Although most of my gaming time recently has been spent on GM'ing Shadowrun, I have found a bit of time for some Twilight 2000 gaming too. Once I got the procedures more sorted out, it became apparent that the setting and mechanics really lend themselves to hex-crawling.
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I started the game using the more exciting beginning suggested in T2000 1e, where the characters start off just after the destruction of US 5 Division around Kalisz, rather than the 2e alternative which suggests that the characters start a few weeks later, having successfully hidden up until the action dissipated. I think the danger and excitement of the first is much superior.
In any case, the group consists of:
Jay (an English infantryman)
Barbara (a Polish medic)
Jose (an Hispanic American mechanic)
Karl-Friedrich (a German panzer crewman)
Elizabeth (a US Engineer officer)
The group begins with a 3/4t truck and a 2&1/2t truck.
Moving South from Kalisz, the group encounter 5 refugees. The encounter is pretty hostile (the refugee leader is both brutal and ruthless) but violence is avoided. The party decide to move on quickly, feeling fairly sure that the refugees will inform local Soviet forces about them.
In the woods between Kalisz and Wielun, the group finds an abandoned BMP-1. Although hardly in pristine condition, with some good work, Jose gets it up and running.
Later the group find a derelict convoy of a UAZ-469, a 5t truck and a 3/4t truck outside some woods north of Prazka. Jose manages to get the UAZ-469 running, whilst stripping the trucks for parts. Since they have no need for a BMP-1 gunner at this point (no ammunition), then the group can handle driving the four vehicles.
North of Krzepice, the group encounters a couple of stragglers. Although Polish, the pair are happy to exchange news and cigarettes through Barbara. Their story is that they have nothing left to be loyal too - they are headed towards Krakow to seek their fortunes.
The rest of the day and the following day is spent on rest, maintenance and foraging/alcohol production. Whilst out doing the latter, the group finds another derelict convoy: 3 trucks and a UAZ-469 in various states of disrepair; they do contain some useful 73mm and 9mm ammunition though. They are all stripped for parts.
Shortly after, a Marauder group of 9 is encountered. Happily the leader has no real interest in fighting another group in a similar position (especially as the PCs got the drop on him) so is happy to talk. They apparently deserted after their senior officer started ordering his troops to carry out massacres in a seemingly random fashion. Things end happily when Jose suggests that he could fix up one of the abandoned trucks in exchange for an AT-3 Sagger possessed by the marauders. This is agreed, and the exchange is made.
In the evening, the group gets going again, and finds a Soviet repair yard poorly concealed NE of Krzepice. A quick attack with the BMP quickly kills one of the Soviets and wounds another 3, including the commander: the remaining 6 run off. There are two vehicles, a BRDM-4 and a BTR-80 but wasting no time, the group simply takes some machinegun ammunition and spare parts and quickly heads off to find somewhere secure to camp. They take the wounded prisoners and treat them.
During the night, the group spots a Soviet field hospital (horse-drawn) about 2km away, just setting up. At dawn, the group approach. Although initially a bit difficult, the group trades the 3/4t truck for some medical supplies and hands over the wounded prisoners - except one, Yevhen, who decides to stay with the group. It turns out he is Ukrainian and claims just to want to get home and thinks he has a better chance this way.
Trusting that the medical staff and prisoners will keep their word not to inform on them, the group is a bit perturbed to find a couple of trucks, one towing a Rapira anti-tank gun heading their way soon after. The group evades them into the woods; and since the Soviets weren't keeping a great lookout, they concluded it was merely chance.
The remainder of the day is given over to resting, foraging and producing alcohol. Jay manages to kill a wild boar for dinner!
The next day (day 4), just after dawn, the group encounters quite a large group of refugees (30) on the road SW of Krzepice. It turns out that they are looking for a promising place to start a new village and rebuild their lives. the group gifts them some medical supplies.
In the mid-morning, the group accidentally blunder into a Soviet supply dump, a bit too well concealed in a patch of woods West of Czestochowa. There are 6 guards, all armed with AKMs. Both sides are surprised, but the PCs recover first: Jay shoots the leader, and the second round goes right through his forehead. A gun battle commences but with the support of the BMP, the result isn't in doubt and after one more Soviet guards is killed and another is wounded, the remainder surrender - after patching up the wounded guard, the group let them go with their weapons and food. The supply dump is full of ammunition and the group take their fill of Soviet ammunition types. The group then put a few kilometres of distance between them and the site, in case the guards are able to find reinforcements quickly.
Game Notes: The group has generally had the run of the green so far; most of the encounters haven't been too dangerous and they have generally had the option about whether to initiate or avoid combat. The only unavoidable instances of the latter have been when they have almost literally driven into concealed supply dumps! The processes have gone pretty smoothly although there are a couple of areas I have needed to add stuff, clarify struff or tighten up some stuff.
This is quite a 'procedural' form of hex-crawl. What I need to do next is to stock this portion of the map with some additional, slightly richer possible encounters. There is some useful information in the sourcebooks and also in 1e for this. One weakness in T2000 considered as a campaign is that the published scenarios seem to push for the group to go towards Krakow then Warsaw first, there is actually very little reason to do that. Given the stated goals - for American and Western European characters to get home, for instance - there doesn't seem to be any overwhelming reason to do so. One possibility might be for the scenario hook into the 'Free City of Krakow' to be presented quite early on during the characters' escape from Kalisz.
That said, the procedural generation of encounters and situations has been quite fun so far. Some of the sub-systems are a bit calculation-heavy but nothing too effortful, as long as you are clear about the structure you are trying to follow.
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