Please Stand By

Well, the adventures of Blake’s Raiders has been interrupted by real life.

Actually, writing these blog posts has actually accomplished the goal I set for myself - to improve my skills as a GM.

I was originally planned to be running a “one shot” T2K game at my Friendly Local Game Shop (FLGS) as part of their “RPG Demo” days.  The game was going based on the material I have written for this blog.

I had originally planned on running the game on March 21st.I had been busy with preparations until now.  I will resume posts as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading.

Monday, Monday

“Blake’s Raiders”
The “Village” of Lake Cormorant, Mississippi

Monday, 15 July, 2030

[Editor's Note - It turns out, there is a LOT of action today, so this is a LONG post]

Mondays were apparently going to suck during this mission, too, unless HQ got better at responding to my Sunday morning reports...

We were back up at 0500 to deal with the antenna.  I could have waited until 0530 (I wanted the extra sleep), but I also didn’t want to start any bad habits.  Lots of things can go wrong when you are working in the pre-dawn hours, especially when you are working with something like lowering a radio antenna in the semi-dark.  When you try to rush things, especially in poor visibility, you are just setting yourself up for failure, and setting your troops up for injury (or worse).  Everybody knew it, but nobody liked it, not even me.  But, as my first Sergeant taught me, way back when I was a nugget, “A bitching Soldier is a happy Soldier”.  (When your troops QUIT complaining is when you're in BIG trouble...)

Miracle of miracles, HQ had a message for us at 0500.  By 0515, the top two stages of the antenna were back down, the lookout rotated, and everyone but the lookout and I were eating breakfast.

We had covered all the windows in the garage and we had covered all the HumVee’s windows to boot (I had made a “blackout” kit for my HumVee way back when the 197th was  conducting ‘security and disaster relief’ missions close to Fort Benning) so while the rest of the platoon (sans lookout) was chowing down, I was sitting in what I called my “sales office”.

Our orders were understandable, but somewhat contradictory.  We were to secure the rail-capable truck we had encountered (check); establish a position in control of the railroad crossing (check); and scout south along the railroad tracks to "...ascertain, the location, size, composition, and intent of the non-compliant forces (i.e. marauders) encountered."  How my five people were supposed to simultaneously control the railroad crossing whilst also scouting for the "...location, size,..." etc. etc. of a marauder group was NOT in my orders.

At least the 197th was sending units south to “provide security to existing authority in the area’, meaning the Glover-Mid-South Militia, or GMSM that we had encountered just a couple of days ago.  Unfortunately, no one at HQ saw fit to tell me the "...size, composition, and intent..." of the forces they were sending, nor did they provide a time of departure, much less an ETA.  Sierra Squared, Delta Squared.

I spent some time thinking about what we could (and couldn't) do.  Clearly, we weren't going to get any fuel distilled today...

The platoon knew the shit was about to hit the fan when I radioed the code for SPEC McCarthy, who was on roving lookout, to come back to camp, even before I left the HumVee to eat breakfast.  While we waited for McCarthy to work his way back to the camp, I let the rest of the platoon know were were moving out, and to start gathering stuff up, leaving the antenna for last, and that we would tackle it as a group.

Fortunately, it didn't take long to police the camp and get everyone's personal gear packed away, since I had enforced loose gear discipline the whole time we were encamped at Memphis.  Next, I set the SGTs and SPEC McCarthy to packing up the 3rd and 2nd stages of the antenna, since they were already down.  SSGT Ruiz and I sat down to hash out some of the details of my plans...

SSGT Ruiz felt certain that three people could deal with getting the antenna's first stage down and stowed, as well as the other departure-related tasks, like hooking up the trailer - I was NOT going to leave it behind and unguarded, even just for a day or two, if at all possible.

Once the 2nd and 3rd stage antenna parts were packed up, I sent the SGTs to saddle up and begin a mounted patrol.  First, they were to pick up the traps they set out on Friday, except for the ones at the railroad crossing itself (which I made damn sure everyone understood where they were).  Then, I wanted them to scout south, keeping an eye (from a safe distance) on the rail line and looking for any signs of an approaching marauder group.  I wanted them to scout at least 5 klicks south quickly.  Once they accomplished that, I want them to continue south at a more deliberate pace.  I had them take two days of MREs with them, along with two days of grain for the horses and other necessities for an overnight patrol.  I also issued them one of our two M72 LAWs, in case the marauder group had serious firepower...

With my scouts on their way, the rest of us finished preparations to move out.  Hooking the trailer up went quickly, and by the time that was finished, it was light enough for us to see, and take the first stage of the antenna down safely.  Once it was down, SSGT Ruiz and I did a last walk-through of the house and the area to make sure nothing important was being left behind, and, just as importantly, that we weren't leaving clues to our unit's size, composition, etc. behind that someone could gain intelligence value from...

During the campaign against the Texian Legion, SSGT Ruiz and I found a house that one of their platoons had occupied.  They had used one room as a barracks, and there was a neat row of cleared rectangles in the dust of the room, showing exactly how many troops had slept there.  They had been careful to not let us see how big their platoon was in action, but with this evidence, I was able to get the 197th HQ to release some reserve troops, and the next time we encountered them, we were able to outflank them and defeat them.  In a similar way, I hoped to gain intelligence against this group of marauders, and use it to defeat them as well.

It was only a few minutes drive back to the railroad crossing, of course.  Having executed an ambush from the west side of the tracks, I decided the best course of action was to set up on the east side this time.  SSGT Ruiz and I had selected a small, run-down, but still intact house trailer about a hundred meters due south of the point where the railroad tracks cross the road.  It's screened from the tracks by trees to the south, but is clear to the west.

The blue spot shows the location of the first ambush.  The yellow spot is where we set up the HumVee today

The first order of business was to unhook and secure the cargo trailer to one of the trees behind the house trailer I had chosen as our temporary HQ.  Then we backed the HumVee partway into the trees, making sure the MK19 had a clear field of fire to the west, but we also had a clear path ahead to make a fast getaway if needed.  Then, SPEC McCarthy and I walked up to where we had parked the marauder’s truck.  Fixing the system that switches between road and rail took about an hour (AVG:MECH (90), roll 41), then SPEC McCarthy drove the truck behind the house trailer, parking it alongside our trailer.

[The group in the HumVee encounters the units sent down by the 197th (Roll of 5 on "Road" - Military Convoy).]

[It is approximately 20 Km from the group’s former cantonment at the Geeter School campus on the outskirts of Memphis to this railroad crossing, so the group from the 197th is able to reach the railroad crossing during the first period of travel.]

About then, we heard from our scouts that it was clear at least five clicks to the south, so I had SSGT Ruiz and SPEC McCarthy take turns at gunner and lookout. I decided to use the time before lunch to make some nominal plans for the next stage of our patrol.  Naturally, just about the time I was making real progress, I got interrupted by a radio call from the group that the 197th sent down, saying that they were approaching our position and requesting that I come up to meet them...  

I guess we'll have friendly company for lunch.

--------

Mounted Scouts Report

"SGT Rodriguez and I had only scouted south of Lake Cormorant a couple of clicks when we ran into a large pack of feral dogs.  I didn't want to immediately resort to gunfire, so I thought I would use a couple of our CS grenades to turn the pack away from us, and hopefully away from Captain Blake's position as well."


[Just as they start scouting south, the two SGTs encounter a large pack of feral dogs ("clear", roll of 12).  Number appearing is 3D6, total roll of 14.  Attack chance is 60%, roll of 26, so the dogs attempt to attack.  Range is 1D10 x 300m, roll of 4, so 1.2Km.  I judge that the wind is blowing from the scouts down toward the dogs (hence the long range of the encounter).  As the dogs approach closely, the scouts deploy CS grenades in an attempt to "discourage" the dog pack without resorting to gunfire...  SGT Whitehead attempts to throw two CS grenades (TW:50, average difficulty.  Roll - 100 (seriously))  Second throw - 22, success.  I judge a 20% chance that the dogs will break off the attack, based on one successful grenade throw.  Roll of 13, so the second CS grenade was enough to deter the pack.]

[Where did the first grenade go?  A roll of 7 on the thrown weapon scatter diagram = short, so the first CS grenade fell short enough to impact the two SGTs and their horses...]

[Per the rules, there is a one-turn delay before the CS gas cloud is generated by the grenade.]

When she hears SGT Whitehead yell, "Oh Shit!", SGT Rodriguez realizes the first CS grenade has slipped out of SGT Whitehead's hand as she prepared to throw it, and it has fallen just a few meters away...  SGT Rodriguez had been looking at the approaching dog pack, and despite her skill, she just isn't able to pull her horse away in time...

[AVG:EQ (75), roll 82]

[Both SGTs now roll against AVG:EQ (75) to avoid panic.  Their rolls are 50 and 30, so they both successfully avoid panic.  Both roll against AVG:EQ to guide their horses upwind of the CS and succeed, rolling 73 and 51.  They also need to roll against AVG:EQ to avoid their horses being impacted by the brief exposure to CS.  Rolls are 39 and 62, so both succeed.  Finally, they have to roll against their own CON to avoid themselves being incapacitated for an hour or so.  SGT Whitehead rolls a 24 and passes, but SGT Rodriguez rolls a 70 and fails (just barely).  So, they will lose an hour of scouting time while SGT Rodriguez recovers, and they are both at fatigue level 1, so all their skills will be reduced by five (per Player's manual page 12) until they have a chance to rest and recover, which probably won't be until they get back to their own camp]


"As the Robert Burn's quote goes, 'The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley.'  But, in the end, we turned the dogs away without a shot fired.”

"We managed to scout what I felt was a good five clicks south of the railroad crossing, and I radioed into Captain Blake that all was clear this far, then we continued south at a brisk pace."

[Having lost an hour recovering from the effects of the CS gas, the scouts have made it 15 kilometers south of the railroad crossing by lunch.]

[I decided that the marauders that the group encountered at Lake Cormorant had their main camp 20 Km plus 1d4 x 2 x d10 Km south of Lake Cormorant.  Roll was 2 on the d4; roll of 4d10 is 28, so the camp is 48 klicks south.  The scouting group in the truck was supposed to scout one day's travel ahead (two periods, or 40 klicks).  The driver would drop off the four troops, and drive back to the main group to report in, as this group lacks working radios.  They would have already arrived at the Lake Cormorant railroad crossing, but stopped to discuss their options, having lost the element of surprise, and not knowing anything about the forces ahead of them...]

[The next question is, exactly how big IS this group, and conversely, what forces did the 197th send down to oppose them?]

--------------------------

[Based on the U.S. Army Vehicle Guide and Howling Wilderness, the 197th is already being tasked to expand their control beyond the city of Memphis (the reason for this unit's mission), so the 197th will push significant forces south to both shore up friendly forces and meet this first (but far from last) major marauder incursion...]

197th combat force:
1xM2A3 Bradley (2 crew (Veteran Driver, Elite Gunner) + 5 troops (2 Experienced, 2 Veteran, 1 Elite)
1x M113 APC (2 crew (1 Experienced, 1 Veteran) + 5 troops (1 Experienced, 1 Veteran, 3 Elite)
1x M113 APC (2 crew (2 Experienced) + 5 troops (2 Experienced, 3 Veteran)
1x5-ton truck (2 crew (2 Experienced) + 5 troops (2 Experienced, 3 Veteran)
1x5-ton truck (2 crew (2 Experienced) + 5 troops (2 Experienced, 1 Veteran, 2 Elite)
1xHumvee (1 crew (Veteran) + 3 troops (1 Experienced, 2 Veteran)
1xHumvee (1 crew (Experienced) + 3 troops (2 Experienced, 1 Elite)

[197th support / work team (All with Novice combat skills)
1x5-ton tanker with still on trailer (2 crew, Experienced)
1x 2 1/2-ton truck (2 crew +5 workers, Experienced)
1x 2 1/2-ton truck (2 crew +5 workers, Experienced)


[The 197th combat force is basically 35 men, which is 7 base units of marauders.  I roll 7d6 for the marauders, coming up with one ‘leg’ unit, four horse mounted units and two vehicles. The resulting 2d6 rolls for vehicles are 5 (5-ton truck with a small still) and an 11 (APC) - M2 Bradley (wear value 4).  The marauders get three rolls for special weapons.  The rolls are 3, 3 and 11, for a trio of M252 81mm mortars.  These mortars, and their ammunition are carried in the truck, and the 'leg' infantry, along with the truck crew, are both the mortar crews, the still operators, and the guard force.  There are also the three survivors of the scouting group that have been integrated into the forces attached to the Bradley and the truck...]

----------------------

During the morning period, the scouts travel 15 klicks south, while the marauders travel 10 klicks north.  (The marauders are moving slowly both out of caution and to keep their fatigue levels down.  If they had marched at the full 20km/period rate, they would be at fatigue level 1.). When they stop for lunch, the two groups are 23 Km apart...

After lunch, the scouts resume working south.  Two hours into the period (the scouts having traveled 10 klicks south, and the marauders having traveled about 5 klicks north (putting the two groups only 8 Km apart), the scouts have an encounter.  [Roll of 9 on clear, so ‘Armed’.  Given how close the two groups are, I judge a 25% chance that the encounter is with one of the marauder’s mounted units.  Roll is 20, so they, in fact, encounter the marauder's northernmost mounted scouting group...]

[Initial range is 1d10 x 300m, roll of 5 for 1500 meters.  AVG:RCN, SGT Rodriguez (RCN:75 - 5 for fatigue) rolls a 93 for a failure, SGT Whitehead (RCN:50 - 5 for fatigue) rolls an 18 for success.  The marauders roll a 98 (AVG:RCN:60) for an even more abysmal failure than SGT Rodriguez!] 

[Because they were tasked to locate the marauders (and figure out their strength and armament), the scouts disengage and report the contact.  (They are also under standing orders not to engage groups much larger than them, and there are five mounted marauders, all well armed, even if this would be an ideal ambush situation...)]

[The scouts roll AVG:RCN to spot and avoid the next group of mounted marauder scouts, and roll 59 (SGT Rodriguez (70)) and 18 (SGT Whitehead(45)) against the marauder's 63, again succeeding easily.  (Despite her lower skill, SGT Whitehead is having an outstanding day spotting! (and should probably be given an extra skill point in RCN at the end of the encounter...]

[Finally, they have to roll AVG:RCN to spot the main group (-5 for the vehicle and -10 for the number of troops, +2 for their number), and succeed again, rolling a net of 45 and 31 respectively.  In return the marauders need to roll against DIF:RCN:60, plus a net of +13 to their roll. Their final roll of 71 is another abysmal failure.]

SGT's Rodriguez and Whitehead accurately scout the main group of marauders, their primary vehicle, their route, and their rate of advance, and pull back to safely report the same to Captain Blake.  They are instructed to remain to the western flank of the main body of marauders.  They are to try to determine any leaders, but to only engage after the 197th takes the marauders under fire tomorrow.

The marauders continue to move north at a measured pace, moving another 20 klicks north before establishing a camp, using both the afternoon and evening periods to travel and camping just before night falls at 9:14 p.m.  

[The marauders have a DIF:RCN:60 to spot the scouts during the evening, and roll a 95 BEFORE modifiers, for a complete failure.]

----------

"Evening Report - My cavalry scouts successfully located the approaching marauders and were able to evade the marauder's own mounted scouting force, which numbers approximately 20 men on horseback, all with modern arms.  The group is centered around a former Army National Guard M2 Bradley and a 5-ton truck with an additional 15 men or so.  While capturing the Bradley would be ideal, we have sufficient vehicle stocks to make its capture optional.

Fortunately, the total group seems to be of approximately equal strength to the fighting force the 197th sent south, with most of the marauders on horseback, and divided into four groups that operate separately as they scout forward on each flank of their advance.  As such, we should be able to defeat the marauder's cavalry by placing two strong units to each flank of our position and initiating the engagement from cover.  By attacking the marauders while they are on the move, we should be able to defeat them before they can get their mortars in action, since they were only observed to set the mortars up in the evening, once they established a camp site for the night.

It turns out that the gunner of one of the M113s had a grandfather that served in Vietnam with my grandfather (small world).  She grew up with stories of how they mounted a recoilless rifle on their M113 and used it to good effect against the Viet Cong.  When supplies of modern support weapons like the AT-4 started to run out during the campaign against the Texian Legion, she convinced her CO to “acquire” one from a museum and was able to return it to service and even start making rounds for it...  I had heard about it through the grapevine, but I had never seen it.

Another Sunday in Lake Cormorant

“Blake’s Raiders”
The “Village” of Lake Cormorant, Mississippi

Sunday, 14 July, 2030

Clearly, Sunday’s were going to suck during this mission...

Per my mission orders, 197th HQ wanted me to raise my big-ass VHF antenna, radio in my report, and get my antenna back down, all before sunrise, which was at 6:57 a.m. this time of year.  Well, of course, I wanted that big-ass antenna down before sunrise.  I sure as heck didn’t want any marauders to see a radio antenna sticking up in the air and think, ‘Hey, there’s somebody with modern communications technology.  I bet they got other good stuff to steal if we kill ‘em…”  I was one of the people who pushed to get land lines strung (and buried) between every outpost, to cut out radio traffic as much as possible, once we were permanently encamped around Memphis.  Even encrypted radio traffic makes "noise" that can be noticed.  More than one marauder group underestimated the firepower we had because they never heard any radio traffic from us...

So, we all got up at 0400.  None of us drank what passed for coffee these days, so we turned to in the relatively cool darkness and started getting the antenna set up.  (Funny how 76 degrees and 90+ humidity doesn’t feel all that cool, but we’ve mostly gotten used to it by now - at least being away from the river meant that there were FEWER mosquitoes... but I digress…)  

Raising the antenna was pretty straightforward, especially with the prep work we had done yesterday afternoon.  The first stage went up easily, we set the lower guy wires and made sure they were securely anchored.  Then, we raised the second stage, and anchored the mid-stage guy wires.  This close, I could have probably made contact with just the second stage raised, but I didn’t want to start any bad habits, so we raised the third stage and anchored those guy wires.  Finally, I pulled out my compass and turned the antenna in the right direction.  Then we waited.  At 0450, I turned the radio on to listen for the carrier signal that was supposed to be transmitted by the 197th HQ for 5 minutes every 15 minutes between 0500 and 0630.

Maybe I was lucky, or maybe I was good, but at 0458, I got a 5x5 carrier signal.  

(Frankly, I’d rather be lucky than good…)

I sent my report by encrypted microburst at 0502, received an acknowledgement, and then shut everything down to save battery power.  At 0512, I powered the receiver back up and waited until 0517.  Nothing, but no surprise.  At 0527, the same result.  When I got no response at 0542, I started to get irritated and decided that if I didn’t get any questions at 0600, I was going to go ahead and pull the antenna down so we could get some rest…

Wouldn’t you know, HQ finally transmitted a message at 0600.  Well, at least it meant we could stay put for at least the day.  The antenna came down a lot faster than it went up, even if we left the first stage in place (it was below the tree line).  I made sure the lookout was rotated and ordered everyone else back to sleep, letting them know we were going to stand down for at least today. We all needed the rest after the firefight yesterday, and we would need to run the still on Tuesday anyway...

After a catnap, I pulled my laptop out and decrypted the message from HQ.

As expected, their questions were mostly asking for details that I didn’t have, and couldn’t get.  Like, ‘Did the marauders you encountered at Norfolk Landing travel upstream or downstream after the encounter with your scouting element?’.  

“Per your OPORD, my scouting element withdrew in the face of a superior force.  Even though armed allied forces were promptly organized, the marauders withdrew before observation posts could be established in the face of an alert and organized foe.”

The second group of marauders apparently created the most confusion.  There were four orders in the message queue.  The second contradicted the first, the third contradicted the second, etc., etc., etc. ad nauseum.  In other words, SNAFU.  Apparently, part of 197th HQ wanted to acquire the railroad/highway truck we captured, while other parts just wanted the tracks blown up to prevent their use by the marauders.  Ultimately, we were ordered to stand by for additional instruction tomorrow, which suited me just fine…

[Encounter Roll, woods - 7 - Game, so no encounter of the encamped group]

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, allow us to catch up on rest and maintenance of equipment and vehicles.  

With the sun fully setting at 1940, we set to raising the antenna back up.  I caught the 1954 carrier signal, and sent my response back.  HQ acknowledged receipt with a, "Got it.  Stand by".  Every 15 minutes, we stood by for a response until 2100, per orders.  Nothing.  At least we got to eat while we were waiting on HQ to get off their fifth point of contact...

Since we could leave the antenna up overnight, I had the rest of the company stand down, and stood watch myself until midnight.  I planned to stay encamped here for at least one more day, to allow the still to finish ‘cooking’, but I also knew that no plan survives first contact with reality...

[When I created the marauders in the previous encounter, I already had it in my mind that they were advance scouts of a larger group moving up from the south.  The supplement Howling Wilderness establishes that by March of 2031 (in my timeline) the 197th will be responsible for security within 100Km of the Mississippi River.  I take that to mean a 100Km arc around Memphis, but not crossing the river.  If you look on a map, this arc stretches south from Memphis to Clarksdale, MS, then east to Batesville, MS on I-55 (hence the need for this mission - other groups are scouting other parts of the area).  From there, the 197th area of responsibility will run east to Oxford, MS, north to Holly Springs, MS, northeast to Bolivar, TN and back west to Whiteville, TN on US-64, north to Willis, MS on I-40, then back west/northwest to Dyersburg and the I-155 river bridge, an important river crossing.]

[Howling Wilderness also says that “refugees and marauders from the south and southeast will soon put increasing pressure on the division [my emphasis].”  I take this to mean that long before March, 2031, there will be a steady flow of refugees and marauders moving north into this area...]

[So, the questions remain, how big is this group of marauders, how far away are they, and what kind of equipment, especially military vehicles and weapons (if any) do they have...?]

[Finally, what are the 197ths final orders going to be...]

[Tune in next week for another installment of...”As the World Burns”]

Moving On Down the Highway

“Blake’s Raiders”

Norfolk Landing, Mississippi

Saturday, 13 July, 2030

“Movin' me down the highway
Rollin' me down the highway
Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by”
Song - I Got a Name, Jim Croce, Album Lost Time in a Bottle, 1973

Based on our mounted patrols over the last several days, we know that there are no farms with living occupants in the area south of the Norfolk landing at least as far south as the “village” of Lake Cormorant.  My scouts and I have checked the “village” out via binocular.  Before the Twilight War, it was only a few houses clustered around the Post Office, a church, some grain storage silos and a few other businesses where two small roads crossed at the railroad tracks.  Most of the buildings have been burned since the Twilight War and we haven’t seen any sign of occupation in the remaining structures, but we still approach cautiously.

As expected, the few buildings left standing were vacant, having clearly been stripped of useful salvage long before we arrived, but they still had to be checked.  The grain silos were, of course, empty, but appeared to mostly be in good condition and were even connected to a nearby solar farm, apparently to power the grain dryers.  The solar farm was screened from the grain silos by a stand of trees, so it has gone unnoticed before now, but the engineer in me spotted the buried power lines that led AWAY from the pre-war overhead utility lines.  If an agreement can be reached with the GMSM, it would certainly be worth establishing a garrison here to put the grain storage back in operation.  If not, the solar array will need to be disassembled and moved closer to Memphis.

I finally ordered a halt to the effort at 11:00, after several hours of effort with no other worthwhile results.  The brick building that had once been “Robertson’s General Merchandise” at least still had a roof, so we backed the HumVee into the empty shell to fix lunch before heading further east.

SSGT Ruiz volunteered to stand lookout while we ate.  No sooner had we settled down to eat the last of yesterday’s fish, than SSGT Ruiz called out that a vehicle was coming up the railroad tracks from the south.

[Encounter roll, road - 7 - Armed; This is considered ‘Other’ Territory; Roll 5, marauders; second roll 5, marauders in vehicles; vehicle roll 7, 2 ½ ton truck with still; special weapon roll 8, LAW AT rocket]

[The 2 ½ ton truck is a former Union Pacific maintenance truck with both highway tires and rail wheels.  The marauders have been using the railroad capacity to sneak up on victims]

[Initial range is 1d10 x 300 meters - roll - 2 - 600 meters - this is where the tracks curve around some woods; Group detection of marauders is ESY:RCN (40) - roll - 24 - success; Marauder detection of group is DIF:RCN (70) - roll - 98 (failure); second roll - 92 - catastrophic failure - the marauder “lookout” has fallen asleep]

SSGT Ruiz passed on that she recognized the driver and the sleeping lookout as members of a group of marauders that we had encountered before, so we prepared to attack them without warning when they came within range.

[DIF:RCN (40) - roll - 13 - success - SSGT Ruiz recognizes the marauders]

[AVG:RCN (40) - roll - 90 - failure - SSGT Ruiz fails to spot anyone else in the vehicle]

[The truck is moving at 25 meters per turn, but begins slowing as it approaches the nearby railroad crossing, giving the group plenty of time to prepare.]

As the truck pulled even with the southern corner of our position, we opened fire.

The view of “Robertson’s General Merchandise”, just outside the “village” of Lake Cormorant at about the point where the ambush was executed

(The grain silos mentioned earlier in the report are in the far background, center)

[Veteran NPC #1 is the Driver; Experienced NPC #2 is the sleeping lookout]

Elite NPC
Hits:  25; AC-10 (torso), AC-10 (head)
Coolness: 1
CRM: 60 (to hit 36/18/4)
CAR-15 SMG [ROF: 4;  DMG: 1; Range: 30 meters; 5 magazines (10 ea)]
M-72 LAW [ROF: 1; DMG x15C; Range: 100 meters]

Veteran #1 (driver)
Hits:  17; AC-10 (torso), AC-10 (head)
Coolness: 2
CRM: 50
M-16 [ROF: 4; DMG: 2; Range: 50 meters; 5 magazines (10 ea)]

Veteran #2
Hits: 10; AC-10 (torso), AC-10 (head)
Coolness: 1
CRM: 50
M-16 [ROF: 4; DMG: 2; Range: 50 meters; 5 magazines (10 ea)]

Experienced #1
Hits: 20; AC-8 (torso), AC-6 (head)
Coolness: 3
CRM: 40
M-16 [ROF: 4; DMG: 2; Range: 50 meters; 2 magazines (10 ea)]

Experienced #2 (lookout)
Hits: 29; AC-8 (torso), AC-6 (head)
Coolness: 2
CRM: 40
M-249 [ROF: 4; DMG: 2; Range: 50 meters; 3 belts (50)]

The truck is moving less than 30 meters per turn, range is 35 meters.  

Captain Blake and SGT Whitehead target the lookout; SPEC McCarthy and SSGT Ruiz shoot at the driver; SGT Rodriguez, one of the company’s designated snipers, holds her fire and will shoot mop up if anyone misses or an unexpected target presents itself.  Everyone is taken an aimed shot with an M-16, followed by three regular shots.

First Combat Round

Captain Blake (lookout) - Roll of 29, 48, 74, 100 (94) - Hit, Miss, Miss, Miss (jammed weapon); (right leg, so miss)

SPEC McCarthy (driver) - Roll of 25, 14, 69, 04 - Hit, Hit, Miss, Hit; (left leg - 24 damage; right leg, so miss; head - 46 minus 10 for the helmet, 36 damage - driver is dead)

SSGT Ruiz (driver) - Roll of 25, 74, 66, 60 - Hit, Miss, Miss, Miss; (right arm, so miss)

SGT Whitehead (lookout) - Roll of 75, 15, 79, 60 - Hit (aimed shot), Hit, Miss, Miss (left leg - 20, left leg - 31; lookout is seriously wounded and unconscious)

[I judge a 25% chance that the driver falls such that the truck continues forward - roll 64, so the truck lurches to a stop]

Second Combat Round

[The elite NPC (coolness 1) decides to bail out of the truck to the side away from the PCs.  SGT Rodriguez, who also has coolness 1 can shoot at her as she does so..]

SGT Rodriguez - 93 (96) misses the Elite NPC and now has a jammed weapon

Captain Blake - spends the round clearing his jammed weapon

Veteran #2 (coolness 1) also bails out of the truck to the side away from the PCs

Experienced NPC #1 (coolness 3) decides to bail out to the back of the truck.

SPEC McCarthy (coolness 3) has a shot - 91 (97) weapon jams

SSGT Ruiz and SGT Whitehead don’t have shots at any of the marauders who bailed out

Third Combat Round

The marauders have a choice to make.  They’ve been ambushed and suffered 40% casualties.  But, most of their gear is still in the truck (except what they grabbed as they bailed out) and they all three escaped the truck unharmed and were only shot at sporadically in the process.  I judge there’s about a ⅓ chance they will decide to bug out and about a ⅓ chance they will try to bluff their way out, with the final ⅓ being a decision to shoot it out with the PCs.

Roll is 16 - the marauders decide to bug out.

The elite marauder spends a round giving her orders.  The PCs are clearing their jammed weapons (SGT Rodriguez and SPEC McCarthy), reloading (Capt Blake), or keeping watch (SSGT Ruiz and SGT Whitehead)

I judge a 50/50 chance any of the three surviving marauders have a smoke grenade on them - rolll - 45, so yes.  Same for any other grenades - roll 65, so no (a thermite grenade would make quick work of the truck, leaving nothing for the group to recover…)

The marauders loft their smoke grenade over the truck.  TW (50): 05.  It lands perfectly positioned between the truck and the PCs.

Seeing the grenade come over the truck, Captain Blake, now reloaded and watching, calls out “grenade” and everyone ducks and covers.  So much for the PCs action this round…

With the distinctive “pop” of a smoke grenade, the PCs quickly return to their spots.  White smoke begins blanketing the area between the PCs and the truck.  Captain Blake spends a round to consider the situation, since there is no fire from the marauders.  He decides to stay put and orders everyone to stay alert, but stay put.

The marauders quickly reboard their truck and begin preparing to bug out.  They stuff the little loose gear into their packs, grab the LAW, and the weapons and ammo of their dead and wounded comrades.  Seeing how badly the PCs rounds have mangled the lookout’s left leg, the leader says a quick prayer, closes the lookout’s eyes, and puts a pistol round in his temple, then they take off to the SE, toward what’s left of a small metal building on the other side of the tracks.

Based on the thrown grenade roll, I judge that the marauders are able to run off without being spotted by the PCs.  They make it to a small house trailer about 100 meters from the PCs position, stop briefly to redistribute weapons, ammo and other gear, and then start working their way south, back to their camp.

——-

After the smoke fades away, Captain Blake details the company to patrol in two-person teams to see if they can figure out where the other marauders went, and if they are going to be a threat.

The team’s quickly figure out (AVG:RCN (50), roll 16) the direction the marauders went.  SGT Rodriguez (RCN: 75) then figures out (AVG:RCN, roll 54) where they stopped and that they headed south.

Captain Blake has SGT Rodriguez set up a couple of the company’s claymores in the area of the house trailer, in case the marauders come back, but then has the teams return to finish their interrupted lunch.

———-

After lunch, Captain Blake has the group investigate the abandoned truck.

They remove the dead body of the driver, clean up the cab and quickly figure out how the operate the truck and shift between road and railroad operation.

The driver’s helmet is useless, but he was wearing a Kevlar vest and his shirt and blue jeans, MOLLE gear, and steel-toe construction boots are at least serviceable.

The lookout’s steel helmet is serviceable, as is his lighter, civilian-made, bullet-proof vest.  His shirt is serviceable, but his pants are, of course, destroyed.

Out of all of their magazines, the marauders scavenged all but three (1d4 x 2) as they retreated.

————

[There is a short rail spur that runs from the main line up near the grain silos.  I judge that the group decides to save time, so they disable the system that allows the truck to switch between rail and road modes and, leaving the truck in "rail" mode, drive the truck up to the end of the rail spur, put the switch back to the main rail line, and then disable the switch by removing the pins that hold the control handle in place, putting the pins and the handle in one of their storage bins. (CVE: ESY - 75)]

After pulling our booby traps up, we leave the “village” of Lake Cormorant behind, at least temporarily, as we scout east toward I-55 on Star Landing Road.  Stopping to check the school reveals that even the school buildings had been thoroughly scavenged.  It would be nice to find some textbooks.  Most e-book readers were destroyed by the EMP effects of the Twilight War, and all the schoolbooks in the Memphis area were burned during the siege, by residents or marauders, desperate to stay warm.  I don’t blame them in the least, but books of any kind are high on everyone’s most wanted list, and schoolbooks for the kids are at the very top...

[Encounter roll, road - 9 - Armed; This is considered ‘Other’ Territory; Roll 2, hunters]

Just as we finished up at the school, we encountered a small hunting/wood gathering party.  After assuring them that we were, in fact, still part of the U.S. Army, they admitted to being part of a larger group of refugees camped in the woods and along the shores of the small lakes nearby.  One useful point of information was that there was a limestone quarry just to the west of the Lake Cormorant High School which wasn’t on many maps (it certainly wasn’t on ours).  Rubble from existing buildings is fine for many construction purposes, but there are times when an civil engineer / architect like me wants good clean limestone.  Producing cement is just one example.  Lots of uses for new cement these days.  The forest surrounding the quarry creates a security problem, but there are lots of ways a civil engineer can use lumber, too and a forest makes a great place to put booby traps…

In exchange for the information, I let the hunters know about the marauders using the railroads.  Since the group doesn't range west of the school, they don't believe the marauders will be a threat, but promise to send word via the GMSM of any marauder activity or other threats.  I provide them a box of .22 long rifle ammo.  The leading hunter stammers an apology that they don't have anything of value to trade, but he assures us we are welcome to camp with them any time.

Having scouted this far to the east and having encountered a (hopefully) helpful civilian group on our eastern flank, I decide to return to the "village" of Lake Cormorant and find a place to set up camp, since I need to radio my report back to HQ first thing in the morning, and we have now encountered two groups of marauders, both of which are still 'on the loose' as it were.

I decide to set up camp about half a klick east of the railroad crossing.  As we moved east, we had checked out a large house that was, of course, stripped of anything of value, but it did have a garage.  The water in the nearby creek seemed reasonably clean, and our water filters should take care of anything harmful.  A smaller house just to west had burned at some point, or I would have used it...  Still, the large house had a garage big enough for the HumVee, and a grassy area that the horses could use as forage.

I figured out a good place to set up the radio antenna where the horses wouldn't accidentally knock it over in the middle of the night.  I sent SGTs Rodriguez and Whitehead to set up some booby traps back at the railroad crossing, and at a couple of places to the west and south of the camp.  SSGT Ruiz, SPEC McCarthy and I worked on setting the antenna foundation and laying out and anchoring all the guy wires for the three stages of the antenna, then we started cooking dinner, finishing just after the scouts returned to report a successful and uneventful mission of setting traps.

After a hot meal, I detailed overnight lookouts and started writing my weekly report, including answers to questions that I expected HQ to ask...

If it's Friday, We Must be Fishing

“Blake’s Raiders”

Norfolk Landing, Mississippi

Wednesday, 10 July - Friday 12 July, 2030

Wednesday - An uneventful, if humid, night dawned with thick clouds and a light drizzle that did little to reduce the temperature or the humidity.  A GMSM work crew showed up about mid-morning to begin preparing a site near the Norfolk landing boat ramp for a small outpost.  Their LT said that the plan was to extend the GMSM land-line, hand-cranked telephone system to the boat landing, to allow faster response if (when) marauders show up at the landing.  One part of the outpost will be a small solar-powered water treatment system, because getting good quality clean water is a problem for them.  Obviously, this kind of valuable equipment will have to be well protected, and a lookout tower, guard shack and guard’s quarters will be built first.

They’re also planning to put in a latrine to produce what is delicately known as “night soil”, a term from pre-industrial times that has returned to common usage.  We’ve even been provided buckets for collecting the horse manure.  SPEC McCarthy will be thrilled to hear this when he gets back from checking the trot lines and doing the morning fishing.

[Four trotlines, plus one person fishing yields 19Kg of fish, a great day’s catch]

We cleaned and cooked the fish, feeding both ourselves and the GMSM work crew, who were happy to have fresh, hot food to supplement the cold sandwiches they had been provided for lunch.  Otherwise, we spent the day doing routine maintenance, mounted local patrolling along the river bank and the roads to the south, distilling fuel to replace what we had burned, and planning future patrol and travel routes.  I relaxed in the evening by returning to the riverbank and doing some more fishing.  It occurred to me that we, or the GMSM outpost might catch more fish than could be eaten at once, so I started planning out some fish pens to keep them in.  In fact, I got so involved in planning and sketching out the pens that I missed several hits on my rod.  Still, it was a worthwhile evening.

[The HumVee has been driven approximately 24Km, burning 12 liters of ethanol.  Today’s efforts distill 4 liters]

[Encounter roll was a 3 on the clear column, resulting in no encounter]

Thursday 

[Encounter roll was a 5 on the clear column - refugees.]

After breakfast, SPEC McCarthy and I set out building the fish pens that I had planned out the evening before.  It didn’t take long to work up a sweat.  The shade from the trees provided very little break from the sun, and the humidity quickly rose from just bad to downright oppressive.  We took a break and I showed the GMSM LT what we were doing.  She immediately saw the value of it, and said that they would take over the project and finish it once the other outpost construction was completed.

Just before lunch, SGT Whitehead radioed in that she and SGT Rodriguez had encountered a small group of refugees, coming up the levee road from the south.  Per our standard procedures, they had questioned them about where they came from and their background.  Like so many others, this small group had been farming and scavenging until a group of marauders attacked.  They didn’t report any specialized skills, so the GMSM LT had me relay that they needed to turn back and go east at the first intersection they came to.  The SGTs provided them with our standard handout of how to get to the refugee camp on the east side of Memphis and sent them on their way.

SPEC McCarthy and I pull in the catch from the trotlines, a total of 16Kg of fish!  After cooking them for lunch (and again sharing with the GMSM workers and guards), we spend the afternoon and early evening tending to the still, producing another 4 liters.  

As they prepared to head back to their main encampment at the end of the day, the GMSM LT told me that she expects their group to be able to finish the basic construction of their outpost by the end of tomorrow, so I and SSGT Ruiz will take a turn on mounted patrol, while the SGTs and SPEC McCarthy prep the HumVee and trailer to move out first thing Saturday morning.

Friday

[Encounter roll of 9 - derelict vehicle, so judged as no encounter]

After an uneventful day of mounted patrolling, I return to find that, true to their word, the GMSM team has finished the basic construction of their lookout tower, barracks and other supporting buildings, as well as extending their hand-powered telephone network to their new outpost.  I spend some time walking around the outpost with the GMSM LT, who clearly wants to brag to an experienced civil engineer about the work her people have accomplished in such a short amount of time.  I make appropriately appreciative remarks, knowing that, in the long term, the 197th needs to be on good terms with this group.

We have distilled enough ethanol to replace what we have burned so far, and everything but essential equipment has been re-loaded and tied down, so that we can continue with our assigned mission first thing in the morning.

Swing and a Miss

“Blake’s Raiders”

Glover / Norfolk Landing, Mississippi

Wednesday, 10 July, 2030

Getting up in the middle of the night wasn’t easy or fun, even if it was necessary, and even if it was my own idea.  Still, I wanted my two best scouts to be able to ride within a klick or so of the marauder’s camp before they dismounted, and I also needed to give the GMSM foot soldiers time to walk from their cantonment to the marauder’s camp as well, especially the group that had to walk to the north of the campsite before they turn South and attack.

If we had working low-light gear, we would have started the attack in the middle of the night, but, as the saying goes, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.  I’m just glad the GMSM troops knew the area well enough to be willing to walk it in the pre-dawn hours.  At least we had a waxing gibbous moon to provide some light.  No one had to be reminded that the moonlight would help an alert marauder spot us.

We drove the HumVee to within a kilometer of the marauder’s last known position, then stayed put whilst SGTs Rodriguez and Whitehead moved forward, as our two designated snipers.  We were fortunate that our M2010s, with their .300 Winchester Magnum rounds had been around long enough that we had acquired reloading dies before the Twilight War began, and SPEC McCarthy has put extra effort into keeping our sniper rifles in top shape.  His suppressors are nearly as good as the ones from the factory.  If we can get the drop on the marauders, we should be able to wipe them out this time...

Sunrise was at 6:54 (no one follows the old “Daylight Savings Time” anymore).  The plan was for the scouts, if they can spot any sentries, to shoot at 6:45, unless one of the two GMSM squads makes contact earlier (in which case, all bets are off).  Unfortunately for us, and fortunately for the marauders, they had left the area.  My scouts reported no contact and once the sun came up, the GMSM squads moved in.  

The spot had clearly been used as a campsite for some time, but the marauders had only left behind broken pieces of gear, a cold campfire, a few pieces of spent brass and several graves.  One was clearly fresh, which confirmed what my scouts reported from their initial encounter, although I had hoped they had killed more than one marauder…

[I had initially given the marauders a 25% chance of staying and rolled a 21, but after thinking about their situation, I dropped that to a 10% chance, so they left.  The two wounded marauders can’t stand watch without setting back their healing, and during any combat, they would stand a chance of relapsing into unconsciousness, so I just really didn’t see them staying put…. Time will tell if they come back in a week or so…]

After discussing the situation with the GMSM squad leaders, I offered to set up an observation post at the river landing for a few days in case the marauders return.  While not being able to capture the tugboat is a disappointment, the GMSM is happy to have the threat eliminated and will establish a permanent fishing camp at the landing.   Until they can move their equipment and supplies over from their main encampment, we’ll distill some fuel, continue scouting the area and keep looking for salvage.  I sent SPEC McCarthy back with the HumVee to bring the cargo trailer (with its still) up to the landing.

The rest of the day was spent setting up our camp, and firing up the still.  The GMSM provided enough grain for a couple of days distilling.  They also provided some fishing poles.  We hope to catch enough to share.  Since fishing was a major hobby of mine, pre-war, I headed down to the river with SPEC McCarthy, who had fished regularly growing up.

[Foraging table, 1d6 x 1, per person (summer).  4 + 4 Kg]

We caught a total of 8Kg of fish.  Not bad for an afternoon’s work, and we’ll continue fishing while we distill alcohol from the grain we’ve been provided.  Fresh fish will make a great dinner, and we will have some to share.  We also rigged some trot lines for some overnight fishing.

Just before dusk, a small herd of white-tail deer came near our camp.  There were nine total in the herd.  Unfortunately, as soon as SGT Rodriguez started to take aim, they bounded away.  We’ll build a hunting blind / scouting position a few hundred meters from camp in the morning, circumstances permitting.

New Friends

“Blake’s Raiders”

Walls, Mississippi

Tuesday, 9 July, 2030

After spending the evening making plans, unhooking and securing the cargo trailer and generally making the campsite defensible in our hopefully short absence, SPEC McCarthy, the SSGT, and I left camp right after breakfast.  I had SPEC McCarthy drive cautiously, and I had SSGT Ruiz keep the MK-19 covered (but loaded) as we make the short trip from our camp to Glover.

The GMSM’s observation post was manned, observant, and professional when we approached.  After introducing myself, we were told where to park.  The SSGT and I were escorted to meet with Colonel Ferdinand Gerbling, the military “advisor” to (and spouse of) the leader of the GMSM, Melissa Xavier Gerbing.  After a short discussion with Colonel Gerbling (AVG:INT - 46), we agree that the GMSM will provide two platoons of infantry to support my platoon’s attack of the marauders at the Norfolk landing, using our scouts as the initial firepower, and my platoon’s medical supplies for any injuries.  Colonel Gerbling is unwilling to even discuss long-term integration with the 197th (AVG:INT - 72), at least until after the attack on the “Norfolk Pirates”, as he calls them, is successful.

The morning was productively spent planning the attack and even practicing some maneuvers with the GMSM troops.  After lunch, Colonel Gerbling sends a messenger to Walls with my signed orders for the SGTs to prepare to break camp.  After the day’s training is complete, I have SPEC McCarthy drive the HumVee, with two GMSM troopers as lookouts, back to Walls, to pick up the cargo trailer and other supplies, and accompany my mounted troops back to Glover.

They return to Glover, having encountered a group of civilian refugees [Airlords of the Ozarks, pg 30, encounter table roll 6 - civilian, 2d6+3 = 6].  Unfortunately, they have no skills to offer [roll - 97] and Glover needs skilled personnel, not just manual laborers.  The SGTs were at least able to suggest that they continue on to the refugee camps east of Memphis along the Wolf River near Shelby Farms, giving them some hope of a better life in the future.

We spend a short time securing the cargo trailer and our excess equipment.  I trust the GMSM to provide overall security, but I detail SPEC McCarthy and SSGT Ruiz to share the overnight watch while the SGTs get additional rest before the attack begins.