Bolt Action: Operation Torch Part 3

Wednesday, 11 November 1942 

After the failed attempt to wrest the oasis and the surrounding heights from the Vichy on Sunday, November 15, 1942 , the Americans fell back and the entire site was blasted by USAAF bombers and then by army artillery. The Vichy, under such bombardment were obliged to vacate the position, which the Americans then occupied without further incident or bloodshed... Until the Vichy counterattacked on the the 18th! 

Friday Orion and I got together to play another game of Bolt Action (Third Edition) where we tried the same scenario we had played earlier in the week, but with my French Forces trying to take the position from Orion's Americans! 

Americans holding the Oasis and the flanking high ground - Point 437, in the foreground with the Forward Air Controllers posted on it, and Point 435 in the distance. 

Point 435 was held by a Sniper and a Bazooka Team.

Starting things off I rolled for my preliminary bombardment - which arrived. The Sniper Team and Forward Air Controllers were spared as, being "infiltrators" that could deploy forward of the deployment zone, were not caught in the barrage! Most of the units took a few pin markers... 

Except the Sherman tank - which was KNOCKED OUT!! BOOM!!!

This was kind of HUGE for the French attackers as the Shemann would have likely dealt a great deal of damage to the attackers against which they would have next to no ability to respond! 

The French Foreign Legion platoon advaced on the right of the French line towards Point 437

The Stuart tank moved up into the treed area of the oasis and started firing upon the advancing French! 

The Moroccan Tirailleurs advanced in line, one squad heading for Point 435 and the other heading towards the Oasis proper. 

Initailly I'd started spreading my troops out as much as I could until I had a good idea of where the Air attacks would come in... Otherwise I would have concentrated the entire platoon towards the flank and taking Point 435. 

The squad of Moroccan Tirailleurs advancing up the center towards the oasis had a tough time of it... they took fire from the American infantry in the oasis... and the Stuart... AND a successful airstrike was called in on them... when the dust settled they were no longer there - just a pile of shredded corpses that had been abandoned by the few survivors that had fled to the rear! 

Anerican infantry in the ruins beyond the oasis exited their cover and moved towards the rear of Point 437 to come to the aid of the Forward Air Controllers that reported the advancing Foreign Legionnaires 

The other Moroccan Tirailleurs advanced steadily towards Point 437, with more success... The Sniper and Bazooka took mostly tried to shoot at the Platoon commander (missing). The mortar in the ruins mostly tried firing counter-battery at the French Mortar... and the Sherman was knocked out - which would likely have laid down some DEVASTATING fire on these troops! 

The Foreign Legionaires continue their advance on Point 437. 

The Stuart had been somewhat suppressed by fire from the French 75mm Howitzer - which successfully zeroed in on it on the second round and then just continued to POUND the position. It failed to significantly damage the tank... but suppressed it with lots of pin markers! 

As the Moroccans advanced, they poured fire into the Sniper which suppressed it with pin markers. 

The French 75mm Howitzer that just fired at the Sherman the whole game... 

At the beginning of the third turn, the Artillery called in by the French Forward Observation Team arrived... it missed its intended target entirely (Point 437 - and the Forward Air Controllers!) but deviated to a position beyond Point 437 where the American infantry squad was moving up... and utterly devastated the squad. It deal a BUNCH of pin marker and killed half the squad, which then failed morale and the rest of them ran!? 

And then I forgot to take pictures for a turn...? It was a Turn of Ignominy anyway... One of the squads of French Foreign Legionnaires rolled a 12 for an orders test to advance and paniced and nearly ran off the table! (this is the downside of advacing on the flanks - panic just takes you towards the nearest table edge - including SIDE table edges... luckily the closest model ended 1/2" away from the edge and the squad did not flee entirely!! 

The next turn my artillery landed right on target in the middle of the Oasis... but did little more than adding a few pin markers to the pile all the units within already had... 

The Moroccans advance onto Point 435. Taking their time, they didn't want to risk a charge and fail... they moved up and fired point blank ... and somehow did not take out anyone!? If this were an infantry squad holding this position or a Machine-gun, this would have been a much riskier situation... but as it was, the MOST casualties they could cause were one each, IF they passed an orders test. Snipers cannot snipe within 12"...

Platoon command right behind them. 

Infantry and Stuart still holding in the center. 

French Foreign Legionnaires racing up Point 437! The Forward Air Controllers called in an air attack ON THEIR OWN POSITION!? 

Rookie pilots that don't know how to read maps or understand directions or something... decided to attack the Oasis instead!? 

Very nearly causing the Stuart to just leave due to TOO MANY PIN MARKERS. If it had been deal ONE MORE the tank would have just left (or the crew bailed and left) 

In the last two games, Orion has rolled two or three ones when calling in air strikes - receiving friendly fire at least half the time.

I suggested she should paint some air recognition roundels on the tops of her tanks..

Moroccan Tirailleurs assault the Sniper and just murder the poor bastard... 

Apparently you can only ever assault ONE enemy unit at a time...? Luckily I had another turn to carry the hill...  Surviving member of the Bazooka Team would be next!!

The French Foreign Legionnaires were about to assault the Forward Air Controllers... when I rolled ANOTHER 12 for an order roll!? and THEY nearly fled off the table!? GAH!?

Moroccan Tirailleurs assault the lone bazookaman and secure Point 435! 

The second squad of Legionnaires assault the Forward Air Controllers and wiped them out!

Point 437 secured! 

At this point the American Squad in the Oasis decided to sally forth - lead by the Platoon Commander! - and try to retake Point 435, their only hope of winning the game! 

There was a seventh round (a die is rolled at the end of the sixth to see if the game continues for one more round...) so the Americans moved closer still shooting and throwing hand grenades... they failed to shift the Moroccans off the hill (not that killing or causing them to rout would have done anything... unless the Americans could get troops within 3" of the objective (the centre of the outcropping). 

The Mortar just kept firing on the American Mortar... the Machine-gun team mostly fired on the American Infantry... but failed to do much damage... 

As the Stuart finally moved, so to did the targets of the French 75... but it missed... 

At the end of the game, the Moroccans remained in control of the objective. With two objectives secured the French won the day! Yay! 

I'm still not convinced that asking a force to attack and take objectives from a force of equal points is really fair. I FULLY expected to lose this. I had some INSANE luck in this game, which is really the only reason I won... the initial Preparatory Barrage taking out the Sherman was HUGE... kind of a GAME-WINNER, really! The American air strike attacking their own tank...

I had some not great luck though... 

The French Foreign Legion rolling a FUBAR on an order test TWICE (but then luck kicked in an failed to carry them off the table!). 

I hit that Stuart with the French 75, like four or five times and needed a 5+ to penetrate its top armour and failed to do so... That little Stuart is a survivor - it survived both an air attack by a fighter-bomber and the constant shelling of the French Artillery (preparatory barrage, 4-5 turns of being hammered by the on-table howitzer, the barrage called by the Forward Observer!?). So peppered with shrapnel, I'd be surprised if it had any paint left on it at all!

Infantry ARE essential for both attacking and defending in TAKE OBJECTIVE type games... 

I wish these types of scenarios required the defender to keep at leas part of their force in reserve for at least half the game...  

At this point in our narrative, I think the Vichy have capitulated in North Africa and our American Heroes will make their way toward the front in Algeria or Tunisia... 

I kind of want to try out the recently finished Chindits and Gurkhas against the Japanese, though... 

WW2 French Foreign Legion

In addition to the 1940 French force, I also have a small group of World War Two French Foreign Legionnaires. I have a feeling these were painted about 15 years ago and have mostly seen action in Pulp Adventure type games. 

Since I have access to the French Army lists for Bolt Action and have been working on forces for North Africa, I thought it might be a fun mental exercise to figure out what I have and what I'd need to fill this out to a 1000-1250 point force.

The force so far... Four officers, a medic and three squads of eight men. 

What this looks like in (Bolt Action Third Edition):

Rifle Platoon

Platoon Commander (1st Lieutenant)  39pts (Veteran)

Foreign Legion Infantry Section  70 (Veteran) 1 NCO and 4 men
+ 3 men @14 = +  55 Points
+ LMG = +15
= 127

Foreign Legion Infantry Section  70 (Veteran) 1 NCO and 4 men
+ 3 men @14 = +  55 Points
+ LMG = +15
= 127

Foreign Legion Infantry Section  70 (Veteran) 1 NCO and 4 men
+ 3 men @14 = +  55 Points
+ LMG = +15
+SMG
= 130

Medic (Veteran)  30pts 

Heavy Weapons Platoon

Platoon Commander (1st Lieutenant)  39pts (Veteran)

Artillery Platoon

Platoon Commander (1st Lieutenant)  39pts (Veteran)

Total (so far): 531 points

Over half way to 1000 points! I have officers for the Heavy Weapons and Artiller Platoons... but no Heavy Weapons or artillery yet! What could I get to fill out those platoons and get this force to 1000 points!?

+6 Riflemen @14 (to make all the squads 10) +84 points

+6 men @13 (to give all the Platoon headquarters 2 extra men) +78 points

+ Medium Mortar Team (Veteran) +54 points

+ Medium Machine-Gun Team (Veteran)  +65 points  

+ Light Howitzer (Veteran) +59 points
Add gun shield for +5pts

That gets me to 876 points...? Not a lot of anti-armour capability, save for the light howitzer, which itself isn't a lot of anti-armour capability! (can't even give Foreign Legionnaires anti-tank grenades!?).

I could do all this with five packs from Perry Miniatures! 

What else to bring it up to 1250, though (which seems like the NEW standard size for 3ed edition)!? Another Infantry Squad!? Another Howitzer!?  An anti-tank team with an anti-tank rifle might be apropos, but I can't seen to find any Foreign Legionnaires armed as such! 

Crusader miniatures has a French 25mm anti-tank gun and crew... in Adrian helmets... maybe I could carve off the helmets and give them a Kepi...? 

Also, I definitely do not need all four Officers... so I was thinking this one, along with the Charles De Gaulle miniature I have, could join the French 1940 force as the much needed Platoon commanders for their Heavy Weapons and Artillery Platoons... Then I just need another tank for them (or three... or four...?) 

Force on Force at ToonCon

I ran a game of Force on Force Saturday evening at ToonCon. I’m doing this report before the Afternoon game because there’s less pictures and I had all the scenario information already typed up before hand, so it will be quicker…

I used the Gone To Ground scenario from Classified: Special Operations Missions 1940–2010. I’ve run the scenario before and it seemed like it would be a good one for a convention game.

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 a neighboring country only to be forced down by gunfire as they approached the border.

A force of French Foreign Legionnaires stationed in said 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 Republic 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.            

FRENCH 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

Capture the foreign spies and agitators, dead or alive! They must be stopped from spreading tmore lies and stir up the rabble – an example must be made of them!

TIMBOGAN VICTORY CONDITIONS

F.A.R.T. Forces win if the are able to capture one French civilian

TIMBOGAN FORCE

Initiative Level: N/A

Confidence Level: Confident

Supply Level: Normal

Body Armour: None

Troop Quality/Morale: Militia D6/D10, Army D8/D10

Three Timbogan teams start on the board and reinforcements arrive each turn.

THE GAME

Two players showed up for this one – Rick and Bob. Rick took the Africans and Bob took the French.

I got so immersed in running the game and keeping it fast-paced I completely forgot to take pictures until the beginning of the second turn. I would have liked to take notes – because there was some crazy stuff that went down, but it’s kind of hard to do that while keeping a good convention game going… so here’s a few pictures and a bit of what I remember going on…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

I think on Turn One Rick got his FIRST BTR-60!? Maybe it was the second turn…? Sorry, I am really damn tired - but I want to get this done because I don't know when I might get it done if I don't do it tonight! 

No, it must have been the first, because I remember this was the first turn that these guys ran out of the wadi and miraculously only took one casualty!

Over on the other side of town the other Militia were also taking casualties.

And the first BTR-60 got lit up pretty quickly. This must be the second turn. I’m pretty sure the first turn the French AT gunner knocked out the main gun, but the vehicle carried on. On the second round of firing it brewed right up! The passangers bailed out without trouble, but the crew were both injured (one turned out to be KIA)

Africans trying to surround the village.

I totally forgot to bring my Gas tank, so I just ignored that part of the scenario…

The SECOND BTR-60 arrives.

Rick was trying to rush the buildings with the French and kept getting murdered out in the open and teams ending up pinned and having to sit out for a turn dealing with seriously wounded casualties.

One French team did take some casualties earlier in the game – with a couple of seriously wounded. There was also a lot of lightly wounded. And guys that just got back up an continued fighting. Those two medics turned out to be super handy!

On the last turn (or maybe second last turn) Rick rolled a T-55 for reinforcements!!

It took a suspension hit – halving it’s move – but the crew stayed inside and fired on the building with all the French civilians. It was the first time I ever did a building destruction roll – the building survived. But the French took some casualties.

Basically the French sat on overwatch the entire game and just creamed the Africans as they tried to rush the building. I wonder if it might have been better to just pour on the fire for a few turns and then all try to rush the building on the fourth or fifth turns…?

I think by the time it was over there was over fifty Africans on the table. In the end six of them were killed in action, and seventeen were seriously wounded. I stopped keeping track of light wounds as pretty much every team had a few…

Of the ten French Foreign Legionnaires five were seriously wounded, and the rest were lightly wounded – some were wounded twice! Two of the French Civilians were killed in the action, but none were captured during the six turns.

In the last three turns of the games I think I saw more Fog of war cards come out than in any other game we’ve ever played… The Africans got a sniper team that caused the French some serious trouble. The second BTR-60 was actually taken out by a predator drone that buzzed into the area. Others were useless (“I gave it a good Smack” or ones that gave the players 3 victory points) and I’m sure there was another two… Golden BB and Hydration…?

It was mad. A lot of back and forth and it seemed like it could go either way right down to the last turn - which is pretty much how I remember the other times I've played this scenario! Fun was had by all! Especially me!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I will get that Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe 1815-1878 report done… it might be tomorrow (or “later today” as it is well past midnight…) 

Légion Étrangère

The last of my colonial Legionnaires…

For now…

The second season of Game of Thrones arrived for me at the local library yesterday. So Amanda and I sat up way too late watching a few episodes - we have one week to watch it all as I doubt I'll be able to get it back again for some time! I managed to get these (and a couple mounted figures) finished up while watching (or, rather, listening and occasionally looking up to see what's going on...). Should have a fairly productive week with 7 more hours of TV viewing ahead of me! 

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

The last unit of Legionnaires from More Legionnaires from Artizan Designs. All but two are from the March or Die line. The other two are from the pulp adventure line that I modifield to have covered kepis.

The Légion (so far…)

I’d like to add at least two more units – at some point; a unit of legionnaires in great coats and sun helmets and a second unit of legionnaires in great coats and covered kepis. Maybe a counted company… or Chasseurs d Afrique… or Tirailleurs of some sort – Senegalese or Morrocans… or both, just in case)…

Ooh! Perhaps I could add some Tiralleurs Martien for some sort of Space:1889 type game...

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Great War German casualty markers. I mostly finished them up last night as well - just have to finish up the bases. I should get them done tonight and maybe some other stuff... There's all manner of odds and sods piling up on (what was supposed to be) the "temporary" painting station upstairs... 

French Officers

I started on the last of the French Foreign Legionnaires the other night and happened to finish up these last night.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

 

The one on the right is from Artizan Designs’ Pulp Adventure line, the fellow on the left is from Crusader Miniatures Wild West line – from a pack called “foreigners” which included gunslinging scotsman (third picture) and a Russian Cuirassier (second picture) - I assumed this third fellow in the pack was supposed to be French – though he could easily be an American Civil War officer – I figured the pack name of “foreigners” meant they were NOT American… 

Oh bother! I just noticed some paint got scraped off the Crusader miniature’s holster!? How the heck did THAT happen!? Bah! I’m posting it anyway and I’ll fix it later…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

As mentioned the last of the French Foreign Legion (that I have) will be next up. Then I have some Great War German infantry lined up to go next – along with some WW2 Canadians and some… er… ELVES!?

More Legionnaires

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

More French Foreign Legionnaires from Artizan Designs.

The Legion force so far...

This finishes off the guys I have with sun helmets. I have another unit of guys in kepis.

The bulk of this force was put together from a couple of North Star Lucky Bags. The lucky bags are an assortment of random figures at a fairly deep discount, but they are often from pretty wide collections – like WW2 British, which could include british from either Artizan designs or Crusader Minis and could be early war or late war European or commandos or 8^th army in North Africa or paratroopers or LRDG or… you get the idea… sometimes is just “ancients” which could be a mix of just about anything… So for the most part they are of little use to me – great for anyone just getting into something looking for a small number of figures for skirmishing…?

But once they offered a French Foreign Legion Lucky Bag, and as I had only a couple packs and no actual units I ordered two… so I instantly had a fairly large force of Legionnaires… unfortunately the line has a wide variety of legionnaires in different uniforms; in great coats and kepis, in great coats and kepis with full packs marching, in shirts and kepis, in Troupes Colonial uniform jackets and uncovered kepis, in great coats and sun helmets, in shirts and sun helmets, in Troupes Colonial uniform jackets and sun helmets… you get the idea…

Unfortunately this means my force has a wide mix of all the options… I’ve tried to organize them into units of like stuff… but I just don’t have quite enough of one type or another to make full units – which is why this units has a couple odd guys in greatcoats…

I am tempted to order a few more packs so I could end up with three units of legionnaires in kepis and three in sun helmets and each unit having a distinct uniform make up… i.e. all in great coats, or all in shirts, etc… but of course no combination of packs is going to give me the exact number I need… ugh…

Ah well, I can’t buy any more of these for some time anyway. I have much, much more that I need to paint before I can buy any more figures.

On that note I have caught up and have now painted more minis than I’ve purchased (well… at least in the 28mm foot category… I have to paint a few more mounted!) this year and have no intention of buying any more until I can double than number… time to bring the painting debt down!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I’ll probably knock off that last unit of them next… because that’s how I roll – finishing stuff off because it’s fun to finish things… not because I have any practical use for it!?

After that I should paint something mounted – to catch up a bit in that category… Maybe some Great War French cavalry…? Or some more of the ANZACs? 

French Foreign Legionnaires

I could say I’m painting these up because I recently picked up In Her Majesty’s Name… but that wouldn’t be entirely true… I DID pick up IHMN recently, and I did just start reading it, but honestly I really picked out these to paint next because… well… it seemed like the most fun thing to paint at the moment - which is really my motivation for most things - hobby-wise... or otherwise...

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

French Foreign Legionnaires from Artizan Designs.

Only 13 of these are newly painted, two of them were painted previously... like a year (or so) ago!



A couple more pics of the colour bearer (as I'm rather pleased with how he turned out!)

Actually, as I was just finishing these up and considering getting another unit of them out to paint, it occurred to me that I don’t actually have any HISTORICAL opponents for these!? I have to admit I think I picked them up thinking I’d use them in a semi-historical/fantastical African setting/ campaign involving competing adjacent colonies of France, England, and possibly Germany…? Or Belgium…? It was a loose idea I had a long while back – using a campaign system similar to the original Mighty Empires. Each European Power would have a small six hex colony/trading region/area of influence on the coast and could explore inland adding territory and resources, building trading posts and forts and mines and possibly laying train tracks… raising local troops or vying for regulars from the homeland and, ultimately clashing with the neighboring colonies… Anyway, the idea – like so many before (and since) – fizzled and I moved on to other things.

Or I might have been thinking I could use them on Mars in a Space:1889 sort of setting. So not really all that far off from what I may end up using them for in the near future (In Her Majesty’s Name - if it turns out to look interesting enough to set up a game).

Since painting these and having a look at the stuff I’ve got I got to thinking I need to pick up a few more (Oh, not right now… like, maybe next year! But this is how it happens!). I have two units of guys in sun helmets, and two in kepis. Except one of the units of guys in sun helmets is short one… and I have about five spare chaps in kepis… Now I could just have a few guys in kepis join the units of guys in sunhelmets and leave it at that… but I got to thinking; if I ordered four more packs of guys in sun helmets (four packs of four would be 16 more) I would have THREE units of exactly 15 guys in Sun helmets! AND if I ordered three more packs of guys in kepis (which would be 12 more) I would have three units of guys in kepis plus only two left over – and if one of those three packs was a command pack I’d probably have a couple of spare officers I could use as higher command (a C-in-C and/or staff officer if I were using Ever Victorious Armies).

Of course the mad (or maddest) thing about this plan is that, as I have mentioned, I don’t really have any genuine historical OPPONENTS!?

Perhaps it’s time to start painting Martians again…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Maybe more of these Legionnaires (I have two more units of these…). Or maybe some 1914 Belgians… or WW2 Soviets… or 1889 Maritans!?  or a giant Movie Mummy… or… gosh, who knows!? I seem to be all over the place these days. 

Tensions Flare in Timbogo

I ran a couple of games of Force on Force Saturday. Both were the same scenario from the new companion volume Classified: Special Operations Missions 1940–2010. The scenario (“Gone To Ground”) was one of the “generic scenarios” and I set it in my fictional African nation of Timbogo.

(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…