FIRSTEDITION,FIRSTPRINTING PUBLISHEDFEBRUARY2002 9!BMF@JA:RSTXQOoY`Z[ZmZnZ` ISBN 1-55634-592-5 Printed in SJG00895 8002 the USA FIRSTEDITION,FIRSTPRINTING PUBLISHEDFEBRUARY2002 9!BMF@JA:RSTXQOoY`Z[ZmZnZ` ISBN 1-55634-592-5 Printed in SJG00895 8002 the USA TM Additional GURPS System Design Steve Jackson ≈ Material by Creative Director ≈ Philip Reed Managing Editor Andrew Hackard Hans-Christian ≈ GURPS Line Editor Sean Punch µ Vortisch GURPS WWII Line Editor Gene Seabolt ≈ Production Manager Heather Oliver ≈ Design and Production Gene Seabolt Edited by ≈ Print Buying Monica Stephens ≈ Gene Seabolt GURPSErrata Coordinator Andy Vetromile ≈ Sales Manager Ross Jepson µ Lead Playtester:John Freiler.Playtesters: C O N T E N T S Allen Barrett,Scott Biddle,Brian Boyko, Douglas Cole,Barry Cooper,Adam Crossingham, Introduction .....................2 Nelson Cunnington,Peter Dell’Orto, Daniel Howard,John Johnson,Phil Masters, 1. Special Operations in WWII.....3 Anthony Phraner,William Rieder,Thomas Schoene, 2. Best of the Best ................6 Richard Taylor,and Gil Trevizo. Characters .................16 GURPS,Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks 3. Gizmos and Gadgets ..........18 of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. GURPSWWII:Hand of Steel,Pyramid, Weapons Table .............21 and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are Special Ops Vehicles . . . . . . . . . 26 registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. 4. Mission Planning .............28 GURPS WWII:Hand of Steel is copyright ©2002 by Steve Jackson Games Bibliography ...................32 Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Some art based on photographs copyright www.arttoday.com. Some art based on photographs from Index ..........................32 the U.S. Army,Marine Corps, and National Archives. Some art based on photographs from the Imperial War Museum. ISBN 1-55634-592-5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STEVE JACKSON GAMES INTRODUCTION A GURPS BOUT Back when we were considering Steve Jackson Games is committed to full GURPSWWII as a stand-alone book, support of the GURPS system. Our address is SJ many of those reviewing the proposal sug- Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Please gested that it focus almost exclusively on include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) commandos. They made an excellent point. any time you write us! Resources include: The exploits of these handfuls of highly Pyramid(www.sjgames.com/pyramid/). Our trained soldiers create superb gaming online magazine includes new GURPS rules and opportunities. Whether defying the odds in articles. It also covers Dungeons and Dragons, victory or going down in heroic defeat, Traveller,World of Darkness,Call of Cthulhu,and commandos and their missions stand sec- many more top games – and other Steve Jackson ond to no other military operations for Games releases like Illuminati, In Nomine, Car sheer drama and adventure. Wars, Toon, Ogre Miniatures, and more. Pyramid As things evolved, WWIIbecame the subscribers also have access to playtest files online! first in what is planned to be a long series of New supplements and adventures. GURPS books. Given that shift from sourcebook to continues to grow, and we’ll be happy to let you corebook, it transformed into something know what’s new. Acurrent catalog is available for substantially different than originally an SASE. Or check out our website (below). planned, with a strong but nothing-like- Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including exhaustive emphasis on commandos. us – but we do our best to fix our errors. Up-to-date It stands to reason, then, that this first errata sheets for all GURPSreleases, including this supplement in the GURPSWWIIline book, are available from SJ Games; be sure to should provide precisely the sort of content include an SASE. Or download them from the Web requested in that early feedback. While no –see below. book this size – or 100 times this size – Gamer input. We value your comments, for could claim to tell the reader everything new products as well as updated printings of exist- that there is to be known about these elite ing titles! soldiers, this book does summarize the his- Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web at tory, training, and methods of WWIIcom- www.sjgames.com for an online catalog, errata, mandos in a fashion that should prove most updates, Q&A, and much more. useful to WWIIgaming. Its author, Shawn GURPS has its own Usenet group, too: Fisher, has been running WWII- and special rec.games.frp.gurps. forces-based campaigns for a good, long GURPSnet. This e-mail list hosts much of time. I think he’spassed on the best parts of the online discussion of GURPS. To join, e-mail his experience, here. [email protected] with “subscribe GURPSnet-L” –Gene Seabolt in the body, or point your web browser to A A gurpsnet.sjgames.com. BOUT THE UTHOR The GURPS WWII:Hand of Steelweb page is www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/ww2/handofsteel/. Shawn Fisher is a former history teacher currently pursuing a graduate Page References degree in history and education. Afrequent playtester and long-time GURPS player, Rules and statistics in this book are specif- Shawn has contributed to more than a ically for the GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition. dozen GURPSbooks. His previously pub- Any page reference that begins with a B refers to lished work has been featured in GURPS the GURPS Basic Set – e.g., p. B102 means Best of Pyramid Volume 1. p. 102 of the GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition. Shawn currently serves as the training Page references that begin with BErefer to coordinator for the Harding University GURPSBestiary, CI to Compendium I, CIIto security department. An ex-Army infantry- Compendium II, HT to High-Tech, VE to Vehi- man, and seriously obsessed WWII buff, cles, or Wto the WWII corebook. Shawn devotes his spare time to paintball, For a full list of GURPSabbreviations, wargaming, and recreational shooting – see p. CI181 or the updated web list at when he’s not reading books on WWII. He www.sjgames.com/gurps/abbrevs.html. lives with his wife Jennifer in Searcy,Ark. 2 INTRODUCTION Sixty years ago, the beaches, jun- gles, and deserts of far-flung places such as Tarawa, Jalo, Gran Sasso, and “. . . there comes out from Cabanatuan served as the forge in which the sea from time to time a the modern concept of special opera- tions was shaped and hardened. The hand of steel which plucks nameless, blackened faces of today’s Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and Royal the German sentries from Marine Commandos are the progeny of their posts with growing those grim warriors of WWII. With spectacular successes, and sometimes efficiency, amid the joy of dismal failures, the commandos of the Second World War fought and died in the whole countryside.” near-complete anonymity on missions – Winston Churchill, so secret that even today some have not been opened to the public. Oct. 12, 1942 Yet WWII was not the first war to see special forces in action. From the dash and courage of cavalry actions since the time of Alexander, to the stealthy method of commando insertion. This technology beach landings of Viking raiders, the core elements was readily available, and provided the firepower of special operations have always had a place in and mobility necessary to make mature special war. The Afrikaners of the Boer War, the trench operations possible in the Second World War. raiders and storm troopers of WWI, the horsemen of Lawrence’s Arabia – all these were “special COMMANDOS forces,” different in concept and mission from nor- mal troops, and precursors of commandos. If one thing prevented these units from being The summer of 1940 was a season of desper- true commandos, it was technology.Never before ation for Winston Churchill. Defeated in France, had one man been capable of so much destruc- the British Expeditionary Force had retreated tion. The submachine gun, light machine gun, and back across the channel. The Luftwaffe was anti-tank launcher gave one man more firepower pounding southern England in preparation for a than a squad of riflemen. High explosives such as German invasion, and the RAF was struggling to Composition-B and RDX invested a great deal of stay in the air.With conventional forces too weak destructive potential in a tiny package. Years to attack the Nazis on the continent, Churchill before, the same amount of power would have turned to unconventional warfare, something he required mule loads of black powder. Strategic had witnessed firsthand as a journalist during the and tactical mobility also increased during WWII, Boer War in South Africa. with vehicles such as the jeep, submarines, rubber Churchill ordered the creation of the SOE, boats, and fast patrol boats. The advent of military the Special Operations Executive, and charged its parachuting and gliders provided yet another director,Dr.Hugh Dalton, to “set Europe ablaze.” SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN WWII 3 At the same time, Lt. Col. Dudley Clarke are the focus of this book. Espionage and partisan devised a way to strike back at the Nazi regime: activities will be explored more deeply in follow- take a small force of highly trained and motivat- ing GURPS WWIIvolumes. ed men across the English Channel, attack a valu- R M able target, and then return home before the EAL ISSIONS Germans knew what hit them. Clarke himself was The special operations of WWII are some of thinking of the Boers, the small, mobile bands of the most exciting military operations ever con- men that had tied up a much larger British force ceived. The missions briefly described below during the South African War. The term “com- serve as examples of what soldiers in a comman- mando” came from the term Afrikaners used to do campaign in the Second World War might be refer to their units, or kommandos, of militia. asked to do. Clarke’s idea was eagerly accepted, as long as it required a tiny investment in men and materials. Assault Force Granite: Within a month of their unit’s creation, 30 Attack on Eben Emael men of the deceptively named No. 11 Comman- do(units 1-10 did not exist), with Lt. Col. Clarke The fortress complex of Eben Emael com- along as an observer, hit the beach near Boulogne, manded the canal bridges of eastern Belgium and France. Though little was accomplished militari- stood directly in the path of the German advance ly, the foray proved that the idea was practical. through the Low Countries into France. Its 15 gun C F emplacements were protected by up to 6” of OMMANDO EVER armor, making it nearly impregnable to conven- tional assaults. The British Commandos were not the first In November 1939, Assault Force Granite special forces created in WWII,though they were was assigned the mission of attacking Eben arguably the most successful. German Fallschirm- Emael. This force consisted of 85 parachute engi- jäger captured bridges and strongpoints with stun- neers and 11 gliders led by 23-year-old Lt. ning efficiency during the German advance into Rudolph Witzig. The unit trained for seven the Low Countries. Companies of British light months using aerial photographs and sand-table infantry had been raised to aid Norwegian guer- mockups of the fort. Full-scale rehearsals and rillas fighting the Germans in Norway. live-fire exercises assured that every soldier in the Other special forces included Italian frog- small force knew his objective. men, Japanese parachutists, Greek raiders, U.S. On the morning of May 10, 1940, the opera- Army Rangers, and many more. The U.S. Navy tion was launched. It immediately hit a snag: The created their “demolitioneers,” and the U.S. commander’s glider was torn from its tow rope Marines their Raider battalions and Para-Marines. and forced to turn back to Germany.(Witzig com- The British Royal Marines raised their own com- mandeered another tow plane and arrived two mandos, and the Royal Navy a group of clandes- hours later.) A second glider was also forced to tine canoeists. Hardly a branch of any major release early, leaving only nine of the 11 aircraft military power did not possess at least one special to complete the mission. The gliders arrived at the unit by the end of the war. fort and began their descent under fire. Within A F L : seconds of landing, the para-engineers were plac- INE INE ing heavy shaped-charge devices on the guns, and T OSS SOE HE AND within 15 minutes all the primary guns (those that could fire on the bridges) were knocked out of Britain’s Special Operations Executive and action. The glider-borne troops continued to fight the American Office of Strategic Services, or and hold the fort, with the help of Stuka dive- OSS, created in the summer of 1942, worked bombers, until the following morning. Unmolest- together extensively in intelligence gathering, ed by the fort’s guns, the German columns espionage, propaganda, and guerrilla warfare. advanced into Belgium en route to France . . . The OSS even created its own force of uniformed commandos, called operational groups. OSS Operation Chariot: operational groups were landed in Normandy to Raid on Saint-Nazaire disrupt German transportation and communica- tions, and to engage in “counter-scorching” oper- On the French coast, six miles up the Loire ations to prevent German destruction of key River,stood the port of Saint-Nazaire, the largest points such as railheads and bridges. The uni- dry dock in the North Atlantic, and the only Axis formed direct-action forces of the OSS and SOE dock capable of holding the German battleship 4 SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN WWII Tirpitz.The British high command worried that if were killed or wounded, and the dry dock was the Tirpitz used the dry dock as a base of opera- knocked out of action for the rest of the war. tions, the Atlantic convoys would be in peril, and Cabanatuan POW Rescue wanted the dry dock destroyed. This would not be easy, however. Dozens of guns ringed the port, When the Philippines fell to the Japanese in and analysts believed that aerial bombing alone April 1942, over 72,000 American and Filipino would not destroy the dry dock. servicemen surrendered and began the 65-mile In February 1942, Col. A.C. Newman, com- trek known as the Bataan Death March. Fewer mander of No. 2 Commando, was given the than 50,000 survived the ordeal, and by January assignment to attack the dry dock. Intelligence on 1945, only 512 POWs remained alive. the target was excellent. Aerial photography, As American forces began to retake the blueprints of the dock, and even the original con- islands, the 6th Ranger Battalion, under the com- struction engineers were available. It was decided mand of Lt. Col. Henry Mucci, was ordered to res- that 268 commandos would be landed at the facil- cue the prisoners at the Pangatian POWCamp in ity on 18 watercraft crewed by 353 Royal Navy Cabanatuan, Philippines. Since the 6th Army’s personnel. The commandos were formed into intelligence on the camp was very limited, two three teams. Demolition teams (armed only with seven-man teams of Alamo Scouts (pp. 13-14) pistols and explosives) would destroy critical tar- were assigned to reconnaissance. The Rangers, gets at the dry dock and port with a total of 128 men, were to be joined by 80 facilities. Protection teams Filipino guerrillas. All knew that timing and sur- would provide fire sup- prise were important. Any leak of the opera- port for the heavily tion might cause the Japanese to move the burdened demoli- prisoners, or execute them. tion teams. Final- The force intended to assault the ly, assault teams following day, but a large number of would knock out Japanese moved into the area for the the guns around night. Postponing the operation, the the port to pro- Rangers and Scouts gathered intelli- tect the motor gence from the locals, refined plans, and launches. rested in a nearby guerrilla-controlled At 1:34 a.m. on village until the following afternoon. March 28, 1942, the At dusk on Jan. 30, the troops began HMS Campbeltown moving into position. Filipino guerrillas crashed into the caisson of blocked the roads on the east and west sides of the the dry dock at 18 knots. Inside camp. Directly across from the main gate lurked her lay 24 depth charges encased in concrete two platoons of Rangers, while another platoon inside a steel box. Overhead, RAF bombers waited at the rear gate. At 7:45 p.m., the Rangers dropped bombs and incendiaries on the town. opened fire, and within a few seconds all Japan- Commandos from the Campbeltown scurried ese at the rear and eastern portions of the camp onto the dry dock and began placing their charges had been killed. At the same time, two platoons in the winding-house and pump-house. Motor broke through the front gate and entered the west- launches tried to land other commandos on quays ern portion of the camp. Once all resistance was along the port, but were destroyed or driven off neutralized, the POWs were evacuated. by heavy German fire. Within one hour, the sur- At 8:15 the signal to withdraw was given. viving commandos regrouped near the dry dock One Ranger had been killed, and a medical offi- to find no launches remaining. Col. Newman cer fatally wounded. The guerrillas blocking the announced, “This is where we walk home.” roads held off Japanese reinforcements until the The commandos began to fight their way Americans could escape, causing severe casual- through some 5,000 Germans to open ground ties to the Japanese. P-61s flew air support during beyond the town, and eventually,it was hoped, to the withdrawal and were credited with destroying Spain and back to England. Few of them made it. 12 trucks and one tank. Half of the force was captured or killed. The rag-tag force retreated all night (with the The next morning some of the captured com- POWs riding in donated ox-carts), finally reaching mandos were being interrogated when, at 10:35 American lines at noon the next day. All 512 pris- a.m., the charges on HMS Campbeltownexplod- oners from the Pangatian POW Camp had been ed. Her deck was crowded with German officers, rescued, and nearly 600 Japanese had been killed. soldiers, dock workers, and onlookers. Hundreds SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN WWII 5 Special forces of the Second World War revealed in training. The GM should make the looked for a certain kind of soldier – one who final decision as to whether a PC is suitable for would not quit at the first hint of defeat, a type of service in special operations. man that wanted to be challenged, that was coura- Training geous, and committed to victory. They had to endure the worst that nature and the enemy could Once the recruit was accepted, it was time for throw at them, and win. Physically tough, clever, training. By all accounts, contemporary special- and an expert in all matters of warfare, this troop- forces training is tough, but in WWII it was dead- er was literally the best of the best. ly. More than 40 recruits died at the Commando Depot in Achnacarry, Scotland. Real ammunition Recruiting and Screening was fired at soldiers as much as possible “to accli- Most soldiers in commando units were vol- mate them to the sound of fire.” Captured enemy unteers from regular military units. Acombat vet- weapons were used so that trainees would learn to eran with a good service record was the favorite recognize their sounds. Hikes in freezing rain or choice of special-forces recruiters, but bad service, swims in frigid lakes were customary. Men that or even a prison record, did not mean immediate did not stay low to the ground in training were rejection. “Bad citizen, but good soldier” was a accidentally shot. Falls from cliffs or the sides of phrase often used to describe the hard-cases that landing craft caused many injuries. Parachute sometimes volunteered for commando duty. Other training and demolition handling took lives. Bay- issues were important, too. Did the prospect have onet, knife, and hand-to-hand courses with real a family? Could he speak a second language? weapons emphasized speed and brutality over What were his aptitude-test scores? Was he a Boy safety. Attrition rates were high during this gruel- Scout (a useful background)? Was he a self- ing process, with as few as 10% of recruits pass- starter? Did he work well with others or was he a ing initial training. loner? Was he trusted by his comrades? Had he Instructors tried in every way to prepare the ever been out of the country? If so, how long? The troops for combat. One live-fire exercise required questions, directed at both the recruit and his recruits to crawl through pig entrails shipped from supervisors, were intended to save the unit from a nearby slaughterhouse while machine-gun bul- wasting time on unsuitable soldiers, and to safe- lets zipped inches above their heads. Sleep was guard the unit from infiltration by enemy spies. reduced to a few hours a day, and sometimes none Individuals with mental problems (especially anti- at all for several days. Commandos were expected social behaviors) or physical weaknesses (even to be crack shots and much time was spent on the allergies or color-blindness) were usually rejected. firing range. Firing was done at night, in the rain, After initial interviews and screening, the recruit or in the freezing cold after long, exhausting would be subjected to a thorough medical and marches. Regardless of the conditions, the stan- psychological exam. As many as one-quarter of all dards were always high and poor shots were applicants for British Commando training were quickly returned to their former units. Accidental rejected before training even started. discharge of a weapon during field exercises was Any PCs wishing to enter a special-opera- grounds for immediate dismissal, or reduction in tions units with the disadvantages listed on rank to private. p. W70 will be rejected. Any disadvantages that Physical training was extremely challenging. could be reasonably hidden from comrades and Commandos and Rangers were expected to cover supervisors, and doctors and psychologists, may 15 miles in full combat gear in 135 minutes. slip through the system, but probably will be Swimming in full gear was practiced until men 6 BEST OF THE BEST could swim 300 yards or more with a rifle and Any failure in training triggered a dreaded rucksack. Obstacle courses rigged with explosive outcome: RTU, or return to unit. This meant the charges might end with a timed test of weapon dis- end of commando training and an embarrassing assembly and reassembly. return to the soldier’s original outfit. WEAPONS AND TACTICS Commandos seldom had the advantage of For simplification, assume that any soldier superior numbers or firepower. They frequently caught in the kill zone of an ambush is under fought without artillery or air support, and often grazing fire (per the machine-gun indirect-fire without any means of immediate extraction. To rules on p. W202) until he escapes the kill zone. win, commandos were forced to rely on their few To ensure that an ambush is executed properly, advantages: surprise, speed, and determination. roll against the ambush leader’s Tactics skill and Surprise can throw an enemy off balance, sow the average of the unit’s Soldier skill. Aimed fire confusion, and prevent a rapid response. Surprise from marksmen and heavy weapons (grenades, and speed multiply firepower and create a “vio- bazookas, anti-tank rifles, etc.) should be played lence of action” that will paralyze the enemy or out normally. damage his will to fight. Finally, determination is Firing was done in sequence so that no two perhaps the most important asset of an elite force, commandos would be reloading at the same time. and often the final arbiter of success or failure. Certain soldiers would be designated to throw grenades; others would be assigned to quickly search the bodies once the ambush was over. Every commando would practice his role in the ambush until it became reflex. After the ambush, the whole unit would quickly leave the area, some- times to set up a secondary ambush nearby. In contrast to regular mili- tary training, commando training emphasized killing, not “shoot- ing” the enemy. Rapid, accurate fire in any position and any con- Small Arms dition was drilled into troops during training and honed to a fine level once the Statistically speaking, small-arms fire is not new soldier was assigned a permanent unit. very dangerous. In WWII, more men died from The rifle was the most common weapon the shrapnel from artillery fire, grenades, and among regular infantry units, and it was the same rockets than machine-gun or rifle bullets; howev- for WWII special forces. Perhaps one-third or er, often a commando unit’s only firepower was more of all commandos were given standard- small arms and they had to be employed effec- issue rifles. tively.This usually meant an ambush. Other units used submachine guns in great An ambush catches the unsuspecting enemy numbers. This gave commandos a firepower in a confined area that modern special forces have advantage against riflemen, though only at short termed the kill zone.This kill zone is completely range, and helped make them more aggressive. dominated by concentrated friendly fire, and Snipers usually were issued specially select- makes the limited firepower of a small comman- ed rifles (treat as Fine quality; see p. CII39) and do unit much more devastating. Various types of telescopic sights in the 2-6· range (p. W88). ambushes were developed (L-shaped ambushes Pistols were issued as backup weapons, along roads or paths, X-shaped ambushes at road though UDT (p. 13) and SBS (p. 12) operators junctures, z-shaped ambushes that provided for and some other special forces carried only pistols. four different kill zones, etc.), but all were Organizations generally assigned light designed with two goals: total surprise and maxi- machine guns at the squad level, often with two or mum violence. more to the squad. BEST OF THE BEST 7 Booby Traps Riflemen were usually ammo bearers for the squad’s LMG, and all were trained to take over in Land mines and booby traps provided com- case the machine gunner was hit. In fact, depend- mando units with a great amount of destructive ing on the mission, ammunition for every weapon ability for very little trouble. A10- to 20-lb. mine in the unit might have to be assigned to all mem- could destroy or disable a tank (p. W98). Afew bers. Soldiers might carry a belt of machine-gun well-placed antipersonnel mines could serve as ammunition and a bazooka or mortar round in an alarm system, initiate an ambush, or protect a their backpack, to be later redistributed to the unit’s withdrawal. With little effort, a land mine right person before the attack. or demolition charge could be command-detonat- Heavy Weapons ed, or rigged to blow up by some unconventional manner, such as when a door was opened, or In addition to small arms, some units had when a train passed over a certain rail. German access to heavier firepower. Rangers used anti-tank special forces sometimes left behind booby- rifles, flamethrowers, bazookas, and 60mm mor- trapped Luger pistols (a GI’s favorite souvenir) tars to augment their small arms. British Comman- filled with explosives and set to go off when the doswere much the same, though they sometimes action was worked. The creative use of HE used 3” mortars in specially trained teams. This booby-traps saved many commandos from cap- was typically the upper limit of a special unit’s fire- ture, and caused countless hours of terror and power. These weapons were usually assigned to confusion for the enemy. one squad or platoon. This “heavy weapons” unit Breaching could then back up the regular units, either en masse or parceled out among them. Some heavier Royal Navy Beach Commandos, and U.S. weapons, such as light artillery, and even anti-tank Navy frogmen and “demolitioneers,” were guns, were used by larger commando units. “Pack” trained to destroy obstacles at the waterline. howitzers designed to be broken down and carried Whether iron or timber, these obstacles were by mules were common among American and designed to damage or disable watercraft, or at British units in Italy and Burma, for instance. the least prevent enemy landing craft from hitting Sentry Removal the beach efficiently. Some were simple poles with land mines attached. Others were iron Killing sentries was a vital part of surprise frames, concrete tetrahedrons, or complicated raids, and the most important purpose of hand-to- structures of barbed wire, ironwork, and land hand training. As the war progressed, sentries mines. Other obstacles, such as sandbars and were taught to carry their rifle guarding their neck coral reefs, were natural. Once the beach was sur- in such a way as to prevent a quiet kill; comman- veyed and mapped by reconnaissance troops (see dos should roll vs. Soldier (Guerrilla) to realize Scouting and Beach Surveying, pp. 10-11), engi- their prey is doing this. This technique required neers and demolitioneers were assigned obstacles commandos to use a two-man attack on the sen- to destroy.On the day of the landing, the demoli- try, with one commando pulling the rifle aside tion experts would hit the beach in the first wave while the other dealt the mortal blow. AContest and begin to clear the way. of Hearing vs. the lowest Stealth skill of the two Destruction approaching troops should be rolled. Silenced weapons such as the DeLisle Car- Commandos often used demolition to bine and the Welrod (p. 20) were developed in accomplish the primary objective of the mission. part to reduce the risk of sentry removal. This might mean blowing up a rail bridge or an Once the sentry was killed, the commando airstrip full of aircraft. The charge itself was care- had to decide whether the body needed to be fully calculated (see pp. HT26-27), and usually moved to prevent discovery, searched for intelli- extra explosives were taken along to provide for gence, or even booby-trapped. any error or mishap. D EMOLITION G I O ETTING N AND UT WWII special forces were avid users of Efficient insertion and extraction were crucial explosives. From blowing bridges behind enemy to commando operations. Whether hiking through lines to clearing beach obstacles and laying traps festering swamps and jungles, paddling away from for pursuing enemies, high explosives were a asubmarine in the dark of night, or leaping through commando’s best friend. the doorway of a plane miles behind enemy lines, 8 BEST OF THE BEST