Lemmey - Yeah, but what goes around comes around

Phil - Sorry man, I don't have a 6mm goat!

Next fight should be posted tomorrow or Thursday.

V/R,
Jack

All,

AKA Operation Cro-Wings #3, AKA The Death of Team Three

It's 1825 on 29 June 1990 and Team 3 of Lt Trojas' ODA 626 is sitting atop Hill 825, and they're in a bad way.  They had been performing surveillance, from Hill 781 to the northeast, on a nearby road networks, serving as a tripwire to warn TF Galban mechanized forces of enemy counterattack.  They spotted enemy armor moving in, reported it to TF HQ, and coordinated air strikes (some enemy forces still got through; that's actually TF Aguilera fighting off the enemy counterattack near Pisa).

However, enemy radio direction finding efforts triangulated the team's position and vectored Communist militia into the area.  Team 3 was able to get the drop on the bad guys, but there were simply too many, and so the Cubans abandoned their positions and moved to Hill 850 in a running firefight.  The team suffered one man seriously wounded and three lightly wounded.

Upon reaching the crest of Hill 850 the team made comms with TF HQ.  They were informed Battlegroup Elias was standing by as QRF to get them out, but the team needed to continue moving southeast to Hill 825, with a Helicopter Landing Zone (HLZ) just east of it.  The radioman informed the team leader, GySgt "Turk" Dos Santos of this development.  "Uhh, fellas, I got bad news."  Everyone turned to look as Turk showed them the problem: the team's back was to a 30 foot cliff; with enemy troops coming from the north, northeast, and southwest, the only avenue of escape was down the cliff, across a draw, and up Hill 825 to the southeast.

Turk led Team 3 down the cliff and up the slope of Hill 815.  The fighting was ferocious, and while the Communists were dropping like flies, Team 3 reached the crest with three seriously wounded men and two lightly wounded.  But tragedy struck as Turk radioed for extraction; a Cuban CH-47 carrying five crewmen and 18 soldiers from Battlegroup Elias swooped into the valley between Hill 850 and Hill 815.  Turk had just established communications with the pilot when a rocket streaked up from Hill 850; the Cuban helicopter was struck and fell at the foot of Hill 850, with no survivors.

Turk informed TF Galban headquarters, which ordered the recon team to descend Hill 815 to the south, heading for the Cronistrian town of Tulm, where a convoy from Battlegroup Elias was currently moving to effect extraction.  Turk looked at his team, half of whom could not even walk, and got them ready to move.


Overview of map, north is left.  Hill 815 is at bottom left (northwest), Tulm is at top right (southeast).  There is a shallow stream running east-west at the center of the table.  Hill 535 is at bottom right, and the foot of Hill 618 is at top left.  The team is atop Hill 815; they have to make their way down-slope, cross the stream, then get into Tulm, where (hopefully) units from Battlegroup Elias will be waiting to pick them up.


Turk and Chick taking fire.  Almost to the stream, but enemy troops in Tulm and no sight of Battlegroup Elias.  To see the bitter end, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2016/12/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-25.html

I hope you enjoyed Operation Chokehold (the 6mm fights) and Operation Cro-Wings, even though it wasn't exactly a Hallmark ending.

V/R,
Jack

Um ... do your chaps get their backsides handed to them often?

Could it be a problem in leadership, or tactical thinking?

Sad ending! But a nice game!

"I just realized I forgot the damn goat!!!"

Well, there you go...

FSN - "Um ... do your chaps get their backsides handed to them often?"
I dunno man, you'd have to define 'often.'  It certainly happens.

"Could it be a problem in leadership, or tactical thinking?"
More than likely!  Hell, I've posted more than 300 batreps in the past three years, you draw your own conclusions!!!   

Peter - "Sad ending! But a nice game!"
Thanks, and don't worry about sad, they're just little toy soldiers. 

I know you're not going this route, but I just wanted to take the opportunity to say, I know some folks don't like (or find insensitive) modern wargaming, it's too close.  But this is just little toys in a made up army fighting in a made up country. 

Lemmey - Yep, I'm pretty sure not having the goat is what did me in   That, and bad shooting dice.  And the millions of bad guys streaming onto the field of battle.  To take on three guys.  That were carrying three guys.  And the initial QRF being shot down.  And the follow-on QRF not showing up in a timely manner 

It was a fun series of fights.  More gaming coming up this weekend, just haven't yet made up my mind on what it will be.  I might go with some Cold War Commander in 6mm, work to close out Cronistria once and for all.  Any preferences (I listed some options at the end of the previous batrep)?

V/R,
Jack

All,

First, Happy New Year!  And to celebrate, I'm going to post a series of 6 or so modern skirmish battle reports, one a day until I'm done.  Thus begins the first of 6-10 modern skirmish fights; I'm playing with my 7-year old son, and we're playing co-op, so that each of us controls a 'good-guy' fireteam of four men against the enemy squad of 6 to 8 men (depending on a die roll).

AKA Cronstria Fight #26, AKA "The reduction of Dubrovna," Fight #1

It's 0725 on 1 July 1990 and Battlegroup Elias is moving up to the line of departure, preparing to jump-off into yet another attack.  It's been a busy few days, but if today goes well, enemy forces on the west side of the capital city of Miran will be totally eliminated. 

If you're a loyal follower of Cuba Libre, go ahead and skip down to the last bullet-paragraph before the map.  If not, and you're bored:

It's recently come to my attention that not all of you out there in wargaming land have bothered to read every single one of my batreps, thus you may be confused about what the heck all this talk about Cubans, Cronistrians, Miran, etc..., is about

So, for the uninitiated, here's a synopsis:

-In Feb 1990, Cuban exiles, with substantial support from several Western nations, staged an invasion of Cuba to depose its dictator and install a constitutional republic.  The invasion was a roaring success, and the war was over after five days of heavy fighting (32 tabletop fights can be found on this blog under the label "Liberation").

-A transition government was put into place, elections were held, and a new government was quickly established.  The Cuban military was essentially split in two: a Home Defense Force (about 75% of the military), which never leaves Cuba, and the Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force (or CLEF; about 25% of the military), which is an all-arms, air-ground force deployable to all corners of the globe, fighting for the cause of freedom.

-There have been some minor operations, but the first sizable deployment was of a Cuban Special Forces A-Team to the (fictional) Balkan republic of Cronistria.  It's 1990 and the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia are falling apart; Cronistria has declared independence and is striving to become a democracy, but Communist hardliners and Yugoslavian federalists are actively opposing this.  Fighting broke out between the Cronistrian Democratic Militia (or CDM, the good guys) and Cronistrian Communist Army (or CPA, the bad guys); the Cuban SF troops were deployed to support and train the CDM.  The Cuban SF (designated Task Force Trojas) performed their mission very well, surpassing expectations, to the point Cuban leadership began to believe they might actually succeed in helping Cronistria become an independent, stable, and free state.  With this realization, the Cuban leadership deployed additional, conventional forces to Cronistria (reinforcing success).  The Cuban element in Cronistria is now known as Task Force Galban, a roughly battalion-sized element composed of three mechanized Battlegroups (Aguilera, Caballero, and Elias), and Lt Trojas' SF detachment.

-CDM and Cuban forces had been marching on the Cronistrian capital city of Miran, but had become stalled by heavy fighting in the village of Brezno, just southwest of the capital (see map, below).  Upon arrival of the mechanized elements of TF Galban, they were immediately thrown into battle.  Two days ago they conducted a series of lightning quick attacks to encircle Miran from the west (eight fights in "Operation Chokehold," on this blog they are Cronistria fights 14-21, and 24, with 22, 23, and 25 being a Special Forces operation gone wrong).

-So, this blog concept, 'Cuba Libre,' is really nothing more than a vehicle for me to play out whatever modern ideas and scenarios I feel like playing, in the overall concept of a single 'history,' if you will, as I follow the exploits of the various units and leaders of the Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force.  To illustrate, I felt like playing some skirmish-level games using my Peter Pig US Marines and my Eureka Russians.  I didn't really care about climate, so I used Cronistria.  If I wanted Arctic or desert, I would have just made up a new operation somewhere in the world (like I just played out Operation Pay-Off because I wanted to play Special Forces against terrorists in the Middle East).  It's great!

-I'm a big fan of Ivan Sorensen's "5Core" series of rules, having played Five Men in Normandy (skirmish), 5Core Company Command (company/battalion-level), and 5Core Brigade Command (brigade/division-level).  I love the activation process, which puts limits on what I'm able to do and forces interesting decisions to be made, and I love the combat processes, which are simple, quick, and to the point.  Most recently, Ivan put out a new/updated/modified version of 5 Men in Normandy, known as Five Men at Kursk (5MAK).  I modified these slightly to play out modern games, and that's what I'm using for this set of skirmish fights.

-CDM forces currently have their hands full clearing Brezno, and have asked for Cuban assistance.  Colonel Galban acquiesced to this request, sending Battlegroup Elias to aid their allies.  Battlegroup Elias left Stanje (see map, below), heading south to attack the rear of the Communist defensive positions, located atop Hill 489 and in the town of Dubrovna.


Overview, north is up. Shown is the slope of Hill 489; the Cubans will enter from the south/southwest (bottom/bottom left), while the Communists enter from the north/northwest (top/top left).   The situation is Cuban infantry of Battlegroup Elias are dismounted and conducting a movement to contact, when they run into a Communist patrol in the early morning mists of July 1, 1990.

The Cuban mission is to defeat the enemy patrol in order to clear the path to this morning's first objective, the enemy defensive line atop Hill 489.


The opposing forces, with bad guys on the left and good guys on the right.  The Cubans will always have eight men (so that my son and I can always control four guys, each), while the bad guys will roll to see if they get 6, 7, or 8 guys.  Here they got eight...

The Cuban squad is eight men in two fireteams, 15mm Modern Marines from Peter Pig, painted up in temperate MARCAM, with each fireteam containing a grenadier, a SAW, and two riflemen.  The bad guys are 15mm Modern Russians from Eureka Miniatures, painted up in 'Sun Bunny' camo.  Each game we roll to see how many bad guys there will be on table, with the options being 6, 7, or 8 men.  With eight men they get two whole teams, each of a grenadier, a machine gunner with PKM, and two riflemen with AKs.


Team 1 in the thick of the fight, laying down fire.  To see the whole fight, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/01/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-26.html

Team 1 moves up the slope to capture the last enemy soldier, officially ending the fight in victory for the good guys!  Cpl Lira calls in for CASEVAC with two WIA, as well as a SITREP to inform Battlegroup Elias HQ the way to the crest of Hill 489 is clear, though it appears the enemy has established a bunker line there that is going to need to be taken care of.

The boy and I are quite pleased with ourselves, getting away with 7 bad guy KIAs and 1 EPW for only two WIA.  Not just winning, but winning in style, accomplishing the objective of defeating the enemy patrol to clear the approach to the defensive line atop Hill 489.  Which, as luck would have it, is the next fight, so stay tuned

V/R,
Jack

Nice one Jack and the Boy!

Great game rep as always.


I googled "sun bunny"

Enjoyed both of those, Jack.....
Think I 'lost' the earlier one due to EE losing all my 'unread  posts'.....So it got missed until now.

Great reports, as always.

Cheers - Phil.

Thanks fellars, glad ya liked it.  The boy is having a great time, and so am I

But he's getting spoiled; we need to get back to playing opposed, get him a few more butt-kickings.  Builds character

Next fight coming right up.

V/R,
Jack

It's 0845 on 1 July 1990 and Battlegroup Elias continues to push up Hill 489.  Earlier, units from 2nd Platoon made contact with an enemy patrol and defeated it.  Following that firefight, 2nd Platoon continued up Hill 489 and conducted a reconnaissance.  Their Platoon Sergeant quickly sketched out a Communist bunker complex atop the hill, noting a ravine which afforded a covered and concealed avenue of approach to within 150 meters of the enemy defensive positions.  The Plt Sgt had carefully reconnoitered the ravine; he found an engineer stake, signalling the enemy had likely registered the ravine for indirect fire, but it didn't appear the enemy had eyes on the ravine, nor where there any indications of mines or booby traps.  He'd found what looked to be a two-man observation post (OP), but it looked to be abandoned.  Encircled and cut-off, the enemy's morale was beginning to crack, and the platoon's earlier defeat of the enemy patrol likely was enough to convince the OP to fall back into the bunkers.

But that meant Battlegroup Elias had a way to get within 150m of the enemy defensive line without being seen.  If they could slip across the small stream unnoticed, they could get within range to put a rocket into the nearest Communist bunker.  And if they could do that, they could rush more troops across the stream, face left, and roll up the enemy line.  Because of the dense forest and undergrowth, and because the enemy had chosen to site their defensive positions too close to the crest, the bunkers weren't in very good position to support each other.  Without the OP in the ravine, the enemy defense was compromised.

The Battlegroup commander, Captain Elias, was briefed on the situation, and he quickly issued his orders.  2nd Platoon would go firm on either side of the ravine, and act aggressively against enemy troops attempting to patrol in/around the ravine, or trying to re-establish their OP in the ravine.  Meanwhile, 3rd Platoon, following in trace of 2nd, would pass through 2nd Platoon, move up the ravine, then attack the enemy defensive line.


The enemy line atop Hill 489.


Fight's on!  And nothing says 'fight's on!' like an AT-4   To see the whole thing, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/01/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-27.html

The Squad takes up defensive positions to the west and begins the CASEVAC process, with one KIA and one WIA, to the enemy's eight KIA.  The remainder of 3rd Platoon is atop Hill 489, working east to clear the rest of the enemy bunkers.  2nd Platoon begins moving up the center, between 3rd Platoon's 3rd Squad on the left (south) and 1st and 2nd Squads on the right (north).  As 2nd Platoon reaches the crest they can see the enemy is broken, and a good thing too!  The enemy massively outnumbers the two Cuban platoons atop Hill 489, but they're outflanked and in full route down the west slope of Hill 489.

2nd Platoon's commander calls the development in to Captain Elias, who immediately orders 1st Platoon, still unengaged in a blocking position astride the highway at the base of Hill 489.  Capt Elias orders 1st Platoon to proceed southwest at all speed, then turn right and push up the backside of Hill 489 to cut off the enemy's retreat, to prevent them from falling back into the town of Dubrovna and setting up defensive positions there.  Battlegroup Elias' AMX-10RCs and LAVs will remain on the highway and cover 1st Platoon's left flank (facing Dubrovna).

1st Platoon mounted its LAVs, dashed west to the backside of Hill 489 (screened by Battlegroup Elias' armor), then dismounted and began pushing to cut off the enemy troops.  However, the dismounts quickly ran into an enemy strongpoint, a weak enemy force seeking to 'hold the door open' for their comrades, i.e., not allow the Cubans to close their path of escape.  As 1st Platoon's 3rd Squad moved on the strongpoint, a few routing enemy stragglers moved over to join the fight.

Next fight coming up tomorrow.

V/R,
Jack

Good stuff, again, Jack. 

Cheers - Phil

Thanks Phil!

Next one on the way.

V/R,
Jack

All,

AKA The reduction of Dubrovna, Fight #3

It's 1010 on 1 July 1990 and Battlegroup Elias has two rifle platoons on Hill 489, where the enemy is routing down the backside, attempting to flee into the town of Dubrovna, where their commander hopes to rally them and re-establish defensive positions.  1st Platoon rolled down the highway towards Dubrovna, covered by AMX-10RCs of Battlegroup Elias, then de-bussed near an enemy strongpoint.  The Communist position was key to both sides; a machine gun in an old, bombed out house was keeping Battlegroup Elias at bay, holding the door open for their comrades to escape the carnage of Hill 489, where 2nd and 3rd Platoons quickly broke their defensive line.  1st Platoon was tasked with eliminating the enemy machine gun position, then driving north to cut off the enemy's retreat.


Overview, north is up.  The enemy strongpoint, a bombed out house, is at center, and Hill 489 is at top right.  It will not be pictured (sorry, I should have put some minis up there as decoration), but enemy troops are streaming down from Hill 489 off the map, from top right to left, while an enemy MG in the strongpoint is firing to cover their exit.  The Cuban 1st Platoon's 3rd Squad will enter from the bottom (south) and is tasked with taking the strongpoint, then the other two squads will push past to the north (top) to cut off the enemy escape route.


Cubans move on the Communist strongpoint, hoping to seize the day.  To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/01/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-28.html

The squad consolidated its position in the objective house while Cpl Lupe sets the SAW into position facing northeast, the other two on policing up their casualties (1 KIA and 2 WIA, Pvt Salazar was knocked down but okay), then pops a green star cluster to signal the objective is taken.  The other two squads immediately begin streaming past the objective house, setting up blocking positions to bag the enemy troops still streaming down Hill 489, attempting to escape 2nd and 3rd Platoons, now on line and moving down the crest.

Battlegroup Elias now has all three rifle platoons engaged, though they are reaping a considerable harvest of wounded and de-motivated Communist troops, men now caught between hostile forces and only too happy to capitulate.  Captain Elias raises TF Galban HQ on the radio and provides a SITREP, and requests reinforcement; all these enemy prisoners (more than 400 as of 1630 local time) are eating up resources, and Battlegroup Elias is unable to enter Dubrovna.  A plan is devised: Battlegroup Elias will go firm, isolating Dubrovna from the east/northeast (while Cronistrian Democrat forces push from the west/southwest), while HQ and Support elements are stripped for bodies and pushed forward to come take care of Battlegroup Elias' enemy prisoner problem.

Battlegroup Elias will resume combat operations tomorrow morning (2 July 1990), looking to enter and finish off Dubrovna.  The entry op is the next fight, coming right up.

V/R,
Jack

Good pair of games!

Great scrap !

Cheers - Phil.

Indeed it was!

Thanks Phil!

V/R,
Jack

All,

AKA The reduction of Dubrovna, Fight #4

It's 0630 on 2 July 1990 and Battlegroup Elias is again moving up to its jump-off positions.  Yesterday saw the Cubans attack a strong defensive position, Hill 489, and defeat it in detail, causing approximately 75 enemy casualties and capturing approximately 400.  The Cubans had gotten extraordinarily lucky in that a patrol spotted a covered and concealed approach into the enemy line, which allowed its units to infiltrate and flank the enemy bunkers, which drove the numerically superior enemy force to flee headlong from the fight.  Cuban forces were able to circle around and block the route of escape, which is what allowed them to bag so many Communist troops (also keeping in mind that the enemy troops in and around the town of Dubrovna are already encircled and cut off from other Communist forces, so they're morale wasn't all it could be).

As Battlegroup Elias rest, refit, and reorganized, Cuban air and artillery pounded Dubrovna all through the night.  Rather than an all-out assault on Dubrovna, Captain Elias has elected to try to infiltrate his infantry on foot, behind a creeping barrage, and once the artillery has moved on and the troops are on the edge of town, the Battlegroup's mortars will give the forward edge of town one more sharp, quick pounding before the grunts push forward.


Overview of map, the outskirts of Dubrovna, north is bottom right.  The Communists are defending the buildings at center/top right and the Cubans enter from bottom left (east).  1st Platoon is in the lead, and 1st Squad the tip of the spear.  1st Squad's mission is to secure the first four buildings at the town' initial crossroads, opening the door for 2nd and 3rd Squads to pass through them, then 2nd Platoon to pass through 1st Platoon, moving into the town, proper.


With smoke still rising from the craters left by the mortar barrage, Team 1 moves up through the Dragon's Teeth to Building 2, laying down fire as they go.  To check out the whole fight, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/01/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-29.html

Mission accomplished, the squad consolidates, Team 1 in B3 and Team 2 in B4.  They take up defensive positions, redistribute ammo and water, and Cpl Lupe moves back to tag PFC Abrera's body (1 KIA, enemy 6 KIA).  Cpl Lira calls in the pro-word for objective taken, and 2nd and 3rd Squads immediately go streaming past them to the west, securing the next to buildings without firing a shot.  2nd Platoon now passes through 1st Platoon, and they come smack up against Old Town, the original section of the town of Dubrovno, a sniper's paradise of narrow, cobblestone streets surrounded by two story buildings with nooks and crannies everywhere.  Well, someone's gotta clear that rat's nest, looks like 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon is up next.

Which, of course, is the next fight, and it's an absolute mess!

V/R,
Jack

Nice one Jack.
2/2plt always end up being combat monsters, looking forwards to this one!