DAY 5 – APRIL 22nd 2000
PRASZKA, POLAND – NIGHT
“Are we good?” asks LED loudly while scanning the room with his AKM. The light breeze coming from the broken windows and walls is rapidly dissipating the smell of spent gunpowder while small arms fire can still be heard coming from street level.
“We’re good, we’re good” shouts NASCAR, his ears still ringing from the grenade detonation.
They both enter the room, “don’t go near the opening” says LED pointing at the broken-down wall from where the enemies have been firing on the town’s defenders.
“Copy” nods NASCAR, who then proceeds along the wall and enters the next – and last – room: aside from the dead enemy, a broken bed and some damaged furniture, the room is empty.
LED crawls on the floor towards the two dead enemies and retrieves their weapons, ammo, and anything useful they may have. Everything is thrown towards the door leading to the tiled room, out of sight from the defender’s position across the street. NASCAR strips the other dead enemy of anything useful.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Their booty is as follows:
- 1 knife
- 1 RPK light machinegun with 25 rounds left in its magazine +2 reloads (reliability 4)
- 1 hunting rifle + 1 reload (reliability 3)
- 1 P-83 pistol + 1 reload (reliability 4)
The battle is still raging outside, its intensity steadily growing over the last minutes. NASCAR puts his hand on LED’s shoulder and touches his ear. LED tilts his head focusing on any new noticeable noise coming from the street. The sound of an engine can be heard, its intensity growing by the second. The two players look at each other with concern when a burst from a heavy machinegun filles the air with its angry noise.
They both flinch as a reflex, then crouch down and move to one of the openings looking towards the river. There’s a vehicle on the street, its machinegun spewing bullets in the same direction the RPK gunner was firing at. The vehicle’s silhouette is highlighted with every flash of the gun: it’s the same technical LED has scouted in the previous afternoon outside the town.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
It’s an up-armored pickup (+1 armor to all sides) with a PKM GPMG (general purpose machine gun) mounted on the back. There’s a steel plate welded just below the barrel of the gun granting protection to the gunner’s hands. The vehicle’s crew consist of 2 members as follows:
The enemy unit comprises:
- GUNNER modeled after a Polish Soldier from the Referee’s Manual: HIT CAP: 5 CUF: C
ATTRIBUTES
STR: B
AGL: B
INT: C
EMP: C
SKILLS
RANGED COMBAT: C
DRIVING: C
CLOSE COMBAT: D
RECON: C
Carries and AKM + 1 reload. Has Polish army fatigues + steel helmet.
- DRIVER modeled after a Polish Soldier from the Referee’s Manual: HIT CAP: 5 CUF: C
ATTRIBUTES
STR: B
AGL: B
INT: C
EMP: C
SKILLS
RANGED COMBAT: C
DRIVING: C
CLOSE COMBAT: D
RECON: C
Carries and AKM + 1 reload. Has Polish army fatigues + steel helmet.
The gun has about 75 rounds in its belt and the gunner has another 75 rounds belt.
The duo observes the vehicle for 20-30 seconds (3 full rounds): it’s slowly inching its way closer to the defenders’ position while suppressing it with its fire. The gunner is methodical: firing small controlled bursts at regular, short intervals. Past the vehicle, in an open, grassy area between the road and the river they can see people moving on foot, their figures highlighted by the machinegun flashes: enemy infantry is closing in on the defenders’ position.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
There is a second enemy group that has already crossed the street and is moving towards the player’s building. The players have line of sight on them and they are at the edge of the visibility range (5 hexes = 50m in a cloudy night) so I made an opposite roll to see if they are spotted.
The ENEMY GROUP gets a +1 for moving through vegetation, +1 for wearing fatigues; the players get a -2 for cloudy night. The person with the lowest skill should roll for the enemies; they all have Recon C but the commander has INT B and the soldiers INT C, so the soldiers roll. For the players, LED will roll as he has the highest skill in recon. It’s a passive roll, so LED won’t be able to push it:
- LED rolls[D8+D6] = 1 SUCCESS
- The ENEMY GROUP rolls[D10+D10] = 1 SUCCESS
The ENEMIES have failed to get more successes and are spotted by LED
LED points left, on their side of the road, where a group of 4 is moving through a patch of vegetation, closing in on the building “we’re about to have company”
“How long till they get here?”
“I’d say a minute; make it 50 seconds”
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
According to the rules 1 round equals 5-10 seconds, meaning they have 5 to 10 rounds before the enemy group reaches their floor. I house-ruled the time they have is 5 + ½ D10 = 5 + 3 = 8 rounds.
NASCAR nods toward the pickup, “enough time to do something about that”
LED stares at the vehicle inching forward, spewing bullets down the road, “the prisoners said they’ve added extra armor, and it’s barely visible in the dark. We would need a lucky bullet to take out the gunner. Really lucky”
NASCAR puts down his M249 and grabs the M136 AT4 he’s carrying on his back, “we just need the right tool for the job”
LED looks concerned, “if you miss, that thing is going to carve a few more holes in the building, and maybe the two of us”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence” replies NASCAR “I thought we were here to help the townspeople”
“We are”
“Then we go all the way”
LED nods, “alright, wait for it to be within range, I’ll fire a burst from over there” he gestures at the farthest window in the room, “just to up our odds a bit”
They both mentally calculate where the pickup needs to be in order for it to be in range for the AT4 [which has a short range of 5 hexes = 50m, luckily coinciding with the visibility range. The visibility range I’m using on the map is less than 50m on account of the height difference between the player’s position and street level].
“Listen, after you fire you stay low and move away from the windows. We can exploit surprise, but we can’t trade fire with that thing. Plus, we’ll need to greet the visitors” says LED.
“Okay” responds NASCAR, “you think they’ll come from the same stairs we did?”
LED ponders for a moment, “we’ll split up, cover both”
“Split up? Is that a good idea?”
“Only idea I have”
“Okay, there’s no time, let’s do this”
NASCAR and LED take position waiting for the enemy vehicle to be in range.
LED reloads his AKM and takes position right next to a broken window, ready to pivot the rifle against its frame.
NASCAR pushes the sight covers on the AT4 tube and the front and rear sights spring out in position, he then flips the shoulder stop and removes the safety pin at the back of the launch tube. He moves the cocking lever to firing position and sets himself for firing, his hands ready to press the final safety lever and the trigger.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
The conversation and preparations take 3 full rounds. By the end of the third round, the armored pickup is within range.
I didn’t bother with a scouting roll for the vehicle crew to see if they spot they players; the players spotted the vehicle when it was beyond visibility because of the flashes of the machinegun, so they are ready to fire as soon as it is within range and visibility. NASCAR will go first firing his AT weapon, then LED. The driver and gunner of the vehicle will have the 3rd and 4th place in the initiative order respectively.
The players will fire on round 4; it will take 3 more for the enemy group to enter the building and get to the top floor.
