20-28mm Wargames: Operation Green: Soviet Airborne Invasion of Ireland

I worked a while on this project, and did some research into the Irish Defense Forces in the 1980s. I came across a book called Irish Army Orders of Battle: 1923-2004 by Adrian J. English that gave a break down of unit organization, weapons, and location of forces (unfortunately, the book needs to be edited for typos). The rules were Force on Force " (Cold War Goes Hot).

Operation Green

The Soviet Airborne Invasion of Ireland

June 1982

In the summer of 1982, Soviet Airborne troops or VDV (Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska) land in large numbers north and south of Dublin, at Cobh in County Cork, and at Shannon Airport. One force of Soviet Paratroopers is to cut the Dublin to Belfast Road (the N1) north of Dundalk. “A Company” of the 27^th Infantry Battalion is defending an industrial park north of Dundalk with orders to keep the road open. Soviet forces are to cut the road and sufficient forces must occupy key building to meet victory conditions within 15 turns. The Irish force objective is to deny the Soviets’ their objectives.

Forces:

The Soviets start with 4 (8 man) squads of Paratroopers, 1 HQ Squad, a support weapons squad and 3 BDMs.

The Irish have 2 (8 man) infantry squads and a (8 man) HQ squad, a sniper team, 1 Panhard M3 APC, and a Panhard 90 AML. On turn 4, an 8 man Irish Ranger Wing (IRW) (Special Forces) arrive in two Alouette III helicopters to reinforce A Company.

Turn 1. The Soviets with 1 squad and a BDM came on the road and adjacent field cautiously, and the Irish fired a house over-looking the T junction and inflicted two casualties. The Soviets returned fire but the Irish rolled high blocking their potential hits. A Carl Gustav from the HQ squad was attached to a fire team on the roof of the white government building, before the start of the game to beef up the defenses but held its fire on the BDM.

Turn 2. Another VDV squad advanced through the field and another BDM arrived on the road with two additional VDV squads using the APCs and hedges for cover. Again the Irish fired from the house and government building roof and a BDM was hit by a round from the Carl Gustav and was suppressed. The commander in the other BDM was hit by a sniper (but would later survive). The Russians returned fire hitting the fire team in the house over-looking the T Junction (At the start of turn 3, First Aid was conducted and 2 of the 4 got back up to fight). The Irish player got lucky by rolling higher when the Soviets went to react to his fire and withdrew his fire team from the roof of the building, denying the Soviet player the chance to inflict any casualties.

Turn 3. The luck of the Irish held and they continued to hold the house and the Irish fire team on the government building returned to the roof edge to engage the enemy. A third BDM entered the fight with the HQ squad. Thus far the Irish had only been able to use 1 infantry squad and a sniper team, but once the Irish players realized the Soviet’s intentions reacted by moving the HQ squad and the Panhard M3 APC to support the T Junction. The VDV worked their way through an orchard although under fire, and secured the position followed by the heavy weapons section consisting of a grenade launcher and an A4 ATGM.

Turn 4. Two Irish Aer Corp Alouette IIIs arrived from the Curragh carrying 2 Irish Ranger Wing fire teams, but as the first one tried to drop its fire team, it took ground fire and was destroyed, forcing the second Alouette to land its team off table. The Irish on the gov’t building roof fired the Gustav again and destroyed the third BDM. The VDV continued to advance using the hedge row and secured the Gas Station with the help of the remaining BDM.

Turn 5. The Soviets continued to advance, but the Irish reacted immediately and continued to win reaction rolls, and finally hit and immobilized a BDM. Unfortunately their luck ran out when 3 of the fire team on the roof became casualties, and failed their morale. To make matters worse, the Irish sniper was spotted, and on a later reaction roll, a 1 was rolled that produced a Fog of War Card that reduced an Irish unit’s fire power in half for one turn. The sniper team disengaged to remain safe.

Turn 6. The Soviets heavy weapon’s squad and the BDM fire power forced the Irish to abandon the house at the T Junction and two paratroopers crossed the road and took cover behind a cargo container. The other IRW fire team arrived, and where taxied by the Panhard APC up the road to the Alouette crash site and disembarked.

Turn 7. The Irish attempted to close assault the house they lost but failed in their roll. The APC moved up and took up a position to cover the road which the VDV would have to cross, and the third Irish squad was positioned in a house that could now engage the VDV when they tried to rush across the road.

Turn 8. The Soviets rushed the road and the Irish opened up having been on over watch, but the Panhard M3 lost on the reaction roll and the soviet player opted to fire a RPG that hit the Panhard and reduced its speed in half. The Panhard’s MGs on its reaction hit all four member of the VDV’s fire team. The Irish Panhard 90 AML also lost its reaction roll with the player rolling a 1 and producing another Fog of War Card) allowing the advancing BDM to fire and suppressed the Panhard 90. The Fog of War Card dramatically changed the game at this point with visibility suddenly being reduced to 18 inches. As additional Soviet Fire teams crossed the N1 the Irish again tried to react and again a natural 1 was rolled that produced another card and it gave the VDV an off table sniper team (with a 5 D10 fire power). Two squads and one fire team had successfully crossed the road and the Gov’t building looked to be captured by the VDV. Due to the lateness of the hour, it was decided that the game should end at this point, but the game was still in the balance, and both sides agreed to renew the fight in a couple of weeks.