RolePlay Wiki

Twilight 2000 - The Modern Dark Ages : The Abridged Version Chapter 11
GM - Fusilier
Chapter 11 - Northern Poland - Return to Gdansk: September 16, 2000
Summary: The team lives through a plane crash, but are lost and with little food. Living off the land, the team gets into multiple firefights on their slow trek back toward Gdansk. The chapter ends in Nowa Karczma.

Mad Dogs Unit Roster:
John Jameson McCarthy - player
Helmut Meyer - NPC
Varis Babicevs - player
Arthur Fox - NPC
Francis "Frank" Benucci - player
Anna - NPC
Caleb Mulcahy - player
Ferro - player
Luis Ortega - player
Billy “Crack” O’Brien - player
Alex Michaels - NPC
Joe Morgan - NPC
Thomas Cooper - player
Aleksandar Mazurek - NPC
Thomas Marshall - player
Per Kolstrup - player
Johnny Leota - player
Roy Barnett - player
Owen Hollister - player
David "Tosh" Lines - player

PC Assets:
Nothing (though arguably a DC-3 Dakota for a hot minute)

• About half an hour into the flight back to Gdansk, Mulcahy notices some liquid leaking out of the starboard wing of the aircraft. He notifies the aircrew, who assure him that it’s normal and nothing to worry about. After another half hour, the starboard engine abruptly explodes, sending the plane diving to the ground. It hits hard, with trees tearing off the starboard wing and the tail coming off entirely, along with Leota and Babicevs still seated in it.
  
• Taking note of the damage, everyone is largely unhurt outside some bloody scrapes and bruises, with the exception of the old plane's aircrew. The crew chief (later found to be named Dave) has a wicked cut on his head, the copilot is clearly dead, and the old pilot is barely clinging to life - trapped in the smashed up cockpit. The pilot passes quickly, but before doing so mentions that they’re about 100km south of Gdansk. Mike’s body is left in the aircraft in a sort of Viking funeral while Ortega leaves a thermite grenade near the fuel line to burn out the rest of the plane, and the group leaves the scene on foot.
  
• Marching through most of the day, the Mad Dogs get concerned. They have no idea where they are except west of the Vistula and about 100km from Gdansk, and are very low on rations. Eventually they bed down in a hide of forest, nearby to an old vehicle repair yard full of broken down military vehicles which are all missing batteries and fuel. There are some signs of recent vehicle and horse movement through the area however, in the form of vehicle tracks and horse scat. In the morning, it’s decided that they split into 3 groups - the wounded will hold their camp, one group will go foraging nearby, and the other to do a farther forage/recce patrol along the path of the vehicle tracks.

Group 1 - Patrol 

• The patrol (Ortega, Hollister, O’Brien, Babicevs, Ferro) gets up in the middle of the night and heads steadily eastward looking for the Vistula, encountering lots of old defensive positions leftover from the start of the war, and eventually hitting an industrial site somewhere Southwest of a fair sized town. Seeing no roadsides to tell them where they are yet, the team decides to skirt around the complex to the Southeast and keep moving along, eventually reaching the Vistula. Near the water, they see a boat moving downriver and take shelter in a stand of trees for the day. They see the boat pass back upriver and again back downriver before night, dragging what look like telephone poles behind it on the downriver trips. They still don’t know where they are though - only where the Vistula is - roughly 26km from the hide.
  
• At night, the scout team heads back to the hide, making ground quickly. The discover a small fire in an occupied farmhouse (6 individuals inside), but decide to pass it by. They continue working their way back to camp.

Group 2 - Forage party

• Back at camp (JJM, Marshall, Mulcahy, Lines, Leota, Fox, Cooper, Morgan, Darcy, Seeley, and Dave), the unwounded members of the hide group head out to begin foraging. After further splitting the foraging team between some fields, a marsh, and the forest, the group in the fields sees a lone figure not far, walking along an old path, and decide to try to question them to figure out the unit's location. The lone figure is a Polish woman named Katarzyna Majchrzak, and she's carrying what appears to be a sick child. She informs JJm’s team of their approximate location - west of Siewice and north of Bydgoszcz. She lets them know that Siewice is closest, but that the town is under Russian control and that a sickness has broken out there. She is instead heading to Sliwice with the sick child. The Armia Krajowa, or Polish Free Company is there and is friendly to NATO troops, and she will tell JJM how to get there if the foraging party help her and the sick child get to a nearby farm.
  
• JJM agrees to the request, and the small party follows the woman to the small town of Brukniewo. It’s such a small town that it doesn’t show up on any maps, so the group still largely can't pinpoint their location. They’re met by an old woman named Bryda, and a legless American soldier named Carlos Jimenez who is being pushed in a wheelbarrow by a Polish man named Jacek. Bryda will trade a day or two's food when the players return through the area. Jimenez tells of some green berets operating with Armia Krajowa, and the small foraging party returns to the hide. Later the Mad Dogs send some unit members back with items for the small trade, and by midday everyone is eating soup from Bryda and awaiting the return of the long range patrol.

(Continued)

• The unit is now back together. After a short rest, they head back north to meet Katarzyna Majchrzak again at the small farmhouse (third time visiting it), who agrees to guide the Mad Dogs to the Armia Krajowa. They then start on their journey north.
  Engagement somewhere north of Brukniewo
  
• At about the halfway point to meeting the free legion, they stumble across what appear to be around 12 bandits setting up an ambush along a forest road. The Mad dogs decide to wait and ambush the ambushers. Soon, a merchant convoy appears, carrying around 50 civilians with maybe 6 poorly equipped militia guard, and an engagement begins.
  
• Madness ensues with civilians trying to escape all over the place. Leota and Hollister both take a shot, with Leota’s in the arm. O’Brien throws a grenade at an enemy, but it falls short and catches Ortega in the open. A single fragment embeds into Ortega’s thumb.
  
• The Mad Dogs and caravan escort manage to kill about half of the bandits, and take one prisoner, with the rest running off. They then meet the boss of the caravan, Wiktor Tencza, along with his second, a man named Dave McNeil who wears an ESSO trucker hat (note that this is not Dave the crew chief, it’s a different Dave). They sit and enjoy an offer of food from Tencza for saving his caravan. Katarzyna learns from talking to the civvies, and then tells the group, that Armia Krajowa is no longer in Sliwice but has moved on to Czersk. Tencza mentions to JJM that he represents a major logistics faction, that he’ll be riding out the winter in Gdansk, and that JJM should look him up when he gets back to the Baltic coast.
  
• The group decides to make for Nowe next, as a possible place to cross the Vistula.
  
• Now moving east toward Nowe, Fox let’s the major know that they’re being followed just as the town of Osie comes into view on the other side of a body of water.
  Engagement west of Osie
  
• The team heads north and attempts to cross the body of water, now a small river, and decide to attempt an ambush against the pursuing force as they try to cross behind them. The pursuing opfor must sense something is wrong however, and send part of the group farther ahead to ford north of the Mad Dogs, while some stay on their side of the river across from the ambush. Then, following one of the northern enemies slipping and falling, the enemy force opens up toward the ambushing Mad Dogs. The Mad Dogs kill a few of the pursuers, and Cooper takes a bad hit to his arm, breaking the bone. Then, once things are quiet, the unit marches out once more, getting to within a few hours march of Nowe.
  
• They find an abandoned farmhouse to billet in for the day, and settle in. During sleeping hours, D’Arcy sneaks away with the Black Madonna. Joe Morgan is found to have infection that has set in. The Mad Dogs send out a search party to look for D’Arcy and recover the invaluable painting.
  
• The search party quickly comes across D’Arcy coming back toward them on a trail, with a chicken in his arms, confused about why the party was out looking for him. Suddenly, an American soldier comes out of the woods, weapon aimed at the group. The name on his BDUs says Weaver. Turns out he’s American special forces, and knows Friedmann. Weaver's patrol has 12 men. After some brief explanation of what the Mad Dogs are doing so far south (without letting Weaver know of their actual mission), Weaver lets the group return to their farmhouse billet. Weaver also gives the search party news of Soviets in nearby cities (page 19). Meanwhile the rest of the party lays up and forages, with a great deal of foraging success, until the search party with D’Arcy returns.
  
• The unit decides to send an advance team to Nowe (about 10km away now) to recce it, while the remainder of the Mad Dogs sit tight to heal and rest.
  
• The recce patrol to Nowe makes good speed, and quickly find themselves in a neutral town. The patrol heads in to check the local inn and a single general store. The inn and town is run by Irena Szewinska. JJM regales the bar patrons with his tale of what happened in Silesia (presumably not mentioned the Black Madonna). O’Brien meets and trades with a German soldier named Kurt for some 40mm grenades. Kurt also tells O'Brien about his former unit, about 12 men and a working Marder AFV, who turned to banditry around Starogard Gdanski. The recce patrol also trades for 120kg of grain and veggies. Marshall gets a lead on a vehicle from some armed valet boys in front of the inn - a Humvee with no oil for about $8000 in trade or gold. Irena also tells JJM about some bandits with a truck nearby - Polish deserters from Tczew, and offers to send a guide with the unit to show them where the bandits are located. Meanwhile, Babicevs and Mulcahy stumble into Valeska and her barge down at the river, who offers to sell them weapons and ammunition.
  
• The Mad Dogs decide to go for the bandits, and after the recce patrol returns they prepare together to go take out the bandits and recover their truck. Irena sends her guide, who turns out to be the self-styled “General” Smolarek - one of the young, armed, valet boys.
  Engagement outside of Nowe
  
• The Mad Dogs reach the bandit camp - 2 houses and 2 barns. The bandits appear to have 3 horses and 2 vehicles (one a sedan of some kind and the other a UAZ-452 minibus). The Mad attempt to sneak in but their second team is spotted, and it turns into a full on assault.
  
• Babicevs and Ferro manage to infiltrate one of the two houses, and immediately find themselves embroiled in a vicious hand to hand melee with two of the bandits. Ferro takes a shotgun blast to her torso, but the round is homemade with glass, a nail, and pebbles, and largely doesn’t penetrate the Kevlar. The two Mad Dogs then manage to kill their attackers just as others are getting into the house, and continue clearing it. From the basement comes a lone female prisoner.
  
• The Mad Dogs kill the rest of the bandits in the camp and settle in for the night to warm up. The sedan was damaged during the firefight, but the minibus and the horses are still okay. O’Brien sets up some mines around the perimeter of the encampment.
  
• In the morning, one of the mines goes off. It appears to have killed two locals while a third runs off.
  
• The group now has a working minibus (seats six), a load of equipment for trade, and heads back to their own camp to grab Fox and any who didn't partake in the assault. Then all together again, they go back to Nowe to complete their trade for the Humvee.
  
• Some of the group also visits Valeska and her barge. While there, Valeska turns on a handheld radio and mentions that there’s been a radio station transmitting out of Gdansk for the past 3 weeks, for 4 hours out of every 12. One show in the morning, and one at night, with local news, music, and opinions. It’s mostly static, but the group makes out some words: “rabbit...union...assholes...market...yesterday...food...”
  
• Others in the unit get the Humvee working (and trade the UAZ for it), while others end up trading for a .50 M2HB and ammo.
  
• Then comes a much needed night of carousing. Katarzyna Majchrzak decides to stay on with the Mad Dogs at least until reaching Gdansk. Babicevs and Lines have a boxing match for some time with a prostitute. Varis barely wins, but the match was an even one.
  
• In the morning, some Mad Dogs get in their new vehicle and head north along Route 377, while others walk alongside it. An hour from Osiek, the unit bumps into Weaver again, the Green Beret, who leads them into town. Taking the officers into a command bunker in the middle of the well fortified town, Weaver introduces them to Brg. Gen. Andrzej Malinowski, CO of the 2nd Polish free legion. He also introduces the XO, Maj. Hartman, 10th special forces group, and Tomasz Siemoniak, representative of the Polish Government in Exile. Siemoniak is somewhat hostile, seeing Gdansk's actions as illegal, but the others are friendly and provide what intel they have to the Mad Dogs.
  
• Dave the crew chief from the plane decides to stay in Osiek. The rest of the Mad Dogs move out again.
  
• About 20km northeast of Czarna Woda, the Mad Dogs encounter a Polish field hospital, and decide to try to steal one of the vehicles from there using a ruse where they will pretend to parlay, then demand surrender. This is technically a war crime, but being so low on rations, the group deems getting another vehicle necessary.
  Engagement Northeast of Czarna Woda
  
• The plan goes awry when bullets from the camp start streaming toward the Humvee/parlay vehicle. The Mad Dogs then start a cautious assault into the field hospital.
  
• Suppressing the enemy forces at the field hospital, the Mad Dogs move forward. It's a brief engagement, with Seeley takes a round to the thigh, but the Mad Dogs end up taking the field hospital and the remaining Poles surrender. The Mad Dogs then take possession of an ambulance model BMP, and exit the area with the Humvee providing rear security. Just before leaving, a platoon of dismounted Polish Calvary is noticed west of the unit, so the Mad Dogs head north.
  
• The Mad Dogs set a hide for the night about 2km West/Northwest of Starogard Gdanski. At a rail bridge next to the hide, the unit finds a crashed Canadian 2 1/2 ton truck partially submerged in the river below. In it, they find some various ordinance, including some 81mm mortar rounds, but it’s booby trapped.
  
• Overnight, Babicevs has his AK stolen, and Lines, his gloves. They don’t have time to go after the culprit, though they think it’s a local fisherman. O’Brien takes two of the mortar rounds, and leaves a charge to take take of the rest.
  
• The Mad Dogs head off again toward the northwest in a long looping curve around Tczew. Entering the town square at Nowa Karczma, they spot a parked Humvee. The group stops to investigate. In the back, they find a dead Pole, bound with a hood over his head, who appears to have been stabbed repeatedly. Inside a nearby shop they find a marine with a female Pole hostage. He tells the Mad Dogs that he’s on a snatch mission to Koscierzyna, from Gdansk, and his driver and the Pole in the backseat were killed by “psychos” in the town. The female prisoner is the other person they had grabbed on their mission, and the marine isn’t going to let her go. The crazies apparently ran off when they heard the unit’s vehicles approaching. At this time, the Mad Dogs notice some movement on their flanks, bunch of scraggly looking people are surrounding them. The Marine is named Keith Grady.
  
• Just as the group gets into their vehicles to leave, taking the new Humvee, Keith, and female prisoner with them, they see about 6 uniformed soldiers moving in down the road to the east.
  Engagement at Nowe Karczma
  
• The Mad Dogs decide to fire on everything that moves and roll out, trying to break through the incoming Polish infantry. During the escape, Leota takes a bad hit. Lines gets ripped from the back of the BMP when a downed power line catches his helmet, nearly breaking his neck, and hurls him backward. A Molotov explodes against the trailing Humvee, with some burning liquid getting on O’Briens upper left arm, but the trailing Humvee manages to miss Lines, now lying in the road.
  
• Now on the ground and stumbling toward the nearest building, Lines takes a bullet to his arm. The trailing Humvee reverses to pick up Lines. O’Brien manages to put out the fire on his arm without getting burned, and lobs a grenade at the Poles, then gets shot in the shoulder. Upon getting out, Benucci takes a round to his leg just above the knee, because of course he does. :)
  
• Meanwhile the BMP parks about 1km down the road, while the second Humvee starts driving back toward the firefight. On the way back, they spot a BRDM-2 coming into town from the north, but is parked in a cutoff position. They radio the Humvee in town, who have finished dealing with the Polish infantry and successfully extracting (albeit with 2 more wounded). The two Humvees, separated by just a few hundred meters, prepare a plan via radio to deal with the scout car and any other Polish forces waiting just outside of town.

Back to the Story Recaps
Main