Encounter Groups

[Apache6]

“Contractor Convoy” This group has a 4x4 pickup truck, a 4x4 SUV, a BUS, a 8 ton stake bed truck with trailer with a tank trailer, and a semi-truck with enclosed trailer. They deliver cargos and people, and are very well paid for it.

Their standard procedure is for the pickup truck to move 2 – 3 km in front of the convoy, trying to look like good old buys out hunting, They have a chainsaw and winch to clear roads.
The SUV is the security vehicle and carries 4 men all armed with assault rifles. The bus has a driver and one security man and carries passengers for a fee. The semi tractor is ‘up-armored’ and has plating around the engine and doors. There is M-60 MG mounted on an improvised ring mount with a gun shield, also has a powerful spotlight. The convoy leader is in this vehicle. The stake bed is the trail vehicle, and has a driver, A-driver with shotgun and a security man in the bed with a Semi-Auto Ak-47. Each vehicle has a CB radio, they use decent comms procedures. 5 vehicles, 13 armed men.
Cargo, the semi is loaded with food, 40 tons of unground wheat in 50# bags, 10 tons of vegetables.
The stake bed is carrying crates of electronics and three Honda generators. the trailer is carrying fuel.
The Bus is capable of carrying 38 people seated and is moving refugees.

[Michael Lewis]

Wonderful! Thanks so much! I'm starting my 1st 2013 campaign in Poland and the 1st entry will be very helpful.

[HorseSoldier]

One of my favorite groups to drive players crazy with was another group of 5th ID survivors who headed out of Kalisz in the same general direction as the PCs (toward Krakow). This group, a much attrited combat engineer company with a couple 113s and some soft skins, rapidly went marauder and endlessly complicated life for PCs -- making locals very hostile to US personnel, keeping Soviet and Polish units patrolling hard along their general line of march.

It took my players a little while to figure out what was going on and a while longer to figure out a plan to resolve the issue. The fact that the bad guys were American complicated things for the PCs and really reinforced the "good luck, you're on your own" premise of the game.

[Michael Lewis]

Something else to borrow. Thanks!

[stg58fal]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

One of my favorite groups to drive players crazy with was another group of 5th ID survivors who headed out of Kalisz in the same general direction as the PCs (toward Krakow). This group, a much attrited combat engineer company with a couple 113s and some soft skins, rapidly went marauder and endlessly complicated life for PCs -- making locals very hostile to US personnel, keeping Soviet and Polish units patrolling hard along their general line of march.

It took my players a little while to figure out what was going on and a while longer to figure out a plan to resolve the issue. The fact that the bad guys were American complicated things for the PCs and really reinforced the "good luck, you're on your own" premise of the game.

Consider it stolen.

[WallShadow]

To make it even more difficult, one or so of the marauders are former drinkin' buddies of one of the party. Or a distant cousin.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by WallShadow

To make it even more difficult, one or so of the marauders are former drinkin' buddies of one of the party. Or a distant cousin.

Or a former lover

[HorseSoldier]

When I ran it, I had the bad guy Americans as strangers to the PCs, but if I did it again I'd probably have some sort of connection. In units as chewed up and small as T2K divisions, I think that while everyone might not know everyone, they'd probably be at about one degree of separation from everyone else in the division, and most leaders at company level or higher would be known at least by reputation to everyone else (maybe not always by name, but at least as "that good/bad/whatever CO/1SG over in B/4-12 Cav or similar). I'd think officers and senior NCOs, especially would know almost all their counterparts, at least well enough to put a name and unit with a face.