Part 623: Ikuta Glacier - Turn 12

Ikuta Glacier: Tactical Update 12




August had made a mistake. The realization of it was not long in coming, but as his Executioner’s long legs crossed the last few meters separating him from the Black Lanner he knew there was nothing he could do to avert his fate. His thumb stabbed down on the primary target interlock circuit and his lasers crossed the gulf in an instant, reducing the Black Lanner’s left shoulder to a mess of white-hot metal. It didn’t matter, the enemy pilot’s resolve was firm.

Like many assault `Mech pilots, August was accustomed to being feared on the battlefield. Even among the Clans assault-weight `Mechs weren’t common, and the ones in service often bounced from unit to unit as various missions demanded more firepower than the usual workhorse heavies and mediums could bring to bear. The most visceral, instinctively human reaction to being cornered by a charging assault `Mech was to flinch away in fear, which usually translated to a slight back-and-forth shift of a `Mech’s torso as the pilot looked for opportunities to make an escape. Even Clan training wasn’t enough to convince an average pilot to stand their ground in the face of overwhelming armor and firepower. August had assumed the Black Lanner would seek to flee if pressed.

The way it had firmly planted its feet told August that pilot wasn’t planning on running. Not yet. He twisted his controls—too late—to try to bring the Executioner’s left shoulder around. The Black Lanner’s torso tipped back as its pilot aimed its boxy missile-pods high. Even at such close range it was a risky, desperate ploy: an attempt to expend both flights of missiles against the Executioner’s upper chest, head, and shoulders rather than striking the machine in full.

Pain lanced through August’s side as his canopy exploded and showered him with the razor-sharp shards of an LRM’s casings. At least one missile had pierced that gaping hole and exploded somewhere in the back of the cockpit, and spilled liquid propellant burned and charred his right shoulder. Wet, green coolant spilled down the front of his coolant suit and August tried to ignore the metal splinter protruding from the front of his neurohelmet, stopped less than a centimeter short of piercing his right eye.

The world slowed to a pain-fueled crawl as the Executioner fell. He felt the gyros tumble, practically felt the wind on the `Mech’s atmospheric sensors. His own body, tiny and fragile, was perched on the very tip of a mountain of falling weapons. Even a Locust had more than enough mass to kill an unsecured pilot in a fall, without restraining straps a Mechwarrior’s body would be left broken by the forces involved. In an Executioner, a fall was so much worse. August felt his ribs give way even as two of the straps securing him to the machine’s command couch snapped. He hung in silence, his hands resting on the glacier’s snowy surface. He was fortunate he’d fallen face down, that at least would shield him from the wind. His mind was clear in the way only intense, immediate pain could manage. His machine could still fight.

But standing up again might become an even bigger mistake.








Movement Phase
Grand Dragon (Player)
- Must roll a 3+ to activate MASC: rolls 5, succeeds!

Stormcrow (Player)
- Turned on ice (4 base + 4 ice = 8): rolled 11, succeeds!

Nova G (Player)
- Initiates Death from Above on Black Lanner!

Huntsman G (Player)
- Insufficient MP to reach hex 0715: needs 9, has 8!



Shooting Phase
Executioner G (player)
- Fires iHeavy Large Laser at Black Lanner (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 4 enemy movement = 8): rolled 9, hit Right Arm (0/13 armor, 6/9 structure remaining)! Crit!
- Fires iHeavy Large Laser at Black Lanner (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 4 enemy movement = 8): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Black Lanner (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 4 enemy movement + 2 minimum range = 10): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires AP Gauss Rifle at Black Lanner (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 4 enemy movement = 8): rolled 9, hit Right Torso (13/16 armor remaining)!
- Gains 40 heat, sinks 37! Overheating!

Grand Dragon “Yuki-Onna” (Player)
- Holds fire!
- Gains 2 heat, sinks 28!

Crossbow G (player)
- No orders received!
- Gains 0 heat, sinks 27!

Stormcrow Prime (player)
- Holds fire!
- Gains 2 heat, sinks 47!

Ironhold Battle Armor 5 (player)
- Holds fire!

Pouncer Prime (player)
- Fires ER PPC at Black Lanner’s Left Arm (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 4 enemy movement + 3 Targeting Computer Aimed Shot = 15): automatic miss!
- Gains 20 heat, sinks 27!

Elementals 3
- Holds fire!

Nova G (player)
- Unable to fire during Death from Above!
- Gains 5 heat, sinks 37!

Wraiths 1
- Holds fire!

Timber Wolf G (player)
- No orders received!
- Gains 0 heat, sinks 33!

Elemental 4
- Holds fire!

Huntsman G (player)
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Black Lanner (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 9): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Black Lanner (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 9): rolled 11, hit Right Arm (0/6 structure remaining)! Arm blown off!
- - Damage transfers to Right Torso (9/16 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Black Lanner (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 4 enemy movement = 11): rolled 8, miss!
- Gains 4 heat, sinks 39!

Wraith 2
- Fires Machine Gun at Crimson Langur (3 base + 0 range - 4 enemy movement = -1): 3 troopers automatically hit Rear Left Torso (1/12 structure remaining (Crit!)), Rear Center Torso (1/16 structure remaining (Crit!)), Rear Center Torso (0/3 structure remaining (`Mech Destroyed!))!
- Fires Machine Gun at Crimson Langur (3 base + 0 range - 4 enemy movement = -1): 2 troopers automatically hit Rear Left Torso (0/12 structure remaining), Rear Center Torso!

Hellbringer Prime (field refit)
- Holds fire!
- Gains 2 heat, sinks 31!

Black Lanner B
- Aims high and fires LRM-20 at Executioner G (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement + 3 aiming high = 9): rolled 10, 16 missiles hit Head (4/9 armor remaining (Pilot hit!)), Head (0/9 armor, 2/3 structure remaining (Crit! Pilot hit!)), Right Arm (5/31 armor remaining), Head (1/3 structure remaining (Crit! Pilot hit!))!
- Aims high and fires LRM-20 at Executioner G (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement + 3 aiming high = 9): rolled 9, 12 missiles hit Left Torso (4/30 armor remaining), Right Torso (22/30 armor remaining), Left Arm (12/14 armor remaining)!
- Gains 14 heat, sinks 20!



End Phase:
Executioner G
- Must pass a 3+ consciousness test: rolled 6, succeeds!
- Must pass a 5+ consciousness test: rolled 6, succeeds!
- Must pass a 7+ consciousness test: rolled 11, succeeds!
- Critical chance in Head: rolled 3, no critical hit sustained!
- Critical chance in Head: rolled 9, 1 critical hit sustained!
- - Sensors hit!
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (3 base + 1 massive damage = 4): rolled 2, fails!
- Suffers 9 damage in the fall to Center Torso (13/47 armor remaining), Center Torso (9/47 armor remaining)!
- Must pass a piloting test to avoid pilot damage (3 base + 1 massive damage + 2 avoiding damage = 6): rolled 4, fails!
- Must pass a 9+ consciousness test: rolled 9, succeeds!



Physical Combat Phase:
Nova G
- Attacks Black Lanner with a Death From Above (4 base + 3 movement + 4 enemy movement + 0 difference in piloting skill = 11): rolled 12, hit!
- - Black Lanner suffers 15 damage to Left Torso (8/13 structure remaining (Crit!)), Left Torso (3/13 structure remaining (Crit!)), Center Torso (20/25 armor remaining)!
- - Nova G suffers 10 damage to Right Leg (5/24 armor remaining), Right Leg (0/24 armor remaining)!



End Phase:
Black Lanner
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 2 death from above victim + 1 massive damage = 7): rolled 8, succeeds!
- Displaced into hex 1111!
- Critical chance in Left Torso: Rolled 5, no critical hits sustained!
- Critical chance in Left Torso: Rolled 7, no critical hits sustained!

Executioner G
- Displaced into hex 1010!

Nova G
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 4 death from above attacker = 8): rolled 5, fails!
- - Suffers 5 damage in the fall to Center Torso (1/24 armor remaining)!
- Must pass a piloting test to avoid pilot damage (4 base + 4 death from above attacker + 2 avoiding pilot damage = 10): rolled 12, succeeds!



Next Turn’s Movement Phase
Black Lanner B
- Activates MASC: must pass a 9+ test: rolled 11, succeeds!








Player Status:




Opposing Force Status:




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.



Primary Objectives
- Achieve 100% humiliation or more (Complete!)


Secondary Objectives
- Push or charge a Widowmaker unit into the ravine (+10%/10%)
- Kill Star Colonel Jolán Vickers (+10%/10%)
- Leave one crippled enemy alive (+0%/5%) (+5% if that unit is an enemy officer)
- Completely destroy a crippled enemy (+0%/10%)
- Defeat 3 `Mechs with Elementals (+10%/10%)
- Drug Free: defeat 5 enemy `Mechs without the aid of Necrosia (+10%/10%)
- Battle High: defeat 5 enemy `Mechs with the aid of Necrosia (+10%/10%)
- Give the Hunchback IIC pilot an honorable death OR capture them honorably (+0%/10%)
- Score twice as many kills than the Glacier (10%/10%)
- - Players 15
- - Glacier 3
- Kill an enemy `Mech without breaching its armor (+10%/10%)


Orders Due: Midnight Saturday!