DAY 10 – APRIL 27th 2000
EAST of DOBRODZIEN, POLAND – EVENING
ROUND 00
Once again ALEX and PFC CRANE move to the Flock occupied town. The plan is to take position at their second observation post they used when scouting while the second scout team will take place at their first scouting position. Each team has a portable radio. Callsigns are established:
- ALEX and CRANE’s team has callsign REDWING
- The second scout team has callsign CALDWELL
- HQ (CSM ELK) has callsign BENCH
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Same drill as when scouting. ALEX is the member with the lowest RECON skill, so he rolls for the team with a +4 modifier:
- ALEX rolls RECON: roll[D12+D12] = 3 SUCCESSES (rolled 11 and 7)
The lookout in the belltower has changed, but I’ll assume he has the same INT and RECON ratings (INT C and RECON D) and rolls with the same +1 modifier. As he rolls 2 D8, his best roll would be 2 successes, which is not enough to spot team REDWING, so I won’t bother with the roll.
ALEX and CRANE get in position unseen, and so does team CALDWELL (in the interest of the story, I won’t roll for them: the more you roll, the more likely you are to fail).
Same as before, there’s a 25% chance a patrol is coming by as they move into position.
- Roll[D100] = 44 -> there’s no patrol
Both scout teams get into position and ALEX uses his binoculars to assess the situation:
- There’s a group of five soldiers at the closest house of the town
- There’s a group of six soldiers on top of the flat roof building on the western part of town
- There’s a group of 6 soldiers on the opposite side of the town, near the gazebo-like structure
- There’s a four men group at the intersection near the flat roof building
As agreed before, CRANE pushes the transmit button on his radio four times to indicate they have four potential targets. Then they hear team CALDWELL push it twice.
ALEX and CRANE agree that their first target should be the building with the flat roof, as it is far from the church and any round not on target (which the first ones are likely to bee, more on that below) won’t be that far off as to hit the church. From there they will direct the mortar fire to shift to the other visible concentration of soldiers. After the first six or seven rounds, team CALDWELL will step in and direct fire North of the church.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE – PREPARATIONS [click to expand]
Time to consider how to play this out.
- MORTARS
Mortars (Player’s Manual, pages 71-72) count as heavy weapons, and aiming one consumes a slow action. As they’re usually employed to fire at large targets or at a map hex, they get no bonus for aiming at a large target, while they suffer a -2 penalty when aimed at an individual. Range, elevation, light and weather give the same modifiers as for small weapons. When targeting an hex, any extra successes on the HEAVY WEAPONS roll have no effect.
If an attack misses, deviation has to be calculated as seen before with grenades (roll 2 D6).
The firer can then correct the fire for a subsequent shot. Correcting counts as a slow action and can only be done towards the same target hex as the previous shot. Each correction gives a +1 to the next attack, up to a maximum of +3. Changing target makes you lose the bonus.
In the case of indirect fire, where the firer doesn’t see the target, a forward observer with line of sight on the target is needed in order to fire. The forward observer has to roll RECON consuming a slow action; if he rolls at least one success, the indirect fire can hit (any extra successes on the RECON roll have no effect). If the spotter’s RECON roll fails, the gunner can still aim and fire, but the shot will automatically deviate.
The spotters can call in corrections as a slow action without any rolls.
Damage from mortar fire is dealt same as with grenades. I will roll once for every single group of enemies, adopting the simplified rules for groups of NPCs.
- SPOTTING THE MORTAR
Spotting an enemy distant mortar is notoriously difficult and requires specialized equipment, such as artillery radars capable of tracking the mortar round and determining its origin point, or a sound tracking device that employs multiple microphones to appreciate the variation of sound created by the round in the ascending/descending part of its trajectory and determine the direction it’s coming from.
The Flock doesn’t have any of that.
In this situation though, the mortar is relatively close (700m) and a 120mm is very loud, with each round fired sounding like a small explosion when you’re near the launch tube. Rather than multiple RECON rolls, I’ll treat the lookout’s odds this way: when the first round lands, the lookout will have a 4% chance of determining the direction the round is coming from, and each subsequent round will raise the probability by a further 4% (house-ruled).
- REACTING TO MORTAR FIRE
Unless there’s a hardened structure nearby, the best way to react to mortar fire is to scatter and go prone. Any trained soldier in the Flock’s ranks will know that, but greener recruits will either go prone and stay in place, or be tempted to go inside the nearest building.
I’ll treat each group as 50% trained soldiers and 50% recent conscripts.
- ENEMY PATROLS
Enemy patrols will move towards the town after hearing the first explosion. The Flock has a 4 men group patrolling the players’ side of the river. Same as with the lookout, with every round there will be an increasing probability of the patrol entering the area where the players are (1% for the first round, increased by 1% with every round, and after 20 rounds they will arrive automatically). This is of course house-ruled.
- MORTAR TEAM
The mortar team of the 1/116th Cav is composed of trained personnel. The gunner has INT B and HEAVY WEAPONS B (heavy weapons such as mortars and howitzers use INT instead of STR). Their map of the region is not detailed enough to properly aim the mortar, and they had to determine their current position in the woods as best as they could: these factors will amount to a -2 on their first round fired.
ROUND 01
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
ALEX and the 1/116th soldiers have moved to their positions unnoticed, so they automatically obtain the first place in the initiative order, with the mortar team right after them.
I won’t bother with the initial RECON roll by the forward observers. They are in no rush and they can re-roll until they get a success. I’ll assume it has been taken care of.
After the scout teams have confirmed they’re ready, and the mortar team and assault team have all replied the same, PFC CRANE gives the green light for a single HE round, while ALEX keeps watch.
“Rounds complete” says a male voice over the radio.
MORTAR TEAM’S ROLL [click to expand]
MORTAR TEAM rolls for HEAVY WEAPONS with a -2 for their first roll. They’re at short range, which gives no modifier, and light, elevation and weather do not come into play:
- MORTAR TEAM rolls HEAVY WEAPONS [D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 7 and 2)
The round is on target: it will land on the building with the flat roof, dead center.
The 120mm mortar has damage 9, with armor modifier +2 and BLAST A, and the Flock’s soldiers on the roof are right where the mortar lands, meaning they all receive blast power A. The round lands right on their heads, but I’m not sure how to apply direct damage, so I’ll start with the blast. Let’s roll to see if they’re hit:
- Roll Blast Power A [D12+D12] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 7 and 4)
- Roll Hit Location Die = LEGS
All enemies on the roof are hit by the explosion, and legs are not protected by armor (armor would have granted its protection level +1).
Blast Power A results in 4 damage points and has a crit level of 3, so all enemies in the group suffer critical hits and are killed.
The roof of the building is made of concrete, which has an armor level of 3, meaning it blocks 3 damage points while 6 penetrate (mortar has damage 9). The roof now has a hole in it and anybody under it suffers 6 damage point. Unseen by the players, 4 more soldiers are in the building, but I’ll assume they’re positioned at its perimeter and that they’re unharmed by the direct damage of the mortar. I’ll also house-rule that they receive blast power C from the explosion. Let’s roll to see if they’re hit:
- Roll Blast Power C [D8+D8] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 2 and 3)
- Roll Hit Location Die = TORSO
The soldiers in the building are not injured, but they go prone and automatically fail their CUF roll (simplified rules for NPCs).
There are no other enemy groups within the blast radius (which saves me the pain of having to calculate the effect of the explosion being a few meters higher than ground level.
ALEX and CRANE hear the distant bang of the round being fired, then mentally picture the shell arching its way through the air and over their heads, both men’s hearts accelerate reflecting their common hope the mortar round won’t go awol and land right on their spot.
CRANE, his eyes still observing the building through his binoculars, can see the enemies looking around as they try to determine what that sound was. He has calculated the travel time before greenlighting the mortar team and he’s now keeping track in his mind.
“Five seconds to splash” he says quietly.
ALEX’s curiosity exceeds his duties and he turns towards the town. Then comes the splash.
The explosion sounds like a giant hand slapping a concrete wall. A bright crimson and yellow fireball originates from the central part of the roof for a second, immediately followed by a dark grey dense smoke cloud engulfing the entire structure. Chunks of debris are projected outward, including the lifeless body of a man pushed off the roof onto the ground like a puppet.
PFC CRANE is hypnotized by the scene, but after a few seconds he grabs the radio and pushes down the button.
“On target”
Team CALDWELL keeps watch.
LOOKOUT and PATROL [click to expand]
The lookout has a 4% chance of determining where the mortar is:
- Roll[D100] = 21 -> no clue
There’s a 1% chance of a patrol arriving to the scouts’ area:
- Roll[D100] = 17 -> no patrols
First round was a great opening.
End of Round 01
