This mission is a flanking mission that is part 3 of 4 for us on Vestallas.
OpFor Force List:
Davions: JagerMech III JM6-D3, Hellspawn HSN-9F, Dervish DV-9D, Falconer FLC-8R, LegionnarieLGN-2D, Phoenix Hawk PXH-3PL, Centurion CN9-Da, Enforcer III ENF-6Ma, Griffin GRF-6S, Shadow Hawk SHD-5D, Rakashasa MDG-1Ar, Argus AGS-4D & 2 Corsairs
Mercenary Coalition Force List:
Bethlans’ Irregulars – 2 Men Shen Fs, Apollo APL-1R, Huron Warrior R4N
Warlock Fusiliers – 3 Transgressor TS-13A w/ 2 Arrow Homing and 1 Arrow Air to Air
Piotrowski’s Predators – Puma Refit, Hellspawn Refit, 2 Bandit Refits, 2 Regulator Arrow IV variants, 2 Fa Shih Battle Armor Squads w/ Light TAG
Tako-Nu – Enforcer III ENF-6M, Wraith TR-1, Lynx 9Q, Griffin GRF-6S
Lords of the Night – Starslayer 3D, Shadow Hawk 5D, Enforcer III ENF-6M, Hercules 9000
Vestallas Home Guard (Free Capella Movement): Raven RVN-4X, Locust LCT-1V, Thunderbolt TDR-5S, Vindicator VND-1S1C, Phoenix Hawk PXD-3D, Cossack C-5K1, Helios HEL-3D, Blackjack BJ-3
The Setup:
The Home Guard were set up in the center of the map, slightly offset to the North. The Davions were set up towards the center, slightly offset to the South. We were able to deploy all along the West side of the map, 2 hexes in. I was located to the Southwest, with Bethlens, Lords, and then Tako-Nu deployed in ascending order from South to North. Also, the Davion aerospace support was overhead this turn. There was no damage on any of the Davion or Home Guard ‘Mechs to start the game.
The Action:
Turn 1 – In general the movement phase went like this. The Home Guard barely moved, sinking the big guns and running the lights around. The Davions did a crisscross movement to generate move mods. We swung in attempting to overwhelm and get behind. I decided to shoot ADAs in turn one, and missed. We focused on the Davion Phoenix Hawk 3PL which lost its LPL, Falconer which got its Gauss critted and the Shadow Hawk which falls. The Lord’s Shadow Hawk takes the brunt of the Davion fire, suffering massive damage. The Home Guard fires ineptly, as they are 5/6 pilots.
Turn 2 – Turn two is our massive Arrow Homing strike, as the Transgressors arrive on the scene. Combined with my two Arrows, we had 8 Arrows to decimate the Davions. We landed 5 total TAGs and ended up targeting the Argus, the Hellspawn (which lost a leg), the Dervish, and the Centurion (which died to LT destroyed). In the firing phase, we knock down the Griffin and JagerMech III. The Lord’s Hercules and Tako-Nu Griffin take punishment, and the Griffin falls.
Turn 3 – In this turn, the Home Guard reveal their trap. They are actually part of the Free Capella Movement and were working with the Davions to back stab us. I send my Arrows at the Thunderbolt and the Argus, which knocks out the the RAC. We kill off the Cossack and knock down the Rakashasa. We dodge most of the heavy fire, taking a little on a bunch of units.
Turn 4 – A Men Shen lands a rear TAG on the Legionnaire, and I send an Arrow through it’s rear center torso. The Huron Warrior finishes of the Dervish with Semi-G LRMs. We knock out the Gauss on the Helios. The Rakashasa gets taken out by Tako-Nu’s Enforcer III and the Hercules takes out the JM III via ammo explosion.
Turn 5 – The battle was pretty much decided at this point. They a significant portion of their ‘Mechs downed or heavily damaged and missing their main weapon systems. Since we were running lighter forces and many green pilots, we tried to do as much damage this turn, with the thought to disengage after turn 5. One of my bandits finished off the Hellspawn and a Men Shen took out the Locust. Moderate damage was exchanged, but nothing else fatal.
Results and Analysis:
The mission was pretty awesome. Honestly, besides Will and the OpFor player, no one had a clue that it was an ambush. We probably should have seen it coming, since we outnumbered the Davion’s so significantly. Ultimately, the Free Capella milita were pretty inept, and really didn’t cause much damage. They were just more armor for us to chew through. We definitely dished out more than we received, but we still took heavy damage to about 6 of our ‘Mechs. I think we selected the a good composition of forces, since our speed allowed us to keep high move mods to avoid damage. Again, Arrow IV homing is just so nasty. Ken brought the two Men Shen F’s which both have TAGs, which helped land critical TAGs. My and his lance worked well together.
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