The BattleTech Dynasty: Chapt 4, Explorer Corps - 3042-49

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s rewind.


Dec 1, 3044 - The first Attila is complete and we can put our techs to work on another mech.

I have the following parts from a Griffin:

Head
Left Torso
Right Torso
Right Leg
Left Leg
Right Arm
Left Arm
Engine


All I need: gyro, CT, and that’s it, I could build a Griffin. Or, I could use it to build a new mech. I like Griffin’s though so I drop some cash and finish a Griffin.

It will be done in two months.


In other news, we have some new graduates today. 7 new graduates to be precise.

Here they are:

Jerry Cornelius, green
Radhi Bashasha, green
Sláine mac Sengann, regular
Esther Feinstein, regular
Vera Vasquez, green
Fyedora Mihailova, veteran
Roza Varba, regular

Time to make a new company with our people.
Say hello to the newly minted Brawler Company.


Anvil Lance:

Lt. Talib Shadi, elite, BattleMaster
Esther Feinstein, regular, Wolverine
Engracia Diaz, elite, Thunderbolt
Roza Varba, regular, Stalker



Hammer Lance:

Sgt. Kate Mallery, elite, Archer
Sláine mac Sengann, regular, Awesome
Colette Maigny, elite, Merlin
Fyedora Mihailova, veteran, Marauder



Thunder Lance:

Sgt. Randa Kanagarajah, elite, Jenner JR7-F
Marcus Bochelli, elite, Comet
Jerry Cornelius, green, Locust 1E
Vera Vasquez, green, Stinger 3G


There we are. Say hello to our newest unit.

[Abe Sargent]

Aleph Company - Returns on March 29, 3045
Phaeton Company - Back on Aug 11, 3045
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Arrives back Jan 30, 3045
Cinq Company - Returns on Feb 2, 3045
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Returns on Jan 2, 3045
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company -
Brawler Company -

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.



Dec 18, 3044 - We honor the Fall of Andurien.

[Abe Sargent]

Since we just fought against our first LosTech equipped new mech with the Wolverine 7K, it’s time to talk about what the Inner Sphere is doing right now.

For centuries, the Inner Sphere has been continuing to produce the mechs that had factories not destroyed in the first two succession wars. Mechs like the Wasp, Locust, Crusader, Phoenix Hawk, Battlemaster and more were even made in many of the houses, creating a large number of them. Those mechs that had all of their factories in one of the Houses, had their mechs become the mainstay mechs of those militaries, The Vindicator and Catapult for Liao, Enforcer for Davion, Panther, Dragon and Jenner for Kurita, Zeus for Steiner, Goliath for Marik.

At the beginning of the 31st century, the first brand new designs began to, very slowly, roll off the factories. The Merlin, Wolfhound, Raven, and Hatchetman showed that new designs could be made. There were numerous mechs still running around that had been made in huge numbers once, but had their factories destroyed, like the Clint, Ostscout, Ostsol, Ostroc, Scorpion, Whitworth, and more.

As LosTech began to be recovered, one of the key uses was to first do field refits. These were techs for companies taking a LosTech weapon or equipment and replacing existing weapons. This was unable to do things like change the armor, internal structure, engine, and so forth. Instead, you could add double heat sinks, swap out weapons, and add equipment like ECMs or Artemis IV.

The Draconis Combine was the first house to build new mechs from the LosTech, but a Hatamato-Chi was virtually identical to the old Star League era Thug, and the Daboku had some structural problems that would eventually be fixed and the mech reimagined and renamed Mauler.

Over the next few years, there will be a few new LosTech designs debut - Wolf Trap, Mauler, Axman, Caesar. There will also be a few factories that had to stop building Star League era mechs, because they lost the technology, but with it regained, will once again be putting out those mechs - Hermes and Guillotine. You see, a factory puts together all of the parts, and often builds a few themselves, but they import the rest. If you lose the ability to get sevrel of the parts, even if your factory is fine, you can no longer assemble the mechs.

Anyway, you can expect us to fight against mechs with field refits, new designs, and some old Star League era mechs starting anew.

However, the most likely source of LosTech will be factories that built mechs for years and years, stopping their line for a bit, retooling it, and making new LosTech versions of older mechs. The example of the Wolverine 7K is a perfect example. In some cases, you’ll even see several different versions of the same mech because it is in different houses. In the old world, the basic design of mechs was built, and various houses might incorporate field refits, but now variants are going to become more popular, because construction materials like MASC and XP engines are being used.

The problem with this is the first group of mechs are simply going to try to fix problems mechs had in the previous incarnation, and often ,they will go way overboard to do so. For example, let’s take the BattleMaster 3M. This mech will have a ERPPC, SRM 6s, and 4 medium lasers. If you fired everything, you would make 32 heat. They made the BattleMaster’s heat sinks double. So it dissipates 18/36 heat. You Don’t make 36 heat though, so why the extra heat sinks? Another example is the Awesome. This one with rock 3x ER PPC and run 20/40 heat sinks, plus have some short range weaponry. So, while the first Awesome went just 2 overheat when you fired all three PPCs, this one goes 5 overheat when you do. The Hunchback pulls off a ton of ammo for the AC20 for CASE and to upgrade the small laser to a small pulse laser. Now it has 5 shots instead of 10 - That’s stupid. The Grasshopper is given 2 tons of ammo for one SRM2 Streak. Each ton has 50 shots, you would never fire 100 shots from anything, certainly not a streak that only uses ammo when it locks on and not when you miss. They’ll start doing stupid things like put Artemis IV on LRM5s and have a laughable One Shot SRM4 launcher on the Quickshot.

In other words, they don’t understand how to make mechs with LosTech yet. Now, there will be a few deigns coming out soon that either by luck or by design will actually be good. However, be prepared for some awkward mechs in the first round of these new mechs.

After that, once the Inner Sphere shakes out the issues, it will start making good LosTech mechs in the early 3050s, but it is going to take some time.

A well designed mech, without any LosTech, can beat a mech of the same weight with LosTech every time, if it’s not equally well designed.

[Abe Sargent]

Jan 1, 3045 - 9 new enrollees in the Essex Training Academy.

3rd Year: 11
2nd Year: 7
1st Year: 9

Time for contracts, and Defender is back in system, so we can go ahead send them and/or Brawler Company.


Drac: Security
FedCom: Cadre
Free Worlds League: Retainer
St. Ives Compact: Object Raid on…Caps.


Since Tethys so rarely gets to do contracts, I decide to send it on the Cadre Contract to…Sarpsborg. 7 jumps away.


Contract:

Length: 3 months
Salvage: Full
Command: House
Support: 50% Straight Support
Salary: x3.4, 0.8, 1.4
Remuneration: Nope
Transport: 50%


Tethys will arrive on March 28, 3045. They will come back on July 25, 3045.

We will have lost 600k

[Abe Sargent]

Next up is Defender Company to do the Objective Raid on Holloway. 12 jumps away. Contract:


Salvage: Shared
Salary: x3.7, x1.6, x1.2
Remuneration: Nope
Transport: 50%
Command: Indy
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Length: 1 month
27.5% Bonus


We will arrive on May 10, 3045.

Let’s do the contract.


May 10, 3045 - We arrive at Holloway. The brother of crazy Romano Liao, Tormano Liao, runs a covert organization out of Davion space called Free Capella which wants to replace Romano with himself. It agitates on many worlds, and the Compact gives it a lot of tacit and logistical support. Hence, us. Holloway is one of the worlds with the strongest support for the Free Capella movement. However, a company of Liao mechs have become very suppressive of citizens, and trying to root out the Free Capella sympathizers. They are destroying farms, houses, families and more in a brutal suppression. The St. Ives Compact wants us to go in there and destroy them. They can’t send their own forces, so it has to be mercenary.

May 19, 3045 - Defender Company has located the Cap company in the Holloway equivalent of their great plains. We decide to attack them here, where they are away from a lot of people, but it’s out in the open, with little room for ambush, to hide, or to run away to.


Here are the Caps:


Victor
Stinger
Firestarter
Phoenix Hawk
UrbanMech 60L (with an AC20 and one ton of ammo)
Stalker
Longbow 7Q
Cicada
JagerMech JM6-A (with the 2x LRM15s)
Cataphract 1X
Locust
BattleMaster


Wow, hello heavy metal. Victor, Stalker, Longbow, BattleMaster all assaults. Cataphract, JagerMech are both heavies. Then you have a light mech with an AC20.


The Cicada is a 40 ton mech with the weapons and armor and speed of a lighter mech. It moves 8/12, has just 2 medium lasers and a smaller laser, and has just 4 tons of armor. What is it good at? Charging. It will deal an incredible amount of damage on a successful charge, and twice as much as a 20 ton mech.

[Abe Sargent]

Their pilots are all regular. The only thing on the map are a few rocks here and there, and that’s it. No buildings, no water, no trees, no hills, no elevation, no roads, no bridges, no ice, no snow, no pavement, nothing but a few hexes with rocks in them.

This will probably end quickly.


We win init 9 to 6. Just an exchange of long range weapons.

We win 9 to 3. We focus a lot of weapons in their BattleMaster and them on ours. Theirs falls, ours does not.

We lose 6 to 7. Orion in their Cataphract’s rear. Their Battlemaster rises. Our Archer hits their BM’s PPC. Our Orion is hit in the head twice, but still has some external armor. Our Griffin destroys their BM’s RA. Our Firestarter gets a Limb Blown Off crit for its LA> Their BM fals when ours kicks it. Our BM took a lot of damage, still standing fine.

We win init 10 to 5. Their Cicada and Locust are trying to outflank us. Hermes II behind their Locust, to keep them busy and off our backs, literally. Our BM is down to about 60% of his starting armor and our Orion down to 80%, while their BM is down to 15%, Victor down to 60% and Cataphract down to 75%. Pretty good exchanges, I’d say. Their BM rises again. Grasshopper in the rear of their Cataphract. Our P Hawk destroys the LT of their Victor. Our Firestarter hits its AC20. Our Hermes II kicks their Locust and it falls.

We win init 8 to 6. Their Locust stands up and runs over behind our Whitworth and Archer. We will end this. I order my Hermes II to charge their Locust from the rear. P Hawk in their Cataphract’s rear arc. Our P Hawk destroys the Cat’s LL. Our Stinger hit’s the SRM ammo on their BM and blows it up - Boom! Our Griffin takes out their Victor’s CT> Their Cataphract hits its gyro when it tumbles. Our Archers kicks and destroys the LL on their Locust. Then Our Hermes II charges and hits it. It destroys the Locusts CT, LA and RT>

We lose init 4 to 5. After killing three of their mechs in one round, we now have a numbers advantage that I intend to use from here on out. Their Cataphract fails to stand. Our G Hopper hits an Lrm20 on their Longbow.

We win 4 to 3. Our Javelin ignites their Longbow’s LRM5 ammo and it goes up. Our Hunchy’s :LA is destroyed. Their JagerMech falls. Our Firestarter kicks and destroys the ammo for their JagerMech and it explodes. The engine goes up and our mechs nearby take some damage. The Stinger took 26 and its CT is destroyed. The Firestarter falls. Our Jav kicks and knocks down their Stinger.

And with that they concede. Their Urbie was out of ammo, Stalker has taken some damage, and that just left some minor scout mechs left. We took out all of their heavy metal except the Stalker which was on its way out.



Salvage:

BattleMaster LA, RL, H
Victor LA, H, LL, RL, RA, RT
Locust RL, H, RA, LT
Longbow RT, LL, H
JagerMech H
Cataphract with 2x gyro hits, missing LL


Ours - Stinger H, RT, LT, LA, RA, LL, RL


Repair:

Hunchback LA


We had a pilot notch their 4th kill - Jussi Johansson, of the Hermes II gains an edge.

[Abe Sargent]

Contract Stuff:

What we Spent:


731,160 - Salary and upkeep
600,000 - Transport after 50% taken off
330,000 - Armor
210,000 - Ammo
445,000 - Fix Hunch
800,000 - Fix Stinger


What we Get:

434,764 - Salary and bonus
165,000 - Armor
622,500 - To fix Hunchy and Stinger




We use the dead Stinger as an excuse to rebuild a Comet for the mech unit.

[Abe Sargent]

Shared Salvage time:

Only one question - Are there enough parts to allow me to take the Cataphract?

Parts:


BattleMaster LA, RL, H - 1,800,000
Victor LA, H, LL, RL, RA, RT - 2,900,000
Locust RL, H, RA, LT - 650,000
Longbow RT, LL, H - 1,655,000
JagerMech H - 750,000

Cataphract: We fix the gyro. 5.2 mill

Total Salvage Value: 12,955,000

Shared Salvage: 6,477,500

We take the Cataphract and some pieces.


3,783,104 - How much we make after fixing the Cataphract


We arrive back at EE on Oct 12, 3045

[Abe Sargent]

Okay, let’s rewind back….



February 1, 3045 - Delta is back, Cinq is back in system and arrives in a day. We also have Brawler we can send out. Let’s look at contracts!


FedCom: Obj Raid on Dracs.
FedCom: Obj Raid on Dracs
FedCom: Cadre
FedCom: Obj Raid on Dracs
Outworlds Alliance: Garrison

Wow, the FedCom really wants to raid the Dracs! Let’s see what we gots.

Targets for the three contracts: Kaus Australis, one of three systems in the Kaus constellation that are colonized (Kaus Media and Kaus Borealis are the others). 5 jumps away. One way out there in boondock land. Vega - 6 jumps away, right near Kaus Australis just one jump away.

Let’s send two companies for these contracts, one to each system.


Brawler:

Salvage: Shared
Salary: x3.4, x1.6, x1.4
Remuneration: No
Command: Indy
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Transport: 50%
Length: 2 months
5% Bonus


Going to Kaus Australis


Cinq:

Salvage: Full
Salary: x3.7, 1.6, 1.4
Command: Liaison
Length: 1 month
Remuneration: nope
Transport: 50%
Support: 50% Battle Loss
20% Bonus


Going to Vega



We will use the same transport to Kaus Australis, and then Cinq will split off and go one more jump.


We can arrive at Kaus Australis on April 9, and April 14 for Vega (It takes a long time to get from the jump point to planet in the Kaus Australis system).

Where is the Cadre assignment? If it’s nearby, perhaps I’ll send out Delta for a quick assignment. It’s about 14 jumps away. Nope. That’s okay though, Ted prefers a mech company at home at all times.

[Abe Sargent]

Aleph Company - Returns on March 29, 3045
Phaeton Company - Back on Aug 11, 3045
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company -
Cinq Company - Arrive on April 14.
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Returns on Oct 12, 3045
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company - Returns on July 25, 3045
Brawler Company - Arrive on Apr 9

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045


Let’s do our Vega and Kaus Australis raids.


April 9, 3045 - Brawler Company arrives on the industrial world of Kaus Australis. It is a fair distance from the star in this system and it does have some minor germanium deposits which put it on the map. The easy ones were taken a long time ago, and only a few hard to get at mines are left. The planet has less than a million people living on it. Kaus Media buys its ores and mineral output while Kaus Australis buys their food. It’s a very symbiotic relationship.

Because the world has only some minor (these days) mines and a small number of people, it does not warrant major garrisons, since it is both a low priority world for invasion and lessened need for internal security. There are just a battalion of Dracs here plus the militia.

The FedCom wants to convince the Dragon that they are preparing for another invasion, so they have authorized a bunch of mercenary raids over the next few months at a large variety of targets. Some targets are of military benefit, some are of economic benefit, some of industrial. On a few worlds, there are no targets at all, the unit is supposed to land, attack a meaningless minor building or complex, destroy it, and blast off, putting the defense on high alert and perhaps making a few intel people spend some sleepless nights trying to figure out what the FedCom goal of that strike was.

In this system, Brawler is supposed to unload, hit a mining interest, and then blast off. It doesn‘t matter which one, any is fine.

April 11, 3045 - Brawler’s DropShip arrives in the DropPort facilities above Kaverni Bay, a large underground city. About 300,000 people live here, and the rest underneath domes scattered around the world.

We take a shuttle into the city. Domes control the DropPort, and there are some vehicles there and such. We arrive in Kaverni Bay to look around.

Many of our people have never seen an underground city before. Kaus Australis’s atmosphere is hostile, but the ore here is too valuable not to mine. There are a lot of lights here, but the city literally never sleeps - there is no nighttime.

April 24, 3045 - After some scouting, we realize we cannot attack in here, and we don’t want to hit one of the smaller domes around the planet. That leaves one possible target.

April 26, 3045 - We arrive back in the DropPort. This is it. Only here can we attack and not completely cripple Kaus Australis but yet hurt them. We have to attack the DropPort itself. In this area are many tanks and such, plus we expect to find some mechs around, but we don’t know how many or where.

We turn on our mechs and head out. We damage a nearby ring used to dock a DropShip. Klaxons begin to sound. Civilian personnel and vehicles evacuate, which is what we want. A few more energy weapons tear into the infrastructure, careful not to kill anybody.

With a few moments, a few blips appear on our screen. Our enemies arrive. Our goal is to hammer them, force them to leave, grab the salvage, and run before reinforcements arrive.

It looks like they sent whoever was available.


The Dracs:

Ontos
Manticore
Mauler City Assault Tank
Saracen
Hunter
Patton
Hetzer
Galleon
Vedette
Von Luckner

Cyclops
Quickdraw
Grasshopper
Wasp


There are a lot of heavier tanks in there. The mechs are vets, the tanks are regulars. Assault tanks are the Ontos, and the heavy tanks are the Manticore, Mauler, VonLuckner, and Patton.


I can’t recall exactly what mechs I’ve shown. So, here is Vera Vasquez’s Stinger. It’s a pretty common 20 ton light mech, but not at the level of the Wasp and Locust, but the next most common light mech after them. This is the 3G variant with two medium lasers and max armor.

[Tellistto]

Good luck to Brawler on their first official mission together. Kick some Drac butt! Hah!

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Thanks!

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go.

Despite the fact that we are fighting 14 vehicles and have several green pilots, and are facing some heavy units, I still think we should have this. There are a few fuel tanks on the map.

We win init 7 to 6. All of their units save one start behind some buildings. We will try to move around with our heavy metal. A few of their units sneak out in the building, so we destroy the building.

We lose 4 to 8. Weapons fire exchanged. Their Hunter is immobilized.

We win init 6 to 5. Our Merlin destroys their Ontos. Our first kill for Brawler Company. Our Stalker falls under an onslaught of weapons. A Hetzer is knocked immobile by collapsing buildings we destroyed.

We win init 11 to 9. We stand the Stalker. Their Wasp falls while running on pavement. We knock their Saracen immobile. We plug a lot of weapons into their Grasshopper. Then our Locust destroyed their Fuel Tank. They deal 50 damage to their Vedette and 40 to their Quickdraw. Their Hopper falls. Their Vedette is immobilized by the blast.

We lose 6 to 7. Just an exchange of fire.

We win 10 to 5. Marauder behind their Cyclops. Our Archer hit’s the ammo on their Mauler and blows it up, boom! Our Thunderbolt immobilizes their Patton. Our MAD kicks their Cyclops and it falls to the ground.

And with that, they concede and leave. We have more than enough time to load things up, and during the battle we destroyed a lot of buildings, so damage has been done and we are out of here.




Salvage:

Hunter Light Support Tank - 1,135,000
Ontos - 2,265,000
Hetzer - 665,000
Saracen - 813,000
Vedette - 750,000
Patton - 2,754,000

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s settle up Brawler’s contract:



We spend:

302,958 - salary and upkeep
200,000 - armor
125,000 - ammo


We get:

250,000 - transport
100,000 - 50% battle loss
236,645 - salary + bonus
4,191,000 - shared


We take the following tanks:

Hunter
Ontos
Vedette


We will arrive back on July 21, 3045

[Abe Sargent]

April 14, 3045 - Cinq company arrives at Vega. There are several other merc units on this very important world. They have already started to hit things here. Our job is to land and get a hit in during all of the commotion.


April 20, 3045 - We arrive outside of a medium industrial plant. We attack the planet and within a few minutes, it is being raided by FedCom infantry and we stand watch. We see a few infantry, but no one major until we are done less than an hour later.

April 23, 3045 - Since our first attack went by without a problem, we are tasked with another. There is a large brewery here than is used to make beer for export. It’s not a military target, so it is believed that we can hit it, take it down, without ease. This is silly. I don’t want to be destroying breweries. We are warriors, not junior high kids that got drunk one night and threw some rotten eggs and tp’ed a house.

We approach the brewery, but instead of just attacking and fading, we start firing at the countryside and causing a scene. As we hoped, some units catch us as we finish blowing up the brewery and leaving the area, since we gave them a clue we were here. I don’t want to keep doing this.

Unfortunately, it looks like a battalion of mechs instead of a company. Well, we missed. Time to run.

April 24, 3045 - After waiting out the night we are ready to blast off, contract done.


We will arrive back on July 24, 3045.

We lost about 250k.

Aleph Company - Returns on March 29, 3045
Phaeton Company - Back on Aug 11, 3045
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company -
Cinq Company - Return on July 24, 3045
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Returns on Oct 12, 3045
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company - Returns on July 25, 3045
Brawler Company - Back on July 21, 3045


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045



March 1,3045 - We take a look around the garrison to see what our next project is.

We have a lot of Awesome parts, and we build a new Awesome from them.


Contracts:

FedCom: Cadre
ComStar: Obj Raid on Dracs
Free Rasalhague Republic: Garrison

Where is the cadre contract? About 16 jumps away. We’ll keep Delta on planet for a month.

[Abe Sargent]

April 1,3045 -

Ted’s recruits from Outreach (just like last year): all are elite


Mabel Baker
Gina Callocia
Ernesto Herrera
Akwasi Opoku
Lacey Kline
Abigail Richards


Ted gets an offer from Duke Sandoval for the Wolverine 7K. It’s the first one that’s been captured from Kurita space. They can take it, analyzie it, find where the parts are coming from, field test it, etc. Ted doesn’t want money for the mech, but mech for the mech. We don’t want money, we want materiel. Duke says he doesn’t have any unassigned LosTech mechs, but raises his offer significantly, and Ted accepts.

Ted takes the $$ shopping. We acquire a Trebuchet and a Longbow.



Aleph Company is back. That gives me Delta and Aleph I can send out immediately.


Contracts:

FedCom: Riot/Garrison - Yuck -no way am I ever taking a riot contract
Free Rasalhague: Obj Raid on…Trolloc Prime, Dracs - rumored to have ghosts of former units on it
Free Worlds League: Garrison
Magistracy of Canopus: Planetary Assault
Corporation: Cadre/Garrison. Where? Breukelen. 8 jumps away.


Delta to Cadre/Garrison


Salvage: Full
Salary: x4, x1.2, x1.3
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Remuneration: Yes
Transport: 50%
Length: 5 months
Command: House
25% Bonus


We arrive on July 2, 3045


We arrive back on March 12, 3046 after the contract ends and we return home. Our contract breaks even. No one attacked.


Aleph, Obj Raid on Trolloc Prime.

As we approach the FRR for the contract, they have pulled it and already assigned it. Ah well.

[Abe Sargent]

July 1, 3045 - Since three companies return this week, we solicit contracts for Aleph Company.

Capella: Security
Drac: Obj Raid on Rasalhague - nope I don; do this.
FWL: Obj Raid on Capellan Confederation on Barras
Canopus: Garrison

Barras is really far away. We hold off.


Vehicle Company returned. Time to organize the new Tank Battalion


Vehicle Company becomes Tank Alpha Company, with the same people and tanks as before.


Tank Beta Company

Lt. Jasmine Prasad, elite, Behemoth Assault Tank
Sonora Alvarez, veteran, Patton
Gavin Taylor, regular, Scorpion Light Tank
Alia Qasim, veteran, Vedette
Sgt. Molly Martin, elite, LRM Carrier
Robert Sanchez, veteran, Hunter
Nick Sergeant, elite, Ontos
Cao Ren, regular, Harasser
Sgt. Dylan Austin, elite, Von Luckner
Eydis Magnusdottir, veteran, Hetzer
Dawid Wozniak, regular, Pegasus
Jelena Kramaric, regular, Goblin



Tank Gamma Company

Lt. Famasa Lukumi, elite, Devastator
Malinda Papadakis, veteran, Bulldog
Keerat Malhotra, elite, Ontos
Raphael Feldman, regular, Scorpion Light Tank
Sgt. Anouk D’Aubigne, elite, Leviathan Belfrey
Edgar Danvers, veteran, Demolisher
Irene Federov, regular, Scimitar
Stephanie Rogers, regular, SRM Carrier
Sgt. Raiko Hayashi, elite, Patton
Bailey Pethebridge, veteran, LRM Carrier
Mona Garrison, veteran, Hetzer
Adrienne Pelensky, regular, Saladin

[Abe Sargent]

August 1, 3045 - We have Cinq, Tethys, Brawler, and Aleph Companies here, and Phaeton gets back in 10 days, plus Tank Battalion.

We look through the garrison pieces to see what mech we build now.

We have a ton of Quickdraw pieces so we build a Quickdraw.

Free WL: Cadre
FedCom: Garrison
St Ives: Garrison
FedCom: Security

FedCom Garrison Yangtze, three jumps away.


Contract for Tank Battalion:

Salvage: Full
Salary: x3.4, x1.4, x0.9
Remuneration: Nope
Length: 2 years
Transport: 50%
Command: House
Support: 50% Battle Loss
5% Bonus

We arrive on Sept 9, contract ends Sept 9, 3047, and it arrives back on Oct 20, 3047.

Nothing else here.




Aleph Company -
Phaeton Company - Back on Aug 11, 3045
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Returns on March 12, 3046
Cinq Company -
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Returns on Oct 12, 3045
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company -
Brawler Company -


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Tank Battalion - Returns on Oct 20, 3047

[Abe Sargent]

Sept 1, 3045 - Phaeton, Aleph, Cinq, Tethys, Brawler - all here right now. Take Tethys off for garrison, and that leaves four companies. Contracts:

Corporation from Compact: Cadre/Garrison
ComStar: Obj Raid on Caps World: Zanzibar, 16 jumps away
FedCom: Garrison
Drac: Guerilla
FedCom: Obj Raid on Dracs World of Ascella, a border world 5 jumps away and 21 light years away from Kaus Australis.


I want to do the raid, no question. First, let’s assign peops for the Cadre/Garriosn contract.


Ambergrist - 13 jumps away.


Contract for Phaeton Company:

Arrive on January 27, 3046

Contract ends April 27, 3046.

Arrive back Oct 5, 3046.


We lost about 800k on the contract

Nobody attack while they are there.

Who wants to raid Ascella?

We’ll send out Cinq.

Contract:

Salvage: Shared
Salary: x3.7, 1.6, 1.4
Support: Battle Loss 50%
Command: Indy
Remuneration: Nope
Length: 2 months
Transport: Full
5% Bonus


We arrive on Oct 27, 3045.



Aleph Company -
Phaeton Company - Back on Oct 5, 3046
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Returns on March 12, 3046
Cinq Company - Arrive on Oct 27, 3045
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Returns on Oct 12, 3045
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company -
Brawler Company -


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Tank Battalion - Returns on Oct 20, 3047

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 27, 3045 - Here on the border world of Ascella, our DropShip will be fully inspected upon landing, so we cannot just wait in our DropShip, then pop out, then go back in when done and blast off.

Because of this restriction, we only have a few options. First, we can assault drop and then roam free on the planet. Second, we can land the DropShip in a place not a DropPort unload quickly, and then…what. Blast it off again? Hide it? It’s a giant DropShip, neither of those are happening.

Our goal here is to destroy a building at a small military outpost. It’s doesn’t even have mechs as defense, but there are tons of Drac mechs on this border world. The world does not have a lot of financial value, but it has a ton of military value.

Ah, we have an idea. Before we leave, we take all four infantry platoons.

Oct 28, 3045 - Our DropShip lands in a field about 20 klicks from our target. Meanwhile, yesterday we landed our infantry in the nearest DropPort, and they have approached the target after renting some lorries. They are there now, just waiting.

Will the garrison forces leave their posts to hit us? I doubt it. It’s be interesting to see how they respond.

I begin to march my mechs towards the military outpost, making no secret of my presence. Our infantry report that all of their vehicles are moving to the side of the outpost that we are coming from. A few fighters pass overhead but some long range laser weapons tell them to go elsewhere. 5 klicks in and our sensors are picking up some heavy magnetic blips on our sensors. Meanwhile, since the vehicles have exposed their flank, our infantry relocate to where they are in the place across from the empty place in the defenses.

2 more klicks, and we see mechs on the horizon. The enemy has arrived. While we join battle, an infantry platoon sneaks up to the building and is able to drop some charges before leaving, with the tanks’ attention elsewhere.

They sent a full company of nearby mechs.

Okay, here is the deal, we are facing a company of good Drac defenders. At any time I can withdraw back to our DropShip. We don’t even have to fight these guys, so we begin a tactical retreat, moving at their speed back. We go back three klicks before we encounter a problem. Some more VTOLS and fighters are approaching, we speed up our flight in order to give us a little space, then spent a few turns firing into the air and creating a wave of weapons they cannot fly into. We are able to squeeze another klick and a half before the Dracs close on us, just 2.5 klicks away from the DropShip.


Our foes:

Jenner
Locust
Centurion
Hatchetman
BattleMaster
Assassin
Orion ON1-K - a great variant with max armor
Shadow Hawk 2K
Warhammer 6K
Dragon
Phoenix Hawk 1K
Charger 1A9

Mech threat level - Orion, BattleMaster, Warhammer, Charger, Centurion, Hatchetman. Mech desire level - Charger 1A9, BattleMaster, Orion, Warhammer, Centurion, Assassin

Alright, here is the Assassin a fairly rare 40 ton mech with incredible 7/11/7 movement, just 4.5 tons of armor (ick), 10 heat sinks, SRM2, LRM5, Medium Laser. It’s a sucky weapons configuration for the mech.

[Abe Sargent]

We are fighting by some small hills and a small pond in the middle of the field. These guys are all vets.

We lose init 6 to 8. This is the company with double Griffins. They run their Locust behind our Griffin so I walk my Wolverine up to it. We plug their Dragon and they our Awesome. Both fall.

We win init 10 to 7. Our Awesome arises as does their Dragon. One of our Griffin’s hits their Jenner’s gyro. It manages not to fall though.

We win init 8 to 6. While jumping (stupidly) their Jenner falls after the gyro damage. I concentrate some long range fire on their Orion. Our Zeus hits their Dragon’s ammo and it splodes. Their Orion falls.

We win 6 to 4. Both their Orion and Jenner have stood up. They ran their BM up to us, so I am slamming it with weapons. I send some mechs overheat because I have such a good shot at the BM. One of our Griffin’s destroys the Jenners LA, LT and CT. Dead Jenner. Their Locust falls and hits its engine.

We win init 9 to 7. Their BattleMaster gets a Limb Blown Off critical against our Awesome’s RA. Our Wolverine takes out the RL and RT of their Locust.

We win init 7 to 6. Wolverine behind their Hatchetman. It hit’s an engine after going through the rear of the CT> Their Orion and Hatchetman fall.

We lose 7 to 8. Wolverine behind H Man again. Their Orion stands up, their Locust pilot blacks out. Our BM hit’s the Orion’s ammo and it goes up. Our Awesome destroys their BM’s RA. Their BM tumbles.

They choose to retreat. We allow it. Meanwhile, their building is exploded after our infantry put some distance behind them. We arrive back at the DropShip before more forces close.


Salvage:

Dragon RA, RL, LT, H - 1.9 mill
Jenner H, RT, RA, LL, RL - 1.4 mill
Locust missing RL and RT - 1.15 mill
Orion RA - 550k

5 million even


Oct 30, 3045 - Our Infantry and us have lifted off. Time to settle up.


We paid:

300,000 - Armor
215,000 - Ammo
232,410 - Salary and upkeep
400,000 - To fix salvaged Locust and make it a 1E


We got:

2.5 million - Shared Salvage
150k armor
206,317 - Salary + bonus


Total Made: 1,523,227


We get back in EE on Dec 6, 3045.

[Abe Sargent]

Back…..



Oct 1, 3045 - We have three companies here and Defender comes back in less than two weeks. What contracts are available?

ComStar: Obj Raid on…FedCom - nope, sorrys.
Free Worlds League: O Raid on…Caps. World: Palladaine a world we garrisoned once for Andurien.
Corporation: Obj Raid, FedCom - nopes, sorrys
Corporation: Cadre/Garrison

I’m not allowed to do the O Raids on the FedCom. Let’s send someone to the Cadre/Garrison at…Alterf, Marik world 10 jumps away.

Contract for…Brawler.

Salvage: Exchange
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Remuneration: No
Salary: x3.4, x1.3, x1.2
Length: 4 months
Command: House
Transport: 50%
15% Bonus

Brawler arrives at Alterf on Feb 16, 3046. We end our contract on June 16, and arrive back here on Oct 25, 3046. Let’s see if anyone attacks. Nope.

Now, we have an O Raid on Palladaine. Let’s see what I want to send…


Aleph Company can arrive on March 2, 3046, do the contract, then get back around…Sept 5, 3046. That’s 11 months for one contract.

Hmm, let’s see what the ComStar contract is, maybe I can get away with it. Planet is Imbros III, just 3 jumps away. There is an uninhabited continent called Fryggia, and ComStar just got info there is an old Star League polar research station on that continent, so we are tasked with landing there, making sure it is there, and securing it in case of hostiles.

I think we can get away with it.

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 31, 3045 - We arrive on Imbros III.

Nov 5, 3045 - We have used data to find a place to land our DropShip on Fryggia.

Nov 13, 3045 - We have found the abandoned post. Not a lot here.

Nov 20, 3045 - ComStar personnel have arrived. They spend time investigating the outpost.

Dec 23, 3045 - They are done, no one ever bothered to check up on us, and we blast off.

Jan 16, 3046 - We arrive back from Imbros III. We made 800k

[Abe Sargent]

Backwind.


Nov 1, 3045 - We can build another mech with our techs. Let’s see what pieces we have. We use parts from various mechs and make another Comet.
Contracts?

Capellan Confederation: Obj Raid on…FedCom. Sorry, can’t.
ComStar: O Raid on…Free Rasalhague. Hmm. I said I wouldn’t take contracts from houses against the little guys, this is from ComStar against the little guys. Still, I’m not sure.
Corporation: Cadre/Garrison in…Fed Com…wayy too far away.


Let’s look into the raid. Verthandi, which is forever away. Nah.

Dec 1, 3045 - Cinq arrives back in 5 days. Before that, we get a new graduating class:


2 of them decide not to seek employment with our unit, leaving just 9.

Maximillian Rayburn, regular
Damario Lopez, green
Wendy Padbury, veteran
Olivia Patterson, green
Hardeep Sharma, regular
Lyle Vickers, regular
Gustave Clapiche, regular
Erin Osborn, green
Zeng Mei, regular




Using these, plus the older recruits, we create Lance Company.


Anvil Lance:

Lt. Akwasi Opoku, elite, Atilla
Maximillian Rayburn, regular, Banshee
Lacey Kline, elite, Cataphract 1X
Zeng Mei, regular, Ostroc


Hammer Lance:

Sgt. Abigail Richards, elite, Longbow
Wendy Padbury, veteran, Trebuchet
Gustave Clapiche, regular, Griffin
Ernesto Herrera, elite, Archer 2K


Thunder Lance:

Sgt. Gina Callocia, elite, Quickdraw
Hardeep Sharma, regular, Locust 1E
Lyle Vickers, regular, Commando
Mabel Baker, elite, Spider


We were able to find a Spider on the market and purchased it for Mabel. The rest of the mechs came from our garrison.

[Abe Sargent]

After some negotiation, Defender, Cinq, and Lance companies are signing a contract as a battalion for the Free Rasalhague Republic on a retainer, and joining Hex, Trinity and Heliades companies.

They will arrive on April 16, 3046, just two weeks before the HTH contract is up. They will have an identical contract. Captain Matthew Humphries is in charge of the new battalion and given field command of both battalions. Captain Jason Thomas retains command of his battalion, but now answers to Matthew when needed.

Since we have so many units, it helps to send some in contracts that take them a bit off the grid, you know?

[Abe Sargent]

Dec 18, 3045 - Our forces acknowledge the 6th anniversary of the Fall of Andurien.

Ted purchases an industrial mech for Thoma Marie Essex, daughter of Braham Essex. Now she can learn mech piloting behind an actual mech. No weapons, of course, it’s just a LoaderMech.


Aleph Company - Back on Jan 16, 3046
Phaeton Company - Back on Oct 5, 3046
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Returns on March 12, 3046
Cinq Company - Arrive on April 16, 3046
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Arrive on April 16, 3046
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company -
Brawler Company - Back on Oct 25, 3046
Lance Company - Arrive on April 16, 3046


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Tank Battalion - Returns on Oct 20, 3047

Jan 1, 3046 - We get a new class at the Essex Academy. 10 new admits.

3rd Year: 7
2nd Year: 9
1st Year: 10


We currently have 8 green MechWarriors in our garrison plus Ted, Tethys Company, infantry, vehicles, and the cadets if needed. Ted swings over to Outreach to begin his annual recruiting for some dispossessed MechWarriors for the next company.

Feb 1, 3046 - Aleph is back. We pull out one of the two Jenners for a Comet.

Time for a new mech to build. What can we build?

We have all of the parts for a Commando, so we build one.

Contract for Aleph?

Fed Com: Cadre/Garrison
St Ives: O Raid on…Caps
ComStar: Defensive Campaign

Let’s look at the Compact Contract.

New Sagan, 9 jumps away.
The Caps have such a thin defense, we should be able to land, hit, and launch without much trouble.

We are tasked with destroying a supply depot with Capellan materiel, but we go in as if we can capture it, just in case.


Contract:

Salvage: Full
Transport: 50%
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Salary: x4, x1.6, x1.2
Remunertion: No
Command: Liaison
Length: 1 month
47.5% Bonus

We will arrive on New Sagan on May 21, 3046.

[Abe Sargent]

May 21, 3046 - We land on New Sagan, and unload our infantry. Scouting reveals the supply depot was as asked to hit. Mechs or tanks, what’s on defense? Just tanks. Okay, easy peasy. Our goal is to penetrate, destroy the tanks, then take the stuff in the depot for ourselves instead of merely destroying them. We still deny them to the Confederation, which is the point, and we get some stuff we can sell or some C Bills.

May 22, 3046 - Here we go, we blast off with our DropShip, unload quickly near the depot, and move out. Within minutes we are there and ready to hit their vehicles.

[mrkilla22]

I've been reading along. Very cool dynasty. I've always been a fan of Battletech, etc. if though I don't play it much or know any of the history. What programs are you using to do this dynasty or is it all pen and paper? I saw the list of books earlier that you use.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by mrkilla22

I've been reading along. Very cool dynasty. I've always been a fan of Battletech, etc. if though I don't play it much or know any of the history. What programs are you using to do this dynasty or is it all pen and paper? I saw the list of books earlier that you use.

Glad ya like it!

I use the Megamek program to actually play it, and some excel databases to keep track of the materiel, fighters, money, experience, kills, medals, and such.

I'm getting a little tired of it, so after I get us through the 3040s, I intend to stop until the next obsession begins. From teh first one to this one was a year or so.

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go!

We are fighting in the delta of a river. Luckily, most of their vehciles are hovercraft, which enable them to move over both water and land. There are 17 tanks approaching us, all regular. Let’s fight!


We lose init 7 to 9. Our Griffin destroys a Pegasus. It was immobilized while over water, and sank. Our Awesome knocks their LRM Ontos immobile.

We lose 8 to 10. Our BM knocks their Maxim immobile. Our Champion destroys their Hunter.

We win init 8 to 7. We hop Adele’s Firetsrater behind their Zhukov, but it has so much armor that might not matter. Their Drillson hit’s the gyro and engine on our Griffin. Our Archer turns a Saracen to immobile. Our Comet destroys a Condor. Our Griffin tumbles.

The tanks turn and leave, and we have to get some materiel. We let them go.


Salvage: Pegasus, LRM Ontos, Hunter, Maxim, Saracen, Condor



We grab some materiel from the depot, destroy what we can’t take and blow it up, and then flee. We arrive back on Sept 19, 3046.

[Abe Sargent]

Contract Stuff:


450k - Transport post-50% reduction
495,649 - Salary + Bonus
120,000 - Armor
40,000 - Ammo

We Made:

2.1 mill - Sale value of goods grabbed
484,876 - Contract + bonus
60k - Armor


1,539,227 - Total Made

Plus we got six tanks

[Abe Sargent]

March 1, 3046 - Delta returns in a few weeks.

The new recruits from Ted’s trip to Outreach. All are elite

Nombeko Prismall
Antonio Del Amico
Irene Shevchenko
Dragomir Osmochescu
Delgree Otryad
Gabriel Williams


April 1, 3046 - We take contract bids for Delta


Drac: Garrison
FedCom: Pirate Hunting
Corp: Extraction against Caps. Muridox, which is about 17 jumps away wand wayyyy out there

The Pirate Hunting contract is going to be way out there too, though.

Since we are about to have a new contract with the FRR, Ted decides to make it regimental and sends Delta, Tethys and Aleph will get caught out. The FRR is happy to add them.

May 1, 3046:

Contract Terms for the first three are up. Let’s do their contract:

We made 6 million

Our new Retainer contract from the FRR:

Salvage: Full
Command: House
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Length: 4 years
Remuneration: Nope
Transport: Full
Salary: x3.7, x1.3, x1.2 with a 25% bonus for long campaigns
12.5% bonus

This is a year longer. Because BattleTech fans know what is going to happen near the end of this contract, I am going to sim forward a lot before popping back and doing this one. We only have a few companies right now, so I don’t suspect it will take too long.

Oh, time to look for something in the garrison to build. We assemble a Whitworth.

[Abe Sargent]

EVENT: June 14, 3046 - The Outbound Light, a ComStar Explorer Corps JumpShip leaves Bone Norman in the periphery to points unknown on a long term explorer mission. This will set into motion a chain of events that will change the Inner Sphere forever.

[Abe Sargent]

Aleph Company - FRR
Phaeton Company - Back on Oct 5, 3046
Trinity Company - FRR
Delta Company - FRR
Cinq Company - FRR
Hex Company - FRR
Defender Company - FRR
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - FRR
Tethys Company - FRR
Brawler Company - Back on Oct 25, 3046
Lance Company - FRR


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Tank Battalion - Returns on Oct 20, 3047


Ted goes back to Outreach for some more recruiting, but of a different nature.


August 1, 3046:

Ted has recruited 8 infantry platoons:

Elite foot SRM
Veteran foot Machine Gun
Elite motorized MG
Elite jump Flamer
Elite motorized SRM
Elite jump Laser
Elite motorized SRM
Elite foot Inferno

We only had four platoons and we needed a lot more. Ted hops back home. Mvundi Atterson is promoted to Lieutenant.

Time to build something else.

Comet.

Kressly Warworks has expressed admiration of our Comet. They aren’t going to add a mech line to their tanks anytime soon, it‘s way too expensive right now and the market isn’t there, but they like it.

[Tellistto]

I hope you keep this going for a long time, am enjoying all this and have never read any of this so it's all new. Loving it all, thank you so much for the time taken with this!

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Sure thing!

[Abe Sargent]

Nov 1, 3036 - Another mech to build, let’s go with…Warhammer from the pieces.

We have our two companies back - Phaeton and Brawler. Ted looks for some contracts:

Free Worlds League: Security
ComStar: Relief
FedCom: Garrison
Outworlds Alliance: Planetary Assault
Corporation: Garrison

I don’t want any of these.

Dec 1, 3036 -

More recruits:

Orlando Morales, regular
Muriel Armajani, regular
Jacques Fournier, veteran
Faith Thompson, green
Kibali Karenga, regular
Zhuge Ling, green
Waleed Hadad, regular



Say hello to…Mustang Company


Anvil Company

Lt. Gabriel Williams, elite, Orion ON1-K
Jacques Fournier, veteran, Striker 2S
Delgree Otryad, elite, Awesome
Waleed Hadad, regular, Hunchback * (we purchased it off the market)


Hammer Company

Sgt. Dragomir Osmochescu, elite, Warhammer 6K
Irene Shevchenko, elite, Stalker
Antonio Del Amico, elite, Marauder
Kibali Karenga, regular, Whitworth


Thunder Lance

Sgt. Nombeko Prismall, elite, Comet
Orlando Morales, regular, Jenner 7-F
Muriel Armajani, regular, Locust 1E
Zhuge Ling, green, Commando

We are almost out of good mechs for another company.


Ted still has 8 green MechWarriors in our EE garrison unit

[Abe Sargent]

We have the following low tech mechs that are common:

Awesome, Locust 1E, Shadow Hawk, Warhammer, 3 Wasps, Hermes II, Cyclops, Charger 1A1, 2 Fleas, Warhammer on the way next month form a contract.

Then we have the following rare or high tech mechs: Exterminator, 2 Flashman, Mongoose, 2 Lancelot, Hermes, Highlander, Falcon, Firefly, Rampage, Lynx, Excalibur, Daboku, Shootist, Thug, the modified Orion. (We also have our mechs returning with Typhon Company and that will give us a boost)

So, we only have 12 mechs in the garrison that are assignable. Ted decides to make our garriosn better immediately.

We sell the following mechs for a 10% loss under price:

Charger, Shadow Hawk, 3 Wasps


I pick up:

Wolfhound
Javelin 10F
Thunderbolt
Trebuchet

I know that’s 5 mechs for 4, but it’s a big increase in value.

We also proactively purchase a Crusader.

[Abe Sargent]

We have a battalion of mechs in Mustang, Brawler and Phaeton companies. Contracts?


FedCom: O Raid on Dracs.
FedCom: Retainer
St. Ives Compact: Security
Rasalhague: Retainer

Heh, I actually rolled a second retainer contract from Rasalhague. Part of me would love to do it. Send our Battalion on a new retainer contract. We could speed our contracts ahead by about three years in a few minutes. It’d be nice in a lot of ways. However, I was hoping I could have 2 regiments of mechs by the time we get there. We need another 5 regiments, and we aren’t getting too many more. After a year, we can assemble one. I also expected Braham to assemble an elite strike team with the good LosTech mechs when he got back. We have a company there, but preferably we’d take that off the grid and have a normal 9 companies. We could combine tank battalion with mechs for a combined arms regiment. That’s possible. We could also go to Outreach and recruit Mws with mechs, which is legal according to the rules of the game, but sitting Ted there and getting 24 recruit rolls a year seems a bit cheap. When it makes sense I do it, like to get dispossessed and to get infantry. However, I just don’t feel like camping out Ted on Outreach for a few years is the right way to build the K&C even if it is allowed by the rules and its not that much of a stretch in terms of game status (if a large regimental+ unit with a good rep wanted to recruit to fill up their ranks, and only got 20 mechs and warriors a year, that doesn’t seem too bad). There are numerous cases of mech commands taking a few years to rebuild, and this would be one way to do it (and these include some really high profile units too).


On the other hand, how many more mechs would a battalion + get in the next two-ish years? I don’t know. Plus, I expect there will be some battles in the FRR before mid-3049 hits. We could scrag another company out there, if things fall right. I still will be far away from the resources for more companies.

Flat out, I am of two minds. We are going at a good clip anyway, but we could go at a really good clip.

Before I make some decisions, let’s find out what kind of resources we have. If we were to sell all of our mech parts, how much $$ would we make, roughly?

65,575,000

Well, that changes things. I have enough parts to sell for mechs. Now, it’s cheaper to build them, so I can sit on the build ones, but that is some good resources I can rely on to help me get to many companies. In other words, I do not need to keep my Company a day stuff up.

We send Phaeton, Brawler and Mustang companies to the FRR retainer and are able to negotiate the same ending date at our other folks. Same terms too. They will arrive in May 16, 3047.

[Abe Sargent]

Dec 18, 3046 - We honor the 7th anniversary of the Fall of Andurien.

Jan 1, 3047 - We get the new class - 8 enrollees

3rd Year: 9
2nd Year: 10
1st Year: 8

Time to look at our garrison for another mech to make.

We build a Jenner and make it a JR7-F.

Mar 1, 3047 - Meet our new elite MechWarriors.

Nathan Raleigh
Gahiji Chalthoum
Tanja Emminger
Aidan Monroe
Liu Zhen
Angela Kaminski


Ted chooses to stay on Outreach for something special.

We will build a Blackjack 1DB which has two large lasers.

[Abe Sargent]

July 1, 3047 - Ted gets his first hit. Let’s see what we got when we rolled a 10.

Ted has been trying each month to recruit a DropShip. It’s a really hard roll, and we get no bonuses. This month, we rolled a natural 10, which qualifies us for a few DropShips. We could take a Union which requires a 10. Here’s the deal though, if you take one that your number hits exactly, it’s not a part of your unit, instead it is a auxiliary that you do not own and which can leave you or do whatever it wants.

DropShips and Jumpships do, very occasionally, swing by Outreach looking for employment just like infantry ,tanks, mechs, fighters and those who drive, fly and pilot them. It’s not common, so you have to throw all of your rolls into one roll basket each month. I figured why not, so I made out with a legitimate roll.

There are a couple of 9s, but they are merchant class DropShips like the Mule, or just deliver a lance of four mechs like the Leopard. The only DropShips you can get with a 9 are the Mule, Leopard, Gazelle, Buccaneer, and Condor. Of those, the Mule and Buccaneer are cargo DropShips, the Leopard carries just four mechs, The Condor carries 12 infantry platoons and 20 vehicles, and the Gazelle carries 12 tanks and either 3 fighters or 3 more tanks. None of these are good for what I want, which is carrying mechs. Now, I could use them for other things, like transporting vehicles or carrying ammo and supplies, but no mechs.

So, we are getting the Union as an auxiliary, because it is the best of the 10s, and it can carry 12 mechs. It is not ours, it just chooses to affiliates itself with us, if that makes sense.

Meet the Robin Hood, a Union class DropShip, whose crew are joining our group. Ted sends them back to EE to join our groups there.

Ted keeps up the recruiting, just in case.

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 1, 3047 - Wow, I never expected this, but I rolled a freakin’ 12. Best 12 I’ve rolled in this dynasty, let me tell you. This is incredible! Here are all of the DropShips we can get, permanently, with a 9, 10, or 11:

Union
Avenger
Mule
Buccaneer
Condor
Leopard
Leopard CV
Fury
Gazelle
Triumph
Seeker
Intruder
Monarch

We can also get, as an auxiliary, the following DropShips: Overlord (wow), Hamilcar, Achilles, and Excalibur. I need to look at some ships, because I don’t yet know what I want.

I hope to find something good in the first category. An Overlord can drop an entire battalion of mechs, 36 of them, on the field. That’s some power.

The Avenger is more of an attacking DropShip, with small amounts of cargo. It’s a warship in DropShip form. It only has 93 tons of cargo. It bombs, strafes, like a fighter, and can attack capital ships.

Leopard CV is just a refitted Leopard for fighters.

Fury carries 4 platoons of infantry and 8 light support vehicles. It’s more of a raider.

The Intruder is a military spheroid that carries 4 platoons, 2 fighters, a bunch of cargo, and is really good at combat. It is designed to get in and out of hot zones.

The Hamilcar is more of a raider/assault with 4 fighters and 8 mechs. It has low fuel and armor though.

The Seeker is a troop carrier that carries 64 light vehicles and 4 infantry platoons OR 48 tanks and a lance of mechs. It’s not for the big things. We could get one to carry around our vehicles and infantry.

The Achilles is designed for fighting and it can easily fight against fast fighters, and it has four fighters of its own.

The Monarch is a passenger merchant DropShip.

The Excalibur carries 90 tanks, 12 mechs and 12 infantry platoons - basically it carries a regiment of combined forces. It is the largest military DropShip is service.

Taking an Overlord for my auxiliary would be nice too, but I really want to have a DropShip that is officially ours. It would be lovely to say this is ours, ha ha. I go the roll, let’s not waste it. A Union DropShip costs 160 million CBills. Based on the amount we made from the War of 3039, we could just about afford one.

[Abe Sargent]

You can create Q Ships. These are merchant ships turned into combat cargo carriers, but they generally have little armor, few to no weapons. They also are not great at extracting or deploying forces with anything close to speed.

The best DropShip I can just flat out get is the Seeker. It can carry a lot of tanks. It’s also one of the faster military DropShips. On the other hand, I could get a Overlord as an auxiliary, or a Union flat out.

We are going to do a Union flat out. Since we deploy as companies, it makes sense.

Ted heads back to EE with the new Union. He rechristens it the Star River, as a nod towards our planet.


We just built a Rifleman. Our next mech to build is a Phoenix Hawk.


Oct 20, 3047 - Tank battalion finishes their contract and made about 2 million. We send them on another garrison at Acamar, just a jump away from EE.

Nov 15, 3047 - They begin their new contract, and will be done on Nov 15, 3049.


Dec 1, 3047 - Braham Essex is back in the Inner Sphere, and he puts the $$ he and Typhon Company made into our account from Thule. The injection of this 68 million dollars is probably enough to outfit us for a while.

[Abe Sargent]

Say hello to the newest company and our newest MechWarriors at the same time. One leaves us, and we have 2 green, 5 reg, 1 vet.




Styx Company


Anvil Lance:

Lt. Nathan Raleigh, elite, Awesome
Angela Kaminski, elite, Thunderbolt
Qabihah Abbas, veteran, Warhammer 6D
Neil Adrick, regular, Cyclops


Hammer Lance:

Sgt. Gahiji Chalthoum, elite, Crusader 3D
Aidan Monroe, elite, Trebuchet
Ricardo Vasquez, regular, Blackjack 1DB
Hannah Feinstein, regular, Rifleman

Thunder Lance

Lt. Tanja Emminger, elite, Javelin 10F
Liu Zhen, elite, Jenner F
Hubert McCullough, regular, Locust 1E
Scott Cavanaugh, regular, Wolfhound

[Abe Sargent]

Here us our updated list:

Aleph Company - FRR
Phaeton Company - FRR - arrive in May 16, 3047
Trinity Company - FRR
Delta Company - FRR
Cinq Company - FRR
Hex Company - FRR
Defender Company - FRR
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - FRR
Tethys Company - FRR
Brawler Company - FRR - arrive in May 16, 3047
Lance Company - FRR
Mustang Company - FRR - arrive in May 16, 3047
Styx Company -


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Tank Battalion - Returns on Nov 15, 3049

Robin Hood - Idle
Star River - Idle

Ted sends our Star River to the FRR to join our folks. It will takes some cargo commercially in order to pay for the journey. The Robin Hood is sent with Styx Company to its first assignment.


Contracts for Styx Company?

Capellan: O Raid on…Marik.
FedCom: O Raid on…Dracs
FedCom: Cadre
Free Worlds League: Garrison
Corporation: Extraction

Which is closest?

The Drac raid is deeeeep in Drac space. Ick. The Marik raid is against…Xanthe III, the ancestral home of the Humphreys family, Dukes of Andurien. Nope, sorry, not happening.

Extraction? Sarpsborg, in the FedCom. Not easy to get away with, what do they want? They want us to hit a rival company and destroy it. Nah, not interested.


Dec 18, 3047 - The 8th anniversary of the Fall of Andurien is held.

[Abe Sargent]

Jan 1, 3048 - 5 new students enroll at the Essex Training Academy. A down year.

3rd Year: 10
2nd Year: 8
1st Year: 5


Contracts for Styx Company

Rasalhague - Diversionary Raid
ComStar - Defensive Campaign
Free Worlds League - Obj Raid

Against……Cappella. The planet of Bandora - on the border with the FedCom and just 37 light years and two jumps away from the FWL. 7 jumps away.


Contract:

Salvage: Shared
Command: Liaison
Transport: Full - Comp
Salary: x3.4, 1.6, 1x3
Support: 35% Battle Loss
Remuneration: Nope
Length: 1 month


We can be at Bandora on April 4, 3048.

Ted hits Outreach again for more elite dispossessed MW earmarked for the next company.

Feb 1, 3048 - Our techs start work on a Javelin. All of the Inner Sphere is immune to listen-kill missiles after being given the basic info. They are no longer being made. Ted buys up a lot of the former supply for storage, just in case we run into people that are not immune - like periphery, industrial mechs, etc.



Mar 1, 3048 - 6 more elite MW have joined us.

[Abe Sargent]

April 4, 3048 - We arrive at Bandora. Styx company has had a full intel briefing from our Marik liaison. On this border planet with the FedCom, are several top line mechs being tested. We are to engage a Liao Raven with updated technology, and bring it back to Marik, or data about it.

There are supposedly two on Bandora, a minor agricultural planet with little economic value, just a tactical one. In an invasion, Bandora is viewed as a secondary target, so the forces here are less than they would be at nearby Ingersoll, which is both a border world and one of he most important economic planets in the Confederation, or Capella, which is both border and has a lot of industry including battlemech factories.

With Bandora a lesser target, it makes an ideal testing ground for the newest mechs off the line as they can be tested in good conditions but not in the obvious places for spies.

Marik intelligence believes that there is a LosTech Raven in the garrison around the centralized area for several native plants that are hardy and easy to grow on the central continent near the equator. Marik believes that there are a battalion of Capellan forces on planet, and a company there.

There is also a DropPort there. We are hailed many times by the locals, and lie and say we are a trading DropShip. Many military DropShips have some stealth technology in them, which allows them to jump into a system at pirate points and sometimes be unable to be seen until they are close. Our auxiliary Union, the Robin Hood also has such, and it looks very similar to a Mule visually from a distance, which is a typical commercial DropShip. The combination of some subtle ECM technology and the similar appearance allow us to land safely in the DropPort, and no one is around us to immediately notice that oh, there is a military DropShip in the port.

Within minutes, our mechs are unloaded and still go unnoticed. This is a border planet people. Where are your civilian defenses?

After some investigation, it appears that there are riots going on in the city next us and the local forces have been brought in to deal with it, so our landing and unloading in uncontested. We notice that there is a Raven as promised in riot control, but there are more than 12 mechs here, because of the riots. There is also a FULL company of tanks here as well.

Within a few minutes, we are discovered, as Lt. Nathan Raleigh moves his troops away from the populated areas. A large park-like area used as the grounds for faires is serviceable for combat. Within a few moments, they close. Not all can get here immediately, because they are handling the riots.

Each mech and tank is assigned a turn, 1-6 on which they will deploy to the map, while we will all start on the map. Alright, here are our foes:


The mechs:

Raven 3L
Stinger
Warhammer 6L (low-tech)
Blackjack BJ2 (field refit to LosTech)
Locust
Centurion
Rifleman
Cataphract 3L (LosTech)
Shadow Hawk
Firestarter
Stalker
Clint

And then some vehicles too.


The mechs are vets, the tanks some green and some regular.

Battle bate: us 19k, them 33k. This does not look good. Only the slow deployment can save us.

Their Raven deploys before round 4. Here is this 35 ton mech loaded with LosTech electronics like TAG, NARC, ECM and a Probe. Their mechs come with NARC equipable SRM and LRM missiles in order to fully use the NARC beacon their Raven has.

[Abe Sargent]

We begin on a map with few woods, and that’s it.

We win init. Only their uptech Cataphract and uptech Blackjack, Clint, and three vehicles begin on the map. One quarter of their forces. We need to take down some of their mechs or vehicles immediately. The biggest threat is their Cataphract, so we focus some fire. Our Javelin misses four medium lasers on the Cat needing 7s. I didn’t deal as much damage as I’d hoped. Their Cat misses a kick on our Jenner, and is kicked by it., but manages to stay standing.

We win init. More units join the field. I hope our Jav by their LRM Harasser. Our Awesome destroys the RT of their Cataphract, and because it has an XL engine, it is destroyed. Our Lieutenant gets the first kill - how appropriate. Our Jav knocks their LRM Harasser immobile. Their Locust misses a kick on my Jav, and is kicked, but stands. Well, we took out one of their best units. Now let’s see who I can savage in the next few turns.

We lose 5 to 6. They get some vehicles including a Hetzer and a Rifleman mech. We concentrate fire on their Rifleman but miss some critical attacks. Their J Edgar is knocked immobile.

We lose 3 to 4. Warhammer, Raven, Shadow Hawk, Firestarter, and a tank are joining us. If I can hurt or take down that Rifleman this turn, we may have a shot. Our mechs are barely scratched, and they brought in forces behind woods, leaving a turn for us to hit those exposed. Our Rifleman blows off the LL of theirs. Our T Bolt falls after taking some damage.

We win 8 to 5. We stand our Tbolt. Our T Bolt hits their Blackjack’s engine once. Their S Hawk hits our T Bolts Large laser. Our Blackjack destroys their Blackjack’s LT.

We lose init 2 to 11. All of their units are now on the field. We barely touch their BJ but they bring their Stalker around the woods and it is tapped by a couple of PPCs from our Awesome, but stands.

We lose 5 to 6. Our Awesome hits their Stalker in the head with a PPC, shears off its external armor, and does not have any criticals. We concentrated on their Stalker and it stands. They accidentally set the woods my Awesome was in on fire.

We lose 3 to 9. Our Crusader hits their Raven’s engine. We tear into their Stalker but it manages to keep its feet.

We lose 4 to 6. Our ‘Hammer hammers the LT of their Stalker into nonexistence. Their Stalker falls and gets a limb blown off critical for its RL.

We finally win init 11 to 7. Their BJ destroys my T Bolts RA> Our T Bolt destroys the BJ’s LL and CT. Our Cyclops hits an engine on their Stalker. A Saracen is knocked immobile.

We lose init again 6 to 8. Their Stalker actually manages to stand. They run their Locust and Stinger next to my ‘Hammer and their woods by now are all on fire and smokey. Our Awesome destroys a Condor. Our Rifleman destroys the RA of theirs/ Our ‘Hammer kicks and destroys the LL on their Locust. Its pilot blacks out.

Round 12 we win init 6 to 4. Their ‘Hammer hit’s a pair of foot actuaotrs in our Cyclops. Our T Bolt destroys their Ravens RT and since it has an XL engine, that’s it for it. Our Cyclops falls. After taking two medium lasers from my ‘Hammer on their Locust’s head, it is hard to awaken and the pilot is still blacked out.

We lose init 7 to 9. Our ‘Hammer destroys the CT, H and RT of their Locust and then ingites its ammo. Our Cyclops hits four leg actuators on their ‘Hammer. They hit my Cyke’s hip. Our Cyke falls as well as their Warhammer. Our Awesome kicks and destroys the LL and LT of their Stinge.r It kicks and destroys the LA of my Cyclops.

We lose init 5 to 8. Our Cyclops fails to stand but their Stinger does. We leave our Hammer on the ground, as do they. Our Awesome destroys the LT of their ‘Hammer. Our Crusader hits its engine three times and it is down. Trebuchet destroys Stinger’s RA. Blackjack the Warhamms LL. Our Rifleman hits their’s in the gyrp twice, taking it down. Our Locust destroys the Stingers RT. Their Stinger falls and destroys its own CT. Their Stalker pilot blacks out. Our Jenner kicks and kills the crew of a Goblin Medium Tank.

And with that, they pull out.


About 35 tons of armor needed


We grab the salvage, including the dead Raven, and bust off.


Salvage:

Cataphract 3L missing RT (fixed the engine) 12,729,000 - current BV: 2,650,000 to fix
LRM Harasser - 525,000
J Edgar - 730,000
Rifleman with 2 gyro hits, missing RA (Gyro fixed) - 4,000,000 - 808,000 to fix
Blackjack LA , RA, RL, RT, H - 1,650,000 - includes 2xEr LL and 2xSRM2 Streak
Stalker missing RA, LT, and two engine hits (engine fixed) - 6,150,000 : 1,350,000 to fix
Saracen - 813,000
Condor - 1,217,000
Raven missing RT (fixed the engine) - 4,200,000 - 1.450 to fix
Stinger LA, H, RL - 525,000
Warhammer LA - 950,000
Goblin - 607,000


Salvage Total Value: 34,096,000

Shared Value: 17,048,000


I could grab a uptech Cataphract and Rifleman. Not bad.

I could get a Stalker, Rifleman, 5 tanks, BJ parts, Warhammer arm, and Stinger H and RL.

So the question is which is better. Stalker and 5 tanks, or uptech Cataphract. Well, that’s silly, obviously the tanks Stalker and pieces.



Repair: T Bolt RA, Cyclops LA -Take about 1.45 mill to fix these

[Abe Sargent]

April 7, 3048 - We settle up our Shared Salvage with our client.

The Raven’s value is included in the salvage, but contractually we cannot take it.



What we spent:

307,394 - Salary + upkeep
350,000 - Armor
1.45 mill - Fix T Bolt and Cyclops
2.158 mill - Fix Rifleman and Stalker
275,000 - Ammo


What we made:

125,000 Transport
211,735 - Salary
17,048,000 - Shared Salvage
630,000 - 35% Battle Loss


Total Made: Around 14 mill



We will arrive back July 14, 3048.

[Abe Sargent]

April 1, 3048 - Ted looks around the garrison for a new choice to build.

A Scorpion - we have all of the parts save one. Yuck though.


April 12, 3048 - Typhon Company arrives back after a long contract. Braham orders they take a few months break on EE. He will join them, but on Outreach. After reviewing our new T&O, Braham chooses to head to Outreach to prepare some additions to Kilts and Commandoes. He is joined by his wife who will run Kressly Warworks from Outreach, just one jump away, for a few months.

As a reminder, Braham brings the following mechs with him:

Starslayer
Phoenix Hawk 1b
low-tech Hornet
Catapult
Hunchback
2750 Flashman
Centurion
Javelin
Firestarter

Aleph Company - FRR
Phaeton Company - FRR - arrive in May 16, 3047
Trinity Company - FRR
Delta Company - FRR
Cinq Company - FRR
Hex Company - FRR
Defender Company - FRR
Typhon Company -
Heliades Company - FRR
Tethys Company - FRR
Brawler Company - FRR - arrive in May 16, 3047
Lance Company - FRR
Mustang Company - FRR - arrive in May 16, 3047
Styx Company - Returns on July 14, 3048


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Tank Battalion - Returns on Nov 15, 3049

Robin Hood - Assigned to Styx Company
Star River - In the FRR