OP:ID2 (Cedar Falls)

It was Jan. 1967. AO was the Iron Triangle Region in Vietnam. A Communist haven. The Triangle was a patch work of tunnels and bunkers, containing huge stock piles of logistic support for the Communist. The goal: Flush Victor Charles and his brother Nathaniel from the area.

 

OP:ID2 was great. First I would like to give thanks to the Roughnecks leadership. Blackdragon, for all his work with his backhoe and getting things in motion for the event. Nomad, for his role as game controller and part time videographer. Also to Broadsword and his buddy Mike, for the 1:1 scale 105s. And to Bronco 6, (Big Sandy) Top for the US forces.

 

Perfect day for an event, mild temps and no rain, as it was predicted that there would be showers all day. The only water that hit the ground was, well you know nature does call. FSB Smith (was named in honor of the recent fallen American hero who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously) consisted of 3 bunkers, 3 gun pits with 105s, a command bunker, and a slit trench. Situated in the flat bottom of the Santa Ana river. The surrounding area was composed of high flat lands to the west, highlands to the east and a jungle to the north along the river valley.

 

This is where we started our patrol. Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie squads of the 1ST ID were to patrol through the river valley north of FSB Smith, looking to sweep any and all VC/PAVN/NVA forces from the area and push them towards the 25TH ID, which was in a blocking position on the road to Ben Suc. A LRRP detachment was to sweep through the Highlands to the east and  block/eliminate and enemy forces that tried to escape. LRRPs were also tasked with capturing any Communist commanders and intel they could. As the 1ST IDs squad started to move through the valley we came under immediate fire from small VC forces. These we quickly dealt with and we preceded to move out. Soon Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie became split up due to the heavy growth of the Jungle. We soon lost all contact, radio and visual with Charlie squad. Smalls arms fire could be heard from their general location but all attempts to contact them were null. As Alpha and Bravo moved up in the bush we got a "FLASH, PRIORITY, RED" radio call from BRONCO 6 at FSB Smith. They were being over run and needed reinforcements ASAP. And we were to HOTEL ALPHA back to Smith. A vain attempt to contact Charlie squad was unproductive. Alpha and Bravo made their way back to Smith and immediately started to clear the treeline of all enemy personnel. As soon as this was completed we moved in to the bunkers to watch for more movement. Not to long after we took up positions in the bunkers did we start to receive fire. At first it was probing/harrasing fire. Fire was returned, but unsure if any enemy personnel were hit. By this time Charlie squad had made its way back to Smith and reported that there Commo equipment had failed on them. 

 

Then the shit hit the fan. The enemy presence in the Triangle made a major push on Smith. The fighting was intense and chaotic. VC could be seen everywhere. The north bunker was soon over-run by the VC and provided them with a good foothold in the FSB. Soon the eastern bunker came under heavy fire from the north bunker and the treeline to the east. A sapper managed to get up close and tossed a HOTEL ECHO in to the bunker and took out its single remaining defender, MF. In short order after this the FSB was in the hands of the Communist forces. Shortly there after radio contact was made with 25TH that Smith had fallen into enemy hands. BRONCO 6 soon received a message from the enemy occupiers that they would relinquish control of Smith to us if we allowed them to take Old Glory with them. BRONCO 6s reply, in a very matter of fact Bastongne Nuts fashion, HELL NO. Soon with the help of armor from the 25TH, its troops (who were busy fighting the VC/NVA forces along the Ben Suc road) an the 1ST ID, we retook FSB Smith. This effectively ended the action for the day.

 

ID2 was a fun event. With many participants striving for the look on both the US and VC forces. FSB Smith was one of the better base camps ever created for a game. Action was intense and non-stop. Hope to do it again soon!

 

Pictures from the game can be found at the following links:

 

Bastards: Pictures from the front

 

BRONCO 6: Album7 Album8

 

Jeebs RAID: ID2

 

 

WOP 1-6 ALPHA OUT. 

Operation: Black Curtain, pt. 1. AO Poon Tang. In attendance for the Bastards, MF, DT, Wop, and Joo. Great field, huge, very reminiscent of Moorpark. Lots of sand, quicksand, mud, thick bamboo, a flowing river (50 to 75 yards wide), and crawling 8 legged inhabitants. Scenario was as follows: A rebel group had stolen ballot boxes for a local election and planned to weigh the votes in their favor. They also had a laptop computer that had vital intel stored in it. It was USFOR (RAID, SEC8, BASTARDS) task to regain control of the ballot boxes and capture the laptop and leaders of the rebel group (HAS). BASTARDS were actually traitors on the USFOR side and were to silently eliminate as many of the USFOR as possible before being detected.

 

Game started with a river crossing. Fun stuff, trudging through waist deep water. Once we got to the other side we set our plan in motion. We singled out our first victims, SEC8. As the rest of USFOR moved into the AO we stayed back to "Guard" the river crossing and wait for SEC8 to come over. We had decided that we would wait until they were in the middle of the river and then open fire on them. After following them along the banks as the looked for a spot to cross, they finally asked where we had crossed and preceded to cross there. The plan set, action was assured. Then, USFOR returns to the crossing, forcing the BASTARDS to abandon their plan. What a pity it would have been very fun to lay waste to SEC8 in the middle of the river, and there would have been nothing they could have done to save themselves.

 

Since our plans were shot, we had to single players out one by one and quietly eliminate them. First to go were father and daughter, the Burkes. USFOR was crossing the river once again and we said we'd stay and "Guard" the crossing. We asked that the Burkes remained with us to help. Once USFOR was out of the way and we had separated the father from his daughter, both were dispatched with a quick "Whisper" throat slicing. DT and Wop took care of the off-spring while The Joo relived the father of his life. Sorry Burkes thats the way it goes.

 

We then had to play catch up with USFOR. We started trailing them from the opposite river bank but quickly fell behind them. With no good areas to ford across the river we had to back tract and cross at another point. We got across the river and made our way up to USFOR who by now was engaged in a firefight with the Rebels. As we got up to USFOR we went along one by one slicing throats of un-suspecting USFOR. By the time that we had gotten to the head of the firefight the Rebels were in front of us. But they were unaware that we were sided with them and began to fire on us. At this point The Joo was crossing the river to get to the other USFOR on the opposite bank. MF and Wop followed. DT retreated back into the bad bush. As MF and Wop crossed the river USFOR was alerted to our presence and shouted out to shoot the traitors in the river. MF and Wop were quickly tagged and bagged.

 

At the same time The Joo realizing that he was soon to be found out, turned on the BASTARDS, and shouted "Their in the river, shoot them!" A true BASTARD, rat BASTARD, never trust a traitor or a BASTARD. Once he was on the opposite bank he was confronted by USFOR challenging him for a password but he managed to convince them that he was one of them. Tough luck for them. He continued on to take out several more USFOR before he was killed himself.

 

That was it for the BASTARDS as neither team would now trust them and the game was over for us. The BASTARDS managed to rack up a high body count without firing a single shot. Dirty BASTARDS we be.

 

A couple noteable events The Joo getting stuck in the mud and MF leaving him there to free himself. And DT and MF getting lost and both getting stuck in the mud. Karma MF, karma. Who's who's bitch now.

 

Return to Battlezone. In attendance for the game were The Joo, Mr. Fred, Dial Tone, and The Wop. Not very many people showed up for the game. Being that it is X-mas and all I think that most probably were out shopping and visiting family.

 

Typical teams, Woodland vs. Desert, and use of a vehicle (That was driven way to fast for any game. Obviously the driver had no concept of saftey for the others involved. As it was reported that he almost hit someone and was careless with his passengers in the bed of the truck, several times making them fly into the air as he hit bumps at speed. And not to mention the disregard of the rules set forth for the truck.) The day started off with two warm up games and then the main game. Objective of the main game was to hold your regen point and to place another regen point somewhere else in the AO. At the same time trying to capture the oppossing forces regen points. With the wind blowing as hard as it was firefights were close, but not heated because of said wind. At least we (Deserts, even though we had on OD's and Tiger's, we were considered oddballs. Mr. Fred on the other hand who was wearing all ERDL's was on Woodlands) had the wind to our backs and that helped. Needless to say since MF was on the other side we all were gunning for him. The Joo was lucky and got him in his sights. So in MF's immortal words "I got you", Chalk one up for The Joo. Anyhow the game was set for two hours or when all opposing forces regen points were captured. Due to the wind the game lasted the two hours. Then at the end of the game there was a bit of a ruckass that almost lead to a fight. The old "I'm hit so stop fucking shooting me" thing. All was squashed and settled. I know that its hard to hear people call "Hit" sometimes, but when they are in clear sight with their hands up and a red rag on their heads, you can't mistake that.

 

Battlezone is an interesting field, not much cover and a large hill. This field makes squad movement and cohesion a must to carry the day through. And as long as we dont have vehciles driving at 25 mph through the game I'd like to go back and play there again, sans the winds.