Diamonds in the Rough: Escape from Kalisz (4e Rules, v1 Timeline)

[Raellus]

August 3-4

Thursday, August 3, 2000 (roll +3 on SET)

At about noon, Grease, on sentry duty in the copse on the west end of town, radios in a sighting. Two vehicles - a Humvee mounting a Dishka HMG, and a military van of some sort- are approaching Skarydzew from the west. Both sporting Soviet Army tactical symbols (a "Z" perhaps).

The Diamonds and the hamlet's tiny militia have discussed what to do in this sort of situation. The Diamonds lay low (but ready to fight or run at a pinch), while the locals do the talking, sticking to a "this is just a sleepy little village; there's nothing to see here" narrative. The vehicle-mounted Soviet patrol is met by one of the hamlet militia on the edge of the settlement. After a brief conversation (hidden Diamonds watch the exchange, but can't hear what's said), the two vehicles pass through town at a leisurely pace and continue on their way, heading east. Once the patrol is well out of sight, the militiaman reports that it was operating out of Grabow nad Prosna / Palaty, searching for NATO raiders believed to be running amok in the area (most likely, this refers to the Diamonds or the escaped American POWs). The Russians apparently bought the militiaman's claim that no one in the hamlet has seen or heard of any Americans in the area.


NOTES:
To decide which Diamond was on sentry duty at the western OP, I rolled a D8- Grease got the job. I rolled opposed Recon and he won, so the patrol didn't see him lurking in the trees. I treated the conversation between the militia and the Soviet patrol as a Social Conflict and rolled for Persuasion (opposed), with both parties rolling a single D8 (EMP C). The militiaman won, so he successfully bluffed the patrol, which went on its way, none-the-wiser, without searching the ville.


Friday, August 4, 2000

Arm around Deacon's shoulders, PR is up on his feet and walking (shambling, more like it). His legs are weak and wobbly, but he's regained a lot of strength in his upper body, and his fine motor skills are improving rapidly (probably thanks to Street Fighter II).

Later that afternoon, the militia "captures" a Soviet soldier on the northern approaches of the village. He's in bad shape- bloody and delirious, barely able to walk or speak, and when he does talk, he doesn't make much sense. His uniform is torn and dirty; his only weapon is a crude shop-built hand grenade of some sort.

Deacon fixes up the Soviet soldier as best he can, using supplies provided by the village. The Diamonds suggest that the villagers take the injured Soldier to the nearest Soviet garrison (Grabow) in order to earn some good will. The Americans offer to take the bandit EPW with them when they leave, dropping him off several kilometers away.

The Diamonds spend the rest of the day preparing to leave Skarydzew early the next morning. The villagers load the Americans up with as much alcohol fuel as they can carry, as well as a couple of days' worth of food and fresh water- all that they can spare. It's going to be tight until the next harvesters, but the villagers don't begrudge upholding their end of the arrangement. They know it would have been much worse had their guests not eliminated the rapacious ex-Red Army marauders.


NOTES:
During the Diamonds' stay in Skarydzew, I'd rolled all but one of the encounters on the Stationary Encounters table. The remaining encounter is Large Force, but I couldn't think of a way to wedge that into the story, given that the village militia successfully bluffed the small patrol (the Scouts encounter) on Day +3. I don't want to burn through the random encounter deck either so, for day five, instead of rolling for a fourth time on the SEC (adding +4 to the roll), I decided to see what kind of encounter I could create by drawing cards on the Further Elements Table. The results were 4 (Tired Soldier), 6 (Decayed), King (Bleeding), and 5 (IED). I was going to interpret Decayed as a case of gangrene, but since the next result was Bleeding, I decided that Decayed refers to the tired soldier's state of mind.

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[kcdusk]

During the Diamonds discussion, it felt like there were two options.
1) free city of krakow, or
2) something like Pirates of the Vistala/Going home.

I thought you'd end up going South, too Krakow. Only because i know you ran the Pirates game years ago.

Q how did you make the decision about which way to travel
Q how do you feel heading in the same geographic direction as your Pirates game (is it more of the same)


I know i've said it before, but i only roll once per day on the stationary encounters table. Your explaining how you rolled and then turned the results into a story i think is valuable for new (even expereinced) solo players to see how this is done in practice, stringing random results into a cohesive story line. What you describe is very similar to my own games.

[Raellus]

Behind the Ref Screen

During the Diamonds discussion, it felt like there were two options.
1) free city of krakow, or
2) something like Pirates of the Vistala/Going home.

A third option I considered was building a local base. This is the game concept that I find most appealing personally, but, ATM, the characters haven't found a place that they feel invested enough in to consider staying there long-term. This could change, however, as they continue their travels.

Q how did you make the decision about which way to travel
Q how do you feel heading in the same geographic direction as your Pirates game (is it more of the same)

I thought about rolling the dice or pulling a card for this decision, but I didn't want the choice of the PCs' ultimate destination be quite that arbitrary. "Consulting the Oracle" works for a lot of things in this game, but for a major plot point such as the party's long-term goal, I feel like solid reasoning is more of a necessity. To make the decision re destination, I debated the pros and cons of Krakow v. Bremerhaven in my head. I basically did a quick and dirty cost-benefit analysis, and then played it out IC. Ultimately, Sarge's point was the most convincing to me. I couldn't imagine any of the Diamonds voting for, "Let's drive 200km further behind enemy lines to join a Polish city militia that may or may not be recruiting American troops, or even exist at all, for that matter." It's too much of a gamble, and there's not a strong enough pull for any of them.

Again, random rolls or draws, or the consequences of future encounters could change the Diamonds' course/goals/destination. I just needed a general direction to get things rolling again. Who knows They may still end up in Krakow.

So, yeah, the main reason the PCs decided to head north is that I think that goal makes the most sense, logically, and in terms of realism, at this point in the story. I have another, supporting reason for pointing the game north, but I don't want to spoil what might be coming up, so I'll let you in on it later, if and when the story has arrived at another significant IC decision point.

-

[Raellus]

August 5th, Morning-Night

The Diamonds leave Skarydszew just after sunrise. They work their way slowly but steadily north and east, sticking, as much as possible to back roads. By noon, they've driven roughly 25km and are approaching the town of Blaszki, which sits astride a major east-west roadway linking Lodz and Kalisz- very likely an MSR for the Warsaw Pact forces operating in the region. Bird spots an apparent ambush near a roadside petrol station; Grease successfully detours around it.

The Diamonds' map shows a small forest on their current route, about 4.5 kilometers southwest of Blaszki. They plan to stop in the woods, pull off the road, conceal Pole Position under some foliage, and reconnoiter the way ahead on foot before sundown.

That afternoon, Bird and Sarge move north through the woods to get eyes on the town. Hearing voices in the trees up ahead, they stealthily sneak up on what appears to be a small campsite. Unaware that they are being observed, the civilians (who look to be hunters) sit around a small campfire dressing a freshly killed feral hog. The American scouts slink off back to the hide site. After a brief all-hands meeting, it's decided to try to make contact with the group, see what they know about Blaszki and its environs . Bird and Sarge head back to the civilian campsite with PR and Sandy in tow; this time, however, the Americans are detected by the campers. After a brief but tense faceoff, PR persuades the Polish civies that he and his fellow soldiers mean them no harm. A deal is struck- an AKM and one full mag for information. The civilians report that Blaszki now lies in ruins, a casualty of the latest round of fighting (i.e. the Battle of Kalisz). No one lives there full-time anymore. The only inhabitants at the moment are a squad of Polish soldiers that run a checkpoint at the crossroads in the town. Allegedly, the Polish soldiers solicit bribes from civilian traffic. The civilians are not sure if the checkpoint is manned overnight, but they've seen no traffic on the highway after dark. When asked if there are alternate routes that cross the highway, the civilians explain that the fields and other roads in the area are still littered with all kinds of mines.

Bird and Sarge proceed to the northern edge of the forest. Blaszki is barely visible as a jagged silhouette on the northern skyline. Burned-out military vehicles, both NATO and Warsaw Pact, squat on the shoulders of the main road into town, tragic mileposts. Additional wrecks dot the surrounding fields. There was a mighty duel. A lot of soldiers- from both sides- died here just over two weeks ago.

Since the other north-south routes crossing the highway are apparently mined, the Diamonds decide to make a run through Blaszki after sundown. It's probably too much to hope for, but maybe the squad manning the reported checkpoint will be asleep at their posts. If not, Americans might be able to bluff their way through the checkpoint- Pole Position is a standard-issue Polish military AFV, and PR's Polish is good enough that he can often pass as a native speaker. Worst case scenario, the Diamonds might have to shoot their way through. According to the civies, the Polish troops don't have any heavy weapons so, if it comes down to a fight, the Diamonds should have a firepower advantage.

After sundown, the Diamonds hit the road again. There's not much of a moon up tonight, so visibility is limited, but Grease enjoys the benefit of OT-64's driver's IR equipment. The town, or rather what's left of it, isn't visible until the Diamonds are nearly upon it. Very little appears to remain intact. The main roads have been cleared, but rubble clogs the side streets.

The Diamonds spot the checkpoint first. Grease turns on the SKOT's blackout headlights in an attempt to allay suspicions. The lone visible sentry doesn't seem too alarmed at the sudden appearance of the approaching vehicle. Perhaps he recognizes its silhouette. As Pole Position edges closer, Honeybear waves a friendly, silent 'hello' from the gun tub; PR shouts from the air-guard hatch, "Zabieraj swoj tylek z drogi, glupek!" (Get out of the road, dumbass!) The sentry steps aside, salutes the passing APC with his middle finger, shouts, "Zwolnij, czubek!" (Slow down, nutcase!). Pole Position passes through the intersection unmolested, the ruse seemingly successful.

Wary of mines, the party stays on the main north-south road for another 4km before slowly taking a right turn and laying up for the rest of the night at an abandoned farmhouse.


NOTES:
This encounter includes a few random encounters from the deck that I'd pulled during previous sessions, but skipped as they didn't fit prior situations. They are Empty Tank (the ambush at the petrol station that the party spotted and detoured around), My Kill, My Meat (the hunters in the woods south of Blaszki), and Cash is King (the Polish Army checkpoint in the town). To determine if the Polish soldiers manning the checkpoint were awake or asleep, I consulted the Oracle. The result was 9 (dangerous), so a watch was posted. Driving, Recon, and Persuasion rolls (most opposed) were successful, so the Diamonds were able to avoid combat. When I was younger, I probably would have sought it out, but seeing how dangerous combat can be the PCs that I've grown attached to, now I tend to try to avoid a fight whenever I can.

-

[Raellus]

August 6, 2000

The Diamonds rise just before the sun, get back on the road. After a quick jog east, they turn north again, pick up the pace. It's easier to see the road in daylight, so Grease gives Pole Position a little more methanol. The Diamonds continue to pass burned out military vehicles. Two out of every three are American models. Some of the blackened wrecks are still sitting in the road, indicating that this particular route hasn't seen much heavy vehicle traffic recently. Pole Position rolls through an abandoned hamlet. The houses on the east side of the road are more badly damaged than the ones on other side. Among the char-stained exoskeletons of burned houses, rests a destroyed Soviet self-propelled gun, its blown-out barrel still elevated like some dried flower from an industrial nightmare.

As is his wont, PR periodically scans the channels on the SKOT's integral radio. He picks up a fair bit of Russian and Polish transmissions. He can't understand the former, but the latter are mostly brief and innocuous- the routine comms of an early 21st century military force at war. He slowly turns the dial...

"This is Diamond Regular One to northbound vehicle, come in. Over," requests an English-speaking voice through a susurration of static. It carries hints of Louisiana bayou and desperation. "Diamond Regular One to northbound vehicle, please respond. Over."

PR looks around, asks, "He talking to us"

"Pick up," instructs Captain Walker.

The caller says he's a lone survivor from 1st platoon, Bravo Company, 4-6 infantry. He's wounded and hiding out in a wooded area just west of an abandoned hamlet called Chlewo. 5th ID hadn't established distress or confirmation codes prior to its dissolution, so PR goes old school with some American sports trivia.

"Diamond Regular One, who won the 1997 World Series Over."

"The [Kansas City] Royals," the voice answers.

"How about the '98 series"

"There wasn't one. The whole season got canceled."

"I think we just passed it," Sarge reports, consulting the map.

"Let's go get him," Walker says, decisively.


NOTES:
This is a combination of entry #6 on the Radio Chatter table and two draws on the Encounter Categories table. To be continued...

-

[Raellus]

Combat!

Grease doubles back, parks Pole Position on the road, nose facing the woods where the alleged 5th ID survivor is hiding out. With Honeybear providing over-watch, Sarge, Bird, Sandy, and Deacon dismount and advance cautiously towards the tree-line. They find the lone survivor- he's unarmed, save for a pistol (M9), and he lost his K-Pot somewhere along the way. "I had to choose- radio or rifle," he explains.

"Vehicles inbound from the north!" PR shouts from the starboard front air-guard hatch. The Diamond dismounts are 230m away from the SKOT.

A military convoy is approaching at a pretty fast clip. The lead vehicle appears to be a BRDM scout car. It's trailed by a jeep-like vehicle mounting a tube-like crew-served weapon of some sort (probably a recoilless rifle), followed by a van and a 6x6 cargo truck.

Grease deftly re-orients Pole Position to face the oncoming threat- this makes the APC a smaller target, as well as facilitating re-boarding for the dismounts. Honeybear opens fire first, at just over 300m range. The burst produces a bright flash and brief shower of sparks from the BRDM's small turret. The scout AFV slows and makes a sharp left turn, disappearing into the rubbled village.

The Diamond dismounts leave the main body of the woods and run towards a line of tattered trees oriented on a diagonal about 120m from the road (and Pole Position). Luckily, there's already a slit trench dug there- a remnant of the battle that enveloped this area a little over two weeks ago.

The second vehicle in the convoy is now on point. The Tarpan Honker (a jeep-like Polish military vehicle) stops in the middle of the road 260m from Pole Position; its crew lowers the windshield and takes aim at the APC with an SPG-9 recoilless rifle...

PR and Honeybear are quicker on the draw. 12.7mm rounds chew through the Tarpan's grille, while small arms rounds pelt the exposed crew cab, wounding the gunner.

Behind the Tarpan, the van takes a right and disappears into the rubbled hamlet. The 6x6 cargo truck stops in the road, dismounts a squad of infantry. The Polish riflemen (identified by their speckled, olive green uniforms) hit the ground running, following the BRDM and van into the ruins east of the road.

"They're tryin' to outflank us! Right side!" Walker shouts. This is supposition, as none of the Polish infantry are visible to any of the Diamonds at present.

The Diamond dismounts continue running towards the trench, Bird and Sandy outpace the others, but pay for their exertion with a twisted ankle and a pulled hammy, respectively. Eager to contribute, Bird takes a knee a few meters short of the trench; aims at the recoilless rifle gunner. When he pulls the trigger, nothing happens. The round is a dud.

PR and Honeybear both engage the Tarpan. PR's M16A2 jams. Honeybear's Soviet-made HMG proves more reliable. He hits the enemy jeep with another burst of 12.7mm rounds, killing the gunner and vehicle commander, and damaging the suspension. The Tarpan's driver and loader are splashed with gore; traumatized but uninjured, both crouch down and try to make themselves as small as possible.

The cargo trucks- a STAR 266- turns right, stopping a few meters off road (now facing west). This unmasks a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun mounted in the bed. The twin-barreled 23mm auto-cannon thunders out a long burst, directed at Pole Position. Fortunately for the Diamonds, the enemy gunner's aim is off. The ZU crew begins to reload the auto-cannon.

Sandy reaches the trench, takes aim at the biggest threat (the STAR gun-truck) with her M203. The bulbous 40mm HE round traces a shallow arc through the air, exploding just above the STAR's gas tank which, miraculously, fails to ignite. The gun crew, however, momentarily drops out of sight in the truck bed.

Assuming that the recoilless rifle in the Tarpan is no longer a threat, Honeybear rotates the SKOTs armored cupola a few degrees to the left, takes aim at the STAR gun truck. Roaring and spitting fire, the Dishka blasts apart the gun truck's front left wheel and sends a 12.7mm round through its unarmored cab.

"Lets go get our people! Take us off road," Walker shouts over the SKOT's intercom. Grease complies immediately, accelerating smoothly into a tight left turn. Honeybear struggles to rotate the gun cupola fast enough to keep the HMG's muzzle on target. Pole Position rumbles forward, off road, heading towards the scraggly tree-line from which the dismounts are still firing on the two visible enemy vehicles.

Just as it completes its turn, the enemy ZU-23-2 crew opens fire on the OT-64 SKOT. 23mm HE rounds explode against the right side of the SKOT's troop compartment but fail to penetrate the Polish-made APC's steel hide. A second or two later, the SPG-9 loader, now acting as gunner, fires the recoilless rifle at the moving SKOT. The rocket-assisted 73mm HEAT round leaps forth and fireballs against the ACP's flank, burning a hole into its engine compartment. Somehow, the HEAT round doesn't do enough damage to the SKOT's engine to disable it. Pole Position continues to bounce across the field towards the friendly dismounts.

Honeybear was zeroing in on the STAR when Pole Position was hit (in fact, he assumes all of the hits were from the ZU). He squeezes the Dishka's butterfly triggers and watches with satisfaction as green tracers streak into the ZU-23-2, producing several sprays of sparks. The STAR's entire crew bails out, starts running east towards the ruined ville.

At this point, the Polish infantry squad and the BRDM-2 still haven't reappeared. It's not entirely clear what they're up to, but they're most likely still moving through the ruins on the east side of the road in an attempt to flank Pole Position's last known position. The bulk of the surviving enemy force is now east of the road, rubble interposed between it and the Diamonds. Walker hatches a tactical plan to take advantage of the current situation.

Trailing a cloud of dust, Pole Position jerks to a stop behind the tree-line trench; Walker opens the rear hatches from the inside shouts, "Mount up! Let's go!" Sarge echoes the order.

With the APC crew providing cover fire, the dismounts climb out of the trench and re-board the APC, Walker doing a head count. Sarge grabs the bound and blindfolded ex-Red Army by the LBE and tosses him out the back door. As soon as everyone is back aboard, Walker orders Grease to go. The driver steps on the gas and Pole Position lunges forward, heading west until he finds a gap in the trees, then hitting a sharp right turn to head north.

While the Americans were briefly out of sight behind foliage and a couple of farm outbuildings west of the road, the surviving SPG-9 crew dismounted their recoilless rifle, set it up pointing at the spot they expect the OT-64 to reappear.

As Pole Position leaves concealment and bounces across a fallow field, the opposing forces resume exchanging fire. Incoming rounds from small arms ping harmlessly off the Skot's side armor and raised air-guard hatches. Sandy, standing in the right-rear air-guard hatch, spots the SPG-9 set up in the road. Before the enemy loader-turned-gunner can take another shot, he's cut down by her rifle fire. Sandy's rifle misfires just as her primary target falls, mortally wounded.

Having cut approximately 700m across the field, Pole Position reaches a dirt road branching off to the northwest from the main north-south [paved] road. As Grease maneuvers onto this branching road, the BRDM-2 announces its return to the fight by loosing off burst of 14.5mm fire at the retreating OT-64. The incoming tracers miss the SKOT gunner's cupola by a few inches, but it's so close that Honeybear instinctively duck's down inside the troop compartment.

Now on a relatively firm, even surface, Grease puts the pedal to the metal, leaving the enemy in his dust (literally). The engine doesn't sound quite right, but it continues to do its job for the time being.


NOTES:
As mentioned in the last installment of notes, I prepped for this encounter by drawing cards and looking at the results on the Encounter Categories table. The first result didn't of Crater didn't make sense, given the AO; the second result was Military Convoy. Looking at my map, I couldn't think of a compelling reason for a convoy to be travelling the stretch of road the Diamonds were using at the time, so I pulled a third card. The result was Military Patrol. I tried to make a story out of the latter two results but something was missing. I rolled on the Radio Chatter table and the result was a badly wounded American calling for help. That was the missing piece. I decided that there was a Polish 10th TD outpost in a large village up the road. This outpost hosts a mounted patrol tasked with hunting down American stragglers detected by an RDF team (the Ural van). This RDF team triangulated the wounded American's position when he made contact with the passing Diamonds and dispatched the outpost's hunter-killer team consisting of a BRDM, Tarpan Honker with SPG-9, UAZ-452 RDF van, and STAR 266 gun truck carrying a squad of veteran infantry. This was the "military convoy" in the cards. I worried that this force was too strong, but I wanted this encounter to be both realistic and a serious challenge for the party.

This was my first shot at vehicle combat. Luckily, Honeybear drew an earlier initiative card than the BRDM-2 gunner, so the good guys got to shoot first. He made it count, hitting the BRDM's turret and wounding the enemy gunner (who failed a CUF roll). I ruled that the commander ordered the vehicle into cover since it couldn't return fire at that time.

For the SPG-9, which isn't stat'ed in the rulebook, I used the numbers for 73mm AP (i.e. HEAT) ammo. I was really worried when the enemy gunner rolled a hit on Pole Position. When Engine came up on the damage table, I thought it might be the end for the Diamonds. Fortunately, the OT-64's side armor held up, and the net damage wasn't enough to destroy/disable the engine. For the ZU-23-2 hit on the SKOT, the result, luckily, was Ricochet.

Sandy hit the STAR with a 40mm grenade. The result on the appropriate table was Fuel Tank. I was hoping the fuel would ignite, but neither of the D6 blast dice showed six. The hit still made the gun crew go prone, though, effectively stealing their turn. Honeybear's second hit on the STAR resulted in a damage roll of Cargo. Was the ZU-23-2 cargo It was the only object in the truck's cargo bed, so I ruled yes, and the burst (6+ damage) hit the ZU. That brought its reliability rating below zero, destroying it.

I rolled a lot of jams in this firefight- I risked pushing rolls to hit the enemy heavy weapons, trying to neutralize them before they scored punishing hits on Pole Position (which would have stranded the Diamonds). Bird, who's usually a crit machine with his M21 (I haven't kept track, but he's racked up the most kills of anyone else in the unit so far, by a wide margin) experienced one of said jams, and didn't score a single hit during the entire firefight.

Grease came up big on his Driving rolls. He always succeeded, usually earning extra distance, and only once needing to push (on the last roll of the firefight).

Bird and Sandy both injured themselves pushing Mobility rolls. Luckily, neither were hit during the firefight, so the -1s from the failed pushes didn't really hurt.

I'm getting a lot faster Ref'ing firefights. I don't have to look as much stuff up in the rules. The Ref screen and weapons cards helped with this, since I didn't have to flip through the Rule Book half as much, and my ad-hoc combat tracker is proving indispensable.

This map shows the various unit locations at the time the engagement ends: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/ed...933013394&z=15

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[Tegyrius]

Whew. That had the potential to go very poorly for your protagonists. It seems like good initiative results really carried the day.

Are you adding New Guy as another PC

- C.

[Raellus]

Whew. That had the potential to go very poorly for your protagonists. It seems like good initiative results really carried the day.

Yeah, my stomach sank when the SPG-9 hit Pole Position's engine. I immediately assumed a mobility kill- it was a huge relief when I compared the 73mm AP (i.e. HEAT) damage and the OT-64's side armor. Every time I rolled a hit on the enemy vehicles, I kept rooting for weapon or gunner kills, usually to no avail. It was pretty suspenseful. I can say that I enjoyed the suspense, now that the results are in (and positive).

Are you adding New Guy as another PC

I think so, at least until the party can find a relatively safe place to drop him off. By then, though, he might be too integrated to dismiss. Anyway, I rolled a D6 for his archetype (Officer), then rolled a D6 for his rank (1st Lieutenant). I'll probably roll a D10 and see what specialty the results line up with to determine what his Army branch is.

I forgot about the ex-Red Army maraunder POW until just now. I'm going to minorly RETCON him being tossed out during the firefight. He's tied up and blindfolded and doesn't know any more about the Diamonds than the Polish hunter-killer team hasn't figured out for themselves.

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[kcdusk]

Writing continues to improve.

Great battle scene and explanation in the notes.

Love that there was some vehicle combat. I'm always trying to add it to my game to use skills other than rifle, but am still working on doing it well.

I am new to the system but am liking the push rules. An extra chance for PCs at the risk of additional stress or injuries. I like the rule. And i like the decision making position it puts on players to have to make the decision to push or not.

This is becoming one of the better/best solo RPG write ups i've got in my short cuts.

Question: have you been using the included maps for your firefights Or conceptual maps Or hex grids over google map locations

[Raellus]

Thanks for the kind words, KC.

Question: have you been using the included maps for your firefights Or conceptual maps Or hex grids over google map locations

I use google maps and its integrated measuring tool (which gives measurements in Imperial units). I plug the measurements into a Google app that converters Imperial to metric. It's a bit clunky, but I'm used to it. I've seen folks insert hex grids over google maps locations, which would be more ideal, but it sounds more complicated to pull off than what I'm already doing.

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[Raellus]

8/6, Shift 2

Grease pushes Pole Position north, driving through mostly open farm country, dotted here and there with black and orange wrecks. The party passes several tiny farming hamlets along the way, some showing signs of recent habitation, others obviously abandoned. After traveling about 7.5km, the OT-64 approaches a patch of forest. Grease knows that his baby took several hits from large-caliber weapons during the firefight and he wants to inspect the damage. Similarly, Deacon needs the APC to stop moving and the troop compartment cleared out so that he can take a closer look at Lt. DeGrassos wound. Believing that two of the Polish army detachments vehicles were immobilized during the firefight theyve just fled, Walker and Sarge decide that the risk of making a brief pit stop in the woods is acceptable.

Honeybear and Sandy, carrying the RPG-7 in addition to her M16/203, are tasked with watching the partys back-trail. A still-wobbly PR tags along to handle comms. Bird and Sarge head deeper into the woods to scout out the road up ahead. They take Lt. DeGrassos radio- an AN/PRC-148 handheld, unusual outside of SF circles.

Grease gives Pole Position a walk-around, assessing the latest battle damage. He finds four shallow, sunburst-shaped gouges and one small borehole in the OT-64s right side armor, the latter just over the the APCs engine compartment. Grease pops the hatch, inspects the engine. Miraculously, the 73mm HEAT round didnt do significant internal damage. It should continue to run, but it shouldnt be pushed too hard. Grease estimates that itll take about eight hours of work to get the old diesel (converted to burn alcohol) back to optimal condition, relatively speaking.

In Pole Positions vacated troop compartment, Deacon removes Lt. DeGrassos PAGST vest, lifts up the wounded mans shirt. The damage is worse than it first appeared. Much worse. The bullet entered at the hip and didnt exit- Deacon had assumed it was lodged in DeGrassos upper leg somewhere. Swelling and lividity in the patients lower belly indicates, however, that after entering near the hip, the bullet traveled up through his pelvis and into his abdomen, doing significant internal damage. DeGrasso seems to realize the true severity of his wound as well. Only surgery can save the man now, and thats simply not an option under the current circumstances.

Deacon looks up, meets his patients eyes. Behind the mans obvious weakness and pallor, he sees guilt. oeYou knew the medic asks.

Degrasso responds with a weak nod of his head.

oeWhy didnt you say anything

oeI thought you might leave me. I dont want to die alone, Degrasso answers, earnestly. Deacon wants to reassure the mortally wounded man, saying something comforting like, Youre not gonna die, or its gonna be OK, but lying feels like more of a cruelty than a kindness. A few seconds of awkward silence pass until the Chaplains Assistant asks, oeDo you want me to pray with you

DeGrasso seems taken aback by the question. oeIn a minute he answers weakly. With more effort than should be necessary, the mortally-wounded officer removes something from his upper-left chest pocket. oeHere. Get this to XI Corps. Do not let the commies get their hands on it

DeGrazzo passes Deacon a device of some sort. Deacon recognizes it as a 2gb Zip disk.

oeWhats on here he asks, taking the disk.

oeDont know. Wouldnt tell you if I did. Its important- thats all

Meanwhile, Bird and Sarge scout the route ahead. The smell hits them first, getting stronger as they draw near to the northern edge of the woods. They hear the buzzing of hundreds of flies before they see the first of the corpses. A few meters inside the tree line, the scouts find a row of bodies, a dozen at least- their bloodstained cammies identify them a American soldiers. All of them lay face-down, hands tied behind their backs with items of their own clothing. Their boots have been removed, as have their weapons, ammunition, body armor, and LBE. Theyve have been dead for several days at least. Although the majority of corpses are mostly intact, animals have gotten to some of them, making an accurate count difficult. Bird and Sarge have smelled the corruption of death many times before, but they have to cover their noses and mouths to avoid heaving.

After making sure the area is secure, Sarge grimly says, oeLets get their dog tags, They go about the extremely unpleasant task in silence.

By the time the scouts return to the SKOT, DeGrasso is unconscious.

oeGutshot. Hes not gonna make it, Deacon quietly announces.

Walker is looking at the map. oeWe shouldnt stay here. If I had to guess where that Polish platoon came from, Id say here, Goszczanow she stumbles over the name, oeless than 5 klicks southeast of these woods. We need to a little more distance between us and them. Theres another main road across our route, about 3 klicks north of here.

oeIt looks like theres more patches of forest, ~tween here and there. We could relocate closer to that road, get eyes on it. If theres traffic, we can wait ~til dark to cross, Bird suggests.


NOTES:
No rules here. Just a bit of story-telling. I originally thought that Lt. DeGrasso would be joining the party, but I just couldn't get inspired to flesh out his character. I decided to kill him off instead, poor guy. The intrigue hinted at in this shift is a bit cliche and I honestly have no idea where to go with it, at this point.

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[kcdusk]

I thought finding the bodies might have been a random card encounter.

i thought the zip drive might lead to operation reset or ....... there was a USA set module, about controlling the weather, can't think of it off hand.

hehe. love that its tough killing off a NPC/PC. Means you're invested.

[Raellus]

August 7th, 2000

Two days out of Skarydzew, the traveling food provided by the villagers is gone. The Diamonds have one day's worth of rations left. The prospect of starvation rears its emaciated head.

On the outskirts of the next village of note (Liskow), a large wooden sign is posted overlooking the road. It reads:

Głodni ludzie, kontynuujcie. Nie możemy wyżywić swoich.

PR translates for the others. "It says, 'Hungry men, keep going. We can't feed our own'." The Diamonds decide that there is no use trying to negotiate. They pass through, eyed wearily by the townspeople. The local militia appears switched on and fairly well equipped with military grade small arms.

A few kilometers later, the Diamonds are flagged down by an American, one of sixteen it turns out. They are a gaunt bunch, closer to starving than hungry. They explain that they were turned away by the town the Diamonds just passed through. They ask- practically beg- the party for food. Walker explains that her squad is down to its last meal. The stragglers then suggest teaming up to essentially mount a raid on the nearby parsimonious settlement.

"Those assholes got plenty of food. They just don't want to share it. You and us combine forces, that'll change their minds." Their leader, a brevet lieutenant, suggests.

"We're not marauders, Lieutenant," Walker declares, flatly. "We're headed north, not south, and I suggest you do the same."

The Lt. frowns, pauses but doesn't argue. "Why north"

"We heard a rumor that US forces are pulling out of Europe end of August. Need to get to Germany before then, or else miss the boat," Honeybear adds from the gun tub, hoping to help diffuse the situation.

"You got a radio" Sarge asks the stragglers.

"Battery's dead. Gotta spare"

"Unfortunately, no."

The two groups of Americans part on decent terms. The Diamonds offer to scout the road ahead (i.e north) a few kilometers and report back, mostly to assuage their own guilt from refusing to hand over the last of their food to foot-bound countrymen already gone a couple of days without.

The next settlement on the road is the polar opposite of the previous one. It's smaller, and the villagers are almost too friendly. Their tiny militia is poorly equipped- a couple of shotguns and a pistol or two is all they have with which to defend themselves, but their larders are apparently full. They offer to trade food for better weapons. They even invite the Diamonds to stay- an arrangement involving an exchange of room and board for security.

The Diamonds want to keep moving, but a trade agreement is reached: the party will give five AKMs with 14 full magazines of for four (D6) days' worth of rations, enough methanol to top off Pole Position's fuel tank, and twelve shotgun (2D12) shells. The Diamonds tell the villagers about the 16 American soldiers they met on the road, just a few kilometers to the south, suggesting that this other group may be willing to provide additional protection for a spell, if the villagers agree to feed them. The villagers seem open to that proposition, so the party offers to backtrack, act as middlemen. Everyone involved is satisfied with the outcome. Before the Diamonds leave the next morning, the villagers warn them about what they will encounter if they continue to travel on the main roads north.


August 8 (Shift 1)

Taking a calculated risk, the forewarned Diamond party approaches the town of Malan3w. The vegetation in the area is unusually sparse and drab for this time of year- it's as if winter has descended early, but only on this particular section of Poland. The surrounding fields are fallow, inhabited only by scattered tufts of stunted yellow grasses, interspersed here and there with a few heartier weeds and nettles. The first stands of trees the party pass by are bare, then blackened. A couple of kilometers on, windrows of deadfall lay where patches of forest once stood, the ranks of trees lying with their tops pointing roughly south.

The first vehicle the Diamonds see appears badly weatherworn but otherwise intact, simply abandoned. Further on, they pass the burned out husks of military trucks, rusty rims ensconced in the pavement. What appeared from a distance to be whitewashed stones dotting the roadsides turn out to be human skulls, bleached by many suns. Further still, some vehicles lay on their sides, a few smashed like empty soda cans. The impression one gets is that a child giant, in a tantrum, has strewn his toy box full of army vehicles around the sandbox and then completely forgotten about them.

All this time, everyone is riding buttoned down inside Pole Position. Grease detours around the obliterated Polish town, avoiding the impact crater itself and the worst of the surrounding radioactive hotspot.


NOTES:
These episodes were strung together after a couple of days of writer's block. I'd draw one random encounter that didn't seem to fit the situation as it left off after the last. I did this several times. Each subsequent draw seemed to make things more muddled, not clearer. It took me a couple of days of thinking/imagining to put together a logical, coherent story from the disparate random encounters. It all came together this morning. I made a few rolls and voila, here are the results.

The part about the parsimonious town was generated by drawing cards on the Settlement Problem & Attitude table in the Solo rules. The results were Refugees (Problem) and Hostile (Attitude). I cribbed the idea for the billboard outside of the town from a favorite photo from the USA's Great Depression.

The second element was from the Random Encounter card, Watcha Got I'd already played out a couple of "desperate stragglers" scenarios earlier in the campaign so I tried to handle this one a bit differently. The third element was from the Buying and Selling Random Encounter Card. This village was willing to trade food for guns and ammo. I decided that the Diamonds would try to cut their own deal with the villagers, then attempt to broker an arrangement between the civilians and the hungry stragglers the party had recently met. Stringing the last two encounters together required some Opposed Persuasion rolls. Fortunately, they all went the PCs' way.

Lastly, Ground Zero. First, I had to find a spot that either side would expend a tac-nuke on, and it had to make sense based on where v1 canon has units positioned in the summer-fall of 2000. The only place that came close to fitting those criteria is Malan3w. Jed McClure's Poland hexmap index (https://static.squarespace.com/stati...xmap_index.pdf) has proven invaluable during the course of this campaign. I can just type in the name of a settlement near the party's line of march into the search box and if it's described in canon, there it is. Once I had a target worked out, I decided that it made no sense that friendly villagers wouldn't warn the party about a tactical nuclear strike crater less than 10km from their hamlet, directly on the party's line of travel. So, I made the party aware of the danger zone well before they arrived on scene. However, I wanted to try my hand at describing what the landscape around such a spot would look like, so I had the party skirt the area, as opposed to avoiding it entirely. Since the rules state that rads are halved for those inside a vehicle and the party is deliberately avoiding the areas of strong and extreme radioactivity, I'm ruling that no Rad Attack took place during the shift it takes to detour the area.

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[kcdusk]

As explained in the 4e thread, i think repeating random encounters is ok. For instance in your game, running into refugees or parties of USA soldiers - will come with different results depending on the cards (helpful, aggressive, sneaky, etc). And i think most encounters for example will be these "run of the mill" running into friendly or suspicious civilians, other on-the-run friendlies or enemy patrols. So i am in favour of double-ups or repeat similar encounters.

Although i admit you do a better job of non-combat encounters, i think even if they don't make sense, well - that's the T2K world. I think you need to make the randomness of it fit. Otherwise, your only accepting cards/encounters that fit your view - that fit your story line - you are almost taking the randomness out of it. And i think this is a big part of the T2K story line. Not knowing who is friend or foe.

Or even the story making sense! Escaping from Kalitz! It is chaos, so i say let the encounters be gamed as they crop up.

A bit like me, its not until my party is out of food will they mingle with villages for example. Its only when they are forced too. This is something i am trying to do better at, non-combat encounters. They are important, they can be deadly or awkward, but i think they are essential. And by forcing my own PC to socialise, i know it is adding to my game. More than just combat - recover -combat which is a bit = DnD dungeon crawls.

[Raellus]

August 8th, Shift 2

The deer leaps from the trees, tries to clear the road in a single bound. Grease hears an impact, but Pole Position is too sturdy to feel it. Through the driver's vision block, a brown blur, there and gone in less than a half-a-second. Honeybear has the best view. He catches movement to his right front, tracks the final phase of the deer's suicidal lunge. Clipped on the fly by the 14.5 ton APC, the animal cartwheels through the air, lands hard on the other side of the road.

"You just hit a deer!" the team's machine gunner (and cook) calls. It's still twitching.

Grease brakes instinctively.

"There's our dinner," Bird drawls, monotone.

Pole Position is parked in the road, about 10m northeast of a culvert that crosses a narrow canal running northwest-to-southeast. About 200 meters northeast of the SKOT, the road disappears behind a small cluster of ruined residential buildings, the edge of a what appears to be an abandoned village. To the west of the road is a thickly wooded area.

Everyone is standing outside the vehicle, stretching their legs. Some watch Bird put the badly injured buck out of its misery, others don't.

"Fuck, Bird, why you gotta use a knife" Sandy asks, looking away.

"Cuz Ivan can't hear a knife from a mile out."

"Are we lucky or was that deer just really un-lucky" PR asks.

"Guess that depends on who you ask," Grease answers.

"Oi there!"

Eight heads turn almost as one.

A man stands in the road, about 200m north of where Pole Position is parked. None of the Diamonds noticed where he came from. His cammies look vaguely American, but they're not. He wears a white brassard around his raised left arm.

"British Army! You lot Yanks" the man calls...

The speaker is Sergeant Bill 'Topper' Hudnall, formerly of the BAOR's Special Observation Post troops. He's currently operating as part of a group of around two dozen partisans, mostly Polish. They're loyal to the NATO-aligned Polish Free Congress but operating independently at the moment. They lost contact with the PFC about a fortnight ago, after it was pushed out of Poznan by PACT forces. The partisans' current base of operations is in the village of Ruda, a small settlement tucked into the forest between Turek and Konin. Those two towns are currently garrisoned by troopers from the Soviet 89th Cavalry division. Topper and a detachment of his guerilla comrades were laying in ambush the major east-to-west road which doglegs through the abandoned hamlet just up the way.

Topper glances at his wristwatch. "We're about to head back to camp. If Ivan's not showed up by now, he won't be coming through today. You fancy paying a visit"

"Have you met any other Americans" Sandy asks the question on all of the Diamonds' minds.

"Yeah, a few, about a week ago. They was heading north, like yourselves. Had a Humvee. We tried to recruit 'em, but they weren't interested." Topper answers.

The Diamonds accept the invitation, and both groups head off for the partisan camp...


NOTES:
So I've been struggling a bit with how to move this campaign forward. I also feel like the campaign was getting a bit repetitive. Move, encounter a village that needs help, cut a deal (fight for food), rinse, and repeat. I too like the random nature of hex crawling, but it was starting to feel "desperately random" (name the film!). With the exception of the recent fight with the Polish hunter-killer team, the last few times I've drawn an encounter involving combat, the party has rolled successfully to avoid it. I've grown somewhat protective of the PCs, so I find myself trying to duck fights whenever possible, or only fight if the PCs have the upper hand. If I was playing with or running a game for other players, this pattern of would probably get boring after a few sessions (at times, it felt a bit stale to me). I found myself feeling the need to contrive a scenario where the PCs would be forced to fight, and do so without an advantage.

I tried using the tables in the Solo rules to give me a starting point. The results weren't particularly helpful or inspiring, so I went back to the random encounter deck. I drew Outnumbered. In order to make that scenario work, I had to find a road in the Diamond's path that the Soviets would use to move a supply convoys. Then I needed to find a spot where the party wouldn't be able to quickly retreat- their MO- upon meeting the Soviet convoy. I spent a lot of time studying the Google Map satellite images of Poland to find a location that fit the bill (this is a downside to using Google Maps instead of 4e travel and combat maps). It was taking so long to find a spot that meet all of above criteria that I almost gave up and shut down the campaign until next summer. Instead, I went back to the Solo tables and drew some playing cards. Again, the results (Animal, Active) seemed unhelpful. But then inspiration struck. I imagined the SKOT hitting a deer and that gave me a reason to stop Pole Position and get all of the PCs out of the vehicle. Combined with the map location I found, this situation would have forced the party to engage in at least a few rounds of combat against a superior force.

I started the fight and the Soviets dew first initiative. The engagement opened at 200m. The BTR exchanged fire with Pole Position; the enemy's BTR missed, rolling two 1s- the rules state that this means running out of ammo (already), but I ruled it a jam instead, believing that to be more realistic (also, the net effect is the same- in either case, the NPC gunner has to spend the next round of combat not shooting). Honeybear missed the BTR with his first burst of Dishka fire. Originally, I had the partisans appear at that point and ambush the convoy. The Diamonds basically waited and watched before making contact with the partisans after the firefight was over (I was dictating that the Soviets lost). That felt a little too Deus Ex Machina to me so I stopped the combat and did a little Retcon.

I introduced the partisans because I want to give the PCs a purpose other than just getting to Bremerhaven in the hopes of going home. The partisans are going to try to persuade the party that the right thing to do is help the people of Poland eject the Soviet occupiers and overthrow the puppet Polish government, bringing freedom and democracy back to Poland. Even if they don't persuade the PCs to join them long-term, the Diamonds will agree to help the partisans ambush a large Soviet convoy. I might have to improvise some rules for mass combat or come up with a reason to split the groups, as a 30 v 40 battle is going to be too unwieldy to handle.

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