DM Zyren's Heart of Pulp (Inactive)

Game Master Zyrenity

@ Phillip: The whole machine is one large weakness:

- under-armoured
- a cannon impossible to penetrate any other tank's armour from nearly all angles
- insufficient motor
- prone to breakdwons

You can't tell how the Italians will react, most probably they will gather around the tank once they realize their enemy does not possees heavy wepons.

Modification granted

"Oskar is thinking, if I am getting onto roof of tallest building unseen I will provide cover for attack. Keep coward Italians ducked down out of range of bullet through face. Would be better with browning or other machine gun but could work with rifle."

Taking off his slouch hat a moment and running his hand through stringy oily hair "Well the tanks a piece of pish, basically just a howitzer strapped to a set of tracks. Still good enough to put a fair size hole in any of us though. The ticker in it ain't much chop either, so she likely can't take much heavy ground." pursing his lips in thought.

"Oskar taking out their eyes one by one from height is likely our best option, but we need to get rid of the armor. I reckon I've the prescription in my bag, but I'll need to get whites of eyes to the buggers to deliver the dose."

Team one sneaks in (say Phil, Oskar and Gregori), then Team two (Major and Liam) creates a distraction (could be as simple as sending a camel at them).
When they turn to face, Oskar starts shooting, Gregori minces face and I try and take out the tank.
Then when they turn back at us - Major and Liam set upon them and create a ping pong effect when they don't know who to target?

Completely open to other thoughts also.

Are we in a hostage situation Major? Can we trade the professor for the women and children in the village first? Also is it possible WE were set up BY the village? They expected us to come back...and now they have a TANK waiting for us. Ivan thinks there is more to this than meets the eye. An entire kill team with armor SHOWS up only half a day after we left...with no proof?Something seems VERY wrong, but remember Ivan is trained as a police man not a soldier.

I doubt the Italians know about the value of the Professor...and I doubt they wouldn't try to doublecross us...I don't trust them from Rome to Milan...umm, as we say in Germany - whatever. Are you sure you want to do the camel trick again? Has worked out last time, that's for sure, heh.

Your second thought Ivan is a very interesting one. Either they have somehow spotted us when we left the village or someone must have called them, maybe not all villagers are friends of our friend, huh?

Smiling "Oh I wasn't going to rig the camel this time Major.... unless you want me to. Just send him in as a distraction and get some of them wandering into the open. Give us a bit more cover to get into position."

Gregori shakes his head. "Is not making the sense that one. If village not like us why not tell them where we go instead of have parked tank? Gregori is thinkign somehting else here. Soemthign Gregori is not seeing. Still not liking this. Is better to wait for dark. Let fascist get good and tired. We kill him in sleep, drive tank home, no problem."

"Bah, yer all o'er thinkin' thi' thing.
It's nae an ambush since th' Italians 'aven't 'id themselves. An' as fer th' possibility tha 'un o' th' villagers are on th' Italians side...
Ah say we do it like th' Irish wouldae, we find th' one Italian wiv th' ugliest face, pound 'im down, then th' next un' and once everyone is doun, we start lookin' fer facts."

"As fer waitn' fer dark, Ah'd agree to tha idea, if'n the risk tha they'd take th' truck an' leave wiv th' villagers wasn't a possibility."

Ok, we have heard some different opinions, we should start to decide now. I guess waiting for nightfall is a good idea. Once it has become dark, we could try to kill them one by one - gentlemen, how many besides me have brought their silencers along?

Phil is nodding at the sense of waiting till nightfall... they'll have to hope that the trucks don't arrive before they can move in. At the mention of the silencer Phil can't hold in a guffaw, shaking his head as obviously stealth is not his strong suit.

"Can't say I'll be much use if its knives and silent shots in the dark Major. Best I can offer is making for the tank... maybe the Italians are stupid enough to leave her empty at night."

"I am not being much use in the dark. Sniping is needing light or is not really working, also I am not having suppressor, but if that is decision I will manage."

The Major furrows his brows

You're all special forces soldiers, don't tell me, you don't know how to stab a conscript in the dark, mh?

I can kill a man with my handsIvan adds.

Shrugging his shoulders "I know how to stick the pointy end in the other guy Major, but if they wake up I'd prefer to be a bit further from the blast radius, if you get my meaning."

Phil would go down like a wet noodle in a fist-fight.

"Gregori not surprised cowardly fin afraid to get hands dirty. Rather piss pants from behind scope than fight like man. Gregori not care if kill with butt of rifle or fists. End result is same. MAny women say I am best in dark."

Yeah that's cause the women can't see your face that way

Yeah that's cause the women can't see your face that way

Taking the insult in stride Gregori laughs. "So your mother speaks of Gregori? Good to know."

"Ah...we're nae technicly special forces Major, we're more like jes "special" if'n ye catch'n mah drift."

The Major ignores Liam's correction and seems satisfied now

So, we have Gregori, Ivan and me who believe they could sneak into the village. Mr. Hargreaves should accompany us to take out the tank. Liam, you and Oskar you should search for a nice spot to give us cover. Even if you don't see well enough for a clear shot that will enqable us to distract them, ok?

Heh, send in th' brute, th' talker and the 'splosives expert as stealth 'perators, while th' sniper an' that sneak thief get's th' stay back.
Naught can go wrong with tha' plan.

"As ye say then Major.
Shall we go Oskar?"

Heh, more like penal troopers than "Special Forces" us.

In the time that it takes for night to fall Phil busies himself with some demolition preparations. Wanting to make sure that he has the right lockpick for whichever lock presents itself, he works with a couple of blocks of 808 to modify them to suit specific purposes.

Take 20 on Demolitions for 34.
I'd like to have a couple of extra options so I can react quickly in the heat of the moment:
1. Shaped charge to target the tracks. If I can use the same mod as I did for the hip joint on the Mjollnir? - in that I can place and trigger without needing to take splash damage.
2. A smaller charge that could be used to sever the gun barrel at the base.
3. A couple of primer cord squibs that could be used to blow the hinges off any locked hatch cover - meaning I could blast my way into the main cab.
Are those ok Major?

Sound changes - all permitted!

Night comes rather quickly in the desert and the temperature falls significantly as the sun finally disappears. Soon the night is illuminated by hundres of stars and a nearly full moon. The sand looks like a sheet of white linen with tiny dark spots where palms and houses are placed on it.

OK, the time to strike is nigh, from where shall we enter the village?

Assuming that the tank hasn't moved - Phil votes for coming in next to the building at C,9.

And if we can get rid of the lone soldier round the corner Oskar could hopefully climb to the roof of the building in O13 and stealthily replace the guard up there and be able to cover the rest of the assault.

Leading from that, would it be possible to fashion a garrotte from a bit of rope? Seems like the perfect weapon to quietly get rid of soldiers.

Hnh...tha' trinket canae 'old any real power in th' eyes of allied command.
Ah mean, if'n it 'ad, they'd nae send people like us after it, they'd just wanna make sure th' Germans donae get it.
Buh...what if'n they be wrong?

Liam does not offer much during the tactical talk, it goes a little over his head at the moment, new to the whole military buisness that he his.

"Surprise is th' key right? Tha' do as much damage as possible in th' shortest amount o' time possible?"

You can surely try the garotte trick!

Well, the plan looks about as good as it can get. Your suggestion sounds wonderful Mr. Hargreaves. Is everyone ready then? Oh dear, I completely forgot that someone should stay with our captive, Liam, what about you?

Rifle slung across his back and Browning Hi-Power in hand, Phil has a grim look on his face and his everpresent bag of forceful and decisive introductions slung over his shoulder.

Phil would be towards the back of the convoy moving into the village

Gregori moves along with the group eager to shed fascist blood.

Liam frowns a little at being left behind, but eventually he nods.

"Ah guess the good prof might need mah skills wiv a scalpel again soon eough."

Oskar spends a few moments tying two loops into a short length of rope and then tucks it into his belt before slinging his rifle across his shoulders and pulling his curved desert knife. Trying to keep at least a few paces ahead of the rest of the unit so as to be able to alert them to any danger Oskar begins to creep into the village.

Stealth 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
Perception 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Ivan follows. Unarmed.

The Professor grunts as he overhears what Liam just said and turns away.

The Major grins and points at Ivan, Gregori and Phillip and leads you into the village, following Oskar in a distance of about 30m.

Oskar moves up to the hut wall, crouching down to get closer to the cellar window and simply waits for the whispered voice to continue, not wanting to risk giving away his position by speaking.

Keeping his voice as low as possible, Oskar whispers a reply through the window.

"Am Finnish but is all same really. And that is plan, rest of unit just behind Oskar. Now are you having any idea where rest of village being held?"

Phil pauses at a safe distance scanning the houses as Oskar takes a breather against the house.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

"I am knowing this, but we are having sneaking and explosives. Will be fine, do not worry. Is probably best if you are staying in cellar, is going to get very loud soon. Now, you take this and keep hidden, if guard comes in you point at him and pull trigger. Maybe use both hands, has much kick."

Oskar passes his Obrez through the small window and then moves away from the wall and back toward the squad, quickly relaying what Malik had told him about the number of Italians and the villagers being held in the cellars.

Phil listens to Oskar's report, but doesn't have anything to add. He is still clearly keen to press on.

Battle Mat

By now we should make move actions with regard to coordinates.

The Major has nothing to add to Oskar's reasoning, only remarks

What about freeing them? Could cause some chaos, but endangers the villagers.

"Was thinking whole point was to rescue villagers, endangering them redundant no?"

Oskar moves away from the group again and back into the village, making sure to keep low and trying to stick to the deepest bits of shadow.

Move to U9 and as long as no one notices attempt to climb on to the building so as to remove the soldier up there. Do you want me to do a stealth check for each 15 feet or just one for the whole move?

Stealth 1 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17
Stealth 2 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Phil hangs back a few moments to allow the more hands-on members of the group to go first.

Liam glares at the captive.
"Ye best 'ope they pull th' plan off, Ah'm nae carryin' ye back tha th' allies camp on mah own..."

@ Oskar, please do a climb check. The stealth checks are sufficient. Once you made a climb check DC 12, you can attack the Italian on the roof.

As Oskar departs, the Major whispers

You're right. Give us a sign once you're up and on the roof.

The cpative glares at Liam, but he quickly remembers what Gregori said and prefers to stay silent and looks away..

Climb 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Oskar can't seem to find a good starting handhold on the building and takes a few moments to examine the wall, looking for cracks and ledges before trying again.

If the failure didn't alert the guards; Climb 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Finally able to pull himself up onto the roof Oskar takes a second to pull his makeshift garrotte from his belt and then creeps up to the guard.

Stealth 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

Are we using the pathfinder rules for garrottes? I can't find a D20 modern version.

Surely - I guess there are rules for it in one of the Spycraft books, but we will just use pathfinder stats.

I can't get the image to load, can I just get a suggestestion from someone where to go? I figure there's a mess of sentries and a tank in the middle of the sqauare
Ivan looks around, waiting for an order.

Righty ho then, Grapple check preceded by a stealth check I guess.
Stealth 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Grapple 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

Oskar crouches low and moves quickly up behind the guard, rising as he reaches the man and dropping the rope over his head in one quick movement. Crossing his arms, Oskar pulls the rope as tight as possible before the man has time to react and get his hands under it.

The Italian soldier is totally caught by surprise, even the fact that Oskar crunches some kind of sand/stone thing under his boot right before his attack is not enough to warn the man. There is only a short gurgle and weak resistance as you close the garotte around his neck. After a short time of weak struggling, the man slumps down.

Ah wonder if'n th' others are awright? Hou long 'ave Ah been 'ere nau?
Hrrm...jes nerves, calm doun ol' man...

Ivan, if you sneak to the north, there is a lone sentry there on ground level to take out.