Toaw Scenario: Third Afghan War 1919

Afghanistan,
May 04, 1919,

Afghan army of 151 units opposed to British army of 103 units
for a battle of complexity 0.8 at Battalion(II) level
on a 5 Km/Hex map
for 16 turns of Half Week each.

by Tim Hayes submited on 04-01-2003

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Briefing
THIRD AFGHAN WAR 1919 Version 1.0 (December 19,1999) Date: May 4, 1919 to July 12, 1919 Location: Northwest Frontier, British India Map Scale: 5 km per hex Time Scale: half-week turns Unit Scale: Company/Battalion/Regiment Length: 16 Turns UNIT COLORS: BRITISH British Army: White/Red on Lt Brown Royal Air Force: White/Red on Lt Brown Indian Army: Blue/White on Lt Brown Kurram Valley Militia: Green/White on Lt Brown AFGHANS Royal Afghan Army: Black/Yellow on Green Afridi Pathans: Yellow/Black on Green Wazir Pathans: Blue/White on Green Tochi Pathans: Lt Blue/Black on Grey Mahsud Pathans: Grey/White on Dk White Mohmand Pathans: White/Black on Dk Blue Yusufzai Pathans: Green/Black on Yellow Orakzai Pathans: Lt Green/Black on Dk Green Mamund Pathans: Red/White on Black Bunerwal Pathans: Orange/Black on Dk Grey Kunar Pathans: Yellow/Red on Green Bolsheviks: Maroon/Yellow on Red Indian Army Deserters: Dk Blue/White on Lt Blue Indian Nationalists: Green/Black on Olive Austro-Hungarian/German POW's: Blue/Black on Olive SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: Indian Nationalists may sabotage railway lines in the Punjab thus decreasing British supplies for a short time. Indian Nationalists may harass British rear areas by stirring up the Anti-British feelings of the masses. British morale may sink to the point where rear echelon troops will mutiny, stop performing their duties thus decreasing British supply. If British bomb Kabul, Afghan Army supplies may decrease. Unrest in the Punjab may force the withdrawal of some British units. A chance that the British may use Poison Gas to ensurea speedy end to the war. SOME KEYS TO STRATEGY: As the British, remember that India, especially the Punjab, was in quite a state of flux during this time. As a result you may have to contend with significant outbreaks of sabotage and unrest to your rear. Be aware of this and take suitable precautions. Your frontier garrisons are undermanned, and the troops are third-rate. All the others being sent to fight in Mesopotamia, the Balkans, and France. Furthermore, do not expect any better from your reinforcements. With one exception, the Ghurka and Sikh troops, these are your best, use them well. Remember, you have to also contend with the fact that some of your garrisons are rather isolated thus easily prone to be placed under siege by the Afghan Army or wily Pathan tribesmen. On a positive note, you do have the RAF to assist you, and also an excellent supply distribution system which for the first time uses not only railroads, but motor transport too. Finally, remember to also protect your rear areas from various opprtunistic Pathan tribes who may kick you when you are down. As the Afghan Player, your army is even worse than the British, it is poorly equipped, poorly led, with an abysmal supply distribution network. Yes, you can depend on Russian advisors, but sometimes their advice may be unsound. You also have a hodge-podge of other troops with a beef against the British in India, from Indian Nationalists to Russian and Afghan Bolsheviks. None of whom wish to have anything to do with each other in terms of military cooperation. In addition, you have your most staunchest allies, the various Pathan tribes on the Northwest Frontier. They are loyal, but since they also regularly fight amongst each other, they do not cooperate very well in a military sense, and sometimes they are unpredictable from a military sense. So, you have a rather fragmented force from a command/control point of view. However, on a positive note, you do have the element of limited surprise and have the capapbility to easily overwhelm a significant number of British frontier garrisons in the 1st and 2nd turns before significant British reinforcements arrive. Take what you can in the first 3-4 turns and hold on to it, because you are going to be in for a hell of a fight when the full might of the British Empire comes to bear upon you. ****************** On May 4, 1919, the Afghan Amir Amanullah, under the encouragement of German, Bolshevik, and Indian Nationalist agents, decides to take advantage of the widespread Nationalist unrest in India and declare war on the British. The Afghan Army made several half-hearted incursions into British occupied Punjab on the Northwest Frontier. The British, having siphoned most of their best troops on the NW Frontier to deal with the war and conflicts in Mesopotamia, France, Northern Russia, a nationalist uprising in Egypt, and not to mention the uprisings in India, had very little troops to spare for garrisoning and policing the frontier. What troops that were on the NW Frontier were third-rate territorials from the UK whose only desire was to go home, and local militia who could not really be depended upon when the going got tough. As a result, when the Afghan Army and their Pathan allies launched their attack, they met with some success. But, the British were quick to recover and within a matter of a few weeks had concentrated over 340,000 troops on the frontier. Troops were dispatched from all over the Empire to deal with this grave crisis. Despite a strong military showing by the British and Indian troops, they only made marginal progress eventually advancing all the way to Dakka just on the other side of the Khyber Pass. Now, the road to Kabul lay open and Amir Amanullah and the British negotiated a Cease-Fire in late June for a return to the Status Quo Antebellum. But, this short war made an indelible impression on the Afghan Army and Pathan tribesmen. It was the first war in which they had to contend with the Royal Air Force, which was used extensively on the frontier during this time. Kabul was bombed, the Royal Palace was extensively damaged, and 6 tons of bombs fell on Jellalabad killing over 600 people. Furthermore, with British military commitments stretched thin, and with no desire to occupy Afghanistan, the Viceroy Lord Chelmsford sent supplies of poison gas to the front on May 14 to ensure a speedy end to this most unwanted distraction. The gas was never used as the war ended in a little over month. The war was very unpopular with the British troops who after having fought for four long years in Mesopotamia, the Balkans, and France, were incensed at being ordered to fight another war on the NW Frontier of all places. Needless to say, war weariness did set in quickly especially with rear-echelon British units, sometimes to the point of outright insubordination bordering on mutiny. In addition, the officers on the NW Frontier were complaining that their hands were being tied by Delhi and London since they were ordered not to take the aggressive stance as was done in the previous two Afghan Wars. Scenario design by: Tim Hayes

Briefing

THIRD AFGHAN WAR 1919

Version 1.0 (December 19,1999)
Date: May 4, 1919 to July 12, 1919
Location: Northwest Frontier, British India
Map Scale: 5 km per hex
Time Scale: half-week turns
Unit Scale: Company/Battalion/Regiment
Length: 16 Turns

UNIT COLORS:
BRITISH
British Army: White/Red on Lt Brown
Royal Air Force: White/Red on Lt Brown
Indian Army: Blue/White on Lt Brown
Kurram Valley Militia: Green/White on Lt Brown

AFGHANS
Royal Afghan Army: Black/Yellow on Green
Afridi Pathans: Yellow/Black on Green
Wazir Pathans: Blue/White on Green
Tochi Pathans: Lt Blue/Black on Grey
Mahsud Pathans: Grey/White on Dk White
Mohmand Pathans: White/Black on Dk Blue
Yusufzai Pathans: Green/Black on Yellow
Orakzai Pathans: Lt Green/Black on Dk Green
Mamund Pathans: Red/White on Black
Bunerwal Pathans: Orange/Black on Dk Grey
Kunar Pathans: Yellow/Red on Green
Bolsheviks: Maroon/Yellow on Red
Indian Army Deserters: Dk Blue/White on Lt Blue
Indian Nationalists: Green/Black on Olive
Austro-Hungarian/German POW's: Blue/Black on Olive

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:
Indian Nationalists may sabotage railway lines in the Punjab thus decreasing British supplies for a short time.

Indian Nationalists may harass British rear areas by stirring up the Anti-British feelings of the masses.

British morale may sink to the point where rear echelon troops will mutiny, stop performing their duties thus decreasing British supply.

If British bomb Kabul, Afghan Army supplies may decrease.

Unrest in the Punjab may force the withdrawal of some British units.

A chance that the British may use Poison Gas to ensurea speedy end to the war.

SOME KEYS TO STRATEGY:
As the British, remember that India, especially the Punjab, was in quite a state of flux during this time. As a result you may have to contend with significant outbreaks of sabotage and unrest to your rear. Be aware of this and take suitable precautions. Your frontier garrisons are undermanned, and the troops are third-rate. All the others being sent to fight in Mesopotamia, the Balkans, and France. Furthermore, do not expect any better from your reinforcements. With one exception, the Ghurka and Sikh troops, these are your best, use them well. Remember, you have to also contend with the fact that some of your garrisons are rather isolated thus easily prone to be placed under siege by the Afghan Army or wily Pathan tribesmen. On a positive note, you do have the RAF to assist you, and also an excellent supply distribution system which for the first time uses not only railroads, but motor transport too. Finally, remember to also protect your rear areas from various opprtunistic Pathan tribes who may kick you when you are down.

As the Afghan Player, your army is even worse than the British, it is poorly equipped, poorly led, with an abysmal supply distribution network. Yes, you can depend on Russian advisors, but sometimes their advice may be unsound. You also have a hodge-podge of other troops with a beef against the British in India, from Indian Nationalists to Russian and Afghan Bolsheviks. None of whom wish to have anything to do with each other in terms of military cooperation. In addition, you have your most staunchest allies, the various Pathan tribes on the Northwest Frontier. They are loyal, but since they also regularly fight amongst each other, they do not cooperate very well in a military sense, and sometimes they are unpredictable from a military sense. So, you have a rather fragmented force from a command/control point of view. However, on a positive note, you do have the element of limited surprise and have the capapbility to easily overwhelm a significant number of British frontier garrisons in the 1st and 2nd turns before significant British reinforcements arrive. Take what you can in the first 3-4 turns and hold on to it, because you are going to be in for a hell of a fight when the full might of the British Empire comes to bear upon you.

******************

On May 4, 1919, the Afghan Amir Amanullah, under the encouragement of German, Bolshevik, and Indian Nationalist agents, decides to take advantage of the widespread Nationalist unrest in India and declare war on the British. The Afghan Army made several half-hearted incursions into British occupied Punjab on the Northwest Frontier. The British, having siphoned most of their best troops on the NW Frontier to deal with the war and conflicts in Mesopotamia, France, Northern Russia, a nationalist uprising in Egypt, and not to mention the uprisings in India, had very little troops to spare for garrisoning and policing the frontier. What troops that were on the NW Frontier were third-rate territorials from the UK whose only desire was to go home, and local militia who could not really be depended upon when the going got tough. As a result, when the Afghan Army and their Pathan allies launched their attack, they met with some success. But, the British were quick to recover and within a matter of a few weeks had concentrated over 340,000 troops on the frontier. Troops were dispatched from all over the Empire to deal with this grave crisis. Despite a strong military showing by the British and Indian troops, they only made marginal progress eventually advancing all the way to Dakka just on the other side of the Khyber Pass. Now, the road to Kabul lay open and Amir Amanullah and the British negotiated a Cease-Fire in late June for a return to the Status Quo Antebellum. But, this short war made an indelible impression on the Afghan Army and Pathan tribesmen. It was the first war in which they had to contend with the Royal Air Force, which was used extensively on the frontier during this time. Kabul was bombed, the Royal Palace was extensively damaged, and 6 tons of bombs fell on Jellalabad killing over 600 people. Furthermore, with British military commitments stretched thin, and with no desire to occupy Afghanistan, the Viceroy Lord Chelmsford sent supplies of poison gas to the front on May 14 to ensure a speedy end to this most unwanted distraction. The gas was never used as the war ended in a little over month. The war was very unpopular with the British troops who after having fought for four long years in Mesopotamia, the Balkans, and France, were incensed at being ordered to fight another war on the NW Frontier of all places. Needless to say, war weariness did set in quickly especially with rear-echelon British units, sometimes to the point of outright insubordination bordering on mutiny. In addition, the officers on the NW Frontier were complaining that their hands were being tied by Delhi and London since they were ordered not to take the aggressive stance as was done in the previous two Afghan Wars.

Scenario design by: Tim Hayes