Kit
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BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« on: March 09, 2008, 05:09:50 AM » Quote
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A lot of thought has gone into this event and hopefully it can be the start of something that will both make the Shattered Dawn alternate time line more accessible to players and will hopefully eventually evolve into a way for fans of the time line to get involved in the story. Enjoy:
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Blood in the Backwater
Background:
Conventional wisdom dictated that House Davion was the most likely successor to the mantle of the Star League. Backed by a stronger claim to the title of First Lord than most other nations, a proven military, and one of the larger nations of the Inner Sphere many assumed it would only be a matter of time before the Federated Suns emerged as the next leading power.
With this frame of mind House Davion planned a massive offensive against House Liao, however they had critically miscalculated. They assumed that with the Draconis Combine’s recent Khopesh and Kanata offenses against the Lyran Commonwealth and Terran Republic seemed to indicate that the Combine was occupied elsewhere. Even worse, Davion intelligence failed to recognize the significance of a gradual buildup along the Benjamin and Galedon fronts. The end of operations Khopesh and Katana in December 2786 marked a rapid shift of resources to the Kurita-Davion border as the DCMS shifted targets with frightening efficiency.
On May 1, 2787 the Federated Suns was caught completely off guard by the sudden invasion from the Combine. With the bulk of their military forces deployed for their own surprise assault against the Capallen Confederation the AFFS was simply not prepared to fight off such a determined attack from the Federated Suns’ other boarder. The Combine easily swept aside the meager defenses in place at the boarder and quickly started to advance into the heart of the Federated Suns.
The DCMS was showing that the Federated Suns was nothing more than a paper tiger. In a virtual rout the AFFS scrambled to stem the tide and it seemed only a matter of time before House Davion collapsed. With each new victory it seemed increasingly likely that the Federated Suns could well cease to exist as a viable power.
But not all was going smoothly for the Dragon. Their gains had far outstripped their most optimistic projections and their tanks and infantry had trouble keeping up with the front lines. Increasingly it was becoming difficult to provide the troops necessary to secure their impressive gains. They started to call up on their reserves to aid in the advance and when that proved to be insufficient they even called up pilots in training. Pressed into service on the front line these units rushed forward to secure yet more territory while looking for AFFS troops to kill.
Things were not any better for the Federated Suns. They were faced with a moral crisis as the Combine quickly gobbled up planet after planet. Certainly there were the troops in the AFFS to combat the DCMS steamroller, however they were out of position and it would take many months to redeploy – months the Federated Suns could ill afford. In a desperate gamble to slow the Combine’s juggernaught they threw together military units from any source available and hurled them at the advancing enemy troops.
The result bordered on total chaos as unseasoned troops from both sides were restlessly driven forward, rushing to find the enemy. Completely inexperienced these newly formed units often blundered into one another.
Then the first shots would be fired and the world seemed to descend into madness.
Overview:
This battle simulates a skirmish between two newly formed units on both sides of the Draconis Combine’s attack on the Federated Suns. This minor confrontation, along with thousands of others like it, were forgotten in the bigger picture of the war, overshadowed by the more prominent battles.
Indeed these confrontations rarely had a clear cut winner and ultimately only had a minor impact on the ultimate outcome of the war. Nevertheless each one of these battles was very important to the troops involved: for them it a life or death struggle.
One such encounter happened on the planet of Hoff. Although not a key world the planet had a respectable agricultural industry. More importantly it had naturally occurring water, a vital resource for the Combine as it advanced deeper into Federated Suns territory.
In this simulation each player will pick one side, either Davion or Kurita.
On the side of House Kurita the player will command a force of raw recruits fresh from training, formed into a company, and thrown into the thick of the new war. Although they have mastered their machines they have little practical experience. Because of their inexperience they are mostly equipped with what was at hand at the time and organized as best possible given their rapid deployment.
The House Davion player takes command of a force mostly made of from local militia pilots, hastily gathered and deployed in a bid to slow the Kurita advance. What they lack in formal training they make up for in experience, many of them having been pilots for a decade with the same machine. Still, in this endeavor they are out of their element and still unused to the heavy demands placed on their shoulders by the military.
Registration:
To participate in this event you will need to register. Don’t worry, no money involved, this is purely for my own organization.
What you need to do is send me a private message with your Name, the side you would like to play (Davion or Kurita), and what days you will be able to play with a GMT time (for those of you who do not know how to convert to GMT see this link:
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/gmt-converter.htm). Finally, I do ask for some sort of contact information (e-mail or IM handle) so that once I pair up players I can tell you how to contact your opponent.
Once I have enough players, or I think that registration has gone on long enough, I will do my best to match you up with a player that can play the battle at the same time as you. I will also try to make it so that you play the faction you selected, though obviously if one faction has many more players I will have to ask some people if they would mind switching.
What is at stake:
Obviously for this to be meaningful there has to be a prize, right? The side that does the best out of all of these encounters shall receive a story line prize. This will take the form of a ‘Mech company that will gain a reputation in the Inner Sphere for being especially skilled. How this will effect the story is up to Takiro (obviously), but who can turn down a famous ‘Mech company serving the faction they favor most?
Battle Details (More Forthcoming):
Right now I will not be posting all of the battle details, such as units in each force, battle setup, and so forth. I want it to be a surprise.
But here is what I can tell you. First, you will need to have the latest stable version of MegaMek (
http://megamek.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main). I would love to eventually get these events to be popular enough that people could play face to face, but for now it will be much easier for me to match players to each other if they can simply play online using MegaMek. There will be a standard set of rules that I expect to be used for the scenario as well, but those will be posted later.
Each force is composed of 12 ‘Mechs, mostly lights with a couple of mediums. Keep that in mind! Your troops will not be able to take much punishment and the majority of the units will have good maneuverability. The situation will be fluid and whoever is able to best adapt will have the easier time in the battle.
Finally, forced withdraw will be in effect… sort of. You will not HAVE to withdraw if you do not want to, but ‘Mechs lost to destruction will count for more victory points then ‘Mechs lost by withdrawing from the field. Scoring will be done such that it is perfectly possible that you could hold the field at the end of the battle and still lose because your troops are all dead! Remember, House Davion will need all the war material it can get in order to turn the Combine back and the Dragon can ill afford to waste troops in such minor conflicts even if they do appear to be winning the war right now.
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yyur yyub icur yy4me
Takiro
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2008, 02:46:52 PM » Quote
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Hey gang just wanted to stop by and thank Kit for his idea here. This MegaMek event sounds like a real neat way of getting people involved in our 1st Succession War. Hopefully it will become a regular thing as we have plenty of battles to fight from this conflict. Well have fun and may the best side win.
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"It is better to be thought a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt."
U. S. Grant
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Ice Hellion
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2008, 06:01:19 PM » Quote
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I think that being in Europe is not the best way of participating in this event.
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In Turn they tested each Clan namesake in trial against the Ice Hellion's mettle. Each chased the Ice Hellion, hunting it down. All failed to match the predator's speed and grace. Khan Cage smiled and said, "And that is how we shall be."
The Remembrance (Clan Ice Hellion) Passage: 5, Verse 3, Lines 1 - 5
Kit
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2008, 08:37:47 PM » Quote
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Quote from: Ice Hellion on March 09, 2008, 06:01:19 PM
I think that being in Europe is not the best way of participating in this event.
We will see if I get anyone from Europe who wants to participate. If not I have a fairly weird schedulel for an American. My day generally goes from 0630GMT until 2200GMT. During the week I can usually play after 1500GMT, but during the weekends my schedule is more flexible.
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yyur yyub icur yy4me
MK
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2008, 12:07:52 PM » Quote
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I am european too Kit.
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"In some ways the battlemech is superior to the armor. In some ways the armor unit is superior, and in other ways they are equal. But for strength of weapons, mobility and striking power, if not for care and caution, in feigned retreat or in pursuit, the mechwarrior is superior."
-attributed to Emir Murat II Tarmahanlı
"Run away from greatness and greatness will follow you."
Ice Hellion
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2008, 07:57:10 PM » Quote
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Great.
Maybe we could work out something between the both of us.
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In Turn they tested each Clan namesake in trial against the Ice Hellion's mettle. Each chased the Ice Hellion, hunting it down. All failed to match the predator's speed and grace. Khan Cage smiled and said, "And that is how we shall be."
The Remembrance (Clan Ice Hellion) Passage: 5, Verse 3, Lines 1 - 5
MK
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2008, 10:59:06 AM » Quote
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Sure, that should be possible.
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"In some ways the battlemech is superior to the armor. In some ways the armor unit is superior, and in other ways they are equal. But for strength of weapons, mobility and striking power, if not for care and caution, in feigned retreat or in pursuit, the mechwarrior is superior."
-attributed to Emir Murat II Tarmahanlı
"Run away from greatness and greatness will follow you."
Kit
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2008, 10:39:54 AM » Quote
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Ice, MK, if you two get something worked out tell me. I'll be updating the post this weekend (hopefully).
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yyur yyub icur yy4me
Ice Hellion
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2008, 08:15:24 AM » Quote
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Not before next week at best.
I will try to see with MK if we can do something.
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In Turn they tested each Clan namesake in trial against the Ice Hellion's mettle. Each chased the Ice Hellion, hunting it down. All failed to match the predator's speed and grace. Khan Cage smiled and said, "And that is how we shall be."
The Remembrance (Clan Ice Hellion) Passage: 5, Verse 3, Lines 1 - 5
MK
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2008, 05:11:26 PM » Quote
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Just let me know when you are available.
Generally speaking, I should do ok during weekends.
All we need to do is to decide on the teams
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"In some ways the battlemech is superior to the armor. In some ways the armor unit is superior, and in other ways they are equal. But for strength of weapons, mobility and striking power, if not for care and caution, in feigned retreat or in pursuit, the mechwarrior is superior."
-attributed to Emir Murat II Tarmahanlı
"Run away from greatness and greatness will follow you."
Ice Hellion
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Part time builder of fallen Empires
Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2008, 06:09:40 PM » Quote
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Not this week end but next week-end should be okay.
If this suits you, I will PM you next week to arrange the details.
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In Turn they tested each Clan namesake in trial against the Ice Hellion's mettle. Each chased the Ice Hellion, hunting it down. All failed to match the predator's speed and grace. Khan Cage smiled and said, "And that is how we shall be."
The Remembrance (Clan Ice Hellion) Passage: 5, Verse 3, Lines 1 - 5
MK
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #11 on: March 25, 2008, 09:56:48 PM » Quote
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okies
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"In some ways the battlemech is superior to the armor. In some ways the armor unit is superior, and in other ways they are equal. But for strength of weapons, mobility and striking power, if not for care and caution, in feigned retreat or in pursuit, the mechwarrior is superior."
-attributed to Emir Murat II Tarmahanlı
"Run away from greatness and greatness will follow you."
Ice Hellion
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Part time builder of fallen Empires
Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #12 on: April 06, 2008, 01:21:47 PM » Quote
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MK and I just started yesterday evening our own little battle.
Things look messy on the Davion Border.
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In Turn they tested each Clan namesake in trial against the Ice Hellion's mettle. Each chased the Ice Hellion, hunting it down. All failed to match the predator's speed and grace. Khan Cage smiled and said, "And that is how we shall be."
The Remembrance (Clan Ice Hellion) Passage: 5, Verse 3, Lines 1 - 5
Takiro
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #13 on: April 06, 2008, 01:55:31 PM » Quote
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Kick arse! Keep us informed.
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"It is better to be thought a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt."
U. S. Grant
"Don't think about what I say, cause I don't."
John Luther
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Re: BTSD Event: Blood in the Backwater
« Reply #14 on: April 06, 2008, 05:11:11 PM » Quote
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Quote from: Ice Hellion on April 06, 2008, 01:21:47 PM
MK and I just started yesterday evening our own little battle.
Things look messy on the Davion Border.
Messy for whom?
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