In which we fight the first half of the Battle for the Great Vasel Bridge.
This sounds easy. Let’s do it.
An imperial patrol on the east bank hears something strange.
And suddenly: tank. See, Imperials? THIS IS HOW IT FEELS!
And while I can’t agree with Welkin’s remark that “the Edelweiss swims just fine”, I’m happy to see Chekhov’s Flaregun in action:
Cpt. Varrot gives us a final briefing on Operation Cloudburst.
We come from the riverbank, and our primary objective is the imperial camp on the riverside. We’re warned that the enemy might call for backup as soon as they realize what is going on, so we have to press the attack. There are also many imperial tanks stationed in the area, in various states of readiness. And as this is played by the book, there are also tanks of ragnite fuel sitting around, ready to explode once shot. Explosive barrels for the win.
Victory condition: capture of the imperial base camp.
Fail states: 10 turns pass (we’re in a hurry), Welkin bites the dust, Gallian base camp gets occupied, all Gallian soldiers and reserves are killed.
Once again we start by positioning our units.
This time, our only mus-have-unit is Welkin, so we can choose the rest of the gang freely. Upon embarkment, Largo once again reinforces his opinion of the plan (“crazy”), and Squad 1 kindly informs us about an imperial company moving in our direction.
The direct path is blocked by rubble. Of course it is. Where would be the fun otherwise?
We start by moving the Edelweiss forward. Unfortunately there’s nothing to hit when it runs out of AP, so it’ll just serve as a roadblock for now. The tank is followed by Coby, who disposes of a Ragnite-barrel and the tank parked next to it.
Mica follows up, taking out the scout at the imperial camp and another Ragnite-barrel next to the active tank in the east.
It was not the best of ideas to have him stand out in the open, as we will learn during the imperial turn.
Alicia takes the first imperial camp, blows another Ragnite-barrel and the tank parked next to it to kingdom come and takes cover behind the building. Which wasn’t the best move, either.
Elysse, one of our lancers, moves forward and takes the already badly damaged tank out.
Catherine climbs the nearby watchtower to give us some intel. The view from up there is truly magnificent.
She also tries to take a shot at a barrel across the map, but misses. The last action of this turn belongs to Largo, who moves forward to join Elysse.
This is going to hurt. And the next time, I’ll take an end-of-turn-mapshot where we can actually see the enemy positions.
Things start going sideways when an imperial sniper decides to take a shot at Mica, who still stands out in the open. Twice.
A shocktrooper tries to circle around our troops and takes a shot at Alicia, followed by the scout who stood next to the tank.
And the Empire tries to take down O’Hara. With a tank. This should have been a wake-up call, but guess what: I’ve ignored it.
The medic-mechanics are explained: when a Gallian soldier falls to zero hit points, she falls unconscious. If we leave a downed soldier for three turns or let an enemy touch her, she’s dead. However, if we manage to get another of our troops to her in time, MEDEVAC is called in and the downed soldier gets evacuated and treated.
Our turn starts with Rosie disposing of the imperial shocktrooper and takes point on the western flank to stop something like this from happening again. Coby takes the scout down and tries to reach cover. Mica rushes behind the wall on the eastern side of the map and uses a dose of Ragnaid to patch himself up.
The lancers take position behind Coby, and Largo takes a shot at the sniper. With his lancaar. And hits.
The Edelweiss follows up, taking another shot at the sniper.
Coby moves forward to take him out, but he doesn’t get close enough to deal substantial damage. Finally, Elysse moves forward to provide anti-tank capabilities on the eastern flank.
The enemy sniper leaves his position on the rooftop.
While I understand the decision to show enemy movement only from the point of view of our own troops, it can be quite confusing sometimes. At one point, the point of view for sniper movement was the Edelweiss, and I first thought the sniper would attack the tank…
Another AT-shell comes into O’Hara’s direction. And hits.
We have our first soldier down, and that’s basically all the Empire does in its turn.
Another mechanic is introduced: retreating. At any camp under our control we can send soldiers away or order reinforcements at a CP-cost, as long as we don’t break our unit limit or try to get more than eight new men ashore.
We start with our last shocktrooper, Dorothy. She calls in MEDEVAC for Catherine and takes position behind Rosie.
Elysse tries to get a clear shot at the imperial tank’s radiator, but misses. The radiator, not the tank, but the radiator would have been a one hit kill.
Mica comes after her and uses the Ragnite-barrel in front of the tank to finish it.
Afterwards, he takes position on the eastern flank.
The Edelweiss rolls forward and places a mortar shell neatly into the encampment. The imperial lancer shrugs it off. Bloody ex-resistance. Coby takes care of him.
With the help of a second CP, Coby also takes over the camp and steps back into relative cover.
Rosie takes the last move of the turn, sending some more tanks into oblivion with kind regards of Ms. Grenade and Mr. Ragnite-Barrel.
Isara kindly informs Welkin that she has intercepted an imperial transmission.
One might think that this is a typical lose-lose-situation. If there would be anyone left in alpha camp, they would report being under Gallian attack. Getting no answer would imply the same. But Isara comes up with a solution:
“Just tell them that everything is okay”. It works, for now.
Following this close call, we get yet another tutorial message: not only we can call for reinforcements, the Empire can, too – but only to camps under its control.
The only imperial action is the movement of a certain sniper. He’s to the right of out flag, just right of the first window.
And as these are 1000+ words already and we’re only about halfway through the battle, we end todays episode on a cliffhanger. Will our Gallian heroes survive? Will they secure the bridge in time? Find out monday.