No Stone Unturned: AAR

Man in Suit: "Sit down Corporal Taylor. Now, I've read your after action report but I'd like you to go through the op in your own time".

Taylor: "Right. Er, Yessir.......we was patrolling down the lane from the Lydyard Road, when there was a movement in the barn just off the road to the left. I signalled to the section to halt and scanned the area right to left; when I spotted another flash of DPM in the barn doorway and indicated it to Terry, Ranger Jones, with the r/t. We all crouched, including Paxy".

Suit: Paxy?

Taylor: "Sorry Sir. Mr Paxman of the BBC."

Suit: "And?"

Taylor: "And, then we came under fire from the direction of the farmhouse and the barn; I ordered the gun group to engage the barn while Jones and me took opened fire on the farmhouse, well, the lean to, thats where the firing was from".

Suit: "And the rest of the section?"

Taylor: "I ordered them to move right towards a possible gap in the hedge, but then Ranger Wilson was hit and I decided to concentrate on shooting back".

Suit: "You did not bother to even attempt a flanking move?"

Taylor; "Ermm...I decided to win the initial firefight by means of aimed fire first as we had no idea where the other bad guys were".

Suit: "And You shot the man in the barn?"

Taylor: "Yessir. So then I told the rifle group to get a around wide on the left and head for the front of the farm. Terry and me and the Gympy kept firing at the guy in the lean to - and then he did a runner. Me and Terry legged it for the house while Den and the gympy kept fire up on the lean to. Then we assaulted the house and......

Suit: "How?"

Taylor: "Well, we shouted, "British Army!" and kicked the door in? 

Suit: "And once inside?"

Taylor: "Errr, after a couple of seconds....we cleared the kitchen, hall and front room. No upstairs, just beams. House was empty but we could see three men running down the lane".

Suit: "So?"

Taylor: "One was firing back at us. We opened fire and I dropped him one. Meanwhile, Lt Frisby had arrived in the Westland and apparently had a disagreement with his pilot who didn't want to fly too close, so...

Corporal Taylor with obligatory Tom Selleck moustache

Suit: "You dropped this suspect too? Good. And Meanwhile, Ranger Wilson was.....???"

 Taylor: "Receiving first aid from Mr Paxman, Sir. Did a good job too".

Suit: "You then saw the Scout try to land over towards the lane?"

Taylor: "No Sir. I heard the helo come in low, but then there was this long burst of automatic fire from what sounded like a Sterling. Full mag I reckon. The helo climbed, wobbled and clattered back over the house. then I could see the rifle group getting to the top of the mound and firing down into the lane.

"We was linked up with by Den. Sorry, gun group, and  followed the enemy with fire down the lane. This is when the rifle group slotted another guy. Final suspect disappeared into the coppice to the north east and by now Mr Frisby had arrived with his r/t and was told to go firm on the farm while Cordon Force took up the pursuit".

"Within minutes a civvie van, and a couple of Rovers pull up. Some heavily armed, hard bastards with long hair and jeans pile out. We're bundled into the Rovers and brought here 'til you arrived Sir".  

Suit: "Thank you Corporal Taylor. Yes, you can take the Jaffa cakes".

POSTSCRIPT

Alan Tate is on the run. Three members of the Clash Action Front shot and killed. Another body found in the outhouse. Ranger Wilson lightly wounded. Corporal Taylor awarded the Military Medal and promoted to Sergeant. Followed by two further Mentioned in Despatches for 14 Platoon. Section S get's it's "victory".

Army Heroes Turn Tables on Trot Murderers

THE GAME

Classic Platoon 20 Post War 1970's British Infantry vs ex-Hotspur minis playing Clash Action Front this time round. I continue to have a fondness for the original Platoon 20 modern figures. They remind me of the illustrations in Basic Battle Skills - can't get more 70's than that.

I put the table together in 10 minutes and the game took 30 odd minutes to play. Once Maff got his act in gear and stormed Ravensdale Cottage things happened really fast; at which point I lost track of time. Maff's left flank move only just managed to catch the fleeing Trots with the rifle group's SLRs banging out 7.62mm rapid!

Cold War: 1983 were once again the rules for this scenario. Unlike previous games, the dice consistently rolled really poorly with the exception of Corporal Taylor taking out the guy in the corrugated out house with a single aimed shot.

14 Platoon, would in all probability been operating in 4 man bricks - 2 or 3 to each patrol. First brick with Gympy, second with LMG.  I deliberately reverted to the more traditional Gun Group and Rifle Group organisation to give Maff a taster of commanding these elements on the tabletop and still maintain some firepower balance given that the Trots had only recently gone through their first experience of combat and were facing N.I. vets.

Cheers
Mark