Holy Mackeral! Another Wars of Insurgency Report

    An overview of the village where most of the battling BushWars campaign contingents ended up

Having a few days off for the Thanksgiving holidays, I decided to re-post some more Wars of Insurgency battle reports from the active and enthusiastic Nunawading Wargames Association. Since they post their AARs on Facebook group, most readers are unable to access them unless they join their group. Plus, I think readers of Lead Legionaries will enjoy their humor and excitement, as well as the models and creativity they show. So enjoy!

OPERATION “HOLY MACKEREL” 

...or in this case, "Don’t be late for the flight!"

    The goal of the contingents: Board the flying boat and get the heck out of there!

by Mike Fly Goldyn (July 1, 2022)

Last night, several national contingents - New Guernsey, Omovo, PKL and Zevonia - were operating along the coast of Khenefria and at a given point in time converged into an area where it was known that a flying boat was moored. A race developed as to which national contingent would embark on the flying boat (a Beriev Be-6) and fly to safety.

    All four contingents had to march across the board and find clues or equipment to help them

Advancing towards the port town, the Zevonians found a crate with two LMGs within. Unfortunately, they were useless. They also encountered the local population first. It was a decidedly frosty reception.
(Side note: civilians were in the area to offer information to contingents they were questioned by. Some were ambivalent, one was enthusiastic, but most were downright hostile, even aggressive! Several soldiers met their end from a well-placed kick!).

    The New Guernsey contingent hopped on board the dubious and flammable transport of a fuel truck

It was the PKL contingent that started the shooting. New Guernsey troops found two vehicles, a fuel truck and a bus, in working order and had decided to use those for transport. As the New Guernsians were traveling past, the PKL-ers threw a barrage of hand grenades at the passing vehicles. A lively gunfight ensued between the soldiers roadside and the vehicle passengers. (Side note: statistically, it was amazing how many hand grenades were duds! At times, it was like throwing rocks.)

    The Zevonian contingent advances along the edge of the board, hugging the cover

The fuel truck driver was shot and killed whilst hurtling down the road. With a combination of gymnastics and extreme contorting, the officer passenger was able to shift the dead driver out of the seat, replace him as the driver and gain control of the truck. Similarly, the bus became a bullet magnet, gradually filling with casualties. But they gave as good as they got. The roadside was piling up with PKL dead and wounded. 

    After a long and harrowing run, the New Guernsian hijacked bus crashes into a building

Finally, the PKL-ers managed to blow up the fuel truck in a great ball of flame. Surprisingly, there were few casualties as those hanging onto the truck for grim life managed to jump clear before the explosion. At almost the same time, the bus driver was shot and killed, causing the bus to swerve and collide into a mud brick building. It was this bus crash that caused the most casualties. 

    One squad enters the village, peering around the corner for signs of their foes

Thereafter, both the New Guernsians and PKL-ers were spent forces. What was left of the PKL contingent decided to continue their advance to the town, past more abusive villagers. The New Guernsians took shelter in the building they just crashed into. Sporadic gunfire between the two contingents continued until the PKL-ers moved out of range. 

    Omovans and Zevonians take cover and begin to battle it out in the center of the village

The Zevonians made steady progress towards the road. They threatened the New Guernsians, made a marriage proposal to a local villager and… other stuff. On the other flank, the Omovans also advanced towards the road, meeting along the way several unhelpful villagers. 

    Interrogating locals could end up helping a faction (or not!), as it did with the Omovans

With some luck, they found the one key person of the operation. In the briefing, it was stated “No One is your friend; trust No One”. Upon approaching a rather attractive (and dangerously armed) young girl, she introduced herself as No One. She showed the Omovans a secret tunnel system that led to the other side of the town, just opposite of the pier. 

    No report of factions attempting to interrogate the elephants (despite their reputation for memory!)

As the Omovans were about to descend into the tunnel, the poor hapless PKL detachment (downgraded from contingent) entered the town and thus coming into range of some F.L.A.W. guerrillas. The resulting ambush caused yet more casualties on the ever-shrinking PKL detachment. 

    The formerly peaceful village erupted in gunfire as the four factions made their way slowly to it

The town now became the focus of new conflict. The remaining PKL-ers took shelter in the corner townhouse, engaging in a firefight with the guerrillas. The Omovans found an Umgawan special forces team who were there to hunt down the F.L.A.W. guerrillas. They all emerged from the tunnel in the courtyard of a walled building. The Zevonians engaged the guerrillas. The New Guernsians remained skulking in the mud brick building. 

    Sneaking through a grove of palm trees towards the outskirts of the village

In amongst the carnage, some bloke started playing singing bowl music (probably some stray musician from Duloc), enhancing everyone’s morale. The F.L.A.W.-ists were eventually eliminated. The Umgawans left as their mission was completed. The Zevonians changed targets and started shooting at the Omovans, whilst the Omovans were battling the remnants of the PKL-ers.  

    The firefight in the village gets more intense as the end of the game nears

In amongst the flying bullets and lobbed hand grenades, the Zevonians made a dash for the pier and the Beriev flying boat moored to it. Amongst the bullets and wood splinters from the pier, the Zevonians managed to embark onto the Beriev, take off and fly away with no further calamities. Mission success for Zevonia! 

    The Zevonians hurry down the pier and pile into the waiting flying boat to make their getaway

Side note: as the Zevonians won the battle and managed to fly away with a crate full of platinum bars, they will be rewarded with D10 x10 points which they can add to their contingent in the next game. Many thanks for another exciting and hilarious game to Tom Chenu, Ashley Jenkins, Piotr Kaczmarek and Aaron Mauger, with additional thanks for the special input by Keiran Pycroft.