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Paxon · July 7, 2022

Refugee Column, Round 4

Outside Greenwood

As Tia growled forward, Tanya fired a specialized magnetic round. Though only denting the metal of the truck, it clamped on and emitted a powerful attractive force on the slugs fired from Tia's cannon, a little trick passed down from her father and his father before him.

Det's shot arrived next, and destruction followed. The Archon had just finished delivering a damning condemnation, and he was taking a breath to deliver instructions for wrath upon the armored interlopers. Her modified round struck him on his armor with a small explosion, spinning him around. Then came the big explosion, erupting from his chest and washing over all the Wrathful behind him. They would have been blown off their feet were they not already standing against rails and otherwise tightly packed, but several caught fire from the burning explosive. More bangs signified additional shots delivered from Det's rifle, hitting the burning targets lit brightly by her flames, and delivering tertiary explosions. The Archon collapsed against the front of the platform, now a limp and smoldering figurehead for the vessel. One of his followers just stared, stunned, while the others tried to collect themselves for retaliation.

It didn't help their efforts that the big platform truck was next stuck by a shot from the Boom Box. It smashed into the middle just behind the cab, spraying hot shrapnel out the other side. The vehicle was rocked and knocked to the side. The screeching sound of tearing metal followed as the giant buzzsaw on the truck behind it dug into the rear, sheering away metal, cutting through one of the supports of the platform. Amazingly, the whole contraption continued driving forward, but it was guesswork how long it would be before it simply collapsed.

Next one of Doc's spheres launched from the Tank in a puff of steam, and smashed in a cloud between the Harpooner vehicle and the Jeep. The raiders atop the Jeep began coughing, and visibly swayed as the toxin affected them.

Duende unleashed his own barrage of deadly metal. One shot snapped against the attack trike, gumming up its mechanisms, though it broke free of wires that snapped against the ground. The driver barred his teeth in effort as he tried to control it. His next shots struck the zealot in the livestock truck, and the two raiders on the jeep. Both of the latter were stuck to the roof of the jeep my the modified round, while the zealot in the truck ahead managed to avoid being locked down, even as the material still entangled him. One final shot grazed the neck of a gunner on the platform truck, causing blood to begin gushing from the wound.

Packer pushed the speed loader round into the breech, the extra hitch as he closed it up telling him that he didn't quite fit the round in perfectly. No matter, it would still fire. He practically leapt up the steps through the loader hatch, arriving atop Tia and setting his shield. And none-to-soon.

Metal began zipping and pinging off of the Tank and Packer's giant shield as a deluge of fire came in from multiple directions. The starboard gunner on the platform truck unleashed a long chattering spray of machine gun fire, apparently trying to hit anything he could. The gun truck kept advancing as well, and the gunner on that vehicle fired a more focused burst. Packer felt in impact on his armor as a round glanced off, and several on his shield as he lowered it to provide extra cover to Tanya's head and torso.

A steak of smoke erupted from the top deck of the platform truck. "RPG!" one of the Tanker's shouted, and the braced themselves. But the rocketing explosive arced wide, and sent an explosion of dirt into the air a few dozen meters behind the tank. More muzzle flares came from the top deck of the platform truck as the individual raiders also fired their personal firearms at the tank riders. No strangers to flying lead, Tia's Tankers held fast and no one was hit.

The platform truck kept going forward, and the buzzsaw truck was able to extricate its weapon from the back, swerve, and continue in pursuit of the fleeing refugee vehicles. Those were now gaining ground, though the buggy in the lead with the woman who'd been signaling turned suddenly coming around in a loop, appearing to maneuver to get in the rear of the formation, or perhaps to offer assistance if it was needed. On the livestock truck, the zealot had crawled over the sideboard, almost disappearing from sight, and sidled along to the driver-side window where he appeared to get into a struggle with the driver.

The Harpooner vehicle accelerated, crunching against the jeep, pushing past its rear bumper, and driving toward the Tank. The grapple line was still attached, and the rear end of the jeep was pulled around forward as Harpooner moved, being dragged along with it. The vehicle moved through and out the other side of Doc's toxic cloud, though the front end of the jeep didn't quite make it clear. The raiders atop were stuck fast, injured by gunfire, and trying to cut their way out of the restraining material.

The buzz of a trike motor and a maniacal war cry punched through the noise. The remaining trike, though struggling, had maneuvered around and closed on the tank. The zealot on back poured a bottle of some liquid into his mouth, and was the source of the ululation. As the trike came close to the Tank, the maddened warrior launched himself off with a rather impressive leap, landed on back of the Tank, and struck down with the bulky end of his polearm. "Die sinners!" he yelled. It was apparently a grenade attached the pole, for it exploded on contact, flame and shrapnel reflecting off the tank's hull and slicing through the air nearby. One of the ablative plates Det had installed took the impact for the tank. The Zealot himself was rocked by the blast, though despite some sliced skin and a shredded ear, he seemed remarkably intact. Hot bits of metal and a concussive impact also washed over Tanya and Duende, and the sound of it thrummed through the tank interior below.

OOC / MECHANICS

OOC

Round 4... FIGHT! (Tanya and Duende need to make a DC20 ref save). Packer didn't end up needing to use any actions to increase others' AC, though if he has anything to help ref saves, that would help Tanya and Duende.

MECHANICS

Crew Results

Tanya: Hits the Platform Truck with a loadstone shot, the hardness absorbs all damage but everyone else gets +3 on hitting it.

- Common raider humanoids and vehicles are considered Scouted for your effects

Doc: Drives Tank 70' SW. Launches a Drowsy Venom to front bumper intersection of Harpooner. All within the burst fail their save and become fatigued, except for the passenger in the Jeep.

- Vehicles and Raiders are considered Scouted

Martin: Hit with main cannon attack on the Platform Truck, dealing 78 damage (before hardness, etc). It has gained the Broken condition. Bullrush succeeds, driving it into the front of BuzzTruck. The Buzzsaw deals additional damage.

Packer: Reloads from the Speed Rack, and heads topside. Prepares to defend allies.

Det: Puts the governor back on, and fire a really mean shot.

Archon hit with initial shot, dealing damage. Adjacent raiders suffer Explosive Rounds damage.
Archon fails save, Land Mine triggered on detonator sending an Incendiary cone backwards.
- Archon, P Zealot 2, both Gunners, and the truck suffer the full effects of the explosive and are set on fire
- P Raider 1, 2 and P Zealot 1 make the save, only suffering half damage.
Archon, P Zealot 2, Starboard Gunner, Port Gunner trigger AOOs from Det, all of which connect. Both raiders take additional splash damage.

Duende: Goes agro and shoots lots of stuff. Trike 1, BuzzZealot 1, Harpooner Raider 1 and Harpooner Zealot 2 are all Hit (Zealot 2 twice)

Trike and Buzz Zealot 1 save against Tanglefoot, suffering the lesser effects
Both enemies atop jeep fail saves, and are glued to the top, unable to move.

- Vehicles and Raiders Scouted

- Zuki restores Duende's and Tank's Martial Focus

Tanya/Doc/Duende: Raider KnowledgeThe Wrathful use religious doctrine and might-makes-right rhetoric to attract violent followers with little compunctions about hurting innocents. They're rank-and-file aren't particularly well trained, just mean and willing to cause pain. They typically use a mix of melee weapons and whatever guns they can lay hands on, but aren't especially well equipped or supplied. They typically have members who are decent enough drivers, though rarely remarkable.

Zealots are their elite fighters, proving themselves worthy of better equipment and training through loyalty and viciousness. They will typically try more dangerous maneuvers, like leaping to other vehicles at full speed.

Many Zealots carry several grenades or molotov cocktails, along with a "Boomspear" — a polearm tipped with a shaped explosive ideal for disabling vehicles, sometimes at the cost of their own life and limb. They gain the bravery, or really insanity, to do with by imbibing a chemical cocktail that surges them with adrenalin and reduces inhibition and pain response.

Most strike groups are commanded by an "Archon", a lieutenant who keeps the raiders in line, coordinates efforts, pronounces sinners, and escalate their pack into a violent frenzy.

Doc/Tanya/Duende: Vehicle KnowledgeWrathful vehicles tend to be highly customized (as is obvious) for aggressive features and offense. They are constructed with standard metals (Hardness 10 for the trucks, 7 for the Trikes).

Typically besides some main offensive weapon they carry a few "boarders" ready to hurl themselves onto vehicles they are chasing down and disable or take control of them. The nimble trikes are a prime example, mostly used to maneuver into position and get one of the Zealots on the back onto an opposing vehicle.

Most vehicles are built to take out smaller prey, though the group as a whole may have a handful with enough punch to take on The Tank. Many also have N02 tanks for sudden speed boosts, though in limited quantities.

Trikes: 1 driver, 1 rider
Trucks: driver and cab passenger, usually 4 or so raiders in the back
Platform Truck: looks to be there to give the lieutenant an elevated view of the tactical situation. Speakers project his voice to give orders or denounce sinners.

NPCs

The Greenwood vehicles continue fleeing at top speed. The lead buggy pulls around, doing a bit of a loop, seeming to be ready to give assistance.

Platform Truck [broken]: Has taken a lot of damage, but still rolling. All passengers take actions before it moves forward.

Port Gunner: Leaves gun, spends action rolling on the ground to try and put out fire on himself. Succeeds.
Starboard Gunner: Suppressing Fire attempt, encompassing all PCs except Martin. Result is 15, which doesn't hit anyone's touch AC. All safe.
P Zealot 1: Takes a swig of something. 5'step to other side, fires an RPG at Tank. Misses.
P Zealot 2: Barrage attack vs Duende with a longarm. Unless there is an effect reducing your AC to 15/16, it misses.
P Raider 2: Tries to shoot Packer, misses.
P Raider 1: Mostly confused, hurting, checking on Archon. Archon is dead.

Gun Truck [broken]: Continues coming straight for Tank. Fires another burst encompassing Packer, Tanya, Tank. Almost hits Tanya, but between Packer's extra protection and Cover, it misses.

Trike 1: Closes on the Tank, moving to just behind it (barely making it with reduced speed).

Trike 1 Zealot: Drinks something on the way in. Then leaps onto the tank, planting the thick back end of spear upon landing. The HEAT grenade explodes, doing some damage to the reactive armor Temp HP. The blast encompasses Tanya and Duende for 14 b/p/s damage (ref save DC20 for half). The Zealot is caught in the blast as well, but is still standing atop the Tank.

Harpooner: Accelerates and veers right, pushing the Jeep out of the way. The cord is still attached, which turns the Jeep's backside. The movement brings the remaining occupants of the vehicle through the Drowsy Venom, but they make their saves.

Harpooner Zealot 1: Stuck atop Jeep, trying to cut away tanglefoot goo.
Harpooner Raider 1: Stuck atop Jeep, pulls out knife to cut away tanglefoot goo.

BuzzTruck [broken]: After colliding with Platform Truck, swerves, pulls forward and continues chasing refugees (though is mostly losing ground now.

Buzz Zealot 1: On livestock truck. Though has taken a shot, climbs over the side and scoots along to driver side. Reaches in through window.

(Dust could is mostly dissipating, and no longer offering concealment)

Knowledge Checks

Identify Vehicles: K:Engineering

Identify Raiders: K:Local

Scene / Map / Enemies

Cedar Valley and Greenwood

The Tank has just emerged from the valley. A road leads southeast to the settlement of Greenwood, which is aflame and surrounded by a very large force of raiders. A smaller group of raiders has broken off the main body to chase down a contingent of survivors, both of which are headed up the road and directly toward The Tank. Greenwood itself is in ruin, and the raider vehicles have churned up and damaged a good portion of the surrounding fields. There were some basic walls and defensive emplacements surrounding the town, but those have all been completely breeched.

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Map

Roll20 Link

Grid measurements are accurate.

Tactical Closeup (click to enlarge)

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ENEMIES

> Trike 1 Large vehicle. 1 driver, 1 rider (zealot). Conditions: Tanglefoot: half speed [Unscratched] | Range (at beginning of turn): 5'

-- Trike 1 Zealot: On back of Tank

> Trike 2: Prone, out of action.

> Trike 3 Prone, out of action.

> BuzzTruck Huge vehicle. 1 driver, 1 passenger, X riders. Conditions: [Broken] | Range (at beginning of turn): 80'

- - Buzz Zealot 1 on side of Livestock truck. Current position has Cover from Tank

> GunTruck Huge vehicle. 1 driver, 1 passenger, 1 gunner, X riders. Conditions: [Broken] | Range (at beginning of turn): 95'

> Harpooner Huge vehicle. 1 driver, 1 passenger, 1+X riders. Conditions: [Unscratched] | Range (at beginning of turn): 75'

- - Harpoon Zealot 1 and Harpoon Raider 1 atop Jeep

> Platform Truck Huge vehicle. 1 driver, 1 passenger, 2 gunners, 5 riders (Archon, 2 zealots, 2 raiders). All top deck occupants have Partial Cover. Conditions: On Fire [Broken] | Range (at beginning of turn): 65'

Archon: Dead
P Raider 1:
P Raider 2:
P Zealot 1:
P Zealot 2: On fire
Port Gunner: Bleeding
Starboard Gunner: On Fire

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Other NPCS

Group of escapees from Greenwood

• Off-roader buggy

• Bus

• Truck with big fuel tank

• Hauler truck with trailer

• Truck with livestock pen (Zealot in back)

• Cruiser

• Jeep [Harpooned]

• Dirt Bike

• Pickup [Wrecked, Prone]

Tank

THE TANK

Gargantuan Land Vehicle (15'W x 25'H x 15'H)

40 base speed | 32 AC | 15 Hardness

HP: 170/170 | Temp HP: 18 (Reactive Armor)

Stress: 15

Engine Governor: OffTurn on/off as swift action.
When on, +15' speed, 10 stress per turn

Crew Martial Focus: Yes

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Main Cannon

PC ranged attack +1(MW); 8d6 b/p/s damage; 20/x4; 300' range increments

Speed Loader Round: No (loader or gunner may reload as move action)

30 Ammo Capacity

Base Cannon Rounds: 21

AP Rounds: 2

HE Rounds: 2

Canister Rounds: 2

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Gadgets and Secondary Weapons

Miniguns: Machine Guns facing each cardinal direction, and one mounted same direction as turret. 5d8 B/P damage, 200' line. 12/12 uses.

Launcher: Launch object any direction in 60' range increments. 3/4 uses.

Hook and Pulley: Grab at distance, 20' increments. 4/4 uses.

Gadgets: 10/10 remaining.

Detonators, launchers, hook and pulley, improvised tools, constructed weapons, grapple gun, steam release, chemical insight detonator options.

Light Machine Gun: Mounted at Commander position. 2d6, 19-20/x2. Automatic only. 100/100 ammo.

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Capacity

Raw Material Storage: 500/500 lbs

Passengers: 5/8 (Doc, Tanya, Martin, Det, Jana) | On Top: limited only by room (Packer, Duende)

Roll thread on OGMW | Roll thread on Baldr | Tank/Crew Rules: Tank Actions, Tank Stats, Crew feats/talents

Paxon · July 7, 2022