July 6, 3030
With Alpha lance's sound defeat of the pirate retrieval force, the convoy has been hung out to dry. Beta and Epsilon lance pinch the convoy between them and drive it into the woods. Since we outmass the escort force (it's three lights and five medium mechs vs our eight mediums and heavies), this is going to be a rout - we just need to make sure the actual convoy doesn't get away. The liaison informs us that it's "desired but not required" that the cargo be returned intact.
The opfor includes some curious old mech designs, sporting a bunch of primitive equipment:
A "Phoenix PX-1R", a 50-tonner 4/6/3 with middling armor, a PPC and a pair of SRM/2 launchers.
The "Kyudo", a 45-tonner 4/6 with light armor, packing a large laser and an LRM/10.
The "Toro", a 35-tonner 4/6 with pretty tough armor for its size, bringing a large laser and a pair of SRM/2 launchers.
Beta is Zenn7 in the Awesome, LordMortis in the Hunchback, Paingod in a Griffin, and an NPC in the Thunderbolt. Epsilon is Lt. Scrub in the Warhammer, NPCs in the Grasshopper and Rifleman, and Hyena in the Striker. The convoy's gone to ground into the woods, but we've got them surrounded. We'll see how Paingod does in the Griffin - it's faster and has more firepower, but heats up quite a bit more.
Zenn7 and LordMortis will advance north up the western road, while the jump-capable mechs hop through the woods to the east. From the north, the terrain is pretty unfavorable all around, so we deploy Hyena to the northwest, while the rest of the mechs come from the northeast.
Round 1:
We close in, while the convoy mills around. Looks like one of their APCs crashed into a tree?
Round 2:
A Firestarter comes out to engage our northeastern heavies as they sprint through the woods (and are thus unable to fire). Him and our Grasshopper exchange some shots but miss.
Round 3:
Paingod and the Thunderbolt engage a fairly large group of enemy mechs, as does Hyena. The Firestarter continues harassing our heavies.
Lt. Scrub lasers the Firestarter, peeling off a lot of armor but with no breaches. She takes some minor fire in return, but it's not a concern. She delivers a punch to the Firestarter's head, ripping off the cowl and shaking the mechwarrior around (for the record, the Firestarter has the "cowl" quirk, which gives it extra head armor).
To the southeast, the Thunderbolt takes a couple of shots from a Firestarter, but most of the enemy unit's shots miss, starting a forest fire. The Thunderbolt zaps a Buster Haulermech, putting a laser through the left leg armor and popping a heat sink.
To the northwest, Hyena scores AC/10 and PPC hits on a Centurion while using the woods to absorb return fire.
Round 4:
Zenn7 and LordMortis are a bit out of position - I'll have LordMortis reinforce Paingod and the Thunderbolt while Zenn7 circles around using the road for better mobility.
In the northeast, the Rifleman takes a PPC shot that goes just below the head.
To the southeast, the Thunderbolt almost takes a large laser to the dome but a last minute dodge redirects it elsewhere. She continues working on the Buster Haulermech, destroying a left arm actuator and breaching armor all around. Then, a kick takes the convoy mech's left leg off entirely, bringing it to the ground. The engine burps and stalls, and then the gyro shatters from the impact. Well, that mech's out of action.
To the northwest, Hyena takes an AC/10 round to the left torso but unloads on the Centurion, blasting through the center torso armor then scratching the engine shielding with a medium laser.
Round 5:
As Paingod hops up behind a Vindicator, he's fired upon by a Phoenix Hawk, which misses but sets the surrounding woods on fire. The Thunderbolt works on the Toro, firing off a bunch of medium lasers but failing to breach armor. The kick knocks the smaller mech down as it hits the Thunderbolt back with a large laser.
Hyena continues fighting the Centurion and Griffin, inflicting more damage on the Centurion - the combined impact of the PPC and AC/10 force the mech to the ground. Sparks fly around inside the cockpit, burning the mechwarrior a bit.
Our Rifleman duels with the Firestarter, losing some armor, but finally getting a bead on the zippy little mech with the dual AC/10s. The smaller mech's left arm sparks and hangs limp while the center torso internals are completely exposed.
Round 6:
The Warhammer, Rifleman and Grasshopper continue engaging their enemy cluster. The Phoenix puts a few SRMs on the Warhammer, which scores a single hit with a medium laser in return. The Grasshopper and Rifleman melt an unfortunate APC down to slag with lasers.
The Thunderbolt slices the last of the Toro's armor off with a large laser, exposing the internals, then kicks the right leg off, effectively taking the mech out of action.
LordMortis gets into the fight, running into some woods and getting surrounded by three mechs. The Firestarter misjudges its hop and eats an AC/20 burst to the left leg, removing that limb from consideration entirely. He takes a medium laser to the arm, but avoids any rear damage. He dodges a kick from the Wolverine - the mech overextends itself and falls on its ass. Guess who's next for an AC/20 whoppin'?
Meanwhile, Paingod helps LordMortis out by putting a PPC in the back of the Kyudo, melting through the armor and almost destroying the interior structure of the left torso.
Hyena aims at the Centurion's damaged head and plants a PPC shot directly through it, taking the mech down.
Round 7:
LordMortis and the Thunderbolt mix it up with the three mechs in the southeast. The exchange of fire is mostly ineffective, with LordMortis taking a kick to the right leg.
The Warhammer, Rifleman and Grasshopper continue pressing in from the northeast. The Rifleman takes a PPC shot to the right leg, breaching the armor. Combined with SRMs from the rear from a Javelin, the right leg takes actuator damage and the mech has to take a knee. The Grasshopper delivers multiple medium lasers to the Crosscut, breaching the right torso, damaging the gyro and blasting a cargo pod, then crushing the left leg. The limb is basically ripped off, which also pulls out the gyro and about half the engine, which then explodes.
Hyena switches targets from the fallen Centurion, putting some AC/10 rounds and a PPC shot on the Griffin. With a medium laser as a bonus. No armor breach, but a solid hit.
Zenn7 gets a little too excited to get into the fight and gets bushwhacked by the Phoenix Hawk and Vindicator as he sprints towards the battle. Well, he still manages to avoid the Phoenix Hawk's kick, and the smaller mech falls to the ground.
Round 8:
The Warhammer chases a Firestarter, missing all of its shots.
Zenn7 takes a medium laser to the arm and is unable to fire back due to the Phoenix Hawk being right behind him.
The Thunderbolt works on the Kyudo, scorching the arms with lasers. It somehow manages to avoid LordMortis' point blank AC/20 burst but he lands a kick on the right leg, bringing it to the ground.
Hyena exchanges fire with his Griffin buddy, taking a PPC to the torso but stripping armor off the left arm with the AC/10. The Griffin goes down to a knee but throws a punch, falling just short of the head.
The Rifleman and Grasshopper engage the Javelin - it delivers several SRMs to the Rifleman's weakened leg but then takes a bunch of lasers to the right torso. The section sparks and the arm hangs limp. The Grasshopper then snaps the Javelin's right leg off, and the mech collapses. The mechwarrior ejects, bouncing off the Grasshopper and going limp.
Round 9:
The Warhammer gets a little obsessed with the Firestarter and chases after, taking and delivering a few minor laser hits. They also trade kicks - the Firestarter's hip actuator snaps as a result.
Hyena continues his duel with the Griffin, breaching center torso armor with the AC/10 and a medium laser blast, then trading kicks. The Griffin winds up on the ground.
The Rifleman and Grasshopper move southeast, and the Phoenix engages them, missing all its shots. The Rifleman turns and blows the enemy mech's arm off with salvos from the dual AC/10s. The Grasshopper follows up with multiple laser shots, dinging the PPC. The smaller mech can't take the damage and falls over.
LordMortis and the Thunderbolt engage the Wolverine and damaged Kyudo. LordMortis fills the woods with spent autocannon casings as he nails the Kyudo dead center, just about taking the engine out, the impact knocking the mech down. The Thunderbolt and Wolverine whiff kicks at each other, but the Wolverine falls over, as the cramped cockpit makes it difficult to balance.
Zenn7 and Paingod move towards the center of the battlefield, in a running fight with the Phoenix Hawk and Vindicator.
Round 10:
The Griffin gets the drop on Hyena, getting around the back. Unfortunately, Hyena proves to be a little too nimble for an 80 ton mech, avoiding the PPC and the kick.
The Firestarter can't get up *and* move away from the Warhammer, so it's going to get pounded. Not too much though, just a couple of lasers. Then a boot to the right leg, which comes off. The mechwarrior ejects... directly into a tree. Yikes.
The Rifleman moves to engage the cargo vehicles, avoiding a few SRMs, while the Grasshopper continues working on the Phoenix, blasting through the rear center torso armor to hit the engine with a large laser, then cutting the right arm off with a medium laser. The Rifleman takes out a Flatbed truck with the AC/10.
The Kyudo refuses to surrender, so LordMortis walks over to encourage the mechwarrior to bail out, by methodically sawing off the right arm with the AC/20.
The Thunderbolt gets around the back of the Wolverine and goes to town on the rear armor, blowing out a heat sink. The enemy mech falls down and the mechwarrior blacks out.
Zenn7 and Paingod continue their running fight with the Vindicator and Phoenix Hawk. Zenn7 actually gets to fire his PPCs, scoring a hit on the Pixie.
Round 11:
The Warhammer, having finished with the Firestarter, zaps an APC. Unfortunately, it was full of infantry, which come boiling out. Lt. Scrub stomps one of them as he raises a laser rifle at her, but, in a very rare moment, finds herself wishing she had the stock model's machine guns.
The Thunderbolt works on the downed Wolverine, trying to take out the head, but even with a blacked out mechwarrior it's too tough. She settles for snapping the leg off.
LordMortis finishes off the downed Kyudo, disintegrating the center torso.
The Rifleman cuts in half a second flatbed truck with a medium laser.
Round 12:
The enemy Phoenix staggers through an abandoned building, falling over as the structure collapses, then eating a PPC from the Warhammer.
Zenn7 has trouble hitting the Vindicator at point blank range except with a small laser, but does set a fire. The Vindicator scores a good number of hits, but it doesn't do much against the Awesome's untouched armor. The two mechs exchange kicks, at which point the Vindi
The Griffin greatly misjudges the Hyena's Striker's firing arc and winds up eating an AC/10 burst to the center torso - the gyro comes apart and that mech is done for.
The Rifleman blows apart another flatbed truck, while the Grasshopper heavily damages the APC.
Round 13:
The Grasshopper finishes off the last of the convoy vehicles. Lt. Scrub gets on the horn and strongly advises the remaining enemy units to retreat. Those being a Phoenix Hawk and Vindicator. Well, really just the Vindicator after the Thunderbolt jumps up and kicks its leg in.
We call in salvage to grab the Wolverine, Griffin and Centurion, then inform our employer of mission success. Hope they've got some spare trucks though, nothing left on the battlefield that works.
The rest of the week is spent in a flurry of activity as we patch up and rebuild salvaged mechs. We've got a lot, so we're probably going to sell some off to the local militia to help them make up for the shortfall.