This is for the summary of the last session that was ran this past Saturday, October 13th:
Counter Attack
Having repulsed the Fedcom attack, and with the addition of reinforcements, the insurrectionists felt a sense of confidence and decided to launch a counter attack at one of the flanking units. Using their off-world allies and other units, a diversionary action was coordinated with the main assault to hopefully pull any reserves away from the real objective.
As reports of enemy movement came in, Bravo company found itself set in the crosshairs. Bravo company knew what was at stake and decided to make a stand even with only 2 of its 3 lances available against a full company of enemy mechs. The order of battle for the Fedcom consisted of a Gunslinger, Zeus, White Knight, Warhammer, Grasshopper, Wolverine, Griffin and a Cataphract. The insurrectionist forces fighting them had a Banshee, Flashman, Black Knight, Catapult, another Zeus, Orion, Quickdraw, Shadowhawk, Dervish, a Cataphract, Kintaro and a Guillotine.
The Steiner-Davion forces managed to interpose terrain to greatly minimize the effectiveness of one of the OPFOR's lances firepower. For the most part, Bravo company managed to stay concentrated. The only exception to that was when the White Knight pushed forward too aggressively and shut down due to heat. This allowed the rebels to target the isolated mech. Surprisingly though, the mech and its pilot weren't destroyed in the following turn's round of shooting. The pilot did take a few injuries and the mech went internal in several locations (including 2 engine hits), but it managed to stand back up and begin to retreat to the safety of his own line. The OPFOR tried to chase the badly damaged White Knight, but were frustrated as it managed to use trees and hills to all but block any decent chance of hitting it.
The Kintaro, Shadowhawk and Quickdraw rushed forward to try and pin down one lance of Bravo company, but were met with bad luck as the Kintaro was destroyed and the Quickdraw taking serious damage. The opposition's lance of the Orion, Catapult, Cataphract and Zeus were having trouble negotiating the terrain. Meanwhile the Banshee, Flashman, Black Knight and Guillotine were having to play catch up due to Bravo company out maneuvering them.
The Warhammer, Zeus and Gunslinger managed to provide a blistering display of long range fire support that began to take its toll on the attackers, but then the Banshee's lance managed to appear on their flanks and therefore had to start falling back. The Zeus and Warhammer became the two primary targets of the OPFOR and started to take heavy damage; but Bravo company were managing to make their opponents pay for every inch of ground they took.
The Guillotine then came under fire from the Zeus, Cataphract and Gunslinger and managed to almost core it in one round of shooting. The Catapult suffered an ammo explosion that caused it's right torso to fall off and the left arm holding the other LRM 15 was blown completely off. The Quickdraw suffered several critical hits causing it to retire from the fight and the Dervish suffered a single engine hit and some actuator damage making it combat ineffective. Despite having the terrain to their advantage, better trained pilots and more modern mechs, Bravo company was losing the battle of attrition as half of its starting mechs were starting to go internal in several locations.
In summary, Bravo company had to leave the field in the hands of the enemy but lost no mechs in the fight. The Fedcom only really had one significantly damaged mech; the White Knight with 2 engine hits and one of its large pulse lasers damaged. The Zeus and Warhammer, even though they received more than their share of damage, didn't have any critical hits.
The OPFOR lost the Kintaro and the Guillotine with the Dervish, Catapult and Quickdraw sustaining crippling damage. Even though this fight could be considered a victory for the opposition, the losses they suffered prevented any chance for a breakthrough and may have cost them more than what they were willing to pay. One thing is certain, both sides have begun preparing themselves for a long siege-like fight for the city.