Private War

Mission Preparation

Deep in the back-woods of Pennsylvania a small band of terrorists, codenamed Mogo-Bob, took ten hostages captive and was holding them for ransom. The White House considered various options and deemed that in order to help boost the economy, not to mention save tax-payer dollars, it was best to out-source the rescue mission to two competing private contractors, HaliBerri Inc. and BrownWater LLC. The President called it a "rifle-ready project" and implied that similar projects might be pursued in the future to help curb budget demands while providing for the security of the U.S. and incentives to the private sector.

The veteran international companies were ready to go in a matter of hours, converging on the MogoBob compound early on the morning of Sunday, June 12, 2011. Advanced intelligence, ironically leaked by the New York Times, not the CIA, provided the competing project managers with vital information. Based on that information, both companies sent only a handful of assets for the mission. "Weekend operations trigger overtime payments", explained Dr. Joe Sommer, BrownWater's CEO, "so we like to keep the team as small as possible". When asked if that might increase the chance of casualties Sommer stated that "they're paid whether they're in the field or in the hospital ... it's all factored into the spreadsheets."

The controversial leader of HaliBerri, Will Montgomery, had a different slant on the operation. "We do these missions primarily as a favor to our government partners, er, I mean clients", he stated while directing field operations. "To help offset the risk we've subcontracted to Tyng Industries. They'll absorb most of the damage, thereby increasing our profit margins." Montgomery, considered one of the most experienced Battle Field Executives, was personally overseeing the project to ensure a chance at future contracts.

HaliBerri called on the services of the following technicians:

     Frank Pittelli (T001), Will Montgomery (T026), Steve Tyng (T040)

BrownWater sent a team of specialists consisting of:

     Joe Sommer (T010), John Pittelli (T039), Paul Pittelli (T077)

MogoBob had trouble getting volunteers and consisted solely of:

     Bob Amend (FA003)

Mission Report

The government contract officers told both contractors that their mission was to bring home all the hostages alive. Both contractors complained about the added burden of living hostages, but the contract officer stood firm on the requirement. Nonetheless, the government amended the contract to include bonus payments for each hostage recovered.

The battle began with HaliBerri and BrownWater forces converging on the MogoBob compound. The Navarone Gun had 40 rounds of paint and would have to be manually reloaded (Bob had to walk back to home base for more ammo). Because of contract limitations, the contractors were not allowed to shoot at the MogoBob forces themselves. Government lawyers were concerned about liability and insurance issues regarding the terrorists ... contractors were covered by private insurance, so contractor casualties were concerned a non-issue.

As the battle un-folded, it was clear that both contractors were more concerned with each other than the MogoBob forces. "It's a zero-sum game", explained Dr. Sommer, "either we get paid or they get paid. MogoBob's gun is just a nuisance. We need to make sure that HaliBerri doesn't get paid." With that said, Sommer drove his veteran Hetzer straight at the HaliBerri forces. Perhaps not the best of strategies, but nonetheless his trademark corporate style. Moral was high at BrownWater. John's Comet was mobile with a new electronics system after a couple years of bunker-only operation. He wasted no time pestering HaliBerri with precision shoot-and-scoot tactics. Paul's virgin Panzer II was equally aggressive, racing around the battlefield, bucking and bronking like an unbroken colt, looking for trouble where it could. The 50 caliber marker was shooting well and scored a hit on the Tiger at a range of approx 70 feet without a problem.

Taking a more cautious approach, HaliBerri watched from the outskirts of the compound as the BrownWater teamed raced around executing their mission plan. The veteran operatives watched BrownWater dart in and out of the compound, they studied the unknown skills of the MogoBob and, most importantly, they filled out travel reports and organized their receipts to help speed-up the reimbursement process when they got back home. After the reconnaissance and paper work was done, HaliBerri sprang into action. Montgomery's SU-100 assumed the role of counter-contractor, making sure that BrownWater forces couldn't sit someplace too long. If it moved, he shot it. Tyng's Cromwell raced around the field pestering the BrownWater forces, performing vital recon work to locate the hostages and hostage rescue itself. When Tyng located a hostage, he would relay that information to the team and they would all concentrate on the recovery operation.

Frank's Tiger was primarily concerned with interception and interruption. The Tiger would stalk both MogoBob and BrownWater forces in an attempt to divert their attention from the hostage rescue operations being conducted by the SU-100 and Cromwell. Near the end of the battle, the approach worked to perfection as the Tiger spotted the Panzer II in the deep brush out of the range of the Navarone Gun. The Tiger started chasing the Panzer II through the trees in hopes of luring other BrownWater forces away from the compound. The Panzer II unexpectedly drove across the open field near the compound to escape, drawing heavy fire from MogoBob. The Panzer II drove onto a tree root, became paralyzed and was destroyed by MogoBob. Within seconds, Tyng announced that he had recovered the last hostage ... the results of a stealth mission going on without notice. Trip reports would later reveal that Steve told Frank about the location of the hidden hostage minutes before and they developed the diversionary plan. This reporter subsequently learned that HaliBerri gave them special parking spaces, for 1 week, in recognition of their teamwork.

As the result of excellent coordination and deceit, HaliBerri recovered more hostages and destroyed more competing forces, earning more contract bonuses.