The curses of Salute...
I had a plan and a list and these were definately not on it... :-)
Wandering
through the vast array of traders at Salute I came across these guy's
with a planned Kickstarter on the 1st May producing a range of modern
African sculpts both militia and western special forces.
Unlike other kickstarters I have backed, they have 80+ minis sculpted and ready for casting and they had these on display.
They
are
comparable in size and sculpting style to Gripping Beasts MO-FO range
and Eureka's latest releases and include some great mini's wearing the
rather unique style of some of the militia found in Liberia and West
Africa.
The free CIA SOG miniature was a nice touch but did not help my will power.
I thought I had left this gaming arena behind, but I guess you never forget your first campaign.
Set
in the fiction country of Zikanga in the mid 80's it featured several
players each crafted by the umpire and each with a separate agenda.
The
campaign was run by e-mail and losely based on the AK47 rules set,
players received a fortnightly news letter detailing the major events,
players were free to add as much detail as they liked.... the crazier
the better...
It
was one of the most engaging campaigns that I had taken part in over
the years and a credit to Roy who umpired the map movements and added
the colour to each character and encounter.
I am sorely tempted to re-imagine this campaign giving me a reason to bring
the main characters out of retirement and upgrading to 28mm - Thanks
Spectre.....
The main characters running around Zikanga were as follows.... something for everyone here......
Festus
Okoye:- President
of Zikanga.
The President for Life of Zikanga.
Self appointed after the Civil War. A benevolent (sort of) dictator who
originates from the Zutha Tribe.
The
Gendarmes Nationale act as the personal bodyguard of President Okoye. For decades Okoye has kept his enemies too
busy fighting each other to accomplish any kind of successful coup.
The GN
rarely venture out from the main cities (often in force) and when they do
mainly stick to the main roads
The
Gendarmes Nationale can count several hundred in their number with a scattering
of armoured vehicles, there is also a functioning helicopter although this is
rarely used as they lack the fuel to power it, let alone anyone who knows how
to fly the damn thing.
Objective: Defend the
presidential palace against any assaults and maintain existing power base.
General
Botangi:- Zikanga Military
The ambitious General Botangi has
consolidated power within the Zikangeleze military to the point where President
Okoye will no longer allow army units within the city limits.
General Botangi has his sights set on
overthrowing the president, but first gain International favour by crushing the
Southside Boys and the Legs Akimbo, the
two rebel militias gaining prominence in the country.
Objective: Defeat the rebel militia’s
before seizing control of the government.
Samuel
Lani-Oheck:- Zutha tribe
A Zutha in Nana-Mambere. This man is a failed
farmer, failed store-keeper, failed tribal-leader, and failed general and
failed politician. (If he’s “a significant individual” then so is the average
government newspaper seller.)
Lani
Ocheck has little military support to speak of however he is held has a number
of high level of contacts in the Naisian Government.
Objective: Encourage an armed
intervention from the Naisian Government.
Charity
Nsithlan:- Allied to the Zutha tribe (sort of)
A warlord in Funk who tends to do his
own thing and is best left alone. Not much is known about him. Rumoured to be a
powerful man best not messed with.
Nsithlan
supporters are made up of bandits, murders and deserters bereft of any
political aims or objectives he can count several hundred supporters with a
number of stolen vehicles many from innocent travellers and UN vehicles.
Objective:
Expansion of their area of control through the brutalisation of the local
community no one passes through without paying the toll.
Jan
Yoruba:- Zutha Opposition
A political agitator. Whereabouts
presently unknown but the whole world will probably know when he surfaces. A
distinctly left wing man with Stalinist/Leninist/Maoist tendencies but he seems
to pick and choose sentiments that suit him best. It’s rumoured that he wants
“Yorubists” to be seen alongside the others mentioned.
Yoruba has a small number of
supporters with no known armoured support.
Objective: For Zikanga to
become the first Yorubist Peoples Republic.
Henri
Odinga:- PetroCorp Mercenaries
PetroCorp’s man in Cuvette. He is a jumped up
security man
Odinga is responsible for security at
the four main drilling sites “Overton of Bruxie”, “Howe of Bruxie”, “Affleck”
and “Honeyneuk” together with the pipelines integrity throughout the country.
Odinga can call upon a small army of
professional mercenaries and advanced weapon systems including a number of
MBT’s and fast attack helicopters.
Objective: Defend the pipeline
and ensure oil continues to flow regardless of government in power, maintain
profit margins.
Wole Joyinka,
known as “Dr J”: - Southside Boys.
A rebel leader of great charm/rabble
rousing ability. His present whereabouts are rumoured to be in the jungle
around Bandunu as the country is sparsely populated and contains many clearings
able to produce the local drug relied upon by the Southside Boys.
He seems to be able to raise people against
“the foe” wherever he is.
Revelling in meaningless savagery many
of his units are named after their horrors exercised on the population at
large, Rebel Units like Burn House Squad, Cut Hands Commando & Kill Man No
Blood whose speciality was beating people to death without a drop of blood
being spilt.
Dr
“J” has been experimenting extensively with hallucinogenic drugs and many of
his warriors are drug fuelled boy soldiers stolen from the local villages and
indoctrinated into the Southside Boys way of life.
Dr
“J” can call upon several hundred warriors of dubious quality.
Objective: Capture Bandunu and expand area of control.
Balarabe
Musa:-
A long time political opponent of
Okoye. He failed to get elected because there was
no election. Okoye would have been removed a long time ago if it wasn’t for his
World standing and powerful retinue. Believed to be recently backed by Noore
but nobody is sure. He tends to hang out around the border and although he
himself has been quiet his manifesto keeps appearing in towns.
Musa
can count several hundred poorly trained supporters with a scattering of
Armoured vehicles,
Objective: Build sufficient
forces to assault the presidential palace and over throw the Okoye Government.
Louis
“Legs” Akimbo:-
Legs is a bit of a nutter but a
renowned rabble-rouser. He was thought of as a harmless eccentric but now,
since he’s created an armed following nobody’s quite sure.
Legs
can count several hundred followers in his militia with a small number of technicals.
The faithful followers will gladly give their lives for Musa.
Objective: Drive out the
western forces from your homeland, stop the theft of your countries resources.
