The Last Redoubt

With the Sakhan cordon outside WuWei barely holding on, a strike has been planned to overrun the central PRC compound inside the city. A large vehicle-borne IED has been primed and will explode at the inner gate.

Art by UkitaKumuki

A large hand-picked force of Sakhan mercenaries will attack and attempt to rescue a rebel leader and kill any high-ranking officers inside while destroying the command centre.

The first 'Hellburner' (as the rebels call the VBIEDs) rocks the redoubt with a gigantic explosion

The nearby infantry are sheltered by the blast wall, but the light tank standing at the entrance is destroyed outright (the crew bail out, but all are wounded)

A automatic grenade launcher atop one strong-point opens up on the rebels as they show themselves from behind rough ground

The sentries at the main gate open fire as more rebel infantry round the corner behind an armoured car

The APC, previously idling alongside the main bunker, surges forward to add its firepower to the defence

Intense missile fire is directed at a building being occupied by the rebels, and  it's demolished. A power armour trooper knocks out the armoured car (destroying its missile launcher and immobilising it) with his plasma cannon

The other power armour team take the high ground in the strong point and  wreck havoc amongst the rebels below

A second hellburner makes its way towards the gate, but it draws an enormous amount of reactive fire as it comes into view and it's knocked out of action

The rebels take the strongpoint in a frenzied assault, taking out the power armoured troopers who were put down by the rest of their squad's fire

Now they're firing on PLA units inside the compound and eyeing up the main bunker - time is not on their side however as they've left it too later to do anything other than fire into the command center and hope they get lucky

Tying to drive back the other nearby rebel units, the APC's machine guns are taken out by a rocket launcher and the crew disembark to take on the rebels with their sidearms!

The government forces have held out, just long enough...WuWei still stands and the rebels must regroup and hope international pressure gives them victory on the negotiations table.

Cut and Run

With the relief force inbound, the Sakhan Liberation Army has stepped up its efforts to take WuWei, and has already overrun several strongholds on the perimeter.

Art by UkitaKumuki

One PLA officer has courageously decided to make a run for the main lines. His attempt to bring supplies vital to the continuing defence may do his cause more harm than good however...

The route to safety, seems pretty clear, but there are well-equipped rebel outposts scattered along it

The PLA enter cautiously, one of the few remaining tanks backs up a squad of infantry

The APC noses around the corner, eyeing up an abandoned pick-up

A rebel armoured car rounds the corner and lets off a powerful anti-tank guided missile - it hits the bullseye and the APC bursts into flames. Four of the infantry still aboard are killed or seriously wounded

The light tank trades shots with the armoured car - the sports car the rebel vehicle is using for cover comes off the worst initially, but after they take a second bite at the cherry the light tank destroys the armoured car before it can rethink its strategy

Feeling under pressure, the PLA lieutenant puts in a high priority call to some interface craft overhead, and  a precision-guided munition lands on top of one of the rebel pill-boxes, taking out an entire squad alongside it

The two trucks shimmy past the wrecked APC, with infantry giving them covering fire

Two rebel teams with anti-vehicle weaponry try to avoid the tank, and manage to take out one of the trucks with a lucky shot

A regular squad assaults a building overlooking the road, forcing  rebels out of it - the rebels draw back further, taking themselves out of contact

Their new position completely enfilades those two road-side rebel groups, and between them and the tank make the position untenable.

With the road clear ahead, the PLA commander tells the remaining truck to floor it and break through, the tank and infantry will cover it from behind. They neglected to take into account the last remaining rebel group still fighting. The anti-armour guy in that squad takes his split-second shot and destroys the truck before it can zip past!

A close one, at things looked like a photo finish until that last rush of blood with the truck made it an clear rebel victory

The Blockade

In overrunning Hanhai, the Sakhan Liberation Army captured the garrison's air defence systems. Emplaced QW-7s have been refitted onto several relatively nimble mining vehicles for the defence of the columns advancing on WuWei. The short-range salvo-fired surface to air missiles are perfect for picking off low-flying VTOLs or interface craft using NOE approaches.

Art by UkitaKumuki

Before the main force of PLA Marines can make their landing, power armour squads have been sent in to break the air blockade.

The rebel forces have put a platoon of their forces on the ground to protect each SAM battery 

This squad of powered armour marines make their way towards a suspected site, command has identified a few likely locations based on electronic emissions

A team of rebels makes a foray from one of the hills overlooking the marines' advance - the return fire suppresses them and they miss the shot with their missile launcher

The left-hand marine fireteam has taken severe casualties, but the senior NCO leads the others straight in between the two main hills - firing on rebel forces to either side as they reveal themselves

These rebels take a pounding from that NCO's plasma gun, it sears straight through the cover they were relying on

The power armoured marines overrun and rebel team and then turn their missile launcher on the SAM vehicle, the nearby rebel commanders are helpless to stop them

Nearby rebel team harry the other marines - their suit systems have probably saved them, two are severely wounded by the end of this exchange

The other fireteam make their way out, no rebel forces are likely to stand in their way

Mission accomplished for the government forces, now it's up to their compatriots inside WuWei to hold out until relief can arrive...

Kickstarter Delivers!

So after kickstarting my first project some 12 months ago, I finally got two deliveries last week!

The first one was the large box of Gunship: First Strike, a tactical space combat game which looks very well put together indeed.

The second was the Adventures of the 19XX, a graphic novel of pulp adventures in the 1930s.

So obviously I'm going to have to play/read these at some stage, but maybe when things calm down in a few weeks. Trying to get around to posting some game reports from Leprecon and another few recent games.

Wharf Project, Part ii

So with Leprecon over, back to the wharf project we return...

As you can see the main wharf is clad with stone, while the other one (an earthen section) has wooden pilings shoring it up. This kind of earthen wharf was more common than you might think, but could be completely removed if inappropriate.

One end of the stone wharf is rather worse for wear, and the other side of it has two barred openings where sewers or streams could exit into the harbour.

There's two smaller sections for the wharf to connect to the main board. An earthen ramp and some steps (large enough to take a standard 28mm figure's base). Two 6" jetties finish off the construction, with wooden pilings to match the earthen wharf's.

I think you'll appreciate how well the whole thing fits together. Mr. Fitzpatrick is amenable to taking up your cause for a wargaming project - email him and I'm confident he'll be able to solve your design and construction quandary!

Here's two final shots of the wharf in action!