Narrative
3rd January, 3049.
Planet Concord IV; Concord System
Silverhawk Coalition/Marik Space.
The 24th Marik Militia have had a serious overhaul in the past few years. The succession wars have not been kind to the force, stationed along the border with the growing Federated Commonwealth and tasked to defend the systems not far from Solaris. They have had many fights and found themselves not necessarily up to the challenge, made up of mostly recruits from the local area. Many of the rookies lost their lives at the hands of the Lyran Gauntlet, and the Militia has lost most of its mechs. Starting nearly from scratch, the 24th has managed to salvage together a company of mechs and needs to train up the pilots to use them.
Today the 24th Militia have asked for some practice drills with the 3rd Free Worlds Guards who happen to be stopping off on a jump on their way back to resupply. In need of some rec time and a stretch of their legs after a long few weeks in the dropship, the junior lance was more than happy to volunteer. Finding some space near the Militia storage sheds of the Garrison on Concord the troops set up themselves a little skirmish. First team to frag a mech is the winner.
Setup
The Lances
3rd Free Worlds Guards
Kite Lance – Medium Scouts – 96 pts
FS9-H Firestarter – 20 pts
Lieutenant Doran “Maverick” Ebenson – Skill 4
CPLT-C1 Catapult – 32pts
Private Verna “Slingshot” Marik-Levenson – Skill 4
ENF-4R Enforcer – 25pts
Private Justice “Judge” Bateman – Skill 4
PNT-9R Panther – 19 pts
Private Pytr “Pulser” Beatie – Skill 4
24th Marik Militia
Plover Lance – Light Harrassers – 100pts
HBK-4G Hunchback – 28 pts
Lieutenant Gomez “Hotshot” Evanez – Skill 4
FS9-H Firestarter – 20 pts
Private Wilma “Flintstone” Bargha – Skill 4
JR7-D Jenner (A)- 26 pts
Private Demi “Mirror” Miranda – Skill 4
JR7-D Jenner (B)- 26 pts
Private Eric “Viking” Nordstorm- Skill 4
The Battlefield
The Battlefield is a small Garrison Storage Depot in the forested area of Concord IV. The area is controlled by Marik Militia forces, despite being on a planet predominantly governed by the Silverhawk Coalition.
The Light Woods surround the storage facility and there are areas of rocky ground to the south and west. A cliff face from the mountains to the north is located at an altitude of level 4.
Deployment
*Note: Due to Battlefield Size we are using CM as measurement to allow for battlefields to feel a bit bigger than they are.
The 3rd Free Worlds Guards (white) deployed first, placing themselves in a fairly scattered position on their edge. The 24th Marik Militia (purple) Deployed making use of the cover as much as possible.
Turn 1
The 24th won the initiative and waited for the Guard to make their first moves. The Guard began by sending “Maverick” in the firestarter out to the open ground to try and bait the lighter mechs into the open air. Mirror and Viking used their Jenner’s superior movement speeds to skirt the edge of the open ground, keeping a small hedge between them and the Firestarter. Meanwhile “Judge” in her enforcer took up cover behind the power generator. “Slingshot” jumped the Catapult up onto the elevations hoping to get a clearer shot but lacked the range of movement to really take advantage of it. “Pulser” had similar problems with his Panther, not being able to reach a clean shot, so instead sprinted up to the cliff face. “Flintstone” brought her Firestarter up in the cover of the forest and “Hotshot” slowly trudged his hunchback through the scrub as well.
”Maverick” found that his tactic of luring the Jenner’s out had failed miserably and he was out of range for his weapons. Instead he used his firing resolution to spot for “Slingshot’s” Catapult. Sadly due to the jumping the missiles and lack of communication fired in a completely random direction (double 1s).
“Missile Jam, Commander!” Slingshot calls over the comms.
As all remaining mechs were either out of range or sight the turn ended pretty swiftly with minimal results.
“Come out, Come out, wherever you are?” Pulser squawked over the comms.
“Not by the hair of our chinny chin chins!” joked Viking.
“That’s the wrong kids story Recruit.” Hotshot laughed.
Turn 2
Again the 24th gained the initiative, forcing the FWGs to go first. Trying to bide a bit of time, “Judge” moved her enforcer into a better sniping position. In response, “Flintstone” jumped her firestarter onto the cliff to go and tango with the Catapult. Seeing an opportunity to try and get some stronger firing resolutions, “Slingshot” moved closer to cover and maintained watch over the battlefield from on high. “Viking” joined the firestarter, Jumping his Jenner up to provide some support but keeping in cover as much as possible. “Maverick moved out further into open ground, heading south to try and force the Jenners out from their trees into the open ground. “Mirror” was too savvy to fall for that, and kept her back to the wall of the storage shed. She deliberately moved knowing that she outguns the Firestarter at medium range, but not in close. “Pulser” gave up on his plans to target the high ground in favour of focussing fire on the Jenner with the rest of his lance. He moved into a covered position and managed to obtain a side angle on the Jenner. Meanwhile, “Hotshot” trudged through forest to join the fun.
Whilst the Jenner was focused on “Maverick”, “Slingshot” began the attack with a hail of LRMs, just barely able to see the Jenner over the storage facility. Sadly “Flintstone” could not get a clear shot on the Catapult due to its extensive tree coverage. The Jenner’s crazy quick movement and cover meant that the catapult needed quite a high roll to hit, needing a 12 on the dice. “Slingshot” came damn close with an 11, but sadly just missing the unit.
”Oh man,” Slingshot calls over the comms. “That looked like it was going to be a perfect shot!”
Next, all eyes were on the Jenner with her back to the wall. “Mirror” had done a fair bit of moving this turn and wasn’t an easy target to hit. Those Jenner’s are zippy little units. The Enforcer had a pop at her and “Judge” missed, only rolling a 4 but needing a 9. The Panther showed the prowess of “Pulser’s” sniping skills, missing by only a single dice pip. But finally a bit of redemption from the Firestarter piloted by the units leader “Maverick” getting the first hit in of the match. Due to the cunning piloting of the Jenner, it was only one point of armour damage due to the range limitations of the Firestarter.
”Come on, Rookie!” Maverick taunts over the comms, trying to entice the Jenner into the open.
The Shots back from the Militia forces were thick and furious. The Hunchback was in range for a shot from the Lieutenant, and “Mirror” fired everything she had at the Firestarter. It was no slouch match, needing double digits on the dice. The rolls came in, and the armour exploded under the pressure of this co-ordinated fireteam. The Firestarter’s luck had run out and the risky positioning was a big mistake it seems.
“She hit me!” Maverick chirped on the comms. “Guys, the Rookies Hit me!”
Hitting the internal structure, a Critical Hit was rolled, punching through and impacting the Leg Actuators with a roll of 7. The Firestarter had its movement halved! There was no way it was getting away with its single point of structure left.
And that was the end of the turn.
Turn 3
“Pulser” in the Panther was taken off guard by the sudden need to watch his back and misses rolling only a 3 on the pips. The Enforcer piloted by “Judge” rolls well but needs in the double digits thanks to the Jenner’s jump speed and just can’t keep up with the speed.
The FWGs seize the initiative this time, forcing the Militia to move first. The Militia Recruits begin aggressively, “Flintstone” jumping the Firestarter to attack the Catapult. With his leg blown to bits, there wasn’t much choice for “Maverick” but to run for the cover, finding himself a nice position in the lone tree 6 hexes away. “Mirror’s” Jenner moved to maintain that distance and angle, trying to minimise any potential damage whilst maximising her own. This put her out of sight of the Enforcer and Panther. “Maverick” in the Hunchback followed suit. The FWG’s then decided to maneuver the Catapult to put a bit of distance between “Slingshot” and the firestarter. “Viking’s” Jenner took advantage of this distraction, aiming in a Rear-Arc on the Panther, only to have “Pulser” move it to get scope in retaliation.
“Slingshot” in the Catapult takes a shot at the Jenner piloted by “Viking” needing 8’s to make an impact. The Dice-fu was not with the FWGs team today and he misses with just a single pip too low. In retaliation “Flintstone” takes her shots, in the Minimum range and gets a 6, not enough to break through due to the fast pace she used.
The Lieutenant and “Mirror” co-ordinate their fire, unleashing simultaneous volleys of shots at the FWG Firestarter. The Forest in the way of the shots added a tricky time for them. Lt. “Hotshot” firing off and missing with his AC-20 and Medium Lasers.
“Good News” Hotshot sends over the Comms. “We can give the gardeners a day off. This tree is pruned.”
“Mirror” is not so light hearted, and focuses her blow dealing a deadly double 6’s Critical Strike to the Firestarter.
”I’m done playing games with you guys!” Mirror says as she pulls the trigger on her devastating attack. “Let’s go get a drink.”
Conclusion
As the Free Worlds Guards Firestarter powers itself down, the simulation comes to an end. The shooting practice has definitely given the rookies of the 24th Marik Militia a lot to think about. Maverick gets a bit of a talking to by his C.O. about being so cocky but as he points out this little bout was all in fun.
The two crews stow their mechs in the hangar and head out to get some chow at the commissary. As the recruits are settling into their meals they reflect on the match. Lots of pointers and tips are shared between the veterans of Zion. War stories of the battles they have been in and how they managed to get out of it both inspire and haunt the rookies. They were lucky today, but luck isn’t always going to be on their side.
