This Warfighter campaign uses the Warfighter Modern Australian pack as the player side and African Warlords packs 1 and 2 for the adversaries and missions. This is the tenth and final game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game.
So, I started trying to write this in the style of Jerry Ahern's Survivalist novels because I thought it would be fun and it felt nostalgic as I had read a few of them in the eighties. I gave up. This post would have been ten times the length it currently is. Enjoy the first part, just the same, and please forgive me for not describing the weapons, bullet weights and muzzle velocities in more detail! I promise to attempt more brand-aware game reports another time.
"Gray, we got them on the ropes. Here's the target package for the last of the poachers in this area. Time to take 'em out. You've done a great job so far and I'm giving you all the resources available. Pull this off and you can get some R&R. Take Ross with you and show him the ropes. He'll be taking over from you while you're opening tinnies on the beach back home."
Gray looked through the package briefly, saluted and left. Time to gather his team and brief them. Ross was a fire-eater with a good track record in other theatres but relatively new in Bwendi. Chances were he would be a good replacement for Gray though. The rest of the team knew Gray from previous missions and they had worked together well throughout the current campaign. Gray laid out the mission for them.
It was going to be a long trek in the heat, so they would not be able to pack much in, but they could expect a parachute drop of supplies half way to the poacher's camp. That should help them restock and make the final push. It also meant they did not need to conserve ammo in the first half of the mission. With the team briefed, they moved out.
Cradling the weight of his SIG MCX lightly in his arms, Gray ordered Reid to take point. The experienced soldier had good eyes and was packing enough grenades to start a fireworks show.
"Hippos," muttered Reid, "Why did it have to be hippos?"
The river ahead was devoid of cover, and surrounded by open fields. A civilian caravan was passing nearby. Not a lot the team could do other than hope they did not alert the poachers further down the route. Worse yet, hippos were enjoying the cool water of the river. Reid directed the team around the hippos to a safer crossing point. Safer merely meant that the team had the drop on the poachers lounging near it. A group of guards were chilling with their feet in the water. A nervous kid looking uncomfortable with the 4kg weight of his AK was near them. More worrying were the gunman and his crew who looked experienced and watchful.
Reid pressed forward on his belly through what little cover there was. As soon as he was close enough, he threw an F1 grenade at the gunman. 30g of RDX detonated, sending metal shards flying at lethal speeds through the gunman and one of his crew. The other fled as fast as he could.
Evans, following Reid in, lobbed another F1 at the gunmen chilling by the water. One of them disappeared into the water in a spray of blood and flesh. He would be food for the hippos soon enough. The other froze just long enough for several 5.56x45mm NATO rounds to rip through him as the whole team opened up.
The kid rabbited, dropping his AK behind him in his haste to get away.
The team secured the area quickly and began to cross the river. As they did so, two more poachers emerged from the brush. Ross detonated the Claymore he had deployed as soon as he was over the river. Around 700 steel ball bearings shredded the brush and two of the poachers at around 1200 metres per second. The hippos were going to have to drink these guys. The other was wounded and ducked into cover. Gray gave the order to smoke him out.
A blast of 5.56mm rounds soon put paid to the guy, but a jumpy looking guy leapt out of ambush at the same time, only to fall to another hail of hot lead, just as Gray had got the team ready to move out. Ahead lay some of the traditional Bwendi domed huts. The team moved in and suddenly found that the area was hot. Gray cursed.
"Damned caravan must have warned them."
Then there was a sudden explosion. A local meeting erupted into chaos as someone had clearly goofed in priming their bombs. People ran in every direction as the team moved in. Unfortunately, the poachers stationed here looked looked like a main force with leadership and they were dug in. Gray called in the drone. The officer and his crew disappeared in a pink mist as the bombs scored a direct hit. The chopper's minigun put paid to another squad of hostiles as hundreds of rounds of 7.62mm bullets tore through them in a classic case of peace through superior firepower.
Under cover of the noise of the explosions and the dust from them, the team moved in, throwing grenades and firing long bursts until the only noise left in this village was a the ringing in their ears.
"Right, let's move on before those locals warn anyone else," Gray commanded and got his team ready to move on.
Unfortunately, the grassy fields beyond the huts were heaving with heavily armed poachers. Reid took point again, throwing a grenade at a group of riflemen idling on the edge of the corn, causing them to get their heads down. He followed up with a grenade at a group of inexperienced riflemen who were bunched closely enough together to make them too tempting a target. Evans followed closely behind him and dropped a grenade on a machinegun team that slowed them down enough for Gray to move in, fire a burst of 5.56mm that shut them down for good, and then called in the drone once more to drop a heavy load of high explosive on a more experienced looking group of riflemen. Pearce, Rogers and Ross followed closely behind as Gray took out a hostile with an RPG who had just popped up, and their combined fire cleared the way across the field.
The men were sweating and their mouths dry, but they needed to keep moving to hit their target. Time was running out but they were functioning well as a team despite the heat, and they were nearly at the supply drop. Good job too, because they had used up all their F1 grenades and were going to need a case or two of 5.56mm ammo to keep them going.
The rocky lake that was the RV for the supply drop lay ahead of them. The midday sun burned down. Unfortunately, there was little time to stare into the water and contemplate their place in the universe, because the poachers were dug in around the lake. Two machine-gun teams, a sniper and a bunch of riflemen were waiting. Fortunately, the team had remained unseen so far. Gray gave the order.
"Rapid fire! Take the bastards out!"
A hail of copper-jacketed lead streaked towards the hostiles, as the drone dropped high explosive on the machine-gun cart and those with grenades left ensured that the poachers were fed as much RDX as they could stomach. In short order, the drop zone was secured and Gray called it in. The team resupplied, filled their canteens from the lake and prepared to head out on the second leg of their mission.
The hot plains beyond the lake were a massive contrast to the cool waters of the lake. The soldiers cursed the heat and licked dry lips. Their only consolation was that the hostiles were obviously no fans of the heat either. Those few hostiles who were out in the heat were not paying attention and it was a simple matter to rain lead on them until the heat ceased to bother them.
The river ahead looked like a place of refuge, but it was not to be. The hostiles were here in force. Worse yet, it looked like a prepared position. Reid, on point, spotted and IED and led the team around it, but things could have been bad there. Once more the heavy weapons were out. Reid pointed out to the rest of the team an RPG gunner and a dozen riflemen all looking menacing. Ross let rip a burst of high velocity lead and the RPG gunner dropped where he stood. Pearce lobbed an F1 at a group of gunmen, killing one and suppressing the rest. He followed up with a burst that killed another hostile. Rogers dropped a long rifleman with a well aimed burst and several of the other riflemen fled into the bush. The sight of their fellow being felled was too much for them. The remaining poachers were quickly disposed of with a combination of grenades and rifle fire.
Gray and his team paused to regroup and prepared to move on. They crossed the river carefully, dodging around a more professional-looking than usual group of poachers. Suddenly an ambusher ducked up. Ross sent several hundred ball bearings his way as he triggered the Claymore that he had set up as they secured their perimeter. The ambusher disappeared in a spray of blood. As they moved out of their crossing point, more riflemen could be seen. Evans and Reid threw F1s at them and the fragmenting casings shredded several of the poachers. The whole team then opened up with their rifles and filled the air with lead. This proved unhealthy for the remaining poachers. However, the team could see a hostile patrol approaching. Their objective was in sight though. Not long until they got their, although the obvious heavy machinegun emplacement was ominous.
Once across the river, the team had to make their way through a large village. Reid immediately spotted three RPG teams as well as sundry other riflemen. The enemy patrol had reached here too, so it was clearly time to dig out the big guns. Ross radioed battalion and got access to a mortar stonk that vapourised several of the riflemen and made the remaining one keep his head down. Gray brought the drone in and one of the RPG teams disappeared amid the dust and fire of a missile strike. A sniper from battalion dropped another rifleman. With two careful bursts, Gray neutralised two RPG teams and ordered his men into the village. The overwhelming firepower of the Aussie team quickly neutralised the rest of the hostiles, although they were now running low on grenades. Unfortunately, they were now in range of the heavy machinegun. A burst of heavy fire tagged Reid, who was on point. He was still mobile, but was slowed down now.
It was obvious that the team was now approaching the poachers' main camp and that the poachers were desperate. There were no fewer than three machinegun nests, an RPG gunner and one group of dug-in riflemen in the grassy plains before the objective. Ross called for mortar fire again, killing one machinegunner and wounding his assistant. The sniper took out another gunner, and the drone destroyed the machinegun nest on the objective. With most of the hostiles suppressed, the troops moved in and sprayed 5.56mm rounds on the enemy. Soon, none were standing and the team were preparing to move on the objective.
By now, the heat was really telling and the team were flagging. Only Gray and Ross seemed to be fully acclimated. The poacher camp ahead was heaving with hostiles. Gray cursed as he saw the guard hippos too.
"What is it with these damned hippos everywhere?" he muttered as he directed his team around them.
Ross called up the mortar one more time. The poachers' officer and his crew disappeared in a pink mist. The sniper's rifle cracked and a gunman fell. Gray called down another mortar strike and took out half of the machinegun crew. Reid moved into the objective first. His grenade made a bunch of gunmen keep their heads down and he took out two dug-in riflemen at close range with his rifle. They never even saw him coming. Evans closed in next and neutralised two groups of hostiles with his F1 grenades. Ross followed up next and quickly took out the last of the machinegun crew with a single shot to the head. The rest of the squad followed in short order and blasted everything that was moving until it stopped. As the dust cleared, they realised they had taken the poachers' camp.
Gray radioed in and called for extraction. The poachers would not bother this area of Bwendi again, although he doubted that was the end of the problem. Many of them would move quickly enough elsewhere, but that was a problem for the the top brass. He was heading home for a few tinnies by the beach with a satisfying sense of having done his job well.
Reid got wounded again, but Gray got him out of there, so he will just have more scars to impress his beloved with. Luckily, Ross drew the Shake It Off card straight after, so he could heal the wound and return Reid to fighting fitness there and then.
- + 11 VPs = 64 VPs. That's a solid strategic victory. Gray has won the campaign and driven the poachers out of the mission area.
With the campaign won, time for some reflection. I think I am down with the rules now and made few, if any, mistakes. The most difficult part is keeping track of where I am up to in the turn and making sure I work through it methodically. With the team I had, and recruiting an extra player soldier, this final mission felt unchallenging, although I am certain it would have got challenging if I had stopped thinking hard about where to attack and ensuring that the enemy were suppressed at all times. The fact that Reid got wounded is proof of that. I forgot I had moved into range of the heavy machinegun and Reid paid the price.
I have thoroughly enjoyed these forays into Warfighter. The game requires focus, some decent decision making and a bit of luck, which is really a good combination. Your decisions are meaningful and a moment's carelessness can cost you. The only negative point is the need to sort through the supplements to make sure you have the right versions of the cards. I noticed a couple of cards in the action deck that were wrong, but the numbers suggested they were from the update kit I bought, so I need to go back through all the spare cards and see if I have included in my action deck cards that should have been removed. That's fine though. I'm still convinced that my main hobby is organising my games and their storage rather than playing them.
So, with campaign over, I'm not sure whether to start another campaign or to play something else next. We'll see.
