The place for out-of-character discussion.

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Did we ever decide on the civilian vs. military leadership for the team?  I have been toying with a couple of ideas for a civilian team leader but I know Dave was looking at a military officer PC.

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 2):

The idea, at present, is that the team is operating under the aegis of the Arkansas State Guard, which ultimately answers to the civilian governor. I've been deliberately vague about the hierarchy, OOB, and TOE of the guard, though, so that we have some flexibility in arranging these sorts of things. I believe that Dave has gen'ed up a preliminary team leader PC (ex-USAF, currently an officer of the ASG), so let's see what he has to say about this.

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Here's the link for my primary concept.

link to a message in another game

I'm more than happy to run that concept with a civilian team leader if Teg wants to go down that road. I  don't see that causing any challenges - presumably the civie would be in overall charge while Kirk would be more focused on the security aspects of the mission. In a nut shell, I'm keen to play that concept but she absolutely does not have to be the overall boss.

One thing though, she's a graduate of the USAF Academy and career AF officer so she wouldn't self identify as ex USAF now ASG. She would self identify as active duty USAF attached to the ASG for the duration of the current emergency. I realise that legally that may be a grey area but I figure that by this stage in the War lawyers wont be splitting hairs. In terms of the game I don't see it making any difference, particularly as this time round the Governor is not a jerk.

Okay.  I've been kicking around two concepts.  Which one I select will depend, in part, on how our mission is slanted (i.e., which candidate The Powers That Be would have tapped to lead such a mission).

If the mission is more infrastructure-focused, I'm looking at re-tooling the engineer concept I submitted for the New Mexico game.  Former Marine Corps combat engineer lieutenant who went back to school for civil engineering and went into the private sector.  At the time of the war, he was the city engineer for someplace that's now defunct due to a nuclear strike.

If the mission is focused more on continuity of government and re-establishing the rule of law, I'm thinking about someone who can represent the state in that respect.  I'll need to dig into Arkansas' criminal justice system a little more but I'm thinking a former district attorney or circuit court judge.  In either case, he'd now be operating under some sort of special commission from the state to give him statewide legal authority.

Addendum - going back to the Pharos thread, it looks like Spartan is leaning toward the engineer concept, so I can let that one go.

Other non-leader concepts I have floating around that would fill needed skill sets are:

Based on recent vacation experiences, the archetypal backwoods guide.  Primary mission role would be scout, with the terrain skills to get the team into and out of just about any area in Arkansas.

Public health physician.  Primary focus would be epidemiology, so this would not be a battlefield trauma specialist (mechanically, Medical focus would be Diagnosis).

I'm happy to find another secondary concept if you want a civil engineer as a primary.  So no worries there.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:41, Thu 05 July 2018.

I see the mission as being both, really- assisting local communities outside the state government's ZOC, in order to establish positive connections between said parties. It's about the state government trying to restore civilization with both carrot and stick. This could mean helping to repair a well or bridge, adjudicating a property dispute, delivering some mail, treating the sick or injured, or taking down a troublesome band of marauders- all of the above, really. I don't think that a PbP will work if its focus is on one or the other. Read on.

One thing to keep in mind as we discuss PC backgrounds, roles, and affiliations is PbP utility. I'd like this game to focus more on civil affairs than other T2K campaigns I've participated in, but I think we've all noticed how quickly lengthy non-combat episodes slow down PbPs, sometimes to the point of fatal entropy- even with this group. So, IMHO, a little action is a must.

In my vision for this campaign, the party will encounter various marauders. From time to time, combat is going to be inevitable. This doesn't mean that PCs can't be, technically-speaking, civilians, but it does mean that civie PCs should be  able, ready, and willing to fight when the time comes. A "pure" civilian character likely isn't going to last long where we're going.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 16:09, Thu 05 July 2018.

Are you thinking that these targets got nuked? Relatively speaking, they're both fairly small operations and it may be that, they won't be producing much in 5-10 years. If they were nuked, that adds to the problems that could be encountered in the AO. If they weren't, they're a potential prize for whoever can control them.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 16:08, Thu 05 July 2018.

Concur, and have you ever known me to build a PC without combat capability?  :)



I'm looking for potential alternative nuclear targets, as Blytheville AFB was closed in 1992.  Pine Bluff Arsenal doesn't have its chemical weapons stockpile, so it wouldn't be a particularly viable target.  Little Rock AFB is the C-130 training center but that's not really high-priority.  The only other sites I can find are Army Reserve and National Guard training facilities.

I'm tempted to ask for a nuke on Wal-Mart corporate headquarters as a target of high economic value.

Ah, thanks for catching that. I was unaware that Blytheville AFB was off the list. Well, El Dorado certainly fits the bill. Smackwater's pretty small though. So we could erase the bigger or the two and leave the smaller as a potential McGuffin.



Ha ha! Yes, please! I loathe WalMart. But, alas, I doubt it's worth a nuke.

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I've been toying with a career timeline for the physician concept.  He'd be former US Navy.  Finished med school and got his O-3 commission in 2007.  Served his internship at Naval Medical Hospital San Diego, then deployed to Helmand with the 24th MEU in 2008-2009.  He stayed with the 24th MEU through its Haiti earthquake relief deployment in 2010.  Went back to Afgahnistan in 2012-2013 as part of the PRT Kunar medical contingent, then finished out his service at Naval Medical Research Unit 6 in Peru.  At the time of the war, he was running the Arkansas Department of Health's Preparedness and Emergency Response Branch.  He's argued himself into a position with this team on the basis that it's pretty much what he did with PRT Kunar.

The engineer pitch is an Oklahoma City native who witnessed the Murrah Building bombing as a kid and grew up fascinated with explosions.  He wound up an Army combat engineer officer but got out as soon as he'd served his minimum service commitment because he was disgusted with the bureaucracy.  Trading one set of red tape for another, he went to grad school for civil engineering, got his PE, and eventually went on to earn a Ph.D from New Mexico Tech.

When the war broke out, he was running his own specialized engineering consulting firm in Little Rock and was a Pulaski County Sheriff's Office reserve deputy (mainly so they could use him for EOD and explosive breaching).  Realizing that shit was not going to be normal for a long time, he used his government connections to get all his surviving  employees hooked up with state jobs in the reconstruction effort, then started farming himself out to whatever project needed him.

Ok, with Teg interested in Civil Engineering, I'm updating Cole a bit to cover Agricultural Specialist/Drone Pilot (with enough Chemistry to keep the still and biodiesel processor working).

Cole Anderson grew up on his family’s farm, where he lived and worked until he was 20 years old.  Had it not been for a pest infestation of almost biblical proportions, Cole might not have ever seen a crop duster.  But after he did, Cole could think of almost nothing else.  He left home for Embry-Riddle and headed to Arizona, to pursue his new dream of flying.  After earning his Associates in Aeronautics and his single and multi-engine ratings, along with ‘aerial application’ certification, he returned home, bought a used Air Tractor, and started working for his family, along with nearby farms.  When the war broke out, the Department of Defense pulled the names of all licensed pilots from the FAA and Anderson was subsequently drafted into the USAF.  Following his abbreviated training, Anderson was sloted as a C-130 pilot, shuttling cargo to and from Little Rock AFB.  Cole spent most of war in the co-pilot seat of a Herc doing domestic logistics flights, with the 4 year degree holding Academy jocks dodging (or not) Vympels in the European theater.  Once the parts and fuel got low, Lieutenant Anderson soon found himself at lose ends and looking for something other than infantry duty....
This message was last edited by the player at 01:31, Fri 06 July 2018.

Don't drone me, bro!

@All - if everyone's okay with the engineer pitch, I'll start working him up as the civilian team leader, appointed by the Governor's Task Force on Recovery ("Reconstruction" having unfortunate connotations in the former Confederacy).

 Really hoping to carve some time tomorrow for Rpol.  Stay tuned!

The kids are upstairs playing.  Winning!

Right now I'm building up Saul and Carissa Noble as a father/daughter team ready to take on the South.  Saul will be a 53 year old Marine who enlisted out of high school, finished his first enlistment and joined the Memphis, TN police department, working on a degree in Psychology in his spare time.  He stayed active in the Marine Reserve working in the 4th Civil Affairs Group out of Florida, deployed several times to the Mideast and Afghanistan (and all the badness that came leading up to 2030).  Saul was promoted into the Warrant Officer track coinciding with his promotion to Detective in the Gang Unit in the police department and the awarding of his Master's Degree in Sociology.

In his spare time, Saul moved his family about forty miles northwest of Memphis into Arkansas, settling on a small ranch that his father left him.  Saul's heart was always on the Ranch and he raised his three daughters on the property with his wife, Eva.  Without any sons, Saul leaned hard on his daughters, teaching them to be strong, self-sufficient women.  Carissa to the lessons the most, learning to ride, shoot, survive, care for animals, and more.  She shadowed her father through the Memphis PD explorer program and from the time she was 16 attended shooting camps and competitions with him.  She was waiting on her Memphis PD academy slot to come through when the world went to shit.

Saul was 48 when the Blood Lord's bullet hit him in the hip.  It was a career ending .45 caliber slug that shattered a portion of his  right leg and pelvis, leaving the detective with a sizable limp.  The Corps kept him around a little longer, mainly due to his experience in dealing with hostile populations.  Starting around 2027, he retreated back to his farm to watch his wife die of breast cancer and one of his daughter's vanish into the San Diego nuclear fireball.  All in all, he's managed to stay pretty well with it.

When the governor of Arkansas started putting together a unit to go out and make contact, his name came up and he showed up with Carissa in tow.  His final daughter, Ora, stayed behind with her husband and three kids to keep the ranch from disappearing into the hands of marauders.

Saul's skill set will be pretty diverse, Charisma heavy with Persuasion and interrogation.  I'm guessing a whole lot points across many disciplines, master of none.  Except cop stuff.

Carissa, at 25, will be a pretty competent door-kicker with a ranch skill set as well.

In reply to keys138 (msg # 17):

Looks good, Keys. Did Clarissa get into the academy? It says she was on the wait list when the SHTF, but she's 25 when the campaign starts. If not, what was she up between 2026 and 2030? Working on the farm, maybe? I'm not finding fault, just curious.

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Yeah, I kinda figure dad kept her home to keep the family as safe and intact as possible.  Maybe interned with a veterinarian on the side.

In reply to keys138 (msg # 19):

Cool.

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Rashid West

American, Age 45 (born Oklahoma City, OK, 19 April 1985)

Callsign: Marvin

Armament: Applied Mathematics, LaRue PredatOBR, Beretta 1301 Tactical Marine, Glock 41 Gen4 MOS

Languages: English (native), Spanish (professional)

Key Skills: Civil Engineer, Combat Engineer, Leadership. Small Arms (Rifle)

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Bio:

Rashid West was born in 1985 in Oklahoma City.  Desperate to get out of the Midwest, he applied to dozens of colleges on both coasts - but the Naval Academy offered the best job security after graduation.  Getting to see the world from the deck of a ship seemed like a bonus, until Rashid's second semester, when he learned he was incurably susceptible to seasickness.  It was then that he decided he'd go for the Marine Corps.

Graduating Annapolis in 2007, Rashid was commissioned a second lieutenant and served four years as a combat engineer platoon leader and battalion staff officer.  Despite making first lieutenant in minimum time, he had little patience for the politicking required for a successful career in the Corps, so he resigned his commission in 2012 and entered grad school for civil engineering at Texas A&M.  He finished his master's in 2015 and landed a job with an engineering and demolition company based in Little Rock, where he earned his P.E. certification.  For the next decade, he worked on major infrastructure and architectural projects across the South and Southwest.  Along the way, he completed a doctorate in energetic materials engineering at New Mexico Tech and established his own specialty engineering and demolition consulting firm, Ph.D EOD LLC.

Looking for another personal project after his wife left him and he had free time on his hands, Rashid happened across the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office reserve deputy program.  He joined in 2022 and quickly gained a statewide reputation as a reliable consultant for explosive breaching, EOD, and related matters.  This ultimately kept the Marine Corps from recalling him when the war broke out - by the time a 40-year-old ex-lieutenant was needed, Rashid was working full-time to help maintain order in the capital city and across the state.

Rashid realized early that the world was not going to recover in his lifetime - but rapid intervention might arrest the downward slide above a 19th-century level.  He used his government connections to hook up all of his surviving employees with jobs in the Governor's Recovery Task Force, then started farming himself out to whatever projects needed his own skill set.  He was an early proponent of the outreach team concept, though he didn't expect to be appointed to lead one.

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Appearance:

Rashid stands 6'1" with a slim build that was just beginning to show the first traces of middle age before the bombs fell.  His close-cropped hair is starting to go gray at the temples.  Half a lifetime working with explosives has left surprisingly few marks on him: only a constellation of shrapnel scars across his right chest and upper arm testifies to his career.  More obvious is the surgical scarring from  work on both ACLs (torn, respectively, playing volleyball and jumping a fence in a foot pursuit).

In the field, Rashid typically wears lightweight cargo pants and expedition shirts, hiking boots, a LaRue Tactical giveaway hat with a Major League Doorkicker morale patch, and Oakley Flak 2.0 sunglasses.  He also wears a battle belt with his Glock and two spare magazines, radio, karambit, trauma kit, and either a spare magazine for his rifle or a shell carrier for his shotgun.  For a planned gunfight, he changes into ranger green Arc'teryx LEAF assault garb, a Velocity Systems Scarab plate carrier, and an Ops-Core FAST ballistic helmet.

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Personality:

Rashid naturally tends toward a high energy level and drive to be doing something.  He has never been patient by nature, but Annapolis and the Corps taught him to channel his twitchiness into meticulous planning, which is probably why he's still alive and mostly undamaged.  He has an engineer's drive for efficiency, though he's also learned how to apply social lubricant as needed to get through bureaucracies and other unpleasant interactions.

Casual observers are not aware that Rashid has a sense of humor.  He's naturally a smartass but learned at an early age to suppress it out of self-preservation.  Now it comes out as deadpan remarks deployed on a time-delay fuse that usually runs out several hours after the conversation.  If he's around close friends, he'll roll out his Warner Brothers voice impressions, including a pitch-perfect Marvin the Martian.

Prewar, Rashid's hobbies included volleyball (partly out of a contrarian desire to not be a tall black man playing basketball), IPSC 3-Gun competition shooting (with occasional forays into SASS), camping and hunting in the Ozarks with some of his employees from the area, maintaining his high-end professional wardrobe... and maintaining an "it's complicated" with his ex-wife Jeannette, a former Marine Cobra pilot who was flying for the Gulf oil industry.

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Contacts:

Academic, U.S.
Blue-Collar, U.S.
Government, allied
Government, U.S.
Law Enforcement, U.S.
White-Collar, U.S.
White-Collar, neutral/opposed

So is the idea to have two leaders, a military one (Dave's PC) and a civie one (Teg's)? I'm fine with that, for the record, but I want you guys to be fine with also. Otherwise, we're going to need to do some negotiating/adjusting.

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I think what Dave and I had tentatively worked out is that the mission will be under overall civilian authority with a military XO (similar to the way the PRTs were done in Iraq, as this mission is more similar to that than to the Afghanistan model).  Under certain trigger conditions, such as imminent or actual combat or an immediate military or law enforcement problem, command automagically devolves to the military XO.  I don't see us having trouble negotiating this but I agree it's best to get it all written down ahead of time.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Sat 07 July 2018.

That was where I thought we would be coming from at the outset but I'm not so sure that a military XO is really required now - I'm not really seeing where it's adding any unique skills.

I think the need is not so much in the skills on the character sheet as it is in the different authorities and command structures.  Ultimately, if (when) we run into a situation that looks like we need to stabilize an area with force, that's going to be a State Guard mission.  Far better to already have an officer on the team who can recognize that early and provide cogent military analysis to the follow-on forces that we may need to call in.

From a character perspective, Rashid's command experience is limited to one posting as an engineer platoon leader.  He has no idea how to organize and train a local militia or burn out a marauder infestation, and his tactical mindset at this point is much more a law enforcement one than a military one.  He's an engineer first, a small business CEO second, an adrenaline-seeking reserve law enforcement officer third, and a superannuated O-2 a distant fourth.  So he would ask for State Guard help.

I'm not sure that it would matter a whole lot whether it's a state gov't, state law enforcement, or State Guard operation as they're all closely interrelated. I mean, the SG is authorized by state law and answers to the governor (IIRC, he/she appoints its top CO). I assume state LE would be beholden to the state executive as well (attorney general?). I'd prefer not to have to deal with jurisdictional debates within the party. I'm still fine with co-commanders (one for civil affairs and one for tactical ops, as suggested, or some other arrangement), but a CO/XO arrangement might be simpler and cleaner.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 20:03, Sat 07 July 2018.

I'd prefer co commanders, with West having primacy in civil matters and Kirk having primacy in military matters. Where there's overlap I trust each of us to resolve it smoothly and seamlessly, whether that's IC or OOC.

Or, alternatively, West is team leader and Kirk is deputy team leader (but not XO. In practice it's effectively the same thing as a CO / XO relationship but better reflects the joint civil / military nature of the operation).

That would work equally well, yeah.

For PR purposes, I think something like this would require at least the appearance of a mixed civilian/military team under civilian controlling legal authority, reporting up to the elected executive (i.e., the governor).  Assuming the governor isn't an overwhelming dickbag, it's going to be important to demonstrate that the state has not fallen prey to the CivGov/MilGov split that afflicts the federal government, and that the military is still operating within traditional and constitutional limits of its independence.

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 28):

Ok, good. I think that's settled. Co-leaders.

Teg, while you were on vacay, I mentioned that I was thinking the governor would be a good guy (relatively speaking, at least) this campaign.

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This message was added to by the GM at 19:05, Sun 08 July 2018.

As it's been brought up, on a meta level my character's views of the split between Governments can best be described as follows

State Gov (i.e the Arkansas leadership) - happy to work with them (provided they are properly and legally elected, which I am presuming they are).

Mil Gov - the legitimate Government at the Federal level (there is a reference in the back story to her father being a three Star General who has a seat at the big Milgov table).

Civgov - treacherous bastards.

(I am assuming we are following the schism as it happened in the classic timeline, i.e. someone more or less appointed himself President.

I don't anticipate any of this causing issues for anyone ic although there's the chance for some drama if we happen to run into any Civgov forces.

OK, when y'all are satisfied with your character/s, go ahead and post them in the Personnel thread. There's no rush, but I'd like to keep things moving in the right direction.

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In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 31):

I'm considering some tweaks to mine. I thought that giving her a chequered past was adding something but now I'm not so sure, particularly in a game where actions affect other characters. It's maybe something that would fit better in a piece of fiction where there's more control. Or maybe not. I'm undecided.

I might also switch to Army rather than AF given that Rae has the 197th Infantry Brigade in Memphis. My thought process is that it's not unreasonable that the 197th would detach 'advisors' to advise the ASG. Again, I'm undecided.

Another option is to keep the chequered past but have it happen in Memphis, so it may not be common knowledge in Arkansas. In which case she may have been voluntold that she's being put on TDY to the ASG. That sounds to me to be fairly plausible (in the original draft, which was intended for New Mexico she sort of got kicked from one unit to another until she ended up in Albuquerque. I think that kind of worked with the set up of the New Mexico Defence Force with the asshole Governor, but I'm feeling like it's not transferring to this environment too well).

Thoughts are welcome.

I think it works well as a character's internal motivation and backstory.  If it's going to be a good writing prompt for you, I say keep it.  The idea of the original incident having occurred out of state keeps every citizen interaction from becoming a "hey, don't I recognize you from the newspapers?" sort of thing.

For my own part, I'm flailing with getting into West's head.  He, too, was originally written for the New Mexico game (not as a team leader) and I don't know how well the backstory adapts to this game.  I still think an operation like this would need a civilian leader/co-leader for political and legal reasons but I don't know if he's the right guy for it.  I'm back to fiddling with the idea of a former district attorney who, while competent, got the job mainly because someone in the governor's administration knows and trusts (or owes) him.  Mechanically, though, the concern is not overlapping too much with Keys' civil affairs specialist.

Take your time, fellas. I'd rather we slow down and make sure we're happy with our characters that push forward too quickly and find that we don't relate to them. Not liking one's own character means being unmotivated to write for him/her, which doesn't bode well for the longevity of the campaign.

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Concur.

How about a FEMA official as team lead? Or Homeland Security? Or the State equivalent?

https://www.adem.arkansas.gov/

As for mechanical overlap, I think that's essentially the same challenge I had with West / Kirk, but as you said yesterday there are other ways of looking at it.

I'd keep it State, just to avoid potential MilGov/CivGov drama.

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Given my day job, I was trying to avoid going to that exact place, even if it would be a case of "write what you know."  :)  It is, however, logical for ADEM to be the lead agency for long-term recovery because they would be best-positioned to coordinate it.  They would probably be running the civilian side of the overall project, coordinating very closely (through the state emergency operations center) with the State Guard and any remaining elements of the National Guard.

So... from a team perspective, our reporting chains would most likely run to our respective parent organizations, but with a dotted line to the state EOC, and we would request additional resources or follow-on teams from said EOC.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Sun 08 July 2018.

Scott Guillory

Call Sign: Sexton

Age: 47 (born January 8th, 1983, Pine Bluff, AR)

Languages: English (native), Spanish (basic), Haitian Creole (pidgin)

Key Skills: Leadership, Persuasion, Scrounging, Small Arms

Key Gear: notebook, radio, expensive 3-Gun competition firearms finally getting real use

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Profile:

After the second shot of whiskey, C. Scott Guillory (the "C" is for "Chase," which he abhors) occasionally describes himself as the dwarf hidden in Governor Steve Ralford's chariot, whispering that the emperor, too, is mortal.  The truth is a bit more complex than that, but the two men have been close friends (some would say co-conspirators) since they met at high school baseball tryouts.  They attended UARK together, hiked and hunted across the Ozarks together, and aided and abetted each other's careers - Ralford in the Marines and later in law and politics, Scott in law enforcement before his election as Sixth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney.

During Ralford's 2022 run for governor, Scott was instrumental in keeping the campaign organized behind the scenes.  This set the precedent for his ambiguous position in the Ralford administration.  On paper, he was the governor's deputy chief of staff.  The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's editorial staff described him as "fixer" when they were feeling charitable and "hatchetman" when they took offense to his handling of a major issue.  Many of his tasks involved working with local cops and prosecutors and the state auditor's office to bring Ralford's anti-corruption platform to fruition.  Little Rock political operators also realized Scott was one of only two people to whom the governor had to listen - and he was marginally more accessible than the first lady.

After the 2027 nuclear strikes, Scott disappeared from public view for more than a year.  He resurfaced in early 2029 sporting a couple of mostly-healed bullet wounds and a small entourage of cops and National Guardsmen from Arkansas and Louisiana.  Upon his return to Little Rock, he slotted into place as the governor's usual representative in the state emergency operations center, giving Radford one unbiased source of information on the condition of his state (or at least one with known and trusted biases).

In light of his history, outside observers find it surprising that Scott is the civilian co-leader of one of the recovery outreach teams rather than the overall chair of the Governor's Recovery Task Force.  More experienced analysts are aware that Scott has never been content to sit in an office when he could be in the field.  Since 2029, he's seemed to be looking for something in reports coming in from across the state and what's left of the country.

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Appearance:

Scott is a Mark One Model Zero dark-haired, dark-eyed, middle-aged white guy in mostly-decent shape, slimmer than he was a few years ago thanks to the post-apocalyptic weight-loss plan.  In a crowd, there's nothing remarkable about him.  He's missing the tip of his right ear, there's a bullet crease scar along the inside of his left bicep, and his sixth and seventh ribs show the remains of an entry wound and subsequent surgery, but none of those are particularly noteworthy in 2030.

Fierce self-discipline and a need to be taken seriously outside Arkansas eradicated Scott's southern/Ozark accent long ago.  He speaks in generic Middle American television diction with occasional small-town figures of speech and creative profanity calculated for shock value.  His well-honed poker face still carries a faint tinge of street cop professional detachment.

Before the war, Scott's self-assigned uniform was a charcoal gray suit.  The quality increased commensurately with his career trajectory, as did the selection of neckties, but the basic theme remained the same.  In the field, he's switched to lightweight cargo pants and expedition shirts, hiking boots, an Arc'teryx BAC hat with a subdued Razorbacks morale patch, and Oakley Flak 2.0 sunglasses.  He also wears a battle belt with his sidearm and two magazines, radio, karambit, trauma kit, a smoke grenade, two pencil flares, and either a spare magazine for his rifle or a shell carrier for his shotgun.  For a planned gunfight, he changes into secondhand ASP olive drab BDUs, a Velocity Systems Scarab plate carrier, and an Ops-Core FAST ballistic helmet.  When there's vehicle support, though, he still travels with one gray suit in a cleaner's bag - just in case.
This message was last updated by the player at 01:41, Thu 12 July 2018.

Big thanks to Spartan for working up the team vehicles. I like what we've got, wheels-wise, but I'm a little worried that between mechanic's tools, construction tools, any demo (do we have anyone who can handle demo?), extra fuel, food, ammo, etc. boxes of snail mail, medical supplies, and possibly a still, maybe a little more cargo space might be needed. The trailer for CCUV was supposed to answer this, but a related concern is that the trailer will reduce the CCUV's speed and maneuverability.

Maybe an FMTV or something similar?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...um_Tactical_Vehicles

Not necessarily as substitution, but as an addition to the convoy?

Both of the current NPCs are intended to serve as drivers, either primary or secondary. That covers two of our current vehicle roster of three. Is anyone else planning on taking the wheel- maybe not full time, but part time? Obviously, if we add another vehicle, we'll need a fourth driver.

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My preference has always been not to make the convoy too large, partly because a smaller team with relatively limited resources fits better with my idea of the T2K game world and partly because I think a smaller party will be easier to manage, so I’m quite happy with just the three vehicles – by my count we’ve still got over a metric ton of spare cargo capacity, split roughly equally between the JLTV, the CUCV, and the trailer. I take your point about the trailer restricting the CUCV’s mobility but imho a five ton truck is going to be equally restricting (and at least the trailer can be unhitched if it has to be).

And to answer your question, I have no plans to make driving a key skill area for any potential PC. :)

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 41):

Tori drove a highway patrol cruiser for a few years before becoming a detective, so I'm happy for her to operate Excessive Force.

PS: The M1102 shouldn't restrict mobility too much.  Here's Paul's write-up of this trailer family.

High-Mobility Trailer (HMT)

Notes: Specifically designed for use with the HMMWV, this trailer may also be towed by virtually any vehicle of comparable size. It replaced the M-101 in US service starting in 1997. Three versions of the HMT exist: the M-1101 HTM-L, the M-1102 HTM-H, and the M-1103 HMT-HC. The three trailers have in common riveted construction of high-strength aluminum, a heavy-duty off-road suspension, the same wheels and tires as the HMMWV on a one-axle, two-wheel suspension, hydraulic surge brakes with automatic breakaway activation, a retractable support on the adjustable towbar, and two adjustable support legs at the rear. The HTM-L (Light) is designed for lightweight cargoes; the primary difference between it and the HTM-H (Heavy) is the beefier suspension on the HTM-H. Both may be provided with bows and a canvas cover, and they are designed not to impede the capabilities of the HMMWV. The HTM-HC is a basic chassis with a ladder-type frame; this frame may mount many sorts of tank bodies, shelter bodies, generators, searchlights, ammunition, communications setups, etc. The statistics below are for the basic frame and chassis.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:13, Mon 09 July 2018.

OK, as long as you guys don't think cargo space/carrying capacity will be an issue. I worry too much, sometimes.

So, for primary drivers, were looking at:

Rios (EF)
Skillins (RB)
Watkins (AH)

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This message was last edited by the GM at 16:09, Mon 09 July 2018.

Okay, my two are up.  Saul is meant to be more my primary with Carissa taking care to make sure I can play in the shooting matches.  She can also serve as a backup driver if necessary, but she's not amazing at it (AGL + Skill = 10).

If they need tweaking, let me know and I'll be happy to turn down or turn up aspects as needed.

Also, Rae can you bring up a second character selection for me?  I'll post up their skills and profiles then.

Thanks!

OK, this is a modified version of what I was originally planning, with some parts staying in but other parts out and some major background changes. I think most importantly for me, I've resolved the question of what motivated her to go for a military career in the first place. It is still a draft, so comments are welcome. I'll try and finalise it by Wednesday (I'm out tomorrow). Would have probably got it done today but I got a Microsoft 10 mandatory update that took two and a half hours. The name is a placeholder (I didn't think of the similarity in names with Carissa until a minute ago).

---

Charisse Okamoto

Name: Charisse Okamoto
Age: 31 (born Honolulu, Hawaii, May 1999)
Rank: Captain, United States Air Force
AFSOC: 31PX (Security Forces)
Languages spoken: English (Native speaker), Japanese (Native speaker), German (Basic)
Primary Weapon: M4A1 Carbine w/ M68CCO
Secondary Weapon: M17 Automatic Pistol (military designation for SiG Sauer P320)
Melee Weapon: Gerber StrongArm Knife (in the absence of a kendo stick).

Callsign: Nisei

Skills
Expert (12+): Navigation, Observation, Small Arms (Rifle)
Advanced (10+): Armed Martial Arts, Forward Observer, Grenade Launcher, Scrounging, Survival, Unarmed Martial Arts
Professional (8+): Autogun, Climbing, Computer, Ground Vehicle (Wheeled), Instruction, Leadership, Medical (Trauma Aid), Parachute, Persuasion, Scuba, Small Watercraft, Stealth, Swimming, Thrown Weapon, Tracking
Competent (6+): Meteorology, Pilot (Rotary Wing)

Appearance

Charisse Okamoto stands five feet seven inches tall, with dark hair that falls to her shoulder blades when she lets it down but is usually worn pulled back into a tight bun. She is usually attired in Airman Combat Uniform fatigues in the Operational Camouflage Pattern, OCP aka multicam, camo pattern, over which she wears an OCP Soldier Plate Carrier System vest which has the usual assortment of pouches attached. In non combat situations she will frequently replace her Enhanced Combat Helmet with either an OCP boonie cap or no headgear at all, while her brown eyes will be hidden behind a pair of gold rimmed Ray ban aviators.

Her fatigues bear a full color U.S. flag on the upper left sleeve as well as a nametape with the words U.S. AIR FORCE over her left breast pocket and second nametape with her surname over the right. Rank insignia is worn on both of her collar points. Out of uniform she'll favour casual civilian dress, usually jeans or, in low threat situations and the heat of an Arkansas summer, cargo shorts, and a hooded top, while she'll occasionally be seen in a blue Air Force Falcons tee shirt (she was a member of the women's soccer team at the AF Academy).

Background

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1999, Charisse Okamoto's decision to follow a military career came as something of a surprise - and perhaps a disappointment - to her  father, a Surgeon who had hoped that his daughter would follow in his footsteps. Rather than going to medical school Charisse secured a place at the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, obtaining a Congressional nomination from Hawaii's junior Senator, who regularly played golf with her father.

She was determined to do well at the Academy, throwing herself into every aspect of it, realized that as a girl in what was primarily a boys' club she had to give as good as she got. Graduating from the Academy in the class of 2020 with a Bachelor's Degree in History, she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to the 86th Security Forces Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Routine promotion to First Lieutenant followed in due course, and in 2024 Charisse was accepted for training as a Combat Rescue Officer (CRO).  She completed the initial phases of the training - Army Airborne School, Combat Diver School, basic and advanced SERE - but dropped out midway through the actual seventeen week CRO course itself, something that she did not take well at all.

When the shit hit the fan Charisse was a newly promoted Captain, serving with the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. She was still at Barksdale when the War started, watched the BUFF's take to the skies once the nuclear genie had slipped out of the bottle. When lack of fuel grounded the last remaining B52's she initially found herself taking part in various operations aimed at maintaining law and order and providing humanitarian aid in north western Louisiana, until the Mexican led Allianza crossed the border and drove north.

As Allianza forces approached the Texas / Louisiana State line Charisse was part of an ad hoc American force that had been flung together to try and halt the invaders. The fighting was bloody, brutal, with Mexican columns making it as far as Barksdale itself, causing heavy damage before they were repelled. Charisse was in command of a provisional Company that consisted mainly of surplus support and maintenance personnel from Barksdale and Louisiana State and local law enforcement officers, and her unit was hit hard, almost overrun. After it was over it was suggested in some quarters that she had been reckless, had pushed too far forward, allowed her unit to become almost surrounded by the invaders. A few people went as far as to say it was only through good fortune that the whole Company hadn't been wiped out. Some of the surviving Louisiana State Police troopers were particularly scathing of her afterwards, and, as is the nature of such things, various versions of Charisse's role in what has become known as 'the Battle of Barksdale' are in circulation, most of which have been through various stages of embellishment.

Shortly afterwards Barksdale - or at least what was left of it after the fighting - was evacuated, with the Air Force blowing up anything they could not take with them. One column headed for Texas to reinforce the American forces fighting the Allianza there, while another, smaller, column went north, eventually ending up at Little Rock AFB in Arkansas. Charisse was in the latter group, and, along with other Air Force personnel at Little Rock, soon found herself engaged in operations supporting the Arkansas State Guard.

Contacts
TBC

It looks like Carissa has a modicum of medical skill, but we still need a proper medic- for the team and for winning hearts-and-minds. Everyone but Teg is already playing two PCs and I'd rather nobody take on a third. No pressure Teg, but any interest in gen'ing up a medic secondary? If you'd rather not, I totally understand. I don't want anyone to be overextended. I've got a couple of medic concepts rattling around in my head so, if necessary, a new NPC can take the job.

-

Let me think on it.  I'm still finalizing my thoughts on Scott.

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 48):

Thanks, Teg. Again, if you have any doubts, it's probably best to stick with one PC. I just wanted to put the call out there, just in case.

A few years ago, my wife Michelle- also in public education- visited a school district in NW Arkansas to take a look at their instructional model in action. When she got back, she told me that Springdale, Arkansas has the biggest Marshallese Islander population in the CONUS. Considering the setting we chose, and this little tidbit, I really wanted to run a Marshallese NPC and, since Spartan snagged the autogunner slot, and the medic slot is still up-in-the-air, I wrote him as a utility character. He can cook (good for hearts and minds), drive (backup), and fight a little- the type of character we won't feel bad about leaving to babysit the vehicles when need be. What do you think? Is he not useful enough?


Age: 23
Rank: E-4, Arkansas State Guard
Languages Spoken: Marshallese, English, a bit of Spanish
Primary Weapon: M4 Carbine
Secondary Weapon: M9 Pistol

Jackson Kabua was born to young, immigrant parents, Marshall Islanders lured to U.S.A. by the Tyson Food Corporation with the promise of steady work and a path to full U.S. citizenship. They joined the largest Marshallese community in the continental United States, located in Springdale, Arkansas. Jackson grew up in company-owned trailer park, surrounded by a large extended family (expanded further by chain-migration). Like many in his tight-knit immigrant community, Jackson struggled in school, his only enduring interest in academics being a CTE culinary arts class he enrolled in during his sophomore year of high school.

After over a decade working on the killing floor at a Tyson processing plant, Jackson's father decided that he'd had enough of poultry. He hadn't found the American Dream in Springdale, so he decided to venture out and look for it elsewhere. With his meager savings and a little help from the community, he bought an old food truck and moved the family to Little Rock (Jackson had just turned sixteen). It took about a year, but the Kabua family's Marshallese-Mexican Fusion proved exceptionally popular with the neo-yuppies in Little Rock's business district (so much so, that his father eventually was able to buy a brick-and-mortar restaurant downtown). When not barely avoiding flunking out of school, young Jackson spent nearly all of his waking hours behind the gridle, or behind the wheel, of 'Kabua's Fast Island Cuisine'.

When WWIII came, Jackson couldn't avoid the draft. He was swept up by the Army, for which he became a 92G (Food Service Specialist). After abbreviated basic and Advanced Individual Training (as a cook), PFC Jackson was shipped to the ETO where he spent most of his tour cooking for the men and women of the 5th Infantry Division. On one particularly desperate occasion, during a Russian Federation breakthrough, now-Specialist Jackson was put into an ad-hoc rifle company made up of cooks, clerks, and assorted REMFs and thrown into the breach. In the ensuing week-long battle to escape the Kalisz Pocket, Jackson took over a M240 machinegun from its fallen A-Gunner, wielding it to good effect. Later, during a BM-30 Smerch rocket strike, Jackson was seriously wounded, requiring evacuation to Germany and thence to the U.S.A.- little did anyone know at the time that it would be one of the last medevac flights back to the States. After a lengthy and painful rehab and convalescence, Jackson headed to Little Rock on administrative leave*. Technically, Jackson is a deserter, having made no effort to return to his posting after the lights went out. The Arkansas State Guard, desperate for experienced manpower, decided to overlook this little, inconvenient detail.

Appearance: Vaguely Asian (to the unaccustomed eye) in physical appearance, Jackson has dark skin and thick, black wavy hair. In the field, he wears the same standard-issue OCP ACU that he went AWOL in.

Personality: Jackson is fairly quiet and easy going, but he becomes animated and outgoing when he works with food. He wants to protect his family and he figures that the ASG will give him the best platform with which to do so. Jackson was largely unaffected by his brief but intense experience of combat- in fact, during the fighting, he was quickly able to overcome his fear, displaying a bravery for which he was awarded a Bronze Star.

Skills:
Expert (12+):  Ground Vehicle (Wheeled), Culinary Arts
Advanced (10+): Scrounging, Survival, Swimming
Professional (8+): Autogun, Navigation, Computers, UMA, Small Arms (Rifle)
Competent (6+): Spanish, Thrown Weapon



*Does anyone know what it's called when the military doesn't know what to do with someone who's been seriously wounded, so they don't discharge them, but they don't recall them to active duty either?

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This message was last edited by the GM at 17:38, Tue 10 July 2018.

Seems like a good addition to me.

Food is morale.

lol, I'm not overweight, I've just been enjoying good morale for a sustained period!

So...the one thing we always forget about until it’s too late.

Are we taking a dog? Maybe a police working dog?

I added a line about Jackson Kabua taking over a GPMG during the battle to escape the Kalisz Pocket, to justify putting some SP into autogun- the idea behind this being to have a backup gunner to Cole Anderson, or someone to take over on the .50 if/when Cole dismounts with his SAW.

I'm thinking that the party will have been dispatched after the tail end of a hurricane blows through southern Arkansas. It wasn't devastating (to AR, at least), so the teams' mission doesn't become disaster relief or reconstruction, but it explains why Little Rock hasn't heard from some of its southernmost outposts in a while, and it acts as a catalyst for additional adventure scenarios. The civil affairs mission hasn't changed, but it gives the state gov't more of a reason to dispatch such an experienced, well-equipped team to the southern half of the state, when New America is a growing threat in the Ozark uplands of the north.

It's not too late to tweak a PC to include a working dog. Really, it's not too late for any minor (or major) PC tweaks. I want y'all to be happy with your PCs before we get IC.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 22:00, Tue 10 July 2018.

 Going to tweak Carissa a little to get a back up medic for the team.  Say bye-bye to veterinary skills :)

If she has the veterinary skill, she can take care of the dog.

In reply to Tegyrius (msg # 56):

Turns out she has both, although now she's better with humans than pups.  I had to do some tweaking, but it will round out the character and the team a little better I think.

I have to gear shop, but after that I think I’ll be good to go.

Rae, are you cool with, say 1/2 a doc’s med kit and 1/2 a vet kit for Carissa?  As secondary medic I figure she should have something. I’m negotiable to surgery tools...

Do we have a mechanic and/or a civil engineer on the team currently?  Spartan, I know you were looking at an engineer concept initially...

@Keys: I'm cool with that. I'm guessing there's quite a bit of overlap when it comes to basic medical kit stuff- syringes, suture needles, scalpel, stethoscope, etc.

@Teg: NPC Duane Skillins is a skilled automotive mechanic.

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I’ve got a 2/9 going for mechanic, but that dog just barely hunts.

Sorry, trying my country colloquialisms out.

Okay.  Sooo... other than primary doc and civil engineer, do we have any other glaring skill holes?

Rae, go ahead and set me up as Scott for my primary PC, please.  I am still undecided on the commitment of a secondary but I'm happy with his general concept and bio as my main.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:51, Wed 11 July 2018.

It is done, Teg.

What would y'all like your little ASDF task force (is there a better technical term? Civil Affairs Team, perhaps?) to be called?

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How much press coverage are we getting?  If we're setting out without fanfare, there might not be much of an official name.

When it comes to press coverage, at one point I considered a journalist as a second pc. It has long been on my bucket list to play a journalist in a T2K game and I figured there could probably be a case made for the Governor wanting to document the trip as an exercise in spin / PR / whatever you want to call it. In the end I shelved the idea though.

Re a name I can see some validity in having something vague that doesn’t necessarily reflect our actual purpose on the grounds of OPSEC. But I can’t think of anything snappy and original.

Rae, can we add some non lethal munitions to party stores? I’m thinking some CS rounds for the M79 and maybe some pepper spray?

Small arms ammo, food, water purification, battery chargers/power inverters, lethal and less-lethal hand grenades, field hygiene supplies.

FYI, Scott is bringing more guns than he should. Usual duty rig is a suppressed AR and a 10mm Glock (his backwoods bear gun) but he also has a shotgun, a hunting rifle in 7mm-08, and a barbecue gun.

I am toying with a history for a civilian epidemiologist who can function as primary doc on the trip.  Building around EDU 8/Med (Diagnosis) 8 so there's still decent numbers in the secondary cascades.

Re press coverage. I'm not sure what state media would be in c.2030. Would there be radio? Perhaps, but wouldn't EMP and shortages of electricity and batteries limit its reach (in terms of households who could listen)? As for newspapers, I can't see there being much newsprint paper being available, and then again you need power to print them (unless you have access to an old steam or manual-powered printing press, and then low volume is an issue) and fuel to move them around. What kind of free press would there be? So, I don't know if sending along a journalist would be a priority for the governor. That said, if you really want to play one, I don't see why not- but it would be more of an RP'ing thing than a practical one (which is fine).

Re team gear, first, you might want to check the vehicle entries because Spartan did include some there. If you don't see it, submit a list and we can add that stuff to the load (within reason). I'm fine with some CS rounds for the Blooper. As for pepper spray, I see that as more of a personal load item so, if your PC would likely have access to and carry it, then please add it to your char-sheet (USAF MP Chevelle Watkins, for example, would likely have some).

Re team name, I just want to have something else to call the group- other than the team, the unit, the party, the group- in my narrative posts. Plus I think it helps a bit to build unit identity.

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I could see a couple of workable angles for a journo. Being a politician maybe the Governor is thinking ahead, either long term to his legacy or middle term to a point where having a record of the good work that he did to rebuild his State and provide the articles of Government to his people might be of some sort of political benefit to him. Basically, what I’m getting at is that there may still be a place for political spin, and while there may be no conventional media outlets (or twitter, etc) there re still ways to get that message out. If there are computers and printers leaflets can be produced, with digital cameras photos can be added showing the Governor’s teams building bridges (literally as well as metaphorically).

The other angle, which I’ve considered before, Is that the journo’s motives are relatively altruistic and he / she’s primary objective is along the lines of recording things for posterity – sort of ‘let’s record this for future generations so that they don’t make the same mistakes we do’. That approach tends to make the journo a free loader so to speak, along for the ride, but I’ve always thought that  there are ways that they can contribute to the team, e.g. as a driver, a face character, even a back up medic. Or a translator in a European campaign.

It’s not something that I plan to follow up on here though so it’s kind of moot.

I was thinking about a Little Rock based paramedic - they have this thing called a STAR Team which might make a good background for combining combat and medical skills.

http://www.metroems.org/index....8-20-32-29/star-team

Let me know what you decide on - with Keys already having a back up medic we don't need three so if you're going with your guy I'll park the idea.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 19:00, Thu 12 July 2018.

@ALL: When picking skills, the way I've always interpreted Autogun v. SA(R) is that the former is required for belt-fed, sustained fire weapons like the M249, GPMG, or M2HB, whereas SA(R) is used for assault/battle rifles, even if they can are full-auto capable. Considering the setting, and seeing as the team only has two belt-fed weapons, and that one of them is a PC's primary personal weapon, I wouldn't [essentially] waste SP on Autogun unless it's something that you really want/think your PC should have.

Also @ALL: So far, party composition looks like:

Player Characters:
Civilian TL (Law Enforcement): Scott Guillory
Military TL (USAF/ASDF): Lauren Cao
Law Enforcement; Driver (EF): Victoria Rios
Machine-gunner/grenadier: Cole Anderson
Law Enforcement: Saul Noble
Backup medic w/ some vet skill: Carissa Noble

NPCs:
Driver/MP: Chevelle Watkins
Driver/auto mechanic: Duane Skillins
Cook/backup driver/B-gunner: Jackson Kabua

So, at present, I think the only holes are a primary medic and an engineering type. Teg and Dave are negotiating the medic, and an engineer isn't an absolute must, but that's what we've got and where there's still some need.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 20:40, Thu 12 July 2018.

I can move a few points around on Saul and get him a Civil Engineer of 4/11.  I guess we can assume he was modernizing the shit out of the ranch.

Edit: Done.  Although I can move stuff back if need be
This message was last edited by the player at 20:54, Thu 12 July 2018.

I can do an engineer as a secondary if Dave thinks he would enjoy running a medic. I've done medical before but I haven't run an engineer in a T2k game yet.

OK, this is a rough draft. Nowhere near done but hopefully gives you an ideas of what I have in mind. It is a slight retread - essentially the background is totally different but the personality would be the same.

---

Mike Carswell

Age: 35 (Born Little Rock, AR, June 1995)
Rank:
Languages spoken: English (Native speaker), Spanish (basic)
Primary Weapon:
Secondary Weapon:

Skills
Expert (12+):  Medical (Trauma Aid)
Advanced (10+): Biology, , Ground Vehicle (Wheeled), Medical (Diagnosis), Medical (Surgery), Small Arms (Rifle), Small Watercraft, Swimming, Unarmed Martial Arts
Professional (8+): Armed Martial Arts, Autogun, Chemistry, Climbing, Computer, Electronics, Grenade Launcher, Intrusion, Leadership, Navigation, Observation, Persuasion, Scrounging, , Stealth, Survival, Thrown Weapon
Competent (6+): Forgery, Ground Vehicle (Motorcycle), Ground Vehicle (Tracked), Interrogation

Background

After leaving school with his GED, Mike Carswell spent a couple of years drifting from one job to the next. Realizing that he didn't want to work in retail or an office he briefly considered enlisting in the military - specifically the Navy - before applying for a place at the MEMS (Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services, the Little Rock EMS service) Rookie School, following which he qualified as an EMT.

Mike spent two years as an EMT before qualifying as a Paramedic in 2019. He got a buzz out of his job. On the good days he was saving lives, making a difference.  Although there were bad days too. That came with the job. He met Luisa in 2020. She worked for Stephens Inc, a Little Rock based independent financial services firm. They got married the following year.

In 2024 Mike was looking for a new challenge, and successfully applied for a place on the MEMS STAR (Special Tactics Advanced Response) team. Sworn in as a Law Enforcement Officer, he was part of a small team that provided medical support to Federal, State, and local LE agencies tasked with high risk operations throughout the State of Arkansas. He also managed to get himself a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from UA Little Rock.

Things with Luisa were on the rocks though. She and Mike divorced in 2025. He hooked up with Gabby shortly afterwards (Luisa wrongly thought that Mike and Gabby had been sleeping together while she and Mike were still married). Gabby was a cop with Little Rock PD. Things were different with her. They got each other, could talk about the stuff that happened during a shift. The bad stuff.

Then the War started. Mike expected to get drafted but wasn't. "Essential occupation", some shit like that. When the nukes started flying things went to Hell real quick. Still are. When the Governor set up his Recovery Task Force Mike volunteered. So did Gabby. They're still together, although they're on different teams. Oh, and Luisa works in the Governor's office now.

Nice to see a friendly face.

It's probably occurred to y'all as well, but, due to their various associations with AR law enforcement, Rios, Guillory, and Carswell (assuming Dave and Teg are happy with this arrangement) might know one another, or, at least, know of one another. Saul Noble, maybe too (interstate task force?).

Also, as USAF personnel at Little Rock AFB, Cao, Anderson, and Watkins might be acquainted as well. Obviously, none of these connections need account for any of your respective PC's contacts.

-

I had figured Scott definitely knew Tori.  Mike is a likely prewar connection as well.

Xandra Murray

Call Sign: Moray

Age: 32 (born 19 May 1998, Houston, TX)

Languages: English (native), Spanish (bar dialogue)

Key Skills: Civil Engineer, Combat Engineer, Scuba, Small Watercraft

Key Gear: applied mathematics, mechanical advantage, commercial explosives

---

Profile:

Alexandra Chastity Murray was not supposed to turn out like this.  The youngest of three daughters, she was discouraged from taking an interest in her father's demolition business.  Possessed of a strong contrarian streak, though, Xandra found much more entertainment in her father's workshop than in any of the ladylike (or even acceptably-tomboyish) pursuits toward which her long-suffering parents tried to direct her.  When she started dating his employees, her father compromised enough to send her to Texas A&M for a dual major in business administration and civil engineering, figuring he'd prep her to take over the office side of the company.

That might have worked had Xandra not gone on a diving excursion in Mazatlan during spring break of her junior year.  The world under the waves was her anti-drug.  For the first time in her life, she found relative peace.  A month after graduation, she was in Seattle for commercial dive school at the Divers Institute of Technology.  A year after that, she was one of a handful of women working underwater construction and demolition in the Gulf.  She and her father even reached an agreement: if she stopped ruining or poaching his employees, he wouldn't tell her mother just how dangerous her work was.

Xandra was working a salvage contract in Memphis, raising a string of sunken grain barges, when the bombs fell.  She and the other survivors of her crew made it across the Mississippi before things got really bad - and then they made the mistake of telling an Arkansas State Guard unit what their skills were.  The guys weren't exactly conscripted but they got offers they couldn't refuse.  Xandra escaped official scrutiny, mainly because none of the Guardsmen could believe her claimed resume.  She drifted for a bit, surviving by doing odd fix-it work, until she linked up with an Arkansas Department of Transportation repair crew.

For the last year, Xandra's been working out of Little Rock, propping up various bits of failing infrastructure.  It's kept her fed but she's been going insane from the monotony.  No one was surprised when she volunteered for the Governor's Recovery Task Force the day the initiative was announced.  Truth be told, a few people were relived.

---

Appearance:

At a stocky and broad-shouldered 5'3", Xandra doesn't look like anyone's idea of a commercial dive tech.  With her short black-dyed punk hairstyle (she recently ran out of dye for the acid-green tips) and voluminous collection of ink and piercings, she doesn't look like anyone's idea of an engineer, either.  That's okay.  She's used to people underestimating her.  When they bend down to sneer at her, that makes it easier for her to kick them in the balls.  Or to break into their lockers and fill them with Japanese octopus porn.

Xandra is as thick-skinned as one might expect from a woman who's spent a decade succeeding in an industry that suffers from a terminal case of testosterone poisoning.  Her style - adopted from her father, though she'd never admit it - is to accept no bullshit, demonstrate her competence early and silently, and never cut corners on safety.  Not at work, at least.  In her personal life, she had what one might charitably call a high-risk lifestyle before the war.  She's since cut back on the drinking and dropped smoking as too expensive, and she hasn't gotten any more body modifications for fear of a nasty infection, but the consequent lack of stress relief is starting to make her twitchy.

Her usual post-apocalyptic wardrobe is distinctly blue-collar: Levis or Carhartts, T-shirts with various offensive logos or pop culture references, steel-toed work boots, and a pair of cheap sunglasses forgotten and pushed up on her head while she squints into the sun.  Her one appearance indulgence, when such things were possible, was paying the premium for American-made apparel.  For the Task Force mission, she's picked up a set of ASDF combat gear - which she promptly de-patched with a dive knife and started decorating in Sharpie.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Fri 13 July 2018.

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 75):

Carissa and Carswell are probably acquainted.  Saul probably would be known by reputation if nothing else, given his expertise in piecing communities back together.

I have a feeling Xandra and Carissa are either going to get along fabulously, or loathe each other on sight.

I'm sure that I must have come across references to this org before, but I found these while researching radios.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...xiliary_Radio_System

http://www.mars.af.mil/

http://netcom.army.mil/MARS/default.aspx

All of the vehicles have radios (not yet listed). I agree with Dave that, in terms of PbP mechanics, radios are pretty much a must. On the side of verisimilitude, though, I don't think that the ASDF would have the resources, or see the necessity, of equipping every single member of this expedition with his/her own radio. Here's how I think we should reconcile these two positions: I'm thinking that the team is given a single set of police/first responder two-way rechargeable radios (sets seem to include around 6 individual radios). I also think some PCs would already have radios of their own that they'd bring along. Between the ASDF-issued radios and pre-mission PC radios, we should have enough for nearly everyone. How does that sound?

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This message was last edited by the GM at 05:51, Fri 13 July 2018.

I’m good with Mike knowing Tori and Scott, even if it’s only on nodding terms.

There’s also the possibility that Tori might know of Gabby (Mike’s girlfriend) as Gabby is also pre War LE and Scott might know Luisa (Mike’s ex wife) as Luisa works in the Governor’s office. Up to you guys whether you want to follow up on either of those options or nor.

I’m also fine with the idea of the various AF people being at least vaguely familiar with each other. When I get a minute over the weekend I’ll try and come up with some scuttlebutt that people might have heard going round the base about Cao.

Re radios, my main concern is that every player has access to a radio, so we should be fine in that regard (Cao’s gear list will include a military issue tac radio so provided Rae signs that off she won’t need one of the police sets).

Re Team name, I had some time to think about this when I was supposed to be taking part in a terribly interesting meeting.

STA Recovery (or Reconstruction – starts with the same letter) Team = STA R T = START.

Presume there’s more than one START and you can have START Alpha, START Bravo, etc, etc which can get shortened to Alpha Team, Bravo Team, etc, etc.

I know it’s not terribly original or catchy...

So does Reconaissance. That works. Now, which phonetic alphabet letter would y'all prefer? Don't worry about catchy; perhaps the group will come up with a catchier nickname organically, once underway.

Speaking of which, I know that some of you are still finalizing char-sheets and gear lists, so this isn't meant to rush you, but I am just about ready to fire up the IC when y'all are. Just let me know.

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Can you add Mike Carswell for me as a second pc?

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 83):

Done.

@All: Don't forget to add secondaries to the Personnel thread. I want to post NPCs last. Thanks.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 21:28, Fri 13 July 2018.

Very few government naming schemes are.



I vote for Sierra.  That covers both our general direction of travel, south, and one of the major points on our itinerary, Smackover.  Also, some overly-smart functionary will decide that by assigning letters out of alphabetical order, they will confuse some hypothetical enemy agent as to the total number of teams.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:01, Fri 13 July 2018.

I'm fine with Sierra (I'm fine with any letter to be honest. Except Whisky. I'll get upset every time you heathens spell it with an E).

In Kentucky, the proper spelling is B-O-U-R-B-O-N.

And we should probably have a few bottles with us. As, err, trade goods.

What ammo do we need to stock?  Looking at what's posted thus far for characters and where I am on my own equipment, I'm seeing:

Rifle Calibers

5.56mm NATO - Scott, Xandra, Tori, Carissa, Lauren
5.56mm NATO belted - Cole
7mm-08 - Scott

Shotgun

12-gauge - Scott, Saul

Pistol Calibers

10mm Auto - Scott
.45 ACP - Xandra, Tori, Cole, Saul, Carissa, Lauren

5.56mm NATO- Skillins, Kabua

Shotgun



12-gauge- Watkins



.45 ACP- Skillins
9mmP- Watkins, Kabua

-

Mike's got a Heckler & Koch HK416 (5.56) and a Glock 21 so he doesn't have any unique ammo needs.

Also, it occurred to me to ask Rae for a taser for Lauren. If I understand properly how those work they need cartridges as they are effectively 'reloaded'?

I'll make it easy and you guys can just copy my entire equipment list.

Item                                       Weight
---                                        ---
Fatigues, hot weather (olive drab)         1.2 kg   (Arkansas State Police markings)
Undercover Kevlar vest                     2.3 kg
Combat boots (black)                       2.0 kg
Snap/lockpick gun w/picks                  0.2 kg
Knife, folding                             0.2 kg
Wristwatch, basic                          0.1 kg   (Casio G-Shock)
Cigarette lighter, refillable              0.1 kg
Gloves, light                              0.1 kg   (Cooltac police gloves)
Camera, digital, consumer                  0.1 kg
Ballistic sunglasses                       Neg.
---
Total                                      6.3 kg

Handgun holster, holdout                   0.2 kg
  Glock 36                                 0.6 kg
    6-round magazine of .45 ACP            0.2 kg
  Tritium night-sights                     N/A
---
Total                                      1.0 kg

Police duty belt (black)                   0.5 kg
Handgun holster                            0.2 kg
  Glock 41 (Gen4 MOS)                      0.8 kg
    13-round magazine of .45 ACP           0.3 kg
    Multi-light                            0.2 kg
    Reflex sights, powered                 0.1 kg  (Trijicon RMR)
Magazine carrier, handgun, double          Neg. x2
  13-round magazine of .45 ACP x2          0.6 kg
TASER holster                              0.1 kg
  Axon TASER X2 w/laser & power pack       0.3 kg
Handcuff carrier x2                        Neg. x2
  Handcuffs x2                             0.6 kg
Tactical baton holder                      Neg.
  Tactical baton                           0.5 kg
Radio carrier                              0.1 kg
  Police tactical radio                    0.8 kg
  Remote mic/speaker                       0.1 kg
Utility pouch                              0.2 kg
  Flashlight, tactical                     0.1 kg
  Notebook and pen                         Neg.
  Gloves, nitril x4 (black)                Neg.
  TASER two-shot reload cartridge          Neg.
Negligible items x8                        0.2 kg
---
Total                                      5.7 kg

Patrol Load                               13.0 kg
===========

Colt LE6940                                3.0 kg
  w/folding/sliding stock                  Incl.
  30-round magazine of 5.56x45 [Loaded]    0.6 kg
  Reflex sight, powered                    0.3 kg
  Vertical fore-grip                       0.1 kg
  Weapon light, large                      0.2 kg
  Sling                                    0.2 kg
---
Total                                      4.4 kg

Helmet, combat, ballistic                  1.5 kg
MLBE plate carrier                         1.0 kg
  Level III trauma plates (f/r/rs/ls)      5.2 kg
MLBE hydration bladder carrier             0.3 kg
   Hydration bladder, 2 liters (full)      2.1 kg
MLBE quad rifle magazine carrier           0.1 kg
  30-round magazine 5.56x45mm x6           2.4 kg
MLBE padded NVG carrier                    0.2 kg
  NVGs, monocular                          0.4 kg
IFAK                                       0.6 kg
MLBE gas mask carrier                      0.2 kg
  Gas mask w/filter                        0.9 kg   (MCU-2/P)
---
Total                                     14.9 kg

Combat Load                               32.3 kg
===========

MLBE patrol pack                           1.5 kg
  Hydration bladder, 2 liters (full)       2.1 kg
  Water purification tablets, 50           0.1 kg
IFAK                                       0.6 kg
Locksmith Tools                            1.0 kg
Military ration, field stripped x3         2.7 kg
100-rounds 5.56x45mm                       1.4 kg
Poncho                                     0.6 kg
Hammock                                    0.4 kg
Bivouac bag                                0.3 kg
Insect repellent                           0.3 kg
Batteries, rechargeable, small, 4-pack     Neg.
--
Subtotal                                  11.0 kg

MLBE Patrol Bag                            1.0 kg
30-round magazine 5.56x45mm x2             1.2 kg
13-round magazine of .45 ACP x2            0.6 kg
6-round magazine of .45 ACP x2             0.4 kg
IFAK                                       0.6 kg
Pain Reliever, Mild x50                    0.5 kg
Antidiarrheal x20                          0.4 kg
Fatigues, hot weather (olive drab)         1.2 kg   (Arkansas State Police markings)
Military ration, field stripped x3         2.7 kg
100-rounds .45 ACP                         2.6 kg 11.2
Level III f/r SAPI plate                   1.7 kg
Level III rs/ls SAPI plate                 0.9 kg
Outfit, hot weather (5.11, coyote/olive)   0.9 kg
Personal hygiene supplies, 1-week          0.4 kg
Weapon cleaning kit                        0.3 kg
TASER powerpack x2                         0.2 kg
TASER power pack charger                   0.2 kg
TASER two-shot reload cartridge x12        0.3 kg
---
Subtotal                                  16.1 kg

Frame pack, high-capacity                  4.0 kg
Outfit hot weather x2                      1.8 kg   (REI style outdoor clothing)
Hiking boots                               1.7 kg   (Brown leather)
Rain gear                                  1.2 kg   (REI style outdoor rain shell/pants)
Camp bed                                   5.2 kg
Camp stool                                 0.7 kg
Sleeping bag, temperate                    1.0 kg
Tent, civilian, 2-man                      2.2 kg
Waterskin, 5-Liter                         6.0 kg
Filter, personal                           0.5 kg
Stove, camp                                1.2 kg
Solar shower                               0.4 kg
Toilet tissue x12                          1.2 kg
 ---
Subtotal                                  22.4 kg

Garment bag                                1.3 kg
Fatigues, mild weather (navy) x2           1.2 kg   (Arkansas State Police markings)
Outerwear, cold weather                    1.0 kg   (Police cold weather jacket, navy)
Outfit w/casual shoes, hot weather x2      3.8 kg   (Street clothes)
Outfit w/dress shoes, mild weather x2      4.6 kg   (Suits - navy and charcoal)
Rain gear                                  1.2 kg   (Trench coat)
---
Subtotal                                  13.1 kg

Consider it yours, er, hers. I think that Tasers do need reloads (projectile prongs/wires) and maybe battery packs. Spartan's got reloads listed on his equipment list. He does his homework so I'd go with that.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:06, Fri 13 July 2018.

Correct.  Each reload cartridge contains the probes, the wires, and the compressed gas cylinder that launches the probes.  The rechargeable battery is in the pistol grip.



But I don't want your equipment list.  I want my equipment list.  The shopping is the funnest part!



While we're talking less-lethal, how do people feel about a pepperball gun?

Also, it looks like Scott's bringing the only long rifle on the team.  If aware of that, he would advocate for a second one for flexibility - and hunting.

Carissa has a hunting skill set, at least kinda.  She can bring an extra long rifle along.

I've asked Rae about a Kel-Tec KSG and S&W MP10 for Tori, so perhaps that will help round out our team.

Here's what I'm thinking for vehicle assignments:

Excessive Force (point vehicle)
Driver: Rios
Front passenger: CTL Guillory
Rear Passenger:
Rear Passenger:

Spartan, does EF have a prisoner cage separating front and back seats?

Razorback (slack)
Driver: Skillins (callsign: Rebel)
Front passenger: MTL Cao
Gunner: Anderson
Rear Passenger:

Ace Hardware (tail)
Driver: Watkins
Front passenger:
Rear passenger:
Rear passenger: Kabua (callsign: Chef)

If your PC isn't listed above, it means that I couldn't think of a good enough reason to place him or her in a specific vehicle. Call your seats.

Running order is SOP, when the convoy isn't expecting to roll into trouble.

All of this, of course, is subject to player approval. Your feedback is, as always, invited.

-

That assignment works for Scott.  Xandra can go wherever, but rear seat in Ace Hardware is probably logical - it keeps her with most of her appropriate gear.

Current-generation Explorers don't have a lot of room in the back seat even without a cage.  Our department has elected to forego cages and use our dedicated wagon for prisoner transport.  Then again, our arrest volume is low enough that the wagon is always available.

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 98):

Sure, why not?  $1500 well spent...

http://www.fleetsafety.com/pro...t-and-cargo-barrier/

http://www.fleetsafety.com/int...ransport-by-progard/
This message was last edited by the player at 02:25, Sat 14 July 2018.

Changed this to a Glock 22. If there's a webpage listing issue firearms for Little Rock PD I can't find it but various sites say the Glock 22 is in common use by US Police.

---

Fine with that for Cao.

Kabua is our back up machine gunner, yes? If so I'd suggest he switches to the JLTV so that there are two people there capable of handling the M2 should Anderson wish to / need to dismount.

I'd suggest Carswell rides in the backseat of the Explorer, keeping the medic near the Team Leader, but I'm not set on it. If Saul also takes a seat in the Explorer that puts a fairly competent contact team together (leader, law enforcement, medical, civil affairs) and means every player has a voice in the lead vehicle but that's just a suggestion - if you prefer to do it another way that's fine with me.

---

Seems like a good idea to me.

Saul up front works makes sense, especially as you pointed out that gives us all a voice in the lead vehicle.  I’ll put Carissa in the front passenger seat of Ace Hardware.  That keeps most of the ladies together which should be good role play fodder.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 101):

Good ideas, Dave.

-

I agree with Dave on all points. Also, this puts the medics in separate vehicles, which is probably a convoy management best practice.

If you'd rather carry a .45 or 9mmP, that's just as realistic. I've read that a lot of PDs are adopting .45 ACP weapons because they've found that 40mm puts a lot of strain on the action (leading to cracks sometimes), and the recoil is hard for some shooters (read female officers- that's not me, that's what the articles said) to handle; some argue that weapons designed to fire .45 ACP have less felt recoil (heavier frame?) and can take it better. Also, a lot of PDs allow their officers to carry their own weapon as their service piece (I don't know if they allow leeway in the choice of caliber, though). It's totally up to you, though.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:51, Sat 14 July 2018.

OK, fellas. I'm pretty much ready to roll on the GM end so, when y'all feel ready, let me know, and I'll post the first turn. No rush, though.

I'd like to shoot hard for two turns per week, standard. If we can manage more, cool, but less is hard for me to manage as a ref. I've tried, believe me, but I've found that I work much better with a steady, somewhat brisk pace. You don't have to post IC as both characters every turn, if you're pressed for time, but please try hard to at least post for the most salient PC for that round.

Of course, if you have to miss a turn, no problem, but please let me know in advance whenever you can so that we can decide whether to press pause or NPC your character/s for that round. I'm off to Ikea (in Phoenix) with the missus in a few so I'll be AFK until this evening.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:59, Sat 14 July 2018.

My sheets are updated and I'm good to go!

I found some news articles on the Little Rock police chief's backup weapon, a Glock 27, being stolen by the movers he hired.  Not unreasonable to assume the Glock 22 (same caliber) is Little Rock's standard duty sidearm.



What I've found is that the Arkansas State Police standard sidearm as of 2012 was the Glock 21SF (.45).

I don't have access to my employer's policy for our sworn officers but anecdotal evidence has shown Glocks in 9mm and .40, S&W M&Ps in 9mm and .40, and one H&K in 9mm.

What I've read of other departments' policies is that if officers are allowed to procure their own weapons, they have to either select from a list approved by the department armorer and the administration, or they have to get the armorer to inspect and sign off on the weapon.  In the latter case, caliber is usually restricted to 9mm P or higher (practically speaking, that'll be 9mm P, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .45 GAP, or .357 SIG).  Backup guns, when personal selection is approved, usually follow the same caliber restrictions, with some departments allowing .38 Special and/or .380 ACP for BUGs only.

Also, I know Rae and I discussed this in PM but I don't know if we brought it up in the public thread: Wilson Combat and Nighthawk Custom are both based in Berryville, AR.  Our supposition is that the state would have, ahem, acquired their remaining inventory at some point during the war, and would have contracted surviving smiths to assemble any remaining components into finished firearms.  This means the ASDF's armory has a good collection of high-end 1911s in the obligatory .45 ACP, as well as a handful in 9mm P, 10mm Auto, .38 Super, and possibly some oddball hunting calibers.  There are also some really nice Wilson AR-15s and AR-10s floating around, as well as Nighthawk/Korth revolvers, Beretta/Wilson 92Gs, Nighthawk/Browning Hi-Powers, and Wilson and Nighthawk pump shotguns.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:48, Sat 14 July 2018.

I’m good character-wise. I need to modify my gear lists, but I’m happy to post while I work that out.  Should be this afternoon or tomorrow.

As of ten minutes ago both of my gear lists are with Rae for sign off. I'll do my sheets tomorrow but kike Keys I'm happy enough to kick off in the meantime.

A couple of thoughts on gear that came up as I sorted out my own. Should we have some / all of the following?

Signal Panels
Rope
Paracord
Geiger counter
Caltrops
Bullhorn

Also, from a hearts and minds point of view, can we/ should we include some of the following?

Emergency first aid kits (from the 2013 lists that include First Aid Supplies x 1 use, Mild Pain Relief x 2 units, and anti diarrheal x 1 unit) and basic care packages like this (it's on Paul M's site as well)

http://www.dla.mil/TroopSuppor...ational-rations/hcp/

I'm thinking if we can get some of them we can give them away to try and generate goodwill?

Also, how do you feel about a couple of footballs (the American ones not the round ones)? to give to kids? (I've asked for a baseball bat, catcher's mitt, and ball for Mike).

I would advocate all of those except caltrops.  If we don't clean them all up, they're a hazard to navigation on roads we'll intend to use again ourselves.

Excessive Force should have an external tannoy as part of its cop audio fittings.



Absolutely.



Yep.  Also, individually-wrapped stuffed animals are a thing in American law enforcement for easing interactions with kids who are crime witnesses or victims.

Additionally, with regards to the earlier side discussion on journalist PCs and Rae's thread on Kato's forum: if we can score some, a bunch of the hand-cranked emergency radios would be excellent if there's a state broadcasting studio (or, better yet, a private one) back up and running.  Putting people in touch with broadcasts is a sure-fire way to demonstrate that the government is still out there.  If we can't get those, we should bring along a stack of the latest edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

All of this discussion also raises the issue that we're outfitting an outreach and civil affairs mission, not a traditional "shoot your way across Europe" survival op.  While we can assume a certain level of ability to resupply locally on basic consumables, the list of specialized stuff for aiding/supporting people outside our own team is much higher.  That means higher cargo demands than I think our current vehicles support.  At this point, I am thinking we might need to upgrade Ace Hardware or Razorback to a M35 or LMTV to act as an expedition support vehicle/water buffalo.

Rae will have to chip in, but we should probably have a decent level of cash or gold in hand to partake in the local economies.  Or at least a supply of trade goods.

Ikea in Phoenix on Saturday: I don't recommend it. The place was packed. The office chair I wanted was out of stock and discontinued. AFAIR, I've never stood in  a checkout line for that long, in my four decades of life. On the plus side, I was able to keep Michelle from going over budget. One little victory.

I'll try to address all of the questions posed since I left. If I miss something, please forgive me- it wasn't deliberate. I mean, if you really want an answer, you'll ask again. ;)

A lot of the following responses are guided by my vision of T2K. Although this campaign is set in CONUS, 2030, this is still Twilight 2000, so a little grittiness is a must, no? The way I see it is thus: It's been about 3 years since anything new was manufactured, IG. That means, generally-speaking, whatever was on the shelves/in the warehouses three years ago has been depleted, without replacement, for three years. What's left? Who has it? How easy is it to get? I really think we need to keep those things in mind when determining what would be available to the team c.2030.

I'm cool with you guys having the kit you want for your own PCs, but I think we need to be frugal when it comes to anything above and beyond that (like extra ammo, for example).

Non-lethal ammo: You guys already have a few options. A couple of you have Tasers. I'm cool with that. I don't think we should overdo it on reloads, though. A couple characters also have OC pepper spray. I'd be cool with y'all having a few sting-ball grenades, courtesy of the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Same goes for a few 40mm CS rounds (from ANG stocks). At least three characters already carry 12-gauge shotguns so I don't think we need a specialized riot gun. PCs who carry shotguns are welcome to have some non-lethal 12-guage ammo on their charsheets. If y'all run out of that (unlikely), I figure you could improvise your own by removing lead shot from bird-shot shells and replacing it would rock salt. I've heard that's a thing.

Lethal ammo: I'm thinking that the ASDF would only have access to ANG-issue small arms ammo. That means 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 12-gauge and 9mm (and maybe some really old .45ACP). If you want something more exotic (like .40), that's cool, but it would probably be your PC's personal stock, so try to keep the quantities realistic.

Emergency Med Kits: It's a really good idea, and if it weren't 3 years in to the apocalypse, I'd say go for it. By 2000, I think the ASDF would be hard-pressed to properly equip the team medic. For that reason, I see the team as winning hearts and minds more with medical services than supplies. It's up to the team to decide if they want to give their medical supplies away.

Money/gold: Yeah, I'm still mulling over the whole economy of post-apocalyptic CONUS in my head. There's so much to consider. I figure the cash dollar still has some value. There's no more digital dollars because the internet is more or less dead. There're fewer products to buy and sell, and fewer consumers to buy them. So, I figure runaway inflation is done (and likely alleviated by pendular deflation), and as long as the gov't (Fed'l- either one- and/or state) is willing to accept dollars as payment for x,y,z, citizens would be willing to accept it too. So, I'm fine with y'all taking a significant quantity of cash for buying supplies and whatnot. I think the state gov't would want to hold on to most of its gold just in case.

Radios: Yeah, after reading up on the MARS program, I'm convinced that radio would play a significant part in recovery/reconstruction efforts. I'm cool with you guys bringing along a few hand-cranked radios to give as "gifts" to important community leaders or folks you want to connect to the state radio system. I'm still brainstorming what the state radio system looks like, but I can see it factoring in at some point.

Toys: Another good idea. I'm fine with the team taking a few dozen stuffed animals (light, easy to smush into available cargo space) and balls (deflated) along to give as gifts. I think, in general, non-consumable leisure items would be much more common and readily available than really useful items like bullets, radios, medical supplies, etc.



Yes to all of the above. Re the caltrops, Teg makes a valid point, but I say better to have and not want than to want and not have. IIRC, Spartan listed a set of spike strips as cargo for EF, so perhaps that will suffice.

Cargo Space: I hate to say I told you so, but see msg #41. ;)
I'd rather you replace the CCUV than the JLTV- it can't carry as much, but I see the JLTV as being your trump card if things get chippy. It's your most intimidating vehicle, should you want/need to play that up. Its armor is proof against small arms and it carries a big gun. I recommend the FMTV as a replacement for the CCUV. I see them on the roads out here all the time and they look less unwieldy than 6x6 trucks. In fact, I saw one today on the way back from Phoenix- a flatbed cargo carrier with what looked like an armored cab. If you go with that, you might not even need the trailer.

Summary: I want your PCs to have the gear that you want them to have, but I also want to be true to the T2K ethos. I'm trying to be fair and realistic and I realize that some of you might not like or agree with some of my answers. That said, I don't want to rule by fiat. As far as I'm concerned, this is a dialogue. So, if you'd like to make a case for any of the above, or anything else, I'm ready and willing to hear you out. I promise to try and keep an open mind.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:01, Sun 15 July 2018.

The M1078 LMTV is the 2.5-ton truck replacement from the FMTV line.  Armored 3-seat cab, space behind the seats for ammo and personal gear stowage, gun ring.  Open bed with canvas cover.  Paul's site lists the usable cargo weight as 2.27 tons with fuel consumption of 101 L/period.

Moving up to an M1083 5-ton replacement would give us 4.54 tons of usable cargo weight with fuel consumption of 122 L/period.

For usable volume moreso than weight, I'll lobby for keeping the trailer for the still and biodiesel processor, regardless of which truck we select.  That enables us to leave the fuel system at a base camp if we need to use the truck for operations other than riding around.

Also, please believe me when I say that for normal-sized adults, riding in the back seat of Excessive Force will be highly uncomfortable after any length of time.  There is absolutely no way to get four PCs with long guns and body armor in a current Explorer unless we're playing the Arkansas Midget Militia...

In reply to Scott Guillory (msg # 114):

You are welcome to re-do all the vehicles Teg.

The above was not intended as a criticism of your writing; I’m sorry if it came across as such. I don’t think many of us were expecting an 11-person party when we started building this campaign.

Spartan, as ref, I really appreciate what you've done working up the vehicles. You've saved me a lot of time and effort and I thank you. I don't think the motor pool needs a major overhaul.

I think we should keep Excessive Force as-is. First off, it's a future model year. Perhaps it's a little more spacey in the back than contemporary models. Perhaps the offender cage was removed to add a little more leg room (I doubt you'll be carrying perps very often, if ever). Whatever the case may be, I think that we can squeeze at least one, if not two passengers, in the back seat comfortably enough for the mounted portions of the op. Plus, I really like the idea of a civilian law enforcement vehicle as part of the convoy. It lends at least the veneer of civilian authority to the op.

I do think swapping the CCUV for an M1078 LMTV is a good idea. It'll give y'all more wiggle room when it comes to carrying capacity, in terms of both weight and volume/ease of access. I can do the workup, if need be (thanks to Spartan's template). I'm fine with keeping the trailer too.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:51, Sun 15 July 2018.

Re: cargo space, my response is the same as it was in msg 42, i.e. I'm quite happy with what we've got.

That said, putting any cargo pertaining to the civil affairs mission to one side for the moment, I presume the State would be supplying us with enough food and water to last the duration of the mission? (I know some of us will have our own food as well - I know I have - but as we're operating under State aegis and as Teg said this is not a traditional 'Good luck, you're on your own in the middle of Poland' scenario so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the State Government to make sure their recon teams are properly supplied with basic needs like food and water before we set out).

Going by the BYB each character needs 3 kilos of food per day (wild) or 2 kilos (cultivated). I can't find a T2K recommended water intake put some cursory web surfing would suggest approx 4 litres for men and 3 litres for women so average that out at 3.5 per person per day (I haven't counted but I think there's a roughly even mix between male and female characters).

So with eleven people we need 22 kilos of food per day and approx 40 litres of water per day (rounded up from 38.5). That presumes we have sufficient cultivated food as opposed to wild (or MRE's).

So if we're expected to be away for ten days that would be 220 kilos of food and 400 litres (or 20 jerry cans) of drinking water.

Re fuel, I'm presuming the consumption figures are all for gas / diesel. Multiplying by 3 (for ethanol) and assuming Ace Hardware is towing we'd need 92.4 litres of ethanol per hour (16 + 3.8 + 11 x 3).

That breaks down as follows

EF = 11.4 p/h (just over  5 hrs driving on a full tank)
RB = 33 p/h (just under 3 hrs driving on a full tank)
AH = 48l p/h (roughly 1.5 hrs on a full tank if towing)

AH obviously becomes much more fuel efficient when not towing.

If we take the same ten day patrol period and assume average four hours driving per day (I'd expect it to be less than that) that equates to 924 litres. Presuming we set off with full tanks (70+60+90=220) and factoring in what Ander included we have 556 litres, so just over half our requirements. So we'd need to cycle through the stills twice (and collect around 400 kilos of input).

tl;dr

Based on the expectation of a ten day patrol covering an average of four hours travelling time per day by my calculations we will need

220 kilos of cultivated food
400 litres of drinking water
942 litres of alcohol fuel (based on ethanol) of which we will need to brew 386 en route

Sorry if this is overly crunchy, but I think it needs to be covered. That said, I still think it leaves several hundred kilos of available cargo space with the current vehicles (and obviously food and water will reduce as we go and consume said items - by the end of day one we'd have reduced by 62 kilos.

I'll offer that my first workup for a police vehicle was a FAV Chevy Suburban, something I've got more first hand experience with than any Ford product.  I wasn't sure it was likely to be used at the State government level however.

20XX Armored Chevrolet Suburban Bourbon Street



Bourbon Street is a BR6 level armored, 4WD low-profile Arkansas State Police SUV.  The vehicle's power plant is a 355-hp, 5.3L flex-fuel V8 engine, mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission.  Standard features on the three row SUV include 4-wheel ABS, Leather-appointed first and second-row seats, stability control, lane keep assist, forward collision alert, emergency braking assist, traction control, and a Bose^(r) premium 9-speaker sounds system.  Run-flat tires supplement the installed armor package.  The SUV has a frame-mounted black push-bumper.  A 50-watt Kenwood VHF/UHF encryption compatible 13 km radio is installed in the center console.  Bourbon Street is painted black with no markings, however close and detailed inspection will reveal red and blue LED strobe lights at key points in the grill and behind the top of windshield.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 12:36, Sun 15 July 2018.

Sorry rereading my post I think my fuel figure is way off. I multiplied the hourly consumption by ten not the four hourly consumption so total fuel need would be closer to 4000 litres (I think - I ‘m about to head out so haven’t been able to thoroughly check). Sorry

I may be slightly more coherent after six hours' sleep.  On the other hand, breakfast is still in production, so I may not be as coherent as I think I am.

@Dave: It's more crunchy than usual but I don't find it overly crunchy (Rae can attest to the damage I did to his PMs last night).  I think we're in agreement that as a planned mission with non-military objectives, this calls for more material support than a traditional GLYOYO road trip.

Our standard for emergency water reserves is one gallon per person per day for drinking, cooking, and hygiene, and the guides on my recent vacation were running on the same assumption.  For an 11-person expedition, that's just under 42 liters per day.  We can toss coins over bringing it for the duration versus bringing purification chemicals and filters.

I think you and I (in last night's PM explosion to Rae) are approaching supply from two different assumptions.  Would we be sent out to be totally self-sustaining for the whole mission, or would supplies be so short that we'd be sent out with a small emergency reserve and instructions to forage off the land or buy from citizens?  Regardless, even that small emergency reserve of basic consumables is going to require significant cargo space, to say nothing of everything else we'd need to bring along.

@All - general thoughts on vehicles: I agree with all points raised this far.

In the spirit of "mission drives equipment," I think having a non-military official vehicle as the point vehicle is essential.  It also should have seating for a decent contact team that also has enough firepower to push through an ambush.  On a meta level, per Dave's earlier point, it should have enough seating to carry one PC per player.

Second vehicle is our combat linchpin.  It should be resistant to small arms and hillbilly IEDs and should support a minimum of driver, gunner, and 2-person dismount team.  Ideally, it'd have space for CASEVAC to keep the casualty and medic under armor.

Third vehicle should be cargo and support ("water buffalo," as I've seen it termed before), capable of self-defense but kept out of combat if at all possible.  It needs cargo and towing capacity to haul fuel, food/rations, water, ammo/munitions, medical, hygiene, civil affairs, admin, tools, and signals for the whole unit - and probably some non-combat personal gear from the personnel in the other vehicles, too.

Overall considerations - each vehicle should have a self-recovery winch because a lot of Arkansas is forested and we may not be able to position a second vehicle to assist with recovery.  Also, ideally we should be able to continue via towing if one vehicle loses an engine, which implies that the combat linchpin should be able to pull the water buffalo and the point vehicle should be able to haul the trailer in an emergency.  And having spare (if uncomfortable) seating to carry the whole team in case of the loss of one vehicle is high on the nice-to-have list.

Crunch crunch crunch.

Specific thoughts on point vehicle: Keys may have a different perspective, working alongside in a different part of the country.  What I have seen around here is that since the demise of the old Crown Vics, all the cops are cranky.  @Rae's point about next-model vehicles is well-taken but I can tell you that the new Explorers in my employer's fleet have considerably less cabin volume that the Crown Vics, even if they have marginally more cargo area.  In fact, they may actually be a net loss on volume compared to the Dodge Chargers they're replacing.  They also don't have very robust off-road capability - more of soft-road.

Past the basic cruisers, I see a lot of Chevy Tahoes in use by cops, too.  In the cities, they seem to be for officers who have non-patrol duties requiring a lot of equipment - crash reconstruction, etc.  In rural areas, they may be half or more of the patrol fleet.  The fire service uses a lot of Tahoes and Suburbans for supervisor vehicles, and some departments also use them to support special missions like dive teams and hazmat.  WRT @Spartan's Suburban above - albeit not armored (as far as I know), my department has a Suburban and a Jeep Grand Cherokee for use by our diplomatic protection detail, and my office has a second Suburban that is eventually supposed to get equipped as a mobile command post.  So while Suburbans aren't out there as patrol vehicles, they are most certainly in fleets.  I can totally see the Arkansas State Police having some up-armored ones for the governor's security detail.

Specific thoughts on combat linchpin vehicle: Yes.

Specific thoughts on support vehicle: Per points to Dave above, regardless of whether we're bringing supplies for the duration or bringing a cushion and living off the land and locals, we're going to need fairly extensive cargo capacity.  Mass and volume of crap will determine our specific requirements there.  Regardless, I do still advocate for having the fuel production systems trailered, for reasons articulated (I think) in one of last night's posts.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:38, Sun 15 July 2018.

My logic in thinking that we should be self sufficient goes something along these lines.

1. There is a (relatively) functioning Government in Little Rock. Presuming we're not suffering from a Howling Wilderness-esque blight I think it's feasible that one of the things said Government would be doing if at all possible is stockpiling food for contingencies - not vast warehouses, just a small supply.

2. We represent said Government and part of our mission - as I understand it - is to fly the flag for Little Rock and spread the word that the Government there is in control and working to make things better for everyone. To my mind we do that more effectively if we're self sufficient rather than having to barter for food everywhere we go - "these fellers say they're from the Government and they're here to help but they can't even feed themselves" vs "these fellers say they're from the Government - you should see the stuff they have!"

So if there are the supplies of food in Little Rock some of that should be used to supply the State's recon teams. Sending a team out on an extended patrol without adequate supply turns it into more of a GLYOYO scenario imo.

Fuel is another matter altogether given the quantities involved.

Re unit supplies: Both Teg and Dave raise very good points. I was originally thinking that the unit would be expected to acquire some of supplies while on the road, but I think Dave is right in that it wouldn't create a very good impression of the state gov't if their representatives showed up and said, "Hi, we're here to help, but may we please have some food first?" So, perhaps, for food at least, the unit should carry enough to feed themselves for the planned duration of the mission. This doesn't mean that they can't buy or trade for food if the need arises. As for water, with a pump filter and iodine tabs, they can resupply themselves in the field without putting upon local communities. For fuel, the unit has a still/bio-diesel converter, so it need not carry a lot as cargo, and it can still buy/trade for more if need be.

Mail is something that I've mentioned a few times (I'm not sure it's being factored into this discussion, though). The idea behind carrying/distributing mail is that it is a morale-booster and lets citizens know that the gov't is trying to restore stability and some sense of normalcy. I'm thinking about somewhere between 5 and 20 banker's boxes. This is something that will not be expended during the journey because the team will be picking up more as it moves along. It's not a huge amount, in terms of weight or volume, but it needs to be factored in when determining our convoy make up.

So, if the team is going to be loaded up with food, and considering the volume/weight of mail being taken along, I really think that a bigger truck (than the CCUV) is a must. Another reason for this is that the CCUV would literally needed to be unloaded and reloaded at every stop- it can carry a good amount, but individual blocks of cargo would not be easily accessible. With a proper cargo truck featuring an open bed, it would be much easier to remove and replace specific items and it wouldn't need to be as packed full so you'd have some wiggle room. I'd like to keep it 4x4- I've driven the biggest rentable U-Haul before but I think driving a 6x6 would be a slightly different beast.

What I would like to do then, is at least swap the CCUV for an M1078 LMTV (I'd like to keep the Ace Hardware name, though). If y'all want to swap EF for a Suburban (Bourban Street), that's cool with me. Spartan, would you be willing to finish up the sheet for the latter? If you'd rather not do the LMTV sheet, I will do it.

I think it's probably a good idea to keep the trailer for the still/fuel converter. If it gets hit and explodes, it won't necessarily ignite the truck towing it.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:22, Sun 15 July 2018.

I'm gonna let you guys have fun playing with vehicle sheets and looking up fuel consumption rates.

In reply to Victoria Rios (msg # 124):

Will do then. Thanks for posting your write-up of the Suburban.

-

All right, my gear is done and on the character sheets.  Nothing terribly exciting.  I left NVGs on for both Saul and Carissa, but I'm find dumping at least one of the sets if two seems excessive.

To reach way back upstream, our cops here in town use Explorers mainly and they can't get passengers into the front seat because they expanded the back cage too much.  The officers uniformly hate them, but their still better than the Chargers they tried that weren't even big enough to accommodate the computer mounts without totally obstructing the passenger seat.  By and large, they want Tahoe or Crown Vics.  Our battalion chief (incident command) rolls in a Tahoe that they've crammed so much crap into it's astounding.  Still, I submit the choice to you guys as crunch just really isn't my thing.  It's fine with me if we're rolling on bicycles powered by hand-wavium.

Edit:  I would love to have given Carissa an intiative better than 3, but that whole civilian thing comes into play.  Combat experience!
This message was last edited by the player at 20:15, Sun 15 July 2018.

OK, I've reworked the two vehicles. For the Suburban, I just tweaked the Explorer's numbers. I figure that an armored Suburban would be heavier and less fuel efficient. To justify the inclusion of an armored suburban in the AR state police, I added something to the effect that it had originally been purchased/designated for use in VIP protection/escort.

In researching the M1078 LMTV, I learned that it might not be able to tow the M1102 trailer (I can't find anything that says that it can, or that it can't). There is a purpose-built trailer for it, though- the M1082. It's got a whopping 5000lb/2267kg capacity. So, not-enough cargo capacity should no longer be an issue.

I admit that I haven't worked much with vehicle stats within the T2K v2.2 rules, so I may have made mistakes. If anyone would like to look over the stat blocks and let me know if/how I screwed up, I won't take it personally.

I still haven't carefully looked over everyone's char-sheets. PM discussions re the subject are onjoing. Bottom line is, I trust that you guys have been reasonable/realistic with your selections.

-

I'd say just keep in mind that FE's original stats are based on Teg's 2013 Hybrid SUV entries.  So we'll lose some efficiency for not being a hybrid but should gain more cargo and passenger space (since it's 3rd row).  This is also one of the reasons why I shifted to the Explorer - light hybrid SUV stats seemed to a good fit for it.

Rae, since you don't have 2013, Heavy SUV stats are listed below (under the aegis of fair use).  The armor package will up the protection at the expense of fuel economy... how much I'll leave to you and Teg.

Heavy SUV
Unlike their smaller brethren, most heavy SUVs had at
least moderate off-road capabilities. Luxury models traded this
advantage for leather seats and premium sound systems (double
Street Price and change Suspension to Std; no other game effect).
Barter Value: GG4,500
Street Price: $36,000
Configuration: Standard
Suspension: OR
Crew: 1+4
Cargo: 500 kg (+4 tons towed)
Weight: 2.1 tons
Travel Speed: 59/8 km/hr
Combat Speed: 164/22 m
Fuel: 70 L (G) or 70 L (D)
Fuel Cons: 6 L/hr (G) or 5.4 L/hr (D)
Maintenance: 4
Armor (soft-skinned): HF 1, HS 1, HR 1, Susp 3
Equipment
Sensors: Headlights.

The FAVs I've been in all lose a little bit of cargo space (maybe 10%) in the back due to the presence of a secondary, armored door, behind the hatchback.

Some good pics are located here:

http://snallabolaget.com/armor...-chevrolet-suburban/

Thanks, Spartan.

@All: I added a blurb on the state-run radio station in the Intel thread. Let me know if you have any ideas for stuff to change or add.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 23:56, Sun 15 July 2018.

My 2013 numbers had the HMMWV and up-armored HMMWV fuel burn rates at, respectively, 8 L/hr and 11 L/hr.  Based on that, my off-the-cuff guesstimate of the Suburban's fuel consumption when up-armored is about a 30% increase, with a concurrent 25% loss of cargo and towing capacity.  Sound reasonable?

(I tried to find real-world specifics but they elude my Google-fu tonight.)

We're still hammering out vehicles and cargo, but since all PCs are up and ready, I posted the turn. It's a talky one, so this is where the rubber meets the road. If your PC's not in on the conversation with the NPCs, get creative; engage one another.

Let's shoot hard for two turns per [7-day] week (as our base). That's close to my ref'ing sweet spot. If we can manage more in that span, awesome. Remember that it's not absolutely necessary to post for both of your PCs, if you're pressed for time, but please make sure to respond IC when your PC is addressed directly by a fellow PC or NPC. If you know that you're going to miss or hold up a turn for more than a day or two, please let me know. I can NPC your character, as necessary, or we can hit pause. Keeping lines of communication open and active is really important.

I'm really excited to start this campaign. I was very hesitant, at first. This thing has gone from relatively vague, basic concept to a nearly fully-formed setting in an amazingly short period of time, and a lot of that is down to your hard work: world-building, character-creation, and staying engaged in the start-up process. Thank you all. I'd like to give shout outs to Spartan for his vehicle design, and to Teg for volunteering to handle QM duty (he's responsible for the cargo lists in the Logistics thread). I hope that we can sustain a measure of the enthusiasm shown during the development process.

One final note. This one's a little personal. I will screw up from time to time. When I do, please give me the benefit of the doubt. As those of you who run PbPs know, it's a lot to manage sometimes. If you don't know, try it sometime. When I make a mistake, please let me know. If I do something that upsets you, please be assured that it was not intentional. Just shoot me a PM, and I'll make sure that I address the issue. I consider you guys my friends, and I hope that you consider me yours too. Let's remember that as we move forward. Thanks, in advance. Now, no more mushy stuff. Let's play T2K.

Game on.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 06:01, Mon 16 July 2018.

On a meta level, Scott's asking Carswell to stay with the vehicle because Cao is already in the scene and would plausibly have a reason to step inside for the exchange of information.  That still keeps Dave in the scene while maintaining security on the Suburban.  Dave, if you'd rather have Mike active as primary, I can edit that to ask Cao to pull security on the SUV while Mike dismounts with the rest of the point team.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Tue 17 July 2018.

In reply to Scott Guillory (msg # 132):

No worries, it's all good as is.

Re: IC, I am assuming this is within mission parameters - and if Franks hasn't seen anyone from the capital in a while, it's worth showing the flag even here.

I don't want us to get wrapped up in carpentry and other home repairs, but it's probably worth shaking out our survey SOPs early in the mission.

If it's OK with you, after I reply IC to IC queries, I'll proceed to a summary of the ridealong/tour of Grady. I'll give you a list of possible civil affairs tasks, based on the results, and then you can tell me what, if anything, you'd like to tackle IC.

Hopefully, this episode will help us figure out not only IC SOP for small town civil affairs, but how we want to handle it games mechanics-wise. For example, how much do we want to address IC v. off-screen.

-

lol, that's why Tori's been studying on these guys... to make sure they weren't imposters from the prison.

I had no clue there was a prison there. I just googled Varner Unit an hour ago. I suppose my bad for not checking when it was first mentioned. When Lauren asked Skillins earlier if he knew anyone in town it was meant in the context of did he have any family (in which case she would have tried to make sure he got some free time to see them) as opposed to anything to do with his criminal past (which I am presuming she doesn’t know about).

Ill have a post up this afternoon/evening.  Taking the boys to the beach now.

Are y'all OK with the above? At this point, you've gleaned enough to be confident that nothing sinister is going on in Grady, so it should be safe to proceed with short-term local projects. Or, would you like to leave Grady presently and head towards the prisons?

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:40, Thu 19 July 2018.

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 139):

Based on what we've learned so far I'm inclined to think a missing man (the prison guard) should take priority over any infrastructure work (provided he hasn't turned up by now).

I'm fine of others want to do something else but I'd prefer to have a discussion about the matter IC before we proceed anywhere though (I will post at some point today, but when exactly is work dependent).

Yeah.  Missing prison guard + storm + usual lookout off his post = cause for more concern than usual.  I'd still like to send a couple of people off with Franks when he does his rounds, both to get eyes on the local situation away from the station and to ensure he doesn't disappear.  Tori and Saul, maybe?

Yeah, Cao’s threat warning receivers are going into overdrive right about now. I’m good with a few people (and the truck) staying behind but I think those that are going to the prison should set off sharpish while we have maximum daylight.

Franks' rounds, including stops to chat with Grady citizens, should not take more than 30 minutes. It's a really small town.

-

I'm headed up to Flagstaff early tomorrow for some disc golf and a little camping (I haven't been camping since about age 15), so I'll be AFK for a bit. I should be back by Saturday evening but I might not be able to post until midday Sunday.

If y'all could decide Sierra's next moves before I get back, that would be ideal. Thanks, guys.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Fri 20 July 2018.

My vote would be to split in to two teams – a recon team down to the prison now (without waiting for the Sheriff to do his rounds).

The rest of the team stay in Grady and some can go with the Sheriff as he does his rounds if they wish.

I'd prefer the Truck to stay in Grady, JLTV goes on the recon. I’m guessing we’ll probably also want the Suburban with the recon team as we’ll probably need the seating capacity.


This not withstanding, I'm not sure it would be best practice to only leave a couple of people behind to run civil affairs / make sure the truck (and contents) don’t get stolen - it’s putting a fair amount of trust in the townspeople and we don’t have anything concrete to base that on. But on the other hand it’s not fair to sideline anyone that wants in on the recon.

For me I think it’s a no brainer that Cao goes on the recon team. I have no strong preferences for Mike one way or the other although if he stays behind then I think the back up medic (Carissa?( should definitely go – if we are splitting up it makes sense for each team to have some who has medical skills.

I'm in general agreement with Dave, with the caveat that waiting 30 minutes for the sheriff to do his rounds may give us some advance warning if the killer about to call us is already in the house.

For PC dispositions - someone who's familiar with the prison complex should be on the recon.  I think the most plausible parties there are Tori and Scott.  I'm fine with Scott staying in town so we have one of the designated team leaders with each element.

In reply to Scott Guillory (msg # 146):

I think if both Scott and Tori have knowledge of the prison / prisoners there’s probably a strong case for both of them going to be honest (unless you’d rather keep Scott back).

Leave Saul in command of the civil affairs side while Scott and Lauren are gone, then?

Saul in charge of civil affairs is fine with me.  I’ll send Carissa with the recon team as medic/have a character in both teams.

OK, so provided Spartan has no objections, we run with this?

• Some of us accompany the Sheriff on his rounds (Scott + Saul?) which takes ~30 mins following which (provided nothing goes amiss)
• Recon team heads for the jail, civil affairs team renders what assistance they can to the local population

Recon Team
Chevy Suburban
Rios
Guillory
Ms Noble

JLTV
Cao
Anderson
Skillins
Kabua

Civil Affairs
Mr Noble
Carswell
Watkins

Are you leaving Xandra with CA Teg?

Also, in case I forget to cover it off IC Lauren will want everyone in helmets and body armour for the recon (that’s an order for military personnel, a strong suggestion for the civilians).

Everyone happy with that?

Solid.

Xandra will stay with CA, yes. She's not gonna provide any value add for recon.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 150):

I'm good with this.  Sorry, on phone and hate typing on this little keyboard... :)

Agree.

Wow...Devin's a boy's name? Well there ya go...

I'll edit out all the added - and obviously incorrect - colour from my post.

I made a minor edit in response to an obvious follow-up question:

Tryon estimates that there are probably 150 "rebel" inmates spread between Varner and Cummings, maybe half of them armed with captured guns (most of the rest have improvised edged weapons and clubs).

-

Yyyyeah.  What kind of response can the ASDF muster?  That is way beyond our ability to handle ourselves, or even to organize local militia.

In reply to Scott Guillory (msg # 156):

In response to a radio inquiry ("Yeah, let me get back to on that."), the ASDF will respond that they can/will arrange a reaction force to retake the prisons, but it will take several days to organize.

-

In that case, I'm thinking our best course of action is to conduct reconnaissance and ensure Grady's security as best we can.  If we have the chance for a hostage rescue, we can try it, but that's seeming unlikely.  Other options?

I was going to add this to the previous turn post, but kept forgetting. Now's a good time to describe the security situation in Grady.

Franks is the only pre-war police officer in the town. Offut is, technically speaking, mildly retarded. Franks explains that Offut works at the station only. His one job is to radio Franks if someone comes looking for him when he's out on his rounds. Offut's gun isn't loaded.

Franks counts on 10 trusty citizens to act as his deputies, in case of emergency. The only criteria to become a part-time deputy is to be sound of mind and body, own your own longarm, and agree to follow Franks' orders without question. If the Hawkeye lookout atop the grain silo notices strangers approaching the town from the SE, he fires two warning shots, one in the air, the other in the vicinity of the strangers. A volunteer is stationed at the nearby Church of God then rings a bell until Franks and his ten "deputies" come a-runnin', Minuteman style. The towns other armed citizens bunker down in their homes. If it's a job that 11 well-armed men can't handle, Franks will attempt to muster more of the townsfolk. So far, the plan has worked flawlessly. The closest call the Grady militia has had was with a persistent band of bikers, but Gradyites prevailed without sustaining (or likely causing) any casualties.

-

One more piece of salient info and then I'll back off and let the other players chime in. Under continued questioning, Tyron and Luis opine that the rebel inmates are running low on ammo. They've burned through it pretty quickly, trying to smoke out the holdouts in Cummings town. It's not likely that many of the inmates are much good with the prison's Mini-14s either. Their other firearms are shotguns and pistols. Tyron and Luis estimate that the rebel inmates only have about 20-30 of the ancient semi-auto rifles. As to the holdouts, Tyron and Luis think that they are running low on ammo too, and probably can't hold out much longer.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 04:54, Mon 23 July 2018.

I concur. We’re outnumbered fifteen to one here - let’s call in reinforcements and let them deal with it. I agree hostage rescue seems unlikely - that’s tough on the prison guards but if we try and it fails the prisoners may get better weapons / vehicles which puts even more people at risk.

I also think we shouldn’t be trusting a word the two escaped prisoners say - for all we know they could be in on it and this part of some ruse. If we are taking them back to Grady Lauren would want them cuffed for the ride back and then kept under lock and key.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:32, Mon 23 July 2018.

In reply to Scott Guillory (msg # 158):

We should gather more intelligence about what cliques and gangs existed within the prison, along with their leaders, then attempt to turn them against one another.  Unity of command will be an issue with a prison population whose only previous commonality was being incarcerated.  Once we know a bit more (we need a second source of information that we can corroborate with Tyron and Luis), we might be able to find ways to exploit that lack of unity.

"That's when we hung a sign from the Grady water-tower in Spanish.  'Le ofrecemos una amnistía si entrega a un prisionero grino, vivo o muerto.'  'Amnesty for every Gringo prisoner turned in - dead or alive'  The 'peckerwoods' and cholos went at it for two days after that.  It sowed dissent in their ranks and thinned the herd.  Of course then we were left to deal with the toughest survivors of two groups." - Team Sierra debriefing transcript.

PS: Ok, I added a quick post about Tori kicking into detective mode and starting to gather some of this information, splitting the two up and hopefully corroborating the information they are providing (or identifying inconsistencies in their story).
This message was last edited by the player at 11:22, Mon 23 July 2018.

Short lunch post.. but you get the point.  :)

Thinking about the prison guard situation, a few thoughts come to mind:

1) It's possible they some have hand-radios and within 5 km or so, we might be able to establish contact.  Authentication and message passing might be an issue, though some clever supervisor might have been smart enough to 'Stun' any captured radios.

2) They are trained corrections officers - They don't need your typical rescue op, just a fighting chance to pull-out to somewhere safer/better.

3) We've got an advantage in night ops and NVGs, as it's highly unlikely that the prison guards had access to that gear.

4) Specifically: We've got a arial drone that has a high resolution day/night camera with thermal imager.  If we could establish contact with the hold-out guards and provide them specifics on the locations of hostiles/unknown contact in town, that might be just enough for them to organize their own extrication under cover of darkness.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:32, Tue 24 July 2018.

In reply to Victoria Rios (msg # 164):

+1 to the above.

I'd vote for mobilizing the deputies of Grady for town security, notifying the state of the situation, and going for a rescue mission/support an escape for the still stranded guards.  We're not going to endear ourselves to anyone if we sit on our hands.

If the consensus is to mount a rescue attempt (of the guards and their families holed up in Cummings Village), there is a back route, along farm tracks, that bypasses both prison units and Varner Village. Take a look at the map. From the advance team's current position, leave the 65 and go north curling around a small lake to Macedonia Church. From there, east a bit, then north, then east, across a couple of streams, then east past the prison farms, until the road angles south into Cummings ville.

If you'd prefer to try a different route, that's fine too, but you'll need to tell me what it is.

Also, when you contact HQ, in addition to telling you that a reaction force will be assembled (estimated time of departure, 3-4 days out) and sent as quickly as possible, you will be asked to inform the rebel inmates that they are to lay down their weapons and return to their units immediately or be shot on sight.

-

If there’s a way to stage a covert recce with a view to rescuing the guards / families it’s worth exploring.

Going beyond that (and presuming that said recce achieves its goal) if we do then pull back and wait for reinforcements I can only see three possible outcomes.

1. The prisoners scatter to the four winds in the ensuing three – four days, which only kicks the can further down the road (and influences every encounter with every NPC going forward as we’re not going to know whether anyone we meet is a Varner escapee. To be fair, that door is already open given that the white cons have already cleared the area. So going forward Lauren is going to treat every encounter with a fair degree of suspicion until there’s good grounds to establish otherwise)

2. They decide to come looking for us and attack Grady. On the one hand we get the benefit of being defenders, but on the other hand they have the advantage of choosing the time of their attack and if even only a couple of them get through there will probably be civilian casualties.

3. They stay put and unwittingly wait for the reinforcements to come recapture them.

I’m presuming option 3 is the least likely. So after we’ve freed the guards (assuming that’s successful) I don’t really think we have any choice but to try and take them on.

Thoughts?

Also, re this:

Lauren’s instructions (and I presume she has primacy here) will be to shoot on sight without the option of laying down their weapons first. As far as she’s concerned they are non legal combatants (or whatever the legal term is) so have forfeited any right to due process. And if these were Russian troops we wouldn’t be offering them the chance to surrender first.

If, after seeing a few of their buddies shot on sight, some of them choose to surrender that’s a different matter, although I have no clue how we could securely detain large numbers of prisoners in the field. In LoE someone cut flex cuffs with an axe so I’m presuming they can also be easily be cut with a prison made knife (Shiv? Shank?) it would only need one prisoner not to be searched properly and we could lose all of them (and get one of us stabbed in the neck).
This message was last edited by the player at 08:07, Wed 25 July 2018.

I agree with all that.

As far as reading them their rights, I kinda imagine just sort of yelling “lay down your weapons” in the general direction of the prison.

Those are good points. When brought up with HQ, they'll defer to your judgment. Any armed inmate is a legit target and can be engaged with deadly force without prior warning.

I guess I was thinking about how the reaction force would handle it. I think they'd roll up on Varner, try to surround the place (or at least block obvious escape routes), then broadcast the warning. After giving the inmates a little time to comply, they'd start blasting those who did not.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:11, Thu 26 July 2018.

You presume correctly.  This stopped being a problem for civil authorities as soon as we realized its scope.  It's now somewhere between an insurgency and a plague of locusts.



Open field with no cover for several hundred meters in any direction, preferably covered with stadium lights or portable light towers (think highway construction equipment).  Port-a-potties in the center for hygiene.  Guards on duty with an M79 and an M2HB.  Spray-paint a perimeter line.  Inform all prisoners that anyone crossing the line will be fired upon with HE and full auto, and that the gunners do not have instructions to be precise.

I seem to have a knack for creating scenarios that slam the brakes on PbPs. Hopefully, you're enjoying the challenge. I worry that you are not.



The drone. It can give you an idea of where enemy concentrations are, possible ambush sites, that sort of thing. It's not entirely covert, though, in that the chances of an inmate seeing it and recognizing it for what it is are pretty good. It might warn them that some sort of gov't response is coming.

It's seems that we've stalled a bit on how to proceed. The following oversimplifies things a bit, but right now the options on the table are:

Bunker down in Grady and wait for the reaction force.
PROS: Little risk to STS. Go in with overwhelming strength; not be soley responsible for the outcome.
CONS: Any surviving guards will likely perish. Inmates might move on Grady. Probably lose face with locals.

Stage a rescue of the guards besieged in Cummings Village whilst waiting for the reaction force.
PROS: Limited risk. Hopefully rescue the guards. Might break the rebellion's back. Will make STS local legends.
CONS: Might not work- guards might perish anyway. Either way, STS might still have to wait for RF before continuing mission.

Put on a show of force (perhaps hit Varner Village).
PROS: Limited risk. Might break rebellion's back. Success could open up a move on the next inmate-held position. Will make STS local legends. Alternately, STS could punch through ville and continue mission. CONS: Might fail. Might provoke inmates to attack Grady. Either way, might still have to wait for RF before continuing mission.

The inmates have the numbers and not much to lose. You have the firepower, better road mobility (some armor), local support, and well-armed reinforcements 3-4 days out.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:31, Thu 26 July 2018.

I’m down for rescuing the guards.  We’re the good guys, let’s good guy.  We can always hit them again if the opportunity arises, and we also need to show the population we’re willing to help out when things go south.

And I’m having fun.

I can't sleep...

We've done large scale combat in other games. I'm not wild about another one but I can push through that.

My main concern isn't this group of prisoners, it's the other ones, the white guys who have already cleared the area and are, presumably, also in three figure strength. As I mentioned in my last post that will influence every interaction I have going forward - anyone encountered may be an escaped con. If Lauren and Scott get invited into the Sheriff's office for coffee are they going to get coffee or are the Sherriff and his Deputies really escaped cons  who killed the real Sheriff and his men the day before and are now wearing their uniforms and going to stick guns in their faces?

For me in the long term it's quite literally a game changing scenario.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:28, Thu 26 July 2018.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 173):

That's a legit concern, and one that I didn't anticipate when building the scenario and working ahead. This is the tricky part of GM'ing. Try as I might, I can't see all angles. I also can't think like y'all, as players or as your characters. You guys constantly surprise me- almost always in a good way. Still, unforeseen ramifications and unintended consequences are, I have found, unavoidable in ref'ing a PbP.

Without swerving into spoiler territory, I'll tell you the following:

The white prisoners who left numbered closer to 50 than to 100* and they had a specific destination. They didn't just scatter to the winds (although there may be a small number of stragglers). The party wouldn't know this for sure, of course- at least not now- but that's what Tyron and Luis both reported and their accounts will, in time (shortly, I hope), be corroborated and prove accurate.

I hope that this is at least a little bit reassuring. I don't want you guys feeling like every mundane encounter from here on out is a possible run-in with a duplicitous, homicidal escapee from Varner/Cummings. I mean, you'd be on your toes- to some degree- without this scenario anyway, but my intent was not to ramp up the suspicion level and make this game an unending mystery/manhunt.


*A note on my maths. There were about 250 prisoners to start. Some were killed during the rebellion. Some were killed by other inmates in the settling of scores Tyron mentioned. Some refused to participate (some of these were killed). Some were killed fighting the guards and their families in Cummings Village. Some have taken off on their own (avoiding the obvious escape route of the 65). The sum of those "somes" is about 50. About 50 white prisoners split in the prison vehicles. That leaves about 150 inmates split between Varner Village on the 65, the Varner Supermax, the Cummings Unit, and besieging Cummings village. Not all of them are armed with guns.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:57, Thu 26 July 2018.

Which is exactly what I have been feeling for several days.

If operations in Grady provide concrete corrobative evidence of what you've just disclosed in spoiler that would be helpful. Otherwise you'll appreciate that going forward I can't base my character actions on meta knowledge.

Re the numbers, Frank's reported 500 to start (msg 21 - I'm on a tablet so difficult to quote) so was presuming around 200 white prisoners (at least). I fully realise that Franks' number is ic so may not be accurate but that's also meta knowledge
This message was last edited by the player at 02:59, Thu 26 July 2018.

That was a mistake that I corrected in my head, but forgot to fix in the post.

-

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 176):

That certainly changes the perspective a bit.

Ok, I'm going to go back to bed and try and get some sleep - have a good night

OK, I’m thinking something along these lines, some of which others have already suggested

Part One

• Return to Grady. Alert the Sheriff to mobilise his deputies. Put our two prisoners under lock and key and interrogate further.
• Wait until dusk. I’m aware that means the guards have to hold out for several more hours but I’m hoping we have sufficient characters with NVG’s to take advantage of superior night fighting capabilities (for info, Lauren has NVG’s, Mike does not).
• Approach using the back roads Rae mentioned in Msg 166). Have the drone operating ahead of us to scout the route. It’s dark – I am presuming the chances of anyone spotting a drone at night are relatively slim.
• Proceed with caution. Shoot any inmates encountered on sight without warning (regardless of whether they are armed or unarmed). Does anyone have a suppressed weapon?
• Attempt to extricate the guards and their families. We may need to consider bringing the truck at least part of the way to ensure we have enough seating for everyone.
• Fall back to Grady with any surviving guards / family members.
• The surviving guards can serve as reinforcements for both our team and the Grady Deputies (one would assume that given the carnage, murder, rape etc that the prisoners have committed on their fellow guards the surviving guards would need little encouragement to get some revenge). We can arm them with any surplus weapons we have.
• Nuke the entire prison site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure

Part Two

• Be prepared for overnight attacks. Do we have any claymores?
• The following morning roll down the road. Slowly. In the event that nuking from orbit was unsuccessful / impractical use the drone to identify the nearest concentration (two or more) of prisoners.
• Engage said concentration with M2HB from safe range (i.e. we can hit them, they can’t hit us).
• Keep firing until no one’s moving.
• Find the next concentration of prisoners. Repeat.
• Use public address system to invite remaining prisoners to lay down their arms and surrender. If they refuse repeat.
• If they surrender follow protocols suggested by Tegyrius in msg 170.
• Await arrival of relief force who can escort prisoners away from the scene. If the surviving guards don’t kill them all first.

Looks good.  I feel like evacuating the guards will be something akin to Dunkirk, so if any horses, wagons, broke-ass FORD pickup trucks, or whatever can be supplied from Grady, we should have those nearby half-way close, to assist.

Speaking of nuking sites/need for artillery.  I feel like Xandra should chose a favorite from /r/catapult or /r/trebuchet and build one, put it on wheels, and combine it with ANFO and some clever fuzing.  #getmedievalontheirass

Also, prisoners are in protective custody and subject to further debriefing, not under lock and key/interrogation.  It's like right/left Twix... totally different.  :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0QpPNcT-J4
This message was last edited by the player at 20:58, Thu 26 July 2018.

So, to confirm

• Who does have NVG's?
• Do we have any suppressed weapons?

I'm presuming we don't have any claymores, at least not enough to be useful.

@Rae, can you advise for the NPC's?
This message was last edited by the player at 15:31, Sat 28 July 2018.

I’ve got one set of NVGs on Carissa.  I’m going with Saul’s old USMC gear or something.  No suppressed weapons.  Except for stealth and a knife.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:09, Sat 28 July 2018.

Scott has an AN/PVS-14.  He has suppressors on his carbine (Wilson Combat Recon SR Tactical w/ matched Wilson Combat Whisper) and his long rifle (Remington 700 Titanium in 7mm-08 w/ Gemtech Tracker).

Xandra has no such toys, not having been a gunfondler before the war.  She is tolerably good with cutlery or a pool cue, though.

Tori's got older PVS-7 via surplus military sales to the State Police.  Anderson has modern aircrew issued binocular NVGs.  He's also got a single claymore, a legacy from being overrun once in Romania.  No suppressors between them.

Some years ago the British Army ran this recruitment ad on TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBVAzfpjzGc
This message was last edited by the player at 16:43, Sat 28 July 2018.

I deliberately made the NPCs gear-lite so that there'd be less danger of them stealing the spotlight. Watkins and Kabua have both used NVGs but neither has a pair. Skillins hasn't used them before. From what I've read, driving/flying with NVGs on is a bit tricky and requires quite a bit of practice to do well.

If Gradyites assist in the rescue mission (the evac part, at least), they won't have NVGs either.

You would have an advantage at night fighting, but due to the above, you might want to consider a daylight op instead. It's about 3pm game time so you could start the rescue during daylight and maybe use darkness to withdraw. I'll put up a turn up to departure and, once you let me know if you'd like to leave day or night, I'll add some more.

-

I vote for a night attack. I think pros outweigh potential cons (no pun intended).

Also, regardless of when we attack, does anyone want to carry the M79?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:17, Sat 28 July 2018.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 186):

Are you going in with headlights on? If not, who is going to loan Skillins, Watkins, and Rios (?) NVGs? Keep in mind that any civie volunteers that accompany Sierra are not going to be able to drive at night without headlights.

-

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 187):

Let's hold off on deciding anything until we see what the others say. They might all want a day attack. And personally I had no intention of taking any civie volunteers at all (I mentioned using any rescued guards as potential reinforcements, that was all).
This message was last edited by the player at 17:29, Sat 28 July 2018.

Does our UAV kit include night-vision capability?  Launching aerial recon after dusk will be vastly preferable if we can be reasonably assured we aren't just going to run it into a tree.

In reply to Scott Guillory (msg # 189):

Yes. Spartan can probably go into far more detail than me, however:

https://www.avinc.com/uas/view/raven

No problem. You can tell Franks you don't want them, but if you change your mind, they're available.

-

OK, I presume Franks can give some indication of how long the drive is likely to take.

My vote is to leave Grady just before dusk, using the estimated journey time quoted by Franks to get us to a point approx one mile from Cummings Village as night falls. That should solve the problem of having to loan anyone NVG's and / or people not being able to use them at night.

We leave Ace Hardware, the two townspeople and their trucks there. Under cover of darkness the JLTV and the Suburban move forward and initiate the attack. Rios has NVG's so doesn't need to borrow any. As Skillins can't drive at night he stays with the Ace Hardware Gradyites and Watkins drives the JLTV. Cao will loan Watkins her NVG's. If Watkins can't drive a JLTV she has a couple of hours to drive around Grady and learn from Skillins before we leave. Or Cao will drive it if she has to. That's absolutely not what I would want to do but if it's the only way it's the only way.

Once we launch our attack Ace Hardware and the two Grady vehicles move forward to evacuate the guards. The surprise has been sprung so it's not so critical if they use their headlights.

The above is all just a suggestion though - if anyone has another way to do it - including options for attacking during daylight - that's fine with me.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 192):

That sounds good, Dave. I'd add a drone-sweep once in position. I'll prep an addendum to the turn, but will wait until the others give their input before posting (and/or revising, as necessary).

-

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 193):

Yeah, sorry, should have restated that - I was planning on having the drone sweep ahead of us as we advanced (per the bullet points in msg 178).

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 194):

I figured as much. I added a marker to the campaign map (found in the Intel thread) of a natural stopping point, for y'all's approval.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:18, Sat 28 July 2018.

Guys, input on Dave's plan?

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I fully support this plan.
Saul can remain behind in Grady to coordinate, or stay with the trucks for extraction, but he won’t be coming forward.

How about having Saul and Xandra coordinate a bit of battlefield preparation in case of pursuit?

No refinements otherwise.  Plan looks good.

In reply to Xandra Murray (msg # 198):

I can dig it.

I'm good with the plan.

As Scott has two suppressed long guns, he can hand one off to someone else - possibly giving one of the medics the Remington 700 to allow them to hang back.

In reply to Scott Guillory (msg # 201):

I suspect Carissa may be a better shot than Mike. (Mike's Small Arms (Rifle) asset is 12). Also, as primary medic Mike should probably be up at the pointy end.

Also, if there are no claimers, I'll assign the M79 to whoever has the higher GL skill out of Cao (Asset 10) and Kabua (Rae, can you advise Asset?)

In reply to Mike Carswell (msg # 202):

The thought crossed my mind making a cup of tea that if Saul’s hanging back and Carissa hangs back with the suppressed rifle that means Keys might be missing out on some of the action so if you want to have Mike take the rifle instead that’s cool. Or someone else can. I’m flexible

I’m spinning up for a really busy week, so hanging back with a rifle is probably a good fit for me. Also, Carissa’s rifle is 13.

It's pretty low. Watkins' is a bit higher.

Also, if Saul and Xandra stay in Grady, and Carissa and Skillins stay with Ace Hardware, that means only 7 Sierras are going in to the lion's den. Are y'all cool with that?

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:04, Sun 29 July 2018.

I think for Carissa it would be more about hanging back and providing cover fire.  She’ll still be involved in the fighting.

I was seeing this as having them hang back at the staging area or along the planned egress route, not all the way back in town.

That was what I was thinking as well.

---

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 205):

Yeah, but Watkins is driving. I'm guessing she has higher driving skill than Kabua as well so swapping them out would solve one problem but cause another (unless Kabua does have a higher driver skill?)

No reason why Skillins can't come along though, just not as a driver.

So,

Razorback
Watkins (driver)
Cao (M79)
Anderson (M2)
Kabua

Bourbon Street
Rios (driver)
Guillory (sharpshooter)
Ms Noble (sharpshooter)
Skillins
Carswell

Staying at jump off point
Mr Noble
Murray

I'm thinking Razorback should be on point.

Roger all. I'll write up and post the turn once I get back from church/lunch/grocery pick-up.

-

With that assignment, do any of the assaulters want to borrow Scott's suppressed AR?

I was thinking the primary use for suppressed weapons would be to shoot any potential look outs on the way in.

i.e. we creep forward. Slowly. With the drone operating ahead of us. If the drone spots any looks outs we try and kill them. Stealthily.

I figured once the assault goes in all hell will eventually break loose at which point suppressed weapons are less of a thing.

I'm more than happy to do it a different way though.

Agreed.  But Scott's not gonna drag along two long guns unless it's really necessary.  Or did you want him running his AR as a front-line designated marksman and Carissa using his Remington from overwatch?

In reply to Scott Guillory (msg # 212):

This if Keys is good with it and it doesn't entail Carissa being detached from the group. For example if we secure the building the guards are in Carissa picks off targets at range while the rest of us deal with closer in threats.

So overwatch, yes, being split up from the main body, no. Does that make sense?

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 213):

Had a thought. Drivers would have trained with NVGs the two weeks of prep prior to the mission. So, Skillins can drive. Besides, itll prolly get annoying having to shuffle drivers around if/when the team travels at night. This also frees up Watkins IF you'd like to her to carry the Blooper on this op. If not, that's cool too.

-

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 214):

OK, so vehicles are now

Razorback
Skillins (driver)
Cao
Anderson (M2)
Kabua

Bourbon Street
Rios (driver)
Guillory (sharpshooter)
Ms Noble (sharpshooter)
Watkins (M79 + 1 bandolier, 40mm HE (12 rounds))
Carswell

Presume everyone is happy with that?

I’m good with overwatch.  Carissa has an M700 as well she can use instead of the M4 mod.

Sorry, that was my fault in the way I phrased that - that comment was really just intended for the civilians but I absolutely didn't make that clear. Lauren was kind of taking it as given that the military people would follow her orders.

Like I said, my bad.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:27, Sun 29 July 2018.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 217):

No problem at all. I just wanted to post as Chevelle (her first). I thought it was a good opportunity to reveal her lack of combat experience.

-

Turn is up. I think I gave y'all enough to work with; if not, let me know. The campaign map (Intel thread) is updated.

I also added the following to the previous turn post:

After radioing his counterpart in Gould (the next town south of Varner) to apprise the neighboring town of the alarming situation at the prison complex*, Franks immediately begins rounding up the Grady militia...

*Gould's Police chief is not unaware of the trouble to his town's northwest. Two days prior, a prison bus and several other DOC vehicles drove through Gould. One of the vehicles stopped. Shots were exchanged. Two Gouldites and four inmates were killed in the confrontations. The Gould militia has been on high alert ever since.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:15, Sun 29 July 2018.

Disclaimer - I’m at work so my ability to study both the map and the turn post at length are limited, however based on what I have looked at it seems like taking out the sentries (Target 1) I a logical move as they’ll need to be dealt with before we can advance

If / when they are dealt with it looks like we have the option of possibly going south (there’s reference to a causeway in the turn post, which is where Target 3 is located?) or carrying on east, which puts us on a course towards the five individuals.

So, short term I think take out target 1 is best option. If you agree with that do we want to

• Have a dismount squad get out now and sneak forward on foot until the target is in range for our marksmen?
• Try and get a little closer with the vehicles and then dismount?
• Forego surprise and move straight to shock and awe and just light them up with the fifty cal?

I’d be inclined to go with the first option. Or am I calling this wrong and there’s another option?

Also, Rae, to confirm, in the turn post Target 3 is listed as east of the focal point but on the map it appears to be west? I’m presuming the map is correct.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 220):

Correct.

-

I'm getting a big fat 404 error on the intel map link so I can't contribute much to the planning at the moment.

I've tried to keep things moving along without locking us into any particular course of action.

I'm sorry. I've tried re-copying the SHARE link and when I click on it, I get a 400 error. I'm not sure what's wrong.

-

This probably doesn’t help much but it works ok for me on several devices / browsers.

Try it now, Keys. Let me know if it still won't open for you.

I'd like to get a turn up in the next day or two (last turn was posted Sunday). If you haven't posted IC yet, please try to do so asap. Thanks.

-

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 226):

I'm in! Thanks Rae.

I'm tempted to say split the group and have the marksmen (and woman) track south along the stream until they can drop the two individuals to the west at about the same time a shock and awe attack hits the five up north.  However, I've seen how well my plans of splitting the group tend to work out.  Otherwise, option 1 looks the best.  I'd rather have direct contact with those five individuals and worry about a duo on the flank than the reverse.

Has Kabua forgotten how to use the M2HB recently?

Skills:
Expert (12+):  Ground Vehicle (Wheeled), Cook
Advanced (10+): Scrounging, Survival, Swimming
Professional (8+): Navigation, Computers, Small Arms (Rifle)
Competent (6+): Spanish

No. I just forgot to edit his skill list when I added the backstory to give him competency with belt-fed weapons.

-

Busy couple of days at work.  Major TTX yesterday, and 5 hours on the road today for a 1-hour training delivery.

Given the sporadic gunfire coming from the area of the objective, could we wait for another flurry and then try to drop the two-felon team without anyone else realizing we've dealt ourselves in?

OK, I'm almost ready to roll up and write a turn. As I understand it, Cao, Guillory, C. Noble, Kabua, and Watkins are dismounting and moving forward on foot. The vehicles will remain in place, ready to roll to the rescue if the SHTF. Is this correct?

The dismounts are going to head east along the road to the two inmates sentries atop the hay rolls (Target 1)?

Guillory and Noble are going to hang back and act as DMs?

If I've got the above correct, I need to know how close the dismounts want to get to the two sentries (Target 1) before engaging. If spotted, what's the contingency? DMs engage with unsilenced weapons from range?

Thanks.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:32, Thu 02 Aug 2018.

More or less. Watkins wasn’t originally assigned to the dismount squad but no reason why she (and, more to the point, the M79) can’t come along.


I’m not sure we’re on the same page here though. My intent was for the entire dismounted team (including Guillory and Noble) to move forward on foot until we’d reached a spot close enough for Guillory and Noble to use their suppressed weapons to target the sentries. Cao and Kabua (and Watkins if she’s present) are there to provide back up if that goes wrong and we get spotted.

I don’t have a rule book in front of me but in terms of game mechanics I think it’s medium range where your to hit number is your straight asset (i.e. not doubled or halved). If that’s correct (and someone please confirm before we commit to anything) that’s where I was looking to get to, which I’m guessing would be around the 150 metre (approx) mark?

So basically, what I was proposing is as follows

• Everyone that’s dismounted moves forward as a team to a spot where Guillory and Noble can take shots at the sniper with a target number to hit equal to their asset

• Guillory and Noble try to take out the sentries with suppressed weapons

• If that goes wrong and we’re discovered the contingency is that the rest of the dismount team  engage with maximum (and unsuppressed) force

If we can drop them then we have the option of splitting to deal with the others as Keys suggested earlier or not.

If you all want to do it a different way that’s fine by me but I don’t see any value in Cao and Kabua (and maybe Watkins) taking them on with non suppressed weapons as our opening move. If we’re going to do that we would have been as well rolling up in the JLTV and putting fifty cal sized holes in them from distance.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:32, Thu 02 Aug 2018.

I like reasonable hit chances, for sure!

I can edit my last IC post to have Carissa walking instead of digging in for continuity with the plan to move forward on foot, if that's the plan.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 232):

Your plan was clear, Dave. I just wanted to clarify, since the IC posts weren't quite aligning with the OOC plan. I'm fine with Watkins hanging back (one less person to potentially screw up stealth rolls).

-

I'm pretty sure if you guys head over to that hog farm, you'll hear some real good pickin' and a fiddlin'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsC4kf6x_Q0

I’ve posted Lauren’s intent to push ahead and deal with the sentries but it’s not a three line whip - if you all prefer to deal with the new threat to the north she’ll agree if anyone raises it IC.


Lauren hasn’t seen Hannibal, I have (Spartan, if that’s a dupe of what you just posted, sorry man – am at work and Youtube ist verboten)

---

Oh, and I changed to a slightly more military – but still not Vietnamese - looking av (now Korean, last one was Japanese).

Also, is the voice on the radio claiming to be Officer Lopez male or female?

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 236):

The voice on the radio is male.

-

I dropped an edit into Lauren's last post to add dropping an IR chemlight.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:50, Sun 05 Aug 2018.

In the interest of full disclosure, I think I'm going to roll shots at one higher difficulty level, due to the darkness. If someone has a night vision scope sight or IR spotlight and NVGs, I won't be increasing the difficulty. I think this is fair? Do y'all?


-

In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 239):

Well my preference (per Msg232) was always to get to a point where we didn’t suffer any penalties so if this applies to Guillory and Noble (both have nvg’s as far as I know but I don’t know about their scopes) I would have preferred to close the range. Don’t know what everyone else thinks

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 240):

I can see how it feel's unfair for me to walk it back at this point so I won't apply a range penalty for this round. I'll have to think about how to approach this IG scenario going forward. I guess part of the issue for me is that I've never gone shooting in the dark. I'm just making educated guesses, at this point.

-

Yeah, low-light training is one of my unicorn classes.  Scott has NODs and there is an IR tactical light mounted on the rifle, but no actual night-vision optic.  The Kahles scope has an illuminated reticle but I don't think it's NVG-compatible.  His range increment with the scope is 51m, just over half of what Carissa's going to have with the Remington.

If / when we drop the sentries, how do you want to move forward?

I'm thinking we could bring up the vehicles, shoot up the bunch of five individuals and take the first right after the sentries (the road running more or less due south). That would bring us into the Alano from the rear and give us a chance to shoot up the two individuals west of the Alamo on the way in.

Or would you prefer to try and deal with what's happening north of us (the human sounds on the map) first so there is less risk on the way out?

Another option is taking the dismounts south as Keys suggested, try and take out the two individuals down there stealthily then sneak across the fields and try and make covert contact with the people in the Alamo? Tactically I like that as an option but I feel like it could sideline the people in the vehicles for a while.

Oh, and I realised not having an av went makes it harder to pick out posts so I went back to the original. Sorry folks, I know, first world problems...I'll leave it as it is going forward.

I'll get posts up this afternoon.  This morning was weeding and now a birthday party.

Rae, does Scott still have LOS to the downed sentries or are they on the wrong side of the hay bales?

If Scott and Carissa stand up, they can see the downed sentries lying on the ground.

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Anyone?

With the Alamo still holding, I think we should roll north and hit that group quietly too.  No since leaving problems at our backs.  Plus we may want to hit the group around the Alamo hard to announce our arrivals to the friendlies.

I think at least getting eyes on the northern group is good, even if they are just hicks and we don't need to murder-hobo them.

OK, that works for me. I think we should keep off the road and stick close to that green mass on the map (some sort of pond / lake?) but if anyone wants to take a different route that's fine by me.

How flammable is pig shit? I’m thinking that setting it alight would be a helluva diversion.

Or is that a crazy idea?

Is there anything else nearby that looks like it might burn easily? Like hay bales?

Google suggests it may be, but unreliably so: https://modernfarmer.com/2014/...-exploding-pig-poop/

Rae, if we got close enough to the downed sentries to smell them over Lake Piggycaca, were we able to check them for intel and/or secure their weapons?

Yep, further googling agrees that if a foam forms it can be highly volatile but there's no way of knowing whether there's a foam in this case or not. Also, personally speaking, there's no way my PC would have the faintest idea about any of this so I think it would be veering into meta game territory for Lauren to suggest it. And I now have 'igniting pig shit' on my interweb history.

So I guess the question is, start a gunfight or withdraw quietly? I'm happy enough to have the gunfight if everyone else is.

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The father trying to rescue his son sounds very like an accident that happened over here.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-...ern-ireland-21222046

It was national news at the time as one of the sons was an Ireland Rugby international.

If shitheads are present, they should be removed.  No advantage to leaving them around to do this again.

Sure. I skipped a search because, IIRC, no one wrote about conducting one, but it doesn't change the turn at all, so I can/will add a line or two about the results.

EDIT: DONE

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This message was last edited by the GM at 00:35, Thu 09 Aug 2018.

Rae, can you add the NPC's callsigns to their entries in the Cast List?

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 256):

Will do.

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Nice touch.

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Half-turn is up. I didn't want to assume that Anderson would fire, and Razorback is currently in Bourban Street's way. Razorback could pull off on the shoulder, giving Anderson a stable firing platform for the .50 or his SAW, and this would also clear the SUV to go after the UTV. I didn't want to perform this maneuver without checking with y'all first (in case someone has a different idea of how to proceed).

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Whoops! Hang on a sec. I forgot to make an important roll. Must edit.

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In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 260):

Done. You may proceed.

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Hasn't there been sporadic gunfire going on since we got here?

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Also, I think we've ruled out igniting pig shit but can you advise re the second part of that question (whether there's anything else easily flammable)?

I suppose it’s possibe we could break contact with the pig farm and head to the Alamo if there aren’t any hostages. We’ve probably broken any chance of resistance for a few minutes, at least.

Yes, but not gunfire from the complex where you are now. It's possible that anyone who hears can't differentiate, but it's possible that they can. It's just the nature of sound/hearing.

There is some hay around, but it's still pretty damp so it might not burn easily/quickly.

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In reply to Carissa Noble (msg # 263):

Yeah, I was thinking if we can get the vehicles on site quickly they can pick us up. Maybe we try and set a fire as a diversion.

Then

• We go down the road on the right hand side of the pig farm (the one adjacent to the green lake on the map)
• Take a left
• Shoot up the five individuals with the fifty cal
• Take a right where they (the five individuals) are at
• Head down that road with the Chevy's lights and siren on (they call that blues and twos over here) so the guards know we're friendly
• Relieve the Alamo

That's the best I've got. I've probably done a pretty shit job when it comes to decision making during this scenario but I'm just trying to keep everyone's PC's alive against an enemy that vastly outnumbers us and (imo) don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 265):

I'm good with most of that.  Given the state of the world, I don't think we should necessarily try to start a fire and wreck a "functioning" hog farm that could be secured later (by someone else).  If we can confirm no guns, maybe we can leave these folks behind with a few more shots for good measure and move on.

I'd like to get a turn up today or, at the latest, tomorrow. If that won't work for you, please let me know.

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In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 267):

I don’t think there’s anything I can add either IC or OOC at this stage (unless you want a post saying Mike continues to hold on to the oh shit handle...).

Don't be so hard on yourself. For what it's worth, I think you're handling a deliberately tricky scenario quite admirably so far.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 01:58, Wed 15 Aug 2018.

@All: If the Sierra AVs don't engage or pursue the UTV this turn, they can reach the dismounts for extraction or whatever. Actually, a brief long-range engagement wouldn't delay things much either- only a pursuit would. So, in your IC posts, barring sustained engagement/pursuit, it's OK to fast-forward to linkup. I hope this makes sense.

Having been spotted by the UTV, it's very likely that the alarm is about to be raised. Shooting at it with the .50 might stop it, but will also announce your presence. As will sirens. With the sentries at the hay roll intersection eliminated, you have a straight, undefended shot to the Alamo. Bear in mind that it will take time for the main body of inmates, once alerted, to mount any kind of organized response (if they are even capable of doing so).

Also, be thinking about how to get the guards/families out if/when you get to the Alamo. If there's more than a couple of survivors, you won't be able to cram them all into RB and BS.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 02:00, Wed 15 Aug 2018.

I don't see any harm in shooting up the quad bike. Also, Lauren’s intent has always been to have Anderson shoot up the hale bay due north of the Alamo (marked as ‘at least 5 individuals’ on the map) on the way in. We've already announced our presence in a different area and I don’t see any harm in having the inmates coming under fire in multiple locations – it might make them think that they really are surrounded and that they’re the ones that are outnumbered.

To clarify, the "at least five individuals" were counted in/around that farm complex, as per the narrative. They weren't/aren't necessarily bunched up together in one group out in the open. I just didn't want to place five separate markers on the map. That said, I'm not trying to discourage y'all from shooting up the place, if that's what you'd like to do.

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In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 272):

I'll park that idea then. I thought that was an identified concentration of inmates.

Waste of time shooting up an empty field.

I need to know whether or not Anderson is going to fire at the fleeing UTV.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 22:36, Fri 17 Aug 2018.

Nope..

I have a question about the SUV's armor. I'm assuming that it's under the body-work? Is that correct? If so, bullet strikes would probably tear up the exterior before being stopped by the armor plate underneath. Or, is the outer shell some form of armor? Or is it a combo (Kevlar or some such exterior, plate underneath?) At some point in this campaign, the SUV is going to come under fire, and I'd like to know how to imagine hits to its body.

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Basically, the entire passenger compartment is encased in armor, with some protection for the engine.  The outer shell of the vehicle is mostly the same.  Auto glass (laminate f/r and safety glass r/l sides) is replaced with a ballistic laminate all around that can take rifle rounds, but with heavy spider cracking.  Sustained fire in the same spot can penetrate the glass.  Run-flat inserts and some mine protection on the bottom also help with survivability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JCmGvajxK4

In reply to Cole Anderson (msg # 277):

Thanks for the video- it answered all of my questions.

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I presume you mean left? Unless I'm mistaken taking a right will mean we drive into Boone Lake.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 279):

Ha ha! I'm at it again. Sorry, yes, I meant left. And to think I'd just caught and corrected someone else's directional error. SMH at myself.

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In reply to Good Ol' Rae (msg # 280):

That's the last post I'll manage tonight so if Skillins needs any more directions to get to the Alamo Anderson will need to tell him. Don't wait on any confirmations from Cao.

In reply to Lauren Cao (msg # 281):

No worries. He won't need anymore. It's a straight shot after he makes the [correct] turn.

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I am not sure we should push forward much further with the SUV.  A half dozen rounds impacting the front windshield in the right spots will make continued driving difficult.