7th Cavalry to the Rescue... or not.

Haz bin Wanabi, leader of the Hotaki Woz militia, smiled grimly. The devil worshippers were trapped; they had fled with their families to the local mosque, in the vain hope that his men would not dare to attack it. They had failed to realise that their very presence had defiled the building, and only their extermination would suffice. He had to work quickly - the UN dogs were approaching, in an attempt at rescue.

The village from the north - mosque in centre

Swiftly, he deployed his band - a team was sent to each road to lay IED's, and set up checkpoints to cover them, in order to delay the British. The rest took up positions on three sides of the mosque and grape dryer, where they could spray the buildings with automatic fire and RPG's. The fourth side (to the west) was covered by fire - anyone trying to run would be cut down long before they made it to cover. Wanabi called up his mortar team to start the attack; rounds fell around the mosque, and the rest of his men loosed their weapons at close range. Some fire was returned from the mosque, but he could sense that his men were getting the better of the encounter.

The Predator lines up on the building

Meanwhile, the British columns were drawing near; a supporting Predator spotted movement in a house on the southern road, and targetted a Hellfire missile on it, failing to demolish the building, but killing a militiaman. However, the target had also been identified by the lead Warrior, which pumped 30mm shells into the building until it resembled a Swiss cheese, causing another casualty. A surviving militiaman launched an RPG at the Warrior, but it bounced harmlessly off the front armour.


A second Warrior approached over the boggy ground, and shot at the house on the south side of the northern road, to no apparent effect. On the road, the third Warrior fired on the same target, killing one Hotaki; an RPG also struck the vehicle, and ricocheted off. The crew of the Warrior then spotted what they believed was an IED just ahead on the road, and used the gun to destroy it, while the infantry dismounted, taking cover behind the trees. The fireteams also debussed from the Warrior in the open, and, together with the IFV, concentrated their fire on the building held by the Hotakis. Despite all the attention, only one militiaman was killed; in return, an RPG impacted the main gun of the Warrior on the road, disabling it.

A Predator's eye view from the east - IED's on roads

The village from the south - mosque in upper left

On the southern road, the militia were putting up a fight, but getting the worst of it; an RPG knocked out the Warrior's gun, but the dismounted infantry and the WMIK's machine guns silenced all opposition. Apart from possible IEDs on the road ahead, the way to the village was clear.


However, it was too late... while the fighting had been taking place on the roads, Wanabi's men had killed or disabled all the Mithraists in the grape shed by fire, and had stormed into the mosque. Attempts to surrender were ignored, and the bloodletting began. By the time the British reached the mosque, it was all over; there were no survivors, and the Hotakis had fled...