A Walk in the Light Green 10: Take 'Em Out (Warfighter campaign)

 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.

A Walk in the Light Green 9: Eliminate the threat

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 ninth game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game.

Well, this has taken long enough to write up. I played this game over a month ago, but have since had a lot of family stuff to sort out, so it has languished in note form until now. Hopefully, I shall get the next scenario played and written up over the next week or so, now that things are returning back to whatever passes for normal these days.

"Time to take it to the poachers, Gray. I'm chucking all the resources at you for this, so don't fuck it up."

Gray looked over the mission brief. He had drone support, an attack helicopter and the whole squad for this one. It was going to be a hefty hike into the brush, but he reckoned they would be alright as long as they could dodge the damn hippos that were everywhere out here. If the poachers had gone for hippos instead of elephants, he was sure that his team would not have been deployed here in the first place because everyone seemed heartily sick of the damn things.

Still, even with all that support, he could not afford to relax. The team moved out and quickly encountered hostiles in Tempey village near the base. A brief firefight ensued and the hostiles were neutralised. Moving on through a local goat farm to a village by the river and then on to a smaller village and some rural housing on the other side, the team worked slowly and methodically to elimate the poachers as they went. It was a job that required them to stay focused as they moved through the various built-up areas.

The open plains beyond the housing were dangerous, but the air support helped a lot and the team were able to keep moving despite Reid taking a bullet in the leg that slowed him down. Then they navigated their way through a maze of huts that was also the feeding grounds of a bunch of hippos. I mean, what kind of person would make their home where hippos roamed?

Then it was on to the parched and baked plains beyond. The heat took its toll, but Gray kept the team motivated and they were able to move out quickly as a unit to their objective: the poachers' main camp. The team moved in. A combination of drone strikes, air support and grenades soon neutralised the whole camp, and the team were able to return home quickly with the sense of satisfaction that a job well done gives.

This time it was Reid that got wounded, but not too seriously. The team retained initiative throughout the mission, which made it easier to avoid getting shot at, and I rolled well for the heat, so they were not slowed down too much by that. Reid's wound can be attributed to too many soldiers suffering from the heat on one turn, but other than that, it was all good.

There is one more mission in the campaign. I hope that Gray can keep his shit together long enough to finish that final mission and go home for some well-deserved R&R.

• + 10 VPs = 54 VPs. This is currently a strategic victory. As long as Gray does not die next scenario, I reckon I can count this as won and the poachers driven out of the area.
• + 10 Mission Points. With 2 left over from last time, Gray has 12 MPs to spend. I buy him Hydrated, which means he can spend XPs to retain Hardy tokens, representing his better management of his fluid intake. I justify it to myself by noting that he is almost at the end of a tour of duty in a hot environment and must have learnt something along the way. I also buy Zeroed, which improves his chances of hitting and killing hostiles. After all, he is now a highly experienced combat veteran.

Mission Adjustments:

1. -1 Mission Time. I get one turn fewer in which to accomplish my goals again. That means the final mission will be 2 turns shorter.
2. +2 Locations.
3. +3 Skill Cost
4. -2 Loadout

A Walk in the Light Green 8: Hold the Town

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 eighth game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game.

"The poachers are getting desperate, Gray. They are assaulting Moatoaa Town. Take your team and sort the situation out. I'm giving you some armoured support for this one. Don't break it."

Another day, another patrol through burning wastes. The reason why the current base was here was that the area was nigh on uninhabitable for humans, so no one had set up here before. The lizards seemed to love it. And Gray was going to have to march out of there. The map showed a grim route for humans. The team set out across the hot plains around the base. There were few hostiles on the plains, but things got hot round a nearby river. Fortunately, there were no restrictions on engagement. Gray booked in for drone support. That would even the score a bit along the way.

They swept aside a few more hostiles as they crossed the desert, climbed through the hills and onto the plains beyond. From here, they could see the outskirts of the city. Scattered houses and open fields made this approach dangerous and Harper took a bullet here. He was not badly hurt but it slowed him down.

An explosion rocked the village ahead. The armoured support must have hit an ammo dump. That discouraged the hostiles from coming in there, but the goat farm beyond that was still defended.

The team just put their heads down and worked methodically towards their goal. Soon they were in the town. Picking their shots, they soon took out the hostiles occupying the town, and radioed that the place was clear for the support team to move in and consolidate this gain.

Harper copped one again, but he will recover. Another solid success although time was tight by the end of this game. The extra two locations to move through and the heat really slowed the team down. It felt like about half the team was suffering reduced numbers of actions because of the heat at any one time. I really like having the drone support. It's quite effective in this situation where there are not too many locations where collateral damage is an issue. The situation is interesting too. The hostiles are generally not that hard to deal with (with some notable exceptions) but the environment slows you down a lot. This differs from the Eastern Europeans where there are some seriously dangerous hostiles that are hard to deal with, but you don't get slowed by the environment.

• + 10 VPs = 44 VPs. Even if the campaign ends next scenario, Gray has done really well.
• + 10 Mission Points. I bought Gray the Veteran skill. I think he has earned it now.

Mission Adjustments:

1. -1 Mission Time. I get one turn fewer in which to accomplish my goals from now on. With the increased locations, this means longer missions but less time to complete them in
2. +2 Locations.
3. +3 Skill Cost
4. -2 Loadout

A Walk in the Light Green 7: Overwhelmed

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 seventh game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game. 

The patrol had gone well but suddenly the area was swarming with poachers. Gray cursed. Then he cursed again when he saw the dust storm coming in.

"Ok, troops, we gotta get outta here. The dust storm will be unpleasant, but at least it will give us some cover. Move out!"

This is an escape mission, which means Gray needs to get from the objective card on the right to the mission card on the left. When his team reaches there, they have won. Hostiles will be generated along the way, but many will also be generated behind Gray and will be chasing him. The dust storm provides cover and means that all attacks have to be made at point-blank range. No snipers in this mission. The other disadvantage is that the mission has a loadout penalty of 6 which is added to the 2 points from the mission adjustments. That means that Gray can barely carry his rifle and ammo, and will have little else with him. Of course, wearing a MOLLE in this situation helps.

The men grabbed what gear they could and set off through a maze of huts on the outskirts of a rural town. The place was heaving with hostiles and more were chasing them from behind. Fortunately, Gray was rapidly becoming a good leader and they were a good team. Working together, they neutralised the hostiles as fast as they could, barely stopping in the process. The hostiles from the objective were always moving towards them though, so there was no time to rest.

The heat was bad. The team struggled to focus on their task. Their shots were pure instinct as the sweat poured into their eyes.

The cover of the houses on the outskirts of town was a blessed relief, as was the rocky lake beyond it. had not time to really enjoy the shade and cool water before they were moving on again. Unexpectedly, a machine-gun team opened up from close buy. Harper yelled as bullets ripped into him. He was lucky to be alive, but he was not going to be much use from now on. His mates half.dragged, half-pulled him down the sun.baked road, barely able to stand in this heat themselves. Then they repeated the process across the hot plains beyond to the camp.

With only a few rounds left each, the team piled into the shelter of their camp, and the enemy gave up the chase. They had lived to drink a few tinnies again.

Well, Harper copped one but we got him back to base. No fatalities makes this another victory.

• + 8 VPs = 34 VPs. Gray is well on his way to actually stopping this gang of poachers.
• + 8 Mission Points. I bought Gray the Shooter skill to make him more effective with his rifle.

Mission Adjustments:

1. +1 Location. All future missions will require the team to move through an additional location card to get to the objective. with the previous +1 location, that means each mission is now 2 locations longer.
2. +3 Skill Cost
3. -2 Loadout

A Walk in the Light Green 6: Hold the Huts

  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 sixth game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game.

"Gray, your mission, is to move out to Belengo Village and stop the poachers moving in there. We expect heavy and active assaults by the enemy, so be prepared."

Gray gathered his team and briefed them. They seemed relieved for a change. Apparently, sheltering in huts while shooting hostiles appealed to them more than marching across blasted hot tracts of land while shooting hostiles.

Unbeknown to Gray and high command, the poachers were trying to make Belengo Village into their new base. The hostiles would be up close and personal as the men patrolled to the village.

In game terms, the mission would involve placing any newly generated hostiles in the same location as the soldier closest to the objective. This could get tricky, if reinforcements were generated, because it was likely that the team would not be able to neutralise them before they could fire.

As the team advanced on a nearby village by a river, the village was rocked by an explosion. Ducking down, the team made their way slowly into the village, engaged them and neutralised them. The explosion seemed to have discouraged other poachers from getting closer though, so that was a blessing.

Moving on, the team entered a village where the grateful locals mobbed them and plied them with fizzy drinks, after the hostiles had been driven off. This did delay the team but they needed the break.

The delay is represented by moving the objective one location further away, so the team will need to move through an additional location, adding at least one turn to the time it will take to complete the mission.

The tins of drink came in handy as the next stage of the patrol was across a dusty, dry plain and they needed several of the tins to keep going. Fortunately, the plains gave way to low hills and the men could take a brief respite from the heat, while contemplating the futility of their existence in a rocky lake.

Then they moved out and occupied Belengo Village. There were hostiles already there, but a few grenades saw them off, and the reinforcements were swiftly discouraged by heavy fire and more grenades. Mission accomplished.

Another mission with no casualties! I also like how the location cards seem to tell the story of the journey for me.

• +6 VPs = 26 VPs. Very nice.
• +6 Mission Points. I bought Gray the Operator skill. It increases the number of cards he can have, which will make the larger missions easier for him to command.

Mission Adjustments:

1. +1 Location. All future missions will require the team to move through an additional location card to get to the objective
2. +3 Skill Cost
3. -2 Loadout

A Walk in the Light Green 5: Topple the Citadel

 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 fifth game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game.

"Hey, Gray, you're not up to much lately and you're good with explosives. Take a team and destroy that poachers' citadel."

Gray nodded and went to collect his team. As usual, they were unimpressed by the thought of a walk in the mid-day sun, especially when it was lasagne and fries for dinner, and they might miss it as a result of this patrol.

The team geared up, put on their sunscreen and headed out. The heat was merciless and they had to take frequent rest breaks, making the patrol even slower.

Gray led the charge into a large village and they blasted aside the defenders. Taking point again, he advanced into the outskirts of the village next to the river and blasted aside the heavy defence there. The poachers were very clearly based in the area and this village was both hot and full of non-combatants that they had to be careful about injuring.

After clearing out the hostiles, there was some respite from the heat as they crossed a nearby river, although the hostiles on the banks tried to make it hot for them. A bigger problem were the hippos in the river around the citadel. These were truly hungry, hungry hippos. Gray wondered idly if their presence was deliberate on the part of the poachers or just a coincidence. Still, he was experienced enough to spot a route past the hippos without any of his men winding up on the wrong side of a hippo. That would be the inside, in case you were wondering.

The defenders of the citadel were fairly easy to deal with and Gray deployed explosives around the place, razing it to the ground. Mission complete, and they would still get back to camp in time for dinner.

Another mission with no casualties, which is nice and even the random events seem not cause the team too many problems. Having a hippo guard at the citadel did make me chuckle though. Sounds like the kind of thing I would do if I were a warlord of some description.

• +5 VPs = 20 VPs. Gray is really making a difference here now.
• +5 Mission Points. I bought Gray the Point Blank skill to make him more effective when up close and personal with the enemy.

Mission Adjustments:

1. +1 Skill Cost cumulative with the previous increase, so skills now cost +3 points.
2. -2 Loadout

A Walk in the Light Green 4: The Warlord's Encampment

  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 fourth game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game.

"Congratulations on destroying the fortress, Gray. I need you to take out the warlord's encampment near the elephant reserve. Poachers are gathering there, and you need to scatter them. You'll be working with a local guide here. He's going to ensure you get there without getting lost. Good luck."

Gray and the team had their orders. They picked up the guide and headed out into the heat once more.

Following the trail across the hot plains, the team drove off gunmen and emerged into the relative cool of the fields near the encampment. Turns out that those fields were hot too, and they had to be careful to avoid civilian casualties there, so they picked their targets and hunkered down in whatever cover they could find.

What is a heavy military presence doing the Agriculture Zone? I don't know but it complicated things a bit because you are not allowed to use weapons that can hit multiple targets in it so the guys had to switch to single shot.

Beyond the fields, lay a stronghold. They could see the warlord's camp beyond that. Fortunately, the stronghold was not somewhere they had to be. Grenades and auto fire burned through their ammo but took out the guards. Then it was on to the encampment. Once more, grenades and auto fire cleared a path, and Gray was able to lay the charges and blow the place to pieces. Job done. No one hurt. Time to go home.

Another mission with no casualties is always a bonus and this campaign is going nicely so far.

+5 VPs = 15 VPs. Nice.

+5 Mission Points. I bought Gray the Squad Leader skill. It seemed appropriate given that he is successfully leading teams.

Mission Adjustments: +1 Skill Cost cumulative with the previous increase, so skills now cost +2 points.

-2 Loadout

A Walk in the Light Green 3: Fortress Destruction (Warfighter in Africa)

 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 third game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game.

"We've worked out where those poachers came from Gray. Gather your team and head out there. It's a fortress on the edge of Possessor's Crags near the suburbs of Landfall City. I know it's hot, but you need to go in and destroy the place before they move their base of operations. I suggest you take an Esky full of cans with you. You'll need the fluids."

Singh was delighted to get the news about a walk in the midday sun. So delighted that he sulked all the way to the jump-off point. The other two were less obviously unhappy about a walk in the sun. Or rather, a rough climb in the sun.

Fortunately, the team worked well together despite that. They climbed the crags towards the fortress, neutralising some untrained militia in the process. More untrained militia and poachers were occupying a small village at the top of the crags. These took a little longer but were fairly quickly neutralised. The heat slowed them down, but they systematically suppressed and then neutralised the hostiles. Then it was on to the fortress. A machine-gun team offered a real threat, but grenades and heavy fire let the team close on it and take it out. The other guards presented much less of a threat and were very quickly neutralised. Gray planted the explosives after they had neutralised all the hostiles at the fortress, and the walls came tumbling down.

The team withdrew to the pick-up point unharmed.

These games are getting quite samey to report. The basics of activating each location are to pile fire on the enemy to suppress them, and then to close and neutralise them with effective close range fire and grenades. This is easier where collateral damage is not a problem. Occasionally, the hostile deck throws up something a bit weird and wonderful that makes things hairier or the dice do not cooperate, but the basic tactics remain the same. I'm not sure how interesting that is to read, so I plan to make the subsequent reports in this campaign more summaries that note interesting happenings.

+4 VPs = 10 VPs. Going nicely so far.

+4 Mission Points. I did not have enough points to buy Gray the skill I wanted so I save these until after the next mission. Hopefully, that goes well and I can buy it then.

Mission Adjustments: -1 loadout. This combines with the previous penalty so Gray now has a -2 loadout penalty and can carry 2 points less of equipment.

Skills cost +1 point.

A Walk in the Light Green 2: Save the Elephants (Warfighter in Africa)

 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 second game in the campaign. Click here to read the previous game.

 2nd Lieutenant Gray had blown up the holdout and obtained crucial information about the poachers' activities. The problem with doing a good job, he mused, was that it only led to more and harder work. At least this time it was worthy work though. He had recovered intel that pointed to the next poaching raid.

"Take Singh and Harper with you," his CO announced at the briefing, "then give those damn poachers a kicking."

Their orders were to patrol through farmland to the site of the anticipated attack and to eliminate all hostiles encountered. Singh and Harper looked delighted to be getting a walk in the hot sun but neither said anything. They did not need to, given the looks on their faces.

As the team approached the start of the mission area, they spotted enemy gunmen ahead. Singh closed on them quickly, killing one and taking the other out. Harper and Gray followed up, and Harper finished off the gunment. Gray sprayed fire towards an enemy patrol ahead, but not enough to completely keep their heads down. Harper got tagged by a shot. Just a flesh wound but enough to slow him down.

The three soldiers pushed forward fast to the objective, giving the patrol no chance to fire again. The objective area was a flat field near a drinking hole. Poachers were loafing nearby smoking and chatting, while another group of poachers were trying to rile them up and get them to focus on the ivory they were meant to be collecting.

The team opened fire. There were no rules here and they could freely hose the enemy down. The patrol went down to rapid fire. The relaxing guards quickly followed courtesy of a well-placed grenade. The remaining hostiles were mainly encouraged to get their heads down, only managing to fire a few shots that caused Singh to duck into what little cover there was while Harper sweated in the midday sun and struggled to keep up. Gray pushed the two soldiers on just the same.

A final couple of bursts of fire from the team sorted the remaining poachers and the team were done. These elephants would live to drink from this watering hole another day.

I've played this objective a few times and always found it difficult to win when playing low points count missions. I was seriously helped by drawing the Heavy Military Presence event which means that you can score multiple hits with burst and full auto fire. Normally, you need a weapon that has spray fire or grenades and claymores to score multiple hits. The down side to this card is that you run out of ammo faster. Fortunately, I drew Reload cards and cards that gave the team extra firing actions before we went in, so it was simpler than usual. Heat did not prove to be an issue, although it did cost me an action, but the action card draws made up for that too. All in all, the lads done good and will be rewarded by being given a more difficult job next time around.

+3 VPs = 6 VPs. A good start to the campaign.

+3 Mission Points. I bought Gray Explosives skill so that his grenade and claymore usage is more effective in future.

Mission Adjustment: Skills cost +1 point. It's going to be more expensive to buy new skills for Gray, but I was going to have to save up anyway now that I have the cheapest skills I was really interested in.

The -1 loadout adjustment still applies from before too. The accumulating mission adjustments make the game a bit more difficult while the skills that the player soldier gains make it easier. Depending how you roll, it could be a lot more difficult or just a bit. I would not like to play this objective with its time limit on clearing the area if I had rolled increases in number of hostiles in the zone.

As a final bonus, I think I managed to remember all the rules properly this time around!

A Walk in the Light Green 1: The Warlord's Holdout (Warfighter in Africa)

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. I love that there is a Save the Elephants objective, and I fully plan to replay it several times with different player forces. I was tempted to make this an early 1980s campaign and give the Australian side SLRs, but in the end I was weak and let them have ALL the toys.

 2nd Lieutenant Gray had been given a mission. Poachers in the Bwendi Republic were expanding their operations and needed stopping. He was going to be leading one of the special forces teams into the bush to deal with their operations, mop up resistance and generally make their activities untenable. Of course, he reflected, the top brass could do that better by providing opportunities and development that made poaching less lucrative for the warlords as it was, but he was going to do his bit on the ground.

His first mission was to infiltrate a local warlord's holdout and he was going in alone, unless you counted the chopper crew, who were ferrying him to his jump-off point.

To do the job, he was loaded down with all the Claymores and grenades he could carry and was going to have to climb to the top of this rather large mountain and blow shit up. That was why they paid him the big bucks. He was good at blowing shit up.

Touchdown. the climb began. Just a few very relaxed guards on duty here, but, Christ on a bike, it was hot. He should have brought a Camelbak with him. Next time. His first shots suppressed the guards and then he closed and finished them off. No trouble. Pause. Catch his breath. Move on.

The holdout was not well-guarded. He reckoned they thought people would not be idiotic enough to climb up to it the hard way. More fool them. Gray was a total idiot and knew it. What is more, he did not care. The guards were more alert here. They'd heard the shots. That did not help them. He cleared the way to the main compound with a grenade and started planting the charges. As he did so, he found a note about a poaching operation that was due to start soon. Base would want to know about that.

Time to make like a banana and split. As he ducked down the slope back to the chopper, the charges blew and the holdout was destroyed. Score one for the good guys.

3 VPs in the bag.

I used the 3 Mission Points that were scored to buy Agile skill. If Gray is going to be climbing more mountains, the extra movement point will come in handy.

The Mission Adjustment dice roll for the next mission was -1 loadout for all new missions. That's one fewer grenade that Gray can carry or anything of similar size. That could hurt on later missions where the troops have to go in light anyway. We'll see.

The Environment (Hot) did not affect the game significantly, but I'm going to make sure he has a canteen or two in future games so that he does not lose actions due to being too hot. Failing the heat roll means getting Suppressed or taking a Wound, unless you have equipment to mitigate the failure. The former will slow you down, which you don't need. The latter reduces the number of cards you can draw and is really quite undesirable. Water or other means of hydration are your friend.