DAY 5 – APRIL 22nd 2000
PRASZKA, POLAND – NIGHT
ROUND 07
The enemy technical is now barely visible at short range, producing bright flashes as it spews rounds downrange towards the town’s militia.
NASCAR is ready with his AT4; he briefly checks behind himself muttering “clear backblast” more a reflex than an actual warning, then takes a deep breath and holds it. His right hand holding down the final safety, he adjusts his aim (fast action) and then presses the firing trigger with his thumb (slow action).
HEAVY WEAPONS and NASCAR’S ROLL [click to expand]
Here’s what comes into play when employing a heavy weapon such as NASCAR’s M136 AT4 (Player’s Manual, pages 70-71):
- Heavy weapons have a direct damage and an explosive damage (for the AT4 they are 8 and Blast C respectively). The blast damage is rolled separately and is not affected by the attack roll
- Firing a heavy weapon uses the Heavy Weapon skill, except for grenades (use Mobility), tripod or vehicle mounted weapons (use AGL instead of STR) and artillery (use INT instead of STR)
- Heavy weapons must be aimed with a fast action, quick shots are not possible. Mortars and howitzers require a slow action to aim
- There’s no bonus for firing at a large target and a -2 when firing at an individual with a heavy weapon. When targeting a hex, any additional success rolled will have no effect. The other modifiers are the same as for small arms fire
- If the attack fails two D6 are rolled to calculate deviation (same as we’ve seen with grenades)
NASCAR fires his AT4, it’s a cloudy night so he gets a -2, and he’s firing from an elevated position giving him a +1. The size of the target grants no bonus and the vehicle is moving very slowly so I house-rule that there’s no penalty for a moving target. He’s at short range, meaning no distance modifier.
NASCAR rolls:
- HEAVY WEAPONS [D10+D8] = 1 SUCCESS
The rocket lands on target. I rolled a D6 to decide the angle of attack: 1-4 is the right side and 5-6 is the front; it came out 2: the vehicle is struck on its right side.
The vehicle has level 2 armor on its side, but the AT4 has an armor modifier of -1, meaning it ignores 1 level of the armor.
The AT4 has damage 8, reduced by the armor it comes down to 7. The damage is enough to penetrate the armor, hitting an internal component according to the table on page 84 of the Player’s Manual:
- Component Damage, roll[D10] = 4 = ammunition
According to the Player’s Manual, when hitting the ammunition “if the attack inflicts 1 point of damage, half of the ammunition in the vehicle is destroyed. If the attack inflicts 2 points of damage, all of the ammunition is lost. Any excess damage continues to hit another component”
There’s still 5 points of damage to distribute, so there is secondary damage. Again, according to the Player’s Manual “For penetrating hit only. If the damage exceeds what is needed to destroy or incapacitate a component, the remaining damage continues to hit another component inside the vehicle (except for engine hits) – move row by row up the table (toward #1) until you reach a component that is present. Repeat this procedure until all damage points have been distributed”
Proceeding up one step on the component damage table on page 84, the AT4 round hits the suspension system. “Each point of damage will reduce the reliability rating of the vehicle by 1. If it’s reduced to zero, the suspension is disabled and the vehicle is rendered inoperable” (Player’s Manual, page 84).
Assuming the pickup was at reliability 5, the remaining 5 points of damage bring it down to 0, rendering it inoperable.
Now we have to calculate damage to the vehicle’s crew.
“If a weapon with an explosive effect penetrates the armor of a vehicle, all occupants in the vehicle suffer the effects of the explosion, in addition to any direct damage. The blast power is not reduced by the armor” (Player’s Manual, page 84).
The AT4 round has BLAST C: let’s start with the DRIVER
- Explosion (BLAST C) roll[D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS
- Hit location die = TORSO (the DRIVER is not wearing armor on his torso)
The DRIVER suffers 2 points of damage. According to the Player’s Manual (page 84) “Occupants of a vehicle that is penetrated by an attack must make an immediate CUF roll, even if they were not hurt by the attack. Anyone who fails the roll must immediately bail out on their next turn – i.e. spend a slow action to exit the vehicle”
CUF roll for the DRIVER: roll[D8] = 1 SUCCESS
The DRIVER doesn’t panic; he’s however suppressed and will lose his next round recovering.
Now the rolls for the GUNNER:
- Explosion (BLAST C) roll[D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS
- Hit location die = TORSO (the GUNNER is not wearing armor on his torso)
The GUNNER suffers 2 points of damage.
CUF roll for the GUNNER: roll[D8] = 1 SUCCESS
The GUNNER doesn’t bail, but goes prone in the back of the pickup and is suppressed, losing his next round
[I’m using CUF rolls just to determine whether or not the crew bails. Using the simplified version of the rules for minor NPCs they automatically fail the CUF roll for suppression]
Every time a vehicle’s armor is penetrated there’s a 1 in 6 chance it will be reduced by 1 until it is repaired. I rolled a D6 for the pickup armor and it came out 2: the armor remains at level 2 (the GUNNER is behind level 2 armor as long as he’s prone).
The nearby enemy infantry is outside of the explosion range.
In a split second, the projectile leaves the launch tube and arches its way towards the street, striking the enemy vehicle on the lower part of its right side. NASCAR feels the air reverberating against the walls hitting the back of his neck while debris and trash are projected all around him, then hears the sound of the rocket exploding where a moment ago the flashes of the machinegun could be seen. There’s a brief flash of dark red light with yellow shades and then the vehicle is engulfed in a cloud of dark smoke.
LED fires its weapon as soon as the rocket explodes. Unsure of whether he will hit something in the smoke surrounding the vehicle, he squeezes the trigger for a long burst.
LED’S ROLL [click to expand]
LED fires his AKM: he’s at short distance and within visibility, but suffers a -2 for cloudy night, and another -1 (house-ruled) for firing inside an explosion, balancing the +1 for firing at a large target. Finally, he gets +1 for firing from an elevated position. The total modifier is -1. He also rolls 4 ammo dice (full rate of fire).
LED rolls:
- RANGED COMBAT [D8+D8] = 2 SUCCESSES
- Ammo dice [D6+D6+D6+D6] = 2 + 3 + 5 + 5
2 successes are enough to penetrate the armor and damaging something/someone inside the vehicle, so LED doesn’t push the roll.
- Component Damage, roll[D10] = 6 = driver
Lucky shot! (the streak continues): LED hits the DRIVER, inflicting 2 (base damage for AKM) + 1 (extra success on the attack roll) -2 (vehicle armor) = 1 point of damage to the driver, who’s now down to 2 hit points.
I didn’t bother with the CUF roll since the driver is already suppressed.
LED fires 2+3+5+5 = 15 bullets, half his mag.
LED and NASCAR briefly look at each other.
“F**k yeah” says NASCAR.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
The DRIVER and GUNNER lose their round recovering from suppression.
The ENEMY GROUP has entered the building.
End of Round 07
ROUNDS 08-09
LED goes back to the stairs they came from, closes the apartment door opening on the landing almost all the way, takes position at the breach between the two apartments, and reloads his AKM. He takes overwatch aiming at the door.
NASCAR stands at the door connecting the two rooms where they dropped the machinegun team and takes overwatch ready to receive any guest coming from the stairs. (The AT4 launch tube was abandoned by the window after firing).
The sounds of the firefight are still coming from the street: without the RPK suppressing them, the defenders are firing back, engaging the infantry now caught in the open.
ENEMY GROUP and INITIATIVE ORDER [click to expand]
The wounded crew of the armored pickup will join the infantry and try to push toward the defenders, so they won’t join the group entering the building.
The enemy group has split in half with two men going up each stair (the LEADER + ENEMY 1 took the N stairs, ENEMY 2 + ENEMY 3 took the S stairs). They are trying to proceed undetected, but the players have already spotted them and are now waiting, so LED and NASCAR will take 1st and 2nd place in the initiative order, and the enemies will draw a card. I regrouped the initiatives for convenience, but each enemy will act on his own.
The Initiative order is:
- LED
- NASCAR
- ENEMY 2 and ENEMY 3 (I drew the card #4)
- LEADER and ENEMY 1 (I drew the card #6)
Both groups will reach the top floor in the next round.
End of Rounds 08-09
