Assal Uttar - part 1 - a plethora of Pattons

On Saturday 30 June I was joined by Will of Will's Wargames Blog.  After some chat and a quick run through of Megablitz mechanisms, we set up and played the battle of Assal Uttar - from the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War - using my NATO Brigade Commander system.  I gave Will the choice of sides and having opted to dice for it he ended up commanding the Pakistani forces.  This left me as the Indian Brigadier - seen above making tea next to his command truck.  All the toys used were from my own 6mm collection.  Models by GHQ and C in C. 

The scenario was adapted from the one on Bob Mackenzie's website.  I have played this scenario previously - the last time was over four year ago (I'll try to find the photos).  When double-checking the link to Bob M's site I was interested to see that he too had played the scenario quite recently.  The photo above shows the table early in the game. Assal Uttar is the village top right-ish.

Both sides fielded an eclectic mix of kit.  Here a battalion of Indian WW2 surplu Shermans is comforted by the presence of two squadrons of shiny new Centurions.

A Pakistani battalion sets off across the fields to flank the main Indian position.  The mechanised infantry in M113s are supported by their heavy weapons company in trucks and a company of recently delivered M48 tanks.

As well as (from an Indian point of view) far too many M48s, the Pakistanis also fielded a battalion of M47.

The Pak M48 btl, accompanied by an infantry company trundles up the road.

The Indian cetral position was defended by the tanks seen earlier and this infantry battalion.

An overview showing the game well underway.  Pakistani forces are converging on the Indian defenders.

The Pakistani advance in the north was slightly hampered by the poor mobility of the trucks.

The M47s bring the defenders of Assal Uttar under long range fire while the advance down the highway continues.

An initial Pakistani assault on Assal Uttar (by a battalion with two infantry compainies and a some elderly M24 tanks) was repulsed after an embarassing morale failure.  Here the Brigade CO has had to intervene to rally  his chaps.

More on this game coming soon.