[DSII] AAR, Ambush of Convoy 382

Background:

New Serbia is not a pleasant planet. It was originally settled by Serbian
nationalists, with Croatians moving in later.
(http://www.angelfire.com/va.basileus/serbs.html)  With those two
nationalities in the same solar system, things got very ugly very quickly. The
New Roman Empire moved in some time ago. Several Imperial companies do
business on New Serbia, but always with armed escorts. One of the major
players is the Argyros Group, which has contracted with Executive Securities
Inc. for it's convoy escort services
(http://www.angelfire.com/va/basileus/bucelari.html).  One of the main
mining facilities of the Argyros Group is in Prijepolje.

Opposing Forces:

Major Rob Martinez commanded Executive Securities Task Force 143, with the
following OB: HQ Section: 1xGrav APC A Company: HQ Section: 1xFox, 1xPanther
1st PLT: 4xFox 2nd PLT: 4xTiger 3rd PLT: 4xFox
        B Company
HQ Section: 1xBear
                1st PLT: 4xGrav APCs, 4xRifle teams, 2xAPSW, 2xGMS/L
                2nd PLT: 4xWheeled APCs, 4xRifle teams, 2xAPSW, 2xGMS/L
3rd PLT: 4xBear Light Tanks

TF 143 was ordered to move to Prijepolje and perform escort duties for convoys
moving from there to the spaceport at Ragusa, along Route 44. Rte 44 moved
through the territory of various local rulers, including the Duke of New
Rogatio, who is Serbian, somewhat pro-Imperial, and on the Argyros
Group's payroll. Convoy 382 consisted of 4 tankers loaded with refined
fuel and 18 trucks loaded with platinum-group metals.

Captain Dave Luff, an Anglian mercenary, commanded A Company, Jaeger Corps,
Cajnice Royal Lifeguards (The Jaeger Corps is a standard
Serbo-Croatian infantry batallion).  For this mission it was reinforced
with 2xHVC/3s with enhanced firecontrol and 2 prime movers.  The Prince
of Cajnice is Croatian, anti-Imperial, and not on anybody's payroll.  He
is also a long-time rival of the Duke of New Rogatio.  Captain Luff was
ordered to link up with guerillas operating in the area of Route 44 and attack
Convoy 382. Guerilla forces consisted of 10 rifle teams, 2xAPSW
teams, 1xGMS/L team, and 6xsniper teams (Using Andrew Martin's sniper
rules, modified).

Terrain: Route 44 runs roughly NE to SW, Ragusa being to the Southwest. It
curves around 2 hills. The forests are such that we declared anything not
marked otherwise was light forest. There were a few clearings, and
several side roads (single-lane) branching off.
Setup: Captain Luff split his forces up somewhat, placing a roadblock around a
curve so that the lead elements of the convoy would come around the curve and
see the HVCs and the company AT vehicle. Hopefully these would smash the lead
platoon while the 3 platoons of guerillas and 2 platoons of Jaegers shot up
the main body of the convoy.

The Convoy was organized with a lead element of 4xFoxes 10" ahead of the main
body. Then the main body was led by a platoon of Foxes, the platoon of Bears,
and the wheeled APC platoon. These were followed by the tankers, then A
Company command element, then 6 trucks, then Batallion command element & B
Company command element. These were followed by 8 more trucks, then the Grav
APC platoon, then 4 more trucks and the platoon of Tigers. We moved only the
lead platoon on the board until Captain Luff sprung his ambush, then the rest
of the convoy would be set up, Dave would get his free activations, and then
the normal turn sequence would start.

Ambush:
I didn't take notes on turn-by-turn, but over three turns:
At first things appeared to be going poorly for the valient Jaegers. The AT
unit missed their entire first volley, and then Dave rolled a 1 for number of
free activations. So he only activated the platoon of regulars near the front
of the column, buzzboming the escorts. He destroyed a Fox and an APC (but not
killing the infantry inside) and damaged a pair of Bears. The rest of the
infantry dismounted and assaulted into the Jaeger platoon, chewing it up
badly, and the Foxes and Bears finished it off. Then they started moving
further into the woods directly perpendicular to the road, rather than moving
forward or doubling back to help the rest of the convoy. The tail end of the
convoy, however, recovered the situation
nicely for our Jaegers. A platoon of guerillas buzz-bombed two Tigers
into burning ruins, breaking the other two. They also knocked out a Grav APC
and immobilized another one. Unfortunately, it was the command APC and the
platoon leader didn't make it out of the burning hulk, and the platoon became
shaken. Rob attempted to close assault into the ambush like he did at the
front of the column, and all he got for his troubles was broken infantry. then
another platoon of guerillas dove out of the
woods, close assaulted the 8-truck unit, shot the drivers, and started
driving into the woods! (I was permitting the guerillas to split up a rifle
team into drivers for 2 trucks). Then another guerilla platoon opened up in
the middle of the convoy and knocked out B company command vehicle, and
immobilized a truck (a sniper was going for the cab, I was 'umpire fudging'
and letting him try. Dave pulled a blue M, and I ruled there was a.50 caliber
hole in the engine block due to something jogging the sniper's figurative
elbow). Then things went from bad to worse, and the final Jaeger platoon
(other than the one covering their rear) opened up, toasting A Company command
unit entirely. The lead platoon of infantry valiently tried to close assault
but took heavy casualties (it was now down to 2 GMS stands, and APSW stand,
and a rifle stand) and finally routed. The APCs and light tanks tried to
continue the attack, but the APCs were wiped out (2 more killed, 1 immobilized
and routed, which I ruled meant the crew bailed out) and the Bears broke (this
is when their company commander bought it). The Jaegers lost 3 stands, but
held firm. The remaining trucks
(13, including the fuel tankers) had fled the road off to the north-
east, and the escort had only one platoon remaining in good condition. The
Jaegers decided to cut their losses (and the fact that they couldn't catch the
trucks had something to do with it) and withdrew with their eight trucks.

Aftermath: Major Martinez was courtmartialed and shot for loosing more than
half his convoy escort, a third of his convoy, and being forced to turn back
to Prijipolje.

Captain Luff lost half his Jaegers as well, but the damage done
to the convoy and the 8 truckloads of platinum-group metals did much to
make up for this, as did the fact that he managed to withdraw will the
guerillas intact, and he was commended and will likely be promoted soon.

Lessons Learned: The ambush was more or less textbook, except I would have had
a force on the east side of the road to prevent the convoy from escaping
easily.

The ambush reaction went poorly. Assaulting into the ambush shows good
instincts, and the infantry did well, but the armored vehicles were mishandled
badly. Also, most of the Buccellari routed or broke fairly early in the
battle, due to a combination of bad rolls, and the loss of company command
elements. I would have made the company commanders less obvious. The convoy
also had no flank protection, and was moving at high speed (hence die rolls to
spot the ambush were too
low).

Umpire: Some mistakes on my part made things difficult for the
escort commander.  The set-up specified road rates for movement, which
was realistic, but made
life difficult for the escort--garunteeing he would be surprised.  I
also didn't set it up physically properly--the ambush commander could
see the organization of the convoy as he set up. I ruled this was due to the
guerillas having observers several miles in both directions. Might not do this
next time.