Bucha, Ukraine - 27 Feb 2022 - 15mm
Battle Report: Australian 4th RAR/C on a "Bag Job" (capture enemy leader) in East Timor
A little while ago, Dylan and I had a great game of Sitrep Skirmish for ANZAC Day, recreating the Battle of the Same (pronounced “sam-ay”) in the former Portuguese colony (and Indonesian province) of East Timor. This was part of Operation Astute, where elements of 4th Royal Australian Regiment / Commando were tasked with bringing in Alfredo Reinado, a rebel officer who’d broken away from the military in East Timor. Historically, this action took place on 4 March 2007, and Reinado actually escaped. We’ll see if his luck holds out again on our tabletop.
So here is the briefing. Most East Timorese government, military (FDTL), and Australian ops are based out of the East Timorese capital of Dili. Extending south into the rugged east-west mountain range and dense jungle, Reinado and his renegade FDTL rebels, combined with gangs, bandits, and marauders (usually remnants of former pro-Indonesian insurgent groups left over from previous wars) sought to evade contact and capture. Today’s engagement takes place at the jungle settlement of Same on the south slopes of the Timorese mountains.
Here is the map for today’s game. Ground scale is about 20 feet a hex. Each piece will be an individual insurgent, gang member, or operator. 
Here are the forces for today’s game. Dylan has two Australian fireteams of four men. Each team has a leader with an M4 assault rifle, a grenadier with am M4/M203, a marksman with an SR-98 sniper rifle, and an a-gunner with an F89A1 Minimi (basically, an M249 SAW). There’s also a Portuguese- and Tetum-speaking national, a former associate of Reinado’s who can speak with him and more importantly, his rebels. This will allow Dylan to recruit ambivalent militia to his side, or even convince rebels to stand down without having to shoot them. The SH-60 Seahawk is how they get to the battle area, basically allowing them to enter from any table edge. Meanwhile I have a force of Alfredo Reinado and his rebels (note they are trained regulars), along with a swarm of uncommitted, ambivalent gang members. 
Right off the bat, Dylan is doing well. Alpha Team under the overall commander (Jameson) enters on the south side of the board, comes up to a gang of insurgents, makes a successful interpreter check with Marilda. Just that fast (and with the quiet handoff of a stack of $100 bills) these four uncommitted gang members are now with the Australians. 
To the west, the incursion might not go as smoothly. Bravo Team (Ritchie) is likely to encounter some of Reinado’s core rebels. They CAN be turned, but there is no interpreter here and even if there were, the roll would be much more difficult. So Ritchie takes in Bravo team a little more cautiously.
By Turn 3, Jameson’s Alpha Team coerces a SECOND gang of ambivalent insurgents to join government forces, probably offering immunity from prosecution for past looting or arson (common in this conflict). With so many new allies, Dylan starts to get bold and moves out into across the central “road” toward Reinado’s safehouse at upper left
Things finally kick off for real on Turn 4. A very nice roll on the “Determine Threat” and “Street Events” tables gives Dylan a lucky break … a whole fireteam of my actual former FDTL-regular renegades suddenly loses heart and decides they’re not THAT committed to the cause. They switch from HOSTILE (red “H”) to AMBIVALENT (yellow “A”), while a second fireteam is approached from three sides by three pro-government militia gangs and Jameson’s Alpha Team of Australian RAR/C. Clearly my team is finished here, so I decide to at least sell their lives dearly, and with some find AK and FN-FAL work, chop up four enemy militia before I’m pinned down by the other militia teams and then finished off by the Australians. 
FDTL Operative Marilda now straight-up BUYS that wavering fireteam of FDTL renegades, doubtlessly offering amnesty for charges of desertion, mutiny, looting, arson, and theft … if they’ll just turn their guns … and that RPG around at me. BETRAYAL! You will pay for that with your lives! Unlikely, as the whole south end of the table is now wide open and a general rush on Reinado’s safehouse has now begun. Why do I suddenly feel like Pablo Escobar in his final moments? 
Turn 06, and it’s time to make a stand. I had a chance to actually run off the north end of the table with Reinado (thus denying Dylan a chance at TOTAL victory). But instead I wanted to keep him on the table for just one more turn because only he can turn Ambivalent fireteams again to Hostile. I manage to do this, turning one whole fireteam back to my cause, which is especially important as it contains an RPD light machine gun and an RPG rocket launcher. Unfortunately, this also allows the sniper on Bravo Team (Michaels) to put a round in Reinado’ leg, thus “capturing” him for victory conditions. Reinado’s second-in-command turns that restored fireteam around (Dylan is VERY frightened of that RPG, it could kill everyone in Team Bravo), but the rest of Team Bravo (Ritchie: Team Lead with M4, Farcus: SAW, Dayburn: M4/M203) to kill most of that new fireteam Reinado re-recruited to the cause. Return fire misses. More bad news with my other fireteam, they are also wiped out by Jameson and Alpha Team, but here I actually manage to score a win with opportunity fire: A single 7.62mm round goes through the head of Australian Team Alpha sniper Latham. He is killed instantly. 
On Turn 7, YET AGAIN Dylan nails it on the Threat Tracker and Street Events tables, and my last irregular militia are suddenly back converted to “ambivalent.” It actually makes a degree of sense, Reinado himself is out of the battle, seven FDTL renegades are now combat ineffective. Only two remain, and they’re sneaking in the back door of that eastern house to make their last “Billy the Kid” stand while nineteen East Timorese locals and pissed off Australians are sweeping up from the south and west. If I were an enemy militiaman, I’d be trying to make a deal, too. The game actually ends NEXT turn, when I decide “to hell with it” and have my last two renegades book it off the north end of the table. The game goes down as an Australian minor victory. They were able to table the militia (no red “H”s on the table) and capture Reinado, but also sustained a fatality among their Tier-One Operators. Congrats and great job Dylan on a fun game!
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