Sharpstone Foothills, Second Try Feb 18, 3029 Victory Conditions Defender: wishes to disable or destroy the three 'Mechs. He also wishes to survive, and has very little chance to do so. For each 'Mech disabled or destroyed: 5 victory points. For each vehicle or unit retreated after the first enemy 'Mech disabled or destroyed: 2 victory points. Attacker: wishes to disable or destroy the militia units and vehicles. For the Patton destroyed or disabled: 5 victory points For each Pack Rat destroyed or disabled: 3 victory points For each infantry group destroyed: 1 victory point If all Attacker 'Mechs able to walk away afterwards: 2 victory points Decisive Victory: 15 pts Victory: 10 pts Marginal Victory Larger Number ot Points (under 10) Description This action took place during the recent fight for the Liao planet of Second Try. This icy world kept its Davion garrison constantly fighting to maintain their conquest for well over two months, an amazing record when it is realized that the planetary force consists of five militia battalions, and three poorly maintained Shilone fighters. Attacker: Three 'Mechs from the Twentieth Avalon Hussars: Sgt Henry Trailleur, Hatchetman Piloting: 4, Gunnery :5 3 points armor missing from center torso Mechwarrior Dick Vocoeur, Ostscout Piloting: 3, Gunnery:4 6 points armor gone from right leg, right leg actuator damaged, -2 mps Mechwarrior Marcel Waters, Stinger Piloting: 5, Gunnery: 3 No damage Defender: Squad six, Autumn Frost district militia: Patton Tank: Piloting: 5, Gunnery: 4 Pack Rat #1: Piloting: 3, Gunnery: 5 Pack Rat #2: Piloting: 5, Gunnery: 3 Two eight-member militia units, armed with rifles and one SRM-2, no reloads Squad 1: Gunnery: 3 (has the SRM), Squad 2: Gunnery: 5 (rifles only) Setup: Defender infantry in position anywhere on board from west edge to the small hummocks. Patton on small hill. Two Pack Rats enter 1 d6 plus 2 and 1 d6 plus 3 hexes ahead of attacker along road. Attacker enters that far behind the closest Pack Rat. In the original action, the Pack Rats split and tookcover behind the hummocks on either side of the road. Defender need not repeat that move. Special Conditions: Patton is visible only on a roll of 11 -12 until it fires or attacker gets beyond it. Infantry is not visible until they fire. All heat calculations are made at a minus three. It was - 13 degrees Centigrade that day in February. Marcel Waters, Twentieth Avalon Chasseurs Debriefing, February 19, 3029 We saw them parked beside the road, eating lunch out of little boxes. Two Pack Rats, with camo paint the wrong color for the terrain. You know militia. We'd been looking for the Autumn Frost bunch for weeks - - they had the last operational tank in the district. You've got to admit they made good use of it. Mostly against other infantry, or our mechanized support groups. Taking out a 'Mech! Doing serious damage to another! We didn't expect anything like that. I could say that our unit wasn't prepared for the climate. We didn't have winter issue uniforms, not for that weather. We didn't have the right lubricants and coolants. Can you imagine a 'Mech fight where you don't need to keep your eye on the meter? You know, my fighting style is to keep on the move. I jump a lot and I keep my weapons active. I have to watch my heat all the time. So for once I can move when I want and fire when I want. I'm just getting into it when I catch my Stinger's foot on some burning wreckage and shut down from heat overload after all! ... Yes, we'll remember Second Try for a longtime. But miss it? Not for one little minute! Back to BattleTechnology 8 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1989 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com