Headcapped! >:( :-[ :'( #P
A little background: I started playing BT with a couple of friends about 1993 or so. For four years or more, we would simply pick out some mechs and fight a game. When it was over, we walked away, boasted our victory, or sulked in defeat. And that was it. Then, I stopped playing. I didn't pick it back up until about 8 years ago, and didn't get into a regular gaming routine until about 3 years ago. In those three years, I've managed to be a player in two separate campaign style games. Other times, I just helped play OpFor. The first of those 2 campaign style games was cut short due to relocating, so the second one has really been the real deal for me. We've managed to keep it going for a good year and a half now.
My Mercs:Enter Capt. Hans Zeus Olson. A soldier's soldier; calm, capable, reliable, and calculated... my merc captain. He was brought in to lead a brand new outfit that had been culled together with embezzled monies and elements of the Lipton planetary militia that had went AWOL during the onset of the FedCom Civil War. Being the most competent of the first four mechwarriors hired to spearhead the newly formed company, Olson was a natural-born leader. He took the company purse and quickly assembled a lance of mechs to form the talons of the Mockingbird Tactical Reconnaissance Unit. With his fellow mechwarriors saddled into some of the best light mechs money could buy, he seated himself into a nicely customized Lynx that would be the flagship of his C3 network lance.
I've run this commander pilot through 2 separate planetary campaigns. We helped run the Capellans off Fletcher in 3061, developing quite a bit of reputation with the populace, militia, and government. Eventually, we sold out to the Duchy of Small and assisted in negotiating a peaceful handover of Fletcher to the Duchy before departing. Once in the employ of Duke Small, Olson went on to lead several successful raids into bigger house territories, securing war materiel for what would be the eventual invasion of Epsilon Eridani.
By this time, The Mockingbird Group had acquired many more holdings, expanding what was originally a single lance of mechs, hunter light tanks, and a handful of APC's and hover units into a nearly full, combined arms battalion, including a company of mechs, and, of them, a complete assault lance.
Mockingbird Company would play a large role in the invasion of Epsilon Eridani, both as front line support for regiments on the northern hemisphere as well as forming their own raiding party to complicate Kressly Warworks from supplying materiel to the planetary defenders.
It was going well at first. Operations on the northern hemisphere were proving successful, and Mockingbird's first recon raid into Kressly territory uncovered a train full of Brutus tanks outbound for the Port of Kressly. We delivered a good spanking to the merc security detail and withdrew to plan an ambush of the soon to be departing train load of goodies.
And this is where things went south.
But first, let me put this game into proper context...
This is all part of a current player vs. player campaign. Our group is 3 guys; one GM and two players. So, we basically have a referee to mediate 2 opposing forces for longer campaign games. It's really a great concept, I think. Anyway, the other player is also running a merc group, Hell's Ashes, who are serving as the security forces hired on to help defend Kressly.
The setup for this weekend's game was to have my raiding party ambush the train load of tanks defended by a Hell's Ashes lance of mechs, with the objective being to either capture, destroy, or halt the cargo. We would fight on this map:
http://mapmasterbattlemaps.com/maps/forest-battefield/forest-battlefield.jpg , with the road being the railroad.
Things got off to a great start. We deployed 2 mech lances, a hover lance, and a handful of spotter units from the western edge of the map, and quickly disabled the train en route while running circles around the defenders. As it began to grind to a halt, the enemy's diabolical plan was exposed: Hell's Ashes had hidden 3 more heavy mechs on the train under tarps, posing as cargo. They quickly deployed, leaving a large number of fragile raiding units within close range of the Ashes' superior fire power. The battlefield was chaos for several rounds. A Zeus had toppled off the car it was deploying from, making for an easy target. Mockingbird units capitalized on this, but were never able to finish the beats off. In a desperate attempt to get one more salvo in on the Zeus, a Mockingbird Trebuchet charged into range of a defending Victor. One torso armor breach from an AC/20 ignited the LRM ammo in the Trebuchet, leaving the Mockingbird raiding party in a desperate situation.
Capt. Olson lept into action drawing fire away from units under his command. His fellow lancemates scrambled for range, trying to use the heavy forest for cover while allowing their C3 network to improve the precision of their attacks on vulnerable defenders. Unlike his lancemates, Capt. Olson stood his ground against the Victor that had turned the tide for the defenders and they squared away with each other for an intense exchange of weapons fire.
And then, just like that, a round of deadly autocannon fire found it's mark. Capt. Olson's com link went dead and the raiding party fell into disarray and a sudden retreat.
And that's how I lost my merc company captain. Altogether, the losses totalled 2 mechs, 3 hovercraft, and all associated crews. And to top it all off? The train was full of junk hulls from the factory. Kressly pulled the old switcheroo at the last minute. Not even the defenders had a clue.
Yeah.
And now that I've told this story, I can safely say that I absolutely love this game and would lose my favorite PC all over again to be this immersed.
And if you made it this far, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave your sentiments for Capt. Olson here. His lance mates would appreciate a kind word.
