Chopper Down - Russian Style

This game was originally sent to us by Chris as a ‘home grown‘ scenario with some rules he had written. Chris is a 20mm wargamer, WWII mostly, but dabbles in 20mm modern using a variety of miniatures. This article is set in Afghanistan around 1988 and features a crack squad of Spetsnaz troops rescuing a downed helicopter crew from a Russian Mi-24 Hind ‘Krokodil’.

Introduction

Wargaming any military action has a quirky feel to it for me. I don’t like the idea of simulating death and destruction but then again it has never stopped me gaming something. This article is based on a scenario I played with friends many years ago, something like 1995 was the first time I ever played it fully, and sees Russian Special Forces in action, not the usual British or American Special Forces you normally always see.

If you go back to 1989 then the Russians are pulling out of Afghanistan after troubling times. Things did not go well for the Russians and the ‘Taliban’ are a force to be reckoned with. Interestingly if you look at reports that circulated after 1989 the Russians may well have pulled out visually but the role of the Special Forces, or Spetznaz as they themselves call them, continued.

In Russian Spetznaz quite literally refers to ‘special purpose units’ and it is believed that this term refers to elite units controlled by the Federal Security Service FSB and used for counter-terrorist and anti-sabotage tasks. There are several flavours with the ‘domestic/police’ variants controlled by the Russian Ministry of Interior (MVD), and the army special forces controlled by the military intelligence service, or GRU.

It is believed that the Spetsnaz FSB includes two units – Alfa Team (A) and "Vega" team (B), or Vympel as it was originally known. Alfa team specialising in counter-terrorism, and credited with being one of the most respected CT units in the world.

Vega team is a relatively new squad, made of members of the original "Vega" squad (that used to belong to MVD, before the USSR demise), and veterans of "Vympel", one of the most feared saboteur groups of the Cold War.

The Russian army special forces, or Spetsnaz GRU, are generally considered the best trained units of all the Russian military. During the Cold War, these units were deployed in Eastern Europe in order to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage missions against the NATO forces in the event of a war in Europe.

The Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie (GRU) is the main intelligence directorate [of the General Staff]) of the Russian Army and in the 1980s it is thought that Spetznaz troops numbered roughly 30,000.

These troops were believed to be deployed as follows:

• One Spetsnaz company per Army; one Spetsnaz regiment in each of the three ‘theatres of operations’ of war

• One Spetsnaz Brigade in each of the four Soviet Fleets

• An independent Spetsnaz brigade in most military districts of the USSR

There were also special Spetsnaz intelligence units, one to each Front and Fleet

A Spetsnaz company was 135 strong, normally operating in 15 independent teams, although they could also combine for specific missions. A Spetsnaz brigade was 1,000-1,300 men strong and consisted of a headquarters, three or four parachute battalions, a communications company, and supporting troops.

“It is a doctrine of war not to assume the enemy will not come, but rather to rely on one's readiness to meet him; not to presume that he will not attack, but rather to make one's self invincible.”

Sun Tzu

For the sake of this game we are classifying the troops as Spetsnaz GRU operating in support of other Russian forces inside Afghanistan. The Mi-24 Hind that has crashed was on a routine fly-by mission and was not supposed to engage the enemy. But a ground to air missile managed to take out its rear rotor and it crashed. One of the crew was killed and rest (two crew and one ‘observer’) taken hostage by the Mujahadeen freedom fighters.

The Mission is a simple one: infiltrate a small elite team of Spetsnaz and rescue the hostages (believed to be held in building 3 on the map) and then exit the table via the extraction zone (EZ) located on the map at point A4/5.

The Gaming Table

This game was written for 20mm figures and as a result of this I recommend a 7’ x 5’ gaming table with the Russians advancing down the narrow edge. The houses are a mixture of single, double and triple storey dwellings, encompassing a hotel, Rebel troop HQ, ammunition store, four machine gun positions, run down housing and outbuildings.

I’d recommend that you use what you have available and scale the game accordingly. I’m fortunate that I have a lot of buildings in this scale and plenty of desert terrain.

If you want to scale the game back I’d recommend that you go no smaller than 6’ x 4’ because the tricky bit of the game is not just getting the hostages but getting back to the EZ.

Russian Deployment

Intelligence has it that the captives are to be moved at 8-00 on the morning of the rescue attempt. As a result of this and other complications a night time mission is not possible, with the best chance of attack coming at 4-30 that same morning.

As a result of this visibility for the first 3 plus D3 turns of the game will be restricted to half the normal distances of the rules you use. We are writing this scenario for our own 5.56mm rules which can be found in the Downloads Section of Wargames Journal.

The Soviet player starts the game with his troops deployed anywhere in the line of terrain that covers B1 to B5. This is a five man team that has a good mix of troop types: Leader, Gunner, Rifleman, Medic and a Sniper.

When first captured two of the Soviet aircrew were in critical conditions and have since died, leaving only the gunner alive. Major Gregore Vishrezny, a veteran of many a conflict and a solid combat soldier is a legendary man in the Soviet forces but is very badly wounded and can offer the Spetsnaz no help during the rescue.

Vishrezny is deployed on the board in base contact with the first Spetsnaz soldier to reach Building 1 where he is being held. Despite his injuries he has a fortitude of iron and can keep up with the Spetsnaz rescuer, keeping in base contact with him at all times. He cannot move on his own, however, and as such doesn’t need a card in the turn deck.

If the Spetsnaz rescuer is killed any of the others can “pick up” Vishrezny by moving into base contact with him. Likewise any Mujahadeen can do the same and re-capture him. They recognise him as too much of a prize to simply kill.

Mujahadeen (Holy Warriors) Deployment

The Mujahadeen warriors are spread throughout the settlement, sleeping, eating or smoking in the base’s various buildings. When a Mujadeen’s card is drawn roll a D6 to determine which of the buildings he is deployed at. He can be placed on the board at any of that buildings entrances and can then take his actions as normal.

Patrolling the village was a trio of Mujadeen fighters who have already been killed by the Spetsnaz attackers before the battle starts proper. The game’s begins as the last of the fighters manages to emit a shrill scream before he is gutted by a Spetsnaz knife.

Now that the alarm has been raised reinforcements are flocking to the area from surrounding homes to join the fight against the hated Soviets. There are literally hundreds of available fighters on the way but the Spetsnaz have attacked so swiftly that by the time the full force of reinforcements has assembled the battle will be over. However, until that point a trickle of Mujadeen join the fighting.

When a Mujadeen model is incapacitated or killed the model is immediately redeployed to be used as one of the reinforcement fighters. Roll a D6 and consult the below table to determine which edge of the table the reinforcement character may start from. As soon as his card is drawn he may act as normal.

Special Rules

The Spetsnaz team sent to rescue the downed aircrew are the elite even of that elite unit and are amongst the finest combatants in the Soviet army. Each has a new special skill “Spetsnaz”. This affords them two distinct benefits, the first is that they may take three actions when their card is drawn instead of the normal two and the second is that they are trained extensively with all weapons and as such can use any special weapon as if they had the requisite skill.

For the Soviet AK74 use the same weapon profile as the M16 assault rifle and use statistics for the M203 as the Soviet under-slung grenade launcher. Similarly use the profile of the Colt M1911 for the Tokerov pistol and that of the M60 for the PK.

As to the minefield that is marked on the map ...well this is more of a obstacle than anything else. The Russian player should know it is there but if anyone is stupid enough to run over it then they die, simple as that. No dice rolls, no apologies, they just die - Russian or Mujahadeen.

Victory Conditions

To win the Soviets must reach the EZ with Major Vishrezny. As soon as they do a Hip helicopter swoops in to extract the Major and his rescuers. The game ends only when all of the Soviets are in the EZ. If any of the Spetsnaz are wounded and are unable to reach the EZ then other models must aid them to do so as none of the Spetsnaz soldiers will leave any of his comrades behind, even if it costs them their lives.

The Mujahadeen win if they kill all the Spetsnaz and hence prevent the rescue of Vishrezny. As already stated the Afghans regard him as too valuable a prisoner to kill and will do everything in their power to regain him.

Downloads

The following files are Adobe Acrobat PDFs and contain the key elements of this scenario: Orbats and Special/Scenario rules. Simply click on the link to view or download the PDF.

Russian Spetsnatz

Afghanistan Mujahadeen