Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

[GreenGoo]

Hey, is the newly listed Mech game on Steam the same as this?

I admit I haven't been following too closely, although I am extremely interested. Not following is my way of being patient.

[Freyland]

Same Universe, same IP, hopefully same ruleset, but oh so pretty 3d turn-based combat. I spent 15 years playing the real thing, and I have certainly already pre-ordered this.

[GreenGoo]

I admit I'm not clear on which games are in development and/or what this thread is about (except that it's Battletech).

There was a kickstarted game that seemed to be coming along nicely. I actually thought this might be a thread about that game being beta tested by some of you. It was more Mechcommander and less Mechwarrior, which is how I prefer it.

[NickAragua]

That's HBS Battletech - basically, the guys who created the tabletop game originally kickstarted it and are going to release it late april. HBS Battletech is "heavily inspired by" the tabletop game but takes advantage of game design lessons learned since the 1980s and modern graphics.

This AAR is using "Megamek", which is a straight one-to-one open source implementation of the tabletop rule set. With the charming graphics of an early '90s game that advertises "advanced VGA graphics".

Not really sure how well HBS Battletech adapts to the format I've been following here, it's got different turn ordering, not to mention fancy graphics and less opportunity to review the results of a round after the fact.

[GreenGoo]

Ok, sorry for the misunderstanding.

[NickAragua]

The Rhinos, Scorpion and Locust go for about 6M c-bills total, which offset the cost of basically replacing every limb on Zenn7's mech. Fun fact: it takes one of our techs 660 minutes to strip all the armor off an Awesome's right leg.

Archinerd becomes our third Elite mechwarrior, improving Gunnery to 2. He also learns to manage his mech's heat a little better, gaining the "Hot Dog" special pilot ability, which gives you a +1 on various heat related rolls (shutdown, ammo explosion, etc).

Stefan ups his Gunnery to become Veteran, also learning to steady his aim during those ... lengthy ... Assassin jumps. He gains the "Hopping Jack" special ability - now, instead of taking a +3 to the "to hit targets" for jumping, he only takes a +2.

Cylus Maxii also ups his Gunnery to become Veteran, taking some tips from Zenn7 on how to take at least five direct SRM hits to the cockpit without dying (he's not really sure, as, at some point, he started seeing double).

After the drubbing we gave the pirates, we don't really hear too much from them over the next week.

August 6, 3030
Archinerd's Delta lance is assigned to run recon on a suspected enemy position in a mountain town west of our base. We pick a snowy night and deploy. The mission is simple: run through the town, get to the other side. Identify any enemy units present, get full sensor scans of the area. Neither we nor our employer currently have the means to secure the town, so there will be no opportunity for salvage.

Delta lance is the same as in the last mission, although a liaison with a Whitworth comes along. A Whitworth is like a Dervish-lite: two LRM/10 launchers, three medium lasers and lighter armor. And it's slower.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

We approach the town from the north. Sensor returns show four enemy mechs, all heavies.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

The approach continues. We use jump jets to move a little faster across the rough terrain in the dark.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

We're spotted as an enemy Rifleman crests the hill to the west of town. We light him up, scoring a PPC hit on the center torso and some LRMs to the extremities, while the Rifleman fires at the Whitworth, hitting with the AC/5.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

We continue hopping around the west. The rest of the enemy lance resolves - a pair of Crusaders and an Archer. Stefan also spots some infantry in the town. We pummel the Rifleman some more - the Vindicator lands a PPC hit on the right leg while Stefan and Freyland work on the center torso with medium lasers. Archinerd puts some LRMs into its limbs. The mech stays up but is hurting and misses all its shots at Archinerd.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Freyland's mech rocks as he takes a couple of LRM hits from a Crusader. We continue working on the Rifleman, with it and the Vindicator exchanging an AC/5 shot for a PPC hit to the left torso. Archinerd then strips the last of the armor off the left torso with a medium laser and the right leg with an SRM/2.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Our Vindicator is just on fire with the PPC this time, hitting the damaged left torso on the Rifleman. The medium laser shorts out, and the Rifleman's AC/5 barely makes a dent in the Vindicator's armor, while LRMs from a Crusader sandpaper the limbs. Freyland lands a medium laser hit on the right leg, but no critical damage.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

The Crusaders come charging out of the town, and the Whitworth is cut off. "Sorry guys. I'll circle around and rendezvous at the rally point."

The Vindicator puts a PPC into the right arm of the Rifleman as a parting gift, leaving it hanging by a thread, and then Archinerd fires LRMs, as two AC/5 rounds impact his mech's left side. The Rifleman's left torso comes apart, sending the corresponding arm clattering to the ground and damaging the gyro in the process.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

We've just about cleared the area. The Rifleman powers down, while one of the Crusaders nails our Vindicator in the damaged left torso with some LRMs, popping a pair of heat sinks.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

We send a couple of LRMs and PPC shots at the enemy units as a parting gift, while a Crusader replies with some LRMs of his own, punching through the armor on the Vindicator's right arm and wrecking the shoulder actuator. One more turn and we're clear.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

One last round of LRMs goes out as we disengage, but at these long ranges, they're basically just covering fire.

Well, we found the enemy position and got good data on it. A lance of heavies (minus one that's going to probably be laid up for a week) and some infantry. We swap in Cylus Maxii from Zenn7's lance for the Vindicator while the Vindicator's arm is rebuilt.

[Cylus Maxii]

Cylus Maxii also ups his Gunnery to become Veteran, taking some tips from Zenn7 on how to take at least five direct SRM hits to the cockpit without dying (he's not really sure, as, at some point, he started seeing double).

Absolutely. It couldn't possibly have been all those new VR simulator holo games he played while convalescing his ribs and complaining about being stuck in the barracks..

[xwraith]

Oh nice,

If we recover that Archer at some point, I'm calling it.

[El Guapo]

Oh nice,

If we recover that Archer at some point, I'm calling it.

In the meantime, season 8 of Archer is on Hulu.

[Hyena]

Man, whatever sim those guys are on, I need to log on and do some practice shooting, I guess. After all my torso dismembering and death-dealing, I don't think my stats have gone up at all. I figured at the very least I would get a little better at my AC, since I've had them on both 'mechs I've piloted so far.

Of course, I could have missed the update, and in that case maybe it's my reading skills I need to bump up...

[NickAragua]

Correct, you're at gunnery 3, piloting 4 currently (up from 4/4). Also with the "dodge" skill, which allows a mech to forego physical attacks to make itself harder to hit (+2). Useful if some jackass sneaks up on you and tries to kick you. One time, LordMortis dodged a kick that would have taken the back of his mech's head off. I probably forgot the update in the shuffle.

The "free" skills are assigned randomly when you hit veteran/elite status so unless it's some kind of nonsense (e.g. weapon specialization in a weapon that doesn't exist), I just roll with it. Which is why everyone's either got dodge or pain resistance, apparently those have a higher chance of showing up. Any other skills can be bought by expending XP (usually 20 or 40, sometimes 60 or 80 for the really high-end stuff).

[Zenn7]

Cylus Maxii also ups his Gunnery to become Veteran, taking some tips from Zenn7 on how to take at least five direct SRM hits to the cockpit without dying (he's not really sure, as, at some point, he started seeing double).

Bartender:
He's been struck by lightning... how many times has it been now, Reg?
Reg: S-s-s-s-s-s-s-six...

Chet: Six times?

Reg: S-s-s-six-six-six-six-six-six-sixty-sixty-six times. In-n-n-n-n-n-n-In-n-n-n-n-n-n-In-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n the head!

Chet: Sixty six times? God, that's gotta hurt.

[Madmarcus]

Hook a mech up outside and direct the heat sinks through the window

My old Firestarter would work. You might not even need the heat sinks.

[Archinerd]

I've been piloting this Awesome since our company formed. Very few head shots and first time I blacked out I believe. This is definitely the most damage I've ever taken though.

I knew smearing your mech's head with goat's urine to ward off evil was a thankless job, but I hadn't realized you never even noticed I was doing it.

[NickAragua]

Man, mechwarriors sure are weird. Well, at least it mostly worked.

August 9, 3030
Our liaison informs us that the "pirates" are going to mount a raid on a prison camp. This is where the local Davion militia has been keeping all the guys we've captured, with the St. Ives people helping out with "enhanced interrogation" techniques. At this point, Lt. Scrub holds up her hand and says "you know what, I don't want to know". Alpha, Delta and Epsilon are deployed to the area and it'll be their job to stop the enemy forces from getting to the prison camp.

During the planning session, Archinerd points to a swampy area on the map, surrounded by hills. "So one part of the enemy force is going to be coming through here. It's mostly flatland, except for this section here, which is nasty, swampy terrain. The enemy is mostly tracked units, so they'll get through eventually, but it'll be slow going. My recon lance can ambush them here and make a nice big dent in them."

Lt. Scrub concurs. "Right. We'll hold in this valley, that's where these two routes link up, and stop them cold. Alpha will be in reserve at the facility itself."

Delta is the same as before, except with Cylus Maxii in a Phoenix Hawk subbed in for the damaged Vindicator. The St. Ives guys have commited a Swayback (a non-AC/20 Hunchback variant) to help out. The opposing force is mostly tracked vehicles (Scorpions and Vedettes) with a sprinkling of hovercraft and APCs. Anything that makes it past us here is going to be joining the fight against Epsilon further down the valley.

When we get there, it appears that due to "seasonal variations", it's not actually a swamp, but perfectly dry terrain. Pretty broken though, so the enemy tanks will still have a hard time traversing it. It's a little too late to pick an alternate interception site anyway, so Delta sets up as best it can. The ambush goes great, except a Skulker spots one of our mechs and everybody guns it as we're just starting to power up, so they get about a fifty-second head start.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

We nip at the heels of the enemy force, picking at the slowest units. It mostly winds up being LRMs and light autocannon rounds flying every which way but at their targets, except for Freyland, who takes a few LRMs to the left leg.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Stefan catches up to some of the enemy tanks, and disables a Maxim with some SRMs. He does take some return fire, but it's machine gun rounds and loose SRMs. Freyland and Archinerd engage their targets, scoring hits and minor damage. Most of the reset of the enemy fire misses.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

Archinerd hops into a slight depression in the ground, turning his short-range guns on a nearby Vedette. Medium lasers put several holes in the front armor, and then a pair of SRMs exploit the incomplete breaches, one going directly into the crew compartment.

Freyland takes a couple of AC/5 rounds but nails an AC/2 Vedette with three laser shots and some LRMs. The turret throws sparks instead of rotating and the tank shakes as it moves. He then stomps a Scorpion that's rolling around nearby and has to briefly fire his jump jets to clear the detonating machine gun and AC/5 ammo as the tank leaves a nice big crater in the ground.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

We catch up to the main body of enemy tanks as they trundle along, firing and inflicting minor damage. The return fire is pretty ineffective. Cylus Maxii jumps into a large ditch where a few LRM Scorpions appear to have lost their way and snaps the treads off of one with a boot while lasering another one.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

The Swayback is only now catching up. Stefan jumps into a hornet's nest, but his mech is super fast and he makes good use of some nearby trees for cover, so he doesn't actually take any hits. Archinerd blasts a tracked APC with LRMs almost completely immobilizing it, then makes sure the nearby Condor stays in the ditch it's going through by kicking through to the engine. Cylus Maxii weakens a Scorpion's armor with lasers then kicks through the right side, destroying the smaller tank.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

We're doing ok keeping up with the enemy units - our mechs are faster and this isn't exactly the best terrain for them. The Swayback will be tasked with cleaning up stragglers while the rest of our guys pursue the ones still moving.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

Stefan's really pushing his mech to the limits, firing the jump jets at maximum power. As a result, he has to restrain himself from firing too much, as the heat sinks just can't keep up with both activities. Kicking works just fine though, as he rattles a Vedette hard enough to stun the crew for a bit. Archinerd fires some LRMs at a distant Vedette, with shrapnel shredding drive components, forcing the tank to grind to a halt. The Swayback manages to take a break from missing every shot to disable an Scorpion firing LRMs at Freyland, who, meanwhile, unloads on the slowed-down APC in front of him, destroying it. Unfortunately, he only lightly grazes the section where the troops are, so most of a platoon of SRM-armed troopers gets a chance to pile out. Two get stomped.

Round 12:

Spoiler:

We don't like Saladins. So, Stefan hops up behind one as it backs up out of a dead end and fires short range weapons, the impact shaking the crew around and weakening the armor on the side. A foot to the rear of the tank puts the engine, and the tank itself, out of action.

Round 13:

Spoiler:

To the south, the Swayback pummels one of the two Vedettes remaining there, stripping most of its armor and treads, leaving it disabled. The rest of Delta engages their targets, heavily damaging several tanks.

Round 14:

Spoiler:

Archinerd makes a slight tactical mistake, leaving himself within the very limited line of sight of the immobilized Saladin. An AC/20 burst rips through his left torso, hitting the LRM/10 ammo bin. The good news is that there was only one reload of LRMs left in that one, so the mech is actually intact. However, the auto-eject system fires, putting the mech out of action.

Freyland fires at the Galleon in the woods next to him, jamming the turret and setting the woods on fire, while Stefan hops on top of two other tanks and inflicts minor damage on both.

Round 15:

Spoiler:

This is starting to turn sour. Cylus Maxii moves up to deal with a couple of Vedettes making their way out of the area and gets his leg blown off when an AC/2 round from a Vedette hits the hip joint just right. Freyland blows away his target Galleon with lasers and SRMs, while the Swayback pops the last of the treads off a different damaged AC/2 Vedette, while Freyland puts his foot through the right side of a different Galleon.

A few hovercraft and the Skulker clear the area.

Round 16:

Spoiler:

The two remaining functional mechs that are still in the fight will try to take out as many of the leftover enemies as possible. Archinerd has to run for cover as the asswipe Saladin rakes the woods he'd landed in with AC/20 fire. Not much in the way of effective firing happens - a few hits are scored here and there, but most shots miss or ding off of armor.

Round 17:

Spoiler:

Freyland walks over and turns his guns on a nearby Vedette, cutting through the armor and engine block with lasers, then crushing the right half of the tank with the mech's foot. Stefan inflicts heavy damage on a nearby Galleon causing sparks to fly out as the turret stabilizer is destroyed, then kicking it over.

Round 18:

Spoiler:

Cylus Maxii apparently hasn't taken enough pointers about hits to the cockpit - the Vedette driving by nails his mech in the cockpit with an AC/5 and he blacks out as shrapnel flies around. Freyland and Stefan team up on the Vedette to the west, stripping armor from the right side with a combination of lasers, SRMs and boots.

Round 19:

Spoiler:

Freyland disables the Vedette driving by Cylus Maxii, leaving just the one to the west.

Meanwhile, to the south, the Swayback slowly catches up, blowing away an infantry platoon that had escaped their APC earlier. It's hard work, picking off individual troopers with lasers, but the dual SRM/6 launchers make the job a little easier.

Round 20:

Spoiler:

The remaining Vedette's armor is breached, and it surrenders.

A total of six enemy units got through our ambush and will be reinforcing the other units assaulting Epsilon's position, so, mission accomplished.

We call in salvage to grab some of the enemy units (and pry uncooperative vehicle gunners out of their seats). We claim the Maxim (I have some ideas about hiring a second infantry platoon to supplement our combat units, and they need transport), and the LRM Scorpions - we've been using a lot of LRM/10 ammo and those units pack LRM/10 launchers. We also take the Saladin on general principle. The good news is that Archinerd's Dervish is actually perfectly salvageable. Going to need to have the left torso rebuilt (and the arm reattached), but is fine otherwise. Cylus Maxii's Phoenix Hawk is likewise fine. Not fine is Cylus Maxii himself. The shrapnel from the AC/5 round shredded his left leg, and Dr. Minnie "isn't a magician".

He'll be out for the rest of the campaign for sure. Afterwards... not having a leg makes it pretty difficult to pilot a mech.

[Hyena]

Wow, that sucks. I find it hysterical that we can build 40-50' tall giant, pilotable robots that carry weapons and missiles and lazerbeams, but we can't attach a cybernetic leg. Hell, he can push a pedal with a pegleg, can't he??

[Isgrimnur]

Using one's guts as a heatsink has hilarious, but deleterious effects.

[NickAragua]

Well, we can *build* the robots, but a lot of the knowledge of the basic principles has been lost over the centuries.

Cybernetic limbs are a thing but they generally don't give you the kind of fine-grain control you need to operate delicate machinery (such as a Battlemech). Unless you're personal friends with Hanse Davion, in which case you get cutting edge experimental replacement limbs that you can hook up directly to your mech. But we're not that rich, famous or noble.

Gabby Ciola over in engineering used to be a mechwarrior until her arm got taken off fighting the Magistracy of Canopus. Now she's got a replacement arm, but, in addition to the host of psychological issues, she tends to crush the relatively sensitive cockpit controls. On the plus side, she's got a built-in screwdriver, wrench and can-opener, and can rip off and weld armor plates with the best of them.

So, we'll be getting our mechwarrior a cybernetic limb replacement, but his career as a mechwarrior is over.

[Freyland]

How close an I to leveling up?

[NickAragua]

Right now, you're at gunnery 3, piloting 4. You've got enough XP to bring your piloting up to 3 or buy one of a couple of abilities:
Human Technical Readout: Get critical hits slightly more often on one of mech, vehicle, aero, battle armor
Melee Specialist: Do slightly more damage damage with melee attacks
Hopping Jack: partially compensates for the to-hit penalty when jumping
Pain Resistance: black out less often
Dodge: Forego melee attacks to make yourself harder to hit during the melee phase
Eagle Eyes: Acts as a "Beagle Active Probe", so you can detect hidden enemy units

So far, I've just been bringing gunnery/piloting skills up since that's more useful.

[Freyland]

How slightly off an increased chance at criticals?

[NickAragua]

You get a +1 on the roll. Normally, if you have a potential crit, it happens on an 8+. With Human TRO, it happens on a 7+, which is a pretty big step up. But that presumes that you a) hit the target and b) either get a through-armor critical or hit an exposed location.

[Freyland]

Seems like that might be very beneficial against vehicles, considering that criticals tends to take them out of the action. And we see a lot of vehicles. I'm interested if you think it's a good idea.

[Zenn7]

I've been piloting this Awesome since our company formed. Very few head shots and first time I blacked out I believe. This is definitely the most damage I've ever taken though.

I knew smearing your mech's head with goat's urine to ward off evil was a thankless job, but I hadn't realized you never even noticed I was doing it.

I noticed. Getting that smell burnt off is the real reason I run my mech so hot.

[NickAragua]

Seems like that might be very beneficial against vehicles, considering that criticals tends to take them out of the action. And we see a lot of vehicles. I'm interested if you think it's a good idea.

Done and done. You'll be reading up on various vehicle-related technical manuals over the next couple of days.

August 10th, 3030
Next morning

Further up the valley, a company of enemy tanks makes a push against Epsilon lance's position, reinforced by the tattered remnants of the force that tried to get by Delta. Meanwhile, enemy aircraft engage our own air units, so we are unable to field our own air support at this time. As the opfor closes in, it's a company of tanks - mostly Vedettes, a couple of Hetzers, some hovercraft coming from the south, plus a Peregrine Attack VTOL and some assorted low-threat vehicles coming in from the southwest. The tank company is supported by two mechs - a Locust and a Shadow Hawk, which are not terribly intimidating

Epsilon is Lt. Scrub in a Warhammer, Hyena in a Striker, an NPC in a Grasshopper and El Guapo in the Rifleman. Our old Vindicator buddy is back as well.

Here, our goal is to stop them cold. Absolutely destroy any APCs. We're in pretty rough terrain, but at least the opfor has to work its way uphill more or less. They do have a couple of LRM-equipped units, so they'll be able to put *some* fire on us as they advance.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

Both forces advance but, at a kilometer out, nobody's hitting anything quite yet.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

We close to a little over 600 meters. The LRMs and AC/2 rounds begin flying, but, at this range, nobody's hitting much of anything.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

We close to PPC range. Lt. Scrub and Hyena are peppered by LRMs from the APCs and a Saracen, but the damage is minor.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

The Vindicator takes a knee to take better advantage of the small hill in front of it, as the enemy units close in. The APCs unload their infantry as they approach - over the course of the mission, they'll fire at our mechs but have little effect other than peeling off small amounts of armor here and there. Lt. Scrub scores a single PPC hit on the front of the Skulker, but it just keeps going, firing back with a medium laser. Hyena lands a PPC hit on a Saracen. Our Grasshopper fires an alpha strike at an approaching Maxim, scratching the armor with a medium laser. El Guapo levels his twin AC/10s at the relatively distant Peregrine and lets rip, turning the VTOL into scrap metal.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

We pull back a little bit, taking cover behind some rock outcroppings. Lt. Scrub fires at approaching hovercraft, hitting a Maxim's skirt with a PPC while slicing off bits of a Saracen with lasers. The enemy Shadow Hawk scores a solid hit on Lt. Scrub with the AC/5, damaging a heat sink in the leg. Hyena teams up on Lt. Scrub's target Saracen, landing a solid AC/10 shot and damaging the skirt more with a medium laser. The allied Vindicator splits its fire between a nearby APC and a more distant Maxim, putting a PPC through the engine compartment. He takes a couple of lasers and a kick from the Locust, but the Vindicator is a tough mech.

Despite the pummeling from the Shadow Hawk and SRMs, Lt. Scrub keeps her Warhammer upright.

On the east flank, El Guapo turns his AC/10s on a Vedette, blowing out the engine.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

The allied Vindicator demonstrates the riskiness of taking a knee when you're not a very good pilot by failing to get up. Lt. Scrub backs up and disables the damaged Saracen with a PPC shot and rapid laser fire. The Grasshopper flanks west and disables the second Maxim, slashing some air ducts with a large laser. The locust proves annoying, delivering another kick to Hyena's Striker, along with a couple of lasers. The loss of the Maxims and Saracen should reduce the amount of incoming firepower somewhat.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

Well, this is going to be nasty. Hyena's Striker eats lasers to the rear, but the armor holds. He lets rip at a nearby Saracen, blowing away air ducts and the hover skirt with an AC/10 burst and laser blasts. The Vindicator eats a lot less LRMs than expected, as about half the incoming ordnance plows into the hill in front of him, but he still takes an armor breach to the right leg and loses the foot actuator, falling to the ground.

The enemy mechs close into melee range, and it was perhaps a little bit of a mistake. The Grasshopper whacks the enemy Shadow Hawk in the right leg. The Hawk then plants a boot straight into Hyena's left torso, damaging the armor there, at which point Hyena grabs the leg and wrenches it off, sending the medium mech to the ground.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

A shot of the lightly-engaged east flank. El Guapo fires autocannons and lasers at the approaching Hetzer before it has a chance to level its AC/20 at him, the autocannons stripping off the front armor, and the medium lasers carving up the interior.

In the west, the Grasshopper drops down from the hill into a cluster of vehicles, plowing an APC with lasers. It takes a substantial amount of damage but remains upright, even managing to boot a Hunter support tank (though the damage is minor).

Round 9:

Spoiler:

We leave the Vindicator buddy hanging as bait for the Locust, which it gladly takes, although machine guns don't really do too much damage to mech armor. Lt. Scrub blasts a Vedette with PPCs, damaging the treads, while Hyena works on a damaged Hunter, immobilizing it with an AC/10 burst and a PPC to the side. El Guapo takes a number of LRMs to the left arm, losing an AC/10, and is unable to return fire effectively.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

Somehow, the Shadow Hawk manages to struggle to a standing position, firing off a few AC/5 rounds at Lt. Scrub. She notes this and drills him with two PPCs, sending the mech back down, where it takes heavy damage coming down on top of an arm and the mechwarrior blacks out. The Grasshopper jumps over to engage the Locust as it steps to the east. The allied Vindicator gets up off the ground, and plows weapons fire into a Vedette, breaching armor and injuring the driver with a PPC shot. It takes an unpleasant amount of fire in return, and then a salvo of LRMs from a distant Hetzer comes in, breaching the head armor, and one lucky LRM blasting the cockpit apart.

Hyena stomps on a Vedette rolling around underfoot, crushing the front section of the tank entirely.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

Lt. Scrub fires at a Vedette cresting a hill, burning through the rear armor with a medium laser and melting the engine block. Hyena blows up the annoying Skulker with the AC/10 and lasers.

Spoiler:

With the bulk of their firepower gone, the enemy force withdraws, using the rough terrain for cover to avoid our parting shots. We're a little beat up, so we don't pursue.

The St. Ives guys aren't too happy with us losing one of their pilot, despite Lt. Scrub pointing out that he "sucked really badly and it took him like half a minute to stand up from a kneeling position". Our salvage crews grab the SRM/2 Maxim, as it's (in my opinion) better than the standard variety. The standard model suffers from a lack of focus: it's got an LRM launcher in the back, SRM/2s on each side, kind of a waste of firepower. With the SRM/2 model, we have three LRM/5 launchers to the front and two SRM/2 launchers in the turret in addition to the SRM/6 launcher already there, providing a lot of sandpaper focused in one direction. Sure, it'll be hurting if the turret is blown off, but if the turret is blown off the vehicle is no longer usable anyway.

[Hyena]

Can I carry that leg into combat next time and club someone to death with it?

Off-topic, I pre-ordered my copy of BattleTech, and I'm actually a bit disappointed that I'm not going to be able to have Nick standing over my shoulder adding color commentary to my antics...

[NickAragua]

Might be a little difficult mechanically, but I'll see what I can do.

August 10, 3030
A few kilometers north of the prison complex

Alpha lance patrols the area, along with some crap-ass units from the local militia. A sensor station reports the approach of a lance of heavy mechs through a canyon, so Alpha moves to intercept.

"Alpha Three to Alpha One. Ma'am, my seismics show additional contacts to the west. They look pretty heavy, maybe even assault class."

Lt. Adnan takes a deep breath. Unlikely, given recent developments, but never hurts to ask. "Alpha one to command. We are about to engage two lances of mechs. Heavies and assaults. I think we're going to need reinforcements."

"Epsilon lance just finished off their engagement, but they're at least an hour out. Air support is unavailable at this time. Sorry, Alpha."

"Understood. Ok. The militia units and I will take these three here. The rest of alpha move up and engage the heavy lance."

"You sure that's a good idea, Lieutenant?" Madmarcus asks. "Those militia units aren't gonna last, so it'll be three on one."

"Better that then let those two forces link up. If we don't break this party up before it starts, those assaults are going to come up behind us."

Madmarcus sighs. "Have it your way, Ma'am. Good luck."

"You too."

Lt. Adnan in the Atlas moves west to engage the incoming sensor contacts while the rest of Alpha moves north to engage the lance of heavies. "Supporting" her are an SRM-toting APC, a crappy Wasp and a pair of "militarized" industrial mechs.

The contacts resolve to a pair of Stalkers and a Cyclops. The Stalkers are both 85-ton beasts with dual LRM/10s, SRM/6s, Large lasers and a four-pack of medium lasers. The Cyclops is a 90-tonner. The "standard" variant has an AC/20 and some other miscellaneous weapons. At this point, we're so high up that we're actually past the snow line.

Our mechwarrior breaks out into a bit of a cold sweat but it's too late to back out now.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

The Cyclops and one of the Stalkers start climbing the mountain peak while the other Stalker skirts around to the north. We exchange some LRM fire but nothing hits.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

Lt. Adnan's thumb hits the joystick button to launch LRMs, giving the northern Stalker a twelve-pack. The enemy Cyclops lines up an AC/20 shot on the allied Crosscut, blowing away the left leg, leaving the mech flopping around on the ground, at which point its right leg comes off as well. The Buster Haulermech scores a solid AC/5 hit on the northern Stalker's head, but it's pretty heavily armored.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

The Cyclops comes up to the peak, blowing away the APC with a round of LRMs. We concentrate fire on the northern Stalker, scoring some good hits - the right leg armor is breached by a combination of AC/20 fire and a medium laser.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

The northern Stalker pummels the Wasp as it runs around, coring it out with lasers. Lt. Adnan blasts the Stalker with LRMs without any appreciable effect on the armor.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

The Buster Haulermech loses the right leg and head to a barrage from one of the Stalkers. That's it for the screening force.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Lt. Adnan takes a deep breath and lines up a couple of laser shots, along with a good burst from the AC/20. A medium laser cuts through the Stalker's head armor - there's a puff of smoke and a large chunk of the head comes off. The mech drops to the ground. The other two mechs stomp on some infantry.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

The Atlas comes around the rock outcropping it was hiding behind and engages the other two mechs. Our mech takes a couple of medium lasers and a few LRMs, while the Cyclops is hit by a medium laser. The most powerful weapons whiff though, chewing up the air and scenery.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

The Cyclops takes a pounding, losing the AC/20 from the right torso to an equal burst from the Atlas' autocannon. The AC/20 really is a monster - chewing through an assault mech's torso armor in just one hit is pretty impressive.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

Lt. Adnan grits her teeth as a large laser from the Stalker zaps the Atlas' head. The cockpit polarization kicks in, but she still gets shaken around quite a bit. The Cyclops joins in, but the lieutenant is able to focus and fires her medium laser at the weakened right torso. The remaining AC/20 ammo cooks off! The Cyclops disintegrates as secondary explosions continue for quite a while.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

Lt. Adnan switches her attention to the last enemy mech, unloading a burst from the AC/20, all lasers and the SRMs. The Stalker's left torso armor disappears under the withering onslaught, as it fires back, using medium lasers and SRMs. One of the SRMs punches through the cockpit armor, spraying the Lt. with shrapnel, while another one finds its way through a weak spot in the leg armor, the detonation wrecking two leg actuators. The Lt. is unable to keep the mech upright, and as it falls, the AC/20 clips the ground, getting bent out of shape.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

The Stalker closes in for the kill as our Atlas grinds its way up, trying to turn the damaged right torso section away from the action. It fires lasers and SRMs, a lot of those going into the damaged right torso. Miraculously, they all impact the AC/20 structure, rather than the ammo. Lt. Adnan retaliates with her remaining weapons - medium lasers and SRMs. Two of the SRMs fly into the Stalker's exposed left torso, detonating the SRM ammo there. The explosion forces our mech to a knee, but the mech remains intact!

Spoiler:

It takes our mechwarrior a few seconds to relax her death grip on the control sticks. "Alpha one to three, status report."

"This is Alpha three." Madmarcus replies. "Enemy mechs have withdrawn prior to engaging."

"Just as well. I don't think my mech is in any shape for more fighting."

Well, that Stalker will be a nice addition to our unit. Until it gets blown up because there's LRM ammo in the arms. And the side torsos. The allied infantry round up the remaining enemy mechwarriors, and they are picked up in short order by allied transport helicopters.

With the enemy forces broken, we relocate from the prison complex, taking a few days to patch up our mechs and mechwarriors and moving on to other objectives. We've got a spare AC/20, so fixing that is no problem, and the Lt. only got away with a few minor scrapes and bruises. El Guapo's AC/10 is repairable (ammo feed line got knocked loose).

The Atlas' head took some serious damage and we'll need to rebuild it. Lt. Adnan climbs into the recently-salvaged Stalker (as it turns out, the head was just severed from the body, rather than destroyed).

Archinerd's mech is still in the shop, so we pull a Griffin out of mothballs. Xwraith Mk III is cleared for duty and takes Cylus Maxii's place in Delta lance.

We've got about two weeks left on the contract, so we step up our efforts to find where those insurgents are keeping their dropships and command centers.

[AWS260]

Impressive!

[Stefan Stirzaker]

Freaking Impressive. Can we short load the LRM ammo in the stalker to reduce explosion risks?

[NickAragua]

I got super lucky on that Stalker head shot for sure. And the ammo crits. Only reason our mech didn't get an ammo crit was because I spent a bunch of XP way back when to give everyone a point of edge to reroll that sort of thing. It also helped that the AI came after the stupid little militia units the first four turns instead of making a beeline for the Atlas and kicking it repeatedly.

There's a ton of LRM ammo in each arm, so it's kind of all-or nothing (well, we can leave them unloaded, but then we don't have the LRM launchers, which is wasted tonnage). In the long run, I may consider changing it to a variant without the LRMs.

[Zarathud]

Or just keep at a distance until you use all those LRMs.

[El Guapo]

In the long run, I may consider changing it to a variant without the LRMs.

Yeah, I would do that. Otherwise the life insurance policy on the mechwarrior in that thing will cost a fortune.

[Isgrimnur]

Or an arm and a leg.

[NickAragua]

August 17, 3030
As Delta lance conducts a recon sweep in an attempt to confirm the location and garrison of an enemy drop port, they run into an enemy patrol. Since we don't really have time for this, we will attempt to break through the enemy line, so no salvage on this one.

The good news: it's pitch black *and* foggy, the terrain is mountainous and the enemy force is almost all tanks and hovercraft. There are a pair of light mechs, but a Stinger isn't going to be able to chase down a lance of mediums. Basically, this means the opfor will be moving at a crawl while we zip along using jump jets. Except for the allied Trebuchet, which doesn't have those, so he'll be taking the long way around. He does have a pair of LRM/15s, so it'll be some heavy duty fire support.

Delta is Archinerd (temporarily in a Griffin), Xwraith in a Phoenix Hawk, Freyland in a Quickdraw, Stefan in an Assassin and an allied Trebuchet. The objective is simply to cross the field to the south.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

That Trebuchet is basically just going to stay back there and draw fire. He'll then pull back. We take a couple of pot shots at the enemy units on the move, but between the jumping and lack of lighting, it just isn't happening.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

We hop past the enemy units, firing weapons into the air and dirt as we move. A single AC/5 round flies well wide of Freyland's mech.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

Looks like that Stinger wants to make a fight of it. Freyland hops around behind an LRM Carrier and zaps it with a couple of lasers, while the rest of the weapons fire misses. The Stinger tries to trip Archinerd up, but he's having none of it and lifts his leg up to avoid the kick, then punches the lighter mech in the left torso. The Stinger can't balance out and falls over.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

Well, that's enough screwing around. We jump away from the main enemy force, heading south. Archinerd lands a couple of LRMs on a Goblin tank, dinging the armor a little bit. The LRM Carrier fires on the allied Trebuchet, missing with all sixty LRMs. The Trebuchet retaliates, hitting with eighteen out of thirty LRMs, which, thanks to Freyland's earlier damage, easily penetrate the vehicle's armor and destroy it.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Aaaand we're through. Xwraith watches with detached curiosity as an AC/5 round whizzes by his mech, while Freyland zaps a Condor with some lasers to keep it honest.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Well, this is a little bit of a wrinkle. We spot a smaller enemy force to the south. Stefan exchanges fire with a Scimitar hover tank, taking a couple of SRMs and hitting with a laser, but neither breach armor.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

Stefan lets rip with the jump jets, hopping over the enemy line and dinging a Scorpion's rear armor with his boot.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Archinerd sends a couple of LRMs at a Scorpion, damaging the front armor. Everything else misses, although we do land a couple of kicks and punches on enemy units that are a little too close as we hop through the southern enemy blockade.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

Stefan's use of the jump jets prevents the enemy from meaningfully targeting him, so he takes advantage of it by jumping back to a Scorpion he'd worked on previously, zapping through the weakened rear armor with a laser and destroying the vehicle, although not before it gets a few missiles off at Archinerd, inflicting minor damage. Freyland lands near a Pegasus and carves off some air ducts with a laser as well, immobilizing it.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

Despite what that Stinger thinks, we're through. Freyland and Stefan zap another Scorpion with their lasers, with one of Freyland's lasers immobilizing the vehicle by removing a section of the tracks on the left side. Archinerd blasts a Pegasus with the PPC, heavily damaging its skirt.

The allied Trebuchet steps down from the ridge and out of sight, while we continue hopping along, out of range of enemy pursuit. Delta lance will remain in the field, available to reinforce any single offensive action in that area. Which we will be undertaking as soon as we find some kind of symbolic objective to blow up that'll satisfy the locals and our employer.

From interrogating all the prisoners we've captured, it paints a pretty clear picture. We're not going to be able to solve the socio-economic problems that have caused this insurgency, and we sure as hell aren't going to be able to stop the Capellans funneling money into it, but that's not really our concern anyway. We were hired to blow up pirates and boy did we ever.

On the plus side, Lt. Adnan's Atlas is fixed up over the course of the week, so she can get out of that deathtrap Stalker.

[NickAragua]

[had a major snowstorm cut power at my house last night, with wires literally hanging loose from poles - so, for the moment, we're refugees at my dad's house. Still needed my battletech fix though.]

August 20, 3030
River Delta region

Epsilon lance intercepts a light enemy force - hovercraft, light and medium tanks. Looks like a recon unit probing around an allied naval base. Primary objective is to give these guys a bloody nose and run them off. Secondary objective is to tag one of them with a tracking device, which can be planted by a successful punch. Our LRMs have been fitted with those, so, some might be duds. The trick is, the tracked unit needs to be able to make it off the battlefield as well.

Epsilon is Lt. Scrub in the Warhammer, Hyena in the Striker, El Guapo in the Rifleman, an NPC in a Grasshopper. Our Trebuchet-piloting liaison comes along as well, to lend his dual LRM/15 launchers.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

Right off the bat, here come the hovercraft. Lt. Scrub lines up a PPC shot on a Harasser missile platform and blows it away, shrugging off the couple of SRMs. El Guapo takes a couple of LRMs and a stray AC/2 round that chip away at the armor, while the allied Trebuchet tags the Skulker with a few LRMs from the LRM/15 launcher. Well, that was easy, now we just have to make sure not to blow it away.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

Hyena eats a full barrage of SRMs, taking eight hits and a medium laser from a Pegasus to peck away at the armor, while a Galleon sets the surrounding woods on fire with a medium laser. The Grasshopper makes the mistake of trying to get a good shot at a (different) Skulker zipping by, and is rewarded by an AC/20 burst to the center torso. The armor holds, but ouch. The mechwarrior manages to keep the mech upright and rips off the Skulker's left side armor with a foot - the scout tank quickly reverses and runs off. The rest of our mechs receive some minor damage while dishing out some, but nothing critical.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

El Guapo figures the rock outcropping he's hiding behind isn't very useful when the bad guys are on the wrong side of it, so he steps back and into some heavy woods, which proves to be a good call, as the woods absorb quite a prodigious amount of SRMs and LRMs. He takes an AC/5 from the rear ranks of the enemy formation, then rakes a Pegasus with AC/10 rounds as it zips over some water - it splashes down and sinks in short order. Hyena takes some fire through the woods and smoke, but not even enough to shake the mech.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

Hyena runs out to try and nail that Saladin zipping around with its AC/20. He takes a few SRMs and medium lasers, and has to steady his mech, but accomplishes his goal, breaching the rear armor and going internal on the target hovercraft, which begins withdrawing (backwards). Lt. Scrub exchanges fire with some hovercraft and a Stinger. While they're occupied, El Guapo lets rip with the AC/10s at a Scimitar, breaching its right side armor, at which point the crew reconsider their participation in the fight. To the east, the allied Trebuchet zaps a Galleon tank with medium lasers, ending its harassment. The Grasshopper tries to plant a couple of homing beacons on the nearby Wasp, but the smoke makes it difficult to see the mech's fists, let alone target a fast-moving enemy jumper.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Lt. Scrub and Hyena team up on a Striker tank that moved a little too slowly - the enemy tank fires at Hyena, an LRM round getting through the right arm and damaging an actuator, but a PPC from the Warhammer pops the right-side treads, while the Striker mech's combination of AC/10, PPC and medium laser destroys the front armor and gets into the driver's compartment, severely burning the poor guy. There can only be one, eh? Hyena's mech takes a few other shots and struggles to keep his mech upright but manages to do so. The Grasshopper moves through the smoke and zaps a nearby Pegasus with three out of five lasers - the first two hits burn off armor while the last one gets inside and burns off the engine.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

This one gets a little rough for the opfor - ignoring the nearby Stinger pinging away with machine guns, Lt. Scrub lines up a perfect PPC shot on a Galleon, going clean through the right side and evaporating the internals. Hyena runs into some smoke for cover and opens up on a nearby Scorpion, the PPC going through the left side and taking it out. El Guapo finally nails the Saracen that's been harassing him, an AC/10 burst all but ripping the turret off. The Grasshopper fires at Hyena's target as well, but its aim is thrown off by a salvo of LRM/20s from a distant Hunter tank, which damages a heat sink and takes a medium laser out.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

The enemy Stinger's hopping around finally pays off, as he manages to breach Lt. Scrub's rear armor. El Guapo's right there, though, cutting into the light mech with a pair of medium lasers - one simply saws off the left arm, the other goes internal on the center torso. Other than that, firing is fairly ineffective, though the Grasshopper takes a salvo of SRMs and has to fight to stay up - but succeeds and scores a laser shot on the offending Scorpion tank, welding the turret in place with a laser.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Lt. Scrub opens up on a nearby Vedette with an alpha strike (which she can do without melting her mech down due to being hip deep in water), but the tough little tank takes everything she dishes out without too much complaint. The Stinger makes the mistake of staying in place to plink at our Warhammer some more, and El Guapo really makes him pay - two medium lasers bracket the outside of the mech, while the autocannons burst through the center torso and chew off the right leg. The little bug mech basically falls apart. The Grasshopper takes apart a Scorpion tank with lasers and a boot, while the allied Trebuchet fuses the nearby Hunter's treads together with its three medium lasers to wrap things up.

Having lost over half their fighting capability, the rest of the force retreats, including the Skulker that's been tagged with a tracking device. Hopefully, they don't figure out that we let that one particular Skulker go (even though the driver really made an effort to make himself available as a soccer ball). Considering the beating we gave the rest of their force, it's unlikely. We salvage a couple of tanks to strip for armor and ammo, but leave most of it for the local militia guys.

[NickAragua]

August 29, 3030
It's just about time for us to leave this world behind. We've more than fulfilled our obligations (at least as far as the letter of the contract is concerned), although most of our group are of the opinion that, once we leave, the local militia guys will keel over.

That being said, the tagged Skulker leads us to a landing strip that's currently home to a Triumph-class dropship. We've seen this type of guy before, it's how these guys are able to rapidly ferry around whole regiments of tanks at a time. Beta and Delta lance launch diversionary attacks on patrols in the river delta area to draw off enemy forces, while Alpha and Epsilon will assault the dropship and attempt to take it out.

Since Zenn7 is still nursing his broken leg, Gbasden takes over Beta lance. Also present is Paingod in a Griffin, Zarathud in the other Awesome and an NPC in a Thunderbolt. The St. Ives guys bring along a Vindicator. Several patrols converge on Beta - multiple Hetzers and Vedettes, along with a healthy number of hovercraft. There's also a Locust and a Swayback (4H model with an AC/10 and extra medium lasers), and sensors report an additional lance of light mechs closing in. We hold our aircraft in reserve, in case Alpha and Epsilon can't take the Triumph down before it lifts off.

Beta engages the enemy patrols from across a river, the idea being to split the hovercraft from their heavies and take them apart. This scenario seems eerily similar to one we've done before - except back then we were a bit more wet behind the ears and had fewer Awesomes. At the end of the day, we don't really need to destroy this force, just keep them busy long enough that they can't get back in time to help out their dropship.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

The enemy hovercraft zip in across the river. Firing is disappointingly ineffective from both sides, with our Thunderbolt taking a couple of SRMs from the nearby Maxim.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

There's a lot of pew pew pew going back and forth across the river, but very little of it hits. A Pegasus and the Thunderbolt exchange SRMs for a medium laser respectively. Gbasden scores our first kill by lining up a PPC shot on the Warrior attack helicopter, vaporizing the fuselage and showering the battlefield with little glowing helicopter pieces. Well, it's a start - less LRMs coming our way is fine.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

We abandon that nice little western cluster of woods as our jump-capable mechs flank south. The air is filled with LRM trails, PPC sparkles and autocannon tracers. As Paingod jumps south, he sights on an approaching Harasser missile platform and nails it with the PPC, which blasts an SRM launcher and its attached ammo bin, exploding the hovercraft quite spectacularly (two tons of SRM/6 ammo going off is always a good fireworks show). Gbasden and Zarathud fire on a Galleon and an AC/20 Hetzer across the river, both scoring hits. The Galleon is quite weaker than its Hetzer buddy though and suffers an armor breach, in addition to losing a couple of wheels.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

Zarathud unloads PPCs on a Maxim that strays a little too close, spiking his heat but breaching the front armor. The allied Vindicator helps by delivering a PPC shot to the turret, melting the armor and fusing it in place. Gbasden disintegrates a J.Edgar zipping by.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Our mechwarriors watch with some amusement as a Scimitar hovertank skids into an AC/10 Hetzer, crunching armor and motive elements off both vehicles. The Thunderbolt attracts a lot of fire, but since it's all at long range due to having to cross a 90-meter-wide river, most misses. Gbasden takes a wheel off the left side of a Hetzer, putting it out of action, while the Thunderbolt absorbs a couple of SRMs and burns enough air ducts off the rear of a Saladin tank to render it immobile. The allied Vindicator also pitches in, targeting a different Hetzer with a PPC and LRMs, peeling some armor off with the PPC then "dinging" some critical engine components with a few LRMs. That makes a lot less AC/20 rounds coming our way.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

The light mech lance arrives to back their buddies up. A Locust, two Stingers and a Mongoose (?). Definitely a recon lance. The Mongoose has the same movement profile as a Locust (8/12) and brings three medium lasers to a party, along with a token small laser. It's also supposed to have a lot of sensors and such.

Paingod is tempted to jump over and kick the nearby Locust, but that would expose him to being mobbed. Gotta stay reasonably near friendly fire support. Zarathud fires at a Scimitar that's flying around on this side of the river, deflating its air cushion and causing it to throw up a nice dirt cloud as it hits the ground. Gbasden is mean and blasts one as it's crossing the river - the vehicle makes contact with the water and sinks in very short order.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

Paingod jumps north into the river, to avoid getting mobbed, as the Thunderbolt heads southeast to help. The firing phase passes without too much incident, as most everybody misses. We do score a few PPC and LRM hits but nothing noteworthy.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Pulling back has lured those Hunters out from the woods to the west of the river. A Pegasus cross the river to try to fire some SRMs at Paingod's back, but takes a bunch of lasers for its trouble instead, seizing up. We take a few AC/2 rounds, but otherwise it's just a pretty PPC and autocannon light show.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

A Packrat across the river stops for a second to unload a squad of infantry. Zarathud takes that second to blow the vehicle to bits. Unfortunately, the infantry had already cleared the tank, but they're pretty irrelevant. While he's busy aiming, a Pegasus zips by and delivers a bunch of SRMs, hitting him in the foot actuator. It's annoying, but he keeps his mech upright. Paingod gives the offending hovercraft a boot, but the armor holds.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

We've got ourselves a little bit of an Exxon Valdez situation over here. Zarathud blasts a distant AC/10 Hetzer, deflating a couple of tires but leaving the vehicle mostly intact. The Thunderbolt hops into the river to cool off and engages one of the remaining Pegasi, causing a jam in one of the SRM launchers, while it rakes our mech with said SRMs. The Vindicator zaps it with a PPC shot, slowing it down dangerously as it crosses the river.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

With the AC/10 Hetzer effectively immobile, it's an easy task for Zarathud to finish it off. Meanwhile, the Pegasus tries to limp back to the other shore but is immobilized and sunk by Gbasden's PPCs.

Lacking the capability to cross the river and engage us meaningfully (our Awesomes outrange anything they have, except the Hunter LRM tanks), the enemy force withdraws and will not be able to support the dropship. The dumb bastards left an infantry platoon on the wrong side of the river, so we're looking at a pretty substantial prisoner capture bonus. Well, not really, they're only infantry. Anyway, we want to build up credit to get some better salvage, so we leave the crap tanks to our employer and the local militia.

The two Awesome setup is pretty nice, but it could have easily gone wrong if we weren't engaging a mostly tracked and wheeled enemy force from across a river.

[Zarathud]

Double Awesome.

[Stefan Stirzaker]

A few more and we can be totally Awesome

[NickAragua]

August 29, 3030
Delta lance mounts a secondary diversionary attack on a small enemy force passing through a wooded valley. A very picturesque setting, with a mostly medium lance of mechs marching through, two mixed light-medium lances of APCs, tanks and hovercraft. As soon as Delta springs their attack, we catch a burst of radio traffic and Stefan's sensors read incoming enemy aircraft, two lights and a heavy.

Delta is Stefan in an Assassin, Archinerd in a Griffin, Freyland in a Quickdraw and Xwraith in a Phoenix Hawk. The allied forces have committed another Vindicator to the action. There's some snow coming down at a pretty good clip, making targeting more difficult than usual.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

As we close in, a couple of enemy hovercraft zip around behind a hill. Seconds later, smoke rises from back there. What happened, guys?

Round 2:

Spoiler:

Stefan crests a hill and fires at a fast-moving Pegasus hovertank, chewing up dirt. Archinerd hits a distant Vulcan with a few missiles. It's weakly armored but still enough to take few LRMs.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

We close in past the intervening hills and woods and begin the fight in earnest. Xwraith and the Pegasus trade lasers, while Freyland zaps a Scorpion with his medium laser, causing heavy tread damage and slowing the tank to a crawl. Xwraith adds a boot to the Pegasus, causing the crew's teeth to chatter.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

Stefan gives his jump jets a break to cool off and burn some armor off the Scorpion's turret and apply a boot to the main gun, bending it out of shape. Freyland lasers a nearby Vedette repeatedly, damaging treads and stunning the crew. Archinerd fires off an LRM salvo at a Wasp harassing Freyland, severely damaging the arm and popping a heat sink in the left torso. Xwraith finishes the damaged Pegasus off, cutting through the left side with the large laser.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Freyland jumps north and engages a Hermes II (40-ton fast mech, ground bound, low armament), scoring random hits on the extremities. Everyone else whiffs. Including Stefan, who technically kicks a Vedette, but the impact trips him up, doing little damage to the tank and sending his mech to the ground.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Well, here come the aircraft. As Xwraith delivers a solid blow to a nearby Wasp's right torso, a Thunderbird and two lights fly overhead. Archinerd turns to fire on them and gets clobbered with Inferno bombs. For those that don't know, Inferno ammo is basically the 31st century version of napalm. Infantry are incinerated instantly, vehicles don't do much better and mechs heat up as mechwarriors roast in their cockpits. Archinerd's mech is prett much covered with flaming goop, overheats and shuts down. Luckily for him, the LRM ammo doesn't go off.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

In the space of about ten seconds the woods around Archinerd's position go from nice cover to raging inferno. Freyland hunts down and disables the previously-damaged Vedette, slicing off treads and cutting through to the transmission system. The allied Vindicator absorbs a few SRMs from the enemy Wasp and nails the Hermes with a PPC to the left leg, destroying the hip actuator. Archinerd's heat systems dissipate the fire quite effectively and he's able to restart the mech, although it's still sluggish as all hell.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Archinerd clears the inferno, although the smoke and built up heat make it impossible for him to contribute to the fight. Stefan picks at the Wasp harassing the back of the allied Vindicator. Freyland inflicts major damage on the Hunter tank's motive systems. The allied Vindicator's hex is set on fire by a passing Sparrowhawk fighter. Xwraith dances around the Vulcan's kick and nearly strips the armor off the right leg, but both mechs remain upright.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

Between the smoke and large amount of jump jet use, nobody really hits anything with weapons fire. Stefan gets punched in the foot, while Xwraith gets tripped up and goes to the ground.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

Xwraith's Phoenix Hawk can't quite clear the area fast enough as the enemy Hunchback lets rip with the AC/20, taking the left leg off entirely. Stefan knocks out a Wasp that's buzzing around, kicking hard at the left leg to rip it off and force the little mech to flop to the ground. Freyland lands slightly above an enemy Vulcan and rips the left arm off with a boot as well.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

The Hunchback closes in to finish off Xwraith's downed mech as our units try to help. Freyland unloads lasers and SRMs, hiting every shot. Stefan runs around the back of the Hunchback and fires a laser directly through the weakened rear torso armor. The beam goes slightly left and touches off the mech's AC/20 ammo, sending the whole thing sky-high. This renders everyone else's firing moot, but it sure is some pretty fireworks. Xwraith is especially happy about it, as his left torso was being sawed off by the AC/20 meanwhile.

The Wasp struggles to its one foot, at which point Freyland kicks it so hard he rips the remaining leg off, along with the left torso section and corresponding arm. The mechwarrior blacks out as the little mech goes down.

Spoiler:

With the bulk of their firepower suddenly gone, the remaining enemy units beat feet while the air support buzzes off. When Salvage gets around to it, we'll be grabbing the Vedette and Pegasus to strip armor and SRM/6 ammo, fix up what damage we can (to the Vedette, at least, the Pegasus is scrap), then sell the rest off to the local militia. Look guys, don't get greedy - you already got the whole upper right quarter of a Wasp for free!

With our diversionary attacks drawing forces away from the dropship, Alpha and Epsilon move in for the kill.

[Cylus Maxii]

So, we'll be getting our mechwarrior a cybernetic limb replacement, but his career as a mechwarrior is over.

At least he has good stories to swap over drinks.