Gurkhas - more colonial troops

Apologies to those who left comments on my last post, but my laptop seems to have contracted COVID 19 and failed to work.  I have also reverted back to the earlier version of Blogger, which seems to have made life easier.

In the meantime, I have continued to work on my colonial armies, with some more Afghans on the go, a British battalion nearing completion as are a hoard of Dervish cavalry.

Completed yesterday are these Gurkhas. They are original Charles Stadden figures and will provide  adversaries for my Afghan tribesmen:

Battle Report - Minding the Gap!

In no time the soviet recce elements began to probe forward to determine where the NATO defensive positions might be. Already the Recce commander can hear firing off to his flanks and he guesses that the ridge to his front is defended. Doctrine forces him to push on and he sends his light tanks up the road, whilst his scout cars probe around the flanks.

His three PT-76s reach the cross roads:

 As reports of enemy movement come into combat team (CT) HQ, the NATO CT commander moves up onto the ridge to take stock. His plan is to try to fight off the recce with his infantry, while keeping his tanks concealed for the main attack.

 Two BRDMs nose their way around the soviet right flank and are engaged by a Wombat. The shot misses and the vehicles pull back:

At the same time the two leading PT-76s are engaged by concealed infantry 84mm and are quickly taken out:

The soviet recce commander decides that it would be folly to try to move more light tanks through the close country and he orders the accompanying infantry to move forward and clear the hedgerows.

 He also orders an artillery barrage to soften up the objective and shells crash down on to the Blankshires trenches:

The dismounted infantry surge forward:

 And despite the artillery support are met by a wall of fire that causes many casualties.

 Temporarily halted, the soviets call for smoke and soon the attacking infantry are masked as they once more attempt to cross the road:

 The right hand Wombat repositions, and takes out one of the BTR-60s:

 The soviet infantry emerge from the smoke and surge forwards:

 

An infantryman with an RPG engages the Wombat armed APC and destroys it:

 The Blankshire's right flank is now in serious danger of being over run and so the platoon commander calls for a 'danger close' mortar stonk, which lands around the position, cutting down the exposed soviet troops, but killing one of the Blankshires too:

The remaining PT-76 pushes up the road, firing into the flanks of the British infantry, but is taken out by a Chieftain on the ridge, but the Chieftain has been spotted.

 The CT commander looks beyond the battle in front and can see columns of tanks and APCs moving along the road in the distance. To his horror he realises that these are not old BTRs and T-55 tanks; but more modern T-62s and BMP tracked APCs:

 After more stiff fighting the soviets capture the CT right hand position and they push forwards:

 Having located one of the British Chieftains the soviets bring up an ATGW BRDM, which fires Swatter missiles; but misses its target:

 The soviets fire everything they have got at the Chieftain and a 115mm round from a T-62 slams into the turret ring, knocking out the British tank

 The first Chieftain burns:

 The newly arrived BMPs begin to disgorge their infantry onto the CTs left flank and put pressure on the dug in infantry:

 A supporting T-62 crunches through the hedge and blasts away at the British trenches:

 On the CTs right, tanks and APCs support the infantry assault:

 Increasing pressure on the defending infantry.

 The Chieftains on the left ridge open up but miss their target and quickly another Chieftain is knocked out by concentrated tank and ATGW fire:

 The remaining Wombat attempts to engage a T-62, misses and is destroyed by tank fire:

 With one tank remaining and the anti-tank guns knocked out things look bad for the CT.

In an attempt to stop the infantry assault on the CTs left flank artillery fire is brought down, causing a number of casualties amongst the soviet infantry:

 But, BMP and tank fire pins the British infantry as the soviets close in.

 On the CTs right flank soviet tanks and APcs nose their way up onto the ridge. The CTs position is all but lost:

 The CT commander orders non essential troops and CT HQ to withdraw:

 The last remaining Chieftain accounts for one of the BMPs before pulling back off the ridge

 On the other flank the soviets are in control of the ridge as they pass a knocked out Chieftain:

With one remaining tank and just half of the infantry, Combat Team Charlie withdraws, having failed to do much damage to the soviets or delay them as long as required. A win for the soviets.

Mind the Gap - Cold War - Part 1

This action in a fictional location represents the type of operation conducted by the BAOR covering force elements in the early 1970s.  To the west of Hannover lies a series of steep wooded ridges with narrow gaps where roads and tracks run through. These ridges form good defensive positions.

The defence of one such gap has been allocated to Combat Team Charlie, centred upon C Company minus of the 1st Blankshires (BL). The combat team consists of two platoons, company HQ and a troop of Chieftain Tanks from the Loamshire Hussars (LH). In support is an anti-tank section (Wombats) and an 81mm mortar section from battalion support company. An FOO from W Bty 9 RHA is also attached to the combat team. Here is the deployment:

The road can be seen running through the gap in the wooded ridge. The tanks are deployed on the ridge, with the two infantry platoons astride the road amongst the farmland below the ridge.

On each flank is a Wombat armed APC:

The mortar section is deployed behind the ridge:

The FOO is located on the ridge near the tanks:

And the tanks themselves are in firing positions along the tree line:

The infantry are deployed forward to cover the crossroads east of the position:

 And are dug-in and have hand held anti-tank weapons:

The combat team commander is positioned behind the ridge in the grounds of a small chapel; although he will move forward once the enemy show them selves:

Just after noon signs of enemy activity are spotted in the shape of elements of soviet 302 Motor-Rifle Division recce vehicles:

PT-76 light tanks:

BRDM 1 scout cars:

BRDM, Swatter anti-tank vehicles:

And waiting further back a motor-rifle platoon in BTR-60 APCs:

The soviets begin to probe forward.........................

Part 2 to follow.

Battle Report - Kreuzdorf Bridge - Finale

With the Bridge now ready to blow, the priority for the British commander is to recover A and B Companies to the home bank and destroy the bridge before the enemy tanks break through.

At last luck changes for the British, with a high troop activation dice throw, two of the Chieftains depoly on to the high ground, following more good luck as the Artillery Forward Observer requests a fire mission to take out the annoying Swatter ATGW launcher. His request for fire is granted by being allocated a regiment of 155mm guns. Five rounds fire for effect sees 90 shells slam into the hill, obliterating the BRDM Swatter launcher:

The rest of the British movement sees A and B Companies begin their withdrawal.

On the other hand, the Soviets have a very poor activation; limited to just one pot shot at a Chieftain, that misses.

This pause allows the British infantry to break clean and pull back, and the Chieftains to take up their new fire positions on the higher ground:

The Soviets now have better luck, and realising that the bridge will be blown soon, their commander decides to push his armour forward en masse. Three companies  of tanks supported by two infantry companies surge forward:

The soviet tanks now come into range of the Chieftain 120mm guns and two T-55s are soon on fire:

Meanwhile most of B Company and the A Company APC make it to the bridge and cross over:

The soviet tanks rumble forwards and A Company comes under serious pressure and is unable to move, taking fire from infantry and tanks:

On the other flank Soviet tanks push through the abandoned B Company forward positions:

But are halted by accurate fire from the Chieftains:

Another T-55 is hit as it attempts to break through A Company:

The remnants of A Company capitulate as they are overun by tanks. In the centre, two tanks of the Soviet centre company rush for the bridge, as those men of B Company who managed to escape cross over to the home bank:

The British Commander decides that A Company is lost, the survivors of B Company on the far bank will have to swim for it as he gives the order to the engineers to blow the Bridge:

The Bridge collapses into the river and the enemy advance is halted. The Chieftains kill two more T-55s before pulling back from their firing positions.

The battle is a win for the British, although they lose over a third of their infantry and tanks.  However; the Soviet advance has been halted for the time being.

The last headlong assault was very costly for the soviet commander. He has lost over half of his tanks and failed to take his main objective, the bridge.









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