Hi All,
I ran my first game of "The Regiment" on Sunday and had a lot of fun. I would have liked to use a historical scenario and make maps and everything but I quite literally had zero prep time. I decided on a "unit has been destroyed except for you guys" type of scenario and had a vague idea that the group would eventually hook up with the resistance and be hidden in another village somewhere.
I figured that if the game ended up being a campaign then it would be cool to have a human element where the group had to deal with reprisals for Resistance activity as well as shortages of equipment and members of what would become their community being killed.
I had a vivid image of a young boy slashing the tyres on a German Staff Car and the threat of random public executions if the culprit were not given up.
Anyway-
We had three player characters in the group. (All Corporals actually)
McCaffrey, the weather beaten old soldier,
Riley, a shattered man running on instinct
Barnes, a young man aged beyond his years.
And a few NPCs.
Sarge. We never actually named him LOL! He was delirious/unconscious most of the game anyway
Neville Adams, a young soldier. wide eyed and innocent.
Stuart (not my idea) Neville a sniper with passion for his job. The Nevilles were really good mates.
I started the players off with a bang (heh) and had them running up a hill towards a ruined house in a random French village whereupon they threw themselves over the partially destroyed front wall amidst a hail of incoming fire. The building was on top of a small hill with a steep slope on all but the side with the door.
Once the players were all in cover, I told them that they counted only 6 men left from their squad including the Sarge who probably wasn't going to make it. As far as any of them knew, the rest of the platoon had been wiped out by the panzers that were not supposed to be in this area. The team was not equipped to deal with tanks.
Nobody quite knew who should take charge so each player started to do their own thing which was quite interesting. McCaffery started to lay down suppressing fire to keep the German's from advancing. (suppress the Enemy. Hit on a 10+), the group closest to the house were unable to advance and stuck at the bottom of the hill with little cover. The Neville's took advantage and rolled grenades down the hill knocking out the 5 Jerries attempting to advance. (GM Fiat. Really, a reward for the suppression)
Balmy Barnes as he became known decided that he would take matters into his own hands. He opened the side door, threw out a couple of smoke grenades for cover and shot off around the back of the building and down the hill. This was pretty crazy given the circumstances so xp was marked and the dice rolled. (Are you crazy? Hit on a 10+ made it round the back of the building)
Meanwhile, Riley decided to see what could be done about the Sarge's chest wound. He taped gauze over both the entry and exit wounds and applied pressure to try and stop the bleed. (Medic! Hit on a 7-9, patient stabilised) I ruled that this took quite some time.
McCaffery and the Neville's kept up their withering fire although the grenades eventually started running low. The enemy was starting to mass forces for a push and time was running out. When the mortar rounds started crashing all around, the team decided it was time to leave in another cloud of smoke. (spend more gear. I wanted them low on stuff)
Meanwhile, Balmy Barnes made it around the house and realised that he was well concealed from the incoming forces by the slope which extended 50mtrs or so from the house. He assessed the situation (Hit 7-9. Asked about the biggest threat, I told him that a mortar team was setting up 30 mtrs or so away near the edge of the ditch.) Barnes raced along the ditch as fast as he could until he got close to the enemy position. (The enemy had popped off two mortar rounds by this time that were landing increasingly close to the house.)Barnes popped up out of nowhere, raked the mortar crew with submachinegun fire and killed them all. As he was pocketing their kit, he heard a continuous rattle and squeak coming from over the next hill. (Assess the situation Hit 7-9. TANK!) Balmy scarpered back towards the house.
The team indoors picked up Sarge on his stretcher, and moved off as quickly as possible out the side door and across the field behind. (Act under fire. Roll plus Guts. Everyone made it but Riley took a minor wound to the arm. Just then the farmhouse exploded from an HE round fired from the Tank which crested the hill a few moments later.
The team sprinted across the field under mortar fire and almost made it into the woods when poor Adams was killed outright by a mortar fragment. This was made worse by the fact that he was carrying the back end of the stretcher. He dropped Sarge as he died inflicting another wound and the Sarge maxed out his stress and started screaming. Riley prepped a big hit of morphine. (spend gear) and knocked Sarge out with it.
The team escaped far enough into the woods that the pursuit was broken off and stopped to deal with stress and wounds. I can't remember what was and wasn't rolled but the mechanic to deal with stress via passing out smokes is gold. It worked really really well.
I'll try and post the rest of the AP tomorrow. It's 23:00 here. :) (I hope this made sense, I'm too tired to proof it.)
Stu.