Diamonds in the Rough: Escape from Kalisz (4e Rules, v1 Timeline)

[Raellus]

Over dinner, the Diamonds discuss their experiences with the newcomers.

"Something's off. That Townes, he's pretty squirrelly," Walker opines.

“One of the sick guys- Branson, I think it was- dropped a bandana full of jewelry when I was looking him over,” Deacon starts, “Pretty sure I saw a West Point class ring in there. He noticed I saw it, said it belonged to a friend who died.”

“Guy I was talking to said his CO got fragged right after Kalisz,” Honeybear chimed in. “Said it was 'his time to go'.”

“Yeah, these guys are trouble,” Sarge says. “We need to keep a close eye on them. Two on watch tonight.”

The sun goes down, darkness falls…

Bird and Captain Walker are on second watch. Bird hears a scraping noise coming from the quarantine compound (aka the guest house), looks north spots a flash of movement in the road. He lifts his rifle, scopes the area, sees a second figure, crouched over, carrying a rifle, running across the road towards an overgrown lot to the north of the Diamond’s current residence. He pans left, sees dark shapes- human- against the white-painted exterior of a building. Then another figure starts creeping across the road, this one clearly armed.

“Don’t take any chances with these guys,” Sarge had said, “You see something off, shoot first, ask questions later. I'll take full responsibility.”

[Round 1]

Bird fixes the third figure in his crosshairs, squeezes the trigger. The M21 bucks, the target stumbles and falls in the road.

[The first two figures make it to the overgrown lot and drop prone behind some thick brush.]

A muzzle flash erupts from the south-facing window of the guesthouse. Bird is knocked backwards by what feels like a flying kick to the chest. He drops to the ground, gasping for breath.

The sleeping Diamonds are jolted awake by the spasm of gunfire. They scramble for weapons and body armor, start moving to their posts.

Shouting for everyone to stand to, Captain Walker moves down an alley between two buildings to get eyes on the north. She takes a knee at the corner, scans for threats.

Something explodes about 20m short of the open-sided garage structure on the north side of the Diamonds’ compound.

[Round 2]

Captain Walker hears movement in the underbrush 20m north of the compound. She takes aim at a clump of bushes and waits…

The enemy SAW gunner spots the Diamond CO, takes a shot at her, but the burst goes wide.

Sarge and PR join the fight. They each take aim at the muzzle flash and open fire, driving the enemy SAW gunner away from the window. Deacon rushes to Bird’s aid, drags the wounded sniper behind cover. Grease takes Bird’s place at the front (west, facing the road) of the compound; Honeybear joins Cap on the northeast side.

[Round 3]

Deacon open’s Bird’s PAGST vest, finds the wound. Fortunately, Bird’s Kevlar body armor kept the bullet from penetrating deeply. Part of the jacketed round protrudes from the sniper’s left pec. Deacon squeezes the slug out like a blackhead and slaps a field dressing on the flesh wound. [Successful Medical Aid Roll- all damage healed]. Bird can rejoin the fight.

Walker sees a rifle barrel protrude from the brush, just 30m away from her position. She squeezes the trigger of her M4A1 twice, but the second 3-round burst is cut short by a stoppage [Pushed roll results in jam!]. Sandy spots a figure rise up from the road and start running west towards the quarantine compound. After firing off 15 rounds, she too experiences a jam. The team grenadier did, however, force her target to dive prone in the road again, short of reaching cover. Unfortunately, the Diamond’s firepower is now reduced by a quarter.

The two hostiles in the brush open fire. The one on the left empties his mag at Sandy. Despite being only 20m way, the shooter doesn’t score a single hit! His counterpart is a better shot (or just luckier), hitting PR in the helmet with a shorter burst. The team radioman/translator drops into full cover behind a stack of old tractor tires.

The enemy SAW is silent, but two M16s start spitting rounds at the Diamonds from behind a wooden fence that encircles the quarantine compound’s back lot. Sarge appears to be their target, but both shooters miss badly. Grease and Sarge return fire and drive one of his antagonists away from the fence.

Honeybear, prone next to Cap, sends a long burst into the underbrush, producing an anguished yelp from his target.

[Round 4]

Captain Walker clears her jam quickly; Sandy, however, struggles to clear hers. Bird takes aim, waits for his prey to break cover.

A 40mm HE round sails long, exploding against a long storage shed at the back of the Diamond’s compound. The tormented runner in the road finally makes it to cover. The shooter behind the fence has another go at Sarge but misses again. Grease and Sarge both return fire, tearing up the fence and knocking the man down. Both Diamonds are confident that they hit their target.

Honeybear follows up his first burst with another, tracers disappearing into the dark shape of his target. It's almost certainly a kill.

[Round 5]

The enemy SAW gunner reappears in the guesthouse window; Bird is waiting. He squeezes the trigger, notes a puff of brick dust just below the windowsill. The SAW gunner returns fire, hitting Sarge in the left arm and knocking him down. Grease avenges the Diamond’s senior noncom, hitting the SAW gunner with a burst of fire before his weapon jams. The window is once again vacated.

Walker fires at the second shooter in the brush, producing a cry of pain. PR, having recovered his wits, takes aim and fires several bursts (15 rounds) at the same target, likely scoring at least a couple hits before his weapon jams. The brush is still and silent.

Honeybear takes aim at a figure leaning out from behind the northeast corner of the guesthouse, knocks the target down with a 16-round burst.

[Round 6]

There’s some indistinct shouting coming from the quarantine compound, but no more visible movement or gunfire. Sandy calls for Deacon, on behalf of Sergeant McNulty. The team medic bandages the senior noncom’s wounded arm. [Another successful Medical Aid roll, this one healing 2/2 damage; Sarge is good to go.] Grease wrestles with the borrowed M16A2 (Sarge’s old weapon), trying to clear the jam. The rest of the Diamonds remain vigilant, enemy compound in their sights. After a minute or so, they hear the sound of an engine coughing to life.

The visitor’s Humvee exits the north end of the quarantine compound, engine sounds rising in pitch as it accelerates sharply. Only Bird has LOS and a functioning weapon. He takes aim and sends a parting shot after the speeding vehicle.

Four of the village's freshly minted militia have congregated at the crossroads in the middle of town. They open fire on the fast-approaching Humvee but their marksmanship isn’t up to snuff. The Humvee speeds away.


Ref's Notes:
This was the logical conclusion of the random encounter, Murderous Bastards, which began in the previous post. Although the engagement was 8 v 8, this firefight didn't go nearly as well as the Diamonds' previous two. Darkness imparted a -2 penalty to all direct fire. Rolled direct fire hits yielded very few multiple successes, and the 3 ammo dice I rolled for every assault rifle burst turned up very few sixes. The OPFOR, being US soldiers, all wore body armor, so the lack of multiple successes and/or sixes on ammo die meant that hits didn't do enough damage to Crit. Nearly every pushed direct fire roll resulted in a jam. All three PCs hit by enemy fire failed their CUF rolls. Body armor really helped the party, again. I find myself rooting for torso or head hits because of this. Deacon did great on Medical Aid rolls, so all WIA PCs were able to return to the fire with full HP, and no one took any lingering damage.


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[Raellus]

A few minutes pass. There’s no sound, no sign of movement in or around the quarantine compound. A couple of curious militiamen arrive from the south end of town. This prompts PR to call out a warning to any militiamen who might be approaching from the north.

Sarge details Bird and Honeybear with over-watch, Captain Walker remaining behind to supervise. Moving in staggered pairs, the senior noncom leads PR, Sandy, Grease, and Deacon towards the lot north of the Diamonds’ residence. They find two bodies, lying prone in the brush.

From there the clearing team crosses the road and enters the quarantine compound. They clear the buildings, finding three more bodies, one inside the guest house, one at the northeast [exterior] corner of same, and the last behind the fence in the backyard. Apparently, three of the ‘guests’ managed to escape in their Humvee. With less than half a tank of meth, they’re probably not going to get too far.

During the sweep of the guest compound, three M16A2s, one M16A2 and M203 GL combo, and one M249 SAW are recovered, along with 6 full STANAG magazines, one half-empty 200 box of linked 5.56mm, two M67 hand grenades (fragmentation), and a number of large knives of mixed military and civilian make. Helmets, vests, and boots are also salvaged (Deacon insists that they all be deloused before use). The Diamonds make out slightly better off, in terms of ammunition, than they were before the fight.

For the rest of the night, no one sleeps particularly well. It rains again for a few hours. A double-watch rotation is maintained until stand-to at dawn. After a spartan breakfast, the Diamonds dig five shallow graves in the empty lot next door. Sarge pockets the casualties’ dog tags. They may have been criminals, but their families deserve to know they won't be coming home. Deacon conducts a brief, poorly attended funeral service.

July 27, 2000

After lunch, a small group of locals arrives at the Diamonds’ residence. It’s the village’s ersatz governing council. They appear nervous.

“Basically, they said, ‘Thanks for your help, but it’s time for you to leave’,” PR translates. “We’re welcome to stay the night tonight. They’ll give us some provisions for the road.”

“Tell them thanks for their hospitality. We’re grateful for any supplies that they can spare. We’ll pack up and be ready to go after breakfast tomorrow.” Walker answers.

The dignitaries are visibly relieved at the Americans’ response to what amounts to an eviction notice. A couple of them even seem to regret their decision, but they leave it alone.

This night passes uneventfully.


July 28, 2000

The Diamonds wake well-rested. The villagers provide a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes. As promised, they also supply the Diamonds with some provisions for the road (a couple loaves of bread, a few carrots and potatoes, a cabbage, and 2.5 kilos of summer sausage). PR

The Diamonds say their goodbyes (both Bird and Deacon were sweet on the young woman who nursed the Americans back to heath during their bouts cholera) and Pole Position rolls south, into the unknown.

They’ve been on the road for a couple of hours when the sharp-eyed Bird spots a roadblock up ahead in the distance. Through scopes and binoculars, the Diamonds study the dug-in MBT posted at a crossroads. It appears to be manned by at least a dozen Polish army troops.


Ref's Notes:
The Diamonds fired off 52 rounds of 5.56mm, 60 rounds 7.62mmN, and 30 rounds 7.62mmS during the fight with the murderous bastards, but ended up recovering more 5.56mm than they expended. They also picked up a few 40mm HE rounds, and a couple of hand grenades.

I wasn't sure what do about the PCs stay in the ville. Staying put didn't really advance the plot at all, although I would like to play with the Base Building rules at some point. I consulted the oracle and resulting card was black, so I decided that meant the villagers decided to ask the Americans to leave. Relations between the two parties were good (the Diamonds armed, and Sarge trained, their seminal militia) so the parting was amicable. I threw in a couple of days worth of rations.

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[kcdusk]

Good decision to move on. Early days, so keep the party and the story moving.

Noted re base building rules. Once the Diamonds have moved away from immediate threats and decided on a long term goal, there maybe the opportunity to build a base later.

[Raellus]

The roadblock is easily avoided, although doing so entails more backtracking. The Diamonds have put a lot of miles on Pole Position over the past 10 days, but haven’t put much distance between themselves and Kalisz.

It’s while trying a different path through the forest that a bedraggled figure steps out of the underbrush and flags down the SKOT.

…

“They’re about 30 of us left,” the man says. His woodland pattern BDUs are torn, filthy.

His name is Mick Daniels, an American soldier from the 5th ID, captured by Soviet forces 9 days ago and subsequently interned in an ad hoc POW camp (a walled poultry farm) about a mile south-southeast of the town of Grabow. Ivan’s been using the prisoners as forced labor. Daniels’ party was assigned to assist a squad of Soviet engineers in repairing a couple of badly damaged bridges over the Prosna and Mlynowka rivers, just east of the town.

”There was more than twice as many, but a work party went out a couple days ago, never came back. I figured, after the bridge is finished, we’re next.”

Daniels made a break for it, was shot in the arm, but managed to get away. He’s been wandering the forest, dodging patrols and growing weaker from blood loss and hunger, for the last 24 hours or so.

“I thought I was done. Saw the diamonds on your APC, recognized your K-pots, took a chance. Thank God I did.”

Deacon attends to Daniels’ bullet wound (-1 PMK) while the escapee recounts his travails, describes the POW camp.

It’s a rectangular compound, 110m long and 60m wide. A wall, 2-3m high, encloses an open courtyard and three buildings, two long henhouses (along the north and south sides) and a storage shed (west). To act as ersatz watchtowers, the Soviets have parked a 4x4 farm trailer just outside the back (east) wall, and a ZIL-175 truck outside the front wall, each manned by a two-man machinegun team. The crews are primarily focused on the interior of the compound. Sentries walk the exterior of the northern and southern walls. There are about 10 guards in total, at the moment. Those not on duty bunk in a small residence just southwest of the "prison".

…

“We can’t just leave them,” Sarge says.

“Look, I know how you feel right now," Walker replies. "I feel it too. But we’ve been lucky so far. Very lucky. A rescue mission? We’re not all Rangers, Sergeant.”

“But we’re still soldiers… aren’t we, Captain?” Sergeant McNulty asks pointedly. “And so are they. American soldiers. What if the tables were turned and we were the ones locked up and running out of time?”

…

A rescue op is planned. The Diamonds will hit the camp at dusk, after the bridge work party has returned to the camp. Sarge, Bird, and PR will infiltrate a patch of woods just over 200m east of the camp to observe and report. Once work detail has returned to the camp, the scout team will call it in. The others, in Pole Position will roll up on the front of the camp, stopping about 100 from the front gate and engaging the “guard tower” near the main entrance to the compound with HMG fire. Bird will engage the machinegun team on the wagon at the back. This should eliminate any danger to the prisoners inside.

To be continued...

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[Raellus]

Bird, PR, and Sarge successfully infiltrate the wooded patch 200m east of the camp. They observe the returning work party arrive by truck and the sentries casually moving to their posts. PR calls it in, and Pole Position rolls out of concealment and towards the camp at close to maximum road speed.

As the Diamonds’ SKOT APC nears the compound, the scout team opens fire. Bird and PR each hit their targets, eliminating the machinegun team in the wagon. Sarge engages the sentry outside the northern wall, but misses. His target runs west and drops from sight.

Grease stops Pole Position, quickly but smoothly, 100m north of the main gate. Alerted by the gunfire at the back of the compound, the machinegun team in the ZIL out front spits out rounds at the strange APC. The fire is heavy and accurate, and one round manages to punch a hole in the gun shield protecting the SKOT’s HMG. Although the bullet bounces harmlessly off the gunner’s PAGST vest, Honeybear involuntarily ducks down into the troop compartment (failed CUF roll).

Unbeknownst to the Diamonds, the camp guard’s CO radios the engineer platoon in Grabow, demanding immediate assistance. Two guards emerge from the detached dormitory south-southwest of the prison and prepare to engage the attackers…

Sandy dismounts right and goes prone in some underbrush just east of the road. Captain walker dismounts left (west side). Deacon stays behind just long enough to make sure that Honeybear is okay.

With bird staying put on over-watch, PR and Sarge leave the tree line and start running west across a fallow field towards the prison camp.

The Soviet machinegun team continues to pour fire at the intruding APC, peppering its armored hull with rounds. The assistant gunner empties an entire mag at Sandy. A few close calls force her to hug the earth (failed CUF roll).

A horizontal plume of dust and white smoke from the yard of the guard’s residence announces the launch of an RPG-18 anti-tank rocket. The projectile bores into the dirt road and explodes well short of its target- so short, in fact, that the SKOT’s gunner doesn’t register the threat. The rocketeer’s partner empties an entire mag in the direction of the APC doing nothing but making a lot of noise and scratching the paint.

Honeybear is back up in the gunner’s cupola. He takes aim at the PKM gunner in the bed of the ZIL just north of the main gate and squeezes off a long burst. This shatters the truck’s windshield and knocks the enemy gunner down. Deacon exits the SKOT and goes prone next to Cap.

For the next six rounds, PR and Sarge run across the field. (Imagine the running scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.)

The Soviet rocketeer drops the empty RPG launch tube and readies his rifle; his partner is busy reloading his own.

Another rifleman opens up on the SKOT from the shadow of the ZIL. Honeybear continues to pour fire into the truck’s cab, exploding the Soviet machinegunner’s head like a overripe melon and forcing his assistant to take cover.

Sandy’s regained her composure and takes aim at the two soldiers kneeling in the front yard of the guard’s residence with her M203. With a loud BLOOP, the 40mm HE round arcs towards its target, landing close enough that the ensuing explosion knocks both Ivans down.

With Pole Position obstructing their LOS to the enemy in and around the ZIL, Walker and Deacon both take aim at the settling cloud of dust and vaporized explosive to the south.

Since PR and Sarge are drifting across his LOS, Bird displaces, moving 20m north along the tree line before going prone again facing the camp.

The shooter in the shadow of the ZIL looses a burst, hitting Sandy in the chest. The American grenadier’s PAGST does its job, absorbing most of the projectile’s kinetic energy. Still, the impact knocks the wind out of her lungs, and pain radiates through her chest (torso -1 HP, failed CUF roll).

The dust from Sandy’s 40mm HE round has settled, revealing that both targets are still in the fight. Before they can open fire at the Diamonds, Walker and Deacon beat them to the punch. Most of the Americans' combined 26 rounds strike home, messily eliminating both targets.

Bird spots the northern sentry lying prone behind an AK and facing Pole Position. The Wyomingite fires a single round, sees a puff of dust geyser up from the target’s right kidney region through his rifle scope. The target’s head flops forward and he lies motionless- another probable kill.

A lone figure breaks from the shot-up ZIL, disappears behind the southwest corner of the compound wall before any of the Diamonds can engage.

Recovering her breath, Sandy calls for a medic. With Captain Walker and Honeybear covering, Deacon sprints across the road, behind Pole Position, and arrives on scene to render aid.

Suddenly, the battlefield is quiet. There are no targets in sight. The firefight lasted less than a minute-and-a-half, but the Diamonds know that the help for the guards is probably on the way. They don’t have much time to spring the prisoners.

Walker returns to the SKOT’s troop compartment, calls PR on the radio. The radioman replies, breathlessly, than he and Sarge are less than 50m from the back wall of the prison. Deacon helps Sandy into the APC. Walker instructs Grease to move Pole Position up to the front gate…


Ref's Notes:
I wanted to try my hand at attacking in combat, so I created this encounter from scratch. Since I've learned through experience that in 4e, the defending force has an advantage, I kept the OPFOR at 1x PC. The scenario justified this: a Soviet motor rifles squad consists of 9 soldiers, and I figured that 30 or so overworked, underfed prisoners didn't require more than 9 guards.

During attack, mobility is important. After taking out the MG team at the back of the compound, PR (AGL A, Mobility D) and Sarge (AGL B, Mobility D) spent the next six turns* crossing 200m+ of open ground. In effect, this essentially made the remainder of the firefight 6 PCs v. 7 OPFOR. This is what I get for underestimating how long it would take the scouts to reach the prison compound. Due to the random results of mobility rolls- several pushed- PR opened an early lead, but the older, slower Sarge eventually caught up and passed him, arriving at the back wall first (but straining a calf muscle towards the end). I'm seriously considering prioritizing Mobility during future Skill Improvement (I already had, for a couple of PCs).

*After an initial successful Driving roll, poor Grease also didn't do anything interesting for 6 consecutive turns. I figured it would be unrealistic for him to open his driver's hatch and join in on the firefight because, if he were hit, Pole Position would be effectively immobilized. So he stayed buttoned up for the entirety of the scrap.

I'm glad no one else was playing PR, Sarge, or Grease during this encounter, because they would have been bored AF.

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[kcdusk]

1 v1 generally favours the defender. So even playing roughly even numbers, as the attacker you were maybe underdogs.

Did the OT-64 turn the tide for the attackers? I forget what its armed with.

Did the defenders take advantage of cover? It reads a little bit like they were fired at, and hit regularly.

In old T2K our characters ran 30m, trotted 20m, jogged 10m and crawled 2m automatically! Every PC was essentially the same movement wise. In V4.0 mobility adds another variable, which i think is good. Some PCs will be mobile, others will be cumbersomely slow. Perhaps V4.0 having a war-game like bent, with gridded maps, helps us as Refs, plot PCs on a map and that opens up visually the importance of movement more than V1.0 did for example - which puts further emphasis on mobility.

How did you find running so many characters solo in an extended fight go for you? Easy/hard, long, methodical ....

6 or 7 enemy were downed. One PC took a hit. Was this just due to the difference in skill levels (D6s v D10 or D12s)?

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

1 v1 generally favours the defender. So even playing roughly even numbers, as the attacker you were maybe underdogs.

That's what I was thinking as I set up the scenario.

Originally Posted by kcdusk

Did the OT-64 turn the tide for the attackers? I forget what its armed with.

It helped, but not as much as I thought it would, especially when the gunner (DShK HMG) was suppressed in the first round. He also didn't roll very well. He was rolling two D12s and every single ammo die and didn't produce extra damage or hits until his final round of combat.

Originally Posted by kcdusk

Did the defenders take advantage of cover? It reads a little bit like they were fired at, and hit regularly.

A couple of them were.

The MG team in the ZIL were standing in the bed, behind the cab. The cab only had an armor value of 1, but it stopped the DShK (Dam 4) from getting any crits during its first two bursts). Honeybear eventually both the A and B gunners in the torso, but neither were killed outright. The A gunner was finished off by a head shot, but the B gunner got away (temporarily).

On that note, I'm not sure how to RP getting hit in the chest by a 12.7mm round, losing 4/5 HP, and surviving.

Originally Posted by kcdusk

In old T2K our characters ran 30m, trotted 20m, jogged 10m and crawled 2m automatically! Every PC was essentially the same movement wise. In V4.0 mobility adds another variable, which i think is good. Some PCs will be mobile, others will be cumbersomely slow. Perhaps V4.0 having a war-game like bent, with gridded maps, helps us as Refs, plot PCs on a map and that opens up visually the importance of movement more than V1.0 did for example - which puts further emphasis on mobility.

I agree. I like the Mobility mechanic. I just underestimated how long it would take to cross 200m (if I'd done some basic arithmetic, this would have been obvious; instead I assumed, "It's not that far,"). Lesson learned.

Originally Posted by kcdusk

How did you find running so many characters solo in an extended fight go for you? Easy/hard, long, methodical ....

During the first couple of firefights I ran, I used a sheet of notebook paper to "track" everything but it got sloppy pretty quickly and didn't work very well- I kept missing things or getting them mixed up. So, after the last fight, I made a simple Word doc tracking sheet and it helped a lot. 9 v 9 was no trouble at all to run. I attached it. In the main boxes, I recorded the character's action and the result. If a character failed a CUF roll, I wrote CUF X in their next turn box.

I was really disappointed that none of my PCs passed a CUF roll because I want the chance to roll to improve their CUF score.

Originally Posted by kcdusk

6 or 7 enemy were downed. One PC took a hit. Was this just due to the difference in skill levels (D6s v D10 or D12s)?

Yes, and a successful group ambush (the scout team) at the outset. They eliminated 2/9 enemy in the very first round.

But having PCs with better combat skills (A/B, in some cases, v C/C) definitely helped a lot. The Diamonds possessing the only AFV in the fight did also.

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