TigerGuard

I specifically mentioned being in the AV, not the A-20. I am aware that the response being airmobile is of paramount importance.

As for the drive, it is roughly 180 miles or 289 kilometers. Google lists the drive time from Wendover, Nevada (the state line) to Battle Mountain, Nevada as 2 hours and 23 minutes. If Wells is our primary base, that puts us 58 miles from the Utah border / Wendover, and 121 miles from Battle Mountain. 

So if we have 150 combatants, and 3 locations + a convoy detail, doesn’t that break down into 5x30 man platoons - 1 for each assignment and a 5th in the R&R station. The hard locations get 3x10 men squads working 8 hour shifts. The convoy detachment is an on the go / standby to go assignment. Each location rotates every week. The towns face intermittent action, not actual siege like conditions and the presence of highly armed, motivated, and well equipped professionals should actually decrease activity at those locations rather than increase it. Add into all of that a web of drones and (if we make the right in-roads with outliers) actual ground intel, we should be alerted to hostiles before they are close enough to initiate combat - yes that’s a best case scenario and we need to prep for the worst, but we also have to look at the tools available in the tool box and work with what we have. 

In terms of a QRF - isn’t that us? We the highly talented men and women who rid Night City of the scourge known as the Voodoo Boyz.  Aren’t we meant to not only be the face and front office, but also the mean motherfuckers that show up when things look dire? Riding in aboard a blazing AV, piloted by a mad Ukrainian blaring music from a bygone era, bringing hellfire and destruction to those foolish enough to oppose us… Not to mention we’ll have actual Federal Marshals working with us, and they technically have the ability to issue immediate justice under certain circumstances. 
 

I agree that this is an outlandish ask of our organization, and it’s only going to get more problematic when we have to add the other roads to the equation. So we need tact over tactical for some of this. We need to look over the citizen info provided to us and see who we can make alliances with, who we can make agreements with, and who we can leverage for support.  These people have been abandoned and left on their own for quite a while, it’ll take a lot for us to earn their trust. 

Cossack's 2 cents - the best way we can provide a future for Suzy is if we not only stay alive for the next 5 years, but make ourselves prosperous during that time. To that end, Cossack would like the cooperative to consider a proposition - there will be an uptick in business for the Wells community, and soldiers and drivers need a place to hang out.  Would anyone be interested in going in on a business venture to perhaps acquire and update the old El Rancho Hotel, Bar and Casino?  It's unlikely most of us could qualify for a gambling license (hell, we may even be hard pressed to legally obtain a liquor license!), but who knows.  At the very least, a Hotel with a Bar and Restaurant may prove profitable.  It's a thought that I wanted to put out there.  Cossack and Celestine will be hashing it out a bit during the interim.

I see in the info above that the Swede is joining the team proper, but I wanted to make sure that Crusher and his sisters are still on the list to accompany us to Wells?  Those 3 may actually meet the criteria needed for the licenses above, if we're the silent partners fronting the cash.  It's jacked up to lose Suzy at this point, her expertise in clubs might go a long way to making the Bar at a highway hotel into something memorable (and profitable). Oh well, perhaps in time. 

Additionally, as we prepare for our relocation, Cossack would like to make everyone aware that he purchased a Pilot: AV chip for the Scholar.  I highly recommend that everyone uses this before we depart so that they are prepared to be emergency pilots should the need ever arise.  Please keep in mind that the EEC Air jeeps are AV, not hover.  I personally think it should be hover, but when in Rome....

Cossack would like to bring his GevHog as a secondary vehicle that might come in handy for scouting remote locations.  Not to mention the psychological effect it might have on the Desert Devils!  Would this prove problematic on our transfer?

Surprisingly we made it through with only Suzy and Jake taking any noticeable damage. 3 gangers did manage to escape, much to our disgust. The big bosses hiding in the under highway bunker fled once the tank arrived at the outskirts of the compound. Unfortunately for them, they fled towards the police who seem to have forgotten the “detain any who surrender” order. 
As we basked in the glory of our accomplishment, Nails and Gunsights arrived with a warrant for Suzy. She was arrested on federal charges and we were informed of warrants for Samantha and Mitzi - but they both seem to be in the wind. Fawkes was “discharged” from the hospital somehow, and is now unaccounted for. His sister was swept up and charged along with Suzy.

Suzy plead guilty to a murder charge from her teen years and all of the hacking charges against her and Fawkes’ sister were dismissed, but the judge threw the book at Suzy and sent her to a federal super max for the next 5 years. 
 

And now you’re all caught up. 

@senior officer Mikael van Atta get well soon sir.  

Mysteries of the Abandoned is a fascinating show if you can track it down online. They did one episode about a giant radio tower in Poland that collapsed during maintenance, some german tunnels from wwII that I think are in Poland, abandoned mining towns here in the States. In other words, lots of material for GM’s to incorporate into specific settings that many people may not know beforehand. 

1 hour ago, Snowyn said:

As for "someone inside we don't want killed" -- who would that be? There will be zero innocent bystanders or civilians here. Only VDBz and their allied gangers.

A lot of gangs have hanger ons who are there for the “safety” provided by any armed group, so there will probably be some non-combatants present - most likely women with small children.  Unfortunately in situations like these, such people are referred to as collateral damage.  We have to try our best to limit such casualties, but these considerations should be post action, not during. Fawkes (and I assume Suzy), is relieved that Jamal was able to save the young girl in the mall, but doing so jeopardized the mission and Fawkes’s life. Obviously we will not target any un-armed people - male, female, old, young, or in between - but any encountered have to be rendered unable to pose a threat. Zip cuffs on ankles/wrists and a police interview after, for any who seek surrender or claim innocence. First aid for anyone beyond the team must be reserved for after the fight. 
 

And I would add to the earlier responses that we are here to enhance Whyte Hats reputation, while the powers that be have asked us here in case they need a fall guy (in case there are a lot of civilians in these buildings for instance). 

5 hours ago, senior officer Mikael van Atta said:

No, splitting our forces is not a good idea. We're going into the situation knowing we are being outnumbered. Again. We won't be having the element of surprise, too. We can't count on having superior firepower globally. We won't be able to use superior mobility - we don't have it. 

Honestly, everything I've learned about RL tactics, especially in urban terrain, says "if you get into that, expect to have your butt kicked". We're attacking a prepared enemy position here without proper numbers or proper support.

Which is happening for the n-th time in this game. This, in turn, means classic tactics do not apply well here. Personally, I must admit, I find it deeply frustrating.

Still, if we have to do it, we have to do it.

Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result is kind of the definition of insanity.  Every time we've been in this situation we stack up in the hall and proceed into the meat grinder, and send at least one of the team to the hospital.  Keeping that in mind, may I please present for your consideration, the wise words of Xander Cage -

        You've got a bazooka.  Stop thinking Prague police and start thinking playstation.  Blow some shit up!

They're in a prepared position, ied's / explosives prepped at doorways, possibly firing positions to cover hallways and doors.  So use a grenade launcher to blow a hole in the side of the building, then put a chemical round into the hole you just made.  Rinse and repeat for every building you can target from your starting position.  Have the A-20 use it's cannon to strafe the buildings along the side of each road.  Stepan and Banzai Jack provide cover in case anyone sticks their head out.  We have yet to be outgunned by these guys, so let's kick it up a notch and see how prepared they really are.  We are going to literally rain 40mike mikes on a compound and attempt to reduce bunkers to rubble, why are we supposed to be "gentle" on some ramshackle out buildings?  Once you've put some new windows into those dwellings, use another HE round to knock on the door of your choice to make sure your entryway is now cleared for your arrival.  And you know what, feel free to send a second one down the hall in case someone down there is feeling neglected.  Once inside, Suzy and 8-Ball have cameras to check under doorways before opening them, so take a look and if someone is waiting inside let's punch a hole in the door or adjoining wall with a nice solid slug from a shotgun and toss them a house warming present - or a frag grenade...  tomato, tom(ah)to.  They've seen our controlled combat tactics, now unleash the horrors of war upon these people.

6 hours ago, Snowyn said:

Including, I think all members of those teams need to have assault rifles, as in ability to fire 10, 15, or 30 shots into the VDBz, instead of pop, pop single shots. We need to be able to mow them down like blades of grass.

Billy Ray only has an M1, so if you want him to have a true assault rifle then please give him the FN-RAL rifle Fawkes used on the previous mission.  That was company gear, not a personal possession, so having that with the double magazine should fulfill your preferred tactic.  While we're at it, are the restrictions for larger magazines stacking?  The Cyberpunk 2020 Reference Book v.5 lists magazines above 2x as having -1 Concealability (do we really care in this situation? We aren't here to be subtle or stealth in and out, we need lots and lots of ammo with less reloading) / -1 Reliabilty (FN-RAL's are Very Reliable, so they down step to Standard.....and?) and finally -1/-2 to snapshot (uhm, ok).  If we upgrade to 3x capacity for this, then we have 6 rounds of firing 15 rounds per target without reloading, or 3 rounds of full 30 round dumps - perhaps spread across multiple targets if they are good enough to group together. If we go to the full 5x capacity, that's 10 rounds of controlled 15 round bursts.

Metal Gear for Crusher and Billy Ray then. I’m comfortable with their current rifles since that is their customary kit, and if possible I’d like to see them each have 3xHE grenades and 2xFlash Bang grenades. Do we want to issue them some plastic restraints so they can do mop up of any targets knocked unconscious by lead elements? If possible I would like to hold Crusher and Billy Ray back in a support posture so that the PC’s are the main focus and they’re present in case things get heavy, or to keep 8-Ball and/or Jamal moving on the main target while loose ends are wrapped up. 

Does Crusher and Billy Ray have athletics for throwing grenades?  Or any special skills which might prove useful in this expedition?  I'm assuming they'll both be excellent riflemen to support the entry teams, but if either can do anything special it would be helpful to know before 8-Ball or Suzy lay out the assault plan.

To answer a question from @Allen1 I will be glad to take a Chrome Beret or 2 for the ground assault. That should provide two 4 man fire teams for the building clearings. 
Who do we have for special weapons in those groups? And what will they be kitted with?

On 29/01/2022 at 13:04, Allen1 said:

As to the attack itself:  Absolutely, the Team should take its time with this, once the attack begins.  The initial assault on the Voodoo Boyz HQ (Episode 43) was well planned.  Kudos to 8-Ball on his paired approach to the attack.  However, the plan immediately fell apart and wasn't followed.  No finger pointing, but everyone should have studied it better because it was a good plan.  The attack on the Burkett Mall worked much better, because everyone on the Team followed the plan, initially.  I think that people moved forward too quickly once the juvies were put to flight. 

I have struggled for a bit with the notion that we make good foundations, or outlines, for plans for our attacks, but we often lack specifics - which is what leads to our many issues.  In the attack on the HQ we had a plan for set pairs, and a declaration that one pair would take the north wall, one the west wall, and one hold the center (more or less).  However, I do not recall there being a designation of which of the groups had which assignment, instead it was left to fall to each person to make a decision in the heat of the moment.  We really should have designated Team A here, Team B here, and Team C here.  First shooter of A moves to this point and lays down covering/suppressive fire or grenades until 2nd member of the team either advances to the same spot or leapfrogs to the next set position.  We had the maps, and they were accurate to what we actually found, so we should have had a plan for moving cover to cover, but instead we did a mad dash.

In the mall, Cossack understood the plan to be that he was moving to the southern doors with the ability to fire along the inner hall, while others seemed to think he was supposed to stop in the intersection. This was totally my own misunderstanding as 8-Ball and I had discussed it here, but once we hit the map I reverted to my own concept.  Suzy was under the impression that her plan was clear that the group would not move down the main hall until after the juvies had been put to flight and the east wing cleared, 8-Ball and Crusher thought they were supposed to proceed down the hall in a simultaneous maneuver. Fawkes was under the impression that we would not split off down either of the back hallways, but rather move as a single force down the main hall, which caused him to hesitate when the first door was blown and Suzy decided to proceed that way.  We have to adapt as the situation unfolds before us, but we don't communicate what we're doing. 

In terms of this final assault, we have a general plan again - Cossack waits with the A-20 and assigned crew, Suzy attempts to damage the bunkers with ordinance from above, and some of our people clear the buildings to the east.  I would like to see designations for Fire Team A and Fire Team B.  One group is assigned the north buildings along the road up to the outpost, while the other takes the southern cluster.  When Team A advances on their assigned buildings, members A and B will infiltrate the first building, while C and D maintain overwatch - thus able to provide a fall back position or reinforcements, as needed.  I would like to see each of the buildings in each cluster designated 1-5, A-D, Alpha-Omega, whatever suits the planners' fancy, and have a clear designation to how each group is proceeding in the clearing of the buildings.  Where ever Cossack is holding, can he provide suppressive fire on the street side buildings?  Can he target the eastern most portions of the clusters to create entry points for the sweep teams?  We need flexibility once the engagement begins, but before it jumps off we need to be as specific as possible.

So any affiliated gangs would be in addition to the 22 or 30 people we expect to be onsite?

In addition to the VB’s, there are remnants of the Storm Lords here as well, correct?

So will Cossack be maneuvering the A-20 to the intersection to cover the doors and be able to respond if it appears reinforcements are approaching, or is 8-Ball envisioning using the tank to physically block the exit and fill the hall with AC rounds?

I personally feel the latter has a heightened risk of friendly casualties, but as I won’t be on the receiving end I’m very open to someone else’s decision. 

Cossack is fine with bringing in Stepan, he should excel at this setup. 
 

I do have a question on the map - is that a entry to the mall at the south end of the hallway just past Port-au-Prince Trading Company?  Will I need to reposition the A-20 to cover this if it is an exit?

Will we be seeing the layout of the facility prior to Saturday morning?

In hitting the Burkett, we need to keep in mind several things -

1) There is a Triad operation just outside the mall, we don't know how - or if! - they'll react when we arrive in a military vehicle and begin lighting people up.

2) The VB's took over the old gang hangout / bar a block or 2 north of the mall.  There might be reinforcements that come from there.  Since the A-20 obviously can't go into the mall, it will have to run a picket against outsiders becoming involved.

3) I like the idea of the tower shields, but realistically only Fawkes, Crusher and 8-Ball can carry them - which would cut our assault force in half in exchange for enhanced protection for the remaining 3.  Also, to be of maximum protection we would need to shield wall down the corridor which exposes us to area of effect weapons like molotovs and grenades.  We could reduce to 2 or 1 shield and just stack behind them, but that alters our ability to respond to fire from multiple angles.  There was some discussion in the other thread about shields, but I didn't see anything definitive.  Will the shield bearer be able to use a handgun?

4) Is everyone mentally prepared for this sort of fight?  We will not be able to discount wounded as out of combat, if they are conscious they're combat capable.  Gender and age can't be discounted either.  Anyone capable of firing a weapon who is wearing gang gear must be considered a threat (don't forget the "kid" who tried to poison our client during our protection detail).  If some want to insist that incapacitated members of the opposition are delivered to the police station down the street, that will be a hard sell because will we have the vehicle capacity for that?  Are we prepared to be exposed to others who disapprove of our actions while we try to move them?  And leaving downed enemies behind is a recipe for disaster as that leads to vendettas.

5) Can we cap the creepy guy that sold the drugs to Fawkes and Mitzi when we first started investigating the blue goo?

As to our gear -

1) Is the A-20 going to be matte black, OD green, or urban camouflaged? Will it have markings that appear official?  A Whyte Hat logo?  A dacian wolf in memory of a lost patron.....

2) I believe our armor is already matte black - do we leave it that way?  Do the tower shields go all black as well?  Is putting a Punisher Skull on the shield bad form?  What about voodoo symbols or a Whyte Hat atop a black skull (the inverse of the Samedi symbol)?

3) Considering the status as a shopping center for the neighborhood, are grenades out of bounds in order to protect the structure as much as possible?

4) We have the A-20 and drones, can we combine the 2 into an anti-sniper platform as we travel down the highway?

Cossack will more than likely pass on the offer because he doesn’t trust a government to put anything into him. He doesn’t trust Corps either, that’s why he took a tool set for the Raven job. 
 

Fawkes, on the other hand, is strongly looking at that Seduction boost!

While the question was raised specifically by this situation, it applies to a plethora of skill checks in the future. In this instance, if Fawkes had assisted Angel would Mitzi have been able to roll her skill to evaluate?  Now instead of 2 pc’s increasing their skills it’s 3, and some of the lower end people pick up points to enhance the skills they don’t get to use because they aren’t top 2. In some ways this seems like it could be a rules abuse, which is why I’m asking you for a judgement. 
But as important as the skill checks are, the driving force of the question is if either of them would be allowed to roll an appraisal of the job if they aren’t the assistant?

So, asking for a friend, when characters A and B are top in a skill; instead of them working together on a task could one of them instead use person C, D, or E as their assistant and then whichever of the top 2 didn’t do the work evaluate the result?

Out of curiosity, why aren’t we discussing SAW’s and 25mm GL’s?

Also, considering how it seems like price is no object at times, a Tsunami “Ragnarok” seems like a fantastic shotgun option for one or 2 of the team. 
 

Something that needs to be stressed here since it has been stated multiple times - the Baron Samedi group is extremely competent at what they do, so we have to acknowledge that we may be walking into a trap. I believe it is very likely that Tanque is going to be ambushed by overwhelming numbers simply because the NCPD is so riddled with corrupt officers that I’m willing to bet one has sold out his coming raid. 

5 hours ago, senior officer Mikael van Atta said:

This, however, allows us to form 2 separate strike teams (3 combatants, 1 support) to make use of both entrances to the VB hideout.

It has already been stated that Samantha and Suzy think(!) they can spoof the Samedi defenses on one tunnel. They do not think they could handle 2, and are definitely not able to handle all 3. 

23 minutes ago, senior officer Mikael van Atta said:

 

@TigerGuard- good point. And now you know why 8-Ball keeps his old FN-RAL around, and takes care to pack an essentially disposable Armalite 44 as a sidearm "for operations"

And now you know why Fawkes was so set on keeping one of the Indonesian assault rifles. 😎

As the VB’s have been studying us, and we apparently want to avoid possible attention from the authorities, are we kitting out with different weapons from the company standard Dragon’s?  I realize rifling can be changed post engagement, but a lot of bodies with 6.5 slugs in them will point in one direction. That does lend itself to plausible deniability - “If we were going to commit a mass slaughter why would we use company weapons?” but most won’t believe our protestations of innocence.