Operation Chunky Bandit #8

All,

Current situation: It's 2320 on 3 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.

Seven 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.

Six 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.

Five 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.

Four 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.

Three nights ago 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.

Two nights ago MSG Soriano led a patrol out to the village of Marambokro to recover sensitive documents stowed in a civilian vehicle by a SLA General about to be overrun.  They ran into a Free Leon Army (FLA) unit conducting a combat patrol and shot it out, resulting four enemy casualties and two Cubans: SSG "Caesar" Alomar miss a couple weeks' action, while SFC "Cougar" Vizquel will be allowed to stay in the Cuban military, but he'll be transferred out of combat arms to a staff job.  Ultimately the FLA patrol was driven off and the Cubans succeeded in their mission.

Last night Lobo led a patrol to establish defensive positions in The Church, where they met enemy troops coming from the west, escorting The Tax Collector.  A furious firefight ensued that saw one Cuban wounded, seven FLA soldiers killed, one captured, three Cubans decorated for valor, and two marked for cowardice in the face of the enemy.

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 the final mission.   The mission is to move up Hill 114, clear it, and establish a green-side hide to put the FACs in so they can sit back and call in air on the bad guys coming down Route 1.  They were supposed to get FACs attached, but something happened and they didn't show up, so now they're going to link up (in the dark!) and take over by 0430 local time.  If something happens (again) and they don't show up at all, no sweat, all the team members know how to deliver a 9-line brief.  The patrol consists of:

1st Lieutenant "Lobo" Gouveia, Detachment Commander (DSC, SS/V x 2, PH, WLC, SLC) 

MSG "Faceman" Soriano, Detachment Chief (SS/V, WLC, SLC, PH)

SFC "Carpet" Marichal (WLC, SLC, PH)**

SSG "Tahoe" Galarraga (WLC, SLC, PH)

SSG "Gundog" Baerga (BS/V, WLC, SLC)

SGT "Racer" Palmeiro (WLC, SLC)

SGT "Snoop" Concepcion (WLC, SLC

**Faceman approached Lobo about the patrol roster: "Boss, what are we gonna do?  We got seven slots and eight bodies, who's staying back?"
Lobo: "Why don't you sit this one out?"
Face: "Why don't you kiss my ass?"
-Laughter-
Lobo: "Well, what do you recommend, Top?"
Face: "Well, Boss, we got two shitbirds, so why don't we sit both of them?"
Lobo: "Well, shitbird, we don't sit both of them, because we can't afford to sit both of them."
-Laughter-
Lobo: "But seriously, I want those two in the fight, pull themselves through, sink or swim."
Face: "That's kinda cold, ain't it Boss?"
Lobo: "Don't give me that, they're not alone."
Face: "So who then?"
Lobo: "How about you?  The way you keep racking up new scars, one of them is bound to not be happy with simply rearranging your ugly face."
Face: "(expletives regarding Lt Gouveia's lineage, intellect, and genitals)"
Lobo: "Okay, okay.  Hmmm...  Did you see how Mutha was shootin' the other night?"
Face: "Damn, that's right..."
Lobo: "Yeah, he needs a rest."
Face: "Yeah, you bet."

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 23).  The plan is to move to out cautiously, stopping on Hill 45 to take a look for enemy activity, then press west and move up Hill 114 from the southeast, loitering until the linkup at 0430, then pull back to the southeast.  Or sit tight in the hide and call in air if the FACs don't show up.

The enemy tonight is on a screening mission.  Tonight a major logistical effort is being undertaken, where a group of porters with 'special munitions' will be moving east along the west-east running artery.  It's imperative they get through, Cubans be damned, so tonight's patrol is ordered to move south, link up with the supply column, and screen their movements to the south, keeping the Cuban devils off them.  Once they have been moved to the eastern edge of the operational area they will handed off to another group of FLA soldiers for protection and the patrol will return to Hill 114.

The group of enemy porters, in the southwest corner of the board, below the village of Danfra, the village of Marambokro just off camera to right.

The Cuban patrol sets off cautiously (far right), moving towards Hill 45 (top center right), while the FLA soldiers are hurrying down Hill 114 to Bridge #3 (top left), intent on linking up with the porters at the road junction at far left.

The Cubans are moving up the east side of Hill 45, while the FLA patrol has crossed the river at Bridge #3 and is spreading out west of the village of Lasau (far left).

The Cubans are exhausted and finding it hard going up the hill, in the dark, off road (far right), while the FLA patrol is loitering west of Lasau (left), and the porters arrive at the road junction (far left).

The FLA patrol links up with the porters at the road junction.

The Cubans are finally atop Hill 45 (center top right), but security is not great, while the FLA patrol commander is having a hard time coordinating with the porters (far left).

Because of the confusion, and the fact the Cubans seem to pop up absolutely anywhere, and the most inopportune times, the FLA patrol is acting more like an escort than a screen.  Either way, they're finally prepared to get started moving east.  The time is 0105 local time.

The FLA and porters are still trying to get things figured out (tis tough to get things done in the dark, when everyone's tired, in unfamiliar territory, with unfamiliar folks), as the Cubans come bumbling down the hill towards Bridge #1.  The column halts (far right) and they send Snoop over the bridge to scope things out (center, on left end of bridge).

Snoop (bottom center right) has proven himself time and again to be a reliable, effective pointman, but he's simply exhausted, and the enemy column has halted again to figure things out, so there's no noise from them, they're just sitting there in the dark as their two bosses try and figure things out.  The FLA patrol leaders has very specific directions to keep them on the road and move them west, the porter leader's understanding was that they were to board fishing boats and move north...

Not seeing anything, Snoop signals the rest of the patrol to come over, as he splits north (on the west, left, bank of the river) and Carpet splits south.

To be clear, that's Carpet behind the building at center left, Snoop next to the fish farm at center right, then Faceman is leading the column on the bridge, followed by Gundog (with the M-60), Lobo (the Boss), Tahoe, and Racer (tail-end Charlie).

And then it all went to hell...

The FLA patrol spotted the Cubans coming across the bridge, and opened fire on the exposed troops, unleashing a hellacious fusillade!!!

For the uninitiated, red are 'kill' dice and black are 'shock' (morale) dice, and when you're shooting you're hoping to get 1s and 6s.  That's a kill, a knockdown, two suppressions, and two pins, aimed at the Cubans, who only have seven guys...

Faceman (bottom left) goes down, out of the fight, while Mutha (white bead is knocked down).  Lbbo is pinned (yellow bead), while Tahoe and Racer are suppressed (red beads).  The only guys okay are the flankers (the first two guys across the bridge, that split north and south), Snoop and Carpet.

As the enemy patrol keeps up the weight of fire, they send a rifleman to the right, looking to envelop (far right)…

But he (left) runs into Carpet (bottom center), who opens up with his M-4 at point blank range, knocking the FLA guerrilla down!

The FLA patrol leader (center) screams at the porters to get off the trail, take cover!

As another enemy soldier moves right (center right) to check on his knocked down comrade (top right).

And the enemy's RPG gunner moves left, through Lasau (center top, between the chicken coop and thatched hut, just above the street vendor's shop, Snop is behind the fish farm at top right).

Snoop (bottom right) doesn't see the RPG gunner (who is just off camera to right), and he doesn't have a good shot at the enemy firing line (top center right), but he does spot the bad guy dashing across the road (top center left), trying to reach the knocked down bad guy (top left).  Snoop raises his M-4 and fires...

Dropping the enemy soldier like a ragdoll (center left)!  But now the bad guys know where Snoop is (off camera to top right, with Carpet off camera to right bottom)…

Carpet moves up (center from far right), looking to finish off the bad guy he knocked down (top left)…

But then he realizes there's a lot more important stuff going on.  He (bottom right) sights in on the enemy firing line (top center) and opens fire...

Carpet (top center) manages to pin an enemy rifleman (yellow bead at center), while the next bad guy in line returns fire, missing.

Back at the bridge, the Cubans begin to try and get back in the fight.  Lobo (yellow bead) yells at Tahoe and Racer (red beads) to get their stuff together; Tahoe is back in the fight, but...

But Racer falls back, to the dead ground on the east end of the bridge!  Not again...  Racer is about to get himself summarily disciplined on the battlefield.

Lobo, still pinned (yellow bead), crawls forward to check on Mutha, who was knocked down in the initial burst of enemy fire.

But Mutha was hit worse than initially thought, and he's out of the fight too!

Back up the trail, the enemy machine gunner (bottom center left, with two riflemen to his right, the RPG gunner at far left, and his boss just off camera to bottom center) loads a fresh drum in his RPD and resumes squeezing off short bursts at the bridge...

Give me a break, please...

The rounds come in and Tahoe, having just rallied, is immediately knocked down (white bead), while Lobo (red bead), a little melancholy at seeing Faceman and Mutha lying there bleeding, and seeing Tahoe go down as well, is suppressed.

At the enemy firing line, the FLA patrol leader moves up (center right) to rally his pinned rifleman...

But Carpet, on the Cuban far left (bottom right), leans out and looses a burst...

The pinned rifleman's (yellow bead) buddy goes down and the boss is suppressed (red bead), but the pinned rifleman sights in and returns fire on Carpet (top center)…

Rounds snap and hiss through the thatch hut (bottom right) as Carpet hangs in there, continuing to pump out rounds, but missing.

As Carpet (off camera to bottom right, you can see the orange tracer from his fire) continues firing on the enemy firing line (center bottom, with machine gunner at left), the enemy RPG gunner, aware of Snoop's presence (off camera to top right) and not wanting to step into his line of fire, figures he might be of more use dealing with Carpet, so he moves right (top center)…

And launches a rocket at Carpet!

The explosion blows pieces of Carpet all over the place...

The enemy firing line (top left) is slowly being weakened, though the enemy machine gun (top center left) is really able to keep the Cubans on the bridge (bottom center) in check all by himself.  Having seen the rocket trail (emanate from top center), Snoop decides it's time to move, so he begins creeping up the right side (center top right, from center right).

He (bottom right) doesn't spot the RPG gunner (who's head is just visible above the thatched hut at center), but he does spot the enemy boss and rifleman in the road (top left), which he promptly engages with his rifle...

And he (top right) doesn't hit a damn thing!  The pinned enemy rifleman (bottom left) swings his rifle left and returns fire...

Suppressing Snoop (bottom left)!

1) As good a pointman as Snoop has been in terms of spotting the bad guys before they spot the Cubans (though not in this fight), he can't shoot worth a damn.

2) The Cubans are now down to four men, though none of them can currently fight: three are suppressed and one is knocked down.

3) With Snoop suppressed, the enemy RPG gunner (off camera to bottom center) is in a good position to stroll up and put him out of the fight in close combat.

The Cubans try to fix their problems, and it works: Lobo AND Racer are able to self rally, so they're back in the fight.

But not sooner than that has happened then the enemy machine gunner (bottom center left) opens up again...

Pinning Lobo and Racer (yellow beads at far left and far right)!!!  For goodness' sake...

The RPD continues ripping rounds downrange (far left) as the enemy boss and rifleman both rally (bottom left).  The RPG gunner moves left (center top); he would have loved to charge Snoop (top right) and finished him off in close combat, but he couldn't reach him in one bound, so he pulls up...

And opens fire at the cowering Cuban, keeping him face down in the dirt, which is important, because the FLA boss has just remembered his mission and the plan has changed...

The FLA firing line (bottom right) keeps the Cubans pinned down as the enemy leader (center bottom) reorganizes the porters and gets them moving, heading north towards Bridge #3.

The guerrillas keep up the firing as the porters cross the bridge...

Looking north to south, you see the porters moving east/left (center bottom), towards Bridge #4, looking to cross, loop around the north side of Hill 45 (top left), and make their rendezvous.  At top center you see the Cubans still pinned down on the bridge by the guerillas (far right).

The porters, led by the FLA patrol leader (all the rest of the guerrillas were left on the firing line to keep the Cubans busy, top right), cross Bridge #4 and continue east (bottom left).

Looking northeast to southwest, the Cubans are pinned down on the bridge (top center), while the porters loop around Hill 45 to the northeast (bottom center).

The FLA patrol has done its patriotic duty, the porters have been delivered to their rendezvous on the east end of the area of operations (bottom right), and the Cubans are still helpless (top left), pinned down on the bridge.

The FLA patrol leader (bottom right) pops a flare, signaling his men at the bridge (top left) to break contact, their work is done, the porters have moved through with their "special munitions."  The enemy disengages and moves back to their base, exiting the area via Hill 114, beaming with pride at not only accomplishing their mission, but dealing the Cuban devils a severe blow, and not just in terms of casualties.  The FLA guerrillas don't know it, but tomorrow Phase II of Operation Chunky Bandit was set to start, and for that to happen, Cuban Forward Air Controllers are supposed to be in place in vicinity of Hill 114 to call air support to interdict FLA and FSNL forces moving south on Route 1 to reinforce the garrisons at Pendrakenville and Diwala.  Mission NOT ACCOMPLISHED, throwing the Cuban battle plans into crisis management mode.

Lobo saw the enemy flare, and could make an educated guess that whatever it meant was not good news for him and his troops.  Still pinned down on the bridge by enemy fire, he labored to arrange his magazines and frags in preparation for the inevitable close assault, possibly coming from both ends of the bridge, seeing as how all the enemy fire was coming from the west, but the flare popped in the east.  But it was their lucky day; whatever the bad guys were up to, they were content to not push their luck, and so several minutes after the flare's light extinguished, the enemy fire stopped and their antagonists disappeared like spirits on the wind.  Lobo lay there another five minutes, waiting to see what was next; then he rose to a knee and scanned in all directions for another five minutes.  They're gone, he thought to himself, better police this up and get outta here while the gettin's good.  He slowly rose to his feet, looking around.  He saw Tahoe stir and moved to him, rolling him over: he was okay, just knocked out.  He helped Tahoe to his feet, then moved to Mutha and took a look: not good.  He summoned Tahoe, who came over to help dress Mutha's wounds.  With that, Snoop, on the on the west bank of the river, slowly rose up out of the tall grass and fell back to join Lobo at the bridge.

"You alright?" Lobo queried.  Snoop, looking more than a little shell-shocked, slowly nodded.  "Head over there and check on Carpet."  Snoop nodded again and cautiously crept south.  Minutes later he was back, dragging Carpet, as Lobo was bent over, checking his friend Faceman.  The good news was that Face had done it again, a third dramatic scar, but Snoop informed them Carpet was barely hanging on to his life.  Snoop pulled security as Lobo, Faceman, and Tahoe all set to work dressing Carpet's many wounds, hoping to save his life.  Five minutes into it, it occurred to Lobo he hadn't yet seen Racer; "where's the newbie?  Anyone seen Racer?"  No one had, so Tahoe rose to look for him.  "Better go that way," Faceman dryly commented, pointing east, away from where the firefight had been.  Tahoe moved to the east end of the bridge and, sure enough, there was Racer, untouched, still cowering in the shelter of the dead ground at that end of the bridge.  Tahoe kicked him to get up, then kicked him again to get him moving back up the bridge.

With that, the Cuban patrol picked up and began moving southeast, back to their base.  They got their casualties looked after, and it was not good: while Faceman was okay, Mutha was hit in the abdomen and would be gone almost three months, and they'd seen the last of Carpet.  The RPG had hit SFC "Carpet" Marichal badly enough that he would be medically retired from the Cuban military.  He was, however, awarded the Bronze Star with 'V' for holding down the left flank until the RPG hit him, likely saving the men on the bridge from being close assaulted into oblivion.  Lobo brought up the sad state of the team after eight straight days of action; Face ran down the list of men out of action and then reminded the Det Commander that one of the guys left, Racer, wasn't particularly reliable.

In the larger picture, the past few days TF 23 and TF Dusty have been working together to eliminate key FSNL command, ,control, and communications nodes, and today (4 Aug 1990) the breakout west by the isolated TF Redleg and TF Razor are scheduled to begin, BUT...  TF Black failed in accomplishing its mission of isolating the battlefield.  At least so far.  1st Lieutenant "Lobo" Gouveia immediately proceeds to the local FLA commander, intent on convincing him of the need to work together to carry out a daylight assault to seize Hill 114 and hold it while calling in airstrikes on the enemy.

Of course, those are the next fights in Operation Chunky Bandit, coming right up.

V/R,
Jack