Just to be clear are you working out all our starting equipment for us or do you want us to work our initial basic equipment while you work out any "bonus" items? And if we're working out initial equipment do you want to follow the rules or can we put together a desired wish list for you to review?

I was kind of hoping that our GM would be filing out the equipment honestly.

Kind of sets the tone for just how rough he wants this to be.

Sorry guys, been busy with house guests and ill kids (s0me of which illness, they nicely passed on to me). Will try and sort out Char Gen over the weekend. Nothing to add to any ideas bounced around so far, so I'll just try and slot Tom in somehow

In reply to Mike Thompson (msg # 52):

yes, i am working on the equipment and weapons. everyone should have something particular to their areas expertise and decent equipment to keep them alive in the face of adverse weather, lack of support, and aggressive soviets.

aircraft are around and about, but in extremely limited applications so they tend to be highly guarded and sparsely used due to fuel, parts, and munitions shortages.

sorry, i meant to add that those of you with particular skills/specialties of a technical nature will have some degree of equipment to support using those skills.

Intel types will probably have some intel assets available to them in the form of last reports from the field, photographs, maps, communications logs, etc. as well as a bit of spycraft type equipment.

infantry/spec ops types will most likely be outfitted more for the fihgt they just escaped than anything. so, weapons appropriate to skills/specialties and some supporting gear such a medical or communications gear.

support types will have equipment to support the flavor of their support specialties and personal weapons.

civilians, i don't think we have any in the party, will be equipped to represent their roles in the current battle situation and their former life-skills/specialties.

probably a touch more non-combat gear than usual, but specific and (hopefully) beneficial to immersion.

for the group there will most likely be a vehicle, possible two, available to the party for immediate use. said vehicle(s) will be outfitted with some supplies such as food, water, fuel, parts as well as weapons, radios, ammunition, etc. as befitting their intended function.

it should provide enough for hardcore combat to breakaway or counter attack as the party decides, or support a more survival oriented plan for the party. the party should have enough assets to also assist others to a some degree as they choose. if they choose to do so.

i do have a plan, as revealed in a previous posting, to move the game a bit further southwest to begin a story arc. when it comes to gear, just so no one is confused or misunderstands what is available, the cut off date for technical development of weapons, combat vehicles, electronics, body armor, tools, etc. is late 1995.

this means that means that the gear will reflect more of the cold war technology and theory behind them than post cold war era developments. in the time line the cold war carried on a little longer and eventually turned into actual war.

for you Brit-weapon fans that means the late nineties accuracy international rifles weren't developed. i know, i know, i loved those rifles too. the M240 never reached full general issue in the US arsenals. no later generation Glocks. and so on, I just put all this out there because some people are focused on the trends that came in the last twenty years and feel as if the GM has taken something away from them otherwise.

but, there is always the old stand-bys of coolness; the HK21, the Barret M82, the M16/M203, and the FN P90. and, yes, these are all some the cool-kids guns from the Stargate SG-1 series. Hey, I'm an old guy.

posted gear for individuals and group. look it over, let me know what you think.

Looking good Chief.

I assume that Mike and Sean are rocking 5.56 and the current ammunition is a typo?

yes, that is a typo. thanks. i'll update it.

In reply to GM (msg # 57):

Thanks for the gear. It looks good to me but I have a couple of questions:


It that 10 full magazines of 30 rounds each plus 120 rounds loose for a total of 420 rounds?

Or is that 10 empty magazines and a total of 120 rounds?

Also I believe that an M203 requires the Heavy Weapons skill. Is that correct? That skill is a gap on Mike's skill list at present so I'll have to try to rectify that with some XP......


Perfect! <G>

---

EDIT - are we ok to add a couple of "personal effects or characterisation items"? I'm thinking of things like a woolly hat, a leatherman multi tool, family photos, etc?
This message was last edited by the player at 09:19, Sun 08 Aug 2021.

Professional Classical Musician.
Was part of numerous world-renown Philarmonic orchestras.

Starts with a Harmonica.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen :)

(She does have a fiddle as well so its al under control :P)

But joking aside, I'll echo @Mike Thompson's question about ammo vs mags.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:44, Sun 08 Aug 2021.

Hello all. I'm planning on playing Seamus Murphy, an Irish-born British Army tank gunner.

sorry, yes all magazines are full. The loose rounds basically represent the 'ammunition surplus' the unit possesses at the beginning of the game.

LOL


Welcome to the game. Seamus sounds like a prime candidate for the M2 when we're in vehicles.


Superb - thanks for the clarification. I'll sort Mike's gear out now.

My only request is that we have this stenciled somewhere on the Humvee with the KY-57 in it.

maps incoming

one is an overview of how the battle went down and the retreat from the scene and the other is a map of where the party is in the little refugee camp and the areas where battle has been heard (possibly observed by fleeing locals who reported it in camp).

first map is colorful:
Denotes Soviet lines of attackDenotes Soviet lines of pursuit after retreating NATO forces
Denotes NATO lines of attack
Denotes lines of retreating NATO remnants after the battle at Kalisz
Denotes the areas of the actual battle/the battlefields
Dotted line denotes the movements of the Soviet unit party's unit was tracking
Dotted line denotes the movements of the party's unit while tracking or combating the Soviet unit

on the second map:
denotes the route of the party's unit into forest and location of refugee camp
denotes areas of heard fighting or reported areas of fighting from locals that fled

maps are quick and crude, sorry, but they will work for now

In reply to Thomas Carter (msg # 54):

sorry for the late reply. anything we can do to help out? just shout. being sick with company is tough. good luck with that.

In reply to Sean Cave (msg # 65):

So does Sean embrace the obvious nickname of Cavey?

Is that his (unofficial) callsign?

Cavey, Cave Man, Cap

Whatever works.

so unit designation.............
H platoon, headquarters & headquarter company (HHC), 508th infantry regiment (technical support), 5th infantry division

often referred to as the hit, hitman, hide-n-seek, or hidden platoon in slang terms.

platoon call sign is Foxtrot Golf, more commonly called friendly ghosts due to the nature of the units missions involving covert work with between localized intelligence assets and front-line NATO units since the unit has large number of intelligence operatives employed by the central intelligence agency.

this has also led to the unit being referred to as the Firm by British soldiers who have been known to comment on the platoon's association with the 'company' meaning the CIA and their practice of hiring local assets as being something along the lines of hiring soccer hooligans/firms.

H platoon structure
Platoon leader - Colonel Reginald 'Rex' Applegate - deceased
Platoon Executive Officer - Captain Sean Cave
Platoon Sergeant - Master Sergeant Velma Carson - MIA
Coordinating Liaison - Jackson 'Jacks' Webbber - deceased (head spook/CIA)
Technical Advisor - Simon Baker - deceased (Engineer/technical intel specialist/CIA)
Soviet Operations Advisor - Fedor Ovcharenko (rumored to have been in Russian intel)
Language and Cultural Specialist/Poland - Cecylia Wojcik
Leader, Scout Section - Sergeant Mike Thompson (British NATO contingent to 5th ID)
Medical officer - Captain Evelyn McCord - deceased (Doctor, British NATO contingent to 5th ID)

remainder of platoon
14 soldiers; 3 former soviet, 4 Brit, 1 German, 6 US - deceased
7 soldiers; 2 US, 2 French, 3 Polish - MIA
11 intel operatives; 4 Polish, 2 Brit, 5 US - deceased
3 intel assets; 1 US, 1 German, 1 Slovakian - MIA

lost are the following vehicles:
1 x M988 HMMWV
1 x M151 Truck (Jeep)
1 x UAZ 469b
3 x M35A1 Trucks (duece & a half)
2 x 500 liter fuel trailers
1 x local produced mobile machine shop trailer
enough food, water, ammunition, batteries, electronics, tools, spare parts, and medical supplies to start a very lucrative black market

just a bit of background to increase the sense of 'aw dam!', aid in immersion, and to lure you back to the scene of the fighting to look for lost people and/or resources.

In reply to GM (msg # 71):

This sounds great.

A couple of things re Mike. Firstly, he's technically now from an American National Guard unit so I presume that he's joined via them rather than a British unit. He moved to the US in 1991 and had several years service with the Nebraska National Guard (134th Infantry Regiment) before volunteering for deployment abroad as a replacement early in the war. To join a National Guard unit I presume that you must be a US Citizen - is that correct?

Secondly I was going to make him part of 3-10 Infantry but should I shift him to 508th Infantry now? That seems to make more sense.

I also have a couple of questions re your campaign set up. Are you having the split between the CIA and DIA that exists in the version 1 and 2 background? If you are then all of the CIA references above should be DIA (I think).

Lastly, as this is a military unit, would all of the intelligence specialists have been given military ranks? Even if they are just nominal military ranks.

technically of the military personnel would have been seconded to the CIA, formed into a unit led by the CIA but operated by the members in the unit who would have established a hierarchy based on pertinent experience, and thus operated outside of the normal chain of command acting as military contractors (studies and observations group personnel) in conducting very specific and highly targeted operations for the CIA.

but, since it is wwIII, putting everyone together in sort of 'last-ditched' command to expand NATO influence in the region just seemed more realistic. who is to argue?

as for the split between DIA and CIA in the first to versions of the backstory, that hasn't happened in this timeline. well, that anyone knows of anyway. DIA probably wouldn't have the contacts or case management capability to handle long-term intel assets (i.e. the locally contracted operatives) previous to the war's outbreak nor would the DIA have had the manpower or non-political connections to establish such assets during the war in this region. just my opinion anyway.

the backstory to the setting is completely based around a fictional outcome from the cold war between the US and the USSR that most likely should've taken place around 1983 to 1985. but, then you wouldn't have that cool name.

In reply to GM (msg # 68):

Started Char gen - can't find the info on non military careers to start with though? AS in posted here - I don't have access to the books
This message was last edited by the player at 21:54, Sun 08 Aug 2021.

Oddly enough "The Firm" is an internal nickname of the British Royal Family...

In reply to Thomas Carter (msg # 74):

i'll get something up soon.