The Wolf Skinners [3024]

[Daryk]

The Wolf Skinners [3024]

This is what's left of the unit that bailed out of their DropShip in the "This is the Way the World Ends" thread over in Fan Fiction.  The vast majority made it to the ground in one piece, with the exceptions of the unit CO, an unfortunate squad of infantry, and two troopers who were injured when their Escape Pods made hard landings.  My thanks to TinyOzara, Jester006 and the others who helped me sort out the scatter pattern last night after Jester006's game wrapped up.  The unit ended up all over an area about 200 km in diameter on Astrokaszy, with no one coming down on the planned landing zone. The unit's next order of business will be getting all the distress beacons shut down.  The Escape Pods with ship's crew aboard will do so once they establish radio contact with another unit, while the others will actually need to make physical contact with another unit before figuring out how to do that.

The unit history is that the CO and most of the senior officers were involved in Anton's Revolt as members of the 4th Regulan Hussars.  That's reflected in the kukri that's part of the unit logo (attached).  To say they have a grudge against Wolf's Dragoons would be an understatement (that's the other part of their logo and name).

The hex coordinates are based on a blank map sheet with 18 km hexes.  The ship was targeting 0809 (the middle of the map) as its original landing zone.  Nobody came down in that hex. The Mondez crashed in hex 0610 (0,0).

Command Lance (Call sign: WHISKEY CHARLIE)
Major Roger Skinner, Marauder (MAD-3M variant) - KIA in hex 0610 (2,5) when the shock wave of the Mondez's impact blew an Escape Pod into his 'mech.  The chutes became irretrievably entangled, and both plummeted to the ground.  The Marauder is still salvageable, with the following damage: -10 RA, -5 LA, -9 CT, -10 HD, -1 Sensors, -1 Cockpit.  The Escape Pod wasn't so fortunate.

MechWarrior to be named Master Sergeant Ed "First" Rossi, Jaegermech (Jag) - landed safely in hex 0708 (4,6)
MechWarrior to be named Staff Sergeant Demetrius "3D" Drakos, Rifleman (Class A Refit to move 2 armor to the Head) - landed safely in hex 1007 (6,5)
MechWarrior to be named Lieutenant Maninder "Ramjet" Ranjeet, Centurion CN9-AL(ish) - landed in hex 0912, and fell on its back, -5 LTR (2,1)

Fire Lance (Calls sign: WHISKEY FOXTROT)
MechWarrior Lieutenant Captain Charles Harris (unit S3), Hunchback (Civil War Special, JJ and Blazer Cannon) - landed safely in hex 1110 (6,6)
MechWarrior to be named Staff Sergeant Drew "Sweep" Kane, Blackjack - landed safely in hex 1008 (3,2)
MechWarrior to be named Staff Sergeant Isolde "Ice" Carrington, Whitworth - landed safely in hex 0712 (4,2)
MechWarrior to be named Staff Sergeant Thomas "Smoke" Jenson, Panther (Kat) - landed safely in hex 1009 (6,8)

Recon Lance (Call sign: WHISKEY ROMEO)
MechWarrior to be named Lieutenant Jerry "Shaky" Stevenson (unit S5), Vulcan - landed safely in hex 0710 (4,8)
MechWarrior to be named Staff Sergeant Antonia "Occhi" Bianchi, Mirage (Phantasmagoria) - landed safely in hex 0513 (5,7)
MechWarrior to be named, Fire Javelin - landed safely in hex 0307 (2,4)
MechWarrior to be named, Stinger - landed safely in hex 1109 (2,4)

Modified Heavy Wheeled APC (2 crew, Call sign: ALPHA WHISKEY) - landed safely in hex 0506 (0,0)
    Embarked: 2 platoons of infantry (5 squads of 6), including the Company Commander (Captain to be named Adrian Pappas)
    One platoon is armed with 5 AR+ Auto-Rifles with 1 AR++ (same link) per squad
    One platoon is armed with 4 AR+ and 2 Intek Laser Rifles per squad
     Both platoons are armed with 6 Sunraker Laser Rifles per squad (4 points of damage with the Heavy Burst special at 4/8/12 range)
    (led by Lieutenant to be named Liliana Novak)
    All the infantry have surplus Lyran armor jackets, Flak helmets, load bearing equipment, basic field kits, 5 reloads for their weapons, and three days of food and water.  The squad leaders (and above) also have military communicators, vibroblades, and range finding binoculars.

Modified Battlemech Recovery Vehicle (4 crew (Commander: Master Sergeant Toby "Master Truck" Johnson, Driver: Sergeant Luke "Bubba" Blu, Call sign: BRAVO ROMEO) - landed safely in hex 1208 (4,2)
   Embarked: Vehicle Tech assigned to the BMRV (to be named), plus various tool kits and spare parts, and two pallets of food (1,000 man-days each)

Modified Drillson "MASH" (7 crew (Driver: Sergeant Jeff Laine); 3 for Comms Gear (led by Sergeant George Novak (no relation to the Lt), Call sign: CHARLIE MIKE) - landed safely in hex 0906 (0,0)
    Embarked: Medical Team (led by Lieutenant Jacques Ozara; also 4 medics), Vehicle Tech assigned to the Drillson (to be named), the unit's S1, S2, and S4, along with a squad of infantry (AR+/AR++ Sunraker configured, led by Lieutenant to be named)

All Escape Pods have 85 man-days of food, along with manual water purification equipment (reverse osmosis units), and a small (50 liter) tank of clean water.

An Escape Pod with the Mondez's Bridge Crew aboard, led by Captain Mark Skinner - landed safely in hex 0609 (1,1)

An Escape Pod with ship's crew led by the Mondez's Chief Engineer (Warrant Officer to be named Laura Bowman) - landed safely in hex 0408 (6,9)

An Escape Pod with the unit's S-6 (Warrant Officer Harry Cushman), CO's personal Tech, the Vehicle Tech assigned to the APC, and former Liaison Officer (Former Subcommander to be named Tse Haitao), along with 170 kg of extra food and water - landed safely in hex 1412 (2,6)

An Escape Pod with a squad of infantry (AR+/AR++Sunrakers) - landed safely in hex 0609 (5,7)

An Escape Pod with a squad of infantry (AR+/AR++Sunrakers) - landed hard in hex 0808 (1,5), injuring one trooper

An Escape Pod with a squad of infantry (AR+/AR++Sunrakers) - landed hard in hex 0812 (6,1), injuring one trooper

An Escape Pod with a squad of infantry (AR+/AR++Sunrakers) - collided with Major Skinner's Marauder in hex 0610 (2,5)... all personnel KIA

The unit's Drop Chute Tech (Sergeant Andy Ludak) bailed out in an industrial exoskeleton modified with a Parafoil. He grabbed a pallet (1 ton) of rations on their way out, but had to drop it just before landing, so it's scattered around several hexes from impact.  The ration packs survived intact... the boxes, not so much.  He landed in hex 1110 (5,6).

The two Flight Deck Crew (to be named) bailed out with parachutes, and were wearing Vac Suits.  Like the Drop Chute Tech, they grabbed what rations they could carry before jumping, and have 20 kg of ration packs scattered around where they landed (which will have been gathered by the time they're picked up).  One landed in hex 0807 (5,8), the other in 0707 (1,2).

All told, 148 personnel made it to the ground alive out of 155.  Next steps are to gather them up, then figure out how to feed them!

EDIT: Finally realized I forgot to attach the unit logo!
EDIT 2: Added some names and call signs from the fiction thread.
EDIT 3: Corrected a rank.
EDIT 4: Added more detailed coordinates.
EDIT 5: Changed infantry weapons after the infantry "nerf" and Shrapnel #9.  Sunrakers all the way!

[Dave Talley]

148 out of a fubar like that is damned good luck honestly

[DOC_Agren]

and I knew it was your group when I saw
"Lieutenant to be named (unit S3), Hunchback (Civil War Special, JJ and Blazer Cannon) - landed safely in hex 1110
"

[Daryk]

Extremely good luck all the way around, yes... that's why I wanted other people rolling the dice... :)

And yes, a Blazer Cannon HAD to be in here somewhere...  ^-^

[Sharpnel]

where there is one Blazer, there must be two. Where there are two Blazers, there must be four. Where there are four Blazers, there must be eight. Where there are eight Blazers, there ...

[Daryk]

I like the cut of your jib...  ^-^

[Sharpnel]

I love swapping out AC10s and AC20s for Blazers. Sure they'r hot, but they don't ammo and that's important to me.

[Daryk]

Just editing the first post to add the unit logo, which I had said was attached the first time...  ::)

[Daryk]

Renzi's Renegades (the Wolf Skinners' first serious opposition)

Crashed Buccaneer Dropship (ex-FWLDS Condottieri): Nose Destroyed, One Wing Destroyed (Cargo Door on that side non-functional), Landing Gear Destroyed; 2 Medium Lasers on non-destroyed Wing, 2 Medium and 2 Small Lasers Aft

Command Lance
Captain Luca Renzi, Thunderbolt (TDR-5S)
MechWarrior to be named, Hunchback (HBK-4P)
Manticore
Schreck
1 Platoon of Blazer Rifle Infantry (equipped with 6 Blazer Rifles and 1 Automatic Grenade Launcher per squad; 4 points of damage at 2/4/6 range)
1 Platoon of Support Laser Infantry (equipped with 5 Laser Rifles and 2 Support Lasers; 3 points of damage at 3/6/9 range, shoot or move)
2 Platoons of Laser Rifle Infantry (equipped with 7 Sunraker Laser Rifles per squad for 4 points of damage and the Heavy Burst special at 4/8/12 range)

Attack Lance
Lieutenant Sara Renzi, Phoenix Hawk (PXH-1, less half a ton of ammo, plus cargo)
MechWarrior to be named, Firestarter (FS9-H)
MechWarrior to be named, Stinger (STG-3R, less half a ton of ammo, plus cargo)
MechWarrior to be named, Wasp (WSP-1A, less half a ton of ammo, plus cargo)

Scout Lance
Lieutenant to be named, Spider (SDR-5V)
MechWarrior to be named, Locust (LCT-1V, less half a ton of ammo, plus Recon Camera)
Sergeant to be named, Packrat LRPV (less one ton of ammo, plus cargo; Speed Demon SPA)
Sergeant to be named, Swiftwind (less communications gear, plus cargo)
1 Platoon of Laser Rifle Infantry (3 squads in the Packrat, 1 in the Swiftwind; Equipped with 7 Sunraker Laser Rifles per squad; 4 points of damage with the Heavy Burst special at 4/8/12 range)

Support Staff
8 Mech Techs
4 Vehicle Techs
1 Medical Team
28 Admins/Dependents (12 ship crew, 6 children)

EDIT: Changed the infantry weaponry after the infantry "nerf" and Shrapnel #9.  These changes better explain how they were able to hold off Al Mazrea.

[Daryk]

Azazil ONE (Al Mazrea patrol group)
Hermes (HER-1A)
4, 5-ton Jeeps (9/14)
1 Platoon of Foot Rifle infantry (4 points of damage per squad at 1/2/3 range, flak armor for Divisor 1)

Azazil TWO (Al Mazrea patrol group)
Flea (FLE-16)
4, 5 ton Jeeps (9/14)
1 Platoon of Foot Rifle infantry (4 points of damage per squad at 1/2/3 range, flak armor for Divisor 1)

[Daryk]

Dang it, I was laying out the units on the map again to figure out who gets rescued before the locals show up, and discovered I missed writing down one of the landing points (Escape Pod #3, the one with the S6 and a few others).  And the USB stick I mentioned crashing down in Off Topic?  That's where those coordinates are written.  If the recovery company can't get back to me within the next week or so, I'll just roll some more dice (or arbitrarily decide where to drop them).

[Daryk]

It looks like it's going to be a few days before the company can get back to me on the USB stick, so I'm deciding whether to drop Pod #3 in hex 1412 or 0210.  The two options boil down to which set of incoming troops scoops them up.

1412: Renzi's fast movers will take them all alive (including the pod strapped to the roof of the Packrat) and leg it for home, rendezvousing with their second lance on the way.

0210: The Al Mazrea folks will take the two techs (and the stuff out of the pod, and the chute), but leave the pod itself and the Liaison Officer for dead (stabbed in the gut; they'll crawl into the shade).

[DOC_Agren]

might I suggest a random roll of the Dice.
1 = 1412
2 = 0210

[Daryk]

I'll probably do that if no one weighs in with an opinion one way or the other...  ^-^

[Tinyozora]

rescue missions are fun, let's go with 1412.

[snakespinner]

1412, it was a good year. :thumbsup:

[Daryk]

Heh... that one's going to be more negotiation, but sure, let's go with 1412... :)

[Daryk]

Just in case nobody saw my post down in Off Topic, the company came back with a cost of over $3,000 to recover my drive.  The monolithic chip failed (which is worst case).  I'm sane, so I sent them the $30 for shipping and handling to send it back to me (in the vain hope technology will advance and costs come down in time).  I lost about two years of work there, because the April 2019 date on my back up folder was only due to me throwing a couple of files in there.  The REAL back up date was in late 2017.  I'm extremely glad I posted the Wolf Skinners when I did, or they'd be lost to the mists of time.  I'll be spending most of the weekend re-downloading all the rule books and errata from my DriveThru account and the main site, but I'll try to get a couple of posts up in between downloads.

[shadowdancer]

Sometimes life really sucks!

[snakespinner]

$3000, man that is real bad. You would think it would be cheaper in this day and age.

[Daryk]

Indeed... that's why I paid the $30 to get it back.  All the advice I've found about these kind of failures is to hold on to them and wait for prices to come down.  The company's explanation for the cost is that it requires a clean room, de-soldering the chip, and going at it with micro-probes to bypass whichever subcomponents have failed.  Size is an advantage of monolithic chips, but only as long as they don't fail.

[Daryk]

Ok, here's the map of where everybody landed.  The hexes are 18km across (the same scale as the High Altitude map), so even getting to the same hex doesn't mean a unit meets up with another one immediately.  No Wolf Skinner unit has a map of the area, so that slows things down a bit too.  The local forces aren't under any such handicap.  The Al Mazrea forces are coming from the west, while the Renegade forces are coming from the southeast.

I'm thinking the Renegades make off with Pod #3, its chute, contents and passengers, while at least one of the Al Mazrea forces makes a run at Pod #2.  They'll probably make off with at least Pod#2's chute, if not a hostage or two.  The other force might make a run at the APC, or at least grab its chute.  The Fire Javelin and Vulcan are the two nearest 'mechs, but if the Vulcan moves to assist, that leaves two escape pods undefended.

[Daryk]

Dang it... I can't remember the exact modifications I made to their APC and BMRV beyond giving them fusion engines.  I suppose that means I'm open to suggestions, though I'm sure I'll nail something down by the end of the weekend.

[Daryk]

I found the mods to the Drillson in my PMs, so here they are:

Code: [Select]

Drillson Ambulance

Mass: 50 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Hovercraft
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: Age of War/Star League
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/D-E-D-A
Production Year: 2750
Cost: 2,337,333 C-Bills
Battle Value: 595

Construction Options: Fractional Accounting

Power Plant:  215 Fusion Engine
Cruise Speed: 97.2 km/h
Flanking Speed: 151.2 km/h
Armor:  Standard Armor
Armament:
    2  Medium Lasers
    1  Machine Gun
    1  Communications Equipment (1.0 tons) (3.0 tons)
    1  Remote Sensor Dispenser
    1  Searchlight
    1  Recon Camera
    1  MASH (3.5 tons)
    1  Cargo, Standard (2.5 tons)
    1  Infantry Compartment (1.5 tons)
    1  Paramedic
Manufacturer:
    Primary Factory:
Communications System:
Targeting and Tracking System:

================================================================================
Equipment           Type                         Rating                   Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard                      25 points                5.000
Engine:             Fusion Engine                215                      14.250
    Cruise MP:  9
    Flank MP:   14
Heat Sinks:         Single Heat Sink             10                        0.000
Control Equipment:                                                         2.500
Lift Equipment:                                                            5.000
Turret:                                                                    0.500
Armor:              Standard Armor               AV - 120                  7.500

                                                      Armor     
                                                      Factor     
                                               Front     25       
                                          Left/Right   25/25       
                                              Turret     25       
                                                Rear     20       

================================================================================
Equipment                                 Location    Heat     Spaces     Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(R) Communications Equipment (1.0 tons) (3.0 tons) RR        0         1         3.000
(R) Remote Sensor Dispenser                  RR        0         1         0.500
Searchlight                                  T         0         1         0.500
2 Medium Lasers                              T         6         2         2.000
Recon Camera                                 T         0         1         0.500
Machine Gun                                  T         0         1         0.500
MASH (3.5 tons)                              BD        0         1         3.500
Cargo, Standard (2.5 tons)                   BD        0         1         2.500
Infantry Compartment (1.5 tons)              BD        0         1         1.500
Paramedic                                    BD        0         1         0.250
@MG (1/2) (100)                              BD        -         0         0.500

BattleForce Statistics
MV      S (+0)  M (+2)  L (+4)  E (+6)   Wt.   Ov   Armor:      4    Points: 6
9h         2       1       0       0      2     0   Structure:  3
Special Abilities: SRCH, TUR(2/1/0)

[Daryk]

I settled on this modification for the Wheeled APC (replacing the MGs with a Medium Laser).  The BMRV is next...

Code: [Select]

WS APC

Mass: 20 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: Age of War/Star League
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/C-D-D-A
Production Year: 2750
Cost: 297,000 C-Bills
Battle Value: 291

Construction Options: Fractional Accounting

Power Plant:  120 Fusion Engine
Cruise Speed: 75.6 km/h
Flanking Speed: 118.8 km/h
Armor:  Standard Armor
Armament:
    1  Medium Laser
    1  Infantry Compartment (6.0 tons)
Manufacturer:
    Primary Factory:
Communications System:
Targeting and Tracking System:

================================================================================
Equipment           Type                         Rating                   Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard                       8 points                2.000
Engine:             Fusion Engine                120                       6.000
    Cruise MP:  7
    Flank MP:   11
Heat Sinks:         Single Heat Sink             10                        0.000
Control Equipment:                                                         1.000
Lift Equipment:                                                            0.000
Armor:              Standard Armor               AV -  64                  4.000

                                                      Armor     
                                                      Factor     
                                               Front     20       
                                          Left/Right   15/15       
                                                Rear     14       

================================================================================
Equipment                                 Location    Heat     Spaces     Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medium Laser                                 FR        3         1         1.000
Infantry Compartment (6.0 tons)              BD        0         1         6.000

BattleForce Statistics
MV      S (+0)  M (+2)  L (+4)  E (+6)   Wt.   Ov   Armor:      2    Points: 3
7w         1       1       0       0      1     0   Structure:  1
Special Abilities: ENE

[Daryk]

And the BMRV:

Code: [Select]

WS BMRV

Mass: 50 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: Age of War/Star League
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/C-E-D-A
Production Year: 0
Cost: 1,441,667 C-Bills
Battle Value: 264

Construction Options: Fractional Accounting

Power Plant:  280 Fusion Engine
Cruise Speed: 64.8 km/h
Flanking Speed: 97.2 km/h
Armor:  Standard Armor
Armament:
    1  Machine Gun
    1  Lift Hoist
    1  Cargo, Standard (10.0 tons)
Manufacturer:
    Primary Factory:
Communications System:
Targeting and Tracking System:

================================================================================
Equipment           Type                         Rating                   Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard                      20 points                5.000
Engine:             Fusion Engine                280                      24.000
    Cruise MP:  6
    Flank MP:   9
Heat Sinks:         Single Heat Sink             10                        0.000
Control Equipment:                                                         2.500
Lift Equipment:                                                            0.000
Armor:              Standard Armor               AV -  72                  4.500

                                                      Armor     
                                                      Factor     
                                               Front     21       
                                          Left/Right   17/17       
                                                Rear     17       

================================================================================
Equipment                                 Location    Heat     Spaces     Mass 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Machine Gun                                  FR        0         1         0.500
(R) Lift Hoist                               RR        0         1         3.000
Cargo, Standard (10.0 tons)                  BD        0         1        10.000
@MG (1/2) (100)                              BD        -         0         0.500

BattleForce Statistics
MV      S (+0)  M (+2)  L (+4)  E (+6)   Wt.   Ov   Armor:      2    Points: 3
6w         1       0       0       0      2     0   Structure:  2
Special Abilities:

[Daryk]

Quick clarification: per TacOps, the MASH unit's reusable Vehicular Drop Chute (VDC) requires 5 minutes to stow.  There's no similar formal rule for gathering up the non-reusable kind (not for reuse, but simply transport), but I think 10 minutes is a reasonable figure for that.

[Daryk]

Here's an updated map with the initial moves for search and recovery plotted.  In the process of laying it out, I discovered I had put the Hunchback and Exoskeleton one hex off of their true positions.  That's fixed in the attached.  I should have all the radio traffic outlining these moves posted today.

[Tinyozora]

Interesting.  Seems reasonable enough I guess.

[Daryk]

Cool... if you have any ideas for any different moves, just let me know.  The Doc has the BIG VOICE (four tons of comms gear), so he can confer with the other staff he brought along and adjust plans.  The only pod "out in the cold" right now is MIKE THREE (the S6, CO's Tech and former Liaison Officer).  The S-3 (in the Hunchback) is going to be a little busy picking up the (literal) ton of food scattered around where the Exoskeleton came down.