All,
It's 1930 on 5 Feb 1990, and troopers of the CLA's B Company, the Unconventional Warfare Group, are on the move just east of the town of Bayamo, in search of a renegade regime General and his two fanatical sons.
Immediately prior to and immediately following C Squadron's successful capture of El Presidente, CLA Intelligence came upon information from multiple sources which explained that the enemy's plan was for General Guapos, near Bayamo and with a bodyguard of Venezuelan paratroopers (they couldn't be sure who the CLA had co-opted) planned on continuing the war, and resorting to an insurgency if circumstances dictated.
Generalissimo Waraldonez immediately called a staff meeting to determine the CLA's best course of action. The Commanding General turned once again to Colonel Quilveras, commander of the CLA's Special Operations Forces, and ordered him to prepare another Direct Action Team to carry out a decapitation strike, to end the war once and for all. Colonel Huistrella, commander of the CLA's Unconventional Warfare Group, catching wind of this, arrived at Generalissimo Waraldonez' Command Post and lobbied to have the mission directed to the UCW. "Hector," said Waraldonez, addressing Colonel Huistrella, "you know this is a job for the Direct Action shooters." "Sir, after all the UCW has been through, all we've done for you and this army. We bled white in the Escambray to hold the line, keep your flank secure so that you could secure this victory. Let us finish this."
After much politicking, made possible by Huistrella's 'moles' in the Commanding General's Command Post, and by his arrival by helicopter at said Command Post, Waraldonez awarded the mission to B Company, UCW. Of course, Colonel Huistrella would personally lead the assault. Colonel Quilveras rolled his eyes and muttered a curse under his breath…
The opposing forces, with CLA on the right and regime forces on the left. The CLA force is comprised of Battlefront's Vietnam-era SEALs, while the regime force has the same Peter Pig troops as last game. General Guapos and his sons are from rebel Minis' "armed assassins" pack. And I just noticed that, in my haste to get the troops ready, I forgot to put a blackwash on the bases of the General and his sons. I'm also going to have to re-do the basing of the Peter Pig troops; usually I paint the pennies, let it dry, then put grass on them. Being in a hurry I skipped the 'paint the pennies' stage and just grassed them; you'll see in some of the photos that the pennies' bronze is showing through the grass on quite a few of the bases…
So I'm once again using 15mm and Five Men in Normandy. But these are not CLA Direct Action shooters, so both forces are being treated as 'ordinary' soldiers as per the rules. The only mod is that two of the CLA troops have M-14s, so I'm using them as Designated Marksmen. I've doubled their firing dice, and allow them to hit multiple targets.
The CLA force: 12 troopers, two with M-79 grenade launchers and two with M-14s. Several troopers are carrying LAWs, but I forgot about that and never used them… The two men at front right are Colonel Huistrella and Captain Galban.
The enemy: there are ten Venezuelan paratroopers, one with RPG and one with LMG, General Guapos, and his two sons.
Overview, north is up. General Guapos has made his Command Post in a bombed out farmhouse (top left). He, his sons, and a few Venezuelans are there, while the rest of the Venezuelans are spread across the top of the board. The CLA is spread across the bottom of the table; Colonel Huistrella has half the men on the left, while Captain Galban has the other half on the right.
The farmhouse is at top left, the barn at top center, the pig sty at top right, Hacienda 1 at bottom right, Hacienda 2 at bottom center, and the stables at far left.
One of the Designated Marksmen is in position and takes a shot at General Guapos. To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
linkWell folks, that's it! The War of Liberation is finished and we won! I'm looking to step away from Cuba Libre with another campaign, which I'm looking to start as soon as possible. I was hoping this weekend, but real life has conspired to slow me down. But it's coming, so stay tuned, and I'll be returning for more Cuba Libre action in the near future.
V/R,
Jack
