Operation Countenance Scenarios

T34

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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:
 
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Tuomo

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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...
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Interesting history there. I've been reading about the Brits in the Middle East and India during and after WW1, and much of their energy seemed devoted to protecting India by using everything to the west as buffer states against Turkey/Russia/France/Whoever. Surprised the Brits went in with the Soviets on this, but they were ever the pragmatic lot.
 

T34

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Interesting history there. I've been reading about the Brits in the Middle East and India during and after WW1, and much of their energy seemed devoted to protecting India by using everything to the west as buffer states against Turkey/Russia/France/Whoever. Surprised the Brits went in with the Soviets on this, but they were ever the pragmatic lot.
The putative reason was the rail line from Khoramshar to Tikrit, which the allies wanted to deliver lend lease tanks during the winter months.

It was the oil. I'm not entirely sure why the Soviets did it. Probably because the T26's weren't mechanically reliable enough to make it to the front with the Germans. But remember--this was before the Japanese and the Americans were fighting, so the excuse that they needed it for lend lease access doesn't hold much water. The end result was the installation of the new Shah (yes, the same one that got overthrown by the Ayatollahs.) He signed an oil agreement with BP that lasted until the fall of the Pahlahvis. So it was the oil. And the fact that Churchill just HATED the idea of brown people running their own country.
 

Michael Dorosh

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But remember--this was before the Japanese and the Americans were fighting, so the excuse that they needed it for lend lease access doesn't hold much water.
America may not have been fighting the Japanese, but they had a vested interest in seeing the Germans beaten. Lend-Lease became law in March 1941, months before Pearl Harbor. The Americans were big players in the North Atlantic at the same time, and expanded their security zone out toward Iceland not long after Lend-Lease was signed.
 

T34

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America may not have been fighting the Japanese, but they had a vested interest in seeing the Germans beaten. Lend-Lease became law in March 1941, months before Pearl Harbor. The Americans were big players in the North Atlantic at the same time, and expanded their security zone out toward Iceland not long after Lend-Lease was signed.
No, I realize that, I just meant that Lend Lease stuff could have been shipped through Vladivostok.
 

Michael Dorosh

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No, I realize that, I just meant that Lend Lease stuff could have been shipped through Vladivostok.
Ah, got it thanks. Yes, the first Murmansk run was in August. Though I'm not sure how reliable it was considered at the time, being relatively new. The PQ17 disaster didn't happen until a year later in 1942.
 

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Also, check out the Trans-Iranian Railroad page on Wikipedia. I originally thought that the railroad connected with Tabriz, but evidently it went to a Caspian Sea port. That means that freight would have been detrained and then re-trained en route. Evidently it didn't connect to Tabriz until the 1960's. This is more proof that in the Summer of 1941 there was even less impetus for invading Iran than simply shipping through Vladivostok. Although, as you mention, the simplest and fastest way was through the Norwegian Sea to Murmansk (or Arkangelsk) but of course that was very dangerous passing Norwegian fjords full of Uboats and raiders. While the major convoy disasters didn't happen until later, they certainly knew that it would be dangerous.
 

Michael Dorosh

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There were a number of airfields in northern Norway as well and I presume anti-shipping planes could operate with a fair degree of impunity until the advent of the escort carrier.
 
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