Davion Guards Assemble! Let's Play Mechcommander

Operation Beachhead is a success. Zulu Company has now firmly announced its presence on Port Arthur. The core of pilots we have is now growing steadily and gaining regular experience. Though seven of my mechs were engaged in the Kaio Industrial Zone only Siren's Cougar was badly damaged and lost weapons in the fighting. Those were clan weapons though and their loss we be keenly felt.


Inner Sphere Centurion drawn by Earl Geier

Having salvaged two new Firestarter mechs I'm now going to strip and sell Zulu Company's last remaining Commando. It only nets 3,000 requisition points but this is enough to hire Rooster as our newest mech pilot. After repair costs there was just shy of 25,000 credits to work with. Not enough to purchase one of the newly available Catapult-class heavy mech. It is enough to upgrade the sensors of several mechs and purchase a Beagle Probe for our Cougar. Better sensors are also installed on the Uller and one of the Centurion mechs.




Operation Skyhook Begins

As other Davion forces begin Operation Skyhook our men are being ordered to meet up with a special forces operative in a Hunchback IIC. It is trapped across the river deep in Clan territory and has vital intelligence which should prove useful over the coming military operations. It also appears that resistance is stiffening with Aerospace Spotter's now showing up.


Mission 7

The allowed dropweight is quite a bit lower this mission at only 150 tons. For that reason I'm only allowed to bring alone four mechs. These are Countess in a refitted Cougar armed with a gauss rifle; Rooster in a Firestarter; Hitman in our long-range specced Uller; and Hunter in his Centurion. Hopefully things won't heat up too much with two rookie pilots coming along.

Contact is established with Falcon

As soon as Zulu Company is landed we get into contact with the Hunchback IIC and its pilot Falcon. She's already been stalked by a number of small vehicles and will start moving down the river as soon as possible. Looks like Harasser hover tanks are moving forward against her.


Falcon moves against a Aerospace Spotter

Both groups are now moving down the river and have gotten into sparring matches with vehicles. Falcon turns back to fight the first Harasser spotted as Zulu Company scouted out the first bridge. Several Saracen's were noted on our side of the river which means a real fight is brewing.


Falcon scores her second kill

The Aerospace Spotter is made quick work of thanks to her Ultra Heavy Autocannon. It has less than a dozen rounds left but all of them hit hard when they connect and can tear through a thin skinned vehicle like the spotter.


Hunter and pals deal with the bridge defenders

Rooster had been sent off to scout out the flank the bridge only for the rest of our mechs to engage the enemy. Thanks to our better armament half the Saracen's are eliminated quickly, before a second Aerospace Spotter can move up.


Meeting up with Falcon

Our quick movements have taken the Clan forces unawares at the first bridge. Shooting is going so good that we've sustained few hits and are getting Falcon across the river much sooner than I though possible. Though I am wary of enemy artillery Falcon is able to dash over the bridge to link up with Zulu Company.


Artillery has its uses

Now that everyone is in one big party we can consider looking for rumored supplies on this side of the river. The first thing we stumble upon is a small village with a processing plant, but nothing else. Another urban centre is located further down the road, though it is also bereft of salvage targets. Finally we move back towards the river and find a small base composed of crew barracks and several fuel tankers. A well placed artillery strike blows the base sky high while the rest of our mechs deal with the two Rommel tanks encamped outside the walls.

Gunman captures a supply cache

Across the river our sensors are now showing more than a dozen hovercraft of various configurations moving down in an effort to cross onto our side. Our sensor probe is also detecting at least three enemy mechs further down towards our evacuation point. Before we can continue on Hitman is tasked to capture the lone container stack in the region - we net a handsome batch of lasers.


Zulu Company engages as Hunchback

It's now time to get out of dodge, or at least get closer to the extraction zone. I'm now hoping to find something in what appears to be an industrial zone near our exit point. At this point though we've picked up two or three mechs in the region. The first to come out is a Hunchback and it's looking at our light mechs. Then the boom of a Hollander II. We'll need to be careful now.


Getting serious now

Once a second Hollander appears our position starts looking less tenable. The first Hollander has been able to get a hit in on Falcon and part of her armor has given way. Her Hunchback IIC is now suffering from some serious internal injuries and has run out of ammo for the ultra heavy autocannon. At least Rooster has gotten behind the initial Hunchback and has done his part is getting rid of it in quick time. Now we can shift towards the two remaining mechs.

The Hollanders are nearly done for

The fight turns into a dangerous affair now. The Clan pilots are shooting exceptionally well to the detriment of Hunter. His Centurion suffers near catastrophic damage from the opposition gauss rifles such that one of his arms are blown off and his chest armor is ripped up. He is forced to retreat as Falcon moves back into range. It turns into a close range knife fight right after an artillery strike successfully pins one of the enemy mechs.


Zulu Company emerges victorious with all hands present

Both sides largely exhaust their ammo reserves before the two Hollander mechs are destroyed. Both of our medium mechs are in a bad shape. Besides that Countess' Cougar is out of rounds for her gauss cannon and has almost expended all of her long-range missiles. Gunman is also close to having expended all of his ammunition. Looks like we need to be going now.


Mission Accomplished

Ultimately we don't find anything else on this side of the river - at least with regards to enemies. Rooster does finally find a goldmine in supply caches and resource bunkers. Enough weapons are found to equip a small lance. Included among the loot are several clan sensor modules, a pair of clan ER lasers, and a number of autocannons. Best of all we come home with the wreckage of the sole Hunchback we met.

Zulu Company Pilot List

About 40,000 requisition points are what I've got to prepare for our next mission. Almost 8,000 are spent repairing our mechs but this is balanced out by the fact that Falcon and her Hunchback IIC are now attached to Zulu Company. In order to make up some of the expense we are also selling off the salvaged Hunchback and on of the Firestarter mechs which have been languishing in our reserves. Further profits are made by selling off a number of excess PPC's and some basic sensors.


Zulu Company prepares for battle once again

For now Zulu Company has eight mechs at their disposal and an increasingly experienced group of pilots. We are now able to start rotating pilots so that any death doesn't hurt our capabilities too much. Still if either Hunter or Lynx get hurt, or die, we will struggle for a period. In the end I really can't dwell on it and we assemble a single lance for our next battle.



Destroying stuff is a specialty of mine

Falcon's intelligence lets us know that Clan Smoke Jaguar is using the existing industrial base on Port Arthur to supply and arm their remaining military forces. Unless we can reduce these industrial zones the fighting will go on and on. It isn't as easy as just blowing up factories though since command is telling us to reduce damage. That means we are going to take out a number of power plants along the Ai-Ki. Once again we've been told that the enemy has probably hidden useful supplies in the area - something to keep in mind.

Mission 8

We are now ready to take out the two generators command has assigned us. Once again we've got a small drop weight limit of just 200 tons. I'm heading out with Rooster, Siren, Lynx, and Mystique. I'm really going to be counting on Lynx and his Hunchback IIC. I've removed the ultra heavy autocannon in exchange for a focus on laser weaponry and streak missiles. I hope he can soak up the damage while Siren and Mystique do the real damage.


First contact is with two Bulldogs

Touching down we are once again confronted with a pair of sensor contacts - which turn out to be Bulldog heavy tanks. Since they have heavy autocannons we need to be cautious. I'll have Siren attempt to take them out at long-range with her gauss cannon.


Reinforcements arrive

Things go well at the start. Both the tanks are worn dog rather rapidly, though Lynx has suffered some damage to his legs. Then a pair of hovercrafts and some long-range Strikers come in. During the confusion Rooster's Firestarter is badly damaged due to a some rear hits. Probably the worst damage is taken by Lynx. Those Bulldogs have put both his legs in doubt and one of his shoulder pods is heavily damaged.


Salvage! Glorious salvage!

Proceeding up the road we spot our first supply cache. It's lightly guarded and we take it without much problem. Rooster even manages to lure in a SRM carrier. He also spots an enemy Centurion further north, but curiously it doesn't pursue.


Arty!

Since it just sits there I call down artillery on it. Only light damage though. We go in for the kill.

A dangerous game

The Centurion is apparently not concerned about being outnumbered and comes at us immediately. For awhile it focuses fire on Rooster. His piloting skills are good enough to swerve away and the Smoke Jaguar looks towards Siren. By this time the Centurion has lost most of its armor and when Lynx bears down the battle is over. Lucky for us the downed mech ends up being salvage and even has jump-jet capability. That said Siren is out of ammo for the gauss rifle already.


Enemy Motor Pool

I could keep searching for additional supply caches but with the damage inflicted on us and Siren's ammo situation we should head towards our objectives. Rooster is able to give us a better view by scaling a nearby hill and spots several things. First is a motor pool with a number of currently unoccupied vehicles. I'm going to call down artillery on the crew barracks so that we don't have trouble from that quarter.


Power Station Defensive Line

The next issue is the entrance towards the power generators. It's clear that Clan Smoke Jaguar has setup a line of cannon turrets along a broad front. Besides that we can see a Commando and another Bulldog. Before we can move in Rooster finds that one of the Striker's at the motor pool is actually active. He gets into a fight only to wander into a nearby minefield. Siren needs to come to his help but it is a costly mistake.


Zulu Company gets into another fight

At least we can now scout out the southern end of the enemy line and this sets us access to another hill. That shows us another group of enemies including another Bulldog. Seems there is no easy way into the base - at least without jump-jets. Since both of our light mechs are hurting badly it seems that Mystique and Lynx are going to need to force their way into the base alone. Unfortunately at this point everything falls apart. We find a Catapult near the generator and it nearly destroys both of our medium mechs before we get out of dodge. This'll need a restart.

Remember this?

So let's try that again. I've made some modifications with our lance. The most extreme is that I've taken Rooster and his Firestarter out and replaced him with Hawk and a jump-jet capable Raven. In addition Zulu Company is going in with a large increase in ranged missiles to try and deal with the Bulldog tanks better. In addition Mystique is out for Falcon. As a result the first fight goes a lot better with the Bulldogs eliminated quickly. I'm able to take a good route past the motor pool without much combat now. Hawk's jump-jets are already proving to be useful as he scouts from several hills.


Oh hey!

Figuring that I've got the map figured out a little better and in a much better position Zulu Company doesn't attack the base immediately. Instead Hawk scouts out the region we think is full of supply caches. Once again we get in a fight with that Centurion and take out a group of missile carriers at a second cache. By the time we start getting ready for the base everyone has sustained some damage. Initially my new plan is to scout out south of the base to see if Hawk can potentially jump-jet across the water. This looks to be succeeding just as Siren is spotted by the defenders and a significant battle develops.


This feels vaguely familiar

Initially our forces were split up with Siren scouting the northernmost hill. Then she got too close and was attacked by a Commando and a heavy tank. Lynx and Falcon rushed to her help were able to defeat this first group before the southern patrol came into range. Since it was lacked a mechwarrior it was rather easier to deal with. An SRM carrier was taken out almost immediately. When the Bulldog was also downed the supporting Clan vehicles moved back behind their cannon line.


Hawk demonstrates the importance of jump-jets

Instead of wasting ammo on the cannon line Hawk was able to past the defensive line thanks to his jump-jets. He was thereafter to run straight towards the turret control building and took it. I'd like to use the new turrets against that Catapult if at all possible.


First generator down!

The Catapult pilot isn't foolish enough to get into range of the cannons. Instead Zulu Company has to fight him right near the generator. We start the battle well enough by dropping artillery on the whole crowd. This doesn't phase the mech which then proceeds to chew through Falcon's armor. Our Centurion falls back. After that we get luckier as we move into short range. Large missile barrages eventually take out the Catapults legs. With that the pilot ejects. The generator is thereafter destroyed and we find another supply cache filled with clan weapons.


Lynx scores a kill

Now we need to cross the long bridge towards our extraction point and the second generator building. The bridge looks to be guarded by tanks and missile barriers so we remain at long-range and get through rather easily. Now that we are across we approach the second generator but only after doing a thorough recon. This shows me that there is a large field of gas tanks near the objective. We approach from that side with the intent of using it as a bomb and it works spectacularly. When contact is made a Hunchback moves straight in and gets blown to hell by Lynx.


Lynx gets into a knife fight with a Bulldog

While the mech was down we still had to deal with a group of vehicles. Most of them fell easily but then a Bulldog found its way into our group. He got in close enough to start pounding Lynx. Before they were able to destroy the tank more than half a dozen hits had been logged on our Hunchback IIC. Lynx had lost the use of one of his legs and was completely out of ammo. The other mechs were faring about as well.


Siren and Hawk deal with auxiliary power

Zulu Company splits up at this point. Lynx and Falcon proceed straight to the extraction zone due to their terrible armor and ammo situations. It falls to the light mechs to finish the mission - so I'm happy to see the only thing stopping them are a group of Elementals. These power armored infantry are little more than a nuisance. The generator is destroyed soon after and we find another excellent supply of clan weapons.


Not pretty but it works

Eventually Lynx manages to drop himself to the exit point and this mission is thankfully over. All my pilots took heavy damage. Falcon has also been hit at least twice and will need some time to recover. At the very least we earned enough requisition points to repair our mechs. Plus the large amount of clan swag.

Can't we do something easy?

No time to rest and relax. Zulu Company is being sent out to catch a Smoke Jaguar convoy near Bakerville. Apparently the whole region is friendly to our opponents so getting through town might prove difficult. I'm also being advised to have some jump capable mechs to help in getting across the river swiftly. At least command has given me a higher tonnage allowance - 300 tons.


Yay! Catapult!

Repairs take us down to around 24,000 requisition points. Since I want to buy my own Catapult this is bad. I make up some of the difference by selling one of our Firestarter mechs. Getting rid of some components gets me just enough to get the new mech.


Bakerville here we come!

300 tons is enough to get seven mechs into play I'll be sending most of group towards the city while Mystique and the other light mechs attempt to harass the convoy from our bank of the river. Eventually Zulu Company should be able to regroup past Bakerville.

Smoke Jaguar convoy spotted!

The jump in finds us rather close to the convoy. We can see it on the other side of the river. There are at least a pair of Cougars and another of Hunchback IIC's.


Zulu Company unloads on a group of Savannah scouts

Immediately we send Mystique and her Raven off to follow the convoy from the far bank. The rest of our troops continue towards Bakerville at top speed. Before they can get far they come upon a slew of small Savannah-class scout cars. Though armed with some laser weaponry they are all destroyed with ease.


A much harder fight

The main force then wanders into a strong bondsman patrol. Besides a pair of Bulldog tanks there are various missile carriers attacking from varying ranges. Both Lynx and Countess take damage from the Strikers which fire repeated volleys from afar. It isn't all bad though. Hunter has acclimated to the Catapult for he's been able to stay at long range and also make the Bulldogs follow him.


Zulu Company defeats the patrol

The Bulldog tanks don't get any shots off. Lynx, Countess, and Rooster though have all taken damage from missiles. In particular Lynx's Centurion has had it the worst, thanks to two missiles in the rear compartments. In the end though we take down that pair of Bulldogs, another of Harassers, and a few Strikers.


Mystique gets across the river

Now the road to Bakerville is well open. Rooster eventually scouts out the hill north of town. On top he finds a sensor tower which is promptly destroyed. But from afar he finds the northern route blocked by the arrival of a minelayer. We'll need to take the longer, potentially more dangerous, southern route. At the same time Mystique has made it to the other side of the river in order to scout out the convoys route. This is because exposing the map makes it permanently visible.

Rooster and Siren battle it out with a missile carrier

Bakersville turns into a slow slog. While we find regular citizens just driving along in their cars there are just as many local militia in missile carriers. Our light mechs are sent forward to try and root these out. At around this point one of those enemy units hurts Gunman's Uller badly. Besides that Countess is also fresh out of gauss ammo on her Hunchback IIC.


Hunter and Countess secure a large number of weapons

Getting through the rest of Bakerville takes a toll on our mechs. Gunman is almost killed as he is ambushed by another missile carrier. He's had to leave an arm in the city centre. The rest of Zulu Company has moved past him - into an industrial sector. Resistance seems to be thinning out but almost everyone is now running with some damage.


Now leaving Bakerville

The convoy comes into view

Across the river we rush. Though battered and bruised we still need to take on a Rommel tank and four Clan mechs. First contact is made by Mystique who has barely managed to keep ahead of the enemy so far. She gets off a single alpha strike on the Rommel before backing away.


This is a fight

We need to take out the trucks and the enemy mechwarriors quickly. The convoy is close to escaping. Zulu Company is divided into four groups. Hunter acts as a long range missile battery and then moves against the forward truck. The light mechs are also employed in two tandem pairs - Siren/Rooster and Gunman/Mystique. They attack from the flanks shooting and scooting out of danger. The hard work falls to Lynx and Countess. They pair off in front against a single Cougar and a Hunchback IIC. Luckily Lynx is able to open up the second Hunchback to rear hits just as he keeps on pounding on the Cougar.


Gunman limps towards the action

Zulu Company is hitting hard and fast for once. The first pair of enemy mechs are down in less than a minute. But by then the second pair had come up and the trucks were proceeding apace. Then the last opposition Cougar was reduced to shambles by a single lucky hit. Our group now coalesced into two large units. Mystique, Lynx, and Gunman were looking to finish the Cougar as quickly as possible. By now Gunman was barely hanging on with two limbs now shot off.


This convoy is . . . cancelled

The other four mechs in my command were focusing their attention on the remaining trucks. The Hunchback IIC had moved up to try and protect them but found itself ignored. Our pilots were keeping abreast of his advances though and keeping out of range of his autocannon. Before he could force our attentions back to him the last truck is destroyed. That means the mission is immediately ended. As you can see almost everyone has suffered large damage. Gunman almost lost the Uller but is still promoted to a regular. Likewise Siren and Mystique have been injured in the firefight and will be out for at least a mission. It isn't a bad amount of requisition points earned but once again it'll all be used up by repairs. Not even any good salvage.

You have really been getting shafted on salvage, it seems. Are you going for legs? I seem to recall that upping the odds of getting usable mechs and parts.

I'm just getting terribly unlucky. I'm not hugely concerned about getting Inner Sphere trash like more Centurions or Firestarters. I would however like to start getting more Uller/Cougar/Hunchback IIC mechs if only to get more clan weapons.

I might try aiming for the legs or head to try and get more salvage but at this difficulty level I really just want to kill them as quickly as possible.

Fifteen minutes eh?

So the First Davion Guards have put such a fright in the local Clan Smoke Jaguar forces that they are going to send out a distress signal to the outside universe. We cannot allow this and Zulu Company is being tasked to take out the hyperpulse generators which would carry any message out of the system. Sadly we've only got fifteen minutes before the message is sent and we'll need to get through the city of Yokohama and into the base containing the communications dishes.



New pilots!

I'd like to buy one of the Atlas-class assault mechs currently available at battalion headquarters. Instead Zulu Company needs to roll forward with the mechs we currently have - a Raven, Uller, Cougar, Hunchback, Hunchback IIC, Catapult, and two Centurions. Since Gunman and Siren are both injured we actually need more pilots. The result is that we hire the services of Baron and Fiend. The only pilot with any experience left in the mech bay will be Rooster.


This can't possibly be easy can it?

Zulu Company moves into Yokohama

Like last mission we are going into a hostile urban situation. The outer layer of enemy perimeter alerts were taken out quickly and then beta lance moved into the city. They ran into a Striker, several SRM carriers, and a group of elementals at once.


Fiend gets around an enemy Uller

It wasn't long before the first enemy mech appeared - an Uller-J armed with ER lasers and a ultra light autocannon. With Countess and Hunter out ranging it it wasn't hard to kill. Fiend was eventually able to turn it around to expose its rear armor. Then it was gone.


Another clan patrol

Zulu Company was now about halfway through the city of Yokohama. The second lance with Lynx, Hawk, Falcon, and Mystique had now moved in and were getting into range of another Striker. Things were move heated around Hunter's lance. A Cougar-A had now been spotted and was backed up by a few missile carriers. Initially we are caught off guard but by now our two lances are close together. Right in the middle of the fight both Lynx and Mystique appeared to catch the Cougar off guard. Seconds later we were getting ready to assault the communications base.

Zulu Company

Things are going well. Straight through Yokohama and only the light mechs have suffered any damage. Better yet we have ten minutes left to enter and secure the base. It is now going to get tougher though. Scouting shows the base surrounded by a field of laser turrets and sensors note that there are upwards of a dozen vehicles inside. I'm unsure of how many mechs are in the base.


Beginning the assault

The outer layer of turrets are destroyed easily thanks to Hunter's skill with the Catapult. With those gone Zulu Company moved towards the wall. We hear the telltale powering up of an enemy mech. For now though several vehicles are taking up our attention.


Lynx unleashes an alpha strike against a clan Hunchback

During a small lull in the fighting Fiend and Hawk were able to sneak into the base. they began to take over the turret controls - giving us a number of turrets to use in the fight. At the same time the rest of our medium mechs were engaged at length by another Uller-J and then a Hunchback IIC.


Zulu Company emerges victorious

The arrival of the Hunchback turns this battle into a deadly serious affair. When additional vehicles powered up in the rear of the communication base everyone started sustaining heavy damage. Countess in our original Hunchback-A took the worst of it when the enemy mech targeted her. Lynx was similarly damaged and was forced to retreat back into the city.


Falcon and Hawk demolish the enemy motor pools

With half of our mechs badly damaged it falls to Mystique, Falcon, and Hawk to deal with the remaining vehicles. They had earlier managed to destroy one of the crew barracks but that still left several missile carriers. These in turn damaged Hawk's Cougar and prevented him from speedily taking the turret controls. It wasn't long though before each of the carriers was destroyed.


Zulu Company destroys the last hyperpulse generator

Now shorn of their last defenders the hyperpulse generators were ready to be destroyed. Around them were several supply caches which held numerous clan laser weapons and a large number of sensor packages. With nothing else to do we destroyed the communication arrays.


Mission Accomplished!

So most of our mechs took a good deal of damage but that is okay considering the scale of our victory. Even better is the amount of salvage which we recovered. Besides the large number of weapons taken we have also recovered an intact Uller-J. Excellent.

Now boarding Mechwarrior Express

Since none of our mechs were lost and few weapons blown clean off our repair costs aren't huge. I'm starting to build up a rather healthy amount of requisition points. By now the Jagermech-class fire support is available but for now I'm going to hold off on buying any more mechs.


Zulu Company is dropping in to take out a vital train

I've selected the mechwarriors that will drop. We'll have two lances with Mystique and Falcon guarding a mine layer. Gunman, Countess, and Rooster are bringing along our best light mechs. Since our weight limit is fairly low this is as good of a group as we are able to use.


Enemy Hunchback's

We are dropped at the top of an imposing hill and therefore get a good view of the surroundings. North of us are a group of three Hunchback mechs. There is also a visible group of Rommel tanks along our route across the river towards the train tracks.


Hard fighting near the bridge

The Rommel tanks are able to bruise our forces. Mostly armed with short range weapons they are able to blow holes in both of our Uller-class mechs. Mystique, who had made it through the last battle without a scratch, was also hurt badly. Her torso armor was beaten up but her weapons remained intact.

The train appears

Now across the river Zulu Company starts to establish their ambush. Mystique and Falcon guard our minelayer as it begins to arm a broad section of track. The rest of the mechs are sent off to scale the nearest hill. In doing so they spot the train and its current guard of three Uller-class mechs and those Hunchback's we spotted before.


Enemy mechs wander into the minefield

I'm not able to create a very good minefield before the enemy arrives. It is patchy and full of holes. Still it is enough to destroy the train engine and gives us a chance to hurt the escort mechs.

Hey, if it destroyed the engine, then it was a good enough minefield to get the job done. Hopefully you can draw the enemy mechs into the mines, now that you can destroy the rest of the train at your leisure.

All of the most devastating weapons on the Madcat are long range, and unlike in tabletop where most Clan weapons don't actually have a minimum range, no long range weapons can fire up close in this game. So you load up as much short-range firepower as you can--if you salvaged the Hollander, stick one of the ACs on it, the Gauss has too little ammunition to be useful as a sole big weapon anyway--and just stick close. Since the pilot has a tendency to backpedal a lot when you close range, it's not hard to circle a guy around behind him, either.

If you salvage the thing with both ER PPCs, the game basically becomes ezmode for the next 7 or 8 missions. But that usually doesn't happen (one time I nailed the pilot, one shot to the cockpit, yet somehow that caused 3 engine crits and blew the whole thing up).

Have you decided to call it quits, CSL, or is the LP just on a temporary break? I miss the daily dose of mech action, man! (Seriously, though, I was really digging the LP. If you've decided to call it quits, I'll still say thanks for a really entertaining read! Almost made me pick the game back up myself.)

I've got to agree with Quatoria here, I miss the LP, it's great :)

I've just been busy lately with work and the dasteredly crack-cocaine known as Jagged Alliance 2.

Love this LP, and I remember some of the missions. The game was so unforgiving, but you'd still try to push for that last supply cache or scout that area where you think one might be with your limping, beat-up crew.

Restart!

Destroying the engine last time wasn't enough. Zulu Company got brought into a large-scale battle against Clan mechs that they couldn't win. So this time we'll try for a more mobile approach towards victory. I'll also remember that the only objective is to destroy the train! This time we approach the bridge only after laying down a small layer of mines. They help us blow through the Rommel-class tanks with ease.


Countess is killed

Another minefield is put down to destroy the train engine and draw in the Clan mechs. It succeeds but the enemy withdraws its lance of Uller-class before our light mechs can fall upon the now vulnerable train cars. Still Gunman, Countess, and Rooster take out most the cars before five of the six Clan mechs fall upon them. After suffering some early damage from the trains fuel car Countess' Uller was picked off by one of the enemy Hunchback's. It's only Zulu Company's seconds fatality but it comes against a veteran pilot. Despite more heavy fire both Gunman and Rooster are able to destroy the rest of the train.


Mission Accomplished - kinda

It isn't an excellent victory. Countess' death has hit Zulu Company hard and it leaves a big gap between out elite pilots and our half dozen regulars. With her death we now have two fatalities. The only upside is that Zulu Company now has 91,500 requisition points to spend.

Oh, fun.


Take the base and hold it

I've spent 80,000 acquiring an Atlas-class assault mech. It's slow but it'll be a huge threat from long range. In conjunction with out Catapult we've got a strong first lance. They are joined by Gunman and Hitman (newly recruited) in Centurion's. The second lance is a bit faster and is centered around Falcon and her Hunchback IIC. They do have some jumpjets. Mystique can possible get into the rear of the base with her Uller.

The Clan takes the bait

Zulu Company starts the mission off in the rear of the base. We've got an excellent sight line into the base from the hill we got dropped on. Inside the base is an Uller with jumpjets and two Rommel tanks. The second lance led by Falcon draws them out of the base and towards Lynx's Atlas. The planning is hugely successful. The enemy Uller is destroyed in a single alpha-strike by Lynx and the rest of his lance. The tanks are thereafter destroyed with ease.


Hitman and Gunman take the base

The way into the base is at hand. A single turret is destroyed to give Gunman and Hitman into the base. Their mechs are fast enough to evade most of the remaining autocannons. The arrival of several Harasser's runs that. Before the pilots could make it to the control towers their progress was blocked and both took damage from rear shots and other laser weapons. Still almost all of the turrets are still under our control.


The first responders

Outside the base the rest of our mechs have fought off a combined force of vehicles including some missile carriers. There was little damage to the group. Mystique is the only one reporting anything amiss, with both of her arms damaged. She'll retreat into the base with our Centurion's to act as a mobile reserve. The rest of our pilots move south to deal with two jump-jet sporting Commando mechs.


Zulu Company makes quick work of the Clan

High mobility doesn't help the Clan mechs at all. The heavy firepower of our Atlas and Catapult eliminate both pilots within a half-minute. Neither of the mechs are salvageable. We did take the Uller-J earlier though. For now we can regroup and await the rest of the Clan response. We took the local sensor network along with the base and can see at least six Clan mechs approaching from the north and east.

Welcoming visitors

A pair of Hunchback-A's is the next threat to arrive. Since they make a beeline for my initial entry into the base both of the Centurion's are send out the front entrance to try and flank. My new main group of Lynx, Hunter, Siren, and Falcon take the assault right on the chin.


The Hunchbacks are surrounded

Overwhelmed by our superior numbers the pair of Hunchbacks are easy picking. Lynx keeps them occupied with his heavily armored Atlas while everyone else takes their time whittling away the enemy armor. They take their time though. The lesson learned is that maybe taking more PPC's would be a good idea in the future.


Lynx's Atlas

Nearly crippled Lynx will need to take himself out of the firing line - at least until we need him. That leaves Hunter and Falcon as our least damaged mechs. Both Siren and Mystique are still in good shape as well and can still be useful.


Incoming!

I had almost forgot about my artillery supports. Before a pair of Hollander IIs can arrive at the base I spot some artillery on them.


Direct hit!

Both mechs take damage. The rear one is hardest hit as our artillery has ripped most of its armor away - leaving the internals vulnerable. Sadly both still possess their powerful gauss weapons. I've also spotted three Centurions marching down the same round the Hollanders came from. I'll try and drop my large artillery strikes on them.

Whooo! Boy howdy!

I'm a little poor on the fire control as one of the large artillery strikes is wasted. It's more than evened out by the second strike. One of the Centurions is destroyed instantly when the ammo reserves are pierced. The second mech in line suffers moderate damage to its torso. The last in line has its left arm nearly cleaved off. Good result.


Zulu Company deals with the Hollanders

Delayed by our successful artillery strikes the remaining four enemy mechs can't coordinate their arrival. The result is that the Hollanders march into the base is met with the undivided attention of Zulu Company. Though somewhat battered noone is in real danger against an already weakened enemy.


Long range fire!

I'd rather not let the last two mechs anywhere near the centre of the base if only because they might focus on the HQ we need to defend. So our four long-range specced mechs move out of the base and engage with a fully battery of LRM missiles. The enemy never stands a chance when Lynx powers up his extended range PPC's. Both Clanners eject within a minute.


Mission Accomplished!

Certainly a good outcome. The only mech to sustain heavy damage was Lynx's Atlas but this was to be expected as I was using it as a damage sponge. Falcon has now moved up to veteran status. The best thing is the amount of salvage we get. Besides the jump-jet sporting Uller we got an extra armour Hunchback variant. A number of resource bunkers and container stacks also give us a great cache of clan weapons.

Operation Vanguard has now begun after our successful capture of the Serpent Bay facility. Despite the lack of requisition points handed out we got lucky by salvaging two mechs. The Uller which came under our control even had a number of its clan weapons intact. Besides that we gathered a small fortune in other weapon stashes. Zulu Company is now a veteran group with 11 pilots on roster. All told we have access to nine mechs and a further three unrepaired hulks.



Escort is never easy

Looks like HQ is sending us on an escort mission to help a convoy of ambulances towards Field Hospital Delta. (What kind of name is that for a field hospital?) Naturally they can't do anything sane like use helicopters or the nearby river system so they are sending us in as an escort force. Likely they'll be ambushes, powered-down mechs awaiting, and apparently a Vulture-class heavy omnimech! By the absolute worst thing is that our drop weight is a mere 150 tons. Meaning I'll be using light mechs again. Goddammit.

Great chance to get yourself a Vulture, though, if you can live with a smidgen of save scumming and leg shooting. Your call, of course, but I think we'd all forgive you a few save and reloads if that's what it takes to finally get the salvage rolls on your side.

Zulu Company is prepared to drop

150 tons is just enough for a force of four mechs. Two are Uller-class mechs sporting twin PPC's to give the force a hard hitting core. They lack lasers or missiles entirely though and will only put out fire every eight seconds or so. Baron will take over our Cougar which sports a good mix of lasers and streak missiles. Finally the rapidly improving Gunman will take down one of our Centurions. So long as it can keep up we'll have a valuable medium mech at hand.


Four mechs and a convoy of defenseless ambulances - yay!

This is the route which the convoy will take. It stay close to the river/sea(?) and goes through a small town before turning towards Field Hospital Delta. I'm expecting the Vulture close to the Field Hospital. Considering how weak the armor is on our light mechs I wouldn't be surprised if we went out of this down a pilot.

Zulu Company comes into action just ahead of the ambulance convoy

Since the convoy doesn't stop for anything everything I do will need to be done quickly. Which means a lot of paused orders. For now I'll have the light mercs scouting as far forward as possible. Almost immediately they are beset upon by a group of jump-jet equipped Firestarters.


The battle is joined

Gunman is coming up quickly to assist, but for now our three mechs will need to deal with three Firestarters. The first volley of PPC fire damages the leading enemy mech. By the time reinforcements arrive a second volley had essentially taken our one Firestarter already.


Clan mechs continue to pour heavy flamer fire at us

The two remaining Firestarters had different armament. One was a typical stock model with two heavy flamers and an SRM pack. The other though was stuffed with missile packs and a single laser. Zulu Company aimed for the basic model.


They didn't stand a chance

Whoops they weren't all Firestarters. The last one was a Commando. It went down really fast. So fast that the pilot ejected well before suffering much damage and as a result its come up as salvage and it hasn't lost any weapons either. A small cache of inner sphere trash basically.

Two destroyed Rommels and a badly damaged Uller

Down the road a spell there was another roadblock set up. It was composed of two Rommels which badly mauled Hitman's Uller. His torso and left arm were badly beaten up before he could withdraw behind our Centurion. Thereafter longer ranged PPC fire took out both tanks.


Two Aerospace Spotters spotted

Moving further our mechs climb a small hill and spot two things - a pair of Aerospace Spotters and a mobile HQ. Since the HQ is undefended Hitman is sent to grab it and everyone else watches as artillery is called down on the enemy spotters.


That worked

Not obvious at all

We've now opened a gap in front of the defenseless convoy. Scouting efforts have shown us that the road now curves around a forested escarpment - an excellent place for an ambush. It's rather easy to spot a number of pop-up turrets positioned astride the road.


Zulu Company makes quick work of pop-up turrets

By ordering our force to engage from medium range none of our mechs take any damage against this first bank of turrets. Still there seems to be another group of them further on. It turns out to just be a single last one which Gunman and Baron dispatch with their laser weapons.


Midway through our journey and nothing too serious

With the turrets dealt with we are clear on through into the small town clan forces still control. It doesn't have any sort of mobile bondsmen vehicles though, however we've picked up sensor contacts further up the road. Still we have enough time to find a resource warehouse filled with two large pulse lasers.

So far, this seems like strangely light opposition. Which, of course, makes me worry about just how that vulture is going to be equipped, and what else you're going to see alongside.

It also shows you that I scouted the mission and had to quit midway through to go to bed.

This is the mission that killed my original playthrough of this game when it came out. It almost killed my recent replay (I had to drop to Easy difficulty, which I don't think was an option with the original [non-gold] release).

Good luck!

Hey guys!

Remember that mobile headquarters we took earlier? Well it showed me this. Two Uller-class mechs guarding a container stack. I want it since I know it contains an ER PPC. So I'll drop artillery on them.


That smarts

The better armoured mech isn't hurt at all. His better armed friend is nearly crippled and has lost half its weapons. As soon as they power up they book it towards the town Zulu Company currently occupies.


One down, one to go

I'm giving time for Zulu Company to get setup in town. When the Ullers arrive they are met with harsh fire from Hitman and Siren. Their fire is enough to force the injured mech off the battlefield. The remaining mech is quickly ganged up upon by most of the lance but the convoy is already nearing the town.