Ioesph Daniilovich Dizaleski

Here, now, is the background for Patrick's character in our East Front Campaign. Patrick didn't have great luck with his first batch of characters... Satan was seriously wounded in his first game. With a shattered arm and four wounds, I think he was left behind for the Germans to take care of while the others carried on with their retreat. His next character, Viktor Krauss, I think, dies in a Soviet barrage - he had stayed behind to cover his retreating comrades. His next character, Alek Travek, was shot dead while trying to repair a truck. Valarie Mirisnofski was a rather large target (obese) and filled full of lead one dark night in Poland (saved him from being eaten by werewolves). Pyotr Dizalotski was a tank commander, and may have actually survived a couple games, but eventually lived up to his name by getting his guts blown all over Comrade Marcov while gloating that he could run faster... through the mine field...

Finally Patrick came up with "Dizaleski"... hoping he would die a little less...


Rayadovoy Ioseph Daniilovich Dizaleski - Wild Card - Patrick
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 6
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d10, Notice d8, Stealth d6, Throwing d4, Survival d6, Tracking d6, Climbing d4,
Edges: Alertness, Trademark Weapon (Sniper Rifle),
Hindrances: Arrogant, Minor Phobia (wolves and dogs), Stubborn
Gear: Mosin-Nagant Rifle Sniper Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2, Snap Fire, Scope),


Ioesph’s birthday is October 9th 1918 and he is 24 in April 1942. He was born and raised in Yeleninskoyez. He lived with his father and mother, Daniil and Elizeveta, his brother Igor, and sister Katya.


Daniil was a tavern owner before the war; he is 51 and was born August 12th 1891. Daniil was always proud of Igor and Ioseph and bragged about him to his customers.

Elizeveta helped Daniil at the family tavern, the White Flask Lodge, and now runs it. She was born on January 4th 1895 and is 47 in April 1942. She constantly worries about Ioseph and Igor. She loves all her children equally.
Katya is 14 and was born July 15th 1928. She helps at the White Flask. Katya loves Ioseph even though he never lets her get her way.

Igor is Ioseph’s older and only brother. He was born April 2nd 1915 and is now 27. Ioseph and Igor were very close even though they often had arguments. Together they got into and out of a lot of trouble.

The civil war didn’t affect the Dizaleskis as they were supporters of the Bolsheviks. Ioseph believes that Stalin is doing the right thing in fighting the Germans. He also thinks that Stalin is a great leader and will do well for the country. The Communist Party is fine by Ioseph but he isn’t for or against it. Since church has been illegal as long as Ioseph has been alive he believes that religion, and any who follow one, are bad.

Ioseph’s only friend of note, Vasily Zaytsev, was born March 23rd 1915. Vasily was the only one in Yeleninskoyez who could match, if not beat, Ioseph’s skill in marksmanship. Ioseph followed Igor and Vasily everywhere they went. This annoyed Igor. If told to go away Ioseph would put up quite a fight but Igor would always win eventually. What Igor didn’t know was that Ioseph would continue to follow them but in a more discreet manner. Vasily noticed him many times but, finding it funny, didn’t say anything.

On a hunting trip when they were younger Ioseph, Igor and Vasily came across a group of wolves. There were three of them, one for each of the hunters. They all chose one and on Vasily’s signal, fired. Vasily and Ioseph both hit and killed their targets, but Igor missed. Surprisingly the wolf didn’t run away, but angered, it charged the boys. They all scrambled to get up a tree. Igor and Vasily were both got safely in a tree but Ioseph, in his haste, slipped off of a branch and fell to the ground. The crazed wolf leapt towards Ioseph and was nearly on him when Vasily shot it. Ioseph has been wary of wolves ever since.

Igor, Daniil and Vasily were recruited in 1937. Ioseph was recruited as a sniper in 1941. While in training Ioseph was the top marksman and he didn’t let the others forget it. Another reason that Ioseph’s comrades disliked him was because if he didn’t like the way they did something he would do it his own way.

Ioseph’s first assignment was to help guard a unit that was to recover important documents from a demolished train yard. By this time Vasily was already a Master Sergeant, and Igor a Junior Sergeant. Vasily also teaches at his sniper school in Stalingrad.

Ioseph’s wants to earn the respect he feels he deserves. If he survives he plans to return to Yeleninskoyez and become a hunter and trapper. He would like to get married and have children.

Elizeveta, Katya, and Vasily are alive. Daniil and Igor are not known to be alive or dead.

Boris Ivanovich Trotsky

Serzhant Boris Ivanovich Trotsky is Dave's Character in our East Front Campaign. He's done a bit of research into this, which is very cool. Another clever thing he's done is made Boris the son of his character from our Realms of Cthulhu Campaign!?

Boris is another survivor. He's been around for more games than Virgilovsky (Though Virgilovsky has been around since the very first game, Rick missed a few games...).


Serzhant Boris Trotsky - Wild Card - Dave
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d4, Vg d10,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 8
Skills: Fighting d6, Shooting d8, Notice d6, Stealth d6, Throwing d6, Intimidation d6
Edges: Quick, Rank (NCO), Nerves of Steel, Rock’n’Roll, Fleet Footed
Hindrances: Phobia (minor): NKVD, Enemy (Minor)
Gear: Ppsh SMG (Range: 10/20/40, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto)

Early Family History
The Trotsky family had lived in the Odessa area for generations. Boris’s grandfather Jozef Trotsky was born in 1869 to peasant farmers and was the only one of 11 siblings that didn’t stay on the farm. At the age of twenty-four, his determination to succeed in the city led him to a job as a guard at the Odessa prison. He enjoyed being a guard, he enjoyed the power, and he enjoyed taking bribes. Often, the information he got from the prisoners was worth more than the money or food. All of it helped to pad his moderate income, and fit in well with his motto of “Family first.”

With his wife Paraskevia, Jozef had six children that survived early childhood. Third oldest was Ivan, born August 20, 1890, the first boy-child and Jozef’s pride. As Ivan grew, Jozef would take him to the prison to see the prisoners, and to show how big a man his father was. Ivan would sit with his father and hear the secrets the prisoners would whisper in exchange for a little extra food, or a little easier work detail. Ivan would often be enlisted to help turn those secrets into money and food for the family, learning how to survive and thrive in the underworld of crime and political intrigue.

Jozef’s most notorious prisoner was Lev Davidovich Bronstein who was a political prisoner at the jail in 1898. Eight-year-old Ivan loved to hear Bronstein talk; he stirred the spirit of the other men in the prison, at least until he was sentenced to Siberia in 1900. When Bronstein escaped from Siberia in 1902, he evidently took Jozef’s last name for his own, becoming Leon Trotsky, a leader of the Russian Revolution and second only to Lenin in the Bolshevik army.

Boris’s Childhood
Ivan grew up and married Katerina in the spring of 1912, and after numerous miscarriages, Katerina gave birth to Boris Ivanovich Trotsky on July 15, 1918 during the height of the Russian Civil War. Complications during childbirth prevented Katerina from having further children, so Boris ended up as an only child. Boris’s father Ivan was a “businessman” (international smuggler/black marketeer), and travelled extensively, specializing in antiquities. Starting when Boris was three years old, Ivan was mostly abroad, often in England, returning only occasionally to Katerina and little Boris. His connections to the underworld through Boris’s prison-guard grandfather, and the convenient Black Sea port location, gave him easy access to international markets. Ivan became known as someone who could “get what you needed.”

Boris was raised by his mother, often not recognizing his father when he returned for brief stays. His mother Katerina seemed to be actively involved with the business, and discretely received many visitors, some with coloured skin and exotic accents, when Ivan was away. His parents provided “services and supplies” to both sides in the Civil War but never actively fought. Boris never knew exactly what his parents did, but he was often sent about the city on deliveries and other simple missions, where a child would not be suspected.

As Stalin came to power, the Trotsky name was not an asset, but the family business and their ability to keep their heads down generally saw them through without incident. As the food shortages increased, their connections helped the family survive, though they were careful never to appear too well fed. Boris became sneaky, and his developing stealth helped him avoid undue attention. “You Must Survive, Surviving is Everything” his parents repeated, and little Boris adopted that philosophy with a passion. The Trotsky’s were not above reporting potential troublemakers to the NKVD - anything to help avoid trouble, and survive a little longer. As a result of their systematic self-protection and the many shady dealings of the family business, young Boris acquired numerous Enemies, most of whom were unknown to him.

On August 7, 1932 Stalin passed a law that all food was state property - mere possession of food was evidence of a crime. Fourteen year old Boris was among the most enthusiastic enforcers of the law, and fanned out into the countryside with his youth brigade in order to prevent the "theft" of state property. He built his strength helping to construct watchtowers (over 700 were built in the Odessa region alone) to ensure that no peasants took food home from the fields. The youth brigades lived off the land, eating what they confiscated from the peasants, developing their fighting and throwing skills, often pelting the peasants with rocks. His youthful enthusiasm was dampened on the day his brigade were sent to confiscate the grain and cattle from an uncle’s farm. His comrades humiliated his aunt and uncle, burned their house, and forced the starving cousins to crawl and bark like dogs. But he had learned his parents’ lessons well, joined in the persecution, and kept his views to himself.
In the peak of the famine, most of Boris’s extended family perished in the countryside or were deported and never heard from again – it was not a good time to be a peasant farmer in the Ukraine. Boris’s aging grandparents also died of disease during the famines of 1932-33. Despite the unfortunate Trotsky name and the terrible famine, Boris’s immediate family survived intact, and survival became the driving force for Boris, more important than honour, politics, friends, or even family. Though a Communist Party member, and publicly supportive of Stalin, Trotsky’s only loyalty was to himself, and to survival. He had no use for religion.

Military Service
Boris joined the Soviet Army on his 21st birthday in the summer of 1939 and was soon posted to the Winter War in Finland. Much of the war was spent freezing, starving, with terrible sanitary conditions, and with the guerilla tactics of the Finns decimating the Russian infantry. Still, Boris had tough skin and survived the war, proving himself as a fighter and survivor.
On August 20, 1940, Boris Ivanovich Trotsky was promoted to Serzhant, coincidentally the same day the enemy-of-the-people Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico on Stalin’s orders, and fifty years to the day since Boris’s father Ivan Trotsky was born. Serzhant Trotsky was sent to Eastern Poland and was stationed in Bialystok as part of the Russian occupation army. In the last letter he received before the German invasion of Poland in June 1941, his mother was in good health in Odessa, and expressed pride in his promotion. As usual, his father was abroad. At the time of the German invasion, Trotsky was 22 years old.

After the invasion, Boris was able to elude the encircling Germans and fought with partisan forces as he attempted to rejoin the Russian armies in the East. Though his “disgraceful retreat” resulted in serious questioning by the NKVD, his survival and successes on a few subsequent suicide missions took the political heat off him, for a time. Still, his treatment at the hands of the NKVD left a fear of the NKVD bordering on phobia, affecting his performance when under close NKVD scrutiny. In most situations though, his experience with surviving famine, criminal interactions, political upheaval, and the unwanted attention from the Trotsky name, combined with his fierce determination to survive, can make him quite an Intimidating character. Boris works best when commanding a troop of conscripts, whom he considers useful but disposable in battle. Boris does not hesitate to use his troops for his own protection – after all “Surviving is Everything!” He’s given up on planning for the future, and his vision is limited to surviving the war at all costs.

Vampire Hunters

Be vewy, vewy qviet, veer huntink Wampires…

19 April 1942

SITUATION

After the previous night’s action the team was determined to hunt down and destroy the Nazi Vampire…

SCENARIO

Hunt down and destroy Nazi Vampire…?

FORCES

Soviet Forces

Leytenant Gennay Vasilievich Stepanoff - Wild Card - Christian
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d4, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 6
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d8, Notice d6, Stealth d4, Throwing d4, Intimidate d6, Repair d6, Knowledge (Machining) d6, Knowledge (Party Politick) d4, Knowledge (Occult) d4,
Edges: Rank (Officer), Party Member, Connections,
Hindrances: Overconfident
Gear: Ppsh SMG (Range: 10/20/40, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto), Pistol (Range: 6/12/24, ROF1, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1)

Leytnant Marcov - Wild Card - Jackson
Ag d8, Sm d8, Sp d6, St d4, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 5
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d6, Notice d4, Stealth d4, Driving d4, Throwing d4, Repair d8, Knowledge (Occult) d4
Edges: Command, Rank: Officer, Ace,
Hindrances:
Gear: Pistol (Range: 6/12/24, ROF1, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1)

Anya Putyatin – Wild Card - Amanda
Ag d6, Sm d8, Sp d8, St d4, Vg d4,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 4
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d6, Notice d6, Stealth d4, Healing d8, Throwing d4, Psionics d10, Knowledge (Occult) d4
Edges: Healer, Combat Medic, Arcane Background (Psionics)
Hindrances: Heroic,
Gear: Medical Kit
Powers: Healing, Detect Arcana, Bolt

Rayadovoy Androv Markovich Virgilovski - Wild Card - Rick
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 6 (7), Toughness 7
Skills: Fighting d8, Shooting d10, Notice d6, Stealth d4, Driving d4, Throwing d4, Survival d4, Tracking d4
Edges: Brawny, Improved Nerves of Steel, Dodge, Combat Reflexes, Marksman
Gear: Mosin-Nagant Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2), Bayonet (Str+d4, Parry+1)

Soviet Scouts - 4
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d6, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 4 (5), Toughness 6
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d8, Notice d8, Stealth d8, Throwing d6
Edges: Dodge, Rock’n’Roll
Gear: 3x : Ppsh SMG (Range: 10/20/40, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto), 1xMosin-Nagant Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2)

German Forces (elements of Army Group Center)

Oberst Count Gottlieb von Reiniger - Vampire Count – Wild Card
Ag d10, Sm d10, Sp d10, St d12+2, Vg d10
Pace 6, Parry 7, Toughness 10
Skills: Fighting d10, Shooting d8, Notice d8, Stealth d10, Intimidate d610, Throwing d8, Spellcasting d10,
Edges: Fear, Command, Undead, Wall Walker, Mist Form
Hindrances: Uninvited, Weakness (wood)
Gear: Luger Pistol (Range: 6/12/24, ROF1, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1)
Powers: Deflection, Puppet, Obscure (mist)

SS Rifle Squad (8)
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d6, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 6, Toughness 6
Skills: Fighting d8, Shooting d8, Notice d6, Stealth d6, Throwing d6
Edges: Dodge, Rock’n’Roll
Hindrances:
Gear: 2x MP-40 SMG (Range: 10/20/40, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto)
5x Kar 98K Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2), Bayonet (Str+d4, Reach 1, Parry+1), 1x MG34 (Range: 30/60/120, ROF3, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2, Auto, Snapfire)


THE GAME
To start with the team had to figure out how they were going to go about this. The three actual BPO agents (Markov, Stepanoff, and Putyatin) put their heads together and tried to remember everything they could about vampires… which wasn’t very much. After they cut some wood and sharpened themselves up some stakes, they requisitioned a scout squad to help track down the German soldiers that had accompanied the Vampire (hard to track a cloud of mist).

The scouts turned out to be some pretty resourceful fellows and led them straight through the enemy lines to the long abandoned, over-grown ruins of a medieval castle. After watching it for some time they discovered that there was indeed a squad of SS guards inhabiting the ruins…

Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


The whole group snuck right up to the ruined castle – the Nazis completely unaware of their presence… The Scouts snuck right up to the room where one group of SS troopers were hanging out…


BAM! a grenade tossed in among them took out one and injured another – the third within the blast radius escaped unscathed!


They then riddled the room with Submachinegun fire and took down two more.

Psyonik Anya Putyatin caused the others brian to melt.


The MG team at the other end of the castle, alerted to the Soviets presence, set up their MG and returned fire.


Another trooper quickly snuck around the corner to try and get a flanking shot – he was quickly taken care of by Virgilovsky.


The MG team took out one of the Russian scouts, but then had to pull back when their team leader was cut down by the whithering fire from all around.


Rick (Virgilovsky), left, and Jackson (Lt. Marcov), right.


Christian (Lt. Stepanoff), left, and Amanda (Putyatin), right.


Putyatin and Marcov got a little ahead of themselves (and the others) thinking the MG team had been subdued, unfortunately there was still a bit of fight in them. They turned and fired on the two wounding Anya, and causing MArcov to duck for cover (soaked)


The Scouts caught up and finished off the SS troopers….

There was no sign of the Vampire. Interrogating the German prisoners proved useless as no one spoke any German.

They figured he must be secured within the mausoleum in the center of the castle, but could not find a way in. The heavy door was bolted from within…

They tried to set fire to the door. It was difficult to get it burning and took some time. Just after sunset the door swung open of it’s own accord and a cloud of mist seemed to escape amidst the smoke of the fire!

The BPO team ransacked the mausoleum. They found a great wooden crate filled with earth. They quickly spread the earth around the ruins – dumping much of it in the pit toilet. Then scarpered with their prisoner. They successfully made it through the German lines again getting back just before dawn! Around 10AM Lt. Stepanoff had the divisional artillery saturate the approximate coordinates of the castle with High Explosive.

They conceded that they probably didn’t eliminate the vampire… but they hoped they caused it some discomfort and made it angry…

Coming Soon to Savage Timmy’s Playhouse:

More character backgrounds and more East Front action next Saturday!

Androv Markovich Virgilovski

Rayadovoy Androv Markovich Virgilovskiis Rick's Character in our East Front Campaign. Virgilovski is a survivor - he is the only charcter still around from the first game. Well... there's Serzhant Zaitzoff... but he's only showed up for a couple games - and Androv has certainly been present for far more than he's missed! Below is the background Rick wrote for his character.


Rayadovoy Androv Markovich Virgilovski - Wild Card - Rick
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 6 (7), Toughness 7
Skills: Fighting d8, Shooting d10, Notice d6, Stealth d4, Driving d4, Throwing d4, Survival d4, Tracking d4
Edges: Brawny, Improved Nerves of Steel, Dodge, Combat Reflexes, Marksman
Gear: Mosin-Nagant Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2), Bayonet (Str+d4, Parry+1)

Androv Virgilovski comes from a line of frontiersmen that can't be traced back very far, but is known to originate from North America. Although incompletely recorded in the history books, Virgilovski's great grandfather was the famous Western lawman Virgil Earp (brother of Wyatt); born in Kentucky in July 8, 1843, died October 19, 1905. While just 16, Virgil eloped in Iowa with the first of his several wives, who was Dutch immigrant Magdalena C. "Ellen" Rysdam; born November 25, 1842 in Utrecht, Netherlands, died May 3, 1910 in Cornelius, Oregon. Virgil left for the Civil War when his only child with Ellen (Nellie Jane Earp - January 7, 1862-June 17, 1930) was just two weeks old. In 1863, Ellen was incorrectly told that Virgil was killed in the war, and left to find her fortune in the Oregon Territory. Upon returning at the end of the war, Virgil found that Ellen had left, and decided to head west to join his brothers. Ellen had remarried twice by the time that Virgil (since remarried himself) found her in Oregon 37 years after he had last seen Ellen and his daughter Nellie.

Androv's father Virgil Jr. (son of Androv's grandmother Nellie) was born in the Oregon Territory in 1892, and, upon reaching the age of 17, and finding no further wilderness to the west, signed onto a merchant ship in Portland, Oregon and spent several years earning his living at sea. After having an altercation with the 1st mate while steaming off the coast of Russia in 1912, Virgil Jr. was forcibly put to shore in a small eastern Russian port. Having picked up Russian from shipmates, Virgil worked his way west as a labourer on the Trans-Siberian Railway, moving from small town to town and (reportedly) managing to avoid the Great War. It was during this period that he changed his name to Markov Virgilovski and took a wife Ilya, who bore his only child Androv on October 19, 1919 (14 years to the day following his famous great grandfather's death), while his father Markov was off on a fall hunting trip.

Androv grew up to be a brawny farm labourer and hunter, and the latter trained him to be a fairly good shot. Living a frontier lifestyle was rough at times, and Androv had a number of close calls while off on hunting trips. He bore a large scar on his left cheek, which he claimed was from fighting off a bear that he had wounded. It was something that he didn't like to talk about. Based on the timing relative to a number of mysterious livestock deaths at the time, superstitious local villagers were convinced that the scar was from an attack by a werewolf, which had long been rumoured to be lurking in this part of Siberia. Whatever the cause, Androv had obviously seen some disturbing sights in his travels, and possibly because of this, was known to have a steely composition not easily shaken by strange sights or injury.

Due to the uneasy relationship he had with the locals, Androv did not protest loudly when he was drafted and sent to the Western Front to guard the border with German occupied territory. When the Germans attacked during Operation Barbarossa, Androv's squad was rapidly cut off from the main Soviet forces and he and a few comrades gradually fought their way to the outskirts of Moscow, where he was recruited into the BPO. Given his history, Androv was none too keen to be fighting in the vicinity of purported supernatural forces - but he did as he was told. Based on stories passed down to him by his father, he longed to "return" to North America's Wild West. He even told some of his comrades that he had heard rumours that other descendants of the Earp family were reportedly involved in secret advance sorties not too far from Moscow.

Gennady Vasilievich Stepanoff

Leytnant Gennady Vasilievich Stepanoff is Christian's character in our East Front Campaign. What follows is a character background he wrote (other players take note - he gets 5 skill points and a couple free edges just for writing this!):


Leytenant Gennay Vasilievich Steianoff - Wild Card - Christian
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d4, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 6
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d8, Notice d6, Stealth d4, Throwing d4, Intimidate d6, Repair d6, Knowledge (Machining) d4, Knowledge (Party Politick) d6, Survival d4
Edges: Rank (Officer), Party Member, Connections,
Hindrances: Overconfident, Loyal (party)
Gear: Ppsh SMG (Range: 10/20/40, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto), Pistol (Range: 6/12/24, ROF1, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1)

Leytnant Gennady Vasilievich Stepanoff was born on 26 Nov 1921, in Leningrad, where he lived until joining the Red Army in late 1940.

His parents are Vasily Ivanovich Stepanoff, 46, born 3 January 1896, and Ekaterina Semyonova Stepanoff, 42, born 15 August 1899. They are both factory workers in Leningrad. Gennady has one brother, Vladimir, 16, born 15 May 1926, and two sisters, Lidiya, 15, born 12 March 1927, and Ruslana, 19, born 8 November 1922. Ruslana is a Red Army nurse somewhere on the front, and the other two are still in school in Leningrad. With the German blockade in the city, Gennady has not heard from anyone in his family since the invasion, and worries about their fate, as the family was very close. Although he does not know it, his parents and youngest sister have been killed by German terror attacks in the city. Vladimir was drafted into a people's militia division in late August of 1941 and sent to the front, where he survived (barely) the battles at the approaches to Leningrad, and is currently trying to survive as a partisan behind the front of the German 18th Army. Ruslana is serving in the Soviet Southern Front in the Ukraine.

Gennady, along with his family, are avowed communists, and staunch members of the party - his parents came to age in the heady days of the Revolution in Leningrad, and considered themselves good proletariat bolshevik Soviets and followers of the Leningrad party apparatus. The civil war mainly passed the family by; Vasily took part in the initial Bolshevik uprising in and around St. Petersburg and was wounded, but as a skilled machinist did not fight in the remainder of the civil war. Luckily, noone in the extended family has come to the attention of the NKVD or become a victim of party infighting - they are politically clean. Their opinion of Stalin is publicly supportive (of course), but they are unsettled by the purges, which hit leaders of the Leningrad party hard in the early thirties. As good Marxists they are not supportive of the church, although Gennady, having gone through the BPO training, is starting to wonder whether the church would be useful against the supernatural weapons of the Germans.

Gennady's most important relative is his uncle, Maxim Ivanovich Stepanoff, 51, who is an up and coming apparatchik in the Leningrad party, and a protege of Andrei Zhdanov, the Leningrad Party leader. He has been tasked with helping organize supplies and rations in Leningrad, and is showing some success there. It is possible that his success here may lead to elevation in the party, perhaps even to the Central Committee. He had a son whom he was grooming for party life, but he was killed in the border battles on the Baltic Front. Gennady is his sole remaining younger male relative.

Gennady joined the Army in 1940, and was quickly noticed for his combination of intelligence and spirit, as well as for his allegiance to the party. Assigned to command a company in the 85th Rifle Division of the 3rd Army, he distinguished himself by resisting the German advance and then organizing and leading partisan movements while trying to return to Soviet lines following encirclement. His ability and exposure to German supernatural weapons led to his being selected for the BPO.

He has several Red Army connections. Polknovik Pyotr Ordkinodzhe is the BPO Operations Officer for the Western Front, he personally recruited Stepanoff and most of his agents. Major Josef Valentin is the coordinator of partisan operations for the Western Front. Kapitan Andrei Raspotoff is the current leader of the Western Front's 17th Partisan Brigade, operating behind German lines, and worked with Gennady on several occasions. Gennady is also somewhat of a protege of Sergey Kalinikov, currently the Political member of the 20th Army staff.

Gennady is motivated both by his support for the party, which is unwavering, and by his loathing of the Germans, who he considers tainted by their use of supernatural terror. He believes that the invasion by Germany has been orchestrated by supernatural powers, and that the fate of the Russian people is to be slaves, or food, or worse. He will therefore fight without mercy against supernatural foes and those that fight with them, although he will admit that there are Germans who are just fighting because they are told to, and who just want to get through the war; to these he will grant quarter if the opportunity arises. Gennady had planned to follow in his father's footsteps and work for the good of the people, but now he is focused on defeating the Germans and their supernatural overlords. He does realize, however, that the BPO offers a path to status within the army or party after the war is finished.

His recent string of successes, driving off a powerful vampire among them, has led Gennady to become Overconfident (major hindrance). However, realizing that his supernatural enemies are pretty tough, he has been leading his men in calisthenics, and has thus become more vigourous (Vigour to d8). He is looking forward to hunting down the vampire that has been plaguing this sector of the front line, and believes that they will be able to defeat it if they can find it's daytime lair. There are probably some Germans to wade through first, but with a good plan and the application of good communist principles, they will not be a problem...

Spring Mists

Took a bit of a break.

Now we’re back.

18 April 1942

SITUATION

Having been severely wounded at the beginning of Operation Typhoon, most of our heroes spent the first part of the winter recovering in hospital near Moscow. Afterwards they were individually summoned by the NKVD and subjected to a number of interrogations concerning some of the strange encounters they’ve had in the last couple of months (Werewolves, Blood Mages and Animated Dead). The Officers, Marcov and Steianoff, were officially recruited by the B.P.O., as was the medic who showed some telepathic ability. The others were assigned to them as personal guards and were told nothing of their mission.

In the spring they are sent on their first mission for the B.P.O…

On a relatively quiet sector of the central front, Northwest of Demyansk, a battalion has been reporting “disappearances”. Soldiers are simply disappearing in the middle of the night from their trenches. They aren’t desertions, as bodies are often found mutilated and drained of blood.

SCENARIO

The B.P.O. agents and their guards are attached to unit as “replacements”. They are to determine, and eradicate, cause of “disappearances”.

FORCES

Soviet Forces

Leytenant Gennay Vasilievich Steianoff - Wild Card - Christian
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d4, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 8
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d8, Notice d6, Stealth d4, Throwing d4, Intimidate d6
Edges: Rank (Officer)
Hindrances:
Gear: Ppsh SMG (Range: 12/24/48, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto)

Serzhant Boris Trotsky - Wild Card - Dave
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d4, Vg d10,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 8
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d8, Notice d6, Stealth d4, Throwing d4
Edges: Rank (NCO), Nerves of Steel, Rock’n’Roll, Fleet Footed.
Gear: Ppsh SMG (Range: 10/20/40, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto)

Rayadovoy Ioseph Dizaleski - Wild Card - Patrick
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d4, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 6
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d10, Notice d8, Stealth d6, Throwing d4
Edges: Alertness
Gear: Mosin-Nagant Rifle Sniper Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2, Snap Fire, Scope),

Leytnant Marcov - Wild Card - Jackson
Ag d8, Sm d8, Sp d6, St d4, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 5
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d6, Notice d4, Stealth d4, Driving d4, Throwing d4, Repair d8
Edges: Command, Rank: Officer, Ace,
Hindrances:
Gear: Pistol (Range: 6/12/24, ROF1, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1)

Anya Putyatin – Wild Card - Amanda
Ag d6, Sm d8, Sp d8, St d4, Vg d4,
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 4
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d6, Notice d6, Stealth d4, Healing d8, Throwing d4, Psionics d10
Edges: Healer, Combat Medic, Arcane Background (Psionics)
Hindrances: Heroic,
Gear: Medical Kit
Powers: Healing, Detect Arcana

Rayadovoy Androv Virgilovski - Wild Card - Rick
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 6 (7), Toughness 7
Skills: Fighting d8, Shooting d8, Notice d4, Stealth d4, Driving d4, Throwing d4
Edges: Brawny, Improved Nerves of Steel, Dodge, Combat Reflexes
Gear: Mosin-Nagant Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2), Bayonet (Str+d4, Reach 1, Parry+1)

Soviet Riflemen - 10
Ag d6, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 4 (5), Toughness 5
Skills: Fighting d4, Shooting d6, Notice d4, Stealth d4, Throwing d4
Gear: 6xMosin-Nagant Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2) +Bayonet (Str+d4, Reach 1, Parry+1), 1x DP LMG (Range: 24/48/96, ROF3, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2, Auto, Snap fire)


German Forces (elements of Army Group Center)

Oberst Count Gottlieb von Reiniger - Vampire Count – Wild Card
Ag d10, Sm d10, Sp d10, St d12+2, Vg d10
Pace 6, Parry 7, Toughness 10
Skills: Fighting d10, Shooting d8, Notice d8, Stealth d10, Intimidate d610, Throwing d8, Spellcasting d10,
Edges: Fear, Command, Undead, Wall Walker, Mist Form
Hindrances: Uninvited, Weakness (wood)
Gear: Luger Pistol (Range: 6/12/24, ROF1, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1)
Powers: Deflection, Puppet, Obscure (mist)

German Rifle Team (6)
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 5, Toughness 5
Skills: Fighting d6, Shooting d6, Notice d6, Stealth d6, Throwing d6
Edges:
Hindrances:
Gear: 1x MP-40 SMG (Range: 10/20/40, ROF3, Damage: 2d6, AP: 1, Auto)
5x Kar 98K Rifle (Range: 24/48/96, ROF1, Damage: 2d8, AP: 2), Bayonet (Str+d4, Reach 1, Parry+1)


THE GAME

The group set uo some wire and trenches and organized some watches and then hung out for a few days… on the fourth night…

The Count and his guard sneak up to the Russian lines. The count drifts through the lines (almost) undetected… Ioseph Dizaleski notices a strange mist pass over his trench and watches as a frightful figure appears out of it and leaps into the trench with them!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Before anyone can do anything one Russian soldier is down – bitten in the neck, he slumps to the floor of the trench and gouts of blood spurt through the hand he desperately clamps to the wound to hold it in… The serzhant of the unit, also int eh trench with Dizaleski, shrieks like a frightened little girl, raising the alarm.


With the alarm raised the Counts Guard opens fire, from their concealed position, on the other trenches.


The few occupying the other trenches blindly return fire.


The rest of the platoon awakens and charges to the aid of their dying comrades


The Count’s Guard, though providing a small distraction, prove to be not-so-good shots. The two groups blaze away ineffectively in the darkness.


Rat-a-tat-tat. Serzhant Trotsky balzing away in the darkness.


The platoon’s Serzhant was also quickly dispatched, but Dizaleski put up a bit more of a fight… Virgilovski arrived and fired on the two locked in combat. He put a bullet square through the Count’s chest, who didn’t even seem to notice…


Upon the arrival of the rest of the platoon (and the B.P.O. psionik) the count decided this was turning out to be too much work for his little midnight snack and disappeared in a cloud of mist…. But not before the Russians fired a volley at him another solid hit on him – which he again didn’t even seem to notice and two bullet in Dizaleski!!

Anya quickly gave aid to Dizaleski and the two other wounded Soviets. They survived but were severely wounded and were evacuated in the morning. Both died of their wounds in under a fortnight.

Coming Soon to Savage Timmy’s Playhouse:

Hunting Vampires…?