Another Day in the FiveCore - Part 4: The Battle for Solace Ridge

 

Image Generated by Chat GPT.

Rain. Twas the season on the Moon of Biitas 12. It slowed everything. Farming became a pain, building stopped. In olden times military operations might ease up or cease. Not now though. Not when trying to contain these nightmarish creatures. It had been a couple of weeks since Raeburn and 1st squad had scouted Solace Ridge for an observation and containment post. A bunker and scanning centre had so far been erected, and the entire marine platoon, along with their transports were billeted here for security. 

Sat images showed three Rangers parked up in a standard storage formation. One Ranger was on watch. First squad was holding the original hab that it scouted previously. Second squad was positioned in the obvervation bunker in the centre, third squad was in and around the scanning facility on the left. Fourth squad was roughing it by a small copse, ready to spring into action as and when needed. 

 

There were also a number of contractor vehicles as this area was still very much a building site. 

Raeburn's squad had displaced the loggers for the time being. Most civilians had been removed from the area due to quarantine regulations. 

The scanners began tracing a number of signals approaching. The number grew and the signals neared. Tanor got onto the platoon-wide comms to warn the rest. Incoming. Weapons ready. Fourth squad get ready to rush into position. 

The three Rangers roared into action and repositioned themselves at the edge of the ridge. Skulking figures were working their way through the crops below. The rangers opened up with ineffectual fire. Many crops died. 

One of the creatures rushed up the ridge...into an outburst of fire from second squad. The beast was torn asunder under a hail of gunfire, rain mixing with acid blood as it sizzled into the ground.

Another rushed up and approached a Ranger. Accurate autocannon fire tore it apart in a splatter of fizzing acid. 

Shooting through the gaps in the ridge, another Ranger took down another creature as it stormed towards the base. They were getting closer, and many were passing out of line of sight at the bottom of the ridge. They could climb fast - hell they could climb, even in this rain. 

One Ranger along drove quickly to cover the open left flank. The ridge was not so high here - it was a definite weak point. One creature went down in a hail of gunfire. 

The Rangers and third squad continued raining fire down at the shadowy figure that were emerging from the crops and scrambling their way up the rain-slickened rock faces.

The creatures were closing in. Fourth squad was rushing through the rain to secure the flank, great drops of water bouncing off their equipment, it was hard to see. 

Unfortunately as fourth squad advanced, so did the creatures. One of them charged up to the marines and began ripping them to shreds. Spear point tail, claws, teeth. all made short work of the squad. 

Now holding the left flank on its own the Ranger opened up in a long stream of auto fire, killing another two of the creatures. The driver was accutely aware of how he was becoming surrounded and made thoughts to retreat. 

From around the trees another creature emerged, charging at the Ranger. Gunfire slapped into its torso and acid blood sprayed, but it kept coming. Its spearpoint tail smashed through the bullet proof windscreen, impaling Huang, the driver. Its claws destroyed the dashboard and controls. With its last breath it tried to reach Colby, the gunner, who unbuckled and threw himself to the back of the vehicle and unloaded his sidearm clip into the creature's head. It stopped moving. Colby breathed a sigh of relief.

Third squad kept holding the centre, firing at the oncoming beasts. Another was killed.

With the Ranger undrivable Colby decided to leave it behind and joing 3rd squad in the scanning facility. He opened the rear door to be met by another creature. It grabbed at him and stabbed him in the legs and arms, wildly trying to connect. Colby shuffled his way back into the Ranger. With no escape he felt at his belt. One standard issue frag grenade hung there invitingly. He pulled it off, took the pin out and waited until the beast was almost on top of...

The Ranger burst into flames, ammunition cooking off made the flames flare every now and then. Third squad reported on the comms - the left flank was open. They were going to reposition within the facility to help cover. A Ranger would be useful. 

More beasts tried climbing the ridge. More fire from Rangers killed one and sent the others down into cover. 

On the far right flank first squad and their Ranger shot down one more of the creatures. They could not see much more movement. Munroe raised Raeburn on the comms - he was going to start driving around towards second and third squads to help support their flanks. 

As Munroe put the Ranger into gear another creature leapt over the ridge and ran straight towards the vehicle. Taggart fired a few bursts and winged the beast. It jumped up onto the gun and tore the barrel clean off. In a panic Taggart and Munroe grabbed their rifles, jumped outside and unloaded into the creature, killing it. 

In the centre a creature tore its way into the bunker and got amongst second squad Reyes and Brax were killed before the rest of the squad made a run for it. Another creature jumped on Thorne and Wun's Ranger, scratching it up. However, effective fire from Wun killed it outright, then he turned his fire to the creature that routed second squad and killed it.

Third squad desperately took two creatures under fire, killing one but having no impact whatsoever on the other.

The two Rangers in the centre backed up slightly while pouring fire onto the remaining beasts. Both went down. Third squad reported no further signals and no more movement towards the outpost. It looked like they had held off the onslaught...for now.

Once the facility was once more secure a science team was called in to examine the remains of the creatures. There were plenty to examine. Casualties had been lighter than they could have been, but this was bad. The marines had fought well and held the creatures off, but how long would it be before another onslaught. 

The comms buzzed - It looked like there had been other attacks against quarantine facilities. These creatures were not happy to be contained, and likely could not be for any great length of time. 

The Defense of New Charon pt. 5

 I managed to get off my butt and play a spontaneous game the other night. It was quick, a little bit lame, half hearted by myself, and stopped when I started paying more attention to the TV show "This Is Us", that my wife was watching, and I was kind of half keeping up with. Great show so far (2 episodes in). 

New Charon Militia:
P2 Mech HQ Unit
P2 Mech - heavy hitters
P3 Heavy cavalry
P1 Light infantry x5

NCU
P2 Mech HQ unit
P2 Mech
P2 Light cavalry
P2 Light cavalry
P1 Light infantry x4

A frontier on a frontier. That is how Natalya Phillips would describe this place. New Charon was meant to be an escape, a fresh start for so many. It was out of the way enough to avoid UCS attention, and for those who wanted to avoid even the centralisation of a few settlements coming together to govern each other it was possible to pack up and drive off into the sunset, find somewhere, irrigate, grow, harvest and live a simple life. The handful of locals left in this community called it Sprucewald, but did a landing pad and a few prefabs really need a name? 

As part of the ongoing hunt for the mysterious invaders, Natalya's job was to rest here, refit and await resupply. Her militia were weary of the seemingly endless skirmishes, wary that there was no end in sight, and hoping to be taken off the line (if it could really be called a line). 

Suddenly shells begin bouncing off a prefab. The sentries within jump on the comms back to Natalya. 

"We need you up at this end, incoming fire".

Natalya responds, ordering all of her militia up to the edge of the settlement to return fire. 

An exchange of fire between the sentries and the enemy vehicle causes a little damage and a casualty, but nothing too serious.

Dunn Harrison, prowling on the left flank sends HEAT rounds punching into another enemy vehicle, smashing through the armour, damaging important components.

The enemy responds by trying to get out of sight and close the gap to make their armour piercing chain guns more effective. Infantry rushes forward in an attempt to flank Sprucewald and take the militia in a wicked crossfire.

The militiamen garrisoning the prefab keep the enemy armour engaged in long range sniping, shells bouncing off of the outer walls. They just need to keep them distracted until Natalya and the rest appear.

Natalya and some more footmen arrive, Natalya charging into the village to support the infantry, while the footmen move up to support Dunn.

Dunn exchanges fire with the advancing infantry, taking some damage to his vehicle, but manages to lay down enough HE to scatter an enemy squad.

Natalya lets rip with her CSMP, sending off rockets that tear the enemy vehicle to pieces. No-one was seen leaving the wreckage. At this point the remaining enemy withdraw. This short, sharp skirmish just another in the seemingly endless short, sharp skirmishes taking place out beyond the Reaches. Another firefight, another report for Natalya to write up and send off to Command. Just what she needed on a Tuesday.

Not the most exciting game. It was more about having an evening where I wasn't playing World of Tanks Blitz and didn't feel like painting. This was a fun game to put together, but I want to work harder on making better scenarios.

The Defense of New Charon pt. 4.

I haven't played a game of Horizon Wars in over a year, similarly I haven't played in the New Charon campaign in over a year. Time to get back into it. I had avoided it because my Sci Fi miniatures took some damage in the summer of 2019 from the kids who used them during Activities Week.

I have two forces of 14 Presence. 

Neo Christian Union

2Pt Command Mech with the "Short" range upgrade, which removes 6 from the range to target.

3Pt Heavy Cav. x2 I used Command Resources to upgrade the D stat from 1 to 2. (the dice you roll to attempt to cancel incoming fire)

2Pt Light Cav.

1Pt Light Infantry x4

New Charon Militia

2Pt Command Mech

2Pt mechs x2

3Pt Heavy Cav. I used Command Resources to upgrade the D from 1 to 2, A from 5 to 6 and F from 5 to 6. It is a beast.

1Pt Light Infantry x5

I played a few things possibly wrong.

1. Not sure if I am allowed to spend Command Resources on multiple things on the same vehicle.

2. When units entered the board from reserves, I think you are meant to spend an action getting them on there, but I didn't.

It had been a slog. Months and months of mopping up pockets of resistance. Natalya Phillips was sick of it. These seemingly pointless engagements were wearing on the soul. Too many friends gone. Hoping for an end to this conflict, Phillips had been tasked with another mopping up operation. The big foreheads were still trying to work out who these people were, and what they wanted. 

A small force of invaders were holding a village beyond the Reaches. Phillips' job was to get in and smash them before they had a chance to regroup and push closer to the sector capitol.

Advancing in order to flank the village, the heavily upgraded militia tank came under some ineffective fire from the infantry garrisoned in the buildings. 

Having shown themselves, Natalya in her CSMP and some militamen opened fire, but the protection of the hab held out enough. Garrisoning a building had proved a good tactical move.

After taking some fire, the infantry returned fire to great effect, catching them in the open... 

...causing them to break and run. Natalya found herself holding the flank on her own. 

"Get more support up here!" Natalya yelled down the comms.

The NCU command mech opened fire at Natalya, but was unable to cause any damage, thankfully.

At this point I decided that I would re-set the activation dice at the end of each round. So the NCM have all their actions, then I give them their dice back to enable them to react. This is probably the correct way of doing it anyway.

Natalya advanced up to a thicket of trees and opened fire on the same infantry. A hail of rocket fire launched across the open ground...

...tearing the infantry unit apart. 

So far I have rolled a lot of critical hits. If you roll a natural 12 then the attacker gets to place the damage. Light infantry have an A value of 1, when it hits 0 the unit is destroyed. Thus, rolling a critical hit against light infantry is an instant kill.

Advancing up the flank, Malcolm Kennett opened fire on the other enemy infantry squad. Rockets smashed the building, and tore holes in the squad to the point where they broke.

Militia reinforcements arrive to help support Natalya and to cover the centre.

"Open up on the village," ordered Natalya to Dunn Harrison, tank commander. Dunn responded by putting a couple of rounds through the central building. The collapse killed enough soldiers to make that squad combat ineffective. 

Just some perspective, this is the dice. Tank rolled enough for two hits. the three 12s meant the infantry had to roll three 12s with four dice to save themselves. Amazingly they managed to roll two of them. But not enough. 

A long shot, but a good one. The NCU commander fired at Kennett's mech, damaging the legs again. 

"When am I going to catch a break? Back off to the quartermasters when this is all over," said Kennett to no-one in particular.

Armoured reinforcements arrived and began pounding at Dunn and his crew. He took a few hits, some minor damage to the tracks, but nothing too serious.

"We need to press the attack," called Natalya over the comms, and began directing her forces forwards.

In game terms, we have finished turn two. The defenders lose if the turn ends with them having two or fewer combat effective units on table. The defenders win if they have four or more, whose Presence is worth double that of their advanced force. They need 10 on table to win.

Natalya and the infantry exchange fire with the command mech, seriously damaging it, immobilizing it even. But it could still fire, and was going to pose a threat to that flank until it could be completely obliterated. 

Dunn and Kennett opened fire on the enemy armour, causing significant damage, but not doing enough to kill it outright. It could still fight on.

At this point, the militia have ended their side of turn 3. The NCU are getting reinforcements that will bring their total presence on board to 11, meaning they will technically win the engagement unless the militia can kill 2 presence worth of units. It felt a bit gamey. 

Dunn reacted to the NCU armour manuvering. His shot rang true but only caused minor damage again.

In an exchange of fire, Dunn found himself having to button up. "Sir, things aren't going so well here," he reported back to Natalya. 

The NCU armour then rounded the rocky outcrop and opened fire on Kennett, although caused no damage. Kennett would live to fight another day, although his mech would need some work again.

The NCU commander, unable to move, took fire and fired upon Natalya. This exchange did little, but was successful in holding up the militia attack even further.

NCU reinforcements entered the fray to further delay the militia advance. Natalya had to call for further reinforcements and needed to order her supporting infantry to dig in in a defensive line and wait. 

"We will hold them here, and wait it out," she ordered. "Central is sending down some heavier guns to help us dislodge this lot."

 

And this is how it ended. I mean, the NCU took more casualties. But the militia didn't advance quickly enough nor do enough damage. I was sad not to get the chance to use my smoke plumes that seem often attached to StuG IIIs. I look forward to playing again. Although I will admit, having played Battlegroup, I miss the idea of pinning units, as opposed to "hit point" sort of systems. Unless I further abstract what the stats of units are while making the narrative up?

See you next time.