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  • #57450
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    All,

    AKA, Unit 101’s 1st Fight of Operation Payback (part of Cuba Libre, my alt-history blog where Cuba was liberated by democratic patriots in 1990)

    Following the debacle of Operation Pay-Off, Cuba’s President decided revenge was on the menu, and established Unit 101 to be the instrument of that revenge, wherever it may take them. Working closely with Cuban Intelligence, they’d begun the task of figuring out who was behind the bombings in Cuba, and who had conspired to ambush Cuba’s delegation in Morocco. HUMINT sources pointed to a sheikh in Morocco with ties to certain, nefarious individuals, who might shed some light on the situation.

    Major Villanueva: “Load up, boys, we’re heading back to Morocco.”

    It’s 0300 on 5 July 1990. Unit 101 has entered Morocco, and linked up with Cuban Intelligence on th ground. They shared their source’s information, pinpointing The Sheikh. Major Villanueva decided on a hard hit, going straight at the target.


    Overview of map, north is up, The Sheikh’s compound at bottom right (southeast). Unit 101 will land at top left, assault the compound, capture The Sheikh, then exfil via the road at bottom left, where they will be picked up by helo. The board is 2′ x 2′, buildings by Crescent Root, vehicles by Peter Pig.

    I’m playing these fights using Ivan Sorensen’s rules “Five Men at Kursk,” modified a little to make them a bit more modern and deadly.


    Opposing forces, with bad guys on the left and good guys on the right. On the right is the entirety of Unit 101, though they will not all be participating in this fight. Unit 101 is composed of:
    Commander
    Platoon Sergeant
    Two five-man teams
    1 Sniper team
    1 Machine Gun team
    *Most of the troops are 15mm Khurasan, but the shooters have two Battlefront figures, and the sniper and MG teams are Eureka.

    The bad guys are: infantry from Flytrap Factory (Taliban) and HVT from Rebel Minis.


    The Blackhawk pulls to a hover and the team jumps out. To see how the full batrep, please check the blog at:
    http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/02/operation-dragon-forge-fight-1.html

    Team 2 successfully completed it mission of capturing The Sheikh, ten Tangos down, no serious casualties for the Cubans (very lucky casualty rolls). Now the team has to get him to the extraction point. Which, of course, is the next fight, coming soon.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #57453
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Hurrah for the Cubans !!! But as I recall they got chewed up last time getting out of Dodge !!!

    My West Germans are kicking Commie Butt in my Team Yankee campaign game !!! 3 wins no loses for me so far!!

    #57480
    Avatar photoVictoria Dickson
    Participant

    Nice. 🙂

    But Jack, NO SPOILERS!

    You gave the outcome before I even got to click the link, way to kill the tension. :p

    (OK, technically the line below the link, but you know what I mean.)

    #57493
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    John – Yeah, but that was a recon team in Cronistria that got wiped out, not these guys.  These guys were from “Operation Pay-Off,” where the Cubans were going to bribe some bad guys to stop bombings occurring in Cuba, but ended up getting ambushed.  From this, Unit 101 was created as a tool of revenge.

    And you’ve won three games with the West Germans?  Man, that doesn’t sound like you 😉

    Vicki – Ahhh, yes, I did, didn’t I?  I apologize, I’ll try to pay closer attention.

    I’ve played five of these games now, just gotta get caught up writing the batreps…

    V/R,
    Jack

    #57499
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    I found the sweet spot running West Germans for Team Yankee… So I hope to stomp more Commies in the campaign.

    #57508
    Avatar photoshelldrake
    Participant

    Great batrep.

     

    Did you make the stone walls?

    #57509
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Kyote – Stompin’ Commies, eh?  What the hell happened to you? 😉

    Shelldrake – Thanks man, and negative, those are from JR Miniatures.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #57511
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    I’m learning the Team Yankee rules and quirks , that and the West Germans have better tanks (Leopard 2) than the US does in game terms.

    #57653
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    All,

    AKA, Unit 101’s 2nd Fight of Operation Payback

    It’s 0330 on 5 Jul 1990, and Unit 101’s Team 2 has just captured The Sheikh and is on the way to the HLZ for extraction.  But they run into a little trouble; luckily Major Villanueva figured this might occur and had planned accordingly.  The Platoon Sergeant and Team 3 are standing by on overwatch.


    Overview, north is up.  The HLZ is at right, Team 3 will be in overwatch at bottom center and bottom right, covering Team 2 coming in at top right, while bad guys enter via the road at left.  The objective is simple: Team 2 gets The Sheikh to the HLZ and is extracted.

    I’m playing these fights using Ivan Sorensen’s rules “Five Men at Kursk,” modified a little to make them a bit more modern and deadly.


    The good guys; most of the troops are 15mm Khurasan, but the shooters have two Battlefront figures, and the sniper and MG teams are Eureka.


    The bad guys: ten hostiles (Flytrap Factory Taliban).


    Sniper team on overwatch.


    The machine gun team laying down fire, what?  Uh-oh…  To see how the fight went, and if the extraction went off, please check the blog at:
    http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/02/operation-dragon-forge-fight-2.html

    Next stop, gotta see a guy about a bomb maker in northern Italy.  Next fight, coming right up.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #57654
    Avatar photoVictoria Dickson
    Participant

    Great report,looking forward to the next one. 🙂

    #57658
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    You’re gonna love the next one!

    V/R,
    Jack

    #57691
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Wait..what !!!  No one killed and all the bad guys dead !!!  What happen to all your bad rolls ???

    #57718
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Yeah man.  Part of it is the fact it’s SOF vs rabble, and the other is SOF had the initiative, dictating events and pace.  Generally my casualties come in these games when the bad guys have the initiative, i.e., a close ambush.

    The next one will probably be up on my normal schedule, Monday.  It’s a bit different, with some interesting characters, and it’s pretty funny how it ends.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #57900
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    All,

    AKA, Unit 101’s 3rd Fight of Operation Payback

    It’s 2130 on 7 Jul 1990, and stuff is about to go down for Unit 101, who is now in northern Italy.  Following the raid that captured The Sheikh, Unit 101 extracted him and turned him over to Cuban Intel for interrogation.  The Sheikh gave up the next piece of the puzzle: he wasn’t sure where he was exactly, but the man that made the bomb used against the Cubans in Operation Pay-Off was rumored to be in Italy, and a known associate of his was set to have a meeting with some Albanian mobsters in the northern (fictional) village of Formaggio.  Unit 101 got on the ground and linked up with Cuban Intel on the ground, who linked them up with a local national asset, Victoria Scallapeni.

    Victoria got the Unit moved up north, briefed them up on the local situation and the meeting between the Bomb Maker’s associate, Vito Squirreleone, and the Albanian gangsters.  “It’s happening at 2130 this evening, in the village center,” said Victoria.  Major Villanueva turned to Dozer, Team 1’s leader: “Make it happen.”  “Roger, Boss.”


    Overview, north is up, of the quaint, northern-Italian village of Formaggio.  The Albanians will have plenty of security for the meeting between their boss and Vito Squirreleone, which happens at dead center.  Team 1 is breaking into two elements, one entering from right (east) and one from left (west).  Their mission to capture Vito Squirreleone and exfiltrate him off the map.

    I’m playing these fights using Ivan Sorensen’s rules “Five Men at Kursk,” modified a little to make them a bit more modern and deadly. The buildings and mat are from Crescent Root Studios.


    The bad guys are Eureka 15mm Chechens, while the good guys are Rebel Minis.


    Victoria strolls up (top right, with Dozer and Switch), then pulls her pistol and begins firing wildly!  She shot Vito Squirreleone!!!  He’s still alive though; “Don’t worry boys, I did that on purpose, so he couldn’t run away.”  The Albanian Boss (bottom center left, just below Vito) was also pinned.

    To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
    http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/02/operation-dragon-forge-fight-3.html

    Another fun one, next fight coming up in a couple days.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #57903
    Avatar photoVictoria Dickson
    Participant

    I enjoyed that way too much, diorama quality terrain, fantastic action and well named characters…

    Yeah, pistols, obviously the best weapons available. 🙂

    #57927
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    I so want to play Team Yankee on that terrain !!! Good and deadly fight…great shooting Victoria !!!

    #57950
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Vicki – Yeah, I figured you’d like that one 😉

    John – It’s only 2′ x 2′, don’t know how many tanks you’d want to throw in there!  The fight was fun, probably should have made it a bit smaller, more condensed.  And I’ll have to figure out how I can make Ms Scalleppini a recurring character 😉

    V/R,

    Jack

    #57968
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    I would have hub to hub tanks on a 2 x 2 but it would look so cool !!!!

    #57986
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    As many tanks as you have now in 15mm, I think you’d be hub-to hub on a 12′ x 9′ table!

    V/R,
    Jack

    #57988
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    There is that…

    #58112
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    All,

    AKA, Unit 101’s 4th Fight of Operation Payback

    It’s 0430 on 8 Jul 1990, and Unit 101 is on the way to take down The Bomb Maker.  The raid to capture his associate, Vito Squirreleone, didn’t quite work out as planned, but Cuban Intel was able to exploit personal electronic devices (yeah, I kinda forgot about the fact this is 1990, but whatevah) found on Squirreleone’s body and determine the likely location of The Bomb Maker.  Major Villanueva: “Well, Dozer, you found him, now lets’ go get him.”


    Overview, north is up.  The Bomb Maker owns a garage on the outskirts of Formaggio.  The compound is at top center, while Major Villanueva and Team 1 enter from bottom left.  Their mission is to kill or capture The Bomb Maker.

    I’m playing these fights using Ivan Sorensen’s rules “Five Men at Kursk,” modified a little to make them a bit more modern and deadly.


    Opposing forces, with bad guys on the left and good guys on the right.  On the right is the entirety of Unit 101, though they will not all be participating in this fight.
    *Most of the troops are 15mm Khurasan, but the shooters have two Battlefront figures, and the sniper and MG teams are Eureka.  The bad guys are Eureka Chechens.


    Bad guy cowering in the chicken coop.  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
    http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/02/operation-dragon-forge-fight-4.html

    That drops the curtains on northern Italy, now it’s off to Lebanon for the Unit, which is growing ever closer to figuring out exactly who was behind the ambush in Morocco (Operation Pay-Off).  Stay tuned for more batreps.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #58143
    Avatar photoVictoria Dickson
    Participant

    Thanks for another great report. 🙂

    Things seems to be going really smoothly in recent missions, is this the result of better than usual dice or is it what we should be seeing as ‘average’ performance for these elite troops?

    #58149
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Love the chicken coop, but miss the grass mat !!!

    #58180
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Thanks guys!

    Vicki – yeah, I’ve really stepped up the differences between elite troops and rabble militia.  The next two (and maybe more?) are actually using different rules (Ben Lacy’s “SOF Warrior”), which are actually designed for that particular scenario.

    John – Can’t use the grass Mat for everything man! I’ll get back to it ASAP, either USMC in Vietnam, or Capt Moon and the boys in Dutch East Indies.

    V/R,

    Jack

    #58185
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    I like Capt Moon in the Dutch East Indies and Japanese paratroopers…cause Japanese paratroopers !!!

    #58266
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    All,

    AKA, Unit 101’s 5th Fight of Operation Payback

    It’s 0315 on 11 Jul 1990, and Unit 101 is in Lebanon, closing in on The Mayor in the village of Jezabyl. The village is very small, and inhabited only by people that are well armed and loyal to The Mayor, and the tactical problem is that the platoon needs to take The Mayor alive. They’re plan is simple and straightforward: Team 1 will bust the door down (this fight), and then Team 2 will dart through and grab the target (next batrep, at least assuming this works). Meanwhile, the sniper and MG teams will be to the southwest, in position to isolate the enemy compound (keep reinforcements from getting in) and prevent escape (keep the target from getting out).


    Overview of the table, north is right. You see a shallow stream running north-south, with an orchard at top right (northwest), several walled compounds, and a few crop fields. I’m playing this solo, using Ben Lacy’s skirmish rules “Final Combat.” These are super detailed, and you know I’m simple, so I’m using the activation system as written, and I’m using the movement, spotting, morale, casualty determination, and firing pretty much as written, though simplified just a hair. This game was fun, and didn’t take as long as I thought it would, but was still longer than I generally am looking for. I really like the activation system, so I’ll probably work to make shooting, spotting, morale, and casualty determination. Oh, and I didn’t really mess with postures too much, everyone just kept moving forward. Part of that was I don’t have figures to reflect the different postures (standing, kneeling, and prone) and I didn’t really want to use more markers for it, though I’m considering getting some more Peter Pig US Marines so I can do this. The only problem is, I can’t find suitable bad guys where I can do the same thing (no one makes modern prone bad guys!).


    The Cuban entry team, from left: Tank (TQ 4), Rung (TQ 3), Dozer (TQ 4), Switch (TQ 3), Rake (TQ 5), and Cypher (TQ 4). The bad guys have two leaders that are TQ3, the rest are TQ2 rabble.


    In the still of the night, the Cuban Special Forces soldiers creep forward up the creek. To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
    http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/02/operation-dragon-forge-fight-5.html

    The rules worked out great. The game was kinda long, but that’s true anytime you play a set of rules for the first time, and there are a lot of modifiers to look up (firing, spotting, morale, hit location, figuring out impact). And I couldn’t find my D20, so I was rolling two D10s, which I like better anyway (I always hate rolling only one dice, just a personal hangup). In any case, the next fight will be using the same rules, the same way, then I’ll look at changing things up if I think I need to. Hope you liked it, I certainly did!

    V/R,
    Jack

    #58294
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Looks like you had fun with the new rules, but why pick on that poor goat ???

    #58302
    Avatar photoVictoria Dickson
    Participant
    #58345
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    John – Yeah man, the rules were cool, and stop whining, the goat’s fine 😉

    Thanks Vicki.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #58346
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    You know, I should have flocked the Goat’s base before I sent it to you… What’s up next ??

    #58351
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Two more of these to close out Dragon Forge.

    Then, I’m not sure.  I’ve got several things on my mind right now:

    1) Finishing up KG Klink in France.  Kind of stalled out on this, but I want to get to bigger battles in North Africa, probably in 3mm
    2) Back to USMC in WWII for Dutch East Indies
    3) Back to ‘All Americans’ (where it all started!) for the jump into Normandy
    4) I’ve been working on a big, cool, modern 6mm project, almost done.  Would use it for Cuba Libre in Cronistria.
    5) Back to USMC on the DMZ in Vietnam, err, Cuba Libre on the border in South Leon.
    6) Starting the big war I have in mind (like the Big Force On Force Blog here: https://bigfof.blogspot.com/ ) , a bunch of crazy-ass big fights in 15mm, with Cuba Libre in South Leon (further south than the Cuban Marines up on the border)
    7) Finish up my Operation Jupiter fights in 3mm
    8) Start my WWII USMC air campaign, a fighter squadron of Wildcats vs the Japanese
    9) More SOF fights like Dragon Forge, continuing Operation Pay-Back (of which Dragon Forge is just a part)

    I dunno, to many projects, I wish I was more disciplined.  I still have 10mm Napoleonics and 10mm Colonials to paint, and I’m probably about to get a bunch more 15mm stuff…

    V/R,
    Jack

    #58356
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    I like 2 and 8 but understand if you do something else, you are a butterfly !!!

    #58370
    Avatar photoRod Robertson
    Participant

    Jack:

    Holy Crap! I thought by the thread’s title that this was some sort of fantasy or RPG thread and not a Just Jack production! I just accidentally clicked on it and saw it was one of yours and that I am way behind (as usual!). Well, I’ll read it as soon as possible and see what’s what.

    Cheers and good gaming.

    A surprised Rod Robertson

    #58380
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Well, how ’bout dat? 😉

    V/R,
    Jack

    #58382
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Oops….. Hey Rod !!!

    #58410
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    All,

    AKA, Unit 101’s 6th Fight of Operation Payback

    It’s 0325 on 11 Jul 1990, and Unit 101 is in Lebanon, closing in on The Mayor in the village of Jezabyl.  The village is very small, and inhabited only by people that are well armed and loyal to The Mayor, and the tactical problem is that the platoon needs to take The Mayor alive.  Team 1 has busted down the door, and now it’s time for Team 2 to rush in and grab the target.  The sniper and MG teams are to the southwest, in position to isolate the enemy compound (keep reinforcements from getting in) and prevent escape (keep the target from getting out).


    Overview, north is up.  The Cubans will enter the table from the east, via the lane between the crop field at top right and the wall/buildings below it.  The rest of the village, with the creek, is off camera to top right; that was the ingress where Team 1 fought the previous battle, and Team 2 has passed through them and is moving into The Mayor’s compound.  They don’t know which building The Mayor is in; the enemy has two squad leaders.  Once the fight begins, one of the squad leaders will move to The Mayor and attempt to evacuate him, while the other squad leader organizes a delaying action.  When it’s time have a bad guy squad leader move to the mayor, I’ll roll a dice to see which building he’s in, and the squad leader will have to move there, grab him, then lead The Mayor off the map.  The Cubans, of course, are trying to catch The Mayor alive.

    I’m playing this solo, using Ben Lacy’s skirmish rules “Final Combat.”  These are super detailed, and you know I’m simple, so I’m using the activation system as written, and I’m using the movement, spotting, morale, casualty determination, and firing pretty much as written, though simplified just a hair.  This game was fun, and didn’t take as long as I thought it would, but was still longer than I generally am looking for.  I really like the activation system, so I’ll probably work to make shooting, spotting, morale, and casualty determination a little more simplified (keep the concepts, re-work to D100, which is really just a personal preference).  Oh, and I didn’t really mess with postures too much, everyone just kept moving forward.  Part of that was I don’t have figures to reflect the different postures (standing, kneeling, and prone) and I didn’t really want to use more markers for it, though I’m considering getting some more Peter Pig US Marines so I can do this.  The only problem is, I can’t find suitable bad guys where I can do the same thing (no one makes modern prone bad guys!).


    The Cuban entry team, from left: Trinity (TQ 4), Ratchet (TQ 3), Mouse (TQ 4), Link (TQ 4), and the boss, Major Villanueva (TQ 5).  These are Khurasan 15mm Private Military Contractors.


    Trinity (bottom center) lays down covering fire with his Mk48 machine gun (scaring the hell out of the goat), while Major Villanueva (center right) dashes ahead, closing the distance to capture The Mayor (in building partly visible at top left).  To see the how the fight went, please check the blog at:
    http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/02/operation-dragon-forge-fight-6.html

    The fight was fun, and tense, though it’s still taking me a long time, about two and a half hours.  I’m pretty comfortable with the flow now, though I’ve gotten away from looking up the firing and spotting modifiers each time and just kind of laying odds (percentages) and rolling under on 2D10 to see if it worked or not.

    It doesn’t really matter for the game I guess, but it’s kind of fun knowing where rounds hit a guy.  Actually, it does matter when the target is obscured by cover that can stop a round, and for body armor, but in the overall scheme of things you’re really looking to see how much damage the round(s) did to the guy.  That is, he can be hit in the hand, but bad enough that it puts him out of the fight.

    I believe I’m going to handle wounded in the future the way I did the Cubans here, which is just throw down casualty figures, rather than track a bunch of wounded guys crawling to get off the map.  And don’t misunderstand, that’s only for the guys wounded so bad they can’t continue the fight; there will still be guys that get hit but remain in the fight.

    It’s pretty cool having a few guys take on so many bad guys and 1) having a tense game, 2) a chance to win, 3) without it just seeming like a die-rolling exercise.  I did use the term ‘TQ5 superhero’ in my writeup, but I just meant that in terms of Major V being an incredibly highly trained and highly experienced operator, not that the rules made him untouchable.  Though you do need to make sure you don’t have too many TQ5s, unless you have two guys and a hundred bad guys.  Like “Strike Back” 😉

    V/R,
    Jack

    #58417
    Avatar photoVictoria Dickson
    Participant

    The new rules you are using seem to be working out really well, be interesting to see how it goes if they come up against higher quality opposition (TQ3 with TQ4 leaders?).

    #58429
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    A good fight !! Thanks Jack !!

    #58453
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Ahh, sorry for the delay, real life and all…

    Vicki – Interesting???  Then you do it with your troops, I’m not trying to get all mine whacked!!! 😉  I’m having a hard enough time as it is…
    I’m sure it will happen at some point, but on more equal terms with regards to number of men in the fight.

    John – No sweat.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #59911
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    All,

    AKA, Unit 101’s 7th Fight of Operation Payback

    It’s 1025 on 14 Jul 1990, and Unit 101 is heading into action outside Langkawi, Malaysia.  Following the successful raid in Lebanon which captured “The Mayor,” intelligence information was discovered leading the team to its next target: “The Persian” is a Shiite Muslim born of Iranian parents in Lebanon in the mid-1960s, true name Ali bin-Schwammy-Roksamshammy (we’ll stick with “The Persian”), and he’s rumored to have details regarding the brokers of the ambush in Algeria.  The Israelis were very helpful in assisting with logistics for the Unit to get to Langkawi in a speedy and clandestine manner.

    The Cubans are working bilaterally with the Malaysians (this was actually Ivan’s suggestion, so if it doesn’t work…), and the troops are crossing the line of departure.


    Overview of the battlefield, north is up.  The southern end of The Persian’s compound is at top center and top left (his house is off camera to top left about another 250m); the Malaysians and Cubans will enter the table in the southeast (bottom right).  They are mounted, so they will move west (left) to the bridge, cross, then fan out and clear this portion of the compound before re-mounting and moving on the north end of the compound (which will be the next batrep).

    The table is 4′ x 4′ on a new mat I bought, played out solo in 15mm using Ivan’s “5Core Company Command” rules, though with “Five Men at Kursk”-style activation (each team and vehicle gets an activation dice, each team and vehicle can act and react once per turn).


    The opposing forces, resplendent in 15mm.  The M-113s are Old Glory, the Land Rover and Technical are Peter Pig, the bad guy infantry is Peter Pig, and the good guy infantry is Flashpoint Minis.


    “Contact, RPG at 3 o’clock!!!”  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
    http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2017/03/operation-dragon-forge-fight-7.html

    I played a total of three games this past weekend, I’m working on getting the other two written up.

    V/R,
    Jack

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