BT: Scouring Sands Sortie 4 Report

 Dice tell a story.  

This story will contain spoilers for the Aces campaign. 

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Lt Smee wiped away tears and looked down on the dirt grave. 

“Well Captain this is goodbye.”

[Flashback - Start]

The ground exploded.  The hover transports rocked from the explosions and the comms channel buzzed to life.

 “What they hell just happen, skipper?!”

“The Jade falcons ended the negotiations with a bang. Apolakkians transports, get the hell out of there, now!”

“Captain, the Falcons are locking onto the transports!” 

“Papa and Dread, get between the Falcons and the transports.  Shield them the best you can. They won’t survive otherwise”

From around the bluff came a fearsome Clan Bane.  Its arms replaced with pod after pod of LRMs.  Those missiles fired in a heavy stream of white smoke and it darkened the sky.  The captain piloted his Mad Cat, ‘Wolfy’, in front of the transports.  The mercenary mech was slammed by round after round of LRMs; It was a savage barrage. 

“Captain, are you ok? Yeah, but I will feel it in the morning. I want that that Bane taken down now.”

The Lost boys responded with focused intensity.  The Pegasus tanks speed ahead to point blank range and fired off their new “hot” loads of infernal missiles.  The Bane was on fire and staggered under the brutal fire.  It lost several of its LRMs, but it was still standing.

  [Flashback - End]

“The crew, they done told me what you did to protect the civies” Smee continued.

“I always told you that noble streak would get you in trouble one day.  What did old Smee say.  ‘Money first, nobility second’

“Maybe if I had been there, I could have stopped you being so damn heroic”

 [Flashback - Start]

The next barrage hurt almost as bad as the first.  The Bane pilot had taken offense to the mercs preventing Jade falcon vengeance being inflicted upon the planet’s civilians leaders.  Once again LRMs slammed in ‘Wolfy’.  The merc commander fired back along with Lt Creed’s ‘Lawgiver’ and the Clan assault merc was nearly down.

The rest of the company focused on the master mind of this ambush; Star Captain Sender himself.  His Thunderbolt IIC took heavy damage and was on fire from the damn Pegasus hover tanks.

“Skipper, we got clan fast movers moving in behind us.  They plan to cut off the transports.”

“Tree frogs move to intercept! Don’t let them get to the transports”

To emphasize the danger one of the transports erupted in flames.  It had been shot through by the heavy laser fire of the Flacon Summoner.

“Damn it!”, the captain cursed

“Elementals!” Sgt Gerald ‘Gambit’ screamed from his Blackjack with that heavy French draw.  “They just popped out of the ground and hit me good”

“How many surprises did the Star Captain prepare for them”, the skipper wondered

[Flashback - End]

“It was a trap, Captain. We should have known better than to trust a dirty mongrel doctrine green canary.”  Smee, Lamented

[Flashback - Start]

The two new clan mechs rapidly closed on the remaining transports.  Lt “Papa Ed” placed his Archer in the line of fire. Nobility, it seems, was a contagious condition.  He took the brunt of the fire from the Locust, Baboon, and the Summoner. In return his Archer, with the help of a Pegasus, devastated the Clan Locust.  It would be forced to flee.  The transports had been saved. 

The company’s Wolfhound, Phoenix Hawk, and two of the dust bunnies moved to surround the Star Captain.  His Thunderbolt IIC was ravaged and was forced to flee the field as well. 

Lt Creed finally ended the Bane.  The Falcon’s pilot’s last act was sending one more barrage at the Captain’s Timber wolf.  The captain himself hit the Summoner hard. 

Two of the strongest enemy mechs were down and civies were almost in the clear. 

“We going to make it” thought the Skipper.

[Flashback - End]

“Of course, Captain, it all went to hell at the end didn’t it. The crew are still in shock how fast it all went down.  One moment you were there and the next…”

Smee started to tear up again.   

[Flashback - Start]

“The first transport is away!”  Captain Cook heard the cheers erupt over the comms from this news.  “Well done Lost boys” he called out.

The Jade Flacons still wanted their revenge.  The Summoner moved forward to destroy the last transport.  Once again Lt ‘Papa Ed’ stepped forward blocking the shot and fired on the Summoner.  The clanner answered with heavy laser fire that burned deep into the heart of the Archer.  Then mercenary mech collapsed. 

Infuriated, the Merc company focused on the Summoner and brought the enemy mech down. 

Captain Sender, now fleeing the field, added to the spite by shotting his remaining weapons upon one of the Pegasus tanks of the Dust Bunnies scouting lance.  The large heavy lasers burned through body of the light vehicle, and it crashed to the ground. 

“Captain, that Locust is trying to break through watch you back!”

The Captain twisted his mech and fired two LRM barrages at the light mech.  In return he saw a dazzling display of laser fire streak toward his mech

“Lt Creed, Lost Actual is down.  I repeat lost actual is down”

[Flashback - End]

Smee heard footsteps approaching and he turned to see Sgt Gerald ‘Gambit’ Dubois climb the small hill.  ‘Gambit’ walked up to the grave that was next to the former commander.  Lt Edu ‘Papa Ed’ Pouge had not survived the final barrage of the enemy

“It doesn’t seem right for such pilots to die here on some rock in the Hinterlands, it’s not right at all” Smee said

‘Gambit’ leaned down and placed a pack of cards on the tombstone of his former lance commander.  “We all know the risk of this life, and sometimes our luck runs out.”

“I will remember him has a brave mech warrior and the best ramen chef we ever had”

Smee smiled at the memory of many ramen meals shared between the crew. 

At that moment, the base sirens started blaring. Their comms units activated as one

“Captain Creed wants all pilots back ASAP, we got Falcons inbound!”

“The bastards barely gave us time to bury the dead” Smee fumed    

“Let’s see if we can give them a warm welcome, mon ami.  The dice may turn in our favor, si?”   

BT: Clan Snow Raven

 Clan Snow Raven enters the arena!

This force was added to the collection because I wanted to game in the IlClan era.  It was a chance to give all the shiny new tech a try.  Clan Snow Raven plays predominately in this timeline as they have angered several of the great houses.  Conveniently, I have forces for those angered Great Houses. 

I have a personal theory the next Catalyst kickstarter will be aerospace focused.  Clan Snow Raven would be a good faction for that.     

The Beta Galaxy of CSR is a popular choice judging by the the pictures I see.  It gave me a chance to try a unique color and experiment with the sponge painting technique as well. 

This was meant to be a full Binary of ten mechs but the Carrion Crow experienced a horrible industrial accident while receiving its paint job.  In the process of repairing a foot actuator a fire started in the repair bay.  The flames engulfed the mech and the entire unit had to repaired and stripped.  The technician caste members responsible have been punished for the carelessness. 

Sense my OCD won't allow it otherwise, I must point out the War Crow is missing a medium laser in the left torso.  It appears that very tiny piece of flash/sprue I now recall in the bag was actually a weapon insert.  Let this me a gentle warning to all of you...do not throw away any pieces until the very end.  

 Thanks

BT: Reinforcements

Hello All,

I have been catching up with the Battletetch novels of the current Ilkhan era. At the same time I got some friends playing classic battletech. They love the crunchy details and the hilarious outcomes. This combination got me wanting to build forces for the Ilhan era. It is the only era I have not played. I want to try all the new shiny technology.

I have selected to build a Clan Snow Raven force and a Capellan force to oppose them. My Fedsuns force is also a contender to fight this Clan. In the current timeline both Houses have large beefs with the Ravens.

Force boxes were gathered and the mech bay grew larger. I looked for current plastics that fit with my Cappies. They were painted in my merc brown but continued the yellow accents started with the Wraith. I figured this would mark them as advance designs. Of course all mechs are useable this was just a cool mental add on for painting encouragement.

Here is the new lance

They will go with the Wraith and once the Kontio drops that will complete this demi company.

The force boxes had mechs I did not wish to include with the Mercs. They became reinforcements for my Fedsuns and Steiner forces.

BT Battle Report

 

Sarna 3029

“The 5^th Srytis Fusilier invasion force was shattered.  Survivors of the aerospace and hover tank attacks are now making their way deeper into the forest to escape and regroup.  Two heavy mechs of the regiment attempt to make the tree line.  Units of the MAC have been placed to prevent their escape.  Can the two Fusilier mechs fight their way through?!”

Fusiliers:

Warhammer 6R - 3/4

Marauder 3R - 3/4

 

MAC:

Shadowhawk SHD-2H – 4/5

Phoenix Hawk PHX-1 - 4/5

Vindicator VND-1R - 4/5

Blackjack BJ-1 - 4/5

 A simple scenario for classic battletech.  The escaping mechs must get off the board or destroy the opposition. 

The early game was a hint of things to come as the Blackjack reached out and slammed an AC/2 round into the Warhammer’s cockpit.  The Fusilier mechs responded with a barrage of PPC fire quickly ramping up their heat.  Their fire was inconsistent.  The pilots were rattled from the slaughter they had witnessed in the drop zones. 

The Fusilier mechs played cagey and moved into the cover of the buildings.  The MAC mechs charged to close the range.  The Phoenix hawk and the Marauder begin an epic duel, each blasting around the corner of the same building.  This is when the physical attacks started. The Phoenix hawk landed a kick, and the Marauder slammed its weapon’s arm into the P-Hawk.  The Marauder broke into the open, but the Phoenix hawk could easily keep up.  Another kick was landed on the Marauder.

The Shadowhawk positioned itself on a hill, both behind and above the Warhammer.  A deadly position for a kick.  Hitting the shutdown override, the Marauder pilot poured PPC fire into the Shadowhawk.  The MAC pilot could not remain steady on the crest of the hill and fell.  The Marauder pilot had saved his lance mate, but the heat removed any chance of getting away.    

The Fusilier mechs continued down the map. Exchanging fire with their pursuers.  The Phoenix Hawk fired alpha strike, after alpha strike, followed up with more kicks.  The Marauder returned fired into the determined MAC mech.  Finally, a medium laser punched through the left side of the Marauder and triggered the AC/5 ammo.  The fusilier mech succumbed to the internal explosion while the Phoenix Hawk, nothing more than legs and a torso, stood triumphant.    

The Warhammer was close to escape.  It had weathered a lot of fire but the MAC mechs were unlikely to bring it down.  In a classic “Hold my beer” moment, the Vindicator took aim at the Warhammer.  “You won’t escape Fedrat!”, the pilot called as she squeezed the trigger.  Her lance mates looked in awe as the PPC bolt entered the cockpit and the heavy Fusilier mech fell onto its back.    Weakened by the AC shell in the beginning the game, the bolt had killed the pilot.

BEFORE: 

AFTER:

Complete victory for Big Mac!

Well done to all who played and thank you.       

 

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