And now, again, a battle is joined.

Some believe that you get the true measure of your enemy when you first face them in combat. This is true enough to be said, and true enough to be repeated, but it is not a whole truth.

Surely, the first time your weapon strikes out at those who face you, you do not merely test the manufacture of their armor. The flesh and bone beneath it all might give sooner than the metal.

But you cannot know the measure of your enemy until you bring them close to death.

Let us see, then, who has come to face us.

The Kapteyn Chaos Campaign has begun! The first scenario track was Meeting Engagement, where the Attackers (the Kapteyn Group) lands and the Federation Commonwealth forces sortie out to meet them.

The Kapteyn force (Jenner F, Trebuchet 5N, Wolverine 6M, Cyclops Q) grounded on Rigil Kentarus in a hilly area, they were met by defenders from the Federated Commonwealth (Wolfhound 1A, Centurion AL, Guillotine 4L, Zeus 6T). Early engagements were indecisive until a Centurion was caught (bait?) out in the open and forced to withdraw (crippling damage), with the Jenner and Wolverine following after it. However, that left a badly damaged Cyclops and Trebuchet to face multiple forces. A critical PPC through the side torso destroyed the Cyclops‘ LRM ammo and the Trebuchet punched by the Wolfhound from behind found the same fate. (In Introductory rules, an ammo explosion is nearly always fatal.)

This was the first time I have ever used the Zeus. I have generally discounted this ‘Mech: it is lightly armored (11.5 tons) for an Assault ‘Mech and too many weapons for too few heat sinks. However, on closer inspection it held up well in the fight as a sniper platform, firing the PPC and LRM 15 from an elevated cover position (17 heat sinks were enough to dissipate those weapons alone). It punished the Cyclops Q (which has 17 tons of armor) from long distance. All the Introductory variants are around 1400 BV, which makes an affordable ‘Mech and a decent 4/6 movements means it can still get around the field as an Assault. Plus it looks cool!

Until next time MechWarriors!