DAY 10 – APRIL 27th 2000
EAST of DOBRODZIEN, POLAND – DAY
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
ALEX and PFC CRANE are following the trail they’ve discovered. As it leads to the Flock’s camp, I’ll have to decide how close they want to get and apply the relevant modifiers.
There’s a lot of low vegetation and patches of trees in the area. These help with moving unobserved but also block sight. Luckily there’s a stream between the players and the camp, limiting the risk of running into patrols (see map below). In order to have a good view of the camp, the players will have to get to about 150m from it. According to the Player’s Manual (page 61), moving undetected to a distance of 6-20 hexes (150 meters is 15 hexes) gives a +2 modifier to RECON rolls and forest hexes give a further +1. PFC CRANE is wearing military fatigues granting another +1, and I’ll treat ALEX’s clothes (beige work pants and olive cargo jacket) the same way. The final modifier is +4.
In a group, the member with the lowest skill rolls (Player’s Manual, page 60): ALEX has INT B and Recon C, while PFC CRANE has INT C and Recon B. They would roll the same dice, but ALEX has the lowest skill, so he gets to roll for the both.
- ALEX rolls RECON: roll[D12+D12] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 1 and 5)
Now I either accept they are discovered by the Flock’s sentinels, or I push the roll accepting that ALEX will suffer a point of damage because of the 1 I rolled (I cannot re-roll that die). It’s important they stay undetected, so I’ll take my chances and push the roll:
- ALEX rolls RECON: roll[D12] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled 10) + 1 FAILURE (the 1 rolled before)
The Flock has a lookout in the church’s belltower, his high position granting him a +1; he has a binocular granting him another +1, but the forest hexes give him a -1 (visibility in forest hexes is 3 hexes, but since he’s atop the belltower, I’ll treat it as just a negative modifier). Total modifier for the lookout is +1 (he has INT C and RECON D):
- The LOOKOUT rolls RECON: roll[D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 8 and 5)
Not enough to spot ALEX and CRANE. The duo gets to a good observation point about 150m from the camp on an elevated position.
Alex suffers 1 point of damage.
There’s the risk of running into a patrol: there’s a river between the scouts and the camp, so chances are low, say 25%. I’ll roll 2 D10s to get a number from 1 to 100. If it’s between 1 and 25 they encounter a patrol Roll[D100] = 39 -> no patrols along the approach path.
ALEX and CRANE can see a tall structure in the distance: a church’s wooden belltower. They close in on it, and while ALEX is looking at it, he trips on a tree root sticking out of the ground and falls into a small depression. They both stop trying to listen if the commotion has raised any alarm, and when they’re reasonably sure it wasn’t noticed, they resume their movement. ALEX has cut his leg just under the knee because of a branch on the ground, but he carries on.
From their position, they can see a small village of single houses, and a church with an adjacent graveyard. Between them and the village is a small river.
Most of the houses, especially on the far side of the town, are destroyed – either shelled or burnt down – and only their outline is visible. The vegetation blocks sight in most direction, but they can see a group of 6 soldiers north, across the river, and a lookout in the church’s belltower.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE – THE MAP [click to expand]
I’ve combined 5 combat maps provided by the game – both in physical A4 sheets and in pdf – to create the town currently occupied by the Flock. TW:2000 maps have good variety and nice details, and are much, much better than the simple maps I made myself for Praszka.
All maps have the hexagonal grid with geometric type ports, meaning you can place them side by side and have a continuous grid pattern across multiple maps. It just took a little bit of editing to hide the seams.
I’m assuming the high ground where ALEX and CRANE have taken position is high enough to see above the extensive forest between them and the town (visibility in forest is 3 hexes).
“This town took a beating” says ALEX observing the ruins.
“Yeah, and judging by the smell I’d say recently” agrees CRANE.
Spending some time observing the town, they can see occasional movement on its roads: groups of armed men – 4 or 5 at a time – moving around, sometimes carrying crates and boxes. On one occasion, they see a group of 4 men escorting 3 prisoners who have their hands tied. The two spotters assume the prisoners are being taken to the church.
After a while, they decide to move to another position where they can get eyes on another slice of town, and get more intel on what they’re dealing with.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Once again, it’s a RECON roll to see whether they can move undetected by the lookout. The modifiers are the same as before (the new position will be at the same distance from the town), but the lookout will get an additional -1 as the players will move when he’s looking another way.
- ALEX rolls RECON: roll[D12+D12] = 3 SUCCESSES (rolled 12 and 9)
- The LOOKOUT rolls RECON: roll[D8+D6] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 8 and 2)
ALEX and CRANE move undetected to a new position a few hexes S-SW.
There’s still the risk of running into a patrol (or rather a patrol running into ALEX and CRANE as they’re observing the town) which I’ll treat same as before:
Roll[D100] = 29 -> no patrols show up while the duo is scouting.
From the new position they can see another slice of the town: there’s a couple of intact single-family houses at the near edge of town, one of which has a sandbag emplacement where 5 armed men are stationed.
Past that is about a dozen destroyed buildings and on the other side of the town a gazebo-like structure with another sandbag emplacement manned by 7 more men.
On the Western side of town, they can see the flat roof of a building with another group of 6 enemies on top.
Once again, ALEX and CRANE take some time to observe the town, this time trying to figure out the number of hostiles and civilians, defenses and weaponry available to the enemy.
The remain in position until there’s an hour of time left before they’re supposed to go back to the 1/116th Cav camp, which is about how much time it will take them to get back.
Here’s what they observe:
- The Flock has at least 40 armed fighters in town, but there’s probably more they didn’t see
- They have counted 8 prisoners being moved to somewhere in the western part of town; best bet is they’re kept in the church
- The Flock has set defensive positions around the town, but doesn’t appear to have any heavy weaponry. Soldiers are armed with light weapons.
- Seemingly, there’s no vehicle in sight
- ALEX and CRANE didn’t see any patrols, but it’s likely the Flock has men around the outskirts of the town and they just missed them. Also, being on the other side of the river probably meant patrols were less likely to traverse the area
- There’s no civilians in town, which is consistent with the Flock’s modus operandi (they have all been killed or pressed into service or taken hostage)
- There’s vegetation offering good cover up to the edge of the town, and several spots in which to cross the river, but the lookout will have an easy time spotting a large force approaching the town
Having concluded their observation, ALEX and CRANE go back to the camp.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Meanwhile, DONNA uses the day shift to get some shut eye, while NASCAR mans the perimeter with the 1/116th Cav.
DONNA recovers 1 damage point and 1 stress point.
THE PLAN 2.0
All scouts team report back; ALEX and CRANE tell CSM ELK and LED what they saw.
ELK’s planning has to take into consideration that the Flock has a 3 to 1 advantage – at least – in manpower, and has defensive, yet basic, positions set around the town’s perimeter. The church likely contains prisoners and a direct attack on it should be avoided if possible. ALEX and CRANE had a partial vision of the town, so it’s wise to assume the Flock has some heavy weaponry and possibly combat vehicles (likely up-armored technicals like in Praszka).
A direct assault on the town, through the forest and the river, is to be avoided. ELK can employ 20 men (including the players) and that’s a long way from being enough.
The 1/116th Cav has to play with their only advantage: artillery. The M1064A3 mortar carrier has a 120mm mortar that has a range of 75 hexes (750 meters, that’s in-game range of course). It can pound the enemy positions and force the Flock to move its forces out of their defensive positions and into the forest, where they will meet the 116th soldiers who will be waiting for them.
Here’s the rough framework for the plan:
- The M1064A3 mortar carrier will move into position slightly under the short range of its mortar (about 700 meters from the town, so as to avoid range penalties).
- Terrain and vegetation negate visual on the target, so mortar fire will be coordinated by forward observers via radio
- There will be 2 teams of scouts with 2 men each: they will direct fire on the enemy’s positions. At least for now, landing mortars on the church is a no go
- The remaining force will set about halfway between the town and the mortar carrier, ready to greet the enemy in the unlikely case the Flock’s soldiers discover the origin point of the mortar fire, or in the more likely case a patrol stumbles into the mortar carrier vehicle (for game purposes, they’re effectively setting up a waylaying ambush spending a stretch to set it up)
- The scouts are under orders of retreating towards the main force in case they’re spotted
- ALEX and CRANE will be one of the scout teams, the other will consist of men from the 1/116th Cav
- After 8-10 rounds fired by the mortars there will be a pause for BDA (battle damage assessment): scouts will report via radio and CSM ELK will call his next move
The 21 soldiers of the 1/116th Cav will be so divided:
- PFC CRANE will be paired with ALEX once more
- Two more men will form the second scout team
- A two men team with an LMG will be the machinegun team
- There will be three 4-men teams
- The remaining 5 men will guard the camp
- CSM ELK will be in charge of one of the 4-men teams
- LED, NASCAR and DONNA will form their own fireteam
CSM ELK has been ordered to identify the problem and solve it expediently, as the 1/116th Cav can’t afford to have two dozen men and valuable assets away from its operational area for long. He therefore decides for preparations to start immediately.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
All players consume the MRE and the water ration provided by the 1/116th, they leave their backpacks at the camp and ALEX gets the binoculars.
Before the assault force has to leave, LED and ALEX have a few minutes with CSM ELK.
“Back in Praszka” says LED “when we cornered the last guy standing, he barricaded himself in a room with hostages”
ELK is listening intently “did he try to negotiate his escape?”
“That’s the thing, see, he didn’t want to escape. He was going to shoot the hostages no matter what, so…” LED stops briefly
ELK raises his brows leaning forward a bit.
“We took action” continues ALEX “we tried to get him first, but we weren’t quick enough”
“He shot a hostage before we could take him down” finishes LED.
“What exactly do this people want?” asks ELK.
“That we do not know, but they seem not to be concerned with remaining alive, and quite keen on trying to kill everyone who doesn’t comply with their orders”
“Too bad you didn’t capture that guy, he could have had some answers”
“Oh no, we did capture him” says ALEX “but the militia took him away immediately”
“What happened to him?” asks ELK.
“They tortured him and then hanged him from a lamp post” says LED “if they got any intel out of him, they didn’t share”
“Hanged him from a lamp post, uh?” ponders ELK “yeah, folks in Dobrodzień would have done the same”
“The point is” continues LED “our guy was alone in a small room with two hostages. Now, we could have a church with a lot of bad guys and a lot of hostages”
“We can’t sneak in and free the hostages if that’s what you’re thinking” says ELK “even if we move after dark, we’re outnumbered and what little night vision equipment we have is back at our HQ. We wouldn’t stand a chance. This here is our best option: we open up with the mortars, they won’t know where they come from, so killing the hostages won’t help; then we can deal the killing blow. If there’s hostages in there then I want to free them, but I can’t promise anything”
LED and ALEX both nod, knowing they’ll have to wait and see.
“Alright” says ELK “let’s start thinning the heard, or rather the Flock”
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
This moment marks the end of the day shift. The attack will take place in the evening shift during which fair weather persists.
FINAL COMMENTS
I think good scouting makes for good planning, and that’s exactly what the players did.
Their view over the burned-out town was limited by terrain and vegetation, and I think this kind of scenario offers a good balance between allowing your players to strike in an effective manner (especially if they’re up against a numerically superior force) and keeping a modicum of secrecy. Something you can later surprise the players with.
Also, depending on how the fight is proceeding, you can tweak what you’re keeping hidden. The Referee’s job is to challenge the players, not to kill them.
We have a battle (sort of, more in the next posts) on the horizon, and as it is tradition now, I’ll save my comments for its final part.
If you want to know more about the dice mechanics of TW2K, check this page.