CO and HQ
2 Osprey Tiltrotor aircraft
HMG, JTAC, 6 Marine infantry
4 Geminis plus 4 SEAL teams
Russians
CO and HQ
2 KA-29 transport helos
4 Naval Infantry
4 Gaz Tigr IMV's
6 Spetsnaz
1 Kornet ATGW
1 81mm mortar
A view of the Belgorod taken from a Predator drone
The Naval Infantry debus from their KA-29's
Turn 1
The USA moved first, the helos were late but the Geminis made their
first move through the surf towards the Belgorod, approaching from the
West. The clatter of rotor blades announced the arrival of the two KA-29
helos from Socotra Island, running on fumes. A D6 was rolled for each
helo, one landing 60cm in from their entry point, the second landing
90cm, close to the submarine. The Naval Infantry successfully
disembarked and began to move towards the sub.
[URL=http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/noelos99/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-03/20150321_132905_zps2kypocei.jpg.html]
Turn 2
The US Marines arrived in their Ospreys, shrugging off some ineffectual
AA fire from the Russian HQ. The Russian infantry opened up with
opportunity fire, suppressing one unit of Marines. The Marines returned
fire, which was more effective, hitting and knocking out 2 of the 4
Russian Naval Infantry and causing the third to fall back into cover of
the rocks on the seashore.
The Russian ground convoy again failed to arrive, the unscathed Naval
Infantry unit fired and suppressed a stand of Marines.
The Marines returned
fire, which was more effective, hitting and knocking out 2 of the 4
Russian Naval Infantry and causing the third to fall back into cover of
the rocks on the seashore.
The Russian ground convoy again failed to arrive, the unscathed Naval
Infantry unit fired and suppressed a stand of Marines.
[URL=http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/noelos99/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-03/20150321_140426_zpsr4xpjzqc.jpg.html]
Turn 3
The Marines JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller, or Forward Air
Controller to the British) called in an airstrike from an AV8 Harrier,
however some determined fire from the Russian CO managed to drive it off.
The Russian ground convoy was presumably now lost in the scrubby
hinterland and again failed to arrive. Marine opportunity fire accounted
for the third Naval Infantry unit and the Belgorod was now in a very
precarious state as the Geminis and accompanying SEAL teams were now
only a move away from boarding.
[URL=http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/noelos99/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-03/20150321_143353_zpsbf9aqjqj.jpg.html]
Turn 4
The SEALs came alongside the sub and the Russian ground convoy finally
arrived!
Turn 5
The SEALs failed to board the sub on their initial roll, however the US
Commander managed to get them moving and onto the sub deck.
The Russian ground convoy deployed to minimise being a juicy target for
the Harrier by remaining in their Tigr IMV's. The mortar got into action
and suppressed a Marine unit.
The situation at the end of the game with the Belgorod in American hands
Turn 6
The JTAC rolled a Command Bonus on his airstrike, which was delivered
with pinpoint accuracy. The Russian HQ scored one hit on the Harrier,
which carried on with its attack run, destroying a Tigr and suppressing
2 Spetsnaz units. The SEALs boarded the sub and with some nifty command
rolls, entered via the conning tower. A brief firefight with one unit
was ineffective, however the next unit to enter was more aggressive and
took the command deck. The Belgorod was now in American hands and the
Russian situation was extremely dangerous with air attacks more likely
and the Russian commander cursing his plan to bring a useless Kornet
ATGW instead of a SAM launcher... The Marines HMG fired and suppressed
another Spetsnaz unit.
[URL=http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/noelos99/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-03/20150321_150344_zpsbahtbvt6.jpg.html]
At this point, with the Russian strength seriously reduced, the Marines
forming a strong cordon around the sub and with the SEALs on board, we
decided to call it a day. Plus the second half of the Irish game was on
in the Six Nations. The Russian forces therefore set up an outer
perimeter of their own and would wait for the second IL76 to bring in
urgent reinforcements, either to escalate the conflict or make the
situation too dangerous for the Americans to consider seizing the
Belgorod and being forced to go public with their attempts.
It was a good game, characterised by some unusually poor dice rolls from
the Russians and some consistently good ones from the Marines. In terms
of improving it we agreed on the following points:
A bigger table would have stretched it out a bit more, the small Russian
helo-borne force couldn't really take on the main US force from the
first turn.
Perhaps the Marines should have been limited as to where their LZ could
be so that they couldn't basically drop onto the land adjacent to the sub.
The Russian ground convoy should have been scheduled to arrive rather
than being left to a dice roll so as to get a bigger force on straight away.
I should have picked a SAM for the ground convoy to give them some
proper AA cover! An ATGW is great for bunker-busting, knocking out tanks
etc, but not so good when taking on light infantry. Another mortar and a
SAM would have been better value.
Perhaps a Rule of Engagement that would have stopped the Marines calling
in an air strike next to the sub when there was a chance of the attack
deviation possibly hitting their objective. The nuclear powered sub with
a damaged nuclear reactor. Most pilots surely wouldn't want to be making
a bomb run onto a target next to such a risky proposition!
Another note- I removed the Recce ability from the Spetsnaz and knocked
20 points off their PV- in terms of them being used in CWC 'traditional'
games of the USSR massed attack across West Germany, the Spetsnaz role
would be one of recce, commando attacks, artillery and airstrike
spotting. Therefore the Recce ability would be consistent. In this
context, I wanted them to be elite infantry (benefitting from the
improved firing and close assault stats) but no more.
The Boarding Table was a simple D10 one:
1 Sustained small arms fire prevents the SEALs from entering the conning tower for one turn
2-4 Gunfight- defending sailors return fire. Use the stats for Russian conscript infantry firing from cover
5-7 Close assault- The SEALs close assault the crew, the crew has the stats of a Russian conscript infantry stand
8-10 Success! The SEALs successfully overcome the crew and seize the command deck of the Belgorod.
Still, it was good to get back into rolling some dice and I'll crack on
with the Khemed campaign now that the domestic situation is calming down
with the kids and evenings are getting more settled.