0010 - Scene II – Traveling to the Convoy (1400 21 JUL 2000)

In the second scene, we can assume the characters have a general location of the convoy. We also know that the convoy was abandoned in a minefield from the setup in the previous scene. Knowing what we know, we can setup the scene.

Traveling to the convoy: The characters will travel to the convoy location and attempt to recover the food. They are worried about an ambush and will observe the area before approaching the minefield after setting an overwatch.

Now that we have our scene setup, we can see if it plays out as we imagined. This is the part where a higher CR has an influence. In order for the scene to play out as we planned, we have to roll greater than six on a D10, otherwise the scene will be modified or interrupted. Luckily, we roll a 10 and the scene play out as we expected.

The group arrives at the location of the stranded convoy. Now we need a map of the area. Being old school, I will draw this by hand.

You do not need to try to rival the great masters when you make your maps. Instead, a few simple lines are enough. I set the scale at 5m because this fits best to the coming task of finding and marking mines as defined in the rules.

The convoy is located in a shallow valley. Three bands of plowed earth cross a road that divides the map. Located in the plowed earth are anti-tank mines, with one having a mix of AT and AP mines. A couple bands of AP mines exist on the flanks and a directional mine with tripwire has been set up to make the mix interesting.

Two vehicles have triggered mines and are damaged. It is now the question, to what extent. Let us assume that the vehicles are trucks and each triggered a generic AT mine. First, I want to determine the type of truck and to do so, I whip up a quick table:

1-3 - ¾ ton truck

4-6 – 2 ½ ton truck

7-9 – 5-Ton truck

10 – 10 ton truck

The first truck is a 2 ½ ton truck (5) and the second is a ¾ ton truck (1). The mine in question is a generic AT mine, for which we will use the stats of the M15 (C: 22, B:22, Pen: 30C).

The first mine has a final penetration of 30 + 9 = 39. The suspension of the 2 ½ ton truck has a suspension value of W (3). Six points of penetration are used disabling the vehicle. The remainder of the damage (33) penetrates the armor (rear armor value = 1), resulting in one major hit. The major hit is Fuel (3). The remaining damage (33) is the percentage of fuel destroyed (33%) and is also the chance that the vehicle catches fire. The vehicle did not catch fire (96%) but the suspension is destroyed and the vehicle is immobilized.

It is a similar situation with the second truck, the 3/4-ton truck. The second mine has a final penetration of 30 + 8 = 38. The suspension of the 3/4-ton truck has a suspension value of W (2). Four points of penetration are used disabling the vehicle. The remainder of the damage (34) penetrates the armor (rear armor value = 1), resulting in one major hit. The major hit is Fuel (4). The remaining damage (34) is the percentage of fuel destroyed (34%) and is also the chance that the vehicle catches fire. The vehicle did not catch fire (65%) but the suspension is destroyed and the vehicle is immobilized.

We can assume that the rest of the vehicles were abandoned in the chaos of battle after the first and last vehicles were disabled. It is also save to assume that the crew could interpret the destruction of the vehicles as the beginning of an ambush and then they decided to use their own discretion and run for the hills. Regardless of the reason why, the group has found the abandoned vehicles.

Now the team can prepare to approach the convoy. The two vehicles will remain in overwatch and the rest of the team will dismount, with most of the team members providing security for Harris, who will attempt to clear a path to the trucks and back. If possible, the mines will also be recovered.

Mitchell and Potato will remain in Bud with Potato manning the one of the L7s. Logan and Marshall will remain in Jerry, with Marshall on the TOW.

Nothing really happened here, so the Chaos Rank will not be changed. We can add a new location to our lists (Abandoned Convoy).