My style has always been to prepare ahead of time. When i used to run a Recon campaign i always had a basic idea ahead of time prior to the mission briefing. Of course Recon was a Vietnam based game.
For my current T2K F2F campaign i am everyday adding this and that to my folder of ideas and encounters. For Part 1, escape from Kalizs i had maps for Kalizs, incl rail and Hwy. Plus i charted all of the Russian and Polish armies movements to 0500hrs the day of the escape, so the PC's had the potential of a TON of contact.
But luckily for them they avoided alot of danger and were smart about travel with a lot of Reconissance ahead of time for various towns. Our next gaming date is only a few weeks away and i already have 3 major campaigns they can go thru during there Free city Of Krakow. Incl a revised Operation Reset, The Kings Messenger (credit to Rainbow six) and my personal creation called Auschwitz. Plus a few small encounters known as The Dudek Brothers (credit to Rainbow six), the lone survivor of Striketeam Zulu and a personal creation in the town of Slomniki. Plus the recreation of the ORMO that I have done and the new leadership structure of Krakow.
And the Free city of Krakow does offer random encounters to use during your stay. I do know that our teams Long term objective is to get back to the USA and i will be using Operation Omega when the campaigns time table allows for it. But i am still preparing my US based campaign and we are a LONG ways away from that.
So in a nutshell i do prepare but IMO for the bigger picture. Small random encounters will always be left to both the Referee charts and my imagination. Plus my Mood will help determine alot too, LOL.
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