Summer Anti Nod Offensive Pt. 3.

On the other side of Dun Masud, the HNG advance was going very well. Due to a misunderstanding Frank had assumed that the HNG armour on this flank also consisted of M-48 tanks, when in fact they were Chieftains. Opposing the Chieftains were Khandist forces consisting of a recon company of armoured cars, a light company of T-72s, and two companies of mechanised infantry mounted in M-113s.

Quickly brewed - T-72s and Saladins. M-113s await their fate.

T-72s knock out a Chieftain, and a Saladin. The other Saladin is destroyed by Khand Saladins.

Khandist Infantry move deep into the town : "Just so we're very clear no one is in a firing position"

More Khandists move up to the town.

 

HNG Recon moving down the highway from Dun Masud discover Khandist forces in Tarab. The discovery took the form of being knocked out by said Khandist forces.

Nod seizes a wooded ridge. Frank's flags are both functional as order caps and visually pleasing.

This was the point where I discovered that my M-48s couldn't penetrate the front armour of the T-72s. While this was the result of a error in reading the armour stats, it was a definite game changer at the time.

HNG forces litter the battlefield.

Nod T-72s saved the day, through firepower and clerical errors in their favour,

Once Frank found his smoke, things looked even more grim on this flank.

HNG armour is attacked by Khandist infantry using integral RPGs at close range, the lead tank is also being mobbed by NOD troops hidden by the palm trees.

Chieftains are stopped by anti tank missiles, recoilless rifles, and close assaults from the woods.

The mosque is held for a brief time by HNG forces. Khandist forces mill below in preparation for an assault.

A grim scene. Fighting continued in Dun Masud, and Nod infantry joins up with Khandish troops to attempt to seize the town.

Hordes of them! But are they enough? Some of these troops aren't keen on reentering the fight after failing morale.

 This was the point at which, after playing for several hours, we called the game. Neither one of us felt that we had been defeated, but neither one of us had achieved our objectives. More importantly both of us were not prepared to take a major risk to win. Those Nod T-72s stayed firmly in the woods, despite the discovery of their M-48 proof armour. Dun Masud was still contested, and both sides still had significant assets on the table. It was a very enjoyable game, and was more engrossing than I thought it would be. I had imagined a very basic quick pickup game which due to two errors became very challenging for both players. I don't normally play armour heavy modern forces so it was nice to use so many tanks - a bit like playing Soviets in WW2!

In order to eliminate future errors with stats, I am going to make up a series of  A5 vehicle reference cards which will also have information relating to the Harad campaign on them. Think of them as being a cross between the Twilight 2000 2nd ed. Vehicle entries and the CD stats. I also think I need to look at Mr Makin's CD moderns conversions in more depth as I think I prefer some of the CD 2 rules, such as the way aircraft are handled - although I think the CD 3 air attack morale modifier is bang on.