Author Topic: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs  (Read 4602 times)

celem

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ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« on: 17 September 2017, 15:44:16 »
This is my AgainstTheBot Megamek campaign.  I'm very new to battletech and don't know my lore very well so forgive any fuzzy inaccuracies.  I'm also going to use 'armour' even though I know this system drops the u, because I have no chance of retraining that. Dates are Month/Day/Year.  There are a couple of House rules in force: No retirement rolls being the major one, but I'm also allowed one remap per mission if I discard the generated map without deploying any units.

The motivation to write this stems from an upgrade of my MekHQ software leading to the unchecking of 'Disallow extinct units', and the purchase of some hardware that I should probably not have had access to, but I hereby justify keeping thanks to some coincidental unit history.  Hope you Enjoy.


Primus,

As per request, assembled here is a summary of current intelligence on the mercenary unit styled as Colombi's Corsairs 3030-3035.  Data is compiled from MBR sources in addition to that of ComStar intelligence assets.

01/01/3030: Colombi's Corsairs is registered with the MRB as a Mercenary Company with 12 Founding Members under Salvatore Colombi. Their starting assets are of little note apart from a stripped-down Dictator(Command) Dropship with it's AC and LRM bays removed at some point.

3030 - 3032: Unit arrives on Chara (Pacifica) to take up Garrison Duty for the Lyran Commonwealth.  Veteran House allies and general inexperience of their largely Capellan opponents seems to have led to an easy start for the unit, though tight Salvage terms and the loss of a LGB-0W late in the first year seems to have hindered their growth.  Of particular note is a report from 2 months before the termination of the contract concerning the discovery of a TLN-5V in an old mothballed facility.  The Lyrans appear to have forgiven the unit retaining the mech on the grounds of their otherwise excellent service and Colombi takes the lostech Light Mech as his personal machine.

3032 - 3033:   The unit redeploys immediately upon completion of their service to the Lyrans to the ComStar facility at Jardine (Herakleion 2822+) to serve as Security Detail against local rebels.  It is believed that it is during their service here they met [redacted].  The unit performs in a fully satisfactory fashion, repelling several direct strikes against the facility alongside ComStar units.  Battlefield salvage provides the Corsairs with a collection of repairable hardware and they expand their initial trio of 4 mech lances to include two more lances comprising a mix of light mechs and light to medium armour.

3033: The remainder of 3033 sees Colombi leading his crew to Catroxx to hunt Pirates for the FWL.  The by-now seasoned unit dominates the disorganised Pirates, and an exclusive salvage agreement sees another influx of machines.  The unit brings it's Second Company to full strength, adding a Command Lance under Oleisia Kawczynski and forms the Corsair Fire Team, a long-range bombardment lance independent of the Company hierarchies.  They also capture and repair two Assault class mechs; a BLR-1G  and a STK-4N which the Command Lances are rebuilt around.

3034: The Corsairs deploy to Sakhalin assisting the FWL in a Planetary Assault on the FedSun world with resounding success.  The mercenaries confound the defenders at every turn and when their contract ends they have been pivotal in the assault on the world.  What is more they manage to convince a sizeable number of captured Fed personnel to defect to the unit and by the end of this contract a full third-company has been added to the roster under command of Michael Helton.

3034 - 3035: In late 3034 the Corsairs are subcontracted by another mercenary unit on behalf of the Lyrans to head to Skondia on a Recon contract against the Combine.  Little direct information is available on this operation as all parties involved have been surprisingly reticent about discussing the subject and MBR records are brief.  The Lyrans reported a satisfactory completion and no observers note significant loss on the part of the Corsairs, but a number of flags were raised internally concerning two new additions to the unit's ranks.  The unit underwent a full reforming to battalion strength with a number of unit reassignments.

Since this is the unit's latest contract to date and the above is presumably the incident you had in mind when you requested this summary from me Primus, allow me to take the liberty of outlining some conclusions where data lacks.

It is known for a fact that Colombi's Corsairs returned to Outreach for maintenance at the end of their Skondia operation with two Kintaro medium mechs, this we have from our operatives on the Dragoon world.  What is unclear is their heritage and model, which is a line of inquiry that leads only to outright evasiveness.  Fortunately one of my own operatives within the Hiring Hall has managed to gain somewhat reliable evidence that these are indeed advanced tech battlemechs, with every indication being that they are in actual fact, our KTO-20's.  Apparently the mechs were seen with their armour removed exposing their heatsinks during refitting, the Kintaros were being clad in Standard armour at the time, yet reports indicate that it was ferro-fibrous plating that was taken off.

At this point what follows is my own speculation, I leave it to you to deem its likelyhood.  It would appear that [redacted], for reasons unknown, has leaked the existence of the advanced Kintaros given to the Combine as part of Operation Rosebud to Colombi's Corsairs, who have then somehow managed to lay their hands on examples.  Being unable to maintain the advanced armor plating they are then forced to downgrade the machines, indeed one source insisted the mechs left the maint bays without their LRM 10's, presumably this is where the mercs saved the weight needed to downgrade the armour.  Despite this their advanced heatsinks will still give the mechs a distinct edge over the majority of their foes.

Quite what motivated [redacted] to divulge such information to Salvatore I leave to you, but given that the mercenaries have already downgraded the units somewhat I see little long-term harm in their ownership of them.

(GM: So I got all excited when the KTO-20 was produced since Colombi needs to replace the TLN-5V, whose lostech engine is almost wrecked.  Seduced by the DHS I bought a pair before realising I shouldn't have been able to get hold of them and couldn't source parts for them.  In the end I came up with this story and increased my purchasing costs by 100% to suggest shady dealings.  I had to downgrade the armour to be able to field them, ferro-fibrous just cant be had yet, at least not by the likes of me.  Had I spotted this situation upfront I probably would have knocked together a custom scenario to go after them, but I did the best I could retroactively.  Colombi is still sitting in the Talon, but the day comes ever closer where my Techs break the XL engine.)
« Last Edit: 26 September 2017, 04:53:47 by celem »

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #1 on: 17 September 2017, 15:45:01 »
Appendix A:
Current Organisation of Colombi's Corsairs as of 06/12/3035:
Note: Follow an unusual combined arms structure with lance-level integration of vehicles on a 3:2 ratio of mech to armour.  The unit is currently capable of moving around half of it's assets aboard it's own Dropship.

Dictator(Command) Dropship (Semi-Demilitarised) - Lieutenant JG Milena Karabatsos (Vessel Tech)

Battalion Command Lance - 315 tons
Talon TLN-5V - Major Salvatore Colombi, 2/2
Shrek PPC Carrier (Standard) - Sergeant Quentin Tolley, 3/3
Behemoth Heavy Tank (Standard) - Sergeant Jack Mandalindan, 3/3
Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 - Sergeant Darren Turner, 3/3
Kintaro KTO-20a 'Corsair' - Corporal Ludo Bartoccini, 4/3

Corsair Fire Team - 350 tons
Rifleman RFL-3N - Lieutenant JG Trillare Addams, 3/2
Rifleman RFL-3N - Corporal Matt Mainaky, 4/4
Catapult CPLT-C1 - Corporal Yannick Newitt, 4/4
Shrek PPC Carrier (Standard) - Corporal Vergie Familtsev, 4/4
Longbow LGB-0W - Sergeant Yunis Marrita, 3/3

1st Company - 830 tons
     Command Lance -295 tons
     Orion ON1-K - Captain Oleisia Kawczynski, 2/2
     Behemoth Heavy Tank (Standard) - Sergeant Hizkaias Nguyen-Tan, 3/4
     Kintaro KTO-20a 'Corsair' - Corporal Jalal Walid, 3/4
     Goblin Medium Tank (Standard) - Corporal Sergio Trevino, 4/4
     Locust LCT-1V - Private Brisia Aldea, 4/5

     Alpha Lance - 275 tons
     Stalker STK-4N - Sergeant Kelly Bowyer, 3/4
     Ostsol OTL-4D - Private Niven Cox, 4/4
     Asassin ASN-21 - Corporal Tokaji Hipakeiki, 3/4
     Vedette Medium Tank (Standard) - Private Izette Wells, 4/4
     Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun (Standard) - Corporal Nancy Felder, 3/4

     Bravo Lance - 260 tons
     Thunderbolt - TDR-5S - Sergeant Thi-Be Phu, 3/4
     Firestarter FS9-H - Corporal Manaara Umayr, 4/3
     Crusader CRD-3R - Private Irena Buzek, 4/4
     Pegasus Scout Hover Tank (Standard) - Corporal Phelan Leton, 4/4
     Bulldog Medium Tank (AC2) - Private Sadik Halil, 4/4

2nd Company - 760 tons
     Command Lance - 310 tons
     Battlemaster BLR-1G - Lieutenant JG Michael Aelton, 3/3
     Pike Support Vehicle (Standard) - Corporal Josh Prunau, 3/4
     Vedette Medium Tank (AC2) - Corporal Kassia Strapoudopolis, 4/4
     Lancelot LNC25-02 - Private Kezban Kalenchian, 4/4
     Dervish DV-6M - Private Joe Eminov, 4/5

     Charlie Lance - 235 tons
     Rifleman RFL-3N - Sergeant Elektra Terzin, 3/3
     Dragon DRG-1N - Corporal Sissay Tayari, 5/5
     Commando COM-3A - Private Joe Yanashko, 5/5
     Pike Support Vehicle (Standard) - Corporal Jennifer Limbo, 3/4
     Vedette Medium Tank (AC2) - Private Kim-Oanh Bautista, 4/4

     Delta Lance - 215 tons
     Hermes II HER-2M 'Mercury' - Sergeant Daniel Gonzalez, 3/4
     Quickdraw QKD-4G - Corporal Hsui-chuan Sa, 4/3
     Blackjack BJ-1 - Private Kuang-vin Zasekin, 4/5
     Hunter Light Support Tank (Standard) - Private Sely Castillo, 5/5
     Pegasus Scout Hover Tank (Standard) - Private Penelope Melas, 5/5

3rd Company (Recon) - 337 tons
     Command Lance - 127 tons
     Panther PNT-9R - Lieutenant JG Ken Gunver, 3/3
     Stinger STG-3G - Private Phuong-An Belh, 5/5
     Spider SDR-5V - Private Takiyah Kanda, 5/5
     Warrior Attack Helicopter H-7 - Corporal Bettine Floch, 4/4
     Warrior Attack Helicopter H-7 - Corporal Andrew Nghia, 4/4

     Echo Lance (Light Fire Team) - 140 tons
     Locust LCT-1E - Corporal Bryana Warwick, 4/3
     Valkyrie VLK-QA - Private Lyndsay Chalmers, 4/4
     Javelin JVN-10N - Private Ben Tapley, 4/6
     Striker Light Tank (LRM) - Private Lila Pace, 5/4
     Scorpion Light Tank (LRM) - Private Alisa Josh, 5/4

     Foxtrot Lance - 91 tons
     Jump Platoon (Rifle) - Master Sergeant Markov Entov, 5/8
     Commando COM-1B - Sergeant Boleslava Emtsov, 5/4
     Wolverine WVR-6R - Private Chao-ji Potchuev, 4/5
     Motorized Platoon (Laser) - Corporal Rora Fukuda, 5/8
     Foot Platoon (SRM) - Corporal Douggie MacCall, 5/8

Battalion is supported by approximately two dozen civilian class vehicles ranging from APCs to coolant and ordinance flatbeds in addition to 4 PowerMan XI Loader mechs.

The 35 mechwarriors are backed by 88 vehicle crew, 102 soldiers and the 12 Dropship crew to make 239 combat personnel.  The Support roster counts 36 Mech Techs and 14 Armour Mechanics, 54 Admins, 5 Doctors and 48 permanent Astechs for a total of 157. 

Unassigned mech assets:
Following is a summary of currently unassigned and mothballed combat mechs.

Crusader CRD-3L, Hunchback HBK-4G, Firestarter FS9-H, Locust LCT-1V, Scorpion SCP-1N, Spider SDR-5V, Stinger STG-3G, Wasp WSP-1A, Wasp WSP-1D

(GM: Only as I post this do I realise my Battalion Fire Team outweighs the entire Third Company.)
     
« Last Edit: 17 September 2017, 16:44:59 by celem »

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #2 on: 17 September 2017, 17:30:22 »
Rank Distribution and Hierarchy, Unit Structure

Colombi's Corsairs use the Star League rank system

A Lance is 3 Mechs and 2 Vehicles and is commanded by a Sergeant, or rarely a Corporal
A Company is made up of 3 Lances including a Command Lance, which is led by an officer (Lieutenant JG or better)
A Battalion is made up of 3 Companies and an additional Command Lance led by the unit commander.  Additional Specialist Lances may be attached at the Battalion level, led by an officer (Lieutenant JG or better)

The unit currently contains seven officers; Major Colombi of Battalion Command, Captain Kawczynski of 1st Company Command, Lieutenant JG Addams of the Corsair Fire Team, Lieutenant JG Helton of 2nd Company Command, Lieutenant JG Gunver of 3rd Company (Recon) Command, Lieutenant JG Karabatsos of Dropship Logistics and Lieutenant SG Piracha of Admin (Command).

The Mech Tech, Vehicle Tech, Infantry and Medical Sections are each led by a Master Sergeant. Vehicle Crews are treated as Mechwarriors with regard to ranking, though there are currently none among the officers.

« Last Edit: 17 September 2017, 19:04:46 by celem »

Demon55

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #3 on: 18 September 2017, 11:01:26 »
Looks like you are off to a good start celem.  Have you watched any of thomasmarik's videos on youtube?

DOC_Agren

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #4 on: 19 September 2017, 18:21:51 »
Interesting Lances, with some odd choices

If it was me I would look at the following changes
In 3rd Company, Command Lance
While the Panther is a Heavy Mech which got shrunk in the wash, it is really not a recon unit, in it's place I would slot in the Hermes II HER-2M 'Mercury' from Delta Lance, a machine that designed to be a Recon Unit. 
I would also move both Pegasus Scout Hover Tank into it.

Transfer both Warriors to Echo Lance, and transfer to Bravo Lance Striker Light Tank (LRM) and to Delta Lance Scorpion Light Tank (LRM)
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"

Iron Grenadier

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #5 on: 19 September 2017, 20:26:22 »
Just curious, what prompted a 3 mech/2 vehicle lance?

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #6 on: 21 September 2017, 10:22:09 »
The whole structure kind of derived from the fact that I picked out the Dictator first.  I later learned its obsolete and pretty rare in my era, but it's not extinct, so I let it ride, especially since my tech cant maintain it, its losing weaponry and armour steadily and assuming an appropriate ramshackle aspect.  Its high vehicle bay count prompted me to build combined arms like I did.

edit: also a factor here is megamek.  It likes 6 element teams, and an ally takes one of these slots, so I wanted 5 'units'.  If I'm running an Independent contract I can always add an element, though I rarely do.

Also thanks for the comments on my recon units, there was indeed some issues there, the panther performed horribly in the situations I dropped it into.  I have indeed reshuffled these elements, the panther has headed to a newly formed specialist lance of all jumpers which mainly see action in fog and at night and such (where the 4 hex range is still not to be sniffed at).  Hermes did indeed replace it in the slot briefly, but a few new toys have been unearthed so it's still musical chairs for the Corsairs.

And no, i've seen very little content online, but now I have a name to reference.  Cheers!
« Last Edit: 21 September 2017, 10:25:12 by celem »

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #7 on: 21 September 2017, 15:55:06 »
Mercenary Observation Intelligence Update October 3037 - Outreach

Pursuant previous instructions, follows latest intelligence on Colombi's Corsairs.

November 3035 - Bryant
The Corsairs have continued to expand and have been highly active from the time of the last report to date.  In the late summer of 3035 they redeployed the short hop to Bryant to act once again as Garrison, this time for the Federated Commonwealth against the Combine.  With their developing reputation it was apparently not felt necessary to reinforce them in their role and they operated without House support, but under generous Battle Loss Compensation and Salvage terms.  The Combine evidently chose not to commit first-line troops against the unit as their record over the following 18 months is flawless. Losing no more than 2 light mechs during the entire 18 months they take advantage of the calm to slowly but steadily recruit both mechwarriors and armour crew alike.

Incidents of note:
Shortly after arriving on the world Colombi proves strangely fortunate once again as Echo Lance stumbles across a Stinger STG-3Gb, successfully extracted by the Valkyrie pilot.  This Royal SLDF remnant is pressed into immediate service in the Recon company without modification. 

Sources suspect that data must have been found along with this mech concerning other facilities on Bryant, since just 2 months later the unit repeats the feat, acquiring a Wyvern WVE-5N, likewise immediately deployed.

Whether Colombi was aware of the third installation but could not pinpoint it, or whether this last was unknown to him can not be ascertained, yet in May of 3036 another Royal SLDF mech is located, this time by Combine forces.  A Rifleman from the Corsair Fire Team blundered into it as it headed for the Combine lines and engaged what turned out to be a Warhammer WHM-6Rb.  Whilst the Warhammer was brought down and captured by the Corsairs without damage to it's exotic engine the Rifleman would ultimately need to be scrapped for parts.  The prize is patched up as best they can and then mothballed, presumably too exotic to use.

The remainder of the contract passes largely uneventfully with conflict between the sides devolving to a string of officer duels initiated by the combine and concluded by the mercenaries, neatly allowing the elite Corsairs to eliminate the enemy command structure.  Unfortunately there is also a string of failures in logistics, at their worst leaving the mercenaries unable to source even Standard Armour plating, over the last few months many of the Corsair units fall into disrepair.  The unit survive this largely thanks to it's surplus of mothballed and alternate hardware, with crews paid through a share system happy to switch commands.

January 3037 - Outreach

Colombi's Corsairs' return to Outreach at the start of 3037 reveals just how badly hit by resupply issues the unit actually is.  On arrival many assumed they had been roundly whipped by the Combine, so bad did their mechs look.  Unable to repair even trivial combat damage many had gradually become crippled and inoperable through a slow attrition.  Others were half-patched prizes, coaxed into action as the last best alternative to meet a new push, or even long obsolete mechs such as a pair of Gladiator GLD-1R broken out of storage to fill a slot.

Despite this gruelling end to an otherwise very profitable contract outright losses have been low.  Several light mechs are entirely destroyed yet the only personnel deaths are the crew of a warrior H-7 that side-slipped into a canyon wall and the Fire Team's Catapult pilot, who was killed when her mech took a Patton tank's AC/10 to the head.

Even with the unit's excellent reputation it takes some time for the Corsairs to push all their equipment through the maintenance and repair facilities.  The personnel enjoy an extended R&R during this period, with Colombi paying his now large group from their recent profits.  When the mechs and vehicles finally begin filtering back out of the facilities Colombi sets about reorganising his force organisation and assets, formally founding several shifting non-standard teams established during the tricky late stages of the Bryant Garrison contract. 

The Corsairs also appear to be standardising certain assets, with some mech chassis being eliminated completely from the roster in favour of others.

Summarised Force Report:

With the events of the tail-end of the Bryant operation many NCOs have switched mech back and forth as the unit attempted to field to full strength.  With their assets repaired the three original companies largely retain their previous structure.  Notably the armour elements of the 1st and 2nd Companies grow heavier, with more and more assault class armour deployed.  The Third Recon Company exchanges it's light tracked armour and Warrior VTOL's for Partisan and Saracen hover tanks better able to keep pace with the light mechs and rebuilds Foxtrot Lance as a mech/hover lance rather than infantry.

In the largest changes the Corsair Fire Team and a later Jump Team formed during the Bryant operation have been expanded out into 2 full specialist Companies, both of irregular structure outlined below.

Corsair Fire Support Company
Generally deployed as reinforcing elements to mainline companies to offer flexible levels of fire support.  Commanded by a Captain.

Command Lance - Rifleman RFL-3N(commander), Drillson Hvy Hover, Maxim Hvy Hover, Foot Platoon (SRM), AC/10 Field Gunners Platoon

Heavy Fire Team - Longbow LGB-0W, Archer ARC-2R, Dervish DV-6M, Catapult CPLT-1, Rifleman RFL-3N

Light Fire Team - Valkyrie VLK-QA, Panther PNT-9R, Pike Support Vehicle, Scorpion Light Tank(LRM), Striker Light Tank(LRM)

Corsair Tactical Company

Mech elements are often called upon in urban, mountainous and forested environments or heavy weather/night operations. VTOL assets are often lent to Fire Support and Recon elements.  Commanded by a Lieutenant JG.

Command Lance - Wyvern WVE-5N(commander), Vulcan VL-2T, Phoenix Hawk PXH-1, Phoenix Hawk PXH-1, Shadow Hawk SHD-2K

Light Jump Team - Javelin JVN-10N, Firestarter FS9-H, Panther PNT-9R, Wasp WSP-1A, Stinger STG-3R

Aerial Support Alpha - Peregrine VTOL, Warrior H-7, Warrior H-7

Aerial Support Bravo - Peregrine VTOL, Warrior H-7A, Warrior H-7C

Now totalling 5 full companies of varying compositions the unit is stretching the term Battalion somewhat, and it would seem likely that further reform lies ahead.







Daryk

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #8 on: 21 September 2017, 18:42:46 »
I'd recommend swapping the Panther and Vulcan in your Tactical Company.  That would give the "Light Jump Team" 6/9/6 movement throughout, making them more flexible at the operational level.  Putting the Panther in the Command Lance would also give the Wyvern a partner with the same movement profile.

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #9 on: 22 September 2017, 01:16:06 »
Thanks Daryk.  The Panther is indeed destined to move again. Honestly I've found this mech very hard to place.  But you are right, it will slot nicely alongside the Wyvern.  The second one in the Light Fire Team does ok at least since those units tend not to move much at all, but bombard from their deployment.

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #10 on: 22 September 2017, 03:02:59 »
Officer Spotlight: Senior Command

Major Salvatore 'Salvation' Colombi - Battalion Command
Male, 41 years

Born Oct 21 2995 to a wealthy Free-Worlds League merchant.  Salvatore inherits his late father's estate in 3025 and wanderlust drives him to Solaris, between 3026 and 3028 he recruits the majority of the Corsair's founding members from the game world's ranks, though a couple would arrive from House or other Merc units.

2/2, Tactics +3, Strategy +3, Leadership +3, Negotiation +3.  Manouevering Ace, Melee Specialist, Dodge
41 confirmed kills, of which 23 Mech.

Initially claiming a WVR-6R as his personal mech, Salvatore would not switch rides until the discovery of the lostech Talon TLN-5V, from which he has not since been separated.  His preferred tactic is to jump or sprint from ambush and backstab/kick.  His troops have dubbed him 'Salvation' after his berserk rescue jumps/rushes whenever one of his unit's mechs is proned or a tank immobilized; it's hard not to love him when he's standing over your fallen comrade, blasting at the foes with his PPC and snarling incoherently over the general comms, such sights inspire devotion.

(GM: House rule - Playing with defection off)


Captain Oliesia 'Cause' Kawczynski - 1st Company Command
Female, 37 years

Born July 10 2999 in the Capellan Commonwealth little is known of Oliesia's childhood and upbringing, as she is tight-lipped when questioned.  Choosing to leave her home at the advent of adulthood she wandered the Inner Sphere gaining periodic experience as a freelance merc, ultimately acquiring an Orion ON1-K which she would bring to Solaris in 3024.   Meeting Colombi in 3026 the two become fast friends and the warrior signs up as a founding member of the Corsairs and their Second in Command.

2/2, Tactics +2, Strategy +2, Leadership +1.  Dodge, Melee Specialist, Blind Fighter, Sniper
25 confirmed kills, of which 17 mech including 3 Assault.

Oliesia has long piloted her Orion heavy mech, and with it developed a fearsome reputation as a brawler.  Her reflexes are such that she is effective even in pitch darkness which has allowed her to survive more than a few ambushes and she excels in tight urban environments.  Finally in 3038 Colombi finds a mech she will leave her beloved for and she begins deploying the unit's lostech Warhammer WHM-6Rb 'Corsair'. Her callsign is self-applied; 'Cause' 'cause you can neither spell nor say it right!.


Captain Trillare 'Turret' Addems - Fire Support Company Command
Female, 42 years

Born October 1 2994 in the Lyran Commonwealth Trillare is a self-confessed gun nut.  Leaving home at 16 to join the LCAF as an Infantry soldier she would swiftly be reassigned for mechwarrior training by observant instructors and was sent to Sanglamore Academy, graduating in 3019.  Trillare never saw much active service as a mech pilot for the LCAF however, and it may have been this that prompted her defection to the fledgling Corsairs when she met Colombi and Kawczynski in 3027.

2/3, Tactics +3, Strategy +1, Leadership +1, Small Arms 4+.  Natural Aptitude - Gunnery, Sniper, Weapon Specialist - AC/5

28 confirmed kills, of which 7 Mech.

Trillare has always piloted a Rifleman RFL-3N, and as her skills have developed they have more or less locked her into the chassis; she can perform in other machines, but is so good in the Rifleman that it seems almost a waste.  Already an excellent shot she borders on the unnatural with the heavy mech's shoulder mounted Autocannon and from the very foundation of the Corsairs has been dedicated to the suppression of hostile fast-movers.  When the initial Fire Support Lance was created she was the natural commander, and when the Corsairs expanded this to Company strength in 3037 she would pick up her Captain rank and take command again.  With more VTOL kills than the rest of the mercenary unit combined and a propensity to stand stock still so she can redline her mech and track swift hovertanks the other Fire Support elements duly dubbed her 'Turret'.



celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #11 on: 22 September 2017, 03:22:30 »
The unit is starting to bloat a bit and I'm not quite sure what to do about it yet. 

I was happy enough with the 3 Company Battalion, and with the Battalion level Fire Team lance and later Jump lance.  Since my lances are 3 mech rather than the traditional 4 I was considering making my companies contain 4 lances so that they still total the traditional 12 mechs.  However given that the 1st and 2nd Company use heavy/assault armour I suspect it's going to make everything feel kinda over-heavy, the whole '2 vees equal 1 mech' thing is already strained by the two vees being behemoths and shreks and the like.

So thats why I ended up with the seperate Tactical and Fire Support Companies.  Rather than add a fourth lance to each company containing specialists I chose to gather these together and deploy their lances mainly as reinforcements to the main-line units.

Unfortunately I'm not fond of the idea of a 5 Company Battalion, it feels like a lot for the Major to handle.  Both the Fire Support and Tactical Companies are highly irregular, with odd mech/armour ratios, or 5mech lances and such, so their management is atypical and unlikely to mesh well with the more structured 1st-3rd Companies. 

Thus for the time being the Fire Support Company is being considered independent of the Battalion command structure under the direct command of it's Captain.  The Tactical Company lacks such a skilled officer and I'm forced to settle for a 4(+1) sort of thing.  I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up expanding properly to a 6th Company, just so I can form a second Battalion Command Lance.

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #12 on: 23 September 2017, 04:14:02 »
Status Update - August 6 3037

After several months of rest at Outreach the Corsairs head to Nirasaki on a Recon Raid against the Combine under a Fed mercenary subcontract.  Colombi lays in a buffer of spare parts before departure, no doubt eager to avoid a repeat of the last operation.

It doesn't work.  Despite a short 3 month deployment the unit is again plagued with resupply issues, exhausts it's stock and begins suffering attrition.  Almost as if realising this the Draconis forces press the mercenaries hard and there is little let-up from the fighting.  The new Tactical Company sees heavy use, before being robbed of machines to shore up the 1st-3rd line Companies.  The Corsair Fire Support Company is likewise affected, by the end of the second month on-world it is reduced to the original Heavy Mech lance, with other assets replacing losses and inoperables.

Finally, mid-way through the third month Colombi realises he is at risk of not being able to field enough elements to meet the demands of the contract, which calls for 5 scouting lances backed by a further 5 on standby.  Whilst personnel have been lost, the bottleneck is functional, armoured mechs and vehicles.  The techs quickly activate a range of mothballed units, dragged system to system as cargo against just such an eventuality.  Lances are formed consisting an antique GLD-1R backed by a pair of the Locusts the line units wont normally touch and a pair of APCs in a poor mockery of a regular Corsair lance.

From the backup equipment Colombi is able within 2 days to field a new Company, albeit comprised of second rate equipment.  With the unit's Veteran and Elite First and Second Company manning the hardware it proves to be just sufficient, the Corsairs survive the attentions of the Combine to the end of the contract and evacuate back to Outreach.

Hardest to swallow for the Major is certainly the collapse of his beloved Talon TLN-5V.  Caught by a Catapult during an Extraction Raid the little lostech mech took 3 MLas to the chest and the engine was struck.  It limped from the field and lies in the Repair Bays, but none amongst the Corsairs have the skills and knowledge to repair an XL engine.

----


Ugh that was terrible.  I massively underestimated how many tons of armour a deployed Battalion can chew through, and also how intense the fighting would get with that many scouting lances.  Mistimed the arrival right before a month-end and got an immediate logistics malus, ripped through my supplies and 6 weeks in...no armour, no ac rounds.  The lances started falling apart amazingly quick after that, the mechs either waiting for parts I couldn't order or just so sandblasted they would die to the first SRM that wandered past.  I kept rotating the assignments, so different lances scouted each week, but with 5-6 fights a week there was just no hiding from the pain.

Lost 7 light mechs, 3 Locusts of various models, a SDR-5V and a pair of WSP-1A. FRB-1E (WAM-B)
Lost 4 mediums, 3 PXH-1, HBK-4G
Lost 6 Heavies, RFL-3n, Dragon, Crusader, 3 GLD-1R
Lost a bunch of medium Armour outright, some Hovers.  Most of the heavy tanks survived, I even deployed a few immobile as turrets, but they broke down pretty fast in general.

Bunch of personnel killed, today I learned Spiders don't have ejectors and the Corsairs have another chassis to shun, I'm also going to need a lot more tank crews.

edit: Honestly I think my unit has gotten a little Heavy for Recon Raids.  The sheer number of Chase scenarios just about broke me, I ran one where I had to get my Behemoth tank 70 hexes or something and escape it...  At that point I can only really go for 100% enemy destruction asap, declare victory and save like 12 hours of my life.  I think I realised a bit late that having an element set to 'Scout' not only generates battles but makes them the involved party, I should have opened the operation with my Tacticals and Recon Company and such.  In practice I had my generally heavy command lances scouting while everyone else trained, trying to fix some horrid vehicle crews.

« Last Edit: 23 September 2017, 04:37:40 by celem »

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #13 on: 23 September 2017, 07:35:15 »
Further Organisational Reforms - Birth of the 2nd Battalion

With the formation of the reserve company during the Nirasaki Recon the Corsairs reached a nominal 6 Companies (even if at the time half of them were scrap).  During the subsequent refit at Outreach Colombi formalises the reserve Company's existence as a training unit and inaugurates the Corsair 2nd Battalion.  The Training Company retains a Corsair Standard makeup to help acclimatise new mechwarriors to unit operations, the ancient GLD-1R's return to mothballed status and this new company is filled out with surplus and/or inferior mechs.  It also serves as the training ground for new officers as each lance is led by a Lieutenant JG in a quality mech.

Learning from past experience at last the mercenaries invest large chunks of their accruing capital into parts and take the opportunity to replace mech designs that have been under-performing or proved otherwise troublesome.  All of the unit's Locust mechs are sold off, the mechwarriors simply refuse to pilot the quirky lights and they are deemed unfit even for the training company.  Likewise the unit abandons the SDR-5V; despite otherwise being an excellent recon mech the lack of an ejection system is unacceptable and has already led to casualties.  The Jenner JR-7-D is kept despite grumbles over it's lack of torso twist, though mostly amongst the training company.  Shopping around for replacements in these roles the Corsairs purchase a mix of Mongoose MON-67, Mercury MCY-98 and Hussar HSR-300-D mechs.  Finally a pair of Ostscout OTT-7J replace the Spider's fast-jump role.  Some care is taken during restructuring to get unit commanders into command mechs with varying degrees of success.  Colombi himself, in a knee-jerk reaction to having the Talon shot out from under him finds the biggest baddest ride he can, ordering a BLR-1G-DC to command his forces from.

Owing to the unit's unusual structure the reforms result in 57 battlemech's and 42 vehicles.

Colombi's Corsairs
Corsair Command: BLR-1G-DC(commander), KTO-20 'Corsair', KTO-20 'Corsair', Shrek PPC Carrier, Behemoth Heavy Tank
1st Battalion
     Battalion Command: WHM-6Rb 'Corsair'(commander), WHM-6K, WHM-6K, Shrek PPC Carrier, Behemoth Heavy Tank
     1st Company
     Company Command: GRF-1N(commander), LNC25-02, CP-10-Z, Drillson Heavy Hover, Drillson Heavy Hover
     Alpha Lance: STK-4N, OTL-4D, MCY-98, Shrek PPC Carrier, Po Heavy Tank
     Bravo Lance: TDR-5S, CRD-3R, GRF-1N, Partisan Heavy Tank, Patton Tank
     2nd Company
     Company Command: BLR-1G(commander), DRG-1N, DRG-1G, Demolisher Heavy Tank, Partisan Heavy Tank
     Charlie Lance: ON1-K, CGR-1A9, RFL-3N, Manticore Heavy Tank, Goblin Medium Tank
     Delta Lance: WVR-6R, BJ-1, QKD-4G, Vedette Medium Tank(AC2), Bulldog Medium Tank(AC2)
     3rd Company (Recon)
     Company Command: WVR-6R(commander), HSR-300-D, HSR-300-D, Pegasus Scout Hover, Plainsman Med Hover
     Echo Lance: MON-67, MCY-98, HER-2M 'Mercury', Pegasus Scout Hover, Saracen Med Hover
     Foxtrot Lance: MON-67, OTT-7J, HSR-300-D, Pegasus Scout Hover, Saracen Med Hover

2nd Battalion
     Battalion Command: RFL-3N 'Corsair'(commander), HBK-4G, HBK-4G, Vedette Medium Tank(Ultra), Vedette Medium Tank(Ultra)
     Fire Support Company
     Command Lance: LGB-0W(commander), ARC-2R, DV-6M, CPLT-C1, RFL-3N
     Light Fire Team: VLK-QA, PNT-9R, PNT-9R, Pike Support Vehicle, Pike Support Vehicle
     Armoured Fire Team: Manticore Heavy Tank, Von Luckner Heavy Tank, Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun(Standard), Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun(Standard), Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun(LRM)
     Tactical Company
     Command Lance: WVR-6R(commander), PNT-9R, WVE-5N, PXH-1, PXH-1
     Light Jump Team: VL-2T, FS9-H, STG-3R, JVN-10N, JVN-10N
     Air Support Alpha: Peregrine Attack VTOL(Kurita), Warrior H-7, Warrior H-7
     Air Support Bravo: Peregrine Attack VTOL(Kurita), Warrior H-7A, Warrior H-7C
     Training Company
     Command Lance: STG-3Gb(commander), JR-7-D, SHD-2K, Drillson Heavy Hover, Pegasus Scout Hover
     Yankee Lance: FS9-H(commander), PXH-1, WSP-1A, APC(Tracked SRM), APC(Tracked LRM)
     Zulu Lance: ASN-21(commander), COM-2D, JR-7-D, APC(Tracked SRM), APC(Tracked LRM)


'Corsair' Custom Loadouts:
The Corsairs have a number of unique variants outlined here, mostly these are downgrades to lostech mechs:
RFL-3N 'Corsair' - Cap. Addems personal mech. Removes torso Medium Lasers in exchange for additional Armour.
WHM-6Rb 'Corsair' - Removes the Artemis IV FCS and downgrades the Armour to Standard, thinning it slightly.
KTO-20 'Corsair' - Removes the LRMs, downgrades Armour to Standard and maximises it.
     

GM: There are a few oddities still left, the 1st Battalion, 1st Company Command Lance is pretty weird, but there are several pilots in there synched to specific mechs by SPAs.  For instance the commander has Weapon Spec. PPC, Hopping Jack, Sniper and is really dangerous in the Griffin.  I like to think enemies will assume the Cyclops to hold the commander (it was going to, until I realised it doesnt have a command cockpit anyway). I discovered in lore that commanders often have pairs of the same mech as bodyguards, so i've tried to work that in where I can.  The...uh...pocket regiment I guess?...now totals 5,019 tons and 106,910 BV
« Last Edit: 23 September 2017, 07:51:34 by celem »

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #14 on: 23 September 2017, 08:31:17 »
I'm expecting to take it easy for a bit, theres hundreds of tons of parts heading in, limbs, actuators, weapons, ammo, armour, gyros...the works.  I'd also like to give my elite techs some time in the maintenance facilities to bring our new purchases and repairwork up to F quality.  After that the crew is likely destined for a Garrison job or similar soft duty.  There are a lot of very green pilots in the Training Company and some barely Regulars scattered through the other elements, most Vehicle crews beyond the Heavy and Assault Tracked Armour are also inexperienced.  As such the guys need to do some in-house development. (The unit and Battalion HQ lances are Elite, but Company HQs are Veteran and most other lances average to Regular, the skilled pilots are becoming rather widespread.)

Dave Talley

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #15 on: 23 September 2017, 15:59:00 »
You might consider stripping the spiders
Lots of things can use the engines iirc
Resident Smartass since 1998
“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
JA Baker

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #16 on: 23 September 2017, 16:13:58 »
Ahh that's good to know.  Thankfully I stripped them pretty thoroughly since they provide spares for the Hussars. I'll need to double check the engines I've accumulated actually.  I also picked a few bits off the surviving Locusts to service Mercury mechs.

By and large when selling a mech I've stolen fun stuff like cockpits, weapons and gyros.  This obviously impacts the price a great deal, but I still have mechs of nearly every conceivable weight despite recent efforts at standardisation.

Dave Talley

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #17 on: 23 September 2017, 18:16:35 »
there was once a great series of posts on standardizing a force
ie only using like 3 engine sizes, most mechs fall into like 5 weight classes etc
Resident Smartass since 1998
“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
JA Baker

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #18 on: 24 September 2017, 03:35:31 »
Frontline Report

As predicted the mercs have headed off to another Garrison deployment against the Capellans (which i'll write up later when it's done, I've 17 lances on the ground with 8 in Defensive posture for 18 months so theres bound to be plenty of action)

The new Hussar mechs have been fielded and...wow.  The Recon Company needs to change it's tactics somewhat as it's light hovers and modern super-fast scouts are a far cry from the aged frontline lights and light tracked armour it was founded on.  Finally a true Recon Company rather than merely a Light Company they develop new stand-off hit and run tactics after two HSR-300-D are crippled in the first week. (I took them in to kick.  It seems to be a chassis that survives best by giving off an impossible TH while retaining a snipe itself. They were both sandblasted, in actuality barely hit, but everything is a crit on a HSR pretty much and they got bracketed by SRMs then showered with MGs.  Saved by the timely intervention of the WVR and Plainsman.  Thing is a stick with an LLas tied to it. A very fast stick.)

Colombi also takes to the frontline for the first time in the new Battlemaster BL-1G-DC, which he didn't realise at the time of ordering had two cockpits. (Whats more I then discover that this feature is infact the lastest in the huge list of features MekHQ and MegaMek can actually handle)  Unsure exactly how this will turn out he invites a recently dispossessed Corporal to ride shotgun and deploys the Corsair Command Lance in a Hold the Line action against a reinforced Capellan Assault lance (AWS-8Q,CGR-1A1,Ontos,Ontos, Drillson, Drillson, Galleon, Galleon - The bot for once turning out a pretty cohesive force that scares me a bit)

It's a dirty Dawn fight.  My multi-tasking Shrek jackpots in the first round, putting a PPC into each of the drillsons and then the Charger's head. Both hovers halve their MP and the Assault pilot black out.  Despite this the Awesome causes me problems all day long, theres a 2/3 in the seat and he puts both my heavy tanks out of action pretty quickly.  In return I chip enough MP off the Ontos tanks that they are limited to throwing LRM5's about from time to time.  With the Battlemaster and Awesome closing to melee range (i'm not stupid, BLR is a brawler and AWS-8Q is markedly not) I reckon I've got it in the bag when the long over-looked Charger decides to wake up.  Both KTO bodyguards are still technically in the fight, but both are down a limb reducing firepower and variously hipped or gyro hit.  More importantly I don't like risking their torso internals overly much, I cant replace their DHS, so I flee them cursing the loss of the model's LRMs during my downgrade customisation.  Colombi finally puts the Awesome to sleep with a Real Steel headpunch, crushing the cockpit and a turn later is charged by the...well, Charger.  Colombi, veteran of mech melee whiffs his 3+ to kick, falls and promptly KO's himself.  In a shocking display of counterpoint dance, so does the Charger (not super shocking, he's 6/6 and pilot already rattled.)

I'm just starting to wonder whether I will wake up before him, or whether the Ontos that still has 1MP will be able to get me with LRM fire when the big shiny 'Dual-Cockpit' lightbulb goes off and I swap pilots in the next movement phase. (I understand this was an End Phase thing in TT, for arcane reasons, it's not in MM)  My Corporal locked out Colombi's controls and returned the Major to base, pausing briefly to kick the Charger into about a zillion pieces.  Ontos were still rattling off LRM5s as I left...whatever dude.

I think I may have to pause to design this young man a medal.


Edit: Anomaly - Vedette Medium Tank (Ultra) should not exist yet I suspect, the pair I have are battlefield salvage somehow, replaced them with standards.  I guess they came off the Combine opponents, the Combine does technically have FF, but I'm sure they weren't wasting it on Vedettes in '38
« Last Edit: 24 September 2017, 06:26:25 by celem »

Daryk

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #19 on: 24 September 2017, 06:39:18 »
A medal, and at least Sergeant's stripes! :)

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #20 on: 25 September 2017, 13:51:23 »
I felt I was having a bit of an easy time so I bumped the contract's generated opfor from green to regular and then notched up the AtB difficulty as well,which seems to increase the % of extra BV he gets over and above what I deploy.  The result seems to be that my heavier teams get to face some proper heavy elements rather than just a never-ending stream of 'assault lance vs light/med company' fights.  It also means my lighter teams get more nasty surprises and I'm being forced to conceded fights here and there and swallow some attrition, which can only be good long-term.

Couple of links in post are to Imgur shots of some battles, because shooty robots are cool and I camo'd 'em up.

Field Report - Goodna, July 3038

The opening days of 3038 sees the Corsairs descend upon Goodna to man the Garrison for the FWL.  It seems that every time the unit needs a breather it finds some Capellans to pick on and this time is no different.  Perhaps slightly different, the CC have stepped up their game and the Corsairs face tougher opposition than previously, with the Great House throwing frontline assets at them.

The mercenary band sees frequent action, the Heaviest Teams are set to Defend local installations and assets, the Recon Company heads out to Scout and the Training Company...well, it Trains. 

Unfortunately the Capellans develop a knack for stumbling onto the raw pilot's exercises, within a fortnight of arrival Yankee Lance is scampering through a moonlit city, fleeing desperately from a medium mixed company.  Through a great deal of reckless piloting the majority of the team leave the Capellan's heavier assets in the dust, but one particularly inept rookie in a Wasp proves unable to move in the dark without tripping over every conceivable object in her way and has to resort to bunny-hoping down the street on her Jump Jets.  This unfortunately leaves her prey to a hostile Spider SDR-5V which is able to out-hop her and kicks her legs out from under her.  Thankfully the lance's Lieutenant had doubled back in his Assassin and was able to extricate the Rookie before the fast-approaching Medium Mechs could light her up, the Spider proved too elusive even for the Elite mechwarrior to drop in the darkness, bounding away onto a high rooftop to watch as they fled.

The main defensive units see heavy action but they hold the line well against the offensives.  Several light and medium mechs are outright destroyed, but no mechwarriors are lost and surplus machines are swiflty provided.  Several heavy and Assault Armour assets are also lost, with two Behemoth crews killed outright by fuel tank explosions.  The loss of the elite crews is something of a blow, spare tanks are plentiful thankfully.  The Recon Company lances are meanwhile involved a string of skirmishes in the woods where they practice their tactics. https://imgur.com/a/mFNY3

An outright disaster was only narrowly avoided in late March as two Heavy CC lances struck at the Fire Support Company Command Lance, realising they were outmatched they called for Aerial Support https://imgur.com/a/TgKfL, but were still forced to concede the field to the Capellans after the destruction of both helicopters, the loss of the left arms of both Archer and Longbow and the coring of the officer's Battlemaster in exchange for one dead Cataphract.  (Apparently 3 is how many WHM is too many.  This will soon be relevant)

By early April Yankee Lance is in trouble once more, whilst slogging through a series of hills to try and teach the rookies to drive they blunder into a Medium mixed lance they cant handle.  Dropping behind a nearby ridge they send the hovers to flank and call for air cover. https://imgur.com/a/la0up  They then pounce from hiding as it arrives and begins it's pass in a combined strike.  While the battle is won the Scorpion Quad manages to put a PPC blast through the cockpit of one of the Jenners, killing the recruit instantly.  The lance beat it into submission and drag it home as consolation.

Perhaps strangest however is the events of May 17, when the 1st Battalion Command (3 WHM, told you it would come up) was attempting to return to base late at night only to run into the path of an F3 tornado. (As you do)  Thankfully the heavy vehicles and mechs were able to trudge on towards home without damage from the inclement weather, however they were highly surprised when they stumbled into an even heavier hostile lance coming the other way, presumably with much the same intent.  A brief but furious firefight ensued, missiles were useless, ballistics was a nightmare, only energy weapons were flying true.  Luckily for the Corsairs the 1st Battalion Command probably chucks more energy down-range than any lance in the crew, the initial shotgun blast of 9 PPC's discharging lit up the unmistakable outline of a hulking Atlas mech.  The Elite lance land all 9 blasts and the huge mech loses sheets of armour, but suffers no effective damage at all.  It is however far more than can be asked even of a Veteran pilot to remain standing when you add the tornado rushing around him and he falls to the ground with a final-sounding thud.  Eager to finish the job the trio Warhammer's move ahead of the slower Shrek and Behemoth, apparently forgetting than you dont just see Atlas Assault mechs wandering about on their own at night.  As they close the range a Battlemaster crests a ridge behind him and the PPC hammers into the Captain's customised WHM-6Rb, the Atlas pilot, in an example of fairly heroic shooting, manages to simultaneously prop himself up and put an AC/20 round into the same target.  The lostech Heavy topples and the bodyguard mechs berserk.  One pounds toward the downed Atlas, the other for the new threat.  A double-strike on the Battlemaster's chest topples him like the Atlas and he wrecks his PPC in the fall, while the Atlas' head is blown to pieces.  The last 2 elements of the Capellan lance, a pair of Ontos Heavy Tanks make off into the darkness as the Corsair lance gathers around the fallen commander. 

The pilot is rattled but kicking.  The gyro is trashed, but the engine is intact.  The AC/20 has cracked a Double Heat Sink however and the unit has no way of replacing it.  The superlative engineering of the StarLeague pays off and the design is still able to Alpha Strike it's weaponry, but what safety margin there was is now gone.  A heavy price, but the prize...  Atlas AS7-D is a whole lotta mech.

« Last Edit: 25 September 2017, 14:06:08 by celem »

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #21 on: 25 September 2017, 14:29:07 »
Unit Fine-tuning

As the Corsairs get more practice with their mechs, they make a few small changes to some of the elements of the two Battalions.

The Fire Support Company Command Lance, 2nd Battalion sees it's officer swap his RFL-3N for a BLR-1G better able to lead and protect the other mechs in the lance.

The 2nd Company Command, 1st Battalion drops the DRG-1N for a second DRG-1G to fill bodyguard roles.  Apparently the original Dragon mech is 'Under-gunned and wussy'.

The 3rd Recon Company Command Lance, 1st Battalion loses it's Hussars, the mech is ill-matched to the commanding Wolverine.  The Wolverine cannot keep up, while the Hussars cannot handle anything that is a valid threat to it.  They are kept in their roles in Echo and Foxtrot, but the Command Lance takes the two Phoenix Hawks from the Tactical Command Lance.  This brings 3rd Recon HQ up to Medium weight but retains manoeuvrability and speed.

With the theft of their pair of PXH-1 the Tactical Company Command Lance acquires a pair of Grasshopper GHR-5H heavies to replace them, then kicks out the Wolverine, puts the commander in the Wyvern and adds a Crusader CRD-3L.
The upshot of this session of musical cockpits is that the Tactical Company HQ is now a heavy jump lance. (Its considered Assault, movement is finally synched to 4/6/4 on all mechs)

Finally Captain Addems of 2nd Battalion is forced out of her custom RFL-3N by Colombi himself, he insists that the mech is too vulnerable for a Battalion commander to be strutting about in and it's put into mothballs against the day another AC5 sniper claims it.  Offered any heavy or assault mech she likes as her replacement she deliberates for some time before picking the Emperor EMP-5A.  Colombi has to actually go and look it up, since it's a chassis dating back before the Star League.  Surprise, surprise, it's a big Rifleman that hops a bit.  Suppressing a sigh he goes to see the Logistics wizards about acquiring an example of the museum-piece mech.  She keeps her HBK-4G guards.  (I didn't think I was going to find an Assault packing an AC/5, but the jumbo rifleman weapons loudout on the Emperor made it an obvious pick to up-ton my Captain.)

Daryk

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #22 on: 25 September 2017, 17:26:05 »
If they can't find an Emperor, the bog standard Zeus carries an AC/5...

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #23 on: 26 September 2017, 04:14:21 »
It was actually pretty hard to procure for what it was, I had an easier time finding Battlemasters.  Luckily my Admins are extremely good (10 year campaign without retirement rolls and 1xp weekly for Admins will do that), It took a couple of days but we were able to find one.  I'm not super thrilled with it's speed, I would have vastly preferred a 4/6, but I let the character overrule me.  I'm starting to suspect that it will wind up paired with the Stalker before long as I have very few mechs that slow, though a number of the heavy Armour assets are well matched.

edit: seems I'm destined to keep getting heavier.  We now have 5 Assault, 6 Heavy, 4 Medium and 5 Light Lances.  Only the 3rd Recon prevents the 1st Battalion being exclusively Heavy and Assault.
« Last Edit: 26 September 2017, 04:33:03 by celem »

Iron Grenadier

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #24 on: 26 September 2017, 08:44:55 »

edit: seems I'm destined to keep getting heavier.  We now have 5 Assault, 6 Heavy, 4 Medium and 5 Light Lances.  Only the 3rd Recon prevents the 1st Battalion being exclusively Heavy and Assault.

Our current campaign operates a 4 lance/4 company structure in the battlemech battalion (along with a separate command lance for 68 total 'Mechs) - 8 of those are mediums rest are all heavy and assault weight. So I wouldn't think it's too unusual.

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #25 on: 03 October 2017, 13:55:04 »
Goodna July 3039

The Corsairs are headed off-world, their tour of duty here done.  The last 12 months of the contract have been largely uneventful, with the Capellan morale shattered by the brutal losses of the early campaign.  They did rally enough to locate a star-league heavy mech in September of '38, which the Corsairs promptly relieved them of.  Captain Kawczynski ran her WHM-6Rb 'Corsair' out to encounter an exotic Excalibur EXC-B2.  Using the structures of the facility itself as cover she played cat and mouse with the mech for some time before it finally gained the initiative and got right in behind her.  In a blind panic she twisted as far as possible and succeeded in putting a point-blank PPC into the already weakened head.

Master Sergeant Anier Chi, the lead Mech Tech, took one look at the headless heavy and immediately recommended releasing it to the FWL on account of a completely unsupportable loadout.  Colombi predictably refuses, his penchant for lostech well established at this point.  The chief tech sighs and grumbles but eventually produces the Corsair's most ambitious refit design to date.  The right arm loses it's fearsome Gauss due to extinct ammo and replaces it with a far lighter PPC, the spot where it's ammo resided is replaced with a pair of Machine Guns and a ton of ammo for them.  The LRM is retained, though the Artemis FC is removed, likewise the Anti-Missile System.  These weight savings allow the mounting of a pair of medium lasers in the left arm, the massively increased heat-load of the now energy-based mech is handled with 5 additional heatsinks for a total of 16. 

As 3038 drew to a close the Corsairs suffered a rare defeat when they failed to rescue 2 allied lances from a Capellan heavy company fronted by 4 Warhammers.  VTOL elements deployed to intervene and the 3rd Recon HQ lance arrived mid-fight, but the Free World mechs fell and the mercs withdrew bitterly.  This led to an upswing in the Capellan morale, and sporadic fighting would continue through early 3039.  The repeated losses would never allow the Capellan forces to fully recover though and conflict would be suppressed again by May. 

Losses among mechs are light throughout this period and no pilots are lost.  Vehicle Crews are less fortunate as several Elite teams are lost despite the survival of their vehicle.  In particular the various command lances suffer attrition of Gunners in their assault class armour, with Behemoth crews taking the brunt.

Their final act on the ground at Goodna would be a short ceremony renaming the Training Company to the 4th Company as Colombi raises them to line status.  No changes are immediately made to the assets making up the company, though they are doubtless forthcoming given that it's hardware is not generally popular with the Corsairs.

As the dropships pull out of system for Outreach rumours swirl amongst the personnel as Colombi begins preperations for something he only, rather ominously, refers to as 'The Grand 10-Year Review'.
« Last Edit: 03 October 2017, 14:10:20 by celem »

celem

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Re: ComStar Internal Report: Colombi's Corsairs
« Reply #26 on: 03 October 2017, 14:25:04 »
Well, I made it to the 10 year mark!

We're not quite at 3040 yet, but there's some R&R coming up and the Corsairs wont be redeploying before the decade rolls over.  I've started to feel some definite power creep with my guys all becoming highly-seasoned and I've decided that I'm going to make some retirement rolls and do some hiring and so on.  It's fun not having any green troops and generally being able to pull off crazy stunts in battle, but I feel like I should have some turnover, keep things somewhat more realistic and give me a reason to actually have training companies and lose some fights.  It should also fix my slightly runaway economy before that becomes an issue.

So that's going to be a thing, I'll make some custom modifiers for some of my storyline personnel and maybe a handful of senior NCOs/surviving founding members.  I did a test-drive of this process after making a save and buying out the shares of those who leave is likely to cost about a third of a billion c-bills.  Thing is, that while only Mechwarriors are holding shares, the fact that they all progressed to Veteran and Elite, combined with the fact that one share in the Corsairs can buy you a Battlemaster...and everyone is rolling all at once, it's going to be a fairly big deal, there are several folks who basically cost me a lance of 4 Assaults if they walk.

Luckily we are holding that kind of capital, so I can hopefully go through the process without trading away any mechs that I actually want to keep.  On the other side of this we'll be doing a lot of recruitment to fill up the ranks again and we'll see what the new decade brings the crew.