Red checks the calendar and realizes he’s almost missed his window. The traveling traders based out of Skarzysko-Kamienna should be back in Opoczno, but this is their last day. He grabs a few valuables from the team’s stash and jumps in the UAZ-469 with Leks. The two men roar south in a cloud of dust.
A few hours of wheeling and dealing later (with time also taken out for professional haircuts and shaves from Opoczno’s resident barber), they’re loading their purchases into the UAZ for the return trip. Here’s what the merchants had on offer (courtesy of my regional economy spreadsheet and some random loot generator rolls); items in bold are what the guys decided to negotiate for:
Jarek Grzeskiewicz’s Trade Caravan
Jarek and his team barter at d10+d10.
- pruning hook
- countertop grain mill
- set of dental tools
- set of high-end copper cookware (everyone knows how Magda will react to this)
- stylish white tropical linen jacket in Leks’ size
- complete navy blue men’s business suit in Red’s size
- handmade brown wool cloak
- stonewashed denim jacket in Arkadi’s size
- complete clown costume that Red might fit into
- synthetic baselayer top in Magda’s size
- black leather trench coat in Lek’s size
- 1 industrial-sized cylinder of acetylene (arguably the biggest prize here, as this will enable the team to get their welding torch online and fix the OT-64’s armor and amphibious capability)
- 2 doses of synthetic mescaline (price per dose)
- 10 rounds of 12 gauge buckshot ammo
- Colt Detective Special w/ 9 rounds of .38 Special ammo
Opoczno Merchants
The resident merchants barter at d10+d8.
- HO-scale model train set (1976 50th anniversary commemorative set for Polish State Railways)
- bone-handled skinning knife
- chemical warfare detector
- handheld laser rangefinder
- 2 dairy cows (price per cow)
- 5x 5kg sacks of oats (price per sack)
- bottle of shaving lotion
- spray can of insect repellent (with DEET!)
- 2L bottle of motor oil (Zenobia arguably would shank both of them if they left this on the table)
- 5x 10kg sacks of potting soil (price per sack)
- 21 doses of medical-grade morphine (price per dose)
- 3 weapon parts (price per part)
- 1 case of Soviet 40mm grenades (100 rounds)
- 1 belt (100 rounds) of .50 BMG ammo
- Steyr AUG w/ 2 full magazines (30 rounds 5.56mm each)
At the end of the day, our traders come away with this bounty for the price of a couple more of their gold bars and their collection of uncut sapphires. Somewhere out there, someone must be putting together a real economy again…
(They don’t currently have a 40mmS grenade launcher, but they remember leaving an ex-ZOMO one with the north farms, so there’s a deal to be made there. The farmers probably will be willing to hand that over in exchange for another full belt for their recently-donated M2HB.)
Red also checks in with the merchant who’s his contact with the Polish Home Army company operating out of Skarzysko-Kamienna. The intel he receives may change the course of the campaign. The partisans have hit a few more Soviet convoys and platoons. After the last one, they saw a Soviet quick reaction force arrive from the direction of Radom. They expected something along these lines, and it looks like the ZOMO garrison there has been reinforced.
More importantly, they’ve also spotted two eastbound groups of what appeared to be POWs: each 20-30 people on foot guarded by 10-12 Soviet troops on horseback. They didn’t hit those because of the risk to the prisoners. They weren’t able to get positive IDs, but they believe the prisoners were Americans being taken to the camp in Radom…