Operation Chunky Bandit #4

All,

Current situation: It's 2030 on 30 July 1990 in South Leon.  Lt Gouveia's TF Black has moved into an area northwest of Pendrakenville, just east of Route 1.  To their immediate northwest is Hill 114, the dominating terrain feature they're looking for to establish an OP on and call in Cuban tactical air.  The past two days have seen South Leon Army forces attacking  FSNL troops occupying Hill 114, to no avail, and so the Cubans have stepped in to take over the area of operations.  Knowing they have time as freshly landed Cuban task forces (Hammer, Bowie, Dusty, Hawk, and 23) form up and prepare for the attack on Pendrakenville, and being severely outnumbered, Lt Gouveia has made the choice to carry out operations to reduce the enemy forces in and around Hill 114 only at night, where he figures his highly trained Special Forces troops will have a significant advantage.

Three nights ago Lt Gouveia led a 7-man patrol out to Hill 45/Siagnoa, where they ambushed a Free Leon Army (FLA) patrol slinking about, trying to recover a weapons cache.  The enemy guerrillas were sent packing, having not reached the cache and leaving three of their comrades dead on the battlefield.

Two nights ago MSG Soriano led another combat patrol out, this time to Hill 30, where they entered the Church right before encountering an enemy patrol closing in, on their way to recover a weapons cache.  The Cubans executed another flawless ambush, halting the enemy and costing them two more men.

Last night Lt Gouveia took a patrol out to grab a prisoner, while the FLA went out to grab some land mines and plant them at various locations in No Man's Land.  The enemy was finally able to get to one of their weapons caches, and they managed to plant some mines atop Hill 45 in Siagnoa, but on their way to their second location they were once again ambushed by the Cubans, who managed to accomplish their mission by pretty much wiping the FLA patrol out, killing five and capturing one.

And here it is, our little patch of No Man's Land in South Leon, north is up.  The enemy entry point is in the northwest (top left), on Hill 114, and the Cuban entry point is in the southeast (bottom right).  A deep, swift river crossable only at the four bridges (left, top center, center, and bottom center right) dominates the landscape, running north to south, with a branch heading west (left) to the sea.  There is an old colonial, bombed out church atop a small hill (Hill 30, bottom center), and there is an old garage/junkyard suspected of harboring insurgents in the northeast (top right), aside from four villages spread across the landscape (far bottom left, bottom left center, center left, and center right, atop Hill 45).  There are also two weapons caches on the table, one in the northeast, in the junkyard, and one just east of the bottom right bridge.  A dirt road traverses the terrain from west to east, with a feeder coming in from the southwest (bottom left).  Villages:
Far bottom left: Village 1 (Danfra)

Bottom left center: Village 2 (Marambokro)

Center left: Village 3 (Lasau)
Center right (atop Hill 45): Village 4 (Siagnoa)

The Cuban forces, stepping off in the southeast (bottom right), a nine-man force carrying out an escort mission. 

The Cuban mission is to escort a Scout-Sniper team to D1 (above, two guys from Anton at Flytrap Factory), then loiter a few turns to make sure the sniper team makes it to their destination (Hill 114, at A1), before returning to base.  The Scout-Snipers are there to scope out potential OPs for the Air Force forward observers, which is the point of this entire exercise.  The patrol consists of:

MSG "Faceman" Soriano, Detachment Chief (WLC, SLC)

SFC "Cougar" Vizquel (WLC, SLC)

SSG "Starburst" Aparicio (WLC, SLC)

SSG "Mutha" Pagan (WLC, SLC)

SSG "Expo" Minoso (WLC, SLC)

SGT "Racer" Palmeiro (WLC, SLC)

SGT "Snoop" Concepcion (WLC, SLC)

Here is the Cuban patrol route.  The numbers represent where the patrol will be during each turn; for example, their starting and end point is F4, where they begin the game (Turn 1) and end the game (Turn 13).  The plan is to move to northwest, delivering their passengers safely to Bridge #4 (at C1), sit tight for a couple turns (6-9) to make sure the Scout-Snipers get off okay, up Hill 114 uncompromised, and then return home by the same route.  Piece o'cake.

The big issue, given what happened last night, is that the Cuban route is taking them into the village of Siagnoa (E2).  They're doing this for two reasons: first, they noticed the bad guys hovered around up there last night for a bit, so the Cubans want to see if they can figure out what was going on, and two, it's a good vantage point to camp out at for a bit to watch the insertion point, prior to moving down to Bridge #4, which will be relatively exposed.

The enemy is now really frustrated, having lost eleven men the past three nights, and only managing to halfway pull off one of their missions in No Man's Land, so tonight they're working on an ambush of their own.  They're going to move south, cross Bridge #3 north of Lasau, and camp out atop Hill 30 in The Church, where they believe the great vantage point will assure them of running into the Cuban miscreants.  Not exactly.  I spoke to the boy about this plan and explained how he probably wanted to be a bit more central...

Anyway, it's 2030 and the Cubans are moving northwest (far right), while the bad guys are moving south off of Hill 114 (top left).

Bad guys are crossing Bridge #3 (top left) on their way to Hill 30/The Church (far left), as the Cubans move up Hill 45, nearing Siagnoa (center right).

The bad guys are loitering just west of Lasau (far left), taking their sweet time getting to their ambush position, as the Cubans spread out in Siagnoa and halt (center top right), getting comfortable for a bit to check for enemy activity before they move to Bridge #4 (top center left).

Cougar, Snoop, Starburst, Mutha, and the two Scout-Snipers halt on the road as Faceman, Racer, and Expo move north (top center left) to scope things out...

BAM!!!  An explosion rips the still night air!  The Cubans have triggered a booby-trap in Siagnoa.  Further west, despite his men lollygagging on the way to their ambush site, the FLA patrol leader allows himself a smile, knowing last night's efforts have borne fruit.

Racer (red bead) is shook up, while Faceman and Expo have gone down!

And it's not good, both men are bleeding profusely.

The Cubans (center top right) set about conducting first aid for their downed men.  Racer is physically okay, but clearly shook up, and despite all the bleeding, Faceman is going to be alright, but Expo is hurt pretty bad.  The enemy, still in no hurry apparently, have finally crossed the river, but pushed further west, into Danfra (top left), still on their way to the Church (far left).

The enemy moves further south (bottom left), as the Cubans split up, leaving their casualties in Siagnoa (top right) as a small cohort continues on, escorting the Scout-Snipers to their insertion point (top center right).

The FLA patrol moves into Marambokro (far left), as the Cubans move up to Bridge #4 (top right).

The Cubans halt and post security on the east bank of the river.

The Cubans sit tight (top center right), listening to the sounds of the South Leonian night, looking for any indication things are amiss, as the FLA patrol humps up Hill 30, finally approaching their ambush position in the Church (bottom left).

With security posted on the east bank (bottom center), Cougar, now the patrol leader with Faceman down, orders the Scout-Snipers to execute.  They creep across Bridge #4 on their way up Hill 114 (right).

The Scout-Snipers creep up Hill 114 (top left) while the FLA troops chill out in the Church (bottom left).

Cougar (bottom center) looks on as the Scout-Snipers move up Hill 114 (center top right).

Looking southeast from Hill 114, the Scout-Snipers are there (center bottom), Cougar (top left) has accomplished his mission and is ready for egress.

Cubans move east from Bridge #4 (top center), heading for Siagnoa, to collect their casualties, as the bad guys begin packing up their ambush (far left).

The Cubans from the bridge arrive east of Hill 45 (top right, just below the Garage), as the bad guys continue to hang around in the Church (bottom left).

The Cuban bridge team returns to pick up their casualties in Siagnoa.

And set off for home.

The bad guys are still packing up in the Church (bottom left) as the Cubans near home (far right).

And they reach safety (bottom right).

Another mission accomplished, no direct contact with the enemy, but all is not well.  While Faceman is going to be alright, just a very handsome scar on his face from some shrapnel, Expo was badly wounded and will be out of action over two months, returning on or about 7 October 1990, and Racer is clearly shaken up by the violence so clear and so close.

But life, and the war, goes on, so the Cubans will be right back in the thick of it tomorrow night, creeping about, here and there, on an ambush patrol.  Lobo and Faceman discussed the situation with Racer; Lobo told his senior enlisted man: "we'll give him a break tomorrow, but then I want his ass right back out there, he just needs to get back in the thick of it."  Faceman agreed, but said he wanted to take out the ambush patrol.  "Negative, you get some rest, take care of that ugly mug."  Tomorrow night would be quite the slobber-knocker...

V/R,
Jack