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Well we definitely had fun folks as we resolved this objective raid which was more of a rescue mission.

FedCom intelligence had determined a Tamarian VIP (House Kelswa) captured by the Wolf Clan during the invasion was being held at a specific facility on planet. The Davion Light Guards were dispatched to free this patriot who was friendly to the realm unlike his aunt (Duchess Morasha Kelswa wife of Ryan Steiner).

Breaking free of the AFFC larger force two Davion Light Guard Mech lances (Bradshaw and Gus) of medium and light raiders converge on a small fort were this prisoner was being held. With most of its forces committed to battle the Wolf Clan was able to scramble its own Star of Light OmniMechs (Calderon) to intercept.

Again this is the first action where Optimized InnerSphere designs created here on these boards faced off against Quicksilver Upgrades again created here.

Clan Light Star Clan Elite (1/2)
Viper (Dragonfly) QS B
Adder (Puma) QS C
Kit Fox (Uller) QS Prime
Mist Lynx (Koshi) QS Prime
Fire Moth (Dasher) QS D

AFFC Lance 1 InnerSphere Elite (2/3)
Shadow Hawk SHD-5D (gauss/ER Large variant based on one of my Kurita designs)
Hunchback HBK-6K (5/8 AC/20 unit
Valkyrie VLK-QL (LRM-15 with Artemis)
Wasp WSP-3D (see the optimize contest)

AFFC Lance 2 InnerSphere Elite (2/3)
Hatchetman HCT-5P (ER PPC, 4 Medium Lasers, TSM, Hatchet, ECM)
Assassin ASN-24 (ER Large, 2 LRM-5s)
Valkyrie VLK-QS (ER Large, SRM-6)
Stinger STG-5S (see the optimize contest)

A very quick summary as I have limited time. The battle lasted 11 turns with Clan forces being wiped out completely. In my opinion the Wolves were far to aggressive rushing headlong at their enemies which was recognized well by the Davion Light Guards who slowed their approach and used a ridge as cover. Closing range the battle was joined turn 3 as the Stinger was incapacitated and the Wasp was utterly destroyed (CT in one turn) early on. The following turn things began to change in favor the AFFC who closed with the Hunchback downing the Koshi with an AC/20 shot at close range. Turn five saw the Uller closed on and destroyed again by the Hunchback with a AC/20 shot and kick along with the Dasher being kicked in the chest and destroyed by the Shadow Hawk. The remaining Clan pilots began to fallback but not before the Hatchetman cleaved the Dragonfly in half during turn 7. As the Adder fell back intent on denying the AFFC their prize the Guard closed in with the Assassin being able to penetrate the base and retrieve the prisoner.

While the higher armor of the InnerSphere Mechs gave them impressive staying power especially compared to Clan Mechs whose tissue paper armor couldn't endure the same type of punishment the Clans had far better ranged weaponry and could have sat back to soften up their enemy before they closed. This did not happen however as close range was decisive for a FedCom victory here.

More specifics to follow after I get home from work tonight or perhaps Bradshaw as the victorious commander of the AFFC forces would like to comment?

From what I read, Clan Wolf was indeed too aggressive, losing one of its advantages over Inner Sphere designs: range.

While outnumbered and outmassed (150 tons for the Clans to 135 + 155 = 290 tons for the InnerSphere or 30 ton average for the Clans versus 36.25 ton average for the InnerSphere) yes they had a huge range advantage that they squandered by charging at their opponent. There was also one point in the battle that the person controlling the Wolves took careful aim which was a massive mistake as any Light Mech regardless of size should never stop moving. Movement is life.

I should also cite how tired I was at the time of the exercise and I didn't offer any advice or implement corrections to make the exercise more balanced.

From what I understand our designs were destroyed by your designs?

Umm, our InnerSphere optimized designs (as Bradshaw helped on the Valkyries and the Stinger/Wasp were already done) or at least their best approximations beat our Clan Quicksilver designs. It is important to remember the design principles as the Clan Quicksilver Mechs only had their armament reordered while the InnerSphere optimized designs have more significant alterations. The difference was the InnerSphere's ability to take a hit versus thin Clan armor.

At some future point another linked mission will take place which will feature heavier assets conducting a reprisal raid as I figure Wolf wants to prove its Quicksilver designs work.

Once I determined the Wolfs were charging our position, I immediately sent a text message to the other lance commander suggesting we delay our advance to take advantage of a level 1-3 ridge that pretty much took up the entirety of the map on path to the base.

We took advantage then of their Clan honor and maintained 1v1 until a time we were able to take advantage of our superior mobility. 7 of 8 Mechs were outfitted with Jump Jets. I was able to make quality hits with my Hunchbacks AC20 on multiple shots including coring one of the Clan Mechs in a single blow.

Next time I might ask to control the Clans and see what I can do with them.