This battle is linked to a battle Phell (from these forums) and I had a couple of weeks ago. It is the height of the FedCom Civil war, and in the First Battle of River City, the Lyran Archers of Kampfgruppe Panzerfaust completely annihilated a lance of the 3rd Crucis Lancers loyal to Victor Steiner-Davion. Now the Davion force has sent in an assault lance to River City to find out what happened to their lost lance.
The 3rd Crucis Lancers (and Phell) aren't fooling around this time. They have sent in an Atlas 7D, a BattleMaster 1G, a Thug 11E, and a Cataphract 3D.
My Lyran lance includes three Archer 5Ws, a Rifleman 6X, and four Sprint TAG-equipped helicopters. To offset my greater numbers, Phell and I have agreed not to use the Force Size Multiplier and instead to pair every helicopter with a 'Mech - a 'Mech must be moved when it is my turn to move and a helicopter must be moved at the same time as well. Also, when the numbers become further reduced to battle losses, we will front-load the initiative.
The Davions advance from a different sector of the city this time - from the south. My Lyrans begin in the city.
The Crucis assault lance confidently strides forward looking for their lost lance.
The Lyrans take up a firing position behind some hills on the outskirts of River City. The helicopters keep the BattleMechs informed of enemy movements.
The helicopters spot for the Archers who bombard the BattleMaster from quite a distance. The Davion pilot is surprised by the barrage and is blown off his feet by the unexpected bombardment.
The helicopters speed forward to laser-designate targets with their TAG, the Archers fire from behind the hill, and the Rifleman and Thug race forward to battle one another. A Sprint helicopter is hit by 12 LRMs from the Atlas but survives because most LRMs hit the rotors (which has damage divided by 10 before being applied).
The Rifleman suddenly realizes that he is completely outgunned and begins backpeddling. Helicopters laser-designate the Thug which shrugs off incredible firepower (over 70 damage!) poured into it.
The entire Lyran lance is now in retreat, chased by the Thug which simply weathers the storm of incredible firepower thrown at it. The choppers do their job TAGing the Thug but the Thug simply will not be deterred. The rest of the Davion lance continues moving up. The red dice near the helicopters refer to the level they are flying at - one is at level 3 and one is at level 8.
Finally, after taking well over 200 damage, the Thug finally falls with a gyro hit and a hip destroyed. The helicopters have done a courageous job. The Lyrans are shaken by how much concentrated firepower was needed to bring down the Thug.
The Thug pilot gets out of his 'Mech rather than risk trying to stand the 'Mech. The Griffin counter marks where the Thug is abandoned. The other Davion 'Mechs continue their march to the city. The Archers continue to backpeddle into the city and fire directly on the BattleMaster.
The Archers, using helicopter spotters, bombard the Atlas and knock it off its feet as the BattleMaster and the Rifleman trade fire. The Rifleman 6X is a heavily armoured 'Mech but it cannot match the BattleMaster.
The Archers fire directly on the jump-capable Cataphract and indirectly on the BattleMaster while the Rifleman also blazes away at the fearsome assault 'Mech closing in on him.
The Lyrans are feeling the Davion squeeze. Two Archers fire away at the Cataphract while the other Archer and Rifleman pound away at the BattleMaster. The BattleMaster ignores their desperate fire.
The Cataphract and BattleMaster pound the Rifleman. A cannon shell from the Cataphract punches into the RifleMan's ammo bin, destroying the Rifleman's XL engine shielding and sending its pilot rocketing skyward on his ejection seat. Another Griffin card marks the Rifleman salvage. CASE has protected most of the 'Mech's gutted carcass. With the Atlas flanking them, the Archers realize they are being boxed in.
The Archers desperately pour SRM fire into the Cataphract and LRMs into the BattleMaster, hoping to bring them down before the Atlas joins the fray. The Atlas is firing its own LRMs at the Archers as it closes.
The three Lyran Archers, now outflanked and surrounded, frantically pour SRMs and LRMs into the BattleMaster, breaching its SRM ammo bin and, without CASE, completely blowing it to smithereens. Its pilot also rockets skyward, getting the best seat in the house of the carnage below.
With the destruction of the BattleMaster, the Archers break out of the trap but are now out of LRM ammo! Each only has two SRM 4s to exchange fire with a fully armed and operational Atlas and a somewhat damaged Cataphract. The Cataphract has a jammed ultra autocannon, lots of lost armour, and a destroyed jump jet. Only one Archer has some significant armor damage but they are now hopelessly outgunned.
The three Lyran Archers do brave a trade of fire with the two remaining Davion 'Mechs, but without LRMs they are outranged and hopelessly outgunned.
The three Lyran Archers pull back to the downed Rifleman salvage, still firing on the advancing Atlas and Cataphract. The Archers have no damage other than armor loss but without LRM ammo they are just no match for the Atlas. The Lyran Archers drag the Rifleman salvage off the field. Its Lyran pilot has already left. Lastly, the four Sprint helicopters fly off, leaving the city to Victor Steiner-Davion and his 3rd Crucis Lancers.
Blood of Kerensky! I ran out of ammo! I withdrew with all my pilots, three intact Archers, my Rifleman salvage, and all my helicopters, but I lost the city. Phell's only loss was really the BattleMaster because the Thug pilot could just hop back in and restart the Thug's engine. With all the parts and supplies the city would offer, the BattleMaster would be an acceptable loss.
I made some mistakes. The Rifleman just didn't fit my lance. An extra Archer firing indirectly would have worked far better. Also, I forgot to fire my Archers' Narc homing beacon missiles the whole game! This could have turned the tide but then again might not have. It certainly would have allowed more LRMs and SRMs fired directly to hit. Firing SRMs at that advancing Atlas was like tossing popcorn at a charging rhino.
I think, however, that the Thug was the MVP of the game. He took on all four Lyran 'Mechs alone for a couple rounds and took so much ammo to kill that I just ran out of LRMs in the end. That beast can take an incredible amount of damage! The helicopters were remarkably survivable with such high target movement modifiers. The Rifleman will have to go though. My Archer lance relies on massed indirect bombardment and the Rifleman dilutes that and has to expose itself to contribute to the battle. That didn't work very well.
Very fun game. A brilliant win for Phell. The considerable resources of River City are his for the cost of just one 'Mech. The BattleMaster pilot might want a Thug as his next ride.