Still Crazy After All These Years (Part 2)

For this three-sided game (aka 'Black Prince Down'), the Regulars have a Scimitar AFV, and 4 WMIK Land Rovers (each with a fireteam of 4 and armed w/SA80's). The WMIKs have M2HBs and a pintle mounted GPMG). They are TQ/Morale D8/D8, Confident, with Body Armour. The official ROE are 'Only return fire at identified hostiles', but, privately, they have been told 'Shoot anybody you see who is armed'. They have 8 turns to rescue the Prince, and get off table.

Ronnie Kray (w/SA80, RPG 7V and body armour) and 2 teams of 4 (w/SA80's) are TQ/Morale D8/D8 and Confident. Their aim is to get the truck off table within 8 turns.

The Rowdy Rabble (w/AK74s, w/Molotov cocktails in close assault on vehicles) start with two teams on table, and the rest are treated as irregulars, emerging via hotspots. They are TQ/Morale D6/D6 and Confident; they have to prevent the Regulars from achieving their mission.

A mob by the road. Kray's men are in the factory.

Sitrep

The Scimitar led the column as it raced along the road, heading for the crash site. Spotting an armed mob in the woods by the side of the road, it opened fire with its main gun; one of their number fell,  and the rest scattered in terror. The lead WMIK raced past the fleeing hoodlums and up the road. The wall by the road gave way to a chain-link fence, through which it identified more unfriendlies in military fatigues by a black Mercedes in  front of the factory; the WMIK opened fire, but missed. The return fire from Kray's men (they had finally made it to the factory, but too late as far as they were concerned) was just as effective. (Ronnie looked at his RPG, and then again decided that there was too much fire power coming his way, and pulled his men back, through the factory and into the woods. They'd get their investment back another day, when things weren't so hot).

The cavalry to the rescue

The other WMIKs were close behind the first. Suddenly, from behind the red-brick building, a group of yobs with Molotov Cocktails charged into the road, but they were dispersed by a short burst from the top-mounted machine gun of the second vehicle. The lead WMIK could see a plume of smoke from the vicinity of the railway overpass bridge. The commander pointed, “That must be the chopper”.  They could also hear gunfire from that direction.

Looking up the road - smoke rises from the helicopter

The Scimitar commander rushed forward crashing through the chain-link fence and opened fire with its RARDEN 30mm cannon at a mob by the gate, which quickly took cover.

Two WMIKs then moved up to the bridge, spotting a tail rotor.  They could see a crowd on the opposite railway embankment, but were unsure if they were unfriendly. A debate ensued, which was finally resolved when the Scimitar then joined them by the bridge. The mob on the other side of the railway opened futile fire at the light tank. Having confirmed that they were, indeed, 'hostiles', the return fire from Scimitar and both WMIKs was punishing... (The commander of the tank had a surreal moment when he realised that they were using heavy force against their own countrymen, rather than against Malikastanis. However, when bullets pinged off the hull, he shrugged off the thought. In all the months in Malikastan nothing had ever pinged off his vehicle. He ordered his gunner to open fire...)

Meanwhile, further mobs appeared, from across the railway line, from inside the factory yard, and from down on the railway track itself. Movement was also spotted in the gardens of the houses to their right. Things were starting to look dangerous; the WMIK stationed outside the fence returned fire on the mob charging out from the factory, knocking two of them over; as they ran, their exit was hastened by more fire from the WMIK at the T-junction. One of the WMIKs on the bridge moved so it could see down onto the railway line, but the crew could not verify if the mob on the railway were belligerent, so they held their fire. The crew of the other WMIK on the bridge disembarked, and moved to the edge of the railway embankment to see if they could spot the Prince.  They were taken under fire from a reformed mob on the opposite embankment; their fire, and that from the Scimitar blasted the mob to smithereens. The sound of heavy machine gun fire - supplemented with 30mm Rarden cannon - was almost continuous. (One of the WMIK drivers could not believe that so many armed and dangerous men could roam the streets of Grand Brexitia. What had happened to his country while he was away in the Middle East ? How could a 21st century, First World country, run by a bunch of coke-snorting, pig-molesting ex-Etonians, be reduced to this level of anarchy so quickly ?). Ammunition started to run low.

The fireteam reaches the Prince; hostiles gather in the factory yard and in the gardens

Covered by their mates in the vehicles, the fireteam on foot slid down the embankment, engaging mobs shooting at them from the far side, and from the gang on the railway line. Even when conserving ammo, their shooting was still too much for the armed civilians. They managed to make it to the wreck of the helicopter, and found the Prince and his friends, unharmed except for grazes and superficial cuts. Prince Roger himself was cowering behind the helicopter, and it took some effort to persuade him to scramble up the embankment, towards the parked WMIK. As they climbed, fire from the 'hostiles' lightly wounded one of the rescuers, but return fire caused the armed civilians to go to ground. Another large mob approached from the gardens of the houses with the intention of charging in to the Prince's protectors, but Scimitar cannon and WMIK fire knocked some down, and the rest took cover behind the walls. This enabled the Prince, his chums, and the fireteam to make it to their vehicles (one of the chums had to travel in another WMIK, as the first was overloaded; the Prince insisted on being first aboard, taking cover in the floorwell...)

A mob approaches from along the railway tracks.

While this was going on, more mobs closed on the scene. The WMIK at the T-junction spotted some movement behind them, but its machine gun fire missed. The exposed WMIK crew suffered wounds; one was a mere scratch, but the second was more serious. The vehicle was starting to resemble a Swiss cheese, with one dead, and one other out of action. The last unwounded man frantically manned the gun; the lightly wounded man took the wheel as the order to pull out came over the air. Shooting in all directions, the convoy pulled out and raced back to barracks, the Scimitar covering the rear. Prince Roger was safe. 

The troops prepare to pull out.

Casualties

Regulars - 1 dead, 1 seriously wounded, 2 lightly wounded.

Kray's Gang - No casualties

Mobs - An estimated two to four dozen wounded or killed (?)

Newspaper headlines next day - 'Our hero. Brave Prince Roger single-handedly fights off hordes of criminal scum hell-bent on terror rampage'. (Of course, 'The Daily Heil' is always entirely truthful, accurate and unbiased in its reporting...)

Still Crazy After All These Years (Part 1)

Second Lieutenant Bright (Army Reserve) checked his watch again; his men, 3 sections equipped with SA80 assault rifles and Osprey body armour, were spread out around the factory.One section was in place behind a wall on the east side, covering the main entrance; the second was with him, on the south side; the third was split into two fireteams, one to provide overwatch from a small workshop to the south; the other to climb up the railway embankment, and observe the back of the factory.

The 'factory' from the south

'They're here' - Corporal Hansen's voice spoke softly into his earpiece. A black Mercedes GLS had just driven through the factory gates; earlier, there had been a false alarm when a large truck had arrived, and reversed up to the loading bay, but the Krays had not been with it.

Gunmen unloading the truck

Bright gave the order to go; one fireteam moved up to the southern wall of the factory, covered by the second, and the overwatch team. As they did so, some desultory shooting came from the upper windows of the factory. Bright found himself shouting 'Return fire'; a scream told him his men's shooting had found a target. However, he realised that any surprise he had thought he had was now gone, and that the 'simple plan' had not survived first contact...
The Krays heard the gunfire, and drew their weapons with long-accustomed practice. They had known, when they branched out into 'pharmaceuticals', that they might have to defend their business interests from other, rival, gangs. The goods in the truck represented a major investment, and no-one was going to take it away from them. 'Len's been hit. They came out the woods', shouted 'Dodge' from the gantry. 'There's more of 'em out front', yelled Johnno, by the main doors. 'Give 'em hell, boys', Reggie Kray growled. 

Charlie fireteam provides covering fire as Delta cross the road

Rising up from behind the wall, Charlie fireteam fired on the four heavily armed civilians who had been unloading the truck, skittling three of them. 

Delta fireteam take 'cover' behind the chain-link fence

Encouraged by this, Delta fireteam charged across the road to the chain-link fence, thinking to take cover behind the containers. However, they were clearly visible to gunmen in the upper windows of the factory, who shot two as they ran. Private Mills lost part of his earlobe; Private Fratton was dragged across the road, his colleagues trying to stem bleeding from a serious leg wound, and calling for a medic. Bright reassured them that an ambulance was on its way, but the area would have to be secure.

The fireteam covering the back of the factory

Meanwhile, the fireteam at the back of the factory were surprised by shots as they poked their heads over the top of the embankment; Private Charlton clutched his face, while his mates quickly returned accurate fire. A piece of gravel had embedded itself in his cheek; he wiped blood away, and sent aimed shots back at the windows on the upper floor.

Bright began to wonder just how many armed men there were in the factory, and if he had enough men to do the job. He ordered his overwatch teams to shoot at the upper windows, while the team by the wall climbed over into the car park, under the cover of smoke grenades. A reduced hail of fire came back, but it missed its targets.

The Krays attempt their escape

Inside the factory, the Krays' men were getting the worst of the deal; Len and Bruce on the south gantry were wounded, and Dodge was reduced to shooting wildly out of the window. Big Bob had taken a shot to the head on the north side, and lay awkwardly, face down, on the floor. And only Johnno was still shooting out the front door, the rest sprawled wounded by the truck. Only Mac's team on the upper gantry over the loading dock hadn't taken casualties. Ronnie quickly took stock; 'Time to get out, Reg. They've got us out-gunned today. We'll get the bastards who done this another day'. Calling to Mac to move his men to the north side, he and Reggie moved to the back door of the factory. 'A quick sprint, and we'll be away through the woods; I'll cover you', Ronnie said, clapping his twin on the back. 

On the embankment, Private Charlton saw movement at the rear of the factory, and shot instinctively, dropping the man. Renewed fire from the upper windows distracted him; at least one more 'enemy' was hit in return, he reckoned. When next he looked, the man he had shot running from the back of the factory was no longer there.

On the south side of the factory, the assault was going well, Bright joining his section in the car park, and stacking up outside the side door, ready to burst in. 'Just like we were taught in training', thought Bright. There was a burst of fire to his right from the front of the factory, followed by Corporal Hansen saying 'They're surrendering, sir'. Bright felt himself relax momentarily, then more shooting coming from the north and east sides of the building told him it wasn't quite over. He nodded, and his men kicked in the door, while he shouted 'Army. Drop your weapons'. Hands began to be raised, and guns were thrown to the floor by the survivors. Bright could see a number of wounded, and a least one dead, and allowed himself a moment of grim satisfaction.  

Delta fireteam storm in to 'take prisoners'

It was swiftly broken by more shots from the front of the factory, and Hansen yelling 'Stand down ! Stand down !' Delta fireteam had stormed through the gate of the factory, and, incensed by the shooting of Private Fratton, had shot two of the surrendering prisoners by the truck. Bright was horrified at this callous act of revenge, and berated the men - he could see his own career ending in a military court. He believed that he had successfully achieved his mission, despite there being heavier opposition than was anticipated, and now his soldiers had murdered men after they had surrendered. As sirens heralded the arrival of an ambulance, he turned to the surviving prisoners; 'Which of you lot are Ronnie and Reggie Kray ?' he asked. 'They're gone', spat the one called Mac.  Bright cursed; the day had just got worse - he couldn't even claim to have captured the Krays. 

Statistics

British Army Reserves TQ/Morale D8/D8, Body armour, Confident

1 Lieutenant w/SA80

6 fireteams of 4 w/SA80, smoke grenades

Casualties - 1 seriously wounded, 2 light wounds.

Krays' Gang TQ/Morale D8/D8 (Morale drops to D6 when Ronnie and Reggie are not there), Confident

2 Leaders (Ronnie and Reggie, on ground floor of factory) w/SA80

Team 1 (on south gantry) - 3 Riflemen w/SA80 or AK74

Team 2 (on north gantry) - 3 Riflemen w/SA80 or AK74

Team 3 (on upper gantry) - 3 Riflemen w/SA80 or AK74

Team 4 (unloading truck) - 4 Riflemen w/SA80 or AK74

Casualties - 3 dead, 4 serious wounds, 1 light wound.

A short game, meant to provide the link to Part 2; British Army concentration of firepower won the firefights; the Krays were spread out to cover all options, but were outgunned, and quickly realised that discretion was the better part of valour.

Green and Pleasant Land II - "Street Fighting Man"

What became known as the "Battle of Austeritylitz" Or "The charge of the Horseless Mounted Police" in the tabloids ended a week of protests across UK cities and towns.  The week has become known as Week of Marches, every conceivable protest had drawn marches to the centre of UK cities: Anti-austerity, anti-immigrant, anti-Europe, anti-Russian bombing, peace in the Middle East and anti-government. 

The anti-government marches centered around the recent SAS attack on a farm near Birmingham's airport.  It had been revealed that the SAS had used stand-off breaching rockets on buildings which may have contained civilian hostages and against a group that had yet to be proven to be criminal. 

Protests against this heavy-handed attack had ground the centre of Birmingham to a halt.  On Friday an anti-austerity march collided with a pro-government march and a running melee had ensued.  The melee had broken up into a dozen running fights and the police attempted to contain the rioters, shops were looted, cars set alight and police vehicles bombarded.

Then, in a small street near the CBD seven police officers arrived to contain a mob which had attacked a middle eastern immigrant.  Seven of the officers were from the mounted police.  Due to austerity cuts their horses had been sold (to some politicians).  Unarmed they were met by a eighth police officers, Constable Doos, who fortunately had a van of rubber-bullet guns and shot-guns with bean-bag shot.  He also had several shields.  The seven "mounted" police quickly armed themselves.  

Constable Doos entered the Red Rebecca Riders Pub and climbed to the top floor, from here he was to be an integral part of the police line, using his large grenade-sized rubber-bullet gun he was able to fire at the mobs, though his activities were caught on camera, and thereby with his excessive use of force he was to become the poster-child of a beleaguered government.

The fight begins!  Four mobs against three units of police.  The police divided into a unit of 4, a  unit of 3 and a unit of 1 (Sniper equivalent).  The battlefield: A street in Birmingham.  This will also be something new for us, a police action using the Force on Force rules.

The mob mulled around and made a few aggressive advances.  The police, also hesitant moved forward, and started firing, though the firing was "pathetic" in the words of a witness.

Turn 1 Rioters moved up, police hesitated, second police unit moved forward, but missed with it rubber bullets.  The sniper on the top storey of the pub fired at the mob and missed

The rioters face down the police shield line.  From this angle you can see the third storey of the Red Rebecca Riders Pub, from the top window the police sniper rained rubber bullets onto the rioters possibly igniting the rioters wrath.

The police and rioters both act aggressively, once again the firing is poor.  The rioters are yet to  overcome their trepidation's and charge the police line.

Turn 2 Rioters moved forward, police aggressively move forward firing rubber bullets, Sniper moves over to check the park that is parallel to the main street.  The sniper was to be instrumental in controlling the mobs on both sides of the block

The stand-off continued, rioters failing to muster a charge, police failing to push forward into the rioters and the police rubber bullets more likely to hit a innocent in one of the houses.

Turn 3 Rioters mulling around, sniper interrupts, but totally misses, police fail to charge, police fire but miss

Mob and police face one another down.

In the park the rioters begin to climb over the wall, the sniper puts and end to this idea by hitting them hard with rubber bullets.  The 3-man police team fires on the rioters now mustering in the road, but the 4-man team fails to follow-up and rout the now stunned rioters.  A reporter on the NBBC Radio as this time made comments likening the police to the "Keystone Cops".

Turn 4 Sniper hits rioters climbing over wall, in the street rioters mill around, 3-man team hits rioters in open, 2nd 4-man team fails to follow up

Once again the rioters fail to muster themselves and now are pummeled with bean-bags and rubber shot, a group of rioters decide this is too much and run from the mob,

Turn 5 Mulling rioters, police hit team in street and rioters run away, 4-man tried to charge again but never rolled, Sniper hits team in park again.

The rioters, now infuriated with the police excessive use of force charges into the 3-man team, the 4-man team hesitates, and 3-man team tries to hold fast but the rioters are upon them, hitting them with iron-bars, rocks and boots.  The three policemen go down under this viscous attack.

Turn 6 Rioters charge, defense fire does not work, mob runs over the 3-man team, 4-man team does not charge to save buddies, Sniper moves across and shoots at mob kicking the crap out of the downed police

The police fall under the vicious blows.

With the 3-man team down-and-out the rioters turn to the last four policemen in the street.  Sadly without their horses.  The rioters, their blood up, charge, but the police fire their bean-bags and rubber shot and force the rioters back.  The sniper in the pub, happy that the mob in the street is falling back from their attack moves across to remind the rioters in the park not to advance.

The police facing down the rampant mob.

Turn 7 Rioters charge 4-man team, 4-man team gets one hit, rioters run in,police beat them off, sniper moves back to shoot at rioters in the park

The rioters charge again, ignoring the desultory police fire and are into the police.  The police however make short shrift of the rioters with their batons.

Turn 8 More rioters charge, poor defense fire, but rioters pummeled

The End

In the end one policeman was killed (from the 3-man team) and two policemen were injured.  Eight rioters were hospitalised.

The New BBC - Policeman dies after mob charges the mounted anti-riot police.  Mounted police were called in to assist anti-riot police in containing an Anti-Austerity march in Birmingham yesterday.  The march began in a peaceful manner, but following a speech by one of the march leaders the protect march turned into a riot.  The riot had escalated when two protest marches had collided.  Ironically the speech concerned the revelation that the PM made fun of austerity at a fox/badger hunt, a hunt which used the recently sold police horses.  The exact horses which the mounted police did not have on hand to contain the riot.

This was a fun game set up by Mark.  Both sides suffered from truly terrible dice rolling, a matter of the Keystone Cops vs. Laurel&Hardy!  The Green and Pleasant Land campaign slowly edges over the brink.

AAR- A Log...Fog in the Eye

Or, Playing Miniature Wargames over the web.

As a proof of concept we tried some long distance remote miniature gaming today.  It was a quick proof of concept and I think better than we could have hoped for.  Well, nightmarishly better.

Player Location 1 was 3,600km from Player Location 2.  The board was setup at Location 1 with a remote controllable webcam and player 2 got to swivel the camera and give orders.  The camera was always situated behind the leader unit and could only see what he could see (a little higher thank the gods!).  It was really like having a log stuck in your eye, suddenly your miniature gamers "god's eye" view had a huge log jammed in it by the devil (player 1).  Decisions of what to do are so much more difficult with lack of awareness and it feels as if every tree, wall or house is hiding something nasty.

We used Skype to communicate, and used the Share Screen option in Skype so Player 1 could see the EXCEL spreadsheet dice rolls of player 2 (makes it easier to compare) and also see what Player 2 can see through the webcam.

The interface as seen on the web browser.  The camera has a remote control swivel control

The After Action Report

Corporal Petersen was leading his section through a mostly deserted village on the far flank of the UN advance.  Over the radio he could hear chatter that the main column had been ambushed and he could hear distant exchanges of fire.  But, with the arrival of UN air support the insurgents began to melt away from the UN spearhead.  Corporal Petersen soon got a radio message from his platoon commander, a group of insurgents were heading straight for his position.

The world from an ants point of view - this is all you can see, and can swivel left and right.

Corporal Petersen shouted over to L/Cpl O'Donnel, "Donnyboy, get that GIMP up on a roof and see what you can see.  Watch out for civilians."

With that the Corporal ordered Private Bowles to kick in the door behind him.   The door gave away easily and the stack surged into the room, it was empty.  They moved up onto the roof for a better view of their surrounds.

With fireteam Charlie on the roof the better view is a breathe of fresh air.

Fireteam Delta climbed through the broken compound wall and advanced towards the doorways of the house.  The feeling of a hundred eyes following them across the empty courtyard could not be  shrugged off.

Fireteam Delta advancing across the compound courtyard

And now for something completely different - Cpl Petersen double takes thinking he saw a big hand come down from the sky, a swig from his camel pack clears his vision - at least it was not a big foot

The town seemed empty.  While Corporal Petersen and his men scanned the buildings for movement Private Cakubau in Fireteam Delta attempted to kick in the door in the compound, but all he got for his efforts was to fall backwards onto his arse to the nervous amusement of his team mates.

Fireteam Charlie scanning the houses on the left flank

Private Cakubau bouncing off the door

While Private Cakubau examined his trousers, "Gods, I think I am lying in human shit," the burly Private Lovett kicked the door in with a deafening crash.  The team surged into the room followed by the complaining Cakubau.  The team moved up onto the roof and setup the GPMG.

Both teams on the roofs

Now both teams had good eyes on each flank, but they had limited mutual support opportunities.

"I see movement," said the Charlie team SAW gunner, Private McLane.  Petersen grunted that McLane always saw something, then thought  how he had just hallucinated about the big hand in the sky.  He matched his scope on the doorway across the street that McLane was aiming at.  A figure moved furtively out into the street before motioning to men behind him to follow.

"Fucking Woz's," said the Corporal, the men were obviously armed with AKs and RPGs, they were definitely Woz insurgents [Successful Check on Intent].

A Woz insurgent leader appears in the doorway across the street

Corporal Petersen shouted into his radio for the L/Cpl to get eyes on.  Then he opened fire.  The fireteam poured in fire, some of the insurgents fell or scattered, but a few stood their ground and returned very heavy fire.  The fireteam ducked below the parapet, Corporal Perkins rolled to the ground, "Shite, shite, I've been hit in me face."

Corporal Petersen rolled him over, "It is just a graze, you pussy."

Private Bowles looked over and laughed, "Fuck Herky, I did not think you could get any uglier, but you just did!"

Perkins replied with an appropriate Queen's English reply, though his wave did not look at all like the Queen's.  But then he perked up and grinned through the blood, "I put a bigger fookin' hole in that Woz bastard's head" patting his L129 affectionately.

The Corporal ordered his men to get eyes on and give covering fire for Delta team as Delta moved up.

Fireteam Delta moves to bring fire to bear

Fireteam Delta moved into the other compound building, kicking in the door and rushing to the windows.  In the street in front of them they could see one insurgent being dragged to cover by his mate, and several others firing at Charlie.  The GPMG (only +1), the SAW and the UGL all fired, the insurgents turned to face the new threat.Charlie in its overwatch position poured in fire.  The insurgents all fell in the crossfire.

Lance-Corporal O'Donnel reported, "At least a dozen bodies, and one managed to crawl back through the doorway."

The UGL gunner on the roof fired one grenade into the doorway for good measure and then the teams fell back to their platoons position to the south.

I finally get a Gods Eye view

Comment:

As a proof of concept I give three thumbs up.  The lack of awareness is truly scary, every house was a threat.  I think this is a great way of playing, and would consider adding this in even if the players were not 3,600km apart.  It adds a very nice dimension to the game.

In the future we will also look to have the remote player being a JTAC offboard giving support fire to a larger battle.  But, commanding units from the ground view is heaps of fun (in a masochistic sort of way).  Thank you Marcus for setting this up.  100% Proof of Concept.  Highly recommended as a way of playing, even with FtF players.

I used an EXCEL sheet to do the dicing, but will get myself a camera now, and use real dice.

Mission Briefing: The Rescue

The UN was a tad optimistic with their estimation of how rapid their advance would be.  They heralded the liberation of the Mithraist's in Ghani Bayt on the news channels of the world.  Unfortunately, they became bogged down in their advance.  Unfortunately, the Mithraists swarmed into the streets celebrating their liberation.  Unfortunately, the Woz Insurgents were in the vicinity.

So, the UN has thrown together a British flying column with orders to rescue two dozen Mithra men trapped in the Mosque and communal Grape Drying building in Ghani Bayt.  The Woz insurgents are intent on exterminating the last of this long diminished sect in Hotakistan.

The UN know that the Hotaki Woz are 2-3 dozen, and are likely to have IEDs.  The Woz have intelligence that are Mechanized Infantry platoon is approaching the town.

Map Overview

The mission has a "blind" aspect to it, with regards to forces and objectives.  So each side should not look at the map of the other side.


IF YOU ARE THE WOZ PLAYER LOOK AT THIS MAP

IF YOU ARE THE UN PLAYER LOOK AT THIS MAP

Mission Briefing - Cake Walk/Milk Run

The plan: The UN force will steam-roller a motley collection of routed rabble and capture the small airstrip between the half-built presidential palace and the Ma'tafil dam.

The UN SOFORCE will advance along the southern route to the main airfield to the west, the first step of this long sweep will be the taking of the Ma'tafil airstrip, power plant and dam.  To the north NOFORCE and the Russians will attempt to advance through the city of Hotakimadina and take the shorter northern route to the airfield.  The Russians are not under UN command.  A light paratrooper force followed by an airlanding force will assault, take and hold the main airfield until relieved by NOFORCE and/or SOFORCE.  Good luck....you poor bastards.

The mission is designed for 4-players and contains a hidden agenda on each side.

The route of Soforce and Noforce around the Kabir Massif - Target - The main airfield soon to be renamed UN Base Heidi Clare.

The first step in SOFORCE'S advance: The Ma'tafil industrial park, airstrip and dam.

The UN Vanguard, SAS in WMIKS leading an Australian force of Abrams and MRAP Infantry, along with the first of the British Warriors.

The Mission Map

I forgot to add that all units of Hotakistani Player 2 (Technicals, Golden Holden and BMP-1) enter on turn 1 within 6" of A on the map.

All Roads Lead To [the outskirts of] Basra

(Yes, I know in the photos it looks suspiciously like an M1 and a Bradley, but let’s pretend it’s an Challenger II and a Warrior IFV, since at the last hour I realised I currently don’t have a container for transporting my own miniatures to the battlefield - Mike and Steve)

:::: 21:03:2003 ::: 5:50hrs ::::  Somewhere on the outskirts of Basra, Southern Iraq

Orders: Sweep and clear a group of buildings of any possible Iraqi units in the vicinity. Aerial Recon has identified two target buildings which have been neutralised and there are no further signs of activity in the area. Units are to detach from main column headed for Basra and rejoin after the sweep. If engaged, Lethal Force is authorised.

Units:   

• 1  FV4043 Challenger II
• 1  FV510 Warrior and Infantry Section

At 5:52hrs, 200m from target location the Challenger came under attack from a T-72 in a camouflaged hull down position on the western side of the road, while a BMP-1 fired from the east. Both failed to cause anything but paint damage and the Challenger returned fire.  Due to the British tank commander being a novice, he managed to load and fire the wrong munitions because he wasn’t paying enough attention to his FoF manual. This meant the Challenger failed to inflict any damage on the T-72.  Regardless of the use of sub-standard munitions the BMP-1 did not fare so well and erupted in an instant fireball.

As there was no cover available and with the BMP down, the Challenger moved forward to flank the T-72 and provide shielding so the Warrior could move forward into cover and deploy its troops.

The T-72 and Challenger traded another volley of fire to, but to no avail.  As the Brits neared the bombed out building to the east of the road, Iraqi infantry appeared in the nearby buildings and let loose with RPG's on both the Challenger and Warrior, all were shrugged off.

It was at this point that a second T-72 appeared further down the road and brought its gun to bear on the Challenger.  It was at this moment that the Brit commander discovered his error with munitions and loaded the correct rounds. The Challenger crew were quicker to act than the Iraqi T-72 crew and the T-72 erupted in a ball of flame and twisted metal.  Two of its crew managed to scramble from the wreckage and escaped on foot in the direction of Basra.

While this was happening the 30mm on the Warrior started to hammer the building where the RPG's had come from.  If there was anyone in there they were now far too busy keeping their heads down.

The 125mm from the first T-72 sounded again, this time finding its mark, the Warrior. Thankfully damage was minimal with the 30mm gun taking just enough damage to make it ineffective.

Again the Challenger and T-72 traded blows, with the Challenger failing to score a hit but this time the T-72 had an amazing stroke of luck, the kind of luck you need to roll 4 dice and they all come up sixes. This was enough to cripple the Challenger.

With the Challenger now crippled and the Warriors gun all but useless, the Warrior reversed next to the tank and prepared to evac its crew. The ground assault was effectively stopped in its tracks (see what I did there) [Editor: Sadly] and now it was time for the Apache's, that were 20 seconds out, to finish the job.

Primary lessons learned from this action,

• Know your equipment inside out      
• Don't expose anything but it's toughest side if you can avoid it

AAR - Operation [REDACTED]

"What happened at Malika Airport last week?"

"Nothing happened." replied the US Spokesman to the press at the UN HQ.

The truth is more terrifying than anyone could imagine.

The Russian kill and wound the South African guards and steal the UN QRF Medivac helicopter

A heavy firefight is believed to have occurred at the western edge of the airfield.  A three way struggle occurred between the Russians, the UN and the Hotakistanis.  A fourth force was also rumoured to be involved, and this was confirmed by a release from Wikidrips.  We played a massive 4-sided mission.  Operation Democritus begins (see Mission Briefing here)

Unknown to the UN forces the Russians had discovered a stolen nuke (of Russian origin) on one of the crashed aircraft at the airfield.  The nuke "belonged" to the Hotakistanis.  As the Russian moved to recover it a secret force of Hotakistani revealed themselves and a race was on, the Russians to recover the bomb and the Hotakistani to set off the bomb.  The UN, unaware of the nuke, raced to turn the Russians back to their part of the base.  In the vicinity of the aircraft was a secret NSA base which would result in the operation being removed from all the annals of the world (or so they thought!).

The fight started with a section of Russians attacking the helipad at the southern end of the airfield.  Their plan was to steal a helicopter, retrieve the bomb and then fly it back to Russian territory.  The South African guards at the helipad were taken by surprise by the Russians and they fell quickly.

Meanwhile at the west end of the airfield the Russians advanced on their secret objective, the nuke in the crashed airliner.  The nuke had been stolen by the Hotakistanis and crashed on the runway on the first day of the invasion, their plan had been to explode the bomb if they failed to secure the main UN base.  They had been defeated and the bomb had never been set-off.  The plane had then been dragged to the wrecking yard at the airfield, the UN unaware it contained a nuke.

The Main Maintenance Workshops and the wrecked planes.

The Russian rushed into the Main Maintenance Workshops, they heard the helicopter had been captured and that their comrades had also captured a BMP-1 which would soon arrive (Turn 4) to assist them in their task.

The Russian arrive at the MMW

The Russian paratroopers catch sight of their objective, the crashed airliner is in sight.

On a course to intercept the Russians was a motley UN force thrown together from the remnant units at the airfield.  The UN force included a section of South Africans, a section of British, a squad of Americans, a P4 Peugeot with French special forces and a fire team of Australian special forces.  The UN force moved into the buildings overlooking the main wrecking yards.  They battled to breach one of the buildings but were soon in overwatch positions above the yards.

A team of South Africans show the Aussies how to break in to a building.  Mark has painted his Eureka Miniatures Australians (most envious!)

Unknown to the Russians or the UN a third force was hiding just over the outer fences of the airfield.  The Hotakistanis had come to the realization that the Russians had discovered the bomb and they now raced forward to arm the bomb and deny the airfield to the UN.

The Hotakistani platoon run through a minefield losing three men, and cut through the chain-link fence.  The race is on!

The Hotakistani swarmed from their hideout, ran through a minefield, losing three men seriously wounded, and then breached the outer fence.  The Russians soon came under fire from the Hotakistanis.  This would turn into a bloody fire fight ending with only one Hotakistani left alive and only four Russians.

The Russian run towards their objective, but accurate fire from the Hotakistani stops them in their tracks

Unknown to the Russians they had run past a hidden group of Hotakistani agents from their Special Activities Detachment (SAD).  The SAD team had been hiding in one of the upper floors of a workshop, from where they could observe the wrecked jetliner.  The SAD men popped up and poured fire into the running Russians.  The Russians were soon able to neutralize this threat but at a cost.

Russians ambushed by the SAD men.  The Russian leader, Lt Razputin flexes his muscles.

The UN could see the firefight from their positions in the office blocks.  The commander ordered the French patrol to make contact with the Russians.  The French Special Forces moved forward to order the Russians back to their compound.  The Russians failed to move, saying they could not understand German.  At about this time a runner brought up a decoded message which showed the UN commander that the Russians were attempting to retrieve a Empty Quiver - a stolen nuclear bomb.

The French drive up to the advancing Russians, a tense stand-off ensues.

The firefight near the workshops intensified, with the Russians losing a few men.  The French supported the Russians by firing at the Hotakistanis THROUGH the Russian forces, but miraculously no Russian went down to this "semi-friendly" fire.

The firefight grows in intensity.  The French come to the Russians assistance, but fire through the defending Russians.

After softening up the Russians the Hotakistanis charge in with grenades and bayonets, killing four of the Russians.

The first of many close quarter combat.  In this one the Russians are wiped out.

The gunfire and explosions had a dramatic effect in the NSA Darpa base at the other end of the wrecking yard.  Several containers started to shake and blood curdling screams could be heard from within their confines.  Soon the containers failed and out poured a fourth force.  Within the container cages were torn and smashed.  Unfortunately, the nature of this new force has been redacted by the NSA.  The first casualties of this new force were the two NSA agents in the building.

Unfortunately the image of this event has been redacted.

[REDACTED]

Luckily the NSA is a sieve, and we can therefore show you these images:

NSA DARPA EXPERIMENTAL ALIEN DIVISION

The fourth force was some form of alien or synthetic lifeform.  They surged forward, loping, skittering, hunting any human they could sense.  The UN force was the first to see them, the men either puckered up or lost sphincter valve control.

The stolen helicopter lands, the Russians as yet unaware of the new nearby threat.

The Russian helicopter and BMP arrived around about now.  The BMP was soon to become a thorn in the UN side, it main gun a threat to the advance of their troops and a threat to the UN vehicles.  The South Africans had been checking through the vehicles parked in the yards and found a Ratel and a Rooikat in operable condition, they mounted these vehicles, though only the machine-guns could be operated.

The Russian BMP arrives, it survives the operation, but gets hit by 3 to 4 RPGs.

The firefight in the centre continued with multiple casualties on both sides.  The UN taking pot-shots at the participants.  The Hotakistanis realised that the central yard was becoming too dangerous and began a flanking move to get to the airliner.

Hotakitanis begin a flank move to reach the airliner

About now the aliens started to disgorge from the NSA buildings, the shocked UN force poured a withering fire killing into these horrific beings as they ran across the road towards the UN position.  One of the alien queens mounted a wall (and rolled a 1 for the Reaction test, received a card, Man Down, rolled a D10 for the ten alien teams and rolled a 9!  The queen.  She died as she fell from the wall.  Rather anti-climatic to the mirth of the other players.  Especially as I have had a uncanny ability to fall off walls in another game we play!)

An ignominious end to one of the alien Queens

The Aliens swarmed forth, though many died, many advanced on the Russians who had just debussed from the helicopter.

The Aliens rush the Russians

The Aliens began to suffer from an inability to martial themselves to charge into close quarters (by the end of the game I had rolled at least ten "1s" with a D10 for the close combat TQ check.  Not just failing but failing with 1s!)

One successful assault out of four attempts!  The Hotakistanis attempting to range in on the aliens, but the UN intervened shooting down the two Hotakistani snipers before they could fire on the aliens.

The Aliens attacking the UN forces faced a wall of overwatch fire.  Very few aliens made it, most dying in puddles of acid.

A wall of overwatch lead puts an end to the alien advance on the UN forces

The Russians, ignoring the UN request, breached the airliner and advanced to the bomb in the centre of the aircraft.

The Russians ignoring French order breach the plan and advance to the bomb, but suffer wounds and cannot carry the bomb.

The aliens now spotted that there were walking incubators in the airliner and started to breach the aircraft, but once again they failed to muster the will to attack the Russians in the aircraft.  The Hotakistanis also breached the plane but were ambushed by FBS Russian agents, but they overcame the two Russian agents and attacked the fireteam at the bomb, wounding two of the Russians.  The Russians could now not retrieve the bomb with the four men required to retrieve and evacuate the bomb.

The aliens once again failing to muster themselves to assault the walking incubators.

The UN now suffered two setbacks, both their overwatch buildings caught fire and the UN had to rapidly evacuate their advantage points (both Reaction Cards, one played by the Hotaksitanis and one by the aliens, the UN player was not impressed)

Bad luck, the first of two fires in the UN held buildings

The Russian now joined the alien killing spree, firing on the aliens.  They wounded two aliens, then the aliens charged them, losing two more to the Russians, and then in close combat the Russians dispatched the last alien.

Russians wiping out the aliens.

The Russian, after killing the drones, turned on the queen and quickly killed her.

The Alien queen dies.

The firefight in the yard continued, devastating both the Hotakistanis and Russians.  A team of Hotakistanis entered the plane and took down the Russians with UN "assistance" (the Rooikat and P4 had moved up to fire on the airliner).  The aliens clawing at the outside of the plane once again fail to muster the will to charge into the plane!  The Rooikat was destroyed by the Russians.

The South Africans engaged the Russian BMP with an RPG, but after two hits could not penetrate the armour.  The BMP responded to the fire, also with little effect.

The Hotakistanis clear the plane with UN assistance, while the aliens twiddle their thumbs!

The aliens now exacted some revenge on the UN, a group of five aliens surged into a fire team of Americans, killing them all.  The aliens were soon killed by the Australian SASR.

Aliens munching on the US fire team

The aliens finally entered the plane and killed the Hotakistanis in the plane.  A final Hotakistani surge to breach the aircraft and set off the nuke was withered under heavy fire, but in the end one of the Hotakistani agents got to the bomb.  He started to arm the bomb but was interrupted by incoming UN forces (he required a full turn so he was too late and the mission ended).  The bomb was captured by the UN. Only four Russians were left standing and the last Hotakistani killed himself rather than be captured.  The surviving Russian fell back over the perimeter fence and were extracted by a Russian force later in the day.

A reporter at the airfield reported that the Russians had attacked the UN.  The Russians said that the bodies in the reporters photographs said to be Russians appeared to be a Malikstani militia men, pointing out that none of the uniforms contained Russian badges or flags.  The UN reported that the photographs were fakes or were taken during the initial invasion a month before.

There was never a fight.

There was never a bomb.

The UN and Russians are still on good terms.

There were certainly no "unexplained" events.

Period.

The aliens [that never did exist] were also all killed, though one [of the non-existent] aliens had escaped with a victim...

A bloody four-player four-sided game that ran very smoothly.  Probably our biggest game ever, with over four platoons of infantry.  The Force on Force rules held up well and we finished the game in good time.  Initiative was gold during this game, the ability to have overwatch was precious indeed.  Initiative bounced around, but the UN was able to hold it for most of the game.  The UN captured two vehicles which helped them hold on to initiative for most the game.

The aliens inability to muster themselves to attack and the ignominious end to the one queen resulted in lots of [rude] chortling.    In the end it was a UN victory as they received a bonus 20VP when the Russians and Hotakistanis failed in their missions.  But it was still narrow, with the UNs 57VP vs. the Russians 51VP.

The secret arrival of aliens in the campaign certainly led to shock among the three regular players.  I wish I had a picture of their faces as I setup the 40 drones and two queens.  It was classic.

Sadly, this is going to be my last game for a long time to come, though I hope the campaign will continue.  I will see if I can get players keen in WA, and I hope the Queenslander's keep it going.

Force on Force has enabled us to play some truly enjoyable games.  At least 41 of those games have been reported on this blog.  Not to mention the excellent players Mark, Bill and Shane.  And all the other guest players that have been involved in the 3 years we have played this campaign.

To anyone who has visited our blog I hope we have been able to entertain or inspire you to further gaming.  I hope this is not the end and we will soon be playing the campaign in both Queensland and WA.  If anyone this side of  Sagittarius A wants to join in to play missions in the campaign please PM me.