As US and Iraqi Security Forces begin the
'Surge' and push off of large bases into numerous mutually supporting and
smaller Combat Outposts (COPs) and Joint Security Stations (JSSs),
insurgents aren't willingly ceding control. US troops often referred to their outposts as 'the Alamo' because of their isolation from other units, and at least one outpost was officially named JSS Alamo.
In this scenario, US Army soldiers and Iraqi Police (IPs) at a new JSS established in an old schoolhouse have been reduced to a skeleton crew as the bulk of the platoon reinforces another post under attack. The other attack, however, was just a diversion. Insurgents moved unnoticed to buildings around JSS Alamo, and launched a surprise attack commencing with a suicide vest detonating at the compound's front gate. Three troopers are down - two US and one Iraqi - at the site of the suicide attack, and less than a squad of US troops, backed only by demoralized Iraqi recruits, can rush into the exposed courtyard to save them. Surrounded and outnumbered, and with casualties mounting, can the defenders hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive?
In this scenario, US Army soldiers and Iraqi Police (IPs) at a new JSS established in an old schoolhouse have been reduced to a skeleton crew as the bulk of the platoon reinforces another post under attack. The other attack, however, was just a diversion. Insurgents moved unnoticed to buildings around JSS Alamo, and launched a surprise attack commencing with a suicide vest detonating at the compound's front gate. Three troopers are down - two US and one Iraqi - at the site of the suicide attack, and less than a squad of US troops, backed only by demoralized Iraqi recruits, can rush into the exposed courtyard to save them. Surrounded and outnumbered, and with casualties mounting, can the defenders hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive?
Layout of JSS Alamo. The three casualties out in the courtyard must be rescued and given aid by troops in either the Command Post (CP) or the Bunkhouse, the barracks for troops in the JSS. |
Layout of the board from behind JSS Alamo. Enemy assault cells labeled, surrounding the US soldiers and IPs. Probably the best-looking game I've ever put on. |
Insurgent Commander's viewpoint from the mosque rooftop. He's got numbers on his side, but his troops aren't as well-trained as the Americans. |
View from Cell 3's position. |
View from Cell 2's viewpoint. |
The insurgents had other plans, having blocked one of the two main roads to JSS Alamo with a burning truck. Three blocking cells (all TQ d6/Morale d10) also hoped to isolate JSS Alamo from reinforcements long enough to seize the compound and kill all inside. The insurgents had some potentially inaccurate mortar fire support that the insurgent commander, located in the HQ Cell, could call on. In the event of artillery fratricide, however, an insurgent force-wide morale check would result.
Steve played the US, and I played the insurgents. He had initiative throughout. Here's how it went:
Turn 1:
Steve chose not to use his US leaders to activate the Iraqis, instead letting them roll to activate themselves. The IPs in the CP failed to activate, but those on the roof of the Bunkhouse succeeded and exchanged fire with Insurgent Cell 1. The IPs inflicted one casualty on the insurgents and took two themselves; insurgent morale held but the IPs did not - they were pinned. Insurgent Cell 2 won an opposed initiative roll and inflicted two casualties on the US fire team on the roof of the Bunkhouse, while US return fire inflicted one insurgent casualty. Morale held on both sides.
Results of the vicious firefight between US and Iraqi troops on the roof of the Bunkhouse and Cells 1 and 2. |
The US M240 crew unleashes a long burst of hate on Cell 3. |
Contact! One o'clock! |
Umm... better find another way around. Driver! Right turn! |
Much better! Pick up the pace! |
Aggressive rapid move by insurgents to get into the gate of JSS Alamo. After all, 'who dares wins.' Nice motto, but would it work? |
Turn 2:
First aid for the US forces produced two KIA at the Bunkhouse - one US, one Iraqi. The insurgents only received two reinforcement fighters, and the two sides continued to exchange fire around JSS Alamo. As the US fire team in the CP won an opposed initiative roll and ran across the courtyard to cover behind the outer wall before insurgents with line of sight could fire, the insurgents drew a Fog of War Card. Here's the relevant text:
WAIT, THE COLONEL SAID WHAT?!
Radio communications is on the fritz and your force has just received garbled orders that contradict the mission brief...With that, the insurgent rush into the compound would wait, with the insurgent HQ exposed and in the street, for the duration of the time it would take the US reinforcements to arrive. This wasn't good news for the insurgents.
If the scenario doesn’t allow initiative to change hands, your units must remain in place until the end of the next turn while orders are sorted out. Your units may move into cover if they are not already there but no other movement is allowed. Your units may fire as normal.
This card is played immediately.
Meanwhile, US reinforcements continued to advance and inflicted another 4 casualties on the insurgent blocking positions with heavy machine gun fire. |
...then the insurgent artillery landed...
...on Insurgent Cell 3, killing one insurgent and causing a force-wide morale check. While all elements passed their checks, shrinkage rolls took both the insurgent force commander (Shame? Embarassment? Fragging? We'll never know.) and the RPG gunner in the exposed HQ Cell off the board. This left the highest quality insurgents exposed with little hope of taking down one of the Uparmored HMMWVs that were bearing down on them next round. Three other insurgents also decided it would be a good time to find something else to do and took off running.
Turn 3:
First aid checks went poorly all around. The US fire team that rushed out to the JSS front gate found both of the two casualties it could assess (one was on the far side of the open gate - a fatal funnel - and presently out of their reach) dead from the initial bomb attack. All but one of the insurgent casualties were gone.
The US fire team in the courtyard rushed across the front gate portal to reach the third and last casualty, winning an opposed initiative roll to do so. The US troopers on the Bunkhouse, meanwhile, fired across the compound to Cell 3 and wiped it out. The IPs in the CP finally activated and fired at Cell 2 but failed to inflict any casualties.
Cell 2 hadn't responded to the IP fire because it was holding its resources for the lead Uparmored HMMWV, which had just moved into line of sight. It now unleashed its full fury, and ... popped a rear tire. Seriously, it fired off an RPG round and a host of small arms fire and only managed to reduce the M1114's movement by half. Return fire from the HMMWV's HMG caused three casualties.
As the lead HMMWV coasted off to the right side of the road, the trail HMMWV pulled around it and charged toward the insurgent HQ Cell, which was still pinned in place by the effects of the Fog of War card. Miraculously, the insurgents won initiative and unleashed a torrent of effective small arms fire, knocking out the vehicle's HMG and making casualties of both the gunner and driver.
Insurgent fire finally takes a toll on the Uparmored HMMWVs, taking this one out of the fight. |
The forecast calls for scattered showers of 82mm mortar. Bring your umbrella and your helmet... |
The trail HMMWV coasted 14" and rolled to a halt down the road past the insurgents that had shot it up.
The remaining members of the Insurgent HQ Cell have taken out one Uparmored HMMWV. If they can do it again, maybe the insurgents can rally to victory... |
...or not. The remaining members of the insurgent HQ lie in pieces at the street corner. |
Insurgent Cell 2 lies in pieces on the rooftop after the US Bradley crushed it, the only surviving member heading for the exits. |
State of the board at the end of the game. Plumes of flame mark the insurgent positions struck by mortar fire, self-inflicted or otherwise. |
AAR Comments:
1. The scenario was far out of balance. I knew this, having estimated the point value of each side with the draft unit point calculator available on the Ambush Alley forums, but figured that the Fog of War monkey wrenches would offset raw combat power in favor of the insurgents, which is how it usually seems to shake out. The Bradley section proved wholly unnecessary - it should be replaced with another two Uparmored HMMWVs, if at all.
2. The reinforcements probably shouldn't arrive until Turn 2. Their immediate arrival and prompt reduction of the insurgent outer perimeter demonstrated again how uneven the scenario was drafted.
3. I have a house rule that grenade launchers, RPGs, and LAWs/AT-4s have a minimum range of 12". As this board was laid out, that was probably a bit too long. Reduction to 10" or even 8" seems to make sense.
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