[Adm.Lee]

Again, I was short our two most experienced players today.

A short debate opened the game-- fight or flight? what to do with the prisoners? I was a little shocked at how much detail one of the boys wanted to go into, to hide the bodies after shooting the prisoners. His little brother, usually the hack & slash-only guy, was the one who asked, "wouldn't that be, like, a war crime?" Fortunately for me, saner voices agreed to leave the prisoners behind when they left.

They did decide to siphon the ethanol out of the broken BMP and drop the 2-ton still out of their last remaining vehicle, the 2.5 tonner, and drive out of the closing jaws of the Soviets.

Of course, they bumped into one platoon of the Soviets anyway. 3 four-man squads, carrying a PKM and dragging a DShK (towed behind a bicycle), along with a company commander with a radio to the 120mm mortar. The firefight went mostly OK, and they were actually about to gain fire superiority, when they tried bringing their lone truck into action. This exposed not only the truck, but the seriously wounded inside, into range, at the same time as one of the Soviet squads got into a flanking position. One wounded PC died*, many took wounds when those guys opened up from the treeline. The mortar didn't do much but scare them, but it did cause them to not pursue when the Soviets decided to break contact.

The truck got hit in the engine, but I ruled that they could get it running again after a half-day delay.

This did get them through the Soviet "jaws," and south into country unpopulated by major military units. They got almost to the highway running east from Grudziadz without further incident. I think there are still Polish cavalry patrols from Malbork, and they will have to find a way across the Wisla, once they get there. (In retrospect, they thought they might have to abandon the truck once the got to the river, maybe I didn't need to let them keep it running).

Gamewise, I had trouble holding some of their attention, as some of them had long periods in which their characters had nothing to do, given the large numbers of hesitations some had, especially once they had been knocked-down. I think I want to shift to a simpler initiative system, probably lifting the easy one from Savage Worlds. Everyone will get an action, and it will be clear when one's turn is coming up.

They are learning to drop prone early and often. I don't know if the lesson on flanking will sink in. Forming teams for fire & maneuver hasn't come to them yet.

* In just about every game I have run for this guy, I've killed or incapacitated his character. My dice (or my table?) have it in for this boy. Fortunately, he has a backup PC.