0800 20 AUG 2000, Dobrodzień, Poland
===================================
"We made it back and the
guys spent a bit of time on sick call. Macron took longest and his days as a
professional ping-pong player hopeful are over. Another dream that will never
be realized because of this damn fracas.
When the team was back up,
Captain Warren called an all-officers meeting and we went, taking Logan, Harris
and Klasha, as no one told us she was not an officer. Top Blue Elk gave us an
overview of the current situation. Although the cav boys were holdin' their
own, it looks like we were going to have to stay for a while. Recon forces have
identified strong enemy concentrations between us and the German border. It is
unlikely we could move in force in that direction without attracting a lot of
attention. Attracting attention is something the 5th did back at Kalisz. Not
looking forward to that again. Also for consideration, a lot of the cav guys
had also set up home here in this little burg and wanted to stay. It may not be
home to everyone but it was the best show in town at the moment.
Captain Warren then explained
the mission of the 116th during the Final Offensive. The Cav troopers had been
attached to the 5th for the Last Offensive. After our brigade was overrun, the
116th broke contact and made their way south. On the way they popped a Soviet
convoy loaded with real gas, (I am not kiddin'), and used that to make their
way back to their cantonment.
Captain Warren reiterated that
that offensive was the last gasp and there probably would not be another one
but the offensive was not the important part. The 116th had been sent on a
mission to meet up with some spooks but were not able to make contact because
of the Soviet resistance. That team, at least in her opinion, may be out there
somewhere and we need to find out if they are and bring them home. For that, we
will need a bit of help.
One of the people in all of
Poland that might know where the team is would be their handler. Captain Warren
and team never met him personally but had radio contact with him prior to their
jumping off on the Kalisz adventure. Captain Warren knows that he is a DIA
agent working out of Krakow. She assumes that he also had contact with the team
that the 116th was to meet up with. Maybe he knows where the team is and how
they can contact them.
Our mission was to pose as
traders/marauders and travel to the city. Entrance would only be given to those
that could pay their way, so we would have to make a good show of it. Once in
the city, our mission was to find and make contact with the agent with nothing
but his code name: Strongman."
Skipping ahead a bit
in the timeline. The team has returned to the cantonment and had a chance to
heal up a bit. On the way back, the team will recover the Cache #1 (70% intact,
roll is 51), recovering the ammunition and the small tent.
Posing as a group of
traders/marauders itself would not be that difficult. A lot of merchants use
ex-soldiers to protect their convoys and marauders can consist of pretty much
anyone with a gun. Not a lot of call for CVs when applying to become a marauder.
The question would be what to appear to want to sell/transport. The team has
gathered a lot of equipment over time and this would be something that could
possibly be sold in Krakow. The team can load the stuff on the 2.5-ton truck
and maybe pick up some other equipment they may be needing.
A lot of the
captured weapons and equipment will be sold. Before that, the team can try to
a) standardize their weapons and b) switch to Pact weapons, allowing them to
easily resupply using captured equipment. The team will switch to
AK-74/RPK-74/AKMR weapons. The only persons not using the standard weapons will
be Potato (with his PKM) and Griffin (who will use a SVD-63), but both of them
use the same caliber weapons, so they will be able to share ammunition.
Robinson, the only member of the team with an AKM, will trade that out for a
RPK-74, adding another support weapon to the team. The team also has the RPG-7V
(carried by Robinson), the GP-25 (carried by Harris) and the PKM (carried by
Potato).
So,
the cover will be arms dealers. The group can have a small convoy, with the
HMMWV (Jerry) and the 3/4-ton Truck (Bud) protecting the 2 1/2-ton truck (Bad).
In the bed of the Bud, the team can mount their TOW-launcher, making a cool
technical and providing the team with antitank support. We have a tripod and
three missiles in the cache. We can also mount one of the AN/PRC-119
SINCGARS radios to allow the vehicle to communicate
with the lead vehicle.
The Hummer has a
Mk-19 available but it is damaged. The team needs to get some spare parts and
heads to the market. We also need some more mags for both the RPK-74 and the
SVD. We will send our resident spook Klasha, assisted by Wally as the Grease
Monkey in charge. The team can hit up Metody, as they still have credit with
him from the last transaction.
First of all,
determine if weapon parts are available. These are Common items and they are
available on a D6 roll of 3 or higher. The roll is a 5, indicating there are
some and another 2D6 roll means that the merchants have 5 available.
Note: the following uses a hybrid out of
my rules for Trade in Twilight:20000 (https://twilight2000solo.blogspot.com/2019/08/0079-trade-in-twilight-2000.html) and the rules as presented in the v4
version. Regarding the v2 Wear Value, this had an effect on the costs. The same
should apply to Reliability and it does. The following shows the effect on the
base price for those items based on Reliability:
|
Reliability
|
Base Price Modifier
|
|
A
|
100%
|
|
B
|
90%
|
|
C
|
80%
|
|
D
|
70%
|
|
F
|
60%
|
The Reliability F does means that something is broken
but that does not mean it cannot be repaired or used for parts. That is why it
is not just reduced to 0.
The
weapon parts do not have reliability, so their base price will not be affected
by their reliability. The base price for the parts is 25 rounds per part or a
total of 125 rounds for the total. We modify this by (D6+7)
* 10% or (5+7)*10% or 120%. This results in a modified
base price of 125 * 120% = 150 rounds.
Metody, for all his faults, is not greedy so the base price remains at
150.
Time for Klasha to
do her magic.
|
Task:
|
Convince Metody to lower the asking price
|
|
|
Ability Die:
|
Empathy
B (D10)
|
|
|
Skill Die:
|
Persuasion
B (D10)
|
|
|
Modifiers:
|
+1 Psy Ops
specialty, +1 assisted by Wally, -1 you ask for something valuable
|
= +1
|
|
Mod. Ability Die:
|
Empathy
A (D12)
|
[+1
Step, total = +1]
|
|
Mod. Skill Die:
|
Persuasion
B (D10)
|
[Unmodified]
|
|
Ammo Die:
|
--
|
|
|
Roll:
|
7,10,--
|
|
|
Result:
|
3 Successes
|
|
Not bad, but it is
an opposed roll, so Metody gets his chance.
|
Task:
|
Resist Klasha's persuasion
|
|
|
Ability Die:
|
Empathy
C (D8)
|
|
|
Skill Die:
|
Persuasion
B (D10)
|
|
|
Modifiers:
|
--
|
|
|
Mod. Ability Die:
|
Empathy
C (D8)
|
[Unmodified]
|
|
Mod. Skill Die:
|
Persuasion
B (D10)
|
[Unmodified]
|
|
Ammo Die:
|
--
|
|
|
Roll:
|
3,6,--
|
|
|
Result:
|
1 Success
|
|
So, we have grand
total of 2 successes, which reduces the asking price by 20%, giving a final
asking price of 120. Metody can take that off our credit.
Next on the shopping
list, magazines. These are not given in the equipment list, but I believe a
price of 5 per 10 rounds of capacity is fair. The question is, do they have
some available. These will be common items, of course, so we again roll a D6
for 3 or more. The roll is 4 (meaning they available) and another 2D6 roll and
we see that 12 magazines are available. Of those, 6 (random 6 roll) are SVD
magazines and the others are magazines for RPK-74.
The price will be 6
x (10 rounds x 5) = 300 + 6 x (40 x 5) = 1.500. No reliability or greedy
merchant influence here so the base price stays at 1.500. Maybe Klasha can
bring it down.
|
Task:
|
Convince Metody to lower the asking price
|
|
|
Ability Die:
|
Empathy
B (D10)
|
|
|
Skill Die:
|
Persuasion
B (D10)
|
|
|
Modifiers:
|
+1 Psy Ops
specialty, +1 assisted by Wally, -1 you ask for something valuable
|
= +1
|
|
Mod. Ability Die:
|
Empathy
A (D12)
|
[+1
Step, total = +1]
|
|
Mod. Skill Die:
|
Persuasion
B (D10)
|
[Unmodified]
|
|
Ammo Die:
|
--
|
|
|
Roll:
|
2,9,--
|
|
|
Result:
|
1 Success
|
|
Guess his margins on
magazines are a bit strict. He still gets his chance so.
|
Task:
|
Resist Klasha's persuasion
|
|
|
Ability Die:
|
Empathy
C (D8)
|
|
|
Skill Die:
|
Persuasion
B (D10)
|
|
|
Modifiers:
|
--
|
|
|
Mod. Ability Die:
|
Empathy
C (D8)
|
[Unmodified]
|
|
Mod. Skill Die:
|
Persuasion
B (D10)
|
[Unmodified]
|
|
Ammo Die:
|
--
|
|
|
Roll:
|
2,4,--
|
|
|
Result:
|
No successes
|
|
One success total
will bring down the price by 150, for a new total of 1350. Again, use that
credit (now totaling 1470). The team can pack up their new belongings and head
back to base.
Once back at base,
Wally needs to repair the Mk-19. Robinson can help and hopefully they do not
blow it. The gang needs this weapon.
|
Task:
|
Repair the Mk-19
|
|
|
Ability Die:
|
Intelligence
B (D10)
|
|
|
Skill Die:
|
Tech
B (D10)
|
|
|
Modifiers:
|
+1 assisted by
Robinson
|
= +1
|
|
Mod. Ability Die:
|
Intelligence
A (D12)
|
[+1
Step, total = +1]
|
|
Mod. Skill Die:
|
Tech
B (D10)
|
[Unmodified]
|
|
Ammo Die:
|
--
|
|
|
Roll:
|
8,8,--
|
|
|
Result:
|
2 Successes
|
|
So, Wally was
successful. That is great news. Two successes signal a repair (to Reliability
level D) and a further repair to level C. The weapon can be maintained by
Wally, possibly increasing its Reliability later. For now, we can put it on the
HMMWV. We can also add a tripod and the other radio. The vehicles are then
ready to go.
We will transport
the weapons on the 2.5 ton truck. Maybe Wally and Robinson can do something
about the Reliability of the truck before we leave.
|
Task:
|
Increase the Reliability of the truck
|
|
|
Ability Die:
|
Intelligence
B (D10)
|
|
|
Skill Die:
|
Tech
B (D10)
|
|
|
Modifiers:
|
+1 assisted by
Robinson
|
= +1
|
|
Mod. Ability Die:
|
Intelligence
A (D12)
|
[+1
Step, total = +1]
|
|
Mod. Skill Die:
|
Tech
B (D10)
|
[Unmodified]
|
|
Ammo Die:
|
--
|
|
|
Roll:
|
12,10,--
|
|
|
Result:
|
4 Successes
|
|
The team is smoking
today and the Reliability is brought back up to C. Maybe they welded some scrap
metal over the holes in the floorboards.
The truck should
probably also have a weapon. In the cache, we have a couple L7A2s and one would
fit nicely on the ring. Unfortunately we do not have any more radios, but we do
have some walkie-talkies, so that will have to do. Throw 500 rounds of ammunition
in the back and we can load up the stuff we want to sell. After that, some food
and water and we are on the road. Bad will be pulling the tank trailer with
about 413l of alcohol.
Now to divide up the
team. We will need drivers and gunners for all vehicles, with the rest of the
team divided among the vehicles.
The marching order
will be:
- Jerry (Driver: Marshall,
Gunner (Mk-19): Potato, Commander: Harris, Passenger: Griffin)
- Bad (Driver: Klasha, Gunner
(L7A2): Macron
- Bud (Driver: Wally, Gunner
(TOW): Robinson, Passenger: Logan)
Convoy spacing will
be 20m.
Off we go.
