0600 07 AUG 2000, near Dobrodzień,
Poland
============================
Muggy
was the only way to describe it. The sun had just risen and the day
promised to be a hot one as the team rolled through the barriers
protecting the entrance to the cantonment. The deck hatches were
open, letting a small breeze into the troop compartment.
Robinson
had been chosen as the driver on this mission, with Potato hand his
massive bulk filling the turret. He would be the commander and gunner
for the mission. The rest of team had found places in the troop
compartment, with boxes of C4, jerry cans, MREs and extra ammo stowed
on the empty seats. An RPG was strapped on the inner hull, ready for
use if the team needed. The same could be said for the AT-3, but they
had only one missile, so they would need to consider its use wisely.
Half
an hour later, the team approached Olesno and Robinson left the main
road, choosing instead smaller roads the led them around the town.
The roads were far enough away from the town that the encounter with
a Soviet patrol was considered unlikely, although the team kept their
guard up.
Thirty
minutes after leaving Olesno behind them, the team spotted the sign telling them they had entered
the town of Praska. The town itself looked similar to a lot of other
towns around Central Poland at the beginning of the new millennia.
There had been some low level fighting and armed men in Soviet
uniforms milled around the streets. All of them watched the team roll
by before slowing standing and walking in the direction that the team
had gone.
Robinson
guided the OT-64 around burnt-out hulks that cluttered the city
streets. As they turned onto the main East-West thoroughfare, they
found more vehicles had been used to block the street. The wrecks had
also been fortified with sandbags. This was not a good sign in
anyone’s book.
Gameplay
The
mission itself is one I drew from a list of possible PA missions and
plot hooks that I maintain. It is a simple “rescue” mission.
The
general plan is for the team to travel on the most direct route,
traveling north before turning east at Sieradz. On the return trip,
the team will continue southeast until they meet up with the highway
south, where they will continue on until the are near Czestochowa.
The team will then turn west and return to the cantonment over
Lubliniec. So much for the plan.
The
distance to Zdunska Wola is approximately 130km. The OT-64 will make
approximately 250km on ethanol before they are running on fumes. The
distance can be traveled on road on the outbound trip and will take
the good part of a period, if all goes well.
During
the trip, the group will pass through:
- Olesno
- Praszka
- Weilun
- Zloczew
- Sieradz
- Szczercow
- Lubliniec
For those that have been following the story, they know the group has actually traveled through some of these towns, hence they are known there by sight. This may have an impact on the mission. For those that have not followed the story, a few notes on the towns:
- Sieradz: The team assisted the Soviet commander in the town to recover food from an ambushed convoy trapped in a minefield. The team drove off some East German marauders with the same idea. Following the recovery, the team was allowed to pass through the town. The Russians in the town know them but it is doubtful if they want to see them again. This will be the main challenge.
- Zloczew: the team engaged a large force of stragglers that had taken over the town, forcing them out of the town. The town has a high opinion of the team and will probably assist them if they pass through the town.
- Olesno: the team skirted Olesno while traveling after encountering Russian OPs on the outskirts of the town. The team will again bypass this town on the way north, just to be safe, as there is known resistance there.
The
team moves out and bypasses Olesno as planned before approaching
Praszka. Praszka has a chance of being the first area where the
characters may encounter resistance. As we know from the town’s
description, a 50-man force of marauders holds the town, lead by a
former Soviet sergeant. From this information, we can generate a few
notes about the time for our notebook:
Settlement Size: 5,000
(controlled by a 50 man marauder group)
Settlement Attitude: Frightened
Settlement Government: Captive
Settlement Crisis: Impending
attack (Marauders)
I
took the opportunity to generate the marauder stats as well as the
motivation for the marauder leader.
Motivation:
-----------------------------------------------------
Very violent: The NPC
loves a good fight and either is or wants to be a warrior.
Somewhat ambitious: The
NPC will be inclined towards boastfulness and a desire to impress his
peers.
Very
violent as a motivation means that the NPC will probably want to mix
it up with the characters, especially since the marauders outnumber
the characters. Still, you never know. Top it off with a random
Russian name (Sergeant Leskov Mili Makarovich) from an online
generator
and we have an NPC.
Now
we are ready to conduct our first scene. I am not going to go into
detail on what a scene is, but you can find more information on
scenes in the Mythic GM Emulator.
In
order to set up the scene, we can establish some background. Neither
said failed their observation roll. The marauders also control the
town, maybe their presence has left some visual clues. Let’s ask
the GME.
[GME:
Are there signs of marauder activity or abuse of the population
visible in the streets? - Chaos Rank 5 – Somewhat Likely (65%)- 85%
- No]
The
marauders have been cleaning up after themselves or, more likely,
forcing the population to do it.
[GME:
Have the marauders put up roadblocks and defenses? - Chaos Rank 5 –
50/50 (50%)- 43% - Yes]
So
there will be obstacles that the characters may have to contend with.
Now we can prepare our scene setup.
Scene 01 – Passing Through Praszka (CR 5)
Scene Setup
The
team will attempt to quickly drive through the town, avoiding
checkpoints, obstacles and troop concentrations with the goal of
leaving the town behind them as soon as possible..
The
roll for the scene resolution is a 1, resulting in the scene being
altered. The most obvious alteration is that the marauders attack the
characters as they move through the town.
Well,
we knew we probably wouldn’t get there without a fight. Time to
draw up a map and prepare to fight it out.
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