Game Log Week 32

October 10, Wednesday

Just over a week after the incident with the bandits, the police came round to the fort. They had already taken statements from the locals, who complained that the bunch of crazy people up in the fort were murderers. The police of course had an extensive file on the unusual group that had built the experimental farm / ISO box fort. So the unit that was sent out to investigate was told to be very careful, but polite. There was no doubt that the group would be well armed.

After the EMP event took out the power and most electronic devices, the police had been run ragged trying to keep order. There was not enough time or man power to do everything that needed to be done. Normally the eye witness report of a gunfight resulting in some 10 deaths would have caused a quick response, with support units from the near by city being drawn in. But as things stood the metro Moncton police were in no shape to be helping anyone outside their immediate area.

So the Sackville RCMP sent two of their best men to investigate the case. After passing the drive way road block, the officers spoke with the group’s representatives to get the basic story. Then they drove up to the fort itself to talk with the group, see the battle site, look at the mass grave, and briefly inspect the trucks used by the bandits. Most of the day was spent interviewing individual eye witnesses. As a final issue, the officers recovered the guns used by the bandits, and a small amount of ammo.

The story of self defence vs a gang of armed bandits held up very well; especially after considering the fragmented and contradictory statements of the local boys who were involved in the disastrous attempted raid. The officer on site recommended the case be closed.

Fast forward through October

It was a quiet time of hard work; harvesting the crops and winterizing the buildings. No one came to visit. But a few members of the group ( mostly Ranger Bob and John the activist ) did go out to gather news.

The most dramatic event they learned about was the battle between Sackville and Amherst over the wind power generation farm, which was located right between two towns. The only near by source of electricity, both towns considered it vital to their winter survival. Although sharing was discussed it quickly became clear that neither side was willing to accept a 50/50 split.       

In Sackville the town council had been usurped by a group of university students, who took very proactive steps to deal with the emergency situation, after the regular council had bickered for two weeks and done nothing useful.

Game Mechanics Review

What you should know about; Damage and Injury

In the big gun fight last game, the NPC bandits were killed more quickly than realistic game mechanics would indicate. The assumption was that once their Hit Points reached 0 they would fall unconscious and bleed out in a few minutes, before any help would arrive. This allowed things to go fast, and did not leave the problem of a half dozen wounded enemies incapacitated on the ground.

Realistically here are the rules that would have come into play.

Shock – any loss of HP causes a temporary penalty on your next actions, equal to the amount of HP lost, unless you have the high pain threshold advantage. This is a minor danger, unless you must act the very next turn.

Major Wound – any single injury doing more than half your HP in damage. ( many gunshot wounds will qualify ) You must make a HT role, failure means you’re stunned. 

 

Stunned – You suffer -4 on all defenses, you can do nothing. On your next turn make a HT role to recover. If you fail, you are still stunned. Try again next turn. 

Blow Through – most attacks can only do damage equal to your total HP, the excess damage passes through you. ( a gunshot doing 22 damage to a guy with 12 HP will take him down to 0, not to -10 ) Of course this counts as a major wound. ( big explosions and getting crushed by huge objects will avoid the blow through factor )

Last 3 HP – once you are down to your last 3 HP you are at half move and dodge. Its time to consider retreating, hiding or giving up. 

Less than 0 – you are still alive, but you are hanging on by will power and adrenaline, every few turns you must make a HT role, failure means you fall unconscious. ( some times a Will role may be substituted ) Of course you are at half move and dodge.

Death – when you reach your full negative HP you must make a HT role to avoid death. Most NPCs are dead at this point, but you can drop lower, if you make more HT roles.

How would all this have affected last game’s combat?

People with pistols had a max damage of 12, so it is unlikely they would take down a bandit with 11 HP in one shot, although possible. It is likely they would inflict a major wound with one hit. It would require a minimum of two good hits to bring a bandit down to full negative HP, death. 

As a quick rule most NPCs will pass out at less than 0 HP, thus ending their combat ability. But they would still be alive, slowly bleeding to death most likely.

People with rifles had a max damage between (4d6) 24 to (5d6) 30, so it is very likely any shot would drop a bandit to 0 HP, the excess damage lost to blow through. Aside from being a major wound, this would cause a bandit to make a HT role to stay conscious. Many would fail and be out of the fight. Those who succeed would usually be trying to hide or maybe perform first aid on themselves. Only the very desperate or hard core warriors fight on below 0 HP.

NOTE -

There are other more complicated rules about combat and damage, but we are not going to be using them yet. The above offers a good balance of realism and easy play.  

 

Game Log - Week 31

October 1, Monday

The group is working to get ready for winter. About half the crew is involved in harvesting crops, while a few get the insulation and exterior finish on the main building, another few work on the hovercrafts. One person is always up in a tower on watch. After last week’s events, everyone was taking security more seriously. Most people now carried guns and went about their tasks in pairs.

On this day around mid afternoon, Kirk who was on watch spotted 5 pick up trucks rolling fast into the old farm yard. He sounded the alarm and got the big 50cal rifle. Stone took charge of the main group of farm workers, including Kellyanna, Yvan, Reko and John. They made a dash for the trees and hid there. Farmer Brown and the other workers who were closer to the “fort” started running there. Marko and the hovercraft construction crew grabbed their guns and ran for the fort too. Those inside the fort went around locking doors, and getting ready to fight.

Kirt shot the last truck, killing its engine, as the first truck broke open the gate. The bandits in the last truck were totally surprised, but those in the first truck were so focused they didn’t notice what happened to their comrades.

Over the next minute of intense combat a lot happened. Kirk methodically picked off the trucks, always aiming for the last in line. However he lost track of the middle truck, which took an unexpected turn down the center of the field, chasing after Farmer Brown. It was a shot from Kellyanna, killing the driver, which stopped the truck.

The gunfight between Stone’s group and two trucks full of bandits was nasty but short. All of one truck’s men were cut down in the first volley of fire. With one injured guy spending the rest of the fight cowering. The men from the other truck put up more of a fight, injuring Reko and Kellyanna. 

The lead truck, having made it into the pasture field next to the fort before having its engine blown out; encountered fire from Katerie, and Marko. After quick consideration of the situation, these bandits started their retreat for the wood line, however only one of them escaped.

Meanwhile the men from the truck in the corn field exchanged gun fire with Trielle and Farmer Brown, who were receiving support from the Grunt up in a tower. This fight dragged on with neither side scoring any hits until Katerie brought her hunting rifle into the action. Things quickly went down hill for these bandits as they made a charge instead of a retreat.

The last battle of the day was between Kellyanna and one of the escaping bandits, as she ran after him in the woods. Several shots were exchanged before she finished him off with a pistol round to the head.

As Yvan secured the prisoner, Stone and John went to investigate the first truck that had been hit down by the old farm house. They quickly found that those bandits had run off, mostly when the first volley of gun fire had started. The prisoner proved cooperative, because he was scarred out of his wits. He explained that he and his friends have come for the gold. “Everyone knows that you people are some kind of crazy cult, and if you got enough money to built this fancy fort you gotta have some gold hidden away for dooms day.” He said seriously.

After some debate over the prisoner’s fate, Stone pushes for the ‘let him go’ option. Although Kellyanna very much wanted to kill him, and maybe go after the families of all the bandits too, she allowed herself to go along with the group’s choice. So they sent him walking down the road with a message “We have no gold but we are ready to kill anyone who comes to rob us.”

From the dead bandits were taken 6 shotguns, 6 rifles and 6 pistols, with about two dozen rounds each. Most of the trucks suffered heavy engine damage, having been hit by a 50cal bullet, one truck suffered only light body damage, having its driver killed.

Doc spent some time patching up the wounded, while Marko and Scott dragged the trucks over to a scrap area. Katerie took charge of bodies, looting them, and then getting them ready for the funeral pyre.  

The big question that needs to be dressed next is; What shall the group do about its neighbors? a policy of isolation or one of interaction to build a strong local community.   

Map Review Day

The local area at large. 
The group's camp is marked with the yellow circle.
From it to Sackville ( nearest small town ) is 15km
From it to Amherst ( small town across boarder in next province ) is 25 km
From it to Port Elgin ( a large village on the coast ) is 25 km
From it to Moncton ( the major city in the area ) is 60 km - along the high way
taking the old Dorchester road is about the same distance

The local area in medium detail. 
The group's camp is marked with the yellow circle.
Notice the area near the camp is mostly flat with a lot of rivers, small lakes and marsh land.
Of interest is the wind farm power project at Mount Whatley, between Sackville and Amherst. 

The detailed area map.
It includes the village of Midgic and the group's land; yellow rectangle.
The rail line marked here is an abandoned one. Also there are many dirt trails not marked here.
The group's "fort" sits on some of the highest land around 30m in elevation. With a more or less down hill view of the village about 3 km away (as the crow flies ) of course there are a lot of trees in the way.
From the group's fort to the "center" of Midgic, the old school house, is 5.5 km on main road, or 4.2 km along a dirt back road most of the way.
Next door neighbors along the Brooklyn road are 10 farms.
There are about 50 homes along the Midgic road.

From Midgic to Sackville.
It is a fast drive across the Tantramar Marshes, although in winter it can be dangerous because white-out conditions are common. Basically you have 2.9 km of open road, just above soggy ground level.

The town of Sackville.
A nice quiet old town, the official web page is http://www.sackville.com
Also see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sackville,_New_Brunswick#Demographics
It has a population of about 5,560 plus the 2,600 university students.
Importantly it is home to Mount Allison University, located near the center of town.
For general info see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Allison_University


Interestingly there is the Sackville Relay Stationa, a powerful international short wave radio transmitter just East of town. "Sackville's northern hemisphere transmission targeting capabilities are very similar to the transmission capabilities of Wertachtal Relay Station in Bavaria." 

Game Log - Week 30

September 26, Wednesday;

The group, officially known as ACRO “Atlantic Community Research Organization” had received notification from the deputy finance minister to attend a meeting in Fredericton, in regards to their funding. While most projects were getting cut without any review, as part of the budget downsizing, a few were potentially valuable enough to be investigated.  Key members of the group packed up Yvan’s van and Kellyanna’s truck for the road trip. The presentation went very well.

On the way home an EMP caused by a high altitude nuclear explosion over the Eastern USA hit. ( see notes on effects of EMP ) Most cars on the highway came to a halt, a few crashed. Kellyanna’s former ambulance, having no computerized systems, was able to be restarted. But Yvan’s van being a newish model was out of action. So the group stripped down the van for everything they could use. Stranded motorists nearby watched in puzzlement and poked at their non functioning cell phones.

The group, now tightly stuffed into Kellyanna’s truck, took back roads home to the camp. They wanted to avoid the expected disaster site of the city. A wise choice because the EMP had started many fires, especially at industrial parks, and the fire departments had next to no working trucks. Although taking back roads added several hours to the trip, they arrived safely just before sunset.     

At the camp, people had been trying to repair the generator and take inventory of what had been damaged by the EMP. Although preparations for this event had been made, no one was mentally ready for it.  Spare parts for the electrical system of the diesel fueled generator were safely stored in the basement, but it took several hours to get the power back up. Only then could a full damage assessment be made.

Major Stone advised a heightened level of security and that most of the lights should be left off. He did not seriously expect an attack on the camp right away, but it was better to be safe than dead.

Once the road trip crew was home, a full group meeting was held.

September 27, Thursday

Kateri takes charge of building three gates, and tire traps, to cover the roads into the camp. There is talk of putting up guard posts, but Stone does not think it very practical to spend man power on them. Better to observe the area from the roof top of the main building.  

Marco and Mary spend the day getting a new short wave radio working. Of course there is not much to hear on the radio, aside from scattered amateur operators asking for info about what happened.  

Farmer Brown reminds people that the crops need to be harvested. Although he is all for alternative agriculture, he wants to get the tractor working again, so he and Scott spend most of the day working on it.

September 28, Friday

A recon team, MayLin and Zaka on bicycles, is sent into the nearby town of Sackville. They report that things are quiet and the damage not very serious in town. However on the way home, they are ambushed. Zaka is killed and MayLin injured.

After Doc performs surgery on her, a strike team is sent out looking for the bandits. They find Zaka’s body and one other victim, but the bandits are gone. Ranger Bob predicts they will use the spot again as an ambush site, but it’s hard to know exactly when.