Battletech: Steel Legion Mission Report

By Doug the DM:

 Fun game of Battletech last night. The Steel Legion players took on their first live mission on behalf of the Avalon Hussars, a recon of a Capellan supply depot outside the besieged city of Travis on the world of Steins Folly. The planet is under Federated Suns control but is under a heavy assault by the Capellan Confederation.

The mission started quietly with the mercs approaching the depot with sensors in passive mode to try and avoid early detection by the Capellans. Soon however, they spotted the heavy concrete walls of the depot, bristling with automated laser turrets. Turning their sensors to active mode, they began to scan for enemy activity and immediately detected an approaching patrol - a Cicada and two Skulker wheeled tanks. The Cicada pilot opened a comm channel and challenged the mercs, demanding their surrender. Ronin immediately moved to engage and scan the enemy patrol in his Hermes 2 whilst Striker, Fox and Centurion closed on the base, shooting down turrets. The mercs detected the cold starts of 2 battlemechs inside the depot and Centurion jumped his Spider across the walls to scan the enemy mechs before they became fully active.

Inside the base, infantry poured out of a barracks and a Clint and a Jaegermech came lumbering out of a mech hangar, but the agile Spider darted between the hangars and evaded them, continuing to scan for valuable tactical data. Fox and Ronin dueled with the enemy patrol as Striker continued to destroy turrets, leaving the north wall of the base bereft of any defenses. Centurion detected another cold start in the other mech hangar - the Capellan commander piloting a Griffin!

Making a final scan, the Spider leapt the walls and began to make a dash for the dustoff site. Striker began retreating at a slower pace, his Panther unable to keep up with the fast-moving spider. He traded shots with the enemy battlemechs that appeared on the fortified walls of the depot, chunks of armour raining from his mech. The Griffin stormed out of the front gates and pursued Striker, blazing away with PPC bolts and volleys of missiles. Fox and Ronin continued to duel the Cicada until a clumsy kick brought the Capellan mech down and Fox's Jenner blasted a hole clean through the centre of its chassis. Fearing for his life, the Cicada pilot ejected, allowing Fox and Ronin to head for the dustoff zone without pursuit.

Striker made his way slowly through the foothills, dodging the Skulker wheeled tanks and the vengeful Griffin. More armour was stripped from his mech, but he eventually made it to the drop ship Makoto, albeit with a frozen hip actuator and cracked barrel on his mechs main weapon. The mission was a success and the Steel Legion were airlifted back to Davion lines, having obtained the recon data and given the St Ives Lancers a bloody nose.