0110 - The Great Escape - Part VIII - A Dark Alley Somewhere- Turn 2

 1110 08 AUG 2000, Zdunska Wola, Poland
===================================

• "Everytime someone moved to make a run for it, bullets started flying. Harris and Klasha took a couple but everyone made it into shelter. Someone out there had our number and had come to collect."

This will be the first post using the v4 rules. I assume that I will not get everything right, as I am still learning the rules but I am very much looking forward to the results.

The party's vehicle is burning, creating a cloud of dense smoke that is marked on the map.

Adjustments have been made to the characters and their loadouts as well as to the Polish soldiers. There is one Polish officer in the group (Polish soldier #1-1) and nine soldiers. The dispositions of the group have not changed. I will also be tracking the NPCs individually. There are only 10 and it is not that much work.

I used a random card shuffler in the net to simulate the initiative cards (located here: https://www.random.org/playing-cards/) and assigned them first to the characters and then the NPCs. So, with the preliminaries out of the way, let's get started.

Initiative Step 1 - Logan
Logan bails out of the burning OT-64 (Slow Action - no roll required) and runs (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required) behind a building to the south.

Initiative Step 2 - NPCs
Polish soldier #1-1 (Officer) - Will overwatch to his front (Fast Action), ordering his men to do the same (Free Action).

Polish soldier #1-2 - Will go into overwatch to his front (Fast Action)

Polish soldier #1-3 - Will go into overwatch to his front (Fast Action)

Polish soldier #1-4  - Will unjam his weapon (Slow Action) and he must make a Tech roll. His ability is C (D8) and he has not Tech Skill. He rolls a Mishap and the weapon is now broken.

Polish soldier #1-5  - Will go into overwatch to his front (Fast Action)

Polish soldier #1-6 - Will go into overwatch to his front (Fast Action)

Polish soldier #1-7 - Will go into overwatch to his front (Fast Action)

Polish soldier #1-8 - Will go into overwatch to his front (Fast Action)

Polish soldier #1-9 - Will reload his RPG-16. His ability is B (D10) and he has no Mobility skill. He rolls one success, making this a Fast Action.

Polish soldier #1-10 - Will go into overwatch to his front (Fast Action)

It is going to be very difficult for the team to exit the vehicle now.

Initiative Step 3 - Harris
Harris exits the OT-64 (Slow Action, no roll required) and moves toward the cover of the building (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required).

Harris is interrupted by Polish soldier #1-5, who fires from overwatch. The following modifers apply:

• 
  
• Range is 3 hexes (Short) --
• Target is moving -2 Steps
• The shooter is elevated +1 Step
• Overwatch counts as aimed fire --
• 
  

The soldier adds three Ammo dice to the pool.

The soldier has Agility B (D10) and Ranged Combat C (D8). The Agility die is stepped up to D12 (+1 step) and the Close Combat die removed (-2 steps), leaving one D12 and three Ammo dice in the pool. The D12 roll is 10 (2 successes) and the ammo dice have a total of 9 and one mishap.

First the hit on Harris. Harris suffers one hit  and one extra point of damage (possible) from the two successes. Harris is hit in the legs for 1 + 1 = 2 and has no armor to stop the hit. The damage is not high enough to cause a critical hit. The ammo in the weapon is reduced by 9. Harris is winged but keeps on moving, momentum carrying him forward.

Initiative Step 4 - Griffin
Harris exits the OT-64 (Slow Action, no roll required) and moves toward the cover of the building (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required).

As he is running, Polish soldier #1-7 fires at him from overwatch. The following modifers apply:

• 
  
• Range is 4 hexes (Medium) -1 Step
• Target is moving -2 Steps
• The shooter is elevated +1 Step
• Overwatch counts as aimed fire --

The soldier adds three Ammo dice to the pool.

The soldier has Agility B (D10) and Ranged Combat C (D8). The Agility die is stepped up to D12 (+1 step) but then stepped down one to D10 again. The Close Combat die removed (-2 steps), leaving one D10 and three Ammo dice in the pool. The result is no successes, 1 Mishap and 11 rounds showing on the ammo die. The ammo in the weapon is reduced by 11.

Bullets fly past Griff but he is too fast for the ambushers.

Initiative Step 5 - Klasha
Like the others, Klasha pops out of the OT-64 (Slow Action, no roll required) and moves toward the cover of the building (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required).

While she is doing her Bolt impression, Polish soldier #1-2 fires hs RPK-74 at her from overwatch. The following modifers apply:

• 
  
• Range is 3 hexes (Short) --
• Target is moving -2 Steps
• The shooter is elevated +1 Step
• Overwatch counts as aimed fire --
• 
  

The soldier adds three Ammo dice to the pool.

The soldier has Agility B (D10) and Ranged Combat C (D8). The Agility die is stepped up to D12 (+1 step) and the Close Combat die removed (-2 steps), leaving one D12 and three Ammo dice in the pool. The D12 roll results in 1 success and the ammo dice have a total of 7 and one mishap.

Klash is hit and has, unfortunately, no body armor. She is also hit in the legs for 2 but no extra damage is caused, as there were no successes. There are also no critical hits.The ammo in the weapon is reduced by 7.

Initiative Step 6 - Macron
With the choice of being stuck in a burning vehicle or getting shot, Macron decides to risk it an leaves the OT-64 (Slow Action, no roll required) and moves toward the cover of the building (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required).

Fortunately for Macron (and anyone coming after him), a thick cloud of smoke caused by the burning vehicle blocks the line of sight for the other Polish troops that have not yet fired. He safely moves into cover.

Initiative Step 7 - Potato
Potato pops out of the turrent and leaves the OT-64 (Slow Action, no roll required) and moves toward the cover of the building (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required).

Initiative Step 8 - Wally
Climbing out of the commander's hatch, Wally drops off the OT-64 (Slow Action, no roll required) under cover of the smoke and moves toward the alley (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required).

Initiative Step 9 - Robinson
Squeezing out of a driver's hatch that is made for someone appearently half his size, Robinson jumps from the the OT-64 (Slow Action, no roll required) under cover of the smoke and moves toward the alley (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required).

Initiative Step 10 - Marshall
Last but not least, Marshall jumps from the the OT-64 (Slow Action, no roll required) under cover of the smoke and moves toward the alley (Fast Action, 2 hexes, no roll required).

The first round with v4 is finished. I am not unhappy with the results. Once you get the hang of stepping up and down the dice, it is not really that hard. I like that aspect. I had the impression that mishaps and the reduction in reliability was happying way to often but I found I had misread the rules and the rule applies if two mishaps are rolled (or one if you do not have the skill). The broken weapon caused by an attempt to clear the weapon may or may not be realistic, but I feel it fits well into the background.

I like the random number of rounds caused by the ammo die. In v2, ammo expenditure was very predictable and I, like many others probably, kept the number of rounds used to what the rules allowed and that still provided some form of advantage.That is gone now and not a bad thing.

The rules are easy to use and I feel provided a result that would also have been probable in v2.2. The team were escaping a burning vehicle under the guns of their ambushers. Two were hit but not killed, but when you compare the amount suffered to their maximum (Harris 440%, Klasha 50%), they probably got hit harder then they would have in v2.2.

What troubles me what is to come. The team is not out of the fire just yet.