DAY 16 – MAY 3rd 2000
LUBLINIEC, POLAND – MORNING
ROUND 00a
The group leaves its observation spot outside the missile base and moves South, trailing the party of five Russians that left their quarters fifteen or so minutes earlier. Due to LED’s intervention, their mission has been left purposely undefined: deal with the enemies.
The lieutenant hopes to secure some prisoners and – potentially – some intel, and has given orders to try and push the enemies to surrender. Yet a no unnecessary risks policy is always in place, and any action that is not a clear act of surrendering will be met with grave consequences.
In a tried way to minimize chances of detection, the e group splits with LED and ALEX at the front, and NASCAR and DONNA trailing them while maintaining visual contact.
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE – TRACKING [click to expand]
In order to engage the enemy, they first have to track them. Much like for hunting, this is a SURVIVAL roll; LED (INT B and SURVIVAL C) and ALEX (INT B, SURVIVAL D and the Hunter specialty) would roll the same dice.
I’ll have ALEX track the enemies while LED keeps an eye on their surroundings. ALEX has +1 for the terrain type (woods), another +1 for his Hunter specialty, and a final +1 house-ruled on account of him having seen the direction the enemies were moving and the fact he is tracking a group of five (five times the clues):
- ALEX rolls [D12+D10] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled 8 and 9)
The group is on the right track.
Now they have to decide how close to enemies they want to get and roll for RECON, knowing that the applied modifier will be the same as for ambushing (the closest you want to get, the higher the penalty to your roll). Normally, I would find the sweet spot between an acceptable penalty to the roll, and the ability to fire in RANGED COMBAT without penalties (short range). In this particular instance there are other factors at play:
- Forcing the enemy to surrender would require LED (or at least one member of the group) to get close enough to be heard
- At the same time the rest of the group should be in position and ready to intervene should the enemy prove stubborn
- LED has an M4 carbine, with a short range of 4 hexes only, meaning penalties for firing from over 40 meters of distance. On the other hand, ALEX has an M40A3 with a short range of 12 hexes. NASCAR and DONNA sit in-between with his M249 (6 hexes) and her M16A1 (5 hexes)
And finally: they don’t know yet if the enemy group has split, set up a camp, positioned someone on watch or else.
On account of all of this, I’m house-ruling the following: they have to get to at least 100 meters (10 hexes) in order to at least see the enemies and understand how to best proceed. I know visibility in forest hexes is 3, but 30 meters is way too close for comfort, and I’m picturing patches of trees alternating with small clearances, shrubs and streams.
The person in the group with the lowest RECON skill should roll, but LED and ALEX both have INT B and RECON C. Their clothes provide +1 to the roll, and Forest hexes a further +1. On the opposite side (this is an opposite roll) I’m placing the average Soviet soldier (Referee’s Manual, page 37), with INT and RECON C, and no modifiers:
- LED/ALEX rolls [D12+D10] = 2 SUCCESSES (rolled double 8)
- ENEMY rolls [D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 7 and 1)
They manage to get to 100 meters without being spotted (just a reminder: when rolling infiltration vs detection, a tie results in detection).
HINDSIGHT: I forgot to apply the distance modifier. According to the ambushing table on page 61 of the Player’s Manual, moving to a distance of 6 to 20 hexes from your target grants you a +1 modifier to your RECON roll.
ALEX stops right at the edge of a clearance and signals his comrade to remain low and get closer. LED crouches and takes a knee beside a shrub dense with foliage. He turns towards NASCAR and DONNA and signals them to stop where they are.
ALEX tilts his head and points his arm in front of himself, a single digit extended “right. There” he whispers.
LED squints, his eyes probing every opening in the vegetation in front of them; it takes some time but eventually he spots something, right where ALEX is pointing. It’s a single man, crouched down next to a partially collapsed wooden structure, rummaging into a military backpack. A faded, rhythmic noise can be heard in the distance.
Shortly after another man appears, a tall, thin figure wearing a flak jacket over civilian clothes, carrying an AK-74. He stands next to the first man and they appear to be chatting. The rhythmic noise persists.
LED leans into ALEX “we need a better view” he whispers, his mouth close to the comrade’s ear “try ten feet to our left”
ALEX nods, briefly scans the terrain, then carefully moves through the foliage, with LED trailing him just a few feet behind. They stop at a tall tree with a thick trunk of dark brown bark, partially covered by a layer of olive-green moss. LED taps his comrade on the shoulder, signaling the spot is right, then takes out his binoculars.
The wooden structure they got a glimpse of is a partially collapsed shed, with half its roof still standing, and its wooden planks walls meeting the ground at an odd angle. In front of it are the two soldiers they saw before. The one kneeling has produced a grey cloth from his backpack and is now spreading it on the grassy ground.
To the left of the collapsed shed are two more men, both holding an axe and chopping different parts of a fallen tree. Their hits echoing rhythmically in the air.
“Looks like they found the local Home Depot” comments LED while looking at the scene through the lenses.
“What did you say?”
“They’re chopping firewood, two of them” says LED “one is setting a cloth, possibly for transporting it. I guess the other one is keeping watch” he concludes.
“They are busy, that’s good”
“Not really, no” is LED’s answer.
“Why is that?”
“There’s four of them. We’re missing one”.
ROUND 00b
The duo observes the group of Russians for a full minute, during which the previously kneeling man joins the other two chopping the fallen tree, while the fourth soldier keeps watch ten meters from them, right by the collapsed shed.
LED scans around with his eyes, then shakes his head.
“What are you thinking?” asks ALEX.
“We can’t wait; we’re missing one, but we have to act now, before the assault starts and they become suspicious”
He turns towards their back to get NASCAR’s attention, then raises four fingers and uses his pointer and thumb to make the basic shape of a gun, finishing by pointing at the enemy group.
NASCAR nods.
LED signals him to move in a wide arc to the right, and get line of sight on the enemies. He ends the non-verbal communication by mimicking holding a gun with both hands close to his chest. Be ready to fire.
NASCAR nods again.
“If we want to have a shot at this, I need to get closer” says LED grabbing his carbine “not sure if we’ll be able to use code-words or the like, so if you hear shooting, feel free to join it”
ALEX lifts his hand in front of his eyes “from here I have good view on the trio, but not on the sentinel”
“Leave him to NASCAR and DONNA” LED gets to kneeling position, and starts moving while keeping a low profile. After a few feet he turns “I may get pinned to down up there, don’t even think of risking your ass for me”
“Have you told NATHANIEL and DONNA as well?” asks ALEX.
“No, they would tell me to go to hell and do it anyway”
“Well, I will not tell you to go to hell”
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE – APPROACHING [click to expand]
Time for another RECON roll: LED wants to move to 6 hexes (+1) and his clothes will help him to blend in with the environment (+1). He has to travers two hexes of open terrain (-1), two of forest terrain (+1) and two of foliage terrain (+2), which I’ll house-rule amount to +1 to his roll. The enemy on watch rolls with no modifiers, same as before:
- LED rolls [D12+D12] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 9 and 3)
- The SENTINEL rolls [D8+D8] = 0 SUCCESSES (rolled 4 and 2)
LED moves to his intended position without raising suspicions. Time to see if same goes for NASCAR and DONNA.
DONNA sees NASCAR nodding towards the lieutenant. “What’s happening?” she asks while waiving off a fly.
“We got four bad guys up ahead” says NASCAR “LT wants us in flanking position”
“Four? What about the fifth?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. C’mon, time to show off your ninja skills”
WITH the EYES of the REFEREE [click to expand]
NASCAR and DONNA’s movement will be contemporaneous to LED’s. As they proceed together, the person will the lowest skill level rolls for the duo, meaning DONNA.
The position they intend to reach is 6 hexes from the enemies, meaning +1 to her roll (ambushing rules, Player’s Manual, page 61), and DONNA’s clothes provide a further +1. Much like LED, they have to travers open terrain hexes, forest hexes and foliage hexes, which I’ll bundle into a +1 terrain modifier.
Once again, the enemy SENTINEL rolls with no modifiers:
- DONNA rolls [D12+D6] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 9 and 2)
- The SENTINEL rolls [D8+D8] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 8 and 5)
Odds weren’t the best, and it showed. A tie would result in detection. DONNA pushes the roll, though she can only re-roll the D6:
- DONNA push-rolls [1 SUCCESS + D6] = 1 SUCCESS (rolled 4 on the D6)
The sentinel spots DONNA and NASCAR. Player’s Manual, page 60: if you fail [your RECON roll], your target spots your starting distance – draw initiative.
When the SENTINEL spots DONNA and NASCAR, the both of them – as well as LED – are just beginning to move. There is however one relevant consideration: DONNA and NASCAR’s intended path is hidden by a blocking terrain hex, a foliage hex, or multiple forest hexes, from the SENTINEL’s view; so I’m house-ruling they get spotted at the first hex over which the SENTINEL has direct line of sight. The hex coincides with the final hex of their planned movement, meaning they are spotted just as they arrive there.
Given that they have completed the entirety of their movement before being spotted, I can say LED has reached his intended position as well.
Important: LED and ALEX have not been spotted yet.
As per the rules, it’s time to draw initiative. There’s 8 participants in total, so I’ll draw a card for each. Here’s the final order.
- DONNA for whom I drew card #1
- ENEMY 2 for whom I drew card #2
- ENEMY 4 for whom I drew card #3
- NASCAR for whom I drew card #4
- ENEMY 3 for whom I drew card #6
- ALEX for whom I drew card #8
- LED for whom I drew card #9
- ENEMY 1 (the SENTINEL) for whom I drew card #10
It seems odd that the enemy on watch would act last, but we can say that he raises the alarm while at the same time taking a bit more time to actually do something about it.
They proceed carefully, sticking close to areas of denser vegetation, with an eye on the path ahead and the other trained to their left, trying to spot the enemy group, now hidden by rocks and foliage.
One final movement through an area of shrubs oscillating in the gentle breeze leads them to a patch of forest dense with vegetation, with tall leafy trees and dark green bushes with a distinctive smell.
NASCAR stops and gestures to DONNA to get closer “there’s one, right in front, single male sporting an AK” he then starts looking left and right at ground level, searching for a good spot to set his M249 “can you see the others?”
DONNA leans left, gently moving a low branch out of the way “there’s more to the left…” she stops, her eyes on the enemy sentinel, who’s looking straight at her. DONNA remains immobile “you think he…”
“Kontact!” shouts the sentinel “vnimaniye, kontakt!”
FINAL COMMENTS
Contact, indeed.
Looks like the players have found the firefight they were looking for. As is now customary, I’ll save my comments for its conclusion.
If you want to brush up on the dice mechanics of Twilight: 2000 4E, you can check this page.