A walk in the jungle - Zikanga Campaign AAR #5

It's been over 12 months since the last trip to Zikanga.

With the skirmish at the bridge a stalement for both Kwaz Nwazutha and PetroCorp both sides looked to make alternative probes of the out lying defences.

Lacking any suitable maps of the region, scouts from both sides were sent out to see if a back road could be found. Sure enough the village of Swooty Naaadds provided a potential crossing route avoiding the river and the bridge.

Both sides sent out recon elements looking to secure the village. From the North two sections of Professional Mercs in the pay of PetroCorp, from the South a the Beast sent out three groups of gun men with promise of loot and plunder....

The village of Swooty Naaadds, the sides holding the most buildings at the end of the night would be the winner.

We decided to give Chris Peers - At close Quarters rules a run out again, the Merc pushed down the centre of the "Highway" whilst the rabble flood the bush either side of the village.

The PetroCorp men reach the cente of the village, their professional status allows them to fire first, but could the bring enough fire to bear to shut down the Kwaz Nwazutha militiamen?

Having seen many a western on Zikanga late night TV, Bobby Muzuto steps forward to challange the Company men, it was high noon in Swooty Naaadds.

The militia rush forward, whilst unable to aim they are able to left off several RPG rounds which unsettle the PetroCorp men, recovering from a number of pin markers they return fire pinning several of the untrained gun men.

Caught in a cross fire, Operator Johnson takes a round to the chest and is Out of Action, the Merc's dodge down the alley to avoid the increasing fire on the main road.

The Action moves from the main road to the flanks, the Merc's swing right and catch one of the gunmen bands before it can fully deploy, several aimed shots, kill half a dozen and force the rest from the table...... Pistols and shotguns are no match for an M16....

Kwaz Nwazutha reinforcements rush into the village but are met by a hail of bullets forcing them to ground, with only one pin roll per turn it would be a while before they could get organised again.

Meanwhile on the main track the Merc's have fallen back rushing to find safer ground at the end of the village.

Ouch - seeing the Mercs fall back without laying down any covering fire, the milita for once take careful aim and blaze away with their rusty AK's knocking two of the Company men to the ground - Victory to the local Warlord......

Not quite ---- the risky move of standing in the open to aim made them easy targets for the two flanking fire teams who kill several of the celebrating militia, seeing their comrades fall the rest take to their heels.....

A cracking little outing which was touch and go for several turns, the rabble are great as long as they have numbers, but a well positioned fire team can soon put them under pressure if they stay calm.

I can feel a few more African outings taking place soon......

Mongrel Miniatures Cold War British Support Units.

Having repainted the Mongrel Miniatures cold war British several weeks ago, I stumbled across several spare figures which had been hiding out in one of the numerous cases in the garage.

Fortunately I recorded the original colour scheme, the spare troops will form the command and support sections for the Zikangeleze regular military. 

 A light mortar, Carl Gustav Team and GPMG provide a much needed punch for the "Black Panthers".

Meanwhile the forward Observer Team and CO, stand ready to call in air support or artillery if only the president had the funds to buy the fuel or artillery rounds....
A sniper draws a bead on the rebel militia.  

A great range of figures its a real shame the Cold War Brits are so hard to get hold of in the UK, I understand that the range is now owned by Badger Games in the US.
 

 

Mongrel Miniatures - Special Forces.

It's a amazing what a little inspiration can do, these chaps having been sitting at the foot of lead mountain for around 8 years, having finished the make over of the 1980's Brits and Spectre Miniatures - African Project which was pleasing to see reach its funding in under 2 days on Kickstarter.
I came across these special forces from Mogrel Miniatures still in their original blister packs...

Perfect to represent the small army of  professional mercenaries that Petrocorp employ in the country of Zikanga - The fictional country in South West Africa.

By way of a background PetroCorps Mercenaries are headed up by Henri Odinga, Odinga is responsible for security at the four main drilling sites together with the pipelines integrity throughout the country.

 

The Petrocorp sites have all had villages grow up around them and the flares-offs from the sites in part make up for a lack of electricity. However this townships contain various workers groups and unoffical unions which need to be "handled"

Odinga can call upon a small army of  Professions armed with advanced weapon systems including a number of MBT’s and fast attack helicopters.

Campaign Objective: Defend the pipeline and ensure oil continues to flow regardless of government in power, maintain profit margins.

Mongrel Miniatures - Cold War British - Zikangeleze Regulars.

These Mongrel Miniatures British have been sitting in storage for a couple of years they have had various outings over the years, Cold War Europe, even zombie out breaks.

Having recently picked up some of Empress Miniatures modern Brits, I thought these could get a make over and join the ranks of the Zikangeleze military.

  
The original paint job was a little too bright and needed a couple of extra colours adding to the camo scheme and a dip wash of Army painter to give them a more lived in feel.

Within the Zikanga campaign setting L’Armee Zikangeleze army is commanded by the ambitious General Botang. General Botangi has his sights set on overthrowing the president, but must first gain International favour by crushing the Southside Boys and the Legs Akimbo, the two rebel militias gaining prominence in the country. 

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...

Two Hour Wargames - Dog Soldiers

The first posting of 2012 and my aim this year is to game with some of the stuff that lurkes at the back of the wargames cupboard... Lead mountain only seems to grow these days....

First up several Westwind Werewolves which were already uncoated but had been left unfinished for several years, I figured I could get these done in an evening and on the table within 24 Hrs....

I have been revisiting the Chain Reaction Rules by Ed at Two Hours Wargames in recent weeks for a number of different games and remember he did a cracking free set of rules for the Dog Soldiers Movie. This was a  great low budget Werewolf fest with had a Rorkes Drift Flavour to it.... (You will know when you see it....) it's coming up to it's 10th aniversary this year - perhaps one day they will make the sequel..

I already had a bunch of Modern British painted up for Cold War Britain from Mongrel Miniatures and have used these for a number of games from Peace Keeping Missions in the Congo to Zombie outbreaks.

Any way 24 Hours later they are on the table and being gamed with - success.....

A British Section must advance through the wood and reach the cottage in the clearing, holding out until the morning and sunrise all are grade 4 whilst wells is a 5.

The section is made up of the following troopers.

Sergeant Harry G. Wells

Corporal Bruce Campbell

Private Lawrence Cooper
Private Phil "Spoon" Witherspoon
Private Joe Kirkley
Private Terry Milburn

Sergeant Wells leads is squad in an extended line hoping to bring maximum fire to any one or thing approaching his section.

A Werewolf breaks from cover on the right flank Milburn and Kirkley react quickly and let off several rounds forcing the Werewolf to Duckback into cover . To the rear of the unit 2 further Werewolves are spotted moving at speed towards the unit.

Wells orders the section to run heading along the woodland path, Milbern fails his roll and is set upon by a Werewolf breaking cover from the left.

The remainder of the Squad press on unwilling or unable to help Milbern heading to the farm house.

Before the Section is able to rest the Werewolves are on them pushing at the doors and windows, only a few lucky iniative turns save them from being overwelmed.

The Werewolves head to the safety of the tree line to regroup and consider a fresh line of attack.

Breaking into three groups the Werewolves looking to gain entry to the farm house attacking the front and back whilst a couple of single Werewolves attempt to break through the broken down corner only to be met by Private Cooper, a burst from his SLA is enough to kill a Werewolf but not before Cooper takes a fatal blow and is OD.

Elswhere Spoon & Wells drive off the foes to their front running to the rear of the farm house to support Cambell who is protecting Kirtley who has taken OFF from the lead Werewolf who has broken in via the out house.

5.00am and one turn before Sun rise and the Werewolves make an all out attack on rubble corner, Wells is out of the fight as his gun jams and is overwelmed by the furry mass. Spoon thows his only Grenade killing one of the Werewolves out right and driving another into the dawn gloom.

End of the turn and the squad have some how survived although they have lost several of their number to the Werewolves who are still out there....

A cracking game and as the rule say completed in less than two hours....