The BattleTech Dynasty - Chapter 8, Brother Against Sister - 3062-3067 - COMPLETE!!!! [Archive]

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 06:06 PM

Because this is the final chapter of our Kilts and Commandos Dynasty, and because it’s been more than a year since the last pure chapter was penned, I will be beginning this dynasty with a state of affairs, as things stand, on January 1, 3062. I’ll hit up the final timeline for 3062 in the previous thread and wave in the new stuff from this chapter into it.

Dramatis Personae –

Duke Braham Essex - 60, Was a MechWarrior. Born the son of a military adjutant to the Capellan Forces on Acamar. His mother passed away in childbirth. Quite rare these days but not unheard of. Raised on his parent’s homeworld of Epsilon Eridani, Braham was raised a bit by his adopted family in the Capellan barracks. Although he spent some time on Acamar with his father, both his father and himself considered EE their home. Like many children, Braham wanted to be a MechWarrior from an early age, and despite the lack of family resources to purchase one, he was determined. When his father died in a raid on Acamar by the Dracs when he was 11, he continued to train and push harder and harder. After testing well enough to gain entry to the Martial Training Academy on Tikonov, he continue to push himself until he graduated as the best MechWarrior in his class of 23. With a high set of credentials and references, Braham was a recruit for the Northwind Highlanders, a house mercenary unit for the Capellan Confederation. During the Second Succession War, the Federated Suns captured the planet of Northwind, and House Liao used the atrocities committed by House Davion to cement the loyalty of the Highlanders, and pledged to them full independence should Liao recapture Northwind. Over the centuries, Capella failed again and again to capture Northwind, and the Highlanders continued to be among the elite units serving House Liao. Then, in 3028, Hanse Davion secretly contacted the Highlanders prior to launching the Fourth Succession War. He offered to give them Northwind in return to fealty to him. After discussing it for a long time, the Highlanders decided to leave their many years of service to Capella and pledged loyalty as a house unit of the Federated Suns (not even a mercenary unit any more). In return, Davion gave them an amount of freedom. A small minority of Highlanders chose to defect from the unit, believing that their contract with Capella should be honored. Among those defectors was Braham Essex. He defected and was assigned by the Capellan Confederation to fight with the veteran Blackwind Lancers.

The Fourth Succession War had begun. When Candace Liao falls in love with a Davion spy, she decides to use the war to declare the St. Ives Commonality now independent of the Capellan Confederation. This succession brings many military units from the CCAF with her, including the Blackwind Lancers.

Once again faced with choosing to defect from his unit or defect from his state, Braham Essex chooses to leave the Lancers. By now, the Tikonov Free Republic has been created, with one of the highest and most trusted military leaders, Pavel Ridzik, choosing to also vacate the realm he had served all of his life in order to create a new state. The planet of Epsilon Eridani joined the Tikonov Free Republic. In the wake of these dissidents, and two elite units Braham was serving leaving to join others, he realized that the Confederation was falling apart. With his own homeworld no longer a part of the Confederation, he felt his loyalty waning. Braham also felt no love for the St. Ives Compact, Tikonov Free Republic, or Federated Suns. Choosing instead to form his own mercenary company, the Kilts and Commandos, he left for Outreach, making some contacts with other disaffected MechWarriors from the Northwind Highlanders and the Blackwind Lancers.

At the age of 16, Braham Essex arrived at the Martial Training Academy on Tikonov. While there, he distinguished himself enough to warrant placement with the Highlanders, and he met Ted Izumo, an instructor. Essex has won the Liao Sunburst of Gallantry during battle with the Highlanders for the destruction of several enemy Battlemechs after his lance mates all fell, and completing the objective by himself. It is the most minor of Liao decorations and regularly given out.

After graduating from the Tikonov Academy, Essex served a full tour of duty with the Highlanders and had begun his second term with them when they left. He then served with the Lancers for most of his remaining term before they too defected.

In January of 3031, he took his first contract as the commander of the Kilts and Commandos, a new mercenary unit built from the disaffected from the old Capellan Confederation. Over time, he won various contracts, battles and campaigns, and built his unit to almost two regiments of troops.

He began by piloting his own a medium fire support mech he took with him when everything fell apart, a Dervish, but upgraded to a heavier Orion, which was lost in combat. Then he purchased a heavy and iconic Warhammer before moving to a Cataphract, a Liao design that had been used by the Governor of a planet that Braham killed while doing a contract for the St. Ives Compact.

The first high profile action the unit saw was in 3034, when the unit was contracted to fight alongside the Rasalhague Rebellion as they formed the Free Rasalhague Republic. As many elements in the Draconis Combine fought against this in the Ronin Wars, the battle pitted some Combine elements against themselves, the new Rasalhague units, fighting, and mercenaries. At the end of the War, most of the mercenary units had used minor clauses in their contracts to not help out the Republic, but Braham forced his unit to assist, and was rewarded with the Rasalhague Star. At the end, the FRR developed a dislike for mercenaries, and hired them rarely, but Kilts and Commandos is treated with respect and will eventually become one of the main FRR military forces in the mid to late 3040s.

After taking a contract in 3037 on the planet of Somerset, Braham’s Cataphract was destroyed in an ammo explosion. The ejection seat failed to function properly and Braham was flung from the wreckage. His body was broken, burned, bruised and bloody. After a long recovery, Braham lost his left leg and left arm, and they were replaced by myomer limbs. His skills degraded and he had the skills of a regular pilot again.

On Feb 3, 3038, Braham Essex emerged from almost a year’s convalescence and had been training and retraining with his troops on Epsilon Eridani. He began training with his unit again. While most of Kilts and Commandos joined the combined assault on the Draconis Combine in the War of 3039, Braham took one company and fought in the final year of the Andurien War and served at the Fall of Andurien, the bloodiest campaign in the first half of the 31st century. While there, he won the Andurien Epaulet.

After Andurien fell, Braham moved to Solaris VII and began a campaign as a gladiator MechWarrior. After showing some flash, Braham allied himself with Starlight Stables and worked his way up the system. He won a Grand Melee, placed in another, and climbed up the rankings to #8. His only duel he lost was to the #1 ranked MechWarrior. He is elite status again as a MechWarrior.

Receiving an interesting contract from ComStar, Braham chose to leave his Solaris VII career behind and led a company of mechs in a 5 year mission for the ComStar Explorer Corps, exploring beyond the periphery in the unknown. He came back recently, and has been organizing the unit, and moving most to contracts with the Free Rasalhague Republic.

After piloting mechs like Orion, Atlas, Hunchback, Jenner in the Solaris arenas, and an Awesome for the Explorer Corps, plus the Exterminator in a stealth mission, he is continuing in a modified Orion as the CO of a new Shadow Company, a powerful elite company with all LosTech mechs that operates independent of the command structure of his mercenary unit.

After the ComStar contract finished, Braham’s unit was drawn into the Clan Invasion and performed quite well. Kilts and Commandoes emerged from the first half of the 3050s with more mechs, men, and medals, than most other units in the Inner Sphere.

The legacy of Essex was secured in 3057. After Archon-Prince Victor Steiner-Davion chose to replace a dead Joshua Marik with a duplicate in order to keep the Free Worlds League in the dark and supplying his troops, the veritable battle was enjoined as the gig was revealed by the Capellan Confederation. The Capellan, led by House Liao, and FWL, led by House Marik, launched join attacks into the Federated Commonwealth in retribution.

In a short period, numerous planets had been recaptured by Marik and Liao. Marik finishes their war goals and sues for peace, leaving the Caps un-allied. They take their gains, but foment rebellion and guerrilla warfare on the remaining planets. Wrested from the FedCom control was the creation of a No-Man’s land that was a hotbed of independent planets, small burgeoning states, and rampant pirates called the Chaos March.

Into this was Braham Essex, who chose to order the General on planet in Epsilon Eridani to quell all rebellion. It was brutal and fast, and ended bombings and other terrorist actions on the planet. Instead of being complimented, Braham and the General were chastised by the local planetary government and ordered to the council on the hook for going outside the chain of command.

They came alright. On the head of a large army. Government was disbanded, elections were held, and Essex was elected head of the government in EE, the first democratic elections they’ve held in quite some time.

Essex reached out and helped nearby systems win their freedom, and then began the Celestial Coalition. Elected as its head, Duke Essex began a long-term campaign to adopt numerous nearby Chaos March systems into the Coalition. He’s had to organize intelligence, military, explorations, economic, industrial, and diplomatic requirements since his election to lead the CC.

His goals appear to continue to grow the state, and not content to rest on its laurels. Form the three founding members, his state has carved a 13 system big nation. And its growing. The economy is quite strong and enabled him to grow the nation in a variety of ways.

Duke Braham Essex
State Academy, State University, Two Terms of Service.
Piloting Skill - 2
Gunnery Skill - 2
Influence - 3
Member Modifiers - -2 family, +3 friends, +6 unit

Age: 60
Decorated: Liao Sunburst of Gallantry; Rasalhague Star; Andurien Epaulet

Skills:

Edge: 5
Tactical Genius
Gunnery: Ballistic
Ace Maneuvering

Myomer Left Arm, Left Leg

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 07:48 PM

Former Col. Ted Izumo – 84. Now retired, founding member of the K&C Unit, and was a trainer of Essex in his Academy days. He has been running the Essex Training Academy in Epsilon Eridani, the local garrison, and the administrative requirements there. Ted won many engagements against the Dragon in the War of 3039 with our unit, but had semi-retired in EE when the clan invasion hit.

Former Sgt. Adele Thompson – 62. Now retired. Adele is a married minor noble from EE that is well connected politically. She was the other founding member of Kilts and Commandos. She ran a scout lance from her Firestarter, and never really wanted more, despite fighting with the unit for more than 25 years. She only killed a handful of targets during that time as well. Adele was a member of the Committee on EE that met in answer to the insurgency in 3057. Adele is also the mother of a child with Braham Essex, Thoma Marie Essex. Both Braham and Adele married other people after Thoma was born.

Elizabeth Walters-Essex – 56. CEO of Kressly Warworks, Inc, a major supplier of military materiel to folks in and around the Coalition. She is married to Duke Essex, a political connection that helped KWI considerably. KWI has never had a better CEO is terms of expansion and profit. Like Adele, Elizabeth was a member of the Committee in 3057, and like Adele, Elizabeth is the mother of one of Essex’s children, son James Roderick Essex.

Lt. Thoma Marie Essex – 25, currently with a small command in the 15th Lyran Guards on Hesperus II, one of the most important postings in the Lyran Alliance. She graduated 5th from the prestigious Nagelring Academy. Thoma has intentionally chosen a posting away from her family so that she can grow into the MW she can be, and her tutor growing up was Ted Izumo. The 15th is an elite, fanatically loyal unit that helps to guard the extremely valuable military-based industry in Hesperus II.

James Roderick Essex – 21, currently employed with KWI, James is working his way quickly up the infrastructure of the company.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 07:55 PM

Col. Matthew Humphries – 52, As the founding three members went elsewhere, Matthew Humphries was given the unit. He joined from the Fall of Andurien where Braham Essex personally fought at the Fall for Andurien for a long time. Humphries chose to come and bring some of his mechs and soldiers to Kilts and Commandos. Matthew is distantly in line for the Dukedom (something like 16th or some such). He gained massively more fame with us when he defeated Clan Ghost Bear on Thule after agreeing to use the batchall system. It was the first loss the clans suffered at the hands of an Inner Sphere unit.

After seeing his home planet fall, he wanted dearly to keep combat away from civilians and readily agreed to anything that would keep non-0combatents and the infrastructure safe – proxy battle elsewhere in quiet, uninhabited places suited him perfectly. He won several times against the clans, and was an instant star in the Inner Sphere as his story was told in news. Everyone wanted to find out who this man was, and it was a bring day for mercenaries everywhere, particularly those like Kilts and Commandos, Kell Hounds, and Wolf’s Dragoons that had defeated the clan threat.

Afterwards, Matthews was promoted to run the unit as Izumo retired to focus on the garrison and Academy, and then Essex left to run a nation.

Maj. Mei Zhen - 47. The XO of the unit is Mei Zhen. She is in charge of all maintenance, purchasing and sales, contract negotiation, recruiting, and other administrative tasks. Maj. Zhen is 2nd in command for purposes out the combat theater. She reports to Humphries. But inside of it, the other Colonels outrank her and have tactical command.

Capt. Randall Lewis – 50. Captain Lewis served personally with General Alexandr Kerensky during the final days of the Star League in the late twenty-eighth century. After another Captain disobeyed orders, won a battle that should never have been fought, and was given command of an experimental WarShip as a “reward”, Randall Lewis was made the Xo of the unit and reported to Kerensky directly and was the real authority. Then that ship jumped, and was held in stasis for centuries, to emerge into the Smoke Jaguar space. We were in the same sector, captured that WarShip in a Trial from the Smoke Jaguar Clan after they had done the same, and then traded that WarShip for another of the same class with ComStar and they gave us a bunch of other stuff to make it worth our while. Many folks from that ship defected to our own, and we promoted Lewis to Captain and he runs the Aegis-class warship, the Swift Victory, in our navy. He is a cubby, fun, gregarious individual who is sharp, fought in some of the largest naval battles of all time, and knows his craft very well.

Capt. Conner Ward – 34. This clan fighter was captured in the Clan Invasion and had won his clan bloodname. He now runs Shadow Battalion in our organization and tends to be one of our experts on clan-dom these days. We captured many others that are all in our TOE, but as the highest placed one in our organization, Ward tends to be the one at hand when we have an idea or question.

Col. Larry Rowe – 48. Leader of all of our AeroSpace assets, save for Lewis’s Swift Victory and whatever units are assigned to the Warship at the time. This includes a large number of Jump-capable, Aerospace fighters, Small Craft, and DropShips. Because he is in charge of a different aspect of our unit, he is not in line of command in an emergency unless it is space-based.

Magnus – Our first bondsman was taken on Thule against Clan Ghost Bear by Col. Matthew Humphries. Using his advice and knowledge of the clans in general and Ghost Bear in particular, he helped to guide us in understanding all things clan. Today we have 25 clan techs, 10 clan elementals and ex-bondsmen from every invading clan – Smoke Jaguar, Nova Cat, Steel Viper, Jade Falcon, Ghost Bear and Wolf. But Magnus is still our primary advisor on the clans.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 08:02 PM

Chief Ingrid Foster - ???. Ingrid is the chief of the Apollo Office, the intelligence agency that works for the Coalition. She personally handled a major operation on Acamar, and was on charge when we negotiated to get Word of Blake ROM agents and files transferred to our intelligence agency.

General Pierre Benton – General of the armed forces on Epsilon Eridani. Another of the Committee of 3057, and one of the two key people involved in the freedom and independence of EE as well. Pierre is vocally Pro-EE and Pro-Coalition and has grown very Anti-House.

Ambassador Yee – Will be hired post-Liberty in 3063 after failing to stop Col. Renard on their planet, Ambassador Yee is going to become one of the major diplomatic aides to Duke Essex and the Coalition.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 08:10 PM

Allies & Such -

Duke James Sandoval – Ally March Lord of the Draconis March who considers us a friend and ally. We worked very closely in the War of 3039 and subsequently helped him on several occasions. For example, when we salvaged a new, fresh-off-the-lines Wolverine from the Draconis Combine, we gave it to him. The Sandoval family has become closer to ours ever since.

The Humphries Family – Due to our assistance in the Andurien War that went far above and beyond what was expected or contracted, we gained a major ally in the Humphries family that runs the Duchy of Andurien in the Free World League. The presence of Matthew Humphries in our unit does not hurt this relationship either. Multiple nations in the Chaos March were given some Humphries money to keep them afloat and we have as well.

Regent Christian Mansdottir – After we helped the Free Rasalhague Republic form in the Ronin Wars, we were given high priority in their eyes. Then, while working for them on a retainer, we fought against the Clans, and defeated multiple clans fighting for the FRR. We are the only non-Comstar unit to make that claim. We are beloved and legendary in FRR. Mansdottir, currently Regent in control of the FRR, has continued the relationship. We can buy units from their factories meant for them and ComStar. We have shipped ‘Mechs we captured to them for free just to help them out. Meanwhile, they are the largest buyer of units from Kressly after us. And he nominated us for membership in the Star League. We will have a presentation and vote due at the next Whitting Conference, 3064, to attempt to secure our spot.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 08:32 PM

The Celestial Coalition –

After freeing the planet of Epsilon Eridani of the Liao rebels, Col. Braham Essex and General Pierre Benton were both brought into trial by the weak government that allowed the incidents to happen. Essex and Benton chose instead to oust the government, and host an election, one in which Braham Essex was elected ruler of EE.

After offering aid to the nearby planets of Terra Firma and Capolla, the triad of planets formed council of planets called the Celestial Coalition. It has been an egalitarian democratic government ever since. For example, it rotates its capital world every year, rather than have one world be so favored. It has a ruling council of an elected representative from each planet. One member of the council is voted the ruler of the Coalition. Braham Essex has won every election by a ton and never really had a lot of opposition, but the open policies have really pushed the Coalition.

You can imagine how popular this plays out in the Chaos March, where nobility and the Great Houses have wrought poverty, lawlessness, gangs, bandits, and uncertain future. An increasing number of nearby worlds without a flag have been looking toward the Coalition.

The CC has been actively looking to expand. It captured Acamar, Genoa, Elgin, Hsien and Bryant. Meanwhile we were invited to invade Ingress to take it from the Duchy of Small, we annexed willingly Epsilon Indi, we colonized Asmodeus, we purchased Sheratan, and we were asked to absorb Fletcher. So we’ve expanded in different ways.

We have been officially recognized as an official state by all five houses, Blake, Comstar, and Rasalhague.

Planets that would have been upset had we taken them shortly after they won their “independence” are now looking very differently. And we have been treating folks nicely and have a good reputation in the area. Planets such as Caph, Arboris, Keid, and Carver V are good opportunities for expansion.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 08:48 PM

Planets in the CC:

Epsilon Eridani – Home of Duke Essex, Kressly Warworks, the Kilts and Commandos mercenary unit, and a lot more too. It’s the cornerstone world of this area, and Coalition’s most industrial world.

Capolla – Damaged some in the early days of the Chaos March troubles, we quickly ended issues here with garrison units we had on planet. Like the other two founding planets, it has a very strong, very diverse, economy.

Terra Firma – This planet was the most damaged in the battle, but it has been fully restored and the economy is strong and bustling.

Acamar – We drove an invasion force to the mining planet (and asteroids) in the Acamar system. We captured the highly divided, wealthy, cold planet. We’ve since seen off a major invasion and a major espionage scuffle.

Epsilon Indi – In order to get protection from heavy raider/bandit problems, they agreed to come under our umbrella, and Duke Abraham really hasn’t regretted. It’s economy it’s as well developed as the others, but it’s no slouch.

Fletcher – This planet prides itself on its self-sufficiency. It came to up in fear of the Duchy of Small, and doesn’t ask for a lot or give a lot. That was until we found that it was once the largest industrial center of StarCorps Industries, one of the biggest companies of the Star League era. (SCI has proliferated into a number of plants elsewhere). A while ago we contacted SCI about the possibility of rebooting their factories here on Fletcher. And Nightshade VTOLs were made here by Yelm Weapons. SCI hasn’t really been answering us quickly or easily.

Ingress – A hugely important agrarian world with a massive agricultural economy and a vital bread-basket for the Coalition.

Elgin – Large oceanic world with islands carved into fiefdoms, lots of sea farming, tourism and manufacturing. Robust economy developed by investment by previous owners.

Bryant – Quickly becoming a pain in the region due to the presence of multiple pirate bands, Bryant was captured and absorbed. We invested in its industry and technology, but it’s a drain in resources, since it was badly destroyed after all of the Atmospheric Control Satellites were destroyed in the Succession Wars.

Genoa – Another rich mining world, this planet is on the other side of a small pair of FedCom planets that divide Genoa from us. We took it, and then defended it against a major invasion.

Hsien – Multiple people were sparring for control until we landed, and took it over. Not that wealthy, best described as a modest economy.

Sheratan – This planet, with massive forests used for things such as logging and rubber, was burned in the early days of the Chaos March as a unit set the forest on fire to protect its withdrawal. The Duchy of Small took and wanted to invest into it, but after a few years of trying to invest in new farms over dead forests, they ran of out money to invest. So we bought it and Sheratan has now joined us. It’s the right idea and we continue to push and develop it.

Asmodeus (III) – This planet has a huge mineral potential, and is currently being mined by multiple mining interests we contacted. We are colonizing it right now.

These thirteen planets and systems make up the current Celestial Coalition.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 08:58 PM

Major Military Industries:

Terra Firma – Bander BattleMechs – They make the Bandersnatch at roughly 2 a year now.

Fletcher – Flame Tech makes both vehicular and Mech flamres here (as well as on the other Fletcher in the FWL).

Bryant – Lantren Corporation – Makes updated Quickdraws and Grasshoppers. Another factory on planet by the HartfordCo Industries made Cicada mechs and Von Luckner tanks. That factory was in the part of the planet now covered in storms again, since the inhibitors were destroyed, but the factory itself was never actually destroyed. I was just turned off and protected from the storms, hopefully. After we restore the world, we might be able to restore that factory too.

Epsilon Eridani – Kressly Warworks, Inc – A huge company (for the other) that makes a variety of mechs, tanks, and other vehicles. It’s the major supplier of military materiel for the Coalition.

Frankly, we need more industry if we are going to survive.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 09:07 PM

Who is Kressly Warworks, Inc?

Kressly is not a super company with multiple factories across multiple worlds, like Defiance Industries or Johnston Industries. However, it has grown into something more than small company.

For decades, Kressly Warworks had created the Brutus Assault Tank, their bread and butter. They still make an updated Brutus with newer technology.

Over time, they added other vehicle lines, such as the Blizzard Hover Transport. In 3059 they’ll even introduce a police vehicle the 40 ton Dillenger support vehicle. Meanwhile they moved into the BattleMech market with the assault mech Attila, made by our unit as a powerful design that used twin PPCs and a strong suite of close range weapons to bring some serious pain to enemy units.

After that they introduced a few other mechs as suggested my K&C and their alliance. K&C donated some clan techs and clan technology which resulted in their creation of additional mechs and units.

Today Kressly Warworks, Inc makes a variety of mechs and tanks for a variety of situations and markets. They are the primary Mech company for the Celestial Coalition. They also deliver units to anyone with the right amount of CBills. Some of their mechs, such as the Lineholder, have been huge selling units, and for a year, the Lineholder was the fastest and best selling medium Mech in the Inner Sphere.

Here are the mechs Kressly currently produces:

Attila, 85 ton Assault mech, released in the early 3050s, the upgraded version had 2 ER PPC, lots of strong ginner weapons like medium lasers and SRMS, and a good profile for armor.

Lineholder – Designed to be a cheap but highly functional medium mech, this 55 ton mech was the 2nd off the lines of Kressly. It replaces a lot of open spots on rosters as battle damage accrued via the clans or the Chaos March.

Alexander – Based on the reliable Hunchback chassis, this medium mech is an Omni design. Because it was built with the flexibility to use both clan and inner sphere weapons, it’s a strong and flexible Mech with a lot of potential uses.

Bandersnatch – In order to up their lines and financial sales, Kressly licensed this assault mech which uses a lot of updated technology from a local firm on the planet of Terra Firma where they were made one by one by hand of several engineers. Kressly moved in and produced the base unit. Sales on the Bandersnatch have dropped and the unit will probably have a short run left and then be benched for a while.

Bumblebee – The next mech produced by Kressly was the light scout Mech the Bumblebee. With MASC to accelerate its speed, this 6/9(12)/6 unit, on a 35 ton frame, features a variety of short range weapons as well as solid armor.

Greyhound – This 60 ton quadruped ‘Mech was the first unit Kressly has produced in a quad design. It’s a 6/9 Mech with MASC as well. With maximum armor and 2 SRM6 Streak s and 3 ER Medium Lasers, it is intended to take advantage of the latest technology on the market.

Meanwhile, Kressly Warworks invested in the Lantern Corporation to help it get up and running on Bryant ,and purchased 20% of its stock. Now Lantern makes Grasshoppers and Quickdraws.

Kressly has been in talks with getting in a new selection of weapons and equipment, such as light gauss rifle, medium-range missiles or a rotary AC5. Hopefully a deal with be announced soon and a new design for the new era will follow quickly enough. That’s where the cash is. The Bandersnatch is old news. The Lineholder is too. What will be next?

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 09:42 PM

Targets of Opportunity –

Keid – After professing its loyalty, Keid received the loyal 13 Lyran Guards from the Lyran Alliance to guard them. But it’s nowhere on the border, and after Marik and the Combine have cut off lanes home by absorbing planets like the Sirian Holds and the Lyon’s Thumb respectively, they have been cut further and further off. We don’t think they are ready for us yet. But soon. They also have some minor but valuable military industry as well.

New Home – The 30th Lyran Guards are here too, helping to bring the populace under the thumb of the Lyran Alliance. Part of the 30th seceded and became the Pro-Liao New Home Regulars. Both have carved out parts of the planet, keeping their two little nations going on the world, with regular skirmishing. It has a strong economy. While the planet would not have welcomed us earlier, the population is growing tired of this give and take and enfiefment, while the two houses focus on military agendas and strategies. This sentiment has grown so strongly that multiple demonstrations have begun to take place, and while the military enemies are stronger, we could hold New Home very easily.

Caph – At the far coreward (upward) edge of the Chaos March, just up against the Combine, is the world of Caph. Like a variety of other worlds, it was carved into a variety of fiefs that we would need to push around. Caph is a recovering planet, barely, from the toxic chemical attacks of war in the Succession Wars. It has been set back by the local wars. It’s not normally a high priority target as a result. Caph originally a was a very developed planet, with a variety of manufacturing and industry. It still has Lang Industries that makes Shadow Hawks. It would take some serious money to restore some of the production facilities here in other areas. But who knows? It seems like a good long-term target, and one we could help renovate.

Carver V – Due to modest industry, and some overtures we’ve gotten from the locals who are tired of their current state, this is a planet ripe for the liberating.

Hall – Vocally anti-Davion and anti-Liao as well, this planet was in an unusual place as a home that neither could claim a hold in. Instead, children of Pavel Ridzik took over and declared Hall to be the home of a New Tikonov Free Republic. Their desire to carve a new nation in the Chaos March, like we were doing, came to an end after they lost to the Saiph Triumvirate in Tall Trees. Originally another divided world about local nobility, the Ridziks united it. Unfortunately, neither of the twins of Ridzik are good politicians or leaders on a planetary scale, and the world is pushing the Ridziks off. We could connect with the locals, get ourselves in, and push out the Ridziks. Then we take over a planet that is vocally anti-House and would probably enjoy being on an equal footing with everyone else in Coalition. Hall was not damaged much in the early fighting, and was restored ever since.

Arboris – Over by Genoa, this planet’s natives fought off two different military groups and took over. There are handfuls of those two forces ( FedCom loyalties of the local SMM defenders and Liao loyalties of local mercenaries.) Both have a lot of units, and a lot of strength, and the angry farmers have around 9 regiments of infantry that have secured most of the world. At first Arboris had an independent streak, but now? We would likely be seen as liberators by the farmers now.

The Saiph Triumvirate? There are three planets in the Saiph triumvirate – Tall Trees, Saiph, and New Canton. Most other multi-state nations in the Chaos March have fallen, or are on their way (Styk Commonality, Duchy of Small, Sirian Holds, Sarna Supremacy). The Saiph have been notably absent from that list.

Tall Trees – The closest to us is Tall Trees. After the aborted attack by Hall on it, it’s garrison was beefed up to a Battalion of mechs and another of vehicles, all mercenary. Obviously, we can likely overcome those odds with a regiment of our mechs. It was a mountainous, heavily forested, and lightly populated world. There’s not a lot of economic value here.

Saiph – Similarly constructed to Tall Trees, there’s little here for long-term military use. Both planets have some lumbering and mining, but their mountains were denuded of more valuable ores long ago. They have some animal herding, as well. They both make enough food (with minor farming, hunting, husbandry, fishing) to export some food, but nothing like Ingress does. It also has a battalion of mechs, but just a company of tanks in support roles. The world is not well designed for vehicles.

New Canton – The capital planet of the Saiph Triumvirate, it features a regiment of tanks, and the final battalion of mechs. It’s a temperate world with a diverse economy of light industry, a variety of spaceports, fishing, agriculture, it’s a local commercial and trading sector. 85% of the world is ocean.

We could take them quickly by landing a regiment of mechs on each planet and extra stuff for New Canton. Within 6 months, I’d expect to have all three in our realm, and that would keep them from supporting each other militarily. Do I want to incur the wrath of a state that has been blessed to be poor enough, overall, to be largely ignored by the locals? Saiph and Tall Trees have always been hard to hold, and they don’t feel the need of joining us, since they are in this umbrella. But they still have areas in their holdings that are bucking against the Triumvirate and want to go solo. If we were to take them, we would have two sets of people against us – pro-independence people, and pro-Triumvirate people. It would be easier to take and hold New Canton that the other two. In fact, we might even get some assistance from them in doing so,

Meanwhile, we need more of a military-based industry if we are to survive. There isn’t a lot left. Carver V has some. Keid has a bit. KWI and Lantren are nice, but we need more, and more diversity. I’d like to add in more tanks and vees, more mechs, aerospace fighters, artillery, power armor, and eventually, a shipyards to make DropShips and/or JumpShips.

There are nearby systems under the control of other nations, like Ruchbah, Nanking, Terra, and others.

As a reminder, we have been working with Blake on securing an attack line on an unusual target which is not the above list, and things are ready on their end. We just have to wait for the right time.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 09:48 PM

Kilts and Commandos Roster:

Battlemechs –

Alpha Regiment: Col. Matthew Humphries, of Star Battalion

Myth Battalion: Capt Foster Keynes, of Typhon Company

Heliades Company – On Capolla
Styx Company - On Capolla
Tethys Company – On Capolla
Typhon Company – On Capolla

Star Battalion: Col. Matthew Humphries, of Defender Company

Defender Company – On Capolla
Cinq Company – On Capolla
Brawler Company – On Capolla

Heater Battalion: Capt. Jason Thomas, Trinity of Company

Delta Company – On Bryant
Trinity Company- On Bryant
Butler Company – On Bryant

Alpha Regiment is currently being used to garrison and train these two places, but it’s often one of the Regiments we move out and hit things with, as needed.

Beta Regiment: Col. Martin Fitzgerald, of Ganges Battalion

Ganges Battalion: Col. Martin Fitzgerald, of Phaeton Company

Phaeton Company –
Boxer Company –
Rebel Company –

Rheims Battalion: Capt. Aurelia Jenson, of Aleph Company

Aleph Company –
Laser Company –
Sabre Company –

Amazon Battalion: Col. Gabriel Williams, of Mustang Company

Mustang Company –
Hex Company –
Raven Company –

Beta Regiment is currently at EE and awaiting another assignment. We might break them up in order to send them on multiple assaults. Right now, they are either a reserve force in case of an attack or a powerful assault force, as needed.

Gamma Regiment: Col. Gilda Atwater, of Breaker Battalion

Breaker Battalion: Col. Gilda Atwater, of Fallout Company

Trident Company –
Miner Company –
Fallout Company -

Scimitar Battalion: Capt. Mika Sanders, of Vegas Company

Vegas Company – Currently on Acamar
Guile Company - Currently on Acamar
Tango Company - Currently on Acamar

Mesopotamia Battalion: Capt. Kyla Jeffries, of Nineveh Company

Jericho Company – First Expedition until the end of 3062
Babylon Company – Second Expedition until the end of 3062
Nineveh Company –

Some of Gamma Regiment was split up for various places. We could easily move out Breaker Battalion. We could also wait into Jericho and Babylon Companies return, rotate someone else to Acamar, and have Gamma ready to strike as a unit somewhere.

Delta Regiment: Col. Conner Ward

Bandit Battalion: Capt. Andrey Vihorev

Bandit Company – On Ingress
Iron Company - On Ingress
Kevlar Company – On Ingress

Flame Battalion: Capt. Johan Kreidler, of Blaze Company

Pyre Company – On Hsien
Blaze Company – On Hsien
Ember Company – On Hsien

Armor Battalion: Capt. Jassa Ramgarhia, of Aegis Company

Aegis Company - Currently on Acamar
Shield Company – Currently on Acamar
Chainmail Company - Currently on Acamar

Right now, Delta is basically being used as garrison in three places but it tends to have some upgraded technology and such and all ready for smashing! It’s a powerful force to bring out of forts and onto an attack.

Epsilon Regiment: Col. Dwayne Tarabaev, Water Battalion

Mountain Battalion: Capt. Stacy Weston of Weston Company

Weston Company -
Buckhannon Company -
Elkins Company -

Metal Battalion: Capt. Roderick Goldbeg, Gold Company

Gold Company – On Genoa
Bronze Company - On Genoa
Titanium Company - On Genoa

Water Battalion: Capt. Dwayne Tarabaev, Oasis Company

Oasis Company – On Genoa
River Company –
Lake Company -

Epsilon Regiment is probably going to get ready for some fun. We just rotated some other units to Genoa, and I suspect that I’ll pull back these four companies, and Shadow Battalion below, in order to free them both up.

Shadow Battalion:

Bruiser Company – On Genoa
Shadow Company – On Genoa
Sealion Company – On Genoa

Shadow Battalion is our elite, well equipped, strike battalion. It is not connected to any Regiment. This is where the action is!

Nordic Weapon Battalion:

Gungnir Company –
Mjolnir Company –
Gram Company -

This is a second Battalion, recently assembled using new tech, which we hope to use in a Shadow-esque manner.

Utopia Company – On Asmodeus

Currently just a free company awaiting placement in a new Battalion or Regiment we may form later, and helping guard our newest colony.

Vehicles:

Tank First Battalion – On Genoa
Tank Second Battalion - On Hsien
Tank Third Battalion – On Epsilon Indi

Garrison and Infantry – EE Garrison.

Fighters: Col. Larry Rowe, of Arrow Company

Arrow Company – On Terra Firma
Bolt Company – On Acamar
Catapult Company –
Dart Company –On Ingress
Javelin Company -

Our companies have a full 12 fighters, which is unusual for the Inner Sphere. This does not include our Naval Assets, which have full Fighters and Small Craft.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 09:54 PM

Naval Assets:

Warships –

Swift Justice, Aegis WarShip –

JumpShips –

Scots Flotilla, Merchant JumpShip – On First Expedition until the end of 3062
Johnny Appleseed, Invader JumpShip - – On Second Expedition until the end of 3062
Maxim of Glory, Invader JumpShip –
River of Fate, Merchant JumpShip –

Military Carrying DropShips –

Robin Hood, Union DropShip – On Second Expedition until the end of 3062
Megan’s Fury, Union DropShip -
Dirty Dozen, Union DropShip –
Charon’s Message, Union DropShip
Star River, Union DropShip -
Serendipitous Victory, Union-C DropShip -
Amalgamated Bliss, Union DropShip –
Victory Assured, Overlord DropShip –
Defiance, Overlord DropShip –
Daily Menace, Overlord DropShip, Upgraded -
Faith’s Bulwark, Fortress DropShip, Upgraded - On First Expedition until the end of 3062
King Arthur, Excalibur DropShip -
Turret Diplomacy, Gazelle DropShip -
Profit of Guns, Gazelle DropShip -
Honored Living, Colossus DropShip –

Aerospace Fighter Carrying DropShips -

Fury Unbound, Vengeance DropShip –
Galvanic Arc, Leopard-CV class DropShip –
Stellar Phantom, Leopard CV DropShip - On Second Expedition until the end of 3062
Fang of the Lion, Leopard CV DropShip -

Assault DropShips –

Vulcanized Majesty, Claymore DropShip –
Firebird, Avenger DropShip –
Arrow of Fate, Achilles DropShip, Upgraded –
Stalwart Destruction, Model 96 Elephant DropShip –
Her Majesty’s Interference, Hamilcar DropShip –

Cargo DropShips -

Camel’s Luck, Jumbo DropShip -
Jakob’s Ladder, Buccaneer DropShip (Cargo Vessel) – On Second Expedition until the end of 3062

If we took our military, navy, fighters, WarShip, and more and headed out to the periphery, we could carve a nation state that exceeds just about anything else you dream of! For example, we have 87 tanks in our EE garrison that aren’t out doing stuff, they are just guarding the Academy, Headquarters, and the local Kressly plant. We have 2 regiments of normal infantry at EE. We often rotate in and out infnat4ry into other places though.

A mercenary unit having a WarShip is downright nasty, and rare too. Wolf’s Dragoons have WarShips as well, because they are the Dragoons and they can. The only other mercenary command with a WarShip in the Inner Sphere is the Blue Star Irregulars. In battle with Clan Jade Falcon in 3055, and with the aid of another mercenary group under their command, Hell’s Black Aces, they captured a Fredasa-class WarShip, and then the Dragoons spent a few years fixing it up for them. They still have it (although they can’t afford the upkeep and such).

We are aided by the Celestial Coalition’s cash influx. Like many K&C units, the WarShip is used in a pseudo-Coalition, pseudo-K&C nature.

Abe Sargent

12-14-2014, 09:59 PM

Celestial Coalition Forces:

We regularly rotate K&C forces in and out of the various planets of the CC.

The Bouncers – Regiment of mercs, on Capolla until May 3, 3063, Rating B, 40% level 2 tech, 10% clan tech, 1 battalion mechs, 1 battalion infantry, several wings fighters, 1 battalion tanks , veteran.

Smithson’s Chinese Bandits – Two battalions of mostly level 2 mechs, building back to three. Rating A-, veteran, garrisoning Terra Firma until September 1, 3062. We expect to keep them around for a while.

The Blackhearts – Garrisoning Genoa until Aug 1, 3063.Rating B, regiment of mechs, and another tanks, plus fighters and infantry. We rotated them to Genoa to help in defense there, from Epsilon Indi. They are also helping to train the local forces. Veteran.

Narhal’s Raiders – Retainer on Fletcher, until November 30, 3062, a regiment of mechs, C+ rating, many upgraded mechs, regular. We like them, and may retain them on a garrison deal this time.

The Furies – Regiment of tanks on Ingress until December 31, 3062. A rating. Regular, reliable, 1/3 of tanks are upgraded. Higher quality tanks – such as LRM Carrier, Shrek, Zhukov, Rommel, Patton, etc.

Angel’s Riders - Dragoons rating B, Regiment of mixed troops, one battalion of mechs, two of armor, with about 40% of mechs and 75 % of tanks upgraded with level 2 tech. They are garrisoning Elgin until Sept 1, 3062.

1st Capolla Lancers – A Battalion of mechs. Considered green, reliable, but the ‘Mechs were upgraded ones and quite strong.

1st Bryant Regulars – Battalion of tanks, 50 Mechs. Multiple infantry squads. Regular, reliable. We are still building this unit up. We’d like to get the ‘Mechs up to a regiment.

1st Genoan Chargers – Two companies of mechs, ten tanks,5 squads of infantry, 2 Warrior VTOLs.

1st Hsien Regulars – Regiment of tanks, 2 companies of mechs, infantry, 2 fighters. Green.

Eridani Guards – Regular, Fanatical. 2 battalions of Mechs, 1 regiment of vehicles, 3 regiments of infantry, a few wings of aerospace fighters, numerous conventional fighters and VTOLs, and some infantry too.

Epsilon Indi Regulars – 1 mixed regiment, fanatical, regular. Some infantry, some tanks, some mechs, some fighters.

Infantry – We have 8 squads of regular infantry on Capolla, Ingress, Asmodeus, Elgin, Terra Firma, Acamar, Sheratan, and Ingress. None on Indi, Bryant, Hsien, Eridani or Fletcher, which have their own defense forces.

Abe Sargent

12-15-2014, 09:47 AM

Alright, let's finish the footsie, and begin with the actual dynasty!

https://room208.org/booru/data/sample/ca64a2cf31231e34b031f67dbd0aa9a4.jpg

Will we meet PokeMechs? Probably not....

Abe Sargent

12-15-2014, 09:47 AM

3062

Jan 3, 3062 – Now that the political pressures of being Archon-Prince of the Federated Commonwealth are behind him, Victor Ian Steiner-Davion announces his engagement to longtime love interest Omi Kurita, daughter of Theodore Kurita. They will be married in four months

Jan 11 – Duke Essex receives a message from the Word of Blake. The target he wants for future expansion is ready to go. They have managed to uncover a few ways to deal with the defenders on planet and several other difficulties. When the time is right, The Celestial Coalition will be able to take the world.

Feb 4, 3062 – The first upgrades to the BattleMaster have begun to hit the streets. Last year Project Phoenix began as the upgrade Longbow featuring double LRM20s and LRM15s was put out. Over the next 5 years or so, many old and iconic battle-designs of the history of the Inner Sphere will get huge updates, which also modify the chassis as well in order to push the look and feel of designs like the Locust, Wasp, Phoenix Hawk, Goliath, and Warhammer. Many of these ‘Mechs are going to be made for or by Word of Blake’s assistance.

Feb 15 – On Solaris VII battles have been taking on a decidedly anti-Davion or anti-Steiner position between stables that represent those allegiances. Battles are bloodier, and the spectacle has grown ever more antagonistic as two once-allies are becoming increasingly disaffected.

Abe Sargent

12-15-2014, 06:42 PM

March 1– Archon Katrina Steiner is having increasing problems with the Federated Suns half of the Federated Commonwealth. When she set herself up as the scion of all that is Steiner in order to gain the Lyran Alliance, she also set herself for a fall in Davion space. Demonstrations have begun, and she is actively upsetting a lot of people in nation-state.

Mar 2 – Duke Essex orders troops home from Acamar and a furlough and reorganizing occurs for several units

March 6, 3062 – Sales for the one of the two small craft that Kilts and Commandos created with Blackwell Industries over on Outreach have begun to dry up, and the amount of commission money coming in has started to drop. However, the 200 ton fighter small craft we created with them is picking up, and they are undergoing the introduction of more lines for that one.

Abe Sargent

12-15-2014, 06:57 PM

You know what? After looking over things, I like Caph as the next target. It’s a bit like Bryant, rough at first, but with some serious potential.

Abe Sargent

12-15-2014, 07:56 PM

Beginning of the Caph Campaign

7 March, 3062 – We have contacted various locals in order to get a better handle on Caph.

Post Operation Guerrero, there are five major units on world.

We have a battalion of mercenary mechs, Lindon’s Battalion, keeping the city of Cimmeron safe as well as its environs. They are assigned to the Draconis Combine, and the Star league. We checked MercNet and their contract is up in one month. They have not been renewed by anyone.

A FedCom leaning noblelady has taken multiple areas, and controls the Rehope region with her Gustofson’s Grenadiers mercenaries. One battalion of mechs

Meanwhile a Lyran leaning nobleman, holds New Derry with the Denebola SMM, from the Skye March. The Denebola SMM was originally a regiment of mechs and tanks. It was damaged badly in the fighting.

The Stealthy Tigers hold the valuable spaceport of Aswan, and the capital around it. 1 Regiment of mechs, and DropShips. Aswan has Lang Industries, which makes Shadow Hawks.

The Always Faithful have New Zevon theirs. One regiment of mechs and tanks. Both the Tigers and Faithful are allied and work for Marik/Liao.

None of the other forces are allied.

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 01:03 AM

There are a variety of reasons why Caph appears to be a good expansion target after all.

“Originally when first worlds settled, the planet had large range of jungles spanning three continents. However, after the Star League Civil War, only the continent Steam remained habitable. The planet was known for pharmaceutical products before and after the Succession Wars.

Steam and Caph Prime became famous for the reptiles that resembled Terran Dinosaurs, which became known as Dinosaurs of Caph. They were thought to be extinct until 3025, where small number of these creatures were discovered in jungle regions of Steam.

The planet was subsequently attacked by Rim Worlds Republic Military during the Amaris Civil War, an attack which gutted the Caph Institute of Technology. Republican forces also used chemical and biological weapons in their attack,

After the collapse of the Terran Hegemony and the Star League, Caph had become a hotly contested world. In 2789, in the Fifth Battle of Caph, three different Great Houses fought at the same time for control of the planet. Eventually, it became part of the Federated Suns at a terrible cost. The world, once was known for its research in BattleMech technology, was smoldering ruins. The world soon again changed hands to the Capellan Confederation midway through the Succession Wars.”

It still has a lot of wastelands and destroyed industries.

The areas outside of those that have been livable have also been destroyed in the last 5 years. The units on planet have been withered by local fighting, and yet, there are a lot of units here. Every single house has their mitts in Caph.

It’s time we helped the people.

.

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 11:57 AM

We contact Col. Sarah Lindon, CO of Lindon’s Battalion.

They were Lindon’s Regiment, but were decimated in the Clan Invasion and lost much of their people and unit. The Battalion arrived here and were a neutral unit from a neutral nation, and usually left alone. Then they were attacked in Cimmeron by the pro-Lyran Denebola SMM, which Lindon won decidedly. They even killed the CO of the SMM forces.

Their unit has not suffered as much as the other four, because they are the Star League/Drac unit, and they have not gotten as involved in attacking others. They are down to 25 mechs, from their previous 36.

We want to sign Lindon’s Battalion to a contract with the Celestial Coalition, and to help us take Caph, and then to garrison it. We’ll bring the heat to help capture it.

Sarah Lindon is interested more in getting her unit back into fighting shape at 36 and getting off Caph. But she has an axe to grind against them. We agree to sign her unit to a two year Retainer contract. She will fight for us next month, starting Apr 1, 3062. Then we will use the DropPort at Cimmeron to land some units to support her position. We give her full salvage rights, so help her keep and units she takes in that area.

Meanwhile, we’ll also land in other areas, to push against other units.

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 04:13 PM

Between Chief Foster in the Apollo Office, local contacts, and Sarah Lindon, our best guess is that the other four units on planet are at: Denebola SMM (50% mechs, 25% tanks); Always Faithful (80% of both); Tigers (66% of mechs); Grenadiers (70%).

Our major concern is the Faithful/Tigers alliance. All combined, we estimate these two units have 170 mechs and 80 tanks. That’s a lot.

So what I want to do is leave them alone at first.

Our first goal is to land in Cimmeron and combine our position with one unit. With the others, we want to land, push the two local nobility units that are more blooded (and smaller). Take them out, and we have removed all non-Marik/Liao enemies.

Meanwhile, we suspect that we’ll rally the people at that point, especially if we announce that we’ll begin elections for a ruling council, like we’ve done on other planets. After 5 years, the locals here at Caph could not be madder at the situation.

Then our four units (The one we land in Cimmeron, Lindon, and the two we use to take out the two nobles) will unite and drive against the two mercenary units (Tigers and Faithful)

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 04:34 PM

Here’s the Plan in Detail:

Against the Grenadiers?

Nordic Weapon Battalion arrives, and will take them. That puts a full, fresh, experienced, high tech unit against the wounded, tired Grenadiers and their 28ish mechs.

Against the Denebola SMM?

Beta Regiment will arrive and drive it into defeat. We have a fresh, 108 mechs, against 50ish mechs and 25ish tanks. That should be an easy math game.

Our Reserve Unit?

Mountain Battalion from Epsilon Regiment

Catapult Company (12 Aerospace Fighters)

We also land 12 platoons of infantry in Cimmeron.

We will be using these units:

Maxim of Glory – To Caph
River of Fate – To Caph

And they will have these DropShips:

Daily Menace, Overlord, Upgraded – Drops Nordic Weapon
Defiance, Overlord – Drops Battalion in Beta
King Arthur, Excalibur DropShip – Drops more of Beta
We rent an Overlord to carry the last battalion of Beta.
Honored Living – Mountain Battalion, Catapult company, Infantry Regiment – All equipment we need for the campaign as well (ammo, armor, mines, scout vehicles, infrastructure vees, etc)

We also send in the WarShip and its escorts, just in case.

We arrive in Caph in late March, and arrive on planet, uncontested, on April 1

We expect that this is going to be a major campaign.

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 05:55 PM

We begin with the Denebola SMM campaign. This battle is taking place far and away from anyone else, The DMM is green and battered, but fanatically loyal to the Lyran Alliance, House Steiner, and some merchants, who enjoyed pro-Steiner leanings.

The only noble house left on Caph after all of the years is Countess Gustofson, on the pro-Davion side. Our goal is to hit the SMM so hard and fast that they choose to flee, or be destroyed. Their area of Caph, New Derry, is on the northern edge of a continent that is quite toxic. If they flee inland, they will be destroyed quickly by the wastelands there. There is about a 60 mile wide stretch of land on the northern edge of the continent that extends for about 215 miles down the coast. It’s one of the few valuable farmlands on Caph. New Derry is a sort of local capital, and this stretch of the land all belongs to the SMM.

So the benefit of pushing here is obvious. We are arriving with a huge force, ready to smash, of better pilots, better units, and twice the size. We should be also to push them out of the area completely. We can fight in farmland, away from potential major collateral damage.

We arrive on the 1st, and land safely with the help of our own aerial assets, coordinated with a feint by Lindon to push the defenders of the planet off guard, and then enabled by a large number of locals who are quickly becoming allied with our cause. Local militia flew some VTOLS to give us cover.

The SMM are not native to Caph, and are seen nowadays as a hostile presence. This is not going to be good for them

As soon as we have unloaded our regiment, we break out and move in three battalions. Two move towards New Derry and the other breaks into companies and scours the local areas for the vehicles.

Smartly, the SMM has pulled back their scouting and recon mechs in order to prevent them from getting blown up the moment they sighted our landing out in the farms, near one edge of the area.

After four hours of scouring and finding nothing, we bring these companies back together and move as a 3rd battalion.

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 06:37 PM

The goal is to sweep toward the city of New Derry, and go over every farm, house, chemical plant, and such in the area. Sweeping down the strip, in a triangle formation, with two battalions on the far corners towards New Derry and the 3rd pushed back and as a rear guard, backup, center sweeper role.

3 April – After not finding any enemy presence in the area, we know that our foes have consolidated their holdings in the city of New Derry. We don’t like fighting in cities unless we have too.

We radio into the city:

“The Ares Convention has asked that people not fight in cities. We don’t have to fight in New Derry. We will allow you to choose the battlefield that you want, and allow you to get there, set up defenses, and will attack you a month later. That’ll give you time to develop yourself, learn the area, and more. That way you save the people of New Derry their homes and lives.”

After a pause, we get this message back:

“We aren’t the clans. If you think you are good enough to take Caph, then you have to come into New Derry to do it!”

We send the recording of that transmission to the civilians in the city of New Derry. We tell them to evacuate, and give them a week to do it. They are even angrier at the SMM. Over the next two days there are multiple acts of terrorism against the SMM, such as explosions and a few vehicles have been destroyed by locals.

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 08:10 PM

Apr 10 – We get news that all of the locals have evacuated from multiple police, militia, and civic leaders. We inform them of our plan, and they agree.

Apr 11 – We put each of our battalions around the city and move in. They have taken the center of the city, erected a makeshift fort long ago, but recently built it up with mines, pickets, cordons, and more. It’s a death trap.

We hit a few annoying mines on the outskirts, and someone put some SMM infantry in a local house that hits us with inferno missiles. We destroy the building, and the infantry inside.

We have reached about a half mile from their defenses in each direction, leaving about twenty miles of light city (New Derry is not that big or heavily populated) in front.

We radio them and give them one more chance to either surrender, or relocate, in order to avoid destroying the infrastructure of a world that they are supposed to help.

They refuse.

So we order the orbital bombardment to begin.

We have a perfect target here, in the center of the city. We can bomb them without even coming close to our own mechs.

After 15 minutes of constant bombardment, and about 20% of the city being destroyed, we get a radio of surrender from the SMM.

You can’t turtle against a WarShip.

We let them leave, turning over all salvage to the locals.

Meanwhile we reconnect with the local population and begin to clear things out, and spend the rest of the month with our military regiment assisting them in removing salvage, pulling bombs away, taking out mines, and more. We won’t be ready until 1 May.

While that campaign was lucky to end easily, the other won’t be.

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 08:36 PM

On April 2 the Nordic Weapon Battalion has arrived in the Rehope area. Unlike New Derry, it’s not easy to isolate them, and we have to be more cautious. Plus, numbers are closer together. They have 29 mechs by the last count, and we have 36. Plus, because Countess Gustofson is actually from Caph, her area is the only one on the planet where the locals are neutral, or even slightly pro-Gustofson.

Our foes are regular and reliable. This area of Caph is near and around the Jungles. There are a lot of exotic trees and such. Our foe has their units divided across multiple defensive positions in the region, and if they want, they can flee in multiple areas, or take to the cover of the trees in the nearby jungle.

Because of the closer numbers, better defenses, a foe who knows the area, and better pilots, they intend to defend this area with the normal expectations of battle and such.

We have landed some distance away from the town of Rehope. Unlike a lot of nobility, the Countess doesn’t have a large estate far and away from the normal population that we can assault. Instead, she owns a apartment complex in Rehope, and just lives on the penthouse. She uses the ground floor of that building as the central communication hub for her unit, the area, local companies and such. There is no town hall or local HQ for using, since Rehope is just a large town.

In the area are some professional fruit picking companies that harvest fruit from the local jungle, a handful of processing plants, and some other light industry and commercial venues.

We move out various units against our foes.

Quickly one of our scout lances, from Gram Company, runs into one of theirs, and we begin to maneuver to exchange fire as a way to test each other.

Abe Sargent

12-16-2014, 08:50 PM

Here is our scout lance:

Griffin IIc
Shadow Cat Prime
Sentry
Greyhound

This is 2 clan mechs, a Sentry and our own Kressly quad Greyhound.

They have:

Phoenix Hawk
Commando
Valkyrie
Wolverine

This is our Sentry –

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/thumb/4/4c/Sentry.jpg/552px-Sentry.jpg.png

It’s a cheap mech, designed to help flush out garrisons, and from there, to provide a variety of roles. It’s made on Robinson, in the Draconis March that is en-Duke’d by our ally, James Sandoval.

It features a PCC, 4 machine guns, 2 small pulse lasers, and a flamer, plus it has good movement, armor and jumps. We like them as a strong scouting mech.

Abe Sargent

12-17-2014, 12:29 AM

We open up in a lightly wooded area in the fringes of the locals.

We win init and set up behind a copse of trees. They are diagonal on the other side.

Turn 1 – I run the Greyhound, with MASC, around the trees to set up a chance to snipe while I move the other three units into position in the woods themselves. They slide the long range mechs to the side to line up shots on our Greyhound, and then we have their Commando moving into the woods as well. Our Greyhound misses with its ER Medium Lasers at long range. They hit with an Ultra AC 5 off the Wolverine for just 5 damage and that’s it.

Turn 2. We lose init. I move our units into the copse, which are about three-two hexes wide at most. Their Commando follows and they push their Valkyrie into a nice place to bomb some LRMs over. Our Greyhound uses normal speed to back behind the woods, where only the Wolverine can see us. We push some fire into the Commando, including hitting it a few times with the Griffin IIc’s large laser and LRM5s. (Clan LRMs have no minimum range). Their Phoenix Hawk, which leapt over in support of their Commando misses but accidentally set the woods on fir with a laser.

Turn 3 – We win init. I move our forces into the fire and smoke – we can use this tactically. They move out some forces, and expose the Commando. We push, and I run our Sentry right up on the Commando. We hit the Commando multiple times, and the Watchman’s machine gun array destroys the Commando’s LA. Meanwhile our Greyhound, who MASC’d up to their Valkyrie and based it, hits it twice with SRM6 streaks and an ER medium laser, and it falls from the damage. Our Sentry kicks the Commando and destroys its LL as well and its down.

With that, their Pixie and Wolverine hop off, and the Valkyrie rises and jumps away as well. Their MW ejects from the Commando and we let her leave.

We have captured:

Commando, missing LA, LL

We win the first skirmish. And now they have 28 mechs.

Abe Sargent

12-17-2014, 01:02 AM

Again, we had this one easy. Our pilots were Elite, Elite, Veteran, and Elite; with two clan pilots in there. Theirs were all Regular. We have two clan mechs, and a 60 ton Greyhound with a massive payload. They didn’t. A Pixie, Wolvie, Commando, and Valkyrie is not a bad scout lance, actually. It didn’t rock sucky stuff like a Wasp or anything. And all of their stuff appeared to be conventional upgraded mechs with weapons like ultra AC5 and pulse technology. But we just owned that battle.

And this should continue. This is a battalion of forces just as well equipped as this scout lance.

For example, Gram Company as a whole has 5 clanners, one more clan Mech (Vulture), and then mechs like a Thunderbolt, Salamander, Zeus, the assault Viking, and a Cestus. It’s a pretty strong company. And that’s just one company of three.

So yes, numbers aren’t that bad in their favor, but we have the skill and mechs to oust folks quickly from the battlefield.

Apr 5 – After establishing a parameter and moving around scouting, we have approached one of the lesser defense positions in the area. It rocks around 8 mechs, and a level of pickets, mines, walls, and more. In the last few years, they have acquired two mobile artillery units as well and put them in this small area.

They are well defended. It’s about 40 miles from Rehope proper. Inside are a lance of fire support mechs, and another of large, in-your-face, brawler style mechs. They were chosen well. The brawlers have some long range capability to help support the artillery and fire support mechs as we close, but then have the ability to move forward and protest our arrival to keep us pinned so that we can be hit by missiles and other long range weapons. They only have two medium mechs in there messing around, the rest are heavier units.

This is a smart, well thought out defense, at the crossroads, and with two ways into/out of the fort so they can retreat if needed. Their tanks appear to be using Arrow IV artillery, an artillery with a powerful damage capability, a small range, and with semi-guided missiles. They can lock onto a target that is painted with a piece of equipment called TAG (Target Acquisition Gear). My guess is that some of those brawlers have TAG, and they may try to light us up.

Abe Sargent

12-17-2014, 01:40 AM

This is not a battle for lighter Mechs. So we send in Mjolnir Company, who should make short work of this. We leave behind two lighter Mech’s in their starting unit.

Here is Mjolnir –

Daishi A
ON2-M Orion
BLR-3M BattleMaster
ENF-4D-UK Enforcer

GUN-1ERD Gunslinger
Nobori-Nin B
MAD-5M Marauder
CRD-5S Crusader

GHB-6B Grasshopper
STY-3C Starslayer

That’s 10 medium, heavy, or assault units, including the nasty Daishi.

This is our Daishi, a 100 ton OmniMech captured from our many battles against the clans. It’s one of the deadliest, nastiest mechs in existence.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/0/0c/CCG_Counterstrike_Dire_Wolf_B.jpg

Here are our foes:

Crusader
Thunderbolt
Archer
Catapult
Huron Warrior
Hatchetman
Victor
Falconer
2 Arrow IV Tanks

Abe Sargent

12-17-2014, 12:27 PM

Alright, here we go!

We set up in the SW corner and prepare to face their threats.

Turn 1 – We win init. I use our Daishi as a pear around which to attack. I then move folks around the Daishi. Our Gunslinger steps into some mines and the Orion does as well. Our Daishi opens up firing on their Falconer and we’ll see where it goes from there. The Daishi, firing first, hits the Falconer so many times, and clocks the head twice with SRM6 Streak missiles and the pilot blacks out. They miss with TAG and Arrow IVs. Our Starslayer had hopped over a wall and by a tank that moved out. It immobilizes the tank with its SRM4. Meanwhile we keep peppering the Falconer, and hit its gauss rifle and it explodes, destroys the RA and RT, and hits the engine and gyro each once , then our Enforcer’s LB10X hits the engine 3x more times and it’s taken down. Kill #1. They carve our Daishi with gausses, missiles, and more. Our Daishi has taken 68 damage, and falls from the damage.

Turn 2 – We win init. We hid two units behind a modest hill, and they have exposed their Victor’s back. I jump my Nobori-Nin clan mech over to its rear. I run my BattleMaster and Orion up to support the fallen Daishi. It rises, and backs up a step. Our foes haven’t fought clan mechs I’m sure, so having these here has to scare them a bit. I use our Marauder as a large scout mech and hop over the wall (it has all pulse lasers, jump jets, and an LB10x, so it’s very jumpy) I hope our Enforcer behind the damaged Arrow IV unit. See if I can’t take it out. We hit two more minefields this turn. We order a lot of weapons into their Thunderbolt. Our Enforcer hits the ammo and the tank explodes. Dead tank! Our Nobori-Nin does little to thee Victor. Ah well. Our Daishi lets loose and destroys the Thunderbolt’s RA, and then hits the anti-missile system ammo in the RT and it explodes (CASE). Our BattleMaster follows that with more damage into their Thunderbolt, and destroys its CT. Meanwhile our Marauder savages their Huron Warrior and goes internal in multiple places before the ‘Mech loses three engine hits to LB10X missiles – one in the CT and two in the RT. Their mechs continue to savage our Daishi but it stands. Our BM falls though from some fire on it. Their Hatchetman kicks the Daishi, goes internal, and our Daishi falls.

Turn 3 – We have killed three mechs and a tank in two turns. They begin to mobilize their forces to move out. We have this last turn to attack them and they will leave afterwards. We win init. I’d like to take out their other tank if possible. Our Daishi has lost almost 50% of its armor. But it fell behind a small hill and is out of sight right now. Our BM stands. I hop our Starslayer beside their Archer. I move our Marauder behind their Catapult. I split out fire over a few targets. Our Nobori-Nin destroys the front of their second tank. Our Daishi carves into their Hatchetman, opens it up, and nails two leg actuators in their LL. Their Hatchetman reciprocates by hitting the Daishi with its own LB10X, hitting the head once and the LL once for a leg actuator as well. Our Marauder hits the ammo in the Catapult. (CASE) . Our BM destroys the RA of their Hatchetman. Their Catapult falls and their pilot blacks out. Their Hatchetman falls. Their Victor, who took double gauss slugs and an alpha strike of lasers from our Gunslinger falls. None of ours do. Our Daishi kicks the downed Hatchetman and destroys its CT>

Their Victor rises and hops away. I don’t want to run into any more mines on that side of the defensive cordon.

Falconer, missing RT, RA, hit gyro and enginex4.
Huron Warrior enginex3
Catapult missing RT, RA

Thunderbolt H, LT, LA, LL, RL
Hatchetman H, RL, LL, RT, LA

Regulator Hovertank – FR destroyed

Kill – Enforcerx2, BattleMaster, Marauder, Nobori-Nin, Daishi

We destroyed two tanks, and killed or captured 5 mechs. They had three leave (Archer, Victor, Crusader).

That was a nasty fight.

Our foes are down to 23 mechs, and several are damaged.

This is what happens when you have the better weapons, tech, and folks.

Abe Sargent

12-17-2014, 03:16 PM

Apr 6 - After seeing our heavy metal, and total evisceration of her units, the Countess decides to pack things up and move out. She can’t afford to be stable in one place anymore.

She has a few VTOLS and conventional fighters buzz to try and keep us from keeping her mechs from hitting the jungle. We can’t let that happen. So Catapult company, and its 12 aerospace fighters, takes off from Cimmeron, which is about 170 miles away. They’ll be here in less than 15 minutes.

Our goal is to use our fighters to break through any of these dopey local aerial threats, and then draw a line in the proverbial jungle, strafing and forcing them back from the jungle.

We are going to force them to fight right here.

Whoa! That was a huge fireball. They blew up one of our fighters, a Sparrowhawk. They are pushing the fighters hard- desperate. They knock another pair of fighters out of the fight, but were giving some good stuff back.

Andddddd…….

Now we have our fastest mechs between them and the jungle. We call off our fighters but another takes a lot of damage on the way out and slams into the ground. We lost two fighters, and the other two will need some repair time.

But I have to respect our foe’s determination, even misplaced

In front of us are the 23 mechs under Duchess Gustafson, and she is in a pretty looking mech (a Pillager, 100 ton assault mech with a pair of Gauss Rifles, and a lot of support for them)

She’s desperate.

She think she can break through our line of fast mechs and make the jungle. She has numbers. But a lot of our heavier mechs in this company are pretty fast, and we can support them very quickly. She orders her unit to charge and trample our three scout lances from the three battalions and then, get to the jungle.

Abe Sargent

12-17-2014, 08:05 PM

All our mechs have to do is hold her back long enough for the rest of the forces to arrive. If we can, then we can end this here and now. On the other hand, if we lose this battle, she can just melt into the jungle of her homeland. That’ll be tough to stop later on.

Our scout lances:

Gram Company:

Greyhound
Griffin IIc
Shadow Cat Prime
Sentry

Mjolnir Company:

Starslayer
Grasshopper
Firestarter
Shadow Cat Prime

Gungnir Company:

Shadow Cat Prime
Firestarter
Sentry
Javelin

We are setting the Princess Bot on berserk.

Many of our fastest units are almost here, and will arrive in just a few turns. Our mechs with a base move of 6/9 will arrive in Turn 5, and then T6 for the many 5/8s I have. At that point, it’ll be too late for the Duchess.

I’ll skip giving you a list of all 23 mechs, and you’ve seen some. But here is her Pillager!

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/4/46/CCG_Arsenal_Pillager.jpg

We begin on the east, and her on the west.

Their BV exceeds our own by a lot. But all we have to do is survive.

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 03:47 AM

There’s a little elevation here, not much, and a little trees as the jungle just begins here – not much. I have the Griffin IIc begin in heavy woods, one of only two heavy spaces. Let’s use it to snipe for bit.

A Shadow Cat Prime, btw, has a Gauss Rifle, and 2 ER Medium Lasers. So we have abit of a kick.

Turn 1 – We lose initiative. I try to jump/run my mechs to their fastest speed. Obviously, there are some mechs there I’d like to take down for my garrison (Penetrator, Pillager, Wolfhound, Highlander). But I have to focus on the mission. I go prone with a pair of mechs too. Alright, weapons-hot time. We targeted their Nightsky with our Shadow Cats and it falls from damage. Our Shadow Cat Prime #3 remains standing after light hits.

Turn 2 – We lose init again. I backup our Cats. They stand their Nightsky and charge us with it. I play like light ‘Mechs and hop our Grasshopper over to in front, and above, their Nightsky, for a hope of a punt. Our Greyhound follows. Let’s be aggressive, right? Their Wolverine, with MASC, rushes in and bases a Shadow Cat. The next weapons phase begins. I try to knock down that Wolverine with damage, let’s see. Their Archer goes internal on an arm on the Shadow Cat #3. Their Valkyrie hits a Sentry pilot, and knocks the pilot out. We needed a 3 and rolled snake eyes. Their Nightsky falls and hits some arm actuators, but their Wolverine, who took 60+ damage, is standing. Ugh. We kick a Phoenix Hawk and Wolverine, nothing hits us or falls down.

Turn 3 – We lose init. Again. And we have an unconscious, immobile Sentry. And no dead units on either side. My Jav rises and runs by the downed Sentry to help it out. I use MASC to, hopefully, run my damaged S Cat out of danger for now. Their Nightsky rises again. A Gauss slug destroys the LA of their Wolfhound. The Duchess in the Pillager destroys the RT of our damaged Sentry. Our Grasshopper nails a hip and foot on their Nightsky. Their Crusader destroys the CT of our Sentry. After hoping next to our damaged S Cat, their Wolverine destroys its LA. A few more sections of the Sentry were destroyed too – just the H, and a LL are left. Our wounded S Cat #3 hits the engine of their Wolverine twice. Their Nighsky opens up the leg of S Cat #2 and hits two leg actuators. It falls. No one else does.

Turn 4 – We finally win init. I eject the Shadow Cat #3. It’s just too damaged to continue. And we win the battlefield one way or the other. I was hoping to finish off the Nightsky that round, it was badly exposed. I leap our undamaged into heavy woods next to some of their units to distract them. Hopefully they’ll miss and such. I run my Firestarter above and adjacent to their Rifleman. Again, hoping for a head punting. Grasshopper to the rear of their Shadow Hawk. I position the Greyhound nicely too. A S Cat #2 bases their Nightsky. I stand the downed one an MASC away. Alright, weapons fire time. Our S Cat Prime #1 destroys the LA on their Nightsky, then gets 2 engine and 1 gyro hit. Their Phoenix Hawk destroys the RA on our Grasshopper. Meanwhile, our Hopper nails the gryo and engine once each on their Shadow Hawk. Our S Cat #2 destroys the LT of their Nightsky, and that’s an engine kill. Their Lineholder hits a leg actuator on the Hopper too. Both their S Hawk and our Hopper fall hard. Their Valkyrie’s LL is destroyed as it falls under damage. Their Rifleman and Wolverine also tumble. Their Archer kicks and misses and falls. Muahaha!

Turn 5 – I lose init. And I eject our badly damaged Grasshopper. I run our Firestarter behind their Penetrator to continue the distraction. I leap a Firestarter #2 beside their Valkyrie. They fail to stand their Shadow Hawk, and it falls and breaks its gyro. The final turn of fire has begun. They destroy both legs on our S Cat #2. Our Firestarter #2 hits the ammo on their Valkyrie, (CASE) and the pilot blacks out. Our Greyhound’s SRM6 missiles smash into their Tempest and hits its gyro once. It falls. As does their Wolfhound. Our destroyed S Cat #2 does as well. Our Firestarter kicks their Penetrator to the ground.

And that’s it.

Valkyrie missing LL, RT
Nightsky missing LA, LT
Shadow Hawk with 2xgyro

Sentry, H, LL

Shadow Cat #3 missing LA.
Grasshopper missing RA
Shadow Cat #2 missing LL, RL

Kills: Shadow Cat #2

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 04:04 AM

Our folks begin to arrive to support our position. Starting turn 6, we get a ton of mechs to arrive, and more by the minute. They can’t push into the jungle now.

So, do you fight, with 20 mechs, many savaged with damage from this fight, or from the fighters. Against 24 fresh, fixed, heavy, medium, and assault mechs that just arrived, include clan tech, and have been virtually unstoppable against you?

You are going to lose. Badly.

Is it for pride? Or something else?

The Countess radios her surrender. We take her mechs, warriors, and herself, and place them under house arrest pending the Caph campaign, promising that we’ll re-evaluate her and her troops’ status post-campaign.

We spend a few weeks helping out.

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 04:37 AM

May 1 – We have finished both campaigns, and removed the locals as threats. The only threat left are the two combined Marik/Liao mercenaries and their large campaign. Meanwhile, we have not lost mechs and such.

Our foes, in order to hold out, have moved together and built a huge defense in New Zevon. Both are regular and reliable.

So what now?

Well, now we pull out Operations with it’s fast-sim rules.

This is a way of using dice and such to represent large campaigns of regiment sized forces or more. We’ll be trying out the rules here in a bit.

Advantages we have:

We have the populace on our side particularly against these mercs

We have clan technology. Many of these folks have never seen clan mechs.

We have a better support system in place, now that we have no enemies at our back. Spare weapons, ammo, armor, vehicles, recon info, etc.

We have better MechWarriors.

Wash:

Normally, they would know the terrain better. But Lindon knows it better than they do. Plus we have locals on our side with intel as needed. So this is a wash.

Their advantages:

They are the defender

They have 170 mechs. We have 160.

They have 80 vehicles

They have slight numerical superiority. We have every other advantage.

Alright, let’s grab some dice.

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 06:16 AM

We win some early skirmishes and scouting matches. Then they manage to trap us and hit us with some hidden units we didn’t notice and they win that battle, their first one.

We manage to push them and drive them into a major battle and win, before they flee. They harass us and keep us from following, and we lose some units in an over-zealous counter.

They manage to keep from us for a few weeks, and then we smash into them and stop them. We force their vehicles to match us and take a bunch out. Most have been knocked down.

Some more back and forth and we have taken nasty momentum.

Our fighters find them, our infantry invades, and we force them into a do or die scenario in terrain of their choosing. Battle’s rough, but we emerge victorious.

We lost 32 mechs across Lindon and us. They lost 55. They lost more than 50% of their vees. They have flown in DropShips, loaded up, and fled. We are able to salvage 50% of our losses and theirs, and 25% of their vees.

This campaign took 6 months and 2 weeks

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 09:27 AM

Nov 15, 3062 – We have captured Caph!

Lindon is brought back to full strength as promised.

We lost 14 mechs permanently. Need to figure out which ones. And what will replace them. Do that later.

We salvaged 13 mechs we did not give to Lindon.

So we lost a mech in the campaign, plus losses against the Grenadiers and the Countess.

We organize the 1st Caph Cavalry – They get 16 vees, the 19 Mechs from the Grenadiers, some of those pilots.

Lindon’s Battalion will head to Acamar for garrison work. Contract to end April 1, 3068. I rotate Angel’s Riders to here for garrison work. Veteran battalion of mechs, elite wing of fighters,

Caph has free elections.

Dec 1, 3062 – Countess Gustufson does not make any of the elected positions on Caph.

We freed her a while, but she ran for election and was trounced. Her people need a different sort of rulership for now.

She has chosen to head back to Davion space to lend aid against the growing Katrina-filled issues there and we let her take her Pillager. We retain the rest of her unit for the planet’s defenses, although a handful of pilots choose to leave behind their machines to follow her.

Dec 3, 3062 – Caph applies for membership in the Celestial Coalition. We accept them in!

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 10:35 AM

Alright, we’ll look at mechs, and then talk about finances (how much did this thang cost) and what next for Caph (get ready, there’s a lot to like about Caph…)

As a reminder, when K&C launches on a mission for the Coalition, all ammo, armor, replacements, techs, and replacement parts are paid 100%. But, any lost mechs we have to pay for ourselves. And we get full salvage, although we have heavily donated units to local militia we create.

Most of the losses that are irreplaceable were in Beta Regiment, which has weaker units and pilots than our heavy Nordic Weapon Battalion.

Mechs and such!

I reserve the right to use ‘Mechs I really like to replace those I don’t from the Grenadiers before turning them over. So if we salvaged, say, a Vulcan, from the mercs we took out, maybe I want a Penetrator instead.

And we still salvaged the mechs we took in battle against the Grenadiers, over and above this 13.

That was a Shadow Hawk, Nightsky, Commando, Falconer, Huron Warrior, and Catapult

And we have to pay to fix our salvage.

Plus we lost a Sentry as well. One of the mechs we captured was a Sentry though, from the Grenadiers, so I’ll swap that 1:1.

Our changes:

Boxer Company:

Ibrahim Sofala’s PXH is destroyed and replaced by that Wolfhound
Sarah Goldberg’s Comet was destroyed. It was replaced by a salvaged Wolverine
Abelard Blauvelt’s Rifleman was replaced by a Marauder

Hex Company:

Wendy Worthington’s Vindicator is replaced by a Penetrator
Patricia Enckbayar’s Comet was replaced by a Dart

Phaeton Company:

Bryant McKinnon’s Panther is replaced by a Shadow Hawk
Earl Ray Williams’s Thunderbolt is replaced by an Anvil

Raven Company:

Maltida Green’s Marauder is replaced by a Huron Warrior

Laser Company:

Wendy Padbury’s Trebuchet is replaced by a Catapult
Lyle Vickers Commando is replaced by a Phoenix Hawk

Mustang Company:

Irene Shevchenko’s STK-3F Stalker is replaced by a Cestus
Lacy Kline’s Comet is replaced bb

Aleph Company (Our first company!)

Chao Diochan’s Griffin for Whitworth
Emmanuel Sanders Javelin for Hermes

Not a good day for our Comets!

I move some mechs to our stables (we moved a few out here too)

What we are going to do is finish refitting and fixing these mechs ,and then swap. Breaker Battalion of Gamma Regiment is going to swap here and help with garrisoning Caph, until all of the units here are up and ready, and in a year or so will bounce back to EE.

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 03:30 PM

Dec 22, 3062 – Beta Regiment and Nordic Weapon Battalion have arrived back on EE.

Why did we care so much about Caph?

Easily – it has some useful technology.

Even earlier than first, let me introduce you to…Iveco Corporation. This company makes a variety of vehicles, and one, The Iveco Burro armored truck, is known as one of the most high quality armored trucks out there, particularly, their military grade Burro II, (Burro II - BattleTechWiki (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Burro_II)) a 50 ton all terrain cargo vee.

First of all, we immediately begin restoring the destroyed infrastructure that was defeated in 5 years of fighting. After that, we’ll send in teams to work on reclaiming some of the easier wastelands to help out with.

Our major target is to decontaminate, repair, and restore the Browning-Corning, Lmd plant here on Caph. It made support vehicles, like MASH vees., Mobile HQs, and recovery vehicles. Kressly thinks there is a market for upgraded support vees, since few haven’t done so.

(This is precisely what Word of Blake did when they captured it, and they had the factory working in a year of work. Let’s say it takes us 18 months).

We expect to have the plant up and running around Mar 1, 3064. It could make the support vehicles it already did, and then refab some new line as well, in order to take advantage of the new economic opportunities.

One of the most important vees it made was the Oppenheimer Hazardous Material Recovery Vehicle (HMRV). (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Oppie) This was used until the plant was destroyed to clean up nuclear, biological, and chemical contamination from those weapons. It can be used to help clean up the rest of Caph. It is a great irony of the Succession Wars that the plant was destroyed in the same attacks that hurt the world.

The existing company just has a couple of minor plants elsewhere on the surface, and still exists. They don’t have the blueprint though, and would have to work backwards to rebuild it. I think I might know someone who does know, though. If we can get it to them, we can help a lot, not only here, but in other war-torn areas of the Inner Sphere.

“Along with many cities and other sites on Caph the Browning-Corning, Limited plant remained a hotspot that the locals lacked the resources to reclaim and rebuild during the decline of the later Succession Wars while the planet itself was benignly neglected by the Great Houses.”

That policy changes today. For too long we’ve neglected our brethren.

Kressly Warworks, Inc will also partner with B-C, L, buy some of their stock, and invest in them, just as they did in Bryant with the Lantren Corporation. And then gain some of their profit. This should help them get some vehicles out more quickly and efficiently.

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 05:18 PM

Next up is Lang Industries Incorporated, a plant making old Shadow Hawks. Just one line works, and they make one a month, of the old, 3025-era Shadow Hawk, without any restored technology at all. We could easily help them retool and expand into two lines. Project Phoenix could hit here on Caph! Lang was the first company to create the Shadow Hawk. It was on and off due to mis-spent capital and rebuilding destroyed lines and such over the centuries since. But it stubbornly held on.

There is another plant on planet, but it’s deeper in the decontaminated zone. It’s a former factory of Martinson Armaments, now just on Terra. It used to make BattleMechs, but we’re not sure what.

Exterminators used to be made here in a General Systems factory, but the factory appears to have been destroyed so much that it can’t be reclaimed.

Skobel Mechworks, now just on Terra, used to have a factory here that is near the Martinson Armaments factory. Many of these companies were in a large chain of mountains that were mined for Coltan, Bauxite, Iron, Gold, and Titanium. Multiple DropPorts were arrayed in the center of this mining complex, and that is where Skolbel, Martinson, General Systems, and another company had their facilities. They were guarded more easily here as well. But the contamination is deep here in the mountain, as would be expected, since it was the site of some explosions and such.

Stormvanger Assemblies was in this area too, and now just has a factory on Hesperus II. It made Cyclops and Javelin mechs. It was too destroyed to be rebuilt or refurbished as well.

But Skobel and Martinson are potentially salvageable. They were abandoned due to nuclear fallout from a bomb some distance away, (but not explosions from that bomb) and from biological agents that were used on the factory area themselves. The other two were destroyed by multiple kinetic explosions and energy weapons.

But it’s certainly conceivable that we could clean this up and reboot those factories with their mechlines.

Caph was one of the first worlds settled by people. So naturally there was a lot of industry built here too.

And with the investments in Caph’s military, production, and investment, it’s easy to see why we can continue to help these folks out from a huge level, while also getting some ourselves.

End of the Caph Campaign

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 08:13 PM

3062 Continued

Mar 13, 3062 - Duke Essex meets with Chief Foster and Major Zhen to discuss the ongoing unrest in the Federated Commonwealth worlds. It's clear that this will all come to a head. He begins to make military plans, and moves up the timetable to strike at the potential target he has been working with Word of Blake on. Meanwhile they begin to build up battle plans for nearby systems, planets, invasions, defenses, and more. Ammo, extra armor, extra weapons and more are beginning to stockpile. They invest in more defenses, more intelligence, more infantry.

Meanwhile he begins to increase overtures to local governments diplomatically and economically to build better relations. His first overtures to nearby FedCom worlds Ruchbah, Errai, Nanking, Woodstock, Kawich and Zurich are warmly received by some areas.

Archon-Princess Katrina has been quelling minor rebellions, squabbles, and the press in nasty fashion, and there are ripples that can be felt in many places. War is coming.

Apr 1, 3062 – By today, we’ve restored around 12 mechs from battlefield salvage where I had most of the pieces. That includes a Hunchback, Javelin, Enforcer, Goliath, Commando, and so forth. Often we’re missing a CT unit, so we just need to but that, buy the engine and gyro (if unsalvaged) and then rebuild the mech.

Apr 13, 3062 – After beginning continued investment in the Essex Academy begun more than 2 years ago, we have finished expanding it fully. We now have the mechs and ability to have larger classes, and we will create a unit from seniors this year as well.

Apr 15, 3062 – A counter-offensive by St. Ives Compact in the ongoing St.Ives/Capellan war has been very successful over the last few months, although everyone knows it’s just a matter of time.

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 08:58 PM

May 2, 3062 – Multiple nerve gas agents have been released in the St. Ives/Capellan war against th4e compact by Kali Liao, in a massively nasty event that will be known as the Black May attacks. The attacks will continue into June by the Thuggee Cult that Kali heads. Sun-Tzu will arrest Kali, send her to the Star League for war crimes.

May 15, 3062 -Duke Essex and several others from the Celestial Coalition attend the Wedding Ceremony of Victor Ian Steiner-Davion and Omi Kurita, only daughter of Theodore Kurita. It is held on Tukkayid, world in the Free Rasalhague Republic on which ComStar fought off the Invasion and the Clans. The symbolism is obvious (Plus he couldn’t marry on a FedCom or Lyran world, Luthien looks odd, and Terra is no longer ComStar, so this is the obvious place for a neutral wedding of the Precentor-Martial of ComStar and a Princess of the Draconis Combine. Kai Allard-Liao is the Best Man in-absentia (currently in war with St. Ives).

June 12, 3062 – Three Draconis Combine regiments, without authorization, cross the border to hit the Draconis March, including an attack on Robinson itself. They were likely prompted by the Black Dragon Society, an alliance of old school Combine folks that really don’t like the direction of the modern Combine.

June 17, 3062 – The River of Fate, a Merchant JumpShip of ours is currently not on assignment, so it is doing merchant work to help pay the bills. It left a nearby system in New Home, and then never arrived at its destination in Epsilon Indi, to deliver some cargo, including passengers and food stuffs. It is three days since it was supposed to arrive and it still has not.

Perhaps it misjumped elsewhere and is recharging its batteries. Perhaps it exploded or was damaged. There might have been espionage at work, maybe even a hijacking. The most likely situation is that it’s recharging and will arrive again after a misjump

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 10:15 PM

July 30, 3062 – After being assaulted by two Skye Regiments there, the Draconis Combine officially annexes the 8 worlds of the Lyon’s Thumb they were holding as “peacekeepers”.

Aug 1, 3062 - The River of Fate still has not arrived on any systems and has been missing now for over a month. We have been unable to track it done. We place it on MIA status.

September 1, 3062 – After refitting and re-establishing their unit to regiment size, the Celestial Coalition re-up Smithson’s Chinese Bandits with a four-year retainer contract.

September 27, 3062 – The planet of St. Ives has fallen.

Abe Sargent

12-18-2014, 10:54 PM

October 16, 3062 – The Duchy of Andurien and the Mathews family contacts us. Their JumpShip, the Tramp, has not been selling well and they are sitting on some extras. The Tramp was made in Star League era but had not been made for a while. It was considered a weaker JumpShip compared to other options available on the market.

They heard we lost a JumpShip. The company near Andurien making Star Lord JumpShips decided to create Tramps again in order to make money from a burgeoning JumpShip market in the late 3040s. A few years later, they began making Tramps. About 9 or 10 were made when a major, but easily fixable, issue was found in the drive system. A recall and refitting took a few years, but was easy enough. As a result, due to the Tramps old reputation and new one, they have not sold that well.

The Duchy is sitting on a pair they haven’t been able to sell. They know we need more Aerospace assets. They offer to sell it to us at a reduced cost. We negotiate to buy them at cost, and they will remove their under-the-table funding of the Coalition.

With the Styk Commonality and Sarna Supremacy no more or getting that way, the Matthews Money is simply heading to Saiph now.

We move some mechs and money to Andurien, and hold on for more money later, beginning monthly payments. (We’ll pay for most of these by sending them ‘Mechs from Liberty).

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 01:51 PM

November 2, 3062 – The Earthwerks factory on Procyon, captured by the Free Worlds League from the Chaos March, has just opened. They purchased and rebuilt an old Brigadier Corporation on the planet. Not taking Procyon is one of Essex’s early regrets about the March.

November 16, 3062 - The first flashpoint of the Civil War has begun as battle has started on the key world of Kathil. This vital industrial planet is at the heart of the Federated Commonwealth industrial-complex, and both sides put very loyal, very well-equipped, and very capable forces. They erupt into battle that will drown the world.

November 24, 3062 – The second flashpoint on Kentares IV flares up. In a few months, the Katrina side will suppress it so much they will have assassinated the Duke, trumped up charges and held a kangaroo court and executed thousands of citizens for treason. Actions which certainly won’t quell the rebellion in any way, shape, or form.

November 28, 3062 – The third flashpoint erupts right next door to us in Nanking.

On Nanking are the First F-C RCT and the local Nanking SMM, who had held local Sarna March Worlds lost to Operation Guerrero (In 3057). After years of intra-squad conflict by them (The SMM blames the First F-C RCT for retreating in Operation: G from units and giving up planets that many in the SMM called home) , war has erupted. The SMM attacked, bit the First was preparing for this battle for months, and surprised them by how ready they were. They had secretly brought infantry, intelligence personnel, and created battle plans.

In the next few weeks, the First will push the SMM hard, but then the SMM links up with a lot of local forces, and the people of the planet begin to turn against the First F-C. The First counters by calling in a unit fro, nearby Zurich to help out and they arrive in a month. The First and the new unit (Grenadiers) bottle up the SMM by the end of February and contain them, and begin squeezing.

More flashpoints flare up across the Lyran and Fed Suns space in the next few months.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 06:03 PM

December 6, 3062 – After agitating against the Draconis Combine for Duke James Sandoval’s people, and increasing in popularity considerably, Arthur Steiner-Davion is assassinated by a bomb while giving another speech. Katrina Steiner is suspected behind it in order to remove a popular problem before it gets better.

December 9, 3062 – Precentor Martial Victor Ian Steiner-Davion reveals that Katrina assassinated Arthur, and declares war against his sister. He takes a leave of absence from ComStar to fight against the oncoming battle. Many fellow folks in the ComGuards will follow him. ComStar becomes increasingly involved in this war.

After knocking back the invading Draconis Combine troops, Duke James Sandoval gets his people ready and rallies them around the Combine. He prepares a large counter attack into the Combine space. The Combine is currently under a border war with the Ghost Bears on the other side and have stripped some of their worlds of defenders.

December 12, 3062 – Duke Sandoval’s quad strike forces leaves Robinson for the Combine, attacking four worlds simultaneously – Marduk, Al Na’Ir, Prosperina, and An Ting. This thrust will be notably successful, rally his people around him (and ignore the ongoing Civil War) and gathers a lot of materiel from local factories, warehouses, and such. He caught the Dragon completely unaware.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 06:41 PM

December 14, 3062 –

James Essex’s call comes through to his mother, CEO Elizabeth Essex-Walters while she is at lunch.

“Seriously, you couldn’t guess who is on the line waiting for you if you spent a year.”

“I assume not your father then?”

“No. Get ready. The First Lord of the Star League, Theodore Kurita, has sent a message. It’s live, so he must be somewhere nearby right now.”

“Let me see what the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine wants with little old me.”

…..

“So, just to verify this. You want us to license your Chimera ‘mech design? We give you 5% commission, which is half of the normal commission on sales for licensed designs, and we help you to send a clear message to Katie to stay out of your military’s industrial complex? Then we can sell the design to anyone we want, intentionally, to undermine their sales?”

….

“Alright, I’m happy to comply. I suppose you also want us to import your Medium Range Missile rack on this thing, rather than just give us the blueprints for them? I figured.”

….

“While we are being so friendly, I’d like to give our engineers the go ahead to work on a design that incorporates your MRM technology. We might use different size racks. I’d be happy to buy them from your own country’s factories to give them the extra sales...”

….

“We have our deal.”

The Chimera is a BattleMech that was on the drawing board for years. It was designed to be a cross-national mech between the FedCom and Combine militaries, with both involved in its design and both building the mech in their own areas.

After the Lyran Alliance split off, Katherine forced her nation to be included on the project as well, and then after she took over the FC as well, her teams dominated the design and morphed it. Now 3/4s of the production in perpetuity is bound for her militaries and just 1/4 to the Combine. So the Coordinator has tried to find a neutral company to produce the BattleMech in order to get it on the open market and thumb the design at Kate.

The first productions of the Mech will be arrived in the Combine and Lyran/FedCom space in February. It’ll take Kressly about 6 months to create multiple Mech lines in their factory and begin to produce the new design. Since the blueprints, design documents, and actual items have all been field tested and done, all that is needed is building the lines.

The number of potential clients is reduced. Other than the Coalition, only Marik, Liao, the FRR, ComStar, pro-Davion stuff, maybe Word of Blake, and various mercenary groups are the likely market. Because of the potential for flooding the market, KWI will only make three mech lines and thus produce two normal Chimeras a month. They dropped the Alexander down to two lines after the OmniMech market dried up, and this will help to alleviate the reduced sales of units like the Bandersnatch, Alexander and Lineholder.

In fact, KWI has decided that these lines will replace the Bander lines altogether. Especially since Bander Mechs over on Terra Firma have invested and they are making 6/year now.

The Chimera is a 40 ton mech with 6/9/6 speed enabled with an XL Engine. It has 10/20 heat dissipating capacity, 7 tons of normal armor, and a machine gun, MRM 20, ER Large laser, and a ER Medium laser.

We also make a special version just for the DCMS that strips out the MG and ammo for a C3 slave computer unit. One of our lines is using this variant. So we will be selling 12 Chimeras back to the DCMS each year, and 24 standard versions for the general market. Ideally, Theodore would like us to sell them first to pro-Victor units. But if not, then we can sell them to anyone else.

We have already sold the first year of 24 mechs to three pro-Victor units in the Lyran Alliance.

Kressly designers begin to look for a potential design using MRM launchers.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 09:07 PM

December 20, 3062 – Now that the Civil War is beginning in earnest, one of our worlds is beginning to have some demonstrations. Most of the worlds in the Coalition are loving it. Ingress, Bryant, Epsilon Indi, Epsilon Eridani, Acamar. Others are fine with it – Hsien, Sheratan, Elgin, Terra Firma and Genoa. There are worlds that have gotten heavy investment from us, and Caph will join them. They have really embraced us, because we’ve done more for them than a lot of others.

But we have one planet that has been getting a little ornery. Capolla, one of the founding trio of worlds of the Celestial Coalition. Their elected representative on the Coalition’s ruling council ran against Essex in the last election, and had one other vote, from Terra Firma, and that’s it. Maybe getting some bad blood, Chief Foster suspects that she might have either fomented a bit of bad blood between the sides, or allowed it by inaction.

Right now, demonstrations are in a few places on Capolla. We have seven companies of K&C mechs on Capolla (Myth and Star Battalion of Alpha Regiment). The regiment of The Bouncers, a merc unit is here on Capolla as well, so we have enough troops to handle any messy business.

After meeting with a variety of folks, we think the best way to handle Capolla, in order to prevent bloodshed from the ongoing demonstrations is to be proactive.

December 29, 3062 – After arriving on world, Duke Essex hosts a huge press conference on enhanced investments that the Coalition will be making on the planet. We are bringing in some of those advanced Star League era scanning equipment to check for deeper mineral deposits on the world to use and open up new mining opportunities and opening new tourism facilities in the capital of Stockdale and in the nearby jungles.

After discussing the various upcoming investments that are being made to Capolla, Essex talks about how this is giving back to the planet that has given so much. Like his homeworld, Epsilon Eridani, Capolla and Terra Firma were bedrocks of economic stability that have enabled investment in Bryant, Caph, and Sheratan. It’s time that the great generosity of the Capollan people Is returned!

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 09:18 PM

December 31, 3062 –

Essex Training Academy

We have 18 MW graduates from the Essex Training Academy, and 24 enrollees for next year. Of these 18, all but one either stay with us or head to Coalition worlds. We also have 5 graduates of vehicle crews, all regular. We hand them vehicles and move them to our garrison. 7 enroll for next year, and 8 infantry squads are now being trained as well. 6 infantry squads are completed, the Aerotech wing has its grads – 6 total. 5 more enroll for the 1st year.

We create a Academy Battalion for the senior class, which will have the final year students on patrol, doing garrison work, fighting, and more. Most major militaries do the same thing. Our Battalion consists mostly of mechs we acquired and donated from Coalition factories. So we have the Grasshopper and Quickdraw from Lantren Corporation on Bryant, or the Attila, Alexander, Lineholder, Bandersnatch, Bumblebee and Greyhound from Kressly (and Bander Mechs). This way local graduates get a feel for the units they pilot. As we develop or acquire more mechs, fighters or tanks, expect those to be incorporated into the Academy generally, and the Academy Battalion generally.

The Essex Training Academy is now being used as the major area for military study in the Celestial Coalition, as it is the only military academy running. So recent expansions are designed to help grow the class size and develop, as more and more students look to enrolling in their local academy at Epsilon Eridani, before moving back to their home-world or to somewhere else in the Coalition. We also expect to send graduates to some of the merc units rebuilding locally here as well, such as Lindon’s Battalion.

Year 4 - 19
Year 3 – 18
Year 2 - 20
Year 1 – 24

Armor – 7

Aerospace, Year 2 - 5
Aerospace, Year 1 - 5

Infantry, Year 2 - 7
Infantry, Year 1 - 8

We pay 17.5 million to the upkeep of the Academy and HQ. The Coalition has agreed to defray part of the cost of the Academy in order to supplement their forces. So our cost has just increased by 2.5 mission after the recent expansions.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 09:40 PM

Civil War Stuff

One of the major things going on with the Civil War is that most of these battles just sort of erupt across the Lyran Alliance and Federated Commonwealth. Numerous planet swill have small to massive battles erupt around sphere.

It’s not simply Davion vs Steiner.

It’s often portrayed that way, but it’s not. Two of the greatest generals in the area are Nondi Steiner and Jackson Davion, and both support Katrina because she is the rightful ruler. She is legally in charge.

It’s sort of Pro-Katrina, and Pro-Victor. Remember, these are siblings. Neither one is fully Steiner or Davion.

But it’s not even that easy. For example, Katrina’s rule has been very heavy handed in the Federated Commonwealth especially. Some folks are anti-Katrina, without being pro-Victor, simply because of how nasty Kate has been. Over in Lyran space, there are massive amounts of pro-Victor supporters in the military, clan front, and mercenaries.

Even some major political entities have come out against Katrina because she has been spending so much time in the Federated Commonwealth, and left Nondi on the throne.

Some folks are just pro-independence. Like the Isle of Skye. Some are neutral, like Duke Morgan and his Capella March. Some are Pro-Lyran but anti-Katrina. Some are Pro-Fed Suns, but anti-Victor. Some want a full-blooded Steiner on the throne of the Lyran Alliance to remove this taint.

In the Chaos March, if you’ll recall, local nobility used the strife to increase their own power. That is repeated on hundreds of worlds in the Civil War. Local folks will be using this, as people usually do in war, for personal gain.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 09:48 PM

Beginning of the Zurich Campaign

For the next campaign in the dynasty, we will be using the Operation Flashpoint campaign scenario. It is set on the Lyran world of Kaumberg. However, it is intentionally designed to be flexible on a variety of similar worlds throughout the Civil War.

We will be using the full on campaign here on Zurich.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/f/f3/Operation_Flashpoint_cover.jpg

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 10:18 PM

January 11, 3063 – The government of Zurich has contacted us to send a unit out to keep the peace in Zurich, and to keep stable a growing situation on the planet. They don’t want more than a battalion in troops. We decide to send over Shadow Battalion, currently not engaged in anything too important, and they’re just a jump away in Genoa.

February 1, 3063 – Shadow Battalion unloads and arrives in Zurich, and meets with the local government to get the lay of the land, via the real deal, rather than via briefings.

Our Contract:

Shared Salvage
60% support
50% Battle Loss
Full transport
Zurich Liaison
1 year contract

This campaign will be using a special set of rules based on public opinion. As actions shift, the K&C mercs choose how to react, which side to join, how to fight, and so forth, things will change. Certain levels of popularity or unpopularity will trigger certain reactions, and some tasks might be improved or weakened based on these factors.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 10:45 PM

On Zurich, like many planets around the Inner sphere, nobility rules. Two noble families in particular were a part of the founding of the planet, and have been here ever since. On the planet is a ruling council, led by one noble who is elected into the role. Like normal, politics are an important part of the equation. These two major noble houses tend to be the ones in the lead.

The first house is Hasseldorf, led by Baron Trent Hasseldorf. He just resigned his commission recently in protest of the Katrina disaster here in the Federated Suns, and recently begun making his way back to the planet, but he Is currently off-world. The Hasseldorfs have historically been big fans of the Davion house, after the planet was taken by the Federated Commonwealth in the 4th Succession Wars.

Meanwhile the LeSatte family is led by Baron Etienne LeSatte, who has chosen to be loyalists to the Katrina cause after she took over in the Federated Suns parts of Commonwealth. It’s interesting that neither of these two major families back the Capellan Confederation which was their home for a long time.

The two families have been rivals. Recently, after hearing of Trent’s resignation, Baron LeSatte has publicly declared Baron Trent Hasseldorf a traitor to the realm he serves, and has requested that the local council, the House of Lords, strip the Hasseldorfs of their land and title because of this. Trent has more of the local Zurich Planetary Defense Force than any other, and he fought well against the clans, and was a war hero there.

The Hasseldorfs have defended Baron with his clan record and the fact that a mere resignation does not imply treason. The civil war is picking up around the rest of the Capellan March, but the locals have seemed to be content with the status quo, thus far here on Zurich.

But then everything changed.

20 days ago, a small infantry strike force, wearing Hasseldorf colors, hit the capital of Zurich, and destroyed the capital building, caught on holovid. The elected leader of Zurich, and several members of the House of Lords were killed in the attack.

Etienne LeSatte began to declare the Hasseldorf family renegades. Trent’s brother, Heinrich, answered the charges were clearly a set-up., especially since the surviving members of the House of Lords were neutral, or supported the LeSatte family.

This rivalry between the two most powerful families on the planet has begun to divide the people considerably, and we have been contracted by the government and the House of Lords to help keep the peace between these two families.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 11:14 PM

Because Zurich was wooed by the Lyran Alliance’s Melissa Steiner and the Chaos March, the people have tended to be pro-Steiner more than pro-Davion despite their location on a map. Their transfer to the Capellan March to Duke Hasek has been contentious, and that can be seen, although there are some that are pro-Melissa but anti-Katrina (since she’s too Davion) and some that are pro-Steiner and pro-Victor (since he’s the “rightful” ruler of the area). In fact, Melissa is so popular here on Zurich, that Victor is seen by some as a lot more “Melissa” than Katrina, who is seen more like her father, “Hanse”.

Despite the pro-Steiner feel of the planet, Baron Hasseldorf has been popular. He’s been the most popular noble-person on Zurich for a decade or so, and all of the speeches and stumping that Etienne LeSatte does hasn’t pushed the pro-Lyran leaning folks into an anti-Hasseldorf one.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 11:43 PM

We begin Track 1, Scenario 1, Flashpoint

February 5, 3063

Daosho, capital city, of planet of Zurich

Another gathering of anti-Hasseldorf in the capital city has broken out today. These have been fairly strong since the attack on the local government. Why haven’t the House of Lords done something, other than hire us?

They are demanding answers and marching onto the ruins of the local capital. Meanwhile, the capital city of Daosho is one of the holdings of the Hasseldorf family. Because that’s where we are, this is the home of pro-Hasseldorf sensations, and there are a lot of powerful counter-demonstrations.

Abe Sargent

12-19-2014, 11:59 PM

As usual, the local police force has grown into issues. They have called out a company of mechs from the Shadow Battalion, and we sent Sealion Company –

Mad Cat Prime
Masakari Prime
Grizzly
GHR-5J Grasshopper

Marauder Iic
ARC-2R Archer
CRD-4K Crusader
Galahad

Shadow Hawk Iic
Griffin Iic
Dragonfly B
LCT-1E Locust

Our Grizzly?

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/6/62/Grizzly.jpg

All elite, with one veteran in the Locust, and 1/1 hoss Conner Ward himself in the Mad Cat. Shadow Battalion is our nasty, high tech, super elite, version of the Black Widow Battalion.

The goal is to have a neutral force in place that can help to keep the peace, and that’s why we’re here.

The clashing of sides has been pushed by some shoving, and a few Molotov cocktails. A downright brawl broke out. Meanwhile, because of the endangerment to their area and their citizens, a group of Hasseldorf units have been dispatched. Obviously not one to leave a scene without help, LeSatte has arrived as well with some units.

Warnings from the local police have warned off both LeSatte and Hasseldorf, but neither are listening.

Soon, the forces find each other on the streets of Daosho, in the midst of a civilian brawl. Fire opens up, and the battle has begun between LeSatte and Hasseldorf right here in Daosho.

The Hasseldorf:

Javelin
JagerMech
Crusader
Caesar
Dervish
Watchman
Locust
Cerberus

The LeSatte:

Fireball
Enforcer
Cobra
BattleMaster
Victor
Rifleman
Tarantula
Hunchback

The Police:

10 squads of normal infantry

Us –

Sealion Company

Hasseldorf – Wants to drive off the LeSatte Forces, minimize damage.
LeSatte – Drive off Hasseldorf. Not as interested in keeping things pristine and such
Us – Keep fighting controlled, force both sides to withdraw
Police – Survive

Forced withdrawal rules in effect for all three non-us forces. They are all regular forces. We are fight on a city map.

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 01:12 AM

Due to our heavy use of clan tech and pilots, we have more BV than every else combined.

Here we go!

We are on the south. The police on the north, and the others on the east or west.

Turn 1 - We win init. We are really close to a lot of units. I hop to base some of the mechs on both sides. I also send a force down the middle, straight north of the Marauder IIc, Crusader and Galahad. Our Dragonfly hops next to a Fireball, Grizzly next to a Tarantula, Shadow Hawk IIc to a BattleMaster, Grasshopper next to a Javelin, and that should get up a leg up on early smashing. Combat smashing time! Our Dragonfly destroys the RA of their Fireball, and then the Galahad its CT. Dead mech Meanwhile our Grasshopper hits a hip on their Javelin, Their Watchman destroys the RA of our Locust. Meanwhile our Grizzly blasts the legs of their Tarantula and shears off its FLL. Their BattleMaster falls, destroys its LA. Other falls – Watchman, Tarantula. Our Grizzly kicks, destroys the LT of their Tarantula, and that’s a dead mech (XL engine, quad missing torso, are both kills) .Meanwhile Our Grasshopper kicks and destroys the LL of their Javelin and it falls hard.

Turn 2 – LeSatte wins init, we get second. We overheated the Dragonfly to take out the Fireball, so I leap it back to cool down. We flee with the Locust. I push forward in several places, confident in the quality of our mechs and pilots. I even charge a Victor guarding a Rifleman. After their Watchman rises, our Hopper bases it. The BattleMaster stays on the ground after two tries to rise fail. I hop the Shadow Hawk IIc beside an Enforcer. Conner Ward’s Mad Cat nails the head of their Cerberus and leaves just 1 internal structure left. Our Griffin IIc and their Cerberus and Victor fall. The Cerberus pilot blacks out. Our Grizzly kicks their Cobra to the ground.

Turn 3 – We win init. Their Victor rises. Our Griffin does to and runs in the center. Their BM rises as well this time. I hop the Shadow Hawk IIc to keep on it. I hop the Dragonfly over too. Why not? Grizz next to their Enforcer. Their Cobra stands and bases the Grizz. The first platoon of police was killed in the north. Our Masakari destroys the LA of their Victor. Another dead platoon. Our Shadow Hawk IIC blows the RA off their BM. Then we hit the MG ammo in it and boom! CASE though. LeSatte’s Victor destroys the H of the unconscious Hassledorf Cerberus. Their Caesar, BM , and Victor all tumble hard. Their Bm is knocked unconscious. Our Hopper legs their Watchman with a kick, and our Archer kicks an destroys the Victor’s LT and hits a gyro once in the CT.

All mechs of theirs that are able to fade away – Enforcer, Hunchback, Caesar stands, Dervish, Locust, JagerMech, Crusader, Rifleman, and Cobra all fade.

We took out 7 of their mechs, and the houses have left. No buildings were destroyed, we retreated one mech, and there were just two platoons killed.

These either eject, or are captured (or are destroyed)

Watchman missing LL
Cerberus missing H
Victor missing LA, LT, gyro
Javelin missing LL
BattleMster missing LA, LT, reattach RA
Tarantula missing FLL, LT

Fireball RT, LT, H, LL

Kills – Galahad, Grizzly

Our – Locust missing RA

This is rated as a Partial Victory for us.

We begin with a PR rating of 10, but lost 2 to fighting in a city as the defender to go 8.

END SCENARIO ONE

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 01:25 AM

Over the next few days, LeSatte and many neutrals have successfully painted this battle on the shoulders of Hasseldorf. They have some responsibility since this is their home turf. They bear the brunt, because they didn’t trust the neutral folks to take care of it. Plus, the holovid shows their soldiers breaking into the capital and taking out the leaders.

This is no longer a political debate. It’s a civil war.

The House of Lords orders the Hasseldorfs to surrender their military assets and themselves pending a full investigation. Instead, Heinrich places his castle on full alert and begins to load up stuff.

Within a few days, the planet is largely convinced of the Hasseldorf’s guilt. Hasseldorf’s PR rating is -20, LeSatte at 0, and the House of Lords has ordered a strike against the Hasseldorf estate now, before things get too out of hand.

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 02:04 AM

Scenario TWO – The Great Escape

Hasseldorf Castle, Zurich

February 15, 3063 - The Hasseldorfs begin to move out of their estate and into more mobile area, so the government speeds up the assault. They have sent in Shadow Company to assault the forces, and some of LeSatte’s forces will support their attack in other places on different fronts.

Our Hasseldorf foes have a number of flatbed trucks they are protecting that appear to have people and supplies on them. 6 trucks, and a company of mechs protecting them.

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 02:23 AM

Shadow Company has arrived and radioed them to surrender and put down their arms. They refused. The combatants include a full company of foes, including a Catapult with Heinrich Hasseldorf in it and an Axman with Cynthia Hasseldorf, the younger sister of both and one of those suspected of leading the assault, outside of her BattleMech.

Shadow Company:

Orion IIc
HGN-732 Highlander
ST-8A Shootist
FLS-8K Flashman

Zeu-9S Zeus
GAL-1GLS Gallowglas
APL-1M Apollo
GRN-D-01 Grand Crusader

LNX-9Q Lynx
PXH-1b Phoenix Hawk
STY-2C Starslayer
TLN-5W Talon

Elementals
Elementals

Our Talon!

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/3/3d/Talon.jpg

We’ll look to use our Elementals as a way to secure the trucks. We don’t have Beagle Active Probes on any of our units to scan the flatbeds and figure out what it what, and shoot or capture those without folks.

Shadow Company was formed right after the War of 3039 and features a ton of units we captured from the Kurita forces that included a lot of older, Star League era designs and their lost technology.

Our foes:

Catapult – Heinrich (veteran)
Axman – Cynthia (veteran)
Locust
Dervish
Caesar
Crusader
JagerMech
Penetrator – Vet too
Merlin
Commando
Zeus
Phoenix Hawk

This includes just the one assault mech (Zeus) and a large number of heavies (7).

We get ready to rumble!

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 10:12 AM

Turn 1 –They can’t be here for too long. They need to get out quickly, and if they lose too many of their weakened battalion of mechs here, it’ll hurt them in the long run. Will they cut their losses and leave us the Trucks? Or is it worth the trucks? We lose init. I run our Apollo into some heavy woods. There’s a small lake in the center of the area on their property. Our Highlander devastates their Locust and destroys its LA, LL, LT, and hits the engine and gyro once each. It’s devastated, and can’t stand. Then we have a lot of misses before some fire on their Zeus begins to connect. It took 40+ damage but survive standing up, and that Locust is down.

Turns 2 – We lose init. Their Locust ejects. I push forward again. Their Penetrator jumps next to some of my Elementals. PXH leaps to the rear of their JagerMech (This is the good JagerMech too). I unload with SRMs and lasers from them, as well as fire from our Lynx and Apollo nearby. We hit the Penetrator’s gyro once with SRMs. Luckily, that AC20 shot to our Talon’s head form their Axman was just a glancing blow (whew!). But it hits the sensors. Our Starslayer nails the AC20 and engine once on Cynthia’s Axman. Then the Talon destroys its RT completely and it shouts down (XL engine). Their Penetrator tumbles.

Turn 3 – We win init this time. Our Highlander jumps into some heavy woods deep into their northern area. I push forward again. I hop our injured Elementals into the heavy woods with our Apollo. They are flanking that spot hard and fast. Their Penetrator fails to stand. I hop our Lynx above and next to their Caesar. Always have to try to punt that head baby! AC20 on our Shootist destroys the RA of their Phoenix Hawk. Their Crusader took 100+ damage and fell. No one else did. (Our Orion IIc took 40+, our Apollo 20+) DID IT BABY! Kicks the head with our Lynx, but did just 11 damage (55 ton mech). Two critically and hit the….sensors and sensors. Dead mech.

Turn 4 – We win init again. They have a dead Axman, Locust, and Caesar, and a damaged Penetrator and Phoenix Hawk, plus badly scarred Crusader and Zeus. They keep it up though, for at least another turn. Our Shootist and a few others charge the Crusader in the rear. I hop our Pixie to the rear of our Apollo to protect against anyone looking to flank us too much there. I’ve also brought in the Lynx and Starslayer to help as well, while our heavier stuff is rocking in their face. I run our Flashman over to the general vicinity as well to break up some things from the middle west of the battlefield. Their Crusader rises. Lynx leaps to the rear of their JM. Gauss slug from our Highlander into their Commando’s CT and its dead. Meanwhile our Shootist cracks that ammo bin on their Crusader and it lights up (no CASE). Meanwhile our Grand Crusader nails the gyro once and engine twice on their Phoenix Hawk. Our Apollo, and their PXH tumble. We kick their Jagermech to the ground.

At this point, we let them leave to secure the trucks. We have captured all six trucks. Two had people. Meanwhile, we have captured the castle, Cynthia Hasseldorf, and destroyed or blasted 6 of their mechs. Their damaged Zeus, Catapult, JagerMech, Dervish, and Merlin get away. The rest can’t get up, or are too slow to keep up in fleeing.

Caesar, sensorsx2
Locust missing LA, LL, LT, gyro, engine
Axman, missing RT
PXH missing RA, 2x engine, gyro
Penetrator, gyro

Commando, RA, LA, LT, RT, H,LL, RL
Crusader LA, LL

Kills – Highlanderx2, Talon, Lynx, Shootist,

That was a good win. We get a complete victory, and our PR rises to 11.

We turn our captured folks and trucks over to the government.

END SCENARIO TWO

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 10:33 AM

The government has decided to charge Cynthia With treason, murder, sabotage, and a few other things. The evidence that she was involved, specifically, in the bombing and attack on the government center is not that strong, but she certainly defied orders to turn herself in and end this rebellion.

Due to the hot and sensitive nature of her, they are keeping her in a military prison, and have charged us with securing her, against potential lynch-mobs or against the Hasseldorf machine. She is kept with the other military prisoners, as well as some of the captured salvage in the small base, and prison.

Tellistto

12-20-2014, 11:57 AM

Nice to see you return to the main story, Abe. On board again!

Tell

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 12:47 PM

Scenario Three – Jailbreak!

South Military Prison, Zurich

March 2, 3063 – Heinrich has decided to try and free his sister from the potential capital punishment, as well as freeing other military prisoners and securing some materiel.

While on patrol, Shadow Company’s scout lance is securing the area. All of the sudden two explosions ring out from the two sides of the complex, and a lance of mechs are making a beeline for two different areas – one for the captured materiel and the other for the prison.

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 12:47 PM

Nice to see you return to the main story, Abe. On board again!

Tell

Welcome back!!!

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 01:24 PM

Shadow Company’s Scout Lance:

LNX-9Q Lynx
PXH-1b Phoenix Hawk
STY-2C Starslayer
TLN-5W Talon

They chose to hit Shadow’s, because the other lances are heavy in the clan mech’age.

The First lance is:

Dervish
Valkyrie
Griffin
Wolfhound

It’s moving towards the prison complex

The Second:

Dart 4S
Nightsky
Spider
Cicada

It’s moving towards the depot, and there appear to be some folks on board – Battle armor?

We can make a couple of choices. First, we can split our unit, and send two mechs in each direction. Another option is to send our lance in one direction whole-cloth, and then stop that attack completely, and then allow the other one through.

We are going to do just that. We believe the military target of the depot and the salvaged mechs and equipment is the more important target to defend, and we allow the others to hit the prison.

This is the Dart modification with the triple medium lasers rather than the triple small pulse lasers. They are rocking a trio of power armor as well.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/thumb/b/b6/3055u_Dart.jpg/694px-3055u_Dart.jpg.png

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 05:43 PM

Turn 1 – We win init. One of their people tries to enter a building, and fails. Not sure who or where. Our Lynx based their Spider. We destroy the Spider’s RA

Turn 2 – We lose init. Their Nightsky emerges and it was the mech that took some damage inside the building looking around. Their Dart is chasing my Talon. I run some folks up to their Nightsky and try to do some more damage to it. Our Talon’s ER PPC Sheers off the LA of their Dart. Our Phoenix Hawk’s lar laser nails the RT of their Nightsky, goes internal, and then a follow up with a medium laser in the same place destroys it – dead mech.

They had just maneuvered their power armor to get inside the building and grab some stuff, but with two mechs missing arms, and their biggest mech down, they decide to pull out instead. Their three battle armor mount up on their three mechs and they move off.

Meanwhile we gather up, and then move back to the prison complex, to see if we can hit them before they…..nope, too late. Cynthia and a few other military prisoners escaped.

Spider missing RA
Dart missing LA
Nightsky missing RT

Kill – Phoenix Hawk

This is a minor defeat. Our PR rises to 12. (Pyrric Victory and minor defeat are both +1 in PR). Sort of a “hey, you gave it your best shot” concept I suppose.

END SCENARIO THREE

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 06:14 PM

As the jailbreak becomes common knowledge, the guilt of the Hasseldorf’s mounts. Even if they didn’t order the attack on the capital, it might have been rogue elements in their group, or LeSatte, or someone else. But, they have escalated conflict in the capital city, refused a direct order from the government to turn themselves in and lay down their weapons, attacked representatives of that government, and then broke prisoners, awaiting trial.

And that’s not looking good for the home team.

Baron Etienne LeSatte’s forces have been mostly trying to turn up the Hasseldorf forces in the woods. They have spent a few weeks of playing hide and seek and hunt the snipe. Minor skirmishes resulted. We’ve been moved out as a reserve for the Zurich forces, protecting nearby towns and such from potential attacks.

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 06:50 PM

Scenario Four – Desperate Call

Traussen, Zurich

March 22, 3063 – Realizing the problematic situation they are in, Heinrich orders an attack on a nearby town’s communication center . A small town named Traussen is the target, and of course, we are there garrisoning it.

It has a B-class HPG right beside the town. We have a company of Mechs here, guarding the station, the locals, and a supply cache or three. We have assembled our company, Bruiser Company, to push aside this latest attack.

The Hasseldorf’s are seeking to grab the HPG station for long enough to send some messages. They can also use this time to grab the air and tell their own side of things to the local people.

They need this as a way to balance the campaign, and they are coming in hot and heavy

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 07:28 PM

Hasseldorf:

Dervish
Commando
Dart
Cicada
Zeus
Merlin
Berserker
JagerMech
Rifleman
Thunderbolt
Watchman
Bandersnatch – Vet

They have 16376 BV

This is their Bandersnatch:

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/thumb/d/dd/3055u_Bandersnatch.jpg/612px-3055u_Bandersnatch.jpg.png

And here is Bruiser Company:

AS7-K Atlas
Highlander Iic
Gladiator A
Warhammer Iic

Rifleman Iic
Vulture C
Marauder Iic
ARC-4M Archer

Dragonfly B
Shadow Hawk Iic
Dasher D
PXH-3K Phoenix Hawk

No doubt, Bruiser is my best company in the TOE. It rocks nine clan mechs, plus an Archer, Atlas, and Phoenix Hawk, which are all respectable mechs in their oeuvre. Every pilot is at least the equivalent of Inner Sphere elite. Some are clan elite, which is 1/2, rather than 2/3. 7 of the pilots are ex-clanners.

This is our nastiest, smashiest, most devastating company Kilts and Commandoes has. It has a battle value of almost 52000. You could have a battalion of regular Inner Sphere mechs that wouldn’t be that good .

I have a fun German map to play on.

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 09:08 PM

Turn 1 – We win init. Our Archer takes some heavy woods. I push forward massively. No sense making this last long – the longer it lasts, the more likely they are to get a head hit or a through armor critical lucky shot off. If I play my cards right, we can make a ton of money here. The Berserker and Bandersnatch are extremely expensive XL mechs. I target the JagerMech early. It’s the JM7-D which is a good variant. Our Highlander IIc nails the H of their JM with a medium pulse laser and hits the life support and sensors. Then it destroys the LA of it, before hitting the H again with an SRM missile .Our Rifleman IIc tears into its LT and destroys it. Dead mech. Their Berserker and Bandersnatch fall. None of our mechs even took 20+ damage to force a roll. They set the heavy woods my Vulture ran into on fire. But the Vulture doesn’t need it – it just rocks a pair of gauss rifles – no heat issues there. I

Turn 2 – We lose init. I push forward again. Their Berserker rises. Their Dart falls when running and turning on pavement. I position a lot of my mechs to get good firing lanes on the Berserker or Bandersnatch. Our Warhammer IIc cracks open a Cicada that based it and hits the gyro twice and engine once. Rifleman IIc destroys the RT of their Bandernsatch and it shuts down. Dead mech. Meanwhile our Pixie nails the foot and hip on their Thunderbolt. Our Marauder IIc and Archer destroy a few more Bandersnatch things. Our Dragonfly nails the engine, and MASC on their Berserker. It took 120+ damage and falls hard. The Tbolt also tumbles. Four of their mechs are on the ground prior to physical attacks (Dart, Cicada, but that one is dead, Berserker and TBolt.) Our Rifleman IIc kicks, breaks the RA of their Dart and hits the engine once.

They pull out and break off. We took down three mechs (Bandersnatch, JagerMech and Cicada) but the fire is growing, heavy smoke is pouring in, and they are able to get the Berserker, Dart and T Bolt away,

Bandersnatch missing RT, LL, LA
Jagermech missing LA, LT
Cicada 3G gyrox2, engine

Dart missing RA

Kills – Rifleman IIcx2, Warhammer IIc

We defended the HPG station successfully. Partial Victory. PR is now 14.

END SCENARIO FOUR

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 09:20 PM

Without sending out a signal for reinforcements, the Hasseldorf faction is unable to bring in additional troops to help face off us, LeSatte and a few other noble folks, with smaller units, in Etienne’s coalition.

LeSatte uses this as the continuation of his campaign to show the Hasseldorfs as real villains, for attacking an HPG station. Although they were quickly rebuffed by us.

The Hasseldorfs quickly go into hiding and try to keep things quiet.

April 7, 3063 – A major JumpShip has arrived in the system, and a couple of military DropShips begin to move in to Zurich.

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 09:38 PM

Scenario Five – On a Mission of Mercy

Samara Forest, Zurich

April 12, 3063 – Multiple DropShips are arriving and dropping reinforcements, and the Hasseldorf forces are heading out to meet them. We are told that one of these DropShips is Baron Trent Hasseldorf’s personal transport for his unit. Daddy is home.

A company of our troops, Sealion, is sent ahead to help secure the area, while the Trent’s forces begin to disembark.

Heinrich has led his forces to meet up as well, and a company of his forces have arrived to assist Trent. Meanwhile, Trent’s forces are unloading, and a company of his mechs are here too.

If the Hasseldorf’s had won that last battle, then they would have brought in more supplies, but this is just what Trent took with him, and what he is bringing back.

Abe Sargent

12-20-2014, 09:50 PM

We will begin in the south of a larger map. There will be two companies to our east and west. They will each be run by a separate bot, but on the same team (so they won’t shoot each other). I’ve added the possibility of withdrawal to them as well.

On the East we have the on-planet force:

Berserker
Dervish
Commando
Watchman
Zeus
Rifleman
Thunderbolt
Merlin
Wolfhound
Griffin
Longbow
Dart

This is their 100 ton Berserker!

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/thumb/1/1c/3055u_Berserker.jpg/695px-3055u_Berserker.jpg.png

And then on the west are the first company of Trent’s forces, just unloaded from a Union DropShip.

JagerMech III
Falconer *
Wolverine 7D
Hatchetman
Scarabus
Wolf Trap *
Shadow Hawk 5M
Goliath *
Gunslinger *
Archer 5R variant *
Firestarter-O
Bushwacker

About half are veteran. Those with stars. The Firestarter-O is an inner sphere omnimech design.

We are playing monkey in the middle!

Our goal is to force them away and take the best area right here, and hold it, and then use this place to rally other of our forces. Alternatively, if we need to retreat, do as much damage as possible.

Here we go!

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 01:25 AM

We are facing with some hills, trees, and a road down the south and east.

Turn 1 – We win init. I doubt we’ll control the area at the end, so this may end up being more of a hit and fade than anything else. We move a force in the middle of the southern front. Their Berserker charges my Shadow Hawk IIc, who leapt into some heavy woods. I focus some fire on the Rifleman. Our Grizzly hits and destroys its LT with a gauss slug and its engine is shut down and done. Conner Ward’s Mad Cat took 20+ and their Berserker took 60+ and are still upright. Luckily, their 100 ton Berserker misses the hatchet. Whew!

Turn 2 – We lose init. I’d like to stay close to the border, in case our mechs get savaged and we can retreat with them. But there are no forests near it, which sucks. I back some folks up on the west flank. I leap our Shadow Hawk IIc out of the heavy woods and walk the Mad Cat into them. Our Mad Cat tears into their Merlin and hits the gyro once and engine twice. Both the Merlin and their Berserker fall down. Our Masakari took 20+ and didn’t.

Turn 3 – Despite that roll of a 3, we win init. I run the Masakari into some light woods. Our Griffin IIc leaps above and next to their Griffin. Their Berserker stands. I like the Mad Cat where it is, so I keep it there. Dragonfly leaps adjacent to, and above, their Berserker. Their Merlin ejected. After our Galahad warms it up, our Grizzly’s gauss slug nails the RT of their Hatchetman and it shuts down (engine). Their Commando based our Mad Cat and Conner protested it with a full salvo of energy weapons and machine guns. He blew off its LL, RA and hit its engine once. Our Masakari hits and destroys the RA of their Wolf Trap. Our SHD IIc hits the Berserker’s foot, hip, shoulder, and hatchet. It falls. Their Commando and Wolf Trap do s well. None of our mechs even took 20+ damage.

Turn 4 – We lose init. I hop my overheated Dragonfly back out. We’re doing really well thus far (yay for clan mechs and elite pilots!). Their Commando ejects. Their Berserker doesn’t get up this time. They are charging on the west flank. I back up some of my mechs and such. We’re doing well at range. I leap our Grasshopper to the rear, and above, their Thunderbolt. Their Dervish bases it. I hop our Grizzly into a small copse of tees to try and stop them from coming too much too quickly on the west flank though. Their Dart runs around behind my SHD IIc. Their Wolf Trap rises. Our Mad Cat savages their Dart and destroys its LA, engine and gyro once each. Our MAD IIc nails the LB10X AC ammo on their Wolf Trap, which does have CASE< but that;’s a dead mech due to the XL engine. Their Bush’s LB10x AC destroys the LL of our Locust. That sucks. Their Falconer takes out the LA too. Falling down – Locust, Dart, Thunderbolt. Our Mad Cat, Archer and Masakari stay up, while their JagerMech III does as well.

Turn 5 – I was initially expecting us to lose the battlefield, but we’re doing really well thus far, so I eject the Locust. Their Dart ejects too. I leap our DFly next to their downed Berserker. We need to take this thang out. I push my forces back on the west flank. Our Grasshopper leaps to the rear of their Longbow. Their T Bolt rises. Our Griffin IIc hops next to it. Their Griffin gets the rear of our SHD iic. Not much more damage on their Berserker, but we did destroy their Falconer’s LT with the gauss from the Galahad and it’s down. Their Griffin get’s lucky. A through armor critical on our Mad Cat nails the gyro twice. SUCK! Meanwhile our Crusader nails the engine on their JMIII twice. Their Wolfhound destroys the LA of our Grasshopper, and their Longbow goes internal in a couple of places on our Grizz. Our MAD IIc destroys the RA of their JM III. Only the Mad Cat Falls. We kick and destroy the LL of their Berserker

I have to push harder now, with the Mad Cat down, in our to salvage it and fix it.

Turn 6 – We win init. They eject the Berserker. At this point, they can’t let us have the field, we’ll get too many good mechs. And we can’t let them get the Mad Cat and their stuff back. So we re both pushing more than you might expect now. We eject the Mad Cat. I back up mechs again. I move the Masakari into that space. Grizzly jumps and bases their Firestarter-O. Hopper jumps next to their T Bolt. Our G Hopper blows off the RA on their T Bolt while our SHD IIc destroys the LL and hits the engine once too. Our Marauder Iic is badly damaged by gausses from their Gunslinger and missiles. Their T Bolt falls and hurts its gyro once. The hex our Girzzly was in was set on fire by their Firestarter O.

Turn 7 – We lose init. I move the MAD IIc to the border of the south edge so I can retreat next turn. They are doing the same with their JMD III, getting it close so it can retreat. They eject the T Bolt. I hop the Griffin IIc over to help on the west flank, where we need it. Our D Fly runs next, and above, their Griffin. Their Wolfhound and Scarabus base our Grasshopper. I alpha strike the Griffin with our Dragonfly because we need it off the board, it keeps circling around and keeping my mechs from doing stuff. Our Masakari pours hot PCC heat into their Wolfhound and destroys tis CT. Our Dragonfly destroys the Lt of their Griffin and it shuts down. Before it is destroyed, it’s LRm20 hits the H of our Galahad twice and nails the life support. Our Grizzly nails and destroys the RT of the JMD III. Dead mech. Our Hopper kicks the Scarabus.

They lost three more mechs this turn. They are not going to continue to throw good mechs after bad into this meat grinder, and they retreat, we let them. We can’t lose the position or the field.

Griffin missing LT
Falconer, missing LT
Wolf Trap missing RA, RT
Hatchetman missing RT
Merlin gyro, enginex2
Rifleman 5M, missing LT

T Bolt, reattach RA, missing LL, engine, gyro
Commando missing LL, RA
Dart missing LA, engine, gyro
JagerMech III, enginex2, destroyed RA, RT
Berserker missing LL

Wolfhound H, LT, RT, LL, RL, LA, RA

Ejected – Merlin, Commando, Dart, Galahad, Berserker, T Bolt,

Us:

Locust missing LL, LA
Mad Cat, gyrox2
Grasshopper missing LA

Kills – Grizzlyx3, Marauder IIc, Masakari, Dragonfly

They lost HALF of their mechs. That’s a huge hit to their ongoing efforts

END OF SCENARIO FIVE

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 01:39 AM

Our PR rises to 18

Trent Hasseldorf has always been one of the most popular people on Zurich. People could never believe he’d be behind the bombing, although maybe some others of his family could. His arrival has begun to change things up.

A couple of weeks pass by, and people begin to ask about a peace settlement, or re-opening the case on the attack, and so forth. Moderation is becoming a topic of the day. Trent has always been a reasonable person, and now that he has arrived, surely, things can end, and Zurich can get to the bottom of what is happening.

Right?

END OF FIRST TRACK (FROM UNREST TO REBELLION)

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 01:55 AM

May 3, 3063 – The House of Lords has decided, in an emergency session, to order Baron Etienne LeSatte to retreat from the field, so they can order Hasseldorf to the table and cooler heads may prevail. There has not been a single shot fired since Trent returned to the planet after landing day.

LeSatte refused, telling the House of Lords that he would not stop until he was satisfied that the Hasseldorfs were contained.

The next day, Conner Ward meets with the government and inquires as to why his troops were not dispatched to face down the LeSatte. After all, they violated a direct order just like Hasseldorf did.

The House of Lords is not comfortable making the politically dangerous decision to attack LeSatte.

May 14, 3063 – Duke Essex has arrived at Zurich and meets with the local press:

“Hello Zurich! I know that this war has been rough on you. You’ve had a war on your planet for months now. We were hired here to help keep order, and to face, and bring down criminal units, on planet, who defied orders by the government.

The units of house Hasseldorf were involved in bringing battle to a large city, refusing to give up their arms, breaking prisoners out of jail, an attacking a small town with an HPG generator. All of these are criminal acts, and require our continued response.

Meanwhile, house LeSatte was also involved in that same battle, shot and killed police officers doing their job, and now has refused a direct order from the House of Lords and a planetary government. Therefore, we are calling for their laying down of arms, peacefully, the next time we engage. Any unit which does so, will not be branded a criminal. All others will be treated as criminals, since they are in direct violation of their government, just like Hasseldorf.

I’ve seen war tear people and places up way too much in my life. We need to end this now. Both sides, need to surrender, turn themselves in, and we can begin investigating the crimes, as proper members of civilized society. Zurich, you deserve better.”

(We’re going a bit outside the boundaries of the scenario pack. It envisions that, by now, you will have joined either the Hasseldorf or LeSatte side. We are not, and I will modify some of the next track, into to note these changes. )

Our PR increases to 20.

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 02:14 AM

BEGIN TRACK TWO – HUNTERS/KILLERS

Duke Essex was able to convince the government to be more forthright in governing, and pushing out Baron Etienne LeSatte. As he says, we can easily send in more mercs from K&C if needed. Although Shadow Battalion is dominating so much it’s unlikely right now.

LeSatte lost their coalition, and they are down to around 30 mechs, all told.

His forces have been out chasing Hasseldorf’s. With their reinforcements from Trent, and with their battle losses against us, they are roughly in the same number of foes.

For a few weeks, things have progressed well out there. Ward ordered our force to head on out and into the campaign, to end things for both of them as quickly as possible.

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 02:53 AM

Begin Scenario Six – Breaking the Circle

Samara Forest, Zurich

May 26, 3063 – The LeSatte forces are pushing Hasseldorf’s troops, herding them out of the woods and into more exposed territory. We have arrived and Conner sent Brusier Company out to play with the troops. We want to push both around, off the field of battle that they are about to have.

Having faced Bruiser once before, Hasseldorf wants nothing of it. They immediately flee the battlefield. Meanwhile, disappointed at not fighting the Hasseldorf army for weeks, and angry at us for declaring them criminals, the local company of LeSatte troops pushes on us and moves in for battle.

This enables the Hasseldorf troops to break free of the tightening noose and roam about again.

This is the LeSatte forces:

Enforcer
Cobra
BattleMaster
Rifleman
Hunchback
Barghest
Cataphract
Wasp
Garm
Stalker 5S
Stealth
Valkyrie

All regular pilots

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 09:02 AM

Turn 1 – We lose init. I move the Gladiator, using its MASC, into some heavy woods. We charge up the middle and bring some heat. They don’t understand yet how nasty this company can be, and they come in slow in some places. Only the woods keeps me from concentrating our firepower more.

Our Atlas’s gauss rifle, the first shot of the day, crushes the H of their Stalker and it dies.
Their Barghest destroys the RA of our Dasher.
Our MAD IIC hits the leg actuators on their Valkyrie
Our Archer destroys the RT on their Valkyrie
Our Shadow Hawk IIc nails the shoulder on their Garm
Our Dasher hits the Garm a bunch more with ER Medium Lasers and cracks more locations
Their Valkyrie falls.

They may choke up the Stalker kill to luck, and not really see it as the harbinger that it truly is.

Turn 2 – We win init this turn. They move to retreat their Valkyrie and Garm. I escape the Dasher, since it was already on the edge. Our PXH jumps next to their Wasp. Their BattleMaster emerges and bases our Highlander IIc. Our Gladiator bases the BM right on back. I hop our Dragonfly next to some of their stuff.

Highlander IIc destroys the RA of their BM
Our Gladiator dices into it and smashes the destroys the RT – dead mech (XL engine)
Our PXH destroys the LA of their Wasp
We go internal on their Hunchback in a bunch of places
Shadow Hawk IIc hits two engines on the Hunchy before destroying its CT
Phoenix Hawk kicks and destroys the LL of their Wasp

Hunchback H, LL, RL, RA, LA, LT

BattleMaster missing RA, RT
Stalker 5S missing H

Valkyrie missing RT
Wasp missing LA, LL

Kill – Atlas, Gladiator, Shadow Hawk IIc

Us – Dasher missing RA

And just like that we have killed a Hunchback, two assault mechs, and savaged a Wasp, Valkyrie and Garm. They clear out.

We have taught a lesson to house LeSatte as well. Don’t go against your government. Not when we’re being paid to keep the peace.

We get the Wasp too, but the other 8 units flee.

END OF SCENARIO SIX

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 09:14 AM

Our PR rises to 23.

As a result, we will now gain bonuses

The locals are beginning to like us a lot, and will give us extra intel about battles, enemies, and more,

After the Hasseldorf forces break free of their noose, the LeSatte ones begin the chase anew, and skirmishes, feints and counter-feints, and the dance begin.

LeSatte -27 mechs left
Hasseldorf – 31 mechs left

A wek-ish later, Scenario 7 is fought as Hasseldorf attacks a LeSatte outpost, but we aren’t anywhere nearby. That’s unfortunate. They took out a small airstrip and captured a small depot of supplies.

The problem is that war is pushing in and around the area, and the LeSatte’s are pushing the Hasseldorfs out of the woods yet again.

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 09:27 AM

Beginning of Scenario Eight – Desperate Calls, Redux

Ravenshire, Zurich

June 20, 3063 - Wanting to once again leave the area, and strike to take a local HPG to get the news out about their side as well as to gain reinforcements, the Hasseldorf forces attack a small town, just on the far side of the Samara Woods and go it to deliver their message.

The LeSatte forces are defending the area, expecting a possible attack, with two lances, and Hasseldorf is sending a full company, plus his brother to make sure they bust through.

We have Shadow Company nearby, and we head in ourselves.

Hasseldorf –

Catapult, Heimrich’s mech *
Dervish
Watchman
Zeus
Longbow 7V
Wolverine 7D
Scarabus
Shadow Hawk 5M
Goliath *
Gunslinger *
Archer 5R variant *
Firestarter-O
Bushwacker

LeSatte – Same Company as before, minus a lance of mechs we took out

Enforcer
Cobra
Rifleman 5M
Barghest
Cataphract
Garm
Stealth
Valkyrie

Here we go!

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 12:31 PM

We are on the west flank of the area. Theyhave the north and south. There is a small lake and river area in the center north to the east. There are some woods, a bit of elevation, rubble from earlier destroyed battles, a broken road, and some concreted areas.

I place our Elementals near the woods.

T1 – We win init. Our Apollo moves towards heavy woods. I’m using a ridge of woods to push our troops south. I want to smash them quickly, then focus on the LeSatte forces to the north. If I push back LeSatte first, then Hassie might be able to take the HPG station. Most of the LeSatte forces are on the other side of the lake in the corner and they just have 8 mechs anyway. I focus a lot of fire on their Gunslinger. Taking that out would drop two gauss rifles from their force. I hit its H, go internal in a few places, and it took 100+ damage and fell. Our Orion IIc also fell from 80+ damage. Stupid mech!

T2 – I win initiative again. I move the elementals into heavy woods. Our Orion rises and runs back, then turns to keep folks from a rear angle of attack. Then I begin to push forward with other forces. Our Shootist, Highlander, Zeus, Flashman, Gallowglas charge on up. Our Talon runs 10 and bases Heinrich’s Catapult. Their Gunslinger tried and failed ot stand twice. Our Flashman destroys the LA on their Catapult (C1b) while our Zeus get’s a limb blown off on its LL. Our Grand Crusader’s LRMs hit an engine on the Gunslinger, and then the Gallowglas nails the LRM ammo on the Catapult, and CASE keeps the mech from blowing up. Our Highlander hits the LRM 15 ammo in the other torso, another boom. The Pilot has died, due to too many explosions, and feedback. Heinrich is dead. That’s going to be a thing. Both out Highlander and Orion IIc took 40+ but are still standing.

T3 – We lose init. Their Gunslinger stands. I run our Orion IIc next to the side, in case we need to escape with it after another round of firing. While using MASC, their Wolverine’s legs froze up, and two leg actuators were hit and it fell down. They only needed that 3 as well. Ouch! Their Bushwacker bases my Zeus . Their Bushwacker hits the LT of our Orion IIc and destroys it after igniting an ammunition explosion. Our Apollo nails the Gauss Rifle on their Gunslinger’s RA and it is destroyed. The pilot ejects from the mech. Our Talon hits the engine and LB ammo on the Bushwacker, Boom! Dead mech (XL). The LeSatte Rifleman falls form Hasseldorf damage, and the Hassie Longbow took 60+ damage from us and dropped. Our Orion drops too, and our pilot blacks out. Uh oh.

T4 – We win init. Their Rifleman stands. I emerge some of my lighter, faster units to help cover the Orion. I jump the Highlander next to, and above, their Goliath. Just trying to be disruptive. Their Wolverine tried to stand, failed, and their pilot blacks out too. Our Flashman runs up to it too. Our Talon runs above, next to their Dervish. Their Dervish destroys the LL of our Orion IIc. Goliath nails the gyro once and destroys the RT of it. Their Goliath falls. Our Flashman kicks the Goliath’s H and destroys it. Meanwhile, our Talon makes it two for two and punts off the head of their Dervish. Whew – our Orion awakens.

Turn 5 – We lose init. With a lot of mechs destroyed, and their leader dead and dead, our Hasseldorf foes retreat. Their Wolverine is still blacked out and left behind. We eject the Orion IIc. Of the LeSattte forces there, their Rifleman and Garm are a bit damaged and scarred. Our Talon’s ER PPC nails the RT of their damaged Rifleman and destroys it – dead mech (XL).

Turn 6 – We win init. Our Highlander hits the lower leg in their Stealth. Then our Apollo destroys its RT and that’s a dead mech (XL). Meanwhile, we damage their Garm, and Barghest, and Valkyrie a bit too, as some weapons can’t penetrate the woods well as long range and I’m forced to take attacks of opportunity rather than those of strategy. Their Cataphract and Barghest fall.

Turn 7 – We lose init. They rise the Cataphract. And the Barghest too. I move my forces in as fast as I can. I want to finish them off now. Our Lynx nails the Garm’s RL and destroys it while the Hghlander destroys its RT. Our Pixie gets the Barghest when it hits the LB20X amoo, explosion, boom! RLL and LT gone. Our Flashman sheers off the H of their Enforcer.

They are done. The Cobra, Cataphract and Valkyrie are moving out. We took out both enemies!

Sattie:

Enforcer missing H.
Rifleman 5M, missing RT
Stealth missing RT
Garm missing RL, RT
Barghest, missing RLL, RT

Hassie:

Fleeing – Longbow, Shadow Hawk, Firestarter-O, Watchman, Zeus, Archer, Scarabus. We took out six mechs.

Ejected - Gunslinger

Gunslinger, engine, missing LA

Goliath missing H
Catapult C1b missing LA, LT, RT, reattach LL
Bushwacker missing RT
Dervish missing H

Wolverine, blacked out.

Kills: Highlander, Apollox2, Talonx3, Flashmanx2, Phoenix Hawk,

Us – Orion Iic missing LT, LL, gyro, RT

LaSatte – 22 Mechs
Hasseldorf – 25 mechs

Our PR is now 26.

(There is no part of the track that involves what happens if we’ve killed Heimrich in battle. He’s not a major character anymore though)

END OF SCENARIO EIGHT

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 01:31 PM

After some more maneuvering, Hasseldorf is invited by a tourist town along a lake called Ruhe to set up a base of operations there. LeSatte is there, and able to bring out a unit to face them, but is pushed aside in the Ruhe Valley and Hasseldorf makes in there in scenario nine.

Meanwhile, LeSatte retreats to a nearby town, Hautte, where they can launch attacks on Ruhe, maybe bottle them up there.

We begin to move in some forces to enter the ongoing fight.

Hasseldorf has a few more weeks to repair and such, and more, a lance of mechs joins his cause as a Leopard disembarks and four, fresh, right-off-the-best-line mechs unroll.

This turn of events has really pissed off Baron LeSatte.

LaSatte – 21 Mechs
Hasseldorf – 29 mechs

END OF TRACK 2 – HUNTERS/KILLERS

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 02:02 PM

July 14, 3063 – Baron LeSatte announces that he has been given emergency powers as the new, interim, House Lord, and he is declaring martial law for the planet. He sends forces out into Daosho to bring it to heel. Since it was Hasseldorf territory, it’s a major place of rebellion now.

No one from the House of Lords was on the platform with LeSatte. Conner Ward uses our newly discovered contacts to uncover what is happening.

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 02:40 PM

BEGINNING OF TRACK 3 – DOWN TO THE WIRE

After a few days of investigation, it appears that Baron LeSatte has arrested the entire House of Lords. Something major happened.

July 17, 3063 – We contact Baron Trent Hasseldorf about a temporary alliance against LeSatte now that he has gone off the deep end. He refuses to consider it, because we killed his brother in battle. (In the story-line, the two of us would be uniting and heading out for this track.)

All communications and power are cut from nearby villages.

We move out and place our three companies in and around Ruhe and Hautte, so we can call on them as needed.

PR:

LeSatte: -5
Hasseldorf : -29
Us: +26

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 03:01 PM

Beginning of Scenario Ten – Hold the Line

Ruhe, Zurich

July 21, 3063 – LeSatte has every intention of ousting Hasseldorf from Ruhe, because the longer they wait, the more secure the Hasseldorf unit will become. The problems are two-fold:

1). There is just one way to Ruhe, since it’s on a lake, easily defended
2). They expect us to hit them as they arrive

That’s bad news for LaSatte, but they have a plan. Unknown to us, they are sending a company of their remaining scouts and faster units to appear like a normal mech company, and then bait us into flanking them, outrunning us, and then joining their battle already in progress.

The plan works initially. They have attacked along the vector of Shadow company, (the weakest one, supposedly) who follows. And then they manage to slip away, rejoin their main army who has reached Ruhe.

But they forgot something important. Conner Ward is a clever little bastard.

He dropped Brusier Company into the lake, and slowly, under the cover of distance, battle, and more, moved along the lake bed, until the entire company unloaded on the far end, about a half-mile down from Ruhe and the beginning of the battle. One of our mechs, the Marauder Iic is breached and could not arrive, it had to return. The rest of the company is here and ready to rock.

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 03:20 PM

We hit one side of the ongoing battle –

LeSatte:

Valkyrie
Cobra
Cataphract
Warhammer 7S
Salamander
Quickdraw 5M
Locust
Stiletto
Templar
Clint
Rakshasa
Trebuchet 7M

Hasseldorf

Longbow
Shadow Hawk
Firestarter-O
Watchman
Zeus
Archer *
Scarabus
Whitworth
Javelin
Pillager *
Nightsky
Marauder
Cicada 3F

Here we go!

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 07:14 PM

We are on the east, and they on the north and south . There are a strong copse of trees in the south, and a good amount for us in the northeast. Not much else. Our Archer begins in heavy woods. I intend to take the terrain in the south.

Turn 1 – We get the middle roll. Our Dasher gets a MASC hit on the first turn and its legs lock up. The Gladiator’s MASC works though, so, um…yay?

Our Atlas’s ER Large Laser shears off all of the head armor on their Archer
Our Highlander IIc punishes its LA, which is blown off then the RT is destroyed.
Our Warhammer IIc destroys the LL of it too an tacks the engine
Their Salamander and Archer fall from our fire, and their Longbow falls from their own.

Turn 2 – We lose init. Ejecting from, Archer. Their Longbow can’t stand. But the Salamander does. Our Pixie jumps next to it. Our Gladiator bases that Salamander as well. I focus a lot of fire on the Zeus and Templar.

Our Gladiator gets a limb blown off – RL on the Salamander
Our Warhammer IIc hits the Zeus’s LRM ammo – boom! CASE keeps it up (No XL engine either)
Our Rifleman IIc destroys the Zeus’s CT
Their Salamander falls. The Templar took 60 and did so as well. No one else did.
Our Gladiator kicks and destroys the LT of the Salamander – dead mech

Turn 3 – We win init. Longbow fails to stand. Again. We have forced away the units from the top woods now and have it to ourselves. The Templar rises. Our Pixie runs to the rear of their Cataphract and next to the Templar.

The Gladiator destroys the Templar’s RT’s gauss, which destroys the section, dead mech
Our Shadow Hawk tears through rear armor of the Cataphract to hits the engine twice.
A Hasseldorf Pillager is raping the LeSatte Clint
Who falls? Cataphract, Clint, Pillage (one of our main targets)
Phoenix Hawk kicks the Cat, hits the LT’s ammo bin, Boom!., dead mech (CASE, Xl)

Turn 4 Baby! We win initiative again. Their Pillager rises and runs a bit. Longbow finally stands. LeSatte is beginning to turtle in the corner after we took down their Templar, Cat, and Salamander. SHD IIc bases their Cobra. Dragonfly leaps next to the Cobra as well. Clint tries ot stand, fails, falls, breaks his RA arm. Tries again, fails, breaks his LA, and then just ejects.

LeSatte’s Cobra destroys the La of Has’s Javelin
LeSatte’s Warhammer destroys the Jav’s RT and LL
Our Gladiator nails the engine of the Cobra
Then our PXH hits its LRM15 ammo. BOOM! No CASE Deadmech.
Our Warhammer IIc nails the enginex2 on their Pillager and destroys its RA.
Then our Highlander Iic attacks it. Destroys the RT and it’s a dead mech rising
A Longbow nails the Locust and it falls, as does their Longbow after we put 60+ into it

Both sides choose to withdraw into the main battle, and we choose not to push and follow.

Cobra LA, H

Javelin missing LA, RT, LL

Clint missing RA, LA
Cataphract, missing LT
Templar missing RT
Archer, missing RT, LL, reattached LA, engine
Pillager missing RA, RT,

Salamander reattach RL, missing LT

Zeus RA, LA, LT, LL, H, RL,

Ejecting – Archer, Clint

Kill, Rifleman Iic, Gladiatorx2, Phoenix Hawkx2, Highlander IIC

So, in summation:

LeSatte lost their Cobra, Cataphract, Salamander, Templar, Clint

The other 7 mechs left (Valkyrie, Warhammer 7S, Quickdraw 5M, Locust, Stiletto, Rakshasa, Trebuchet 7M)

Hassledorf lost their Zeus, Pillager, Archer, and Javelin

The other 8 withdrew (Longbow, Shadow Hawk, Firestarter-O, Watchman, Scarabus, Whitworth, Nightsky, Marauder, Cicada 3F)

PR of us? 29

Trent won in Ruhe against the LeSatte attack.

LeSatte: -9
Hasseldorf : -28
Us: +29

Mech Count:

LeSatte – 14 Mechs
Hasseldorf – 24 mechs

END OF SCENARIO TEN

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 07:32 PM

I will be skipping scenario 11. Basically, what happens is that LeSatte thinks Hasseldorf is reeling from the battle and then strikes again, in order to finish them off, only to find that Hasseldorf is not as badly off as they thought.

Instead, we will be skipping to #12.

After realizing that they need to get the word out to the people about what is going on, House Hasseldorf decides to make one final attack on a nearby communications state in Kalemberg.

Kalemberg is on the way back to Daosho, the capital of the city, and the Hasseldorfs can chase the LeSatte forces fleeing there, and then grab the communications station, explain what has been happening, and then begin to retake Daosho.

July 27, 3063 – Claiming the Hasseldorfs are traitors to Zurich, Etienne LeSatte has his soldiers destroy Castle Hasseldorf.

All of his 14 mechs have retreated to Daosho.

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 07:39 PM

Beginning of Scenario 12 – Breaking News

Kalemberg, Zurich

July 30, 3063 – They blow out of Ruhe with all of their forces, and they are heading out. They are ready for the final campaigns of the civil war.

The only people near the Baron Hasseldorf’s line of attack on Kalemberg is us. And Sealion Company, is really close.

The Baron wants to split his force into two companies, use one to play with Sealion, and then the other to hit the communications station.

Our foes:

Longbow
Shadow Hawk
Firestarter-O
Watchman
Scarabus
Whitworth
Nightsky
Marauder
Cicada 3F
Phoenix Hawk
Dart
Grasshopper
Wolfhound

He added a lance to the company we just fought against. He’s keeping his best mechs away from us for now, and saving them for a final assault on Daosho.

Meanwhile, we have sent ahead Shadow Company to the city and Bruiser Company to harass the other Hasseldorf company along the way.

Our only goal is to smash hard and fast, this is a diversionary raid. Anything we capture won’t make it to Daosho.

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 09:45 PM

We have a small lake in the middle, modest light trees, and a lovely road. Not much els.e

Turn 1 – We win initiative. I charge down the northern flank. Our Mad Cat destroys the RT of their Nightsky and it shuts down. We destroy a couple of other pieces too this turn.

Turn 2 – We win init. I continue to blaze forward. Their Scarabus bases our Archer, so our Locust does the same. I want that Longbow out of the picture. I focus some fire on it. We miss some attacks, and then the Mad Cat destroys the Longbow’s LRM20. Finally, the Griffin IIc destroys the RA on it. It took 200+ damage and falls, They did some damage to our Locust too.

Turn 3 – We lose init. Our MAD IIc bases their downed Longbow. We are charging down the east flank behind their position. It is forcing them to re-align their position. Their Longbow rises and I base it with the Mad Cat. Our Dragonfly destroys the Longbow’s LT ammo, CASE, shut down (XL). Their Whitworth hits our Locusts’ gyro once. Our Galahad’s gauss slug nails the Cicada’s LA and its done while ou archer destroys its RA. Our Masakari’s ER PCC lances out and sheers off their Shadow Hawk’s LL. Finally, our Shadow Hawk IIc takes down the LL and LT of their Cicada,shut down mech city. Our Grizz destroys the Shadow Hawk’s RT after hitting he LRM ammo (CASE< XL). Our Locust didn’t even fall. And just like that we took down three mechs in one turn baby!

They leave and their mission was complete.

Cicada missing LA, RA, LL, LT
Shadow Hawk missing LL, RT

Nightsky, missing RT, RL, LA
Longbow missing RA, LT

Kill – Mad Cat, Dragonfly, Shadow Hawk iic, Grizzly

This is a minor defeat, and we rise to:

LeSatte: -12
Hasseldorf : -20
Us: +30

Mechs?

Hasseldorf: 20
LeSatte: 14

END OF SCENARIO 12

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 09:49 PM

Hasseldorf used their time at the station to tell their side, talked about LeSatte arresting the House and Lords, and more. It worked, and their PR improved a bit, plus, LeSatte’s dropped, as you can see above.

That helps to reduce the major problems Hasseldorf might encounter heading into Daosho.

It’s time

After a long campaign, LeSatte is holed up in the city, where they are going to make the Hasseldorfs (or us) pay for their attack with every block.

Abe Sargent

12-21-2014, 10:56 PM

Beginning of Scenario 13 – One Last Duel

Daosho, Zurich

August 2, 3063 – The strike force has arrived. 20 mechs of Hasseldorfs, as well as out units have penetrated the city’s borders.

Trent Hasseldorf has personally led the assault in his fancy Zeus. We have a rare sighting of Etienne LeSatte in his Caesar.

As they enter the city, with Shadow Battalion already here (and their Elementals), we encounter something unusual….

The two leaders spy each other, and immediately make for each other without any thought at all to anything else. They were just maneuvering and readying, but the other forces part, and their mechs collide.

After a few turns, the elite Zeus has the upper hand over the veteran Caesar. Another two rounds and the Caesar’s left torso is destroyed and the mech shuts down from the engine hits.

As that happens, the battle opens up. LeSatte’s forces are upset, and Hasseldorf’s are cross and wanting to free their own city.

We back up a bit, and let them fight it out, and just keep the fighting contained to this section of the city. We don’t want things to break out elsewhere.

And then, it ends.

Hasseldorf has won the day, all remaining LeSatte forces surrender.

END OF SCENARIO THIRTEEN

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 12:32 AM

Over the next few months, a few things happen. The House of Lords will ask Hasseldorf to be the new, interim leader, and he refuses. Lingering pro-LeSatte sentiment in the people will lead to demonstrations, violence, and vandalism. It begins to cool over time.

Baron Etienne LeSatte and around 35 of his followers are sentenced to treason, murder, and other crimes, and killed.

We find out that Katrina was secretly helping Baron Hasseldorf behind the scenes, since she didn’t trust Baron LeSatte with his growing power base and willingness to cross people he supported. That’s where his extra mechs came from. Sure, he is still pro-Victor, but she doesn’t have a lot to worry about with Trent. (And Victor didn’t send any help at all)

Meanwhile, the people have clearly gotten tired of both noble houses on the planet, and local nobility a bit everywhere. There is a small, pro-Celestial Coalition bubble going on. We emerged with the best rating over the others, we contained the city fighting, and more. At a time when the planet is becoming anti-Hasseldorf and anti-LeSatte, we came out in the same place and area.

There has been a decent enough peace now. Charged against the Hassledorfs were dropped after evidence showed that LeSatte forces simply wore Hasseldorf uniforms in their attack on the capital.

Hasseldorf is now the General the local forces and rebuilding the military. A new Lord, Erich Sheridan, who is new to politics, is doing quite well.

END OF TRACK THREE – DOWN TO THE WIRE

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 11:05 AM

BEGINNING OF TRACK FOUR – BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER

After more than two months of rebuilding and slowly diminishing numbers of pro-LeSatte activity among the population, things are starting to look up…

October 10, 3063 – A medium sized flotilla pulls into the system at the zenith point with the colors of the Federated Suns. A known pro-Katrina unit commander pops on screen – Paul Pierce, who has a battalion of forces, mostly mechs with some infantry and tanks, is here to secure Zurich “for the duration of the crisis.” A unit from the Lyran Guards begins to leave the JumpShips and burn for Zurich.

They are responding to signals for help that Baron LeSatte sent out. They’ll arrive at the planet in four days.

October 11, 3063 – Leading a force of the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers from the fighting on Nanking, this pro-Davion unit has arrived at the nadir point, and announced their intention to basically do the same, and secure Zurich in the name of Victor. They heard that Katrina loyalists had launched for Zurich, and dispatched a battalion to pop over from Nanking, one jump away.

General Hasseldorf, Colonel Ward, and Lord Erich Sheridan have all told both units they are not allowed to land on Zurich, they are not welcome here, and any arrival will be met with force. Both units refuse.

Both units have issued an ultimatum – the planetary government, planetary garrison, and Ward’s mercs must surrender or they will be viewed as traitors and attacked without mercy.

As the strongest unit on the planet, by far, the Shadow Battalion will be used as exclusively as possible against these folks.

Col. Ward reminds the government of Duke Essex’s offer for more aid if it was needed. They place a call to the Duke and speak with him now, before the enemy lands.

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 11:55 AM

Beginning of Scenario 14 – Stick the Landing

Daosho DropPort, Zurich

October 14, 3063 – After announcing that they would be landing in force in the capital’s DropPort, the pro-Katrina force was told, once more, to basically shove off, and any ships that moves to land their would be fired upon. Suspecting that this is a bluff, the Commander Pierce uses a small amount of his forces to land, and then to gain control of the DropPort so that the rest of his forces may land there.

Our best company, Bruiser Company, is sent to play Defense. A Union DropShip is escorted by a quartet of aerospace fighters.

We are so focused on taking down the fighters that we can’t stop the DropShip in time. Within a few minutes, two of the fighters survive and withdraw, and a company of Mechs pops out, still far away from our unit. Nice, fun, pro-Katrina units have arrived.

They can’t get bogged down in a prolonged battle with us, with the pro-Victor forces right behind. If they can’t take this DropPort quickly, they’ll move on.

They have nine turns to defeat us or force us to retreat. If they do not, then they lose. If we force them back off, they will retreat to the Union, it’ll take off, and land somewhere else with the rest of the fleet.

Everybody say Hi Katrina!

Barghest vet
Garm
Fireball
Axman
Berserker vet
Warhammer
Commando
Griffin
Maelstrom vet
Cerberus
Stealth
Cobra

And we have Bruiser Company with us. Quietly, behind the scene, I’ve been leveling up pilots as they’ve gotten more kills, and we had three levels gained in Bruiser, who now has a 53098 BV.

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 01:43 PM

Here we go!

Turn 1 – We lose init. I set up around the buildings to the north, and create strike force there. I unload a lot of weapons onto their Cerberus. Our Marauder IIc blows the RA off their Cerberus while our Warhammer IIc does the same with its RL. Our Gladiator finishes it by destroyed the RT. Meanwhile, a gauss rifle slug from our Highlander IIc busts the head of their Axman and it dies. Our Shadow Hawk IIc busts their Fireball for an engine hit. Their Fireball tumbles. Only the Warhammer Iic took more than 20 damage that turn.

In one turn we took out two mechs and damaged a third. But they keep coming, thinking it might be luck or something?

Turn 2 – We win init. Their Maelstrom begins ot push towards our Archer and to outflank us. I base it with our Dasher and Shadow Hawk Iic, thereby shutting down the route behind the building. I push forward lots more. Their Fireball stands and runs away. I leap our PXH next to it. Our Gladiator bases their Griffin.

Our PXH nails the LA, LT, and CT of their Fireball. Dead mech
Our Rifleman IIc gets a limb blown off on the Maelstrom, RA
Then the Archer’s LRMs hit the enginex3 on their Maelstrom, shutting it down
Our Gladiator cracks their Griffin with hits on the engine, LRM20, foot achator, hand, then destroyed a LL.
Warhammer IIc destroys the LL on their Cobra, the its LA and LT ammo hit – dead mech.
Our Atlas destroys the LL, CT and LT of their Garm.
Highlander IIc destroys the LT of their Griffin and it shuts down

And in two rounds, we have destroyed, or savaged, their Griffin 3M, Fireball, Axman 1N, Cerberus, Maelstrom, Cobra, and Garm.

They head back to the Union DropShip and we let them. Only five mechs escape – Barghest, Berserker, Commando, Stealth, Warhammer

Maelstrom reattach RA, enginex3, gyro
Cerberus, reattach RA, RL, missing RT
Axman missing H

Fireball, H, RT, RA, LL, RL
Cobra RA, H, RT
Garm H, RL, LA, RA

Griffin missing LL, LT

Kills – Gladiator, Highlander IIcx2, Phoenix Hawk, Archer, Warhammer IIc, Atlas

They load back up, and head out, and then land in a large field to the north of Daosho.

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 02:01 PM

BEGINNINING OF SCENARIO 14b – Once Again Unto the Breech

Oct 15, 3063 – The pro-Victor unit does the exact same thing, trying to secure the landing in the DropPort. They have a high opinion of themselves, vs our simple mechs.

And once again, Bruiser Company will send them off.

We had two more level ups from yesterday!

Our leader, Lt. Patricia Kaas, gained tactical genius. She was working on it for a while, and it paid off. New BV? 53575.

Hello Victor!

Banshee
Victor 10D
Cestus
Wolverine
Thunder Hawk
Talon
Enfield
Warhammer
Firestarter-OF
Crusader 5M
Centurion
Rakshasa

After seeing the pro-Katrina folks get pummeled badly yesterday, they are sending a very heavy, very advanced, and very experienced unit.

These are a battalion of the 1st Kestrel, and they are a very highly decorated unit. In fact, 9 of the 12 mechs are piloted by elite mechwarriors. Because they are elites, and they have a lot of new power, this is not a foe we should take lightly. Take that Thunder Hawk, as an example. It features a trinity of gauss rifles. On an elite pilot, and a 100 ton body, that’s something seriously concerning. Other assaults include the Victor and Banshee, both upgraded. In fact, that variant of the Victor is new, and features an ultra AC20, SRM4 streak, and two er medium lasers, and still has no XL engine at all. That clearly has a nasty zone of control.

This company is no slouch – the 1st Kestrel are coming hard at us. Their BV is in the mid 30s

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 04:33 PM

We are on the same map as yesterday. The buildings were not damaged by the pro-Kat folks, so it’s in the same shape after pulling off salvage and such from them. Our Dragonfly rushes ten spaces and bases their Centurion.

Turn 1 – We lose init.

Our Marauder IIc begins the battle by carving into their Crusader 5M and going internal in three places
Our Warhammer IIc follows that with a barrage at their CRD and destroys LA
Our Highlander IIc blasts their Centurion, destroys the LT, and it shuts down
Their Warhammer lances an ER PPC into our Dasher (who moved +10 and it as long range too) for an engine hit.
Their Firestarter OF follows that, long range, with an ER Larser Laser to the RT and destroys it.
Their Crusader gets a through armor critical on the Warhammer Iic and hits the engine and gyro once each
Falls? Warhammer IIc, Dasher, Crusader (Despite taking 80+, their Thunder Hawk is still up)

Turn 2 – We win init. I eject the Dasher. They are charging us! Wow. Ballsy. I back up a bit. Our Warhammer IIc stands and then runs behind a building. I charge the Gladiator in with MASC to help keep the attention off the Warhammer IIC. Our SHD IIc bases their Enfield as it creeps behind the building to the rear with our PXH jumps and bases it to the rear. I leap the D Fly behind their Thunder Hawk. Their Crusader rises too.

Their Banshee’s gauss rifle smashes the RT of our Gladiator and destroys it.
Our PXH nails the engine, twice, on their Enfield
Our Atlas hits the Thunder Hawks gauss rifle, dead LT, and dead mech.
Our Gladiator nails the RA on their Firestarter OmniMech and its destroyed.

Who falls? Our Gladiator, and their Enfield.

Turn 3 – We lose init. I eject the Gladiator. They’ve taken out two of our mechs, and wounded the Warhammer IIc, so I don’t think they are leaving right now. We’ve taken out a medium and an assault, with a badly torn Crusader, Enfield and FS. I run in the Atlas. Their Enfield rises and runs to the edge the map, looking to flee next turn. They bring the Rakshasa up to the Enfield flank to help out. Their Crusader falls after breaking into a heavy building , and hits a leg actuator a pair of times.

Our Shadow Hawk IIc blasts the RL off their Enfield before hitting the LB ammo and CASE takes out the RT.
Our Rifleman IIc blasts their Crusader and doles out a bit of damage.
Their Talon destroys the ammo on our Shadow Hawk IIc’s LT and it explodes, CASE
LRMs from our Archer pepper their FS until its RT is destroyed. Dead mech
Our Dragonfly nails the gyro once on their Cestus
Then our Marauder Iic destroys the Cestus’s CT.
Who falls? Shadow Hawk Iic – pilot blacks out.
They have bashed through some buildings here in the DropPort.

They pull out, with 5 mechs down. The Crusader got out.

Firestarter Of missing RA, RT
Enfield, reattach RL, missing RT
Crusader 5M missing LA

Centurion missing LT
Thunder Hawk, missing LT

Cestus H, LL, RL, RT, LT, LA

Kills – Highlander IIc, Atlas, Shadow Hawk IIc, Archer, MAD IIc,

Us –

Dasher, missing RT, engine
Warhammer IIc gyro, engine
Gladiator, missing RT
Shadow Hawk Iic missing LT

That was our worst fight yet!

PR:

LeSatte: -25
Hasseldorf : -12
Us: +34

Katrina – 29 Mechs
Victor – 31 Mechs

After being sent off, the 1st Kestrel also take their unit and land it ot the south of the city of Daosho.

END OF SCENARIO FOURTEEN

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 05:15 PM

Over the next few days, each unit begins to unload, set up camp, and get ready.

Both of the units are surprised. They were defeated in the DropPort and forced out, they weren’t expecting an elite battalion of mercs on world. They do some research, find out about the Shadow Battalion, and realize they probably need some reinforcements.

Envoys from the local government go into each camp, and again, renew their plea for the forces to leave Zurich. The one who called for aid, LeSatte, had usurped his authority, and arrested a neutral House of Lords. It was a coup, that has since been ended. But the pro-Katrina force points out that she is the legally ruling leader of the Federated Suns, and that they are therefore simply a legal occupying force. Meanwhile, the pro-Victor side of the 1st is surprised and disappointed that a planet currently with a pro-Victor general would tell them to leave and fight them, especially since the pro-Katrina side lost in the war, but they are confident that they need to take this planet for Vic.

Both point out that they did not know about the recent civil war on Zurich, and in both cases it makes them more determined to take the planet for their side.

Expecting problems, we send Sealion Company to garrison nearby Traussen, because they will likely want reinforcements.

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 05:48 PM

Beginning of Scenario Fifteen – The Final Appeal

Traussen, Zurich

October 25, 3063 – Seeing the obvious benefits in needing reinforcements both forces dispatch troops o nearby Traussen to grab the HPS station there and send out for more troops.

Both sides send in forces into the town of Traussen to take the HPG dorks.

We have Sealion Company defending

1st Kestrel –

Banshee
Victor 10D
Wolverine *
Talon *
Warhammer
Rakshasa
Crusader 5M
Wolfhound
Templar O
Penetrator
Nightstar
Dervish *

Most are elite.

Paul Pierces Lyran Guards

Barghest *
Stealth
Berserker *
Warhammer
Commando
Devastator *
Battle Hawk
Shadow Hawk
Marauder 5S *
Lynx 9R
Highlander *
Hatchetman

Asterisks are vets.

In very Lyran fashion, they added some assault mechs to their unit (Devastator, Highlander).

Here we go!

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 09:13 PM

We need to keep them from getting to the HPG station

Our map has a lot of roads, and level 1 hills. Nothing else.

Turn 1 - We win init. We charge the Lyran position. Can’t hide on this map. This is not a good place to fight for our unit. Just got to do it though. A Battle hawk bases our Grizzly. Our SHD IIc bases their Commando and the Dragonfly jumps above and next to it as well.

Our SHD IIc takes out the LT of their Commando
Their Stealth hits the H of our Archer
Masakari weapons destroy the LA of their Warhammer
Our Archer nails some leg actuators on their Warhammer
Of the 10 mechs that took 20+ damage, just their Warhammer falls.

Turn 2 – We lose init. They eject the Warhammer. I back up some folks like the Galahad and Masakari. Their Commando runs to the edge to retreat. I hop the Dragonfly over again. Our Locust bases their Shadow Hawk. For two turns in a row, none have skidded while running and turning on the roads. They have mechs charging each other (like the Barghest an Hatchetman.) Right now is about more like attacks of opportunity rather than smashery.

Our Masakari destroys the LT of their injured marauder – dead mech
A gauss slug from our Galahad destroys the La of their Shadow hawk
Conner Ward’s Mad Cat nails the hip on their Berserker
Our Grasshopper hits the AC5 ammo on their Shadow Hawk and….boom! CASE , noXl engine.
Their Templar nails the gauss rifle on our Galahad’s RA and its destroyed. Medium pulse laser to the Galahad’s H follows, and it goes internal, and hits the cockpit. Dead mech and dead mechwarrior. That sucks.
The 1st’s Penetrator destroys the LL of the Commando.
People who fall – Commando, Berserker, Shadow hawk
People who don’t –Hatchetman, Devastator, Masakari, Warhammer, Barghest

Turn 3 – We lose init. They eject the Commando. I backup some more, hope that they keep hitting each other. We need the field to get our Galahad back. Their Shadow Hawk tried to stand, fell, and the pilot blacks out. I leap our Dragonfly next to their Hatchetman. Our Crusader runs next to the Shadow Hawk. Grizzly jumps next to their Battle Hawk. Our SHD IIc leaps next to their Lynx. Their Stealth’s MASC fails and it falls after hitting its hip.

The Lyran Barghest destroys the RT of the 1sts Wolfhound
Our Crusader aims a pair of medium pulse lasers at the Shadow Hawk’s H. One hits, the other gets a limb blown off crit on the RA.
The 1sts Warhammer nails an engine on their Barghest
The Lyran Devastator destroys the LL and LT of their Wolfhound
Our Masakari nails the gyro once on their Templar
The 1st’s Wolverine nails the gyro and engine once each on the Barghest. It falls, destroys its LT and is dead.
Our Archer takes out the targeting computer of their Templar
Their Templar devastates our Locust – LA, LT, RA all destroyed
The 1st Penetrator destroys the RT on the Shadow Hawk
Our Mad Cat destroys the LT on their Templar. Dead mech. (we’ll take out the RT as well)
Who falls? Wolfhound, who destroys their CT and is dead. Our Locust
Who doesn’t? Our Crusader and Mad Cat, Battle Hawk, Hatchetman

Our Grizzly kicks and destroys the RL on their Battle Hawk

Turn 4 - We lose init. I eject our Locust. Their Hatchetman runs and falls. This turn I focus a lot of fire on the 1st Warhammer.

The 1st Banshee destroys the Lyran Stealth’s LA
Our Marauder Iic destroys the RT on their Warhammer
Their Wrahammer destroys the LT of the Stealth and its down
Our Shadow Hawk IIc nails the engine once on a Berserker
The 1st Talon destroys the Berserker;s LA and hits an engine as well
Our Griffin IIc gest a limb blown off on their Warhammer’s RL, and hits the gyro x2 and engine x1 It falls and destroys its CT.
Our Mad Cat, Marauder IIc and Grizz took 20+ but don’t fall

Turn 5 – We win init. Their Berserker ejects. The Lyran forces begin to withdraw. Their Devastator, Highlander, and Lynx flee. Their Hatchetman rises and does the same. Their B hawk can’t rise, so they eject it. Now it’s just us and the 1st. They are down a Wolfhound, Templar, and Warhammer. We are down a Galahad, Locust, and we have a damaged Mad Cat and Crusader. All of theirs are fine. So they’ll stay on the field right now. Grasshopper leaps next to ,m and above, their Dervish.

They go internal on our Grasshopper in the arms. Then the Victor destroys the RA on the Hopper. Our Mad Cat nails the LB10X ammo on their Nightstar, CASE explosion contained mech shut down. Before it dies it destroyed the Hopper’s RT section with an ammo hit as well – no CASE so it’s just dead.

Well, we each killed a mech of the other.

Turn 6 – We win init. Our Masakari bases their Penetrator. ER PPC from the Masakari carves the H off their Penetrator. Our Mad Cat also destroyed its RA. Their Wolverine falls. Our masakari and Grizzly do not, and their Rakshasa doesn’t either.

Turn 7 – We win init again. I leap our Grizzly out of danger, and turn our back (more armor on the back than the front for the torso) . Their Wolverine rises and MASC’s away. Our Dragonfly runs up to their Rakshasa. Our Griffin IIc joins them, They crack the arms in our Griffin IIc and Crusader. But our Mad Cat hits the gauss in the Banshee 5S’s LT, which causes the torso to be destroyed, dead mech.
Who falls? Their Rakshasa. Our crusader, Masakari and Griffin Iic are still standing. Our Dragonfly kicks and destroys the LT on their Rakshasa, shut down mech

And with that, the 1st Kestrel withdraw as well. They have their Crusader, Wolverine, Victor, Talon, and Dervish leaving. We capture or destroy 7 of their units.

Warhammer 7S Rl, LL, LT, LA, RA< H

Berserker missing LA, enginex2
Penetrator missing H, RA
Banshee, missing LT
Rakshasa missing LT

Stealth missing LA, LT, RL, LA

Wolfhound missing H, RL, LA, RA

Shadow Hawk 5D missing LA, LT, RT, reattach RA
Commando missing LT
Warhammer missing LA (Lyran)

Marauder missing LT
Nightstar missing LT

Templar, gyro, missing RT, LT

Barghest, gyron, enginex2, missing LT

Battle hawk missing RL

Ejected – Warhammer, Commando, Berserker, Battle Hawk

Us –

Galahad missing RA, cockpit – DEAD MECHWARRIOR
Locust – missing RA, LA, LT

Grasshopper H, LL

Kills – Masakarix2, Mad Catx3, Griffin IIc, Dragonfly

PR:

LeSatte: -25
Hasseldorf : -12
Us: +37

Katrina – 21 Mechs
Victor – 24 Mechs

END OF SCENARIO FIFTEEN

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 10:05 PM

(We’re skipping 16 - it's just part one of what is about to happen, and doesn't suit our story line)

After reeling from their loss in Draussen, and repairing and refitting their mechs, the units are about to move out against each other, and once again, we’ll get caught in the middle.

Abe Sargent

12-22-2014, 10:31 PM

Beginning of Scenario 17 – For the Motherland!

Daosho,, Zurich

October 27, 3063 – Both the pro-Davion 1st Kestrel and the pro-Katrina Lyran Guards are moving towards each other and will meet to battle in Daosho.

We have Shadow Company here garrisoning. They move out to protest the fighting in the capital city. The local defenders move out as well, and will be on another flank of the city, fighting.

Fighting in the city again. Grr!

We have all 12 mechs and the two squads of Elemental Infantry

The elite 1st:

Victor 10D
Wolverine *
Talon *
Crusader 5M
Dervish *
Salamander
Phoenix Hawk
JagerMech III
Javelin
Orion
BlackJack O
Wolf Trap *

Our Lyran Foes?

Devastator *
Stalker
Cerberus *
Axman
Lynx 9R
Highlander *
Hatchetman
Dragon Fire *
Falconer
Fireball
Griffin
Guillotine 5M

Again, the Lyrans have their typical heavy and assault answer to things. * are veterans. They have 5 assault mechs and two heavies at the top of their class (75 tons) .

Here we go!

We need to successfully defend the city.

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 10:20 AM

Turn 1 – We win init. I can barely see anyone. I hold back and play defense, mostly. I can’t see the battle, but someone is attacking something massively, and someone blacks out. Our Lynx sinks a lot of damage into their Talon, which falls.

Turn 2 – We win init again. As they move in the north, I emerge a few units behind buildings to do some fighting. Our Apollo cracks the engine, x2 on their Talon. Some stuff gets destroyed, etc. Our Lynx nails a hip actuator on their Orion. Our Orion Iic then destroys the RT and CT of their Talon, dead mech. No tumbles.

Turn 3 – We lose init. A Crusader steps on the northern flank, I run our Flashman up to it. I put Elementals on a roof to help see the area. Our Lynx destroys the LA on their Orion, and our Zeus cracks its engine and LB10x. Their Orion falls, destroys its RT and is destroyed. Also falling? Crusader and Griffin. And our Zeus, who just took 20+ damage but couldn’t get that 4. Their CRD pilot blacks out Our Flashman kicks, hits the CRD’s H and its destroyed.

Turn 4 – We win init. I run the Gallowglas ot the north to continue fighting there, since more 1st mechs are pouring through the narrow window at the top. Steiner is being cautious. Our Elementals continue to move to a higher spot to socut the map out. After falling once, our Zeus rises and runs behinds a building. Their JagerMech III takes the spot of the CRD. Our Orion Iic bases it. Stuff appears to be killed more. Not sure what. Looks like 3 or 4 units were destroyed. TTwo engine explosions over there were nasty it seems. The Dragonfire’s RT is destroyed though, I can tell that. Our Phoenix hawk hits the LRM ammo on their Griffin, and it ignites – CASE< dead mech. They hit our PXH a bunch. Our Orion Iic destroys the JM III RT, dead mech. Multiple buildings collapse. Some long range weapons tear into our Elemental squad. Our Orion and PXH fall and the Pixie blacks out.

Turn 5 – We win init. Our Orion Iic rises and backs up. Our Flashman runs through the hole and emerges by their Victor, Salamander, Blackjack O and Wolverine. Our Lynx hops to the spot to the rear of the Flashman, where the JMIII and Crusader stood. Our Shootist runs up to flank them in the north. OI leap the Elementals back down – I don’t want them destroyed or anything. Oyu blacked out PXH ;loses it’s RL. Our Highlander’s weapons destroy the opposing Lynx’s H. We also destroyed its RL and LA with our Grand Crusader and Starslayer. I can tell another unseen mech is blasted. They destroy our PXH’s RT and it shuts down. No one falls.

In order to connect to the game, and see where everything is, I close it down, load the save, and then connect as the various bots to see who was destroyed. I think the 1st have been pushed around enough to flee, but I have no idea. Hold on.

Recent Deaths:

Round 5 - 1st Phoenix Hawk killed by Guard’s stalker
Round 2 - Guard’s Dragon Fire destroyed 1st’s Dervish 7D CT
Round 3 – Guard Highlander destroys LA on 1st Wolf Trap

Round 4 – 1st Wolf Trap takes out Guard Dragon Fire; Guard Dragon Fire, before dying, takes out 1st’s Javelin, which causes an engine explosion. Buildings destroyed. That explosion destroys the 1st’s Wolf Trap’s RT and LL.

Not sure of what is left?

1st Kestral, Elite, pro-Davion – Salamander, Victor, Wolverine, Blackjack O

We have damaged the Wolverine and Victor that turn.

Lyran Guard – Devastator, Falconer, Fireball, Guillotine, Axman, Hatchetman, Stalker, Cerebus, Highlander

So the 1st Kestral decide to quit the map, and voluntarily leave under a flag of truce.

Turn 6 – We lose initiative. I turn and move my stuff towards the southern flank. Their Cerberus hits the gauss ammo in our Highlander. No one falls.

Turn 7 – We lose init again. I need more intel, so I leap some Elementals back up on the roof. Flashman next to their Stalker. How about the Lynx as well? We focus some fire on the Guillotine, and a bit on the Stalker as well. Our Highlander nails an engine and foot on the Guillotine. Our Flashman nails a hip and foot on the Stalker. Their Guillotine destroys the RT on our Highlander. Our Starslayer takes out the RL on the Stalker. Then our Elementals hit the Stalker’s AMS ammo, and CASE, but XL shuts it down. Their Guillotine falls, but our Highlander doesn’t. The Guillotine pilot blacks out.

I’ll make a trade of my Highlander torso for a heavy mech every single time. We have so many badly damaged Mechs that turn that I felt we might lose multiples. Taking out the assault Stalker and freezing the Guillotine was a huge hit, because our Zeus, a suit of Elementals, the Highlander, Lynx, Orion IIc and Grand Crusader are all hugely damaged.

Turn 8 – We win init. I lead with my Gallowglas, since it’s not been zarked. It walks into one of the avenues of attack. Our Starslayer, undamaged, bases their lightly glistened Hatchetman. I leap our Highlander behind a building and next to the east side, so I can flee next turn if needed. Our Shootist walks to their Cerberus. I move in some Elementals. I run our Apollo next to their Fireball. This thing isn’t over yet. They have a lot of heavy metal rocking the block, some untouched, like a Highlander, Devastator and the barely scratched Falconer and Axman. They know we are badly damaged, and are going to keep at it. Our benefit is that we took out the team with the more accurate mechs. I back up to give my folks firing lanes, and their Highlander bases our Starslayer. Our Lynx leaps next to their Hatchetman. Flashman runs to the rear of their Falconer. Their Devastator destroys the LA on our Shootist. Meanwhile, it’s AC20 destroys the RL of their Cerberus. Our Starslayer nails the engine once on their Hatchetman. Attacking through the rear, I go overheat ot blaze their mech, and our Flashman hits the engine three times in the LT and CT rears. Our Gallowglas destroys the LL on their Fireball. Their Cerberus takes out the LT on my Shootist. Their Highlander destroys the RA on my Zeus. Our Grand Crusader takes the gauss rifle on their Cerberus in the RA and destroys it, and the RT goes too. Dead mech . Falling? Hatchetman, Fireball. Our Starslayer kicks their Hatchetman’s CT and destroys it.

That turn we killed a Cerberus and Falconer and Hatchetman and essentially took out the Fireball as well.

They choose to fade. They have just three mechs left – Devastator, Axman, and Highlander

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 12:37 PM

Hatchetman H, LL, RL, LA, RA, LT, RT
Dervish LL, LA, H, RT
Talon H, LA, RA, LL, RL, LT

Cerberus, missing RL, RA, RT
Fireball missing LL.

Stalker missing RL, LT
Orion missing LA, RT
Crusader missing H
Lynx missing H, LA, RL
Griffin missing LT
JagerMech III missing RT
Falconer, enginex3

Dragonfire missing RT
PXH 3D missing LT, LA
Wolf Trap missing RT LL

Guillotine – blacked out pilot

Kills – Orion IIcx2, Flashman,x2 Phoenix Hawk, Highlander, Elemental #1, Grand Crusader, Starslayer.

US –

PXH missing RL, RT
Highlander missing RT
Shootist missing LA, LT
Zeus missing RA

Complete victory!

Mad, pissed off, and with a knowledge of the city, the local defenders win on their flank, and the invading armies are powerfully repelled from Daosho.

END OF SCENARIO 17 – For the Motherland!

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 01:07 PM

As the retreating forces that are loyal to both causes begin to leave the city, our victorious forces follow. Brusier and Sealion Companies each follow and peck at them, and blaze into their camp. Even though they have some infantry and armor there on guard, they don’t have enough forces to keep our two clean, healthy, clan heavy, and pristine companies from blowing them up.

They both agree, for safe passage, to leave Zurich, and not to return for the duration of the Civil War.

END OF TRACK FOUR – BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 01:11 PM

October 31, 3063 – As the two forces begin to collect their things and head out, Duke Essex arrives at a pirate point with the full navy, WarShip, flotilla, and more. Fighters, assault ships, and more unfurl, and ensure that the peace is kept. Ambassador Yee gets off the first landing, in her first action for the Coalition after being hired once the Liberty Campaign was over and House Steiner cut her loose in order to protect their assets and reputation.

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 01:32 PM

Salvage and Pay

The biggest thing to do, to wrap up the contract, is to figure out salvage and pay.

We spend months fixing up armor, re-ammoing salvaged units, and replacing parts. By the time the contract is up, we have every salvaged unit in pristine shape. We have paid for this, but it will help our shared salvage considerably.

Shared Salvage is simple. You total the value of all salvage. Then divide it 50/50. You get 50% of the value of the salvage in C-Bills. You get any salvage you want up to 50% value.

Zurich needed to keep units on planet, so they couldn’t get rid of some salvage, but mercs never negotiate away salvage rights completely, it’s how they make their money.

We are about to make…out.

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 01:51 PM

Units we salvaged:

Watchman
Cerberus
Victor
Javelin
BattleMaster
Tarantula
Caesar
Locust
Axman
PXH
Penetrator
Nightsky
Bandersnatch
Jagermech
Cicada 3G
Griffin
Falconer
Wolf Trap
Hatchetman
Merlin
Rifleman 5M
T Bolt
Commando
Dart
JagerMech III
Berserker
BattleMaster
Stalker 5S
Wasp
Enforcer
Rifleman 5M
Stealth
Garm
Barghest
Gunslinger
Goliath
Catapult C1b
Bushwacker
Dervish
Wolverine
Javelin
Clint
Cataphract
Templar
Archer
Pillager
Salamander
Cicada
Shadow Hawk
Nightsky
Longbow
Maelstrom
Cerberus
Axman
Griffin
Firestarter Of
Enfield
Crusader 5M
Centurion
Thunder Hawk
Berserker
Penetrator
Banshee
Rakshasa
Wolfhound
Shadow Hawk 5D
Commando
Warhammer
Marauder
Nightstar
Templar O
Barghest
Battle hawk
Cerberus
Fireball
Stalker
Orion
Crusader
Lynx
Griffin
JagerMech III
Falconer
Dragonfire
PXH 3D
Wolf Trap

Warhammer 7S Rl, LL, LT, LA, RA< H
Cestus H, LL, RL, RT, LT, LA
Fireball, H, RT, RA, LL, RL
Cobra RA, H, RT
Garm H, RL, LA, RA
Zeus RA, LA, LT, LL, H, RL,
Cobra LA, H
Hunchback H, LL, RL, RA, LA, LT
Wolfhound H, LT, RT, LL, RL, LA, RA
Commando, RA, LA, LT, RT, H,LL, RL
Crusader LA, LL
Fireball RT, LT, H, LL
Hatchetman H, LL, RL, LA, RA, LT, RT
Dervish LL, LA, H, RT
Talon H, LA, RA, LL, RL, LT

That’s a ton of crap! What’s the fiscal value of them?

1,068,929,142 for the mechs

And roughly 50k for the limbs

We make 559,464,571 in cash, and then we can take that amount in salvage

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 02:13 PM

I take all of the parts, as well as these 50 mechs:

Commandox2 5S
Templar Ox2
Griffin 3M
Battle Hawk
Barghest
Marauder 5D
Pillager
Goliath 3M
Enfield
Hatchetman
Jagermech JM7-D
Locust LCT-3D
Nightskyx2
Phoenix Hawk 3Dx2
Shadow Hawk 5D
Rifleman 5Mx2
Garm
Crusader CRD-5S
Lynx
Clint CLNT-2-3U
Firestarter Of
Catapult C1b
Cataphract 3D
Salamander
Gunslinger
BattleMaster 3Sx2
Archer 5S
Orion ON1-M
Penetratorx2
Merlin
Javelin 10Px2
T Bolt 9S
Wasp 1S
Watchman
Wolfhound 2
Longbow
Dart 4S
Dervish DV-7D
Warhammer 7S
Victor VTR-9D
Thunder Hawk
Stalker 5S

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 02:45 PM

Now, a few other things. It cost us roughly 62.5 mill to fix up the salvage, and another 26 mill for ammo, armor, parts, upkeep, and repair of our stuff.

We get 18 mill back in upkeep and such back

Now, for or salary, we make….

15.56 million in salary and such, beyond our own salary

So, we are in the hole 54,940,000 before we add in the salvage remittance

504,524,571 is our full cash made.

Most of this will be spent in the naval campaign in a later battle. Check it out…

END OF OPERATION: Flashpoint

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 02:51 PM

Nov 15, 3063 – In order to avoid these issues in the future, and with a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, and with the work Ambassador Yee has been doing, Zurich has officially applied to join the Celestial Coalition.

They join us!

Zurich Planetary Defense – Led by General Trent Hasseldorf, they have the 35 mechs we didn’t take, many of which are pricey, big, but potent (such as the triple Cerberuses, Barghest, Stalker, Banshee, two Berserkers, Dragon Fire, Maelstrom, Nightstar, 2 JagerMech IIIs, 2 Axman, Bandersnatch), and around 49 mechs Trent already had from himself, the LeSatte forces salvaged crap, and local nobility. That puts them at 83 mechs and growing, and there’s around a regiment of infantry and a battalion of tanks for defending stuff. Regular, Reliable.

End of the Zurich Campaign

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 04:14 PM

3063

January 4, 3063 – The St.Ives Compact/Capellan Confederation war is over, and the recalcitrant realm has been re-absorbed by the Confederation.

January 7, 3063 – After the blatant attempt to divert attention from the unrest on Capolla works, things begin to calm down as people begin to discuss the details of our investment campaign.

January 11, 3063 - On Genoa, after upgraded scanners are used, they find a large unknown bauxite deposit. They also uncover a long-hidden Star League supply cache. Instead of the cache containing huge amounts of military goods, it has a large amount of medical supplies, information, and more. This stuff is still top of the line, or slightly more. Some of it is broken and liquids have evaporated and such. But much of it is able o be salvaged and used. We use it to upgrade major hospitals across the Coalition.

January 12, 3063 - After securing a variety of troops, we begin to get ready to dispatch a unit to clan space. It'll a taskforce, led by several K&C units. It's not a Coalition taskforce, just one of K&C's.

January 17, 3063 – After working on them for a few years, Kressly announces they have figured out how to backtrack the Storm Inhibitor Satellites that will enable Bryant to shine again. The first ones will be made in a few months. We got one from Word of Blake. From the Star League era and we took it apart and sussed it out. We have just completed the working prototype. After building lines for it, KWI will be able to make around 50 a year. It will take several hundred to help bring Bryant back to livability (about 350) outside of the polar regions, and then perhaps 20-30 years for that to take effect with enough impact to change the climate over the whole planet. But it’s the start. We will position the first satellites over the region that includes HartfordCo Industries, an old mech/tank factory that was never destroyed, just closed down. (Check out the Von Luckner description in TRO 3039 for proof of that, btw)

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 04:27 PM

February 12, 3063 – We get a call from the Carver V contacts. They would like us to send mercenary help to hunt down some bandits. We agree to do just that.

(SEE THE CARVER V CAMPAIGN HERE - MechCommander 2 Dynasty! - Done! - Front Office Football Central (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=89548) )

“Hello again Braham. I see your Duke-dom has really done well by you. Your nation is in a much-better place than it was when we last had this little chat here on Terra.”

“I know, and you know why I’m here. We both have something the other wants, and we are both happy to have it. ComStar has been too focused on the clans, and now on the Civil War. It’s time to dial you in, as long as you come with the expected benefits.”

“Of course, our battle plans, and the acquired Liao invasion plan are suitable for your needs.”

“That’s true Blaine. That’s true. But the Coalition has a lot more worlds now. You are getting more from our deal now. Much more than you were when you agreed to it. So, I’m think we should get just a little more. I don’t think you’ll be upset. “

“Let hear you increased requests then Essex.”

“Just a few things. One, we aren’t able to secure a shipyards. I want Blake assistance for later for restoring or refurbishing anything we come across. Meanwhile, I want access to buy black water navy vessels for the Coalition – transport assets like DropShips and JumpShips that you are building lots of. That’s the first, and that’s very reasonable I think. You open up more markets for Blake goods and you will also increase our reliance on you as well. That cannot be a bad result for you.”

“Granted”

“And the second? I want to bring in every single unaffiliated system in the March. I want to bring in Hall and Keid, right now. I’d like your help, and after we are done, you get what we’ve agreed to, naturally expanded you them as well as the other places we take.”

“Granted. But we want something from you.”

“What would that be?”

“A second to get us into the Star League. No one can ever rely on House Liao to do those sorts of things. Get is onto the Star league, and this is set.”

“For that, I’ll want a few more things. Let me get you a list, hold on….”

“Really Essex? That doesn’t seem like your style at all.”

“Are you in?”

“We are. You get us a vote into the League, you get us the obvious, and we will get you help with Hall, Keid, and this ambitious target as well as help with your industrial problems. “

“Done”

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 05:26 PM

March 1, 3063 – As this increasingly long-game war begins, both sides begin to build supply lines, infrastructure and more. The Lyran Alliance begins to nationalize civilian JumpShips and DropShips in order to secure their lines of equipping, reinforcing, and responding are kept open.

Numerous flashpoints in both areas, Thorin, Ft. Loudon, Coventry, Odessa, Addicks, and more flare up.

But this is about trying to find allies and support for units and each side. Remember, most planets are fighting their battles on their own. Neither Victor nor Katrina declared war on the local unit.

Zurich has begun to send feelers out to us.

On Nanking, over the next few weeks the SMM finally broke out of their position and one final battle is held in the Huai River Valley.

March 28, 3063 – The SMM on Nanking surrenders.

This leaves on planet the First RCT and the Grenadiers, who have been embattled, and are fiercely pro-Victor. But, the world still doesn’t like them here, and the locals are increasingly displeased..….

Apr 5, 3063 – The Duke Sandoval’s forces hit a 5th Combine world, Matsuida.

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 07:08 PM

Beginning of the Arboris Campaign

Arboris kicked everyone off their planet and left behind 9 regiments of farmers-turned-infantry. The world had pro-Liao and pro-FedCom units with mechs and vees, and the locals kicked them both off.

In the last few years of going it alone, Arboris has been subjected to raids and such. (In real life, Arboris will choose to join the Blake Protectorate voluntarily without a shot being fired. We’ll make it a little harder than that). Arboris has one of the most anti-Great House streaks in the entire area.

As the number of independent worlds in the Chaos March has steadily dwindled, there have been fewer and fewer places for bandits and pirates to use as a base for raiding. It was originally places like Bryant, Fletcher, Acamar, as well as many others. As we’ve captured some worlds, we’ve forced the bandits into smaller and smaller options.

Some worlds that were recently free, such as Keid and New Home, are horrible choices for bandits due to the previous presence of Lyran Guard. Caph was too small (and too far away) so Carver V/Liberty and Arboris were used as homeworlds.

So it’s time to take Arboris. The locals are a lot more willing to treat with us than with a Great House.

Chief Ingrid Foster believes we have between four and five pirate groups using Arboris as a foundation for raids against nearby worlds. Our goal is to arrive in the Arboris system, either destroy or drive out those five groups, and then assist the government of Arboris as needed to regain supplies and control of some regions of the planet. Roughly 50% of Arboris is three major continents, so there is a lot of place for hiding.

We don’t expect massive numbers of resistance. Metal Battalion from Epsilon Regiment should be enough mech-age. We also send some major naval and aerospace assets, in case we come across DropShips and JumpShips in space.

In order to help win the battle, we have the Vengeance with its 40 fighters, all of our assault DropShips, and some of our JumpShips to help us out, led by our WarShip. This small stuff is fine.

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 08:56 PM

4 April, 3063 – Our forces arrive in the Arboris system and we take a look around. Because there is a recharge station at the Zenith point, that’s where we arrive. There are a pair of JumpShip here, one by the Zenith Jump Point, and another at the Nadir. There are several DropShips making their way from Arboris to the JumpShip. It appears some are commercial types like a Mule, Monarch and a Buccaneer. But there are also two military DropShips – Leopard (not the CV version with fighters) and the Gazelle (which usually has tanks).

We radio them all while interdicting our WarShip, the DropShips, and fighter screens to the Nadir point while leaving behind forces here at the Zenith one. All five DropShips are far too gone on their burn to turn back. The WarShip can go faster and with its four DropRings, it can set up a perfect speedbump.

We contact the five DropShips, and radio the Jumps. One of the JumpShips claims to be a passenger Merchant Vessel, here at the Zenith Point, and its registry checks out. It claims to be waiting for the Buc and the passenger DropShip called a Monarch to jump out. Those ships also radio their merchant registries, and they check out, so we don’t even stop them.

The other JumpShip, an Invader class one, at the Nadir point, with three rings for the three DropShips launching for it leaves before we can confront it – it must have already charged its battery.

That leaves these three DropShips burning for a large WarShip and fleet. There’s no even an assault DropShip in the mix, these are smaller ones. Captain Randall Lewis orders them to stop and be boarded. There’s no chance of survival, so they agree to do so.

All three ships are pirate vessels, which we take. They are a Gazelle, Leopard, and Mule. The Mule was mostly empty, it was to be used to carry the goods they raided, with only a few things in the cargo. The Leopard carries 4 Mechs and 2 fighters. All six are in the stable. We have 15 tanks in the Gazelle, mostly faster ones. They were jumping out to hit a trio of lightly defended nearby worlds and then come back.

We set aside their captured forces for now, and tell them that we will not arrest them, but set them free, without their equipment, with their lives. It s a better deal than if they had attacked us.

The first pirate band is down.

Three or four left.

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 09:50 PM

April 9, 3053 – A few days later our WarShip and its escort arrive around Arboris and begin to blockade the world. Any DropShip that wants to land or leave, will be inspected by us for bandits. We’ve spoken with the leaders of the planet, and we trying to keep any pirate reinforcements from hitting the world. No one is going to challenge a WarShip.

This should help us out too, because if there are any pirate naval assets on the planet, they can’t get off. We can capture them.

DropShips arrive and land Metal battalion in three different locations near-ish, suspecting bandits.

We only know where one of the local HQs are, so Gold Company is landing right by it in order to smash the pirates. The others we don’t know precisely their location.

The first company, according to intel gathered by the Chief Foster’s Apollo Office.

Here is Gold Company:

AS7-8K-UK Atlas
HBK-5M Hunchback
TDR-7M Thunderbolt
PTR-6M Penetrator

TDK-7Y Thunder Hawk
SHD-5m Shadow Hawk
GOL-3M Goliath
RFL-5M Rifleman

JR7-M Jenner
CLNT-2-3U Clint
VL-5T Vulcan
PXH-3D Phoenix Hawk

Abe Sargent

12-23-2014, 10:43 PM

Now our intel has our foes with around 7 or 8 mechs and some Vees.

However, it seems like they have fewer mechs than expected (around a lance - 4, mechs). But they have more vees to face.

Our foes are all level 1 techs foes:

Stinger
Dragon
Scorpion
Charger

All faster units

We have at least two VTOLs in the air that were not a part of the intel, plus around a company of tanks. Ummm….13 tanks actually.

13 tanks, 2 VTOLs, and the lance of mechs.

This is our Thunder Hawk. It’s a 100 ton nasty newer Mech that features THREE gauss rifles and 2 medium pulse lasers. It has a weaker XL Engine but plenty of armor.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/6/62/CCG_Crusade_Thunder_Hawk.jpg

We land just outside of their modified HQ and they move out to strike us! They have a mish mash of expertise.

All of their tanks are hover tanks. This gives them a ton of speed and fast hitting capabilities, added to the speed of their other Mechs and VTOLs. Speed keeps one away from getting caught and getting away with more product.

Our Battle Value is almost double theirs – this should be a cake walk. But some of our biggest losses have been in overwhelming odds.

Abe Sargent

12-24-2014, 11:43 AM

There are just a few, small areas of gentle elevation, with dirt and grass. No trees, bushes, or water.

Turn 1 – We lose init. I create two prongs of attack, one led by the Atlas, Hunchback and Rifleman on the right and the other the Goliath, Thunderbolt and Thunder Hawk on the left. They move out and rush their Peregrine Attack VTOLs as well. I take some shots at a Peregrine – we have a hard chance to hit, but if we do….. Our T Bolt immobilizes a Pegasus. Our Goliath immobilizes a Gladius and our Jenner a Blizzard. Our Atlas cascades an LRM 20 and all 20 missiles hit one of their Gladius and it is destroyed. Our Atlas’s medium laser crawls into a Peregrine and destroys its rotor and it crashes into the ground.

Turn 2 – We lose init again. Our Vulcan bases their Blizzard. I move up close range mechs like Hunchback and Thunderbolt. I don’t even move longer range ones like our Rifleman and Goliath. Our Clint bases, and stands above, their Charger. I try to converge a few mechs around their Charger. That’s the only threat I seriously fear over there. Our PXH bases the Charger as well. They base my Atlas with their Dragon. Their Peregrine flies behind my Rifleman so I flip its arms. Our Hunch’s AC20 nails the Dragon right in the LT. Hits a laser there. A Pegasus gets a through-armor-crit on the Thunder Hawk and nails two leg actuators. Annoying. The Atlas blows off the LL on their Charger with his SRM6. Our Vulcan destroys the Blizzard. Their Thunder Hawk’s medium pulse laser drills into their Pegaus sand hits the fuel and it explodes. Their Charger falls, as does our T Hawk. Our Atlas kicks and doles out 20 damage to their Dragon, who falls.

Turn 3 – We lose init. Their Pegasus bases our Shadow Hawk. I don’t move or stand the T Hawk. It’s taken little damage and likely to get ganged up on for a turn or two, absorbed damage from the others. Our T Bolt stands on their damaged Drillson. A few more folks base tanks and vice versa. Our Penetrator and Clint base their Scorpion mech. Their Dragon fails to rise twice. Our Rifleman nails their Peregrine’s RS and it falls to the ground and crashes dead. Our T Hawk immobilizes a Maxim, while our Penetrator nails a pair of leg actuators on their Scorpion’s Rear Right Leg. Their Peregrine hits the legs on my Rifleman and nails a hip actuator. A Pegasus hits our Shadow Hawk with three SRMS6s, for 6, 4, and 6 missiles each, and nails the H twice. Their Harasser Missile Platform gets a through armor critical on our Thunder Hawk, nails the gauss in the LT, and we had auto eject on. The section is not destroyed (there is 1 damage left on the internal structure) but with autopilot on, we eject and the mech is down. Our Shadow Hawk, Rifleman fall, as does their Scorpion

Our Penetrator kicks, and kits the SRM6 ammo in their Scorpion mech and it explodes! Our Jenner kicks and destroys the ammo in a Maxim and it explodes too! The Atlas kicks and destroys the LL and LT of their Dragon

Because of their speed, they begin to collect themselves to fly out. We get one more turn of smashing.

Turn 4 – We lose init again. I eject our Rifleman. Our Shadow Hawk rises and runs. Thunderbolt next to their Stinger and a Maxim. Vulcan next to a Pegasus. Our Jenner destroys the Center Torso )Rear) of their Stinger. Dead mech. A few other sections are destroyed as well. Our Shadow Hawk immobilizes a Harasser #1 while our Goliath freezes another Harasser #2. Our Phoenix Hawk follows that with a ER Large Laser that destroys the #1 Harasser. Gauss slug fires at a Drillson and immobilizes it as well. They go critical on our Clint in a few places. No one falls. Our Vulcan kicks and destroys the right side of a Pegasus.

And with that their still capable tanks fade into the night. They have escaping a pair of Condor Heavy Tanks, a Gladius, a Drillson , and a Maxim. Not exactly a powerful combination.

We don’t find any transport vessels here, or nearby. No idea if these bandits attacked other systems or just locally. But they are basically down.

Dragon, missing LL, LT
Charger, reattach LL

Scorpion, RLL, FLL, H
Stinger H, L, RL, RT, RA

Dead Tanks – Gladius, Peregrinex2, Blizzard, Pegasus (fuel), normal Peg, Maxim (fuel), Harasser

Kills – Atlasx2, Vulcanx2, Thunder Hawk, Rifleman, Penetrator, Jennerx2, Phoenix Hawk

Good stuff!

Abe Sargent

12-24-2014, 12:00 PM

Two groups are down.

Our other two companies, Bronze and Titanium begin to spread out and search for bandits

Apr 12, 3063 – A pair of JumpShips arrive in system today one at a Pirate point, and the other at the Zenith point.

Apr 14, 3063 – Whoa! All of the sudden multiple trails can be seen from a variety of places around the world. It looks like a bunch of bandits and pirates have coordinated and trying to run the WarShip gauntlet. We launch some fighters. We’ll obviously go for the best looking DropShip first – none of these assets are assault – they are all transport machines. The best is an upgraded Union DropShip, which, if full, would have 12 mech and their storage.

After a few hours, we get their Union to hold up and board it. Nothing inside but a skeleton crew. Crap.

We are able to scramble fighters to intercept another, it’s a Leopard CV. It launches 6 fighters to delay our squadron of 20 fighters, and the fighters carve through theirs and reach their DropShip and secure it.

But about 5 DropShips ran the gauntlet and made it out. Crap.

Abe Sargent

12-24-2014, 01:03 PM

July 19, 3063 – We have spent three months scouring Arboris unsuccessfully, it seems all pirates have left. The “blockade” ends. We boarded around 3 DroShips a week that were passenger or cargo ships.

July 25, 3063 - Our army jumps out, and takes Metal Battalion. We’re jumping in Star Battalion from Alpha Regiment to garrison the place.

Arboris joins the Celestial Coalition.

Arboris has two smaller continents, each roughly the size of Australia. Those have some light mining and timber and other wood based industries (including a large cork plantation). Meanwhile, the other continent is about 40% of the surface area, and has sprawling agriculture. A local Arboris variant of wheat grows here, and before the harvest, its bigger than a BattleMech. A large number of agricultural mechs work the trade out here.

The ground in Arboris is very healthy, even today, and is another large exporter of food. This gives us another bread-basket world (this time literally).

Our major gains here were not mech and tank, but transport assets. Having a WarShip and interdicting a planet is a huge asset. Running the gauntlet was smart, because they avoided losing on Arboris (these are bandits, not soldiers – there is no value in running a guerilla campaign or staying on Arboris when you are being ousted).

We almost got the JumpShip at the pirate point. Captain Randall Lewis calculated that it would take his WarShip about 7 hours longer to get there after it had recharged and added on the DropShips. No sense heading out and losing your blockade of Arboris.

Abe Sargent

12-24-2014, 04:06 PM

Our gains were:

15 tanks in the upgraded Gazelle
4 mechs, 2 fighters in the Leopard
Empty Mule
Empty Upgraded Union
Empty Upgraded Leopard CV

And then the Charger, Dragon and another 8 tanks from the locals.

We create the 1st Arboris Avengers. We give them the 23 tanks, 6 mechs and 5 fighters we captured. Of the nine farmer-infantry regiments, most dissolve, now that we have 36 mechs of our own, and the growing Arboris Avengers But one battalion of infantry enjoyed their time and stay with the Avengers.

Now, we aren’t interested in the Leopard. It just delivers a lance of mechs – our needs are beyond that. The Leopards are worth 400 million-ish. That’s about how much a Tramp JumpShip is worth. (475-ish million)

Mule is 160 mill, Gazelle, upgraded is 212 mill, and the Union, upgraded, is 290 mill

Remember, I decided to use better numbers for these assets. The original 3057 has DropShips a lot cheaper, but that does not reflect their value, and they were changed in later publications.

For example, take the 100 ton mech, the Berserker. This Inner Sphere mech costs 32.2 million.

Now, according to the first edition of 3057, an upgraded Fury DropShip is worth 32.5 million . Basically the same price. The Fury is 1850 tons and can carry 8 tanks and 4 infantry platoons. Does that sound like they should be the same price?

That’s why the changes were made to costs and such. (Meanwhile, JumpShip costs were reduced in some places. The Tramp dropped hundreds of millions, for example).

So we captured, roughly, 1 billion worth of AeroSpace assets.

End of the Arboris Campaign

Abe Sargent

12-24-2014, 06:14 PM

June 3, 3063 – There is a quick raid on Epsilon Indi that is stopped by local forces. Fleeing bandits from Arboris perhaps?

June 10, 3063 – The CEO of Vicore Industries has been pushing for the Project Phoenix program. Older Star league designs are not selling that well, even with the early refits coming their way in 3048 or 3052. They aren’t selling well. So Vicore has been leading some projects to refurbish these ‘Mechs, but with a slightly redesigned chassis as well as the latest technology to push them to the forefront of the market.

Not all Phoenix designs are coming from Vicore. A few are coming from specific militaries and such. But many are.

Representatives of Lang and Vicore meet today in Caph to look over their factory and how they could renovate the Shadow Hawk design. Vicore takes some details and leaves.

Aug 2, 3063 - We put in a quick call, but no more Tramps are available on the market right now from Andurien. Ah well. That happens.

Instead, we sell both of the Leopards for 350 million (less than market value for ships not coming off the lines – I usually reduce our sales considerably).

We send out contacts to see what DropShips might be available for purchase that better meet our needs…

As per our agreement with Word of Blake, we can purchase transport vessels from them, straight off the presses.

But instead we purchase, for 325 mill, on outdated Overlord off the market. That’ll be our latest addition to the fleet. We also have the Mule, Gazelle, and upgraded Union. So we’ve added transport for 48 mechs, 15 tanks, and supplies.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 10:59 AM

September 1, 3063 – We have negotiated to gain the blueprints for the original Oppenheimer Hazardous Material Recovery Vehicle from Word of Blake. We send it on to Caph to help them reboot their lines. We expect the first Oppies to roll off the lines in April or May of next year, and there should be a huge market for it. They’ll be making around 100 a year at first, to fill the void. This is a machine that is very much needed, but hasn’t been built since 2801. That was 262 years ago, way too much time.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 11:33 AM

The next campaign of Chapter 8 will be run quasi-independently, and we'll not come back until it's over, years from now....

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 12:52 PM

The Clan Campaign

September 19, 3063 - One of the benefits of combining our mercenary group with the multi-nation Celestial Coalition is that the state supports the mercenary unit financially. There has not been as many needs to take contracts and such. However, we have brought two planets into the Coalition – Liberty/Carver V and Zurich, after taking contracts with the local planets and then having them choose to join us.

But we are still a mercenary unit, and the value of that is that we can send the mercs outside of the borders of the nation without it looking like a state-sponsored raid.

We have decided to pack up a large unit and send it to clan space, in order to run some Trials and such. We could hit Ghost Bear, Wolf, or Jade Falcon. We could be at any of the three places in four months time or less, and begin raids, or Trials, as we want.

It’s important to take a shot at our foes, to reinvest in grabbing clan-tech and such. We can do this in order to push again at the great clan threat, and hit them. Perhaps we can find some contracts along the clan front as well, which would be nice. Actually, the major place for getting anti-clan contracts is Arc-Royal, currently home of Clan Wolf-in-Exile and the Kell Hounds, and the center of the Arc-Royal Defense Cordon.

We could swing by Arc-Royal, and thence to hit the Falcon. It’d take longer, but give us the chance to increase our financial situation.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 01:51 PM

So, in order to head out, we are taking:

Our two Tramp JumpShips

Profit of Guns, Gazelle DropShip – 15 tanks
Serendipitous Victory, Union-C DropShip – 12 mechs
Charon’s Message, Union DropShip – 12 mechs
Star River, Union DropShip – 12 mechs
Jakob’s Ladder, Buccaneer DropShip – Storage
Amalgamated Bliss, Union DropShip – Empty

We are taking with us:

Liberty Battalion, the 36 mechs we took from Liberty, the fighters that fought there, and the handful of additional recruits we brought in.

And 15 tanks of support for us, that can hold, attack, garrison landing zones and such,

A handful of infantry squads, with a few small craft in some of the Ships helping out.

The empty Union and Buccaneer to fill with stuff we capture and one final surprise….

We have reached out and contracted…

Hell’s Black Aces. We have hired

They are sending Lucifer’s Deck, a Titan class DropShip they captured from Jade Falcon in 3055, in the action that also captured a WarShip. They have also loaned a pair of escorts for it from the Capellan Confederation in order to keep it intact. We have rented a full wing of Aces fighters 18, for this mission.

The Aces are doing a nice contract for the CC, because the CC wants to bring them back into the fold permanently. They can buy all of the best Confederation made fighters, they have the ability to rent one of their wings to other folks that are interested, and they get a lot of other benefits. The CC wants to protect their Titan and fighters, and to prove themselves a nice place to call home to the Aces (who were formed after leaving the Confederation).

The Aces are elite pilots, with 18 upgraded and high tech fighters. The Titan has been upgraded by the clans to hold 30 fighters, so they have plenty of space as well. An Invader-class JumpShip has the three vessels.

We have the aces for a 1 year contract. They are finishing a deal in Lyran space right now, and we’ll meet them in Arc-Royal in three months time. We have them on a retainer contract.

Leading our mission will be Magnus. Magnus was the very first clan bondsman we took on the planet of Thule from clan Ghost Bear. He was our teacher on all-things clan.

Here we go….

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 02:15 PM

January 10, 3064 – We arrive at Arc-Royal and Magnus meets with the Black Aces. We have hired them before to help provide fighter coverage. Doing so again makes perfect sense in this situation.

The Aces took a contract against Jade Falcon with the Blue Star Irregulars that won them a lot of pride, and the battle as well. They haven’t done any anti-clan contracts since, and they are chomping at the bit to do so again, so our offer was met with warmly, and that’s why they took a deal with us, rather than other folks that were offering more Civil War crap they don’t want to keep fighting.

Magnus heads up and meets with some local representatives of the mercenary groups hiring here on Arc-Royal.

The Aces contract officially begins today, and ends January 10, 3065.

January 21, 3064 – We find out that there are no major contracts that are on the table right now, Wolf—in-Exile and the Kell Hounds are fine. There’s been no major movements on the clan front, although they suspect a Falcon incursion into Lyran space could happen due to the Civil War, they are doing some refitting, and getting things ready, just in case. So we head on out to make out own contract, if you will, but provide the locals with contact information of where we plan to be, in case things change. We’ll be using Dustball as a base of operations for now.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 02:41 PM

March 11, 3064 – We arrive at the Dustball System, on the Clan border, and begin recharging.

March 18, 3064 – We jump out and arrive at the…

Blair Atholl system

The 9th Provisional Garrison Cluster is here.

Magnus contacts the local commander and they agree to safcon to the planet (safe conduct down, without threat of being attacked, in order to do a Trial for something).

The 9th is a regular unit of the Falcon’s Mu Galaxy. It has five binaries, or 50 mechs. Magnus meets with Star Colonel Kabir and they begin to discuss the Trial. Magnus would like one star of mechs from the 9th, fully furnished. Kabir agrees, and asks for nothing in return. But he wants to use many of his forces. The Falcons have gotten tired of just holding onto worlds, they are fighters, so if we have a large battle, that will help get his men involved.

After a long negotiation, we agree to the following:

1). We will be fighting tomorrow, on a local plains they use for training, it’s not near anything and nothing will be damaged by the battle
2). We are now fighting for both a star of mechs (5) and a pair of aerospace fighters, and a point of elemental armor, with the 5 elementals as bondsmen.
3). We will be using our best unit, the command company of Liberty Battalion, with our best pilots out there.
4). They will be using a full three stars of mechs against us. They have seen our unit’s history, and they know we usually win 12 on 10 matchups against the clans. Plus, they are a regular garrison cluster (regular by clan standards is vet by Inner Sphere ones).

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 03:27 PM

March 24, 3064 –

Command Company:

Atlas
Blood Asp B (gauss, 2x LRM 20, 4x Medium pulses) (Steel)
Highlander (Ghost)
Starslayer (Dagger)
Hunchback
Shadow Cat Prime (Gauss and some lasers)
Uller A (Gauss and some lasers)
Vulture Prime (Longshot)
Wolfhound
Lao Hu
Catapult
Bushwacker

The ones without names are either vets or regulars from the campaign. We have a green pilot in the Wolfhound.

Next up are the 15 garrison mechs we are facing, very few omnimenchs here (just four). Most are things like IIc variant so finer sphere mechs or

Omnis:

Cougar D (ultra AC10, ER large laser, 2x SRM4)
Thor A
Loki Prime
Black Lanner Prime

Others:

2x Vixen
2x Hellhound
Rifleman IIc
Griffin IIc
Locust IIc
2x Phoenix Hawk IIc
Kraken
Spirit

Note that the PXH IIC is an 80 ton assault mech with a pair of Ultra ac10s.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/thumb/2/2b/Phoenix_hawk_iic.jpg/695px-Phoenix_hawk_iic.jpg

Remember, the clans tend to fight a lot longer. Although that is not always the case in smaller Trials.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 06:27 PM

There are some small glimpses of trees here and there, including a section in the southwest that I move toward.

Turn 1 – we lose initi. They run a few mechs right at us – A PXH IIC, Spirit and a Cougar D. Their Vixen rushes and bases our Highlander. A Black Lanner bases our Atlas. Many of our shots are those of opportunity. We begin by tacking that Cougar a few times. Our Blood Asp destroys the LA of their Black Lanner. Our Bushwacker nails the gyro once on their Cougar. It falls from damage, our Atlas took 60+ and is standing, and our Highlander took 40+ and is as well.

Turn 2 – We win initiative this time. I race our Wolfhound up by some trees to the northwest. The other PXH IIc and Thor are charging our position. They want to end this now. Our Starslayer jumps next to, and to the left side, of their PXH IIc #2. A Hellhound bases our SS. Their Cougar rises, runs, and falls again. The Vixen that based our Highlander now does so to our Uller. They back away the damaged Black Lanner. I run the Lao Hu over to base the Vixen. Our Starslayer goes internal in three places on their Locust IIc and nails the hip actuators. Then our Vulture destroys the RA on their Locust IIc and blows off the limb. Ready for this one? Our Hunchback’s AC20 hits their Thor’s Gauss rifle, destroys the LA (explosion of rifle) the pilot blacks out from the feedback. Nice shot! Meanwhile our Atlas blows off the Thor’s LL. Our Blood Asp finishes the Thor by destroys its LT, and hitting the engine once on the CT for a engine shut down. Meanwhile, a PXH IIc nails the Uller twice with aAC10 shots, and hits the LL actuators twice. After taking 40, our Blood Asp falls, as does the Uller, and their Locust IIc. I am surprised that the Starslayer was not dropped more forcefully, it only took 40+ damage. Our Lao Hu kicks and hits the LL actuator on their Vixen’s LL. But it doesn’t fall.

Not a bad round, with the Thor down. That have damaged Locust IIc, Black Lanner, and Cougar.

Turn 3 – We win init. I hop the Starslayer into some heavy woods on the ear east of the map. I want to draw away some attention. We rise the Blood Asp. After failing once, the Cougar rises to get away from the nearby Starslayer. Our Uller rises and flees from the battle, and according to the clan rules, that removes it from battle. It’s better than ejecting. Their Hellhound bases our Catapult. Our Vulture chases their wounded Black Lanner, I want to take it down if possible. A PXH IIc keeps coming in our face. I back up our Lao Hu against this annoying Vixen again. Their other Hellhound almost bases our Blood Asp – its two away. Our Vulture destroys the RA of their Black Lanner. Our Atlas the RT of their Locust IIc. Our Starslayer nails the RT of their Cougar and destroys it, then hits the engincex2 on the CT, engine shut down. Their Vixen nails the gyro once of our Hunchback on a through armor critical and it falls. Their Hellhound #2 took 60+ and fell. Our Lao Hu kicks and destroys the RL of their Vixen. They set the woods on fire my Blood Asp was stranding in.

Turn 4 – I lose init. I stand the wounded Hunchback and that’s it. I‘ll use it as a target of sacrifice this turn. Damaged badly, the Black Lanner does a suicidal rush as the Blood Asp fueled by its MASC. It fails to stand once, but their Hellhound rises and runs a bit. Their Vixen can’t do anything. I reposition our Bushwacker next to the Blood Asp for support. Their Spirit runs behind our forces to get a line on the Hunchback probably. I hop the Starslayer out. Their Loki takes some heavy woods in the far northwest. A gauss from our Shadow Cat cracks open their Hellhound #2, (the injured one). Our Blood Asp just tears into the wounded Black Lanner – destroys the RT, LT, and LL. Dead mech. Accurate fire from their Rifleman IIc pierces the Hunchback and nails the hip on its LL. Their Spirit follows suit and destroys it’s RL. Our Highlander opens up their unwounded Hellhound that ruches us, destroys its RA with a few hits in the arm led by its gauss, finished by its SRM missiles. Our Starslayer destroys the LA of their Locust IIc. Our Catapult just blasts the Hellhound #2 with two flights of Artemis equipped missiles and hits the CT once for an engine hit, a large pulse laser, the RT destroys as well (no shut down, no XL engine). LB 20X on our Lao Hu hits the downed Vixen and hits with all 20 shots. They smash it a bunch and destroy three pieces, and the mech’s CT, taking it down. Even though t took 40 more, our Blood Asp is still standing, as our their Hellhounds and Spirit. Only our Hunchback falls. The pilot blacks out. SUCK!

Turn 5 – We lose init. I back the Blood Asp one space. It’s lost more than half of its external armor, so I want to protect it a bit now. Their Loki remains in the heavy woods. Their Spirit bases the Hunchback. Our Wolfhound destroys the LT of their Spirit. A gauss slug slides into their other Vixen and destroys it’s a and then LRM fire its RT. Their PXH IIc #2’s Ultra AC10 smashes our Bushwacker’s H and goes internal, but does not hit anything. Our Bushwacker follows with a LA blown off the Hellhound #2. Pulse lasers from the Vulture carve into their Sprit and destroy the RA> Their Kraken’s ultra AC2 collapse into the Bushwacker, and one hits its head and destroys it. Meanwhile their Spirit hits and destroys the CT of our Hunchback. Our Catapult fires LRMs into their Hellhound #2 and hits a bunch, and then follows with a medium laser to the downed Locust, and destroys the CT. Dead mech. Gauss slug from the Shadow Cat nails the Hellhound #2 CT and destroys it, dead mech. Their Spirit and Hellhound fall.

That turn we lose two medium mechs (Hunchback, Bushwacker). They lost a Hellhound that was already wounded badly,

Mech count? They have untouched PXH IIcs, Loki Kraken and Rifleman IIc all rocking the block. They also have an untouched Griffin IIC, and a wounded Vixen, Hellhound and Spirit. 9 mechs left.

We have lost an Uller, Hunchback and Bushwacker. We have lost a lot of armor in the Starslayer, Catapult, Atlas, Highlander, and Blood Asp. We have, untouched, Lao Hu, Shadow Cat, Vulture. 9 mechs too, but ours have armor and such that are problems. Plus, the mechs we’ve killed have predominantly been lighter stuff. Lots of smoke by our position too.

Turn 6 – I win init. Their Spirit fails to stand, tumbles, and blacks out. I run the Wolfhound next to it. Their Hellhound at least stands and runs five. They are creating a large sniping spot north of us. A PXH IIc is by the Loki, and their move the Kraken nearby as well. They are trying to turn it into a rally point. Their run the damaged Vixen into some light trees in the back on that side as well. I move our Lao Hu forward to give it some time to get attacks. I begin to focus fire on the PXH IIC. I also have some nice lines of fire on the Rifleman IIc from a few of my mechs instead. After a turn of light fire exchange, their, Rifleman IIc, taking 40+, falls. We had two mechs take 20+ and do nothing (Highlander, Atlas). It was more a turn of positioning. Our Wolfhound kicks the Spirit (after missing with ll of its lasers) and this a gyro once on it. The Spirit does not wake up though.

Turn 7 – We win again. Their RFL IIC is up and running. I leave the Wolfhound by their mech. Our Catapult runs out and bases their wounded Hellhound. It’s below a copse of trees on the east flank, and no one has a good angle of attack down there anymore. I run the S Cat behind it. I leap our Highlander into some abandoned heavy woods the Catapult was in. All of their mechs are in the northwest, or getting there, save for the Hellhound. This turn we focus fire on the slower moving RLF IIc. Our Shadow Cat destroys the LL of that Hellhound. The Wolfhound destroys the CT of their Spirit. Our Blood Asp hits the H once of their RLF IIc with missiles, and then destroys that RA. Meanwhile our Lao Hu smashes the Pxh IIC #2 with its LB20X and hits with 12 pellet. Once is a through-armor crit that nails the AC10 ammo on their mech. Destroyed the RT completely in the explosion, and the pilot blacks out. Then our Highlander finishes the Rifleman IIc with a gauss to the h. Their Loki devastates our Wolfhound and destroys its RA. Their Hellhound and blacked out PXH fall hard. No one else falls. Shadow Cat kicks and destroys the LA of their Hellhound while our Catapult adds a kick to its LT, hits its ammo, it explodes ,and the pilot also blacks out.

Now things look a lot differently.

We took out an assault mech (PXH) and heavy (RFL) and have essentially finished the Hellhound in the last two turns. Meanwhile, they have just damaged a Wolfhound.

They have two immobilized mechs and a wounded Vixen. That leaves them four mechs to rally against our nine. That’s not good math. Now, they are heavier units.

We offer them hegira, and they accept.

We have defeated Jade Falcon.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 07:18 PM

PXH IIc #2, missing RT, blacked out pilot

Hellhound missing RT, LL, LT, engine, LA, blacked out pilot.
Hellhound LA, H, RT, LL, RL

Black Lanner missing LA, RA, LL, RT, LT

Vixen H, LL, LA, RT
Vixen missing RT, RA

Spirit missing LA, LL, RL, H, RT
Locust IIc, H, RA, RL,

Thor missing RA, RT, blacked out pilot; reattach LL
Cougar, hit gyro, missing RT, enginex2

Rifleman IIc missing RA, H

Us –

Hunchback, H, LL, RT, RT, RA, LA
Buchwacker, missing H, dead pilot.
Wolfhound missing RA

Kills – Blood Aspx2, Starslayer, Lao Hu, Catapult, Shadow Cat, Wolfhound, Highlander,

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 08:14 PM

Now, it’ll take us a while to get things fixed up and such on the world.

They offer us our choice of mechs from the Garrison, as long as we don’t choose any omnis. That’s fair, and we take:

Kraken
Phoenix Hawk IIc
Griffin IIc
Vixen
Viper

Two light OmniFighters:

2x Vandal

And some elementals:

1 squad, clan regular Elementals

That gives us some nice replacements for the Hunchback, Bushwacker, and so forth. We add the mechs to the empty Union, and the fighters to the Hell’s Titan.

We stay on world for roughly 3 weeks, repairing, and refitting. We have a bunch of minor Trials of Possession for things like refits, extra ammo, armor, getting a tech to help out, and so forth, and they are minor, small numbers and such, often unaugmented (in a circle of equals, without any weapons).

It’s a lot of fun, and Falcon is clearly enjoying having someone else to do this stuff with.

Because we won the battle, we get the salvaged mechs – PXH 2C, Hellhound, Cougar, RFL IIc, Loki. They keep the parts of the mechs we destroyed (Hellhound, Vixen, Spirit, etc). We don’t have the facilities or the techs for those we salvaged, so we just store them in the Buccaneer, since we won’t be able to use them for a while.

But we do take the three blacked out pilots as bondsmen.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 08:32 PM

April 30 3064 - We jump from Blair Atholl.

May 5, 3064 – We land at Dustball and begin to unload.

On planet are just some wing of fighters from the local defenses, two armor regiments, and some militia mechs (around 12 or so). Not that much to stand against a strong attack from the clan. But it’s fine for normal garrison work I suppose.

We only expect to be on planet for a couple of weeks, finish repairs and such, and then we’ll head back to clan space.

We have swapped the five captured clan mechs for 5 mechs in the battalion, pending the end of the campaign.

May 17, 3064 – We get word that a planet right next door to us, Koniz, about 15 light years away, has just had a large Jade Falcon flotilla arrive in system to push the local defending force, some mercenaries. (Barber’s Marauder IIs).

The Falcons look like they have come with an invasion force, not just some raids or somesuch.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 10:00 PM

May 22, 3064 – Magnus is contacted by the Arc-Royal Defense Cordon. Apparently the Falcons have attacked three separate worlds all at once, and multiple movements across the border have been reported. We suspect a strong Falcon incursion.

They offer us an emergency contract to garrison Dustball for three months. Magnuson forces them to make two concessions – firstly, we have removed the emergency extension clause they normally have. We’re willing to sign for more, but right now, we want to keep this short. Secondly, he forces them to put us in charge of all of the local defenses. Ultimately, they agree to it.

Starting today, we have a three month garrison deal here at Dustball. We begin to meet the locals, and prepare a battlefield. We spend the time inspecting, doing training together, and working around the clock.

May 29, 3064 – Just a few days later, a large Falcon flotilla arrives in the system. Magnus gets on the vidcom and speaks with them. We grant them safcon to Dustball. Meanwhile we offer them the full schematics and readout of our various forces, including the locals.

They are happily surprised to discover that Magnus is here defending the world. They heard about his raid on nearby Blair Atholl and they are very happy to have the chance to face him in a real battle.

He points out that his unit has never violated the batchall process and bidding process from mining a field to pretending a unit is green, not veterans, and so forth. He even shows them the recently agreed upon contract showing that he has full operational command over the local forces, and they have to fight his way. The clan way.

Welcome to Dustball!

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 10:19 PM

2 June, 3064 – The Falcons arrive. They have brought the 7th Falcon Regulars and the Jade Falcon Eyrie Clusters of their Rho Galaxy. The 7th are regular forces and the Eyrie green. The 7th was almost destroyed at Tukkayid and has been rebuilding ever since, and lost its elite status then.

The 7th Regulars have 3 trinaries of mechs (45 mechs) and the Eyrie has 50 mechs or other units (5 binaries).

We have secured a small area to be the proxy battle for Dustball. We show the Falcons around. As the defending force, we basically get to choose who we are using for battle. We are using two sets of elements:

1). The Command Company (since it’s been refitted and fixed back up)
2). All of the fighters we have – 18 from Hell’s Black Aces, the 18 from the local government, and the two we captured from Blair Atholl – 38 fighters. They only have 20 fighters at their disposal, but they are all clan fighters, and clan pilots.

We will be interweaving the battle over the landscape. Dustball is a nasty world, settled once because people thought it had a lot of mining potential, but it didn’t, and few people live here any more, in five domed cities. We are fighting outside the domes, in heavy winds. The locals know the winds, and their aerospace fighters should have an advantage, even though they are just regular pilots.

They are sending against our defense:

One full trinary from the 7th

All 20 of their fighters

1 star of Elementals (25 total)

So 20 points of units against our 12, plus fighters vs fighters. The fighters will be fighting in the space above the battle.

Because this is a battle for a planet, we have negotiated for some things if they lose:

1). They will repair, fix, and rearm all of the mechs or fighters we salvage today. This does not include those we salvaged before.
2). We will gain one of their Broadsword DropShips they brought with them, as well as the crew. We have fought for a DropShip before in this manner, and we have gained the Union C, which we are using in this campaign, from the clans. The Broadsword isn’t as good though.

Abe Sargent

12-25-2014, 10:33 PM

June 3, 3064 – The battle gets ready:

Command Company Redux:

Atlas
Blood Asp B (gauss, 2x LRM 20, 4x Medium pulses) (Steel)
Highlander (Ghost)
Starslayer (Dagger)
Hunchback – Replaced by Phoenix Hawk IIc
Shadow Cat Prime (Gauss and some lasers)
Uller A (Gauss and some lasers)
Vulture Prime (Longshot)
Wolfhound - Now a Vixen
Lao Hu
Catapult Now a Viper
Bushwacker - Rifleman IIc– Pilot replaced by veteran from 3rd Company

We still have the Catapult, Bushwacker, and Wolfhound (the Hunchback was destroyed) and that gives us a few mechs in storage, but we have added four captured mechs to this company to really push it, and help us fight against a front line, ish, unit.

Enemies:

2x Cougar
2x Black Lanner
2x Thor
2x Loki
Hunchback IIc
Man o war
Uller
Fenris
2x Fire Falcon
Night Gyr

All regular, save for the pilot of the Night Gyr, who is elite (the equivalent of IS veteran or super-elite, respectively). Star Colonel Icaza is fighting us directly. Many of the omnis are prime versions.

This is that sexy Night Gyr - http://shinyodama.tripod.com/images/Night_Gyr_colour.jpg

Here we go!

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 09:13 AM

The area has some hills and elevation, but not a lot, and a bit of rough, and that’s it. No woods, grass, pavement, buildings- nothing else.

Turn 1 - We win init. This may end quickly. We pushed on the south flank, they on the north. They have six mechs they moved forward. I focus some fire on the Man O War, who moved out in front.

We begin to crack the armor of their Man o War with our Blood Asp, who hits an ER Small laser
They crack the armor of our Starslayer with a Thor and hit a medium laser on it
Their Uller nails the LA of our Starslayer with its LB5X and hits two actuators there.
After lots of damage, our Viper nails the hip and lower leg actuators on their Man o War
After taking 160+ damage, it falls hard. Our Starslayer took 40+ and is still standing.

Good first turn for us! We savaged one of their heaviest mechs, and that’s a good start.

Turn 2 – We lose init. Their Man o War manages to stand. We have to take out those Cougars, they pack so much weaponry on a little body. That prime running around? Two large pulse lasers and two LRM10s. On a 35 ton mech. That’s ridiculous, but they are slower mechs (5/8 movement). We need to tack that thang down. They run a Black Lanner at us, and then a Fire Falcon. I hop the Starslayer behind a level 1 hill. A Fire Falcon bases, and it above, my Uller.

ER Large Laser from their Black Lanner #2 hits the Head of my Atlas and goes internal, but hits nothing there. Their Fire Falcon Prime #1 hits the LA and destroys it, of our Uller
Our Blood Asp gest a limb blown off their RA of the Man o War
ER Large Laser from their Uller nails the H of our Atlas with an ER Large Laser and destroys the mech and it is down. Nasty!!!
Our Vulture destroys the LT and CT of their Fire Falcon Prime #1.
Nobody falls

That was not a good round.

Turn 3 – We win initiative at least. At least we still have the gauss on the Uller and I’ll keep it going for now. Their Uller charges our north flank. A Blank Lanner’s MASC forces it to freeze and it hits its hip actuator and stays standing. Don’t know how that happened. I leap the Starslayer adjacent and next to their Uller. They push forward with the other Black Lanner, Fenris, Fire Falcon, and Cougar. Their Fenris runs next to, and above, my Blood Asp.

Our Blood Asp destroys the RT of their Man o War
Our Highlander’s Gauss nails the LT of their Cougar Prime and hits the engine twice and LRM10 once
Their Cougar Prime’s large pulse laser tears into the H of our Uller and destroys it. Two dead pilots, damn!
Our StarSlayer destroys the CT of their Uller
Our Shadow Cat Prime nails the engine once on their Cougar D
Then our Vulture hits the Cougar Prime’s H with its large pulse laser and its dead. As well as a RA and RL.
Our Viper tears into their Fenris and this the enginex2 in the RT, and then destroys it.
Elementals savage our Highlander.
Their Fenris fell and destroys its LA
Despite taking 40+, our Highlander remains on its feet.

So, we took out an injured Cougar, an unwounded Uller and savaged a Fenris, while they took out a damaged Uller. That’s a good swap, although we’ve now lost two pilots.

Turn 4 – We win init. The Fenris rises and runs far. I leap our Viper near their non-wounded Black Lanner. I try to put some weapons into the MASC’d Black Lanner to drop it to the ground.

Our Rifleman IIc destroys the RT of their Cougar D
Our Blood Asp follows by hitting its gyro once
Their Black Lanner stays up
We had three mechs with 20+ damage (Blood Asp, Lao Hu, Viper) and none fell
Their Cougar D falls and hits its CT and this the gyro and engine enough times for a shut down.

Turn 5 – We win init again. That was a good turn we fought, because we finished off a Cougar, and began to put some long range weapons into their Night Gyr. I still want to put down the wounded Man o War and Fenris, but both have very few weapons remaining, so for now, it’s all about taking down major threats. I MASC run the Shadow Cat by their Fenris. I decide to be aggressive with our Viper and leap it near a few of their units in the south.

Our Rifleman Iic nails the engine on their Night Gyr once
Their Loki Prime #1 nails the LPL and a heat sink on our RFL IIc’s LA
Our Blood Asp destroys the LT of their Night Gyr , then nails thegyro once and engine twice more on the CT. Shut down city.
Before it died our Vulture destroyed its RA as well
Despite taking just 20+ damage, our Viper falls.

Turn 6 – We’ve taken their leader off the board, and win initiative. Elementals move out to get around our Viper. Their Fenris runs behind our Shadow Cat. They begin to move Thors and Lokis down from range and guard things less this turn. Looks like they are beginning to consider a hail mary. Our Viper stands and runs behind a hill, but some Elementals were hiding here and it doesn’t look good.

Their Black Lanner Prime #2 gets a through armor crit and nails the engine on our Shadow Cat
Their Fire Falcon Prime #2 hits the targeting computer on our Viper, and then follows with a limb blown off, LL
Our Vulture hits the gyro twice on their Black Lanner Prime #2. Dead mech.
Elementals crack the gyro of our Viper
Our Vixen destroys the CT of their Fenris
Falling? Viper, Fire Falcon Prime

Turn 7 – We win init again. I want to leave the Viper on the map, in order to sacrifice it, and use that turn to finish off and damage more of their stuff, but I just don’t see it worth the risk. I eject the mech after they move some folks over. The Fire Falcon tried to rise once and fell, but it does a second time and based the Viper‘s spot. In order to run over to the Viper’s spot, their other Black Lanner freezes its MASC. It falls down. Thors are leaping over as well. A Loki B is flanking us in the north. I focus fire on a Loki this turn.

Our Blood Asp destroys the RA of their Loki Prime
Our Vulture follows that up by opening it up in a few places, and hitting an ER PPC of it.
Their Loki B destroys the LA of their Starslayer
Our Starslayer nails the Loki Prime;s LT, and destroys it, damage transfers to the CT< it hits the engine and shuts it down. Our Rifleman IIc will destroy its LL as well.
Elemental armor peppers out Lao Hu , for 40+ damage.

No one falls.

Well, we took out an undamaged Loki, and they destroyed an arm on a Starslayer that was wounded already. That’s a pretty good swap.

We offer hejira, but they keep pushing.

Turn 8 – We start things off by losing that initiative. I leap the Starslayer 5 spaces next to the west edge. Their wounded Black Lanner fails to stand once, twice, then stays in the same space. I begin to push forward to end this. I have barely touched stuff like the PXH that can lead the way. Their Fire Falcon rushes our Highlander. They push as well. Thors in the south, and the Loki in the north, and the Hunchback IIc has moved forward from guarding the fire support mehs to popping out.

Blood Asp – Destroys LRM 100 on Black Lanner, explosion takes out the LT and blacks out the pilot.
Rifleman IIc – Destroys the LA, LT, and CT of the Fire Falcon
Thor B – Smashes the H of our Highlander with its LRM 20 missiles
Thor D – Hits the Starslayer and destroys its LL.
Vulture – Destroys the LA of their Loki B
PXH IIc – Nails the LL and LT of their Loki B and destroys both

Loki B falls and destroys RT, dead mech (XL engine)

This turn they lost the barely touched Loki B, And the Black Lanner is now unconscious.

Now they accept hegira. They have a Hunchback IIc, Thor B, Thor D, Man o War (savaged) and 5 squads of Elemental Armor.

We have won!

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 09:39 AM

Fire Falcon, RT, H, LL, RL, RA, LA
Fire Falcon, RA, RL, LL, H, RT
Uller H, LL, RL, RA, LA, RT, LT
Fenris RA, H, LL, LT, RL

Cougar Prime, missing H, RA, RL

Cougar D missing RT, gyrox2, engine

Man o War, reattach RA, missing RT
Night Gyr, enginex5, gyro, missing LT, RA

Black Lanner Prime #2, MASC frozen, hip actuator, gyrox2

Black Lanner Prime #1, missing LT, blacked out pilot

Loki Prime, missing RA, LT, engine, LL

Loki B, missing LA, RT, LT, LL

Ours:

Uller missing LA, H, dead pilot
Atlas missing H, and pilot
Rifleman IIc hit LPL
Shadow Cat, engine
Viper, tc, reattach LL, gyro
Starslayer, missing LA, LL

Kills – Vulturex3, Starslayerx2, Blood Asp, Vixen, Rifleman IIc

We salvaged their:

Cougarx2, Black Lannerx2, Night Gyr, Lokix2

And we get the pieces of the mechs that we blew up

We lost two pilots, and can salvage all of the damage we took

We captured the two blacked out pilots and they are our Bondsmen.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 10:16 AM

Meanwhile, the battle in the air was easily won by our side.

As agreed, they fix up the salvaged and damaged mechs and fighters for free. Hell’s Black Aces lost some fighters, but with the ones gained and fixed, they’ll be one fighter up (they’ll have 19 fighters, but just 18 pilots, no bondsman were captured)

We look over their DropShips. This is not the best front line units, so they don’t have the most advanced tech the clans have ever seen or anything. We’ll take a Broadsword, basically a clan version of a Leopard carrier, it can carry 5 mechs. Now it does have solid armor, weapons, and speed, but it’s no assault DropShip, it’s a carrier. But we take it for our own. We like the name it has, and we keep it. (Green Goblet). We also get the

Magnus has invited the clans to stay on Dustball for a while, and get out of their mechs. As normal, a few Trials and such occur, and there’s quite a few Trials of Position by folks looking to move into the front, after their leader personally lost the battle. A few pilots from the Eyrie group have won vacant spots in the 7th.

Magnus reports the good news to the folks in the Defense Cordon.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 10:34 AM

June 5, 3064 – The battle for Koniz goes poorly, and we get word that Barber’s Marauders II have been destroyed as a unit, while the local militia are doing adequately.

June 7, 3064 – Although not on our “Supposed to” list, we jump from the Dustball system with the KF charged JumpShip we borrowed, plus a trio of Unions on, including the empty one.

We arrive at a pirate point in the Koniz system. In system some Falcons were dropped, and then left and the transports and WarShips moved on. There are some JumpShips and escorts by the jumppoints.

June 9, 3064 – Our two Unions and the Aces Titan arrive at the planet, and Hell’s Black Aces swarm about, keeping the handful of fighters not involved in the ongoing battles away.

We contacted the units of Barber. Most don’t want to be taken in by the Falcons, and they can’t get to the local militia to help out them either. They are being hunted by more than 70 Elementals. So we offer them a way off planet, if they want it. All of them do.

We gather up 6 Marauder II mechs with their pilots in various levels of destruction, and another 5 mech pilots are with them. The Marauder IIs had two companies of tanks, all destroyed here, and there are three vehicle crew that we rescue. They had about four fighters survive of their 15, but they joined the militia and are helping there. We blast off, and return to the Pirate point before the local clans can arrive from the jump points.

Unfortunately, Major Susan Barber died in the battle protecting the retreating flank. XO Captain Teresa Larsen is here with her mech though. She is in charge.

June 13, 3064 – We arrive back at Dustball, and the local Falcons haven’t even left yet. We unload the Marauder IIs and begin to fix and repair them. They agree to help us in Dustball while we’re here garrisoning the place. We pick up a trio of tanks for their crew. We hand out the Inner Sphere mecs we replaced in our unit temporarily to the 5 pilots that we saved.

They are an elite unit.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 11:00 AM

June 21, 3064 – The clan folks have jumped out of the Dustball System.

Many nearby worlds have fallen to the first waves of Falcon folks such as Koniz

Victor Ian Steiner-Davion has brought a large number of forces with him, and he is teaming up with the Defense Cordon, Clan Wolf-in-Exile, Adam Steiner, Archer Christifori, and many others to bring some pain to the Falcons.

June 24, 3064 – We have been asked to attend a local conference getting ready on Arc-Royal. Command circuits are available. We are paid for the entire three months garrison deal, and told that losing Dustball is minor compared to all of the worlds under siege right now.

The Marauder IIs have joined us as well, in the 4th Union (which was supposed to be for clan salvaged mechs, but, okay, why not?).

They have become a 4th company under the command of Magnus and Kilts and Commandos–

Larsen Company (Their unit changed names after each person who ran it, so…)

6 Marauder IIs
5 other IS mechs we replaced
3 tanks

All mechs are elite, and the tanks are regular (We’ll figure them out later if we have too)

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 11:15 AM

July 13, 3064 – Magnus unloads on Arc-Royal.

July 18, 3064 – A large set of battle-plans have been drawn up. Two major offensive are planed against the Falcon. One, Operation: Bludgeon, is aimed at hitting worlds the Falcons have just captured ,in order to retake them. The seconds, Operation: Audacity, is aimed at hitting the Falcons in their own territory.

We are offered a spot with Audacity. It’s ultimate goal is to hit and maybe retake Twycross, as well as many other worlds in the region. The goal is to break up lines ,force them to return and more.

Because we just raided Blair Atholl, our information on the Falcons is given to the local folks, and it seems like they are plucky, missing the on-going battles of Clan space, and this seems to be more about testing, blooding, and getting experience for their troops, as well as taking worlds.

We have been assigned to the deepest world in the Falcons territory – Butler, that is being targeted by Audacity. There are a few issues with Butler, including a local WarShip in the system that guards it. We are going in without any other units. We are loaned JumpShips with KF engines in order to get us in more quickly., and to better time our attack waves. Ours head back to CC.

We are signed on a retainer contract.

After getting things ready, we launch, along with the rest of the Audacity operation, which is led by General Christifori.

July 23, 3064 – While on Arc-Royal, the Black Aces introduce us to the Blue Star irregulars, who are also involved. They have a Fredesa class WarShip. The Aces told us they think the Irregulars might be ready to sell. They wanted it at first, but it’s been a major drain on their resources, and they’ve not kept it up well. We ask them if they want to sell, and they say no, not right now. But if they were to sell, they agree to approach us, since selling it to K&C or the Celestial Coalition would not upset the balance of power between the houses.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 11:30 AM

October 17, 3064 – We arrive, right on schedule, in the Butler system. There is a Black Lion class WarShip around the planet, and Magnus discusses it. This is a Battle Cruiser, very powerful, usually used as the command WarShip for galaxies and whole clans. While Jade Falcon has always had a lot (4 or 5?), Magnus has no idea why it would be out there, this far away from space.

Magus contacts the local leader. They have just two trinaries of the 9th Falcon Talon Cluster of Gamma Galaxy. Star Colonel Dev Iler responded to the batchall. His troops are veteran (equal to IS elite).

He will defend Butler with all of his forces.

We are granted safcon to Butler.

October 19, 3064 – On our way down, we notice that the WarShip is looking very beat up and savaged. It was damaged a while ago. The Butler Ship Yards, built by Falcon a few years ago and making JumpShips, is also here, but in another planet in the system, and guarded by a separate group of defenders. It’s naval only (no ground base, just the shipyards).

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 12:01 PM

October 20, 3064 – We arrive on the planet of Butler and meet the Star Colonel.

We want Butler, but they can’t let us have the system, which would include the Ship Yards, the only place Jade Falcon can service and repair their naval assets. None are under repair, but we see DropShips and fighters out there. Defending the system would require the Star Colonel to add them to his forces.

We just want Butler in this Trial of Possession, not the Shipyards nor the system.

Agreed.

We will fight tomorrow, in the desert of Skava. We are using our entire force, but they have no aerospace assets guarding the world (they are by the Shipyards) so we bid away our Aces.

We will be using the full battalion. We have Command Company, plus the salvaged mechs from Dustball, and the folks there too. We have 46 mechs (we lost three pilots and captured two), and we have a point of 5 elementals as well. Plus the 18 tanks. We don’t feel Larsen Company is ready for action yet, they are still using a lot of new mechs and they have damaged Marauder IIs not fully repaired yet.

They will get the Broadsword we just captured if we lose.

Instead of fighting in a huge melee, we will be fighting three trials, one company of our mechs against two of their stars. The winner of two out of three wins the Trial of Possession.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 12:09 PM

October 21, 3064 - We have agreed to send out our weakest company to begin things, against their greenest one.

3rd Company:

Rooster
We moved a veteran pilot elsewhere here.

Cyclops
Blood Asp B (gauss, 2x LRM 20, 4x Medium pulses)
Highlander
Starslayer
Hunchback
Razorback
Uller
Sha Yu
Catapult
Shootist
Bushwacker
5 Elementals

We have 11 mechs, that are mostly regular, and the point of 5 elementals as well, (that are clan regular).

Our foes?

Cougar
Koshi
Thor
2x Loki
Fenris
Ryoken
Black Lanner
Masakari
Uller

It’s fairly light, and again, all are veteran for clans.

This is their Black Lanner omnimech, one of their common medium mechs.

http://www.angelfire.com/or2/blackcathome/adderswrath/mechs/images/blacklanner2.jpg

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 05:05 PM

The desert is cool today. We set up our units and get ready….

We win initiative. The Desert this chose is dead flat. No elevation, woods, roughs, nothing. This part of the desert does not have massive sand issues, it’s a rocky, flat landscape. They must have wanted to remove any chance of us using tactics or the landscape against them.

Turn 1 – We set up a wedge in the middle, led by our Cyclops, Highlander, and Blood Asp. The Elementals are right under the Blood Asp. I have a Hunchback and Shootist escorting them, due to their heavy guns. Everybody just races for each other, no attempt to hide, dodge, or run away. This battle could be very savage and very quick.

Despite the first turn, we moved at each other so fast that we are in medium range of most long range weapons (A few short ranges) and already within line of fire of medium lasers and such. We concentrate fire on that Cougar and Uller. I want to drop a pair of mechs to give us numbers, and I want to pull down multiple weapons right now. That is the Uller A with a gauss rifle, and the 2x ER PCC Cougar. Both are strong mechs with light armor (because they are light mechs). They focus fire mostly on our Cyclops.

Our Highlander’s gauss slug slips into the Uller’s LA and just smashes it. LRMs follow up and destroy it.
Their Uller’s gauss smashes the LT of our Cyclops, after other mechs peppered it, and goes internal, taking out an LRM 10.
Our Bushwacker’s LRM5 nails the RA of their Uller and hits the gauss rifle, it explodes, and destroys the arm.
After cracking open the Cougar in four places, our Sha Yu’s ER Large Laser knifes into their Cougar’s LL and destroys it. Dead leg. ER Medium Lasers from the Shootist adds a gyro hit to its CT.
Masakari weapons fire into the Cyclops and destroy its LA. It then hits a pair of leg actuators in the LL.

Their Uller falls and the pilot blacks out. He Cougar falls too, and in doing, breaks the RL off. Our Cyclops falls hard too.

Turn 2 – We lose init and keep on driving at each other. Our Bushwacker bases the downed Cougar, and our Sha Yu the Uller. They come in hard, and base our Cyclops with their Black Lanner and Ryoken. I keep it on the field as a way to even stuff.

They just dole out a lot of weapons into our Cyclops, and destroy both RT and LT for a shutdown mech (XL Engine), they also destroyed a leg too.
Our Shootist’s AC20 carves into their Fenris’s CT.
Our Hunchbacks AC20 hits the same spot, and the Fenris’s CT is destroyed

Unfortunately, we miss with a lot of major weapons on our mechs (they ran fast + we aren’t the sharpest shooters in the world).

After weapons fire, we kick the downed mechs, and the Bushwacker kicks and destroys the Cougar’s H (it was still firing this turn, so I needed to focus on it). Dead mech! We kick the Uller’s CT but nothing major follows.

Turn 3 – Their Uller is still blacked out. We win init and finish closing with everyone. Our Elementals have gotten on their Uller’s hex. Many mechs have based each other. This is going to be nasty. We do focus some weapons on the Masakari though.

Their Masakari just savages our Bushwacker, which had based it. The Bushwhacker loses a RT after an ammo hit and then it’s LA. (XL Engine shut down of our own).
Our Blood Asp goes internal on the Masakari in three places
Our Catapult destroys the Masakari’s LA.
Their Thor nails the ammo on our Catapult in a through armor critical and it ignites. Boom! CASE keeps it alive (no XL engine).
Our Highlander’s gauss shot cracks the H of their Loki Prime, and it’s dead. Barely even touched!
Our Elementals aim and blow off the H of their Uller.
Our Razorback nails the Masakari’s CT and hits an engine once.

Our Catapult falls, hard. The pilot blacks out as well (good for the goose, good for the gander I suppose)

Despite taking a massive ton of damage, and needed a 10 to remain standing, their Masakari does just that. That’s alright, kicks time!

We kick:

The Masakari with the Hunchback, Starslayer. Hit a pair of leg actuators. It falls hard.
Our Sha Yu kicks their Ryoken

They Kick:

Masakari glancing blow on the Hunch, it’s fine.
Their Thor A kicks our downed Catapult, and destroys its CT. Dead mech.

We lost a undamaged Bushwacker and Catapult. They lost a Loki and we finished that Uller. Meanwhile, we devastated that Masakari.

Turn 4 – Very little movement. Mostly just maneuvering for kicks, punches, and such. Their Masakari failed to stand twice, and broke its LL on the second fall.

Our Highlander’s gauss cracks open their Thor A twice.
Their Ryoken Prime nails the H of our Sha Yu, already a bit damage from missile fire earlier, and the pilot dies and the H is destroyed.
Our Starslayer’s large laser destroys the RT of their Masakari and it shuts down (engine hit) (we also destroy the other leg with our Uller).
Our Blood Asp destroys the Thor A’s LA.
Our Elementals destroy its LL.

They dealt 60+ damage to our Highlander, but it still stands. Other than their Thor’s lost leg, none of their tumbles.

After a ton of kicks, their other Thor is on the ground, the Thor A gets kicked in the LT and the ammo is hit and destroyed. Our Razorback is missing a RL.

We offer them hegira.

They have:

Basically dead Thor A
Thor Prime
Damaged Ryoken
Black Lanner
Koshi

Three untouched (ish) mechs, and not a lot there.

We have an untouched Blood Asp, lost about 40% of its armor Highlander, Shootist, Starslayer, Uller, Hunchback, 5 Elementals, Wolfhound and a damaged Razorback. They have four mechs standing and fighting, two heavies, a medium and a light. We have two assaults, a heavy Shootist, a full squad of Elementals, the nasty mediums of Hunchback and Starslayer, plus a light in the Wolfhound.

We are in a much better position. They have four mechs left. We have 6, plus the elementals, and our mechs are better and nastier.

They accept our offer, and we have won the first wave.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 05:17 PM

Them:

Uller missing LA, RA, H
Cougar, missing LL, RL gyro, H
Loki Prime missing h

Fenris, H, RT, LT, LL, RL, RA, LA

Masakari missing LA, RT, engine, LL, RL

Thor A, missing LA, LL, LT

Ours:

Cyclops,LRM 10, missing LA, hit actuators, RT, LT, LL
Bushwhacker missing RT, LA

Catapult RA, LA, LT, LL, RL, H, pilot blacked out.

Sha Yu missing H, dead pilot

Razorback missing Rl

Kills – Hunchback, Buchwacker, Elementals, Highlander, Starslayer,

We salvaged their:

Cougar, Uller, Loki, Masakari, Thor. We get the Fenris parts as well.

We lost a Catapult, and a pilot.

Two pilots of theirs were blacked out, we captured them as bondsmen.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 05:26 PM

After an hour of cleaning things up and such, we move to the second battle. This time, 2nd Company heads out on our behalf:

2nd Company:

Flash
Mother

Zeus
Blood Asp B (gauss, 2x LRM 20, 4x Medium pulses)
Highlander
Starslayer
Hunchback
Shadow Cat
Anubis Now a Black Lanner Prime (with LRm 10, SRM6, ER Large Laser, 2x ER Mediums)
Vulture
Raven Now a Cougar A (with twin LRM20 launchers)
Sha Yu
Shootist
Enfield Now a Loki B (Gauss rifle, LB5 X, 2x SRM 6 with Artemis, ER Small Laser)

This company has a few veteran, a green pilot in the Sha Yu, and some regulars.

Our foes?

Mad Cat Prime
Turkina Prime (With 2x ER PPC, 2x LRM15, and 2x LB 5X)
Thor Prime
Cougar
Man o War B
Vulture C (with 2x gauss)
Shadow Cat Prime
Fire Falcon
Nova
Black Lanner

Their assault class Turkina and Mad Cat are clan elite, the rest are clan veteran.

The Turkina is supposed to be like a jumping Daishi in a lot of ways. It's just a heavy, jumping, nasty, assault mech.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/186/367933951_8f22c1d9b1.jpg

Alright here we go.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 08:39 PM

Once again, the featureless map is here, and ready to rock.

Turn 1 – We lose init, and the same battle strategy ensues. Just moving in fast….holy crap! Our Shadow Cat’s gauss rifle shell just blasted the H of their Nova. I wish I had targeted a bigger mech! Nasty, we focus fire on their Turkina, and open up its RL and hit two actuators. It took 60+ damage and fell. Otherwise, not a lot of hits by anyone. Two of our mechs, Hunchback and Loki B took 40+ but are fine.

Turn 2 – Now things are going to get serious. I hope! It’s all their Turkina can do to stand, and it can’t move (movement was reduced, and it’s normally just a 3/5 mech, so it just has enough movement to rise). As such I have much better numbers to hit it. I focus all of our fire on that assault mech. Of I can follow up the death of the Nova last round with the Turkina this one, I drop them to 8 mechs quickly, and remove their biggest threat.

Their Vulture C drops two gausses on the RL of my Hunchback and destroys it. Nasty!
Their Cougar tears into our Hunchback’s LA and destroys it too.
Our Shootist’s AC20 nails the RT of their Turkina and hits an LRM 15.
Their Black Lanner cascades an ER Large Laser at the CT (internal) of our Loki and hits the gyro twice. It falls down. Well, we both got in incredibly lucky shots I suppose.

Their Turkina and our Hunchback and Loki both fall down. The Loki is dead (destroyed gyro). Their Turkina took 100+ damage, but still no kill shot on it. That sucks.

Turn 3 – We push forward even more. I win init. We base their downed Turkina, and it again stands, but doesn’t move. I turn the Hunchback. I still have that AC20, and I intend to use it until they kill me. They run up a Fire Falcon and hop a Shadow Cat next to it.

We fire the Zeus’s hot laser lovin into their Turkina and destroy its RT.
Then our Cougar’s LRM volleys nail it and destroy its RL and LA. We also hit its gyro once
Our Highlander nails the ammo in their Cougar’s RT and it explodes. The pilot blacks out from the feedback.
Their Black Lanner destroys the CT of our Hunchback. Dead mech.

Their Turkina falls along with our Zeus (even though it just took 20+ damage). We kick the Turkina with our Starslayer and hit its engine once and gyro once – dead mech. Their Man o War kicked our Shootist but it’s still standing.

Turn 4 – We lose. We stand the Zeus, and like their mech, are unable to move it much afterwards, and they move some mechs next to it. Three all told (Fire Falcon, Black Lanner, Man o War). We set up some nice lanes of fire into their mass.

Their mechs cascade virtually all of their fire into the Zeus this turn, and it works. Takes 120+_ damage, loses a LA and LT, and shuts down (XL engine)

Our Starslayer destroys the LT on their Fire Falcon
Then our Vulture destroys the Falcon’s RT and it shuts down (engine hits in both torsos)
Our Sha Yu also destroyed its RL too.
Our Blood Asp tears open their Mad Cat, and it’s critical in two places.
Then our Shadow Cat lances a gauss slug and hits the LRM20 in the Mad Cat’s RT.

Kicking time! Our Shootist kicks their Black Lanner to the ground after hitting a hip actuator
Their Thor kicks our Black Lanner, then nails its RL actuators.
Our Sha Yu misses a kick and falls. Dummy!

Both Lanners fall.

Not a bad turn. We have them down to:

Thor, Black Lanner (with hip damaged), Shadow Cat, Vulture, Mad Cat (damaged in multiple places), Man o War. Their Cougar pilot has not woken up yet.

They have us down to

Highlander, Blood Asp, damaged Starslayer, damaged Black Lanner, Shadow Cat, Vulture, Shootist, Sha Yu, Cougar A.

That’s an advantage to us.

We offer them hegira, but since that would result in them losing the world, they keep on going.

Turn 5 – They wrest initiative from us. Our Black Lanner rises and moves a bit. Theirs falls once, twice, then rises. Just massive basing in the middle. Our Sha Yu scramble sup and away easily.

Their Thor just ends any chance of our Starslayer continuing this battle after it based the Thor, by destroying its LL and RL both.
Our Blood Asp nails the wounded leg of their Black Lanner with its LRM20s and destroys it.
Our Vulture follows that with a smashery of the Black Lanners RT. Dead torso.
Their Mad Cat just unloads with a full salvo of fury on the slowed Black Lanner and it loses three pieces .
But that’s the last salvo that Mad Cat will unloose, after our Cougar A’s LRMs just hit its exposed parts over and over again. We hit the ammo in both torsos (machine gun in right, LRM in left) and the pilot blacks out, and the mechs shuts down.

Most of the mechs that I wanted to target are gone. Umm….I’ll kick their Thor with my Shadow Cat I guess? It hits, but does very little.

Turn 6 – Cougar is still blacked out. They are just blood-frenzy now. They base all of our mechs. Although I run back with some.

Our Sha Yu destroys the Ct of their downed Black Lanner.
Their Thor hits the H of our Vulture with its LRM salvo. It goes internal, and hits the sensors and life support once each.
Our Vulture returns fire and destroys their Thor’s RA.
Their Vulture nails the LL of our Vulture and blows it off.
Our Blood Asp hits a pair of leg actuators on their Thor.
A gauss slug from their Shadow Cat blasts our Sha Yu and destroys its RA.
Our Highlander’s SRMs find the Thor and hit it s few times, and destroy its LB10X ac in the LA.

Our Sha Yu stands but our Vulture tumbles as does their Thor.

Our Blood Asp kicks and destroys the LL of their Shadow Cat. Their Man o War kicks the downed Vulture and nails the LA and destroys it. Our Shootist kicks and hits the Man o War, and it falls. Cougar still does not wake up.

Turn 7 – We win init. Their Man O War fails once, and the pilot blacks out. We base the Thor and it has nowhere to go when it stands. Our Cougar’s LRMs hit the engine once on their Thor. Then AC20 from the Shootist destroys the Thor’s LT after hitting the ammo there. Dead mech (XL Engine). Their Shadow Cat is hit numerous times and its CT and numerous other parts are destroyed. (Kill by our Highlander).

All of their mechs are passed out or dead. We have won the battlefield.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 10:08 PM

Theirs:

Nova missing H

Turkina missing RT, LA, RL, gyrox2, enginex3

Cougar missing RT, blacked out pilot.

Fire Falcon, missing RT, LT, RL

Black Lanner LT, LA, H, RL, RA

Mad Cat missing RT, LT

Thor missing RA, LB 10X, LT. engine x3.

Shadow Cat H, RA

Ours:

Hunchback LL, RA, RT, LT, H
Loki, gyro twice.
Starslayer missing LL, RL

Sha Yu missing RA
Black Lanner, missing RL, LA, LT

Zeus, missing LA, LT

Vulture hit sensors, life support; reattach LL, missing LA

Kills – Shadow Cat, Starslayer, Vulture, Cougar, Sha Yu, Shootist, Highlander

We capture three pilots and salvaged their Thor, Mad Cat, Fire Falcon, Cougar, Man o War, Turkina, and Nova.

Only our Hunchback is a pure loss, and we didn’t lose any pilots this time.

The third battle will not be fought and we have taken the planet of Butler.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 10:19 PM

Oct 24, 3064 – We are giving the Falcons about a week to get their things together and head out. The Black Lion Warship, the Red Eyrie, is controlled by a Falcon captain, and it was badly damaged in the Refusal War of 3057 against Clan Wolf. They brought it here and built the shipyards here, and began to do repairs when nothing more pressing was needed.

That was seven years ago. They have restored the engine and some weapons, but not all, and the internal structure since needs some work, but it structurally sound, and lots of outside armor is in bits and tatters. There is a lot more that needs to be done. They estimate it would take a while to fix it at full strength. More than a year.

The local Falcons will lift off for the shipyards and head there for a while.

We contact the captain of the Red Eyrie and send a batchall for a Trial of Possession for it.

They can’t use it in combat, so they agree to use their fighters against Hell’s Black Aces. But they demand something of equal worth.

Magnus points out that most Inner Sphere units would just take it. They would use a Trial at all, we could just capture it right now. The fact that we are using a Trial at all shows something. But, nevertheless, they won’t be budged. Magnus agrees to leave Butler if we lose, and our unit won’t come back for six months (although we can’t promise other units won’t follow). But they give us their full crew for it as well.

They agree.

We are using 18 of Hell’s Black Aces, upgraded with some fancy clan fighters, and we offer to loan them our two omnifighters for the battle, but they are fine with what they know.

They’ve captured one WarShip and DropShip already from Falcon. Can they do the same here?

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 11:07 PM

We have –

18 elite fighters, Black Aces

They have –

20 regular fighters, Falcon

The clanners have lost a lot of battles in aerospace, and good pilots have been able to beat them again and again. Snow Raven infamously lost a battle against a periphery nation (Outworlds Alliance) this year too. Many battles were won (including the Aces, as a reminder, and they are some of the best fighters we have in the Inner Sphere, and they are….not)

Hold on…

Let’s grab some dice

The Aces win, and lost 8 fighters, three of which are salvageable.

The clans lost 13 fighters, four of which are salvageable

So we salvage the four from the clans, hand them to the Aces, and they use the extra fighter they had from the previous campaign to keep their numbers at 18, although it will take around 45 days or so to get them back in that shape.

We have captured the Black Lion class Red Eyrie (in in the major universe, the Black Lion was taken by General Christifori, who led the attack on Butler in lieu of us, and then just gave it to Wolf-in-Exile since he didn’t want it or want to fix it up. So we took it with a Trial, and now we have the right to it. And we won’t give it away.)

We discuss getting it refitted, since no major naval assets are being fixed right now. Could we barter for it? We offer money, or the Broadsword DropShip we took.

They aren’t really that interested. So we’ll just use it as a glorified JumpShip for now.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 11:27 PM

Nov 3, 3064 – The Falcon presence on planet Butler has ended as the last of their forces blast off to the local Shipyards.

Nov 5, 3064 – We get word that major strikes have been successful in multiple venues. Twycross is undergoing a huge battle on the planet. But the Falcons struck deeper into Lyran space as well.

Nov 12, 3064 – After attacking the Ghost Bear Dominion and getting trounced, Hell’s Horses are sent packing, and their leader is killed and replaced by a Warden Khan, and the Horses begin to move to a more Warden viewpoint.

Nov 17, 3064 – A huge naval flotilla from the clan front has jumped into the Butler system and move out to the Shipyards. They contact us. They aren’t interested in fighting for Butler, not right now. A damaged Aegis heavy cruiser begins to get repaired and serviced.

Nov 25, 3064 – General Christifori just captured Twycross, and blasts off leaving behind defenders.

The major battle remaining is Blair Atholl. Victor Davion has landed with ComGuards to fight against the Falcons here.

Abe Sargent

12-26-2014, 11:44 PM

Dec 15, 3064 – Archer Christifori also arrived on Blair Atholl to support Vic.

We begin discussions with the Aces. We are choosing not to extend their contract via emergency clause as of right now, and if they want to leave and head out for something else, they are welcome to do so.

Dec 21, 3064 – General Adam Steiner arrives at the nearby system of Blackjack and begins taking more systems from the Falcons.

Dec 28, 3064 – After engaging in battle on Blackjack, saKhan Samantha Clees arrives in system, grabs the troops, and invites the General and his forces to come to Blair Atholl. They will be granted safcon there.

Jan 10, 3065 - The Aces leave Butler and head for Blair Atholl, where they have signed a quick contract with the Defense Cordon.

We pay them the balance of their deal. They make a ton of money (Less than we made, so our profit helped to defray their costs). Plus we gave them a lot more, because they helped us win the WarShip. Sure, there’s no WarShip clause in their contract, but we like to be nice when it’s warranted.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 12:45 AM

Feb 20, 3065 – Khan Marthe Pryde arrives on Blair Atholl and the strongest units begin to unload there.

Feb 27, 3065 – General Adam Steiner lands on BA as well.

March 11, 3065 – General Steiner, and Victor come to an agreement. The Jade Falcon incursion has ended, the planets held have, mostly, switched sides, and Blair Atholl will be held jointly as a sort of training grounds between Lyran and Jade Falcon forces.

We are contracted to keep Butler safe for now. We expect the Falcons to come and smash us soon. We have a planet deep in their LZ and next to their shipyards. They won’t let us remain free for long.

April 8, 3065 – Diamond Shark arrives at Twycross and issues a batchall for the system from the local defenders.

April 14, 3065 – Twycross falls to a very determined Shark attack.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 01:14 AM

June 8, 3065 – Another large Falcon flotilla arrives in Butler, this time they begin to make their way to the planet. Magnus grants them a safe conduct and passage.

They initially want batchall for our WarShip first. Magnus demands their Aegis WarShip, damaged in the Shipyards as the security in case we win. It’s only fair as a counter-demands, and the Clan admit it, and withdraw their batchall for the WarShip, but instead just make it for the planet of Butler.

Magnus agrees to meet them in the desert, with just one warrior, in an Atlas. If we win, we get another Broadsword DropShip, and if they win, they get Butler.

They agree.

June 12, 3065 -

We send out…

Steel in the Blood Asp. This is our best pilot, in our best mech.

They send out an clan elite

We are using the Blood Asp B, with the gauss rifle, 2x LRM 20, 4 medium pulse lasers, enough heat sinks to fire them all, 4/6 movement, and almost max armor for the 90 ton frame.

They have..

Turkina B, with 2x large pulse lasers, 2x er large lasers, 2x medium pulses, 2x er mediums, 3/5/3 movement, Targeting computer, 25/50 heat sinks. It’s a nasty Turkina of love.

BV?

They have 7661 with their elite pilot. We have 5655. Not that close, unfortunately.

But anything can happen, right?

Right?

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 09:49 AM

Again, the flat open area awaits

Turn 1 – Steel runs, and they stand still.

Our gauss cracks their LL
Our LRms hits for 12 and a miss (we needed a 5 on that miss)
Medium pulses hit three times.

They cascade every singl weapon for a hit at the Blood Asp.

Asp took 60+ and the Turkina 40+ -= no one falls.

Turn 2 – We lose init. We run and turn five, and they run 4 and base us.

Our Blood Asp:

Gauss at the RT, LRM200s both hit for 12 missiles each, medium pulse laser nails the RT in a through armor critical and nails a jump jet and engine. We hit the LT, go internal and nail a heat sink.

Their Turkina:

Every weapon of their hits again. No misses. They smash the RA and hit our LRM 20 there and the shoulder, then the engine in the LT.

Each mech took 60+ and is standing.

We both kick. They kick us, and we them. Nothing else happens.

Turn 3 – We win init.

They are internal in the RT and LT. They went overheat last turn by 13 from the engine hit and their weapons payload. We are internal in the LT and RA, and 4 overheat from our engine hit. They don’t move….

Hmm.

I run around behind them. (There was nowhere they could run to overheat like that they had 1/2/2 movement and when we won initiative, we won.)

They can’t get every weapon on us. They only put another 40+ on us, and we drop another 60+ on them…plus…our gauss blows off their LL.

We kick the downed mech and nail it in the CT.

Turn 4 – We lose init. We walk around their mech. Despite the huge number they need, they stand (clan elite pilot is nasty) and turn to face us. They have all of their weapons when we have lost an LRM20.

Their ER Medium Laser lances out and nails the gauss in our LA, and it explodes the arm. ZZZT. A large pulse laser stabs us and smashes our LT. Then a final laser lances out and hits our exposed CT and nails the engine twice there and shuts us down. Suck!

But….

Our gauss slug smashes their LA, and then LRM 20 hits the RT a bunch. Then our medium pulse laser follows up and destroys their LT. They also have an engine shut down.

So….um….who wins?

We agree that we both destroyed each other’s mech, and thus both of us won, and we get the second Broadsword and they get the planet. Well bargained and done.

We like the name on this Broadsword as well (Roost of War) and keep it too.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 10:03 AM

June 24, 3065 – We leave Butler, and our contract officially ends as the planet fell to Falcon.

We earned….192 million after expenses (one year deal vs the clans, always worth a ton of money) and paid the Aces…65 mill.

June 28, 3065 – We arrive in Twycross, with the Black Lion, the borrowed JumpShips, our six DropShips we took, and the two Broadswords we gained

Clan Diamond Shark is happy to give us safcon down to the planet.

Diamond Shark has always been willing to deal, and make friends.

They make and sell mechs to the Inner Sphere, and so forth. They want to use Twycross as their new base of operations in the area.

We have fought against six of the invading clans, but never Diamond Shark.

We offer a Trial of Possession for help in fixing our captured mechs. We want 10 clan techs to accompany us, as well as full repair and refit of our salvaged units.

They laugh at Magnus, gently.

They are more willing to sell their services.

They offer to sell us the tech resources here on Twycross that we need, as well as provide local techs, free of charge, to fix our stuff.

We agree to it, and the estimated time of fixing is roughly 3 weeks.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 10:10 AM

Meanwhile, they offer to sell us some mechs they have ready for sale, Ha Otoko BattleMechs and Mad Cat Mark II. The Ha Otoko has no clan building blocks (no clan ferro, XL Engine, double heat sinks, etc). just clan style weapons. It’s cheap, feature a pair of LRM20s and LRM10s, and thus is better than an Archer or many other long range mechs. 6.5 Cbills for one.

Meanwhile they have an upgraded Mark II Mad Cat. It’s a 90 ton mech with 2 gauss rifles, 2 LRM 10s, and 4 er mediums. 4/6/3 movement, 13 tons of ferro armor, endo, the XL engine, and 14/28 heat sinks. If that’s our desire, we can purchase some of those, as well as license the techs needed to keep them operational. 25 mill for a Mad Cat Mark II.

They have a star of Ha Otokos ready to go, and a pair of MC Mk II.

We can buy as many as we want.

What about fixing up the WarShip? What’s the possibility of that?

Let me show you a secret!

The Diamond Shark representative reveals an underground production and restoration facility right here in Twycross. It was built by Steel Viper, when they controlled the planet. The DS Aero Assembly Site Rho is being configured to build one of the Shark’s favorite fighters, and it makes Broadsword DropShips too. It can do some repairs for ships that are atmospheric, and it has a lot of winches and ships that can fly out and do service to a ship in orbit, like,say, our WarShip.

So we could pay to get it refitted here, and they’d be happy to do it for us. It’s better to get them to do it, since the Black Lion was updated with clan tech over the centuries since it left the Inner Sphere with Kerensky.

Repairing it would be pricey, hold on.

The most expensive parts are fine (engine, KF battery, sensors, stuff like that).

It’s a lot of weapons, internal structure, armor, and more.

Looks like it would run around….

About 1 billion CBills to fix up.

We can pay 500k now, and then the rest after they figure out how much it’ll take. And it will take roughly 2 years to finish.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 10:19 AM

A Broadsword is worth a lot of Cbills, does the Shark want the two Broadswords we captured? Not really, so they would only take that deal if they are making money off it. They’d take two Broadswords now as down payment, (They are worth around 575k combined) and then we’d still owe 500k later. That way they make a little money off the trade.

After some negotiation, we get them to toss in a pair of Ha Otoko mechs as well.

Then we give them 100,000 Cbills of the money we made, as a future down-payment, that will reduce future costs, and give them cash to use now to help defray future costs. That’s pouts us at roughly 600,000, right?

Well, we have some mechs we took and salvaged what about them?

They a walk through our mechs to see what we have. Again, we would need to give a lot more than their value to make things work, but…

We have gotten these 30 mechs from this campaign, many of which are already fixed up from the Trials we won.

Kraken
Phoenix Hawk IIcx2
Griffin IIc
Vixen
Viper
Hellhound
Cougarx5
Rifleman IIcx2
Lokix4
Black Lanner x2
Night Gyr
Uller
Thorx2
Masakari
Turkina
Mad Cat
Fire Falcon
Man o War
Nova

We offer them Lokis (19 mill a piece)Thors, (21 mill a pop), and those 6 mechs are 120 mill. We also offer a the Man o War, (26 mill), Nova (11 million) and such. They are really more interested in newer designs, like the Fire Falcon, Cougar, and Black Lanner. (Cougar is 6.1 mill, Black Lanner 18 mill, and Fire Falcon 4.7 mill). We offer them some of each, and we come to a deal. We sell them

Lokix4, Thorx2, Man o War, Uller, Cougarx3, Black Lannerx2, Fire Falcon, Nova, Vixen

For:

253, mill sticker price, and they give us 200 mill in discount for it.

That leaves us just owing 200 mill on the far end, if the costs end up being that much, it’s possible they could be a lot less or more, after they crack it open

A couple of days later we buy the rest of the Ha Otokos with the money we made. We’re happy to be future buyers as well.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 10:37 AM

Things we are leaving Twycross with:

Bondsman –

4 regular, 5 veteran,

2 Vandal Omnifighters
1 squad of Elementals

We bought these!

5 Ha Otoko

These Garrison Units:

Kraken; Phoenix Hawk IIcx2; Griffin IIc; Vixen; Viper; Hellhound; Rifleman IIcx2

These Omnis:

Cougarx2; Night Gyr; Masakari; Turkina; Mad Cat

We lost:

Catapult, 2 Hunchbacks
5 pilots

We replace the Catapult with a Ha Otoko, and the 2 Hunchs permanently with a Hellhound and a Phoenix Hawk IIc

Our five dead pilots are replaced by the 4 regulars and one veteran bondsman. Then we have the other four vets take the Turkina, Mad Cat, Masakari and Night Gyr, and they will join us on our future battles.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 11:32 AM

This is an update for later, but I roll some dice, and here’s the update on our WarShip:

Red Eyrie, Black Lion class, Battle Cruiser, will be completed by Diamond Shark on the 16 of December, and it will run 930k total, so we owe the Sharks another 130k.

So let’s look at this ship more completely:

The Black Lion, clan version, is worth around 15 billion CBills, and we could likely get more because it’s upgraded with clan tech through and through. If I approached an allied state, like the Free Worlds League, or a neutral one like the Combine, that’s a major offer.

What makes the Black Lion so lethal?

It is. The Black Lion, clan version, is the 4th most powerful WarShip of all time by Battle Value. What’s nastier? The Leviathan being used by Ghost Bear is #1, followed by the Mjolnir by the Lyrans, and the Farragut. Number 5? The Inner Sphere Black Lion.

Here’s the Top Twenty by BV:

Leviathan – 381117
Mjolnir – 273208
Farragut – 254469
Black Lion – 249326
Conqueror – 226970
Luxor – 202539
Stefan Amaris – 196548
Tharkad – 194645
McKenna – 193164
Thera (Carrier) – 190425
Defender – 177323
Atreus – 175777
Aegis – 174904
Nightlord – 167669
Dante - 166547
Agamemnon – 164084
Avalon – 156654
Liberator – 152215
Kirishima – 149893
Avatar – 137344

Those include a lot of Ships made right now (Thera for FWL, Agamemnon for FWL too, Avalon for Federated Commonwealth, Mjolnir for Lyran Alliance, Kirishima for Combine) and some of these are clan-only, like the Nightlord and Leviathan. The Black Lion fares well.

The Black Lion:

Has space for 4 DropShips, 10 small craft, and 20 fighters.

It’s faster than our Aegis. It’s the typical 3/5 heavy machine. It has no point defense weaponry for taking down fighters – all of its weapons are naval in nature, and in fact, all are missiles or autocannons.

Ours has the LF battery, the upgraded clan armor from the refit, and hull-sealant unit common among clans.

It’s an awesome piece of work!

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 12:20 PM

Diamond Shark agrees to send a group of folks to the Coalition to make official contact. We send one of our DropShips home with Shark, the once-empty Union now full with Larsen’s Company and a lot of salvage. It’s raring to go. Larsen is leaving behind our extra IS mechs and taking some clan mechs to upgrade their unit even further. So we send the Union back home to the CC. We also have to return the JumpShips we borrowed from the Arc Royal Defense Cordon.

We ask to use Twycross as a staging post for raids against the local clans, but are rejected. Sadly.

July 29, 3065 – We arrive at Arc-Royal. We rent a pair of local JumpShips for the next bit, and return those we borrowed at no cost from the Cordon. General Adam Steiner, despite fighting for the pro-Katrina side, was elevated by Victor and put in control of the region. He won a lot of major battles, and Adam Steiner emerged from the Falcon Incursion as one of the heroes of the Inner Sphere, and is credited for not losing a lot more systems.

Magnus asks around for some contracts. We actually want to return and do some more raids. There’s no reason to stop simply because the Incursion ended.

However the Alliance is not interested in doing any raids into Falcon space right now, and other folks, like the Kell Hounds, Clan Wolf-in-Exile, or any others are not really interested in pushing against the Falcon, particularly in a state-sponsored manner. They want to spend money fixing their stuff and keeping the peace right now.

There’s no reason to stay out here then.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 12:38 PM

August 5, 3065 – Larsen Company, our mech parts, and mechs not being used, and two fighters, arrived at Epsilon Eridani. Duke Essex greets Larsen when they arrive to welcome them, and find out what sort of mission would they like. Sometimes after large battles, a unit wants some downtime. But they are raring to go, so we decide to give them some front line work, rotating them right in.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 02:12 PM

September 12, 3065 – We arrive at the Alyina System in the Falcon OZ. Clan Wolf attacked here in the Incursion, but were forced back off world about 5 months ago. The local units here are the:

5th Falcon Regulars (Mu Galaxy) – veteran, 80% strength
22nd PGC – green, (Lambda Galaxy)
Naval Attack Star - veteran

They grant us safcon down to their world and we have asked for a Trial of Possession for their Odyssey class JumpShip at the jumppoint (they have around 5 of them here), since we don’t own our own, and are renting the two we have.

We put up our Gazelle if we lose.

They would normally want to do an aerospace battle for it, but as we don’t have any fighters, they grant us a battle on the ground.

They are defending a fort they control

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 02:30 PM

September 13, 3065 – Our battle gets underway

We are using Command Company of us, against a full trinary of their veteran front line forces from My Galaxy’s 5th. However, a reckless commander bid away some mechs, and instead is coming at us with 10 mechs and 5 points of Elementals, and a Binary of mechs (10 mechs, 5 squads of Elementals). However, she is coming in heavy for the battle

Our foes:

Turkina
Mad Cat
Night Gyr
2x Fire Falcon
Black Lanner
Loki
Ryoken
Vulture
Dragonfly

All clan vet, and 5 squads of Elementals are as well.

This is the current iteration of our Command Company:

Atlas
Blood Asp B (gauss, 2x LRM 20, 4x Medium pulses) (Steel)
Highlander (Ghost)
Starslayer (Dagger)
Phoenix Hawk IIc
Shadow Cat Prime (Gauss and some lasers)
Uller A (Gauss and some lasers)
Vulture Prime (Longshot)
Wolfhound
Lao Hu
Ha Otoko (with regular clan pilot)
Bushwacker (with new regular clan pilot)

This is their Fire Falcon

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/298/5/4/battletech___fire_falcon_by_shimmering_sword-d5iyb1o.jpg

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 06:13 PM

We are on a map with ferrocrete, some rubble, a few small buildings, all heavily reinforced, and a level 1 wall. But no elevation or trees.

Turn 1 – I lose initi. We are on the south side, and they on the north. I created an attacking wedge of our Atlas, Blood Asp, and Highlander in front, with major units, like our Vulture and Lao Hu and Bushwacker flanked around. The range and scout mechs are on the sides, and they have distance, and some building to move in and around. We can’t see two of their squads, the other three are guarding their rear. They move down to the wall on the north side, and use it for partial cover (no damage to the legs when we hit them, and +1 to be hit). We target a mech a few hexes back of the wall, and a little bit further away, their Night Gyr.

Our Atlas gets things started by cracking the Night Gyr with all of its long range weapons – Gauss, ER Large laser, and 20 missiles from the LRM 20.
More weapons converge on their Night Gyr, and blast away armor in a variety of places exposing it in three areas.
Their Loki carves into our Sha Yu, and opens it up.
A Fire Falcon’s er medium laser hits the Sha Yu’s RT and destroys I – dead mech (XL shutdown)
Our Ha Otoku’s LRMs cascade into their Night Gyr and hit the gyro once and shoulder of the LA.

Their Night Gyr falls after taking 120+ damage, and the gyro hit as well.

Turn 2 – We win init. We begin driving up the center and….wait….our Atlas gets hit by mines? They’ve heavily mined the area! Our Atlas took around 15 damage to its legs. That’s a clear violation of zellbrigen, the clans rules of honor. Magnus, on the sidelines, protests, calling this a surat, bush league tactic that shows no honor! But the response of the commanding officer on the field is that mercenaries like ourselves deserve no honor. Battle continues. Now expecting mines, we takes things more cautiously. Our Wolfhound runs across the area, triggering multiple minefields, and losing its LL in doing so, but opening up a path for our heavier units in the middle. We continue forward. They move their units to the wall, and their Night Gyr fails to stand, twice, and the pilot blacks out on the third fall. Just a couple of their lighter mechs are not against the wall this turn.

A gauss slug from our Uller smashes the RA of their Fire Falcon A and destroys it.
LRM5 shots from the Bushwacker tear off the RT of the FFA as well.
Our Starslayer opens up their Dragonfly Prime RT and LL. Then our Lao Hu’s LB20X smashes it for 12 pellets, and they hit the hip and lower leg actuators on the leg and the machine gun ammo in the RT – boom!
They carve a lot of armor from the damaged and fallen Wolfhound. It loses three parts, and then their Vulture B’s LRM20 missiles destroy the Wolfhound’s CT.
They hit the Atlas with some weapons fire.

The Atlas took 60+ damage (including mines) and is still standing. Their Dragonfly falls and hits it’s LA. It stupidly has SRM4 ammo there, and that it hit, and once again, the explosion blows off the limb, and the double explosion feedback is nasty, and it actually kills the mechwarrior – not blacked out. (MW took damage from the fall, and was hit in the head once already by LB20X shot). The Fire Falcon A also tumbles.

Turn 3 – We win init. Their Night Gyr is still out. We push forward even more. We’ve lost a Wolfhound and Sha Yu to their savaged Fire Falcon and Dragonfly, so it’s basically even by that count (one light and medium each). And we have the Night Gyr down for now as well. They pop their two elementals, hiding behind local buildings, right by our Phoenix Hawk IIc on the east flank. After falling once, the Fire Falcon stands and moves away.

Their Elementals just pepper the PXH IIc with their SRMs and lasers, twice. It took a lot of damage, but not that much in one place. They even hit its head twice for four damage.
Steel’s Blood Asp just pulverizes the LA of their Vulture B.
Our Ha Otoko nails the Vulture’s H with missile fire once, and then peppers the LT, hitting the LRM 20 there and it breaks.
Our PXH IIc fires ultra AC10s at their elementals, and kills two troopers.
Our Shadow Cat nails the LL of their Fire Falcon Prime, and follows with an ER Medium laser, and hits a foot actuator there.
More weapons fire into the Atlas, which is not open on its RL and LA.

Our Phoenix Hawk IIc is fine, and their Fire Falcon and Vulture remain standing. Our Atlas took 80+ and is fine.

Turn 4 – We lose init. I hope away the PXH IIC from their Elementals. They pull them back behind the wall. Our Bushwacker runs into some more mines on the west flank. It falls from the damage. I move our Lao Hu up to protect it in case anyone wants to come over and play. Their Black Lanner does. Their Fire Falcon Prime pulls back and moves away from the battle. We pull back in the center, and a few mechs push past the wall to keep the pressure on. I run the Starslayer next to their Black Lanner. They concentrate a lot of fire on the Bushwacker and us on their wounded Vulture and somewhat exposed Black Lanner.

Our Atlas smashes the RA of their Vulture and destroys it.
Their Black Lanner destroys the RL of tour downed Bushwacker
The Starslayer sets their Black Lanner reeling after an alpha strike with all of its weapons
Then the Lao Hu hits it with its LB20x for….20 shots. Doom! That thing is peppered through next Sunday, and its RL is destroyed, and it’s LL gets its hip, foot, lower leg, and upper leg actuators all hit, and that means it’s immobile (just as if both legs were destroyed) and that’s just rare. I don’t know if we have ever immobilized a mech that way before.
Mad Cat Prime weapons destroy the RA and LA of our Bushwacker.
Finally their Loki manages to destroy the RT and it shuts down (XL engine)
Meanwhile our Phoenix Hawk IIc knifes Ultra AC10 love into their Vulture for two hits, and one nails the CT and hits its engine twice and gyro once.

Their Vulture falls along with the Black Lanner who destroys its RA in the fall. Dagger’s Starslayer kicks the Black Lanner and destroy its LA. All of its weapons are gone, and it can’t move either. Their Night Gyr still has woken up.

Turn 5 – We win initiative again. They push forward with everything, seeking a blaze of glory, and Elementals expose themselves by jumping over the wall. The damaged Fire Falcons move in. Their Vulture tries to stand, fails twice, hits its engine a third time, and shuts down. We move some folks back from the Elementals, but our Atlas can’t retreat much. It’s too exposed. We use the Turkina as a target of force this turn.

Expecting it to die this turn, I alpha strike with the Atlas on the Turkina to open things up, and hit with everything, but just 9 LRM missiles.
Their Turkina returns fire and drops the Atlas’s RL.
We get a limb blown off crit on their Turkina’s RL as well, with our Uller.
Our Ha Otoko goes overheat to embrace their Fire Falcon Prime in the warmth of LRM missiles, and we destroy its RL and hit the engine once.
Steel’s Blood Asp has destroys the RA of their Turkina
Mad Cat anger eviscerates our Atlas’s RA.
Our Lao Hu hits the Fire Falcon A and destroys its CT.
Elementals hit the Atlas multiple times, and find the LRM 20 ammo in the LT and it explodes (CASE, no XL Engine so it’s still fine).
Our PXH IIc and Starslayer finish off the wounded Elemental squad.

Our Atlas just hits the dirt hard, and our pilot blacks out in the fall. Their Turkina and Fire Falcon Prime, newly denuded of legs, also fall. Their FF Prime destroys its LT and shuts down (enginex3).

Angered by our name-calling and that they are losing to mercs, they aren’t in any sort of a mood to accept hegira and we are not offering either. We are finishing this thing.

They have – damaged Turkina, Mad Cat, Loki, Ryoken. 4 stars of elementals.

Turn 6 – We lose init. I order forces to move in and protect the blacked out and fallen Atlas. That includes out Highlander Blood Asp, and Lao Hu. They don’t come in – smart. They only push with the Elementals. We focus fire this turn on that Mad Cat. I want it out of the equation. LRMs are on the downed Turkina to finish it, and we have some weapons at a nearby Elemental squad.

The Ha Otoko nails the Turkina with an LRM salvo, (just fired one LRM20 for heat reasons) and just for 12 missiles, but still manages to find the gyro twice on the mech and it is now fully immobile.
Mad Cat damage destroys the LL of the Atlas.
Elementals aim their lasers at the Atlas’s H, but miss and hit elsewhere. SRM missiles peppers it badly, and hit the head once more, and then destroys its LA and nails the gyro once.
Concentrated short range weapons on the Elementals finishes off a squad, by the Lao Hu’s LB20x.
Their Mad Cat dodges a lot of weapons fire coming its way, and only took 40+ damage this turn.

Turn 7 – We win init, our Atlas pilot awakens, and we eject it after waiting a bit for the Elementals to base it. Then I move in some Elemental killers. They move forward, and get ready for the end. We base a bunch of their mechs to get kick shots on them. Their Ryoken is based by four of our guys. They focus fire on the PXH IIc.

Ultra AC10s kill three Elementals from our PXH IIc.
Our Highlander’s gauss and LRMs tear into their Mad Cat and get a limb blown off on its RA.
Their Elementals carve out some damage on the PXH IIc. They go internal on the RA and hit a shoulder.
Their Mad Cat follows and destroys the RA.
The Blood Asp’s long range weapons (gauss, 2x LRm20) smash the Mad Cat some more, while the short range weapons (4x medium pulses) finish off the wounded Elemental unit.
Twin gausses from the Uller and Shadow Cat smashes their Mad Cat’s LL and destroys it

Our Pixie falls. Their Mad Cat falls. We kick the Ryoken with the Highlander and destroy its LL, and our Lao Hu kicks its LL, but it‘s not there, damage transfers to LT, and we destroy the LT as well. Our Starslayer missed a kick and falls. Our Blood Asp kicks and kills an Elemental.

Turn 8 – We keep init. I move everything forward, and I stand the PXH easily. We have based all of their remaining units – the downed Ryoken and Mad Cat, and the unwounded Loki, and the two Elemental squads.

Here’s what they do to us.

They stab fire into our PXH IIc with everything they can muster. They don’t have a lot left. They do 40+ damage to it, and hit a pair of leg actuators and it falls again.

We drop the unwounded Loki A after focusing 120+ damage onto it. The Blood Asp destroys its LA but then hits the machine gun ammo in its…center torso and it explodes. Who puts ammo there?

The Starslayer stood, based their Mad Cat, and fired everything into it, and hit its engine 4x in the LT, RT, and CT. Our PXH IIc, which was becoming a nice Elemental killer, took out two more soldiers. Longshot’s Vulture Prime finished them off.

We kicked the downed Ryoken and destroy its CT with our Uller.

We kick their Elementals and kill two people in the squad that is left.

Turn 9 – We kill the remaining squad of Elementals without taking any major damage. The kill goes to the Shadow Cat’s gauss slug.

We have destroyed all of their units, and captured one pilot.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 06:50 PM

Them:

Fire Falcon A, H, LT, LA, LL

Fire Falcon Prime, missing RL, LT, enginex3, LL actuator hit.

Night Gyr, gyro, blacked out pilot

Dragonfly, missing LT, LA, dead pilot

Vulture B, missing LA, RA, gyro, enginex3

Black Lanner, missing RL, LA, RA, LL all four actuators hit

Turkina, reattach RL, missing RA

Mad Cat, reattach RA, missing LL, enginex4

Ryoken LA, H, RL, RA, RT

Loki A, H, LL, RA

Us:

Sha Yu, missing RT.
Bushwacker missing RL, LA, RA, RT

Atlas missing RL, RA, LT, LL, LA, gyro

Phoenix Hawk IIc missing RA

Wolfhound H, LT, LA

Kills – Lao Hux3, PXH Iic, Ha Otoko, Blood Aspx2, Starslayer, Vulture, Uller, Shadow Cat

We salvaged these mechs from that battle:

Fire Falcon Prime, Night Gyr, Dragonfly, Vulture B, Black Lanner Prime, Turkina, Mad Cat,

Fire Falcon A, H, LT, LA, LL
Ryoken LA, H, RL, RA, RT
Loki A, H, LL, RA

We also took 4 injured, but not dead Elemental warriors, and heal them and take them as bondsman.

We have won the JumpShip

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 07:18 PM

September 16, 3065 - Magnus issues a Trial of Grievance against the honorless Falcons that used mines on the battlefield. That is a surat Inner Sphere tactic and an abuse of the batchall system and against the rules of zellbrigen. Magnus’s Trial is, at first, not acknowledged, but after continuing to push, it is accepted.

A Circle of Equals is drawn up. And the units combine.

The pilot of the Turkina is fine, and she steps in, the leader of the group and the one who approved the tactic.

Magnus steps in as well.

As both are MechWarriors, they are unaugmented (not with armor or mechs or anything)

Magnus is the better pilot (he was on the fast track to a bloodname when we captured him). He has won many Trials of Grievance. He is faster, stronger, and smarter. She is enraged, and he uses that, calling her surat, tell her she is worse than the Inner Sphere trash, because actually knows what honor is, and then not using it. Where is the vaunted Jade Falcon ideal of true honor?

After getting her all worked up, Magnus punches her, and slams her to the ground. After about 15 minutes, a resounding crack is heard, and Magnus steps away. He has broken her neck, and she has died.

The Trial of Grievance is over.

Magnus addresses the assembled Falcons, and tells them to send a message to their people. Let them know what happened this day, and how the Falcons have lost their honor. He tells the Star Colonel that he knew that the violation and mines would be used, and was okay with it, either literally or tacitly. After all, if she had violated Zellbrigen without his okay, we would have killed her himself yesterday.

“We have re-taken your honor. That you learned a lesson about honor from a mercenary? That is your true disgrace”

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 07:54 PM

September 17, 3065 – Didn’t want to stay too long and wear out that non-existent welcome. We gather the captured Odyssey JumpShip:

The Odyssey is a weaponized JumpShip – quite common among the clans. It features 4 ER Large lasers 4 large pulse lasers, 12 medium pulses, and 2 gauss. It also has 8 anti missile systems as well.

This gives us the ability to defend, a bit, against fighters that might see a JumpShip as vulnerable.

It has 4 DropRings.

We send one of the rented JumpShips back (We are just one jump from Lyran Space). On the Odyssey we’ll have everything but the Buccaneer. That will be on the Merchant JumpShip we are renting.

September 18, 3065 – We leave the Alyina system

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 08:03 PM

September 20, 3065 – We land on the Lyran planet of Blackjack. After a few hours, a local HPG worker brings us a message, that was transmitted to all nearby places. It’s the Blue Star Irregulars. They are a couple of jumps away at Black Earth (just two jumps distant) and they ask for our aid.

October 1, 3065 – We arrive at Black Earth. The Irregulars, with their Fredasa WarShip, Kerensky’s Blues, are here. It was damaged in battle about a year ago, but it’s been barely fixed up. They are garrisoning the world after it was taken in the counter-attack from the Falcons. There are some Falcons here too, JumpShips and a small warship are in system.

They have been having trouble keeping the world. The Lyran Alliance doesn’t want to make the issue official, and we were still nearby, and luckily we were not under a contract.

On Black Earth, the locals really embraced the clan way of life, as opposed to many where they were simmering and wanting to be freed. The Falcon flag flowed freely here. After a year, the people have gotten very restless, and the Falcon knows, so they have send some unusual troops here. A bunch of infantry, battle armor and techs have arrived – not a mech to be seen. They begun to set up MASH stations and salvage camps for the locals, and since they have not attacked, nor been attacked, and they’ve been here for a while.

The Lyrans don’t want to start a ruckus. If the Blue Stars employed us then a units paid by a unit paid by the Lyrans would be doing it, and it would still be official. But if we take them off without being under contract, just of our own good will, then that would be okay.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 09:36 PM

October 3, 3065 – Magnus meets with a local leader of the clan forces here. They are here to help the locals and are not here in a military capacity. “Perhaps, but you haven’t won Possession of this world. You don’t have the right to be here.”

The Sphere people don’t care about nuances of possession. .

Maybe not, but we do.

They were told to be here by their leaders, so they are not violating their own orders or anything

Magnus issues a Trial of Refusal against their presence and orders here. They are here without winning a Trial of Possession against the holders, who won the planet from them, they can’t come back until they win it back.

Since when did Jade Falcon start skirting the rules of honor this much? Magnus tells them about the mines used against his team on Alyina and now this. That is beginning to tell a very dangerous story of Jade Falcon. Have you been corrupted by contact with the Inner Sphere?

We agree to a Trial that day.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 10:16 PM

They have no mechs at all on planet, and they are unwilling to do a Trial of any sort against ours. But we do have a unit of Elementals we have been using.

We use our one squad of Elementals, against theirs. Both are regular…

I’m not going to sim this, it’ll take a while. I’ll just toss one D6:

1 Total Victory, we only lose one Elemental
2 Normal Victory , we lose 2.
3 Pyrrhic Victory, we lose 3
4 Close loss, we lose 3
5 Normal loss – we lose 4
6 Total Loss – we lose the whole unit, all 5.

There we are. We roll a …3

It was close, but we win, and they agree to leave the world.

Meanwhile, we replace the three dead warriors with three we captured. We also captured one in this battle, so we still have 2 extras.

October 9, 3065 – The last Falcons leave the planet.

Magnus has been talking with the Blue Stars about their finances and WarShip. They are in debt, they really can’t afford to pay us post-battle. We were able to win a trial to force them off world, but if not, we would have had to have peeled off a lot of Elementals and perhaps some friends from the system that dropped down on us. (Fighters) That would have been rough to have compensated for.

Magnus points out that their unit used to be a proud three regiment unit. Now they are down to one after the clans, and they can’t rebuild as long as they have the increasing debt. We could offer them more than money. Imagine what they could do with another battalion of mechs, right now. Just think about it.

Abe Sargent

12-27-2014, 11:58 PM

October 12, 3065 – We blast off from Black Earth.

We’re getting tired of teaching the Falcon about honor.

We jump into an uninhabited system halfway between us and our destination. With the KF battery on the Odyssey JumpShip, this is not as much of a big deal, since we can jump again in the case of a misjump.

We jump immediately with the military stuff, and the Merchant will follow after it charges up.

We arrive in the Derf system, about 20 light years coreward (up) from Butler. It’s way back there.

We find a pair of binaries from a PGC here, since Derf is not highly valued. There are no major naval assets here, no WarShips, not a bunch of assault dropships, nothing. Just a handful of JumpShips. And their 20 mechs.

October 15, 3065 – We arrive on planet after issuing a batchall for their Odyssey JumpShip. We’d like to capture another, and send this Merchant one back to Lyran space.

They are defending with all 20 mechs. They choose to defend a stretch of land with a few small hills and ridges, and some woods.

October 17, 3065 – Our Gazelle has landed, and the Trial is about to begin! We had to wait until it landed, since we are using it as the counter –possession if we lose the battle.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 12:05 AM

We have sent all of our forces like normal, are arrayed around the battlesite. We like to watch. There are no defending forces watching, like normal. We have 20 mechs of theirs, and we are sending out 16 of our own:

Command Company

Plus the lance of veteran pilots we captured – Night Gyr, Masakari, Turkina, and Mad Cat.

That means we have a heavy set of mechs getting added to the field on our side.

I’m not going to list all of our foes, but expect us to be facing the expected garrison stuff – a variety of IIc, stuff like Hellhound, Vixen, a pair of Spirits, a Pinion, and such. The usual.

Here we go!

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 02:46 AM

We begin on the east flank, and they are arrayed on the west.

Turn 1 - We win init. I use the Atlas-Highlander-Blood Asp trinity to create a core to charge down the middle, again, with the Masakari and Turkina right behind them, and the Lao Hu, Bushwacker, Night Gyr and Mad Cat on the flanks, and other mechs patrolling the north and south flanks her and there. The map has a handful of small ruins, long since abandoned and destroyed. They move down the center a bit, but also to the north behind some buildings as well. None of the ruins are higher than level one. We focus fire on their Warhammer IIc. They split fire.

With our heavy weapons, we just lance a lot of weapons into their Warhammer IIc. Our Masakari’s ER PPCs, Blood Asps Gauss and LRMs, Ha Otoko’s LRMs, and more.
Our Shadow Cat’s gauss shells fits snugly into the RA crack of their Warhammer Iic and it is blasted off.
Our Highlander smashes the WHM IIc’s LT and nails two medium pulse lasers there.
None of our mechs takes more than 20+ damage.

Their Warhammer took 100+ damage and fell.

Turn 2 – We lose init. We move forward in the center, confident in the strength of that core unit. Meanwhile, we flank with our forces. They mostly keep at the same range, and their Warhammer IIc rises, and moves back a bit. All of the sudden, Elementals pop out from behind multiple places on the north and south flanks. That is a total violation of zellbrigen!

They lied about what units they had to us. They didn’t have any Elementals, they had just 20 mechs.

The first thing we’ll do is finish this round of battle, since the surprise is major. We have a few missile mechs focus on the Warhammer and finish it up while the rest move to a target of opportunity.

We fire on the Warhammer IIc and take out its RL with the Blood Asp and the Ha Otoko hits exposed sections for four engine hits and a gyro.
We have two major targets of opportunity. The first is that Hellhound. We fire a lot of mechs with big guns (gausses) at it first, and that means the Uller, Shadow Cat, Highlander, and the Masakari’s ER PPC which are essentially the same thing. We fill it with holes, and then some other mechs move in to exploit. The Vulture Prime just tears into it with pulses and LRMs20s, as a bridge mech that does both the holes and the missiles. It just lights up the medium mech, and we take out its RT and then its CT. Dead mech. (we’ll also destroy the RA and RL later on)

The other attack of opportunity was their lighter Vixen. It moved fast, but it got here quickly, so we use a lot of pulse lasers and close range weapons on it. If you remember, we captured a Turkina B, and we never changed it. That thing has 2 large pulse, 2 medium pulses, 2 ER larges, and 2 er mediums. And 25/50 heat sinks to fire them all. We basically just carve those energies into the light Vixen, and it’s LA and RL are destroyed. But a lot of other folks miss.

Their Elementals just take out our surprised Starslayer. It was badly positioned, and we lose four parts of it to the savaging it takes.

Meanwhile their mechs attack our Atlas, and carve off 60+ armor. It falls from the damage,

Before turn three begins, Magnus, has decided to declare the opposing unit dezgra. This means it is without honor, tainted, and the rules of engagement are off. We are bringing in all of the nearby units that were watching. The 15 tanks from the Gazelle, the 24 mechs on the sidelines, and our squad of elementals. This is such a violation of zellbrigen, that even our recent Falcon additions are pissed off at these honor-less surats.

Obviously, this is going to end quickly. They have ten units of Elementals, and the 17 healthy mechs left, against 39 of our mechs, 15 vees, and a squad of elementals. We offer no hegira, no safe way out, no honorable surrender.

They are honor-less. Dezgra.

Because of the massively overwhelming odds they are experiencing, we don’t want to risk losing any of our units, so we constantly eject when something gets badly damaged, goes internal, falls down, loses speed from tracks hit on a tank, loses a limb, a H hit that drops the armor, anything that could be a danger sign.

Because of this it takes awhile, but we take them all down.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 03:01 AM

Prior to dezgra announcement.

Theirs:

Warhammer IIc, reattach RA, missing RL, enginex4, gyro

Hellhound LT, LA, LL, H,

Vixen missing LA and RL

Ours

Starslayer missing LL, RA, LA, LT

Kill – Ha Otoko, Vulture,

Afterwards, we have killed one of their pilots in a H shot, another from damage to the H, explosion of the gauss, and falls, destroyed five of their mechs outright, and

Captured:

Warhammer Iic, Vixen, Spiritx2, Rifleman IIc, Hellhound, Kraken, Griffin IIc, Peregrine, 2x Baboon, Guillotine Iic, Great Wyrm, Pinion

9 Elemental warriors survived battle.

We take 18 regular warriors as bondsman. Now that we have they tell us that Khan Marthe Pryde, after the Incursion ended, issued an edict that Inner Sphere troops were no longer worthy to even engage in batchalls and such, and to begin to use the system that the IS was exploiting against them, and to be dirty, and exploit them back.

But we have never soiled the rules of the game. So Marthe’s edict seems to have stepped past the bounds of what is honorable, since they have used, multiple times now, honor-less tactics against us.

We were expecting to jump to Wolf Clan space next, but we have somewhere else to be, after we take the JumpShip we won and head out.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 10:29 AM

Oct 20, 3065 - After wiping out the local forces, we get a message from a some locals. Apparently, a mercenary command, Storm's Metal Thunder, a regiment strong, and was destroyed in the Jade Falcon incursion. Some of the destroyed members went into hiding here on Derf, and were doing small raids and such against the local Falcons. Now that we've cleared a path, they would either like us to take them with us, or to secure them transit back home (but there are Falcon JumpShips and DropShips in the system, so that probably won't happen).

Magnus agrees to take them with us. We load up 5 mechwarriors without a unit and 2 Devastators, a Spector and a Hunchback, for a total of 9 folks, all badly damaged, and veterans.

This is the second time we’ve helped keep the remnants of a destroyed merc unit and rescued them. There might be others out there we could help out, small units of resistance just trying to stay alive long enough on the hope that someone, somewhere, might come and save them, and throw them that life preserver

We ask if these remnants of the Metal Thunder know of any other folks in a similar set in nearby systems.

Umm….usually they were saved, like the death of the 1st Argyle Lancers on Crimond by the Falcons. They don’t know of any.

Oct 25, 3065 – Clan Ghost Bear just took Rasalhague from the Wolves.

Oct 30, 3065 – We arrive back in Twycross

Nov 1, 3065 – After arriving and speaking with a Diamond Shark representative, we give them footage of the battles, the first showing the mined defenses, and the second the hidden, and secret elementals. We tell them about the edict Khan Pryde issued, and they can see the results. This is useful political ammunition to use against them, and the Sharks are happy to use it. We want to head to Falcon space, and issue a Trial of Refusal against the edict, but we are tired of the Falcons and their crap. Besides, technically, the policy would not be revoked until the Trial was won by us, so they could cheat the Trial.

Typically clans tend to look down on that sort of circular logic – there should never be a hole in the Trail system like that, but the Falcons have recently veered off the deep end it seems. Conner Ward, an ex Falcon, will be pissed when he finds out.

We decide to head somewhere else, at the suggestion of the Sharks. We had intended to hit Clan Wolf space now. Might as well do just that. Seiduts is one jump away from Twycross, and it was Falcon until a few months ago, and Clan Wolf took it from them.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 10:38 AM

Nov 9, 3065 – We arrive in Seiduts. Wow are there are a lot of naval assets here. We are immediately flagged by a nearby Clan Wolf Warship, a Vincent mark 42, the Trailblazer.

They want to know who we are, and why we are here. Magnus reveals himself, we are here for a Trial on Seiduts for an escort and safe passage through the Wolf territory and to the Rasalhague system.

They ask us to wait.

About an hour later, a local star colonel contacts us. We want to get to Rasalhague to raid the Ghost Bears, that just took the world from the Wolves. They have forces en route to the border already planned, and we can just go with them, for free, after looking over our units info. We don’t need to fight for it. Alright then.

December 3, 3065 – We arrive at Rasalhague.

The Ghost Bear Leviathan, the largest WarShip ever made is here in the system. Magnus hails his former clan and then demands a batchall for a Trial of Possession for a lance of the latest Ghost Bear banner mechs that rolled off the lines. He misses them and wants them (Grizzly, Kodiak, Ursus, Arcas) to use personally.

They share a laugh and after verifying our information they agree to safcon for us.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 11:15 AM

December 7, 3065 - We land on Rasalhague. We have put up four mechs we captured in battle against the Falcons against the lance that we want.

Since the battle is for something smaller, the defending forces are smaller too. They have an elite star of front line mechs ready to punish us for our hope. Meanwhile we are sending five mechs of our own:

Steel in the Blood Asp B
Clan vet in the Turkina B
Longshot in the Vulture Prime
Dagger in the Starslayer
Clan vet in the Cougar Prime (2x Large pulses, 2x LRM10s)

Our Cougar:

http://mechwarrior5.ru/images/gallery/cougar.jpg

Two assaults, one heavy, one medium, and one light, and four clan mechs in there.

We are facing:

Kingfisher Prime (2x large pulse lasers, LRm10, SRM6 Streak, 2x medium pulses, ER Small laser, max armor, 17/34 heat, 4/6, 90 tons)
Vulture B
Vulture Prime
Dragonfly Prime
Dasher B

All clan elite. So, really elite.

They have two heavies, the Kingfisher assault, and then a Dragonfly and Dasher as nasty little scouts. They both have powerful range due to their movement. (Dasher is 10/15 with MASC and the Dragonfly 8/12/8)

They only advantage we have is that we have two massively armored assault mechs, both that are bringing some heat to the battlefield versus one of theirs. The Vultures are a mech with one of the most painful weapons payloads you will find, and they are fast too, but they are a bit of a glass jaw mech. The B is a mech with 2x er large lasers, 3x medium pulses, LRm 20, and 2x SRM6 streak. With 12/24 heat sinks – not enough for everything. They only have 8.5 tons of clan ferro armor, (roughly the equivalent of 10 tons of normal armor). They have the payload of an assault mech, and the armor of a Hunchback. So the Vultures will be our primary targets. If we can take them down, we may have some strong momentum against them.

Our BV is 22126 with these five mechs and pilots. Theirs is 21391.

This is doable.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 12:51 PM

We are on the west ,and they on the east. We are using the Lake Area official map, and there is a small lake in the middle. (We have trees to hide in, they have hills and some trees)

Here we go!!!

For deployment, we win init, so they place first, then we drop the Starslayer in the northern part here on the west and see their Vultures in the south by the hill. I position our Vulture to move into some heavy woods beside that lake.

Turn 1 - We win init. Four of their mechs are here in the south by their hills, and I put everything else down there. I run the Cougar into some heavys. Our Vulture follows. Our Turkina moves up, and Blood Asp follows. Their Dasher runs behind the woods. I consider basing it with the Blood Asp. Instead, I don’t move the Blood Asp at all. I split our blood Asp between the Vulture B and their Dasher. Their Dasher moved 12 hexes and has a +4 to hit, so by standing still, I can better nail it.

Our Blood Asp’s medium pulses tear into the Dasher and destroy its RL and LA
Their Kingfisher gets a through armor critical and nails an LRM20 in our Blood Asp. Then another through armor crit hits a foot actuator. Annoying.
Our Starslayer nails the LRM20 and engine one their Vulture B’s LT.

Who falls? Our Blood Asp does, their Vulture does, and their Dasher does.

As it falls, their Dasher nails its engine once in the RT.

Turn 2 – We lose init. Our Starslayer hops over a river and begins to come on down. Their Dasher turns. Our Blood Asp rises and bases their Dasher. I don’t move our Vulture, Turkina or Cougar. Their Vulture stands. I hope they’ll either target me exclusively at the Blood Asp and thus give me good shots with the mechs in the woods, or they’ll target the closer mechs in the woods and give me a chance to keep my Blood Asp alive. Either way, we can take something from this. I can’t get a good bead on the Vulture Prime. Only our Starslayer and Cougar have lines of sight on it. Those two target it though.

Our Turkina destroys the LT of their Vulture B, and then hits the engine once on its CT and shuts it down. We also take out hits LA and LL.
Their Vulture Prime hits our Cougar and goes overheat to smash it hard, and they destroy its La and CT.
Their Kingfisher unloads on our Blood Asp and hits the gyro once.
Before it falls, it’s pulse lasers destroy the Dashers RA, hi ammo in the RT, destroy the C too.

Our Blood Asp falls.

So, we’ve taken each other’s light mechs, untouched each other’s mediums, We have destroyed their heavy and they have savaged our assault. Still pretty close.

Turn 3 – We lose initiative. I leap the Starslayer into a better angle of attack, and then I leave our Blood Asp on the ground. I have to charge out of the woods because we can’t see any of their remaining mechs. Their Dragonfly runs next to our Blood Asp. Only our Starslayer can see their Vulture Prime. But we continue to fire at it, I have to target the Kingfisher.

Uh oh.

Our Turkina;s large pulse laser sheers off the Head of their Kingfisher and it goes internal, and the head blows off. Dead mech! (The [pilot doesn’t die, the head pops off, much like a arm or leg pops off as well).
Their Dragonfly finishes off our wounded Blood Asp by destroying its RT and hitting the engine once in the LT. Dead mech.

Their Vulture nails our Starslayer for 40+ and we hit it for 20+ no falls though.

Turn 4 – We lose init. Our Vulture runs around behind theirs, and our Turkina leaps out. We leap the Starslayer close to their Vulture, and they pull back so we can’t see it.

Our Vulture nails the gyro and engine once each on their Vulture.
Our Turkina destroys the LL of their Dragonfly
They deals 80+ damage to our Vulture with just two mechs and hit our LPL and LRM20

Only the D Fly falls. Not even their gyro-smitten guy does (nice to be clan elite)

Turn 5 – We lose again, and I hop the Starslayer over. Their Vulture bases it. Battle is behind the level four hills, and our Turkina can’t get over. We back up our Vulture, and our Turkina moves over. We alpha strike the Vulture with our Starslayer. It hits the Vulture’s RT and destroys it, and then hits the gyrox2 with SRMs. Their Vulture is down. Meanwhile they destroy the LL and RA on ours.

Our mech falls and our pilot blacks out. Which doesn’t matter.

With just a legged Dragonfly left, we offer hegira, and they accept.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 01:00 PM

We also take the four mechs we won – Grizzly, Ursus, Kodiak, and Arcas.

Theirs:

Vulture B, missing RT, LA, LL and enginex3

Dasher H, LL

Kingfisher, reattach H

Vulture Prime, RT, gyrox2

Ours:

Cougar H, LT, RT, LL, RL, RA

Blood Asp, gyro, missing RT, enginex3

Vulture Prime missing LL and RA

Kills – Turkinax2, Blood Asp, Starslayer,

We salvage their Vulture Prime, Vulture B, and Kingfisher. We lost the Cougar.

We took a bondsman though, the severed H removes it from the electrical current, and there is no ejection, so she is ours. One elite bondsman.

For most of the mission, we have not had Magnus use a mech, he has been commanding things from afar, but he takes the Kodiak as his personal mech from here on out.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 02:02 PM

December 11, 3065 – We have been discussing potential Trials with the local Bears. Maybe for a DropShip or a JumpShip or something. But they really aren’t that interested in doing so, and it would require a huge battle. On the other hand, we could use some more aerospace fighters. So we inquire about a Trial for some of those.

They’ll give us a star of fighters, plus five pilots, for a star of garrison mechs, plus five clansmen we took in this campaign, strait up, if we lose.

We agree, and in a similar manner, we’ll have a star on star battle.

Us:

Magnus in Kodiak
Dagger in Starslayer
Clan elite in Kingfisher
Clan vet in Mad Cat Prime
Clan vet in Shadow Cat Prime

Since she knows the mech, and it was fixed very quickly, our captured pilot will be using the Kingfisher we just took. Meanwhile Magnus is taking the Kodiak out for a spin

Kodiak? It’s one of the nastier close range guys you’ll see:

100 tons
4/6 movement
Almost max armor (280 out of 307 possible)
20/40 heat sinks
Ultra AC20
ER Large Laser
2x SRM 6 Streak
8x ER Medium Lasers

We have a long range weapon to harass a bit with, and then its all about opening holes and using missile and lasers to exploit them. We only have two tons of ammo for the Ultra, and you can go through it quickly if not careful, but that’s okay, because you can fire a massive quantity of lasers at folks too (8 ER Mediums makes 40 heat).

http://ppc.warhawkenterprises.com/mechbay/kodiiiii.gif

Our foes are all clan elite:

Man o War Prime
Gladiator Prime
Black Hawk (Nova) Prime
Fenris Prime
Ryoken Prime

So they are using three mediums and two assaults. Not a spread out group. We have two assaults, a heavy, and two mediums as well.

They offer to have us fight in the same place as last time, it’s been cleaned. Why not?

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 05:52 PM

Turn 1 – I set up similarly to last time – Mad Cat to take the woods, with the Starslayer and Shadow Cat, up top since they both hop around real nice like. Our Kodiak and Kingfisher are beneath the woods and should be quick in to smash. We win init and they move to the top of the hills, I hop our two mediums to lines of attack with their long range weaponry, and then our Mad Cat takes the spot our Vulture was in before, and then we charge ahead, Kodiak leading with Magnus enjoying his time here. Four of our mechs (not the Mad Cat) can see their Man O War, and that’s good target.

We fire the Kodiak first on the 80 ton assault mech (with light weapons, by the way) and savage it with the Ultra ac20 shot hitting it twice, followed by some lasers.
Their Ryoken’s ER Large Laser lances the H of our Mad Cat, and goes internal – no crit though. Nasty. That could have been a lot worse!
Our Shadow Cat’s gauss opens another hole, and Starslayer’ large lasers do too, and then our Kingfisher’s accurate lasers and SR6 streak follow, and we hit its SRM ammo in the LT and it ignites. Boom!

They carve damage into our Kodiak . It took 60+ and Magnus is fine. Their Man o War hits the ground so hard and fast that it breaks the hip on its LL doing so.

Turn 2 – We lose init. We do similar to last time. Our hoppers leap over the river to the north, and with some cover. They try to stand with the Man o War, and after one failure, they do. But it’s a walking target at this point. Their Fenris runs around behind our Mad Cat’s position and the Black Hawk leaps next to it, and inside some light woods. We fire some mechs at the Man O War, but we concentrate fire on their Ryoken, except for the Mad Cat, who wants to punish their Black Hawk.

Our Shadow Cat’s gauss snaps into a Ryoken, and our Starslayer misses it.
Our Mad Cat mostly misses the Black hawk
Our Kodiak though just launches a bunch of missiles and lasers at the Man o War and destroys is RA, and hits the gyro once on it, and nails another foot actuator.
Their mechs mostly miss the Mad Cat.
And their Man o War hit the Kodiak, but not even a full 20 damage.

Their Man O War falls and destroys its injured right leg

No physical combat.

Turn 3 – We finally win init. They move off the Mad Cat, we leap to the center where some woods are, and push on the flank. They turn the Man o War and move the Gladiator into a nice firing lane with woods and partial cove protecting it. We focus on the Ryoken. Mostly.

Our Starslayer smashes the Man o war with lasers medium and long, and SRMS too. It takes out the gyro and engine once it and its down.
Their Gladiator’s gauss rifle hits the Kodiak, goes internal, and gets a limb blown off on its RL.
Our Kodiak, before it goes down, tears into the damaged Ryoken and devastates its RT and hits the large laser in the RA.
Then our Shadow Cat destroys the Ryoken’s LA.
Our Mad Cat and Kingfisher fires a lot of stuff at that Gladiator and we begin the process of denuding its armor off

Their Gladiator took 60+ and is standing, their Ryoken fell and hit two actuators in the LL, one of which is a hip on its RL. Our Kodiak obviously tumbles as well.

Turn 4 – We win init. We move the Mad Cat next to their downed Ryoken after it can’t rise. Their Fenris bases the rear of our Mad Cat. Their Black Hawk leaps out and away. Our Kingfisher moves in to flank the Gladiator from behind while our hoppy mechs leap on top of the hill. This should push them away from the downed Kodiak.

The Gladiator can’t hit the downed Kodiak from where it fled, so it targets the Starslayer and hits a bit. Nothing serious.
Their Fenris does little to the Mad Cat
The Mad Cat turns and hit the Fenris twice with its RA weapons while it smashes the Ryoken up into pieces after destroying its CT.
The Gladiator is damaged by the ongoing weapons – gauss slug, and the Kingfisher unloading on it, and it is internal in for places with the Starslayer hits its gauss rifle in the la, which explodes and destroys the arm. The mech took an SRM shot to the H as well.
Black Hawk ER Medium Lasers go internal on our Mad Cat and hit its LA shoulder and large laser.

Then the Gladiator falls, the pilot takes damage (that’s 4 now) and blacks out. No one else falls. They have two mechs standing – Fenris, and Black Hawk, and we have an almost defeated Kodiak. We offer them hegira, and they accept.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 06:12 PM

Theirs –

Man o war missing LT, RA, gyrox2, Rl, enginxex3

Ryoken RA, LL, H, RT, LT,

Gladiator destroyed LA, pilot blacked out.

Ours –

Kodiak, reattach RL.

Kills – Starslayer, Mad Cat

We salvage their Man of War and Gladiator

We capture the elite pilot

And we take 5 omnifighters:

2x Avar
2x Turk
Jengiz

We have five fighters, plus pilots.

We don’t have the transport for them though – not of our DropShips or JumpShips can carry fighters.

All we can do is pack them carefully in the Buccaneer, and then, on arrival, unpack them – it’ll take hours to do it right. No fast deployment or anything like that.

We fight a few minor Trials over the next few days for small things, and we get another 5 suits of elemental armor, with no one in them, and now have 2 squads of Elementals.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 06:25 PM

December 22, 3065 – We launch from Rasalhague. I want to take some naval assets, like DropShips or some such, before beginning to head home. I don’t want to take anything else from Ghost Bear, but the Wolf is next door. Maybe we could just pop on over?

Actually, the Falcons pissed us off, but I don’t want to wear out our welcome. They might do some nasty stuff to us.

We launch and arrive at Dawn.

We issues a Batchall for a Carrier class DropShip we use to carry our fighters better. It’s a common DropShip and can be found in all of the clans. They have a pair in system, but we don’t have any aerospace assets, and they don’t want to fight for a DropShip over mechs on planet. They refuse the batchall.

Magnus talks with the locals, and sends them our full dossier of forces. He points out that we never have cheated and our record is spotless. We haven’t always had that returned, the Falcon surat just cheated us by hiding an entire Binary of elementals on the battlefield, and ambushed us with them. But we are still with honor.

Wait what?

Absolutely.

We are granted safcon.

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 07:00 PM

December 26, 3065 – We talk about the Jade Falcon Trial, where they intentionally did not give us information about the Elementals, and then used them to attack us. When they tell them we declared their unit dezgra and attacked it and wiped it out , they enjoy that. Despite sharing similar Crusader beliefs, Falcon and Wolf have always been at odds. They are only allies out of necessity at times.

They ask what world we took out their entire defense on. Magnus smiles. Do you want to take it? Perhaps!

Then how about this. We do a Trial for the DropShip with crew. If we lose, then not only will we provide the location of the battle, but we’ll give you footage and tell you who else knows, so your clan and they can work together against the Falcons.

Hmmm….

That they agree to.

Sometimes it’s just about finding out what they want.

They want a quick little battle to figure this out. They don’t want to lose a bunch of mechs and a DropShip too just for some info. So we agree to a quick proxy battle with one mech against one mech. We’ll even use garrison mechs for it.

Magnus will be in the Kodiak

They have an elite pilot in their Behemoth.

The Behemoth is a 100 ton cracker of a mech, with 3/5 movement, no XL engine, 18 tons of armor, 10/20 heat sinks and its weaponry is simple and elegant. 2 gauss rifles, 2 large pulse lasers, and an small pulse in the head.

We have 5327 BV and they have 6722

Can we win this solo match?

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 08:54 PM

We are fighting with some trees and other random elevation, it’s hear a bog, so we have some swamps around too.

Turn 1 - Magnus can’t see our foe. We win init and run at some woods.

Turn 2 – Same. We run into some heavy.

Same with turns 3 & 4.

Turn 5 – We lose init, run 6 into some light woods behind heavies in front of a small lake in the northeast corner, and we spot their Behemoth across the water and by some woods. They hit us more, since we are still at distance.

Turn 6. We lose init. We back out of sight.

Turn 7 – We win init. I move to closer to where they were behind some trees. They our maneuver us and again long weapons fire nails us more than them

Turn 8 – W have to close so we just run two space,s but we get 5 away, across the lake, and that’s short range of our AC20 ultr,a which carves into them twice. We took 40+ they 60+. We also hit their gauss ammo in the RT.

Turn 9 – We lose again We walk into the heavy woods in front of us. They ,move to better range. We nail them with the Ultra AC20 again twice, and hit some actuators. Missiles and mediums follow and we dole out 80+ to them this turn. Their gauss snaps into our RL, and a larger pulse into it again and they go internal, but hit nothing. We took 40+. No one falls.

Turn 10 – We don’t move, and they walk into some woods. We smash them twice again with the AC20 ultra and just destroy their RA. Lasers and missiles fire into the enemy mech and destroy their hip actuator on the RL and smash the engine once and gyro once on their CT. They reciprocate by smashing our LA twice and destroying it, and we both fall.

Turn 11 – We rise, and they fail to once, and then they do. Ultra AC 20 just devastates their mech, and destroys the RT and RL. SRMs cascade in and finish it off with a shot to the CT a few times, which is already open, and smash the gyrox2 and enginex1. It responds by gausses and a large it still has (the other was in the destroyed arm) and takes down our ultra ac20 and blasts off our RL’s external armor and nails the hip

We both fall. They are immobilized, and that is a win for us.

Them – Missing RA, gyrox3, enginex2, RL, RT

Us – Missing LA, hip, Ultra ac20.

We have won a Carrier DropShip and salvaged the Behemoth

Abe Sargent

12-28-2014, 09:53 PM

A day later Wolf still wants the information, so they make us an offer. They will fill the Carrier with five more high quality Clan Wolf omnifighters in exchange for the information they want. We tell them we need pilots too, and they won’t give away their pilots, but Magnus points out that they have more than just Wolf pilots. After a few hours, they give us 5 bondsmen they captured from other clans, 3 Jade Falcon, 1 Ghost Bear and 1 Star Adder.

Welcome to your new unit boys!

The Carrier is a strong fighter carrier, it can carry 10 fighters, its very well built, clan made and designed, well armored, fast, and has a lot of weapons. It’s good in a battle as needed.

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 12:40 AM

January 4, 3066 – We leave Dawn behind.

We have a battalion of mechs, plus tons of spare mechs, parts, and extra fighters that can be assigned to the salvage any time we need them, plus 2 squads of elementals, 15 tanks, 10 fighters with clan pilots, two clan JumpShips with KF batteries and a powerful unit.

After leaving behind with just a battalion and some DropShips and Trumps, that’s not a bad place to be. We have gained a full company of forces at home and more.

It’s about time to start heading back home. Before we do, Magnus looks around to see if there are any things we could or take. Any contracts running around? Perhaps from Rasalhague? Combine? Cordon?

Well, look at this, we do have one from the DCMS.

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 10:39 AM

They have lost a valuable asset, and want it back.

During the Black Dragon attack via the Combine on the Bears, the Dragon absconded with some naval assets that they used to attack the Bears. They never came back. Initially the DCMs chalked it up to the Ghost Bear Dominion having captured them, or destroyed them.

However, it recently seems that neither happened.

Instead, on an assault to the Ghost Bear system of Alshain, apparently, some of the units ended up in the border system of Tinaca, one jump from Alshain, and one jump from Mualang, held by the Combine. Apparently a JumpShip and its DropShips are in the system, at a far away pirate point, and unknown by Ghost Bear. The Combine can’t risk sending in someone under their flag with tensions as nasty as they are, so they are looking for a nice merc to head in and grab it.

Our target is 4 Jumps away from Dawn.

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 02:38 PM

2 February, 3066 – We launch into the Tinaca system, at the same pirate point that is expected. Meanwhile, at the same time, we launch at the zenith point in the system.

One group is the Odyssey JumpShip with our:

2 Unions, fully fleshed out with two companies of mechs.
Gazelle, with a full company of tanks

At the pirate point is the Odyssey with:

Union, fully fleshed out
Buccaneer cargo ship
Carrier, with ten fighters

Our first unit will try to land onto the planet and do one of our Trials, and divert attention, with the second to secure the area and find out what happened.

Before launching, here is what we know of our target:

Chimeisho JumpShip (A special new JS made for the Combine and the DCMS) Which has 4 ER Large Lasers and 4 Large Pulse Lasers – 2 Drop Ship capacity, and it has a LF Battery as well.

4 small craft – Should be shuttles

Overlord C, clan refit of Overlord captured in Operation Bulldog from Smoke Jaguar: carries up to 45 mechs, no additional mechs known to be stolen though, uncertain if mechs were abroad when it arrived in Tinaca or not

Upgraded Achilles Assault ship to be an escort, with t 2 fighters and small craft. It was believed to have two Sai fighters on board, as well as two shuttles.

That is what it is expected that is there. This group left Dragon space around four years ago. What has been happening since?

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 04:53 PM

Magnus is grafted safcon by the local Ghost Bear forces. Because we are on the border with the Combine, even if just one world is one jump away, the 10th Bear Cuirassiers are here on planet. A part of Ghost Bear’s Omega Galaxy, regular, reliable, 60% of full strength right now, normally they’d have four trinaries. (60 mechs) but they have around 40 or so. They’re rebuilding after the war, they savaged the Nova Cat holdings in the war a few years ago.

They haven’t had any battles against anyone outside of Tinaca ever since the war ended a few years ago, and they are chomping at the bit.

6 February, 3066 – We land on Tinaca and initiate a batchall for a Trial of Possession for a full star, 25, of Elemental battle suits.

The units are hanging out and getting ready for the Trial in two days. Magnus, as a former Ghost Bear, spends time catching up on the latest information (non-sensitive) of the clan.

8 February, 3066 – We have the Trial for today

Because the Bear is rebuilding here, they don’t want to lose a lot of mechs. They don’t mind a star of empty Elemental Armor. That’s easily replaceable. We agree to give them our captured Kingfisher Prime if we lose. That’ll help them rebuild one more mech. They dropped to less than 50% in 3063, and have rebuilt slowly over the last 3 years.

As such, they will not be fighting today with mechs. Nor fighters. Nor Elementals. Instead, they agree to fight, unaugmented, in a Circle of Equals, with their leader defending the Elementals. Their Star Colonel is an Elemental. Therefore we need an Elemental’s sized person to face him.

Their Star Colonel is a veteran, and we have that elite Elemental we captured from Falcon, so she’ll step up and face him in the Trial of Possession. Our tanks, mechs, and so forth are out and arrayed to watch the battle. We have one squad of Elementals here, and we can use her to defeat him (the other squad with the other mission)

Due to the experience difference, I am giving us a 1-4 on a d6 chance of winning, and them a 5 or a 6. Odd are in our favor and we roll a 1.

Yay!

We have defeated their Star Colonel today, our Elemental knocked him out. We won 25 suits of Armor.

We have the captured 17 Elementals that are currently not with armor take up 15 of these suits immediately to give us three more points of Battle Armor.

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 07:48 PM

The next day, Ghost Bears issues a Trial of Possession. They want to retake Magnus as their bondsman to return to their clan. They issued a batchall.

Magnus will defend himself in his Kodiak, and allows them to bid as they choose.

Meanwhile we decide to take a point of Elementals as bondsmen if they lose. That’s 5 that would join us, to wear the armor we captured.

10 February, 3066 –

Our Kodiak takes the field in a enclosed structure they use for local Trials

Their Gladiator A, piloted by their veteran pilot, is actually a bit worse than our pilot.

Our Bv is 6556. Theirs is 5664

They have a 95 ton mech with 4/8 movement and MASC, 19/38 heat, and it features 259 points of armor, 3 large pulse lasers, 4 er medium lasers, and a pair of machine guns. That;s a better movement by far, so they might win by out maneuvering.

Meanwhile, other than concrete and a circular map, this is a flat, open area.

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 09:04 PM

Turn 1 – We lose init and charge. They charge back and we are ten hexes apart. We need 7s for the Ultra AC 20 and ER Mediums.

We miss the first Ultra shell but crack with the second (As a reminder, we have the rule where an ultra is simply two attacks, rather than one attack, and then roll to see how many shells hit, which makes no sense really). It smashes their LA. Meanwhile we paint with two more lasers. They hit with all three large pulses and no one falls.

Turn 2 – We lose and charge, they follow suit and base our right flank. I turn and carve them with the Ultra AC 20 twice. Once was just a glancing shot though (just ten damage, not twenty). We stab with some lasers and just carve off 60+ damage on them. They smash hammer us back and stab out with pulses and mediums and machine guns, every weapon they fire hits. We aren’t internal anywhere though, so yay on that. We deal 60 exactly to them, they dealt 44 back. That’s a win for us that turn, match wise.

Turn 3 – We win and they turn and fade backing away so we can’t get into their rear arc. So we charge them this time.

Ultra AC20 just smashes their RL and opens it, and someone lost a foot actuator! Meanwhile we open their CT with the other shell. SRM6 streaks follow later and knife their damages areas once each for a hit on an engine in their CT. Unfortunately, they get lucky twice. First, they get a through armor critical on our left arm. Then they get an limb blown off crit and its on the ground. They didn’t even do that much damage to us that turn – this as the first they actually missed with a weapon.

Their mech falls. Ours does not.

Turn 4 – We lose init and pull back. They rise and MASC to our no-longer-armed Left Side in order to concentrate more fire on it.

Fire spits the AC20, and it hits once for 20 on their LA and cracks it open. No crit, but its barely there. Then our follow up weapons spurt on it, and we destroys their LA, and then hit an engine again in the CT. They savage our wounded left side, go internal, and destroys an SRM6 launcher

Neither fall

They are overheating.

Turn 5 – We lose init and pull back and they charge in. We destroyed their pulse lasers (they were in the LA), so all they have left is 4 mediums and machine guns. Our Ultra firs its last two shells and one hits for 20 on their LL and its done. We pepper a few other places, and we nailed the LT, and hit their MASC. Their mech hits us a bit, but it’s more like ants. Their mech falls.

Turn 6 – We lose init and I move to a better angle. They turn to face us. They fire their lasers and smash our LT and hit the SRM6 ammo and it ignites, and the torso section of ours is gone. But our 8 medium lasers and an SRM6 streak just obliterate parts of their mech, and they lose a LA and we hit another engine, in their LT, and it shuts down.

We fall. And then we win.

Their Gladiator – enginex3, missing LL. LA

Us – Reattach LA, missing LT

Magnus will remain with us, and we gained a group of 5 elementals as bondsman

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 09:50 PM

16 February, 3066 – After getting things refitted, repaired, and a few smaller Trials between techs and such (lower caste Trials often involve non-fighting Trials, such as darts or cards or something). We blast off from Tinaca

21 February, 3066 – Magnus jumps from Tinaca back to the rally point in Mualang System. We had to run radio silent in the system in order to keep things from being noticed, so we have no idea if they will have completed their mission when we jump back in….

So let’s rewind and find out.

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 10:45 PM

February 2, 3066 – The second Odyssey, Endless Revival, has arrived here and we placed Dagger http://www.gamer.ru/system/attached_images/images/000/254/349/normal/mcl_pr_dagger.png
in charge of this expedition. We moved mechs around so that she has a company of jump mechs, in case she can go outside, and a unit of Elementals as well.

We send out scanners and note that the expected JumpShip, with Drops on it is nearby. It’s about a half hour by fighter and DropShip.

We scan their ship, and then hail them. We are more than a week from the main planet, and about two from the jumppoints, so nothing will be coming in. We don’t need to start charging, we can jump anytime (KF Battery). We don’t unfurl the Jump Sail, don’t want to risk getting it damaged in a battle.

Electrical seems to be working, life signs are coming from their unit, and they’re unresponsive to our hail. So we head out in full force, with our Union and Carrier, and fighters unfurling.

After 25 minutes or so, we close enough to visual range that we can see some lights working in detail, but some are out, and there’s some flickering. Could there be electrical problems on board? It’s coming from the JumpShip, not the Drops.

We arrive, with our 10 fighters, and DropShips. We do flybys and no one notices, and we see nothing unusual – no damage, or scorch marks or anything.

Anything from a trap to pirates, from electrical problems to a biohazard disease come to mind and we try to get past some of them, with our scans and such. There are no points of entry on the Chimeisho, and it’s not firing on us.

We unload the Elementals and they lift off, and we do the same with a lance of mechs. Soon Dagger’s Starslayer is joined by two others and a Highlander. They land and explore and their Elementals do as well.

After moving around, we find a port hole, and open it. Inside, nothing. One of the Starslayers opens it up more and moves in, and we see nothing – no people or signs of anything, but the lights are on, and flickering.

We head into the area, and the Elementals flank out into smaller areas.

Abe Sargent

12-29-2014, 11:26 PM

Then all of the sudden we hear the crack of small arms fire. Not even major weapons, like a pistol or a flechette weapon. They are firing at two Elementals who are undamaged. We order them to retreat back to us anyway, and they still refuse to answer our hails.

Dagger orders more mechs to jump over and two Shadow Cats, a Catapult, and a Highlander follow. They wait until the second lance crosses space and arrives, and then move down. A Starslayer moves out and is fired at by small arms fire again.

We can see a handful of people attacking the Starslayer. It has all of the effect of attacking my desk with noodles. It won’t even scratch the paint. Okay, it will do that. But nothing more!

We move forward, cautiously scanning for mines and traps, ambushes and more, but none are here in the JumpShip.

After pushing back the locals, we notice they have the same hair style, clothes, and have made jewelry to wear as a bracelet on their left arm, looking very similar. Hmm.

We push back the folks and they retreat after not impacting our mech. We keep exploring and find more people dressed identically and popping out and firing small arms fire at us. Meanwhile, it’s clear that the JumpShip’s systems are not working well, as power is completely out on a few decks.

Explorations onto the two DropShips – Achilles and Overlord C reveal similar situations. Power, but we are similar attacked on both ships by the same sort of folks, but with different clothes, hairstyles, and clothing on each. Did they form gangs or something?

After hours of work we capture all of the antagonistic folks here and do two more searches. We imprison them in the Buccaneer cargo spaces – very cold and uncomfortable, but we put one group in each space, and they aren’t attacking each other within the group and we have removed their weapons and such. We scan the ship to make sure none others are there, then we return to do a full investigation.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 12:53 AM

February 5, 3066 – We have jacked our power system into theirs and restored it, and unfurled their JumpSail and begin to get them ready.

Meanwhile, our guess was spot on. They were supposed to arrive at this pirate point along with other units about to hit Alshain, but this one never jumped out. It’s electric system was hurt jumping into the area. Upon arrival, it was damaged, and they were unable to repair it, and that prevented them from getting their jump sail out, and the attack was already underway, and the Alshain Avengers were supposed to come back and collect them after the battle. But all four units were destroyed, and every soldier of the unit was killed by the Combine for treason, and they apparently didn’t give up this unit.

Over the next year, it seems the three groups become increasingly territorial about their areas. The people, incusing a squad of infantry on the Achilles were the worst, and then the others followed quickly. By the time we had arrived, they had socially devolved into gang warfare, territorial stuff, and many folks have become insane due to being in those conditions for three years

But, on board the Overlord C is a full battalion, including a command lance, of pristine, fresh Combine mechs. Only a few were opened up for supplies and such, such as command chairs, and that’s it. Meanwhile the Achilles was made pimpier and more comfortable over time, and it’s nice. Only one room was really dirtied up, as the nastiest latrine you ever saw. They used the Shuttles for additional space and it’s really nice the. The JumpShip, missing its electricity, and the battleground in the middle, is just hit, and it’ll take months to clean and refit.

So, the good news is that we can return all of this stuff to the DCMS and they will get all happy.

Now we could squirrel away some of the stuff that’s here. An Achilles DropShip is a huge boon to our growing navy, and they have pair of fighters, some small craft, and mechs we could take easily enough. But no, this is an Extraction Raid, and it will work marvelously.

But it will take longer to recharge the sails this far out.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 02:43 AM

February 24, 3066 – We blast out, and both JumpShips arrive in Mualang.

March 2, 3066 – We land and meet with the local DCMS officials that were awaiting our arrival. We turn over all of the units we took, the prisoners we captured, and more. They are quite surprised to find 40 mechs that they wrote off as destroyed years ago, as well as a nice JumpShip and a pair of DropShips. Everything works.

They notice everything is order, and we took nothing from the JumpShip or its escorts.

We make 32.5 million CBills for a dangerous extraction raid against the clans after expenses.

Meanwhile we gained a salvaged Gladiator, 25 Elemental armor plus 5 soldiers for them.

It was a total win. Sure, we could have just left with the lost Combine military assets, or stole some of our own. But why? I’d rather have the DropShips and JumpShip than the mechs inside.

Of course ,this is always one of the issues with being a mercenary. We got around 40 million in pay. 32 is profit. That’s not bad for what ended up being basically non-combat pay, but it could have been. That’s the cost of like 2 expensive LosTech mechs or a lance of mechs of all sorts, averaging 10 mill per unit. Many recent mechs are actually at that 25-30 mill range, but you can get lots for cheaper, so you get the idea.

Meanwhile, they gained, 40 mechs, again, lets average that at 10 mill per, plus the various things. Hold, let me grab a calculator.

Chimeisho – 1.14 billion
Overlord C – 404 million
Upgraded Achilles – 553 million

Result?

2.549 billion CBills. (That includes shuttles and fighters)

And we made 32 million after costs

The DCMS made out, and we didn’t

This is the problem with being a merc, and it’s one of the reasons so many units fold. We have an A+ Dragoons rating that drove up our deal. We made millions more money because of it. Another unit? They might have brought in 18 mill after expenses.

Now again, we didn’t end up with a challenge of any sort. This was a pancake at the end of the day. The clans never noticed we were there and there was no on site battle. But what if the clans had captured it years ago? What if they found us there? What if the ships were run by pirates? Or angry Alshain Avengers out for revenge? Lots of possibilities emerge. But all we had was they did their best Road Warrior impression.

But man, the side looks heavily slanted on the DCMS side you know.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 10:40 AM

Magnus asks for a little extra, maybe they could give us the Sai fighters or some mechs or something. But they just smile like we are idiots.

“After the stunt you guys pulled on Quentin last year, you owe us.”

“Wait, wait. What happened on Quentin was done by the Celestial Coalition, not us. Don’t get us confused. That was the Coalition’s action.” Magnus reminds them.

“When your ruler and your CO are the same guy, trust us, it’s the same thing.”

“Look at it this way. You wanted us, a mercenary unit, under your employ, to grab your stuff from Bear space, because you are not the same as us, and that way, you keep what happens at arm’s length. You can’t operate as if the merc and the house are two different things right now, and then not give our mercenary unit the same courtesy in regards to Quentin a few months ago.”

They don’t look convinced, so ah well. It’s always worth the try.

(What happened at Quentin? Guess you’ll just have to find out when we rewind this dynasty all back and nasty like!)

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 12:29 PM

We investigate if there are any other contracts from anyone. Combine? Maybe Ghost Bear? Nova Cat? Anyone?

Nope, nothing really major going on right now in Combine space, everyone is rebuilding and such from the Black Dragon society’s nasty-fication.

Mar 4, 3066 – We blast off from Mualang.

June 15, 3066 – Aided by LF batteries and recharge stations, we arrive at Epsilon Eridani and begin to unload all of the things we captured in the second part of the campaign.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 01:48 PM

What are we finally walking away with, the second time?

Mad Cat
Turkina
Kingfisher
Masakari
Night Gyr
Fire Falcon
Dragonfly
Vulture x3
Black Lanner
Grizzly
Arcas
Ursus
Vixen
Warhammer Iic
Kraken
Spiritx2
Rifleman Iic
Hellhound
Peregrine
Griffin Iic
2x Baboon
Guillotine Iic
Great Wyrm
Pinion
Gladiatorx2
Man o War
Behemoth

That’s a lot of mechs!

5 veteran bondman, 18 regular bondsman, 2 elite bondsman mech warriors join us – this is in addition to the pilots who joined Liberty Battalion.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 03:39 PM

What about Larsen Company?

Larsen Company was given these mechs:

Vixen
Hellhound
Griffin IIc
Uller A
Koshi Prime

Figured they should get some lighters units to speed up and flesh out their unit. They also got a trio of Brutus Assault Tanks from Kressly.

3 squads of Elementals will remain with Liberty Battalion, they got used to fighting with each other.

The 10 omnifighters on the Carrier are made into Spear Binary, which will keep the clan fighters, pilots, and organization system.

Our Unit:

2x Avar
2x Turk
Jengiz
2x Jagatai
2x Sulla
Scytha

All regular clan pilots.

K&C sends the final remittance to Diamond Shark for the Red Eyrie and that will be ready at the end of 3067.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 04:03 PM

I tried to bring in changes to the clans where possible, to indicate the ongoing climate and culture there. For example, no known edict was issued by Khan Pryde that we discussed in here, with Falcons manipulating, cheating, and defrauding their own honor and systems. But this is an ongoing issue with Falcon. I’ll give you two canonical examples:

A Trial of Bloodright is issued for a Falcon-only Bloodname, and due to genetic exchanges with other clans, a ristar of another clan is able to claim it, and arrives to the Trial, but his DropShip is held up due to inspections by Falcon because of “possible contaminants” in the DropShip, and then after he arrives late, and they are into the second round of the Trial already, he issues a Trial of Grievance to get himself back in, and they hand him a Linebacker omnimech that mysteriously blows up during the battle and it dies, they claim an electronic glitch killed him. Clearly, the Falcon didn’t want him to participate, in fear that their Bloodname would be outside of their clean.

Another incident happens in 3067 when Steel Viper, back in the homeworlds, is winning a Trial of Possession against a Falcon holding, and the Falcons launch a massive amount artillery right into the Viper’s unit, defeating it. The artillery was not a part of the bid, nor was it the next highest bid, and in fact, was not listed among the defender’s assets, so it was a clearly violation of all things honorable. Which is exactly the trick they tried to pull with us and the Elementals, so this is a clear theme that the Falcons are doing that I wanted to tie into, their ongoing loss of honor.

Ghost Bear is moving more and more towards uniting themselves with Rasalhague, and Wolf is just trying to survive, caught between the two powerful states, and they refused to use, as an example, any of the IS Factories they captured, because they were lesser and tainted. They were split in half when Wolf-in-Exile left, and then lost to Falcon a few times, and they just lost against Falcon during the Incursion, when they struck against the Falcon’s back, and the Falcon grabbed four worlds of their own to the Wolf’s three. Meanwhile, they are using politics to keep themselves solvent. They ceded three worlds to Hell Hounds along the border to Ghost bear, two enemies that hated each other, and then let them go at it, rather than have the bear Book askance at Wolf.

So you saw Clan Wolf sort of avoid a Trial with us and just gave us passage to the other side of their territory. They didn’t avoid it completely, when we landed to issue a formal batchall, they could not avoid it, but they had just a quick one on one match up, and then traded for the fighters and pilots rather than fight another Trial for it. They aren’t cowards, but they are still in a strong rebuilding mode, and you saw precisely that.

Meanwhile, you saw Diamond Shark as its own best friend, playing all sides off to the glory of Shark. They have created tons of deals with local companies and states in the 3060s, and thus helping us out was no big thing. They laughed off a Trial and just sold us stuff. They made deals that made them money.

All four clans are here in this campaign, and hopefully being realistically shown.

Meanwhile, one of the major trends in the clans is a heavy home world vs Inner Sphere clan battle, as the warden vs crusader was ultimately won by the wardens and the destruction of the Jaguars. Ghost Bear was the first clan to relocate to the Inner Sphere completely abandoned the homeworlds, and Nova Cat was censured off, and now other clans are following the bears lead, quietly. Diamond Shark. Snow Raven. Hell’s Horses. Ice Hellion.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 04:45 PM

And that concludes the Clan part of this campaign. We will now do a mega-time travel back to late 3063….

END OF THE CLAN CAMPAIGN

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 08:11 PM

September 23, 3063 – A mercenary unit calling itself the 48th has unloaded here on Epsilon Eridani. They have a contract with a a local company, and they apparently did an Extraction Raid for them. We do some checking, the 48th just appeared in the Chaos March about three years ago, and have refused to register with the MRBC over at Outreach. In fact, the 48th have never even been to Outreach, it seems like the only time they went outside of the Chaos March to find a contract, it was to Galatea, and then they got a deal and came right back to the March. They’ve done contracts with local nobles, short term security deals, raids, those sorts of things, but no major garrison work or anything. This is the first time they did work for someone here on EE though.

Duke Essex has Chief Foster do some more digging. The unit keeps to themselves, and has revealed pretty much nothing about itself to its employers. They have a Clan Overlord DropShip, a battalion of mechs of, mostly but not exclusively, Combine make, and they are light and medium, with very fast units, and they appear to have some clan weapons on their mechs or a few clan mechs here and there. We contact some previous employers and they say that the 48th appears to be extremely honorable and capable. There was one contract done for the Ridzik Brothers over at Hall where they were involved in a ambushed with crossfire in a city, by mechs, and they immediately exposed themselves to shut down that fighting as quickly as possible ,and minimize the local damage.

Those are exactly the sort of people we are looking to bring on, so Duke Essex asks to set up a meeting with the 48th CO.

September 29th, 3063 – Duke Essex meets with the 48ths CO, Major Namihito. We would like to discuss hiring the 48th to a contract and He tells Essex that they have two contracts lined up, two Raids to do for local Chaos March worlds, and then he would be happy to negotiate with the Coalition. Duke Essex inquires, gently, honorably, about wanting to register their contract with the MRBC, but is also gently, and completely, refused.

The 48th will leave EE in a week or so.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 08:29 PM

November 4, 3063 – Vicore has produced a major redesign of the Shadow Hawk for the modern market and has sold the blueprints to Lang, as well as agreed to help Lang refit their production line, and open up another.

The new design is called the Shadow Hawk SHD-5C.

Shadow Hawk SHD-5C

55 tons
5/8/5 movement
Light Engine
10 tons of Ferro Fib armor 96% protection
13/26 heat
2 Medium lasers
SRM 6
1 Rotary AC5
1 ER Small Laser

BV of 1699
Cost of 8.6 mill CBills

Lang expects these two, with Vicore help, to begin production in April, 3064, in 7 months.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 08:52 PM

14 November, 3063 – We finally get a good deal on another aspect of technology. A couple of years ago, the Lyran Alliance stole the Light Engine technology from Blackwell Industries. Last year, they begun to field mechs made from this stolen tech. A few months later, Blackwell reciprocated by selling the tech, for the first time, to enemies of Katrina including the Combine and the Free Worlds League. They have also agreed to sell it to Kressly Warworks Inc, right here in the Celestial Coalition to continue to press Katie’s buttons. A common theme it seems.

So, using the light engine, and the access we have gained to MRM missiles, KWI has finished designing their newest model of ‘Mech.

Buckshot
70 tons
5/8 movement via Light Engine
Endo and Ferro-Fib
MRM 30
ER PPC
14/28 heat
2 ER Medium lasers
CASE for 2 tons of ammo
11.5 tons of armor
13.4 million CBills

Good speed, 94% armor protection, MRM and ER PPC are a good match with the pair of lasers as backups. It could use more penetrating weapons. 1739 Battle Value.

The speed and armor on the unit is really good but I’m just not sure if I feel it.

Let’s head back and try a different approach. KWI has wanted a brawler mech for a while. Could we make one that feels distinct from the Combine’s No-Dachi, a heavy Mech with a Sword, Triple Strength Myomer, and a pair of MRM20s, as well as other stuff. That’s a pretty good brawler.

Let’s try this again….

Unamed Brawler
70 tons
4/6/4 via Light Engine
12/24 heat
2x ER Medium laser
Ultra AC/10 with 2 tons of ammo
MRM 20 with 2 tons of ammo
CASE for ammo
Hatchet
81% armor
Endo steel
1560 BV
11.3 mill C Bills

Still not feeling it.

I try out a few other ideas, but I’m not getting anything better than the Buckshot. I do like it’s speed., but it feels like the weaponry is missing some oomph. We are trying out other options, such as dropping or adding weight. But 70 tons is ideal for this speed and payload. It’s the most bang for the buck. It’s very pacey for that size, which we like. Hmm….MASC? I could pull off a ton of armor for more ammo?

Nah, the Buckshot is fine. We order a FrankenMech built with the specs just to see how it does outside of the sims.

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 11:13 PM

Beginning of the New Home Campaign

7 November, 3063 – In order to bring in more loyal troops to battle in the growing Civil War, both of the Lyran Guard units on Keid and New Home are rotated out, since they are both fiercely pro-Katrina.

Keid is certainly not ready for us, not yet. But New Home?

We begin to launch out and take New Home.

“New Home is dominated by a supercontinent named Spina Planetia which stretches from one planetary pole to the other, although New Home also has two smaller continents located in the southern hemisphere which settlers named Arbergeiht and Goldwynn. Possessed of a pleasant, temperate climate, many freshwater lakes and rivers, abundant mineral, chemical and metal resources and located close to Terra, New Home was a very favourable prospect for colonization once discovered.”

“One of the first worlds to be colonized, New Home was colonized by industries looking to exploit the various chemical, mineral and metal resources on the planet; the industries landed scores of young settlers looking to colonize a new world, and many of these new colonists chose to settle on Spina Planetia. Cities and mining operations were soon established around the coast of Spina Planetia and throughout the Great Spine Mountains, a huge mountain range that stretches through the center of the continent; one of these coastal cities located on the northeastern plains, Findler, became the planetary capital. While Findler looked out onto the eastern Tomagasso Ocean, the planetary spaceport was subsequently established seven hundred kilometers to the south of the capital in the city of Mann. The two smaller continents of Arbergeiht and Goldwynn also attracted colonists, and both were soon dotted with small towns and agricultural communities”

Abe Sargent

12-30-2014, 11:24 PM

Our goal is to arrive on New Home en-masse, and drive off the local New Home Regulars, a Pro-Liao unit who have spread out across the planet. At full strength, they are a mixed regiment, but years of battle has prevented that. They currently are estimated to have 30 mechs and 35 vehicles, plus infantry, and about 6 aerospace fighters.

So, in order to secure New Home, we will be launching:

Javelin Company (12 fighters)

Myth Battalion, 4 companies of mechs, from Alpha Regiment, from Capolla, is launching as well.

That gives us 48 mechs and 12 fighters, which should be enough.

We use an Invader JumpShip, loaded with an Overlord DropShip, and two Leopard CVs. We also have a JumpShip we rented with a Union and the final company of mechs, landing on a different place on planet. We can use it as a reserve force if needed.

December 16, 3063 – Our forces arrive on New Home. We were uncontested, which is odd.

The Regulators have been having problems consolidating their hold. No one wants to rejoin the Confederation, and the pro-Liao leanings of the Regulars have been unwelcome.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 12:41 AM

December 21, 3063 - Chief Ingrid Foster, of the Apollo Office, has connected us with many locals that would much prefer us to these folks. We have created a diversion, and fed these folks some cash for weapons, trucks, and such. They have a huge demonstration nearby one of the Regular facilities, with our mechs hidden, instead of a DropShip in the nearby DropPort. The goal is to agitate the local mechs and tanks out, and then hit them away from their defenses. This is a light industrial area, with no civilian homes. We shouldn’t do a lot of damage here.

The demonstration has started, and they take the bait, as expected. Our partisans fire SRM2 missile launchers, infernos, and are otherwise being annoying. They use a lot of hit and fade tactics, and drive away from the Regulars in armored trucks as Regulars advance. Unfortunately, one truck is destroyed with four locals.

We decide to move in to project the others. Most of their defending units have emerged from their position.

Seeing our units blip out of our DropShip and converge on them, they decide to pull all of their forces together and fight us right here, rather than leaving behind some of their forces to get crushed and fleeing with others. Tanks and mechs alike whirl onto the ferrocrete battlefield.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 01:28 AM

We are fighting…..it looks like…24 mechs and 24 tanks too. Four full companies. Our fighters have kept theirs from battle.

We are using three of the four companies from Myth Battalion

We have Heliades, Styx, and Typhon Companies unfurling.

This is their Helios

http://www.solaris7.com/Images/TRO/BattleMechs/Helios.jpg

Coming off the lines in 3058, the Helios is a ‘Mech originally made for the St. Ives Compact, but after their fall, the ‘Mechs have been found in lots of places. Perhaps the CCAF (Capellan Confederation Armed Forces) sent some salvage from that war here to help reinforce their position ,or maybe they just trade, bought, or whatever itself. The Helios, a 60 ton mech, rocks a Gauss, 2 SRM 6s, and 2 ER Medium Lasers. It can jump, has strong armor, and does NOT have the vulnerable XL engine, which is nice.

Our foes are regular and reliable.

I look over any major tanks I fear. Wow. That is an Alacorn Heavy Tank, featuring three gauss rifles. They have some AC20 units like a Von Luckner Heavy Tank, and a pair of Saladin Assault Hover Tanks. Their vee’s tend ot be heavier (which makes sense, they survived a campaign) and heavier armored stuff, like Puma Assault Tank, Brutus Assault Tank, a pair of Po Assault Tanks, 2 Vedette Medium Tanks, 2 Scorpion Light Tanks, and such. Very few tricky units out there (SRM Carrier, and umm…that’s really it. Unless you count those Zephyr Hovertanks)

As for mechs?

They have a Thunder with a big gun, as well as stuff like an Awesome, Stalker, Helios, Axman, Banshee, Zeus and Warhammer.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 04:23 PM

This thang is LONG, so I'ma post in in a few posts:

Let’s begin this uber-Brawl!

(36 mechs on our side, and 48 units on theirs!)

There’s no buildings or anything here where we met, just pavement, ruins, roads and dirt. No trees, elevations, or anything else. (We generated a random map at 26x26)

Turn 1 – We lose init. Because of the lack of any sort of defensive terrain, I expect this could be a fast brawl. Most of our units are level 1 tech, and all of their mechs are level 2. But we have some good mechs, like a triad of Awesomes, Thunderbolt, Warhammers, Stalkers and such. In battles like this, I like to fight in a line, with all of our troops having identical speed (we are all moving 5 hexes) and lining up around 12 mechs on the front line. I hop scout units 5, to make them harder to hit (thus less likely yo do so). Although hey, if you want to waste your time on my Wasp or Comet, go ahead. I have long runners like my Wolfhounds running behind on the next line back and we can twist and fire the long range weapons.

Crap. After an hour of movement, the new, supposedly stable MegaMek crashed…..

Blast it! Well, we had saved it at the beginning of movement. So now I have to do all of that again….Sad face.

Turn 1 Redux - We try again. Their Cicada falls twice while turning. Our main target is a Goliath, but I also send some energy into a Drillson, SRM Carrier, Griffin, and Caesar. Results? Lots of misses. Their G just took 40+ damage and stands, and their Griffin 20+. One of our Awesomes immobilizes their Drillson and our Catapult immobile’s a Po Heavy Tank. A boring first turn of fire.

Turn 2 finally arrives! We win init. I push our line forward another 5 hexes. They were not expecting that and back off a bit in some places. Multiple tanks push our position while mechs stayed back, arrayed against us (A smarter tactic than the AI normally employs). I hop our Ostscout next to a Vedette. Watchman runs next to the other Vedette. I run our Ostsol by their Condor Heavy Hover Tank. Our Wolfhound falls while running through rough terrain. I hop a Phoenix Hawk beside their Striker. Their Centurion runs over their Vedette and bases my Ostscout back. Their Cicada bases our Wasp. One of our Jenner’s runs up on their Brutus and next to their Von Luckner. Our other Jenner runs up to support it. Their Helios runs up and and bases a Jenner. Alright, weapons fire time –

Our Phoenix Immobilizes their Striker Light Tank
Their Puma Assault Tank destroys the LA of our Wasp
One of our Trebuchets stuns the crew on one of their Saladin’s for a turn
Their Alacorn Heavy Tank hits our Blackjack twice and destroys its LA
A Jenner stuns the crew on their Von Luckner
Their Brutus Assault Tank goes internal on a Stalker of ours and hits two arm actuators on the LA
Our second Jenner immobilizes their Von Luckner
Our Hunchback gets the first kill of the day. Dead Vedette – destroys the Left Side.
Our Catapult immobilizes a Po.
Our Stalker immobilizes a SRM Carrier and a Condor
Their Vindicator destroys the LT of our Wasp after hitting the SRM2 ammo and it explodes
Our Grand Dragon immobilizes a Rhino Support Tank
Their Axman’s AC20 hits the RT of a Jenner and destroys it.

Our Jenner falls. No other mechs do. An Awesome kicks and destroys a Condor’s front.

That was not a good turn for us. Sure, we savaged some tanks, but we lost our Wasp, and basically lost a Jenner and got a Blackjack savaged too. They haven’t had one mech that badly hit yet.

Turn 3 – We win init. I eject the wounded Jenner. This turn I back up the line a bit. Some more tanks advance on our position. I hop our Grashopper on top of their Po. I run our Dragon next to their Scorpion Light Tank. I run a Wolfhound next to the Scorpion too. Our Ostscout leaps next to the Po the Grasshopper is straddling. I hope the Jenner that survived last turn over too. Their Von Luckner crew abandoned the tank. Firing Time!

Our Phoenix Hawk destroys the SRM Carrier’s LS.
Their Alacorn destroys the LT of my Blackjack
Our Hunchback destroys a Scorpion Light Tank’s Front
Ultra AC5 AC from our Rifleman tears into their Saladin’s right side and its down
A different Phoenix Hawk hits the ammo in a different Saladin and it explodes.
Our Ostscout’s single weapon, a medium laser, stuns the crew on a Po.
A gauss slug from their Caesar smashes the H of our Blackjack and that pilot and mech are dead
ER PPC from their Vindicator nails an Awesome in the H and almost kills him
Our Warhammer 6D hits their Goliath and nails two leg actuators in the Front-Right-Leg.
Their Thunder hits the Large Laser on our Watchman and destroys it
Their Condor goes internal on our Watchman’s RL, and then rolls a limb blown off crit and the RL is on the ground
Their Helios hits a different Awesome’s head with a Gauss slug, and kills the MW and the mech drops. Two gauss head shots. ARGH!
Missiles from our Archer cascade onto their Vindicator, and some hit the head and black out the pilot.

These mechs fall – Vindicator, Goliath, Watchman

We miss a bunch of kicks on tanks, but no one else tumbles.

Wow. Lost an Awesome and a Blackjack. They still have not lost a single Mech, just some tanks.

Turn 4 – We lose init. I run the damaged Awesome up to their downed Vindicator. I run our Valkyrie up as well. Then one of our Marauders does as well. They can’t rise their Goliath. Their Galleon Light tank slips behind our Rifleman 3N. Our T Bolt charges a Po. I eject our Watchman. I run a Trebuchet on top of a remaining Vedette. They hop a Wasp next to a Rifleman of ours. I hop our Jenner by the Galleon. Their Centurion bases our Wolfhound , the WLF-2. I rush our Ostroc through some rubble and next to their Galleon too. Our Centurion bases their Centurion. I leap a Phoenix hawk next to their Drillson, Quickdraw, and to the rear of their UrbanMech. Their Striker ejects. Weapons time baby!

Our Valkyrie hits the head of the downed Vindicator with a medium laser. But not dead yet.
Our Stalker 3F destroys the FRL of their Goliath.
Their Drillson nails a leg actuators in our PXH-1; one of their Zephyrs does too
Our Hunchback’s AC20 nails the LT of their Wasp, destroys it, and then fires a medium laser and destroys the CT.
Our Grand Dragon hits and destroys the Goliath after decoying the RT.
A small laser from our Awesome lances into the head of their Vinidicator and finishes it.
One of our Warhammer gets a limb blown off critical against their Eagle’s RA
Before it died, their Goliath nailed one of the PPCs on our wounded Awesome #2
Our Thunderbolt immobilizes the other Po
Our Crusader stuns the crew in their Alacorn for a turn.
Our Marauder 3D destroys the RT of their Eagle.

Mechs that fall – Their UrbanMech, Eagle, and our Phoenix Hawk. Our T Bolt kicks and destroys the LS of a Po. Nobody falls.

That was a good turn. We regained momentum after the many head hits last turn.

Turn 5 – We lose init. They manage to rise their Urbie. They move the Brutus in the same hex as the UrbanMech. I begin to push in the middle moving forward again. We have a bru-haha in the south that I pull back from. That’s where their Helios, Axman, Brutus, Quickdraw, Banshee, and Thunder are. Their Galleon rushes one of our Awesomes. I stand our Phoenix Hawk and move it away. Their Eagle rises too. Weapons!

Our Jenner immobilizes a Scorpion which is then destroyed by our Ostroc.
Their Puma destroys our PXH-1 CT and a few other parts are destroyed too.
Before it goes, our PXH takes our their Drillson.
Our other PXH, the PXH-1K hits the LB10X AC on their UrbanMech
Our Rifleman hits the engine once on the UM too
Our Awesome, #2, immobilizes their Alacorn.
Our Crusader hits the gyro and engine once each on their Eagle
One of our Trebuchets, the TBT-5N destroys their other Vedette ammo – boom!
They go internal in two places on our Hunchback
Our Stalker 5M destroys the Eagles CT
Our Archer stuns their Alacorn crew for 3 more turns.
Our Stalker hits the engine once on their Banshee.

Their Axman carves into our dead Phoenix Hawk’s CT and the engine’s safety systems are compromised and it explodes!!!

As it does:

It hits their Po for 13 damage
Their Brutus for 27 damage – immobilized
Their Axman for 13
Their Thunder for 27 – their Thunder’s LT’s AC 20 ammo is hit in the explosion. CASE keeps the Mech alive, but the XL engine shuts it down. No more Thunder!
Their UrbanMch takes 27 and its destroyed massively!!!

And their URBANMECH also has its engine explode TOOO!!!

Holy Crap

The Brutus, in the same square, is automatically destroyed. (And unrecoverable to boot!)
A few mechs take minor damage from the Urban mech explosion (Zeus, Helios, Axman – all take 1 or 3 damage)

Alright, back to the PXH explosion, already in progress:

Their Helios takes 13 damage.

After taking more than 100 damage, their Banshee stays standing! (The pilot needed a 10 to stay standing, and did). No other falls. A Marauder kicks and immobilized their Saracen Medium Hover Tank. Our Comet kicks and stuns the crew on their Rhino tank

THAT was a turn!

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 04:25 PM

Turn 6 – We win init. They are trying to salvage what is quickly becoming a losing scenario. We have two damaged Awesomes, Hunchback, Rifleman and Thunderbolt. And we’ve lost, or ejected, a Phoenix Hawk, Awesome, Watchman, Wasp, Blackjack and Jenner. But hitting the Thunder and Brutus (both we had barely targeted and barely touched), gave us a big swing. The bot has speed up more and more due to combat losses. So yay! They move a Stalker 5M out in the northwest corner and I Move in a few units of my own on the collapsed flank. I bade it with a Marauder. In comes a Warhammer and Trebuchet to follow. I move my Centurion and Archer 2S in that direction too. They have ejected the Alacorn (Stunned crew + immobile tank is worth leaving). My goal is to push that Stalker and take it down. We are pushing forward considerably in the north and center. It might be wounded, but my T-Bolt bases their Blackjack, as does our Crusader. Warhammer gets next to their Saracen. Comet leaps behind the Blackjack. Their Cicada runs behind our Centurion. Our Grasshopper bases their Centurion. Weapons fire again!!!

Our Awesome #1 hits a bunch of actuators in their Banshee.
Our Marauder hits the H of their Stalker with a PPC’s glancing blow and the pilot blacks out
Their Blackjack hits a PPC on our Awesome #2
Our Warhammer 6D hits and immobilizes their Saracen again.
Our grasshopper hits the engine once, and three leg actuators on their Centurion
Their Banshee destroys the LL on our Catapult
Our Stalker destroys the LA of their Banshee before taking out the LT and that’s an XL engine shutdown.
Their Trebuchet destroys the LA of my Catapult
Our Rifleman hits the gyro on their Centurion

Our Wolfhound WLF-1 takes out the Centurion’s CT.

It’s engine blows up too!

Their Puma takes some damage, their Zeus too. Our Grasshopper took 30 damage and the pilot blacks out.

Falls – Our Grasshopper, Catapult. Their Stalker

Our Warhammer kicks and destroys the right side of their Saracen

Right now, here are the numbers:

Us -27 mechs (not including immobile and down Grasshopper, nor the Catapult I’m liable to eject)

Them – 15 mechs, 8 vees. Many of their vees are immobile (Po, Rhino) or badly damaged (Galleon, Condor). Their Stalker is 5 ways to death. That leaves them an Axman, Warhammer, Awesome, Carapult, Quickdraw, Trebuchet, Griffin, Zeus, Helios, Night Hawk as untouched mechs. We’ve blasted their Blackjack, Stalker, and peppered their Cicada, Caesar, Assassin,

They’ve lost 9 mechs and 16 vees. That’s 25 units. They began under-mech’ed but over-unit’ed. Now that have 27 to 23 but are on the losing side of that formula. We have better pilots too, which helps.

We have these mechs of worth – Cyclops, 2x Rifleman, 2x Stalker, 2x Awesome (damaged) 2x Rifleman, Archer, 2x Warhammer, Ostroc, Ostsol, Grand Dragon and, wounded Hunchback 2x Marauder, Centurion and 2x Trebuchet. We don’t have a lot of light, or weak units in there. Our losses, except for the lucky gauss hit on the Awesome, have been lighter, scoutier mechs. Phoenix Hawk, Watchman, Wasp, Jenner, Blackjack. Sure, losing two heavies last turn hurt (Hopper and Catapult) but we took out multiple tanks, and an assault mech (Banshee) and dropped another assault mech (Stalker).

So, basically, barring a cataclysmic reversal, we’ve won.

Now, there’s nowhere for our foes, the Regulars, to flee to. We can use our company of fighters to keep them near us so we can keep them from fleeing. Is it worth surrendering?

Remember, these are Pro-Liao people on a planet decidedly not. You can’t flee and expect help from the locals - quite the opposite.

But they have no other home. These are folks from the Lyran Guards who defected to protect this area for Liao.

We offer them, and their other unit (the small amount of mechs and armor that did not fight in this battle) free passage paid by us, to Capella. And, we will let them keep their mechs and tanks in their current condition.

They refuse. They see this as do or die. They want to try the hail mary.

Alright, die then!

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 04:39 PM

Turn 7 – We win init. I eject the Catapult. They are frazzled and making mistakes now. Their placement is way off from before, when they had a good battle-plan. This is going to end quickly I suspect. I move some folks over to guard our Grasshopper. I hop the Ostscout on top of their Rhino. Their Stalker fails to stand and falls back down. It destroyed it’s CT falling down and the Mech is gone. Their Condor Heavy Hover Tank bases our Grasshopper. With the northern flank totally gone, I bring my mechs down the back flank of their center position, held by a Pike, Awesome, Catapult, Warhammer and Assassin. They move over a Zephyr Hovertank. To help out. Our Warhammer bases theirs on the side. Their Night Hawk bases our downed Grasshopper. Their Cicdada runs around behind one of my Warhammers. Our Grand Dragon runs behind their Axman and bases it. Weapons!

Our Awesome destroys the font of their Rhino Support Tank
An AC2 on their Pike hits our Grasshopper’s H for 2 damage.
Their Condor destroys the Hoppers LL
One of their Zephyr opens up a leg on one of my Marauder’s and nails a hip actuators.
Our Valkyrie destroys their Galleon
The other Zephyr gets a limb blown off crit and the LL blows off our Marauder.
Their Hunter’s LRM 20 destroys the LA of our Hopper.
Their Caesar destroys’ our Hopper’s CT
Their Warhammer destroys the RA of our Comet
Our Archer nails four actuators on their Warhammer, including a hip

Falling mechs – Our Marauder, their Warhammer.

Our Warhammer kicks and destroys the LL of theirs on the ground.

Turn 8 – We win init. I eject the Marauder pilot. Basically that turn we exchanged a Marauder for their Warhammer. We took out two tired tanks as well but their Hammer is still on the map. I leap our Ostscout on top of their Pike and next to their Warhammer, who is still on the ground. Their Griffin rushes up to protect their position in the center. Some of our mechs, like our Crusader and Valkyrie, join the flanking. Their Awesome bases our Ostscout (didn’t expect that). I also push down south with my Ostsol and Ostroc leading the way. Our Centurion bases their downed Warhammer. Their BJ hops behind our Valkyrie, they relocate their Zeus from the south to the center to hold us there, and begin to weaken the southern flank more. Our Comet hops behind their BJ. They leap their Axman to our Ostroc. I base their Awesome with a Warhammer and Stalker. Our WLF1 bases their Hunter tank in the south. Their Night Hawk bases our Ostroc too. Our Hunchy bases the Nighthawk and Weapons time again!!!

Our Hunchback’s AC20 hits the CT critical of their Night Hawk, gets three crits, and hits the engine three times for a shut down.
Our Archer hits their Awesome’s H, goes critical, gets a head blown off crit, and the H blows off. Dead mech.
Their Axman’s AC20 hits the AC20 on my Hunchback
Our Cyclops destroys the Front of their Po.

None fall. Our Grand Dragon kicks and immobilizes their Hunter. Our Wolfhound 1 misses a kick and falls.

Turn 9 – We lose init. They offer surrender on the same terms we offered before. Nope. They won’t just surrender, turning over their unit, so they keep it up. It’s a total brawl now. I base the fallen Warhammer with my Cyclops. Our Wolfhound rises and runs. Ostsol to the rear of their Axman. Their Zeus bases our Stalker. Ostroc by Hunter.

Our Ostroc destroys the Hunter’s front
Our Ostsol hits two leg actuators on their Axman
Their Hunter destroys the RA of our Hunchback
Their Caesar destroys the LA of my Ostsol.
Our Awesome destroys the LA of their Blackjack
Our TBolt immobilizes their Pike Support Vehicle
Our Trebuchet hits and destroys the LT of their Axman – shutdown
Their Trebuchet hits the gyro on my Ostsol
Our Cyclops gets a limb blown off LA on their Zeus
After hitting it twice with missiles form other mechs, our Stalker’s medium laser sheers off the H of their Zeus.
Their Griffin destroys the LT of our Ostsol

Our Ostsol falls. Our Cyclops kicks and destroys the LS of their Pike. Their BJ falls after being kicked and missing a kick

Turn 10 – We lose init. I eject our Ostsol and Hunchback. That turn we took out two tanks and two more mechs. But they strill have a core of strong units getting pushed back to back – the Puma is nasty good, the Caesar, Guillotine, Trebuchet, Helios, Quickdraw, Catapult and Griffin are not a bad remnant. Plus some scouters are still up and around. Our Crusader bases their Puma. Their BJ fails to stand once, then again. Lots of things are basing lots of things.

Our Comet destroys the Enginex4 on the Blackjack and it shuts down
Their Puma destroys the LA of our Comet
Our Awesome nails the hip on their Quickdraw.
Our T Bolt immobilizes their Puma
Our Marauder hits the gyro and engine once each on their Helios
Our Stalker gets a limb blown off n the Helios’s LA, destroys both the RA, RT, LL, and gyrox3, enginex2 of it too
Their Griffin destroys the RT of our Comet

Their Quickdraw and our Comet fall.

Lots of kicks ensue.

Warhammer kicks and hits LL actuator on their Griffin.
Our Marauder kicks and destroys their Puma’s rear armor.
Our Trebuchet #2 missed a kick and falls.

They continue to refuse to do a normal surrender. Whatever. I’ll just blow them up.

Turn 11 – We win init. I eject the Comet. Their QD Rises and moves a bit. I chase it and base it. Our TBT Rises.

Our Awesome immobilizes one of the Zephyrs
Our T Bolt nails four actuators on their Quickdraw
Our Rifleman destroys the LT of their Guillotine
Their Quickdraw destroys the LA of a Marauder
Our Marauder immobilizes their Condor
Our Rifleman nails the gyro once on their Guillotine
Our Stalker hits the gyro again, and then destroys the Guillotine’s CT
Our Grand Dragon destroys their Trebuchet’s 7M’s RT, dead mech (no engine

Their QD falls hard.

Kicks:

Our Awesome kicks and destroys the RT of their QD. It hits the gyro and that’s two of those.
Our Centurion kicks and destroys the RL of their Cicada and it falls.
Our Stalker kicks their Griffin to the ground.
Our Centurion was kicked and falls down too.

They radio us to accept their official surrender, and we take all of their stuff.

Whew!

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 04:42 PM

Dead Tanks – Vedettex2, Condor, SRM Carrier, Scorpionx2, Saladinx2 (one by ammo), Pox2, Drillson, Brutus, Saracen, Rhino, Galleon (Explosion), Hunter, Pike, Puma

Ejected – Von Luckner tank, Striker tank, Alacorn

Kills - Hunchbackx4, Awesome #2x2, PXH-1x2, RFL-5M, PXH-1K, Grand Dragonx2, Thunderbolt, Ostrocx2, TBT-5Nx2, STK-5Mx4, WLF-1, STK-3F,, WHM-6D, Awesome #1, Valkyrie, Archer, Cyclopsx2, Comet, MAD-3D,

Wounded and dead mechs of theirs:

Goliath 3M missing RFL, RT
Vindicator 3L missing H
Thunder missing LT
Banshee missing RT, RA
Warhammer 7S missing LL
Night Hawk 2S, x4 engine, 1x gyro
Quickdraw 5M, missing RT, gyrox2
Awesome 9M, reattach H
Blackjack 2 missing LA, enginex4, gyrox1
Axman missing LT
Zeus 9S, reattach LA, missing H
Helios, gyrox3, enginex2, missing LL, RA, RT, reattach LA
Trebuchet 7M, missing RT
Cicada 3F missing RL

Wasp 3M LL, RL, H, LA, RA, RT
Stalker 5M – H, RA, RT, LL, RL
Guillotine 5M H, LL, RL, LA, RA, RT
Eagle, RA, H, LT, LA, LL, RL

Dead – UrbanMech, Centurion D3

Wounded mechs of ours:

Blackjack missing LA, LT, H
Awesome #3 missing H
Jenner missing RT
Watchman, reconnect RL
Catapult missing LL, RA
Grasshopper missing LL, LA
Marauder, reattach LL
Comet missing RA, LA, RT
Hunchback missing RA
Ostsol missing RA, gyrox1, LT
Marauder, missing RA

Parts of our mechs:

Wasp RA, LL
Grasshopper H, RL, RT, RA, LA, LT

We lost a Phoenix Hawk totally

We capture:

Catapult C4C
Caesar 3R
Griffin 3 M
Assassin 23
2 Zephyr
Condor

That was a huge battle.

But we won. The rest of the unit, with a handful of mechs and tanks, accepts our offer and will be transported to the Confederation, for free, with their military assets intact. We’ll only take these.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 05:53 PM

December 23, 3063 – We have taken New Home.

(In real life, the Word of Blake were welcomed as liberators after ousting the Regulars from New Home. They were embraced. So we should be as well. What’s good for the Blake is good for the Essex, right?)

More about New Home –

New Home was one of the first colonies of humanity. The planet was very similar to Terra, so it was an obvious choice as an early colony. Because of how old it is, a lot of non-renewable resources are long since used up. In particular, fossil fuels and ores were used up at a very fast clip in order to push the early colonial explosions.

There aren’t a bunch of unused ores just waiting to get tapped, nor a lot of valuable fossil fuels. All of the stuff people wanted was long since used up. Numerous geological surveys arrived, and the most advanced survey teams and instruments all the way through the height of the Star League have uncovered everything there is.

As a result, New Home is about sustainable economies. It has solar, nuclear, and hydro power. People fish and farm. New Home makes enough food to sell it abroad. It also raises plant and animal based things like rubber, textiles, and wood. In fact, there’s a strong plastics industry here too.

There’s still some modest ores around that are of lower value minerals, like cobalt and nickel. But not much.

There’s also a solid amount of industry on the world. Nothing military, but a lot of supplemental industry like clothing manufacturing, processing food, and there’s a decent artisan based economy of people that make things out of bone and leather for decorations.

So New Home has a diverse, Terran like economy, except that it’s best stuff is long since gone, and none of the heavy industry of the military-industrial complex. New Home is a strong economy though, and it’s a positive to the Coalition – it brings in more money than it will take, long term.

Although again, New Home will get some investment in rebuilding after the long war. But the infrastructure here was respected more by combatants, and the area is not nearly as badly damaged as many others. Even places that had war ended quickly, such as Capolla and Terra Firma, were hurt worse than New Home was.

Luckily, New Home never suffered that much from the Amaris Wars or Succession Wars, save for the destruction of stuff in space. It had no major industries to raid. (There were some satellites and stations built that were destroyed)

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 05:59 PM

Dec 30, 3063 – The local government has begun to take steps toward establishing their own government and is accepted into the Coalition.

1st New Home Hussars – We only take the Alacorn tank, and leave them 17 tanks that were captured and salvaged. We leave them the 13 Mechs , Blackjack, Locust, Awesome, Goliath, Dervish, Commando,
Assassin, Trebuchet, Axman, Vindicator, Enforcer, Hunchback, Shootist.

We swapped some of the captured mechs for those in our garrison and rotated these out.

We replace our dead mechs with a Night Hawk, Quickdraw, and Cicada.

End of the New Home Campaign

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 06:29 PM

The Problem with Nanking

Nanking is an adjacent, heavily militarized world, next to the Celestial Coalition. It’s a part of the FedCom industrial infrastructure in the Capellan March, and under the auspices of March Lord George Hasek, a fiercely pro-Hasek, anti-everyone guy, who is also fiercely anti-Liao.

Now, thus far, he hasn’t had a major problem with us. Quite the opposite. We have kept a large number of worlds of value out of the hands of the Capellan Confederation. This makes Hasek very happy.

However, he had two worlds just hanging out – Zurich and Nanking, and surrounded by us and House Liao. Zurich has now joined us, and Nanking is sort of naked and exposed. And it's particularly valuable. It’s the home of one of the factories of Kallon Industries, and makes tanks and mechs there. Nanking was Capellan for centuries, but taken in the 4th Succession War by the combined Fed/Com forces. It held out in Operation Guerrero easily enough and Liao never came close to retaking. Sun-Tzu never had the forces.

The Capellan Confederation knows Nanking a lot better than the FedCom, who has been there for about 35 years now. They have drawn up long-standing plans to make a strike against Nanking to reclaim it, but they’ve never had the window of opportunity and units required to do so at the same time.

Sun-Tzu and his forces would much prefer that we had it to the FedCom folks. And, Word of Blake has supplied us with those same plans, and then spent some time on planet placing a few things that will assist our invasion and capture of the planet.

Word of Blake can help us secure the planet as well. But the problem is that we are likely waking the bear.

Right now, George Hasek is extremely insular-focused. He is not concerned with the greater Civil War at all. We agree, really. In fact, George opposed Katrina from the beginning, and was one of the few voices in the FedCom opposed to her taking over from Yvonne Steiner-Davion. He also tried to keep St. Ives Compact free and helped to fight even though Katrina gave Sun-Tzu free reign to reclaim his lost state.

I don’t care much for either Katie or Vic as ruler of a pan-system nation either. One is too much of a White Knight who doesn’t make the smart decisions and the other is too much of a Black Knight who doesn’t make the good decisions. You need both to rule.

Anyway, George is a powerful March lord who’s really interested in taking out Katie, but not to put Vic in place. He thinks both are unsuited to rule, Vic because he abandoned his post and Kate because she’s not a true Davion, and a nasty person too. He has refused both sides the use of his troops. So he’s been staying relatively neutral, moving in units, and quashing rebellions from multiple planets.

If we take Nanking, he will instantly be our enemy, and will come after us on Nanking. He’ll also likely strike against other Coalition targets, such as Genoa or Acamar, that are close to him and really tasty.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 06:38 PM

So, here’s the question:

Is Nanking worth it?

Do we get enough from Nanking to make securing it and protecting ourselves against a new potential enemy worth it?

I mean we certainly have spent some time investing in companies that make ‘Mechs – Lantren Corporation makes Grasshoppers and Quickdraws. Lang makes Shadow Hawks. Kressly makes a handful of mechs we like enough to use (Attila, Alexander, Bumblebee, Greyhound) and then some we don’t like that much (Bandersnatch, Lineholder). That’s it.

The Coalition can easily use this immediate injection of mechs.

How much?

A dumbed down Exterminator. A upgraded Shadow Hawk (I know, that’s funny). Wolverine. Tanks like the Ontos and Partisan.

That’s not a bad addition to the Coalition. Along with the Legions in Liberty, the Brutus, Blizzard and such over at Kressly, this gives us some more tank-age. Meanwhile, we add more mech lines quickly.

Although, if we wanted to add Ontos and Partisan that much we could have taken Sirius.

Are there any other major company worlds nearby???

Ruchbah makes like a bajillion different VTOLS if we care about that in any way shape or form. Errai has some Battlemech making facilities. Those are good on the Davion side – Steiner? New Earth

I’m not interested in taking systems from the FWL, CC, or DC. Two are future-allies and the other is not a dragon I want to wake up.

So here is the question. Will the Nanking campaign be an example of us getting too big for our britches?

We might need to play it closer to the vest to these sorts of places.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 07:06 PM

Now here’s what’s good.

Nanking was once controlled by the Capellan Confederation for centuries. When it changed hands, after the 4th Secession War, about 34 years ago, Nanking was placed in the newly formed Sarna March. As you might recall, the Sarna March was gifted to his new bride, Melissa, by Hanse Davion as the spoils of war. Melissa and her Lyran Commonwealth ran the area, although increasing both houses ran lots of places as the Federated Commonwealth became a thing.

Many people on Nanking resented the change over from Liao to Steiner. They still did just a few decades later in 3057 when Operation Guererro led to the Chaos March’s formation. Melissa was a beneficial ruler though, and like a lot of fellow worlds in the Sarna March, they really grew to like her.

So you had some pro-Melissa folks, and some pro-Liao folks. Then 3057 hit, and the Federated Commonwealth troops were able to fend off the Liao attack. The Sarna March was no more. So Nanking was moved, along with nearby planet Zurich, to the Capella March, under Duke Hasek.

The problems are obvious. Neither the Pro-Steiner side, nor the Pro-Liao side wants to be a part of the Federated Suns part of the FC, and especially post-Civil War. Most of the planet are loyalists who support Katrina. That’s why they were able to rise up a bit to the allied forces who now control the world.

Right now, on Nanking, we have two major issues. Duke Hasek has ordered the planet controlled. But the people are lashing out. They may not agree on why, but they are pretty unanimous in not liking Hasek.

So, one of the things Word of Blake has been helping us is in demonstrating that we are a legitimate option. Kate is not prioritizing the world, so far away from her supply lines. Sun-Tzu can’t send a fleet to capture Nanking and then keep it, any incursion by him would give Hasek the excuse he has been waiting for since the St. Ives conflict ended to send troops across the border en masse.

But we can. Multiple nations have asked us to come in and help them – Ingress, Fletcher, Sheratan, Keid. And we are going to help others we approached – Arboris, Liberty, Epsilon Indi. Considering that, Blake is talking us up as an option on the table. We can take Nanking for the people. And our track record certainly shows that we are capable of doing that, and very beneficial administrators.

All they have to do is ask.

After working there for more than a year, we get the first overture from underground movements in the planet that have the ear of the rulers. They are feeling us out via back channels. Chief Foster takes Ambassador Yee (who we hired from Steiner after the Liberty debacle) to meet with them and arrives at Nanking a month later to talk and meet with various groups.

A few weeks later, the two women return with a variety of intel, and more importantly, the paper we need. We have video, and an official letter to the Celestial Coalition, signed by the rulers, asking for our aid to liberate Nanking.

We have our Casus Belli.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 07:46 PM

December 1, 3063 – Over on our colony of Asmodeus, a military group has begun a raid near our central complex and against a local mining interest. As a reminder, Asmodeus was a world, rich in minerals, we discovered and had a colony begin there. We build a central administrative complex, and then allowed other mining companies to come in and take various parts of the world under their control and build their own DropPorts and mining facilities and they hire their own small garrison from mercs. And we have Utopia Company on planet as our persona garrison.

This is the first raid on Asmodeus. They have unloaded from a transport DropShip – a older Jumbo class DropShip, and are moving out. A company of mechs and another of tanks are slashing through the area. The company of tanks included six Maxim hover personal carriers, that are each carrying a squad of infantry, along with 6 other fast hover scouts to protect and search, and quartet of hover trucks that are used to carry are in the middle protected.

Meanwhile a company of mechs is coming strait at the area garrisoned by Utopia company. We rouse the rest of the force and move them to intercept. This is clearly just a way to keep us otherwise entertained.

After about 30 minutes, battle has begun, but their hover force is already at their target. Here is our unit:

Masakari B
BLR-1GB BattleMaster
CRB-27b Crab
AX-1N Axman

MR-5M Cerberus
Rifleman IIc
CLPT-C1 Catapult
Griffin Iic

ALX-1KC Alexander
CMT-1 Comet
STG-3G Stinger
BUM-1 Bumblebee

This unit include two mechs from Kressly that we designed (Alexander, Bumblebee) as a FrankenMech we like (Comet) as well as three clan mechs (Masakari B, Rifleman IIc, Griffin IIc) and some solid updated mechs (BattleMasters, Crab, Axman, Cerberus). With a good Catapult as level 1 tech (and the Stinger is as well).

We have 5 elite, 4 veteran, and 3 regular in this company.

Our foes:

Grasshopper
Grand Dragon
Wolverine
Javelin
Dart
Hatchetman
Venom
Hercules
Wolf Trap
Maelstrom
Duan Gung
Phoenix Hawk

It’s a very fast unit, with everyone either having jump jets, or at least a 5/8 speed. They are all veteran. No assaults though. Like this Duan Gung!

http://www.cbtbooks.ru/jpg/reworked_pic/duangung.gif

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 08:53 PM

We are on the left side of a large warehouse, and we move past it to set up on the south edge of the battlefield.

Turn 1 – We lose initiative. We move a wedge of assaults, with our BattleMaster in the center. They are on the edges and flanks of the area, only. Clearly just trying to keep us occupied. A little long range weaponry is enhanced, and a light dusting of armor on a few folks occurs.

Turn 2 – We lose init. I force ourselves up the center from the southern edge. Might as well push in. They seem to melt away, finding space to push in along the deep flanks and corner. We focus some weapons on their Maelstrom, but we scratch it for just 20+ damage and its fine. As is our mechs too (none took 20 or more)

Turn 3 – We win init. I run everyone forward their max, and break our formation. Our foes drive deeper on the edges, and in fact, their Venom and Dart are flanking us on the east, and ran into the far south-east corner. Their Maelstrom is too far away so I concentrate rain on their Hercules instead. And we sandblast it for 60+ damage, and it’s still on its feet. They concentrate on the BattleMaster and do 40+ and Is still up to.

Turn 4 – They win init again and have fully flanked us as we move in two directions, one north-east and one north-west, with two spears. We have the Masakari leading one and our BM the other. Weapons stab from our mechs and lance into two main targets - their Hercules in one corner and Hatchetman in the other. Our Rifleman Iic’ large pulse lasers smashes their Hercules three times out of three for a shot on its RA, and two in the RT and we hit an engine there. We pepper it with missiles from the Griffin IIc and Catapult, but it’s still alive. Meanwhile our Cerberus’s two gauss rifles smash into their Hatchetman and carve two holes for later weapons to fire into. After opening up a few more holes in our BattleMaster, a pair of LB10Xs from their Hatchetman and Wolf Trap hit it with cluster shots, one for 6 and the other for a full 10 damage, and they nail a bunch of crits, including the hip, gyro once, a pair of medium lasers and a heat sink. Their Hercules took 80+ damage and falls down and destroys its RT and shuts down (XL Engine). Their Hatchetman is still standing. Our BM falls and is badly beaten.

Turn 5 – We lose init. They move off to the corners of the map, and we push back to protest the wounded BattleMaster. Long range weapons from their Duan Gung’s LRM 10 smash our BM and tears out its RT. Meanwhile they focus on a pair of our mechs that are close by and begin to carve their initials into our Stinger. We send weapons back into their Maelstrom and Hachetman, but still no critical blow.

They fade away, granting themselves the time they needed.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 08:56 PM

Theirs –

Hercules shutdown

Ours –

BM, gyro, actuators, weapons, missing RT.

We salvage their Hercules

We aren’t sure what sort of a contract they had, or if they did this on their own. They ended up stealing around 22.5 million CBills worth of ore from a local company. But, a Hercules is worth 16.4 million. So that’s a major loss. If they sell the CBills at face value (unlikely) cost, and then add in their losses for ammo, fuel, armor, and more, and replace that Hercules, it could be a loss. On the other hand, if they have a really nice contract, then this could be a win, if, for an example, they have just 50% Battle Loss Compensation, they’ll make 8.2 mill from the loss of the Hercules.

So we send the Hercules to the EE garrison. This past year, Asmodeus made more money for the local companies than ever, an increase of about 18% from the previous year’s money. So it’s obvious that Asmodeus needs more than the token company for defense now.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 09:07 PM

December 10, 3063 - There are multiple reasons why gaining Carver V, now known as Liberty, is very important.

First of all, Liberty has the small Steiner plant that produces the Legion tank. This is a 100 ton tank designed as a mech killer. It features two gauss rifles, two medium lasers, and an SRM2 streak. It has hugely high amounts of armor to protect itself, save for the rear where it has a lot less. It’s a tracked design, with the weapons in the turret. It’s a powerful tank for a new generation of fighting, and Liberty can produce them.

Liberty has taken over the plant, which has just one tank line surviving, and renamed it the Liberty Belle Plant. The Belle makes just one Legion a month after damage from the battle hurt the other lines. But this is a large boost. We can rebuild or restore another line to double production, and Kressly, who knows tanks quite well, has sent over aid.

The first benefit is this Tank producing factory.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 09:27 PM

The second is Brooks, Incorporated. This smaller, regional, but multi-national company makes vehicles and aerospace fighters mostly for the Free Worlds League. They have plants on places like Andurien and Irian. They have a small plant on Liberty that has made an aerospace fighter known as the Ironsides, which was introduced by them back in 2613. Brooks made the fighters here and at four other plants. All of the other plants were destroyed, and the Liberty plant was put in mothballs due to limited sales as a cost-cutting measure. They have occasionally checked in to make sure things are working, but the plant hasn’t been used to make Ironsides in quite some time. We have contacted Brooks, Incorporated, and they are more than happy to reboot their Ironsides line for a new generation, if we will guarantee a market for them. They have plans to produce an upgraded fighter for the modern market. With that design, plus the production line just in mothballs, we expect fighters to pore off the lines in about 6 months.

They already made the frame, engine, armor, tracking and communication systems here in their factory. All they need to import is weapons and any additional equipment. This variant they already planned, is the IRN-SD3, with an ER PPC, ER Large Laser, and 5x MRM10 missile launchers with 120 rounds of ammo for them.

The original Ironsides was a battle tested design that was extremely solid. We’ll be happy to introduce the unit into our navy. In fact, we have guaranteed Brooks that we will be the only market for the fighter (just Celestial Coalition and K&C mercenary unit). Anybody else wanting an Ironsides purchase needs to come through us.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 09:43 PM

The final benefit is perhaps far reaching. Liberty is one of a small number of systems in the Inner Sphere where WarShips used to be made. Delhi Warships built a large shipyards in the system for Vincent corvette-class WarShip. This was one of the most prolific WarShips. Introduced in 2432, they made Vincent WarShips for more than 300 years. There are still Vincents in operation today in the clans. They were a very high quality design.

In the Amaris Wars and Coup, then-Carver’s WarShip production facilities were hit and destroyed. Meanwhile the other WarShip production plant, by Delhi WarShips in Capella (which made a different WarShip) was absorbed by another military operation. Vincents have not been made for a long time.

But as a system that once hosted a large and prolific WarShip building capacity, Liberty is very important. The planet formerly known as Carver IV is now a fiefdom of Carver V. Also, the moon on Carver V was settled as well. Carver IV was the host of the plant, and after its destruction, is now mostly a small agricultural planet, with little else of note. Less than 50 million live on Carver IV, which was destroyed in the Amaris Wars. But the planet was never fully explored for scrap, information on the shipyards, or anything else. So we intend to send some survey and exploration teams to really scavenge Carver IV more fully than has ever been done, with the latest technology, to see what we can unearth.

Much of the infrastructure of the shipyards is still here. It doesn’t corrode much in space. It’s damaged badly, and scored from a variety of weapons. Even if we were able to refurnish it and build a new facility for making WarShips, that would be really, really bad. I suspect a lot of folks would see the shipyards as a huge target of opportunity. Even if we put our WarShip on constant guard, it would be too much to defend. A simple strike by the Lyran Alliance with 5 WarShips, 4 regiments of troops, and hundreds of fighters would capture it. They could build a strike force in a few months of that size.

But perhaps we could refit the shipyards to make DropShips, or maybe even JumpShips. That would be useful and not as much of a target. That’s doable. And it puts our small nation on even more even footings with other folks.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 10:09 PM

In late 3063, War on Kathil has continued as well. Tikonov has also flared up considerably. Talon, a potent industrial world, heats up. The Isle of Skye’s secessionist fury begins to be seen.

In order to sustain his battle against the Dragon, Duke Sandoval allies even stronger with Katrina, to get supplies from her, but he has to quell the growing pro-Victor sentiment in the Draconis March.

By the end of 3063, all of the Combine worlds captured by Duke Sandoval had been pacified.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 10:15 PM

December 31, 3063 -

Essex Training Academy

We have 19 MW graduates from the Essex Training Academy, and 26 enrollees for next year. All are staying in the Coalition. We also have 7 graduates of vehicle crews, all regular. We hand them vehicles and move them to our garrison or out to local Coalition worlds. 8 enroll for next year, and 8 infantry squads are now being trained as well. 8 infantry squads are completed, the Aerotech wing has its grads – 5 total. 8 more enroll for the 1st year.

We create an Academy Battalion for the senior class, and its 18 folks.

Year 4 - 18
Year 3 – 20
Year 2 - 24
Year 1 – 26

Armor – 8

Aerospace, Year 2 - 5
Aerospace, Year 1 - 8

Infantry, Year 2 - 8
Infantry, Year 1 - 8

We pay 17.5 million to the upkeep of the Academy and HQ.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 11:19 PM

Beginning of the First Nanking Campaign

January 3, 3064 – The major issue with Nanking is its defenses. Specifically, the AFFC Brest, a Fox-class Corvette WarShip that is around the planet, and protects it from invading forces.

The key to cracking Nanking is to break the Fox. That’s going to be Capt. Randal Lewis’s job.

We have a variety of planning meetings. The Inner Sphere has a myth of the power and resilience of WarShips. But as Capt. Lewis points out, that’s really not the case at all. No one in the Inner Sphere (outside of perhaps ComStar and Word of Blake obviously) has as much experience with WarShips as him. The Brest rolled off the lines about 5 years ago. It’s crew has yet to be in a major ship-on-ship battle. Multiple WarShips have already engaged in the Civil War, but this ship has not.

As Lewis points out, a corvette class WarShip would never have been used to guard a planet in his days – you would have used something a lot bigger. Corvettes were used as scout vessels, to protect larger, better WarShips, and perhaps to raid bandits. Our ship, the Aegis-class Swift Justice is a Heavy Cruiser. What does that mean?

Here are the WarShip classes:

Corvette – Light, fast, usually in a escort, raiding, sort role. Their Fox is here.
Destroyer
Frigate
Light Cruiser
Heavy Cruiser – Our Aegis ship, the Swift Justice
Battlecruiser – The Black Lion we Captured
Battleship
Dreadnaught
Miscellaneous (Carriers, Spy Ships, Cargo, etc)

Capt. Lewis uses a simple illustration. Imagine that the Fox Corvette is a light, fast, Locust. It paces the battlefield, can make quick strikes, and its to give you a long zone of control. Now imagine that our ship is an Orion. Not as fast, not as agile, but with strong armor, weapons, and range. If they battle, the Orion is usually going to win without question. Sure, you might be fighting in odd terrain, or the Locust might get a head shot on the Orion to put it down or somesuch. But the Orion is going to win for all intents and purposes.

The Brest is a Locust, and the Swift Justice is an Orion.

If we go in hard, we should win. Easily.

Abe Sargent

12-31-2014, 11:33 PM

So the next question Essex is worried about is fighter support. What if they have a ton of fighters all over the plane they can launch?

Yeah, so Col. Larry Rowe can head out with his fighters, and we’ll need the Vengeance for sure. Our Vengeance and Swift Justice, alone, is about 60 fighters, that’s likely to be enough to defeat our foes, barring something truly unusual.

Can we capture the Brest?

This would require us to secure the vessel. The Manassas was captured by Smoke Jaguar from Capt Lewis because his CO didn’t really trust the strength of the clans. Plus the clans used their Elementals in mass on the outside of the vessel, punching in holes, and breaking stuff in.

We could use battle armored infantry. What about jump capable mechs? That’s been a common theme too to capture aerospace assets. That’s possible as well. The Battle Taxi though, that’s probably the best chance of getting in and stealing the WarShip. We could load the vessel with ten Battle Taxis, instead of their normal components.

We could also just disable the Fox without destroying it. If we do that, we can salvage it. Although we’d have to fix it up before bringing it back home – that could take months. Or even a year or so. That’d make us a high profile target for a retribution strike to reclaim a Fox Warship.

Abe Sargent

01-01-2015, 12:27 AM

Anyway, we spend some time on capturing scenarios. They have some assault ships and fighters as well. It’s not a cake walk. But we will be heading in extremely hot.

Swift Justice – with these four DropShips – Vengeance, Tug, Achilles, Avenger

Majestic Hobo, JS – With the Claymore, Hamilcar, and Upgraded Fortress

Celestial Vagrant , JS, - With all three Leopard CVs giving us 18 fighters – Catapult and Javelin Aerospace Companies (some fighters fit in the Hamilcar as well)

Johnny Appleseed, JS – With Colossus, Excalibur, Overlord

Scots Flotila, JS – With the Overlord Upgraded, Overlord

Maxim of Glory, JS, - With the Overlord, Overlord, and Mule

In the Overlord, Upgraded – Nordic Battalion
Epsilon Regiment is joining us in three other Overlords
Delta Regiment is in the 5th Overlord, Colossus, Excalibur
3rd Tank Battalion is on the Colossus.
12 infantry squads in the Excalibur
5 power armor squads in the Fortress
More tech people than normal -

We have a ton of support Vees in the Colossus and Excalibur, including ordinance transports, trucks, scout cars, spotter planes, and more. We have a ton of ammo, armor, mines, pickets, and more to be able to build. The Mule is mostly empty, it’s for cargo, salvage, or anything we come across that we want to take back. The Fortress is used as a distraction, and will be used in an assault capacity, with the power armored folks jumping out or attacking as needed.

We have more tech folks than normal, in spaces used for infantry in the Colossus. They include a large amount of techs for aerospace units, transport vessels, and so forth. We have a much higher support crew that you would normally expect.

We are going in incredibly heavy, and committing every major aerospace asset, 7 battalions of mechs, and a battalion of tanks, plus more fighters than you can count. If we lose, or if we have miscalculated, the setback in Nanking is tremendously significant.

Abe Sargent

01-01-2015, 02:14 AM

February 29, 3064 – We have arrived in Nanking. We take immediate stock of everything. We arrived, en masse, at a pirate point 42 hours from the planet.

There is a ton of aerospace traffic here in Nanking. As expected, the Brest Fox-class corvette is around the planet. The Brest has 5 DropRings, all of which have assault or similar level Dropships on them. There are a number of JumpShips and DropShips heading to and from the planet (As would be expected for a planet with a large factory)

Duke James Essex is on board the Swift Justice and he sends a quick communication to the captain of the Brest. In a minute, he appears on screen. Duke Essex begins to address him.

“The Celestial Coalition has been specifically asked with coming to Nanking, and securing the independence of Nanking from the Federated Commonwealth. I have here an official request signed by the top three members of the local government, authorizing our presence here. We are here legally, at the behest of the local government.

Hold, let me transmit this letter to you now Captain. Let me know when you’ve gotten it and read it.”

A few minutes later, the Captain confirms that he has the letter.

“Now, perhaps you think that we faked the letter. Or force the people to give their consent. Well, I have coordinated with the local government to contact you and confirm it. Go ahead”

Forty minutes pass.

“Your letter is legitimate. But I cannot let go of the area I was sworn to protect.”

“Captain, you are sworn to the pro-Victor side because you’ve seen the sins of the ruling Katrina Steiner-Davion. You’ve seen how she treats the people. And you are siding with the people against the ruler who is rightfully in charge of your nation. Now we are asked to side with the people. Why would you want to stop us? If listening to the cries of the people and the sins of the government led you to where you are, right now, why stop? They don’t want you, or your nation, to lead them anymore.

Let me put it another way. You’re a military man. Maybe a more practical point – you’ve seen and analyzed our taskforce. We’ve done the same with you. We both know that you don’t have the capability of stopping us. Why not concede the planet, and save your ship, your escorts and fighters, and anyone else on planet who wants to join you, and leave? Relocate to fight against the Civil War somewhere else. You don’t want to lose your flotilla against another nation – Victor can’t afford that. So leave because you are siding with the locals. Or leave to keep the war going somewhere else. But leave. That’s the smart play here.

And Captain, one more thing. Note that I didn’t try to make you angry to fight us. I didn’t start drawing lines in the sand saying, “Leave now, you aren’t welcome” or anything like that to force your hand. I have spoken to you in respect. Just go, and fight again somewhere, and leave the people of Nanking to the will of the people.”

A brief pause.

“I have my orders. I must guard Nanking. And I will. You will not pass to Nanking.”

“Very well captain. Your over-exaggerated view of yourself may be what brings down your side of the Civil War, but alright. You certainly won’t be the first person to rush foolishly to death in a time of war.”

Of course, we broadcast that to the people of Nanking, so they can see what we say and know.

We are coming to save them

Abe Sargent

01-01-2015, 02:38 AM

Here are our foes:

Fox:

12 fighters, 2 small craft, which are just DropShuttles

Claymorex2

Overlord A3:

6 fighters, 3 battle armor infantry

Leopard CV:

6 fighters

Upgraded Intruder:

2 fighters, 3 platoons of marines

From their Fox, they have 26 fighters. That Overlord A3 is a major problem. It’s a refitted assault DropShip that has a nasty amount of armor, and it features some naval class weapons as well. It’s a major problem.

Because we gave them a couple of days to get ready, other vessels launched to help defend their planet. They are all in.

They have another 12 fighters from the planet

Another Leopard CV is with them

They also have a few transport vessels that have good armor/weapons and can be used in an assault context:

3 Upgraded Unions
2 Upgraded Fortress
Hannibal
4 Leopards

These DropShips and fighters are all in the sky, swarming around.

Abe Sargent

01-01-2015, 02:45 AM

March 2, 3064– We have arrived and unfurled our small craft, DropShips and more. Some things launched but are a few hours behind their navy (Excalibur, Colossus, Overlords, and Mule).

A quick comparison – We have:

40 fighters on the Vengeance, 4 on the Hamilcar, 18 in leopards and another 6 from the Colossus/Excalibur that are in the main group, 18 on the WarShip.

That’s 96 fighters. They have 38 fighters. That’s a huge win.

Our WarShip is a nasty Heavy Cruiser, theirs is a much lighter Fox. It doesn’t have the armor, nor the weapons, to stand for long. That’s a win for us.

Our Assault DropShips (Avenger, Achilles, Claymore) are roughly equal to theirs (Claymorex2, Intruder). Yay!

Their Overlord A variant is a huge win for them.

We have a variety of small craft, including 200 ton fighters and 8 Battle Taxis. We bought some more, but I didn’t want to stay and buy a year’s worth of BattleTaxis to pump up this battle, so we are using the 4 we already had. That’s a win for us.

For backup, transport stuff, we have in battle our Fortress, 3 Leopard CVs. They have 4 Leopards normal, 1 Leopard CV, 3 Unions, and 2 Fortress and a Hannibal they win this aspect of the battle going away.

We have two unusual things though. Our Tug comes with a nasty set of weapons, armor and is essentially an assault craft that can Tug and repair as well. It’s a potent Star league era vessel. We also have the unusual Assault craft Hamilcar, which is designed to take opposing DropShips. It has a good amount of armor, weapons, and fighters. On board are 8 jump capable mechs that will jump out as it approaches a target to hit the vessel, while it distracts them with its weapons.

With the massive amount of support craft,, fighters, DropShips, powered infantry, mechs, and WarShips, there is no way we could fight this on MegaMek. Or on real maps. It would take a week to sim it all!

So, let me grab some dice to give this battle a bit of a feel to it. The numbers are on our side, and the positives as well.

Abe Sargent

01-01-2015, 02:49 AM

Plan #1 - Our goal is to use 50 of our numerous fighters to engage their 38, and get them from the battle. This dogfighting will hopefully keep them from hitting our other assets. If they refuse to engage, we can use our fighters to chase them down and take some into balls of fiery fury.

Plan #2 – Use 40 fighters to dodge past DropShips and engage that Overlord. With it’s naval class weapons, it’s a threat against our WarShips and DropShips, so we need fighters to engage it and take it down. We have the numbers to do so.

Plan #3 – The Hamilcar should engage the closest transport vessel that doesn’t have any infantry on it. As an assault vessel backed by mechs, it should beat that. Our ideal target is a Union.

Plan #4 – Our four assault vessels (Tug, Achilles, Avenger, Claymore) should run interference and keep their DropShips from getting too close to our WarShip. They are a defensive screen. We also have the 8 fighters left, as well as the fighter-ish small craft.

Plan #5 – Keep the Battle Taxi back. Some should be in the screen around our WarShip, expecting to hit an opportunity of convenience. Meanwhile, the others will be in the back of the attack on their Overlord. After it falls, fighters will break off for targets of opportunity among their DropShips, and Taxis are ordered in to support them.

Plan #6 – Bring our WarShip to bear on theirs, and win that battle.

No one in the houses has fought as many naval battles with WarShips involved as Randal Lewis has. So we have that ace up our sleeve. Plus, we are able to push the battle in the right direction.

Now, we don’t know what their plan of attacks are, and how they view the participants in the battle. For example, we expect they may rush our WarShip with everything they have got, but what if they don’t? What if they hang back and play it safe, looking for angles of attack to open up.

We don’t know how the Nanking flotilla will respond to our arrival.

But battle begins.

Abe Sargent

01-01-2015, 02:55 AM

It appears that they are using a more tempered rush. They have created a wedge. Their wedge has the WarShip in the back middle, and just in front the Overlord A. They have fighters arrayed split down the middle on the ends, on the sides, between the fighters and Overlord/WarShip, they have their DropShips, with the weakest, 2 Leopards, in front, just to the sides of the wedge.

As Lewis mentions, the wedge is a common naval formation, and one that’s basic, hard to screw up, and will force us to play by their rules, and make adjustments to our plans. However, it’s the wrong formation for a corvette. Your corvette can’t go the speed that it’s capable of, because it’s turtling behind a formation. Imagine a light, 25 ton Commando mech that can normally go 6/8, but to protect itself from infantry, it just goes 3 or 4 hexes at a time, behind a line of infantry. It’s not using its speed right. That Fox is being used in the wrong naval tactic.

They are driving at us, but not so much that they are getting crazy. But as expected, they are driving right at our WarShip.

We modify our plans a bit. We send our fighters to engage theirs, as expected, and hit their wedge. From all sides. Then in front we have the other 40 fighters trying to push into the middle of the wedge, and drive past the Leopards and hit the Overlord A. Right next to the Overlord is two assault ships – the Claymores. So behind our fighters come our small craft, and then our Assault DropShips. We keep a small number by our WarShip (our Fortress, a few small craft, the 8 extra fighters, etc). As a screen and reserve.

The Hamilcar launches its mechs as it closes with a Leopard and it attacks. The combination of mechs and the assault appears to shake the Leopard in the front, and we expect that ship to fall soon.

Meanwhile, our 40 fighters lost some ships, but have broken into their wedge and are pushing towards the Claymores and Overlord A. Our own units are behind.

Abe Sargent

01-01-2015, 09:39 AM

Because they are engaging all along their flanks with our 50 fighters, they have ordered the transport DropShips along the flanks of the WarShip to push forward and support their fighters. In a few places, they are winning the battles.

Their WarShip cracks the first volley at a few of our small craft and fighters, and take out a pair. Meanwhile our fighters begin attack runs on the Overlord A. The Overlord, and Warships will be range of naval weapons next turn.

Their Claymores dice into fighters as our small craft return the fire. We move a pair of Taxis to a Claymore. They will land next turn.

Meanwhile, our Tug and Avenger dice into a Leopard and begin to carve it up.

On the next turn, they are winning some more flank battles. They open up and hit our WarShip with naval weapons twice, but not that much of an effect. We target their Fox and are much more effective. Our WarShip doesn’t even have normal weapons to fight against fighters and such –it’s all naval weapons. Naval autocannons tear into their Fox and carve armor off all over it.

Our fighters runs are doling some damage into their Overlord as well. More of our fighters are destroyed by their Claymore and Leopard. Our Taxis are bring shot by the other Claymore. One is damaged badly and breaks off their landing and will return. The other landed and will begin to carve into the armor and deposit a squad of battle armored infantry inside. A Claymore just has a crew of 15. We might be able to capture it…

Meanwhile, their Intruder has blasted our Tug, and I order it to begin retreating. It’ll take a while, and it’s not that badly damaged yet, but I want to start it. The Hamilcar has finished their Leopard and moves to support the attack on the other Leopard. We damage that DropShip too.

On the next turn, they carve into our WarShip again. It begins to take some damage, and theirs takes a lot more. It’s like watching a small ship with 6 cannons trade broadside fire with a Ship of the Line. You won’t be able to sustain it for long. Their Overlord is badly damaged from the fighters buzzing around, and the small craft are ordered to protect the battles on the flank against their transport DropShips and fighters.

We destroy the other Leopard and ignite it’s fuel. Dead Leopard boom!

On the next turn, we go first and dole out so much damage to their Fox that a side begins to crumple. Our fighters have destroyed the Overlords front side, and space begins to cascade in. Dead Drop Ship. That enables us to bring in out DropShips, and multiple ones head in.

Their Intruder and Claymore have damaged our Tug on the way out and it’s not looking good at all. We have lost more fighters. They have about 10 fighters left. We have about 50 still operational. We order the jump capable mechs to their WarShip, unload the Fortress and Fury CVs into the rift created to send its battle armor to the WarShip as well, and our remaining Battle Taxis move in. We radio a quick offer to see if they want to concede victory and possession of the planet to us, but they don’t even respond.

The next turn sees their WarShip try the hail mary and stab at us again. They do manage to damage our drive, and that reduce our speed by one. We have killed too many of the crew in their Claymore and it has been removed from battle. A lucky shot our virtually undamaged Fury CV penetrates the hull and hits the engine and it shuts down.

We are winning strongly on the flanks after our fighters are pushing around to help out. A Union of theirs carves into our own Claymore and begins to score the armor severely.

Instead of firing at their, we fire at their Intruder, and destroy its front and right sides completely.

On the next turn, they only manage to fire half of their shots, it looks like we damage them too badly. They miss and hit here and there and the Aegis shrugs it off like it name sake. We destroy the other Claymore with combined fire from fighters, Claymore, Hamilcar, small craft, Leopard CVs, Avenger and Achilles. It crumpled and breaks into a bunch of pieces. That’s not going to be salvageable.

We don’t even fire the Aegis. We do land mechs on their Fox, but they have normal weapons too, and they kill two of our mechs coming in. The Fortress will be close enough next turn to unload its infantry, as will two Taxis. We begin to recall damaged units that we don’t need, such as our Claymore and damaged small craft and such.

Our next turn sees us begin to land on the WarShip and unload 7 different squads of power armor. Two are going into the hold via carvings from Taxies and 5 from the Fortress. They can’t target their weapons for infantry and mechs on the hull, so they again stab their naval weapons at our ship, and again, barely do anything. Meanwhile, we are quickly ending the rest of the battle. We’ve scuttled the Hannibal, and they have managed to injure our Hamilcar, so we send it back. Our fighters are about to take out that Leopard CV. It’s pretty now. We again offer surrender.

Duke Essex offers a nice deal.

They can walk out, right now, and keep any fighters or DropShips that can sail away on their own power, we keep all of the salvage, and the WarShip. We have 6 mechs and 7 squads of infantry in and around that ship. It’s going to fall anyway. Do you want to lose those other ships you have?

They agree. Hostilities cease. They gather their men from the ships we captured, and then they take off with anything that can fly off to the local jump points.