Operation Grim Dragon - Scenario

A couple of months ago, Ambush Alley Games ran a scenario competition 'To the Last Round'. This scenario is based on Echo5Hotel: aka Jim Hunsinger's winning entry. I've made changes to it to fit in with my collection and an Afghanistan background, with a few extra tweaks based on Jim's answers to my questions.

MISSION BRIEF
The SAS force, callsign: 'Dragon' has successfully infiltrated Pakistan from to surveil a suspected weapons cache which is being used to supply the Taliban and bring back evidence of who the supplier is – a faction within the Pakistan government is suspected. Unfortunately, they were ambushed by a large force of Taliban and were cut off from retreat. Dragon made for the crumbling remains of an old farmstead, which would provide refuge for the beleagured team.

During their last communication Dragon requested an emergency extraction. An American CH-57 Chinook, callsign: 'Grim' has been scrambled but will take some time to arrive at the nearest extraction zone that is approximately two kilometers due west of Dragon’s current position. Dragon will maintain their defensive position until Grim contacts them whereupon they plan to break cover and make a dash for the LZ.

TABLE SET UP
A pre-dominantly green set up, with dense groves and poppy fields surrounding an isolated farm compound. A ruined wall, a well and a small barn complete the farm with a small track leading from north to west through the clearing.

Deploy the British anywhere inside the farmhouse or barn.
Deploy the Taliban anywhere marked A-G

BRITISH MISSION OBJECTIVE
Hold your current defensive position until Grim contacts you via radio that they are approaching the extraction zone. At that time you will break cover and head for the extraction zone as fast as possible. Do not leave anyone behind, alive or dead.

BRITISH FORCE COMPOSITION
British forces have normal supply and have high confidence (TQ D10/ Morale D10)

Command Team
1x Squad Leader w/ M4 Assault Rifle
1x M.I.6 Officer w/ M4 Assault Rifle
1x R.T.O. w/ M4 Assault Rifle
1x Medic w/ M4 Assault Rifle

Rifle Team A
1x Team Leader w/ M4 Assault Rifle
1x Grenadier w/ M203 UGL
1x Gunner w/ M249 SAW
1x Assistant Gunner w/ M4 Assault Rifle

Rifle Team B
1x Team Leader w/ M4 Assault Rifle
1x Grenadier w/ M203 UGL
1x Gunner w/ M249 SAW
1x Assistant Gunner w/ M4 Assault Rifle

Machinegun Team
1x Team Leader w/ M4 Assault Rifle
1x Gunner w/ M240 GPMG
1x Assistant Gunner w/ M4 Assault Rifle

TALIBAN MISSION OBJECTIVE
We cannot afford to have the British escaping back across the border and publicizing the covert support that Pakistan has been supplying the Taliban. Capture or kill all of the British military personnel.
Capture is preferable so that their illegal “invasion” of Pakistan, their act of war, can be proven to the world in a public trial.

TALIBAN FORCE COMPOSITION
All Taliban forces are Tier-1. They have normal supply and have high confidence (TQ D8 Morale D10)
30 rebels* consisting of:
24xAKs
4xRPKs
2xRPGs

*= To be arranged in teams of 5 or less. The rebels are well organized and do not have to worry about who the leader is as subordinates will take over as needed.

REINFORCEMENTS TABLE
Roll Reinforcement Unit
1 1d6xAKs
2 1d6xAKs, 1xRPK
3 1d6xAKs, 1xRPG
4 1d6xAKs, 1xRPK, 1xRPG
5 1d6xAKs
6 1d6xAKs, 1xRPK
7 1d6xAKs, 1xRPG
8 1d6xAKs, 1 Technical, 1 Bike

The Insurgency level is 4 for this scenario and 5 hotspots are indicated on the map.

FOG OF WAR
Fog Of War cards are not used in this scenario.

SPECIAL RULES
Grim will make contact with Dragon to head for the extraction zone turn 4.
A succesful test is required to make contact:
RTO D12
Squad Leader D10
Team Leader D8

Then roll a D6 to discover where the the extraction zone is:
1 Taliban player chooses
2 Western edge
3 Northern edge
4 Eastern edge
5 Southern edge
6 British player chooses

The Taliban player is not shown the die result, and is not aware of the direction of the extraction zone unless the result is a '1'
The ruins of the old farmhouse and barn provide excellent cover. Any unit within the walls of these structures receive a total of +3 Defense Dice.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

BRITISH
Each soldier escaping towards the LZ +3
Each dead soldier evacuated +2
Each Taliban KIA +1

TALIBAN
Each British soldier captured alive +3
Each British dead body recovered +1
Each British soldier killed +2

I'll be playing this in a couple of weekends...

Corporate Security LandMates

Did these two guys over the last three or four days as a Bonus Task for The Guild's Project Build 2010.

Art by UkitaKumuki

The Interstellar Military-Industrial Corporation Heymans & Yamada maintains several significant facilities on Novaya Sakha



These facilities are guarded by a well-equipped and skilled security force



The most notable of these are the Howa K-4 LandMates - a heavy power armour over 3.5 meters tall, capable of being dropped directly from orbit (using ablative shielding and thrusters).



They are armed with a powerful dual-role 14mm rapid-firing cannon with a 40mm grenade launcher



They typically operate in elements of two, and are well capable of operating in urban environments without infantry support



They can utilise their thrusters and folding wings to leap large distances

Too Hot to Handle

First off, I reckon an entire force of 3-4 teams of D12s is just too overpowering against this opposition. While we've quite happily used D12s before as part of a larger group, it seemed that (just as Shawn at Ambush Alley Games has warned) a three-step difference is quality means that being lucky just isn't good enough for the irregulars to overcome the regulars. For any future plays of this (and this is reflected in the scenario post) I'm reducing them to D10 Quality, D12 Morale.
It was a case of "Operation Certain Death", but for the Taliban!

The SAS were split into four teams - 1 four-man fire team, 2 three-man fire teams with a Minimi each and a two-man GPMG weapons team.

The Village before assault begins. Those Taliban groups on the rooftops are really inside, but I placed them there so that no one forgot about them.



The GPMG Team sets up on overwatch, which was to prove very useful indeed in early turns in adding firepower to reactions against strong Taliban incursions.



Local Goat Herder would have made going through the wadi without being noticed difficult, but as it was the firefight broke out very early.



A Taliban group wakes from slumber in a building at the far side of the compound



Newly arrived Taliban take fire as they arrive on heights overlooking west side of the village. They take serious casualties from static SAS teams and are down to one man very quickly



The Taliban patrol makes it way from the far corner of the village and draws a bead on advancing fireteam



The lead fire team is under pressure, taking shots from all angles, and while the SAS deal with groups as they pop-up the entire formation becomes less and less effective



Taliban patrol in wadi prepares to assault British right flank. They charge through the grove, avoiding the beaten zone of the GPMG team beyond. They even catch the SAS fire team off guard, but their marksmanship lets them down and taking no casualties the SAS return fire to wipe them out



As the pressure increases to breaking strain on the SAS, the Taliban patrol which was hunkered down near the hostage location, runs around the corner and up to the wall so that only feet separate them from the lead fire team. The SAS fail to respond with fire, and the close-range firefight results in one British casualty. The return fire puts down two Taliban, including the leader



The SAS advance up to the wall en masse, as the second slumbering Taliban group nearby has woken up (I guess they were heavy sleepers!) and begins to react by opening fire. Again the SAS take on all comers, and that SAS casualty turned out to be just a scratch, he's back on his feet in no time.



More Taliban reinforcements arrive at the top of the wadi and they line up a shot with an RPG. with the cooperation of the Taliban team in the building opposite, it would seem that the SAS are caught in a deadly crossfire. The British response is just as decisive, wiping out both groups in short order. Having taken some fire from across the compound they also return fire in that direction, but unbeknownst to them they kill one of their extraction targets, the Al Qaeda leader Khalid Azar.



A dust storm blows up, downing all air assets and reducing visibility. The storm forces the SAS to exfiltrate on foot [if there had been significant Taliban opposition left, this would have made things very interesting - I would have suggested doing a rolling battlefield and have the SAS exit an extra two feet west of the original LZ]



Given this new development the SAS leader decides to ignore the secondary objective and just get the hostages out of there. The breach is unopposed.



The night concluded with ZombieLand and Generation Kill...but we will never mention D12s again!