Smoke Jaguar Dossier: Howler (Baboon)

Smoke Jaguar Dossier

Type: Battlemech

Name: Howler (Baboon) 

Mech Class: Light

Weight: 20 Tons

Tech Base: Clan

Description:
The Howler was first observed among Clan Jade Falcon second-line units, though it has since been proven to be much more widespread. The BattleMech the Inner Sphere dubbed the Baboon is moderately fast for a 'Mech its size, topping out at 119 km/h. Its armament is at least partially enabled by the use of an Endo Steel structure and three tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor.


Armament: 
The Howler is a potent missile boat for its size. Meant to provide fire support to light garrison Stars, the 'Mech carries three LRM-5 launchers and three tons of ammunition.

Variants:
Howler 3 is a prototype in use by the Smoke Jaguars.  Apparently impressed with the capabilities of the Inner sphere Hollander battlemech the Smoke Jaguars scientists looked to improve upon the single weapon light mech design.  The Howler 3 exchanges the standard engine with an XL and adds MASC.  The saved weight allows for the 3 LRM's to be replaced by a single ERPPC with a Targeting Computer.  This design makes for a very capable sniper style mech.




Captain Nash's Mission #2 Analysis: If the Jags have any of these Baboons around, just get close and and crush them.  If they happen to the Prototype with the ERPPC...get close fast and crush them.

Tech Readout: http://www.solaris7.com/TRO/HTMLBattleMech/BattlemechInfo.asp?ID=894

NARC, TAG (tweaked rules) and Missile selection

Little post about some Rules for the campaign.  These may impact which mech a player will take.

With the Raven secured after Mission #2, our Sensor expert, who just happened to have the 1st pick selected the Raven.  How will this impact the game?  Here is the Raven Stuff (Some of this has been posted before)

1) ECM - Essentially will create a 24" Bubble around the Raven that will mess up enemy electronics (Artimus, Narc, sensors, etc...)

2) Probe - along with it's spotting hidden unit ability, it will give one extra level in the Mechwarrior sensor skill tree.  (So Poe will now have the SENSOR ADVANCED skill)

Name: SENSOR ADVANCED
Type: general
Description: Can spot Active units out of LOS within 36”, can tell if those units are Vehicle or Battlemech.  Must have SENSOR Basic Skill.

3) NARC - Magnetic homing beacon, when attached will increase the number of missiles that hit the target mech.  This will stack with any missile skill you may have, but will not stack with Artemis.  you must have Narc tracking missiles loaded (LRM or SRM)

4) TAG (Tweaked rules) - Normally TAG is only for Arty spotting, Seeing as how I have no intention of using Arty in the campaign...I had to make this useful so here goes...  TAG will work with every weapon system in the game.  Before the Fire Phase, the Raven can attempt to TAG a target.  If the target is hit, all weapons shot at that target can ignore the targets movement modifier.  For LRM's to use this you will have to loadup with Semi-guided missiles.  Semi-guided LRM's can fire indirect with out indirect fire modifiers at a TAGged target.

EDIT: in order to use the TAG tweaked rules, you must have the Sensor mechwarrior skill.  Otherwise the TAG works as written in the rulebook.


So this means you will have to select which type of missile ammo you are loading before each mission.
A) Regular
B) Artemis equipped (Needed if you have artemis attached to the launcher)
C) NARC Homing (To seek after a Narc homing beacon)
D) Semi-Guided (LRM's only)
That's all for now...

Mission #2: Killboard, Salvage, Mechbay and Roster

First up the Killboard. This is it set in stone, don't like it too bad.  Kills are awarded for bold actions, doing or saying something that makes most or everyone in the room laugh, and whenever I feel like it.  Anyways here it is for Mission #2.

Click for larger image

Next up are the Mech losses.  Players lost a Panther, Whitworth and Valkyrie.  So Josh, Poe and Caster are are mechless at this time.


  We didn't get any salvage from this mission but there is quite a bit of good news.  First the Bad news, Merloni wasn't forthcoming on his injuries from the dropship crash.  Turns our he has a broken leg, and a pretty bad concussion, without proper medical facilities he won;t be piloting a mech for quite a while.  That puts the Raven in our Mech Bay. 

  Next up, Tech Juan Manillo is quite the weapons expert.  Turns out he worked in an AC factory before becoming a mech tech.  He was able to piece together an Clan Ultra AC2, from the parts of the 11 Ultra AC2's we faced in the first battle.  That along with the other clan salvage, and the Koshi cockpit that Maverick grabbed means we can add a Koshi D to our Mechbay at this time.

  Finally the best news of all.  While you were on mission, Viper was approached by a the heads of a couple of local cattle farming families.  As Port Arthur was being over run in 3050 by the Smoke Jags there was a Kuritan lance of the 1st Sword of the light that trapped on world.  They hid their mechs in the barns of the Okajima and Matsuzaka farms.  The Mechwarriors were later captured by the Smoke Jags, but the mechs were never found.  They have sat there for almost 10 years.  The Matsuzaka and Okajima families have no love for their Smoke Jaguar oppressors, and while they are not thrilled about handing over the mechs to a Davion unit, they see this as the best chance to strike at the Jaguars.  They may smell a little ripe, but they will help us take the fight to the Jags.  We now have a Phoenix Hawk, Shadow Hawk, Wolf Trap and Wyvern...four solid medium mechs added to the mech bay. 

  Mechwarrior Roster after mission #2

Poe and Josh need to pick their second regular bonus skill from the mechwarrior skill list.  They also need to choose with they want to spend the 5 kills to improve their piloting or wait til they have 10 kills to improve their gunnery.

Here is the mech selection order for mission #3 (Corrected)
Poe
Josh
Jeff - Lower tonnage current mech tiebreaker
Caster - Bumped up two spots for two player kills (Blue Falcon Rule)
Pillsbury
Mitch
Viper

Maverick
Larry

That's all for now...

Mission #2: After Action Report

  Just before our forces were to set out, Captain Nash thought he picked up a ground unit on the dropship sensors.  Just to be safe Viper stayed behind and patrolled the perimeter in his Vulcan while the rest of the 7th when on the SAR mission for the Raven (Merloni) and Catapult (Garciparra).

  As elements of the Lucky 7th approached the two bridges they split into two lances.  Merloni got of a narrowband transmission as the player approached the bridges saying he last saw the Front line clan unit cross the East most bridge (leaving the board).  Lance Alpha for the players consisted of a Clint, Poe in his Valkyrie, Caster in his Panther and Whitworth.  They crossed the western most bridge, headed toward the weapons repair facility.  Lance Beta consisted of  Pillsbury in his Sentinel, Maverick in his Javelin, a Hermes II, and a Jenner.  They crossed the middle bridge headed toward the unknown facility.

(Begin cut-scene)  Lance Alpha spotted two Aerospace fighters coming in at them on a straffing run.  Their tactical displays shows the incoming Smoke Jags were in two Xerxes class fighters, each armed with two Ultra AC20's and 2 ER Large Lasers.  They were not the only ones that saw the fighters coming in...Garciaparra powered up his Catapult and stepped out from his concealed position just as the areospace fighters passed overhead.  He knew the fighters would make quick work of Lance Beta, and fired off an LRM20 at each of the Xerxes soft underbellies.  He managed to splash both of the fighters with critical hits before they could take a shot.  Unfortunately, one of them spiraled into the Easternmost bridge collapsing it.  That however was the least of Garciparra's problems, Ten Elementals lept from the nearby woods right onto his Catapult and began tearing it to pieces.  The power armored infantry managed to critical the LRM Ammo rack.  One of the Elementals happened to be climbing over the Catapult's ejection canopy as safetys engaged punching Garciparra out.  The canopy lifted only about 3 meters with the added ton of powered armor infantry on top of it.  Ramon most likely didn't feel a thing as his ejection seat slammed into the improperly deployed canopy. (End cut-scene)

   Lance Beta takes out one of the twin Ultra AC turrets defending the unknown facility.  Lance Alpha sees a under-strengthed star of Inner sphere Smoke Jag mechs coming from the Weapons facility.  The Smoke Jags have a Locust IIC, Firestarter, Assassin, and Spider.  Merloni, powers up his Raven and breaks to join up with Lance Beta, being a little too close to the Elementals and not wishing to share Garciparra's fate.  Three more squads of Elementals emerge from the woods chasing after the Raven.

  Lance Beta moves up taking out the remaining Streak SRM6 defensive turret.  Scans reveal the unknown facility to be some sort of cockpit / sensor repair building.  Sitting ready to go in one of the crates is a Koshi omni mech Head assembly.  The Javelin picks up the crate and turns to head back to the bridge.  The rest of Lance Beta pour fire into the western most bridge, thinking that might slow down any pursuit from the Clan front line star that has most likely been alerted to their location.

  Lance Alpha engages the Smoke Jag lance.  Mechwarrior Cano in his Locust IIC challenges Caster in his Panther to Honorable combat.  After the second turn of fire the Panther is missing a leg and the players realize the difference between a Locust and a Locust IIC.  The third turn of fire finishes cores the legged Panther, who was given an opportunity to punch out.  The rest of Lance Alpha takes out the Firestarter. 

  Lance Beta moving back to the bridge notices a Smoke Jag Peregrine mech standing in their deployment zone.  The Peregrine however has it's eyes on the badly damaged Valkyrie from Lance Alpha and heads off in that direction.  Lance Beta with the Raven in and the crate begin to cross back over the middle bridge when a Mad Cat enters the board by the western bridge they were shooting at.  Star Captain Gerigh, challenges Pillsbury to honorable combat hoping to slow the fleeing Davion Mechs.  Gerigh scans the bridge after seeing the damage and estimates that it will not support the weight of his Mad Cat.  He puts an ER Large laser in to the rear torso of Pillsbury's Sentinel.  Mechwarrior Hoyt in a Hankyu comes one to the board in the players deployment area and challenges the Jenner.

  Lance Alpha takes out Cano in the Locust IIC with a gyro hit and taking out a leg.  The Valkyrie is in serious trouble with minimal armor left and a Peregrine mech closing in.  Seeing a clear line to the crates in the weapons facility, the Whitworth and Clint (Rather than jumping over the river), head south back to the weapons facility to grab a crate or two.  The Peregrine moves up and finishes the Valk the next turn.

  Closing in on leaving the board edge the Javelin and Raven encounter a Firefly C, who does some damage to the Raven, but not enough to stop him from escaping (Primary objective accomplished).  The Javelin leave the board as well securing the Head component for the clan Koshi omni mech.  The Hankyu and Jenner, duke it out on the bridge, neither getting the upper hand.

  The next turn the Hermes II gets off the board, The Sentinel and Jenner finish off the Hankyu while taking fire at long range from the Mad Cat.  The Sentinel and Jenner leave the board the following turn.  Just leaving two members of Lance Beta up near the weapons facility.

  Five squads of Elementals closing on the Clint and Whitworth, along with the Assassin who has been harrasing the players all game.  The Peregrine challenges the Whitworth.  The Firefly C challeneges the Clint even though he is multiple turns away for being in weapons range.  The Clint scans the crates at the weapons facility and grabs a crate that has a clan large pulse laser.

   The Peregrine finally finishes off the Whitworth taking out the CT.  There might have been 10 points of armor left on the Whitworth...no grouping whats so ever on any shots that hit it throughout the game.  The Clint realizes that he will not have a chance to get off the table without using his jumpjets, drops the crate and flees off the table before the FireflyC can put enough accurate fire into him.

Smoke Jaguar losses: Firestarter, Locust IIC, Hankyu, 3 turrets, two small crates.

Davion losses: Panther, Whitworth, Valkyrie

Kill board and salvage reports to follow in a couple days.

(More detailed Images to come on this page, want to restage some of the key moments.)
           
           

Player Dossier: Esteban "Pillsbury" Manillo

1st Davion Guards Dossier

Type: Mechwarrior

Pillsbury (left) and brother Juan (right)

Name:  Esteban Manillo

Callsign:  Pillsbury

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Jagermech JM7-DD

Specialty:  Light ACs, Sensors

  Esteban and his brother Juan grew up in some of the worst colonial slums in the Davion sphere of control. When old enough Juan joined the military, to escape the gangs, and convinced his brother to go with him. Juan became a mech mechanic and Esteban joined the infantry. Both brothers excelled at their new vocations, but Juan pushed his younger brother to aspire to be more than a mere grunt. Knowing his brothers skills and intelligence, and using some contacts, he got Esteban a chance at being trained as a MechWarrior. Esteban aced his exams and got an appointment to an academy.

  Since his academy days he has done well as a light mech pilot, though now he has a Jagermech. Just like his days in the infantry, he doesn’t back down from a fight, no matter the odds. His call sign was given to him by his brother. Juan always teased Esteban because of his size (6’5”, 375 lbs) and appearance, calling him the Pillsbury Dough Boy in front of other Mechwarriors: the name stuck and has been with him ever since.

  Pillsbury is a loyal and tenacious fighter. He has shown a talent with auto cannons but is not above some close quarters combat, preferring to “curb stomp” an enemy mech.

Addendum: Pillsbury is now in a Daikyu DAI-01, having given up the Jagermech for a Rifleman...and losing the Rifleman in action with the Smoke Jags.




(Entry written by Kyle)

 

Mission Briefing: Mission #2

Mission 2:Rescue the Raven

Primary Objectives:

+ Cross river to search for two Davion Mechwarriors
+ Locate Private Merloni in his Raven Battlemech

+ Locate Sargent Garciparra in his Catapult Battlemech

+ Return across river to Extraction point.

Secondary Objectives:
+ Destroy all Smoke Jaguar forces encountered
+ Locate supply crates and return with them to Extraction point.

Mission Briefing:
Two of our guys are trapped in Smoke Jag territory.  They have gotten to a river which the Raven will need a bridge to cross (Catapult has Jump Jets).  They are waiting for us to help escort them back across the river to our area of operations.

1)     Cross river to search for two Davion Mechwarriors.  Two Bridges lead to the area that we believe they are in.


2)     Locate Merloni and Garciparra. They are hiding in some wooded areas that over look two Smoke Jaguar Facilities.  They will remain in a near shutdown state to avoid detection until they are discovered or you folks are close enough to escort them back across the river.

3)      Return across river to extraction point.   The Raven doesn't have Jump jets, So don't think about taking those bridges out until after the Raven has crossed them.

4)  Secure some supplies (optional).  Merloni was able to scan the larger of the two facilities without being detected, seems that it is a weapons repair facility.  Should be some crates ready to snatch up.  He was not sure what was in the other facility, but did see some crates outside.

5) Destroy Smoke Jaguar forces (optional)  Big picture, we are her to take down the Smoke Jags.  That job will be a lot easier down the road with a Raven and a Catapult among our ranks.  Getting those boys to safety takes priority over inflicting damage for this mission.  

Expected Jaguar forces:

Merloni has seen two stars of Clan mechs patrolling the area.  Safe bet that are searching for our guys and will respond quickly to the area when we show up. 

The first seemed like a Solahama unit mostly made up of mostly inner sphere mechs.

Locust IIC, Firestarter, Assassin, Spider, Commando

The Second seemed like a front line unit.  Probably all Jaguar Regulars.

Shadow Cat, Peregrine, Hankyu, Koshi, Firefly-C

Merloni also noticed an increase in Aerospace activity over the last  24 hours.  Guessing they are closing in on finding our guys.

Good Luck!

- Nash out -

Mission #2: Recon Photos

Here are the Recon photos of the area Merloni and Garciaparra are hiding in. (Each image clickable for larger view)
 
The insertion point.  Bridges are rated at 120CF, so don't overload them or you will be swimming home.  The intersection shown here is also your extraction point.

We believe our boys are hiding in the trees in the lower left of this picture.  You will note the two Jag facilities in the area.  Your entry is in the upper right.  

Merloni reports this is some sort of Smoke Jag weapon repair facility.  Should be some crates in this area. 













Merloni is unsure what this building does.  Also note the third bridge, this one will not lead you back to our area.  Note the impassible hills with the white rocks.

Mission Briefing should be up in the next couple days.

Nash out.