This post details information concerning my ongoing ATOW Battletech RPG game I currently run. This post will help catch up readers and bring them up to speed on what events have unfolded revealing further story line since the last update was posted. If you are a current reader or by chance a new reader please follow along and check back for the next update.
Bonus LARGE 20 turn Battletech Battle Report inside.
Planet Sutov
Lyndon's forces having previously removed an unexpected bounty hunter and his retinue continue their pursuit of Raychel. Their target is Raychel, a rogue mechwarrior piloting a Griffon GRF-1S variant battlemech. Raychel herself has information and somewhere aboard her battlemech is a data disk full of valuable information. Both the mechwarrior Raychel and Griffin battlemech are targets for capture. If it comes to killing Raychel or destroying the Griffin these are last measures to prevent stolen data from slipping away again or disappearing altogether. This also results in significant reductions in their primary mission of retrieval of stolen data.
Lyndon's hunch was correct, the pirate forces were low on fuel. They only posses a single leopard dropship with enough fuel to reach orbit leaving them stranded. Being stranded would give no chance to defend against losing their extraction target and their valuable communications system. For these reasons the combined lances chose to hide and evade capture on Sutov awaiting further extraction.
Raychel is protected by her extraction lance. The extraction last composes of twin Charger assault battlemechs who act as bodyguards for a mechwarrior piloting a Cyclops battlemech, the main leader of Lost Mercy. In their current assignment they act as bodyguards for a Hermess II battlemech. The Hermess II battlemech possesses a powerful communication blocking system. The communications blocking system creates a mobile bubble preventing all communication in or out without proper frequencies and codes to communicate within. There is also an additional lance of paroling battlemechs. The presence of an additional lance of battlemechs on patrol was largely unknown. Lyndon assumed Sutov was clear, but apparently his adversaries were refusing to give way to losing Sutov as a valuable smuggling route.
Battle Report
Battle Setup
Mission
Capture or Destroy
Mission Objective
FWL forces have orders to capture or kill a rogue mechwarrior at the same time capture or destroy her battlemech.
Primary Objective
Capture or kill mechwarrior Raychel
Capture or destory Raychel's Griffin battlemech
Secondary objective
Capture or Destroy Hermess II battlemech
This Hermess like the Cyclops both poses powerful mobile communication blocking equipment. This Hermess blocks communication for ground units while the Cyclops blocks communication for a planet.
Bonus objective
Completely wipe out Patrol lance prior to wiping out Extraction lance
Mission Rules
Floating Criticals, Careful Stand
Mapsheets
Mapsheet Selection
Rolling Hills 1
Wide River
Rolling Hills 2
Map selection represents the numerous hills, mountains, streams, and rivers covering the planet's surface area.
Mapsheet layout
West - Rolling Hills 1
Battletech logo pointed North
Center - Wide River
Battletech logo pointed North
East - Rolling Hills 2
Battletech logo pointed North
West - Deep Canyon 1
Battletech logo pointed North
North is up
Battle Forces
Attacker
FWL 9th Marik Malitia
Mech Lance
Lance Leader Lieutenant Wofly
Wolverine WVR-6M - G 4 / P 6 *With Re-roll
* Perk - Extra simulator time during down time.
Force Commander Lieutenant Lyndon
Crusader CRD-3R - G 3 / P 3
Mechwarrior Sergeant Jave
Marauder MAD-3M - G 3 / P 4
Mechwarrior Sergeant Zoku
Thug THG-11E - G 4 / P 4
Defender
Pirate Forces - Lost Mercy
Patrol Mech lance
Clint CLNT-2-3T - G 3 / P 5
Vindicator VND-1R - G 3 / P 4
Hunchback HBK-4G - G 3 / P 5 *
* Reoccurring enemy with upgraded stats.
Griffin GRF-1N - G 3 / P 4
Extraction Mech Lance
Hermess II HER-2S - G 2 / P 3 *
* Possesses an onboard communication systems
Charger CGR-1A1 - G 2 / P 3 *
* Modified with additional hand actuator
* Bodyguard to Cyclops
*Proxied with a Banshee
Charger CGR-1A1 - G 2 / P 3 *
* Modified with additional hand actuator
* Bodyguard to Cyclops
*Proxied with a Banshee
Griffin GRF-1S - G 4 / P 4
* Rogue mechwarrior and battlemech
* Stolen data on board
Battle Report
Deployment
FWL forces entered through the middle West map edge positioned close together. Pirate patrol lance entered through the East map edge positioned spread out in patrol formation.
Pirate extraction lance would not enter through the East map edge until turn four.
A Hunchback arriving struck a bit of wonder and worry in Lyndon and Zoku, both as players and characters. They wonder is this is the same Hunchback pilot Lyndon faced twice previously in the first campaign creating an enemy to his character. They worry in this Hunchback is equipped with an AC/20. This Hunchback enemy has shown up first with a weak HBK-4N variant equipped with an AC/5 and again with a stronger HBK-4H variant equipped with an AC/10. It would only befit him more to bring a main HBK-4G variant equipped with a destructive AC/20.
Turn 01
Lyndon split his forces sending Jave and Wolfy North while Zoku and himself took to the South. Pirate movement kept the more mobile Griffin North while the rest kept to the South.
Lyndon knew if the Hunchback was indeed his rival enemy (which he was most certain of) he would go straight for him and his Crusader. He thought with terrain for cover against an approach from open ground with a river to cross the Hunchback's pilot might think against the idea. Still if this was to be the method, Zoku's Thug would provide an excellent additional array of powerful long range weapons to bare against an enemy approach. The enemy Clint invading their unprotected left flank could allow the Hunchback a safer approach with less weapons trained on it.
To the North, Wolfy given the chance could close the distance to the enemy Griffin. If the distance was closed Wolfy could provide harassment to the Griffin and even out gun it up close. Wolfy most importantly needed to scan the enemy Griffin to see if it was their target. Doubt was cast against this Griffin as being their target. Jave provided cover fire and keep an eye on the middle flank against invasion from the enemy Clint.
Turn 02
Both opposing forces followed their projected movement paths with the exception of the Wolverine and Clint both taking the lead and jumping ahead of their respective lancemates.
Turn 03
Surprisingly the Vindicator took the middle approach while the Clint took the lower approach. This movement force Wolfy to jump his Wolverine to cut off the Vindicator's approach. Once Wolfy jumped into the canter mapsheet communications with him ceased. Lyndon and Zoku went for the hills ahead of them unsure of the next direction a certain Hunchback would move. Lyndon and Zoku both lost communication upon entering the center mapsheet leaving them to use hand gestures through their battlemech cockpit windows. This communication block confirmed their suspicions the previously encountered communications blocking unit was nearby.
Turn 04
Pirate extraction lance enters through the East map edge.
Regardless whether the current enemy Griffin was scanned, a second enemy Griffin entering the fray along with it's previously spotted extraction battlemechs confirmed the high priority battlemech target was present.
All enemy patrol lance battlemechs advanced towards FWL units. The Vindicator moved for a sniper spot to rain fire to Lyndon while opening a flank for Wolfy to approach to short range. The Clint jumped even closer to jump again for a dangerous rear attack. Both the Clint and Vindicator's distracting actions gave their Hunchback lancemate precious approach time over open ground.
Turn 05
A change for a rear shot was reversed to a retreat jump into woods followed by a fall. Wolfy pushed back his advisory somewhat as well as his continual approach. Lyndon was sure his enemy was among and ready to blast his battlemech given the chance. Lyndon maneuvered his Crusader into heavy woods in front of him for cover as he was in medium range of an AC/20 shot. Slow movement from Hunchback to Crusader and little to waver gave true to a good AC/20 shot to the Crusader's torso area. All other enemy units continued their approach.
Turn 06
Jave unable to communicate and unconcerned with a nearby Griffin's pitiful accuracy chose to keep a closer Clint in check. In relative safety of wood cover a certain Clint pilot was able to right his battlemech. Wolfy continued to keep the Vindicator busy while receiving pop shops from the approaching enemy extraction lance. Being in close range to the extraction lance gave Wolfy an opportunity to scan their accompanying Griffin. Wolfy's scan was true confirming their Griffin was indeed the Griffin variant they were after. Zoku being the better target this time took the next Ac/20 shot to an arm. Lyndon and Zoku both knew this massive autocannon had to be silenced so they both open fire on the Hunhback with every weapon they could. Among a storm of combined PPC, ML, and SRM firepower the Hunchback's torso armor was sliced open and the AC/20 ammunition within detonated. The Hunchback exploded in fireball of molten slag ejecting the Hunback pilot in misery of another battlemech lost.
Battlemech destroyed!
Turn 07
Both enemy extraction lance Chargers split to different directions, one moving North and the other moving South. Lyndon and Zoku stayed close in position while Jave turned North unopposed to the nearby Clint. Wolfy pursued the Vindicator to no end causing it the pilot to lose his battlemech's footing resulting in a fall to the ground.
A form of honorable combat emerged from the Charger pilots. Communications came in rom both Chargers to both Jave and Zoku challenging them to physical combat.
*This was a choice solely left up to Jave and Zoku to decide individually. Lyndon could not sway the decision at all. Jave as an NPC with certain traits forced him to auto confirm the challenge. Zoku accepted the challenge as well.
Turn 08
Jave rushed to his opponent as he did the same and ordered the Griffin to retreat back to protect the rear. Zoku and her opponent had the same frame of mind and uprooted massive trees in order to have a swinging match before involving metal fists. Lyndon unsure what was going on an overheated stayed put. Wolfy was quick to jump from the approaching Charger and follow the shadowy efforts of the Clint slipping behind Lyndon for a back shot. The Vindicator's pilot was able to stand up and went for the water for safety falling in the process. The Hermes stayed back with the two Griffins clearly given the intention he was in charge.
Turn 09
Both Jave and Zoku closed more distance to their respective Chargers challenging them. Raychel moved her Griffin away from the Hermes to the other Griffin. This seemed like a support move more than defense. With the Hermes left alone and clearly the lead battlemech, Lyndon set his sights to take out the Hermes. Wolfy, noticing Lyndon's movement moved his superior battlemech to the Clint brushing it off Lyndon's back so he could move his battlemech.
Turn 10
Jave and Zoku began their physical matches against their respective challenges. Zoku and her Challenger both took swings at one another with their tress held in their hands. With an explosion of wood and splinters both swung trees hit with each battlemech taking a massive hit.
Jave and Zoku would continue to engage both Chargers in physical combat for quite awhile.
Wolfy continued to observe Lyndon's rear arc as he moved forward. Having chased off the Clint, his sights went for the Vindicator. The Vindicator being in a bad spot was taken out when ammunition was hit and detonated turning the battlemech into a fireball of useless slag.
Battlemech Destroyed!
Turn 11
Both Lyndon and Wolfy advanced with little regard to the lone Clint desperately trying to catch up. Their advance saw the forward most advanced Griffin retreat to Raychel's Griffin.
Turn 12
Both Lyndon and Wolfy advanced again while their tailing Clint fell to the ground. Both Griffins jumped to the Hermes in preparation to fight the advancing FWL forces.
Turn 13
The Clint failed to stand. While Jave and Zoku engaged in physical combat, Lyndon and Wolfy engaged in ranged combat.
Turn 14
The Hermes and the Griffins all advanced attempting to close the distance to the Crusader.
Turn 15
Both Griffins moved to optimal range with the main weapons against Lyndon while their leader moved to the rear of his battlemech. Lyndon had to weather the attempted beat down the best he could as Wolfy had moved to water being badly overheated temporarily lowering his effectiveness.
Turn 16
Lyndon's movement got him between a Griffin to the front and a Hermes to the rear. While Lyndon dealt with the Griffin to the front, Wolfy maneuvered to deal with the Hermes to the rear. Lyndon and Wolfy both had the same idea to take advantage of their superior close range firepower and pour it into enemy battlemechs. Their ideas paid off when both Griffin and Hermes fell to the ground.
Turn 17
Zoku at this point had had enough of her Charger's challenge after losing an arm. To avoid further damage to her priceless battlemech relic and all of it's irreplaceable internal components she fired her remaining particle cannon along with both of her SRM launchers at the Charger. The Charger unbeknownst to the switch in tactics was assaulted by a swarm of SRMs ripping through to knock out the engine. The Charger fell to the ground in a massive clash of dust.
Battlemech destroyed!
Lyndon's Griffin failed to stand forcing the Hermes to retreat away only to be caught by Wolfy.
Turn 18
Lyndon's Griffin again failed to stand giving Lyndon a chance to retreat slightly and cool off his battlemech. Raychel gave a failed attempt to support her lead battemech. Wolfy gave his battlemch its true calling acting like a viscous Wolverine at close range and destroyed the Hermes.
Battlemech destroyed!
Secondary objective complete!
When the Hermes fell so did the communications bubble freeing the FWL forces to finally communicate with each other.
Turn 19
Fallen Griffin succeeded in standing at a running pace retreating forward. Wolfy still on the rampage went for the retreating Griffin for another take down.
Battlemech destroyed!
Bonus objective complete!
Lyndon and Zoku who was somewhat in action focused their ranged weapons on Raychel's Griffin knocking her to the ground post jump thereby stopping her retreat.
Turn 20
Lyndon ordered Jave to put an end the useless one arm honor duel between his one armed marauder and his challenger's one armed Charger. In the spirit of Zuko, Jave pointed his weapons into the exposed guts of his enemy and blew the center torso out.
Sweet justice slaver trash!
Battlemech destroyed!
Wolfy chased after the ejected Hermes pilot for a capture. Lyndon chased after Raychel in her badly damaged Griffin. Lyndon gave her one last warning to surrender or die, her choice. Raychel surrendered.
Primary objective complete!
End Game
Carnage Report
Attacker
FWL 9th Marik Malitia
Mech Lance
Wolverine WVR-6M
Heavy Damage
Crusader CRD-3R
Heavy Damage
Marauder MAD-3M
Critical Damage
Thug THG-11E
Critical Damage
* Irreplaceable internal structure points lost
* Repairs were successful in reattaching the Battlemech's left arm. Due to the extent of damage to the irreplaceable shoulder joint, if the shoulder is ever hit, the entire arm breaks off.
Defender
Pirate Forces - Lost Mercy
Patrol Mech lance
Clint CLNT-2-3T
Critical damage
Battlemech abandoned
Mechwarrior escaped
Vindicator VND-1R
Critical Damage
Center Torso destroyed
Battlemech destroyed
Mechwarrior escaped
Hunchback HBK-4G
Critical Damage
Ammunition explosion
Battlemech destroyed
Mechwarrior escaped
Griffin GRF-1N
Critical Damage
Heat destroyed
Ammunition explosion
Battlemech destroyed
Mechwarrior killed
Extraction Mech Lance
Hermess II HER-2S
Critical Damage
Ammunition explosion
Battlemech destroyed
Mechwarrior escaped
Charger CGR-1A1
Critical Damage
Engine shutdown
Battlemech abandoned
Mechwarrior escaped
Charger CGR-1A1
Critical Damage
Center Torso destroyed
Battlemech destroyed
Mechwarrior escaped
Griffin GRF-1S
Critical Damage
Mechwarrior captured
Battletech captured
Mission Rewards
Mission Salvage
Critically damaged Charger CGR-1A1 gifted to Zoku for her efforts in keeping one of Chargers busy. Zoku was unsure at the time as to what to do with the battlemech so she decided to have it stored for the meantime. She hired a technician to make a full damage report and repair order for her while she was gone along with clean up what they could and maintain what was left.
Information Rewards (Post Interrogation)
Prior to arriving at Aris Prime, Lyndon's forces in transit attempted to interrogate Raychel. Raychel gave nothing away. Lyndon concluded his lack of interrogation skills and her current head injuries were not going to produce anything. Raychel was a much harder interrogation attempt and useless information to complete failure was largely expected.
Arriving on Aris Prime, Lyndon relinquished control of Raychel and her battlemech to company command. Company command had far more powerful interrogation assets available. Company command took no time disassembling Raychel's battlemech component by component in search of any possible hidden data sources. Searching the battlemech only gave the stolen data source, but nothing else. Company command's attempt at interrogating Raychel were highly successful.
In the end, Raychel was in no way connected to the evil deeds of the pirate infestation. She was like any other person for hire with particular skill sets. Raychel's skill set was infiltration, escaping, and down right thievery. She was able to infiltrate Aris Fire using falsified documents, get herself in the brig and escape to steal the data she was paid to recover.
Company command's interrogation assets in game terms gave the players a series of rolls and bonuses against a list of information possessed by Raychel and the stolen data source. Player rolls gave seven successful hits on a hidden list of possible information. Listed below is a list and explanation of information gained.
Interrogation roll results
1. Multiple confirmed pirate leaders piloting cyclops battlemechs
2. Pirate leader call signs
3. Katerra Prime ousted, escaped, and at large corrupt governor location
4. Cyclops (Low Eye) location
5. Cyclops to Cyclops transmission transcripts
6. Mercenary force
7. Sirona Royal Regiments
Interrogation roll results explanation
1. Multiple confirmed pirate leaders piloting cyclops battlemechs
1E. The players knew there were at least two pirate leaders and both of them piloting Cyclops battlemechs. They also had suspicions there were more leaders leading to a much larger operational area.
2. Pirate leader call signs
2E. This information provided a glimpse into a hierarchy system used by the three pirate leaders designated by their call signs. Their call signs identified were Low Eye, High Eye, and Mind's Eye. Low Eye being the lowest proceeded by High Eye leading to Mind's Eye at the top of the leadership.
3. Aris Prime ousted, escaped, and at large corrupt governor location
3E. Katera Prime's corrupt governor was previously ousted by Lyndon's forces. He was then expertly extracted by mercenary forces of Headless Help. Afterwards the whereabouts of the governor all vanished and he was hidden well beyond the eyes of FWL authorities. With this being the current situation, company command switched focus to pursuing leads for pirate leadership. This information was welcomed by company command as they possessed a bit of closing for the people of Katerra. His location was all to bitter sweet for both sides as his location pointed to the planet Susis. Susis is the privately held sister world to Sutov and is ripe with tourism.
4. Cyclops (Low Eye) location
4E. An exact location not obtained, but rather a general direction was obtained. Data gave clues to a route crossing an area known as The Resource Triangle. The Resource Triangle is an almost perfect setup of worlds whose location in the shape of a trainable giving them their name. These worlds are each respectfully abundant in food, water, and wood supplying a large amount of nearby FWL worlds.
5. Cyclops to Cyclops transmission transcripts
5E. This information confirmed there are three separate pirate leaders all piloting Cyclops battlemechs.
6. Mercenary force
6E. A series of jobs and pay for an unknown mercenary force. These jobs and the pay listed were nothing anything near the likes of Headless Help. Lyndon's forces could only speculate on who these mercenaries where and how dedicated they were to their employers and pay.
7. Sirona Royal Regiments
7E. An unknown unit not registered to any listed military or civilian force in the FWL. Long term database searches of known units across the inner sphere have been fruitless as well.
* As much as Dan follows Battletech history he was generally surprised by this find.
Pursue the Low Eye or Capture the Corrupt
With all of the new information gained Lynson's forces and company command were pleased with the work so far. Company command advised there may be more data available, but it will take time to retrieve it. Lyndon requested company command allow his forces to keep to their pursuit of the Low Eye. Company command took the request into consideration. Lyndon in the meantime oversaw the prepping of his forces until further orders were given.
Orders eventually came down to Lyndon's forces. These orders were to cease pursuit of the Low Eye and to pursuit and capture the ousted corrupt governor. Their reasoning was if the governor ever came to the knowledge of his location was known he would most likely disappear again. Coming across his location in data recovery operations was a blessing to the people of Katerra. Capturing the governor and bringing him to justice would send a message to pirates forces and anyone involved. The message would be their holds will break and they cannot evade capture or destruction forever.
Lyndon expressed concern about Low Eye possibly slipping through the cracks and escaping the clutches of justice and the FWL. Even though Low Eye was suspected of heading for the Liao border for a possible escape route company command considered their decision carefully before switching Lyndon's objective. The Low Eye and his accompanied forces would have to cross not only the Resource Triangle, but also pass through the lanes of many listening posts and finally pass the border world Aris Guard. Aris Guard is a formal military outpost protecting the FWL on the Liao borderline. Aris Guard has numerous commands capable of demolishing the Low Eye. Although their are many commands, there are not many methods of moving them as they are strategically placed assets not intended for non garrison duties. Company command intends to use the borrowed time knowing the Low Eye may possibly be stranded in a portion FWL space forced to remain hidden until thing settle down. This would allow company command to set motions forward to trap Low Eye for capture.
Campaign Advancement
Lyndon wasn't happy with company command's decision, but he follows their orders as always. Lyndon's forces left Aris Prime with their destination for Susis with orders to find and capture the much loathed corrupt governor.
I finally finished this post in it's entirety and what a beast it is. Next time I post about the campaign we will see how Lyndon's forces search for the corrupt governor goes and if they are successful able to capture him and bring him to justice.
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