Did I imagine seeing this in the T2k 1e boxed set

[raketenjagdpanzer]

or supplements? Basically something about a unit of two Abrams sans ammo holed up near the Kalisz combat zone, waiting to try to dash out?

[Slappy]

Not in my memory and nearly certain it wasn't in the 1E Set, but could be in one of the supplements.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Not in my memory and nearly certain it wasn't in the 1E Set, but could be in one of the supplements.

Yeah, I didn't think it was.

[Legbreaker]

It's not in any of the GDW stuff although could be in a Challenge mag....
May also be somebody's personal work.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

The only indication of them I could find is in notes of mine from an abortive attempt at a campaign nearly 10 years ago so I can only surmise it's something I thought up.

[Slappy]

It's a good kernel for a set of adventures. I like the ideas both of having to find fuel to gas up the Abrams and then take them somewhere to find ammo to make them actually useful. Could easily lead to a couple of nice missions.

Alternatively, the tankers could require infantry support to travel as they are worried about being capped by AT they have no way to counter. Players need to make their way to the location (with or without a couple of stopgap HEAT rounds) and then run point as the M-1s make their way back to friendly "lines".

[raketenjagdpanzer]

It's a good kernel for a set of adventures. I like the ideas both of having to find fuel to gas up the Abrams and then take them somewhere to find ammo to make them actually useful. Could easily lead to a couple of nice missions.

Alternatively, the tankers could require infantry support to travel as they are worried about being capped by AT they have no way to counter. Players need to make their way to the location (with or without a couple of stopgap HEAT rounds) and then run point as the M-1s make their way back to friendly "lines".

Yeah I dug through my notes and it seems the group had found out about the tanks. They were crewed, with a small (10-man) infantry team, dug in waiting to try and dash out during bad weather, and the was going to try to scavenge some main gun rounds and link up with them.

I think it is a good adventure seed worth revisiting.

[Slappy]

I'd play it.

[HorseSoldier]

I like tossing M1s into the mix in Kalisz scenarios, since they're such a two edged sword for PCs. On the one hand, it's tremendous firepower (assuming ammo) where they can shoot their way out of a lot of tight spots. On the other hand, the things are so fuel intensive that they're mobility albatrosses around PCs' necks unless you just gift wrap a huge supply of fuel for them (and where's the fun in that?).

[raketenjagdpanzer]

I like how this is developing.

OK, so the heavy shit goes down, and the M1s are riding shotgun across country on their own supply convoy (a few humvees, maybe a deuce-and-a-half and the fuel still/truck). All of the sudden - BOOM goes the truck with the fuel still! The M1s swing into action and engage a platoon of T90s, covering the infantry and light vehicles as they scramble out of the battlezone.

The 90's are working without an infantry screen, so it's pure cannon-work for the M1s. Battle rages for a good clip with the M1s popping up from enfilade and taking out a T90 here and a T90 there until all is said and done. Afterward, the M1s set up a defensive position in a wooded area and the ranking officer, one of the Abrams' TCs, orders the wounded and bulk of the infantry to try and get back to friendly lines as expediently as possible. The Abrams' position overlooks the recent battlezone, and as they have plenty of 50-cal and 7.62 ammo they can hose any light-skinned, foot or horse infantry that comes through.

Once the PCs consolidate whatever/however, word reaches them of the two stranded M1s. Of course they're not the only ones to know, and the race is on...

[atiff]

OK, so the heavy shit goes down, and the M1s are riding shotgun across country on their own supply convoy (a few humvees, maybe a deuce-and-a-half and the fuel still/truck). All of the sudden - BOOM goes the truck with the fuel still! The M1s swing into action and engage a platoon of T90s, covering the infantry and light vehicles as they scramble out of the battlezone.


Why would the truck go boom? Why would the T90s not target the M1s first?

[Legbreaker]

A "miss", or perhaps could caught in the blast radius of a HEAT round.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Why would the truck go boom? Why would the T90s not target the M1s first?

Maybe they hit a mine before the Sovs opened up - who can say? This is all prologue you see.

[dragoon500ly]

You could also explain the fuel truck getting hit first as one of the T-90s firing an ATGM...and the gunner missing the targeted M-1 due to lack of practice within the last 6 months. There are any number of ways to explain the fuel truck, its really the GM's option...

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Yeah there's any number of ways you could explain it, perhaps the Soviets deliberately hit the fuel truck first because it's a higher priority target and the OC of the Soviets got a little too excited about nailing that target, trusting the T-90s to take care of any protection it had.
Maybe all the US vehicles were meant to be hit simultaneously but slow reactions on the part of the T-90 crews aiming at the M1s meant that the softskins got hit but the armour got near misses.
With the scenario above, maybe the M1s did get hit but the rounds were unable to penetrate.
It could be that the ambush site wasn't particularly good and the Soviets couldn't get a clear line of sight to the tanks but could easily see the softskins.
Perhaps the Soviets had an infantry unit to initiate the ambush and they hit the fuel truck because they only had an RPG-7 and didn't think they could kill the M1 with it.
Maybe the fuel truck simply ended up being where a T-90 gunner expected one of the M1s to be.

[rcaf_777]

I blasted my way out of Kalisz with a Bradley and the other players were crew in my vehicle or the M1 which other player had. I ran out tow's but still a few rounds left for main cannon the M1 took a beating but it made it through, we ran in a pair T-80 and pair of BDM's, it was my frist TW 2000 frie fight and was rough lol what a game

[Sanjuro]

In our first T2000 campaign, the GM gave us a fully armed M1 and an Elite npc crew to help us with an upcoming mission (a raid on the biggest Pact fuel dump in the area)- only for the aspiring marauders in our party to murder the crew.
Unfortunately they had not allowed for the fact that highly skilled and experienced infantrymen do not actually have the skills to operate a tank, so we had to abandon it!

[Slappy]

Like the idea, but there may be a more straightforward way to strand them. Just a suggestion, no criticism of the other ideas.

What if the M-1s are on a road march, either alone or with only a jeep and a couple of MPs. Say they're coming from a quick rear refit (track work, radio repair, optics swap out, that sort of thing). They're being hurried to the front lines and as they're not planning for action are low on supplies. They left their ammo (or all but a couple token rounds) with the rest of the unit when they went to repair. In addition, they were only allocated enough fuel to make it to their unit as they planned to gas up there. They are on the way when the Sovs break through and the unit they're headed for is destroyed. They have enough fuel to make it 5-10km, but that's it. They don't want to drive all over the countryside looking for friendlies and burn that last couple of gallons, so they pull off into some woods and hunker down. Now there's enemy armor running all over the county looking for stragglers and you need to make contact and get them out.

[Legbreaker]

A little something to remember is that tanks leave a big nasty trail that simply CANNOT be hidden. If an enemy picks up the tracks, then it's just a matter of time....

[Bullet Magnet]

Why would the truck go boom? Why would the T90s not target the M1s first?

Mobility. A tank with no fuel is a glorified gun emplacement.

But, the other theories I've seen posted here also make sense. I didn't see a specific number for how many T90s the have at their disposal in this. If the Soviets have enough, each tank may have had its own vehicle to target, and the unarmored vehicles would just be easier to remove from the equation, from their point of view.

Also, the soft vehicles would be carrying other supplies, like the bulk of any food they were bringing along. From the Soviets POV, it might make sense to just starve out the US tank crews. They might even leave a gap when they encircle the US tanks, figuring the crews might try to make a break for it once their supplies ran dangerously low. Then, the Soviets can take the tanks without needing to fight; all they gotta do now is find some fuel and ammo for them. And who knows? They may have some of that stashed away from some previous engagement. (If they think like player characters, they'd take anything not bolted down, sell some of it off for wrenches, and come back for what was bolted down, thinking to sell anything they can't use.)

[atiff]

Mobility. A tank with no fuel is a glorified gun emplacement.

And an M1 with a gaping hole in the side and smoke spewing out the top is even less than that.

I'm not trying to be combative here, but... Hitting the truck *first* makes no sense to me. (I have assumed that from rak's description) Now, if it is "rounds clang off the M1s, and the fuel truck goes boom" - OK, I can go with that.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Well, as I said it's all essentially a narrative device; when or if the PCs find the tanks it won't be as the heavy shit is going down. No, it'll be a case of if they follow a trail of destruction, namely three or four wrecked T90s, buncha dead Pact troops, some blown up soft-skinned US vehicles, tracks leading off towards the ruins of a nearby town.

[Tegyrius]

Don't overthink it, guys. Rak is right. The fuel tanker going up is pure narrative. It was, if not an ambush, at least an unplanned firefight. No one really saw what happened except possibly a T-90 commander, and he's dead now. What's important is how the PCs deal with the situation, and I think "go rescue these powerful, valuable, and currently paralyzed assets" is a solid setup for a session or three of play.

- C.