The Final Countdown (Forgotten Ruin)

 The L.T. was briefing the whole platoon.

"Hostile forces seem to be desperate now that we have helped pacify the whole area. They have gathered in large numbers just outside our occupation zone and are ready to attack, so we are going to take the fight to them first. Tiger Troop and Ocelot Troop will be the hammer. Civet Troop will be in reserve in case they are needed. The mission is simple: defeat the hostiles in detail."

Ocelot Troop. I have had some of these figures since the 1980s and repainted them for this game because I did not have any others available that match Tiger Troop (Laserburn 15mm, now sold by Alternative Armies)

Pan had some concerns about Ocelot Troop. She did not know what it meant, but the occasional chants of "Blood for the Blood God" and their troop leader's frequent statements about the god Kworne suggested that they had gone native in the worst possible way. They had also adapted their regulation environment suits and painted them red. It was all very strange, but they were still an effective fighting force, so it should be ok. She hoped so anyway.

Hordes of evil elves advance through the ruins of Stave Harbour towards the 53rd Bwendi Rangers

With everything on the line, the L.T. sent Tiger Troop into the field with all the support the platoon could muster. Pan hoped it would be enough. She had seen the scouting reports and knew that the two Bwendi Ranger troops would be heavily outnumbered. There would be no subtlety here. Mind you, it could not be that dangerous because the L.T. herself was coming with them. As senior sergeant in the field, Pan deployed Ocelot Troop on her right flank and ordered both troops to form a skirmish line. They would move into position and then lay down the heaviest fire they could. The L.T. raced off to find a good position from which to call in the platoon mortar. She seemed unreasonably excited by the prospect!

The first batch of elves almost reach Ocelot Troop, only to all be killed by a lucky mortar strike

As the elves advanced, they let out spine-chilling yells that would have spooked lesser troops than Tiger Troop, but the brave soldiers of the 53rd Bwendi Rangers were unperturbed by this. They had faith in their firepower. That said, these elves seemed cannier than the orcs and made good use of cover to close with the rangers. Their leader was directing them with the tactical awareness of a veteran. He was also firing arrows at Ocelot Troop and scoring a few hits. Fortunately, the rangers' environment suits protected them. The L.T. got the platoon mortar on the blower and directed it towards the enemy leader, only for it to fall short and completely wipe out a unit of elven warriors instead.

As a unit of warriors approached to within a few feet of Tiger Troop, Pan loosed an Ice Blast at them and annihilated every single one of them! Meanwhile, B Team were firing into the flank of approaching elven warriors and Ocelot Troop were laying down as much fire as they could against the enemy approaching them.

Elven blade dancers close with Tiger Troop

As a unit of Elven blade dancers pranced towards them, Tiger Troop held their fire until they could taste the minty breath of the approaching elves.

"Light 'em up," called Pan as she fired another Ice Blast at point blank range.

The massed fire of Tiger Troop cut every single elf down.

The fire from Ocelot Troop's die of the battlefield seemed to be dying down too as the hostiles' numbers were whittled down.

An insane cackle arose from Ocelot Troop's ranks as a crump and a scream heralded a grenade that had landed in exactly the wrong place.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! HE HAS GONE TO KWORNE!"

Ocelot Troop seemed to find great amusement in the friendly-fire incident that had felled one of their own.

As the elven warriors were all cut down, both troops focused on the elven leader, who had by now felled two of Ocelot Troop's number. Even a great villain like him could not stand against the massed firepower of the Bwendi Rangers. Silence fell on the battlefield.

"Looks like we won," Pan commented to herself, then to the troops, "Check the bodies and then let's clear out of here."

The L.T. wandered over to Pan, "Good job, that chap. I think we have finally pacified the area."

Conclusion

I decided not to hunt for the artefacts that you can chase after in Forgotten Ruin and just to cut straight to the final battle. This is built up in the rule book as a climactic finale to the campaign with hordes of enemies pouring down on your troops. I feared the worst, but it went much better than I could have hoped for. Tiger Troop had no casualties, while Ocelot Troop lost two soldiers to archery and one to a grenade that drifted in completely the wrong direction.

On top of that, the L.T. managed to call in mortar fire every single turn until she could not make the roll. The first mortar stonk missed its target and drifted onto a unit of elven warriors, completely wiping them out. For the rest, I don't think it mattered too much that a lot of my shots missed, because I was firing so much that it had to tell in the end.

I was particularly astounded by Pan's use of the Ice Blast spell, which was more effective than I would ever have believed it could be, wiping out an entire unit in a single turn.

Tiger Troop finished the campaign with 19 victory points and a decisive victory. I have upgraded my Veteran Roster, from which I can pick a couple of soldiers for a future campaign, and have left Tiger Troop in the NAAFI having a nice cup of tea and a coconut macaroon.

Final Thoughts

The final battle was a bit anti-climactic really. Even using cover as best possible to close with the Rangers, the firepower available was too much for the advancing elves. I had even thrown in the campaign villain, but his archery was often defeated by the Rangers' armour, so it made little difference. In my head, it was going to be the sort of battle that came down to a couple of plucky troopers standing alone against the hordes. In reality, the villain got that rule and died because of it. I shall definitely have to use some of the difficulty mods if I play a future campaign.