CHAIN OF COMMAND

LISTAS DE EJRCITO

CHAIN OF COMMAND. ARMY LISTS

Optional Army Lists from Juan Mancheo

THE AFGHAN ARMY 1919.

As ever had been in its history, the real military strength of Afghanistan depended on the armed population rather on the regular forces. In 1919, the Afghan Regular Army comprised 78 battalions of infantry, 21 regiments of cavalry, 280 breechloading pieces and a similar number of older muzzle-loaders. There was no staff, nor an attempt at even a brigade organization except in Kabul, where there were four mixed brigades, each consisting of one regiment of cavalry, one battery of artillery and one of pack artillery, three battalions of infantry and three machine guns. The Afghan regulars lacked training and could not be considered as first class troops, although their courage and endurance were undoubted. There was not weapon training, nor tactical exercises. They were more liable awaiting than beginning an attack. The infantry varied considerably in armament and equipment. Less than half the battalions were armed with modern rifles, whilst the remaining units had Martini-Henrys and Snider. A bayonet was worn, normally with a sword, but there was not instruction in its use and it was seldom used. The officers and NCO were ignorant and deficient in the spirit of leading. The cavalry were mounted on sturdy ponies, unsuited to shock tactics. They were armed with a rifle and a sword but they were little better than mounted infantry.

CHAIN OF COMMAND

LISTAS DE EJRCITO

The field artillery was under-horsed and badly trained. Drills were infrequent, range practices were seldom carried out and field practices and calibration unknown. The guns actually employed in 1919 were field howitzers 10cm. Krupp, pack guns of Krupp manufacture with a caliber of 75mm and 7 pdr. pack guns. The machine guns were ancient, four barreled Gardiners. In addition to the regular army there were about 10,000 militia or Khassadars armed with Snider rifles and scattered in parties of 10 to 100 men in small posts. The Afghan tribesmen were another question. They were first class fighting material, and the best armed and most warlike of them were the tribes which border on Afghanistan. Among all those tribes, religious leaders arisen to drag the mass of the people after them by appeals to their fanaticism. The policy of these mullahs was almost invariably anti-British and pro-Afghan. The tribesmen were expert in guerrilla warfare. They seldom awaited an assault, but followed up a retirement relentlessly and with boldness. They had a great skill cutting off detachments and laying ambushes but they lacked steadfastness in adversity and lost heart when subjected to reverses. They had little cohesion and could not be expected concerted actions on their part. THE INFANTRY PLATOON The Afghan regular infantry platoon is cut in the Turkish and German model. It is a force with a defensive mentality and with very little tactical flexibility that also can have a very, very ad hoc nature. PLATOON FORCE RATING: Regular: Green: Command Dice: -2 -4 4

AFGHAN REGULAR PLATOON: PLATOON HEADQUARTERS. - CO or NCO, Senior Leader with pistol or rifle and sword - 2 runners with rifle SECTIONS ONE TO FOUR. - Junior Leader with rifle - Nine riflemen AFGHAN TRIBESMEN PLATOON: HEADQUARTERS. - Chief, Senior Leader with rifle and sword - 1 or 2 personal retinue with rifles GROUPS ONE TO THREE.
2

CHAIN OF COMMAND

LISTAS DE EJRCITO

Sub-Chief, Junior Leader with rifle and sword 5 to 11 tribesmen with rifle

The Tribesmen platoons are always Aggressive. The sword they carry can be also a Khyber knife. It is put here only to reflect an special rule of the leaders equipped with this weapon. AFGHAN SUPPORT LISTS. LIST ONE Explosive Charge Petrol Bombs Sangar entrenchments for one Section Local Scout, 1 man Roadblock LIST TWO Sniper Team Khassadar Section, ten men with Junior Leader Mountain Gun with five crew Mullah LIST THREE LMG Team, 2 men Pre-Game Barrage Cavalry Section, eight men with Junior Leader LIST FOUR MMG Team with five crew 60mm Mortar Team with five crew

LIST FIVE Foreigner Advisor

LIST SIX Armored Car with Junior Leader

The Scout can move with 1 D6 or 2 D6 and assume a Tactical stance at the end of his movement. The Khassadar Section is a Green unit with outdated rifles. The 60mm mortar has not smoke rounds and only can fire 1 D6+2 shells of High Explosive ammunition. It has a minimum range of 18. Petrol Bombs are treated as Molotovs Cocktails. There are two of them in each option bough. A Leader armed with an sword can also be counted in the close combat. Foreigner Advisor. Perhaps a Turkish or Bolshevik who is attached to the unit and enables the player to re-roll one of his Command Dice per Phase. Mullah. May be activated on a Command Dice roll of 5. If the player activates the Mullah, he does not increase his Chain of Command tally by one (with the 5). The Mullah moves as normal; if he is attached to an squad, he may move with that squad without being activated himself. He counts as two men for morale purposes when considering Shock levels and one man in close combat. He cannot fire nor crew a weapon. Armoured Car. It can be an stolen British vehicle that has the next special rules:
3

CHAIN OF COMMAND

LISTAS DE EJRCITO

Two man crew. There are no many specialists in Afghanistan able to use a combat vehicle , so Easily Catches Fire. Unreliable.

Cavalry. The Cavalry Section is equipped with lances, carbines and sabres. The player can dismount them at the beginning of the game to gain, for each cavalry section, one free Patrol Phase movement one of his Patrol markers. In this way, the Cavalry will begin the game dismounted. On the other hand, if the cavalry begin the game mounted, they are treated as follow: Mounting or dismounting requires one complete Normal Move action, without shooting. Mounted cavalry add 1 D6 to their movement when moving. They may not move tactically if mounted. When fired at Mounted, the Cavalry counts as Green (regardless of their actual quality). When charging an enemy, the Cavalry will move At the Double with double the ir dice rolled for movement; however, they must begin their charge move from a point where they can feasibly make contact in the current turn.

AFGHAN NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS. Paper Soldiers (Regulars only). The unit becomes pinned when Shock equals half or more of the total of the men in the unit, and becomes Broken when Shock equals or exceeds the number of men in the unit. Sons of the Hills (Tribes only). The fierce tribesmen were very adept at the use of any cover where seemingly none existed. Tribesmen can move with 1 D6 or 2 D6 and assume a Tactical stance at the end of their movement. They also developed a capability to take on enemy armored vehicles with some skill; a Squad may break down as Tank Hunters equipped with Petrol Bombs if taken from the Support List, or a separate team may be taken from the Support List.

CHAIN OF COMMAND

LISTAS DE EJRCITO

THE AFGHAN ARMY ARSENAL TABLE. ARMOURED VEHICLE H.E. SPEED MG Wheeled

VEHCLE Rolls Royce A/C

ARMOUR 2

A.P. -

NOTES

Armoured Truck GUN Mountain Gun WEAPON Bolt Action Rifle Outdated Rifle Magazine LMG Tripod mount MMG Pistol Sniper Rifle Grenade Rifle Grenade 60mm mortar

2 A.P. 4 FIREPOWER 1 1 5 4 1 1 2 in open 3 in closed 2 3

Slow ARTILLERY H.E. 5 INFANTRY WEAPONS CLOSE EFFECTIVE 0-18 18+ 0-16 16+ 0-18 18+ 0-16 16+ 0-9 unlimited 4-11 con LOS 18-60 sin LOS

Can transport one Section. NOTES

NOTES Re-rolls any 1s. Lose 2 Firepower if crew of 1. Lose 2 Firepower if crew of 1. See sniper Special Rules in 9.5. Rolls for hit as if target in the open. Rolls for hit as if target in the open. Reduce cover by one level unless target has overhead cover. NOTES Reduce cover by one level.

WEAPON Internal Vehicle MG Top mounted MMG

FIREPOWER 6 10

VEHICLE WEAPONS CLOSE EFFECTIVE 0-18 18+ 0-24 24+