Warglory, Liberators

[Mee]

((Grrr, stupid bleeding.))
(1d20)[18] +5

[Shirocco]

((Not a pipe out of Random... dragging for grenade throw.))

Weasel will have put a stop to Pie-eater's bleeding in a few minutes. ((Suzuro, Szilard, Mee - wait out, your characters are busy doing what Mee just rolled for. Will PM when they're free to act again.))


Grenades are in the air. Hooky has an easy one, he pops a cooked grenade around the bend. It goes off a split second later along with the others, it's hard to be sure but Ragdar's throw looked average while Splinter & Negvar were way off. Corporal's on the mark though - Ghost got one in.

Hooky goes straight round after the grenade blasts and slides straight into a foxhole. Hard to be sure if he planned it that way but he's in one, he'll miss out on first shot. Ghost has no such problem but can skip shooting this round to jump in the hole with Hooky instead, Negvar can follow right behind but will miss first shot. If you hit the deck first i won't take a shot off you and you will be harder to hit when they shoot back.

For Ghost and Negvar first shot is D6, the men are initially all moving as they go for cover - surprisingly tricky shot. Following shots will be easier, D4 to hit men in the trench (5) and D6 to hit men who got in a foxhole (1 visible). Grenades took out 5 Houten, you're not sure if those guys are dead or alive but they are down.

For Ragdar not much is possible yet, you're climbing. Splinter is doing the same. You will be able to act further next turn.

[Suzuro]

Gah, I'm sorry I've been gone so long...


Stiff fights through the pain so that he can roll over onto his back. He makes some desperate crawling motions, but realizes he can't move he looks around.

Pie! Mate, how ya holdin' up? C'mon man!


-Suzuro

[RandomLunatic]

Negvar follows Hooky into the foxhole. Then he leans out to fire two short bursts down the trench, catching one soldier full in the chest with the heavy bullets.

(Into foxhole, then shoot at guys in trench.)

Shooting troops in trench (1d4=4, 1d4=1)
Re-roll #2 (1d4=1)

[Paladin5]

Staying low, Ghost leans around the corner and lays suppressive fire on the Houtens with his SMG while the others get into position.

[Shirocco]

((adjusted number in visible in foxholes to one.))

Ghost's covering fire is a lifesaver for Negvar. A man close to you would have shot him, but Ghost gives him something else to think about. Due to the short range and close confines of the trench a lucky hit takes the guy in the stomach and keels him over. The other shots all go down range to little direct effect, but the Houten are forced to the ground. Now some of them lack line of sight to you.

Negvar's opening burst does horrible things to a man's torso, blasting through the shoulders of the prone target. He's dead. Hooky misses, maybe he's jostled by Negvar. He's too put off for an extra shot roll so that's it from Hooky, Negvar takes a 2nd burst but it all lands in corpses. No useful affect.

One Houten has line of sight on Hooky & Negvar in the hole - well kind of, he can see their guns. He takes the shot anyway... and misses. Two have line of sight on Ghost, both shoot rifles at him. One's a total miss, the other clangs into his gutplate and ricochets off.

Ghost's fancy SMG promptly clicks empty. The barrel is steaming, some smoke is rising from the end. It's hot and needs a reload. Changing weapons takes as long as reloading, the choice is Ghost's. Either way he better roll back out of line of sight to do it.

Two more Houten in the Foxholes pop up. One makes a run for it - he's going for help (D3), the other has line of sight to Ghost's position. He and one more Houten in another foxhole take aim where Ghost was and wait. Ghost can easily guess this is happening. Grenade throw would require no roll for guys in trench and can be thrown blind. To get it in a foxhole requires he look what he's doing and risk loseing his head, or roll a D20 to throw it on memory.

Negvar and Hooky only have line of sight to the guys in the trench... if they lean. There's two of them, D4 each.



Ragdar and Spinter are now over the top. The dvergr tanks and APCs of 2nd & 3rd companies are firing on the next trench line. 4th and 5th are approaching from where you started, they will be here in a couple minutes. Smoke and gas obscures beyond that. As to the trench you're attacking, you can see machine gun nests have been taken all over the place. Clouds of dirt rise from grenade blasts, gas continues to pour out all along the trench bathing it in a sickly green, and you can see of the three bunkers in this trench one has been destroyed and the other two are being assaulted by angry dvergr with demolition charges. The ground shakes just slightly as heavy arty shells land a couple miles away, the blasts flashing like lightening.

The thing that really stands out is the dawn - brilliant red on the horizon, the sun spreading it's warmth across the landscape. Stark contrast to your immidiate surroundings, but you don't have time to appreciate that.

Back where you are though, Ragdar can run forward a few paces to get in position and fire straight down into the trench next turn. Awareness check needed while you're at it.

[Benejeseret]

Ah blimey, here it goes, the young lad readies himself and prepares to surprise the Houten from above.

{ Awareness (1d20)[3] plus mods. Should I reroll shots or will you be using the ones from the earlier post? }

[Shirocco]

With Ragdar's attention focussed ahead he doesn't see Splinter hit the deck, nor does he hear the shouted warning over the battle din. Lucky then that when Splinter's gun barks it's on target. A glance over the shoulder and you see a heavy MG nest a hundred meters away - the gun had been taking aim at you. Splinter has shot the gunner.

"Keep moving, i'll cover it!" shouts Splinter to Ragdar. He deploys bipod and shoots another burst at the MG nest.

((It wasn't time to roll yet Bene. D3s may not be appropriate when you get there - depends on what the others do this turn. You will need to roll again when you're in place next turn.))

[Paladin5]

Knowing that it would be unwise to stick his head out around the corner again, Ghost attempts to signal to Nevgar to lay some suppressive fire down before throwing a grenade blind around corner. Still (relatively) safe behind the corner, he then moves reload his SMG.

(d20)[6]

[RandomLunatic]

Negvar looks to Ghost for guidance, since he has a view. Cover fire. Right. "I'm gonna make 'em keep their heads down so ye can blast 'em!" he says to Hooky. Crouching and sticking the LMG around the lip of the foxhole, he fires blindly, gradually moving furthur out to extend the deadly arc, relying on one of the truisms of trench warfare: incoming fire has right-of-way.

(Suppressing fire)

[Shirocco]

Negvar's cover fire keeps the guys in the trench down, heck it rattles the two in foxholes a bit. Unfortunately Hooky is just not up to it right now - he trys for the guy fleeing and misses, is slow on the bolt, and by the time he's ready to shoot again that man is gone. He spends his 2nd shot on a rifleman in the trench, but the fellow is hunkered down to keep out of Negvar's fire - the shot makes a hole in the ground instead.

Negvar's magazine clicks empty. Time to reload.

((I'll be forgiving for Ghost's reload. SMGs are usually pretty quick to reload, so i'll allow the grenade throw in the same turn for now. Negvar's cramped where he is though so he can't do anything but reload, or take another action instead.))

The grenade misses the foxholes and thuds down in front of the trench riflemen. They're hunkered down behind bodies to keep away from Negvar's fire anyway, the blast achieves little. Ghost can now shoot again, the men in the trench are cowering behind now-mangled corpses - you've rattled them. D5 to hit, there are still 2. The two guys in the foxholes remain D6 for Ghost. Hooky will be unable to target those guys.

But that's all ok, because Ragdar just now appears above the Houten. Thanks to tunnel vision they don't notice, despite how obvious he is to Negvar & Hooky. D3 shots, 2 in foxholes you can see. I'll allow you to move forward another step during your shooting for free, which allows you to shoot on the guys in the trench too - or you may want to stay out of their LOS, as they could return fire especially if you don't kill them all in one turn.

[RandomLunatic]

Negvar curses as the magazine chooses a bad time to run empty, as they are wont to do. He reaches for a grenade to keep the Houten busy until he gets back, but sees Ragdar appear, shotgun at the ready, and decides he will do. "Give 'em hell, mate!" he urges Hooky as he ducks into the foxhole to reload. He spares a moment to wonder where Splinter was. Mindful of the surpise th Houten are in for, he quickly scans the small wedge of earth visible to him while reloading.

(Reload)

[Suzuro]

Stiff crawls up, his side still aching something terrible from the wound he took, but, he'd survive, oh, sure, he'd survive.

He tried to get over and take shots at the Housten, but walls up outside their line of fire, waiting for his orders from Ghost.

(Move closer so I can get stuck in later)


-Suzuro

[Paladin5]

Seeing Stiff coming around the corner, Ghost signals for him to form up on the corner. Ghost then leans around the corner - praying to the gods that the Houtens are no longer waiting for him to pop out - and fires two bursts at one of the men in the foxhole before quickly taking cover again.

(d6)[4]
(d6)[5]

[Shirocco]

((We seem to have a misunderstanding of time lapse here. In game time, 24 seconds have passed since Weasel was ordered to bandage Pie & stiff. Stiff is still receiving bandages. Sorry Suz, but just like Szil and Mee you're unable to take action for some time yet. You are still back where you fell, unless you pull yourself to your feet (one round) and disobey Ghost by continuing unbandaged.))

((And Paladin5, you can reroll those shots as your SMG is an automatic. The forum won't let you now so i'll do that for you when Bene has shown up or in 3 hours time, whichever comes first.))

Edit: Connection grief. Maybe Bene will get a chance to post by the time it's sorted.

[Benejeseret]

Ragdar blasts at the two in the foxholes below him, but then hits the dirt and will not advance without cover. His mates have saved his metal-plated arse too many times today already and he likely cannot afford all the ale he owes.

{ (2d3b1)[3], (2d3b1)[3], (2d3b1)[3] }

[Shirocco]

((Hooray! Machine was lagging away when you posted, great timing. heh. Also, Pal's rerolls didn't achieve much - best not to forget 'em though mate.))

Ghost's opening burst is a big high. The man ducks down to try and get clear... pity for him he doesn't see Ragdar. Boom, he's had it. The 2nd guy in the foxholes sees Ragdar but not quick enough. Ghost and Ragdar both shoot him, he's more of a mess than the first guy. Hooky fires on the guys in the trench... the first shot blasts clean through the mangled bodies and kills one of the Houten. 2nd is a total miss. He's too slow on the bolt throw for a 3rd shot.

The last Houten shouts something. Ragdar knows the language. He throws his rifle away and shaking, rises to his knees with hands behind his head. Easy shot (D3) but he looks like he's had enough of fighting.

[Benejeseret]

"He's surrenderin' and beggin' a bit sir!...What should we do with 'em?"

[Paladin5]

After looking around for signs of a trap, Ghost signals for Hooky to advance with him to secure the prisoner while Radgar and Nevgar provide cover.

[Shirocco]

Hooky advances with Ghost, raps the man lightly over the head and points him Negvar's way. The man walks over to Negvar with hands over his head. "Keep an eye on 'im," says Hooky.

There's some blasts and a lot of shouting up ahead, real close - probably around the next bend.

[Shirocco]

((Hell with it, you're only going to advance anyway... lets get to somewhere interesting, and get the wounded back in play))

With the prisoner secure you guys advance and find the men around next bend have already been attacked by another squad - looks like 3rd, same company as you. Half the Houten there surrendered too, and the general din in all directions is dieing down as the 2nd trench line falls apart. It has been overwhelmed - and you guys survived to tell of it.

3rd squad are being lead by another corporal, but he's more junior than Ghost; they have 9 troopers left.

Right about then, smoke shells arrive - en masse. The chlorine gas is still thick in the air but clouds of smoke rapidly form in front of your newly won trench line. Vision is swiftly obscured down to 15-20 meters; a counter attack is guaranteed.

Stiff & Pie will be bandaged and ready in one minute, also freeing up Weasel for other duties. Penalties described earlier still apply, but you won't bleed to death any time soon. In the trench you just reached the prisoners are being held by a handful of troops from 3rd squad - including your prisoner.



Time to hold what you've won. Your trench section is 50 meters across and 7ft deep. 3rd squad can be ordered to stay with you for this, or moved to trench section to your left or right and left to their own devices.

At the left end and just in front of your trench section is an abandoned Houten tank - it's thrown a track, the crew fled minutes ago. The tank won't be going anywhere but the heavy machine guns are still ok, it has one facing forward-right that could sweep across your front. A trained machine gunner could use it, but it's barrel is overheated and needs changing. (Roll D20. Pie has training on HMGs, he gets a +10 bonus on this. Negvar isn't a HMG operator, but skill with LMGs gives him a +5 for this)

In your trench are some Houten trench mortars - including four light mortars and a Blind Pig with 2 shells left (heavy mortar, short range). Each mortar requires two crew to adjust aim and a spotter normally, but you could set them at a specific point and just leave one guy firing it. (D20 for anyone set to useing these)

Hooky has a very shifty idea. He wants to rig up a trip rope at shin height in front of your trench section. Whoever's put on this can roll a D20 for scrounging to find what you need to do it, putting extra people on this reduces the time it'd take.

Good idea to brainstorm, but do it quick. The Houten will be at most 3 minutes away, probably less, and expect light arty fire to arrive shortly (increasing the time and difficulty of these tasks). If you have more ideas, i'll rate their difficulty.

[Mee]

"Finally."
Weasel mutters when he finishes patching up Pie and Stiff.
"Don't do that agin, or I shall hurt you."

Dunno how to put this IC, so I'll do it this way: Weasel asks/tells whoever's in charge that since he's a sniper, he can't do too much in this close combat, so how about if he strings the tightrope while everyone else does what they need to do.
((Do you still want a roll to see if he can find anything for the tightrope?))

[Shirocco]

Splinter grunts. "There's barbed wire not far back. Some wire cutters and we could shift that forward right quick. Don't have to be neat or tidy."

Hooky reluctantly agrees. "Aye, could do that. There's a tank over there too. Reckon that sponson cannon's any good?"

[Mee]

"Yeah, I'll go do that."
He goes to find some wire cutters, if he does, he goes to get it, then string it up.

((Do you need any rolls? I also figure that this will tie him up until they arrive, so he shouldn't be able to do too much more. Right?))

[Shirocco]

((Paladin5 is AFK this weekend. I will be dragging his character.))

Ghost sees Weasel dash off without orders and rolls his eyes.

"Negvar, Splinter, Stiff - help him. Pie, see if that machine gun in the tank will do any good. Hooky, try the closest sponson cannon - see if you can make it useful. Canister shot from that at the right time could stop the first wave."

"Ragdar, i'll help you with the Blind Pig. Want that aimed for fifty meters ahead of us, we're gonna use it when the Houten get here." finished Ghost

Hooky scurries off to the tank with an eager grin. Splinter grumbles under his breath, he hates barbed wire.

Negvar, Stiff and Weasel are trying to move barbed wire. This is a job for Pioneers (Craft: fortifications), but as you're dvergr-trained you have better odds than most. Roll a D20.

Ragdar and Ghost are trying to ready a heavy mortar, with no training. Strength checks, D20, your both dvergr so i'll alter the DC accordingly. The shell you're trying to load is 200kg.

[Mee]

((Oh. Yeah. Waiting for orders might have been a good idea. Bad Weasel.))
Barbed wire roll: (1d20)[10]
((And I don't think he really has too many bonuses, so I'll leave it as none. If he does, let me know, please.))

[RandomLunatic]

Negvar is also not very enthusiastic about the prospect of messing around with barbed wire, but being Dvergr, stifles his complaints and sets about the task efficiently.

Craft(Fortifications) (1d20=18)

[Shirocco]

The barbed wire is a handful. After plenty of cuts, gouges and cursing you soon decide any untangling is futile - instead moving the coiled mess forward. It's quite a business but desperation's a great motivator, you drag the horrible stuff over the ground, the trench, and set it up maybe ten meters from the trench... "set up" in the loosest possible terms. More wedged semi-straight with a few Houten rifles stuck bayonet-first into the ground. It won't last long, but it doesn't have to.

Ghost calls you (except for Pie and Hooky) back to the trench, the enemy won't be far away.

"They'll come thick and fast, lads, so we won't have time for much reloading. Negvar and Splinter, i want you two up the right end at the turn. I've put 3rd squad on our right flank beyond the turn so you shouldn't get any surprises, just make sure one of you is ready to fire at all times - one reloadin' or waitin', the other shooting. Stiff, you're a few feet down from them. Rest of us spread down from there, i want Ragdar at the left end with me."

"For those of us without machine guns there won't be time to reload. Line up your main gun and two others in the trench with you - soon as the first one's empty, grab your second, when that goes grab a third. Trench guns should go first, rifles and whatnot after that. Got that?" says Ghost. He's quite calm and businesslike, and you can tell he's done this before.




We'll call this quick-swapping. Imagine lying prone with lots of attackers, you've scrounged a few guns. You don't have time to reload so you line them up ready to go. Soon as you empty one you just grab another, and keep going as long as you can. Because you'll have these on the ground, leaning next to you or whatever cocked and ready to go, you can change weapon between turns for free. Normally you'd need to draw from holsters or back straps and so on making it impossible, but set up like this it's no problem - as long as you can reach the next weapon without moving.

((Still waiting on Szilard to post Pie's roll. I have an idea for him depending on that roll. The rest of you (excluding Negvar, though he can too really) will need to grab some weapons from the dead to prepare.))

[Benejeseret]

Ragdar strains against the massive mortar getting it and the shell readied. Much more a this and me damn mask'll fog! he curses to himself as he works.

{str (1d20)[14]}

((ooc: also, our most powerful machine guns/autofires should go on the two flanks both turned at acute angles almost toward each other but something like 20 degrees out. Machine guns can catch way more advancing men per burst this way since they are practically shooting "down" the line rather than across it. They do not fire until the line enters the 'killing field' between the two overlapping guns. I watched a documentary about this specifically just the other day. A guy took an old, one of the first, machine guns and setup 200 some balloons in a field and used only as many shots. Straight on sweeps only burst like 20-30 balloons but when he simulated this sharp angled flank he burst ~180 balloons with the 200 rounds.))

[RandomLunatic]

Negvar hikes over to the squad's right flank, picking up a dead Houten's rifle as he goes and affixing the bayonet-just in case. He also grabs as many grenades as he can carry. "When one of us is firing," he explains to Splinter, "The other can throw as long as he ain't reloading. I ain't gonna just sit there with my head up my arse." He spends a few moments selecting a good firing position, then asks Splinter, "Wanna go rock-paper-scissors? Winner shoots first." Then he spends time settling imself into his position, and spends any remaining time in prayer to Nagaard.

((If Splinter does go for RPS, I choose rock.))

((I am starting to think that when Negvar does earn a nickname, grenades will be involved somehow.))

((Bene: That is pretty much what we have. The tank and its guns are holding the left side, and Negvar and Splinter the right. Between the chlorine and the smoke, visibility is so poor that when the Houten do appear, they will be set up for the enfilade fire you describe.))