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

[Raellus]

Thanks, KC. Your recent posts in this sub-forum inspired me to write up my sessions in pseudo-narrative form and share them.

I agree completely with your assessment of ammo dice. There's definitely a trade off- ammo for effects- and the PCs are going to start running low soon if they keep opting for high volume fire.

P.S. Stay tuned for my first experience with 4e hand grenades.

-

[kcdusk]

Originally Posted by Raellus

P.S. Stay tuned for my first experience with 4e hand grenades.

-

My solo game is 80% drawn from the random encounters, 20% me steering the game towards certain sections of the game deliberately to trial specific rules.

I started with HTH, then a pistol, then SMGs .... slowly ramping it up. Spoiler alert, weather, travel, camping and heavy weapons & vehicles are in the pipeline!

[Raellus]

“Think they’re full?” Randall whispers.

“Why would Ivan be sending empty tanker trucks to the front lines?” Vasquez answers.

“Good point.”

The Soviet fuel convoy (a ZIL-131 gun truck with improvised armor on point, three Zil tanker trucks, and a UAZ with a pintle-mounted PKM bringing up the rear) rumbles past, apparently unaware of the Americans lurking just inside the woods bordering the road.

After leaving the scene of carnage, both old and new, at the farmhouse, the party attempted to traverse a veritable maze of unpaved back roads and farm tracks, intending to exit the area whilst staying off the beaten path. Their two maps of the area, however, lack detail- like back roads and farm tracks- so accurately orientating themselves proved nearly impossible. Essentially, they’d more or less been traveling in circles while morning matured into early afternoon. Tired and frustrated, they’d given up and taken the first paved road they ran into, hoping to finally orient themselves and move away from the area. Said blacktop was passing through a patch of woods when Bird, once again acting as team lookout, spotted the Soviet convoy approaching on a closing course. His warning prompted Grease to execute a hard right turn. The Polish-made APC left the tarmac and rolled into a copse of saplings, stopping roughly 10 meters into the thicket. Everyone but the vehicle crew (Grease at the wheel and Honeybear behind the DShK HMG in the gunner’s cupola) dismounted and dispersed in the nearby woods.

With an amalgam of relief and regret, he party watches the convoy roll away.

“We could’ve really hurt ‘em,” Sarge says, practically scowling, “Put the brakes on their pursuit, helped some of our people escape.”

“Yes, we could have,” Cap concedes. “And we could probably outrun the survivors, but we won’t outrun their radios,” she sagely points out.

“I know, I just…” Sarge trails off.

“I know, Sergeant,” Walker says, sympathetically.

...

A few minutes after the convoy moves out of sight, Pole Position rolls back out of the brush, leaving a few mangled saplings in its wake. Concluding that this particular stretch of blacktop is currently serving as a Soviet MSR, the group exits on to the next unpaved road they find. At a small hamlet they’d passed through earlier that day (from a different direction), they take a new road- an overgrown track, really- that disappears into a thickly wooded area to the west. The party follows this track for some ways, until it becomes clear that it’s entered a proper forest. A few klicks in, it’s decided to stop and make camp. Pole Position has burned a significant quantity of meth over the past 48 hours or so, and the party’s food is starting to run low. Camp is set up about 30m off the path; a decent amount of time and effort is spent trying to conceal it. Grease assembles the still, while Bird departs on a solo hunting expedition (after persuading Cap and Sarge to let him go alone). The Wyomingite spots a rabbit, sneaks to within 20 meters of the hapless rodent, and kills it with a blast of birdshot (from the shotgun scrounged at the murder-suicide farm). He returns to camp with the prize and Honeybear cheerfully prepares it for roasting. The party is sitting down to eat when they hear Vasquez, posted on watch near the track, shouting. Sarge, Cap, Honeybear and Randall grab their weapons rush to the grenadier’s aid, to find her confronted by nearly two dozen filthy, ragged, and increasingly surly refugees who’ve somehow managed to find the hidden camp. With Randle translating, Cap tries to persuade the highly agitated group to leave…

P.R.’s dispassionate delivery contrasts with the increasingly shrill tone of the refugee group’s apparent leader, a rail-thin man with a peeling bald pate and several days worth of scraggly growth on his face.

“This isn’t your country. You come here uninvited, kill our people, destroy our homes. We’re starving to death and it’s your fault. You must give us food.”

“Tell him we’re sorry, but we don’t have enough food to share,” Walker says evenly.

“You lie! I can smell it!” Randall translates.

“I’m sorry, but…” Captain Walker stammers.

“Chodźmy!” the man shouts.

Like a human wave, the refugees rush the Americans, most flowing through or around the weak cordon and breaking hard towards the camp. Walker grabs the leader by the arm as he shoulders past her, but the scrawny civilian shakes loose. When she grabs him again, this time by the back of his shirt, he spins around and sticks a butcher knife into her belly. Vasquez butt-strokes the leader’s arm, and he drops the knife. Honeybear shoves another refugee into a tree, knocking him down. Sarge absorbs a painful blow from a metal pipe with his left arm, punches his assailant square in the face. Walker gingerly pats her belly, feeling for a wound. She’d relieved to find that the Kevlar of her PAGST vest stopped the knife point from penetrating.

Back at camp, Bird, Grease, and Deacon are surprised by the sudden surge of grasping refugees. Bird grabs the shotgun, fires a blast of birdshot over the swarming fugees' heads, to no apparent effect. The assailants go after food and supplies. A woman takes hold of the spited rabbit; Grease grabs the other end of the spit and a sloppy tug-of-war ensues. A man tries to brain the team driver with a hatchet. Grease narrowly sidesteps the killing blow. Bird takes aim at the hatchet wielder’s legs and lets fly with the last of the 12-gauge shells. The close-range blast of birdshot nearby blows the man’s foot off at the ankle. His agonized screams seem to shock the other refugees into quiescence. With the rest of the Americans' guns drawn and trained, the refugees flee, carrying whatever small items they’d managed to grab (mostly empty ration packaging) but leaving their screaming companion behind. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, everyone in the party is OK.

The campsite is secured an a quick inventory is taken. Only Sarge's pack is missing, but it contained the party’s only night optical device. The sun has just gone down and it's growing increasingly dark beneath the trees. Two debates arise (punctuated by the wounded man's anguished cries): first, whether to move on and try to find another campsite in the dark (without NGVs), or to stay put. Second, what to do with the wounded 'fugee? After some pretty intense back-and-forth, it's decided to stay put and double the watch; Deacon begins treatment on the wounded man's mangled foot. The medic successfully stops the bleeding and eases his patient's agony a bit with a dose of painkillers. The refugee literally smells like shit. Deacon determines he's ill- probably dysentery or cholera, given the stained, crusty condition of his trousers. With Randall translating, Cap tries to get some useful information out of the "prisoner" but the interrogation only yields inane rambling sprinkled with passionate curses, stressing Walker close to the breaking point.

The watch is doubled and the party spends a largely restless night in the woods. Although there are no more interruptions, no one sleeps long or particularly well, getting only enough to stave off exhaustion for another day of flight. The party leaves the wounded, shit-covered refugee by the side of the forest track with a full canteen and drives west. Although no one was badly hurt, the encounter was costly in terms of supplies.


Ref's Notes:
Encounter 4 was generated using the appropriate tables in the ref's manual. #5 is Hungry & Angry from the random encounter deck. Bird made use of the called shot rules to incapacitate hatchet guy. Captain Walker took a point of stress from a failed persuasion roll during the attempted interrogation of the wounded 'fugee. She even had help! This particular encounter really highlighted the survival aspect of 4e rules. Despite Bird's successful hunting foray, the party is now down to just a couple of rations and full canteens each, so finding food and water has just become a top priority.

-

[kcdusk]

I would have stayed put over night too.

I would let the refugee go in the morning, no doubt the group will move off anyway, and he can try and find his "tribe".

I haven't got to stress points yet.

How did you determine that only Sarges backpack was missing, with the NVG. Some sort of random roll?

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

How did you determine that only Sarges backpack was missing, with the NVG. Some sort of random roll?

Yes. I assigned each party member and then rolled a d8 to determine whose pack was stolen. The NVGs were part of Sarge's starting equipment (included in the Operator archetype starting kit list). All of his rations and 1 of his canteens were in the lost pack as well.

-

[Raellus]

July 20, 2000

Pole Position rolls to the western edge of the woods. There's a small village about a klick to the southwest, across farm fields. The approaches slowly, cautiously, observe the settlement from a safe distance. They determine that it is inhabited, but not occupied by enemy forces. Walker and Sarge decide to take a risk and speak with the locals in an effort to get a fix on the unit's position and attempt to trade for some food and fresh water. Contact is made. The party learns that they are in REDACTED, approximately 30km south-southwest of Kalisz. The villagers are a bit standoffish at first, but seem to warm up to the Americans fairly quickly. They let the unit refill its canteens from a hand-pumped well, free of charge, and agree to trade two chickens or one piglet for two AK-74s (the party opts for the chickens). In speaking with the locals, the party learns that there are PolCom troops in the area, reportedly concentrated around Kepno, to the south.

Unbeknownst to the Lost Diamonds, the village elders are in disagreement regarding what to do about their American visitors. Some want to conclude the deal and send the foreign soldiers on their way; others are afraid that if the PolCom or Soviet troops in the area find out that the villagers aided and abetted the enemy, there will be dire consequences for the village (or at least its erstwhile leaders). After some vigorous debate, it's decided to inform nearby Polish troops of the US soldiers' presence; a boy is sent on a bicycle to the nearest patrol base, (a town about 7km to the west) with a message.

Meanwhile, a few of the Red Diamonds have made friends with some of the village children. Randall breaks the ice with some card tricks (using the deck scrounged from the murder-suicide farmhouse). He rewards a young volunteer helper with the broken wristwatch scrounged from the murder-suicide farmstead. The shamefaced recipient sheepishly confesses that his older brother is on his way to tell Polish soldiers that American are in town. Randall immediately shares this intel with Sarge and Cap. Feeling hurt by the villager's duplicity, the unit mounts up and rolls out of town, heading east-southeast (although they intend to make for some woods to the south).

The rest of the morning is spent the same way as the previous one was- driving around on unpaved country roads, trying to keep a generally southeasterly bearing.


Ref's Notes:
This encounter was generated using tables in the Ref's Manual. Pulled card for settlement. Then pulled card for its problem: "divided". Decided that meant the inhabitants didn't know what to do with a party of Americans. Some wanted friendly relations, others wanted to turn them in to gov't forces. Pulled another card (Oracle) and it was black. The elders decide to inform the Polish army.
-

[Raellus]

A tremendous explosion rocks Pole Position. Vasquez is slammed face-first into the open port-side air guard hatch and falls, dazed, into the troop compartment. Instead of following SOP and continuing to drive through what is likely a kill zone, Grease brakes hard, freezing up from the shock of the blast; Honeybear (in the gunners cupola) also seem stunned. Dust and smoke fill the air.


Ref's Notes:
This Death from Below, from the random encounter deck. The shaped-charge IED fails to penetrate the SKOT's armor. What?!? Yeah, the IED is damage 4 and the SKOT's side armor is 4. No penetration. I roll the hit location die and consult the non-penetration damage table. The result is ricochet. So, basically, everyone riding exposed must roll CUF (2/4 succeed). I roll blast damage B and only one PC is injured (2 points damage). The SKOT isn't damaged at all. Thanks rules? I start the clock on the marauder force, They'll be arriving in 5 minutes.


“Dismount!” Sarge yells. Those that can, do. Deacon stays behind to attend to Vasquez.

Lying the shallow drainage ditch at the side of the road, the Diamonds face outwards, squinting as they try to pierce through the haze, searching for their attackers. Seconds pass. Aside from the ringing in their ears, it’s quiet. No incoming fire, no movement. The dust settles.

“Landmine?” Cap asks.

Sarge glances back at the APC. There’s a large scorch mark on the right rear quarter, but none of the wheels appear damaged, not even a flat tire. There’s no crater in the road either, just a smoldering bare patch just off the right shoulder, grass and other ground cover blasted away.

“Directional mine, maybe. Or IED,” Sarge answers.

A couple of minutes pass. No attack materializes. Having regained his composure, Grease inspects Pole Position for damage. He can't quite believe it, but the Polish-made PC appears to have escaped relatively unscathed. As for its human passengers, miraculously, aside from a few bumps and bruises, everyone is okay. Vasquez got the worst of it- a bloody nose and bruised ribs, but she can still fight, if need be.

“Somethin’s comin’!” Bird says, urgency clear in his tone.

Sure enough, looking up the road, the Diamonds see a slab-nosed truck, a heavy machine gun on a tall AA pintle mount poking up from behind the crew cab. It’s maybe 100m away and closing fast. Gear heads would recognize the vehicle as a GAZ-66 4x, or the Polish knock off.


Ref’s Notes:
The encounter card says PCx2 in a pickup truck technical. The pickup truck only seats a total of 6, though [did the designers assume PC parties of 3?], so I upgraded their ride to a GAZ-66 (13 passengers; leaving 3 marauders behind at their base). The marauders fail their recon role, so they assume they are approaching a soft-killed AFV and proceed with incaution.


There’s no time to discuss the next course of action. Sarge shouts, “Honeybear, hit it!”

Pole Position’s A gunner brings the vehicle’s DShK to bear and opens fire. The big gun hammers out rounds; tracers streak away and disappear into the truck’s crew cab and engine compartment. The GAZ drifts to its right (the party’s left) and crashes to a halt in the shallow drainage ditch. The rest of the Diamonds open fire, pumping rounds downrange. The unarmored truck stops very few of these and casualties quickly mount.


Ref’s Notes:
I learned that I don't want the PCs to ride in an unarmored vehicle. The GAZ is rated at armor 1 (all sides). The DShK does 4 damage. I rolled all six ammo dice. Long story short, with 22 rounds, HB kills the commander and driver and damages the engine. I roll deviation dice and determine that the out of control GAZ swerves (not sharply) right and stops abruptly in the ditch. I rule that all passengers take falling damage (the minimum possible, so 1) as inertia throws them violently forward in the truck bed. The PCs emerge from the lee of the SKOT and pour rapid fire (3-6 ammo dice) into the crashed GAZ. In short order, two passengers in the bed, including the HMG gunner, are killed (one of them slowly, after his arm is blown off). Vasquez misses 10m long with a 40mm HE round. In v2.2, this would still do some damage. In 4e, it does not- the latter is probably the more realistic outcome. As the OPFOR continue to fail CUF rolls (caused by close calls or stress from seeing their buddies killed in front of them), or spend slow actions to un-ass the crippled GAZ, the PCs continue to blast away. The engine block is pulverized by another long burst of HMG fire. Small arms rounds blow out tires and puncture the fuel tank (but the leaking meth doesn't ignite, per the rules). Another passenger cowering in the bed is killed.


Bird and Vasquez set up over-watch on the front and rear of the truck, respectively. The Diamonds pause to reload and come up with a tactical plan to finish the enemy. Sarge swaps weapons with Cap (his M16A2 for her M4 carbine), collars Randle, and pulls Honeybear off the SKOT's HMG (replacing him with Grease), thus forming a 3-man assault team. The plan is simple, but not without risk: cross the road, advance to within hand grenade range, and assault the covered side of the truck. With the others providing covering fire, the assault team sprints across the road into the drainage ditch. Lying in wait, Bird and Vasquez both shoot and kill marauder riflemen that appear at either end of the GAZ. The assault team starts to advance along the ditch towards the GAZ. The high volume and accuracy of covering fire, and the geometry of truck, ditch, and opposing forces, conspire to keep the assault team largely out of the enemy’s line of sight for most of the advance.


Ref’s Notes:
At this point in the firefight, I'm kind of struggling with what the six surviving marauders would do. I'm not even sure what I would do if I was in their shoes, tactically speaking. They’re pinned down and taking casualties every round. Almost all of the survivors have failed at least one CUF roll. I remember to use the Oracle. I draw a red 6 (mild boon). What does that mean? I decide that it means that some of the marauders try to retreat. I roll a d6: two is the result. Two marauders pull a runner. After playing with Google maps, any retreating OPFOR would have maybe a 10m lane where the PCs wouldn't have LOS, but then I thought about the HMG on the SKOT. It's elevated about 2m off the ground and the flatbed GAZ is in a ditch, so I decided it's likely the SKOT gunner would be able to see over the truck once any runners were 20-30m removed. I ruled that the runners’ upper bodies would be visible starting at 100m (SKOT and GAZ are 80m apart).


From his elevated perch in Pole Position’s gunner’s cupola, Grease spots two figures running away from the fight. They’re trying to use the truck to screen their flight, but at about 120m, their upper bodies are unmasked. The team driver/mechanic takes aim and squeezes the trigger. Tracers reach out towards the runners. Both targets are knocked down and out of sight by the long burst. Grease is about 90% sure he hit them.

Ref's Notes:
Grease engaged at about 120m (short range for the DShK is 150m) and rolled multiple hits. Hit location was arms for both and, since they only had 3HP each and the DShK does 4 dam (Crits!), they were both killed.


The three-man assault team closes to within 30m of the crippled GAZ. PR and Sarge prep hand grenades, while Honeybear covers them with his MAG. The Diamonds' throws are dead-on. Both frags explode close-in on the sheltered side of the truck. Honeybear swings out wide left and drops prone behind his gun while Sarge and PR rush forward to follow up the grenade attack. There's no one left to finish (in sight). Four bodies lie in various contorted positions along the starboard side of the ravaged Gaz.

Only the interior of the truck bed and the space behind the tailgate are not visible.

“Tell them to surrender,” Sarge pants.

“Poddać się! To twoja ostatnia szansa! Wyjdź z podniesionymi rękami!”

After a pregnant pause, two men emerge from behind the tailgate, hands raised, eyes filled with terror. The firefight is over.


Ref’s Notes:
I learned that hand grenades are more deadly than 40mm grenades. PR rollis a D12 and a D6, Sarge just a D6. Both hit! Roll the 2 d8s for Blast C. Half the dice hit. That's 4 damage, enough to kill both the marauders near the nose of the GAZ.

The results of the combat were great. None of the PCs were injured (after the IED). The victory did cost a lot of ammo (56 rounds of 12.7mm, alone) but the party will be able to recover 200 rounds from the unfired enemy DShK, 1/4 tank of meth, and a bunch of AKMs (with one reload each). Next up, interrogating the two prisoners...

-