Title: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: Chuckaroobob on December 05, 2006, 10:20:27 AM
The lush jungle valley spread out before Prospector Bob as the force of five companies of French troops cleared the last rise. Bob could see numerous native ruins on hilltops scattered across the landscape, twisted statues, large demon headed beasts, and in the center a step pyramid, atop of which he noticed some activity. Taking a closer look through his spyglass he could just make out some native which-doctors, apparently engaged in some kind of ritual. Just then the sunlight reflected off something at the center of the group of savages. Great Scott! It was the Relic they'd come in search of! He quickly signalled to Capt. Jean Val Jean at the mouth of the valley to start the advance. Five companies of French troops shook out into double lines and started advancing into the valley, some Bengal Lancers advancing on the right flank. Bob scanned the valley, looking for native troops concealed below. It looked like there was a huge concentration of native horsemen way off on the far right, in some kind of encampment. If only we could take them by surprise! Down in front of the French Infantry he could see and hear the first rifle fire, and now he saw pockets of enemy Arabs manuevering in the trees! The Zouves out on the left flank spread out into skirmish formation to better combat the Arabs in the scattered hills and forests. Bob hurried down the hill and joined the Foreign Legion soldiers in their advance towards the pyramid.
Title: Re: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: Chuckaroobob on December 06, 2006, 10:41:29 AM
Bob heard a sound like rolling thunder coming from the right. What could it be? Holy Smokes! Thousands of Arabs on Camel were emerging from hiding near the native encampment, scattering the Bengal Lancers! As the Lancers disappeared over the horizon Bob grumbled, "It's the freakin' Sepoy Mutiny all over again!" and barely managed to restrain himself from taking some long range shots at them himself. It was a good thing he saved the ammo, because at that moment more Arabs were emerging from the ruins in front of him, advancing to within musket range of the French line. "Never send a Bengali to do a man's job!" he thought, as the French rifle fire mowed down the Arabs in great numbers. The mobs of Arabs weren't made of stern stuff, and the enemy troops broke and ran back to cover. The way to the prymids was open! The center of blue line moved up. Out on the left the Zouves were having trouble with native sharpshooters scattered about in the trees. Zouves were dropping from single shots, but the remained continued to advance, pushing the enemy back towards the monuments.
Prospector Bob hesitated from a moment, distracted by jungle drums high up on the step pyrmid, along with a strange buzzing in the air and bubbles of eather bouncing down the steps. Where the bubbles stopped and dissolved Arabs in bizarre costumes appeared. They were dressed as corpses and stunk to high heaven, and started to charge the French infantry. From the slopes around the temples more Arabs appeared, some on horseback, all joining the surge towards the French. The right of the line colapsed, two companies of the Legions were run down by the horsemen. The center was holding, locked in melee with the death cultists, who stunk even worse now that they were swinging cutlasses at Bob's head. "Disgusting savages," Bob thought, as he signalled the Zouves to swing towards the center and reinforce the main line. A runner from the Zouves arrived and reported that dead men had decended from a temple and attacked his unit, that all was lost! "I ain't interested in that native voodoo ka-rap!" Bob declared for all to hear, and gave orders for the troops to shot at the group of witch doctors at the top of the temple, one of whom promptly burst into flame upon being hit. Jean Val Jean meanwhile had moved over to the Zouves and through a massive display of hand-to-hand fighting skill and death-defying disregard for his own safety managed to bring the unit into place behind the main line of French troops. Bob led everyone towards the pyramid, yelling, "Rout hog or die!"
Title: Re: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: Chuckaroobob on December 07, 2006, 10:56:28 AM
Little did Bob know that in the Senegalis dialect the Zouves spoke this sounded like, "My bathroom shoots sparks!" With many a sidelong glance, winking and nudging, the advance continued. At the base of the pyramid there was a crescendo of the jungle drums and another series of strange lights, and almost before the Legionaires could react more death cultists were charging into the left flank! Bob eyed the jerking figures with suspicion, the enemy troops didn't seem to have reflexes, hacking and slashing with gleeful abandon unitl cut down by the bayonet thrusts of the Legionaires. After the melee was over, Bob pocked the nearest body with a stick. No results. He toed one and was dismayed to see the corpse's liver stick to his boot. The stench was overpowering! "By the Powers!" he roared! These were no ordinary bloodthirsty savages! These really were killer zombies from beyond the grave! "Ritual murdering witchdoctors I don't need! Bloodthirsty zombie savages? I don't need them either! To the top of the temple!" he howled at the top of his lungs! The Zouves and surviving Legionaires surged forward, driving off the remnants of the enemy units, both Arab and Undead. Even the witchdoctors abandoned the relic in their haste to escape the furious charge. Once the Arabs saw their leaders fleeing the battlefield, it was all over except for some holdouts sniping from the woodline. All serious opposition dissolved away into the far reaches of the valley. Prospector Bob's practised eye quickly appraised the relic, "Let's get this thing back to Fort Petain," he told his men. "And what's that terrible smell?" He looked down to discover what could only be a couple pounds of dead liver encasing most of his left boot. "Aw, fer the love of Gawd! I thought the camel [EXPLETIVE DELETED] was bad!"
If anyone is still reading this, it's a narrative of a colonial wargame played in the Basement of Heaped Miniatures. We used the Soldier's Companion ruleset and a collection of 25mm Old Glory Arabs (about 250), Wargames Foundry, Falcon Miniatures French, and Connesure Bengal Lancers (about 150), GW Skeletons (about 50) and bits and pieces of assorted other stuff.
Title: Re: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: Hacksaw on December 08, 2006, 05:10:21 PM
Sounds like fun! I always enjoy a good zombie wog bash, eh wot!
Not sure how...errr...historical it is....but fun! ;D
Title: Re: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: colkillgore on December 09, 2006, 08:53:00 PM
The Concealed Watcher
Elsewhere in the desert
While Prospector Bob and the French Marched out of the mouth of the valley and into the desert with the golden Relic, a gray uniformed man surreptitiously watched the column through binoculars from a distant sand dune. Major Von Kraken, formerly of the Imperial German Army, now a soldier of fortune, had doubted the directions given by his mysterious employer but had followed them to the letter, with teutonic efficiency. He had lead his Stormtroopers into the desert and had arrived in time to witness the french survivors recover the golden tablet and retreat fron the valley. The column slowly headed into the desert and turned back toward French territory. Von Kraken quietly cursed Sheikh Wasabi and mused "If only the arab scum had maintained a proper timetable we would have caught the French in the open desert and not had to dig the rats out of their hole of Fort Petain!" Von Kraken slid down the dune to his waiting stormtroopers and commanded "Move out, we have to find our arab "allies" before we attack Fort Petain!"
Next
Dawn Attack on Fort Petain
Title: Dawn Attack At Fort Petain
Post by: colkillgore on December 12, 2006, 09:27:10 PM
Chapter 2
Dawn Attack At Fort Petain
In the early morning darkness Major Von Kraken slowly crawled toward the front gate of Fort Petain and thought " I should have asked for more money". He stopped and adjusted the strap on the 20 kilo satchel charge he was carrying, then looked back at Sergent Kurmark and the 2 stormtroopers, who were patiently waiting to continue their silent approach to the fort. The strap adjusted, Von Kraken started back crawling toward the gate thinking "Here I am, crawling toward a heavily defended French fort in the middle of the desert, at night, surrounded by several hundred fanatical arabs, most only armed with swords and spears, lead by the madman Sheikh Ibn Wasabi, who wants to use the Golden Tablet to resurrect Mohammad and my part of the attack plan is to rush the gate with a satchel charge and hope it doesn't explode when I light the fuse."
Then it happened, a rifle shot from the top of the wall, a scream from a wounded arab off to the Major's left followed by the banging of an alarm inside the fort. Von Kraken lept to his feet, commanded "Follow Me" and sprinted toward the gate, secure in the knowledge that Sergent Kurmark and his stormtroopers would be close behind him. As Von Kraken ran masses of arabs on both sides of of him rose and charged the fortress walls with makeshift scaling ladders and grappling hooks. Ragged volleys of rifle fire from the battlements bowled of bunches of the charging arabs but not enough to stop them from reaching the walls and start scrambling up their ladders and ropes.
Von Kraken reached the gate and calmly started placing the satchel charge, while Sergent Kurmark and the 2 stormtroopers sprayed the top of the wall with short controled bursts with their MP18 submachine guns. The sounds of fighting and dying grew louder from above the gate as the arabs swarmed the battlements. Then in the morning light an arab maxim started to rake the wall above Von Kraken, toppling both arabs and Legionaires fron the top of the wall. With a final flick, Von Kraken lit the fuse of the charge with his trench lighter, ordered his stormtroopers to withdraw and bolted away from the doomed gate. He ran and dove into the depression next to the roadbed, followed closely by his stormtroopers. When a deafening explosion and crash came from the gate. Looking over the edge of the depression Von Kraken watched the smoke and dust settle, waiting. Then He saw it a stream of light throught the gate, the charge had reduced the gate to splinters. Sitting up he signaled a group of arab horsemen to his left and a larger group of arab riflemen to his right to advance.
Von Kraken watched as the horsemen galloped past him and into the fort through the shattered gate, only to be caught in a deadly crossfire by a unit of Zouaves. The Zouaves poured more fire into the horsemen, who broke and the few survivors fled out of the gate away from the fortress. Two groups of arab riflemen charged toward the fortress but were more careful to stay clear of the open gateway and out of the Zouaves line of fire. As the last of the french defenders were beaten back from the battlements, a cheer arose from the arabs, as more masses of fanatics came over the walls and into the inner compound. Then the cheers turned to screams of terror as a company of Legionaires formed in the courtyard poured volley upon volley of rifle fire into the arab mass. The arabs charged the Legionaires and the courtyard became a slaughter house of carnage. Both sides took massive casualties and both broke and fled, the french out of the side gate of the fort and the arabs back over the walls. As the mobs on the right fled, the riflemen at the gate charged into the fortress and into the Zouave crossfire. The riflemen took the Zouave fire and smashed into their line. A swirling melee formed behind the gate as dozens died then the Zouaves broke and started retreating, dragging their wounded out of the side gate of the fortress.
Von Kraken watched the French retreat as a group of arab fanatics came out of the fortress singing and carrying the golden tablet aloft. He leaned back against the berm and pulled out his cigarette case. He opened it, pulled out a cigarette and lit it, then started to comtemplate the next step in the plan to get the Golden Tablet.
This is a narative (of a sort) of a colonail/pulp battle that occured in the basement of heaped miniatures. It was the second battle of Prospector Bob's Quest. We used the Soldier's Companion rules. The forces were about 280 arabs plus Major Von Kraken and 3 german stormtroopers verses 120 French Foreign Legionaires defending the fort.
Title: Re: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: colkillgore on August 26, 2007, 01:27:38 PM
Interlude
From The Flying Bridge Of the Airship Invective
Major Von Kracken looked out across the horizon toward the towering snow covered Himalayan peaks. Even with his fur lined trench coat, quilted clothes and arctic boots the cold still seeped in. He looked back at the Captain and the rest of the youthful bridge crew and was reminded of how lucky he was to be here after his last encounter with Prospector Bob. Kracken remembered the mad dash across the desert in a convoy of trucks lead by his Humber Pig armoured car, to meet this Zepplin and deliver the first golden tablet to his employer. The sudden attack by the natives stirred up by Prospector Bob and the dozens Von Kracken's men had to machine gun down to make their escape. Then the final attack by Bob and his french allies in their attempt to destroy this Zepplin only to be driven off by the brave and well armed zepplin crew.
Von Kracken regretted the men he lost from his old stormtrooper command and knew they wouldn't be easily replaced. A warmth began to spreed through his gut about the brave men who had died to bring a gold trinket to his faceless employers but old soldiers have to use their skills how ever they can to survive. Von Kracken reached into his pocket and pulled out the small folded parchment. It was a map he had been given by his employers that supposedly lead to another of Hippocrates Golden Tablets. As he opened the parchment he thought, the map may lead to the tablet or lead no where but he was sure he would eventually met Prospector Bob on the Battle field again and make him pay.
Next
Hidden Valley of the Golden Tablet
Title: Re: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: Chuckaroobob on August 29, 2007, 10:53:53 PM
Sylvester ("Sly" to his friends) McFly, looked down through a hole in the clouds at LZ 93 as it lumbered along to the northeast. He had been lucky so far that the crew had not managed to spot him, or if they had they he was too far above them to do anything about. Perhaps it was just too cold up here for the machine guns to function properly. It was sheer luck that Prospertor Bob's wire had arrived in time for him to get airborn and follow the Zepplin after it refueled in Karachi. Both aircraft were approaching the Hindu Kush mountain range, the dreaded "Killer of Hindus" that had blocked off this part of the world for most of recorded history. What could a Zepplin be doing monkeying around in those high mountain passes? The high winds and unpredictable weather made it incrediably foolhardy! They had to be up to no good. Sly checked his fuel guage, he still had some time before he had to turn away toward Kandahar and meet Prospector Bob's Pan Am Clipper flight.
Title: Re: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: Chuckaroobob on October 01, 2007, 11:10:16 PM
The following is a description of a recent encounter above the Hindu Kush mountains, using the rules set Red Baron and 1/144 aircraft.
Sly McFly eyed the wall of fog off to his left. It seemed to just be hanging there, irrestective of the winds in these high mountain passes of the Hindu Kush. It was hard enough to fly in mountain normally, but the strange weather in this particular area made it almost foolhardy. If it wasn't so vital that he found out where that Zepplin had headed, he'd be back at Kandahar sipping tea with the lads. Just then he spotted his wingman signalling him, pointing off to the 2 oclock direction. Three German planes were approaching, a Gotha and two fighters! The fighters looked like Fokker D7's, declared illegal at the the end of the Great War. Sly shoved the throttle forward, and hoped his aging Camel was up to the challenge of taking on the long odds. Sly zipped past the escorts and turned into the bomber's course, but he misjudged the closing speeds and got too close as the bomber veered toward him. The flex guns were firing, smashing his windscreen! Sly felt blood flow from above his goggles, and circled around to try another pass. The bomber regained it's course towards the mysterious clouds, no doubt hoping it's escorts could deal with the Camels. Sly checked their positions, and started another pass at the bomber. His twin Vickers Machine Guns hammered the plane, but he was taking hits, too. Hits he couldn't afford! He felt something smack into his gut, and saw a piston from his Le Rhone engine sitting in his lap, the engine smoking even more than normal now. By Gingo, those gunners on that bomber were absolutely top notch! One of the Vickers jammed! Sly could feel himself getting lightheaded, but was it blood loss or the altitude? He had only one more chance to get the bomber before it entered the cloudbank. Sly firewalled the throttle, hoping his one operational guns would be enough to get the job done. He saw the tracers impacting the big German Gotha, but felt his engine suddenly burst into flame! He looked down and saw more blood oozing from multiple holes in his flight jacket, and veered away as the Gotha entered the fog.
Title: Re: Prospector Bob's Quest
Post by: colkillgore on October 06, 2007, 02:24:33 PM
Dawn Patrol through the Hindu Kush
The vibrations from his battered Camel's engine and the violent crosswinds through the pass made Jimmy Dell Hoyt struggle to keep his plane straight and level. He scanned up and left to spot his partner "Sly" McFly in his replacement Camel biplane struggling through the same winds. Hoyt had watched Sly's last plane crash and burn little more than a month earlier after they had been shot up by some german mercenary pilots. Hoyt had just barely been able to limp his own plane back to khandahar where he passed out from blood loss, just after landing. Everybody at the Khandahar aerodome had thought that Sly was dead, if the crash and fire didn't finish him the cold would. Then four days ago a truck pulled up to the aerodome and out limped a much leaner and paler "Sly" Mcfly. Sly had a strange story. He said he had been thrown from the plane when it crashed before it burned. He wasn't sure how long he was unconsious and he had some strange dreams about about a giant shadow between him and the burning plane,then being lifted in the air and floating away from the fire. The next thing he remembered was waking up in a sherpa's tent. The sherpa had told Sly that he had found him outside his tent after hearing a loud grunting noise and something large moving away in the snow. The sherpa had patched him up as good as he could and then packed him down the mountain to a Buddist monastary. The monks had nursed him back to health. As soon as Sly was able to walk, he thanked the monks and started making his way back to Khandahar. Several of the locals that first saw him screamed and ran for the hills thinking he was a demon, come back from the dead to steal their souls. After hearing his story and watching the hate burn in his eyes as he talked about getting back up in the mountains and "killing all those sausage chewing winos". Hoyt wasn't exactly sure, but the locals might have had the right idea.
A studder from his engine prompted Hoyt to wipe the frost from his fuel gage. He was getting below half a tank and had a long flight back to the aerodome. He looked back up to see Sly pointing forward and watch Sly's camel lurch ahead as he went to full throttle. Hoyt turned and scanned the forward horizon and spotted the two planes flying out of the mysterious cloud bank he had seen during their last engagement. Hoyt followed Sly's lead and sped up to max speed. Hoyt recognized the two D7 planes as the same two he had fought before. They were good pilots but he still had a couple barnstorming tricks up his sleeve.
Both groups of planes closed into range and then exploded into action. Hoyt concentrated on the white D7 and went into a violent S turn that left the fokker in his sites. Hoyt screamed " Eat Lead Hun" as he fired burst after burst from his vickers, watching the tracers track through the enemy cockpit and tail. Then "Clank" one of the vickers jammed. Hoyt went into left snap turn and felt the strain on his plane and lost sight of the white fokker, only to see the the white fokker riddle Mcfly's plane with bullets. Hoyt tried another turn to bring his one good gun to bear when the red fokker appeared in his sites with it guns blazing. As bullets hit his engine and ripped through his wings Hoyt fired on instinct and watched his tracers start to track across the red fokker when "Clank" the last vickers jammed.
Hoyt's engine started misfiring and losing power so he dove toward the floor of the pass to gain speed and distance from the germans as he franticly cleared both machineguns of their stoppages. His guns cleared Hoyt turned back toward the combat to see Mcfly raking the white fokker with machine gun fire before it looped out of his line of fire. Then A line of tracers from the red fokker shot past Hoyt's wings. The fokker had him! By reflex Hoyt did a violent turn and half loop to avoid the fokker when the world went dark. Hoyt thought he had been hit but then he realized he had flown into the mysterious cloud bank. He lost all sense of direction, then broke out from the cloud bank on the far side.
Immediately he noticed the winds had calmed and far below him he saw a deep valley with verdant forests and large fields of flowering poppies. Hoyt wiped the frost from his goggles and banked to get a better look when he noticed the ancient stone fortress that squated at the head of the valley. More disturbing, was the long gray cigar shape of a zepplin tied down next to the grass strip of a large aerodome and some sort of military camp. This had to be the zepplin Prospector Bob and McFly had been searching for.
Hoyt banked back and turned into the unnatural clouds. He sped up as fast as his damaged engine would go and when he broke clear of the clouds farside, he turned toward Khandahar. The two fokkers had broke off the combat and soon Sly caught up and they both headed back to deliever the information to Prospector Bob.
Another encounter from above the Hindu Kush mountains, using the Red Baron rules set and 1/144th aircraft, with a litle pulp flavor added in.
ColKG
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