All,
It's 0630 on 1 Feb 1990, and B Company, CLA Unconventional Warfare Group (UWG), is in pursuit of an enemy garrison of the 84th Provincial Militia Company, 16th Territorial Infantry Battalion. General Waroldonez is not pleased as this whole gambit almost cost the CLA its strategic surprise for the invasion.
Everyone in the CLA knows of Colonel Huistrella's (commander of the CLA UWG) impatience to get at the Castro regime. The invasion plan called for Col Huistrella's B Company to eliminate an enemy garrison, east of Cienfuegos, in the Escambray Mountains, as part of the UWGs mission to delay enemy forces in the east from attacking the beacheads or linking up with regime-forces in the west. But the UWG was not supposed to begin carrying out its portion of the plan until AFTER the landings occurred, and, indeed, that is what A and C Companies did.
But Colonel Huistrella couldn't restrain himself and could have jeopardized the whole plan. Instead of getting into position surrounding the enemy garrison on 31 Jan 1990, and attacking after the landings occurred on 1 Feb, Huistrella ordered B Company's commander, Captain Galban (son of the 3rd Infantry Battalion's commander) to attack the enemy garrison immediately, and this occurred at 2330 on 31 January 1990, approximately seven hours early.
The attack was near flawless, but only near. The attack by B Company went off, with the CLA force defeating a much larger enemy force on the strength of surprise and violence of action, and all communication equipment was destroyed without the garrison notifying anyone (this was done by Popular Force infiltrators). But an enemy column did escape their base, and so to prevent them notifying anyone of the attack, B Company divided into three groups and pursued the enemy. After seven hours of dogged pursuit in the jungle-covered mountains, the enemy column found itself blocked by a CLA force to the south (off map), with a force in the northwest led by Colonel Huistrella and a force in the northeast led by Captain Galban. The enemy's only option was to stand and fight, though it wasn't much use in the end…
So far we've had:
1) B Squadron SOF destroyed a radar site in support of amphibious landings at Playa Colorada (5). B Sqdn then egressed and linked up with CLA rotary wing assets for their follow-on mission in Havana (6).
2) C Squadron SOF destroyed a the Cuban military's communications center.
3) 1st Para Battalion dropped in and seized a bridge to screen the landings at Playa Colorada (5).
4) 2nd Para battalion dropped in and eliminated a Castro-regime garrison to screen the landings at the Bay of Pigs (just west of (4).
5) 1st Marine Company, 3rd Infantry Battalion, made an amphibious assault at Playa Colorada.
6) A Squadron SOF attacked a Castro-regime SAM site near Havana, which failed to clear the way for B Squadron's helo assault into Havana.
7) 2nd Marine Company, 6th Infantry Battalion, landed at the Bay of Pigs then turned east and ran into a strong enemy force, which it handily defeated.
8) B Company of the UWG pursued and destroyed an enemy garrison in the Escambray Mountains.
The opposing forces, with regime forces on the left and CLA forces on the right. What a mess, using Pendraken Aussies (Vietnam range), VC (Vietnam range), and Vietminh (Indochina range) for the bad guys, and Minifigs Aussies (Vietnam range **What are you going to do now, Shaun, there are Aussies on both sides), Pendraken Brits and Argentinian Special Forces (from the Falklands range), and Minifigs modern US, with a mix of desert, semi-arid, and temperate/jungle basing. Perfect ;)
The CLA have a Command Stand, six SF rifle teams, a Popular Force rifle team, a SMAW, an LMG, a 60mm mortar, and a single figure representing the Group commander, while the regime fugitives have a Command Stand, five rifle teams, and two LMG teams.
Overview, north is up, high in the Escambray Mountains, with no roads, only jungle trails. There is a strong CLA force in the south (down) off map, which has caused the enemy to halt in the south and turn to face their attackers, who are in the northwest (top left, Colonel Huistrella) and northeast (Captain Galban).
No drama here, this is how it ended. The CLA UCW troops were simply too aggressive, and quickly overpowered the Cuban territorial troops. To see the whole thing, please check the blog at:
linkTo be honest, it was too easy. I suppose the CLA troops deserved a break for once, we've certainly had some rough ones, but it's not that fun when it's this easy. To be honest, it's my fault; the scenario just didn't work out as planned. In my mind I saw a desperate flight through the jungle, with CLA forces in hot pursuit, but then the board didn't seem to suit what I was doing and I just rolled with it.
Sorry, not my most stimulating fight, but in a campaign there will be fights like this every now and again. Stick around, I promise you'll like the next one (I still have one more to post from last weekend's games, and I'm looking at getting more in this weekend).
V/R,
Jack
