0021 - Plot line – Let the Environment Kill Them – Part II (0800 22 JUL 2000)

The team is drenched and still hacking up a lot of river water. We can only hope no one catches anything from their little swim. Everyone finds at least a stout stick to use as a club. Better than nothing.

The group is about 15km down river from Sieradz. This a pratical distance in a boat and will ensure they need most travel period to get back, meaning we can check for an encounter (roll of the dice accompanied by maniacal GM laughter).

The terrain will be river, as we can assume the characters are following the river, and the territory is still Disputed. Fortunately for the less than well-armed group, they make it back to the outskirts of Sieradz without encountering anyone or anything.

Now we must considering the situation. We know that the major has about 200 men but only have of them are armed. Sieradz had a pre-war population of about 40,000 and covered a large area. This means that the city cannot be completely walled off and the soldiers and militia will be divided into groups stationed around the perimeter. The main defense are the T-80s, which we can also assume have infantry support.

Characters being characters will try to jump someone and get a weapon. The only character with stealth is Griffin, so that makes him the jumper. The rest will then pile on afterwards. We can ask the GME for a little guidance at this point.

GME Question: Can the group find a small group of sentries? - Very Likely – Chaos Rank 5 (85% chance of yes) – 65 – Yes.

GME Question: Will one NPC wander away alone at some point? - Likely – Chaos Rank 5 (75% chance of yes) – 3 – Exceptional Yes.

Now that is an interesting development. Time to make an interpretation. We have an NPC that wanders away alone but a situation that makes that exceptional. This must mean that the NPC is in a very vulnerable situation at that point. Two obvious situations are a bathroom break or sleeping. Let’s let the dice decide: 1-3 bathroom break or 4-6 sleeping. The gods of the dice decide for 3. Now we need an NPC.

It is unlikely that Elite or Veteran NPCs are pulling perimeter guard. That would make the NPC 1-2 Experienced or 4-6 Novice. The die decide for Experienced. So, I pull out a random Experienced trooper:

Experienced Soviet soldier #1-8
(Initiative: 3, Attributes: 6, Assets: 11, UCD: 3)

Hits:
OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO -1 Initiative
OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO -2 Initiative
Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Main Weapon: G3 with 4 magazine(s)/belt(s) and 20 loose rounds
Grenades: Fragmentation Grenade []
Equipment: Fatigues, Steel Helmet,
Food: 2kg of Domestic Food and 3kg of Wild Food

Again, never throw anything away. You can always reuse anything. This is a trooper I generated before but have not had the chance to use yet. Now he has his time in the spotlight.

Griff can tell us a little bit more about the situation:

We found this little group of Ivans pulling perimeter guard. There motivation seemed a little off, like someone had recently given them a good working over. I smirked at the thought and I knew the 5ID gave better than it got. 

 

One of them, a bit older than the rest, must have been feeling the need for release, as he wandered away from the group. Sure enough, a bit later, behind a tree, you saw his lily white butt being exposed to the world. That was definitely not good idea.

Normally, sneaking up on a sentry in daylight would be a Formidable (x1/2), but we can assume the man is distracted and we will make the task Difficult (x1). Griff has a stealth asset of 10. Griff rolls a 15 and fails. As he approaches, thorns scrape across his uniform. The sentry looks up and dives for his gun, forcing Griff to pounce.

Turn 1 – Initiative 5

Griff takes a swing with his club. The difficulty is Difficult and Griff has an Armed Martial Arts asset of 6 (again, one of the overlooked skills). The club has a difficulty modifier of -1, reducing his asset to 5. The target number is 5 or less. Griff rolls a 6, resulting in a miss.

Turn 1 – Initiative 3

The trooper grabs for his G3. This will be a Difficult test against his Agility (Attribute 6), to grab the weapon while avoiding Griff’s attacks. The trooper rolls a 5 and snatches up the G3. This may end badly and you might want to close your eyes.

Turn 2 – Initiative 5

Griff takes another swing and connects with a 5. The hit location is the left leg. The damage is 1D6 + (½ STR). Griff has a strength of 6, resulting in 4 + 3 = 7 points of damage. The trooper is knocked down and will lose his next turn.

Hits:
XXXXX XXOOO OOOOO OOOOO -1 Initiative
OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO -2 Initiative
Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

The rest arrive to pile on (or more targets for the G3, depending on how you look at it).

Turn 3 – Initiative 5

Griff takes yet another swing and the trooper rolls to the side, avoiding the strike.

Robinson come up for another two handed swing. His asset level is 7 and he also suffers -1 for the club. His target number is also 6 or less. Robinson also pounds a bushel of grass flat.

The hulking Potato steps up to the plate. He chooses not to use the club and tries to stomp the trooper into jelly. His Unarmed Combat asset is 15 and the stomp (we will call it a kick) difficulty is Difficult (x1). Potato connects with a 15 and does 6 x 1.5 = 9 points of damage. The dude is a brute, no two ways about it.

 

Hits:
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XOOOO -1 Initiative
OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO -2 Initiative
Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

Turn 3 – Initiative 4

Macron wants a piece too and Macron also lashes out with a kick. His Unarmed Combat asset is 12. He rolls a 3 and causes and additional 4 x 1.5 = 6 points of damage.

 

Hits:
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX -1 Initiative
XXOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO -2 Initiative
Note: initiative modifiers are cumulative.

This will reduce the troopers initiative to 0, effectively removing him from the fight. We can assume that he is bloodied and so stunned that he is easily trussed up.

The characters now have a G3 with 4 magazine and 20 loose rounds as well as a Fragmentation Grenade. Time to get some more. Potato takes the G3 and the team decide to lay in wait to see if someone comes looking for the missing trooper.