Part 390: Ultimatum - Turn 16
Ultimatum: Tactical Update 16Mechwarrior Ath had never credited bad luck as the reason he’d never won a Bloodname, in spite of two nominations and five Grand Melees. He had never once begrudged his opponents for beating him. How could he? He had no doubts about the superiority of the Clan way and the better warriors had always won. He had been outfought, outmaneuvered, and outwitted more times in his career than he cared to remember. He didn’t hate them because they’d beaten him time and time again, he didn’t hate them for his elimination from the Clan’s breeding stock.
He hated them for not killing him, time and time again. At eighty-three years old, Mechwarrior Ath was nearly 13 generations obsolete. At least once in the forty-seven years that’d passed since he’d turned thirty-five and been assigned to a Solamha unit, one of his innumerable foes could’ve had the common courtesy to kill him. His career had run the gamut from competence to obscurity until finally Ath had become a statistical outlier: He was the oldest living Clan `Mechwarrior; and he wasn’t about to consign himself to some suicidal infantry unit simply to seek a death in battle.
Death as an infantryman wasn’t enough. He was a Mechwarrior, and he’d die as one.
The number of victories he’d won for Gamma Galaxy now outnumbered those of his front-line career. The number of times he’d won when his machine had been reduced to a weaponless husk simply because his foes had been so unnerved by his implacable, furious advances and actually retreated from the field infuriated him. A Nova Cat friend—now long dead—had once said that Ath would never die because his will would never break. The universe would grind itself to nothing on his stubborn resolve, and Ath would never break.
And thus far, he hadn’t. He’d just gotten a little slower. Were it not for the deeply-ingrained wrinkles that made his dark skin resemble a white-haired tree, a man from the Inner Sphere might’ve even mistaken Ath’s strength and vitality for that of a man half his age. The shocked expressions he received from young Trueborns when they learned his true age no longer filled him with sorrow. There was only room in his desiccated heart for anger.
He knew his place in the Clan way of things: there was no place for a man his age on the front lines. So when the Rim Worlders had passed he’d disguised his machine amongst an iron-rich rock outcropping and let them pass. It was only the loss of the Command Center that had drawn him out. Even the Clans recognized such vehicles as an obvious target—and were Gamma Galaxy fighting an honorable foe they would have been honor-bound to leave the field. Ath simply was no longer content to accept that loss—or any loss—ever again. He would keep winning fights until someone finally killed him and not even the brave, foolhardy young Freeborns would duel him anymore.
Whatever the circumstance, Ath was a kind enough victor to never let one of his opponents live.
Combat Phase
Warhawk B
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 2019!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Phoenix (3 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 0 Void Signature System + 3 light woods + 1 smoke - 1 targeting computer = 10): rolled 8, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Phoenix (3 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 0 Void Signature System + 3 light woods + 1 smoke - 1 targeting computer = 12): rolled 7, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Phoenix (3 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 0 Void Signature System + 3 light woods + 1 smoke - 1 targeting computer = 12): rolled 11, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Phoenix (3 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 0 Void Signature System + 3 light woods + 1 smoke - 1 targeting computer = 12): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Phoenix (3 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 0 Void Signature System + 3 light woods + 1 smoke - 1 targeting computer = 12): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Phoenix (3 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 0 Void Signature System + 3 light woods + 1 smoke - 1 targeting computer = 12): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires Streak SRM-6 at Bobcat (3 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 0 Void Signature System + 3 light woods + 1 smoke = 13): automatically fails to lock on!
- Fires Streak SRM-6 at Bobcat (3 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 0 Void Signature System + 3 light woods + 1 smoke = 13): automatically fails to lock on!
- Gains 33 heat, sinks 40!
Vapor Eagle
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Hunchback (3 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 heat - 1 targeting computer - 2 Pulse Laser = 4): rolled 5, hit Left Leg (10/20 armor remains)!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Hunchback (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 heat - 1 targeting computer - 2 Pulse Laser = 6): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Hunchback (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 heat - 1 targeting computer - 2 Pulse Laser = 6): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Hunchback (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 heat - 1 targeting computer - 2 Pulse Laser = 6): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires Streak SRM-2 at Hunchback (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 heat = 9): rolled 10, 2 missiles hit Left Arm (13/16 armor), Right Arm (10/16 armor remains)!
- Fires Streak SRM-2 at Hunchback (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 heat = 9): rolled 10, 2 missiles hit Right Leg (16/20 armor), Center Torso (23/26 armor remains)!
- Gains 28 heat, sinks 22! Overheating!
Wolf Spider B
- Fires ER PPC at Thug (3 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 2 enemy movement = 6): rolled 8, hit Center Torso (0/39 armor, 17/25 structure remains)! Crit!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Thug (3 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 2 enemy movement + 1 minimum range = 7): rolled 7, hit Center Torso (2/25 armor remains)! Crit!
- Gains 17 heat, sinks 32!
Ebon Jaguar
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 0816!
- Fires ER PPC at Thug (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 9): rolled 3, miss!
- Fires ER PPC at Thug (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 9): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Thug (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 9): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Thug (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 9): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires Streak SRM-6 at Thug (3 base + 4 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 11): rolled 10, fails to lock-on!
- Fires Streak SRM-6 at Thug (3 base + 4 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 11): rolled 12, 4 missiles hit Right Torso (1/25 armor remains), Center Torso (0/25 structure remains (`Mech Destroyed!)), Center Torso, Right Torso (0/25 armor, 16/17 structure remains (Crit!))!
- Fires TAG at Thug (3 base + 4 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 11): rolled 6, miss!
- Gains 42 heat, sinks 40!
Huntsman A
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Longbow (2 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement - 2 Pulse Laser = 5): rolled 8, hit Right Leg (8/18 armor remains)!
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Longbow (2 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement - 2 Pulse Laser = 5): rolled 12, hit Left Leg (8/18 armor remains)!
- Fires LB 2-X Autocannon (slug) at Longbow (2 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 8, hit Left Torso (6/18 armor remains)!
- Fires LRM-10 at Longbow (2 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 6, 4 missiles hit Left Torso (2/18 armor remains)!
- Gains 30 heat, sinks 24! Overheating!
Thug
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Wolf Spider B (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 2): automatically hit Left Torso (18/24 armor remains)!
- Gains 6 heat, sinks 34!
Longbow
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 0637!
- Fires Large Laser at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement = 5): rolled 7, hit Left Arm (0/16 armor, 7/9 structure remains)! Crit!
- Fires ER Small Laser at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement = 7): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires ER Small Laser at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement = 7): rolled 8, hit Right Leg (6/24 armor remains)!
- Fires TAG at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement = 5): rolled 11, hit!
- Gains 12 heat, sinks 26!
Longbow
- Fires LRM-20 w/ Artemis IV (semi-guided) at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 2 range + 0 movement + enemy movement ignored + 1 partial cover + 1 Void Signature System = 5): rolled 7, 16 missiles hit Right Arm (11/16 armor remains), Right Arm (6/16 armor remains), Left Arm (2/9 structure remains (Crit!)), Center Torso (7/28 armor remains)!
- Gains 16 heat, sinks 26!
Excalibur
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Huntsman A (2 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement + 3 light woods + 1 Void Signature System = 11): rolled 5, miss!
- Gains 11 heat, sinks 22!
Coyote
- Fires Snub-Nose PPC w/ PPC Capacitor (charged) at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement = 7): rolled 9, hit Left Leg (7/22 armor remains)!
- Fires ER Large Laser at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement = 9): rolled 4, miss!
- Gains 39 heat, sinks 28! Overheating! ACE!
Hunchback
- Fires Ultra AC/20 (Ultra) at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 9, 1 shell hit Center Torso (0/28 armor, 5/18 structure remains)! Crit!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Vapor Eagle (2 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 7, miss!
- Gains 22 heat, sinks 22!
Phoenix
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 1022!
- Fires Large Variable Speed Pulse Laser at Warhawk B (2 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 3 light woods + 1 Void Signature System - 2 pulse laser = 9): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires SRM-4 (SRM) at Warhawk B (2 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 3 light woods + 1 Void Signature System = 11): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires SRM-4 (SRM) at Warhawk B (2 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 3 light woods + 1 Void Signature System = 11): rolled 7, miss!
- Gains 28 heat, sinks 30!
Locust
- Holds fire!
- Gains 2 heat, sinks 20!
Arrow IV Salvo
- Must roll a 4+ to strike the map: rolled 7, succeeds!
- Must roll a 4+ to strike the map: rolled 10, succeeds!
- Explodes Harmlessly in Midair!
- Explodes Harmlessly in Midair!
End Phase:
Vapor Eagle
- Must roll a 4+ to avoid automatic shutdown! Rolls 4, succeeds!
- Critical chance in Left Arm! No critical hit sustained!
- Critical chance in Left Arm! No critical hit sustained!
- Critical chance in Center Torso! 2 critical hits sustained!
- - Gyro hit!
- - Gyro destroyed! `Mech destroyed!
Physical Combat Phase:
???
- Attacks Alpha Galaxy Maher Mobile Command Center with Lance (2 base + 1 movement - 4 target movement = -1): automatically hit Front (78/98 armor remains)! Rolls 11, armor penetrated (9/10 structure remains)!
Coyote
- Attacks Jenner IIC with Lance (2 base + 2 movement - 4 target movement = 0): automatically hit Head (0/9 armor, 0/3 structure remains)! `Mech destroyed!
End Phase:
Alpha Galaxy Maher Mobile Command Center
- Critical chance in Front! Sensors destroyed!
Arrow IV Counter: 2 Turn
Special Rules
Overheat Ace: The Rim World Blackguard gain Ace status when they overheat by 10 points or more!
Blind: Enemy units are only visible in direct Line of Sight
Hidden Units: Some enemy units remain hidden until they attack. Additionally, units equipped with Void Signature Systems may expend a turn’s movement to hide themselves if they are not in direct line of sight.
Expect Surprises: When the players lose their Phase 1 units, they will gain control of a powerful Phase 2 unit. When the players lose their Phase 2 unit, they will still have a chance to influence the outcome of the battle with a Phase 3 unit. Some of these units start on the map, others will enter from elsewhere.Player Status:
Glorious Deaths
Phase 2 / Phase 3 Objectives:
- Defeat as many enemy `Mechs as possible (8/39 defeated)
- Defend Clan HQ Vehicles (2/3 remaining)
- Defend Clan Personnel (I lost count again, thanks smoke!
)- Defend Clan Equipment (23/36 units remaining)
Enemy Status:
Black Knight – Damaged
Excalibur – Damaged
Hunchback – Damaged
Longbow – Damaged, Pilot injured
Longbow – Damaged
Phoenix – Damaged
Enemy Movement Mods:
- Unknown Assault +1
- Longbow +0
- Longbow +0
- Black Knight +1
- Excalibur +0
- Coyote +1
- Crab +2
- Chameleon +2
- Chameleon +2
- Hunchback +0
- Phoenix +2
- Locust +4
Orders Due: Tuesday Night!
Did you think I was actually sadistic enough to give someone an Incubus when the odds are this stacked against the players? Say hello to the first representative of the “Amaris! GET OFF MY DAMNED LAWN!” wave