The Arthurian Asteroid Campaign: Turn 6 Raid on 208072 Tor and Battle for 208058 Hector. Map moves Turn 7

 October 21st, 3033 208072 Tor.  The Hell Knights once again raided Tor with a force including tanks, mechs, and infantry.  The Jovian's defended with two mechs and heavy infantry.

 The Hell Knights spend most the the battle focusing on killing the Jovian Infantry support which they were able to do quite easily with their fast light vehicles.

 The Jovians focused fire on the Hell Knight vehicles destroying the battlesuit and transport and damaging the tank.  Without infantry support the Jovian mechs were forced to withdraw.

 October 25th 3033, 208058 Hector.  The Martians, Jovians, and Star Guard all made an attempt to capture 208058 Hector on October 25th.  The Jovians brought two mechs while the Martians and mercenaries brought mostly infantry and battlesuits

 Even though all the forces involved were contesting the asteroid both the Martians and the Star Guard ignored each other and focused on the Jovians.
The Star Guard and Jovian infantry fought a heated infantry battle around a massive mesa both sides suffering several casualties.

 The Jovian mechs attacked the Martians laying waste to the battle suits early in the fighting and killing several Martian infantrymen easily.  The Jovians managed to hold on to Hector with a fairly decisive victory.

Notes:  In the face of overwhelming odds the Jovians and Star Guard both pulled out of a battle each rather than suffer a certain loss so turn 6 ended after just two battles.  

Turn 7 saw another massive build up of troops by the Jovians who purchased 40 strike forces.  The Hell Knights and Star Guard each purchased 20 strike forces while the Martians purchased 25.  The Hell Knights called for an alliance against the Jovian threat but this was largely ignored by the Star Guard and Martians who opted to build up and defend their territory.  The Jovians launched assaults against 207525 Merlin and 207829 Elaine forcing the Martians and Hell Knights to re-enforce those asteroids.  The Hell Knights assaulted 208080 Brangaine but the Jovians decided not to re-enforce the outpost.  The Hell Knights again raided 208072 Tor and the Star Guard raided 208082 Evaine.

It should be noted than even though there are a large number of strike forces (500pts each) involved in some of these invasions the battle point cap at the moment is 1,500 points so the battles will be divided into 1,500 point battles and the victor will be determined by victory points.  We expect this turn to take several weeks to complete where we were able to do more than one turn most weeks up till now.    

The Arthurian Asteroid Campaign: Turn 5 Star Guard raids; 208048 Dagonet, 208020 Gaheris, and 208079 Blanche Fleur. Turn 6 map moves

 October 17th 3033, 208048 Dagonet.  The Star Guard mercenary company raided the Martian mining operation on 208048 Dagonet with a small raiding force.  The Martians responded with a defense force of their own.

 The mercenary 6x6 Rapid Assault Vehicle proved very effective taking out a Martian battlesuit early in the fight.

 The Martian forces advanced on the Star Guard who had taken up positions in some of the outpost buildings.

 The mercenary tank charged the Martian battlesuit but this time the light tank got the worst of the exchange and was destroyed.

 The Star Guard regulars inside the platformed building responded by destroying the second Martian battlesuit.  Just at the end of the battle the Martian commander was killed and the Martians withdrew giving the Star Guard a narrow victory.  Unfortunately for the mercenaries they were only able to recover about 8,000 credits worth or resources.

 October 18th 3033, 208020 Gaheris.  The Star Guard raided a Jovian outpost on 208020 Gaheris that was defended by members of the Jovian Grau Legion.
 

 The Star Guard light tank charged in and killed a single Legionnaire while the Jovian Hunter Mech killed a mercenary sniper.

 The Jovian mech continued to cause the mercenaries trouble killing several Star Guard infantry troopers.

 Despite taking heavy casualties the mercenaries continued to fight but could not advance across the open ground.

 The mercenary tank managed to kill a few more Jovians from range as they tried to take cover in a civilian vehicle. Unfortunately the Star Guard lost another squad to the Hunter mech and were forced to withdraw giving the Jovians a solid victory and netting them 9,000 credits in salvage.  

 October 19th 3033, 208079 Blanche Fleur.  The Star Guard raided a mining operation defended by the Hell Knight mercenary company on 208079 Blanche Fleur.

 The Star Guard light tank advanced rapidly destroying a Hell Knight transport and killing a heavy trooper.

 The Hell Knights advanced aggressively against the Star Guard's left flank with two transports and infantry.  The Knights managed to kill an entire squad of Star Guard and cause a casualty in each of the other squads but the Guard's light tank took out another Hell Knight transport.

 The Hell Knight heavy troopers fought from a rocky outcropping killing a Star Guard sniper and medic while their transport destroyed one squad and broke another.  The Guard's light tank destroyed the Hell Knight regular squad on the hill in response.

 By the end of the fighting only the 6x6 Rapid Assault Vehicle remained for the Guards while one light transport and two heavy troopers remained for the Knights.  The Star Guard tank was undamaged while the transport was nearly destroyed so the Hell Knights were forced to withdraw. (this battle was decided by 11 victory points!)
The Star Guard won the fight but were only able to recover 9,000 credits worth of resources.  Unfortunately they lost over 15,000 credits worth of troops and equipment and between that and their transport cost they actually lost money.

The map movements were interesting.  Despite having the most resources due to a very good round of rolling resources the Star Guards only purchased four strike forces and four mobile mining operations.  The Jovians purchased twenty strike forces and six mobile mining operations leaving them nearly broke.  The Martians purchased five strike forces and a mining operation.  The Hell Knights purchased four strike forces and two mobile mining operations.  The Hell Knights again raided Tor.  The Hell Knights and Jovians both made a move for 207829 Elaine.  The Jovians, Martians, and Star Guard all made a move on 208058 Hector.  The Star Guard and the Jovians also both made a move on 208063 Lionel.  The Jovians took; 208080 Brangaine, and 208083 Enide unopposed.  

The Arthurian Asteroid Campaign: The Hell Knights raid 208072 Tor Turn 5

 October 13th 3033, 208072 Tor.  The Hell Knights sent another raiding party to raid the Imperial House Mining Company operation located on 208072 Tor.  The Grau Legion of the Jovian Imperial legion defended the base with heavy infantry and a scout battlemech.  The Hell Knights brought a squad of veteran troopers, a squad of scouts, a light transport, a light tank, and a battlesuit mech as well as a sniper.

 The Jovian mech quickly jumped from behind cover and killed the mercenary sniper.  Despite having excellent cover and camouflage the shear amount of firepower was simply too much.

 The hell knight battlesuit and vehicles pushed forward and killed one of the Jovian troopers from their heavy weapons team.

 The Jovian Mech and the Hell Knight battlesuit traded fire and the mercenary suffered light damage.

 Another trooper from the Jovian heavy weapons squad was killed by the Hell Knight light transport which then sped away into cover behind a building.

 Again the Jovian mech engaged the Hell Knight battlesuit.  This time the Legionnaire was able to destroy the mercenary.  The Hell Knight light tank moved forward firing at the mech and damaging it but not significantly.

 With the battlesuit down the Jovian mech got bolder.  Moving farther forward the Legionnaire destroyed the Hell Knight light transport.  The mercenary tank fired again at the mech doing a bit more damage before withdrawing.

The Hell Knight light tank swung around and engaged a unit of Jovian heavy troopers who had just suffered two casualties from the scout squads grenade launcher.  The take scored another kill but was not able to wipe out the squad.  A mercenary assassin hiding in  the elevated building attempted to engage the unit but was shot down in a hail of bullets by the other Jovian infantry unit that was guarding the door.  

Having lost their leader, a sniper, a scout, an assassin, and their transport the Hell Knights were forced to withdraw empty handed.

The Arthurian Asteroid Campaign: Raids on 207728 Balin and map moves turn 4 and 5

 October 11, 3033 207728 Balin:  The Hell Knights raided a mining operation on 207728 Balin owned by the People's Mining Consortium that was defended by Martian troops.

 As the Hell Knights advanced into the outpost the mercenary tank took out a Martian sniper hiding in an elevated building.  The Hell Knight scouts and a squad or Martian regulars took up positions inside building across from each other.

 The Hell Knight light hover tank continued to make life hard for the Martian snipers by blowing up a storage town than another sniper was using as a vantage point and causing the Martian to fall to his death.

 The Martians positioned in the building eventually wiped out the mercenary scout squad and did some damage to the veteran squad as well.

 The Hell Knight tank moved completely around the flank of the Martians killing the Martian commander and eventually the rest of his squad.  The Martians were forced to retreat and the Hell Knights Managed to steal 12,000 credits worth of resources.

 October 11th, 3033 207728 Balin:  Just a few hours after the Hell Knights conducted a raid on 207728 Balin the Star Guard conducted a raid as well.

 This time the Martians defended with two regular squads and a battlesuit armed with two heavy machine guns.  Early in the battle the Martian battlesuit and the Star Guard sniper exchanged several shots resulting in the Martian mecha taking light damage.

 Most of the Star Guard troopers took refuge in a large warehouse while the Martians close in.  The Star Guards killed a single Martian Trooper but only lost a couple troopers and a sniper.  The Star Guards were forced to withdraw.

 October 12th, 3033 207728 Balin:  The Star Guard again attempted to raid 207728 Balin.  This time the Martians defended with a veteran trooper squad, and sniper, and a squad or regular troopers.

 The mercenary sniper killed the Martian sniper early in the battle but the Star Guard advance was halted when a Martian regular killed one of the Star Guards.

The mercenaries also managed to kill a Martian veteran but the veterans returned fire killing another two Star Guards then they killed the mercenary sniper.  The Star Guard were forced to withdraw empty handed again.

 The turn 4 map movement was highly uneventful.  Several new strike forces and mining operations were purchased but absolutely no raids or assaults were launched.  The Jovians made a bold move to 207486 Guinevere with a large force and a few other asteroids were claimed by the other forces.

With all the money gained during turn 4 turn 5 saw a massive troop build up.  We also went to a 1000 point cap on battles so now two strike forces can be involved in assaults and raids.  The Martians broke out and made a major land grab claiming an additional four asteroids while the Star Guard launched a raid against every other faction.  The Hell Knight launched another raid on 208072 Tor.

Notes:  The game reports here are very abbreviated because a lot went on this weekend and I wasn't able to take really good notes.  The campaign is really starting to heat up.  I'm expecting to see some major assaults in the next few turns.  Because we went a turn without fighting we will now only have two turns with 1000 point battle caps.  At the end of turn 4 it looked like everyone was rich and that eventually we would have too much money from the resource rolls but moving all those new mining operations and strike forces around also cost a lot of money and we are about to take over all the unclaimed asteroids so I expect things to level off a bit in future turns.  

The Arthurian Asteroid Campaign: Raids on 208072 Tor, and 207728 Balan. Map Moves Turn Three.

 October 10th 3033, 208072 Tor.  The Hell Knight Mercenary Company raided a mining operation on 208072 Tor.  The mining operation, owned by the Imperial House Mining Company was defended by the Grau Legion of the Jovian Imperial Legions.

 The mercenaries armored assault squads pushed forward into a rocky outcropping while their snipers covered them.  The Jovian Forces moved into two of the outpost buildings.

 Jovian and Hell Knight forces traded fire from their defensive positions with little effect.  The Jovians firing from building doorways while the mercenaries fired from good cover.

 A squad of Jovians attempted a break out from the building they were occupying killing one of the mercenary heavy troopers.  The Hell Knights returned fire wiping out the Imperials.  Another Jovian trooper, in the smaller building was taken out by a mercenary sniper.

 With only three troopers left the Grau legion decides that the battle is lost and withdraws from the mining outpost.  The Hell Knights collected 10,000 credits worth of resources while loosing only one trooper.

 October 10th, 3033, 207729 Balan.  The Grau Legion of the Jovian Imperial Legions raided a mining outpost owned by MacDuff and Campbell Mining Inc. on 207729 Balan.  The outpost was defended by the Hell Knights Mercenary Company led by an officer in a "Marksman" class battlesuit.

 The mercenary battlesuit equipped with a distortion field advanced and killed one Jovian trooper while the rest of the Hell Knights took up cover in rocky outcroppings.  Unfortunately for the mercenaries the Jovians riddled the walker with bullets finding enough weak points to bring it down.

 Even with the loss of their commander and the battlesuit the Hell Knights fought on from their defensive positions.  As the Jovians advanced the mercenaries fired several shots at them many of which hit but no Imperials fell.

 The Legionnaires armed with assault rifles cut down a small squad of Hell Knight scouts from long range.  The mercenary veterans responded killing almost all of the Jovians with a well aimed grenade from their grenade launcher and another kill from one of the troopers.

 The Jovians continued to advance killing a few more Hell Knights but loosing a trooper in the process.  Only two mercenaries and three Legionnaires remained at this point.

 As the Hell Knights fell back the grenade launcher armed trooper scored another kill against the advancing Imperials leaving only two of the Grau Legion in the fight.

 Although the battle was close the Hell Knights decided to retreat rather than be completely destroyed.  Although the Jovians gained 15,000 credits from the raid they also lost almost 4,000 credits worth of troopers.  It was a bloody and costly battle for both forces.
 

Map turn 3 saw some interesting developments.  The Star Guard won their only fight and the Martians did not fight at all during turn 2 so they both did fairly well.  The Martians purchased two more strike forces and another mobile mining operation moving the new mining operation to 207728 Balin.  The Jovians consolidated their position with a few new strike forces and mining operations.  The Hell Knights purchased another mining operation and two new strike forces (seen in yellow).  The also invaded 208082 Evaine and launched a raid on 207728 Balin.  The Star Guards purchased a couple more strike forces but no new mining operations then sent two strike forces to raid 207728 Balin as well.  Turn 3 saw the first defensive movement of the campaign when the Martians re-enforced 207728 Balin with an additional strike force to defend against the three raiding forces attacking there.

I will be posting the rules we are using for this campaign soon.  They are a very rough draft we are play testing with this campaign.