The Front session 4: Weird War!

Session 4 of the Mini-campaign for The Front RPG finds our stalwart squad hot on the tail of the German forces as they head north from the flaming wreckage of the moathouse.

Dawkins is driving the stolen German truck with Stone riding shotgun. Both men are wearing enemy helmets to help avert any unwanted attention. Corp. Murphy readies weapons and restocks ammo in the back of the

truck along with Sterling, Fynn, and Honeycut.

Eventually they come upon a enemy sentry post and slow down to not arouse suspicion. The guards motion them to stop and the lads cut loose with a hail of gunfire!

Murphy opens up on a motorcylce parked nearby causing it to explode.

Some time later the group crosses the border of France into Belgium and can see the road will lead them to a castle perched on the edge of a waterfall in the distance. The full moon gives the area a strange dreamlike quality, and a heavy fog begins to set in.

Crossing the drawbridge the Squad finds the German vehicles all parked in the remains of the ancient gatehouse (Area 1). Making quick and silent work of the two sentries, they start to cross the bridge (2) towards the block house. A voice calls out from the parapet above and Murphy calls back in german. The senty is not swayed and opens fire! The men retreat back to the ruined gatehouse and hot wire a 1/2 track which they then drive back across the bridge and smash through the blockhouse doors with!

Blockhouse battle

Storming the Block house our guys get in a small firefight with a squad of guards! Grenades are tossed, and Honeycut's shotgun makes short work of any survivors! Private Fynn takes a position in the upper floor of the Blockhouse facing the castle proper, while the rest of the squad remounts the 1/2 track and uses it to assault the main castle.

They take heavy fire from a machine gun on the third floor of the castle as they approach, and Fynn takes them out with well placed shots!

Bursting into the castle proper, the lads make short work of the half dozen guards that attempt to repel their assault. The men decide to bring along the Flamethrower and the Panzershrek they got from the Moathouse, since they are not sure what they may be up against here as they search the castle. The group quickly discovers a hidden stairwell in a desecrated chapel and descend underground.

Honeycut captures a sentry and they get him to guide them through the lower levels. However he leads them into an old crypt where the group is set upon by horrid flesh-eating ghouls! Upon defeating the "ghouls" they see that they are actually some of the missing POW's as well as germans!!

The squad follows the sounds of chanting to a large chamber that opens up directly behind the waterfall. The

roaring of the water and the chanting of the collected enemy soldiers covers the movement of our Heroes as they move into position.

The germans are in the midst of performing some sort of ceremony in front of a large ornately decorated gateway when weird energies begin to form! The men know they need to do something quickly so they start to move up behind the unsuspecting enemy soldiers.

The Black Sun commander whips his followers into a frenzy as the Nazi scientist looks on. The fusion of

The ceremony!

occult power and his dreaded experiments are about to come to fruition and allow the Third Reich to rule the world for a thousand years!!

The squad finally in position preps hand grenades and weapons with full clips. Suddenly an unseen sentry steps out from behind a pillar and Prvt. Sterling gets into a physical struggle to take him out!

A soldier in the back row seems to notice something is going on and Corporal Murphy gives the order to open fire!

The bullets and grenades seem to make short work of the soldiers at first, however the Squad quickly realize something unnatural is happening as the ragged bleeding bodies seem to get back up and return fire!!

Honeycut and Dawkins witness a female Nazi Officer actually command a soldier to transform into a hulking Wolfman and it rushes to attack them!

Sterling and Stone continue to unleash hails of gunfire into the remaining enemy soldiers until they are just bloody clumps of meat that cannot fight back!

Honeycut goes one-on-one against the werewolf with the flamethower as Dawkins unleashes a hail of thompsons rounds into the Female officer killing her!

The Black Sun commandant uses the energy from the strange sphere he clutches in his hand to transform the

Power of the Loc Nar!

Gestapo agent into a horrible winged beast that he directs to attack the Americans!

As this battle is raging, Prvt. Sterling begins to feel very strange urges wash over him. He is able to keep it together and keep fighting, but he knows something is very wrong!

Honeycut keeps narrowly avoiding the rending claws of the werewolf, and is able to keep the beast constantly engulfed in searing flame!

Dawkins makes a rush towards the Commandant and opens fire upon the occult leader only to watch in stupor as his bullets are transformed into small fish that flop to the floor harmlessly at the man's feet!

"Ha ha ha! The ancient power is our to wield American. You will fall to the power of the Thousand year reich!!

Murphy sets down his thompson and loads the Panzershrek. "Let's see how your ancient power likes this!" FWOOSH!! The rocket screams across the chamber and explodes in a shower of cold water all around the wielder of the Loc nar!!  "Oh crap!" utters Murphy.

The winged terror swoops down at Stone who dodges it's slahing claws and opens up on the creature with his BAR to little effect! Unable to hold back the urges any longer Prvt. Sterling lets out a terrible howl of rage as he transforms into a werewolf!!

"You've got to be kidding me!" gripes Stone, reloading his BAR.

Mystical purple tentacles reach up out of the floor and attempt to restrain Dawkins, but he escapes thier grasp and makes desperate charge towards the Commandant!

Murphy is able to use his command ability to keep Sterling under control and orders him to attack the winged terror!

Stone and Honeycut  acting together are able to constantly hammer attack the Nazi werewolf to the point where it just can't get a successful attack off!

The Black Sun Commandant screams in a rage as both the winged terror and the werewolf seem to be faltering under the attacks of the Americans! His regular troops shredded beyond use he holds up the Loc Nar and begins to call upon its power opening a portal in the gateway when....

Duke Dawkins leaps up the steps of the gateway and uses the but of his thompson to knock the green-orb from the Nazi's hand!

"Nien!! You must not!!"

"Sorry bub, but your weird shit ain't happening on my watch!"

Everyone watches as the Orb seems to float in the air for long seconds, then Dawkins swipes it from the grasp of the German officer. Upon touching the Org Dawkins realizes this "thing" is PURE EVIL!!! He looks over his shoulder at his fellow squad members and then tucking the Loc-nar like a football in his arm he shoulder tackles the Black Sun officer back through the pulsing energies of the gateway!

"Kraka-Boom!" a shockwave rolls through the cavern and the ancient gateway begins to collapse upon itself. With no more occult energies to empower them the Nazi werewolf and winged terror succumb to the wounds inflicted upon them!

Sterling also reverts to human form, and seems to be okay!

Murphy leads the remaining squad members out of the castle where they link back up with Fynn awaiting them in a fancy black car!

"I figured we could ride back to Hommlet in style!" grins Fynn as his fellows jump in the car. "Hey where's Dawkins?"

Corp. Murphy slumps into the passenger seat, "We made it because of him, you won't believe what we found in there! Now get going, I can't put this place behind us fast enough!"

THE END......

The FRONT session 3:Assault the Moathouse!

The Front WW2 RPG session 3: Assault the Moathouse!!

After defeating the German force that held the town of St. Hommlet, our Heroes discovered that the Gestapo man and some SS soldiers had just made off with about 10 POW's before the player's raid!!

Corporal Murphy orders Prvt. Sterling to trail the enemy truck up the north road and get a look at the moathouse the french have told them about.

While Sterling takes off to do this task the rest of the group, contact HQ. The POW's are first priority and they are told to leave the mortar team at the village and to move out in pursuit of the SS troops.

The squad decides it will be better to go on foot even though it will take them longer to travel the 5km or so to the moathouse location. They do not want to give away their element of surprise with a vehicle!

The day has become quite overcast and a constant drizzle males everyone soaked and uncomfortable. Also a thick fog has settled on the countryside limiting the groups visibility.

The squad gets a frantic call from Sterling on the radio! He has been spotted and the SS have dogs!! They hear shots fired the radio goes out. The decide to double time it to get to Sterling as fast as possible. At the last moment Prvt. Fynn catches sight of an ambush and alerts the squad! A firefight breaks out in the woods!

Minor scrapes are endured and Prvt. Stone takes out the two SS troopers on the right with a Full Burst from the BAR! Prvt. Honeycut rushes the Trooper on the left who attempts to run and cuts him down with a shotgun blast!

Forest firefight!

A short time later the Squad arrives at the area where Sterling is last presumed to have been. They do not find their fellow grunt, but they discover something else!! Along the side of the road a handful of POW's have been dumped in the mud. They are all dead but not from gunshots. Something else has killed these men and Dawkins thinks it might be some type of new Gas weapon! Just what are the Nazi's up to??

What has killed these men?

The squad presses on through the the fog and eventually comes upon the Moathouse as described by the villagers. There is no patrol evident so the men sneak right up to the gateway.In the courtyard they can see a cargo-truck (1/2 track is a stand in) being loaded quickly with boxes and equipment from inside the fort.

Sneaking up!

Being cautious and timing things just right hey are able to take out the 3 SS troopers stationed in the guard tower using bayonets! Murphy takes a bad hit to the face, but pushes through, he can't let down Sterling or the POW"S!!  A Flamethrower is found here and Stone volunteers to use this weapon to great effect within the confines of the structure.

Taking out the guards silently!

Murphy swaps out his helmet for a german in hopes that in the bad weather it lend to the guise that he is one of the SS for surprise purposes. Plus he knows a smattering of german as well and can usually get in a phrase or two to stymie the enemy before they raise an alarm. The squad leaves the confines of the tower and make to take out the two men loading the truck. In the scuffle a trooper within the moathouse attempts to fire on them but Prvt. Stone lights him up wth the Flame thrower!!

The alarm goes up!

Murphy and Honeycut break for the main entry to the moathouse proper and take out an emerging SS trooper with a hail of .45 rounds and buckshot! An mg32 opens up on the others as they use the truck for cover! Stone fires a burst of flame to cow the machine gun so he and Fyn can get to the entry proper. Dawkins in the meantime has located the keys for the truck and starts it up.

Stone blasts the MG!

Under orders from Murphy, Stone & Honeycut lay down suppressive fire tearing into the scrambling SS troops! While Fynn keeps the MG team down by firing on them!

The flamethrower at work!!

Murphy takes this moment to unload a short burst into the room where the MG team is finishing them off! Dawkins back the cargo truck up and blocks off the windows directly behind him.

Murphy finishes off the MG team!

The next few rounds are a furious room to room firefight, leading eventually to a showdown with a Panzershrek team that emerges from the basement! An interior wall is blown to bits and luckily our heroes are able to avoid any serious damage! Stone kills the SS commander and defuses the detonator device that has the entire structure wired to blow!!

Murphy leads Fynn and Honeycut down the stairs after the trooper with the bazooka. They know he is wounded but don't know how much. They are worried about any prisoners that may be below!

In the basement the squad finds the lone wounded SS trooper pointing the panzershrek at the wired explosives. Nearby Sterling is locked in a cell. The room is filled with the scattered remains of medical and laboratory equipment. The trooper threatens to take them all out by shooting the explosives, but Honeycut fires a load of buckshot and kills him before he can make good on his threat!!

Releasing Sterling the wounded private relates that he came upon the SS dumping the bodies on the road side when he was ambushed by a dog presumably used by the SS. When he arrived here the commander order him taken below while the truck with the rest of the POW's continued north. The remaining troopers were evacuating this location and setting it up for destruction with the explosives.

Wasting no more time Murphy and the men pile into the cargo truck after looting the panzershrek & MG32 and head north after the POW's. In the back Dawkins scours through boxes and finds some notes and documents referring to something called Projekt - Prometheus. He also finds testing notes from prior experiments on other POW subjects.

The squad hopes to catch up with and take out the other truck before it reaches its destination.

** Unknown to our brave little band, high above them in the skies a battle between British and german air forces plays out. see prior post: Session 2a Air Combat!

Stay tuned for The FRONT session 4: Projeckt Prometheus! in October 2018!!!

The FRONT session 2A: Air Combat!!

In the sky over northern France Major Appleby & Lt. Cadbury spot a group of enemy planes on what is probably a bombing run.  The BF110C was loaded with 4 bombs and being escorted by the pair of BF109E's.

round 1

In round 1 the Allies won Initiative, and they made Maneuver rolls to swoop down to Altitude 3 and hit the 110 from the right hand side! The Major dropped a Die step on his Fuel this round.
They fired and did a little damage to the 110, its armor absorbing the bulk.
The 109's attempted to get behind the Spitfires and the LT. failed his DX check so they pulled it off, they fired but his armor check negated the dmg.

Round 2

Round 2 - init order: Major, enemy, Lt.
The Major went first and maneuvered himself between the the LT and the 109's.
The 109's were next and fired with two hits. Rolling with advantage because of 'wingman" the Major was able to come through with only a couple points of damage.
The 110 opened up with the rear gun to no effect.
The Lt. continued to pepper the 110 whittling down its HP.

Round 3 init order: Allies, Axis
The Major makes a maneuver roll to get sight on the 110, then both allied pilots open up combined damage is enough to severely damage the 110.
The 109's continued to attack the Lt. as their main target. A tiny bit of damage is taken.

Round 4 init order: Major, Axis, Lt.
The Major maneuvers into "wingman" position again to take the Heat off the LT.
The 109's fire on the Major, but no damage is sustained. The 110 does light damage to the LT. with the rear gun.
The Lt. continues to fire on the 110 hurting it more!

Round 5

Round 5 init order: Lt, Axis, Major
The Lt. finishes off the wounded 110 with a burst attack and rolls double sixes on his dice!
The 109's break and run
The major forms up with the Lt. and they give chase.

At this point I asked if they wanted to continue, and after taking stock of their current Ammo/ Fuel die situation ( both pilots were at D10's for both items) they agreed to give pursuit!

I started the Round counter off at 1 again and said that by end of round 6 any surviving 109 would make it back to Axis controlled airspace where they could not follow.

THE CHASE
In round 1 they played catch up to the 109's trying to outrun them!

Round 2 saw the Lt. score a double 6 on the damage dice to destroy the wounded 109!
while the remaining 109 tried to shoot down the LT. to no avail.

Round 3 saw some maneuvers and lots of shots, with damage absorbed on both sides.

Round 4 - I rolled a D6, on a 56 an enemy reinforcement would arrive at Distance 6. It did!
Fuel & ammo were getting low at this point, and they agreed to one more round of attacks and no matter the outcome they would peel off for base afterward.

The allies were able to down the last original enemy 109, and peel away back to base!

The FRONT session 2: Liberate Saint Hommlet!

As session 2 begins the Squad is comprised of the following members: (pictured below from left to right)

Prvt. Dawkins (Intelligence), Prvt. Honeycut (Combat), Prvt. Sterling (Recon), Prvt. Stone (Combat), Corp. Murphy (Leadership), Prvt. Fynn (Recon).

The Squad!

It is D-Day plus 15, and the Allies are making headway into France. The boys are called up and ordered to fill out the squad for their next mission.

Mission parameters are to link up with a French Resistance cell, scout out the village of St. Hommlet and locate/destroy enemy ammo dumps & fuel supplies. Secondary - rescue any P.O.W's and confiscate any documents. Then hold the village until full reinforcements can arrive.

Corporal Murphy and the gang are immediately joined by Private Honeycut who is the sole survivor of his squad that was recently wiped out. He REALLY likes killin' Nazis and looks forward to gettin' into action!

With four slots remaining in the Squad, the group votes to bring a three man mortar team and a lone rifleman named Prvt. Pointe.

The squad links up with French

The Squad heads off into the wooded countryside to locate the French resistance. After a few hours they meet up with Marcel De Villiers and his band of resistance fighters. They are all former residents of St. Hommlet who fled to the woods when the Germans took over the village as a base of operations.
With the map that Corp. Murphy has Marcel is able to point out the Ammo/Fuel dumps and patrol circuits of the enemy troops as well as the most likely location of any POW's.

The Squad decides to split up into teams of two and scout out the village. Privates Fynn & Honeycut circle up to the northeast near the Winery, Privates Dawkins & Sterling scout out the southwest side, Corp. Murphy & Prvt. Stone scout the southeast, while Prvt. Pointe and the Mortar team set up in the woods to the east of the village. Marcel and his band wait in reserve.

During the night Fynn and Honeycut have a close call with a random soldier. Honeycut uses his trench-knife to make short work of the man. While this is happening Fynn sabotages a half-track parked outside the winery while the crew gets loaded. There is a moment when Fynn is almost detected, but the wiley soldiers are able to make it back to the rest of the Squad before dawn.

Dawkins & Sterling have discovered an MG nest guarding the SE road into town near a farmhouse used as a barracks. This road goes straight to the Inn at the center of town and it is there that Marcel says is the HQ and prisoner holding area.

Murphy & Stone have spotted what looks to be members of a Waffen SS squad milling about town. Marcel relates that they were not here before, but a lone Gestapo member has been visiting the village now and again in the last few weeks. The squad thinks maybe the Waffen squad are support for the Gestapo.

As the sun rises the Squad moves in from the SE to attack the enemy. Prvt. Fynn snipes the men manning the MG nest and this position is taken over by Stone & Honeycut. The soldiers don the helmets and coats of the dead germans to keep up appearances. Meanwhile Murphy, Dawkins, Sterling & the French move into the farmhouse and set about wiping out ten sleeping enemy soldiers!

About this time the 2nd Halftrack with a five man patrol comes down the street on its first circuit of the morning. Prvt. Fynn has moved into a new position in town and the group prepare to hit the halftrack patrol as it passes the MG emplacement.

Catching our boys off guard the halftrack comes to a stop, and one of the crew jumps out and approaches the MG nest talking to get their attention! Stone and Honeycut know the ruse won't hold up if this guy gets any closer so Honeycut goes for a knife attack! It fails and the SH*T! hits the fan!!!

Stone hoses the halftrack with mg32 fire taking out the gunner! Fynn begins picking off partrol members from the rear of the line and Murphy, Dawkins, Sterling & Pointe emerge from the barracks, while the French make a beeline for the Inn! Murphy lobs a grenade into the halftrack turning it into a smoldering hulk!

As Marcel and his men run towards the Inn they are caught in the open as an unknown factor rears its head! A camoflaged Panther tank emerges from a copse of trees where it had lain hidden from view!!! Four of the resistance men are cut down leaving only one survivor who takes cover behind a house.

Prvt. Sterling calls in coordinates to the mortar hoping to catch the tank with a lucky hit! Fynn uses a satchel charge and attempts to disable the tank, but it's no use and he almost gets taken out by a sniper shot from the Inn!

Assault the Inn

Stone & Honeycut have moved up the street and are using the mg32 to lay suppressive fire on the Inn and the soldiers there!

Murphy, Dawkins & Pointe get into cover near a well where they trade fire with the soldiers at the Inn. Prvt. Pointe makes a maneuver to throw his satchel charge at the Tank but is cut down by the Panther's mg!! The well is struck by a shell from the tank and Murphy and Dawkins are almost taken out!! The two soldiers make a run for cover nearer to the Inn and are followed by mg fire!!

Sterling is feverishly trying to narrow down the range for the Mortar team as the Panther draws a bead on our men! BOOM!! The area where Murphy and Dawkins went for cover explodes nearly taking both men Out of Action! They crawl deeper into the rubble attempting to hide from the armored vehicle!

Stone burns through all the mg32 ammo then switches to his BAR peppering the Inn and keeping the soldiers there ducking their heads. Honeycut has used this time to circle around and storm the entry of the Inn by lobbing a grenade through the door. He moves inside and finishes off the last defenders with his shotgun!

Finally after agonizing minutes a mortar shell drops from the sky and causes irreparable damage to the Panther knocking it out of the fight!

The Panther dies!

With the village secured, the Squad scours the Inn and finds a lone wounded British soldier. He relates that all the unhurt prisoners were rounded up and shuttled out of town just a bit before the attack. He knows that the Gestapo officer and the SS troopers were taking them to a place called "The Moathouse"!!

The remaining Frenchman relates that the moathouse is an old castle a few kilometers north northwest of St. Hommlet at the edge of a marsh. If they hurry they can probably get there and stop whatever the SS are planning to do with the POW's.

Tune in for Session 3: Assault the Moathouse!!

Session 1: The FRONT WW2 RPG!!

This is an actual play report of my first Session of a short Summer WW2 mini-campaign. I am using "The Front" by Mark Hunt as the Base rules for Combat & Character generation, and some missions and ideas gleaned from "Operation White Box" by Pete Spahn.

During World War II, the Battle of Normandy, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codename Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day.
This Game follows a Unit of American G.I's who participated in this action, and played a pivotal, yet before now unknown role in the defeat of the Nazi war machine.
At the northernmost tip of the D-Day invasion force is where we find our forces as they assault the beachhead at a location code-named "Dagger". Their orders are to overcome the beach defenses then push inland and retake the French village of Saint Hommlet.
What happened next, was beyond anything they had anticipated. Only now can the true story be told.

Landing at "Dagger" Beach, Normandy.
The soldiers must traverse the Beach as quickly as possible, to reach the seawall slope at the base of the rocky shelf. The rocky shelf is a maze of barb-wire and mines leading up to the base of the bluff upon which the Germans are entrenched. To "Win" this Scenario, the Players must take out 1 Bunker and 2 MG nests.

The Players:
John  - Baker Co.
1) Smith - M1 Garand    3) Murphy - Thompson
2) Banner - BAR            4) Weiser - M1 Garand

Bryan  - Easy Co.
1) Dawkins - BAR           3) Ellsworth - M1 Garand
2) Burchill - M1 Carbine  4)Callihan - Thompson

Selina - Fox Co.
1) Keebler - Thompson    3) Moth - M1 Garand
2) Jacobs - M1 Garand    4) Stierling - Bazooka

Nate - Dog Co.
1) Fynn - Bazooka          3) Wulfgar - Thompson
2) Atticus - M1 Garand   4) Cade - M1 Garand

The landing craft drop their ramps and our men start the deadly run up the beach! Each Player had the option of choosing 2 ways to navigate the beach.

1) Full Run! This allows crossing the beach in 2 Moments (rounds), however you DO NOT get to make any DEX checks to avoid incoming damage and must weather any punishment taken!

2) Leap Frog! This option allows your men to take advantage of cover from randomly determined obstacles on the beach as you wend your way up the beach. This will take 4 Moments (rounds) to accomplish and you get Dex checks vs incoming enemy fire plus minor bonuses from the type of obstacle used as cover!

Each Player chose Option#2!!

[At the beginning of each Moment (round), the player rolls a D6 to see what type of Obstacle their men use as cover.
1-2. Belgian Gate, 3-4. Log, 5-6. Hedgehog
Also the enemy has a 1 in 6 chance per Moment (round) of targeting your men with a random type Attack.
1-4. Stray bullet d12, 5. MG fire 2d6, 6. explosion 3d6.]

The four companies made their way towards the rocky slope, each of them fearfully aware of the incoming fire! There more than few moans uttered as the Enemy Die would come up option#6 Explosion!!

If damage was sustained, I allowed them to distribute amongst the men or apply it to one guy. They were savy and mostly did the distribution so they could get as many men to the slope as possible!

Jacobs of Fox Co. almost didn't make it to the slope! Everyone else arrived a bit battered and sore but overall only down between 2-4 hit points. [All the men had a base 10hp to start]

From the position at the seawall slope, they were finally able to make use of  most of their weapons, and the Bazooka of Dog Co. fired a shot at the bunker on top of the bluff above! Some rifle fire was also rolled for and a couple of random enemies were struck down. The men waited for NPC engineers to clear a path with bangalores through the mines and wire.

Baker & Easy company made a Full Run! across the cleared rocky shelf to the base of the Bluff, while Dog & Fox Co. provided covering fire from the seawall.

At the base of the Bluff, the players had the choice of two options to reach the enemy. ( I only made clear there was a path, if someone asked about climbing I would give them the bonus below).

1) Navigate winding path up - this takes 2 moments (rounds) to do, and is protected by an MG nest and 6 men with rifles. No save vs. the MG, and a 1in3 to be targeted by riflemen

2) Scale the bluff - takes 1 moment (round) to reach the top, and a 1 in 10 chance to come under fire. However if any damage is taken, you fall for d6 damage.

Private Weiser of baker Co. noted that the bluff was much like the ones back home in Colorado and asked if they could be climbed rather than taking the winding path! Both Baker & Easy Co. were soon climbing the bluff with the Bunker as their target!

Meanwhile from the seawall below, Dog & Fox Co. were concentrating their fire on MG nests and taking them out with combined Rifle and Bazooka fire!!

Upon reaching the top of the bluff Easy Co. assaulted the bunker with grenades, while Baker Co. flanked and got to the rear of the bunker. The grenades from Easy did enough damage to force the Bunkers occupants to flee driving them into a withering hail of Thompson & BAR short burst fire laid down Murphy and Banner of baker Co.

At this point the players had completed the objectives of destroying a Bunker and 2 MG nests, plus about a dozen random enemy soldiers. We had been playing for just about 2 hours at this point. Every single man in each of the Companies had taken damage but no one was taken Out of Action.

We took a short break, as our fifth player showed up and we talked about choosing 1 of the four Classes and a single surviving member of each players Company to become their 1st level Character. I allowed them to roll a D20 against each each ability scores, if you rolled equal to or less that your current # you could increase it by 1 point. They could now choose a class and arrange their scores to taste. They also each rolled an additional D6 bonus for their Hit points.

Our new First level Squad line-up after surviving the beach:
Corp. A. Murphy - Leadership / SN 8675309 / Thompson Smg.
Pvt. 1st class A. Fynn - Recon / SN 00240686 / M1 Garand + Telescopic sight, Field radio
Pvt. 1st Class Jason Stone - Combat / SN 1130230 / BAR
Pvt 1st Class Jayden "J" Stierling - Recon / SN 413400 / Pistol, Field Radio
Pvt 1st Class Duke Dawkins - Intelligence / SN 0537007 / Thompson Smg., Field radio

Any unused Zero level survivors are assumed to be in the Unit and will be used as back-up characters should any of the current men be taken Out of Action.

We still had some time so I added a short Recon mission for our 5 man squad.

Mission 1A: Find the enemy 88!
Primary Objective: locate and radio back co-ordinates of enemy 88 artillery emplacement so an air strike can take it out.

Time: D-day +1

[ I again made use of the flipside of the Memoire 44 game board and quickly laid out the supposed location of the German 88.]

The squad moved inland and located a farmhouse along a dirt road. Pvt. Fynn spied a couple of enemy sentries and took up a sniping position. Pvt. Stierling was sent to flank the farmhouse and locate the exact position of the 88, while Corp. Murphy with Privates Stone & Dawkins set up in the hedgerow just across the street from the farmhouse.

Pvt. Stierling located the 88 hidden in the copse of trees just west of the farm, from his position on the hill just south of the farmhouse. This info was communicated to Murphy.

Corp. Murphy, figured out the co-ordinates then had Dawkins, radio them in for the Air-strike. However he feared the 88 would fire off again soon endangering the men back at the Beachhead so he set in motion a plan to assault the farm and have Fynn take out the crew of the 88.

Fynn's first shot killed a crewman at the 88 and the rest took cover! The sentries at the farm house started to raise the alarm but were taken out by a hurled grenade from Murphy and Thompson fire from  Dawkins! Stone however had the BAR jam on him and had to get the gun working again.

With the BAR out, the remaining enemy in the farmhouse opened up on the three G.I.'s! Murphy and Dawkins were forced into cover and they saw Stone take multiple hits!!!

Pvt. Stierling was winding his way back towards the hedgerow when he came upon an enemy patrol of three men trying to flank Murphy's position! Drawing his bayonet, "J" begins to sneak up on the closest enemy who is unaware of him.

"Stone!" cries Murphy, as he rolls the BAR man over assuming him to be mortally wounded, if not dead!
With a strained grumble, Stone smiles and shows the surprised Corporal his bullet hole ridden entrenching tool!!

"You lucky son of a ..." Murphy and Stone duck as bullets whizz past them!

With Murphy and Stone pinned down, Dawkins sprints across the street and is able to position himself just below a window of the farmhouse. He then pitches a couple of smoke grenades into the house.

From his position, Fynn is slowing taking out the crew of the 88! Kapow! Aaaiiee!!

Stierling is about to strike when a twig snaps under his boot!!! The german soldier spins around to see him with bayonet drawn and tries to hit him with the butt of his rifle, and a struggle ensues! The other two soldiers turn and raise their rifles. Stierling is able to get behind his initial target and use him as a body-shield when the rifles go off! BAM! BAM! The german sags in Stierlings arms and he feels a sharp stinging in his side! Falling back on the ground with the dead soldier on top of him Stierling pulls his pistol and goes for a double shot, hoping to take out the last two enemy soldiers.

BLAM! BLAM!

Back at the farm house, the smoke grenades are forcing the occupants out, and Dawkins is able to bayonet an enemy attempting to climb out a window, while Stone fires on those coming out of the doorway. Murphy knowing that Stierling might be in trouble, from the sound of gunfire heads in that direction!

The two german soldiers take aim and Stierling winces at the searing pain in his side. Suddenly a loud whooping holler and spray of gunfire comes through the trees driving the germans to the ground for cover!

Corporal Murphy leaps over a hedge and sprays high, giving Stierling a clear shot! One of the enemy soldiers drops from a double shot action from the Privates .45 cal pistol. Murphy takes out the final soldier with a single shot and then helps Stierling limp back to the others!

As Fynn takes out a fifth enemy crewman near the 88, the unmistakable sound of incoming aircraft is heard and soon the 88 explodes in a ball of flame!!

Returning to the beachhead, the Squad is informed they will be heading out to locate a small French resistance cell and recon the village of St. Hommlet.

[ This little scenario came in just under an hour, and we wrapped up and set a date for Session 2. All in all actual game time for the evening was just a little over 3 hours. The game play was fast, fun & exciting!] 

Next time on "The Front!"  Session 2: Saint Hommlet

News from the Front Lines!

Things are moving along with The Front RPG! If you are in the G+ group you can pick up the one page WWM's (or Weird War Missions) I've put together as well as loads of other cool stuff from the guys there. Mark recently released the DOC (or Department of Creatures! This adds a class to the game that lets you get into some Creature Commando action!

The Class is called the Combat Construct, you play a Frankenstein monster soldier! Plus there is more info for other monsters and creatures etc. Check it out here:

https://www.rpgnow.com/product/180013/The-DOC-Department-of-Creatures



I recently picked up the 80's movie Zone Troopers:

A group of US Infantrymen trapped behind enemy lines come across a spaceship that was shot down by the Germans. They befriend an Alien survivor and must stop the Nazi's from using the technology to turn the tide of the war!

So if you haven't checked out The Front RPG, or if you just want to watch a cool WW2 Sci-fi fantasy movie then check this stuff out!

Get moving Private!!!