Team Lightning Deploys

We deployed before first light near the ruins of a Buddist temple. As the chopper lifted off we moved into the ruins to wait and see if Charlie had spotters out. We waited for 15 minutes and then keyed the radio twice to let the chopper know that we were all clear. We moved out in a single file back toward the east parallel to Highway 19. We moved across dried rice patties and through small clumps of bamboo. We were tasked with checking out the largest clump of woods just to the south of Highway 19. This was the largest area that Battalion couldn't easily recon by air. Buck and his squad were to be moving parallel to us one klick to our north. They were going to check out the village of Tho Loc. Their chopper dropped them off 1 hour before us. I knew Buck was in place and OK as we heard his team. Buck's mission was to sit on Tho Loc for the day from a distance while we swept south of the Highway.

I had Choi take point to take us to the woods, followed by Hagey with the M-60. I was next with Jones and the radio right behind me. Newberry and Gardener brought up the rear. As we neared the woods I moved up to take point. I had Newberry move up with me as I needed to see what field craft skills he had before we got into anything. We moved into the woods just as the sun was cresting the eastern horizon.

We stopped for a quick break once we were 100 meters inside the tree line. We secured the perimeter and alternated 3 on 3 off while we rested and drank water. While Newberry sat on a log sipping from his canteen he tapped the butt of his rifle on the ground. It sounded hollow "Sarge, I think I found something".

We cleared the leaves and branches off and found a small cache of weapons and ammo. Thinking back to Buck's training yesterday I grinned and told Newberry to give me a grenade and pay attention as class is in session.

Game Notes - the pre-dawn segment of the day resulted in an encounter that resolved into a small weapons cache. 5 rifles and 1000 rounds of ammo were located and booby-trapped.

LRRP Team "Lightning"

My LRRP team consists of:

(Star) SSG Belden - Rep 5, Attributes - Recondo (per UW = Born Leader, Pointman & Stealthy), Hard as Nails; Armed with CAR-15 and M1911 .45 pistol

SGT Gardener - Rep 5, Attribute - Brawler; Armed with M-16 and M1911 .45 pistol

Spec4 Jones - Rep 4, Attribute - RTO; Armed with M-16, carries radio

Spec4 Choi - Rep 4, Attribute - Language; Armed with M-16

Spec4 Hagey - Rep 4, Attribute - Pigman; Armed with M-60 and M1911 .45 pistol

PFC Newberry - Rep 3, Attribute - Grenadier; Armed with M-79 and M1911 .45 pistol

I have not assigned skills yet as found in UW.

Here is the area Team Lightning will be reconning in the upcoming batrep.

So it begins...

SFC Gaines stuck his head in my tent "Belden, LT wants you, me and O'Hara at the Battalion TOC in 10 minutes. Find him and meet us there. Looks like we have some work." I found Buck where I figured he would be, with 2nd squad training them on how to remove the fuse delay on a frag grenade to rig it as a trap for Charlie. That was Buck, always training his men.

"SGT O'Hara" I said "LT wants to see us." I always used Buck's rank in front of his men, just as he always did to me in front of 1st squad. "Corporal Summers take over the class" As we walked away from 2nd squad's impromptu classroom and towards the TOC Buck said "What's up Mike?". "Don't know" I replied "Gaines said to find you and get to the TOC. He said we might have work."

As we neared the TOC we passed a handful of newbies standing around outside the TOC. We entered the TOC and found LT Goreman and SFC Gaines with Major Williams, the battalion XO, Major McClebe, the Brigade S-2 and a captain I had not seen in the battalion area before all looking at a map. I like the XO. He was a forer enlisted soldier who earned his commission on the battlefield in Korea. He knew his stuff and he knew how to lead men.

The XO was already giving the briefing as we approached the map. He nodded to Buck and myself and continued "we need to set up a FSB somewhere along Highway 19. The VC are raiding the villages in the area and taking the rice. The FSB will support Battalion Operations in the area. Captain McKinney is the new CO of D Company. He will be in command of the FSB. Recon Platoon will be attached to the FSB until further notice." As the XO pointed to a spot on the map he continued.
"LT Coreman we need Recon Platoon to sweep through the area near the villages of Tho Loc I and An Thanh I where this road forks south off of Highway 19. Captain McKinney and Major McClebe conducted a fly over by chopper earlier today. I want Recon to do its own flyover this afternoon and then be prepared to be inserted by chopper tomorrow morning. D Company will be on standby as a reactionary force to back you up if there is any contact."

The XO looked at Goreman, Gaines, Buck and myself "Any questions?"

As we were leaving the TOC, SFC Gaines grabbed my arm and led me off to the side. One of the newbies was still standing by the TOC. "Staff Sergeant Belden, meet PFC Newberry, he is Brown's replacement." Brown was one of my squad members that went home last month with a purple heart.
"Grab your gear Newberry, lets get you settled in with the squad. SGT Gardener will show you the squad area. I got a chopper to catch in an hour." I said as we headed back to the Recon Platoon area.

Avidwaregamer's House - Reboot!

Real life has gotten in the way of my gaming and blogging. The Quest for the Idol will continue. However I've recently been bitten by the FNG bug. With the pending release of updated FNG I dug out my copy of FNG as well as FNG:UW and the free FNG:Operations. I'm planning on running a mix of the three. FNG:Ops is about setting up a Fire Support Base(FSB) in an Area of Operations (AO). On the squad level I want to follow the missions of a LRRP team assigned to support the FSB.

My FSB will be located in Bihn Dihn province in the II Corp region. Great maps of Vietnam can be found at:
http://www.virtualarchive.vietnam.ttu.edu/starweb/virtual/maps/servlet.starweb

My specific AO will be located in the Qui Nohn region
http://www.virtualarchive.vietnam.ttu.edu/starweb/virtual/maps/servlet.starweb


My ficticious unit is D Co, 127th Light Infantry Brigade.

Next time meet my 6-man LRRP team!

Durbin's Point, Seniira (On the Border)

Durbin's Point, Seniira (On the Border) – March 986
From the Journal of Grant Griffon.

Our journey from Kaserin to Durbin's Point was uneventful. The weather delayed us in small villages along the way and it took us almost two months to reach the small port town. We reached Durbin's Point and found an inn near the coast. The innkeeper was happy to see us, or at least our gold, until Eric made a comment about 'The Gray Maiden'. Diego and I both saw the innkeeper glance to a few others around the inn before he gruffly stated "never heard of it." It was a lie but we were not going to call him on it in front of the others in the inn. We retired to our rooms for the night after a hot meal and a few mugs of ale, figuring we could always talk to the innkeeper later.

The next morning we decided to look around Durbin's Point to see if we could find any information about the survivors of 'The Gray Maiden'. We went out into the muddy street to find the street empty. Eric quietly said "I got a bad feeling about this…"

Game mechanics – No encounters were rolled for January and February. I rolled for an encounter in March 986. It resulted in being located in a village. Since Grant and his fellow adventurers are still in their own country of Seniira, they would be the defenders in a raid. The dice indicated the raiders were also from Seniira. It must be those shady characters from the inn last night! I decided the object of the raid would be the charts from 'The Gray Maiden' that Diego was carrying. Diego would have to be either OOF or OD and the raiders spend a turn in contact with him to search his body and collect the charts. I set up a portion of Durbin's Point with 6 buildings. They were an inn with a stable next to it, two small houses and a larger house with its own out building. The three PEF were located and they ended up being located in and around the other houses. PEF Reputation would be `3' until their true Reps were determined.

"Quest for the Idol of Hama-Ta" Characters

Grant Griffon – (Star) Rep 4 AC 4 Hardiness 1 Social Standing 1 Elite Trained `Merchant' Warrior - Sword and Pistol (CV3)
Diego – Marine (Dual Class) Rep 4 AC 4 Sword & Arquebus (CV1)
Eric – Auxiliary (Melee Class) Rep 4 AC 4 Sword (Thief) (CV1)
Devlin – Auxiliary (Melee Class) Rep 4 AC 4 Sword & Shield (Healer) (CV1)

Warrior Heroes A&A – “Quest for the Idol of Hama-Ta”

Starting a new Warrior Heroes A&A solo game. I haven't seen much on Seniira posted on the The Hour Wargames Yahoo group I thought I would start there and see where it goes.

Prologue - Kaserin, Seniira – January 986

The north winds drove the sleet and snow off the Sea of Stryfe and against the windows of the Griffon Merchant House. Inside near the fireplace Grant stood at a table opposite Master Griffon looking at the map of Seniira spread between them. The old man's gnarled finger pointed to a small mark on the map near the Kimean Sea. "That is Durbin's Point. That is where it is reported that the Capalan League ship 'The Gray Maiden' went down. The Idol of Hama-Ta was rumored to have been aboard the ship". Master Griffon's eyes moved from Grant to the rugged man standing next to the fire before he continued speaking. "Diego has heard a rumor that there were a few survivors that have decided to live in Durbin's Point. He has also brought back the charts from 'The Gray Maiden' so we know where she made port before she went down".

Master Griffon coughed and then cleared his throat before continuing, "The Capalan merchants were going to return the idol to Mirish where it had been stolen fifty years ago. Whoever returns this idol will have the favor of the one who sits on the Blood Throne in Mirish". Looking Grant directly in the eye he said "I want that to be Griffon Merchant House. Find and return the Idol of Hama-Ta and we will be granted trade with Mirish instead ofthe Capalan League."

Grant looked at the old man and then toward Diego before he replied. "I will leave once the storms lift. I want Diego to go with me as I'll need his knowledge as well as his skill with an arquebus. I will also take Eric and Devlin. Eric he knows his way around the seedier parts of towns. Devlin's knowledge of healing may also be useful before we are done."

"Be careful my son" Master Griffon said "We are not the only ones looking for the idol and I don't want to explain to your mother how her youngest son died."

"I will Father. Give Mother my love." Grant turned to Diego. "We will leave with the caravan headed west in the morning. We will travel with them for a few days and then slip away at night and turn back towards Durbin's point. That should throw anybody off our trail". Diego picked up his arquebus where it leaned against the wall near the fireplace, nodded to Master Griffon and followed Grant out of the room.

More to come...

Welcome to Avidwargamer's House

Welcome to Avidwargamer's House!