All,
AKA, the 16th fight of Operation Payback
It's 0950 on 20 July 1990, and the invasion of Avalor, a small Caribbean island-nation near Cuba, upon which Castro-regime holdovers have been organizing, training, and launching attacks on the homeland, is underway. Previously three Reconnaissance and Surveillance teams from 10th Special Forces Group were inserted to support the invasion; one is in position in OP India, but the second team was compromised and extracted, and the third team (Rebel 33) was ambushed and wiped out. Next, 1st Lieutenant Huerta's 18th Grenadier Guards of the 6th Parachute Battalion jumped from C-130s onto three separate Drop Zones (DZs) in the pre-dawn darkness, planning to immediately form up and march on their objectives, the terrorist training areas and barracks on Avalor, manned by terrorist trainees and their Venezuelan and Iranian trainers.
In the last four fights we saw Lt Jaramiho's 1st Platoon successfully seize DZ Crow, Lt Escobedo killed in action while 2nd Platoon was trying, unsuccessfully, to secure DZ Bluebird, and then Lt Reyna's 3rd Platoon successfully seize DZ Albatross. The Company Commander, Lt Huerta, rounded up his paratroopers, formed them up, then linked up with Lt Estevez's ODA 525 for the assault on the objective areas. Then we saw Lt Huerta lead Lt Jaramiho's 1st Platoon and three Special Forces teams from ODA 525 to secure the terrorist training areas on Avalor. This fight sees Major Villanueva leading Unit 101 to capture El Commandante, the Venezuelan Army officer running the training camp which has been preparing and funneling terrorists into Cuba.
Overview, north is up, with bad guys atop the hill at top center left, good guys advancing from the south. There is a small village astride the river (bottom center right), which is fordable anywhere along its length. A gravel road leads from south to north, up the hill to El Commandante's compound. The table is around 3' x 3', using my teddy bear fur mat with towels underneath. Major V's team is at bottom, in skirmish line, spread across the map from left to right, wading through the knee deep river. The bad guys are mostly at top center left, in and around El Commandante's compound, though they do have a couple of sentries on foot patrol in the jungle at center left and far right.
I'm using Ivan's "Five Men at Kursk," modified to give it a bit more of a modern and violent feel, and I'm playing solo.
Major Villanueva takes a shot at a bad guy that's sky-lined himself coming over the crest. To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
linkFollowing the helo evac/pickup, Major Villanueva linked up with the rest of Unit 101 and they set a course and began humping to the terrorist barracks, where they expected to encounter their next High Value Target, the Iranian known as "The Adjutant." Along the way they received word from Rebel 31, friendly Special Forces, that the terrorist barracks was abandoned, but that The Adjutant was holed up in a compound nearby. That was good news for 1st Lt Huerta's beat up company of paratroopers, they wouldn't have to fight to clear the enemy barracks; the terrorist training areas had proven to be quite expensive. Major Villanueva coordinated with Lt Huerta to have his paratroopers isolate the objective; no one in or out of The Adjutant's compound. "We're on our way."
