We had four players show up for the second meeting of the campaign. This meant that Joel's
JuJu Tribe fought its first battle, while Tom's
PAUN rebel movement got in its second. Both players rolled up facing a government force. The
JuJu's would battle a government battle for control of a UN armored personnal carrier (transporting SAM missiles) in the "SAM is my name" scenario.
PAUN would struggle for control of the urban center of the large village of Kananga with defending government soldiers. The other participants in the campaign played the part of the government troops.
Joel chose to not open fire on the UN troops guarding the disabled APC, while his government opponent blasted away at it almost immediately. The UN troops knocked out a technical mounting a HMG, damaged the government APC, and killed a few soldiers, before succumbing to superior firepower. The
JuJu's instead dug in as close as possible to the vehicle and ended up outlasting the soldiers in a firefight. Joel won the scenario, but lost more troops, so his faction's flag marker advanced one space towards the capital.
In Kananga, the
PAUN forces advanced rapidly to seize as many of the village center's buildings as possible. His opponent, Allen, had laid out a beautiful urban battlefield, and the two sides used its cover as best as possible. Allen's die rolling was abysmal, and once again Tom's
PAUN triumphed over a better-armed adversary. The government soldiers were routed from the village center. Tom, for winning the scenario and destroying twice as many troops as he lost, had his faction flag marker move 3 spaces towards the capital. This earned him the campaign's first Covert Aid card, which he can use in later turns to assist his faction.
Keith, despite hosting the evening's gaming, was feeling under the weather (Kammebalango mosquitos are rife with malaria...), so his
H.O.G.G. faction "passed," and he remains atop the Player Order chart. The order of play for the next meeting is
H.O.G.G., Matanga Unification Front, PFFFT, JuJu's and
PAUN.
"The Matangans did not get away with a single head of our precious cattle," Michele Defamzu proclaimed the day after the battle. "Let the mushroom eaters fill their bellies with their foul fungus -- they still die by the bullet!" Defamzu alluded to the rumor that fighters loyal to the front were known to ingest hallucinogenic mushrooms prior to battle in the belief it will protect them from enemy guns. Defamzu admitted that many Baluba militiamen were slain in the attack, and vowed revenge.
Ranch workers said that a Matangan squad in a truck sped quickly to the ranch offices and overran them before guards could prevent it. They said that the stout walls of the two storey building made it into too powerful of a strongpoint, and the Baluba militia had to fall back. The workers confirmed that the guards held firm to a patch of jungle that overlooked the cattle pen, preventing the Matangans from making off with the herd.
Tribal militia from the JuJus, who predominate in much of northwest Kammebalango, were driven back from the village of Isiro by government paratroopers. Col. Stefan Verdofamwe explained that a lucrative shipment of United Nations had been dropped off in the village with inadequate protection. "Fortunately, my paratroopers were nearby, and when we heard the JuJus were advancing upon Isiro to seize it, we intercepted them," Verdofamwe said. The colonel explained that his paratrooper regiment will maintain security over the shipment of food and medicine "to ensure its safety."
