Defend Potato Planet

[Tangoforone]

In an attempted raid, pirates have accidentally stumbled upon a Word of Blake held planet that farms potatoes and other ingredients used in the formulas to keep the Manei Domini alive.  The WoB Militia has sent a request to higher commands for reinforcements, but the closest group is five days out.  Can the Militia hold off against the Pirate force until reinforcements arrive, or will they be overrun?

Each player had 30,000 BV to spend to create a force, with the maximum allowed at each battle to be around 15,000 BV.  Superficial repairs can be completed, but it will take the unit out of commission for a time.  The WoB comes in with a full Level III, consisting of a Level II of elite Heavy and Assault Battlemech pilots, a Level II of artillery, and four Level II's of hovercraft and light mech assets.  From what has been seen of the pirates, they come in with a Company of Mechs, a Company of tanks, hovercraft, and other military vehicles, and a full company of infantry.

The first battle was fought in one of the farms about half-way between the pirate drop zone and the WoB held Capital.  Two Marksmans provided artillery support to the C3i equipped heavy mech Level II.  However, luck was not on the Militia's side.  Three full lances of mechs and two lances of vehicles overwelmed the undergunned, but more elite pilots of the Militia.  At the end of the battle, a Militia Legacy was torn asunder by two Berserkers and a Banshee as it allowed the rest of his comrades to retreat off the map; the pirates took heavy damage, but much of it was only external armor.  The only reported loss was a Raven.  This might be a boon to the WoB, whose C3i network continued to get interrupted by the small mech.  Hopefully some of the more damaged units will be out of commission for a short time, allowing the WoB to regain the initiative.

In the meantime the Pirates, knowing time is not on their side, are going to push through the marsh and directly up to the city walls. One thing is for sure; the WoB will do anything to keep the Berserkers from entering the city.  They have already proven tough to kill in an open field; it is unimaginable what will happen if they are allowed into the city for close-quarters combat.

[Tangoforone]

Day one has ended with an assault on the Militia held Capital city outer walls.  Emerging from the forest, two lances of mechs and a lance of tanks assaulted the wall.  With the Militia assault Level II out of combat due to repairs, reserve forces needed to be brought in.  A Level II of Drillson Hovercraft SRM variants and a Level II of Gabriels supported a Raijin, Gallowglass, Initiate, and Thug (one of the heavy units who was untouched from the previous battle), as well as four platoons of infantry.  Knowing the attack must be halted, all forces moved forward aggressively and brought the battle to the edge of the forest.  Three Gabriels were lost, and many of the Drillsons were heavily damaged, however the Pirate Battlemaster and Panther were heavily crippled during the fight, and two hovercraft and a Demolisher were destroyed and captured by the Militia before the Pirates decided to retreat and regroup.

While the Militia were able to push back the Pirates, word has it that their repair trucks were able to decrease repair times for some of their equipment from the earlier battle.  With much of the Militia equipment still in repair facilities, it is going to be challenging to defend a second onslaught against the wall, especially with the Pirate Berserkers and Banshee returning to the fight.  Fortunately, the damage to the Drillsons was not too severe; the hover skirts will get repaired overnight, and the depleted SRM ammo bays will get refilled.  Any external armor will have to remain unfortunately, as the Militia doesn't have time to repair it for the next day of fighting.

[Tangoforone]

It's not looking good for the WoB militia.  Not having repaired their heavy battlemechs in time for a second attack against their Capitol city wall, they had to bring in their second-line force and anything that was left from the previous fight.  While they had the numbers against the invading Pirates, 2 Level II's of hovercraft, artillery, and two mechs, the Pirates had heavier equipment that could, and did, destroy hovercraft in single hits.  While the WoB militia destroyed some of the lighter units, it wasn't enough to push the Pirates back.  The WoB have retreated behind their city walls.  With some of the repairs completed on the heavier mechs, they will try their best to prevent the Pirates from breaching the walls in the next fight, however with heavy losses and many units in the repair bay it will be challenging to do so.

[Tangoforone]

Well the WoB Militia lost control of the Capitol.  It was a hard fought battle, but the pirate forces entered the walls.  While the pirate commander's Banshee was destroyed, the WoB suffered much worse damage and would be unable to perform any significant repairs before the next assault further into the city.  Reparations and large payments were paid to the pirates to leave the planet.  The Master will not be happy to hear about this failure.