The BattleTech Dynasty, Chapt 7,Consolidation and Preparations – 3059-3062 - Complete

[Abe Sargent]

May 1 – After meeting with Sun-Tzu, Duke Essex takes his next important meeting to establish his fledgling state. He arrives at a planet he has always wanted to visit.

Welcome to Terra


Precentor William Blane rises to shake Duke Essex’s hands, and then sits. Both have their various aides with them.


“You wanted this meeting, Duke. How can the Word serve you?”


“I thought it was time to get together. We each have something the other wants.”


“Indeed.”


“I know ComStar, and now Word of Blake has had a lot of old technology from the Star League era, usually not giving it out the Inner Sphere at all. The number of secrets you have could stagger a mule. Let’s begin by seeing if you have the specs for these.”

Duke Essex hands the Precentor a hand device with a drawing and notes.

“Let’s suppose that we do have this. What are your offering?

“I’m offering the beginning of a discussion between our two organizations to work more…closely…together.”

“I’m listening…”

….



“We don’t have specs, we have just three in storage. I can give you one, and your scientist and techs can try to figure it out and make more.”

“You’ll help us with our issue, and we’ll help you with yours. You get some of our spare mechs, and we get the technology plus the other services. “

“You know what we really want. “

“I do, and I am willing to give it to you. In exchange, I want this planet. It will be our target in a few years. If you deliver it to us, you will get what you really want. “

“You dream big.”

“That’s why I’m letting you know now, so you can start working on it.”

“We’ll also want the first run of mechs. “

“We can do that.”

“Then, we are agreed, Duke.”

“Yes we are.”







We have transferred 25 mechs to the Word of Blake from our garrison, mostly level 1 mechs. They have the technology and facilities to outfit them with level 2 tech en masse, so they will update them and equip them – they have a ton of MechWarrriors but not as many mechs for them.

We hand them:

Clint
Blackjackx2
Wasp
UrbanMechx2
Pantherx3
Shadow Hawk
Ostroc
Cyclopsx2
UM-63 Urbie
Cicada
Locust
Stingerx2
Banshee
Rifleman
Dervish
JagerMech
Centurion
Merlin
Charger




They have given us two things. First of all, they have transferred a number of ROM agents to us. That means they will know what we know, but as Chief Foster says, they probably already knew what we knew. We get a lot of highly trained and highly capable intelligence assets. We also get access to some ROM files - not everything of course, but some low level stuff. Now we should be a lot better at stopping sabotage and doing research. Chief Ingrid Foster remains in charge of the Apollo Office.

Secondly, they have given us something very special from the Star League era. One of three remaining Storm Inhibitors. These Star league technology surrounded a planet like satellites and contain massive storms. Bryant used to have these, and the entire planet was able to be populated. They were destroyed in the Amaris Wars and the climate of Bryant turned hostile again. If we can take this apart and learn how to construct it, we can restore Bryant.


We announce to the Celestial Coalition council that we discovered it on an exploration mission. We give it to the scientists and techs at Kressly Warworks to begin to dissect it. They have clan techs, scientists and are our best shot at it. They are given a grant of money from the government to work on it.

[Abe Sargent]

May 25 – Word of Blake officially recognizes us as a state.


EVENT, May 19 – The three planets of the Sarna Surpemacy have been absorbed by the Capella Confederation, and three more worlds in the Chaos March are gone.


June 2 – The first buildings at Asmodeus III have been finished building.

[Abe Sargent]

July 14 - A raid by an unknown merc force hits Terra Firma, Brawler Company responds instead of the local mercs.


They are raiding Bander BattleMechs. They make about two Bandersnatches a year, and Kressly Warworks makes several themselves after licensing it. They are a small refit firm, not a company with a factory and production lines. Each Bandersnatch they make is custom made for the client.

Their mech force consists of a company, and Brawler hits them about ten licks from the company.


Brawler Company


BLR-1G BattleMaster
WVR-6R Wolverine
TDR-5S Thunderbolt
STK-3F Stalker

ARC-2R Archer
AWS-8Q Awesome
MLN-1A Merlin
MAD-3R Marauder

JR7-F Jenner
CMT-1 Comet
LCT-1E Locust
STG-3G Stinger


All of these mechs are level 1, and our experience is a mix of 2 green, 6 elite, 2 regular and 2 veteran pilots.


Our Unknown Merc Foes


Hunchback
Rifleman
UrbanMech
Dervish
Cicada
STY-3D Starslayer *
Dragon Fire *
LGB-7V Longbow *
Tarantula *
WVR-7M Wolverine *
Mauler *
ON2-M Orion *


They are mostly regular. The Longbow and Orion are vets. This is their Dragon Fire, a mech made in 3058 but an old Star League era design. It was never made after being designed, and a firm began to produce it since they had the design in hand with the new technology. It’s a 75 ton mech with 4/6 movement (XL), max armor, gauss rifle, LB 10X AC, large laser, 2 medium pulses. I don’t like XL engines, but this design is not bad with the max armor, both a weapon for punching holes and a weapon for exploiting them, and solid range. The 10/20 heat sinks are enough to cover most of its fire.

[Abe Sargent]

We are on a map with some houses to the east, roads, and a few trees and grass. We are on the north and they on the south.


Turn 1 – We win init. I charge my larger units down the west lane, past some hills and a small pond. I rush my Jenner next to their Cicada. We concentrate fire on their Starslayer a bit and their cicada a bit. They concentrate fire on our Archer. Their SS falls. Nothing else major happens – the first round was longer range with a lot of shots missing.


Turn 2 – We win init. Our Archer moves into some light woods. Their SS gets up and moves off the hill it was on as I move my mechs forward. Our Locust runs behind their Dervish out from behind some buildings Our Jenner bases their Cicada and Longbow, above the Longbow. Our Awesome runs and gets up and close with their Wolverine. Our Jenner smashes the engine twice on their Cicada. Their Orion smashes our Locusts RA to pieces. Our Hunch smashes the CT open of our Wolverine with its AC20 and hits the engine three times with a crit roll and it shuts down. Our Stalker smashes a hip actuator on their Wolverine. Their Wolvie falls. Our Awesome kicks and destroys its RT and it shuts down – XL engine. We both lost a Wolverine this turn.


Turn 3 – We roll and 11 and lose init to their mighty 12. I back our damaged Locust back behind some buildings. Our T Bolt, Marauder, BattleMaster and Awesome round the hill on their west flank. Stinger behind their Dervish. Our Locust hits its rear armor twice, and its thin already. If we can penetrate it, that would be nice. Our Comet leaps behind their Starslayer. We concentrate some fire on their Dragon Fire. Our Comet needed 8s to hit their Starslayer and fired all 7 of its weapons – every single one missed. PPC to the H of their Dragon Fire and we go internal and smash the sensors. Good job Merlin! Despite taking 100 damage, their Dragon fire stands, and our BattleMaster from 60 damage keeps up to. I need to fire SRM and LRms on their Dragon Fire ot finish it off in the head. We need spread weapons.


Turn 4 – We win init. Their Tarantula leaps behind and next to my Archer and Merlin. I leave both where they are. I back our Locust back even more behind buildings., the same with my damaged Jenner. Their Dervish jumps to a place where it is back against a building to keep it safe from further back attacks. Our Comet leaps behind their Longbow, but won’t be able to do much – overheat already. I back our BM and bring out the Awesome to hopefully switch their targets of fire. Our Marauder rushes to the rear of their woods. Our Stinger bases their Dragon Fire and Cicada. Their Urbie bases our Awesome. Our T Bolt backs around the Urbie and plants itself right in t hrear arc. Their Hunchback falls when walking backward down terrain. Their Mauler hits the ammo on our Archer and ignites it and it explodes. Dead Archer. Our Marauder hits the gauss in the Dragon Fire, destroys the LA, the damage carries to the LT and destroys it, dead mech – XL. Now we’ve both lost a heavy mech. Our T Bolt kicks the Hip on their Urbie. Our Merlin kicks and destroys the RLL of their Tarantula. Both fall to the ground. After missing a kick, our stinger joins them.


Turn 5 – We win init. Our Merlin stays still beside their tarantula, in case it cannot stand. Their Dervish jumps beside our savaged jenner. Our Stinger stands and runs next to the Dervish. Their Urbie can’t stand. Our Awesome bases their Orion. Their Hunch manages to make it to its feet, and their Tarantula follows suit and scampers away. Our Marauder bases their Orion too. Our Comet bases their Starslayer. Their Cicada skids, hits our Jenner and pushes it from the field. Our BM gets a through armor critical on their Maule and smashes its gyro twice. Well, we can both get lucky kills off that I suppose. Our Merlin destroys their Tarantula;s RT and it shuts down – XL engine. Their time our Comet needed a 6 for all seven weapons targeting their Starslayer and hit with all 7. It falls under the furious onslaught of a mech less than half its weight. Our Awesome took 80 damage and fell. Minor physical attacks ensue


Our merc foes are just raiding, and they don’t want to suffer too much in the attack. But they have our Jenner away, our Locust is basically dead, they have blasted our Archer and Wolverine, and they have badly injured our Awesome, which is ground-ward. They have lost a Mauler, Wolverine, Tarantula and Dragon Fire, and have badly damaged Starslayer, and Cicada. They decide to call it before it gets too pricey and they begin to retreat. We allow them to leave, fearing a trap and needing to secure the factory.

[Abe Sargent]

Mauler gyrox2
Tarantula missing RLL, RT
WVR-7M Wolverine missing RT
Dragon Fire missing LA, LT

Locust missing RA
Wolverine enginex3
Archer LA, RL


We have lost the Archer. We modify the Mauler to an existing variant of it – MAL-3R save we do not have the C3 slave so we retain the CASE in both torsos. This version has 2 LRM15, and 2 LB10x AC, with 3/5/3 movement, XL engine, and max armor. We love the heavy increase of armor this variant gets.

This gives Brawler four assault mechs, which is nasty.

We send the Dragon Fire, Tarantula and Wolverine to the garrison on EE.

[Abe Sargent]

Aug 1, 3060 – We extend contracts for several merc forces on our worlds by two years.


Aug 21 - We begin planning for our next assault. Our target is Genoa, since the CC pulled their support for Pro-Liao forces on planet.




We ready the following forces to assault Genoa:



Shadow Battalion:

Bruiser Company –
Shadow Company –
Sealion Company –


Metal Battalion:

Gold Company –
Bronze Company -
Titanium Company -


Oasis Company –


Tank First Battalion –



So we are sending 7 companies of mechs and 3 companies of armor.




We are escorting them into the system with the WarShip and our full naval furor that it can cause (Vengeance, Claymore, Avenger, Tug).


We will launch the Assault and jump into their system on October 1.




September 12 – We have rotated some of our units. The six companies in Alpha Regiment have moved to Capolla to relieve the local force there. Beta Regiment’s Rheims and Amazon Battalion have returned to EE for a while.

[Abe Sargent]

Beginning of the First Genoa Campaign


Oct 1 – Our forces arrive in Genoa. The most up to date intel from Word of Blake’s ROM is that there are pockets of resistance throughout the planet, but nothing major. We are bringing in overwhelmingly large forces because both ROM and the Apollo Office feel that this is the sort of situation that typically entails extra unknown forces on a world. Plus, if we do well, we can secure the world quickly. Frankly, we might be able to capture this world with Shadow Battalion alone.


The local Davion militia were devastated by Liao attacks, and the governor slain by a Liao assassination. But the Liao forces were also heavily hit by local thugs, lords, companies and nobles, each wanting a piece of Genoa for themselves. Genoa has no recharge station, it takes 21 days to recharge your K-F engine, but the planet is less than 2 days from the JumpPoint, so no need for a pirate JumpPoint.


Oct 3 – We have arrived at the planet. Our WarShip will keep everything on planet. Nothing military was in system or left the planet after we arrived. Our landings are not contested. But, we still have no sure idea as to the defensive forces on planet . We choose several key targets to land our tank battalion, mechs and fighters.

Our armor battalion arrives at a small but crucial location controlled by ComStar. There has been calm right by the world’s HPG Station, and various factions can arrive there with a relative peace treaty. We want to secure this area and city against any possible incursions.

Meanwhile, Metal battalion lands in the center of the rebel hotzone and unloads. Shadow Battalion heads for the Liao forces that are unsupported but on planet behind a line of peaks that represent their border of their territory. Finally, Oasis Company lands at a small industrial mine which we believe is holding some degree of military forces to control the area. All landings are escorted by fighters from our Vengeance and Warship above. The number of fighters we have over planet is staggering – almost 60.

We believe the more than 250 million citizens of Genoa will welcome a stable government again, from any source, after being without it for three years.

[Abe Sargent]

Oasis’s land is contested, but the others are in. Oasis has four fighters escorting in the Union DropShip. It lands, but as it does, attacks begin to hit the Ship itself. Our consoles show that there is a local force protesting our presence. This is a hot drop. We will unload the mechs as quickly as possible. We order more fighters from the WarShip and it will take a few moments for them to arrive. Meanwhile, we have to unload and fight now.


They begin in the center of the map, while we are entering from the North. We only bring out 2 mechs at a time until everyone is out.




Our foes include one lance of mechs and a full company of tanks plus an extra:


Goliath
BJ-2 Blackjack *
Sentry *
PXH-3M Phoenix Hawk *

Ontos Heavy Tank
Partisan Heavy Tank
2x Drillson Heavy Hover Tanks
LRM Carrier
SRM Carrier
Vedette Medium Tank
2x J Edgar Light Hover Tank
Goblin , Upgraded *
Striker Light Tank, Upgraded *
Galleon Light tank, Upgraded *
Demolisher Heavy Tank (Gauss) *


Their upgraded Demolisher contains two nasty gauss rifles. It’s a powerful assault level tank with 80 tons of heft and better armor than the previous version with two AC20s.

[Abe Sargent]

We are using the official Drop Port map:

[Abe Sargent]

T1 - We lose init. We begin with just the Cauldron-Born and Kingfisher, two clans mechs. With massive numerical superiority, they charge forward at our two mechs. I want to take out two major threats this turn – the Partisan and the SRM Carrier. Leading with a Gauss Rifle, and then following git with with missiles, lasers and an LB-5X, the Cauldron-Born ignites the fuel tank ofn their Partisan and it explodes. Boom! Our Kingfisher destroys the SRM Carriers front side, and it is dead too. Before it dies, the SRM Carrier nails a foot actuator on the Kingfisher. Their Striker also nails its gyro onc. It fall sunder the onslaught.


T2 – We lose init. This turn we get two more mechs, but they aren’t major ones. We get a Locust IIc and a Spider. After one failure, we manage to stand the Kingfisher and turn to protect the open right flank. Our Cauldron Born runs a bit and spins, back to a building, with some buildings in the way. Our LCT IIc bases their Blackjack. They push 5 tanks next to our Kingfisher. Their PXH chases our Cauldron Born and I blast it. Our Locust immobilizes their Ontos. Their Drillson destroys the RT of our Kingfisher and their LRM Carrier its RL. Their Demolisher gets a lib blown off crit on our Locust’s RA and it falls. It destroys its RT in the fall. After kicking it, our Spider reducdes the speed of their LRM Carrier.


T3 – We win init. The next two mechs to deploy to the fight are our Shootist and Quickdraw. I eject the Kingfisher pilot and Locust IIc pilot. Our Shootist runs near their injured Ontos. Our Cauldron immobilizes their Striker. Our Shootist hits the fuel tank on their Ontos and it lights up. IT took more than 80 damage but remained standing. It kicks and hits the motors on the Galleon and slows it down.


T4 – We lose inti and get two more entries. Our newest reinforcements are a Stalker and Whitworth. Our Quickdraw gets behind their Blackjack. After hit eh BJ with close range weapons, it targets the LRM Carrier with its LRM 10 and destroys its stabilizer and it is immobile. Our Stalker unloads on it and destroys the front side. Our Cauldron-Born immobilizes the Demolisher. Ammo from our Shootist lances into heir striker hitting its ammo bins and it lights up. Their Demolishes destroys both arms of our Quickdraw. Their Strike rnails the gyro and engine on our Shootist. Both of our mechs fall.




They begin to flee, having slowed us down and not wanting more losses. We have one turn left to hit them hard.


T5 – We win init. Our new recruits are the Griffin and Victor. The Shootist rises. Our Grif bases their Sentry. I eject the QD. Spider jumps behind their BJ. Cauldron-Born bases it too. Their Goliath nails the engine twice on our Cauldron-Born. Our Shootist immobilizes a Drillson, our Whitworth islows down their Vedette. A Drillson nails the gyro on the Shootist and it is down. 2 gyro hits. Their Galleon hits the H of our Cauldron Born, goes internal and hits the sensors twice. It is now blind. Their Sentry misses a kick and falls.


They have finished fleeing. They had a good run here. Yeah, they lost some tanks, but they shotdown our Cauldron-Born, Shootist, and damaged our Quickdraw, Locust and Kingfisher badly enough they will need more than a week of repair. They lost some tanks. But tanks are tanks. Wounding that many mechs without losing any of your own is key.

[Abe Sargent]

LRM Carrier, missing front side
SRM Carrier, missing front side
Demolisher immobilized
Drillson immobilized


Locust IIc missing RT
Kingfisher missing RT, RL
Quickdraw missing RA, LA
Cauldron Born – 2xsensors
Shootist 2xgyro


We salvage the Demolisher (Gauss), Drillson, and the SRM Carrier, but not the LRM one.


They left with their whole lance of mechs, plus the Goblin, one Drillson, both J Edgars, Galleon, Vedette – they kept half of their company, and they blasted five of our mechs – good math. Especially when you consider the weight classes fo our downed mechs – one assault, three heavies, and a light.


They can fix their stuff in a day, 36 hours tops.


Our Vixen and Spider can’t track them in the small city and industrial area, so they have faded. But we have officially landed Oasis Company.

[Abe Sargent]

October 5 –

Our forces in the Liao sector have uncovered their local base. They Liao forces here are fairly small. They stopped getting supplies and reinforcements from their Caps about a half a year ago. We have scouted their encampment and feel they have 18 mechs.

Shadow Battalion decides to push an assault on their fort now, just in case things change. We are launching a three pronged attack, with each of the companies of Shadow hitting their location from three different sides.

We suspect that they will one side, and thus we have dispatched eight fighters to help keep them in line. No one is going to charge into strafing fighters in order to get numerical superiority, that would be suicide for your mechs.

Our three companies are out and our fighters are in the air. Let’s go!


The defenders set up defensive posts along the walls and inside. Their metal fort has a nice ceiling that protects from aerial assault, with 14 pillars along the various walls holding it up, plus huge support in the center. We thought about shooting it down, but we aren’t sure what would happen with the center support column there. It’s probably a redundant system – the center holds it all up, and if blown, the sides hold it up.

So we cannot bombardment them inside of their position with fighters, and we have established containment of their forces. We struck before they sent out their scouts to take a look around the area, so all of their forces are there.


As our mech forces near, mech fire slams out from the top of the fortified position from the Capellan mechs in there. A few minor mines are in the area and do modest damage but nothing serious. They have two entrances. One is the large entrance mechs move into and out of. The other is a large reentrance for large vehicles and such. We push to both, with a third company off the side and coming in, keeping them honest in their defense.


The Caps have nowhere to retreat too, and nothing to gain by continuing this fight, since no reinforcements are on the way. So they lower the large gate and their entire force begins to move out. With 1:2 odds, they are abandoning their defensive position and changing the battlefield. They wait after exiting and more forces gather there. We regroup into one large battalion and move in.

[Abe Sargent]

This is a giant grand melee, 36 mechs on 18.

I’ll skip posting 36 mechs from Shadow battalion. There are a ton of Star League era mechs, clan mechs, and elite pilots. This is our Black Widow Battalion.


Our Foes:


Huron Warrior
Catapult
Thunder
VND-3L Vindicator
RVN-3L Raven
UMR-63 UrbanMech
Centurion
CRD-3L Crusader
HBK-5M Hunchback
CGR-3K Charger
Anvil
SHD-5M Shadow Hawk
Victor
CDA-3F Cicada
Duan Gung
Jinggau
Lynx
MAD-5M Marauder


All of the mechs are level 2 save for these: Catapult, Centurion, CRD-3L Crusader, Victor. Two of the mechs we are facing, the Jinggau and Duan Gung are mechs recently rolled off the CC mech factories. This is their Jinggau, a 65 ton mech, 5/8/5 (XL) 13/26 heat, gauss, 4x er medium lasers, and medium pulse laser with 12 tons of armor to protect it.




Their unit has all sorts of expertise, from elite in the Jinggau to green in the Centurion. They are mostly regular and vet though.



We are fighting on two maps, side by side. They are on the west just outside of their building, with some of it on the map, and we are on the east. There are a few trees, roads, hills and a small retaining lake. This will take longer because we begin a lot further apart.

[Abe Sargent]

And now the melee begins!


Turn 1 – We win init. We rush up with almost everything and then exchange our first salvo of fire. We concentrate on their Catapult, cicada and Duan Gung. We need really big number so hit 9s – 11s. We don’t expect them to hit us very often with worse pilots. Their Cat took 40+ and Cicada 20+. Nothing else.


Turn 2 – We win init again. We continue to charge forward. RAR! We are now in the longer ranges of my medium weapons, and I expect to take out at least two mechs this turn. Our main targets are the Jinggau, Catapult, and Lynx with their Duan Gung, Huron Warrior and Cicada as secondary targets. Our Phoenix Hawk hit she ammo on their Cat and it explodes. Boom! Our Gladiator destroys their Duan Guns LA and LT and it shuts down – XL. The Masakari destroys its RL too. Our Dasher nails the engine once on their Cicada. Their Jinggau is still standing after 60 damage.


Turn 3 – We lose init. I don’t want to close too much, so I order most of my mechs to back up this turn after two turns of running at the enemy. This is a great range to expose their weakness. If I close, I need 4 and 6s and they need 6s and 8s.s if I stay out, we need 6s and 8s and they need 8s and 10s. That’s a big difference mathematically. They retreated from us a lot, to prevent this from being at our best range. Next turn I’ll need to run in again. We do not concentrate as much fire, it’s all about attacks of opportunity. Mainly, their Raven, Jinggau and Urbie are our major targets. Our Galadiator lights up their Urbie’s ammo and it goes BOOm! Our Apollo launches missiles on their Centurion and blows off its LA. Our Masakari follows that up by destroy its RT and it falls.


Turn 4 – We win init. We resume our rush. Their Centy cannot rise. Our Atlas destroys the LA of their Huron Warrior with a gauss shell. Our Gladiator destroys the LL of their Anvil. Our Mad Cat destroys the RA and RT of their Jinggau – shut down. Our Grizzily nails the Ct o their Hunchback and hits the gyro twice and engine once. Our Griffin IIc does the same feat on their Charger. One of our Marauders IIcs nails the gyro once of their Anvil. Their Anvil falls and their pilot blacks out


Turn 5 – We lose init. I expect this to be the last turn of the battle. I expect us to charge, and blow through them with closer range on our weapons. Again their Centy can’t stand. Our Dasher skids when using MASC to get close to their Shadow Hawk. I alpha strike hard, going overheat with a lot of mechs, anticipating the destruction of at least three, and perhaps as many as five enemy mechs. Let’s see if my prediction holds. Our Highlander IIc destroys te LT of their Victor. One of our MAD IIc nails the engine and gyro each once on their Thunder. O Peregrine destroys the Shadow hawk’s CT. Our Pixie destroys the RL on their Cicada. Missiles from our Apollo nail the gyro on their Victor. An Archer destroy’s the Victor’s CT. Our Masakari destroys their Raven;s RT and RA. Dead mech. Our Griffin IIc hit she Thunders RT and destroys it, dead mech. Their H Warrior falls and destroys its RT, Dead mech. So, we killed five mechs – Raven, HW, SH, Victor, Thunder. Not bad.


Their unit surrenders. For their valor, we return the warriors to the Capellan Confederation.

[Abe Sargent]

Victor RT, H, LL, LA, RA
Cicada missing RL
SHD-5M Shadow Hawk H, LT, RT, LA, RA, LL, RL
Thunder missing RT
CGR-3K Charger gyrox2, enginex1
Hunchback gyrox2, enginex1
Jinggau missing RT, RA
Anvil missing LL, blacked out pilot.
Huron Warrior missing LA, RT
Centurion reattach LA, missing RT
Catapult RA, LA, H
UrbanMech LL, LA
Duan Gung missing LA, LT, RL
RVN-3L Raven missing RA, RT




We turn their Lynx, Marauder, Cicada, Vindicator, Centurion and Marauder to a unit we are making.

We salvage their Thunder, Charger, Hunchback, Jinggau, Anvil, Huron Warrior, Duan Gung and Raven.

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 6 – Oasis Company is rebuilding when our foes in the area strike at us. They need to strike now while they have numbers, and after they have fixed their things. We expected this and kept our men in our mechs at night, ready to load up.



Oasis moves out within ten minutes and Oasis runs into their unit. They are raiding us, and this time, they can flee after any turn without forcing to give us a turn to fight them


I won’t bother to post Oasis or our foes again.


We are fighting on the City Ruins map. We begin in the northeast and they in the southwest.

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 1 – We lose init. We spread our forces out in a pincer movement. If they can trade three tanks for one good mech – like our Victor or Stalker, then this was a good raid and weakens us a lot further. I concentrate fire on their Drillson. Our Victor destroys their Drillson;s right side. Our Spider kicks their Blackjackt to the ground.

Turn 2 – We lose init. Their Goliath bases our Victor. Our Ostroc reduces the movement on their Vedette, and our Whity does the same to a J Edgar. Our Victor falls under 40+ damage. Their Goliath kicks and hits the gauss, which destroys the RA, and the pilot blacks out from the feedback. Meanwhile, our Ostroc missed a kick on the Vedette and was kicked by their BlackJack and falls.


Turn 3 – We win init. We stand the Ostroc and run away. I rush our Vixen behind their Sentry. Our Stalker unloads on their Goblin and immobilizes it. Our Vixen tears through the rear armor of their Sentry, hits the machine gun ammo and CASE vents it out the side. It falls and now their pilot blacks out. We are both pushing now. If we lose, they get our Victor and get to keep their Sentry, damaged and Goblin, dame.d If we win, we get all three. Our pilot does not wake up.

Turn 4 – We win init. Our Spider runs by a J Edgar. Our Stalker bases their Goblin, I want to finish it. Our Ostroc has taken serious damage. Our Spider immobilizes their adjacent J Edgar. Their BlackJack destroys the RA on our Ostroc. Our Stalker smashes the Goblin dead. Their Vedette destroys our Ostroc’sRT just before our Griffin destroys the Vedettes front side. Our Osty falls. Their Sentry wakens, our Victor pilot does not.


Turn 5 – We lose init. Our Ost fails to stand, and then succeeds. Our Spider races to their Sentry. It stands. I concentrate fire on their Goliath. Our Ostroc hits the ammo on a motionless J Edgar and it explodes

They fade, leaving us savaged Ostroc and Victor. We blasted their Sentry, and kills 4 tanks. They have left just a Goliath, Phoenix Hawk, Blackjack. J Edgar and Galleon. We have left a Stalker, Griffin, Vixen, Whitworth and Spider. They traded one mech and 4 tanks for two mechs – not a good swap. Had they pulled after blasting the Victor really well they would have traded one tank for one assault mech, but they pressed. That was a bad call.

[Abe Sargent]

Sentry missing RT
Drillson destroyed RS
Goblin, upgrade, missing FS
Vedette missing FS


Victor missing RA
Ostroc missing RA, RT


We salvage the Goblin and Drillson, but not the Vedette.

I don’t know If they will push or not. Maybe they take one more crack at us. They have one assault, we have one assault. They have two mediums, we have two mediums. We have two lights, and they have two light tanks.

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 7 – After scouting around, we have secured the Liao section of this world for sure.


Oct 8 – They do decide to hit us again. I am not surprised. They have come right at us, not even hiding. Here we go.


Again, they can retreat at any time.


We are fighting on a pavement industrial section of the area.

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 1 – We lose init. We have set up on the eat and they on the west. We put our Stalker in the center and use it as a fulcrum to pivot around the rest of our units, We move forward, and they come down the flanks, leaving their Goliath back as ranged support. We focus on their other J Edgar. Our Vixen hit she movement twice and lowers it. Our Stalker instead attacks their Goliath and hits it few times. They do a little damage to us.


Turn 2 – We win init. They base our Spider with a PXH and the Galleon. We hit the slower J Edgar and ignite the fuel tank. Kill by our Griffin. They deal some damage to our Spider but nothing that will stop it. Again we soften their Goliath some.


Turn 3 – We lose init. Our Whitworth misses a low roll and skids and falls. I wanted to get away from the Galleon that was behind me. Their BJ moves in to base it. Their Goliath moves in from the outskirts as well. They concentrate fire on the downed Whitworth and destroy its RA. We send out fire to their Goliath and it takes more than 40 damage but does not fall. They kick the Whitworth and hit an LRM 10 taking out a weapon.


Turn 4 – We lose init. Our Whit barely stands and spins its back to a building. They move away from it, save for the Galleon. We back away from their mechs to put some space. Our Vixen;s ER Medum laser slices the right side of their Galleon and destroys its. They destroy our Whitworth’s RL., it falls again. Our Stalker goes internal on the Goliath and hits a machine gun.


Turn 5 – We win init. They run and base our downed Whitworth with their Blackjack nd PXH and they turn the Goliath to protect its flank. They attack the Whit and destroy its LL. They kick it and destroy its LA - it is immobile. Our mechs blast their Blackjack a lot, and it falls under 40 damage.


Turn 6 – We lose init. Their BJ stands. We move our Griffin next to it. We fire and hit the machine gun ammo on their Goliath from our Spider and it goes boom! We kick the BJ and our Grif destroys its LL and it falls. They surrender.

[Abe Sargent]

Blackjack missing LL
Goliath, RFL, RRL, LFL
Galleon missing RS

Whitworth missing RA, RL, LL, LA


We capture their Phoenix Hawk and turn it over to the locals. We salvaged a Blackjack, but not the Galleon – too destroyed.



We have secured this area

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 10 – Our tank battalion is fine but Metal Battalion has finally picked up signs of the local forces. In this area, there are gangs and rebels.

We are on the tail of one of the major raiders in this area. They have a company of mechs, and we have their trail. We have dispatched Titanium Company to get its first battle as a unit.

We track down our prey into an extensive box canyon, and then push forward. The only way out of this area is into an old mine, and they would have to go one by one down a powered lift and it may not be safe. We push in and battle begins.



Titanium


HGN-732 Highlander
KGC-000 King Crab
Hatchetman
CGR-1A5 Charger

Vulture Prime
CRD-3R Crusader
ARC-5S Archer
WTH-2 Whitworth

Goshawk
JVN-10F Javelin
WLF-2 Wolfhound
ASN-23 Assassin



The Raydaz


Awesome
Dragon
Javelin
Panther
Warhammer
Thunderbolt
Ostsol
Locust
Clint
BLR-3M BattleMaster *
QKD-5K Quickdraw *
GHR-5J Grasshopper *


They are all veteran

[Abe Sargent]

They begin in the center, and us in the south. We are playing on the box canyon map. I can’t find it online though. It has level 8 walls you can stand on, trees in the middle.


Turn 1 – We lose init. Our Highlander bases their BattleMaster and the Hatchetman follows. Our Jav hops next to their Ostsol. I get my Archer 7 hexes away from their BM to give me a nice lane of fire. Our Charger bases their Ostsol. Double AC20s from the King Crab destroy the Ostsol;s RA and smash its RT. Our Chargers AC20 this it and destroys its LA, They go internal on our Hatchetman in a few place a hit a foot actuator . After taking 120 damage, their Bm falls, their Dragon falls from just 20 damage from some missiles, our Hatchetman and their Ostsol tumble as well. Our Charger kicks the downed Ostosl and nails the engine twice and the gyro once. Our Vulture kicks it and destroys its RT.


Turn 2 – We win init. Their BM rises and runs into some woods. Our Assassin runs in and bases it. Their Dragon stands. Their Ostsol cannot stand. Our Whitworth bases it. Our Hatchetman fails to stand, falls, destroys his RL and I eject him. Our Jav hops next to their Clint. Our Crusader also steps next to the downed Ostsol. I want to focus weapons fire elsewhere and then kick it. Their Locust bases my Javelin. Our Jav’s lasers blast the Locust engine and gyro once each. Our Archer finishes off the Ostsol by destroying the CT. Our Charger hits the hip on their Dragon, but only their Locust falls.


Turn 3 – We win init. One of the wood hexes has caught on fire. I flank two mechs behind the boxes – Wolfhound and Goshawk. I jump our Assassin by their downed Locust to scare it. Our King Crab bases their Panther. Our Crusader, peppered bit, bases their Jav in the light woods. Their Clint jumps next to my Crusader/ Our Charger bases their T Bolt. Their Locust stands and runs from my assassin. I concentrate fire on their T Bolt. Our Goshawk hits their Awesome’s head once. Dink! After the King Crab hits the RT with a nAC20, our Charger hits the same place with his and the T Botl is reeling. Our Vulture hits its gyro onc.e Our Archer destroys its CT. Our King Crab kicks and destroys the LL on their Dragon. Our Jav punches their damage BattleMaster and destroys its LT. Their Clint kickc s our Crusader and this an actuator. Our mech falls.


Turn 4 – We lose init. The smoke and fire have spread and thickened. After running, their Locust falls – gyro damage. Their Grasshopper leaps next to my Jav. Our Charger chases down their Jav. This turn I concentrate some fire on their Awesome. Our Highlander destroys the panther’s CT. Duel AC20s from the KC smash their Awesome nastily. Our Vutlures missiles follow and destroys its LT and hit the gyro once. Their Warhammer gts a limb bowl off LL on our Vulture. Our Assassin nails the gyro on their Awesome with its LRM5 and give sit a double gyro tap. Their Awesome took more than 120 this turn. Our Charger kicks and destroys the Jav’s LL. Their Jav punches, smashes t heH of my Charger, blacks out the pilot and it falls. Their BM destroys the wounded leg on my Crusader with a kick.

Turn 5 – We win init. Our Wolfhound bases their Locust after it stays down. Assassin bases their Clint. Their ‘Hopper lands next to our KC. Their Locust ended up falling and breaking its gyro and LT. Dead mech. They blast the Charger that is stunned and hits its AC20. A gauss slug from our Highlander destroys heir Jav’s CT. Our Jav smashes their BM’s LL, F and UL actuators on its RL. Our Crusader blows off the LL of the BM. Our Archer destroys the RA of their Clint. Their Clint falls. Our KC kicks and destroys their Grasshopper’s ammo. BOOOM! Our Assassin legs their Clint with a kick.


Their last two mechs call it and concede.

[Abe Sargent]

Clint missing RA, LL
Javelin RT, RA, LT, LA, RL, H
Awesome missing LT, gyrox2
Panther RT, LT, RA, LA, H, LL, RL
BattleMaster missing LT, LL
Dragon missing LL
Thunderbolt LT, LA, H< LL, RL< RA
Ostsol LT, H, LL, RL
Locust missing LT, gyrox2
Grasshopper RA


Hatchetman missing RL
Vulture, reattach LL
Charger, pilot blacked out
Crusader missing RL


We salvage the Clint, Awesome, BLR-3M BattleMaster, Locust, Javelin, Dragon

We turn over the Warhammer and Quickdraw to our local militia.

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 12 – We get an odd communiqué. One of the local bandits wants to get off the planet, but our WarShip is keeping them from doing so. They would like us to escort them, no funny business. We agree to escort them to Solaris VII, a few jumps away. They turn themselves in, and we load the up a their Union, and they blast off to one of our JumpShips and will link up with us and we will jump them to S VII. It won’t take that long – many of the systems here have recharge stations. We can have the ship back in less than two weeks if we pay for recharges.



Oct 13 – We have found and crushed a group of power armored infantry that were in this area of the planet.

Also today Shadow Battalion has lifted away from the Cap held area to the areas controlled by nobles.


Oct 16 – We discover two major nobles holding major armies that are blasting and controlling the area. Both seem susceptible to death at the hands of one company. We will strike tomorrow, and keep our third company in its DropShip ready to move and support if needed, with fighter support for both attacks.

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 17 – We launch both attacks.


The first is against a petty noble. Nobody here likes him, but he married into the Steiners, so he has money and clout.


We are keeping Bruiser Company back.



Shadow


HGN-732 Highlander
ST-8A Shootist
FLS-8K Flashman
Zeu-9S Zeus
GAL-1GLS Gallowglas
APL-1M Apollo
GRN-D-01 Grand Crusader
LNX-9Q Lynx
PXH-1b Phoenix Hawk
STY-2C Starslayer
TLN-5W Talon
Elementals
Elementals


So they have 11 mechs and 2 squads of elementals.


Our foe, whom we call Petty Steiner, has these for defense:


2x Rommel Tanks (Gauss)
2x Manticore Heavy Tank, Upgraded
2x Warrior Attack Helicopter, Upgraded
2x Motorized laser Platoons
2x Jump SRM Platoons
DVS-2 Devastator
Enfield
PXH-3S Phoenix Hawk
Scarabus
RFL-5D Rifleman
Salamander
HER-3S Hermes
GLT-3M Guillotine


They have vets in the Salamander and Guillotine and elite in the Devastator, and regular everywhere else. All of these are level 2 toys, save the infantry.

This is their Enfield. A 50 ton mech with 5/8 movement (XL), max armor, 11/22 heat, LB10X, large pulse laser, 2 medium lasers, 1 small laser.

[Abe Sargent]

We are rumbling into their estate, and scout units warn everyone else and they assemble quickly and move out to meet us away from the expensive and breakable stuff. It’s time for this guy to learn that you can’t buy the stuff and hope it works – it’s about the pilots and teamwork, not about the splash for cash.

We are fighting on one of the many German unofficial maps in MegaMek, - this one has a large double road, a train track, small hills, a bit of water and tress. It’s called Ueberlandstra_e 1 – just in case you care. Some of these German maps are quite good, and it is one of them. (I found it online, hold on)




Turn 1 – We begin on the west, they on the east. We lose init. I push some forces to take the middle copse of woods now, before they do. Our Lynx, Gallowglas and Starslayer took it. I move up to the north. Their Pixie has already claimed some of the land in the northern woods. I move in my Talon and base their Pixie. I move my elementals in to help support the middle woods. I move my heavier assets in the middle of the middle and northern woods to split them an d come in around 2/3s of the way up the map. Our PXH rushes and bases theirs in the woods too. Their Scarabus skidded and fell while turning while running on pavement – the road. We concentrate fire on their Devastator. Our Flashman hits the gyro on their Devastator. They kill a trooper in one of my elemental squads. Our Grand Crusader nails the engine once on the Devastator too. One of our Elementals smashes a Warrior attack VTOL. It’s engine is destroyed, but it safely made the forced landing. Needed a 9 and got a 10. After taking more than 160 damage, their Devastator falls hard. We set the hex their PXH is in on fire.


Turn 2 – We win init. I walk Elementals into the woods. Their Devastator does not make it up. I back up my heavier mechs. Our Pixie bases their Scarabus as it tries to flank us. Our lynx jumps next to a Manticore. Our SS follows. Our Flashman destroys the Scarabus’s H. The Lynx immobilizes the Manticore. Our Grand Crusader destroys the Manticore’s LS. We started working on their Salamander.


Turn 3 – We win init. The fire and smoke have thickened up north. Our Lynx and SS leap back into the woods. I move the Elementals up to the front row of them. Their Devastator makes it up. Our Gallowglas runs out of the woods in front of their Devastator. Let’s party. In concentrate on their Devastator and Salamander. One of our Elementals immobilizes their other Manticore. Our Lynx’s ER PPC hits the gauss on the Devastators’ RA, smashes t harm, the RT I destroyed from the blast and the mech shuts down. Before it goes we destroys its LA and LL too. Before it dies their Devastator opens up the Highlander’s LT, hits the ammo and CASE booms it out. Our Flashman destroys their Mantocore;s damaged RS. Our Grand Crusader nails one of the LRM20s on their Salamander. Our Highlander falls.


Turn 4 – We lose init. Our Shootist bases a Rommel. I eject the Highlander pilot. Our SS Follows and bases the Rommel too. Their Hermes suffers MASC failure and falls due ot two actuators being hit in the damage. Their Salamander retreats to the back corner. Our Shootist teras into the Rommel with its AC20 and destroys the Rear Side armor. Our Lynx destroys the Salamander’s RT and it shuts down. Our Grand Crusader hits the Enfields engine once. It falls.


Turn 5 – We lose init. Our Flashman bases their Guillotine. Their Enfield manages to make it up. Our Shootist walks up to it. Our Lynx runs up to it as well. Our PXH joins the little scrum. Our Starslayer bases them both. Their Hermes can’t stand. It destroys all of the actuators in one leg. It blacks out from all of the stands and falls. Our Flashman destroys the LL on their Guillotine. Our Lynx smashes the Enfield engine twice more – dead mech. We also destroy its LA and LT. Their PXH destroys the LA on our Talon. Our Starslayer destroys the RT on their Guillotine. Our Zeus destroys its CT and it is dead. Our Shootist took 100+ damage but stayed on its feet. Our Talon kicks their Pixie to the ground, but no damage internal or anything.


And they call it. We accept their surrender. Three’s nowhere for them to run too, we have the mechs to chase them down

[Abe Sargent]

Enfield missing LA, LT
Guillotine LT, Rl, RA, LA, H
Salamander missing RT
Rommel missing rear side
Manticore missing LS; Manticore missing RS
Scarabus missing H
Warrior – engine destroyed
Devastator missing RA, RT, LA, LL




Highlander missing LT
Talon missing LA



We give their Phoenix Hawk, Warrior Attack Helicopterx2, infantry, Rommel, Rifleman and Hermes to the local squad. We granted them some salvage such as the Hermes and Warrior which are ours technically.

We salvaged their Enfield, Salamander, Devastator, both Manticores and Rommel (we rolled well, yay), Scarabus. We leave with three good heavy upgraded tanks and four mechs.



Meanwhile…..

[Abe Sargent]

Sealion’s assault on the other noble has begun. This one is not in an estate like many. Instead he lives in a house just off the mining complex his family owns and runs. He prefers to live closer to the people and the business. He’s not a bad guy, but like the others, he is more interested in himself and his fiefdom rather than in the planet.


We arrive and his normal garrison s here, a full company of mechs that always have one lance on patrol around the area. They are a merc unit he hired to garrison his place. They will not fight as long as the other unit did unless they are successful early or we are not successful early. They won’t take that sort of loses from the battle.


Sealion


Mad Cat Prime
Masakari Prime
Grizzly
GHR-5J Grasshopper

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

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



Our Merc Foes:


Atlas
Hunchback
Thunderbolt
Penetrator

Awesome
Archer
Apollo
RFL-5M Rifleman

WLF-2 Wolfhound
Jenner
Grasshopper
Spider


All vet. This is a good company, despite the lack of a lot of level 2 mechs. All of their mechs here are good, and play various roles. Despite the high quality of the mechs in the previous fight, just 8 of our mechs being clan mechs will keep this from being a contest, because they would have been a strong foe for Shadow. I’ve even organized them by lance. Take their fir support mechs, as one example. They have two mechs that are missile boats, one that fires PPCs, and one that fires laser lasers and Ultra AC/5s. They have many ways of making and exploiting holes on a target. Their Penetrator and Thunderbolt are good at long range, with 2 ER Large lasers, an LRM15 and a large laser between them. Once they close, they get nasty. The Hunch and Atlas are devastating at close range, but even the Atlas features an LRM20. Their scouts include a long range jumper, a decent jump/runner with a lot of weapons, a large jumper that can hold its own and a fast ground mech. Even here you have an ER Large laser and large laser from the battlefield. Just last battle, a scout mech with an ER PPC nowhere near the battlefield destroyed their 100 ton Devastator. This is very well conceived company, with not a lot of weaknesses, but many strengths. Now, I typically want at last one fire support mech to jump, to help others in case of back attacks or such – I like Whitworths , Trebuchets, Catapults and others that will often do that. But you can hang back a bit with the Penetrator to help cover if needed. The Atlas, Wolfhound, Grasshopper, T Bolt and Penetrator can slide into fire support roles if needed,, the Anvil and Grasshopper can charge and slide into an aggressive role if needed, and even the Penetrator can became a scout mech, hopping next to mechs and unloading its medium pulse lasers. And, save for the Rilfleman, it has no XL engines to prematurely lose a mech.


Now, watch me blast them with my clan mechs and make all of this moot!

[Abe Sargent]

In case you care, we are on the unofficial map Lunar Sample. It’s a map with a lot of roads, each ending in a structure of some sort. It also has a few fuel tanks scattered about. It’s grey, no elevation, no trees, but some roughs. (I could not find this one though, sorry).

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 1 – We begin on the south and they on the north. We lose init. Our Marauder IIc destroys the RA of their Rifleman and ou Grasshopper destroys its RT. Dead mech. I know how to exploit the weakness on their team. After our Mad Cat softened it, our Grizzly’s gauss slug blasts their Wolfhounds CT. Dead mech. Our Shadow Hawk IIc destroys the RT on their Spider. But it remains standing at last.


Turn 2 – We lose init. We run everyone forward to break their line and force a retreat. We have already taken out two mechs and savaged a third. Our Masakari took 20+ damage last turn and that was it for their reprisal. Our Locust bases their Penetrator . Our D Fly jumps behind their T Bolt. Their Hunch falls as it moves from the rubble of a destroyed building. Their Spider rises. Our Griffin IIc hits the engine once on their Penetrator. Our Archer nails the gyro once on their Jenner. Our Masakari destroys the RT of their Apollo. Its gyro is nailed by our Griz. Our Marauder IIC follows by destroying both arms and RT on the Jenner Our Shadow hawk Iic hits the engine once on their Penetrator. The Apollo falls and destroys its CT. Their Jenner amazingly stays standing. Their Penetrator falls. Our Dragonfly misses a kick and falls, but our Locust kicks off the LL of their Penetrator.


They pull back to flee. We let them leave and chase them with fighters. We box them in with fighters and land our DropShip and Bruiser Company unloads. They radio their surrender and we accept.

[Abe Sargent]

Penetrator missing LL
Jenner missing RT, RA, LA
Apollo RA, LT, LA, H, LL,RL,
Spider missing RT
Wolfhound RT, LT, RA, LL, RL, LA, H
Rifleman missing RA, RT


We salvage their Penetrator, RFL-5m Rifleman, Spider, and Jenner. We technically did not salvage the Spider but I’m taking it anyway, because I like it a lot as a scout mech, and we regularly give others to the local garrison. We give the Hunchback., Thunderbolt, Atlas, Awesome, Grasshopper and Archer to the local garrison and many of the mercs choose to stay with their machines and are transferring over. I’d love to keep all of those mechs for my own, but that’s not how we operate – K&C and CC rules are very clear – K&C keeps battle salvage, and the CC gets mechs surrendered to assign to new units and such.

[Abe Sargent]

We have now quelled both nobles that have been operating their own fiefs for years.




Oct 24 – While consolidating territory, our agents find and take out a major drug lord who was one of the power brokers on planet. With him dead, we have now eliminated all major powers on the planet.



Oct 25 – We declare elections for Genoa.


Nov 2 – We clean up some minor infantry and tanks that press too hard on civilians


Nov 12 – We create the 1st Genoan Chargers, with the 18 mechs we handed over, a few tanks, infantry and two Warriors.


Nov 25 – Elections are held on Genoa.


Nov 29 - Genoa is officially incorporated into the Celestial Coalition





End of the First Genoa Campaign

[Abe Sargent]

A few changes to my units are needed


Jane in the Lynx for Shadow Company gains Edge: 1

In Sealion Company, our Girzzly pilot has 5 kills, no one else has more than 2. Tarja Tarunun gains Edge: 1

Mabel, in Bruise Company, pilots the Gladiator A. She notched her 4th kill and gains 1 gunnery and is now 1/3.


We salvaged:

Demolisher (Gauss), Drillsonx2, Goblin upgraded and the SRM Carrier Thunder, Charger, Hunchback, Jinggau, Anvil, Huron Warrior, Duan Gung and Raven. BJ-2 Blackjack Clint, Awesome, BLR-3M BattleMaster, Locust, Javelin, Dragon, Enfield, Salamander, Devastator, both Manticores and Rommel, Scarabus. Penetrator, RFL-5m Rifleman, Spider, and Jenner


That’s 24 mechs and 8 vehicles

Good stuff.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, let’s continue our dynasty, already in progress




EVENT – November 12, 3060 The St. Ives Compact unit, Blackwind Lancers, of which Braham Essex used to be a member decades ago, launched a preemptive attack on the Capellan Confederation planet of Hustaing while Sun-Tzu Liao and his fiancée Isis Marik were publicly touring it. (In reality, Sun-Tzu set up an agent at the commander of the battalion that attacked).

The unit will be defeated shortly

[Abe Sargent]

EVENT November 16, 3060 – Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao uses his powers as First Lord of the Star League to dispatch Star league peacekeeping forces to the St. Ives border planets that border the Capellan Confederation.

[Abe Sargent]

EVENT December 22, 3060 – After fomenting some anti-Victor and anti-Yvonne feelings secretly in the Federated Commonwealth, Regent Yvonne Steiner-Davion requests that Archon Katherine “Katrina” Steiner-Davion take over.

[Abe Sargent]

December 31, 3060 – – Essex Training Academy:


Essex Training Academy


We have 16 MW graduates from the Essex Training Academy, and 18 enrollees for next year. Of these 16, 4 choose not to stay with us, and the remaining 12 have 4 vet, 5 regular, 1 green and 2 elite. We also have 8 graduates of vehicle crews, all regular. We hand them vehicles and move them to our garrison. 7 enroll for next year, and 6 infantry squads are now being trained as well. 5 infantry squads are completed, the Aerotech wing has its first grads – 5 total. 6 more enroll for the 1st year.


Year 4 - 12
Year 3 – 18
Year 2 - 19
Year 1 – 18

Armor – 7

Aerospace, Year 2 - 4
Aerospace, Year 1 - 6

Infantry, Year 2 - 5
Infantry, Year 1 - 6

We pay 15 million to the upkeep of the Academy and HQ.

[Abe Sargent]

During the year, we recruited and moved grads too:



River Company:


Lt. BLR-3M BattleMaster, Anna Zhou, elite
Anvil, Justice Olferiev ,elite
Hunchback, Gregg Burns veteran
Thunder, Mary Cornea , veteran

Sgt. Harris Madan , AWS-9Q Awesome, elite
Mad Cat D, Ghalyela Camona, elite
RFL-5M Rifleman, Érik Deschamps, veteran
BMB-12D Bombardier, Pedro Torres, veteran

Sgt. Maggie MacDougall, Greyhound, elite
Clint IIc, Karina Richardson, elite
Tarantula, Bartholomew Wright, veteran
Spider, Anna Zimmermann, veteran


The Spider and Hunchback are level 1 mechs. The Clint IIc and Mad Cat are clan mechs.

As a reminder, our greyhound is a mech made by Kressly Warworks Inc with input from us. It is a 60 ton quad mech that moves 4/6 with MASC, an XL engine, 2 SRM6 streaks and 3 er medium lasers.

You should recognize many of those mechs as those recently captured – all were in our garrison.

[Abe Sargent]

Lake Company:


Lt, Gerard Lawson, VKG-2G Viking, elite
Gina Giaopolis , Ryoken Prime, elite
Neal Serrano , CGR-1A5 Charger, eltie
Zachary Park, Penetrator, veteran

Sgt. Shankari Yi, DVS-2 Devastator, elite
Amente Abdul-Muta'al, Salamander, elite
Joline Abrams, SHD-2hb Shadow Hawk , veteran
BJ-2 Blackjack, Coira Stevenson , veteran

Sgt. Candice Cardenas, Greyhound, elite
Jason Felike , SDR-9K Venom, elite
Miles Stewart, JVN-10F Javelin, veteran
Leonore Chrétien, JR7-F Jenner, veteran



The Jenner, Charger and Javelin are variants of good level 1 mechs. I like the CGR-1A5 a lot and I often change my captured level 1s into it. The Ryoken is a clan mech.

The problem with the Devastator is that, due to its size, it is often seen as a mech to wade in and trade punches. But with two gausses and two PPCs but an XL engine, its really a fire support mech primarily. Hang back with it and keep it safe and it will open up precious holes at range. The combination of it and a Salamander alone, 60 LRM missiles from the latter and the hole opening of the former is just nasty.


The Free Rasalhague Republic allows us to buy four Vikings for our Garrison, 2 of each type. Two of these are great long range assault mechs, with 2 LRMs 20s and 2 LRM 15,s. The other two are great assault mechs with a gauss, LB 10x, large pulse, and some medium pulses


These two companies join with Oasis Company to make the Water Battalion.

[Abe Sargent]

Jan 1, 3061 – We get word that the Grasshopper factory line in Bryant should be up and running in another 4 months or so. It took both Kressly Warworks money and CC grants to make that happen, and a lot of it.


EVENT January 27, 3061 – After the SLDF peacekeepers are withdrawn from the Compact due to attacks on them by local Compact forces, the Capellan Confederation and St. Ives Compact are now at war. If we had not built the Celestial Coalition, I’d go help the Compact right now. Sun-Tzu strikes while Victor is away, two of the best St. Ives units are away in Operation Bulldog and Task Force Serpent, their heir Kai Allard-Liao is away, and the nation hat supported the Compact for decades, the FedCom, has a ruler that has agreed to let Sun-Tzu take the worlds if he votes for her as the Star League First Lord in a few months.

[Abe Sargent]

Jan 30 – Duke Essex is re-elected the ruler of the Celestial Coalition for another three year term.


EVENT – Feb 1 – In a fairly shocking event, the son of the Prince of the Free Rasalhague Republic, Ragnar Magnusson, currently a soldier with Clan Ghost Bear after being taken as a bondsman, is elected Prince of the FRR. The ruling council, Riksdag, holds an election for Regent, and in two months, they will elect Christian Mansdottir to be the elected Regent for Ragnar’s rule.


February 2 - Our intel discovers a plot to kill a Baron on Acamar and we end it.

[Abe Sargent]

Feb 10 – We get news that one of the factions on Hsien has just won a major victory and has broken the stalemate there. We need to move in now if we want to capture it. We had planned a major offensive six months from now, but we move up the timetable.



Beginning of the Hsien Campaign


February 21 – Our attack force launches. We have our typical WarShip plus Vengeance, Claymore, Avenger and Tug. We also have:



Amazon Battalion: Capt. Gabriel Williams, of Mustang Company

Mustang Company –
Hex Company –
Raven Company –


Rheims Battalion: Capt. Aurelia Jenson, of Aleph Company

Aleph Company
Laser Company –
Sabre Company –



Nineveh Company –


That gives us 7 mech companies plus around 60 fighters to stab into local forces.

[Abe Sargent]

March 3 – Our Taskforce arrives in the system. Hsien has a recharge facility at the Zenith point, 10 days to the planet, and 5 days to charge up.

Hsien was settled in the early days of colonization by mostly people from India. The planet is very beautiful, with a deep ecology that was the envy of many other colonies. Water purification plants were needed to filter out nasty microbes in the water, and they still run to this day, slowly replaced and repaired over centuries.

Hsien has some modest mining, such like Indi or Capolla – it’s not very much, most of the mines have exhausted long ago, but a few mines dot the landscape that get less valuable minerals that were skipped before, such as lead, zinc and nickel. It’s not valuable titanium or germanium, or even next level metals like iron, copper or bauxite or even gold or silver. But it’s something.

Baron Montong slew the Capella Leader in the back after he was appointed by the Capellan unit that arrived and took the planet years ago. The rest of the planet refused to follow his lead. The population elected a Capellan governor a few months later, and then several provinces seceded from them. This resulted in an increased schism, as the pro-Davion forces supported Baron Montong, the pro-Capella forces supported the governor, and others wanted their own province, Dendeez, to rule. The balance of power remained between these three realms.

Montong had two companies of mechs, the governor had two companies as well – a merc unit, and Dendeez Province rocked a regiment of armor. This situation was balanced for some time. The Apollo Office believes that several years of this has brought about a desire for a united government fro the populace, and now is the ripe time to conquer Hsien, a planet that would have been more difficult to hold had we snapped it up right away.

What has changed the balance of power is that Baron Montong has hired a company of mechs plus a lance of fighters. They arrived a few months ago hidden, and smashed the green mercs of the government. After several years of reduced imports and weakness by their government, and now the threat of the Baron taking over the government, gaining a position against Dendeez and winning it all, the people are looking for a savior, a deus ex machina. That will be us.

[Abe Sargent]

March 13 – Our Warship sets up around the planet . We spent these ten days reviewing ROM reports on the planet and finding updated locations of their forces. With a very detailed ROM report on the planet, we expect this campaign may be easier than others. We know exactly where the Baron’s troops are, and where the mercs are. The government has been reduced from 24 mechs to 14, and the Baron is pushing in. Meanwhile, his merc force, which lost 4 mechs, is circling and readying an ambush on the government while he 24 pristine mechs advance.

This is something we need to handle right now. We contact the government and receive permission to handle the situation.

An hour later, we land Rheims Battalion right on top of the Barons forces while our fighters eviscerate the mercs, and we land Ninevah Company right on top of their mercs.


Ninevah arrives first (it’s half elite and half veteran)



Masakari C
ST-8A Shootist
HTM-27T Hatamato-Chi
GAL-1GLS Gallowglas

DVS-2 Devastator
Vulture B
CPLT-C1 Catapult
WHD-6D Warhammer

WTC-4M Watchman
JVN-10F Javelin
PXH-1D Phoenix Hawk
CMT-1 Comet



Our foes, with their 8 mechs


Mercs, vet

CTS-6Z Cestus
RVN-3L Raven
STK-5M Stalker
Wraith
OSR-2D Ostroc
Pillager
HCT-5K Hatchetman
Dart

This is a special Hatchetman made in the Combine. It replaces the hatchet with a sword, and rocks an MRM 30 and an ER medium laser among other things. Normaly it would have a C3 slave, but it has a medium laser instead.

These are likely to be the only recent mechs on planet.

This is their Pillager, a 100 ton mech from the Star League era made again in the later 3050s. It has 3/5/3 movement with XL, 2 gauss, 1 large laser, 4 mediums, 14/28 heat.

[Abe Sargent]

We are fight on a random map. Here we go! We are on the Sinkhole Map, and the game added some random woods.

[Abe Sargent]

Turn 1 – We begin in one corner and they the opposite one. We win init. We move our Devastator to camp in our Heavy woods. Again, protect it and it will break people. Their Raven tries to move into a sinkhole and falls and hits a foot actuator. We concentrate a lot of fire on their Cestus. A gauss from our Devastator smashes its RT and its down. They managed to do a little damage to our H-C.


Turn 2 – We win init again. I leap our Gallowglas down into the sinkhole into heavy woods. I camp our Devastator where it is. Our Comet bases their Hatchetman. Our Pixie leaps to the rear of their Raven. I move our heavy mechs around the sinkhole to close ot our foes. They ,move a lot of their forces to some woods. Their Pillager destroys the RA, LL and RT on our Jav. Our Jav smashes the Ravens’ LT and its down. Our Jav falls and destroys its other leg. Our Comet pushes their Hatchetman into the sinkhole and it took 30 damage.


Turn 3 – They win init. I eject the Jav. Our watchman hops next to their Pillager after it jumped into a sinkhole. Their Pillager destroys the RA of our Pixie. Our Vulture blasts the RL of their Dart. When it falls it breaks its RA and the pilot blacks out. Their Pillager tumbles .


Turn 4 – We win init. Their Pillager stands. Our Comet walks behind their Hatchetman. The Hatamato-Chi bases their Stalker, who has retreated to the edge of the map. Our Shootist nails the gauss in their Pillagers RT and it goes down with a destroyed RT> Their Wraith destroys the RL and RA of our Comet. Our H-C blasts their Stalker into pieces – destroying its CT, LA, LT and RT in part due to ammo explosions. A gauss from the Pillager smashes the H of our Vulture, and our pilot dies and the mech is down. Our Vulture destroys the RL of their Hatchetman before it goes. Our Masakari falls under damage. Their Dart wakes up.


They call it. They radio us their surrender. We take the mechs for now. Perhaps we’ll give them back later.

[Abe Sargent]

Hatchetman missing RL
Stalker RA, H< LL, RL
Dart missing RL, RA
Raven missing LT
Cestus missing RT
Pillager missing RT



Javelin missing RA, RT, LL, RL
Phoenix Hawk missing RA
Comet missing RL, RA
Vulture missing H



We salvaged the Raven, Cestus, Pillager and Hatchetman. We hand the Dart, Wraith, Ostroc to our forces on world.

[Abe Sargent]

On the other flank, Rheims Battalion lands right by the Baron’s forces. Our cavalcade of fighters keeps them pinned in their location by strafing on all directions. With 40 fighters in the air from the Vengeance, they don’t waste time firing at them knowing we would just blow them up in a few fusillades. Instead, we want our Battalion of mechs to move in and smash their 24 normally, maximizing salvage.

However, with 24 mechs, they decide to shift gears. That’s a bad decision. We shift geras and move our strafing to them. You strafe one line of hexes ona map, and any mechs take damage in the line if you hit them, so each fighter gets to attack multiple mechs. They have no idea how to fight against fighters, because they are not broken apart to avoid strafing lines

These green troops just bought it. Within five minutes, we have destroyed 10 mechs, savaged three more, wounded most, and only lost two. The destroyed mechs take so much damage very little are salvageable - just one. The rest of their mechs flee through the savaging strafing and right into our battalion.

I’m not even simming this. 36 clean mechs vs 11 wounded mechs 3 of which are missing arms. It two turns we have blown through five mechs and the rest surrender.


We salvaged 5 random mechs, determined later. We turn over 7 to the locals.



We have, in one day, eliminated the Baron as a threat.


But, that is not the biggest threat.

[Abe Sargent]

In order to restore order, we also need to handle Dendeez. They have a regiment of armor.


March 15 – Our great Word of Blake intel from ROM tells us the locations of one of their battalions of armor. We offer their district to return to the government without any restrictions. But they do not. Then we threaten them with damage.


We land Amazon Battalion right by them.


Our foes are fanatical and green.



Amazon Battalion – Mustang, Raven, and Hex are ready to smash face and take names, and Hex is in front. They split off one company each to face us.


Hex Company


BLR-1G BattleMaster
DRG-1G Grand Dragon
VND-1R Vindicator
KTO-18 Kintaro

STK-5M Stalker
EXC-B2 Excalibur
RFL-5M Rifleman
TBT-5N Trebuchet

SDR-5V Spider
WLF-2 Wolfhound
CMT-1 Comet
ALX-1kc Alexander


None of the tanks we face will be using upgrade technology. Let’s skip the tank lists, they have the usual - Maxim, Drillson, Hunter, Goblin, Vedette, Carriers, etc.