The Siege of Jadotville
It's September, 1961, and A Company of the 35th Infantry Battalion of the Irish Army has been assigned to Jadotville in the Katangan province of the former Belgian Congo. The Irish are part of the United Nations forces sent to help the Congo. A Company would be attacked by Katangan Gendarmes, European mercenaries, and Jadotville civilians for four days, and the Irish were outnumbered 20-1. The scenario starts with an attempted surprise attack by the mercenaries in jeeps, and Katangan Gendarmes on foot. This scenario was played twice, with the Irish winning both times.
Irish Forces
HQ squad (6 man squad)
3 eight man squads of infantry
Support Weapons
2 60 mm mortars
2 Vickers MMGs
2 84mm Gustav ATGs
Vehicles
1 Ford Mk IV Armored Car
1 Bedford truck
Katangans
12 six man squads
3 six man mercenary squads
3 six man civilian squads
Support Weapons
2 81mm mortars (off board).
1 75mm howitzer
Vehicles
3 jeeps (2 three man jeeps with 30 cal MMG, and one 4 man jeep with a 50 Cal MMG).
Objectives
The Katangans need to capture the buildings (5pts a building)
For each Irish figure killed half a point.
For each Irish figure captured 1 point.
The Irish need to successfully defend the buildings (5pts each).
For each enemy killed half a point.
For each Katangan/mercenary or civilians captured 1 point.
The Irish had to defend the buildings against Katangans and mercenaries that entered from the road and along the end of the table to the right of the picture.
At the beginning of turn two, Katangans could enter a foot on both sides of the table. The Irish players were informed of the possibility of being attacked on the flanks, and this forced them to spread out their squads to thinly defend the perimeter.
The two Irish players had to lay out their defenses before the first turn. As with the real events, not all of A Company were at the company Mass, and a third of the troops were manning the trenches.
In the first turn, three jeeps carrying mercenaries rapidly entered the table and moved 20 inches on the road. Two of the jeeps were armed with 30 calibre MMGs and the other had a 50 caliber MMG. They opened up on the Irish, but caused no casualties.
The Purfina Bus Depot was used as the Irish HQ.
The Katangan Gendarmes and civilians moved on from the flanks, but immediately came under MMG and mortar fire.
By turn three, two Katangan squads were attempting to close assault the Irish trench. And although the Irish did inflict casualties and pin several Katangan squads and European civilians, they did not fail morale tests.
On the left side of the table, three Katangan squads entered a foot in and attempted to pressure the Irish left, but the four Katangan players didn't commit enough squads to the attack. The Irish used a MMG, a 60mm mortar and two 4 man fire teams to break up the attack as the Katangans came through the long grass and down the slopes.
Katangans advancing through the long grass.
By turn three, the merc jeeps with their three MMGs had failed to kill any Irish, and in the exchange of fire, the Irish also failed to kill any mercs, but had inflicted casualties. The jeeps were hit by small arms fire and a Carl Gustav ATG that resulted in all three being suppressed and the MMGs damaged.
The merc jeep crews sought shelter behind their jeeps
A European merc squad exchanged fire with the Irish, but came off the worse. They attempted later to close assault, but failed a troop quality check.
Although the Irish were drastically outnumbered, their strong defenses ensured they had little in the way of casualties. The Katangan, civilian and merc squads were significantly weakened as they tried to close in on the trenches.
All that is left of three squads of Katangans with an attached forward observer to call in mortar support by the end of turn four.
In the last turn, the Irish had suffered two casualties (but their wounds were not yet determined). A Katangan squad attempted to close assault the trench in the background, but failed to pass a troop quality test.
On the last turn, the Irish Ford Mk IV Armored Car was brought into play, and its MMG opened up on the Katangan Gendarmes in the open.
The Merc jeeps' roll in the scenario proved to be disappointing. They never moved after their first turn, and their fire was ineffective against the Irish. With the Jeeps damaged and suppressed and the crews bailing out, the Irish were never really threatened after this action.
The Irish players smartly set up one of their MMGs on a roof to protect their left flank with two fire teams entrenched.
By the end of the fifth turn, the Irish had beat off one attempted close assault and only suffered two light wounded figures. The Irish also successfully stopped the Katagan advance on their left and right flanks with their MMGs and mortars, and their other MMg and small arms fire inflicted heavy casualties to their front. The Katangans/mercs failed three of their troop quality checks and failed to call in mortar support. The Katangan players did not coordinate an effective plan of attack and their flank attacks were launched with insufficient forces. What helped the Irish was their trench defenses with effective fire from their MMGs and mortars. In the last turn, the Ford appeared having been hidden in the depot (as a last line of defense), and opened up on Katagan squads not yet pinned or in retreat.
The game was called with an Irish victory as no buildings had fallen and a number of Katagans and mercenaries were left with heavy wounds and several deaths.
