These are awesome looking little firefights.

What a corker of a fight!

Good scrap !

Cheers - Phil.

"Forge" - "Scrap" - pun there - but can't quite reach it ....

I'll iron it out in time.

Lovely work Mr Mac. Very atmospheric.

Hey, thanks everyone!  I appreciate you taking the time to post a comment, and I'm glad you guys like the batreps.

V/R,
Jack

All,

AKA, Unit 101's 6th Fight of Operation Payback

It's 0325 on 11 Jul 1990, and Unit 101 is in Lebanon, closing in on The Mayor in the village of Jezabyl.  The village is very small, and inhabited only by people that are well armed and loyal to The Mayor, and the tactical problem is that the platoon needs to take The Mayor alive.  Team 1 has busted down the door, and now it's time for Team 2 to rush in and grab the target.  The sniper and MG teams are to the southwest, in position to isolate the enemy compound (keep reinforcements from getting in) and prevent escape (keep the target from getting out).


Overview, north is up.  The Cubans will enter the table from the east, via the lane between the crop field at top right and the wall/buildings below it.  The rest of the village, with the creek, is off camera to top right; that was the ingress where Team 1 fought the previous battle, and Team 2 has passed through them and is moving into The Mayor's compound.  They don't know which building The Mayor is in; the enemy has two squad leaders.  Once the fight begins, one of the squad leaders will move to The Mayor and attempt to evacuate him, while the other squad leader organizes a delaying action.  When it's time have a bad guy squad leader move to the mayor, I'll roll a dice to see which building he's in, and the squad leader will have to move there, grab him, then lead The Mayor off the map.  The Cubans, of course, are trying to catch The Mayor alive.

I'm playing this solo, using Ben Lacy's skirmish rules "Final Combat."  These are super detailed, and you know I'm simple, so I'm using the activation system as written, and I'm using the movement, spotting, morale, casualty determination, and firing pretty much as written, though simplified just a hair.  This game was fun, and didn't take as long as I thought it would, but was still longer than I generally am looking for.  I really like the activation system, so I'll probably work to make shooting, spotting, morale, and casualty determination a little more simplified (keep the concepts, re-work to D100, which is really just a personal preference).  Oh, and I didn't really mess with postures too much, everyone just kept moving forward.  Part of that was I don't have figures to reflect the different postures (standing, kneeling, and prone) and I didn't really want to use more markers for it, though I'm considering getting some more Peter Pig US Marines so I can do this.  The only problem is, I can't find suitable bad guys where I can do the same thing (no one makes modern prone bad guys!).


The Cuban entry team, from left: Trinity (TQ 4), Ratchet (TQ 3), Mouse (TQ 4), Link (TQ 4), and the boss, Major Villanueva (TQ 5).  These are Khurasan 15mm Private Military Contractors.


Trinity (bottom center) lays down covering fire with his Mk48 machine gun (scaring the hell out of the goat), while Major Villanueva (center right) dashes ahead, closing the distance to capture The Mayor (in building partly visible at top left).  To see the how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/02/operation-dragon-forge-fight-6.html

The fight was fun, and tense, though it's still taking me a long time, about two and a half hours.  I'm pretty comfortable with the flow now, though I've gotten away from looking up the firing and spotting modifiers each time and just kind of laying odds (percentages) and rolling under on 2D10 to see if it worked or not. 

It doesn't really matter for the game I guess, but it's kind of fun knowing where rounds hit a guy.  Actually, it does matter when the target is obscured by cover that can stop a round, and for body armor, but in the overall scheme of things you're really looking to see how much damage the round(s) did to the guy.  That is, he can be hit in the hand, but bad enough that it puts him out of the fight. 

I believe I'm going to handle wounded in the future the way I did the Cubans here, which is just throw down casualty figures, rather than track a bunch of wounded guys crawling to get off the map.  And don't misunderstand, that's only for the guys wounded so bad they can't continue the fight; there will still be guys that get hit but remain in the fight. 

It's pretty cool having a few guys take on so many bad guys and 1) having a tense game, 2) a chance to win, 3) without it just seeming like a die-rolling exercise.  I did use the term 'TQ5 superhero' in my writeup, but I just meant that in terms of Major V being an incredibly highly trained and highly experienced operator, not that the rules made him untouchable.  Though you do need to make sure you don't have too many TQ5s, unless you have two guys and a hundred bad guys.  Like "Strike Back"

V/R,
Jack

Nice one Jack!
Bless the goat, he must be terrified!

Thanks Lemmey, and don't worry about the goat, we're getting him marinated, err, 'treatment.'

V/R,
Jack

  Nice one again, Jack.

........Not sure how that report slipped under the radar....didn't spot it yesterday, at all.

Cheers - Phil

Thanks Phil, I'm glad you liked it.

V/R,
Jack

That was an intense firefight Jack, very readable blog as usual 

Thanks Pierre!

V/R,
Jack

All,

AKA, Unit 101's 7th Fight of Operation Payback


It's 1025 on 14 Jul 1990, and Unit 101 is heading into action outside Langkawi, Malaysia.  Following the successful raid in Lebanon which captured "The Mayor," intelligence information was discovered leading the team to its next target: "The Persian" is a Shiite Muslim born of Iranian parents in Lebanon in the mid-1960s, true name Ali bin-Schwammy-Roksamshammy (we'll stick with "The Persian"), and he's rumored to have details regarding the brokers of the ambush in Algeria.  The Israelis were very helpful in assisting with logistics for the Unit to get to Langkawi in a speedy and clandestine manner.

The Cubans are working bilaterally with the Malaysians (this was actually Ivan's suggestion, so if it doesn't work...), and the troops are crossing the line of departure.


Overview of the battlefield, north is up.  The southern end of The Persian's compound is at top center and top left (his house is off camera to top left about another 250m); the Malaysians and Cubans will enter the table in the southeast (bottom right).  They are mounted, so they will move west (left) to the bridge, cross, then fan out and clear this portion of the compound before re-mounting and moving on the north end of the compound (which will be the next batrep).

The table is 4' x 4' on a new mat I bought, played out solo in 15mm using Ivan's "5Core Company Command" rules, though with "Five Men at Kursk"-style activation (each team and vehicle gets an activation dice, each team and vehicle can act and react once per turn).


The opposing forces, resplendent in 15mm.  The M-113s are Old Glory, the Land Rover and Technical are Peter Pig, the bad guy infantry is Peter Pig, and the good guy infantry is Flashpoint Minis.


"Contact, RPG at 3 o'clock!!!"  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/03/operation-dragon-forge-fight-7.html

I played a total of three games this past weekend, I'm working on getting the other two written up.

V/R,
Jack

Quite a fight Jack!

Thanks Lemmey!  It was a helluva fight, glad you liked it.

V/R,
Jack

All,

AKA, Unit 101's 8th Fight of Operation Payback

It's 1130 on 14 Jul 1990, and Unit 101 is in the thick of it near Langkawi, Malaysia.  After going it alone caused logistics and force projection problems for the Cubans, and drew the ire of some erstwhile allies (or at least neutrals and potential allies), Major Villanueva and Unit 101 are working a bilateral operation with Malaysian Special Forces to take down The Persian, a terrorist with ties to the ambush of a Cuban diplomatic envoy in Morocco.

The Persian's compound is relatively remote, and while not fortified, it does have a large contingent of armed men protecting it.  The Cubans and Malaysians just finished Phase 1 of the operation, which was securing the southern end of The Persian's compound.  Several vehicles were hit and moderate casualties suffered; Rake (Unit 101's senior enlisted man) and Captain Choy (the Malaysian SF commander) quickly reorganize the task force.  Major Villanueva, leading the Unit 101 direct action element which will close assault The Persian's house, moves up to join the task force on the southern end of the compound, leading a couple Malaysian vehicles with replacements forward.

Rake and Captain Choy quickly got one of the damaged M-113s back into action, then integrated the new vehicles and replacement troops.  Everyone reviewed the scheme of maneuver and checked comms, then stepped off, crossing the line of departure.  Phase 2, the securing of the north end of The Persian's compound, is under way (Phase 3 is Major Villanueva leading the shooters to take down The Persian's house).


Overview of table, north is up.  The Persian's house is at top left, the north end of the compound at top center, with a coconut grove just east (right) of the eastern-most buildings.  The Cuban/Malaysian task force will enter the table in the southeast (bottom right).

The table is 4' x 4' on a new mat I bought, played out solo in 15mm using Ivan's "5Core Company Command" rules, though with "Five Men at Kursk"-style activation (each team and vehicle gets an activation dice, each team and vehicle can act and react once per turn).

I got kinda lucky on the bad guy blinds: there are not nearly as many bad guys as there could have been, and while they have another damn mortar, that's the only heavy weapon they have.  You can see the good guys on the road at bottom right, and the bad guys really spread out, with some at left, top left, top center, and top right.


Apparently I really enjoy being ambushed, and Tiger 27 doesn't appear long for this world.  To see the whole fight, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/03/operation-dragon-forge-fight-8.html

The fight was a lot of fun, and the rules tweaks I've made are working out great.  There's one more fight to be posted from this operation, then it's on to some punitive raids and things are going to heat up in South Leon.

V/R,
Jack

Are the Malaysians sending Cuba the bill for that one Jack? 

Another cracking report, Jack !

Cheers - Phil.

Thanks Phil, and Lemmey, there's no price for doing the right thing!

V/R,
Jack

All,

AKA, Unit 101's 9th Fight of Operation Payback

It's 1205 on 14 Jul 1990, and Unit 101 is on the verge of capturing The Persian, the goal of Operation Dragon Forge.  The Persian's capture will yield information on which country(ies) and individual(s) was responsible for the ambush of a Cuban diplomat in Morocco.

After fighting to collect information through Morocco, Italy, and Lebanon, the Unit has arrived in Malaysia.  Working with Captain Choy of Malaysian Special Forces, the Unit has punched into and secured The Persian's compound in a series of intense firefights.  With the compound secured, Major Villanueva is leading a team of five shooters to The Persian's house to capture him.  Separated from him during the battle, a team of The Persian's most loyal soldiers, his personal bodyguards, have simultaneously arrived at the house.  The opposing forces are making a mad dash to grab The Persian and whisk him away, one for questioning, one to safety.


Overview of map, north is down.  Major Villanueva and his team are at left, The Persian's bodyguard at right, and The Persian is in the building at center right.  Note the two casualty figures at bottom center; those are the mortar crew that was knocked out by the OH-6 gunship at the end of the last fight.

The 'table' is maybe 15" x 15", and this is going to be a quick and bloody affair.  Both sides are killing each other while moving forward to get The Persian.  I planned on being a bit more nuanced, a bit more in depth, but I'd been playing all day and I was tired, my back hurt, and my wife was complaining (I played Dragon Forge games 7, 8, and 9 all in a row).  So this is going to be real quick, not even sure if I can really say there are rules

I've got a deck of cards, two colors, one card per man.  Each time a card is pulled, one man on that team gets to move up and fire, or rally.  Everyone will keep moving until the other side is dead and/or The Persian is grabbed.  The Cubans will get slightly better firing dice as they are top tier commandos.


A fierce firefight rages in the courtyard.  To see if the Cuban Special Forces were able to capture The Persian or not, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/04/operation-dragon-forge-fight-9.html

Either way, information has become available which makes it possible to determine the individuals behind the attack on The Ambassador, and Cubans are planning to move out in search of retribution.

Which is the next set of fights, coming right up.

V/R,
Jack