CONTEST IS CLOSED, STAY TUNED FOR NEW POST WITH RESULTS
I am a bit heads down at the moment with real life and painting the rest of my Pendraken WW1 figures and making terrain. I plan to do a full photo shoot when done, but in the meantime, do not have much to share.
What I do have to share is a stack of magazines I want to get rid of. So, to make things interesting, I am going to run a few Tactical Decision Game exercises to get some conversations rolling and I hope you find them enjoyable. Here are the rules:
- Send me your solution by leaving a comment below before midnight EDT on 4/14, your comments will not be published until after the deadline, so no looking at other's papers!
- I will select the top 3 and a winner using my own judgment (as good or bad as that may be)
- I will publish all of the comments on this post so everyone can peruse them and tell me why I am wrong (us wargamers are an ornery lot!)
- I will publish another post with the top 3, including the winner.
If you win AND you live in the continental United States, I will ship you completely FREE six random magazines from my stack for your enjoyment. They range from 1994 - 2015 and include Miniature Wargames, Wargames Illustrated, Battlegames, and Wargames Soldiers and Strategy. Who knows what you'll get! I don't because I have already sealed them in the USPS flat rate shipping pouches.
If you win and live outside of CONUS, you will get glory, honor, and respect. You can have the magazines too if you'll pay the shipping. (Sorry, international comrades)
I'll try to post about 5 of these over the next few weeks covering various periods. We'll start simple. Let's begin with one I pulled from a West Point class website, it set in the current age and is called...
Squad Attack By Fire
You are the Squad Leader for 1st Squad of 2/B/2-329IN. Your rifle squad consists 2 fire teams. Additionally, you are reinforced with a three-man M240B machine gun team.
SQD LDR= Squad leader
TM LDR = Team leader
GREN = grenadier, M4 with attached M203 40mm Grenade launcher
RMAT= normally the squad Javelin ATGM gunner, but left behind for this mission so another AR
AR = Automatic rifleman with M249 squa automatic weapon
DM = Squad designated marksman armed with upgraded M-16 with bipod and good optics.
Your unit is currently deployed to the country of Somalistan as part of a U.S.-led force that is attempting to conduct humanitarian relief operations. You are operating in the capital city which is a large urban slum of almost a million people. There are heavily armed gangs of fighters roaming the streets under the command of the warlords who have taken control of much of the city. 2-329IN has established a Forward Operating Base (FOB) near a large soccer stadium in the northwest part of town, and the companies have been conducting patrols in the surrounding neighborhoods to assist in quelling the violence being perpetrated by the street gangs.
Current Situation:
While out on patrol, you receive an alert on the platoon radio net that a UH-60 helicopter was hit by an RPG and has crashed at a location two blocks southwest of your current position. Immediately, your Platoon Leader gives orders for all squads to converge on the crash site to secure the wreckage and evacuate any survivors. You immediately begin moving your squad toward the crash site along a narrow side street. The area is deserted, a sign that all of the local civilians are aware of the impending danger and are trying to keep out of the way. As your lead team nears a corner, they signal a halt and indicate enemy activity to their front with a hand signal. You rush up to the corner, peer around the corner and see this:
A small group of fighters are positioned in an open area approximately 75 meters to your front. By their distinctive red headscarves, you recognize them as members of one of the militias that you have been fighting over the last several days. There are 9 men on the ground:
- Six of them are brandishing AK-47s
- Three others are carrying RPG-7s (like the one reported to have struck the downed UH-60).
- Also, there is a small pick-up truck with an SPG-9 recoilless rifle mounted in the back.
There is a small concrete barrier just to the front of where you are standing that offers a well-covered position where you could position your squad in a linear formation facing the enemy. Beyond this barrier, the ground is open with no cover. With no time to spare and no way of bypassing this enemy force, you decide to attack.
What do you do?
Take 1 minute and think about your course of action, then type up what orders you will give to your 2 fireteam leaders and the attached M240 Machine Gun team. Then write up why you issued teh orders you did.
Good luck!
"MG team, take up position 30m back and face back to cover our rear. The squad will creep up behind the barrier ahead. When I open fire on the SPG-9 gunner, FT1 will fire on the RPG guys and FT2 will fire on the AK guys. Keep shooting until all targets are down."
ReplyDeleteThe fighters are an identified enemy carrying weapons and with heavy weapon backup, so I assume the rules of engagement allow me to attack them without warning. There's no point in being particularly stealthy as everyone would have seen the helo go down so we don't have any time to spare. I want the MG to protect our rear in case we get attacked from behind. The MG should be able to deal with any attackers approaching from up the narrow street. I guessed the RPG gunners would be the biggest immediate threat as it would take longer to bring the SPG into action and the gunner should be down by then. The squad should have some protection from the AK gunners but any delay in dealing with them and they might spread out, take cover or some other action against us, so I wanted to simultaneously hit all parts of the enemy. Ideally a well-placed grenade from each of the fireteams would take out each of the enemy groups at the same time, so the rest of the squad should be able to mop up any remaining forces.
Advance to concrete barrier. Grenadiers engage truck. 240 engage the bunched up AK armed infantry. DM and AR's engage RPG gunners. Attack on 3, ... 1, 2, 3
ReplyDelete1st Fireteam deploys to the left on my command engages the six infantry firing from left to right.1st Team will be prepared on order to engage the technical with 775mmRR in the center. The M240 team will Deploy to the right of 1st team. This teams primary target is the technical with 75mmRR. It will be prepared on order to support 1st team . 2 team will deploy its saw on the right of the M240 team it will engage the 3 man infantry team to the right of the technical . the 2nd team leader with the 2 remaining men will provide security but will be prepared to support by fire and or smoke if the platoon needs to break contact and displace.
ReplyDelete1st team using the barrier as cover and concealment position on the left , upon order or detection engage and destroy the 6 man infantry squad to the left of the technical in the center. M240 team using the same barrier as cover and concealment upon order or detection engage and destroy the technical with 75mm RR,in the center. 2nd team using the barrier as cover and concealment deploy your saw to the right of the M240 team. The saw will engage the 3 man infantry element to the right of the technical with 75mm, RR . the second team leader with remaining riflemen will provide security and be prepared to support by fire or smoke if the squad needs to displace or break contact.
ReplyDeleteControl measures 1st team targets from left to right infantry to center technical . M240 team center technical. 2 team saw infantry element on right to technical in center .
Hi! Just for fun for me, I'm in the UK.
ReplyDeleteOkay I'd task the M240 team to take out the SPG9-Technical, then act as its boss thinks best. The two rifle teams will target the RPG guys, followed by the guys with AKs. The DM and the RMAT are watching flank and rear.
We'll use the concrete barrier as cover and open fire once we've reached it.
Rationale:
a) The M240 is the best anti-vehicle weapon. The SPG-9 is the most significant threat. If nothing else it will make things hot for the crew.
b) The RPGs are either HEAT or Frag projectiles and only need to be near to my position to cause casualties. 2 * M249 + 40mm + M4 should make short work of them.
c) The AK guys are really going to struggle to hit my guys at 75m, they would usually prefer <60m, possibly even <40m if they aren't hardcore. Some of them might blow when the Technical and RPG guys take hits in any case.
d) The Team leaders (inc the M240 boss) know their jobs, or they wouldn't have them. I don't need to micromanage them.
e) Flank and rear security are necessary, just in case the bad guys are waiting on support.