Action at Sittangbad

Based on ‘The Battle of Sittangbad’ by Young & Lawford from Charge! or How to Play War Games. You'll recognise the scenario if you're a SOG member over at Ambush Alley (or indirectly if you're Old School!)

A major Taliban offensive in Helmand has been thwarted by British forces and the resulting counter-offensive has the group running for the hills.

The local leader is unwilling to loss his most valuable supplies and has set up a rear-guard operation in advance of the main bridge across the Sittang to give him time to evacuate his headquarters.



The Taliban supply dump is a hive of activity



The first echelon of the British raiders advance



The advance to Ishaghar is interrupted by the outlying Taliban groups



The Warrior targets the group inside Ishaghar at point blank



Civilians on the Front Line complicate matters



The medic renders aid to them, before long he's called over to help the sniper team



Taliban snipers are cornered by WMIK, which jumps ahead of the main body to prevent their withdrawal



The WMIK stays behind poppy fields, hoping that the cover will protect it



The drivers (well, some of them at least) spring into action



A driver getting onboard



The DShK team setting up a hot reception



The senior Taliban leader leaves his advanced position



Taliban set up firing position on the tomb



Technical's MG cuts out



Moving through the ravine - this Taliban team intends to cut off the advancing British at Ishaghar



Setting up on overwatch inside the village



Civilians in the line of fire - maybe the heavy machine gun next door is going to sour the goats' milk!



Fireteam feels confident that it's bringing enough firepower to the party



Warrior tries to get Technical, but the 4x4 speeds away just as it opens up



Leader gets back to Sittangbad to pick up a lift out of the town



WMIK driving around the poppy fields - it's hoping to slow down the withdrawal - its engine has been damaged in an exchange with the .50cal



Second batch of trucks gets ready to move out



Holed up in the town - the British snipers attempt to suppress these Taliban to cover the advance - but they come off second best



IED triggered, but somehow the WMIK is unscathed - it drives back the way it came, who knows how many IEDs are nearby?



IED goes off in the house a fireteam have chosen to set up in too - again they luck out and none are injured



GPMG team humping along behind Warrior (why did we get out of that again Herby?)



Fireteam moves around village, trusting the fireteam inside the village to cover its flank as it passes the ravines



The Mastiff roars into action, a fireteam is inside, due for a bumpy ride right into Sittangbad!



Demolitions team sets up with a view on the bridge, but very well hidden from other directions



Sticking to cover as it advances



MOnty, the Warrior commander licks his lips - his shot completely obliterates the truck



Traffic jam not helped by exploding truck, which must've been carrying ammunition



The first Taliban truck makes it across the Sittang



The Taliban's senior leader takes this opportunity to trash-talk - he's nearly safe and across the bridge



The fireteam inside Ishaghar takes more fire from the ravine



The action inside Sittangbad heats up



An RPG team shows up just beside the WMIK and Sniper team



Warrior's advance stopped by IED near bridge - it was intending to drive right up to the bridge, shooting at the 4x4 and the demolitions team



Technical knocked out by the Warrior - the leader, a bodyguard and the driver all bail out and run for the other side of the bridge



Mastiff trains MG on Taliban leader - wiping out the small group as it crosses the bridge



The bridge is blown after the leader is gunned down



The goat herder leaves the killing zone unharmed



You'll never guess what happened to my truck!



Fireteam disembarks from Mastiff, and starts taking control of Sittangbad



GPMG team runs across open ground - even though the battle may seem over, there are still plenty of Taliban on this side of the river



Lurking RPG team takes a shot at the WMIK



Sniper team takes punishment - again the snipers are beaten to the punch and take a casualty (and their return fire is entirely ineffective)



A groggy Taliban leader is taken prisoner outside the tomb



The aftermath - Sittangbad has survived the maelstrom



The British win this one 20-13, miraculously there were no serious casualties on their side. At the end the escape of the senior Taliban leader would've made it a marginal victory for the Taliban so pretty close all things considered.

Contest #2 - Scenario

So you wait for three years for a contest and then two come along at once!

I'm taking a leaf out of GWPertinent's book and copying the format of the competition he ran back in March.

Basically I want you to pimp some of your favourite Land War in Asia blog posts. I have an idea of what people like (from comments mostly) but I do want to hear what specific posts people have enjoyed most and why. Of course on another level this is linkbait! But I hope you'll participate

For the prize this time, instead of a miniature, I'm going to write a wargames scenario for you - customised to your specifications. Historical, hypothetical, fantasy/sci-fi I don't mind. Any system, any scale.
Obviously you'll have a good idea of my interests and the systems I typically play, but whether you specify Austerlitz using C&C Napoleonics, or a sci-fi skirmish inspired by a scene in a book/film I'll take on the challenge. Though if I need to do a bit of research on the system it may take a bit longer to deliver. Anyway, we can discuss in detail once the winner is chosen.

1. You must be a follower of this blog - if that's not possible, a link on your blogroll would be appreciated.
2. To enter write a post on your blog where you select your 3 favourite posts from Land War in Asia.
3. Your post must have 3 pictures, one from each of the posts you selected to portray.
4. Your post must have 3 summaries of the posts you selected to portray - each summary must have a minimum of 3 sentences.
5. You must post a comment on each of the posts you selected with a link to your post.
6. Post your blog link as a comment to this post by July 25th, 2011.
7. On July 26th, I will randomly determine the winner, and link to all your blog posts
8. I can't guarantee the time frame for the winner to receive the scenario, but I promise to give you a deadline once the topic is chosen.

I've been told that my scenarios are well put together, so hopefully this will appeal to all readers!

Contest #1 - Winner!

And we have a winner!

Just three entrants (but maybe the American Civil War isn't as popular as I thought...)

Anyway, here they are

1. The Belgian of Wargame News and Terrain

The officer of the 15th Ironclad prepares for Victorian Sci-Fi adventures (though his pistol looks more flintlock to my prejudices)

2. Kron of Sabre and the Dice

I must admit, Necromancer Bob looks pretty evil! I was sure he'd go with his urban camo Valkyrie.

3. Mik of Mik's Minis

Mik convinced his wife to paint up these Orlock Juves! Rather good for a first effort you must admit.

I assigned numbers 1-6 to the three guys and then had my daughter roll the die
*drum roll*


Congrats to Mik and thanks to all three. Leave a comment with your e-mail Mik and I'll contact you to arrange details.

Contest #2 will be announced tomorrow and will hopefully appeal to more people...

Downed Black Hawk

As announced last week, I'm running a small giveaway.
I'll be drawing a winner on Wednesday, so let's see what you have in your collection

Speaking of cool stuff; a few weeks ago when I ran Force on Force for Trinity Gamers, I got this beauty from Mr.E

The unforuntate Black Hawk



In remarkably good condition, given it's just crashed



Though apparently any worse than this, and the crew and passengers would be extremely lucky to survive



The man holding his wounded comrade is one of my favourite pieces (from Britannia) - I reckon I'd be tempted to use them as my awesome/groovy/cool miniature for the contest.

You've seen these guys before, but they really work well with the chopper - maybe a slightly expanded and modified 'Contracter Trouble' beckons...

The spirit of the gift ties in nicely with a post of mine from February - Best Club in the Cosmos

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

Contest #1 - Awesome!

As promised, here's the first of the contests in celebration of my 200th post last week.

Basically I just want to see the most awesome wargaming miniature in your collection. Now, that's whatever is awesome, groovy or just plain cool by your reckoning - it's completely up to you. I won't be judging - it won't matter if I agree with your choice, I'm just interested in seeing what people submit.

The winner will receive these two miniatures

(28mm Dixon American Civil War cavalrymen)

1. You must be a follower of this blog
2. Miniature must be painted (minimum 3 colours).
3. Photograph must have a piece of paper with "Land War in Asia" written on it
4. You can submit as many photos as you like, but only one will count towards the contest, if you post multiple photos first photo posted will be assumed to be your contest entry.
5. The contest is open to anyone in the world, I'll cover postage and packing of the prize anywhere.
6. Post your photo link as a comment to this post by July 12th. If you want to give me a blurb or a link to a blog post with more photos of it, feel free.
7. On July 13th, I will randomly determine the winner and post all submitted photos