Part 19: Mission 16: Factory Blues (or "Once in a Blue Moon...") - Part 1

Mission 16: Factory Blues (or "Once in a Blue Moon...") - Part 1



Right then, time to clean Black Hole out of another country.



Are we in trouble?
You're a reckless little thing, aren't you? How do you plan on explaining this to Hawke?

See Lash, what you should have responded with there is: "How do you plan on explaining YOUR FACE to Hawke?"

Flak! The factory's too close to those silos! What happens if it gets hit with a missile?
I hadn't thought of that...
Tee hee hee! Those missiles won't even scratch my Lash Armor! And that pipe seam is totally wrapped in the stuff! I can't wait to start using my factory to make them miserable!

Lash Armo(u)r: invulnerable to missile silos, vulnerable to conventional fire .

Don't worry, Adder. Lash has a plan.
I can deploy any unit I like, right? Tee hee hee...
I wonder if those two can handle this.

Meanwhile, back with the good guys...



Yessiree, Boss. Ready when you are.
Um... The Commander-in-chief of Orange Star is approaching.
Orange Star? Hmm... Show her in.
It's been a long time, Olaf.
Hmph! Nell... What are you doing here? I didn't request reinforcements.
No, but I did.
Grit! Why, you no-good... Are you familiar with the concept of "chain of command"?
Commander Olaf, Commander Grit did what he thought best for Blue Moon!
I know that, boy. Now shush!
This is a vital strategic location. Orange Star offers its aid.
Seeing as this is our territory, I'm of a mind to send you packing... However, we are a bit shorthanded, so I'll accept your offer.
The Yellow Comet Army is also on its way here.

Wait, no it isn't, I haven't even started to beat their missions yet...

What? That self-styled samurai?

You're one to talk, Santa.

That's right! We'll defeat Black Hole together!
Commander Olaf, the troops are ready when you are, sir!
Very well! Let's not fall behind. Advance on all fronts!
Brilliant work, Commander Grit... Seeing Blue Moon's danger and rallying our allies so quickly!
Huh? Oh, that... Anything to keep from getting shot up, son.
What? That was your reasoning? Commander Grit! Wait up, sir!



Olaf and Sami will be your COs for this flight.



Blue Moon does have the best mission names

Black Hole's dared invade Blue Moon soil! They will now learn the price of their audacity!
A fight in the woods... This'll be good practice!

Day 1



As I said before, the goal is to reach and break the seam at the top of the map. Unlike the other three factory missions, you have to fight up to and past the factory itself in order to break the seam. You can't fudge this one by breaking the seam while Black Hole is distracted elsewhere. The good news is, this also makes the mission a lot more straightforward than the other factory missions.

At the end of the day though, the most important job of Sami's troops here is engage Lash's early units, protect Olaf and buy enough time for him to get a decent-sized army going. Olaf's troops will mostly consist of infantry (for defence, capturing and the like), artillery (for firepower) and small tanks (for speed and versatility).



Olaf gets the ball rolling with the traditional "build infantry everywhere you can" move.



Sami's turn.



Sending out two of the mechs on capturing missions (Gee, I hope Olaf's okay with us building an outpost of Orange Star in Blue Moon's territory...)



Third mech gets loaded into the APC to go travelling, and there's a general moving up of the other stuff to protect it.



And that's everything moved. Time to end the turn.

Day 2



Lash built a medium tank and a small tank from her factory. SERIOUS BUSINESS time.



Well, time to get capturing (taking special care to leave a base open so Sami can capture it). I also build a tank to deal with the incoming AA and recon.



Thanks Olaf, you're a pal .



Here, have some units to help you deal with the oncoming AA/Recon pair.



Better not leave that APC out in the open with all these B-Copters around. An AA moves into place to guard it.

Day 3



Speaking of B-Copters...



Oh well, let's capture some more stuff. Although life's going to be tough for that infantry now it's been attacked by an AA.



Well, at least I can give the AA what for. And build a recon to help out.



Sami's turn and dammit why did I move the AA over to the east with the tanks, now it can't reach the B-Copters.



Well, at least I can take one chopper out.



Medium tank attacks recon. Small tank retreats to protect a capturing mech from copter fire.



Looks like my long range units are still under threat though.

Day 4



Owch. The Rocket and Artillery both took big hits (never underestimate the flanking power of a B-Copter), and I lost that 2HP infantry too.



A spot of cleanup work for Olaf, and I start capturing that city all over again.



And time for an artillery, I think.



Sami's turn. Time to end these B-Copters.



Take that!



B-Copters cleared, city captured.



My small tank and APC head off on a commando mission to grab that airport, and my medium tank attacks an approaching small tank.



And why not, another mech please.

Day 5



That sure is a lot of anti-air.



Oh well, let's start taking it down.



Infantry and artillery combine to form a defensive position, with the infs meatshielding the arty.



4HP recon retreats, and I build another tank.



Sami's go.



Smash up the other AA unit...



A freshly trained mech takes out Lash's damaged tank, and other units move around. Note that I can't build anything this turn as I spent my 3000G income on healing up the rocket. As I intend to fully heal that rocket, it's going to be a while before you see the next mech come off the production line.



The commando mission is put into action. Tank attacks artillery, APC unloads the mech into the artil's blind spot. There's a Neotank around, but with all this forest here it can't reach us. Well, unless...



... Lash's power meter is charged and she uses Prime Tactics.



Bugger.

Day 6



Well, that wasn't great. Not only did Lash attack Sami's tank with her neotank, she now has a bunch of infantry in range of those missile silos.



Things aren't so bad in the south though. Like I said earlier, part of Sami's job here is to buy Olaf time.



Let's start off with some good ol' curly-arrow artillery fire.



Tanks clear up Lash's units, and infantry move in to fill the gaps. I also build a third tank.



Sami's turn. Stopping Lash from getting those silos is our top priority.



First up, let's park an AA on one of them. For good measure, let's attack the infantry adjacent to it. (47%? Dammit, Prime Tactics )



Whee.



Medium tank moves to guard the other silo.



Capping the airport, guarding the mech, moving stuff up. I should be able to launch the left-hand silo next turn.

Day 7



Lash's recon snuck round the back and damaged my artillery.



We know how to deal with sneaky recons, don't we boys?



New artillery to make up for the one that just took damage.



Lash went for my AA, but it's still just about holding the silo so that's all good.



Capture this airport and...



... it's silo launch time! Hmm, where should I attack...



This would hit two medium tanks, but miss a capturing infantry.



This would hit a medium tank and the capping infantry, but miss the other middie.



This would hit a neotank, but also the poor mech firing the missile in the first place.



Eh, I'll go with option 1. A capping infantry is an infantry not launching silos at me.



Now I've got the airport, my APC retreats to pick up more passengers. Mechs move in to defend my damaged AA, and my 1HP tank keeps chipping at Lash's artillery.

Day 8



Another tank. Fun times. I could keep trying to capture this city with my 4HP infantry...



... or I could run over here and launch off this silo.



This looks like a good target - that neotank is threatening Sami's units.



Excellent. Now then, let's deal with this tank.



All these curly arrows take me back to chemistry class and learning about reaction mechanisms



Here's hoping I can capture this thing this time. Meanwhile, the tanks group together in the centre of the field to support Sami.



And lets have another artillery and some more infantry.



You know, there's not much point in saving up for Victory March here. There's nowhere to march to - that is, nothing that needs capturing in one turn.



So let's have a Double Time.



My superpowered mechs take on a capturing infantry and that Neotank(!)



Can't afford a mech due to money spent on repairing that artillery, so let's have an infantry.



My APC runs back, ready to get this new inf, while my rocket and artillery advance to try and finish off that neo.



Meanwhile my medium tank is still busy fending off infantry over at the last remaining missile silo.



And my AA moves up to try and bait that neotank.

Day 9



Well, that bit of neotank-baiting went spectacularly wrong. Now the neo's sitting happily in the range shadow of my rocket .



Oh well. Gotta keep moving up the field. Infantry, advance!



My tanks flank Lash's tanks and give them what-for.



Moving up my artillery and infantry to keep up with the front line.



And building more artillery and infantry to follow them.



Meanwhile, Sami has a few problems. Anti-airs are skulking round her airport, and there's that cheeky 5HP neotank too.



Oh well, first of all let's finish off that recon with our AA, and load up the APC for a grand adventure to the last missile silo.



Retreat the rocket, and this time we're going to make sure that the neo's in rocket range. If it attacks the artillery, that is. Fingers crossed, again. Meanwhile, with those AA hanging around my airport, it makes more sense to build another mech than an air unit. I'd only be able to afford a T-Copter anyway.



The medium tank continues its stirling defence of that missile silo, and the mech by the airport kills one of the infantry that're threatening it.

Day 10



Oh boy, another neotank heading my way.



Artillery take stuff out in a hail of curly arrows.



An infantry and a tank make sure they catch Lash's retreating 1HP tanks.



Joining the 4HP and 7HP tanks together while moving my other units up. A tank and yet more infantry get built.



Sami's turn. My mech defending the airport fell to AA fire, but...



... I can finally kill this bloody neotank.



Whee.



Meanwhile, let's drop this infantry off on the silo. Freed from silo defence duty, my medium tank heads off and attacks an enemy middie.



Oh boy, another dose of Prime Tactics.

Day 11



Oh well, that didn't go so bad. The infantry on the silo took a knock, but it can still fire the silo. One of my tanks got mobbed by AA, which is kinda embarassing, but it'll live.



Retreating that 1HP tank, while an artillery takes out the 2HP medium tank that attacked the silo infantry.



Another tank rolls up to take the place of the tank that retreated.



Moving my artillery and infantry up into nice neat lines, including joining two artils together.



And back at base, let's have some more infantry and artillery. Olaf's getting together a good army now.



Right then, let's launch this silo.



This looks like a nice spot, hitting that neotank, an AA and a small tank.



Lovely.



The medium tank follows up to knock the neo down to 2HP.



And we now have a steady trickle of mechs.

Day 12



Well, the factory threw out a B-Copter. And we don't have any anti-airs right now, all the Orange Star ones having been destroyed.



Oh well. We'll build one in a minute, but first let's keep on shooting tanks with our artillery.



Kill this AA with a tank and oh hey, Olaf's power bar finally filled up. About time.



# Sleigh bells ring, are you listening / In the lane, snow is glistening #



# A beautiful sight #



# We're happy to fight #



# Warring in a winter wonderland #



Got some nice rows of infantry and artillery going now.



Building an AA to deal with that B-Copter, and of course, more infantry.



Good job mechs don't get slowed by snow unless they're walking over mountains, isn't it?



Blam goes that AA.



Rockets are rather more inconvenienced, though.



And dammit, my medium tank could have finished that neotank off if it hadn't been for snow. Thanks, Olaf .



Oh well, guess I'll kill this 3HP tank and retreat my APC - it could use some fuel.

To be continued...