Part 470: Sludge Factory - Turn 14

Sludge Factory: Tactical Update 14

Subaltern Rybar’s little Zaahir Wasp’s touched down with the smooth, practiced grace of a veteran Mechwarrior. Not bad at all for a pilot barely three months out of the Albion Military Academy, even if he had been at the top of his graduating class. Zaahir hadn’t served long enough to earn a full Leftenancy, but he’d still won his way into the Draconis Suns RCTs through dedication and hard work. With luck, he’d be high on the list for bigger replacement machines. He’d gladly trade his family’s Wasp to the Suns for a chance at something bigger. It was a good training machine but the Wasp was too small and fragile for front-line fighting.

He’d been all too aware of that when his Lance had engaged a long lance of Clan scouts early in the invasion, and been nearly wiped out. Most of the Wasp’s armor was still painted in the flat primer of the refit he’d gone through after escaping that battle alive and mostly intact. The rest of his lance hadn’t been as lucky, only the timely arrival of a nearby lance of Heavy `Mechs had been enough to drive away the Clan lights. Visions of that slender, graceful Clan light with the large pulse laser mounted pistol-like on its right arm still haunted him. It couldn’t have been much heavier than his own Wasp, but it’d been nightmarishly fast and had singlehandedly taken out both Lieutenant Hargrave’s Firestarter and Chu-i Kaminaga’s Spider before it’d turned and nearly cut his Wasp in half with a single salvo.

He had to keep reminding himself that machine wasn’t here. That he had to focus on the mission at hand. If they could find the Clan ammo dump and destroy it, they could withdraw—the factory was important but they could secure it later. Without that ammunition it didn’t matter how many tanks and `Mechs the Clans could muster, they wouldn’t be able to remain so far behind the DS RCT’s lines.

The dump wasn’t as well hidden as Zaahir had expected: a simple prefab building in the tans and browns favored by the Hell’s Horses lay half-buried in a hillside. Better hidden was a group of Clan armored infantry. Their beetle-like armor blended almost perfectly with the forested hillside—only the flares of their foot-mounted jump jets alerted Zaahir to their presence and by then it was already too late. He touched down among them and flinched, expecting to hear the hammer-blows of a half-dozen SRMs.

He was completely unprepared for the shaped charge that shattered all the armor on the Wasp’s right leg and blew off the tiny man-like machine’s foot.








Movement Phase
Wasp
- Discovers Hidden Ammo Dump in hex 1929!
- Discovers Elementals in hex 1929!



ACE Mars Assault Vehicle
- Fires holds fire!

ACE Elementals
- Attempt to leg-attack Wasp (4 Anti-Mech + 3 enemy movement = 7): rolled 10, leg attack successful!
- - Wasp sustains 4 damage to Right Leg (0/5 armor remaining)! LAC!

Manticore (LBX)
- Fires LB 10-X Autocannon (Slug) at Zorya (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 8): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires Streak SRM-6 at Zorya (4 base + 4 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 10): rolled 5, miss!

Challenger X
- Fires LRM-10 at Infantry 1606 (4 base + 4 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement = 9): rolled 9, 6 missiles hit! 2 troopers killed!
- Fires LB 10-X Autocannon (Slug) at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 7, hit (80/90 CF remaining)!
- - Sylph Point suffers 2 damage!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 7, hit (65/90 CF remaining)!
- - Sylph Point suffers 3 damage!

Wasp
- Fires Medium Laser at Ammo Dump (4 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 3 light woods = 10): rolled 2, miss!
- Attempts to start fire in hex 1929 with Flamer (4 base + 4 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 3 light woods - 4 immobile target = 10): rolled 5, miss!
- Gains 6 heat, sinks 10!

Hunter 1
- Fires ER Large Laser at Zorya (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement + 2 light woods = 9): rolled 2, miss!
- Fires Artemis LRM-15 at Zorya (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement + 2 light woods = 9): rolled 8, miss!

Tokugawa 2
- Fires LB 10-X Autocannon (Cluster) at infantry 1606 (4 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 0 enemy movement - 1 cluster = 5): rolled 11, 6 clusters hit! 6 troopers killed!

Partisan 2
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 0 enemy movement = 4): rolled 8, hit (60/90 CF remaining (Sylph Point takes 1 damage))!
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 0 enemy movement = 4): rolled 7, hit (55/90 CF remaining (Sylph Point takes 1 damage))!
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 0 enemy movement = 4): rolled 6, hit (50/90 CF remaining (Sylph Point takes 1 damage))!
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 0 enemy movement = 4): rolled 6, hit (45/90 CF remaining (Sylph Point takes 1 damage))!
- - Sylph Point takes 4 damage in the barrage!

Drillson
- No Line of Sight to target!

PNT 10K2 Panther
- Fires ER PPC at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement = 7): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires SRM-4 at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement = 7): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires SRM-4 at Building Hex 3206 (4 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement = 7): rolled 8, 3 missiles hit (43/90 CF remaining), (41/90 CF remaining), (39/90 CF remaining)!
- Gains 25 heat, sinks 24!
- - Sylph point takes 3 damage in the barrage!

Player Shooting
- - Sylph Point suffers 12 damage to Trooper 5 (0/5 armor, 0/1 elemental remaining (trooper killed!)), Trooper 3 (0/5 armor remaining), Trooper 3 (0/1 elemental remaining (trooper killed!))!

Zorya 1
- Fires LB 5-X Autocannon (Cluster) at Manticore (LBX) (4 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods - 1 cluster = 6): rolled 11, 3 submunitions hit Left Side (26/34 armor remaining (CfMSD)), Front (33/43 armor remaining (CfMSD)), Front (32/43 armor remaining)!

Athena Combat Vehicle
- Holds fire!

Horned Owl
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Hunter (4 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement + 2 light woods - 2 Pulse Laser = 9): Rolled 11, hit Rear (4/14 armor remaining)! CfMSD
- Gains 16 heat, sinks 20!

Combat Phase
ACE Sylph Point
- Fires Micro Pulse Laser at Panther (4 base + 4 range + 1 movement + 2 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 9): rolled 7, miss!
- Fires Micro Pulse Laser at Panther (4 base + 4 range + 1 movement + 2 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 9): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires Micro Pulse Laser at Panther (4 base + 4 range + 1 movement + 2 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 9): rolled 4, miss!



End Phase
Wasp
- Leg attack critical chance in Right Leg! 1 critical hit sustained!
- - Foot actuator hit!
- Must pass a piloting-test or fall (5 base + 1 actuator damage = 6): rolled 9, succeeds!

Manticore (LBX)
- Chance for Motive System Damage! Minor damage sustained +1 to driving tests!
- Chance for Motive System Damage! No damage sustained!

Hunter 1
- Chance for Motive System Damage! No damage sustained!



Next Turn’s Movement Phase
Elemental Point
- Loses ACE Status!








Player Status:



PTN’s note: I’m going to trim some dead player units next turn to speed up my updates

Opposing Force Status:




Mission Objective:
Capture the Coolant Factory (0/1)

Secondary Objectives:
Protect the Mobile Army Support Hospital from detection (0/1)
Defend the Mobile Army Support Hospital (0/1)
Locate the Clan Ammunition Dump (0/1)
Destroy the Clan Ammunition Dump (0/1)

Special Rules:
Caustic, Tainted Atmosphere (TacOps p56)
Vehicles suffer an automatic Crew Stunned if armor is breached, Mechwarriors take double damage from cockpit hits.
Point Commanders
As long as they are active combatants, the Mars Assault Vehicle and Epona Pursuit Tank may designate one unit each as an Ace for two turns. New Ace units may not be designated until Ace status expires. Units which opt to remain immobile for at least two turns gain Ace status on the first turn they move. BattleMechs and VTOLs may not be Aces.



Orders Due: Midnight Saturday!