Modern African Civilians

The summer project continues apace, having pooled all of bare metal into a vast pile of shiny lead, I found these civilans languishing in the draw earmarked for a project which never got off the ground, they are a mix of Brigade Games Haiti range and a Bobby Jackson's Thugz which needed a little effort to remove handguns and the like.

I figured they would be useful for various scenario's in the Zikanga Campaign, giving the peace keepers something to defend or generally getting in the way of the waring factions.

The nuns are from Westwind and their gothic horror range, originally planned for my Elizabethan campaigns in Ireland, but paint the habit and wimple in a light brown colour and you have yourselves a Catholic mission in Africa.

Lead mountain continues to shrink.

28mm African Militia - Part 2

If you thought the first batch of militia were a rag tag bunch take a look at these guys...

3 units of armed militiamen made up from various manufacturers Copplestone, Gripping Beast, The Assault Group and Bobby Jackson's Thugz.

I wanted to create a clear distinction between the factions those who were based on military lines and those of a more gang nature, the quality on all sides will be similar, but hopefully the more colourful nature of these troops should make it easier to separate the waring factions. Many will double up as each scenario is played out but I have named each lead section just for fun.... :-)

Wole Joyinka, known as “Dr J”: - Southside Boys.

A rebel leader of great charm/rabble rousing ability. 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.

Kwaz Nwazutha:- The Beast

A tribal leader known for his love of fast food and bling.

Gani Fawehinmi and his Regiment.

A tribal leader regarded as one of the better trained militia units in Zikanga dispite there appearance, due largely to access to UK Gold and  the show “SAS are you tough enough”

28mm African Militia.

I'd forgotten how many modern mini's I had tucked away, impulse purchases from various trade shows for projects that never took off, figures purchased after a holiday read that sounded like a great idea for a project at the time.... (I can recommend Vortex by Larry Bond). Figures purchased because they looked nice and how could i possibly leave a show with change in my pocket.

Most of the reference material for West African Militia of the early 90's are a mix of regular uniforms and civilan dress so pooling all of those odd modern mini's should give me a great opportunity to recycle some of those figures and give others a make over and a genuine use. 

Gang members for zombie games, wasteland warriors for a sci-fi project that needed more figures than I needed that had been languishing under coated but not finished in draws for several years all of these suddenly had a use and could be recruited into the new African Militia.

 

It's been a few years since the completed mini's that have did have, have seen the light of day and my painting style has certainly changed since they last saw action, so I thought they were due a make over if they are to fit in with plans for this project and give a degree of uniformity to the units.

I am more than happy with the first 50 they have a military feel to them, with the odd splash of colour to give them that irregular vibe and the mix of manufactures helps to break up the uniformity.

Copplestone, Gripping Beast's MO-FO range, The Assault Group even a couple of Bobby Jackson's Thugz's make an appearance.

Louis “Legs” Akimbo and his Militia.

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.

Jan Yoruba of the Yorubist Peoples Party.

A political agitator distinctly left wing man with Stalinist/Leninist/Maoist tendencies but he seems to pick and choose sentiments that suit him best.

Samuel Lani-Oheck

A failed farmer, failed store-keeper, failed tribal-leader, and failed general and failed politician.

But he is pretty nibble with a machette.

Charity Nsithlan

A warlord who tends to do his own thing and is best left alone.

Nsithlan supporters are made up of bandits, murders and deserters bereft of any political aims or objectives.

Zikanga's Gendarmes Nationale

The personal bodyguard of President Okoye. The GN rarely venture out from the main cities (often in force) and when they do mainly stick to the main road.

Chain Reaction 3 - AAR Operation Palliser Sierra Leone 2000

With Ed at Two Hour Wargames releasing Chain Reaction 3 for Free, I thought it was high time my Modern Brits got an airing.

Operation Palliser May 2000 Sierra Leone

This little known deployment of British forces is perhaps best known for Operation Barras and the rescue of British Military hostages by the SAS from the Westside Boys, a rebel gang within Sierra Leone.

Royal Marines were deployed in Sierra Leone to evacuate foreign nationals and establish order, once they had stabilized the situation. Brigadier David Richards, expanded the original mandate to supprt the UN forces and protect the Sierra Leone Government from rebal forces under the Revolutionary United Front and it's commander Foday Sankoh.

The RUF was a brutal force made up of boy soldiers very often high on drink and drugs, with the slogans, "No More Slaves, No More Masters. Power and Wealth to the People." It planned to overthrow the government of Sierra Leone and had committed numerous atrocities in any territory it captured.

The scenario represents a small British Patrol that is sent into the Occra Hills to seek out and destroy elements of the RUF who have been terrorising the local population and stopping aid agencies getting in to the area to assist the locals.

Mid day after a days route march into the Occra Hills and the Marines had reached the main camp of the RUF, the main British force under Major Jefferson had been pinned down by rebel fire from the entrance to the village, cloud cover having stopped the British bringing their air support to bear, unable to push forward and unwilling to break contact they are in a perilous position with the prospect of the RUF flooding the area very soon.

Sergeant Strickland and a section of 6 Marines notice a section of the village is undefended leaving a gate unguarded as many of the defenders have moved to join the attack on the main British force. If Strickland can enter the village undetected he should be able to outflank the RUF and drive them from the village entrance.

Strickland is Rep 5 whilst his fellow marines are Rep 4, facing them are an unknown number of RUF fighters, but given that they have spent much of the morning smoking and drinking none of them will be better than Rep 3.

Lock and load Chaps we must save Major Jefferson and the rest of their fellow Marines.

View from the tree line and Sergeant Strickland, I inserted 3 PEF chits for the RUF, represented by 4 fighters on the table.

Strickland and his team prepare to move out.

Members of the RUF line the wall and poor fire in to Major Jefferson and the main British force off table.

More RUF move to close in on Jefferson.

Winning the initiative Strickland break for the unguarded gate and break into the village. Some great rolls by the RUF and they pass 2 Dice moving 16" directly towards Strickland and his team. Coming in to Sight the British roll on the Resolution chart and find them selves facing not one but two groups each one as large as their own.

Insight Test abound with RUF fighters appearing in the alley to the front of the British just as they break into the right hand house.

RUF Fighters line the roof tops.

Poor rolls by both sides drive a number of the Brits and RUF to duck back, the Brits burst into the right hand house as the RUF fire a couple of RPG rounds in Strickland's direction. Out gunned Strickland and his team dive for cover.

On the left flank, the RUF on the roof tops poor fire in to the second British Squad knocking one to the ground and taking another trooper Out of the Fight, things were not going well for Strickland.

Meanwhile the Brits holed up in the house faced RUF Fighters to their front, a second PEF comes into sight at the rear of the builidng fortunately the contact roll is poor and only two RUF fighters are generated they pass their insight rolls and through the back windows killing Private Whitaker, who was rushing to reload.

Strickland makes a break for it rushing out of the back of the house under a hail of fire from the swarming RUF.

The British reach the checkpoint, whilst they failed to clear the checkpoint of RUF fighters Strickland's actions have drawn the RUF from Jeffersons position. A good initiative roll for the Brits and they get the drop on the RUF on the roof top.

RUF Fighter prepare to fire on Strickland. The RUF fighters are a mixture of Gripping Beast MoFo range and the TAG Somalian range together with a few Foundry, Copplestone and some Bobby Jackson Thugz for good measure.

The Marines win the iniative and after a swift fire fight the bulk of the RUF fighters are either Ducking back or are OOF, A second initaive win and Strickland Fast Moves for the tree line.

An encounter hardly worth a mention in dispatches but a good reason to follow up with game two as the fate of the out of the fight Marines is still to be decided. As Strickland was forced to leave men behind.

Chain Reaction 3 has a slick feel to them and changes from Version 2 to 3 has cut trimmed down on the number of dice rolled in the area of movement and spotting.

The reaction rolls still give that Hollywood feel, with figures ducking for cover espically if they have run out of Ammo.

The PEF movement and makes for a tense game as they can be upon your units very quickly should they pass enough dice but could turn out to be nothing or a serious number of enemy troops, the good news is very often you can dive for cover espically when one of the opposing fighters raises his RPG to fire...