'Dark and Stormy Night'

A Panzerfäuste Scenario by Matthew Hartley

Having successfully abducted an enemy general from deep within hostile territory an already battle-weary squad of Orc Marines must make their escape past a Dwarven sentry post, 

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Introduction.

A small force of elite Orc marines have been sent into occupied Dun Nomin to kidnap the famous Dwarven commander General Konrad Von Picklehauber.

The Orcs have succeeded in snatching Von Picklehauber from his weekend retreat - although not without sustaining casualties. The marines are driving the General to their rendezvous point, in a stolen staff car, with the remainder of the unit following close by in a  “liberated” truck.

The Orcs are aware that between them and the rendezvous is a well-defended check point at the only available river crossing. The Dwarves guarding the checkpoint do not know of Von Picklehauber’s abduction.

Terrain

The table should be laid out with a broad river running across it, and with a a bridge in the middle. A road should run across the bridge for the length of the table. Small hills, rough ground and woods should be liberally scattered around the remaining area.

The Dwarven player can place two small sandbagged sentry posts (both Moderate cover), two 5 cm long trenches, and up to 10cm of barbed wire anywhere they choose.

It is night-time and raining hard. The marines have all eaten magic carrots and so are not effected by the darkness, however movement outside vehicles is reduced by -25%. The Dwarves suffer a -50% movement penalty because of the darkness and the weather.

The Marines

The marines are led by the redoubtable Captain Horlicks. They are seven in number, although two are seriously injured following the capture of Von Picklehauber.

The Orcs enter the table along the road. Their aim is to exit the table on the opposite side to that which they entered, with Von Picklehauber, and preferably in a vehicle.

Captain Horlicks has a Guts of 11. The other six Orcs have Guts scores of 10, 10, 9, 8, 5 and 4. These lower scores reflect the injuries the unit has already received. All are armed with Orc rifles, and have 5 grenades between them.

The marines have a Dwarven truck and a staff car. The staff car can take 5 figures, the truck up to ten. Both are soft-skin vehicles without weapons. Each vehicle's Guts score will be that of the Orc assigned to drive it. 

Von Picklehauber is tied up, and will move with any accompanying Orc at a maximum speed of Dwarven walk rate (14cm). If at any time he is more than 5cm from an active Orc (i.e. one who is not suppressed), he’ll make a break for it. Control of Von Picklehauber should be given to the Dwarven player, who can move him as normal. Von Picklehauber has a Guts of 8.

Additional Rules for Vehicles

It takes half a turn to enter/exit a vehicle. The movement rates for softskin vehicles are Slow 32cm, Cruise 48cm and Full 64cm. Due to the bad weather, vehicles suffer a modifier to their movement rolls depending on their speed, -1 for Cruise and -2 for Full. Vehicles that move at Full speed which fail their movement rolls (that do no make a Critical Failure) must immediately roll again against their modified Guts score. If the roll is a Failure they lose one point of Guts. If the result is a Critical Failure they lose one point of Guts and must roll on the Weapons Malfunction table as if the vehicle was a weapon, Jammed has an effect of stalling. A jammed/stalled vehicle can be 'unjammed' using the normal rules. When firing at a softskin vehicle a success gives -4 Guts and a Critical is a KIll. All figures in a softskin vehicle that is killed automatically reduce thier Guts score by 4. The wreckage counts as Moderate cover.

The Dwarves

The Dwarven sentry post is commanded by Lt. Gimlet. He has 12 other Dwarves under his command, including the experienced Sgt. Stahlwerk. The area is rife with partisans and the post has been subject to numerous sniper attacks.

The Dwarves, and their defences, may be set up on the table as desired by the controlling player.

Lt. Gimlet has a Guts of 9, and is armed with a pistol. Sgt. Stahlwerk has a guts of 10, and has a dwarven SMG. Of the remaining 11 Dwarves, 6 have a guts of 8, and the remaining 5 have a Guts of 6 (they are green recruits). One of the Dwarves has a LMG, the remainder have rifles.

The Dwarves may make no actions until the Orcs fire on them, or until the Orcs or vehicles come within 15cm of the Dwarves.

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Webmaster's Notes

The scenario was first published on Orcs in the Webbe on the 22nd February 2008. It was absent for several years due to a prior regeneration of the website not transferring everything over correctly. That wrong has now been righted and it returned in it's original form on the 3rd December 2023 as the third entry in that year's Advent Calendar and, of course, as part of Orcs in the Webbe's ongoing Panzerfäuste Archive Project.

Any comments in maroon in the article above have been added by me either to provide additional information or clarity. I may also have made small changes to grammar and layout but may not have marked those.

The section on vehicles is taken from the original Panzerfäuste rules booklet with a few additions by me to make driving more exciting and/or hazardous.

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