DAY 15 – MAY 2nd 2000
SW of LUBLINIEC, POLAND – NIGHT
PHASE 00 – PREPARATIONS
Led by BIANKA, the group proceeds to the edge of the forest, with a no-sounds, no-lights policy in place. They keep a slow pace traversing the darkness, until a small, red-ish light is visible through the trees, a few hundred meters ahead.
They stop at the tree line, in front of them are 50 meters of open, dark terrain, with little to no vegetation. Past it is a corner of the base’s perimetral fence, its original silver color now altered by rust and decay, barely able to reflect what little light the stars can provide. The guard tower at the corner sits silent and lifeless, its profile barely visible against the dark sky. It appears empty, confirming BIANKA’s previous recon.
Past the guard tower, roughly 300 meters further away, is a lit fire. The flames themselves are not visible, suggesting the fire has probably been lit inside a barrel or a similar container, but the orange glow it casts clearly reveals two silhouettes of men standing, and the outline of another guard tower. Also, the corner of a small building is visible, probably a small shed not marked on BIANKA’s map.
Another fire is lit to the right of the first one, hidden behind the bunkers’ berms, highlighting their profile. The light cast by the second fire splashes against the facades of the office building, and the barracks to its right. Rows of dark rectangles suggest the presence of windows, but further details are hard to recognize.
The group huddles up at the edge of the forest. Despite their vicinity to one another, only their outlines are clearly visible: four rounded helmets and BIANKA’s bandana.
ALEX has attached the NVGs and IR light to his helmet, linked everything to the battery he now carries against his side, and adjusted the fitting.
“Give it a go, let’s see how those things work” says LED.
ALEX turns on the apparatus and starts looking around; the others can see a faint green glow in the space between his eyes and the goggles.
“Everything is grainy and it feels like I’m drunk, but it’s better than pitch darkness”
“Okay, that’s one” says LED “now look towards an open area, and try the illuminator”
ALEX turns to the metal fence, and turns on the IR light on his helmet, right above the NVGs. He instinctively ducks placing his hand over the source of IR light. “Ah s**t” he says nervously.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just a reflex. I turned on the light and everything was lit up; I thought they could spot us… took me a second to realize it’s infra-red” after a brief pause he adds “I have good vision up to 40, maybe 50 meters”
“Alright, now we know it works” concludes LED “now turn it off, we don’t know how long the battery can last”
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
I am house-ruling there is enough charge for the entire operation. If it becomes (much) longer than anticipated, I’ll have to find a way to handle it.
“She said office building, first floor, right?”
ALEX translates for BIANKA, then confirms on her behalf.
“Is that first floor the way they mean it in Europe?” asks DONNA.
“You mean what we call second floor?” says NASCAR.
“ALEX, please confirm with our guest” orders LED.
ALEX and BIANKA speak briefly in Polish, then he says “the floor right above ground floor”
“Got it” nods LED in the darkness “ask if the cell has a window and which way it looks”
Another brief exchange between the two Poles follows.
“It’s the only window with bars on it, that’s how she knows where it is. It faces our way”
“Okay, if we do this quietly we may be able to pull it off”
THE PLAN
The group will attempt to liberate Captain WALICH of the Polish 1st SOC taking advantage of darkness and BIANKA’s previous recon.
Ideally, the best time for such an operation would be right before dawn, when the enemies think night is almost over and let down their guard, but there’s still the cover of darkness. The group would rather act sooner, so they’ll wait for the enemy patrol to complete its first perimeter run and then act.
LED, ALEX and BIANKA will enter the rocket base from one of the entry points located by BIANKA, move unnoticed to the other side, and wait for the patrol to walk the fence. According to BIANKA’s intel, this will keep them busy for 15-20 minutes, reducing the number of active enemies in the area where the prisoner is.
The three-men team will split at the necessity, but ultimately ALEX will have to get to the cell and pick the lock (ALEX has the highest combination of INT and TECH, plus the Locksmith specialty), assuming there’s no key in sight.
If the inside team remain unseen after reaching the prisoner, they can retrace their steps and get out. As an alternative, they may try to disarm one of the traps set on the western side of the fence and exit from there.
Ideally, all enemies are to be left alone. If there is the need to engage one or more, knifes and silent weapons are preferable (BIANKA’s bow could come in handy). If things get loud, the rest of the group will come into play.
NASCAR and DONNA will set at their current position, and move up to the fence after the patrol has passed the section in front of them. They will then enter the perimeter, and set at the berm near the closest bunker (that brings the two sentinels they spotted within long range). From there they will be able to engage both the patrol and the sentinels they have spotted by the fire.
Their goal is to create enough of a distraction for the other team to get out.
Should the inside team get cornered or otherwise compromised, they can alert the outside team by either firing in the air, or by using the red flare LED recovered back at Garage Hotel (it’s hand-held, but he can throw it if necessary).
LED carries the flashlight, just in case, and NASCAR gives him an M16 anti-personnel mine, and a length of the tripwire. He also gives BIANKA an improvised grenade.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
Here are some considerations:
SPLITTING THE PARTY: there will be RECON rolls, so no point in having everybody entering the base. Moving as a group means the member with the lowest RECON skill rolls for everybody (that would be DONNA, with a D8). LED, ALEX and BIANKA all have INT B and RECON C, and better odds at remaining unnoticed. Also, I want NASCAR and his M249 ready to make some noise and cover the other team’s exit.
SILENT WEAPONS: BIANKA’s bow is the only ranged weapon the group has at its disposal. If there’s no way to avoid an enemy, LED and ALEX will have to resort to their knifes.
ENEMY PATROL: at first, I considered taking out the patrol at the furthest edge of the perimeter from the main buildings, reducing the number of enemies by 2. Then I figured the sentinel on the roof would see the torches not moving or disappearing and raise the alarm. Plus, if the patrol reports via radio, they have to be left undisturbed.
THE SWITCH: I also considered taking out the patrol, and having LED and ALEX take their place, finish the round, and get back to the buildings. I discarded this plan on account of a few factors:
- there may be a password to confirm everything is okay on the radio
- the patrol may originate from the fire where the other sentinels are, and end there, so the players would be immediately spotted
- LED and ALEX would have to take the enemies uniforms and equipment, and that takes time, during which the patrol would stay still and we are back to the previous point (BIANKA could move the torches along the perimeter, but that’s already too many moving parts for the plan)
MANAGING THE NARRATION OF THE RAID
The distance between the group’s entry point and the building is 250-300 meters. My players can move 2 hexes (20 meters) every round, so it would take them 13-15 rounds to get there. This means 13-15 rounds of the players just moving (and 13-15 updated maps for me to produce…). Add the (probable) recon to be conducted inside the base, and the number of rounds may as well double. There’s no point in following their movement round after round, rather I’ll split their path into phases, each encompassing a significant movement through the base.
I’ll switch to single rounds when they enter an area watched by a sentinel, or lit by one of the fires, or in an area with enemy presence. I’m assuming the players are moving silently, and are far enough from enemy soldiers, so I won’t roll RECON for the approach phases.
BIANKA
I have BIANKA’s stats, but I will present them if they became relevant (hopefully they won’t). She carries a Police Pistol (Player’s Manual, page 94) with 2 mags, a Hunting Bow (Player’s Manual, page 94) with 3D6 = 7 arrows, an improvised grenade (curtesy of NASCAR), a flashlight, one personal Medkit and a knife.
She only speaks Polish, so unless previously instructed, she will react to any sudden threat as she sees fit.
FINAL COMMENTS
The players have decided to proceed with a night action. Between the moon-less darkness, the NVGs and BIANKA’s useful intel, LED sees a good enough chance of succeeding.
We have a battle/mission/raid coming up, and as per usual, I’ll bundle up my comments in its last entry.
If you want to brush up on the dice mechanics of Twilight: 2000 4E, you can check this page.