Year: 3008
Planet: Poznan
City: Yakeshi
Attacker: Los Hermanos del Sol
- Four Platoons of Motorized Machine Gun Infantry w/Field Guns (AC/5)
Defender: People's Protectorate
- Four Platoons of Foot Rifle Infantry
- Four GS-54 Guard SecurityMechs
Reinforcements: Poznan Militia
- Two Guardian Fighters
- Four Scorpion Light Tanks
Scenario: With the core of the planetary garrison, the 2nd Ariana Fusiliers, called away to defend New Aragon from an AFFS offensive, the criminal network known as Los Hermanos del Sol decides to raise a ruckus. In the city of Yakeshi, a chapter of the biker gang brings some heavier guns to lay siege to the police HQ. Taking up positions in the surrounding buildings, they begin shelling the police building, with machine guns ready to mow down any of the 100+ police officers trapped inside. Central Dispatch sent reinforcements, but all that was available was a lance of GS-54 Guards - ultralight SecurityMechs suited more for riot control than for confronting rampaging bikers with field guns.
The militia had dispatched a lance of Scorpions to Yakeshi earlier in response to reports of banditry, and they were supported by a pair of Guardians out of the regional firebase.
Victory Conditions:
Los Hermanos: Destroy the police HQ and eliminate as many Protectorate units as possible. Withdraw with at least half your initial force.
Protectorate: Preserve as many troops as possible, while inflicting maximum casualties on the bandits.
Militia + Home Guard: Support the Protectorate in their efforts to eliminate the bandits.
Turn 1: As the Protectorate troops hunker down in the besieged police station, relief columns approach - Scorpions from the west and Guards from the south. Far more immediate, however, is the arrival of two militia Guardians, which drop their full bomb load on a building where one Hermanos platoon had taken up position, destroying it and the bikers. The other bikers alternated between shelling the police station or taking long-range shots at the approaching Guards, snapping a leg off the lead SecurityMech and sending it crashing to the pavement.
Turn 2: The Scorpions continue to head east at top speed, while the Guards arrive on the scene. The bikers shoot at the 'Mechs, giving the infantry an opportunity to flee the police station to the west. More Guard legs go flying as the relentless machine gun fire from the Hermanos positions tears through the tin-foil covering the light utility structure inside.
Turn 3: With their targets getting away, the northernmost Hermanos platoon shifts position to a four-story church. The Protectorate riflemen flee west and south, with the Guards still covering their retreat. The Guardians return for another pass, and the combined Protectorate/Militia fire collapses the church on the Hermanos.
Turn 4: The remaining two Hermanos platoons decide to bug out. The only remaining element of note comes when a militia Scorpion, desperate to reach the battle before it ends, fails a skid check and plows into the lobby of the Hammer Industries Corporate HQ.
Outcome: Unrest goes down significantly in Yakeshi and all other Chinese cities on Poznan, but rises in all Spanish cities. The People's Protectorate are now treated as Friendly and will have their unit positions shown on the strategic map. Los Hermanos del Sol are now treated as Hostile, and will attack when encountered by Militia or Home Guard forces.
Analysis: This was a warm-up skirmish for a long-term campaign on Poznan. Both sides were fairly evenly matched, so the Militia/Home Guard played kingmaker. They had the option to go after both sides, hang back and let both fight it out, or intervene on one side or the other - earning credibility with the assisted side and the enmity of the ones attacked. While it by far made the most sense to side with the Protectorate, the players had the option of backing the Hermanos, if they wanted to.
The Guards are described in the Variants section of the "Copper" in TRO: Vehicle Annex, as a 15-ton Capellan quad industrial with two machine guns. In Stephan Frabartolo's "Feather vs. Mountain" short story, they're described as ungainly monstrosities of Capellan engineering, but unusually spry. I used HM Pro to make them with utility internal structure, an ICE engine, two MGs, one heat sink, one ton of ammo, and 5/8 movement - leaving almost no tonnage for armor. Five points will take any limb clean off, and only the Head and CT can take a five point hit without penetration. Highly ineffective in general (due to their short life span), we were enormously amused by the spectacle of multiple legless (or one-legged) heavily dented torso balls rolling around in the street, remaining limb twitching feebly. The role of the Guards was played by Star Wars Homing Spider Droid minis - a task for which they were well suited.
The Guards did succeed, however, in keeping the Hermanos from following the Protectorate infantry as it withdrew westward, sacrificing themselves to buy time for the more robust Scorpions to arrive. By the time the Guards were dealt with, the Scorpions were close enough to take up the protective duty, and the Hermanos were forced to withdraw without the body count they'd come for.
The Guardians were again MVPs in the battle. I'd honestly never used them before, since in an environment where they face 'Mechs or other fighters, their thin armor makes them as fragile as the Guards. Here, however, they shine - suggesting that this sort of threat is the real intent of the design.
The infantry is from MechWarrior Dark Age, rebased. The Guardians were represented by a MechBuster and a Transit.
The maps were from TSR's Marvel Superheroes Role Playing Game (1984-1993), and are my go-to terrain for urban battles.
