DAY 5 – APRIL 22nd 2000
PRASZKA, POLAND – MORNING
ROUND 01
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
It will take 2 turns for the assault team to reach the school. The Flock has a single soldier on the second floor of the North wing: as long as he doesn’t notice the players, he will fire at the assault team; once he has noticed the players there will be a 50% chance of him changing target and firing at them. When the assault team has reached the building, he won’t be able to fire on them anymore and the only remaining target will be the players.
The players are just a couple of meters from the perimeter fence, I’ll count the movement to it and the crossing it as a single fast action.
In order to establish an initiative order (for the actions in and outside the North wing of the school) I will make an opposite RECON roll for each player against the enemy sentinel.
In such situations a group roll is generally called for, but my players are going over the fence one at a time and my approach made more sense in my mind.
Of course, more rolls come with a higher chance of failing, which may have not crossed my mind at the time…
LED goes up to the perimeter fence and puts the old rough over it, then vaults on it (consuming his fast action) and moves behind a tree just inside the school’s yard.
LED’S RECON ROLL [click to expand]
LED is the first to cross, I have to check whether or not the Flock’s guard sees him with an opposite RECON roll. LED has a -1 for moving in open terrain (I won’t grant any benefit from wearing fatigues). The enemy soldier has a -1 for being focused on the assault team moving in:
- LED rolls[D8+D8] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled a double 8)
- The FLOCK’s soldier rolls[D8+D6] = 0 SUCCESSES
LED moves in without being noticed.
Then it’s ALEX’s turn: he moves up to and crosses the fence (fast action), then proceeds towards the school.
ALEX’S RECON ROLL [click to expand]
ALEX is the second to cross, triggering a second opposite RECON roll against the guard; ALEX has a -1 for moving in open terrain and the enemy has a -1 for being distracted by the assault team moving in (house-ruled):
- ALEX rolls[D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 7 and 3)
- The FLOCK’s soldier rolls[D8+D6] = 1 SUCCESS
ALEX is spotted by the enemy as he moves across the school yard.
There’s a 50% the enemy turns his attention toward the players (6 to 10 on a D10, I rolled a 3). The soldier stays focused on the assault team.
2 hexes (20m) of basic movement aren’t quite enough to reach the school so ALEX rolls for MOBILITY to try and cover all the distance in this round.
ALEX rolls MOBILITY [D10+D6] = 1 SUCCESS
He moves an extra hex (10m).
He sprints across the schoolyard covering the entire distance to the building and stopping with his back against the northern wall.
NASCAR is next to cross the fence (fast action), he then moves another 10m in the school yard (slow action) and drops to the ground in the grass (free action).
NASCAR’S RECON ROLL [click to expand]
NASCAR is the third to cross, triggering another opposed RECON roll. NASCAR has a -1 for moving in open terrain and the enemy has a -1 for being distracted by the assault team moving in (house-ruled):
- NASCAR rolls[D6+D6] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 6 and 4)
- The FLOCK’s soldier rolls[D8+D6] = 0 SUCCESSES
NASCAR movement goes undetected.
Finally, DONNA gets to the fence, crosses it (fast action) and moves across the yard trailing ALEX.
DONNA’S RECON ROLL [click to expand]
DONNA is the last to cross, triggering one more opposed RECON roll. DONNA has a -1 for moving in open terrain and the enemy has a -1 for being distracted by the assault team moving in (house-ruled):
- DONNA rolls[D6] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled a 3)
- The FLOCK’s soldier rolls[D8+D6] = 0 SUCCESSES
DONNA is spotted by the enemy as she moves across the school yard.
There’s a 50% the enemy turns his attention toward the players (6 to 10 on a D10, I rolled a 9). The soldier decides it’s best to contend with the new threat.
DONNA will try to reach ALEX rolling for MOBILITY to cover the distance in this round:
- DONNA rolls[D8+D8] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled a 2 and a 4)
She pushes and rolls again:
- DONNA push-rolls [D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled an 8 and a 1)
DONNA reaches ALEX but suffers a point of damage in the process.
She sprints following her comrade and reaches the school building, but at the very end she trips and hits the wall hard with her shoulder, injuring herself.
ORDER of INITIATIVE [click to expand]
At the end of round 01, the initiative order is as follows:
- LED who managed to move without being spotted
- NASCAR who did the same
- The FLOCK’s soldier, represented by the token marked with 3
- ALEX who was spotted
- DONNA who was spotted as well
There’s 2 more enemies in the North wing, I’ll insert them in the order as they enter the fight.
End of Round 01
ROUND 02
The gunfire is intensifying as the militia is pushing their assault and the machinegun keeps spitting led across the street, but the group is focusing on its side of the building.
LED crosses the yard covering about 20 meters (2 hexes, standard movement). He moves behind NASCAR shouting “bounding” as he passes by (free action).
LED’S ROLL [click to expand]
LED rolls for MOBILITY to move a bit further and reach ALEX and DONNA:
- LED rolls MOBILITY [D10] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 1…)
He won’t (and can’t) push it, so he is now about 5m from the building.
He stops a few meters from the building and drops down (free action).
NASCAR, who’s prone in the yard, gets up (fast action) and moves to the school (he moves a standard 20m which is enough to get to ALEX and DONNA).
ENEMY 3 is in the corridor on the upper floor, roughly at the center of the wing. He peeks out the window to see where the soldiers he scouted have moved and sees LED prone in the grass. He aims with his PKM-60 (fast action) and fires (slow action).
ENEMY 3’S ROLL [click to expand]
ENEMY 3 is at short range (no penalty), firing from an elevated position (+1) at a prone target (-1). He rolls 2 ammo dice (ROF for the PKM-60 is 4):
ENEMY 3 rolls:
- RANGED COMBAT [D10+D8] = 1 SUCCESS
- Ammo dice [D6+D6] = 6 + 1
- Hit location die = ARMS
ENEMY 3’s fire is accurate and LED receives 2 (base damage) + 1 (a 6 rolled on the ammo dice) = 3 hit points of damage.
It’s a critical hit!! Roll[D10] on the Arms’ critical hit table to see what kind of injury LED has:
- roll[D10] = 1 = dislocated shoulder
As it makes little sense having received gunfire, I house-rule that his critical damage goes up one step on the list: 2 =slashed forearm (non-lethal, -2 to RANGED COMBAT with two-handed weapons and healing time is 2D6 days = 4 + 6 = 10 days).
Also, having received a critical hit to his arms, LED drops his AK-74.
LED has to roll for his CUF to see if he’s suppressed for the next round; as stated in the Player’s Manual (page 67), since he has line of sight on a non-incapacitated friendly fighter, he also rolls a die for the current unit morale (D):
- LED rolls for CUF + Morale [D12+D6] = 2 SUCCESSES
LED is not suppressed.
ENEMY 3 has rolled a 1 on his ammo dice, and has to reload (always a slow action for NPCs).
ENEMY 3 fires a quick burst and a hail of rounds impacts the ground right in front of his target. One of the bullets slashes LED’s forearm, causing him to drop his AK-74. LED moans through his teeth as warm blood starts soaking his sleeve, dripping down to his hand, but keeps his coolness despite the pain and is already thinking about his next move.
ALEX was about to jump in the sunken corridor where the locked door is, but seeing his comrade taking fire, he decides to return fire. He pivots around the corner, aims at ENEMY 3 (fast action) and fires (slow action).
ALEX’S ROLL [click to expand]
LED was close to the building, so the enemy must have exposed himself in order to fire at him; which is enough for ALEX to try and hit him.
ALEX is firing with his AKM at short distance (no modifiers). He also rolls 4 ammo dice trying to suppress whoever’s firing at LED. ENEMY 3 has only his head and arms exposed, the rest is in cover behind brick walls (Armor Level 2):
ALEX rolls:
- RANGED COMBAT [D10+D8] = 3 SUCCESSES (rolled 10 and 7)
- Ammo Dice [D6+D6+D6+D6] = 3 + 5 + 5 + 5
- Hit Location Die = TORSO (this was rolled after deciding not to push the RANGED COMBAT roll)
There’s enough successes to penetrate the cover, so ALEX doesn’t push the roll. He deals 2 base damages + 2 for the extra successes -2 for the armor level of the cover = 2 damages suffered by ENEMY 3 who also automatically fails his CUF roll (simplified rules for NPCs) and falls to the ground suppressed.
ALEX has fired 3+5+5+5= 18 rounds and has 12 left in his mag.
ALEX’s fire causes a large piece of the window’s frame to detach hitting ENEMY 3 in his torso and bringing him to the floor moaning.
“Move, move, move!” he yells (free action) with his rifle still trained on the upper floor windows.
DONNA goes around ALEX and jumps into the half-sunk external corridor (fast action), she then checks inside the first window that overlooks a classroom where a bunch of old desks have been bunched up against the southern wall.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Unseen by the players, ENEMY 4 is moving from the upper floor to the lower one, where ENEMY 5 is already stationed.
There’s shouting in Polish coming from the broken windows and gunfire from the main building. The local assault team has already partially entered its target windows.
End of Round 02
ROUND 03
LED abandons his AK-74 in the yard, gets up (fast action) and moves to cover (slow action), his hand shaking while blood drips from the tips of his fingers. From now he will rely on his trusted M1911A1 pistol (he has a full mag and a second mag with a single round in it).
“You good?” asks NASCAR (free action).
“Yeah, I got this side” says LED pointing his pistol East (free action).
[NASCAR switches his turn with ALEX – they can as long as they can talk to each other]
ALEX jumps in the sunk external corridor and gets to the door (fast action), he gets the lockpicks and start working on the door (slow action).
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE – LOCKPICKING [click to expand]
The Player’s Manual indicates that lockpicks are used to open a locked door with a TECH roll. It doesn’t however give any additional information, so here’s what I house-ruled:
- It’s not a complicated lock but the door has been shut for years. To keep things interesting, I decided on a D10+1 number of rounds for picking the lock with the countdown starting after a successful roll. Any extra success on the roll lowers the time by one round.
- Receiving damage or failing a CUF roll interrupts the process.
- The players can’t wait too long, so after 3 rounds they’ll consider breaking the windows (I assume the windows on the sunk floor to be mostly intact) or going around to the other side of the wing.
EDIT December 30, 2024
Player’s Manual, page 59: “A locked door must either be opened by picking the lock (TECH roll, takes one stretch) or by breaking it down”
A stretch seems way too much, so I’m sticking with my improvised ruling (also, I have already completed the battle and cannot go back for a correction…)
ALEX’S ROLL [click to expand]
ALEX rolls for TECH for picking the door’s lock with +1 for his Locksmith specialty:
- ALEX rolls TECH [D12+D10] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 2 and 6)
He’s in a hurry, so he pushes the roll (the risk here is breaking the lockpicks):
- ALEX pushes his TECH roll = 1 SUCCESS + [D12] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled an 8 on the second die)
He doesn’t know this, but opening the door will take a D10+1 rounds = 6 rounds, reduced by 1 for the extra success on the TECH roll. This is his first round, there’s 4 more left.
ENEMY 3 loses both his action on account of being suppressed.
NASCAR moves to the corner previously occupied by ALEX (it’s a minimal move, which won’t count toward his actions); he trains his M249 at the upper floor’s windows and assumes overwatch.
[Because of the angle, NASCAR won’t be able to cover the closest windows on the upper floor]
DONNA moves right beside ALEX and assumes overwatch on the ground floor’s windows.
ENEMY 4 reaches the ground floor and moves for the corridor in the north wing.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
I gave him a 50% chance of being involved in the firefight happening in the main building: 6-10 on a D10, I rolled a 1 -> he moves undisturbed.
ENEMY 5 moves to the middle classroom from the corridor at ground floor (right under ENEMY 3) and takes position at the window on the right.
End of Round 03
