Petrol Crisis.Government Send in Troops!

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Troops takeover forecourts as petrol crisis spreads 

 

An Emergency Government spokesman has outlined operations underway to protect dwindling fuel supplies vital to the economy from terrorist attack. As a further measure, rationing of petrol at the pumps will begin at midnight tonight to "ensure the fair and even provision of petrol".

In an interview with the BBC, the Under Secretary for Trade announced that the rationing is also aimed at "the prevention of uneccessary hoarding and profiteering by unscrupulous individuals", whilst also allowing "those engaged in essential services such as doctors, nurses and firemen to be able to get to their place of work".

It was also announced that petrol prices will remain at 79p a gallon for 4 Star for all those working in the essential services, but rise to 89p for everyone else. In an effort to lessen the blow to motorist's wallets, double Green Shield Stamps will be offered with all petrol sales.

Whilst the Labour Party denounced the move as "Rich man's rationing", queues of cars started to form at garage forecourts from early in the morning. Many motorists ran out of petrol during the lengthy wait and had to resort to pushing their cars to the pumps.

Gerald Gibbon, 35, a civil servant, and one such motorist whose car ran out of petrol said, "Well, if they weren't putting the prices up, I wouldn't have had to sit in a queue for 3 hours and probably wouldnt have run out of petrol". Harriet Bells, 33, mother of two who had been queuing for two hours said "I've been stuck in this queue for 2 hours. My children should be at school not having to queue for petrol."

A sergeant from the Royal Corps of Logistsics whose unit had secured one of many petrol stations in the Midlands told reporters "My wife's a nurse. She needs a car because of her shifts. I bet many of these people could walk their kids to school or take the bus".

Shops have experienced a run on bread, milk and eggs amid fears that the fuel crisis and rationing will effect supplies of everyday groceries.

BBC Panorama 1979: Hunting the Insurgency

Panorama has been given unprecedented access to military operations in the Borcestershire area of operations. In tonight's programme we follow 14 Platoon of the Royal Wessex Rangers, as the Army and security services hunt the killers of what has become known in the papers as the "Bloody Cross Massacre".

14 Platoon were inserted into the countryside by helicopter five days go. Part of a battalion sized net  tightening around the suspected insurgents. The men of 14 platoon, the oldest private 22 years of age, and most veterans of The Troubles, have been living rough and sleeping when they can in hedgerows or the cover of a stone wall.

It's a daily routine of setting up observation posts, random snap vehicle checks on unsuspecting motorists and the painstaking searching outlying farm buildings and other potential hiding places where their prey may have gone to ground. But the 14 Platoon remain cheerful and eager to bring the killers of their fellow soldiers to justice.

At 19:04hrs on Tuesday evening they are tired, dirty and down to their last KitKat. Unaware that painstaking intelligence work has pinpointed the location of the terrorists. In No. 3 Section, Private Hooper 18, has spotted a glimpse of movement and a possible light at an abandoned cottage. Our camera team joined Corporal Gavin Taylor as he takes a closer look....

Corporal Taylor quietly whispers to us "It's them!"and gives a thumbs up hand signal to his men.

 CRACK! CRACK! Muffled shouts. CRACK!

"CONTACT! Gun Group, 100 metres - house doorway - bursts, FIRE!"........

Tomorrow night's game is No Stone Unturned. No.3 Section have rumbled the Clash Action Front ASU hiding out in Ravendale Cottage. The rest of 14 Platoon are hoofing it as fast as they can to the loc. Have they closed the net on Alan Tate?

Cheers
Mark
  

Bloody Cross

Tonight's Scenario:
 

Ted Povey is an ex-RASC corporal who runs the Nevilles Cross Garage in South-East Borset. The area is "quiet" and has gained a reputation as a cushty number by govt forces; a daily landy patrol does however go past the garage. The squaddies have learnt that Ted is sympathetic and a good stop for a fag break (petrol pumps are defunct and a targets for local kids with air rifles) and a real cuppa while the radio is "tuned".
 

Sadly, Ted is not popular locally, he bores for Britain at the George having apparently beat EOKA singlehanded back in the sixties.  He is known for overcharging for his garage work and at least one regular has been told to pay up or else. A local kid knows someone in the local Technical College who knows someone else who actually knows someone in the local trot hierarchy.
  

Aware that recent failures mean that a success is vital, the Clash Action Brigade has put a team together to ambush the patrol at the garage. Following limited training received by Free Taff/PIRA cadre (before they were slotted by the SAS). A more organised structure is now in place, an armourer has stashed three SLRs and a Sterling along with some red berets; these have been collected and the ASU has simply walked across country mimicking an army patrol, to the site of the garage - in a mix of commercially available DPM gear they pass muster at a distance as a small Para patrol. They are now in position at the site. 

The first army landy has puttered  up and while the gun bunnies in the back are stretching and lighting up, the radio bloke calls in "One Four, radio check, over....." The second landy stops briefly and the driver leans out "Bob wants a Wagon Wheel. We'll pop down the shop and be back in five." Ted has the kettle on.

In cover, a nod and the safeties are thumbed to OFF. Power to the PEOPLE!
   

Cheers

Mark

   

Operation Angel Watch

Sgt Price, 

 

As you are aware, we are planning to erect a permanent observation tower at Borchester Abbey. A meeting is taking place on site, this Wednesday, 7th at 1100hrs between the local contractors and some Royal Engineer bods who will be overseeing the construction.

SITUATION

 

The Intelligence boys have been on the ball for once. They've gotten wind of a plan by local extremists to kidnap the contractors and / or kill the army personnel. Also, looks like the word is out amongst the locals and a demonstration against the work is likely to take place. We've nobbled the bus company so don't expect more than 20-30 civilians to be involved.

The Borchester Youth Front are behind the plan. Expect 4-6 Tangos armed with hand guns, shotguns and possibly a sub machinegun.

At your disposal are Red Team - yourself, Gaz, Baz, Daz and Blue Team - Ginge, Mac, Mick, Taff

MISSION

You are to plan an operation that will safeguard the civilian contractors and army personnel.

EXECUTION

Intent - Neutralise any demonstration of armed force by whatever means necessary to achieve the mission and minimise civilian casualties  

Scheme - Prevent Contractors and army personnel being taken prisoner or harmed by armed terrorists.

ADMINISTRATION

Transport will be available to insert you into grid reference 1348776 at 01:22hrs. Pickup and policing details to follow once you have formulated a plan.

Good Hunting.

Major Lucan

This was emailed to Maff before the game and he had a fun distraction from work whilst devising his plan. In the end he opted for a Q Car tactic. I don't know why, but he grants me with far more sneaky bastard than I actually am, and felt the Q Car trick, replacing the RE personnel and Contractors with suitably washed and scrubbed SAS troopers would foil any evil intent I had up my sleeve.....

Cheers

Mark

Borchester Abbey

Borchester Abbey has stood since the Norman Conquest. Originally built on the Borchester pilgrim route and was said to house the bones of St. Brigelda, it became a rich source of income for the church. Burned during the Welsh Wars of Independance it was rebuilt only to be burned again and denuded of its status during the Reformation.

Borchester Abbey

Today Borchester Abbey stands an imposing ruin, which in good times sees thousands of visitors every year. It's views across the Borchester Vale making it a must for family picnics, ramblers and illicit lovers.

The panorama has not been lost on the government forces, who aim to build a permanent watch tower adjacent to the abbey. Fairchild Building and Construction of Felpersham have been given the contract to erect the tower and protective compound.

Don Clough and two of his foreman from the Borchester office will be meeting Captain Porter, Royal Engineers at 11am on the 7th to agree final plans before work commences.....

01:00 hrs, 7th; the Ops Room of C Company is instructed that a 10km square grid reference centred on the Abbey is a 'No Go' Zone. A scheduled patrol is scrubbed and the covert OP in the area told to stand down. A voice in a hedgerow, quietly mutters "Bloody SAS!"

Cheers
Mark
  

Game set up and ready for tomorrow night.

Dragon Fire is GO! Repeat Go!

Confidential.....Confidential......Confidential......

Green light from COBRA.

Intel suggests Penny Pinch Farm is an IRA ASU hide.

Francis McElhinney, Owen and 3 other suspected Free Wales players have been identified.

Captain (unreadable) and 2 platoons of 5 Para providing cordon.

OP/Sniper team will brief when 5 mins out.

Good Hunting!

Confidential.....Confidential......Confidential......

   

George Malo House: Background

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The battle of Top Malo House during the Falklands War of 1982 has always piqued my interest and
I had it in the back of my mind that one day I would  play it out within a Winter of '79' scenario.

I'm therefore grateful to the new Osprey published Force on Force which has Top Malo House as a scenario on page 182 and for bringing the action  back to the forefront of my mind.

I've managed to come up with several variants on the Top Malo theme which I think will be fun to play over the coming weeks. But tonight I'm starting simply with this local set-to in the vale of the Hossack Hills. 

George Malo is an Ulster vet. Local legend has it that he's from Romani stock and that during Bloody Sunday, he rode shotgun on a Humber Pig into the midst of the mayhem. There are those who point him out in that famous Daily Mail photo, used at the Inquiry whitewash and simply labelled as 'Soldier X'.

George, lives out his gypsy inheritance at what is cynically known hereabouts as George Malo House.  His 'estate' is in fact no more than a tumbledown collection of sheds, shacks, caravans and rusting lorry shells. But it's the base from which he and a collectiom of gypsy and scrote drifters rustle local livestock and farm machinery within the county.

The present troubles have meant that times are good for George. There is a thriving black market for illicit bacon, ham and the odd spring lamb or two dozen. And this is exactly why the Borchester Conservative Young Farmers have decided to close down George's business.

Led by ex-Etonian and posh regiment short term commission Robin Partrdge-Woodthrush, the CYF have agreed to burn down the property on the night of 26th February. George Malo will be reasoned with, at the point of a gun, and ejected from the county by force if necessary. One or two of the more recent public school members of the CYF are a bit more gung-ho and relish the thought of ridding the county of this 'scum'. Whatever form that may take!

George has 5 armed and 3 unarmed men about the 'estate'. There's a van load of British Hampshire carcasses to get off to a butcher in Felpersham and eveyone is here to lend a hand. A few of the lads will make sure the bacon  gets' to it's destination AND gets paid for, with no funny business.

George himself is heavily armed with a Shotgun, an SLR and a WW2 German Luger. He's also managed to procure an L4 Bren, an SMLE, Sterling SMG, AK47 and a twin bore shotgun for his men.

Partridge-Woodthrush Senior has connections and unsurprisingly the 12 members of the CYF 'commando wing' are fully armed with SLRs, rifle grenades, Sterlings, and a GPMG.

Cheers
Mark

Hull is For Heroes: Intro

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 "Bravo Team. We have intelligence of an illegal arms shipment on a Cypriot registered freighter heading for Hull. The weapons appear to have been stolen from a Norwegian army barracks last month and are being transported in a blue SMERSK LINE container. 

We are going to take the ship when it hits British waters before they have a chance to offload the gear onto smaller vessels.  Seems there are some British nationals on board - we suspect they are armed and accompanying the merchandise. We need to keep a couple alive.
 

A Royal Navy Sea King will drop Bravo and Charlie Teams on the main deck at 05:15 hrs zulu. Charlie will locate and secure the cargo, Bravo will take the bridge and secure the hatches leading topside before  clearing the accomodation areas and engineering. We'll then hand over to the Royal Navy to take the credit".

......four hours later........
 

"Shit! A fog bank is preventing the chopper from flying to the target. We'll have to take her as she enters Hull Harbour. The new plan is to stow aboard the Pilot boat and storm the target when it docks alongside. Check your gear, load up the Range Rovers. We are about to break the land speed record on the M42......."