This is going to be the promised Battle Report between Bledore and Sablenoir, using the FiveCore Company Commander rules.
If you want all the background info you could need, check the previous post. Since that's already out of the way, we're going to dive right in.
Today's occurrence is an example of the kind of engagement that occurs regularly along the Sangchaud. While the UN observers are away, two platoons of militia troops from Sablenoir have crossed the Sangchaud to collude with locals on the West bank, reminding them of their true allegiances and seeing if they have any good information on goings-on in Bledore. They have travelled there in an old military truck, but are accompanied by a BRDM, stolen from the old Beauchamps garrisons during the civil war.
While some of the locals are sympathetic to Sablenoir, for most the war is in the past and they are tired of it. When the militiamen pull up, one of the farmers gets on the phone to the local Bledore reserve unit, and before too long, two M113s roll up the road. The Bledore troops dismount and fan out. Here is a photo of their initial positions. (the blue to the left of the photo is a small offshoot of the Sangchaud - West is near the camera, East away from it)
And here is a view of the Sablenoir dispositions :
One squad moves up the road to shout at the militiamen.
Harsh words are exchanged, and the civilians close their shutters and bar their doors. Tensions are growing...
BANG
A warning shot rings out from the Sablenoir sentries' position, along with a shouted threat. The Bledore Lieutenant decides he's having no more of this, and orders his men to shake out for combat. The M113 with pintle-mounted .50 cal, on the road, readies its weapon.
Seeing this, the Sablenoir sentries let rip with suppression fire, driving the Bledore point squad into cover with their heads down. As militiamen move up to take advantage of this, the M113 suppresses them in turn at the corner of the Southwestern field. (I place the units on their side to mark status effects - in this case, both are hiding, suppressed)
The M113 moves up to support its pinned comrades, but comes under effective fire from the BRDM. To the reservists who have not been in combat yet, the sound of the large-calibre machine gun rounds ringing on the hull sounds like the vehicle ripping itself apart, and they bail out to cover! Fortunately for them, their comrades on the side of the road pull themselves together and lay enough fire into the nearby Sablenoir section to put them out of the fight.
The militias, seeing their comrades go down, rush the SW field, hoping to get to grips with the Bledore troops advancing through there, but are driven down by reaction fire from the reservists.
In the meantime, the M113 crew mount back up, grumbling something or other about internal malfunctions to save what face they thought they lost by bailing out, and force the BRDM's own crew out of their car with the .50 cal, as well as driving the troops in the parking lot to ground.
The militias, seeing the fight turning against them, rush forward through the Southern farm complex, driving back the Bledore troops in the field and putting the squad by the side of the road out of action through gunfire. The M113, oblivious to their approach, kills a crewman of the BRDM, keeping it well and truly suppressed at the expense of covering themselves...
The militia, being no fools, see their chance, and rush the vehicle!
The Bledore GPMG drives the Sablenoir militia out of the road again, but does not kill them, and they are able to repel another advance by Bledore infantry along the roadside.
At this point, the leader of the Sablenoir forces decides that enough is enough - they've bloodied the Bleeders' nose quite a bit by burning out their vic, and it's time to save the rest of his men. (they fail their company morale check...) The militiamen begin a fighting withdrawal.
In the withdrawal, they try desperately to do more damage to the Bledore forces, but simply can't put enough fire on them. One platoon makes it out of the area while the commander, one more squad, and the BRDM stay to hold the Bledore reservists.
Moments later, the accompanying squad is defeated through fire, while the command squad is put 'men down' (having taken enough casualties to impede operation), and taken over in an assault. As the BRDM makes tracks out of the area of operations, the leader of the local militia troops surrenders.
That marks the end of another routine skirmish along the Truce line - the burning M113 will be dragged off by a support crew long before the UN observers get there, as will the dead and wounded. Situation : no change for the island of Beauchamps.
Of course, it's only a matter of time before that changes for good...
I hope you all liked this, and I'd love to see your feedback in the comments. Stay tuned for further adventures on the island of Beauchamps, as well as many other diversions of a gaming sort!
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