Armies of Afghanistan- Craig H (Bundeswehr)

Who are you?

My name is Craig H and I’ve done a fair bit of wargaming and roleplaying over the years. Colin introduced me to Skirmish Sangin about six months ago and despite my Foreign Legion fireteam being decimated by the Taliban (We have all suffered that- Ed) I’ve been keen to get my own force together and learn the game a bit more in full.

What army are you playing?

Being a Kiwi I had toyed with the idea of running either New Zealand or Australian forces. Looking through the range of figures available, I was drawn to the Eureka Miniatures’ Bundeswehr range. It made me wonder about the non-English speaking armies operating in Afghanistan, something that gets little media coverage here or in the US. So I delved a little deeper and discovered that with over 5,000 troops deployed it is currently the third-largest troop contributor to the ISAF mission, primarily based in Kunduz and Badakhshan provinces.

I gradually came around to running a non-English speaking force, so decided to start out with a basic Bundeswehr infantry unit, or possible an airmobile force, such as Paratrooper Battalion 261 (Fallschirmjägerbataillon 261), from Airborne Brigade 26, part of the German Army’s special operations command.

I also toyed with the idea of a Polish unit, possible a GROM Special Forces team. But that’s for another day....

What are you getting with your starting funds?

With a Bundeswehr force I’m looking at the Eureka Miniatures range that presents a good variety of figures to make up at least 2-3 fire teams. A KSK sniper and MG-3 machinegunner will be essential, along with a Panzerfaust AT rocket launcher. After reading Despatches No. 1 I also like the idea of a military working dog and handler to search out for IEDs.