AAR: Contracting Troubles

My regular gaming buddy, Pulp Citizen,  and I thought we would get on and do some gaming in Zugando. We used the mission 'Contracting Troubles' straight out of the rule book, only we substituted Zugandan Militia for the 'insurgents' and Nigerian Army(NA) for the USMC. 

Because we are new to FoF my son Charlie offered to step in and play the NA while I refereed the game, which was a great help as it left me free to concentrate on remembering the rules. Even so, I still managed to miss out some crucial rules.

Mission Background

In our Zugandan inspired interpretation of this mission, the background is that Rex Saddler and Lance Waverly, two intrepid war correspondents,  have been trying to track down wanted war criminal Henry Gwapondi in order to get the scoop of the year. Unfortunately they upset some of the locals, who are actually supporters of Mr Gwapondi. They decided to beat a hasty retreat back to Victoria Town, but unfortunately their van broke down before they could reach safety.  The reporters managed to get off a satellite phone call to their office in Victoria Town, who alerted the UN.

Luckily for Rex and Lance the Nigerian Army had a patrol in the area. They tasked a section to bring back the reporters. The NA patrol had to abandon their truck because of a road block, and had to proceed several blocks on foot. 

The mission starts with Lance and Rex hunkered down behind their broken down van, while a hornets nest of local militiamen begins to gather around them. 

After Action Report

The first run through of this mission went very well for the NA, commanded by Charlie. Charlie got very lucky on the Fog Of War cards, while Pulp Citizen rolled badly for his reinforcements. Charlie moved Fire Team One into a commanding position for over-watch  and sent Fire Team Two towards Rex and Lance. Fire Team Two got shot up, and were forced to take cover in a shack. Fire Team One moved forwards to try to complete the mission.

Throughout the game Charlie was amazingly lucky with his first aid rolls, and his Fire Team was lucky to walk away from a hail of fire with just one lightly injured casualty. 

Charlies luck held, as the Nigerian platoon commander decided to send reinforcements in the form of an anti-tank team with an RPG7. Pulp Citizen's militia had no tanks, but the RPG's added plenty of firepower, forcing the militiamen to keep their heads down. 

Fire Team One managed to make it to Lance and Rex, thanks to another Fog Of War card that made them immune to the effects of moral. Then they hot-footed it at rapid move back across the street.  The militiamen attempts to stop them were hampered by confusion in their command and control (another Fog of War card), and the Nigerian Peace Keepers manged to extract themselves, and the two reporters,  out of the village and back to safety.  They only took two light casualties, and has killed six militiamen- A great success for the Nigerians!

It is worth noting that this was our first run through of this mission and we made a few mistakes that would have effected the outcome of the battle. Firstly, we allowed the Nigerians to rapid move off the board, but they shouldn't have done that with dependents (ie Lance and Rex). Also we added two defense dice to the fire-team which Lance and Rex joined, but dependents don't add defense dice. This made the fire team very durable. 

Charlie's ridiculous luck was also a factor. The random nature of this mission, with variable reinforcements, and the variable Fog of War cards, played in favor of Charlie's Nigerians. When we had a second run through, with me playing the NA against Pulp Citizen's militiamen, I was badly mauled. I had three KIA,  and six seriously injured, and failed to rescue the reporters!

Pulp Citizen expressed concern that the mission was too random. With variable reinforcements  and Fog of War, it was really down to chance. We went through the Fog of War deck and took out a lot of cards we both felt were game changing, and both felt better about that. We really need to play some of the other missions, perhaps one with more symmetrical forces.

Over all verdict- lots of fun. Faced paced and exciting. 

High Value Individual #4: Senator Barabbas Ohio

Senator Barabbas Ohio is a senator from the USA who been working with the UN to attempt to restore peace to the Zugando and the Region. 
Senator Ohio is a highly educated and charismatic man, who has gained considerable popularity in Zugando over recent months. He is attempting to use this popularity to being both sides to the table to start the process of ironing out a peace accord, and bring the civil war to an end. Its not an easy task, and it has already proved more difficult and dangerous that he has imagined. A car bomb attack on his convoy last month should have made the senator more cautious, but he continues to take risks to push for peace in Zugando. 

High Value Individual #3- Konstantin

I-COZ and Zugandan government intelligence services have identified another High Value Individual they would like to question. The man, believed to be a Russian national, is known only by the name Konstantin. 

Konstantin has been seen meeting with high level members of the Peoples Resistance Army and the Free Zugandan Peoples Party. It is not yet clear exactly what role Konstanin has to play in the PRA, but it is believed that he may be acting as an agent for a powerful Russian Oligarch, or perhaps even the Kremlin. I-COZ intelligence services have instructed all its assets to report all sightings of the elusive Konstantin, in the hopes they can build up a better picture of his movements. 

Here a man believed to be Konstantin is seen talking to Rev. Peter Mapaniwani of the Free Zugandan Peoples Party.

Konstantin is form Black Cat Bases. Rev. Mapaniwani is from Wargames Foundry. 

High Value Individual #2: Thomas Kwabinko

Thomas Kwabinko is another High Value Individual, according to I-COZ Intelligence. 

As far as the world is concerned  Mr Kwabinko is a spokesperson for the Free Zugandan Peoples Party, a political party supporting the outlawed Peoples Resistance Army (PRA). However, MI5 and the CIA have complied a dossier of evidence that suggests that Mr Kwabinko is actually a high ranking official in the PRA.

Mr Kwabinko is security conscious to the point of being paranoid. He moves location regularly, and apparently at random, and has his rooms and vehicals swept for bugs twice a day.

I-COZ Intelligence Detachment would dearly love to get some more solid intel on Mr Kwabinko: preferably something that would connect him to the PRA, but as yet all their attempts have failed. 

Although Mr Kwabinko is always accompanied by a heavily armed troop of bodyguards  he ensures that it is  widely known that he always travel unarmed. He believes that, according to the I-COZ rules of engagement, he can not be arrested by the I-COZ forces as he is a none-combatant. 

All figures are by The Assault Group.

High Value Indivuual #1: Henry Gwapondi

Mr Henry Gwapondi has been classified as a High Value Individual (HVI) by the I-COZ Intelligence Detachment. 

Mr Gwapondi is a Zugandan businessman, born in the slums of Seatown, and educated at a local mission school, Mr Gwapondi is very much a self-made man: He has built up a huge business empire, specializing in Import and Export. 

It is said that Mr Gwapondi is not really to scrupulous about exactly what he imports and exports, and for whom. He is believed to have spend most of the war supplying foreign arms to who ever can afford them, including militia groups and teh outlawed Peoples Resistance Army. There is no question that some of the arms supplied by Mr Gwapondi's company have been used for genocide, and a international arrest warrant has been issued so he can answer charges of War Crimes.

Mr Gwapondi is also believed to be exporting massive amounts of so called 'blood diamonds'. Many of these illegal stones are alleged to have been exported to dealers in South Africa and Russia. 

Here Henry Gwapondi can bee seen enjoying a cigar with General Subuwanti, the notorious war criminal and high ranking officer in the PRA