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.

 I took the Legion and knew that my success depended on moving fast, getting in and getting out. I hit the two outlying Taliban cells hard, but in reaction to Nick's sentries responding to my movement- I failed a reaction test- rolled a 'one' and my leading squad stepped onto an IED- the resulting explosion let every bad guy in the area know I was there as well as crippling my advance team.

This meant that I had to do it the hard way ......Nick was still laughing when he failed a reaction test rolling a dreaded 'one'....and he was given a card that enabled his RPG to destroy any vehicle automatically with no die rolls necessary! I wasn't too impressed- I had no vehicles...yet.

His technical roared into life, my AT team fired- destroyed the main armament - meaning it was a Toyota with a broken gun....and his next failed reaction test ( this was becoming ludicrous!) he pulled a card that enabled one of his teams to repair the main weapon on a vehicle.....and the MG on the Toyota started firing again!! Killing and wounding Legionnaires!

The 'bad guys' had two 'requisitioned' Humvees and a technical. They kept doing drive by shootings!!!

First squad- eliminated ....I didn't have any casualty figures that were appropriate- so I used whatever was handy!

The HVT and his bodyguard - in the ruins of an old house.

The crew of the technical were forced to bail out when they were hit with an anti tank weapon which damaged the machine gun....then Nick failed a reaction test- and one of them jumped back in and fixed the Dshk mounted on the back...I thought failing a reaction test and rolling 'one' was a BAD thing!!???!!

My AT team amongst the trees- on Overwatch. They did a damned good job for most of the game- until that damned Dshk was repaired!

This 'requisitioned' humvee was driven straight at the Legionnaires and they jumped out if the way- and opened fire. More drive by shootings!

Another drive by! Starting to seem like parts of Sydney on a Saturday night!

The Abrams arrives...........????? 

This was the most insane moment of the game- my Fog of War roll had meant that I received the support of a TANK! Yep an Abrams M1 rolled in to give me support- crashing through the trees- terrorising my opponents......but my son then played the 'instant destruction ' fog of war card that he had received early in the game.....no shot, no rolls, no miss...just instant destruction of a chosen target.......no tank!
DAMN!

The cheering by the Taliban could be heard all the way to Kabul!! And Nick's laughter could be heard that far too!

The Legionnaires get to the target- and take him out! Success- but at what cost!!...and to add insult to injury Nick also got the help of an old BMP 80 - you can see the gray nose sticking out in this photo- it's autocannon shot up a number of my legionnaires!!

By game's end, I was down to four Legionnaires  ( out of 10) and Nick had lost three vehicles as well as his commander and 18 of his men. I had also lost a tank!!! Although I had accomplished my primary mission- it had come at too high a cost- so we called it a draw- but Nick was sure he had won- he had destroyed an Abrams....without having to roll the dice!