TF Hawk vs FSNL 8th Company
Silver Star, 2 x Bronze Star w/V, Purple Heart, War of Liberation and South Leon campaigns, two Combat Jump (War of Liberation and South Leon)
TF Hawk was pushing east towards the only bridge over the River Shalabi, looking to secure Task Force Hammer's lines of communication to the rear, but were slowed by the darkness and caught from behind by the FSNL's 8th Company, which is desperately attempting to cut-off the Cuban penetration (by TF Hammer) towards Pendrakenville. A defeat here would leave TF Hammer very isolated on the east side of the River Shalabi.
This will be handled as a meeting engagement, with the Communists entering from the west and the Cubans from the east, using random deployment for both sides to simulate the chaos of fighting in the dark, running into contact while on the move, and the Cubans having to reorient 180 degrees to face their attackers.
Overview, north is up. There is a hardball road running west to east, with villages at left and right, as well as several knolls/hillocks, the most prominent of which are Hill 145 (center top) and Hill 98 (bottom center left). Other than that we've got several cultivated fields and scattered jungle.
The opposing forces, allies on left and Communists on right.
The figures are all 10mm from Pendraken, Minifigs UK, and Butler's Printed Models. I'm using Ivan's "5Core Company Command," playing on a 3' x 2' surface with simple terrain to speed up the process. The hootches are from Jimmi at Flashpoint Minis, the roads are from Fat Frank, the hills are from Warzone, the fences are from Sarissa, the fields are from Hotzmats, the trees are cake toppers, and when you see the rivers, they're from Wargamers Terrain. I'm playing solo and will randomize enemy deployment using a system of blinds borrowed from Joe Legan's "Platoon Forward."
In terms of caliber of forces, the SLA, FSNL, and FLA troops will all be treated equally, except for the fact the FLA troops will be treated as fanatics, in terms of their willingness to advance into close combat. The Cubans are more tactically and technically proficient, and so they will receive extra firing dice, better rallying capability, bonus in close combat, and sometimes will have a second command stand on the table.
Captain Villagrosa's force consists of: Command stand, five rifle stands, a MAG-58 MG team, and a Charles Gustav Recoiless Rifle team. The troops are Minifigs' Modern UK.
Additionally, there are some heroes present in TF Hawk/Dusty:
-Captain Villagrosa, TF Dusty Commander, Silver Star and 2 x Bronze Star w/V
-1st Beriana, Hawk 03's Team Leader, who was awarded the Medal of Honor and meritoriously promoted to 1st Lieutenant
-Charles Gustav Recoiless Rifle Team Leader, Bronze Star w/V
*Please note that the old standard of having a Command stand and a separate single figure to represent Captain Villagrosa is now out the window since the previous TF Hawk Commanding Officer, 1st Lt Espinale, was killed in action and Captain Villagrosa assumed command of the combined Task Force Hawk-Dusty.
The Communist force consists of: Command stand, four rifle stands, a T-72 main battle tank, a BTR-80 armored personnel carrier, and a BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle. These troops and vehicles are all from Minifigs' Modern Soviets range.
The Communists have two rifle teams at far left, one in the village (center), with their CO right below them, and one at right, just below Hill 98. Their T-72 is on overwatch (bottom center right) while the BMP and BTR head up the road.
To those little lead guys who are about to die, we salute you! And it starts off hot: the enemy's right-hand rifle team spots movement atop Hill 98's northern slope and opens fire...
Then moves up (left), but the tough paratroopers of Hawk 02 (right) were unfazed by the fire and open up themselves, catching the Communists in the open and suppressing them!
But the enemy Commander acts decisively, leading his BTR forward, into the village, where it halts and begins pouring absolutely GIANT 14.5mm machine gun rounds into Hawk 02's position, pinning them down.
Seeing Hawk 02 in distress (far left), Captain Villagrosa immediately charge forward to rally them, but the fire is too heavy and they remain pinned! Meanwhile, the Charlie G team (far right) wants a shot at the BTR (off camera to left), but doesn't have one currently...
So they push forward to get into position (right, just above the Cuban CO), but they're spotted by enemy infantry in the village (top left), who open fire and pin them down in the open!
Things are rapidly getting out of hand; the paratroopers have been in constant combat for almost 48 hours and are not making the best tactical decisions: seeing the Charlie G team get pinned down (yellow bead at bottom center), Hawk 04, who was in a great position atop Hill 145 (top right), decides they need to get involved in an up close and personal fashion, so they come running downslope, and just as they bust through the treeline (center) the enemy's far left-flank rifle team (top center left) spots them and opens fire, suppressing them in the open!!!
*Holy @#$%, this should be too easy for the bad guys, a pinned rifle team and Charlie G team and a suppressed rifle team, all within easy charging distance...
But desperate times call for desperate measures, and with his Charlie G team (far right) and Hawk 04 (top center) pinned or suppressed out in the open, Captain Villagrosa decides violence of action will have to suffice. He grabs the pinned down Hawk 02 and charges the enemy rifle team (bottom center) they'd suppressed earlier...
The Commie riflemen are mowed down (casualty figures at right top) and Captain Villagrosa and Hawk 02 look to continue their rampage, charging down the slope of Hill 98, towards the enemy CO (far left) and their BTR, but the BTR has spotted them and opens fire with its 14.5mm HMG...
Hawk 02 is suppressed by the HMG fire (red bead at right), but Captain Villagrosa and his command group continue into close combat!
The enemy Commander and BTR are eliminated in flurry of close-in violence, and Captain Villagrosa and his command group continue their rampage, charging across the street into the flank of an enemy rifle team!
Which they quickly eliminate in close combat (far right), but as they do they are caught in the open by the enemy's BMP-2, which opens fire with its 30mm auto-cannon!
And Captain Villagrosa and his command group are knocked out, the Captain dead before his body hit the ground...
On the Communist far left, a rifle team spots Hawk 05 (top center right) up on Hill 145 and fires...
Hawk 05 (top center) is suppressed and the enemy troops close assault Hawk 04 (far right, from far left!
But Hawk 04 (bottom right) saves the die, fighting off the bad guys and sending them packing, suppressed (far left)!
*Unbelievable, I really needed that!
The BMP pushes forward, into the village (center, from far left).
Hawk 04 (bottom right), still feeling a bit giddy about being suppressed in the open yet fighting off a Commie rifle team, locks in on the BMP and launches a LAW rocket...
But the rocket misses and the BMP continues advancing, pumping 30mm rounds at Hawk 04 (far right), suppressing them again!
But then the pinned Charlie G team (bottom right), who's previously won a Bronze Star w/V, gets in the fight: they line up a shot and fire an 84mm HEAT round at the BMP!
Busting it right open, as Hawk 04 self rallies back into the fight (top right)!
But on the enemy's far left flank (bottom left), the Communist rifle team there opens fire on Hawk 04 (top right), pinning them.
And then dashes right (bottom left) to rally their suppressed comrades. And those guys are pissed!
They immediately charge into close combat with Hawk 04...
And this time Hawk 04 goes down (casualty figures at bottom left)! The enemy team moves up (center bottom), looking to cross the road and get at the Charlie G team (just right of them), but Hawk 03 (top right), who's team leader is Lt Beriana, winner of the Medal of Honor, spots them and opens fire...
The enemy rifle team (top center right, with the pinned Charlie G team just below them) are pinned down by Hawk 03's small arms fire, pinning them in the street and probably saving the day! The Cuban MG team pulls in from the left flank, heading north (center left), where they set up and rally the suppressed Hawk 02.
But the enemy tank (bottom center) spots the movement (top center) and fires!
But its dark and the T-72s optics suck, so the round misses, which allows Hawk 02 to charge downslope from Hill 98, into the street, and into close combat with the pinned enemy rifle team (top left)!
They knock out the Communist team (casualty figures at far right), then push west, into the village (left bottom). And while that was going on, Hawk 05 (top center) self rallied, making life rather difficult for the last remaining Communist rifle team (top left).
Down to just the T-72 (bottom left) and a single rifle team (top left), the remaining troops of the FSNL's 8th Company break off their attack and head west to regroup!
Task Force Hawk/Dusty, despite losing its Commanding Officer for the second battle in a row, defeats the FSNL's 8th Company, forcing them to fall back (B7 from C7). But the Cubans are fairly beat up as well, so they pull south to rest and reorganize (D7 from C7).
Well, that was crazy, right from the get-go, for some reason. I'm not sure what made that fight seem so damned hectic, or why (in retrospect) it felt like the Cubans were desperate to do something dramatic/important/impactful as quickly as possible, but that's sure how it felt. My guess is that I was worried about sitting back and being picked off by the enemy's superior firepower; they didn't have much infantry, but if they could have just pushed ahead, located a position, brought the tank up, reduced it, and repeat it, that would have been a long, slow, painful death for Task Force Hawk.
Another funny thing is that I did random deployment and was overall happy about how the Cuban defense was laid out, everything except for the fact that Team 3, with its Medal of Honor-winning team leader, was stuck in the very rear, where he was not likely to get into the fight unless things were goig pretty badly. Well, things went badly, but he saved the day with that reaction fire shot, halting the bad guys before they got the pinned Charlie G team. If they'd have gotten there, there's no reason to believe they would have been stopped: they'd run over the Charlie G team, then the suppressed Hawk 02, then sneak up on the rear of the MG team on Hill 98, forcing the Cubans to give up or be destroyed.
Cuban: ~10 men, including their Commanding Officer, Captain Villagrosa, killed in action
Communist: ~25 men, with another ~10 captured
Decorations:
-Captain Villagrosa, TF Dusty CO, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for leading a close assault that eliminated the enemy Commander, a BTR armored personnel carrier, and two rifle teams, before being killed in action by enemy armor.
-Hawk 04 Team Leader was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star w/V for leading his suppressed rifle team in a desperate defense against an assaulting Communist rifle team, repulsing them, before being killed in action during a later close combat.
-Hawk 02 Team Leader was awarded the Bronze Star w/V for participating in a close assault with the Task Force Commander that eliminated an enemy rifle team, then leading a counterattack that eliminated another enemy rifle team in close combat.
*1st Lieutenant Beriana, formerly the Hawk 03 Team Leader, assumes acting Commanding Officer for the combined Task Force Hawk/Dusty.
Next up we have the Turn 7 campaign map moves, which lead us right back here!!! This fight took a lot of each of the combatants, and both sides pulled back to rest and regroup, but its seems the Commies were able to get set a lot quicker than expected as they hastily reorganized and launched another attack on Lt Beriana's Task Force Hawk/Dusty!
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