CLA Ground Forces Organization/Leadership

Here's the CLA Table of Organization:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the Commanding General of the Cuban Liberation Army:

Generalissimo Jerico Waraldonez

1st Airborne Infantry Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Bartolo Lucastro, decorated F3:  Estrella de Bronce. WIA F11, Out for Campaign

Acting Commanding Officer, 1st Airborne Infantry Battalion: Captain Olejandro

Commander, A Co, 1st AB Bn: Captain Banos

Acting Commander, B Co, 1st AB Bn: Sgt Villagrosa, decorated for valor (F11) with Estrella de Plata

Commander, C Co, 1st AB Inf: Capt DeNostro, awarded the Estrella de Bronce and Corazon Purpura, KIA (F30).

Sergeant Pena, Team 1, C Co, 1st AB Bn, awarded the Estrella de Bronce and Corazon Purpura (F30).

2nd Airborne Infantry Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Salvino Carreno, WIA F4.  Decorated for valor with the Estrella de Bronce (F20).

Commander, E Co, 2nd AB Inf Bn: Captain Halabrio, decorated F4, Estrella de Plata

Commander, F Co, 2nd AB Inf Bn: Captain Guerrero

Commander, G Co, 2nd AB Inf Bn: Captain Cuervesco, awarded the Medall de Honor (F14), dubbed "El Diablo de El Rincon"

Sergeant Trojas, Team 3, G Co, 2nd Airborne Battalion, awarded the Cruz Servicio Distinguido (F14).

3rd Infantry Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Malusio Galban

Commander, 1st Marine Co, 3rd Inf Bn: Captain Benavides

Commander, B Co, 3rd Inf Bn: Captain Torrencio

Commander, C Co, 3rd Inf Bn: Capt Cruze, WIA (F23), out for campaign.


Acting Commander, C Co, 3rd Inf Bn: Lieutenant Muniz

4th Infantry Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Cledado Estavante, awarded the Medall de Honor (F15), dubbed "El Leon de El Sandino" Awarded the Estrella de Plata and Corazon Purpura (F26).

Commander, E Co, 4th Inf Bn: Captain Cannastria

Commander, F Co, 4th Inf Bn: Captain Chavez, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Plata, WIA, out for campaign (F26).

Acting Commander, F Co, 4th Inf Bn: Lieutenant Proviso, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Bronce, Corazon Purpura (F26).



Sgt Espinale, Team 4, F Co, 4th Inf Bn, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Bronce, WIA, out for campaign (F26).

Commander, 1st Air Assault Co, 4th Inf Bn: Captain Bronchovio, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Bronce (F15).

Sgt Guillardo, 1st Air Assault Co, 4th Inf Bn, awarded the Cruz Servicio Distinguido (F15).


Sgt Segovia, 1st Air Assault Co, 4th Inf Bn, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Bronce (F15).

5th Tank Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Miguel Colavantes, decorated for valor with the Estrella d Plata, KIA (F26).

5th Tank Battalion, Acting Commanding Officer: Captain Solar, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Plata (F23).  Three tank kills (F23; T1 also got one).  WIA (F23).

Commander, 1 Troop, 5th Tank Bn: Captain Fordesante, WIA (F26), WIA (F27), out for campaign. (1 TK, F27)

Acting Commander, 1 Troop, 5th Tank Bn: Sgt Barrientes

Acting Commander, 2 Troop, 5th Tank Bn: Sergeant Aguilera

Commander, 3 Troop, 5th Tank Bn: Captain Basilone (1 TK, F25)

6th Infantry Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Ricardo Colvasquez, decorated F7:  Estrella de Bronce.
Decorated F12: Cruz Servicio Distinguido

Commander, A Co, 6th Inf Bn: Captain Pilar-soto

Commander, B Co, 6th Inf Bn: Captain Rolando

Team 3, B Co, 6th Inf Bn: Sgt Madre-Animral, decorated with Estrella de Bronce for knocking out two enemy tanks (F25).

Commander, 2nd Marine Co, 6th Inf Bn: Captain Spirovales, decorated F7, Estrella de Plata

Sergeant Trevino, Team 3, 2ns Marine Company, 6th Infantry Battalion, awarded the CLA's highest honor for gallantry, the Medall de Honor, and meritoriously promoted to Lieutenant (F29).

7th Infantry Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Tomas Barnejesus, WIA F17.

Commander, Co E, 7th Inf Bn: Captain Michoacana

Commander, 2nd Air Assault Co, 7th Inf Bn: Captain Wallestre, WIA F17.

Commander, G Co, 7th Inf Bn: Captain Cubio

8th Popular Force Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Eugenio Habanera, decorated for valor (F13).

Commander, A Co, 8th PF Bn: Captain Welasquez

Commander, B Co, 8th PF Bn: Captain Muertosa

Commander, C Co, 8th PF Bn: Captain Talamantes, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Bronce (F19).

9th Popular Force Battalion, Commanding Officer: Binyamin Bustamante, awarded the Cruz Servicio Distinguido (F16).  He was wounded in F16 and captured by the enemy.

Acting Commander, 9th Popular Force Battalion: Captain Afflexio, awarded Cruz Servicio Distinguido and Corazon Purpura (F24), out for campaign.

Acting Commander, 9th Popular Force Battalion: Captain Captain Elias (brother of Col Elias)

Acting Commander, E Co, 9th PF Bn: Sergeant Aponte

Commander, F Co, 9th PF Bn: Captain Ballesteros, KIA (F24).

Acting Commander, F Co, 9th PF Bn: Sgt Ordonez

F Co, Team 4: Sergeant Caballero, awarded Estrella de Plata (F24), Corazon Purpura (F24), out for campaign.

Acting Commander, G Co, 9th PF Bn: Sgt Huerta

                                      10th Popular Force Battalion, Commanding Officer: Colonel Willem Elias, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Bronce (F28).

Commander, I Co, 10th PF Bn: Captain Ermera KIA F10

Acting Commander, I Co, 10th PF Bn, Sgt Deppinosa

 

Commander, K Co, 10th PF Bn, Captain Fulgencio, decorated for valor with the Cruz Servicio Distinguido (F28), WIA (F28).

Sergeant Soares, Team 5, K Company, 10th PF Bn, decorated for valor with the Estrella de Plata (F28).

Commander, L Co, 10th PF Bn: Captain Reynaldo

CLA Special Operations, Commanding Officer: Colonel Donalo Quilveras

Commander, A Squadron: Captain Stelosavo

Commander, B Squadron: Captain Villanueva, decorated for gallantry  with the Estrella de Bronce and Corazon Purpura (F9, Out for Campaign).

Sgt Estevez, B Sqdn, decorated F1: Estrella de Bronce.

Commander, C Squadron: Captain Bosanova, awarded the Estrella de Bronce and Corazon Purpura (F31).

CLA Unconventional Warfare Group, Commanding Officer: Colonel Hector Huistrella, Decorated for valro with the Cruz Servicio Distinguido (F18).  Decorated for valor with the Estrella de Bronce and Corazon Purpura (F22).  Awarded the Corazon Purpura (F32).

Commander, A Co: Captain Kalabera; decorated for valor with the Estrella de Plata and Corazon Purpura (F22).

Commander, B Co: Captain Galban (son of Col Galban), awarded the Estrella de Bronce and Corazon Purpura, KIA (F32).

Commander, C Co: Captain Gonzalez, KIA F18.

Acting Commander, C Co: Sgt Gouveia, decorated with the Estrella de Plata and Corazon Purpura (F18).

 

Estrella de Plata                     

Cruz Servicio Distinguido

Medall de Honor

Corazon Purpura

A Simple Plan, Well Executed(?)

All,
    I just finished up with the Castro OOB, so here is the Operational Plan for the liberation of Cuba, as well as the CLA OOB.

In the overall scheme of things, the Western end of the island is very lightly defended, presents an easy approach to supplanting Castro in Havana (which the CLA leadership believes will have a tremendous impact on the will of the regime's forces), and is geographically protected by the small range of mountains immediately east of Havana, and the Escambray Mountains in the center of the island, though Cienfuegos and its three battalions (one armored) will have to be dealt with in the near term.

Cuban Liberation Army OOB (ground combat elements only):

1st Airborne Infantry Battalion (screen Pinar del Rio/La Fe)
2nd Airborne Infantry Battalion (screen Cienfuegos/Bay of Pigs)
3rd Infantry Battalion (Landing Force-La Fe)
4th Infantry Battalion (Follow on Force- La Fe)
5th Armored Battalion (Follow on Force- La Fe)
6th Infantry Battalion (Landing Force- Bay of Pigs)
7th Infantry Battalion (Follow on Force- Bay of Pigs)
8th Popular Force Battalion (Havana)
9th Popular Force Battalion (Matanzas)
10 Popular Force Battalion (Jaguey Grande)

The plan calls for amphibious assaults in two locations simultaneously: 1) the Bay of Pigs will see two infantry battalions (6th and 7th Inf Bns) deposited there by small craft, with an airborne infantry battalion (2nd AB Bn) dropping due east (at El Rincon, on Hwy 122 between the Bay of Pigs landing beaches and Cienfuegos) to screen Cienfuegos; and 2) at the far western end of the island (just outside the small port of La Fe in Guadiana Bay on the Peninsula de Guana Hagabibes.  Here the plan is for one infantry battalion (3rd Inf Bn) to land (at Playa Colorada) and invest the port so that a ship carrying a mechanized battalion (5th Armored Bn) and the CLA's final infantry battalion (4th Infantry Bn) to land.  An airborne infantry battalion (1st AB Bn) will drop to the east (just east of Sandino) to screen the garrison at Pinar del Rio.

A Popular Force battalion (8th Pop Force Bn) staging near Mariel (just west of Havana) will demonstrate towards the city, ignoring its rear and flanks (the assumption being the western landing and parachute drops will occupy the attention of the Pinar del Rio garrison to their rear), with the goal of tying down the regime Airborne and Armored forces in Havana.  A second Popular Force battalion (9th Pop Force Bn), staging near Arcos de Canasi (on the north coast between Havana and Matanzas) will conduct a forced march and demonstrate against Matanzas and its infantry battalion.  CLA leadership does not love the idea of being so aggressive in the east, particularly with a Popular Force battalion, but the decision was made to close with the enemy as opposed to establishing blocking positions between the Matanzas garrison and Havana because the Matanzas garrison could take either the coastal road or the inland road to Havana, and the blocking force could easily find itself out of position.  The remaining Popular Force battalion (10th Pop Force Bn), staging near Pedroso (north-northwest of the Bay of Pigs) will assume blocking positions on Highway 1 just west of Jaguey Grands, to halt the advance of troops from Cienfuegos should they drive on Havana, or be in a position to lend support to the Bay of Pigs landing force should things go astray.

Following the successful landings, 7th Inf Bn will swing east and link-up with 2nd AB Bn, then move along the coast to Cienfuegos, whilst the 10th PF Bn, representing the second prong of the two-prong attack, will move along Highway 1.

4th Inf Bn will move north to the coast and march to Havana, while the 3rd Inf Bn and 5th Armored Bn will move east, effect a link-up with 1st AB Bn, and reduce the Pinar del Rio garrison.  Once finished, they will move east along Highway 4 to link up with the 8th PF Bn and continue combat operations to take Havana.

6th Infantry Bn will move northwest on Highway 1 to Guines and will serve as the reserve, where it can move northwest to reinforce the Havana assault, move northeast to reinforce 9th PF Bn against Matanzas, or assume an aggressive stance towards unforeseen regime machinations.  9 PF Bn's mission is to eliminate the Matanzas garrison or at least pin it in place (do not allow escape to east or to reinforce Havana to the west), until Havana reduced and forces from that engagement can be released to assist at Matanzas.

The political leadership believes the regime's forces will crumble once Havana is taken, and possibly as soon as the population realizes Castro is no longer in control of the island nation.  CLA leadership is a bit more pragmatic, and a major point of contention in the planning process is the investment of Cienfuegos.  It is quite possible 7th Inf Bn, 2nd AB Bn, and 10th PF Bn are unable to defeat the Cienfuegos garrison, but simply pin it in place.  The decisive point of that fight will likely be when follow-on CLA forces arrive from Havana, or regime forces from Santiago de Cuba arrive, with the victor likely being whomever receives reinforcements first.  Strategically, defeat of 7th Inf, 2nd AB, and 10th PF probably means a stalemate in the Cuban liberation despite the early investment of Havana.  This is because the forces on the eastern end of the island, combined with the forces in Cienfuegos, are quite strong (1 Tank Bn, 1 Armored Bn, 1 Mech Bn, 3 Inf Bns, and 4 Territorial Bns).

The approach to tie down those forces on the eastern end of the island is multi-pronged.  On the ground side, there are approximately a dozen Unconventional Warfare (UCW) teams spread throughout the Escambray and Sierra Madre mountain ranges, with their goal being to delay the advance of regime reinforcements moving east to west.  CLA Special Operations forces are charged with a number of 'special' missions on D-Day, primarily the destruction of regime Navy forces and anti-aircraft/radar sites, though they are also charged with takng a key regime broadcast station and transmitting signals to the the Popular Force battalions as well as information operations for the Cuban populace.  If the situation presents itself, CLA SOF will attempt to kill/capture the regime's leadership.  Following that, CLA SOF will regroup via small craft and helicopters for transport east to supplement CLA UCW forces in their delaying actions.

The CLA has two squadrons of F-4 phantoms, with one designated for air superiority and one for ground attack.  At H-Hour on D-Day both squadrons will perform ground attack missions to destroy as much of the Cuban Air Force on the ground as possible.  Second tier targets are regime artillery and rocket forces and naval vessels.  Following the reduction of those targets, the focus of the ground attack squadron will be interdiction against enemy armor forces, primarily those in the east moving west in order to assist the vulnerable Cienfuegos operation.

More to come...

Castro Regime Order of Battle

All,

    In furtherance of preparing for the glorious invasion which will begin the crusade for liberation, I'm getting my administrative house in order.  Here is what I'm looking at in terms of the Castro Regime's order of battle for the upcoming campaign.

Castro's Army

Havana (Western Command)
-Revolutionary Army Command (Cuban equivalent of Pentagon/Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Castro has all 'strategic' assets centralized, under his direct control in Havana:

-51st Artillery Regiment (2 battalions of 105mm towed howitzers, one battalion of self-propelled 152mm howitzers)

-45th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (one battalion of towed anti-aircraft guns, consisting of dual 14.5mm HMGs, dual 23mm autocannons -ZU-23s-, and 37mm Bofors), and one battalion of self-propelled  guns, consisting of ZSU-57 and ZSU-23-4 vehicles).

-73rd Air Defense Regiment (one battery of six SA-2 Guideline launchers, one battery of six SA-9 Gaskin mobile launchers, and one battery of six SA-6 Gainful mobile launchers).

-82nd Rocket and Missile Regiment (one battalion of BM-21 Grad MLRS, one battery of 2 "Frog-7" ballistic missile vehicles, and one battery of six SS-1 "Scud" ballistic missile vehicles).

-1st Airborne Battalion, "Castro's Bodyguard," consisting of two companies of regular, but highly motivated infantry.

-2nd Armored Battalion, consisting of the 78th Tank Company (T-72) and the 70th Motorized Rifle Company (BMP-2).

Pinar del Rio (Western Command)

-3rd Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 27th and 28th Infantry Companies, and the 24th Provincial Militia Company.

Cienfuegos (Central Command)
-4th Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 81st and 84th Infantry Companies.

-5th Territorial Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 86th and 89th Provincial Militia Companies.

-6th Armored Battalion, consisting of the 12th Tank Company (T-34) and the 242nd Infantry Company.

Matanzas (Central Command)

7th Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 41st and 43rd Infantry Companies, and the 48th Provincial Militia Company.

Santiago de Cuba (Eastern Command)

-8th Tank Battalion, consisting of the 3rd Tank Company (T-55), the 6th Tank Company (T-34), and the 9th Tank Company (SU-76).

-9th Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 31st, 32nd, and 38th Infantry Companies.

-10th Territorial Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 84th and 90th Provincial Militia Companies.

-11th Territorial Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 95th and 97th Provincial Militia Companies.

Holguin (Eastern Command)

-Mechanized Task Force 'A' (from elements of the 12th Mechanized Battalion), consisting of the 50th Mechanized Company (BTR-60).

-13th Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 54th and 56th Infantry Companies, and the 58th Provincial Militia Company.

Camaguey (Eastern Command)
-Mechanized Task Force 'B' (from elements of the 12th Mechanized Battalion), consisting of the 60th Mechanized Company (BTR-60).

-14th Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 60th and 63rd Infantry Companies.

-15th Territorial Infantry Battalion, consisting of the 65th and 69th Provincial Militia Companies.

Airborne Company Table of Organization

HQ-CO (Capt)

       1 x 2-man ATGM  (AT-5 Spandrel)

3 Rifle Platoons, each consisting of:
Plt Ldr (Lt)

RPG

1st Squad (LMG, 3 rifles)

2nd Squad (4 rifles)

Infantry Company Table of Organization

HQ-CO (Capt), XO (Lt)

       1 x 2-man 12.7mm HMG

       1 x 2-man 82mm Mortar

3 Rifle Platoons, each consisting of:

Plt Ldr (Lt)

1st Squad (4 x rifle)

2nd Squad (4 x rifle)

3rd Squad (2-man LMG team, 2-man RPG team)

Provincial Militia Company Table of Organization

HQ-CO (Capt), XO (Lt)

       1 x 2-man 12.7mm HMG

       1 x 2-man 82mm Mortar

3 Rifle Platoons, each consisting of:

Plt Ldr (Lt)

1st Squad (4 x rifle, 1 RPG)

2nd Squad (5 x rifle)

Tank Company Table of Organization

HQ-CO (Capt), XO (Lt), both with 'jeep'-type vehicle and driver

3 Platoons, each consisting of:

Plt Ldr (Lt)

1st Squad (5 rifle)

2nd Squad (5 rifle)

Tank

Mechanized Company Table of Organization

HQ-CO (Capt), XO (Lt), both with 'jeep'-type vehicle and driver

3 Platoons, each consisting of:

Plt Ldr (Lt)
1st Squad (3 rifle, 2-man LMG team)

2nd Squad (3 rifle, 2-man RPG team)

Armored Personnel Carrier

Castro's Air Force

Havana (Western Command)
1st Interceptor Squadron (12 x MiG-21)

Pinar del Rio (Western Command)

2nd Interceptor Squadron (12 x MiG-21)

Artemisa (Western Command)

3rd Ground Attack Squadron (12 x MiG-27)

4th Bombardment Squadron (8 x TU-95)

5th Rotary Attack Squadron (12 x Mi-24)

6th Transport Squadron (10 x Mi-8)

Guines (Western Command)

7th Ground Attack Squadron (12 x Su-25)

8th Rotary Attack Squadron (12 x Mi-24)

Santa Clara (Central Command)

9th Interceptor Squadron (12 x MiG-21)
10th Ground Attack Squadron (12 x MiG-27)

11th Rotary Attack Squadron (12 x Mi-24)

12th Bombardment Squadron (12 x Il-28)

Holguin (Eastern Command)

13th Interceptor Squadron (12 x MiG-21)

Camaguey (Eastern Command)

14th Interceptor Squadron (12 x MiG-21)

Bayamo (Eastern Command)
15th Ground Attack Squadron (12 x Su-25)

16th Rotary Attack Squadron (12 x Mi-24)
17th Transport Squadron (10 x Mi-8)

Castro's Navy

Matanzas (Central Command)

1st Flotilla (3 fast attack/coastal patrol craft)

Puerto Padre (Eastern Command)

2nd Flotilla (3 fast attack/coastal patrol craft)

Santiago de Cuba (Eastern Command)

3rd Flotilla (3 fast attack/coastal patrol craft)

4th Flotilla (2 armed corvettes)

Obviously these are much reduced from real life (for a frame of reference, I used real-life Division numbers for the company numbers).  Perhaps it's a bit hokey, but I'm going to play out a campaign using skirmish rules, so I really needed to pare the forces waaaaaaaaay down.  Not only did I reduce the total number of ground units by about 80%, I also screwed around with the Tables of Organization so that I could put a "Company" on the table and fight it out with what is really about a platoon's worth of troops.  Again, this is simply a tool to help me on the tabletop.

Regarding the Air Force and Navy, I'll be honest and tell you I just made all that stuff up.  I wasn't really going to mess with it, but I figured there are assets available in real life, so I at least needed to address them.  I can tell you that my skirmish games are going to occur without off-table air and artillery support, so the CLA invasion plan is going to be heavy on eliminating these assets in the first few hours so that my tabletop games are straight up shootouts uninfluenced by the Castro regime's overwhelming numbers of air and arty.

Having said that, I've got some Vietnam aircraft upstairs, and the reason I made all those MiG-21 Interceptor Squadrons is that I believe my CLA is going to have a couple squadrons of F-4s (for air superiority and interdiction, no CAS) and I might get some air-gaming in as well.  We'll see what happens...

V/R,
Jack

Odds and Ends, AKA, Getting Some Admin Work Done

All,
    I'd like to start off with a note about my Operation Jupiter batreps, of which there are now two.  It is much to my consternation that no one seems to be interested in them.  While I'm not too put off as 1) they were fun games to play, and 2) the blog is, in the overall scheme of things, for no one but myself.  Having said that, having one of these things does draw you into the realm of wanting to have other folks look, comment on, and critique your stuff. So if you've got any critiques regarding the batreps (to make them more readable, interesting, exciting, etc...), please let me know.  Back to our regularly scheduled show...
    I'm a huge NFL fan (Steelers to be exact, though I don't want to talk about it as they severely embarrassed themselves yesterday), so gaming on Sundays is out for awhile.  But I did figure out how to make it more productive from a wargaming standpoint; I couldn't do it during the Steelers game, but during the other games I allowed myself to be distracted enough get some gaming stuff done.  Here's what I did yesterday during football:

 Some 10mm pallets from Minifigs.  From left to right, empty pallet, pallet with wooden boxes, pallet with something covered by a tarp, and pallet with 55-gallon drums.  This is all of them.

 My stone walls.  If you've been looking at my previous battle reports you will see these are the same ones I've always used, but now I dry-brushed a stone color on them and painted the wooden gates (I've got 16 stone wall sections, all finished as above).  The pic looks a bit garish, but I promise it looks pretty good in real life.  Previously they were simply spray painted dark gray.  I'm trying to up my game a bit regarding terrain.

 Sandbag emplacements.  Previously these were simply spray painted khaki (I've got 3 of these, will use them like this for temperate, tropical, and desert).

 The town fountain, previously spray painted khaki.  I only have one of these.

 Craters, previously spray painted dark brown, now highlighted with sand and reddish brown, given a little flock and a wash.  I have eight of these.

 Here's the front of the first building I did (previously spray painted khaki).

 Here's the reverse of the same building.

 Here's a top down of the same building.

 Here's the front of the second building I did yesterday.

 It's reverse...

 Reverse with the second floor removed.

 After having no fewer than 8,436,212 people on TMP and the Pendraken website tell me I need to put a wash on my figures, I decided to give it a go with some of them.  I did up my CLA regulars/paratroopers and my modern irregulars as they both had pretty bright colors.  I did not do any of my other Cuba Libre forces as they are dark already and I didn't like the test guys I did.  But I was happy with the CLA regs/paras and irregulars, so I did all of both forces.  Above and below are some examples.  I really like how they turned out, and I hate it when other people are right!

 In preparation for D-Day, I did some some CLA unconventional warfare types to serve as SF A-team types, popular force militia cadre, and LRRP/Recon types.  I did a total of 9 guys in three poses.

 Your eyes don't deceive you, and no, those aren't little 10mm Incredible Hulks.  These guys are cammied up.  The green is a little bright, but I like it because I think at this scale you really need a sharp contrast so everything doesn't just blend together (if you've been following my posts you've heard me lament trying to put gloves on guys but not being able to find a color that works).  If you look real close you can see I tried to put black stripes in their face/hand camo (it does aggravate me slightly that I chose to cammie up guys that have their sleeves rolled up to their elbows, but c'est la vie!).
    I tried putting a wash on these guys but it just darkened everything and made the uniform and skin camo blend together, giving the figure a nasty, mottled look.  Yes, I understand that is part of the point of a wash, and yes, I understand that is certainly the point of camouflage, but I like colors that pop/stand out.  I think if we wanted to be perfectly realistic at 10mm we'd just paint everything green, but I don't think that looks all that great.  So, I introduce a bit of "Hollywood" to make it a little more visually engaging (for me).

So yesterday was pretty productive, and I believe I will continue this trend to get guys based/washed and get terrain pieces down a couple at a time.  I've got some admin work to finish for Cuba Libre (I was working on Castro regime OOB last night), and I've still got a few things to figure out regarding figures for my forces, and I need buildings and to finish my palm trees, but I'm getting tangibly closer to D-Day.  I've also been a bit distracted with other stuff (I did up some 6mm Napoleonics and I did some Cuba Libre painting for the 1991 Gulf War)...

V/R,
Jack

Castro Regime and CLA Regulars/Airborne

All,

    The weekend is ticking down with no games in, but I've been a painting (and basing) fool.  Today I finished up my Castro Regime regulars (using Pendraken Argentinians), and I finished painting my Liberation-era CLA Regulars/Airborne (using Pendraken US Vietnam range).  However, I didn't get them based up because...  I ran out of pennies!  I'll have to see if I can pick up a couple hundred new bases tomorrow...

    In any case, with all this painting and basing going on, you know what that means: the invasion draws nearer.  There's really not a whole lot left I need to get taken care of before it's time whoop it on.  I got some palm trees that I need to put flock on, and I've got a few more figures I need to get sorted out for the Liberation fight, but the biggest deal I have working against me is buildings.  All I really have in my inventory are (extraordinarily bad-looking) WW2 ruined buildings.  I've got plenty of them, but I don't know that they will work out for me in Cuba, unless our plan is to destroy every town in the process of liberating it ("we had to destroy the village to save it...").  Not sure what to do; I don't have a ton of money lying around to go out and buy some buildings, so this is gonna get interesting.

    On to the pics:

 Here's the entire Castro-regime force: 25 rifles, 3 MG teams, 3 heavy weapons teams (Blowpipes in actuality, but will serve as either SAM, ATGM, or recoil-less rifle depending on what the scenario calls for), and 5 Officers/NCOs.  These guys will probably get some camo added and then be used for the Columbia/Venezuelas war, maybe Angola, and probably the Balkans (Serbs).

 2 of the rifle poses.

 Two more rifle poses.

 The last rifle pose (top, which is the Argentinian radioman, but unlike the Brit version sporting manpack radio, this guy only has a 'walkie-talkie') and the Blowpipe team (bottom, which is the Argentinian Blowpipe and one of the Argie engineers.  On a side note, this was my plan for the engineer pack from the get-go, and Leon at Pendraken was nice enough to take out the prone engineers, leaving me 10 kneeling engineers to go with my 10 Blowpipes).

 Two of the machine gun teams.  Basing prone guys is such a pain for me, but I think they look alright.

 Castro regime leadership, straight out of the Argie command pack.

 A shot of the cheapie palm trees I got off e-bay; straight out of the bag on the left, and with some flock on the base on the right.  I'm loving these, and they open up a whole lot of new scenarios for my wargaming from WWII to present.

 I mentioned I didn't base my CLA guys because I ran out of pennies, but here are some shots nevertheless.  Again, I used Pendraken US Vietnam range, so here you have guys out of the officers pack (top) and M-79 grenadiers (bottom).  These guys will be my CLA regulars coming into the Bay of Pigs as well as the airborne units.  I have no idea what else I will/can use them for in the future (other than Vietnam War, but I mean in my Cuba Libre timeline).

 M-60 (top) and kneeling rifle (bottom).  Look at the green on those jungle boots (I get quite proud of myself when I'm able to do goofy stuff like that)!

 Two riflemen with M-16's, from the 'standing' and 'running' packs.

The battalion commander's arty: 81's (there are actually three of them in the pack).

I need to find me some pennies and get these guys done up.  I also need to do some Pendraken Vietnam range guys in boonie covers up for the CLA UCW guys that will be leading Popular Force units, flock all the palm trees, and get some suitable buildings, then it will be time for D-Day, February 1, 1990.

V/R,

Jack