I know that Warsaw will sometime reawake.
I know that Warsaw, so completely destroyed
That birds no longer wheel above the ruins,
Has not perished. She is just cruelly wounded,
Lost in thought, in a terrible, deathless stubborness.

-Anonymous, 1944
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:39, Thu 11 Mar 2010.

Saturday, October 21st, 2000
0800hrs.
37F
Thick overcast
Strong breeze from the N
Approximately 20km SE of Warsaw, Poland



You climb into the high cargo bed of the Stalwart, dragging your considerable stock of weaponry and supplies with you. By the time all of you and your assorted gear are aboard the Stalwart, the sun, soon to be swallowed by the low band of dark grey clouds, is starting to creep above the eastern horizon. A chill breeze blows, bringing with it the scent of rain.

Once everyone and everything is aboard, the Stalwart's engine rumbles to life and it starts crawling down to the draw in the west bank of the Vistula. You are jostled about somewhat as the amphibious cargo carrier travels the relatively short distance off road and the acrid smell of its engine exhaust is sharp in your nostrils.

The Stalwart eases into the frigid brown water of the Vistula river and paddles sluggishly across like some olive green hippopotomous. It comes as some relief as it begins hauling itself out on the east bank. You hold on for dear life as it slowly lurches its way up the steep riverbank. Once it makes it on to more level ground, it starts picking up speed. After a few kilometers, you hardly notice the constant vibration.

You pass through miles of deserted countryside. Empty villages line the way, looking like neglected Hollywood sets. The bordering fields are thick with long, wild grasses and weeds. Reminders of war are everywhere. Burned and rusted out AFVs and trucks litter the landscape like the long discarded toys of some child giant.

100 meters off in a field on the right side of the Stalwart, several wolves burry their muzzles in the innards of what is either a large deer or a small horse. They barely pause to notice your passing.

Your driver keeps to the roads, weary of long forgotten but no less deadly mines. The vibration in the floor of the cargo bed grows steadily more intense as each kilometer passes beneath it. After traversing about 10km, a high-pitched whine starts coming from deep inside the vehicle. The driver pulls to a halt. After a minute or two, he emerges from the cab's top hatch and addresses the recon team (in Polish).

"The transmission's winding up. We've got to take her off road for a while so hold on. I don't know how much farther this thing can carry you."

During the time it takes to traverse the next few kilometers, each of you is hyper-aware of the danger posed my mines. In the thick grass and snow-flecked mud that borders the roads, it will be nearly impossible to spot one until it is right beneath the Stalwart's wheels.

As it emerges from a small wood approaching a run-down satellite town a couple of kilometers to the northeast, the Stalwart literally grinds to a halt. The smell of superheated metal and singed oil surrounds you. After another two or three minutes of uncertain silence, the driver emerges again.

"Sorry guys. She's just about done in. If there's any chance of getting her back to Gora-Kalwaria, I'm going to have to drop you off here. It may even be too late. I hope you brought food for three more*."

You look around. Drab fields, dead wood, gray sky- It's all very grim and oppressive. Somewhere to the northwest lie the ruins of Warsaw. And you know that the Black Baron is waiting...

Next Moves?

*NPC list to come shortly.

Please do me a favor and post a combat tag with your PC's carried weapons and electronics in this first turn so that I have an easy-to-find record of what you've brought.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:39, Sat 13 Mar 2010.

Jan hefted his pack onto his shoulders and moved forward to talk to the driver.  Even though the pack looked to be quite full and had an SMG strapped to the side Jan seemed to move easily under the weight.  Even allowing for webbing, grenade vest, assault rifle, grenade launcher and other gear he was carrying.

"Someone get the gear unloaded and someone else keep a watch out," he commented to everyone, more making suggestions than issuing orders.

Reaching the driver he switched to Polish.  "Any idea where we are now?" he asked while waiting for Konrad to arrive with his map.  He looked around him, trying to spot any landmarks that would identify their current location.



Jan
F88 Steyr AUG with underslung M203 (carried)
 - 7x30rnd (5.56mmN) mag (1 in rifle, 6 in webbing)
 - 4x30rnd (5.56mmN) STANAG mag (in backpack)
 - 10x 40mm HE, 4x 40mm HEDP & 2x 40mm ILLUM (in grenade vest)
Sig Sauer P226 (in drop leg holster)
 - 4x15rnd (9mmP) mag (1 in pistol, 1 in holster pocket, 2 in thigh pocket)
PM-84 submachine gun w/suppressor (strapped to side of backpack - suppressor in backpack pocket)
 - 4x25rnd (9mmM) mag (1 in SMG, 3 in backpack pocket)
 - 2x15rnd (9mmM) mag (in backpack pocket)
Bayonet with Sheath (on webbing)
IR Goggles (in backpack)
SEM 52-SL Hand Radio (on webbing)
Geiger Counter (0.5kg) (in backpack)
This message was last edited by the player at 12:00, Thu 11 Mar 2010.

Dieter didn't feel good. He didn't like travelling by truck, and often got motion sickness. Throwing up on his new colleagues would be a bad start to this mission, so he occasionally sipped at his water bottle and tried to focus on the horizon.

But that wasn't the only thing making him queasy. He thought back to his last mission. He unit had met with a large Soviet force and they had been hit hard. He had managed to get away, but had left friends either dead or dying. Those who had survived were either scattered like himself, or captured by the Russians. And he knew capture nowadays probably meant death - the Geneva Protocol was something for the history books.

As the Stalwart finally whined it's last breath and ground to a halt, Dieter actually felt relieved; at last he could get out and stretch his legs. As the more mechanically minded of the team fussed over the dead vehicle, he took the opportunity to scan the local area, looking for obvious landmarks, suitable cover, items of interest, and of course, danger. He had been pleased to see the wolves - that meant there was game about, and that meant hunting! His hands itched at the thought of tracking game again - he hadn't had the opportunity for a while. He also looked at the skies, keeping an eye on the weather. If it turned they would need to act fast to get out of heavy snow or rain.

Dieter waited for further instructions from Konrad or one of the NCOs.

Dieter Brandt
Scanning the horizon for anything interesting
PSG-1 (20/20)
1xFrag, 2xSmoke
x25 Image Intensifiers, PRC-77 Manpack Radio
Hunting Bow strapped to pack
This message was last edited by the player at 18:41, Thu 11 Mar 2010.

In reply to Jan Cerny (msg #3):

Dawid sighed as he climbed down from the MG mount. He thought that they should have been going off-road more anyways, as anti-personnel mines off the road were much less of a threat than anti-tank mines on, but that was neither here nor there.

Jan asked if "someone" would get things organised. May as well be him, he reckoned.

"Dieter, Thor, Drew, Sutherland, you're on watch."

"Everyone but Konrad and Avel, please help me unload."

"Avel, contact Dreamer and advise them of our position."

"Jan, let me have a look around myself. I may be familiar with the area, Mariusz too."

Making sure his own gear and weapon was offloaded, he began helping the others.

As the fantail of the Stalwart drops Craig is one of the first off, he moves to the side and takes a knee scanning for immediate threats while covering the others as they disembark. He directs anyone standing around to do the same while the truck is dealt with or they move off.

“Keep your eyes open ladies where in bandit country”

Craig keeps the AKS-74U at his shoulder as he scans the farmland in front. He tries to identify any features he remembers from their flight from the city or the patrols with the Barons army.


AKS-47U (45/45) + 5 spare magazines
Browning HP (20/20) w/ silencer + 2 spare magazines
RPG-7D Grenade Launcher, PG-7N HEAT Grenade x 4
F-1 FRAG Grenade x 6, Smoke Grenade
E-108 Thermite Grenade x 2, RKG-3 AT Grenade x2
No.80 WP grenade, L13A2 CS grenade
UK/PRC-349 VHF/FM transceiver Radio - ear piece
ON1x20/IR "Nighthawk" NVGs
Fire Support Element
Scanning surrounding area

Mariusz grew gradually quieter the closer they got to Warsaw. Memories of a previous life, memories he'd suppressed since the days before the siege of Warsaw. The dreadful look on his father's face as he told them they had to run for their lives, his mother's tears as she looked around the cosy apartment and lives they had to leave behind.

He stared at the icy puddles by the roadside and remembered taht last morning with both his parents. They'd been on a road near here and had spent the night huddled together trying to sleep despite the fury of the Allied guns behind them. They were tired and hungry, the family had always been plump and weren't used to hard exercise.

They'd lost most of their food when a Soviet patrol had shaken them down at the perimeter of the Warsaw defences but Mariusz' mother had managed to hide a few potatoes. Mariusz remembered the pangs of anger he'd felt as she'd shared the morsels of food with the strangers around them. he was hungry and that food should have been for him.

Then some thugs had come along, claiming the food. Mariusz' father had complained to them, appealing to their sense of fairness. Their cruel laughter still echoed in Mariusz' ears as they beat his father to the ground. Mariusz' hands shook as he remembered crouching there, crying and hoping that he wouldn't be next. He hadn't been, his mother, a gentle woman who had caused only happiness wherever she went had launched herself at one of her husbands attackers.

The man had thrown her to the roadside and Mariusz could still see the dark pool of blood gathering under her head and staining her fine blonde hair a dirty black. The men had left his father a broken, shoeless wreck beside the road and Mariusz had waited by his side for two days until his father had finally given up on life.

He'd left them there, by the side of the road, unable to even bury them.

Tears stung his eyes as he was jolted around in the back of the Stalwart.

He hardly noticed tha fact that the vehicle had stopped. He looked around, blinking back the tears and then dropped to the ground and went to stand next to Dawid.

His face was grim as he went to war again, he locked his parents away in the same corner of his mind that held his dreams of marrying Maria and raising fat babies. Life was for others, he was a warrior in the Valley of Death and his only hope was to become the hardest, meanest motherfucker in the whole damn valley.

He chambered a round in his Tantal and prepared to fight the good fight and die with his enemy's heart in his hand.

Mariusz
Tantal 30/30 (6 spare mags)
Bayonet
4x frag
1x smoke

In reply to Mariusz Tokarski (msg #7):

Seeing his friend was down in the dumps, Dawid put down his gear and gave him a quick sideways hug around the shoulders. he lit a precious smoke, offered Mariusz a drag. Cancer might kill them both, but odds were neither would die in bed.

"So many bad memories for both of us, my friend. Just get your mind off them, try to focus on what we're doing here. I don't know what you're thinking about, but try to keep focused. If we defeat the Baron, perhaps the rebirth of something good here in Poland is just around the corner? We'll be great heroes, like Joseph Pilsudski and Lech Walesa! Well, maybe you," he added with a grin."

"In the mean time, help me with the bikes. I'm going to see about the engine."

With that, he walked around to the engine compartment, tried to see if there was any help he could lend to the crew, being a fair mechanic in his own right.

Dawid Piotrowski
PKM GPMG + 1 belt, Stechkin + 2 magazines
2 frags, 2 smoke grenades
This message was last edited by the player at 03:37, Fri 12 Mar 2010.

Thor pointed towards the south.
"Bragi go there."
"Thor go there." He pointed east and lumbered off about fifty metres, disappearing into the surrounding countryside.

Barret M82A1(he calls "Mjollnir")
10x telescopic sight (Járngreipr)
Add-On Starlight Scope (Megingjord)
10 rd .50 BMG mag, full x 6
H & K USP-9SD, 9mm
15 rd mag, 9mmP, full, x4
M-26A1 hand grenade, x6
M-18 Smoke grenade, green, x2
M72A4
Bayonet
Entrenching Tool
"Yowie" suit (furs, skins, etc)
Flashlight, Mini Mag-Light
Overwhites
Watch, Military
Individual Tactical Radio
Compass, Lensatic
25x Spotters scope
Light Intensifier Goggles
Geiger Counter
plus more....

In reply to Dawid Waldus Piotrowski (msg #5):

Drew replies,

"Right!" as he grabs his light pack over one should and climbs down from the vehicle.  He aproaches Dawid and whispers to him,


"We'd better set up a perimeter while we unload,  and where do we want ta stage and head?"

  Drew stands for a bit turning his back to Dawid, but standing near him, as he scans the area around with his hands on his M240 the weapon at the low ready hanging from the sling.

Sgt Drew
M240
Talking to Dawid
NVGs handy

In reply to Steven Drew (msg #10):

From over at the engine compartment, Dawid replied to Drew, "thanks. Set up your machinegun to cover our rear trail in case we were followed, and the left flank.

He called Dieter and Thor over.

"Dieter, set up with Thor, cover the road ahead of us and the right flank."

"We should have enough people to cover 360 degrees."

He spoke to Pawel, the driver. "Don't worry, we brought extra food, to trade or give us a margin of safety in case we're delayed. You're welcome to share, of course!" He clapped the man on the shoulder.

"Fortunately, we shouldn't need you along. If you can, I suggest you try to make it back to Gora Kalawria safely."

Dawid Piotrowski
PKM GPMG + 1 belt, Stechkin + 2 magazines
2 frags, 2 smoke grenades
This message was last edited by the player at 15:31, Fri 12 Mar 2010.

Dieter nodded to Dawid, acknowledging the given order. As Thor (who appeared to be a one-man walking arsenal) headed towards the right flank, Dieter followed him. He scanned the area with his rifle scope before finding suitable cover with a good arc of fire and LOS down the road. He settled into good cover, keeping an eye on the road and surrounding countryside.

  Drew nods slightly further aknowledging by a grunt as he walks out a certain distance and then takes a knee.  His eyes scanning his sector, only casting a glance back towards the main body every couple of minutes to make sure he knows what they are doing.

Sgt Drew
M240 and M9
Covering his sector as tail end charlie.

Bayer climbs down from the cab, notices the unloading and security is being handled well, and squats down to view his map again. After placing his compass to orient the map in relation to to the ground, he looks up calls over, "Team leaders in here." He then motions for the driver to come over as well, to confirm Bayer's indication of the patrol on the map.

He'd spent the move into position with the map and compass out, plotting the Stalwart's progress. "Here." he says pointing to spot on the map. "Southeast of the city a little ways. We're a bit short of our intended drop point, but it's not a problem. And here is the farm that Lieutenant Sutherland spoke of. If it turns out not to be suitable lying up point, I can't see finding a hide in all of these ruins being difficult. We'll try there first though."

Looking up he says, "Order of march is main element, the drivers with the bikes, and Dawid you pull up the rear with support... Sutherland has a radio so I suggest you put him on rear security."

"Main element will move in arrowhead ^ formation with Tucker, Jan, and Quyen on front security. I'll be close behind navigating, with Apel as my pacer."

Dieter, you and Thor will screen us on extended flank security."



Bayer
G36 Assault Rifle/HK-69 Grenade Launcher
Binoculars
Image Intensifiers (loaned)
Tactical Radio
Map & Compass
NATO NVGs
Geiger Counter

Jan nodded in response to Konrad's orders.  He had joined Konrad's briefing when the Captain had called for Team leaders even though he wasn't one and had paid close attention to the points Konrad indicated on the map.  It was good to know exactly where they were in case anything problematic occurred.

It was worrying that the Stalwart had broken down severely enough for the three militia men to be forced to join them but that was the way of things these days with much technological equipment and vehicles.  Well that was the case in most of the world - if he returned to France then many of the comforts of life would be available again but he wasn't sure that he wanted to return home.  He felt that the French Government's current approach to the rest of the world was wrong, particularly demonstrated by the mission that had brought him all the way to Poland.

He glanced again at the map.  "We need to set up an initial rally point in case we get split up.  How about somewhere on the fringe of that small town ahead?  Also do we want to make an effort to hide the Stalwart or at least make it look more derelict?"

Once the rally point was agreed Jan then moved off with Tucker and Quyen.  "I'll take the first stint on point," he offered while slinging his rifle over his should and detaching his PM-84 from the side of his ALICE pack.  Attaching the suppressor he chambered a round and prepared to lead them in the direction Konrad had instructed.

OOC - Had I been actively online this would have been in the patrol order.



"This wooded area here." Bayer points first to the map, then towards where it stood. "I'll designate rally points on the march. Make sure you look back at them from the opposite side to be familiar with their appearance to how you'll be approaching them on the return. Failing any linkup, everyone is to make for the river, in any westerly direction and follow it upstream until you see G.K. again."

Looking at the huge vehicle, Bayer asks, "Can it move it all anymore?"

Quyen nods and throws her pack over her shoulders. The RPG-18 she'd been detailed with was looped underneath the straps lengthwise. "I'll take the left side of the arrowhead." she suggests to Tucker.

While she waited for the order to move out, she leaned up against the Stalwart. He legs were still sore... no painful. Beneath her pants the gunshot and burn wounds were freshly cleaned and bandaged prior to leaving. Figuring there wasn't enough time for a smoke, she placed one of her last ones beneath her nose, and savored the tobacco scent.

Quyen
AK-74 / M9 / RPG-18 / Couple of mines

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #14):

Leaving the GPMG with Mariusz, Dawid hustled over when the team leaders were called together. He didn't really have much to add.

"We don't know if the truck is moveable, Kapitan. We will know shortly. If it isn't, then the MG3 will be added in, probably with the bikes."

"Understood about the rally point. I'll bring up the rear. Also, Jan and Drew had some ideas about a reorganisation of the patrol which we didn't have time to bring up before we left. We may be able to incorporate some ideas on the fly, with your permission."


Dawid Piotrowski
PKM GPMG + 1 belt, Stechkin + 2 magazines
2 frags, 2 smoke grenades
Receiving orders
This message was last edited by the player at 15:17, Sat 13 Mar 2010.