Battle Report: 17th February 1991 Early British Indian  ~vs~  Early Afghan (Richard Avery ~vs~ Robert Avery & Nog Norgren)

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Early British Indian Brigade Unit Fig.'s Org. Class Weapons Pts/Fig Points   CinC 1         100   2inC 1         50   Naval Brigade 24 8x3 RegB mlr   320   78th Highlanders 40 8x5 RegB mlr (2 Co's LI)   500   30th Punjab Foot 40 10x4 RegC mlr (2 Co's LI)   476   3rd Ghurka Foot 40 8x5 RegC mlr (2 Co's LI)   460   35th Bengal Foot 16 4x4 RegC mlr   184   17th Lancers 8 2x4 RegB s,mlc,l   148   12th Bengal Horse 16 4x4 RegC s,mlc   248   1st Btty RA 3 3x1 RegB medium mlsb FA elephant teams   357   Ammo Wagon 1         50               2893

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Early Afghan Brigade Unit Fig.'s Org. Class Weapons Pts/Fig Points CinC 1 100 2inC 1 50 Pathans Foot 1 36 1x36 FanB sp/sw,sh 267 Foot 2 36 1x36 FanB sp/sw,sh 267   Foot 3 18 1x18 MksA sp/sw,sh,mlr 195   Foot 4 18 1x18 MksA sp/sw,sh,mlr 195   Horse 1 10 1x10 FanA sp/sw,sh,mlr 155 Horse 2 10 1x10 FanA sp/sw,sh,mlr 155 Waziri Foot 1 32 1x32 IrregB sp/sw,sh,mlr 239 Foot 2 32 1x32 IrregB sp/sw,sh,mlr 239   Foot 3 32 1x32 IrregB sp/sw,sh,mlr 239   Foot 4 32 1x32 IrregB sp/sw,sh,mlr 239   Foot 5 32 1x32 IrregC sp/sw,sh 143   Foot 6 18 1x18 IrregA sp/sw,sh   87   Guns 2 1x3 IrregB medium mlsb FA   289     1     light mlsb FA       Works       40" medium works   40               2899

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Early British Indian Early Afghan Foot 3200 5720 Horse 480 400 Guns 6 6

Report Unfortunately, due to the length of the terrain used, the battle never reached the stage of main assaults be either side. The battle had three phases. During the first, the Afghans advanced into skirmishing range, and began to exchange fire with the British Light Infantry. Few casualties resulted. In the second phase, the British brought up their artillery, still out of range of the Afghan guns positioned in their works, and pounded away at the Afghans until they retreated back to the line of their works. In the third phase, the British advanced into range of the Afghan artillery and began taking casualties. The Afghans advanced again but, apart from two charges by Pathan fanatics, the battle ended before much was done. Casualties The Afghans lost about 900 men, mainly from artillery fire. The British lost about 140 men, mainly from skirmisher fire. Results A draw. Analysis Although the battle never really got started, it was once again proved that he who got the artillery right, won the day. The British commander here used it excellently: chipping away constantly at the Afghan units. One other notable event was that one unit of fanatical foot managed to win an impact after charging line infantry and receiving flank fire from artillery:  roll on the Ghazi’s!