Foot Patrol - First Contact

Eamon and Steve were over at the weekend for our annual birthday celebrations. Neither had played Ambush Alley before, so before the main planned game I setup something small to get them used to the rules.

An American squad enters a small village along a track, two small groups of Taliban occupy the outskirts and more could be on the way. The squad should establish a strong foothold in the village to assess the strength of the opposition and await for further instructions.



The 1st Fire Team, lead by the squad sergeant moves along the village's outside wall. It stays near the gate, just in case an opportunity presents itself to advance quickly across the village square, but it's intending to continue around the corner to close down insurgent activity at the hotspot.

The other fire team maintains a presence where some elephant grass has broken through the wall and covers that side of the village.


Meanwhile a Taliban group which had been overlooking that advance was drawn into an ill-advised firefight with the Americans. Its survivors flee to join up with another group behind cover



The 2nd Fire Team moves through the gap in the wall and takes up position in a house. A protracted firefight breaks out between them´and the Taliban groups in the area and all members of the team are seriously wounded.



The triumphant Taliban group moves around cover in order to flank the remaining Americans or to capture any Americans still in the house



A group of Taliban arrive out of a rat-run just as the Americans set it up with C4. A fierce battle breaks out but American training and steely resolve wins out. The Americans wipe out the new arrivals and shut down the hotspot.



Good first run-through with the lads. Bigger games from Saturday and Sunday to follow...

EuroFed Marines

European Federation Marines are responsible for garrisoning Langeforsstad. While the world is no hotspot, the jungles of the island of Visby away from the main settlements have proved to be a valuable exercise area. In the latest generation ThyssenKrupp Personal Armour and using the highly reliable Bofors 4.73mm Assault Carbine the EuroFed Marines are a feared light infantry outfit.

Art by WiredGear

1st Squad move into open ground



2nd Squad stay frosty



Command Team take stock



Weapons Team move through cover



3rd Squad cover flank



Platoon ready for contact



While these guys aren't going to take part in the Rebellion on Novaya Sakha, with tension ratcheting up towards a possible Second InterSolar War, they may see action in this neck of the woods yet...

New Miniature Storage

Finally got off my ass and around to assembling this set of drawers I got at Christmas. It's an Alex from Ikea



It has six large but shallow drawers - perfect for miniatures



Most of the miniatures have been placed inside the lids of A4 paper boxes, and these have been placed in the drawers.



The top drawer includes some of my 6mm Napoleonics, and you can probably guess that this means it's easy to take out an entire army and move it onto the table for deployment



The drawer unit rolls easily underneath my gaming table



As usual the Ikea assembly process was aided by good instructions, and good materials. However following that ancient law, there was a single piece left over!



One word of warning though, my 28mm mounted knights' lance catch slightly, so I've been forced to lie them down. Otherwise a worthwhile purchase...do I have room for a second though?

Relief Column

The British relief column reaches the jungle highlands where the Americans are holding out



While the US Marines have not yet been able to make the trip from Liberia, a American DH-4 (designated O2B-1) from the Naval forces there has made the trip to help locate the wayward adventurers



The aggressive pilot steers directly for the Pteradactyls on the plateau and opens fire. The Pteradactyls react in anger encircling the aircraft but the rear-gunner takes care of one of them and the other is forced to land



Meanwhile the Americans are distraught when the relief column (heard in the distance) doesn't arrive through the jungle valleys, but rather a pack of Carnosaurs, racing a pair of Tyrannosaurs towards them



The relief column drives at full tilt through the high grasses, catching up on Raptors and a Spinsosaurus making their way at the Americans. Whether it's panic or some other nervousness neither the British nor the Americans open fire at this stage, despite the overwhelming numbers of Dinosaurs in view



The Americans have camouflaged their positions well, and the holding of their fire causes the Dinosaurs to slow down and begin a search [at this stage after seeing Graham roll a series of '1's and '2's on criticals, Colin suggests that he just roll higher - the strategy works!]



Meanwhile, the Spinosaurus has noticed the column of vehicles and has set about them, wreaking havoc. Flipping and destroying a truck (although the passengers leap to safety) and completely wreaking the armoured car, which explodes due to some freak accident



Just as the crew of the Field Gun sweep the camouflage netting aside to fire point blank at a Carnosaur, fearsome and monstrous grubs begin to crawl out of the nearby slime, almost panicking the startled gunners. They stick to the task and pummel the terrifying beast with a few shells



The remaining British disembark from the touring car and truck to take on a Carnosaur. They must fight their way through before the Americans are overwhelmed!



Just as they begin to make headway, a giant spider creeps out of the jungle to assail Frazier (whose aversion to spiders from service in the Far East is well known)



The first Tyrannosaur takes a powerful shot in the head from the field gun, and the other nearby beasts begin to think better of approaching its front arc of fire



A Carnosaur and some Raptors fight over Drake, the remaining American leader. His bravery seems to be without end, but a Raptor attack ends up in his fearsome Tommy Gun being ripped from his hands. The more intelligent Raptor curiously looks over at it, but before any action can be taken Drake pulls out his Browning pistol and continues his doomed struggle



The remaining Pteradactyl glides over and lands on a tree overlooking the fight. It chooses its moment to swoop in, killing one of the remaining British adventurers in a single pass



ALthough its strafing run is effective in killing a Carnosaur it passes too low to the fight, and the Tyrannosaur leaps up in an attempt to get rid of this nagging machine. The bite takes a chunk out of the planes tail section and as the gunner continues to provide suppressing fire, all the remaining adventurers are overwhelmed



With solid evidence in the form of a masticated rudder, the navy pilot returns to the coast to report the expeditions fate back to the Marine contingent...

Searching Party

The second of the three Perilous Trail! scenarios I ran at Leprecon last weekend

A British column scouts ahead of the main force, looking for any sign of the Americans' location. The search party exits a dense jungle area to come upon a wide variety of creatures in open grassland



The British, led by Major Jones make their way around a jungle outcrop



A pair of Pterodactyls circle around a high rock formation, waiting for suitable sized prey to show itself at the small lake, but the adventurers look like they'll do



The slow by armoured Edmontons guard their nest at the edge of the plateau, they'll take up a defensive position at the escarpment but will not be threatened



The smaller Styracosaurs graze in the high grass, keenly aware of the Raptors which lurk up a gully nearby



The two separate search columns merge near rocky ground into a rough line to deal with the dinosaurs moving in their general direction. Some British fire discipline will sort them out



Without any nearby targets but getting itchy trigger fingers the right flank opens fire on the Iguanadons who were supping out of the small lake. They're spooked by the gunshots and run away



A Spinosaurus, which had been roaming the area charges out of the high grass towards the British line



It survives the torrent of fire to hurtle into the adventurers, but the British have the measure of the beast and keep it at bay, damaging its claws. Meanwhile a wily infantryman has worked his way around the back of the Spinosaur to take a shot from there



Chaos ensues as the Raptors scuttle out of the high grass to leap on the adventurers closest them just as a Triceratops lumbers out of hiding nearby to attack. The Pteradactyls' threat is dealt with calmly as Jones pistols one just as it swoops in to take off his head



The left-hand column causes dismay amongst the others as it cuts and runs! Some of the slain are being feasted on by the hungry carnivores and it's every man for himself



The Triceratops' bellow scares the living daylights out of the Adventurer and he runs for cover. Somehow the ponderous Triceratops finds a burst of speed and catches up to gore him mercilessly into the ground



As Jones rides away the second Pteradactyl glides in silently to skewer the mounted man, but Jones turns in the saddle to effortessly shoot it stone cold dead



Jones is having a crisis of conscience and rather than continue in his flight, turns his horse around to ride back and save the day. His return is upset by a Raptor who jumps out of hiding just as he rides past a patch of grass. He doesn't have a chance to even turn his pistol at it. He just utters two last word: "Clever girl!"



The adventurers on foot are caught by the rampant Raptors just as they enter the gully



Not a soul amongst the search columns is left alive, and so the Americans must hold out a little longer as the British adventurers struggle to find them