Well, to kick things off I have a quick life update. Work is
hard! I have about a week of utter madness left, then I can start posting more
regularly again. Secondly, my camera is about to die, so the pictures in this
update are over-exposed. My mobile phone actually takes better pictures at the
moment! Add to that the following chestnut, the first time I posted this update
the formatting of my whole blog changed. Take two:
Scenario 9: In the Dark
Khan Furey ordered a force to destroy the largest ore mine
on Luthien in an attempt to stifle the Draconis war effort. Situated in the
heart of the Nijunen Desert, the mine was defended by Tai’sa Alexi Nagumo and
the 143rd Luthien Defense Regiment. The attackers, the 225th Jaguar Battle
Cluster, approached their target under the cover of darkness, but were brought
to a standstill by the spirited defense of the 143rd. Eventually the Combine
regiment withdrew, having suffered heavy losses, leaving the mine to the
ungentle hands of the bloodied Jaguar Battle Cluster.
Wade and I actually played this game twice, as the Draconis
forces were wiped out convincingly in the first game, despite a ridiculous
tonnage advantage. The Clan force consisted of a Warhawk C and a Timberwolf
Primary piloted by my top Mechwarriors from the campaign (piloting and gunnery
2). The defenders included a Battlemaster, Highlander and Warhammer, followed
by a Warhammer IIC late in the game. We threw the last one in just to see what
would happen, but it got trashed too. Of the 48 points of combined head armour
and internal structure in Wade’s force, I removed 65 with the Warhawk’s PPCs
and Large Pulse Lasers. The Timberwolf stomped around caving in all the
buildings and that was the game (when it wasn't in a weird rear arc conga-line,
below). We had a good laugh about it and decided that elite Clan Mechwarriors
should never be allowed in Mechs with pulse lasers and targeting computers
again.
The second game was much closer, thanks to a lot of scenario
tweaking. We used some house rules to represent the combination of darkness and
the interference caused by the high metal content of the environment. The
attacking force consisted of a Gargoyle C, a point of Elementals and a
Hellbringer A. The defenders included an Archer, a Thunderbolt, a Battlemaster
and a Warhammer. The defenders and the mine buildings were placed as blips on
the gaming board, which had to be revealed at close range, or with the
Hellbringer’s Active Probe or Search Light.
The game started off with the Gargoyle moving forwards under
cover and the Hellbringer storming forwards to reveal some blips. What it found
was a Lance of angry Draconis Mechs that absolutely mauled it over two turns of
intense fire. With its star-mate down, the Gargoyle had the whole game on its
shoulders.
Now, I harbor no fondness for the Gargoyle. To be truthful,
I included it specifically because I thought it was crap and would help to
balance the game, so to find myself in this situation was very interesting. I
moved the Gargoyle up and dropped off the Elementals in position to harass the
Archer, then used its ER Medium lasers to take down the first mining building.
With a CF of 40, the armament of the Gargoyle seemed perfectly suited for
demolition work (42 damage with the mediums or 40 with the Ultra AC 20).
Ignoring and outmaneuvering the slower Draconis heavies, the
Gargoyle shifted from sinkhole to sinkhole, pounding the buildings into dust. I
managed to miss one ER Medium shot on one of the buildings, but the Elementals
picked up the slack, bringing the building down with laser fire. By the time
the Elementals were taken out they had caused a lot of annoyance and the
Gargoyle was busy withdrawing through the Lance of overheating Draconis mechs.
It lost an arm, took engine hits and head hits, but just kept moving. For the
first time in the game I opened up with the Ultra AC 20, hitting the
Battlemaster twice and knocking it flat. This bought me enough time to get
close to the board edge. Wade had one last shot to take it out, but just
couldn’t manage a kill. After the Gargoyle stepped off the last hex, we called
for the butcher’s bill. On the Clan side of things, a Hellbringer and an
Elemental point had been lost. No Draconis Mechs had been destroyed but the
mining complex was completely destroyed. This combination of conditions
amounted to a draw (-15 VP). The aggregate campaign score now sits at -10 VP.
Alpha Strike Shenanigans
Here are some pics of a pick-up Alpha Strike game we played.
It was originally going to count as a Luthien campaign battle, but we are still
trying to figure out a points system that works. In this game, despite the
forces being equal according to the Beta points system, the Draconis force
looked very thin before the game (and even thinner after I had a go at it with
my Jaguars).
Early on in the game the Draconis heavy tanks rolled down
the left flank and caused a lot of pain, whilst acting as effective spotters
for a support Lance in cover behind a rock pillar. After they were taken out, a
pair of Incubi (Incubuses?) got in behind the pillar and really messed that
Lance up, supported by a Dragonfly and a Nova I jumped in to support Joel’s
damaged Star.
The Dragonfly also took out a Rifleman from a nearby Fire
Lance, with it Lance-mates (a Highlander, Warhammer and Marauder) moving into
cover and pouring fire on anything they could see. My Timberwolf and Summoner
managed to take out the Marauder, but the other two were a real nuisance. I
finally took them out in the end game with concentrated fire from every Mech I
had with LOS.
On the right flank my Warhawk took a lot of punishment
before being left to some heavy infantry, which chewed through the last points
of internal structure.
My Hellbringer and Stormcrow (seeking partial cover below)
formed the tag team from hell and wiped out a Lance of Draconis close combat
Mechs between them. I never thought I would say this, but that Hellbringer was
MVP for sure!
Sooo, three Lances of Draconis Mechs, two heavy tanks and
several infantry points taken out for the loss of a Kit Fox and a Warhawk…
doesn’t seem very balanced to me. I love the fact that my Hellbringer smashed
face, but not under these circumstances.
Time for a rematch I think…watch this space…
See you across the table,
M4cr0
