Rats' Nest

General Summary

Mission Profile

Mission Type: Base Assault
Force Size: Unlimited
Location: Grid J25, "Sakura Firebase"
Weather: Overcast
Time of Day: Late Afternoon

Situation Overview

After the Fourth Legion of Vega failed in their attempt to seize control of the planetary capital, their commander was taken prisoner and forces left in disarray. Commander Sethan chose to seize the moment to neutralize the Legion as a threat, unwilling to leave an enemy at his back. Over the objections of his officers, he dispatched the Black Eagle-class DropShip "Aquila" with a full load to neutralize Sakura Firebase.

Objectives

Priam Company
Objectives: The assault has the ultimate goal of destroying the base, or otherwise rendering it useless to the enemy. Destroying any major base structure will score Priam Company two victory points, while destroying any opposing units (or minor structures) will score one victory point. The mission will end immediately if the command center is destroyed.
Victory: If Priam Company can destroy enough of the Legion's hardware for a victory, they can salvage units from the battlefield while the rest of the Legion retreats. Should the margin of victory exceed five points, the Legion will surrender all units within the field.

Fourth Legion of Vega
Objectives: The Fourth Legion needs to make the attack fail by inflicting enough damage to deter Priam Company from continuing the attack. The key to this is eliminating any of the three officers, which will score three victory points for the Legion. Eliminating other units will contribute to this goal, with each mercenary 'Mech worth two points and vehicles worth one point.
Victory: Should the Fourth Legion be able to defeat the mercenaries, any units which cannot escape the field become captured as salvage. If the margin of victory is greater than five points, then the Legion's training is more effecient than usual. For a major victory, they may improve both Gunnery and Piloting (or Driving) skills on surviving units.

Setup

The field is set up almost exactly as in the previous visit Priam Company paid to the base. It consists of two Shallow Water elements, ten Rough Terrain elements, six Light Woods elements, and fourteen Elevated Terrain elements. The Elevated Terrain is positioned at roughly one-third of the battlefield to serve as a natural-terrain barrier to the eastern approach. Light Forest elements are placed on the 'outside' of that barrier, granting some cover to approach while also slowing down units which are arriving to the combat/

As before, the base itself consists of a Command Center building, four Living Quarters buildings, four 'Mech Bay buildings, four Storage buildings, two Vehicle Pool buildings, two Power Generator buildings, three Power Relay buildings, and two Large Storage structures. The following list will show the appropriate Construction Factors for these buildings: Living Quarters (CF 45), 'Mech Bay (CF 60), Vehicle Pool (CF 35), Storage (CF 25), Command Center (CF 100), Power Generator (CF 20), Power Relay (CF 5), Large Storage (CF 25).

Forces

Priam Company
Sakura Assault Team

BLR-1G BattleMaster (Aubrey)
(1/2; Sniper, Lucky 1)
ON1-K Orion (Reginald)
(1/2; Multi-Tasker, Oblique Attacker)
WHM-6R Warhammer A (Olivia)
(0/2; Specialist: PPC, Lucky 1, Marksman)
GRF-1N Griffin B (Faust) (5/6)
VTR-9B Victor (Greenwell) (3/6)
BL-7-KNT Black Knight ("Brick")
(3/4; Lucky 2)
WHM-6R Warhammer B (Cooper) (5/6)
CN9-A Centurion (Ellen) (4/5)
WTH-1 Whitworth (Drake) (5/6)

Hired Guns

MAD-3M Marauder ("Gunslinger")
(2/4; Range Master (L))
JR7-D Jenner ("Cardiac") (4/5)
GRF-1N Griffin ("Dead Ringer")
(3/4; Jumping Jack)

Vehicle Support

Schrek ("Agi Crew") (2/4)
Manticore ("Crazy Eight")
(2/5; Cross-Country)
Condor A ("Cormorant Riders") (5/6)
Condor (Liao) A ("Bull's Horns")
(4/5; Sandblaster)
Condor (Liao) B ("Havoc Crew") (5/6)
Scorpion (LRM) ("Lucent Irregulars") (5/6)

Fourth Legion of Vega
Sakura Defenders

STK-3F Stalker (Force Command) (2/3)
ARC-2K Archer (4/4)
ARC-2R Archer (2/4)
LNC-25-02 Lancelot (3/6)
FS9-H Firestarter (3/4; Jumping Jack)
PNT-9R Panther (5/7)
TBT-5N Trebuchet (3/4)

Vehicle Support

Pegasus (4/5)
SRM Carrier (3/5; Sandblaster)
Manticore (3/4; Lucky 1)
Manticore (4/5)
Demolisher (2/3)
Demolisher (2/2)

Special Rules

Forced Withdrawal: When certain conditions are met, the defending units will surrender in position. These conditions are as follows:

If a BattleMech expends all their ammunition and has no more available weapons.
If a BattleMech loses one side torso location due to damage.
If a BattleMech sustains internal damage in two torso locations or three limb locations.
If a BattleMech suffers two Engine hits or one Engine hit and one Gyro hit.
If a BattleMech is rendered immobile or otherwise unable to escape the battlefield.

Morale: When a unit would normally enter forced withdrawal, it will instead roll a Piloting check modified by a +3 TN penalty if it cannot see a unit commander. It must repeat this check at the end of any turn it takes damage after this.

Time Limit: The Fourth Legion of Vega will abandon their base if significant damage is done to either their structures or forces by turn eight.

Hired Guns: Priam Company is employing mercenaries who require payment for their services. Using “Gunslinger” (60 SP) “Peregrine” (60 SP), and “Cardiac” (40 SP) will cost Supply Points before the battle.

Existing Damage: A number of units have pre-existing damage due to poor repairs.

Priam Company: BLR-1G has 4 internal damage on the Right Arm.
Priam Company: WHM-6R A has 1 internal damage on the Left Torso.

Battle Report

Prelude

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Priam Company's officers might have been reluctant to engage in this combat, but they were certainly going to give it their full effort. They deployed a broad line of a battle-front and began a simple tactical plan to use the BattleMechs' slower speed to cover the faster hovercraft. So far, the Condor hovertanks have returned battered, but rarely failed to be useful.

The Fourth Legion of Vega has been cornered at their base by Priam Company, but they intend to put up a fight. Tai-i Marcus Itna is all that remains of the officers to put together a defense, and the mercenaries have arrived with a clear intent to put up a serious fight.

Turn One

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Priam Company advanced into the forest cover while their Condors began setting up for a run around the ridge on the right flank. Garrido's Warhammer moved to the right flank in hope of giving some covering fire if any of the Fourth Legion moved to engage. At the same time, Brand moved for the center in his Orion, and Duchen shifted to anchor the left flank in the BattleMaster.

The Fourth Legion, meanwhile, advanced their Archers and Demolisher tanks to cover the approach. Due to the heavy autocannons employed by the tanks, they would generate a significant threat to the mercenaries. Similarly, the two Manticore tanks are capable of being serious threats, and were moved to the center in order to support the advancing 'Mechs.

Turn Two

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The Condor tanks began moving around the right side of the ridge, only for the Demolisher and Manticore to be laying in wait. One volley from the Demolisher destroyed the motive system of one Condor, while the Manticore's shots failed to connect on the other. A Pegasus hovertank began trying to pace the third Condor, but couldn't do anything to stop it. Garrido's Warhammer proceeded to open fire on the Manticore, twin PPC shots blasting into the vehicle armor. However, the armor on a Manticore is quite considerable and shrugs off the damage.

Most of the Legion's forces move to the center gap now, and begin sending missiles to focus on the Orion steadily advancing. Between two Archers, the Stalker, and the Trebuchet there was a heavy impact of long-range missiles which began peeling away portions of the Orion's armor. A few return shots were attempted, enough to let it be clear Priam Company was intending to engage and entangle the Combine forces.

Turn Three

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Garrido's Warhammer continued to advance, while the Condor tanks streaked past the defending tanks into the base itself. One of the Condors had its motive system wrecked, and thus it popped smoke and the crew scrambled free. In retaliation, the Warhammer and Whitworth began firing on the Manticore in order to remove it from combat. The mercenaries' own Manticore began working its way through the rough terrain in order to offer support of its own. The Pegasus hovertank changed its path to begin menacing the Schrek, intending to be a diversion. The Marauder piloted by "Gunslinger" was present to start firing on it, focused on playing defense for the back line.

At the center, the advancing Centurion and Orion watched one Demolisher move into position on the ridge to threaten the advance. With the significant danger it posed, Brand unloaded the Orion's short-range weaponry into the tank with support from the Centurion. One of the autocannons managed to find the fuel tank and the explosive roar made most of the battlefield pause for a moment to bear witness.

On the other flank, Priam Company's assets had begun to take heavy fire from the few enemy 'Mechs moving to that side. The BattleMaster and Orion absorbed a great deal of damage, while the mercenaries focused fire into the Firestarter to prevent it from becoming an issue. Once it went down, the pilot was well aware she would not survive another round of incoming fire and shut down.

However, damage to one of the power generators causes it to shut down. The last Condor tank was now free to continue without further entanglements to begin firing on the command center.

Turn Four

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The battle rapidly began to turn in favor of the mercenaries as the Fourth Legion made attempts to strike at the officers. Garrido found herself embattled against the Archer and Manticore along the right flank, trying to hold it down against those odds. It was almost working, until her efforts caused her heat load to spike too high and triggered an emergency shutdown sequence. An errant short-range missile bounced of the Warhammer's head, and the concussion caused her to pass out.

However, other elements of Priam Company were having more success. "Gunslinger" successfully managed to wreck the motive system of the Pegasus, while Raster's Centurion took a shot from the Demolisher and caused its ammunition to explode. "Cardiac" managed to get his Jenner into position to destroy the SRM Carrier before it could do more than threaten the rest of the mercenaries, and the Black Knight advanced on the left flank where only a Panther was remaining.

Duchen's BattleMaster focused fire into the Lancelot, shredding more armor from the Heavy 'Mech. The Legion's Trebuchet tried to get behind him, hoping to chance a shot into the lighter rear armor. This was an unwise move, as the Victor was waiting and unloaded its weapons into the smaller 'Mech. The brawl was only going to get worse as the Stalker advanced into a range where the pilot could bring its full arsenal to bear on any of the Priam Company targets.

Despite this, Priam Company had begun to leverage the lack of resistance on the left flank to move up the Scorpion equipped with long-range missiles. Together with "Dead Ringer" and the Condor, the command center started taking damage.

Turn Five

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Priam Company's forces began to disperse in pursuit of targets, intending to break the Fourth Legion completely. The Black Knight and Orion focused fire into the Panther on the left flank, compromising its torso armor and forcing the 'MechWarrior to surrender. The Victor and BattleMaster focus fire into the Lancelot and force it to fall, likewise taking it out of the fight through attrition. The Stalker issued fire into the BattleMaster, causing Duchen to stagger and then fall over.

The Manticore tanks on the right flank were embattled as the Archer focused on trying to eliminate Garrido's Warhammer. Due to being unconscious, she could not prevent herself from falling over even as the 'Mech's systems came back to life. Raster's Centurion was already moving to support, and together with the "Crazy Eight" the second enemy Manticore was taken out of the fight through compromised armor on the right side.

However, weapons fire into the command center caused it to buckle and begin to collapse. As noncombatants began to evacuate, the Fourth Legion bitterly agreed to surrender in the face of defeat.

Aftermath

With the destruction of the command center assured, and the Fourth Legion quickly running out of options, the remaining 'MechWarriors surrender. Aubrey Duchen and Reginald Brand manage to organize the recovery efforts, first transporting prisoners away before beginning salvage efforts. Almost everything of possible use has already been removed from the base storage, suggesting the Fourth Legion had already been planning on abandoning this position. With the executive officer now in custody, it is expected the Combine forces will lack any leadership capable of being a serious threat to any continued operations.

Damage Report

Damage

BLR-1G: Right Arm (16 Armor), Right Leg (5 Armor), Left Leg (9 Armor), Right Torso (28 Armor, 75%+ Structure; Medium Laser (1 Hit; x3)), Left Torso (14 Armor), Center Torso (11 Armor).
ON1-K: Right Arm (8 Armor), Left Arm (24 Armor, 50% Structure), Right Leg (6 Armor), Left Leg (32 Armor, 25% Structure), Right Torso (27 Armor), Left Torso (5 Armor), Center Torso (14 Armor), Head (6 Armor).
WHM-6R A: Right Arm (17 Armor), Left Arm (17 Armor), Right Leg (2 Armor), Left Leg (15 Armor, 50% Structure), Right Torso (17 Armor, 75% Structure), Left Torso (11 Armor), Center Torso (20 Armor), Head (2 Armor).
VTR-9B: Left Arm (5 Armor), Center Torso (5 Armor).
BL-7-KNT: Right Leg (5 Armor), Right Torso (5 Armor), Left Torso (10 Armor), Center Torso (5 Armor).
CN9-A A: Right Arm (2 Armor), Left Arm (13 Armor; Destroyed), Left Leg (10 Armor), Right Torso (10 Armor), Left Torso (10 Armor), Center Torso (5 Armor).
Schrek: Front (5 Armor), Right (2 Armor), Turret (2 Armor), Motive Hit (2).
Condor A: Rear (4 Armor), Motive Hit (1).
Condor (Liao) B: Left (5 Armor), Motive Hit (1).
ARC-2K: Right Leg (10 Armor), Right Torso (2 Armor).
ARC-2R: Right Arm (15 Armor), Right Leg (10 Armor), Left Leg (15 Armor).
LNC-25-02: Right Arm (14 Armor, 25% Structure), Left Arm (14 Armor; Destroyed), Right Leg (14 Armor, 25% Structure), Left Leg (6 Armor), Right Torso (9 Armor), Left Torso (16 Armor; Destroyed), Center Torso (5 Armor).
Manticore B: Front (19 Armor), Turret (30 Armor), Motive Hit (1), Sensors Hit (1).
Manticore C: Right (33 Armor, Structure), Rear (5 Armor), Turret (23 Armor).

Rearming

BLR-1G: SRM 6 (1 Ton)
VTR-9B: AC/20, SRM 4 (2 Tons)
ON1-K: AC/10, LRM 15, SRM 4 (3 Tons)
WHM-6R A: SRM 6 (1 Ton)
GRF-1N B: LRM 10 (1 Ton)
CN9-A A: AC/10, LRM 10 (2 Tons)
WTH-1: LRM 10 (1 Ton)
Manticore A: LRM 10, SRM 6 (2 Tons)
Condor A: AC/5 (1 Ton)
ARC-2R: LRM 20 (1 Ton)
ARC-2R: LRM 15 (1 Ton)
Manticore B: LRM 10, SRM 6 (2 Tons)
Manticore C: LRM 10, SRM 6 (2 Tons)

Parts Not In Stock

Large Laser
Structure (50t Left Arm)
Structure (60t Left Arm)
Structure (60t Left Torso)
Actuator (50t Upper Arm)
Actuator (50t Lower Arm)
Actuator (50t Hand)
Medium Laser
Medium Laser
Vehicle Sensors

Mercenary Report

Authorized payment for "Cardiac": -40 SP
Authorized payment for "Dead Ringer": -60 SP
Authorized payment for "Gunslinger": -60 SP

Medical Report

Brand: 2 Wounds
Garrido: 2 Wounds
Raster: 1 Wound

Salvage Report

STK-3F: Seized, 'MechWarrior captured.
ARC-2K: Sent to repairs, 'MechWarrior captured.
ARC-2R: Sent to repairs, 'MechWarrior captured.
LNC-25-02: Sent to repairs, 'MechWarrior captured.
FS9-H: Valued at 175 SP, 'MechWarrior captured.
PNT-9R: Valued at 175 SP, 'MechWarrior captured.
TBT-5N: Sent to storage, 'MechWarrior captured.
Pegasus: Valued at 88 SP, Crew captured.
Manticore: Sent to repairs, Crew captured.
Manticore: Sent to repairs, Crew captured.

Mission Report

The mercenaries were able to deal a brutal loss to the Fourth Legion, destroying their command center and a power generator to score four victory points. In addition, they were able to eliminate seven opposing units to earn a total of eleven victory points. In contrast, the Legion managed to take one officer out of the fight through a failed consciousness check and eliminate two vehicles. Scoring only five victory points, they suffer a major loss and surrender to Priam Company.

NPC Report

Detained

STK-3F Stalker (Force Command) (2/3): Seized, 'MechWarrior captured.
ARC-2K Archer (4/4): Seized, 'MechWarrior captured.
ARC-2R Archer (2/4): Seized, 'MechWarrior captured.
LNC-25-02 Lancelot (3/6): Seized, 'MechWarrior captured.
FS9-H Firestarter (3/4; Jumping Jack): Seized, 'MechWarrior captured.
PNT-9R Panther (5/7): Seized, 'MechWarrior captured.
TBT-5N Trebuchet (3/4): Seized, 'MechWarrior captured.
Pegasus (4/5): Seized, Crew captured.
Manticore (3/4; Lucky 1): Seized, Crew captured.
Manticore (4/5): Seized, Crew captured.

Destroyed

Demolisher (2/2): Destroyed, Crew killed.
Demolisher (2/3): Destroyed, Crew killed.
SRM Carrier (3/5; Sandblaster): Destroyed, Crew killed.

General Summary
Forces
Special Rules
Special Abilities
Battle Report
Aftermath
Damage Report
Mercenary Report
Medical Report
Salvage Report
Mission Report
NPC Report

Report Date

04 Sep 2022

Campaign Round

Act 4 - Round 18

Report | Apr 11, 2023

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Suitors for Sakura

Report | Sep 26, 2022

Bail Out