Wargames 1

On Novaya Zemyla, the Company were housed in a small subsidiary Johnson Industries factory that had been taken offline several years ago. Their days were spent training with the other mercenary commands that were part of the Acamar Task Force, under the overall command of GM Security Directory Anton Corrigan. For the training exercises, the task force often sparred with the resident garrison unit, Cunningham’s Commandos, a cocky combined-arms regiment long in AFFC employment.

The factory environment provided an excellent environment to maintain an refurbish the Company’s equipment. Within a few months, most of the Company’s mechs and vehicles were running in better condition than they had ever run before, and Colonel Ferrer also took advantage of the factory resources to conduct extensive refits on four mechs that had been mothballed from previous salvage.

After six months of intensive training, Corrigan decided to cap it off with a large wargame exercise against the Cunningham’s Commandos. For their part, the Company would face the Commandos in three separate battalion sized engagements. At stake would be bragging rights for the remainder of their stay on Novaya Zemyla.

The first engagement occurred in the wooded hills just outside the Company’s factory base.

After-Action Report

Colonel Ferrer directed his mech forces to rush forward and occupy advantageous positions on a large hill, while his infantry and armor units circled around. The Commandos approached much more cautiously and were caught in the open by massed (simulated) artillery fire. As they rushed forward, the Company’s hovercraft units sped out of the surrounding woods in a flanking attack. Several Commando mechs were marked down by TAG-directed Arrow IV munitions, while the mechs in a superior position took sniper shots at will. Eventually, the remaining Commandos were forced to back off and admit defeat.

Wargames 2

The next wargame engagement took place in the arid canyons of the Sidewinder Desert.

After-Action Report

The Commandos split their forces with some advancing along a dry desert riverbed while the rest commanded sniper positions in the heights on the canyons above. The Company advanced en massed through the riverbed, ceding the high ground to the Commandos. An initial clash of hovercraft devastated the hover contingent of both groups. As the Company advanced, they came under fire from the units on the heights, but massed artillery fire broke up this group and gave them a momentary respite that they used to advance several mechs up the canyon walls and into the enemy’s position. With the damage taken from artillery fire, the Commando units proved to be easy pickings.

Wargames 3

The final wargame engagement took place in old city ruins from the Star League era.

After-Action Report

The Company placed recon infantry assets within building ruins for spotting and scouting purposes, while the rest of the unit advanced through the narrow city streets. As (simulated) artillery fire bombarded the Commandos position, they advanced to close range with the Company. The fighting devolved into a brutal street-by-street slugfest with heavy (simulated) damage on both sides. The Company’s infantry assets were alsmost completely wiped out, partially due to proximity to various ammunition and engine explosions, not to mention incidental friendly fire from misplaced artillery barrages. The Company’s armor contingent assigned to this wargame also suffered heavy damage. Nonetheless, the Company was able to inflict more damage on their opponents and were ultimately declared the victors, completing a trifecta for the Company.

Hot Drop

Osz Forest
Acamar

No plan every survives first contact with the enemy. Shrike and Flare lances of the Acamar Task Force were supposed to assault drop in to Acamar to help secure the LZ. Unfortunately, they landed off-target and came under immediate fire from the Legion of Truth, which was rushing in to oppose the landings.

Brigadier Corrigan ordered two lances of the Company’s jump-capable mechs, being carried by Leopard-class Dropships Madman and Nugent, to change course and hot drop on the last known positions of the two wayward lances, in an effort to save them. Colonel Ferrer objected to the order, asserting that the two lances were already likely destroyed. Nonethless, Corrigan asserted his overall command authority.

After-Action Report

All eight mechs were able to make a successful insertion without incident. As the Legion of Truth units rushed to confront them, the Leopards returned and devastated two of their mechs with a strafing run before heading for home.

Staying to the treeline, the Company was able to snipe at the Legion units as they emerged from the rolling hills. However two Stealth mechs did make it into the rear of the Company’s line and were able to damage several of the Company mechs severely by hitting their vulnerable rear armor before both Stealths were destroyed by mass fire. After this threat was eliminated, the remaining Legion of Truth units continued exchanged fire but the fire seemed to have gone out of them. After three of their vehicles were disabled, they withdrew from the battlefield. The LZ secured, Captain Salas was content to let them go.

Unfortunately, as several of the units were utterly destroyed via ammunition and engine explosions, very little salvage was available in the aftermath of the battle. Colonel Ferrer turned down the battered remains of a Lineholder mech, hoping for juicier salvage opportunities in the future.

Defend the Trans-Mahn

After establishing an LZ, Corrigan’s task force was able to set up an operations area designated as Com-Z in the nearby city of Huss, after evicting the small occupying force with little effort. The Company’s infantry units assisted in clearing out opposing infantry forces from Huss, but suffered no casualties in the sparse fighting.

The Company was held in reserve as Brigadier Corrigan pushed into the Trans-Mahn valley, seeking to drive through Calvin Noru’s forces toward the capital of Kalskag. However, the Company was left as a reserve unit to fill holes in the line and to secure Com-Z.

Corrigan was initially unprepared when Noru shifted more of his reserve forces into the Trans-Mahn and called upon the Company to help reinforce his position there. The Company quickly marched two mech companies to the front, leaving the remainder of the Company to guard Huss.

After-Action Report

A small (and unfortunate) town lay between the two opposing forces. The Legion concentrated their forces near the town and sent their single assault mech, a vintage Champion, as well as a Von Luckner tank to defend against the lance of Company mechs flanking to the west of the small town. The remainder of their two mech lances and armor company focused on the two lances of Company mechs approaching from the south.

Initially, the swift J Edgar hovertanks of the Legion caused some problems for the Company’s mechs, outflanking them and getting into their rear areas. However, with concentrated fire, the Company was able to disable one of the three hovertanks and damage the motive systems of another. The main Company assault then faced withering fire from the Legion’s mechs and vehicles near the town, but were able to use the treeline to their advantage as they sniped at their opponents. Combined and coordinated fire brought down two mechs, while a lucky shot from Mechwarrior’s Dulcine Penetrator ignited an ammo explosion that eviscerated a third opposing Orion mech. Meanwhile, Lamberti used the maneuverability of her Phoenix Hawk mech to flank the armor units in town, drawing their fire away from the main Company advance, although she did take some considerable damage.

On the left flank, the lance proceeded cautiously against the firepower of the assault mech and the heavy auto-cannon of the Von Luckner. However, with a serious advantage in numbers, they soon made short work of both units and then swung around to join the main column. Seeing that they were about to be surrounded the Legion units then made a hasty withdrawal, but not before the Company was able to down a Warhammer mech through leg damage.

Foray to the Rear

The Company’s redeployment was able to stymie Noru’s advance through the Trans-Mahn valley, but the repositioning left several gaps in the line which Noru exploited. Sending his fast hovercraft detachments through the line, he sought to create chaos in Corrigan’s rear areas.

One of these hovercraft detachments headed straight for the ammunition dumps near Huss, which were guarded by several Company units.

After-Action Report

Major Toselli stationed a lance of Zhukovs on the western entrance to the ammunition depot, while his own lance of Manticore tanks secured the southern entrance. He kept his lance of mobile Pegasus hovertanks in reserve as well as most of this infantry, although he did plant several TAG equipped recon squads in the forested hills overlooking the depot.

The enemy forces came in fast and hard. Altogether, there were twenty fast-moving hovercraft. As it became clear that they were intending to overwhelm the forces at the southern entrance, Major Toselli made the risky decision to call the Zhukovs in to reinforce his position. Meanwhile, he sent out his Pegasus lance to harry and slow the attackers, while his infantry called in indirect fire.

In part, the strategy worked. The Pegasus counterattack was able to break up the enemy’s assault and draw of some units. However, they faced overwhelming fire and two of the hovercraft units were disabled and a third destroyed, although they gave at least as good as they got. Another part of the attacking force was distracted by harrying the infantry units, but with their camo suits, they were difficult to pick out in the dense woods. The remaining forces charged piecemeal at the gate, but lacked the overwhelming fire to break through. They managed to immobilize one Manticore and bang up the others pretty well, but concentrated fire return fire from the Manticores destroyed several vehicles. By the time the Zhukovs entered the fray, the enemy forces were down by half and decided on a fighting withdrawal with their primary mission unaccomplished.

Flat Out Assault

Needing to break the stalemate with Noru’s forces, Corrigan developed a daring plan. As Noru’s forces pulled back to the town of Flat, Corrigan ordered most of the Company to spread out on the eastern flank in an apparent attempt to envelop the town. While the majority of the Company kept Noru’s forces busy in Flat, a smaller contingent of fast mechs and vehicles would race behind the line toward the capital of Kalskag to destroy Noru’s palace and command center.

In order for the plan to succeed, the Company would need to sell their attack on Flat well, even though they would be outnumbered.

After-Action Report

The fighting in Flat was vicious and hard. As the Company approached the perimeter, they came into contact with roughly a company of mechs and two companies of conventional armor, with several hard-hitting assault designs. Realizing that he might need to make a tactical withdrawal, Colonel Ferrer ordered his troops to light several buildings on fire. With a favorable wind direction, the Company then advanced under the cover of this smoke.

Although the Company was outnumbered, they had a few advantages. They could call on sustained artillery fire to harry their opponents. Furthermore, the opposing units were drawn from several of the different groups supporting Noru and were not well coordinated in their attack. On the right flank, the Company units were bogged down in a fight with a lance of assault mechs and supporting heavy tanks, while the majority of Noru’s forces held up the line on the left flank, using the protective cover of the terrain. Initial strikes by the Company’s hover lance were effective at directing Arrow IV strikes, but two of the hovercraft were destroyed. The fight turned into a slugging match between two heavy forces.

On the right flank, Chips’ Zeus was destroyed by a runaway containment breach on her fusion engine, although she was able to eject, while Feyzi’s Cestus had its gyro destroyed from a gauss rifle shot. The Company paid her back well though, destroying three of the four assault mechs and several of the supporting tank units. They also killed the nominal commander of the detachment when Lt. Constantin’s Crockett caved in the opposing Pillager’s head with a gauss rifle shell.

On the left flank, the Company was equally hard-pressed. They lost two mechs and Raz’s Marauder was on its last legs, although they managed to take down an equal number of opposing mechs and several more tanks. A shot from one of the Manticore tank’s lit the ammunition bins of an opposing Warhammer and the resulting explosion also destroyed an adjacent Crusader mech. This fortuitious shot spelled the end of the battle. With their right flank buckling, and the lead elements of their left flank destroyed, Noru’s forces called for a fighting withdrawal deeper into the town.

The Company was not able to savor their victory. They knew reinforcements would be coming soon, but they had accomplished their mission of pinning Noru’s forces in place. They recovered their personnel and were able to salvage a few units before hastily retreating back to their mobile command base.

Striking at the Head

While Colonel Ferrer led the assault on Flat, Captain Salas was charged with leading a lightning strike against the capital of Kalskag. The mission objective was to destroy Noru’s command center and palace as well as any other targets of opportunity.

After-Action Report

Under the cover of night, the Company units advanced stealthily into the city, only being discovered as they approached Noru’s command center. Two mech lances and a lance of hovercraft headed directly for Noru’s palace while the remaining lance approached the command center. The forces played a cat and mouse game across the city streets. The lance approaching the command center was able to draw the attention of the defending units. As soon as they departed, the Company’s VTOL contingent swooped in a dropped a full four platoons, including Ghost platoon, on top of the command center. The Company’s infantry contingent quickly took control of the command center. Ghost platoon begin planting explosives throughout the building, while the remaining squads collected intelligence reports.

Meanwhile, the remaining Company mechs and hovers were laying waste to Noru’s palace despite significant opposition. As the VTOLs added their fire, the palace collapsed and the Company’s units quickly faded into the darkness, although they did lose one unit in the battle. Several blocks away, Captain Salas’s command lance continued to draw the defending units away from the command center in a tense battle, avoiding direct confrontation. Nonetheless, he did lose a Wolverine mech due to a lucky shot on its vulnerable knee joints. When he got the word that the command center was ready to blow, he ordered the VTOLs to retreive the infantry and pulled back further into the shadows.

The VTOLs swept in and collected the infantry units and sped off into the night. Moments later, the command center exploded in a shower of fire and light.

Classic Extraction

The Company’s assault on Flat helped to weaken the defenses considerably and within a week Flat had capitulated and half of the Second Provisional Acamar Cavalry had surrendered. Combined with the assault on his HQ, this event was the end for Noru. His fragile coalition broke apart amid infighting. The Legion of Truth, led by General Sline, came out on top and imprisoned Noru. The remaining pirate groups fled to the wilderness.

General Sline made a mistake in trying Noru, however. The Kasparov Knights were a legitimate mercenary group hired to defend Noru’s landhold. They had remained neutral in the infighting but given this threat to Noru, they banded together with the First Provisional Acamar Cavalry to attack the Legion of Truth and free Noru. They crushed the Legion and then fled the planet.

With the major opposition now gone, Corrigan began working with the Acamar Merchant’s Freedom guild to set up a new stable government. Several pirate bands remained threats. They had retreated to the outlands but continued to probe the perimeter, looking for easy raids.

The Scarlet Guards were the largest of these groups and in a savage confrontation in the Tomahn Moraine, they managed to down to task force aerospace pilots. The Company’s VTOL and fast hover contingent was tasked with rescuing the pilots, while the rest of the Company mobilized to bring the Scarlet Guards down.

After-Action Report

Striker lance and two of the pintos engaged an enemy mech lance and a hover lance while the remaining pintos dashed to the location of the hidden pilots. The pilots were recovered quickly, but one of the Pegasus hovers took damage to its skirt that slowed it down. Lieutenant Blackberg engaged the enemies at close range with his Pinto to give the damaged Pegasus a chance to flee. He was successful but took damage to his rotor that nearly brought his chopper down before he was able to turn an flee himself.

In the confused brawl, the Company units were able to destroy one of the Plainsman hover tanks they faced.

Surviving the Rescue

In an attempt to cover the rescue operation in the Tomahn Moraine, Brigadier Corrigan launched a probing attack against the Scarlet Guard’s right flank. With the Scarlet Guards based in an easily defended mine complex, Captain-Colonel Miegs ordered the bulk of his unit to counterattack Corrigan’s advance. Though a risky move, Miegs had the chance to strike a blow at the task force that could keep his Guards alive long enough to get off-planet.

What had initially been a rescue operation was now poised to escalate into a major conflict. Little did either side know that a third group was about to enter the fray.

After-Action Report

As the Company moved in, they realized they were facing a numerically superior force as the Scarlet Guards had thrown almost two companies of mechs and vehicles at their forces. Initially, the Company forces held back, using a large central hill for cover while taking pot shots at the enemy. However, when Captain Henderson realized that the SAR forces would be evacuating directly through the battlefield, she ordered all of her forces to move to the attack to attempt to draw the enemy fire.

As the Company mechs held position on the top of the hill, the heavy armor lance was able to move into position and bring the withering fire of its two Shreck, a Burk, and an Alacorn tank to bear on the enemy. Meanwhile, the VTOLs carrying the rescured pilots quickly zoomed out of the danger zone while the hovers harassed the enemy from behind. With the main objective secured, Captain Henderson began to consider how to pull her forces back with minimal losses.

At this point, the Company begin picking up new signals shotrly before another force of mechs smashed their way on to the battlefield from the northeast. The fighting briefly paused from confusion, but it soon became apparent that these new forces were hostile to the Scarlet Guard. It was the remnants of the Second Provisional Acamar Cavalry who were looking for revenge. Meanwhile, more units were reinforcing the Scarlet Guard position. Unsure of the Cavalry’s intentions to his own units, and not wanting to dive into the meatgrinder, Captain Raz told his units to hold position and concentrate on long range attacks. From their high vantage point, the Company units watched the two other units tear into each other viciously. Meanwhile, the long range effectiveness of their armor and heavy mech unit quickly depleted the western flank of the Scarlet Guard.

Ultimately, the Guard pulled back after a serious mauling although they were followed by the Cavalry units. In total the Scarlet Guard had lost 18 mechs and vehicles. The original company of Cavalry units was down to seven very battered units. The Company had fared better, with mostly minor damage. One Pegasus had been evacuated from motive damage. As the fighting receded into the distance, the Company’s salvage units entered the battlefield.

Assault the Mines

The Second Provisional Acamar Cavalry harried the Scarlet Guards for a week, before Colonel Miegs finally ordered the Guards to hunt down the Cavalry and eliminate them. With the bulk of the Scarlet Guard forces now having left the well-fortified base in the mine, Colonel Ferrer sniffed an opportunity. He quickly convinced Corrigan of this plan to assault the mine and leave the remaining Scarlet Guards without a base of operations.

After-Action Report

The major obstacle in assaulting the mine was the extensive gun emplacements that surrounded the facilities. Although, the Company’s forces outmatched the remaining garrison forces, the gun emplacements could quickly give Colonel Ferrer’s forces a very bad day. To address this, Colonel Ferrer split his main forces in half, with one side coming from the north and the other from the south. These units would skirt the perimeter and attempt to take out gun emplacement at range. while the Company’s artillery shelled those same gun emplacements from long range. Meanwhile, Karnov VTOLs would deliver Romeo Company into the center of the facility, where they would attempt to disable the AI system running the gun emplacements.

The aggressive infantry insertion turned disastrous, however, when a lance of enemy VTOLs missed by intelligence rose to intercept them. One Karnov was completely obliterated by a hit on its fuel tank with a full squad of soldiers still present. The remaining Karnovs ended up dropping infantry squads in a disorganized fashion before retreating. Rather than face the enemy approaching from the perimeter, several Scarlet Guard units turned around to deal with the disorganized hostile infantry. Most infantry squads took cover in nearby buildings, but were unable to execute their mission. All told 23 Company soldiers lost their life and a similar number were injured.

The perimeter assaults were more promising. Finding a good vantage point, the mechs and Manticore tanks were able to slowly pick off the gun emplacements while keeping the enemy at bay. They suffered some damage from the return barrage but nothing penetrated armor. To the south, there were fewer enemy units and with the combined fire support of Lt. Feuntes’s lance, four manticore take, and four sniper artillery pieces, They were able to completely wipe out the opposing forces and the gun emplacements. Some gun emplacements explodes spectacularly when their ammunition was hit, while others fell silent when a direct hit took out their crew. The only serious damage suffered in this attack was to Major Toselli’s manticore which was immobilized by a lucky shot to its treads from an autocannon shell. Major Toselli gave command over to Lt. Fuentes, who led the remaining units through the facility to join up with the northern forces.

Fighting was much thicker on the north side as most of the enemy units focused on this assault. Colonel Ferrer’s command lance held their high ground position, while Lt. French’s mechs darted around quickly and harassed the enemy. Eventually, they were able to destroy most of the gun emplacements, before a surge of reinforcements from the center of the facility arrived. One Company mech, however, was badly damaged by a stray artillery shot when it got to close to the saturation zone. Lt. Babic was also forced to withdraw after a stray shot cracked his cockpit open. The remaining units held their position and slowly whittled away the reinforcements. Although the units were evenly matched, the tide turned when Lt. Fuentes’s forces arrived from the rear. The remaining Scarlet Guard forces then scattered into the wilderness, leaving the substantially wrecked mining facility to the Company.

In addition to denying the enemy access to their resupply lines, the Company also secured a substantial amount of material from the facility. Unfortunately, only four of the gun emplacements had survived the battle.

Hammer and Anvil

The remaining Scarlet Guard was able to easily crush the remnants of the Second Provisional Acamar Cavalry, but were now left without a home base for resupply. Colonel Ferrer quickly moved into action to prevent the Scarlet Guard to fade into the back country. Splitting his fresh forces in two, he assigned Captain Salas to scour the Tohman Mohraine for the unit.

Two days out, Captain Salas found them fleeing deeper into the mountains. He was able to circle Bravo company around in an attempt to prevent a breakthrough, while his remaining forces came in from behind. Once the Scarlet Guards realized the trap they were caught in, they rushed Charlie Company position in an attempt to breakout.

After-Action Report

The Scarlet Guards moved to punch through Charlie Company’s lines before the remainder of Captain Salas’s forces could catch them. However, they were delayed by the difficult terrain. In particular, a dry riverbed slowed down ther forces and gave Captain Winkler enough time to organize her line. she positioned her two heavy mech lances on high ground to provide long range fire support and pick off Scarlet Guard units that got too close with mass fire. Meanwhile, Lt. Muth’s Pursuit Lance moved to closer range, using their mobility to harrass the enemy units and to draw fire.

The strategy proved effective as the Scarlet Guard units became disorganized. Nonetheless, Charlie Company did face some initial withering fire. Most of this resulted in superficial armor damage, but one shot from the opposing forces command Cyclops mech did crack through the torso armor of Lt. Raz’s Marauder causing hsi gauss rifle to explode. The damage disabled the mech, but CASE prevented catastrophic loss. Dulcine’s Penetrator was also hard-pressed by the assault, as were the mechs of Pursuit Lance who had engaged at closer range.

Meanwhile, two lances of hovercraft rushed forward across the frozen tundra and caught the rear guard of the Scarlet Guards, their mobility causing massive problems for the Guard. Captain Salas’s Strike Lance quickly caught up as well, although the remaining heavy mechs of Bravo Company had a difficult time closing the gap. Nonetheless, the arrival of these forces in the rear broke all discipline among the Scarlet Guard and a coordinated breakthrough attempt became every mechwarrior for themselves. With this disorganization, the remaining units were picked off one by one with little return damage to Company mechs. Only a lance of damaged mechs and one Scimitar hovertank escaped the trap to vanish in to the Tundra. So marked the end of the Scarlet Guard.

A day later Brigadier General Corrigan announced the reformation of a democratic government on Acamar. the planetary assault phase of the operation was now over, but the job was not done. While the major combatants on the opposing side had either fled or been crushed, numerous smaller pirate bands still remained throughout Acamar and would have to be dealt with in the coming months.

Crossing the Straits

One of the smaller pirate bands operating on Acamar departed for a chain of islands after Noru’s coalition broke up and has holed up there ever since. A strait ten kilometers wide separate this band from Acamar’s main continent, and so the pirates pose no major, immediate threat to the task force. In the interests of Acamar’s stability, however, they must be eliminated. The rough terrain of the islands affords no good landing zones, and so Corrigan has devised a more radical approach. Under cover of night, the Free Company will insert a unit onto the main island. Hovercraft units will cross the water normally while a group of Mechs will walk across the sea floor in an attempt to catch the pirates by surprise.

After-Action Report

The pirates occupied two nearby islands, one of which contained an air strip and command facility. The nearer and more remote island often contained a lance of fire support vehicles that served as a first line of defense.

The mech forces split, with Pursuit Lance taking the more remote island and the heavier Support Lance taking the command island. The plan was to draw the pirates out with the approaching hovers and choppers before bursting out of the water. However, as the enemy moved to engage the visible Company units, one of their choppers noted the swirling of water near the beach which put the pirates on guard for a submarine ambush.

Realizing their cover was blown, the mechs hurried to make beachfall, coming out of the water firing. They were momentarily sitting ducks as the water slowed their movement. Support Lance in particular took a heavy pounding, but were able to give as good as they got due to the scattered natured of the pirate mechs. Mechwarrior Sørheim’s Caesar took the heaviest hits and was rendered inoperative when it fell back into the water and suffered a breach to its torso. Sørheim was forced to sit ensconced in her watery tomb and hope that the remainder of the lance finished the task.

Meanwhile, the arrival of the remaining Company forces was quickly turning the tide. The Pegasus hovercraft made strafing runs across the beach, putting their inferno SRMs to good use in disabling opposing vehicles and overheating mechs. Chopper lance found itself engaged in an aerial duel with a lance of Warrior VTOLs, but was quickly able to gain the upper hand with their superior Pintos. While the main battle raged, three Company Karnovs dropped infantry onto the roof of the command center where they were able to quickly take control.

Pursuit lance was able to destroy the heavy vehicle lance protecting their island with minimal damage. The remaining mechs of Support lance overwhelmed the mech lance defending the island, leaving only the pirate’s leader alive. This leader was a Clan war veteran by the nickname of “Leviathan” who piloted a clantech Grizzly. Although a formidable foe, he also realized a lost cause when he saw it. Facing three functional mechs and a host of support vees and no help incoming, he called on his remaining troops to stand down and surrendered, pleading for clemency.

Closing In

After briefly rearming and completing repairs, Survey-23’s mechs pursued the Imhaus’ forces as they withdrew to their base. There, they encountered the pirates full mech force, dug in and prepared for siege.

After-Action Report

Once again, the superior weaponry and skill of the Company won out. As they approached the pirate’s base, they were able to disable two mechs with accurate long range fire. The remaining pirates tried to use the gravity for greater mobility, but some suffered damage. With the odds in the their favor, Bravo Company charged the pirates position and made short work of them. Imhaus was killed from a breach to his cockpit, ending the ignoble reign of this pirate band.

The Drop That Lasts A Lifetime

While downloading data from the pirate base’s computer system, the Company’s techs made an interesting discovery. The pirates had been in communication with someone in the Illeudian asteroid field. The communications was heavily encrypted, but upon questioning the pirate’s leader, Questo “Leviathan” Torvaldo, the Company discovered that his band had been in communication with another pirate band, led by someone named Imhaus, hiding out in the belt. They had apparently been negotiating a pickup and escort out of the system.

Corrigan decided that these belt pirates needed to be cleared out quickly. He charged Colonel Ferrer with providing a company of mechs for an assault on the planetoid designated Illeudian-236. Colonel Ferrer was not pleased at having his troops assigned to high risk operations in vacuum, but had no choice, given the language of the contract. He assigned Bravo company. Corrigan provided a Union class dropship and fighter escort. Captain Salas’s troops were quickly loaded aboard and the dropship began a high G burn, hoping to catch the pirates before they wised up and abandoned the system.

As the task force approached the planetoid,m they were met by a small fighter contingent, attempting to prevent their landing. Following a brief, but bloody battle with Imhaus’ fighter contingent, the dropship closed on Illeudian-236, a planetoid slightly mofr than a thousand kilotmeters in diameter. A quick survey confirmed the existence of several manmade structures, ranging from a small shack to a pair of large warehouses or hangars, close to a large cavern opening and a dropship landing zone. The survey also spotted almost a company of mechs in the immediate vicinity of this makeshift base.

The planetoid’s rough and craggy terrain, punctuated by small impact craters and vaulting rock formations, offered precious few landing zones. The dropship captain nevertheless managed to find one just ten kilometers from the pirates’ base camp.

The surviving task force aerospace fighters reported pirates on their way as the dropship prepared to drop its troops. The fighters could not assist their comrades, having exhausted almost all their fuel in the battle with the pirate aerojocks.

After-Action Report

Bravo Company’s range and skill quickly made landfall on the asteroid and began to engage the approaching pirates. Superior weaponry and skill won out in the vacuum environment as several pirate mechs suffered armor breaches. The remaining greeting party faded away as Bravo Company secured the landing site.

Rallying Cry

The Companu units that had defended the entrance of Huss linked up with the remaining Company units defending Huss. While techs scrambled across units performing emergency repairs, scouts reported that the pirates had pulled up numerous cargo transports to the warehouses in the warehouse district and were currently engagedin full scale looting.

Captain Winkler, who was the senior ranking captain of the task force, decided that they could not sit idly by while the pirates resupplied. After the most pressing damage was repaired, she re-organized her forces and began the march to the warehouse district to evict the pirates from Huss.

After-Action Report

Although the pirates outnumbered the Company force in sheer number of units, their forces were outmatched by weight and quality. Foxtrot company followed the direct route to engage picket units around the warehouse, while Captain Winkler led her mech lance in a flanking maneuver to attack from the east. Meanwhile, the infantry of Tango company used the treeline to advance under cover. Chopper lance sped into the rear of the enemy’s line to distract them and to destroy as many cargo trucks as possible.

The initial exchanges went the way of the Company with several pirate vehicles disabled or destroyed. They took a turn for the worse, however, when Lt. Dhawan’s Manticore, which as leading the charge, was intercepted by two mechs. The Grasshopper mech stomped on the vehicle, killing the driver and disabling it. At this point, however, Captain Winkler’s lance crested the top of the hill and added their fire to the mix, forcing the mechs to pull back.

The pirates decided they had enough material and began to make a fighting withdrawal. However, Chopper lance was able to destroy ten of the fifteen cargo trucks before they affected the withdrawal, reducing their haul considerably.

Violent Surprise

After their success against Imhaus, the Company was pulled back to garrison several stragetic positions, while Corrigan used his other assets to corral and eliminate the remaining pirates.

Corrigan’s offensive was going well until a violent winter storm allowed one pirate group to break out from his trap. Corrigan attempted to pursue the pirates, but was not able to catch up to them before they reached the city of Huss. The pirates knew that Huss contained all the supplies necessary to continue their fight indefinitely. The only thing that stood between them and their supplies was a small contingent from the Free Company of Oriente.

Sentinel Lance from Foxtrot Company along with two platoons from Tango Company tracked the pirates’ approach. They called in back up and set up to hold the gates as long as they could.

After-Action Report

The pirates attempted come into Huss offroad to avoid detection but became bogged down in the heavy snow and ice, stringing out their lines. The Company forces were able to set up a defensive position around two major gates to the city, with the infantry using heavily fortified building for cover. They disabled several hovercraft in the first wave of attackers, although Lt. Dhawan’s Manticore suffered severe motive damage.

While the pirates were regrouping and organizing their lines, the Pinto VTOLs of Chopper Lance arrived, screaming in from out of the skies. This allowed the infantry and armor units to make an orderly retreat through the warehouse district, while the Pintos harrassed the pirates. The pintos did manage to headcap a Jenner mech and destroy a Galleon light tank before pulling back themselves.

Good News and Bad News, Approach Alpha

After leaving Huss, the pirates dropped off the radar and bad weather prevented Corrigan from sending in aerial reconnaissance to determine their location. A weak later, the weather opened up and Corrigan was dismayed to find that the pirates had holed up in a heretofore unknown fortress high in the Sorrow Mountains, apparently constructed sometime during Noru’s control of the planet. Although small in number, the base’s defenses would prove a difficulty nut to crack.

Corrigan was initially content to use the Free Company to bottle up the passes leading to the base and keep the pirates under lockdown. However, almost two weeks later a dropship approaching Kalskag veered off from its flight path and landed near the base. Corrigan ordered the Company to move up the passes and assault the base before the pirates could get away.

Colonel Ferrer split his forces into three groups to cover the three main passes into the base. A lance of mechs from his own company and a company of armor from the Second Battalion would provide the main muscle for each group. Remaining units would stay back to prevent a breakout and to protect artillery assets.

Colonel Ferrer’s task force would head up the widest pass through the mountains that was accessible by a winding road with numerous mountain hamlets along the wayside. Since this was the most accessible route, it also promised the most resistance.

After-Action Report

The pirates attempted to mine the main road with explosives, but shortages of equipment led to sparse minefields and the Company mechs and vehicles were able to avoid the worst of the damage. Colonel Ferrer ordered his troops to pick up the pace and the mech lance and vehicle company attacked as a single unit while the artillery bombarded the pirates entrenched position from above. After losing half their number to the assault, the pirates withdrew back toward their base. The company units had suffered minimal damage.

Good News and Bad News, Approach Beta

Captain Henderson led her task force through a deep and rugged mountain valley toward the pirate base.

After-Action Report

The pirates had set up hidden ambush points. As the task force proceeded through the valley, mechs and armor suddenly sprang up from their hiding places. The initial assault was brutal. Corporal Pantelakos’s Alacorn was put out of action when the gauss rifle in its turret exploded, killing several crewmembers and wounding the remainder. Several other vehicles took serious motive damage. However, the Company quickly rallied, pivoting to eliminate the ambushers with devastating combined fire. Most of the vehicles went down quickly as did a Guillotine and Hunchback. A Grasshopper although seriously damaged, was able to stay upright.

Seeing that other pirate forces were now converging on them from further up the valley, Lt. Fuentesrashly called on her mech lances to charge forward to confront the remaining forces deeper in the valley, despite Captain Henderson’s orders to hold the line. As a result, the mechs were exposed when the remaining Grasshopper mech leapt behind them. It unloaded an alpha strike on Tibs’s Stalker, that seriously damged its gyro, before it was in turn destroyed by combined fire from Captain Henderson’s armor elements.

In her rush to get at the remaining pirates, Lt. Fuentes allowed her line to get stretched out and ended up isolated, taking serious damage to her mech before the remaining pirates melted back into the mountainside. Fuentes’s task force had dealt considerably more damage than they suffered, but several of their units had been rendered combat ineffective.

Good News and Bad News, Approach Delta

Captain Lustgarten led his forces along a frozen river toward the pirate base.

After-Action Report

The Company forces were ambushed by several pirate units from hidden positions. However, with their speedy TAG-equipped hovertanks, the Company units were able to quickly turn the table with indirect fire. After the three mechs of the pirate harrassing force were eliminated, the remaining forces pulled back.

To The Walls and Through The Gate

The Company forces linked up near the outskirts of the pirate base. They briefly paused for some field repaires. However, time was of the essence as the pirates would likely soon attempt to exit toward their waiting dropship. The Company needed to hit the fortress fast and hard. Unforuntately, it presented a daunting obstacle, bristling with gun emplacements and thick walls.

After-Action Report

With almost the entirety of Second Battalion deployed, the Company forces substantially outweighed their opposition, even though the pirates had more mechs available. However, the Company would have to enter the fortress through a narrow gated entrance and contend with the many gun emplacements.

To ease the burden, Colonel Ferrer developed a daring plan. Discovering an access tunnel below the fortress that was w apparently built during its construction but not yet closed off, he sent Commando Platoon to infiltrate the fortress. Their goal was to take control of the combat center controlling the automated turrets and either turn them off or take control of them.

By late afternoon, the Company put its plan into action. While a large column of mechs and armor approached the fortress from the south, Commando platoon struck the command center. They were able to successfully take control of the combat information center and establish a satellite link with the Company’s technical staff, who worked on hacking into the gun emplacements. Meanwhile, the Company units focused on destroying the heavy southern gate. Once this was down, they concentrated fire on nearby gun emplacements, while the hover units made darting strafing runs across the entirety of the southern wall.

When the first gun emplacement spun around to strike at a pirate unit, all hell broke loose. The pirates lost their organizational cohesion, several units and infantry tried to attack the command center to dislodge the Company forces, while others began firing at the rogue emplacements. Each emplacement had to be hacked separately, creating a scene in which gun emplacements began firing on other gun emplacements.

In the midst of this chaos, the Company’s armor column rolled over the rubble of the ruined southern gate and entered the fortress, along with several heavy and assault mechs. Enough pirate forces remained to make for a brutal but short fight. The most significant damage occurred when a pirate Orion’s fusion engine containment failed, leading to an explosion that incerated one Company Manticore and substantially damaged several others.

Once the gate was breached, the remaining pirates were mopped up by the overwhelming Company forces. Three pirate mechs were able to disengage and retreat. The Company considered this a victory and brought up their infantry assets to secure the base.

Commando Platoon held their position throughout the battle, having barricaded themselves into the command center. They suffered one casualty when a desparate charge of pirate infantry attempted to dislodge them, but easily routed the disorganized forces.

Brother v. Brother

A few weeks ago, news reports all over Acamar were a buzz, after discovering that a prominent businessman, Sab Takegi, had fled the planet after his ties to pirates were discovered. The Acamar parliament, responding to public pressure, tasked the Company’s mech contingent, along with assorted other mercenary units, with capturing Takegi and returning him to Acamar to face justice.

Sadly, the entire affair appears to have been a ruse. No sooner had the Company’s jumpship transport left the system than Liaoist forces, under “Chairwoman” Barbara Katz and Colonel Soloch ben-Zayne executed a coup, imprisoning most of parliament.

The Liaoists underestimated resistance, however. The rebels ralled around Colonel Sarah Fletcher of the Acamar Militia. Colonel Fletcher called all loyal units to join her at Huss. Ben-Zayne ordered his troops to destroy the mostly infantry rebel forces before they could link up with Fletcher in Huss.

Without the backbone of First Battalion, the Company units were vulnerable. However, they recognized their duty to the legitimate government of Acamar (and GM). With more than half of their forces stationed at Huss, they quickly moved into action to block Ben-Zayne’s forces and bring the rebel troops to safety.

After-Action Report

Ben-Zayne’s armor forces caught up with the rebel infantry on the main highway into Huss. With armor units against mostly foot infantry, it would have turned into a massacre were it not for two factors. First, several of the Second Acamar Cavalry forces were reluctant to fire on the largely defenseless infantry units. Second, the Company units rushing up the road from Huss were able to intercept the Second Acamar Cavalry forces before they could do significant damage. In particular, the company’s Pinto VTOLs rushed in to the fray and kept the Cavalry forces offbalance by a display of superior piloting. They had already destroyed several opposing tanks by the time a lance of Pegasus hovercraft darted in to make a strafing run that disabled several more tanks with SRM Inferno ammunition.

Meanwhile, the Company’s Karnov VTOLS landed behind the cover of a copse of trees and began loading the infantry units. Similarly, a company of empy APCs moved up the road and were able to load the remaining infantry behind the walls of a check point station installed during Noru’s reign.

By the time the Company’s heavier armor units crested the hill and joined the fighting, the Cavalry forces were in complete dissarray and were quickly routed. The remaining infantry were then taken to safety. The initial assault had led to the loss of nearly two platoons of soldiers, but the Company was able to save another six platoons of soldiers. The only loss on the Company side occurred when one of the Pintos came into close to an attack on a Brutus Assault Tank and was caught in the resulting ammunition explosion. The crew was recovered but the VTOL was marked as a total loss.

Deja Vu

With loyalties divided, Ben-Zhayne decided to bottle up Colonel Fletcher’s forces by establishing a perimeter around Huss. However, as the weeks proceeded, he found that her support was growing and many of his own forces were deserting. Unwilling to allow it to continue any longer he developed a plan.

Recognizing that Fletcher’s strongest units were those mercenary units still active in Huss, Ben-Zhayne ordered his units into a skirmishing action in the northern suburbs of Huss to tie up Fletcher’s forces. Meanwhile, he sent over a battalion of his own armor units to raze the Company’s makeshift base on the western bank of the Mahn River, hoping to quickly overrun it with sheer firepower.

After-Action Report

As the Acamar Militia units approached the base, Major DeNiro organized the Company into a defensive line, while sending out recon units to provide spotting. Initial exchanges of artillery hit the Militia harder, but a few stray shots devastated several infantry squads from Hotel company. Not willing to endure the artillery, Major DeNiro sent the Pintos of Chopper lance on a headhunting mission to seek out the enemy artillery and destroy it. Just as they located the enemy Thumpers, however, a direct artillery shot lit off the ammunition bin in one Thumper and created a chain explosion that devastated three of the four Thumpers. The Pintos quickly closed in an finished the job.

The artillery caused disarray among the Militia units as they split into smaller groups in an attempt to track down the spotting infantry. Realizing that they would need to move forward and engage in order to protect their recon units, the Company’s remaining armor and infantry units began an orderly advance along both flanks. On the right flank, hovercraft and mechanized infantry hover units from Kilo company overwhelmed the smaller force. On the left flank, the heavy armor units of Echo and Foxtrot company supported by the mechanized infantry of Hotel company were outnumbered and harder pressed. They lost their Alacorn tank to an ammunition explosion and the Burke tank had to be evacuated when it took heavy motive damage. However, they weathered the storm long enough to be joined by the fleet hover units from the right flank and slowly began to roll up the remaining MIlitia units.

Reallizing they were now outnumbered, the Militia units called a retreat. Some units did manage to link up and retreat, but the battle was a devastating loss for the Liaoists. Of the 52 units that participated in the assault only 9 would limp back to their base.

The Company had suffered substantial losses as well. Several of the infantry platoons had been hit hard and they had suffered 32 combat deaths and nearly double that number in injuries.

Silence Shattered I

Realizing that the longer Ben-Zhayne’s forces hemmed her in within Huss, the harder it would be dislodge the Liaoists, Colonel Fletcher decided to bring forward her mobile units to breakout of the encirclement.

Fletcher left her infantry to guard the bases in Huss, while all of her armor units moved forward in a classic breakout maneuver. Realizing that the mercenary units in her employ were both her greatest strength and greatest weakness, she divided Delta and Foxtrot Company among her forces to strike at different points along the enemy’s line. Echo Company remained behind to support the infantry in case of an enemy counterattack.

After-Action Report

The rebel column ran into nearly two companies of armor as well as a lance of mercenary mechs. On the right flank, the Company armor faced less resistance, but did attract the attention of an enemy Blackjack. Combined fire quickly disabled the mech but not before one of the Company’s Manticores was disabled and had to be evacuated. The Company units then provided covering fire to the remainder of their allied units as they sped past the enemy defenses. One of the Pegasus hovercraft was also disabled and evacuated, but the remainder of the Company units broke through enemy lines with relatively minimal damage. The rebel militia units, lost a lance’s worth of their units, however.

Silence Shattered II

Realizing that the longer Ben-Zhayne’s forces hemmed her in within Huss, the harder it would be dislodge the Liaoists, Colonel Fletcher decided to bring forward her mobile units to breakout of the encirclement.

Fletcher left her infantry to guard the bases in Huss, while all of her armor units moved forward in a classic breakout maneuver. Realizing that the mercenary units in her employ were both her greatest strength and greatest weakness, she divided Delta and Foxtrot Company among her forces to strike at different points along the enemy’s line. Echo Company remained behind to support the infantry in case of an enemy counterattack.

After-Action Report

Foxtrot and their allied armor company of rebel units needed to break through nearly a battalion of opposing armor units. However, most of these units were light and medium tracked vehicles with limited heavy units and relatively few fast hover vehicles. The rebel column tried to skirt around the enemies right flank while Chopper lance harassed and distracted the main body.

This tactic worked relatively well, but Captain Henderson’s Shrek suffered motive damage that would have forced it to turn around while the Company’s valuable Burke tank was rendered immobile by a lucky autocannon shot. Meanwhile, the Company had already immobilized several enemy vehicles, more than evening the odds. Seeing this, Captain Henderson ordered all units to turn in toward the remaining enemy units and attempt to clear them from the battlefield.

The two sides charged at each other through lightly wooded terrain. The sides were roughly equal in number but the heavier and harder-hitting Company units quickly overwhelemed the Liaoist units, who quickly turned tail and ran. Of the 32 Liaoist vehicles that began the engagement, only 7 managed to flee to safety. Meanwhile, half of the company of rebel units had survived. of the ten Company units that began the engagement, five were able to continue on, forming an ad-hoc company of armor when combined with the rebel units. All three Pintos had been forced from the field by rotor damage and one Shrek and the Burke had to be recovered due to motive damage.

With holes smashed through Ben-Zhayne’s defensive line in multiple places, Colonel Fletcher’s forces were able to wreak havoc on the Liaoist rear areas. In response, the Liaoist forces utterly collapsed. Many simply deserted, quietly slipping away from the fighting. Ben-Zhyayne quicklly pulled back his remaining forces to fortify Kalskag, leaving Huss in the hands of the rebels.

Palace Raid

While Alpha Company focused on securing the political prisoners, Bravo Company along with Colonel Ferrer’s own command lance struck directly at the heart. Combat dropping directly onto the presidential palace, hoping to take out the Liaoist leadership under Chairman Katz.

Colonel Ferrer’s command lance was traveling in a GM-owned Leopard dropship and would thus make the first drop to secure a beachhead for Bravo Company who would be forced to drop more slowly from their Fortress transport. However, the Company had another ace up their sleeve as well. Chopper lance and several infantry units aboard the Company’s remaining Karnovs were making their way across the city. Once the Company mechs had engaged the defenses, they would drop directly onto the building to capture or eliminate the Chairman.

After-Action Report

The Company found a park near the palace that offered enough open space for a combat drop. The Leopard” did a quick fly by, dropping Command Lance which immediately began moving toward the palace, while the *Fortress dropship hovered above the park and began to slowly disgorge its load. The urban environment prevented Heinrich’s Headhunters and their armor support from mobilizing to prevent the combat drops as effectively as their forces had over the Coliseum. Additionally, attempts to rush to the drop zone ran headlong into the teeth of Command Lance.

As the mechs of Command Lance and Bravo Company consolidated their position around the park and began to move in toward the palace. The Pintos and Karnovs made a circling pass over the palace where they discovered that the Headhunter had not taken the bait. An assault lance of mechs had remained behind to guard the palace. Colonel Ferrer quickly called off the planned infantry drop on the palace. As the VTOLs began to withdraw, they saw three APCs emerge from the palace garage and begin to speed toward the gates. Suspecting that one of these APCs carried Chairman Katz, the Company moved into high gear. The mechs accelerated their forward assault from the north, while the Karnovs circled around the streets near the palace, dropping infantry at key points that the APCs might use for escape. Meanwhile, the Pintos made for a direct intercept with the APCs as they exited the palace gates. One APC was disabled right at the gates. Another made it past the gates, but was intercepted near the maglev rail line and destroyed. In both cases, an infantry squad attempted to flee the wreckage of the APC. The final APC never made it out of the palace grounds as it was destroyed by Major Salas as he jumped his Wolverine over the wall into the palace grounds.

Several squads of infantry moved to intercept the troops exiting the APCs. A brief firefight occured near the maglev train station, but Chairman Katz’s escort was quickly eliminated and she was captured. With Katz in hand, Colonel Ferrer offered the remaining Headhunters a mercenary’s bargain. If they surrendered immediately they would be allowed to retain all of their units and their own salvage from teh battle. The Headhunters had only four operational mechs out of an original company at this point and quickly surrendered, forcing their increasingly meager armor support to also surrender.

The capture of Chairman Katz and the liberation of the political prisoners marked the end of the civil war for Acamar. Ben-Zhayne held out for less than 24 hours as his support quickly eroded. Colonel Fletcher’s father Emmet Fletcher was re-elected as president and the Liaoist leaders were brought to trial and sentenced. The first act of the new Parliament of the People’s Republic of Acamar ws to petition the Federated Commonwealth for membership.

To show their gratitude for the sacrifice that the Company had made in standing up to the Liaoist forces, Parliament awarded Colonel Ferrer with a landholding on Acamar that could supply a steady income through the exploitation of natural resources. Colonel Ferrer created several smaller plots from this land which he gifted to the surviving relatives of those among the Company who had fallen in the line of duty on Acamar. The remainder he kept, with plans to build a permanent base for the company.

Take in a Game?

The situation on Acamar had become a stalemate. The Liaoist forces were much diminished, but still held a firm grip on the planetary capital of Kalskag. Furthermore, they were holding many political prisoners as collateral insurance. Colonel Fletcher held a slight advantage in numbers, but knew that any direct assault could quickly turn disastrous.

Colonel Fletcher had settled in for what appeared to be a long siege when she received important news from the system’s nadir transfer station. The remainder of the Company’s forces, including their entire mech contingent, had just jumped into system. After receiving word of the coup, they had decided to scrap their existing mission and immediately turned around. Difficulties in interstellar transport had delayed their arrival until now.

Colonel Fletcher hatched a daring plan. First, she intentionally redeployed her units to leave large gaps in her line and let this information be leaked to Ben-Zhayne, inviting an attack. Meanwhile, she directed Colonel Ferrer to bring his dropships directly in over Kalskag to combat drop troops on two key locations. Colonel Ferrer was initially reluctant about putting his expensive dropships in direct danger. However, he was also enraged about the way the Liaoist forces had drawn his troops into the conflict and ultimately agreed.

The first location was the Kalskag Coliseum, a sports arena, that was currently being used to house most of the political prisoners. The goal is to free these prisoners at all costs to prevent them being used as bargaining chips.

After-Action Report

The initial combat drop nearly turned disastrous for Alpha Company. The Company did not regularly train in combat drop operations and the Fortress was not the best dropship for such a maneuver with only one available door, limiting the rate at which units could be dropped.

Lt. Jim Nava was the first out the door, followed by Dean Takala. The idea was to use their two durable Awesome mechs to secure a landing zone and allow the remaining units more cover. This plan fell apart when Jim Nava’s mech took two brutal head hits that killed him instantly shortly after he hit the ground.

The Liaoist forces quickly converged on the drop zone and focused all of their fire on each exposed dropping mech. Most mechs had sustained substantial damage by the time they hit the ground. However, as more and more Company mechs made groundfall, they eventually were able to gain the upper hand. They first concentrated fire on the lance of Headhunter mechs and then finished off most of the armor company supporting the Headhunters, before a few remaining tanks limped off. The Company units quickly began the work of freeing and securing political prisoners.

The combat had been brutal for Alpha Company. Lt. Jim Nava was killed, three other mechs had been disabled, and Salim Van Meer’s Stalker had been completely destroyed by an ammunition explosion, although he was able to eject with minimal injury.