Part 611: Combat Theater Vote 18 Results

Combat Theater Vote Results:
- 50 votes to humiliate the Widowmakers with the Goliath Scorpions
- 40 people want the Taurians to play spoiler for Justin Xiang
- 29 Demon Hawks!



Special Rules
Necrosia Stimulants Once per game, BattleMechs and Elementals may inject themselves with Necrosia stimulants granting them heightened reaction times for three turns. While Necrosia stimulants are active, Mechwarriors gain a -1 bonus to gunnery due to their heightened reaction times but suffer a +1 penalty to piloting tests due to minor visual hallucinations. Elementals in Ironhold Armor gain a -1 bonus to gunnery with no penalties. All other Elementals instead gain a -2 bonus to Anti-Mech attacks with no penalties.
Icy Conditions Ice hexes are in play. At the bottom of the ravine, all ice hexes are treated as though they are elevation -6. It is possible to break through these ice hexes and fall into the liquid water below. If a `Mech does not extract itself from the water in two turns it will be frozen in place and immobilized (or destroyed if completely submerged).
-60 C All `Mechs cool 3 additional points each turn

House Rule
Heavy Vibro Claws deal +1 damage per claw per elemental on leg and swarm attacks rather than the standard ruling.



An insistent light flashed on the corner of August’s podium. It had been doing so with increasing frequency for the past three days. It had taken the Widowmakers nearly two days to realize that the Goliath Scorpions had no intention of issuing a polite and timely Batchall, and their demands for an explanation had slowly devolved into blatant threats of reprisal with Aerospace assets August knew the Widowmakers’ vaunted 66th Crusader Cluster no longer had. Less than two months before, the 66th Crusaders had dropped their entire Cluster on a Goliath Scorpion trinary backed up by a binary of Aerospace fighters and had managed to lose not only their aerospace star but a good number of `Mechs and their entire elemental compliment as well. It would have been the sort of pyrrhic victory the Widowmakers could ill afford if the prize hadn’t been the contents of one of the Goliath Scorpion’s numerous supply depots, which had held enough spare parts and ammunition to supply a cluster for year.

The loss of that materiel was insulting but of no major concern to the Touman, the Goliath Scorpions had been fastidiously stockpiling equipment for decades prior to the invasion. The fact that the Widowmakers had needed to seize it at all was simply further proof of Natasha Kerensky’s shortsightedness. She was unfit to lead, but dislodging a Widowmaker from her web was always a difficult and risky proposition and August was grateful that that problem was not his responsibility to solve. Although the invading Clans had been barred from nearly every form of Trial, the ilKhan had turned a blind eye to her own Clan’s misdeeds and the Widowmakers had grown increasingly bold in their raids on the Goliath Scorpion occupation zone.

The Scorpions had had enough, and it the honor of delivering that message had fallen to August. As Star Colonel Tara Yeh had confided to him in the days prior to launch, he had been chosen because there wasn’t a single bloodnamed Warrior under his command. It was an insult to be sure—August’s recent failure in the Grand Melee of the latest Kirov trial still burned, but Tara Yeh had shown him another way to view the situation: the 35th Cuirassiers were among the Clan’s most elite fighting forces, and while his Supernova was unblooded August had Alpha Galaxy’s complete confidence while at the same time the arrogant Widowmakers would hardly view an “unblooded” supernova as a threat.

This all played to the Scorpion’s ultimate goal: the complete annihilation of the 66th Crusader Cluster. Not to be satisfied with a simple victory, Star Colonel Tara Yeh had stressed that the 35th Cuirassiers goal was to take the 66th apart and shatter their pride. August had been given free rein to conduct the operation as he saw fit. It was his mission to lose—and so he’d chosen to conduct himself in a manner he was certain would infuriate the Widowmakers. Delaying his Batchall to the last possible moment was a part of that: it was polite for a unit to announce their intentions the moment they entered a hostile system—the 66th had done so when they’d chosen to overwhelm the 8th Scorpion Dragoons with sheer numbers. August’s refusal to reveal his intent left the Widowmakers with precious little opportunity to plan—did they disperse their forces to one of their pre-chosen trial grounds? Did they remain at their primary support facility in case the Goliath Scorpions intended banditry? They were now less than a day out, transmission delay was down to under a second.

That Star Colonel Jolán Vickers might be losing sleep over the August’s advance was a fantasy that still brought a smile to the Mechwarrior’s lips.

“Nova Captain,” His second in command, Nova Commander Makena threw a smart salute. In the—currently and intentionally—poorly-lit briefing room her chocolate skin had taken on an almost bluish-black hue. She was a terse woman, utterly competent but often shorter on praise for her troops’ success than August would’ve liked. “All are present.”

He nodded, and she took her position slightly behind and to his right. The rest of the Supernova had assembled and positioned themselves to his specifications—he wanted every warrior under his command visible when he finally issued his Batchall. Ten pilots, fifteen Mechwarriors, and a full fifty elementals stood, not in their dress uniforms as would have been polite, but in full battle garb as though they were mere minutes from touching down on Kobe’s icy surface. He gave an almost imperceptible nod to the technician he’d saved in the `Mechbay weeks before. She flashed a smile and a thumb’s up to let him know she’d started the broadcast.

“I am Nova Commander August of the Crushing Claws, Clan Goliath Scorpion’s 83rd Assault Supernova and core fighting formation of the Scorpions of the Veil, the 35th Scorpion Cuirassiers.” He announced in strong, confident tones. “We bid a single Supernova, which will be more than sufficient force to fumigate this festering pit. With what forces will you defend the 66th Crusader Cluster?”

August settled back on his heels to wait, standing casually at ease. Behind him his troops did likewise. They hadn’t been explicitly instructed to match his posture but as he watched the broadcast monitor he saw a ripple spread among them as more and more began copying not only his posture but his bored, impassive facial expression as well. He fought to suppress a smile—when this was over he’d commend the lot of them. In presenting a uniformly relaxed, bored façade they’d become an even more imposing presence than he’d hoped. They didn’t look like soldiers hungry for battle but instead reminded August of crèche caretakers preparing to give a stubborn child a well-deserved spanking.

“Nova Captain August of Clan Goliath Scorpion, please hold,” a comms. tech replied as swiftly as possible. His face was pale with fear—undoubtedly he expected to be punished for addressing a foreign Warrior but had been instructed to keep the Goliath Scorpions on the line while the Widowmaker officers could be alerted. “We are waking the Star Colonel now.”

“There is no need to interrupt Star Colonel Jolán Vickers’ rest. I am certain he must be very tired.” August’s lips curled into a momentary smirk. “We can wait.”

A smattering of laughter rose from his troops. He’d made sure they were well aware of the reason for the delayed Batchall. August made no effort to curtail the laughter, it died on its own quickly enough and would be proof enough to the Widowmakers that they were being thoroughly mocked. The Widowmaker tech looked around helplessly, unsure how to respond. It was a few minutes before the Widowmaker commander arrived, he’d clearly dressed hastily and had missed a button on his dress uniform. His face immediately curled into a scowl. As soon as the man moved into frame August made a show of muting the audio and began speaking, cutting off whatever the Widowmaker had been intending to say.

“I know who you are, Star Colonel Jolán Vickers. I will not waste my time assuaging your incompetence by introducing myself a second time. We of the Crushing Claws bid one Supernova, with what forces will you defend the 66th Crusader Cluster?”

August unmuted the receiver and waited. Fifty-three seconds was about as close to real-time as he’d ever conducted a Batchall, but he’d been intentionally rude and arrogant and trampled all over the acceptable forms. He was met first with a string of curses as Vickers caught up with August’s rudeness. Vickers was younger than August by perhaps a year or two—or perhaps he simply had one of those ageless faces that always seemed younger than they truly were.

“This is not done!” Was Vickers’ first coherent reply. “You arrive in our system silently, burn in on an aggressive burn and ignore our rightful demand for even so much as an identification—”

“And I assure you we will continue to ignore your requests,” August pressed, speaking over the Widowmaker’s vague protests once again. “We bid one supernova. With what do you defend.”

“You drug-addled lunatic!” The man slammed a fist on the table as the transmission caught up once again. “What is the trial? You know you are expressly forbidden from—”

“From engaging in Trials of Grievance against another Clan without the ilKhan’s permission, or engaging in Trials of Possession for another Clan’s vital supplies—a stipulation of Operation Retribution which you have already disregarded. The Goliath Scorpions have declared your unit a bandit command but I, in my mercy, have chosen to engage you as if you were my equal. This Trial does not violate any of Operation Retribution’s stipulations as the invading Clans were explicitly allowed to challenge the units of other Clans for absorption to bolster their fighting strength prior to or during the invasion.”

August tipped his head forward, glaring into the holo-camera. “We are not challenging for possession of Kobe. We are not challenging for possession of Widowmaker supplies. We are challenging for possession of the 66th Crusader Cluster. When we win, your `Mechs, your techs, your laborers, your bondsmen, your DropShips, and all other sundry supplies dedicated to supporting your unit will turned over to the Goliath Scorpions to bolster our forces. I would say your Mechwarriors as well but I doubt any so-called warrior of a Cluster that could lose half its fighting strength to a single Trinary is salvageable.”

“That is absurd!” Came the furious but delayed reply. “The Harvest Trials were intended for the bolstering of weak Clans like the Goliath Scorpions by allowing you to induct units from your allies in the Burrocks, not to rob another invading Clan of their fighting strength!”

“Is it robbery to reclaim stolen property from a thief, quineg?” August snarled in mocking tones. “If you would prefer we can always do as my Khans demand and call for a Trial of Abjuration of the Bloodline of Star Colonel Jolán Vickers.”

Vickers leaned closer to the camera, his face red with rage. The veins on his neck stood out in sharp relief as he glared in silence for long moments.

“You would not dare. The Widowmakers deny your right to challenge.”

“Deny all you want,” August sneered. “We are landing in less than a day. We can fight you in a Circle of your choosing or we can crush you where you sleep. I care little which.”

Vickers slumped in his chair, momentarily defeated. He could undoubtedly contact the ilKhan to ask her to declare the Trial invalid, but that would hardly stop August’s forces from landing. If he chose to deny the Goliath Scorpion challenge, by the time the Widowmakers could launch a reprisal he’d be ash and bone and he knew it. It was the sort of thing that shouldn’t have phased a Clan warrior but often did all the same.

“We shall meet you on the Ikuta Glacier, on the southern continent. As you have chosen to challenge the entirety of the 66th, we shall meet you and your foolish Supernova with our entire Cluster! I look forward to crushing you under the feet of my Mad Dog so perhaps you should save us both the trouble and fall into a crevasse before the fighting begins quiaff?. Bargained well and done?”

August shut down the transmission. A polite Batchall wasn’t over until both parties declared it ‘bargained well and done,’ but even if Vickers had tried to convince himself otherwise this hadn’t been a polite Batchall. August turned in place, and regarded the warriors under his command. He was already prepared for the briefing.

“This time of year, the Ikuta Glacier is caught in eternal twilight. We will not have difficulty seeing thanks to reflected light from the snow and ice but temperatures hover somewhere between -62 and -66 Celsius. During the summer months the entire surface of the glacier turns to unnavigable wet ice and rivers of meltwater carve canyons and tunnels in the glacier’s surface. During the winter months—such as now—the surface dries out and the rivers freeze deeply enough to support the weight of a Dire Wolf, although there may still be liquid water below the surface. Layers of snow should provide us with sufficient traction in most places. Please also take a moment to thank your technician as they have all worked tirelessly these past two weeks winterizing our `Mechs and Elemental armor with the Ikuta Glacier’s conditions in mind.”

He swept the room, his people looked determined although some couldn’t hide their grins at seeing a hated Widowmaker bearded in his own web. “To the more astute among you: your suspicions are correct. We knew the Widowmakers were going to select the Glacier thanks to our friends in the merchant caste. This information was also independently corroborated by the Burrocks. We know the 66th conducted extensive training exercises on the glacier prior to their raid, the only purpose of which would have been in anticipation of a possible Goliath Scorpion reprisal. The Widowmakers are bold and arrogant but they are not stupid—they knew they would push us too far eventually. We are going to teach them that even careful planning and fighting in a battlefield of their choosing is insufficient to match our determination and rage.”

He turned to the briefing room’s large holotank, calling up a map of the Glacier. “if the 66th remains true to their training exercises they will find a place along a major chasm with either an easy crossing or with a narrow point where they can use bridge layers to create a crossing. They will use this crossing to either keep our main force at a distance or to isolate a smaller portion of our forces to bring the bulk of their BattleMechs to bear. We are going to play right into their hands—to a point. We are going to land at the far end of one of these crevasses, leaving the Widowmakers unsure which side of the crevasse we have deployed upon. That should keep them bunched up on or around their bridge crossing with perhaps only their lightest stars out scouting. Thanks to our star of Kirghiz fighters and the Widowmaker’s failure to preserve any of their fighters during their last trial we will have complete air superiority which should give us a scouting advantage. Our lightest star will seek out and destroy the first star of enemy scouts detected, the second star will be engaged by half of our Elementals backed up by half of our Kirghiz fighters. The rest of our forces will advance in unison up both sides of the crevasse and engage the Widowmakers while they are trapped at their chosen crossing point.”

August smiled, his teeth fluorescing a bluish-white in the room’s dim light. “I will leave the full survival briefing to Star Commander Chidike, but Mechwarriors if you go down: do not stay in your `Mechs. BattleMechs are designed to conduct heat away from the cockpit, even with the fusion engine off you will freeze in minutes. Quickly don your survival gear, find a copse of trees if possible, and set up your survival shelter immediately before you freeze. We will recover you when the fighting is over. If your survival shelter is damaged or if you must take shelter in or near a BattleMech choose a side that protects you from the wind or try to find a way to climb into the chest. It will take hours for the fusion engine to go completely cold, and a little radiation exposure is a small price to pay for survival. That concludes the general briefing. Star Commander Chidike, the floor is yours.”







Primary Objectives
- Complete individual player objectives (0% complete)

Secondary Objectives
- Push or charge a Widowmaker unit into the ravine (+0%/5%)
- Kill Star Colonel Jolán Vickers (+0%/5%)
- Leave one crippled enemy alive (+0%/5%) (+5% if that unit is an enemy officer)
- Completely destroy a crippled enemy (+0%/4%)
- Defeat 3 `Mechs with Elementals (+0%/6%)
- Drug Free: defeat 5 enemy `Mechs without the aid of Necrosia (+0%/5%)
- Battle High: defeat 5 enemy `Mechs with the aid of Necrosia (+0%/5%)



35th Scorpion Cuirassiers (Players)
Assault Star


Battle Star and Elemental Star (this works better)



PTN’s note: Some players have a unit choice, others don’t—I learned my lesson from Counting Coup! This isn’t to curtail player freedom but it was done because some units needed to have a particular role in order to give the players a murderous core attack force. Once I had that established, the units that were left over were given a bit of flexibility to fill any perceived gaps and to give the players an opportunity to manipulate the OpForce a bit (higher BV choices will yield slightly tougher enemies). Two of those were assigned to veterans who have played once before while the Crossbow was given to a new player since it’s a simpler choice as to what type of crit-seeking death that player wants to deliver.

Opposing Force
- 66th Crusader Cluster



Players
Assault Star
Neopie
Red_Mage
Bloody Pom
Ablative
Centurium

Battle Star & Elemental Star
Bobbin Threadbare
Terrenblade
Sel Nar
thetruegentleman
Niacin


Alternates
Back Hack
Tythas
EponymousMrYar
pun pundit
Sparq



Edit: Centurium, I don't have a contact method for you. When you see this please get me an e-mail or something!