A Week in Binh Long - The forever AAR

[Jason Petho]

Turn 10 - General
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We had some contact in Area ALASKA, with the sniper that caused one of the platoons to suffer some casualties. Otherwise, the Viet Cong have been pretty quiet so far. I have some Slicks that need to land as they are low on fuel and the ARVN are continuing to build Improved Positions in the areas they are fixed.
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Turn 10 - 2d/28th Infantry
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The Aero Rifle Platoon from D/1st/4th Cavalry is a turn away from securing the three hamlets in the far western side of Area LOUISIANA.
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To the north of the Aero Rifle Platoon is the LRRP unit, it is advancing quickly along the trails in the northwest part of Area LOUISIANA.
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And some good news for LZ LOUISIANA 5. My Chinooks have landed and unloaded the Dozers. It will take a bit longer to unload the Construction Engineers here, as they have more equipment as part of the platoon. I can start building the Improved Positions and then upgrade them to Trenches with both of these units. Once I build two of them, I will gain the extra Event Points for following instructions and building a Firebase at this location.
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B/2d/28th Infantry is pushing into Area LOUISIANA. It is spread out a bit, but the platoons are still close enough to support each other if one of them run into some Viet Cong.
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C/2d/28th is a couple turns away from entering Area LOUISIANA as a whole, they will spread out and start securing as much as the visible Victory Locations as possible.
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A/2d/28th, operating to the east of Loc Ninh, is making excellent progress and have reached the valley floor and started securing the hamlets closer to the eastern boundary of Area ALABAMA.
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Down south along QL13, the Engineering Task Force is making some slow progress. I'll have to be building a bridge at this location (north part of the screenshot). The road north of the new bridge has some minefields and blocks, so I still believe this mission will take most of the day, unfortunately.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 10 - 1st/16th Infantry
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A/1st/16th has suffered some additional casualties due to the a minefield in the eastern part of Area ALASKA. Fortunately, the platoon wasn't disrupted so I could continue along the road.
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The other platoon that was attacked by the sniper had the good fortune of finding a bunker complex next to the sniper. Hopefully I will be able to assault the sniper next turn. Alas, the Snakes need some better target practice as they emptied all their ordnance to no avail.
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Around the abandoned Airfield, B/1st/16th continues to expand the cleared area, and while finding additional IED's, fortunately, none were triggered this turn. Each of the platoons area heading to each of the main north-south roads and will clear them in turn before returning to the abandoned airfield. I think I will build some improved positions here in case I need to use this in the future.
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Further to the south, the majority of the 1st/16th convoy has made it to QL13 and will be driving north to An Loc. I'm guessing this will take about 16-20 turns to get there - pretty much the whole day.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 10 - 3d Brigade Headquarters
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Here's the 3d Brigade Headquarters. Still no Improved Positions have been built, I guess the heavy machine gun crews have something better to do. The Jeep/Duster Task Force has returned to Lai Khe though! I look forward to seeing that Duster in action.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 11 - General
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There was no additional contact with the Viet Cong this turn. Even the sniper didn't take a shot in the Area ALASKA. I heard some movement in the background, but nothing was spotted. I have a handful of helicopters out and about that need to be refueled. Looks like a heavy machine gun made some progress in building an Improved Position down at Lai Khe!
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Turn 11 - 2d/28th Infantry
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The Aero Rifle Platoon secured the last hamlet in this area of Area LOUISIANA. In doing so another Viet Cong sniper was found in the highlighted hex. I have lifted off some Hogs and Loaches to come help deal with this issue.
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To the north, the LRRP is almost ready to secure the most northwestern Objective in Area LOUISIANA. Fortunately, it is quiet in this sector.
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Over at LZ LOUISIANA 5, you can see that it has taken 75 Action Points to unload from the Chinooks. I'll leave the Chinooks here for another turn that way they will both take off with the same amount of Action Points and head back to the Loc Ninh airfield. While they are on the ground, they do not burn through any turns of fuel, which is a bonus!
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B/2d/28th Infantry continues advancing west. The platoons are split up fairly wide, but things should be OK for now.
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C/2d/28th Infantry a little the south is getting closer to be operating together. Hopefully within a few turns I can get them securing these areas in Area LOUISIANA as soon as possible.
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Here is an overview of the eastern side of Area ALABAMA, A/2d/28th Infantry is the most effective company at the moment within the battalion. Hopefully I will be done this area by midday of Day 1.
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Further to the south, the Bridge Engineers are out of the trucks and ready to attempt to start laying a bridge across the river. The regular engineers are continuing to clear the main road of blocks and mines.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 11 - 1st/16th Infantry
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First up, we're going to deal with that sniper that caused us some casualties that A/1st/16th Infantry found in the middle part of Area ALASKA. Here the Snakes and Loaches have found the sniper and will attack with rockets and guns. The rockets did the trick and I was successful at destroying the snipers with one of the Snakes.
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The rest of A/1st/16th Infantry has spread out and is doing a good job securing the area.
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B/1st/16th Infantry platoons move towards their assigned roads and will start taking the objectives in the next few turns. All is quiet in this area.
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The convoy to the south is creeping up towards Chon Thanh. You can see the ARVN Cavalry Squadron that has taken up positions along QL13. They are fixed, I look forward to them being released.. eventually.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 11 - 3d Brigade Headquarters
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The first improved position has been built. These things take time, apparently. I fanned out the HMG's to the next places they will be digging in.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 12 - General
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Logistics, what the heck! I have to worry about logistics too? Oh yes, that is one of the elements that will make these A Week in scenarios a little different and fun! I will have to move the 2d/28th Logistics Company from An Loc up to Loc Ninh. Fortunately, I had been moving them already, but they are stuck in a traffic jam south of the river where I am attempting to build a bridge.
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I have a couple helicopters that I need to land, and my engineers have cleared a roadblock on QL13 south of the river crossing. Some headquarters are out of ammo for the turn, but a couple are moving, so that makes sense.
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Turn 12 - 2d/28th Infantry
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Utilizing the Loach and Hogs, I've tracked down the sniper that shot at the Aero Rifle platoon from D/1st/4th Cavalry. You can see that hiding in the jungle here. Unfortunately, the Hog's weren't effective in the very nasty terrain.
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The LRRP team to the north is making very good progress and will continue meandering the trails to the next objectives along the northern part of Area LOUISIANA.
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B/2d/28th Infantry is meandering in the jungle, although as the Chinooks were flying over head, a Viet Cong machine gun opened fire, raking the sky. Fortunately, no damage was sustained by that has given me a target now for the company to deal with. I will secure the Objectives first and then assault with A/2d/28th Infantry onto Hill 171 to deal with the Viet Cong unit/units there.
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C/2d/28th Infantry is now operating in unison and is about to cross into Area LOUISIANA. Note on the left that I landed the second LRRP unit to assist the company secure some locations. Once these are done, I'll fly the LRRP unit to Cambodia.
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To the east, A/2d/28th Infantry is the most productive company, securing the eastern area of Area ALABAMA with limited losses. That will change when they are heading into Area LOUISIANA though.
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Down on QL13, the Engineering task force is attempting to build a bridge across the river. Alas, no joy this turn. I will continue. The Blocks/mines south of the river and mostly cleared now. It will be to build the bridge and hope to clear the traffic jam that has been created... in the middle of the jungle.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 12 - 1st/16th Infantry
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With the sniper taken care of at Hill 102 (southern part of the screenshot), the platoons of A/1st/16th Infantry were able to continue with their mission of clearing Area ALASKA, the northern part. The helicopters hard to head back to refuel at An Loc.
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B/1st/16th Infantry platoons are advancing up their assigned routes. More mines, more blocks. It's a slow and tedious process. I will need more engineers in the future.
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The 1st/16th Infantry convoy is working its way up QL13. They have almost ready Chon Thanh. On the Jump map, An Loc is directly north along the long straight stretch (black line) to where the blue dots are near the middle of the map. That is about 10 turns away, but paved road. Assuming it isn't blocked or mined or there isn't an ambush waiting in the wings.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 12 - 3d Brigade Headquarters
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Well, I knew this was coming, but didn't think it would be so soon. I almost had a helicopter crash land due to forgetting about it over some terrible terrain. Fortunately, on the very last turn it had fuel I was able to land it back at Phuoc Vinh. The bit of good fortune is that the helicopter is carrying a task force headquarters for 1st/16th Infantry, which means it should be able to refuel on the spot.
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Here is the rest of the 3d Brigade Headquarters, as viewed from the air. The ARVN troops in Ap Lai Khe are all fixed, but it is part of an armoured cavalry squadron. That might be useful if it is ever attacked.
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[Jason Petho]

Turn 13 - General
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Looks like we have another logistical task. This time it is for 1st/16th Infantry. Fortunately, the entire battalion is en route to An Loc, so I have started taking care of this task already. I just have to make sure they arrive in one piece.
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Otherwise, two units have recovered from disruption and I have nearly a handful of headquarters still out of supply, but this is because they are mostly moving. The Engineers between An Loc and Loc Ninh have cleared another block.
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Turn 13 - D/1st/4th Cavalry
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I'll break out the D Troop from now on to keep things better organized. The gunships from D Troop have arrived on scene in western Area LOUISIANA and have been tasked with destroying the snipers that the Aero Rifle Platoon. Taking a look at the Unit Handbook (F2), the Hogs are most effective at a range of 2 hexes and firing from Nap of the Earth. Unfortunately, due to the jungle terrain, I had to fire from the Low Flight Zone.
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Fortunately, it was to good effect and the Aero Rifle platoon from D Troop was able to continue along the trails towards the next objective.
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Meanwhile, to the north, the LRRP is racing along the trails to secure the last two objectives along the northern edge of Area LOUISIANA before I send them off to Cambodia.
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