Thanks for the feedback! Great information for my future games.
Jester, I think that you have mentioned nearly all the options considered by the players of both groups. For more information, here are some notes that conditioned the tactics of the groups playing the adventure:
- The HQ of the 5th ID had been able to reunite a group of German and Polish citizens (NPCs) that assured to have enough experience to act as crew the embarkations of the Torun port. This people have been convinced by members of the 5th ID of the inevitable success of the current offensive. Once the NATO controls all the way from here to the Baltic coast, and depending of their collaboration with the military they could receive the embarkations in property, trading in the newly zone controlled by the NATO. The group of characters could choose to take these NPC’s with them or keep them in reserve with the main force, entering the scenario with the first troops trying to link with the characters in the port.
- Among the embarkations in the port the we have (some of the information was provided previously by Polish collaborators):
o 1 heavily armed (3x HMG’s) tug (1), property of the council of Torun and crewed by locals. The tug acts as escort of the barges and tugs near the city of Torun and tugs the non-motorized barges that are property of city. The crew sleeps in Torun.
o 1 lightly armed (3 x MG) tug (2), property of a family that lives from the commerce between Torun and Warsaw. The crew sleeps in the ship.
o 1 lightly armed (4 x MG) self-propelled barge (3). A private embarkation, hired by the different locations along the Vistula. The crew sleeps in the ship.
o 1 towed barge (not loaded)(4), property of the crew of the independent barge.
o 3 partially or fully loaded towed barges (5,6,7)property of the council of Torun and the council of Plock.
The map below is with the GM map, wiht all the "hidden" elements.
Both groups of players choose a similar approach, advancing concealed among the destroyed industrial zone, until they reach the damaged high buildings surrounding the port. One of the groups (B) chooses to infiltrate the crewmembers until the industrial zone and pick three of them (Polish) to act as translators. Group A considered mainly three options: Sabotage the embarkations causing them easily repairable damage just before the beginning of the main attack; Take one of the barges and block the port entrance, defending it; Take one of the barges and block the port, sinking the ship in the entrance. The two last plans were discarded, one because enemy patrols were discovered in both sides of the entrance and the group considered too difficult to defend the blocking barge and the other because the players were not sure that the engineers of the 5th ID had enough resources to refloat the sunken barge. The fear of a delay in the linking forces was an important point, too. So Group A chooses finally to set an observation post in the building, controlling the enemy patrols and guiding the movement of the two remaining members that, with the help of a little two floating device improvised to transport the demolition material, were designated to sabotage the embarkations from the water, in the middle of the night. Although two other characters with sniper rifles were covering their movements, being discovered implied nearly a certain death. The mission (with some incidences, like the loss of one of the floating devices with all the material) was a complete success.
Group B chose to try to take the independent barge and the independent tug by surprise, hijacking both ships with the help of the polish sailors that they took with them. They assaulted both ships simultaneously, entering unnoticed in the port until they reached the embarkations. The barge was successfully taken after a short firefight with one crewmember (a sentry). The rest of the crew was trapped inside the barge and they were finally convinced to surrender the ship, with the help of one of the translators. The other ship was alerted by the shots in the barge, and the family owning the embarkation tried to defend their home and the way they earn their living. One of the teenage sons became dead in the firefight. The head of the family ordered the rest to surrender the ship. By this time all the militia patrols had hear the shots. The plan of group B was to take both embarkations to the center of the port, covering the rest with automatic fire. But, for the moment, they are in pinned down in the slowly moving ships, going to the center of the port (with the non-motorized barges) and under intense automatic fire from three sides. And the bigger mistake: still one hour for the main attack. And the head of the family of the independent tug is trying to find the time to regain the control of his ship… A delicate situation… The next session could be a bloody one.
Mmmmm... a long post... Ahhhh...the enthusiasm of a GM
