The Scoop

Morning - Day 3
The Defence of Wilson's Wadi

A news team shows up with a small escort looking for an interview and some vital background shots. A nearby British section needs to get them the hell out of the area before they're killed or kidnapped.

Peaceful village outskirts - no Taliban are present (though the insurgency level is '11') and the Afghan civilians are scattered throughout the village



WRI News team and escorting PMC park in the village



Goats overlooking ford, with parked Jingle Truck in the background



First interview of the day - it takes a few attempts to get anything usable from the woman



A veritable horde of Taliban arrive - but nothing much happens for a while as they discuss their plans



Small group of Taliban are looking to outflank British position



Frontal long-range assault doesn't go well - the group are forced back into the poppy field



But WRI cameraman is well set up to catch it



Bikes arrive to pursue retreating PMC - who have unwisely decided to become involved in a firefight with the Taliban. The news team leap into the contractors' SUV while they are still on the rooftop and drive away



The news team manage a A1 bootleg to get the truck out of there, as PMC get out on foot



The British do take a serious casualty as they attempt to suppress the nearby Taliban - unluckily for them this action is caught by the cameraman (on the back of the SUV)

*****

The British nick this one despite the Taliban's luck in having their sole VP doubled by the cameraman's lucky roll. The outright winners though are WRI who got two good interviews and caught two significant firefights on camera
A bit of a light scenario in the morning before we move into the climactic battle

An Aggressive Posture

Evening - Day 2
The Defence of Wilson's Wadi

The British actively patrol the village perimeter to keep the Taliban off-balance. Gaining some intelligence of their plans for tomorrow will also help them to hold out.

Local Taliban concentrate to meet patrol - all of them highly motivated and ready to engage thanks to the presence of leaders in all four groups



British patrol sets off in a tight formation with support from the rear by the GPMG team



Taliban remain out of contact but move in close - a very astute use of the terrain to move the groups in close



Taliban keen to put RPG in WMIK - somehow the WMIK remained untouched throughout - this movement was well chosen by the Taliban, as it kept out of sight of the British infantry



Group circles around to British left flank



British fire team take friendly fire from aircraft - this is the team that withdrew to leave its casualty with the newly arrived Javelin team



British advancing through poppy fields to compound - multiple teams have this small Taliban group in their sights



Javelin team opens fire as WMIK reverses away from the fields - a well-chosen drainage trench protects the Taliban from some of the worst effects



A Taliban sniper team shoots into compound - this fire is vital in contesting the British attempts to shut down the tunnel inside



Taliban unit forced to withdraw back through the poppy fields and wiped out



Taliban advance stymied by an IED - these local guys mustn't be aware of Tier-1 activities



British team inside compound in trouble - they are saved by the lack of activity in the tunnels and they recover in time to shut it down with a satchel charge



Last major Taliban force steps on IED just as it prepares its attack



Aggressive British advance to clear the last remaining group from the canal-side



These Taliban are most certainly getting shot!



*****

Given the British were missing an entire section at the beginning of this mission from the scenario baseline, I let them raid the larder to get a WMIK. Even so I was impressed with the dividends the steady and methodical approach paid.
A victory 22-3 puts everything back in the balance for the third day. Just three wounded on the British side but it'll still be bare bones of a platoon which takes to the field...

Friendly Faces

Afternoon - Day 2
The Defence of Wilson's Wadi

Senior local Afghans, friendly to ISAF are being held by Taliban forces. The British feel that their position will become untenable if they do not maintain good relations with the local population and rescue the elders.

Rescue mission kicks off



Afghan elders escorted in for interrogation - their location will be hidden and the interrogation occurs during gameplay



First fireteam led by Trust Native Guide - who gives the fire team an bonus to reaction



They rush from cover to cover, trying to avoid getting caught in the open



Sniper team are well hidden - they are keeping an eagle eye on the roof-top Taliban sentry group



Avoiding contact and skirting around the Taliban sentries' controlled zone - no reinforcements will be rolled for until someone opens fire



They reach the first target house and stack up to breach and clear the building - so far this is going like a Rogue Spear mission



Second fire team in support gets hammered by patrolling Taliban - amazingly enough they won the reaction against the Taliban group crossing open ground in the far distance but failed to inflict any casualties on them. The return fire wiped out the four-man fire team and attached medic!



First fire team clears house and captures the Taliban leader and the Afghan elder alive - somewhat inconceivably the interrogators' D8 had failed to beat the elder's D4 for three turns in a row and the gambit of placing the interrogator in the nearest house (thinking he would then be moving away) has failed spectacularly



Second Sniper team shows up to overwatch the village as the first sniper team has legged it to give first aid to the downed fire team



The Taliban patrol moves into the second building and avoiding fire from the British, wipes out first fire team too



The Taliban leader survives their follow-up assault which kills one and captures the other three. The elder (who has been interrogated succesfully) and the traitorous local guide are executed on the spot.



The second sniper team has been hit as well, and attempts at their recovery almost prove tragic (both are found to be dead as well)



*****

A game of two halves - initally the British were doing so well, but the ninja-like performance of one of the sentry groups proved their undoing.

The British lost this one a staggering 22-0 and lost four KIA, two WIA and three captured. It has proved a filip for the insurgency and more leaders join the Taliban during the evening.

The Relief

Morning - Day 2
The Defence of Wilson's Wadi

With the Taliban offensive well under way, the forces at Qandahar Air Base are stretched to breaking point hunting down Taliban artillery sites. Despite this British command insists on sending a relief mission to Arghandab consisting of a Viking IFV with a hand-picked Royal Marine section aboard.

Small relieving column arrives, but the route is littered with IEDs



The EOD Officer advances towards the first of the IEDs - but the British section leave him without any support and he attracts a lot of small arms fire



His armour is not tough enough to leave him unscathed and the Viking drives alongside the seriously wounded man



The Viking and a fireteam lay down suppressive fire and bundle the EOD officer into the back of the vehicle. A group of Talbian, not liking the odds, scarper around the corner, but are caught by reaction fire from the outpost awaiting relief



Marine fireteam clears the left flank



WMIK arrives from the village. It turns right to try to clear that flank and bring the relief column through safely



Taliban reinforcements arrive - right behind a British fireteam! A second surprise awaits them as an IED hits them immediately - killing one and lightly wounding another



The IED team is spotted and is lucky enough to survive the fire and take up a new position



Lone RPGer takes aim at WMIK - the WMIK take substantial damage, with its main weapon and drive shaft knackered



More Taliban arrive behind the British fireteam on the left (they now have the attention of over 20 fighters all in close range)



The British fireteam attempts to escape but are surrounded - the WMIK is now a mobility kill



Taliban group try to cut off last few British escaping as the Viking has hightailed it gunning down the IED team and making some rather spectacular manoeuvres



But WMIK crew get behind cover and to safety



*****

A bit of a catastrophe for the relief column - 4 dead and 2 seriously wounded and the fire-team on the left flank which was surrounded were all taken prisoner after a point blank firefight.
The Taliban win 18-11 and British confidence for the rest of the day is seriously hit ("We are not going to last 18 minutes, old bean...!")