DAY 5 – APRIL 22nd 2000
PRASZKA, POLAND – NIGHT
ROUND 04
DONNA is back to her M16A1 and trains it on the corner where the enemy leader is, assuming overwatch position (fast action). She takes a position that grant her partial cover from any attack from the enemy’s LEADER, and full cover from potential fire from GROUP 2.
ALEX is startled by the shot fired at him by GROUP 1 and quickly turns to face the new threat [movement is minimal, and house-ruled as a free action]. ALEX aims (fast action) at the corner where GROUP 1 is in partial cover and fires (slow action).
ALEX’S ROLL [click to expand]
ALEX uses his hunting rifle (range 10, ROF 1): he’s at short range and within visibility, but gets a -2 for cloudy night; he also rolls 1 ammo dice:
ALEX rolls:
- RANGED COMBAT [D8+D6] = 2 SUCCESSES
- Ammo die [D6] = 6
- Hit Location die = ARMS
With one hell of a roll, ALEX uses his extra success on his base dice to inflict an extra damage to one of the enemies in GROUP 1 who receives a critical hit (3 base damage +1) and is killed. With his ammo die success ALEX hits a second member of GROUP 1 who loses a single hit point. Having received damage, GROUP 1 is suppressed and loses its next round (simplified rules for NPCs = no CUF rolls).
ALEX spends a single round, GROUP 1 loses 1 fighter, has another one wounded, is suppressed, and still has to reload before being back in the fight.
A moan and a shadow dropping to the ground suggest his fire was accurate.
NASCAR has set himself in round 3, and is now ready to throw some lead down the alley; he aims (fast action) for GROUP 2 and fires his M249 (slow action).
NASCAR’S ROLL [click to expand]
NASCAR is at short range (60m) and within visibility (50m), he gets a -2 for cloudy night and a +1 for his Machinegunner specialty. He rolls for HEAVY WEAPONS, adding 6 ammo dice (full ROF for the M249). Unsure how many enemies are out there, he opts for maximum noise and damage so they know they better keep some distance. GROUP 2 has resumed its position behind the broken-down car: they’re in partial cover, with heads and arms exposed. The vehicle has an Armor Level of 1.
NASCAR rolls:
- HEAVY WEAPONS [D10+D8] = 0 SUCCESSES
- Ammo dice [D6+D6+D6+D6+D6++D6] = 2 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 6
- Hit location die = HEAD
No hits, but GROUP 2 will be suppressed (6 on the ammo dice); the hit location would be head tough, which is not in cover, so NASCAR pushes the roll:
Pushed roll:
- HEAVY WEAPONS [D10+D8] = 1 SUCCESS
- Ammo dice [D6+D6+D6+D6+D6+] + (6) = 3 + 3 + 6 + 6 + 6 +(6)
Another lucky roll (!!) and NASCAR manages to hit his target. He inflicts 2 damages to one of the fighters in GROUP 2 and uses one of his 6s on the ammo dice to increase the damage by one. Damage is now critical but it doesn’t matter since the target (having already suffered 2 damages in the last round) is now dead. NASCAR’s remaining three 6s on the ammo dice are used to hit another fighter, who suffers 3 hits and is now dead. GROUP 2 is also suppressed.
NASCAR has used (3+3+6+6+6+6) = 30 rounds.
The broken-down vehicle is showered with 5.56 rounds and when the bursts is over two enemies lay on the cracked asphalt, while a third is seeking cover behind the engine block, trying to remain as low as possible.
LED reaches the end of his block (fast action) and peeks around seeing the enemy LEADER at roughly 15 meters. LED raises his M1911A1 but is startled by the hail of gunfire coming from the alley curtesy of NASCAR. He decides to conclude his action and remain in full cover.
WITH THE EYES OF THE REFEREE [click to expand]
At first, I was planning on having LED fire at the enemy’s LEADER, but the cumulative penalties (-2 for cloudy night and -1 for un-aimed fire) would have dropped his roll to a pair of D6 and he would have been exposed to counter-fire in the next round.
At this point, I had to decide what the enemy LEADER was going to do; so I once again drew 2 cards to determine his motivation:
- K♥ FELLOWSHIP – Honorable
- 6♠ VIOLENCE – Moderate
MY INTERPRETATION: this man is a veteran soldier of the Polish Army. After losing most of his comrades along with any contact with his superiors in a battle against Russian forces months ago, he has wondered war-ravished Poland with a dozen of men.
Along the road they suffered a few more casualties and barely managed to stay alive, until one day they met with the faction they are currently part of. They received food, shelter, and a place in their newly found army. In return they were asked to swear allegiance to their new cause and undying loyalty to their new superiors. They did what they had to do to survive, and only later on they discovered the price of their decision. He’s a man of his word and is accustomed – to a degree – to violence, but his highest loyalty is to the men who survived with him.
This story somehow fits my narrative for this part of the campaign. More on the why the leader joined will follow.
I had the LEADER roll recon to see if he spotted LED while he was peeking around the corner, with a -2 for cloudy night.
The LEADER rolls:
- RECON [D8+D6] = 0 SUCCESSES
The LEADER is unaware of LED flanking him.
The LEADER has realized the situation is dire, and decides on a withdrawal from the deadly alley. He still has one man left in GROUP 2, so he’s going to try and save him. The leader takes his smoke grenade, pulls the pin (fast action) and throws it (slow action) in the alley past the broken-down car. He therefore triggers DONNA’s overwatch.
DONNA’S ROLL [click to expand]
DONNA sees someone peeking from the corner she’s focusing on and fires her M16A1 assault rifle: she’s at short range and within visibility, but gets a -2 for cloudy night; she also rolls 2 ammo dice (she’s already fired 18 rounds hitting nothing, so she’s more conservative this time).
DONNA rolls:
- RANGED COMBAT [D6] = 0 SUCCESSES
- Ammo dice [D6+D6] = 2 + 3
- Hit Location die = TORSO
She doesn’t push the roll. DONNA fires (2+3) 5 rounds but they all hit the garages on the other side of the alley.
The LEADER is targeted with a burst but remains unarmed as DONNA’s fire only hits the garage wall. His left arm swings the grenade down the alley.
LEADER’S ROLL [click to expand]
Smoke grenades have a range of 3 hexes (30m) which is enough for landing one just past the broken-down car between the rows of units (page 70 of the player’s manual states that a grenade’s maximum range is short). For a thrown weapon, the LEADER has to roll using his MOBILITY:
- The LEADER rolls MOBILITY [D10] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 3)
The burst fired by DONNA has startled the LEADER and the smoke grenade is deviated. Deviation is described at page 71 of the Player’s Manual: roll 1 D6 for direction of the deviation and 1 D6 for the extent of the deviation from the intended target. It is to be noted that deviation cannot exceed in length half of the distance to the target.
Direction: roll[D6] = 3
The grenade goes down the alley more than intended. The LEADER was aiming at roughly 20m (2 hexes) from him, so the max extent of the deviation is 1 and the second roll is superfluous.
The grenade goes live with a loud pop, and thick grey smoke starts quickly filling the space between DONNA and the broken-down car blocking visual for both DONNA and NASCAR.
GROUP 2 recovers from suppression, and so does GROUP 1.
End of Round 04
ROUND 05
DONNA’s line of sight is completely blocked by the smoke that filles the alley and open units right up to her position. “Coming out” she says to NASCAR not to get shot (free action) and she moves to the comrade’s unit so to have some space should someone emerge from the smoke.
ALEX knows there’s more fighters where he dropped the last one (he doesn’t know they have to reload and cannot attack him in this round), so he moves through the hole in the back of his unit and into the next one and yells “there’s more coming South” to NASCAR and DONNA. He then keeps moving down the row of unit S-E to take position in the rubble at the end.
ALEX’S ROLL [click to expand]
2 hexes of movement is not quite enough to get to the rubble, so ALEX rolls for MOBILITY to see if he can move further
- ALEX rolls[D10+D6] = 1 SUCCESS
He moves 1 hex (10m) further, reaching the rubble and having line of sight on GROUP 1.
“Stay here” says NASCAR to DONNA, and then having heard ALEX he gets up (fast action) and moves S-W taking cover behind the rusty husk of what used to be a car (consuming his slow action).
LED peeks around the corner, aims his M1991A1 pistol (fast action) and fires at the enemy LEADER (slow action).
LED’S ROLL [click to expand]
LED is at short range (2 hexes for the M1911A1) and within visibility, but gets a -2 for cloudy night; he also rolls 1 ammo dice:
LED rolls:
- RANGED COMBAT [D8+D6] = 1 SUCCESS
- Ammo die [D6] = 6
- Hit Location die = TORSO
Another (!!!) lucky roll: LED hits the enemy and uses his ammo die 6 to deal +1 damage, bringing the total up to 3 and turning the hit critical (LEADER has no armor). LED fires 6 rounds.
The enemy LEADER falls to the ground, his back resting on the wall and his hands clutching his belly. He drops his P-83 pistol which now lays just beside his leg.
WITH THE EYES OF THE REFEREE [click to expand]
Since I’m treating the LEADER as a major NPC, he doesn’t die upon receiving a critical injury. Instead, I have to roll a D10 and see what type of critical injury he gets on the table at page 76 of the Player’s Manual.
Critical Injury: roll[D10] = 8 = TORN INTESTINES
The injury is potentially lethal and requires a death save (stamina roll) every stretch to stay alive. If treated with a successful medical aid rolls (which takes a full stretch) the amount of time between death saves is increased to a shift. If another first aid roll is performed successfully (this one taking a full shift) then the wound is no longer lethal and the recovery time is 2D6 days. The LEADER suffers -1 stamina and disease virulence -3 until he has completely healed.
The only survivor of GROUP 2 exits the deadly raw under the cover of smoke and stops by his LEADER when noticing he’s been wounded. [I house-ruled he doesn’t see LED]
GROUP 1 moves to full cover from ALEX’s previous position (fast action) and reload (slow action).
WITH THE EYES OF THE REFEREE [click to expand]
According to the Player’s Manual (page 60), the smoke created by the smoke grenade has a 1in6 chance of dissipating every round. Roll[D6] = 2
The smoke stays.
End of Round 05
