Warglory, trial by fire

[Shirocco]

Players are by admission only. Starting characters are Hands, Fang, Twitch, Skull, Gem, Eyes and Box Top.



Cold. So cold. Cold is nothing new to a dvergr but this place is cold as Skera’s breath. The Chooser of the Slain has been busy the past hours; you are militia, the last desperate survivors of a broken company. The Rada have come and laid waste to this city, your home, and though it’s the dying days of the Great War your lords back home have not yet admitted defeat. It goes on, and the death stalks you in the long twilight of pre-dawn.

Your breath mists and snow falls weakly upon you. Artillery lights the sky, it’s blasts sending long shudders through the earth. Rifle cracks and the chatter of machine guns echo along the many roads. Jordavic is barely a city anymore; it’s a ruined place of battered buildings, smouldering wrecks and hungry dogs. What’s left of your battalion is south along the river, through these old apartments and forgotten slums. The road’s but 20 yards across, abandoned wagon and bullet holed car the only things in it save yourselves, rubbish and a large crater in the road’s middle to your south. Shabby buildings, gapless and gaping lie empty to either side.

Then you hear it. The rumble. That horrid rumble, a diesel engine. You’ve learned to dread the sound – the war engine, the metal bull, the monster of men's making. A Rada tank is coming from the north, bastard daughter of human minds, it will pull onto your street soon. If it gets past you your battalion will be struck by it in the side and it is your job to hold this road… even as you hear it, still a kilometre or more distant, you know you must stop it!


Welcome to Warglory. This is a background mission for rules familiarization by learning the hard way. You face a female heavy tank similar to the British designs of WW1 and a handful of infantry, and must try to stop it with very crude resources.

All characters have a uniform, shoes, a 5 shot bolt-action rifle, some rations and bayonets. Between you there is also a jerry can of fuel, a roll of bandages, a hungry dog, two bottles and some wood. You are in the street described above.

Roll a D6 to see what else you have.

[mainiac]

Twitch had been sitting on the ground, gently rocking forward and backward as he tried to keep warm and keep from thinking about the terrors of the last few days. But at the sound of the distant engine he springs to his feet in a heartbeat. "Is that... a Tank!" he says with a flash of passion. "We gotta get off the street!" Twitch stumbles towards the least run down of the nearby buildings before realizing how apparent their resting spot would be. "Gotta get this stuff off the street!" Grabbing the wood he starts dragging it out of sight.

(d6)[6]

[Shirocco]

Twitch has a mortar's barrel & bipod. If he's really, really lucky someone else has the rest. (another player rolling a 6 required.) I'll assume the wood is off street. The rest is up to you.

[Ridai]

Fang stood silently and nearly motionless and the side of the road, looking down the road when he hears the tank, his head snapping into the direction the noise is coming from. Quickly he helps Twitch get all the stuff from the road, most likely into a hiding place in one of the apartment building alongside the road. Carrying the jerry can he says "Come here." in his deep, gravelly voice to the dog to also get it into a hiding place.

Stopping there for one moment, he looks at the road and all the things they have there. "Gotta stop that thing or the battalion will in quite a pinch. We need a plan. Maybe we could use the jerry can as a makeshift explosive in the crater there when the tank passes through it to destroy its tracks to catch it in an awkward position for its guns. If we make some Molotov cocktails we can scatter and maybe incapacitate some of them for a short time and ignite the jerry can. Then we could catch them by surprise by attacking them from both sides at once. But all of this would have to happen nearly simultaneously to surprise them and maybe we can get on top of that tank somehow and throw another cocktail in there." Fang says this in a very high speed, his ideas heavily influenced by the war tales of his tribe and resourcefulness with what little they have. Despite his calm demeanor, he doesn't want to lose any time and there is also uncertainty in his voice. "Additional ideas?"

(1d6)[1]

[Blockhead]

Hands awoke suddenly from his slumber. He had been trying to get some shut eye for the past few hours, now it looked like he'd see some action before that was allowed to happen. Grabbing his rifle he made his way to the roof of one of the nearby buildings, to get a better view of the surrounding area. "Oh boy..." He said as he noticed a Rada tank and infantry heading his way. Hands looked across the street in the hopes of seeing his squad mates. He noticed Twitch and Fang talking, but couldn't make out the words. He also noticed the street was fairly clear of debris. 'Oh well.' He thought. 'I'll just follow their lead.'

(d6)[1]

[Shirocco]

Knowing tricks

Spoiler

Show

I have no qualms with your characters knowing some anti-tank tactics. The war's been going on for years; you've likely heard things from old soldiers, the cripples from the front, the news and so on. Not to mention desperation's the mother of invention.

Just remember. It's a first world war tank. It has the same limitations, some of which you'll be aware of and others become more obvious when you get a look at it.

Hands and Fang both have entrenching tools. Hand shovels are good for digging and make serviceable melee weapons in a pinch.

[Blockhead]

Hands thought about digging a trench to either provide ground cover, or cause driving hassle for the tank. But then realised that even with Fang as an extra shovel, the pair would make no more than a large hole in the time it would take the tank, provided it continued on the same course with the same speed, to get here. Hands decided to wait on the roof. He tried to signal Fang and Twitch by waving to let them know he was there, but he did it carefully so as not to attract attention from unwanted guests.

[mainiac]

"We can't expect them to sit there while we take potshots, Fang." Twitch gave his own negative assesment as he discretely peered down the street. "Soon as we open fire they're gonna start blowing the buildings to hell. We gotta hit 'em and run. Take down their infantry and the tank'll stop. Maybe we can hit 'em from above..." Twitch looked around to see if his building had a functioning staircase.

[Ridai]

[OOC: Because of being described as a female tank in the opening post, I'll assume we know the tank most likely doesn't have explosive rounds as it's female.]

"No one said that we have to make a final stand here Twitch, but the plan is still viable. If we take them by surprise, they will need a few seconds to react to the situation, seconds we can use to weaken their forces and their morale and maybe cripple the tank. After that we can always retreat into the city, regroup and use hit and run tactics. So, explosives and fire or not?" Aware that there isn't much time he gestures towards Hands to come down to the ground level and looks for a good position in the second or third floor for the ambush, so that he can reach the first floor fast and retreat into the city through the back door.

[mainiac]

"Well, I suppose a flaming can of oil on their roof would ruin anyone's day. Got a rag?" Twitch starts lugging the can upstairs.

[Shirocco]

((Ridai is correct. Being a female it has HMG, not cannon.))

[Ridai]

"We could use small parts of the bandages. We better use that before we start salvaging our clothes in this kind of weather. Should do it for the can and the two bottles. Alternatively, we could dig a hole in the crater, put the can in it, disguise it and ignite it with a cocktail to maybe take out the tracks, after we move the wreck and wagon to the sides of the road so the crater is the easiest way for the tank. Higher risk, maybe higher pay-off, who knows. Should we send the dog into the ensuing chaos or wait until we go for hit-and-run?" Fangs goes to get the bandages and brings them to Twitch.

[Blockhead]

[OOC: Where's everyone else? I don't mind being in a squad of 3 but about 6, 7 of us signed up?]

Hands saw the gesture made by Fang, but mouthed to him: 'I have a plan!' And remained on the roof, out of sight of the road and the tank which was getting closer with every passing second. He took off his backpack and put it down against the low wall, but left the safety on, on his rifle, not wanting it to go off now and give away his position.

[Shirocco]

((Yup, the slackers have yet to post. I will scale the infantry escort to the numbers you have.))

[Blockhead]

[OOC: Really hope we get into combat soon, I have a plan! Sort of...]

Hands was restless, the tank was taking an eternity to make it's way down the street. Maybe it wasn't even heading this way... No, best to keep down for now. Hands began fumbling with a hankerchief he produced from a pocket. It was ripped and stained a variety of colours, but Hands used it more of a 'play-thing' than what it was supposed to be used for.

[Shirocco]

It's worth mentioning that at this stage, nobody has a light.

Due to the uses you have in store for it, i'm rolling a D2 to see whether the jerry can has diesel (1) or petrol (2). (1d2)[1]

[mainiac]

"Hate to tell ya, Fang, but you don't have time for that. Less'n you think you can do that digging while they're shooting at you."

Twitch couldn't exactly make out Hand's intent but figured he had a plan and flashed the thumbs up at him. Then he thrust a bottle into Fang's hand. "Let's fill these up. It's probably best not to use up all the fuel anyway. We might be needing it later."

[mainiac]

It's worth mentioning that at this stage, nobody has a light.

((Sunnuvabitch...

Do rifle rounds at this point in technology contain powder or that cotton-gunpowder stuff they use in modern rounds?))

[Blockhead]

[OOC: I would imagine that any bullet rebounding off a tank would cause a spark. Spark + Fuel = FIAH!]

Hands took a few deep breaths and blew out on his hands, trying to warm them.

[Ridai]

Fangs runs to the top with the bandages and the bottles, rifle slung over the shoulder. He tries to carry some pieces of wood in his free hand. "Guys, we need to warm the diesel somehow or else it will take some time to ignite with an open flame."

At the top Fangs says to Hands, "Maybe we can make a fire the old-fashioned way with this." He points at the wood. "What is your plan?" he asks while keeping low.

[Blockhead]

"Heh, good luck with the fire. As for my plan..." Hands quickly glanced over the wall at the street below. "...I'll need a distraction, then I'll jump onto the roof of the tank and try and wrench the hatch open. I guess I'll try and kill the crew." Hands smiled weakly, it was suicidal, but it just might work.

[Copacetic]

A mound of Rags twitched, and opened it's eyes. Skull snorted, and lifted himself out of his makeshift blankets. A tank. A bleeding tank was coming his way. Well, he could take care of a tank. Skull pattedh is pockets, loocking for something.

Stuff - (1d6)[4]

[Shirocco]

Skull has a hand grenade.

The buildings are 3-4 stories high in most places. The road is 20 yards across. There are windows.

[Blockhead]

[OOC: A hand-grenade? That will definetly be useful in my plan , unless you want to use it for something else. It had imagined the buildings to be one-story, in this case I'll be on the second floor (G floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor wise) hiding behind a wall and looking out through a window.]

[Copacetic]

[OOC: Aww Freaking Yeah. Hand Grenade for the win. You guys focus on killing the infantry. I'm going to git rid of the tank. ]

Skull finds a small, hard lump in his jacket pocket, and with a grin sets off for the top of the nearest building

[Shirocco]

One of the buildings to your south was leveled by artillery days ago. The building opposite is riddled with bullets. This is some 100 meters south of your start position; the street meets a main road 100 meters north of your start position, which is the direction the sound of diesel engine is comming from. Still no sign of it or the infantry.

You only know it's female because of recent scouting by other units. You know it will have infantry because tanks always have infantry around here.

*Edit: Missed Maniac's question. Your cartridges use cordite.

[Copacetic]

Pausing, Skull revalutes his battle plan. Neurons sparking, he grabs the pile of rags he was sleeping in, and moves them off to the side, and with one last glance at the sound of the oncoming, tank hides hmself in them, his rifle in one hand, and the grenade in the other.

[Ipphli]

Eyes

Eyes peers down the road to the north from behind a burned out car. Upon hearing the tank, he glances around towards the others, then back up the road. Figuring it will be a bit before it arrives, he runs over to the building opposite Fang and Twitch. He hunkers down behind some rubble, searching his pockets for a smoke.

(1d6)[5]

[Shirocco]

You don't have a pile of rags.

There may be some if you look around.


*Edit: Eyes has a clip of "K" rounds. These are heavy bullet cartridges intended to pierce tank armour. All you were told is you must be close for them to work and they sometimes break the rifle.

[Copacetic]

Alright Then. Skull looks around for some rags to hide in.