Forces
-WOB brought what looked to be just over heavy 2 Level IIs to the fight. Both were C3i linked, and they were reinforced by 2 PXH LAMs.
-Coalition had an operational Union-class DropShip (upgraded), and a reinforced company of Mechs. However, all but one medium lance were shut down as pilots scrambled to their Mechs.
Layout
-2x2 Mapsheet setup. The north two were the military base, while the bottom (south) two were the starport maps.
-The WOB objectives were: a command center (inside the base), an air control tower (western starport map, close to the west edge), and an ammo dump (eastern starport map, close to the east edge). Objectives were unknown to the coalition.
-The center-south edge of the starport maps were filled with "crates" that the coalition commander had deployed as impromtu mines.
-WOB entered from the southern edge of both starport maps.
-The coalition forces entered from the north-western edge of the western starport map.
AAR
The WOB moved their levels IIs up the center of the maps, avoiding the crates. They came under fire from the DropShip (the MVP of the day), losing an Avatar to a headshot on Turn 1. The Coalition Patrol Lance moved to block a trio of heavy Mechs going for the air control tower, but were unable to stop the WOB from blowing it up from medium range on Turn 2. The WOB LAMs went straight across the entire board on Turn 1, ending their movement as level 1 units behind a level 2 structure, and were unable to be shot at (aside from their +7 modifier). The WOB then went into a holding pattern, forcing the Coalition units to react to them while the LAMs stomped the Command Center flat (mathematically, no active Coalition unit could have made it across the board to stop the LAMs from doing their job - the Patrol lance started the game too far away, and no Coalition unit anywhere near the LAMs activated while they were in the area). During this holding action, another Avatar was heavily damaged but made it off the board, and two other Mechs were totally cored out (a Legacy and a Tessen, IIRC). Finally, a WOB Wraith made it across the board and blew up the ammo dump whilst hiding behind cover (unable to be targeted) - but the turn it managed to blow up the dump, a Coalition HPPC Marauder finally woke up and immediately put both HPPCs into the Wraith's back, coring it out as well. The WOB then retreated off the board in moderately-good order. By the end of the game, 14 WOB Mechs had engaged in combat against 5 Level 1 Coalition Mechs, 4 Level 1 Coalition Mechs, and an immobile DropShip.
Aftermath
Evidently, Coalition command ordered an immediate evacuation of the base (now that the ammo dump and starport were out of commission, it has no additional strategic value). The evacuation was SO fast that no only were the evacuating forces unable to finish destroying the WOB left behind (including the DropShip that had at LEAST 20 more turns until it was able to take off, and could have shot at those prone, immobile, targets for at least 10 of those turns to eliminate the possibility of the WOB Mechs being re-salvaged), but they actually left behind a squadron of Lancer ASFs for the WOB forces, with cute little postcards on the canopies that read "here, this should make future fights more even, so quit bitching about not having any airpower left". The operations officer in charge of the evacuation has been arrested on suspicion of being a WOB agent, as no military with a double-digit IQ would evacuate in such a sloppy fashion. The operation by any sane stretch of the imagination would be considered a pyrrhic victory for the WOB; they lost at either 2 or 3 Mechs totally cored out, and at least 4 more that will require significant repairs. 1 Coalition Mech was cored out, and 1 pilot was killed, with 2 more Mechs with significant damage and 1 DropShip with light armor damage. Luckily for the WOB, they managed to achieve their objectives, and showed a good grasp of LAM-centric raiding operations.
Coalition Assessment
Given the relative starting locations of the WOB forces and the Coalition forces, and the order and time in which reinforcements were brought into play, the scenario was unwinnable. To the defender's credit, they realized this after only 10 seconds of engagement, and focused their defense on destroying as many WOB units as possible. In the future, Coalition forces will make a special note not to try to defend static structures anywhere near those structures, since it is physically impossible to stop an OPFOR unit from just shooting the target structure from long range and withdrawing, and will endeavor to engage the enemy further away from structures of importance (preferrably multiple mapsheets "further away"). The enemy shows a good grasp of LAM operations, and so Coalition forces will develop communications protocols to call in Combat Air Patrol units from the operating sector specifically to bounce the LAMs out of the sky/ Additionally, as LAMs present a very low-profile target, all spaces around important structures will be cleared and leveled out to a distance of 120 meters, preventing the OPFOR from simply zipping past defensive lines too fast to be shot at at all, landing behind a low hill or structure and being about to level the target with impunity. Command-detonated landmines are also strongly encouraged.
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Topic: Game 3/ November December Availability (Read 14694 times)