o/
Never tell me the odds!
I got in another campaign game, this time taking a lance over to the nearby world of Mica II where I was to clear a settlement of enemy fortifications and Mechs. The only known opposition was a King Crab. BV was set at 5K which caused quite a bit of consternation amongst the campaign members, especially after I mentioned the modified BVs for our 3/4 pilots. I did so only after seeing some prospective lists and realizing folks were forgetting to modify their BVs. Previously, missions went by tonnage alone.
My 5k BV force for this op. all 3/4 pilots, with an HBK-4G, 4H, 4J & a UM-R60.
Digger, our new campaign manager/DM was pondering bumping it up to 6k BV, however as I had the day off and would be in to the FLGS early, I opted to play guinea pig at the 5K BV, in return for an additional added bonus in payment (The Buffet Assault Group are mercenaries after all). Digger would be running the unknown to me OpFor.
The battlefield recently completed by Digger, the strip in the middle was a yet to be painted runway.
Digger, our new Herder of cats...
Not only would I have an enemy lance to contend with, but there were several weapons turrets as well! Along with the stock King Crab there was a base model Valkyrie, a Blackjack Bj-1DB (proxied with an Enforcer mini) and a Locust LCT-1E.
The hunchbacks make short work of the first turret! 35 points of armor is stout, unless of course it takes an AC-20 hit.
A 2nd turret goes down, however at this point I was more concerned by the mechs than the turrets.
The HBK-4G decides to see what destiny (the pilot's new name) has in store and goes after the King Crab. Unfortunately my AC-20 missed with only the medium lasers connecting. Whereas one of the Crab's AC-20s connected! Luckily only just wrecking an arm!
As often as I like shooting folks in the back, it would instead be me suffering that fate (repeatedly) this game. That said, the Urbie flipped its arms and proved just as dangerous to the rear as the front!
Round 2 of this duel and my AC-20 connected with the KC's center torso! However both of it's AC-20s hit in return and...
...that was that. Destiny did manage to eject at least. The 4H missed with everything it threw at the KC while the Blackjack continued to harry my flank.
The 4H out maneuvered the KC but couldn't shake the Blackjack. in dire straits at this point, the whole right torso of my 4H separated from my mech and the Hunchback turned to flee the board (successfully doing so).
The locust sniping at my HBK-4J which was now backing up, laying down fire as my mission went from seek & destroy to a fighting retreat.
The HBK-4J managed to avoid the pursuing King Crab and flee the board in much the same tattered state (missing half a torso) as the KBK-4H did. The Urbie meanwhile was walking backwards with it's AC-10 blazing. Digger offered me a chance to concede to which i replied:
Urbanmechs don't run from a fight!, and so my fighting retreat continued...slowly. Someone watching suggested I rename the pilot '
Custer' and I was happy to oblige.
In my Urbie's last defiant act, it blew an arm off of the Blackjack, though much to my dismay as the Blackjack's head was down to it's last point of structure! Beaten all to hell and almost out of Ammo, the Urbie was still 3 walking turns away from the board edge when it was legged and Custer ejected from his ride.
Well that was rough. Following my game it we decided follow on players would bump up to 6K, and the cat was out of the bag on the King Crab's lancemates and the surprise turrets. I watched for a bit but didn't see how he next game concluded. I lost 2 mechs, though there was a mobile repair base available on Mica II making repairs far cheaper than expected, netting me a small profit in terms of Warchest points.
When my dispossessed pilots are able to return to Steel Haven where the rest of my force is currently, I have a pilotless Assassin waiting, meaning I'll only need to replace 1 mech (and that will be the end of the aforementioned profit...).
