Battle Report: 23rd April 1991 British Indian  ~vs~  Afghan (Nog Norgren ~vs~ Robert Avery & Richard Avery)

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British Indian Brigade Unit Fig.'s Org. Class Weapons Pts/Fig Points   CinC 1             2inC 1             78th Highlanders 40 8x5 RegB blr (2 Co's LI)       32nd Punjab Foot 32 8x4 RegC blr (2 Co's LI)       3rd Ghurka Foot 40 8x5 RegC blr (2 Co's LI)       17th Lancers 16 4x4 RegB s,blc,p,l       14th Sikh Horse 16 4x4 RegC s,blc     1st Btty RHA 3 3x1 RegA medium blrb FA   Naval Brigade 24 8x3 RegB blr       Gatling Gun 1 1x1 RegA hmg       Ammo Wagon 1                         3052

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Afghan Brigade Unit Fig.'s Org. Class Weapons Pts/Fig Points Sher Abu Alibi 1   2inC 1   Pathans Foot 1 36 1x36 FanB sp/sw,sh   Foot 2 36 1x36 FanB sp/sw,sh     Foot 3 18 1x18 MksA sp/sw,sh,blr     Foot 4 18 1x18 MksA sp/sw,sh,mlr     Foot 5 18 1x18 IrregA sp/sw,sh,mlr       Horse 1 10 1x10 FanA sp/sw,sh,mlr   Horse 2 10 1x10 FanA sp/sw,sh,mlr   Waziri Foot 1 32 1x32 IrregB sp/sw,sh,mlr   Foot 2 32 1x32 IrregB sp/sw,sh,mlr     Foot 3 32 1x32 IrregB sp/sw,sh,mlr     Foot 4 32 1x32 IrregB sp/sw,sh,mlr     Foot 5 32 1x32 IrregC sp/sw,sh     Guns 2 1x3 IrregB medium mlsb FA         1     light mlsb FA       Works       40" medium works                   3050

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. British Indian Afghan Foot 2720 6120 Horse 640 400 Guns 8 6

Report Once the battle had started, the Afghans advanced their right flank very quickly: with two units of Fanatics shielded by skirmishers and supported by cavalry. To counter this, the British commander moved his artillery and the Naval Brigade, Ghurkas and Sepoys to face them. The Afghan artillery, meanwhile, safe behind their works, opened up: scoring a lucky hit on the Naval Brigade gatling gun, and nigh on obliterating a squadron of Lancers. As the rest of the field remained static, the British artillery came under heavy fire from the Afghan skirmishers: led by Sher Abu Alibi, the Afghan CinC, himself. With their opening volley, the breechloader-armed Marksmen shot fully 1/5th of the artillery crews down! The British artillery and light infantry skirmishers returned fire: but the Afghans, being a large unit of prone skirmishers headed by the CinC, seemed unaffected. The duel between the Afghan Marksmen and their opponents continued for some 45 minutes (3 turns) until finally the British artillery had had enough (over 50% casualties) and routed off the field, taking some of the infantry with them. Meanwhile, the Afghan artillery was knocking off British cavalry squadrons at a rate of one per turn, and also beginning to fire at the flanks of the British infantry. With the guns off the board, more Afghan skirmishers moved up, and the Afghan fanatical cavalry charged the sepoy battalion as it formed square. Although one unit of cavalry was stopped, the other smashed the Punjabi infantry from the board, massacring the fleeing troops. The Afghans began a general advance as the trickle of routing sepoys became a flood. The British Naval Brigade were next to rout, and the battle ended as the Highlanders ended up as the only unbroken British unit present! Casualties The Afghans lost 177 skirmishers, 70 fanatics, 74 cavalry and 60 waziri: a total of 381 men. The British lost huge amounts: about 350 Lancers, 200 Naval Brigade plus the gatling gun, about 160 artillery crew, most of the Punjabi battalion, about 100 Sikh cavalry and 30 ghurkas. In all, about 1300 men. Most of the casualties were caused by skirmisher and artillery fire, apart from the Punjabis, who were massacred by fanatical cavalry. Results A complete and total victory for the Afghans. Analysis The main British mistake was in tying up his guns and infantry fighting against skirmishers rather than advancing them strongly at the Afghans. The British should have tried to clear the marksmen away with company strength charges, risking losing one company to rout the skirmishers. The other mistake was to expose his cavalry to fire from the Afghan artillery. Horse, while vital to exploit gaps in the enemy line, are very vulnerable to both smallarms and artillery fire. Also, the Afghan works, whilst seeming strong, are very vulnerable to artillery fire. As the British artillery is immensely superior in knocking out enemy artillery, one should KO the Afghan works the first round, then KO their guns, one by one.