Liao, The Republic of the Sphere
March 8, 3113 (Capellan Crusades)
Sun-Tzu hoped that personally leading his men to a deep strike mission to Liao would provide enough of a morale boost across the region to turn the tide against the Republic of the Sphere. While his son, Doashen, launched multiple offensives with the Warrior Houses to direct attention, Sun-Tzu and his most loyal Red Lancers and Death Commandos secretly landed on Liao by travelling through uninhabited systems. After resupplying the faltering Dynasty Guard, the Capellan forces conducting a pre-dawn attack on the defending IX Hastati and Amaterasu near Chang-an’s eastern city limits.
At dawn, an Emperor assault battlemech entirely electroplated in burnished gold, dropped through the overcast sky. Republic and Capellan troops alike stopped to witness the battlemechs decent, and after several quiet seconds Sun-Tzu made a general broadcast across the battlefield… “This world belongs to the Capellan people, my people!” His Red Lancer bodyguards, abandoned their current positions in an attempt to form a wall around the Chancellor. The Chancellor ignored his bodyguards and waded into the defending Republic forces alone.
It's hard to see but the Emperor used in this game was heavily modified and painted by Psycho. I'm sure it will show up on CSO one day!
Deployment: Sun Tzu starts the scenario well in advance of the Red Lancers. This was done to represent his singular focus of attacking the RotS forces as soon as possible.
Turn 1: (no picture) The Hastati Lance all fire on Sun Tzu but little damage is done. Sun Tzu manages to tag the Griffin IIC in the head with an AC10 causing to criticals (Life Support and Sensors). Terrain blocks LOS for the Amaterasu and Red Lancers.
Turn 2: (no picture) Sun Tzu continues his relentless drive towards the city. The Hastati forces continue to target Sun Tzu but fail to do significant damage. The Red Lances continue to close the gap between them and Sun Tzu.
Turn 3: All four Hastati 'Mechs as well as the Amaterasu Jenner engage Sun Tzu. The combined fire is enough to knock Sun Tzu down. The remainder of the Amaterasu manage to engage the Red Lancer Thunder knocking it down as well. The Hastati Prefect and Griffin IIC are the recipents of heavy fire from the Red Lancers.
Turn 4: Sun Tzu manages to stand and move a few more hexes closer to the city's edge. Hastati forces continue to hound him, ignoring the heavy fire from the Red Lancers. The Prefect takes a TSM axe to the right rear torso from the Ti Ts'ang. The Amaterasu Daimyo takes an AC20 hit from the Thunder promptly destroying the left arm.
Turn 5: And a God falls! The Hastati manage to destroy Sun Tzu's Emperor. However their singular focus on Sun Tzu has left many of the Red Lancers undamaged and they are beginning to exact a heavy toll on the Hastati.
Turn 6: With the death of Sun Tzu the Red Lancers push hard against the remaining RotS forces (they also received a +2 initiative). The Daimyo is destroyed by the Eyleuka. While the Prefect takes heavy damage from the Wraith. The Dragon tried to charge the Raven but was unsuccessful.
Turns 7: The Peacekeeper is downed by the Black Hawk. The RotS continue to take heavy fire. The Prefect takes another TSM chop this time to the left leg but manages to stay standing.
The game continued to for a couple more turns with the Red Lancers decimating the the remaining RotS forces.
However the RotS managed to pull off a victory overall. Taking a 1050 to 1000 point win over the Capellan's.
