No Time for Invitations

The marines have found the Pirate camp, a small fortified village at the edge of a knoll, descending to a winding stream bed below. Almost 20 men, dressed in the flowing robes of Zanzibari pirates and armed with a mixture of muskets and rifles move around the camp. A small field gun guards the entrance to the camp.
A sudden cry from one building at the edge of the camp grabs their attention. The door flies open as an American hostage staggers through. A pirate leader approaches the beaten man, raising him to his knees. With one swift motion he draws a sword and beheads him. He strides quickly back into the house, closing the door behind him.

Schaefer gathers the squad together in a huddle and whispers angrily: “They just killed one of the prisoners.  No time for invitations. We take them, now.”

With Schaefer directing Blain's fire on the pirates gathered outside the fort, Billy leads his team down to rescue the remaining hostage.

Quicker than anyone anticipated, Hamid rushes out of his lair with the hostage in tow. Azzan leads his men past them to see off the attacking marines

Malik's crew prepare the gun for action. Anyone coming through those gates will get a faceful

Hawkins and Eliot take cover behind some crates to give Billy covering fire

Billy leads Dillon around the back of the fort, and they exchange fire with Hamid - missing the hostage (even with the shotgun!). Billy does manage to wound the pirate leader in his leg

Billy advances on the old pirate, as Hamid drop his rifle to draw his sword - somehow he escapes any harm

Just as Billy reloads his shotgun to make sure of Hamid, Omar reaches the stream to open fire on the marines.
Though just as they prepare to do so, Hawkins and Eliot let rip with a deadly fusillade of fire and wipe out the entire group of pirates!

In the confusion, Hamid slips away and crosses the stream at an unknown ford. The marines have failed in their mission, but there'll be hell to pay!

Having advanced up to the wall of the fort, Blain spots a westerner running from the scene - having no time to ask questions he opens up with his Lewis Gun, dropping the man in an instant

Billy leads his team up to the parapet of the fort and their concerted fire wiped out the gun team. But the return fire from the other group inside the fort hits Hawkins and Eliot as they crouch exposed on the walls.

Billy and Dillon are rushes by Rashid's men and Dillon falls to their clubbing. Billy fights them off (though he's wounded) and Rashid races out of the fort and into the jungle

Billy spots movement in the trees beyond, but Schaefer orders them to move out pronto. They need to catch up with Hamid to rescue the hostage and make that rendezvous with the navy's gunboat.

Something is out there, in the trees, waiting, watching.

Post-Gaelcon

Just coming to the end of my post-Gaelcon recovery day. Had a blast, running and playing several games, as well as catching up with all and sundry over a few drinks.

Friday Night:
Kicked off with a one-shot of Apocalypse World - continuing the double-barrelled game I had started at Hobocon in August. Great session with Jo, Alan, Red Phil and Rob.

Saturday:
Started my Perilous Trail campaign off with Mick, Ger and Colin, and then played some Little Wars on the floor, ran ably by my comrade-in-arms Conrad. Ran a quick pick-up game of Perilous Trail for John and then finished off with a play-test of Ronan's promising new boardgame Fifth Column.

Sunday:
Continued adventures on the Perilous Trail with Mick, Conrad, Kaari and Fiachra, defended a fort to the last round in another game of Little Wars in the afternoon and played an interesting hack of Contenders by Gregor based on GTA called 'Drive it like you stole it' with Alan and Red Phil.

I also picked up a great-looking and useful piece from DramaScape - their Warehouse map, not in the usual 8"x10" card format, but in full-blown poster mode. Expect to see some Rainbow Six action take place in that space soon...

Monday:
Finished off with the climactic scenario of Perilous Trail with Gregor, Shevy, Brian and Graham, and then ran another quick pick-up game for Jo and Red Phil. Unfortunately I was stuck for time so I had to run before the closing ceremony and had no time for a wind-down pint or two.



Game reports will follow.

Rest Stop

Holed up in an isolated farmhouse outside of Tranch, Markham and company need to gather supplies urgently. Of course finding reliable survivors and weapons would also be great if they are to cope with the strange walking dead...

They roll up outside a highway rest stop - Markham goes inside the store, while the others investigate the fuel station (they'll need to top up the truck if they want to go on many more shopping excursions).

At the crossroads - there's some activity in the distance but so long as they remain quiet they should get away with it 

Markham checks his six before heading to the store room to load up a pallet

Outside the fuel station, there's a burnt-out Militia armoured vehicle - with some dead crew members nearby.  

Exploring the fuel station, everything's locked up inside, but there's a way up to get the fuel pumps going manually

Markham hears a sound from somewhere - he tries to remember his CQB training, but it could get pretty hairy without someone to back him up

His caution is rewarded - there are two of those things near the checkout. He takes one down with a pistol shot while the other almost gets the jump on a buddy who's come inside to warn him

Across the way, two militia men come running out - they're the surviving crew members of the tank who'd holed up inside the fuel station. 

They hollering has attracted the attention of the shambling horde nearby - the lead militia soldier lets rip with his autogun, but that's the end of the shopping trip. 

They load everything handy aboard the truck and drive away - they've only got one trip's worth of fuel left for the truck...

Convenience Shop

The year 40.428 saw the expansion of warp storm Elohim into the Hazeroth Marches of the Calixis Sector of Imperium space. Many worlds were swallowed whole never to be seen in this dimension ever again, some were left barren and void of all life, scoured by the touch of chaos, and some have an altogether different story, one of despair and heroism. This is one of those stories.

The central government of the planet Hesiod’s Wake first realised their doom when a space hulk, the Tears of Damnation spewed forth from a wormhole above the planet, within an hour the planet had been sealed from the Astronomican by the warp storm, a mere week after the hulk had crashed into the only city, Tranch. The planetary forces lacking any orbital defences had to look on in horror as millions were killed, this was only the beginning of the nightmare. The majority of the planet being only vaguely aware of the emperor as a god were helpless, some fought the hordes of things that fell out of the hulk with whatever they had, most failed.

Officer Markham has just pulled into Harvey's convenience shop to pick up a few things before heading back to the station. A suspect is locked in the back of the cruiser. 

From the dusty road out of the city, a horde of strange men walk in. They've surrounded the cruiser and are trying to get inside

Across the way, Marv's Bar is being attacked as well

The bar staff find that the back way out is blocked as well

Markham goes outside to see if he can get his shotgun and save the suspect, but he knows he won't make it. He pops off a few shots with his sidearm - putting down a couple, but only attracting their attention really.

With two civilians running towards the door to the convenience shop, Markham holds his nerve to stay outside to give them covering fire

Inside, one of the other survivors makes his way to the back door - there's a way to the loading bay from there. But there are already some of those things inside! He shuts the door, but that won't hold them out

They've broken into the cruiser, and despite a spirited attempt to escape, the suspect is caught and eaten alive! The others go to the windows of the shop and start to beat at them, attracted by the movement and lights inside

The glass breaks and the survivors hurry to escape out the back, grabbing some supplies as they run

They make it to a delivery vehicle parked outside and drive away with not a moment to spare!

With immediate survival sorted, Markham would have to try to gather supplies to feed his small band of survivors...

Red Squadron

The forces attacking the Diomedes gather...

A lone raider

Wingmen

The squadron of general purpose fighters are tasked to escort the attack squadron in

These are from Brigade Games' Squadron Commander Range (these are the German line).

Battle of Talavera - Redux

Having decided that I was not to be trusted with the French I was assigned to the British and Spanish allied force on Sunday

Surely I wouldn't have the temerity to cause much trouble from the other side...

Highlanders march into the jaws of death

British cavalry surges forward on the far left

The Drogheda Cossacks upset the French

Sweeping around the cavalry they take the fight to the French infantry crossing the stream

The lone French regiment are surrounded, their compatriots having been driven from the field

Back in the centre, the French make a strong advance towards the river

The Halderdiers try to hold them back

The Spanish hold firm in the centre, with the Hussars held in reserve

The Spanish advance on the right

Sending the French cavalry back to lick their wounds

French dead litter the river bed, while General Ruffin escapes with his life!

The Spanish turn back a last-gasp French attack, led personally by Sebastiani

This overwhelming British charge sees the Allies victorious

The victorious allied generals!

Needless to say, we swept the French from the field with their tail between their legs! Dare I add that I played again on the following day to another victory!

Top (TV) Firefights

A return to last year's popular series - I was collating a similar series of posts for my top ten hand-to-hand fights when I realised I never did my top firefights from TV...

#5 Strike Back: Project Dawn (Episode 9)



Scott and Stonebridge are following terrorists working on some VX rockets. but they find themselves ambushed, outnumbered and outgunned and unlike the usual Hollywood shenanigans are forced to retreat.

#4 The Pacific (Peleliu Hills)



While as a whole I wasn't a fan of The Pacific, individual scenes like this were exceptionally well done. This captures the brutal and claustrophobic nature of bunker-clearing

#3 Generation Kill (A Burning Dog)



Iceman shows what's running through his veins as his platoon undertakes to pet a burning dog

#2 Justified (Bulletville)



Head to 1:57 for my favourite as Raylan Givens takes on a host of gun-thugs sent to kill him

#1 Band of Brothers (Day of Days)



To be honest, I could've picked anyone of a half a dozen firefights from this show and it'd be at #1. Famously, the Brécourt Manor Assault (June 6, 1944) during the U.S. parachute assault of the Normandy Invasion of World War II is often cited as a classic example of small-unit tactics and leadership in overcoming a larger enemy force.

To round things off, here's the best non-firefight from a TV show. Ever.

#0 Spaced (Cougar Town)