Part 599: Gravedigger - Turn 3

Grave Digger: Tactical Update 3

“I know that horn,” Ezekial mar Vohrs threw open the Commander’s hatch and rose to his full height. A laser from the Galleon tank flashed a dozen meters in front, but Ezekial barely felt the heat of it as his tank drove through the air stirred by that near miss. His ancient eyes peered through his field glasses at a mass of spikes jutting from the sand like weathered stone. They were black and scarred, and the foremost was gnarled and twisted as if by a great heat.

“Scarback,” Vohrs exclaimed, seizing the transmitter attached to his left breast pocket. Sand Whales were voracious desert omnivores with no Terran analog. Theoretically mammalian, they spent most of their lives buried in the sands, connected to the world’s aquifers with a plant-like taproot, siphoning up nutrients and growing to tremendous sizes.

They secreted the excess silica they took in, forming glass-like plates of hardened armor able to deflect autocannon shells and lasers. This armor playing was highly prized, and the plating from a particularly large Sand Whale could sell for as much as a light BattleMech. Vohrs had never met a whale bigger than Scarback. Its armor plating was thicker than his wrist and bore the signs of a dozen failed whaling attempts. The rusted, twisted ruin of a half-dozen harpoons still poked from the creature’s back, and Vohrs had personally seen Scarback flip and then crush a Von Luckner.

“Sand Whale to the west!” he transmitted. “That fool in the Vedette just crossed her taproot—she’s bound to wake up pissed!”








Shooting Phase
Marsden II (Player)
- No orders received!

Goblin Medium Tank "Diamondback" (Player)
- Fires Heavy Chemical Laser at Galleon (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 8): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires Heavy Chemical Laser at Vedette (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 8): rolled 9, hit Front (6/14 armor remaining)!

Bulldog Medium Tank (Player)
- Fires SRM-4 (High Explosive) at Galleon (3 base + 4 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 9): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires SRM-4 (High Explosive) at Galleon (3 base + 4 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 9): rolled 3, miss!
- Fires Heavy Rifle at Galleon (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 7): rolled 10, hit Turret (12/18 armor remaining)!

Thor Artillery Vehicle "Exhumer" (Player)
- Holds fire!

Dig Lord “Sancho Panzer” (Player)
- Fires Autocannon/10 (Tracer) at Galleon (4 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 7): rolled 7, hit Right Side (4/13 armor remaining)! CfMSD!
- Fires Light Machine Gun at Galleon (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 9): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires Light Machine Gun at Galleon (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 9): rolled 10, hit Front (5/14 armor remaining)!
- Fires Light Machine Gun at Galleon (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 9): rolled 8, miss!
- Fires Light Machine Gun at Galleon (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 9): rolled 7, miss!
- Fires Light Machine Gun at Galleon (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 9): rolled 6, miss!
- Gains 3 heat, sinks 3!

Vedette
- Fires Autocannon/5 at Thor (4 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 10): rolled 7, miss!

Galleon
- Fires Medium Laser at Goblin “Diamondback” (4 base + 4 range + 0 movement + 2 enemy movement = 10): rolled 8, miss!



End Phase
Galleon
- Chance for Motive System Damage: rolled 7, minor damage sustained!








Player Status:




Ally Status:




Opposing Force Status:




Special Rules
Drifting: Vehicles may shift one column to the left or right during the movement phase without expending an MP to turn, provided the move does not cross through an enemy unit or terrain that would cost additional MP. Adjacent vehicles may be rammed for low damage with a sideswipe and lighter vehicles may be knocked off course next turn!
Half-Height Terrain: All terrain features rise to only half their normal height. Vehicles behind a height 1 hill may still attack and be attacked, but may only receive damage to their turrets. Vehicles without turrets are hidden as normal. Hills only cost 1 MP to climb rather than the additional 2. BattleMech and IndustrialMech units treat height 1 hexes as if they are clear terrain, height 2 as if they are height 1, etc.
Oases: Oases are surrounded by boggy soil that will trap ground vehicles and may attract native fauna.
Mirages: Heat shimmer can make water appear where there is none. Mirages may be driven through safely but may hide other features.
Redline the Engines: The Desert Hawg’s speed cannot be reduced by damage or critical hits.



Primary Objectives
- Protect the Desert Hawg (0/1)
- Disable or destroy the Devil’s Due (0/1)

Secondary Objectives
- Drive away or destroy Scarback (0/1)
- Destroy the ???? (0/1)



Orders Due: Midnight Saturday!