Meeting
Engagements
This scenario
takes place at the height of the Croatian resistance to Serbian/JNA
intervention in late 1991. At this point, the Yugoslavian civil war
had degenerated into an infantry shoving match with mortar and artillery
accompanyment. This scenario is typical of many of the infantry meeting
engagements which took place in the villages swept under the path of the
war. Players can take the roles of Croatian ZNG militia or JNA
regulars contesting possession of a nameless village somewhere in Croatia.
Scenario
Outline
The scenario is
based around a meeting engagement in a small village between Croatian
militia and Federal Yugoslavian soldiers. The Croatian player has a
small force familiar with the village defences, but lacks heavy firepower
and training. The Yugoslavian player fields two squads of
well-trained regulars, but is faced with making an assault across
defensible terrain. Ideally, this scenario can be used to introduce new
players into the game by teaming them with more experienced players and
letting them command an element of either Croatian or Yugoslavian forces. If
a larger scenario is desired to accomodate more players, then give the ZNG
a second squad, and give the JNA a third squad as well as a platoon
command group consisting of a Line trooper armed with an AK-47, and a Line
trooper armed with an SVD.
This scenario
takes place in the early morning in mountainous territory near Sisak. As
an option, players who want to add in atmospheric conditions can make a
0-9 roll. If the roll is from 0-2, the entire map is covered with
early morning haze for a -6 Visibility ALM to all fire. Otherwise,
visibility is clear.
Setup
Croatian forces
hold a village area and are able to set up anywhere in the northern half
of the map.
The Yugoslavian
player must enter along the southern edge of the map, but may be delayed
several phases, giving the Croatian player time to move to different
positions should he so desire. The Yugoslavian player secretly makes a 0-5
roll and multiplies the result by 20. He writes this number on a card
and places the number face-down. This is the number of phases which
must pass before the Yugoslavian player can enter the map. When the
required number of phases have passed, the Yugoslavian player flips the
card over, showing the number to the Croatian player, and can enter the
map.
Croatian ZNG
The ”Zengee”
squad has been moving forwards since before dawn to try to re-occupy a
village it had to evacuate a week ago because of intense fighting. Since
then, the village has been abandoned, although there are rumors of a
Yugoslavian or Serbian unit moving up. The Croatian mission is to
hold the village against any assault, although since the ”Zengees”
only arrived a short while ago, they have not had time to make any
improvements to the old defences.
Croatian ZNG Units
Number
Quality
Weapon
1 Line
FN-FAL
1 Green
MG3
3 Green
AK-47
2 Militia
Ultimax 100
2 Militia
FN-FAL
Yugoslavian
JNA
The war has gone
poorly for Federal Yugoslavian forces almost from the beginning, and now
it has become a difficult infantry campaign in what has become to the JNA
a foreign land. The war has become one of territory and casualties.
This patrol of two
squads has been ordered to occupy the village. JNA reconnaissance
patrols have reported the village empty, but there have been rumors of
increased Croatian activity. This patrol must overcome any resistance
and capture the village.
Yugoslavian JNA
Squad Organization -- Each Squad
Number
Quality
Weapon
3 Line
AK-47
1 Line
RPK
1 Green
AK-47 & M-79 Osser
3 Green
AK-47
Special
Terrain
Cemetary: The
Cemetary is a typical Eastern European graveyard with large tombstones and
crypts above the ground, mixed with patches of cement and foliage. The
waist-high stone crypts have a PF of 11,000. The smaller tombstones
have a PF of 6400. Both types provide waist high cover and grant a
kneeling combatant full cover.
Also,
because of the density of the tomb arrangement within the cemetary area,
all movement is at +1 AC per hex, which assumes that combatants are either
moving between or vaulting over the tombstones and crypts.
Trenches
and Ditches: Two
trenches were built by the previous Croatian defenders of this village and
are in the northwestern section of the town. These trenches are 0.5
hexes wide and several hexes long and provide waist-high cover to a
standing combatant and full cover to a kneeling combatant. Because of
their narrowness, movement within these trenches is at +1 AC per hex.
There
are also some shallow drainage ditches running along the eastern road. These
ditches are 1 foot deep, 0.5 hexes wide, and several hexes long. They
do not have any effect on movement, and provide no cover to a standing or
kneeling combatant other than reducing the target size of a person in them
by 2. However, the ditches will provide full cover to any prone
combatant. The ditches are not much, but when bullets are flying,
they are better than nothing.
Church: The
Catholic church building is at the south edge of the map and consists of a
small chapel with a bell-tower/steeple, accessible by a ladder within the
church itself. The church has brick & stucco walls (PF 400) while
the steeple is simply wood and stucco (PF 6). The steeple itself sits
3 floors (30 feet) above ground level and a combatant wishing to reach the
steeple must spend 20 AC climbing the ladder. The steeple floor is
made of thick wood (PF 7) and has a 2 x 2 foot hole to accomodate the
ladder and a long-vanished bell rope. There are 2 x 1 foot openings
in all four walls of the steeple, permitting a good view of the entire
town. Treat these openings as windows for spotting and firing
purposes.
Victory
Conditions
This scenario is a
fairly straightforward infantry battle with both sides having the
objective of capturing the village. The battle for the village ends
by mutual consent of the players.
To score a major
victory, one side must have the only non-incapacitated armed troops on the
map after the JNA comes onto the map.
The battle
dynamics of an infantry match may prevent a major victory in the case
where neither side is willing to surrender ground and both are too spent
to launch an offensive. To score a minor victory in such a case, one
side must have possession of more buildings than the other. To have
possession of a building for victory purposes means to have the only
non-incapacitated armed combatants within the building itself. Any
other result counts as a draw.
Sniper Alley
Variant
In Croatia, and
later in Bosnia-Hercegovina, the role of the sniper was redefined. No
longer were snipers units targeting enemy forces with surgical precision,
in Yugoslavia they became instruments of terror, targeting mainly civilian
targets, media personnel, and relief workers. The rationale for this
activity was that the presence of one side's sniper in an area was
sufficient to indicate that side exerted influence over the area. Snipers
took advantage of urban terrain by operating from fortified nests and
multistory buildings in order to keep shooting at targets for as long as
possible.
Sniper weapons in
Yugoslavia were rarely ”bona fide” military sniper rifles. Hunting
rifles, assault rifles, and even machineguns were used in the sniper
role. This reflected the sniper's new purpose--no longer was
precision required, but only sufficient firepower to telegraph to the
opposition which side actually did have control over the sniper's area of
operations.
This variant
allows players to take the roles of a Serbian Cetnik sniper team and a
Croatian ZNG patrol meeting in a Croatian village. Again, this was a
fairly common event in the war. Use the same map as the main
scenario.
Cetniks
(variant):
Cetniks set up
inside the church, with the sniper setting up in the top floor of the
steeple itself. The sniper team must kill or incapacitate as many of
the of the Croatian squad as possible before pulling out, if necessary. The
Line trooper with the SVD is the actual sniper, while the 2 Green
combatants act as his security team.
Cetnik Units
Number
Quality
Weapon
1
Line
SVD
(sniper)
2
Green
AK-47
Cetnik units also
have one RPG-18 disposable rocket launcher distributed as the player
desires.
Sniper Nest: A
double layer of sandbags have been placed around the steeple walls, giving
a total PF of 48 to each steeple wall. Firing holes 2 feet by 1 foot
have been cut in the steeple walls and should be treated as windows.
Croatian ZNG
The ZNG have
learned about a sniper team operating in the village and are sent to
eliminate it. They must capture the sniper nest itself by killing or
driving off the sniper. ZNG units set up on the road on the north
side of the map.
Croatian ZNG Units
Number
Quality
Weapon
2
Green
AK-47
1
Green
Ultimax 100 SAW
3
Militia
AK-47
2
Militia
Kar 98K (Mauser
Bolt-actions)
Victory Conditions
(variant): The
Cetnik player wins the scenario if the ZNG units retreat or are unable to
take the sniper nest. He also wins if he is able to exfiltrate his
forces off the map and has killed or severely incapacitated (>20
Minutes) four members of the ZNG force. For each Cetnik not making it
off-map alive, increase the requirement by 1, but note that at least one
Cetnik must be alive and not incapacitated for the Cetniks to claim any
kind of victory. So, if only one Cetnik survived the ZNG assault, at
least 6 ZNG troopers would have to be dead or seriously incapacitated for
the Cetniks to claim a victory. ZNG forces win if they take the sniper
nest or if the sniper nest is abandoned by the Cetniks and the ZNGs have
taken less casualties than the Cetniks need to have inflicted for victory.