CapnJim's Modern Stuff - Balczaki-Soviet Bridge Fight Full AAR - Pg 54-10 Aug 25

[CapnJim]

And here are some photo-recon shots of the bridge area 2nd Platoon will be defending.   As you can see, it's just a bit more rural, as the River DoHali curves away from Bangerizi a bit.

Of course, CPT Brittle will write up his AAR afterwards...

[mikedemana]

Hopefully, this group of rangers won't suffer a similar fate as their buddies in the other platoon. "Don't be like Orlando Bloom..." 

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

Thanks, Mike.  Let's just say that 1st Platoon was less experienced (relatively speaking) platoon.  It'll be interesting to see how 2nd Platoon does, as I spiffed them up a bit, effectively making them D11s in firing and rallying.  They shrug off Shock when firing, too.  and I de-spiffed the Gambolan "regulars", effectively making them D9s to fire.

Tee-time is 1100 hrs. Friday.  Let's see of 2nd Platoon can make par...

[has.been]

Tee-time is 1100 hrs. Friday. 

You had my interest for a second, then I realized you hadn't just misspelt, 'Tea' 

[CapnJim]

You had my interest for a second, then I realized you hadn't just misspelt, 'Tea' 

yes, well, I'm not much of a tea fan.     That's my wife's department.  I'm a coffee drinker myself.  And I do play a game that, in some respects, resembles golf...

[CapnJim]

As CPT Brittle, and LTC Kurts, checked out his 3rd Platoon's position after their rescue of his 1st platoon's remnants, his RTO called from his Humvee.  "Captain, LT Daniel is on the horn.  They're in contact."  "Shit", said Brittle.  "They're hitting the National Road bridge too."  CPT Brittle trotted over to the Humvee, and took the headset from his RTO.  "White 6, Black 6, send it, over."  "Black 6, White 6.  Contact Report.  Enemy company-size element with infantry in trucks and on foot, and a tank approaching BP Manhattan, vicinity Grid 285604.  Moving east, over."  "Roger, White 6.  Hold that position.  Do not, I say again, do not let them through your position."  "Black 6, White 6, Roger.".  "Black 6 out", said Brittle, and handed the headset back to the RTO.  "Did you catch that, Sir?", he asked Kurts.  "Yup.  You want a platoon from battalion reserve to head up there?"  "Yes, sir.  Maybe some teams from the AT platoon, too, just in case."  Kurts: "Yup. Done", and LTC Kurts headed to his Humvee to give the necessary FRAGOs.

Just then CPT Brittle heard LT Daniel's call for fire to the company mortars....   

Yep - you guessed it.  We (Ted and I) played 2nd Platoon's defense of the National Road Bridge in Northern Gambola today (Friday).  He opted to play the Gambolans again, so I played the Rangers again.  Let's just say that this game bore little resemblance to 1st Platoon's action at the Highway 17 Bridge.

The actual AAR should go up tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday...

[has.been]

looking forward to reading that.
Oh, & looking at the pretty pictures.

[mikedemana]

A classic Ted vs. Jim matchup! 

I'm ready to read about Ted's bungled die rolls and Capn Jim's cleverness...ha, ha! Seriously, looking forward to the report.

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

Thanks, Gents!

I'll begin with the US starting positions.  As you may recall, they could start out hidden and with prepared fighting positions, and they did both.  But they did not occupy all their prepared fighting positions - some were left as secondary positions, or as decoys.  They also used a couple for road obstacles.  I decided not to occupy the upper roofs of buildings, as they might prove a tempting target for the main gun of that T55. 

I started the Rangers out with the Platoon Sergeant and 2nd Squad in the rocks north of the road, just east of the bridge.  I put the 2 Anti-Armor Teams in the weeds along the river bank, one each on either side of the bridge.  The Sniper Team was on the balcony of the house within the big compound.  And the Platoon Leader, along with 1st and 3rd squad, was positioned in the courtyard, with easy access to the 2 gates, so they could quickly act once their ambush was triggered.   The pic below shows the US starting line-up...

[CapnJim]

And now, on with the actual AAR....again, this was a 28mm fight, and we used the Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles rules.

To:  Commander, 1/75 Inf Rgt (Ranger)
From:  A Co, 1/75 Inf Rgt (Ranger)

Subject:  After Action Report:  Action of 23 February 1993, Bangerizi, Northern Gambola.

On 23 Feb 93, A Co, 1/75 Inf Rgt received the mission of defending 2 bridges over the River DoHali at the western edge of Bangerizi, in the People's Republic of Northern Gambola (PRoNG).  The purpose of the mission was to delay or halt the advance of PRoNG forces as they attempted to advance toward the airport in Bangerizi where Foreign Nation armed forces, including those of the United states, were evacuating their nationals from the country.  I tasked 1st Platoon with defending the Highway 17 bridge and 2nd platoon with defending the National Road bridge.  I held 3rd Platoon as the company reserve.  I have already provided the AAR for 1st Platoon under separate cover.  This AAR focuses on the actions of 2nd Platoon.

The Gambolan force that attempted to attack 2nd Platoon across the National Road Bridge consisted of a motorized infantry platoon in trucks, a lone T-55 tank, a small platoon of Gambolan Militia, and 2 Gambolan Militia technicals.  I had assigned 2nd Platoon priority of fires for the Company's 60mm Mortar Section.

The Gambolans attacked, using their vehicles led by the tank to cross the road bridge, while the Militia on foot attempted to cross the footbridge south of the road bridge.  As the Militia clustered to begin to cross the narrow bridge, 2nd Plt Ldr LT Daniel called in very accurate mortar fire on their position, using the sniper team as spotters, effectively removing them from the battle.

The Gambolans led their main effort across the bridge with their tank, followed by their infantry in trucks, followed by their Militia technicals.  One of the technicals passed the tank and trucks, only to get stuck on a dirt berm 2nd Platoon had built across the road.  Then, 2nd Platoon's 2nd squad opened fire on that technical from their position in the rocks above the bridge, KIA'ing both crew in that technical.

The enemy T55 tank began firing ineffectually at suspected 2nd platoon positions.  After 2nd Squad knocked out the 1st Gambolan technical, the 2 Anti-armor teams fired at the T55, knocking it out.  The 2nd Gambolan technical attempted to pass the knocked out tank, coming under 2nd Squad's fire, killing its driver.  One of the Anti-Armor Teams then destroyed the 2nd technical.  The destroyed tank and 2 technicals now effectively blocked the bridge.

2nd Platoon's only casualty occurred at this point.  A Gambolan RPG team fired at the Anti-Armor Team just south of the bridge, barely missing them but knocked the Team's loader out for a few minutes.  PFC Garibaldi has a concussion, but will be back in service in a few days. 

The final part of 2nd Platoon's action came at this point.  With the bridge effectively blocked, the Gambolan infantry dismounted their trucks, presumably to renew their attack.  They didn't get the chance.  SFC Smothers called in more accurate fire from the Company 60mm mortars as the Gambolans dismounted, KIA'ing and WIA'ing several, and destroying a troop truck.  This fire mission broke the Gambolans' will to continue the attack, and their remnants retreated back west to the other side of the River DoHali. 

Casualties for 2nd platoon's action include 1 WIA for the 2nd Platoon.  Casualties for the Gambolans in 2nd Platoon's action are estimated at 15 Gambolan Regulars, 12 Militia, 1 T55 tank. 2 technicals, and 1 3-ton truck.

This concludes the After-Action Report for 23 Feb 93.

John R. Brittle
CPT, Inf, Commander

As much as 1st platoon's fight was a bloody affair for both sides, this one was a bit one-sided.  Yes, I made a few tweaks to unit stats, but let me tell you what - and we all already know this - mortars on bunched-up troops sure ain't pretty.  We think 3 things made the difference in 2nd Platoon's action:

1.  Accurate, timely mortar fire.  It came when LT Daniel really needed it, it hit on target, and it was deadly (apparently, Mulligan wasn't running the mortars here....    ).  When the Gambolan Militia bunched up to dash across the foot bridge to try to flank the Rangers, they got hosed by mortars.  Same for when the Gambolans dismounted their trucks.  They were bunched up, and paid for it.

2.  Luck.  I got the right cards and die rolls at the right time when it counted.  But I'm OK with luck.  In my view, lucky is just as good as good....

3.  This time, the Anti-Armor Teams did their job.  They killed that T55 with their first shots, taking it's big damn gun out of the fight.... 

We only got 5 turns in before the Gambolans bugged out.  Took about an hour and change to play...

Hope y'all enjoyed these dispatches from the Peoples' Republic of Northern Gambola.  I plan to paint up more modern figures here for a while, so we can play more games from Gambola (and Balszakistan)...of course,, I'll post progress all along them way....

   

[has.been]

Thanks for another thrilling AAR. Keep up the good work.

[CapnJim]

Thanks for another thrilling AAR. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, has.been.  I'll keep at it!

[Belgian]

Another great game, love everything!

The awesome miniatures, nice scenery and after action report

[mikedemana]

Wow, that was indeed one-sided! 

What was the mechanism you used to call in the mortar fire? Could you do it on any card for the U.S. side? Was it automatically available? Just curious...

Sounds fun...for you -- not so much for Ted! 
Mike Demana

[AKULA]

Another GREAT AAR