In reply to Arturo 'Orso' Ottenebrato (msg #925):

Shaking his head, Dawid looked over at Orso and laughed.

"Such unkind thoughts! They are written all over his face. All I can say is he doesn't know what he's missing if he never tries it."

He addressed those who remained. "When Jay returns with the prisoners, we will sequester them until we have specific questions to ask them."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:44, Sun 30 Oct 2011.

Mariusz clambered up to the lookout group's eerie and said, "Mister Warren, the Kaptain is wanting input on our next move. The idea so far seems to be to let the locals take the granary and for us to mount a series of ambushes to whittle the strength of the enemy. I wish I was a good shot, if I was I'd suggest starting with a false mine field to stop them and try to shoot the Baron before he buttons up for a battle."

Jeff twists in the prone position to look coldly into the teens eyes, "Does he want us to hold here, or are we supposed to have a pep talk.  Also someone might want to interrogate those wounded gunners, then shoot them before they warn their friends.  They might have some sort of idea on what the baron is up to."

"Craig, I'm thinking we cut the bullshit and deal with this directly.  Let's put our talents to use, we'd be no good in a running ambush.  We can deal with this ourselves.  Mariusz, tell the Captain."

Without looking up from his scope that was now trained on the entrance to the stadium.

"Agreed, where do you suggest we set-up... closer to the barracks marked on the map."

Sitting in the grass by the river, Bayer listens until everyone who had a say made their suggestions known. From the sound of things, everyone was more or less thinking of the same thing so his decision making ended up being rather simple. Toggling the radio, he calls for Warren and Sutherland to collapse their OP and join him by the water for orders, he then sends Mariusz off to collect Butterfly and their other local allies.

Once all of his team were assembled (as well as his Polish counterparts), he first turns to Warren, "Alright, you've been hinting around for this sort of thing since I first met you. I'm detaching you, cutting you loose to operate independently in order to eliminate any high profile targets in the Baron's force... including the Baron himself."

"It's your mission, so I want you to be the one to select who goes with you. You get one from who you see here." he adds.

Bayer then turns to his Polish counterparts who commanded the ragged urban militia, and says, "I need your fighters to attack and capture the granary. You will need to hold until you are either relieved, or facing heavy losses. My team here will take most of the pressure off of you, but it is crucial you fight hard."

Bayer briefly considered reminding them to keep strict control of their forces to prevent their mission from collapsing into a scene of a panicky mob looting out the food stocks... but ultimately kept silent and hoped they'd remain disciplined enough to turn into a horde.

Then with only his his group to address, he says, "Elastic defense will be our tasking. We'll conduct a series of fighting withdraws to slow down the counterattack and bleed it of its strength."

"The individual team assignments will come once I get a more complete list of what antiarmor and comms assets we have."

Impromptu weapons lesson complete, Orso detailed the ordinance he carried and indicated the Italian made short range radio on his webbing.
"Anyone got explosives?" he asked of the entire group.
"I know a few places where rubble could be dropped on passing enemy."

In reply to Konrad Bayer (msg #930):

"Kaptain, I suggest we also invite the people of Warszawa to help themselves to the grain. That keeps it out of the Baron's hands should he break through, avoids the necessity of anyone defending a fixed position (so we can remain mobile) and makes it clear they are bound to our success or failure."

"Feeing the 10th is a future consideration, of course, but the future may never arrive and we can make arrangements to set some aside or just worry about it later."

As Konrad outlined his plan Jan got Monika to double check the bandage on his left arm as there was an opportunity at present.  He nodded his agreement with Konrad's thinking and then added a suggestion of his own.

"Capitaine, we do not need these rifles we captured or even Matias' rifle.  Rather than arm a few untrained civilians I think that we should give them to our new Polish allies as they will be able to make more use of them."

Quyen is watching the river while she listens to the Captain's orders. When the question of explosives comes up she says flatly "I have a little. But I don't really want to use the last of it on a coyote versus roadrunner scheme."

"It never works out for the coyote in the end anyways."

Quyen then tightens her boot laces and lights up a smoke. Seven to go before I start smoking moss and grass she thinks while staring at her dwindling supply of cigarettes. Then to help ease her mind into the upcoming battle she teases Jay (who she spots eying the grass for snakes). "Don't worry Jay. All snakes sleep in the ground when it is cold like this. They only wake up late at night if they detect a sleeping body nearby. They like to slowly slide up very close and share the person's heat."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:45, Tue 01 Nov 2011.

"Dropping a wall on a passing tank is a fairly effective way of disabling it," he responded to Minh honestly and without even a hint of condescension.
"And it's usually more effective, and a lot safer, than stuffing explosives down the barrel or up the exhaust."

"What are chances of getting Baron forces to "chase us" across either bridge?", Piotr looks at the bridges for a second, looks at Tuck, then Konrad, with that "things that make you go hmmmm" look.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:01, Tue 01 Nov 2011.

Mariusz relayed the messages he had to the Kaptain and then spoke to Orso and Mihn as they discussed explosives. He waited for a gap in the conversation and said, "If we can get far enough forward, we might want to play a trick. If we can get some plates we can lay a fake minefield. The first time they'll slow and clear them. The second time we trap one of the plates with some explosives and maybe a couple more with grenades. If they send in infantry to clear it we might get a few, if the tanks roll over them we might, might get a tank track. Whatever, when they reach the third line and slow, that's when we attack. It's complicated and we need to be able to trade a few hundred meters or more to do it but it's an option."

"Planning on dropping it with the Baron on it? I wouldn't crossing it if I was him. He leaves behind his biggest card, his armour. More likely to just use his howitzer. We have the other, just not here."

"If we gave him enough reason, like took the grain across the river, he might be forced to follow. It's crucial to his very survival. But it might not be enough for him to do it in hot pursuit, or personally."

Bayer says, "I'm not supportive of that Dawid... I've seen what desperate people do with limited food stocks when winter is upon them. That, and through Warren we are allies with the 10th. They are expected to reach Warsaw and secure a means to survive with our cooperation."

"I think the granary needs to be kept under control... for the sake of everyone, including the citizens."



Bayer nods, "Agreed. I don't really care as long as they find some useful purpose."



"It's a good idea to channel is forces to maximize the kill." Bayer agrees, but adds, "However I don't think he would risk going to the other side. And thus we should focus on funneling his men in elsewhere."



"Will do." Bayer replies. "Quyen can supervise the dummy and actual demo plans once we are on site. Any more mines or explosives on hand?"

"I'll run to Butterfly and see if she has any plates and I'll check if there are any in the food cart." Mariusz said.

He ran off to find any plates or dishes he could. His first port of call was the old food cart and then he would try the Butterfly in her truck.

Konrad sounded tired to Jan and that worried the Legionnaire a little.  He nodded in response however to Konrad's instructions and then organised handing over the spare rifles and ammo to the other Polish rebels fighting against the Baron.  As he did so he turned to Jay.

"Jay, give those six frag grenades we found to Mariusz and Minh to make booby traps with."

"It's a nice idea, but I doubt we have the time. We've got what, 45 minutes until the soonest his forces will arrive and we need to move about a kilometre or so ourselves to give us enough space to fall back through. Moving cautiously that's at least 20 minutes on our part and we need to check out additional fall back locations along the way and make sure everyone knows where they are to fall back to."
Finding unbroken plates in a nuked city would also be somewhat problematic.

"As for the bridge, he's got no need at all to cross it. The granary, his obvious objective, is on this side."

"Sutherland.  Unless you really need another sniper."

Assuming he gets both Konrad and Craig's approval, he nods and outlines a plan in his head.  "We need to find out if those machine gunners know anything about the Baron's current position and plans, or those of his leaders.  He's probably stopped by here at some point, with plans to return.    I imagine Quyen is on that, or I can handle it.  Is there anyone else here alive?  I didn't see you clear the keep."

He'll pull Craig aside after the conversation "You worked for the Baron, you know the city and his forces, and I figure you speak some Polish, which I'm weak in.  Also you're a good shot and a good spotter.  What do you know about his plans in this sort of situation?  Where would he be running his troops from, or who would he leave that to?  Where would that person be?  Is he stupid enough to travel the city in a situation like this?  Or at least expose himself at his command center?"

Having listened in to both the Baron's radio net and the Kommando's deliberations during the second half of the impromptu planning conference,Flemming speaks up.

"A 'Panther 1' is transmitting most of the orders on the Baron's net. Sounds like this Panther 1 is running the show in the field and, from what I can piece together, he is with the reaction force heading back to the city. As far as I can tell, the other units on the way are..." he consults a small spiral-bound notebook, "Bear and Snake. There may be another, but I'm not sure. 'Guelder Rose commander' reported the stadium attack- he's still in the ciy somewhere. Guelder Rose must be the folks we just bushwacked."

Piotr immediately recognizes 'Panther 1' as being the Baron's personal radio callsign. Bear and Snake are two of the Baron's veteran Polish companies. If the reaction force includes AFVs- pretty much a foregone conclusion, at this point- the remainder of the "elite" Black Legion are also present in the relief column.

Warren and Sutherland realize that there's simply not enough time to track down the two wounded machinegunners and find a suitable hide along the Baron's anticipated route of return.

Jan and Mariusz relieve the old man and the two young lady volunteers from the rescued hostages of their briefly loaned AKs and hand them over to the West Bank partisans. The WBP, along with Pawel and another of Butterfly's hired muscle take the food wagon and head towards the granary complex. The older girl insists on being armed and, more to shut her up than anything else, Mariusz gives her a captured Markarov. The old man, encouraged by the girl's success, joins in and does not relent until he's handed an old Tokarev. He handles it like a carpenter handles a familiar hammer. These unlikely volunteers are sent into the city to raise a warning among the civilians in the Baron's likely path.

With a plan of action in place, the Kommando's prepare to move.

After a few last "good lucks" and "go get 'ems" the Kommando's load aboard Butterfly's recently arrived big Zil cargo truck. She follows back routes to an area of the city that offers a likely intercept point and ambush position. As the truck squeels to a halt, the team piles out and begins searching for good firing positions amid the piles of rubble and battered buildings lining the road.

You hear sporadic small arms fire. It's hard to tell exactly where it's coming from and who's doing the shooting. It rises for a bit and then peters out. It's sounds like it's happening a little closer than the granary area but you can't be sure.

The Kommando splits into four teams- two main fireteams splitting the Kommando's main AT assets (the RPGs), a command team, and the snipers. The two main fireteams each position themselves on opposite sides of the main road and settle in to firing positions. The snipers go for height, both to give themselves a good vantage point for sniping and to allow them to keep the others informed of the enemy column's movement and strength. It's a clear day and the snipers can see for miles. From their new perch, the pair spot the tell-tale signs of engine exhaust approaching from the northwest, about 2km off.

The surrounding area offers plenty of choice as far as firing positions go. Tattered multistory buildinds line both sides of the road for blocks. There a gaps every so often where buildings have collapsed into great heaping rubble piles. A few of the piles are unnaturally small, having been "harvested" for construction materials for the Baron's castle.

OOC: In your next post, please describe the kind of firing position that you are looking for. Also note any preparations that you are making (placement of explosives, mines, booby traps, etc.). You probably have no more than 15 minutes to prepare your current ambush positions.

Current Tac-map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms...6&mid=1320193164

It's not centered. You have to scan north, northwest a bit to find your current AO.

Next Moves?

Craig nods in acceptance.

"Not a problem."

He passes off the RPG launcher and lone grenade and retrieves his Browning HP. He also takes 4 grenades from Jays stash, if they are not already spoken for.



As they walked Craig tried to fill Warren in on what he knows, mostly the make up of the force they are about to face. His knowledge was several months old, but he tried to make as concise an evaluation as he could.

"As for what the Barons tactics will be and where is will be riding I can't say, but I know what the bastard and most of his senior command look like."

Before they ascended to their hide position Sutherland left one of his tin can grenade traps across the door closest to the road.

Once in the position he quickly begins making low masonry firing positions with Warrens help. Two near the edge of the room, two in the middle and one near the exit door that he partially closes.

Finally he lays out the grenades, magazines, AK/BG-15 and sniper rifle. He uses his pack as a rest and using his field glasses begins ranging potential target distances and noting them in his notebook. Once the relief force come into view he will radio the Captain with a quick SITREP of the AFV's he can see and begin assigning TR numbers to targets.

We will try for the roof of one of the buildings. Also looking for a building with cover or rubble behind it. Unless Warren has a better idea.


Sniper Element
Doing Admin

Mosin–Nagant Model 1891/30 (5/5)- 4x PE Scope - At shoulder
AK-74/BG-15 (45/45) + 5x45 (1/1 HE) + 6x40mm HE- held at arms lenght
Browning HP (18/20) w/ silencer + 2x20 - holstered
F-1 FRAG Grenade x 10
This message was last edited by the player at 06:36, Wed 02 Nov 2011.

"Jan where do you want me?  Upstairs ... downstairs... defending Orso?"
He double checks teh RPK-74 and waits for an answer from Jan.


RPK-74
6x45 Rnd Mags
2 Frag Grenades

Orso looked at Piotr, sizing him up and considering his words.
"Whatever. Makes sense to pair up."
Not that Orso thought he'd need defending. More likely it would be the other way around...
"You got much ammo for that? Maybe you better with real machinegun and give that toy to the woman?"

Orso
Franchi SPAS-15 (7/6 buckshot) + 6x5 buckshot + 1x4 buckshot + 5 slugs (loose)
Grenade attachment
Armscor MGL Mark 1 (4 HE, 2 smoke/6) + 2xILLUM, 6xHEDP, 2x HE, 3xSmoke
Grenade, M26A1, x6
Grenade, smoke, M18 x2
Mecar BTU rifle grenade, HEAT x2
Swiss Army Knife
Gas Mask
4x Binoculars
RV-2/400 Hand Radio

In position, Bayer quickly calls over Dawid and Jan and says, "Dawid left, Jan right side of the road. Dawid targets the right side, Jan targets the left side of the road. HQ will be one tactical bound* behind you. Keep to the ground and lower levels. Utilize the rubble as much as possible over the intact buildings."

With not enough time or resources to put Mariusz's plan of a dummy minefield in place, he says, "Setup one or two mines out in front of each of your groups as far forward as possible."

"Be moving when I give the order to begin the fighting withdraw. Once it's given, fall back and rally in front of my new position. I'll give the signal over the radio, if that fails, two long whistle blasts." he adds, taping the whistle attached to a lanyard on his tac-vest.

Bayer continues, speaking quickly, "Priority of dismounted targets are leadership, crew served weapons, then the rest. Leave any wounded men you see alive. Don't waste the anti-tank weapons... if an AFV is immobilized, it's done... save the ammo and focus on the those that are still combat operational."

He then gives each man a nod to ensure they're good, and says, "Tell your men, if things go wrong, RV at the zoo and wait there for 24 hours if it is safe... then go to Gora Kalwaria. Alright? Get back to your squads and see you when it's over."

* One tactical bound in this case looks to be around 50 meters in this case.

"I got seven 45 round magazines," as he sets up the bipod, "Im pretty good with it.  What I do, I draw fire away from you, you get better shots at tanks with RPG."
He draws out a spare 45 round mag and one grenade.
"We work as team."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:11, Thu 03 Nov 2011.