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The year is
1966, October 9. You are members of mix band of Green Berets and
Cambodian’s (known as Bodes), that forms the secret Mobile
Guerilla Force (MGF).
You were flown from your
training base at Duc Phong in Vietnam to Song Be and on arrival
were ushered into a small briefing room full of important looking
people of various ranks and service.
There were also some civilians.
You learned then that on October 8, 1966, an aircraft of
the Strategic Air Command operating in location 20 had crashed
approximately 4 miles southeast of Song Be n the Phuoc Long
Province.
It was subsequently discovered that extremely
sensitive electronic equipment had been lost during the crash and
was very possibly still in good enough condition to be
compromised. The
USAF briefer said the compromise of that particular instrument
would gravely affect US national Security.
The Fifth Special Forces Group, commanded by Blackjack
Kelly, who was present at the briefing, was asked to provide an
organised search of the area for the lost instrument.
The search is to take place in practically
impenetrable jungle, deep in Viet Cong territory.
Throughout the briefing, the air force was trying to say
what they could not say. In spite of our questions that they
clarify what we were looking for, Location 20, Colonel Charles D.
Rafferty, was evasive. You began to appreciate the profound
position in which the air force, and the United States, found
themselves, when they indicated that the so-called black box was
thought to be intact; that somehow, the instantaneous destruct
mechanism attached to the instrument had failed to self-destruct;
and that the release of the coded frequency on its transmitter
would compromise the entire U.S. strategic reconnaissance system.
Your team is thrilled at the thought of conducting our
practice missions as a live scenario. At an appropriate interlude
in the briefing, Captain Gritz, in the booming voice for which he
is respected and known, said, “Oh, great! You mean you want us
to go into an unknown area to find something we have never seen
before and which you are reluctant to describe in any detail.”
Just then, an air force briefer pointed to an area on the map as
the most likely general location of the aircraft. The cone-shaped
area encompassed hundreds of square kilometres. When asked again
to describe the black box, the briefer divulged more than he had
in his earlier statements. He did say that it looked like a radio
much larger than a PRC-10, to which we could all relate. But it
could be anywhere.
After conferring with Kelly, Gritz told the
air force that we would accept the mission. He said that we were
organised equipped, and trained for success on such missions. At
that point, someone raised the concern that the VC, or the NVA,
would undoubtedly be looking for the wrecked plane to record the
sequence of numbers that would reveal the code. We all recognized
that the likelihood of finding the relatively small piece of
electronic gear was improbably small. Not impossible, but almost.
And we who would lead the task force clearly thought that, if
anyone could accomplish the mission, it would have to be us. You
all are excited by
the opportunity, but understand the risks as well.
Captain Yedinak is also pleased that such an opportunity
would constitute a good shakeout of the Mobile Guerrilla Force
before being committed to Blackjack-31.
Black Box
Since time was a critical factor you moved
that MGF from Duc Phong to Song Be the next morning, and spent the
rest of the day getting our shit together, marking maps, and
briefing the leadership. The
Bodes were excited.
Day 1 – Find the Plane
About 0600 the next morning, you deployed the
truck to a staging area near the foothills of the densely jungled
mountains of Nu Ba Ra. Your first challenge is to locate the
downed aircraft, independent of the search mission to follow. It
is important to learn whether the piece of electronic equipment is
still in the place or nearby. MGF start on the track on the far side of
the pine forest.
VC and later NVA start at the track leading from
Hackett’s.
What happens?
The characters soon make contact with some VC
trackers, who break contact and withdrew to the northwest.
Sporadic enemy fire interrupts the search. The crash site is hidden in the jungle north of the
pine forest and is represented by the flag.
Player’s have 15 minutes to find the plane before VC/NVA
seriously challenges them.
There is one VC for every MGF member, the VC have 3 hit
points and are also in search of the crash site.
At the 15 minute mark, the VC retreat and are
replaced by NVA regulars. NVA
Regulars have 5 hit points and also can have 6 replacements.
The player’s can get one helicopter load of
replacements i.e. 6
replacements.
MGF Force
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Captain Yedinak – Green Beret
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M16A1 (special)
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Sergeant Gritz – Green Beret
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M16A1 (special)
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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M60
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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M60
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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SAW
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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SAW
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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M1917 Smith & Wesson (long range
pistol)
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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M1917 Smith & Wesson
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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M1917 Smith & Wesson
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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M1917 Smith & Wesson
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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M16A1 (Standard)
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Bode
(Cambodian)
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M16A1 (Standard)
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All have 5 hit points.
VC Tracker’s
Historical Note
Thirty years later, the extremely sensitive
mission, now declassified, can be described straightforwardly.
Simply put, Operation Black Box was briefed as a United States
response to locate, secure and extract the electronic “friend
and foe” (IFF) device from a U-2 spy plane.
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