Vietnam Skirmish Campaign

[bigjackmac]

The tax man did indeed have incentive to skedaddle along at a rapid clip.  Having said that, the squad was rather preoccupied with the LMG and rifle in the treeline, Russell getting hit, mortar rounds dropping in, then another group of VC showing up on the NE trail.  Not to mention, I don't have an exact timescale down, but I believe that whole engagement probably took about two minutes of 'real' time.

Thanks for the compliments, and good luck with your Vietnam project, mine's been a lot of fun!  And I'm dreaming of the day I have some beautiful, M-14-armed Marines in my possession.  I may never play anything else again.  Yeah right, who am I kidding, I can't keep my mind on one project for more than a week!

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Phil looks very good.

Nicest thing anybody's said to me for ages !
I put it down to clean living.
Cheers - Phil

[Matt J]

Hey misquote!

Get on with them Romans you (so you can move onto Dacians  )

[bigjackmac]

Don't get too excited Phil, he didn't mean it, he's just flattering you so you'll kick out new sculpts for us     And clean living?  Perhaps you've inhaled too much lead dust     Having said that, I'm living cleaner than I ever have in my life, and it's not working!  In any case, let's get to work:

All,

Ten days of furious patrolling but no contact.  Then, on 22 Oct 1967, 2nd Battalion gets itself into a sh!t sandwich up at Hill 475, northwest of Dak To.  By mid-afternoon 2nd Bn was spent, and 3rd was lifted out there and conducted a relief in place, facing NVA on the east face of the hill.  Brigade is concerned it's bitten off more than it can chew, and the next morning, 23 Oct 1967, it commits Bravo Company, 1st Bn, who helos out and approaches from the SE but rapidly runs into a buzzsaw, an NVA bunker complex.  Alpha Company is called to the rescue; Bravo identified the right (southern) flank of the NVA bunker line, but can't get there themselves.  Alpha helos out, with 1st Squad, 1st Platoon in the lead, bustin' brush in a hurry to relieve the pressure on Bravo, and, in turn, 3rd Battalion.  The squad must find and eliminate the enemy bunker anchoring its defensive line on at the base of Hill 475.


Overview, north is up.  The blob at top left/top center is the base of Hill 475, with the enemy bunker at top right.  The squad is strung out in column from the bottom up towards the bunker, moving pretty (too?) quickly.


The enemy bunker, with three NVA troops in it.  B/1st Bn is off table in this direction (NE), fighting and pinned down by the rest of bunker line extending to the NE.  The squad is to take this position, then consolidate here with the remainder of its platoon (1st), while 2nd and 3rd continue NE, rolling up the enemy bunkers from the flank.  The bunker is starting as 'spotted' because the three guys in there are firing up a storm at Bravo Company, off table.


And here is the squad, hauling ass to get to that bunker as soon as possible.  From left to right, Stallworth is tail-end Charlie (bottom left), then Ham (M-79 grenadier), Doc White, Sgt Banaszak, Swan, Greenwood (carrying the M-60 since Harris was MEDEVAC'ed, or, for my good friend Panda-John, "humping the Pig")., and Holmes (top right), in his usual spot as pointman.  Everyone can hear the firing from the bunker, and Holmes can actually see it.  The squad is starting out unspotted (violet beads) as they are coming from an unexpected direction; funny, the NVA have no flank security out.  They're usually better than that.

SSgt Bleier, Sgt Russell, and Spec4 Harris are all convalescing, while Blount finished his stay with the medics, but is not present in the field.  This is because he decided to exercise his option due to the '3-time Loser' rule.  That is, any man that's received three Purple Hearts can request a transfer out of the field, so PFC Blount is now working at the Brigade laundry, but the squad has not yet received a replacement...


Well, there's no flank security because every swingin' Richard that can be spared from the bunker line has been pulled back, given fresh ammo and grenades, and is being sent around the NVA right flank to go roll up Bravo Company's left flank.  There are eight of them in the initial wave.  I'm playing this that the enemy will receive reinforcements in the counterattack if they are doing well, if not no reinforcements will come, the idea being that, if their counterattack fails/stalls, they will 'go firm' with a minimally manned defensive line (in this case the bunker line and a light skirmish line to the south to refuse their flank) to buy time for the bulk of their force to withdraw to another defensive line further up Hill 475, or out of the area altogether.


Let's get it on!   Holmes (bottom right) has the squad moving up much to fast for his taste, and as he crests the rise he can see the enemy bunker (off camera at top right).  However, his 'Spidey-sense is bothering him, he's noticed movement to his left out of his peripheral vision.  He drops prone (remaining unspotted), and spots three NVA up on Hill 475 (top left; he had two successful spotting actions, but, because of their close proximity to each other, I allowed all three to be spotted).

Check out all the action at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2014/05/in-country-game-6-23-oct-1967.html

Hope you guys like it!  

Please let me know what you think, what's googy/screwy/messed up, or if you have an idea about something I'm doing or not doing, I love to hear folks' feedback.

V/R,
Jack

[toxicpixie]

It's all good stuff!

I was going to mention that Holmes is one dangerous and calm man, Banazcek is solid and the Doc is earning his keep & they deserve a bit of an XP boost, but you ran into that on your AAR by the half way point

I really wouldn't want to be in the M60 team though :S

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Very enjoyable report Jack, nice to see some 'characters' developing! 

[Techno]

What Will said.
Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Thanks for the comments guys, I appreciate it!  While I'm very pleased with the character development and how the games have been playing out, but this is not my favorite batrep.  You'll soon see why...   

And then the wheels came off...  If you recall, after a stiff fight yesterday to flank the NVA bunker line holding up 2nd then 3rd Battalion moving up Hill 475, all US forces pulled back and dug into company-sized NDPs.  The squad had been resupplied and even received a couple replacements.


Overview of table, north is up, NVA baseline at top, US baseline at bottom.  The squad is dug-in in three bunkers, from left to right, bunker 1, 2, and 3.  The NVA is coming in force from Hill 475 (north), entering their base edge and trying to get off the southern base edge.  Everyone starts unspotted (violet beads).


Looking from behind Bunker 2 (bottom right), you can see the squad laid concertina wire, four claymores (aqua beads), and put out an LP/OP (center top, Holmes and Fuqua).


It's pitch black, and both Holmes and Fuqua are awake on LP/OP, when fleeting, specter like shapes and sounds suddenly crystallize in Holmes' mind: @#$%, how'd they get so close?  "Echo 5 Bravo this is Echo 2 Hotel, we've got beaucoup Charlie out here, we're coming in" Holmes whispered into the field phone. "Come on Fuqua," as the two men crawl back two actions, both reserving one for overwatch.


The NVA move up in the center, as Holmes and Fuqua are falling back (bottom left) to their own lines.


Then the damn new guy has some gear catch on the wire (bottom center left), and the NVA are alerted to their presence!  Holmes begins to turn just as the NVA at far left opens up, giving Fuqua a light wound.  Holmes empties a mag in the NVA's general direction, missing, but then Fuqua ripped off a burst and put an enemy soldier on his back.  Banaszak is beside himself; the new guy screws up and now his friend's life is on the line, so he does the only thing he can: "Ernie (Holmes), get down!!!" he screams, and Holmes pulls Fuqua down as Banaszak blows the squad's four Claymore mines.

To see how the squad fares the NVA's daring night assault, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2014/05/in-country-game-7-24-oct-1967.html

Wait until you see the next one (already played, just need to write it up)!!!

V/R,
Jack

[toxicpixie]

Did Holmes make the mistake of referring either to piccies of wife/sweetheart and new baby, or say out loud that he only had one sleep and a wake up to the plane home...

Ouch.

Still, I think these nicely illustrate the casualty rates - one US serviceman dead, three wounded and three times that in NVA casualties, and it still feels like a loss even if they did hold the perimeter!

[Techno]

Great stuff again, Jack !
Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

That's a great report!

Nasty.

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.  And I'm really not happy, Holmes was a stud, but "ces't la guerre."

"Did Holmes make the mistake of referring either to piccies of wife/sweetheart and new baby, or say out loud that he only had one sleep and a wake up to the plane home..."
Actually, I think he pulled the classic "Sarge, I don't think I'm comin' back from this one.  Take this, make sure my wife knows I love her."

"Still, I think these nicely illustrate the casualty rates - one US serviceman dead, three wounded and three times that in NVA casualties, and it still feels like a loss even if they did hold the perimeter!"
I built a casualty table myself that uses a D20 roll to figure out what happened, and I've been pretty happy with how that's been working out (battalion aid station for four days, evac to China Beach for twelve days, evac to US-tour over, etc...).  And you're absolutely right: even though the perimeter held, it absolutely felt like a loss.  I don't feel like I messed anything up, i.e., made any bad tactical decisions (except maybe blowing the Claymores too early, but that was done to try to pin the enemy down to let Holmes and Fuqua get away), and certainly the NVA didn't do anything too fancy, just a very tough fight.

Wait until you see the next one.  That is, to me it was crazy/ridiculous/bonkers, I hope it comes through in my write up.

V/R,
Jack

[Norm]

Nice to see 1:1 gaming with 10 mm, you are getting a really good narrative out of these games.

[bigjackmac]

All,

Following the debacle at the NDP last night (early morning, actually), the squad is allowed to rest through late morning, get cleaned up, then went on working party for a few hours.  During this time 2nd Battalion passed through 3rd Battalion into the assault on Hill 475, while 1st Battalion (the squad's parent element is on holding the southern flan.  The vicious nature of the fighting has got many calling Operation Apple Cobbler "The Battle for Chopped Sirloin Hill."

By mid-afternoon 2nd Battalion's attack is stalled; in preparation for 1st Battalion assuming the assault position, several choppers' worth of replacements were flown out to join the battalion in the field, to include enough to bring the squad up to full strength.  This was causing some sever consternation amongst the few survivors of the squad, and Sgt Banaszak had the rare occasion to voice his opinion directly to the Company commander: "Sir, I don't like it, we've got men out on convalescence!  They're coming back, and they belong with the squad!  There's no way we're keeping these FNGs while our buddies get farmed out to other units."

"Sergeant, perhaps you haven't been paying attention to recent events.  It's 1430 hours (I don't know why the Army insists on saying 'hours' after the time...); your squad will be heading up that hill at 1530.  The way things are going, you'll have plenty of room on the squad for your returning buddies."  Banaszak's expression turned from one of anger to concern, his mouth went dry, and he peered over his shoulder at the looming hill.  "Uh, I see Sir, sorry Sir."  "No problem Sergeant, now you get back to your squad and get your boys ready."  This is what we call foreshadowing...

At 1500 1st Battalion was passing by LZ Bluebird, where so many wounded and dead were being evacuated by helicopter that Banaszak figured no one could be left in 2nd Battalion, and at 1530, as the squad passed through 2nd Battalion's front lines, he saw he was pretty much right...  Picking up the action at approximately 1545 on 24 Oct 1967.


Overview of board, north is right, US baseline is south (left), NVA is right.  You can see three enemy bunkers at far right, which are (top to bottom) Bunker1, Bunker2, and Bunker3.


Looking north at the NVA, left to right: Bunker1, Bunker2, and Bunker3.  At top left is an 82mm mortar position.


The US squad, moving north (right) up Hill 475, unknowingly about to run into an NVA bunker line (they've passed two abandoned bunker lines on the way up.).  Banaszak can't help but think, 'if only Holmes were here, he would have spotted the enemy already and warned the squad...'  The 'new' squad is as follows, from left to right: Pvt Mansfield, a replacement rifleman, Spec4 Shell, a replacement field medic, Pvt Thomas, a replacement grenadier, Cpl Ham, now 2nd Team's leader, Pvt Swan, now a rifleman in Team 2; Sgt Banaszak is between the two teams; Pvt Webster, grenadier, Sgt Bradley, a 'Shake and Bake' 90-day wonder, given his Sergeant's stripes pretty much straight out of basic (an 'interesting' program instituted by the Army, not real popular with guys already 'in-country' that are suddenly outranked by an FNG straight from the World), replacement Team 1 leader, then Pvt Wagner, replacement assistant machine gunner, Pvt Brown, replacement machine gunner, and Pvt Kolb, replacement rifleman walking point.


View from behind pointman Kolb, looking up the trail at Bunker3.


The action starts at Bunker3 (foreground).  One NVA activates and spots Kolb, Brown, and Wagner, opens up, and puts Kolb down (first shooting roll was a damned 20) with a serious wound (followed with a 14).  Next NVA opens up, Brown is down, out of the fight.  Third guy spots Bradley then shoots Wagner, seriously wounding him.  All three guys in Bunker3 fired, I count it as spotted.  Unbelievable: three NVA activate, three US troops out of the fight...


Banaszak, on the trail between his two teams when the shooting started, sprints right, moves up, and flops prone (bottom left in the bushes, next to the seriously wounded Kolb, on the trail, with Bunker3 at far right).

And then things got really crazy!!!  Sgt Banaszak has been recommended for the Medal of Honor for his actions on Hill 475 on 24 Oct 1967, which went beyond the call of duty.  That game was intense, and it certainly worked out like real life.  That is, you don't need a big-time hero until you've got a big-time problem.

For the rest of the fight, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2014/05/in-country-game-8-24-oct-1967.html

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

That's a hell of a game.
Guess Swann's days are numbered too!

[toxicpixie]

Bloody hell, Banaszack is dangerous! He probably needs a psych check, he's going a bit thousand yard stare there :S

Swann's reminding me of Rifleman Bowlby's entire regiment. I can't see it going well for him. Full on mental breakdown coming there, I think. I don't think he's temperamentally suited to front line service...

And the FNGs appear to truly be FNGs with all the luck & skill that entails. Did anyone even get their names?!

[Techno]

 
Cheers - Phil.

[bigjackmac]

All,

Following their last fight, the battalion spent several days recuperating at the LZ, performing working parties in support of the battalions in the line, and conducting security patrols around the LZ perimeter.  On 28 Oct 1967 1st Battalion was thrown back into the line, and the squad was on point for a combat patrol heading up Hill 475 as the 201st Brigade continued its attempts to wrest control of the hill from the NVA entrenched there.

The squad received no replacements, but several of its previously wounded members were returned to full duty (Corporal Ham, Sergeant Bradley, Spec4 Stallworth, and Pvt Brown).  The squad's mission was to patrol up the main axis of attack, locate the next enemy defensive line, and punch through it on their way to the top.  They crossed the friendly lines at 0830, the line of departure at 0845, and the previous enemy line (from which the enemy had fallen back from) at 0915, and we pick up the action at 0945.


Overview of the table, with north being to the right.  Once again I'm playing solo on a 3' x 2' board.  The enemy baseline is to the right (north), the US baseline to the left (south), and the squad is patrolling up a trail leading north, entering from the bottom left.  You can see three enemy bunkers on the table, with Bunker1 at top center, Bunker2 at top right, and Bunker3 at bottom right.


Looking north at the enemy bunker line: Bunker1 at left, Bunker2 at top center, and Bunker3 at right.  Moving up the trail you can see one squad member, Spec4 Shell, on point.  All troops on the table are starting unspotted except Shell and the man immediately behind him (just off camera at bottom), Pvt Swan, who are starting as spotted as they are without cover on the trail, moving right into the NVA kill zone.


The squad, moving up the trail south to north, from right (closest to enemy) to left: Shell, Swan, Ham, Mansfield, Sgt Banaszak, Sgt Bradley, Stallworth (carrying the squad's machine gun), and Brown.  Because of how the casualties have worked out, the squad is in the field without either of its M-79 grenadiers.


Shell is on point (bottom center), not happy with Banaszak reaming his ass about running away in the last fight and putting him on pointman duty.  As he's grumbling to himself while moving up the trail, he sees or hears or just feel something bad about to happen.  As he moved up he had already noted a clearing to the right leading into a foliage-heavy treeline, but as he scanned again, suddenly he could make out the outline of an NVA bunker (top center).  He just opened his mouth to yell a warning when AK-47 fire erupted...


Behind Bunker3, where both NVA rifleman have opened up on Shell (top right) and Swan (top left).  The NVA at right delivers a full magazine of 7.62mm rounds in Shell's direction, but miraculously Shell is not hit!  The NVA on the left fires at Swan, missing him with two bursts, but the third lightly wounds him.  Due to the outbreak of automatic weapons fire, Bunker3 is spotted.


Shell (center) passes his test (caused by the shock of three bursts of AK fire), moves right, drops prone, and returns fire (at Bunker3, bottom right), stitching 5.56mm rounds into the sandbags but hitting no one, while Swann (top left) is stunned from his wounds and simply drops prone to avoid incoming fire.  At this point he's not even scared, he's just thinking, 'Swannie, don't you dare run away again, that @#$% Banaszak will shoot you just like he said!"


No sooner had Bunker3 opened up on the point element than Banaszak understood the threat and what he must do.  "Ambush front, base of fire, I'm moving right" he yelled as he shook out of his pack and web gear, stuffing frags and extra magazines into his cargo pockets.  Banaszak then sprinted off the trail to the right, continuing up the right side until almost face to face with the bunker, then dropped prone.  As the NVA are focused on the Americans to their front, Banaszak remains unspotted, though all his sprinting through the jungle will make it easier for him to be spotted.

What happens next? Will Banaszak continue to cover himself in glory, or will he fall apart?  Maybe even become just another casualty?  You'll just have to check the blog
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2014/05/in-country-game-9-28-oct-1967.html

Hope you dig it.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Nice report Jack.
At least Swann didn't leg it.

[FierceKitty]

I'm off to 'Nam on the 4th. Any advice from the obvious experts here?