Mariusz grinned to himself as the heavy machinegun chewed up the machine gun position. He looked at the belt and was aware that his enthusiastic burst had burned off about half of his ready ammunition. He traverssed the turret to search for more suitable targets, he thought it best to save the shots he had for big hits rather than waste them on targets that lesser guns could deal with. He hoped some of the others would mount up soon, maybe they could find him more ammo.

Mariusz
BTR
KPV 25/50
Scanning for more support weapons

Griet felt the others getting into position around her, she was relieved by that but wondered what could have happened to distract them for so long. She'd find out if she survived the fight, if not? Well, the answer didn't matter much then. She continued to spray rounds at the AGS position, still worried about the damage that the rapid firing HE weapon could do to them if it had a chance to fire.

She also worried about the hovercraft, sure that their new nemesis would play a role in their lives again in the none to distant future.

Griet
Port PKMG 125/200
Suppressive fire on the AGS position.

Dave looks over at Konrad "What's the plan, mon Kapitan?" he asks. Before the German can answer, Stoner says "Hold that thought", and rolls out to fire another HE grenade at the IPAT defenders. He stays exposed just long enough to watch where the round lands, then rolls back behind the APC. He looks at Konrad and raises his eyebrows, "You were saying?"

Dave
Firing grenade launcher
AK-74, 6 magazines
BG-15, 4 HE, 1 Illum
Aid Bag

"I want to get this thing moving!" he yells back to Stoner, hitting the hull with his fist. "I want Tucker* to drive! I am going to try to rally some of these men to follow behind, using the BTR as moving cover. We get them out of the open and up against the buildings where they have a chance at clearing them out in close combat. There isn't much room so he'll have to return to collect more men. Anything is better than staying here... I choose offensive action. We can't shoot it out in place."

*OOC - Tuck hasn't had a chance to reply yet but I am assuming he's got the skills to drive the BTR.

Mariusz's blast from the turret interrupts him, then, looking at the two men he yells, "Alright?" Pointing to a spot a few meters in front of the nearest Sando Militia, he says to the two men, "Throw a couple of smoke there."

Rising from his squatted position he waits for his companions to create the smoke cover and for the driver to get inside the BTR.

Once the smoke builds up, Bayer waves at the closest collection of Sando militia, "Up! Up! Get up!" he yells confidently with sharp chopping motions with his free hand to help illustrate his demands. Waving to the rear of the BTR he shouts orders at them, "Schnell! Bewegung schnell! Quickly! Here, behind the APC! NOW!" He's had to rally men in battle before, but unlike before, they are not German soldiers... men who knew and trusted him. These militia spoke another language and were being ordered by a German they've never seen before. He used every effort to sound confident - so that they could trust him to get them out of this alive.

OOC - This is probably too much for one action. I guess to make it work its Bayers action and intended action for next turn?

Bayer
G36/HK69
Behind BTR
Rally a section of militia to join him at the BTR

"No smoke, Boss. Best I can give you is some 40 mike-mike HE. You want to take the land-side and I'll take the river-side*?"

Dave reloads his grenade launcher, but doesn't fire.

OOC *- refering to the groups clustered on opposite sides of the road.

Dave
Firing grenade launcher
AK-74, 6 magazines
BG-15, 4 HE, 1 Illum
Aid Bag

"All right, all right!  I'll try and drive it.  You get everyone ready to move and I'll see what I can do!  Keep those fuckers off me so I can get in the APC," he says to Konrad and safes his M-16 as he gets ready to move into the damaged APC.

Tucker
Slung M-16A2/M-203
Getting ready to get into the APC and try and drive it...

OOC: Sorry for the delay...

Dawid looked at the ORMO, who shrugged, also in no hurry to play hero.

"Yes, yes! Of course!"

Looking at the other, dead, ORMO, Dawid said to take the legs while he took the arms. Together, they moved the body out of the way for the mean time.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:42, Sun 25 May 2008.

Quyen decides not to take the additional shots from the RPK74. Instead she lies as flat as possible against the deck of the Krolowa. Waiting to Jason to suppress the bunker with the DSHK she arcs her neck up and confirms the light machine gun is where she left it... sitting on the sandbagged wall, resting upright on its bipod.

He had forgotten his own HC smoke grenades in his pack on the Krolowa. Nodding he says, "Ok, HE." After a quick thought says, "I believe there is little room for cover running behind the BTR... I think we should take only one group at a time. Once at the buildings, I will then need you to help guide them."

OOC - No worries from me Tuck. I didn't mean that as criticism or anything negative.

Jason takes aim at the far shoreline machine gun bunker and, employing lessons learned during his recent crash-course gunnery experience, puts a 15 round burst directly into its aperture, silencing it. Whether he's hit the crew, the gun itself, or both is not clear. After several long seconds of furious noise and gut-wrenching terror from being at the center of the enemy gunner's attention, Dawid and Minh are somewhat taken aback by the sudden [relative] stillness that now surrounds them.

[Private to Jason Kasparov: I am going to award Jason +1XP to autogun for the fight against the hovercraft and another for rolling a natural 1 on a formidable shot with his last to hit. Way to go Jason!]

Milk, finding the foward, right PKM manned by the Sando Ormo liaison, decides to stay in the vicinity to direct and coordinate the Krolowa's forward fires. He hopes Anneka has things under control again aft. Griet has just burned through an entire 100 round belt, having severely pockmarked the upper facade of the riverside bunker with suppressive fire. Her wounded side is throbbing but her head is clear and her senses are sharp. The IPAT AGS team on the building's roof has so far been kept silent. It's possible that they've either been killed or wounded or perhaps the weapon's been repositioned.

On the ground, Konrad, shouting and gesticulating emphatically, attracts one of the Sando militia non-com's attention. The man, heartened by the slackening of incoming fire, responds by admonishing his men, three of whom break cover to dash behind the BTR. As Stoner looses another 40mm grenade at the IPAT positions, a handful of militia raise their heads long enough to provide semi-accurate cover fire. Tucker is preparing to move towards the BTR's entry hatch when an RPG round detonates about seven meters to the right of the APC, bursting in a large, orange fireball, shrapnel pinging against the metal hull*. Fortunately, no one is hurt by the near miss.

In the BTR's turret, Mariusz, pausing to scan for definite targets, sees the backblast of the RPG among some shrubbery just off the road ahead. He centers the weapon's cross-hairs over the spot and doses it with a burst of 14.5mm*. The shrubbery shreds and dirt flies but once again, due to the KPV's immense muzzle flash, it's not entirely clear if the target was actually hit.

Regardless, the balance of fire is now swinging rapidly in favor of the attackers.

Actions?

OOC: *Luckily Tuck paused just in time. I didn't have him enter the BTR yet since the presence of a nearby IPAT RPG team may influence his decision to do so. The RPG might be kaput but it might not. With about 200m between the ground team and the IPAT positions, a conventional infantry attack may also work.

Mariusz' throat went dry as he fired off the last of the ready ammunition. He might have hit the RPG, but he couldn't tell. Chances were he'd bought himself at least a few moment's grace, they would have at least ducked and decided to move.

He reached a decision, discretion was the better part of valour and he'd seen what Bear's rounds had done to APCs they'd ambushed. he wriggled out of the seat and readied his G3. He got next to the BTR door and dived out of it, hitting the ground as flat as he possible could.

Mariusz
G3 20/20
Exiting the BTR and hitting the deck, hard.

Griet sighed in relief as the HMG post fell silent, she still couldn't tell if she'd done any damage to the AGS crew but couldn't afford to give them the opportunity to rain HE onto the deck. She ignored her aching side and continued to fire, worried now about the glowing barrel of the gun.

Griet
Port PKMG 100/200
Suppressive fire on the assumed AGS position.

"Take that you son of a bitches!" Jason exclaims as the bunker groes silent. "Dawid , Minh your clear."

Jason then turns back to the shoreline, laying down a steady stream of fire.

Jason Kasparov
Dushka providing fire

"Mariusz!" Bayer yells from behind the BTR. "Cover fire! Where are you going?"

He grabs one of the Sando militia huddling with him and pulls him in close behind their cover. "Stoner, suppress that RPG!"

He pats Tuck on the shoulder several times, "Go. Go. We can't stop. Attack attack!" Bayer was well aware the threat the RPG posed to the BTR. But having spent the war in a mechanized company he was all about offensive and mobile action. The RPG could just as well kill them in place he figured.

Bayer
Encouraging Mariusz and Tucker to risk the BTR

Dave nods, and fires his ready loaded HE round at the clump of bushes shredded by the big machine gun. You bastard, he thinks. I HATE RPGs. A memory of an inflatable boat crammed full of camouflaged men going upriver on this same river flashes through his mind. A flash of light, a large explosion, being hurtled into the cold water. A machinegun and assault rifles set on full auto winking like fireflies in the night. Screams of wounded and dying men, closer than brothers.

A cold rage fills the combat medic. "Motherfucker!" he screams. After firing the grenade, he empties his AK into the clump of bushes for good measure.

Dave
Firing grenade launcher, then AK at RPG position
AK-74, 6 magazines
BG-15, 3 HE, 1 Illum
Aid Bag

Tucker burries his head as he feels the explosion of the RPG round that just went off near them.  He was just getting ready to move out and something must've snagged his MOLLE rig and prevented him from moving when he wanted, lucky for him it would seem!

Hearing the return fire and feeling Konrad patting him on the shoulder and yelling for him to go, Tucker is finally able to get himself moving towards the opening in which Mariusz had entered the BTR but, was now exiting from.

"GET THE FUCK BACK IN THE VEHCILE KID!" Tucker yells at him as he makes his way inside the APC and towards the driver's seat.  He slings his rifle and looks for the controls to start it up and get moving out.  "OK, Bobby think!  The shit's gotta be here in front of you somewhere!  Where's the start on this griggin' thing?" races through Tucker's mind as he hears rounds bouncing off the exterior of the APC.  He only hoped that the RPG that just shot at them had been taken out...

Tucker
Slung M-16A2/M-203
Inside BTR trying to start it

Quyen pops her head up taking advantage of the sudden lull in the incoming barrage of fire. Selecting the nearest target (or muzzle signature) within sight, she fires five single shots with the RPK-74. "Firing." she yells.

Quyen
RPK74
Next to mortar
Firing semi-auto 5 rounds at nearest target (using bipod)

Saying a silent prayer of thanks, Dawid climbed up the ladder. He checked to see if Minh was okay, and was relieved to see she was still alive and kicking.

Seating himself behind the gun, he intended to put a round of 82mm into each of the 2 remaining bunkers, quieted or not! Although supporting the attack was important, the safety of the Queen must come first.

"Minh, range the bunkers again, and that building we were taking fire from!"

82mm Vasilek (3/5 HE + 5 HE, 5 HEDP)
Firing 1 or more shots on the 2 bunkers. This will take a few turns at least. Also, if they are log or concrete bunkers he will switch to HEDP.

As Konrad rallies more of the ORMO troops, Stoner lets fly with another 40mm grenade at the smoke-enveloped shrubbery he suspects conceals the IPAT RPG team, observing with some satisfaction the round detonate close enough to its target to do some damage.

As Tucker makes a futile attempt* to start up the BTR, several tall white plumes sprout up somewhere between 100 to 200 meters up the road (near the town). Someone- it's not at all clear who- is laying down WP, either as cover for a hpoed-for Sando-ORMO attack or to screen an IPAT withdrawal. Either way, the timing is excellent for the ground team and their rallied, under-strength ORMO platoon-in-tow.

On board the tug, the team is having a hard time finding worthwhile targets to engage**. Incoming fire has all but dried up. Plumes of WP near the point where the main riverside road enters the town suggests a possible IPAT withdrawal. Several columns of darker smoke suggest fires burning within the town proper.

As Dawid cranks the handle to depress the Vasilek for direct fire, he notices a gouge on the barrel, about six inches from the mouth, presumably caused by a 12.7mm hit during the barrage that had pinned the mortar team down for nearly a full minute (for those under fire, it seemed like a quarter of an hour at least). The ding may be nothing but it may also indicate damage which could make firing the Vasilek potentially fatal to its crew and anyone else nearby.

Actions?

OOC: *Tuck has no skill in GV(W) so he fails to start the BTR. He does, however, have Autogun skill so he could man the KPV (20/50) & PKT (30/30) if he so decides.

**Griet and Jason are still blazing through ammo as per their last posts. This will be treated as suppressive fire. Minh will be able to provide aimed opportunity fire if discernible targets present themselves. Milk will help spot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:43, Fri 10 Apr 2009.

Having picked herself up off the deck and checked Hicks was once and forever dealt with, Anneka took a moment to assess the situation.

Obviously something nasty had occured on the aft deck and without even looking she knew the two ORMO she'd stationed there were either dead or close to it.
Burst after burst of both heavy and medium machinegun fire told her that at least somebody was still alive forward and as the tug hadn't been forced into a rapid withdrawal at Adams hands, she had to assume that all was still relatively well in the bow section.
"Shelldrake^*, this is Starlight," she called over the intercom as soon as somebody answered.
"Send SITREP, over."
There was a definate need to reallocate some of the crew to the aft weapons, but without an accurate idea of who was where and doing what, she could cause more problems than she solved.

Anneka
At Aft DShK/intercom/radio
Attempting to communicate with forward position
HP-35 (10) + 3 mags

^* Shelldrake = Artillery
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:40, Wed 28 May 2008.

"Possible gun damage to the barrel! I'll check it out!"

He got up and looked at the damage, to determine how bad it was, look for cracks and other obvious weaknesses.

On the plus side, these weapons were made Russian-tough, and a mortar was a relatively low-pressure weapons system as these things went. If the shot was from a shallow angle it would have skimmed off; even an oblique angle may not destroy the barrel integrity as steel possessed a certain amount of flexibility. Lastly, near the muzzle wouldn't be under nearly as much stress as closer to the breech, due to the characteristics of how shells were propelled, where the gas was expanding the fastest, and so on.

The worst that would happen is the barrel might burst near the muzzle, which wouldn't detonate the shell but spray the area with deadly shrapnel.

[Private to GM: I imagine it really would take an X-Ray to look for hairline cracks and so on. Well, see if he can tell anything, although I guess Metallurgy skill would help.]

Manning the RPK74 Quyen is unable to locate any new targets. Lowering the weapon she raises the binos and sights the buildings. Comparing the reticle patter with the buildings Dawid planned on hitting, she estimates the distance. "Left building range XXX meters... right building range... ahh... XXX meters." she calls over to him as he inspects the barrel.

Lowering the binos she says, "No enemy targets seen."

Bayer pauses, waiting for the BTR to lurch forward. When it fails to move or even start, he assumes the damage was too much. "Stoner! Lets go!" he yells, "Get these men moving! We go!"

Grabbing the webbing of the militia NCO he points towards the buildings ahead, "Go! Schnell! Attack Attack!" Figuring he is forced to lead by example to motivate these men onwards, he runs alongside the hull of the BTR pausing at the small side door. "Cover fire! We do frontal!" he yells in to Mariusz.

Bayer then will dash forward short distances before dropping and watching his front for targets which present themselves. If he sees an enemy he will fire semiauto matic (full 5 rounds). He'll also scream and use hand gestures to prod the militia forward, ensuring they don't bunch up or refuse to get back up to do another dash across the open ground.

During one such dash he calls into the radio, "Starlight, Sunray, attacking first line of buidlings, watch your fire!"

Bayer
G36/HK69 (HE)
Forward of BTR
Tactical movements towards the buildings/encouraging militia to follow
This message was last edited by the player at 16:46, Wed 28 May 2008.

Mariusz heard Bayer's call for covering fire and complied, lying flat on the floor, he aimed his G3 and began firing three round bursts at the sheltering IPAT troops, the shots had little hope of hitting anyone but he hoped that the heavy rounds clanging around their shelter would encourage them to stay down.

Mariusz
Scoped G3 20/20
Lying prone
Suppressive fire for the militia advance
[Private to Cap'n Rae: I know the firing of 3-round bursts isn't in the rules, but Mariusz isn't going to hit anything anyway. His aim is to keep people's heads down. I wouldn't bother rolling to see if he hits anything, just if he keeps a certain area suppressed and I'll take 15 rounds out of the mag next turn.]
This message was last edited by the player at 18:00, Wed 28 May 2008.

Griet continues to lay down suppressive fire on the AGS position, hot metal schorched the back of her hand where an errant shell casing dropped on it. Around her feet more casings rolled and tumbled, she'd have to do a lot of picking up after the firefight.

Griet
PKMG 75/200
Suppressive fire on the AGS position.