Pirates of the Visutula

[Judge Holden]

I've finally wrangled my players into accepting Old Adam's proposal. Problem is I grew up playing this game when I was very young and probably having some very foolish notions of what can or cannot be done on the ol Wisla Krolowa in 'real life'.

So, my questions are:
Can I tow an amphibious vehicle I know the barge gets pushed, but could you tow an amphibious vehicle behind the tug Specifically the Canadian forces Cougar fighting vehicle (codename: MILF)
What can be mounted on the barge, large gun/vehicle wise
Could you build a raised guard tower like emplacement on the barge
How many tons of sheet metal can you armor up the bridge wheelhouse with before it just rolls over and sinks

[Cdnwolf]

Ohhh great another Canuck...

To help you visualize the tug and the barge check out this thread...

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.phpt=3990

[Targan]

Steel-hulled tugs have a lot of mass below the waterline. I'm wildly speculating but I reckon you could easily have 10% of a tug's mass added to the upper superstructure without causing instability. In addition, the Wisla Krolowa is operating on a river, not the open ocean, so there's not much in the way of swell to have to deal with.

[kcdusk]

I'd say preparing the barge and tugs for travel down this hostile river environment is half the fun of the module!

What kind of ideas do the players have Can they resource them in terms of finding the items, transporting them back, building modifications, holding back local scavengers, bartering for hard to get items, and any other timing factors (is the river rising or falling is there an enemy force on the way that means the PCs will need to prioritise what 3 jobs get done ...).

[Jason]

Ahhh yes, outfitting the Tug is fun. I remember my players freaking out when they realized there were 20k rounds for the pair of Dshk MG's. There was a lot of recon by fire in that campaign.

I also remember a group that mounted a 120mm mortar on the forward deck because they struggled to get anything else. One of the first encounters where the tug takes fire from the shore and a character with low heavy weapons skill took a ranging shot on a sandbagged bunker and rolled a 1 (v2.2) Bullseye! Good times.

[Adm.Lee]

I'd think you could tow a Cougar, but I doubt that any vehicle is watertight over a long time, and it would need bailed or pumped out often.

I'm no expert, but I'm sure a vehicle could be put into a river barge, using ramps or a crane. I'm not so certain about it being able to fire over the sides, but if you've got the timber, you could build a platform in the barge to lift the vehicle high enough.

Per wikipedia: "Barges are used today for low-value bulk items, as the cost of hauling goods by barge is very low. Barges are also used for very heavy or bulky items; a typical barge measures 195 by 35 feet (59.4 m -- 10.6 m), and can carry up to about 1500 tons of cargo."

When I ran this mod a long time ago, one of my parties was babying an M1, and I let them move it into the barge. (The main gun had no ammo, but the turret-top MGs were usable, and the threat of the main gun was certainly useful.)

Again, with timber and sandbags or scrap metal (plenty of that in Nowy Huta), I think you could build a fortification on a deck on the barge.

[Raellus]

When I ran P.o.V., my players got their hands on a Vasilek automortar. It proved to be the ideal heavy weapon for the tug. It was compact enough that it could be mounted either fore or aft (or placed on the barge)- my group placed it on the foredeck. It's not too big and recoil isn't going to damage the tug's deck. It works in both direct and indirect fire modes. It can be fed from magazines or drop fed like a conventional mortar and it uses relatively common 82mm ammo. With HEDP rounds, it can defeat light armor, and WP rounds are great for creating an instant smokescreen or setting stuff on fire.

IMHO, the module gives the PCs way too much 12.7mm ammo. My group steamed all the way from Krakow to the Baltic and never came close to running out, even though I'd occassionally "lose" rounds or inflate the round count after a firefight. I highly recommend scaling it way back.

Another nice little weapon system for the tug is an AGL like the Soviet AGS-17 Plamya (30mm) or American Mk.-19.

Regarding the Cougar, I would think that towing it would swamp it. You've got a choppy wake from the tug's screws and dragging the APC at high speeds might run its nose down, making the swamping problem worse.

[kato13]

Regarding the Cougar, I would think that towing it would swamp it. You've got a choppy wake from the tug's screws and dragging the APC at high speeds might run its nose down, making the swamping problem worse.

The cougar should have sump pumps (the LAV-25 which is based on the chassis has 2), but running them would either require the engine to be running, or drain the battery. The barge could hold it easily, so I agree with the others, it should probably go there.

Offloading it without a crane might be problematic due to weight distribution issues. Might want to do that only when run aground or in very shallow waters.

It is so funny where this games takes me research wise. When the week started the likelihood that I would be reading Barge Stability documents from New Zealand was probably pretty small

http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/Publications-and-forms/Commercial-operations/Shipping-safety/Barge-stability-guidelines.pdf

[Judge Holden]

Thanks for the help guys, I hadn't thought about the fact that the Cougar would get swamped or that amphibious vehicles likely leak a bit (this one has had an RPG through the side already so the patch job probably isn't the finest).

Thanks for the PDF on Barge Stability as well, it gives me some ideas for what might happen in a rainstorm since the barge is only partially covered with wood, and I imagine it must get fairly waterlogged when the rain starts to come down unless the Team thinks of putting pumps or something on it to drain the water.

While looking at weapon systems I came across the 30mm ASP which some light internet research revealed is a gas operated weapon. What does this entail -what type of gas does it use I'm sure its' not gasoline, so I'm imagining metal 'bottles' like a welder uses. How often would you have to top these off

[AcesandEights]

Maybe just a gas-operated reload via piston.

This 30mm is gas-operated in such a fashion, as far as I can tell. It may even be a vehicle mounted relative of your ASP 30mm.

[Raellus]

Right, gas-operated means that the gasses from the discharging ammunition are used to drive the function, as is the case with many automatic weapons. No external fuel source (other than fresh cartridges) is necessary.

[Cdnwolf]

Its Bean powered!!

[Targan]

IMHO, the module gives the PCs way too much 12.7mm ammo. My group steamed all the way from Krakow to the Baltic and never came close to running out, even though I'd occassionally "lose" rounds or inflate the round count after a firefight. I highly recommend scaling it way back.

I'd happily stick with the ammo count described in the module, but it's the Twilight War right So one in every three or two in every three rounds fails to fire. Then watch the fun as the players try to decide which character/s gets the fun job of visually inspecting each of those 20,000 rounds and delinking the ones they think are duds. And even then there's no guarantee that they won't have constant misfires during every firefight. Good times.

While looking at weapon systems I came across the 30mm ASP which some light internet research revealed is a gas operated weapon. What does this entail -what type of gas does it use I'm sure it's not gasoline, so I'm imagining metal 'bottles' like a welder uses.

This is how gas operated firearms work: Gas-operated reloading. We also have at least one gunsmith on this forum who I'm sure is thoroughly well versed in gas operated firearms.

I've always found the American use of the word "gas" to describe petrol as being kind of odd. Petrol's not even a gas when it's burned in an internal combustion engine, it's a fine mist. I guess it must have originally been an abbreviation of "gasoline". Here in Australia if you have a vehicle that needs "gas" it would be one that runs on LPG or CNG. Way to go mangling a perfectly good language, Americans!

[Bullet Magnet]

Way to go mangling a perfectly good language, Americans!

Hey, don't give us all the credit! You people outside the States already think we're too cocky, so why add to it After all, we're just part of a "global community" now, so we must all share in this.

[kato13]

I've always found the American use of the word "gas" to describe petrol as being kind of odd. Petrol's not even a gas when it's burned in an internal combustion engine, it's a fine mist. I guess it must have originally been an abbreviation of "gasoline".
....

Way to go mangling a perfectly good language, Americans!

Actually it might be more proper to blame the brits (at least for the name gasoline)

Gasolene was first used in an advert in the British newspaper, the Hampshire Telegraph & Sussex Chronicle in 1863. The first use of gasoline to be found in America is in an 1864 Act of Congress which declared a tax on the oil.

it looks like a corruption of Cazeline named after British importer John Cassell. A Dublin shopowner had a counterfeit version named the same, which when challenged he added a slash to the C (making it a G)

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/04/the-origin-of-gasoline/