What does your gaming Group/Task Force/Team look like?

[natehale1971]

What kind of group does your game usually revolve around? Do your campaigns attempt to keep military protocol or do they throw it out the window and travel together "...just because it's safer to travel in a group..." or become marauders in all but name?

Our campaigns always had the players trying to keep military disicpline as much as possible, since it was something they already knew and they saw order as a better way to combat the lawless chaos that was around them.

One group that we had going was classified as a "platoon" that travelled ahead of the main body of 'battalion' as scouts. Their job had been to find safe routes, but when they got cut off after Kaliz they where able to stay in communication with the Battalion, and ended up becoming a sabotage force intent on creating as much chaos as possible to keep the Soviets occupied hunting them down and give as much of the units that had composed the 5th ID a better chance at making it to Allied lines, with the promise that when they reached 'safety' that they would have the higher ups use a helicopter evac for them.

Of course we knew that was a pipe dream, but it was still a glimer of hope that we held onto the entire campaign. And when the team receieved the Operation Omega orders they used the 'Last Train to Clarksville' to get to a rendevaous with the helicopter evac!

It was a great campaign. Especially when they got to Bremerhaven and decided to remain behind with the other units that had volunteered to remain behind as part of the US Army Europe.

[Marc]

I’ve run two campaigns of Twilight: 2000 as GM. When I began the first one (more than ten years ago), the only available info I had was the included in the v2.2 box. I and another friend joined the money to buy it. He began the classical “Good luck, you’re in your own campaign� that I enjoyed with great intensity. And then I decided to begin my own campaign from “the other side of the hill�. So, my players were a varied group of Warsaw Pact characters in full retreat at the beginning of the NATO push in northern Poland. Taking all the info from the Poland map in the “yellow book�, I conceived a campaign where all of them were hastily got together into the remnants of a Soviet division, designated by the high command to be sacrificed in a desperate maneuver to delay the NATO advance. Against all the odds, the Soviet unit held its position and accomplished the mission gaining the needed time for the Warsaw Pact offensive. Because the charismatic general of the division where the characters were serving was a strong defender of faction that desires the end of the hostilities in Europe, the Soviet High Command decided no to help the unit to retreat to a better position and let the enemy to put an end to the problematic general and his division. Then the division became something similar to a military republic, declaring its independence of the Warsaw Pact Command and the characters played the vital role to establish contact with other rogue units or even the enemy NATO units, performing recon missions to help the division to look for a potential “feud� and retreat to it. They became the bodyguards and the trusted eyes their charismatic general. All out of the canon, totally unknown for me at the moment.

In my current campaign, I have chosen to begin with my players being members of the 5th ID in the beginning of the last offensive. One of the groups (two groups are playing simultaneously the same campaign) is novice and I preferred this initial point to include them in a military structure, before letting them “at their own� after the battle of Kalisz. Their assigned missions follow, step by step, the advance of the 5th ID as described in “Escape from Kalisz�. My only (and I think important) variation is that I’ve considered the morale status of the units implied in the offensive extremely low. I have added an increasing number of desertions and the thought about futility of perpetuate the war is floating in each gaming session. I imagined that the idea of a new offensive among the battered veterans that have managed to survive until now would be as bucket of cold water. So I keep my eyes wide open, just in case they decided to desert during the offensive if they judge that they have more chances to survive “at their own�.

[General Pain]

In HQs T2K campaign ; we have been playing for 5 years (15 years game time) (2004-2019) - And in that time we have gon from traveling refugees to emperors of a new nation and back again...though GP will not give in and is now considered one of the richest people around. We will see how long it will last....

HQ will probably answer this more correctly (in his opinion)

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by General Pain

In HQs T2K campaign ; we have been playing for 5 years (15 years game time) (2004-2019) - And in that time we have gon from traveling refugees to emperors of a new nation and back again...though GP will not give in and is now considered one of the richest people around. We will see how long it will last....

HQ will probably answer this more correctly (in his opinion)

I have enjoyed the rags part and the riches were fun too.
I have an overall timeline developing though, and the playercharacters are engulfed in some events beyond their control and some they can act on .

General - you might come out rich and powerful still - its just a matter of surviving and winning the fights ...

On that note - I am looking forward to the boathouse sessions and seeing how you guys make it ..or not

[Caradhras]

My group, in which I GM, we started with the Version 1 rules standard Polish campaign with a mixed bag of NATO troops Brits/Canadians/US (and a US Officer who is actually Israeli secret service). I threw in a bit of stuff of my own and gave them a free rein to do/become whatever they liked.

It was interesting to see the 2 main Officers, a Brit and an American, neither really asserted themselves. The main influencing charachter seems to be the ex-criminal ex-NCO busted down to private. Despite this, they are still roughly working as Milgov. They returned to the US (inc Brits/Canadians) in Going Home, were sent out to Texas to investigate/intell gather (Red Star, Lone Star) and thats where a real cruel bit occured.

Spoiler - dont read on if plan on playing in Gateway to the Spanish Main



One of my players really enjoyed Texas and after successfully getting a reward from the Ranchers - he had been working hard on his equestrian skill - and got himself a prize stallion which he named...so when they were leaving on the tramp steamer back to the East seaboard he bought passage for his pride and joy. Not long into the voyage they hear the cry torpedo, (DM - me - doesnt know whether to laugh or cry). And the player announces his first action is to risk his life to take a weapon to prevent the horse suffering! I couldnt let him pay the price for this so they survive the sinking. Later, when they are bobbing about in the sea they see some potential useful wreckage floating about and paddle towards it - what did the cruel DM decide the flotsam was? A saddle

Anyway - now they are sailing from Grenada to investigate pirates on a nearby island and to belatedly answer the OP - they seem to want to stay as a group seeing survival in relatively trusted team and still hold ties to Milgov however this is pretty loose particularly with non-US members. It wouldnt surprise me if they break away at some point to do something as a group venture.

[Fusilier]

My players (many on this forum) seem to try to keep things true to their PC's military backgrounds. The difference being the officers/snr ncos lead and have tight command in battle, but give the men a pretty equal say in the overall planning. I think that might simply be for good sportsmanship though, as not many people might not like to play where they are told what to do all the time with no voice. Either way its working.

They make it a point to identify themselves as stragglers and still a part of their parent unit. The group is also large enough to divide into subunits so its basically an ad hoc platoon.

[Targan]

The group in my campaign are currently designated SOG 1 and are technically part of the 5th Special Forces Group. The unit contains personnel from all kinds of backgrounds. The combat elements of the unit are broken into four teams (Black, Red, Green and Blue), each containing 10 men although in practice they often operate as teams of nine men because the leader of each team is also a member of the command group.

The entire unit is led by Major Anthony Po, US Army Special Forces who was first a medical doctor then an FBI forensics expert before the war and was commissioned as a captain in 1996.

Blue team are sailors, mostly USN SEALs, SDV and SBU personnel and led by Lt Cmdr Tadeusz Jones, USN SEALs. As Jones is Major Po's second in command Blue Team is often led by Master CPO Cecil O'Dea, an ancient and crusty SEAL who was originally a Vietnam War era UDT sailor.

Green Team is mostly made up of US Army Special Forces personnel with a few oddballs thrown in including a Delta soldier and a Pakistani soldier. Sometimes Major Po leads Green Team personnally but usually it is led by an NPC Green Beret Captain.

Black Team is made up mostly of USMC personnel as well as Gunnery Sgt Bryce Hunter who is now USMC but was previously a British Royal Marine and also served in the SBS, and also has a British Army Gurkha. They are led by Captain Bart Lamont, USMC who is based on the character Tom Highway from the film Heartbreak Ridge. Lamont is the most terrifyingly deadly and competant soldier under Po's command and Po arranged to have him commissioned to keep him from being retired due to his age.

Red Team is made up mostly of US Army soldiers who have done the Ranger course. Major Po usually uses them as a fast maneuver element in vehicles or to beef up the firepower of small convoys.

There is also a gaggle of support types, drivers and artillery personnel attached to Po's command element which is referred to as Gold Team.

My campaign has run from the Battle of Kalisz, through The Black Madonna and Going Home and most recently pretty much reached the end of Armies of the Night. I'm not sure exactly how many years of real time its been going but I think seven or eight. Because of the incredibly detailed and gritty nature of our gaming style we've only got to February 2001 in-game.