Turn 4

‘Breach!’ The Captain heard a squad leader call out on the radio, followed almost immediately by an earsplitting explosion and lots of swearing, in English. The swearing was good, the Captain knew. If he heard swearing instead of screams, he felt confident that no one had been killed by the IED. He also heard reports of the rest of his company’s assaults going well. Fewer insurgents so far than expected, but his men were keeping up a good pace, and maintaining a coherent FLOT.

[IED pins squad zone 16, 2 step losses vs 1 guerrilla and 1 martyr killed, secure more zones, tank fires on fortified zone left flank]

Turn 5

More explosions, more cries of pain and anguish, but also more reports of progress. The Captain wondered if his men would be better off with more insurgents, fewer IED’s and less accurate snipers? He stopped that rumination, knowing it was useless and a distraction. ‘We can’t pick our enemy, we can only fight them,’ he thought, as another report of a man down came over the radio.

[IED kill Zone 18, sniper kill in street with M1, at least the squad didn’t pin. Another step loss, but more zones cleared, two heroes created.]