Map of Titania City and Station 42 Region at present.

I finally finished a region map for our Station 42 war campaign.  I haven't added the battle location markers yet but I'll be doing that in a few days.

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.

The Christmas Massacre: A 1000 point battle report for the Station 42 War

 December 25th 3032:  Members of the Titania militia attacked the Redwing Farm late in the afternoon on Christmas day.  The farm has been operating under the management of the Smith and Wilson Agriculture Corporation for over a year now and a small garrison of Hell Knight mercenaries were stationed there to defend the facility.

 The Hell Knights had little warning of the attack but managed to respond quickly to the threat.  With no armor on site a LAGAREV transport and a single short range missile launcher provided the mercenaries with heavy support.  

The attack was led by militia leader Ivar "Bear" Belyakov and consisted of about 28 militia member and three improvised armored vehicles.

 At least three snipers were among the militia force although two were killed in the fighting.  Early in the battle it appeared that the militia members would be beaten back by the mercenary defenders.

 After the Hell Knights afv was taken out of action the tide of the battle began to turn.  The militia infantry carefully used the farm's out buildings as cover as they moved into position.

 One unit of Hell Knights did manage to destroy two of the militia improvised armored vehicles and force a unit to fall back.

 The other Hell Knight unit did not fair as well.  Facing Bear's men, a sniper, and a technical vehicle the right flank of the mercenary defense began to crumble.

 The other unit of Hell Knights left their defensive position in an attempt to reach their comrades.  They traded fire with a few militia as they advanced which slowed their progress.  

 Despite efforts to aid them the mercenaries fighting Bear's unit died to a man including a mercenary officer presumed to be their leader.

 With only six member of their squad left standing the remaining mercenaries withdrew from the field.  

The last shots of the battle were fired by the mercenary missile emplacement which killed a few militia and routed the rest of their unit which allowed their comrades to escape the field.

Notes:  We gave the militia 1200 points vs the mercenaries 1000 points in this battle because we have found in the past if one side gets any kind of defensive position from the start that it really unbalances the game.  Also this was a surprise attack that we did as much to move the story line along as anything.  It wasn't that we pitched the battle specifically for the militia to win but we did want them to have a slight advantage.  My wife really used the terrain well pinning down my units with her "technicals" and snipers while Bears assault rifle armed unit moved into place.  With a rate of fire of 2 they are usually devastating at close range although they lack the skill of my trained mercenaries and they had the high ground as well.  All in all I think it was a fun little fight and it worked out well for the story line.  The militia were able to make off with some badly needed supplies and bloody the mercenaries which will bolster their recruitment and allow them to hold out a while longer.  
The insurgency phase of the campaign is about wrapped up.  We have some interesting things in store for the next phase of our little war.    

Martian Troopers and Wolfhound Veteran finished!

 Well we had a productive December 25th and we managed to finish up the troops on the paint table.  I got the Wolfhound Veterans done.  I'm not quite as happy with the way they turned out for some reason.  They look okay to me but not quiet as nice as the other Wolfhounds for some reason.  I did some object source lighting on the plasma gunner and I think I got a bit heavy but OSL has never been one of my strong points.

My wife shamed me by finishing up 13 M.S.S.R. troopers in the same time it took me to finish the 6 veterans I painted and I think they turned out really nice.  The old Vor troopers look a little large next to the Pig Iron troopers but I think they look good.  They are standing straight up and almost all the Pig Iron troopers are crouched a bit.  We may replace the Vor troopers eventually but at the moment we are trying out best to use the things we have and not spend a lot of money.

Martians and Wolfhounds on the paint table!

 We have been working on more forces for the Station 42 War the last couple of days.  Above are some Martian Soviet Socialist Republic forces my wife has been painting.  They are just about finished.  All she needs to do is finish up the bases.

I'm getting pretty close to finishing the Wolfhound Veterans and Assassin as well.  I still have the metallics and bases to do on them.  Hopefully they were all be finish later today or tomorrow.  We hope to have a small campaign skirmish tonight as well so these might not get done as soon as I would like.

Battle of the Smuggler's Camp: A 1500 point No Limits game report for the Station 42 War.

 Sunday December 15th 3032:  Early Sunday morning a patrol of Hell Knights mercenaries operating out of Station 42 engaged a group of insurgents off loading supplies at a smuggler's camp about 8 kilometers east of the spaceport.

 The Mercenaries attacked swiftly with three light APCs and a light hover tank supporting a light mech.  The insurgents seem to have been caught unprepared but they quickly rallied and fought back.

 Several militia improvised armored vehicles arrived on the scene trading fire with the mercenaries.  Among the insurgents was a squad of Wolfhound Friekorps and a Wolfhound APC.

 The Hell Knights quickly overwhelmed the insurgents right flank but were stalled by the determined resistance of Boon's Militia and the Wolfhounds.

 The Insurgents managed to destroy two Hell Knight APCs and push the light tank back.  The Hell Knights mech picked off the last of Boon's Militia but slipped and fell on some loose ground near one of the smugglers ship.

 The remaining Hell Knight APC charged the center of of the insurgents line and offloaded it's squad which engaged in hand to hand fighting with some Venture Star Miners while also trading fire with the Wolfhounds.

The mercenary mech regained it footing and attacked the insurgents field cannon and sniper killing them both.  The Wolfhounds APC was destroyed by the Hell Knights light tank and the rest of the Wolfhounds were killed by the mercenary APC.  The remaining miners immediately surrendered.  The smugglers ships managed to take off and escape in the confusion.  Other insurgents seen approaching the battle broke off and fled Northeast.

Notes:  This was a brutal battle that turned into a complete rout of the insurgents.  Most of the mercenary vehicles were heavily damaged and two were destroyed but I only lost one trooper.  I think my wife should have brought the rest of her reserves onto the board much more quickly but that's always a hard call.