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Twilight 2000

O’Grady’s Irregulers (Motorized Group)

Game Turn Seven

"Things have definately taken a turn for the surreal"-Cpt. John Miller, "

Saving Private Ryan

"Hey guys, this M60 ain't no pig, she's a Sweetheart!...", said Carmine, his boyish face a contrast with his large imposing body. Carmine set up the M60E3 Sweetheart on it's tripod in a left flanking attack for anyone who would follow the group. It had been a hairy one, the past few hours, but Sweetheart had sung like the angel of death that she was, and thus preserved Carmine for yet another evening in wonderful Poland. Carmine was concerned about how low his ammo supply was, and made a mental note to maintain fire discipline. "Shoot it till it's dead, not till it's hamburger", some old fart at Basic had said....
Carmine got set up, but the gun really wouldn't be ready for action until he quickly cleaned her. After all, Sweetheart had been chattering away most of the day, and Carmine would never neglect her. When the CPT came by, Carmine voiced his concerns. "Captain O'Grady, I'm running low on ammo. I shot up half a truckload today. We got thru this one today, but there won't be much for too many more like it. Soon I'll be throwin' rocks. I need some 7.62 belted, in a bad way... Didn't we have a Russkie PK stowed away somewhere? It might not hurt to blow thru their ammo first. Whaddaya think CPT?"
Carmine stood guard during the assigned period first watch. When that was done, he was about ready for some sleep, but first he went to the vehicles, and checked them over for any damage unseen following the battle. It would be a real dumper to find a bullethole in a fuel line or something in the morning. We'd be sitting here, no legs to run with, and a big "shoot me" sign around our necks. As if we aren't already. Any problems found, he will attempt repair. Completing repair will take precedence over sleep. The FSV HMMWV has some fragments from close calls but nothing serious. The Five Ton didn’t have a scratch, and the Water Buffalo one ton tank trailer had a taken a dent or two from ricochets but nothing had penetrated.0500-0800 Carmine saw to nature, drank some water, and got some sleep.0800-0900 Carmine will continue to sleep, to cover for any time spent repairing vehicles. Routine maintenance showed both vehicles need an oil change and some good lubrication but POL products were hard to come by, still time would catch up with them eventually1000-1200. Carmine rises at the crack of midmorning, and goes over fuel situation for the vehicles. Tops beer map looked close enough for government work. Asked the CPT about foraging /scrounging. What the plans were for the day, any routes that they'd be taking. Eat an MRE, drink plenty of water, see
to nature. Will not say anything directly to the CPT about SGT Gondorenko, but will try to "be there" if the man wants to talk, and will offer to help the CPT with anything that needs done. Carmine's non-clinical assessment of how the CPT is holding up, both to the strain of command, and to the loss of his friend? It hurts a lot but the leader doesn’t get the luxury of mourning over a comrade.
Schwartz says to himself, "I certainly is a quiet night. I wonder if the Captain and Snowden have made our travel plans yet? I'll have to ask them when I get back in camp."  Schwartz returned to camp, and checked in with Snowden to find out where the next rally point will be. He'll then sack out
in the front seat of the 5 tonner unless Snowden wants him on the .50 then he'll sleep in the back. Checking to see if there was any ammo left for the .50 he found several new belts broke out of dwindling suppiles. If he's in the front seat with Snow driving, he'll ask him if he could use his HK. Otherwise,
before Schwartz goes to sleep, he'll fill the single mag he has for Szymas' M16 and have it nearby while traveling. Probably a long day being summer and high latitude.

Cpt. O'Grady told Sgt. Snowden to gather the men. When they assembled, he pulled a map from his cargo pocket, and spread it out on the hood of the Humvee. "Alright men, this is the plan. Sgt. Snowden has
already told you when you'll be on watch tonite. At 0600, we'll pull out, and head towards Kluczbork. That will take us through the towns of Ostrzeszow and Kepno. If at all possible, I'd like to bypass both towns.Wilkins, since you lost your mount, I'd like you to ride in the Hummer as our eyes and ears. I'll be driving the 5-ton. Everyone else's places in the convoy will remain the same."He folded the map back up and put it back in his pocket. "Men, I can't stress enough how important it is to avoid an enemy engagement like the one we just had. We lost 3 good people, not to mention a vehicle and most of our ammo. We can't afford too many battles like that. That is why I want to avoid any built up area's. If we can, we'll try for secondary roads around the towns that we encounter.""Everyone of you performed admirably. We took on a vastly superior force, and destroyed them. If I could, I'd put all of you in
for Bronze Star's, at the very least. But even with all of our planning and precautions, we got caught wth our pants down. And the blame for that rests squarely on my shoulders. I should have anticipated the
possibility of a military convoy, and had a contingincy plan in place.""From now on, we stick together. We won't let ourselves get split up again. If we need to get somewhere, we'll all go there together, as a unit.""Everyone who is not on watch, try and get some rest. Be packed up and ready to go at 0600"After he dismissed the men, he crawled into the cab of the 5-ton, and pulled out the PPK and holster that Caswell had given him. She had said that her list of contacts were listed in it somewhere. He
looked for the list. The last three bullets each unscrewed to reveal a small strip of microfilm, and the holster contained a small magnifying lens on one side and snapshot of Caswell and another young women both in Naval Officer’s Uniforms.  He cleaned his M-16 and Beretta, and forced himself to eat an MRE. He got cleaned up, and prepared for his watch.

Bullet One lists a contact in Narvik Norway and gives details of the Soviet Ballistic Missile Submarine Red October with three operational SLBM with MIRV Warheads, she believed to be beached in an isolated Norwegian Fijord with a small  surface navy security naval detachment. This force does not have the knowledge to power up the reactor or remove the warheads. Repeats a additional information already known to the group about launch codes ect...

Bullet Two is in Polish and verifies Caswell is a CIVGOV agent with highest clearance and is authorized unlimited sanctions without referal to higher authority. Lists contacts in Czestochowa, Lodz, and a safehouse in Krakow, it also list a  SF Fuel Dump in the monastary you just left.

Bullet Round Three is in Latin

{OOC: Like it says, O'Grady will want to keep the unit away from any towns to avoid a repeat of the firefight. }

   Snowden approachs the Captain "O'Grady I took a quick inventory and talked to some of the men about the encounter, this ain't textbook but here's my report. Our vehicals have alot of fuel left (see below) I agree we need to think about commandeering some alternate forms of transport eventually though Shwartz is thinking horses. This 5 ton drinks too much gas, we may want to start to move as light as possible. It's summer there's plenty of food in this area, we can live off the land if we have to. Without vehicles though we may not make it to Bremerhaven to go back to the US. I got nothing to go back to so I'm off to get those codes to protect those who do. Few of us can ride horses, personally I hate them, if we run into trouble and have to gallop away, it may look like an old three stooges movie, falling off, real slapstick. But pack horses may be where it's at. We've done alot of marching in the army, it may be time for more. Wilkin's can ride, we steal a horse for him to be our scout and a couple of pack horses for gear. I would like to pick through that convoy we hosed, Shwartz volunteered to go but I told him I'm sure Ivan is coming out, they'll want salvage as much as we do, and they also want us. I don't think we should mess with it. We have plenty of ammo (for small arms) and right now we can move the vehicles quite a ways
FSV has 45 liters left
5 ton has 140
trailer has 500
fill both vehicals
FSV has 90
5 ton has 280
trailer left with 315 left
Due to meth having a 3x consumption that gas does that gets the FSV 1 period of travel 200klicks on 60 off road that gets the 5 ton (larger gas tank, but drinks more gas) 220 klicks on road 50 off that's a 6 hour travel time with the FSV keeping 'slow' with the 5 ton If we divide the remaining fuel up rationally, so the vehicals get equal travel time we get them each about 5 more hours of travel. Aprox 180 klicks on 40 off. So we still have aprox 400 klicks of on road or 100klicks off. 25 mm has 20 rounds of HE left
Carmine has aprox 500 rounds of 7.62 left
Snowden has 8 10 shot and 240 loose 12 ga.
O'Grady has (what carried) -30% usage
Shwartz has (what carried) -30% usage (-10% snipe rifle)
there are 500 5.56 on the truck make sure you guys refill clips
Wilkins has (what carried)-10% snipe rifle
Whitherspoon did not fire rifle (3 clips left)
M2  50 cal  8 belts to start
We have almost 2 months of MRE for 6 people, we need to be saving those for
winter, we need to be doing more foraging for food.
We are okay with ammo right now, have a reasonable amont of gas. Snowden is doing rounds to check the following things: Health, well being of troops, show every one that he is cool so they can see we have confident leadership Make sure everyone reloads and services weapons, gereral count on ammo.Vehicles for hidden damage, gas level, ect...Reload my own clips and service my CAW and the M2  as well as getting after the others to do the same. We are up on adreneline, and everyone awake, even if  I order them to sleep. Whitherspoon seems relaxed so I'll order him to rest while the others 'come down' I'm worried that we will fall asleep collectively when the aderneline wears off. So first period will be Carmine Wilkin's O'Grady up Second period will be Whitherspoon, Snowden, Shwartz. I will try and convince the Capt. to move first thing in the morning.O'GRADY
Snowden to O'Grady "Captain I want to get out of here first light, Shwartz
is antsy as well. As you've seen from my logistics report we have plenty of
fuel to make it to Chestachowa by road. Furthermore we got enough to make
it back here or 200 klicks in another direction.
We post 3 up 3 down watch (assuming it's just after dark/dusk)
2000-2200 weap maint, vehical check, position secure, (come down off
adreneline)
2200-0200 You, Carmine and Wilkin's watch
0200-0600 Shwartz, Whitherspoon and I watch
0600 OUT OF HERE

That gives us 3 sets of eyes with a Sniper in each group. We know that Ivan
may be looking for us and he may be mad enough to pursue us in the dark.

We need to start deciding how to get to Chestachowa. I fought there Carmine
fought there we have a pretty fair idea of the land. Lot's of tac nukes
lots of fighting, it's a mess (see options on travel at bottom of page)

Permission to hand out 30ml (one ounce) hooch to all who would like it. The
Duke of Churchill (Winston's Great Uncle) once said "An army fight's best on
good beer and good beef" We don't have either of those but a shot may be a
good nerve tonic. “SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN TOP!”

As everyone went about camp attending to their duties the topic of conversation turned to firearms for the 1000th time.... {Some might say OOC but interesting and relevant}
The following were trails done at the American Small Arms Acadamy.The ASAA teaches self defensive and combat hand gunnery, and anytime the name Chuck Taylor comes up it's not the basketball shoe guy.
Chuck Taylor has 4 books 1300 magazine articles written. He is the first ever 4 weapon combat master and 7 time handgun combat master. He served two terms in Vietnam, Helliborne Assult and Ranger. Earned expert military ratings on M1911, M1, M14, M16, M14E1 SAW, M60, and M79 40mm grenade launcher. Airborne, Ranger, SWAT and Counter terrorist qualified. In 1996 his rifle and handgunnery techniques became SOP for the Swiss Army,etc etc etc.....
HANDGUN EFFECTIVENESS
Taylor and 4 others compared pistol, submachinegun, and shotgun for close range effectiveness. All weapons were used as effectivly as possible(subguns not fired full auto at ranges over 25m etc...)
5 targets, timed event, horn means go timer stops when last target hits ground. Handguns used
S&W 39 9mm, Browning P35 9mm, Glock 22 .40, Colt LW Commander .45, M1911 .45 ; Subguns used
Thompson M1A1 .45, Sterling L2A3 9mm, Colt 635 9mm, HK MP5 9mm; Shotguns used (#1 buckshot at 25m slugs past 25m) Benilli 90, SKB XL, Mossberg M500, Remington 870.
Tests have very large tables of each gun, the following are summeries based
on an average of all of each type of gun.
Test 1
draw from holster, make 2 hits on sillhouette target 7m away grouped close
together. Misses penalized 3 sec. The distance was then lengthened to 10,
15 and 25 meters. The subgun and shotgun started diagonal in front of body,
shotgun only had to hit target once.
Folowing is the results of one round of tests.
Average of 7m 10m 15m and 25m tests
hand 2.4sec
smg 1.8sec
shot 1.5sec
The point of the test was to show that a skilled shooter could defeat
an enemy(or several) with a hand gun almost as quick as with a SMG or a
shotgun and didn't really show that much of a time difference between the 3
weapons
Test 2 was the same but at 50 75 and 100 meters
hand 10.6
smg 5.2
shot 7.7
3 second penalty for misses, harder to hit with handgun at greater range,
but the times are still not that far behind. Taylor noted that it was hard
but not impossible to hit a mansized target 2x at 100m
Test 3 same as test 1 but all weapons start at the ready position
and targets are spread out.
hand 8.4 sec
smg 4.3
shot 4.3
no penalty for misses
Test 4 same as 3 but ranges 50, 75, 100 m
hand 29.7sec
smg 10.6
shot 10.6
obvious at longer ranges handguns take more time to drop their targets
Test 5, 5 pop up targets at ranges varring from 7 to 50m
hand 16.2sec
smg 10.5
shot 17.4
shot gun loaded with buck took out close easily but lost time loading slugs
for distance
Test 6 obscured target 40% cover 7, 10, 15, 25m
hand 2.2sec
smg 1.9
shot 2.1
Test 7 hostage situation get the bad guy, 3 sec penalty for hostage
hits
hand 2.7
smg 2.4
shot 2.8
In comparison of 'hitting a target' at close range a pistol is similiar in
effectiveness to smg or shotgun. Of course of the 5 shooters, 3 were 4
weapon ASAA combat masters 2 had advanced level at hand gun some training
with shotgun and NO training with SMGs
COLD WEATHER PERFORMANCE PISTOLS
test in Alaska, new guns
all guns stripped cleaned same oil
750 rounds of ammo
Each gun will be loaded, fired as fast as possible then reloaded as
fast as possible until 750 rounds reached or a malfunction occured.
Glock 17 9mm
Browning HP 35 9mm
Colt m1911 .45
SW 27 .357 mag (revolver)
ALL 750 rounds No malfunctions
SW 39 9mm
13 failures to fire including, full failure to function on 231st shot
ALL 13 cartridges that failed to fire were loaded into a Beretta 92 and
successfully fired.
Beretta 92
2 failures to fire 2 and 3rd shot (gun very cold)
2 failures at 739 and 745 rounds
1 failure to eject half way through test
completed 750 rounds
SIG P226 9mm
3 failure to fire all in a row ice formed in trigger linkage
completed 750 rounds
Failure to fire usually due to metal springs loose alot of their power at
cold temps.
Ammunition propellent combustion lower at cold temps, more unburnt(
fowling)powder lower muzzel/breech pressures
Not awful but still a slight against the beretta 92 standard US and the SIG
P226 standard SEAL sidearms
Glock 17 fired the cleanest with the least residue of all guns.
TEST 3
Author (who considers the Glock M22 .40 alongside the M1911 as one of the
premier handguns of all times) attempted to wear a Glock M17 9mm out
125,000 rounds 1989 to 1996 gun is still going strong.
"In my opinion no other handgun, not even the legendary M1911 can approach
this performance." -Taylor
THE ONE YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR
Stopping Power
Several formulas can be used. Taylor compared three
KE kinetic energy = square of bullet velocity x projectile weight
divide by 450,240 to get total in foot pounds
Hatcher
Thompson (of SMG fame)and LaGarde (utalized cadavers and live cattle)
Taylor (author) Utalized Hatcher and own findings
KE expressed in foot pounds
9mm 375
.38 spec 275
.357 550
.40 375
10mm 625
.45 500
According to science those .45s are a bit stronger than the 9s
Hatcher (corpses and live cattle)
numbers are just references a 20 is considered passing
9mm 39
.38 spec 30
.357 50
.40 47
10mm 60
.45 90
Fired into real meat. the .45 has more than a 2 to 1 effectivness
Taylor (author)
numbers are also just references but they are based on Hatcher but with
different criteria. A score of 20 is still 'passing'
9mm 17
.38 spec 13
.357 23
.40 21
10mm 27
.45 41
9mm isn't even considered 'passing' by the Airbourne/Ranger expert combat
everything author.
Another rating done by the author was a percentage based on the following
criteria
20% Kinetic energy
30% Taylor rating
30% Muzzel Flash and recoil
10% Penetration of body armor
10% Penetration of vehical glass and body work
9mm NATO 96.63
(higher and lower ratings with civilian ammo)
.38 spec US Gov't load 72.11
.38 spec Treasury load 99.21
.357 141.05
.45 military load 153.33
Winner again .45

Author is an unashamed proponent of big bore .40 10mm or larger "A miss or a poor hit with a .45 does nothing compared to a good hit with something smaller though"
The author championed the accuracy of the .45 showing a 3 shot 50 meter with an unaltered (made in 19120 M1911 from a static mount. Grouping was 1 1/2 inches AT 50m!!!
The shorter barrels of .38 and 9mm actually had greater muzzel flash virtually non existant on the .45 wiht military loads
Reported little muzzel rise in the .45 debunking 'tough to control'
So I guess I'm going to have to recant my pick. I love my Beretta 92 but numbers and proffesionals don't lie. So hats off to all you guys who love the M1911 and already knew that it was the best handgun ever produced.
>Thanks to George for providing this material

The main objective will be Kepno, which is 50 klicks our current position. We have to pass through one other small town 25 klicks distant Ostrzeszow before Kepno, and we have to 'skirt' Ostrow, town we are at now. There is an clear and present danger from the Ivans in Ostrow, I don't want to tangle with
them no more. Travel will entail us trying to go around Ostrow and then rejoining the main road to Ostrzeszow. Shwartz needs sleep he will not have an assigned positon for travel time. Snowden's is crack shot and his driving is good but there are plenty of drivers, Wilkins, O'Grady. Snowden will man the M2. You get some sleep, and hopefully we make it to the next town intact.
{OOC I have never really played this game as a PC. I extensively GM'ed it. I am finding it interesting that I am trying to avoid contact, rather than all the other games I've played where I'm looking for a fight.} >>>INTERESTING PLAYER OBSERVATION<<<
Schwartz is out on patrol, but we're supposed to pull out at 0600 and he'll be back before then. I'm assuming he hasn't seen a thing...he hasn’t no even any wildlife. Travel route and next ralley point worked out yet? Any word on ammo for ma deuce? Schwartz only has one mag for Szymas' M16.       SSgt Snowden:
Repulsed by overwhelming odds.... The statement sticks in my head. I didn't see any of our guys get it, but when we reached the rally point and Schwartz just hung there on the M2...and Szymas was not on the truck. "LET'S GET THIS PERIMETER SECURE !!! GET THESE VEHICALS UNDER SOME CAMO!!!"I barked out and as exhausted as the guys looked they started moving to secure our camp.
I got Carmine up front with his M60 and told him to keep an eye on things while I got a report from Scwartz...it was already afternoon, how did the time go so fast? "Time flies when you are having fun eh?...but I'm not having fun" I went up front and relieved Carmine on the 60 told him to go check over the
vehicals for damage, twilight was approaching and I started to think we were the only ones left. My heart lightened, I saw Wilkins moving into our position, his horse wasn't with him. I never even learned the horse's name, I know pony soldiers treat their horses like a fellow human, I would make sure to send him a word of my sympathy for his loss. At dusk Irish returned...then no others. I went to get Carmine back on the 60, he really wanted to put some more time into the vehicals so I sent Schwartz up front and gave a SITREP to Irish, including ammo/fuel left and how far we could travel. We'd accomplished our mission but three of our team were dead. Just after dusk I assigned watches and reloaded my expended clips. I did a quick round of all the men giving a word of compfort to the ones who had a closepersonal loss.
Wilkins, Carmine, O'Grady watch 2200-0200
Swhartz 200m perimeter wandering 2200-0600
Snowden, Whitherspoon 0200-0600
Sun was just lighting the sky and I decided to rouse the troops. I told everyone to do a quick service on their weapon, make sure all clips were full and a few words on hygiene in the field. Nobody said anyhting, I could tell there was 'heavy' air around them. We needed a bit of good luck sooner or later...
SITUATION- O'GRADY GOT SOME INFO ON PASSAGE AROUND OSTROW. Irish had some info on some farmers roads that would carry us around Ostrow. I didn't feel like tangling with PACT troops and this route seemed reasonably safe
Hummer out front (scare tactic) as it doesn't have alot of ammo
Carmine (D) Whitherspoon (G) O'Grady (C)
Brewery close behind (to cover with M2 if neccessary
Wilkins (D) Snowden OOC RCN 50(G) Shwartz asleep (resting)in bed
We moved through the fields occasionally seeing some locals, they seemed tobe very frightened of us, and scattered whenever they saw us. The sun was up and the day was warm, we passed some abandoned farm buildings slowing to make sure there were no bad guys hiding in them, they looked as though they'd been abandoned long before the war.
SITUATION - NO INFO ON GETTING AROUND TOWN MUST FIND OUR OWN WAY
We mounted up (as above) and began looking for a way to get around Ostrow. After a couple hours and a few 'wrong ways' we finallly got back on track and could see the main road in the distance
SITUATION - AROUND OSTROW
We rejoined the main road, which was not alot more than glamorized dirt. At one time there had been ciders, stuck with oil, but without maintenence in years it was mostly hard packed earth left.Trees started to become more numerous and I radioed ahead to watch for bad guys hiding on the sides of the roads, keep it slow. We moved into a fairly dense wooded area, lots of birch and oak trees most where slender not any more thick than a man, but now and again there was a magestic old oak, towering above its subjects, many years (and seen many wars) old. Even if we humans manage to extinct ourselves, the trees will
remain. I took careful looks at the big trees top to bottom, If I wanted cover, they'd make great hiding spots. (OOC concerned about travel through woods, make sure lead vehical stays vigillant everyone eyes wide open.}The road wound, very picturesque, through this forrest for about 20 klicks then it abruptly halted and so did we. Ostrezeszow was 2 klicks distant and we'd need to recon it before passing. We moved off the road into the trees and quickly established a defensive camoflaged position I approached Irish with a few suggestions
SITUATION - VISUAL RECON OF VILLAGE
Wilkins and I sat staring into the village through binoculars trying to see
if it was a threat. A few farmers and refugees without a gun in site and only a few farm tools to work the remaining fields. No vehicles or draft animals.
SITUATION - AROUND VILLAGE
We moved along a well worn, low maintained dirt road to skirt the town the only excitment was the fording of a small stream.
THIS SHOULD TAKE US TO AROUND 1200

THE TOWN INHABITANTS APPEARED UNFRIENDLY  AND SUSPICIOUS SO WE MOVED THROUGH AS QUICKLEY AS POSSIBLE
SIX more uneventful hours of grinding bumpy Polish dirt roads saw them reach the outskirts of  KEPNO and halt for the night. or so we thought.
Schwartz was wired. Top had sent him to the Brewery to take care of himself and his stuff. After taking care of business, he went through Szymas’ things and found the old ratty Bible the man used to read on a daily basis. A bookmark caught Schwartz’s eye and he opened it to a page in the book of  John and found these words underlined, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life.” Schwartz sighed, “I hope so buddy.” and glanced skyward. The northern sky was alive with blue lights. Schwartz let down his guard for a moment, transfixed by the dancing lights. He could have sworn he saw an eight-legged horse galloping along the pathways of light. He tore the page out of the Bible and placed it in his shirt pocket after folding it, carefully. The remainder of the Holy Book went into the cargo pocket of his pants. Just then, Top came by and they stood in the back of the Brewery talking and kicking around ideas about what to do next. Even though Snowden
thought it was too dangerous for Schwartz to go back and bury Szymas, Snow offered words of encouragement and told Schwartz not to worry about the fuel or weapons, they had enough. At about 0100, the static on the radios had died down with the end of the light show. It was as if a door closed; the look on Schwartz’s face changed dramatically. “Top, with you and the Captain’s permission, I want to do a perimeter patrol after I give everyone the challenge and password for tonight.” Snow could see Schwartz was still wired and wouldn’t sleep even if given a direct order. “There are some things you just can’t order a man to do and expect him to be able to comply.” thought Snow. “Let me check with the Captain”, he said. The Captain called all of  the men into camp and Doc Snowden prescribed a shot of hooch for each. “$&^%!” thought Schwartz, “I’m not going down that road again.” and passed the canteen on. He toasted his dead friends with fruit drink instead. “In honor of our dead comrades, tonight’s password is Valhalla and the challenge is three. Remember that when I come back into camp.” Schwartz gathered his
gear for the patrol told everyone to maintain radio silence and keep noise and light discipline. “We gave Ivan a bloody nose today and he’s mad as hell and gunning for us.” Once he was away from the camp and in the silence of  the woods, he began to settle down. He made his way around the camp and stopped at the base of a large tree that he and Szymas had thought would hold a good deer stand. With his knife, he dug a hole at its base and placed Szymas’ Bible in it. “I can’t bury you, old friend. This will have to be
good enough. Somehow, I don’t think you’ll mind that your body will be feeding the pigs tonight and the ravens tomorrow. You aren’t going to need it any more. ‘Let it take care of God’s creatures’ you might say. This is for you.” He touches the paper in his breast pocket, drops a clump of soil from his hand onto the Bible, then fills in the hole completely. With his knife, he carves ‘JAS John 3:16’ as best he can in the bark of the tree
above the grave. “&*^%$! I have to finish this patrol”, he says, and the
door closes once again.Schwartz returned to camp after an uneventful patrol. “Better safe than sorry”, he thought. Besides, he had always felt most comfortable out in the woods. The quiet solitude allowed him to think clearly and with what he had found in his friend’s Bible, he had a new sense of peace. He would no longer fear death and knew that someday he would see his parents and Szymas again. He wondered what it would be like and for a moment, regretted burying the Bible. Szymas had always told him that all of the answers to life’s big questions were in that book. He shrugged. It didn’t really matter. Someday he would be in Paradise.Schawrtz checked in with Snowden and told him things were all clear. He asked for the location of the next rally point and travel plans. He
completed the rest of his watch and Top told him to get some rest in the front seat of the Brewery. Schwartz asked if he could be issued another weapon; Szymas’ M16 had only one clip. Schwartz carefully secured the rest of his gear in the back of the 5 ton. He took his new weapon and secured it loosely with a bungee within easy reach then leaned back, pulled his boonie hat over his eyes and tried to get some sleep.The truck pitched and rocked, making sleep difficult, but at least he could rest. With Wilkins on point and Snowden on Ma Deuce, he felt safe and in good hands. The brush with Ivan had proven to Schwartz that he had hooked up with a group of good and capable men.
Schwartz had just dosed off when the truck stopped with a jolt. He immediately sat up and grabbed his new weapon then scanned outside for trouble. Carmine and Wilkins had their arms out the windows of the Hummer signaling stop. “What the ^%$! I mean what’s up Cap.?”
   While carrying out the Captian's orders, Sgt Snowden has a chance to speak privately with Sgt Schwartzenkemp, IC Schwartz: "Thanks, Snow. I sure &^% up. I should have never ordered Szymas to fire on that BMD. We should have sat tight and laid low then bugged out when our ride got there. %$#@! Hindsight's 20/20, eh? This AAR is going to be something. One &^%$ bloodymess." [Snowden asks why Szymas was so loyal to Schwartz] "Loyal? That's one way of putting it. I trained the guy. When I was at Quantico, the brass told me I was 'unreliable in the field' because I had the nerve to show a
little emotion once in a while. They made me an instructor, though, because they
thought I had the right stuff to pass along my skills. ^&%$! I trained him, Snow, and my training got him killed! Anyway, as usual, the Marines moved Szymas around on different assignments but we kept in touch. I think the guy looked up to me because I didn't make fun of him, at least, not like the rest. I saw in him a good soldier and he saw in me a good man; he believed in me, for what that's worth...Ah, Hell! Just when we got back
together... Just one more person that I lost, BFHD, right?! I'm a Marine Sniper and I
need to be 'reliable in the field'. [imitating someone]'Put it away Schwartzenkempf!' (sarcastically)Yes, sir! &^%$! [shakes head] I can't take this talking &^%$, I gotta get back to work."
EVERYONE
Travel plans still going to Chestachowa
5th INFANTRY DIVISION (MECHANISED) For anyone that doesn't have the U.S.
Army Vehical guide.
Division deployed to Germany Dec 1996. Entered combat under III US Corps. April 1997 transfered to 3rd German Army under Panzergruppe Oberdorf. Fought through Southern Poland and participated in Battle of Chestachowa (May 24th to June 17th) Withdrew to Germany in August 97. Shifted North under command of XI US Corps Summer 2000 spearheaded drive into Northern
Poland....
Only three towns that we pass through do we have intell on. That intell is that there are no bad guys there. We will not rely on that intell and assume everthing has the potential to contain a tank division (transmissin recieved a few turns ago could indicate a Polish tank division moving this way, could also indicate they are moving away)
Start south by south east
Ostrow; We are by it now. we must find a way past it (logging farming roads)in order to not run into 14th Air Assult again. We got our nose bloodied once. We know they have a good pressence in town.
Ostrezeszow about 20-25 klicks intell says there is no bad guys there we would travel on a road with forrest to either side.
Kepno 10 klicks intell says no bad guys
Here we have a choice turn east onto a main highway (25 klicks) then get off
high way going south or continue on smaller road south
If we go East then South at Kepno
Wielun (35 klicks) intell says no bad guys
Krzepice (35 klicks) no info
CHESTACHOWA (35 klicks) pass over main Highway on route may be a
gaurded area (good toll booth spot)
TOTAL distance is about 120 klicks about 30% of our remaining fuel
If we Continue South at Kepno
Kluczbork 35 klicks no intell
Olesno 15 klicks no intel (at this point we've gone 100 klicks)
Dobrodzien 20 klicks no intel (at this point we are further south
than Chestachowa we turn east
Lubliniec 25 klicks no intell turn north east
Chestachowa here also we pass over a main highway (toll booth)
Total distance is 200 klicks almost 50% of our fuel but on smaller "less travelled roads" I know this is a little early to be thinking about this. But I was going over the fuel situation and wanted to know how far we can get so I started planning in advance. For now we have to get to Kepno which is 35-40 klicks by road. Then we can make the decision which way to turn.

Wilkins had spotted the scout elements of a convoy that looked like American troops. Definitely Jarheads on a LAV After several minutes of uncertainty, it was discovered that the group was a re-supply convoy from the XI Corps. They were supposed to hook up with the 5th Div in Kalisz, but were delayed and found the place had been over run. They had been forced to move south, but were trying to bypass the Pact lines and rejoin the Corps. They had resupplied several groups of  5th Division remnants in the process of escaping and evading.

The Ranger had made contact with what appeared to be American Army. With units from both sides turning into marauding thugs, you never could tell. After a few minutes of tension they found that they had made contact with elements from the 5th Div., Mech. and they were calling themselves O’Grady’s Irregulars. “Well I’ll be damned! The 5th Div! The convoy had been sent from the XI Corp to re-supply the 5th Div at Kalisz and had been delayed. Ivan had over run Kalisz and the convoy was forced to head south. The convoy had been on the move for several days trying to avoid the Pact forces and find a hole in the enemy line. The convoy commander First Lieutenant Bennet introduced himself to he leader of the Irregulars. Captain O’Grady, told them a tale about trying to find some lost Russian nuke codes. “We could use anyone’s help” he said.” We’ve already supplied two motorized groups and one cavalry detachment but we’ve got a few items left

XI CORPS SUPPLY CONVOY

Motorcycle Sergeant Belloch M1911 and Crossbow (Ranger Tab)
Motorcycle with sidecar and M-60 First Lieutenant Bennet M-16, PFC Groggens M-14 driving

LAV-25 {Wear Value 3}50Km Secure Radio with equipment for antena extentions and power boost. Manned by a Marine Liason Team Sergeant Crench M-203, Corporal Wilbane M-16, and Corporal Bates M-16, running on diesel, they have have a double ammo load for the 25mm auto cannon (400 rounds HE and 200 API) and a fuel bladder wedged in a 1ton trailer with 500 liters of diesel. Their orders are to link up with 2nd Marine Division’s beachhead on the Baltic Coast. Your welcome to come along. Bates is a Commo Tech and offeres to check out all your commo gear.

HMMVW {Wear Value 4}with a Mk 19 (80 HVHE and 20 HVHEDP) running on Ethanol with 4 full and six empty 25liter Jerry Cans left. Driver  Cpl. T.J. Grant is African-American, and big (6'5",220lbs). He's a Combat Engineer, but also can drive a track, and is decent with a wrench. You'll notice on the back of his field jacket a large patch, showing a leather jacket clad skeleton riding a motorcycle, that says IRON DEMONS, PITTSBURGH PA. CHAP. Gunner Cpl Joshua Kirby Big fisherman, Boston accent, M249 gunner. very mild mannered and likable, very willing to help and HARD WORKING. Excellent with small boats, fishing. Skilled at Forward observer and indirect fire also skilled at motorcycle(road cross and enduro as a teen). {PC’s personal gear plus}
Consumables: ammo 2 cases 5.56mm, 2 cases 7.62mmN belted; food 3 Cases of old style C-Rations and one case Chef Boy RD Ravioli, fuel Methanol 10 Jerry Cans, one Engineer Demo Kit, 2 cases of plastic explosives, and 10 Claymore AP Mines.


HMMWV {Wear Value 6} with M134  (two 500 round belts) running on Ethanol 4 Full and 10 empty 25 Liter Jerry Cans. Sergeant Gonzalez Aviation Crew Chief with two M1911’s one on each hip is driving Riding shotgun PFC Omar M-16 with a fixxed bayonet, riding in back is Warrant Officer 1 Suarez, a Whirly girl, Suarez is a petite, 5'3" Latino lady originally from FLA in her 20's. She is a looker!! (CHR 18)(not Hooker!! so hands off, fellas *wink*) She has hazel green eyes, fine features and straight black collar lenght hair. The insignia on her baggy uniform indicates she is WO1 in Aviation Maintenance. Anyone like Havana cigars? She's in the mood to celebrate finding friendly forces and is willing to pass around the one she's just lit  “Boys, we made it! This calls for a celebration.” and pulls out a big Cuban cigar from a humidor in her breast pocket. With a practiced hand, she cut and lit the stogie and blew smoke rings. She offered the cigar to Schwartz saying, “Pass it around.” He took the fragrant smoke into his mouth and let it roll out slowly. “Ahh! How long has it been since I had a good cigar?” Why in the hell do I always get stuck riding in the back of these things?” She thought as the Hummer bounced along the Polish excuse for a road. She knew what the answer was; at 5’3” she was the only one who could ‘get comfortable’ in the back seats. “Get comfortable my @$$. Ok AJ, quit belly-aching. You’ve spent a lot longer in the seat of a chopper and with a rougher ride.” She shifted in her seat.

Consumables:  one case 5.56mm, one case 7.62mmS,  50Kgs local rations (mostly sausage and beats) 24 quarts of motor oil.

First Lieutenant Bennet respectfully suggests we hole up together for the night. The Marines have their own mission. Myself  my driver, and Sergeant Belloch have to get back to Corps and report the current situation. Your welcome to any of the remaining supplies and any of my men who want to hook up with you.

 

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Next Turn begins at 1800 hours and will run up to 0600 weather warm with clear skies.

Next Turn due midnite January 3, 2001