Hi everyone,
This is how I started my current campaign. First I have to let you know I that each of my players get three characters. One mechwarrior, one Tech, one Tanker/Aerospace Pilot/Other class. This way I can run a mech needed adventure or parts scrounging or a one off in a bar. Each will use a character that works for the adventure.
So anyway I had one veteran battletech player and a bunch of newbees. I had to provide a unifying factor to get them into a mercenary campaign. I couldn’t just start them in a tavern with a mysterious cloaked stranger in the corner booth. So to make them feel unified I gave them this.
Captain Von Strokker and Pegasus were the only two PCs in the story.
Operation Little Feather
Davion Planet: Random Obscure Planet
Objective: Destroy massive new Federated Suns supply dump to forestall a major offensive.
Units: 2nd Battalion 3rd Sword of Light and Bush’s Bushwackers (combined arms battalion of 4 companies.)
14 Hours after planetfall.
3 Hours after nightfall.
1.5 Hours after being cornered and overrun.
I watched as Captain Von Strokker of the second tank company climbed onto her Harasser hovertank. Someone handed her a bullhorn. Putting it up to her lips she started the company meeting.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I call you all here today.”
A muted laugh moved through the crowd of fifty or so.
“But before that a word to all the newbie’s and especially those who are going through their first mission.”
She paused for effect but I couldn’t but wonder if she was talking directly to me.
“It’s not normally this bad. Really it isn’t, this is kind of exceptional.”
She paused again until the more general laughter died.
“First can I have Tech Pegasus and Lieutenant Redshirt come up here please.”
Quickly the unofficial head of the techs and the only surviving Mech officer joined her on the light tank.
“This is the situation as of three minutes ago. The Sword of Light has broken through the Davion Line and is holding the dropship perimeter until we get there. The catch is I don’t think they will be able to hold the LZ for long. They are facing at least four battalions of armor so it doesn’t look good.
What happened is that the snakes screwed up the recon. It was a trap and we walked right into it. True there are no Fedrat battlemechs on planet but there are two RCTs worth of tanks plus extra artillery, engineering and assault armor battalions.”
A collective groan went through the few of us that were left.
“Right now our only advantage is that in their eagerness to catch the Swords they lost track of us after they ran us over. We are going to use that to get home.
All the Tanks will be in the lead and we will move, lights out, in the dark just like we are another Davion reinforcement company. The situation is so screwed that no one is going to notice another company of tanks. Redshirt will be in command of the mechs and bring up the rear. Everyone else, jump into anything that drives and get in the middle. Pegasus will get you in order.”
She paused to let the insanity of her plan sink in. She had just given us orders to drive through several battalions of Davion tanks in the dark. When she judged that there were a sufficient number pale faces she gave us her finial orders.
“Remember if you see a mech it’s one of ours or a lost Sword mech so don’t shoot it! Also all of our tanks have been accounted for, so any tank not in our formation is a target. Blow it up! But above all people no one fires until I give the command. I don’t care if some Fedrat sentry is threatening to open fire at you, just keep driving at a nice slow pace. Don’t draw attention to yourself; those guys are even more confused than we are.
All right if you don’t want to spend time in a Davion POW camp mount up and follow me. We move in five. That is all”
__________________________________________________________________________________
98 hours later
New Avalon
Davion GHQ
The office of strategic assessment.
General Spyguy’s office.
There was a knock at my door but before I could reply my aid Col. Pinkerton came it. I was about to say something until I noticed his face. He did not look well and I was pretty sure that when we were done I wouldn’t either.
With a groan he pulled the padded chair from the wall and slumped into it.
“I take it you just got the report.” I said.
He grunted and dropped a stack of print outs on my desk.
“We are so screwed.”
This is the worst way to start a briefing.
“What happened? How much damage did they do?”
“It’s worse than that. They couldn’t have done so much damage without a full briefing on what we were planning.”
“What could be worse?”
“We have a mole. It’s the only way they could have known. Fortunately he or she must have been on planet because they had up to the minute intelligence.”
“All right make your case.”
“One: they did it with only two battalions. No one would attack an overwhelming force unless they knew they had some pretty big advantages. Two: I checked General Montgomery’s deployment. He had a tank battalion deployed in interception range of eight of the nine possible drop zones. Guess which one they landed on.”
“That could be a coincidence.”
“It gets better. The second battalion of the third sword just happened to take a curiously meandering rout to the new supply warehouses we built so secretly. One the map it looked like they were lost and were trying to find their way but when you mark Montgomery’s deployment on the same map it was the only route they could have chosen without alerting anyone.”
“I see your point but tell me how they did so much damage and then got out?”
“Oh yeah, of the fifteen warehouse complexes where we had stored all the supplies for the upcoming operation on six worlds, they just happen to start with the three that were housing the spare mech components. Gyros, engines and actuators all went up real fast.”
“Didn’t Montgomery have any one on guard? He’s supposed to be a cautious man?”
“Sure did. A full battalion split among the complexes. He also just happened to have a full company of tanks roaming the perimeter guess where they were when the swords hit them.”
“How bad?”
“All of them. But I got to give credit to Montgomery he reacted fast. The swords were still firing at the complex they were burning down when he surrounded them with three battalions of light and medium armor. From his notes I gather that at that time he thought that he had them cornered. He did, but he didn’t know about the merc battalion. Bush’s Bushwackers hit all three battalions from behind as the swords hit them from the front. They panicked and were scattered.
It took Monty a couple of hours to get a hold of the situation. It was night fall before he had beaten some sense into all the panicked tankers. Also by that time he had located the Snake’s main force as well as the dropships. He decided to send two full regiments strait into the Snake’s Mechs.”
“How’d the snakes take it?”
“They ran. They ran like snakes always do. But they ran smart.”
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”
“Yeah, they ran in the only direction that Montgomery hadn’t set up an ambush, away from the dropships. Then just as the lead hover tanks were catching up with the heavy mechs of the bushwackers they all turned. The lead battalion evaporated and the second was mauled before the rest just ran over the raiders.”
“That sounds good.”
“It was and Monty redeployed as fast as he could to capture the dropships. One small problem though he had only overrun the mercs. The swords had got away and just as they were about to bounce the dropships the swords hit them in the rear. After that the snakes were able to establish a defensive perimeter around the dropships but they didn’t leave. By this time Monty was taking no chances. He surrounded the dropships and deployed his full force. Just as the attack was starting a third force we didn’t know of destroyed the Long Tom battalion.”
“Oh god! How bad?”
“Of 18 tubes two are fine, two are damaged and fourteen are total write offs. But that’s not important.”
“The loss of a complete battalion of Longtoms isn’t important! You do remember how much those things are?”
“Yes, and they also destroyed most of the support units but what happened next was worse. It turned out that the overrun Bushwackers weren’t so overrun. While their mechs were destroying the artillery those thrice dammed tankers drove undetected among our tanks and opened fire with infernos. It was a massacre until the lead battalion turned around and began to systematically take out the merc tanks.”
“Wait, let me guess. That’s when the Sword mechs hit them from front and back.”
“Ah, you caught the pattern. Well you can guess what happened then, they destroyed that battalion and then left for the Combine. So what do we do? We have eleven battalions that need to be rebuilt and that will take six months to a year for each. What are we going to say to the press? Some are going to be getting versions of this soon.”
“Easy, we announce a great victory. We destroyed two snake battalions in a carefully prepared trap with a bait of empty warehouses. Easy peasy.”
If anyone can use this great! Just let me (us) know in future posts. This story has enough open spots that you can add anything you need to. There can be a spy or your troops can join the house as a new unit. You can change the names, places or factions to suit your players. If you have done anything similar please let me (us) know. It could help me or another player in their campaign.
Thanks
Hamilcar Barca
