Origins of the Campaign
Yesterday afternoon, we locked up the Osprey offices, formed a long convoy of vehicles and headed for the wilds of Culham. There, in the nettle choked forest, we donned our combat vests, hefted our various laser weapons, and prepared to do battle.
Opposing Commanders
Alistair ‘The Moneyman’ Jones: A veteran of the brutal 2007 campaign, Alistair accepted command of ‘Team Blue’. Throughout the day, his energetic, lead-from-the-front style, would prove an inspiration to his troops.
A rare photograph of the Moneyman.
Michael ‘Zim-Zim’ Ramalho: Another veteran of 2007 and the wilds of Africa, Ramalho reluctantly took command of ‘Team Red’ on the day before the battle. His leadership skills would be continuously tested throughout the day as he worked to keep his independent-minded army under control.
Zim-Zim with his bodyguard Big Papa Phil
Capture the flags
The first battle of the day tasked Team Red with an assault on the base of Team Blue, in order to capture the Blue standards. Team Red initially attempted a double-envelopment of the Blue base. However, neither wing of their force moved far enough around the enemy flank. As Alistair mowed down Red troopers with a .50 cal, his team kept up a withering fire. Notable during the exchange was the calm and precise firing of Lady Death, the little French assassin, who accounted for a number of kills. It was also during this phase of the battle that Russell saw a pretty flower and was shot.
Rebuffed in their initial assaults, Team Red regrouped and launched a second assault in a wider arc around the flanks. This proved more successful, with Big Papa Phil and ‘The Briscoe’ getting completely behind the Blue base. However, the various assault wings could not coordinate their attacks and Team Blue was able to meet each threat piecemeal, eliminating the threat and winning the game.
Red Team assaulting the Blue Base.
Detonation!
The second encounter saw Team Blue attempt to destroy an immobilized APC and the Red Base. While Team Red prepared their defences, Alistair ordered an all-out assault on the enemy APC. Despite superior numbers at the point of contact, Team Blue came under a withering fire around the APC. If Team Red had been able to launch a counter attack against the APC, they might have been able to drive their enemies from the field. However, during this time, ‘Abe Force’ was deployed in a suicidal frontal assault against the Red base. Although hopeless, the constant smoke deployed by Abe Force, made targeting difficult and Team Red was forced to expend a lot of time and effort eliminating this threat.
Meanwhile, back at the APC, Suzannah ‘La Bomba’ B. managed to get into position to set explosive charges on the APC. Though gunned down before she could complete the process, her work proved vital, and the Moneyman was able to finish the job. It was at this point in the battle that Russell saw an interesting bird and was shot.
After the detonation of the APC, Team Blue was a mostly spent force. Although they launched several attacks against the Red base, the constant accurate fire from the Red defenders proved too much for the depleted Blue and the game ended in a tie.
Blue Team getting briefed on the mission.
Death Match!
In the final battle of the day, both sides were loosed into the forest, with no better mission orders than ‘find and eliminate the enemy’. It is hard to precisely reconstruct the events of this engagement, but there were several notable incidents. Alistair attempted a long flank march to reach the enemy deployment zone, unfortunately, he ran smack into a three-man Red Kill Team, led by Chris ‘Steel’ Raine. Meanwhile, Ed ‘The Hair’ Moore, lost a vicious game of cat-and-mouse to the woman known only as ‘The Flaxen Doom’. It was also around this time that Russell stopped to gather some wild onions and was shot.
When the dust finally settled, Blue Team was given a marginal victory, thus securing victory for the day.
Our many thanks to the guys at Oxford Laser Gaming, who organized a great day for us!
