I am curious. just how may different things can the list come up with that
would be useful for "shit happens!" events during an operations or an acutaul
fight between armed combatants;
without straining my draidead brain here are some i have used for many years;
1. Vehicle refuses to start at the worst possible time.
2. Accidental weapons discharge, type of weapon, and immediate
effect.
3. Unit gets lost.
4. Allies decide it is safer not to come out and play, LOL, but do not bother
to tell ya they ae not coming!.
5. Language problems!
6. Radios cannot communicate with other radios (also computers!)
7. Forces selected for the mission, unfortuately, are not available at the
last minute.
8. Vehicle breakdown duirng approach march!
9. Unit commander is a coward, and is of NO USE!
10. Senior officer or NCO drops dead with heart attack during the fight!
11. Sneior officer or NCO is dead drunk!
12. Senior officer or NCO is seriously injured BEFORE BATTLE BEGINS!
13. Higher HQ re-assigns promised supports for whatever reasons AFTER
YOU ARE COMMITTED TO THE OPERATION!
14. FRIENDLY FIRE RUINS YOUR DAY!
15. Your surprise attack, is actually a nasty trap for your unit!
16. Enemy unit, of superior quality, encountered where there re
not supposed to be any such units.
17. Your re-supply drop has re-supplied the enemy!
18. Ammo shortage! blazing merrily away without any worries IS NOT AN OPTION!
19. your guide is either a kid or a small adult male/female. suddenly
you discover that your armed to the teeth gung ho 200+ pounders are
just TOO DAMNED BIG to infiltrate the enemy lines using drainage pipes used by
the guide...
20. while sneaking into the enemy installation via sewer, water pipe
connecting the well to the river, etc, you come face to face with
the local version of a two -stepper going the other way, or worse, a
nest of a very aggressive and deady local insect.
21. unit saddled with a useless VIP observer for the the mission (so
he/she can get a gong).
curious to read what other ideas are floating about OUT THERE....
DAWGIE
G'day,
> I am curious. just how may different things can the list come up with
In the process of reading Cryptonomicon (very cool book by Neal Stephenson) so
the ones that spring to mind are
1) Find gold bars... now do we go for the gold or do we continue as we are?
2) Must get code papers out of downed U-boat which upon entering you
find is full of raw sewage
3) Your morphine runs out
4) Despite the unthinkable they've broken your codes
5) Your superiors have you doing something that seems completely illogical,
but for a very good purpose (e.g. must pretend to have only just realised the
bad guys are after you and thus wait around for rescue plane rather than be
safely gone with no risk)
6) Giant lizards are coming to get you...
Cheers
> > I am curious. just how may different things can the list come up
Someone gave a 2LT a map. Could be the LT who is giving orders to...
--your unit
--supporting artillery
--your reinforcements
--the supply convoy
--the airstrike
--the unit assigned to protect your flank
--the unit which is surrounded by enemy and you have to go rescue
them, except they're not where you were told they were
--the enemy unit, which has blundered into your operation even though
you know it's supposed to be 60km away
--the civilians
--the neutral observer
--the meteorologist ("good weather predicted for your area, torrential
downpours expected on the other side of the mountains. Why are all the labels
on this map printed upside down?")
--knowing Murphy: all of the above
> --- DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:
> curious to read what other ideas are floating about
Pointman gets the runs at the worst possible time.
Handgrenade lot has, instead of explosive filler, small pieces of paper
reading "Union of French Women Supports the Viet Mihn".
You get a nuclear STRIKEWARN meant for your sister batallion.
Your brilliant flank attack runs into a minefield from the LAST war.
While digging a foxhole, PFC Snuffy runs across a
buried dud 1000 lb bomb. Also from the last war--and
the fuze is a bit shady.
Panicky LP/OP reports a tank batallion attack when he
_saw_ about 3 IFVs.
Your divisional commander picks now to give you the benefit of his many years
of experience.
Aviator is having a rough day and dumps his ordnance more or less at random on
the battlefield. Dice for where it lands.
> At 6:24 PM -0500 5/20/02, DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:
Hmm. Lessee.
Historical Foulups
Radios at Market Garden not having the same range as expected or as previously
used (large dry expanse vs large moist expanse).
Drop Zones for re-supply captured.
Terrain causes degradation of vehicle equipment (constant climbing of
hedgerows during the early phases of the Normandy campaign caused
radios to move off channel. Especially on the large/long Churchills.
Also, running through terrain caused unexpected problems for crew. Having your
tank run through an orchard showers the commander and gunner with branches and
fruit.
A really good one is where some key piece of terrain (a bridge) on the edge of
your area of operations is guarded by (you thought) the other guys in your
line. They thought you had it. In reality, no one all the way up the chain (to
Corps or even Army group), realized the "other guys" weren't guarding it. Net
effect is that the scouts for the bad guys get to it and realize it's
unguarded. They proceed to pile everything they have onto that piece of
terrain to hold it and you have to play catch up.
> At 6:24 PM -0500 5/20/02, DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:
That strategic ruined church in the middle of the board turns out to have four
nuns and 34 orphans in it.
> > > I am curious. just how may different things can the list come up
My charts and your maps dont agree on where the landmarks are. We discover it
when my heavy NGFS mission lands where you dont expect/want it
Charts are wrong about close in depth. I end up aground and an excellent
target for counter-battery.
Halfway through your request for NGFS the radios stop communicating. Do I fire
on what I have or spend time reacquiring your RT?
Pilot thinks he knows how to read a map. Hasn't had his compass calibrated
lately.
John Rebori ETN2 (Discharged)
USN 1976 - 1982
ex-USS Pegasus PHM-1
From: "John Atkinson" <johnmatkinson@yahoo.com>
> Pointman gets the runs at the worst possible time.
Been there, done that. Had to be replaced as point due to the increased
aromatic signature.
> Handgrenade lot has, instead of explosive filler,
or the 5-second fuse replaced by a 0.05 second one in that batch.
> You get a nuclear STRIKEWARN meant for your sister
Worse, you get a nuclear STRIKEWARN meant for you.
> Panicky LP/OP reports a tank batallion attack when he
From: <JRebori682@aol.com>
> My charts and your maps dont agree on where the landmarks are. We
In the days pre WGS-84 and GPS, this was the norm rather than the
exception.
> Charts are wrong about close in depth. I end up aground and an
Still the norm for many parts of the world. Sandbanks are notoriously mobile.
> Pilot thinks he knows how to read a map. Hasn't had his compass
FC radar you're using to track that lighthouse in order to get an accurate
posfix is out-of-alignment by a few tenths of a degree.
> John Rebori
Alan and Carmel Brain schrieb:
> > Aviator is having a rough day and dumps his ordnance
Not that much, as can be gleaned from recent events (thogh I'm not sure other
AF are that much better)
Some more ideas:
- You are travelling down a narrow mountain road. You find the road
blocked by a rockslide and the engineer vehicle is not first in your order of
march
- The river you are using as a flank guard has frozen solidly enough to
allow enemies to cross
- You have dug yourself a nice defensive position facing forward.
Unfortunately, enemy tanks have broken through elsewhere and are coming from
the rear.
- Your are resting in a quiet little village. You get informed that an
enemy offensive is under way and going to encircle the whole area. Get out as
quickly as possible. Anybody on the table at the end of the game counts as a
prisoner.
- You are at the spearhead of a pincer movement. Those guys coming from
the other side of the table could be buddies or baddies and your IFF is iffy.
- You have a convoi of 100 trucks and a platoon to protect them.
Greetings
> At 12:51 2002-05-21 +0200, KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de wrote:
The enemy knows you are flank marching across the frozen river/lake and
intercepts you while you're on the ice. As you retreat/flee, the ice
breaks...
____
> On Tue, May 21, 2002 at 02:11:29PM +0200, Henrix wrote:
> intercepts you while you're on the ice. As you retreat/flee, the ice
So what are you going to do next, Aleksandr Nevskiy?
> At 13:16 2002-05-21 +0100, Roger Burton West wrote:
Nah, already had some friends who were going to do that (in DBM), but, like
so many grand plans, they ended up just talking. ;-)
But it could make a nice scenario, but you'd have to base all the minis on
snow, which would make them kinda useless for other games.
____
From: Henrix henrix@bonetmail.com
> But it could make a nice scenario, but you'd have to base all the minis
Depends on how elaborate your basing is. If not too much texture, you could
just sprinkle them with a little talc, then *quickly* rinse the base when
you're done.
> At 09:31 2002-05-21 -0400, laserlight@quixnet.net wrote:
True, and a good idea. (It wouldn't work with my bases, though, as they are
far too textured.)
____
> --- DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:
Based on a True story from personal experience:
"Special Use" elements of your peacekeeping forces are about to hit a defended
target for an extraction of a wanted leader of the opposing
forces when suddenly your secure, uber-encrypted radio net is cluttered
with short bursts of radio traffic that aren't following established comms
procedures.
The extraction goes all kinds of wrong as doubts about whether to proceed and
identifying the unauthorized persons on your radio net throw
off timing, movements and co-ordination of the elite teams.
This happened in Haiti. When the SPECFOR guys called for us to identify
ourselves, and explain how we were on their "secure" net we explained
"We are US soldiers operating privately purchased walkie-talkies for
vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Our current location is in the Cap
Hatien airport." They discussed calling off the Op, concerned that
"Friendlies" might be on the target. One guy came on the net asking
where we bought the walkie-talkies and we told 'em... Radio Shack.
I wonder what Radio Shack knew that the Russians had wished they knew!
> On Mon, 20 May 2002 18:24:00 -0500 (CDT), DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:
> I am curious. just how may different things can the list come up with
Well, from history:
1. Commander keeps overall plan to himself and immediate staff officers.
Security is so tight that he gets the jump on the enemy and completely out
maneuvers them. However, part of his plan called for aggressive movements by a
subordinate, who didn't know exactly what the plan was. Subordinate interprets
orders as conservatively as possible and doesn't launch timely assault to pin
the enemy. As a result, reinforcements head to the other sector to meet the
main assault force when they should have been pinned in place.
2. Commander has trouble feeding his troops. Sends off 1/3 of force to
forage. Other parts of the force are spread out so as not to be as big a
burden on one local area. He has contempt for the opposing commander. He
mistakes the intended target of a raiding party and inadvertently clears recce
units away from the enemy's intended march route. As a result, enemy
approaches him with a massive assault force in two pincers, both crossing a
river at different points, and with the commander unsure of which pincer is
the true threat. The contemptable enemy commander has gotten the better of the
headstrong defender.
3. New reconnaissance technology is being used. Civilian contractors and
military trainees both use the device. Civilian contractors are unable to
interpret the intelligence as effectively, when they use the device, as
military personnel. As such, worth of the device is somewhat compromised.
(Historically, the "device" was a hydrogen balloon.)
4. Communications gear fouls up. Commander gets garbled messages. He thinks
one of his units is on the north side of a river when they have actually
crossed over and made a beachhead on the south side of the river. Gives orders
to this unit assuming they are tardy and still on the other side of the river.
5. Enemy force is seen heading away from positions. Units in that sector
harass the rear guard. Most officers believe the enemy is retreating, as this
was to be expected due to the efforts of a major raiding party. In truth, the
"retreating" force is actually making a major flank attack.
6. Commander feels right flank is vulnerable. He sends orders to a portion of
the force in another sector and across a river to move onto the right flank.
Message sent via courier through safe terrain due to problems with a new
communications system. Courier still takes, for some reason never determined,
3 hours to travel 5 miles. As a result, reinforcements have to cross the river
in daylight instead of at night, and under fire! Movement to reinforce flank
is greatly (and, as it turns out, tragically) delayed.
7. Right flank is up against "impassable" terrain (in this case, thick woods).
Enemy movement in front of them is dismissed by unit commanders as recce
units. Unit commander pays lip service to direct order to reinforce his right
flank. Commander one level down in the echelon, who is commanding the extreme
right flank of the unit, is intoxicated on "pain medicines" (historically, he
was drunk) due to an injury suffered earlier. "Recce units" are actually part
of a major outflanking maneuver by the enemy. Impassable terrain isn't.
Reinforcing unit that was supposed to move in to support right flank was
delayed due to communication foul up and doesn't arrive in time.
8. Outflanking maneuver plans to hit the idle defender on the far flank.
However, there is only a vague idea of where the enemy is located. When they
come to the jumping off point for the outflanking maneuver, they discover that
the enemy is further to the right than expected. If they jump off from here,
they will hit the enemy obliquely. It would be better to move around further
to the right and hit them full in the side, but this will cost precious time.
What should the unit do? (Historically, the assaulting force was moved,
resulting in a surprise flank attack. The attack had to go off at sundown. As
a result, the attack started to lose cohesion just as it got dark.)
9. An outflanking attack is incredibly successful, but is starting to peter
out. Commander goes on unnecessary recce due to impatience. He, and next level
down commander who is with him, assumes the other warned nearby units of their
presence. Shots are fired, the commanders turn back and are hit with friendly
fire. Both commanders are wounded. Command falls to a ranking, well known and
well liked officer who, however, is not from the same branch of the service!
He also doesn't know the previous commander's plans because the previous
commander keeps everything to himself. He halts attack due to night fall,
resulting in a dug in enemy that needs to be assaulted the following morning.
10. Commander goes on the tactical defensive, waiting for a raiding party that
was given the order to "fight, fight, fight!" and to cut the enemy supply
lines. Thus, the commander gives up the initiative. Whole campaign hinges on
the supply lines cut and the enemy to their front being forced to retreat.
Supply lines are never cut due to the incompetence of the raiding party's
commander.
11. Unit holds a salient. Overall commander orders the unit to pull out of the
salient before it is surrounded. Salient, however, turns out to be an
excellent and natural "artillery park". As a result, the enemy ends up with
high ground and an advantage in counter battery and anti-infantry fire.
12. Unit is being heavily assaulted. Commander is moving units around the
battlefield very skillfully. He has two large units uncommitted just as the
enemy commits the last of his reserves. At that precise moment, when his men
are calling for reinforcements and the crisis point of the battle is reached,
the commander is wounded. Command _should_ be transferred to second in
command, but chief of staff is coordinating things in another sector. Acting
chief of staff is a politically appointed flunky that has been forced on the
commander by his superior. Flunky decides not to decide. Commander wakes up
and appears okay, but is in fact stunned and suffering the effects of a major
concussion. He does eventually relinquish command himself, but only after one
fateful hour goes by. When he does, he is not in complete control of his
faculties. He appears confused. He hands over command, but with the proviso
that the army withdraw. Does the second in command take over and ignore this
order, or does he accept what is obviously a bad decision on his commander's
part? (Historically, the second in command takes over and carries out the
erroneous order.)
13. Unit is ordered to move forward and take a dug in position on a ridge. Due
to the difficulty involved, and the commander's conservative style, coupled to
being unsure of what is expected of him and erroneous orders stemming from
garbled communications, the commander takes his time ordering the assault. The
force defending the position is very small. As he prepares to assault, the
position is reinforced, heavily. The opposing force is increased one echelon!
(Historically, the position was defended by a brigade, but by the time the
attack took place it was up to a reinforced division.)
14. Unit is defending high ground on the left that slopes to flatter wooded
ground with entrenchments on the right. The high ground is extremely
defensible and the sight of a bloody assault months earlier. Commander feels
the flatter area is the likely target. He reinforces the flatter area. The
opposing commander, though, makes the "stupid" mistake of assaulting the high
ground again. This would lead to another bloodbath, but the defenders have out
thought themselves and left the high ground less protected than it should be.
The assaulting force now has a real chance to take the position.
15. Unit takes the aforementioned high ground. However, it halts to move fresh
units to the front of the column before advancing. This gives the enemy time
to put up a delaying force. The assaulting unit moves forward over a series of
low ridges. In front is a large clearing in the woods. Enemy unit holds a
couple of defensible structures at the mouth of the clearing, and the woods at
the end of the clearing. Unknown to the assaulting force, another three units
the same size as the defending unit have moved up in reinforcement and are now
hiding in the woods. The assault becomes an ambush.
16. Unit pulls back after ambush and anchors itself against a river crossing.
Commander of the unit decides to withdraw across the river and tells overall
commander. A friend and fellow officer suggests that this should be the
decision of the overall commander, and so he sends a message stating that he
will hold in position until further orders. This second message is supposed to
supercede the first one, but both are sent about 10 minutes apart. Overall
commander gets the unit commander's message saying he is pulling back across
the river, and so he decides to make a general withdrawal. He sends a message
to the unit commander to pull out. Minutes later he receives the second
message from the unit commander (this is well before withdrawal order could
reach the unit commander). Overall commander realizes he still has a chance if
he holds the river crossing. He tells the unit commander to hold in place, and
that reinforcements are on the way. The overall commander receives the two
messages from his subordinate 20 minutes apart. The unit commander receives
the two messages from his superior (the first saying to withdraw, the second
saying to hold in place) some 90 minutes apart, due to communication gear foul
ups. By the time the second message -- the one ordering him to sit in
place --
arrives, the unit has already pulled out and the enemy is moving into the
vacated position.
All of these are from one single campaign during the American Civil War. (An
old fashioned Marvel Comics "No Prize" for the first person to guess the
campaign.) Not all of them are immediately applicable to modern combat, but
all of them can be used for a source of scenarios. Take number 16 for example.
What if the communication to pull out is given and the force starts to
withdraw, and _then_ the communication to stay is given a turn or two
later? Historically the enemy had spent itself and was not heavily harassing
the withdrawing unit. What if the unit was withdrawing under fire and then got
the order to turn around and stay? It would make a very interesting scenario.
Another one:
You are in a well-hidden ambush position. You decide that the
approaching heavy column is more than you can chew and give orders to keep
heads down.
Some Nervous Newbie lets go with a full-auto burst.
Greetings
> --- DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:
Well, as a rules mechanism idea, for a recent early-WWII 15mm game
(hey,
everyone needs a hobby.... <GRIN>) using a cobbled-together
not-quite-FMA-based ruleset, we decided to play nasty with artillery and
airsupport: basically, if you succeeded in a test, the mission arrived where
you wanted it. If you failed, but not too badly, you got to shift the mission
onto some other target of your choice within a certain radius of the original
one. If you REALLY stuffed up, then the OPPONENT got to shift the mission onto
any target of HIS choice within a rather larger radius....... worked really
nicely, especially to the French commander's glee when the Germans discovered
that despite all the bright red recognition flags on the engine decks of the
Panzers, the Stuka pilots
"couldn't find a whorehouse in Hamburg"........ ;-)
You're driving along in your APC when suddenly you're whisked off to another
planet. The locals advise you that they've summoned you to fight a dragon, and
they are unable to send you back until after the dragon is gone. And when you
manage to kill the dragon, they find they still can't send you back.
(Doomfarers of Coramonde)
--- Alan and Carmel Brain <aebrain@webone.com.au>
wrote:
> > Handgrenade lot has, instead of explosive filler,
That's actually a reference to Apocalypse Now Redux.
For those of you not familliar with the unedited
version of this triumph of film-making, they put back
in a scene where the PT boat runs across an outpost of French, a holdout
family, their retainers, and some Foreign Legion guys that never went home.
Absolutely
hysterical--shows the French at their magnificent
best, even if they are completely disconnected from reality.
> > You get a nuclear STRIKEWARN meant for your sister
In that case, no point in continuing the scenario.
Took that book to the NTC, the whole (scout) platoon had it read by the time
we went home!
- Strategic intelligence indicates there is a strong enemy force cloes
by. Trouble is, your own recce can't find them
- You have used a mountain/jungle/swamp/desert to cover part of your
front because you think it's impassable. The enemy thinks otherwise.
- You have successfully occupied your landing zone and want to move to
your real objective. Your route leads over some rugged terrain and you never
thought the enemy would think of occupying it. The enemy is smarter than that.
- The contemptible colonial militia you could easily ovrerun with your
elite professional troops is rather better equipped than expected, trained and
led than you expected and knows how to make use of the local terrain.
Greetings
Your CO knows the terrain your opponent thinks is protecting his flank is
easily passable, the enemy thinks its seriously restricting. Your CO is wrong,
the enemy is right, and he's smart enough to have it covered, just in case.
John Rebori ETN2 (Discharged)
USN 1976 - 1982
> At 9:20 AM -0400 5/22/02, JRebori682@aol.com wrote:
Or the opposite, the enemy doesn't think you can get Armor through a certain
forest, however your tank crews deduce that if the trees are too big to push
over then they can drive between them and if they are too close together to
drive between, then they'll be easy to push over. Your heavy units appear
where the other guy doesn't at all expect them to be.
A Para platoon has landed behind the lines, well away from where they
should have been. They've wiped out one of your sentry posts/AA
emplacements/etc and are holed up in a a defensible position overlooking
a road. They are a threat to traffic and have to be running out of ammo, so
your company is going to assault at first light.
Half an hour before first light, the rest of the para company attacks you from
the rear.
> At 11:23 AM -0400 5/22/02, laserlight@quixnet.net wrote:
The only thing worse would be that they have a Ghurka unit with them....
> --- "K.H.Ranitzsch" <KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de> wrote:
Reverse problem:
You're trying to report up the presence of enemy armor (which isn't supposed
to be here, just light troops).
Your chain of command insists that SIGINT does not indicate the presence of
enemy armor.
You point out that you can see 3 tanks 400 meters away.
Your chain of command says "That is not a SIGINT indicator."
You offer to let your chain of command speak to the TC of one of the tanks if
they don't get some goddamn air support here in about 5 minutes, and speculate
as to whether that would consistute a SIGINT indicator.
That happened. The Germans pushed through the Ardennes Forest in 1940. The
French had 2nd, 3rd and 4th rate units in line behind the forest, so
the Germans smashed the defensive line to flinders.
> Ryan Gill wrote:
> At 9:20 AM -0400 5/22/02, JRebori682@aol.com wrote:
> At 6:24 PM -0500 5/20/02, DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:
From: On Behalf Of Edward Lipsett
Sent: 21 May 2002 02:20
Subject: Re: MURPHY AT WAR
> That strategic ruined church in the middle of the board
The orphans are all gang veterans and the nuns are armed with heavy weapons.
If attacked they can also call down Papal orbital artillery.
Regards the historical actions fubar, it's been fun guessing but I'd be in
favour of the contributors posting the answers.
> At 2:53 PM -0700 5/22/02, Michael Llaneza wrote:
Well, there were roads and such through the forest. I'm speaking of an
instance where the British managed to get a large number of Churchills
(hardest Allied Tank for the Germans to crack) through a forest that had no
roads through it and was assumed to be impassable to armor. (as it typically
is...)
I've looked through my books to find the specific reference. I seem to recall
that it was just after the Cobra breakout of Normandy and not all the way into
Germany. Somewhere between those two major phases.
> --- CS Renegade <njg@csrenegade.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> > That strategic ruined church in the middle of the
Speaking of that...
One of the things I want to do sometime a couple paydays[1] after leave[2] is
to put together a
low-level youth gang force. Mostly knives, pipes, a
handful of handguns. No SMGs or assault rifles or whatever. I want to use 'em
as wildcards in some scenarios I have in mind. Anyone know any good figs,
preferably on the smaller side but not 15mm.
> If attacked they can also call down
Damned Templars!
> --- Michael Llaneza <maserati@earthlink.net> wrote:
Um, the attacks through the Ardennes were limited to roads. That terrain sucks
ASS. What was surprising to the French was that they managed to shove so many
tanks through such a crummy road net. Oh, and that the Germans didn't forget
everything they learned in 4 years of bloodletting and charge headlong into
fixed fortifications.
> Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 13:52:16 -0700 (PDT)
That's HUMINT isn't it. And you know what they say about Military
Intelligence.:)