AU Duchy of Small Invasion of Epsilon Eridani Campaign

[Mapmaster]

Our gaming group recently started up a player vs. player campaign in which the players commanded mercenaries on opposing sides of an(non-canon) invasion of Epsilon Eridani by the Duchy of Small in 3062. We used a home-brewed version of the Total Chaos track system to keep up with an abstraction of expenses, risks, and rewards. We also developed the campaign in light role-playing sessions via email. It was a lot of fun and still an on-going game. I've already posted one after action report from a game in which my merc commander was killed and I'll link to it in this thread.

The following is a summary and excerpts from the emails during which the game developed. This will primarily tell the story of The Mockingbird Group(my company), in the employ of Duke Small. Hope you enjoy!

Aug 15, 3062 [Mockingbird briefing]

As you well know Duke Small has been building up our forces in preparation for the next phase of the Duchy's expansion. The target is Epsilon Eridani. Duke Small is putting the full force of the Duchy's armored fist behind this assault. Two of our three Mech Battalions, our entire aerospace wing, and four of our best Mechanized Infantry Regiments are being committed to this endeavor along with your Mockingbird Company and several smaller mercenary units.

The goal of this attack is first and foremost the integration of Eridani into the Duchy. Therefore collateral damage and needless deaths of planetary militia are to be kept to a minimum. To that end our primary focus will be the capture of the industrial and trading hub of Dori. A swift capture of their primary trading hub has been calculated to be the optimum method of ensuring a quick end to the conflict. Harrying raids across the wider span of the planet have been authorized to draw forces away from our primary objective and a request has been submitted that you detail away a portion of force for just such an operation. The weight of your forces however are being requested for the duty of taking Dori along with the bulk of the Duchy's militia.

This is an important stepping stone for the Duchy. Failure here could spell disaster for the Duchy across the board. The Duke rewards those who serve him well. Your benefactors request has been logged and is being considered. Your success would contribute greatly to it being granted.

Overall Campaign cost: 800 WP

As I stated before you can cash in for another 1000 SP on top of whatever you pull for August but that will be all the "supplies" you can haul with you.

The battle tomorrow will take place on the Secret Base map.
http://mapmasterbattlemaps.com/maps/secret-base/


MOCKINGBIRD ASSAULT COMPANY:

ASSAULT LANCE
Catapult CPLT-C1 1st Lt. Szucs Hektor
Battlemaster BLR-1D (8) 1st Lt. Christian Smith
Rifleman 3N (7) 2nd. Lt. Jim Zhào
Atlas (01) 2nd Lt. Lewis Kellen Lindberg

ARMOR PLATOON
Po Tank - damaged Corp Adriano Rosas, Private, & Private
Po Tank Sgt Rhys MacDougall, Private, & Private
Po Tank Sgt Charles Morgan, Private, & Private
Demolisher Adriel Fischer

FIRE SUPPORT TEAM
Hunter Light Tank 0 1st Lt. Calum Flannery, PFC, & Private
Hunter Light Tank 1 Corp. Logan Sullivan, Private, & Private
Hunter Light Tank 2 Corp. Maslama Tanoli, Private, & Private
Hunter Light Tank 31 Corp. Gerard Kim, Private, & Private

SPOTTER TEAM A
Warrior H-7 VTOL LCP Kendrick Brinkworth
Savannah Master Private Ludwig Bruckner

SECURITY/AUXILIARY COMPLIMENT:

MOBILE INFANTRY SUPPORT TEAM
Heavy Tracked APC PFC Troy Barrowcliff, Private
LRM Platoon Sgt. Blyana Pitkeathy
Striker Combat Vehicle 2nd Lt. Hashim Isfahani
Skulker Beagle Probe Vehicle 1st Lt. Major Flori "Fruit Nut" Grain
Scorpion UC PFC Drew Amar
Long Tom Colleen Suzuki 4 5 515 3063
Behemoth MB-1 Yoselin Vanags (vet)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Mapmaster]

^That's what we kicked the doors in with and, by the end of that day, this was the mission debriefing report:
 
August 31st, 3062

Our initial break out from our landing zone was successful. Your efforts in the push for the vital land bridge south were instrumental in this. Sadly things since have not gone as planned. The most direct route to Dori, the route you opened for us, is now barred far too tightly. As you well know by now our scouts ran into a heavily fortified position at another such bottleneck some twenty kilometers north of Dori where the canal once more comes in close to the lake. Armored probes to both sides as well as at its front have proven the position well defended. The Third Infantry Regiment attempted a night penetration the night before last and was repulsed with heavy losses. Further attempts yesterday only reaffirmed the solidity of this defensive line. This road block, along with the appearance of enemy forces descending on our right rear flank(likely coming down from the capital) have drawn precious resources from our advance. Thankfully a plan has been devised that should push us around and past this trouble spot and strait in to Dori itself.

The plan is three fold. Firstly the Third Regiment will remain in place and continue to draw enemy attention to it in an attempt to prove that it remains at the forefront of our attack. Secondly our remaining air forces will reduce what forces the enemy has covering the great lake itself and its immediate environs to the west. This is meant to appear to be the prelude to a possible flanking movement around the lake so as to cut the line between Dori and Madison. Thirdly you and the majority of our mechanized forces will cross the canal to the east side, across the bridges to the north that we already have under our control, make a wide sweep east and south, roll up the defensive line east of the canal and come down on Dori from the east. Your forces will assist in the taking of the bridge our forces need to cross back over the canal to capture Dori. Once the enemy defensive line is rolled up and the forces we are sure will be defending the bridge are dealt with the way into Dori will be clear. Our hope is that the enemy will not attempt to fight us once we enter Dori proper as the city is of too much value to both sides to destroy. See it done and The Duke will sign off on the initial portions of your agreement.

You are welcome to use any forces you have available to you, up to four lances. Any you choose to use from your raiding forces will not be available for raiding for the immediate future.

The map will be river valley:
http://i.imgur.com/7EVcwms.jpg?2

[Mapmaster]

Campaign map:


Close-up map for the battle of Dori:

[Mapmaster]

^It was a brutal fight that ended in a brief stalemate. The Mockingbirds hit unexpected resistance and our advance was brought to a standstill for several hours until we could rearm and push the defenders out of the heavy woods surrounding a key bridge.

Sept 1, 3062 [Mockingbird debriefing]

From your after action reports, battle ROMs, and the reports of follow on unit commanders the action around Bridge 11 North appears to have been quite the battle. Frankly our annalists didn't expect a mech company there at all, only a mixed armor/infantry unit. Despite severe damage to your forces and a slight delay in the time table you were able to push them off the eastern side of the river and back towards Dori, effectively out flanking their major defensive line to the north. When word of the loss of the bridge below them reached the ears of the enemy units it appears there was a bit of a panic in some places...especially in what remained of the line on the east side of the river. Or at least the portion of it that was left after the roll-up attack on its east end. Several hundred were captured along with APCs, Field Guns, and several disabled tanks. The remaining armor on the east side attempted a breakout and nearly succeeded before being hammered hard enough to capitulate.

The west side forces however fell back in good order into and through Dori. Thankfully in this case our annalists were right. The enemy decided to give up Dori so as to preserve its infrastructure. Minor civil resistance met our troops as they entered the city but that died down to nearly nothing once enough of our forces had entered. Our dropships and LZ defense forces have been moved up and into Dori overnight to consolidate our lines and reduce the danger to our supplies.

From our scouting reports it appears the enemy is using this time to consolidate as well. Their Capital forces have moved in to join what is left of the Dori contingent west of Dori itself in and around one of their primary Brigade bases, which they are busy fortifying and expanding. Unless our commanders spot a likely opening or weakness in their defenses we'll be taking the next several days to repair, rearm, and consolidate in Dori. Make the most of this time.

You and your companies have fought well these past several days. I'll be adding my stamp of approval to your list of requests and sending it up to the Duke in the next few days.

[Mapmaster]

Upon rolling into Dori to lick our wounds, the shape of the Mockingbird Group was shaken:

Tech staff is worried about dwindling supplies. By the time the assault company has been repaired, the mule's bays are nearly empty. Mockingbird command is beginning to realize that they were not prepared for an operation of this proportion. They have absolutely no medical staff. Wounded tank crews and mechwarriors lie scattered about groaning and grumbling, some in serious condition. The scorched bodies from the skulker crew have been collected along with the severed torso of Lt. Smith, and thrown into a storage bin until their final internment can be decided. It was less than 24 hours ago that we collected the crew remains from the demolisher. Morale is questionable.

--------------------------------------
Meanwhile, the Duke's regulars were regrouping as well:
The Duchy forces aren't quite so bad off supply wise but they are feeling the strain too. An entire infantry regiment is fought out and has basically been reduced to a hollow shell after throwing itself at that defensive line. Mech forces have suffered 15% losses overall and aerospace forces are dwindling fast. Medical personnel are stretched thin with all these losses but they are able to get a medical team around to your collection point for a couple hours to assist in the recovery of your injured. (Your shaken and injured are healed up at a quarter the normal price) Scrounging the battlefield and raiding whatever small supply dumps the enemy left behind nets you 500 SP worth of spares and equipment. A fight between your troops and some Duchy troops over a small ammo cache nearly gets lethal before leadership is able to step in. 

All estimates point to heavy losses on the Eridani Guards side as well. The Mech battalion defending Dori, a company of which you faced, has been cut in half with damage to most of the rest. The light armored infantry brigade that held the line against the Duchy troops(which you took a chunk out of that first day) has basically ceased to be. Most of its support company got out, as well as a company of infantry and some scout units, but otherwise the light brigade is either dead or captured. Those units that got out of Dori have linked up with the capital forces(another Mech Battalion and another Light Armored Infantry Brigade) to your west.

---------------------------------------------
The picking up of the pieces continued for the Mockingbirds:

Awesome. That will take care of all the personnel, save for the few that refuse medical attention to make sure the others are cared for. Noble lot for mercs. 

Lt. Hektor is busy coordinating with duchy forces to make sure we prepare adequate defenses. Get our infantry busy preparing defensive positions for the tanks. We want to be able to defend from several directions if necessary. Put that UC scorpion to work with any heavy duty moving. Load the headless battlemaster onto the mule. Move the VIP into some cozy quarters in the city, no further than LOS from the drop ship. Dispatch a squad from our second rifle platoon for a body guard. Keep a third of our assault company and auxiliary forces mobilized at all times.

We eagerly await news from the raiding party.

[Mapmaster]

Ok so that's the first portion of the EE campaign done. Meanwhile, a Mockingbird raiding group was deploying onto the southern continent to raid the Kressly factories:

Here's the plan for the raids:

We elect to raid Kressly, but we'll do whatever the Duke needs. On any given raid, we will deploy the first 6 mechs listed below via our Confederate to secure a dropzone for the rest of our forces unless the Duke equips us with a combat drop capable dropship. If that's the case, go nuts. Unleash us like a firestorm. Hit and run. Grab the loot. Repeat.

If we have to secure a drop zone every time we deploy, then we might consider one deployment in a juicy spot with lots of targets and just be a mobile raiding force operating guerrilla style within a given geographical area.

MTRU
Lynx LNX-9R (01) Capt. Hans Zeus Olson
Mercury MCY-97 (02) 1st Lt. Vera Peters
Hornet HNT-161 (03) 2nd Lt. Peyton MacAlister
Tarantula ZPH-2A (04) 2nd. Lt. Minoru "Mitsurugi" Kikuchi

STRIKE LANCE
Trebuchet TBT-5N 1st Lt. Jamel Martínez
Dervish DV-6M UC 2nd Lt. Tusya "The Drunk Russian" Smirnov
Flea FLE 17 (06) Corp. Karina Mäkinen
Jenner JR7-D UC Corp Kaila Van

HOVER LANCE
Savannah Master Private Carla Cai
J Edgar 2nd Lt. Aneeba Tanoli
Bandit A config Corp. Shi-young Im
Bandit A config Corp. Ryu Matsumoto

INFANTRY
rifle platoon Sgt. Charlie Kilminster (mounted within Bandit)
rifle platoon Sgt. José Auchnie (mounted within Bandit)

SPOTTER TEAM B
Warrior H-7 VTOL LCP Mike bin Mukhtar
Savannah Master

That's about it. Go Team!

[Mapmaster]

First deployment:

The raiding party probe has managed to get a scout past a Kressly Warworks mech patrol. The scout returned safely with intel. Capt Olson's MTRU lance victoriously engaged the mech patrol, destroying a Caesar during the brief skirmish. A bandit hovercraft was critically damaged, but survived the encounter. Mitsurugi's tarantula had a leg blown off as well. 2 other MB mechs took light damage.

Will we be able to repair damage before the next raid? Is our drop ship on the ground? Is the other half of our raiding company mobilized?

--------------------------(continuing exchange between myself and the GM)-------------

Your dropship is down and hidden under some truly massive camo nets. Your scout unit books it back to the dropship and meets up with the other half of your force, which is mobilized. Your techs are waiting with tools in hand to repair your units ASAP. Your scout is practically shoved into a briefing room along with a copy of his Battle ROM for a debriefing on what he saw. It quickly becomes apparent that Kressly's facilities are enormous and widespread. Their static defenses are heavy but spread thinly. Mostly weapons turrets and block houses strung together with fences. The patrol you encountered appears to be a merc unit on duty with Kressly and several heavier merc units were spotted on site along with a good number of Kressly Security units. What really draws your planners attention though is the glimpse of the rail yard your scout got. There's a train nearly loaded up just sitting there. The tarp covered forms of new tanks and massive box cars full of what can only be spare parts are easy to distinguish. If its state of preparedness is anything to go by it may be ready to leave within the next day to head north to Port Kressly. It will likely have some sort of guard with it but it'd certainly be easier to deal with than the fixed defenses and myriad of mobile units on site.

-------------------------------------------

After repairs, the confederate bays are stripped of parts. Mockingbird group has a grand total of 68 SP left between two companies on separate continents. This raid will be absolutely necessary for our continued involvement. Plan carefully. Is there a good ambush location down the rail lines? I would think that putting as much space between the kressly escort and any reinforcements they might have would be a high priority. If successful, will cargo space on the confederate be a consideration or is the duke assisting us with nabbing the loot? The mule can be sent if necessary, as long as the skies are safe.

--------------------------

Good ambush locations can be found along many parts of the track. Finding one away from reinforcements will be easy. Taking care of the guard will still be tricky. You'll most certainly require more cargo space. The Duke can assign a cargo dropper if you don't think you'll be able to manage with your two droppers. The Duke's forces are already sending the word for reinforcement and resupply. You may need to go a battle or two without support points but they'll come.


In the end, this raid would be disastrous for the Mockingbird Group, as described here:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=50752.0

[Mapmaster]

-------------------------Now enters player 2---------------------

Hell's Ashes communications:

First off, your boys were five months into your contract when the Duchies forces hit EE. After this last engagement, which happened on the 4th of Sept, you still have the better part of a month left in contract. Kressly typically rotates their hires every six months but with the entire planet on war footing they've approached you with the possibility of signing on until the end of hostilities as a purely defensive unit. Actual payment is still being kicked around upstairs but a friend in their business center has whispered something about full salvage in your ear. As for the salvage last mission if you can drag the Lynx off the field they say you're welcome to it. Their guys are busy clearing the tracks that you guys made a mess of and can't help move it. They've also extended you the option, again, of buying replacement units(mech or vehicle) from them at discount. Lineholders, Bandersnatchs, Blizzards, or Brutus are all available to you in limited numbers. But if you want them you'd better make the request fast because everything is about to be sent up world for government use.

Of course, as this is an ongoing campaign, I'm not privy to all of those emails but our intelligence did manage to intercept the above transmissions.

[Mapmaster]

Now, back to the bigger picture:[/i]

Sept 15, 3062 [Mockingbird debriefing]

Its been a tense two weeks since the taking of Dori and the bitter repulse of your raiding company on the southern continent. Defensive lines have solidified around Dori and the Dukes forces have pulled in all dropships. Dori is packed full of almost the entire force brought on the EE invasion...apart from some light screening forces around the north side of the lake. There has been very little action anywhere. EE forces seem reluctant to engage you and with supplies running low across the board your own commanders are attempting to conserve as many of their resources as possible. Dori has been practically stripped of food to maintain your force. An agreement was reached early on that EE government supply trains would be allowed passage to help keep the populace fed as long as Duchy forces did not skim off the top. This has been maintained but all foodstuffs in town when you took it were fair game.

With the loss of your captain Mockingbird seems to be in a slump but order is being maintained as best can be. The day to day running of the outfit has likely fallen to your first officer, whoever that may be. Your raiders limped back to Dori a day or so after their attempted train robbery. With repair supplies in short supply little can be repaired. On top of that the Dukes commanders have tallied up all the salvage they feel you are partially entitled to and are giving you first pick. Fourteen mechs and vehicles have been allotted to your pool. The first four picks are yours along with the last two once the Dukes forces have had their turn. The list contains the following:

2x Brutus Assault Tank
2x Myrmidon Medium Tank
1x Hunchback 4G
1x Hunchback 4P
1x Hunchback 4SP
1x Blackjack 1DB
2x Lineholder LH2
1x Assassin 21
1x Chimera 1S
2x Phoenix Hawk -1

All require internal and armor repairs.

On the 12th you receive word that the Duke's jumpship relief force has entered system carrying your resupply drop. With the imminent arrival of further supplies command meetings pick up in frequency and units are put on higher alert...ready to jump into action once their supply chain has been assured. Your First Officer and company commanders are in a planning meeting with Duchy commanders on the 15th when things suddenly take a steep nose dive. A frantic radio tech bolts into the room and whispers something in the Generals ear which has him going white in the face in moments. He steps out of the room for a few minutes before finally returning to drop the news on you.

A warship has entered the system.

From the brief message you've gotten the warship appeared escorting a pair of jumpships. The warship was identified as the Vincent class Corvette WBS Blake's Redemption. Shortly there after contact was lost with the Duchy resupply Jumpships. Thankfully the dropships they had been carrying were already long gone. A brief panic circles the room before cooler heads prevail and drag you all back down. Planning resumes but a half hour later another message is received. A rather long winded communique has been received over all channels indicating that the force inbound on EE is part of a peace keeping mission that has been dispatched in an attempt to broker a cease fire. Political officers begin picking it apart word by word but everyone is in agreement that this could very well mean the end of the Dukes attempt on EE. With only Dori and its immediate vicinity under your control what you thought was a position of power suddenly looks a lot less powerful if a neutral power begins the peace process. The only way to go into this with a better position at the bargaining table is to have a larger percentage of EE under the Dukes control. Breaking the EE Guard would also help greatly. To do that before the Words Warship settles over EE the Dukes forces would have to mount an all out blitz on the Guards positions and crush them.

Are you up for it? 

[Mapmaster]

Well, hell yes Mockingbird was up for it:

Ideas flow thick and fast as the Duchy leadership tries to hammer together a plan of action. Everyone is in agreement that something must be done to better their position before the Word manages the inevitable halt in hostilities. Your own proposal is put forward and finds support among a number of other commanders...mostly from those who've taken the worst losses and see Kressly as a way to recoup the equipment lost. Most of them are from Second Regiment. The meeting drags on for two hours as the various proponents push their ideas. Your own faction gains ground as you hammer the points in favor and poo poo the rest. Finally General Melsinger, the overall commander of the invasion, puts his foot down and calls it in your favor. Mockingbird forces will be pulled out of line under the cover of darkness tonight and shuffled aboard your dropships. All this, along with bringing in replacement forces to fill your portion of the line and the surface to surface shuttle flight to the south continent, will hopefully be completed by dawn. A major drive to take Port Kentucky will roll out at dawn to divert attention away from your move and complete the land grab on the north continent. A feint north around the lake will also be made to divert attention. You'll need to get into action before noon if you want to keep any momentum at all. The remnants of Second Division will be shuttled down by the end of the day to hold Kressly. Overnight repairs and rearming will need to be made so that a push up the rail line to Port Kressly can occur the following day. If everything goes right you'll be able to knock out the reserve brigade and take their supply depots just in time for your own resupply dropship to arrive. You'll then have two days, three at best, to rearm and reequip before Word forces arrive on world. 

Meanwhile, Hell's Ashes were getting their own briefings:

The Dukes men, and Mockingbird of course, receive word of their arrival before you do but the entire world receives the follow on broadcast from the Word less than 20 minutes later so yes, you are aware of their arrival. The managers at Kressly are quite well aware that this third parties arrival will likely mean crunch time for them. Scouts had reported the departure of the raiding force less than a day after the attempt on the train so security has been stepped down since then but is certainly not at peace time levels. Kressly also realizes that if the Dukes forces make a grab at them your small force wont stand a chance...not against the combined might of a mech regiment and three armored infantry regiments. Of course they likely won't throw all of that at you if they still want to hold Dori but still. Kressly has enough defenses to deal with raids...not a full on invasion. Kressly would rather you meet any enemy incursion at the defensive grid line or as far out from the main campus as possible to prevent unnecessary damages but if worst comes to worse the factories are most important.

[Mapmaster]

And that's what happened. A detachment of Hell's Ashes security forces attempted to stand their ground against the brute force of the Mockingbird Assault Company. It wasn't pretty:

Doug MacMurchie(HA mech pilot) ripped Vera Peter's Battlemaster(newly appointed MB captain) apart before dying under a barrage from 6 or more units (there were seriously 4 or 5 boxcars in the round he died). Also among the fallen were the Ashes' Zeus and Blackjack. Both pilots were killed. The Blackjack and Gunslinger were salvageable.

On the Mockingbird side, we lost a Po and crew, as well as a Savannah Master. The captain's Battlemaster will require an entire new right side, as well as two engine breaches repaired in order to become battlefield worthy. With access to the factory, please advise on time required. We want to get that Gunslinger in fighting condition as well. It only needs a head. I understand that the factory lines are inoperable, but I'm mostly concerned about recovering any SP that may be plundered from the factory to make quick repairs with at the very least. What about our supply shipment? Can SP be supplied to the factory? ETA? Timeline?

MB debriefing:

After the brief engagement at the fence line with Kressly security and their hired mercs Mockingbird rolls onto the primary Kressly site to find a small party of plant workers waiting for you; a greeting party in fact. They let you know in as neutral a tone as possible that all defenses have been shut down, all factory lines deactivated, and all completed units shipped off. Command keys to the defenses and the factory lines have been taken or destroyed. Kressly is yours.

Barely two hours later a pair of Condor class Dropships land at the small Kressly field and begin to disgorge the remnants of 2nd Regiment. Its commander greets you warmly and looks quite pleased at the fact that the facilities are as intact as they are. He frowns, however, at the news that the defenses have been rendered toothless. Shortly afterward your own pair of dropships touch down next door.

If you plan to stick to your time table a quick rearm and minor repairs are all you'll have time for if you want to make Port Kressly tomorrow.   

Hell's Ashes simultaneously licked their own wounds:

You fall back on Kressly retreat column in good order and make your way north towards Port Kressly. You expect an attack on you rear or flank but after several hours of nothing you are able to relax a bit. A third of the way there you encounter an EE Guards armored checkpoint that had been set up along the rail track in the two weeks since the train incident. This checkpoint promptly decamps and joins your column north. You encounter a second one that evening which also joins you and you finally reach Port Kressly in the early hours of the morning. Your damaged units are directed towards a series of disused mech bays for what repairs you can make. The dropship carrying your supplies had left the morning of the attack and you find its supplies waiting for you there.

While on the northern continent, the Duke's forces were wrapping up some diversionary raids:

 Once the remains of the 2nd Regiment begin to fan out and take up defensive positions around Kressly you check in with command for an update and inform them of the decision not to press for Port Kressly. Its rather a good thing you did choose that route since things have deteriorated up north. The extension down to the Port Kentucky went well with only minor skirmishes popping up in the process. The feint to the north around the lake however went pear shaped. The commander of the feint force encountered little resistance and, emboldened by his success, continued to push until he did encounter significant combat...where upon he proceeded to pull in more and more of his reserve troops in an attempt to keep his success going. The same apparently occurred on the opposite side until by mid day the majority of 3rd regiment was either in combat or moving towards it. Thankfully the General put a stop to it and pulled the 3rd back but not before they'd lost nearly a fourth of their strength. Losses on the enemy side did not appear to be nearly as significant.

With the decision not to press for Port Kressly made it falls to you and the commander of the 2nd to hold Kressly. He seems thankful that he wasn't left alone but some of your boys and girls are still itching to head north.

[Mapmaster]

And that left Mockingbird sitting on a mech factory:[/i] [drool]

After securing Kressly, the tech crews get busy performing marathon shifts of repairs and refits utilizing the factory facilities and salvaged supplies. The floors of the assembly bays quickly become littered with heat sinks and medium lasers, as well as piles upon piles of torn out wiring, access panels, and various tools and fasteners. They don't hesitate to literally kick gear out of the chassis, including larger components and, when necessary, will wedge themselves against the obstacle and frame to use their bodies for leverage. It's a furious pace.

All in all, 4 mechs get stripped down to the fusion engines in order to upgrade heat sink systems and replace the medium lasers with ER versions. They even sneak in restoring the old Unbridled Chaos Dervish back to it's original LRM 10 launcher, removing the cobbled together twin SRM 4's the previous owners had installed.

The trickiest part is the Flea's makeover, which involves rigging up the spare C3 slave that had been stashed away on the dropship in a completely unique and questionably engineered configuration in addition to having to find space for the massively bulky heat sink arrangement. [I'm hoping for some GM love here. It's a legal design, but it adds the C3 slave and several DHS's where there weren't previous slots rather than replacing existing components]

We'd also like to call upon the 2nd's commander to lend a few more technicians to help with armor patches on our tracked vehicles in order to free up our own guys for the intense mech refits. 

The GM concurred:

Sept 17, 3062

The bay crews have been working round the clock to make repairs to both sides. The Mockingbirds have, by far, the tougher job but work continues at a lively pace in both camps through the early morning hours. Neither side seems at all certain about how the arrival of the Word will affect things here on EE. With estimates putting their arrival on planet at around 2100 tonight last minute plans are being bounced around on both sides. Any action that could tip the balance in one side or anothers favor is being broken down and considered. By far the biggest threat/chance to change the current balance seems to rest on the 1st Reserve Brigade and the Hells Ashes Mercenary unit putting pressure on the forces currently in control of Kressly's major campuses.

Colonel Whitehall, commander of the 1st, approaches the commander of Hells Ashes in the early hours of the 17th with a proposal. The pressure is already mounting for him to retake Kressly but he's enough of a tactician (and down to earth enough) to realize his command will likely be cut to ribbons in the attempt even if it succeeds. He can't offer you a full up contract yet due to the rather confusing situation but he does show you a preliminary offer from the Secretary of Defense for a one month contract for 300 WP. If you agree further tech support will be made available to expedite your repairs so that a full assault can be made on Kressly later today. The Colonel isn't enthused about the prospects even if you do sign on and he whispers in your ear that he personally wouldn't be disappointed with you if you didn't sign on. He'd rather spare his men. He still needs to make the offer though.

General Melsinger has been in regular contact with Mockingbird and the commander of the 2nd Regiment. He is behind your decision not to press northward. With the uncertainty of the near future he would rather hold and conserve strength than waste it now even if some of his officers are howling about missed opportunities. He's ordered the 2nd to dig in heavily as he fears there is a very possibility that the Guards Reserve Brigade up at Port Kressly could mount an attack that could, theoretically at least, unseat you and allow them to regain the factories. He asks for bi-hourly progress reports on repairs and defensive measures but otherwise takes a hands off approach to the actual local planning.

MB began to get a little paranoid:

Make sure the 2nd's commander has at least one squad in every one of those observation posts around the perimeter. We keep a bird in the sky on patrol at all times. We'll switch those 2 warriors out in shifts. We have enough spare hover pilots to keep our one S Master on constant patrol, save for a little bit of maintenance downtime. See if we can get tech assistance with that as well. We plan on fighting a consolidated defense well within the perimeter of the campus if necessary. We won't make the Ashes' mistake of being spread too thin. Most of our mech assets will be down for refits, but we have more mechs than pilots, so we can still mount a decent defense during this time. Keep half of our pilot crews in mechs purring on the campus at all times. Our tankers will be rotating 12 hour shifts as well. Standby for word from Dori or any other communication lines the Word may be broadcasting.

We need supplies and mech pilots.

Also, to clarify, the VIP is now with the Confederate dropship crew. He's coordinating some overall strategies, but the merc top brass is hammering out battlefield specifics.

And finally, we'd like to try and recover some over our personnel. After the train robbery, the following hover pilots disappeared into the rain forests:

2nd Lt. Aneeba Tanoli (MIA)
PFC José Vargas (MIA)
Corp. Ryu Matsumoto (MIA)

We have a tracked APC and some infantry that can be spared to do some recon along the rail lines and listening for any sort of communications as well as generally keeping their eyes open.

There's also some slight hope that we might find the wreckage from the destroyed Trebuchet and confirm whether or not the following pilot survived the ammo explosion suffered during the battle:

1st Lt. Jamel Martínez(presumed dead)

Spoiler Alert! Martinez doesn't make it:

The 2nds commander notes that putting a squad of his in each OP/bunker around the entire perimeter would eat up his entire force before they'd crewed 3/4ths of the positions. His total assets on site includes five companies of infantry, two infantry gun batteries(3 guns each), eleven Scorpion tanks, nine light tracked APCs, and a trio of mine laying trucks. He would prefer to fight from positions within the factory or surrounding built up area with all his dismounted troops while keeping his tanks, APCs, and his APC mounted infantry in reserve for counter attacks and flanking. Laying of minefields is yet to be done. He can offer some small assistance with maintenance of your vehicles but not mechs.

The Treb wreckage is found in a back lot of the factory stripped of most of its remaining parts. The pilot is no where to be found. Tanoli and Matsumoto are found in a holding cell at the local police station in town. They confirm Vargas and Martinez are dead. Your scouts of all varieties report no activity though if they go far enough up the rail line they'll discover an abandoned fighting position a third of the way up the line that seems to have been vacated recently. 

Capt. Vera Peters of MB retorts:

"Ah, yes. Of course. We just wanted to check your readiness. Carry on."

A moment of silence is observed for the fallen mercs. We've lost 7 pilots and associated crewman on EE.

[Mapmaster]

About that same time, Hell's Ashes contract was up and they were suddenly becoming a valuable commodity:

Commander "Flip" looks at the Colonel with a half grin and takes a closer look at the prelim contract( what else does it say...defense,raid,etc) Flip says Ive lost veteran pilots and enough resources in mechs to render this contract a wash at best financially. We signed on for a defense contract and ended up in the middle of a planetary assault....before I agree to a government contract on this planet I'll know where I stand with Kressly....that being said the Commander turns his attention toward the Kressly contract. Whispering in the Colonels ear "we could probably take them but at great cost to the both of us".

GM:

Right now the prelim contract was exactly what I said. 300 for a month...nothing else stated. Bare bones. With everything in a kerfuffle that's all they've had time to throw out there. The Colonel nods in understanding when you tell him about the losses you've taken and your financial situation and grimaces in agreement at the assessment of your likelihood of success. He offers to link you to the SecDef for negotiation but agrees that you should probably resolve your standing with Kressly first.

Your Kressly contact, along with the heads of Kressly itself, agree that you've done all you could given the circumstances. They would love to keep you signed on but in the rush to leave the follow up contract data was left behind. They could draw you up a new one but also see the reasoning behind going with a government contract in a time like this. If you decide to switch to a government contract they'll cancel your last few days and consider your contract fulfilled. If not you can sign another contract with them to extend or simply finish the current contract and find something else to do. Any way you go the offer for discounted units stands for the next week.

Honestly in your position you could probably dictate terms pretty well to either side. Obviously you wouldn't get everything you wanted unless you were conservative but you'd probably have a good chance of getting the terms you want for the contract you want.

[Mapmaster]

By this time, the lines on the map had been drawn:

[Mapmaster]

Sept 18, 3062

The morning of the 18th finds a warship in orbit above your heads and two battalion sized elements of the 1st Word of Blake Division on planet. Their crisp white mechs gleam in the morning light as they gather around their dropships. One battalion dropped on the capitol, Madison, while the second gave Hells Ashes and the 2nd Reserve Brigade a light show as they landed on the outskirts of Port Kressly in the early morning hours. Messages across all channels greet the waking world. It mostly comes across as flowery government bullshit to the jaded ears of mercenaries and soldiers across EE but it sounds good to the general populace. Put simply the Word wants the fighting to stop and peace talks to be held. There's a lot of talk about free trade, cooperation between neighbors even in troubled times, and the betterment of mankind. The Second Star League is mentioned multiple times even though the Word isn't a member of that august body...though by the way they talk they think they are or should be.

This is all the up front public stuff. What you all on the front lines and in the HQs get is something quite different. The Word is here to sort this mess out and to get trade flowing again...at gun point if necessary. Without consulting either side they have demanded a world wide cease fire between all government and government back forces on both sides to begin tonight at midnight. Any disruptions of this cease fire will incur swift responses from Word QRFs(Quick Reaction Force) and any belligerents found on site that don't immediately back down will be fired upon. Once Word peacekeepers are content that both sides are observing said cease fire properly plans for the peace talks themselves will be made. Relief convoys with food and medical supplies are already rolling out from both landing sites towards embattled areas to ensure civilians are taken care of while things are sorted out and order is restored. They aren't being escorted by anything more than infantry but the same threat of a QRF being dropped on someones head applies to the convoys.

Several hours after the initial announcements are made orders from both sides HQs go out instructing that all forces are to abide by the Word cease fire and stand down to readiness level two(conflict imminent/stand by). Obviously the uppers had talked it out and agreed that no one needed to be stupid with a Warship overhead and a potential peace settlement on the horizon.

Hell's Ashes: With your tentative interest in the EE government contract offer the big wigs hash something a bit more solid out for you by mid day on the 17th. A contract for 30 days with base pay of 300 WP with a combat kicker of 300 WP for each engagement during that time period. Full salvage rights. Hanger facilities and techs on offer for repairs that you can't handle in your dropship. Guarding Port Kressly and assisting the Reserve Brigade are the primary assignments with a proviso that if an assault of the Kressly facilities is decided upon you will be provided with a contract extension and further cash and benefits to be discussed at a later date. (You can take this offer or continue to bargain but i'm assuming you'll agree to some sort of contract eventually so i'll just move on assuming you will.)

You breath a bit of a sigh of relief when the Cease Fire is agreed to by both sides as it means this contract may end up being a bloodless month to recoup for you.

Mockingbird: With round the clock patrols, repairs, and short sleep cycles you and the 2nd are on edge. The peace lasts though and the 18th brings with it the Word and an enforced cease fire that both sides end up agreeing to which allows you and your men a chance to catch their breaths and take their fingers off their triggers. Repairs continue now at a slightly less frantic pace.

That night, before the cease fire goes into effect and after a large convoy arrives in the area to distribute supplies to the locals, you get a private call from General Melsinger. He brings you in on the current thoughts of the high command. They feel that the Word is already showing favoritism to the EE government with the placement of their forces, seemingly guarding the capitol and the last major bastion the Guard has on the southern continent. He leans in close to the imager pick up and smiles a grim smile. "The cease fire affects us all...but if you were to suddenly become, shall we say, unemployed...the cease fire would not pertain to you and, by the letter of the law the Word has dropped on our collective laps, their QRFs wouldn't react. This would allow your force, along with any other mercenary force that certainly wouldn't be employed by the Duke, to move as they please and hit the enemy when they weren't expecting it." His smile gets a bit more sinister. "You'd merely be a...private business taking care of their own needs. Think about it commander."     

[Mapmaster]

The Mockingbird VIP trusts no one:

The VIP begins making arrangements to get on a ship back to Small World ASAP. The Merc command on the ground will entertain the General's ideas for now and discuss what opportunities they might try to capitalize on. Although Vera is the Captain now, her role is really just to have the final say in round table discussions among the top lieutenants, so she won't be solely coordinating with the general. We need to buy time.

The main objective is to make direct contact with Duke Small. We need to know that he's behind the general's idea and that we'll be rewarded for taking on this kind of risk. But really, the VIP thinks we need the backing of Comstar if we're going to try to take on the Word. This whole renegade mercs making raids doesn't seem like a very productive idea, and most likely it will result in MB's suicide. We wanted a piece of this planet and our prospects are looking grim by taking on this request. We want to win it for the Duke and for ourselves. Otherwise, we want a fair piece of the concessions, which we believe will be the end result if we don't pull in some big support like Comstar.

In short, if we somebody doesn't pull a serious ace out of their sleeve, we're going to sit back and wait for this to be over, take our pay, and move on.

In the meanwhile, our techs are going to dig into that juicy pile of supplies we just got and finish making repairs and refits to our existing and salvaged mechs.

[Mapmaster]

The GM was not amused:

The General quirks an eyebrow at your VIP when he asks about a ticket out and upon finding out why he wants to go just shrugs. "I won't stop you but you might as well wait for the Duke here. He's been called in for the Peace process and will be arriving in two weeks. Still want to go?"

The General breaks it down for Captain Vera. As it stands the EE government and their pals in the Word have a better hand than the Dukes forces do. If the Word continues to stack the deck in EE's favor there will be little to no chance that a lasting peace will leave The Duke with enough resources to make good on his loses, let alone yours and everyone elses involved on his side. The Duke is seriously considering courting Comstar to even the odds though the General doubts Comstar ISN'T aware of whats going on here. To pad pockets just in case the Duke IS forced to vacate with little or nothing for the effort the idea of "independent" mercs raiding for resources while everyone is watching the peace process was brought up. EE is resource rich and has plenty of other exports that aren't directly military related. Ores and metals are the biggest draw but they aren't the only valuable bits worth nicking.

Several days into the cease fire an envoy from Kressly radios in with a request to approach the main facilities for a talk. They want to talk about restarting limited production lines just so the company can keep afloat.

MB begrudgingly accepts their offer:

The Duke will have the final say in that. Until he gets here, though...sure. They can begin to restart production as long as it is intended for export and will not be used to bolster the EE guards's forces. We will maintain access to the facilities required to make heavy modifications to our mechs though, as well as housing for our infantry and personnel. And we get to look at their books.The VIP wants to know who's buying in the Chaos March, as it's a good indicator of which governments still have viable resources. Also, look for information that can be peddled around. Basically, add to the VIP's villainous database for later exploitation.

[Mapmaster]

Eventually, after much stalling, MB took on the risky job of making raids under the pretenses of banditry:

Mockingbird Company engages with the Marblehead Mastiffs defending the pit mines on Epsilon Erdidani. A Mastiff Commando and MB Dervish gun each other down at point blank after a failed attempt by the Devish to hit the rear of the nearby Banshee:

http://i.imgur.com/joPNY7B.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vB6KQWv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0ySI57G.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0lMDqfn.jpg

Newly salvaged and freshly refitted MB units celebrate their victory from the hilltops around the pit mines:

http://i.imgur.com/255a1cO.jpg

October 3, 3062

After two weeks of information gathering and extreme preparations on the part of General Melsingers staff Mockingbirds first covert raid on tertiary industry was carried out successfully. The raid on Ridgeway Ores Site 12 met with determined resistance but was successful after a brief skirmish. The defending unit, noted as the Marblehead Mastiffs, retreated in good order after sustaining damages and the loss of one mech. The Ridgeway security element attempted to prolong the engagement but were convinced of the futility of it by the Mastiff commander. The final take upon operation completion was 588 tons of Ferro Ore, five utility ore movers, and one Urbanmech 60L. After action analysis indicates very little attention was paid to the raid outside of Ridgeway company offices and the stock market the day after where stocks in Ores dipped initially before recovering in late trading. Further operations are now in the planning stage.

General Melsinger seems overjoyed that the operation went off without a hitch. With the arrival of Duke Small on planet he has gotten permission to continue such limited operations with Mockingbird being assigned the majority of them. Documentation and audio/visual evidence has been prepared by the Generals staff that indicates that Mockingbird had completed their contract and were let go in case the wrong kind of attention is ever turned your way. To further boost such data your pay has been released to you covering the initial invasion.

Kressly agrees to your demands and workers begin to return to the Kressly factories. Brutus, Lineholder, and Chimera production is restarted to fulfill existing contracts while Blizzard and Bandersnatch lines remain cold. Many of these units appear to be going to selling halls on Outreach though the second highest buyer at this time appears to be the Terracap Confederation. 

[Mapmaster]

So that's where the game stands at present. MB will continue to launch these clandestine raids until somebody thinks we've done enough damage to improve our concessions negotiations. It seems kind of pointless to us at this point. However, it will probably unfold into another direct confrontation between MB and HA when the ashes get pulled in to stop the raids. I see MB walking into a well-laid trap at some point in the near future. I'll be sure to update this thread when that happens.

We wish we'd taken more pics of the previous games, but we were having too much fun to think about it. We'll be sure to photo-document everything for future posterity. Thanks for reading!

[Mapmaster]

Sadly, this thread has focused far too much on the superior mercs, Mockingbird Company.  :P So, in the interests of equal screen time, here are some pics from a previous mission in which Hell's Ashes salvaged a Gunslinger GUN-ERD, the mech piloted by Doug Macmurchie, a former FedCom pilot who had went AWOL following the invasion of Luzerne during the Clan wars:

http://imgur.com/a/Gneak

[Mapmaster]

Things are calming down and reopening quickly with the implementation of the cease fire. Markets both on planet and across the stars are becoming available again.

MB uses this time to replace some lost equipment, selling off assets and making new acquisitions.

Duchy units are willing to trade a pair of Panther 9Rs for the Jenner and Phawk you have. A dealer on Outreach is willing to make a trade for an Archer 2M and express delivery if you will part with the Gunslinger. An Archer 2R is also available on Outreach for normal pricing. And you can sell the Dervish on planet for half price.

October 7 (MB Briefing)

It seems the good General wasn't the only one to like the lite raiding idea. Since your first raid on the 2nd at least four other raids have been made on outlying targets. Only one of those has been ordered by the General. As its unlikely to be anyone in the employ of EE the General and his staff can only surmise that either a merc unit from EE's side has gone rogue or other small time mercs and pirates are coming out of the wood work to take advantage of the situation. With two major powers locked down under the watchful eye of the third only locally hired mercs and security forces are seemingly free to act. How long that will remain the case is anyones guess.

That said the General has another raid for you to partake in. A platinum mine on the east coast has been showing a marked uptick in both production and profitability in the last week and a half. A six mech bay Confederate class dropship is being provided for your use. Ensure the units you use are properly disguised and their IFF tags changed for this one. A pair of shuttles will follow along behind to take any captured material away afterward. Intel indicates the defenses will be manageable. 

[Merwyn]

I've been reading this thread over the last several days. It was quite enjoyable, and I love to read about extended campaigns. O0 If I might make a suggestion, it would be interesting to see listings of the forces each side brings to the various battles.

[Mapmaster]

thanks! i need to update the thread. we haven't had much action since then as we've been focusing on other merc units, but we did get one game in and i'll try to update this thread with juicy pics soon (and force listings taboot!).

[Mapmaster]

Planet wide raids on industrial targets continue during the ceasefire. MB company makes a veiled attack on a coastal mining facility:

http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=52856.0