AFTER ACTION REPORT - March 16th, 2011
Yes, I am aware that is a MAD IIC. My MAD-5R chassis hasn't come from IWM yet.
Yes, I know those are Ghost Bear Alpha Galaxy colors but that is for later in the story line!Contractor: House Steiner
Contract Pay: 40,000 House Bills
Bonus: 20,000 House Bills for destruction of the HPG array
Bonus: 100% Salvage Rights for enemy mechs and equipment
We were sent to a planet known to hold some unspecified plans that Steiner wanted to acquire from Comstar. The objective was to (within 30 rounds) defeat all the enemy resistance and get to the Comstar facility where our infantry and special ground forces would attempt to enter and download the data. At the end of 30 rounds the Comstar HPG would send off the plans off to another facility (unknown location) and then delete the plans from their local computers which would pretty much make our mission an epic fail.
Our Force1x Marauder (MAD-1X Custom)
1x Catapult (CPLT-1X Custom)
1x Centurion (CN9-A Stock)
Defenders1x Marauder (MAD-3R)
1x Griffin (GRF-1N)
1x Stinger (STG-3R)
1x Locust (LCT-1V)
3x PPC turret emplacements
3x AC10 turret emplacements
1x Anti Aircraft turret
Mission Scenario:Our Leopard class dropship landed just outside of the immediate city area where our entire force of three mechs deployed. Before the enemy mechs could move to engage us we had already encountered and engaged the first line of defense; 3x PPC turrets spread evenly across the board. While we were engaging the PPC turrets the enemy light mechs moved fast and close enough to get into range before the Medium and Heavy mechs could move for support. Carter's Marauder 1X cored the Stinger with a 1 hit wonder PPC shot to the CT completely blowing it out. The enemy pilot ejected before his machine went crashing to the ground like so many bags of potatoes.
My lance mates engaged the Griffin and beat it like a red headed step child! Between the two of them they killed the Griffin and managed to hold off the remaining PPC turrets without taking too much damage. Once the Griffin was dropped they worked on the remaining 2 PPC towers.
We called in an Artillery Strike on the HPG unit itself however missed and only did 3 points of damage to it with AOE fire.
The enemy Marauder moved up to support the Locust who was trying to hide and flank Carter's Marauder. Colonel Carter counted the Locusts movement using the edge of the board to prevent flanking and lined up on the incoming enemy Marauder. The Locust tried to bug out as fast as those little legs would carry him however an LBX10 hit to the leg pretty much ruined his day forcing him to topple over at which point the pilot climbed out of the mech uttered "Peace of Blake be with you" and he DT'd out of the area. It was down to the MAD-3R and the MAD-1X.
Enter Monty Python. I fell twice during the course of the engagement with this single mech and am damn lucky he didn't core me. The rest of our lace did an excellent job of moving in to support the MAD-1X while I was struggling to get up. In fact the custom Catapult was jumping from building to in behind the MAD-3R and then running circles around him.
By this point the MAD-3R pilot began to panic as he was now alone on the battlefield. He began to spike his heat by firing off those PPCs with abandon! Single Heat Sinks are a bitch aren't they? He ended up failing a Shut Down roll and his mech shut down on him at which time the Centurion tapped on his cockpit with that AC10 and suggested the pilot climb out for some fresh air.
With time running out the MAD-1X and the CPLT-1X started to make a mad dash to the HPG in order to shut it down. The CPLT reached it first (The guy has like a 5/8 movement rating or better) and took a couple of shots at it blowing up the array. We left the Centurion to guard the enemy soldiers and prevent them from climbing back into their rides and taking pot shots at our rear.
Colonel OverKill Highlights:Let's see... I failed TWO piloting rolls during the course of this game and fell twice taking damage. The second time I fell into the building. YAY ME! Don't Drink and Mech!
Trying to get up the first time I failed and remained prone behind a building. That was embarrassing.
Within 3 turns of each other the enemy MAD-3R and I traded PPC or LBX10 blast to the head on each of our machines! I almost failed the consciousness roll but managed to stay awake.
The enemy pilot managed to score a Critical but hit the 4th slot (empty) during that head shot he landed on me.
Lt. Colonel MiniMe Highlights:It was like watching a grasshopper. He tried, and failed, a DFA attack landing a whole two hexes behind the MAD-3R
He ran around the Marauder preventing him from doing any damage by simply running him in circles
He took some pretty moderate damage but managed to keep on ticking which shows great design in the customization of that Catapult chassis!
Mechwarrior Excalibur Highlights:Hasn't played CBT in a loooooooooooong time however he picked it up quickly and learned that range is your friend
He kept his mech at range on the PPC turrets and used his LRMs to some good affect. He had some great rolls! He was the rabbits foot today
GameMaster/Story Teller Highlights:His MAD-3R traded head shots with my MAD-1X both of us doing 10 points of damage, passing our consciousness rolls and managing to stay alive.
He kept rolling ONE less than he needed. Like this happened MANY MANY MANY times! If he needed a 6 he'd roll a 5, if he needed an 11 he'd roll a 10.
I think he learned not to send out the light mechs too far in advance of their support. Especially when two of them run smack dab into the middle of a custom Marauder.
RESULTS- We captured a damaged Locust and repaired it
- We captured a damaged Marauder, repaired it and sold it (6,500,000 credits anyone??!?)
- We recovered a cored out Stinger and stripped it and sold the parts that we didn't want to save/store
- We recovered a heavily damaged Griffin, fixed it and sold it
- We managed to piss of Comstar and probably won't be getting any Christmas mail/messages this year
- We completed our 2nd out of 4 missions for House Steiner
