Falklands Fury

[rhinobones]

T7 – Argentina

Argentine A-4s conduct two attacks on the carrier task force. They achieve one kill and no discernable damage to the ships. All A-4s are either destroyed or disabled. Hopefully, the disabled aircraft will be available as replacements for the next A-4 squadron.

[rhinobones]

T7 – Great Britain

HMS Glasgow tosses a few shells at an Argentine position located on the North coast of East Falkland. It makes some noise but little else, the Argentines are not impressed.

Three ground units make landfall on West Falkland Island while a few more are still afloat somewhere to the West. There are plenty of soft spots to land at, so they’ll certainly have no trouble getting ashore.

[rhinobones]

T8 – Argentina

Argentina makes a couple of nuisance air to ground attacks just to see what the Harriers will do. Sure enough, they show up and take out two of my prop driven Pucaras. These are the only aircraft Argentina has which can operate out of the primitive airfields on the islands.

Not much land movement. Units are in their defensive positions and movement would negate what little entrenchment they have accomplished. The troops will stay put until a tactical situation develops which gives them a need to move.

The plan forward is to reduce the Harrier force as much as possible before activating anti-shipping squadrons less capable of defending themselves air to air. The 6th Air Brigade (30 Mirage Vs) and 8th Air Brigade (15 Mirage IIIs) are being activated. The intention is to draw in the Brits and overwhelmed them with numbers. The Mirage is a bit superior to the Harrier in the air-to-air mode. Average Mirage anti air is 34, average Harrier is 20.

[rhinobones]

T8 – Great Britain

The Brits move a few more units ashore and appear headed toward Chartres and Fox Bay. An eventual move against Port Howard would also be expected. Destroyers toss a few shells toward the Port Howard defenders and a heliborne attack is made against the Chartres force. No material damage is inflicted.

Harries fly CAP over the Chartres strike but there are no Argentine intercepts to oppose them.

Among the newly deployed units is a recon/attack helicopter unit on Saunders Island and a helicopter transport unit at Dunnose Head. Both are considered to be priority targets.

Ship movements are still being detected to the West, and possibly South, of the islands. Unknown whether these troops are meant to reinforce West Falkland or conduct assaults against Goose Green and Port Stanley. Either way, the Argentines feel they are ready to repulse invaders.

[rhinobones]

T9 – Argentina

Argentines conduct air strikes against Saunders Island and artillery bombardments on land forces approaching Chartres. Air strikes succeed in crippling the recon/attack helicopter squadron on Saunders Island and draw out the Harriers. A few Harriers are knocked down along with a few more Argentine aircraft. Even more aircraft are temporarily disabled due to battle damage. Hopefully some of the damaged Mirages will be back in service before their squadron departs. Results of air combat are disappointing as high command had expected to down more Harriers. The Mirage squadrons will be deployed for a few more days, so the opportunity to take out more Harriers still exists.

Airmobile artillery located on the high points West of Port Howard are able to attack British commando units at the limit of their artillery range. After several rounds of fire they manage to create a lot of noise and make the commandos duck. No casualties but it does give the gunners a nice warm feeling. Chances are that before too long the gunners will get to meet the commandos face to face.

[rhinobones]

T9 – Great Britain

Brits make an assault on the Chartres position and are repulsed. Reinforcements are landed North of Chartres and in the South Brits land at two ports without opposition. Expect these units will be moving North to form a perimeter around the Fox Bay defenders.

Meanwhile on East Falkland a mountain infantry platoon, with engineer support, lands at Port King. Suspect that their immediate objective will be Goose Green.

[rhinobones]

T10 – Argentina

Argentine aircraft conduct more operations against the recon/attack helicopter unit on Saunders Island and are intercepted by Harriers. Argentine efforts are ineffective and cost the attackers a couple of aircraft.

An infantry regiment is moved into the Chartres position as reinforcements.

Map shows location and disposition of forces. Stack compositions are displayed for clarity of relative unit strengths.

[rhinobones]

T10 – Great Britain

Mirage III interdicts carrier/assault convoy North of East Falkland. Ineffective and loss of one Mirage.

Airmobile engineers from Port King area assaults the Argentine company outside of Goose Green and forces it to retreat into Goose Green. The Gurkha brigade lands and follows the engineers toward Goose Green. The combined British force attacks Goose Green and is repulsed with moderate casualties.

Concentrated attack on the Chartres position forces the Argentine regiment to retreat with heavy losses. The regiment dissolves into a depleted reorganizing unit unable to dig in or escape.

[rhinobones]

T11 – Argentina

Activated 5th Air Brigade (35 A-4s).
Moved the 3rd Air Brigade (Pucaras) to continue ground support from the mainland.

Conducted air strikes against the attack/recon helicopter unit. Argentine Mirages did a little better than on previous air strikes. Two Harriers killed and one damaged at a cost of four Mirages damaged. The helicopter unit is down to a couple of flyable aircraft, but unfortunately no further damage was done.

British ground interdiction was quite active. Multiple units were harassed as they moved into defensive positions. Both Goose Green and Chartres were reinforced and dug in, however, the British forces attacking them appear to be both professional and formidable when compared to the Argentine conscriptions. Some units in the Port Stanley area move towards Goose Green and deploy in blocking positions. Argentines expect that the Brits will make quick work of Goose Green and then march quickly toward Port Stanley.

On the South end of West Falkland an infantry battalion moved off its hilltop position and occupied one of the ports supplying the Brits. The company will probably get blocked in by a sea unit, but until they are eliminated, they should be able to disrupt the English logistics trail.

[rhinobones]

T11 – Great Britain

Gurkhas assault and easily take Goose Green. Argentina suffers moderate casualties and personnel loses for the Brits a little lighter.

In Chartres the Brits first attack is repulsed with heavy British loses and light Argentine losses. This doesn’t deter the Brits from regrouping and attacking a second time. The defending Argentine regiment is decimated and falls back. At the same time the Argentine company defending just to the North East is attacked and pushed back toward Fox Bay.

The Argentine Mirage units perform interdiction attacks. Losses are 4 Mirages and enemy killed are 3 Harriers, 1 Ganzel.

[rhinobones]

T12 – Argentina

The 5th Air Brigade activates with 34 A-4 attack aircraft. The decision is made to conduct an all-out attack against the British carrier group with the intent of reducing support to the land force. Three sorties, accompanied by the remaining Mirage units, are aimed at the carrier group. Results are very disappointing as half the A-4s are either damaged or lost, few Harriers are killed and ship damage is minimal. The Argentines rush to make the damaged aircraft air worthy for follow on attacks.

On the ground, blocking positions are taken to protect Fox Bay and the approach to Port Stanley. These units will be able to delay the Brits but have little expectation of defeating them head to head. Around Goose Green the British are in the mop up mode.

[rhinobones]

T12 – Great Britain

The Mirage unit makes a futile sea interdiction on the carrier group. All 5 Mirages are lost while causing no discernible damage.

Brits assault and take the Fox Bay airfield. Personnel losses are light on both sides.

Brits assault and take the airfield leading to Port Stanley. Argentines suffer heavy casualties. Most of the remaining air transportation assets escape the attack by evacuation to the mainland.

British DDs scout all along the shoreline and shell targets of opportunity. Casualties are minimal but hiding from the incoming does expended some supply and entrenchment.

[rhinobones]

T13 – Argentina

2nd Air Brigade activated. These aircraft are only serviceable for air-to-ground support.

A-4 squadrons attacked the British carrier group. 1st sortie lost 1 A-4 and several damaged, killed 1 Harrier and slightly damaged a carrier. 2nd sortie lost 7 A-4s damaged and killed with no damage to the Brits.

Argentines rallied and retook Goose Green. Most of the Brits have moved off towards Port Stanley so hopefully they will have to delay assaulting Port Stanley while Goose Green is secured.

Argentines launched a spoiling attack against Fox Bay airfield. The British didn’t budge, and casualties were heavier on the English side. Land attacks were much more successful than expected, caused more Brit casualties than received.

[rhinobones]

T13 – Great Britain

Brits make two attacks against Mt. Pleasant and force the Argentines off the mountain top observation post. In the first attack Argentine casualties are light while British casualties are moderate. Both sides suffer moderate casualties in the second attack.

After two assaults the Brits take Fox Bay port. Argentine casualties are initially light then became heavier in the second attack wave.

British destroyers roam the shoreline looking for targets of opportunity, finally concentrating for a shelling on Goose Green. The bombard has little impact.

[rhinobones]

T14 – Argentina

Supply to the island diminished to the order of about 18 supply units.

Argentine infantry attack and regain the Fox Bay airfield, British withdraw and are seen to subdivide. Hopefully, they will need to reorganize before returning to the fight.

Infantry deployed in Goose Green attack the Gurkha battalion stationed to the East. Surprisingly, the Gurkhas offer little resistance and retreat after sustaining moderate casualties. Argentine casualties are light.

Other than digging-in and a bit of re-positioning there is little activity in the Port Stanley area. The Brits seem to be taking a pause before the final assault on Port Stanley.

[rhinobones]

T14 – Great Britain

The fight for the Fox Bay air strip continues with the Brits assaulting and capturing the field. This time the Argentine casualties are heavier than the British. Land troops are supported by naval gun fire.

British warships shell the Goose Green defenders with little effect. Maybe this is cover fire since the Gurkhas seemed to have moved away from the battle zone.

There is no discernable movement by the Brits to approach Port Stanley from the Mt. Pleasant area. Maybe they are resupplying or repositioning for attack from a different angle. Their lack of aggressiveness is a bit of a mystery.

The supply point at Salvador has turned from Argentine to British. The Argentine unit that was stationed there was recently moved closer to Port Stanley. Evidently the Brits saw this and hope to occupy the empty port/supply point. No enemy is visible, but it can be surmised that Brits have landed a task force that will march from Salvador toward Port Stanley.

[rhinobones]

T15 – Argentina

In the next round for control of the Fox Bay airfield Argentines succeeds in driving out the Brits but are unable to advance onto the strip. To clear they path to the strip they try to drive the Brits out of the Fox Bay port but are unsuccessful. After these attacks the British casualties are moderate and the Argentines’ a little bit heavier.

The infantry moving out of the Goose Green port make contact with the Gurkhas and immediately attack. Again, the Gurkhas withdraw while suffering moderate casualties. After combat, the Argentines move back to defend the Goose Green port. An empty port would surely offer the Brits an opportunity to recapture Goose Green.

Repositioned defense to the West of Port Stanley. Some units occupied high ground observation posts and others moved to block any advance from Salvador. Observations from the high points exposed more of the British troop disposition.

At the moment neither side has a clear military advantage on the ground. The Argentine high command knows that time is running short before the United Nations steps in and forces a negotiated settlement. They also know that the British want to prove that they have the dominate position and for that reason all out assaults against Port Howard, Goose Green and Port Stanley are expected. The Brits do not appear to be in a position to capture all three objectives.


T15 – Great Britain

At the end of British Turn 15 the battle for the Falkland Islands comes to a conclusion. British escort ships make a series of shore bombardments but otherwise the Argentinians have scraped out a pyrrhic marginal victory. The Argentinians lost more in men and material but won a measure of respect for holding off against the professional British forces.

It would seem the Brits were negligent in building a logistics tail robust enough to support land operations.

[rhinobones]

T16 – Argentina

Summary of Argentine and British casualties and material losses. Totals are the sum of “Assigned” and “Lost”. Some of the “On Hand” units may have been deployed at one time but are not included in the total count. Note the large number of Argentine aircraft losses.

Troop count includes all infantry types except for engineers:
Brits: 400 Troops Deployed, 143 Lost, 36%
Argentine: 523 Troops Deployed, 164 Lost, 31%

Aircraft count includes all rotary and fixed wing types:
Brits: 48 Deployed, 16 Lost, 33%
Argentine: 94 Deployed, 62 Lost, 66%

Most Argentine F/A fixed wing were deployed for a few days and then rotated out. All 94 were never in theater at the same time. Nevertheless, Argentina will need a new air force to replace their losses.

It is surmised that Argentine failure to properly deploy Exocet missiles had a negative, but not fatal, impact on the outcome. Their deployment would probably have cost the British a few war ships, but not changed the final result.

The UN will debate the situation and eventually rule that the Falkland Islands remain governed by the United Kingdom. The Argentine attempt to claim the islands has come to an end.

Regards, RhinoBones

Edit:

While searching the TOAW III AAR list I happened on this AAR from July 2014. It was written by Choowee during the development of the Falklands 1982 scenario.