CapnJim's Modern Stuff - Balczaki-Soviet Bridge Fight Full AAR - Pg 54-10 Aug 25

[carlos marighela]

They're pretty cool actually. They've got some annoying toy features like twin blue lights that protrude from the turret and a weird plastic stud coming out of the somewhat inaccurate armoured windshield covers but they can be worked on and the vehicles are quite well detailed. Excellent value for the price I paid for mine, albeit that was a few years back. A platoon's worth cost me less than a single resin vehicle.

They most definitely don't match, scale wise, with the Imprint/Empress BTR-80 being noticeably smaller but if you are fielding them by themselves they're pretty damn good and they look perfectly scaled to the Eureka Afghan War Soviets. Thumbs up from me.

[CapnJim]

I dolled one of the BTR60s up a bit yesterday.  I hope to finish the other 2 today.  I'll post pics when they're done.  And, all y'all will get to see them in action in oru game this Friday...

They cost me less the $20 each, so less than $60 for the 3 of them...not bad, in my book.

[HESH]

Looking forward to seeing these

[CapnJim]

Looking forward to seeing these

Ask, and ye shall receive!

Here they are.  I didn't do much dolling up.  I scraped away the old (brittle) decals, painted new vehicle numbers, painted the headlights and antennae, and painted the hubs to match the vehicle color (I decided to keep them all green.  carlos was right - they'll be more versatile that way.).  Then, I just gave them a bit of weathering via dry-brushing.   Here's how they turned out:

 


And here is my Balczaki Motor Rifle Platoon with their new rides:



These things will see action in Friday's game.  Speaking of which, here's the scenario info.  First up - the map:



The Objective and Points 1-4 are explained in the scenario sheets.  Here are the Balczaki's sheets:




Here are the BFF (Balczaki Freedom Front)'s sheets:




And, here is the Random Event Chart:



I reckon I mentioned this previously, but this scenario is inspired by/adapted from the Alamo scenario in the Force on Force 2 supplement Road to Baghdad (which, in a shameless bit of self-promotion, I co-authored  ).

To put the scenario in context, the BFF is a bit miffed at the Balczaki Armed Forces, for helping rescue the US Ambassador and those captured US Spec Ops guys.  The BFF figures they owe 'em some payback, if ya know what I mean.

Fighting commences at 1100 hrs, this coming Friday.  AAR will follow...

[carlos marighela]

Cool scenario!

[mikedemana]

Have fun! Looking forward to the battle report and pictures!

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

Thanks, fellas.  We played this scenario Friday past.  I warned Ted and Gene that the scenario was likely to be tough for the BFF, and even volunteered to play some of the BFF.  Nope.  Ted and Gene split the BFF fighters, and I took the Balczakis.

We used Fistful of Lead's core rules (with the vehicle rules from Galactic Heroes).  We also used slightly-lengthened distances (movement, weapons ranges, etc.), and figures LoS only extended to their front 180 degrees.

Before I tell the tale of the fight, first I'll familiarize you with the scene of the crime.  Here's looking down the side street to the east (you can see the Balczaki's compound on the left):



And this one is looking up the main street to the north (you can see the abandoned Balczaki BTR):



This one is looking south down the main street:



And this one is looking west down the side street:



That oughta do it.  And now on with...

Part 1:  Just Hold On!

The Balczaki squad had managed to abandon their broke-dick BTR, and holed up in a nearby walled compound.  They made sure the gates were solidly locked.  Two of the Balczaki soldiers were lightly wounded in that original contact with the BFF.  The squad sergeant put most of his men on the roof, where they could establish good fields of fire, but had a couple on the upper floor.  But he made sure to cover the 2 gates leading into the compound.  BFF fighters were in the buildings across the streets, and more were in buildings a bit north up the street.  More were converging on the scene, but the Balczaki Sergeant was assured help was on the way.

BFF fighters moved toward the compound.  The Balczakis on the compound building's roof took shots as they got glimpses of the BFF fighters.  And they exchanged fire with the fighters in the buildings across the street.



As BFF fighters moved toward the compound, a RFB cameraman took up a position behind a car where he could get good shots of the action.



Then, a glimmer of hope for the Balczakis.  A lone BTR came on from the west, moving fast.  The BTR missed seeing the BFF fighters behind the compound and kept on moving.  it did see the fighters in the upstairs floor of the brick building across from the compound, and sent bursts of 14.5mm rounds crashing into the wall and windows, sending the BFF fighters up there scrambling for cover.  Well, except the one they wounded.



BFF fighters kept up the pressure.  They began firing RPGs at the compound gates, trying to blow them open, but to no avail.



More fighters came in from the east, working their way through back yards south of the side road.



The BTR kept going, fast, east down the side street.  BFF fighters and Balczakis traded more fire.  And RPGs still weren't having any real effect on the compound gates.



The BTR racing down the side street spied the BFF fighters in those backyards, and fired at them, causing some concern.



The Balczakis were in danger of running low on ammo.  The squad sergeant ordered 2 men to go out to retrieve more ammo from their busted BTR.  They opened the compound's front gate and headed out to the BTR.



This gambit did not go unnoticed.  BFF fire wounded one of the Balczaki troopers on the ammo run.  That made for good shots by the RFB photographer, who had a front-row seat to the action.



More fighters came on from the north.  Balczaki fire dropped one immediately.



More balczakis were beginning to stack up at the compound wall, making sure they were out of the line of fire.



That thought also occurred to the guys in the backyards fired on by the BTR just passing through (it had just kept going...).  They, too, found a wall to hug.



Not quite halfway through our little affair here, things were at a bit of an impasse.  The BFF fighters hadn't figured out a way into the compound yet, but the Balczakis inside weren't going anywhere, either.  And at least one of them was lying wounded by the BTR, the gate wide open behind him.  But the Balczakis had the walls and gates well covered.

Someone was going to have to figure something out.  Just then, the unmistakable sound of a tank approaching from the south could be heard.  And the billowing black smoke from its diesel engine could be seen, as well.  "Just who's tank was it?" was now on everyone's mind...

That's it for Part 1.  I'll post Part 2:  Whose Tank Is It Anyway? soon enough...

[CapnJim]

Soon enough has just arrived.

Part 2:  Whose Tank Is It Anyway?

While everyone was shivering with anticipation about the tank that was approaching, a couple stray mortar rounds fell on/around the intersection.  They fell harmlessly.  Mostly.  One of them, apparently a dud, put a dent in the hood of a car parked along the curb.  The other knocked a traffic light over.

And then the tank showed up, driving in from the south, its coax spraying the street and knocking down BFF fighters.  It was a Balczaki T55, riding (well, driving, really) to the rescue! 
 


Some of those fighters were able to make it to the rear of the abandoned BTR, and they took cover from the T55's machine gun fire.  The Balczaki squad sergeant began moving his men toward the front gate, to keep BFF goons from getting in that way.  And to escape when it came time to do so.



Other BFF fighters moved together around behind the tank, hoping to disable it somehow.  Their leader, still at that wall, hoping the BTR was gone, briefly lost his nerve.  He sent out messages via portable radio for everyone to hold their position for a minute while he figured out what the Hell was going on...



Then, more help for the besieged Balczakis arrived.  Their rescue BTRs, led by their Platoon Senior Sergeant!  One of the Balczaki troopers had loaded his wounded comrade onto the T55, which had moved up by the broken BTR.  Once that was done, the tank began backing away, and BFF fighters began to try to swarm the area around the front gate.  The Balczakis would have to fight their way to the rescue BTRs...



Fighters tried to get at the tank.  All they managed to do was to wound the poor Balczaki guy on the back deck again.  The TC was busy, though.  He had a street full of targets to shoot at with his DShK. 



Things were getting hairy.  BFF fighters swarming around, some going down.  Balczaki soldiers making a break for the lead rescue BTR, which had pulled up along the side wall of the compound.  The trail rescue BTR was near at hand as it pulled up behind the tank (leaving enough room for the tank to back out of there).  It too had a street full of potential targets.  The streets were alive with the sound of gunfire.  And grenades exploding.  And men groaning in pain.  And diesel engines revving.  And men shouting in Balczak... 



Two very interesting things happened next.  The T55's TC was spraying the street in front of his tank.  He spied 2 men behind a red sedan up the street, at least one of whom had a weapon.  12.57mm DShK rounds lit up the car.  They also lit up the guy in front, who happened to be the RFB cameraman, who fell to the pavement, Out of Action. Oops...oh well...

The other thing was that a BFF fighter had managed to crawl up on the T55 as it began backing away, and put the coup-de-grace on the badly-wounded Balczaki trooper lying up there.  The lead rescue BTR, scanning the area for targets, found one, and scratched the back of the T55 - sending that BFF fighter tumbling off the tank.  The tank backed away.



The fight around the front gate and the abandoned BTR swirled.  BFF fighters came up, with some looting the BTR.  Balczakis made their way to the rescue BTRs.  One Balczaki grenadier, in particular, provided covering fire for the others as they made their escape.  But, one Balczaki, covering the back gate, was slow to follow orders to begin the evacuation.



More BFF fighters were converging on the scene



The lead rescue BTR started to move away, but one more Balczaki trooper (the squad sergeant) ran toward it, and climbed aboard. The trail BTR moved in behind him.  There were still 2 Balczakis left to get out, though... 





The Balczaki grenadier manning the front gate slammed it shut and braced it.  He then began heading toward the back gate.  The Balczaki covering the back gate joined him.  Once the squad sergeant got in, the lead BTR moved out, and the trail BTR followed.  The last 2 Balczakisi would come out the back gate and get in the trail BTR.  They would all then make their way back to base together.  The BFF fighters, frustrated that they couldn't get into the compound, stripped that abandoned BTR of anything of value.  They didn't even notice the last 2 Balczaki soldiers slip away out the back.



And then it was over...

For Whom the Bell Tolls.  Or Doesn't Toll...

We've had bloodier fights, my group has.  But this one was a grind.  Nobody could do any real damage in the first 4 turns, due to the amount of cover available to fighters on both sides.  BFF fighters did manage to wound 3 Balczaki soldiers (and ended up putting one Out of Action).  And, most of the BFF fighters put Out of Action were done so by vehicle-mounted machine guns out in the street.  And (and this would come into play tallying up victory points), the Radio Free Balczakistan reporter was shot down.  After rolling for all the Out of Action/Wounded figures (I included the abandoned BTR in that, as well), here is the final tally:

Balczaki Soldiers
4 were Wounded, but got back into the fight (including the 2 who started the game Wounded).  None of these died.
1 was Wounded and put Out of Action.  He didn't end up dying, either.
So, that's 5 WIA
And, their broken BTR, as it was knocked out and the BFF stripped it of anything useful, was not able to go back into service.
No other Balczaki vehicles were harmed in the playing of this game.

BFF
The BFF ended up having 23 fighters present for this fight.  Of those, 2 left after they ran out of RPG rounds (no secondary weapons). 
11 more ended up Wounded or Out of Action.  Of those, 5 died of their wounds.
So that's 5 KIA and 6 WIA for the BFF.
Plus, the RFB photographer was Out of Action.  He lived, though, and so would his photographs.

Victory Points
The Balczakis earned 8 VPs (5 for getting everyone off the board, and 3 for keeping the BFF out of the Objective).
BUT, they lost 3 for dropping the cameraman.
So the Balczakis got a net 5 VPs.

The BFF got 1 VP for the Balczaki figure they put Out of Action.
They also got 2 VPs for looting the BTR.
Then, they got 3 more points, as all three of the Balczaki figures that were Wounded were done so in LoS of the photographer (before he went down, of course).
So, they BFF got 6 VPs.

Which means the BFF won by a slim margin, 6-5.  BUT, since the cameraman survived, his photographs provided a pretty good propaganda opportunity for the BFF.  And for the Soviets, who have not recognized Balczakistan's independence and thus still have troops in Balczakistan.  But we'll get to that later.

In the meantime, the Balczakistan Provisional Government, which the US and a few other nations have recognized, was a bit embarrassed by, and pissed off at, the Balczaki Freedom Front.  What does that mean?

It means a couple things.  First, with the negative publicity going on as a result of the fight just described, the provisional Information Directorate in the Balczakistan Ministry of Internal Affairs will order Radio Free Balczakistan, and all its broadcast and print outlets, shut down.  And they will order a raid on RFB's headquarters to enforce that order.

Second, the pro-provisional government and anti-Soviet militia, the Peoples' Balczaki Resistance (PBR), is planning to poke the bear, by attacking a Soviet garrison. 

Meanwhile, the US military presence (the US Marine battalion sent in when the Ambassador was kidnapped), with the rescue of the Ambassador, has been keeping a low profile of late. 

That oughta give some idea where this might all be heading.            

 

[mikedemana]

Sounds like quite the slugfest! Close game, though. Congrats to the Balczakis for conducting a successful rescue operation. They may have lost the game, but the main mission objective was notched off as a success. I am enjoying reading these reports…

Mike Demana

[carlos marighela]

That was quite a gripping narrative! Realy enjoyable read, it mst have been a fun game.

[Rick]

Very good read but the BFF crowd don't appear to be as 'on the ball' as regards media manipulation. As soon as the troops have left, they should have stashed the weapons and any incriminating insignia and put on white helmets - then got a local rent-a-mob to pretend to be casualties whilst filming the "atrocities caused by the government" - crying, screaming and shouting that the tank fired its guns into a hospital/school/place of worship! If it gets picked up internationally there's always a few idiots that'll believe 'em, no matter how outrageous the lies! 

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Another exciting AAR, sounds like a good game.

[CapnJim]

Sounds like quite the slugfest! Close game, though. Congrats to the Balczakis for conducting a successful rescue operation. They may have lost the game, but the main mission objective was notched off as a success. I am enjoying reading these reports…

That was quite a gripping narrative! Realy enjoyable read, it mst have been a fun game.

Another exciting AAR, sounds like a good game.

Thanks, fellas!  Appreciate it.   

Very good read but the BFF crowd don't appear to be as 'on the ball' as regards media manipulation. As soon as the troops have left, they should have stashed the weapons and any incriminating insignia and put on white helmets - then got a local rent-a-mob to pretend to be casualties whilst filming the "atrocities caused by the government" - crying, screaming and shouting that the tank fired its guns into a hospital/school/place of worship! If it gets picked up internationally there's always a few idiots that'll believe 'em, no matter how outrageous the lies! 

Yes - the BFF are fairly new to the propaganda game.  But, they will get another crack at it when the Balczaki authorities raid Radio Free Balczakistan's main offices...but it seems what the BFF has done so far, PR-wise, has struck a nerve...

Once I chat with my regular gaming group this Friday (we're playing an ACW game), I'll know when we're going back to Balczakistan.

[Doug ex-em4]

I’ve been saving this for a quiet moment so it could be savoured. Good decision because it made for an excellent leisurely read. I enjoyed the detail of the scenario outline which, along with the map, made the AAR all the more enjoyable. And the photos were topnotch - I love the gritty, low-level street scenes.

Thanks for sharing👍

Doug

[HESH]

Cracking stuff and great photos.

Very atmospheric and you’ve painted a great picture with all the supporting scenario info. 👍