[X] Take Ferreti's suggestion. The teams will split up and hide in the forests to observe enemy movements while SG-1 and Dr. Jackson try to learn more
Yi's suggestion seems a little too Brilliant Plan for my taste... while this sacrifices mass compared to O'Neill's original plan, it compensates with search speed and awareness.
[X] Take Ferreti's suggestion. The teams will split up and hide in the forests to observe enemy movements while SG-1 and Dr. Jackson try to learn more information from the civilian population.
Speaking of information, I hope the style of map is helpful in that regard. My intent is to convey most tactical information by map and only have the broad strokes in the narrative to not bog everything down by listing troop numbers for half a chapter.
Yeah. I noticed. I'm still mulling over just making the border thicker or switching to letter realiabity / credibility ratings, though I'm not sure if that isn't confusing when looking at things at a glance.
Yeah. I noticed. I'm still mulling over just making the border thicker or switching to letter realiabity / credibility ratings, though I'm not sure if that isn't confusing when looking at things at a glance.
Maybe question marks instead of the dots? That way, for example:
Infantry symbol with two dots and a question mark = confirmed enemy troops, at least a squad, maybe a platoon.
Cavalry symbol with three question marks = possible enemy horsemen, maybe up to platoon strength.
Infantry symbol with one question mark = possible enemy troops, but if there are, only a couple of sentries or scouts.
Maybe question marks instead of the dots? That way, for example:
Infantry symbol with two dots and a question mark = confirmed enemy troops, at least a squad, maybe a platoon.
Cavalry symbol with three question marks = possible enemy horsemen, maybe up to platoon strength.
Infantry symbol with one question mark = possible enemy troops, but if there are, only a couple of sentries or scouts.
Any chance we can get our hands on some ATVs or UTVs? It might be possible to simply disassemble them to some extent (remove ROPS, handlebars, wheels, etc) and position them on a cart in such a way that they can be squeezed into the gate room. A decent size UTV might be something that could mount either M2 Brownings or (even better) Mk19 grenade launchers. Also provides supply carriage so additional stuff can be carried. If our guns are having trouble with Jaffa armor, we can compensate by bringing along either AT4s or Carl Gustavs.
As for dealing with the Death Gliders... do we have any ability to get our hands on a Howitzer? A M777 should be something that can be disassembled, transported down to the Gate, and reassembled. Might need a few UTVs to go through the Gate and then winch it through together. We could bring a drone through and fly it to the airfield to spot, lase the DGs, and drop Exalibur rounds on them. The map doesn't have a scale so idk how far away anything is but Excalibur is good for 40km. Similarly, we could shell the Jaffa outposts while spotting with drones. Could even do that with just K6 Mortars that the UTVs can easily carry if a M777 isn't in the cards. Or simply fire Hellfires through the Gate.
Would be nice if we could just... disassemble a LAV-25, hand carry parts through the Gate to Abydos, and reassembled. Something like that would eat Jaffa concentrations alive.
[X] Go with O'Neill's proposal. The teams move as one through the central forest and will try to find signs of the escaped slaves or to cross the river to scout the quarry.
Probably won't win, but I have a good feeling about this one.
We got an option to procure motorcycles and/or ATVs as of this turn (the ex-Army recruits clued us into the possibility), but didn't take it this turn due to other, more pressing concerns. I expect the option will receive serious consideration going forward.
Any chance we can get our hands on some ATVs or UTVs? It might be possible to simply disassemble them to some extent (remove ROPS, handlebars, wheels, etc) and position them on a cart in such a way that they can be squeezed into the gate room. A decent size UTV might be something that could mount either M2 Brownings or (even better) Mk19 grenade launchers. Also provides supply carriage so additional stuff can be carried. If our guns are having trouble with Jaffa armor, we can compensate by bringing along either AT4s or Carl Gustavs.
As for dealing with the Death Gliders... do we have any ability to get our hands on a Howitzer? A M777 should be something that can be disassembled, transported down to the Gate, and reassembled. Might need a few UTVs to go through the Gate and then winch it through together. We could bring a drone through and fly it to the airfield to spot, lase the DGs, and drop Exalibur rounds on them. The map doesn't have a scale so idk how far away anything is but Excalibur is good for 40km. Similarly, we could shell the Jaffa outposts while spotting with drones. Could even do that with just K6 Mortars that the UTVs can easily carry if a M777 isn't in the cards. Or simply fire Hellfires through the Gate.
Would be nice if we could just... disassemble a LAV-25, hand carry parts through the Gate to Abydos, and reassembled. Something like that would eat Jaffa concentrations alive.
ATV's yes, but UTV's are already problematic to fit through the base corridors.
M777 and LAV-25 are definitely out until you remodeled to get proper vehicle access to the gate.
If you want to get some indirect fires, there will be actions for mortars and grenade launchers now that you got Heavy Weapons done, and once man-portable UAVs got done, you can branch out into loitering munitions. Or take a page out of the Ukrainian handbook and rig up scouting UAVs to drop mortar shells.
Also: Vote Closed
Adhoc vote count started by Azel on Jul 5, 2022 at 3:23 PM, finished with 46 posts and 21 votes.
[X] Take Ferreti's suggestion. The teams will split up and hide in the forests to observe enemy movements while SG-1 and Dr. Jackson try to learn more
[X] Take Ferreti's suggestion. The teams will split up and hide in the forests to observe enemy movements while SG-1 and Dr. Jackson try to learn more information from the civilian population.
[X] Try Yi's idea. SG-1 will make a dash for the forest while SG-2 and SG-3 will engage Jaffa patrols and reinforcements at the gate before falling back to Earth. SG-1 will be on their own from there on out.
[X] Go with O'Neill's proposal. The teams move as one through the central forest and will try to find signs of the escaped slaves or to cross the river to scout the quarry.
"Gooood morning Chulak!" Jack yelled into the radio with an earnest cheer. He had a decent cup of instant coffee and Hartman was roasting the rabbit they caught last night for breakfast. Life was good. Life would have been even better if Atkins and Bashir weren't guarding the perimeter to make sure nobody would start shooting at them out of nowhere, but he had long ago decided to not let his day be ruined by something like that.
"God fucking dammit Jack!" He heard Ferretti's voice crackle back from speaker. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Sergeant? Take note. Yesterday was no fluke. The captains sense of humour has been wounded on Abydos."
"This wasn't funny the first time either, Jack," said Captain hissed back in annoyance.
"We can only hope that doctor Fraiser can save it…" O'Neill kept going in a grave and worried tone.
"It isn't my problem that we are on this planet for two days and you keep using the same bad jokes. Will you do this every morning now?"
"Sirs," Yi spoke up for the first time and then paused for a long while. "SG-3 reporting in at two-hunded as ordered, sir," he finally finished.
One of these days, he would get Yi to say something out of order. He had given up on trying to make the Sergeant call him Jack for the time being, but surely, he could annoy him enough to snap at him. It was so easy with Ferretti after all. And Kawalski was already healthy enough to be sarcastic. It just wouldn't do for Yi to stay so tightly wound all the time in their presence. For now though, he would have to put that project on the back-burner.
Getting out his business voice, he spoke on. "How is the situation at the gate? Any activations?"
"None last night, sir. The mounted Jaffa unit has the morning patrol. Given yesterdays pattern, I expect them to make two passes from the village to the crossroads and then have the infantry to the afternoon patrol. We also spotted some boats near the bridge at sunrise. They probably moored there for the night and will travel on today."
"Sounds good enough for me. Ferretti? How as the water?"
"Cold as ice. We went to the shallows at sun-down and crossed the river around sixteen-hundred. No patrols on the northern side and even the guards in the forest post don't seem keen on leaving their watchtower. Had a bit of sleep until the first sun rose and the watch didn't report anything either. They are much less active here, so I think we can risk ranging to the edge of the forest at daytime and observe the roads and city for a bit."
"Do that. As for SG-1, we are still in our old camp. Spotted a second section-strength group of Jaffa in the southern villages, but that's not much to worry about. We kept an eye on the camp in the forest we found yesterday, and I have to update it's size. At least two platoons worth of infantry with a small amount of civilians that likely are their logistics train. Still only guarding the camp and lightly patrolling the forest to the east. No patrols or search parties in our direction."
"You need our backup there, Jack?"
"I wouldn't have told you to go swim if that was the case. Whatever they are doing in those hills, they are happy to sit tight for now. Maybe we will know more about that when Daniel is back."
"Fine. But you better not leave us behind if they do start moving," the captain groused back. "If we don't have any patrol activity here today either, I think we should try to find that quarry tonight."
"Sounds good but hold that thought." As if summoned, Daniel picked that moment to walk back into the camp. He was still wearing his 'foreign trader' disguise consisting of some threadbare Abydonian robes he had thrown over his clothes and a large canvas bag on his back. As a greeting, Jack tossed him a radio. "Hope you had a nice night in that village while we were roughing it. Learned something useful?"
"Quite a bit and… uh…" Jackson fiddled with the radio while O'Neill passed him a cup of coffee. "Good morning, everyone. Doctor Jackson here. I've managed to get a place to sleep in the unguarded Jaffa village east of our camp and spoke with the people there. They are just farmers, though it's the women who run the farms since most of the men are off and fighting for Apophis right now. I didn't pry too deep, but it's been years since they saw some of their husbands and they keep drafting more, so I'm pretty sure there's a major war ongoing between the Goa'uld right now."
"That means less soldiers and resources for them to concentrate on Earth," Ferretti's voice came from the radio. "Sucks to be them, but good for us at least."
Daniel did not look all too pleased by that attitude, but O'Neill just shrugged at him. Ferretti had a point. Apophis being able to freely follow his grudges would have been much worse for Abydos and Earth. There was not much point to beleaguer the point though and so he stayed silent.
"Anyway," the archaeologist continued after a moment. "I managed to hear about the slave escape and could learn a few details. As far as the people in the village know, they still haven't been captured, which led to the patrols being so active. They also knew about the large group that is in the forest, but according to the villagers, they are actively searching day and night for the slaves."
"Bullshit," O'neill called into his own radio. "Either this is the most half-assed search effort I've ever seen, or they are slacking off."
Daniel just shrugged at him before remembering that the rest couldn't see that. "Uhm, I don't know. It's just what I heard. They also said there is a new guard commander after the last one got… well… I think 'disembowelled' was the word used. He had been put into place by Teal'c and Apophis had him publicly executed."
"Could be that the old guy was much more popular than the new one and now the troops are having bouts of malingering and malicious compliance," came Ferretti's voice from the radio again. "Have seen that happen before when your military is run by personal connections and charisma instead of rank."
"Doctor Jackson," Yi called in. "Would it be possible that these are more Jaffa that intended to rebel against Apophis in case Teal'c had success on Abydos?"
"I can't say. I haven't spoken with any of them. I could certainly try."
"Walking up to two platoons worth of Jaffa and ask them if they happen to be traitors would be quite a gamble. Don't think they would take it well if they are not. Or even if they are for that matter." Draining the rest of his coffee, Jack starred at Daniel while weighing his options. "This is entirely on you Daniel. None of us can talk with them. It's very risky though. I won't order you to do it."
"Maybe? I'm not sure. There must be some reason for their actions and I don't think we will learn them from spying on them with binoculars." Daniel looked off into the distance while mulling things over, idly taking a sip of his coffee. "I think I'd do it, if you think this is a good idea. You call, Jack."
What do the teams decide to do?
[] Do not contact the Jaffa. Let SG-2 try to scout the city and the quarry while SG-1 and SG-3 remain in place and watch for changes in the enemies movements.
[] Have Daniel approach the Jaffa alone in his trader disguise.
[] Take a gamble that they are traitors and approach the Jaffa openly to negotiate. Or to help Daniel escape if they are not.
[] Order SG-2 to fall back over the river and instead let SG-1 move east tonight to check the eastern forests for signs of the slaves.
[] Write-In: Have SG-1 move east tonight to check the eastern forests for the escapees. Have SG-2 sneak past the forest post tonight to check the northern forest for the escapees. Move SG-3 to SG-1's position watching the apparent malingerers.
AN: You can also go with more complex plans, send people to do stuff in parallel and so on. The default options are more suggestions than an exhaustive list of your options.
Wary of contacting the Jaffa directly right now, though Luck and the trader disguise might make it tolerable. Maybe something like this, to cover low-key recon options before we poke things more directly?
[] Write-in: Have SG-1 move east tonight to check the eastern forests for the escapees. Have SG-2 sneak past the forest post tonight to check the northern forest for the escapees. Move SG-3 to SG-1's position watching the apparent malingerers.
[X] Write-in: Have SG-1 move east tonight to check the eastern forests for the escapees. Have SG-2 sneak past the forest post tonight to check the northern forest for the escapees. Move SG-3 to SG-1's position watching the apparent malingerers.
[X] Order SG-2 to fall back over the river and instead let SG-1 move east tonight to check the eastern forests for signs of the slaves.
Also approval voting [X] Write-in: Have SG-1 move east tonight to check the eastern forests for the escapees. Have SG-2 sneak past the forest post tonight to check the northern forest for the escapees. Move SG-3 to SG-1's position watching the apparent malingerers.
We're not here to make contact with the Jaffa, we're here for the airmen. Let's not get sidetracked. Ten to one the Jaffa wouldn't know where the airmen were even if they turned out to be friendly, which they probably aren't.
(And Daniel will learn soon enough that "disembowelment" in this context means "ripping a Jaffa's symbiont out of his pouch.")
Also going to approval vote, I'm fine with either of these.
[X] Write-in: Have SG-1 move east tonight to check the eastern forests for the escapees. Have SG-2 sneak past the forest post tonight to check the northern forest for the escapees. Move SG-3 to SG-1's position watching the apparent malingerers.
[X] Order SG-2 to fall back over the river and instead let SG-1 move east tonight to check the eastern forests for signs of the slaves.
