Operation Vigilant Sentinel 2

All,

It is 0130 local time on 7 August 1990, and a team of Free Cuban commandos is on the move, conducting a clandestine snatch and grab in Lithuania.

As breakup the breakup of the Soviet Union grows nearer, its decay has weakened the government's control over its vast territory, particularly in the various republics, where an inability of the government to care for its people has begun to collapse the various societies, which inevitably leads to nefarious means of making money.  In this case, organized crime has been quick to step in, beginning with black market goods and services, which quickly progressed to gambling, drugs, prostitution, and has now graduated to facilitating transnational terrorism.

Several weeks ago Cuban intelligence became aware of a plot to strike a Cuban embassy in Europe.  Very quickly evidence mounted of the movement of personnel, money, and materials through Europe via Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) networks, but then it went dark.  Then gold was struck: three days ago the United Kingdom's intelligence service shared information regarding an IRGC courier tied to the plot surfacing in a rural area outside Taurege, Lithuania.  Section 20 immediately went to work and got a confirmed location.

Section 20 mounted out and went to work, establishing a base of operations at sea, then set about inserting the Direct Action Team, which HALO'ed into the location.

Overview, north is up.  There is a fordable river running north-south on the left side of the board, while the main road runs east west, before branching north-south at far right, where there is small farming compound consisting of three buildings.  Other than that there are a couple rocky outcroppings just west of the farming compound, a small stock pond north of the farming compound, some trees, hedges, and a ton of cultivated fields.  The mobsters are quite... influential in the area, and so have established two checkpoints on the road; one is just west of the bridge (bottom left), the other is just west of the crossroads (far right).

The opposing forces, with Cuban SOF at left, the Cuban hostage at center, and bad guys at right. This is not an exact description of the enemy forces that will be faced during the game as not all bad guys pictured here will begin on the board, and some that are killed will be regenerated.

We're playing this game in 15mm using Osprey's "Black Ops" ruleset. The good guys are from Khurasan, the target is from Flytrap Factory, and the bad guys are from Eureka. The mat is from Frontline Gaming, the three fields at the top are from Eslo, the buildings and bridge are from Novus Design Studios, the roads are Fat Frank, the walls and haystacks are JR Miniatures (now Novus Studios?), the trees are from Crescent Root Studios, the pond is from Battlefront (it came with two, I broke one trying to flatten it out!), and the rock escarpments are from someone on Ebay (sorry, I don't recall who).

I'm playing this out with my two boys; they control the Cuban SOF, while I'm sort of umpiring and controlling the bad guys, which are really programmed opponents until things 'go loud.' The way the rules work is that the SOF dudes are sneaking around and you roll to see what the bad guy sentries are doing, until the SOF dudes get discovered (make too much noise, get seen, then the alarm gets raised), at which point it turns into a 'regular' shooty-type wargame.

The Section 20 Direct Action Team, divided into the Assault Element and the Security Element.
Assault Element (top row, left to right):
Bravo 01, Team Leader with HK-416
Bravo 08, Designated Marksman with suppressed rifle
Bravo 04, Linguist with HK-416
Bravo 03, Operator with HK-416

Security Element (bottom row, left to right):
Bravo 02, Team Chief with HK-416
Bravo 07, Machine Gunner with Mk-48
Bravo 05, Operator with HK-416 and M-320 Grenade Launcher
Bravo 06, Team Medic with HK-416 and M-320 Grenade Launcher

The bad guys, with a bunch of AKs, RPGs, PK machine guns, and Dragunov sniper rifles.

The enemy leader, AKA, "The Godfather."

The target, AKA, "The Courier."  He must be captured alive and extracted so the he can be interrogated so Cuban Intelligence can unravel the rest of the Embassy plot.

Overview, now with the bad guys present.  They have the checkpoints manned, each one containing a PK machine gun and two riflemen.  Other than that, the Courier is peacefully asleep in the Objective Building (far right), as is The Godfather, in the building just across the street from him, while "snipers" are posted atop each rocky outcrop.  Lastly, there are a number (3) roving sentries: top right (above the pond), top left (next to the chicken coop), and on the road in the southeast (bottom right).

The farming compound, with the Courier sleeping in the Objective Building (far right), guarded by one mobster, and The Godfather  sleeping in the building at left).  The other house (top center) had its owners evicted and is now being used as a warehouse for the mobsters' illicit paraphernalia.

Looking at the northeast, you can see a rover above the pond and a sniper on the rocky outcropping (far left).

Coming down below the Godfather's house, we see the other sniper (bottom left) and the eastern checkpoint (bottom right).

Coming the rest of the way south, we see the southern rover (bottom left).

As we move left, into the center, we can see the sniper on the northern outcropping (far right), a walled field with two haystacks, and the northwestern rover near the chicken coop (far left).

Coming down, we can see the bridge and the southwestern checkpoint (bottom left).

The Cuban SOF Direct Action Team is infiltrating from the northwest (top left), with the Assault Element up high and the Security Element just below them.  They're set up this way because they figure they need to get the suppressed weapon up front quick and take out the rover next to the chicken coop (right).

The Security Element, from right to left: Bravo 05, Bravo 02, Bravo 06, and Bravo 07.

The Assault Element, from left: Bravo 04, Bravo 03, Bravo 01, and Bravo 08.

Bravo 01 and Bravo 03 push up the left side, getting behind the cultivated field (top right), but the rover gets curious, or anxious, or bored, and decides to go check things out at the river (bottom right), snuggling up to the Security Element (bottom left), and catching Bravo 08 and Bravo 04 (top left) in the open!  He doesn't spot the Security element, but he sure as hell spots the two commandos in the open!

Bravo 06 (far right) sees the mobster (top left) raise his weapon to fire, mutters "sorry, Boss," (for firing with an unsuppressed weapon), and cuts loose.

When the bad guy doesn't go down, Bravo 05 opens up, too!

But still the bad guy (right) lives, and he returns fire with his AK!

And Bravo 05 goes down!!!

The boys in the southwest checkpoint (bottom left) hear the gunfire and decide something ought to be done; they draw straws and the machine gunner draws the short one.  He curses, puts his cigarette out, grabs his PK, and starts following the riverbank north (left, with the Security Element at top right).

Bravo 08 finally gets off his ass and moves up (far left)...

And puts two rounds in the rover, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

Bravo 02 and Bravo 07 push up to the riverbank (left), as Bravo 06 moves down to check Bravo 05, but it's no use, he's dead.  "Dammit!  Bravo 01, this is Bravo 06, we got one Kool-Aid.  Say again, Bravo 05 is Kool-Aid."

"Roger, leave him and get across the river."

The Cubans push east, making sure to stay out of the northern sniper's (top right) line of sight, using the trees as the Security Element reaches the chicken coop (center) and the Assault Element reaches the cultivated fields at top left.

Alarmed by the gunfire, the northern sniper backs down off his perch (far right).

The Cubans continue to push east, Bravo 08 (far right) leading the way with his suppressed weapon.

Bravo 04 (far left) looks on as Bravo 08 pushes up (center bottom) and fires on the northern rover (top right).

Putting him down.

More movement by the mobster guards: a man from the eastern checkpoint and the southern rover meet up in the southeast (bottom right), as the other rifleman from the eastern checkpoint moves west (left) down the road, the cuts north (right) next to the southern outcropping, where the southern sniper is still sitting, leaving only the MG in the eastern checkpoint.  The northern sniper has pushed north, reaching just below the pond, while the western checkpoint's machine gunner and one rifleman are pushing north (up) along the riverbank (far left), leaving a rifleman in the western checkpoint (off camera to far bottom left).

Back in the north, the northern sniper heard the suppressed gunshots and moves up to check it out (right, from bottom left), running right into Bravo 08...

But before the mobster "sniper" (right) can do anything, Bravo 04 moves up (left) and fires his unsuppressed rifle...

But he (center) misses, so Bravo 06 (bottom left) is forced to open fire with his unsuppressed weapon.

The enemy sniper goes down!

But all the gunfire has awakened The Godfather, who adjusts his beret and groggily looks around for someone to yell at.

With The Godfather awake (top right), one of the east checkpoint riflemen moves north, back up the road (far right), while the machine gunner and rifleman from the west checkpoint actually move to cross the river (top left).

In the center, the southern sniper realizes he doesn't have a very good view to his right, where the gunfire was coming from, so he comes down (center right, from bottom right) to get a better look, and ends up spotting Bravo 06 (top left, with The Godfather's house at top right)!

And as Bravo 06 (top right, with Bravo 02 and Bravo 07 at top center) is keying in to let everyone know he thinks the southern sniper (off camera to right) spotted him, the mobster machine gunner and rifleman from the western checkpoint cross the river (bottom left).

In the northeast, Bravo 04 moves up  (far right) to cover Bravo 08 (center bottom) as he moves around the north end of the warehouse, looking to get at the Objective Building (far left), as The Godfather (center left) continues yawning, stretching, and scratching on his front porch.

In the west, things have taken a turn for the worse: Bravo 07 moves into the crop field and runs into the west checkpoint's machine gunner and rifleman crossing the river; "Bravo 02, this is 07, we got company, going loud!"  And with that, he opened fire with his Mk-48 machine gun, pinning both mobsters in the river.

"Hell with it," Bravo 02 says as he moves up (far left, with Bravo 06 above him) and opens fire on the southern sniper (top right).

Dropping him.

As the Security Element's firefight is roaring in the west (top center right), Bravo 08 holds tight in the east (bottom center left) as the rest of the Assault Element works to catch up (center/far right).

Before creeping down the wall, where he peers around the corner (bottom right) and catches The Godfather getting ready to light a cigar (top left).  Shtack, shtack, goes the suppressed rifle...

And The Godfather goes down!  But this is immediately followed by the shrill screams of a woman (the Godfather's roommate), who spots his dead body and raises the alarm!

Back with the Security Element, the last rifleman in the west checkpoint (top right) has taken off running, getting onto the bridge.  Bravo 07 (bottom left) spots him and, with the two mobsters in the river pinned down, opens fire on the runner and lays him down!

Bravo 08 stands there (top right), admiring his shot, taking out The Godfather, as the east checkpoint's machine gunner moves up to the wall to get a look (left, from bottom left).

Further west, Bravo 02 (bottom left, with Bravo 06 above him and The Godfather's House at top left) moves up and spots one of the riflemen from the east checkpoint (top right) and cuts loose.

Bravo 02 (bottom left) missed the west checkpoint rifleman, so Bravo 06 moves up (left top), firing as he goes, but he misses, too.

While Bravo 01 moves up on the west side of the warehouse (far left, with Bravo 08 on the other side of the building) and takes a shot at the other rifleman from the west checkpoint (top right, with the machine gunner below him).

As Bravo 08 (far left) and Bravo 01 (center) lay down fire, Bravo 03 (bottom right) and Bravo 04 (bottom left) move up (Bravo 06 is visible at top right).

Back at the river, Bravo 07 turns his machine gun back on the two hapless mobsters in the river...

And ends both of them.

Bravo 06 continues his charge, firing on the rifleman from the east checkpoint...

And he finally goes down.

But while the Security Element is handling their business, the Assault Element has run into a quagmire in the Farming Compound, just outside the Objective Building (bottom left), with two commandos facing two mobsters, one with a machine gun (top left), the other with an AK (off camera top left).  The Cubans continuing fire on the mobster machine gun, including Bravo 01 (bottom center), here, but he's behind that damned stone wall and they just can't seem to hit him!

And the bad guy machine gunner (bottom left) and rifleman (bottom right) are doing just fine on their own...

But then they're joined by another rifleman (the southern rover, bottom left, with the machine gunner in the trees at center top and the original rifleman at center bottom)...

And the combined fire is just too intense!  Bravo 08 (right) looks on as Bravo 01 goes down (bottom left)!!!

The machine gunner (bottom right) lays down fire on Bravo 08 (top left)...

Along the southern rover to move up and fire (bottom left, the machine gunner to his left and the checkpoint rifleman to his right)...

Which allows the checkpoint rifleman to move up and fire (center).

Finally Bravo 08 (left, just visible between the two buildings) gets some help when Bravo 03 arrives on scene (bottom left) and gets into the fight.

Dropping the checkpoint rifleman in the street!

Bravo 04 the moves behind the porch wall of the warehouse (right, with Bravo 08 below him and Bravo 03 to his right rear).

Dropping the southern rover (bottom right), leaving the mobster machine gunner all by his lonesome, but still dangerous behind that damned stone wall!

So dangerous in fact, that Bravo 06 dashes between the two rocky outcroppings (off camera to bottom left and just visible at bottom center), flanking the mobster machine gunner (right top), and opens fire.

*Actually, he's the Doc and was moving up to check Bravo 01, who's down behind the house at top left, and he was hoping the MG would have been dealt with by now, but it hasn't been...

Bravo 02 even moves up (bottom left) and fires on the enemy MG (top right), but can't hit the damn guy...

And just then an enemy patrol arrives in the northern center (top center, with The Godfather's House at bottom right).

The five man patrol has three riflemen, an RPG, and a PK machine gun.

Back at the Farming Compound, the mobster machine gunner keeps on laying down fire.

As further west, members of the enemy patrol have moved up (left, behind the wall, and top center right), so Bravo 02 faces about and begins engaging.

And he puts one of them down!

Bravo 02 keeps going, moving left (bottom right) to open up his field of fire, and engaging the remainder of the patrol (top left).

Putting one down.

Back in the Farming Compound, Bravo 03 moves up to The Godfather's porch (bottom right) and continues firing on the mobster machine gunner (left top) at point blank range.

Bravo 04 joins him, firing as fast as they can reload.

Before Bravo 06 moves up (bottom left, Bravo 03 and Bravo 04 at top left)...

And finally takes him out (bottom right).

Bravo 03 and Bravo 04 let out a sigh as Bravo 08 moves to the Objective Building (top right).

Back with the Security Element, Bravo 07 moves over to help out Bravo 02 (bottom right), and gets his gun going at the enemy patrol (top left), dropping another one, leaving one rifleman at top left and a machine gunner at top center, behind the Assault Element (off camera to top right).

The patrol's machine gunner moves up (top right, from center).

Where he (bottom left) opens fire on Bravo 04 (top righg).

Meanwhile, at the Objective Building, Bravo 08 pulls out a flashbang and tosses it inside...

But the sentry kicks it over, into the corner, where it detonates harmlessly!

Now aware of the immediate threat outside, Mr. Kicking Mobster comes charging out of the Objective Building, where he runs smack into Bravo 08!!!

And Bravo 08 puts him down.

Bravo 07 (far right) keeps his machine gun thumping...

And finishes off the enemy patrol's riflemen.

As Bravo 04 faces about (bottom right) and engages the mobster patrol's machine gunner (top left).

Laying down covering fire so the Doc, Bravo 06, can come over and check on Bravo 01.

And we're in luck, it's just a flesh wound and Bravo 01 is back on his feet, back in the fight!

Bravo 04 moves up, firing as he goes...

And knocks out the mobster patrol's machine gun.

Back at the Objective Building, Bravo 08, Bravo 01, and Bravo 04 stack to enter and capture The Courier.

They go in and grab him without much of a fight, as Bravo 08 leads them back out.

The Assault Element forms up and escorts The Courier up around the northern rocky outcropping (center top, from bottom right), as Bravo 01 informs headquarters The Courier was secured and calls for extraction.

Looking south to north with the Farming Compound at top right, a large group of enemy reinforcements arrive (bottom right), looking to raise some hell.

But they're too late, the Cuban commandos are almost gone; as the Assault Element comes around the northern rocky outcropping (top left), Bravo 02 plants some C4...

And detonates it...

Opening a hole for the Assault Element to enter the walled field.  "Hey, knuckleheads, get over there and knock those haystacks down!"

The commandos quickly flatten the haystacks, then form a 360 and pull security.

And several smiles form as the familiar 'whup-whup-whup' of helo blades is heard approaching.

Bravo 02 flashes a NATO buzzsaw and ITGs the bird in, talking them in on VHF (yeah, how's that for memories?).  Satisfied he's got the right field and there are no obstruction, power lines, or obstacles on the LZ, the pilot pulls pitch and eases into a hover.

Then sets the Blackhawk down.  The commandos quickly board in an orderly fashion, Bravo 02 serving as the MACO.*

*Marshalling and Control Officer, the guy who's job is to count heads as you get back on the birds to leave in order to make sure you've got everyone.

The helo lifts off and whisks the Cubans (and their guest) away to safety.

The bad guy reinforcements are not happy, fanning out in the Farming Compound.

They really weren't happy to find The Godfather dead in a pool of his own blood...

Shortly thereafter, still before dawn broke, a red sedan pulled into the area, lights out, driver operating the vehicle with night vision goggles.

The sedan pulled off the road, heading north, slowly picking its way between the various trees, fields, and hedges.

The red sedan continues winding its way forward, clearly a very difficult undertaking in the dark, before finally lurching to a halt near a stand of trees.

And, once again, pops out Victoria Scallopeni.

She moves with a purpose, to exactly where she needed to be, then let out a sight.  "Ahhh, dammit.  Don't worry, big guy, I got ya..."

She labored to drag Bravo 05's body back to the sedan.

Before loading him into the sedan and reversing course.

And getting the hell out of there.

So, again the Cubans have two men go down to enemy fire, and though they were very lucky with Bravo 01 (not so lucky, you only need a 4+ to get a guy back in the fight), they were very unlucky to suffer their first fatality.

But overall, another mission success, with the boys getting pretty good at this Tier 1 Operator stuff ;)  They're learning how to move, shoot, and communicate, learning how to process information, what information is relevant and what information is not, how to prioritize it, and how to make a decision and carry it out in an expeditious manner, which is really great to see.  The older boy, heading up the Security Element, was fun to watch, because he was really in weird position in this fight, with no clearly dominating terrain (it may look like it, but because of all the trees and hills, those two rocky outcroppings, though elevated, really weren't all that useful) or even path to look to in order to carry out his mission of getting the Assault Element to the objective and back out again, but he stayed flexible and did a great job I thought, even down a man from early on.  He even wanted to dispatch a man to go pick up Bravo 05's body, but I told him I had another idea for how to accomplish that.

The rules worked out well again, getting much more comfortable with them, but I'm a bit worried as the we were again upstairs for about 3 1/2 hours, which is quite awhile to expect the attention of a ten and five year old.  All the sneaking around really takes a long time; I want to keep playing, but I'm thinking I may have to go back to solo play and get them back to stuff that's faster.

So the Direct Action Team delivered The Courier to Section 20's interrogators, who immediately went to work on him, first breaking, then debriefing him for intelligence information on the pending Embassy plot.  He was quite forthcoming, providing the Cubans with a trove of information, much of which was immediately useful, some of which is leading directly to the Direct Action Team's next mission.  As they saw, intel drives operations ;)

V/R,
Jack