The Troubles......

Spyros has always had an eye on trying to recreate the confrontations in Northern Ireland on the table. It is difficult for obvious reasons.

But using the basic Force on Force ruleset, with a few nuanced modifications, we think we may have got a reasonable facsimile of the problems faced by the security forces- and the actions and reactions of the local population......

The Fog of War cards gave a great deal of colour to the game. Throughout the game - as extreme pressure was put on the security forces at the three checkpoints, hostile crowds assembled as security forces attempted to stop and inspect every vehicle.

One Fog of War card allowed an IRA sniper team to begin taking pot shots at one of the checkpoints. 

One introduced an IRA four man gun team who fired at the crew of a Humber Pig and another card introduced a team with an RPG who fired at a Land Rover and badly damaged it, wounding a crewman.

The cards also inserted a BBC camera crew with the HQ of the Security forces.....and they captured some action on camera that would lead to a political storm.

Downtown Belfast

Armed group.......these guys would take some shots at one of the checkpoints, seriously wound a soldier, but take fire that killed two, and the rest vanished into the back streets.

Predator!!

 One of my all time favourite movies- with Arnie. Predator is a classic....and is just crying out to be gamed. I saw online that someone had come up with the stats for Blood and Plunder for the movie 'Prey' which is American Indians against an earlier form of Predator...and while I was watching the movie Predator with my wife ...I looked online and found these beauties on Etsy!!

Force on Force: War on Drugs- Special forces strike on Cartel base

Evan, Nick, Connor and James wanted a game of Force and Force as they sat in the garage, waxing lyrical about the games from long ago.  So Spyros said- I've got the armed civilians and the special forces team, a couple of planes and other bits- do you have any terrain?
I rummaged around and found some bits and pieces and behold we were ready to go.

Sicario on the edge of the airfield

One side of the table- one plantation.

 SITUATION: The US President, after solving the Middle East, the problems in Africa, the coronavirus problem and the Pepsi vs Coke war decided to deal with the major social issue confronting the nation- The War on Drugs.

ZOGO: The Crisis depends and expands. ( PART 7).

DATELINE:  SITREP ZOGO.

More news from the central African nation of Zogo.
See 'No Duff Gamer' Blog down the right hand side for a lot more photos.
Recent developments:

The small African nation has over recent months descended into chaos, violence and bloodshed. The arrival of French and US troops on Zogon soil has set off a series of chain reactions that were totally unforeseen by the relevant parties. In response to the arrival of these forces into the province of Kelwazi (see part 6) the President for Life, T’Mbolo M’Shombou, dispatched the bulk of his dreaded Presidential Guard and the key components of his Zogon African Rifles (ZAR) to contain the French and US forces. These forces, still in place due to strenuous requests from multinational mining companies to protect their staff and assets showed a vote of no confidence in the President by the international (read – western) community.

The western orchard in the President's compound- and his luxury SUVs.

The President and his Special Operations Force Bodyguards, arriving in his mountain compound.

FORCE on FORCE- Foreign Legion in Afghanistan

My son decided he wanted a small game as he and I hadn't played a game in a very long time-
"What do you want to do?" I asked.
"Surprise me!"

So I took out my handful of modern Foreign Legion, took out a couple of handfuls of Taliban, set up a small 3'x4' and gave him a scenario. The Legion were all regulars ( of course) and for this game so were their opponents. The mission was for the legion to capture or eliminate a HVT ( high value target); a local Taliban leader who the Allied forces had been after for a while. He had his small body guard with him. There were no further reinforcements- the 10 Legionnaires were up against 24 regular fighters- but they had the element of surprise- and much better ability; D10 vs D6s.

That said Nick and I didn't anticipate the sheer number of failed rolls - '1's -and the use of Fog of War!! This would have more of an impact on the game than all our decision making processes! 

The Taliban had one technical and two requisitioned Humvees- the Legion were all on foot.

Nick's sentries overseeing the safety of their commander.

SENSATION AT THE UN : Assassination attempt of President T’Mbolo M’Shombou MODERN AFRICA PART 4

A FORCE ON FORCE GAME.- A VERY LONG REPORT
See Spyros' Blog - No Duff Gamer for more Photos.

UN REPORT

A sensational report was tabled in the United Nations this afternoon.  Members of private military company Bilgewater Inc were involved in an attempted coup in Zogo in the last 24 hours with an unprecedented attack on President for Life T’Mbolo M’Shombou. Reports from Zogo state media allege that hundreds of white mercenaries were killed and that the President’s armoured Mercedes Benz suffered a paint scratch for which the President has vowed revenge to cover the insurance costs.

 

The Table; City to the top left, airport to the right behind the trees.

Force on Force: The French in Mali

With my Foreign Legion figures sitting in the cupboard, it was time to put them through their paces! I had been reading that the French government had deployed troops to Mali and, after a chat with Spyros who has more Legion,  Malian government troops and some good insurgent-looking figures, we decided to put on a game with the lot....in the end my Legion didn't get a look in..we used Spyros'.

Insurgents in the rough terrain north of the town.

Force on Force- Rhodesian Bush War

Spyros has built himself a tidy little force of ZANLA guerrillas and their Rhodesian opponents and we decided that a Force on Force game in the African bush would make a nice change of the usual struggles in Afghanistan.
The game was simple and to be played in two parts.
OVERVIEW:  A ZANLA force had established a small ammunition and fuel dump to supply operations in the local province and a small force of Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) was sent out to smash it up.


The Table- The Ammo dump is far top right. Fuel dump amongst the buildings on the left.

Force on Force: Modern skirmish- Again!

A gathering of the lads saw the table laid out for an epic fight that lasted all day and into the early evening. Spyros, George, Evan, Connor, Nick (Junior), Paul and myself were all present for a game that had more twists and turns than a First World War trench system!.
The premise was simple: 3 US Marine recon teams had been carrying out reconnaissance on a Taliban held town and were discovered by some wandering insurgents. They had to get out, but the nearest suitable extraction point was, you guessed it, on the far side of town. So they had to get their way through the town, call in the Black Hawk and get out. Simple!

Force on Force, Modern Skirmish: US Recon Snipers and the Foreign Legion in trouble

Mission report:

A US Marine sniper recon team had been positioned to carry out surveillance on a known Taliban held village. The two man team was uncovered when a local shepherd led his flocks through their hidden bivouac. The team quickly moved out as soon as they were discovered but as luck would have it the nearby Taliban moved quickly and cornered the two Marines in a 19th century British fortification. The recon team were able to radio their last position and approximated troops strengths and locations of the opposing forces before contact was lost. Response time for the Black Hawk extraction flight was approximately 55 minutes. It transpired that NATO HQ was able to confirm the presence of a nearby French Foreign Legion patrol. The Legion responded that their ETA to the sniper team was less than 30 minutes and quickly deployed for action.

The Table at turn 3: With the Taliban in various firing positions. In the immediate foreground the old fort where the sniper team were holed up. The first Legion patrol is visible at the far end of the table behind the ruined vehicle. The second patrol is to the far right corner moving along a stone wall. It was here that the patrol caught a Taliban cell in the open and wiped it out.

Force on Force: Modern Skirmish- Bundeswehr vs the Taliban

My son ( Nick Junior) and I decided to put his new 28mm Eureka Miniatures Bundeswehr through their paces recently. The task was simple for the Germans- a routine patrol through 'pacified' territory with the usual 'hearts and minds' visits- knocking on doors and being nice. Well in this scenario, each building that the Germans went to a D6 was rolled. On anything but a '1' all was okay. But eventually the dreaded single digit put in an appearance ( it wouldn't have been much of a game if it didn't) and this indicated a weapons cache.

 German Patrol No1 approach the house where the stashed weapons were found. Tail End Charlie watches the patrol's rear.

Bundeswehr and French Foreign Legion

My son and I have obviously gotten into Force on Force from Osprey and Ambush Alley games in a big way. We recently ordered more troops from Eureka Miniatures to add to our Taliban and US Marines. Nick (junior) ordered the German Bundeswehr and I couldn't resist the Foreign Legionnaires with their FAMAS rifles. I ordered them with  berets (painted green for the Legion- red is for the other French paras) rather than helmets because I prefer the figures with the berets rather than the helmets.

The Bundeswehr

Oversized Force on Force: A full day's game

A friend of mine, Spyros, came over during the school holidays with his son Evan for a game. Spyros is a very serious gamer and his collection of World War II and modern stuff is enormous. His Force on Force terrain is actually pretty spectacular and so we combined all of mine with his for a game that involved my son Nick, and two of Nick’s friends- Jack and Connor and Spyros and Evan.

The Mission:  A combined US Marine and Bundeswehr ( German Army) operation was designed to flush out  a high value target (HVT) - the local insurgent leader. Evan and Jack played the Bundeswehr . Nick was the US Marines and Spyros, Connor and I were the Taliban. The Bundeswehr's job was to move from one end of the table to the other, take out the target and then arrive safely at the US Marine compound.



Overview- impressive stuff!

Force on Force: Modern Skirmish- A Coalition setback

The Brothers assembled recently on a cold winter's night. We were down on numbers, only Paul, Ross, Phil, Nick (junior), Richard and myself gathered to pit some US Marine fire teams and a covert SAS team against a small pocket of Taliban insurgents.

The Location: a Village called Wadifakawi located on the Afghan/Pakistani border.
The Brief: The area had been cleared of enemy insurgents over a year ago but intelligence reports have determined that there has been unsual activity of late. An SAS team was inserted into the Pakistan side of the border to observe the town. They regularly sent reports that weapons were being stockpiled by small numbers of enemy insurgents. Due to the politically sensitive nature of the border region, no air support could be used or heavy vehicles. ( this made it easy for the umpire, yours truly,  to introduce the Force and Force rules to the Brothers!)

The Center of town: the DSHK 12.7 mm behind sandbags - the building was where the weapons cache had been hidden

Royal Marine Commandos: Falklands 1982

I recently bought a magazine celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War and found myself wondering about gaming possibilities. Now if you are like me and follow Rusty's 'Hurry up and Wait' Blog ( see the list on the right hand side) in which he is recreating the whole war in miniature you would be aware that there are some great gaming possibilities. So, inspired by some magazines, Rusty's Blog- and some great miniatures from Gripping Beast's MO-FO range-  I painted up 20 Royal Marine Commandos. They turned out better than I expected...my camera wasn't up to the task of photographing the detail in the camouflage.....then again maybe there was no detail to pick up! Next, Argentine Marines!

Force on Force: Modern Skirmish game.

My son, Nick, has always been a big fan of computer games like Battlefield and Call of Duty Special ops and those sorts of games- principally those with more modern settings. So my journey was on to find something like that for the table top. Last year we went to MOAB, a convention here in Sydney and there was a display game (I can't remember by whom) of the game  Force on Force by Ambush Alley games and published by Osprey. Well he and I played the Vietnam War scenario and we were hooked. We bought a copy of the rules from the War and Peace Games stand and then a whole stack of modern US Marines and Taliban from Nick Robson of Eureka Miniatures. Within a few days we had them painted and ready to go. Since then we've played quite a few games.

US Sniper team on Over watch