So last week our group decided that they couldn't wait any longer and wanted to Dive into The Wars of Reaving. So armed with the recently released
Supplemental mini-campaign the forces of Clan Blood Spirit were dispatched to investigate the movement of an unknown force on Strana Mechty.
Clan Blood Spirit BinaryBlood Kite
Rifleman IIC
Black Knight (Royal)
Crab (Royal)
Crimson Hawk
Crimson Langur Prime
Crimson Langur A
Wyvern (Royal)
Clint IIC
Hellhound
Society ForcesSavage coyote Z 3/4
Viper Z 3/5
Flashman Flas 8K 4/5
Rhino royal 4/5
Rhino royal 4/5
Ishtar original 3/4
Ishtar original 5/6
Clan motorized point LRM 5/6
Clan motorized point LRM 4/5
Clan motorized point rifle 3/4
Clan motorized point rifle 4/5
Clan motorized point mg 5/6
Clan motorized point mg 4/5
Clan mechanized hover laser 3/4 (subbed by two Savannah Masters)
Clan mechanized hover laser 3/4
For terrain one of the lads decided to set up a map using Heroscape terrain so things were pretty open. Per the scenario rules I through in my 2 cents with a 1.1 G rating for Strana Mechty, was going to make it a Dusk game too but several of the players objected as they hadn't given themselves very good gunners so I dropped that one.
Blood Spirits initial advance
The Society Forces started on-board
The first turn saw the usual ranging shots that really hadn't a hope in hell of hitting, though the pair of Rhino's controlled by some Bandit Cast crews managed to put a full 30 Long Range Missiles into one of the Crimson Langurs in a display of gunnery that made us wonder why they washed out exactly. The only damage in return coming from a single ER Large Laser from the Blood Kite that hit the turret of one of the tanks.
Turn two saw the damaged Crimson Langur pulling back to do some damage assessment while the Society Savage Coyote advanced on the Blood
Spirits left flank targeting the significantly lighter Crimson Hawk and tearing open its left torso though failing to inflict a critical. The Blood Kite continued to attack the Rhinos on the hill this time landing several volley's of LRM's and combined with stray shots from the Rifleman IIC, with which it had set up an overwatch position, left one Rhino with a battered nose and a locked turret, though still intact. The Clint IIC and remaining Crimson Langur focused on the other Rhino but only scored scattered hits.
While the tanks on the hill drew the bulk of the fire the large amount of Dark Caste infantry made a beeline for the hills in the center of the map, a few Packrat minis subbing in for the Flatbed trucks deployed by the Dark Caste as transports. With the Spirits only dedicated Anti-Infantry Mech, the Wyvern, on a distant flank, this would prove nasty later. The Black Knight and Crab set themselves the task of securing the right flank and when the Crab poked it's nose out found that the Rhinos had decided it was an easier target this round, the massed missile strike tumbling the gyros and sending it crashing to the dirt.
Turn three had the poor Crab pilot in a bad situation, having obviously been rattled by the extra hard jolt from the slightly higher gravity, the pilot needed 3 attempts to stand and when he finally made it back up, didn't have much left for a movement mode. The Black Knight moved up to support it but the Society seemed to sense the opportunity as both Rhinos again picked it as their target, hitting with over 40 missiles, as well as two platoons of Mechanised Hover Infantry that darted around the hill to engage at close range. The massed weapons fire ripped away the entire right torso and smashed armour all over the mech but miraculously this time it stayed upright.
Meanwhile on the other flank the Society's Nova CEWS finally came into play as the Dragonfly moved in close to the Star of Spirits that had been advancing towards it, allowing the Savage Coyote to take full advantage of the range reduction, putting it's HAG and an iATM volley into the Hellhound's right torso and right leg. The return fire from the forces on the left flank mostly missed but the Rifleman and Blood Kite finally finish off the badly damaged Rhino on the hill, only one more to go.
Turn 4 and the Crab started to move back off the board, it's savaged torso meaning that under the Forced Withdrawal rules it had to leave, despite the protestations of several Blood Spirit players it decided NOT to play fast and loose with rules interpretations and simply left at full speed in a direct line for it's home edge. Meanwhile the Black Knight pressed on in the hopes of getting in a sneaky flank strike but the infantry and the Ishtar on the flank weren't about to let it get through easy, an exchange of fire left a PPC sized hole in the tanks turret while the infantry took a number of small chunks out of the Knight.
The Blood Kite, Crimson Langur and Rifleman IIC switch to the remaining Rhino, savaging it but failing to knock it out. The Savage Coyote switched targets again, this time taking shots at the Wyvern and hitting with it's iATM's and its HAG leaving it staggered, the Bandit caste seemed to have finally realised that if their infantry was to have a chance the Wyvern needed to die.
The Dragonfly was concentrating on manouvering so as to provide it's friends with targeting data and the Flashman was now moving into the fight.
After losing initiative every turn so far the Blood Spirits were delighted to finally catch a break and win one, not that it took the pressure off, the Crab continued it's withdrawal while the knight continued its advance and the furball that was the left flank continued. The remaining Dark Cast Rhino got cute and turned it's damaged front away from its antagonists, depriving it of the forward mounted LRM launcher but giving it fresh armour. The Wyvern meanwhile moved into the center and engaged the pair of infantry platoons that had been advancing slowly towards the Blood Kite and Rifleman IIC's position, immolating the lead platoon with a volley of Inferno SRM's and wiping them out in grisly fashion.
Meanwhile the Black Knight continued it's solo run on the left, hounded by the infantry and frustrated by the Ishtar. The combined fire of the Infantry and tank have stripped it of rear armour and it has started to lose front armour to the tank.
The Flashman with the aid of its Nova CEWS tore into the already Damaged Crimson Langur A and stripped the remaining armour from the left torso leaving it with a very exposed and still very full ammo bin, though it fortunately managed to stay up despite a head hit and suffered no criticals. The Savage Coyote finally received a solid volley to its left torso from the Hellhound with a wonderful display of gunnery that put the Large Pulse, ER Medium and all the SRMs into the torso, stripping it and taking out the iATM in that torso, the return volley was definitely a case of giving better then it got though as the HAG and iATM's ripped away the left arm, the right arm and right torso as well as a head hit. The Hellhound was now subject to forced withdrawal.
The final rounds of the fight finally saw the Society forces taking some serious loses as the second Rhino finally died and the Black Knight was able to kick the Ishtar to death but it was by no means a one sided affair as the infantry that had been persecuting the Knight finally ate through to the Gyro and dropped the mech. The Dragonfly was continuing to be far more a strategic asset then a tactical one as it's own weaponry wasn't doing much but the Nova it carried was definitely letting the Flashman and Savage Coyote punch above their weight, blood Spirit attempts to stop the small mech simply went wide. The staggering amount of damage taken by the Spirits forced the Rifleman IIC and Blood Kite to advance from their position but not before the Rifleman put 3 of it's Large Pulse lasers into the front of the second Ishtar and finished it off, though not before it blew the right arm off the Wyvern while the Wyvern had another barbecue with the second infantry platoon before going unconscious and falling over. The Flashman fires two large lasers into the head of the Crimson Langur Prime killing it instantly but fails its own PSR and is looking hurt.
Proof that Combat Vehicles can die hard.
Overall the game was enjoyed by all, the lack of anti-infantry elements really hurt the Blood Spirits and it was obvious they took disproportionate casualties because of it. The Spirits would carry they day but it had cost them dearly.
