New to AtB: liquidity and random loan generators! Specifically, AtB won't let you accept a contract unless you can pay the transport costs BEFORE the advance money is added to your account!
(Loan can be paid off at the quarterly payment date. The entire interest for the loan is due, even if paid off early. That will require a payment of 2,668,070 CB on 23 September, 3057.)
1 May, 3057Contract accepted.
Loan (above) taken out.
Advance money from GEMINI deposited: $21,687,500
Lift-off from Galatea for Raman.
1 JuneUnit salaries due.
Unit Maintenance costs due.
Unit Overhead costs due.
27 JuneRaman Reached
Alpha Company assigned to FIGHT
Bravo Company assigned to SCOUT
Charlie Company assigned to FIGHT
Delta Company assigned to DEFEND
Command Administrator Alayna Woods assigned to DEFEND Role: +1 Initiative
30 June 3057Mission: Base Attack (Defender) - Norbotten, Blitzkreig, Fire
Result: Victory - +2 to contract score
After-Action Report: The arrival on planet went as planned as far as could be. The movement of dropships carried forces to staging areas as soon as they hit the tarmac. Delta deployed as part of a reinforced company to a repair and refit base as the temporary garrison relief. This was stated as a secure base but this would prove as anything but.
Upon arrival in true drac fashion the liason transmitted orders with patrol locations. The liason deploying alongside his personal guard on or near the southern battlements in an assumed overwatch role. Civilians still running amok were scattered across the tarmac and city. Fire Lance deployed on the southern tarmac along the main patrol road. Blitzkrieg deployed into the northeastern park entrance and Norbotten outside the western park entrance.
The opfor deployed in essentially a three pronged formation. The southwestern prong consisted of a mixed medium heavy lance supported by a heavy tank formation. The southeastern prong contained a fedsuns mixed medium assault lance. A small demi lance deployed due east and a mixed medium heavy lance completed the northeast prong.
The southwestern force would utilize cover through isolated cross streets to move and take the occasional pot shot down the street entrances. Quickly made clear the drac liason wanted nothing to do with this force issuing orders for the dual thumper turrets to level the city block. They obliged heavily with one mentioning something of the local union asking for a rubble quarry and more work.
This battle would be heavily dictated by firing pockets, firing lanes and in some cases sheer will. The combine would essentially hold the ramparts the majority of the battle. The only real thing of note being the loss of multiple spotters by textbook combine war tactics. The push into the enemy for direct combat and spotting. This would result in the entire southwest prong focusing and removing both mechs in the first half or so of the battle. The rest became direct fire support as was the intended role. The ppc turrets systematically were assaulted and removed in the early part of the battle but not before dealing damage to multiple units.
Norbotten would through the course of the battle split in two sections. One reinforcing the southern ramparts and would remain there while the other came south of the eastern park entrance to deter light elements attempting to break through and destroy the civilian units. Soon it became apparent that the north eastern flank needed help prompting a simultaneous squak from all three CO. This would be the relatively how Norbotten would remain for the remainder of the battle locked in combat among the terraces in support of Blitzkrieg. This support was heavily needed and important to prevent their near total crippling.
Blitzkrieg would for much of the battle play hide and seek peekaboo whack a mole style with the medium heavy lance to the north taking the heaviest damage with at least one unit being downed but recoverable. Specificly given the green light to pull back as needed it appeared that the choice became dig in. Although facing a smaller enemy they were not the least bit phased by what they encountered. Tenacious and unflinching with the words death to the combine painted on the mechs they gave much more than they got. The sudden appearance of an Axman prompted from medium concern to outright terror as not only did this signal the true push from the northeastern prong the axman hit the southern flank at the same time roughly. Quickly it came in among the tree covered terraces for brutal infighting and ire. When all was said and done Blitzkrieg wouldn't see the interior of the base until even after the recovery units dragged the downed Orion and the lances new fed suns Griffin back. Kicking the downed Axman on the way out.
The civilians units well ran for their lives and rightly so with the near miracle that they weren't killed in a few cases. The occasional FU heard on external speakers followed by small lasers or similar.
Fury would come in and do just as intended. Reinforce isolate and kill isolated units. With the artillery and dracs putting additional fire into the southwest prong this ended up being a fairly short engagement in some aspects but terrifyingly horrible in results. The continued artillery fire would continue to damage the southern vehicles forcing the prong to push forward.. The jaggermech found itself isolated and in the sights of the newly arrived entire fresh lance at the end of its street. This would result in one of the few non artillery related plumes of the day. Reviewed Gun cam footage showed extreme skill of the jagermech but the outright ferocity of the return fire rupturing the engine causing a catastrophic engine breach hitting many of its nearby companions. One pilot in the lance later was overhead talking about the gauss slug nearly taking its head off followed by a flashing light, smoke and debris. This would devolve further into a structural collapse with enforcer still above, the war dog running for its life only to run into the entire firing line and fury lance. Enforcer 2 simply ceased to exist once it took a full battery to its back from Fury 1. The scare came as drac artillery attempted to coordinate fire between the liason, Dracs, Fury and Fire. This did not go as planned as the targets were coordinated but Fury lance CO simply yelled "If I get hit with artillery it's my fault." That was exactly what would happen following the broken communication. Which did not stay broken for long. A shell landed near if not on top of the opfor tanks but also the Wraith of fury lance a nice new convertible with additional component damage the shrapnel missing by the grace of God. The communications line came back and after many minutes of swearing back and forth resolved itself.
Fire Lance deployed on the southern tarmac at the closest road for outer perimeter guard. Attempting to survey the land they didn't get very far and were essentially caught in an opening among the tarmac and city edge. This looked to be something of a conundrum but ended up playing into the plan. Seeing the opening ranges Fire Lance went into generating the lightning storm that would continue throughout the remainder of the battle in the south and center of the battlefield. As the fed suns units closed they began to push into the open gaps allowing Fire Lance to position slightly better firing lanes minimizing the possible return fire. Leading to several turns of severe damage among some of the southeast prong with near nothing in return. As this continued rather than pulling back it was decided to hold this pocket forcing the opfor CO to choose how they wanted to be hurt. The pocket shifted as needed maximizing firing lanes isolating primary and secondary targets each turn melting much of the armor that it set its might on. The first surprise came to a centurion which attempted to use cover but misjudged only to be outright cored in one volley. So much electrical interference may have contributed to the lack of overlapping precise fire periodically into targeted locations later however. The opfor CO decided the turrets were the path of least resistance. Opfor CO chose his path and without much to be done to break the bad position they pushed. For several turns this resulted in near 1 on 4 fire with no fire at all from the assault group. They withered into the flank of the ppc towers for cover regrouping yo try pushing the corner in force. They did just that which then promptly ended the cyclops, followed by the Enfield in back to back volleys. The Sentinel ran its morale broken its arms flailing about. Cam footage would later show just why there was such surprise. Out of pity and embarrasment everyone simply looked the other way opting not to shoot it that weapons cycle. This about signaled the end of battle while additional arty finished the tanks long and medium range fire was exchanged with the last remaining mech the gunslinger. Signaling it had enough and with enough damage done it was agreed it could leave.
The multi prong push was heavily stalled and placement not optimal. The Rangers blunted the tip of the spears and shattered the attack. They left wondering was this really an objective raid?
12 July 3057SOLO Mission: Probe (Attacker) - Foil
Result: Victory
After-Action Report: Enemy forces were detected near dusk on 7/8, and Foil lance engaged a mixed company of units. After brief long range skirmishing , the enemy pixie rapidly closed distance with Cushion in the BHKO and Liaison in a clint. After several rounds of exchanged fire, the Clint's right torso was exposed, and the Clint's AC5 ammo exploded while liason was withdrawing, knocking Liaison unconscious. Liaison died when auto-eject put him into water. OpFor Pixie then closed with Oracle, who kicked Pixie down and Pixie was not able to stand back up, eventually dieing to self inflicted wounds and additional kicks.
On the other side of the battlefield, the C3 lance established firing positions and began attacking primarily the Hunters and Hatchetman. After a few turns, and with darkness falling, the hunters were defeated. However, they slowed our units enough to cause the Quickdraw to take excessive damage. OpFor Gallowglas established a firing position on a hill and continued to shoot our forces, and we were not able to dislodge. As the battle went on, Cushion destroyed both vedettes, and Lawyer immobilized a Drillison with a shot to the back. However, we paid a high price for victory, and I am concerned to even call this a phyric victory.
12 July 3057SOLO Mission: Extraction (Attacker) - Lancer
Result: Victory (Pyhrric)
After-Action Report: While Lancer was on the outskirts of the city waiting for the civilians to try and get to them, the position that was chosen to hold up in ended up being lethal. The Griffin on top of a large building used his light to spot for the plethora of LRM fire hailed heavily on the Orion trying to hole up in woods. Unable to move farther than the position near the center of the East taking pot shot at turrets, the civilians just held the West end and used the darkness to their benefit until the local units began to push in on them. Trying to push through the North, the cataphract and Orion began to take heavy fire from the enemy Ryoken, who only traded an arm in the process, while chipping away at both mechs slowly.
The Longbow from the civilian side fought earnestly, chipping away at the wolf trap and turrets from the line, while also being used as a decoy for the tanks to survive. The reinforcement units came in and split up, with the hollanders going towards the front line, with the locust and Phawk joining the 3 pushing on the 2 civilian tanks. The carbine was taken out by the enemy shadow hawk and did not stand a chance. The battle was long fought on both sides of the outskirts, with the APC doing circles around tall buildings and the Jifty, as a last ditch effort, took a chance and rammed inside a building to hide. The wolf trap nearly had it, but survived the final blow.
In the end, Lancer took a massive beating, with the CO going unconscious and losing his mech to ensure forces were not going towards the civilians. Lancer was only able to take out 3 turrets, along with the SRM carrier and forcing the manticore to be immobilized.
13 July 3057Mission: Breakthrough (Attacker) - Ironside, Foil, Jazz
Result: Victory - +2 to contract score
After-Action Report: The deployment was the smoothest part of the mission, Foil landed north of the encampment with Ironside and Jazz landing to the East and West of Foil. The light rain gave little cover, but in the open stretches, it was sufficient.
The first shots were fired as soon as the rangers landed. The rain gave just enough cover to keep the field gunners off of us, for now.
The rangers were able to damage a few commonwealth mechs heavily, and after a successful bombing run on one of the field guns, the advance continued as planned.
Foil advance straight south, sweeping for mines, before sweeping down east to assist Ironside. After a complete melee on the east, as well as tremendous bravery from the already damaged units in Foil lance the advance, came to a grinding halt on the eastern side. The West was somewhat less impeded and continued to push further but Jazz quickly found that they were outnumbered, and outgunned, and the western advance was also slowed.
After the advance had been slowed and options seemed to grow thinner the reinforcements arrived. Blitzkrieg made a firing advance, assisting the advance in the east and giving Foil and Ironside enough room to resume the advance. Blitzkrieg then proceeded to the west and helped relieve the pressure on the west as well.
After Blitzkrieg alleviated some of the pressure the rest of the advance went off relatively smoothly. Jazz and Blitzkrieg continued up the east side while finishing off many of the damaged units. Foil and Ironside limped their forces along the west and eliminated the remaining mechs in the area. This final push allowed ranger forces to complete their advance and secure the mission.
30 July 3057SOLO Mission: Stand Up (Attacker) - Spectre
Result: Loss - no effect on contract score
After-Action Report:Turn 1: Panther and Dervish jump up onto wooded hill, with the Panther falling. Clint, Ostroc, and Marauder along board edge. OpFor approaches down the center towards the Marauder group, and the Javelin gets hit hard and falls over.
Turn 2: Panther stands as the OpFor and Marauder group close more, with the Clint getting cored.
Turn 3: PHawk jumps and closes in on Panther, as Marauder group retreat keeps distance between it and general OpFor, with a stinger running forward, dying to the Marauder's kick.
Turn 4: Panther retreats with the PHawk to jump behind the Dervish, who picks up the kill on the javelin. Marauder group continues retreating, and the Ostroc loses an arm.
Turn 5: Dervish and Panther safe for a moment, as the PHawk jumps behind and legs the Ostroc. Marauder continues backing away through the woods, and kills the wasp in front of it.
Turn 6: An onslaught of OpFor mechs take out Marauder's left torso as it continues backing away.
Turn 7: Spectre lance escapes off board.
1 August 3057Mission: Recon Raid (Attacker) - Marigold, Osiris, Lancer
Result: Victory - +2 to contract score
After-Action Report: The Rangers, with the CO lance down a mech, took up an offensive front on the West end pushing hard towards the objective. The FC units in the city and on the East end expected as much and pushed their units towards our flank for a full assault. Shadow decided to be dropped off to get as far North as possible, when the dropship took moderate damage to the bay door that he was in. Osiris followed through and pushed hard, leaving the slower units behind to deal with the forces closing in on their position. Miscommunication on COs part for that occurrence.
Once the objective was met, Marigold and Lancer took a slow beating from enemy units, crippling 2 XL units in the process while taking as many of them down with them. The faster element met up with those who scouted the designated area with authority, causing Shadows Lancelot to take multiple leg hits, falling before reaching the end. The medium lance of Enforcer and Valkyries began to tear into Lancers remaining units, taking the Warhammer before the final laser was struck. Lancer and Marigold fought hard to keep the zone cleared of enemy units. We barely got the information out, but was the struggle worth it?
4 August 3057SOLO Mission: Stand Up (Defender) - Fury
Result: Victory - no effect on contract score
After-Action Report: On 4 August, Fury Lance met, engaged, and defeated a FedCom middleweight BattleMech lance reinforced by a platoon of combat vehicles. Upon sighting the OPFOR, SGT Thomas in her Wraith swung far to the north of Fury's main body. The threat in being of her turning their northern flank held the FedCom BattleMech units to remain on the north edge of the engagement area, too far away to effectively support the combat vehicles to their south. This allowed the remainder of Fury Lance, as well as Tai-i Gelacak, the Combine liaison, to concentrate upon the combat vehicles in isolation. First blood of the day went to the Tai-i, detonating a flight of LRMs in a Scorpion's crew compartment. While SGT Thomas demonstrated in the north, the remainder of Fury Lance dressed their lines, instructed the Tai-i to hang back at a safe distance, and turned to face the BattleMechs to the north just as SGT Thomas disabled the FedCom Venom sent to hunt her down.
The OPFOR BattleMechs advanced in a loose wedge; the Archer on top of a low rise, the Caesar down the center, and the Hatchetman along their eastern flank, blocking Fury's Wraith from attempting to turn that flank. A sharp exchange of fire at close range caused significant internal damage to SGT Mars' Warhammer, who would essentially withdraw to a safe distance, but in return the Caesar was crippled and then finished off by LT Baxter. At this point, LTJG Montgomery and ST Thomas paired off against the FedCom Hatchetman while LT Baxter engaged the Archer. The Hatchetman pilot, in a tremendous display of piloting prowess, got the better of the two Fury Lance Mechs for nearly a full minute, daring the low gravity and jumping repeatedly into position to make effective weapon and hatchet attacks, and practically all of the Fury return fire missed. It required SGT Mars's Warhammer to trundle back into the fray to finish the Mech off. Unfortunately, this was accomplished via SGT Thomas blowing the head of the Hatchetman clean off with an LPL hit, killing the impressive MechWarrior. It was at this point that LT Baxter offered to allow the Archer to depart the field, and faced with the full firepower of all four Fury Lance BattleMechs, the pilot wisely withdrew, ceding the field to Ranger forces.
23 August 3057Mission: Hostile Facility Extraction (Attacker) - Ironside, Fury, Norbotten, Blitzkrieg
Result: Victory - +2 to contract score
After-Action Report: The battle began with Norbotten, Fury, and Ironside lance pushing up the east side, Blitzkrieg pushing up the center, and Osiris guarding troop transports to the west. The eastern advance was brought to a grinding halt and Norbotten took heavy losses. A lance of mechs bogged down Osiris, but the western pressure was relieved when blitzkrieg split to the west to assist. The troop transports were held down, and as the eastern advance pushed forward Fury's Wraith dashed in, and grabbed the objective. Fury's fighting retreat was covered by blitzkrieg. Ironside and Osiris continued to pick off opfor mechs as all forces pulled back for exfil. Ironside's SGT Tyra Pucher was killed in action when her Axman's head was blown off in a close-quarters brawl at the base gate, and Norbotten Lance's Archer was destroyed in an ammunition explosion. Several other Mechs were crippled, but the Rangers carried the day.
7 September: Lift off Raman to Marduk
3 OctoberRangers land on Marduk
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Topic: Operation GEMINI - May 3057 - September 3057 (Read 1800 times)