Carry over...

Is Lines still on the roof or is he somewhere between there and the Krok?

The turn post says he'll move when Kolstrup arrives and as far as I can tell Kolstrup is still en route so I'm presuming it's the former but just want to check.

He's still at the MG nest. I did it this way because he overheard Kessler tell Per to send him down once he got up there, but Per didn't make it before I ended the turn. And (not trying to be inconvenient or anything) since I was NPC'ing him I kept him strictly on script.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 3):

No worries, that's totally fine, it was more a case of whether Marta could interact with him or not.

My reading of the IC action is that the Krok's become a bullet magnet so probably just as well he didn't make it there.

Hi there. Sorry for my absence again. I've got some time now to catch up and post but if someone can short cut that with a summary of what Tosh and Jan need to be responding to then I would be very grateful. I'm presuming that Reggie hasn't left the main building.

Ta,

Andy

---

EDIT - my understanding is that Tosh is still on the roof using the NODLR? Is that correct?

Also there is a mention of Tosh needing battlefield illumination to be able to fire on someone. Does that mean that all of the parachute flares he took onto the roof have been used up? He took three up there from memory and used one when people were at the fire station so have the other two been used?

With Jan my understanding is that he's been ordered to organise the defence at the gate but is also bringing wounded to Barnett. Is that correct?
This message was last edited by the player at 12:46, Fri 14 Jan 2022.

Heffe I can back on the M2HB if you want. I'm also fine with Jose staying where he is. You decide and I'll go with whatever.

In reply to Ferro (msg # 6):

I'm also good with either, though having Jose on the MG limits his ability to use his GL.

Fuse, before I post, can you confirm if Ferro and I have eyes on any of the target areas/technical, or is the wall blocking all LOS for us at the moment?

There's only LOS for somebody like Jose who is currently on the gun. Everyone else who's standing at ground level won't have LOS.

It's also a very short window of opportunity to fire, assuming the target continues on its present course and speed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:42, Fri 14 Jan 2022.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 8):

Understood. Thanks.

Also, anyone else getting strong Gary Oldman vibes from Newell? :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74BzSTQCl_c

Haha... I knew somebody would get it.

When I was imagining what was happening behind the scenes with the enemy, it just fit, and for a couple reasons.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:20, Fri 14 Jan 2022.

Fuse, when one emerges on to the roof, which direction is one facing? I'm trying to realistically determine which threat Per would see first. Thanks.

-

From the ladder? That would be NE initially. No threats would be seen right away.

He'd need to get closer to the edge of the roof facing the west to see the enemy at the wall and on the lane. And don't forget that there is a raised section that blocks line of sight. He would have to go to the NODLR position for example to see up the lane.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:30, Sat 15 Jan 2022.

Absolutely the first thing I thought of!

Also, will try to post tomorrow, Saturday.  Enemy at the gates?  Anything seen with the NOD's?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Sat 15 Jan 2022.

Fuse,

I'm sorry if this has been answered somewhere else but I've checked through the previous OOC thread and the IC thread and the only references to flares I can find are the para flare that Jose gave to Kessler and enemy parachute flares. Therefore I'm still unclear whether there are still two flares on the roof in the MG position or not. Please can you clarify?

Thanks,

Andy

Looking at the map, the technical truck with the DsHK is the lightest vehicle to fire on from the trench?  Also judging by the way I'm looking at the map, he cannot see the ground troops hopping and shooting through the fence?

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 15):

The flares are still at the MG position.

In reply to Henry 'Hank' Voight (msg # 16):

The technical fired on the CP and Krok, with presumably only some errant rounds going towards the trench.

If you meant the enemy at the sandbagged truck, yes and no. They are using cover effectively, but he can see the vehicle through the gate and knows there are enemy there. So it would be area/blind fire.

Also just want to point out in case it was missed but there's a roadflare burning in front of the trench only 9m or so away.

Thanks for confirming.

@Everyone - do we want more light? Would that help us at present?

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 18):

That's a tough call. More light we'll help us see the enemy, but it will also help the enemy see us.

I think we have a slight edge in NODs, but not all of our PCs have them, so it's difficult to say which option is more beneficial/less detrimental to the Mad Dogs.

-

In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 19):

Agreed. The only thing to add to that is that the enemy are assaulting and therefore more likely to be in the open than we are. That's an over simplification but if we follow that logic then more light might be more beneficial for us than for them.

On balance though I think that our superiority in NODs means that we'd be better off without using the flares and keeping them as an option for later. I just thought that it was worth confirming that we have this option is we need it.

I would also think that the flare would be obstructing Hank's NOD's?

That's a really good point.

-

In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 22):

And other NVGs as well so that's a very good point.

It's an option if the situation changes.

Map updated.

The GPMG hadn't fired before so the belt from the gun to the opened can is full. Each can holds 220 rounds.

Thanks for the info.

Fuse,

From the slit trench, can Jan see the single enemy soldier to the north of him who is labelled "Inside perimeter. Lying prone and firing."? I'm not sure if the Krok blocks his LOS or not.

Thanks,

Andy

Jan's at the bottom of the trench so he can't see anyone.

That LOS is blocked anyway.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 28):

Thanks - I was meaning more once he'd stood up.

Rae - I'm not sure from Per's post whether he wants Tosh to continue firing at the wall or switch to the technical that Per is engaging so I've posted IC for Tosh essentially asking for guidance.

Ta,

Andy

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 30):

It's a fair question. I didn't mention it IC because I'm not quite sure what Per sees, and without illum, I don't think Lines could see the technical. I'll respond IC, though.

-

Fuse, can Tosh see the muzzle flashes from the technical? Looking at the map I think that he has LOS but I'm not sure about the darkness or the snow.

Ta,

Andy

It didn't fire.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 33):

OK, I was confused by Per's last comment but I've worked out what Tosh will do.

Ta,

Andy

Map updated.

Fuse, does Tosh know enough about where the technical is (after it fired on him) to engage it? And if he does would it be counted as just area fire or could he accurately engage it?

Ta,

Andy

Roughly, area.

Should be able to post IC tomorrow

Turn is up but I have to log off now so the map will need to wait. I think the only real change though is the move of the technical and to indicate the splash zone for the 30mm barrage.

@Fuse: Can someone standing up through the air-guard hatch of the BTR-60 see beyond the perimeter wall? IIRC, the answer is yes, but I would like to confirm. Thanks.

-

They can see over it, but there will be some dead ground.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 41):

Thanks. I've added a bit to Varis' turn.

-

So I had completely forgotten that Alpha Humvee only has three wheels now. Remember, one was taken off to replace that which was damaged on Lobo.

So just keep that in mind if you're going to be asking for Alpha to move around again.

I should probably have clarified, but Kessler will take his observation action regardless of whether an ILLUM round is available or not.

Corkman - Jan is trying to change Hank's action on the basis that Kessler has ordered for an illumination flare to be launched and Tosh is complying. If Hank is still going forward please post accordingly and I'll have Jan warn everyone over the radio.

Ta,

Andy

No problem.  He wasn't leaving the trench until Jan called him going out but, that's not a problem.  I'll add to post to reflect yours.

I'm away this weekend so next turn won't be until Monday evening.

Fuse,

Are any of these people visible to either Tosh or Jan?

In particular the people at the improvised APC and the figure in the lane who is periodically turning and firing?

Thanks,

Andy

Yes (just obscured).

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 49):

Thanks. So is that area fire or just firing normally but at a penalty?

Penalty, one level more difficult. Area is when you can't see the target at all, you just know that it's around there, hits are based more on luck/volume than skill.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:14, Tue 01 Feb 2022.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 51):

Superb - thanks for clarifying.

I'm kinda swamped with RT stuff (mostly work) at the minute. I'll try and keep up with stuff as best as I can but expect delays.

Is it likely that I can link a fresh [50] round belt to the current/partial [30] round belt in the PKM since there's no box/drum?

Dave,

Just in case you missed it earlier, Tosh reported over the radio that he could see the startings of a fire in the garage area.

Ta,

Andy

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 55):

Yeah sorry, I missed that. I didn’t go any further back the the last turn post.

I don’t think it affects Kessler’s plan to move to that general area though. If I get a chance I’ll add something to Kessler’s post to mention it to Kaminski  but that won’t be until later when I get to a proper keyboard  (am on a phone right now).

OK, I put a quick edit into msg 906 re the fire.

I misread #48 and answered only for Tosh.

Czerny can't see them because they are on the lane behind the truck, so there is no LOS.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:01, Wed 02 Feb 2022.

Understood - I'll include a "previously" section in my turn post that covers Jan moving to the CP. The CP is the disabled BTR-60 where Hank just collected a bucked of ammo for the PKM isn't it? That's what is says on the map but I just want to double check.

Ta,

Andy

Correct.

-

In reply to Varis Babicevs (msg # 60):

Thanks.

Fuse - is the illum flare still burning?

Ta,

Andy

Yes.

Fuse, sorry to bug you with another question (and thanks, in advance). Is the fire in the garage bright enough that Tosh can see the unkowns on the embankment behind it?

I'm not trying to metagame here (Per knows all of this IC, so this should be fair game).

I want one of either Tosh or Per to cover the embankment and the other to shoot up the boat. Per has night vision, but Tosh does not. If Tosh can see the people on the embankment, Per could engage the boat without illum. If not, Per needs to follow orders and stay on the unknowns.

A third option is that someone puts illum over the river when the boat is within range. Then Tosh can see it and hammer it with the Gimpy.

Thoughts?

-

No problem, they're valid questions.

No, the fire doesn't illuminate the people up on the road.

I'm on my phone but a glance at the map makes me think Lines might be able to see the boat at its nearest point to the compound, without illum. That's because it's a vehicle, not a person, so it's easier to see. Illum would be more ideal of course (see below), but just throwing this out so you know all of your options.

Without illum: Target obscured (from snow) and under the effect of darkness (one range band further)
Illum: Target obscured (from snow)

Thanks, that helps.

Follow up- when you get a chance, will you please mark where on the road the unknowns are (according to Per's sighting)? That will help me decide which corner to post Varis at.

-

Quick update on Jose's post. He's going to swing Lobo's pintle mount north and await the boat. Once he sees it, he's going to open up with the M2.

This message was deleted by a game editor at 01:40, Mon 07 Feb 2022.

Fuse,

Please can I check that I'm reading the current turn post correctly. The fire at Kessler and Varis, am I correct that it came from the outside of the compound wall to the west southwest (about 8 o'clock) of their position? I'm meaning the point on the map with the label:

4? Enemy (No LOS)
An unknown number of enemy were spread out along 12-15m of the wall with some on it and some behind.

Hit by GPMG area fire.

Essentially the area that Tosh was wildly spraying with area fire previously?

Also my understanding is that Jan is now at the BTR-60 Emplacement (it still lists him as in the trench on the map).

Ta,

Andy

Yes

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 70):

Thanks. Sorry but I've got another question. Does Jan know if the KPVT Machinegun on the Krok is still operational?

I don't know what he knows.

OK - message #826 has Kessler ordering Tosh over the radio to move to the Krok to act as gunner so I think that it's reasonable that Jan heard that.

With a bit of luck the machine gun fire from the Krok will smash the wall enough for the rounds from Tosh to be effective! <G>

It's a day early but I won't be able to post tomorrow, and I'm kind of hoping to start wrapping things up with the current battle, so I didn't want to cause another delay waiting until Wednesday.

The map is still not updated yet.

Fuse - Just an FYI to let you know that I'm not going to be able to post IC today but I will be able to post tomorrow (Friday) morning UK time. Hopefully that is ok but if you need to NPC Jan and Tosh before I can post IC then both of them will continue firing their respective machine guns at the point on the wall where the enemy engaged from. I think that that will finish the belt that Tosh has currently loaded (it has 35rnds left at present) so he'll then reload and swivel to cover the river in the hope that he can eventually engage the boat.

Ta,

Andy

I have to break up the turn into 2 parts and won't be able to finish the second until tomorrow - real tied up with things. Expect it tomorrow though.

Can you tell me how tall & wide the walls around the gate are please?

1.5 - 2m tall. The bottom half is solid. The top half if latticed. I never mentioned the thickness before, but I'd say a few inches.

My suggested deployments (this is based on their being six militia including Filip. I haven’t factored in the possible prisoner but I don’t think Kessler knows about him yet. If / when it comes up - and assuming he is a prisoner - Kessler will suggest that he stay with the 2 men covering the river unless there are compelling reasons to actually get him under some sort of lock and key asap)

Kessler / Filip - BTR80
Ferro / Andropov - try and put the fire out
Babicevs - wherever Rae wants to put him in the vicinity of the main gate
2 x reinforcements - BTR60
2 x reinforcements - stay on east flank covering river
1 x reinforcements - slit trench

Just had Jose send Fischer into the compound to try and find one or two fighters to help cover the east flank. I don't mind having Jose hang out on the eastern side if that's what's needed, but if there's still battle to be fought, he'd want to be involved just out of loyalty to the group.

In reply to Jose Rodriguez (msg # 81):

We could redeploy two of the new arrivals to that area. Maybe the ones that would have gone to the BTR 60. I was actually going to do that earlier but I figured that sector was quieter.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 82):

Yeah, I think that's good. Seems like it would be better to keep as much Mad Dog agency as possible, given the circumstances. Assuming Fischer can find some replacements, even if he doesn't get involved in a gun fight, maybe he can be put on other critical tasks like getting the Krok back up and running, or working comms with Novak's group.
This message was last edited by a game editor at 21:32, Mon 14 Feb 2022.

Fuse,

Is the flare on the western side still providing illumination? Or has it landed now?

Ta,

Andy

It's been out for a while.

Apologies - I missed in message #942 but I've found it now.

Thanks for clarifying.

I guess we don’t need to worry about what to do with the prisoner any more.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 09:17, Wed 16 Feb 2022.

In other matters I’m trying to work out what our options are to deal with the group lurking by the wall so can I check I have the following more or less right?

If we shoot at the wall most of our weapons only have a limited chance of penetrating it? Is that right? And thinking ahead, the more we shoot it up from our side the less effective it will be at keeping people out, not just now but in the future?

I’m presuming the KPV and the M2 would punch right through it (above comment about degrading its effectiveness notwithstanding) but the KPV is currently out of action and looking at the map it would appear that the M2 is probably blocked by the main building, and even if that wasn’t the case would have to fire dangerously close to friendlies?

If that's right I’m currently thinking we could try and keep them suppressed with machine gun fire (Lines from the roof, Czerny from the BTR with the coax, plus Kolstrup sniping at targets of opportunity) though I don’t know how effective that would be given they have the shelter of the wall.

Meanwhile we open the gate and Kessler takes a squad out (Kessler, Babicevs, Rodriguez, Ferro, Voight plus some of the Warmia guys reinforcements) and try and finish them off. That takes a lot of people out of the compound though so I don’t want to set it in motion if there are misgivings about it or anyone has another idea (I’m not convinced taking everyone out of the compound is a good idea but I don’t want to sideline anyone either).

My other thought was to try and sneak up to the wall on our side and toss some grenades over but that seems to be more risky and we wouldn't really know how successful it was without going outside anyway (plus I'm not sure how many grenades we actually have left)

@Fuse: I'm sorry if this has been specified before, but what is the wall made out of? It's taken hundreds of 7.62mm rounds (and a few 14.5 and 5.45) but is still standing, and providing protection for the enemy. A layer or two of brick, I assume?

@Kessler: I agree that we need to eliminate the troublesome group just outside the wall ASAP. I'm worried that if an assault team leaves via the front gate, they'll be exposed to flanking fire from any enemy still active to the west. It's dark and snowing, but said assault team will be silhouetted against the wall. Also, the enemy by the wall will probably be half-expecting that if we attack, it will be from the main gate area.

Could we instead move around the garage, up the embankment, and then assault from the north? That would take the assault team a bit more away from the enemy down the road to the west of the main gate, and the group by the wall would be less likely to expect attack from that direction.

Alternately, I'm fine having someone crawl along the inside of the wall with a couple of grenades and try to frag the MU on the other side. I'd volunteer Varis but crawling would be hell on his wounded legs.

-
This message was last edited by a game editor at 15:44, Wed 16 Feb 2022.

I can’t see any reason why we can’t do that, although for Kessler and Babicevs that means going back to where we were and running the gauntlet of enemy fire again. That’s probably more to do with me being too busy IRL to have paid full attention to this group by the wall.

It's concrete, same thickness as two layers of brick I'd say. It's taken a few rounds but they were also mostly spread along a stretch of wall.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:29, Wed 16 Feb 2022.

That's why Jan is trying to fix it - we might wreck the wall if he gets it operational but that could be a less bad option than letting the enemy explode a breaching charge.


Please remember that Tosh can't see the target so is effectively blind firing. That is also why all the rounds he's fired at the wall haven't done anything more than chip it a little as he's spaying bullets over a wide area.


The implication is that that the enemy have just carried a breaching charge (the box) to the wall. I would have expected them to withdraw before they detonate it though so Per should hopefully see that if they move away from the wall.

It's also possible that they are now moving along the outside of the wall to get closer to our positions, using the wall for cover. I therefore think that we need to keep the gate protected and that means keeping the slit trench near it occupied. Alternatively if they head northwards along the wall then hopefully they'll end up in the minefield there.

I therefore think that Rae's suggestion of looping round to the north is a good idea. If you're short of people then Tosh could be an option to join that (unless you can get someone to spot for him on the roof).

To the best of my knowledge our current dispositions are as follows.

Czerny’s manning the BTR coax
Kolstrup is on the roof
Lines is on the roof
Babicevs is with Kessler
Ferro’s by the garage
Voight’s on top of the wall?
Rodriguez is manning the M2

I’m not counting Walsh, Grant, or Marta.

So yeah, we're kinda short of people. So while I’m reluctant to take Lines off the machine gun in case we need it, it probably would be better to bring him down from the roof.

I’m also reluctant to leave defending the compound more or less solely in the hands of the newcomers but given our current manpower I can’t square the circle of how to send a strong force out and also keep the gate covered. I also don’t want to hold things up with further OOC discussion so I’ve posted as best as I can, which is for Babicevs, Ferro, Lines + one of Filip's fighters to go outside.

If Fischer makes it to the BTR he can relieve Czerny but I don’t know if Czerny is mobile enough to go outside. If anyone has any other suggestions as to how to boost the force of the force going outside the gate feel free to float them.

---

@All I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post tomorrow - work is already crazy and this storm that’s inbound is likely to make it significantly worse.

I’m then away from early Saturday morning until late Monday night (unless my flight gets cancelled) and will not be logging in during that period, even for quick OOC catch ups. So if you can sort this patrol amongst yourselves just assume that Kessler will go along with what’s decided.

I might be able to post late Monday night but that’s not a given - if I can’t it will be Tuesday.

@Fuse, I wont be posting for Marta this turn, just assume she goes along with whatevrr Kaminski's organising.

Thanks for the update, Dave. I'm in a similar position, I'll be away this weekend from home and it's also a long weekend where I live so that includes Monday. Next turn will therefore be set for Tuesday.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 93):
Voight’s on top of the wall?

LOL, yeah, Voight's on top of the wall to the left of the gate.  He can see pretty clearly, although somewhat limited and has no comms.  Kind of why I've been fairly quiet on this.

This makes sense to me.


Jan has an un-diagnosed/un-treated leg wound and can only limp so if Fischer arrives then I would suggest that Jan is better off back in the trench by the front gate. Or staying by the BTR and using that for cover when firing his grenade launcher.

Ta,

Andy

Today was a long travel day for me so I just put together a quick and short turn to get things moving again.

Rechecking my post, I never clarified if I was standing, kneeling, or prone on top of the wall.  I would've thought that I was prone or at the worst kneeling.  I defer to the GM's ruling and live by it.

In reply to Henry 'Hank' Voight (msg # 98):

Based on your previous IC posts I thought that Hank had climbed the wall and was peering over it.

Agreed, i had another outlook on my stance.

In reply to Henry 'Hank' Voight (msg # 100):

This piece: "Hank will try to keep his position on top of the wall" had me thinking he was standing on the lattice, as I'm not sure how else someone might peer over the wall. Let me know if I need to adjust Jose's comments in character, or if the existing ones might still work?

In reply to Jose Rodriguez (msg # 101):

I think that Jose's comments are fair. Peering over a latticed wall is incredibly dangerous.

I thought he was sitting astride it, I.e. one leg on each side. I did think it was a bit risky…

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 103):

I was picturing him lying prone atop it, like a chill cat.

-

In reply to Varis Babicevs (msg # 104):

I didn't think that it was thick enough for that but I'm wrong:


My mental picture was that he was holding onto the top, peering over and looking on the other side.

I stand corrected though.

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 105):

That made me think of Kilroy was ‘ere…

Kind of what I thought too but, I did not specify.

Hank is definitely not made a lot of great decisions but, does not go out to intentionally hurt himself or anybody else. And not that anybody has said that either.

Something to think about for the wall, the top half is latticed, so it's partly open. Meaning incoming fire that "hits" the wall has a chance of just flying through the openings as if there was no wall there at all. But then again, only if the fire is coming at it almost directly, otherwise it just hits concrete.

In reply to Henry 'Hank' Voight (msg # 107):

Okay, cool. In that case I'll leave Jose's comment as is. Thanks for the clarification!

Now that I understand what I'm working with at the wall, I'll be acting accordingly next round.  My fault for not understanding what latticed was and not asking, or checking, what the term meant.

Waiting on a Ferro IC response. Otherwise, Varis last turn post still stands.

-

I hope it's not in poor taste to post this here, but Tegyrius and I recently released a T2k sourcebook for Romania.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/p...1-Romania-Sourcebook

We be thrilled if you downloaded a copy.

-

I got the message from the site and put it into my cart already.  I usually do a purchase of 1-2 a month and it is slated for this week!

In reply to Varis Babicevs (msg # 112):

I mentioned it on the forums as well, but the work is very high quality as usual. I picked it up - great job to you both.

In reply to Varis Babicevs (msg # 112):

I will be buying a copy in a couple of days time. I don't know when I'm going to get a chance to read it but I will be buying a copy! <G>

In reply to Varis Babicevs (msg # 111):

Ferro is away.

Gets told Ferro is away and immediately has Varis put her on point. That's some cold shit, Rae. Lol! :D

In reply to Jose Rodriguez (msg # 117):

Haha! I worried someone would call me on that. In all seriousness, my intent is not to put Ferro in harm's way. She usually accepts the point role, if not volunteers for it.

Besides, I trust Fuse not to let me kill someone else's PC while they are away. ;)

-

@Fuse: Great interplay between Easy Walt and his comrades! You really bring Gdansk to life with those little human touches.

Please let us know when you've had a chance to update the tac map. Thanks!

-

Thanks. Map is updated.

I have a feeling I'm going to be asked if the tunnel has the other side open or closed, so here's what was written a long time ago about it:

"The pedestrian tunnel - located right outside of the compound's footpath gate is a pedestrian tunnel beneath the highway. At some time during the war it was fashioned into a bunker. The dark passageway holds some old furniture, mostly school desks, as well as military and civilian oriented rubbish. Both ends of the tunnel are partially closed off with sandbags, three layers thick."

Note that it wasn't built as a defensive position. It was probably built just to offer some simple concealment and protection from artillery or whatever, for something behind the lines, like a local comms hub or something administrative like that.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:59, Fri 25 Feb 2022.

That's me. I'm online again.

My apologies if this is a dumb question but is there a pedestrian gate in the perimeter wall next to the landmines? The note for the landmines mentions a secondary footpath entrance and I'm not clear if the perimeter wall runs to the main road with a gate in it or whether there is a gap at the end of the perimeter wall which has been blocked by the minefield.

I ask because if the perimeter wall ends then that means that Jose, and potentially Kessler and Jan, might have LOS to the tunnel.

Thanks,

Andy

There is a pedestrian gate. The wall reaches the bottom of the slope (where it connects to the opening of the tunnel area), not the road itself. The mines are inside the perimeter and next to the gate.

There's no LOS from back where they area. The gate isn't wide and the same restrictions apply with the wall (you need to be face on with it, no side on).
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:48, Fri 25 Feb 2022.

Goodbye, sweet Varis...

-

You’ve all lost me.

According to the map there’s no friendlies near the entrance to the tunnel?

Edit. Although Babicevs is in two places.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:54, Sat 26 Feb 2022.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 123):

Thanks for the info.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 125):

Several people have fled into the tunnel.

And Tosh and Varis were advancing to secure each end.

Dave, don't sweat it. Varis didn't tell anyone, apart from his teammates, that he was moving across the highway to cover the north end of the tunnel.  He was in a hurry, and eager for vengeance, and I didn't think he'd have time in a single turn to both radio his plan and get into position before the enemy in the tunnel could escape.  That's on him, not Kessler or Jose. If Varis gets pinged by an errant over shot, that's his own fault.

I posted the facetious farewell message, not as a criticism of anyone else's IC play, but as an acknowledgement that Varis' failure to communicate his intentions could result in him getting killed. I wasn't trying to create a metagaming situation.

-
This message was last edited by a game editor at 18:10, Sat 26 Feb 2022.

OK, sorry. I’m really busy IRL at the moment and frankly am struggling to keep up.

I have asked this before but going forward, at least for the moment, it would be really appreciated if people are asking Kessler what their PC should do that you help me out where possible and give me some sort of clue OOC what your preferred course for your character is.

Thanks.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 129):

Understood. Jose was asking because he figured Kessler, at least from what he’s seen, generally asks enemies to surrender. Given that these enemies are effectively trapped, he wanted to give Kessler an out, even if he himself figured that firing the grenades was the correct move.

Ok, there's some confusion and there's also a mistake on my part. I pasted in that sandbags "partially cover" the tunnel, and that's misleading. I did write that a long time ago but also corrected it back then too when I realized I misspoke. It's actually partially open. If it was only blocking up the entrance a little they wouldn't have made it three layers thick. Sorry about the error. It means Jose's attack is likely to hit sandbags, not hit inside, if he were to go ahead with the action.

The good news, I guess, is that the enemy inside are about to surrender. They aren't about to replay things on Iwo Jima and fight to the death. In fact, they were attempting to withdraw for the last couple of turns... but had some issues preventing them. Those guys coming up from the APC wreck weren't reinforcements.

Anyway, my mistake and any player confusion can be gotten past with the upcoming turn's resolution. If Heffe doesn't get a chance to edit he won't fire, it's fine.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:34, Sat 26 Feb 2022.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 131):

No worries at all, Fuse. I’m actually okay with Jose continuing to fire here, even if he won’t be able to hit anything (I’m not sure he’d know that anyway, given the smoke). If anything, perhaps the rapid explosions would help encourage a surrender.

I made more calls on player actions than I usually do, but that's just to square off the turn with the Mad Dogs in full control everywhere, and we didn't need another turn for that.

I'll end the Chapter once all player actions are in (I doubt it will break the 999 limit).
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:25, Mon 28 Feb 2022.

Eight prisoners is a lot to guard, which potentially sidelines PC's. And we'd need to feed them and offer such medical aid as may be required (I mean, we can't in all good conscience leave any of them to just bleed out on the floor).

I'm inclined to offer them a deal. We take all of their weapons / ammo and any other military equipment they have (radios, helmets, etc) then offer to let them walk in exchange for the people at the school house. They go free when the hostages are safely inside the compound. Newell isn't included in this deal, we'll keep a hold of him.

Anyone have any objections to this? If so that's no problem, just say here and I'll park the idea.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:36, Mon 28 Feb 2022.

To clarify some numbers, it's eight plus those by the gate.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 135):

So, I think that's eleven, two of whom are seriously wounded and one of whom is critically wounded.

Edit: my impression is the eight in the tunnel are at worst walking wounded.

Kessler will feel morally obliged to give the seriously wounded medical care. Or at least offer it.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:20, Mon 28 Feb 2022.

Give Tosh a couple of minutes and the seriously wounded will have mysteriously died from knife wounds..... <EG>


I think that this is a good idea. It's worth noting that the prisoner on the bridge was executed by the locals so that could be used as a lever in any negotiation.

We also need to police the battlefield as I imagine that there are a number of working weapons lying around and we don't want to risk the freed prisoners coming back and rearming with those.

---

Fuse - are you thinking that Tosh is still up on the road or that he has come down to the tunnel? Also is he aware of the RPG-7 launcher lying on the road? I ask because he's going to grab the launcher if possible before he comes down. I think that he maybe got about 50m from it at his closest.

Unless anyone in the patrol picked up on it as they passed to the best of my knowledge no one other than maybe Kolstrup knows anything about that. As far as I can tell the presence of a possible prisoner was never transmitted over the radio.



Yeah, should be plenty loot!

Didn't Kessler and Ferro hear a single shot from up on the bridge?

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 139):

A single gunshot was heard but I think it would have been a bit meta to act on that when when neither knows that there was ever a possible prisoner. :-)

Yea you're right. I've just checked through the IC posts and realised that the presence of a potential prisoner was not conveyed. Ferro, Varis and Tosh have now seen an executed prisoner up on the bridge but it's not clear who's side they were on or who executed them.

Yeah, I agree that we can't keep 11 prisoners, but that we should keep Newell. I've lost track of how many East Germans we still hold captive. Someone needs to check on that, IC. If we turn the EPWs over to Nowak's people, war crimes will likely ensue, and that wouldn't sit well with at least some of the Mad Dogs.

I'm fine turning the prisoners loose, but we should try to neutralize them for as long as possible by:

• Depriving them of any motor transport
• Burdening them with their own wounded and dead
• Confiscating all weapons, ammo, radios, optics, etc.

That should take them out of the fight for Gdansk in the near term.

-

In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 142):

I agree with most of that but I don’t feel like we can tell them to cart off their seriously wounded who might then die. Walking wounded is another matter.

We’ve got one East German prisoner (if she’s survived the battle).

We never had any other East Germans. We had a couple of Polish sympathisers but we released them before this battle started. I think released on their own recognisance would be the appropriate term.

No objections. Besides Newell I think we should temporarily keep one other prisoner though. To use as a message carrier (if the enemy still control the school for example) or more show up.

Ok, so to summarise, what Kessler’s suggesting is

• We keep Newell
• One prisoner gets released now to go to the school and arrange the exchange
• The other prisoners turn over all of their kit
• Presuming there’s agreement and no trickery the other prisoners will be released once the civies are in the compound. If it becomes an issue Kessler’s open to some sign of good faith here, e.g. releasing the wounded sooner
• All prisoners will be searched before they are released to ensure they have turned over all of their kit
• They take their walking wounded with them. Seriously / critically wounded is up to them. If they want to leave them they’ll be looked after as best as we can

i think that should cover everything. I didn’t specify in my IC post that they would have to walk but you can take that as a given - if they ask about vehicles they will be told no. I didn’t give them the opportunity to take their dead because that will a) delay the process while they police up their dead and b) I’d rather we had the chance to check the corpses for loot.

I can live with that. I'd like to add an element, though: I think we should hold on to the prisoners until we're finished looting the battlefield- essentially as hostages against another MU attack while we're outside the compound walls. I'm worried about a sniper or two picking off Mad Dogs as they strip the APCs, for example.

The prisoner that we send to the school re an exchange should make it clear to any remaining OPFOR in the AO that any further hostile action tonight will result in the execution of their 10 captured comrades. Yes, it's a bluff, but I think it's worth making.

Once the battlefield is looted and any hostages from the school released, we release the prisoners. I think we should instruct them to take their dead with them, to further burden them.

-

Apologies - Jan still has them on his character sheet. I'd forgotten about them though so please remind me if I forget to have him give them back.

Ta,

Andy

@Andy, no worries, keep a hold of them if you want, there's not really any point in Kessler having two pairs (if I recall correctly that only came about because we found a second pair amongst some loot). I just find it helpful for my internal continuity to include things like that in my post - it kind of creates an ongoing story (in my head at least).

@Rae, Kessler's already offered terms that tried to incorporate as much as possible of the feedback I had at the time of posting and I don't really think I can amend his post to change that now. I'd expect that this would all take a period of time to accomplish - someone has to to go to the school, the terms have to be relayed, the civies need to get organised and get to the compound - and we'll still have the prisoners during that time so we can maybe do some looting during that period, i.e. before they're released.

Agreed with assessments.  It's going to be a stretch for us already with our wounded so, if we can get them to take their own, even better.  If not, our people certainly have the priority over the seriously wounded we pull from the field.

With us, they may have a chance.  I believe if they go back, they may be abandoned which would be unfortunate but, not our concern.  They attacked us!  We deserve to get some of the spoils of the battle.

OK, so broadly speaking Kessler’s plan for the next few minutes is as follows (Fuse, I don’t know how far forward you plan to take things so this is kind of my provided everything goes according to plan list - hopefully it gives you enough to work with)

• Get the prisoners into the compound, chiefly so that Mad Dogs aren’t standing around in the open
• Start recovering weapons from the dead
• Instruct all of the prisoners to turn over their weapons / military kit once inside the compound
• Delegate some of the prisoners to assist in bringing bodies into the compound where they can be searched for intel / other useful things (e.g. boots) at leisure. This will also help us to get an accurate idea of how many we killed.
• Start sorting out medical care for all who need it - including enemy (I could be wrong but I don’t think Kessler knows about the prisoners / wounded that Voight et al have collected at this stage - if it has been mentioned sorry, I’m trying to do this in a really tight time window so am relying on memory rather than looking back posts)
• Fulfill Filip’s requests - radio comms with Nowak, food and resupply
• Release prisoners when hostages are inside the compound - searching them (the prisoners) before they go in case they’re trying to hide stuff

More long term things (probably in the morning so just putting them out there for now)

• Kessler will be open to discussion about returning bodies to the MU for burial / whatever (if the MU don’t want them Newell will be busy with a shovel).
• Use Kaminski’s tow truck to recover the two disabled vehicles

I think I’ve probably missed stuff but I’m trying to do this quickly between zooms as I'm not sure if I'll be able to post tonight and I’ve ran out of time.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:19, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 150):

That all makes sense to me. The only think that I'd add is for people to start getting some sleep when they can.

In addition to Filip's requests what do you want to do with captured weapons?

His men on site were listed as follows:
Group 1: HK33 (Filip)
Group 1: HK33
Group 1: Pump action Shotgun
Group 2: AK-47 rifle (2i/c)
Group 2: Bolt action rifle
Group 2: Sawed-off Double barrel shotgun + RPG-7

Do we want to offer captured assault rifles to those that don't have them to increase the effectiveness of Filip's troops? Not just the ones here but the ones on the bridge as well?

It also occurs to me that we need to feed his full force and we don't know how many that is.

@Alll, I still don't think it will, but if the post count gets to 997 and you still want to post something IC, PM me the post.

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 152):

Kessler won’t be offering them any weapons.

If they ask for a share of the loot we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 154):

Understood.

I don't have any time to post IC at the moment (probably not til tomorrow afternoon at the earliest), but we can go ahead and assume Jose is proceeding with the plan Dave laid out above.

The only recommendation I'd make, is let's see if any of these prisoners from under the bridge  know first aid. If all of our people are busy with Mad Dogs and LoSA, maybe their medic(s), assuming they have one, can start to look at their people early.

Don't post IC yet. The turn isn't entirely finished.

Some prisoners are slated to go outside of the wall again to start bringing bodies into the compound (for easier/safer inspection). And there are also wounded prisoners who are not going, as they are waiting for or getting medical treatment. These two separate groups need security, I assume. So can I get a list of who is in these two security teams please.

For any PC who is not on the list above, an OOC message on where they are going to be at this time will be appreciated.

I'm just throwing this out there for equipment needed for Hank;
His own NOD's
gas mask

I know we will cross that bridge when we come to it, this is just a heads up.

Regards to the prisoners & equipment being gathered.  Hank will offer to start going through the captured gear for possible Intel.  Not before offering to let Jose  & Jan seek some medical attention.  [Front gate area]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:07, Fri 04 Mar 2022.

Marta can do security for the wounded.

Kessler's a bit more vague...I expect he'd probably want to touch base with Kaminski and also check in with the medics. But after that it's more likely to be reacting to things that might need his attention.

Re: Filip's resupply, Kessler will offer him half of everything that he asked for but no grenades (according to the stores thread we only have four HE left). When I look at the totals in the stores thread, which I presume does not account for what we've used during this firefight I don't think we can give him much more. If that's an issue then notwithstanding what I said to Andy yesterday Kessler will offer him 1 x AK74 and 200 rounds of 5.45 to make up for the short fall (I know I wasn't keen to just hand stuff over but this would eb a trade and we have more 5.45 than we do other assault rifle calibres).

No problem with a meal - I think everyone could use that so we can get civies working on that.

@All, ages ago we bought lots of ammo from Sikora which has lasted us well and hopefully we're going to pick up some loot, but we are probably approaching a point where we're going to have to think about restocking one way or another, certainly for some items, e.g. 7.62mm S, 7.62mm L link (which is why I'm not offering Filip the full amount he asked for), and - especially - frag grenades.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 159):

Before we make a decision on the amount of ammo we give Filip I think that we need to know what we recover from the enemy dead and prisoners. Based on what he's asked for:

 - 7.62mmL belted x300 - I agree with you, offer him 150.

 - 5.56mmN x100 - we have 410 rounds in the stores and no one is using it so I think that it's ok to give him the full 100.

 - 7.62mmS x200 - if several of the enemy were using 7.62mmS AKs then it's quite possible that we'll find 7 full mags on the enemy so I wouldn't make an offer on this yet until after we've resolved what we recover. It's quite possible that giving him the full 200 is fine.

 - Grenades - I agree, we don't have any to spare.

As an alternative on the 7.62mmL belted request, if he's really short of ammo for a PK machine gun we could offer to trade him his PK plus his remaining belts for the RPD and 3x 100rnd drums of ammo. That's dependent on just how much 7.62mmS ammo we recover from the enemy though.

Lastly, we don't actually know how many of his troops we are feeding. Is it just the six in the compound or all his troops on the bridge?

We've talked about this for ages, OOC, but I think it might be a good idea to standardize the Mad Dog's weapons as much as possible, to simplify our logistics situation. On the other hand, having a mix means not all of our ammo eggs are in one basket.

IIRC, the Mad Dogs use:

5.45mm (Varis, Kessler, Czerny)
7.62mmS (Lines, Voight, Jose, Walsh)
7.62mmN (Per, the MAG GPMG)
40mmS (Varis, Kessler, Czerny)
9mm P (Ferro, several people's sidearms)
9mm S (Per's PM-94 [Marta], a couple people's sidearms)
.45 cal (Varis' sidearm, anyone else?)

For crew-served/vehicle weapons:
7.62mmR (Der Krok's coax; I think we might have a PKM in stores)
30mmS (the Plamya on a Humvee)
.50 cal. BMG (the Ma Deuce on the other)
14.5mm (Der Krok)

Do we have a Dishka? (12.7mm)

We've used a lot of ammo during this evening's multiple firefights.

I think we should hold on to as much of the above ammo as possible, unless or until people are able/willing to switch weapons (IF we want to try to standardize). Since no one currently uses 5.56mm NATO, I think we should negotiate- try to give it all to the militia, and not give up any of the ammo we currently use.

-

Inspecting captured Intel. I can send a PM.

Re personal weapons, Kessler is 7.62 S (AKM) but no grenade launcher so no 40mm S.

Walsh on the other hand does have a GL so he does use 40mm S. Although that may turn out to be a moot point. As it happens, Walsh has over 300 rnds of 7.62 S in his personal inventory at the moment.

Re crew weapons, we have a DKHK Heavy Machinegun with AA tripod mount listed against it. I honestly don't know if that's teh same as a Dishka or what calibre ammo it takes. i'm also unsure what the reference to the AA mount means - is it on a tripod and can it be used against targets on the ground (I think one of the takeaways from the last battle is we need to spend some time reviewing our base defences and if we have a heavy machine gun I'd like to deploy it rather than have it locked away in the armoury).

Valid point on the 5.56N. I'm happy to offer more 5.56N (which we don't use) in lieu of 7.62S (which we do use). We have an L85 i stores so we could throw that in as a sweetener (it's an L85 - bits will fall off it...). As Andy said though, we won't really have a clear picture of what we have until we fac tor in additions (loot) and subtractions (ammo used during tonight's battle).

Re: Filip's unit, I'm making the assumption that there's not dozens of them . We know there's six plus however many are at the bridge, so I'm presuming (hoping?) there's roughly the same number at the bridge and they can rotate amongst themselves so that everyone gets a chance to eat. I do think at this stage it would be beneficial for everyone to eat, and that includes the civies.

(That said, I don't think I've ever properly understood the food system. Stores thread says that there's 43 man/days of ready rations - does that mean we have enough to feed one man for 43 days or 43 men for one day? If that's the case we can't ever be more than a couple of days away from running out of food. Prior to setting off on the fire house sweep there were at least 15 PC / NPC Mad Dogs plus Kaminski's crew, which must add at least another five to that, so enough food for two days? Or are the civies not included? I thought we were in a stronger position than that when it came to rations)

43 men for 1 day, to use that example. So your food security is (was) actually quite precarious. However there are two things to consider:

1) You get weekly drop offs of food in exchange for giving up some of your diesel, from Tymoshenko. This puts a dent in the amount of food that you need each week.

2) Notice at the top of the rations topic it says it's updated for December 9th. On that day you hadn't yet cleared that underground bunker laboratory in the Warmia camp. Or (more importantly) found their winter rations stockpile. It's my fault but I haven't updated. So there's a shipping container worth of food to go on top of what's in the stores thread. That's why I said (was) above. You have enough food to get by for a while.

---

Not to distract the group from your personal kit and logistics discussion, but I was asking for players to tell me where their characters are located. Just a reminder for those who haven't.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:36, Thu 03 Mar 2022.

Varis is in the med bay demanding treatment for his minor shrapnel [leg] wounds. He can also help guard any wounded prisoners brought in.

Per is on the rooftop, providing over-watch for those policing the battlefield. He will engage armed unknowns or prisoners who attempt to fight or flee.

-

Also, AA tripod is same idea as regular tripod except it's used while standing up (because it's tall). That's the only difference, so it can still engage ground targets.

Jan will be in the med bay with Varis to get his leg wound checked out. If it is minor wound as well then he will just treat it himself (he has a Trauma Aid asset total of 8) and probably treat Varis' minor wounds as well. Once he's done that he will take on the role of quartermaster, working out what gear is brought in as well as working out what can be given to Filip's men so that Kessler can then agree that with them.

---

Tosh will be policing the battlefield, collecting up anything that he can and bringing it into the camp. I doubt that the enemy had time to leave anything like grenade traps on bodies but he will check just in case. He will also look at the vehicles and try to drive any of those that can still run into the compound.

Assuming his arm wound doesn't cause serious issues, Jose will be helping to run security detail for the wounded/material acquisition team.

A minor note that doesn't functionality change much with regard to our ammo situation - he's using 5.45mmS now instead of 7.62.

Hank is running an AKMS (7.62S) as his primary & a H&K P9 in 9mm as his secondary weapon.

Fuse,

Just to be clear do you want us still holding off from posting IC or should we start?

Ta,

Andy

Posting is fine so long as it doesn't go above 998. Posting is optional though, as I have a framework to finish the turn already, so player choice. I'll be finishing things up tonight.

I didn't see anything for Hank in the latest post.  Was he able to accomplish anything or was he forgotten?

If I missed it, please point it out...

If I understood it correctly, not much really happened with that so far.

Fuse,

Is there anyone else in the casualty collection point who could guard the prisoners besides Marta? My thought is (presuming that Dave is happy with this) for Marta to come with Jan and collect the RPG-7 and rockets (I have no idea how many are there) that Jose said he left in the mortar pit.

Also, this might be a dumb question but is the mortar actually set up in the mortar pit and are the shells that we have for it there as well? And do we have anyone left who can use a mortar? I think that it's the Heavy Artillery skill.

Ta,

Andy

No and no.

And it's Heavy Artillery, but if it's used for direct fire then grenade launcher is fine.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:42, Mon 07 Mar 2022.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 175):

Thanks for the info.

@Dave - would Marta like to come and carry rockets for an RPG-7 or do you want to have her do something else?

Ta,

Andy.

In reply to Jan Czerny (msg # 177):

Marta will go along with whatever she's asked / told to do (within reason) but doesn't that leave the wounded prisoners unguarded?

In reply to Marta Nalecz (msg # 178):

Thanks. And I have a plan for the prisoners.

Fuse,

Can you clarify what is in the mortar pit OOC or does Jan need to spend a turn looking?

Ta,

Andy

---

EDIT - OOC 21, post #846 says that it is 1x RPG-7 and 3x RPG-7 HEAT rounds.

Are those still there or did they get moved?
This message was last edited by the player at 15:55, Tue 08 Mar 2022.

In reply to Jan Czerny (msg # 180):

I'm pretty sure it's empty ATM (not counting snow).

-

There is an RPG-7 launcher and three rounds under the snow in the pit.

(The ones fired were the trio placed at the CP / fired by Kessler)

Sorry, just a couple of points to clarify

Is Kolstrup the only one that can make out the specifics of the approaching column or are they now close enough and big enough that everyone in the gate area can see? Or at least Lines / Rodriguez?

Related to the above, is it only Lines and Rodriguez that heard the speaker on the other side of the gate or was that audible to others in the immediate vicinity?

Where exactly is Voight? (That's one for Corkman not Fuse).

I think anyone who has LOS to the column can now see the first three vehicles in the details given. The vehicles behind the sandbagged truck have blocked LOS except for Kolstrup.

Just my take, nothing personal, Hank was by the area near the front gate where they were collecting all of the gear, weapons, and bodies for inspection for Intel.

Nothing was posted for him since I had figured he was going through pockets, pouches, etc. and that was taking up his time.  If memory serves, he tried to get Jose to go and get some medical help before her went out the front gate.

Does that seem accurate Fuse?

Fuse,

Can Tosh tell a nationality of the English speaker from his accent? Is he American?

Ta,

Andy

---

EDIT - I have a memory of Woermann's Waterloo Company being a mix of Germans and British but I also have a memory of another Company (Tarawa I think) taking substantial losses and being folded into Waterloo. Is/was that correct?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:21, Wed 09 Mar 2022.

Yeah, accurate.

Maybe German.

No, you might be thinking of Normandy Company.

I’m mega busy this week. Will try and catch up tomorrow.

I'm heading off to NYC for the world's smallest class reunion. I probably won't be able to post until late Tuesday at the earliest. I should be back in battery on Wednesday.

-

@All, I'm of a mind to open the gate, let Woermann in, and agree to a trade for some fuel. Reasons for this:

1. If we refuse and they decide to try and fight their way in we could end up with a TPK this time.
2. Woermann's always been on the level with Kessler up to this point and has actually offered tacit support in the past, for example at the rally.
3. There's an opportunity to do a trade fuel for ammo and medical supplies (related to that, if he wants us to look after his wounded he'll need to supply his own medical supplies)

I probably wont be able to post IC until some time tomorrow so if anyone has objections to this course of action let me know here before then (if you do have an objection if you can expand on what you want to do instead that would be helpful)

@Fuse, a question related to the fuel - do we have any alcohol fuel? I'm unsure what the IB will be running on and don't see any ethanol on stores should that be what he needs but two of our vehicles are still running on it.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 190):

This makes sense to me.

My only other suggestions would be:

a) Limit the number of Woermann's troops brining in wounded to our compound, just in case it's not on the level.

b) See if he wants to leave a medic with his wounded.

c) Offer to turn Kaminski's compound into a casualty collection point for Woermann's troops as a way of finding out if the operation he is staging for is relatively local to here. He might be prepared to share info on it with Kessler if it is local.

d) Contact Halina Nowak to find out if Waterloo Company is actually allied with her when the next comms window opens. Nowak may also want us to assist Waterloo. Filip certainly needs fresh orders as well and that is a sizeable force gathering around us.

e) Request that Woermann's troops not strip the dead around the compound and take our "spoils of war".

No objections. Now that we know it's him I don't think we are under threat. I think he would have come swinging and crashing through otherwise.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:25, Fri 11 Mar 2022.

Zero objections. Seems to be the right call to make at the time

You don't have any alcohol based fuel on hand, but there is some in Alpha Humvee that can be siphoned out. Kaminski also has a small supply for his work vehicles.

Our vehicles can only use so much fuel, but it holds great value in trade. I agree with the course of action, but perhaps only bring out some of it so that we keep our total stock a secret.

The one thing I've been thinking about that we've been short on for ages is medical supplies. We can go to Sikorsky for ammo and explosives and the like, but medical supplies are in high demand everywhere. Same with electronics I imagine. If Woermann has anything rare that he can part ways with for fuel, this might be a good opportunity. Radios and NVGs are always at a premium, but things like batteries, computers, medication, etc. would all be excellent.

Thanks all, I tried to factor in as much of your suggestions as I could.

@Fuse, the offer on the table is four hundred litres of diesel and / or however much ethanol can be recovered for ammo / grenades, with an extra hundred litres of diesel if Woermann has any rare stuff to trade.

If he can't spare anything he can have the fuel anyway on the basis that 'we can sort out payment later'.

OK, so to summarise Kessler’s last post:

Kolstrup: get an update on casualties then join Kessler / Woermann in the BTR80

Czerny: organise food / a break schedule and try and put the civies to work - feel free to delegate Marta to help with any / all of the above. Also speak to Filip about his resupply (basically Kessler’s trying to avoid inviting Filip to join him and Woermann so if trying to keep him (Filip) busy elsewhere. - if you want to join the get together in the BTR 80 that’s absolutely fine with me - if Filip tags along so be it

Ferro - guard / interrogate Newell. Also check in on Karolina Schleicher just to make sure she survived the attack on the compound

Fischer / Andropov (NPC) - check status of Mad Dog vehicles

Kaminski (NPC) - arrange recovery of MU vehicles (if they’re recoverable) and deal with Woermann’s fuel needs

Babicevs / Lines / Rodriguez / Voight - I left you guys to your own devices, hope that was OK (most of you are outside the wire anyway)

 I tried to organise stuff as best as I could but may have overlooked something...

Fuse,

To short cut the ammo request from Filip (I know as a player what he wants but Jan doesn't know IC) please can you summarise what we recover from the enemy dead/prisoners?

My guess is that we might have recovered a decent amount of 7.62mmS and so might be able to fulfil Filip's request on that as well as 5.56mmN.

Ta,

Andy

No, not decent at all. Very few bodies have been successfully brought in so far. Jose's "team" could only move two corpses at a time, after they'd been found in the dark & snow, then carried back in before going out again. This is a slow process. And in the case of one corpse it only had a single magazine of ammo left on him, so there's that too.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 199):

OK - so we need to resolve suppling Filip prior to resolving any spoils of war. That makes sense.

---

Based on what Filip asked for I think that this is where we got to in the discussions:

 - 7.62mmL belted x300 - I think that we agreed to offer him 150 rnds

 - 5.56mmN x100 - I think that we agreed to offer him slightly more and potentially the L85 as well with a few STANAG mags as well.

 - 7.62mmS x200 - I think that we decided to offer him 100 rnds.

 - Grenades - We agreed that we have none to share with him.

Is that the correct current situation?

Ta,

Andy

In reply to Jan Czerny (msg # 200):

Anyone any input on this? Or are you happy for me to resolve?

In reply to Jan Czerny (msg # 201):

Happy for you to resolve.

@Voight: Varis and I aren't ignoring you. He was on the roof, not outside the wire.

-

I have a Filip/Czerny dialogue and something for Kolstrup as well, but later tonight.

Also, it's not terribly important, but this was added in edit and may have been missed by players who read the post beforehand:

Olowianka is barely 1km from the Mad Dogs' compound, which may explain why Woermann is candid about his mission task. They'll be operating close by.

This is more curiosity than anything else but how many soldiers are in Waterloo? Or is this something we don't know. Wiki states the IB in total has 300 but there is no subunit count.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 205):

First time I read it I thought they were going to seize Okinawa...

2x Rifle Platoons (full)
1x Company HQ and Support (squad?)
3x AFV

Plus... EAFD (militia) x75 and 1x AFV
Plus... Winged Hussars (militia) x15 and 1x AFV

Note: It's unknown how many EAFD were taken from Przejazdowo (which is where they were deployed) so many/most of those x75 might not be available for action in the city.



...Okinawa is still on the table.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:23, Wed 16 Mar 2022.

Thanks for this Fuse. Appreciated.


I did exactly the same thing..... <G>


Rae - FYI Reggie isn't present in the area the medics are working in.

Ta,

Andy

Thanks. I'll edit Per's post. Just out of curiosity, where is he?

-

In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 210):

I will leave that to Fuse to answer.

Confirmed Nowak Loyalists:
- Nowak's supports (Ex-The Gdansk Fisherman's League) (???)
- Waterloo (75+)
- Emil August Feldorf Detachment (75)
- Leopold Okulicki Detachment (15)
- Witold Pilecki Detachment (40)
- The Winged Hussars (15)
- Golden Dawn Company (60)
- Legion of Saint Adalbert (40 less losses tonight)
- The Domovoj (15)
- The Mad Dogs

Confirmed/Possible Merchant Union & Allies:
- Armed Wing of The Gdansk Merchant Union (200)
- Monolith (???)
- Gdansk Fisherman's League (Remnants) (???)
- Armenia Company (30)
- Stal Gdansk (20)
- Gdansk Police Commando (40)
- Swit Batalion (50)
- Kashubian Volunteer Company (Unconfirmed) (20)
- Victory Front (Unconfirmed) (60)

Neutral or Currently Unknown:
- Tarawa Company (100)
- Gdansk International Brigade/Normandy Company (-75)
- Ulhans (15)
- Lechia Battalion (100)
- Osprey Brigade (225)
- The Watchmen (75)
- Suchanino (100)
- Forest City (25)
- Guardian (Free Company) (???)

Woermann would also point out that the situation is fluid, and these loyalties can change quickly and maybe even unpredictably.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:20, Wed 16 Mar 2022.

Looks like things are split pretty evenly between pro and anti Nowak forces. There are some unknown strengths but my guess is there are about 450 on both sides. Our side has more armor, which puts us ahead, but on the other hand Fuse mentioned above that some of our allies are "stuck" in Przejazdowo (so they're unable to participate), which means that puts us back down to more equal footing again... roughly speaking.

Another way to look at it though is quality of troops rather than quantity. The cartels have a big force (200) but only 50 of them are reported in the Wiki to be compentent/properly armed while the rest are just described as goons with clubs, pistols, and the occasional long arm. Contrast that with the Mad Dogs and Waterloo, which are highly professional, well organized, and well armed.

What can obviously tip the scales are the ones sitting things out or are undecided. It looks like there are almost 750 of them.

Just some thoughts and observations.

Good points. Also, we just killed or wounded about a score of the MU's better fighters, and knocked out three of their ersatz AFVs. Maybe Fuse's numbers bear that into account but, even so, their failure to take out the Mad Dogs, and their losses in doing so, has got to be a real morale killer, so that's an advantage for Nowak's coalition as well.

-
This message was added to by the player at 04:25, Thu 17 Mar 2022.

How much time has passed since Roland and Aleksander left to go and speak to the Osprey Brigade? If they have been recruited then that would be a significant number of additional troops for Nowak.

Fuse,

Currently in the stores thread are:

40mmS HE (Local) x13

I think that that number is out of date however as Varis withdrew 10 (current IC thread, post #4) so I believe that there are just 3 left there.

Jan is going to withdraw the remaining 3.

Ta,

Andy

---

EDIT - there are a lot of 40mmN grenades in the stores. What weapons do we have that fire these currently? Is it just the China Lake grenade launcher that Billy had, which I believe Jose is now carrying? Do we have a M203 or M79 any more? I don't believe so unless someone has one on a character sheet.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:55, Thu 17 Mar 2022.

I believe Jose's launcher can use them?

Also, checking the stores for grenades again we have more than I thought for certain:

 - Frag Grenades x4
 - Frag Grenades (Local) x5

Unless anyone objects OOC Jan will therefore put 2x Frag Grenades (Local) into the gear for Filip.

Monolith are, as far as I can recall, mercenaries, albeit I think they have at least a core of former Polish regulars. That may mean that their loyalty can be bought by the highest bidder (or the person most likely to emerge as victor). Forest City was being harassed by the MU before so should have no reason to side with them.

I'd rather not. I think nine is less than one per person for ourselves. (I knew we had some, just not very many)

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 220):

OK

Fuse,

I've edited the IC post where I've detailed the gear that Jan is taking from the stores and the final version is this:

Jan is taking the following from the stores:
 - 40mmS HE (Local) x3 (for himself)
 - 5.45mmB rounds x16 (for himself)
 - Frag Grenades x2 (for himself)
 - Smk Grenade (HC Violet) x1 (for himself)
 - 7.62mmL, Link x150 (for Filip)
 - 5.56mmN rounds x250 (for Filip)
 - 5.56mmN, 30rnd mag x5 (for Filip)
 - L85A1 Rifle x1 (for Filip)
 - 7.62mmS rounds x100 (for Filip)

He's also returning the following to the stores:
 - Stun Grenade x1

Ta,

Andy

What is the 7.62mmL? Is that rimless (like the PKM uses?)

-

In reply to Varis Babicevs (msg # 223):

It's belted ammo for a PK machine gun (I presume that his team on the bridge has one). Filip has asked for 300 rnds and we decided to give him 150.

Nahh the MM-1 can only use 40mm grenades of the NATO variety. :D

In reply to Jose Rodriguez (msg # 225):

I think that there is some confusion here so I'll try to resolve it. I was asking originally who used NATO 40mm grenades as we have 18 in the stores. I think that the only weapon firing them is Jose's MM-1 so there are loads there for him to use.

Ta,

Andy

In reply to Jan Czerny (msg # 226):

Ahh yep, okay. Sorry I missed the edit.

Jose is using 40mmN for sure with the MM-1. The 40mmS grenades though, are being used by Varis and I'm not sure whom else.

In reply to Jose Rodriguez (msg # 227):

40mmS grenades are being used by Varis and Jan and there is another grenades launcher that was Kessler's but was most recently being used by Walsh.

Fuse,

Is there a spare, unused room in the building that the various people being fed or resting can use?

Ta,

Andy

Congrats on hitting 42k posts!

No there is no spare room anymore.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 231):

Thanks. I thought that that might be the case.

Ta,

Andy

So, bit picture, what's our next move?

We're running danger low on ammo (for some of our weapons systems, at least), and med supplies. Our team medic is MIA/AWOL. Two of our vehicles are knackered. The compound is in bad shape. IIRC, Kessler, Jan, Jose, and Varis are all freshly wounded (this is something to consider from rules and verisimilitude perspectives). Walsh is, AFAIK, still touch-and-go (and definitely out of commission for some time). Several of our local militia spear-carriers are either KIA or WIA.

Right now, it's hard for me to think of any way that we can realistically, actively contribute to Nowak's efforts to take control of the city. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but I'm struggling to envision a way forward, ATM.

Thoughts?

-

In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 233):

Do we have a working vehicle left? If so which one?

I think that the major contribution we could make at present is to follow up Roland and try to convince Osprey to join Nowak. That could involve Kessler, Per, Ferro, Hank, Jose and Tosh if we have a vehicle that can carry six.

Alternatively we could act as a heavy weapons team in support of someone (e.g. Waterloo or Filip but there might be other options) with the same six characters (and possibly Varis if he's up for it).

Fischer, Jan, Thomas and various straglers can hold the fort.

I don't know where Marta will fit in.

My assumption was that we would spend the rest of the night time hours (at least) inside the compound taking stock and reorganising, largely for the reasons that Rae mentioned - we’re short of ammo, critically short of medical supplies, our team medic has disappeared, and I believe the only unwounded PC’s are Ferro, Kolstrup, Lines, and Voight (I’m not including Marta in that list as she’s not a trained combatant).

To the best of my knowledge our only working vehicle is the Iltis (capacity 3 to 4 and unarmoured). Fuse can confirm but I believe one Humvee and the BTR are immobile pending a mechanic having a proper look at them and the other Humvee only has three wheels. I would imagine that with work we might be able to get one working Humvee out of two sick Humvees but that will presumably take time.

If anyone is thinking about leaving the compound I think the priority should be finding out what’s happened at St Mary’s - maybe the four unwounded characters could take the Iltis and so that. It may also be the case that Nowak gives us some sort of tasking (inasmuch as this is a coordinated coup we are nominally acting under her orders)

Kessler will need to see a medic before he goes anywhere. And I want him to interrogate Newell after his wounds have been seen to and speak to Schleicher (now that Pine Tree have been neutralised I think there’s an argument for turning Schleicher loose. Or offering her the chance to join the Mad Dogs. I’ll only do that if there’s no OOC objections though.) There’s also potential intel to go through - MU and Pine Tree. So I can think of plenty for Kessler to do. We’ve been in combat solidly for months of RT so I’m quite happy to spend some time on non combat things.

Marta will be quite happy not to leave the compound for the rest of the night but will reluctantly go along if an interpreter is needed, e.g. if we go to St Mary’s.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 235):

Checking out St Mary's is a good point. Have Cassidy and Barnett ever explained why they are at our compound? I've scanned through but I don't think that has been covered IC as we went from one battle to another.

EDIT - I suspect that Nowak will want more "support" from the Mad Dogs regardless of our ammo state.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:22, Fri 18 Mar 2022.

They gave an initial explanation but we've never followed up to get more info. I don't have the time to search for it just now but if you look at the chapter that covers the firefight at the fire house there's a turn post where they gve a brief explanation which Fischer relays to Kessler - iirc the gist of it is just 'there's been trouble at St Mary's'. There might have been a fire or something but I'm not sure, I'm going from memory. EDIT. I think it was just before the BTR left the compound to move to the fire station.

Following up on it has been on my to do list for weeks RL but there's never been a chance - as you say, we've gone from one battle to another.

As for Nowak, that may be the case but if we don't have the resources Kessler can and will inform her that we're combat ineffective or whatever the technical term is.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:33, Fri 18 Mar 2022.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 237):

Thanks. I hadn't gone back far enough and I was looking for a conversation between Kessler and them, not one relayed by Fischer. I searched again and the exact comment (which was relayed in German) was:

"Kaiser, it is Kriegshammer. The Irish Woman and another, an American, are looking for sanctuary. There was some sort of incident, violence, a fire broke out, people got separated. They don't know a lot but things seem to have escalated and gotten worse in the city. Maybe more is not to be said over the radio."

Post #414, Ch22

---

Just to check but what are these comments about being short of ammo based on? Some characters have certainly used a lot of ammo but there is still quite a stockpile in the stores so are we really that short of ammo? I believe that:
 - Varis and Jan each have 10+ grenades for their GLs
 - there are 18 grenades for Jose's GL in the stores
 - even after giving ammo to Filip with have 1800 5.45mmB rounds and 800 7.62mmS rounds in the stores to restock with (and Walsh has 300 rounds of 7.62mmS as well)
 - if we want to bring the M240 then there are 1400 rounds for it and if Tosh is carrying it then that frees up a lot of 7.62mmS ammo.
 - there are plenty of 7.62mmN loose rounds for Per's rifle.
 - there isn't much spare 9mmP for Ferro's SMG but Reggie's AK-74 is lying in the BTR where he abandoned it so that's spare if Ferro need/wants to change weapons.

We're short almost every vehicle mounted weapon system but we have several man portable AT weapons. In short I don't think that ammo levels is our issue.

I think that our issues are medical (with Reggie missing and our supplies being used by Cassidy and Barnett), vehicles and, above all, manpower.

In regards to manpower please remember that Fox, Meyer and two others (I think that it's Czeslaw Kaczka and Piotr Auttenberg but I'm not certain) are guarding a farm somewhere that supports the Marians and this is why the Marians were delivering food to us. If we're critically short of manpower then maybe we need to recall them. I have no idea OOC where the farm is but Tosh has been there IC.

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 238):

I think it’s probably fairly important to ascertain if any subtractions need to be made from stores to account for recent expenditure - I know the RPG7 HEAT rockets says there six but I believe there are actually only three (Kessler fired three during the battle). We also don’t know when we can expect our next significant resupply so at this stage I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying to conserve ammo.

I agree we have a lot of 5.45 but I think very few people use that calibre. There are two AK74’s in stores in addition to Grant’s so that would help with that if people are willing to change weapons.

All of that said, yes, the most pressing issues are probably manpower (specifically unwounded PC’s), a critical shortage of medical supplies (and potentially the absence of a medic if Grant has vanished) and vehicles. I don’t really see how recalling the group from the farm will help with any of those.

Because recalling those 4 increases our available manpower by 4. They may not be PCs but when we eventually decide to deploy we will have more troops available.

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 240):

Fair enough. My point was more to do with player engagement / agency relating to wounded PC’s and the verisimilitude that Rae referred to earlier.

As a player I'm trying to look at ways to keep PC's in the spotlight. For example, if we did decide to go and see what was happening at St Mary’s, for sure that would give us four more NPC’s to utilise.  But if wounded PC’s are unable to deploy then looking at things through the lens of player agency nothing’s really changed - wounded PC's are still unable to deploy (and we’re potentially sacrificing some food security).

On the plus side, most people with a wounded PC also have an unwounded one (the only exception is, I think, Heffe).

Hank would like to request [15] loose 7.62S rounds to top his mags off and draw [1] extra 7.62S 30 round mag for his AKMS to top off his kit?

If he needs to, he will switch off to an AK-74 if that is better suited?

I stand corrected. I was going off of impressions from the night's firefights instead of looking at the numbers. I guess the only ammo I'm still worried about at this point is 40mmS. Yeah, Varis and Jan have topped off, but Varis uses a lot of it and it's been a real force multiplier, historically (IG) speaking.

@Dave, if you want to have Kessler speak with Nowak (IIRC, another radio check is approaching?) I can have Per go back to sickbay and ask Cassidy for more details about the St. Mary's situation.

After we know more, we might have a better idea of what our next steps our.

Also, I think it's important we get some IC sleep. I don't remember the v2.2 fatigue rules (assuming they exist) but I suspect that our effectiveness is going to start degrading here pretty soon.

-

In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 243):

@Rae, sure that works for me.

And I agree that getting some rest should also be a priority for everyone.

Per will draw 132 loose rounds of 7.62mmN from stores. He's been a busy boy!

Oh, there should be an RPG-7 tube and maybe a round or two on the highway just west of the bridge.

-

In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 245):

Tosh has recovered the RPG-7 (Fuse, are you OK to add it to the stores thread please). No rockets for it were recovered.

Please note the the 4 Mad Dogs assigned to the Marian's aren't at St Mary's. They are guarding a farm somewhere and it might be outside the city. Fuse, please can you clarify where they are.

Regarding what to do next I agree that the Mad Dogs aren't in position to mount anything major. If Kessler and/or Jose can't deploy the it will mean sidelining at least one player.

If they can both deploy then we could do one of the following:

- visit Osprey to back up Roland and try to persuade them to join Nowak. This could be some very interesting role playing.

- check out St Mary's to see what the situation is there. This could be a very interesting investigation and a good role playing opportunity.

- deploy with either Waterloo or Filip's mercenaries as a sniper / heavy weapons team and only engage in a support role. My guess is that Filip will be instructed to join up with Waterloo temporarily to increase the force attacking the island. This would obviously be more combat.

- sit tight and potentially use our base as a casualty collection point for Waterloo's planned assault. This would probably allow Fuse to move time on in game while PCs rest/recover slightly.

Does anyone have any other ideas and any preferences. The key regardless though is the state of Kessler and Jose.

Fuse,

Is it OK to update Jan's character sheet accordingly please?

Ta,

Andy

Can I remind anyone thinking about teaming up with Filip’s mercenaries that we believe they executed a prisoner w short while ago. I prefer to play Kessler in a way that lets everyone retain their own agency but on this occasion Kessler will veto any suggestion that Mad Dogs fight with Filip’s people for a moment longer than is necessary as he won’t want to end up with the Mad Dogs guilty by association (or Mad Dogs trying to stop the mercs committing war crimes and ending up in a firefight with them).

On the general question of what to do next I’m largely in favour of regrouping and getting some rest but am happy for Kessler to go to St Mary’s if he’s fit enough and sending a team to St Mary’s doesn’t cause players to be sidelined. Same applies to Osprey although I think St Mary’s should have the priority. Marta will stay at the FOB regardless.

If others want to attach themselves to Waterloo Kessler and Marta will both stay at the FOB.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 248):

My point with Filip's mercenaries is that Nowak may ask/instruct Kessler to work with them. If we want to continue fighting then Waterloo is clearly a better option.

With regrouping, I'm not sure that Nowak will be happy with us doing that. We have the initiative in this area at present and resting risks loosing it.

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 249):

I think you’re making several assumptions about what Nowak’s going to ask / demand so perhaps it would be better to wait until that IC interaction actually takes place. And regardless of what Nowak asks she doesn’t command this unit and has no idea how combat capable it currently is so just because she asks for something doesn't mean that it's going to happen - in practical terms that means that the players have agency to choose what course of action they want to follow.

Your point is well taken, but we're also on the verge of being combat ineffective (due to wounds, fatigue, and vehicle losses), and we don't know exactly where the enemy is, at present. As a result, I think we've effectively lost the initiative already.

Re Nowak, she might not be happy with us staying put for the remainder of the dark hours, but we've already done a lot for her tonight. We drew off nearly a company of MU fighters and hurt them badly. The survivors are likely going to be combat ineffective themselves for the rest of the night at the very least. Hopefully, they'll spread word of their ignominious ass-kicking and reduce MU morale further. We've also provided Waterloo with a staging area for its planned attack.

Let's see what Nowak has to say. Who knows, maybe she'll be cool with us taking the rest of the night off, so to speak. Regardless of what she wants, I think we should take at least a few hours to recharge our batteries, both literally and figuratively.

-

I think what we need to do as a team right now is gather & process the dead and wounded (from both sides) and see where we stand after we've consolidated our forces.  What we have left has to cover FB McCarthy (priority) and be available to Nowak (secondary).  We may only be able to put out up to an eight [8] person squad with limited capabilities due to casualties, supplies, etc., and then be expected to clean up and fix whatever was damaged in the raid to the FB.

I think getting our wounded tended to and getting some rest might make for clearer decisions the next day as I'm sure Nowak will be calling for an assessment.

In reply to Jan Czerny (msg # 247):
In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 245):

Yes, add that.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 235):

Correct.

---

Can you guys clarify what you're doing. I'm interpreting these spoken actions/intent being different.

---

Main inventory updated (battle expenditures deleted)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:34, Mon 21 Mar 2022.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 253):

My guess is that Hank is looking for mags in pockets and pouches. Tosh is just stripping webbing off people where they have it and picking up weapons.

Correct.  I would say Tosh is taking the obvious, Hank is looking for the concealed or not so obvious items

If you are looking for concealed items, while trying to speed up the process, how is that any different from looking for concealed items that happen to be intel? You're still going through the same bodily compartments.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:43, Mon 21 Mar 2022.

I see your point.  It will be quicker for Tosh to rip & strip the obvious.  Hank will take a little more time on the pockets.  We can check the actual pouches & packs when we get inside.

Hopefully, that's a little sensible?

Just getting caught up from the weekend. I largely concur with everything said already. Would only note a couple of bits:

1. Jose has been blown up and shot a couple of times tonight (though one got stopped by armor). He likely has a pretty gnarly concussion as a result of the grenade earlier. And this is all after he almost had his life taken in the metal scrapyard by some elite east Germans. I'm not sure he's going to have much left in his tank after that kind of night. He'll do whatever he's ordered to, but he likely needs a lot of rest, as I think most of our players probably do at this point.

2. I'm okay with Jose sticking back for a little bit if that's what needs to happen. While I love the urge to keep all players "on-stage" in some capacity, I'm not sure that's always realistic given the nature of the game we're playing, and that's fine. If Jose needs to stay at base for a bit while a bunch of players run to St. Mary's or Osprey, I just want to make sure you all know that I'm okay with that and will find things for him to do. :D

3. We do have Waterloo guarding the gates at the moment, so to speak, so we should probably try to take advantage of that fact while we can. That means letting as many of our folks rest and recuperate as possible while still keeping an eye on critical resources (ammo, fuel, and prisoners).

I'm leaning towards jumping forward a little (not sure how much yet) but I'm also aware you want to co-ord with Nowak too so for this upcoming turn I'm only going to bump as far as that. Afterwards there might be a longer jump (again, not sure of the length).

I also marked the map to show "Okinawa" in case anyone was wondering. As you can see, it's close.



I have something on the backburner for the compound, so if Jose does end up staying back you won't have to look for things to do (although you can do that too).

Just so you know.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:56, Tue 22 Mar 2022.

Dear all - I tested positive for Covid yesterday and my brain isn't up to posting at present. I'll see how I am later in the day but please NPC my characters if needed to move things forward.

Sorry about this.

Andy

No worries, most of all, take care of yourself and get better soon!

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 261):

Aw man I'm sorry to hear that. Hope you feel better quickly, Andy!

Andy, take care mate, hope you feel better soon.

I don't want to throw any spanners in the works but on reflection I don't actually know if we need to speak to Nowak this turn.

Woermann's got an objective so he doesn't need to speak to her, Filip's already spoken to her, and the Mad Dogs don't really have any urgent need to. To my mind it makes more sense to carry on doing what we're doing and then maybe speak to her later when we might have more information to share (better idea of what's happening at Osprey, anything gleaned from Newell or other intel, etc).

I feel it would be good to check in anyway. We may not need to talk to her but we don't know if the opposite is true. For all we know she might tell us there's another force heading right for us.

Get well Andy.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:40, Tue 22 Mar 2022.

Andy, I hope that you recover quickly and completely, and feel better soon.

-A

-

I think with what we have going on at the moment Novak could wait a little bit longer to hear from us.

Thanks for the best wishes guys. Seem to be going through cycles of having energy for a short while and then being exhausted so I'm going to try to post IC now!

Not everyone has posted but I'm going to push things on.

Kessler asked questions relating to a lot of different things, so this is going to be lengthy...

---

---

Information shared by Newell:

Inspector Kowalczyk is the acting commander of all ZSGUK (Handlowcy Unii security) and allied militia in Gdansk. He's since been given the title of Police General.

Numbers: ZSGUK strength had initially been boosted to 250 via recruiting and conscription among the guild's workforce. Newell claims that by nightfall however, the ZSGUK were actually below the original strength, due to widespread desertions (and losses). The MJO (Mobile Response Unit) remain loyal and their numbers hold steady at approximately 50. As a consequence to the ZSGUK's overall unreliability, the MJO have to disperse among the latter to maintain cohesion and discipline.

Numbers elsewhere: Newell doesn't know the strength of Monolith, nobody does, but guesses they have about two or three dozen. Pawel Brozek is still in command of the Company. For additional manpower provided by allied militias, Newell estimates a total force of roughly 200, which is similar to Woermann's assessment. It's said however, that Kowalczyk is frustrated by actual numbers of fighters being provided for operations. Fearing counterattacks on their own assets, most militias are retaining fighters for home defense. Stal Gdansk also sent most of their fighters without any ammunition, expecting the Handlowcy Unii to provide it.

Numbers correction: Victory Front is currently not a Handlowcy Unii ally. They were previously listed by Woermann as unconfirmed allies, but that's apparently incorrect. Victory Front's commander initially did declare support for the Handlowcy Unii, but hours later none of their militia had yet moved and no further contact has been made. Newell believes that the 60-strong/Normandy-trained militia either overthrew their commander or are simply refusing orders to participate. Whatever the reason, Victory Front is not part of the loyalist coalition.

Plans: There are four active operations.

 - Destroy Golden Dawn Company and seize their warehouses. The Handlowcy Unii believe Nowak's invasion force on the Westerplatte is not prepared for a drawn out conflict. They don't have the food or ammunition for more than a couple days of action. The Golden Dawn are the only faction thought capable of replenishing her troops. Seized goods will also be used to help bribe uncommitted militias to join the Handlowcy Unii coalition. This operation is currently ongoing.

 - Destroy Legion of Saint Adalbert. The objective is to secure the southern flank. It's also hoped that crushing the LoSA will result in a symbolic victory that will convince militias of similar size not to get involved. A third outcome would be the elimination of Lukasz Piszczek. Newell doesn't know if this operation is ongoing due to it being executed by allied militia (not Handlowcy Unii).

 - Block the Nowak's landing force. A buildup of troops at the distillery will be used to contain Nowak from reaching the city and her allies. Newell claims they will fight defensively, delaying her as long as possible, before falling back to the Siennicka Bridge (meant to be secured) if necessary. This operation is currently ongoing but there have been set backs, such as failing to secure the bridge, sabotage with the boats ferrying men and supplies, and tactical shortcomings due to fighting without adequate radios over the large area.

 - Expand. Efforts are being made to expand the Handlowcy Unii coalition. For example, Newell knows of a team being readied to transport a sizeable bribe to Lechia Batalion, to secure their participation. Similar missions are planned but Newell claims not to know any details.

Individual Targets: Small hit teams have been formed to arrest and/or kill a number of individuals. They are to act on their own or as part of larger operations being conducted by other units. Newell has only memory to go by and claims to have not been involved in the planning, so the list is certainly nowhere near complete. In addition to those previously mentioned on the capture INTEL there is:

- Halina Nowak (arrest or kill)
- Aleksander Zawadzki, believed to be senior lieutenant to Nowak (kill)
- Mary Tymoshenko (arrest only)
- Walter Lisiewicz, Forest City leader (kill)
- Captain Woermann (kill)
- Bartek, Sikora Manager (arrest)
- Robert Lewandowski, acting leader of Golden Dawn Company (kill)
- Unknown commander, Suchanino militia, rejected alliance with Handlowcy Unii (kill)
- Unknown economist, Golden Dawn Company (arrest)
- Unknown engineer, Golden Dawn Company (arrest)

"Oh, and why the German that I’m holding prisoner?" On this, Newell appears confused and says he doesn't know about any prisoner.

Spies: Newell explains he doesn't know specifics because it's handled by Kowalczyk's intelligence cell, which is small and very secretive. He believes however, that there are informants in almost every militia.

Communications: Comms are reported to be a mess. The ZSGUK/MJO are not a military force and aren't designed/outfitted for multidirectional operations. And the problem is compounded when attempting to coordinate with other militias (some of whom have zero radios). They use couriers a lot. Exactly like what Nowak is doing, some units are assigned scheduled timings to overcome the lack of radios. All but the highest level comms are using civilian band frequencies. Codewords were said to be in the pickup truck technical, which had a radio.

How to talk to Monolith: Not possible without knowing the frequency they use. They use a military band, so finding it by chance is extremely unlikely.

What happened with the Marians: Newell claims he doesn't know as it wasn't a Handlowcy Unii operation. Another militia was assigned to that.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:09, Sun 27 Mar 2022.

Apologies - just posted as Tosh.

EDIT - have we searched just outside the gate on the left hand side where the maps says "An unknown number of dead and wounded enemy have been heard here." I think that we have but I just wanted to double check.

---

Jan is waiting until Kessler is free so he will be just hanging around outside the main entrance waiting for Kessler to reappear. (Dave, no need to rush - the conversation with Newell is far more important).
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Mon 28 Mar 2022.

In reply to David 'Tosh' Lines (msg # 271):

I really wanted Kessler to say to Schleicher 'your name is on zee list' in best Dad's Army fashion...

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 272):

Tosh would have said that!

I'm in the process of moving so I'm going to be mostly offline for a few days.

Ugh. I hate moving. I hope it's quick and painless, and that you're happy in your new space.

-

I had that bit written up last night, hoping to get the rest of the turn done today but it's going to have to wait. But I'm posting what I have just so there's something.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:26, Tue 29 Mar 2022.

Fuse,

Hope that the move goes well.

If you get a chance please can you let me know the answer to this question:


Ta,

Andy

No. Unless I missed someone's post.

Kessler is available to be 'doorstepped' now if you want.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 278):

Thanks.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 279):

Thanks. Just posted IC regarding this.

I've added some content (plus PM info) but just as a heads up I'm still going to have intermittent internet access for the next while. I think this is a good point to stop to give you a chance to work out IC what you going to do next, even if it's just sleep. I'll do the time jump ahead once a decision is made.

In reply to Fusilier (msg # 282):

I think that we need to either go and visit Osprey to recruit them to Nowak's side or go to St. Mary's to see for ourselves what is going on there as there may be other Marians who need help.

Another option is to temporarily fold into Waterloo as a heavy weapons team and support their next mission. Fuse - is there any indication from Waterloo of their timings?

What are other people's thoughts?

Ta,

Andy

Both in terms of realism and fatigue rules, I think we should stay put at least until daylight. We need to recharge our batteries, literally and figuratively.

After that, all of what you suggested are good next steps (although I think we should focus on one at a time, instead of splitting up our already shrunken force).

-

I’m in agreement with Rae that it’s better to wait until morning before taking any further action. I also agree that we should pick one option and focus on it. My preferences would be as follows (in order of preference).

1. Try and intercept the MU team that’s been tasked with bribing the Lechia Battalion. We’ve been told the route that they’re going to take and the approximate timescale - it’s not until first light so we have a chance to get some rest. If we can intercept it we disrupt MU plans to try and influence Lechia to change sides and we can potentially ‘confiscate’ whatever it was they were going to use as bribes (i.e. it might be something useful that we can keep)

2. Send a recce party to St Mary’s to as Andy said, try and find out what’s going on and whether anyone is there that might require our assistance. The downside I see to that is that Kolstrup has already questioned Cassidy about this and Cassidy said that they were already in the process of evacuating so it might turn out that all of the major players have already left (Tymoshenko I would imagine would be with her security detachment). Kessler can share the fact that the Stal Militia were tasked with operations at St Mary’s so that may turn into a firefight.

3. Go to Osprey. Personally I think that ship has already kind of sailed - we’ve already sent a delegation (Roland and Aleksandr) so I don’t know if there’s anything that can be added to that really, especially if we do wait until dawn.

As a player I’ve never been wild about the idea of being folded into Waterloo as an augment. If that’s what the majority want to do it’s fine, but i’ll probably have Kessler stay at base and concentrate on other stuff.

Also, to the best of my knowledge the only working vehicle that we have at the moment is the Iltis. It may be possible to get one Humvee running by a bit of cannibalisation (which is another argument for waiting until morning before taking any further steps imho) or we may be able to borrow transport from Kaminski but otherwise so any immediate plan to leave the compound is going to have a cap on how many players can go that’s equal to its capacity, which I think is at most four. It’s also unarmoured.

In reply to Michael Kessler (msg # 285):
I think our only clear choice is option #1.  Sounds like a chance at some payback.

I'm concerned that the comments about the tiredness of the Mad Dogs are misleading. I've done some checking of the relevant threads and:

 - On 15th Dec the majority of the Mad Dogs slept late for most of the morning because of a late night the night before and most people got to bed by 03:00 (message #31 Ch22). Based on what it says in this message I believe that most people will have had about 7 to 8 hours sleep. People were certainly up and doing things by 13:00 on the 15th Dec at the latest. I therefore believe that everyone started the current day "rested".

 - The operation to the Fire Hall started at 21:15 on 15th Dec (message #305 Ch22) and combat then lasted till about 00:20 on 15th Dec (message #1 Ch23). That is about 3 hours of combat, some of it very intense but it wasn't continuous for the whole time.

 - It's now 01:00 on 16th Dec (message #63 Ch23) and (based on the assumption that most people were doing something by 12:00 on 15th Dec - assumed from message #31 Ch22) that means that most characters have been up for 13 hours and had a decent amount of sleep prior to that.

All of our characters are veterans who are used to long periods of combat and little sleep. Based on the above they've had enough sleep and quite a bit of combat but not for an excessively long period. I therefore don't believe that everyone is quite as tired as has been suggested and I'm concerned that our thinking of what to do next is being guided by a false impression of just how tired everyone is IC. Essentially I don't believe that there is an urgent need for everyone to rest based on the summary above - it feels like a long time has passed in game because a long time has passed in real life.

Therefore our constraints as a unit are currently manpower and vehicles and not exhaustion. Additionally as a unit we have much better night vision capabilities than our opposition so I'm concerned that waiting for morning is surrendering that advantage.

Therefore having thought about this further my suggestion on what to next is now:

1. Go and visit Osprey now to check that Roland and Aleksandr arrived and that Osprey are aligned with Nowak. I think that they are too important a unit in this battle to trust to just Roland and Aleksandr.

2. After that I think that we should head to the route the MU team tasked with bribing the Lechia Battalion is going to take so that we can try to set up an ambush in advance of first light. Once in position half the team can nap in position with the other half keeps watch so that people get some sleep.

However, have said all of the above, if resting for a few hours will allow some PCs with "scratch" level wounds to heal enough to be involved in the action (primarily Varis and Jose I believe but possibly Kessler as well) then I agree that resting a few hours makes sense to maximise player involvement. If this is the case then the sun should be fully risen by about 07:30 so my suggestion would then be that we rest until about 04:00 and then make our way to set up this ambush of the MU team tasked with bribing the Lechia Battalion as that may occur at "first light". That timing is dependent on what the route actually is, where a suitable ambush point is, how we will get there and how long it will take us to get there. Hopefully someone with better local knowledge (like Kaminski) can advise on a suitable ambush point and I suggest that we walk because if we take a vehicle or two (if one is successfully repaired) then we will need to guard those and we don't have the manpower for that.

Just to be clear, if resting for a few hours isn't going to increase the number of PCs involved then I think that we should do number 1 and 2 above in the order I've outlined.

That's my revised thoughts for now.

Thanks,

Andy

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and IG evidence, Andy. The numbers don't lie. That said, I don't think they tell the whole story either.

I'm not a combat veteran (thank God!), but from everything I've read/heard/seen on the topic (that's not pure Hollywood), combat is pretty much the most exhausting activity that a human can do. We've been engaged in three separate firefights in the last few IG hours (the firehouse, the ambush on the way back, and the assault on the compound). That's 3 adrenaline dumps in approx. the same number of hours. That's going to take its toll physiologically.

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-g...know-adrenaline-rush

In addition, several PCs were wounded during the firefights.

I respect your opinion, but I have to disagree that we are in any shape to conduct immediate ops. I still think we need rest more than anything else right now.

-
This message was last edited by the player at 19:09, Mon 04 Apr 2022.

I agree with Rae.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 17:54, Mon 04 Apr 2022.

Speaking from Jose's perspective, he could probably use about 3 weeks on a beach with a margarita and a personal nurse right about now. Short of that, a couple hours of shuteye will have to suffice.

As for next steps:

As important as Osprey is (and they are), either Roland and Aleks made it or they didn't. The suggestion here is really to follow up to make sure that they did. Is there any other option here - do we have a radio contact with Osprey we could check with to see if they arrived? If they did make it, I'm not sure I see what else we could accomplish by going there ourselves. If they didn't make it, then agreed this might be our best next step.

If Roland did arrive at Osprey, then the bribe convoy seems like our clear choice moving forward. In the meantime, we recharge and rearm as best we can.

I'll try and get an IC post up for the current turn tomorrow. Sorry for the delay, I'm getting absolutely hammered by work right now.

In reply to Per Kolstrup (msg # 288):

Rae,

Thanks for the reply and the link. I think that we will have to agree to disagree on this for the moment as, based on this logic, every military unit would need to stop and rest after a few hours of combat and history tells us that this simply isn't what happens.

I'm genuinely interested in this subject however as it has impact on fatigue rules so I have an idea on how to widen the discussion and get more opinions, particularly those that have been in combat. I will PM you about this idea.

With regards to the game I suggest that we now park the discussion and move on as it's clear that the decision is to rest for a few hours. What is the plan for ambushing the MU team though? Are we going to travel there during darkness and set up in advance of first light? And how are we travelling there?

Ta,

Andy

I don’t think we have a plan yet. I certainly don’t. Consulting with Kaminski to see if he can identify a good spot to intercept them would be a good start. If we can get a Humvee running then I’d prefer to take that and the Iltis if possible rather than walk. The MU are supposed to be using horses and carts so presumably too much loot for us to carry away on foot if we do confiscate it and walking also means we have no vehicle(s) to perform urgent casevac if needed.

Also, presuming Waterloo aren’t going to guard our gate indefinitely we’ll need to also factor in ongoing compound security. By my rough count* our current headcount looks like this - other than Kessler (available for duty I think) and Walsh (not available for duty) I have no idea how involved wounded PC’s can be.

Walsh - WIA - not available
Czerny - not available (seconded to Waterloo)
Grant - presumably not available (AWOL?)
Babicevs - WIA
Rodriguez - WIA
Kolstrup
Lines
Ferro
Voight
Kessler - WIA - available (unless Fuse tells me otherwise)
Marta

NPC’s
Anna
Andropov
Fischer

Plus various assorted civilians / militia (we obviously have the LoSA to help with security but to paraphrase the famous Norwegian commentator “those boys took a helluva beating” and may currently have some morale issues that may impact their effectiveness, at least in my - and Kessler’s - opinion. YMMV).

*If I’ve missed anyone out I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional - I’m just spinning a lot of plates just now.

Regarding the compound security you mentioned here is the updated info...

Reformed Security Detail

- LoSA Squad:
Michal, Squad Leader (AKM)
Sickly Woman (M16A2)
Dog Handler (Shotgun) (Arrival not yet occured IG)

- From Kaminski's People:
Artur Szukała (AKM - NEEDS AMMO)
Otto (AKM - NEEDS AMMO)

- From the Civilians:
Gustek (Shotgun)
Marysia (M4 Carbine/Holo)
Natalia (AK-74 Rifle)
Manio (G3 Rifle)
Walek (Kar98k/Holo)
Radzim (M3 Submachinegun)
Pawel (AKM - NEEDS AMMO)

Total: 12

---

---

Other potential defenders who are not part of the security detail include:
Kaminski (Scorpion)
Anna (PPSH-41)
Zdzisław (Shotgun)
Jakub (AKM)
LoSA Sharpshooter (Scoped Hunting Rifle) (WOUNDED)
Others...

As an addendum to any planning, I just found out tonight that I'm going to be travelling pretty continuously from Easter weekend until the end of May. It's highly unlikely I'll be able to keep up with the game during much of that period so it may be better if any group going outside the wire has leadership delegated to someone else.

Sorry, if anyone is waiting for me to post IC please don't...I'm swamped.

Just to say that as a player I like Ferro's suggestion of giving the bribe to Lechia militia to keep them on Nowak's side - Tosh griping about giving it away and being an arsehole is just role playing.

My only concern with Ferro's suggestion is whether we have enough time for a four hour rest or whether it needs to be shorter to give us more time to get into position to set up the ambush. That's dependent on where the ambush is and whether we're walking or driving.

With regards to vehicles, I get that taking a vehicle or two makes moving the bribe easier (presuming that it's something bulky) and gives us a CASEVAC capability but I don't think that we have the manpower to guard the vehicles while the ambush is taking place and the presence of vehicles in the area will make the ambush harder to keep concealed. Once again this is rather dictated by the location of the ambush.

---

Fuse - are you ok at this stage to give us the details of the items recovered so far, including from all of the prisoners in the tunnel? That might help with some of the ammo issues you've outlined above.

I'm kind of in the same frame of mind as Tosh, with regard to the bribe, where it goes, and the ambush.  A quick look at what we were able to recover would be appreciated to see if I can pick any items I require, i.e. NOD's of my own, gas mask, etc..
[Private to Fusilier: Hank is also trying to get a sense or a feel for Ferro since he is the new guy here and doesn't think that she thinks very highly of him!  Maybe, a couple of comments that are against how Kessler would run an operation?]

For timings, I was trying to bridge something between those who want to act now and the need for rest. A 4 hour block makes things tight but not impossible and gives some rest. To me that's the best compromise.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:18, Thu 07 Apr 2022.

If we can pull it off with the rest period, I think we go for it.  Worst case, we set a hasty ambush site and go from there.

It's the only way to be sure...