30 October 2000 0400H

Between sessions notes.

I had my brother draw up his proposed route west a couple of days worth so I could focus my homework on likely encounters. I also told him a few updates.

Poznan is roughly the direction you want to go to get to Bremerhaven. WNW. I doubt you want to go to Poznan: It’s in ruins, and – based on your July 2000 intel – a Soviet stronghold. It’ll be tricky, because Poznan is also a major rail hub.

Another wrinkle. The July 2000 intel report has a lot of obsolete data. Note the Pol 10th TD marker just SW of Poznan. You know that’s not right: The division is in Kalisz. Poznan could be abandoned for all you know.

Col Suvorov wants you out of Zgierz (Lodz) by morning, and has already been loading you up overnight. He may be concerned about interference from Gen Zhelnin.

Maks has been up all night in consultation with Col Suvorov, and then in preparing the train for departure. He’s been running non-stop for weeks, and it’s not going to get easier.

Soldiers from the Zgierz Milicya are loading Maks’ train with tons of coal. Suvorov seems anxious, in frequent consultation with Maks, as if there’s a time limit involved. The 270 sick and frail NATO POWs are waiting to be examined by doctors, and loaded onto the train. Elizka is gravely ill with some type of pulmonary issue. And Maks has just over two weeks to reach the fleet at Bremerhaven, Germany.

My brother described his route

Day 1: Red path at 70 to 75 km to Recon Target Alpha, so within a period of travel. Orange Section to Recon target Beta, 30 to 35km, so another 1/2 period. If all goes well, do these two sections within one day stopping for the night with patrols basically owning the four-way junction at Recon Target Beta.

Day 2: Travel to Recon Target Gamma at Wrzesnia. Possibly stopping sooner at Wolka or Slupca if they look appealing. This will be the day for the add-ons to decide if they wish to stick with us as we will have crossed the 100km threshold. Those who stay would have to agree to follow orders and also either fight and/or work if physically capable.

This takes him through the top of the Escape From Kalisz starter map. It’s been months since the Battle of Kalisz, and much has changed in the area since then.

30 Oct 2000 Kalisz area map

Then there’s the problem of food with all of Maks’ new mouths to feed.

We will almost certainly have to fight for food at some point. I recall that last session we had figured that the crew would have consumed the original BAV supply of 100kg MRE and 336kg of T-rats by now. We’ve gotten other food along the way but primarily that leaves us with tapping into that bulk purchase from selling the T-72 which is 1500kg MRE and 2000kg domestic. By my calculations, running with 300 people puts as at zero food in one week. I had meant that food to be mostly a trade good, but now things have changed. So even if we hauled ass with no interruptions how long would it take to get to Bremerhaven? I don’t think we have enough food to make it. How many days do we have left before the arrival deadline anyway? And if we miss Bremerhaven then we have to consider that plan B and definitely will be getting hungry quickly. So like I said, I think we’ll have to go kick someones ass for food, among other things. But now we have some numbers on our side and plenty of weapons to hand out. From that gun depot alone we nabbed 50 SVD, 100 RPK-74 and 150 AK-74. So we’re gonna be on the lookout for some bad guys to fuck up.

Well, if you don’t have food in a survival situation, the next best thing is a stockpile of small arms.

Also there’s the Elizka medical issue, and I’d also be asking for assistance triaging and tending to our new passengers. Towards this cause I was thinking of offering up an entire doctors medical kit which has lots of meds anyway, plus an extra 300 units of oral antibiotics (100x each type). I’m hoping his should be enough to equip and motivate them without leaving us stripped bare. If they push for more we’ll discuss some non-medical trade goods or something.

In the process of this medical screen we’ll conduct a brief interview and get basic notes in place for each person. With this many people there could be trouble makers, we’ll be asking each person if there are problems to watch out for and I’ll make sure this interview happens in a private setting.

With regard to Col Suvorov’s offer to trade Maks’ amphibious vehicles for weapons and reloads:

If the Colonel is rushing us out of town anyway then we won’t pursue that vehicle trade for weapons idea he mentioned. And if he follows up on it I’m going to push for offering up primarily the BRDM missile truck and maybe the OT-64 and definitely not the BAV. I’d like to keep some of these amphibious vehicles since they offer maximum mobility options for scouting while train is parked and also would be very useful for securing and/or repairing bridges we come across. And I also don’t want him staging some false flag stunt using the BAV and GAZ vehicles that Maks’ crew is most associated with. 

[Emphasis mine – I just found that last bit humorously cynical!]