The Somali AEO wins the initiative roll for turn 2. To start off a roll must be made on the roadblock unit generation table during the Rally Phase. This results in a mob being formed on the Western roadblock in E7 and a 0-3-4 without a SW being formed on the eastern one in J6. Continuing the Rally Phase, a Somali half squad in hex G10 picks up the RPG left behind by its fallen comrades (There is no rule for this in the solo expansion, but the way I play it AI units will pick up fallen support weapons pretty much automatically as long as they have space). It dawns on me that the situation for my lone half squad in F9 is getting worse. I'm considering moving him down with the rest of my units.
The Somali AEO receives a priority fire action for units one square away from a PU. There are two squads that fit this so I roll to randomly determine who goes. It ends up being the squad in G9 that just picked up an RPG. They are adjacent to my squad in F9. Following through the fire flowchart I see that the unit will fire its ordinance (the RPG) at my squad. For those who have played the Lock 'n Load system in the past, you may be noting that I'm allowing the AEO unit to fire from a building hex with an ordinance SW. Previously this was against the rules unless allowed by module or SSR's. However ruleset 5.1 has changed it, so that they may be fired from buildings. This makes much more sense both thematically and historically, as now entire Somali units won't have to run out into the open streets to fire one off. That being said I wonder how differently the scenario here (which is quite old now) would play out with the old rules. Is the balance negatively affected? Though, as a solo player winning isn't as important to me as just having fun, so really it doesn't matter :).
Anyways, the Somali unit fires its RPG at my squad in F9, but luckily I catch a break. After modifying the dice roll (adjacent (-2), building TM (+1) = -1) their 2d6 roll comes out to 9, which is a clear miss. That unit gets a fired marker with nothing to show for it.
I mull over my options here, and decide it's time to bring my 1-5-4 squad in F9 closer to the rest of my units. My hope is that by linking up I can still push down the road east and then flank around to connect with the crash site. It's likely at this point I will have to disperse any mob in my way, which will net me negative victory points, but keeping control of the crash site gives me 10 victory points so it's worth it to reinforce them.
The AEO order card orders the Somali half squad in J13 to fire on my hero unit, Hanson. Luckily it is a miss despite being adjacent. The card has a reshuffle symbol on the bottom so I reshuffle the deck.
So I've decided I'm going to take the slightly longer way around, but first I want to clear that roadway near my hero. I order him to open fire. He is adjacent and has 2 FP, so a +4 in total against just the 1d6 for the Somali unit. The result comes out to 10 for me, and 3 for the AEO. With a difference of 7 I roll on the DFT and get a 9, more than double the Somali unit's morale which results in "casualties." It is eliminated and the mob that was in the hex with it is dispersed. I take a -1 VP for dispersing the mob. However this action assists in my plan. I'm going to have my leader, Lt. Smith, and his stack move onto the road just 2 squares below them and then move out east free and clear. Well, at least that's the plan.
Meanwhile, the Somali half squad in K12 opens fire on my hero. I had a +1 TM while he had no modifiers. The result came out to 4 vs 4. No effect.
I double-timed Lt. Smith's stack through a building and then onto the road. I then moved them east.
The AEO card tells me to execute victory conditions. Looking through the flow chart I determine the AEO will attempt to spot the units at the crash site and fire at them. The AEO leaders' hex has line of site, albeit degraded by rubble. The leader will make the attempt as it is most likely to succeed in the attempt because of its leadership modifier. The AEO rolls a 5, failing the spotting attempt. Because spotting doesn't constitute an action I continue on the victory conditions flow chart. The Somali stack in the leaders' square will move towards the crash site. Because one of the units "Khat" there is a -1 MF on it so the stack can only move diagonally towards the crash site 1 square. I opportunity fire with my Delta Sniper on the unit with the highest FP, 1. I roll 9, +1 FP = 10. The AEO rolls a 1, the difference is 9 (getting a lot of 9's this game). The AEO rolls its damage check and... oh my. It's a 6; that completely eliminates that unit. It's RPG is left behind on the ground.
I think this is probably a good place to cut this blog post for now. I don't want it getting too long. Part of me wonders if ran the AEO correctly at that last part. There was a mob that could have been eligible to activate after the leader went Ops Complete, but I decided to apply the orders to the units closer in the leader' square. I need to make not of that and perhaps interpret the AEO differently in the future. Perhaps deferring to weakest units first when taking an action that could put it in danger?
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