No One Gets Left Behind

by sliabh

Gregor Abbasov's terrorist organisation has been neutralised. All that remains is to eliminate the man himself. He has fled to his home village of Garamammadi in the lawless Caucasian state of Mazajan. Taskforce "Celestial" has been sent to kill or capture him. The clan Militia in Garamammadi will defend their own to the death though, and the need for plausible deniability means "Celestial" can't leave evidence of their origins. In this part of the world people don't have to carry a gun to be hostile...

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Requirements
  3. Teams
  4. Gameplay
  5. Rules
  6. Briefings

Overview

This is a competitive scenario. It should be run three times, with points being allocated to teams in each role depending on their performance. There are three different groups present in the scenario:

  • Special Forces - A well armed and equipped force, looking to eliminate a high value target hidden in the village of Garamammadi.

Opposing them are:

  • Garamammadi Militia - The best armed and equipped people from the local clan. They will fight to the death to defend Abbasov.
  • The Civilians of Garamammadi - Poorly armed and some unarmed. They don't want outsiders in their village, but they don't want their possessions destroyed in a battle either. The will work with the Militia to drive off any invaders, up to a point.

The Special Forces are working to a time limit to find Abbasov. They aren't supposed to be in Garamammadi either, so they can't leave anyone behind after the mission, not even their dead. The milita and the Civilians work together. Both have had time to build their defenses, and prepare improvised explosive devices (IEDs). They don't have the same level of equipment as the Special Forces, and the Civilians have very few military weapons. But the Special Forces ROE mean killing "unarmed" Civilians will lead to mission failure, so they will need to be clever how to proceed.

Victory goes to the team with the most points from playing all three roles.

This scenario has been partially inspired by the Baraawee raid which occurred in September 2009, and other similar Special Forces operations. These raids show that sometimes you don't send a machine to do a man's job.

Requirements

This scenario is to be played in the HRTA village. The Militia and Civilians are hiding and defending Gregor Abbasov. He should be represented by a dummy, and it is suggested his head is a baloon. When the ballon is burst (shot) he is dead. Each side needs a fixed regen location. A number of boxes or other props are needed to represent civilian possessions e.g. TVs, DVD players, AC units, china plates, goats, etc. There should be about 1.5 items per civilian player.

Teams

The scenario should be played with three teams Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. Each one will take it in turn to play one of the three roles - Special Forces, Militia and Civilians.

US Special Forces

The Special Forces side are well armed, trained and equipped. They have the greatest number of "specialists" and the best equipment.

  • Uniforms: All players should have full BDUs, ideally of a similar type.
  • Equipment: The standard Mil-Sim equipment and ammunition guidelines apply i.e. 8 magazines loaded to real capacity per AEG.
  • Roles: As well as normal operators, the Special Forces side can field the following:
    • An overall commander.
    • One combat medic, and this faction uses a variant of the medic rules.
    • A single translator.
  • Rules Of Engagement: The Special Forces side have to follow their ROE at all times. Failure to do so will cost them victory points.
  • Start Point and Regen: The team will enter the playing area as a group from their regeneration point on the edge of the playing are. This regen represents a helicopter landing zone (LZ).

Garamammadi Militia

The Militia side are made up of the best armed men (and women) from the clan living around Garamammadi.

  • Uniforms: players should use a mix of civilian and military clothing. Every player should be identifiable as militia.
  • Equipment: The Militia have no restrictions in equipment, but are only allowed half the usual ammunition allowance. i.e. 4 magazines with real cap loads per person.
  • Roles:
    • Militia Commander
    • Combat medic
  • Gregor Abbasov - The Militia Commander is responsible for the safety of Gregor Abbasov and should hide him within the village without being observed by the Special Forces.
  • Improvised Explosive Devices - Before the scenario starts the Militia have 15 minutes to plant IEDs throughout the village.
  • Start point and regen - The Militia and Civilians use the same regen point on the opposite side of the village from the Special Forces. Players start the game anywhere within the village.

Civilians

The Civilians are the other village residents and clan members working around Garamammadi when the Special Forces raid occurs. They will oppose the Special Forces, but they want to protect their possessions as well.

  • Uniforms: Civilians should not wear any uniforms, tactical vests, holsters, or harnesses.
  • Equipment: Maximum if 1 AEG for every 3 Civilians, with no more than 4 magazines per gun. Other players can have one shotguns or bolt action rifle. Civilians do not have to be armed. Civilians can use radios for communication.
  • Roles:
    • Village headman, the local leader.
    • Village medic.
  • Possessions: Civilian possessions will be scattered thoughout the village. These have to brought to safety when fighting starts.
  • Start point and regen. The Militia and Civilians use the same regen point on the opposite side of the village from the Special Forces. Players start the game anywhere within the village.

Gameplay

The game should be run to a 90 minute time limit. The Special Forces must complete their mission and return to the LZ (regen point) inside this time.

Special Forces

The Special Forces attackers have three objectives:

  • Locate Gregor Abbasov within the game area, and kill or capture him. Abbasov will be hidden and they need to locate him as soon as possible. Abbasov is killed by a shot to the head (burst the balloon), or he is captured by being brought back to the LZ for exfiltration.
  • Leave no man behind - In order to maintain plausible deniability the Special Forces side needs to ensure that all of their men, dead and injured, are evacuated. This means that any player who is killed (through bleed out or being finished off by the defenders) has to be recovered and brought by simulated carry back to the Special Forces LZ. A "dead" player cannot regenerate until their "body" has been returned. This is a significant requirement for the Special Forces side and a condition for victory.
  • Avoid Civilian casualties - As described in their ROE the Special Forces side cannot arbitrarily shoot Civilians.

Garamammadi Militia

The local Garamammadi Militia have two objectives:

  • Keep Gregor Abbasov alive - Within reason the defenders can hide him anywhere in the play area. The marshals should use their discretion on this to make sure that he can be found by the Special Forces side with a reasonable search in the time allowed.
  • Get evidence to prove that US Special Forces took part in a raid - This means that they need to capture a live soldier, or alternatively prevent the attackers from recovering all their dead. Special Forces bodies can be moved by simulated carry.

Civilians

The Civilians also want Abbasov to survive and the Special Forces to be repulsed. But they are civilians so they are just as concerned about protecting their livelihoods and possessions. Their objectives are:

  • Support the Militia in keeping Gregor Abbasov Alive, and capturing Special Forces hostages.
  • Protect their possessions. All the possessions scattered throughout the village should be brought to safety in two locations by the time the scenario ends.

Rules

Standard milsim rules regarding load outs, ammunition restrictions, radios, medics etc apply. There are some scenario specific changes.

Regeneration

Players who are hit have a 10 minute bleed out time, followed by a minimum 15 minute wait to regenerate. No player can re-enter play until 25 minutes have elapsed since the time they were hit. This is to prevent any side gaining an advantage from 'finishing off' the injured.

The Special Forces can only regenerate when their 'body' has been been returned to their regen/LZ. Regardless of when they are returned to the regenerate they cannot re-enter play within 25 minutes of when they were initially shot.

Translator

One member of the Special Forces side is designated as a Translator. They are presumed to be fluent in the local languages, and have access to sophisticated eavesdropping equipment. As a result this player, and only this player, can listen to the Militia radio channel and report on it to the Special Forces side. If the Translator is shot they cannot be replaced until they regenerate.

Special Forces Medics

For the Militia and Civilians the normal medic rules apply. Players who are hit can only be healed by the medic. The Special Forces have access to better training and equipment so they use different medical treatment rules. Each Special Forces player can have ONE field dressing. They can use this on any casualty (but not themselves) to stabilise a wound. The Special Forces medic can carry 10 additional dressings.

Simulated Carry

Because simulated carry is such an important part of this scenario a reminder of the usual rules is given here:

  • Two people are required to do a simulated carry of a casualty.
  • The players carrying the casualty must place their hand on the casualty, and then all three move at walking pace only.

Improvised Explosive Devices

The Militia can plant IEDs around the site. They should be allowed 15 minutes to do this before the scenario starts. These should be based on normally available airsoft devices such as gas grenades, and claymores. An example IED would consist of a Thunder-B grenade duct taped near a doorway with a fishing line trip wore across the entrance. Normal grenade hit rules apply for exploding IEDs.

Special Forces Rules of Engagement

The Special Forces ROE dictate that they can only open fire on:

  • Enemy Combatants - any individual who:
    • Is wearing an item of military clothing (shirt, trousers or tactical vest) or,
    • Is carrying firearms, grenades, explosives, or any other weapon, even if deactivated.
  • Civilians displaying Threatening Behaviour.
    • One who approaches to within 5m, and refuses to withdraw when challenged twice with "Move Back".
    • One who attempts to release another civilian who has been "disabled".

A Civilian cannot be shot for using a radio. When a Civilian player is hit it should generally be obvious to the casualty and and Special Forces shooter that there was just cause (i.e. the Civilian was acting as a combatant, or had displayed threatening behaviour). If there is a dispute the Civilian player can call for a marshal. If they demonstrate that the Special Forces player breached their ROE then the marshal shall judge the Special Forces to have used "Excessive Force" and they will deduct one victory point from the Special Forces.

If they have used Excessive Force the Special Forces side can attempt to save the injured civilian with a "Humanitarian Intervention". Provided the Civilian is successfully treated by the Special Forces medic within the bleed out time then the Excessive Force penalty is removed for that one incident. This only applies to Civilians who are shot in violation of the ROE. Patching up combatant Civilians does not make up for shooting "innocent" ones.

A Civilian player who has regenerated cannot be shot at by the Special Forces side until they act as a combatant again.

Civilians

Civilians are village members who are not in the Militia. The Civilians are regarded as non-combatants provided:

  • They do not wear any form of uniform, camouflage, or tactical gear.
  • They do not openly carry a weapon (gun or explosive device).

If they are not acting as combatants, or threatening the Special Forces, the ROE dictate that Civilians cannot be shot.

Civilians are allowed to:

  • Move about the playing area as they wish. This includes moving behind or beyond the Special Forces. They can distract, and obstruct the Special Forces provided they do not exhibit "threatening behaviour". They can also carry "possessions" to safety.
  • Act as "dickers" (spotters) for the Militia side. They can use radios/mobile phones to relay details of the Special Forces movements to the other Militia forces.
  • Carry concealed weapons. Weapons can be concealed within "possessions".
  • Transport, plant and/or arm IEDs.
  • Use weapons taken (with the player's permission) from dead/injured Militia, or use weapons concealed around the site.

Civilians carrying out the first two activities cannot legitimately be fired on by the Special Forces. Civilians carrying out the latter three (in italics), can be fired on by the Special Forces side if they observed doing so.

There are three non-lethal ways Special Forces can interact with Civilians:

  • Order Away - A Special Forces player can order a Civilian to "Move Back". The Civilian must then back off to a minimum of 10-15m, and/or move out of sight behind cover. Failure to do so can be regarded by the Special Forces as demonstrating Threatening behaviour. If the Civilian fails to withdraw, a second warning of "Move Back" must be given by the Special Forces. If this is also ignored only then may the Special Forces operative open fire. If there is confusion over this (e.g. were 2 warnings given, were they heard) then the benefit of doubt should be given the to Civilian. This represents the inevitable media fallout from Civilians being shot.
  • Search - If a Special Forces player gets within 5-10m of a Civilian they can order that player to submit to a search. They Civilian should stand beside the Special Forces player who says "I am searching you". If the Civilian has a weapon they must declare it (failure to do so should be regarded by the marshals as cheating). Civilians discovered to be carrying weapons can be treated as combatants by the Special Forces and may be summarily shot or disabled.
  • Disable - When a Special Forces player searches a Civilian and discovers they have a concealed weapon they can opt to disable them instead of shooting the player. The Special Forces player should take a cable tie and form it into a loop. The Civilian then holds the loop in their hands and sits on the ground. Under no circumstances should any player put a cable tie on any other player. A disabled player cannot take any other action until they are untied by a friendly player. To do this they approach the tied up player, and take the cable tie loop from them. One Special Forces player can move one disabled player at walking pace to a new location if they wish to gather prisoners. The advantage to disabling rather than shooting a combatant is that they cannot respawn while their are alive and still tied up.

Disabling Hidden Weapons

A Special Forces player can disable a hidden weapon by putting a cable tie through the trigger guard. The weapon is then regarded as inactive until it is returned to the Civilian/Militia regen location and the cable tie is removed. A Civilian carrying a disabled weapon can be regarded as a combatant by the Special Forces - in the heat of combat how are they to know?

Civilian Possessions

While the Civilians are opposed to the Special Forces they are not combatants in the same sense as the Militia. So they are just as concerned with protecting their lives and livelihoods. To reflect this throughout the site there will be props/boxes, representing their possessions such as family heirlooms, TVs, DVD players, goats, etc.

The marshals will distribute the possessions at random throughout the site. There will be two safe locations, and each item will be marked representing one or the other. During the scenario the Civilians must move all their possessions to the corresponding safe locations. They will receive points based on what proportion of items are moved.

Victory Conditions

A point scoring system is used to determine the victor in this scenario. Each role, Special Forces, Militia or Civilians, has different criteria for earning points based on their objectives and priorities. A team can earn up to 4 points playing a role. The winner on the day is the side that has earned most points after playing all three roles.

There are four criteria for awarding points to each side. The areas are:

  • Gregor Abbasov: Can be captured, killed, or remain at large.
  • Plausible Deniability: The Special Forces side all escape at the end of the mission, including their dead. Or there are dead Special Forces remaining, or the Militia capture a Special Forces operative.
  • Civilians: There are negative points to the Special Forces for shooting "innocent" civilians. The Civilians get one point for moving half their possessions to safety, and 2 points for moving all of them.

The full breakdown of points allocation is:

Victory Points
Event Special Forces Militia Civilians
Gregor Abbasov killed 1 0 0
Gregor Abbasov captured 2 0 0
Gregor Abbasov alive 0 2 1
SF leave man behind 0 1 1
SF man captured 0 2 1
SF all escape 2 0 0
Civilian killed -1* 0 0
Civilians save possessions 0 0 2
* The special forces lose 1 point for every unarmed civilian they shoot with excessive force.

As you can see the Special Forces and Militia are mainly concerned about the fate of Gregor Abbasov. The Civilians are also concerned about their possessions, something the other two sides do not care about.

Briefings

The History

For some time US intelligence services have been pursuing Gregor Abbasov, a major money launderer, and supplier of arms to terrorist organisations throughout the Caucuses and Middle East. Over the last fided by defection of his quartermaster who provided valuable data on Abbasov's contacts, financial affairs and supply routes. It was only through his extreme good luck that Abbasov has evaded capture to date. While his operation has been neutralised he remains a threat and is unfinished business.

Originally from a remote village in the mountains of the Caucasian state of Mazajan, Abbasov is believed to have returned to his native region and is being sheltered by his clan. The local clans are known for their intense family loyalty, their long history of involvement in smuggling, and their ambivalence toward central authority. Most of the clans maintain armed Militias to defend their smuggling operations, carry out intermittent clan raids, and occasionally assert their independence from the government.

Two days ago satellite intelligence confirmed that Abbasov was in or near the village of Garamammadi. This presents the US with the best opportunity in some time to try and eliminate him.

However relations with the government of Mazajan are difficult. Mazajan falls within the traditional Russian sphere of influence in the Caucuses. And while they have no love for Abbasov, the Mazajani government cannot be seen to approve of a US operation in their country because of how it would antagonise the Russians (who have already reminded the Mazajani's neighbours in Georgia how they handle being antagonised). As a result the government of Mazajan has refused permission for a Predator overflight or strike. Instead permission has been granted for a covert Special Forces team to be inserted by helicopter to kill Abbasov. The Mazajani government cannot be seen to have any knowledge of the mission. A successful raid can be written off as being part of a clan feud. However if any evidence were to be uncovered of involvement by Western powers this would result in a major diplomatic incident. The government of Mazajan has also stipulated that civilian casualties are to be avoided.

Abbasov's exact location is not known, so the strike team will have to carry out a local search. Opposition is expected from the Clan Militia, and reinforcements will arrive rapidly from nearby Garamammadi. There also are a number of civilians in the area who's behaviour is likely to be unpredictable.

Special Forces Briefing

Commander, this is operation "Track Monkey", your team is to be known by the designation "Celestial". Based on intercepted satellite phone conversations, and direct video surveillance we have identified to within several hundred metres where Abbasov is located. This area is the designated Area of Operations (AO). You mission orders are as follows:

  • Deploy to, and secure a LZ outside the village of Garamammadi.
  • Search for Gregor Abbasov within the AO and kill or capture him.
  • Recover all dead and injured Celestial personal to the LZ for extraction at the end of the operation. No one is to get left behind.

In addition you are to observe the following ROE at all times.

  • Enemy combatants may be engaged without warning.
  • Civilians my not be fired upon unless they are acting as combatants, or they exhibit threatening behaviour.
  • Combatants are defined as individuals:
    • Who are in uniform, whether armed or not.
    • Who are carrying firearms, grenades, explosives, or any other weapon regardless of whether they are in uniform.
  • Civilians are defined as individuals who:
    • Are not wearing uniforms.
    • Are not carrying weapons.
  • A Civilian who engages in threatening behaviour (approaching within 5-10m of an operative when they have been given two clear verbal warnings to move back) can be regarded as a combatant and may be engaged without further warning.

The presence of a large body of Militia members in nearby Garamammadi means this operation must be completed within 90 minutes, after which all team members must be extracted. As well as armed clan Militia personnel, expect many local Civilians to be present. They are likely to be sympathetic to Abbasov, but may or may not try to obstruct you. Also be on the look out for IEDs placed to protect the area where Abbasov is being kept.

Good luck!

Garamammadi Militia

Cousin, our brother's wife's brother, Gregor, has been taking refuge with us for several months now. He has been staying in a humble cottage outside Garamammadi, where he has been safe from the murderous, interfering, hypocrites who would try to deny him his (and our) freedom or worse. Unfortunately, two days ago some of the local children were playing in his house and one of them (we don't know who, despite giving them all a thrashing) turned on his satellite phone. We know the Americans can track such devices even when no call has been made. The whole village has been on alert ever since waiting for some sort of attack. Unfortunately Gregor has been ill recently so it has not been possible to move him to a new safe location.

The risk remains high that the Americans may try to come for him. If so they shall see how we protect our own, like the she bear guarding her cubs. Every person in the Abbasov clan will gladly spill the Americans blood to defend our brother. As our most experienced commander we need you lead the men of the village against the Americans if they come.

  • Protect our brother Gregor from all harm.
  • The Americans are squeamish and sentimental. If they do come then a hostage, even a dead one, can be used as leverage for ransom, or to bargain for Gregor if they manage to take him. Try to capture any American you can, and even a dead man's body may be useful.

If there is an attack Militia members will rush to aid you. All the farmers have been told to carry their hunting guns with them in the fields. They will provide what support they can.

The Americans are weak fighters and tie themselves down with rules. They will be reluctant to shoot unarmed villagers, even though we all know everyone here is a fighter - women and children. Use their weakness against them. Hide weapons throughout the village, set booby traps, and use farmers with hidden guns to sneak up on them. Let them pay the price for daring to enter our lands!

Death to the invaders!

Civilians

Our people only wish to live in peace, but once again war has sought us out. We will support our brave Militia in defending our homes and farms. But if we had wanted to fight we would have joined the Militia. We are poor simple farmers and traders, and we need to think of our livelihoods as well. Winter is coming, and what will our families do if they have no livestock, no televisions, no DVD players? You are our village headman, you must think of more than just the fighting today. Think of our future as well.

If the Americans come, provide whatever help you can to the militia, they are our people. But also do what you can to bring the villagers possessions to safety.

Protect our own!