Recon Team Habu Extraction

I recently had my first wargame in a year. There were just three of us. It was a SOG extraction in Laos. I had done a similar game some years ago and wrote an AAR of it on the old Fields of Fire Reloaded.

RT Habu was a real recon team that usually operated out of CCN. My game had no connection with any actual mission. I just used that name and some of the names of  the real members of the team in my game. That team is the subject of the two SOG books by Nick Brokhausen who was the 1-1 or assistant team leader on the team. He often carried a cut down RPD machine gun.

Of course the goal of a recon team was normally to get in and do their mission, then get out with no enemy contact. That goal could be hard or impossible to attain.

Our scenario was that RT Habu had completed its wiretap mission and was now returning to a good looking extraction LZ they had spotted on the way to the wire tap. A good LZ for this purpose would be on high, defensible ground that was open enough for the Kingbee pilot to get to them.

The team had six figures. Besides the 1-1, there was the 1-0 team leader, Mac, and four indigenous people, Bru Montagnards. The 0-1 or indigenous team leader was Cumen. There was also Bong, the thump gunner who was in his late forties, having been a striker with the French Foreign Legion in the last war; Xuang the tail gunner and I forget the pointman's name.

I play this type of game same-side. I have written some rules for running the NVA that allow for historically oriented random movement as well as listening for movement, cutting trails and other bits and pieces of SOG and anti-SOG actions. My friends Kim and Jim were RT Habu. I rolled dice for and moved the NVA and the PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces markers).

Kim took some of the photos and I took the rest.

These always begin with the jungle.









The NVA is not the only enemy that lurks in the jungle:





The LZ. The clearing from the bomb blast is large enough for the Kingbee H-34 from 219th South Vietnamese Helicopter Squadron, it is on high ground and has a bomb crater for cover for RT Habu:



The game begins with RT Habu in single file, heading for the intended LZ. They are now paralleling a stream. There are a number of PEFs on the table. They will not be revealed as real or dummies until in LOS of the team. A an even/odd die roll will determine if they are real or not. The team's speed is important. Faster gets them to the LZ sooner. But that also makes them more likely to be detected by the enemy. If they are off the trail, they will make more noise going faster. Either on or off, faster speed leaves the tail gunner, Xuang, less time to try to conceal the trail. Thus their back trail is easier for the NVA to notice.

The team is on the move:
In the lower cleft corner you can just barely see Brokhausen with his cut down RPD.



The team marches onward:



Sometimes hard for even us to see through the bamboo:



Sometimes not, although under the rules, the jungle reached the edge of the stream pieces:





Now the team moves away from the stream, so far still not detected:





Leaving the stream in the above photo, the 1-0 decides to take a risk and follow the trail they hit, rather than take the slower route through the jungle. But as a precaution, Xuang plants an M-14 toe popper anti-personnel mine with a trip wire on the trail. More cautious NVA have a greater chance of spotting the dangerous device. But they sacrifice speed.

So far things have gone well for Habu. There is no indication enemy in the immediate area.

They continue to a fork in the trail where a branch veers off to their left rear. They pass it by:



Before too long they leave the trail, heading for the LZ off to their right:









Up to almost this point, any PEF that got within LOS proved to be a dummy. However, a "real" one finally was revealed on the back trail. This squad of support troops had been on the jungle trail as it approached the stream. So far, there had been no sign of any "imperialists" in the area. They crossed the stream, which put them on Habu's trail and the pointman hit the toe popper. He was put out of the fight. At the same time, a squad of NVA regulars was approaching through the jungle. The two groups met at the trail crossing at the site of the mine. If you look closely in the photo, you can see the wounded NVA at the crossing.



The NVA decide  (by random diecast) to move on but to do so off the trail. There could be more of the dastardly mines. Different die rolls would have had them either proceed on the trail at a slow pace to check for mines, or stop altogether.



Now Habu realizes (I guess the 1-0 knows my rules ) that any NVA in the area will be alerted and come to the sound of the explosion or any potential LZ nearby. The team heads for the LZ after a radio call to the overhead Covey backseater of the situation.







Xuang is covering the rear:



Another NVA support squad comes through the jungle, passing a lower bomb crater, toward Habu. The Bru's seemingly ESP pays off and Xuang wins the In Sight Test, firing first. His CAR-15 knocks one of the NVA out of the fight and three more Duck Back:





If you look closely at the team's back trail, you will see Xuang had placed a claymore mine there in case the NVA had followed on the trail they left behind them.

When a SOG team was in serious trouble, they could declare a Prairie Fire Emergency. Mac (Kim  here), being the cool 1-0 that he was did not call one when he notified Covey of the toe popper explosion. It could have been set off by monkeys. A Prairie Fire required all aircraft over SE Asia with enough fuel and any remaining ordnance to come to the scene, often resulting in many layers of fast movers, helicopters and Skyraiders stacked up to assist. Even now, with Xuang's gunfight, the 1-0 did not declare such an emergency. When he had last called Covey, he had said they were approaching the LZ and to bring in the air package for extraction. This would include at least a pair of gunship helicopters. Now Habu was near the LZ:





They reach the crater and pop smoke to mark it.







The lead Cobra approaches for a gun run. But the fire is off the mark. Nonetheless the NVA support squad is in no mood to push things further.





The NVA from the area of the toe popper blast are not near the LZ, the support squad from the fight with Xuang are still laying low. The Kingbee approaches and lifts out Habu.











It was a good mission for Habu. Their wiretap had been successful and they were extracted with only light resistance and no friendly casualties. When they landed, Mac and Nick would get their "little people" settled in and fed. Get them started on cleaning their weapons and equipment. They also had to take care of their own, get cleaned up and hit the club for some beers.

I was a bit afraid that Kim and Jim might not have had a good game as there was little action. So many dummy PEFs in the beginning really helped Habu, but sure made for little shooting. But they both said they liked the game. It went just the way a recon team wanted it too. They enjoyed the decision making and the suspense of what was going to show up where.

Tom

A suspenseful game. I like the idea of trail markers. In fact there are various good ideas here. I am going to see if I can play a Crossfire game with a SOG team, once I finish painting them.

As soon as I can, I will post my SOG rules in the War Room here. I use them with myFNG compendium, but there is only one FNG mechanic I can think of that is involved. The effect of that could be accomplished some other way. Or, it could easily be incorporated for its limited use.

Tom

Terrain looks awesome! Can't wait to read the AAR!

Thanks Hayes. Don’t miss the “snake made out of solder”.

Tom

I was the 1-0 for this mission that Tom set up. Great game, while not a big shoot out but lots of suspense that made this suspenseful right till the extraction. As Tom said, I felt we could extract the team with out declaring a Prairie Fire Emergency as I didn't want to use up valuable resources unnecessarily. I liked the role play aspect of the mission rather then a typical wargamer calling in everything possible!

Tom as always does a great game as you can see from photos. Looking forward to future mission.

Kim

Excellent looking game, and, as others have said, some interesting ideas.
Loved the snake.....

Thanks Mishima.

Really cool game, and awesome that the team got out unscathed while doing just a little damage. I do love games like this, where the suspense ratchets up and keeps you guessing.

Somehow I missed this LOVELY AAR! So sorry Tom. Fantastic pics and great read!

Thanks, Bravo 6.

Tom

Looks like a great game. The table was fantastic!

Joe

Thanks Joe. That was a lot of jungle to make.

Tom

Wow!! Outstanding terrain and report.

Thanks. It's nice to get the positive feedback.

Tom

Well earned Tom.

I just realized.... wow..... that pilot has mad skills landing in that little coralled off area.

The Kingbees, 219th VNAF Special Operations Helicopter Squadron, would go anywhere, through any fire, to pull out the SOG teams.

I think it was our very own Darby who told me that when any former Kingbees show up at the Special Forces Assn. reunions, they always get a standing ovation.

Tom

That's VERY awesome. A well deserved ovation from the sounds of it.

Awesome looking game!.... Wish I could have played in it! Loved the snake, think I saw him in my backyard years ago
indotoc

Thanks indotoc. Wish you could have played in it too.

Tom

Very nice, wish I could have been in game!
indotoc