Although the Blackbirds failed to keep their opponents from breaking through their formation, the Lone Wolves as a whole managed to stop the Combine advance. The player force gets another shot at the 21st Galedon Regulars as they chase them away from New Derry.
Outside New Derry
Galedon III
Federated Suns
25 May, 3025
Staff Sergeant Jesse MacGregor blinked sweat from his eyes. At least, he hoped it was sweat. His Scorpion had taken a couple nasty hits, which had rattled him around like a rock in a tin can. A missile had cracked his cockpit canopy, and even now he could feel the cool night air hissing through the rent in the ferroglass. Or maybe he was imagining it. He was having a hard time focusing on the job. He barely registered his own readouts, showing a few minor hits along with his completely stripped rear armor.
Ahead, laser fire flashed through the night. The Blackbirds, along with a pair of other Lone Wolves ’Mechs, were doing their best to take their targets down before they escaped. From the radio chatter, it seemed they were having trouble. The Kuritans’ Marauder refused to go down, even though it was more of a walking skeleton now than a proper BattleMech.
As the remains of the 21st Galedon Regulars fled toward the foothills, Jesse had hung back. His judicious particle cannon fire had failed to impact the battle much, and he was getting antsy. The enemy’s armor was in tatters, and Jesse had a nearly full ammo bin of short range missiles begging to fly.
He slammed the throttle forward, pushing the Scorpion’s VOX 330 fusion engine to its limit. The gangly ’Mech sprang forward in its signature awkward gait, propelling its quadrupedal chassis to over 97 kilometers per hour. Jesse’s vision blurred as his cockpit’s aggressive swaying threatened to give him a migraine. How bad did I hit my head?
In the blink of an eye, he was in the thick of the fighting. His cockpit’s monitors blurred as a particle beam narrowly missed him. The holographic heads up display projected on his neurohelmet’s visor became a tangle of digital static that set his head pounding and his gorge rising. He swallowed his bile as he hastily estimated where to aim his own particle cannon.
As his displays lurched back to normal, he watched lightning leap from his Anderson Armaments PPC and join the bounding chassis of a Kuritan Quickdraw. He pumped his fist in victory as he took of after his quarry. He armed his short range missile rack and lined up shot. Easy pickings, he thought as his focus narrowed.
For a brief moment, the only two things that existed in Jesse’s world was his Scorpion and the Quickdraw he was about to turn into scrap. Nothing else seemed to matter as he felt the recoil of his missiles launching on trails of chemical propellant. Unfortunately for Jesse, he would never see if they hit.
A pair of ruby laser beams cut through his ’Mech’s weakened rear armor. Jesse screamed in pain as the ammo bin carrying his missiles ignited, sending pulses of electric feedback through his neurohelmet and into his brain. All of the nerves in his body ignited in agony. He wet his pants.
Vomit coated his helmet’s visor. His head snapped back as the Scorpion’s auto-eject sent his command seat rocketing into the night sky.
As his ‘chute opened, setting his seat on a gentle course toward the ground, his vision began to clear. Through the sludge inside his neurohelmet, he could see the burning hulk of his machine glowing in the night like a grim bonfire. A Kuritan Spider circled the wreckage before speeding off.
In the melee ahead, a Phoenix Hawk from one of the other Lone Wolves commands landed behind a ridge on jets of flame. As the Phoenix Hawk took aim at the fleeing Marauder, the Quickdraw crested the ridge and lashed out with a kick.
Jesse grimaced as the Kuritan’s foot caved in the friendly ‘Mech’s head. It would be the last thing he remembered before passing out.
Game Type
Pursuit (Hot Spots: Draconis Reach), Lone Wolves attacking
Objectives
Orders – Attacker: Engage at least half of the Defender’s units (by number). [50]
Orders – Defender: At least half of the Defender’s starting force (by BV) cross the center line toward their home edge. [50]
Prevention (Attacker): Prevent at least 75 percent of the Defender’s starting force (by BV) from exiting through their home edge through the end of Turn 10. [300]
No Quarter (Attacker): Destroy/Cripple 100 percent of the Defender’s starting force (by BV). [100]
Escape (Defender): At least half of the Defender’s starting force (by BV) must exit through their home edge by the end of Turn 10. [300]
We Were Never Here (Defender): At least 75 percent of the Defender’s starting force (by BV) must exit through their home edge by the end of Turn 10. [100]
Lone Wolves Forces
Blair’s Blackbirds
Crab CRB-20, Veteran (commander), Cpt. Cameron Blair
Scorpion SCP-1N, Regular, Ssgt. Jesse MacGregor
Spider SDR-5V, Veteran, Sgt. Tamir Norris
Lords of the Sword
Phoenix Hawk PXH-1, Regular
Cicada CDA-2A, Regular
Draconis Combine Forces
Marauder MAD-3R, Veteran (commander)
Ostroc OSR-2C, Regular
Quickdraw QKD-4G, Regular
Spider SDR-5V, Regular
Action Report
Turn 1: The Combine ’Mechs enter the battlefield and head directly toward their home edge. The Marauder, having lost its autocannon in the previous mission, has opted to dump its ammunition before taking the field.
Turn 2: The Combine continues to push toward their home edge, with the Lone Wolves in pursuit. The Marauder gets a lucky hit on the pursuing Spider, nearly ripping its Right Leg (RL) off. In return, the combined fire of the Crab and Spider tear off the Marauder’s Right Torso (RT). The Marauder is crippled, and in Forced Withdrawal, but must continue toward its home edge. Sgt. Norris’ Spider misses a kick, but he passes his Pilot Skill Roll to stay upright.
Turn 3: The Ostroc cuts across the Wolves’ line of sight to the Marauder, presenting a more tempting shot. The Wolves oblige, but fail to do much damage to the Ostroc’s nearly pristine armor. The Scorpion scores a nasty hit to the internal structure on the Marauder’s Left Leg (LL), while the Cicada chips at its rear armor. The Cicada also misses a kick, and falls prone.
Turn 4: Anticipating running its heat gauge high, the Phoenix Hawk dumps its ammo. The Combine mechs close ranks to protect the Marauder. The Marauder manages to stay upright under still more damage, while combining its fire with the Ostroc and the Quickdraw to knock the Cicada down. The Cicada smashes its fusion engine in the fall, crippling it, and will need to withdraw from the field.
Turn 5: The Ostroc takes point with the Marauder trailing behind. Sgt. Norris considers charging one of them in his Spider to push them off the map, but can’t build enough TMM to ensure he won’t get disintegrated by heavy fire. The Lone Wolves are really building up heat now as they desperately try to take these ’Mechs down before they can exit the battlefield. The Cicada limps back toward the Wolves’ home edge.
Turn 6: This was a devastating turn for the Wolves. In their pursuit, they let the enemy Spider get behind them. A medium laser hit to the Scorpion’s rear armor set off an ammo explosion. Fortunately, its auto-eject system was enabled; the pilot ejected safely. The enemy Quickdraw put itself in a good position to kick the Phoenix Hawk in the head, which proceeded to do. The Phoenix Hawk’s pilot was not as lucky as Ssgt. MacGregor, and was crushed by the Quickdraw’s foot. The Quickdraw itself took heavy damage, but remained upright despite taking a pair of punches from the Blackbirds’ Spider.
Turn 7: The Wolves fall back and let the Combine open distance. The Crab scores a pair of large laser hits on each of the Quickdraw’s legs, dealing internal damage to both and slagging a foot actuator. The Quickdraw manages to stay upright.
Turn 8: The Wolves continue to fall back. Although the Crab gets another hit on the Quickdraw, it fails to take the heavily damaged ‘Mech down. This looks like a loss for the Wolves and their Blackbirds. The Combine leaves the field next turn with all their units.
After Action Report
The Galedon Regulars successfully moved all their units off the board, earning them a combined 450 Victory Points. The Wolves fulfilled their orders, but did not complete any of their objectives, and have lost this battle with only 50 Victory Points.
The Wolves had hoped to slow the enemy by downing or hamstringing the Marauder. They might have been better served sending their faster units out ahead and covering the most direct routes off the field. Ignoring the enemy Spider was a calculated risk, but perhaps engaging it with their own Spider could have made a difference.
Final Thoughts
As I play through these games using the new Core Rules, I’m getting a better feel for how they work in actual play. I’ve found that when managing a large number of units, the changes to falling have been pretty nice. I no longer have to look up the fall chart, it’s fairly straightforward.
This game also marks my first experience with the changes to ammunition explosions. In campaign play, I rather like them. During the Succession Wars, without the benefit of CASE or CASE II, it makes sense to keep auto-eject enabled. Had I turned it off, perhaps the Scorpion could have stayed in the fight, but from an immersion standpoint it makes more sense to try to save my pilot. The New Personnel Table is not very forgiving when looking for new MechWarriors to hire. So, as before, the ammunition explosion immediately takes the ‘Mech off the field, but not so much damage was dealt to it that I have completely lost the ‘Mech.
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