Battle Report: Spectre Operations 03/11/2016

If you haven’t realised based off previous posts, my wargaming opponents are split between friends down in York and SESWC up in Edinburgh. Having introduced Spectre to the guys in York, it was now time to try it out with the Edinburgh crowd. Here is how things went down

After the SAS operation robbed them of their prize, Militants in Bazistan are looking for ways to raise funds. Their latest target is the Argo Corporation, a multi-national with various commercial interests in the region. The militants have managed to kidnap two contractors and are now holding them for ransom. Eager to recover their people, they have sent some of their Private Military Contractors to sort out a deal with the militants.

However, the two hostages are actually responsible for several acts of sabotage and spying, including one on a Russian competitor. Even worse, this competitor is a front for the Russian Intelligence services and as such a team of Spetsnaz have been deployed to secure the two hostages and “question” them about their involvement.

The deal goes down in an abandoned town. While the contractors and militants converse, the Russians advance…

Forces

Spetsnaz

All with body armour, pistols, radio, thermobaric and smoke grenades and personal medical kit

1x Elite Squad Leader w/ Carbine (w/ red dot and laser)

1x Elite w/ Heavy body armour, MMG (w/ red dot) and Combat Shotgun

1x Elite w/ LMG (w/ red dot)

4x Elite w/ assault rifle (w/ red dot and laser)

1x Elite w/ Carbine (w/ red dot and laser), battlefield trauma kit and stimulants

1x Elite w/ assault rifle (w/ red dot and laser) and MGL

Contractors

1x Professional Squad Leader w/ carbine (w/scope and Red Dot)

3x Professionals w/ carbine (w/scope and Red dot)

1x Professionals w/ carbine (w/scope and Red dot) and Battlefield Trauma Kit

2x Professionals w/ compact LMG

1x Professional w/ carbine (w/ scope and red dot) and automatic shotgun

4x Professionals w/ carbine (w/scope and red dot) and UGL

Militants and AWOL Eritrean soldiers

Eritreans

All have body armour, radios, frag grenades and personal med kits

1x Trained Commander w/ assault rifle and UGL

4x Trained Soldiers w/ Assault rifle

1x Trained Soldier w/ RPG (HEAT and AP)

1x Trained Soldier w/ LMG

1x Trainer Soldier w/ Battle Rifle and Battlefield Trauma Kit

Militants

1x Trained Squad Leader w/ carbine and radio

1x Trained w/ MMG

1x Trained w/ Combat Shotgun

6x Trained w/Assault Rifle

5x Trained w/ Carbine

The Game

Militants start inside the compound while the PMC start in the village, with the two sides having a conference by the front gate as they attempt to make the trade. Inside the compound, the hostages are stored in a shipping container where they have been held for several days. The Russians are infiltrating from the other side of the drainage ditch. As the game starts, everyone but the Russians are unaware.

For a while the game was pretty quiet – the Russians move into position against the wall of the compound, the contractors sneaked a unit into the L-shaped building and a small group of militants patrolled around – worryingly, the militant’s leader re-entered the compound leaving the contractors to deal with his subordinate. However, the Russians soon started the party with a bang; Two soldiers were propped up by their buddies so they could shoot over the wall while the grenadier hefted his pump action grenade launcher and rattled off three quick shots (Ed: yes this required some rule improvisation). The assault rifles dropped two of the militants while the grenade launcher missed, scattering and shredding the trees the Eritreans were hiding in. Realising the alarm was raised, the rest of the Russians opened up with machine guns and suppressed more of the Eritreans.

As the sounds of gunfire erupted, the other sides swiftly swung into action. Before the targets could even react, the leader of the mercenaries and his backup swiftly went into action and double tapped the guards outside. The rest of the contractors, assuming a double cross, started opening up with 40mm grenades and LMGs even attempting to hit the shadowy forms on the other side of the compound wall. The Russians continued to take out the exposed Eritreans even as they fled into the fields. On top of a tower in the compound, the Eritrean commander repeatedly failed to rally his forces and was hamstrung more when another grenade launcher round hit the tower and took out him and his RPG gunner. Looks like the AWOL soldiers were a bad investment as backup.

However, the fight wasn’t going all the attackers way. The militants springing into action managed to put some fire down on the perched Russians forcing them back over the wall. After rallying off the suppression, three of the Spetsnatz (including the medic and commander) leapt over the wall and got ready to rush the remaining militia. Upon landing, the militants managed to drop one and pin down the others with scattered automatic fire. On the far side of the compound, the PMC moved up and got ready to breach the interior in an attempt to grab the hostages before the Russians.

Time was running out and so the final two turns saw a lot of stuff happen very quickly

The Militant leader and his buddy grabbed the two hostages and used them as human shields
The PMC team breached, saw the two militants holding the hostages and dropped the bad guys
As the militants advanced on the Russians, three more Spetsnatz operators climbed over the wall and dived onto the OPFOR taking them out in CQB
The rest of the Russians inside the compound opened up on the PMC intruders dropping two of them
That dastardly operator with the MGL fired his final blast and blew away the last contractor inside the walls.

As the time ran out, the militants had been wiped out. The Russians had 1 KIA but the rest of the team was in a good position and closest to the objective. Finally the contractors had lost three of their number but still had troops in position on the rooftops overlooking the compound. All the players agreed that an extra turn or two would have probably seen the Russians win, but it would really close.