It's a time of great trials for the Blood Spirit Clan...
Three years ago in 3064, your treacherous kin of Star Adder Clan invaded the capital of your, mired in the isolation Clan, the planet York, destroying one of the Clan Warships - a Lola-III class destroyer "Blood Fury" and occupying a large amount of important enclaves on the planet. Worst of it all, during the invasion they used a large number of second-line equipment and solahma warriors adding more bitterness to your failures. But that was three years ago. Since that time the Khans of your Clan began to understand that the time of isolation is over and it's now time to adjust to the new conditions, refresh ties with allies and delve deep into the heart of Clan by allowing not only the Trueborn to fight. The stain on the honor of the Clan can only be washed away by removing the Star Adders from York.
And so four new ristars will soon enter the Circle of Equals to take part in their first Trial of Position and reach for their destiny...My players are Azazel, Machcio, PsBorsuk and Skyhawk. Sky did not arrive because he suffered from hangover, so Az had to replace him.
The Blooding is the most important Trial of Position in the life of every Clan cadet. Entering the Circle of Equals two cadets face six opponents - three for each one. To pass the test and get into the Warrior Caste, the cadet must overcome at least one of his opponents. If he beats the two will become immediately the rank of Star Commander, if all three the rank of Star Captain. If you can not beat anyone... well other castes also need staff. And if by chance the cadet gets a gauss shot in his cockpit... then it shows he was not destined to become a MechWarrior. Such is the way of the Clans.Each of my players, apart from ordinary warriors, has one ristar, a special MechWarrior with a chosen special skill. Az and Machcio have Snipers (reduced modifiers for ranges), Sky a weapon specialist with a ER large laser and PsB Blood Hunter (bonuses when concentrating on one enemy). The first scenario was simple - Clan Trial of Position. To qualify to the Warrior Caste each ristar had to stand against three opponents and beat at least one of them. Of course, they could challenge one opponent at a time.
Azazel - Timber Wolf D - MechWarrior Natasha P3/G2 vs Thor D P6/G2, Black Python P4/G2, Canis P5/G3
Machcio - Marauder IIC - MechWarrior Michael P4/G3 vs Warhammer IIC P5/G4, Wakazashi P3/G4, Highlander IIC P5/G4
PsBorsuk - Blood Kite - MechWarrior Karianna P4/G2 vs Gargoyle D P6/G3, Warhawk A P4/G4, Supernova P4/G4
Skyhawk - Kingfisher D - MechWarrior Sky P3/G2 vs Savage Coyote B P5/G4, Blood Asp Prime P4/G3, Turkina Prime P4/G3
The rolls for mapsheet tables for the planet York showed that the first couple will play out their battle on River Delta #1 and Woodland maps, and the other on Rolling Hills #1 and Large Lakes #2 maps. To the first sat down Machcio with Psborsuk and to the other lonely Az. Clan Honor level I applied in this scenario.
As the first opponent Azazel chose Canis, a machine heavier than the Timber Wolf and armed with 4 ER large lasers and two Ultra 10 autocannons. Apparently I had an advantage over a long distance, but ER lasers generate a lot of heat, and already in the first round I had to check for emergency reactor shutdown. I tried to keep a distance of 8 hexes between the Canis and Az Mech, because I would then have short range for the laser and Az PPCs would still be on medium, but the heat and Az warrior bonus effectively evened our chances, and during the fight I jammed one of my Ultras. Az also cleverly hid behind partial cover and in clumps of forests. Finally a hit from the ER PPC tore the leg off Canis knocking him to the ground, but in the same turn two accurate shots with lasers pierced the torso of theTimber Wolf causing two critical hits in the engine. Az decided to end his Trial.
While Az thought over the combat of his Timber Wolf, with the Kingfisher he fouled up completely. Rather than maintaing distance with the selected Savage Coyote, run around the lake and shoot with its three ER large lasers he went straight at his target and that could not end well (especially that he jammed the Ultra 10 AC on the occasion which was the only backup weapon of the Kingfisher). The volleys of 4 ATM 3s, 6 small pulses, 1 large pulse laser and Ultra 5 AC hastily coped with Kingfishers armor, who first lost his left torso and arm with two of the three lasers. Later I only troubled him with small pulse lasers until I cracked his central torso and landed a double engine critical. And so Sky, not even taking part in the fight, will have to pilot a tank instead of a Mech. Unfair? Maybe, but these are the ways of the Clans.
PsBorsuk chose Warhawk A as his first opponent. Both Mechs approached each other wading to the waist through the water, but here the Blood Kite had an advantage because it is jump jets were mounted in the torsos so he could easily shorten the distance jumping, while I slowly trudged forward. The targeting computer helped somewhat with acquiring lock on Psb Mech, but ultimately a massive barrage of LRMs and SRMs pierced the central torso of the Warhawk critically damaging the engine and gyroscope. As the second opponent PsB chose Gargoyle, fast 80-ton assault machine with lots of lasers and a targeting computer. Gargoyle quickly shortened the distance and accurate shots with medium pulse lasers cracked the already weakened armor on the torso critically damaging the engine and gyroscope. PsBorsuk resigned.
The freeborn Machcio challenged the Warhammer first. This time I decided to shorten the distance hoping to use more effectively my five medium pulses supported with SRMs. At a distance the advantage of 3 ER PPCs in the Marauder against my 2 spoke to my disadvantage. I almost succeeded, however, the alpha-strike I made was not as effective as I had hoped because Machcio put his Mech in the river behind the forest. Finally, we both critically damaged our engines and Warhammer was eliminated from the game. Despite the damage Machcio decided to take a chance and challenged Wakazashi as his next duel (PsB took the Mech) but the firepower of the old Clan Jade Falcon machine (LB-X 20, Gauss and ER PPC) quickly finished the destruction of the Marauder.
The next time we'll get to skin the Star Adders. ;)
http://jedyna-i-sluszna.blogspot.com/2013/11/blood-glory-proba-pozycji.html
