KUNDUZ GAMBIT - Afghanistan Ambush (with Aliens) for FIST
A downloadable mission
Afghanistan, 1978: A Delta Force operator, held captive by local insurgents, makes a single transmission mentioning PROJECT OBSCURA. Now a KGB "ghost squad" has extracted him, racing towards the Soviet border. Your mission: Intercept the convoy in a 50km dead zone. But when mysterious lights appear in the mountain mist, the cold war gets even colder...
THE KUNDUZ GAMBIT is a complete mission module for FIST: ULTRA EDITION that includes:
- A dynamic convoy interception across five distinct tactical zones
- Detailed preparation mechanics for planning the perfect ambush
- Multiple factions with competing goals converging on a single target
- A theatrical special forces unit masquerading as aliens
- Time management systems for mission planning
- Everything a Referee needs to run this as a one-shot or part of an ongoing campaign (as part of FALSE SELF and CHEAP TRICK)
Perfect for groups who enjoy:
- Highway ambush operations
- Multi-faction firefights
- Cold War conspiracies
- Government psy-ops
- Racing against time
Requires FIST: ULTRA EDITION to play. Contains themes of military occupation, armed insurgency, and governmental deception.
All images used in this module are public domain.
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Comments
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This mission introduces a great take on operational planning, one that I predict flows better than my own efforts in that direction (Operation Copper Glow). There's enough here to improvise successfully, which is important since the scenario gives so much initiative to the players.
It looks like it's built for ensuring player buy in, and tying a strategic and tactical version of play together in a way that promises to reward or punish PCs for their planning/failures to plan, without dragging out the pre-op phase forever. Well done!
I think special applause is needed for the geographical attention paid. Konduz is mostly beautiful, and frequently lush, but if you pay close attention to the specific place wherein the operation takes place and compare it to the real world location, both the description of it as an intel dead zone and a wasteland make sense. I hear a lot of people treat Afghanistan like the whole thing is a desert - Dice Goblin Games actually worked out the where and the why of how a mission like this would take place in the real world. Kudos for that.
Thank you for the extensive review!
I like "showing my work", so it was definitely a goal to give a lot of inspiration on how to run an ambush, besides giving the means to run this particular ambush. I don't have quite enough there to release it as a separate framework, but I hope it can inspire people to modify it, take it apart and run their own!
As per the geography, that's definitely one of the fun discoveries of writing FIST missions, since I almost exclusively wrote fantasy stuff before this. It really started on Google Maps, and trying to figure out what would make sense with the parameters of the mission.
When I found actual historical maps it felt like the icing on the cake - this really grounded it in reality so much more. The real stretch north of Kunduz has a few more villages, so it's about finding the right level of granularity and a balance between real life and "interesting gameplay mechanics". I wanted an earlier ambush to be riskier to execute, with a later ambush feeling providing better terrain, but also less leeway if things go south.
Anyway, I appreciate the thorough analysis, and it's extra motivation to deliver a good final chapter to this saga!