[IC] Super Mercs

[Michael Thayne]

Mission Briefing

There’s a new arms dealing syndicate operating in Eastern Europe. There doesn’t seem to be any hope of ordinary law enforcement doing anything about it. These guys are generous with the bribes, and they’re also reputed to be willing to shoot anyone--meaning anyone--who tries to interfere with their operations.

The powers that be don’t want to roll in the tanks just yet. That’s where you guys come in. Tomorrow afternoon, a small caravan of trucks carrying a shipment of weapons is expected to come down a mostly unused road. One of the leaders of the ring, known only as The Hand, is supposed to be overseeing the shipment personally.

Your mission is to make sure the shipment never arrives. If you can bring in the smugglers alive and the goods intact, it would be a plus, but the primary objective is to send a message that things won’t be so easy for the syndicate anymore.

The road cuts through some rugged, forested terrain, and if you do this quickly you probably be able to pull it off without any civilians getting in the way. It should be all in a days work for you guys.

What's your plan?

[Totem]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

The road cuts through some rugged, forested terrain, and if you do this quickly you probably be able to pull it off without any civilians getting in the way. It should be all in a days work for you guys.

What's your plan?

Starting questions:

1. We know roughly what kind of terrain it is. Do we have maps, and what kind of rolls would we need to make to find the best spots? Toni in particular is thinking of good-vantage sniper positions (which I'm guessing is Cartography-15 and some combination of Strategy-13, Tactics-13, Gun (Rifle), or Forward Observer-14).
2. Expected weather (obviously Toni can change it if necessary, but it never hurts to make use of the real thing when possible).
3. How far in advance will we be able to get there? Is there, for instance, any point in aiming to set up traps in the area, or will we be reaching it just in time to jump on them?
4. Any precautions we should take? Should we, for instance, have added points in Hazmat for bio/chemical weapons? Or should I not give the GM ideas?
5. Toni is going to be aiming to avoid killing civilians (she has standards), but it's possible that some of the others might not mind so much. Again with the rolls, how easily can we avoid civilians?

Toni's plan will be to find a valley of some kind and set up an ambush there. Some kind of mini-avalanche to block the caravan in would be handy (Explosives (Demolitions-14)), along with a good place to snipe from. She would then provide long-range cover as everyone else keeps closer. Further use of stun/ gas grenades in the walls of the valley on remote control would likewise be welcome to thin the numbers. Keeping everyone at a distance from the action, keeping the caravan penned into a killing zone, and presenting some fallback options (still to be decided).

Other thoughts?

[ErhnamDJ]

It really depends a lot on the terrain. If this is in the city, it could be as easy as waiting at a stop sign for the truck to stop, then jacking them. Or Jamal could hop down onto the top of their truck from an overpass.

Our characters know each other, right? We're aware of each others' abilities?

Jamal has Streetwise at 17, and he gets a hefty reaction bonus against shady characters. It would probably be easiest to have him infiltrate the enemy organization.

[sheldrine]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

Mission Briefing

There’s a new arms dealing syndicate operating in Eastern Europe. There doesn’t seem to be any hope of ordinary law enforcement doing anything about it. These guys are generous with the bribes, and they’re also reputed to be willing to shoot anyone--meaning anyone--who tries to interfere with their operations.

The powers that be don’t want to roll in the tanks just yet. That’s where you guys come in. Tomorrow afternoon, a small caravan of trucks carrying a shipment of weapons is expected to come down a mostly unused road. One of the leaders of the ring, known only as The Hand, is supposed to be overseeing the shipment personally.

Your mission is to make sure the shipment never arrives. If you can bring in the smugglers alive and the goods intact, it would be a plus, but the primary objective is to send a message that things won’t be so easy for the syndicate anymore.

The road cuts through some rugged, forested terrain, and if you do this quickly you probably be able to pull it off without any civilians getting in the way. It should be all in a days work for you guys.

What's your plan?

Myrmidon's take is to find a chokepoint in the road that doesn't allow for off-roading of any sort, use a roadside explosive to disable the lead vehicle, an RPG or similar weapon to disable the trailing vehicle.

With the rest of the convoy trapped, inflict what damage we can from a distance (whether through firearms or thrown vehicles). Then break them with an attack from the left and right sides of the convoy. Anti-personnel devices could be pre-installed at the location of the trap, or Myrmidon could acquire tear gas (or something similar but more lethal, if desired). Chances are they are not travelling with gas-masks in the cabs of their convoy...

This would be his plan in the middle of a city or deserted countryside -- the only exception is what causes the trap (buildings or trees). He doesn't much care right now about collateral damage. That being said, he will present the idea but otherwise remain uninvolved -- if every chooses another plan he doesn't care enough to argue.

[Totem]

Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ

It really depends a lot on the terrain. If this is in the city, it could be as easy as waiting at a stop sign for the truck to stop, then jacking them.

Jamal has Streetwise at 17, and he gets a hefty reaction bonus against shady characters. It would probably be easiest to have him infiltrate the enemy organization.

For "valley" and so forth read as appropriate for urban work; Toni is better at non-urban for medium- or long-term (Survival and Tracking rather than Streetwise), but for single missions like this she's perfectly fine. Current plans are basically the same anyway.

Onto my previous questions though: do we know how many trucks and people there will be, and what kind of firepower we'll be up against?

Further developments once we know the kind of terrain I think.

[Hannes665]

Flint will stand ready to dash out some damage either with his fists or if possible his M60 modified MG.

He will stand back a little let the other start the contact but as soon as it´s on he will take part. Also he will keep alert for any "surprises" like meta human´s guarding the convoy.

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Totem

Starting questions:

1. We know roughly what kind of terrain it is. Do we have maps, and what kind of rolls would we need to make to find the best spots? Toni in particular is thinking of good-vantage sniper positions (which I'm guessing is Cartography-15 and some combination of Strategy-13, Tactics-13, Gun (Rifle), or Forward Observer-14).
2. Expected weather (obviously Toni can change it if necessary, but it never hurts to make use of the real thing when possible).
3. How far in advance will we be able to get there? Is there, for instance, any point in aiming to set up traps in the area, or will we be reaching it just in time to jump on them?
4. Any precautions we should take? Should we, for instance, have added points in Hazmat for bio/chemical weapons? Or should I not give the GM ideas?
5. Toni is going to be aiming to avoid killing civilians (she has standards), but it's possible that some of the others might not mind so much. Again with the rolls, how easily can we avoid civilians?

Toni's plan will be to find a valley of some kind and set up an ambush there. Some kind of mini-avalanche to block the caravan in would be handy (Explosives (Demolitions-14)), along with a good place to snipe from. She would then provide long-range cover as everyone else keeps closer. Further use of stun/ gas grenades in the walls of the valley on remote control would likewise be welcome to thin the numbers. Keeping everyone at a distance from the action, keeping the caravan penned into a killing zone, and presenting some fallback options (still to be decided).

Other thoughts?

There's more than enough vegetation for camouflage to be effective, and the area is hilly enough that you can pick a spot where you could attack from higher ground on both sides. As far as Toni can tell, though, explosives are unlikely to trigger an avalanche anywhere along the route (the hills aren't that steep.)

You have about a day to prepare.

I won't comment directly on whether you should have put points in Hazmat, but these guys aren't known for such things.

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ

It really depends a lot on the terrain. If this is in the city, it could be as easy as waiting at a stop sign for the truck to stop, then jacking them. Or Jamal could hop down onto the top of their truck from an overpass.

Our characters know each other, right? We're aware of each others' abilities?

Jamal has Streetwise at 17, and he gets a hefty reaction bonus against shady characters. It would probably be easiest to have him infiltrate the enemy organization.

Terrain is wilderness, hills/forest, as mentioned above. Your characters know each other and are aware of each others' abilities. Jamal would almost certainly have no trouble making contact with some members of the organization, but any infiltration would have to happen quickly!

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Totem

For "valley" and so forth read as appropriate for urban work; Toni is better at non-urban for medium- or long-term (Survival and Tracking rather than Streetwise), but for single missions like this she's perfectly fine. Current plans are basically the same anyway.

Onto my previous questions though: do we know how many trucks and people there will be, and what kind of firepower we'll be up against?

Further developments once we know the kind of terrain I think.

Half a dozen trucks, several times that many people. These guys regularly use sub machine guns, and may have heavier stuff as part of the cargo.

[Hannes665]

How about L shape ambush would be best then? Front and left side (drivers side).