Bay 12 Games Forum

Tsingtao: December 12
Mechs line up on the tarmac at Tsing City's central airfield. Three lances of the Bastards file into Leopard DropShips, along with a pair of armored repair vehicles and two of our technicians: Orel Pestunov, who seems positively eager to get stuck in, and Chika Heri, who is a bit less gung-ho but proud to be part of the advance team.

Drake shakes hands with Double Dog before mounting up: Captain Dare will be commanding Assault Company until both halves of the unit link back up on Ares.

Ares: December 21
From jump arrival to Ares proper was two and a half days of mounting tension: ahead, FedCom aerospace fighters and combat DropShips tussle with system defenders, knock out surveillance satellites, and prepare the way. On the Leopards carrying the Bastards, meanwhile, there's nothing to do but follow the fighting on the holo-screens, and check and re-check mech systems before the drop.

Finally, we're in close, descending past low orbit. The mechwarriors board their machines and ready themselves, the Leopards switch from bottom-mounted transit drives to aft-mounted in-atmosphere drives, and the approach begins. In mech cockpits, heartbeats quicken as systems come up and computers call out status: "Reactor online. Sensors online. Weapons online. All systems nominal."

The mech bay doors open to reveal the landscape thundering by, only a couple hundred meters below. The dropships bump and jostle, banking slightly as they line up on drop zones. The clamps kick free, the mechs fall clear of the bays, and the drop is on.

Round 1


Things are already a bit hairy—the enemy seems to have gotten its reinforcements early. (I set most of these units to arrive after 3 or 6 rounds, but here they are already. I must have set something up wrong, or maybe neglected to set it up the last time through. It took a few tries to get everything figured out.)

Drake's lance will land just past the DropShip's first maneuver. The Bruisers will land a touch north of that and jump into the base for demolition work. The Outriders will land a hair north of that, and hold onto a spot where the Bruisers can jump back out of the base.

Like so.



It's a good thing the Leopards are able to stick around for a turn or two of air-to-ground fire. Two of them focus on the enemy Guillotine, and the strafing run takes out its left leg. The pilot bails out. The enemy Crusader also takes some damage.

In return, the units on the ground fire on our mechs, doing light damage to them as they fall. Tracers and missiles flash up from the units on the eastern side of the field, striking the third Leopard. Its pilot struggles to regain control after the impacts.

Round 2
The third Leopard skims the treetops, still wrestling with his controls. The first two are on the way out, up north, and will fire on any targets of opportunity for us as they leave.

Jump jets (or disposable jump packs) fire as our mechs drop to ground level. But for Wojtek, the company lands safely. Wojtek misses his footing on a slope, and drops prone with light damage.



The Fifteenth Dracon is here on the west of the battlefield with us. Drake takes a characteristically long shot, cutting deep into his target's armor. Milspec and the Outriders are much closer to the Champion and Cataphract on the north end of the map, and will do their best to reduce those threats this turn, while they still benefit from the fact that they fell from the sky: a tricky situation for a mech's targeting systems to deal with.

Round 3
The enemy SRM carrier gets a good volley off on one of the Leopards overhead, and...



Drake is on the radio as soon as the Leopard goes down. The flight crew reports injuries but no deaths. They're bogged down in the snow and unable to even attempt a vertical takeoff, or turn for a rolling takeoff (if the roughness of the terrain would even permit that). Looks like another task for us.

To evac the flight crew, we'll need to stop a mech next to the Leopard, and have it remain stationary for a full movement phase. Wojtek is going to take that assignment. The Leopard crew will hang onto the mech's legs—Wojtek will walk them off the field, then have our support element pick them up. He'll do his best to catch up to the rest of the company while we're running for the airbase.

Turns out (as I maneuver mechs to cover Wojtek) that it's an Outriders assignment: Milspec and Forakis follow Wojtek, while Blinky splits to the west to flank the Cataphract and Champion.

Teddy looks like he's going to be the first Bastard on the board for this raid: he knocks the pilot of the Fifteenth Dracon Crusader unconscious, and has the mech at his mercy for the upcoming turn. Linebuster, Wizard, and Hanzoku work on the objective buildings.

On its way out, the final airborne Dropship gifts us some critical hits into the center torso of an enemy Vindicator, toppling it and forcing its pilot to bail out.

Round 4
The Outriders (minus Blinky) are nearly to the downed DropShip. In the meantime, Wizard and Hanzoku should be able to knock out the comms dishes this turn, and Linebuster is going to get a good crack at the headquarters building. We'll probably shoot at the fuel tanks a bit as we retreat, but given the intensity of combat and the other things we have to do today, I'm not inclined to stick around and fight deep into the base proper.



The downed Leopard continues to spray fire at the enemy vehicles in its firing arcs, knocking out a Bulldog tank and damaging the Fifteenth Dracon Champion behind it.



Both comm dishes fall, one each to Wizard and Hanzoku, and Linebuster makes a good start on the headquarters building. Drake ties Teddy for first kills of the day: both are headshots, but Drake's is 20+ hexes with an ER PPC, and Teddy's is a machine gun on a prone mech in the adjacent hex.

Round 5
Wojtek moves into position to evacuate the Leopard crew. The Bruisers are in place to finish the primary objective.



Wizard and Hanzoku take out the headquarters building with PPCs and large lasers, while Linebuster blows the nearest fuel tank.



Which blows up some more fuel tanks.



Oh. Oh my.



It goes on for pages and pages like this.



And it turns out that Trebuchet was standing a little close for comfort.



Lesson: when we get to the airbase, don't stand near the fuel tanks. Linebuster scores himself a kill in the middle of all of that collateral damage.

The Leopard crew, firing their weapons one last time before abandoning ship, knocks out the Fifteenth Dracon Champion's leg, forcing the pilot to bail out. Wizard takes some substantial hits from the Trebuchet before it goes down, but stays on her feet.

Round 6


The Leopard crew scrambles out of the wreckage as LRMs impact around them, and clamber onto the legs of Wojtek's Phoenix Hawk. They're not out of the woods yet—Wojtek needs to walk (not run) them off of the field, and those Condor hovertanks to the east are closing in.

The two surviving Fifteenth Dracon pilots are calling in LRM fire from the heavy missile tank inside the walls on our mechs, which makes them combatants. We'll lay down some suppressing fire at them next turn, and if they die, they die.

Round 7


In the north, Wojtek gets on the move with his passengers in tow, while Milspec, Blinky, and Forakis cover him. In the south, the rest of the unit moves for the south edge of the board, preparing for our run to the airbase.

Round 8


The Outriders are where the action is; three of them line up on one of the Condors. Hopefully that's enough to bring it down.

Drake, Woad, and Euchre are hanging around near the southwest exit to the facility to provide long-range support fire, if the Condors come further west. Since he's not needed just yet, Drake pops one of the remaining fuel tanks. Sadly, there is no massive chain reaction this time.

A few large lasers crackle past Wojtek from the Capellan vehicles, but none hit, and he and his passengers escape unharmed.

The Capellan defenders are falling back now, and so are we.

Results, Damage, Injuries
Except for Wojtek, who will do his best to catch up to us for the airfield assault, the Bastards all escaped successfully.



'Undamaged' isn't technically true for most of the places it occurs, but we're far from battered. Wizard's Guillotine needs about two tons of armor, and the Emperor took a solid hit or two while it was falling to the ground, but otherwise, we're only missing a point or two of armor here and there. Wizard and Teddy are both dinged up from hits to their mechs' heads: a bruised foot and a cut on the forehead, respectively.

No salvage on this mission: we're not sticking around to strip armor.

Kill Boards
Drake is still chasing Rook down. For all that he spends his time driving one of the the lightest medium mechs you can buy, Teddy Bear remains a good ways up the kill board.

Last Mission


Granted that it doesn't pay for having one shot down, but those dropships did some serious work on our behalf. The Guillotine and Vindicator were all on the flyboys (so also the tank), and the Champion and Crusader were team efforts.

All Time

• "Rook" Ishikawa (31, 10 mechs, 2 Clan kills)
• "Drake" Halit (18, 7 mechs, 2 Clan kills)
• "Carcer" Ngo (14, 6 mechs, 2 Clan kills)
• "Woad" Kohler (14, 5 mechs, 1 Clan kill)
• "Teddy Bear" Jamil (12, 5 mechs, 2 Clan kills)
• "Linebuster" Atkinson (10, 4 mechs)
• "Wizard" Que (8, 6 mechs, 6 Clan kills)
• "Severe" Payne (8, 6 mechs)
• "Hanzoku" Yuksel (6, 4 mechs, 2 Clan kill)
• "Ker-Ker" Ec (6, 3 mechs)
• "Euchre" Kojic (6, 2 mechs)
• Simona (6, 1 mech, 1 Clan kill)
• "Double Dog" Dare (5, 2 mechs, 1 Clan kill)
• "Blinky" Stirzacre (5, 1 mech)
• "Milspec" Ortega (4, 1 mech, 1 Clan kill)
• "Pepper" Popalzi (3, 1 mech)
• "Faceplan" Farooqi (3, 1 mech)
• "Wojtek" Frajtov (2, 2 mechs)
• "Kicks" Hernandez (1, 1 mech, 1 Clan kill)
• Pvt. Erine Forakis (1, 1 mech)
• Sgt. Philippa Khadjikyriakos (1, 1 mech)

Status
Advance Company is running at 50 kilometers per hour toward the airbase. Needless to say, this phase of the raid will not be happening in real time. Maybe next Sunday—these fixed scenarios are tons of fun, but also not easy to put together.

Cargo
4 tons of leg actuators 60 rounds of LB10X solid shot (10 per ton) 30 rounds of LB10X cluster shot (10 per ton) 960 LRMs (120 per ton) 90 points of ferro-fibrous armor (17.9 points per ton) 224 points of standard armor (16 points per ton) 1 ton of rescued Leopard crew

Supply vehicle capacity: 41/70 tons

We haven't used any of our supplies yet, because we're still engaged in combat.

TO&E, MechWarrior Claims, and Mech Assignments
Units lacking a bolded callsign are free to be claimed.

Sgt. Khadjikyriakos' callsign is temporary, because her surname is a lot to type. Feel free to pick another one.

Advance Company (currently deployed on the raid) is Drake's Destroyers, Bear's Bruisers, and Ortega's Outriders.

The remaining three lances are temporarily organized as Assault Company.

• 1st Company
  
  • Drake's Destroyers
    
    • Major Huri "Drake" Halit (Mephansteras) - Awesome AWS-DRAKE
    • Cpl. Ferdinand "Woad" Kohler (A Thing) - Grasshopper GHR-5KOB
    • Pvt. Jan "Euchre" Kojic (EuchreJack) - Lancelot LNC25-0B
    • Pvt. Abdul-Hafiz "Pepper" Popalzi (mrkilla22) - Archer ARC-2K
  • Rook's Raiders
    
    • Captain Mariamu "Rook" Ishikawa (Culise) - Stalker STK-3Fb
    • Cpl. Damayanti "Carcer" Ngo (Dorsidwarf) - Flashman FLS-7K
    • Pvt. Elroy "Faceplant" Farooqi (NickAragua) - Dragon DRG-5N
    • Pvt. E-Shei "Ker-Ker" Ec (Kanil) - Lancelot LNC25-0B
  • Bear's Bruisers
    
    • Lt. SG George "Linebuster" Atkinson (Hasek10) - Emperor EMP-6A
    • Lt. JG Tedros "Teddy Bear" Jamil (Knave) - Vulcan VL-5T
    • Pvt. Ed "Hanzoku" Yuksel (Hanzoku) - Guillotine GLT-4L
    • Pvt. Xue-Min "Wizard" Que (Rince Wind) - Guillotine GLT-4P
• 2nd Company
  
  • Fourth Lance
    
    • Captain Sung-min "Double Dog" Dare (a1s) - Warhammer WHM-6R
    • Pvt. Catherine "Severe" Payne (Burnt Pies) - Koshi/Mist Lynx
    • Pvt. Gwenael "Kicks" Hernandez (Sheyra) - Phoenix Hawk PXH-1Kk
    • Recruit Simona - Ryoken/Stormcrow
  • Ortega's Outriders
    
    • Lt. JG Jose "Milspec" Ortega (milspec) - Crab CRB-30-UK
    • Pvt. Kevin "Blinky" Stirzacre (moghopper) - Ostroc OSR-2D
    • Pvt. Erine Forakis - Phoenix Hawk PXH-3K
    • Pvt. Ik-jun "Wojtek" Frajtov (Blaze) - Phoenix Hawk PXH-1
  • Sixth Lance
    
    • Sgt. Philippa "Khad" Khadjikyriakos - Thunderbolt TDR-5S-T
    • Cpl. Margita bin Ala' al din - Trebuchet TBT-5N
    • Pvt. Mats Johansen - Trebuchet TBT-5S
    • Pvt. Lise Selvåg - Raven RVN-2X

Other Remarks
People like to hate on the Inner Sphere ER Large Laser (it makes a ton of heat and doesn't do a ton of damage) and the Medium Pulse Laser (the range is very short), but the extra range and the to-hit bonus respectively are really obvious, compared to 3025 tech like Hanzoku's Guillotine or Teddy's Vulcan.

They may not be the totally optimal choices, but they do work well for us.

Fair point! (I forgot that Princess can handle aerospace units on ground maps.) Given that an airbase is on the list of targets, it's sensible to assume we might have to deal with some enemy air support. I'll amend the list (1->3 tons LB10X cluster, 16->14 tons standard armor) so we can keep Linebuster firing at will with both kinds of ammo.

In other news, 75% of the late 3051/early 3052 Bastards are now physically embodied:


Each of the four lances from back then is missing one unit, and funnily enough, all four missing mechs come in one box of official plastic: the second Guillotine, the second Lancelot, the Crab, and the Flashman all come in the six-unit ComStar Battle Level II box (alongside a Mongoose light mech, and a Crockett assault—the latter we might even see on the upcoming contract, since it was a Star League standard, and the Fifteenth Dracon has deep Star League roots). Unlike some other miniatures games out there (*coughwarhammercough*), first-party miniatures are probably cheaper than 3D prints when you count prep time and cleanup, so a 4 of 6 hit rate is enough for me to justify a box.

The two years in-game years since the roster I chose have seen the unit grow significantly. Maybe if I have a lot more spare time than I'm anticipating this year, I can get the whole battalion-size, 3054-ish roster done.

Cockpit repair and limb reattachment are 7+ or 8+ tasks for elite technicians in transport bays, and they take most of a day's work—probably not something we'll have time for, with limited labor and working conditions that add another +2 penalty to the target number.

Nope, I just picked them out of the list of premade options in MegaMek.

They do look amazing, though! For reference, or if you want to play around with them, they are:

• Airbase: 45x45 Airfield (Dervs Map Pack 3)
• C3 Facility: 48x48 The Depot (VictorMorson)
• Depot: 55x55 Secret Depot (Jayof9s)

Well, a rookie MechTech, anyway, but three is a much bigger number than two.

@Fish - Very cool that you're trying some fancy scenario design for us!

A little bit of extra spice never went amiss—kind of like the Tukayyid interlude, but this time with real stakes.

I've passed Remedial DropShip Flight School: both aerodyne, for the most proximate drop, and spheroid, for the main assault, as well as perhaps for obtaining a Mule in the future.

The Leopards are wonderful fun to use: rocketing thirty hexes in a turn two hundred meters above ground, dropping a lance of mechs, leveling a building with a strafing run, and thundering off the map. Spheroids are a little more ponderous, hovering on pillars of fusion flame and making little craters when they land, but their capacity is something else.

I played with the Mule refit a bit. Mech bays for a battalion, with doors to drop six units at once, plus extensive up-armoring and some lightly enhanced armament, will probably run in the 230 million C-bill range, and increase our baseline operating costs to about 1 million C-bills monthly. That also leaves about 1400 tons of cargo capacity, which is more than enough for the supplies we carry. Even with the ability to launch more mechs per turn than a Union, it would still probably be better to lease assault transports, or bum them off our employer, when we're expected to go in for a hot landing.

That aside, time to pick some maps for the prime objectives on Ares, and write up some briefing material from FedCom.

Advance Raid House Rules
We can bring three lances of mechs.

We will have three primary targets on Ares: a sensor/C3 facility for the orbital and deep space defenses, an aerospace fighter base, and a munitions dump. Each will comprise a separate scenario. In all cases, mission success will involve destroying one or several buildings on the map and withdrawing.

There may also be objectives of opportunity, or combat with roving defenders as our presence and location become more known. These will become more likely as we complete more of our main objectives.

Mechanically, for opportunistic secondary objectives, I'll skip random scenario generation for the advance raid part of the contract and roll 2d6 each day, with a combat event on 11+ or 12+ (undecided which), -1 per main objective we complete, and -1 once the main body arrives in-system, three days before planetfall. For the last few days, we could conceivably be fighting some kind of action daily.

Destroying either the sensor/C3 facility or the ASF base will allow the main force to land without losses, almost certainly. Leaving both active means some dropships may be hit on the way down—possibly including dropships carrying the rest of our unit. Destroying both means a guaranteed safe landing.

Additionally, any completed main objectives or generated secondary objectives in which we are the attacker will reduce either the equipment quality or the experience of the defenders for the planetary assault portion of the contract by 1 level.

Advance Raid Options
We can run the advance raid one of two ways, if we decide to conduct it ourselves. In both cases, our arrival will be covered by a diversionary aerospace fighter strike. We should be able to get groundside without issue.

Lightning Strike
We pack into three Leopard dropships, and FedCom leaves us on Ares with twelve mechs, a truck or two carrying a tech team and a couple tons of supplies, and that's it. We're fully on our own. Any repairs are done in field conditions, and anything beyond a few tons of supplies has to come from battlefield salvage, or not at all.

On the positive side, we would have no fixed positions to defend. We can ignore generated scenarios where we're the defender, and we don't need to leave a lance behind on attacks. If we elect for a combat landing on one of our primary targets, we can surprise the enemy, and may get some fire support from the Leopards before they dust off.

Mechanically, we can bring two tech teams and 40 tons of supplies.

Secret Base
The AFFC seconds a Union dropship to us. We land it on Ares, and use it as a base of operations. We can bring a few more tech teams and a reasonable (though not huge; there's not much room in a Union beyond the mech cubicles) supply of spares and ammunition. Any work we have to do on the mechs would happen in comparatively luxurious transport bays.

On the flip side, we would be responsible for someone else's DropShip. Once it lands, it's pretty much landed—spheroid DropShips are not known for their agility in atmosphere, and the Capellans will be looking for it, so taking off again The AFFC will insist that we leave a lance of mechs with it to defend it at all times. Losing it wouldn't be the end of the world for our FedCom relationship (the fortunes of war), but the circumstances of the loss would be important. Landing on one of our primary targets and losing it to the defenders wouldn't look great, for instance.

Mechanically, we can bring six tech teams and 100 tons of supplies.

Contract Details
The advance raid will pay 30 million C-bills, 30% battle loss compensation, and 100% exchange salvage rights. (That is, we're paid 100% of the salvage value of enemy forces we destroy, on the grounds that it's less to fight when the main body lands, but we don't get to keep any of it, on the grounds that we can't afford to be in one place for that long.) There may be some room for negotiation on these points.

For the planetary assault portion of the contract, when our advance force rejoins the main body, pay for five months comes to about 80 million C-bills. The initial offer is House command rights, 25% battle loss compensation, and 60% salvage rights.

Finally...
There are some moving parts to this that I've never done before, in MegaMek, so it may be a little bit until I get to advancing the clock, while I practice in lower-stakes scenarios.

Stand and Fight
In spite of Rook's seniority, Sixth Lance is first on the field, and so Sgt. Khadjikyriakos is running the operation. The Bastards don't put a massive amount of weight on rank, at least not when tactical considerations are at play.

(Someone please claim the good sergeant, so I don't have to type 'Khadjikyriakos' quite so many times. In fact, I'm going to call her 'Sgt. K', and assume you know who I mean.)

The Battlefield
It's quite a large field, and relatively open except for a few stands of woods.

As you can see from how far I had to zoom out to get the whole setup.

Rook and the Raiders deploy in the north, where the longer-ranged units can shelter behind the arc of woods in front of them. In the south, Sixth Lance will cover their flank, skirmishing with anyone who gets too close.

The Bruisers are due in 12 turns or so. Enemy reinforcements are on the way as well, but information is spottier there.

Turn 1
Rook and Ker-Ker, with longer-range weapons than most of the rest of this force, split up to the north, while Carcer and **Faceplant move south to form an ad-hoc demi-company with Sixth Lance. At the end of the turn, everyone is still outside of weapons range.

Turn 2


Rook is just within LRM shot of the advance portion of the enemy force, and will take a crack at them this turn.

She lands nine LRMs on the enemy Flea, and Pvt. Selvåg from Sixth Lance cuts off its leg above the knee with a very lucky large laser shot.

Turn 3


The FedCom Phoenix Hawk is again a bit over-excited, given the balance and distribution of forces on the field. I'll kick the bot controlling him, and replace it with a more cowardly one.

By being closer to the enemy, he gets the kill on the downed Flea, and takes no damage in return. Maybe he was just daring, more than cowardly. Elsewhere on the field, fire is exchanged ineffectually.

Turn 4


Turn 4 sees the battle collapsing toward the south of the field, where the short-range units have more space to maneuver (although less cover).

We get the better end of the exchange of fire this round: bin Ala' al din, in the TBT-5N, does heavy damage to a Vedette's tracks, and Ker-Ker cuts the arm off of the enemy Wasp. In return, Mats Johansen in the TBT-5S gets pretty low on right torso armor, behind which there is an awful lot of SRM ammo.

Turn 5


Johansen books it out of danger. Ker-Ker finishes off a Vedette that the FedCom Phoenix Hawk immobilizes (he does, at present, seem daring more than foolhardy), while Rook knocks down the enemy Trebuchet with a volley of LRMs and large laser fire.

In the south, Sgt. Khadjikyriakos unloads a volley of laser fire into the enemy Raven, stripping armor off of several of its components and nearly knocking it over. (Oh for an LB10X!)

Turn 6


We have returned (unintentionally) to operating lance by lance. The Raiders move forward up north, while Sixth Lance jockeys for position in the south.

Sgt. K legs the Capellan Raven (whose pilot ejects; Philippa gets the kill), and the FedCom Phoenix Hawk scores another kill, stomping through the roof of the Harasser missile platform.

Turn 7


Most of Rook's Raiders stay still this turn, despite being relatively close to enemy forces: they're screened by woods, and the easier aiming will hopefully yield dividends on the Wasp and Vedette nearby.

Rook does most of the work on the enemy Wasp, but Faceplant scores the kill.

Turn 8


The Bastards close the range, but gunnery is largely ineffectual. Chatter over the radio nets suggest there are reinforcements nearing, but it's not clear whether they mean allied or enemy.

Turn 9


Rook eliminates the scout vehicle that ran out in front of her with a volley of laser fire (missiles held in reserve this turn). Faceplant immobilizes the Vedette in front of him with his UAC/5, then finishes the job with a stomp, while he peppers the Capellan Trebuchet with LRM fire.

Things are looking up, but now, emerging from the treeline ahead of the Bastards, are Capellan reinforcements, and they're pretty weighty: an Awesome (although the less cool 8V variant), two Cataphracts, and a Shadow Hawk.

Turn 10


The Bastards redeploy quickly to meet these new threats. In the south, Sixth Lance is going to have to fight a holding action and retreat toward support; they've taken a bit of damage already, and although they probably win a stand-up fight, it doesn't seem worth the risk when they have a lovely stand of trees to hide behind.

In the north, Ker-Ker notches a mech kill: a headshot on the damaged Capellan trebuchet.

Turn 11


In the south, Sixth Lance takes the relatively cautious maneuvering by the Awesome and Cataphract as a chance to make a run for the center of the field. In the north, Faceplant is in the middle of a few enemies, in search of a back shot on the Cataphract up there. Hopefully he doesn't live up to his callsign.

The northern Cataphract is in dire straits now, with armor shredded off of multiple limbs and severe internal damage all along its right side. Faceplant doesn't.

It's about time to tell the allied Phoenix Hawk to run for it; enemy fire takes its arm off.

Turn 12


The Bruisers arrive on the field. Teddy Bear stays north, rushing to help the Raiders clean up on that side of the field, while Linebuster and the Guillotine drivers head south to back up Sixth Lance. (Sgt. K and Lise Selvåg in the Raven are staying on station, hidden by the trees, while the pair of damaged Trebuchets legs it.)

Ker-Ker takes out the Pegasus with an aimed shot through its front armor plate, while a barrage of LRMs from Rook's Stalker finds the holes in the Cataphract's armor and cracks its gyro's casing. The massive spinning elements shatter, carving a path through the rest of the mech, and it collapses to the ground.

Turn 13


It looks like the Trebuchets and FedCom's Phoenix Hawk will escape the field successfully. The reinforcements continue to advance at best speed.

Carcer gets the enemy Stinger, a team effort with Rook. Pvt. Selvåg, dancing around the enemy mechs, puts a solid shot into the rear armor of the SCorpion tank—she's not a great gunner, but she is pretty lucky, so far.

Turn 14


Ker-Ker and Faceplant stay north to deal with the Shadow Hawk, while the rest of the company on the field moves south toward the Awesome and Cataphract. In ordinary circumstances they would probably be running now, but there's not a lot to run to, at this point, as the AFFC offensive rolls up the Capellan lines.

Carcer finishes off the Scorpion tank, while Selvåg both dodges all the incoming fire from the Awesome and Cataphract, and cheekily carves a hunk out of the Awesome's arm with her large laser.

Turn 15
No photo this turn. The enemy Shadow Hawk escapes the field after taking heavy internal damage, while the rest of the Bastards trade fire with the two remaining Capellan mechs.

Turn 16


Not a lot to report. The two doomed Capellans move north toward the previously-engaged Bastards, hoping perhaps to score a kill against previously-damaged mechs.

Turn 17


The Capellan mechs are on the edge of the board now, probably looking to disengage next turn. We'll do what we can to prevent that. Teddy Bear uses the awesome maneuverability of the Vulcan to get in close and unleash a full volley from his weapons.

Once again, our FedCom ally (whose bot is not running away like I expected it to, after replacing the starter AI with the 'run away' AI) does serious work: even down an arm, he cuts the leg off of the Awesome with accurate fire. The Cataphract is knocked prone, too, unable to escape this round.

Turn 18
Linebuster gets the kill on the downed Cataphract, again using cluster ammo at long range to find the holes in the enemy's armor.

The smoke clears, and no Capellans are left in the field. The radio nets tell a similar tale all across the front line: organized resistance is breaking down, Capellan units are beginning to surrender, the fighting is slowing to a halt.

Damage, Injuries, Salvage


Carcer and Mats Johansen both take light injuries in the course of the fight.



Kill Boards
I don't know if Rook is one for a post-mission drink, but she'll have as many Tsingtaos as she wants tonight, on the rest of the company, now that she has crossed two more milestone on the kill board: double ace in mech kills, six-time ace overall.

Last Mission


All-Time

• "Rook" Ishikawa (31, 10 mechs, 2 Clan kills)
• "Drake" Halit (17, 6 mechs, 2 Clan kills)
• "Carcer" Ngo (14, 6 mechs, 2 Clan kills)
• "Woad" Kohler (14, 5 mechs, 1 Clan kill)
• "Teddy Bear" Jamil (11, 4 mechs, 2 Clan kills)
• "Linebuster" Atkinson (9, 3 mechs)
• "Wizard" Que (8, 6 mechs, 6 Clan kills)
• "Severe" Payne (8, 6 mechs)
• "Hanzoku" Yuksel (6, 4 mechs, 2 Clan kill)
• "Ker-Ker" Ec (6, 3 mechs)
• "Euchre" Kojic (6, 2 mechs)
• Simona (6, 1 mech, 1 Clan kill)
• "Double Dog" Dare (5, 2 mechs, 1 Clan kill)
• "Blinky" Stirzacre (5, 1 mech)
• "Milspec" Ortega (4, 1 mech, 1 Clan kill)
• "Pepper" Popalzi (3, 1 mech)
• "Faceplan" Farooqi (3, 1 mech)
• "Wojtek" Frajtov (2, 2 mechs)
• "Kicks" Hernandez (1, 1 mech, 1 Clan kill)
• Pvt. Erine Forakis (1, 1 mech)
• Sgt. Philippa Khadjikyriakos (1, 1 mech)

Status
It is now November 22, 3053.

The Bastards celebrate a hard-won victory, as news of Capellan units surrendering pours into our headquarters in that Tsing City hotel. The veterans congratulate Sixth Lance: this is their first combat deployment, and they acquitted themselves well. Drake allows himself a smile. He might have preferred to be in the field, but coordinating this two-pronged attack took a fair bit of staff work, and as the unit grows, he might find himself watching operations like this a little more often.

The stand-down order arrives later in the evening: organized Capellan operations on Tsingtao have ended, and second-line FedCom units take over security duties. A uniformed figure slips into the Bastards' party at the hotel, and pulls Drake aside for a quick briefing.

Evidently we have a dedicated FedCom liaison now, from the AFFC's Department of Mercenary Relations: Hauptmann Catriona Toman, who introduces herself in a way that says she pretty clearly would have preferred the Davion/Federated Suns rank of 'Captain' instead of its Federated Commonwealth equivalent. Apart from that quirk, she is brisk and businesslike.

Tsingtao is secured. The Capellans must answer for their attack. The top brass in the Sarna March have decided that their response will be taking a Capellan system. We will be part of Operation Hephaestus, the assault on Ares, the wheels for which are already turning. The 1st FedCom Regimental Combat Team is already en route, and will pass through Tsingtao to pick up the Bastards.

Or, potentially, only some of the Bastards. Hauptmann Toman lays out the plan for us: an advance force raids strategic objectives on Ares, softening the world for invasion in the days before the main force lands. We are developing a reputation for lightning strikes and independent operations. The AFFC has noticed, and thinks we might be the best fit for the advance raid: one company of mechs, landed about ten days before the invasion starts, running at maximum operational tempo before linking up at the landing zones.

The Hauptmann is quick to point out that this isn't an order: we're free to say 'no', and AFFC regulars will conduct the advance raid instead. The Bastards will land as one unit, with the main invasion force. On the other hand, she says we will be extremely well-compensated if we take on the advance raid, in addition to our contract for the planetary assault—she doesn't name an exact figure, but does insinuate that it's well into eight figures for a little more than a week of combat. "Think about it," she says, "and let me know in the next two or three days." Advance elements will be leaving on December 12.

With that, she excuses herself, surreptitiously taking a bottle of Tsingtao from the open bar on her way out.

(note: I'm working on some house rules for the advance raid, which I will finish and post if we decide to take FedCom up on the offer, or at least decide to hear the offer in full.)

Contract
Capellan forces onworld have been defeated. (If any scenarios are generated between now and the official end of the contract, I will remove them by GM fiat.)

Finances
We have 73.183 million C-bills in the coffers, after purchasing a Marauder and an Awesome.

TO&E, MechWarrior Claims, and Mech Assignments
Units lacking a bolded callsign are free to be claimed.

Sgt. Khadjikyriakos' callsign is temporary, because her surname is a lot to type. Feel free to pick another one.

• 1st Company
  
  • Drake's Destroyers
    
    • Major Huri "Drake" Halit (Mephansteras) - Awesome AWS-DRAKE
    • Cpl. Ferdinand "Woad" Kohler (A Thing) - Grasshopper GHR-5KOB
    • Pvt. Jan "Euchre" Kojic (EuchreJack) - Lancelot LNC25-0B
    • Pvt. Abdul-Hafiz "Pepper" Popalzi (mrkilla22) - Archer ARC-2K
  • Rook's Raiders
    
    • Captain Mariamu "Rook" Ishikawa (Culise) - Stalker STK-3Fb
    • Cpl. Damayanti "Carcer" Ngo (Dorsidwarf) - Flashman FLS-7K
    • Pvt. Elroy "Faceplant" Farooqi (NickAragua) - Dragon DRG-5N
    • Pvt. E-Shei "Ker-Ker" Ec (Kanil) - Lancelot LNC25-0B
  • Bear's Bruisers
    
    • Lt. SG George "Linebuster" Atkinson (Hasek10) - Emperor EMP-6A
    • Lt. JG Tedros "Teddy Bear" Jamil (Knave) - Vulcan VL-5T
    • Pvt. Ed "Hanzoku" Yuksel (Hanzoku) - Guillotine GLT-4L
    • Pvt. Xue-Min "Wizard" Que (Rince Wind) - Guillotine GLT-4P
• 2nd Company
  
  • Fourth Lance
    
    • Captain Sung-min "Double Dog" Dare (a1s) - Warhammer WHM-6R
    • Pvt. Catherine "Severe" Payne (Burnt Pies) - Koshi/Mist Lynx
    • Pvt. Gwenael "Kicks" Hernandez (Sheyra) - Phoenix Hawk PXH-1Kk
    • Recruit Simona - Ryoken/Stormcrow
  • Ortega's Outriders
    
    • Lt. JG Jose "Milspec" Ortega (milspec) - Crab CRB-30-UK
    • Pvt. Kevin "Blinky" Stirzacre (moghopper) - Ostroc OSR-2D
    • Pvt. Erine Forakis - Phoenix Hawk PXH-3K
    • Pvt. Ik-jun "Wojtek" Frajtov (Blaze) - Phoenix Hawk PXH-1
  • Sixth Lance
    
    • Sgt. Philippa "K" Khadjikyriakos - Thunderbolt TDR-5S-T
    • Cpl. Margita bin Ala' al din - Trebuchet TBT-5N
    • Pvt. Mats Johansen - Trebuchet TBT-5S
    • Pvt. Lise Selvåg - Raven RVN-2X

Repairs and Refits
Our techs spend a marathon night, from the 21st to the 22nd, working on battle-damaged mechs, and by noon, every one of them is ready to fight again.

Unnecessarily, as it turns out, but good work regardless.

In terms of Phoenix Hawks, we have six: one 3K, one 1Kk, three stock models, and one refitting to 1Kk. I would favor refitting one or two more to 1Kk or 2K standards—the 2K is the same as the 1Kk, except with four medium lasers in place of two medium pulse lasers.

Our salvaged Raven is the 1X model, which was the late-3030s prototype of the chassis, which carries 7.5 tons of prototype EW gear that is impossible to replace like for like—we have Beagle Active Probes and Guardian ECM suites now. If we want an EW Raven, we can refit it to 3L standard. Otherwise, the 2X variant (same as our existing Raven: good armor, large laser, 2x medium laser, SRM-6) would be a fine choice.

Organization
Between salvage, mechs brought to the unit by new hires, and purchases, we have already ten of the twelve mechs we'd need for a third company: two Awesomes, a Marauder, a Quickdraw, three Phoenix Hawks, a Whitworth, a Raven, and a Wasp. The unit market hasn't reset, if we want to add any other chassis from the last update.

Action Items
Do we take the advance raid assignment?

Do we refit any of the three stock Phoenix Hawks?

What do we do with the salvage Raven?

What do we do with the salvage Awesome?