Part 645: Retaking Sirdar - Turn 2

Retaking Sirdar Update 2

“Hey, someone left some dumpsters sitting out in the jungle.”

Sgt. Yan Gintama frowned. Save for his wheat-colored skin, he didn’t look particularly Japanese. His family had been among a group of DCMS soldiers who’d outright defected after the Kentares Massacre. They’d moved as far from the Combine border as they could—only to find more anti-asian sentiment waiting for them on Sirdar. They’d fought long and hard to make a place for themselves, and his newly-upgraded Spider had been in the family since before they’d left the Draconis Combine. The machine guns that had been mounted for “anti-infantry” work had been stripped out and destroyed by his grandmother—she’d taken great pains to revert the machine back to its original specifications, to avoid the stigma the Draconis Combine’s Spider SDR-5Ks had earned participating in the massacre. He hoped the chair she’d made from the scrap was still waiting at his family home.

It was a lesson, she’d said: that war should only be used for useful ends and fighting should be avoided wherever possible. To that end Yan always tried to will his Spider to move with the maximum aggression, leaning forward and keeping the weapons pointed at his chosen target no matter how he or his target chose to move. He’d been told that his focus was unnerving, even in the regiment’s simulator exercises. He hoped that was actually true. Any little edge meant life or death in a `Mech like the Spider.

“I don’t see any dumpsters,” Yan’s careful gaze swept the jungle. He wouldn’t have put it past the Capellan Confederation to hide booby traps in the most innocuous of items. “Where are they? Behind the Urbanmechs?”

“I was talking about the—” Corporal Bystrom began, cutting himself off with a disgusted cough. Gin watched the young recruit take a swing at the nearest Urbanmech, staving in its armor with the Scarabus’s hatchet and filling the hole with laser-fire. The Urbanmech’s small laser fell limp and useless to the jungle floor.

“Nevermind,” Bystrom sighed. “You’re no fun, Gin.”

“Can it, Fungi,” Lt. Jinks sounded amused. “Focus on the fight.”

“You don’t can gin, you bottle it,” was Bystrom’s instant retort. “Or—wait, Lieutenant, did you just make an UrbanMech joke?”








Movement Phase
Hunchback (Player)
- Facing orders invalid (please choose an adjacent hex to determine facing, 1406 is not adjacent to 1505)

Wolfhound (Player)
- Attempts to enter hex 1819: insufficient MP (needs 7, has 6)!

Spider (Player)
- Attempts to demoralize Urbanmech UM-R60L

Urbanmech UM-R60L
- Attempts to resist becoming demoralized: rolled 4, fails! Movement Halved, +1 To-Hit vs. Spider



Shooting Phase
Hunchback (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(B) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 5, miss!

Watchman (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(B) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 3 woods + 1 partial cover + 2 jumped = 12): rolled 4, miss!

Shadow Hawk (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(A) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 7, miss!

Blackjack (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(A) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 1 woods + 2 jumped = 9): rolled 8, miss!

Warhammer (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(B) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 3 woods + 1 partial cover = 10): rolled 8, miss!

Orion (Player)
- No Line of Sight to primary target!

Marauder (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(A) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 1 woods + 2 jumped - 1 jumping jack = 8): rolled 9, hit! 4 damage sustained! 1 Crit!

Grasshopper (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(A) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 3 woods + 1 partial cover + 2 jumped = 12): rolled 7, miss!

“Fire” Javelin (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R60L (4 skill + 0 TMM + 0 Medium Range Master + 2 woods + 1 partial cover = 7): rolled 6, miss!

Scarabus (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R60L (4 skill + 0 TMM + 0 range + 1 woods + 1 partial cover = 6): rolled 5, miss!

Wolfhound (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R60L (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 7, miss!

Spider (Player)
- Attacks Urbanmech UM-R60L (4 skill + 0 TMM + 0 range + 2 woods + 1 partial cover + 2 jumped = 9): rolled 3, miss!

Snake
- No valid targets!

Urbanmech UM-R63(A)
- Attacks Shadow Hawk (4 skill + 2 TMM + 2 range + 1 woods - 1 sandblaster = 8): rolled 6, miss!

Urbanmech UM-R63(B)
- Attacks Hunchback (Marksman) (4 skill + 1 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods = 9): rolled 8, miss!

Urbanmech UM-R60L
- Attacks Scarabus (4 skill + 4 TMM + 0 range + 1 woods = 9): rolled 8, miss!



End Phase:
Urbanmech UM-R63(A)
- Critical chance: rolled 3, Engine Hit!



Physical Combat Phase:
Scarabus
- Attacks UM-R60L in Melee (4 skill + 0 TMM + 0 range + 1 woods + 1 partial cover = 6): rolled 8, hit! 3 damage sustained! 1 Crit!

Urbanmech UM-R60L
- Attacks Scarabus in Melee (4 skill + 4 TMM + 0 range + 1 woods = 9): rolled 10, hit! 1 damage sustained!



End Phase:
Urbanmech UM-R60L
- Critical chance: rolled 6, Weapon Hit!








Player Status:






Opposing Force Status:





Special Rules
Forced Withdrawal - `Mechs and Vehicles which suffer more than 50% structure damage will automatically attempt to retreat off the nearest friendly board edge. Units with only 1 point of structure will withdraw if all of their armor is destroyed.



Primary Objectives
Primary Objectives
- Destroy or Drive Off All Enemy Scouts (0/8 remaining)
or
- Destroy or Drive Off All Enemy `Mechs (0/12 remaining)



Orders Due: Midnight Tuesday!



PTN's note: I know this is going to feel strange, but this is exactly the sort of turn 1 I was expecting. To-hit bonuses are few and far between in Alpha Strike, so finding ways to maximize your chance to hit is the name of the game. It's one of the reasons why fast light `Mechs with proper support can still be quite competitive with assault `Mechs.