the moment, must get cracking!

CP

6mm Moderns- First Battle in Lebanon....

Well, finally everyone has caught up with me and my 6mm moderns, so much so that we are in the midst of writing and adapting Games Workshops' Epic rules to suit modern armies!

With much list frothing going on over the past two weeks, some speed painting and some general smack talk going on, it was time to have our first test of the rules.

The game was British and Israelis against Soviets and Syrians, 1000 points per force.

I was running...

Mechanised Company (42nd Black Watch), with 3 attached Milan Sections
Tank Troop- 3 Challenger 1 (Royal Scots Dragoon Guard)
1 AV8b Harrier from the Royal Navy

So... 3 activations, 13 Warriors, 3 Challengers, a load of Infantry and the solitary Harrier.

Add that to Jason's force of Israelis being a Merkava Company, an Infantry Company in M113s and an F-16, and it looked like alot of stuff.

However, the War Pac brought

3 Companies of T-72, 1 Company of Mechanised Infantry, 3 Zeus AA tanks, Sagger armed scout vehicles, Recon tanks, a Hind Gunship and a DESTROYER. So... we were horrendously outnumbered and outgunned.

Uh Oh.


The Russian flank ready to advance

With our superior initiative, we planned to hit hard and fast, hoping to deal big damage to the enemy forces.


The Israelis claim forward objectives, only to come under fire from T-72s



The Black Watch advance, engaging enemy Recon and T-72 tanks with their Raden and Milan


Raden Cannons wreak havoc on BMP-2

It was at this point that the Destroyer began to make it's presence known, unleashing a vicious barrage of SAM missiles at our incoming Aircraft...


So many targets, pity you are dodging missiles...

The Israeli Mechanised Infantry on the Left Flank suffered heavily under T-72 bombardment


Boom go the aluminium bath tubs!

But soon enough, the Merkava Company arrived and showed off what they could do...


Revenge!

The Royal Scots Dragoons had been observing the battlefield from afar, taking in all the sights. Unfortunatly, they themselves were spotted by a marauding Crocodile...


It's got HOW many Rockets?

And, for the first time (ever) a Challenger was lost to enemy fire!

The Harrier came streaking in, seeking vengance and loosed a sidewinder at the Hind....



Only to have the missile have no effect!

The Challengers upon losing a single tank, became instantly broken and never did anything further in the game. Sigh. Which is something we are going to tweak in the rules!

The Black Watch were engaging not only T-72 tanks, but also a full Soviet mechanized infantry company by this time, Radens and Milan pumping out fire at full force...


And being shot back, a lot

The Israeli Merkava Company suffered tremendous casualties from the enemy T-72 tanks (Jas and I didn't actually pass an armour save with our tanks. 6 of them. On a 4+. Sigh) which left the Black Watch even more unsupported!

Proving that when the going gets tough, the Scots get angry, they proceeded to engage the enemy tanks with all their firepower, getting good results! Destroying multiple T-72 with Milan ATGMs, and even destroying one with a Raden!


Ok, so we destroyed five, that still leaves... more tanks than we started with. Oh.

The Syrians on the left flank captured all the objectives, the Israelis suffered too many casualties to counter their advances, leaving the Warsaw Pact in charge of the battlefield!


The battlefield with a whole lot of burning stuff

Casualties on all sides were immense, the Harrier was shot down (eventually) by SAM missiles, the Black Watch lost almost half of their Warriors, as well as most of their Milan ATGM teams, as well as the Challenger 1.

So for the much vaunted Air Superiority and Tank Superiority, neither did the west any good! Bit hard to claim superiority when they die just as quick as the T-72....

All up, a super fun game. And actually not many big things to tinker with rules wise. I need to give some more thought to army composition, but I like having problems to solve. And I sure as anything have my work cut out for myself when I am outnumbered 3 to 1 by guns which can vapourize my tanks!

Finishing the last of my 6mm British tonight, then will crack into the Americans...

CP