GMing a city defense

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by guncrazy

Yeah I think they are finally gettign that point lol. But now that the first wave is coming they will have to deal with street to street combat first. Their first combat ever, pretty excited for it. Its amazing how some timely placed terrible rolls add to the roleplay lol.

I'm sure the fun isn't over yet. Those Militia probably have 3 or 4 FOs. This means that the first FO team could have "marked" (ranged and determined the grid coordinated of) EVERY important roadway/terrain feature, weapon's bunker, commo antenna, and AFV in the town. The M198s will then begin to fire on every strategically important object until they reduce it to rubble. It takes about 10 seconds to load during sustained fire and the HE shell's flight speed is about 800m per second. If they are 10km out, this will equate to a shell landing every 20 to 30 seconds (4 to 6 rounds) as long as the ammo holds out. Danger Close for artillery is around 1000m so not targets within 1km of the Militia will be targeted.

On the bright side, your players could be considered to have "Registered" (ie pre-ranged) all of the important terrain features and objectives. This will make your mortar fire ONE LEVEL EASIER and you may have "Short Orders" set up for these locations.

A "Short Order" is a single word designator like "location Lima Two" or "hill 123" that allow you to direct fire onto a location with just a single 5-second combat round of communication. "Registration" can also be done with crew-served machineguns (the tripod can record azimuth of fire and elevation needed) and AT weapons.

[guncrazy]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

I'm sure the fun isn't over yet. Those Militia probably have 3 or 4 FOs. This means that the first FO team could have "marked" (ranged and determined the grid coordinated of) EVERY important roadway/terrain feature, weapon's bunker, commo antenna, and AFV in the town. The M198s will then begin to fire on every strategically important object until they reduce it to rubble. It takes about 10 seconds to load during sustained fire and the HE shell's flight speed is about 800m per second. If they are 10km out, this will equate to a shell landing every 20 to 30 seconds (4 to 6 rounds) as long as the ammo holds out. Danger Close for artillery is around 1000m so not targets within 1km of the Militia will be targeted.

On the bright side, your players could be considered to have "Registered" (ie pre-ranged) all of the important terrain features and objectives. This will make your mortar fire ONE LEVEL EASIER and you may have "Short Orders" set up for these locations.

A "Short Order" is a single word designator like "location Lima Two" or "hill 123" that allow you to direct fire onto a location with just a single 5-second combat round of communication. "Registration" can also be done with crew-served machineguns (the tripod can record azimuth of fire and elevation needed) and AT weapons.

Yes the M198's are 5km out and the PCs (or at least one of them) did scout outside of town and "prep" likely routes as well, AT mines have been placed at strategic locations, and they were made with an outstanding success roll (the few they have made). I was going to make a roll to see if the Milita's vehicle convoy does indeed roll over the mines (they likely will with a roll of a 1 by the PC)

As for multiple FOs there are certainly more out there, however I have to ease the players in since they are not familiar with modern day realistic military tactics and doctrines. So I will be cutting some slack in some areas. After all it should be fun first and foremost. Its also another reason why the players chose to a more "Postman/Jericho" style campaign, though 2 of the characters are military. One Force Recon marine with sniper terms, One Doctor with med school ( I guess he wanted to be the "cleric") and the other is a civilan construction worker, criminal, and former prison imnate who was drafted as a deal to get out of prison.

I was going with Artillery reigning down every 4 turns until either taken out or the FOs are taken out. They would have had a working Tank Breaker but they failed their gunsmithing check to fix it. And now the city is down to only a single 81mm mortar for infantry support. The Militia really wants Mr Jackson (The NPC who has PHDs in metallurgy and Civil Engineering) I figure in such dire times educated people would be worth their weight in gold and extreme measure would be taken to secure them, willingly or not.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by guncrazy

Yes the M198's are 5km out and the PCs (or at least one of them) did scout outside of town and "prep" likely routes as well, AT mines have been placed at strategic locations, and they were made with an outstanding success roll (the few they have made). I was going to make a roll to see if the Milita's vehicle convoy does indeed roll over the mines (they likely will with a roll of a 1 by the PC)

As for multiple FOs there are certainly more out there, however I have to ease the players in since they are not familiar with modern day realistic military tactics and doctrines. So I will be cutting some slack in some areas. After all it should be fun first and foremost. Its also another reason why the players chose to a more "Postman/Jericho" style campaign, though 2 of the characters are military. One Force Recon marine with sniper terms, One Doctor with med school ( I guess he wanted to be the "cleric") and the other is a civilan construction worker, criminal, and former prison imnate who was drafted as a deal to get out of prison.

I was going with Artillery reigning down every 4 turns until either taken out or the FOs are taken out. They would have had a working Tank Breaker but they failed their gunsmithing check to fix it. And now the city is down to only a single 81mm mortar for infantry support. The Militia really wants Mr Jackson (The NPC who has PHDs in metallurgy and Civil Engineering) I figure in such dire times educated people would be worth their weight in gold and extreme measure would be taken to secure them, willingly or not.

If the guns are that close (need a reason? commo range of hand helds), I'd be engaging in an "Artillery Duel" with them using the 81mm. The PCs could get lucky. This WILL have an adverse effect on the Militia's morale too. The PCs just need to close the 1km gap and achieve a good (covered) firing position.

[guncrazy]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

If the guns are that close (need a reason? commo range of hand helds), I'd be engaging in an "Artillery Duel" with them using the 81mm. The PCs could get lucky. This WILL have an adverse effect on the Militia's morale too. The PCs just need to close the 1km gap and achieve a good (covered) firing position.

Yes they have discussed something like that before we ended last week. Right now they are fortifying and waiting for the coming infantry assault.

[guncrazy]

Another thing, How should I go about a map for combat? Is there any place I can download one or print one? We are using 2.2 rules for grid combat.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by guncrazy

Another thing, How should I go about a map for combat? Is there any place I can download one or print one? We are using 2.2 rules for grid combat.

If you are using real towns then Google Earth is your friend. I draw up maps on 1-inch hex boards that I get printed at my local printer (Fine Print in Meadville PA). Butcher paper available in many places can be used to draw maps on as well.

[guncrazy]

Yeah I may just get a roll of gaming paper from gamingpaper.com 5 bucks is cheap. I would also like to print maps I have made with autorealm and RPG citymap Generator. But print big sizes, how do I change the size of the maps in autorealm if anyone is familiar with it.