In the Shadow of Shadow Mountain (A Glenpool Strike AAR)

My son spent over two weeks in the hospital recently and missed quite a few good summer days. So take make up for it I let pick two things that he really wanted to do. The first thing he picked was an "army guy battle" at the "gamer' and so off we went. We played our usual campaign, and as usual he pummeled my forces. For this game I had actually managed to get enough forces painted (except for some bases) to play a game of Bolt Action.

The second thing he wanted to do was go see a submarine so we took a little road trip and did that the next day. Lots of good fun.



Another skirmish in the Glenpool Strike campaign. This one pits the communists (Cherry Street Irregulars) and socialist Green Corn rebels against the Boston Avenue Believers, a few local police, National Guardsmen and MAC militia. 

After recent skirmishes and communist victories around the Tulsa area Rev. A. Roberts decided to take matters into his own, and God's hands. He has co-opted several squads of the MAC (MacArthur Anti-Communist) militia, who are also parishioners of the Boston Avenue Methodist Church. Convincing them that they need to do the will of a higher authority. He has conveniently inserted himself as their new leader and then added to their ranks more parishioners eager to do God's and his work.

Not alone in his outrage over the continuing communist victories other churches on Boston Avenue organized armed squads intent on doing the same. Seeing that they were all in it for a common cause, all of the churches decided to join their forces together as a single organization, while maintaining their religious affiliations at the squad level. Each squad choose it's own leader then those squad leaders chose the overall commander. Given the size of Rev. Roberts flock he was easily elected commander. So came into being the Boston Avenue Believers.

After acquiring what weapons they could, some rudimentary training, a Sunday picnic and a sermon, the Reverend considered his forces ready. After all with the Lord on their side, training was really quite irrelevant.

At the aforementioned Sunday picnic the Rev. learned that the MAC militias had received a tip about a possible communist base of operations. This suspected base was the Hooverville located at the base of Shadow Mountain south of Tulsa along the Arkansas river. Incensed at learning the local MAC commander had no intention of acting on this information he formed up his followers, gave his best fire and brimstone sermon, and then led a procession of riled up parishioners to Shadow Mountain. 

Several parishioners belonging to the MAC militias slipped away and to warn Chief Gunderson of what was going down. The Chief sent two officers and two members of the local National Guard to diffuse the situation and turn back the marchers.

On the communist side, they too were tipped off about the march to the Shadow Mountain. They quickly evacuated as many people and supplies that they could. Their new brothers in arms, the Green Corn rebels* who had just arrived from farms in southern Oklahoma were spoiling for a fight and refused to leave. So comrade Little deployed his forces in support but kept several vehicles nearby to make a quick get away should things go south. In addition, he had another surprise up his sleeve.

 

The commander of the Communist forces setting up his troops. He also insisted on setting up quite a number of barrels as well.

The communists wait for the arrival on the Boston Avenue mob. On the left side of the board a sniper team has set up in the woods and are waiting the arrival of the rest of the parishioners to arrive. They didn't have to wait long as we can see the Boston Avenue women's Bible study group led by Brother Frank Stein marching straight up the road. Meanwhile the rest of the BAB squads have decided to attempt a somewhat less direct approach to the Hooverville. 

The Rev. Roberts climbs the fence and leads his flock into the den of the heathen forces. The attempt at stealth was for naught as the communists were laying in wait. 

The first shot rings out and the Rev. Roberts is hit by a snipers bullet. Then the Green Corn rebels move up and start taking pot shots at the Methodist women's bible study group and they decide to take cover behind a shack, just in case. On the far right of the BAB line a squad tries to quickly maneuver around the communists and come at them from their flank.

The bible study group quickly runs into trouble as they are assaulted by a communist squad led by a battle-hardened feminist wielding a Thompson SMG. Thompson's blaze away on both sides, the communists sustain a few loses. But alas the entire BAB squad is now in the arms of the Lord, as are most of the Method church's favorite pot luck dinner recipes. A very sad day indeed for the Methodists.   

Things do not go quite as planned on the other half of the battlefield as another BAB squad is killed in vicious hand to hand combat. 

On the left flank the police, two National Guardsmen supported by two MAC Lewis guns arrive by car and find they are to late to prevent armed conflict. They immediately come under fire from the Green Corn squad. They return fire with both Lewis guns and a BAR, sending the rebels scurrying for better cover. 

The enemy commander surveys the battlefield planning his next move after the surprise arrival of law enforcement officials and military personnel. 

Not wishing to be captured by the law again comrade Little uses the ace up his sleeve. The P6E Hawk captured earlier in the week swoops out of the sky, machineguns blazing and takes out a MAC LMG team. Then drops a bomb on the police and soldiers killing three. Only Sgt. Hamburg survives through sheer luck. 

Pushing the attack commander Little orders the truck he is in forward and tries to provide supporting fire for the pinned down Green Corn squad and to get them back into the fight before they all flee for the hills. Unfortunately the plan doesn't work, he and his wife get a few bullet wounds for their troubles. The wheelman of the truck gets them out of harms way and back to safety. 

The battle rages on with squads taking shots at one another but by this point most of them have hunkered down behind something to avoid getting shot. Unfortunately for the the BAB squads the P6E returns to break up the brief stalemate. 

Comrade Little gives me an animated demonstration of just how his airplanes machinguns work as they chew up another of my squads. The machinegun sounds were a bit gratuitous, as there is no way that plane could have fired on the target that long. 

The Col.(retired) having lost the rest of squad, soldiers on alone. That is until he is spotted by a communist Lewis gun team. 

The communists route the last BAB squad from the battle. 

Capt. Hamburg is abandoned by the drivers who brought him and his now deceased pals. With no options left he decides to go after the Green Corn squad. His desperate assault pays off and he sends the last of those hillbillies packing. 

He then turns his attention to the Lewis gun team that just mowed down the good Col. 

   Just then the communist air support comes over the top of shack and into sight, it's guns trained on him. Sgt. Hamburg(er) meets his fate BAR blazing. Seven shots out of eight hit our poor would be hero. Who can win against dice rolling like that.


*The Green Corn Rebellion took place during WW1. It started as a protest against the draft by rural Oklahoma farmers who felt that they would have to serve in a war that they had no interest, or business fighting. So to avoid fighting in France they took up arms against their own government. Why travel all the way to France to fight when you can do it right here. Makes perfect sense to me. The plan was to march to Washington D.C. surviving on BBQ beef and Green Corn procured on the way. 

Reality didn't live up to the envisaged plan. A few miles into the march they were intercepted by a group of local townspeople and after a few shots the rebellion was broken up and it's members fled. Several hundred people were later rounded up and sent to prison for their participation in the march.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Corn_Rebellion]Green Corn Rebellion[/url]