Diamonds are Forever.........B'Maso Goes Blood Diamond in Central Africa

        Many years ago the Government sold the Imperial Mining Company mineral rights to the Omovodo Range, a series of small mountains in the far north. At that time there was nothing to be found there but some poor-quality iron deposits, recently extensive research by IMC has found that the area contains vast, rich fields of diamonds.

      The IMC has quietly been developing the infrastructure to begin exploiting the resource but word has gotten out (it always does) and the Government has demanded a re-negotiation of the terms of the mining rights contract and has threatened nationalization. Needless to say the IMC is not happy about this development and has "taken measures" to ensure the security of their investment.

      The government, always looking for a foreign "boogey-man" to rabble-rouse against, has mobilized the army nearby citing "rising unrest" in the area and the need to "secure the national endowment". Rumors abound of mercenaries and military equipment moving into the area from surrounding nations, the powder keg has been opened and only awaits a spark.

the scene of the trouble, the quiet town of Emmetsville in the west

 (near end of the table)

a view from the north, the sawmill in the center lower edge

the sturdy brick building in the center is the IMC offices,

the large building on the right is the electrical generating plant

the action begins, blinds are deployed,

the IMC seems to have a distinct numerical superiority

at the Government end of the table, looking west,

the troops begin to move off-road

the elite Guards troops press on up the road

as the rest of the army fans out across the fields looking for the "insurgents"

at the IMC end of the table the mining company's representatives spread out eastward

(the blinds with the green chips and dice are "holding actions"

an interesting rules device that allows you to reserve actions for later use, a sort of overwatch)

the Government blinds deploy, at turns out to be a T-55, much to the IMC's dismay

they had little to fear as it was unable to spot the blinds in front of it

a technical (in the distance next to the sawmill)

opens fire on Government troops moving toward the sawmill

it receives fire in return, this firefight would go on for a rather long time

the Guards dismount their APC

 (note that the better trained troops chose to fight in the shade)

the sawmill was teeming with angry "workers". it quickly came under fire

(signified by the green skull marker)

the T-55 opens fire on an IMC armored car but misses

the troops, having tired of the technical's fire,

 take a shot with an RPG, it missed

the T-55 in the rear continued missing the armored car,

 and the one in the foreground reserved actions in case the pig farm was occupied by rebels

the T-55 misses the armored car a third time

finally, the armored car is destroyed, but not by this T-55

back at the sawmill the IMC forces maintain their foothold despite casualties

another shot with an RPG hits the technical, killing the crew,

 but somehow leaving the the vehicle in operating condition

lending a hand to it's "accuracy impaired" brother the lead T-55 takes out the armored car at last

 the Government forces take control of what was soon to be named the Hill of Blood

the T-55 finds gunning down IMC forces a lot easier when they are not hiding behind a hill

(or in an armored car)

the Guards continue to advance on the pig farm

the Government forces in the center and middle distance pound the sawmill with fire

 but are unable to break the will of the stalwart IMC workers

the IMC troops hiding in the trees return fire with an RPG, it went wildly astray

 the Guards gain control of the pig farm

the tanks are joined by the BDRM of the Guards as they fire upon the IMC troops in the woodline

the carnage in the sawmill is frightful but still the IMC workers stand fast

but the damage is not isolated to the IMC forces,

the Government troops on the Hill of Blood have been pounded hard as well

taking fire from multiple directions the rebels in the tree line gamely fought back,

but the level of damage was rapidly becoming intolerable

but the IMC was not without a surprise or two of it's own,
two gun-armed armored cars came out of blinds and took the BDRM under fire
destroying it and driving one of the tanks off

in return they came under RPG fire from the Guards

this resulted in the complete destruction of one of them right away

the resulting ammo explosion caused civilian casualties

more Government forces advance to drive off the stubborn rebels in the tree line

the tanks notice the destruction of the BDRM

and will have to break off firing at the rebels in the trees to deal with the armored cars

the Government troops begin to lose the fight with the re-manned technical

the IMC forces still hold forces in blind,

causing the Government commander great concern

with the rebels finally losing grip on the tree line the Government forces can advance

the heroic rebels retire past the wreckage of their armored car

the squad of Government troops on the Hill of Blood also could no longer stand the fire and withdrew

leaving behind their dead

they rallied a short distance away but badly needed to re-organize

hammered by fire from the technical and a squad of rebels next to the sawmill

the Government troops are on the edge of collapse

a T-55 decides to lend a hand with the stubborn sawmill, only to be taken under fire with PRGs

meanwhile, back at Emmetsville, the second armored car falls prey to persistent enemy action

the IMC forces play their last Ace,

two APCs full of fresh troops come off of blinds and take on the Guards

the sheer weight of fire drives off on squad of the elites,

 lots of hits but no one killed

having spent every available action on shooting, the IMC troops were literally left standing in the road, desperately hoping their card is drawn before the Government troops get a chance to return fire

while the IMC troops were taking on the guards they also deployed yet another gun-armed armoured car firing at the T-55s, this was dealt with by an RPG shot from a fresh squad on the Hill of Blood

another brutal firefight went on between the fresh troops shooting at each other across a narrow dusty lane, casualties were heavy on both sides

the Government T-55's card came up first and it lashed the rebels with fire

the crew of the second T-55 are still claiming that they knocked out that last armored car

another Government squad being ground down on the Hill of Blood

a heavy toll was paid by any unit trying to hold this position

the rebels vainly fire an RPG at the T-55

 and are subjected to fire for their efforts

the general, too late to inspire the troops finds himself alone in the open

enemy fire soon destroyed his truck and wounded the Exalted One and his driver

the T-55 spots the troublesome technical near the sawmill and takes a very difficult shot.......

.........the T-55 rolled an eleven, at long last the technical is destroyed

the IMC APCs are destroyed by fire from the tanks and RPGs from the Guards

while the exposed squads are nearly abolished

a Government squad (poorly supported by the beaten-down squad on the Hill of Blood)

attempt to assault the rebels across the road.........

poorly supported attacks are a bad idea,

the Government troops retire with a bloody nose

unable to advance, barely able to fire, this squad would not be driven off

with their armor support gone, and very heavy casualties,

 the IMC forces retired to regroup

     As usual, kudos to Pat for a well thought-out game with lovely terrain and all of those good-looking minis.

     For folks not familiar with the game system; the green chits you see in the photos are representative of held actions, the red ones are "wounds" which represent a combination of actual injuries as well as disorganization and loss of morale, blue chits show that the unit is supressed (with muich reduced fire and movement options), the green skulls show that the unit is taking fire (troops that are not being shot at are more effective than those that need to duck).
     Vehicle damage is detailed; you can be driven off by fire, have key personnel stunned/wounded/killed, parts of the vehicle can be damaged either temporarily of permanently. This sort of thing happened several times in this game, one of the T-55s spent a fair part of the game either retreating or moving back into position as the result of otherwise ineffective RPG and armored car fire.
     Movement is random, each unit is assigned a card which are then shuffled and drawn, there are also two "sundowner" cards in the deck which when the second one is drawn shown that the turn has ended. It is possible to go several turns without your card getting drawn, it is also possible to the last unit to move in one turn and the first unit in the next turn. Some people do not care for this but I think it nicely creates the random chaos of modern small-unit combat. Certain powerful leaders get a card of their own and they can activate nearby units to advance the plan.