The scenario's forces were paired down from the original but the objectives and special rules would remain. To recap, the government backed forces came in from one side and the fundamentalists from Al Kebab would come from the opposite side, both seeking hidden fuel caches. Hidden markets were placed along the center line, and only after seizing and searching the cache would it be known if it was fuel or or if it was folly.
The local government-backed warlord, Dagarwal Baaqi, had two clans (Abdul and Khan) with tanks and trucks and a BTR-mounted unit of government regulars led by Turan Aabdar.
Abu Kebab al Kebabi and his crazed followers had four units at their disposal: the elite black-clad Bashi Bazouks, the hell on wheels Martyr-Cycles along with battle groups Hamal and Samaka.
On the north end of the basin, Clan Khan, led by Dagarwal Baaqi, and battle group Hamal moved towards the road from opposite sides in a (rather slow) race to secure caches (below).
In the center, the Martyr-Cycles moved towards an abandoned village in the middle of the table.
The Krapistani government troops lumbered towards a palm grove in the center of the table seeking black oil.
On the southern edge of the basin, it appeared battle group Samaka and clan Abdul would collide near another abandoned roadside village. Abu Kebab led his Bashi Bazouks to reinforce battle group Samaka.
The followers of Abu Kebab must have forgotten their morning coffee because they inched at a snails pace through the game with abysmal die rolls for movement (usually 1s and 2s).
Some rather ineffective fire took place between the tank of clan Khan and the BMP and technical of battle group Hamal. During the exchange of fire, Al Kebabi fighters searched a cache and discovered a functioning truck loaded with oil!
The Martyr-Cycles raced into the abandoned village but seemed to get lost and took several turns to secure the suspected cache only to discover it was a dummy.
Just south of the Martyr-Cycles, Krapistani regulars had good fortune securing an oil cache and loading it onto a BTR.
The Al Kebab followers seemed to get distracted in the villages, as both the Bashi Bazouks and battle group Samaka could barely muster enough movement to begin searching the southern village. The BMP exchanged inaccurate salvos with the T-55 of clan Abdul who inched closer to a suspected cache on the roadside.
Things started to heat up a bit (literally) when a 100mm tank round from clan Khan slammed into Al Kebab technical of battle group Hamal, leaving the Toyota in flames. A brief firefight between the two factions resulted in battle group Hamal suffering their theirs failed morale roll and they skedaddled off the battlefield and left the oil-laden truck for clan Khan to claim.
The Martyr-Cycles burned rubber and wheeled out of the village empty handed, skulking around some rocks to see if they could interdict clan Khan and their oil booty.
A long range firefight erupted between the 14.5mm KPTV heavy machine guns of the Krapistani BTRs, a technical of clan Samaka and a BRDM from the Bashi Bazouks. The regulars managed to brew up the Toyota and the BRDM, leaving most of the Bashi Bazouks pinned from the collateral fire.
Battle group Samaka finally managed to search the village only to find that there was no oil present. Meanwhile, clan Abdul discovered an oil cache attached along the roadside outside of the village.
At this point, the game clock ended. Dagarwal Baaqi's forces had secured four fuel caches for the government while the hapless followers of Al Kebab struck out in their pursuit of oil. Adding insult to injury, Al Kebab also lost battle group Hamal. We didn't need to count up the victory points to see that this was a stinging defeat for Al Kebab.
Of course, nothing ever happens the way it should in Krapistan and the oil reserves likely won't find their way back to the Krapistani government. More likely Dagarwal Baaqi will keep some for himself and sell the rest back to Al Kebab to keep their barbecue grills well fueled.
Both Alex and I had a blast, the AK-47 Republic rules are super simple and fast moving. Definitely more beer and pretzels than simulation but that's exactly what we wanted. The scenario was an interesting one and it led to fewer casualties as the primary objective was to secure fuel caches and not the destruction of the enemy or the capture of villages. I have to point out that my victory was more due to Alex's incredibly poor dice rolling than anything else. He rolled 1s and 2s for movement and shooting throughout the game. Had his luck with the dice been remotely close to average, it likely would have been a much different outcome.
It was a well fought game! the dice spirits did not imbue my rolls, but it was great nonetheless... thanks for putting the scenario together, it was a ton of fun!
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