Operation Chunky Bandit - Mini Campaign Plan

All,

Come on in and check this out!  I was chatting with my buddy Jimmi the other day and he passed me cool concepts, so I decided to roll them out and give them a try.  The wargaming concept is thus: first, there's a war going on, and we're in a relatively stable section of the line, and things are (at least temporarily) stalemated.  Both sides are sitting tight, licking their wounds/preparing for the next offensive.  While that's going on, both sides are also carrying out tasks in No Man's Land, which is the core element here.

In Jimmi's concept, each day is broken down into a series of phases, and in each phase each side carries out a mission in No Man's Land.  They might be patrolling, servicing an arms cache, attempting to capture an enemy soldier, escorting a forward observer to an observation post, setting an ambush, laying mines, etc...  There is a list of seven missions and each side arranges the mission sets in the order the player wishes to carry it out, so Player A may choose to carry out an escort mission in Phase 1 while his opponent, Player B, chooses to carry out a prisoner snatch.

All the missions/phases are played out over the same section of No Man's Land, so you set up a single table and carry out all the missions on it.  The idea is to play double-blind with an umpire, so that each side is going about its business, trying to run into the enemy or trying to dodge the enemy based on their chosen mission, and the umpire decides if, when, and where the opposing forces run into each other and fight.

Now I don't have an umpire, so what I did was have my little wargaming buddy (the older of my two sons) help me out.  We laid out the eight missions, each of us put them in order, then each of us drew up a map outlining our route of travel for each mission, then I matched them up to see if and where our opposing forces met up for a(n un)friendly chat.  Out of the eight phases we decided on, our troops ran into each other seven times, so we have seven fights scheduled.

Current situation: It's 27 July 1990 in South Leon.  Free Cuba had a small force, Task Force Fulgencio (a company of Marines, a company of paras, and a detachment of Special Forces), on the ground since 1 May, assisting the government of South Leon with its internal insurgency by the Free Leon Army (FLA), supported by its Communist neighbor to the north, Fédération Socialiste Nationale de Leon (FSNL), which not only supports the FLA against the South Leon government, but has quietly infiltrated troops, weapons, and supplies to them across the DMZ for years.  But all of that became not so quiet on 24 July 1990, when the FSNL Army launched a cross border invasion that marched all the way to the center of the country, capturing the capital city of Pendrakenville and the major regional hub, Diwala.  The Cuban forces in country were quite fortunate at the timing of it all: the company of Marines, AKA Task Force Redleg, under 1st Lt Ordonez, had recently fought a series of short, sharp fights on the DMZ, followed by the company of paras, AKA Task Force Razor, under Soares, was sucked into a series of hellacious fights in the urban sprawl of Diwala, against a suddenly very aggressive FLA.

Following the fights in Diwala, TF Razor was in very bad shape, so Captain Soares pulled his company out of Diwala to lick its wounds, falling back to the northwest, just north of Pendrakenville, and TF Redleg withdrew south from the DMZ to cover them.  This was quite fortunate as soon after the FSNL Army stormed across the border, running roughshod over the South Leon Army units in its way, pushing south to capture the capital, then east to capture Diwala.  Task Forces Razor and Redleg found themselves isolated and cut off, but relatively safe, for the time being.

Back in Havana, troops were immediately marshalled and dispatched.  The heavy forces, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles of Major Chavez' A Company, 4th Armored Infantry (AKA Task Force Hammer) and 1st Lt Madre-Animral's F Company, 8 Commando (AKA Task Force Bowie) required a beach or a port in order to put ashore, so 1st Lt Villagrosa's SF Detachment 212, AKA TF Dusty, was ordered to parachute in north of the landing beaches to draw FSNL/FLA forces away (Operation Currahee), and then 1st Lt Espinale's paratroopers, AKA TF Hawk, jumped in to screen the landing beaches (Operation Geronimo).  Both airborne drops were successful, allowing TF Hammer and Bowie to brings their vehicles and heavy weapons ashore.  They immediately began pushing east, towards Pendrakenville, bagging large numbers of FSNL/FLA prisoners, which actually slowed their advance and allowed enemy forces in the Pendrakenville area to face about and prepare a defense.  The newly arrived Cuban forces went firm, securing their lodgment in South Leon and beginning the task of stockpiling ammunition and supplies for the upcoming fight.  Meanwhile, TF Razor and Redleg remained cutoff north of Pendrakenville, as FSNL forces continued to flow across the border into South Leon.

The immediate focus of Brigadier Habanero became to repatriate his wayward Task Forces, and to stop the FSNL Army in the north from reinforcing Pendrakenville and Diwala.  1st Lt Gouveia's ODA 313 (AKA TF Black), located with TF Razor and Redleg, and TF Dusty were tasked with Phase 1 of Operation Chunky Bandit, the reconquest of South Leon.  Phase 1 would see TF Black attack east of Route 1 (the major north-south route in the center of the country, running from the DMZ to Pendrakenville), establishing commanding observation points to aid in the delivery of interdictory strikes by Cuban tactical air support.  Phase 1 would also see TF Dusty and Captain Stelosavo's B Squadron, OD Phoenix (TF 23, Cuban Tier 1 operators) attack west of Route 1 in order to locate and neutralize the FSNL command and control center there.

Phase 2 would see Major Fulgencio lead Task Forces Razor and Redleg in a breakout to the west, where they would link up with Cuban forces that just landed, and then Phase 3 would see the combined force push east to liberate the capital city of Pendrakenville, and then Diwala.

This series of fights sees Lt Gouveia's TF Black move 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.

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 northwest portion of the table, with Hill 114 at top left, with Bridge 3 and the edge of Village 3 (Lasau).

The north-center, with Bridge 4 at top center left, the slope of Hill 114 just visible at top left, the slope of Hill 45 and Village 4 (Siagnoa) at far right, and Bridge 1 at bottom center.

The northeast portion of the map, with The Garage at top right, and Hill 45/Village 4 at left.

The east-central portion of the table, Hill 45/Village 4 at top left.

The center of the table, with Hill 45/Village 4 at top right, Bridge 1 at center, and Village 3 at bottom left.

The west-center portion of the map, with Hill 114 at top left, Village 3 at right, and Bridge 3 at center.

The southwestern portion of the table, with Village 1 at far left, Bridge 3 at top center, Bridge 1 at top right, Village 3 at top center right, and Village 2 (Marambokro) at bottom center right.

The south-center portion of the table, with Village 3 at top left, Bridge 1 at top center, Hill 45/Village 4 at top right, Bridge 2 at far right, and The Church, atop Hill 30, at bottom center/left.

And the southeast portion of the map, with Bridge 1 at top left, Bridge 2 at left, and Hill 45/Village 4 at top center.

A closeup of the enemy starting point in the northwest, atop Hill 114.

Another look at Bridge 4, a footbridge, in the north.

A closer look at Village 4, Siagnoa, which sits atop Hill 45.  The Garage is just visible at top right.

The Garage, which has an enemy weapons cache located just right of the red pickup truck.

The other enemy cache, near an abandoned Range Rover, just east of Bridge 2.

Village 3, Lasau, with Bridge 3 at top left and Bridge 1 at right.

Bridge 3, on the north edge of Village 3.

In the southwest, Village 2, Marambokro.  At bottom center is an abandoned government sedan.

Atop Hill 30 sits a dilapidated, colonial church.

In the west is Village 1, Danfra.

Measuring out the table so I could draw up a map grid, and to give you a sense of size/scale.  This is across the bottom, from left (west) to right (east).

Fini.

And then starting at the top left (northwest), going down (south).

Fini.

Which allowed me to create this map.  Then the boy and I drew up maps for each mission, and assigned them to each of the eight phases.

This is Phase 1's mission, a Combat Patrol, for the Cubans.  The numbers are the route of travel, so the Cubans start turn 1 on F4, then move in turn 2 to F3, etc..., before coming all the way back to their starting point on Turn 20.

While the FLA's mission is to enter the map (A1) and move to F1 in order to service a weapons cache, then carry their booty back to their starting point at A1.

As luck would have it, Phase 2 is another Cuban Combat Patrol...

While the FLA decide to service their other weapons cache.

Phase 3 is a prisoner snatch mission for the Cubans...

While the FLA intends on laying mines atop Hill 45 in Village 4 (E2).

In Phase 4, the Cuban mission is to escort a Scout-Sniper team to D1, then loiter a few turns to make sure the sniper team makes it to their destination (Hill 114, at A1), before returning to base.

While the FLA mission is to conduct an ambush patrol.  Hilariously (for me, the Cuban player), this is the only Phase in which the two sides DID NOT run into each other, so the Cubans accomplished their mission while the FLA did not.

Phase 5 sees the Cubans carrying out an ambush patrol of their own.

While the FLA forces are ordered to stand to, having received intelligence information that their Cuban opponents would be moving on Hill 45/Village 4 (E2).

Phase 6's mission for the Cubans is to go and recover the government sedan abandoned in Village 2 (B4), and return it to their base (A1).

While the FLA is carrying out a combat patrol.

In Phase 7, the Cubans have received intelligence information the FLA will be moving on Village 3/Bridge 1 (C3), so they take up defensive positions atop Hill 30 in The Church (C4).

While the FLA's mission is to escort the Tax Collector to each of the four villages and The Garage, so that the local residents can find some way to support their liberation.

And lastly, Phase 8 sees the Cubans moving on Hill 114 (A1) to establish their Observation Post, so that when the sun rises they are in position to call in air support and rain hell on FSNL forces moving south to reinforce Pendrakenville.

While the FLA mission is to pull flank security, shielding a foot convoy of porters carrying ammunition and supplies east, from A4 to F2.

If you look closely at the maps, you can see I shaded grids where the two opposing forces could have spotted each other or run into each other.  Then I drew up odds for the confrontation and rolled dice to see in which grids the fights actually occurred.

Here's how I drew that up, with Cubans ("Daddy") on the right and FLA ("Nik") on the left.  The missions are labelled and assigned to Phases at top, Phase numbers are written down the center, and the potential confrontation grids are listed to their left and right.  For example, Phase 8 was simple and straightforward: the only opportunity for contact that made sense was when both sides moved into grid C3.  But in Phase 3, confrontation could have occurred when the FLA was in C3 and the Cuban in B4, or when the FLA was in D3 and the Cubans were in C4, or when the FLA was in D3 and the Cubans were in C3.  So I rolled to figure out which one actually happened.

And this is what I came up with.  The arrows are firefights, with the number being the phase and B being bad guys, while G is good guys.  So the fight in Phase 2 is the Cubans in C4 and the FLA in C3.

Well, now all I've got to do is play out the seven phases in which the two sides ran into each other.  That's my plan, tell me what ya think.  And thanks, Jimmi!

V/R,
Jack