BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Player Boards => Non-Canon Units => Topic started by: 2ndAcr on 26 August 2018, 13:36:29
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I started this unit under MekHQ many versions ago, I am now restarting a new campaign under the newest version. A little back history, so folks can get a feel for how the unit began and got where it is. I will do a rough outtake of what occured until my new start date, since I do not remember it all.
Unit began:
1 Mech Company 1 Invader Jumpship
1 Armor Company 1 Overlord (Combined Arms)
2 Infantry Companies 1 Seeker Dropship
1 Aerospace Squadron
Fleeing the Clan Invasion, the unit arrived at Stars End and fought several pitched battles with a large pirate band that wanted to take over the unit. The Pirate's lost. Instead my unit absorbed the "better" survivors of the pirate band. Adding 2 Mech Lances, 2 Companies Infantry, 1 Aero Lance, Merchant Jumpship, 2 Union (Combined Arms).
Late 3050- The unit ventured forth and for the first time raided a Clan held world. The fight did not go well at all. Landing far from a major city, the units hover tank company began pushing towards the first major town. There they found a Clan Wolf star of 2nd line Mechs along with a Star of Elementals based just outside the town. The battle or massacre as I call it, cost the unit 6 Mechs destroyed, 7 Hover tanks, 5 Mechs seriously damaged and 2 infantry companies chewed to pieces. In return the unit captured a Guillotine IIC (heavily damaged), Highlander IIC (head shot) 1 Clan Wolf Mechwarrior prisoner, 11 Clan Wolf Elementals (wounded), several Clan techs, along with some weapons, ammo and armor. The unit fled after that small fight.
Since the unit fought bravely, the captured Clan warrior was open to talking. She slowly advised Major Mitchell on some Clan ways, bidding, trials etc. The Clan techs assisted the unit on repairing the 2 captured Mechs along with their own. Arriving back at Stars End, another pirate band tried their luck at taking over the unit. This time, the unit has 2 Clan Mechs and the pirate band was defeated. Once again the unit absorbed the "best" of the defeated unit. The unit was once again 2 Mech Companies strong.
Early 3051 the unit hit a Clan Ghost Bear planet. Advised to use some Clan ways by the Wolf warrior, the unit challenged for the spoils of the entire enemy base if they won. A full Trinary defended the base. The Wolf warrior, now mainly trusted, was allowed to take the field in her old Mech the Guillotine IIC. She challenged the Bear Commander (Kodiak). 3 rounds later the Kodiak fell to a head shot. At that time both Companies charged the enemy. Many rounds later 3 friendly Mechs still stood, battered but proud. Captured in this battle were a Clan Lion Dropship, 75 Elemental suits, 3 Ryoken, Kodiak, Thor, 10 Bandit Hover Tanks, hundreds of tons of weapons, armor, supplies. 10 Techs were taken, along with 5 Bear Warriors. All the remaining catptured equipment was salvage only.
Returning to Stars End, this time no one attempted to try the unit in battle. But the unit had small groups of assorted "units" wanting to join. Several months passed and now the unit was a full Mech Battalion strong, full Infantry Battalion (with 2 Elemental Points) and 2 Companies of Hover tanks, and a platoon of Manticore (modified by the mechanics assisted by Clan techs, each had a Clan ERPPC and 2 Streak 4 installed in the turret and 2 tons Streak Ammo in the body). But is was time to move on, the unit prepared to make the long journey back to the Inner Sphere proper. Orbital assets now included, 2 Invader Jumpships, Merchant Jumpship, 2 Union, 2 Overlord (1 combined arms), Seeker, Trojan.
3052 arrives and the unit raided Lackhove held by Clan Jade Falcon, now more seasoned against the Clans, the unit found the planet held by a 2nd Line Falcon Trinary. The unit grounded under Safecon not far from the Falcon base. The Falcons would defend with the entire Trinary versus 2 of the units Mech Companies. If the Falcons lost, only defeated equipment would be taken along with food and water. The battle was fought and this time the unit savaged the Falcon Trinary. Taken and repaired were 2 Conjurer, 3 Vixen and a brand new Turkina B. The other taken Mechs were salvage quality only and stripped.
3053 found the unit arriving in FedCom space above Newton Square. Speaking to Fedcom officials, the unit surrendered the Lion Dropship, 200 tons of weapons to secure safe passage to Outreach, arriving there May 11, 3054. Mitchell's Phantom Raiders were born.
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Interesting 2ndAcr. I am looking forward to more.
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I decided to back it up some. I am going to refight the Clan invasion with the new MekHQ version. About to fight the first pirate band. I am a little bigger this time around. 2 Mech Companies w/Command Lance, 2 Armor Companies, 3 Infantry Companies, Aero Squadron. Overlord Combined Arms, Seeker Dropship, Invader Jumpship.
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April 21, 3050
Almost 6 months have passed since fleeing the Oberon Confederation as the invaders slaughtered all who opposed them. Months of jumping into uninhabited systems. Risky but safer than getting caught by the invaders. But now, the small but powerful force had finally arrived at a known pirate haven, IronLand. This pirate band was known to the forces of the Oberon Confederation, they had been raiding for several years. Known to be at least Battalion strong in Mechs.
Upon landing, aerial recon spotted the pirate force on the move towards the small unit. The fight was brutal, finally closing to melee range. Luckily the units heavy tank company was too much for the pirates. 31 pirate Mechs fell, but only 6 of the units Mechs still stood. The units infantry and hover tank company took the pirate base with moderate losses and secured the pirates Overlord Dropship and Trojan Dropship. The unit was unable to secure the pirate Jumpship which left the system as soon as they charged the jump drives. Salvage and repair operations brought the unit back up to 27 Mechs but nearly exhausted every spare part and armor inventory. 10 Mechs were mothballed and stored aboard the Trojan until repairs could be made to them. Luckily the unit only lost 2 Mechwarriors killed.
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November 26, 3050
Leaving the captured Dropships, Manticore company, and 2 Infantry companies at the captured pirate base, the small unit arrived at Gustrell to arrange pick up of the captured pirate band. The system was void of space traffic. Grounding just outside the planets primary city, unknown mechs were spotted approaching rapidly. Quickly unloading, the unit braced for a possible fight. It was a fight they would not forget. The enemy force opened fire at unheard of ranges and scored telling hits. The hover company went full speed and the units Pegasus missile tanks felled 3 of the 10 enemy Mechs but payed a hefty price as 6 of their number were destroyed by the enemy. This gave the units Mechs a chance to close the distance and again a huge furball occurred. The enemy never would melee, which surprised the unit members, but they had no hesitation. Finally, the short but brutal fight was over, all 10 enemy Mechs were down, but 17 of the units 25 Mechs fell. Distressingly 7 of the units Mech warriors were killed. 3 enemy prisoners taken were strangely compliant with orders given. 2 battle worthy (the only 2) Mechs, 4 Pegasus tanks and the infantry company secured the enemy base later that day. 12 techs and huge quantity of supplies were captured. Again the captured were very compliant. Over 3 days, all the strange enemy Mechs were loaded, along with the units salvageable equipment, over 100 tons of weapons, 50 tons ammo, 100 tons standard armor, 100 tons of an unknown armor. The unit returned to IronLand.
Arriving, they made repairs to their equipment. Attempts to repair an enemy Mech failed miserably. The equipment was unlike anything the units techs had seen before. Surprisingly, the captured techs did not hesitate to answer questions and even offered to help with repairs. Only 2 enemy Mechs were able to be made combat ready, a Stormcrow (Prime) and a Guillotine IIC. The rest were stripped for parts by the captured techs. Discussions between the units master tech and the "captured" lead tech led to quite a few of the units mechs having captured weapons mounted in place of destroyed weapons. The following is a list of modified mechs:
3 Thunderbolt TDR-5SE each had a Large Pulse and Clan LRM 15 added
3 Panther PNT-9R each had a Large Pulse and Streak SRM-4 added
2 Catapult CPLT-C1 each had Clan LRM added, 2 additional tons of ammo and armor vastly improved
3 Trebuchet TBT-5S each had 2 Streak 6, 2 tons ammo and 3 Medium Pulse added
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January 1, 3051
With supplies running low, the units Mechs, heavy armor company left for Stars End, upon arriving, the dropships detached and headed for the only habitable planet while the unit's Jumpship recharged and prepared to return to pick up the rest of the unit.
Making planet fall, a large pirate force descended upon the unit. This time the advanced weapons made a huge difference and the enemy Mech battalion was shredded. Only 3 of the units Mechs fell. Over a month passed before the entire unit was once again together. During this time, a small company sized band approached and offered to link up with the unit, best of all this unit had a very old Tramp Jumpship and a Union Dropship. Overall the unit now had the following:
2 Clan Mechs (Stormcrow and Guillotine IIC)
11 modified Mechs
39 Mechs
12 Manticore Tanks
6 Pegasus Missile tanks
Infantry Battalion
Invader Jumpship
Tramp Jumpship
2 Overlord Dropships (1 Combined Arms, 1 standard)
1 Seeker Dropship (carries Mech Lance)
1 Trojan Dropship
1 Union Dropship
6 Corsair Aero Fighters
Mech Battalion
Command Lance
4 Companies
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October 6, 3051
The unit raided Clan Wolf world Crellacor. Using Clan ways, learned by extensive talks with the captured Wolf warriors, the unit bargained all captured machines as Isolora along with the Clan base versus their surrender. Facing the units 3 Mech Companies bid would be a Supernova Trinary. Facing Elementals for the first time was a very rude shock for the over confident mech warriors. Within minutes 5 Mechs had fallen the the armored infantry. Using massed focus fire, the unit managed to finally defeat the Clan force. Only 11 Mechs still stood on the units side. Taken as Isolora:
1 Gladiator
2 Thor
1 Nightstar
1 Highlander IIC
1 Mad Dog
1 Vulture
2 Thunderbolt (Royal)
1 Victor C
60 Elemental suits
250 tons weapons
120 double heat sinks
150 tons ammo
300 tons armor
2 Coolant Trucks
11 Wolf Mechwarriors
28
Wolf Elementals
6 Battle Armor Techs
18 Mech Techs
2 Mechanics
The Unit fled the planet as soon as the Dropships were loaded. Returning to IronLand. Re-occupying the old base there. Once settled in, repairs were begun on the units equipment. Once again even more of the unit's mechs were upgraded with Clan weapons and equipment. Some only had a few, some had full bore upgrades done to them. Here the Clan Techs were god sends. The unit favored the Clan Pulse lasers over all others. The accuaracy, damage and range was just too good to pass up on. Many PPC armed Mechs had the PPC replaced with a Clan Large Pulse Laser for a vast improvement. The most time consuming upgrades were installing Clan Double heat sinks in place of the regular heat sinks on select Mechs. Upgrades made:
1 Battlemaster BLR-1D 1 ERPPC, 5 Med Pulse Laser, 20 Double Heat Sinks
1 Quickdraw QKD-5A 4 Med Pulse Laser, Streak SRM4
1 Nightstar NSR-9J 2 Clan Gauss, ERPPC, 4 Med Pulse, ER Small Laser, 18 Clan Double Heat Sink
1 Warhammer WHM-6D 2 ERPPC, 20 Clan Double Heat Sinks
3 Guillotine GLT-4L Clan ER Large, 4 Med Pulse, Clan SRM 6, 18 Clan Double
2 Shadow Hawk SHD-2K ERPPC, Clan LRM 20, 2 tons ammo, 13 Clan Double
4 Griffon GRF-1S Clan Large Pulse
Once upgrades were made, the unit made the choice to return to the Inner Sphere proper.
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November 5, 3051
The unit departed IronLand into the periphery to try and make their way back to the Inner Sphere proper. Sticking to the risky but slower uninhabited systems. Not knowing when or where a Clan naval force might show up was nerve racking and kept the unit on edge.
December 21, 3051
The unit arrived at Gotterdamerung, knowing it was held by Clan Jade Falcon from the Wolf warriors, one last raid was enacted. Broadcasting a challenge per Clan ways, the unit was met with scorn and curses by the Falcon Commander and classified the unit as pirates, which in a way they were. Deciding to take only the Mechs to the ground, Major Mitchell kept the rest of the unit in orbit. Finding out the unit was attacking Falcons, several Wolf warriors asked to take the field against them. 52 unit Mechs took the field upon landing. Facing them was a heavy Mech Trinary (of both Omni and 2nd Line) along with a Binary Nova. Battle was joined and hard fought. But the unit's numbers plus the upgrades made all the difference. At the end, the Falcons were defeated and the unit only lost 11 Mechs in the fight, but had 4 Mech warriors killed in the fight. The defeated Falcons were a surly dejected group.
Major Mitchell sent word to ground the rest of the unit's forces and dispatched a Company of Mechs to take control of the Falcon Base. Upon securing the base, the unit's techs and infantry stripped the base of anything not nailed down, plus recovered every downed Falcon Mech. Taken were the following:
1 Spartan SPT-N2
2 Loki
1 Thug 11E
1 Warhammer IIC
1 Ostroc OSR-2Cb
1 Vixen
1 Crab CRB-20
1 Viper
1 Black Hawk
1 Mongoose MON-67
3 StormCrow
1 Puma
1 Uller
1 DragonFly
1 Talon TLN-5W
225 tons weapons
200 tons armor
150 Double Heat Sinks
100 tons ammo
7 Mechs as salvage
The unit departed on 26 December 3051 and arrived at Outreach on March 1, 3053 where the unit voted and took the name Mitchell's Phantom Raiders. There the unit registered with the MRBC, but left themselves unavailable for hire as they aquired new equipment, half the units techs went to school with the Wolf's Dragoons to learn more about Clan Tech. For funds the unit sold the Union Dropship, lots of Clan salvage. This allowed the unit to purchase new Mechs, the unit's techs also stripped Clan weapons off older models and put the old weapons on and sold those Mechs that had newer versions for purchase. Also a large purchase was made in the Inner Sphere Standard BA, 120 suits.
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2 years to make it to Outreach?
obvious plot killer, they sell all the stuff and retire to a private island resort
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They did not reach Fed Com space until February 3052. They crossed over at Hood IV. Roughly 40 jumps from Gotterdamerung. Plus they got held up by Customs Inspections. So basically a year to reach Outreach.
Remember, I decided to re-fight the Clan invasion after I posted the first backstory. First one had them reaching Outreach in 3054
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ahh
I was thinking immediately after the last action which is only 4? jumps to
lyran space?
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Took the Periphery long way around. Did not want to cross thru Falcon front line country, might trip over a warship and get blasted. My dice rolls for random events make me nervous sometimes.
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You do not need to go to outreach in any case. You can hire a representative there to get you contracts and move the unit from contract to contract. Faster. :)
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They have things and skills my unit needs. Since my unit was not a true Merc command until arriving at Outreach, they would not have a representative. Now that we have properly registered as a Merc command and once we are fully re-organized, restocked and further modifications made, we shall move out and begin raising some cain.
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Feb 14, 3053
Outreach
Major Mitchell (now a Colonel as the unit was Regimental strength) studied his units new TOE breakdown. Recruitment had gone well. Enough personnel had been recruited to fill field another Mech company, another armor company and suitable candidates had been found (although extremely green) to field an oversized Battle Armor Company. He had lost some personnel to retirement and several Wolf Mechwarriors and Elementals had opted to join the Dragoons.
All technicians (that had been with the unit 2 years plus) had completed the Dragoon training program. So 80% of his tech force could maintain Clan equipment. 90% of the units upgrades were completed. The unit had traded several Clan Omni-Mechs to the Dragoons in exchange for help with upgrade. A battered Union Dropship was purchased and with Dragoon help converted to carry 10 Mechs, 20 squads of BA, 5 light tanks and 235 tons cargo. The decision to sell the first Union had been due to it's age, it was worn out.
The Wolf Elementals that had chosen to stay with the unit were formed into 4 points each assigned to a training Platoon in the new Battle Armor Training Company. They would help train the units green BA personnel in BA operations. These squads were formed in standard units of 4 to a squad but once they deploy for combat operations, when ready, they would form 5 squad platoons, 4 platoons to the Company. While training, they would also assist in security operations.
The units Manticores (full company of 12) had been fully upgraded with a Clan ERPPC and 2 Streak SRM4 in the turret with 2 tons Streak ammo stored in the body. The units Hover Tank Company consisted of 4 Condor (Lio), 4 Pegasus (Missile) and 4 Drillison (upgraded to carry a Clan LP). A Company of new Goblin tanks had been upgraded to carry Clan LP and had boosted armor (these would support and carry the units Infantry Battalion). This formed the units Armor Battalion.
The units Tramp Jumpship was sold and a decent Invader Jumpship bought instead. This gave the unit a cash surplus that helped pay for everything done. The units Trojan was sold and a Mule was puchased. A huge portion of cash went to purchase a Command Overlord. Aerospace was the units weak point. They had the ability to transport a full wing of 18 but still only had 6. This would have to wait for the next unit downtime as cash was getting low and the unit needed work.
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Feb 23, 3053
Outreach
Colonel Mitchell sat in his office and studied the available contracts. Several were very tempting.
The best was working for the Combine, they wanted a Relief Mission but were offering 100% Transport and a wonderful 60% of the salvage. Only problem he saw was it would mean going against Clan Wolf again. Fighting the Clans was just plain brutal and costly. They offered no Damage compensation. But that salvage right was very tempting.
Another was a Garrison contract by the FedComs. On the Clan front but offered only 20% Exchange for salvage but 100% Damage Compensation.
The last was from the Cappies, another Garrison offer on the FedCom border. Low risk, decent pay.
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March 2, 3053
Colonel Mitchell finally found the perfect contract for his unit. Working for the FedCom, Garrison duty on Chahar for 1.5 years. Just close enough to the Clan front that they might see the occasional raid but not exactly on the front lines. 40% salvage meant that of they do get hit, they might grab some goodies.
He wanted time to get his BA troopers trained up and also time for his troopers to get some decent rest. It had been a had few years of almost constant combat.
A knock at the door caused him to look up, in the doorway was Jared Merrill, the one of the first Clan warriors captured by the unit. Colonel Mitchell valued the friendship that had grown between them.
"Come on in Jared, you never have to knock" Colonel Mitchell said as he leaned back in his chair "So what are you doing in the office complex? I figured you would be challenging Dragoons to trials." He allowed his mind to wander over these still strange friends of his.
Jared Merrill, age 33, once of Clan Snow Raven, taken by the Wolves, then captured by the Raiders. After his capture by the Raiders, he had shown open contempt at being captured by these "pirates". But slowly he realized that the dirty tricks the unit used in his capture was just a outgunned small unit using whatever means they could to survive and win. All the captured Clan personnel were treated by this man he now called a friend decently. He protected them when some, at first, were wanting blood. Slowly he began to counsel his friend on Clan ways, how to win, but to do it in an honorable fashion that would lessen the blow to any future captured. He drove a Stormcrow and was pure death in it.
Maria Winson, age 25, was another Wolf warrior captured in that first raid. A stunningly beautiful woman, he had made sure the word went out that any, and he meant any harm to her would be met with brutal force upon her capture. Jared called her a Ristar, which he finally found out meant a rising star in Clan Wolf. As a Mechwarrior she had few equals, she was plain deadly. After the long years, she was finally letting go of the harshest Clan ways and finally seeing that being Freeborn, as Clanners called us, was not an evil thing. Rumor had it that she has been seeing someone regularly, one of the units tank gunners.
Those 2 were instumental in helping the vast number of Clan captured cope and also in recruitment of the captured that followed.
"Word got back to me that I needed to cool it with the challenges, seems the Dragoons do not like getting beaten." Jared said with a sneer on his face. This snapped Colonel Mitchell back out of his thoughts.
"So how many did you win?"
"I have challenged and fought 7 duels with the Dragoons, they have not defeated me yet."
"Yeah, you might want to lay low for a bit, they might trial for our entire unit if you keep it up and we have too many "pups" as you call them."
"Yes, we have many pups, but mainly in our Battle Armor units, our Mechwarriors are a different matter, even you Freeborn are dangerous foes in their Mechs."
"Careful with that Freeborn stuff Jared, you know that still pisses people off. Alone with me, you can use the term as I know how it is meant, but outside that, please be careful."
"Aff, I mean yes sir. It just freely flows from my mouth and I do not even realize it."
"It will take time, so what brings you around today? Guilt catch up to you and you decide to help me with some paperwork?"
"Never that sir, I came over with an idea to run by you."
"I am always open to ideas, what do you have in mind?"
"I have been thinking, once the BA pups are done with their training, and it will be some hard training, Captain Marshall, from what I gather, is a stern but capable leader. I would like to suggest we regroup the best of the former Clan Mechwarriors and all the Elementals into one unit. We have trained and fought our entire lives together, we instinctively know what the other is thinking in combat. Today, we have 14 former Clan Mechwarriors and 21 Elementals. We have 14 Clan Omni Mechs, if we count your Executioner, but I will leave that to you, so 13 Omni Mechs. We could field a full strength Binary easy."
Colonel Mitchell grimaced inwardly and Jared caught the brief look.
"Something wrong Colonel?"
"I have some doubts, I do not want to cause a division in the unit. You know, a Clan unit and a Inner Sphere scum unit" He quickly held up his hand "that is how any newly captured Clan personnel would see it, there could be some anger at being assigned to a non Clan unit."
"Okay, yes I see how that could effect things. How about we select the best of all for the new unit? That way the unit is mixed, but we form it Clan fashion, Stars, Binary, Trinary. I suggest this so it helps the Elementals immensly as they train as points of 5. We can easily get our best non Clan warriors up to speed on being in a Star of 5 instead of a Lance of 4. Plus get them train on carrying BA on their Mechs and the changes the Mechs go thru as the BA mounts and dismounts."
"Now this idea I could support. I am about to accept a Garrison contract, so I am leery of making unit changes right now. We have time to work out the details and maybe test the idea while on contract. Plus I am going to let Capt Marshal work the new BA troopers hard during this contract."
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Nice. So you are going after clan organization
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Only for a small slice of my unit. My primary units are still 3x3...……we will see after this contract how big I can get. I can get really big if not careful because MekHQ likes to throw full Trinary at my lances which then get clobbered when I send over a company to reinforce them. And it does this non stop. I can easily devastate a Cluster over time. So I use a lot of "random event" dice rolls and such.
I am fond of large fights where my units can compliment each other and find fighting a full on Cluster versus my Regiment a harder fight since Princess does not do Zell in any way and focus fires. Same as me.
Example: I roll 1 die 6...…….1-3 no big battle, 4-6 big battle
1 die 6...……...1-3 no loot, 4-6 loot
2 die 6...……...1-3 mech, 4-6 vehicles, 7-9 overrun base, 10-12 dropship capture
1 die 6...……… equals amount of each: up to 6 mechs, 6 vehicles, only 1 dropship
I also have charts written up for equipment, ERPPC ERLL etc then roll for amount, same for ammo, armor etc but these are used on base overrun. I still have to win the battle to get the goods. If I get lucky and score a die roll for chance to capture a Jumpship, it is a simple 1 die 6 yes or no capture. I use same methods for company sized units that wish to join up permanent etc. Roll for chance, then roll for a yes/no answer.
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July 22, 3053
Chahar
Colonel Mitchell descended the ramp of one of the 2 Ares Shuttles the unit had. The rest of his unit was still inbound to their new home for the next year and a half. Seeing several AFFC officers nearby, he headed that way. Reaching them, he saluted.
"Colonel Mitchell and the Phantom Raiders reporting in" He said.
"Colonel Mitchell, it is good to have your unit here. Your taking over garrison duties will allow us to shift the Regiment to the front lines. We have not had any incursions in a long while so this should be a nice quiet duty station for your people." The older officer stated. "I have a ground car waiting if you would be so kind we will head for headquarters."
15 minutes later, they had all entered an office in the base headquarters and everyone was seated comfortably. A different officer entered and began the briefing.
"I am Leftenant Colonel Patterson, I am the base commanding officer in charge of this base, though I am in charge of the base, your unit will be the only combat unit assigned here so we will be working closely with each other. I will also act as your Liaison Officer with the AFFC. You are on an independent command contract, so will just represent the AFFC in day to day dealings, you control combat operations. We have housing and support facilities for your full unit with room to spare. This base was built to house a full Mech Regiment, armor regiment and 2 infantry regiments. So we will have plenty of room. The airbase can house over 2 wings of Aerospace fighters. We have several live fire ranges and maneuver areas available for your use. The planet currently has a militia of 2 Mech companies, 2 infantry battalions. They are not active troops and only meet once month unless on alert. These units are not available to you for any combat operations and answer to Planetary Government.
Since we are close to the border, we have a fully stocked ammo depot, that in time of emergency your unit can draw upon if need be, but you will be charged for every single bullet at market rate."
Several hours of briefings, looking at maps of the different areas, Colonel Mitchell was still waiting on the shoe to drop, but it never did. Finally with the briefings over, he left to return to the space port and see to his now arriving ships and their unloading.
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October 9, 3053
Chahar
Colonel Mitchell entered the briefing room for the weekly commanders meeting with his officers. No one rose as he entered, as he did not stand on formality. Taking his seat, he laid the folders he carried on the table and took a sip of his coffee.
"All right, let's get on with it folks." He finally said. "Capt Marshall, how are as Jared likes to say, our pups doing in their training?"
"Sir, the pups are doing okay, they are not Clan Elementals for sure, but I can not fault them on that. We have had a few injuries, as you know, but nothing serious. They can move and jump the suits without killing themselves and 90% of time land on their feet. They are better at shooting than anything. End of the month I am planning to start them learning to ride our Omni Mechs." Capt Marshall was short and direct as always.
"Good to hear, Jared, how goes the new Binary?"
"Things are moving right along sir, the non Clan warriors are melding just fine. Picking the right people was the hardest thing we had to do. There are several better people but they also have a small issue with us of the Clans. I did not think it wise to put them in the new unit with mostly ex-Clan warriors. Capt Marshall has loaned me a point of Elementals to ride the new folks Omni Mechs so they can get used to it."
"Great to hear, okay Master Tech Emil, let's hear your issues, I can see the wheels turning and the smoke coming from your ears."
"Sir, as you know I have been with you from the beginning. We have made great strides to independence maintenence wise, but I still need more people. If our entire unit entered battle all at once we could easily be combat inneffecient for days. I need more spares of everything. Clan supplies are decent but could always be better. We still have spare weapons, even with our extensive modifications we have done, but that also made day to day maintenence a headache. The ex-Clan techs are god sends though.
That being said, we are currently golden on maintenence, every single piece of equipment is purring like a kitten."
"Well, that is a surprise to hear from you, with that sour look, I expected some bad news from you." Colonel Mitchell stated clearly shocked.
"Okay Mike (the units Infantry Battalion commander), let's here it."
"Sir, am I going to have control of the Battle Armor troops when they are released? I am the Infantry commander after all." He said, and clearly Capt Marshall did not like it.
"No Mike, we have had this discussion before both in the meetings and in private. Once and for all, Capt Marshall will command the BA troopers. You have no experience at all.............." but before he could finish sirens went off, seconds later his comm unit chirped. "Colonel Mitchell?"
"Whats going on"
"Jumpships detected, multiple Dropships inbound.........it's the Steel Vipers, Batchall incoming sir, your needed in the comm center."
"On my way." Turning to his assembled commanders, as he rose and headed for the door "Get your people ready, full combat loads, Jared your with me, let's see how serious the Vipers are."
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October 10, 3053
Under the guidance of Jared, Colonel Mitchell answered the Vipers Batchall. The Phantom raiders would face the entire Clan Cluster with 5 Companies of Mechs plus Phantom Command Lance and the new Binary. The loser would become Isolora of everything. The entire Phantom Raider Regiment for the Clan Cluster and her Dropships, an Overlord C, Broadsword, and a Sassanid. It seemed funny that zero Aerospace was bid.
The Vipers were granted Safecon to land on one of the planets Maneuver areas, the largest one a good distance from civilians.
The Vipers would field 50 Omni Mechs and 75 Elementals.
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Hell of a battle in the horizon! Are you doing it all together or playing it in sub-games?
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One big massive battle in MegaMek, using a 100x100 map.
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14 October, 3053
Chahar
The smoke was still drifting over the battlefield. Almost a full company of Raiders had been destroyed, over 1/2 the surviving mechs would be out of action for possibly weeks. The Raiders had suffered 11 KIA and 19 WIA in the day long battle. The Raiders had won the fight and with it came a huge amount of salvage.
Colonel Patterson had already been on the radio wanting a list of salvage so he could send it up the chain so the FedCom could claim their share. The captured Vipers belonged to the Raiders, but the Raiders only get to keep 40% of the bounty. He had already put the unit's bean counters to work figuring everything out. The captured Dropships could hugely offset things, but Colonel Mitchell was not sure the unit could maintain Clan Dropships properly.
As he stood watching recovery efforts, his radio chirped. Lifting the mike and depressing the button "Yes, what is it?"
"Sir, we have the full accounting of what we have when you are ready."
"On my way, I assume Colonel Patterson has been drooling over the list already?"
"He sure has, he has had one FedCom accountant with each survey team and in here sir."
"I be he did, I will be at Headquarters in 4 hours."
With that, he turned and waved to his Command Lance to mount up. Once everyone checked in he turned and began limping his wounded Mech back to base.
-
October 14, 3053
Chahar
After arriving back at base, he left his wounded Mech in it's repair gantry with Master Tech Emil having a major hissy fit at all the damage the unit took and grabbed a ground car for the drive to HQ.
Arriving, he headed for his office where he tiredly collapsed in his chair and buzzed the bean counters. "Bring me the list so I can decide what we keep and what the FedCom gets please."
15 Minutes later, he had a think binder on his desk. Opening it, he started to read.
1 Overlord C with crew
1 Broadsword with crew
1 Sassanid with crew
Repairable Omni-Mechs (former Viper)
Vulture 5
Loki 4
Gargoyle 3
Thor 4
Daishi 3
MadCat 5
Gladiator 2
Ryoken 4
Battle Cobra 3
The list broke down the amount of salvage qualtiy Mechs, supplies, how many Elemental suits could be repaired and returned to service.
He was too tired to think straight, so he closed the folder. Tomorrow he would have to make his choices but he needed counsel.
-
No Crossbow's survived? Those and the Battle Cobra's should be pretty easy to maintain.
-
They had 3 Crossbows, every single one, and I mean every single one had a cascade engine failure, one took out like a full star of elementals. Think it was the first mech we killed too.
-
Okay, my unit already has a modified Union that carries a Binary Nova (10 Mech, 10 BA), I am thinking about expanding that by buying and modifying an Overlord to carry 30 Mechs, 30 BA, 6 Aerospace.
I can then have a Cluster that has:
2 SuperNova Trinary
1 Binary Nova
1 Aerospace Squadron
With my current Omni's plus the new ex-Viper Omni I can fill the 2 SuperNova Trinaries with 5/8 Mechs and the Binary Nova with 6/9 and 8/12 Mechs. 40 Omni Mechs and 200 BA is a potent force. I only have enough Elemental suits for a Trinary and the Binary. One BA Trinary will have to be IS Standard suits. Cargo on the 2 Dropships will be 732 tons on the Overlord and 574 tons on the Union. Oh and I would have to purchase a Jumpship for this unit to be fully self contained.
Thoughts?
-
Decided to go another route.
October 15, 3053
Chahar
Arriving back in his office, Colonel Mitchell found a very irritated looking Master Tech Emil awaiting his arrival. Colonel Mitchell waved Emil in as he walked past. "What has you so irritated this morning Emil?"
"Well, I spent all night cataloging all the damage to our units, all the repairs needed on the new Viper equipment........" Colonel Mitchell held interrupted Emil.
"Hold off any repairs on the new equipment Chief. I do not want to repair anything we give to the FedCom's, plus I have my doubts about our long term ability to maintain so much Clan Tech equipment and Mechs."
"Well yes sir, there is some doubt in my head as well, but we did score a good amount, plus we have 48 Clan trained Mech Techs we just added plus an additional 10 Clan trained BA Techs. It is not so much maintaining the equipment, it is getting our hands on the supplies needed long term."
"I know Emil, that worries me, I have a meeting in a couple hours with Colonel Patterson. I have an idea that might take the strain off both of us concerning all these Omni Mechs we now have. I see no need in fielding a full Battalion of the things if they are going to cause either of us to have a stress induced heart attack over them. We will be culling a few Mechs out of the bounty, how many and which I don't know yet. So hold off repairs until I call you, no sense wasting time, money and supplies on stuff we might let go."
"Okay sir, hold off on repairs and full bore salvage operations on the new stuff until further notice, got it. I am curious as to what you have in mind though."
"Not yet Emil, but I assume you have a list of the easiest and cheapest to repair Mechs handy?"
"Got it right here sir" Emil said holding up the folder he held.
"Good, give it to me and give me some time to look it over. I will call you once my meeting is over. Get some sleep, call me when you are rested, I need to put the finishing touches on my plan."
-
October 15, 3053
Chahar
It was noon when Colonel Patterson arrived for the scheduled meeting. Colonel Mitchell rose from his desk and offered his hand to Patterson. As they shook, he said "Welcome Colonel, sorry the meeting had to wait, but I needed to check on my wounded this morning."
"No apologies needed Colonel, you people come first. On that note, is there anything I can do to help out more?"
"I think you and the FedCom folks have been quite helpful already, but thank you for the offer. So I have a proposition for you to relay to your superiors concerning the salvage split, can you do that for me?"
Suddenly on guard, Colonel Patterson hesitated before answering "I can so relay the message, may I ask what it concerns?"
"Sure, it is no secret. We captured 33 Omni Mechs repairable and another 9 as salvage quality. In addition we have 3 Clan Dropships in great condition. On top of that, we have 200 tons of FF armor, 30 tons of BA armor, and roughly 100 tons of weapons, 150 tons ammunition, 100 tons assorted parts. I propose that my unit keep all armor, ammo, weapons and repair parts, we will keep the following 10 Omni Mechs:
3 Gargoyle
1 Daishi
2 Madcat
3 Thor
1 Gladiator
In exchange, the FedCom gets the remaining Mechs, Dropships valued at 2,394,876,548 which I would normally get 40% of which is 957,950,619. Instead, I will take 30% for 718,462,964. But in return, I want to be able to, bump the line so to speak, when I buy equipment, supplies from manufacturers. I don't want to hear "it will be 1 year for delivery because the AFFC is ahead of you". I want to be able to get my hands on the latest and greatest whenever I buy for the next 3 years. I also want first dibs on any Jumpship or Dropship the AFFC decides to retire/sell off for the next 3 years. I will pay market value for any item, but I do not want to wait in a long line. For the next 3 years, when I decide to purchase, I want it to be as if the AFFC was doing the buying."
"Wow, Colonel Mitchell, you want the entire cake and eat it too. I really don't see my higher ups going for this deal." Colonel Patterson said, as he made some notes.
"And why would they balk Patterson? I am giving them a 200 million dollar discount to be able to purchase sooner than I normally could. 200 million just for the "right" to get stuff sooner. I am still paying fair market value for everything, I just don't want to wait behind the big dogs for my toys. I am not asking for a discount on anything, just the ability to "cut in line" on purchases. It will cost the AFFC nothing expect a HPG message to a manufacturer."
"You type the message up Mitchell and I will send it."
Colonel Mitchell opened a folder on his desk and took out a already typed up letter, he handed this across to Colonel Patterson. "It is all in this letter Colonel."
Taking the letter, Colonel Patterson read it, it said exactly what Mitchell had just told him. Sliding the letter into his briefcase, he then stood "I will send it out today"
-
Trading clan mechs for some good inner sphere mechs?
-
Yeah, those 10 put me at 21 Clan Omni Mechs total. I have another 8 Clan 2nd Line Mechs. In addition, almost every Mech I have is using some kind of Clan weapon, some all Clan weapon, my Heavy armor company Manticore is modified all Clan weapons. Not so much trading as being able to "justify" fielding a bunch of newly released Mechs even before House armies.
So, supplying what I have is already getting to be a chore. I had to think long and hard, I almost kept all the Daishi as they use standard armor, same for the Loki. But right now, I am super on the heavy weight scale. Once I un-mothball my previous captured Talons and Vipers, I will be able to fully field a swift powerful "Lightning" company, I will even be upgrading the Talons (think I have 6-8 of them) with some Clan spec weapons. I still field some older 3025 Mechs with single heat sinks but have Clan Spec weapons on them. About 12 actually. They worked well, but new versions are out with Double Heat Sinks and such.
Plus the cash never hurts me. Besides, almost a year to go on this contract, who knows maybe my dice rolls will score me another big battle. I am mainly training up my BA troops. Got a ways to go before they all reach regular status. I do not put green into the field unless I must. I have been deleting all the MekHQ generated battles...…damn thing is generating like 3-6 battles each week. Each battle has roughly a star of Omni in the dang Trinary she throws at my lances.
I am trying to be "realistic" in my play. So I am thinking logistics first.
-
After this Contract I will be doing a full TOE re-organization and listing.
-
November 14, 3053
Colonel Mitchell sat in his office waiting for the ex Viper commander to be brought to him. He had just been released from the hospital with a clean bill of health. He needed to get a feel for this guy. Jared was also in the room waiting.
The door finally opened after a short knock and in walked the ex-Viper commander dressed in a set of Raider coveralls. He drew himself to attention and smartly saluted.
"Star Colonel Horace Andrews reporting as ordered." Colonel Mitchell waited a few seconds before returning the salute and answering.
"Take a seat Andrews." As Andrews sat down, Mitchell could tell he bristled at the no rank, but said nothing. "I called you here to find out if I am going to have a problem with you and your people, some of our previously captured Clan people had trouble adapting, we released those people on Outreach with the Dragoons. So, am I going to have trouble with anyone?"
"Neg Colonel, you bargained well and defeated us in a honorable battle. You did not use normal Freebirth tactics of ambush but met us in open battle. Though you did not fight with Zell, you and your warriors fought well. I and my people are yours to command."
"That is good to hear, but I caution you and your people on using the terms Freebirth and Freeborn. It will take some hard work to remove those words from your normal usage. Pretty sure you will not like being called a Test Tube Baby." That caused Andrews to stiffen and his face flushed with anger, Jared could not hold it back and cracked up laughing, which made Andrews even madder.
"Forgive Captain Jared Merrill, he used to be a Wolf, now he is a Raider. He once sat in front of me, just as you are, and called me a Freebirth. I replied with better than a Test Tube Baby. He reacted much the same way you are. Now I consider him one of my closest friends. I apologize calling you that, but you need to know where you stand from now on."
Andrews calmed himself before talking again "Aff, I understand and will do my best to refrain and will so advise my, correction your new members."
"Jared has briefed me on Clan Viper ways, and how your Touman did not include any Freeborn as warriors, we have many in this unit. I needed to get that out in the open for you. As of now, you are a Captain in the Phantom Raiders, all former Viper personnel report to you. Capt Jared will work with you on getting your people briefed in, I am not ready to field any of you as warriors, yet, but ask Jared he will give you info you desire. Your people will assist wherever needed. Jared will have daily assignments for you to detail out. Any questions?"
"Neg Colonel, I nor our new people will let you down, we are Raiders now."
"Good to hear, Jared, take Capt Andrews to supply and get him outfitted. Make arrangements and see that our new folks are taken care of."
-
December 22, 3053
Chahar
A knock at the door brought Colonel Mitchell's head up from the paperwork he was working on, seeing Colonel Patterson, he waved him to a seat and put away from the paperwork.
"What can I do for you Colonel Patterson?"
"I thought I would swing by and deliver AFFC Commands response to your letter in person. I am surprised but they agreed to everything. They request that you submit purchases thru them and they will make the arrangements for you with manufacturers. You pay the manufacturers directly."
"Well how about that, it is going to be a Merry Xmas after all. I have my first purchase ready to go, I heard rumors of new Dropship about to hit the market. Please relay to AFFC Command that I would like to have 2 Hercules Dropships as soon as possible please. I believe the money from our salvage will cover the bill nicely." Mitchell said with a cat ate the canary smile on his face.
Clearly shocked Colonel Patterson took a second to compose himself "How did you know about them, the first Dropships are slated to go to AFFC Regimental Combat Teams, they need them badly."
Colonel Mitchell leaned back in his chair "I hear things, but they agreed so I am cutting in line, I am buying 2 of them and would like them as soon as possible."
"Colonel Mitchell, I will relay your purchase to AFFC Command, but be assured they are going to be a little pissed about the security slip and that you are cutting in line, as you say, in front of them."
"Thank You Colonel Patterson, now I really must get back to this paperwork."
-
"Once I un-mothball my previous captured Talons and Vipers, I will be able to fully field a swift powerful "Lightning" company, I will even be upgrading the Talons (think I have 6-8 of them) with some Clan spec weapons. I still field some older 3025 Mechs with single heat sinks but have Clan Spec weapons on them. "
hmm as part of the un mothballing process you could probably do heatsink rebuilds, or if you can recruit enough techs/astechs locally the entire process could be part of class, heck start a votech school, you get labor, they learn, then when you move on the AFFC has a trained tech unit to handle whatever and you recruit a few of the best to go with you
-
I currently employ 1306 local Astechs. Got a pretty big Votech school going as it is, they are getting lots of work repairing all the battle damage and such. I only have 286 Astechs on full time staff. Future plans are to have all armor, infantry personnel cross trained as Astechs.
-
jeeeez
you have enough manpower to upgrade and rebuild a company in 24 hours or so
heck if you get enough of the right components you could do full mech assemblies from parts alone
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January 25, 3054
Chahar
Colonel Mitchell was once again in his office but today he did not mind the paperwork for things were looking up. He had received word that his Dropships would be delivered to Chahar on May 7, 3054. He also got a message from AFFC Command that they were retiring a Invader Jumpship that only had 300 years on her. He arranged a short term loan (10 years) for the 300 million it would cost. Only 20 years ago the Invader had undergone a complete over haul so was in top shape. It would arrive June 3054.
Yesterday he had placed an order for 12 Gauss Rommel's (his mechanics had a Clan Gauss ready for each of them and 4 tons ammo) and for 12 Patton (his mechanics had come up with a Clan LBX10 modification that would pack 2 tons slug and 2 tons cluster and also had a Clan LRM 10 in the turret with 2 tons ammo they would perform). He also placed an order for 12 Sturmfeur Assault tanks that would be modified at the factory to his specifications, already 3 of his top Mechanics and 36 Clan LRM 20 were on the way to the factory. The new tanks would have 3 (C) LRM20 installed in turret with 9 tons of ammo stored in the body in CASE.
Soon after arriving at Chahar, he had placed an order for 4 new Corsair fighters (and had been told it would be over a year before delivery, hence his deal with the AFFC). 2 Slayer had arrived that were bought at a Mercenary Auction, and 4 New Sparrowhawks were finally on the way, another (it will be a year BS). This would bring the unit up to a short Wing of Aerospace. The Corsair and Sparrowhawks would arrive in March June 3054.
The final piece of his current plan finally arrived with a knock on the door frame.
"Mike (Major Mike Spencer the infantry BN commander), come in and have a seat. I have a mission for you."
"Yes sir, and what would this mission entail."
"I need you to head for Outreach. I need you to start a recruitment drive, I need a Battalion of tank crewmen, more exp the better of course. You will also recruit 2 BN of Infantry, you are going to be the Infantry Regiment commander so choose wisely. You will also take a Elemental point with you, they are going to help select new candidates for BA school. Once our boys see combat we will need replacements in the pipeline so that is their mission. Also you will escorting the Daishi to Colonel Wolf of the Dragoons. You will present him with this letter. Await his answer. The letter is sealed and for his eyes only. You will also take delivery of 200 suits of Standard BA while there. Our mission here ends in November, so I need the process started ASAP. If we are lucky, we can all link up at our next duty station."
"Yes sir, you know this mission sucks right?"
"Yes, yes I do. But you have been with me longer than anyone else on the command staff. Your basically my XO, we have never needed one before but we are growing leaps and bounds so we might have to make it official soon. You have my trust and full faith to make the hard choices while there. I plan to field 2 heavy tank BN, the Hover company. A full Infantry Regiment, your call on make up for now. Your Battalion already has the Goblin support company in it. Each new Battalion will have a support company in it. In addition, we will field probably a full Mech Regiment of 3 Battalions. We have 81 Mechs right now, we hold off on pilots for now, we have the ex-Viper pilots when we need them. Emil is sending his right hand man along and he will help you on the support side. We are massively weak on support. We need support vehicles, support troops and such. That is his task, but he reports to you."
"Tall orders boss. But I will get it done."
"I know you will, take the Crow (Seeker Dropship), she is already prepping for launch. You leave in 2 days. The Orbital folks have arranged a partial Command Circuit that will have you on Outreach in less than 3 months."
-
I don't scrimp on the tail if I can afford it. Every Mech, Vehicle, Aerospace etc has a tech/mechanic assigned to them. Each Company has an Elite Tech and 2 Vet techs as floaters. I have another 20 green Mech Techs and 8 Mechanics to assist in battle damage.
-
July 7, 3054
Chahar
Colonel Mitchell stood on the ridge watching a full Trinary of Omni Mechs rapidly approaching his position, beside him Capt Marshall stood tall as ever in his BA. As they watched, the BA began deploying from the Trinary. Both began engaging targets and within minutes it was over.
"They look good Capt Marshall, are they combat ready?"
"The pups are as ready for combat as I can make them. Only true battle will sort them out, not unless you let me put them thru full Clan Trials."
"No, we are not going that route. I know it turns out fine or even great warriors, but I do not think it will work well for us. Even if we did, out of 90 candidates, how many do you think would pass?"
"No more than 25 would make warrior. Probably be closer to 10."
"So you spent over a year training these people almost every day and we would get 10-25 troops out of 90. See at that pace we would never fill out the forces we plan on fielding."
"You asked, I answered sir. I agree it would make our task that much harder, I would lead this group into battle at any time you wish. They are good soldiers, not true warriors but good soldiers. They have done all that I have asked of them during training."
"Good, our contract here is almost over. I got word from Outreach that Mike has recruited a full Battalion of infantry and is putting them thru the paces, he wants to fill out a Jump Infantry Battalion also. He also has recruited 2 companies worth of tank crews. He has had over 800 applicants, so far he is about 1/2 way thru the stack. Your people have about 60 selected for BA training. So get your trainers ready for a new crop of pups."
-
August 19, 3054
Chahar
"Colonel, we have a HPG message from AFFC Command, your eyes only."
"Okay, give it here." Colonel Mitchell accepted the message slip and dismissed the runner. Opening it, he was surprised to find a contract offer in it.
Jade Falcon
Relief Duty
Golandrinas
5 months
100% Transport
100% Damage Compensation
Independent Command
Start Date Oct 10, 3054
But the part that kept drawing his eye was the whopping 90% salvage. It was unheard of lately. AFFC was mainly offering exchange rights, or low percentage under 40%. It meant the unit could basically keep everything it killed or made off with. But 5 months behind enemy lines. That was the part that worried him.
Picking up the phone, he said "Call an immediate commanders meeting, my office 30 minutes."
-
August 19, 3054
Chahar
The conference room was packed with all the units commanders, there was quiet talk as all eyes stared at the Star Map with Golandrinas circled on it. The talk silenced as Colonel Mitchell entered.
"Okay everyone, I see everyone has spotted the big red circle on the map. It is behind enemy lines, we would have to use uninhabited systems to have a prayer of getting that deep. We have been offered a contract by the AFFC for 5 months of Relief Duty. It is everything one could want in a contract and more, they are offering 90% salvage."
At the mention of 90% salvage, the room exploded with talking.
"Easy folks, there is a reason they are offering that kind of salvage. There is at least a full Galaxy of Falcon troops within 2-3 jumps of that world. Odds are slim of anyone getting out alive. But, I really think we have a shot. One, we have been fighting the Clans since the beginning. Two, almost all of our Mechs feature Clan weapons. Three, we are just dumb enough to do it. No one would have expected us to survive the way we did for those first 3 years, deep behind enemy lines, surrounded by an enemy that so out gunned us it was not even funny. But we did, and we grew and we won and we survived.
Now I am going to accept this contract, but only combat personnel and combat support will be going. Tech teams will be pared down to the minimum. I want supplies for an extended campaign loaded up. Draw from the AFFC storehouses if we have to. We will be on our own there, so we are going to use every trick we can to get planetside safely and away again. Once we hit the ground, I expect the garrison to call for help. And no telling who or what will arrive to help them. So let's get cracking people, we have to leave within 2 weeks to arrive on our target date."
As the commanders left the room Colonel Mitchell called out "Emil I need you for a minute in my office."
Once the 2 men were in the office, Colonel Mitchell turned and asked "Is our secret weapons combat ready for a sustained fight?"
"Yes sir, they have been practicing with them in the back forty. They enter and leave in the dark. We have good ammo stock for them."
"Good, we are going to need them. I know you were not keen on me buying them when I found them, but they are going to be our ace in the hole."
-
August 19, 3054
Chahar
Colonel Mitchell was just leaving HQ for his quarters when he saw Capt Horace Andrews approaching fast.
"Colonel can I talk to you?"
"Sure but it has to be on my way to the mess hall, I am starving. So what's on your mind Capt."
"Sir, I heard you are going to be hitting a Falcon world. I request permission for me and my people to travel with you and if possible to take the field. The Falcon's are old enemies of the Viper, I know we are not Viper's any longer, but the hate for Falcons runs deep."
"Look Capt Andrews, I appreciate the offer, but I do not have the spare Mechs or BA for all your people...…."
Capt Andrews interrupted "Sir, we can act as replacements for wounded, we can assist in repairs and if need be fight as infantry. We must be given the honor of going into battle, we must prove our loyalty to you and the others. That we are fully Raiders now."
"Okay Capt Andrews, get your people together and report to Emil, he will direct you in what needs to be done and where you all will ride. I will inform Jared, so he might come looking for you."
Capt Horace Andrews drew himself to the best position of attention he ever did and saluted his new commander "Aff Colonel, we will not let you down."
-
August 30, 3054
Chahar
"Colonel Patterson, it has been a pleasure working with you the past year and a half. Maybe we will work with each other again some day." Colonel Mitchell meant every word of it, Patterson had been easy to work with and always helpful.
"Colonel Mitchell, I too must say it was a pleasure working with you and your people. It is a rare Mercenary unit that is easy to work with, your unit is one of them. I must confess, when I saw this was your first contract as a Mercenary unit and had a "checkered" past, well I was ready for the worst. I have seen that your people staying here are quartered, I see you are leaving the 2 Hercules here, those also will be kept safe."
Colonel Mitchell reached into his pocket and withdrew a sealed envelope "In this envelope is everything that needs to be done if this mission goes wrong. I sent a similar one to Major Spencer on Outreach." With that he handed the sealed envelope to Colonel Patterson.
"I hope I get to give this back to you at the end of this mission. I will see that everything is handled."
"After my Jumpships are recharged at our destination, I am sending them back here to await our extraction date. Well it is time to board and launch, see you soon Patterson."
-
So what's your TO&E look like now going into this contract?
-
Hefty, working it up now. How do we want it, full break down by lance or just a rough TOE count? By lance is going to long.
Rough breakdown:
Command Company
2 Mech Battalions
Assault Company
Full Trinary (Mech)
Heavy Armor Company (12 Manticore (C) ERPPC, 2 SSRM4)
Hover Company
Infantry Battalion (includes Goblin (C) LPL support company)
Full Elemental Trinary
Full IS Standard Trinary (5 squads per platoon)
6 extra BA squads
3 Full Aero Squadrons
28 Omni Mechs
79 Mechs (65 armed with Clan Weapons)
Part of my force I have not crewed so not using them. 12 Gauss Rommel, 12 Patton, 2 Hercules, Invader Jumpship.
115 MechWarrior
171 BA Pilots
252 Armor crew
152 Mech Techs
59 Mechanics
30 BA Techs
283 Astechs with 1340 local hires (I am running this contract astech light, so maintenance could be a problem.
336 Infantry (going on mission, 2nd Battalion created and staffed but on Outreach so I have to pay them)
Support Battalion staffed but mothballed most equipment (on Outreach, people being paid)
Current payroll roughly 3.2 mil
-
Nope that's cool.
Your "assault" company runs independently?
-
Currently in it's own company attached to the Mech Regiment. They plug any breaches in my line. Since I fight large battles it works. I cannot believe MekHQ actually gave me this contract. The Salvage might be mind blowing.
-
October 12, 3054
Golandrinas
The Phantom Raiders emerged at the Zenith jump point on October 4, 3054. Lucky for them, no other space traffic was detected. Detaching their Dropships, they began the 4.9 day burn to the planet. The unit grounded on October 9 at the planets space port and overran the Falcon garrison there. A 2nd line Trinary of Mechs and a infantry Trinary put up a spirited defense but were just overwhelmed by the Raiders. The Raiders suffered 1 Mech loss (Panther (C) destroyed Gyro) and 6 infantry were killed in the assault. A Bombardier 12D and a Cestus were salvaged as repairable, a Vulture, 2 Vixen, 2 Conjurer, 3 Peregrine were pure salvage, techs were already stripping the hulks down for any salvageable parts. Best of all 3 Donar VTOL, 4 Anhur VTOL and 2 Avar B Aerospace were captured at the space port.
Colonel Mitchell studied a captured Falcon map and turned to Capt Marshall, "Take our fast Omni Star, your BA star and the Lightning Company (6 Talon, 6 Vixen) take out this out post here" he tapped the map, "shows to be an infantry trinary, you can batchall if you desire or just take them out, your choice, it is 400km away so that would put you there roughly 6 hours from now."
"Aff, I will leave right now, we could be there faster if we could trust the Falcon VTOL pilots, but since they are not Bondsmen, they would just as soon crash us into the ground."
"Don't take chances Marshall, if the Falcons have more than you can handle, pull back and call for help."
"Aff, I will call if it is too much for my force to handle."
"Good, hit the road and get it done, I am going to have the captured VTOL and Aero taken back to the Jumships for transport back to Chahar. We do not have pilots for them anyway. Now we wait for the Falcon response to our presence. Also sending back the Panther (C) as Emil says we don't have a spare gyro anyway"
Losses:
Panther (C) (Gyro)
6 KIA (Infantry)
Captured:
Bombardier 12D (repairable)
Cestus (repairable)
3 Donar Recon VTOL (intact)
4 Anhur VTOL (intact)
2 Avar B (intact)
2 Vixen (salvage)
1 Vulture (salvage)
2 Conjurer (salvage)
3 Peregrine (salvage)
-
October 24, 3054
Golandrinas
The Raiders Jumpships left the system yesterday for the return to Chahar. The Union was on it's way back from delivering the equipment to the Jumpships. 1 Day out from the planet, the Union detected a jump signature at the Nadir Jump Point, a very small jump signature.
Colonel Mitchell and Jared studied the message "Wonder if they detected our leaving Jumpships?" Colonel Mitchell mused. "I know danged well it has detected our Union heading in. We have not heard any communication from it so far. Send for Matra (ex Viper Dropship commander) maybe he can tell us what it might be."
"Yes sir, it could be just passing thru the system."
2 hours later, Matra studied the jump signature "Has to be a Hunter Jumpship, signature that small. It has a HPG on board so it probably sent out a message. It could be wither a LF Battery one, which means we have no prayer of capture or it could be recharging. Either way, I would say we can expect a response soon."
Colonel Mitchell thought for a few minutes "How long do you think we have for a response Matra?"
"There are several planets within a single jump of here that we know have substantial garrison forces. Wotan, Black Earth, Malibu, Somerset. If they have Jumpships standing by, call it a week for the fastest response, Wotan. It has the quickest travel to Jump Point, only 3 days time. 3 days to prep for launch and load the response, 3 days to jump point, and they are here."
-
Okay, question for everyone...…...What kind of response do we think the Falcons would have to my "invasion"? Single Cluster, 2 Cluster, Galaxy? Short of an orbital bombardment that is.
There are 4 frontline Clusters close by (3 within a single jump of me) 4th is 2 jumps. I guess I could hail the jumpship and toss down a "come and take it" challenge.
Or would they send say the Peregrine Solmalha at me? Even though any of my companies would eat their mech force for lunch......the 150 elementals might give me some trouble. I would even trial for their Jumpships and 9 Union C assigned to them. LOL
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October 25, 3054
Golandrinas
0500 hours
Colonel Mitchell was awakened with a radio call from Capt Marshall "Capt Marshall, what is your situation?"
"Area secure sir, we have taken the outpost, no losses on our side. We captured 2 more Anhur, and we appropriated some civilian hover transports to haul back the captured Falcons. The Anhurs I have a point of BA in each ready to blow the Falcon pilots to bits if they try anything. We are returning to base now."
"Great, I was getting nervous with no word."
"We took our time, caught most of the Falcons asleep, only took out the guards and most survived that."
"Look forward to your return, we might have company soon."
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October 27, 3054
Golandrinas
In the early morning, out of no where a patrol from A Company, 1st Mech Battalion was ambushed by a Falcon Trinary and Elemental Star. Within minutes a Raider Thunderbolt TDR-5SE was destroyed. The other 3 mechs fought a desperate retreat until help could arrive. Bounding from heavy wood cover to heavy wood cover they managed to hold on until the rest of A Company arrived. There the tide turned in Raider favor. A Company only had 1 Mech (Thunderbolt 5SE) without Clan weapons.
During the ensuing melee, several Raider mechs sustained serious damage, but they did more damage to the Falcon's. Several Falcon Mechs escaped the carnage.
Raider Losses
Thunderbolt 5SE
Quickdraw QKD-5A (C) (gyro destroyed)
Falcon Losses
Ryoken (Total loss engine explosion)
Wolfhound 1B (salvage)
Ryoken (captured repairable)
Talon 5W (captured repairable)
Hellhound (salvage)
Ryoken (salvage)
Griffin 2N (salvage)
Sentinal (salvage)
Prisoners
6 Mechwarriors
16 Elementals
"I want to know where that unit came from Jared. Was it part of the planets garrison and if so how many more are there. Or is this a new unit that slipped in without us knowing? You question these new prisoners. I want answers. Double the guards and double the patrols. Lightning Company to be on ready alert, 10 min notice for rapid response. In the morning I want a standing CAP over this base and combat patrol scouting 200km around this base at all times."
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The falcons are not going to know your force composition.
So I would guess a full frontline cluster, I don't think any more than that as they would assume it is a raid.
The Falcons are very arrogant so they will consider that force more than enough.
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They gonna get curb stomped then. I will chew up a single Cluster. Even with Elite pilots in them. I think I have 6 Mechwarriors at Reg, rest are Vet or Elite. Their Aero Trinary might give me some problems but I will chew up their ground formations.
Guess they will send more after I chew that one up.
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and generally, without an adult in the room (a khan for instance)
the green birdies aren't known for thinking ahead or cooperating with other commands
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October 29, 3054
Golandrinas
A knock at the door brought Colonel Mitchell's head up, Capt Marshall stood in the doorway, behind him he could see a man in dirty fatigues escorted by 2 of Marshall's Elementals.
"What have we got here Capt?"
"Sir, this man approached the front gate and asked, demanded to see the commanding officer. He is quite irritating."
"Well, bring him in and let's see what he has to say."
With that Capt Marshall moved into the room to make way and one of the Elementals gave the man a "light" shove into the office.
Colonel Mitchell studied the man before him, he was dressed in what were once FedCom fatigues or what looked to be the remains of them. He was dirty and skin and bones.
"What can I do for you mister, I am Colonel Mitchell of the Phantom Raiders, and you are?"
"Sir, I am Hauptmann Kluge, I lead a guerrilla force of roughly company strength. That last Falcon force that hit you were closing in on our small camp, when they suddenly turned and headed here at full speed. I followed at a distance to see what was going on. I watched what I now see was a small fraction of your strength slice the Falcons apart. Yesterday I received a message on my Black Box, I am MI4, informing me that you were sent as relief. I was sent here in 3050 right before the Falcons hit. I have been on the run and doing what I can ever since."
"So you are what we were sent in as relief to. And you have a black box so you can communicate with higher ups. How interesting. Command never told me who was here for us to act as relief to or we would have been looking for you."
"Yes sir, I can communicate with command, it takes longer than normal HPG, but messages get thru."
"Well, how about you take Capt Marshall and some of his people and collect your people and bring them in. Capt Marshall, think you can convince those 2 Falcon VTOL pilots to fly you out?
"Yes sir, I think I can convince them to be on their best behavior."
It was then that Kluge interrupted "Sir, no offense but any of my people see Elementals and they are going to open fire or run like the wind. It would be best if I return in my car and collect them."
"And how far might your band be?"
"2 days travel to get there, probably 2 days to gather/convince everyone, 2 days back here."
"So a week, there are Falcons still about Kluge. I am not going to risk you solo. I am going to send a company of my Infantry and my Infantry Support Company with you. How many people we picking up?"
"There are 83 of us left"
"They can carry that easily. Capt Marshall I want you to take your Binary Nova and escort them at a distance, never more than 1 hour away. If they get in trouble, I want some serious firepower close by."
"Yes sir, I will make the arrangements and we will leave at first light."
-
November 4, 3054
Golandrinas
Alpha Company and Infantry Support Company (12 Goblin (C)) were on the way back to Raider Base with the surviving members of the resistance. Suddenly incoming fire struck the lead Goblin, light damage was taken, as 4 Falcon Mechs (Hellhound, 2 Vixen, Peregrine) emerged from the tree line and rushed the rapidly deploying Support Company.
By the time Support Company deployed from column, the Falcon Mechs were among them, but that just made it easier for the Support Company, 1st Platoon focused on the Peregrine and all 4 CLPL and SRM6 struck home on the hapless mech, which was destroyed in the first volley. They engaged the 2nd Vixen next and quickly destroyed it.
2nd Platoon focused on a Vixen, which went down in 2 volleys and the Clan pilot ejected.
3rd Platoon engaged the Hellhound, which proved to be a hard target, but ultimately the combined fire of the entire Company and the deployed Infantry Company brought down the Mech. No vehicles were lost, but many sustained some damage.
The battle was over before Capt Marshall arrived with his "escort" Binary. His appearance caused some serious apprehension on the resistance survivors, but they calmed down as their Infantry Escort calmly mingled with the hulking Elementals as they secured the immediate area while temporary repairs were made to the most seriously damaged Goblins. Several hours passed and the now combined force resumed the journey back to Raider Base.
Notes: These are the last escaped Falcon Mechs from the previous battle. Even though they escaped heavily damaged, I allowed them to fight this engagement at full strength.
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They attacked your force frontally? I would have gone for H&R from the tree line if I had a lance of mechs and had to deal with so many vehicles with significant firepower.
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Actually they came at me from the side, but Princess charged right into point blank range. I was more worried about dang engine explosions than anything.
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November 4, 3054
Golandrinas
The Falcon radio net in HQ started squawking today.
"This is Star Colonel Kristen Redmond of the 94th Striker, we are inbound to assist in repelling the scum who dared attack our world."
"This is Colonel Mitchell of the Phantom Raiders, it's about time you green chickens showed up, we have been getting bored down here."
"You dare speak to me in that way?"
"Not dare, I just did. It's the only way I know how to speak to chickens and wanna be warriors. So, you gonna issue a batchall or ask for Safecon?"
"You are not worthy of those rights scum, I will destroy all of you."
"Big talk, okay so this will be a fight to the death then, your funeral. So I will assume your gonna use everything you got, that means I get to use all I got. Yep, your all gonna die. The Vipers were at least smarter than you seem to be the last time I fought them."
"It is your who are going to die Freebirth"
"Yes, I am Freeborn and proud of it, better than being a test tube baby. They probably spilled your test tube a few times while cooking you up. You might want to go ahead and call your higher ups and tell them to send more troops now, because once you land, your not leaving here. I would hate to have to spend anymore time here than I must and you chickens are kind of slow on response times. If they start now, they might get here before we bury you."
"You will die for those remarks Freebirth."
"The name is Mitchell, remember it for the rest of your short life Redmond. So the bid is all of you versus the all of us. Inform your Dropships that they have a new boss. They just have not met him yet, but they will soon. I would say your Jumpships have a new boss too, but they will probably run scared, like the chickens you are." Turning to Jared, "I think I have pissed her off enough, don't you."
Jared had a smirk on his face "She is a Falcon commander, they have no sense of humor boss. She will hit the ground and come right at us, she might even do a orbital drop right on us here."
"Jared, if she does an orbital drop on us here, it will be a massacre. For them that is. Call up Aero and have them send up a squadron, let's see what we are up against. Hate to have a warship shell us. Now that would suck."
"Redmond, I think we are done talking for now, but I will keep this radio on in case you chicken out at the last moment and want to ask for Safecon or surrender. See you real soon. Mitchell out."
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You have a way with words that just brings out the best in all clanners. >:D :D :thumbsup:
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Figured if there was one Clan I could rile easy besides the Jags it would be the Green Chickens.
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November 8, 3054
Golandrinas
The Falcons landed today 250km from the Raiders base at the space port. Colonel Mitchell led his Command Company, 2nd Mech Battalion, Assault Company, Omni Trinary and Marshall's Elemental Trinary out to meet the Falcons.
Guarding Raider Base was 1st Mech Battalion, Armor Battalion, Infantry Battalion and Standard BA Company of 20 squads.
During the Falcons flight to the planet, the Raiders Aerospace wing played games with the Falcons, forcing them to deploy their fighter Trinary and burn up precious fuel.
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November 9, 3054
Golandrinas
The battle lasted 5 hours and was fiercely fought by both sides. The Falcons came on in a mad rush and Zell was out the window on the first shots. The Falcons fielded 4 Trinary's of Mechs and a Trinary of Elementals. It was almost a even fight, but Colonel Mitchell unleashed his "secret" weapon. 2 Naga that he found on the Mercenary Auction block. They missed more than they hit but they did their job.
C Company 2nd Mech (Lightening Company) swept around the flanks of the Falcons and poured fire into the rear armor of the Falcons. The Assault Company and A Company 2nd Mech bore the brunt of the Falcon attack. 5 Assault Company Mechs were completely destroyed, the other 7 will be weeks in repairs, A Company 2nd Mech got hit hard, 8 of their Mechs were destroyed. Phantom Command Company plugged the gap created when A Company started to fall apart and lost 2 Mechs destroyed.
B Company 2nd Mech slammed into the Falcon left flank and began rolling them up, at the same time Omni Trinary slammed into the right flank and dumped the Elemental Trinary right into the Falcon lines. It was a costly fight, but the Raiders won.
Raider Losses:
Phantom Command
2 Mechs destroyed (Man O War, Ryoken) (1 KIA, 4 WIA)
A Company 2nd Mech
8 Mechs destroyed (3 Thunderbolt 7M, 1 Ostroc, 1 Archer 4M, 2 Thug 11E, 1 Black Knight)
(4 KIA, 7 WIA
B Company 2nd Mech
4 Mechs Destroyed (1 Griffin 2N, 2 Shadow Hawk 2K, 1 Trebuchet) (2 KIA, 6 WIA)
C Company 2nd Mech
5 Mechs destroyed (2 Talon (C), 3 Vixen) (1KIA, 8 WIA)
Assault Company
5 Mechs destroyed (1 Battlemaster, 2 Thug 11E (C), 1 Emperor 6A, 1 Kingfisher) (1 KIA, 7 WIA)
Omni Trinary
4 Mechs destroyed (2 Loki, 1 Vulture, 1 Mad Cat) (8 WIA)
Elemental Trinary
31 suits destroyed (9 KIA, 22 WIA)
Falcon Losses
Everything
Captured Falcon Repairable
2 Daishi
3 Turkina
4 Mad Cat
6 Thor
5 Man O War
3 Loki
2 Supernova
4 Ryoken
Captured Falcon Salvage
1 Daishi
3 Mad Cat
4 Ryoken
5 Thor
3 Vulture
1 Turkina
3 Puma
6 Koshi
Captured
27 Mechwarriors
43 Elementals
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November 9, 3054
Golandrinas
Star Colonel Redmond had been located and brought to Colonel Mitchell. She was aged for a Falcon warrior, she had a bandage on her arm and around her head. She was defiant, but defeated as she stood before Colonel Mitchell.
"Well Redmond, I told you that you would not leave here alive." This caused the Star Colonel to stiffen. "But I have decided you will leave here alive, I am not taking any of you as bondsman, I am sending you all home so you can tell everyone how you got defeated. Warn them that the Phantom Raiders are not your average Freebirth unit. We have fought and won many times against Clan forces. I am taking your Overlord C and 2 of your Union C as Isolora, you will be sent home in your 3rd Union C. Tell them all Redmond, yell it if you must, tell them the Phantom Raiders are alive and well, we are on the prowl and you never know when or where we will show up."
With that Colonel Mitchell waved to the Elemental guards to take her away. "Load them all up after the doctors patch them up and send them away."
As the Elementals led Remond away, Jared and Marshall arrived.
"Let's get our everything taken back to Raider Base. I want to see Kluge as soon as we get back, it is time to send a balck box message to AFFC Command and get the heck out of here. It might be a month or more before the Jumpships are here, so we have to be ready for anything."
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November 12, 3054
Golandrinas
It has been 3 days since the Falcon Battle, repairs were proceeding well on the damaged Mechs. 1/2 the newly captured Mechs would not be able to be repaired easily and would have to wait for the unit's return to AFFC lines.
Doctors reported that 3 Mechwarriors would never pilot Mechs again, 5 of the wounded Mechwarriors would be out for up to 90 days. 2 of the Elemental lost limbs.
Colonel Mitchell walked to the ex-Viper area and found Capt Andrews detailing his people to help with repairs. Spotting his CO, Andrews dismissed his people and saluted "What may I do for you Colonel"
"Capt Andrews, I am activating your people, including you. You pick the very best you got. I will have assignments for them within the next 2 hours. It is time, I don't think I will be able to field everyone this go around, but I need replacement pilots and Elementals."
"Aff, Colonel we will not let you down."
Returning to HQ, he called Jared and Marshall into his office "I am activating the ex-Vipers. Marshall see that the Elementals are armed and fill out your empty slots. Jared, work up who needs what on the Mech side and detail the new Mech warriors into machines and let's fill out our forces."
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November 22, 3054
Golandrinas
"This is Star Colonel Devinnia Guilli of the 89th Falcon Striker Cluster to Colonel Mitchell."
"This is Colonel Mitchell, I am ready for your Batchall Star Colonel"
"With what will you defend with?"
"Just myself, If I win I request Heigra for me and my unit. If I lose, I still want Heigra for my unit, I will submit to you."
"Star Colonel Redmond said you knew our ways. Why should I grant you this?"
"Look Star Colonel, I already destroyed 1 Falcon Cluster and the garrison here, there has been enough killing on this planet. I would prefer to just go home. If you do not accept my Challenge then I will be forced to defend with everything I have. I would prefer not to risk anymore of my people over this planet. My mission here is done, we just want to leave. Destroying your Cluster does not ensure my people safe passage back home. I would prefer not to lose my people to a warship, so I have Challenged you to single combat, only I will be at risk."
"I accept your Challenge Colonel Mitchell."
"I grant you Safcon to the planet, I will meet you when you land Star Colonel."
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November 27, 3054
Golandrinas
Star Colonel Guilli's Thor stood on the west side of the large field, behind her was her entire Cluster.
Colonel Mitchell also piloting a Thor for this fight, was on the east side of the field, behind him was his entire unit except the Infantry Battalion and Infantry Support Company, he left those behind to keep his Dropships secure. Just in case.
"Shall we start Star Colonel Guilli?"
"Aff Colonel Mitchell, may the best warrior win today." With that said literally both mechs leaped into the air at the same time, Guilli advancing and Mitchell leaping left. Guilli fired and 1 CERLL hit Mitchell on the left arm. Mitchell fired and hit 2 CERLL, 1 hit left torso, 1 hit center torso.
Guilli landed and leaped again firing, 1 CERLL hit Mitchell left arm again. This blew internal. "Damn she is good" Mitchell said to himself as he fired. Both CERLL struck true, 1 hit left torso, 1 right leg. This time the hits must have thrown off her landing as Guilli fell on landing. As she rose, Mitchell fired again, 1 CERLL struck the right leg again, and 2 CERML struck home, 1 center torso, 1 left torso. Guilli Mech staggered and the right leg seemed very stiff to Mitchell's eye.
Guilli fired and 2 CERLL and 2 CERML all struck Mitchell's Thor, 1 CERLL to right arm, 1 CERLL to right torso, CERML to left leg, CERML struck Mitchell's Thor's head. The hit really shook Mitchell in his couch. But he returned fire, everything struck home, Guilli right leg snapped off at the knee and her mech toppled over.
"Yield Star Colonel, your mech is crippled, please don't make me do this."
"I am a Falcon, we never yield." She fired as she said this, 1 CERLL striking Mitchell on the right arm. Taking careful aim, aided by the targeting computer, Mitchell fired...……………...everything struck Guilli's left leg and almost chopped it off. Mitchell hit the jump jets just as Guilli fired again. 1 CERLL struck him center torso and a CERML struck left arm, barely a thread held the arm together, critical hit, the arm stiffened.
Carefully aiming again, Mitchell fired, Guilli left leg was blown completely off. "Please yield Star Colonel, the fight is over, I can stand behind you where you cannot fire and just shred your mech, yield."
"Aff, I yield, you have fought well and won Colonel Mitchell. I grant you Heigra. Leave here with honor."
"I would like to meet you Star Colonel Guilli, if that is allowed."
"I too would like to meet, I will come to your "base" and shall meet, once I get out of my mech."
"I will be waiting Star Colonel Guilli."
With the fight over, Colonel Mitchell switched channel's...……."Marshall, what are the odds we will get shot in the back as we leave?"
"None Colonel, the Falcons might be stubborn and easy to angry, but they honor what they bargain."
"Good then let us return to base and start packing. We got 2 weeks until the Jumpships arrive."
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November 28, 3054
Golandrinas
"Colonel, we have a Falcon Nova approaching the front gate."
"I will be right there, I assume everyone is on their toes but not doing anything overtly hostile?"
"Yes sir, everyone is on alert but weapons tight."
20 minutes later Colonel Mitchell was at the front gate. The Falcon Elementals had dismounted their rides along with a single Mech warrior who he assumed was Star Colonel Guilli. She approached the front gate as he did, Jared and Marshall at his side. A point of Falcon Elementals followed her.
"Star Colonel Guilli, I am Colonel Mitchell of the Phantom Raiders." Colonel Mitchell raised a salute to her but did not wait for her to return it as he offered her his hand.
"It is I who should salute the victor of our duel." She then saluted him and then shook his out stretched hand.
"Our Jumpships arrive in roughly 2 weeks time Star Colonel Guilli, we are already packing up and will leave you the base in as intact condition as we can make it."
"Let us drop the rank, I am Devinnia. It will get tiring constantly saying each of our rank."
"I am Scott, shall we head out of the hot sun? Your guards can come too, but you will be safe, my word of honor."
She looked back at her Elemental escort and it was obvious the point commander did not like what was unsaid. "Not far, I would not like trouble to begin."
"How about the guard shack then, it is right over there, within sight of your guards." Scott offered.
"That would be fine."
10 minutes later, both were seated on each side of a small desk. Jared and Marshall were nearby but not close enough to hear the conversation. Cold water had been brought in for both from a small cooler in the hover car that brought Colonel Mitchell to the gate. He offered her a water and she accepted. But she did not immediately take a drink.
"Your men fought bravely here, so I have been told. You and your people should be proud." Divinnia said as she took a tentative sip.
"As did the Falcons we faced. Star Colonel Redmond was a little too arrogant for my tolerance, but you seem different Divinnia."
"I am known and somewhat disliked by my treatment of Freeborn, I have more Freeborn warriors in my Cluster than any other Cluster in the Falcon Touman. I believe a Warrior should be judged by his actions not by his method of birth. You and your warriors just prove my view."
"I must confess to you Divinnia, I have a lot of Trueborn in this unit. It has taken a lot of patience and tolerance to overcome the stigma. We are not all Freeborn as you say. Both ex-Wolves and ex-Vipers."
"So, you are the ones. We heard the Vipers suffered a major defeat at the hands of a mercenary unit a few months ago, an entire Cluster just never returned." It was obvious that Divinnia had even more respect for him and his unit.
"I guess you could say that. It was not all skill, some was luck, mostly it was my technicians. They expected to fight non Clan weapons, most of my unit has Clan tech installed. I would have done the same with Redmond, but as I said, she was just too arrogant."
Changing the subject suddenly, Divinnia became more formal "I must be getting back to my unit Scott, I just wanted to meet the Warrior who bested me."
"I wanted to do the same Divinnia, my unit will be launching to link up with our Jumpships within the week, until then I will keep patrolling the immediate area. I hope you understand that I cannot risk my peoples lives needlessly."
"I would expect nothing less from a Warrior, I too will have patrols out but I will issue orders to leave your people alone and restrict my patrols our immediate landing zone."
"Then we are agreed Star Colonel Guilli. Until we meet again."
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December 9, 3054
Golandrinas
The Phantom Raiders linked up with their Jumpships and began the long journey back to Chahar to pick up the rest of the units personnel. Not even a full 3 months and the unit completed their mission. Kluge and his people left with the Raiders.
December 12,3054
Colonel Mitchell, Jared, Marshall began the task of working out a new TO&E for the Raiders. Different ideas were being tossed around. The Raiders had enough Mechs to fill out a full Regiment and then some.
Colonel Mitchell decided now was the time to broach a broad concept "I do not like the idea of being stranded on a planet or jump point if something bad happens. I am going to use a huge chunk of cash to find a Monolith Jumship and have her fitted with LF Batteries. We should be able to carry 6 Dropships on her after the refit, I been discussing it with our Jumpships chief engineer and that is what he came up with. Since we own the Clan Dropships, do we sell them for cash, keep them. Your call gentlemen, put together plans and ideas."
Capt Marshall thought for a few seconds "We could keep the Overlord C and modify if to carry 2 Mech Trinary, a Mech Binary and probably also carry 3 Trinary's of BA. And have ample cargo space to support a campaign. The life support would need a major upgrade though. I want to change the non Elemental BA point make ups. Either we go to 5 man points or 6 man points."
"Each idea I can see the plus and can probably think of some negatives Marshall. Draw up some plans and we will chew on it during the long trek to Outreach. We will be at Chahar for at least 2 weeks, and I will send some HPG messages to Mike and see how he is doing. Maybe we can get a new contract and head right to it. I am thinking a nice long garrison contract away from the Clan border for a bit."
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6 trooper squads give you quite a bit of flexibility with regard to weapon selection. 5 is harder, but you seem to have access to clan weapons, so maybe not so bad...
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I have a ton of Clan weapons from the last 5 years of the campaign. Only thing that makes me hesitate on the 6 man squad is transportation. 4 man allows me to use standard IS transports. 5 man I have to use Clan, 6 Man I will have to check.
I am soon to have to decide how many Omni to keep, I have a ton of them now.
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Oh, did you mean BA? I thought you meant non-BA (that's how I read non-Elemental)...
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Marshall is my BA commander. I have 4 stars of Elementals, and 20 squads of IS standard right now. I have another 200 suits I will be picking up soon for my next crop of BA troopers. I have 31 extra Elemental (MG) and 23 suits of Elemental (Laser) in storage as spares. Current Standard storage is 34 spares.
I been trying to decide on 4 man squads (as they are now) but am now leaning towards using multiple set ups. Squads attached to say Omni will be 5 man, if attached for say Maxim transport they stay 4 man, and use 6 man on something else.
Mech, I use 5 in Omni lance/stars...…….most line units stay 4 Mech. Vehicles I use 4 to a lance/platoon. But may change that some depending on what I decide to do about BA.
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Ah, I see now... If your 'mechs can support 5, that's definitely the way to go (unless you can get 6, of course)...
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January 5, 3055
Chahar
The Raiders arrived in system today. While the Jumpships began recharge procedures, Colonel Mitchell relayed a few messages to the planets HPG to be sent to Outreach. The units Hercules Dropships were on the surface loading the last of the units personnel and equipment.
While killing time, Colonel Mitchell reconvened the meeting to work on the unit's new TO&E.
"Okay, we received our company of modified Patton tanks, Rommel Gauss. That gives us a heavy tank Battalion. Before we left I sent Mike to Outreach, as you all know, with him I sent the Daishi as a gift to Colonel Wolf of the Dragoons along with a letter to Wolf. I got the message today that he agreed to what I was asking, I asked for a Trinary worth of Bandit (C) and a Trinary of standard Bandit, in addition we will be allowed to buy Clan Ferro in 25 ton lots from the Dragoons per month. For this we will be transferring a Star of Omni Mechs to the Dragoons."
Marshall was the first to speak "Well that is great. Sure cures the Clan Ferro issue long term. The Bandits will help immensely with BA transport. We can always modify the regular Bandit. Have you decided on squad sizes yet?"
"No, I have not. I think first we need to figure out what we keep, what we sell, trade and so on before we make a hard decision. Also, Mike found us a contract and I have already signed it. We will be garrisoning Poznan for the FedCom for the next 24 months, we land on August 8. We are going right to work people. Mike and all the folks he hired on Outreach will meet us there. Marshall, start planning your BA training school, you have some new pups to train. We are going to use this contract as a major re-organization, staffing and training cycle. We have a bunch of new personnel get up to speed on our ways.
I have also made arrangements to purchase a Monolith, the AFFC was a little miffed that I played our bump the line card again, and it will be fitted with a LF Battery. It's going to be expensive though. But that will at least give us the ability to jump into a system and get out of dodge if it all goes to hell on us. It will be over a year before that arrives, we do not have an arrival date."
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Speaking as someone who played around with my inf forces, pick a size and stick with it. Don't try to run multiple force sizes if you can avoid it.
I did keep the Clan size 5 Suits when attached to Clan Mechs forces, because they are used to operating that way.
Base 6 BA, requires either customized transport assets or captured WOB/COMSTAR assets, but can be very effective.
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Will have to give it more thought then. Clan suits will stay 5...…….was just trying to decide on my IS guys. I like full platoons...…..16 is not enough to me...…..mind not made up yet. Have to play with it some.
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Playing with Meklab, I could modify Maxim BA transport to carry 6 tons, boost armor to 9.5 tons Ferro, and arm it with 2 Clan LRM15 with 2 tons ammo or 3 Clan LRM10 with 3 tons ammo, CASE and prob add more armor. I did not do the LRM10 armed one but bet it works out that way. I have the Clan missile racks so that is easy. Have not done it with IS yet, but will to see what it gives me, I lean Clan due to no minimum range and I have them. Cuts out the need for SRM's.
I am leaning to 5 man points for Mech carried BA, and 6 man squads for my ground carried troopers. Mech assigned BA would be in Stars of 5 points per Clan.
Since I am expanding my Infantry to a full Regiment, I could add a BA company configured to 6 man squads with 5 squads per platoon and 4 platoons in it. Hefty but lots of punch. Each transport platoon would have 5 vehicles and 4 platoons in it.
Don't know, maybe just go 4 squads of 6 in 4 platoons. That's 96 BA troopers per company.
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The Marian Hegemony uses 5 per squad and Comstar/wobbies use 6.
So just go with what you want, there would be lots of vehicles that would have been modified for both factions.
So just need to re spec your vehicles. :thumbsup:
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August 3, 3055
Poznan
Mitchell's Phantom Raiders arrived on planet today, taking up garrison duties for the FedCom. Colonel Mitchell was disappointed in the small base near the planets space port. It was no where big enough for the unit. He called his command and support staff in to help figure out the problem.
"Okay folks, this dump will just not do. We have a large unit to house for the next 2 years. I hate to do it, but we need to disperse the unit across this planet. Marshall take your Union and Binary Nova to New Shanghai and scope it out. Jared, I want you to take one of the Union C with a company and scope out Galicia, we are probably going to have to rotate units in and out of these areas. We need to see what we can easily house in those areas. I am not going to spread us out in company sized packets. We might just have to spend our own money building small bases.
While you guys do that, I will make contact with our local AFFC rep and twist his arm some. Maybe I can get reimbursed for any expenses, we do have a 100% support clause in our contract."
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yep,
thats right Major Smythe-Davion,
you can build reserve or militia bases for future or concurrent use and all the exspenses are covered by our contract
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I would stick with 5 for everybody. Gives you people that can switch between the way they work as carrier infantry and clan mechs easily. otherwise the trainign will be very different on how tohe unit deploys and switching between uses/transports/units will be much harder for your infantry. if you can carry 6 guys in your transports, the better (spares! loot!) but I would keep the structure. ç
Anfd you can always add straps to your IS mechs to carry 5 BA guys. it can't be that complicated.
That or go with 4 man squads and make the squads operate in pairs but that causes problems if one of their 2 transports is downed.
Thinking about it, in fact I would build your forces in clan style, including your IS forces. would make you distinctive and ease up on TOEs.
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Only problem with all Clan style is Dropships. I would only be able to field 2 Trinary on a standard Overlord. I would be able to boost cargo though.
I am working my way thru the TOE slowly. I have the ideas in the head, but will post up a complete Mech list and count here. I toyed with making battle groups, Mech Battalion, Armor Battalion, Infantry Battalion. But have not made up my mind. Not yet
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Have you thought about a combined arms approach instead? More akin to Capellan Mech battle groups including armor in the lances?
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I have. Leaning more to Clan style on Mech and BA. Thoughts:
1: Omni Cluster will have 1 Command Binary Nova, 3 Supernova Trinary, 2 Aero Squadrons on 2 Modified Overlords, 55 Omni and 275 Elementals/BA (might be short some Omni, but we will see)
2: 2 Mech Cluster will have 1 Command Company (5 Mech, 5 Armor, 25 BA), 3 Mech Trinary, 2 Armor Company(3 Plt of 5), 1 BA Trinary (50 Mech, 40 Armor, 100 BA in each) (Orbital not decided yet)
3: Infantry Regiment (2 Foot Battalions (12 Plt each), 1 Jump Infantry Battalion (9 Plt), Armor Battalion (3 X12) (Orbital not yet)
4: Phantom Command Battalion Command Trinary (10 Omni/Mechs, 25 BA), HQ Company (Mobile HQ, 3 Recon Vehicles, 4 Armor, 4 Infantry Plts), possible artillery company
5: Support Battalion (not complete but soon, could easily go 2 Batt)
I am still working some kinks out and have to see what transport I need etc. Going mostly Clan organization since I have a ton of ex Clan. Still working some out on paper.
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What about spreading your infantry and armor among the different transports?
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Jumpship space is limited...……..I have 2 Hercules and a Seeker, 2 Union C, 1 Overlord C, Command Overlord, 3 Overlord, 1 Mule, 1 Union (Binary Nova)
I will be modifiying some dropships. I just took a look at modding Union C to carry 1 heavy armor trinary of 15 and a light trinary of 15........still gave me 500 tons cargo. Once I work out the logistic kinks I will figure out exact Dropship count etc.
Omni Cluster I can carry on 2 Overlords, 1 will have 2 Supernova Trinary and 6 Aero, the other will have 6 Aero, Supernova Trinary and Command Binary Nova. I miss counted the Elementals for that one should be 275 Elemental/BA. Easily carried by a Invader Jumpship or Merchant Jumpship.
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Full TOE is going to be huge....rough
Omni
Masakari (1)
Gladiator (3)
Man O War 8
Naga (2)
Daishi (2)
Turkina (3)
Thor (11)
Loki (6)
Vulture (5)
Mad Cat (6)
Night Gyr (3)
Dragonfly (1)
Fenris (6)
Ryoken (5)
Puma (1)
Grendel (1)
Non Omni
Victor C (1)
Warhammer IIC (1)
Highlander IIC (1)
Thug 11E (c) (3)
Nightstar 9J (C) (1)
Supernova (3)
Awesome 9M (c) (1)
Guillotine 4L (c) (3)
Thunderbolt 5Sb (2)
Guillotine IIC (3)
Marauder 5M (c) (2)
Archer 4M (c) (3)
Black Knight 6b (1)
Thunderbolt 9SE (c) (1)
Galahad (1)
Grizzly (1)
Bombardier 12D (c) (2)
Cestus 6Y (1)
ShadowHawk 2K (c) (3)
Shadow Hawk 5M (c) (1)
Griffin 1S (c) (2)
Griffin 3M (c) (2)
Woverine 7K (c) (3)
Crab 27b (1)
Crab 20 (c) (1)
Crab 27 (1)
Hellhound (4)
Goshawk (1)
Stealth 1D (c) (2)
Panther 9R (c) (1)
Vixen (4)
Talon 5W (c) (5)
Peregrine (3)
That is my current full Mech force including all mothballed units. I have not yet placed orders for new mechs, currently trying to work on placing my current force into a structure. I still have to give the Dragoons 5 Omni Mechs.
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September 1, 3055
Poznan
Colonel Mitchell looked at the huge board mounted in his small office, it took up the entire wall but displayed on it was the unit's new TOE. Mike was on his way from Outreach with all the new recruits. Massive amounts of cash had been spent ordering new equipment. Almost all would arrive within the next 6 months except the new Monolith, that was scheduled for October 3056.
It would be a year or more before enough BA trained troops would completely fill out the unit's BA companies. Of the 3 Clusters currently planned, only 1st Assault Cluster and 2nd Battle Cluster battle ready. 1st Assault was missing a BA Trinary still. 2nd Battle had none. Mike left the Elemental point on Outreach to continue finding recruits for BA training. It was decided to expand the BA training program to almost 400 recruits. 200 recruits were on their way. Another massive order for 400 BA suits was placed.
The new Phantom Support Battalion planned was expanded to a Regiment. It would also contain the units training Battalion. Equipment was already on the way.
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Okay, gonna outline my new TOE. In several posts. Some units, like in Command Battalion, some mechs were used to fill it out.
Phantom Command Battalion
Phantom Command Trinary (missing BA star)
Command Star
Nightstar NSR-9J (C) all clan weapons
Highlander IIC
Warhammer IIC
Cestus CTS-6Y
Crab CRB-27b
Guard Star
Man O War D
Fenris D
Grendel A
Turkina B
Turkina B
Elemental Star
Not filled
HQ Company (complete)
Mobile HQ
3x J Edgar Tag
4x Goblin (C) Clan LPL
4x Rifle Platoons
Artillery Company (not filled)
2x Naga Prime
2x Scarabus SCB-9T (C) clan ERLL
4x Fireball ALM-9D (C) 5 CERSL
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1st Assault Cluster
Command Binary Nova (or is it Nova Binary?)
1st Assault Command Nova
5x Thor D
25 Elemental
Battle Nova
5x Ryoken Prime
25 Elemental
Alpha Supernova Trinary
A/1st Command Nova
Gladiator Prime
2x Night Gyr Prime
Ryoken Prime
Loki
25 Elemental
A/1st Battle Nova
Mad Cat A
Mad Cat Prime
2x Loki Spec (2 CERLL, 2 CLRM15 art, 19 DHS)
Vulture B
25 Elemental
A/1st Assault Nova
2x Mad Cat A
Mad Cat Prime
Loki Spec
Vulture Prime
25 Elemental
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Bravo Supernova Trinary
B/1st Command Nova
Man O War Spec (20DHS, 3 CERLL, 2 Streak 4, CERSL)
Man O War D
Man O War A
Loki Prime
Vulture Prime
25 Elemental
B/1st Battle Nova
2x Thor D
2x Thor Prime
1x Night Gyr Prime
25 Elemental
B/1st Strike Nova
3x Fenris Prime
2x Fenris D
25 BA Laser
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Charlie Supernova Trinary
C/1st Command Nova
2x Mad Cat A
Masakari C
Man O War A
Vulture C
BA Not filled
C/1st Assault Nova
2x Daishi A
Loki Prime
Vulture Prime
Gladiator A
BA Not filled
C/1st Battle Nova
Man O War A
2x Man O War D
2x Thor D
BA Not filled
1st Assault Cluster Aero
12 Corsair
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2nd Battle Cluster
2nd Battle Command Company
2nd Battle Mech Star
Warhammer WHM-6D (C) (20 DHS, 2 CERPPC)
2x Thunderbolt TDR-5Sb
Galahad 2
Archer 4M (C) (CLPL, 2 CLRM20 art, 6 tons ammo)
2nd Battle Armor Star
4x Bandit (C) A
Bandit (C) B
2nd Battle BA Star
Not Filled
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A/2nd Battle Trinary
A/2nd Battle Command Star
Awesome AWS-9M (C) (20DHS, 3 CERPPC, 4 CMPL, 2 CSPL)
Victor C
Guillotine IIC
Thug 11E (C) (2 CERPPC, 2 Streak SRM6, 2 CSMPL)
Griffin GRF-3M (C) (CERPPC, CLRM20, 3 tons ammo, 2 CMPL, CSPL)
A/2nd Battle Assault Star
2x Supernova
Turkina B
2x Griffin GRF-3M (C)
A/2nd Battle Fire Star
Supernova
Thug 11E (C)
Grizzly
Archer ARC-4M (C)
B/2nd Battle Trinary
B/2nd Battle Command Star
3x Shadow Hawk SHD-2K (C) (13 DHS, CERPPC, CLRM20, 2 tons ammo)
Shadow Hawk SHD-5M (C) (10 DHS, CLBX10, CMPL, CLRM20, 3 tons LBX ammo, 4 tons LRM20)
Griffin GRS-1S (C) (CLPL)
B/2nd Battle Strike Star
2x Hellhound
Goshawk
Phoenix Hawk PHD-3D (C) (2 CLPL, 2 CMPL)
Quickdraw QKO-5A (C) (3 CMPL, Streak SRM4)
B/2nd Battle Pursuit Star
5x Talon TLN-5W (C) (CERPPC)
C/2nd Battle Trinary
C/2nd Battle Command Star
Hellhound
3X Enfield END-6Q (C) (CLPL, CLBX10, 2 CERML, CERSL, 4 tons LBX ammo)
Trebuchet TBT-5S (C) (2 CSRM-6, 3 CMPL)
C/2nd Battle Recon Star
2x Stealth STH-1D (C) (2 CMPL, CSSRM6)
3x Spector SPR-5F (C) (CERLL)
C/2nd Battle Fire Star
Hellhound
3x Enfield END-6Q (C)
Trbuchet TBT-5S (C)
D/2nd Battle Armor Trinary
D/2nd Battle Command Star
Rommel Gauss (C) (CGauss, 4 tons ammo)
3x Manticore (C) (CERPPC, 2CSSRM4)
Sturmfeur (C) (3 CLRM20, 9 tons ammo, CASE)
D/2nd Battle Line Star
4x Manticore (C)
Sturmfeur (C)
D/2nd Battle Fire Star
4x Manticore (C)
Sturmfeur (C)
E/2nd Battle Armor Trinary
8x Bandit (C) A
4x Bandit (C) B
3x Bandit (C) C
F/2nd Battle BA Trinary (Not Filled)
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3rd Battle Cluster
(Still forming awaiting more Mechs)
1st Infantry Brigade
1st Foot Infantry Battalion
12 Foot Laser in 4 Plt Companies
12 Goblin (C) in D Company
2nd Foot Infantry Battalion
12 Foot Rifle in 4 Plt Companies
12 Bandit A in D Company
3rd Jump Infantry Battalion
9 Jump Laser in 3 Plt Companies
3 Donar (Recon) VTOL
9 Karnov UR VTOL
4th Armor Battalion
(Not fully formed, awaiting more armor)
VTOL Attack Company
12 Warrior H8 (C) (CLPL, boosted armor)
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Phantom Support Regiment
Medical Company
2 MASH
4 Simco Ambulances
4 Kestrel VTOL (Medevac)
Battle Recovery/Salvage Company
4 Battlemech Recovery
4 Heavy Battlemech Recovery
4 Heavy Wheeled APC
Combat Support Company
13 Coolant Trucks
Transport Company
6 Anhur VTOL
12 Flatbed trucks
4 Pegasus Unarmed
BA Training Command
42 Squads in training
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Orbital Assets
2 Invader Jumpships
Star Lord Jumpship
Monolith Jumpship (LF) (awaiting delivery)
Command Overlord
2 Overlord
Overlord Supernova (6 Aero, 30 Mech, 30 BA)
2 Hercules
Seeker
Mule
Overlord C
2x Union C
6 Corsair
2 Avar B
Personnel Count (Current)
175 Mechwarrior
18 Aero Pilots
160 Vehicle drivers
34 VTOL Pilots
441 Vehicle gunners
440 BA pilots (including trainees)
869 Infantry
51 Vessel Pilots
98 Vessel Crewmen
72 Vessel Gunners
4 Hyperspace Navs
160 Mech Techs
69 Mechanics
20 Aero Tech
33 BA Tech
378 Astechs (full time, 1410 local hires)
12 Doctors
31 Medics (full time, another 48 in secondary skills)
17 Admins
Total Combat 2362
Total Support 720
Payroll over 4 mil a month
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Quick update, since MeqHQ still cannot let you deploy on multiple planets from a single unit, I am still trying to figure out a easy way to do that. But until I do, I am going to "simulate" each Cluster being on a separate planet. So we can garrison 3 planets. All my forces on a single planet would probably be too overpowering and not a huge challenge.
Any battle generated by MeqHQ will be fought only with units in that Cluster or designated on that planet.
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February 14, 3056
Poznan
It has been a very quiet but productive 7 months for the Raiders. The training of the 42 points of BA was progressing nicely. 3rd Battle Cluster was fully staffed in Mechs and armor and deemed combat ready even without their BA complement. Colonel Mitchell had expanded the unit's support regiment by adding in a Trinary of Mechs for training composed of 3 brand new hot off the assembly line Sentry's and 12 Watchman Mechs. Not only would they be for training but they also provided some Mech capability for the Raiders main base, wherever that might be.
Colonel Mitchell toyed with purchasing a Trinary of Inner Sphere built Omni Mechs and placing them in the support regiment. The first training company would be for green recruits, the 2nd company would be for new hires to learn the workings of the Raiders and also work with the BA Training Command on getting the trainee BA used to mounting, riding and dismounting Omni Mechs, and also get new people used to working with BA. This idea was still in the air, Colonel Mitchell could see pro's and con's to this idea.
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March 13, 3056
Poznan
Battle Armor training class number 2 graduated today, filling out Phantom Command Trinary, 1st Assault Trinary and 2nd Battle Cluster. It is estimated that it will take 3 more months to fill another training class to fill out 3rd Battle Cluster.
March 21, 3056
Poznan
Colonel Mitchell received a contract offer from the AFFC to do anti-pirate duty along the periphery border. Battalion strength so designated 1st Assault Cluster to that duty, 2nd Battle Cluster was still getting to know their new BA troops. They had trained with 1st Assault BA troopers, but now they needed to mesh with the new people. 1st Assault had to be on station in Sept 3056, so plans were made for the units Star Lord to transport 1st Assault to their duty station and the new LF Monolith to meet them there and take over support duties. The LF Monolith would also pick up 2 new Invader Dropships modified to carry 2 small craft each (NL-42) and 16 BA squads each. The Star Lord would bring both Invaders back to Poznan as these would each be assigned to 2nd and 3rd Battle Cluster to carry their BA.
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Work picked up some, sorry for the delays in updates. I am considering a time jump to right before the Jihad...…..poor pirate regiment got wasted bad by 1st Assault Cluster. It might be time for some nuke love to bring them back down some. I really do not see them losing even to a RCT.
But also toying with accepting 1 garrison contract say along the Chaos March area, and split my unit into 4 battalions. Example:
Infantry Regiment on so and so with training command (home base)
1st Assault on so and so planet
2nd Battle on so and so planet
3rd Battle on so and so planet
Then I just create a mega battle for each force. That is the only way I see any of my units taking a beating. 1 Cluster versus 1 enemy mech regiment with supporting forces. Any ideas are always welcome.
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yep
defeat in detail, but I figure they will be high on the Wobblie hit list
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Since I am about to enter into Operation Guerr time frame and I am in the Chaos March area...…….I am leaning towards the defeat in detail. Not going to destroy my unit, but I do need to kick a leg out from under them some.
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I am going to have to scope out Guerro targets and see where I can stick my units and not really muck up canon too much. Maybe find some planets that just had militia on them.
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or simplify a fight by killing a dropship, nukes were everywhere
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I am going to have to scope out Guerro targets and see where I can stick my units and not really muck up canon too much. Maybe find some planets that just had militia on them.
The Styk Commonality might be a good place. "Assorted merc units" is how their military was defined. IIRC WoB did some terror attacks to kill a bunch of people and helped the CapCon absorb it.
The Sarna Supremacy might be another place to look at.
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Since I am about to enter into Operation Guerr time frame and I am in the Chaos March area...…….I am leaning towards the defeat in detail. Not going to destroy my unit, but I do need to kick a leg out from under them some.
From what you´ve posted, ever each of these subunits is going to be a handful for most regiments - especially Green or Regular regiments with a less than stellar percentage of upgraded units.
Is there still time to get the unit into the path of the Jade Falcon incursion of 3058? They should be a prime target for the Falcons if they show themselves in the area.
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It is Jan 3057, I can always GM move my unit to get up there in time. I checked the Falcon OOB for the incursion and from what I see, I might have to throw 2-3 Clusters at each of mine. After the Wolves savaging the Falcons, not sure it would be fair to chew them up before they get to Coventry.
I am toying with posting along the Viper lines, since their Touman is a bit better shape than the Falcons. Maybe Jags, Bears...…each of their Toumans are big enough. Hmmmmm. I has me an idea.
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We are taking back the Pirate contract, I did not save the battle or anything as it was a wipeout. So forget that post.
January 9, 3057
Poznan
Colonel Mitchell looked around at his assembled command staff. He was amazed at how large the uit had grown over the years. He used to know every member personally, now he figured he could name off 5% of the unit's personnel by name. He shook himself out of his thoughts, it was time for business.
"Folks, let's settle down and get started. Our contract is over here, we have been released by the FedCom's. I have accepted a contract from the Combine. We are going back to the Clan front folks. We will be sending 2 Battalions on a recon raid of Toffen. We will be staging from Numki. It will take 91 days to get to Numki. We have to be at Toffen May 31. I have selected 2nd and 3rd Battle Clusters for the mission. 1st Assault will remain on Numki in case of trouble. Our Monolith and new Intruders are already enroute to Numki. We will link up with them at Murchison, I want them in our possesion before we cross into Combine territory."
"Sir?" Major Korsel of 2nd Battle interjected "What will be facing on Toffen?"
"That is what the Drac's want us to find out for them. You will be in overall command of the Raid Michael since your senior. We will get a final intel dump when we land on Numki and do combat loading for the mission."
"Roger that sir, I will plan for the worst." Major Korsel said as he rolled his eyes.
"Pray it is not the worst Major, that would be jumping into a damn warship fleet. But I am going to use the Monolith for this mission. Your Cluster goes in first, once you begin your burn, the Monolith will jump back to Numki, it will inform us of what we have in system. If the coast is clear, 3rd Battle will jump in aboard the Star Lord. Monolith will recharge and be ready to respond. You will be on your own until the Star Lord recharges and returns to Numki with a report. So, let us wrap this up and begin loading up, we got a long way to go."
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April 21, 3057
Numki
The Raiders made landfall today. Their Combine Liaison met them on the space port tarmac. After conferring with their Liaison, Colonel Mitchell directed his commanders to begin unloading and for the strike force to begin prepping for their mission. Combat loading the strike forces supplies was first. The combat troops needed some ground time.
Major Korsel had requested additional infantry support so the 3rd Jump Infantry Battalion and the VTOL attack company would also accompany 2nd Battle Cluster. The Raiders had 6 Aerospace squadrons, 2 would accompany each Cluster.
Combine intel showed the Bears had a single Cluster on Toffen. It almost did not seem fair to pit 2 Raider Clusters against it. Major Korsel was confident in the strike force's ability to defeat the Bear Cluster. He even asked the Liaison if the Combine wanted them to take the planet back. Colonel Mitchell on the other hand worried more about the close proximity of additional Bear troops. There were 4-5 planets easily within a single jump of Toffen. That was one reason he was holding back 1st Assault Cluster.
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May 14, 3057
Numki
Colonel Mitchell was lost in thought as he checked over the composition of the 2nd and 3rd Battle Clusters. 2nd Battle would be carried on Overlord, Overlord Command, Union C (modified vehicle), Seeker and Intruder using the LF Monolith. 3rd Battle would use 2 Overlord, Union C (modified vehicle), Intruder carried on the Star Lord.
The plan Major Korsel submitted was a good one, the 2nd would jump in system at a pirate point 2 days from Toffen, detach and head for the planet. The Monolith would stay in system for 8 hours (unless they jump right into trouble) to take detailed scans of the system. It would then jump back to Numki and transmit the gathered information. 3rd Battle would then jump to Toffen using the same pirate point and detach. The Star Lord would recharge. Upon making landfall the 2nd would secure the drop zone for 3rd Battle. Once both were on the ground they would seek out the Bear garrison.
Colonel Mitchell still had his worries. 7 Ghost Bear planets were within a single jump of Toffen. That was a lot of troops close by.
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May 28, 3057
Toffen
Major Korsel checked the status of his strike force. 2nd Battle Cluster was 25 hours from landing. 3rd Battle Cluster was 9 hours behind 2nd. Everything was going to plan. As he watched the display, red spots began appearing on the screen.
A sensor tech aboard his dropship turned "Major, we have enemy fighters inbound, count is slowly firming up, 20..........25...........34............43...........52.........60!!!!!!!"
"Sweet Mother of God, launch all fighters, alert 3rd Battle that we have a massive inbound fighter raid and we need all the help we can get!!!!" Major Korsel felt a sinking pit in his gut as he watched his 12 fighters begin launching.........12 against 60, a bunch are going to get thru his fighters. He suddenly wished he had done as Colonel Mitchell said and opened comms with the Bears and requested Safecon. But he wanted to catch them flat footed, he was so sure he could make planet fall with his Cluster and hold until 3rd landed.
Major Korsel turned to Commander Blaine (Commander of the Raider Dropships on this mission) "How long to intercept and what are our chances?"
"2 hours to fighter merge, 4 hours or so until they hit us........I cannot give you any odds on making it to the ground, that is a huge fighter swarm coming at us." Blaine stated flatly.
"Great, my first mission in command and I get us into a slaughter. Order all Mechs readied for orbital drop, worst case we drop, but I would prefer to land. Most of our people have only done simulated drops."
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A little background....
Toffen is defended by the CGB 8th Bear Cuirrassiers and also on planet will be Jorgensson's Keshik……...between them they have 60 Aerospace fighters. The Keshik was on a check of Bear forward defenses.
Major Korsel had planned to land close to the Bears reported main base.
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May 29, 3057
Toffen
Captain Grace took stock of what was left of the 2nd Battle Cluster, it was not much. The Intruder was savaged and was lost before even making it close to obit. The Union C lost all control and burned up in the atmosphere. Only her Trinary (made up of ex-Clan warriors) made the orbital drop in decent shape. One star of A Company had linked up with her Trinary. Her only warm spot was that 90% of her force was energy based so they could run and gun as long as they could. No one knows what happened to the Seeker or either Overlord.
3rd Battle Cluster was also savaged by the Bear fighters before they made land fall. One Overlord was lost before anyone got out. The remaining Dropships made land fall but with severe damage. Neither Cluster commander made it, she was the ranking commander. 3rd Battle landed almost 250 miles away. 3 more days for the Star Lord to recharge and jump out, if it still lived.
All told she had 3 Mech Trinaries, 2 Armor Trinaries, 1 BA Trinary. This from a force of 6.5 Trinaries Mechs, 4.5 Armor Trinaries, 2.5 BA Trinaries.
She ordered 3rd Battle Cluster to hold fast if they could. She studied her map and ordered her force to make for the dense woods and hills that ran almost to 3rd Battle location. They had to make it to cover before they got torn to shreds by the Bear Aero.
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May 30, 3057
Toffen
Captain Grace was exhausted, the past 24 hours had been a terrible ordeal for her unit. Repeated attacks from Bear Aerospace forces had taken it's toll. She had lost 4 Mechs to Aero attacks. Several others had moderate to heavy damage. A beep of the comm system brought her back to the present.
"Star......I mean Captain Grace, we have a sensor contact approaching our position from the NE. It is small, possible BA approaching."
"Roger that, let us get ready for them then. But let us be sure, we are within 75km of 3rd Battle so let us not fire on our own people if they sent someone out to link up with us."
"Aff, we will be sure of our targets."
20 minutes later, a second beep of the comm panel on 3rd Battle frequency "Rebel one, this is Mincemeat two how copy over"
Captian Grace keyed her radio "This is Rebel One, I read you loud and clear over"
"Rebel One, we are near your suspected position, I am going to flash a strobe over"
"Roger, you are flashing a strobe"
A couple of flashes appeared about 400 meters away on a slight wooded ridge.
"Mincemeat, I see your strobe"
"Roger Rebel, nice to see you guys, it's been a long day."
"Yes it has, we will be to you real quick Mincemeat"
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May 31, 3057
Toffen
Captain Grace and her Trinary, finally reached 3rd Battle's small defense perimeter. 3rd Battle Techs immediately began assessing the needed repairs and directed damaged mechs into repair bays.
Captain Grace dismounted her mech and met the remaining 3rd Battle commanders.
"Status report?"
"Grace, it is good to see your people, we repelled a probe from a Bear Trinary earlier on our western line. I lost 3 mechs and 4 tanks in the process. We downed 2 Omni Mechs in that probe. The Bear Trinary is still out there, about 10km off. If I had to bet, they are awaiting more force. Think our clan weaponry took them by surprise. As you know my Mechs are mainly light and mediums, so I am glad to see your heavy and assaults."
"You have done good work, this mission has turned into a total disaster. Now we try to survive and hope help arrives soon. I have had no contact with the Star Lord so we have no idea what is going on. I know she was due back to Numki on the 3rd June, and if she had not arrived by 4 June Colonel Mitchell and 1st Assault will arrive in system. Lucky for us, Colonel Mitchell will open comms with the Bears unlike Korsel."