The Wild Geese, a Tribute Game - Winter of 79, Living on the Front Line

The Late, Great Sir Roger Moore as Lieutenant Shawn Fynn in the 1978 British adventure film 'The Wild Geese'

Thanks to Chas for running an entertaining game based on the movie "Wild Geese", to "Wild Geese -

Life on the Front Line Rules". Any resemblance to the real life activities of "Mad" Mike Hoare was

entirely intentional.

The scenario covered the final act of the Wild Geese movie, with Burton, Moore and Harris racing to

the jungle airstrip, in order to get the injured president Limbani onto the waiting Dakota and thence

to a safe country. Needless to say, they and their mercenaries had to fight the pursuing Simba rebels

every step of the way.

Scene One saw the Wild Geese in three vehicles racing down the jungle road, whilst rebels fought their way through the jungle to intercept them. As Richard Burton's force neared the airfield, a Simba
checkpoint and attendant blockhouse came into view. Richard Harris's squad in the lead truck raced
to crash the barrier and were brought to a shuddering stop by an rpg shot that injured one of the team. The squad debussed and brought the blockhouse under fire.

With Simba troops closing on the road near the rear Landrover, Richard Burton ordered his 4x4 to
halt and deployed his squad and their mmg to provide covering fire. This took the pressure off the
vehicle with Roger Moore and President Limbani in it and they were able to race on down the road.

A desperate struggle developed round the checkpoint and two mercenaries were killed, before Richard Harris could storm the entrance. His Uzi spoke, killing the men in his way and he lobbed a grenade into the guard room, with devastating results (you could tell he was no bit part player).

Burton's squad and the mmg were cutting swathes through the rebels behind the column, but the
jungle near the road block was alive with Simba militia and the men in the blockhouse managed to
stop Richard Harris in his tracks, with an injured rebel forcing him back (I don't think that scene
made the final cut).

As the blockhouse was finally taken, Roger Moore raced past the checkpoint toward the bridge over
the river. One Simba rebel had a line of sight and a lucky shot took out a tyre on the Landrover,
bringing it to a halt. Chaos ensued as mercenaries scrambled out of the vehicle, dragging the injured
Limbani into cover.

Having star billing, Richard Burton was alive to the situation and ordered his men back into their
vehicle, before driving to the president's aid.

Burton's Landrover arrived at the blockhouse, screeched to a halt and stalled. Burton, his squad and
the mmg debussed to provide covering fire. Roger Moore jumped into the vehicle and desperately
tried to start it. As he cranked the engine, the mmg and the FN's of Burton's men cut down a newly
arrived Simba squad.

Rebels appeared in the jungle on the other side of the river and a fire fight with Harris's men developed.

As Limbani was loaded into the remaining Landrover, Harris used his "Tactical Insight" special ability to keep his squad firing, as he rushed over open ground to a parked Simba truck. Once there he
dived on board, started the engine and drove to the blockhouse (At this point Richard Burton was
seen on the phone to his agent, shouting about who had the bigger part).

Reckless driving by Roger Moore, saw him cross the bridge and avoid the hail of fire from the rebels.
He screamed to a standstill by the Dakota and ran up the steps to to take his place in the pilot's seat,
as his men stretchered the president on-board.

Seeing Limbani had made it to the plane and with Simba militia closing in from all sides, Burton
ordered the rearguard to retreat by squads, with the mmg crew abandoning their gun and climbing
on Harris's waiting truck.One soldier was killed as he ran from the blockhouse and another covering
the retreat was also felled.

Harris and his remaining men on the truck raced over the bridge and onto the runway. Now there was only Burton and his men left to cover the rear.

Harris and his men boarded the plane, as a rebel tank (a 10+ event on 2D6) tried to smash its way to
the road through the jungle. Also a "technical" mounting a DSHK came into view of the men in the
blockhouse. Burton didn't remember this from the script, but quickly recovered his senses and ordered his men over the rear wall of the fortified position.

A brace of shots from one of Burton's men saw the technical's engine shot out, but a mercenary fell
to Simba fire as he crossed the river.

Meanwhile, back at the plane, Roger Moore sent his bazooka team (who had done nadda so far) to lie in ambush, waiting for the clanking monster currently making its way onto the road.

As the tank turned onto the airstrip the bazooka fired, hitting it. The smoke cleared, but the tank was untouched. Raising an eyebrow, Roger Moore gunned the Dakota's engines and took off.

Cut to scene of Richard Burton and his men staring up at the plane, as it climbed into the clouds, the
word "RAFER !" frozen on Burton's lips.

Postscript:

Her Majesty's Government wishes it to be known that, whilst it had no part in recent events in Zembala, it is pleased to hear that that President Limbani is safe and well in a third country, following a rebel attack on his motorcade.

Through the offices of the United Nations, the British government will continue to press for the
release of a number of British citizens employed by President Limbani, who are currently unlawfully
detained by Simba rebels.

Many thanks to Chas, Si and Steve H, who played the game in the spirit it deserved.

Vince

Winter of '79 - Battle of Rockbeare

Stung into action by the Brexit result, Chas put on a "Winter of '79" game, covering the last opportunity this country has had for "proper" revolution.

http://winterof79.blogspot.co.uk/p/winter-of-79-whats-it-all-about.html

The scenario was set on the Rockbeare straight, where the Rockbeare militia had set up a roadblock to earn some beer money from spurious tolls and a local politician had turned up to inspect the operation and take his cut. Not to be out done, the Whipton militia from the Revolutionary Socialist Republic of Exeter (RSRE), had set up their own barricade further down the road. Knowing that a rebel army unit would be travelling down the A 30 trying to seek refuge in Exeter, RSRE forces lurked in the fields off the Rockbeare straight, hoping to force a passage through the loyalist blockade.

Rebel army units approach the loyalist militia barricade

The action opened with the DSRE militia and trained fighters commencing an unprovoked attack on the loyal people of Rockbeare, causing the loyalists to fire back in self defence. Both sides suffered casualties and the survivors sought the best available cover. PC JJ ran to the last working phone box in east Devon and, braving the stench of wee, called up reinforcements. At this point the rebel army column came into view down the main road. "Hellfire" said Ted the gamekeeper "they've got a ****ing tank". Not only that, but a Saracen APC and a Ferret armoured car were soon in view and the barricade was under machine gun fire. The loyalist militia were hard pressed and their fire slackened, with only a few rifles from the buildings and the local politicians bodyguard able to return fire.

Wolfie Smith pictured catching the train down to Devon

Wolfie Smith leads the Rockbeare Militia on a bit of house clearing - "Power to the People!!"

A loyalist militia sniper forced the "Pig" APC to button up just long enough for a loyalist TA APC to arrive from Broadclyst and debus an infantry section at the junction of the A30 & Broadclyst road. Fire rippled up and down the line and a Rockbeare militia man blocked the main road with his land rover and ran for cover.

Who would of guessed what the ultimate tank trap would look like - a Land Rover?"

Seeing the Land Rover, "Red Chas" ordered the Centurion to "crush the capitalist swine's symbol of oppression". Now ordinarily a Landrover would not be much of an obstacle for a 50 tonne tank, but the wreck managed to cause the tank to throw a track, immobilising it and a petrol bomb from the barricade set it on fire. In a flash Ted was pointing his twelve bore into the commander's hatch, prompting the crew's surrender. Well, he looked cool for all of 30 seconds, until a burst of fire from the Whipton boys cut him down.

An army Pig heralds the collapse of the DSRE militia as it charges through the barricade, only to succumb to a ATGM

As the Pig crashed a wire fence and swerved round the barricade, the swoosh of rotors heralded the arrival of a Wessex helicopter. Despite two RPG rounds passing close by, the helicopter disgorged regular troops and they were soon giving fire to the rear of the rebel army column. An anti-tank guided weapon (ATGM) ruined the Ferret's day and small arms fire reminded the DSRE militia they had an important appointment elsewhere.

The rebel "Pig" looked sure to get away, but an ATGM from the TA unit cooked his bacon. No one being more surprised than the unit that fired it !

I am sure the rebels would have given a different slant to the action, but, to borrow from Brennus at the capture of Rome, "Vae victis".

A fun game to "Winter of '79" rules, all played out in 28mm under the watchful eye and light touch of umpire Chas.

Many thanks to Si for riding to the rescue and to Chas and Steve H for playing the opposition.

Vince

Power to the People - "Winter of 79", Living on the Frontline

Our third and final game played at this month's club was a 1970's clash between Marxist rebels and the forces of the Crown in the streets of Exeter as Chas and Vince played out this "What if" scenario using "Winter of 79" Living on the Front Line - follow the link below for details. Our Home Affairs Correspondent, Vince, was on the scene to post this report on the action.

http://winterof79.blogspot.co.uk/

Many thanks to Chas for running the game today. The rules were "Winter of '79" Living on the Front Line. The scenario pitched the Exeter Socialist Republic against the government troops and militia.


Needless to say Chas took the "leftie scum" and I played the good guys.

The game opened with the army entering Whipton (see map below) and facing road blocks lined with treasonous Marxists. A few rounds of HE from the supporting Centurion thinned them out somewhat, although a couple of rocket propelled grenades (rpgs) bouncing off the front plate cooled the crews enthusiasm for leading the charge. 

Area map of the City of Exeter showing where all the trouble kicked off and the entry area of the army via Whipton 

A Saracen and supporting squad hosed down another barricade and another Saracen sought to flank the militia. A hail of rpg rounds saw it taking cover behind a wall.

A row of terraced houses disgorged a mass of left leaning locals, supported by a Ferret armoured car. The government flanking force looked in danger of being outflanked and a vicious fire-fight and melee developed. Seeing their comrades in need, the Centurion crashed the barricade and routed the militia behind it. On a roll, it steamed into the next obstacle, as the other Saracen moved up to fire into the flank of the "Brixton Ganja Boys". 

With the writing on the wall First Citizen Chas called for his coach and with a wave to his men, left for the M5 motorway.

A fun game and a fast paced set of rules. The actions are card driven and probably aimed at a game with around 20 a side (we had many more than that). Most actions and reactions are by dice type roll offs against your opponent. The bigger the dice the better and this is linked to troop quality, with modifiers moving the size of die thrown up or down. This works pretty well and always allows the underdog a chance. It certainly makes for a fast and furious game.

About half of shooting results just lead to targets ducking or being suppressed, which seems about right to me. Also the option to "duck" in response to fire improves survivability.

All in all a nice set of rules that capture the feel of the period of unrest during the "Winter of Discontent", and what might have happened if history had taken a different path.

Vince