The League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers presents....

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                             German/White Russian brief

Having successfully defended your fledgling country against internal revolt and that pathetic incursion from the Portuguese, the job of nation building has now started in earnest.  Von Lettow Vorbeck is full of grandiose improving schemes, but the perennial problem of money and resources remains.  This is all the more galling now that the Portuguese have discovered a massive oil field (‘The Big Black One’) in Lake Nyasa, just over the nautical border-line.  And while you have discovered some oil in your patch of the pond, the sight of those southern ‘Europeans’ filling their boots (and their exchequer) with black gold is more than galling.  Some of your naval officers have taken upon themselves to mount covert operations in the Portuguese sector of the lake, which you fear may get out of hand.  To the north, the British, in their lush temperate Kenya Colony (even the weather is better up there), still hold you in suspicion after the discovery of RedCan Man’s training base, whatever your protestations. However having successfully repelled two major invasions from their north their attentions are firmly fixed on the Juba river border with the Bukharan puppet state of Somalia and the sinister ancient kingdom of Abyssinia. To the west, the bloody Belgians have discovered the largest diamond fields ever found!  Again, just across Lake Tanganyika.  However it is unclear how much of this is actually making it to the Belgian exchequer, and how much is being spirited away by the legions of ne’er-do-wells who base themselves in that dark failed state.  The one good piece of news is that the Indian Ocean is now clear of Bolsheviks and marauding submarines, so at least the important (but hardly lucrative) trade in sisal and coconut oil can resume!
However there is a new ‘Great Game’ afoot in south-central Africa.  A Game of black gold and diamonds.  The winners will take all, and the losers will be condemned to poverty and economic dependency, or even worse.  At a State Council meeting in President Lettow Vorbeck’s mansion in Dar e Salaam, the leadership of German Tanganyika decide that they must play the Game, with force if necessary, to ensure the survival and future prosperity of their young country.
You are ordered to commence the construction of a new naval base at Wiedhafen and an oil rig construction yard at Sphinxhaven.  Bismarkburg is also to be reinforced.

Objectives
1.   Seize the major oil fields in the region and find a way of accessing the diamond wealth of Belgian Congo.
2.   Avoid getting the British involved in any war.  Its one thing fighting second-rate colonial powers, but a war on two fronts, as you know from that little affair a decade ago, is never really a good idea.
 Campaign Forces Available: c.6,000 men
Von Stauffenberg: +2 leader, ‘hero’        Admiral Doleczech: +2 leader, ‘hero’.
In Dar es Salaam:
1 coy of Von Stauffenberg Assault Grenadiers – 250 men
1 coy of German assault engineers (BG9) – 125 men.  They have now added dirigible power to their armoury
1 coy of White officers – 250 men
1 sqdn of White Russian Cossacks – 150 men.
1 battalion of loyal German Askaris – 600 men
2 coys of German HMG’s – 125 men
2 coys of Polizeitruppe – 300 men
Von Lutterbeck’s Flying Circus: 6 mixed German/White fighter aircraft: Albatrosses, DRI’s, Fokker DVII’s, etc.
1 battery of German 77mm field guns
2 German and 2 Russian armoured cars
The Grizelda – with  77mm deck gun plus various transports.
2 small gunboats, with 20mm Bofors cannons.
Elsewhere:
Kigoma:  1 company of Askaris (125 men) plus 2 HMG’s and 2 x 14” shore mounted naval guns. The re-floated ‘Graf von Goetzen’ is based here, with a naval crew of 125 men.
Bismarckburg: 1 coy of Askaris, 1 coy of White Russian infantry, ½ battery of German 75mm guns, ½ coy of White HMG’s. 
Lindi:  2 companies of Polizeitruppe, 2 HMG’s – 400 men. 1 gun sloop with 40mm cannon.
Tanga: 1 company of Marines, 1/2 company of Polizeitruppe, 2 HMG’s, 1 battery of 75mm mountain guns, 1 seaplane, 3 small gunboats with 20mm cannon, 2 shore mounted 12” guns  (c.500 men)
Longido: 1 coy of Russian officer infantry, 1 sqdn of Regular white cavalry, 1 coy of Askaris, 1 company of White HMG’s – 1, c.800 men.
Sphinxhaven: 1 company of Polizeitruppe plus 1 HMG – 150 men. 3 naval patrol boats, armed with 1 x 2” gun and 1HMG. 120 White Russian marines.
Tabora: 1 company of Polizeitruppe plus 1HMG – 150 men
Plus various localised police garrisons...

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
Likoma island is the centre of the Portuguese oil extraction efforts.  It is to there that the oil extracted from ‘The Big Black One’ (which is only 100m south of the border!) is carried.  The island is a sump of corruption, with every adventurer and crook on the continent based there.
The oil infrastructure is mostly being fabricated at Mtengula.
The Portuguese/Tibetan base remains intact in the Mandimba mountains, and must be considered a major strategic threat.
S.O.A.P. Oil is bankrolling the investment in the oil extraction efforts for the Portuguese.
The endemic drug related corruption in the sea-ports of East Africa is as bad as ever.  Most of the trade is controlled by a loose network of notorious ‘Ruga-Ruga’ gangs, some of whom you have cordial relations with, but none of whom you entirely trust. There is no sign however that they are organising themselves.
RedCan Man seems to have melted away into the central African void.  The rumour is that he is working in the Belgian diamond fields.
Central Africa remains criss-crossed by illegal slave routes and blood diamond traders.  Most of the most notorious are Arabs from the east, and Belgians in the west.  Many of these parties are large and heavily armed, and are rumoured to be in cahoots with local businessmen and state organisations. 
It is now clear why Texas Ted bought up half the farms in Nyasaland.  Oil. He has the extraction rights for the western half of Lake Nyasa.  The corrupt British administration there, under Governor Richard Sims Donkins, turns a blind eye to most indiscretions, on account of this bonanza.
The Belgian Congo government is led by a civil servant called Dr. Emile Schauffhausen (late of the Schauffhausen Institute), based in the capital Boma.  However his control over the colony is weak, particularly in the interior.  In these parts it is adventurers like the notorious Stroganoff who hold sway.
Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
Rumours have reached you from Berlin of a major archaeological discovery by Schneiber somewhere in the Rift Valley.

STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                  Professor Emile Schaffhausen’s brief

You are Professor Emile Schaffhausen, late of the Schaffhausen Institute in Lichtenstein.  You have been appointed by the Belgian Government to the Governorship of the Belgian Congo. The Belgian’s are racked by guilt and remorse at the terrible regime perpetrated by Leopold II when the colony was his personal property and plaything.  The evils perpetrated in those years have caused them to look for a man of enlightenment, learning and liberal values.
Unfortunately for the Belgians, that man is not you. The ‘world renowned’ Schaffhausen Institute and its liberal curriculum is an invention of your depraved and degenerate mind.  You are in fact Victor Lustig (the man who ‘sold’ the Eiffel Tower), a Czech con-man and confidence trickster.  You cannot believe your luck in landing this plum role.  Top banana in one of the worlds most underexploited but richest colonies!  Gold, iron ore and other minerals abound.  And, as you landed, news came in that the largest ever diamond fields have been discovered in Katanga Province.  Bingo! (think Terry Thomas at his very best).
However, as always, things are not quite as easy as they seem.  Belgian Congo is a colony without law and order, a colony where the rule of law is the rule of ‘he with the biggest stick’.  The discovery of diamonds makes things even worse, and the further you head into the interior, the weaker the rule of law and civilised behaviour becomes.  Criminals and desperados abound.  And the worst (but by no means the only one) is Dai Llewellyn Stroganoff.  However given what might be coming to take their ‘slice of the action’, he might end up being useful.  Having said that, the discovery of oil in Lake Nyasa and the surrounding countryside means that chaos is arriving from the four corners of the map.
Katanga Province has become the new wild-west. In Kabalo, the vital rail junction, the rule of law has collapsed. Armed camps are everywhere, with rival criminal gangs fighting for control of the diamond and other mineral wealth.
You must assert the rule of law.  And make a very tidy return for yourself.  You start the game in the capital Boma.

Objectives
1.   Retake Kabalo for the ‘Government’
2.   Loot Katanga Province seven ways
3.   Park the blame on one of the other players.
Forces Available
Professor Emile Schaffhausen : +2 leader ‘Hero’. Speaks multiple languages fluently.
Randy Rodgers (a US mercenary): +2 leader (he is the military muscle)
In theory you have a large, functioning internal security force.  In reality, you can rely on only the local forces in Boma:
2 x understrength battalions of ‘Force Publique’. 600 men
1 x battalion of Askaris. 400 men
2 HMG’s
1 field gun
1 decrepit biplane
‘Le Roi de Belgiques’. An ancient paddle steamer, with obsolete field guns and HMG’s.
Barges sufficient to tow the troops above
You may be able to hire native levies along the way, depending on your success.  However this really is ‘The Heart of Darkness’.  Trust no one.

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
•   As if things weren’t complicated enough, there are rumours that ‘Mad Bob’ is on his way to Katanga.  He is being pursued by the Texas Rangers for the murder of Rachel Weiss (amongst other things).  Texas Ted is helping them.
•   There are rumours of Communist agitation in Leopoldville. 
•   It is now clear why Texas Ted bought up half the farms in Nyasaland.  Oil. He has the extraction rights for the western half of Lake Nyasa.
•   There are strong rumours that the Germans and the Portuguese are going to come to blows over an oil dispute regarding the finds in Lake Nyasa.
•   Stories abound about ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ being discovered in the mountains of south-east Belgian Congo.  This may just be off the back of the diamond discoveries, but there are stories of archaeologists heading south to look for it.
•   Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
•   An Italian expedition has went missing in Katanga Province, reputedly searching for a lost ancient civilisation
STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                  Prince Wolfgang von Hessen brief

You are Prinz Wolgang Von Hessen, born in 1896, twin brother to the current head of the House of Hesse, the Landgrave Phillip.

You are an international playboy, gifted amateur scientist, professional big game hunter, and….’The Hooded Claw’, master of disguise and international crime fighter. You are therefore a proto ‘Bruce Wayne’ type character.

Born into one of the most important families in Germany, you have become disillusioned with much of the modern world given the traumas of the recent Great War, in which many members of your family were slaughtered.  You blame the relentless pace of progress in the last fifty years, and have developed a particular a hatred of all 'isms', communism, capitalism, etc., a stance made easier by your immense personal wealth.  You therefore feel it as a burning personal responsibility to keep the pace of progress under control, destroying if need be, that which you deem dangerous.

You have therefore dedicated yourself to science, and your other great passion - big game hunting. Science and science alone can save the modern world from the darkness of inevitable self- destruction. The prejudices of the old world have been made terrible by the twin threats of industrialisation and hocus new religions like communism.  You have therefore bankrolled the greatest scientific minds of the age to help work out a new way.  Foremost amongst this is the crazy Serbian crackpot, Nikolai Tesla, whom you have appointed your personal scientific advisor.  At a top-secret observatory deep in the Patagonian wilderness, Tesla has been scouring the night skies for signs of extra-terrestrial life.  And at a secret underground laboratory deep in the forest wilderness of his native Germany, you and your advisors are hard at work on a new way, a third way.

In-between working out how to save the world, you spend your time as a socialite in New York and Berlin, or at one of your many properties in Germany, Italy, Spain, the Swiss Alps, the United States and Argentina. 

Your work as the ‘Hooded Claw’ has cleared the streets of New York (Americans are always much more welcoming of these sorts of things) of thugs organized crime and ne’erdowells. You are blessed with a superb physique which makes you superior to most ‘mere mortals’, and superior science that Tesla has developed for you. The combination has gotten you a reputation in American press as a ‘superhero’. 

Tesla’s most recent discovery is particularly exciting.  He has discovered radio waves being emitted from the Helix Nebula, the so-called ‘God’s Eye Nebula’, and has pinpointed their target as a spot in one of the remotest parts of the Belgian Congo.  You are determined to find this.  You fear that the technology will place the world in an even darker place, and so you determine not to allow this ‘terrible beauty’ to fall into any other hands, even if that means destroying it.

Objectives
Locate the receiving site of the Helix Nebula signal, and recover the technology for your personal use. If you cannot recover it, destroy it.  You will have to organise the expedition, choose a suitable landing location, and maintain top-secret cover. Intelligence gathering will be the key to a successful insertion and recovery.  It may be useful to ally with another player, but it will remain an alliance of convenience.

Forces Available
Prinz Wolfgang von Hessen: + 2 leader, ‘hero’, marksman, master of disguise.
Kato, your faithful manservant: +1 leader, marksman
All the money required to hire and equip any size of expedition you care to.  Obviously however, the larger the expedition, the more attention it will attract.

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
-   There are rumours in Blantyre of a Vatican sponsored Italian expedition in Katanga Province, apparently on the trail of the whereabouts of ‘King Solomon’s Mines’.  You find this hard to believe.
-   There are strong rumours that the Germans and Portuguese are going to ‘kick off’ over oil finds on lake Nyasa.
-   Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to restore ‘law and order’ in what is rumoured to be a corrupt British colony.
-   It is now clear why Texas Ted bought up half the farms in Nyasaland.  Oil. He has the extraction rights for the western half of Lake Nyasa.
-   Mad Bob is on the run for the murder of Rachel Weiss (see ‘Return to the Heart of Darkeness’).  The Texas Rangers are on his tail.
-   The Belgian Congo government is led by a civil servant called Dr. Emille Shauffhausen (late of the Shauffhausen Institute), based in the capital Boma.  However his control over the colony is weak, particularly in the interior.  In these parts it is adventurers like the notorious Stroganoff who hold sway.
-   Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                                             Mad Bob brief

The sound of the tin chair being dragged slowly across the rough stone floor got on your nerves.  You reckoned you had to be somewhere in Mombassa.  The architecture was too solid and too old to be anywhere else.  The ties on your hands had constricted as they absorbed your sweat, and it was beginning to hurt like hell.  You shouldn’t be here of course.  You had smelt a rat, but the prospect of 10,000 Mexican silver dollars was too much to pass by without a sniff.  No matter.  You won’t be here for long.
“OK Bob..”.  Texas Rangers.  You hated those bastards. “We have you for the murder of Rachel Weiss, which almost certainly means the chair back home. But….”.  Even his pause had a long annoying southern drawl “…if you were to tell us about your organisation and the people you work with, that might help.  However if you were also to tell us where El Mariachi is holed up, that ‘might’ would almost certainly become a ’would’.  You see Bob, you aren’t in the USA now and God knows where you will be tomorrow, and you will tell us what we want to know.  And the longer it takes the more painful we’ll make it”
You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing out loud “It’s so amusing. The funny thing is you don’t even know we exist!”  The Ranger stood up.  “Well we do now Bob, and we’re quick learners”. You could tell he was getting irritated. Time to finish this. “You know nothing about us, but the first thing you should know, is that we have people everywhere.  Am I right?”  You turned to the shadowy figure in the corner who threw off his long dust coat and started gunning down the three Texas Rangers.  They didn’t even have time to look surprised before their bodies hit the cold stone floor.
“You left it a bit fine that time Mariachi….”
The fast boat was waiting in the harbour.  Within ten minutes you were heading south towards the burnt out city of Zanzibar….

Objectives
1.   There’s a new Klondyke been declared in and around Lake Nyasa, and all along the border between Belgian Congo and Northern Rhodesia.  The good news is it’s mostly the comedy states of German Tanganyika, Nuovo Portugal and Belgian Congo involved.  Not one of them could run a bath, never mind a country.  Locate where the collateral is and make sure you clean out as much as you can.
2.   There is a rumour, probably nonsense, of a ‘City of Diamonds’ somewhere in the jungles of Nuovo Portugal or Belgian Congo.  Sounds like something out of H.Rider Haggard to you.  But worth verifying or sending some of the others on a wild goose chase.  There’s been a lot of coverage about it in the papers, so there will be plenty of willing fools.
      
Forces Available
Mad Bob: + 2 leader            El Mariachi: +1 leader
100 mad Mexican bastards, heavily armed.
6 HMG’s
2 un-armoured machine gun carriers
1 heavy mortar
Forged passports and papers in three different identities.

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
- You still have a contact with ‘Major’ Dai Llewellyn Stroganoff in that corrupt sumphole of Belgian Congo.  He may be of help, if only as a greedy fall guy
- There remains endemic drug related corruption in the sea ports of East Africa.  Most of the trade is controlled by a loose network of notorious ‘Ruga-Ruga’ gangs, with some of whom you have cordial relationships, though no large measure of trust.  You should use these connections to your advantage.
- Central Africa is criss-crossed by illegal slave routes and blood diamond traders.  Most of the most notorious are Arabs from the east, and Belgians in the west.  Many of these parties are large and heavily armed, and are rumoured to be in cahoots with local businessmen and state organisations.  You need a slice of this action.
- Texas Ted has established himself as the big Cahuna in Nyasaland, buying up half the farms, and taken to dressing as Robert E. Lee.  He will probably be working with the Texas Rangers, who will be hot on your tail. Possible patsy material.
- The Austrians are are making a lot about this City of Diamonds thing, based on their finds in the Rift Valley.  Might be worth a side operation to find out what they’ve got.
- There are rumours of Communist agitation in Leopoldville.  Again an opportunity.
- Zanzibar, still recovering from the civil disturbances there in February, can only be a short term base.  The Rangers will be on your tail before too long.  However an island in a big sea means you could send a lot of people in the wrong direction.
- Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

Back to the Heart of Darkness                  Nuovo Portuguese brief

Things are looking up for the newly independent state of Nuovo Portugal.  First was (obviously) the news that the Portuguese had given you independence, but second was the news that vast quantities of oil had been discovered under Lake Nyasa (which you kept secret until the Treaty was signed!).  The only slight problem was that your find - ‘Big Black One’ – is technically in German Tanganyikan territorial waters.  However a covert underwater operation and half a kilometre of underwater pipe soon moved it to your side of the pond!
On the back of this you have managed to obtain more and more modern weaponry for your troops, including a small naval flotilla for the lake.  This has proven useful as the Germans have taken to patrolling aggressively, and border skirmishes are on the rise (you have never quite forgiven them for the incursion into your country looking for the Zeppelin base).  Both sides have now opened up floating oil rigs on the lake, but ‘Big Black One’ is the one that produces 80% of the oil in the region.
Likoma island, in the middle of the lake, has now become a Klondyke, with ever adventurer and opportunist descending on the previously uninhabited island.  You have of course set up a military and naval base there to protect your assets. The same goes for the coastal village of Mtengula, which is where a lot of the oil infrastructure is being fabricated.
News that a massive diamond field has been found at the southern end of Lake Tanganyika (on the Belgian end) has also raised your interest.  Perhaps there are some in your end, or maybe there is a deal to be done with the Belgians? There is a new governor there, a civil servant by the name of Professor Emile Schaffhausen, late of the Lichtenstein based ‘Schaffhausen Institute’.
The rest of your fiefdom remains a byword for corruption, degenerate behaviour and loose living.  Just the way you like it. You continue to rule with an iron fist and and continue to profit personally from this state of affairs.
Governor Richard Sims Donkin Rankine of Nyasaland, continues to be a good friend, though his appetite for drugs and women has developed from the voracious to the industrial, and he may be coming to the end of his usefuleness, particularly as the British are rumoured to be sending Brigadier Linn to Nyasaland to clean things up. However for the moment, it remains a critical element in your control of the Lake, and a useful ‘back door’, despite the interfering Christian missionaries.  The ports of Livingstonia and Karonga are friendly naval bases. One thing puzzles you however. Texas Ted has bought out half the farms in Nyasaland and has taken to dressing as Robert E. Lee.  It must have something to do with oil, diamonds or both.
You start the game in your capital, Mozambique.

Objective
1.   Protect ‘Big Black One’ at all costs and aggressively defend your territory.
2.   Find a way of obtaining economic advantage from the newly discovered diamond fields.
3.   Discover King Solomon’s Mines, and loot them seven ways till Sunday
4.   Ensure your grip over Nyasaland remains absolute.  Use all options to ensure this happens, including war, assassination, economic sanctions, etc.

Campaign Forces Available: c.10,000 men in total (plus Tibetan ‘advisors’)
Governor Eufemia: + 2  leader, ‘Hero’.          General Luis Fonseca: +1 leader
Mozambique: c.5,000 men in total
1  battalion of mounted Metropolitan infantry:  600 men
 4 companies of ‘companhias indigenas’ (native troops), about 1,000 men in total
2 companies of elite ‘Guarda Republicana de Lourenco’ infantry, 500 men
2 companies of police - 300
4  squadrons of ‘Guarda’ cavalry, 500 men
3 armoured cars.
1 battery of ‘Guarda’ 75mm mountain guns
2 batteries of HMG’s
1 squadron of ‘Guarda’ air corps.  3 assorted two seater biplanes
c.1,000 ‘Ruga-Ruga’ irregulars.
Elsewhere:
Mandimba Mts.: Three Tibetan ‘war zeppelins’ and 500 fighting monks all in a secret mountain base.
Mpendas:  1 company each of police and native troops, 1 battery of 75mm mountain guns  - 750 men
Kionga: 1 company each of police and native troops – 500 men; 1 river patrol boat with 2” gun, 1 coy of HMG’s.  About 500 ‘Ruga-Ruga’ auxiliaries c.1,200 men in total.
Mtendo: 1 company of native troops, 2 dismounted 12” naval guns, 2 small gun boats – 500 men
Port Emelia: 1 company of native troops, 1 battery of 75mm field guns, 1 gun boat, 1 HMG coy, c.200 ‘Ruga-Ruga’ irregulars – 1,000 men.
Likoma Island: 4 companies of elite marines (800 men) plus six fast patrol boats armed with 2” pom-poms and HMG’s (200 men)
There are also various police units and garrison units in the south, none of which can be effectively deployed ‘out of theatre’.

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
German East Africa, newly independent after WWI, is currently run by a German elite of the old school, under Feld Marschel Von Lettow-Vorbeck (hero of the WWI campaign in East Africa).  He has employed a number of ex-Friekorps and White Russian mercenary soldiers and sailors, paid for by the rich sisal, coffee and rubber trade in the area. His two main field commanders are Von Stauffenberg (who has the title of Commissioner for Public Safety) and Admiral Doleczech, the infamous white mercenary, with elite elements of his old ‘Iron Division’.  Main bases are Dar-E-Salaam (the capital), Lindi, Bagamoyo , Tanga, Moshi (Lake Victoria), Tabora and Kigoma (Lake Tanganiyka).  Fort Bismarck at the southern end of the Lake is in the process of being re-built. Total forces at their disposal are estimated at 5,000 in total, mostly land and air units, with a small coastal defence force.
The Germans have built a new naval base at the Wiedhafen and are constructing their own oil fabrication plant at Sphinxhaven.  They are both heavily fortified.  They patrol aggressively along Lake Nyasa, and often stray into your territorial waters with impunity.  You have lost three patrol boats to their aggression in just the last month, and are in no mood for any more.
You still are in possession of Col. Kurtz’s diaries, which you discovered in that little show up north.  They include diagrams purporting to show King Solomon’s mines, though it not clear what part of Central Africa it is hidden in.  One phrase he wrote sticks in your mind however “diamonds as big as houses, diamonds for as far as the eye can see..”.  Hard not to be interested really.
Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
Mad Bob is on the run from the Texas Rangers for the murder of Rachel Weiss. He is rumoured to be in northern Nyasaland.
STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                                Stroganoff brief

It was sad to leave Zanzibar.  The tall plumes of black smoke rose across the horizon like ink stains in a bright blue sea.  You never could quite understand why you found the smell of roast human flesh quite so attractive either.  What you saw in old Zanzibar town has made you quite peckish.
Anyway, enough sentimentality.  You are off to Kabalo for your next business venture.  Your men on the ground tell you that diamonds, lots of diamonds, have been discovered.  Your trusty lacky, Sergeant Weissman (he of the gas experiments on the eastern front) has wired you to say that he has set up a compound in Kisengwa, about 60 miles west of Kabolo.  This is where most of the finds have been centred around.  Kabolo itself resembles a wild west frontier town, with felons and ner-do-wells of all races and nationalities outdoing each other in unimaginable criminality.  It is however the major wholesale point for diamonds on account of the railway line to Lake Tanganyika and the tributary to the Congo, and therefore needs ‘controlling’.
The one nervousness you have is the newly appointed Governor of Belgian Congo. Professor Emile Schaffhausen, late of the Lichtenstein based Schaffhausen Institute, has been appointed on the dual charge of exploiting the fabulous mineral wealth of the colony (copper, cobalt and gold are also in much demand) and bringing Christianity and civilisation to the native population.  This last part makes you itch.  Uncle Leopold would be spinning in his grave.
No matter.  The world belongs to men of vigour, insight and evil.  With the help of the appropriate opiates you can rise to the first two challenges.  The third comes naturally.
You start in the state capital of Boma.

Objective
1.   Enforce complete control over the diamond trade in Katanga Province.  There are rival gangs everywhere, and rumours of new ‘arrivals’ every week.
2.   Take over Kabolo.  It is the lungs and arteries of the region. 
3.   Keep the Colonial Government off your back.
It goes without saying that what you are undertaking is highly illegal and morally reprehensible, and therefore absolute discretion is required.
Forces Available
‘Major’ Stroganoff: + 2 leader            Sergeant Weissman: +1 leader
150 Askaris and released criminals, 12 machine guns, some antiquated light artillery, several hundred pounds of slightly sweating high explosive and your beloved Daimler.
50,000 gold sovereigns.  The profit from your last adventure.
250 pygmy cannibal ‘allies’
Sufficient porters to carry everything anywhere (about 1000 porters in all)
The M.V. Nostromo, based at Kabalo. 

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
Rumours abound that the diamond fields are proof that ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ are somewhere nearby. There are rumours of all the usual suspects heading south on the trail. You smell the chance to run some new Africa hands ragged.
The Portuguese have discovered a massive oil field in Lake Nyasa.  Known as ‘The Big Black One’, it is the largest find ever in Africa.  The neighbouring Germans are fizzing with anger as it was discovered just over the border from their bit of the Lake. Given that they are as poor as church mice, they may prove to be helpful friends.  Likoma island is the main Portugueser base, along with Mtengula on the eastern shore.  The Germans are building a naval base at Wiedhafen and a fabrication plant at Sphinxhaven.  They are also strengthening the large naval base at Bismarckburg. A chance for some mischief methinks.
Kenya colony remains fixated with the threat to the north.  Having repelled Der Baron and The Beast they have reinforced their borders.
The Belgian Congo authorities will turn a blind eye to all but the most outrageous flaunting of International law and common decency, particularly the further upriver you go.  Once you near German and particularly British territory then societal norms (of a sort) return.  There is however one place where ‘traditional values’ still hold sway: everything and anything goes in Portuguese East Africa.
Central Africa remains criss-crossed by illegal slave routes and blood diamond traders.  Most of the most notorious are Arabs from the east, and Belgians in the west.  Many of these parties are large and heavily armed, and are rumoured to be in cahoots with local businessmen and state organisations. 
It is now clear why Texas Ted bought up half the farms in Nyasaland.  Oil. He has the extraction rights for the western half of Lake Nyasa.  The corrupt British administration there, under Governor Richard Sims Donkins, turns a blind eye to most indiscretions, on account of this bonanza.
Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
Mad Bob is on the run from the Texas Rangers for the murder of Rachel Weiss.  Apparently he has asked for 345 other serious offences to be taken into consideration.  Texas Ted is assumed to be helping them.
STEVE LANGAN                           24/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

The Mote in God’s Eye                                      Texas Ted brief

The lazy sun drifted downwards, giant and orange and shimmering, into the watery horizon over Fort Alston.  You took a long draw on the slightly dry Cuban stoggie and reflected on your good fortune.  While the rest of the League were tearing themselves apart up north, you were getting on with the important business of making money. Oil. Lots of it.  More than you had seen for a generation.  Silent beneath the surface all around you.  You’d bought up 200,000 acres of dusty farmland (though some of the higher stuff made damned fine coffee) in the knowledge that you were sitting on a fortune.  The Houston’s could always smell the stuff, and you were no exception.  Of course, that bout of ‘Lee fever’ had knocked you for six.  But you were over that now, and you had your ‘1st Texas Volunteers’, as fine a company of soldiers you had ever set eyes on.  Black of course, every man jack of them.  And you did get kindof used to the flattering cut of Lee’s frock coat.
Things have hotted up recently though.  There’s oil everywhere round here, and you have been working it like an El Paso whore.  Mind you, the Portuguese seem have to struck bigger than most. ‘The Big Black One’ they are calling it.  Oddly low down on the lake by your calculations, but that’s for the Germans and Portuguesers to fight over.  And diamonds to, though those seem to have only been found in the lawless lands of Belgian Congo.  And as always, when men and unspeakable wealth come together, legends.  This time it’s the story of King Solomon’s Mines.  You thought that was only a dime novel, but stories abound of a lost kingdom somewhere in the three mountain ranges in the south east of Belgian Congo, some 600 miles north west of here.  You think you’ll keep an eye on that one, and be ready to move if it looks like shaking out.
One final thing.  You had a surprise visit from Major McClintock, commanding officer of ‘E’ company, The Texas Rangers. “Long way from El Paso Frank” as he walked onto you porch. “It’s Mad Bob, Ted.  He’s gone too far this time.  The murder of Rachel Weiss means there’s a rope with his name on it. He’s already wanted in 14 counties of Texas. He’s been found guilty of murder, armed robbery of citizens, state banks and post offices. Also, the theft of sacred objects, arson in a state prison, perjury, bigamy, deserting his wife and children, organising prostitution, kidnapping, extortion, receiving stolen goods, selling stolen goods, passing counterfeit money and counter to the laws of this state, the condemned is found guilty of using marked cards. He’s already been condemned to death ‘in absentia’. He has killed three Rangers in Mombassa recently.  He had a man on the inside.  We think it was El Mariachi.  We have to get this guy. Are you with us?”
Hard to say no after all that bastard had put you through.  “Yup”……..

Objectives
1.   Make sure you get more than your fair share of the oil finds.  This aint a game no more
2.   Prove the existence – or otherwise – of King Solomon’s mines, and use all your guts and take all the glory if it does exist.
3.   Get Mad Bob to the Texas Rangers, dead or alive.   
Campaign Forces Available in Nyasaland: c.1,000 men
Texas Ted: +2 leader, ‘hero’, marksman        Lieutenant Eastwood: +2 ‘hero’, marksman
Your personal bodyguard: the 1st Texas Volunteers  120 men. Loyal, brave and cannibals.  Regimental tune is ‘The Rising of the Moon”.
12 HMG’s
2 armoured cars
12 unarmoured machine gun carriers
c.100 Texas oil men.  Hard bastards, armed to the teeth with all the modern small arms available in the mid 1920’s
1 spotter plane.  Armed with LMG’s and bomb racks and modern radio equipment
6 mountain guns, ex US crews
6 fast patrol boats, ex US navy crews.
The ‘Texas Belle’.  A paddle steamer on Lake Nyasa, based at Fort Johnston.  Armed with 2” pom poms, HMG’s and two AA guns.
About 400 native workers, who can use small arms

Intelligence
The ‘Pink’ will of course provide a fertile source of intelligence, however in addition to that:
-   Brigadier Linn has been sent to Nyasaland to ‘root out corruption’ according to your sources in Mombasa. He is en route from Glasgow with the victorious Scottish Cup winning Airdrie team, of which he is chairman.  They are playing exhibition games along the east coast of Africa, before heading for a big tournament in Nyasaland.
-   The Governor of Nyasaland is Governor Richard Sims Donkins, a very good friend of yours.  He has been very helpful in ‘opening up’ the country to oil
-   There is some suggestion that Nuovo Portugal is behind a lot of the corruption in Nyasa Land.  They’ve reportedly being using it as aback door smuggling route.
-   There are rumours in Blantyre of a Vatican sponsored Italian expedition in Katanga Province, apparently on the trail of the whereabouts of ‘King Solomon’s Mines’.  You find this hard to believe.
-   There are strong rumours that the Germans and Portuguese are going to ‘kick off’.  This will open more opportunities for you, which you are determined to take advantage of.
-   The Austrians have found an astonishing treasure in the Rift Valley.

STEVE LANGAN                           23/05/2011

[Ignatieff]

Now to plum my memory and match it to the photos.......

[Bugsda]

Yep! Photos, chop chop! 

[Captain Blood]

That's a lot of briefing. Someone clearly needs to write a book. He has one in him 

Sooo looking forward to the piccies 

[argsilverson]

Glad to see you back Ignatieff!
May the coming year brings you more happiness ....

... and more photos for us!

Interesting stuff the briefings, you should edit them and why not try to write some book!

[Ignatieff]

Glad to see you back Ignatieff!
May the coming year brings you more happiness ....

... and more photos for us!

Interesting stuff the briefings, you should edit them and why not try to write some book!

Kind words all, and all the very best to you sir.  Book, yes.  At some point a must.  However photos and lead adventures first!

[airbornegrove26]

Can't wait to see.  Been looking forward to this for a bit. =)

[coggon]

Hallelujah!  Excellent stuff Ignatieff-can't wait to see the full write-up.  I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

[KevinH]

Massively entertaining and a pleasure to read.  A fierce imagination!