Welcome to Hell
Scenario One - The Battle Begins
Yugoslavian Army (JNA) forces on the move
We've begun playing the Welcome to Hell scenario pack which is available from phoenixcommand.com (you'll find the scenarios in the Site Map). The scale is 20mm.
It is June 1991. Just days earlier the Slovenians have declared independence and their recently formed Territorial Defence Force (TDF) has put up road blocks in order to prove that they are in control of their land. It is now the task of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) to clear these road blocks and restore the authority of the Belgrade government. The killing is about to begin in Yugoslavia.
The battleground. JNA forces approach from lower left. The makeshift Slovenian customs house is in the light brown building
on center left. Beyond that is the rest of the village. The green hills are by Games Workshop, the trees and the rocks on the right by Noch.
We're using the Phoenix Command Small Arms Combat System (PCCS). The scale of the game system is one man, 0.5 second Impulses, 100 grams of weight and one bullet. Phoenix Command has a certain reputation for, erm, complexity. This scenario is being played with an impressive array of Advanced and optional rules by two experienced GMs... We are using Morale rules (including Integrated Morale Rules available from phoenixcommand.com), full Mechanized rules scaled down to PCCS (the original Mechanized rules use squad-sized infantry units), Advanced Hit Tables (with 1800 hit locations on the human body), and we're using a card-based turn sequence.
Nearing the customs house. The terrain piece ahead is of papier-mache fashioned by Heikki.
The Slovenians use hidden initial placement while the JNA units are on the board. Both sides must spot each other before they can fire. This is about as complex a game as we can recommend for a PCCS skirmish involving about 40 troops and one tank. It will take us some eight hours to play through this scenario.
The JNA. On the left, lieutenant Slobodan Juhoslavic. We used Russian Federals by Orion as Yugoslav National Army troops.
Leading the JNA half-platoon, of mainly Muslim conscripts from southern Yugoslavia, is a Serb, lieutenant Slobodan Juhoslavic. His men form a reconnaissance platoon of a mechanized battallion which is still a kilometer or so away from here. This is just another roadblock and he intends to advance close enough to parley with this bunch of separatists. He will insist on their surrender, and hope that most of them will leave their posts and be escorted off the border station. Then, if he must, he will use deadly force to oust those that still remain. This is a unique scenario in that the players have a parley option - if the negotiations are successful, the TDF may surrender or retreat and no shot will be fired. After this roadblock is secured Juhoslavic will press on towards the next one. The road must remain open so that the JNA can flex its muscles.
Men of the first squad hit the ground, covering the advance of the second squad. Telephone poles by
Fujimi and Hasegawa. The road is a freely downloadable paper road by Wizards of the Coast.
There is little room in the gorge so Juhoslavic orders his first squad to advance halfway across the open ground, then throw themselves to the ground. The supporting PT-76B trundles along with them... this impressive show of force should deter the TDF from shooting first, Juhoslavic hopes. The squad throw themselves onto the ground and the lieutenant motions second squad forwards while the first one covers their advance.
In some games tanks are all-powerful fighting machines which infantry have little hope of challenging. But in Phoenix Command the shortcomings of their design become all too apparent. In this case Juhoslavic has no way of communicating with the tank besides hand signals... and as his squad goes prone the tank commander - who also acts as the gunner on the PT-76 - is looking ahead through his perisope and directing the driver and has no time to observe what his supporting infantry are doing. Thus his tank advances a bit too far forward before noticing that the infantry are no longer with him...
The PT-76B halts some forty meters from the customs house. Tank by Ace.
The PT-76 then screeches to a halt and the commander scans the separatists' roadblock ahead for RPG-wielding delinquents but finds none. Since the tank's current position has a decent field of fire, the commander decides to hold his position for now.
Sergeant Malasevic (hand raised) and some of his men at the roadblock. Figures by Liberation Miniatures,
checkpoint accessories by Hasegawa, the barbed wire are old springs. The truck is an old Norwegian
plastic toy and depicts a Russian truck (anyone know the make?). The customs house is a resin model and the
two-story brick cardboard building beyond that is another one of Heikki's designs.
Up on the roof of the customs house, sergeant Malasevic of the just formed Slovenian Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) directs his volunteers - about fifteen men - some in fatigues, others still in civilian clothing. No way is he going to give up his border post.
Meanwhile, the second squad have overtaken the first and in turn gone prone. Lieutenant Juhoslavic gets up and starts running forwards... and just then a burst of RPK squad assault support weapon fire rings out from the second story windows of the two-story brick building ahead... Juhoslavic catches a 7.62mm bullet in the jugular and goes down, gurgling. All hell breaks loose... first squad members out in the open throw themselves to the ground or head for the nearest cover...
Ambush! Take cover!
There is a cacophony of automatic Kalashnikov fire from both sides...
The ad-hoc JNA fire-support team. The figures are Orion Russian Federals and Chechen Rebels. Hills by Games Workshop,
tree is by Noch. The white markers distinguish the figures and their card in the card-based turn sequence system.
The rightmost members of the JNA second squad quickly set up an ad-hoc fire-support position on the hill on the right flank, mostly targeting the Slovenians on the top of the customs house roof and, especially, the RPK gunner in the window.
TDF fighters with RPK machine guns and AK-47s. Figures by ESCI and Liberation Miniatures.
The fire support team soon forces the TDF RPK machine gunner from the window. He takes cover behind the wall as bullets tear into it, throwing pieces of brick in all directions...
Sergeant Malasevic is forced to leave the roof top and to rally himself. Figures by Liberation Miniatures
and Platoon 20. VW Bug cabriolet by Hongwell Cararama.
TDF sergeant Malasevic continues to hold out on the roof despite a continuous hail of bullets from federal forces until a flurry of tracer bullets from the tank's machine gun finally drives him under cover.
More Slovenians appear. Figures by Liberation Miniatures, stone wall by Citadel, Chevy Express Van by Maisto.
On the right flank, two more TDF fighters begin peppering the JNA out in the open with their AK-47s.
A Slovenian killed by the sniper. Figure by Liberation Miniatures.
Caught in a crossfire, the JNA soldiers suffer some casualties but most make it off the open field. One who takes his time is the sniper. He picks out one of the Slovenians firing from behind the stone wall, aims well and looses a shot... the bullet strikes the unfortunate man in the face and he expires immediately.
Slovenian with his M-79 Osser anti-tank grenade launcher aiming... the PT-76 is a sitting duck!
Meanwhile, high up on the steep hill on the left, a Slovenian fighter clutches his Yugoslavian anti-tank grenade launcher. He has held his position unobserved, and has been aiming steadfastly at the immobile tank below. From this range he really cannot miss... he pulls the trigger, and the rocket speeds away...
BOOM! The HEAT rocket hits the PT-76 in the rear hullside...
Despite looking like a real tank and sporting a 76mm gun, the PT-76B is in fact only lightly armored... its armor only protects against rifle caliber weapons and it cannot cope with heavy machine gun fire... and certainly not against the HEAT rocket which strikes the vehicle's rear hull side with a deafening bang, the jet of molten plasma puncturing the engine and even overpenetrating the tank completely... the soldier standing behind the tank only narrowly escapes being hit as well.
The tank's engine dies with a wrenching vibration and the sound of grinding metal. Inside, the tank crewmen fight panic... their tank has been hit... their ears are ringing... Struggling with the urge to flee, the commander nevertheless manages to calm his men...
The anti-tank grenade launcher man is gunned down. Figure by Orion.
His location revealed, the Slovenian up on the hill quickly draws the attention of the ad-hoc fire support team who manage to kill him.
A second anti-tank grenade launcher man appears. Figure by Liberation Miniatures (we didn't have a civilian
RPG gunner so this figure has an AK). The roadblock accessories are by Hasegawa, Academy and others. The table is by SHQ.
But the anti-tank ambush is not over yet. A second TDF fighter with an M-79 Osser launcher has been hiding behind some barrels filled with sand on the back of the Soviet-made truck. He now aims at the smoking tank, fifty meters away...
BRRRANG! The tank is hit in the lower hull front... and bursts into flames... Standing JNA soldier by ESCI.
This HEAT rocket strikes the PT-76 in the lower hull in the front... the jet of plasma travelling at an incredible velocity burns easily through the thin frontal armor, hurling a shower of molten metal into the fighting compartment... the jet slices through the driver's arm, then through a bracket of 76mm shells which fortunately do not explode, next through the loader's leg and then through another stack of ammunition which begins to burn... behind the ammunition is the firewall separating the fighting comparment from the engine... the jet pierces it with ease and slams into the engine...
Of the three crewmembers only the commander is still able to move after the hit. He begins to clamber out of the burning vehicle...
The JNA still advances despite heavy losses.
By this point the JNA are hard pressed. They have suffered several Morale setbacks including the loss of the lieutenant. In the constant gunfire their fighting spirits have suffered considerably. Still, they press on. The first squad leader rallies his troops, improving their Morale.
On the right flank, the Slovenians attack! The toppled figure is prone, we had run out of prone figures at this point...
we'll have to get more for the next scenario. Tree by Noch, hedge by Citadel, houses by Faller.
Just when the central government soldiers think things are bad enough, what do the Slovenians do? They attack! Two soldiers begin running towards the JNA's ad-hoc fire support team, now mostly out of ammo, with jammed weapons or paniced after receiving enemy fire. Aren't the Slovenians aware that they're supposed to be the defenders in this scenario?
Up on the roof of the customs house, the TDF sergeant Malasevic is back directing his troops despite mounting casualties.
Figures by Liberation Miniatures and Orion. Chair by SHQ, sandbags by Hasegawa or Fujimi.
Sergeant Malsevic has recovered from Morale effects caused by tank machine gun fire earlier in the firefight and is now back in front line action. He selects a commanding position on the roof top, the number one target zone of JNA Kalashnikov fire.
First squad troops have finally reached some cover. As they prepare to press on their assault,
the Slovenians attack with grenades! Soldier number 10 runs for the grenade (the white card
under his base), grabs it and throws it back!
On the left, the commander of the burning tank runs away.
The first squad are finally in a defilade position where the Slovenians on the left are unable to harrass them. They are however threatened by the two advancing Slovenians on the right flank. Since the Slovenians are close, perhaps only thirty meters up the road, the JNA soldiers begin preparing their grenades.
But the Slovenians are quicker... suddenly, two grenades land, the first on the road ahead, the second right in the squad's position! The brave soldier #10 runs to the grenade and throws it back... it explodes harmlessly on the road.
But more grenades are flung from the direction of the Slovenians. The JNA is forced out of their positions. This setback is too much for their morale, they fall back in disarray.
The first battle of the brutal Yugoslavian conflicts is over and it is a victory for the Slovenian Territorial Defence Forces. While too little planning on the part of the incompetent and short-lived Juhoslavic (and too much roleplaying on the part of the player) helped secure the victory, there is no denying the soundness of sergeant Malasevic's aggressive defensive plan. At no point in the battle did Belgrade's troops have the initiative. The ambush was executed flawlessly and though the TDF did suffer the loss of about a third of their number to JNA action, they nevertheless managed to hold their position and even advanced threateningly. The destruction of the PT-76 was spectacular but our gaming table was so small that the tank would have been in mortal danger from the Ossers and RPG-18s (which the TDF also had) even if it had not moved at all from the entry point edge of the table. The only cover available would have been the hills on the right and perhaps the tank should have moved there... of course that would have involved a trek across the table while being targeted by four gunners with anti-tank rocket launchers...
But anyhow, this was lots of fun and we had a great time with all these Kalashnikovs on the table.
Any comments? Email gm@charlieeisurffaa.com
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