Cuba Libre!

[ronan]

  I won!

Well done !

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 0900 on 5 Feb 1990, and the CLA's C Company, 1st Airborne Battalion, is on the move in Havana.  Following B Company, 3rd Infantry Battalion's setback yesterday in Artemisa at the hands of the regime's 2nd Armored Battalion, 1st Airborne Battalion was committed to secure Artemisa, which occurred yesterday afternoon.  The CLA paratroopers entered the city to find organized defense non-existent, the enemy forces severely demoralized and surrendering in large groups.  Interrogations of prisoners of war yielded only "it is finished, the regime has fallen."

CLA SIGINT intercepts showed a great deal of chatter, to include several new stations on channels previously unused, in a foreign dialect, and a large deal of communication between regime formation senior commanders.  The regime's Supreme Headquarters had communicated with a foreign element, then gone off the air, leaving the regime's military leaderless and without direction.

1st Airborne Battalion passed off the prisoners to other CLA units, then road marched to Havana, where Captain DeNostro's C Company led the way into the last pocket of enemy resistance in the north.  Early on the going was easy, but the paratroopers soon ran into stiff enemy resistance, with early reports suggesting the CLA riflemen had run into foreign troops, which HUMINT sources stated parachuted onto Cuba the night of 4/5 February 1990.


The opposing forces, with CLA on the right and backers of the regime on the left.  The CLA is comprised of British from Pendraken's Falklands range, as well as an M-113 from their Vietnam range (with a Minifigs machine gunner), while the enemy is made up of Minifigs Warsaw Pact Special Operations troops.

The CLA force has Captain DeNostro's Command Stand, seven rifle stands, a dismounted .50 cal HMG, an 81mm mortar, and an M-113 (from 5th Tank Battalion) with a .50 cal HMG.  As the forces are equal in quality, the CLA element has only one Command Stand (vice the usual two).  The regime force has a Command Stand, five rifle stands, and an 82mm mortar in support.


Overview of map, north is up, on the north side of Havana.  The CLA entered at left (west), while the enemy force is at right (east).


Captain DeNostro leads the M-113 forward as an enemy rifle team fires an RPG at them.  To see the whole fight, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/08/cuba-libre-liberation-batrep-30.html

Two more fights to go in the War of Liberation!

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Great stuff, again, Jack.

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Cornered rats always fight harder!

Great report Jack, interested to see how the extra 'player' turns out!

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys, we're near the finish line!

But starting a new war this weekend, of course

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 1700 on 5 Feb 1990, and C Squadron of the CLA's Special Operations Forces is in the air.  1st Airborne Battalion's sharp fight in northern Havana  with Venezuelan paratroopers set the CLA General Staff into a flurry of activity.  With the small amount of Venezuelans introduced into the battle-space, as well as their dispersal to three different locations on the island (northern Havana, northeastern Havana, and just east of Bayamo on the eastern end of the island) it was immediately apparent they were not in Cuba to put up a serious fight.  CLA intelligence officers immediately set to work to determine what the Venezuelans were there to do.

Intelligence stated the regime's government and military executive staff had dissolved, with it being very much an 'every man for himself' environment as they attempted to flee the island.  But there was no info on El Presidente.  The regime's senior formation leaders were still arguing back and forth via radio about whether to keep fighting or not, and, if so, how to best coordinate their efforts.

HUMINT and SIGINT sources began to paint a picture: El President was preparing to depart Cuba, with Venezuelan paratroopers in Havana to escort him away; where, how, and when were still unknown, though it was determined that the Venezuelan Captain Chavez' unit was a blocking force, the assumption being the Venezuelan force in northeastern Havana must be the element charged with securing El Presidente.

CLA Intelligence continued to press, and at 1600 local time, the breakthrough came: a bitter regime officer came forward to inform Generalissimo Waraldonez that El Presidente was to meet with Venezuelan paratroopers at the Playa Riviera Hotel in northeastern Havana at 1700.  HUMINT sources were begged, cajoled, and interrogated, and radio intercepts were scrutinized, and all signs pointed to the regime officer's story being correct.

The CLA's Commanding General quickly met with the Special Operations Commander, Colonel Quilveras, and a capture or kill order was issued.  Colonel Quilveras notified Captain Bosanova,who quickly collected two teams of shooters and boarded a waiting UH-60 Blackhawk.


The CLA is made up of Rebel Minis' SWAT troopers painted up as Direct Action shooters, while the regime forces are various Warsaw Pact and Modern Africa codes from Peter Pig.  El Presidente is a Rebel Minis Pulp character.

So this is a dramatic departure from the norm (for Cuba Libre) in that 1) I'm using 15mm troops, rather than my beloved 10mm, and 2) I'm using the 5Core rules "5 Men in Normandy" ("5MIN," modified) rather than 5Core Company Command, which is what I used for the previous 30 battles.

The reason for the switch is that I think both the figures and the rules are better for this fight (and the next one), which are small-scale, skirmish-level raids.  I've purposely made the Venezuelan paratroopers a much larger force, and they will be treated as 'ordinary' soldiers, opposed by CLA Special Operations types.  The only real modification I made to 5MIN was to have the CLA SOF troops fire with double dice (2K 2S), and those firing dice would be applied to any targets within 6" of each other, meaning the CLA SOF trooper will fire at one target, but with four dice, it is possible to 'hit' or effect other targets.  While it is normal within 5MIN to have shock dice affect nearby enemy troops, I'm playing that, in the unlikely event the CLA SOF guy fires and gets two kills, he will kill the target and another enemy within 6" of the target.  Also, if a CLA trooper is fired on without effect, he may return fire, even if he has already acted that turn.

I also split the enemy into two forces, and had them roll activation separately.


Overview of the map, north is up.  El Presidente has been secured by a small contingent of a Venezuelan paratroopers in the bottom left (southwest) corner, and their job is to escort him to the larger force of Venezuelan paratroopers in the top right (northeast) corner, where they have a skiff standing by to whisk him away to a waiting seagoing vessel.  The CLA force is not on the board.

*Forgive my 'skiff.'  I looked around and all I had was an old Axis and Allies landing craft, so it'll have to do.


CLA shooters move aggressively to secure the package.  To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/08/cuba-libre-liberation-batrep-31.html

One more fight and the the War of Liberation is finished!

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Boo !

Not enough pipe cleaners ! (They're my favourite !)......And is it an optical illusion, or is El Presidente a very tall chap ? 

Seriously though, Jack......Terrific report & piccies, again ! 

Cheers - Phil.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Good report Jack.
Now should we reveal that was the president's double! Muhahaha!

[bigjackmac]

Phil - Unfortunately (because they represent enemy RPG fire) there are several more pipe cleaners in the next fight, so you'll be okay   Regarding El Presidente, you're absolutely correct (leave it to the sculptor to be the one to notice!).  The 'original' El Presidente (with the pistol) is 'normal' size, but the captured one (with hands on head) is a veritable giant!  He must be 7' tall in scale; not sure how that happened...

Lemmey - Don't you worry about El Presidente!  He's going to have fresh clean clothes every day (albeit in orange), three squares, regular exercise, and plenty of alone time for reflection

I've actually got the last batrep written up and ready to go, just trying to decide if I should make you wait until tomorrow or post it tonight 

V/R,
Jack

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Make em wait.....

IanS

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 1930 on 5 Feb 1990, and troopers of the CLA's B Company, the Unconventional Warfare Group, are on the move just east of the town of Bayamo, in search of a renegade regime General and his two fanatical sons.

Immediately prior to and immediately following C Squadron's successful capture of El Presidente, CLA Intelligence came upon information from multiple sources which explained that the enemy's plan was for General Guapos, near Bayamo and with a bodyguard of Venezuelan paratroopers (they couldn't be sure who the CLA had co-opted) planned on continuing the war, and resorting to an insurgency if circumstances dictated.

Generalissimo Waraldonez immediately called a staff meeting to determine the CLA's best course of action.  The Commanding General turned once again to Colonel Quilveras, commander of the CLA's Special Operations Forces, and ordered him to prepare another Direct Action Team to carry out a decapitation strike, to end the war once and for all.  Colonel Huistrella, commander of the CLA's Unconventional Warfare Group, catching wind of this, arrived at Generalissimo Waraldonez' Command Post and lobbied to have the mission directed to the UCW.  "Hector," said Waraldonez, addressing Colonel Huistrella, "you know this is a job for the Direct Action shooters."  "Sir, after all the UCW has been through, all we've done for you and this army.  We bled white in the Escambray to hold the line, keep your flank secure so that you could secure this victory.  Let us finish this."

After much politicking, made possible by Huistrella's 'moles' in the Commanding General's Command Post, and by his arrival by helicopter at said Command Post, Waraldonez awarded the mission to B Company, UCW.  Of course, Colonel Huistrella would personally lead the assault.  Colonel Quilveras rolled his eyes and muttered a curse under his breath...


The opposing forces, with CLA on the right and regime forces on the left.  The CLA force is comprised of Battlefront's Vietnam-era SEALs, while the regime force has the same Peter Pig troops as last game.  General Guapos and his sons are from rebel Minis' "armed assassins" pack.  And I just noticed that, in my haste to get the troops ready, I forgot to put a blackwash on the bases of the General and his sons.  I'm also going to have to re-do the basing of the Peter Pig troops; usually I paint the pennies, let it dry, then put grass on them.  Being in a hurry  I skipped the 'paint the pennies' stage and just grassed them; you'll see in some of the photos that the pennies' bronze is showing through the grass on quite a few of the bases...

So I'm once again using 15mm and Five Men in Normandy.  But these are not CLA Direct Action shooters, so both forces are being treated as 'ordinary' soldiers as per the rules.  The only mod is that two of the CLA troops have M-14s, so I'm using them as Designated Marksmen.  I've doubled their firing dice, and allow them to hit multiple targets.

The CLA force: 12 troopers, two with M-79 grenade launchers and two with M-14s.  Several troopers are carrying LAWs, but I forgot about that and never used them...  The two men at front right are Colonel Huistrella and Captain Galban.

The enemy: there are ten Venezuelan paratroopers, one with RPG and one with LMG, General Guapos, and his two sons.


Overview, north is up.  General Guapos has made his Command Post in a bombed out farmhouse (top left).  He, his sons, and a few Venezuelans are there, while the rest of the Venezuelans are spread across the top of the board.  The CLA is spread across the bottom of the table; Colonel Huistrella has half the men on the left, while Captain Galban has the other half on the right.

The farmhouse is at top left, the barn at top center, the pig sty at top right, Hacienda 1 at bottom right, Hacienda 2 at bottom center, and the stables at far left.


One of the Designated Marksmen is in position and takes a shot at General Guapos.  To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/08/cuba-libre-liberation-batrep-32.html

Well folks, that's it!  The War of Liberation is finished and we won!  I'm looking to step away from Cuba Libre with another campaign, which I'm looking to start as soon as possible.  I was hoping this weekend, but real life has conspired to slow me down.  But it's coming, so stay tuned, and I'll be returning for more Cuba Libre action in the near future.

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Really good stuff, Jack ! 

Just one question.
I hadn't noticed the 'wrecked house' before...Is it a new addition ?...It's rather spiffy !
(Knowing me, it's been there in virtually every single scrap...and in my early morning, bleary eyed state, I just haven't noticed it before.)

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Cool report, knife edge stuff.

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it!

And Phil, you're good man, those buildings are brand-spanking new.

Alright, I need more comments please, let me know what you think guys.  The whole war is finished, so lay it on me.  I'm getting into another project (about to post under 'non-Pendraken'), but I plan on coming back to 10mm on 2' x 2' boards for quick, Hollywood-ish fights as seen in this campaign.

V/R,
Jack