Feb 1st, 3035
Planet
Radlje, Free Rasalhague Republic
(former Military District
Rasalhague, Draconis Combine)
As the Kurita
fleet went down on the icy world of Radlje, the flames of the engines
evaporated the frost on the ships’ hulls within milliseconds. The
Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, an overlord
class dropship completely covered in dark red and painted with a
large black dragon, took the lead position. Flanked by a flight of
Shilone heavy aerospace fighters, it must have been a beautiful sight
– at least for the loyalists on the planets surface, waiting for
the relieve force. For the Ronin instead, it must have felt like a
guillotine coming down on them.
The Ronin were
renegades. As warriors of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery they
had refused to follow the command of the Gunji-no-Kanrei Theodore
Kurita to leave the planet and head for the Kurita core regions. In
3034 Theodore had decided to release Rasalhague to independence. But
some of the DCMS forces didn’t want to give up the territories
their fathers and grandfathers have spilled their blood for
centuries. Others remained only to protect the Kurita civilians from
the wrath of the Swedenese mob.
For Tai-sa Hatake
Matsumura all of this was of little concern. As a man of absolute
loyalty to Theodore Kurita, he was determined to follow his orders:
break all resistance and punish the perpetrators. The only thing he
didn’t like about his assignment was his task force. Or better: its
individual elements. Next to some loyal Kurita units like the Swords
of Light and some Regulars, he was forced to work with members of the
Kungs Armé as well as Mercenaries and even some military “advisors”
of the hated Lyran Commonwealth!
From his point of
view, he would have left all but his loyal DCMS forces behind. Surely
those Ronin were no match for him and the Swords of Light. But there
were political layers he couldn’t ignore. And after all, he had his
orders from the Kanrei personally! And a soldier has to carry out
one’s duty…
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8 strategic targets are
connected by a rail network. |
So much for the
“fluff” of the Ronin Campaign. The Hamburg division of MechForce
Germany ran an event from 1st
to 3rd
of February. 36 players and a staff of 10 people took part in this
large 3 days’ battle. 6 tactical rounds were played and incredible
42 engagements were fought. Not to forget all the good laughs, the
anger (about missed dice roles) and of course: the booze! :-D
When I arrived on
Friday to my surprise I was appointed as the CO of the loyalist
faction. While an old buddy of mine, Thori, took the lead of the
Ronin. So after all this became a true brotherly battle. To even the
odds, the game master decided all units on both sides had to combat
drop randomly. The battlefield was represented by a huge map of
Alaska with a layer of hex fields on it.
The first day:
Dropping on enemy territory
By luck most of the
Ronin went down around the city of Anchorage, which was also the
capital in our Ronin scenario. The Loyalists instead landed for the
most part in the north and west of the map. Only a few units came
down behind enemy lines. But those who did, played a major role soon
after…
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| Green: Loyalist, Red: Ronin |
As a good Kurita
soldier, I decided to engage as soon and as hard as possible. Six
fights were on in the first tactical round. In the beginning I wanted
to know what we were up against, because both sides had a variety of
light, medium, heavy, assault and artillery assets at their disposal.
Based on their weight class their movement speed corresponded on the strategic map:
All units were
BattleMechs (no tanks, no infantry etc.), both sides had one Raven
with ECM in their ranks.
To win the campaign,
one side had to occupy more strategic targets on the map than the
other. There were eight targets like the spaceport, a sea harbour,
loading stations etc. Holding some of them granted the occupying side
perks like performing a combat drop every three tactical rounds if
you owned the spaceport.
At this point my
units, which dropped behind enemy lines, came into play: While the
main forces engaged the enemies where they stood, the ones in the
rear of the Ronin headed straight for the strategic targets.
Meanwhile my combat units managed to bind some of the lighter and
though faster Ronin. As a result, the Loyalists made the race to 6 of
the 8 strategic targets before the Ronin could get there. I’d like
to single out the unluckiest person I treaded this way: Outlaw. I
managed to attack him and his light/medium unit three rounds in a row
with an assault unit. Outlaw had no chance to win, even though he
managed to slip away three times. It needed lucky shots in the third
engagement to kill at least Outlaws Spider – with two hits to the
head!
In the night from
Friday to Saturday, when the fighting came to an end, the progress of
the Loyalists was satisfactory: We already held 4 out of 8 strategic
targets, while the opponents only managed to take 2. The rest was
still unoccupied. In return the Ronin scored slightly better on the
kill board.
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| Loyalists on the attack. |
The second day:
Main Stage Spaceport
On Saturday morning
the fighting continued, but this time the Ronin took a much more
active stance. Thori, my opposing commander, tried to disengage from
my main force, while he pushed south towards the spaceport. Only a
light/medium unit of the Phoenix Guard held the place and would not
stand a chance on the long run. So I took the risk and intercepted
the incoming forces on route to the port. Performing a wonderful
delaying action, while the Loyalist main force raced south-east to
the rescue!
The plan succeeded
and the Phoenix Guard not only managed to hold the port, they did
some kills. To strengthen the defence, in the sixth round I dropped
in an assault unit and the perimeter held.
Side Stages
Meanwhile there were
some smaller units fighting in the west, east and north for secondary
targets. In the north the factory changed hands three times, while
decimated loyalist defenders clinged on the radio station until the
very end. The western skirmishes were kinda special for me. First of
all, my unit was involved directly and my opponent was Detlef Howe,
one of the founders of the first MechForce Germany in 1993. Detlef
alias “The Major” rolled my first MechForce BattleMech in 1994, a
Hunchback-4G. I payed the BattleTech Central in Essen a visit to sign
in and that was that. So I was really excited to fight a match with
him 25 years later.
Unfortunately, the
mission I had to fulfill was to act as a binding force and to slow
the Major down, while he approached the western railway loading
station. His unit consisted of a few very agile light and medium
machines plus some artillery Battlemechs … and a Raven with ECM. So
I couldn’t do much more than distracting him and buy some time. In
the fifth tactical round more powerful loyalist units were entrenched
enough in the railway station, so I let the Major of the hook and he
tried to take the station – but didn’t succeed.
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| Final push to Anchorage. |
The last night:
Advancing Anchorage
You want to know
what happened to the capital? Anchorage was a pretty safe place for
the Ronin for the most time. But in the end of the campaign I ordered
a sizeable push towards the large city along the western railroad.
The fighting in the suburbs and in the downtown area were grim. When
the dust settled in the night from Saturday and Friday, it became
apparent that it was a draw. Half of the capital was still held by
the Ronin, while the other half was freed by the Loyalists.
Results &
Aftermath
At
the end the Loyalists held 6 out of 8 strategic targets. The capital,
Anchorage, was still contested while the Ronin controlled only a
subterranean railway station in the north-east. Therefore, the
Loyalist faction achieved a major strategical victory!
But the Ronin did
not despair. In the sixth and last tactical round the still had the
chance to turn the tables and they put up some great fights. Almost
everyone was happy with the end of the campaign. Personally it’s
been absolutely fun for me. I met some old buddies I hadn’t seen
for decades and I made some new friends.
My thanks go out for
the Northern German BT Division, you guys did an awesome job! Already
looking forward to Operation Thor III in
2021!
@Fotos: Danke an Thorsten Elfers für die tollen Bilder!
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| It's Thoris (center) turn to set one of his units on the strategic map. |
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| Blue flags are loyalist units, white ones for the Ronin. |
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| Delaying action: Storyteller (black pullover) and Peer (blue) are fighting Detlef "The Major" Howe (left). |
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| A lot of fighting during Saturday. |
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Thori (2nd from the left) and Storyteller (me sitting front/right)
during a movement phase at the strategic map. |
|
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| 42 battles were fought from Friday evening to Saturday night! |
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Aaaaaand ... the result:
The loyalist achieved a major victory!
But we all had a great time. |
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| A rare view: A Steiner banner next to Kurita flag. |
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The 2019 combined banner of
MechForce Germany and Team Trueborn.
Some of you may notice the artwork on top:
36th Dieron Regulars by Spooky777! |
