(I also got in a game of Ambush Z yesterday, but my camera
batteries were dead and I was too busy keeping things going to really take any
notes… so… no report of that game, sorry…)
SITUATION
Since colonial times there has been tension in what is now
Timbogo between the majority (ostensibly Christian) Timbo peoples in the North
and East of the country and the Bongogo peoples in the West and south who
continue to practice their own indigenous religion.
Tensions have flared in recent weeks and there have been
rumours of genocide taking place in central Timbogo. A team of MSF doctors
stationed in Timobogo and a visiting journalist, who have witnessed the
atrocities firsthand, have been trying to get out of Timbogo. They finally made
it aboard a helicopter that was to fly them out to nearby only to be forced
down by gunfire as they approached the border.
A force of French Foreign Legionnaires stationed in and
neighboring country was immediately dispatched to extract the French nationals.
The team was able to reach the crash site but their transport helicopters were
driven off by ground fire. The team did, however, locate the French civilians
and holed up with them in a cluster of abandoned buildings along a lonely,
dusty road, with the forces of the Federal Army of the Repuiblic of Timbogo
(F.A.R.T.) and local militias closing in…
SCENARIO
Duration: 6 turns
Initiative: French have
initiative for the game
Fog of War: Determined normally
by Reaction Tests
Table Size: ~3’x3’
FRENCH MISSION
The Team had to protect the
civilians from the various Timbogan forces converging on the area. They had to
hold on until the end of Turn Six when the French higher-ups would give the
green light to some Close Air Support to clear a landing zone for the transport
helicopters to pull them out.
FRENCH VICTORY
In no French civilians were
captured by the end of Turn Six the French team wins. Otherwise, they lose.
BLUE FORCE
Initiative Level: D10
Confidence Level: High
Supply Level: Normal
Body Armour: (+1D)
Troop Quality/Morale: D10/D10
French Forces – French Foreign
Legion CSAR Team
1x Team Leader - FA-MAS
2x SAW-Gunners – Minimi
2x Grenadiers – FA-MAS with UGL
2x Riflemen - FA-MAS
2x Medic - FA-MAS
1x AT Gunner w/ ATGM (AP:4/AT:4
M)
5x French Civilians - Dependants
TIMBOGAN MISSION
F.A.R.T. Forces win if the are
able to capture one French civilian
TIMBOGAN VICTORY POINTS
TIMBOGAN FORCE
Initiative Level: D8
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level: Normal
Body Armour: None
Troop Quality/Morale: D8/D8
F.A.R.T. Forces
Two militia teams and one
regular army teams started on the table… more were coming…
THE GAME(S)
As I mentioned I played the
scenario twice today – once in the afternoon with the kids – to see how it
would work out - and then again, later in the evening, with the regular
Saturday evening crew.
GAME ONE
Finnegan decided he’d like to
play the African and Keira wanted to play the doctors…. After much explaining I
think she finally clued into the fact that they would take no real part in the
game and so she said she’d play the French with me…
(Remember: click on the pictures
for a bigger version)
Timbogan Militia in a wadi approaching the southern end of
the cluster of buildings – where the MSF doctors and reporter were holed up
with four Legionnaires
F.A.R.T. Regulars approaching, through the scrapyard, from
the east.
More Timbogan Militia approaching through another, heading
to wards the north end of the French position.
The French positions in the buildings.
Again with the French positions – from the other end of
town.
Keira inspecting our positions wondering when she might get
to roll the dice and/or move the doctors.
TURN ONE
WE decided to put all the French on overwatch for the first
turn and see what the Timbogan forces might try to get up to…
The Militia at the north end of town started things up
firing upon one of the French Fireteams.
The French, on overwatch, reacted and fired first taking
down FOUR of the Militiamen. The Militiamen passed their morale and continued
with their firing. They successfully caused one casualty! The French failed
morale and were pinned.
Next the F.A.R.T. Regulars in the scrap yard to the east
opened fire on the same team of Legionnaires and took down the remaining two in
the team!
AT the south end of town. Timbogan Militia fired on the
French in the building with the Civilians. The French took down three of them,
and the militia’s fire was entirely ineffective.
TURN TWO
The medic in the South building dashed across to the
Northeast building to see what was up with the team there and found the other
medic to be seriously wounded and the other two team members lightly wounded.
Among the Timbogan forces the casualties had been a bit more
severe – they’d suffered FOUR killed in action, two seriously wounded and only
one was able to carry on with light wounds!?
There was a rumbling to the east and casting a glance that
way the legionnaires spotted a BTR-60 rolling up the road towards their
position!
The F.A.R.T. Regulars in the scrap yard fired on the
Northeast building again and hit the medic as he was working on his fellow
medic and hit both the others a second time!?
The two Timbogan Militia teams weren’t able to activate this
turn due to their horrific casualties the previous turn.
The BTR-60 rolled up the road firing on the South building.
The French AT gunner fired of a shot at the BTR-60 taking out it’s main gun!
Before they were able to do this, however. Ricocheting 14.7mm shots hit the gas
tank at the far end of town…
KA-BOOM! The gas tank went up and the team in the Northwest
building had to flee into the adjacent building.
TURN THREE
The French team fleeing the flaming wreckage of the gas tank
dashed into the Northeast building and checked their fallen comrades. The Medic
and grenadier were dead and the SAW gunner remained only lightly wounded (and
the other medic was still in serious condition…).
A few more Militiamen arrived, infiltrating up the wadi to
the north of town.
The Militia to the south of town exchanged fire with the
French in the South building.
This apparently drew their attention away and allowed the
BTR-60 to move up closer to the buildings, presumably to dismount the troops
within(?) without being blown up the AT gunner (the exchange had made the
French “fall off” overwatch).
Militia to the north of the buildings also fired on the
Northeast building, but the fire from the Legionnaires took down the remaining
two in the team! The newly arrived militia also poured fire into the Northeast
building – which only served to draw the attention of the Legionnaires within,
who shot two of that Militia team – causing them to fail morale!
Fire from the F.A.R.T. Regulars in the scrap yard took down
ANOTHER TWO legionnaires in the Northeast building.
TURN FOUR
Checking their two downed comrades in the Northeast
building. The Legionnaires found one to be seriously wounded and the other only
lightly wounded and able to soldier on! Only two of the Timbogan Militiamen
could be checked (as the other two were in a team that was now all down) and
were found to be more or less fine. One was lightly wounded, the other had only
had a bullet buzz past his ear and startle him, he was completely okay…
Yet another group of militia arrived at the northern wadi!
The only French able to take action were the ones with the
civilians in the south building. They didn’t go on overwatch this turn but,
rather, took the initiative. They split their fire – the AT gunner fired on the
BTR-60 and the rest poured fire into the wadi to the south.
BOOM! The AT-gunner scored a catastrophic kill on the BTR-60
lighting up the fuel and ammo the thing blew apart killing all inside! The rest
of the Teams fire took down a militiaman in the Southern wadi.
The Three Legionnaires in the Northeast building exchanged
fire with two groups of militiamen and the F.A.R.T. Regulars in the scrap yard.
Mostly the fire was ineffective, though one militiaman in the Northern Wadi was
shot.
TURN FIVE
We didn’t get to finish this turn (or the game for that
matter) but we did find that the Timbogan militia had suffered two more serious
injuries and another light wound and that another squad of F.A.R.T. Regulars
arrived at the Southern Wadi….
Hard to tell which way this one could have gone. Finnegan
wasn’t playing the Timbogans particularly aggressively so I doubt he would have
been able to capture any of the French civilians in the next two turns…
In total, here are the casualties sustained:
French Foreign Legion
KIA: 2 (Medic and SAW-gunner)
Seriously Wounded: 2 (Medic and Grenadier)
Lightly Wounded: 2 (Saw Gunner and Grenadier)
Still Okay: 4 (Team Leader, 2 Riflemen, and SAW- Gunner) –
plus all the French civilians!
F.A.R.T. Forces
KIA: 14!
Seriously Wounded: 4
Lightly Wounded: 3
Okay: I think there were nearly 20 still okay on the table
when we had to call it quits….
GAME TWO
Later in the evening Dave, Patrick and Rick popped by to
play – what we hoped would be a quick game (as Dave and Patrick had to get up
early and I had to leave around 10 to pick up the kids from the Ballet!). Dave
decided to play the French and Rick and Patrick played the F.A.R.T. Forces.
Timbogan militia in the Southern Wadi with a French fire
team in the building opposite.
Timbogan militia in the Northern Wadi, with French fire
teams in both buildings and the French Civilians in one.
A view of the whole “village” (if we can call it that…) from
the south
TURN ONE
Once again the French had a murderous first round taking
down five of the militiamen in the southern wadi and another five in the
northern wadi. The Militias fire was completely ineffective.
The F.A.R.T. Regulars in the scrap yard, however charged out
to the cover of the crates and junk near the Northeast building. In the dash
one of their number fell. Once in position they poured fire into the building
taking down three of the Legionnaires within and one of the French Civilians!?
TURN TWO
Checking on all the wounded… The F.A.R.T. Regulars that had
fallen had only tripped as he went over the wall under fire and was completely
okay. The Militiamen, however, had suffered one killed in action, three
seriously wounded and five lightly wounded (one other turned out to be totally
fine…). Among the French , the civilian was totally fine – he’d been hit by a
chunk of mudbrick flying off a wall that had taken a hit from a F.A.R.T. RPG round. Two of the legionnaires were
totally fine – both having taken hits in the equipment chest, the bullets were
slowed enough as they went through magazines that they were totally stopped by
their body armour! - but the third was pretty seriously wounded.
Reinforcements in the form of a F.A.R.T. Regular squad
arrived…. But I don’t seem to have noted where!? I think it was the Southern
wadi. They did exchange fire with some Legionnaires, and took a casualty for
their troubles.
The other F.A.R.T. Regulars stormed into the Northeast
building – taking the Legionnaires within, more or less, completely by
surprise!?
The Legionnaires were wiped out (all three killed in action)
and the Civilians captured!
Wow… on Turn Two… Things weren’t looking so good for the
Legionnaires.
TURN THREE
Things were looking even less good when the BTR-60 arrived…
At least it was buttoned up.
The French, in desperation, started firing on the building
with the French civilians – they even fired one of their ATGMs in there!? There
was a whole pile of Timbogan reactions to this that mostly failed or were ineffective.
The French fire caused five casualties – luckily none of the civilians were
hit. The other French team actually tried to close assault into the building
but there was some arguing amongst the team as to the sanity of such a move
(failed TQ test) and they didn’t go in the end.
In the end phase the one team of Timbogans that didn’t react
to the French fusillade earlier in the turn started trying to make their way
towards the building – to back up their comrades and get those civilian captives
away from the furious Legionnaires.
BOOM!! Though ineffective in trying to silence the French
firing earlier in the turn, ricocheting shots from the 14.7mm gun on the BTR-60
hit the gas tank and it went up!
TURN FOUR
Checking their comrades the F.A.R.T. Regulars in the
Northeast building found two had been killed, two were seriously injured, and
one was able to get back up and pick up his rifle – though half his left ear
was gone and he couldn’t seem to hear much (lightly wounded).
More F.A.R.T. Regulars arrived in the Wadi to the south..
The Legionnaires poured more fire into the Northeast
building. This drew a lot of ineffective fire from the Timbogans, but the
French fire was telling – all three remaining F.A.R.T. Regulars were shot in
the exchange of fire.
Then came probably the most epic moment of the evening…. The
other French team declared that they would split their fire – the AT gunner
firing at the BTR-60, the other two at a group of F.A.R.T. Regulars in the wadi
to the south of the building – then dash across the street to occupy the
building with the French civilians in it (as it seemed there was no more fire
coming from there…). The AT-gunner immobilized the BTR, but then turned to see
his two comrades go down from the F.A.R.T. Regulars return fire…. So he
shouldered his two remaining rockets, his FA-MAS, his comrades firearms
(including a Minimi) and dragged the two of them across the street into the
building, where he deposited his wounded comrades with the only other surviving
(seriously wounded) legionnaire and started kicking rifles away from wounded
F.A.R.T. Regulars and raging something terrifying that may have been French…
but could just as easily have been Lithuanian. One of the surviving F.A.R.T.
Regulars later swore his eyes glowed red “like the devil himself!”
TURN FIVE
It turns out the two Legionnaires were only lightly wounded
so their comrade needn’t have treated them to roughly – dragging them across
the street and all… Of the F.A.R.T. Regulars in the building two were seriously
wounded and the other was totally unscathed, cowering in the corner…
Four more Timbogan militiamen arrived in the Northern wadi.
The Legionnaires remaining in the Southern building dashed
across the street – firing at some militia in the open. This drew a lot of
fire, which was, as usual, mostly
ineffective… The French took down two militiamen…
The team already in the building again split their fire
between Timbogan Militiamen and the BTR. The AT gunner completely missed the
BTR!? The other chaps took down another two militiamen. The F.A.R.T. Regulars
in the BTR debussed and dashed for the cover of the scrap yard.
TURN SIX
Checking their downed mates the Timbogan militia had
suffered another seriously injured, two lightly injured and the other had only
gotten a bunch of gravel in his eyes from bullets that had struck the ground
directly in front of him – he was now back in the action.
Then another BTR-60 showed up…
Knowing that the rescue shoppers were on the way the
Legionnaires concentrated on the Timbogans that were potentially close enough
to close assault this turn – which turned out to be one group of militia… They
were shot up pretty good.
In the return fire three Legionnaires were shot…
In the last turn the AT gunner used up his last rocket and
blew up the newly arrived BTR-60 – not a catastrophic kill as in the last game
– but a vehicle kill none the less – one of the crew and one of the infantryman
inside were injured in the blast
Dave really pulled it out of the fire! At the end of the
second turn we thought it was pretty much all over for the French... but
thought we’d play it out for giggles… By the end I think Patrick was pretty
much cheering for the French to get out.
I sort of lost track of a few of the casualties – situations
where one trooper was lightly wounded, then later killed or seriously wounded…
but I think this is pretty close:
French Foreign Legion
KIA: 3
Seriously Wounded: 3
Lightly Wounded: 3
Okay: 1
Only one of the ten came out unscathed….
F.A.R.T. Forces
KIA: 5
Seriously Wounded: 10
Lightly Wounded: 10
1 BTR destroyed, 1 BTR immobilized.
Of course as the ground support arrived to clear a way for
the extraction helicopters there would have been many, many more Timbogan
casualties…
I think I need more Africans… at
least a few more with heavy weapons – I realized I have no militia-types with heavy
weapons, and the regulars didn’t have very much either… I had so steal a few of
my
Generic
Middle East Regulars to supply heavy weapons (especially all the
RPGs!?) to the units. (Did anyone notice?).
I’d also like to track down some
modern-ish African civilians.
This was a lot of fun. I need to
play more.
Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:
I have a feeling that VBL will get some paint on it this
week as the French are likely to be drawn further into the conflict brewing in
Timbogo… I should finish up the T-72s I have as well… or some zombies… or some terrain…
something modern, anyway…