The Battle of Rattrap Road: A 2500 point No Limits Battle Report for the Station 42 War

 Titania, March 2nd 3033:  Earlier today a force of renegade Titania Planetary Guard advancing towards Station 42 spotted a force of Hell Knight mercenaries East of Rattrap Road.  The Guard units moved off the road to engage the mercenaries near two compounds.

 The battle opened up with a heated exchange between armored vehicles.  The Hell Knights heavy hover tank and the Titania mech were both damaged from the fire as well as one of the mercenary light transports and a guard tank.

 The smaller Northern compound saw the first infantry casualties when one of the Planetary guard units came under fire from a veteran mercenary unit.  Two guardsmen were killed and the remaining two fled the battle.

 As the rest of the forces engaged both compounds became the center of intense fighting.  The center of the field was dominated by Titania forces opposed only by a mercenary fire team and a light transport.

 Another squad of Titania guardsmen were gunned down at the Northern compound by a mercenary sniper and the mercenary commander piloting a "Marksman" class battlesuit.

 In the Southern compound a mercenary "Landshark" armored fighting vehicle flew over the low walls and disembarked a squad of heavily armored veteran Hell Knights.  The mercenaries used their heavy blasters and their vehicles pulse laser to destroy a building occupied by a squad of Titania guardsmen.  General Drake of the renegade Titania Planetary Guard occupied an adjacent building with his command squad and they also engaged the mercenaries killing two of them.  

 With General Drake threatened the Titania forces pressed the attack but were faced with strong opposition by the mercenary forces.

 At the Northern compound the mercenary light transport and most of the veteran rifle squad were wiped out by combined fire.  The mercenary commander and sniper fought on but the battlesuit was forced to find cover when his distortion field gave out.

 In the Southern compound the heavily armored veteran and their AFV reduced the General's building to rubble with combined fire.  Although the General and his field doctor managed to survive the buildings collapse they were both hit by light machine gun fire from the mercenary Incubus mech and wounded or killed.  

 The Titania mech and the mercenary commander continued to play a game of cat and mouse at the Northern compound.  Both the mech and the battlesuit suffered damage in this exchange.

 At the Southern compound a single Planetary Guard tank came under intense fire from several mercenary vehicles.  The tank was heavily damaged but fought on.

 Although we are still uncertain as to the fate of General Drake the Hell Knight heavy infantry were seen loading his body into the back of their armored vehicle.  

 With the General's capture the highly mobile Incubus mech used it's jump jets to position itself to attempt to support the Hell Knight commander.

 Unfortunately for the mercenary commander it was too little too late.  The Incubus mech did manage to destroy the Titania mech but not before the commander's battlesuit was taken out by the metal behemoth.

 At almost the same moment the Planetary Guard tank managed to destroy the mercenary heavy hover tank but was itself destroy by scatter laser fire from one of the mercenary light tranports.

 Titania forces charged up a hill and engaged a mercenary sniper there in hand to hand combat but one of the three Planetary Guard squads were gunned down by another Hell Knight veteran rifle squad.

As the engagement ended the renegade Planetary guard forces did manage to capture a mercenary sniper but it was a poor exchange for their losses.  The Hell Knights held the field and the renegade Titania General.  The Planetary guardsmen were forced to withdraw back towards Titania City.

Stuart MacMurry, Associated Press

Notes:  This was the third battle in our "Military Escalation" phase of the Station 42 War and the first one that resulted in such a sound defeat for allied Titania forces.  On the field it looked like a close battle but the Guardsmen suffered about twice the points value in casualties as the mercenaries and of course the mercs captured General Drake.  We haven't yet decided the General's fate or exactly what impact this is going to have on the campaign but it will certainly be significant.