“Kashmir”, Game Turn 2
GT2 is another Initiative turn for the Pakistan/Chinese side in this scenario. GT3 is a Contested turn by SSR, and the Indians will have the initiative in GT4 by SSR, so the Paks/Chinese really need to push. During initiative movement, the Paks move up more full-strength divisions into Baramula in an effort to attack south over the river line (in 4410). They bring up more units to surround the elite Indian mountain brigade in Bandipora (4610, another VP hex). However, due to hot Air Defense Fire dice rolls (there are air defense rolls against Airborne and Airmobile Movement representing SAMs, AAA, and aircraft) by the Indian side, three out of four Chinese airborne brigades get aborted back to Islamabad! That is a lot of combat power not in play. Here is the situation at the end of GT2 Initiative Movement Segment:
Despite the Airborne/Airmobile problems, the Paks do have two good attacks setup. They throw in all the Air Points and Attack Helicopter support they have, ending up with attacks on the 8 and 9 columns of the CRT, with good negative mods. However, the dice strike again and the Paks manage to roll two big fat “9s” (worst possible roll in NW series, which uses a d10). In exploit, the Paks/PRC try again in 4410 (the river line) and manage to drop yet another “9” on the combat roll. The net losses are 2 steps for the Indians and 5 steps for the Paks/Chinese. During Elite Reaction Movement, Mitch moves up his powerful Indian 6th Mountain Division into the valley, which frees up his elite airborne brigade to hustle up to Bandipora and strengthen the line there. Here is the situation at the end of GT2 Reaction Movement/Combat Segments:
In Exploit, Reaction, and Basic Movement/Combat the trends continue, with the Paks/Chinese launching more futile attempts to take 4410 and 4610, and eating more losses in the process. Critically, Mitch also takes out two of my brigades with counter-attacks (one in 4313 and one in 4611). The NW series CRT is bloody, so an “active defense” with low/medium odd counter-attacks is essential to whittle down the attacker’s strength. In an effort to shore up the main line, the Indians do leave the back door open, and the Chinese are able to sneak one airborne brigade in via Paradrop to secure the 4214 VP hex. However, another Indian infantry division arrives as a reinforcement, which Mitch can use to help clear out that isolated airborne brigade. End of GT2 situation:
Pakistan/China Player GT2 Thoughts –
Wow, painful. Both my main efforts for the turn failed. I was not able to prevent the Indian reinforcements from getting in the valley due mostly to the series of failed airborne drops and airmobile movements (5 out of 7 failed). I also lost one Chinese brigade in combat down by 4214 (Anantnag VP hex). Rough few days for the Chinese paras, but those moves are always risky, for obvious reasons, and are a main part of the fun in this scenario. The terrible results at the north end of the valley were mostly just a dice problem. I launched five attacks and rolled 9, 9, 9, 6, 5. As noted earlier, the NW series CRT is very attritional, so losses are to be expected, but usually in an initiative turn when an attacker can pound the same hex with 3 attacks a breakthrough is possible. But, as shown here, nothing is guaranteed! However, I do have 2 VP hexes and two more turns to secure a third (out of 5), which would give me a net +5VP at the end of the game, which might still be enough to squeak out a win. My main problem now is all those flipped units. Losing a division in this scenario is 3VP to the other side, and I have a lot of flipped divisions I have to attack with. Hopefully the dice will be a bit kinder from here out.
India Player GT2 Thoughts –
Well, that turned out unexpectedly fortuitous. Occupying good positions along with some horrendous attack dice has allowed my Indians to seriously attrit the Pakistani/Chinese forces. I hate leaving the back door open, but there’s only a single PRC airborne brigade available for movement. Since I’ll be getting another division as a reinforcement, it can roll up to that hex and take it back potentially in conjunction with the some other forces although it’s getting mighty thin on the ground. I think Bandipoora is an excellent place to stick the Indian airborne brigade. It has a good defense value, it’s a Light Infantry unit giving it a +1 defensively, and its 6 ER will either give me beneficial column shifts or force Doug to bring in the Chinese airborne which will result in another +2 DRM to his attack rolls. Other than local counter-attacks, the Indians are truly on the defensive here. I think abandoning Baramula and resting my defense on the two access hexes (4410 and 4610) which are split by the lake is the key to the Indian defense. That assumes, of course, that the attritional battle continues to go in my favor.
Author: Doug Bush
I have been a gamer since the mid-1980s, when I started with Squad Leader, which of course led to a long obsession with Advanced Squad Leader. In college I was also a Harpoon fanatic, including gaming basically every naval combat from the Tom Clancy book Red Storm Rising. However, my true gaming passion has always been modern ground combat games such as the GDW Assault and Third World War series, and detailed modern air simulations like GMT's Downtown and Elusive Victory. As a former US Army armor officer, I love games that model operational level maneuver and logistics.
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