My 2013 campaign started....first log entry

[stg58fal]

Finally, after far too many delays, my 2013 campaign kicked off. Here's to hoping no unforeseen badness happens to muck that up.

I decided to start them prior to the President's 04 July message. 14 May, 2013 to be exact. Figure I'll give them a little time to get used to the system, operate as part of a larger unit, etc., then play the POTUS "You're on your own" card on them.

A little bit of background...

Started them in St. Petersburg, Russia. The unit they're with was part of one of the last offensives that NATO could mount. They were to secure a beachhead so that a follow-on force could be landed; said force would then continue the drive to Moscow and end the war. Only it never worked out that way.

Most of the supplies and equipment for the follow-on force arrived, but the troops never did. After weeks without seeing one reinforcement, and getting only excuses and "We'll get to you....soon" from his superiors (when he could communicate with them at all), the commander of the task force the PC's are part of decided since this was going to be their new home for the foreseeable future, they'd do what they could to make it as good a home as they could. Since they had supplies, fuel, ammo, etc., for a unit roughly 3 times their size, sharing with the population of the city was possible. And what better way to improve relations between the military and civilians?

Anyway, that was the real condensed version. If anyone is really that curious, I can provide more.

Characters:

1LT Libby Reed, US Army: Recalled to active duty. She's a good mechanic, and a fair shot with a rifle. Not so great with people, and not happy about being in a leadership position. Played by my girlfriend.

1LT Erik McCreedy, US Army: A doctor that really doesn't like people. Why he became a doctor is beyond me, but hey, whatever. He's a very skilled doctor, and has some people skills (strangely enough), but is next to useless in a fight (no Longarm skill, and his Sidearm skill is one small step from nonexistent). Played by my younger brother.

I can't remember the names of the other characters, but here's the gist of them:

One is a Spec4, US Army, military police. From Louisiana, he's barely understandable to other Americans (the languages he took are Creole and Spanish), forget the Russians understanding him. Played by a friend and fellow gaming group member from way back when I was in high school.

Another Spec4, US Army, SpecOps (by way of the combat engineers). A former NFL linebacker, he joined the army after only a couple years in the NFL, due to a "misunderstanding" involving a great deal of physical violence on the field. Played by another friend from high school.

A PFC, US Army, also military police. A small-time crook from Los Angeles, he joined the army to straighten his life out. Ended up invading Russia. Played by the above player's brother, who I also gamed with some in high school.

I really like the Twilight Later Days blog, so I decided to bribe my players into doing something similar. In addition to the regular rules for skill advancement, I added generic Experience Points that can be used to improve skills (attributes, too, but damn is it expensive). And one of the ways I told them they could get XPs is to write a summary after our sessions. Basically, tell the story, like what you'd see in a blog or a novel.

Yes, I'm lazy, and would rather let the players write it for me. LOL

My girlfriend is one of my players, and she wrote a summary for the first session. If anyone else writes something, I'll make additions from that person's viewpoint.

And now, without further ado....