I ran this operation similarly to the previous reconnaissance of Radom. However, as the PCs were focused on a specific location, I decided that each success on the observation rolls would provide intel on one of the following key areas:
- vehicles
- troop strength
- defenses
- deployment practices
- patterns of life
- equipment
The QRF base started at Alert 2.
Day 1 (September 1; light rain, -1 to observation and +1 to stealth)
The team rides to the vicinity of the QRF base on the outskirts of Radom. They establish a concealed campsite.
Pettimore and Zenobia remain at camp to further camouflage it and prep their ghillie suits (Pettimore 2 successes, Zenobia 3 successes).
Ellis and Magda move ahead to identify ingress/egress routes for their surveillance. They’re able to pick up a patrol returning to the base and trail it for a while, Ellis overhears enough conversation to determine that foot patrols around their base are a regular thing for the QRF – the recon team will need to be disciplined.
Moving in a bit closer, Magda and Ellis are able to get a good idea of the base’s general layout. It’s located on the west side of a four-lane highway. The Soviets are using a former restaurant as their main barracks. The scrapyard’s office appears to be their headquarters office and team room, while its workshop is in use as designed for vehicle maintenance (and, from the sound of power tools and a small generator, seems to be well-equipped).
Alert remains at 2.
Day 2 (September 2; cloudy, no modifiers)
Before dawn, Ellis and Pettimore move into an abandoned house a few blocks away and focus their optics on the base. Over the course of the day, they’re able to identify a total of seven vehicles in the QRF’s inventory. There are two APCs: an OT-64 identical to the team’s own and a BTR-80. There are also two more light combat vehicles: a UAZ-469 fitted with an AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher and a HMMWV mounting a DShK heavy machine gun. Two support vehicles are present, a Zil-131cargo truck and a UAZ-452 ambulance. Finally, there’s a rather odd duck for this area: what appears to be a British FV101 Scorpion light reconnaissance tank. One infantry squad is on security duty at all times, with three troops in one of the light vehicles, two walking the perimeter, and the sixth in a rickety observation tower atop the workshop.
After dusk, Magda and Zenobia relieve the day shift. They have a stressful close call on their way in (+1 Stress to both women) when a foot patrol leaves the front gate just as they’re approaching the house, but the Soviets turn the other direction. Once they’re settled in, they get a good look at the QRF’s setup. These guys feel secure enough to run their generator for electric light, including security lights on the north, east, and south approaches. They’re well-equipped – newer (relatively speaking) rifles, body armor, all of the vehicles except the HMMWV are in good condition. There’s a base station radio in the headquarters and at least one man-portable backpack radio in use by the patrols. There’s no evidence of farming, but these guys are using the restaurant’s kitchen to cook, indicating that they’re getting fresh ingredients from somewhere – they’re not subsisting on crap rations.
Alert remains at 2.
Day 3 (September 3; thunderstorms, -2 to observation and +2 to stealth)
Ellis and Magda try out a couple of new hide sites on the south side of the compound. With crap weather, the Soviets aren’t too excited about patrolling aggressively. Over the next few hours, they’re able to work their way around the east side again, watching through windows and open doors to get a fairly accurate count of total personnel on site. By the end of the day, the breakdown looks like this:
- command element (3): commander (captain), senior sergeant, radio operator
- infantry platoon (25): platoon leader (senior lieutenant) and four 6-person squads
- recon vehicle platoon (10): platoon leader (lieutenant) and three 3-person crews
- support element (8): leader (sergeant), 5 mechanics, 2 medics
The captain is keeping them busy. They’re maintaining the guard rotation; the rest of the troops get the assorted joys of PT in the rain. There’s about an hour of vehicle recovery drills, with an infantry squad covering the mechanics while they hook up the “disabled” BTR to the Zil for emergency towing – all while incoming fire is simulated by the rest of the unit pelting them with walnuts. There’s the expected amount of bullshitting and grumbling but the overall impression is that these are professionals. Ellis identifies their parent unit as the 126th Reconnaissance Battalion, an element of 6th Guards Motor Rifle Division, which is the Lublin garrison unit.
Zenobia and Pettimore swap in after dark. It should be easy but Zenobia crosses upwind of the compound and finds out that the garrison is keeping dogs (+1 Stress to Zenobia from a push, +1 Stress to both for near-detection). The combination of night and rain makes for lousy observation conditions, but Zenobia does get a good look inside the workshop and verifies that the QRF is operating a medium still in the shed out back.
Alert, thankfully, remains at 2.
Day 4 (September 4; sunny, +1 to observation and -1 to stealth)
With a bright, sunny day, Ellis opts for caution and doesn’t send anyone in until after dark. Zenobia and Pettimore refresh their ghillie suits, as the vegetation is wilting (Zenobia 2 successes, Pettimore 3 successes).
After sunset, the newly-camouflaged snipers creep in from the west, finding a good hide site in an overgrown vacant lot. They behold an odd tableau: the mechanics, with the enthusiastic but unskilled assistance of some of the other troops, appear to be refurbishing a trio of the junkyard’s Polski Fiat compact cars (a 125 and two 126ps). Surely they’re not so hard up for transport that this seems like a good idea? And yet, they spend a good two or three hours sweating under the work lights. There’s a cheer all around when, close to midnight, all three engines cough to life.
About half an hour after the infantry platoon leader calls a halt to this performance, he takes two squads out the gate. They head off to the east. Twenty minutes after they leave, there’s a sudden crackle of rifle fire. The sentries glance to the east but don’t react; this seems to have been anticipated. The gunfire continues sporadically for an hour. After it stops, that group comes back into camp. Pettimore and Zenobia sneak off to investigate. About a kilometer east, in the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse, they find a 50-meter training range that’s clearly seen heavy use – not just tonight. These guys have enough ammo for rifle practice (though they’re collecting their spent brass) and their leadership is making them do night training.
Alert is still at 2 somehow.
Day 5 (September 5; thunderstorms, -2 to observation and +2 to stealth)
The team has enough intel to prepare an assault, but one key element remains: they need to see what a response looks like when the QRF believes a partisan attack is in progress. Ellis and Pettimore head back to the abandoned house to observe. They nearly cross paths with an outbound foot patrol (+1 Stress each), but the Soviets are slogging through the rain and don’t notice them. They settle in, but the rain is keeping the troops indoors today and there’s nothing new to record.
Later that afternoon, Magda and Zenobia ride west to stage something that will prompt a response, but look like the aftermath of a drunken party when the QRF investigates. They spend some time setting the scene: empty beer bottles, discarded food scraps, a small and reluctant campfire, a muddy blanket, a torn t-shirt. At their prearranged time, just after dusk, they initiate the ruse. A flare streaks skyward, followed by a few bursts of celebratory gunfire. A few minutes later, they launch two more flares and burn off the rest of an AK magazine. Work complete, they slip away, leaving the campfire smoldering.
The sentry in the tower is huddled inside his poncho, clearly miserable, but he’s doing his job. As the first flare lifts over the horizon, he gives two sharp blasts on a whistle. What follows is a well-choreographed scramble. The three troops on duty at the HMMWV crank it up and pull out onto the road. Infantrymen boil out of the barracks. A three-man crew runs for the Scorpion and fires it up. Within a few minutes, the Scorpion is heading west at a speed that’s unnerving for a tracked vehicle, followed by the HMMWV and the BTR-80.
A second infantry squad clusters under the eaves of the building nearest the OT-64, while crews test its engine and that of the UAZ-469. A little slower, the two medics load the UAZ-452 ambulance and four of the mechanics prep the Zil-131 cargo truck. The remaining personnel crowd into the radio room, waiting for a report.
Out at the diversion site, Magda and Zenobia watch from a prepared hiding place as the vehicles approach cautiously. In the darkness and rain, vision must be nearly impossible. The Scorpion and HMMWV pull to either shoulder to allow the BTR-80 to advance. Its turret and infrared searchlight are swinging back and forth – there’s a good chance its night-vision systems are still working. The women have prepped their observation post with care, though, and they remain undetected. They watch as the vehicles take up an overwatch position and the infantry squad dismounts from the BTR. The troops advance cautiously. They spend about twenty minutes checking out the site. It’s obvious when their leader gives the all-clear – they don’t completely lose vigilance, but there’s a ripple of relaxation. They re-mount the BTR and the convoy heads back east.
Back at the compound, it’s also obvious when the “this was bullshit” radio call comes in. The second-stage QRF stands down, pulling their vehicles back into their parking spaces and unloading their sensitive gear. The radio room stays packed until the first-stage team is back on site, though. Once they’ve parked, the mechanics carry a couple of jerrycans out to top off fuel. The captain pulls his lieutenants and sergeants together for a conversation – almost certainly a debrief on what the first team found.
To Ellis and Pettimore’s eyes, it looks like the SOP is to launch the Scorpion, one of the gun trucks, and one of the APCs with an infantry squad as the initial QRF. The second group, consisting of the second gun truck, the second APC, and the ambulance and recovery truck, are prepped to head out and render aid once the scene is secure.
Magda and Zenobia also observed that while the infantry squad didn’t proceed much farther into the woods, they did have one member who appeared to be functioning as a tracker. He spent an awful lot of time examining the ground, and the squad leader deferred to him before calling the all-clear.
Ellis scribbles notes, checking his watch on identification, scramble, departure, check-in and return. Shakes his head with concern, noting what he already suspected. These aren’t bandits, shattered remnants, or any of the other amateur or under-supplied units – they’re veterans, well-drilled and disciplined.
He leans over to Pettimore and shows him his notes and time calculations “Well… I’m not saying we can’t do this or that we shouldn’t do this… But I do think we may want to discuss our risk appetite because this is a different kind of risky than hitting some marauders.”
Watching the response procedures is the last piece the recon team needed. They creep back to camp and pack their gear for the return trip to Ponikla.