Casting Shadows

These entries comprise the official turn resolution posts for Act V Scene 1 of our PBeM-run A Time of War Mechwarrior RPG campaign entitled Hair of the Dog. This scene encapsulates the entire urban aspect of the Battle for the port city of Beasville on the planet Oliver – a Marik industrial world recently annexed by the Lyran Alliance during the opening months of the 4^th Succession War.

Player entries and GM notes have been largely excised from the narrative to allow for faster reading, a greater grip on continuity and shorter threads as this battle sequence requires frequent accessing of the maps and battle data to make real sense. The data sheet for the battle can be found via Google Docs at this link: Battle of Beasville Chart. The maps have an album located here: Battle of Beasville Maps

This entry is told from the point of view of Luckjaw

For the other characters’ view points click any of the following links:

CH:L     MD      BT

Cast of Characters

Hair of the Dog Archive

November 27, 3028

Turn 2

Initiative Information

• No visible hostiles
• Current location: Hex 2322 facing Hex 2221 (Griffin in Hex 2421 facing Hex 2321)
• Terrain: snow covered road

The angled light of dawn casts twisted shadows across the snow covered ground in front of your mech, disturbed only by a chaotic mess of skidding traffic, and a line of mech tracks as you step free of the reinforced walls of the warehouse and out ontoAnderson Boulevard, facingNorth West. Through the large and slowly falling flakes of snow, the winter sunrise washes everything in shades of orange and fiery reflections, but your eyes adjust quickly thanks to the tinted view ports of the Guillotine.

You form up to the left of Mad Dog’sGriffin. The shadows of your mech cast wide and wickedly aggressive shadows across the snow. At the intersection to your right, past the broad shoulders of theGriffin, you see a helpless bus at right angles to the road, T-boned by a garbage truck. It would appear that Blowtorch and Cool Hand caused a panic when they stepped out on the street.

No signs of pedestrians are below you, and no traffic is coming from the West, up Anderson Boulevard toward your position so you are clear to follow orders and head in that direction without concern for human life. 240m further down the road, you can make out Cool Hand’s diminutive Hermes turned to faceNorth West(in Hex 1725, facing 3323).

It’s a beautiful snowy morning on Oliver.

Guillotine GLT-3N

70 Tons – 4/6/4 – 22 Heat Sinks

• Head 9
• CT 27
• RT/LT 22
• CTr 12
• RT/LTr 8
• R/L Arm 20
• R/L Leg 22

1 Large Laser LA

2 Medium Lasers RA

1 Medium Laser LT

1 Medium Laser RT

1 SRM6 CT (no ammo)

Jump Jets in Torsos and Legs:  can jump into Depth 1 water, can jump 2 hexes out of Depth 1 water

Turn 2: Movement Phase

As you cross into the park in the center of Reeves Roundabout, a little to the south of one of the city’s Hazard Shelters, You see Blowtorch come to a gentle landing in her purple and gold Spider.

The Guillotine is working smoothly, and well.

Doing the best scan you can, you do not detect any military vehicles in range, but you know that the buildings will interfere.

To the South, most of the way downReeves Avenue, you see Mad Dog’s Griffin getting hammered by energy and missile fire!

Turn 2: Firing Phase

Would you like to fire on any of the targets you can see?  (Jenner and Commando)

Mad Dog’s voice comes over your comm, saying, “Stick close to CH. Targetting the Jenner.”

As you glance back to check out his situation, you see theGriffinshaking under a heavy volley of fire from the enemy lance. Laser and missile fire have wrapped the left side of his mech in smoke and steam!

The clearest shot you have is at the end of medium range. It’s the Jenner.

To fire on the Jenner takes great skill, and you are not sure you will be able to do it at this range in this weather, but even if you miss, you will still scare the crap out of the Lyran pilot!

Taking the shot seems worth it.

Twisting your mech’s Torso toward the North and flipping the large laser over to face the rear, you line up a solid shot and fire!

The high-output laser that forms your mech’s right arm boils armour off of the Jenner’s left leg with a flare of light and a cloud of steam.

Combat System

Basic Target Number 8

• Your Movement        -2
• Target’s Movement   -2
• MediumRange        -2
• Moderate Snow        -1
• Gunnery                +4

Final Roll Modifier: -7 + 4 = -3    Succeed on an 11 or better 

Rolled 11, Hit! (Glancing Blow)

Turn 3

Initiative Information

• 3 visible hostiles (Jenner, Commando, Wasp)
• 2 visible Allies (Griffin, Spider)
• 3 Active Allies detected
• Current Panel: Map Row 2, Column 3
• Current Location: Hex 1819 facing Hex 1719 (torso twist toward 1818 to fire)
• Terrain: snow covered ground

Enemy Movement Information

• The light lance is turning to the East
• They might be going for cover behind the Museum

Ally Movement Information

• Cool Hand broadcasts on the Lance Channel: “All Units, form up East”

As you prepare to jump, and are reaching out to flip on your comms, the message from Cool Hand suddenly changes, and comes in on the priority channel:

Broadcast from Cool Hand:

“Rendezvous near Sector 2, grid reference 2118”

NOTE:

The map is made out in 3 rows and 4 columns. It contains a total of 12 map panels, using just 4 different maps. As a result, there are many identical hex numbers.

OOOO

OOOO

OOOO

To prevent confusion locations will be referred to this way: Sector 2, grid reference 2118. The Sector number will be the map panel. The grid reference is the hex.

Sector Two is this map:

OOOO

OOOO

OOOO

Sector 12 would be this map:

OOOO

OOOO

OOOO

Sending out your position and damage status on the main channel, you fire the jump jets and take the Guillotine back toward the museum.
The mech around you moves smoothly when running and walking. Jumping in a heavy mech is never graceful, but the Guillotine responds quickly to your commands and leaps in a clean arc over an ugly government-built pre-school to come down lightly in grid reference 2022, facing across Anderson Boulevard and the frozen lake around the museum… your former place of work.

Over the comm, Cool Hand states coldly, “Attack the light lance.”  The rebel captain wanted to get out of town with a minimum of fighting, but now that the Lyrans have attacked, he is not wasting any time.
It will be important to remember to stay close to the other heavy mechs, though… the Crusader and Orion only have two medium lasers and no speed or jump jets to use to defend themselves.
As the jump jets slam you deeper down into the pilot’s couch, your mech shows the position reports of the others, including Charger (Tate) and Glass Heart (Dominic), across your screen and plays them quietly in your helmet speakers. The Orion and Crusader are out of the warehouse and moving westward downAnderson Boulevard.
You open your comm and send a direct message to Mad Dog, “Is getting pummel is your way to target a mech mad dog…?  They are flanking the grennies… Let’s try to get them in sandwich… ”

You both jump at almost the same time, and you can see him jump just 90 metres and come down between heavy buildings related to theNationalArtGallery. As he brings theGriffindown, keeping the body oriented toward the West, your Guillotine comes down just to his rear in Grid Reference 2022, facing toward the museum.
Beside you to the left , the Orion and Crusader struggle a bit in the snow the passages of the first 4 mechs have packed and made slippery, but the two men turn their mechs and send them westward toward you along Anderson Boulevard as expected, their torsos are already twisting in hope that they will be able to acquire a target.
The enemy Wasp, glittering and fragile-seeming in the orange light of dawn, jumps behind the museum, clearing the lake and coming down next to theGuardTower. (Grid Reference 2426)
You lose sight of the Jenner and Commando after you touch down, but they are moving at a run through the light woods bounding the Museum park.

The Spider sets down about 100 meters North East of you, not far from the Warehouse gates, blasting snow in every direction as it lands.

Firing in this direction will be hard because of the snow and the glare from the sun. (penalty of 2)

Calculating your firing difficulty:

The roll is 2D6 and you will add your skill of 4 to whatever you roll, trying to beat an 8. The normal modifiers from Battletech are used to make this roll harder. In Battletech, the modifiers add to the difficulty, but in A Time of War, they subtract from your roll.

Battletech: Gunnery + Range Modifier + Movement Modifier + Target Movement Modifier + Terrain Modifier + Conditions  Modifier = Target Number

A Time of War:  2D6 + Skill + Linked Attribute Modifier – Range Mod – Movement Mod – Target Movement Mod – Terrain Mod – Conditions Mod = Margin of Success or Failure.

In this case, if you wanted to target the Wasp, your roll would look like this:

2D6 + 4 + 0 – 2 – 3 – 3 – 0 – 2       making 2D6 – 6 meaning you will need to get a 14 on 2D6. Rolling a 14 can occur by rolling 12 and getting more than 2 on the additional reroll from the ‘exploding dice’ or by spending Edge (p43).

As you track the Wasp with your large laser, you hear a reply from Mad Dog, “”Don’t even get me started…”

On its heels, a message coded for you, Blowtorch, and Mad Dog comes from CH:L ordering you to form up as a lance to attack the fast-moving Lyran light mechs.

The others need little encouragement to join you in the fight even though firing through the screen of moderate snow, directly into the glare of the rising sun is not easy. There is something to be said for the psychological effect of massed fire on a single target, however, regardless of the number of shots which actually hit.

The Hermes, you, and the Orion all open fire on the tiny scout mech, despite the challenge represented by the range, the speeds involved, and the difficulty in seeing. All miss.  The Crusader andGriffinseem to be aiming carefully, biding their time.

The searing energy of your combined fire blazes across the icy lake around the Museum and blasts large chunks of terrain and roadway into flash-boiled smoke and debris.

The silvery Wasp, glimmering orange in the rising sunlight, remains untouched, but its arms come up to cover its head and the pilot begins to crouch for another desperate jump.

Opening a general frequency, you broadcast your taunts at the Lyrans, ” Hey Lyran wuss… Hiding like the coward you are… Why AM i not surprise…. you small penis!!!

Only static and interference replies~

____

You have won Initiative.

Turn 4

Initiative Information

• 2 visible hostiles (Wasp, Stinger)
• 5 visible Allies
• 4 hostiles detected (Stinger, Jenner, Commando, Wasp)
• Radio Traffic Increasing
• 5 Active Allies detected (Spider,Griffin, Guillotine, Orion, Crusader)
• Current Location: Sector 7, Hex 2022, facing South
• Terrain: snow covered ground

Enemy Movement Information

• The light lance is moving to the North
• They are hooking around South of the Museum
• The Wasp is Jumping North East
• The Jenner and Commando are running
• The Stinger is running North

Ally Movement Information

• The Thunderbolt and Thug will enter the map this turn and be able to move with -1MP

As you begin your movement a sharp message goes out over the command channel from CH:L, “Lasers don’t run out of ammunition, people!”

Immediately afterward, over a clear channel you receive the following communication:

“This is local force commander Aaron Schmidt, for the People of Oliver. Rebel Force, cease fire for the sake of the innocent lives around you!”

As you jump toward the entrance of the Museum Warehouse, you get a quick sight of infantry squads assembled on the roof tops of the central ring of the  Police Placecomplex. (simple action)

You open a channel to Blowtorch and ask her to try to block them from leaving the Commercial District. (simple action)

It is hard to see in the glare, but you think you spotted some missile carriers on the East side of the Plaza. In the glare, through the snow, and at your rapidly decreasing height and speed it is impossible to tell what sort of carrier they are. You are almost certain they are in Sector 8, Grid Reference 3518 and 3519

As you start your descent, the Thug exits the warehouse and is in danger of being DFA’d by your Guillotine, but its pilot Fitz (Callsign: Death Breath) expertly backs the mech out of your path and down the street.

“Missed you, too!” he sends directly to you as he swings the huge Thug around to face the South West.

Looking south east into the glare of the sun, you can make out the silhouette of the Wasp as it lands on the roof of a 4 or 5 storey building. You lose sight of the Jenner behind some other buildings, but from somewhere much farther south you hear a tremendous sound of screaming metal and shattering glass.

Next to you, Rover (Pietr) comes out into the light of dawn in his Thunderbolt and just stops…

You have visuals on all the mechs in your force, but can only see the Wasp in the enemy force.

Cool Hand will probably have some sort of response for the Lyran commander, but… what do you want to do? The Jenner, wherever it is, is running toward Blowtorch in her tiny Spider. The Lyrans are moving missile carriers into position. The Commando and Stinger might be running for reinforcements, and you guys are right back where you started… the Museum!

Several mechs open fire on the Wasp even though the mobility of the mech, and the glare and the snow make the chances of hitting almost impossible. The Griffin and Crusader are behind you, and they open fire at almost the same instant, while about 100m ahead of you the Thug takes a shot with one of its arm-mounted PPCs.

As the shots strike the Wasp, message from Cool Hand ordering all mechs to cease fire begins. The message is unencrypted and is on the same open channel as the Lyran commander used.

“Grey Hawk Irregulars: hold your fire. Commander tell your people to cease fire, and we will gladly meet them north of the city for honorable combat”

Through the glare and snow and discharge of energies, you can only be certain of one thing, the attacks have torn the Wasp’s right arm off of its mountings and shredded the armour across the right torso, exposing large areas of the internal structures lying underneath. The tiny mech rocks in its feet on the concrete rooftop, but does not fall.

A streak of light catches your eye and you guess that Blowtorch has also opened fire, due south. You are pretty sure that was no return fire.

You think your sensors are picking up high concentrations of metal on the East side ofPolicePlaza, but the heavy construction of the Plaza is interfering with detection in that direction. Could there be forces grouping on the other side of the former police headquarters?

____________________

Your side has won Initiative.

Turn 5

Initiative Information

1 visible hostile (Wasp)

6 visible Allies (Cannot see Spider)

4 hostiles detected (Stinger, Jenner, Commando, Wasp)

2 possible hostiles detected (vehicles?)

Current Location: Sector 7, Hex 2421, facing East

Terrain: snow covered road

Enemy Movement Information

The light lance has split with 2 units moving North, upLawrence AvenuetowardPolicePlaza, one unit down, and one unit in Sector 6 heading North

The Wasp is not advancing

The Jenner is running North

The Commando is moving North slowly

The Stinger is walkingNorth West

Ally Movement Information

All Mech units are on the board

Behind you, Death Breath’s Thug moves off toward the North at a run. Fitz handles the assault mech with incredible grace. Farther behind you, Mad Dog’s damagedGriffin, smoke trailing from the left leg, and Blowtorch’s tiny Spider, both jump as far as they can to theNorth West.  The Unit Commander, Cool Hand, has his Hermes smoothly walking backward, passing between you and Rover as you both head in the opposite direction.[Simple]

As you cross the street from the warehouse entrance toward the stores on the other side, you hear Blowtorch yell on the open channel, “Catch me if you can, kokotko!” [A slovak insult to men…]

Her jump… 240 metres travelled, clears an 8 storey building [L4] while simultaneously passing between two much, much taller structures.

Charger is 30 some metres ahead of Cool Hand and behind Mad Dog. He is sending you a direct message, “Where are you going, Alexandre?”

The only mechs you can see are Rover’s, and the Jenner. [Incidental] The Wasp, on top of the building in front of you, has crouched down, and you have lost Line of Sight. The building it is standing on is very well constructed [Heavy], and not yet open for business.

As you do a quick check of the sensors you see a vast reading as a cloud of missiles begin to rain down somewhere just behind you… so many they register as a solid object on the scope. [incidental]

The view out of your canopy shows a massive trail of smoke, not unlike a tornado, arcing over the top of thePolicePlaza, looking like they will come down on top of you and Rover.

[You have 3 simple actions, or 1 complex action left]

As you watch the clouds of LRMS begin their deadly rain on your position, you send your message to the Captain, “Merde Cool Hand… Les sacrements continue to shoot at me… Fuck them!!!… They just shoot a barrage of missile at me…. ?”

Toggling the open channel and his Hermes’ external broadcast system, the Captian denounces the cowardice and trickery of the Lyran commander. He also flags the Wasp as a prime target on everyone’s sensors.

“Treacherous Lyran DOG, have you no respect for civilian Lives??” he states coldly.

As his words crackle with menace and disgust across the airwaves, and roll like amplified thunder toward the park, you see a miracle.

Although dozens of missiles pour out of the sky in a cruel and deadly rain, seeking to rip the armour flesh off the metallic bones of the unscratched Thunderbolt, most of them hit in and around the open doors of the Warehouse, exploding with massed concussive force along the still open door frame and in the darkened interior of the entrance.

Some, however, do explode across the front of the heavy mech, blasting armour pieces into the air and for a moment, the Thunderbolt is hidden in flames, smoke, and flying debris. A second later it is revealed again – still standing, still drawing a bead on the Wasp crouching on the roof-top just above you.

At that moment, a low-flat crack of explosive ammunition erupts and echoes through the streets from somewhere out of sight, to the North. Someone fired an autocannon, and the spray of high-velocity explosive rounds blows chips off the warehouse wall beside the Thunderbolt. The Jenner!

The Thunderbolt retaliates for the autocannon attack with three medium lasers fired upWeaving Street toward the Jenner. Pietr also keeps the Thunderbolt’s focus on the Wasp and opens fire with its arm-mounted large laser, blasting large glowing and glittering fragments high into the air where you can see them flaring in the brutal glare of the rising sun before they start to rain down around you.

You have won Initiative

Turn 6

Initiative Information
2 visible hostiles (Jenner, Commando)
1 visible Allies (Thunderbolt)
4 hostiles detected (Stinger, Jenner, Commando, Wasp)

2 ICE hostiles detected (LRM carriers the computer does not recognize, Data: 1 carries 2 LRM20s, 1 carries 1 LRM20)

Current Location:

Sector 7, Hex 2823, facing East
Terrain: snow covered road

Enemy Movement Information

The light lance has scattered. 1 Heavily damaged (Wasp), 1 on the offensive (Jenner), one wandering around to the South (Commando), and one heading for the NW.

Ally Movement Information

You and Rover are out of formation. The rest of the unit is headingNorth West. At your top speed you are now a full Turn behind the slowest mechs in the unit.

As you stalk the scraped and scratched Commando as it walks slowly upLawrence Avenue, Cool Hand is moving upJohn Street, parallel to Rover’s mad run upWeaving StreettowardPolicePlaza.

As you circle Laird’s General store toward the South, the Jenner comes charging down the park land alongLawrence Avenueto hook up with the Commando and cover the retreat of the massively damaged Wasp.

As you assess your shot on the Commando, you can see on your sensors that Blowtorch has landed on the roof of the Plaza, near the infantry unit you saw earlier.

As you get into position, you blast your taunts at the Lyran pilot on the open channel for all to hear. They won’t forget this day… if they live.

Rover executes a wide and skidding turn at the end ofWeaving Streetto keep a bead on the fast-moving Jenner, but will have a hard time getting a clear shot.

Mad Dog and Death Breath move into position behind Cool Hand, flanking him as he turns once again to the East, when the unit desperately needs to escape to the North.

OOC: I already have your firing information. I will send it out with the others after they declare their targets.

Your allies engage their own targets as you home in on the Commando. You can’t see much of what is going on as you are vision is blocked by the store you are marching around, but you do know that Death Breath has opened up with both PPCs on the Jenner, and that Blowtorch and Cool Hand have begun to attack the infantry on the roof of thePolicePlaza.

Getting the Commando firmly in your sights you unload your full energy weapons complement as he unloads his SRM6, SRM4, and Medium Laser back at you.

The gloves are off, it is full on war now.

Your large laser blasts and boils the armour off the Commando’s left leg, while two of your three mediums miss entirely. The third – lucky number three – sears across the left torso, flaying it open in a narrow slice like a tin can.

The Commando’s medium laser burns into your mech’s left torso, while 6 of the 10 missiles sent rocketing your way pepper it with high explosives, making it shake in its tracks. Missile fragments blow up and over your canopy, rattling like dice on a tile floor, while the after-image of the laser flare floats like a green blob of light in your eyes.

Damage indicators flare up on your console showing armour damage to both legs, and the right and left torso locations.

The Commando is a scrapper! He came ready to fight and fight hard!

Turn 7
You have lost initiative this turn.

Initiative Information

1 visible hostile (Commando)

4 visible Allies (Orion, Crusader, and Spider not visible)
Current Location:

Sector 7, Hex 2824, facing East
Terrain: snow covered road

Enemy Movement Information

The light lance has regrouped to cover the retreat of the heavily damaged Wasp

Ally Movement Information

The unit has regrouped in the killing zone around the museum.

About to turn your attention southward, you catch sight of Blowtorch jumping back off a rooftop which the infantry might be making too hot for her, back behind the cover of towering apartments to the North.

Blasting your jets, you head South, trying to get behind the Commando, aiming for a sturdy-looking building to land on and get a better firing angle. The Commando, however is using its superior speed to try to snake around behind the madly running Rover as he churns up snow and bits of pavement in an attempt to ram the Jenner.

OOC: It is possible to interrupt movement and fire. The rules for doing this are very specific, and the modifiers are high. HOWEVER: It is possible to fire on the Commando at any point in your jump (you choose the hex, he moves 2 hexes for every 1 you jump). The modifiers will add a minimum of 8 to the Target Number:

• Jump +3

• Range +? (depends on the range you choose)

• His movement +1

• Trees +1 (depending on the range you choose)

• Snow +1

• Sun +1

• OpportunityFire while Moving +3

• A roll at medium range would be 2D6+4+1 for aiming – 12 or 2D6-7!

As you jump, you are also able to catch sight of Cool Hand’s Hermes running flat out, slipping and sliding, but staying upright as it charges over a store, across the long strip of parkland lining the big commercial avenues until you lose sight of him deep in the residential section on the tail of the retreating Wasp. That Hermes can really move!

“Enemy Lyran Choppers!” comes over the command channel from CaptainRom.

He is right. Your scope registers two airborne contacts coming in fast from the South West at a very low elevation. The pilots are hugging the ground,flying just over the roof tops of the private housing facing that far corner of the park. Your HuD belatedly identifies them as Warrior Attack Helicopters.

Adding to his notice you broadcast,  “Is anyone tacking care of the Stinger….?”

On the radio, you hear Mad Dog reply to you, “Negative…”

As you set the 70-ton Guillotine down on the snow-covered roof of your target building, it gets harder and harder to keep tracking the Commando as it quickly hooks around behind Rover.

Rover pivots his torso, raising the Right Arm and reaching around to blast the tiny mech at close range, but his shot burns into the ground at the Commando’s feet!

Barely able to hold the reticle on the Lyran scout, you decide to hold your fire even though you know the bastard in the Commando is going to unload everything he has into the rear of the Thunderbolt…    He totally outmaneuvered Pietr!

The Commando’s medium laser sears into the Thunderbolt, melting and scarring armour along the Right Arm, while missiles slam into the mech’s arms, right leg, and across the rear torsos. A few missiles pass by the broad Thunderbolt, and bury themselves in the snow before detonating in a spray of rock and steam.

At that same instant, finally, twin PPC bolts blaze from the Thug from over the top of a low building. Both bolts strike the Commando, 1 taking it in the chest, and the other in the Right Leg, blasting huge pieces of armour away, and sending the mech crashing to the ground behind the Thunderbolt.

As the scout hits the snow, you see a huge black cloud of missiles rise up from behind Police Plaza…  it looks like the missiles will come down somewhere close to where it did the last time…

The missile strike hammers down on and around Fitz’s mech in a wave of missile after missile, shattering glass and blowing massive hunks of concrete out of the building next to the Thug, shattering the street, and causing the Assault mech to crouch under the onslaught of high explosives.

When the smoke clears with the wind, the Thug is still standing – armour steaming, paint scorched and bubbling, metal torn and peeled…  Still, it stands straight, and undaunted.

Your side has won Initiative

Turn 8

Initiative Information
3 visible hostiles
4 visible Allies (Griffin, Spider, Hermes not visible)
3 hostiles detected (Jenner, Commando, Wasp)

2 ICE hostiles detected (SturmFeur1,2)

2 Bogies detected (Warrior 1, 2)

Current Location:

Sector 7,  facing North
Terrain: snow covered roof

Enemy Movement Information

The Light Lance is making a fighting withdrawal to the East. Contact with the Stinger is lost

Ally Movement Information

The unit has separated again, no one is protecting the Orion and Crusader, Rover is charging around out of control, Blowtorch and Mad Dog are behind cover, and Rom is chasing after the Wasp and Jenner by himself… in a scout mech.

Shifting your heavy mech into a run [Simple Action] you jump down off the roof and move as carefully as you can across the parkland and streets between the large commercial zone near the museum and the middle class residential zone to the East. Opening a channel to Cool Hand, you share your thoughts that the tanks need to be taken out – but that this lance needs to escape. [complex action, I sent him the whole speech you sent me]

The purple and gold mech around you works like a dream, and runs cooler than any mech you have ever been in before.

Behind you, your scope and a quick message from Death Breath reveals the two warriors are coming in for the kill. They might be going for him, or for Mad Dog, but they seem to be lining up for shots on you!

The unit seems to be starting to make an effort to work together and take on the tanks. Hopefully, you are not the only one who realizes that they are a major threat!

Ahead of you, Rover is rushing past the fallen Commando, which cannot seem to get back on its feet… is it on ice? Once, twice, three times it tries to stand and fails! Face Down!

Death Breath, his mech still smoking and steaming after that awful missile attack is striding straight at the Commando with both arms lowering to aim right into its back.

Mad Dog and Blowtorch jump back into formation. Blowtorch is dangerously close to the Plaza, and the deadly Elite Infantry on the roof.

NOTES

You have 1 simple action left. That means you can only fire on one target, unfortunately.

They have 14MPs so will have a +4 or better penalty to hit them, plus range and snow (no sun).

2D6+4-2-1-4 = 2D6 – 3 on a target of 8,  meaning 11 or better to hit either helicopter.

The Commando has no movement modifiers, but does have a modifier for being prone (-2), so it will not be easy to hit, but is a little easier than the helicopters.

2D6+4-2-1-2  = 2D6-1, meaning a 9 or better to hit the Commando.

The tanks did not move, and the lead tank has no cover from your position, so the only penalties are your movement (+2), and range (medium for the Large Laser), and the sun and snow.

2D6+4-2-1-1-2   =  2D6-2, meaning 10 or better to hit the SturmFeur.

Difficult choice!

As you run through the snow, your target reticle jumps wildly, making it hard to keep a lock on the struggling Commando, but old training comes back with each step. In the zone, you are aware of the Warriors come up behind you, and can almost feel their AC2s lining up for shots on the thinner armour on your rear. You also know, however, that Mad Dog has your back.

A message from Cool Hand comes in on his special command frequency, cutting off all the radio chatter from the other mechs. He says in a determined and calm voice, “Follow orders and disable the light lance and spotters.”

The Commando keeps trying to rise as Rover runs past and as you get closer, and Fitz gets even closer. It can’t get up.

On the open channel that the Lyrans were using, someone tries to scream ‘Nooooo!’  but the sound stops like it was cut with a knife.

Blowtorch fires one of her medium lasers from her damaged, purple and gold spider. You cannot see if she hit or not. The Thunderbolt also fires its Large Laser and two mediums at the tiny mech, but Rover’s shots miss, almost hitting the Thug!

You and Fitz open fire with everything at the same instant. Two PPCs, one large laser, and four medium lasers into the back of the silver and brown Commando. You know you didn’t hit with everything, but it doesn’t matter because as your beams burn and melt their way inside the armour on the rear of the mech, and as the PPCs blast armour away in huge pieces, an internal ammo explosion tears the mech apart, and sends a huge ball of fire and smoke up, blocking your view of the Thug and Blowtorch.

Behind you, both Warriors open fire with their autocannons and Warrior 2 also fires its SRM launcher….

The missiles curl around your mech on trails of black and grey smoke, but miss…. slamming into the ground around your feet, spraying the legs of your mech with gravel and ice. Only one of the autocannons hits, somewhere on the upper left shoulder.

Mad Dog hit Warrior 1 with his Pulse Laser. The chopper is smoking and losing speed and altitude!

Warrior 2 is undamaged and still on your tail.

Your side has WON initiative.

Turn 9

Initiative Information
0 visible hostiles
3 visible Allies (LJ obscured by smoke)
2 hostiles detected (Jenner, Wasp)

2 ICE hostiles detected (SturmFeur1,2)  Internal Combustion Engine

2 Bogies detected (Warrior 1, 2)

Current Location:

Sector 8,  facing NE
Terrain: snow covered ground

Ally Movement Information

The Unit has formed up around Fitz, and are generally moving NE at a good clip.

Enemy Movement Information

The Light Lance has been stopped, and is turning to fight?

One copter is losing altitude, Warrior 1.

It’s not every day that you get to see a Thunderbolt jump.

Rover’s aggression on the battlefield, first charging the Wasp, then chasing after the Jenner, then the Commando, and now going after the missile carriers, has no rhyme no reason… It just seems like fury, …or fear.  Attempting a DFA in these weather conditions, under the guns of the Elite Infantry in place on the roof of Police Plaza, and who knows what else set up to guard the Sturmfeurs, is pure madness.

Calling after him to persuade him to call off his crazy attack, you get no answer.

With all eyes on the Thunderbolt as your unit converges from different directions on the Plaza, the sight of proud Marik colours passing under and over it almost goes unrecognized. Death Breath’s Thug charges across the open parkland and on into the residential district, trying to keep a bead on the remaining mechs in the light lance. Blowtorch’s Spider arcs up and over the Plaza and deep among the apartments and skyscrapers, trying to form up with the Hermes. Mad Dog’sGriffinpresses ever closer and sets down in the wooded parkland screening the West side of the Plaza, showing the terrible injury to its leg as little as possible.

With such a large number of choices, you could perhaps forgive the Infantry for hesitating, or being uncertain where to fire, but without hesitation their missile squads open up on Rover with their LRM launchers. Explosions erupt across the Thunderbolt’s torso and upper legs, but this is not the worst of it.

The Sturmfeur on which he is attempting to leap, is not an LRM carrier.

Blanketing the area in sudden smoke and fire, the Sturmfeur unleashes hell in the form of a sustained barrage from its machine guns, as well as letting go with its full complement of SRMs at point blank range.

In training, the maimed old veterans they keep around to scare and keep the young men in line always used to say that the best way to defend against a DFA was to destroy the incoming mech in the air.

It would seem that the Lyrans take that old saying very seriously.

You can get a shot on some of the infantry on the roof… it won’t be easy, but it’s possible to thin their numbers a little. You also have a good shot on the Sturmfeur.

Screaming at Rover, you fire everything you have at the low and mean-looking tank. It’s hard to imagine that there is room for a crew in the Sturmfuer, it is so low to the ground!

Over the open channel, you hear a woman’s voice yell in anger and fear, “You knew?!” but the signal is lost suddenly.

As you blaze away with your lasers, scoring solid hits on the front and side armour, causing fragments of track, and a blast of sparks and metal to explode off the right side, the Thunderbolt comes slamming down on top of the tank like a ton of bricks – right on target!

The tank, 85 tons of heavily armoured death, shakes under the strength of your combined attacks, but scarily, does not look all that damaged…

How thick is the armour on that thing?

Your side has WON initiative.

Turn 10. 

Snow Increased to Heavy Snow

Heavy Cloud Cover and Strong Winds

NO Glare

Running through the slippery snow you nearly lose control of the mech twice as you cross icy patches [5220, 5121] but fortunately reach better traction as you hit the large, snow and hedge covered lawn of an apartment complex calledChase Court. As you run, you get a look at the crippled Jenner. Smoke is still billowing out from the shredded armour of the scout mech. You can see Blowtorch closing with the Wasp, and Cool Hand moving in on the Jenner.

The Wasp, lifeless and in pieces.

You send out a radio call quickly, asking for the others to concentrate their fire on Sturmfeur 1 – the SRM carrier.

As you rapidly check the progress of the tanks, you note that one is reentering the vehicle garage ofPolicePlaza. Its partner, trailing some smoke and grinding with difficulty through the snow, brings its SRM turret around to track Rover’s jump in your direction as you and Death Breath run into position right under him. Fitz seems to be trying to use the woods to get a covered shot into one of the tanks, where you will have to be rely on movement and weather.  As the LRM Sturmfeur nears the entrance – you realize it is going to fire its LRMS right at you!

Around you, combat explodes in noise and flares of red and silvery-blue energy. Holding fire as you track the tank’s slow, slow, grinding movement through the snow, you sense that there must be some damage to the tracks or the track assembly… it should be moving faster than this.

Will this damage give your side an advantage against the impossibly thick armored hide of these beasts?

Your mech is still running cool despite the heavy use you have been putting it to, as you trigger your weapons just instants after the others.

You rake 4 medium lasers and your large laser across the side of the tank, while Fitz’s twin PPCs follow-up like blazing blue hammers into the same area. Although armor melts and runs steaming into the snow like wax, and blasts off in shreds and fragments, no appreciable dent is made in the tank as it struggles to claw its way with engine revving furiously through the snow.

From far behind you, Cool Hand’s lasers splash along the front right corner and side of the tank, melting more armor, and sending large smoking gobbets of it down into the tracks. Something small inside explodes in a short burst of sparks, sending up more black smoke, and the tank pulls strongly to the right suddenly.

The Sturmfeur crew, undaunted by the barrage of fire, looses a flight of SRMs at Rover in the Thunderbolt, but once again luck is very much with him as far fewer strike than miss. The rest travel past his mech before scattering wildly across the open ground, exploding against whatever they find… statues, benches, parked vehicles, sign posts… shrapnel and smoke fill the air.

Through the smoke, snow, and flying bits of metal, a flight of 20 LRMs comes ripping out of the bunker into  which the other Sturmfeur has retreated and are angling flatly right at you!  As you brace for the impact, they arc shallowly over the Guillotine’s flanged shoulders and cook at high speed toward the Hermes!

Bracketed by the spread of missiles he has nowhere to go, and in a mech that small there is no safe place for any of the missiles to strike…

Narrowly missing, the swarm of deadly missiles  blows out several floors of corner apartments.  Flaming furniture and bodies rain out the other side ablaze, to plummet the many stories to the frozen ground and concrete below.

Turn 11

Your side has lost Initiative

The Lyran commander is signalling a request to speak with the Marik Commander

Sturmfeur 1 is moving toward the vehicle entrance with difficulty – the tank keeps pulling sharply to the right

Sturmfeur 2 is no longer registering on your scopes

Winds have picked up to very high levels and the snow is coming down in sheets at an angle of nearly 45 degrees, but gusting up into chaotic swirls every few seconds. The temperature is pushing down toward -40 or lower. Training tells you that any step could bring you into contact with Black Ice.

No other threats are registering on your scopes.

Current Orders: Fighting Withdrawal to Sector 3 Grid Reference 5610.

Kicking the Hermes into a run, but signalling the rest of you to keep speeds low, Rom rapidly blasts past the Spider before BT gets herself into motion.

As CHL runs forward, scouting out the North exit from this sector of the city, Mad Dog advances in a jump of approximately 150m to set down between two apartment complexes.

As he touches down lightly in a swirl of snow, just in front of a huge snowplow you leap between Rover and the struggling Sturmfeur. Rover doesn’t seem to be moving at all!

On the command channel you hear Rom order Rover to fall into position, but there is no reply or motion from the Thunderbolt. The front of the mech is baked and charred black from the missile hits, but the armour still seems to be solid. Huge dents, and chips range across the heavy mechs torso, but no holes are visible.

The Thunderbolt’s arm-mounted large laser is slowly sinking down toward the ground as if the pilot has forgotten about it.

As you hit the ground near the Sturmfeur, you notice a group of kids scattered across the lawn ofPolicePlaza, between the building and the tank. A second later, you notice that two of them have been burned to death by laser fire while the others stand around in shock…  Could Rover have hit them by accident as they stood in the snow to watch the tanks and mechs?

Knowing that he is in shock you add your voice to the Captains and shout at him, “ROVER MOVE TO THE FUCKING COORDINATE NOW, OR I WILL SHOOT YOU MYSELF”

Fitz has pushed a little extra speed out of his mech to gain some distance and be ready to back CHL up without being out of contention for another round of shots on the Sturmfeur.

On an open channel the Captain finally responds to the Lyran Commander’s signal, “This better be good…”

The reply is instant and in a different, and older voice than their last communication.

“This is Oberleutnant Gerber Braun, regional commander. First, my apologies for the unnecessary duplicity of my subordinate 1st Leutnant Aaron Schmidt. May I  know to whom I speak?”

You know that Oberleutnant Braun is the Lyran commanding officer for this region, and is the person that the Curator spoke to about surrendering these mechs today at 8am.

You continue to carefully line up your shot on the smoking and sliding Sturmfeur as it painfully grinds its way across only 30 metres of snow. You can see that bent and melted armour is interfering with the operation of the tracks on the right side, and that the smoke is coming out from underneath the engine compartment.

Rover’s mech is still completely still and silent, but your cockpit’s proximity and missile lock alarms are demanding attention. Your HUD has shifted into an orange alarm color, and a siren is blasting loud enough to make your teeth rattle.

You are ariming everything at the Sturmfuer at short range. Its SRM missile turret, capable of launching 16 missiles, is locked on you, as are its three machine gun ports… but it doesn’t fire! What are they waiting for?

Blowtorch touches down roughly 180 metres North of your position, next to the Thug. As her jets shut down, Fitz fires one of his enormous mech’s PPCs at the Sturmfeur, burning across the surface of the turret to spash in a blue-white burst which blasts chunks of armour off the front end in an electrified spray of shrapnel.

Your own targetting systems show a good clean shot, even though your Guillotine is still shaking from landing, and you take that shot. The large laser just misses the top of the turret and burns deep into the concrete under the snow-covered road, two of your four medium lasers follow it into the street, just missing the left side of the turret and streaking across the top of the tank. The other two medium lasers strike, one burning a smoking streak into the turret armour, and the other severing the track in a flash of melted metal!

The tank is immobile! It’s not going anywhere!

Risking a quick look at Rover’s mech, you notice for the first time that his mech took a head hit… maybe he is stunned?

Initiative:

• No new threats register on your scope.
• No sensor contacts in the Argent Estates region reported by CH:L
• The weather is growing too rough for conventional aircraft to be effective
• The Sturmfeur has shut down – no infantry or police reinforcements are closing on its position

Glancing down at the low, sleek lines of the Sturmfuer in front of you, you pull up the physical attacks menu and select a stomp. In these weather conditions, it will be too easy to miss a tank designed like this. It is too low… but it is very wide. Ideal for crushing under the huge metal foot of your Guillotine!

With your sense of balance to guide it, the heavy mech you ride responds to your command to stomp, by sliding in close to the Sturmfeur, raising its right foot, and slamming it down with a grinding and clattering noise of crushed metal and shattered ceramics, before stepping away again, as you prepare another jump.

The stomp hit the side of the Sturmfuer’s heavily armoured turret, near where your laser fire scored a deep black line across the joints of two thick armour plates.  The FSA must have great engineers, because you can barely see the dent left by your Guillotine’s strike. (13 damage + 2 for MoS)

As you move away from the silent tank its turret still continues to track you, but it does not fire…

Turn 12

The snow is making it difficult for the unit to come together again at the rendezvous point. Looking at the deep tracks the Sturmfeurs made, you can see the deadly glitter of ice under the snow. Your own mech is getting harder to balance also.

A fall now, could be deadly. The Lyran light mechs… when they fell, they never got up again… except for that tough bastard in the Commando. Still – the mechs cannot afford the damage, the pilots cannot afford the risk of unconsciousness, and the citizens have even more to lose…

Behind you, Rover’s mech suddenly comes back to life and jumps in a slow and controlled arc in the direction the rest of the unit is moving, coming down near the Captain.

Your comm opens with a direct link from Rover. He seems to be breathing heavily, but he says,  “Thanks, Alexandre…! I don’t know what came over me!”

At the same time, a message comes through in text and speech from Death Breath stating, “Caution! Watch for Private Security Forces”

Ahead you see Blowtorch disappearing behind a 14-storey building which you think might be some kind of embassy.

Your own mech jumps as you lose sight of Blowtorch and arcs toward the lightly wooded park separating thePolicePlazaparking lot, from the expensive and exclusive Cultural sector.

Turning to face the direction you came, you keep your eyes on the Sturmfuer, but it does nothing except rotate its turret to track your jump.

With the unit under orders to rendezvous in the Northern part of the city, you and  the Captain are now the last mechs in the line – farthest from the rendezvous point. The Captain’s mech moves more than double the speed of your Guillotine.

As the seconds slowly move by and as you come closer and closer to landing, you notice that the Captain still has not answered the Lyran commander…

Deliberately, after that long pause, he replies, “This is Captain Rom of the Free World League Planetary defence, Grey Hawk irregulars.  I strongly suggest we continue this action outside the city, but be warned we will meet any duplicity with deadly force.”

The wooded terrain under your mech’s feet feels nice and solid, with good traction.

Turn 13

Lining up your beam weapons you hear Braun’s reply toRom. “Excellent Captain Rom. May I suggest then that you call off your attack dog, so that I can order my men to stand down? We have ceased fire in good faith, but need not be so restrained.”

As Braun speaks, you open fire with your full range of weapons at the immobile Sturmfeur again – hitting with everything! The large laser and two of the mediums burn across the front armour, while the other two scorch the turret. Armour melts and steams in the freezing air, but according to your eyes and sensors, the armour protection of the tank is still intact.

That thing is a monster!

Your cockpit is still flaring with warning lights indicating a solid missile tracking beacon from the Sturmfeur, but they still have not launched their SRMs…

No one is reporting any new contacts or threats.

BT has flagged a building as a potential threat and announced the presence of possible snipers. The building is adjacent to the new rendezvous coordinates.

The lances are converging nicely and should be able to make the rendezvous points and exit the city in a uniform fashion.

Cool Hand offers a challenge to Braun offering a formal challenge to reconvene hostilities in a more genteel fashion at a set of coordinates your memory indicates is roughly 50Km south of the suspected location of the Marik Base in 5 hours time.

“OK Oberleutnant Braun,  We are under cease-fire, barring any more treachery.  If you still wish to contest these mechs we will suggest a location outside the city.  If not, I’m sure we will have plenty of chances to test each other in the coming months”

Braun simply replies, “Go on,” and agrees to meet at a specific time and place.

Turn 14

You have no visible/mobile enemies

You send a private message to CHL: ” I am pretty sure we wont be at the coordinates, maybe we should try to hide in the forest and let them search for us…”