Operation Chunky Bandit #6

All,

Current situation: It's 2150 on 1 August 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.

Five 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.

Four 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.

Three nights ago 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.

Two nights ago MSG Soriano took out a patrol to insert a Scout-Sniper team to scout for observation posts in vicinity of Hill 114 for Forward Air Controllers to call in interdictory strikes on Route 1.  They accomplished their mission, but they moved into and triggered a booby-trap in Siagnoa, badly wounding SSG "Expo" Minoso, losing him for over two months, lightly wounding MSG Soriano, and badly shaking up SGT "Racer" Palmeiro.  The enemy was content to take up position in the Church and chill out.

Last night Lt Gouveia led an ambush patrol outside the wire, but they themselves were ambushed by FLA forces atop Hill 45, resulting in SSG "Starburst" Aparicio KIA and two men (SFC "Carpet" Marichal and SSG "Tahoe" Galarraga) lightly wounded.

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 seven-man force carrying out a recovery mission.  The patrol consists of:

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

SFC "Cougar" Vizquel (WLC, SLC)

SSG "Caesar" Alomar (SS/V, WLC, SLC)

SSG "Mutha" Pagan (WLC, SLC)

SSG "Gundog" Baerga (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 west as quickly as possible, secure the package, and get back to base ASAP.  With the sensitivity of the mission, and as bad as the det is beat up, tonight would be a good night to not have any contact.  Not happening, though ;)

If you're wondering about the package, earlier today South Leon government troops were engaged in No Man's Land, continuing to press on Hill 114, to little effect.  However, a South Leon General Officer decided he wanted to tour the lines, which would have been fine, except he was in the village of Marambokro (B4) when the enemy made a concerted effort against South Leon troops there.  Fearful of being overrun, the South Leon Army General deposited a satchel of very sensitive documents in a nearby sedan, before running away like a coward, leaving his men, and the sensitive documents, in the lurch.  So now the Cuban Special Forces men are tasked with getting to the sedan and getting the documents out of there.

The enemy, despite his losses, is brimming with confidence, reporting to their superiors that last night's successful ambush led to the death of at least 75 Cuban commandos.  The Free Leon Army (FLA) is carrying out a combat patrol this evening, which takes them straight into Marambokro, the location of the Cuban recovery mission.

The evening's activities begin with the Cubans pushing straight west, headed for Bridge #2 (center right) and the FLA guerillas moving south off of Hill 114 (top left), straight for Bridge #3.

The Cubans are quickly over the bridge and moving up Hill 30 (near the Church, bottom center), as are the FLA patrol moves onto Bridge #3 (top left).

The Cubans move through south of the Church (bottom left) as the FLA patrol gets over the bridge and into the village of Lasau (left).

Things are coming to a head as the FLA patrol moves south across the main road (far left) and the Cubans enter Marambokro (bottom left), closing in on the sedan.

This is looing southwest to northeast, with FLA troops at left, Cubans at right, and the black sedan just visible at bottom center.  The Cubans are, from left to right: Snoop (pointman), Cougar, Faceman (leader), Gundog, Mutha (machine gunner), Caesar, and Racer.

Snoop's eyes are southwest (bottom left), but...

Cougar (center) spots enemy heads popping up over a nearby hedge (top), screams "Contact!!!!", shoulders his M-4, and cuts loose!

And his initial burst, delivered at point blank range, is ferocious!  The enemy leader and light machine gunner are put out of the fight, and their pointman is pinned (yellow bead)!

And right after Cougar (right, with Faceman at bottom right) cut loose, Snoop (bottom left) spins and fires...

Snoop (top center) knocks down the guy that Cougar (left) pinned (center bottom, white bead), but his buddy (just below him) returns fire on Snoop...

The rounds zip by harmlessly and Snoop is able to make it across the street (top left, from explosion at center, with Faceman at bottom right).

Mutha (bottom center), still a bit further up Hill 30, is able to level his M-60 and fire over the heads of his comrades, targeting the enemy soldiers still north of the road (top center)…

Mutha (top center left) pins the enemy RPG gunner (bottom center left, with yellow bead), but his buddy returns fire with his AK...

Knocking Mutha down!

With Mutha knocked down at right (white bead), Faceman moves up to the road (left), while Cougar (center top) continues laying down fire.

Faceman opens fire with his M-4...

He (far left) pins an enemy rifleman (top center left) as Gundog and Caesar dash right (top right, from center).

And Racer moves up and grabs Mutha…

And drags him to cover (center, from explosion at bottom center).  There he's able to look after his mate, and Mutha's okay, back in the fight.

But then, suddenly, an RPG streaks across the night sky...

The RPG lands right at Cougar's feet, dropping him instantly, while Mutha is knocked down again (white bead), Racer is suppressed (red bead), and Faceman is pinned (yellow bead)!!!

Immediately after the rocket hit (far left), Caesar, with Gundog on the Cuban far right (center), leans out and returns fire on the enemy RPG gunner (top right)…

Caesar (top left) suppresses the RPG gunner (red bead at bottom center), but return fire from a nearby rifleman (bottom right)...

Puts Caesar out of the fight!!!

While on the Cuban far left, Snoop sneaks up into position (bottom center, with Caesar and Gundog off camera to top right, Faceman just barely visible at far right).  He leans out and fires on the enemy soldier that just popped Caesar...

Snoop misses the bad guy that shot Caesar (top left), but drops a nearby guerilla (center).

The bad guys are in a tight spot, four men down, one suppressed, one pinned, and being enveloped by both flanks. The two enemy soldiers still in the fight decide to help their buddies: the bad guy that shot Caesar (far left) moves up to help rally the RPG gunner, while the pinned bad guy (yellow bead at far right) moves over and grabs the knocked down rifleman (white bead)…

The RPG gunner is rallied (left), and the pinned dude drags his knocked down buddy back into the cover of a nearby hedge.

But Gundog is still out there on the Cuban right (bottom left), bustin' caps...

His fire suppresses the RPG gunner (red bead at left) and the pinned dude that just dragged the knocked down dude to cover (red bead at center).

Though still pinned, still with his mind foggy, and still with his ears ringing from the RPG, Faceman pulls himself up to this elbows (bottom left) and gets back in the fight, popping away with his rifle (Gundog is just visible at far right, with Racer suppressed and Muthua knocked down below him, and Snoop off camera to left).

Faceman (bottom center) keeps popping, covering Snoop as he dashes ahead (left, from bottom left).

All alone and with no cover in sight, Snoop (bottom left) realizes he might be getting just a bit too froggy; he pulls up, shoulders his rifle, and opens fire.

Snoop's fire drops the bad guy that shot Caesar (top left), and the three remaining bad guys are all suppressed.

They've had enough and book it for the bridge (top left, from bottom right)!

And don't even slow down, hustling back up Hill 114.

The Cubans move up and secure the battlefield; four bad guys are down, but so are two good guys!  Cougar and Caesar (who just won the Silver Star!) are hit bad.

The team pulls security (top right) while Faceman sends Snoop back down the road, into Marambokro, to check out the black sedan.

Snoop calls in on the intra-squad radio: "Boss, I can't find the damn documents."  "Roger, it don't matter, bring the car up here."  "What?"  "Bring it up here.  We'll take it home, search it later for the docs, but it'll be nice to have to move the casualties back."  "Roger, I'll see if I can hotwire it."

Vroom!

Snoop pulls up in the sedan...

And the Cubans quickly load up.

Moving off road, southeast (center, from bottom left), heading for Bridge #2 (top right).

Coming up on the bridge...

Over...

And home, mission accomplished, but it's ugly: SSG "Caesar" Alomar was shot in the arm and will miss a couple weeks' action, while SFC "Cougar" Vizquel took the brunt of the RPG blast, which injured his legs severely.  He'll be allowed to stay in the Cuban military, but he's gotta transfer out of combat arms, over to a staff job.