Battle of Port Stanley

As mentioned in an earlier posting, I came across a Memoir 44 scenario on the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands at The Stronghold Rebuilt and have been wanting to play it. The 15mm figures that were purchased for this game went unused; Atlantic 1/72 modern figures took their place.  Instead of using the movement cards,  used a variant where I rolled to see which troops could move. I usually don't use the grenade for the extra kill, as it makes for a bloody game. For movement I wouldn't use it  either.  If the star came up the side rolling could move one of their elite units.

At the left of the picture, the research station held by Royal Marines; the center Port Stanley held by two units of the Falkland Defense Force; on the right the government house held by Royal Marines.  The two units at the top are Argentine commandos moving onto Port Stanley after their raid on the empty Marine barracks at Moody Brook.

Five units of Argentine Marines moving onto the research station.

The Argentine commandos start inflecting losses on the RMs at Government House  and  push back one FDF unit in Port Stanley.

The FDF counterattack and push the commandos back.

In this game both sides need 4 victory points to win. If the Argentine forces can capture and hold Government House and Port Stanley, as each one is worth 1 victory point, the commandos try to capture both before their Argentine Marines come up.

Another shot of the action in Port Stanley.

The commando attack on Government House presses forward, and the commandos in Port Stanley  are having so luck with their fight against the FDF.

The commandos, hit from both side by the FDF, suffers heavy losses and are force back. Where are the Marines? 

The commando unit pushed out of Port Stanley decides to attack the research station and try to link with the Marines. The RMs weren't expecting to be hit from behind. The first marine force can be seen advancing in the top of the picture.

The Commandos finally capture Government house.

The RMs recapture the research station.

The commandos cut down the last RM from Government house. The now have two victory points.

At the same time, the RMs in the research station exact some revenge by eliminating the Argentinian comma do unit. Where is the Argentine Marines? It seem every time I rolled for Argentina, they got everything but the "infantry" symbol!

Now the FDF makes a mistake. They move forward to take the commandos at Government House under fire.

The commandos push forward, cutting the FDF off from Port Stanley, the FDF taking heavy losses.

The commandos now enter Port Stanley.

The RMs attack out of the research station to hit the advancing Argentine Marines.

The Argentine Marines hit the RM unit and pushes it back, away from the research station.

The RMs move back into the research station and push back the Argie Marines.

The Argentine Marines counter attack and captures the research station.

The commandos eliminate the last of the FDF in Port Stanley. At this point the Argentine forces have their 4 victory points, but the British still have their move.  If the FDF unit moves forward to Government House and recaptures it, the Argentinians will lose that victory point.

Hindsight is 20/20; the FDF attacks the commandos in Port Stanley instead!  Their attack fails. At this point the game should be over, however I forgot what the victory conditions were and kept playing. What happened after this point is then moot, but I will show what happened after.

The typical Argentine roll; nothing useful at all!

The FDF keeps attacking.

The Argentines move forward.

Another Argentine roll!

The commando unit finally get rid of the last of the pesky FDF and wins the game! AGAIN!

The Argentine Marines cheer their victory, especially the three units that never got to move!
As can be seen, if I was going to play this scenario it would need a little tweaking.


One thing about this scenario was that I found out about the Falkland Defense Force, which I had never heard of before. As my very limited military experience (one year in the Massachusetts State Guard), I needless to say have a great interest in such defense forces. Of course, in reality from what I read only about 40 out of 100 men from the FDF showed up for the battle; although several ex members played a part in the liberation of the Falklands.

Size DOES Matter

     After my vacation in Maryland I found myself thinking of different conflicts since I graduated from high school, especially the Falklands War and the bush wars in Africa. What's more inThe Stronghold Rebuilt there is a Memoir 44 scenario for the Falklands War. This got me looking for15mm figures for this period, especially British and Argentine forces. I started with Peter Pig, QRF Miniatures, and MJ Figures (who have a line of Falkland War figures). After ordering some of the figures from each company it became obvious that the figures aren't very compatible, as can be seen by the photos.

left to right; Peter Laing, Peter Pig, QRF, QRF Selous Scout figure, MJ Figures, 1/72 Matchbox.

The Peter Laing is a Chasseur d' Alpin figure painted as a modern figure.

While it has nothing to do with toy soldiers, finally after 30 years of wanting one, I bought a genuine British DPM smock. Usually when I do find them for sale they are too small.  I came across a website that had new smocks that were the right size!