[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

Looking at the map of Galveston... I'd still think real hard about a boat. By your description, though, the only one likely to have any Boating skill is the Spetsnaz guy. Or maybe the OpFor guy, since boating could be a rich man's hobby. Also, it gives you an excuse to bring a narco sub into the picture.

There is clearly not a submarine available, just in case. In any event, the Consortium for which the OpFor work are unlikely to have any submarines. Their smuggling is usually through container ships in California, though actually, the leader of the OpFor does import things through the ports of Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Texas City and other Gulf Coast ports. Not drugs, though, precious metals and they are legally imported (if not, perhaps, mined with all the required licenses).

We shall henceforth refer to the leader of the OpFor as Raul, for that's how he introduced himself to the PCs when he made them an offer he really wishes they hadn't refused. Raul is unlikely to do much boating, at least as an adult, as he has spent most of his life in the Andes mountains, before settling in Dallas seven years ago. Raul owns horses, not a boat. I guess he might have spent some time on a yacht or two on vacation, but that's Dabbler, at best.

To further simplify, we shall call Spetsnaz guy 'Igor'. Not because that's his name, but because that's what one of the two cultists in police custody called him, because he is heavily muscled, Eastern European, taciturn, scarred, ugly and served as a driver, bodyguard, handyman and general dogsbody to a warlock.

Igor's age is uncertain, but as it happens, he is over fifty and fought in Afghanistan. There are suggestions that after Igor's initial service in Soviet Ground Forces Spetsnaz, he was transferred to GRU Spetsnaz service. He was stationed in Irkutsk at some point, as well as other Siberian locations, and seems to have attended arctic operations training, mechanic school and extensive sniper training during his service. He also fought in Chechnya, before apparently retiring around 2010, as part of Russian military reform. So while it is not impossible that Igor has taken a training course involving boats at some point in his life (perhaps on Lake Baikal), his military service has been in very landlocked areas. At moving into position to take down a guerilla leader with a sniper shot in urban areas or getting a truck through difficult arctic or mountain terrain, Igor is a genuine expert, but in water, he is out of his element.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

Is it at all possible for the OpFor to have their getaway cars on Galveston already? Because if so, switching cars a few blocks from the attack seems a lot safer, as long as you can do it away from surveillance cameras.

They have time to place the getaway cars where they like, assuming it's within an hour's drive. The problem with switching cars on Galveston Island is that if they give law enforcement enough time, odds are that every way off the island will be blocked with numerous patrol cars. And every vehicle leaving would most likely be searched.

A paramilitary attack on cops and EMTs is a huge deal. Enough for a massive law enforcement response, once they get organized.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

So... if I were running this scenario, I'd have the OpFor look to ambush the ambulance a little further east, near the 61st St bridge south across Offatts Bayou. Assume the attack is successful.

The problem with ambushing the ambulance later in its trip is that when the OpFor planned their rescue, they could not be sure whether Galveston PD would transport the target by patrol car to the County Jail or by ambulance to the UTMB Texas Department Criminal Justice Hospital. They had to prepare for either. And they also couldn't know if the vehicle with the target would prefer the freeway, merging with the I-45 at some point after the 71st Street, regardless of whether they were headed to the jail or hospital.

Also, even once they knew for certain that the target would be taken in for an MRI and an examination at the UTMB TDCJ Hospital (because an officer told dispatch so over the open radio and the OpFor have a police scanner), there is still a 50/50 chance that the ambulance might turn left on the 71st Street intersection, take Broadway Avenue 'backward' a spell and get onto Harborside Drive much sooner than by driving Broadway Street. After all, Google Maps rates it as a faster route.

All in all, the only way to be certain that the target will be moved past a given ambush point is to choose the one that is set at the first choice between multiple routes.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

They take off southeast - maybe across the 61st Street bridge, maybe toward the downtown and hospital. Any witnesses see this. Police now have to consider two other exits in addition to I-45: by boat, as mentioned, and by the Bluewater Highway that heads southwest. That last is a toll bridge, though. If OpFor is being exceptionally cute, they "accidentally" leave a marina address in one of the attack cars. Transfer cars on the island (could leave them parked anywhere as long as they were careful about surveillance or home security cameras) and then try to leave via I-45. I'd guess about 15 minutes to do so.

The police have to consider a boat, yes, because they don't know that the OpFor don't have access to one. On the other hand, considering how far you'd have to drive along Bluewater Highway to reach any place where there is a realistic choice of routes, it is probably obvious that it is not a practical escape route. Long before anyone could escape that way, there will be law enforcement road blocks on around that road, anywhere you can leave it.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

If you want to get extremely cute, there's also a railroad bridge next to I-45. If that's down, they can try to sneak across there, but it seems more cute than good.

Maybe he splits up, has one of the sicario cars head down the Bluewater, then phones in another anonymous tip, betraying them to buy more time. Seems unlikely to work, though...

From what I can tell, neither is preferable to racing the 5.6 miles over the freeway and then starting the extraction once they are on the mainland, with multiple possible routes. Galveston Island is just too easy to close off to spend any time there once the reaponse starts.