Ambush

En route through Sangin to the Distrct Centre 7 Platoon's convoy of Vikings and Land Rover WMIKs are ambushed. The third Viking is hit hard by RPGs

While all the initial images I've been using for these posts are from the Royal Anglians' tour in Afghanistan, this one is certainly the most affecting. It shows the disabled Viking after being denied by an air strike

OK, so I don't have two Vikings so the new Mastiff is standing in. Likewise I don't have anything remotely resembling a badly damaged armoured vehicle, so I've just placed the casualties behind the convoy



A fireteam debusses from the second Viking to handle the ambushing Taliban immediately to the column's right



Lead section grabs cover to lay down suppressive fire to the head of the columm



A group of civilians turns up, right beside the firefight



A WMIK crew shows their aggressive spirit by turning around and taking on the ambushers



Medic rushes to treat casualties from destroyed Viking - one KIA (the platoon sniper) and one seriously wounded



Taliban group on the left of the column targets the Land Rover - making sure they can't be seen by the rest of the British



The WMIK gets hits in first - putting down four of the Taliban as the rest scarper



Taliban leaders on that flank are left rueing lost chances - group and the DShK have been wiped out



The Marine fireteam (survivors of the disabled Viking) are feeling the worse for wear, some heat exhaustion probably to add to their bad luck. The second fireteam from the rear Viking moves to establish a perimeter on the left-hand side of the column



Firteam from lead Viking takes to the rooftop in attempt to suppress Taliban group ahead



Both WMIKs move to head of column - another strong group of Taliban has been spotted in the treeline at the end of the road



As the fireteam moves out to secure the initial ambush point, another group emerges from hiding



Led by the platoon's lieutenant two fireteams catch them in a cruel crossfire - the civilian on the rooftop realise they're not so safe and get out of town!



A fireteam holding down the left flank - everything seems to have gone quiet here



Royal Marines join in to root out the Taliban nearby

#

The fireteam on the rooftop has taken a casualty in the firefight - another KIA. He's moved alongside the Viking and placed inside



Three Taliban are captured inside the courtyard - onlookers remove any temptation the British might have to finish them



Covering the withdrawal while the three prisoners are bundles on board the Viking



The left-flank security stamps out resistance, taking out the Taliban leader before he can escape



Reinforcements arrive at top of road



Move it! The corporal gets the Viking moving - the vehicle has been stationary for far too long



Almost out - the British are making progress now, and there's very little effective resistance left



IED ahead - it's blocking the easy withdrawal of two of the fireteams



Last chance for the Taliban to stop them nearly pays off, but the two soliders running alongside the Viking return fire and escape injury



Those Taliban trigger a Soviet land mine - this must've been a part of the ambush but the late arrivals weren't aware of it



The British make it off in the turn limit by the skin of their teeth.
Winning 10-7, any additional delay would've seen a Taliban victory

The Longest Day

B Company enters the Green Zone in order to clear the town of Deh Adan Khan, a key Taliban stronghold for their attacks on Gereshk.

The British move into the outskirts of Deh Adan Khan



Taliban gather behind the main compound



Fireteam stacks up outside Objective 6, being covered by the rest of their section



Taliban group moving to an ambush position on the other side of canal



Taking up position inside the main compound



More Taliban reinforcements arrive at the house across the main canal bridge



Clearing Objective 6 goes without a hitch, five local Taliban were prepared but not up to the challenge



Objective 7 cleared without resistance and with a view on main compound



The GPMG team moves up behind the front line



Taliban setting up defensive position to enfilade the British advance



The Taliban groups there join forces after taking a lot of fire from the British



Taliban .50 cal held in reserve behind the main compound



More reinforcements arrive...



But after getting a lot of attention from the British, those who aren't shot down high-tail it (despite the exhortations of their leader)



Fireteam moves along buildings towards trees, now that across the canal has been cleared



That fireteam approaches Objective 8 under cover



Lone fireteam crosses canal bridge, hoping to secure that area



Two fireteams are ready to assault Objective 8 - platoon has an inkling this one might be a live one...



Taking prisoners across the canal - a real find with two foot soldiers and a leader taken alive



The Viking is called in to pick up the prisoners



Objective 8 is a real murder house - defended by some serious Tier-1 Taliban. The section clears this, but with some very close calls



Taliban reserve sets up to defend the main compound



Bundling Taliban leader into the Viking - "We'll talk to you later"



Moving through trees to get a shot on the compound - the British have started to converge on Objective 9



Approaching Objective 9 under fire - this fireteam will be the lead element in the storming on the compound



Objective 9 must have ratruns connecting it to rest of Deh Adan Khan - a horde of Taliban appear on the rooftop



Race to the compound wall to get into cover - the Taliban are now amped up and loaded for Bear!



The last redoubt of the Taliban at Objective 11 fills up - they are also covering the rooftops of the main compound



Moving past gap between buildings - narrowly avoiding getting shot up from across the way



Assaulting remnants of group inside Objective 9 - only two Taliban remain inside after the hail of fire poured into the building



The fireteam clears Objective 9 without a hitch



Fireteam readying for assault on Objective 10 is outflanked by new arrivals (or just well-camoflaged?) Taliban in the trees



Fireteam putting fire downrange - they are beaten to the punch and two of their number get shot (both KIAs)



Fireteam trips IED inside Objective 10 - they barely make it out alive, one serious casualty. They said the leader who they were going to tattempt to capture was primed with explosives...



The British win this one 14-9, albeit all those British casualties were in the final turn (possibly due to over-stretching and a mix of good timing and lucky reinforcements for the Taliban)

I was at a bit of a loss of how to represent the high tension-variable intensity fighting involved in this kind of clearing action. Thankfully the guys over at Ambush Alley are coming up with some new building clearance rules for the Fallujah book being released next year. They work really well, and looking forward to doing a bit more testing on them soon.