ScrapYard Armory

There are not many better wedding gifts in the 31st century than an entire nation.  In 3028 Hanse Davion sparked an interstellar war with a toast to his new wife.  This is just one of those battles fought on a distant planet for control of military objectives and opposing head quarters. 

The battle was fought using Battle Force rules in Strategic Operations.  Each side had a reinforced battalion to command which included three BattleMech companies with one elite command lance, one Vehicle company, and one Infantry company.

We used a few special rules/tweaks to make our game resolve just a bit faster.

• Attacks were resolved as they were declared.  It made our game slightly more deadly/efficient, but kept the action moving smoothly.
• Damage from attacks was applied randomly against a target lance’s units.  Very similar to firing on Battle Armor in Total Warfare.
• Dice/tokens were used to mark units that had moved.  As the units fire was resolved the token was removed.  An easy way to avoid confusion on both sides of the table.

After spending a significant amount of time preparing record sheets (something Solaris Skunk Werks will soon help) we plunged into the action, foregoing the optional command rules.  Each side has two objectives and a single HQ.  The objectives are worth 50 points and the HQs are 25 points.   This is not strictly per the rules in Strategic Ops but a simplification for us so we could begin playing sooner.

Deployment

Turn 1 – Liao Wins Initiative

Each side moves towards their objectives.  Movements appear even across the battle line.  Not much action but much thought for later position.

(Davion: 0 pts, Liao: 0 pts)

Turn 2 – Davion Wins Initiative (Davions: 0 pts, Liao: 0 pts)

More movement as both sides tip their hands.  The Davions are employing a more even attack while the Liaos are concentrating the bulk of their forces closer to the southern objectives.

The first Davion unit crosses the river while to the North several units cover the Liao objective.  Each force has units close to their Southern objectives and are looking for an easy capture in the turns to come.

(Davion: 0 pts, Liao: 0 pts)

Turn 3 – Liao Wins Initiative

Davion units bypass the Northwestern Liao objective and begin the long trek across the lake.  To the South the Davions envelop their objective and begin slugging it out against Capellan troops in range.

A single Davion light Mech is dropped by long range fire as the Liao forces occupy their Southeastern objective.

(Davion: 0 pts, Liao: 13 pts)

Turn 4 – Davion Wins Initiative

Northern Liao troops make a major shift South at the last minute.  A huge firefight erupts around the Davion objective.  To the North a skeleton defense force is left behind to protect the Davion objective.

Davion troops make headway against their attackers, eliminating eight combat units while losing only three.  However the Southern Liao objective is captured uncontested.

(Davion: 13 pts, Liao: 59 pts)

Turn 5 – Liao Wins Initiative

Liao forces make a dash across the river and begin to threaten the Davion bulk from the rear.  A single lance of jump infantry to the North takes cover from the attacking Davions allowing uncontested control of the objective for now.  A lone light lance of Davions makes a dash towards the Liao HQ but is cut down by a far luckier opposing light lance.

The fight centered around the Southern Davion objective turns sour for the Davions.  The Liao forces strike down seven units while only losing six.  While numerically close, Davion casualties were far heavier units.

(Davion: 23 pts, Liao: 76 pts)

Turn 6 – Liao Wins Initiative

Liao infantry units to the North  jump into combat to keep the North objective free of Davion control and are joined by a light lance of ‘Mechs.  A Liao hover lance is within one turn of occupying the Davion HQ.  The Davion assault on their Southern objective is crushed while an understrength company can only hope to delay the capture of the Northern Liao objective.

(Davion: 52 pts, Liao: 98 pts)

It was agreed by both players that the scenario was not as fair as it could have been.  The Liao force was heavier than the Davions and the terrain placement hampered the Davion advance enough to severely hinder their ability to threaten objectives or respond to enemy movement.  In addition, poor force combinations further complicated the Davion’s movement woes.

A rough loss for the Davions but from what canon history tells us, not at all representative of the 4th Succession War in total.