Post wake up rations.

[ArmySGT.]

So looks like a team has between 14 days and 30 days depending on team size of pre packaged rations.

Doesn't seem logical to open a cache just for the rations.

The Team equipment is really lacking in the hunting and foraging department.

The M21 Sniper rifle is a superb rifle, but the M118 match ammunition is not a good hunting cartridge. The trade pack has some small fish hooks and other tackle that can bring some good protein to the table.

The problem..... nothing to process game or fish, except bayonets. Nothing to cook with like skillets, pots, pans, reflectors, skewers, etc.

My only thought here is that someone in the combined group is driving an M35A2 with trailer loaded with rations or there was plans to resupply a CG by helo or air drop.

GMs is this an oversight that you would include such as a team issue.... or a roleplaying issue that you would have your players seek out and purchase

[kato13]

I have always thought the canon Project provided a ridiculous small amount of food for teams. Especially if you consider the possibility that a team might (due to technical reasons) need to wake up early.

My solution is to provide what I call a nesting cache. For every 6 teams in a region there is a cache with over a years supply of food and basic farming tools and stock. The might allow a team that wakes early to survive to the 5 year point.

If no team wakes early the supplies are recovered post wake up to be added to the project inventory.

[dragoon500ly]

I've always disagreed with issuing a sniper rifle to every Project vehicle, I often replace it with a .22 caliber varmint rifle for hunting small game and a 12 gauge shotgun for hunting birds and larger game.

[nuke11]

I have always thought the canon Project provided a ridiculous small amount of food for teams. Especially if you consider the possibility that a team might (due to technical reasons) need to wake up early.

As I understand it from a couple of email conversations I had many years, it was a mechanism to get the team to interact with the locals more. Provide less food and this would require the team to trade and interact with the locals.

Right or wrong, that does seem to stand up when you look at the rules and modules and figure out how much food there is provided to the teams.

This also stands up when you consider that fusion was added to make the game less a search for fuel and more interaction with the locals.

[ArmySGT.]

I've always disagreed with issuing a sniper rifle to every Project vehicle, I often replace it with a .22 caliber varmint rifle for hunting small game and a 12 gauge shotgun for hunting birds and larger game.

I have always replaced the M21 with a Mossberg 590. The latter with less than lethal stunbag and rubber buckshot. Also a full length hunting barrel with goose shot.

[dragoon500ly]

Just a couple of items for a teams comfort...

Butchering Kit

A high impact plastic case containing a variety of knives and saws useful for the preparation of game. This kit contains the following:

3" camping knife
8" Howie style butcher knife
5.25" carving fork
4.25" skinning knife
10" double ground wood/bone saw
5.5" boning/fillet knife
6.5" cleaver
Heavy duty game shears
Spreader
Tungsten carbide V-style knife sharpener
10" x 14" cutting board
Gambrel and hoist system (238kg capacity with 20m of line

Total weight 23kg with case

Camp Mate
This is a plastic and steel container that provides 7,000 cubic inches of storage space. The top storage area can hold a camp stove, the protective lid doubles as a sink. A silverware tray doubles as a dish drainer. Plate and cutting board storage inside the main compartment holds plates and dinner wars for eight. Both doors are equipped with racks for holding spices and seasonings.

Total Weight is 5kg with case.

[dragoon500ly]

I have always replaced the M21 with a Mossberg 590. The latter with less than lethal stunbag and rubber buckshot. Also a full length hunting barrel with goose shot.

Still, a .22 for rabbits and squirrels....can even be issued with a suppressor for those pesky sentries.

[Project_Sardonicus]

Was the reason every team got an M21 a way of giving them a useful weapon to mount the Starlight Scope on What with the old ANPvs2s being relatively difficult to switch between weapons

Also in the couple of years timescale originally planned for wake up, wouldn't most of the game been eaten or run away from hordes of hungry survivors

[ArmySGT.]

I think I will continue to leave the cooking kit out, except in the case of the Winter Kit.

Just to force the players into the villages to trade (with contents of the trade pack) for knives and cook pots.

My experience in the past is it is damned difficult to get them out of the V-150. to the extent that their trying to even sleep inside.

I simply impose a discomfort rule and make lack of sleep cumulative and a negative skill modifier to boot.

[ArmySGT.]

Was the reason every team got an M21 a way of giving them a useful weapon to mount the Starlight Scope on What with the old ANPvs2s being relatively difficult to switch between weapons

Also in the couple of years timescale originally planned for wake up, wouldn't most of the game been eaten or run away from hordes of hungry survivors

The AN/PVS-4 (Army Navy / Passive Viewing System - 4) comes with interchangeable reticles. There is a little screw off cap holding in a aluminum cylinder with a hole through it.



Changing out the reticle takes about 10 seconds...... This doesn't zero the weapon at all so that needs to be done if you swap from rifle to SAW to GPMG.

If your going to use the AN/PVS-4 on a tripod like a spotting scope the M60/M240 reticle is the best to help with accurately ranging targets.

The power adapter to use AAA batteries instead of the short lived (top hat) batteries is very important to have too.

[Project_Sardonicus]

Food is an interesting one, it raises one big question.
How long were teams meant to be in the field before being withdrawn for r&r Did they just stay there until they were wiped out or the world was restored

My guess is that they would have been out there for at most 6 months. I'm pretty sure they would never have returned to a cache so each cache would provide sufficient supplies for a month that could be loaded onto a vehicle. This would be a way of not only keeping them moving. But also stopping them being trapped from reaching vital supplies that were behind a horde of enraged survivors chasing after them.

Of course the problem is food is bulky and heavy. A 24 hour MRE can weigh a couple of kilos and be about the size of a couple of ammo clips. So repeat this for a month for say a 4 man team and you're carrying around 240 kilos of extra bulky supplies.

How did the project cope with this

1 Freeze dried rations to be made up with water. Water would not have been a big issue, project vehicles don't need fuel tanks so just convert it into a giant water tank. Freeze dried rations weigh about half as much and are far less bulky. Of course if a team member is separated from a vehicle without water becomes problematic.

2 Food bars or pastes etc or other hitech food solutions. Ever since the ww2 D ration the fantasy has been rations could be reduced to a small bar that a soldier can carry around with them. They exist they're demoralising, unhealthy and really only suitable for a few days supply.

There are of course other problems. MREs are demoralising and to this day armies will go to pretty extreme lengths to ensure even isolated bases in hostile territory get "normal" fresh foods fairly regularly. So what do I suspect the project supplied

Each cache would contain rations for the team for 40 days (10 more than theoretically needed to give leeway)

Consisting of
1 10 days of food bars, similar to the first strike ration
2 15 days of freeze dried rations
3 15 days of mre style rations.
4 5 days worth of "luxury rations" for moral purposes such as rice, freeze dried meats etc.

[nuke11]

The lack of space is the biggest problem in all project vehicles. There is not enough room to store a months work of ammunition, gear, equipment and rations in any of the vehicles, let alone the weight all of this has on a vehicle.

The project vehicle blue prints do an excellent job at showing what is the layout of each vehicle. I have compared few of the various V150's with manuals and they did get it right, so living near by CG did help out greatly..

When you look at the space requirements and what is available make for a vert cramped vehicle. There is going to have to be alot of equipment stored on the outside.

[Craig67]

From TMP, TM 1-1 - GB- 1 ;

Name Ration Pack
Type Food Supplies
WT. 17 kg
Unit of Issue Ea.
Additional Comments This is simply a backpack of dehydrated food, canned juices and vitamins sufficient for 4 people for 15 days. The pack also contains materials for heating, a folding pot, and water purification tablets.

I did some math, a US Army 1960's / 1970's LRRP ration weighs in at 310 grams per meal. 310 X 3 X 4 X 15 / 1000 = 55.8 kg. Looks like that piece of equipment is broken

Ok, its not haute cuisine but I'm sure the team would be damn happy to have it instead of raw rat and radioactive water

I've eaten plenty of military rations over the years, longest unbroken stretch would be about 10 days. Not so great but considering the alternatives in a post- nuclear war world ..........

Kinda gives them motivation to get the locals farming and ranching ASAP.

[dragoon500ly]

I think I will continue to leave the cooking kit out, except in the case of the Winter Kit.

Just to force the players into the villages to trade (with contents of the trade pack) for knives and cook pots.

My experience in the past is it is damned difficult to get them out of the V-150. to the extent that their trying to even sleep inside.

I simply impose a discomfort rule and make lack of sleep cumulative and a negative skill modifier to boot.

Well, based on my own experiences, a GI can truly sleep anywhere, some of the more locations are taking naps will sprawled along the gun tube, my TC was famous for that, for the driver, simply flip the splash guard up, rest your feet on one headlight, slap your CVC on and rest your head on the opposite headlight. You can nap, but it isn't comfortable.

I agree with you, impose a discomfort rule and lack of sleep modifiers.

[dragoon500ly]

As far as food supplies go, you have to plan for a reasonable amount of time, the question then becomes, what is reasonable For planning purposes, 30 days is not unreasonable for rations, 2-3 units of fire for the small arms would also be reasonable.

So what can a PD do

According to the modules, the V-150 is supposed to support a 8 man team, one solution is to delete two positions and replace them with supply lockers to hold food and ammo, the tunnel leading back to the rear hatch is converted with additional storage racks along one side, a chemical toilet is placed next to the rear hatch. A 50 gallon water tank is placed on the engine bulkhead, with a water tap for use and in a outside locker, a pump, filter and hose to allow the team to refill from local sources.

You can also attach a trailer to the V-150...there is a tow pintle at the rear of the vehicle and you can always store additional gear....as well as enjoy the driver modifiers when crossing obstacles or backing up in those combat situations!