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.

The Arthurian Asteroid Campaign: Turn 2 Hell Knights Raid 207811 Kay

 October 9th 3033, 207811 Kay.  The Hell Knights Mercenary Company attempted to raid an Eagle Heavy Industries mining operation on 207811 Kay.  The operation was defended by the Star Guard Mercenary Company.

 The Hell Knights LAGAREV transport made an aggressive move against the defenders moving out into the middle of the compound and attempting to shoot at a unit of Star Guards in some rocky outcroppings but failed to kill any.  The Star Guard sniper shot at the Hell Knight vehicle but failed to damage it.

 The LAGAREV made another pass against a squad of Star Guards who have moved out on to the top of a hill this time killing two member of the squad.  The rest of the squad moved down the hill to gain some cover from one of the buildings.  The Star Guard sniper kill at Hell Knight trooper.

 The Hell Knight vehicle again moved into position to fire at the remainder of the Star Guard squad killing another member.  The Star Guard sniper killed another Hell Knight from the other rifle squad.

 The unit of Star Guard that had yet to engage opened up on the LAGAREV destroying the vehicle with their assault rifles.  The Star Guard Medic unsuccessfully attempted to heal one of his comrades.

 In a bloody exchange of fire two more Star Guards and five Hell Knights were killed.

 Another two Star Guard are killed by a Hell Knight armed with a grenade launcher completely wiping out that squad.  Unable to get to any more of his comrades the Star Guard Medic retreated to join the sniper who had been moving to a better position.  

 The final Star Guard sergeant killed a Hell Knight armed with a grenade launcher while the other two Hell Knights retreated.  

The Star Guard sniper takes out the other Hell Knight armed with a grenade launcher leaving only the Hell Knight Sergeant alive.  The Medic and Sergeant exchange fire but neither kill the other.

Notes:  My Hell Knight played a bloody game against my daughter's Star Guards.  Up until the last couple of rounds it could have gone either way.  I will probably disband this strike force rather than pay to transport it to a safe location and repair it because it was nearly wiped out and it will probably cost less for me to just buy a new strike force next turn.  My daughter also rolled very well on her salvage roll and will gain enough credits to repair her force and have a tidy sum left over.  

The Arthurian Asteroid Campaign: Battles Turn 1 and Movement Turn 2

 October 7th 3033, 208072 Tor.  Both the Martians and Jovians sent strike forces to 208072 Tor.  The Martians sent only one strike force while the Jovians sent two strike forces and a Mobile Mining Operation.  The Martians attacked the first Jovian strike force.

 The Jovians attempted to advance on their left flank but the Martian sniper, Veterans, and Guard troopers cut them down.

 The Jovians managed to kill four of the Martian Guard troopers but were wiped out to the man.

 The Martians continued the fighting attacking the 2nd Jovian strike force.  This time the Jovians took superior positions and did significant damage to the Martians in the first exchange.  The Martians decided to withdraw from 208072 Tor rather than be wiped out.  The Jovians suffered no casualties in the 2nd battle.

During the 2nd turn movement phase the Hell Knights launched raids against the Star Guard on 207829 Kay and on 207654 Percival.  The Jovians launched a raid on 207729 Balan.  The Martians moved a Mobile Mining Operation to 207728 Balin.

"The Arthurian Family Conflict" An Asteroid Resource Campaign for the Solar Empires.

 Over two centuries ago the Langford Mining Corporation discovered a family of asteroids in the Kuiper Belt rich with resources.  They dubbed this new family of asteroids the "Arthurian Family" and named the individual asteroids they discovered after characters from the Arthurian legends.  The company established basic level terraforming on 30 of the richest asteroids in the group and even set up several fusion reactor satellites as artificial suns.  Things did not go well for the overextended company however and they quickly went bankrupt before they could begin mining operations.

Largely forgotten the asteroids of the Arthurian Family remained dormant until the Venture Star Prospecting company located them again.  The company sold claims to four different mining operations on four of the larger asteroids for a very tidy profit.  With the rest of the lesser asteroids in the family up for grabs the four companies have been scrambling to secure their assets in the region and expand their operations.
      

 In an unusual move the Grau Legion of the Jovian Imperial Legions have established a base on 207485 Arthur to protect the operations of the Imperial House Mining Company.  No one is quite sure why the Emperor would send troops from his personal guard to such a remote region but whatever the reason it must be considered a state secret because representative of the Imperial court would only state that the operations were in the interest of the Jovian Empire.

 The Jovians however were not the only government to send state troops to the region.  The M.S.S.R. have also established a military presence on 207525 Merlin to protect the People's Mining Consortium.  When asked why they sent troops to the Kuiper belt Soviet officials replied that it was of "strategic importance".  It is widely speculated that the main reason Soviet forces are present in the region is to keep an eye on the Jovian activities.

 The Hell Knight Mercenary Company has taken up a contract to provide security for "MacDuff and Campbell Mining".  This company with a major office on Pluto is in the best position to take advantage of the rediscovery of this asteroid family.  The Hell Knights are also based on Pluto so it is no surprise that they have taken this contract.  The Hell Knights are based on 207499 Morgana.

The Star Guards Mercenary Company has contracted with Eagle Heavy Industries out of Titan.  EHI has set up their main base on 207498 Mordred.  Being the smallest mining company in the region they have spared no expense on security hiring the Star Guards who are the largest security contractors in the entire Solar System.  

  

This is a map of the asteroids that are being contested.  The Jovian forces are represented by the white markers and are being played by our friend Curtis.  The Star Guards are being represented by the blue markers and they are being played by our daughter Erika.  The Green markers represent the Martians being played by my wife Michelle.  The Red markers represent the Hell Knights who are being played by me.

We already managed to have a battle encounter in the first turn when the Martians and Jovians both made a move for 208072 Tor.  The Jovians have sent two strike forces and one mobile mining operation while the martians have sent a single strike force.  Strike forces represent 500 points of assets and right now the battle limit is set to 500 point battles for the first three turns.

This is a test campaign for a resource campaign rules system I am working on.  

"The Battle of 5041 Theotes" a No Limits battle report from the Solar Empires

 October 4th 3033, 5041 Theotes, Jupiter Trojans, Greek Camp.  A small force of Blood Born and Scrap Dog Pirates ran into a patrol of Star Guard Mercenaries in a small mining outpost on 5041 Theotes.

 The pirates outnumbered the small mercenary patrol but the Star Guard troopers were heavily armored and well equipped.  As the pirate infiltrators advanced one was shot down by a mercenary sniper.

 The pirates begin their advance while the mercenary forces tried to find better ground.  Another pirate infiltrator was shot down by the mercenary sniper and two were gunned down by the Star Guard medic.

 The main body of the pirate force moved through the settlement while the mercenaries were distracted by their squad of "Duct Rats".

 The pirates continue to advance but they are met by a hail of gunfire from the mercenaries killing several of their numbers.

 The Blood Born Raiders break and run back behind a building they have taken cover on after loosing three of their squad members.

 The "Duct Rat" Mate kills the mercenary medic at the same time that one of the Scrap Dog Raiders kills a member of Alpha squad.

 The Pirate forces fight on but they can do little in the face of the Star Guards superior position and fire power.

The Blood Born Raider squad is finally whipped out by Beta squad.  The Scrap Dogs continue to fire at Alpha squad but none of their shots manage to penetrate the mercenaries thick armor.  

Without any remaining targets the last "Duct Rat" ducks back behind the cover of a large junk pile.  Down to 6 out of the 17 pirates they started the battle with the pirates decide that it is time to run.  The mercenaries fulfill their contract to protect the mining operation suffering just two casualties.

Notes:  This is a small 500 point battle I ran with my daughter who played the Star Guard mercenaries while I played the pirates.  We tried to keep it very basic for her first game.  This game represents one of the many skirmishes fought between pirate raiders and mercenaries in the Solar Empires.