Need help with a tactical problem

[StainlessSteelCynic]

The search is going to be similar to multi-storey building search except that most work ships (i.e. anything that isn't intended to carry paying passengers) don't need wide open corridors.
While main passageways typically allow space for two people to pass each other, secondary passageways and stairwells are often only wide enough for one person at a time and you won't get a lot of capacity for overwatch as the person you'd be covering will effectively be blocking your view down the passageway/stairwell.

Any combat in these areas is going to require the second man to be shooting over the shoulder of the lead man (or around his torso, hips etc. etc.) unless the lead kneels or ducks down to allow unobstructed view for the second guy. Naturally enough, conducting a search like that takes much longer

I would recommend taking a look at many of the pages found here
http://www.workboatsinternational.com/
but specifically this sub-heading
http://www.workboatsinternational.co...-for-sale.html
While not all the schematics are big enough to use for mapping purposes, a lot of the images can give you ideas as to the limited space you have inside a work ship.

Although the following link is for an icebreaker, there's a lot of photos of various areas on the ship that may also prove helpful for getting a feel for the space constraints any searchers would have to deal with.
http://yachtconversions.homestead.co...s_ISBJOERN.pdf
Same with this one although this is a research ship
http://offshorepool.homestead.com/81mResearch.html

[Apache6]

For military and Coast Guard units the mission is called Visit, Board, Search and Seizure.

Coast Guard law enforcement personnel and Navy Masters of Arms will do 'permissive' mission," where they do not expect "significant active resistance." Marines will execute non-permissive missions in-extremis, but the Navy Seals are THE world experts on the mission. Often Navy surface combatants will order ships to strike colors/surrender and fire across their bow, or if required disable them by cannon fire rather then risking personnel.

Will not talk much about tactics beyond saying they are done either TOP down via Helo insert, or bottom up via boarding from small craft.

Potential for losses are very high. It's a very challenging mission to do right.

[Silent Hunter UK]

Originally Posted by Apache6

Potential for losses are very high. It's a very challenging mission to do right.

The same problem you get with any such insertion into a building - it's why it's only done when hostages are already being shot and things have gone down the metaphorical pan very quickly.

[unkated]

Hmmm.

Weird unmanned ship drifts into a big city harbor straight to the dock.

I'll bypass the issue of how, especially as mention that this game has supernatural elements. But then that makes the investigating personnel frustrated and jumpy if none of this makes sense...

However, regardless of the weather, it seems to me, that this will probably generate a plethora of city and state agencies at work:

1. City police cordon until the dock can be surveyed (a large object crashed into it you said). Second cordon/checkpoint at a gangway ramp once established to catch anyone coming off or anyone attempting to get on while the police investigation is in progress.
   
2. City engineering team to survey the dock itself.
   
3. Fire personnel and ambulances (maybe) will show up at least until it is shown that there are no fires nor anyone trapped (in wreckage) that needs to be rescued on land or shipboard. Large port may have specialized fire units trained for ship/water issues.
   
4. A large ship with no authority to land has appeared in a US port. Until it is investigated, again, city police will keep people off of it.
   
5. Customs officials will want to check what is aboard - probably after the ship is cleared as not dangerous.
   
6. City SWAT and/or FBI/Homeland Security (depending on the when of your timeline setting) will check and occupy the ship to see what the ship is, where it came from, where is the crew.
   
7. Once determined to not be an immediate danger, police detectives will board to being to investigate (unless overruled by or teamed with FBI/Homeland security). Probably at least one team will look for the ship's office/captain's cabin for paperwork trying to figure out what the heck happened.
   
8. Blood stains you say? CSI/CSU teams will work on those.
   
9. Harbor police will examine the water around the ship looking for crew; someone may be stuck in a launch to ward off the curious, but if the weather is oh, so poor, a deck watch will probably be used instead). Harbor police/port safety inspectors will probably examine the ship (just crashed into a dock).
   
10. If there is a snowstorm blowing, your snipers will not offer much protection or support due to poor visibility.
    
11. Helicopter hanging out would be rather noticeable to the various agencies aboard and ashore. And they would know how to contact a local official pilot - local agency or news organization - so a loitering chopper would in rather short order become suspicious, especially on a day with a crashed mystery ship.
    
12. Depending on how they get aboard, if you want them to go after ship's papers/manifests, they can ignore most of the ship. These will be in the ship's office or the captain's cabin (where the police and/or FBI detectives will be working). Unless, of course, getting the manifest data is only part 1 of the problem...

Tactical problems

• How to disguise/bluff past multiple cordons to access the ship.
• How to maneuver past other teams to find the manifest/navigation data.
• How to leave the vessel past multiple cordons with as few questions as possible. (I'd use the 'hurt team member' approach, and crowd into the ambulance.

It seems to me more an exercise in stealth and acting than combat, but your mileage may vary.

Personally, I'd go for fire/survey/safety inspectors, with hidden small arms (pistols, SMGs), preferably from an agency unlikely to actually be there "City Health Inspector's office sent us. Yeah, I know the port guys and the Fire Marshall has teams aboard already..."

Have fun.

Uncle Ted

[Jason Weiser]

Unkated,
I like that..though I might try the CDC/PHSUS route.

"Um, yeah, we heard there was a meningitis/hepatitis outbreak aboard. Crew abandoned ship before harbor entry, god knows where they are. We're here to do epidemiology intel work and find the ship's log, so we can figure out where the hell they got the bug? You don't want us aboard, ok, fine..let us know when you begin to get flu-like symptoms, ok?"

Or, pretend you're Coast Guard/NTSB doing an accident investigation....like how in the hell the an unmanned ship was allowed clearance into the harbor, not to mention plow into a dock in NY Harbor.

[Schone23666]

Thanks for all the help with suggestions guys.

As for the ship....welllllll....there is one little toy surprise once our intrepid investigators enter the cargo hold....

It's in the form of all the ship's former crew and those several containers that were full of Russian mail-order "brides"....they've all been turned into undead zombie slaves who shuffle toward the investigators ready to tear them apart....along with a multi-tentacled monstrosity that seems to just get bigger and bigger in size, that's studded with gaping, fanged maws that wants to wrap it's slimy tentacles around the investigators and....well, you get the picture.

Oops, did I mention I was going for a supernatural Lovecraftian horror vibe? Roll for sanity check, please!

[swaghauler]

The Helo is a major issue as most ports are a "no fly" zone. They could access the ship from the bow by snagging the anchor with ropes and climbing up. An alternative would be meeting the ship in open water, disabled and adrift. This is a very common occurance.
The passage ways in most modern freighters are about 1 meter wide with main passages being about 2 meters; So pistols, sawed off shotguns, and SMGs are in their element here (which is why SEAL's board civilian "small craft," power & sailboats, with pistols). The standard gangway on a civilian sailboat is just 30" wide. A 45 degree list will make it equally easy (difficult?) to walk on walls as floors. At 90 degrees, walls BECOME floors and stairs become "jungle gyms" to climb. If the power is completely out, flooding will be an issue because the bilge pumps are not functioning. You may need to think about putting a time limit on the mission (at which point the ship sinks). The water could "chase" the players from deck to deck.
The fire would be a MAJOR hazard. Respirators would be needed in engineering (if it's not already under water) due to fumes/smoke. Firing any weapon below decks would deafen everyone if not suppressed. 7.62mmN caliber weapons could penetrate the hull (another reason for SMGs). Cargo could be shifting, causing further damage to stairs, doors, and gangways. It would be a regular fun house.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Schone23666

Thanks for all the help with suggestions guys.

As for the ship....welllllll....there is one little toy surprise once our intrepid investigators enter the cargo hold....

It's in the form of all the ship's former crew and those several containers that were full of Russian mail-order "brides"....they've all been turned into undead zombie slaves who shuffle toward the investigators ready to tear them apart....along with a multi-tentacled monstrosity that seems to just get bigger and bigger in size, that's studded with gaping, fanged maws that wants to wrap it's slimy tentacles around the investigators and....well, you get the picture.

Oops, did I mention I was going for a supernatural Lovecraftian horror vibe? Roll for sanity check, please!

Have the players discover the ship adrift on open water. A distress signal is heard. On approach, nothing seems wrong or out of order (sometimes the ordinary appearance of a situation can be nerve wracking). They board the ship to investigate and the fun begins. Maybe the zombies are infectious. This would require the party to sink the ship themselves to avoid the spread of this horrible disease. They fight through the zombies to plant explosives in the bilge, only to encounter the monster. They must set the bomb and flee the ship before it sinks. To add insult to injury; you could say the characters were on a pleasure cruise when they encountered the vessel. This would limit the equipment they have to personally carried pistols and a couple of long arms (plus whatever they can get from ship's lockers). Alternately, they could be in transit to another adventure when this one "drifts in." Nothing sucks worse than having to save the world with a limited round count.