Project Wraith Episode 2 "Information is Power" game report.

 This is Episode 2 of my new Solar Empires role playing game called "Project Wraith".  The player characters are playing specialist who have had their identity stolen by some kind of hacker known as "Casper".  Casper has been sending them on "jobs" for unknown purposes.  In Episode 1 Casper sent the party to the Greek camp of Jupiter's Trojan asteroids to search for a doctor who had discovered the cure to a dangerous Martian biological weapon.
In this episode Casper sent them to Titania right in the middle of the war zone surrounding Station 42 to meet with a contact who knew the location of Casper's hacker friend known as Starfire.  Casper sent three of his agents.  Spider is a female hacker from Titania.  Vogue is a female public relations specialist from Callisto, and Lone Star is a; gambler, drifter, gunslinger, from Titan.  They met with Casper's contact several kilometers South East of Station 42.

 Unfortunately for the party the meeting was a trap set by the Hell Knight mercenaries.  Six mercenary scouts ambushed the party when the team discovered the true identity of their contact.

Vogue updates her facebook about rolling a critical on her "Look at my boobs" roll she used to distract the bogus contact while Spider maneuvered behind him.

 Spider attempted to subdue their contact while the rest of the team engaged in a gun battle with the mercenary scouts.

 Eventually Spider managed to knock their contact out and then engage the rest of the scouts.  The fire fight was difficult.  Most of the scouts had cover while the team was out in the open.  Eventually the final scout fled the scene after Spider killed the last of his companions.
After defeating the scouts the bogus contact was "convinced" to reveal to the team that he did indeed know where Starfire was hiding but he assured them that the Hell Knights would get to the hacker before they did.

 The team arrived at a small compound about 20 kilometers further South East of their landing position.  Several armed militia members were on the rooftops of the simple structures that made up the compound.

 After convincing the militia members that they were friendly and on an important mission for one of Starfire's associates they were able to meet with militia leader Jim Dutton.

 Just as they were warning Dutton a Hell Knight LAGAREV transport arrived on the scene and blew up one of the small compound buildings with it's scatter laser.

Spider, Lone Star, and Vogue.  I can't remember what was so funny.

 The team immediately took up defensive position to help the militia members defend the compound.  About 10 Hell Knight mercenaries dismounted their transport as the transport's gunner covered them.

 The mercenaries split into two groups and took up positions in cover just outside the compound.  The mercenaries were armed with laser rifles while most of the militia had assault rifles.

 The mercenary LAGAREV was eventually destroyed by; Vogue, Spider, and the militia members.  Lone Star joined Dutton to engage the mercenaries hiding in the rocks.

 Eventually only one mercenary remained alive and only one militia member had been killed.  The mercenary warned the team that they would never get off Titania alive.

The team met with Starfire who told them she had irrefutable proof that the Smith and Wilson Agriculture Company had engaged in illegal dealings with several members of the Titania government and that their seizure of farms and Station 42 was a completely illegal action.  

Starfire agreed to flee Titania with the team but suggested that they gather a force to escort them since the Hell Knights knew where their ship had landed.  

 Before the battle Father Padre, another team member, joined them.  He had been on a separate errand for Casper who had sent him to Titania City aboard a civilian transport to aid them. Jim Dutton gathered his militia including his men and four improvised armored vehicles.  Dutton's forces were joined by a robotic force owned by the enigmatic "Rosie" of Station 42 who also piloted her own Cyclopes mech.
When they arrived at the landing site the Hell Knights had already arrived with three LAGAREVs, one Hobelar tank, an Incubus light mech and two scout squads.
  

The battle was bloody.  Most of Dutton's men were killed and more than half of Rosie's robot troopers were taken out of action.  Rosie's mech was also destroyed but she managed to eject to safety.  The Hell Knights lost half of their infantry forces and two LAGAREVs.  Their mech and tank were also heavily damaged.
The team managed to make it to their ship during the fighting but as they were making a run for the landing ramp a LAGAREV and a lone trooper with a grenade launcher fired on the.  Spider and Lone Star were wounded in the exchange and Starfire was badly wounded and in danger of dying.

As they took off in their ship Father Padre managed to stabilize Starfire with his medical skills.  The team had managed to escape Titania but the militia forces had sacrificed quite a bit for it.  With Casper's resources they should be able to use Starfire's information to completely expose the true nature of the Station 42 War.

Check out the System News Network news report here:  http://systemnewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/04/notorious-hacker-starfire-escapes.html
Notes:  This was a tie in between our No Limits campaign on Titania and my new role playing campaign.  We wanted to do an rpg tie in to help us bring the Station 42 War into it's final stage.    

The Battle of MacIntyre Station: Trojan Uprising 2895 Memnon. A Solar Empires game report.

 March 18th 3033, 2895 Memnon, MacIntyre Station, Trojan camp of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.  Last Tuesday a force of Jovian Imperial Legionnaires engaged a group of communist insurgents at MacIntyre Station on 2895 Memnon.  The Jovians attacked with four squads of Legionnaires and a light mech.  The station was defended by almost forty insurgents as well as four improvised armored vehicles and two light field artillery pieces.  

 The insurgents took the fight to the Jovians attacking immediately with their light vehicles and inflicting some casualties on the Imperial forces.

 Two of the vehicles were quickly dispatched by the light mech and Jovian troopers who steadily advanced on the insurgent positions.

 The Jovians were reportedly after insurgent leader Curt Stillwell.  Early in the fighting he and his squad were cornered by the Jovian mech but they were able to find cover in a nearby building.

 The remaining two insurgent vehicles were destroyed by the Jovian mech but the insurgents kept fighting in an attempt to save their leader.

 Stillwell and his body guards engaged Jovian troopers in close quarters fighting inside a small building as the rest of the battle raged around them.

 After dispatching the insurgent vehicles they Jovian Mecha destroyed an insurgent field canon only to be gunned down as it tried to jump away my the insurgent's auto-cannon and combined small arms fire.

 Several insurgents units sought cover under elivated buildings in the middle of the station where they engaged a squad of Imperial troopers.  Many casualties were inflicted in the close quarters fighting.

 Curt Stillwell escaped the troopers inside the building he was hiding in only to be gunned down near the wreckage of the Jovian mech by another squad of troopers.

 After their leader was gunned down the rest of the insurgents decided to flee the station.  Although they had inflicted heavy casualties on the Imperial troopers they had lost all their heavy support.

 The remaining imperial troopers began to quickly secure the station and search for remaining insurgents.

Up to this point the communist uprising in the Trojan camp of the Jovian Trojan asteroids has consisted of largely of protest over the abuse of workers in the region it appears that the Emperor is not longer interested in ignoring the situation.  Two Imperial Legions have been stationed in the region as well as forces of the local household armies to put down this revolt.

March 24th 3033: Associated Press.

Notes:  We're about to draw our Titania campaign to a close and we are going to stat to work on another competitive campaign.  In addition to that we are working up a list of ongoing conflicts going on in our Solar Empire setting that we intend to use for one off battles in a kind of system wide narrative campaign.  This battle was fought between myself and Curtis a gamer friend of ours who put together a force for our campaign setting using the brilliant Dreamforge Games  Eisenkern Stromtroopers.  I'm really impressed with these modes and what Curtis did with them and the Gundam Zaku mecha he used to supoort them.  It's a really nice looking force he is putting together and I look forward to playing against him again.  
As far as the battle goes it seemed pretty close points wise however at the end I only had lightly armed and armored militia up against powered armored troopers with assault rifles.  I decided that since the Jovians achieved their objective of killing my commander and I had little chance of continuing the fight that the battle was a Jovian victory if an fairly expensive one.     

Wolfhound "Ritter" Battlesuits WIP

I'm working on another addition to my Wolfhound Freikorps mercenary army for my Solar Empires setting.  These are "Ritter" class battlesuits.  The original models are M.A.R.S. toys just like all the other battlesuits I have done.  I'm pretty happy with the way these guys are turning out with the Wolfhound vehicle camo and markings.  Hopefully I will have them finish by the weekend and they will be featured in the battle we have planned.

Battle of the Martian Sector: A 2000 point battle report for the Station 42 War!

January 4th 3033.  Earlier this afternoon the Hell Knights Mercenary company engaged forces of the Titania Militia and the Martian Soviet Socialist Republic near the Martian Military base just a few kilometers south southeast of Station 42.  The Martians released this recording of audio communications between their commander and the mercenary commander prior the the start of hostilities:

Martian Commander:  Attention intruders this is Commander Igor Kovalevsky of the Martian Soviet Socialist Republic.  You have entered into sovereign territory of M.S.S.R.  Turn back now or we will be forced to engage you.

Hell Knights Commander:  This is Lieutenant Domingo Gomez of the Hell Knights mercenary company.  You are harboring the fugitive militia leader Ivar "Bear" Belyakov.  He is wanted by the Titania government for numerous crimes and we have a legal contract to apprehend him.  Remand him to our custody and we will be more than happy to depart.

 Martian Commander:  Lieutenant I am afraid you are not understanding me.  This is sovereign territory of M.S.S.R. and is governed by our laws!  Mr. Belyakov has requested asylum and we have granted it.  You must turn back now or we will fire on you!

Hell Knights Commander:  Get back to your base and leave this to us or we'll kick your Marski ass!

End transmission......  

 The Hell Knights force consisted of one Incubus light mech piloted my Lt. Gomez, two light infantry squads mounted in two LAGAREV hovercraft, one Hobelar light hover tank, and three Douglas medium hover tanks.  The Martian force consisted of one heavy infantry squad and two light infantry squads with two Dragunov Battlesuits, and two Degtyaryov Battlesuits.  Bear's militia units consisted of his own squad of light militia, two improvised armored vehicles, and two snipers.

Both of the mercenary light transports were destroyed in the first few shots and several mercenaries were kill when one of them exploded.

 A Dragunov Battlesuit was taken out of action by the combined firepower of three Douglas hover tanks.  The sturdy armored suit took quite a bit of punishment before going down.
 

 On the Mercenary left flank Lt. Gomez engaged two Martian Battlesuits in his light mech and although he damaged the other Dragunov his Incubus was shredded by the twin heavy machine guns of the Degtyaryov.

 In the center of the field a Militia technical fired a fragmentation missile at a mercenary rifle squad.  Three members of the squad were knocked prone but not injured.  The squad returned fire at Bear's unit and a squad of Soviets inflicting several casualties on both units.

 On the mercenary left flank Hell Knight tanks and the Martian Battlesuits engaged each other.  The other Dragunov was destroyed and the Degtyaryov traded fire with tanks suffering light damage and inflicting the same to the tanks.

 Although initially successful the mercenaries holding the hill in the center of the field began to take casualties from the combined fire of the militia and martian light infantry.

 The unit was all but destroyed when it was outflanked by one of the Degtyaryov Battlesuits.  All but the Sargent were killed by heavy machine gun fire.

 Two members of the Martian Heavy Infantry Squad were gunned down by the Hobelar light hover tank's pulse laser as if sped past their position.

 Despite being surrounded and damaged by enemy armor the Degtyaryov Battlesuit on the mercenary left flank fought on.  Two of the Douglas tanks were badly damaged in the exchange.

 Eventually however the Battlesuit was brought down by the mercenary tanks who then surged forward to engage the final Degtyaryov.

 The remaining Martian Battlesuit opened up at point blank range at one of the Douglas tanks damaging it further but not destroying it.  The mercenary tanks lightly damaged the Battlesuit and it took more damage when the remaining member of the Hell Knights squad from the transport that exploded shot it with his plasma carbine.  Bear killed the mercenary Sargent on the hill with his assault rifle.  

As the whine of Martian repulserlift engines were heard approaching from the base the mercenary tanks made a last ditch effort to kill Bear rather than capture him.  His two remaining comrades were cut down by the Hobelar as it flanked their position and the Douglas hover tanks reduced the rocky outcropping to gravel with their railguns but the militia leader survived.

The mercenary forces retreated just moments before Martian Gunships and Dropships arrived on scene.

Notes:  This was a nasty 2000 point No Limits battle between my mercenaries and My wife's militia and Martians.  Those Martian Battlesuits survived a heck of the lot of punishment and did quite a bit of damage to my forces.  After they wrecked my transports and nearly wiped out one of my squads I focused on taking them down which kept me for focusing on my objective of capturing Bear.  They slippery militia leader also survived my best attempts to kill him at the end of the battle.  
We had decided that this would be a six turn battle and I would have needed to be in clear control of the field for a total victory or kill Bear for a minor victory.  Unfortunately I did neither.  All I had left at the end of the battle were four damaged tanks and one trooper with a plasma carbine.   
One funny thing about the battle is that my wife forgot to deploy here field cannon so we decided it was held in reserve.  She then forgot to bring it on the board until the fourth turn.  
It was a pretty good battle and we had a lot of fun with it.  Both sides did some heavy damage to each other and we introduced another faction to the conflict.  

M.S.S.R. Battlesuits Finished!

I finished up this squad of M.S.S.R. Battlesuits this morning for our Solar Empires setting.  These guys will make an appearance or two in our "Station 42 War" campaign as part of the units from the Martian base on Titania.  These are made from the same M.A.R.S. robot toys that the battlesuit I use for my Hell Knights are made from.  They cost about $2.00 each and come in packs of three.  I picked mine up and a local Dollar General.  They stand between 9 and 10 centimeters tall.  Even though they are a squad they are also considered small walkers so they are vehicles and can act independently like a larger mech.
Hopefully we will have a battle with these guys and the rest of the Martian forces up soon.

Battle of the Venture Star Depot ( A 1000 point No Limits Battle report for the Station 42 War)

 October 27, 3032 12 Kilometers south east of Station 42 on Titania.  Earlier today a small scouting force of the Hell Knights Mercenary Company raided a supply depot owned by the Venture Star Prospecting Company a known support of the Titania insurgency.  This volatile region has been quite since mid July when the Hell Knights Mercenary Company captured Station 42 from insurgents and renegade elements of the Titania Planetary Guard.

 As mercenary light armored units made a move toward the entry to the compound members of "Bear's Militia" opened fire disabling both vehicles.  Hell Knight scouts and snipers responded killing at least two of the militia members occupying a building with a communications array.  One unit of scouts kicked in the back door to a smaller building to gain access.

 The mercenary scouts and militia members continued to exchange fire.  Bear himself was shot by a Hell Knights sniper and one of his units was broken by the scouts in the building.  At least two scouts were also wounded in this exchange.  The Hell Knights Marksman Battlesuit exchanged fire with a militia auto-canon.  The mech was damaged but one of the crewmen manning the weapon was killed as well.

 One of the Hell Knights snipers killed the last member of Bear's personal unit while the other shot down a NOVA trooper.  A unit of scouts moved into the middle of the compound and killed the remaining crewman of the militia auto-canon but one of their own was killed by a member of Wolfhound Friekorps.  Three Wolfhounds were killed by grenade and laser fire from the mercenary scouts in the building while the mercenary battlesuit killed the militia sniper.  The militia field gun actually hit and damaged one of the compound buildings trying to hit the battlesuit.

 The two remaining members of Bear's militia rallied and found cover but were almost immediately gunned down by the scouts in the building.  Two more of the mercenary scouts in the middle of the compound were killed by NOVA troopers leaving only the Sargent of the unit standing.  The two remaining Wolfhounds fled from their position.  

 The Hell Knights battlesuit moved into point blank range with the NOVA security troopers but neither the mech nor the troopers could hit each other.  Another trooper was killed by one of the mercenary snipers.  The Wolfhound troopers rallied before fleeing the compound completely.  One of the Venture Star employees was shot by a mercenary sniper as his coworkers fled to one of the storage buildings.  The mercenary scouts began to pull back.

In a bloody and final exchange of fire the last two NOVA troopers were gunned down by the mercenary battlesuit.  The Hell Knights scouts continued to withdraw under the cover of their snipers.  As the mercenary forces withdrew it was unclear if the Hell Knights had achieved their objective.  They had certainly bloodied the nose of the insurgents and caused significant damage.  The remaining militia units did not attempt to pursue them.

Notes:  Well this was a pretty smooth skirmish.  It had been a long time since we had played so we didn't want to do a very large action.  Also we have decided that it would be logical for the next phase of the campaign to involve several smaller skirmishes with militia insurgents instead of pitched battles with the Planetary Guard.  We decided to hold this game to 6 turns.  The Hell Knights main objective was a scan as many of the compound buildings as they could.  I managed to scan 5 out of 6 of the buildings and inflict more casualties than I sustained so we considered it a victory for the mercs.  One of the funniest things about this battle was the poor performance of the militia field gun.  They managed to hit the Venture Star earth mover and shuttle as well as two generators and one of the buildings with scattered shots.  The only two shots they fired that hit nothing flew way over the heads of the snipers.  
Also I decided to try and take wide shots of the battle every turn and then add smaller inset details of the action which I think worked out here.  I plan to do that again for other battle reports.  I like to keep my total number of images small but this way I can also show more of what happened.