The League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers presents.. Return to Heart of Darkness

[traveller]

Incredible amounts of goodness 

[Ignatieff]

This game was our traditional multiplayer last one of the weekend.  The plot rarely varies.  This time a British sponsored expedition had tracked down Colonel Kurtz to a mysterious island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  The expedition was made up of forces from all the players in the campaign.  Having freed the nuns that Kurtz held, and captured the man himself, the expedition was heading back to the British sea base near the deserted whaling station and the strange old temple structure.....Wooohahaha!  Woooohahaha!


The armed British merchantman stands guard, whilst the Union flag flutters from the top of the temple in the middle foreground


The expedition soon ran into trouble.  Here Der Baron's 'Cidermen' (drunks in tin suits) and some Austrian Grenadiers (in the hills) are confronted by a rhino with a hangover, whilst some inconvenienced locals lurk in the bush


Flashman (in the red fez) and a few friends leg it across the rickety rope bridge. Mad Bob's Mexicans are way out in front however....


Colonel Kurtz (the Marlon Brando dimensioned figure in the cream suit) is led by a wire rope back to the ship and awaiting justice.

[Ignatieff]

More....


Good shot of the starting terrain.  They could either cross the rickety rope bridge, or take their chances in the broken terrain.  Both had their challenges.


The high ground was bristling with hostiles.....


...and this week in 'I'm a Kriegspieler, get me out of there', you have to transport the various factions across the fast flowing river in a couple of rickety canoes...without falling into the hippo and croc infested river!  An unlikely collection of nuns, adventurers and 'cidermen'.......



Rachel Weitz (left foreground) is carried off by the natives, which was to have many - and unintended - consequences later in the game.......

[Ignatieff]

..yet more...


some died a horrible death whilst try to cross the river...though not the man in the dashing fur lined coat (Rudi Schneiber, Austrian hero) as he made his saving throw..


On reaching the apparently open space west of the river, the much thinned ranks of our adventurers were faced by an even more terrifying challenge.  The massed ranks of the Bongo coalition - headhunters and cannibals all, as the hideous mounds of skulls on the far side of the plain, and the crucified skeletons in the middle of the plain, testified.  A steady firing line was called for where the superior firepower of the Europeans would overwhelm the hand-to-hand prowess of the Bongo...


so what did they do?  Yes, thats right, fix bayonets and charge !?!?!  Meantimes El Mariachi makes a valiant gallop through the native lines and heads straight for Rachel Weitz...

[Ignatieff]

...whom he shoots dead?!?!?!!!  Well he is Mad Bob's sidekick!


before riding at breakneck speed through numerous dangers and then planting the Mexican flag on the strangely deserted (i.e. no British Askaris to be seen) temple.....a plot so thick you could bake it, ice it and put candles on it.......


Meanhile, back in the increasingly desparate melee in the clearing a new and even more deadly danger - red fire ants, swarms of them (made out of tapioaca by the ever resourceful Stroganoff)...are you still following this???, because as the umpire by this point I was struggling!

[Ignatieff]

the plain was cleared, but then the real danger was only just beginning......



More master modelling by the master, Rodge 'Stroganoff' Williams...



a series of man traps, pit traps, log traps, trap traps slowly whittled the desperate party to only a small group of survivors.....


by this point Tarzan took charge.....


but even with the fat bloke from the Mummy (Brendan Fraser) and Tin Tin, things were looking bleak....

[Ignatieff]

so what better time to introduce the final twist: Alien vs Predator!  



of course, a reasonably close examination of the temple compound would have revealed rows of skinned bodies......




Mayhem......and Tarzan has crapped his loincloth and is hiding in the bushes....

Anyway, to cut a long story short, they did manage to escape (well at least a few of them).  A very good game, but probably needed to a) make the Aliens and Predators a bit more deadly and b) probably needed to resume our traditional evening slot where alcohol added to the general panaroia!

So, hope you enjoyed all this....just a few tidy ups to follow.

[Ignatieff]

Can't find Flashy's brief, which is a shame 'cos it was a cracker.  However had computer problems mid-campaign, which didnt help.  In esssence he had three rubber factories in Kenya, German Tanzania (brief for whom to follow) and Portuguese East Africa.  That and a whole lot of dodgy dealings.  Here's his corporate logo  :

[Ignatieff]

And just for completeness, the German East African brief.  A huge thanks for Argsilverson for his inspiration.  Thanks for reading!!!!

Back to the Heart of Darkness                             German/White Russian brief

Von Stauffenberg:
You gladly answered the call from your hero Von Lettow Vorbeck to come and lead the nascent forces of the newly independent German Tanganyika.  You saw it as a fresh start and a chance to maintain a fast disappearing German tradition and culture.  Money is not abundant, and there are potential enemies all around, but you are determined to create a strong and respected German state in the Heart of Africa
Doleczech:
When the offer of money and shelter came to your bedraggled remnants you eagerly accepted.  Von Stauffenberg was keen to have you as his second-in-command, and your men wanted a fresh start and a resting place to plot the counter-revolution.
You both start in Dar es Salaam.

Objectives
1.   Most importantly, ensure that mainland German Tanganyika maintains its territorial integrity to the end of the campaign. 
2.   Refloat the ‘Gross Goetzen’ from the bottom of Lake Tanganyika and re-establish German hegemony on Lake Tanganyika
3.   Send an expedition to eliminate Colonel Walter E. Kurtz and capture the riches of the legendary King Solomon’s Mines (if it exists).
4.   Replace the pro-British sultan of Zanzibar, Mohammed bin Bargesh, with a puppet of your own:  Khalid bin Usuf, without alerting the British to your doings.
5.   Annexe Pemba and Mafia islands, again without antagonising the British.
6.   Attack and capture the Comoras islands from the new Bukharan government, citing an appeal from the local inhabitants.
7.   Establish the whereabouts of the Tibetan/Portuguese zeppelin base and capture or disable all collateral.
8.   Make as many friends as you can to protect the future of your fledgling state.

Campaign Forces Available: c.5,000 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
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
Bismarckburg: 1 coy of Askaris, 1 coy of White Russian infantry, ½ battery of German 75mm guns, ½ coy of White HMG’s.  1 coy of naval salvage crews. (c.600 men)
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
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:
Portuguese East Africa to the south is up to no good.  You cannot however work out if it is just generally rotten, or whether it harbours malevolent intent against German Tanganyika. Intelligence has reached you that somewhere in the Mandimba mountains the Tibetans are constructing a secret zeppelin base for the Portuguese, in return for rubber rights.  In addition, S.O.A.P. Oil, a secretive American – Tibetan – Inverness oil company has signed a long term oil contract with the Portuguese, in return for......
British East Africa is divided into two districts, west (covering Lake Victoria) and East (covering Mombasa and the coastal region).  It is lightly held at present, and has an interim government, headed up by Brigadier Linn, as they await the arrival of the new Governor General.  A promising young officer, Major R.J.P. Langan commands the Lake Victoria district
There is a strange pan-African cult on the rise.  Known as ‘Macumba’ is preaches a form of voodoo-socialism and is proving very popular along the slum ports of East Africa.  Their leader is known as Red-Can Man, though his real identity and whereabouts is a mystery.  He has however started using modern technology, in the form of wireless broadcasts, to promote his utopian vision.  Imperial authorities of all persuasion remain calm to this threat, but secretly are taking it very seriously.
The poster-boy of the Islamic revolution, Adrian Enver Pasha, has recently taken control of the Comoros islands through a series of marriage arrangements and concessions from the French government.  He is also rumoured to be bankrolling the Mahdi in Somalia, as are the Bolsheviks.
There is 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, some of whom you have cordial relations with, but none of whom you entirely trust.
A Bolshevik pocket battleship is at large in the Indian Ocean, sinking large amounts of merchant shipping.  The traditional protector of this tract of ocean – the Royal Navy – is tied up elsewhere, and so the communists terrorise the shipping lanes at will.
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. 
The Abyssinian government to the north has indulged in a bout of sabre rattling with the colonial powers, no doubt stoked up by their new best friend – Der Baron.
Texas Ted remains embroiled in a fraud scandal in the USA, and may be delayed in his ambition to open up large tracts of southern Africa to oil exploration.

[Ignatieff]

and finally, finally...the Beast of Bukhara's Christmas Card!



till the next time...........The League will return in its next adventure 'The Mote in God's Eye'!

[Bugsda]

...........The League will return in its next adventure 'The Mote in God's Eye'!

Excellent!  Can't wait 

Are you the scary bloke in the pic? 

 

[Poiter50]

Well, that was a good read for the first day back at work!! 

[Wirelizard]

Damn, I don't think a series of battle reports has ever made me laugh this hard.

The absolute gongshow mayhem of the final battle was inspiring. Tarzan vs Mexican banditos vs... Aliens vs... Predator... 

Can we have more closeups of the scratchbuilt traps, please? That weighted-spike trap is awesome, I need to see more.

I've been suffering from a bad case of scenario-writer's block recently, I think I'm going to file the serial numbers off some of your ideas for inspiration!

[Ignatieff]

Are you the scary bloke in the pic? 

 

No.  I'm his batman in the red fez in this picture...

[Ignatieff]

Damn, I don't think a series of battle reports has ever made me laugh this hard.

The absolute gongshow mayhem of the final battle was inspiring. Tarzan vs Mexican banditos vs... Aliens vs... Predator... 

Can we have more closeups of the scratchbuilt traps, please? That weighted-spike trap is awesome, I need to see more.

I've been suffering from a bad case of scenario-writer's block recently, I think I'm going to file the serial numbers off some of your ideas for inspiration!

scenario ideas - feel free, thats a large part of the point of these postings.  Re traps.  I'll ask Stroganoff/Smirnoff to take a few pics.  The full set is superb