The Wargamer

Although I had never before played any of HPS Simulations’ Squad Battles series, my interest was immediately piqued when I learned of their latest title, Soviet-Afghan War. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is a fascinating conflict and its many small-scale actions lend themselves well to company and battalion-sized wargaming. Playing Soviet-Afghan War has been very enjoyable because it is one of those classic “easy-to-learn-yet-difficult-to-master” games.

For this After Action Review (AAR), I have chosen the Order of the Red Star scenario, which is a company-sized battle lasting 18 turns. I selected it because (a) I have never played it before so the following review is not biased by me having played it before and knowing where the enemy is and what it will do (although I have some idea!) and (b) because it features my long-time favorite unit, the Hind-D.

Having selected to play as the Soviets and chosen the Mujahedeen to be played by the AI with full Fog of War and all optional rules selected, the following background briefing is provided:

Islam-Dara Kanyon is located at the eastern edge of a desert 150km south of Kandahar city. With deep ravines and rocky hilltops it is a very defensible geographical feature. Additionally its proximity to the Pakistan border made the canyon an ideal Mujahideen stronghold. The base trained guerrilla forces and provided weapons and ammunition for combat deep inside Afghanistan. It consisted of several camps, a hospital, weapons and ammunition stores.

In the winter of the 1985, the 40th Army sent the crack 103rd Airborne Division to the area. Division's task was blocking the exits and destroying the Mujahideen forces trapped in the canyon. The 1st Battalion of the 350th Parachute Regiment was to sent an airborne company plus the reconnaissance platoon; conduct an air assault to seize a landing zone and dominating heights. They were to support the insertion of the rest of the battalion and block the canyon in the north to prevent the enemy from withdrawing in that direction.

At 1500 hours on 18 November, the forward group was airborne with eight Mi-8 and four Mi-24 helicopters. During their approach to the landing zone, Mujahideen opened heavy machinegun fire and shot down two Mi-8's. Two helicopters crashed in the canyon with their surviving infantry. The crash zones were in danger of being overrun by the Mujahideen. The air assault turned into a rescue operation. Leitenant V.V. Serdyukov commanding the reconnaissance platoon, has led his men up the heights to seize hill 2300 and cover the withdrawal of the survivors.

There are a couple of other things to be aware of before beginning, viz, that the scenario has limited (air) support for the Soviets and some units (Mi-8s and Hinds) will be automatically withdrawn from the map. Also, the surviving downed Soviet infantry are fixed and cannot move from their location.

The overview map shows where the helicopters have crashed, while the rescue force arriving in Mi-8s and Hind-Ds from the west can just be made out on the edges of the Jump Map. Also visible are some additional victory locations and a known Mujahedeen HMG position – there is a second HMG to the south, which is not visible on the screen at the moment.

On the first turn I flew the two Mi-8s and their Hind escorts located at the top of the map across to seize the secondary objectives and brought the larger force of four Mi-8s on the bottom left of the map to land near the surviving infantry. I used their Hind escorts to pummel the HMG at the bottom of the map, pinning its crew to the ground. After finishing my turn, the AI-controlled Mujahedeen revealed themselves, taking further pot shots at the helicopters (and receiving opportunity fire in return) and moving en-mass towards my forlorn survivors.

During the following few turns I unloaded my troops and marched them towards the objectives. The original survivors to the left were close to being overrun, but the Hinds and unloaded Mi-8s strafed the advancing Mujahedeen, leaving most for dead. The Hinds and Mi-8s in the center of the map also thinned out the enemy’s advancing troops, although a new HMG appeared on the top of the hill. This represented a significant threat due to its commanding position. I had two squads of infantry and a leader only a couple of hexes away, and ordered them to open fire, pinning the gun crew. After firing, I made the troops drop to the ground (represented by the white bar on the bottom of the counter) in the hope that they would not be hit by any return fire. I could have called in air support on the position, but the risk of hitting my own men was too great so I decided to keep this limited resource in reserve and use it later.

The helicopters proved their worth over the next couple of turns as they systematically wiped out Mujahedeen squads, leaving a battlefield littered with unclaimed weapons (the gray rifle counters). There remained some persistently pesky HMGs, although the one at the center of the map was eventually wiped out through the combined firepower of several squads and helicopters. To help deal with the others, I called for air support, which would be made available within the next couple of turns.