Taking the Militia Firebase

[Colt Ward]

Either a serious raid or a invasion, the local planetary militia/guard deployed to this firebase on the river (6-9 hexes wide, 3 deep in center) to guard the Narrows with the major highway's Narrows Bridge.  Occupied only by conventional forces by all intel reports, it can function as a mech repair & rearm location to the more mobile forces.  As part of its conventional forces a hovertank squadron does make area patrols out of the firebase but they may not be present when your mech company makes its attack.  Bunkers as spotted by Intel are quite protected (approx 150CF) and due to AA protections it is unknown what temporary shelters are behind the cliff to support the defenders.  No minefields were detected by the limited recon teams that swept the area but their existence cannot be ruled out.  Intel rates the defenders as regulars since they are dug in and their forces as-

Fire Support Company
Artillery reinforced platoon of 2 towed Sniper artillery & 4 towed Thumper
two lances of LRM Carriers

Light Armored Company of mixed Scorpion tanks

Infantry Company
2 AC/5 field gun platoons- broken down into half-platoons for placement
2 AC/2 field gun platoons- broken down into half-platoons for placement

2 platoons of SRM infantry

Surrounding terrain is as can be seen . . . mostly cleared out to 15 hexes though with intentional swamp & mud hexes near the base of the Firebase, though you can see the road that runs along the riverside.  To the west of the visible area its mostly flat with the occasional hill but are arranged to provide minimal cover to attackers though the higher firing position negates much of the cover for mechs.  Each bunker is a single level to mask most LoS.


Your assets for the attack are the typical' mech company- 1 assault, 2 heavies, 5 meds, 4 lights- and not much else are available for the commander's use since the rest of the RGT/BN are engaged in a diversionary strike.  Limited follow on conventional assets are available to secure the firebase.

Note-  This is set up mostly for the militia to be using old (read L1) technology with the objective of being able to hold out against 3 or 4 times their BV, even if the attackers have more modern equipment.  It was also not expected for the defenders to face a purpose built top tier equipment company, though some shuffling in from the parent organization could be expected (1-3 specialized attackers rather than a complete generic company) to achieve the mission objective.

[glitterboy2098]

Your assets for the attack are the typical' mech company- 1 assault, 2 heavies, 5 meds, 4 lights- and not much else are available for the commander's use since the rest of the RGT/BN are engaged in a diversionary strike.  Limited follow on conventional assets are available to secure the firebase.

so no artillery or aircraft on call to soften them up? that'll be a tough nut to crack.. lot of firepower packed into a small space. the usual tactic of jumpers to getup and inside is just going to result in a lot of dead mechs.
those level 4 berms will make getting LOS a problem for long range missiles, and the wide fire lanes around the firebase will make it hard to get in close to use Infernos. and you can't just wait outside the range of the AC's because they have the artillery.

i assume bypassing the firebase by going around some other route is not an option? regardless of what i take, my force can probably handle the company of light Armor they have as a mobile force, and bypassing the fixed fortifications would negate the advantage of the bunkers, walls, and infantry.

[Col Toda]

The description is Mechs only not no Artillary.  If your single Assault mech is an O-Bakemono that is 2 Arrow IV . near dead certainly will catch the lance of LRM carriers in the fire base anything else is gravy . That will force the enemy to send the mobile company out to attack the mechs . As for spotting it seems to have a river to one side choosing a light mech like a spindrifter to spot at range 55 in water hexes just pop out when the Artillary hits .

[Colt Ward]

so no artillery or aircraft on call to soften them up? that'll be a tough nut to crack.. lot of firepower packed into a small space. the usual tactic of jumpers to getup and inside is just going to result in a lot of dead mechs.

Yeah, I will be testing this on MM . . . our typical mech BN/RGT (depending on timeframe) will not have artillery along though it should be able to get in some airstrikes.  I might give the attackers some air strike options, but considering some of those ACs could be loaded with flak or one of the Thumpers has it on hand.  Defensive planning would IMO place weaker militia conventional forces in fixed positions which gives them both a force multiplier effect, a morale boost (look at this pile of sandbags!), and protects them from some green mistakes.  Defensive positions will also place the conventional militia forces somewhere they can make a difference- dug in around strategically important infrastructure (unobtainium mines, refineries, factories, transport nodes, political centers, etc) or important terrain features (if there is enough local population to support a defensive force in mobilization range) like bridges, passes or main roads through old-growth forest.

This map was something that had been in progress and IMO is not the best layout for fortifications though I did turn it from a rocky knob into a sort of mesa for the post.  I had a drawing for a firebase to plug into a mountain pass to resist a supported mech battalion but I have not built it in MM yet so I thought I would throw this out.

[Dave Talley]

damn
I was gonna say land your Union on hex 2314 and off load
from there =-O

[Natasha Kerensky]

If I can advance underwater up the river, then I’d bring my jumpers up that way so they’re not exposed to the artillery or LRM Carriers any more than necessary.  Get them as close to hex-row 28xx as possible while remaining underwater and then jump straight out of the river and onto or over the berms. 

Ideally, this “River Force” would also mount as many SRM packs with inferno ammo as possible to take out vehicles, infantry nests, artillery pieces, and bunkers as quickly as possible,  The best force using canon designs would be a Crockett 5003-0, two Catapult Butterbees, and two Whitworth -1S.  That’s 14 SRM-6s or 84 infernos per turn on five jumpers.  Should be a massacre as soon as they clear the river.

Other SRM-packing jumpers would work like the Highlander -733, Victor, Guillotine -3L, Crusader -3L, Wolverine, S-Hawk, Wyvern -6N, etc.  If I could bring handheld inferno SRMs (one-shot or regular), that would work well with some of these designs to make up for their lower number of SRM packs.

On land, I’d forget about jumpers and just try to run the mostest the fastest thru the road on hexes 1717 to 2214.  As it appears covered by two bunkers, I probably wouldn’t bother with the side ramp on hexes 2321 to 1917.  Minimum speed of 5/8 or better so they can mostly ignore the artillery on approach and again mounting as many SRM inferno packs as possible.  Ideal force using canon designs would be three Kintaro -18s and two Javelins.  That’s 13 SRM-6 packs or 78 infernos per turn on five runners moving 5/8 to 6/9.  Will probably lose a couple on approach, but it will be a massacre once the rest enter.

Other potential canon mechs for “Ramp Force” include the Ostroc, Champion -2N, Wolverine, Scorpion, S-Hawk, Trebuchet -5S, Sentinel -1S or -3K, Assassin, Jenner, and Commando.  Again, if handheld weapons are allowed, those would work well with some of these designs to supplement with more SRM infernos.

To help cover “Ramp Force” from the LRM Carriers and field guns on approach, I’d park a couple LRM-toting lights behind cover in the woods beyond the 15-hex clearance zone.   Assuming I could have a couple infantry units spotting from those woods or a VTOL (Ferret) spotting from out of range, these lights would toss smoke rounds indirectly over and into the path of “Ramp Force”.  Not much choice for “Cover Force” here — basically looking at a couple Valkyries or downgraded Thorns.  If I couldn’t have a couple conventional spotters, then “Cover Force” would just run behind “Ramp Force” tossing smoke round directly over and into the path of “Ramp Force”.  Alternately, if I could use some conventionals to toss LRMs, a couple Harasser (LRM) or similar could serve the same function so these mech slots could be allocated to “Ramp Force” or “River Force”.

Alternately, “Cover Force” could include a couple Firestarters that run ahead of “Ramp Force” and set the woods at the base of the berms on fire for smoke cover.  But this seems like a high-risk (those Firestarters will die), low-payoff (random wind direction) strategy.  I also considered Mech Mortars for “Cover Force”, but there are no canon designs in this time period AFAIK.

I also considered a strategy of mass indirect LRM bombardment using multiple Archers, Longbows, Dervishes, etc. from cover beyond the 15-hex clearance zone.  This might work if the spotters were unreachable VTOLs (Ferrets) beyond range.  But if not, the spotters are probably vulnerable to the Scorpions and artillery.  Even the LRM-toting mechs might get whacked early by the artillery if they are unfortunate enough to set up in pre-plotted hexes.

I agree with other posters that air support or counter battery fire is the best solution here.  But short of that or a viable indirect-LRM/mortars-from-cover strategy, it’s really about getting as many infernos inside that firebase as quickly as possible.  And that probably means jumpers coming up the river using the water as cover and a charge by fast runners under whatever smoke cover can be afforded.

Obviously, if the defender’s hovertanks are on that river at the wrong time and/or the road into the fire base is mined, then this strategy is compromised.

Here’s my ideal force in total:

River Force
CRK-5003-0 Crockett
Catapult “Butterbee”
Catapult “Butterbee”
WTH-1S Whitworth
WTH-1S Whitworth
Note:  All SRM launchers have access to one or more tons of inferno ammo.

Ramp Force
KTO-18 Kintaro
KTO-18 Kintaro
KTO-18 Kintaro
JVN-10N Javelin
JVN-10N Javelin
Note:  All SRM launchers have access to one or more tons of inferno ammo.

Cover Force
VLK-QF Valkyrie
VLK-QF Valkyrie
Conventional spotters, if any?
Note:  All LRM launchers have access to one or more tons of smoke ammo.

Again, if substituting designs in “River Force” or “Ramp Force” with fewer SRM packs, consider using handheld weapons for more infernos.

Lastly, before taking this assignment, I’d ask the CO if we could switch missions.  Seems like my company should be running the diversionary strike, and the rest of the battalion or regiment should be assaulting firebases!

[wanderer25]

Frankly this is a job for conventional forces.

I'd keep the assault, a heavy and two mediums both for intimidation and to finish off the armor.

I'd trade the other two lances to the diversionary force  for a battalion of jump infantry and a couple of commando and or mountain infantry platoons.
Let's say a company of each.

I'd have the commandos/mountainers cross  the river at night, climb the  back escarpment and then cause as much havoc as possible while targeting the gun emplacements.

I'd use the diversion  to have the jump troops in the nearby  woods rush one of the flanks. These would be outfitted with infernos (along with a few of the commandos).

Their job would be to take out the armor and any remaining field guns. I'm  assuming the artillery guns have a minimum range (sure someone will correct me)
so they go last if at all.
 
For the mechs (assume its 3030) I'd go for a Battlemaster, a Thunderbolt and a pair of phoenix hawks. All of these have mgs. The p-hawks would rush forward
 to take of the guns and lrm carriers while the other two close in.

I known that not how you wrote the senario , but that's what I'd want to do. Seem to me  two lances of mech for a pair of infantry battalion would a hard
trade to pass up.

On the follow up force I'd expect some more infantry and some armor. During the operation I'd try to leave the repair facilities intact and use those afterwards.
Being militia they are probably limited but  beggers can be choosers.


 

 

[mbear]

You didn't specify an era, but Mechs with Mortars (Antlion) or Artillery Cannons (Phalanx Support tank, Rommel Howitzer) are going to be good at cracking those walls. In fact the Mech Mortars might be a great choice here: Load with anti-personnel ammo to wipe out the infantry. Fragmentation LRMs as well.

ELRMs and Light Gauss Rifles might be a good choice as well. Hit the bunkers, etc. from ranges where they can't respond as efficiently. Just saw the defenders have artillery units of their own, so that long range sniper fire may not work. See "anti-personnel mortar rounds" above but use to thin out the redlegs.

You can always use missile boats to drop Thunder mines inside the walls just to mess with the defenders.

While I'm at it, a couple squads of Sea Fox battle armor armed with Infernos could infiltrate via the river: Can they hit hex 2816 or is it too high? If they can get in there and start causing havoc, especially while the defenders are dealing with units on the road, that's going to be good.

[Colt Ward]

Yeah, I did not set a timeframe b/c I was looking for more generic answers.  Primarily I was thinking this would be Op Guerrero, Sarna/Chaos March worlds fending off Capellan attacks, or maybe some of the FedCom Civil War fighting . . . against Blakists, well . . .

Since mechs are often the primary offensive force for attackers, I was looking for use/situation of conventionally armed defenders to defeat mechs without it being in support of defending mechs.  Plus militias are going to be more effective IMO in certain situations such as occupying firebases for their better trained comrades to operate out of while being blockers.  I was actually surprised no one suggested a assault drop on the firebase.

I will be playing this out using MM and randomly rolling up a '57 League or Capellan force.

[Dave Talley]

of course converting a AC20 mech to a sniper artillery cannon
would be nice stand at 16 hexes and blow the hill open

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Five well-placed Inferno Arrow IV missiles and there's going to be a sizable section of that base on fire.  That ought to clear out most of the artillery and infantry.

[Nav_Alpha]

I’d second Natasha Kerensky’s comments up thread - i would walk my primary strike force along underwater and pop up to cause maximum damage. Hopefully causing enough of a distraction to assault with my remaining assets, who would move in hopefully under covering LRM fire.
Frankly, to crack this nut - I would also be demanding supporting arty or air support.
Two or three on target Long Tom rounds as two lances emerge from the water would really help! Plus, if you did have some hover assets - I would cruise them down river in support to lob LRMs.

Tell you what, you mention Chaos March/3058 era as a setting - but this looks like Blakist hold outs too stupid/afraid to surrender in late 3080...

[FedRatCowboy]

quick line up i did in my head for this for a FedSun company:

River lance
Phoenix Hawk-3D
Stealth-2D2
Spector-5F
Osiris-3D

Road Lance
Firestarter-O H config
Axman-3S
Thunderbolt-7M
Templar C Config

Fire support lance
 2X Dervish-8D
 2X Valkyrie-QD1

[Nav_Alpha]

Ok, so here’s my idea - I mentioned I liked it for a late Jihad scenario, so I’ve gone with this. This is my late Jihad (like 3079, post Terra, nipping the last few Word holdouts) Kurita Company.

A couple of notes: ok... so, I’ve cheated by making one lance technically a star. But my thinking is this is the final days of the Jihad and one lance is actually a mis match of Kurtian samurai and Clan Nova Cat warriors who have all had their parent units smashed and reorganised. If anyone has any issues, I’d suggest dropping the Thor.

I’d potentially want to attach BA to as many of the OmniMechs as possible. That said... can BA attach to an Omni that submerges? If so, that counts the two Raptors out.

Probe lance (river assault)
Griffin GRF-5K
Raptor RTX1-OD
Raptor RTX1-OD
Komodo KIM-2

Command lance (direct action)
Dragon DRG-5N
Hatamoto-Chi HTM-26T
Thor (Summoner) Prime
Gladiator (Executioner) D
Firestarter FS9-OH

Fire support lance (well... fire support!)
Archer ARC-8M
Catapult CPLT-C3
Catapult CPLT-C3
Ninja-To NJT-2

My idea is, the river assault lance does the murky bottom walk from friendly territory before the Griffin and Komodo pop up and jump atop the wall. They rain down covering fire, while the two Raptors pop through the gap and start TAG’ing targets.
At this point, the other lances close in. Command lance is going to have to soak up that damage and pour on the fire. These guys are going to die like some brave samurai/Clan warriors I’m thinking.
Meanwhile, with TAG and C3 spotting from our Raptors, the fire support lance is dropping LRMs and Arrow IVs on target.

Further to this, I’d ideally have the three OmniMechs from Command carrying a point of Elementals each. They can get dropped and close, clearing out that infantry.
I’m figuring you can’t carry BA underwater, so the twin Raptors probably can’t carry their own little surprises.

Additionally, I’d be demanding some fire support from the brass! Assaulting this fortress with just my company is going to leave a lot of us dead.

[Colt Ward]

I want to run this against the bot in MM to see how it turns out.  Then play against a person on both sides.  I am not sure a 3025 typical random force would have the speed to avoid losses, later eras like FRC's with some speed give less time for LRMs & Artillery to weaken the attacker's units.  While I applaud the river walkers . . . I think that could be very risky simply b/c of the breach chance, their IC inability to coordinate with the regular attack, and its the most obvious weakness with a quick/easy fix- IIRC part of infantry kit for recon is seismic sensors.

The other thing is that IF there was a campaign going on and the defenders were in place for any time, the firebase commander would be spending time improving the position-  creating rough/rubble hexes to slow movement in assault lanes that are within range of the defensive cannons.  Heck, you can dump rubble along the river shore to make it more difficult for anyone trying to come up that direction.  And of course armoring the pillboxes, which was not done with the map.

[Kovax]

I'd probably go with a pair of Trebuchets, Dervishes, or Whitworths to throw a row of smoke along the path of, and in front of, a group charging the front gate, then use a second ton of regular ammo to lob indirect fire in support of the units once they get inside.  The idea is to keep the modifiers as high as possible, and give them bad shots, other than any pre-plotted artillery fire.  Unless you've got your own artillery, you're going to have to get inside ASAP, because the LRM carriers and artillery in the firebase will just eat you up otherwise.

As said by several, once you get a couple of Inferno racks and machineguns or flamers inside to set the place ablaze and incinerate/perforate any squishies who dare to show their faces, it's going to turn into a massacre in just a couple of turns.  The trick is to limit your losses before that happens, otherwise it's going to get REALLY expensive.

[Colt Ward]

I really want to test the balance between how cheap/minimalist you can make the defenders with a good position to how expensive it is for attackers to take it.  I think fortifications for mechs are generally lack-luster, but firebases for conventional forces in support of mobile mechs that raid/counterattack and deny the countryside to the attackers?  I think there is a place for that provided the trade off works.

Now, the question is . . . since this is militia, at what point would they surrender to attacking mechs?

[glitterboy2098]

For those taking the 'approach under the river' tack, you guys do remember that you can't use jumpjets while submerged? And that the firebase's river side is a sheer cliff?

[Colt Ward]

For those taking the 'approach under the river' tack, you guys do remember that you can't use jumpjets while submerged? And that the firebase's river side is a sheer cliff?

Which is what I thought, but I have been screwing up rules I do not use very much I was not going to say, lol!  The other problem with jumpers is any in the legs will not be available, and its going to be a 5 level jump except for a very few locations.

[Nav_Alpha]

Which is what I thought, but I have been screwing up rules I do not use very much I was not going to say, lol!  The other problem with jumpers is any in the legs will not be available, and its going to be a 5 level jump except for a very few locations.

Hmm, I actually didn’t realise that hex that opens onto the water was level 3. I assumed it was regular height - how else do the hover craft squadron actually enter the water? Do they drop over a sheer slope into the water way below?

[Daryk]

WiGEs could...

[Sabelkatten]

Hmm, I actually didn’t realise that hex that opens onto the water was level 3. I assumed it was regular height - how else do the hover craft squadron actually enter the water? Do they drop over a sheer slope into the water way below?

Well, the hovers can simply go down the road and cross the river at some other point. IMHO there really should be some kind of strongpoint in that hole (i.e. another bunker)

Arguably there should also be some lighter structures inside (barracks, vehicle shelters/repair ships, storage sheds and so on).

Anyway I'd attack with a bunch of faster jumping mechs, 5/8/5 to 7/11/7 for most of them, the heaviest being at least 4/6/4. All close-range fighters - trying to shoot ot out at range does not seem like a good idea! Charge in, jump as much as possible to avoid minefields, blow stuff up.

Another thing I'd do as a defender is to trap the inside of the base. A few minefields and a pit trap or two under a (fake) building would be hilarious. >:D

[Nav_Alpha]

Yeah, well that was pretty much my strategy too: the heavy lance rushes in hard and punches through the perimeter and gets blowing stuff up. The jumpers do the same, jumping in fast and blowing stuff up.
Meanwhile, TAGing for danger close fire support from the third lance.

Scrapping the walking along the river, the lighter jumpers could instead stick close to the river along the banks and work their way up rapidly towards the fire base walls at which point they can leap over. Meanwhile, the heavier lance assaults down the road.

[glitterboy2098]

Hmm, I actually didn’t realise that hex that opens onto the water was level 3. I assumed it was regular height - how else do the hover craft squadron actually enter the water? Do they drop over a sheer slope into the water way below?

what hovercraft squadron?
the base's defenses have towed artillery (wheels), 8 LRM carriers (treads), 12 Scorpion tanks (treads), Field gun platoons (wheels), and SRm infantry (foot).

the only mention of hovercraft is the patrol unit that isn't present, and that group can just go in and out via the road up the hill that passes through a slot in the cliffs.. that defensible little choke point and killbox.

[dgorsman]

Really outside the box... float a lance of jump capable Mechs on a cargo barge (under cover as cargo, of course).  BA would be far better if available.  They should be able to jump from the barge into the firebase once the more obvious land-based attack is underway.

[Colt Ward]

Well, the hovers can simply go down the road and cross the river at some other point. IMHO there really should be some kind of strongpoint in that hole (i.e. another bunker)

Arguably there should also be some lighter structures inside (barracks, vehicle shelters/repair ships, storage sheds and so on).

Yeah, there is supposed to be but it was later when I finished the map adjustments- I have different versions of the firebase from just being a knob, to cliffs, to embankments, to bunkers, to being further built up.  But recon is not going to really be able to see over the edge, and since they are wanting to knock the place out to get the bridge it guards just a bit north then when I realized I had left it off, I just let it go.

[Ursus Maior]

Anyway I'd attack with a bunch of faster jumping mechs, 5/8/5 to 7/11/7 for most of them, the heaviest being at least 4/6/4. All close-range fighters - trying to shoot ot out at range does not seem like a good idea! Charge in, jump as much as possible to avoid minefields, blow stuff up.

For me 4/6/4 sounds like a Grasshopper, load smoke into the LRM-5 and five it Jenners and Pixies as lance mates.

[wanderer25]

I really want to test the balance between how cheap/minimalist you can make the defenders with a good position to how expensive it is for attackers to take it.  I think fortifications for mechs are generally lack-luster, but firebases for conventional forces in support of mobile mechs that raid/counterattack and deny the countryside to the attackers?  I think there is a place for that provided the trade off works.

Now, the question is . . . since this is militia, at what point would they surrender to attacking mechs?

30-40% at most casualty, these arent  battle hardent  front line troops. These have families and a life  outside the military to get back to.

[idea weenie]

What time frame do you have to take out the base?  Are you the raiders that have only a limited amount of time?  Are you trying to loot a nearby town and the road is the easiest way to get loot back to your Dropship?

Or are you basing out of another location on-planet, where two on-planet nations are fighting each other?

One idea might be just lobbing tear gas LRMs into the base to keep the militia stuck and coughing, and alternating with Inferno LRMs to try and set their supplies on fire.  If they pursue outside the base, the rest of your force can kill the isolated militia.


If you have time, just stay nearby and kill the hover units when they return, or just keep them stuck inside the base.  Let the militia enjoy the military rations inside the base, while your mercs hire the people from the nearby town to throw a party.  Make sure to broadcast the party, and the food being served, so the militia can compare those meals with their basic rations.  If the militia families want to pass on messages to their husbands/wives inside the base, let them do so, after making sure that the videos are hiding your strength, and mainly feature the civilians asking their families to come back home.

Sap the morale of the militia, let them suffer through the rations inside their base, sleep on military mattresses, and listen to their officers claiming they have to hold fast, while their spouse is telling them to come home, have good food, and sleep in a comfy bed.

And while the party is distracting the locals, go after your real target

[truetanker]

1 assault, 2 heavies, -5 meds, 4 lights

Ok, here's MY unit!

Charger-1A9
Crusader-3L
Crusader-3L
Dervish-6M

Dervish-6M
Whitworth-1
Whitworth-1
Valkyrie-QF

Whitworth-1S
Valkyrie-QF
Valkyrie-QA
Javelin-10F

Nothing less than 4/6/4... an when I'm out of LRM ammo, I have enough physicals to handle anything!

TT