Part 511: Laager - Turn 7

Laager: Tactical Update 7

Demi-Precentor Pradhan stood at ease as he gazed out the large transplex windows atop the turret control tower. It was a shame ComStar’s last bastion on Abadan had been left incomplete. He should’ve had a dozen turrets on all sides of various types and enough overlapping fields of fire to daunt a full battalion. Instead he had three, not counting the interior defenses, and a tower intended for a dozen technicians that could be operated by a single determined man. The tower’s targeting system was simple enough: a neurohelmet let him feed targets directly to an up-scaled version of a BattleMech’s DI computer and that same computer handled the rest. He could’ve even left the system on automatic if it weren’t for the DI computer’s tendency to fixate on certain targets and continue tracking and firing on them even after they’d moved out of range.

Demi-Precentor Pradhan wasn’t too picky. As long as he made sure the computer fired on targets it could actually hit he’d let it have its way. The Capellan Confederation’s inexorable advance showed their determination to simply overrun the facility’s defenders. They had a numerical advantage even if most of their machines were slow, and if they attacked aggressively enough the ComGuard `Mechs wouldn’t be able to put them down fast enough.

One of the enemy’s tanks rolled to a stop less than thirty meters from one of the still inactive turrets, its PPCs firing a hasty shot that passed less than a meter over the Catapult’s head. Well, it wasn’t like there was much point delaying further and the computer couldn’t ask for an easier shot than that. Pradhan raised a hand, brushing his control lectern and bringing the turrets out of standby.

ComStar had let slip that the massive power generator they’d installed was simply too much for their incomplete and never-to-be-finished turret grid to handle and that the gun emplacements were more a show to deter pirates than a real defensive tool. That they’d turned around and sold much of the excess power to cities hundreds of kilometers away had lent credence to those rumors, if they didn’t need the power for their turrets they might as well make some money on it. With the press of a button, the Demi-Precentor opened those circuits, cutting power to much of the east coast. The loss of access to ComStar’s generator would undoubtedly overwhelm civilian facilities resulting in rolling brown-outs or worse if the Capellan Confederation’s ill-trained technicians let any of their power plants go critical.

Pradhan didn’t care, ComStar needed that power more. The sudden surge fast-charged an array of capacitors buried in the earth beneath each turret. The capacitors were hardly needed for the turret mechanisms, and a light autocannon required so little power to command it was a wonder anyone had believed ComStar’s ruse in the first place. One didn’t need a generator capable of powering half a continent for a turret grid, and light autocannons were hardly an adequate defense.

The turret status flashed green as the capacitors beneath reached full charge and dumped their power directly into the carefully disguised weapon ComStar had always pretended were simple autocannons. The turrets sparked as they fired, venting static and flooding the electromagnetic spectrum with omnidirectional noise that would’ve looked to a casual observer like they’d simply been overwhelmed by the excess power and shut down. The shots they fired were nearly invisible to the naked eye, a faint shimmer likely lost in the flashy degaussing. Only Pradhan and the other ComGuards would’ve had a good view of the fusillade, their computers would recognized the telltale discharge of a Tight-Stream EMP and ‘paint’ a beam on the inside of their neurohelmets to properly display the shots. With no frame of reference, the Capellans wouldn’t have the same luxury.

Demi-Precentor Pradhan smiled. Five hits and six shots, and at least one Cataphract pilot who’d be wondering what the hell had gone wrong with his machine. Better still the Capellans might not have even realized the turrets were firing on them. They weren’t fools and it wouldn’t take long before they came to associate the “overloading” of the turrets with their machines shutting down but for now, unless someone had been watching very closely, ComGuard still had surprise on their side.








Shooting Phase
BattleMaster (Player)
- Fires ER PPC at Von Luckner (4 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 7): rolled 3, miss!
- Fires ER PPC at Von Luckner (4 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 7): rolled 5, miss!
- Gains 30 heat, sinks 34

Viking (Player)
- Fires Artemis IV LRM-20 at Brutus (PPC) (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement = 8): rolled 8, 16 missiles hit Front (52/57 armor remaining), Front (47/57 armor remaining), Front (42/57 armor remaining), Front (41/57 armor remaining)!
- Fires Artemis IV LRM-15 at Brutus (PPC) (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement = 8): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires Artemis IV LRM-15 at Brutus (PPC) (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement = 8): rolled 7, miss!
- Gains 17 heat, sinks 20

Catapult II (Player)
- Fires LRM-20 at Huron Warrior (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement = 8): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires LRM-20 at Huron Warrior (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement = 8): rolled 6, miss!
- Gains 13 heat, sinks 20!

Legacy (Player)
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 1928!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Von Luckner (4 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 7): rolled 8, hit Front (0/41 armor, 0/8 structure remaining)! Vehicle destroyed!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Von Luckner (4 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 7): rolled 11, hit Front (TAC!)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Von Luckner (4 base + 4 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 9): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Von Luckner (4 base + 4 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 9): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires Streak SRM-2 at Von Luckner (4 base + 4 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 9): rolled 2, fails to lock-on!
- Gains 12 heat, sinks 20

“Light Autocannon” Turret 1020
- Fires TSEMP at Brutus (PPC) (5 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 12, hit!
- Fires TSEMP at Brutus (PPC) (5 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 6, hit!

“Light Autocannon” Turret 1625
- Fires TSEMP at Brutus (5 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 8): rolled 7, miss!
- Fires TSEMP at Brutus (5 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 10, hit!

“Light Autocannon” Turret 2021
- Fires TSEMP at Cataphract (5 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 10, hit!
- Fires TSEMP at Cataphract (5 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 6, miss!

Lao Hu
- Fires ER Large Laser at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 8, hit (80/140 CF Remaining)!
- Fires LRM-15 at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 10, 6 missiles hit (74/140 CF remaining)!
- Gains 14 heat, sinks 20!

Cataphract
- Fires ER PPC at Legacy (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 11, hit head! Edge burned!
- - hit Left Torso (17/27 armor remaining)!
- Fires LB 10-X Autocannon (Slug) at Legacy (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 5, miss!
- Gains 19 heat, sinks 32!

Archer
- Fires Artemis LRM-15 at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires Artemis LRM-15 at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 9, 15 missiles hit (59/140 CF remaining)!
Gains 14 heat, sinks 24!

Rifleman II
- Holds fire!

Huron Warrior
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Viking (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 6, miss!
- Gains 2 heat, sinks 11!

Snake
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 0917!
- Fires LB-10X Autocannon (Slug) at Catapult (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 partial cover = 10): rolled 8, miss!
- Gains 4 heat, sinks 22!

Helios
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Legacy (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 8, miss!

Wolverine
- Fires ER Large Laser at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 10, hit (51/140 CF remaining)!
- Gained 14 heat, sinks 24!

Von Luckner
- Fires Autocannon/20 at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 9, hit (31/140 CF remaining)!
- Fires SRM-6 at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 7, 2 missiles hit (27/140 CF remaining)!
- Fires SRM-6 at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 7, 4 missiles hit (19/140 CF remaining)!
- Fires SRM-4 at Gate 1628 (4 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 6): rolled 8, 3 missiles hit (13/140 CF remaining)!

Brutus
- Fires Large Laser at Gate 1628 (4 base + 2 range + 0 movement - 4 enemy movement = 4): rolled 9, hit (5/140 CF remaining)!
- Fires Large Laser at Gate 1628 (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 4): rolled 8, hit (0/140 CF remaining)! Gate breached!
- Fires LRM-20 at Gate 1628 (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 4): rolled 8, 12 missiles hit!

Brutus (PPC)
- Fires PPC at Catapult II (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires PPC at Catapult II (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 3, miss!

Demolisher (Gauss)
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Viking (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 11, hit Right Leg (damage blocked)!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Viking (4 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 9, hit Right Leg (damage blocked)!



End Phase
Brutus (PPC)
- Vehicle Shutdown chance: rolled 5, no effect!
- Vehicle Shutdown chance: rolled 6 + 1 second hit = 7, Brutus (PPC) suffers heavy interference!

Brutus
- Vehicle Shutdown chance: rolled 8, vehicle shuts down!

Cataphract
- Shutdown chance: rolled 10, shuts down!



Next Turn’s Movement Phase
Wolverine
- Activates MASC!








Player Status:




Allied Status




Opposing Force Status:




Mission Objective:
- Hurt them (1/3)
- - Hurt them more (0/6)
- - - Teach them the Word (0/9)

Secondary Objectives:
- Defend the Turret Control Tower (0/1)
- Defend the Administration Building (0/1)
- Keep enemy `Mechs out of the `Mechbay (0/1)



Special Rules:
Construction Zones – Unless the hex states otherwise, all construction zones count as light woods.

Reload Point – ComStar’s technicians are very motivated and have six tons of LRM reloads available. They can reload 2 tons of LRM ammo per turn spent inside the Mechbay. The Legacy isn’t built for quick reloads, but the technicians may be able to supply it with one additional ton of gauss rifle ammo. If only one `Mech is in the Mechbay the technicians will also replace damaged armor plates, restoring the armor on all damaged sections up to the nearest multiple of 5. If a section is already at a multiple of five, its armor cannot be restored.

Hidden Assets – The light autocannon turrets are currently in low-power standby mode. ComStar has always maintained up rumors that the power grid supporting them is incomplete or somehow insufficient to power them. They will not open fire until at least two players request their activation on the same turn. This deception may be detected by enemy units with a Beagle Active Probe.



Orders Due: Midnight Saturday!