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All,
AKA, Ambush Alley in South Leon #1
So, a bit of review as I’m all over the place when it comes to projects: on 1 May 1990 Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Forces (CLEF) deployed to the west African Republic of South Leon. A county seen as pivotal during the Cold War as a stopper to the Domino Theory in Africa, since The Wall fell it has largely been ignored by the Western Powers that propped it up throughout the Cold War. And that would be fine, except:
1. South Leon has a Marxist neighbor to the north, Fédération Socialiste Nationale de Leon, or FSNL. While it is suffering as well, having lost its primary backer when the Soviet Union collapsed, that is actually making things worse. Aside from the cultural hatred the two tribes have for each other, the FSNL regime is under pressure due to a stagnant economy, and what better way to relieve pressure then redirect the anger at outside forces, such as South Leon?
and
2. South Leon has an internal problem, the Free Leon Army (FLA), which is Marxist and thus has problems with the republican government of South Leon and is backed by FSNL.
Both these problems were coming to a head, and so the Cubans, being the freedom-loving folks they are, decided to pitch in to save South Leon from the damn Communists! Generalissimo Estevante authorized the deployment of a battalion-sized Task Group to South Leon. Headed by a Marine, Major Fulgencio, the task force is built around a company of Marines under 1st Lieutenant Ordonez (Task Force Redleg) and a company of paratroopers under the recently promoted Captain Soares (Task Force Razor). The overall Task Group is filled out by a contingent of tanks, armored personnel carriers, amphibious assault vehicles, Special Forces, Intelligence, an air combat element, and various other support personnel necessary to keep the Task Group operating at full capacity.Task Group Fulgencio landed in South Leon on 1 May 1990, with Task Force Redleg deploying north to the Demilitarized Zone (the border with FSNL), and Task Force Razor moving just east of the capital city, to the capital of the home-grown insurgency, Diwala.
Things were quiet until early June 1990, when Task Force Redleg’s patrolling of the DMZ ran into a battalion-sized force of FSNL “volunteers” infiltrating south across the border. Three short, sharp clashes saw the victorious Cuban Marines sending the FSNL volunteers packing back across the DMZ. Again things have been quiet, but intel has been picking up on chatter to the east, and so Captain Soares’ Task Force Razor has stepped up its presence patrol activity in the city of Diwala. There have been several incidents of sniping and Improvised Explosive Devices in the city, though none of the Cuban paratroopers has so far been seriously injured. But that is about to change…
It is now 1430 on 2 July 1990, and calls for assistance have come into Task Force Razor headquarters. The harried voice on the other end of the line stated a South Leon National Police patrol was ambushed, and while the first two vehicles made it out of the kill zone and returned to base, they left the third vehicle, which was disabled, at the ambush site. And it has several National Police officers in it…
Captain Soares immediately rounded up a Quick Reaction Force and headed out the door to rescue the South Leon National Police troops.
Overview, somewhere in Diwala, north is up. Nothing fancy, just a 2′ x 2′ surface with plenty of buildings and walls.I’m playing this out in 15mm using the old school “Ambush Alley” rules, as written. The is the first scenario out of the book, “Contracting Trouble,” a classic of modern wargaming. My intent is to play out all five scenarios in the book in a row, to learn the rules, put them through their paces, and see if I dig’em.
The South Leon National Police (SLNP)’s disabled HMMWV is at center top, on the road. Task Force Razor is at center bottom, straight down the road. There are FLA Insurgents all over the place (atop building at bottom center right, just above that building, atop the building at top center right, at top left, and at far left. The three civilian groups are on the road at left, on the road at far right, and in the plaza at center left.
The khaki-colored poker chips (bottom right, right, behind building at top center right, at let, and at bottom left) are “Insurgent Hot Spots.” In Ambush Alley, at the end of each turn you roll to see if the bad guys get reinforcements. If they do, you roll to see what size the group is and what weapons they have, and lastly you roll to see where they will show up. Each hotspot is numbered 1 through 5, and if a 6 is rolled the bad guys get to pick which hotspot they want to use. Hotspots can be destroyed if they are unoccupied and a Regular unit physically moves onto it and stays there for a turn, doing nothing else.
The mission is for Task Force Razor to move north, recover the SNLP officers, then escort them back south off the table.
*This photo shows the Insurgent groups as they are supposed to be from the book, but before I started the game I reinforced each of the groups with more guys.
**This was my first game, and I made a TON of mistakes!!!
To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/07/south-leon-task-force-razor-fight-1.htmlMore fights coming right up!
V/R,
JackVery good report, I like these new rules you are using. It all seemed to move really fast given the large number of figures in play on the bad guy side. 5 Core seems to work best with games with low numbers of figures on both sides, I think it would have struggled with these numbers. Nice that you can switch between them depending on which best suits the type of game. 🙂
I kept imagining the bad guys running away yelling ‘That’s not how the rules work, I’m out of here!’. But seriously, don’t we all mess up the first couple of games? I suspect you suffered more from the errors than you gained, those ‘RPG’ shots where you counted ties as hits were pretty extreme.
Oh, and make your mind up about the bad guys, Marxists or Islamic Fundamentalists, one or the other. These guys are Marxists, they don’t want to kill Infidels, they want to kill Capitalists.
Nothing beats whacking Capitalist Pigdog Infidels!
Godless Communist Atheistic Marxists just don’t call people Infidels, that’s all I’m saying. They want to kill Imperialist Yankee Capitalists. 🙂
(I’m glad we have a no politics rule here.
)All,
AKA, Ambush Alley in South Leon #2
It is now 1730 on 4 July 1990; two days ago militia members of the Free Leon Army (FLA, the bad guys) ambushed a South Leon National Police (SNLP) patrol. Task Force Razor, a Cuban paratrooper company led by Captain Soares and his trusty sidekick, Lt Hinajosa, moved out smartly, rescuing the SNLP officers, but at a cost of 1 KIA and 4 WIA to themselves. Everyone on the Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force (CLEF) and South Leon government side were shocked; the FLA insurgency had been but a rumor of war for years, with various low-level bombings, assassinations, and sniper fire, but nothing anywhere near the size and ferocity of the attacks on 2 July. And now it was happening again…
Captain Soares was relaxing in the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) when the radios jumped to life. Before he could even discern what was happening, a South Leon Army (SLA) liaison officer burst into the TOC: “Sir, we need your assistance right away!” The stuff was going down again, right here in Diwala. More than 50 FLA insurgents were assaulting the 2nd District SNLP station in eastern Diwala; a SLA quick reaction force (QRF) was dispatched, but then they were ambushed! Task Force Razor is tasked with escorting a three-man sniper team into an overwatch position to deliver precision fires in support of the QRF and the SNLP station. Task Force Razor will deliver he precision fires then fall back; Captain Soares does not want to close with the SLA QRF or the SNLP station during the fight for fear of friendly fire incidents.
As Captain Soares and Task Force Razor mounted up, the SLA liaison officer informed him FLA insurgent activity had been noted in and around the designated sniper position; “to late to change the plan now, looks like we’re fighting our way in boys.”
Overview, somewhere in Diwala, north is up. Nothing fancy, just a 2′ x 2′ surface with plenty of buildings and walls. Task Force Razor is at bottom center, the objective building at top right. The mission is to get the sniper team to the objective building, have them deliver precision fires in support of the SLA QRF and SNLP station, then withdraw back the way they came. The game starts with Insurgent groups at bottom right, top center, far left, and two guys with an RPG on the roof at bottom left. The khaki-colored poker chips are ‘hotspots,’ i.e., locations where Insurgent reinforcements can come on the table. At the end of each turn I will roll to see if the bad guys get reinforcements (the Insurgent Level is 4, not ‘automatic’ like last game), then I roll on a table to see what the bad guy reinforcement group is comprised of, and then I roll to see which hotspot they come in on. If I can get good guys onto a hotspot and sit there for a turn, they ‘kill’ the hotspot, so bad guys can’t come in there anymore, and if the roll an eliminated hotspot, they lose that reinforcement group.I’m playing this out in 15mm using the old school “Ambush Alley” rules, as written. The is the first scenario out of the book, “Contracting Trouble,” a classic of modern wargaming. My intent is to play out all five scenarios in the book in a row, to learn the rules, put them through their paces, and see if I dig’em.
RPG!!! To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/07/south-leon-task-force-razor-fight-2.htmlComing up, it turns out the South Leon Army and South Leon National Police at the police station suffered a lot of casualties. Most of the police and soldiers were required to help evacuate the wounded and dead, leaving precious few men back at the police station. Their morale low from the ferocity of the enemy’s attack and the tremendous casualties, it didn’t take much to push them over the edge, so the minute they felt like they were isolated, abandoned, and left to die, they all decided there were better places to be than the police station.
Not wanting to sacrifice the police station (and the weapons, equipment, comm gear, and ammunition it contained), the South Leon government again reached out to Task Force Razor for help, and once again Captain Soares responded in the affirmative. Task Force Razor had returned to base, dropped off the snipers and track, had its wounded seen to, then loaded up on water and ammo before moving out on foot towards the police station. It was nearly 2230 before they arrived; they immediately set about organizing the defense, then went to 50% to get some rest. Several hours later the sentries began sending in reports of movement at all quarters; the Free Leon Army was about to make a second all-out assault on the SNLP police station.
V/R,
JackAll,
AKA, Ambush Alley in South Leon #3
It is now 0230 on 5 July 1990; two days ago militia members of the Free Leon Army (FLA, the bad guys) ambushed a South Leon National Police (SNLP) patrol. Task Force Razor, a Cuban paratrooper company led by Captain Soares and his trusty sidekick, Lt Hinajosa, moved out smartly, rescuing the SNLP officers, but at a cost of 1 KIA and 4 WIA to themselves. Everyone on the Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force (CLEF) and South Leon government side were shocked; the FLA insurgency had been but a rumor of war for years, with various low-level bombings, assassinations, and sniper fire, but nothing anywhere near the size and ferocity of the attacks on 2 July. And now it was happening again…
Yesterday the FLA attacked an SNLP police station, then ambushed the SLA Quick Reaction Force (QRF) sent to aid them. Task Force Razor was called in to support; Captain Soares and his men were able to save the SNLP and QRF, then return to base, though it cost them: one paratrooper was killed and another seriously wounded. But not long after Task Force Razor returned to base, they received word the few remaining SNLP officers and SLA soldiers had abandoned the police station. Task Force Razor immediately mounted up, humped to the police station, and occupied it.
But it’s 0230 in the morning now, and apparently the FLA is about to make its second assault on the SNLP police station.
Overview, somewhere in Diwala, north is up. Nothing fancy, just a 2′ x 2′ surface with plenty of buildings and walls. The police station, containing all of Task Force Razor, is at center, with bad guys all around. There are three insurgent groups in the west (left), and three in the east (right). The mission is simple: hold the police station (already being referred to as “The Alamo”) for six turns, or, if you think you can’t do that, evacuate your forces off the north edge of the table (top center), though you can’t leave until after Turn 3.I’m playing this out in 15mm using the old school “Ambush Alley” rules, as written. The is the first scenario out of the book, “Contracting Trouble,” a classic of modern wargaming. My intent is to play out all five scenarios in the book in a row, to learn the rules, put them through their paces, and see if I dig’em.
Razor 01 looks on as a suspicious vehicle (red pickup truck) approaches the police station. We’ve finally got some Fog of War cards in action; is this friend or foe? Head on over to the blog to find out:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/07/south-leon-task-force-razor-fight-3.htmlMajor Fulgencio visited the company, and informing the paratroopers they were about to go on the offensive, looking to sweep the Mulan District of Diwala, a particularly troublesome neighborhood. “I’m not going to lie boys, I expect the fighting to be pretty intense, so get your gear ready and get your minds right.”
And with that, Captain Soares sat down with his command group and began planning the assault.
V/R,
JackSorry for the delay, I have my grandson staying for a week and he hogs the laptop to watch You Tube videos and play Roblox. Plus we actually spend time together doing stuff.
Normal service will be resumed on Monday. 🙂
Nice game, I liked the random events particularly. I know you’re playing this cooperatively, but are the bad guys system controlled or do you play that side too? Either way they seemed tougher this time, you were lucky on the casualty recovery or you’d have been struggling even with the tank.
I’m sure I have a copy of the zombie fighting version of these rules (I know, you don’t do that kind of thing), going to have to see if I can find them and try them out.
Oh, and keep the fig leaf, this is a family friendly site.
All,
AKA, Ambush Alley in South Leon #4
It is now 0730 on 8 July 1990, and Task Force Soares is preparing to clear the Mulan District of the city of Diwala, a particularly troublesome neighborhood known for its hostility to the government of South Leon. Earlier this week, militia members of the Free Leon Army (FLA, the bad guys) ambushed a South Leon National Police (SNLP) patrol. Task Force Razor, a Cuban paratrooper company led by Captain Soares and his trusty sidekick, Lt Hinajosa, moved out smartly, rescuing the SNLP officers, but at a cost of 1 KIA and 4 WIA to themselves. Everyone on the Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force (CLEF) and South Leon government side were shocked; the FLA insurgency had been but a rumor of war for years, with various low-level bombings, assassinations, and sniper fire, but nothing anywhere near the size and ferocity of the attacks on 2 July.
The following day the FLA attacked an SNLP police station, then ambushed the SLA Quick Reaction Force (QRF) sent to aid them. Task Force Razor was called in to support; Captain Soares and his men were able to save the SNLP and QRF, then return to base, though it cost them: one paratrooper was killed and another seriously wounded. But not long after Task Force Razor returned to base, they received word the few remaining SNLP officers and SLA soldiers had abandoned the police station.
Task Force Razor immediately mounted up, humped to the police station, and occupied it. Several hours later the insurgents struck in strength, but the paratroopers accounted themselves magnificently. Despite losing another paratrooper KIA and one WIA, the issue was never really in doubt. The Cubans held, and several hours later they were relieved. They returned to base to rest, refit, and prepare an offensive to take the fight to the enemy, looking to root the enemy out of their base in the Mulan District.
Overview, somewhere in Diwala, north is up. Nothing fancy, just a 2′ x 2′ surface with plenty of buildings and walls. Task Force Razor is at bottom center, with Insurgent groups at bottom left, left, top center right, and right, with reinforcement hotpots spread around as well. The mission for the Cuban paratroopers is actually to eliminate three of the hotpots and move off the table at the break between the wall and building at top right.I’m playing this out in 15mm using the old school “Ambush Alley” rules, as written. The is the first scenario out of the book, “Contracting Trouble,” a classic of modern wargaming. My intent is to play out all five scenarios in the book in a row, to learn the rules, put them through their paces, and see if I dig’em.
Razor 02, standing amidst the shattered bodies of its fallen foes, continues kicking ass and taking names. To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/08/south-leon-task-force-razor-fight-4.htmlIt was a helluva fight, and the Cuban paratroopers are looking for retribution!
V/R,
JackAll,
AKA, Ambush Alley in South Leon #5
It is now 0330 on 11 July 1990, and Task Force Soares has again penetrated into the Mulan District of the city of Diwala, a particularly troublesome neighborhood known for its hostility to the government of South Leon. Earlier this week, militia members of the Free Leon Army (FLA, the bad guys) ambushed a South Leon National Police (SNLP) patrol. Task Force Razor, a Cuban paratrooper company led by Captain Soares and his trusty sidekick, Lt Hinajosa, moved out smartly, rescuing the SNLP officers, but at a cost of 1 KIA and 4 WIA to themselves. Everyone on the Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force (CLEF) and South Leon government side were shocked; the FLA insurgency had been but a rumor of war for years, with various low-level bombings, assassinations, and sniper fire, but nothing anywhere near the size and ferocity of the attacks on 2 July.
The following day the FLA attacked an SNLP police station, then ambushed the SLA Quick Reaction Force (QRF) sent to aid them. Task Force Razor was called in to support; Captain Soares and his men were able to save the SNLP and QRF, then return to base, though it cost them: one paratrooper was killed and another seriously wounded. But not long after Task Force Razor returned to base, they received word the few remaining SNLP officers and SLA soldiers had abandoned the police station.
Task Force Razor immediately mounted up, humped to the police station, and occupied it. Several hours later the insurgents struck in strength, but the paratroopers accounted themselves magnificently. Despite losing another paratrooper KIA and one WIA, the issue was never really in doubt. The Cubans held, and several hours later they were relieved. They returned to base to rest, refit, and prepare an offensive to take the fight to the enemy, looking to root the enemy out of their base in the Mulan District. The attack went in on the morning of 8 July 1990, and the Cuban paratroopers literally descended into hell! The enemy initially gave ground, but put up a ferocious defense in the northeastern corner of the neighborhood; one Cuban was killed and five wounded, including the Task Force commander, Captain Soares. Ultimately, the remnants of the assault element pulled back, called for help, then watched as a Cuban F-4 Phantom rolled in and dropped a Mk 83 1000-lb bomb directly on the center of FLA resistance.
Then, bolstered by armor, Task Force Razor again went into the assault, but the airstrike had broken the back of FLA resistance, at least for that day, and the Task Force was able to continue its house to house sweep, capturing a few FLA militants and a significant amount of arms, ammunition, and explosives. And while victory wouldn’t have been possible without air and armor, it’s very difficult to stamp out a homegrown insurgency, and using air and armor meant there was a certain amount of unavoidable “collateral damage,” which only helped fuel said insurgency.
In any case, intelligence sources soon identified the leader of the FLA forces in the Mulan District as “Sheik Khamis,” and identified his whereabouts. Task Force Razor mounted up for an early morning raid, with Lt Hinajosa leading the mission in Captain Soares’ absence. As usual, the first part of the mission went easy: on a pitch black night, Lt Hinojasa and three assault teams calmly walked into the Mulan District and cordoned off Sheik Khamis’ home. Lt Hinajosa and an interpreter simply walked up and knocked on the front door; “You’re making a big mistake.” “Don’t lie to me, we know exactly who you are.”
“I didn’t say I’m not who you think I am. I am simply saying, my young Cuban friend, that you have made a big mistake, coming to my home like this. And now what? Now you will just turn around and walk me out? Good luck.” Lt Hinojasa quickly zip-tied the target, and then formed up Task Force Razor for the exil movement. “L-T, we’ve got a lot of movement out here. A lot, groups in every direction. Looks mostly like civvies, Sir, but there’s a lot of them, and they DO NOT look happy.”
“Roger, Razor 01. Steady boys, it’s time to step off,” and with that, Task Force Razor began escorting its prisoner south out of the area.
Overview, somewhere in Diwala, north is up. Nothing fancy, just a 2′ x 2′ surface with plenty of buildings and walls. Task Force Razor is at top center, the target in hand, mission to move down south down the road and exit the table with him (bottom center). There are three Insurgent groups: far left, top left (hidden by building), and center right; and five civilian mobs: left bottom center, bottom center right, top right, left center top (in the plaza), and top left (between Task Force Razor and an Insurgent group. You can see Insurgent reinforcement “hotspots” at bottom left, left, top left, right, and bottom right.I’m playing this out in 15mm using the old school “Ambush Alley” rules, as written. The is the first scenario out of the book, “Contracting Trouble,” a classic of modern wargaming. My intent is to play out all five scenarios in the book in a row, to learn the rules, put them through their paces, and see if I dig’em.
Razor 03 moving up, escorting the Sheikh and carrying a casualty, but nearing the finish line. To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/08/south-leon-task-force-razor-fight-5.html
Thus ends my five-game mini-campaign using Ambush Alley, and holy crap, that was intense!!! I’m very pleased with the rules; while the games are longer than I generally like, each and every fight forced constant tactical decisions, were extremely tense, seemed pretty realistic to what they’re trying to accomplish, and were a lot of fun. Further, they work well solo (or, actually, tandem with my little boy), and there’s only one little change I think I’ll make (I like the idea of bad guys failing morale = running, rather than simply bumping down a level and seeking cover).
So I can definitely see myself playing more Ambush Alley, and I’ve got plenty more scenario fodder (I bought each and every one of them Ambush Alley mini-campaign books), so stay tuned for more violence on the streets of Diwala!
V/R,
JackThanks for the explanation about South Leon, I was put off as you say by the first three games. Kind of got Vietnam stuck in my head.
I found my copy of Ambush Z today, so I have a goal now, to complete my city and do some near future zombie fighting in it.
(Plus the rules are basically the same, so your game reports will make learning them easier. 🙂 )
Bet Jack never thought Cuba Libre would bring about the Zombie Apocalypse.
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