Operation Chunky Bandit #34 (Ground)

All,

1330 on 4 Aug 1990

Mini-Campaign Fight #8

TF Hammer vs FSNL 3rd Company

Major Chavez

2 x Silver Star, Purple Heart, War of Liberation and South Leon campaigns

Commander, TF Hammer

Major Halabrio

Silver Star, War of Liberation, Operation Payback, and South Leon campaigns, one Combat Jump

Commander, Task Group Halabrio

Major Chavez leads his TF Hammer in pursuit of the FSNL 3rd Company, which has previously been defeated by TF Hammer, was forced to retreat, ran into the SLA's D Company, was defeated again and was forced tp retreat.  The overall Task Group commander, Major Halabrio, has decided to attach himself to the assault element, leaving Major Chavez in overall commander but willing and able to assist as necessary, functioning as a second command stand for the Cubans.

This is a simple attack/defend scenario; the Cuban goal is to crush their enemies on the way to the capital, the Communist goal is to hold the ground.

Overview, north is up.  There is a hardball road running east to west with an offshoot running south, with two small hamlets present (bottom center and top right), as well as several knolls/hillocks.  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, one Leopard II main battle tank, and two Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles.  These troops are Minifigs' Israelis with BPM vehicles.

Hammer 01 was decorated with a Bronze Star w/V for their last action.

I must admit that I always get a bit nervous when I roll up a great force like this.  They've maxed out the number of rifle stand you can have, AND the number of vehicles, and the vehicles are pretty damn powerful (tanks and IFVs vs HMMWVs, for example).

Oh, and there's Major Halabrio, the Task Group commander.  That is probably the clearest, brightest photo of a 10mm figure I have ever taken!  This is a Minifigs' Australian from their Vietnam range. I love the boonie covers and big packs!

The Communist force consists of: Command stand, six rifle stands, a T-72, and a BMP-2.  These troops and vehicles are Minifigs' Soviets.

Wow, so the bad guys are pretty damn strong as well.  They've really mounted everything up for their last stand.  And I just love the paintjobs on those vehicles!  I sprayed them sand, then applied putty to them and sprayed them olive drab.  One of the few times that method actually worked for me!

Overview, this time with troops.  You can see the Cubans at far left, the Communists from center line to right.

The Cuban deployment, from left: Marder 01 (carrying Hammer 01 and 02), Marder 02 (carrying Hammer 03 and 04, Leopard, with Hammer 05, Hammer 06, and Major Chavez' command group ahead of them.  Major Halabrio is riding in Marder 01.

The Communists have rifle teams at bottom center left, bottom left, left, center, right center top, and right, their BMP at left, and their T-72 at top center.  Quite formidable, this should be a real slobber-knocker.

The fight begins with Major Chavez leading Hammer 05 and 06 up onto the nearby hill.

And what they see from up top is alarming...

But the mechanized force is already on the move, with the Leopard moving to the treeline on the far left (top left) while the Marders push ahead (center top).

Hearing Major Chavez' calls on the radio and thus expecting trouble, the Cubans dismount.

The Communists respond by pushing everyone they can towards the Cuban mechanized thrust.

*Good grief, this looks like a damn Civil War battle!  What happened is that the Cubans started the game with a 'scurry,' which allowed the Communists to respond, so everyone closed the distance in a hurry without a shot being fired.  But stuff is about to hit the fan...

On the Communist far right, the T-72 commander calls out: "Gunner, sabot, enemy tank, 12 o'clock in the trees, 400 meters, fire!"

And the Leopard II is knocked out!

Uh-oh...  Pretty impressive, one shot one kill on 1K 1S...

The Communist BMP (bottom right) opens fire with its 30mm auto-cannon...

Marder 02's crew is suppressed and Hammer 04 responds with a LAW...

Cracking open the BMP and suppressing a nearby rifle squad!

Major Halabrio dashes over and rallies Marder 02 (red bead at bottom center right) as Marder 01 opens fire with its 20mm autocannon.

Knocking out an enemy rifle team (casualty figures at bottom center left) and pinning another (yellow bead at right) as Marder 01 moves to cover on the far left flank (top left).

*The T-72 (top right) could have react fired on the moving Marder, but would have done so with only 1K 1S and it would then not have been able to act in its own turn, where it would be able to fire on the Marder with 2K 3S and be able to move, so it decided not to.

But the Cubans keep up the pressure, with Hammer 01 moving forward (center top, from far left) and looking to put a LAW into the enemy tank (top right).  The enemy tankers realize the threat and open fire with their coax...

*The T-72 was trying to hold out by not using its react fire, which was cool when the Marder moved in front of it but wasn't able to shoot because it fired before it moved and thus did not present a threat, but these Cuban infantrymen are now close enough that they can put a rocket in their shorts, so they must react.

And it works for the T-72, Hammer 01 (casualty figures at center top) is gunned down, but the Cubans keep up the pressure, with Marder 02 moving up and firing its 20mm autocannon on the Communist tank!  The 20mm shells fail to penetrate but do manage to suppress the crew!

*And then the Communists roll up a 'scurry,' which is a good thing for them, will allow them to rally folks and move their infantry up into position, maybe even pull off some close assaults.

A flurry of Communist activity: the enemy CO rolls up and rallies a suppressed rifle team (center, next to burning BMP), a rifle team moves up to check on a 'men down' rifle team (just above them), a rifle team moves up on the knoll (center top, just left of the guys I was just talking about), a rifle team moves up on the Cuban CO (bottom left), and the T-72 (top center right) attempts to self rally.  All are good, except...

The T-72 crew, which panic and fall back (top right, from top left), and one of the rifle teams (red bead at center, from far left)!!!

The rifle team the Communist CO just rallied charges Hammer 04 (left, from far right)!

Hammer 04 goes down (casualty figures at far right) and the bad guys continue, charging into Hammer 03, as Major Halabrio rushes over to help fight off the rampaging Commies...

And the Cubans stand their ground, knocking out the enemy rifle team.

Both Marders push ahead (top center, from top left), looking to get after the T-72 (top right) before it can recover.

As Major Chavez leads Hammer 06 into close combat with an encroaching FSNL rifle team.

The enemy team is quickly dispatched (casualty figures at bottom left) and Major Chavez leads Hammer 05 and 06 forward (center to bottom right, with Major Halabrio and Hammer 03 visible at top left).

Major Halabrio and Hammer 03 charge the nearest enemy rifle team (center top, from bottom left).

They put them out of the fight and move on to the next enemy unit!

They trash them and move up, forcing the enemy commander (bottom left) and a suppressed rifle team (top right) to surrender!

The enemy tankers see what's going down and they decide to throw in the towel, too!  Thus ends the fight and FSNL3.

FNSL3, after three straight butt-whoopin's, is eliminated (B4).

TF Hammer then falls back to pursue FSNL1 (C3, from B4).

TF Hammer eliminates the weakened and disorganized FSNL1 that was routed by the SLA D Company (C3).  Yeah, I didn't have to eliminate FSNL1 without a fight like that, but it felt good ;)  And it makes up for allowing FSNL3 to survive two different fights it should have been eliminated in.  So, not just an issue of fairness, but also in keeping the campaign moving along, which is already eight fights in and still there are still eleven (11!!!) enemy battlegroups still on the board. I'm in no real hurry, but would like to finish this campaign some time before 2057...

Man, that was a helluva fight, exactly what I expected and hoped for, a slugfest between two heavyweights!  Sure, it could have been a bit more bloody for the Cubans, but as I mentioned after the last fight, when a battle turns, it turns!  And don't forget, the Cubans are rated much higher (in terms of technical and tactical proficiency) than the Communists and still lost a tank and two rifle teams, and easily could have lost a bunch more.  The turning point was the Cubans' willingness/ability to keep throwing forces at the T-72 in order to keep it from going on a rampage, and Major Halabrio and Hammer 03 halting the enemy close assault in the center, which likely would have rolled up the entire Cuban left if they weren't stopped there.  Lots of fun.

Casualties:

Cuban: ~20 men and one Leopard II (Hammer 01's team leader, the guy that won the Bronze Star w/V in their last fight, was Killed In Action)

Communist: ~30 men and one BMP-2 destroyed, with ~15 men and one T-72 captured

Decorations:
Major Halabrio, Task Group Halabrio commander, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and meritoriously promoted to Lieutenant Colonel for mounting the defense that halted the enemy assault threatening the Cuban center, then leading the counterattack that knocked out three Communist rifle teams and captured the enemy commander, another rifle team, and a T-72 tank.

Hammer 03 Team Leader was awarded the Silver Star for participating in the defense that halted the enemy assault threatening the Cuban center and the counterattack that knocked out three Communist rifle teams and captured the enemy commander, another rifle team, and a T-72 tank.

Next up we have 1st Lt Ordonez' TF Redleg defending against a counterattack by the FSNL's 5th Company.

V/R,

Jack