TDG Tuesday: Convoy Ambush

I started this series, TDG (Tactical Decision Game) Tuesdays, to get you more in the mindset of how you could potentially handle a given tactical scenario with a limited amount of resources and manpower. My goal is to get you to read these scenarios and think about what resources you have available, what sort of scenarios you might encounter, and what gaps you need to fill in your equipment/training.
I will use the basic 5-paragraph operations order format, or SMEAC, to present the scenario as follows;
Situation: Disposition of all friendly, hostile, and adjacent forces.
Mission: What we are trying to do.
Execution: How we are going to do it.
Admin & Logistics: Who/what is getting where and how.
Command & Signal: Who is in charge and how they are communicating.

TDG 5: Convoy Ambush

Situation: Guerrilla Warfare Scenario. You lead a small band of guerrillas fighting against the PLA.

  • OPFOR Situation: Your AO is a PLA “rear area” with only minimal forces for security, as the bulk of their units are about a hundred miles Northeast at the front. Reconnaissance has determined that the PLA routinely sends supply convoys through your area carrying fuel, munitions, rations, and medical equipment in unarmored trucks. Normal composition of enemy convoys are 6-10 supply trucks with armored security vehicles at the front, middle, and rear of the convoy. The troops you will be fighting likely do not have combat experience. However, their ROEs are not very restrictive, and are more designed to prevent friendly fire than collateral damage.

    • Reinforcements: there is a QRF located at the logistics depot approximately 10 miles south of the location pictured on the map. They use the same armored vehicles as the convoy escorts. They do not have rotary wing support this far in the rear, but they do have an ISR drone available to launch upon the QRF getting triggered. They do not have constant drone coverage available for force protection.

    • Supporting units: There is a supply battalion at the depot 10 miles to the south where the convoys originate, co-located with an engineering company.

PLA Armored Car, the most likely Escort Vehicle for this exercise

  • BLUFOR Situation: You lead a squad plus of 17 guerrillas, consisting of four 4-man fire teams and yourself. You all live in the area and have trained/operated together previously, but you do not have any heavy weaponry. One of your fire teams has just returned from spending a week in an observation post overlooking the road, so you have the convoy schedule and you know that the next one will drive through in three hours.

  • Independents Situation: There are no houses in the map, and civilians are unlikely to be in your operating area. The populace is not in favor of the occupation and is sympathetic to the guerrillas, so it is unlikely that they will report your group if they see you. There are no adjacent friendly militias that you are aware of.

Mission: Ambush the next convoy and destroy as much of the supplies and vehicles as possible in order to bleed the enemy and pull some pressure off of the front.

Execution:  The current time is 0300, your people are assembled and ready to go.  The convoy will be at the bridge in the bottom of the map at 0600 local time, traveling the highlighted route in the direction indicated by the arrow at about 50mph.  Sunrise is at 0630.  Everything else is up to you.

Admin & Logistics: You have the following resources available:

  • every man’s personal AR-15 with 600 rounds/man.

  • 5x 2-seat Four-wheelers

  • 2x pickup trucks

  • 4x FRS walkie-talkies

  • whatever you happen to have in your house/barn/workshop in the way of tools, building supplies, chemicals, etc.

Note: Just because I list something here doesn’t mean you need to use it.

Command & Signal: You are the Squad Leader. You can delegate to your four Team Leaders if you so choose. Your comm plan is up to you, remember to use a PACE plan.

I want you guys to get creative here. Don’t get hung up on how little you have to work with, think outside the box and find a way to accomplish your mission.

Feel free to post your answers in the comments and discuss (or don’t, if it compromises OPSEC).

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By Published On: April 6, 2021Categories: Mike, Tactical, Training85 Comments on TDG Tuesday: Convoy Ambush

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85 Comments

  1. Juri April 6, 2021 at 07:01

    Other armies do not operate like US Army in Afghanistan. Where nobody actually did not want to get the guerillas. Ambush in the remote area means cutoff and destruction immediately. At least in the oriental armies who use convoy only as a bait.
    The second thing is that attacks against material targets are pretty much useless against large industrial state. Hitler lost the war because he tried to destroy materials instead of concentrating his efforts against human soldiers who are not easily replicable. Destroying China industrial power with small gun fire is not very effective.
    Finally, successful guerilla attack means huge long term damage. For example many of the local people will be arrested and sent to concentration camps immediately. .Or just wiped off the ground like Soviets did in Afghanistan. Guerilla attack near the village means few MI24 out and there is no village anymore. Soviet and later Russia actions in Afghanistan and Chechenia were so effective that radical Islam stays far away from picking up fight with Russians.
    Classical Guerilla warfare works only against dumb and incompetent enemy. Effective and competent Government will crush any bush warriors very fast. This is the reason why non of the Afghanistan rebels will not even think to do something on China territory.

    • Mike April 6, 2021 at 07:31

      So your plan is to roll over and do nothing. My, what a brilliant strategist you are.

      • Patriotman April 6, 2021 at 09:00

        A regular wargaming genius rofl. It is astonishing to me the things that people will actually type as a comment and ultimately hit “submit” for.
        Excellent post as always Mike.

        • Mike April 6, 2021 at 09:09

          Thanks bro! Yeah, there always has to be that one guy in each TDG who thinks he sounds smart talking about how he wouldn’t actually do anything lol. I’ve come to expect it at this point.

      • Juri April 6, 2021 at 15:38

        I did not said that do nothing I just pointed out obvious fact that most of the guerilla stuff is bloodbath without very little impact to enemy. Soviets lost 14 000 men in Afghanistan and killed 2 million Afghans plus 5 million refugees. Can you afford that ?
        Btw Soviets won. They never intended to take over Afghanistan. Just destroy the enemy and go back home. When there is problem again, Russia will repeat. Afghans know this and stay quiet already 34 long years. There is no radical Islam in the Russian southern border.

        • Mike April 6, 2021 at 16:14

          Well, look who came back like a dog to his vomit!
          That’s exactly what you’re saying. You didn’t attempt to solve the problem or make any sort of worthwhile contribution, you just decided to take the coward’s way out and say that resistance is not worth it. By the way, the Soviets didn’t “win” in Afghanistan, they went in to prop up the communist government there and they failed. You’re full of shit and everyone here knows it.
          In the words of Samuel Adams, “Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”

        • ET April 7, 2021 at 12:08

          “There is no radical Islam in the Russian southern border.”
          [Looks up Chechnya]
          Um…

    • riverrider April 6, 2021 at 08:05

      yeah that’s why the Russians are still in charge in Afghanistan…oh wait….

      • Alex April 6, 2021 at 08:55

        The Russians never had popular support, which is key to a guerrilla campaign. Popular support gets you fed, both with food and Intel for future operations. The locals in this TDG are sympathetic to the guerrillas, that could take the form of hiding them from PLA patrols after the ambush. Popular support + the will to fight are the lifeblood of an insurgency, and they’re successful way more often than not.

    • Wyogrunt April 6, 2021 at 10:22

      The intent of this exercise is completely lost on this clown. Plus his grasp of history is bullshit.

    • Johnny Paratrooper April 6, 2021 at 10:29

      Hitler lost because he found himself in a three front war and half his allies folded like tissue paper. As well as the classic blunder in Europe, the British Naval Blockade. A 200 year old tactic. Ask Napoleon. FYI, if was all swarm our enemies in our respective AO’s and never give them a day off, they will fold.
      See Chechnya vs. Russia

      • Mike April 6, 2021 at 10:58

        Hey now, the u-boat blockade very nearly worked until the Brits mounted surface-search radar in their patrol aircraft to target u-boats at night when they surfaced to charge their batteries. That and cracking the Enigma cipher.

    • Mark. April 6, 2021 at 11:56

      I seem to remember reading a fair amount about Russian guerilla warfare against the Germans in WWII, and it being fairly effective. Were the Germans dumb and incompetent?

  2. Alex April 6, 2021 at 08:50

    I’d set up hasty obstacles at the bend south of the bridge and then on the bridge itself, with one fire team set in an ambush that is to engage the un-armored vehicles as they navigate the first obstacle. Obstacles without fire are a waste of time, and we only have 3 hours, so I’d use our 2 pickups and any logs or timber around, and light them on fire, which means if the ambush is a failure, egress and breaking contact will have to be primarily on foot. If we’re successful, we commandeer enemy trucks along with supplies, conduct SSE and then GTFO of the ambush site.
    I’d position my other two fire teams on the north side of the bridge with their primary directions of fire being directly down the bridge and from either a left or right oblique; whichever had better cover. Ambush will be initiated via brevity code over FRS radios, with alternate plans of verbal shouts and/or whistle blast.
    I expect the PLA to push through the first kill zone, and get bottlenecked at the bridge. Once they’re stalled, we pour fire in for the kill from three sides. Any prisoners are secured, silenced and separated from one another and whisked away to the rear for any Intel value. Anything of material value from the hasty SSE will be collected by all members of the patrol.

  3. Dana Henry April 6, 2021 at 10:32

    I hesitate to even ask a question here. It’d be helpful for me to try to approach problem solving if just to myself. Can a drone’s signal be jammed. We’re a group of veterans & Hams. We have equipment. The chems back in the barn; can the bridge be dropped?

    • Mike April 6, 2021 at 10:54

      Short answer, yes drone signals can be jammed, the Russians did it to Ukraine pretty recently. However, the frequencies that they use are probably outside the limitations of any equipment we have available, unless we modified our gear heavily.

      • Dana Henry April 6, 2021 at 11:00

        That reply is encouraging enough.

    • Johnny Paratrooper April 6, 2021 at 11:09

      https://interestingengineering.com/7-anti-drone-weapons-used-by-the-military-and-law-enforcement-around-the-world
      This article is two years old. The “Drone Gun” shoots a range of frequencies at the drone and either fries the circuits(Military), or overloads the antenna(Police). At which point I believe the drone is given orders to crash itself safely.

      • Dana Henry April 6, 2021 at 11:49

        Read and bookmarked. Thanks. The anti-drone capability in the article may not be up to the task of the ISR in the scenario. I want to run this by some of our Hams/Engineers just for the hell of it. One of Bracken’s books devoted a segment on bringing a drone down. Will have to re-read. Eyes are the kiss of death and I’d sure like to see them neutralized given the terrain and distance in this scenario.

    • Johnny Paratrooper April 6, 2021 at 11:27

      I would save the trucks and the 4 wheelers for another day. (And Fuel) To avoid dust, Radar, and IR signature.
      Use the trucks to scout a blind corner or turn.
      The ambush starts there and goes past.
      I would hit them with everything. Have their gun trucks and supply trucks run the gauntlet through 17 men with AR’s.
      Accurate, aimed fire rapid. String everyone out along 300 yards and just wreck them. Once they pass the 5th man in the linear ambush, I would initiate contact. So 1st man is shooting at the 3rd to last vehicle.
      Also, I would drag 17 logs across the street so the vehicles and gunners are hitting the breaks, bouncing, crashing, and accelerating during the engagement. This would make the gunners basically useless. Probably save several lives. And create a communication mess in the truck between the driver, TC, and Gunner.
      If the convoy stops to fight it out, fight through the objective.
      All men who hear 1 minute of shooting, but see no trucks, need to collapse towards the gunfire and fold themselves into the fight.
      When the gunner is “out of range”, shift fire to aiming for the tires/street to bounce rounds into the wheels.
      Something like that. In theory, the enemy convoy should be 300 meters long. Once they are 1/3 of the way through, they will likely try to punch through.
      If my guerrillas are squared away, I would hit them from both sides. And scatter into the wind. And yes, that includes a swim for half the crew. Assuming it’s not winter.
      I would skip the EMF transmissions except for emergency. (PACE)
      Any tracers would be given to the two middle men to concentrate on the fuel trucks.

      • Johnny Paratrooper April 6, 2021 at 11:29

        This was meant to be a stand alone post.

      • LFMayor April 6, 2021 at 12:17

        The logs idea is good stuff man, I’ll be sure and pass that one on. The road looks improved enough that dropping trees to make an abbatis wouldn’t work. Maybe a rockslide at some of the pints where the elevated terrain is closer?

        • Johnny Paratrooper April 6, 2021 at 12:46

          Remember we only have 3 hours to make this happen. That includes a quick dry run. And to make sure everyone understands the plan. If someone knew of a possible point for a rock slide, I would say hell yes. But, in my experience, because this road handrails a river(Like many roads) the likelihood is that most potential kinetic energy stored in any rocks is released slowly over thousands of years. So we will probably not find what we are looking for. Dropping trees however, or setting up a few good cables to decapitate a few gunners is our best bet. This area looks like logging country, and I would bet most everyone has a chainsaw( or three) sitting in their shop. Felling a few trees is easy work, and not hard to teach and train. The main concern is positioning your troops so they don’t have to lead their targets too much. I would say set in at 150 meters, and aim for zone just a hair above the turret ring.

      • Dana Henry April 6, 2021 at 12:24

        As I remember, similar to the ambush and murder of LaVoy Finicum and is what formulated in my mind. They used a Dead man’s blockade and cut them off from their convoy. Withering fire kept the occupants pinned in their vehicle. Thanks for accepting questions from people who want to learn.

  4. Anonymous April 6, 2021 at 11:10

    5

  5. Razorback Trapper April 6, 2021 at 11:36

    Getting ready for work so I do t have as much time to look this over as I’d like. If I can only use what equipment is listed(no chainsaws) I’d use the vehicles to cause a road block. The force would be divided into two teams. Each forming a linear ambush on the ridge tops above the bridge. When the convoy stops to clear the road block it would get lit up. Orders would be to concentrate fire into the furthest rear unarmoured vehicle of the convoy first to try to disable it block their ability to back out of the ambush. Coms would be used to verify everyone is in place, and to command fall back when we need to beat feet. Signal to begin ambush would be leader opening up first. Since we know the sourounding area that we can’t see on a map I’m guessing we would already know the dense coniferous forested areas we could move to to hide from the drone that would be coming. If nothing like that existed, 4 wheelers would be parked near by to quickly get us back in town where we can blend in, or a rally point we can hide in. I’d have to see more of the surrounding area to determine all that. Now please roast my plan if you see screw ups. You’re not going to hurt my feelings. The more I learn now the better.

    • Mike April 6, 2021 at 12:12

      Chainsaws are fair game, I said any tools/materials you might have in your house/barn/workshop.

      • Razorback Trapper April 6, 2021 at 12:57

        Right on. 3 hours is not much time. I’d probably leave the chainsaw. Getting 4 wheelers in position, falling trees, climbing hills and getting into position is a lot to squeeze in to 3 hours. Also, the more I think on it the more I do t like the idea of just blocking an obvious ambush point with a vehicle. If they see it before they are in the kill zone, they would probably avoid the ambush. Thank you for creating these scenarios. They are great training!

      • americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 13:05

        If chainsaws are fair game I’d have team 3 in my plan precut a couple trees with one man designated to drop them behind the rear vehicle once the firing starts, drop the trees, drop the saw, pick up the rifle.

  6. LFMayor April 6, 2021 at 11:50

    Make some “roadblock travois” out of scrap lumber, old tires, milk jugs of old motor oil. If you can scrounge an old car hood use it as the toboggan. Load these to the point where a quad runner can still drag them. They’ll be used to block the bridge from the relief forces and frustrate any retreat to the south, stage as many of these hidden to the south and east of the bridge where the road turns north. Once the convoy passes the bridge and the bend north two of the quad runners and two men will communicate the target passing their position. When contact begins in the kill box these men leave their camouflaged positions and drag the roadblocks to the east end of the bridge. We’ll estimate it takes four sleds to effectively block the bridge, these will then be ignited and these men move north to engage. A similar block will be placed south of the power line cut and the remaining vehicles used to block the road north when the trap is sprung.
    The elevation east of the road should be used to help land molotovs on the convoy escorts. 13 men remaining will be broken out as 1 dmr per armored car with focus on the turret gunners accompanied by two pitchers, who will attempt to Molotov the armored cars. The remaining four will be on the west side of the road in two teams with emphasis on engaging the cargo drivers and any passengers. The goal is to neutralize the armored cars and secure as much material as possible. The blockade teams should move to engage any stragglers and provide oblique fire on the kill box. I would emphasize the north team hug the river/valley and the south team hug the terrain to the east of the road for cover to mitigate friendly fire.
    Once neutralized and stopped pick the gear over, load it and boogie

    • Paulo April 6, 2021 at 13:20

      Considering they don’t have advanced eyes on the route, would
      be good to cut enough of those metal road dividers and bend and
      secure at the appropiate area to entrap & abbate.

      • Paulo April 6, 2021 at 22:58

        Maybe I did not explain clearly. Okay… you see how those metal road guards are anchored/posted in?
        Well, cut those posts as low as possible so the metal road mediums can be bent concaved and tied/bolted
        against the other road metal guards on the opposing side. Could even double or even tripple that.

        • Mike April 7, 2021 at 01:05

          Dang, that’s pretty ingenious! You will likely need a cutting torch and a chain saw for that, but it definitely sounds doable.

          • Paulo April 7, 2021 at 11:06

            Just realized that the posts do not have to be cut. A couple or more battery makita or similar with right size nut
            sized cubes would loosen all those U/Square bolts holding the metal rails and even be reused to bolt
            down to opposite guard rail.

          • wwes April 7, 2021 at 11:38

            That’s a good idea, and would be a lot easier than cutting posts. A dewalt 1/2 drive impact driver is pretty stout. Just make sure and have plenty of batteries, 6 amp hour ones preferably, those things are hard on batteries if you’re working them hard.

    • Mike April 6, 2021 at 16:39

      Brilliant, I love it. Great creativity with the car-hood travois, that’s a term I’ve not heard since I was a Boy Scout lol.

  7. ET April 6, 2021 at 12:19

    Harassment, impedance, and deprivation.
    I would break down the assignments into four teams of four – each with radios and their own personal weapon/ammunition load.
    Harassment would be the first stage. If possible, from the items available, we would make either chorine and/or AN/FO devices for improvised roadside IEDs. At the same time, making three times as many identical dummy devices would allow for a semi-predictable/plausible ambush leading up to the approach of the bridge. One dispersed team (on the high ground to the NE of the bridge, no more than 20m separation between individuals and from sufficient cover) would engage as soon as the devices were discovered – if the devices were not discovered, they would engage as soon as they are in the target area with the devices to push dismounts from the vehicles into the kill zone where half of the devices can be detonated. The idea is expected chaos/confusion – by forcing them to react to the IED threat and small arms fire, this should disorganize the PLA troops enough, inflict a few casualties, force them to expend ammunition, and possibly damage a vehicle or two. This first team would only remain long enough to put up a significant volume of fire and elicit a proportionate response from the PLA convoy. As soon as this team expended all but 120 rounds, they would disengage as discreetly as possible to 4-wheelers assembled far enough away to prevent observation – detonating the remainder of the devices via convenient det cord which was squirreled away as soon as an occupation by the PLA was imminent.
    After the first team engages, this process – minus the IEDs would be repeated a mile up the road by two four-man teams on opposing sides of the road with the engagement axis of each team on a 45-degree angle from the road to minimize the chances of friendly backstops. This would be pretty much the same thing as before – a large initial volume of fire but directed towards the vulnerable spots of the vehicles: windshields, drivers, and dismounted troops. The idea would be to immobilize as many vehicles as possible and force more PLA ammunition to be expended against unseen assailants.
    By then, the first team could displace from the initial bridge ambush site to the final team which would be situated on the E side of 19, just past the big draw. Taking up positions to the S of the draw, their rough idea would again be a 45-degree engagement axis NW/SW of the road – the final team to fix and the first team deployed to finish. The second team would join the first after crossing the road to the east after the convoy departed their engagement area and reconsolidate ammo, expending all but one remaining magazine for self-defense after disengagement and departing the area.
    The final team would then depart via 4-wheelers, leaving a 2-man observation team with whatever remaining magazines, a radio, and a last 4-wheeler to observe and report – ensuring that the information gathered will add to the overall idea of the OPFOR TTPs for this engagement.
    Any opportunistic scavenging of disabled vehicles would be ideal; however, the window of opportunity would be limited to about 10 minutes after the initial attack on the convoy. This would be dictated by the time of flight for responding UAVs and the ability to un-ass the AO the pickups and 4-wheelers as quickly as possible to prevent the PLA from getting any PID on the insurgent forces, vehicles, and direction of egress.
    This would be a rough outline given to the Team Leaders – I would leave up the minutiae of how their teams would be specifically deployed up to them; ammunition expenditures and possible casualties (2 WIA or 1 KIA) would dictate when they should break contact. This overall loose CONOP would allow for the most flexibility in responding to PLA reactions, but it would also serve to boost morale by providing direct resistance as well as force the PLA MSR to be reconsidered.

    • Mike April 6, 2021 at 16:37

      Good practice of centralized command with de-centralized control. Just a few quick pointers, you’re assuming that the enemy will stop and dismount immediately upon coming under fire. This is unlikely, as every professional military is trained to drive through an ambush if possible to get out of the kill zone. So if you don’t give them a reason to stop (i.e. blocking the road somehow) they won’t.
      Interesting idea leaving an observation team to observe what happens next, but keep in mind that after the QRF arrives they’ll probably comb through the woods looking for bodies, tracks, etc. to get intel on your guys. Not to mention the fact that the ISR drone will definitely have FLIR. This means that your 2-man observation team is very likely to be found. That said, you might be able to place a hidden video camera to record what happens next, and pick it up later.

      • ET April 6, 2021 at 21:26

        “Good practice of centralized command with de-centralized control.”
        Thanks… I hastily composed my plan while on a conference call for work, so I was a bit distracted; it could easily be attributed to the realism of managing a hasty plan with limited intel and a litany of logistic/organizational challenges a leader in such a situation would have to contend with. This is why I would have a broad overall tactical goal with the implication that the subordinate leaders are given somewhat of a long leash in sniffing out the conditions towards victory. Micromanagement maims in warfare, after all.
        “…you’re assuming that the enemy will stop and dismount immediately upon coming under fire.”
        Old habits from being above the battlefield for so long and enduring the debacle that was early pre-deployment STX lanes ran by support personnel who would bravely earn their Bronze Stars in the Great Caffeine Battles of FOBistan. However, the idea would be to entice the PLA log folks to react according to that (idiotic) doctrine. After all, we have *our* support folks and they would more than likely have theirs due to most of the Combat Arms folks out actively looking for a fight elsewhere. A wild assumption on my part, really, but based upon my own experiences.
        “Not to mention the fact that the ISR drone will definitely have FLIR.”
        Ya know… this might sound callous, but impending peril is usually an effective teaching and motivational tool. If I was with these folks long enough, they would know that the implied task would be to shake any thermal tracking as best as they could. Perhaps that was too loose of a way to run, but there were a lot of givens and a realistic hastiness to an engagement of opportunity.
        Now that I think of it, though, the resolution of many airborne sensors these days might be a bit more worrisome than FLIR… Sooo… yeah… looks like potshots from canoes might be next for consideration… lol
        “That said, you might be able to place a hidden video camera to record what happens next, and pick it up later.”
        Damn. Trail/game cams. I COMPLETELY forgot about that. However, I also neglected the EM warfare angle a bit with copious reliance on radio coordination. That being said, the raid would have to be fairly quick to prevent DF capabilities and I will probably get sucked into learning more on the data storage/transmission of trail cams.
        While I was out running errands, it occurred to me that it might help future scenarios to give a grid location for these engagements. I am confident in my abilities to identify terrain features on a map, but with Streetview so prevalent, it would help if we could get low-angle imagery to determine the vegetation benefits (tree size) or other rough ideas of what might be available for cover/concealment – after all, 7.62x54R will punch through the pines around someplace like Benning, but might have a more difficult time with oak or redwood elsewhere.
        These Tactical Decision Games are great, though. I was doing something similar with my son last year and it was one particular scenario I presented where he ended up spending way more time than he thought he would in looking up the various levels of protection afforded by masonry as well as realizing that one does not snipe from right *at* a window – being further back into the room is more beneficial for both detection and protection of brick spall from near misses. Good times.

        • Mike April 7, 2021 at 01:02

          I actually avoid giving away the exact location of the TDG maps because people tend to pull details from the surrounding region that I hadn’t intended to be in play for the exercise. But I see your point, in the future I can include a google street view image to show the terrain/vegetation you’d be dealing with. Thanks for the tip!

        • americanlife702 April 7, 2021 at 03:50

          Something that always fucks up our enemies for sure, whether its Jewish usury or some overt hostile force, is just when we want to go to Valhalla to meet our Folk again. That’s what they can’t understand, it’s why they fear us,it’s why they supress us. It’s why White Supreeemacy is the big evil. Who invented the fucking air conditioner? And everything else. I know I’ll see you all there. We will continue the flow.

  8. americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 12:42

    Awesome exercise! Disclaimer: I’m not a military veteran but I’ve watched a lot of TV and spent a couple nights in a Holiday Inn Express before.
    I would seek to use the bridge as the bottleneck that it is. That is I would cork that bottleneck. There are trees on the inside of the curve to obstruct the view of the bridge until about halfway into the curve. I would like to run a heavy chain between the guardrails in the middle of the bridge and park one of the pickups directly on the bridge beyond that. Place one team slightly SE of the 800′ mark on the topo map, another slightly NE of where it says Carr’s. These positions are above the elevation of the road. The 3rd team I would place on the other side of the road at what would become the 5 o’clock position of the stopped convoy. The 4th team on the other side of the bridge to directly engage the 1st vehicle from the front. The teams designated best marksman would have the job of suppressing the turret gunners while all other members disable the vehicles by shooting their tires and drivers if possible.

  9. MTHead April 6, 2021 at 13:26

    What size round does it take to pop a front truck tire? If you just scatter out and start popping truck tires. They have to all stop. Or be scattered all up and down their route. As mentioned, IED’s, and fake IED’s get convoys stopped. Which makes them even easier for long range harassment.
    As someone said. Constant harassment. Never let up. No save space ever.

    • americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 14:31

      This is an area that I actually do have expertise. Tires. Not the greatest career decision but I digress 😂 You can pop a tire with any caliber, a .22 short would puncture the sidewall of most tires. The heavy truck tires probably not, however a .223 probably wouldn’t even lose much velocity going in one side and out the other. Would go through the tread and steel belt package easily too. I once had a truck come in with Goodyear Silent Armor tires, these tires have a layer of Kevlar in the sidewalls for noise dampening. One of them had a slow leak. After dunking the tire I found air coming out the sidewall, dismounted it, looked inside and found that it was cactus thorns that had pushed through the Kevlar.

      • Mike April 6, 2021 at 16:19

        Kevlar weave works because it’s designed to stop high velocity projectiles, not slow-moving pointed objects. That’s why soft armor is rated for pistol rounds but specifically NOT rated to stop knives, hence why that thorn went through.

        • americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 16:59

          Right, but I do wonder if those sidewalls would stop a pistol round.

          • Mike April 6, 2021 at 17:15

            Definitely something to test, unless someone on youtube tested it already.

        • americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 18:04

          I did a quick search and couldn’t find anything. Idk if you make video’s but it’s a good idea for one. Maybe you or someone else here.

        • americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 21:04

          Now I based my whole plan off of the enemy moving North to South. I see other comments here as if they are moving in the opposite direction. Was I wrong about the direction? Was the direction even specified? Did I make my plan accordingly to what I wished would happen? Some seemingly ideal place on that map? Going back to review the original instructions now.

        • americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 21:10

          Ok, so I missed the part about the front being to the NE. I guess that’s why the 2nd says “Well Regulated”. I failed! I hope to see another one of these next Tuesday. Great stuff! My whole plan was based on a Northern approach..

          • Mike April 7, 2021 at 00:56

            Lol, was the big red arrow pointing north not a big enough indicator?
            You’re good, dude. You still got practice wargaming the scenario so you got something out of it. Just remember to pay attention to details like that in the future.

          • americanlife702 April 7, 2021 at 01:22

            Lol no I guess it wasn’t! Dammit! Well at least my epic failure was only hypothetical!

          • americanlife702 April 12, 2021 at 09:12

            👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇲

  10. MikeJ April 6, 2021 at 13:43

    How much time do we have to prep the ground? I’m thinking that once the decision is made and the ground chosen, then using some IED’s such as mortar mines, pipe bombs, shotshell mines etc. would be effective on the opposite side of the ambush, and between the ambushers and the road, much like det cord and claymores were used in VN. Smokeless or black powder may be used to create these, and I’m sure that cannon fuse, shotshells, 1×4’s, and pipe/EMT are available to most in their shops, I know that they are in mine.
    Set an L close to the blue line, with a roadblock at the north end just past a bend in the road, with a fire team and some pipe grenades close to that, with the rest of the force on the high ground to the east of the road. When they stop/slow down at the block, light up the column, concentrating on the last soft vehicle in the column to pin them. Fire for effect, using pipe grenades to break up their counter attack if forthcoming. At a predetermined time/signal, break contact and exfil to an RP that has vehicular transport parked, and beat feet.
    I am a rank amateur at SUT, having been on the aerial end of infil/exfil and SAR, so I am sure that I am missing many things IRT what is important and what is not.

    • Mike April 6, 2021 at 16:45

      Good idea using IEDs to prevent them pursuing you. Even something as simple as a mousetrap-shotshell tripwires would be enough for that.

      • Dana Henry April 6, 2021 at 17:16

        Some takeways from non Army. There is more than one approach that is legitimate. I am the only one really fixated on the drone. This was a good exercise for me to see the different approaches. I’m going to read and r-read them. I took particular interest in this scenario because our team faces the prospect of facing it down the road. 100s of miles Blue state Red region. It’s been a topic.
        On the other side of the coin. We were asked to come up with a plan to supply our team members with materiel support concentrated on the west side of the Cascades. We knew President Trump was going to win, there would be a breakdown and our guys would need supplies and help getting out. I liked my plan. I was pumped. And then – surprise, surprise.

  11. MTHead April 6, 2021 at 14:30

    Also something to remember is between the ground and a guardrail, on a slight curve in the road makes an excellent firing position. When driving down the road. Look 200 meters out at that position. Good to fire from. Very hard to hit back. Especially from a moving vehicle.
    Something I’ve notice from cartel hit AAR’s in Mexico.
    First rounds out all concentrate on the lead driver. Once he’s out. Then they go for the objective.

    • Mike April 6, 2021 at 16:50

      Good idea with the guardrail, but look at the photo of the armored car. What kind of weapon is that in the turret? That’s basically the Chinese version of the DShK, a .50 cal heavy machine gun. It’ll tear through the pavement and the guardrail easily, so probably better to take out the gunner first.
      Otherwise, concentrating fire on the driver is a solid plan. Even if that’s bulletproof glass, they probably won’t have the metal shields down for a supply convoy, and enough hits on the glass will make the driver unable to see, and he’ll have to stop or crash.

  12. GT April 6, 2021 at 14:47

    I would set up an abatis across the bend of the road North of the bridge, doused in used oil but not lit. My hope would be to catch the majority of the convoy on or just North of the bridge. I would place an L-shaped ambush at that point with one fire team to the North beyond the Abatis and two fire teams on the ridge to the East. The fourth team I have reservations about using as a blocking force to the South of the bridge, because in the map provided there are no other routes across the river. However, if I or the other locals knew of a good ford across that river, I would use the fourth team as a blocking force mobile via 2 ATVs. In addition to the concerns regarding river fording, I’m also concerned about a lack of anti-material weaponry. Let’s assume that we can at least scrounge up enough Molotov cocktails to make a small dent in the supplies. Most farms could probably scrounge up an EFP or two, which would be used to disable the lead and trailing vehicles. If an AMR is on the table, assuming this is the same group in the previous TDG series, my plan would involve placing it on the ridge to the East and targeting the cargo trucks’ engines while the fire teams engage the escort force. Molotovs can be thrown at the cargo trucks throughout the ambush with the aim to destroy as many supplies as possible. Engagement time would be set to a hard 5 minutes, then the Northern force would hit the oil-soaked abatis with Molotovs to generate enough smoke and fire to provide cover for withdrawal. Exfil by pickup and ATV staged farther to the North would be ideal, with Alternative routes via foot. The engagement would begin with gunfire, with comms being passed via radio, whistle, and aerial flare signaling general emergency withdrawal.

    • americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 15:26

      That was also my 4th teams position and I had the same concern. That they would be the only team on the other side of the river. I didn’t think of the abatis but a heavy chain in between the guardrails of the bridge and a pickup beyond that. If that didn’t stop the lead vehicle they would be isolated without the other 3 teams in a good position to attack. The abatis may be a better option, or addition.

  13. mudge April 6, 2021 at 14:52

    One truck leaves with 1 squad ASAP. 2 dropped off to hasty OP/overwatch/rear security on hill just west of intersection of CR 19-324 and Rt. 19 with a radio. Other 2 hang with truck at campground to the south with radio. It’s dark and early. Nobody really paying attention there. 2nd squad takes truck and parks at canoe rental again with radio. 3rd squad sets up as North security in parking lot just up the road. 4th squad is ambush squad 100 yards off the road just past bridge.
    Brevity codes from overwatch to alert all of approaching convoy.
    All are wearing clothing to blend in with others in area, not camo bdu’s. As convoy passes campground, they get followed by truck #1, who stops mid Bridge dismounts and sets truck on fire. Preventing escape to South and delaying any QRF. They then join ambush team.
    As convoy reaches ambush, ambush team opens up with focus on disabling machine guns on security vehicles. At first sound of fire, truck parked in canoe rental backs down road with 2 in tailgate, tailgate down opening up. Stops short, other 2 exit and continue with ambush focusing on mobility kill of lead vehicle, machine gunner and anyone who exitsvehicle. After 1 minute. North ambush team shifts fire to allow ambush team to push through. Once secure, team has 5 mins to eliminate any remaining PLA’s, destroy equipment and collect intel/heavy weapons and scoot. One squad exits by truck. The rest beat feet in fours to predetermined RV points.

    • Mike April 6, 2021 at 17:02

      Good plan, cutting off the rear is smart. I wouldn’t recommend using the truck as a firing position in this scenario. Vehicles are bullet magnets in a firefight, and your guys in the truck will likely get smoked immediately.
      Think of it from the enemy gunner’s perspective, you suddenly take contact and you can’t really see from where, but you spot a truck backing up in front of you. What will you do? You’ll probably shred the truck with your 50 cal machine gun.

      • mudge April 6, 2021 at 18:42

        Thanks for the feedback.
        The idea was that the ambush team would take out the turret gunner of the lead vehicle first. Maybe that’s not an option. Maybe blacking out the lights or communicating that turret gunner is down…. nahhhh
        You’re right. It falls apart or becomes overly complex.
        Appreciate the steer.

        • Mike April 7, 2021 at 00:53

          Massing fires on the turret gunner first is actually a good strategy, and it’s what I’d do actually, immediately followed by targeting the lead driver to either kill him or put enough impacts on his bulletproof windshield to force him to stop/crash for being unable to see.

  14. Mike April 6, 2021 at 15:17

    Guys, awesome plans and discussion! I asked for creativity and you all delivered! I just want to point out one key terrain feature here that nobody has talked about. That horizontal line at the top of the aerial photo isn’t a road, it’s a cut through the forest for high-tension power lines passing through the forest and over the road. When I saw that, I instantly thought of it as a hasty exfil route, especially with ATVs that wouldn’t do well in the forest if it’s too thick. You don’t need to use it, I’m just saying that it’s there.

    • Johnny Paratrooper April 6, 2021 at 16:09

      I’m terrified of snipers or SKTs. So I avoided that. The long way saves lives but hurts the back.

      • Mike April 6, 2021 at 17:13

        True, but I’d be even more scared of the ISR drone arriving on station and tracking us back because we didn’t get out of dodge fast enough. I guess that’s a risk that would have to be balanced with more info about the threats in the area than I provided.

    • americanlife702 April 6, 2021 at 16:12

      Hey Mike, if we wind up in the same Gulag together over this post. I call bottom bunk.

  15. Karl Dahl April 6, 2021 at 16:38

    That’s some really pretty country.
    First off, we have to consider that the objective is to waste a convoy, not to acquire materials or conduct a rescue. Second, there is a QRF around ten minutes away to the south. The sun won’t be up until 30 minutes after the convoy hits the bridge headed northbound, so we have very limited time to strike and get out.
    “Whatever you happen to have in your house/barn/workshop in the way of tools, building supplies, chemicals, etc.” – this means chainsaws and fixin’s for fougasse.
    The fougasse would be split between pickups, four barrels each. Two men each emplace the fougasse. One fougasse emplacement goes on the NE side of the bridge, directed along that little due-north stretch of road. Two men fell trees in a woven pattern to block the road just as 19 bends more northwardly just past the edge of the clearing to surprise the lead convoy vehicle, and emplace more barricades along the road and their position (more below). Another fougasse emplacement goes in there on the west side of the road, aimed directly down the road towards the oncoming convoy. Because we are low-tech guerrillas, we don’t have elaborate devices here, so they are going to have to be line of sight command detonated, with limited amounts of wire for doing so. North side will be controlled by a pair of guys (radio #1) in what I’m guessing is a decommissioned stretch of the old highway there on the east side of the road, under cover and out of the kill zone, with pickup #1 parked north of there for their exit. The south side will be controlled by team leader (radio #2) and another rifleman who have run the wire to the southwest side of the bridge and well into the trees, team leader controlling the detonation, the other covering with his rifle.
    Pickup #2 goes up county road 19-324 and those two guys fell more trees up around the bend at the high point, with the pickup parked north of the roadblock. This would be a great place for another fougasse boobytrap if you have time. I lean towards “you don’t have time.” They stay with the truck and the ATVs parked there (spread out a little) by the 11 men (radios #3 and #4) dispersed along the two high points at the southwest corner of the map that look down on the kill zone. Because of the radio situation, these men will be clustered into one six man and one five man group.
    Based on the size of the convoy, the rear vehicle should be inside the kill zone once the lead vehicle stops at the barricade and is able to radio the rest of the convoy. Team leader will either detonate or order radio #1 to detonate, based on what is happening in his view, then detonate his own charge when the Spirit moves him. Radio #2 pair won’t fire on the convoy – they’ll head straight for their truck while the convoy gets lit up and drive north. Riflemen on the high point will pour fire into the turrets and cabs of vehicles in their sectors – per brief there should be about one man in the shooter team for each vehicle. We’re only looking at 200m distances on the high end, depending upon how spread out the team can get and, more importantly, how long it takes to get back to the county road and their vehicle. Team leader and his rifleman won’t fire unless absolutely required to do so, but will direct fire if needed over the radio, particularly if there are vehicles outside of the kill zone, then exit scene to the truck on 19-324 within three minutes, commanding the five man team (radio #3) farthest from 19-324 to peel off first, with the six man team (radio #4) watching and firing for up to two more minutes, deciding per the fire team leader when to scoot, with their focus being preventing men from coming back across the bridge. Radio #4 fire team leader rides in the truck and only leaves once all of the boys have scooted.

  16. Billy April 6, 2021 at 16:51

    There are two things that immediately stand out to me. The first is the time of the convoy coming through, right at sunrise. Due to the terrain, you could actually have the sun to your back when you ambush this convoy and it would be quite difficult for the enemy forces to see you effectively. Even as far back as the book of five rings, there is a distinct advantage to having the sun to your back.
    The second is that no heavy weaponry but access to garages full of materials, this just screams infrastructure attack more than directly attacking the convoy itself. The convoy must go over the bridge and is highly vulnerable to a stoppage, whether it’s knocking out the bridge or disabling the lead vehicle.
    If I were going to ambush the vehicles, I would do so from in the wooded area to the east at sunrise, using the woods and the sun as concealment. I would have dummy devices to bog down the convoy while having the real concoctions (gasoline/paint thinner/other material mixture) as homemade napalm to burn the vehicles to a crisp. The priority targets for the riflemen are the machine gunners in the turrets on those armored cars.
    The supply trucks themselves may not be armored so simply shooting the drivers through the windshields may do. I would have a set time limit for the ambush, since we are not there to take and hold ground. Once we lose the advantage of the sun it becomes much easier for them to engage us (provided they aren’t using thermal imaging)

  17. Anonymous April 6, 2021 at 19:33

    4

  18. Anonymous April 6, 2021 at 21:58

    4.5

  19. Matt April 6, 2021 at 22:34

    A lot of good plans, good on you guys. A couple of areas to note:
    1) Though it doesn’t show in that photo there’s a pedestrian foot bridge that crosses the river right next to the vehicle bridge. Your fire team returning from the OP should have reported this.
    2) Having canoed that river several times, that river can be forded on foot, running from ankle to waist deep depending on the time of the year. Right now I’d say it’d be towards the waist deep stage. It would be crossable by men with weapons most of the time. The take away is that people on either side won’t be restricted from crossing that river unless they’re pinned down or lazy.
    3) That line paralleling Highway 19 to the north is another power line cut, so it’d be a possible good exfil route with the four wheelers as well.
    Google Earth can be your friend if you’re not familiar with an area. Even if your are it can be a good planning aid.
    Matt

    • Mike April 7, 2021 at 00:48

      Damn, good stuff Matt. That’s the great part about living in your AO for several years, you know stuff like this. I keep accidentally picking our peoples’ home towns, I honestly just zoomed in on the map looking for certain terrain features. Goes to show how extensive the AP community is.

      • sandman April 7, 2021 at 21:06

        Surrrre Mike. Y’all better start using them VPN’s lmao! No but seriously this is some great stuff, thanks for doing this Mike, I learn so much reading these.

        • Mike April 8, 2021 at 07:17

          Sure man! I learn from these too when I read everyones’ responses, so thank you and everyone else for participating! We’ll all learn and get more dangerous together.

  20. bill April 6, 2021 at 22:44

    I’m throwing this out for ideas ok?, Convoy NB , we face South. Like antifa did to others Blind Them. Mirrors and laser. A Green one can see it in daylight, 5000w will blind a person. So we have guns and sights then light them up. This will slow convoy, give out team time to adjust and destroy.
    Also, did a guerilla group in Bosnia use stripped out micro wave cookers for directional jamming of all aircraft ? Up the wattage of a old boat radar and sweep at high freq. Gets the tummy nice and warm. Use the micro wave to jam radio. Goal zero power pack and go team .

    • LFMayor April 7, 2021 at 19:50

      Bill I remember the microwave thing was to fool warning sensors of attempted SAM or Manpad lock on. I’m no twidgit though, it would be better to get a qualified opinion before we hang it out in the breeze.

  21. Publius April 6, 2021 at 23:35

    Roadblock the bridge North side in advance. Saturate entire bridge with combustibles and ignite once convoy stops. Block rear of bridge (possible junker vehicles loaded with junk metal, old fridges, washer machines and lots of fuel). Box convoy in with lots of flammables, gas, used mower oil, old tires etc. Fire is a great equalizer.

  22. American Yeoman April 7, 2021 at 09:45

    I only mention this because I haven’t seen anyone else say anything about it. You need to assign at least one guy to filming the attack. Even if you just blast a few rounds in the general direction of the convoy as they roll down the road, you need it on video to post to the World Wide Web. ISIS was able to to what they did in large part because they had an excellent understanding and technical competence in propaganda. You cannot afford to over look it’s value. If nothing else, it at least counters the “We are here to help the poor people of America and they love us” message that you know the enemy will be broadcasting 24/7.

    • Mike April 8, 2021 at 07:23

      As long as you don’t film anything that would compromise your guys, this is a solid point. The propaganda war is real.

  23. tom April 7, 2021 at 14:54

    carrs canoe rental only bend within miles to allow convoy to stretch out.
    use the plentiful trees to block road at kelly hollow to slow pursuit
    Sweet water mine is to the north east and may have explosives.
    blow bridge at hwy 19 south of carrs canoe rental, try to catch last armored vehicle+ on bridge.
    IEDs (if possible in time frame) in roadway carrs canoe rental to kelly hollow.
    ambush force (x10-2 per 4 wheeler) to the east of hwy 19 engages as bridge is blown. pin them against river. pick up trucks for casevac.
    engage with max of 200rnds ea (who knows when resupply will occur). Evac north to power line. half unit goes east and the other west. conservation of forces is paramount for guerrilla forces.
    blocking force for QRF not needed as bridge is down. ISR difficult for PLA with heavy over head concealment, as long as rapid evac from engagement area.
    this is not a 1 and done…repeated hits will be necessary….conserve the force and there are options.
    taking down the 19 hwy bridge creates a zone that is isolated and more difficult to interdict.

    • Mike April 8, 2021 at 07:21

      Solid points conserving ammo and sustaining the force. I would question the wisdom of blowing the bridge, because of the effect it would have on the local civilian populace. Maybe people rely on that bridge to get to work, conduct business, or visit friends and family. Maybe it wouldn’t, but you should at least consider what effect your actions will have on the civilian populace that you rely on for support.

  24. JD April 9, 2021 at 22:27

    Just saying (and I KNOW the mission is to ambush the convoy), but with no heavy weapons, and only 17 trigger pullers, the numbers start to get thin REALLY quick (2/ea on left and right security plus 2 on the ORP leaves 11 for the ambush). Those three gun trucks (that you can’t knock out) are a major force multiplier. Engaging this convoy with small arms is a REALLY bad idea (I was a turret gunner on a M240B in a M1114 and we would rush the corners with the HMWVV during ambushes in Ar-Ramadi).
    At best I’d say try to rig a self-triggered IED (pressure plate in the road) tied to gasoline (model rocket engines connected to the pressure plate – or something similar that can be ignited such as lightbulb filament in gunpowder etc) and try to burn them out. “Traditional” gunfight ambush is a hard no. If no other options but to try and shoot it out, I’d take a hard pass and find a better option.

  25. John May 8, 2021 at 12:42

    Boy, I take a break from American Partisan and come back to find Tuesday TDG! This series is awesome!
    So here’s my feeble contribution:
    Looking at Google street view I found a spot on Hwy 19 morth of the bridge but south of the electric power line easement. The grade of the road crests a slight hill and turns a bit to the right (east for a north bound caravan). At this same point there is a rock face on the righthand side which I s about 10 ft high and a steep drop off into trees on the left. This face seems to be long enough to allow engagement of the entire collumn. (This may not be so. Hard to get accurate measurements.)
    If my assessment is correct the team can fell trees to block the lead vehicle just beyond the curve. The entire team will set up for ambush on the rock cliff. Once the lead vehicle stops we immediately engage the rear vehicle to incapacitate that and block in all the caravan. Rifles will target the armoured vehicles and molotovs will be used to incinerate as many
    vehicles as possible.
    I prefer molotovs to rifles as replacing fuel which will be rationed will be easier than replacing bullets which will be illegal.
    We set fire to as many vehicles as we can and bug out north to the power lines and beat it back to the ORP and then to base unless we’re seriously compromised. That would require a whole other lesson.
    Now I am assuming that in this sort of scenario we would already have constructed flamethrowers in addition to the molotovs but those weren’t specifically mentioned so I didn’t mention them except as this postcscript. Naturally such items eould find use here.

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