Tring Wargames Club
Afghanistan Demo
In December 1979, Soviet Special Forces invaded Afghanistan and assassinated the President, Haffizullah Amin. He was replaced by the exiled communist Afghan Barbak Kamal. The nation slid into an all out guerrilla war against the Russian invader.
The Afghan people are tribal and well used to fighting in the harsh environment of Afghanistan. The possession of a weapon was a prerequisite of Afghan machismo, but reports of Afghans fighting Russian motorised and armored troops with black powdered jezzails is romantic fiction. Modern weaponry came from many sources such as stolen from the Russians themselves, From deserting DRA and from bordering Pakistan. Covert Western aid came much later.
Over the years the occupation of Afghanistan followed a similar pattern to the American involvement in Vietnam.
The early Russian tactics did not anticipate lengthy problems with the mainly peasant Afghan society and the Russian frustration against the guerrillas led to large areas of countryside being decimated.
The Game
The Demonstration game did not attempt to reproduce actual events, but attempted to show some of the flavour or spirit of the conflict. Within the demonstration game there was "a seek and destroy" mission against a suspected Mujahideen stronghold, an ambush against a Russian DRA convoy and finally the Russians threw in massive reinforcements by helicopters and motorised transport.
The rules used were a set adapted from the popular Rapid Fire World War Two. Terrain was made by members of Tring Wargames Club. Helicopters and Vehicles came from the collections of members at the display.
Click on image below for a full size version.
More Pictures Here.
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