Rumble in the Jungle

IN THE TAIWANESE LOWLANDS…

A couple of weeks ago we played a near future Chain Reaction scenario in which China had invaded Taiwan, and a hastily assembled combined force of US and British were trying desperately to stem the Chinese advance.

Specifically, the Chinese were attempting to push ahead and seize a bridge over an otherwise uncrossable river, while the allies were trying to delay the advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

The Chinese force consisted of reinforced squads of infantry with some heavy weapons (rocket launchers & LMG’s) and a pair of Type 99 tanks. The allies had three understrength squads with some heavy weapons (SAW’s & grenade launchers), one British Challenger II tank, and three Humvee’s with TOW missile launchers.

Things did not go well for the allies from the start. The Chinese advanced slowly and cautiously which gave them great opportunities to respond to any threats that appeared. The allies on the other hand, were scrambling to shift their forces to respond to the Chinese movement and the terrain. Some of the allied forces simply could not get organized to begin moving out.

OVER BEFORE IT STARTED

After a few turns of sniping the action really broke out with a Typee 99 knocking out the Challenger II in a short but fierce duel. A TOW mounted Humvee quickly followed after a feeble attempt at taking down the Type 99.



Another Humvee was destroyed shortly after that, and then several of the allied fire teams became pinned down by enemy fire. The allied units on the far flank finally got going late in the game and made an almost miraculous comeback by rolling up the Chinese flank, but were stopped short by the combined firepower of several Chinese fire teams and the other Type 99 tank.





In the end the allies were forced to withdraw and concede the bridge to the advancing Chinese forces, without much of a chance of reinforcements arriving (in truth, without the Chinese even breaking much of a sweat…).

NEXT TIME

This was prelude game for a possible campaign of the Chinese invasion of Taiwan and the rest of the world’s response using the Chain Reaction rules. Mike Z. and Doug were the Chinese, while Jeff P., Chris L. and I were the allies.

If you might be interested in playing in campaign let Carl or Dan know at the store. If you have never played Chain Reaction and would like to try, stop by on a Thursday night and someone will be glad to show you how (they will often times even provide you with the figures!).

Until next time…

Dan