Zumri

[has.been]

Zumri is a wonderful freedom loving country in our AK47 loose campaign.
Their troublesome neighbours, Ziao (Vodkafan) have been making warlike
noises (I blame the meat-feast pizza he had). I have included a few pictures
of our recent game.
The fight was at Sinhale in Northern Ziao. An important river crossing  (courtesy
of an Airfix Bailey bridge) was wanted by both sides (so neither should try & blow
it up).  As it was  summer the river level was low, however crossing it would be at
a risk. Vehicles might hit an underwater rock, or get stuck in the mud. Infantry might
encounter crocs! To replicate the risk, anyone crossing treated it as if it was a minefield.
I was exceedingly lucky, my two tanks turned up early, while Vodkafan's three tanks
never did turn up. This tipped the battle heavily in my favour.
First the map, then two large units (one from Ziao & one from Zumri) either end of
the vital bridge. My armour moved to halfway across the river, managing to not get
stuck, & from there pounded the Ziao militia on the bridge. The response was a very
brave RPG team rushed into the river to get within range of my tanks. They avoided
the crocodiles, but not two tanks firing at them.

[has.been]

Disaster! Half of all my armour lost (well one tank) to cursed Ziao mortars,
sneakily hiding in the shanty down.
But the end is in sight for the Ziao troops. The bridge is taken & Zumri flanking
pincer moves arrive.  One last ditch valiant, but doomed, attack by the last arrival
for Ziao fails to retake the bridge. The shanty town falls to Zumri, then (finally)
my commander, The Great Bull Elephant himself, arrived with has famous unit
of RR equipped jeeps, the Jackals, to finish off the last Ziao hope.

[Digits]

Looks a good game.  How long does it play out typically?  Do you keep a running history / campaign narrative?

[has.been]

AK47 has several mechanisms I like. The length of a game is one. At the end of
each move the defender rolls a dice & that score is taken from a 'run down' total.
So, for example, there are 6 points left 'on the clock' the defender MIGHT throw
a 6. If he does that was the last move, but he might (& I often do!) keep throwing
ones, then you would end up with six more moves.
As to real time, about two hours if you crack on, more (if like us) you like a chat,
cup of tea, pizza etc. But heck that is part of the socialising.
If you do get up to darkest Rugby, we have spare armies for you to try the
game out for yourself. It is fun, well any game that has you dice up things like
your country's name & flag, then invites you to colour it in, is my kind of game.

[Digits]

I look forward to it.

[vodkafan]

Some more pics from the game.
I only managed to get 2 units on at the start of the game, a weak militia company stiffened by a heavy mortar and a support company with heavy MGs and mortars. This in itself was a very bad start. I had no choice but to try to hold the bridge with the militia with the support in a central position further back. Two of the three objectives were left unguarded.

 
Opposition arrived at the bridge; an enemy militia unit.


I knew full well these were throwaway troops to keep me busy while his tanks crossed the river upstream


I started taking casualties from the tank guns; a brave RPG team who waded upriver took a 90mm round in their faces.  In desperation the rest rushed the enemy at the other end of the bridge .

 
 The attack stalled and after 3 morale fails the whole unit fled leaving their dead behind. Disaster!


After 3 attempts I managed to drop a 120mm mortar round on top of one of the Zumri M48s! Kaboom tank! It was my only success.


The other tank vengefully destroyed my heavy weapons in the support company in short order.  meanwhile motorized enemy units crossed the river further upstream unopposed


 and another strong unit appeared from behind the village. Things were looking very bad but in the 6th turn I got a company of regulars  as reinforcements to try to retake the bridge.  After a short intense battle they failed.


The beginning of the end.
The Zumri motorized units arrive and I face attack from two sides as my perimeter shrinks.



A good game.

[vodkafan]

Looks a good game.  How long does it play out typically?  Do you keep a running history / campaign narrative?

 Hi Digits , an AK47 game usually lasts us 2 to 2.5 hours. But can be shorter or longer because of the variable number of turns. Yes we have a campaign going. My country has been invaded and I am not doing too well defending it. 
AK47 has been very much a surprise to me. I painted up a whole army ready for table in only 2 weeks and the scraps are always very absorbing. We completely lose ourselves and identify with what our little men are doing.
I plan to expand my forces next year.

[has.been]

To those out there who have never played AK47 my recommendations are:-
1) Find a nice opponent (the guys I play against are great, & include our own
    Flatpack & Vodkafan, as well as Dice Master & the Elephant hating JC)
2) Give it a go. If you don't want to paint up two armies in order to try it,
    then cut out the base shapes out of card, write on them what they are.
    & play. I feel confident that as long as you have followed Rule 1), you
    will enjoy it & end up sticking figures to those bases.

[Digits]

If I could do a unit quickly and on the cheap I’d be very tempted though I have much on my plate right now. I spent a lot of time in Africa in my youth, and this would be right up my alley.  I’d be tempted to have a go at a 15mm village too.

Are Peter pig the only real option for the minis or are there other good alternatives.

[has.been]

You will have to come & give it a go, I have spare armies, just to see if you like it.
The great thing is that although Peter Pig are the best for this, they are not the only
show in town. In deed one of the bonus things my (first) army might get was a large,
but poor quality unit. Short of Peter Pig figures it became populated with just about
every 15mm spare figure I had. This included Egyptian chariot crew & Libyan psiloi
(amongst others).
My 'Navy' has sailors from several different ranges, just to give that 'Rag Tag' look.
Under the rules a tank is a tank (no differentiation between say a Sherman & a T72)
So vehicles can come from any company/bring & buy.
The Infantry would often be equipped with (obsolete) WW2 uniforms/gear, so any
15mm WW2 figures can be used. They can also be painted in any colour scheme.
I saw one AK47 force painted up as a UN peace keeping force, complete with
white painted vehicles with large 'UN' letters on them. The world, or at least an
imaginary  part of Africa is your oyster.