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Author Topic: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 5.2.2022  (Read 11114 times)

Offline mikedemana

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 7.3.2021
« Reply #60 on: July 05, 2021, 05:12:34 PM »
I am really loving your battle reports, Jim. These make me want to do Vietnam, as well - and I don't have a single fig painted up for that theater!!  :o

Mike Demana
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 7.3.2021
« Reply #61 on: July 05, 2021, 06:20:18 PM »
A cracking good thread! Excellent minis and tables. I particularly like your effects markers. Brilliant narrative to the games. Sounds like you are having great fun.
Home of the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

Offline Paul @ Empress Miniatures

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 7.3.2021
« Reply #62 on: July 07, 2021, 08:06:58 AM »
Brilliant reports  :-*

Offline tomrommel1

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 7.3.2021
« Reply #63 on: July 07, 2021, 09:22:13 AM »
very good report !
In hoc signo vinces

Have a look at www.wargamesgazette.com

Offline warrenpeace

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 7.3.2021
« Reply #64 on: November 28, 2021, 06:31:02 PM »
Very interesting thread!
Sailors have more fun!

Offline Doug ex-em4

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 7.3.2021
« Reply #65 on: December 01, 2021, 02:05:23 PM »
Isn’t it great when you find a well established topic that you’d missed? This one is a great read even though I have no interest in gaming the subject myself, the topic has my interest all the way through. Congratulations on a really interesting and enjoyable read.

Doug

Offline Hammertime

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 7.3.2021
« Reply #66 on: December 09, 2021, 12:46:13 AM »
Thanks everyone!

I have some time off work coming up, I might have to get the board out again and continue the adventures of 3rd platoon!

Offline CPT Shanks

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 7.3.2021
« Reply #67 on: January 22, 2022, 12:50:04 AM »
Outstanding. Looks like a fun set of rules.
"welcome to the world of cascading failure"


Offline Hammertime

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 5.2.2022
« Reply #68 on: May 03, 2022, 01:53:16 AM »
And we are back!

I finally was able to have a real, honest-to-god game with real people in my house since the world got sick! What better way to inaugurate the return to in-person gaming than with another adventure with 3rd Platoon?

3rd Platoon, having secured Objected HAMMER, returned to Firebase Slayer where a whole group of replacements were waiting to be assigned to their squad. Captain Hammertime, seeing how reduced his company has become, also combed out the rear detachment units and scrounged up all the unnecessary cooks and admin clerks and have them ready for assignment as well. (I normally wouldn't expect 13 replacements to show up, but having my dad and cousin over for a game I didn't want them to suffer through a mission with a platoon sitting at 50% strength).

Our new and improved 3rd Platoon roster follows (Replacements are blue, temporary attachments are in green):


We are back to a near-full strength platoon, and all of our wounded have returned. We'll see how long this lasts.

Mission 6
3rd Platoon, Bravo Company will conduct a Search and Destroy mission North East of Firebase Slayer. 3rd Platoon is to engage and destroy any NVA / VC forces found in the area

Our AO:



(The village was finished literally minutes before the game started)

The new and improved(*) 3rd Platoon:

* Not necessarily improved

And our commanders for the mission:
Ben, assuming the role of the PSG and commanding 1st and 2nd Squads, M60 Team A, and "Deuces"
Gerry, assuming the role of the PL and commanding 3rd and 4th Squads, M60 Team B, M60 Team C, and the FO

3rd Platoon deploys in the bottom left corner of the map:


The first few turns see the Americans marching through the rice paddies. Wet, miserable, and covered in leaches.

The relative silence of the jungle is violently interrupted by an NVA mortar round landing the the rice paddy in front of 1st Squad's A Team. Luckily, the round landed short (I fired the mortar before looking at the on-table range of 48''. Oops).


3rd Platoon takes its first casualty as PV2 Aubrey, walking on a paddy dike to avoid getting his feet wet, is hit in the chest by a sniper round and taken out of the fight with a serious wound.


Hoping to avoid his fellow replacement's mistake, PV2 Warren steps only where the veterans in front of him step. Unfortunately, he spots a child's toy in the grass, picks it up, and triggers a booby trap - the subsequent blast kills him, and sends all nearby troops into cover.


The booby trap that killed PV2 Warren must have been a single, as an NVA fireteam opens up on 2nd Squad in the paddy, while an MMG in a log bunker opens up from the village, firing on 1st Squad. Luck is with the Americans as, while seeing a number of near misses, no one is hit.




Reacting as only veteran soldiers can, SGT Miller orders 2nd Squad's A Team up to the dike where they open up an accurate fire on the NVA ambushers, killing 1 and suppressing the fireteam.



While reloading, 2nd Squad's RTO, PFC Sandbach, looks over the dike at the now suppressed NVA. Before SGT Miller can pull the FNG down, a solitary rifle shot echoes out, hitting Sandbach in the side of his head, killing him.


This time the sniper is spotted, and is quickly pinned down by the rest of 2nd Squad.


Deciding there is no point in waiting, the Recoilless Rifle team deploys and opens fire on "Deuces." Luckily, the M48's armor withstands the shot and the crew, while rattled, survives.



Another NVA fireteam opens up on 2nd Squad's A Team, hitting SPC Baldwin in his lower left leg, taking him out of the fight.


Finally finding his location on the map, the platoon leader calls in a mortar fire mission on the NVA Squad that has been engaging in a firefight with 2nd Squad. The mortars are right on target and kill 4 of the NVA infantrymen and suppressing the survivors.


While the mortar fire mission is impacting, a second NVA sniper fires at 3rd Squad, missing, and getting himself spotted and killed in the process.


2nd Squad again fires on the survivors of the NVA squad under mortar fire, kills 1, and causes the survivors to flee into the jungle.


The NVA mortars continue their ineffective fire, dropping a mortar round near 1st Squad's A Team but inflicting no casualties.


While the contact has been mostly on the American right flank, 3rd and 4th Squad have continued their advance on the American Left. Gerry, making a classic Lieutenant mistake, moves 3rd Squad away from cover, and triggers an ambush by an NVA 12.7mm HMG. The huge rounds are accurate, punches PV2 Fuchs off his feet with a massive chest wound, killing him and pinning the rest of the fireteam.




: Oops!

The NVA MMG in the village opens up again on 1st Squad A Team, and hits PFC Wallace in his left shin, taking him out of the fight.


Finally getting into the fight, the Forward Observer (CPL Metzger) calls an artillery barrage on top of the NVA HMG, scoring a direct hit on the bunker and wiping out the gun team.



At this point, my son wandered to the basement GAME ROOM and started pulling tokens for us. His first pull brought in a second NVA MMG and the boy deployed the gun team on the hill across from 3rd and 4th squad, perfectly enfilading the Americans in the open. The boy is a natural guerilla! The MMG opens up on 1st squad's B Team, gunning down Stuart (hit in the left hand) and Gonzales (taking off his left foot).



Not wanting the Americans to get any closer, the entirety of the NVA 2nd Squad deploys into an entrenched position and opens up on 4th Squad's A Team, wounding PFC Erinmore in the abdomen with an AK47 round. (Looks like he won't be sending two LCpls on a wild goose chase across France)




Things are looking pretty grim for 4th Squad, caught in the open with an entrenched NVA squad at belt-buckle range with an MMG bunker on their flank, 3rd Platoon needs a miracle. That miracle comes in the form of an A4-B Skyhawk token pulled at the perfect time:


Luckily, the Skyhawk pilot is talked right onto the target and drops his napalm right on top of the entrenched squad, wiping out an entire fireteam.





Trying to take advantage of the napalm strike, 4th Squad's B Team advances towards the remaining entrenched fireteam in a failed assault that sees SPC Teller killed and PV2 Dallas wounded in the left arm, while the survivors are suppressed.


The Platoon Leader calls in a danger close mortar barrage on the remaining entrenched NVA, killing 2 and suppressing the rest:


Not to be outdone, the NVA mortar drops a round on top of 1st Squad's A Team.


When the dust settles, the entire team is somehow unharmed, though understandably suppressed.

SSG Herod, 1st Squad's squad leader next moves to rally the survivors of his B Team, but fails to move them into the cover of the paddy field. The NVA take this opportunity to drop a mortar round on the group of Americans, killing SSG Herod and inflicting a serious hip wound on SGT Daniels. 1st Squad is hurting!


The US Mortars now take revenge, and drop a perfect fire mission on top of the NVA MMG team in the hilltop bunker and blasts 2 NVA infantrymen out of their foxholes with direct hits. The MMG team is killed in their bunker while the survivors of the NVA 2nd squad retreat into the jungle.



Finally suppressing their panic, "Deuces" clanks towards the village and draws line of sight on the NVA mortar team. A simple gunnery command sees the M48 send a 90mm main gun round into the jungle, vaporizing the NVA mortar team.




The main gun round acts as the single to end the engagement and the surviving NVA break contact and retreat into the jungle.

3rd Platoon suffered 13 casualties on this mission, 3 from the attached 4th squad (2 WIA, 1 KIA), and 10 from the organic platoon (5 WIA, 5 KIA) giving us 6 killed and 7 wounded. Most of the replacements were casualties (honestly, while historical, this was completely random), but a few of our veteran troops were also taken out of action. Some thanks to the brilliant leadership of Gerry.

: Nice job LT.

We receive word on our casualties after returning to Firebase Slayer:

PV2 Aubrey's chest wound is less serious than it appeared and he will be back after the next mission (Light Wounds)

PFC Wallace and PV2 Stuart are both more seriously injured and will miss the next two missions (Moderate Wounds)

SPC Baldwin and PFC Erinmore are both badly injured and will return to the United States, their time in Vietnam is over (Return to the World)

SGT Daniels, suffering his second wound should also be heading back to the States, but died of his wounds on the dustoff (DOW)




Again it is time for some reorganization, with 4th Squad returning to Bravo Company's 2nd platoon, 1st and 2nd Squads consolidating into 1 (large) fire team each, and only 3rd Squad maintaining a 2 fireteam organization. Both M60 teams are back to 2 man teams. Having survived 6 missions, 2LT Shull has been promoted to 1LT and is transferred to a staff position. He's someone else's problem now! We also have some more deserved promotions, with SPC Hodges and SPC Ward pinning on Corporal chevrons as our upcoming team leaders.

: Good riddance!



After 6 missions 3rd platoon has suffered the following casualties (NOT including the attached units)


I'm running out of names for replacements, so if you want to be drafted into 3rd Platoon let me know!









Offline diehard

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 5.2.2022
« Reply #69 on: May 03, 2022, 05:10:43 AM »
That was simply awesome. Nicely painted miniatures, a beautiful table, and those delightful explosion effects. Above and beyond, all the way around. Also liked the way that you presented the AAR and the indepth tracking of all the models with the army rosters. A-1 presentation. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us, very appreciated.
We haul ours to kick theirs.

Offline Sparrow

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 5.2.2022
« Reply #70 on: May 03, 2022, 05:56:58 AM »
Nice !
Put your trust in God and keep your powder dry!

Offline flatpack

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 5.2.2022
« Reply #71 on: May 03, 2022, 06:39:46 AM »
Stunning work.
You’ve put lots of time and effort into this.
Congratulations on some great AAR’s.
Flatpack

Offline Paul @ Empress Miniatures

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 5.2.2022
« Reply #72 on: May 03, 2022, 12:59:30 PM »
FANTASTIC!

Great write up and pictures. Love it  :-* :-*

Offline CapnJim

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 5.2.2022
« Reply #73 on: May 03, 2022, 09:34:53 PM »
Wow!  Now that's how US firepower can work!  An expensive win for the US, though...

Anyhoo, well done! :D :D
"Remember - Incoming Fire Has the Right-of-Way"

Offline mikedemana

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Re: Running Through the Jungle with Hammertime - Updated 5.2.2022
« Reply #74 on: June 04, 2022, 03:10:56 AM »
Every time I read one of your reports, I want to get into this period. Awesome job on the details and effects of this series of games. I always look forward to your reports!

Mike Demana

 

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