Monday 7 February 2011

Osprey Game part 6

Despite the Taliban attempting to get a shot on the escapees they could not actually get a target. Frustrating is not the word for it.






At the end the Coalition forces scored 25 points for rescuing the two hostages and capturing the reporter.

The Taliban scored 1 for a wound and two for a serious wound or kill. The result was 23.

Close game to say the least and the last four moves were incrediably exciting.

Phew!!!!

IN CONCLUSION

It was a very exciting game. The Taliban players could only sit and wait for the coalition to walk into their traps and positions for a lot of the game and there was some nerve racking periods as we waited for the right time to spring a trap.

However full credit goes to the Coalition players who acted in a very aggressive manor at times and successfully destroyed all opposition. They were unlucky with some of the Fog of War cards which very much benifited the Taliban.

Full credit also goes to them for continuing to look for the second hostage who had been reported killed and was kept in a different building. Many players would have assumed the worse in order to get out of there.

The descision to put in the reserves to cover the retreat was also sensible as it dominated the area and dealt with any Taliban who were ready to block the special forces evacuation.

And now a word from one of the coalition players, Joseph McCullough.

I think the whole game actually hinged on one turn. The first turn we assaulted the main compound. For one second, there was only one SBS man standing, and everyone else was down. If that last man had gone down, or if Phil had not (once again) rolled so well for the casualties and seen all but one pop right back up, it would almost certainly have been game over.

"I think what really drove us was not knowing the scale of opposition. If we new there was a finite number of Taliban, we might have taken a more methodical approach, but many games of Ambush Alley have taught us to hit hard, move fast, stomp on spawn points, and get the hell outta Dodge!

Joe"


All in all a great game enjoyed by all. Planning the next one already.

Osprey Game part 5

The chase was now on as the Special Forces escorted their rescued hostages to safety.

The Taliban chased hard across the entire length of the table.


Osprey Game part 4

Throughout the game we pulled Fog of War cards of which the best one was the first turned over that handed initiative to the Taliban. At this point in the game initiative was finally passed back to the Coalition. Sad news for us guys as it had been difficult enough to score points against the Coalition Terminators.

The SBS and Delta teams started to check the houses within the central compound discovering and closing another hotspot. They also discovered the first hostage and what turned out to be an Al Jazeera reporter. 10 points for the hostage and 5 for the reporter.

The Delta team outside the compound, having sorted out the ambushers, checked another house and discovered the second hostage. Reports of his killing having been dramatically overstated.

The last Landrover was brought up to get the casualties and hostages loaded in. BANG!!!! Another card brought in some friendly fire straight onto the vehicle causing more casualties and destroying the vehicle.

A quick plan was pulled together and the last reserves were landed at 2 landing zones at one end of the table. The first units were a USMC engineer unit that moved towards the central compound to offer support.

The second and main reserves landed on the other side of the table with the intention of covering the retreat of the Special Forces and the hostages. This proved to be a bad decision. Until now the Coalition gamers had kept the operation to limited troops but now they offered the Taliban a target rich environment and they took the opportunity to maximize from it. Two hotspots were set up around the main LZ. One in the old fort and one in the poppy field. The US infantry started taking casualties from the cross fire and those nasty types whooped for joy.

Yet another card ruined their day and the fort suddenly caught fire. Escaping out of the back door from their position the Taliban were destroyed. A major attack was put in against the poppy field and the insurgents destroyed. The two hotspots were put out of action.

The route to escape was now clear.


Friday 4 February 2011

Osprey Game part 3

Whilst a sniper covered the rush on the central compund taking out any Taliban that appeared, and many did. The Taliban were able to jump out from cover and with some excellent dice rolloing create 3 serious casualties within the SBS.


Meanwhile another Delta team landed by Littlebird in another position to cover the attack. They immediatly came under fire from various Taliban positions taking casualties. The Taliban players looked on with satisfaction as their traps started to work and their points steadily grew.. Muhahahahahahahaah!!!

Osprey Game part 2

The SBS and Delta fireteams quickly took out one of the mortar teams and destryoed a Hotspot hidden in a house. Then attacked the central compound.

Osprey Game part 1

The Coalition players were allowed to view the table first hand, only having had a few photographs before. All Taliban forces were not placed in position at this time. Next they were given an option to gather as much information as possible to a maximum of 6 days worth of observation. Each day was split into two 12 hour periods and a card turned over which revealed certain things such as engine noises at night near the main centre compound, a fuel dump also in the compound, nothing to report, and then a report from Aljazeera that the US hostage had been killed. At this point the Coalition forces decided to stop further intelligence gathering and went away to plot….sorry plan.


Whilst they did this the Taliban forces were placed on the table or unit cards hidden under buildings.

Game on. The Coalition forces had come to the conclusion that the hostages were held in the large domed building in the centre of the table. Their attack force was made up of a column of SBS troops with a single fire team of Delta chaps. This group travelling in 2 Landrovers and 2 Quad bikes drove at top speed towards the domed building.

As they came across an IDE in the middle of the road they adopted an interesting tactic of driving past it. BANG! Once the dust had settled it was clear that the Quad rider had survived. As the vehicles sped on another IED. BANG! Yet again Corporal Lucky as he had now been nicknamed had survived.

But the Taliban were not having any of this and the column had driven into a trap. A mortar opened up taking out one of the Landrovers and injuring one of the occupants. First point to the Taliban. A sniper directly in front of Lucky failed as did the rest of the men hidden. These nasty guys were quickly despatched.

The SBS quickly moved on and began to clear the compound buildings and prepare for the main assault on the central compound.