Get to the Gunboat!

Knowing that they were being stalked by something, Schaefer set up defences and waited for it to come at them. The trip wires and mines did nothing though and now he decides to get his people the hell out of there and get to the gunboat.

Ahead of them, Hamid drags his hostage through the jungle, angling for the jetty where he trusts his dhow awaits him.

Harper and Carpenter go ashore from the gunboat to make contact with the Marines, while Cook and Kennedy 'hold the fort'. 

Overlooking the Marines' defences, the Hunter is still cloaked

Shore Party makes contact with the Pirates, they race up the hill to get a superior position, but Harper is killed by concerted musketry

Carpenter hunkers down around the corner and tries to come up with a plan to save his life and the hostage

The exultant pirates go to the top of the cliff and display their hostage

The Marines make it to the river bank - from there they open fire on the pirates in the distance, killing a few of Hamid's companions and clipping the hostage's leg

Eyeing up the river crossing, Schaefer has his men take cover behind a rock formation

The Hunter de-cloaks

and leaps down to move towards bridge

Carpenter rushes back up the hill and takes on Hamid's sword with his bayonet

Having no time to finish the slaver, Carpenter scampers back to the foot of the hill and hides in the undergrowth as more pirates arrive on the scene

Hunter tries to cut off the Marines at the bridge, but they're still taking their time crossing the river

Kennedy urges the wounded hostage back to his feet and over to the gunboat - raking the nearby pirates with his tommy gun as he does

Rushing into wreak havoc, the Hunter survives the snapshot from Schaefer as he runs past

Blaine and Billy go down as the Hunter unsheathes wicked wrist blades

Gunfire from Schaefer and Hawkins sees Hunter unscathed, but return fire from the Hunter's shoulder cannon vaporises Schaefer's weapon

Schaefer somehow avoids the Hunter's wrist blades but drive him backwards - he shouts out for Hawkins to run for it!

Hamid has scrambled down the cliff face, ignoring the pain from his leg and making towards the shore - Kennedy watches the carnage ashore and tells Cook to fire up the engines

Schaefer withdraws firing his trusty M1911 but it has no effect and as the Hunter turns towards him Schaefer drops it and raises his fists. The Hunter accepts the challenge and the wrist blades withdraw. Within moments Schaefer goes down crippled, and it's only then that the Hunter notices the rest of his prey is in danger of escaping!

Cook stands guard at the rear, bearing the old reliable Springfield 1903, while Kennedy is at the prow. The hostage has been given a quick tutorial and is at the wheel

Pirate scrambles past crocodile to swim aboard, but instead of making common cause with the sailors, he attacks Cook with his sword (but is dispatched back into the river!)

The Hunter arrives with preternatural speed at the jetty and leaps across to the gunboat!

It guts Cook without too much trouble and looks to enter the engine room

But only gets a faceful of lead from Kennedy for his trouble (destroying its useful mask)

Further fire from Hawkins damages the shoulder cannon and it withdraws back to shore to think again

With no way of chasing the gunboat, the Hunter disappears back into the jungle. Back on the bank of the stream Schaefer struggles to bind his wounds and salvage what he can for his last stand...

Coming Aboard?

Lt. Vanderbolt leads a small gunboat towards the rendezvous point with Gunny Schaefer’s squad, but as they cruise towards the landing point, a dhow slides up behind them, ignoring their hails.

A band of Zanzibari Pirates have been patrolling the area and are aware that their glorious leader has raised the ire of the Americans. They will attempt to prevent any interference by taking control of the boat.

Grant goes aft to challenge the approaching dhow

But the pirates have taken positions ashore as well

In fact, they've set up a small gun overlooking the jetty - it opens fire on the gunboat and Warner, manning the Lewis Gun near the bridge takes a direct hit

Other Zanzibaris converge on the jetty

As Seaman Black and Lieutenant Vanderbolt seek to take control of the prow gun, they are hit by a fusilade of musket fire from the shore

Harper and Carpenter jump to the jetty (avoiding the crocodile lurking below) and open fire on the group nearest - driving them off

Meanwhile, the dhow starts its approach and the pirate aboard open fire, killing Grant - though taking serious return fire from Kennedy's tommy gun

Harper and Carpenter have wiped out the gun crew and turn it on the dhow

Kennedy has been hit by the pirates (dropping his sub-machine gun overboard) and one of the pirates makes it across in an attempt to finish him off

The other group of pirates rush down the jetty and jump aboard

Harper, now hobbling with a gammy leg, rushes towards the shore - he spots that the gunboat is in serious trouble of being taken!

Thankfully he spots that Kennedy has gotten back to his feet, and he points his shotgun back at the remaining crew of the dhow

Kennedy has more than that to contend with - with just a pistol left, he leaps up to the top deck and runs for the bridge

Somehow, Cook and Kennedy defend the bridge against both groups of pirates with just their pistols!

The leader of the Zanzibari pirates run back to his ship

So, it looks like the navy will be able to make the rendezvous with Schaefer after all...

The Hunt - Teaser

A previously unknown warlord has captured two American agents in the port of Zanzibar. A squad of hand-picked Marines is sent ashore and deep into the jungle to rescue them and hunt down the gang of pirates. But in the high African summer, a more dangerous adversary stalks the Devil Dogs…

Play out their daring raid on the pirate fort and a breakneck escape to the waiting boats as the hunters become the hunted.

I'll be running this three-part campaign at Gaelcon at the end of October.

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!