T34
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- Apr 18, 2020
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- Nans Sous Sainte Anne, Doubs
- First name
- Tim
- Country
Two years ago I did a set of three scenarios for a mini tournament at Double One at Writtle College in Essex, about an hour north of London. All of these centered around Operation Countenance--the Soviet-British invasion of Iran in 1941.
The purpose of Operation Countenance was ostensibly to ensure a safe link between the two erstwhile allies. In reality, it was more of an oil grab for British Petroleum. The US was lukewarm on the idea, but at the same time they rejected Iranian calls to arbitrate some sort of solution. It seems very, very odd that the Soviet Union would have engaged so many troops to invade Iran in August and September of 1941, when it's defenses against the blitzkrieg were shattered, but it happened.
What's more, Iran was actually fairly modernized, having a large number of LT-38 tanks and 105mm LeFH. However, it was also hideously corrupt and most of the officers had been selling off small arms of the units under their command and doing other treasonous acts which allowed the British and Soviets to walk over them--for the most part. The troops were quite brave and ready to fight off the invaders, but were left leaderless and completely without logistics--often hungry and short of ammo.
The action opens with Namesake, a depiction of the Soviet amphibious invasion of Pahlavi, namesake of the Royal Dynasty of Persia (or Iran), across the Caspian Sea. Don't worry about amphibious invasion rules, the ship starts out docked and begins pouring Red Marines into the midst of surprised Iranian household guard troops.
Next is Persian Carpet, which highlights the advance of Soviet troops through Tikrit, in Northwestern Iran. Its a rather desperate dash with T-26's dashing through demoralized Iranian troops.
Finally, the British come in with Indian troops trying to punch through a mountain pass in Dangerous Tai Pak Pass. The light British armor tries to move on before the Iranian Armored Division becomes active.
As a bonus, there is Kurdish Way, which demonstrates the upgraded Iranian Army with loads of spare Lend Lease equipment and US training trying to wipe out those buttboys of history, the Kurds in what was one of the first proxy battles of the Cold War. Pete Phillips posted this in VFTT a while back.
Two things: I used Italian counters for the Iranians (except in Kurdish Way). I'm not sure if this is unfair to the Italians or the Iranians, but it seemed necessary to capture the pre-collapse morale of the Iranians. They were largely leaderless (except for NCO's), so don't expect any good leaders. It really is making the most of what you have. Second, all three of the scenarios use CBS (Catanzaro Balance System--Sorry if I'm spelling that wrong). I know this is a big turnoff for some players. It was a lark, but I've become fond of it. Let me know what you think.
If you are interested in Operation Countenance--there really isn't a whole lot more action than these three scenarios present--check out the wikipedia link or this video:
The purpose of Operation Countenance was ostensibly to ensure a safe link between the two erstwhile allies. In reality, it was more of an oil grab for British Petroleum. The US was lukewarm on the idea, but at the same time they rejected Iranian calls to arbitrate some sort of solution. It seems very, very odd that the Soviet Union would have engaged so many troops to invade Iran in August and September of 1941, when it's defenses against the blitzkrieg were shattered, but it happened.
What's more, Iran was actually fairly modernized, having a large number of LT-38 tanks and 105mm LeFH. However, it was also hideously corrupt and most of the officers had been selling off small arms of the units under their command and doing other treasonous acts which allowed the British and Soviets to walk over them--for the most part. The troops were quite brave and ready to fight off the invaders, but were left leaderless and completely without logistics--often hungry and short of ammo.
The action opens with Namesake, a depiction of the Soviet amphibious invasion of Pahlavi, namesake of the Royal Dynasty of Persia (or Iran), across the Caspian Sea. Don't worry about amphibious invasion rules, the ship starts out docked and begins pouring Red Marines into the midst of surprised Iranian household guard troops.
Next is Persian Carpet, which highlights the advance of Soviet troops through Tikrit, in Northwestern Iran. Its a rather desperate dash with T-26's dashing through demoralized Iranian troops.
Finally, the British come in with Indian troops trying to punch through a mountain pass in Dangerous Tai Pak Pass. The light British armor tries to move on before the Iranian Armored Division becomes active.
As a bonus, there is Kurdish Way, which demonstrates the upgraded Iranian Army with loads of spare Lend Lease equipment and US training trying to wipe out those buttboys of history, the Kurds in what was one of the first proxy battles of the Cold War. Pete Phillips posted this in VFTT a while back.
Two things: I used Italian counters for the Iranians (except in Kurdish Way). I'm not sure if this is unfair to the Italians or the Iranians, but it seemed necessary to capture the pre-collapse morale of the Iranians. They were largely leaderless (except for NCO's), so don't expect any good leaders. It really is making the most of what you have. Second, all three of the scenarios use CBS (Catanzaro Balance System--Sorry if I'm spelling that wrong). I know this is a big turnoff for some players. It was a lark, but I've become fond of it. Let me know what you think.
If you are interested in Operation Countenance--there really isn't a whole lot more action than these three scenarios present--check out the wikipedia link or this video:
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