Mar 7, 2026 1:05 am
Sunset. Near Cluj. Sometime in mid-spring, I’ve lost count of the days.
Lee —
I’ll keep this short because the night is coming and the men who are left need sleep more than they need my words. Still, I owe you the truth, and I owe it to them.
We were dug in on the ridge when the OP called in movement. Three men, three voices that saved the rest of us time enough to get into positions. We needed to save them. They needed to be saved. We thought we had the margin. I… I thought we had the margin. But we didn’t, Lee. We didn’t. Not by a long shot.
The Soviets hit us. They hit us while we were trying to save our men. It wasn’t a random volley; it was set, measured, and meant to cut us off. They hit the security element first — Hayes’ squad — and they hit hard. Grenades, a PKM from the left, a rush from the scrub. I watched men I’d eaten with, joked with, and trusted fall in a handful of seconds. Webb kept the SAW going until he didn’t. Michaels tried to drag a man to cover and didn’t make it. Hayes tried to pull them back and got chewed up in the attempt.
We got the stretchers out. Anderson kept working like a priest at an altar, and because of him we carried some of them up the slope. But we paid for every inch. Miller took shrapnel; DeStefano got a shoulder round; Powell and Rose moved like they had to, because they had to. The platoon on the ridge shifted fire and finally forced the ambushers to peel off, but not before the cost was clear.
So here it is, plain and ugly: I moved two squads forward to get the wounded. I made the call to go now, to risk exposure to save the men in the OP. It was the right impulse and the wrong timing. If it was a trap — and Anderson says it was — then I walked them into it. I can hear their voices in my head. I can see the way Hayes’ hands trembled when he tried to rally. I can see Webb’s face when the belt ran out. I got them killed. I almost got them all killed.. I can see the empty places at the mess table already.
I am not asking for absolution, Lee. I am telling you because you are the one who will understand the weight of a decision that costs lives. Tell me what to do with this guilt. Tell me how to carry it without letting it break the men who are still breathing. If there is a thing to be done, I will do it. If there is nothing, I will stand watch and count names until dawn.
It was a trap; Anderson said so. I keep turning that over because if he’s right, then I failed to see what he saw. If he’s wrong, then I still failed because my choice cost blood. Either way, I am writing it down so I don’t bury it under orders and routine. It's the end of the world, Lee. I thought I should confess my sins.
Write back when you can. Tell me something that steadies a man. If you can’t, tell me to keep my head down and my rifle up. I’ll do that too.
- K. Thrace
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Over the past 15 months, the remains of the Ukrainian, Moldovan and Romanian in coordination with independent US Forces, forces have waged a war of a thousand cuts against the Soviet forces transiting and attempting to hold their countries. This is where the game would begin.
Session 0 Anticipated: 16APR2026
Game Start Location and Game Date: Start will be somewhere in Romania. Game Date – TBD - somewhere between 01JAN1999 and 15MAY1999
Characters: Should be members of Joint Combined International Task Force Honey Badger: (US: Team Falcon), which includes the 173rd Infantry Brigade (Airborne); (UK: Team Cyprus), which includes a Light Armoured Recce Squadron, a Force Protection Squadron and a company of Gurkha Rifles; and (Italy: Team Aquile (Eagle)), a Motorized Infantry Bn, A Mechanized Cavalry Bn and a Horse Cavalry BN. Characters can also be members of Romanian Military, Ukrainian Military (operating in Romania), Partisan Forces, or any civilian career. Intelligence career characters will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Proposed Seats at the Table: 5-6 players
Adult Content or Controversial Themes: Goes without saying that this is a game of the war that began the Apocalypse. There will be tough themes and content. Most if not all sex will happen off stage. Other themes may be uncomfortable. Please keep this in mind when deciding whether to join this game.
Interested? The point of this post is see IF there is enough interest to bring the game along. It is currently a Work in Progress with a completion date the week before session 0 as posted above. Please reply to this post for questions and to indicate interest. There will be an official recruitment post pending enough interest. Thanks.
-RW (aka Packratt)
Lee —
I’ll keep this short because the night is coming and the men who are left need sleep more than they need my words. Still, I owe you the truth, and I owe it to them.
We were dug in on the ridge when the OP called in movement. Three men, three voices that saved the rest of us time enough to get into positions. We needed to save them. They needed to be saved. We thought we had the margin. I… I thought we had the margin. But we didn’t, Lee. We didn’t. Not by a long shot.
The Soviets hit us. They hit us while we were trying to save our men. It wasn’t a random volley; it was set, measured, and meant to cut us off. They hit the security element first — Hayes’ squad — and they hit hard. Grenades, a PKM from the left, a rush from the scrub. I watched men I’d eaten with, joked with, and trusted fall in a handful of seconds. Webb kept the SAW going until he didn’t. Michaels tried to drag a man to cover and didn’t make it. Hayes tried to pull them back and got chewed up in the attempt.
We got the stretchers out. Anderson kept working like a priest at an altar, and because of him we carried some of them up the slope. But we paid for every inch. Miller took shrapnel; DeStefano got a shoulder round; Powell and Rose moved like they had to, because they had to. The platoon on the ridge shifted fire and finally forced the ambushers to peel off, but not before the cost was clear.
So here it is, plain and ugly: I moved two squads forward to get the wounded. I made the call to go now, to risk exposure to save the men in the OP. It was the right impulse and the wrong timing. If it was a trap — and Anderson says it was — then I walked them into it. I can hear their voices in my head. I can see the way Hayes’ hands trembled when he tried to rally. I can see Webb’s face when the belt ran out. I got them killed. I almost got them all killed.. I can see the empty places at the mess table already.
I am not asking for absolution, Lee. I am telling you because you are the one who will understand the weight of a decision that costs lives. Tell me what to do with this guilt. Tell me how to carry it without letting it break the men who are still breathing. If there is a thing to be done, I will do it. If there is nothing, I will stand watch and count names until dawn.
It was a trap; Anderson said so. I keep turning that over because if he’s right, then I failed to see what he saw. If he’s wrong, then I still failed because my choice cost blood. Either way, I am writing it down so I don’t bury it under orders and routine. It's the end of the world, Lee. I thought I should confess my sins.
Write back when you can. Tell me something that steadies a man. If you can’t, tell me to keep my head down and my rifle up. I’ll do that too.
- K. Thrace
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Over the past 15 months, the remains of the Ukrainian, Moldovan and Romanian in coordination with independent US Forces, forces have waged a war of a thousand cuts against the Soviet forces transiting and attempting to hold their countries. This is where the game would begin.
Session 0 Anticipated: 16APR2026
Game Start Location and Game Date: Start will be somewhere in Romania. Game Date – TBD - somewhere between 01JAN1999 and 15MAY1999
Characters: Should be members of Joint Combined International Task Force Honey Badger: (US: Team Falcon), which includes the 173rd Infantry Brigade (Airborne); (UK: Team Cyprus), which includes a Light Armoured Recce Squadron, a Force Protection Squadron and a company of Gurkha Rifles; and (Italy: Team Aquile (Eagle)), a Motorized Infantry Bn, A Mechanized Cavalry Bn and a Horse Cavalry BN. Characters can also be members of Romanian Military, Ukrainian Military (operating in Romania), Partisan Forces, or any civilian career. Intelligence career characters will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Proposed Seats at the Table: 5-6 players
Adult Content or Controversial Themes: Goes without saying that this is a game of the war that began the Apocalypse. There will be tough themes and content. Most if not all sex will happen off stage. Other themes may be uncomfortable. Please keep this in mind when deciding whether to join this game.
Interested? The point of this post is see IF there is enough interest to bring the game along. It is currently a Work in Progress with a completion date the week before session 0 as posted above. Please reply to this post for questions and to indicate interest. There will be an official recruitment post pending enough interest. Thanks.
-RW (aka Packratt)
Last edited March 13, 2026 7:23 pm
