Congo Crisis - Force on Force

In preparation for our usual summer game weekend, Chas ran a warm up Congo Crisis scenario, to
"Force on Force" rules and the "Bush Wars" supplement.

Steve M and myself took charge of "Mad Mike Hoare", his mercenaries and Armee Nationale
Congolaise troops (ANC) approaching one side of Stanleyville, whilst Belgian paratroopers under
Andy and Chris advanced on the airport at the opposite end of town. The objective was to rescue
Belgian civilians being held hostage by the rebels

Chas, Nathan. Everett and Jason took the part of the Simba rebels and their ANC deserters, holding
the airport, town and environs.

On seeing a group of locals fording the river, "Mad Mike" barked the order and an M8 armoured car
and 50 cal armed jeep gave them the good news. Scratch one Simba unit (frankly they could have
been fishermen, but as mercenaries we didn't care).

Steve similarly roughly handled some Simba crouching in the jungle and things settled into a firefight
on that side of town.

Meanwhile the Belgian paras, with more stringent "hard target" rules of engagement, sent a point
man onto the runway. "It is OK, Valentin, we have your back" said Major Andy. At that moment a
hidden mob of Simba popped up to fire, Valentin dived for cover and the two para squads on
"Overwatch" brassed up the rebels something chronic.

The going was starting to get tough for the mercenaries, with a lot of fire coming from buildings over
the river. As mercenary infantry moving back into cover, the vehicles did the heavy lifting and
chewed up a lot of Simba, but a jeep was suppressed and all the crew hit. Seeing three men down, "Mad Mike", ordered a team of ANC into the open to patch up his guys. Which they did a treat, with the jeep and the lightly wounded crew, pulling back at speed. Nothing to see here.

By now anyone on this side of town was receiving a severe dose of "Overwatch" if they stuck their
heads out, but driving into the built up area was still not looking healthy.

Meanwhile the Belgians had taken the airport and were into the outskirts of Stanleyville. They were
ably hosing down any Simba or ANC deserters that showed their heads. Still, a couple of Simba units
charged into hand to hand combat. Several Belgians fell, before supporting fire cut the rebels down.

By now the writing was on the wall for Simba. They had lost a lot of men, for four mercenaries and four Belgians hit and we called it a day.

A good game, with the Belgians and "Mad Mike's" men having some good dice rolling to thank for
keeping casualties down. The magic water of the Simba rebels was clearly not working today. That
said, when it got up close and personal, it could easily have been a bad day in Brussels.

Many thanks to Chas for running the scenario and to the other players for taking it all in good part.
Note to self: Keep soft skin vehicles well back next time.

Vince