A return to the valley.

[Louie N]

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more “

Hello All,

I present to you a Battletech game write up.  This is using my own “Beta” strike rules.  A hybrid of Alpha Strike and Classic BT.  We return to the great valley in 3052 where a Clan Wolf force is attempting to clear the opposition guarding the valley pass.  A Star of clan forces, with elemental support, are attacking a Level II of Comstar.

Clan Wolf
Executioner (Skill 2)
Timber Wolf (Skill 3)
Mad Dog (Skill 3)
Stormcrow (Skill 3)
Nova (Skill 3)
Elemental Point (Skill 3)
Elemental Point (Skill 3)

Comstar
King Crab (Skill 3)
Stalker (Skill 4)
Crocket (Skill 4)
Black Knight (Skill 4)
Orion (Skill 4)
Flashman (Skill 4)

A friend and I ran this a couple of weeks back and the outcome was heavily in favor of the clan forces.  For this run I decided to make all the smaller hills and woods blocking LOS terrain regardless of the size.  If LOS passed though a hill, or woods, it blocked. This made the sight lines much more interesting and forced Clanners to get stuck in. 

The forces faced off in the valley. The trees will show up later for ambiance.   



The Timberwolf moved to the clanner right flank.  The Mad dog and Executioner moved up the middle, while the Nova and Stormcrow, with the elementals, moved to the left.  The Comstar forces remained hidden.  The Timberwolf was first to call “Tally-ho” on the Comstar mechs.  The clanner targeted the lead assault mech, a Crocket, and striped half the armor off.  The clan warrior had kicked a hornet’s nest and the Comstar reaction was equally brutal back to the Timber Wolf. 





The Mad dog screamed into the woods to assist his starmate. The Timber Wolf and Mad dog combined on the Crocket as it started to fall back.  While it was cripped the Crocket still stood.  Having a clan mech in point blank range obliged the Comstar forces to shift focus on the Mad Dog. In a way the Mad Dog had indeed saved the Timberwolf, for a while.  The Mad Dog was stripped of all its armor, but luckily had suffered no critical damage.  The opposite flank started to see combat as the opposing mechs exchanged initial volleys.

The Mad Dog fell back using the woods to stay out of line of sight.  It would act as a fire support mech for most of the game.  The Executioner tried to get around the woods, but Comstar maneuvered skillfully to prevent a shot.  The Crocket continued to fall back but the Timber Wolf pilot would not have it.  A barrage of LRM fire brought the inner sphere mech down giving the first kill to the Clan Wolf.  The Orion pilot claimed some vengeance as an AC/10 shot cripped the Timber Wolf’s leg actuator.  The Timber Wold would be easier to target.   



On the clanner left flank things got close and personal.  The Nova and the Stormcrow drove right into the Comstar mechs and deployed the elementals.  The Black Knight and Stalker focused on the Stormcrow and the Comstar mechs took a barrage of laser and missile fire.  The Stalker even managed to NARC the Stormcrow. 



The Orion rushed forward to close on the Timber Wolf.  The Executioner obtained a clear fire lane between the woods and the hill to target the Orion.  The King Crab and Flashman seized the chance to focus on the Clan leader and moved to point blank range.  Three clan mechs focused on the Orion and it took all the punishment delt; Bent but not Broken.  In return it brought down the Timber Wolf.  The Executioner felt secure against the Comstar onslaught until the AC/20 slammed into its center torso.  The shot penetrated to the gyro and the mech dropped to its knees.  It would be a sitting duck next round.  [insert ominous music here]

The Nova and elementals moved to finish the Stalker.  The Stormcrow moved uphill to extend range and take cover in the woods, but the Black Knight chased it down.  The Black Knight hurt the Stormcrow, but the killing blow was dealt by the Stalker’s NARC guided SRMs.  An amazing shot as the Comstar mech was overwhelmed by an intense barrage of fire.  The final blow against the Stalker was dealt by swarming Elementals when it they set off the mech’s NARC ammo.  The irony!





All the Comstar mechs moved to focus on the Executioner.  The Clanners moved to defend their leader and focus on the King Crab.  The two command mechs took brutal punishment, but at the end only the Executioner fell.  The killing blow was caused by the King Crab slamming both meaty claws into the Clan assault mech.  In return the Elementals finished off the Black Knight.  An uneven exchange.   





There was still some hope on the clan side.  The King Crab and Flashman moved to close on the Nova who had jumped back into the woods.  The Mad Dog moved out of hiding to provide direct fire.  All the Mechs were slow from heat and damage.  That faint hope was dashed as the Mad Dog completely missed the Orion.  In return, the Orion put the clanner out of its misery.  No blood legacy for you!  The Nova cripped the King Crab but could not kill it.  The Flashman removed a point of elementals.  The Nova pilot decided to die in glory.  The comm channels came alive with the warrior quoting an ancient Terran text…. 

“…to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”

With Its final burst the Nova destroys the King Crab and the flashman moved in to finish the clan warrior.  The game was over; Comstar holds the pass!



What a bloody encounter.  Lots of fun and I hope you enjoyed the story.

Thanks