On
the morning of August 29, 1991, the Canadian Armed Forces, with the
assistance of the Mohawk Warriors at Kahnawake, began taking down the
barricades on the Mercier bridge. The initial tension and preparation
for an armoured assault on the bridge was broken by the offering of a
peace pipe by the Warriors and some short negotiations between Warriors
and Army officers on the scene. For those wishing to avoid bloodshed,
this was a powerful example of how the crisis could be resolved peacefully
and without the partisanship that hampered formal negotiations.
This
scenario simulates the situation where the peace pipe had not been
offered, and the military had travelled forwards to take the bridge by
force. It is a complex scenario incorporating a large number of units
and a wide variety of weaponry and vehicles and thus is quite suitable for
team play.
Players
take either the role of the Mohawk Warriors or the Canadian Forces.
Warriors will be manning the barricades and the Army will be attempting to
remove them. Either side may fire first as this is a full-scale civil
war which, fortunately, never happened.
Warriors: Protection
of the barricades is a secondary goal. The focus is on keeping the
Warriors alive and fighting. Warrior command has suggested fading
into the woods and engaging in harassing attacks to prevent the Canadian
Forces from proceeding into the reserve. Warriors set up behind the
barricade and in rifle pits off the highway.
Warrior
Units:
Number
Quality
Weapon
First Squad
7
Line
AK-47
3
Green
AK-47
1
Line
RPK
Second Squad
2
Crack
AK-47
5
Line
AK-47
1
Line
M2HB (w/ 3 belts FMJ)
4
Militia
Mini-14 (semiauto)
Third Squad
5
Line
M-16A1
Fourth Squad
1
Line
Sako 30'06 with 50 shells
1
Militia
Mini-14 (semiauto)
Ammunition: All
Warriors with detachable-magazine-fed firearms carry 10 magazines FMJ. Others
carry ammunition listed.
Supporting
Equipment: Warriors also have stored five caches each with 10 petrol
bombs. Warriors also have access to a bulldozer and three pickup
trucks. There are also numerous tripwire activated boobytraps in the
woods,
roughly equivalent to an M26A2 grenade in power. As a variant,
players may wish to issue Warriors up to 10 M72A2 LAWs and 2 RPG-7s with 5
HEAT rockets each.
Small
Arms: All
AK-47s, RPKs, M16A1s, and M2HBs are capable of fully automatic fire. Dedicated
players may issue sidearms in the .357 to .45 calibre categories with up
to 20 bullets.
Barricades: Barricades
consist of old passenger vehicles, kneeling-height concrete highway
barriers (PF 680), and large sandbags (PF 40) piled up to chest height. Rifle
pits are treated as field trenches and can hold 5 combatants.
Army: The
Army has two goals in this scenario. First is to take the barricades
and second is to advance onto the reserve to begin restoring order. This
second goal may be accomplished by advancing off the south edge of the
map. Elements of an armoured recon platoon will be available for the
initial assault as well as one infantry platoon in Grizzly APCs. Players
can use the M113 templates to simulate the Lynx, but reduce target size by
2 on all aspects to reflect the lower profile of the Lynx. Accurate
templates are in the works for the Lynx and will be posted on the website
in due course. Use the LAV-25 templates for the Grizzly, but replace the
main armament with an M2HB .50 calibre machinegun, with a coaxial .30
calibre M1919A4 machinegun from the WWII WDS.
Army
Units:
Recon
Elements:
2
Lynx Recon Vehicles Line crews of 3 each.
Mechanized
Platoon:
4
Grizzly Wheeled APCs Line crews of 3 each.
3
Rifle Sections in above APCs. See below for T.O. & E.
1
Command Group in above APC. See below for T.O. & E.
T.O. & E. Rifle Section (diminished)
Number
Quality
Weapon
1
Crack
M16A2
4
Line
M16A2
1
Line
M249
T.O. & E. Command Group
1
Crack
M16A2 and FN Mk-1 pistol with 1 magazine FMJ
2
Line
M16A2
Ammunition: All
soldiers, unless otherwise stated, carry 10 magazines FMJ. M249
gunners carry 2 ammunition boxes of belted FMJ. Each section is
allowed 4 M-72A2 LAWs and each soldier carries 4 M26A2 hand grenades.
Variants: The
same scenario as above, except that it is a night assault. Canadian
forces will have a rifle section on the ground beneath the bridge to try
to soften the Warrior positions by stealth, before the armour rolls in. Smoke
and tear gas grenades will be available to this rifle section. Another
variant is to allow the Army players the option of negotiating, using the
Diplomacy rules.
Tactical
Notes: This scenario represents Warrior forces as seen by the
media. That is, their main weapons are small arms and petrol bombs. Against
an armoured force, the Warriors would not be expected to last very long. Indeed,
Warrior plans only called for the slowing of armour so that their
high-powered rifles and petrol bombs could attack them, before the
Warriors themselves faded into the woods to continue a long-term guerrilla
war. Their defences were arrayed in such a manner as to impede the
progress of armour, and thus offset its advantage. The light-skinned
vehicles of the Canadian Armed Forces are quite vulnerable to heavy-calibre
weapons fire. Players wishing to upgun the Warriors to the weapons
suggested by the Canadian military should feel free to do so.
However,
even if the Army force is destroyed, the Canadian military possesses
airstrikes, artillery, and heavier armour in the form of Leopard and
Cougar AFVs. In short, there would have been no way for the Warriors
to claim any more than a minor political victory in the long term.
