TF Hammer vs FSNL 9th Company
Lieutenant-Colonel Halabrio
Commander, Task Group Halabrio
Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, War of Liberation, Operation Payback, and South Leon campaigns, one Combat Jump
LtCol Halabrio now leads his Task Force Hammer into combat against Communist regulars of the FSNL's 9th Company, following Major Chavez being wounded and evacuated. Having seized the bridge over the River Shalabi at Janaf, fought off a Communist counterattack, and then an insurgent force attempting to block the way, they are now running into another Communist force on their way to the capital city of Pendrakenville.
This is a meeting engagement, typically with both sides advancing from their own table edge, but I'm going to mix things up a bit by having both sides placed on the table with random movement to reflect the chaos of meeting each other on the march, in the pre-dawn dark.
Overview, north is up. There are hardball roads running north/south and east west, intersecting in the southeast (bottom right), with villages present at far left and bottom right, as well as several knolls/hillocks, to include the prominent Hill 170 at center top and Hill 152 at top 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.
Major Chavez' force consists of: Command stand, six rifle stands, an MG team, and an 81mm mortar team. These troops are Minifigs' Modern Israelis.
TF Hammer has a few heroes present:
LtCol Halabrio, TG Halabrio CO, has been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star
Hammer 05 Team Leader, Bronze Star w/V
Overview, this time with troops. The Cubans are advancing from the west (left table edge), though they've managed to find themselves pocketed along the south of the road, from bottom center to bottom left, while the neemy is mostly in the northeast (right/top right), though they've managed to infiltrate several teams around the Cuban left flank (top center left)!
*Well, random deployment sure worked this time, this is gonna be wild!
The Cuban starting positions: Hammer 01 is on Hill 170 (top center right), Hammer 02 is at right, Hammer 03 is just below them, Hammer 04 is at left, just below Hill 152, Hammer 05 is just right of them, and Hammer 06 is below them, at bottom center. The Cuban CO, LtCol Halabrio, is at left bottom, with the mortar team at bottom left and the MG team at center top, just below Hill 170.
The Communist deployment: first, they have their Commander and two rifle teams at top left, coming between Hill 170 (center top) and Hill 152 (just visible at top left), with their remaining rifle teams at clustered on/around the knoll at top right, with their mortar team also on that knoll, their AGL in the ville at bottom center right, and their T-72 on the road at far right.
Time to die! With the sun still not all the way over the horizon and with substantial ground mist masking visibility, the Communists push everyone forward, with their troops in the west pushing directly west (everyone but the mortar team, top right), while their flanking element in the north pushes south (top left). Hammer 01 (center top, on Hill 170) and Hammer 02 (center left bottom) spot the movement and immediately grasp the precariousness of their positions...
Hammer 01 falls back (bottom center, from far right) and the rest of the Cubans pull left and take up defensive positions. Everyone except Hammer 01 (top right, with enemy CO and two rifle teams at top center).
Hammer 01 maneuvers aggressively (top center, from bottom center) to cut off the enemy penetration from the north (left, with Hammer 05 visible at bottom center).
*Then the Cubans roll a damn, 'scurry,' too...
Without opening fire as they don't want to betray their presence in the enemy's rear, the brave Cubans of Hammer 01 charge into the left wing of the Communist advance from the north!
Point blank gunfire erupts and grenades crack, but the enemy (bottom center right) recovers quickly, throwing back the Cubans (top center), suppressed!
Seeing their comrades (top left) in a very vulnerable position, Hammer 05, who's leader was awarded the Bronze Star w/V for leading a close assault in the last fight, decides to charge the nearest enemy rifle team!
But again the bad guys respond in an uncharacteristically ferocious manner, this time knocking out Hammer 05 (casualty figures at center top) before moving up (right, with the enemy CO at far left)!
With the situation rapidly deteriorating and his center threatening to collapse, LtCol Halabrio decides something must be done immediately, so he leads his command group into close combat (center top, with the Cuban MG team at far right)!
The Cuban command group knocks out the enemy rifle team (casualty figures at bottom right), then charges the enemy command group!
The enemy commander and his men go down (bottom right), then Col Halabrio and his command group, their blood up, climb Hill 152 to get at the last remaining rifle team from the enemy's northern flanking force...
Colonel Halabrio and his men knock out the last enemy rifle team (casualty figures at far left), then move back to the east, looking to rally Hammer 01 (top right), though they can't yet reach them.
Further south, with the northern flanking threat defeated, the Cubans re-adjust back towards the east.
But the Communists are undaunted, pushing their AGL team (center bottom) into a dominating position at the crossroads to support a northern advance, while their remaining three rifle teams climb Hill 170, before their T-72 pushes through a draw (far left, with Hammer 01 visible at top left).
Atop Hill 170, and enemy rifle team (bottom right) opens fire on the Cuban CO and Hammer 01...
Then begins charging downhill to close assault Hammer 01...
But Colonel Halabrio refuses to allow the Communist troops to descend upon the suppressed Hammer 01, so again he grabs his command group and charges!
*Yeah, I'm definitely making shit up now, allowing a command stand to 'react charge'??? Sorry guys... Command stands aren't really supposed to be taking part in combat, just supposed to add a modifier to another team in close combat, but I broke those rules awhile back in this campaign, allowing command teams to carry close combats by themselves, and even react fire a couple times. So, 'react charge,' sure, why not.
If you want to really know what's going on, it's this: I feel like the close combats and the medals are getting out of hand, so I'm kind of throwing a lot of these little lead heroes to the wolves, letting them charge pretty much at will, figuring they'll get themselves killed (or seriously wounded) at some point, and once I get out of this campaign I'm going to have to take another look at how I'm doing business, because I think I've bent the rules too far in the Hollywood style.
Colonel Halabrio and his team knock out the bad guys (the casualty figures just above them) and then push up Hill 170, but as they crest the ridge they draw fire from a nearby enemy rifle team!
Colonel Halabrio goes down and his command team is knocked out!
*On one damned Kill dice, too! See, I told you if I kept going the heroes would take care of themselves ;) If you haven't noticed, I've been doing it the last few fights, so we've already seen it claim Lt Espinale, Captain Villagrosa, and Major Chavez.
Then the enemy mortar crew (top right) goes to work, targeting the Cuban line below Hill 170 (far left)...
The Cuban MG team is knocked out (top center), while Hammer 03 and 04 are both pinned!
And then Hammer 01 (top center right) manages to self rally as the Cuban mortar team (bottom left) goes to work.
They manage to suppress one of the enemy rifle teams on Hill 170 (red bead at center).
And then enemy mortar team (far right) shifts fire, targeting Hammer 01 (top left).
The 82mm HE rounds are right on the money, putting Hammer 01 'men down,' which is probably a death sentence with no ability to rally themselves, no friends able to get to them, and enemy troops close by.
With Hammer 01 suppressed (top right), the enemy tank commander has freedom to maneuver, and he exercises it, pushing ahead (center left, from right bottom), where he opens fire on the Cuban center, firing a 125mm HE round and suppressing Hammer 03 (bottom left, with hammer 04 pinned at far left).
On the Cuban right, Hammer 02 (bottom left) opens fire on the Communist AGL team (top right, with a suppressed rifle team at top center), suppressing them...
And then pressing forward, into the street (center, from bottom left).
While back on the left, Hammer 04, though pinned, pops up to fire a LAW at the T-72...
But they (center top) miss and the tank returns fire...
And the return fire is vicious, knocking out Hammer 04 (casualty figures at center top) and suppressing the Cuban mortar team (bottom left) and Hammer 03 (far right)!!!
Back on Hill 170, the last enemy rifle team still in the fight moves left (left top) to save the suppressed rifle team (just right of them) and AGL team (bottom center) from the advancing Hammer 02 (bottom left).
But the Cubans spot the movement and open fire...
But the tough Commie infantry shake it off and return fire, suppressing Hammer 02!
So with that disaster happening on the Cuban right, an even larger disaster is unfolding on the Cuban left, where the enemy T-72 moves up, looking to overrun the mortar team (bottom left)!
Which he promptly does (bottom left), before moving on Hammer 03 (top right)...
Hammer 03 is knocked out (top left), but as the T-72 moves up to claim its next victim, Hammer 006 finally wakes up and gets in the fight! They hurriedly pop open a LAW and fire...
And bust the T-72 wide open!!!
Having destroyed the T-72 (bottom center), Hammer 06 then pushes right (center), looking to rescue Hammer 02 (top center), who is suppressed in the street.
*At this point both sides have lost their commander, the Cubans are down to two rifle teams, one of which is suppressed, and the Communists are down to two rifle teams, the AGL team, and their mortar team, though one of the rifle teams and the AGL team are suppressed.
Hammer 06 opens fire on the unsuppressed enemy rifle team on Hill 170, pinning them, while Hammer 02 self rallies and gets 'up' to pinned (right).
The enemy mortar team (bottom right) goes to work, dropping 82mm HE rounds on Hammer 06, Danger Close (top left), but the gunners are scared of hitting their own men (top center) and the rounds go long! Then Hammer 06 goes on a rampage, charging the enemy troops...
Hammer 02, still pinned down (bottom center left), watches in awe as their comrades from Hammer 06 knock out the first enemy rifle team (far left), then the next (center top left), then come down Hill 170 and knock out the enemy AGL team at the crossroads (center), then push east (far right).
Where they capture the enemy mortar team, breaking the back of the FSNL's attack, forcing them to fall back in disarray!
The fight is over, with the FSNL's 9th Company forced to fall back (C11, from C10), while Task Force Hammer is eliminated from the campaign as it is no longer an effective fighting force. After 48 hours of non-stop, close-in combat that saw them lose their CO and then their acting CO, they fall back to the west in hopes of reconstituting at a later date.
Man, that was pretty wild. The 'random deployment' finally worked to add some real chaos, but then the bad guys weren't able to capitalize on it, though they did draw in and eat up several Cuban units. And then, when things seemed like they were going the Cubans' way, the Commie mortar team softens things up and the tank goes on a tear, before Hammer 06 saves the day with a lucky LAW shot. This is definitely a case where each side suffered heavy enough casualties that it should have fallen back before the end, but hey, which battle in this campaign can't you say that about? ;) But I will say that I left both sides in there to duke it out as I figured 1) the Commies were pretty committed, being the only unit between the Cubans and Pendrakenville, and 2) the Cubans are on the verge of winning the campaign, are fearful that if they don't give the Communists a bad enough bloody nose they'll simply be run down and massacred as they retreat, and I figured once they started taking pretty heavy casualties I'd let them fight themselves to exhaustion, win or lose, and take them off the campaign board. Having said that, I may wait a turn and then let them and TF Hawk come together as a hybrid battlegroup.
Cuban: ~20 men, including LtCol Halabrio, who was WIA and evacuated to cuba
Communist: ~30 men killed, a T-72 main battle tank destroyed, and ~5 men captured
-LtCol Halabrio, TF Hammer CO/TG Halabrio CO, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for leading a counterattack to save Hammer 01 from annihilation, destroying the enemy command element and three rifle teams before being grievously wounded in another close combat.
-Team Leader, Hammer 05, was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star w/V for leading a counterattack to save the suppressed, cut off, and surrounded Hammer 01, which resulted in his death.
-Team Leader, Hammer 06, was awarded the Silver Star for halting the enemy's attack by destroying a T-72 with a LAW rocket, then leading a counterattack that destroyed two rifle teams, a machine gun team, and captured an enemy mortar team, defeating their attack on TF Hammer.
Next up we have Captain Madre-Animral's Task Force Bowie forcing the River Shalabi, opposed by the FLA's 4th Company, in a desperate attempt to halt the Cuban onslaught.
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