Hot Spot

In this DS2 scenario, forces of the Terran Overlord Government (TOG) attempt to evict Rebels from an ore processing plant on a volcanic world. The Rebel hold on the ore processing facility is depriving the TOG of war materiels and must now be terminated. The forces involved were based off of the actual Renegade Legion vehicles (from Centurion by FASA).

Referee:
Jon Davis

TOG:
Tom Barclay
Brian Bell
Mike Sarno
Dan Blezek    

Rebel Scum:
David Raynes
Nick Caldwell

Forces:

Terran Overlord Government:

1st Century:
1 Platoon of Light Grav Tanks
1 Platoon of Medium Grav Tanks
1 Platoon of Light AIFVs with PA (one of the PA stands has GMS/L)

2nd Century:
1 Platoon of Light Grav Tanks
1 Platoon of Medium Grav Tanks
1 Platoon of Medium Grav AIFVs with PA (one of the PA stands has GMS/L)

3rd Century:
1 Platoon of Light Grav Tanks
1 Platoon of Medium Grav Tanks
1 Platoon of Light AIFVs with PA (one of the PA stands has GMS/L)

4th Century:
1 Platoon of Light Grav Tanks
1 Platoon of Medium Grav Tanks
1 Platoon of Medium Grav AIFVs with PA (one of the PA stands has GMS/L)

Rebel Scum:

2 Platoons of Medium Tanks
2 Platoons of Light Tanks
1 Platoon of Medium AIFVs with PA

Terrain/Setup:

Volcanic crustal islands floating on a sea of semi-molten magma. Grav tanks can pass over either, but an immobility kill on the magmatic surface can be quite terminal. PA can operate on crust, but not on the magma. The rebels control a facility at one end of the board, with hidden units, and the TOG enters from the other end and tries to evict them.

TOG Battle plan:

Lead with the light tanks. Use recce by fire to force the unveiling of hidden units. Use the magma flows for movement (faster) and the islands for cover as a bounding supported advance is conducted. Use the light units to keep an eye on the upper levels, and to draw fire. Once fire is drawn, heavy vehicles will engage those revealed targets. Keep PA and AIFVs alive to take the facility.

Picture 1: TOG light tanks recce enemy positions by fire, thus provoking one renegade light element to break camouflage. Note the volcanic crustal islands and the magmatic flows. Also note the Ore processing facility in the background.

Picture 2: TOG advances, using crustal islands for cover, putting enough units on the crust to take any visible enemy under fire.

Picture 3: The rebel facility quakes at the first sight of the TOG forces.

Picture 4: TOG advances, annoyances appear out of the woodwork (or in this case, the sides of the crustal islands). Renegade medium tanks pound TOG light recce units.

Picture 5: TOG units "reward" the Rebel Scum for their perfidious tactics. The Emperor is pleased.

Picture 6: The TOG forces group for a push up the right flank, but the heavy tanks are nowhere in sight - well, more correctly there are some on the top right of the picture, others nowhere to be seen. At this point, heavy armour needs to take point.

Picture 7: Rebel Scum reveal more hidden units, heavily armed AIFVs with which they engage TOG forces. The Rebel Scum want to make a fight of it!

Picture 8: TOG medium AIFVs enter the battle, as Rebel Medium tanks appear on the right and Rebel Light tanks appear on the left out of the crust. Infantry is deployed to prevent them from dying if the vehicles get hit.

Picture 9: TOG heavy fire takes its toll. Rebel light and medium tanks burn, as do their medium AIFVs.

Picture 10: TOG PA fights too! Even in strange terrain such as that on the left flank....

Picture 11: TOG heavies finally arrive on the scene to backup the advance (the five rear vehicles) and a hard push up the magma salient is mounted - supported by more infantry. Note that the TOG heavy APCs fight even after sustaining one casualty and THREE immobility hits. TOG PA is using GMS/L by this point.

Picture 12: On the other flank, the Rebel Scum come out of the woodwork to threaten the small TOG force present there.

Picture 13: TOG commanders quickly react, deploying the AIFVs and PA to take the Medium Tanks under enfilade. This prevents them from menacing the rear of the TOG advance down the other flank.

Picture 14: TOG rolls like a wave over the Rebel Scum positions.... many of their vehicles are burning, and the TOG line now has a large amount of firepower to bear on them. Once the final Rebel tanks are dealt with, the infantry can sweep in with tank and AIFV support to exterminate the remaining rebel PA.

Picture 15: Rebel Scum pay for their treason! The TOG is assessed the victory because it is clear to all that the remaining Rebel forces stand little chance. These are the wages of disloyalty. The Emperor is pleased with his Cohorts.

Note: This is an interesting situation. About a 1.5 to 1 ratio of attacker to defender, with the defender dug in or hiding. But the defenders had three magma corridors to defend and tried a defence in depth. In this instance, that merely served to allow a large multi-element TOG force to engage each of their units pretty much one at a time as they appeared (because the TOG realized the defense was spread out and thrust hard down the right flank to effectively isolate some of the defenders). Their was no manouverable reserve. I would have been tempted to park both sets of Medium tanks behind the ore processing island, and thus they could swing to meet the TOG advance wherever it went. By forward deploying them, they allowed the TOG to isolate them. This is one occasion that,  due to terrain, a defense in depth was a bad idea. It allowed the attacker too much leeway.

Great game, great looking, great fun. Thanks to one and all. Even the Rebel Scum!

Quotes:

"I've got the left flank. I always have bad luck on the left..." (memories of Grey Day surfacing here...) -- David Raynes

"We should be buying our designators from the guys who make Brian's vehicles." -- Tom Barclay

"Why did the first wave get all the crappy designators?" -- Mike Sarno (neither he nor Tom could hit whereas Brian, from the second TOG wave, couldn't miss.)

"From now on, we shall always refer to them as Rebel Scum." -- Mike Sarno (making a policy decision about enemy nomenclature early in the game)

"What range do our sensors work at?" - various TOG players
"Twelve inches." -- Jon D
"All right, the HELs shoot 60". The sensors work at 12". Recce by fire!" -- Tom Barclay

"How can you tell where he measured? There's a hole in his formation." - Tom Barclay

"You can turn the selector off the 'laser pointer' setting, Dan..." - Brian Bell (after Dan fires HELs ineffectively)

"Oh man...it _IS_ the red button!" - Mike S (after Brian B just rolled 3 twelves (on d12) out of 4 rolls and Mike had just missed with an entire unit )