>>42999426
get a twitter plz

>>42999426
Oblige

>>42999426
>>Oblige her

>>42999750
He does. Search his name.

“…Alright,” you say, motioning to your Loader, whose name, you feel, you will never learn by this point, to take over.

Maddalyn leads you back up the stairs. In the middle of the flight, she stops for a few seconds and shudders slightly, before walking again.

Once you are back in the wine cellar, Maddalyn turns around again. Her eyes are brimmed with tears.

“Is something wrong?” you ask, near reflexively.

“It’s nothing,” she says, the pitch of her voice betraying how much it wasn’t nothing, “…I may have run away from home, but this is still my home. I…well.”

Maddalyn takes a moment to recompose herself, shifting her feet. “I just…I’m useless, aren’t I?” She points a finger to your face, again, before you can say anything. “Don’t say I’m not because of who I am! My position is meaningless now. I truly appreciate your assistance, but it was all for naught, wasn’t it?”
She lets her hand fall back to her side. “All I want to know is…can I truly stay with you and your men? I can never repay you for what you’ve done. I wanted to talk to you because you’re the only one who won’t bend over backwards just because I want you to. I’m not wrong, am I? Will you at least let me try to be of use to you, even if it means putting me in danger?”

>write in response

>>43000270
something along the lines of as long as she can pull her weight she has a place or something
Teach her how to load/ gun or something

>>43000270
"I'd rather not as combat is a lot about muscle memory and we don't really have the time to train that in you. Still. I'll see what I can do."

You feel that the truth would be better appreciated than empty promises.

“It takes years to train a soldier,” you respond, “It isn’t just knowledge, it’s muscle memory, teamwork, discipline. I can’t make you a soldier.” You see her looking to the floor and try to amend that. “Still. I’ll see what I can do. There’s never enough help in a war. We’ll figure out…something.”

Maddalyn looks back up at you. “As long as it’s not being a floor mat, I’ll take it.”

You think on it a bit as you go back down to check on progress. Stein, despite being a relatively kind person, was too prideful to give up his role, even if gunning wasn’t as important as it was. The loader could probably instruct her on proper procedure. If there were any new acquisitions, you would be short on crews anyway, and the best teacher was experience.
You return to the basement to find the tank turned on and running. You had not heard it from the cellar; the room must have been quite well insulated.

The sound of the engine running reminds you more of the new model Grossreich tanks than it does of the armor you are familiar with. Instead of the throaty chug of a Pz. m/32, it purrs like an incredibly large and metallic housecat.

You are able to get the tank out of the laboratory with no problems. You emerge from the tunnel in what feels like a few kilometers, and into a public garden. Navigation from there is simple, and aside from a few curious glances from the windows of the buildings lining the streets there are no noteworthy events.

You return to find Stein looking weary. You had left him in charge of negotiating for taking the newly captured tanks off of the militia’s hands, and it appears things have not improved since you left.

>settle on trading two Pz. 28s for 1 Pz. 32 as the militia leaders wanted
>continue to press for trading two for two

>>43000875
>>continue to press for trading two for two
or one for one. We are not giving up two tanks.

>>43000875
>continue to press for trading two for two

You decide that sacrificing any firepower is far from ideal in the current situation. As your intention is to make it back to the division, you expect to have to break through far more forces than the relatively passive resistance you encountered on the way to Blumsburgh.

You reassure Stein that you’ll take care of things and head over to inspect your equipment again before setting up another meeting.

You pass by Tank 3, where a few men are having a heated discussion. On the tank, there is crooked writing on the turret labeling the vehicle “Muschiwagen”. One of the crewmen looks up and sees you, and breaks away from the group.

Tank 3’s Radio Operator, a young and eccentric man, comes to you with a small book.

“We can’t go around with no emblem, right sir?” he says hopefully, “I’ve been talking it over with some of the other guys in the platoon, and they’ve got a lot of ideas…but the commanders say the decision is yours, so…well, just look them over, sir?”

You grab his little sketchbook and page through it. There are a few pretty landscapes that you recognize from Delsau, but those are presumably not what he wants you to look at.
You turn a few pages and get to a few pose gestures, then several strangely well rendered depictions of Maddalyn in various states of undress, in alluring poses. In several she is only wearing the golden ribbon that has encircled her waist since you first encountered her.

Your eyes flick back up to him.
“T-that’s what a lot of guys wanted!” he stutters defensively. “I…oh, jeez.”

His exclamation of defeat comes about as Maddalyn comes around behind you and looks around you.

“What is this?” she asks inquisitively, peering around your side “…ah.”

She bites her lip and stares at the drawings.

A few minutes pass, and even the wind is still as death itself.

“There’s a mole here.” She finally says, pointing to a drawing. “And another one up here.” She points to the right of her navel and the top of her left breast respectively. She then stands back, her face still rigid.

“I…well, I, uh” the young artist trembles, eyes leaping back and forth to you, Maddalyn, and his work.

“We’re coming up with a new emblem for the platoon,” you explain, “We’ve painted over the old one, and the platoon wants new marks. He was showing me some of his…proposals.”

“Well they don’t seem fitting,” Maddalyn says, “here, let me see that.” She snatches the book out of your hands and slides the pencil out of its holder on the side, scrawling something down. “I think you should use something like this.”

The drawing is…something. “What is that? A…bear? A rabbit?”

“It’s obviously a cat!” Maddalyn puffs.

You flip through a few more designs.

“I think we should use…”

>An arrow piercing a breastplate
>a smoking skull
>Maddalyn’s….thing
>Pin up Maddalyn, knowing full well the consequences
>something else

>this vote will be ongoing after the first few marks, I'm just going to grab something to eat and then come back

>>43001545
Beautiful timing.

File: ohdear.png (52 KB, 369x413)

52 KB PNG

>>43001598

File: 1443931309091.jpg (58 KB, 505x480)

58 KB JPG

>>43001598
>>something else
Maddalyn's profile on a shield, wearing a crown. Something like this. It's nice enough that Maddy won't get mad, and it looks good.

File: emblem.png (585 KB, 1752x848)

585 KB PNG

>>43001598
ARROW

>>43001598
>>An arrow piercing a breastplate

>>43001598
>>An arrow piercing a breastplate

>just so things are clear, anybody coming in late can still vote on the emblem, I'll just tally it at the end of the thread when this is archived

Your opinions for the moment lean towards a more conservative design. As excited as the troops are, their passions may leave them before every single tank is painted with such complex designs that would only get covered in dirt anyway.

The council leading the militia is still around when you come to meet with them. Stein has been keeping them occupied for a few hours, and all three seem weary of the back and forth.
They get right to the point, the former company commander starting off.

“So if your subordinate was correct, you want to trade, straight across, two inferior tanks for better ones?” The former captain chomps down hard on his cigarette, “I think letting you at the supplies is fair enough, but you’re not planning on staying. I want to know just why you think you’re entitled to this vital war gear, because your last man just insisted that you needed it more than we did. I disagreed. What will you do for us, Lieutenant?”

>write in: negotiation

>>43002182
"I am going to break through the enemies lines. That is going to need all the firepower I can get, because it will draw them in.

After that I'll mention a Loyalist faction still holed up in Blumsburgh to central command. I'm sure some airdropped supplies will do wonders to your capabilities.

Plus it's not like you'll actually need heavy tanks to deal with some armoured cars and bandit infantry."

>>43002182
Before we leave, we will help pacify the remaining looters, and then move on to break out to friendly lines. Once we make it back, I'll tell them of your situation here and get the commander to wend supplies if he can, as well as prioritizing this place as a city that must be retaken, and not burned to the ground

>>43002182
If the breastplate could be changed to a shield, I'd go for it

You think for a moment, leaving your opponent hanging for a spot.

“My platoon and I are going to try and break through back to the frontlines of the Strosvald armies,” you begin, “We’ll need all the firepower that we can get. They’ll certainly object to our plans.”

“You plan on going back to the Duke?” one of the council members says, eyebrow raising, “When he abandoned us? After leaving the forces of the von Blums in tatters, to flee to the Reich, and stripped the city of all he could? What do you think that will accomplish for us?”

“There’s the thing,” you say, “I’ll say that you are a band of loyalists who have taken the city back. They’ll think that the von Blums fled and left the city to rot. I don’t know how you lean right now, but I’ll do my best to make sure that the government’s opinion of you is better than it is right now. All you’ll have to do is act repentant.”

“Act repentant to whom?” the captain retorts, “You’re just as blind to the war as we are. Have you considered that Strosvald is already lost? Can the Archduke stand up to the Kaiser and win? No, it’s a battle for survival.” He places a few objects on the desk in front of him.

“Take a look at this,” he says, “we’re here, in Blumsburgh. The capital, Strosstadt, is here. In the span of two days…” he moves a pencil from one place to another, “the Grossreich pushed up to here, since they didn’t have to fight the Duke’s forces here. They bounded nearly a fifth of the way into the country in that time. With that pace, they’ll reach the capital by tomorrow.”
He leans forward, towards you. “I don’t want to sound unappreciative. You’ve been a great help. We just don’t want to throw precious assets into a hopeless cause.”

You think of an alternative, but it could take far too much time for there to be any hope of rejoining with your forces.

>Leave and rejoin the national armies
>Stay and help stabilize the city

>>43003029
As an addition since the character limit ran dry, if you want to try and keep negotiating you're free to.

>>43003029
One last shot at negotiations

"You forgot one thing. We are a well armed and relativly well supplied fighting force behind enemy lines. And if all of the Grossreich's forces are at the front, we can strike at their supply trains before moving on. We are in a very advantagous position, and I intend to capitalize on it, with or without your help."

>>43003029
>>Leave and rejoin the national armies

>>43003510
If it doesn't work
>Leave and rejoin the National armies

“There is one other thing,” you say, “We intend to return to the division that left here, but they are not yet at the front. They are behind the lines of the Reich, and can strike at their supply lines. If they continue forward in this state, they will overextend themselves. Their front can’t be maintained with a division behind it.”

You expected this strand of hope to be more of a bombshell than it turns out being. The wave crashes against the apathetic cliff face that is the council.

“You’re really in that much of a rush to get killed?” the captain shrugs, “Fine. I’ll give you an alternative. One for one is still unacceptable. Two for three, take it or leave it, and if you do,” he leans back in his chair, “if you do pull this out of your ass and come back here, I expect full compensation, because I’ll probably be losing quite a few bets.”

>Take it (exchange your three Pz. 28s for two Pz. 32s. Keep in mind that the current numbers are three of each, and you only have functional crew for five)
>Leave it

>>43004125
Could you explain the crew distrabution again? Will we have excess members?

>>43004125
>>Take it (exchange your three Pz. 28s for two Pz. 32s. Keep in mind that the current numbers are three of each, and you only have functional crew for five)

And promptly forget the compensation. Fucking traitorous bastards.

>>43004125
>Leave it
Lets keep our 28s, we need something with speed to act as our vanguad

>>43004180
The 28s have four man crews and the 32s have five man crews. You just got a fresh tank from the manor, and if you trade in the 28s you'll have 22 crew spread over five five man tanks, not counting any unofficial platoon members.

>>43004385
Ahhh

>>43004374
Disregard this post.

Before we make a decision, lets see if we can get volunteers to fill the empty spaces if we do take the deal

I say we take the deal
with the new tank we have 5 more crew spots to fill
our light tanks are armed only with HMG and are not adequate for anti armor combat

“Alright,” you agree, “Two for three.”

You leave things at that. Although you wouldn’t have enough crewmen to fully staff all the tanks, you decide that you’ll try and draft a few people to your cause just before you leave. It isn’t like you’re returning anytime soon; by the time you have, they won't spite you for spiriting away some volunteers.

While both your new and old armor is being moved around to their new respective owners, the crew of “Pussy Wagon” particularly dismayed by the loss of their tank, you probe around for some prospective adventure seekers. The natural ones to seek, of course, are the former tank crewmen. Some are at the skirmish lines, trading occasional shots across the new front between the militia and the bandits, but a fair few linger around the newly captured motor pool.

Unfortunately most of them shut you down as soon as you propose it. Most are afraid of being punished for their past crimes; they were, after all, traitors to the Duchy. All in all, you only manage to interest one crewman. A rather pathetic turnout, but better than nothing you suppose.

You are ready to leave at any time, but the battle and the negotiations, along with other things, have stolen away most of the day and the sun is dipping below the trees.

>Stay another day (if you pick this, you’ll leave in the morning and also have time to do something else. So, if you pick this, pick somebody to hang out with. If you need a refresher I’ll give it)
>Set out immediately

Does this have a Twitter?

>>43004831
>Set out immediately
Lets go home guys

>>43004843
Nevermind, found it.

>>43004831
>>Set out immediately

>>43004125
>I expect full compensation

What the hell is this guy smoking?

You’ve no time to waste, you decide.

As soon as you’ve rounded up all the crews, hangers on and the single newbie, you leave.
Your crews practically take everything not nailed down when it comes to ambiguous helpings on supplies. Numerous cans and boxes are strapped to every part of the tank platoon, with new markings hastily stenciled onto the new tanks.

While you were finished business, the Loader had given Maddalyn some brief education in the art of opening and closing the breach and shoving in shells, as well as the delicate methods behind pulling out blazing hot, freshly fired casings, as well as, according to her recounting, labored lamenting about how the 47mm gun lacks the automatic extracting mechanism the newest artillery pieces have.
Bertram snoozes against the back of your tank’s turret as you ride out. It is the first time you have seen the man do anything resembling resting, after he came to you with a report of the surroundings.

“The Grossreich has left this area,” he had said, “not much has passed down the roads here. The routes they are using must not be around here, likely to avoid having to deal with the city.”

Judging from that, the Grossreich must be using the Duke’s Road.

File: dukesroad.png (259 KB, 1000x682)

259 KB PNG

The Duke’s Road was a massive infrastructural project undertaken by the Archduchy upon coming to power, in an attempt to improve the trade, but more importantly the mobilization capability, of the nation. It ran along the borders, and even into, the neighboring nations of Plisseau and Valsten.

The division either moved north or south and to the east, but they could have changed plans depending on where the Grossreich was concentrated. The division, isolated as it was, would not naturally gravitate to the highest concentration of forces.

The Reich would likely have been driving towards the weaker nation of Plisseau, depending on whether or not they chose to take it on before finishing of Strosvald.

>The Division is at A, head for there
>The Division changed plans and is more likely at B, go there

Any requests for additional info will be answered based on von Tracht’s knowledge of them.

>>43005546
>The Division is at A, head for there

>>43005546
>The Division changed plans and is more likely at B, go there

Seems more likely they'd attempt to gather their forces for a push north while the Reich is distracted with Pliessau.

>>43005546

B since in either case it seems like a more direct route to the capital

Rolled 33, 68, 4, 69 = 174 (4d100)

You make the decision to head south. The division, shifting away from the direct assaults of the Grossreich, would have been most likely to go there. Additionally, the Duke’s Road grants a more direct route to the capital through there, which grants a better chance at making it back to the main lines of the armies, mobilizing in and around the capital.

You are unsure of their supply situation, but with the Grossreich offensive apparently being disorganized in many places, it is likely that while they could be doing much better, they have not been rendered immobile. You can only hope that you are correct in this assumption; extended battle would hardly be healthy for a stranded division.

In twenty kilometers, you spy something while examining your surroundings, using the last bits of twilight to get a feel for the land.

>>43006587
>twilight

#triggered

You can see smoke rising from a small fire. It only started recently, it seems; you would have seen it otherwise. It seems to be a good half a kilometer or so down the road, and a bit into the thick woods on the left of the road.

>Dismount and investigate (write in procedure for doing so)
>keep going
>other

>>43006646

Halt and have Bertram check it out

>>43006668
Seconding

You prod Bertram, who wakes with a start.

“Is there a problem?” he asks wearily.

You point to the smoke. “Somebody’s over there. Probably not Reich, but we don’t know nonetheless.”

“Just a minute then,” Bertram says, stretching a bit. His drowsiness appears to have put a damper on his normally curt and arrogant attitude. Or maybe a lack of rest puts him on edge? In either case, he gathers up a dusty bundle and throws it over his shoulders before jumping off and slinking into the woods.

It is a matter of minutes, unexpectedly quickly, before Bertram returns, not even attempting any sort of stealth. Behind him is a trail of three dirty looking Strosvald infantrymen, their grey uniforms stained with sweat and reddish dust, the product of Strosvald’s dry autumns and the clay soil of the region.

“Woah! Tanks?” One of them exclaims.

“Stragglers from the division,” Bertram quickly explains, “Like me, they went out one day and came back to find their group gone.”

“Wow, we, uh, didn’t expect anybody.” One of the abandoned scouts says sheepishly, “Uh, do you have any food on you? I mean, we have some, but, well, let’s say that frogs aren’t any good without seasoning.”

>Feed them
>I’ll trade you your frogs
>Also, any questions or whatever

>>43006882
>I’ll trade you your frogs

>"Have you noticed any Reich activity around this area? Any information regarding where Division was heading next?"

>>43006882
>>I’ll trade you your frogs

>>43006882

Offer for them to join us and supplement our crew

“I’ll trade you our rations for your frogs,” you say quickly.

The scout leader looks at you like you had just pulled a squirrel out of your mouth. “You’ll what?”

Clearly this man had no experience with the rations of 3rd Regiment. “Give me your frogs and we’ll give you our rations.” You repeat.

The scouts look at each other, exchanging expressions that conveyed an identical message; that something in this world had gone very wrong when they were not looking.

Too bad for the scouts that they didn’t know to eat a Sosalian Moss Frog. In the fall, they were quite fat and good, having prepared to hibernate in the winter. Strange creatures, they were frogs adapted to living on land, storing hydrating water inside their mossy growths and living off of dew. The fat, once stripped off of the creature, made for a savory, if greasy, snack. The actual meat was of poor quality.

You wouldn’t explain that to them when you had the chance to get rid of the Cod flakes, however.

“So,” you ask as you peel off the skin of one of the rotund amphibians, “How long have you been out here? Any contact with the Reich?”

“A couple days ago there was some pretty bad fighting,” the leader says. You find out their names; the leader is Ernst, while his two men are Max and Jan. “We lost most of our squad when we and a Grossreich scouting party ran into each other. We got a lot of them, but they threw us back when we tried to capitalize. By the time we managed to retreat and come back around to our guys, they had left. One of their armored cars passed by a few hours ago, but it was by itself.”

“I see,” you say, “so would you like to join us?”

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t,” Ernst says haughtily, “I’m not a fan of the local wildlife.”

“We need people to fill in for crew,” you continue, “We’re under strength.”

Ernst shrugs again. “I can’t say we’ll be perfect, but you’re the boss.”

Arrangements are simple. All of the scouting team are familiar with the operation of radios; it only takes minutes for them to become accustomed to the differences between the tank radios and their own man portable ones.

By the time you are on the road again, dusk has descended into a bright and beautiful starlit night, with a bright moon shining down and bleaching the tops of the trees and the roads.

All of a sudden the night is interrupted by the sound of gunfire ahead of you, and the burst of a small cannon. The orange glare of a fire is visible about a kilometer away, at the top of a shallow hill. The gunfire and cannon shots continue to be exchanged.

>Approach slowly and cautiously

>Speed to the rescue of possible allies

>other

>>43007702
>Approach slowly and cautiously

>>43007702

Sounds like Bertram is going to earn his keep

>>43007702
>Send in Bert

We should push up about two hundred meters and then idle until he returns

>>43007702
>Approach slowly and cautiously

“…hey, Bertram.”

“No rest for the weary, I presume” he groans at you, rising again.

Being the only notable thing in the night, Betram heads off towards the firefight without asking what you want him to look at. You also decide to close the distance at the same time; the fight is at the top of the hill, so you’ll just proceed to around the foot of it. Really, it is less a hill than it is a general rise, but the distinction is insignificant.

The gunfire begins to die off as you linger, punctuated with the odd burst of an explosive. You consider turning the engines off as well as the lights, but you may need to start moving quickly. Bertram returns to you, taking much more time than he last did. He has a noticeable limp.

“What happened? What is up there?” you ask.

“Grossreich scout car.” He mumbles. “Some of ours fighting it…fired a rifle grenade. Missed the car. Hit me. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

It looks rather bad. One of his trouser legs is stained with a huge red blot, coming from his upper thigh. A makeshift bandage is twisted tightly around the wound, with a knotted cord binding his leg above it. More bloody spots pockmark his torso, but none of them are as serious.

>action

>>43008240

I hope we have someone in the platoon with a better than average level of medical expertise?

>>43008240
Get him in the tank, have Maddi take a medkit and patch him up while we advance to friendlies and fire off a parachute flare.

>>43008240
Get someone to check on him anyway. Have two tanks ascend the hill, our own and one of the old ones to survey what or who's let. If the armored car is still functioning, we blow it up, if not, we fire off a flare so our friendlies recognize us.

Rolled 60 (1d100)

“Come over here,” you say to Bertram, “We’ll try and fix you.”

“No need,” insists Bertram, but he hobbles over anyway, letting you pull him up. You hear him curse under his breath a couple times as his wounds drag on the tank.

“Maddalyn,” you call your passenger, “There’s a green box that’s labeled medical supplies on the left wall. Get it and do what Bertram says.”

“Oh…oh, God! What happened to you?” Maddalyn gasps as Bertram collapses into a pile in front of her.

“I’m a popular guy,” he says sarcastically, “everybody wants a piece of me.”

Maddalyn’s shock is destroyed by his tone. “Fine. Take your shirt off then.”

“No,” Bertram coughs, “in the kit, there are scissors. Cut it off.”

Bertram continues his instruction as you rouse the platoon into action.

“Tank two, follow me up the hill, be read to fire on any hostile targets. The rest of you, hold back until my order.”

You and tank two climb the hill. You quickly spot the source of the fire, a truck of Strosvald make, still smoldering. You see no sight of the reported armored car, until there is a sudden flash when you are but fifty meters away.

With a massive clang that rocks the inside of your tank, a cannon shell slams into the hull front and bounces up into the sky. The armored car that fired the shot has revealed itself.

Roll 2d100.

Rolled 60, 26 = 86 (2d100)

>>43008747

Rolled 1, 89 = 90 (2d100)

>>43008795

Rolled 17, 36 = 53 (2d100)

>>43008795

File: 1426879889356.jpg (10 KB, 255x200)

10 KB JPG

Rolled 27, 30 = 57 (2d100)

>>43008847
>>43008860
>>43008868

With a pair of shots, both your tank and tank two open fire on the enemy. The shots strike off its wheels, and the car tilts over, gun towards the ground and wheels spinning impotently. Your gunner adjusts his aim towards the center mass of the car.

>finish it
>wait for a surrender

>>43008961
>wait for a surrender
Pepper it with the Coax to encourage them. This is kinda funny

>>43008961
>wait for a surrender
Give a burst of machine gun fire

Wait, does this runs on lowest rolls?

>>43009022
Yea

“All tanks hold fire,” you command, as the radio operator follows and the gunner leans back in triumph. “How are you doing down there?”

“He won’t hold still!” Maddalyn complains.

“Let him be for a second and come up here. You see that machine gun? That’s the coaxial, the loader fires it. Just in front of us there’s a Grossreich scout car that we tipped over like a stupid cow. Go ahead and give it a burst.”

“But I-“

“It’s an armored car, it’s proof against it. We’re just going to scare them a bit.”

Maddalyn requires no further encouragement. She holds down the trigger and empties the drum into the car.

“Hey, hey,” you say, “fire in bursts.”

“…sorry,” Maddalyn says meekly.

The car still smoking from being unloaded upon, the driver’s hatch opens and a handkerchief is waved around. It seems they want to surrender.
Not wanting a repeat of what happened last time you were around potential prisoners, you roll the tanks forward and shield the car from any dissatisfied allies that might be hanging around. A quick knock is enough to drive the enemy crew from their vehicle, their hands behind their heads.

>interrogate

>>43009243
>interrogate
"Looks like we found a lost little lamb. Tell me, where is your flock and Shepard"

Also fire a flare to pull our allies out of hiding.

>>43009318
Seconded.

The enemy crew is now kneeling in the dirt. They wear uniforms similar to Grossreich infantry you have seen in the past, with modified helmets for close spaces and darker coloration. They are starkly illuminated both by the tanks’ lights and the burning truck.

“Well well,” you say, “looks like we’ve found a lost lamb. Tell me, where is you flock and shepherd?” With that, you shoot a green flare, followed quickly by another green flare; the army’s signal for all clear and allies near.

“S-shepherd? Flock?” one of them parrots confusedly. His accent is thick with Emrean; probably somebody from the Reich’s northern territories, close to the newly broken off country. You sigh and are ready to call Maddalyn from the tank to try and translate, but another crewman says something in Emrean to him, then speaks to you.

“What do you want? We have nothing. We are the last. Do you want to kill us too?”

“Where are you from?” you prompt, “what regiment? Division?”

You coax such things relatively easily from them, once it is clear that you aren’t going to execute them. They are evidently part of a battalion level attachment, eroded from the first battles and, instead of being replenished, assigned to rear line duties. Unfortunately, this means they know very little about the primary operations, if anything at all.

>Other questions

>>43009684

If they're in the rear they must have an idea of what's up front. Did the main Grossreich force come this way? Are there Strosvald forces ahead?

>>43009684
>>43009722
Also ask them what they ere doing here, where they were going, and how long will it be until someone comes looking for them

>>43009684
Ask them about this >>43009722
And then what kind of forces remain, perhaps a heading.

>>43009684
either salvage the gun and ammunition or destroy the equipment

You ask them about any main forces, particularly invasion forces. They once again know depressingly little, but you do get one valuable nugget.

“They’re not heading for the capital?” you ask again to confirm.

“The Kaiser wants nothing of your gold or your palaces,” the intelligible prisoner says, “The northern nation has bountiful harvests and is rich off of the fat of its land, he says, they have plenty while we have nothing. What use does Der Retter have for your capital?”

“So what were you doing here, then?” you press.

“We oversee the collection of food from captured granaries. We don’t take all of it! We leave enough! We would have felt no shame in taking every last bushel, but we didn’t!” the prisoner pleads.

“Is anybody going to come looking for you?”

“We were…the last of our group. The rest of us were killed or hurt in a battle two days ago. We go, to get revenge…then we are here.”

More questioning yields that their chain of command is fairly sparse; their reinforcements are evidently recomposed units that turned traitor at the start of the war, but they are not to be ready for at least another few weeks, or even months. Until then, there is only the equivalent of a severely reduced corps in the area, although other than the Division they suffer next to no resistance.

A demolition charge is inside the enemy scout car. You get it ready to be scuttled when you depart.

>any other queries

>we’re done here. Write in: decide what to do with the prisoners as friendlies show up

>>43010086

Let the prisoners go. See if we can take the friendlies with us. The armored car wouldn't happen to be easily reparable would it? Would be nice to crew it rather than destroy it.

>>43010086
I guess we search them for any weapons and let them loose. We can't exactly take them with us.

>>43010086
"Can you guys fix that scout car? If you can you might just live."

Then kill them anyway

>>43010451
We've already made it a point to not execute prisoners.

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>>43010451
>Then kill them anyway

fam...

>>43010472
>>43010473
Fine. let them go the'll probably report our position.
At least threaten them to fix the scout car

As you are setting the charges, you take a cursory look around the armored car to see if it could be of any use to you. While the Grossreich shares a common language with Strosvald, save for minor differences in dialect, the car appears to not have any spare tires. Since you and your compatriot blew away its wheels, it seems that taking it along would be impossible without a somewhat complex jerry rigging.

You’ve decided you’ve learned enough in the meantime. You see some helmets bob in the underbrush, and you wave. A wave is returned; this night has been a good one for making new friends, albeit ones that could have had better marksmanship.

Their sergeant approaches you. “Hey, thanks for that.” He looks down at the captives, “are you going to do anything with those? I’d personally like to return the favor for this.” He says, pointing at a pad tied town to his cheek.

“No,” you say, “they’re beaten, frightened, and hungry. I was planning on letting them go after taking their weapons.”

“A shame,” the sergeant says, “but you saved our hides so I won’t cross you.” He rubs his wounded face again, “We have a few wounded because of these guys, one guy’s out a leg. We’ve tied it off but he’s pretty weak. Are you from the Division?”

“I was hoping you knew where they were,” you respond.

“Nope. The truck broke down, so we fixed it and got on the road down to the assembly point, and it broke down again. The pile of shit did it six times before this time it didn’t break down, it just got shot through its crap engine.”

While you are speaking, you have search the prisoners and strip them of their guns. You are about to send them off when Maddalyn calls from the tank.

“Wait. Who is Der Retter?”

One of the prisoners turns and looks at her in slight surprise before answering. “Der Retter is our Kaiser. He gave away his riches for the people. To all of us, he is our hero, our savior.”

>Anything else?
>get moving

>>43010568
>He gave away his riches for the people.

Goddamn socialists. Fuck Bernie Sanders.

Invite the infantrymen to ride along on our tanks if there's room, we can always use infantry protection and scouts to replace Bertram while his leg heals.

>>43010568

Get the infantry on or in the tanks if we have any room, and try to store any excess equipment. If there's a medic, see if we can get hem to check out Bert. Once that's done, we get moving.

>>43010568
>armored car without spare tires
>truck without engine
>2+2=5
either have the infantry strip their transport for parts and repair the truck and join up with us, or hook a tow line up to their broke-ass truck and offer them a ride back to civilization
Mechanized infantry is always good
panzergrenadier ho!

>>43010674
Uh, yeah, let's do this. My mind blanked.

>>43010674
The truck is on fire

I'm not sure if I emphasized this enough

>>43010709
Nevermind.

>>43010674
move the two remaining wheels to the back then lift the front and chain it to a tank. Then tow it until we reach this assembly point. It seems it's just down the road.

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>>43010710
>I'm not sure if I emphasized this enough
you didn't emphasize that /at all/
and why would we get near enough to set explosive charges when the armored car is in danger of cooking off?

and we could just tow the damn thing like this

>>43010808
My apologies

I thought you were referring to the truck, not the armored car.

>>43010808
The truck is on fire. The armored car is perfectly fine it just needs 2 wheels. unless we do this>>43010801
or what you said

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>>43010841
my bad I thought you were saying the armored car was on fire
looking back you did say the truck was on fire
yeah, so take the front wheel off the side that wasn't shot and put it on the back wheel that did get shot, and put skids on the front wheels

You take another look at the armored car, and a thought crosses your mind. You head back to it and disarm the scuttling charge.

Before letting the Reich soldiers go, you have them move around an undamaged wheel to the back. With the careful application of tow cables and overly complex pullies and unnecessary lashings, you create a silly looking, yet just as deadly, wagon that trails behind your tank. If it wasn’t for how heavily armed the setup was it would look like a goofy train.

Nobody volunteers to ride in the rickety caboose, but after a brief, physical discussion, some volunteers are found to crew the piece.
Nine soldiers, four of them in various states of injury, are added to your repertoire. Some crates and barrels are moved around, resulting in some of the infantrymen being packed in between loose luggage, but none would rather walk.

The rest of the night goes refreshingly quietly. Whatever assembly point the squad was talking about appears to either have been abandoned or further away than expected, so a couple of hours of careful driving pass, the trailing car swaying every ten minutes or so, until you encounter an obstacle.

“Why are we stopping?” you ask.

“Mines,” your radio operator says for the driver, “some moron dumped them on the road instead of burying them. All the better for us, I suppose.”

>action?

>>43010991
and then chain it to the tank so it can still turn without snapping the cars frame

>>43011002
Apply dakka to clear mines. fuck sending our infantry out to do it.

>>43011002
Anyone know how to disarm a mine?

Hey it's free stuff

>>43011002
just because these mines are here doesn't mean that they didn't bury some before saying fuckit
as for the mines we can check out if theyre AT or AP
as long as theyre anti personel we can advance without risking de-tracking from running over one if they did bury some
If theyre AT we can have soliders go and bayonet the ground to find them, AT mines take a lot more weight than a single person to detonate

I figure that since the main questions are “can we disarm them” and "what are they" I may as well add this.

You squint at the mines, turning out from your hatch. You recognize them, just as any other soldier of Strosvald would recognize them.

They are M2.T Anti-Tank Mines, of Strosvald origin. They resemble large, thick and flat dinner plates, and any soldier who has gone through basic training knows how to disarm one. In fact, due to its simplistic disarming system, it is one of the first things soldiers learn.

>>43011174
Disarm them and lets take them with us. We can always use more munitions.

>>43011174
Disarm, take with

>>43011108
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Dm41UPsvuFo#t=62
Remove the detonators and stow some mines for later use so even if they get hit they wont go up unless hit with a HE shell or something
Maybe make a sled thing and tow it behind a tank for extra safety
to bad we didn't tow the wrecked truck with us we could have pushed it in front of us to detect mines

ALSO ARCHIVE.MOE isdown so archive this on suptg

>>43011174
We also need to check for planted ones.

You prepare to stop and loot the mines. Free things, after all, are always good.

First a small investigation. The earth is hard around the mines; the visible ones appear to be the only ones that were planted, oddly. The engineers must have been in a hurry…or there was something else.

These mines are disarmed through the removal of the arming rod, and the insertion of said rod into a small hole on the bottom that interrupts the circuit completed by a pressure plate. All in all, a charmingly simplistic device.

However, you dig you fingers under one, and feel a slight tension as you lift it slightly.

>Something is up (write in action)
>Probably just the ground

>>43011274
>Something is up (write in action)
Lets just leave this one be. Fuckers might have left a lighter surprise under this one. We just slowly and carefullt put this one exactly where we left it, get everyone back in the tanks, then pepper it and everywhere around it with machine gun fire

>>43011274
>>Something is up (write in action)
Yell out that it's a trap and for nobody to touch the mines.
Drop it. Order everyone back. apply machine gun until all mines are removed

its a wire under the mine. we could probably cut it but I don't think we should risk it

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>>43011274
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

these mines are boobyrapped

back away slowly

>>43011336
No no, be calm. Yelling causes twiches, twitches cause explosions. Just call out Freeze! and put everything back carefully, don't drop anything suddenly. Easy and slow movements atound explosives.

>>43011274
>>Something is up (write in action)

See! I was right, the first time! Apply dakka to mines!

>>43011373
Won't be the surefire solution though. Since these are the double layer AT mine boobytrap, the best way to be sure would be either a flail, a mine plow, or specially trained minesweepers.

The best we could hope for is to detonate what we see, then advance single file slowly while infantry detect and clear the way for us.

Make sure before we go we mark on our maps and hang signs around that cleary indacate this is a minefield. Professionals with proper equipment need to find this place later.

>>43011433
Main gun?

>>43011466
Not worth the shells.nthe effect is to small

>>43011504
What about just firing in a small column.
Also have the infantry search the surrounding woods for mines

>>43011538
Again, the effect would be to small, AP won't spread enough force wide enough to be worth using the shell and our ammo in general is very valuable.

Also you'd have to make it double wide for each side of tracks, doubling the amount of used ammo.

>>43011587
HE?

And what about searching the surrounding woods for an alternative path?

You let the mine back onto the ground. You about to say a warning when a memory flashes across your mind.

The M2.T was a simplistic device. In fact, too simplistic. Critics of the outdated design noted its lack of tactical flexibility; the only way it was designed to be detonated was through sufficient pressure.

However, basic training used this as an opportunity.

In direct opposition to the M2.T, the M30 was a devious, adaptable mine. Purchased as part of a rearmament program during the year 1930, it could be detonated through pressure, by use of a manual detonator, a variety of ways, but most notably with a tension fuse.

This tension fuse came in two sorts. One sort was a classic sort; the detonator was kept under tension by a wire, and when the wire broke, the detonator went off and the mine exploded. The second was the more devious sort; when pulled, tension is applied to a chemical ampoule within. This ampoule degrades the tension wire, until…

You leap backwards as the mine explodes. You are incredibly thankful for the M2.T’s unreliability; as simple as it is, it has an incredible amount of explosive power; the M30’s detonation failed to set off the second one.

You are still showered with pebbles and earth. The others that set out with you freeze and look at you, their hands frozen in reaching for the anti-tank mines.

You brush yourself off. “Don’t touch these.”

You search the surroundings of the road. With slow and careful prodding, you find mines that are actually hidden. Not wanting to experience more booby traps, you leave them be.

“What’s all this racket?” you hear a voice call.

You almost respond, but one of the infantrymen snaps up and shouts back “the band plays on!”

An infantryman steps out of the forest, looking exasperated. “Where were you yesterday? We changed it, you idjits. You’re lucky I know your voice, Villier.” He looks at your tanks, then you. “And who are you?”

>respond

>>43011628
*the ampoule breaks and the chemical degrades the wire

I was on the character limit anyhow

>>43011628
"A moment ago I was a minesweeper, now I'm just lucky to be alive. But seriously, friendlies; we're looking for Division."

>>43011628
A lucky man
Also the leader of this Tank Platoon

>>43011628
>And who are you?”
Von Tracht's funnies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart%27s_Funnies) at your service
you don't happen to have a spare wheel lying around, do you?

we should probably get our sniper friend and our guests wounded to a medic

“I’m many things,” you say, getting up on your feet, “I’m a minesweeper, a tank commander, platoon commander, but mostly I’m just a lucky punk.”

“Name and rank.”

“Lieutenant von Tracht.”

The newly arrived NCO looks at you more thoroughly and smiles. “No shit?” he gives the mines a wide berth as he steps closer. “There’s another path about half a klick back. I’ll point it out. But really, you’re von Tracht? Otto wouldn’t shut his dumb ass mouth about you. Says you saved the company.”

“Well,” you try to think of a way to deflect the praise, “speaking of, where’s the division?”

“These clods didn’t know where the division went?” the NCO sneers at the mounted infantry, “Typical. Well, I can tell you where the division is. It’s to the northeast, past about three thousand Grossreich Kaiser-kissers.”

That number seemed unprecedented for this area, and you say so.
“Isn’t it? It seems that whoever’s in charge of this area got sick of our shit, so they sent everything they had at the division a couple days ago. We fucking smashed them, it was glorious, you should have seen it. Downside is that our company got cut off by one of their counterattacks.”

Either your prisoners were lying or they were part of a different group.

“So what do we do?” you ask.

“For now, we go to company headquarters. I know a few people that would be glad to see you back…”

>aaand that'll be the thread. It's 4:30 and midterms are next week so that'll be it for this weekend. Congratulations, you're almost back. I'll answer any Q and A that pops up before I go to sleep.

>>43011682
This
Also, "Whats the new challenge and response?"

>>43011816
Thanks for the thread. It's the first one I've participated, and let me just say it's real fun.

>>43011816
Thanks for running.

Could we get an updated map?

Also, could you pass on their mental thoughts on what they think of what we're towing?

>>43011862
>Also, could you pass on their mental thoughts on what they think of what we're towing?
this

>>43011816
Did we ever get around to changing the emblem on our tanks?
We picked arrow and breastplate, right?

>>43011853
No problem. I'm glad that it's fun for you.

>>43011862
>Could we get an updated map?

I'm pretty sure you mean locally and not at the scale of the one I'm posting, but I still need to plan the local one out. I'll have it around next week.

>Also, could you pass on their mental thoughts on what they think of what we're towing?

"Is that a car under that tangle of cables?"

>>43011894
That looks to be the case.
I'll draw it on next week. This particular weekend was just inconvenient for doing much other than writing.

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>>43012017
ahem.

Green dot's the division, naturally.