Scenario: Men In Green Faces 1968/08

[shahadi]

Men in Green Faces 1968/08

Location: Ham Luong River, South Vietnam

Battle Type: USMC assault vs Viet Cong defend
Date: August, 1968

Force Value
USMC: 723
Viet Cong: 757

Men
USMC: 29
Viet Cong: 92

Designed by: shahadi

Map by: Pyros with modifications by shahadi

Background
Men in Green Faces (MIGF), is a semi historical scenario depicting a patrol mission up the Ham Luong River in August 1968. MIGF is an twelve-man platoon of U.S. Navy SEALs ferried aboard a LCM-6 "Mike Boat" to destroy a bunker at the neck in the Ham Luong River.

This scenario depicts a typical SEAL missions in the riverine environments of South Vietnam. The rivers of Vietnam presented the Viet Cong with a rich environment to control territory, increase revenue, and extend logistical trains from the north throughout the south. Seal Teams One and Two were created to conduct special operations to interdict Viet Cong activities within the Mekong Delta.

Situation
Regular North Vietnamese engineers have built a bunker that dominates a neck in the Ham Luong River. The Ham Luong River is a major transit of Viet Cong war materials and a means to finance their insurrection against the South Vietnamese government. The bunker is a serious threat to the Navy's mission to interdict the VC logistics train on the Ham Luong River while hindering riverine operations to locate, fix, and destroy VC formations in the surrounding province.

“To augment present naval capabilities in restricted waters and rivers with particular reference to the conduct and support of paramilitary operations, it is desirable to establish Special Operations teams as a separate component within Underwater Demolition Units One and Two. An appropriate cover name for such units is ‘SEAL’ being a contraction of SEA, AIR, LAND.”
Vice Adm. Wallace M. Beakley,
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, June 5, 1961

A. ENEMY FORCES
A concrete bunker supported by VC forces.

B. MISSION

Zulu Platoon, SEAL Team One, based at Nha Be, Rung Sat Special Zone with transport and fire support from Task Group 131.1 (TG) of the River Assault Division 131, River Assault Squadron 13 will land at Obj Fox, then proceed in the bush to Obj Rabbit to destroy a bunker at the neck of the Ham Luong River in the darkness of night.

C. EXECUTION

Commander's Intent: While ferried aboard a Mike Boat, and escorted by two Patrol Boat, River (PBR) craft , Zulu will approach Obj Fox in the dark of night from the north. Upon reaching the beach at Obj Fox, Zulu platoon will land, establish a defensive perimeter with first squad, while second squad proceeds south east in the bush to Obj Rabbit. Zulu will locate and destroy the concrete bunker. The boats will move off the beach, but later bank to support the SEALs during backloading.

SEAL extraction at Obj Fox.

D. CONCEPT OF THE OPERATION

1. Maneuver: SEAL assault by land with support by two PBRs and a Mike Boat.

2. Fires: Heavy machine gun, and auto grenade fires from the PBRs and the Mike Boat.

3. Close Air Support: None.

E. COMMAND/SIGNAL
LT Jefferson Kennedy, Zulu Platoon, SEAL Team One, forward deployed at Nha Be, Rung Sat Special Zone, is the mission OIC.

F. FRIENDLY FORCES
Zulu Platoon, SEAL Team One, HQ Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, San Diego, California
1st Squad
LT Jefferson "Jeff" Kennedy, CO

1x Seal Squad
1x Seal Pathfinders
1x Seal Sniper

2nd Squad
Chief McKinney, CPO1

1x Seal Squad
1x Seal Pathfinders
1x Seal Sniper

Task Group 131.1, River Assault Division 131, River Assault Squadron 13

2x PBR
1x LCM-ATC

In game naming convention:

A0 PL-Zulu
B0 1-1-Zulu-Sniper
B1 2-1-Zulu-PthFndr

C0 SL-2-Zulu
C1 1-2-Zulu-Sniper
C2 2-2-Zulu-PthFndr

D0-ATC-131.13
D1-PBR-131.13
D2-PBR-131.13

Gameplay
Play the scenario from the USMC side against the Viet Cong AI.

Victory conditions
No special victory conditions.

Notes
The SEALs mission was the interdiction of VC operations in riverine environments by counter guerilla warfare and clandestine operations. In this scenario, move your SEALs slowly, not more than a hex at a time. You may consider halting movement between turns, such that a unit is moved one turn, then halted the subsequent turn before moving on the third turn. To reach Obj Rabbit in a reasonable time, place your SEAL Pathfinders at point.

This is a wide river assault scenario, the game will equip the SEALs with inflatable rafts; therefore, use the following steps to extract Zulu from the beach: Enter a unit onto the ATC hex, unload the unit from it's assault boat by pressing the "L" key. With your mouse, click on the UNIT, press "L" key then select the ATC to complete the load.



PLEASE NOTE THIS SCENARIO HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE 2019 PATCH UPDATE AS SCENARIO 399

[kulik242]

Great little scenario, thanks.


AAR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!


Upon disembarking on obj Fox Lt. Kennedy and his squad secured the landing zone and established a perimeter. Sgt. Julien with second squad disappeared in the jungle moving south west with pathfinders on point.

The patrol ship of Corp. Brusard was unfortunately swept down the stream (I've miss-clicked.) and was engaged by the bunker itself. The ship received a hit before it maneuvered out of the bunker's line of fire. No causalities were sustained but the recoiless rifle took out one M60 machinegun and additional damage and injuries resulted in loss of about 70% of firepower. Surprise was lost to this incident, sneaking approach was thus abandoned and henceforth, maximum aggression became the motto of the operation. Second patrol boat of Corp. Cohen opened suppressing fire on suspected bunker position and objective Rabbit.

The second squad cautiously advanced parallel with the shore about 150 meters from it. Several booby-traps were located but clear path was found so no time was lost to defuse operations. Second patrol boat of Corp. Cohen miss-maneuvered while trying to get into better position for providing suppresive fire and was also hit by the bunker, again, no direct casualties, but the boat itself was heavily damaged.

Meanwhile landing zone on objective Fox came under assault from VC force of about reduced platoon size. Two squads were eliminated in small clearing to the NE, but third squad moving along the shore from north managed to get eyes on the landing craft and opened fire. Lacking heavy weapons, they didn't managed to damage the craft and were suppressed from both patrol boats and the landing craft itself. Lt. Kennedy maneuvered his squad to engaged the pinned VC squad and killed it.

As the suppressing fire on objective Rabbit started to became dangerous for the advancing second squad, the attention refocus of the patrol boats caused by the assault on landing zone was welcome and came just in time. Pathfinders of the second squad advancing under cover fire provided by the rest of the squad made contact with the enemy bunker. The bunker was suppressed wit AP 40 mm grenades and Sgt. Julien himself lead the charge on the bunker. The bunker was breached, it is unknown how many enemies died during the breach, however, the panicking company sized force was reduced to 20 men during the retreat (mainly due to Corp. Johnson's claymore mine).

Second squad retreated towards objective Fox using the same path as they came, but at maximum speed the jungle vegetation allowed. Lt. Kennedy waited until second squad boards the craft and ordered to board his squad once the second squad was safe. Shortly after, mortar fire started hitting the river line of objective Fox, luckily, the boats were farther at that point. The objective was fulfilled, platoon escaped and no casualties were sustained during the mission.

[shahadi]

BM1 James E. “Elliott” Williams

Upon presenting to BM1 James E. “Elliott” Williams for service as a patrol officer in PBR-105 during an action on 31 October 1966 the medal of honor, The president Lyndon Johnson allegedly commented, “Damn, Williams, you've got a big neck,” as he attempted to place the medal there. Williams also had a Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, a Navy and Marine Corps Medal, three Bronze Star Medals, three Purple Hearts, a Navy Commendation Medal and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses.

On October 31, 1966, Williams was commanding PBR 105 alongside another PBR searching for Viet Cong guerrillas operating in an isolated area of the Mekong Delta. Suddenly, Viet Cong manning two sampans opened fire on the Americans. While Williams and his men neutralized one sampan, the other one escaped into a nearby canal. The PBRs gave chase and soon found themselves in a beehive of enemy activity as the VC opened fire on them with rocket propelled grenades and small arms from fortified river bank positions.

Williams repeatedly led the PBRs against concentrations of enemy junks and sampans. He also called for support from the heavily armed UH-1B Huey helicopters of Navy Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron 3, the "Seawolves." When that help arrived, he kicked off another attack in the failing light. As a result of the three-hour battle, the U.S. naval force killed 1,000 Viet Cong guerrillas, destroyed over fifty vessels, and disrupted a major enemy logistic operation. For his heroic actions on that date he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

USS James E. Williams DDG-95 bears his name.

Elliott Williams passed away in 1999.