Dice Goblin

I’m playtesting v0.99 of DANGER CLOSE, and since the whole point of the game is to create dramatic war fiction, I figured I’d share another session!

The setup for this blog post and this DANGER CLOSE mission is that I came up with the set pieces and the fiction first, and then went to see how flexible the rules are in accommodating it.

Cover image: Trench Warfare by Sgt-Lonely

Cyrentha

Segmentum Pacificus. An unremarkable agri-industrial world of roughly four billion souls, known chiefly for grain, machine components and the Shrine of Saint Orsula. Until three years ago, its greatest military concern was tithe compliance. Now half the northern continent flies the eight-pointed star.

Chaos on Cyrentha

Chaos first took root among disaffected PDF formations, shrine-cults and industrial workers in the north, before open rebellion shattered Imperial control across the continent. What began as scattered uprisings became a conventional war once traitor regiments seized arsenals, manufactoria and transport hubs, drawing in offworld Chaos forces behind them.

The Imperium has halted the advance along a fortified central front, but neither side has managed a decisive breakthrough, and whole districts now change hands for the price of thousands of lives.

The traitors still fight like Cyrenthans: infantry-heavy, disciplined around roads and rail lines, with converted harvest machinery, forestry vehicles and industrial haulers pressed into military service. Their advances come through smoke, tree cover and shattered farm country, marked by defaced saint-icons, blackened work banners and the same old regimental habits now bent toward the Dark Gods.

81st Belisar Rifles

A depleted line regiment that has already been fighting on Cyrentha for eleven months. Originally around 6,000 strong, now closer to 3,800 after replacements and consolidation. Competent, tired, increasingly familiar with the enemy. Their war is mostly trenches, ruined settlements, tree lines, artillery and patrols into territory that keeps changing hands.

The Belisars come from a mountainous world of old provincial towns, vineyards, forests and fortress valleys. Their regiments recruit geographically, so a company might contain soldiers from only a handful of neighboring districts. They wear little woven or embroidered flashes identifying their home province, sing long melancholy songs in the evenings, and argue endlessly over which district makes the least offensive version of the local spirit.

The Battlefield

The frontlines separate the north, held by CHAOS, and the south, held by the IMPERIUM. To the north, an ancient forest, logging settlements, old Imperial shrines now defiled, narrow roads. To the south, farmland, grain processing, rail yards, manufactoria and dense logistical infrastructure.

The frontline itself is a scarred, blasted wasteland: open agricultural country now snaking with trenches, the bombed-out husks of settlements, tank traps, craters of artillery. Oh, and mud. So much mud.

The Mission

The fiction is as follows. Miserable trench warfare in a grim, dark future. A squad is ordered to storm No Man’s Land, go over the top, and claim a section of trenches. This happens to be a pivotal bit of trench, and if they manage to succeed, it will alter the shape of the front line a little bit.

Crossing No Man’s Land

The mission starts with running through No Man’s Land. I wouldn’t really consider this a firefight. It’s more like running for your lives.

I imagine there is a section of No Man’s Land a bit further up that has been excessively shelled, and the craters can provide some impromptu cover. The enemy is within range there, so first the Squad will have to sprint for their lives.

I’ll have each Trooper roll a Mobility Check, and take 1d2 Injuries if they fail. These Injuries don’t call for a Death Save. The rules already cover this: a Death Save is only called for when the source could plausibly kill outright, and lighter sources raise the tally without a roll. Stray fire at range across open ground fits that. It can still be quite a hindrance for the fight that follows.

Taking the Trenches

The actual fight is about the enemy trenches. There are tank traps and craters here that count as Cover for the Squad, so let’s say 3 Troopers can be Fortified. That seems fair.

As for Space, I would say 0. Space is about having the opportunity to maneuver into a flanking position relative to the enemy. If the enemy is in a long straight trench, that’s not really possible.

The enemy also has the Edge. They are heavily fortified and waiting. I’ll give them Threat Level 3 and a Gun Nest as a Hard Target (2 HP, -1 DEF to 1 Trooper, prefers Flanking targets).

There’s no retreat on this one. Either take the trenches, or perish.

Lastly, we have the Entrenched Enemy Force Modifier, which fits here perfectly:

When Enemy Tactics trigger, roll 1d6 instead of the usual tactics table. On 1-3, Pinning Fire: any Trooper that moves during the next Exchange gets -1 DEF. On 4-6, Hunker Down: any 6’s rolled in the next Offense Roll count as 4-5 instead.

Optional Rules

The rules are all made up, and we’re playing solo, so we can freely improvise. For instance, I could say each Trooper starts hunkered down in the craters before the enemy trenches, but can use their Intent to make a Mobility Check to reach the trenches themselves. Failure incurs 1d2 Injuries, with a Death Save this time. Success means they’re out of reach from the Gun Nest, and would definitely be Flanking, and probably In Cover, now that they’re in the trenches on even ground with the foe.

The Squad

All five carry an Assault Rifle and Medium Armor, with 1 Grit and 3 Ammo. Mobility 4, Flanking Bonus +2 ATK.

• Sergeant Kovren. Eleven months in country. Keeps his province flash folded inside his glove instead of stitched on the sleeve, where it can’t be shot off him.
• Trooper Marcek. The youngest. Cultivating a mustache that his squad has been generous about.
• Trooper Vardic. Doesn’t talk much. Carries a flask of something from his home district that nobody else will drink twice.
• Trooper Ilyan. Talks constantly, mostly about food. Best singer in the platoon, which he will tell you.
• Trooper Drazek. The oldest, and the only one who has been through a trench assault before.

The Sprint

Whistles sound, the artillery temporarily halts, and the Squad charges forth. A Mobility Check for each Trooper. Roll 4 or under to pass.

[1, 5, 6, 2, 4]. Marcek and Vardic fail. I’ll have Marcek use his one Grit to reroll: [6]. Oof. Both take 1d2 Injuries: 2 and 1.

Every 2 Injuries lower Mobility by 1. Marcek is now at Mobility 3, which also drops his Flanking Bonus one tier, to +1 instead of +2.

The Advance

We pick an Advance Posture for the Squad. Our choices are Bounding (low risk, low reward), Assault (loud and fast, use Ammo to improve results) and Stealth.

Stealth is off the table; the enemy knows we’re coming. Bounding doesn’t fit the fiction either; the Squad is running for their lives, and definitely burning some Ammo as they do. So Assault it is. Declaring Assault costs 2 Ammo, and I can pick who pays: 1 from Ilyan, 1 from Drazek.

The Contact Roll. The enemy has the Edge, so I roll 1d6-1: [4].

d6	Assault
1	AMBUSHED
2	AMBUSHED
3	AMBUSHED
4	SPOTTED
5	SURPRISE
6	OVERWHELM

Now the Threat Roll. 1d6, and if I roll Threat Level or lower, the Contact Roll is reduced by the difference between the Threat Roll and the Threat Level. Threat Level 3, 1d6: 1. Shit. The difference is 2, so our Contact Roll slides from 4 (SPOTTED) down to 2 (AMBUSHED).

Now a tactical decision. Because we performed an Assault, we have access to:

Pour It On. After the Contact Roll and Threat Roll are resolved, a Squad performing an Assault may spend additional Ammo to raise the final result of the Contact Roll: 2 Ammo per +1. The roof here is 5, SURPRISE. OVERWHELM cannot be reached this way.

I would need to spend 4 Ammo to jump from 2 (AMBUSHED) to 4 (SPOTTED). The considerations:

• AMBUSHED means starting at LOSING GROUND, Engaged, Flanked. That’s rough.
• SPOTTED means starting at CONTESTED, Engaged, In Cover.
• Ammo is valuable, especially with a Hard Target on the field. We also don’t have the Space to Flank, so all our damage has to come from regular fire.
• This mission is only one fight, though. Rather burn the Ammo now than not be alive to use it later.

So yes, we’ll pour it on. 1 Ammo each from Kovren, Marcek, Vardic and Drazek. Before the Engagement has even started, our fiction is:

• The Squad sprinted through No Man’s Land. Marcek and Vardic took stray fire.
• The foe in the trenches saw them coming and opened up. By hitting the dirt and unloading a near-excessive amount of ammunition, the Squad managed to gain a foothold.

We begin at Momentum CONTESTED, Offensive Position ENGAGED, Defensive Position IN COVER.

The Engagement

First Exchange: Intent & Offense Roll

Huddled behind tank traps and in shallow craters, the Squad doesn’t have a lot of options. Flanking would take a Mobility Check, and is not without risk. For Exchange 1, everyone will Fire. Vardic and Ilyan burn 1 Ammo each. That gives us 5+2 = 7 ATK, but at the start of the battle Pressure equals Threat Level, 3. That leaves 4 ATK to allocate:

• 1 ATK on the Gun Nest
• 3 ATK on the general enemy presence

Hard Targets resolve first. 1d6 on the Gun Nest: [3]. That’s Hit at a Cost. We can deal a Hit, but one Trooper takes -1 DEF. We’re eating -1 DEF from its attack regardless. I decide not to take the risk, and treat it as a miss.

Then the 3d6: [2, 4, 6]. That’s some solid luck. A 6 is a Success: +1 Momentum, CONTESTED to GAINING GROUND.

First Exchange: Defense Rolls

Everyone is In Cover, taking Direct Fire on a 1 or a 2. The Gun Nest applies -1 DEF. I’ll say it was Ilyan’s extra rounds that were fired at the nest, so he gets targeted.

• Kovren: 1d6 > 2 [5]. Safe.
• Marcek: 1d6 > 2 [1]. Direct Fire.
• Vardic: 1d6 > 2 [4]. Safe.
• Ilyan: 2d6 keep lowest > 2 [5, 1]. Direct Fire.
• Drazek: 1d6 > 2 [2]. Direct Fire.

Ouch.

Marcek already has 2 Injuries and no Grit to fall back on. He’s going Suppressed, which is my choice, though the phrasing and the fiction make it sound like something forced upon him. The alternative was eating lead. At Threat Level 3, Suppression isn’t free: he takes 1 Injury for it, no Death Save. That puts him at 3.

Ilyan still has Grit and no Injuries. I’ll take that. 1 Grit to reroll the 1: a [4] this time. He’s safe.

For Drazek, I’ll take the Direct Fire. That’s 1d3 Injuries at Threat Level 3: [3]. Fuck. Then a Death Save, with a 50% chance of rolling higher than his current Injuries: [2].

Now, dear reader, I am truly rolling the dice as I’m playing this out and noting it down. I did sort of hope this would happen to Drazek, as he is now Bleeding Out. He must either be Stabilized next Exchange, or he can choose to make a Last Stand.

The round hits Drazek right in the gut. He can feel it leave his body, taking quite a bit of himself with it as it exits. Blood begins to pool. He looks to his right; Ilyan and Vardic are fully focused on the heretics, hunkered down in the dirt. A heat begins to spread throughout him; pain, yes, but perhaps something else as well. The Emperor protects, he thinks. But so will he.

He manages to stand up. Vardic notices, his expression shocked, but Drazek is moving before he can stop him. Drazek’s steps are heavy, but it doesn’t matter. He will only need a few more.

Another round grazes him, and takes a considerable bite out of his shoulder. A few more steps. He has already primed all the grenades hanging on his bandolier.

Somehow, in the hellish maelstrom of war, Trooper Antoni Drazek found peace, as he dove face-first into the enemy trenches, and detonated.

Last Stand gives +4 ATK to the next Offense Roll, which here is far more valuable than another Suppressed Trooper. Pour one out for Trooper Drazek.

First Exchange: Momentum Gain & Loss

Pressure drops by 1, to 2, as Momentum was gained. The other elements of Momentum Gain don’t trigger, as nobody is Flanking or Fortified.

First Exchange: Enemy Tactics

Roll 1d6. Equal to or under Threat Level and the enemy responds: [1]. They respond. Because they’re Entrenched, I roll again on their own table instead of the usual one: [2].

On 1-3, Pinning Fire: any Trooper that moves during the next Exchange gets -1 DEF.

Nobody is really planning on moving, so sure. Go ahead.

First Exchange: Summary

The Squad took down quite a few traitors with well-aimed shots at whoever poked their head out of the trenches. The Gun Nest churns on unhindered, spraying lead from its Heavy Stubber along the Squad’s position. Drazek was hit, and made a dramatic sacrifice that will play out in the next Exchange.

Second Exchange: Intent & Offense Roll

We have 4 ATK thanks to Drazek. Marcek is Suppressed, so he can’t shoot. We could move him to Fortified, but that means -1 DEF, defeating the purpose. We could aid him with Covering Fire, but that costs another Trooper’s Intent.

The best option here is to go all-out. We need to drive back Pressure, and if we’re lucky enough to roll two 6’s, we can gain enough Momentum to go from GAINING GROUND to BREAKING THROUGH to VICTORY.

Mind you, we’re playing a single-Engagement mission here. If this mission had three or four more fights in it, I would not push my boys this hard.

Kovren, Vardic and Ilyan all use 1 Ammo. That brings our pool to 4 (Drazek) + 3 (Fire) + 3 (Ammo) = 10, minus 2 Pressure = 8 ATK. I’ll assign 3 to the Gun Nest and 5 to the general enemy presence.

3 ATK on the Gun Nest: [4, 3, 6]. That’s 2 Hits, the 4 and the 6, meaning the Gun Nest explodes as a few well-placed grenades land inside it.

Then our 5 ATK: [6, 5, 1, 6, 2]. That’s two 6’s. As the rules say: gain +1 Momentum per 6 rolled, to a maximum of +2 Momentum this Exchange.

The Hard Target just got destroyed, so it’s no longer an obstacle. If it were still active, it would prevent Momentum from passing BREAKING THROUGH. Our Momentum jumps from GAINING GROUND to BREAKING THROUGH to VICTORY, ending the Engagement.

As the Gun Nest is reduced to a smoldering crater, with the occasional ammunition cook-off, the Squad charges forward; the last few meters to the trench proper. They line up, aim downwards, and unload.

Closing the Books

The Gun Nest going down should have triggered a Grit refund, one Trooper of choice, whenever a Hard Target falls. I’ll give it to Ilyan, since he’s the one who burned his own Grit surviving the -1 DEF meant for the nest.

End of Engagement, each surviving Trooper clears 1 Injury:

• Kovren. 0 Injuries. 1 Ammo.
• Marcek. 3 Injuries, down to 2. Mobility 3. 2 Ammo.
• Vardic. 1 Injury, down to 0. 0 Ammo.
• Ilyan. 0 Injuries. 1 Grit. 0 Ammo.
• Drazek. Dead. Last Stand.

Three Ammo left between four Troopers, two of whom are dry. Fine for a mission that ends here.

The smoke hasn’t cleared yet, but the shooting has. Kovren counts heads first, weapons second. Four left. Marcek is leaning against the trench wall, favoring the leg, watching the treeline out of habit more than need. Vardic hasn’t said anything since the Gun Nest went up. Ilyan is already stripping the dead crew’s ammunition, hands steady, eyes not quite steady.

Nobody looks at where Drazek went in.

The trench holds traitor dead, spent brass, and a section of front line that belongs to the Imperium again, at least for now. Command will want a name for this place. The Squad doesn’t have one yet.

Notes & Remarks

Rough fight, and I’m fine with that from a playtest perspective. This was a squad of rookies: 1 Grit each, Medium Armor, Assault Rifles, no special equipment. They stormed an explicitly fortified position held by a dug-in enemy with the Edge, a Hard Target and Threat Level 3. A couple of dice rolls went badly early, and one Trooper didn’t come back. Push that same squad at a position like this a few more times and the losses stack up fast.

The fight settled in two Exchanges, which I think is right. It also holds up in fiction. If five standard-issue soldiers go over the top into a prepared trench line, I’m not expecting them to stroll in with smiles on their faces and butterflies in the air. It was brutal on the page and brutal in the numbers, and the mechanics did what they were supposed to. Drazek’s Last Stand is arguably what won it.

I made two small updates to the rules, based on my experiences in this fight:

The first is Assault and Pour It On. Spending Ammo to buy your way up the Contact Roll is the right kind of decision, but it shouldn’t be able to buy you out of the fight entirely. Pour It On now caps at 5, SURPRISE. OVERWHELM has to be rolled. If it were purchasable, the correct play against any fortified position would be to dump Ammo and skip the Engagement, and that’s not a decision, that’s a toll booth.

The second is Hard Targets. Momentum can’t pass BREAKING THROUGH while one still holds the field. Without that, the Gun Nest was a thing you could simply ignore on your way to VICTORY, and the whole point of a Hard Target is that it sits there demanding dice you’d rather spend elsewhere. Now it has to come down first. Note how that played out above: the same Offense Roll that destroyed the nest was the one that ended the fight, and the order of resolution is what made it legal.