Sword and Dragon (Pic Heavy)

[Alex Keller]

Rimp and I have been playing through the Starterbook: Sword and Dragon campaign book.  I will post pics and reports periodically as we progress through the story.  Enjoy!


Fort Jinjiro
Capra, Draconis Combine
13 May 3048

Orders came down from on high today. The rumors we’ve been hearing regarding stepped up Davion raids is indeed true—Huan, Wapakoneta, and Paris have all been hit in the last month by Davion companies. Seems the Warlord is releasing us to conduct our own probing attacks across the border. Though I am ecstatic beyond words that the Warlord trusts us enough to do this, I am hesitant because I can see the larger game also in play here. We screw up, the Dragon’s cutting us loose. As I figured with that half-assed mission against Smythe and his “Band,” this is more about us proving ourselves worthy of our past more than any recon for
the Warlord and his forces. But before I become bitter, I must remember Uncle Ivan’s words: “Duty before dishonor, that is all our Lord can ask of us. If we fall into dishonor but have done what our duty required of us, then the cosmic scale is balanced and the world will make sense. It may take a few hundred years for that to actually matter, but by then we’ll be dead anyway.” So I will cut orders for the Marrakesh Express to prep for loading. We have a job to do. For the Dragon. For our duty. For us.
—personal journal entry #44-Y, Daniel Sorenson

Mission #1: Recon (Cost -50 WP)

Attacker - Sorenson's Sabres
    LGB-0W Longbow - Chu-i Dana Utsonomia (4/4)
    CGR-1A9 Charger - Andrew Martin (4/5)
    TBT-7K Trebuchet - Sharron Burgoz (2/3)
    PNT-9R Panther - Seyla Teresa Martinez (4/2)

Defender - Davion Militia
    LCT-1V Locust - Lt. Benjamin Hormuz (5/5)
    Vedette Medium Tank (5/5)
    Pegasus Hover Tank (5/5)
    Striker Light Tank (5/5)

Optional Rules:
Forced Withdrawal
+25 WP - Rain: Rain obscures vision, so apply a +1 to-hit modifier to all weapons fire made in rainfall.
+25 WP - Mushy Ground: Apply a +1 modifier to all Piloting Skill Rolls.

Objectives:
OBJECTIVES
1. ID / Scan all of the Defender’s force. Scanning must be done within 4 hexes of an enemy unit at the end of the Movement phase and in lieu of any attack. (Reward: 75) - SUCCESSFUL
2. Escape! At least half of the Attacker’s force must survive and exit the Attacker’s home edge after eight turns. (Reward: 25) - SUCCESSFUL

TURN 1
The Davion Militia forces and Sorenson's Sabres line up.



Both sides move towards the middle, but no one is within range yet.


TURN 2
More maneuvering as the Sabres are held up by a small river.


TURN 3
The Davion Militia retreats out of range and takes cover.  The Davion Vedette climbs a hill to take up a firing position for its AC/5. 


TURN 4
The Sabres have crossed the river and are now engaging the militia units. 


Burgoz's Trebuchet scores hits on the Davion Striker, and Martinez finishes the Striker off with a well placed PPC shot. The Striker explodes as the SRM ammunition touches off!


TURN 5
Davion wins initiative.  The Davion forces are undeterred and the Davion Locust presses an attack on Martinez's Panther, hoping to get inside minimum range for the Longbow's LRMs and the Panther's PPC. 


The Davion pilot avoids fire and scores machine gun hits on the Panther.  He gives the Panther a swift kick for good measure.  Martinez inspects the Locust to halfway complete the first Kurita objective.


TURN 6
Davion wins initiative.  Once again, the Davion Locust outmaneuvers the Sabres and gets inside minimum range for the Longbow.


The Locust's kick connects, but does little damage to the mighty Longbow.


TURN 7
Kurita wins initiative. The Locust disengages but is pursued by Martinez in her Panther, suffering moderate damage to the left leg.  The Davion Pegasus makes a fast attack run at Martin's Charger, doing minimal damage, but also evading LRM fire.  Martinez inspects the Pegasus. Burgoz advances on the Vedette, scoring some damage on the right side.


TURN 8
Davion wins initiative.  The Davion Vedette retreats from the hill, Burgoz pursues.  The Davion Locust hurries back to support the vehicles, while the Pegasus moves at flank speed to avoid being hit by Martin's Charger.


TURN 9
Burgoz inspects the Vedette, completing the Kuritan objective.  She whethers a medium laser hit from the Locust.  The Davion forces then retreat. 

[Alex Keller]

Fresh of the success of their recon mission, Tai-i Daniel Sorenson leads his Sabres in to town on a daring night mission to look for additional supplies....

Mission #2: Supply Run (Cost -75 WP)

Attacker - Sorenson's Sabres
    HTM-27T Hatamoto-Chi Daniel - Tai-i Daniel Sorenson (2/2)
    JR7-K Jenner Grace - Grace Shiro (3/2)
    DRG-1G Grand Dragon Emory - Emory Wilk (3/3)
    HBK-4G Hunchback Shakir - Shakir Jerrar (3/3)

Defender - Davion Mercenaries
    VL-2T Vulcan (3/3)
    UM-R60 UrbanMech (4/4)
    Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun (4/4)
    Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun (4/4)

Rules:
Salvage
Commander - Davion Merc commander is 3/3 pilot
+50 Night Combat: A lack of ambient light degrades the ability of BattleMechs to target and hit an opposing unit. Apply a +2 tohit
modifier to all weapon attacks.
+75 Reinforcements: The Defender may designate one unit from his force as a reinforcement. That unit enters the battle from
the Defender’s home edge during the Movement Phase between Turn 4 and Turn 8.

Objectives:
Search objective. Determine which two buildings contain supplies. This may be done by scanning a building for one turn. A unit that is scanning a building may not fire any weapons that turn and must be within 2 hexes of the building hex. (Reward: 100) - SUCCESSFUL
No quarter. Cripple / destroy all of the Defender’s forces. (Reward: 150) - SUCCESSFUL

TURN 1
Both units take the field.

TURN 2
Grace Shiro advances the furthest forward. No one can see each other through the darkness.


TURN 3
Grace Shiro continues her bold scouting mission, the Mercenary commander jumps up onto a building and fires down onto her.  The darkness makes any shot difficult.  Meanwhile... the rest of the Sabres are no where to be seen.


TURN 4
The rest of the Sabres show up from the south side.  The mercenary UrbanMech and a Hetzer move to block their advance. The merc commander continues to hound Grace Shiro.  A Hetzer scores a nice 20 point shot on a point blank shot to Daniel Sorenson's Hatamoto. 


TURN 5
Grace Shiro scouts the first building, while Shakir Jerrar makes for a second building in the southeast corner.  The Vulcan is not able to score many hits because of the nighttime and large movement modifiers. The Hetzer misses another shot on the Hatamoto.  The UrbanMech and Emory Wilk trade more shots at each other.  That's one tough UrbanMech!


TURN 6
Kurita wins initiative and is quick to turn the tables on the mercenary forces, but a blunder causes Grace Shiro to be outmaneuvered once again.  Fortunately, the Vulcan pilot couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.  Shakir Jerrar finishes inspecting a building while Emory Wilk does some serious damage to the UrbanMech. The Hetzer has lost it's AC/10 and now only has a small laser.  The Hetzers both miss. 



TURN 7
Davion mercs win initiative but Kurita finishes in style.  Shakir Jerrar inspects the last building. 


Daniel Sorenson takes some damage from the Hetzer, but punches the Hetzer and kills the crew!


The move of the game here, folks!  Grace Shiro attempts a Death From Above attack on the UrbanMech!  Despite taking over 20 points of damage from the Hetzer (and the small laser...), Grace still manages to successfully land on the UrbanMech and makes her piloting skill check.  The Hetzer is knocked down the hill and into the river, taking half damage from a fall.  Surprisingly, the UrbanMech still stands in the end.  But with so much damage and the loss of so much firepower, the Mercs offer a truce which is graciously accepted by Daniel Sorenson and his Sabres.  The Sabres win the day!

[Ouchies]

Nice write up.  O0

[Alex Keller]

SITUATION
Outer Gorge
Udibi, Federated Suns
19 August 3048

Striking at immediate border worlds along the Suns border has given inconclusive results regarding the readiness of the Federated Suns military. With such scant information, Daniel Sorenson has decided to strike a little deeper into the Suns’ Draconis March at Udibi—a world not necessarily known for its strategic importance. That fact, however, is exactly why the Tai-i wishes to hit it. The Fox is known for his cunning—and using out of-the-way worlds like Udibi as a staging base is right up his alley.

ATTACKER - 5th Sword of Light
Hatamoto-Chi Daniel - Daniel Sorenson (2/2)
DRG-1G Dragon Emory - Emory Wilk (3/3)
HBK-4G Hunchback Shakir - Shakir Jerrar (3/3)
JR7-D Jenner Grace - Grace Shiro (3/2)

Bulldog Medium Tank - Veteran (3/4)
Bulldog Medium Tank - Veteran (3/4)
Bulldog Medium Tank - Veteran (3/4)
Bulldog Medium Tank - Veteran (3/4)

SL-15 Slayer - Veteran (3/4)
SL-15 Slayer - Veteran (3/4)

DEFENDER - Fuchida's Fusiliers
RFL-3N Rifleman - Mercenary (4/4)
CN9-A Centurion - Mercenary (4/4)
ASN-21 Assassin - Mercenary (4/4)
CLNT-2-3T Clint - Mercenary (4/4)

Scorpion Light Tank - Mercenary (4/4)
Scorpion Light Tank - Mercenary (4/4)
Scorpion Light Tank - Mercenary (4/4)
Scorpion Light Tank - Mercenary (4/4)

TR-13 Transgressor - Mercenary (4/4)
TR-10 Transit - Mercenary (4/4)

OPTIONS
+100 Night Combat: A lack of ambient light degrades the ability of BattleMechs to target and hit an opposing unit. Apply a
+2 to-hit modifier to all weapon attacks.
+100 Prepared Defenders: Somehow, the Fusiliers knew the Sabres were coming. For the first five turns, the Fusiliers receive a
+2 modifier to their initiative rolls.

OBJECTIVES
1. Search and destroy. Cripple / destroy 3 of the Defender’s units. SUCCESSFUL
2. Survive! At least one of the Sabre’s forces must exit off the Defender’s home edge before turn twelve. SUCCESSFUL

SPECIAL RULES
1. Forced Withdrawal
2. Salvage
3. Off-Map Movement

TURN 1 (DCMS wins Initiative)
Daniel Sorenson leads his command lance along with a lance of Bulldog tanks towards his objective.  Sorenson needs to figure out if he's going to be able to get through a heavily wooded countryside.


TURN 2 (Mercs win Initiative)
The Sword of Light (SoL) armor column moves into a small gorge.  Radar and visual confirmation show that two enemy battlemechs are guarding the pass.  Daniel Sorenson and Shakir Jerrar move south to escort the armor column.


The Mercenary and DCMS fighter aircraft move closer to the battle zone.


TURN 3 (Mercs win Initiative)
The SoL Bulldogs advance into the gorge, trading fire with the Fusilier Assassin and Clint.  Bright explosions cover the earth and trees surrounding both the mechs and tanks, but somehow, neither side is injured.


Meanwhile... Grace Shiro and Emory Wilk advance through the northern gorge.  A pair of Scorpion Light Tanks trade fire at long range, but cannot score a hit through the darkness.


TURN 4 (Mercs win Initiative)
The aerospace fighters move into the battle zone!


A DCMS Slayer hits with an AC/10 and several medium lasers on the Fusilier Centurion.


The Fusilier Transgressor and Transit team up against Emory Wilk's Dragon, but only a single medium laser hits. 


Grace Shiro moves in to score a couple more laser strikes on the Centurion.  It's too much for the Centurion pilot and he falls down, taking considerable damage to his right arm.  There's only 1 point of armor left!


The DCMS Bulldogs continue to move through the gorge, while Daniel Sorenson and Shakir Jerrar round the corner.


TURN 5 (Mercs win Initiative)
The second DCMS Slayer moves in for a precision strike, while the other aerospace fighters leave the area.


The Slayer scores multiple hits on the Fusilier Rifleman, but it's not enough to bring the Rifleman down.  The Rifleman fires everything, savaging the nose and wings of the Slayer.  The Slayer pilot is unable to maintain control and drops too much altitude, crashing into the forest below.  First blood to the Fusiliers!!!


The Fusilier Centurion stands up and fires its AC/10 and medium lasers at close range, savaging Grace Shiro's Jenner.  Grace hits back, nearly taking the left arm off of the Centurion.  Emory Wilk's Dragon fires on the Rifleman, pouring damage into the left arm and torso. The Assassin teams up against Grace Shiro.


The Bulldogs continue to move towards the objective.  The Fusilier Clint is unable to slow them down.


TURN 6 (Mercs win Initiative)
Things are getting messy now!  The Bulldogs have finally made their way in, and their combined fire savage the Fusilier Centurion, taking the right arm (and AC/10) off and bringing the 'mech down. 


Grace Shiro's medium lasers and narc hit the Centurion, and she gives it a kick for good measure!


The Rifleman is running HOT after the last turn's alpha strike against the Slayer.  Emory Wilk pours more fire into the Rifleman, while the Clint tries to sneak a few shots into the back of his Dragon.  The Rifleman can only fire a pair of AC/5s in return. 


TURN 7 (Mercs win Initiative)
The remaining ASFs turn around to set up another attack run.


The Slayer wants revenge for his wingman!  More autocannons and lasers strip armor off.  The Rifleman loses its left arm and nearly half his firepower.  The Rifleman strikes back with a large laser, 2 AC/5s and a pair of medium lasers, forcing the Slayer pilot to make a piloting roll.  Will he follow his wingman's fate?


The Slayer drops 2 altitude levels and barely avoids crashing into the mountain!  He wizzes right over a hill, with a cliff face and a stand of trees to either side!


The Fusilier Transgressor strikes Grace Shiro's Jenner, vaporizing the right arm and torso with laser fire.


The Fusilier Transit strikes Shakir Jerrar's Hunchback, scoring an AC/20 hit!  Where will the 20 points go?


Headshot! Shakir Jerrar is down!


Enraged at the apparent death of their fellow samurai, the Bulldogs pour fire into the Centurion as it tries to flee.  One of the SRMs goes critical and touches off an ammo explosion!  The Centurion is down!


The rest of the Bulldogs concentrate on the Rifleman, who is now so hot that it can hardly move!


The Fusilier Assassin and Clint team up against Grace Shiro, causing enough internal damage to core out the Jenner's center torso, taking her out of the fight.


TURN 8 (DCMS wins Initiative.... Finally!)
Sorenson's Sabres and the rest of the DCMS troops push their advantage, pushing the Scorpion tanks back into the cover of the treeline.  Daniel Sorenson pursues a fleeing Assassin, stripping all the armor off its back with SRM fire.


Emory Wilk takes advantage of the initiative to finish off the Fusilier Rifleman.  The medium laser touches off the Rifleman's remaining autocannon ammunition.


A pair of DCMS Bulldogs destroy the closest Scorpion.


TURN 9 (DCMS wins Initiative)
ASFs line up for another attack run...


The Fusilier Transit and Transgressor team up against Emory Wilk, but their fire misses for the most part.


The DCMS Slayer does more damage to the struggling Assassin, but the Assassin remains standing. 


The DCMS forces close range with the Fusiliers, savaging armor and stunning the crew of one of the Scorpions.


TURN 10 (DCMS wins Initiative)
Daniel Sorenson and Emory Wilk take out the Assassin, which is now missing an arm, leg and a torso.  Salvage!!!


The Bulldogs hunt down the remaining Scorpions...



TURN 11
With just a Clint remaining (and a Stunned Scorpion), the Fuchida's Fusiliers MechWarrior bugs out, handing victory to the Draconis Combine!!!

[markhall]

Nice job.

Gotta say this was a bit Dangerclose for air support.


But too good a chance to turn down?

[Alex Keller]

Fuchida's Fusiliers were getting desperate....

[StuartYee]

Great written summary, pictures and paint jobs!

 [applause]

[Ouchies]

Great written summary, pictures and paint jobs!

 [applause]

[cheers]
seconded.

[StuartYee]

"Daniel Sorenson takes some damage from the Hetzer, but punches the Hetzer and kills the crew!"

Awesomeness! Take that, Hetzer!

I also like that the UrbanMech says "Kill Shot" [rockon]

[Vlads Fangs]

 O0