CHAIN OF COMMANDLISTAS DE EJÉRCITO1CHAIN OF COMMAND. ARMY LISTS Optional Army Lists from Juan Mancheño 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 breech- loading 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 inf antry.
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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 theylacked 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: -2
Green: -4
Command Dice: 4
AFGHAN REGULAR PLATOON:
PLATOON HEADQUARTERS.
- CO or NCO, Senior Leader with pistol or rifle and sword
- 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 their 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