Part 479: Sludge Factory - Turn 23

Sludge Factory: Tactical Update 23

The enemy light `Mech tottered and fell, its pilot either unconscious or dead but an acrid black smoke rose from the gaping rents in the front of the Manticore’s armor. The touch of that fallen `Mech’s large pulse laser for even a fraction of a second was more than enough to turn a man to ash, and trapped in their vehicle’s crew compartment Kashira Kolar and his men would’ve been turned to flaming torches in moments. The Draconis Combine’s standard olive trichloropolyster uniforms were tough, stain resistant, and lasted for decades but they took to flame like an oil slick. The men wearing them wouldn’t have fared much better.

Corporal Ramsay just stared at her primary monitor, her body slumped as though she’d just run a marathon. The comms were silent. Dead silent. Her driver tugged her arm, trying to get her attention. That `Mech was going to stand any moment and do the same to the Hunter.

Basira didn’t respond even when the RCT’s Karnov infantry transports crested the far ridgeline laden with footsoldiers to secure the ground the tank crews had taken.









ACE Mars Assault Vehicle
- Turret twists to threaten rear arc!
- Fires ER Large Laser at Partisan (4 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 0 enemy movement + 2 light woods = 6): rolled 11, hit Rear (6/16 armor remaining)!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Partisan (4 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 0 enemy movement + 2 light woods = 6): rolled 6, hit Rear (0/16 armor, 0/8 structure remaining)! Vehicle destroyed!

Manticore (LBX)
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Horned Owl (4 base + 4 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 10): rolled 11, hit Left Torso (1/10 armor remaining)!
- Fires LB 10-X Autocannon (Cluster) at Horned Owl (4 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement - 1 cluster = 7): rolled 12, 6 submunitions hit Center Torso (4/13 armor remaining), Left Arm (8/9 armor remaining), Left Leg (2/8 structure remaining (Crit!)), Left Torso (0/10 armor remaining), Left Leg (1/8 structure remaining (Crit!)), Left Torso (7/8 structure remaining (Crit!))!
- Fires Streak SRM-6 at Horned Owl (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 10): rolled 9, fails to lock-on!

Hunter 1
- Fires ER Large Laser at Horned Owl (4 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires LRM-15 at Horned Owl (4 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 9, 12 missiles hit Head (4/9 armor remaining (2 pilot hits!), Right Leg (5/11 armor remaining), Center Torso (2/13 armor remaining)!

Tokugawa 2
- Holds fire!

Partisan 2
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Mars (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods - 4 immobile target = 4): rolled 3, miss!
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Mars (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods - 4 immobile target = 4): rolled 8, hit Rear (23/37 armor remaining)!
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Mars (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods - 4 immobile target = 4): rolled 2, miss!
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Mars (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods - 4 immobile target = 4): rolled 8, hit Rear (18/37 armor remaining)!

Athena Combat Vehicle
- Holds fire!

Horned Owl
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Manticore (4 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement - 2 Pulse Laser = 5): Rolled 7, hit Front (6/43 armor remaining)! TAC!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Manticore (4 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement - 2 Pulse Laser = 7): Rolled 2, miss! (this was another TAC though, 3 2s in a row goddamn)
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Manticore (4 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 0 enemy movement - 2 Pulse Laser = 7): Rolled 12, hit Front (0/43 armor remaining)! Armor breached! Crew stunned!
- Gains 24 heat, sinks 20!

Sylph Point
- Fires Small Pulse Laser at MASH (4 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 0 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 3): rolled 6, hit (11/50 durability remaining)!

Elementals
- Hold fire!

Zardoz Squad
- Fire Gauss SMGs at Manticore (4 base + 2 range + 0 enemy movement = 6): rolled 3, miss!

Athram Squad
- Fire Gauss SMGs at Tokugawa (4 base + 4 range + 0 enemy movement - 4 immobile target = 4): rolled 8, 21 troopers deal 10 damage to Front (0/4 armor, 5/6 structure remaining (Crit!)), Front (0/6 structure remaining)! Vehicle destroyed!




End Phase
PTN's Note: I didn't catch this, but a copy/pasta error caused me to lose the crits for the round. Here're the important ones:

Manticore
- Through-armor critical chance in Front! Crew killed!

Horned Owl
- Critical chance in Left Leg! 2 critical hits sustained!
- - Hip damaged!
- - Upper leg actuator damaged!
- No other crits were sustained (the rolling I did for the crit phase was lost due to a copy/pasta error)
- Must pass a 5+ consciousness test: rolled 4, failed!
- Horned Owl failed the piloting test to stand, did 3 damage to Center Torso
- Horned Owl failed a piloting test to avoid pilot damage, 7+ consciousness test.








Player Status:





Opposing Force Status:




Mission Objective:
Capture the Coolant Factory (1/1) Success!
- Objective Update: If either force is reduced to nothing but immobilized units, the other force wins!

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

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.



After-Action Report:
None of my non-infantry units are able to continue the battle, so I’m going to call things here. Talk about winning by the skin of your teeth! That was very well fought, all of you, and while I would’ve liked to go on for another turn or two but at the same time I probably made the map a little too big and the game lasted about ten turns longer than I was expecting. I will say: I’m really pleased with the new vehicle crit charts in Total Warfare. They really take a lot of the risk out of being a tank and make them much more viable and durable than the old crit charts did.

You know the drill, thread. Pat our players on the back, pick an MVP, and give me a couple of days to write the next bit of plot!