Welcome to the Danubian River Gunboat Flotilla, Kapitan Otto von Flaschmann. As you are reading this, the train carries you away from the sunlight waters of the Adriatic to the clouded mud of the Danube. You are here for one of two reasons, either you have volunteered (unlikely) or you have blotted your career in your previous post as Flag Kapitan to the Admiral of the Adriatic Fleet of the KuK Navy. In either case, your career is taking a distinct downward turn; gone are the heroics of the Boxer Rising , the friendship with the Heir to the Throne; your Aunt Lisi can't help you now...................
The Thin Blue (well, muddy brown actually) Line
The Danubian River Gunboat Flotilla is the graveyard of KuK Navy careers; your vessel is an outdated steam shallow draught gunboat with a 3 pounder gun forward and aft and two shwarzlose machineguns amidships on each side. You have a crew of some 50 ratings, the usual KuK mix of mutually antagonistic nationalities. The Danube in 1915 is a strange posting, Austria and Bulgaria are at war with Serbia whilst Rumania is neutral but pro Allies. There is a constant flow of German advisors down to Turkey. Your job is to putter up and downstream making sure that the Serbians do not launch a surprise naval offensive (unlikely) and supporting the civil power in it's efforts against the smuggling of arms and more importantly, pigs. Your objective is to get out of the Flotilla by any means available, either volunteering for something or by getting mentioned in dispatches three times - when the High Command realise they can use you somewhere even more risky.
Each turn represents roughly one week. Each turn roll for your orders:
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1,2 - The old rustbucket blows a gasket; moor to a rotting pontoon for repairs
3,4,5 - Patrol
6 - Special Sealed Orders for your eyes only: Stuck at base for repairs:
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1-3 Nothing happens, but it happens in a fly infested Magyar dockyard, so its worse than that
4 There is a call for volunteers for the KuK Fliergerkorps. If you volunteer, you are out of the Flotilla
5,6 Rumania enters the war! If Rumania is already at war, then a Rumanian plane strafes the HQ. You gallantly man an MG in action; roll a d6, on a 1 you are hospitalised for 1d6 weeks, on a 6 you shoot it down. In either case you earn a mention in dispatches.
On Patrol:
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1,2 The mud, the flies, the paprika in all the food; it is so boring....
3 A Serbian position opens fire with rifles and a light gun (you didn't know they had any left). Use the very simple rules at the end of the article to see if they damage the boat. To fire back roll d6 per main gun and d6 per pair of MOs (you can only bring one pair to fire), you suppress them by getting a 6 and silence the position by rolling 2 6s. If suppressed they may open up again after 2 turns on a 4,5,6. Once silenced, they stop shooting. You can lead the crew with excessive bravery, get a mention in dispatches, but are wounded on a 1 or 2 and are hospitalised for d6 weeks.
4 You encounter and board a suspicious vessel:
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1,2 an nasty garlic ridden river barge with nothing to conceal but a vile smell in the bilges
3,4 an awful lot of pigs--roll again: on a 5,6 your Magyar CPO overhears a whisper - they are smuggling pigs to Rumania! You arrest the ship, the crew and the pigs. The Grenz (Border) Polizei are grateful and the crew have pork to eat for weeks. You are now hated by the local pig farmers.
5 You trip over a box marked "Machine Tools", which rattles; using a bayonet you pry it open and find a case of Broomhandle Mauser automatic pistols. You search the barge, finding cases of rifles and a large supply of ammunition. The crew and owner are arrested, you have a 5,6 chance of being mentioned in dispatches and have a nice new broomhandle mauser (as do many of your crew). You are also hated by the local Slav extremists.
6 You check the crew's papers and notice an accent slightly out of place; as you ask a few more questions, the suspect makes a dive for the side of the barge. A scuffle develops, roll 1d6
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- 1 he escapes
2 - you shoot him
3-4 - you wound him
5-6 - he wounds you.
5 You encounter a Rumanian Gunboat. Roll a d6:
- 1,2 You cruise past and politely salute each other - providing war has not broken out
3,4 They are in Austrian waters, you order them back, they do so on 4,5,6. If they refuse you can put a shot across their bow - They then comply on 3,4,5,6. If they do not, you will have to fight them.
5,6 Ah, you are, err, in Rumanian waters. They order you back. You can fight or comply. If you comply, this may not go down well in Vienna. Roll a dice, on a 4,5 your lose a mention in dispatches in the political brouhaha, but on a 6 you are branded a "poltroon of the first order, a craven who must be at least part Italian and whose next orders should include the words, 'blindfold', 'post' and 'firing party' "and that's just the Liberals. You are consigned to a penal sapper unit on the Isonzo Front but volunteer for the Fliergkorp instead.
6 Someone forget to tell you that war has already started with Rumania, the Gunboat attacks, fight it out. Rules for this follow at the end.
War with Rumania started at 06.00 this morning. Nobody told you:
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1,2 A Rumanian position opens up - treat as Serbs above - They get a free shot to allow for surprise.
3,4 A Rumanian Gunboat attacks you.
5 A Rumanian plane strafes you. It gets two free strafes before you MGs get into action. Roll a 6 to shoot it down. Roll for strafe damage 1,2,3,4 nothing bar paintwork, An MG out of action,
6 Bridge shot up, return to base for repair to schnapps cabinet, gramophone etc.
An incident involving fighting before war breaks out causes a Diplomatic Incident. Add +1 (cumulative) to rolls stuck in harbour. Once war breaks out, it is a free for all with any enemy units, they get no free shots and you can be as undiplomatic as you want.
Special Orders
1. You must escort a Junior but Important Royal Personage for a week. On a 6 the Personage is a rather pretty princess posing as an ADC, you arrange a romantic boatride down the Danube.
- 1,2,3 she intervenes on your behalf and you land a nice safe job in Vienna
4,5,6 you cause a scandal and are forced to volunteer to the Fliegerkorp to redeem yourself.
If the JIRP is Prinz Erich von Something und Other, roll a normal week, if there is any action he is hurt on a 6 and you head down Isonzo way to learn to fly. If the JIRP survives, he shows "interest" in you career, add + 1 to chances of getting mentioned in dispatches - all that to a dying paid off.
2,3. Reports have reached the Ministry of Agrikultur und Livestok that the "Lower Danube Pork Ring" is back in business. This consists of Austrian and Rumanian pig farmers conspiring to evade tariffs and fix prices. You are ordered to patrol with vigour and liase with the Civil Power to end this. Roll a d6, 1,2,3 the anti-smuggling campaign is a flop. On a 4,5 you intercept a barge load of pigs, roll on the suspicious vessel incident above. In any event you intern the pigs. By coincidence, your cook produces some very nice pork goulash a few day later~ Mmmm. 6 you get a hot tip that a cargo of pigs is being landed on a the Austrian side tonight take 9 ratings with pistols; 1,2,3 false alarm, 4,5 fight out a brawl with 3d6 angry smugglers and lots of pigs; 6 no pigs, instead 2d6 armed slav fanatics itching for a fight with the Austrian oppressors.
4 You are ordered to collect a secret agent from the Rumanian side of the river. Use the Napoleonic Small Boat rules in issue 9 of Gauntlet to resolve the action. On a 6 the agent is the glamorous Hungarian Countess Ursula von Andressiy; get her back safe and she will fix you a job in the Secret Service in Vienna.
5 Varnish the woodwork and polish the mooring ropes; your humble gunboat is to escort a General's mistress to his romantic, secluded field HQ Roll a d6, on a 1 you get lost and the General "arranges" for you to have some flying lessons - ho for the Fliegerkorps! On a 3,4,5 all goes well, you manage to relieve the General of some champagne and foie de gras. On a 6 the Mistress is so impressed with "the darling, sweet, little gunboat" and it's "super, charming, captain" that the General gets you a Viennese posting to get you out of the way.
6 The High Command has decided that a Rumanian Fort needs to be taken at dawn as part of a major offensive (or the opening blow of war). You are assigned to take a crack company of battle hardened Jagers to the target, Fort Bombasticovic and give covering fire. T-Tag arrives, but do the Jagers ? On a 4,5,6 they are in fact shipped to a small fort overlooking a beach on the Adriatic; instead you receive 50 tin helmets, several cases of stick grenades and orders to "just take the wretched fort, Kapitan, or don't come back, Honour of the Service etc, etc." So in you go. You need say 20 men to man the ship's guns (mount all the MGs on one side) shore side and run about with ammo etc. So there are 30 men and yourself to storm the fort. The fort itself is an old Turkish bastion with added sandbags, mounting two ancient 75mm field pieces and d6-3 rather cranky MGs; there are some 30-50 Rumanians of poor to average morale. The glacis is rather overgrown so you have some cover on the approach from the beach, whilst both guns from the fort can fire on your boat, so LOS there is not a problem. On a 5,6 you get a strafing run from the Fliegerkorp to soften them up as you go in, but on a 1 the flyboys strafe you instead.
Of course if the Jagers do arrive you can still fight it out, giving fire support, or perhaps leading a landing party, seeking glory (and a posting somewhere else. If the fort is taken you have redeemed yourself and are posted to Vienna; failure results in a ticket to Isonzo to join the Fliergerkorps.
Related
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Von Flaschmann: Part I
Von Flaschmann: Part II
Von Flaschmann: Part III
Von Flaschmann: Part IV
Von Flaschmann: Part V
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© Copyright 1997 by Craig Martelle Publications
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