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All,
It’s 0530 on 29 June 1990 and members of the Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force are on the move in the Balkan state of Cronistria, where the Fall of the Wall has led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia and democrats are fighting communists to determine the future of Cronistria. Cuba sent a small detachment of Special Operations forces to assist the Cronistrian Democratic Movement (CDM) back in April, and since that time the Cuban-backed CDM has made steady progress. Most recently, the CDM pushed into the village of Brezno, several kilometers southwest of the capital of Miran. While the assault ultimately devolved into a stalemate, the fighting proved the CDM had matured into a bona fide force capable of succeeding, and so Cuban leadership decided reinforce the CDM with conventional armored forces. A battalion-sized element consisting of two mechanized infantry companies and a tank company was dispatched to Cronistria, arriving on 20 June 1990.
Nine days later the force, now combined with the Cuban SOF and identified, by the name of its commander, as Task Force Galban, is ready to move. TF Galban is broken down into the SOF element and three mixed battlegroups, each named after its commander. Each battlegroup has a platoon of tanks (actually, wheeled armored vehicles packing a 105mm cannon), two platoons of mechanized infantry (in wheeled armored vehicles), attached heavy weapons (mortars, machine guns, and ATGMs), and reconnaissance elements (in HMMWVs and Scimitars). TF Galban is set to begin Operation Chokehold, wherein the Cubans will skirt Brezno to the northwest, semi-isolating it and Miran, allowing Brezno to be reduced by CDM troops and opening the road to taking the capital.
This operation, which will consist of between eight and sixteen separate fights, is played in 6mm, with troops from GHQ and buildings from JR Minis, using Ivan’s “5Core Company Command” rules.
Overview of map, north is up, the town of Kacak, with its key bridge, at center, and Hill 121 at left.
The opposing forces, with Communists on the left and Cubans on the right. I just realized I don’t have the command stands for either force present…The Cuban force, which consists of the company commander, Lt Aguilera (not pictured), six rifle stands (each is a squad, so two platoons), a Milan ATGM, a HUMMWV with TOW ATGM, and an AMX-10RC. The Communists have six rifle stands (each is a squad, so two platoons’ worth), a T-62, and a command stand (not pictured). The Communists are on the defensive and will begin the game hidden.
Some bad guys look down on barbecued HMMWV. To check out the fight, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2016/11/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-14.htmlI played a total of four fights this weekend for Operation Chokehold. I figured the entire Op would be about six or eight fights, but it’s looking like it will be even more than that, as I hadn’t really planned on getting kicked off a map (SPOILER ALERT!). But I don’t care, I’m having a blast, feels like the old Cuba Libre “War of Liberation,” in which I went for 32 total fights. I figure this Op will last me another two weekends. So stand by for the next three batreps from this weekend.
V/R,
JackAll,
It’s 0700 on 29 June 1990 and Battlegroup Aguilera is re-forming and preparing to make another push into the town of Kacak, where they just received a bloody nose at the hands of the Cronistrian Communist forces. Casualties were substantial, but the Cubans are ready to get back in the fight and take Kacak.
Things are not going so well: Lt Aguilera is watching his right flank crumble, the attack on Kacak is again faltering! He dismounts his command vehicle and leads his HQ section into the fray! To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2016/11/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-15.htmlWell, that’s fight two of four from this weekend, and two of probably a dozen for the entirety of Operation Chokehold. Hope you liked it, and more to follow.
V/R,
JackAll,
It’s 0830 on 29 June 1990 and Battlegroup Caballero has just crossed the line of departure, moving into the attack on TF Galban’s second objective, the town of Premja.
North is up, the village of Brezno is at bottom right, the capital of Miran is off map to the right, directly east of #5 on the map. Each number is a village/town; you can see buildings (black boxes), roads (tan lines), rivers (blue lines), lakes (blue circles), hills (green humps), bridges (gray pairs of lines), and forests (green shaded areas). TF Galban will enter the tactical area of operations in the southwest (bottom left) corner.
1: Brezno
2: Kacak
3: Premja
Overview, north is up. The town of Premja is at center right, part of Lake Bulodna at bottom right, and Hill 103 at top left. Battlegroup Caballero will enter from the southwest (bottom left).
The bad guys spring their ambush, firing an RPG at the Cuban Scimitar. To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2016/11/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-15.htmlWell, fight number 3 of 4 from this weekend is in the books, one more to post, then more games this weekend.
V/R,
JackAll,
It’s 1030 on 29 June 1990 and Battlegroup Caballero, having just been rejected from the town of Premja, is again going over into the attack.
With a HMMWV burning (bottom right) from the earlier fight, the Stryker pushes forward, and the ambush is sprung!
The Cobra rolls in to make a rocket run. To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2016/11/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-17.htmlStay tuned, more games coming this weekend.
V/R,
JackAll,
It’s 1230 on 29 June 1990 and Battlegroup Elias is on the move, crossing the line of departure on its way into the Cronistrian town of Abrvo. The plan of attack is take take the urban area west of the river, consolidate, then infiltrate across the river and attack what is believed to be strong defensive positions atop a nearby hill. After some setbacks early on in the offensive, TF Galban seems to be rolling, and the Colonel is depending on Captain Elias to keep the initiative.
Here’s the board with the troops placed. As usual, I placed the Cubans (bottom left), then I placed one marker and one dummy marker for every enemy rifle squad, and one marker and two dummy markers for the enemy vehicle, then flipped them over and placed the bad guys.
Cuban infantry (top center, top left) push ahead to secure the objective, but the bad guys have excellent fields of fire. That’s a lot of open ground to cover! To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2016/11/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-18.htmlThis is the first of four fights I played this past weekend. Hope you like it, and more to come!
V/R,
JackAll,
It’s 1330 on 29 June 1990 and Battlegroup Elias has just taken the town of Abrvo. However, the Cronistrian Communists have established a defensive line just east of the town and river, anchored on their left by Lake Lagoda and centered on Hill 142. Captain Elias sets about quickly reorganizing his troops for the assault on Hill 142.
Overiew of map, north is up. Abrvo is at left, Lake Lagoda at bottom right, and Hill 142 at top right. Yes, I need to put some flock on the lake…
The Cuban HMMWV (bottom right) dodged an RPG (bottom left), moved up, and launched a TOW at an enemy T-62. To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2016/11/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-19.htmlNext up, Captain Aguilera’s assault on Pisa, Last time Battlegroup Aguilera was up it took them two tries to take the objective… I’m having a great time, lots of linked fights going rather quickly, moving the story along. I hope you guys are having a good time too.
V/R,
JackAll,
It’s 1500 on 29 June 1990 and Battlegroup Aguilera is pushing ahead towards the Cronistrian town of Pisa, at the northern edge of TF Galban’s operational area. Once Pisa is secured the Task Force will swing west to complete the encirclement of the Cronistrian capital city, Miran. Battlegroup Aguilera was the first element off the starting line for Operation Chokehold, kicking off the operation with an enemy assault on the town of Kacak. Lt Aguilera is a bit anxious; his men are ready, but will this be the meatgrinder the battlegroup ran into in the first attack, or will they be victorious, as in the second?
Let’s find out 😉
Overview, north is up. The Cubans will enter from the southwest (bottom left), behind Hill 176, attacking the city, Pisa (top center) and seize its vital road junction. Doing this will:
1) cement TF Galban’s left flank;
2) remove the Dubrovna garrison; and
3) allow TF Galban to move on to its next objective, the town of Stanje.Hill 150 is at top right, beyond Pisa.
The Cobra rolls in on a rocket run. To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2016/11/cuba-libre-cronstria-fight-20.htmlOne more fight to post, this one being Battlegroup Caballero’s completion of the operation, the assault on Stanje to complete the encirclement of the capital city. But don’t worry, that’s not the last fight 😉
V/R,
Jack
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