Please Advise

The conclusion...although the Package has been secured, an American contractor has been captured and is being used as an unwilling technical advisor to the rebels.

A small group of elite operators is sent in to rescue him – should the rebels be taught a harsh lesson it would be considered a bonus.

Quiet streets, for now - you can see the four Delta operators getting ready behind a nearby building 

A rebel group patrols down a nearby laneway - they're in a good position to directly reinforce the main compound or attempt a flanking movement

Delta approach compound - they've made a quick movement down the side of the buildings, avoiding the main street and the traffic. Just behind the white and orange taxi is a news team, who've somehow gotten wind of the hostage situation - any trip-up will cause a media storm

They're engaged by the rebels in the compound - one of them gets hit and as they try to return fire under movement an unarmed civilian crosses the road in front of them!

They cross the open ground and rebel fire hits the old woman - one of the Delta operators stops to give her basic first aid before dragging her into cover

They're under serious time pressure now, but a heliborne sniper has joined in to  help them out. The shots from above takes out two rebels nearby as Delta storms the smaller building, wiping out another rebel group. Unfortunately for them the hostage is nowhere to be found: he must be in the main building

Delta form up for an assault, but with incoming fire and the helicopter driven away by RPG fire, they hunker down and must exfiltrate before more rebels cut off their route

Once again, a very close-run affair - keeping to a strict time-table is difficult with only four men, and Delta only seemed to realise the urgency of things in the last two turns.

Eyes On

With rebel forces in control of the Package, a SpecOps team has been sent in to put eyes on it, and destroy  it along with any threat to the stability of the region.

A two-man hidden sniper team lies conceals, attempting to put 'eyes on' the Package in order to call in an air strike to put it permanently beyond use.

Patrols are out in force, they patrol the compound in a tightly controlled circuit. So far the hidden observation team hasn't located the Package, but has ruled out two of the buildings in the main compound

An unknown vehicle approaches along a dirt road, and immediately the patrols' alertness is raised. One patrol makes its way across to check out the vehicle.

One patrol spots something in the small copse of trees beyond. The observation team  has just compounded it's failed roll to check out the third building - maybe in their frustration they left their laser designator flash in the sunlight... 

Snipers in the undergrowth! The patrol engages them in a firefight and overwhelms them . The snipers let out a squawk on their radio as they call in the quick reaction force!

The QRF swoops in! These guys mean business - despite the attention of two four-man patrols and a machine-gun team on a rooftop they barely take any return fire at all as they wipe out each of the three rebel groups

The SUV (which was just a resupply run for the rebel group) and the other patrol make their way to the compound. The  rebel leader with the package remains hidden but hopes to sneak into the vehicle while the rebels hold off the inbound gun truck

The special ops team aboard the gun truck careen around the compound trying to cut off the SUV's escape route. The rebel leader makes a run for it but is shot down as he leaves the building. 

With the rebel leader out of the action, the nearby rebels grab the package and jump into the SUV instead. The gun truck pulls up alongside and shoots down three of the four rebels. The last guy, huddled in the corner with the briefcase, loses his nerve and surrenders to them 

A close-run affair in the end - while the QRF were amazingly effective, the rebels were one morale check away from victory in the last turn!

The Package

At Warpcon a couple of weeks back I ran the Brave New World campaign from the 'Classified' book

An arms dealer delivers the package to the rebels by light plane.

A small special forces mission is sent in to arrest the militia leader and confiscate the small briefcase

The rebel village looks peaceful, a small patrol is seen in the distance picking its way through the supply dump

But two special forces squad rush into the village, taking out the rebel machine gun team perched on the rooftop of the largest building (believed by their intelligence to be the rebel HQ)

Another group of rebels has leapt into their SUV and raced across the main road  to where their leader is meeting with the arms dealer - they bundle him aboard, trading fire with the special forces

The arms dealer's mercenaries escort him back to the aircraft, where their pilot has kept her nerve and is getting it ready. As they get into the plane rebel forces nearby pause from their firefight with the assaulting special forces to open fire on them! Do they think the arms dealer has sold them down the river?

The rebels hold on to their stronghold, stopping the special forces dead in their tracks and causing the arms dealer's plane to skid to a halt - despite their losses they've gotten their leader away

Nice and quick, and I think the tactical options open to all sides make this one eminently re-playable.

The Package

The rogue Azeri militia group inside Nagorno-Karabakh have arranged an arms dealer to deliver the weapon to the ghost town of Agdam by light plane.

Azerbaijan feels it’s not yet ready for such a confrontation and sends in special forces to arrest the militia leader and confiscate the Package.



The funds transfer has just taken place and the deal is being closed - the Azeri raid has struck at the last possible minute



The special forces move in quickly, taking out the rooftop machine gunners as they cross the open ground to take cover at a wall



As gunfire opens up, there's confusion at the meet - fire is exchange across the airstrip and both teams secure their principals. Accusation of a double-cross are exchanged in the heat of battle



The milita squad next to the SUV rush to the roof of the nearby building to target the special forces squads bunched up in their line of fire, but despite some success are quickly suppressed



The militia nearest their leader pull him back out of the building and behind it to get out of the line of fire. The special forces have taken the main compound overlooking the airstrip and are putting down an impressive amount of fire on everything they can see



As the mercenaries cross the open ground they take casualties and despite their training hunker down, they eventually make it to safety behind the building adjacent the aircraft but aren't too confident about moving on (the pilot is still dithering on the steps)



As the mission clock moves on the special forces realise they must throw caution to the wind the move on - they race across the airstrip to try to catch the militia in a crossfire but can't make it effective



The Azeri Special Forces must withdraw, as the Armenians have been alerted to their presence in the enclave...

Please Advise

An American contractor has been captured and is being used as an unwilling technical advisor on use of The Package. A small group of elite operators is sent in to rescue him – should the Azeri militia be taught a harsh lesson it would be considered a bonus.

It's evening time and it looks like rush hour near the militia compound



The four-man Delta team moves in, choosing to move along the main street



Militia sentries are posted all around the area and Delta take to the rooftop to get cover while attempting to establish fire superiority



The hostage has been moved recently, so that Delta don't have exact intelligence on which building he's being kept in.



Rooftop sentries in the largest building open fire on the Delta team and come off second best



Militia units begin to converge on Delta and while Delta are winning each firefight they are now bogged down



When evening commuters nearby turn out to be two armed militia volunteers things go badly off the rails for Delta



All of the Delta operators are casualties in the ensuing firefight, they have dished out an enormous amount of punishment to the Militia units but without anyone nearby to come to their aid it's a major militia victory!

So, after a coffee and some discussion on what went wrong (I reckon that they were used too similarly to what a conventional fireteam would have done (albeit with support). The key to this kind of special operation is to move fast and overwhelm the enemy before they can react.
We set up and go again.

With the Delta team keeping off the main road and rushing up the back alleyway, the militia unit at the far side of the compound takes up position at the corner of the wall near the front gate
As it does so, a heliborne sniper comes on station in support of Delta, but the chopper is sent packing by some brilliant shooting by the GPMG gunner in the militia cell



Running towards the compound wall, dusk turns to night and suddenly the militia feel very isolated and vulnerable (Delta have night-vision devices)



Trying to close the distance one militia unit settles down at the doorway to the smaller building inside the compound and engages Delta at point blank



Militia sentries close in on the Delta position. The men near the front of the compound keep getting back into the fight (Delta suspect that they may be on PCP, or have body armour underneath their fatigues). Radio chatter suggests that a Person of Interest (possibly a new Militia leader or foreign advisor) is also inside the compound



The initiative has turned in the militia's favour and Delta are virtually pinned down behind that compound wall. With time running out Delta take the risk of splitting into two-man teams with one breaching the wall and the other giving covering fire



Entering the first building they face off against a lone rebel holding the technician hostage. They shot him easily (though the rebel foolishly turned the gun on them rather than the hostage when they rushed through the doorway)



Despite the attention of a civilian they bundle into the (pre-arranged) escape vehicle and escape just in the nick of time.



The Package is still out their somewhere, but US interference will probably be minimal. Delta didn't have the time to pursue the Person of Interest, but the Azerbaijan military should be able to deal with things from here on.

Eyes On

Intelligence assets in Azerbaijan have identified that Azeri militia units inside the Armenian-controlled enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh have been attempting to acquire a weapon powerful enough to destabilise the region and bring the two countries to the brink of war.

Azeri Special Forces were given the first bite at the cherry, but failed to prevent the transfer of the Package to the rogue militia forces. An ODA team has been sent into put eyes on it, and destroy it along with any threat to the stability of the region.

Two militia units patrol the area where the Package is being kept, before being moved for its deployment. The two-man observation team is hidden nearby and is scanning the buildings to locate the Package and its Handler to call in a JDAM strike.



One of the militia patrols nears a possible hiding place of the OP team and gets suspicious, but doesn't spot anything and moves on



With the OP team still searching, suddenly the Handler exits a building and goes to his car - the Package is on the move!



The OP team hurredly calls in for that airstrike but communications are a bit fritzy...



The second patrol notices them and rushes over towards the copse of trees - spotting the OP team's position and opening fire. One of the team is wounded and they call in the Quick Reaction Force nearby while returning fire. They don't have much time - the first patrol is racing in their direction and a militia unit resting in one of the other buildings has roused itself



Coincidentally (but the team on the ground put it down to careful planning) the QRF drives in along exactly the route the Handler was taking in his car!



The QRF team open fire on the vehicle, killing the Handler and his driver - the vehicle spins out of control and flips over on some rocky ground



With militia units closing in the the OP team running for their lives, there is no chance to snatch or destroy the Package. Will Special Forces be able to intervene before it's deployed?