The Swiss Guard - An Encounter In Poland

[Rainbow Six]

Afternoon all,

A while ago there was a suggestion that Pope John Paul II might want to be laid to rest in his native Poland after his death. The attached is an attempt to take that idea and expand it into a possible encounter with a group of Swiss Guards in southern Poland. Granted, it may be a bit of a punt for them to get all the way across Austria and Czechoslovakia, but I think it's in the same vein as the Twilight Encounter "What's the Polish for G'Day" and is something a bit different...

As always, comments are welcome.

Dave

[Olefin]

That is a terrific post! Definitely on a level with anything that GDW published. Could think of all kinds of ways that such a group could be encountered and how they could be worked into a campaign.

This should definitely be part of the next fanzine issue.

Encore!!

By the way, if I remember right Rome got nuked so St. Peter's may have been destroyed. You could work that into it, saying that since the traditional burial ground of the Pope's was now in the middle of a sea of rubble that they couldnt bury him with the rest of the Pope's.

[Schone23666]

Very nice. A worthy addition to Twilight encounters.

"You never know what's around the corner..."

[StainlessSteelCynic]

You could also have the Guard armed with some more unusual (as in older) weapons if desired.
Have a look at the following page, the photographer was allowed inside the armoury - have fun identifying the different weapons!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkline55/page97/

[Raellus]

Nice work. If I ever run another campaign in central Europe, I'm going to find a way to make sure my players run across this group.

You really should submit this to Grimace for inclusion in a future edition of the e-fanzine.

[mikeo80]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Nice work. If I ever run another campaign in central Europe, I'm going to find a way to make sure my players run across this group.

You really should submit this to Grimace for inclusion in a future edition of the e-fanzine.

Let me add my voice to the discussion. Very well done. I agree with the others, submit this story to Grimace for the e-zine!!

My $0.02

Mike

[WallShadow]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

You could also have the Guard armed with some more unusual (as in older) weapons if desired.
Have a look at the following page, the photographer was allowed inside the armoury - have fun identifying the different weapons!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkline55/page97/

Nice--I see some SMGs (Beretta? Bergmann?) and several modern box-magazine battle rifles, plus lots of bolt-action longarms. Let's see the PC's try to put on the armor, though!

[Raellus]

Once again, Rainbow, this is really cool.

As I've been working on my sourcebook for the region, I've been thinking about the Swiss Guard's trek across Austria and I've got a couple of questions for you.

First off, did the RL Swiss Guard have a horse cavalry element, even just a ceremonial one? Since they're using horses, it stands to reason that the group would have at least a few members schooled in their handling and care. I suppose I could look this up myself but since you've already done some research on the Guard, I thought I'd check with you first.

Second, when the group inevitably runs into civilians, what's their cover story? Travelling merchants seems the likeliest choice but, if so, where's their merchandise? Would they ever tell anyone what their true cargo was if they thought they could avoid a fight by doing so? I can totally understanding them not wanting their secret to get out, as there are quite a few groups who would conceivably want to get their hands on the pope's remains. On the other hand, it could potentially buy the convoy allies.

I'm especially eager to read Rainbow's thoughts on these questions, but I wouldn't mind hearing from others as well.