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

[Abe Sargent]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

(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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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 )




“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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.





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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.






Remember, the clans tend to fight a lot longer. Although that is not always the case in smaller Trials.

[Abe Sargent]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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 -


Here we go!

[Abe Sargent]

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]

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]

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]

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.