The Frozen Watch.

[ArmySGT.]

The Frozen Watch.

Volunteers, within volunteers, cryogenically frozen to be replacements for Morrow Project Team members lost to illness or injury.

How these people were intended to be awoken varies from source to source. Typically the Frozen Watch can be woken by no less than a Combined Group Leader, signal from Prime Base or a Regional Base Commander.

Frozen Watch personnel can be any Morrow Project specialty, and serve a function in game play to replace player characters that have been killed or retired.

In the Module "Operation Final Watch" there is only one Final Watch team and that is six personnel known to the Combined Group Leader. This doesn't go on to say there are no others. This module reinforces the precedent that Final Watch teams do not have a vehicle, only personal equipment, and personal weapons.

Personally, I am looking at change myself.......

First, Two person boltholes. Yes, only two persons in a Final Watch team. After all these a replacements for Teams in the field and not from a pool in a Regional base (large scale Frozen Watch of 50-100, perhaps?). A typical team is 4-6 personnel, so a Frozen Watch of 6-8 would completely replace a Team in the field or have persons without a seat or somewhere to stow their rucksack.

Secondly, both are the same Specialty. Makes sense if your a Science team that both replacements are Science, same for MARS. Now anyone Morrow is certainly a plus but, the Morrow Project has always had massive resources and few personnel. Putting those personnel to work into teams to make the most benefit of their skills has to be a priority. This spins off to another capability. A MARS team may need some Science branch specialists like Psy Ops, Epidemiology, Nuclear power, or more often Trauma Surgery. Picking up a specialists from Frozen Watch fulfills this need.

Third, Wake up. How to do that when there is no Prime Base or Combined Group Leader?........ I am thinking an automated Protocol at a Morrow Project manned or unmanned communication base. A Morrow ID card, a Code (phrase or number) and selection of specialty. This sends a "Wake UP!" signal to a Frozen Watch team who then makes contact with the Commo Base. The location of the Frozen Watch team is not compromised in this way and other link up protocols are worked through.

Fourth, Equipment..... I am ok with personal weapons and rucksack. In other circumstances I think an M-151 jeep converted to methanol or electric hybrid drive, or a 4 wheeler also converted. This transports the Frozen Watch to a link up instead of a FW Team waiting for someone to come get them. This mitigates the danger of a faked signal intended for the killing or capturing a Morrow Project Team. I don't feel that crew served weapons like a Stinger or FN Mag are appropriate for a Frozen Watch team. Equipment like this should already be with the team they are going to. In the case of specialties, tools appropriate to their trade make sense.

http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c25dcd7d08e87964b7c4e6dbdcfe6f56?convert_to_webp=t rue

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSkatsLRKo2i1Ra-fdxN5JcoIopEUtZ46eTXPkdFi0xHRRVCppt6w

[dragoon500ly]

well considered. Have to disagree with you though. I can see the Project with a large number of Frozen Watch personnel at the regional bases/Prime Base etc. But for the local teams, the least I would consider would be 4 personnel, equipped with a hummer and trailer for mobility.

Going with a two member team would mean that after a hard day of driving cross-country, cutting trails, sticking and unsticking the vehicle, two people would then be faced with providing security for the night...3 on and 3 off would simply result in the FW team being exhausted after only a couple of days of movement...going with four personnel at least splits the work load a little bit.

Its the human element that screws up otherwise excellent ideas! ;)

[stormlion1]

I would think there would be a single Bolt Hole set up in each state with a large number of personnel frozen that could be unfrozen individually. Since they would be stepping into a dead mans shoes there equipment would be minimal at best. A single rucksack and personnel weapon. The Bolt Hole itself wouldn't have a vehicle and would probably be hidden not buried. A team needing a replacement personnel would find it, access with a card, and then enter and find the person they need and unfreeze them. Then off on there merry way. The plan would have been to unfreeze them all after all the teams had been unfrozen and were already at work and move them to regional bases to help staff them and be a working pool of personnel.

[ArmySGT.]

From MP10 "Final Watch"

SPECIALTY FW-31 (Frozen Watch), 6 people, (no MPV) [Sequim]

That is what we have to go on.

Assuming scattered about North America is FW- 01 through FW-30, and continuing to FW-???

There were none in MP08 "Prime Base"

[ArmySGT.]

well considered. Have to disagree with you though. I can see the Project with a large number of Frozen Watch personnel at the regional bases/Prime Base etc. But for the local teams, the least I would consider would be 4 personnel, equipped with a hummer and trailer for mobility. There wasn’t any in Prime…… To date there is no canon on Regional bases. Delta base is an unmanned supply base…. The six person Frozen Watch team (FW-31) with Combined Group Seattle is the only one mentioned in text outside the entry in the game book.

Like you I would expect a number of Frozen Watch to actually BE in storage at Prime and at Regional bases. This way these persons can be woken individually without compromising a bolt hole and the other sleepers.

I think six is too large for replacements when a bolt hole is a one shot. Frozen Watch replace members of Combined Groups in the field lost to illness, injury, or death. I would expect them to be awoken to replace a specialty on a one for one basis, not a whole sale hodgepodge, hope what you need is in there basis.
That is why I contend that the Frozen Watch in the field, be in two person Bolt Holes. Still with just personal equipment and a personal weapon…… I include the Jeep because of the risk of false signals or a compromised bolt hole. The jeep affords these MP members the means to go to someone that awakens them versus waiting to be picked up. The Jeep can be converted for ethanol and be abandoned to a survivor group (3-5 year plan) or used as a light auxiliary. Surplus jeeps are in the thousands and I don’t see why the Project would not have stashed some gasoline, then converted to ethanol powered jeeps just to give away to local governments.
Going with a two member team would mean that after a hard day of driving cross-country, cutting trails, sticking and unsticking the vehicle, two people would then be faced with providing security for the night...3 on and 3 off would simply result in the FW team being exhausted after only a couple of days of movement...going with four personnel at least splits the work load a little bit.
Its the human element that screws up otherwise excellent ideas! ;)

I consider that the tradeoff……. Frozen Watch isn’t meant to be an independent team but, link up with a team in the field supplement them or replace the losses.

[nuke11]

There wasn’t any in Prime…… To date there is no canon on Regional bases. Delta base is an unmanned supply base…. The six person Frozen Watch team (FW-31) with Combined Group Seattle is the only one mentioned in text outside the entry in the game book.

Actually Frozen Watch is also mentioned in an article in Space Gamer/ Fantasy Gamer; #85 Jan/Feb 1989, Project File: Discovery Pages 22-27, Joseph Benedetto, Jr.

The parts of that article that where edited out can be found here http://www.thesupplybunker.net/pdf/mp_emergency_shelters.pdf

The rest of the information from The Finial Watch that was edited out about Medical Facility VF-1C is available here http://www.thesupplybunker.net/pdf/medical_vf1c.pdf

[ArmySGT.]

Actually Frozen Watch is also mentioned in an article in Space Gamer/ Fantasy Gamer; #85 Jan/Feb 1989, Project File: Discovery Pages 22-27, Joseph Benedetto, Jr.

The parts of that article that where edited out can be found here http://www.thesupplybunker.net/pdf/mp_emergency_shelters.pdf

The rest of the information from The Finial Watch that was edited out about Medical Facility VF-1C is available here http://www.thesupplybunker.net/pdf/medical_vf1c.pdf


I have that one........ It is written by the same author........ In itself it is a special case scenario...... In fact written in such a way as to get the action started.

It feels very much like a one shot written for a GM to use at a convention.

Thanks I had forgotten about this one.

[.45cultist]

The old Space Gamer/ Fantasy Gamer magazine had an adventure with a Frozen Watch team.

[ArmySGT.]

The old Space Gamer/ Fantasy Gamer magazine had an adventure with a Frozen Watch team.

I think you are referring to the same adventure that Nuke11 posted links too.

It is pretty good. I think it is a one shot for a convention.

I would actually like to use it sometime to run a mini one session game to practice the combat rules for 3rd and 4th.

Maybe when school is out in May I will run some over Skype, with Obsidian Portal, and Dice Roller.

[.45cultist]

One could put them within distance of a regional supply depot with a special access card to draw gear one time or use an old Legacy Cache.

[mikeo80]

In one game I played in, our Recon Team found Prime 2. Getting in was a TRIAL!!! Automated AP defenses. IF you walked straight toward, did not raise weapon, no problem. Something like Delta base in Starnaman scenario.

Then we had to find the power "switch" to turn on the base. We did. Lights came on!!!

We were relaxing, enjoying a meal. And then we were surrounded by armed members of the Base. We did not realize that there was a "dead man" switch that woke up every one if the power was not turned on correctly.

OOOOPPPSSS!!!!!!

Or as one of the team said to the TL. "Boss, we got a problem......"

My $0.02
Mike

[stormlion1]

Now that's one way to set up a new base of operations. Plus I would think they would all be glad to be awake. Considering they all majorly overslept!

[Joseph Benedetto Jr]

I was going to comment on the SPACE GAMER article " Project File: Discovery" but Nuke11 beat me to it. Nicely done!

The reason I created the Frozen Watch teams way back in 1988 was because there was no quick way to get new Morrows into an existing team [replacing dead player characters, as well as introducing new MP player characters to an existing team].

The basic concept of the Frozen Watch teams is that they are minimally armed and equipped, waiting to climb into a dead man's shoes on an existing Morrow team. They normally sleep in a small, sparse, bare-bones bolt hole, which lacks even a periscope package. The idea was that a team in need of replacements could use their AutoNav and look for a map notation of "abandoned ash pit", which was the cover for the hidden replacement teams. In fact, Morrow Industries engineers would actually place a fake ash pit with waste slurry at the site to mark it.

Spotting & entering the FW bolt hole from outside is pretty much identical to that used to locate/recover a cache: a fake benchmark, stainless steel data plate listing the FW team's location, keep digging and wake them up.

Unfortunately somewhere in the editorial process for "PROJECT FILE: DISCOVERY" one crucial line got lost: how the team came to be awoken just at the moment the Badges are upstairs having "a party". The original shelter notes were that "entrance to the cache of MP emergency gear was a stainless steel panel set in the floor underneath the base of the ladder to the roof, built in such a way as to appear to be a metal floor pad. The unmarked card slot would be in the wall behind the ladder so as to be rather inconspicuous."

What is missing from the SG/FG mini-adventure is the line that one of the halfway-bright Badges found the card slot and "tinkered" with it (starting with a screwdriver, and ending with a crowbar). Somewhere along the way the 150-year-old electronics shorted out, and the bolt hole computer started the Emergency Revival Sequence for the team. Hence the reason the team wakes up at just the right moment to (maybe!) save the day.

To be honest, I am rather surprised to find anyone even remembers the original magazine article I wrote way back in the 80s! :D The FW teams got little other notice save their mention in THE FINAL WATCH. It's pretty cool to see people picking up the idea and working it through.

Thanks!
~Joseph Benedetto Jr.

[cosmicfish]

I had two problems with the Frozen Watch.

First, the lack of MPV's. To me this is just a safety issue - we know that boltholes were rigged to wake everyone if the site was compromised, and any decent engineer would allow for the possibility of an accidental triggering of the team, so there was always a chance that the FW would be awakened with no team to support them, possibly even before the rest of the Project was out! Heck, even if everything went great it might be desired to wake a FW Team as augmentation rather than replacement, so they would need transport anyway.

Given that some vehicle spares needed to be out there anyway, I just included MP "jeeps" with the FW Teams. It guaranteed that they had maps and transport to other Morrow groups and facilities, and also ensured that spares of this cheap and useful vehicle were readily available.

Second, the implied numbers were too high. While the FW is useful to roleplaying, it is by nature inefficient - they would be more efficient grouped into Teams of their own, out there doing their job! As Teams took losses, the MP command structure could see about dissolving decimated Teams and redistributing personnel, or just combining weakened Teams. That is really a large part of what your command structure is intended for!

My assumption therefore was that FW were simply the leftovers of the later stages of selection and training for the Teams. Towards the end, there had to be a date when selection and training started shutting down and the Teams started to finalize. There would be some in this late stage who were (a) injured in training, or who, (b) for reasons of personality and professional efficiency, had to be removed from their Team, or who (c) were unable to "disappear" without compromising the Project. These people were trained and useful, but no longer had a team... so the FW is simply those men and women who were administratively "left over" rather than a deliberate exercise in inefficiency.

For me, this meant assigning them higher up in the command chain, at the level above the group commanders. It also meant fewer total, perhaps 200-300 across the whole Project. For the module that meant I just blanked out the name of the FW facility - the Team knew it was MP, but didn't know what it was as it was above their paygrade.

[cosmicfish]

Another advantage to giving the Frozen Watch vehicles - it lets you start as Frozen Watch! Gives a very similar feel to both the classic D&D game ("You all happen to be in the same tavern, when...") and the old Living Steel game setting (for those familiar with that equally obscure game). A regular team would have trained together for a coherent mission, in a Frozen Watch campaign they are all strangers who wake up together with no specific mission and a minimum of gear...

Okay, I really want to run this game now.

[ArmySGT.]

Another advantage to giving the Frozen Watch vehicles - it lets you start as Frozen Watch! Gives a very similar feel to both the classic D&D game ("You all happen to be in the same tavern, when...") and the old Living Steel game setting (for those familiar with that equally obscure game). A regular team would have trained together for a coherent mission, in a Frozen Watch campaign they are all strangers who wake up together with no specific mission and a minimum of gear...

Okay, I really want to run this game now.

I don't want to turn a MP campaign into another game of AD&D murder hobos with MGs and kevlar instead of swords and chainmail.

[cosmicfish]

I don't want to turn a MP campaign into another game of AD&D murder hobos with MGs and kevlar instead of swords and chainmail.
It's only the set up that is D&D-esque - the premise of the game remains the same, just the initial circumstances are different.

[mikeo80]

It's only the set up that is D&D-esque - the premise of the game remains the same, just the initial circumstances are different.

I agree with Cosmicfish. This can be an different starting point. I would think that you have a lot of generalists in FW. Not PHD's or even Master's degrees. Some one who has wheeled vehicle repair as a main skill, but also some computer operations and farming. Or some other combination.

My $0.02
Mike

[ArmySGT.]

I agree with Cosmicfish. This can be an different starting point. I would think that you have a lot of generalists in FW. Not PHD's or even Master's degrees. Some one who has wheeled vehicle repair as a main skill, but also some computer operations and farming. Or some other combination.

My $0.02
Mike

So for someone to be Frozen Watch they need to be highly skilled and highly diversified in those skillsets........ An EMT with a bachelors in Agriculture. A residential electrician and past volunteer firefighter.

This is how you imagine these volunteers?

I imagine them as even more skilled than the average member. The top 5% of those selected and trained because of the attrition of personnel in the 3-5 year plan teams may need to do more with less people.

[cosmicfish]

The staffing of the FW depends a lot on why they are there.

If they are simply personnel who, for one reason or another, could not be assigned to a team by the time of the war, then there will be no particular rhyme or reason to their composition. You might have narrow specialists frozen together with the broadest of generalists.

If the FW is a deliberate reserve, then it is likely that they are all generalists. Why? Because each member of the FW is "backing up" some other number of Morrow teamers - 12.5 if we use CG Seattle as a scale. If I have a Recon FW member who is going to be asked to fill in for any of 12 or 13 different Recon guys, I need that person to be adaptable and versatile and strong in all the basic skills of Recon so that they can cover for anyone. If they are a dedicated specialist then they only really help me if (a) they are replacing the only other guy in the entire Project with the same specialty or if (b) by sheer blind luck they are a specialist in something that is now vital but previously thought unnecessary.

Imagine if a pro football team could only have 1 backup for each of offense and defense, and that all of the starters are equally likely to be injured. I don't know who is going to get injured, and I can do some shifting around, but ultimately I need each of those two guys to be able to handle a lot of the jobs on the team.

I would also expect that if possible, contents of each "team" will be diverse so as to spread resources around. If this is so, then the make up of the entire Frozen Watch will mirror the spread of the Project - perhaps 8% Science, 11% MARS, 25% Recon, and 56% Specialty (based on the non-Command personnel in CG Seattle). For the CG Seattle FW detachment, that would likely be 3 members of Specialty teams, 2 Recon teamers, and either a Science or MARS teamer, but the small size of the detachment would mean that there are limits to how well they can support the entire skill set of the CG.

[cosmicfish]

Some one who has wheeled vehicle repair as a main skill, but also some computer operations and farming. Or some other combination.
I think that is unrealistically broad. You need enough depth in any one person so as to be capable in that area, and if you load them down with too much diversity then they aren't capable enough in any one area to be worthwhile. I think you might have someone who has very broad mechanical experience, and another person with either a mechanical or electrical engineering degree but experience (and perhaps degrees!) in both. The goal is not to make a single person as broad as possible, but rather to make the FW as a whole very broadly skilled and extend that as much as possible down to the individual detachments.

[.45cultist]

Treat them as a Combined Team, for example 6 people- 2 Recon, 2 MARS, 2 Science., One or both Recon have a Contact pack with a set of coveralls in the pack or a Level IIIA concealed vest instead of a standard kit.

[cosmicfish]

Treat them as a Combined Team, for example 6 people- 2 Recon, 2 MARS, 2 Science., One or both Recon have a Contact pack with a set of coveralls in the pack or a Level IIIA concealed vest instead of a standard kit.
That is a Combined Team... and matches the description in Final Watch. Huh. Per 3ed, FW teams are just Combined Teams without weapons or ammo. Seems relatively useless. And apparently Specialty teams were expected not to need support.

[.45cultist]

That is a Combined Team... and matches the description in Final Watch. Huh. Per 3ed, FW teams are just Combined Teams without weapons or ammo. Seems relatively useless. And apparently Specialty teams were expected not to need support.

I'd add enough sidearms in the emergency lockers. The Spacegamer article only had 5 weapons for 6 personnel. I put another Hp-35 in supplies.

[cosmicfish]

I'd add enough sidearms in the emergency lockers. The Spacegamer article only had 5 weapons for 6 personnel. I put another Hp-35 in supplies.
Still begs the question why you would take a Combined Team, remove their primary weapons and all their vehicles, and bury them as a reserve? Why not just have them equipped and trained as a Combined Team?

The answer, of course, is that the FW was created as a gaming expedient, not a real-world solution. It was built using that logic, so applying real-world logic to the problem will tend to show problems.

[stormlion1]

Wait, I thought the Frozen Watch were buried with all there issue gear and weapons? Or that the bunker they were buried in was also a small supply cache.

[cosmicfish]

Wait, I thought the Frozen Watch were buried with all there issue gear and weapons? Or that the bunker they were buried in was also a small supply cache.
To the best of my recollection, the only real 3ed description of the FW is in Final Watch, and there it is indicated that they are "equipped with only the Basic Standard Issue Equipment (no weapons loads or MPV)." There is no indication of any extra supplies.

[stormlion1]

Wow, real nice. Bury these guys with there clothes and tools, but no weapons or personnel effects. Meanwhile everyone else gets there personnel effects and weapons as a matter of course.

[ArmySGT.]

Wait, I thought the Frozen Watch were buried with all there issue gear and weapons? Or that the bunker they were buried in was also a small supply cache.

The Frozen Watch are buried without weapons.... Solely their pack and personal gear..... The theory is that they will take up the dead mans weapon.

I always thought that was a bad idea. It takes time to train on a weapon and you should have it sighted in (zeroed) when you need it. Then magazine pouches, cleaning kits, and other accessories vary some weapon to weapon.

I would say a pistol, and a SMG or Carbine.. So Browning HP-35 or S&W 27 for the pistol and an Uzi, M16A1, Stoner M23. No offensive or defensive grenades, but two AN-M8s (white smoke) per member. No flares, except E&E pen flares.

No NODs, No Maps, No GPS, No radios (except PRC-68). No electronics.

One ration pack per two members, and one cold weather or hot weather pack per member.

[cosmicfish]

The Frozen Watch are buried without weapons.... Solely their pack and personal gear..... The theory is that they will take up the dead mans weapon.

I always thought that was a bad idea. It takes time to train on a weapon and you should have it sighted in (zeroed) when you need it.
Plus, if you lose a guy there is always a chance that you lose his or her weapon at the same time!

I would say a pistol, and a SMG or Carbine.. So Browning HP-35 or S&W 27 for the pistol and an Uzi, M16A1, Stoner M23. No offensive or defensive grenades, but two AN-M8s (white smoke) per member. No flares, except E&E pen flares.
Why, for all this? I agree that FW members should lean towards "all-purpose" armament, but I cannot see a reason for the grenade restriction. You may well be calling on these guys in an emergency, you want them ready to fight "right out of the box", as it were!

No NODs, No Maps, No GPS, No radios (except PRC-68). No electronics.
Why? They would not seem to be any higher risk than any other Morrow team, and in the event of an emergency they would certainly need such items.

[cosmicfish]

Looking back at this, the Frozen Watch makes more and more sense to me not as an intentionally-maintained source of team replacements but instead as the places where incompletely-trained and not-yet-assigned-to-a-team Project members could be sheltered. Since the time of the war was not precisely known, Project members who had not yet gotten a team would either have to get to a MP facility or else likely die in the early stages of the war. I'm envisioning pre-war MP training and logistics centers to be spaced around the country, with FW boltholes nearby. When the missiles are launched, everyone not yet frozen heads for the boltholes, ready to be woken up as needed.

The gaming consequence is that you can put almost anyone in a FW bolthole! I've run some great games (in other systems) where the characters are relatively normal people, and it would be an interesting MP game if the characters were frozen just after they started training!

The equipment consequence would be that you could not count on people arriving to the facility with any of their issue equipment, so it would make sense for the FW bolthole to double as a general-purpose supply cache, with a smattering of weapons, ammo, basic packs, etc.

[stormlion1]

It would also be a good place to put training cadre and support staff in. People not part of teams but helping prepare and support the teams going into Boltholes. But having the trainer for teams die in the days after the strikes is just a waste of resources so...

[cosmicfish]

It would also be a good place to put training cadre and support staff in. People not part of teams but helping prepare and support the teams going into Boltholes. But having the trainer for teams die in the days after the strikes is just a waste of resources so...
I always assumed that pre-war training and development staff were divided - the youngest and healthiest were sent to field teams, the middle-aged but still healthy were assigned to facilities, and the oldest left first and set up shop in some out-of-the-way Caribbean retirement community, wondering what went wrong but unable to do anything about it.

Of course, I also assumed that as much as possible, such training and development was done by non-Morrow personnel hired for the purpose, so I was never assuming an especially large contingent that would need to be frozen.