DAY 12 – APRIL 29th 2000
NORTH-EAST of DOBRODZIEN, POLAND – DAY
The armed men and their prisoner are moving N-NE; once they have moved away from the cave area, it’s clear their path is winding through the more open spaces with knee-high grass and avoiding the patches of forest and thicker vegetation.
ALEX sticks to these patches to remain undetected while keeping an eye on their position and predicting their movements. The others remain out of sight from the armed men, but within visual range of ALEX, who directs them using hand gestures only.
The group of armed men is formed by five plus the prisoner; they proceed in a slightly staggered column with one man opening, three in the middle with the woman, and one closing. The total spread of the column, length-wise, is 40-50 meters (4-5 hexes).
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE – RECON [click to expand]
By splitting the players as mentioned, ALEX is the only one who can potentially get spotted; this way any opposite RECON rolls won’t be performed by the member of the group with the lowest Recon skill (DONNA, D8), but by ALEX alone (D10+D8).
I like where the narration is going, and don’t want to over-complicate this part with a series of rolls (which of course offer a higher probability of failure), but it’s fair to at least roll once to see if ALEX can successfully stalk the armed men while at the same time direct his own group.
This is an opposite RECON roll: ALEX vs the person in the armed men’s group who’s on watch. ALEX’s roll is an active roll which he can push; the armed man’s roll is passive, and cannot be pushed.
[Reminder: in an opposite RECON roll for infiltration vs detection, a tie results in detection]
ALEX rolls with the following modifiers:
- +1 for wearing an outfit that blends with the environment (he doesn’t have fatigues, but his beige work pants and olive cargo jacket should be good for hiding in vegetation)
- +1 for terrain (I’m going with Forest terrain and not Foliage)
- -1 for having to track their targets and communicate (non-verbally) to his comrades (I imagine this would force him to move more than he would have to if he was just following the armed men)
The (potential) ENEMY on watch (INT C, RECON C) rolls with no modifiers:
- ALEX rolls RECON [D12+D10] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 5 and 7)
- The (potential) ENEMY rolls RECON [D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 7 and 2)
A tie is not enough to remain undetected; ALEX pushes the roll (he has to re-roll the D12: good odds)
- ALEX pushes his RECON roll [1 SUCCESS + D12] = 2 SUCCESSES (8 on the re-roll)
ALEX is focused on every step and remains unseen.
(Good thing for me, since I had already prepared the map for the encounter…)
It takes a while but eventually the group of armed men briefly stops for a break, and ALEX can scout in front of them and get a clear sense of which direction they will proceed as well as their most likely path. He splits from the group and rendezvous with his comrade.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Normally, scouting ahead trying to figure out the group’s most probable path would require a RECON roll, but as mentioned I’m letting the story flow with a modicum of freedom.
They proceed for about five minutes until they find a suitable place for an ambush. LED assigns each a position and a role in the (eventual) ambush. The followings are also established:
- When the enemy group is in the kill zone, LED will show himself and negotiate the release of the prisoner
- The others won’t show themselves, but will answer by shouting if LED asks to confirm their readiness: this is meant to intimidate, as LED won’t call ALEX and DONNA specifically, but rather TEAM 1 and TEAM 3, implying each of his comrades is answering on behalf of an entire team, and there’s a TEAM 2 further away (NASCAR may be hard to reach by voice due to his position but he can be reached with a whistle I think, see map below). It gives away the general position of the players, but LED is betting on avoiding a firefight.
- If things go south, LED will be able to alert DONNA and ALEX with the already established code word (Mexico), but NASCAR is unlikely to hear it (he will be at roughly 100 meters from LED). He therefore will start shooting if the enemies shoot first.
- If a firefight ensues, everyone is forbidden from firing too close to the prisoner (same hex); DONNA and ALEX will attack the enemies starting from the front and moving towards the rear of their formation. NASCAR the other way around.
- The group has 2 M16 anti-personnel mines; LED will set them in front of DONNA and ALEX’s positions protection against a counter-attack (standard practice for dealing with an ambush is to attack the enemy positions). The idea is that if the enemies counter-attack, they will leave the prisoner behind and run into nasty surprises on the ground. M16 mines have Blast C, so they are placed at an appropriate distance from the group’s members.
WAYLAYING THE AMBUSH [click to expand]
This is effectively a waylaying ambush, as detailed in the Player’s Manual, pag.60: if you lie in wait for an enemy to attack them as they pass, roll RECON to set up the ambush. This is a slow action. If you spend a stretch (5-10 minutes) or more to set up, you got a +2 modifier. If you spend a shift or more, you get +3. You can push the roll as normal. Record the number you roll.
When the target comes within visual range, they must make a passive and unmodified RECON roll (not pushed) to spot you. This still counts as an opposed roll, meaning you need to have more successes than the target to remain hidden.
The players have moved roughly 5 minutes ahead of their marks, who are now taking a break (of roughly 15 minutes), so they can spend 5-10 minutes preparing their positions (that goes for ALEX, DONNA and NASCAR, as LED is simply hiding behind a rock waiting for the enemies to enter the kill zone). In the meantime, LED will set up the two mines.
The distance between the players’ positions and the kill zone also influences their RECON rolls as shown in the table below:
ALEX and DONNA are 4 hexes from the kill zone (no RECON modifier), while NASCAR is 6 hexes from it (+1 to his RECON roll for setting up).
The enemies will have to roll RECON to see if they can spot the players as they gain line of sight on their position. All players are setting up in a Foliage hex, and that also grants a +2 to their roll.
Final modifiers are as follows:
- DONNA: setting up for a stretch (+2) + foliage hex (+2) = +4
- ALEX: setting up for a stretch (+2) + foliage hex (+2) = +4
- NASCAR: setting up for a stretch (+2) + foliage hex (+2) + distance (+1) = +5
And here are the players’ rolls:
- DONNA rolls Recon [D12+D8] = 3 SUCCESSES (rolled 11 and 7)
- ALEX rolls Recon [D12+D12] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 1 and 5)
- NASCAR rolls Recon [D12+D12] = 3 SUCCESSES (rolled 11 and 9)
ALEX has failed his roll. He can either push it, or find a new spot and start all over. He will move one hex away from his initial position and re-roll, though I’m house-ruling he no longer has the +2 bonus for spending a stretch to set up.
- ALEX rolls RECON [D12+D10] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 8 and 3)
He pushes it:
- ALEX pushes his RECON roll [1 SUCCESS + D10] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled 7 on the re-rolled D10)
The enemy on watch will have first line on sight on DONNA’s position right as he enters the kill zone, then NASCAR’s position once he moves to the next hex, and finally ALEX’s after moving one further hex.
In the map below you can see the ambush area, players’ positions and the limits of the area they each can attack. Natural obstacles (rocks) avoid the possibility of friendly fire. (ALEX was originally placed in the foliage hex adjacent to the one he is in).
Everyone is now set; mines are in place and guests are on their way.
ENEMIES and PRISONER – SPOILERS [click to expand]
Here are the details for the enemy group:
- Enemy LEADER represented by the token with the spade symbol is modeled after a Soviet officer from the Referee’s Manual: HIT CAP: 5 CUF: C
STR: C AGL: B INT: B EMP: B
Ranged Combat: C Recon: C Persuasion: D Command: C
Carries a PM pistol + 2 reloads; an AK-74 + 1 reload; a knife; 1 improvised grenadeHas Russian fatigues with a brown jacket and wears a flak vest under it
- ENEMY 1 is modeled after a Polish soldier from the Referee’s Manual:
HIT CAP: 5 CUF: C
STR: B AGL: B INT: C EMP: C
Ranged Combat: C Recon: C Driving: C Close Combat: D
Carries an AK-74 + 2 reloads; knife
Has Polish army fatigues, backpack and steel helmet
- ENEMY 2 is modeled after a Polish soldier from the Referee’s Manual:
HIT CAP: 5 CUF: C
STR: B AGL: B INT: C EMP: C
Ranged Combat: C Recon: C Driving: C Close Combat: D
Carries an AKM + 2 reloads; P-83 pistol + 2 reloads; knife
Has Polish army fatigues and a backpack
- ENEMY 3 is modeled after a Polish soldier from the Referee’s Manual:
HIT CAP: 5 CUF: C
STR: B AGL: B INT: C EMP: C
Ranged Combat: C Recon: C Driving: C Close Combat: D
Carries an RPK + 1 reloads; P-83 pistol + 2 reloads; knife
Has Polish army fatigues and steel helmet
- ENEMY 4 is German, but is modeled after a US soldier from the Referee’s Manual:
HIT CAP: 5 CUF: C
STR: B AGL: B INT: C EMP: C
Ranged Combat: C Recon: C Driving: D Close Combat: C
Carries an M16A1 + 3 reloads; combat pistol + 3 reloads; knife
Has German army fatigues and a backpack
I’m not detailing the content of their backpacks. I’ll do it should the need arise.
And here is the PRISONER:
- The PRISONER is modeled after a US Intelligence Agent from the Referee’s Manual:
HIT CAP: 4/5 CUF: C
STR: C AGL: B INT: A EMP: B
Close Combat: C Ranged Combat: C Recon: B Persuasion: B
She is unarmed, handcuffed and without armor
Her equipment is in the hands (and backpacks) of her captors.
FINAL COMMENTS
LED’s plan has taken shape; the ambush has been set and now it’s the enemy’s turn to unknowingly get into trouble.
We (may) have a firefight coming up in the next posts; and as per usual, I’ll save my comments for its final part.
If you want to brush up about the dice mechanics of TW2K, check this page.