Today we added 2 new players and 5 new characters to the mix with the rest of the team currently being run as NPCs. One of the players has 11 years of military experience (and so was assigned the XO’s role), but the other has never even seen a gun before so it’s an interesting mix. One lives in Maine, one in Florida, and the third in Scotland, and of course I live in Oklahoma Aside from my own connection difficulties (I use the WiFi at a little bar I go to and the connection is spotty at best and there’s a lot of background noise) I think things went well. Or at least well enough for a group that’s still forming and finding its way. As we opened up today it was September 29, 2070 and the team began going over the CO’s plan and equipping to scout north of their base near Ingleby, PA to the small town of Coburn about 4km away (pre-plague population of 236). The XO decided to take a full squad along with “Face” Patterson, their first contact agent and a former CIA agent. Six men would hold back and perform overwatch while “Face” And 2 others including the XO (Lt “Doc” Nichols) went forward. The team left the base at 5 AM the next morning, September 30, 2070, heading north through the area of Ingleby previously scouted and over a high ridge line to a point they could see Coburn. From their hidden vantage point in the densely forested area they were able to look down on Coburn and 2 old and overgrown roads leading into the town marked as Old Tunnel Rd leading south and the other marked as Ingleby Rd leading east. They were able to spot 2 opposing barricades of old rusted out cars, 1 on the outskirts of Coburn and the other at the junction of Rupp Rd and Ingleby Rd about a mile or so to the east. Both barricades were manned by armed men, the one farther east by men dressed in leather and hides, the other by men wearing homespun and all wearing black hats, white linen shirts, and black trousers. Both groups were armed with an assortment of shotguns, AK-47s, crossbows, and bows. “Face” approached the town along Old Tunnel Rd and made peaceful contact with what appeared to be a group of Amish survivors. He called the rest of his team in for further discussions with Coburn’s leader, Brother Thomas. They explained they were in peaceful contact with a group of similar survivors in the town of Millheim about another 4km north, but were also in contact with a group of local bandits who had been demanding tribute for many months. The next tribute day was scheduled for 2 days from now. Meanwhile the overwatch team observed the alleged bandits bring a young girl out of a house and throw her in the dirt outside. Through field glasses they were able to see she had been badly beaten and abused. At about this point “Doc” ordered the overwatch team to take out the 6 observed bandits before they could do more harm. A short burst of fire from an SAW and 5 M4s put all 6 bandits in the dirt. The girl was rescued and the overwatch team brought her to Coburn where she was welcomed by relatives and other members of the community and then quickly hustled away. Sgt “Apache” Redbear reported there had been no other bandits in the area and only 2 corpses in an upstairs bedroom at the house. Brother Thomas said he would have the bodies buried later. The team then returned to the dugout having successfully completed their mission to report the bandit situation to their CO and make further plans. All in all, a pretty good day though a short 3 hour session. The team recon’d Coburn, made peaceful contact with the survivors there (and through them Millheim) and saw a short bit of action. None of the bandits even know the team is active yet (though they will soon enough), and the team pulled off a picture perfect recon and rescue. Score: 6 bandits dead, no casualties or wounds to the team. I really couldn’t ask for better players or a better job than that. Good show.