Situation Foxtrot (SAO/Foxhole) [COMPLETE]
- Thread starter 7734
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- United States
Those were some rough looking rolls, but our Planning bonus was just too good to be deterred. This operation has gotten off to a solid start - now we await the colonial response.
Decim
On again, off again lurker.
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
Between the Folkvangr and Red Hand, the Goblins only have two options. 1.) Counterattack from The Crossing or 2.) Defend The Crossing like hell. And if they do try to counterattack, well, there's only a couple of bridges there, and if they go, so do all Colonial forces on the north side of the river. Its a very precarious position for them to be in, even if the Folkvangr is very beaten up and disorganized right now.
Push for Sunhaven: Entering Deadlands
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
It was time to assault Deadlands.
There was a part of you, a deep part, that felt like saying that was the beginning of the end of an era. You had exactly one goal to perform: take the Abandoned Ward, and get to the Sunhaven Cathedral. If you did this, if everything went well, then you could finally get out of the game and go home. God. What a thought. That freedom would be so close-
-but still so far away. You still needed to cross several kilometers of enemy terrain, riddled with trenches and concrete, coated in Collies, and with your old nemesis ready to kill you for the attempt. So, you did what you always did. You gathered your commanding officers. This time, it was the central floor of the Viper's Pit bastion, with the doors locked and barred.
"Ladies, gentlemen, Wardens," you began, almost dramatically. It was two days before zero-hour, and in your customary fashion the meeting had been handled before you got to the serious stuff: the drinking and the complaining session that told you the shit you actually needed to know. "I have some good news for this operation!"
"What, the fact that it's only a temporary shade of hell?" someone called out jokingly.
"No. For the first time, we have what is a potential way out of the game," you said.
The atmosphere stilled, with bated breath.
"Our goal, our organizational goal, is to take the Abandoned Ward. Inside that island is the Sunhaven Cathedral, a major landmark near a safe house designed to be a position commanding the city. Inside this Cathedral is a GM console. And, having found every Argus staffer who was online at the time of game launch, we believe we might be able to get everyone out."
Silence reigned for a moment, until a champagne flute fell from some nervous hands and hit the floor.
"We-" Silica said, gulping. "We could go home?"
"If we win this. If we find the console, and capture it. If the staffers can code a patch to force us out. I will not say it is certain," you said, walking up to your small friend. "But I think it is worth the risk."
And in the privacy of your mind, you let a little wince. Or I take the Argus staff, lock them in a room, and gas it before offering Sundowner a chance to figure out which one is his man.
"Is-" Tymur said, before gulping and blinking. "Melanie. When this is over- do you think we stand a chance at finding each other?"
"I think everyone should try and remember anyone else's names," you said softly, half a tear falling from your eye. "And I know I'll try and get everyone back together after this online. I'm not sure where, I'm not sure when, but I swear on this digital sword that I'll find a way to see you all again. If you need help, then I'll do everything I can to be there. It's the least I can do for you, after all the blood you've shed for me."
At this point, Theresa started laughing. It might not have rung with joy or cheer, but it was a clean laugh as she grabbed another bottle of wine. "Orr, you madman! I knew you had to have a plan somewhere, but hell, this takes the cake! Everyone, make sure you get a list of names to me when you come in for supplies, and I'll try and set up a forum when we get out. Nobody gets left behind from the Folkvangr!"
You laughed too, at that, the crystal sound ringing through the hall. "A toast, everyone! To no man left behind!"
The glasses rang, and nobody could see the shadows in each other's eyes for the rest of the night.
///
Zero hour came about in the black of night, at four AM, same as always. The 15e and 64e were rolling hot, dozens of engines screaming their rage into the night as the thunder run commenced. You were hitting earlier than Cauthon by two hours- a doctrinal decision that had caused some debate, but you'd won out on just for the sake of drill. Practice as you planned to perform, after all.
Once again, you were nearly entirely out of control of the situation. Sergeants would shout to their officers, who would radio back to battalion command the state of the fight. Battalion commanders would coordinate with artillery and call back for supplies and assistance from regimental commanders. Regimental commanders would assemble logi lists, and telegraph them back to your comms post in Sanctum, where they'd get radio'd forward to supply bunker bases and loaded into trucks. Rapid dispatch wagons from Kirknell would roll in, throw truckloads of crates to the ground, and roll back; all the while container truck after container truck of pallets rumbled in with shells, fuel units, and engineering supplies.
Your watch struck five as the base commander's bell rung twice. Rolling your shoulders, you looked over at Silica in her place as your adjunct. "Status report?"
"One and a half hours to twilight, two and a half to sunrise," Silica said, looking over a sheaf of notes. "The Flying Artillery are reporting the enemy is conducting sophisticated and extensive firefighting operations: the rockets aren't doing nearly as much as hoped. The 150s have been dropped to dig out Juliet; rocket vehicles are focusing their efforts on Fort Oscar. 64e Armored is reporting frequent inbound 75mm fire, though, and have identified emplaced guns in that caliber."
"Mark down those have salvage priority," you said idly, looking down at where the 163e was shaking itself down into deployment order nervously. The switch to Fusiliers- a Line Infantry unit, instead of a Light Infantry unit, that insidious systems assist whispered to you- had divested them of a lot of spare trucks and other support assets. Instead, they now had more tools attached to their headquarters: mortar carriers, towed anti-tank guns, and even a battery of captured Colonial 120s with some of your old Wasp's Nest batteries. "Any other important news?"
"Yes. 62e, with Kazoo, is reporting contact with an expanded set of Colonial armored vehicles. Apparently, they're deploying Talos assault guns, and a large number of Pelekys self-propelled anti-tank pieces. It's difficult going, but the bridge is going to go down he says. Lines of reinforcement are secure on both the 62e and 64e, but casualties are fierce."
You nodded. "Well, we've prepared for that. Time to send the first flight of Shirts Trucks out to the pro temporum field bases; nothing that a few sops to the frontline won't solve."
"Right, sending it," Silica said, tapping her clipboard carefully. "Do we have a planned entry time into the hex?"
"Eight hundred, or when Fort Oscar and Fort Juliet are declared secured," you said, sighing. "Get someone to spell your watch when that happens, I want you running back end here from twelve hundred on out."
"Train direction duty?"
"Logistics in general; we've got a lot moving around and this is gonna be a bloody one. I expect a lot of pushback, so we need to keep everything rolling on the dots. For all Asuna's rocking a set of self-propelled guns now, I think this is going to turn into a slugfest at some point and we'll need to be prepared for it."
"Prepare for a slugfest at one, got it," Silica said, droll as ever. "I'll make sure everyone knows."
"I'll even get hot tea for the dramatic sips," you grinned. "C'mon. We've got plenty more time to sit around and watch the vics roll by."
///
Five turned into six, and half past the ghost of light started striking the clouds above you. False dawn, nautical twilight, the asshole sign; whatever you wanted to call it, the signal it was creating was obvious. It was time to step the assault up. As more trucks with less practiced drivers started clearing the base, you got a call in from the border base field telephone.
"General Orr speaking," you said calmly from the inside of your command bunker, the desk filled with papers you'd been countersigning and old telegrams.
"Orr, this is Kirito," the young man said quickly, his accent notably thicker than usual. "We have a problem."
"What is it?"
"Ares."
Right, you needed to break out the ID Guidebook on that one. Open it to the index, letter 'a' section, page 16, Ares.
Let's see, Colonial Super Tank, well that's a bad sign. Two 12.7mm guns, not good. Two 7.7mm guns, passible but bad. Two 75mm guns-
-what.
Two 75mm guns. In the turret. What the fuck?! Add in 'unknown optical systems' and 'two dedicated internal engineers', and you had several fucking problems!
"Kirito tell me that you have hard fucking confirmation on this," you snapped into the telephone handset. "I want fucking pictures before we start scrambling."
"You'll get them. We need Starbreakers to put these things down, Orr, and those are stationary only guns."
"No they're not," you muttered, following a little ping of Systems Assist kicking in. "We've got the, er, Lordscar? Let me check."
It'd have to be on a Silverhand chassis, so tab open to that in the reference book, then scroll through the marks. Mk. II Albemarle, Mk. IV Silverhand, Mk. VI Strathearn, Mk. VIII Teviotdale, Mk. X Lordscar. Here you go. One 94.5mm gun in open-topped design, and… that's it. Not even a pintle mount, but being open-topped you could always pile in a dude or two with storm rifles.
"Yeah, we've got Lordscars," you said, frowning. "I'll call up the sustainment and research teams, we've got to get a handle on this shit."
"Noble Widows would at least let us hold the line, but the stock Silverhands won't be able to do it," Kirito said quickly, and you could hear his hands drumming on a table. "Listen, I've got to go soon. That coastal route from Oscar to Kilo and Lima through the Steppes; they're gonna start mining it soon."
"You want to stop that?"
"Kazoo wants to try and use it to put pressure on Callahan's Boot. If the-"
Interrupting Kirito, an aide from the 72e came in with hell on his heels. "Ma'am! Reports in from Callahan's Belt, they've made contact with the Red Hand! We have north route link-up!"
"-Right, Kirito, I've got shit to do," you snapped. "If you can interdict the engineers on the Steppes, do it safely; otherwise I need info on where the enemy 150s are so we can counterbattery them. Remember, their guns outrange ours by a good margin, so we need to be careful about that."
"Got it. We'll get to work right away."
"Good hunting," you said, hanging up the phone, before turning to your aide. "Alright, get the telegram out to the logistics teams, we're good to go for North Route logistics vehicles. I want the spare vehicle reserves brought up, double time; and if anyone sees any unintended artillery in any city between here and Cuttail Station, I want it stolen and brought in on the next train down. I'm also going to need a call to the 241e right the fuck now, this is the kind of bad news they need to hear from me."
"Yes, ma'am!" the aide said. "We've also got the 115e waiting for redeployment soon, they're currently chomping at the bit to hit the front lines."
"Stall them, I want that unit fresh for as long as I can get it."
"Wilco!"
For understandable reasons, Loup and Theresa were mad as hell that you needed to get Lordscars out the door right now, and damn sense and sensibility. Fortunately, Noble Widows were an easier holdover, but the fact was you just didn't have a lot of the Starbreaker guns you'd need to make the conversions with. Worse still, you didn't have a ton of 94.5mm ammo either. That shit was expensive! The problem was, though, the Ares threat was immense. Even if there weren't many of them, even if they were being kept as a fleet in being, even if there were only a single platoon of them: those things would shred your armor to pieces. Argo's testing had already proven that a 75mm hit to anything other than the frontal glacis of a tank was likely to cause a detracking, and it was only two hits to kill a Silverhand. Worse still, the explosive blast stood a decent chance of concussing a tank crew, so attempts to retreat from the fire had a very low chance of actually working.
By the time you had that fire put out, it was 0740, and Fort Kilo had finally been declared disabled. As per your plans, you saddled up in a King Spire and jumped the border, just another tank moving through in a supply convoy.
Your station in the remains of Fort Juliet was, in a word, terrible. Demo teams were hard at work cleaning up and clearing out bunker husks in problem positions, and the 41e Engineers were busy setting up field hospitals and supply dumps for your units pouring through. The entire fort was filled with smoke and noise, and the outpost your people were punching up was no exception as builders hammered on it while you got your staff set up in the radio desks and you dug into a command station with a telephone. Not ten minutes after your but had met chair and you had a nice cup of tea, it was Zairman on line 4.
"Orr," the man said, coughing weakly. "Could I ask for a favor?"
"Literally what I'm here for, Zairman. Lay it on me."
"Would you happen to know if the enemy has a 75mm armed tank that can bounce our 68s?"
"Yeah," you groaned. "That's an Ares. Colonial Super Tank."
"Great. They're hiding it in Talos platoons, and we're getting torn to shreds here," Zairman said, wincing as a shell landed near his position. "They're trying to zero in on us with 150s, too, but their aim is shit and we're reliably nailing their spotters. I can't push through this, though: we're locked in unless you can pull off a miracle."
"Good to know," you said, grimacing. "I'll try and get you more vics when I can, those are bound to be dying in job lots."
"Yep. I'll take any Noble Widows you can scrounge up- fuck they found my HQ again, gotta run, love you!"
And then he hung up on you. Great.
Alright. You could deal. Before you delt with the magical appearance of a fully armed and operational Colonial armored regiment, though, you needed to figure out how Cauthon was doing and colimate your report for him. Keeping each other briefed would be a key part of this operation: if he didn't know what you were doing, there was an excellent chance that there'd be unnecessary overlap or separation between where your line of battle met his. That took time, though, even with your staff working your regimental commander's reports together into cohesive wholes for you to then meld into a State of the Brigade for him.
Naturally, Cauthon's arrived a half hour after you sent the couriers with yours, and his looked twice as good to boot. That said, the information within… you didn't like it.
To wit: his right flank, with the 219th, 220th, and 155th had almost, but not quite, achieved their goals. The Oleander Light Guards had managed to bull a mechanized infantry regiment over the river, and were slugging it out under the cover of a battalion of their own guns. While three on one and a half was not what you'd consider good odds, it was a hell of an opening for Overwatch/Kingmaker to throw a backhand blow into if they had something nasty like a battalion of rocket artillery ready to go.
The Red Hand's center was in much better shape, happily enough. With the 154th dug in around Iron End, they were just in range to start lobbing shells into The Crossing by way of Pommel Annex, where the Collie defensive line was anchored. The 27th was ready to push as soon as they had some support ready to go, and unless the enemy units in Callahan's Boot wanted to try and sally into them it would only be units in The Crossing and Abandoned Ward itself to stop them.
Regarding logistics, now that you had a link secured with his lines, your supplies were starting to pull through to him, and combat sustainment was ready to roll for running your kit through the interconnection between the Red Hand and the Folkvangr.
While you yourself weren't in an amazing place, your units were still on the dots and the plan was still good to go. The 64e was heavily engaged, the 62e was lightly engaged, the 15e was likewise lightly engaged but fighting by battalion under local officer control while Asuna was setting up a resupply point, and the 163e was out of combat and out of position. If you needed to, you could also put your QRF on frontline combat details. The 115e might be young, but they were reasonably well-equipped and you trusted them to hold flanks and otherwise allow your units to take a more forward approach to combat.
At the moment, as Cauthon had put in his report, his current operational plan was to tie up his right flank, and then use his artillery to level The Crossing, move them up, and then start shooting tit-for-tat into Abandoned Ward to suppress enemy artillery while his bridge building teams went up and got shit done.
You didn't like this plan. It invited disaster, and worse, it invited stalling out as the campaign turned into a miniature form of Stalingrad. Your entire ability to keep your brigade together was built around fast, decisive action; something Cauthon's plans wouldn't provide. There was a way, though.
Hope's Causeway. It was narrow- about a tank's width wide- and tall enough to let ships under it without a drawbridge. More importantly, you couldn't blow it. Take that, and you could slip units in the footbridge behind it that was able to be rebuilt without a CV. It wouldn't let you get a large force into Abandoned Ward, but you didn't need a large one to fuck with artillery betting on the buildings for cover.
There were also a number of beaches around Abandoned Ward- and Mulloys, your default APC, were amphibious. It would be a long bet, but between your own units and the 108th Naval Infantry, you could mount a credible landing force that would buy time to let you put up a bridge so you could rush armor over. It would be hell, and casualties could get very high very quickly, but it was an option.
Two plans, plus Cauthon's snail pace race. It'd have to be enough. If you waited, there was a risk that Overwatch/Kingmaker could get their feet back under them, and then there'd be a counter-attack somewhere and somehow.
///
MAP
///
Unit Statuses
1 Brigade, Folkvangr: Good Supply, Fair Morale, Good Cohesion. The majority of the brigade is engaged in battle or was recently engaged in battle. Logistics apparatuses are running normally, but front lines are rapidly hitting local exhaustion due to combat intensity.
-15e Flying Artillery: Fair Supply, Fair Morale, Poor Cohesion. The 15e has had to divide into battalion combat with new equipment and has not properly rehearsed this series of evolutions, causing a notable increase in failures and cross-communications issues. If the unit has time to consolidate, it may yet recover.
-62e Grenadiers: Good Supply, Fair Morale, Good Cohesion. The 62e has finished a hard-fought fortress-breaking mission and is currently under fire from an energetic 150mm battalion located on the far side of the river. While enemy fires are inncacurate, they're still taking a toll on the units providing overwatch on the bridge's remains.
-64e Grenadiers: Fair Supply, Poor Morale, Good Cohesion. The 64e has found itself locked into a shoving match against an enemy with superior equipment and freshly deployed, versus their own work breaking two major concrete fortifications. Losing tanks and AFVs to enemy fire is plummeting morale, not aided by the fact that this heavy fight in constrained space is preventing officers from taking initiative.
-163e Fusaliers: Fair Supply, Fair Morale, Good Cohesion. The 163e has finished breaking a major fortifiaction and has achieved a link-up with Red Hand supply apparatus units, and is in position to natively resupply most consumables even if it cannot replenish vehicles.
///
Votes
(Choose One)
[] Plan Cauthon
--- A slow walk into The Crossing, and artillery forever after.
PROS: Low risk, and high likelihood of success
CONS: Slow, with risks of Colonial units performing counterattacks and inviting partisans.
[] Plan Causeway
-[] Commit Reserves (163e Fusiliers, 115e Dragoons)
--- A fast assault to Hope's Causeway, a quick crossing under rocket bombardment for cover, and then another bridge crossing into Abandoned Ward.
PROS: High speed, guaranteed infrastructure, relieves pressure on Zairman
CONS: High risk of getting mulched by pre-registered artillery, unknown ability and location of counterattack forces to break the supply line over the causeway.
[] Plan Landings
-[] Commit Reserves (163e Fusiliers, 115e Dragoons)
--- A riverine crossing using APCs to deliver the maximum number of people into Abandoned Ward in the minimum amount of time under a covering bombardment.
PROS: Medium risk once landed, high likelihood of underdefended beaches, puts a lot of people into Abandoned Ward quickly.
CONS: Poor casualty recovery process, high material risks, large numbers of potentially permanent casualties if intercepted.
There was a part of you, a deep part, that felt like saying that was the beginning of the end of an era. You had exactly one goal to perform: take the Abandoned Ward, and get to the Sunhaven Cathedral. If you did this, if everything went well, then you could finally get out of the game and go home. God. What a thought. That freedom would be so close-
-but still so far away. You still needed to cross several kilometers of enemy terrain, riddled with trenches and concrete, coated in Collies, and with your old nemesis ready to kill you for the attempt. So, you did what you always did. You gathered your commanding officers. This time, it was the central floor of the Viper's Pit bastion, with the doors locked and barred.
"Ladies, gentlemen, Wardens," you began, almost dramatically. It was two days before zero-hour, and in your customary fashion the meeting had been handled before you got to the serious stuff: the drinking and the complaining session that told you the shit you actually needed to know. "I have some good news for this operation!"
"What, the fact that it's only a temporary shade of hell?" someone called out jokingly.
"No. For the first time, we have what is a potential way out of the game," you said.
The atmosphere stilled, with bated breath.
"Our goal, our organizational goal, is to take the Abandoned Ward. Inside that island is the Sunhaven Cathedral, a major landmark near a safe house designed to be a position commanding the city. Inside this Cathedral is a GM console. And, having found every Argus staffer who was online at the time of game launch, we believe we might be able to get everyone out."
Silence reigned for a moment, until a champagne flute fell from some nervous hands and hit the floor.
"We-" Silica said, gulping. "We could go home?"
"If we win this. If we find the console, and capture it. If the staffers can code a patch to force us out. I will not say it is certain," you said, walking up to your small friend. "But I think it is worth the risk."
And in the privacy of your mind, you let a little wince. Or I take the Argus staff, lock them in a room, and gas it before offering Sundowner a chance to figure out which one is his man.
"Is-" Tymur said, before gulping and blinking. "Melanie. When this is over- do you think we stand a chance at finding each other?"
"I think everyone should try and remember anyone else's names," you said softly, half a tear falling from your eye. "And I know I'll try and get everyone back together after this online. I'm not sure where, I'm not sure when, but I swear on this digital sword that I'll find a way to see you all again. If you need help, then I'll do everything I can to be there. It's the least I can do for you, after all the blood you've shed for me."
At this point, Theresa started laughing. It might not have rung with joy or cheer, but it was a clean laugh as she grabbed another bottle of wine. "Orr, you madman! I knew you had to have a plan somewhere, but hell, this takes the cake! Everyone, make sure you get a list of names to me when you come in for supplies, and I'll try and set up a forum when we get out. Nobody gets left behind from the Folkvangr!"
You laughed too, at that, the crystal sound ringing through the hall. "A toast, everyone! To no man left behind!"
The glasses rang, and nobody could see the shadows in each other's eyes for the rest of the night.
///
Zero hour came about in the black of night, at four AM, same as always. The 15e and 64e were rolling hot, dozens of engines screaming their rage into the night as the thunder run commenced. You were hitting earlier than Cauthon by two hours- a doctrinal decision that had caused some debate, but you'd won out on just for the sake of drill. Practice as you planned to perform, after all.
Once again, you were nearly entirely out of control of the situation. Sergeants would shout to their officers, who would radio back to battalion command the state of the fight. Battalion commanders would coordinate with artillery and call back for supplies and assistance from regimental commanders. Regimental commanders would assemble logi lists, and telegraph them back to your comms post in Sanctum, where they'd get radio'd forward to supply bunker bases and loaded into trucks. Rapid dispatch wagons from Kirknell would roll in, throw truckloads of crates to the ground, and roll back; all the while container truck after container truck of pallets rumbled in with shells, fuel units, and engineering supplies.
Your watch struck five as the base commander's bell rung twice. Rolling your shoulders, you looked over at Silica in her place as your adjunct. "Status report?"
"One and a half hours to twilight, two and a half to sunrise," Silica said, looking over a sheaf of notes. "The Flying Artillery are reporting the enemy is conducting sophisticated and extensive firefighting operations: the rockets aren't doing nearly as much as hoped. The 150s have been dropped to dig out Juliet; rocket vehicles are focusing their efforts on Fort Oscar. 64e Armored is reporting frequent inbound 75mm fire, though, and have identified emplaced guns in that caliber."
"Mark down those have salvage priority," you said idly, looking down at where the 163e was shaking itself down into deployment order nervously. The switch to Fusiliers- a Line Infantry unit, instead of a Light Infantry unit, that insidious systems assist whispered to you- had divested them of a lot of spare trucks and other support assets. Instead, they now had more tools attached to their headquarters: mortar carriers, towed anti-tank guns, and even a battery of captured Colonial 120s with some of your old Wasp's Nest batteries. "Any other important news?"
"Yes. 62e, with Kazoo, is reporting contact with an expanded set of Colonial armored vehicles. Apparently, they're deploying Talos assault guns, and a large number of Pelekys self-propelled anti-tank pieces. It's difficult going, but the bridge is going to go down he says. Lines of reinforcement are secure on both the 62e and 64e, but casualties are fierce."
You nodded. "Well, we've prepared for that. Time to send the first flight of Shirts Trucks out to the pro temporum field bases; nothing that a few sops to the frontline won't solve."
"Right, sending it," Silica said, tapping her clipboard carefully. "Do we have a planned entry time into the hex?"
"Eight hundred, or when Fort Oscar and Fort Juliet are declared secured," you said, sighing. "Get someone to spell your watch when that happens, I want you running back end here from twelve hundred on out."
"Train direction duty?"
"Logistics in general; we've got a lot moving around and this is gonna be a bloody one. I expect a lot of pushback, so we need to keep everything rolling on the dots. For all Asuna's rocking a set of self-propelled guns now, I think this is going to turn into a slugfest at some point and we'll need to be prepared for it."
"Prepare for a slugfest at one, got it," Silica said, droll as ever. "I'll make sure everyone knows."
"I'll even get hot tea for the dramatic sips," you grinned. "C'mon. We've got plenty more time to sit around and watch the vics roll by."
///
Five turned into six, and half past the ghost of light started striking the clouds above you. False dawn, nautical twilight, the asshole sign; whatever you wanted to call it, the signal it was creating was obvious. It was time to step the assault up. As more trucks with less practiced drivers started clearing the base, you got a call in from the border base field telephone.
"General Orr speaking," you said calmly from the inside of your command bunker, the desk filled with papers you'd been countersigning and old telegrams.
"Orr, this is Kirito," the young man said quickly, his accent notably thicker than usual. "We have a problem."
"What is it?"
"Ares."
Right, you needed to break out the ID Guidebook on that one. Open it to the index, letter 'a' section, page 16, Ares.
Let's see, Colonial Super Tank, well that's a bad sign. Two 12.7mm guns, not good. Two 7.7mm guns, passible but bad. Two 75mm guns-
-what.
Two 75mm guns. In the turret. What the fuck?! Add in 'unknown optical systems' and 'two dedicated internal engineers', and you had several fucking problems!
"Kirito tell me that you have hard fucking confirmation on this," you snapped into the telephone handset. "I want fucking pictures before we start scrambling."
"You'll get them. We need Starbreakers to put these things down, Orr, and those are stationary only guns."
"No they're not," you muttered, following a little ping of Systems Assist kicking in. "We've got the, er, Lordscar? Let me check."
It'd have to be on a Silverhand chassis, so tab open to that in the reference book, then scroll through the marks. Mk. II Albemarle, Mk. IV Silverhand, Mk. VI Strathearn, Mk. VIII Teviotdale, Mk. X Lordscar. Here you go. One 94.5mm gun in open-topped design, and… that's it. Not even a pintle mount, but being open-topped you could always pile in a dude or two with storm rifles.
"Yeah, we've got Lordscars," you said, frowning. "I'll call up the sustainment and research teams, we've got to get a handle on this shit."
"Noble Widows would at least let us hold the line, but the stock Silverhands won't be able to do it," Kirito said quickly, and you could hear his hands drumming on a table. "Listen, I've got to go soon. That coastal route from Oscar to Kilo and Lima through the Steppes; they're gonna start mining it soon."
"You want to stop that?"
"Kazoo wants to try and use it to put pressure on Callahan's Boot. If the-"
Interrupting Kirito, an aide from the 72e came in with hell on his heels. "Ma'am! Reports in from Callahan's Belt, they've made contact with the Red Hand! We have north route link-up!"
"-Right, Kirito, I've got shit to do," you snapped. "If you can interdict the engineers on the Steppes, do it safely; otherwise I need info on where the enemy 150s are so we can counterbattery them. Remember, their guns outrange ours by a good margin, so we need to be careful about that."
"Got it. We'll get to work right away."
"Good hunting," you said, hanging up the phone, before turning to your aide. "Alright, get the telegram out to the logistics teams, we're good to go for North Route logistics vehicles. I want the spare vehicle reserves brought up, double time; and if anyone sees any unintended artillery in any city between here and Cuttail Station, I want it stolen and brought in on the next train down. I'm also going to need a call to the 241e right the fuck now, this is the kind of bad news they need to hear from me."
"Yes, ma'am!" the aide said. "We've also got the 115e waiting for redeployment soon, they're currently chomping at the bit to hit the front lines."
"Stall them, I want that unit fresh for as long as I can get it."
"Wilco!"
For understandable reasons, Loup and Theresa were mad as hell that you needed to get Lordscars out the door right now, and damn sense and sensibility. Fortunately, Noble Widows were an easier holdover, but the fact was you just didn't have a lot of the Starbreaker guns you'd need to make the conversions with. Worse still, you didn't have a ton of 94.5mm ammo either. That shit was expensive! The problem was, though, the Ares threat was immense. Even if there weren't many of them, even if they were being kept as a fleet in being, even if there were only a single platoon of them: those things would shred your armor to pieces. Argo's testing had already proven that a 75mm hit to anything other than the frontal glacis of a tank was likely to cause a detracking, and it was only two hits to kill a Silverhand. Worse still, the explosive blast stood a decent chance of concussing a tank crew, so attempts to retreat from the fire had a very low chance of actually working.
By the time you had that fire put out, it was 0740, and Fort Kilo had finally been declared disabled. As per your plans, you saddled up in a King Spire and jumped the border, just another tank moving through in a supply convoy.
Your station in the remains of Fort Juliet was, in a word, terrible. Demo teams were hard at work cleaning up and clearing out bunker husks in problem positions, and the 41e Engineers were busy setting up field hospitals and supply dumps for your units pouring through. The entire fort was filled with smoke and noise, and the outpost your people were punching up was no exception as builders hammered on it while you got your staff set up in the radio desks and you dug into a command station with a telephone. Not ten minutes after your but had met chair and you had a nice cup of tea, it was Zairman on line 4.
"Orr," the man said, coughing weakly. "Could I ask for a favor?"
"Literally what I'm here for, Zairman. Lay it on me."
"Would you happen to know if the enemy has a 75mm armed tank that can bounce our 68s?"
"Yeah," you groaned. "That's an Ares. Colonial Super Tank."
"Great. They're hiding it in Talos platoons, and we're getting torn to shreds here," Zairman said, wincing as a shell landed near his position. "They're trying to zero in on us with 150s, too, but their aim is shit and we're reliably nailing their spotters. I can't push through this, though: we're locked in unless you can pull off a miracle."
"Good to know," you said, grimacing. "I'll try and get you more vics when I can, those are bound to be dying in job lots."
"Yep. I'll take any Noble Widows you can scrounge up- fuck they found my HQ again, gotta run, love you!"
And then he hung up on you. Great.
Alright. You could deal. Before you delt with the magical appearance of a fully armed and operational Colonial armored regiment, though, you needed to figure out how Cauthon was doing and colimate your report for him. Keeping each other briefed would be a key part of this operation: if he didn't know what you were doing, there was an excellent chance that there'd be unnecessary overlap or separation between where your line of battle met his. That took time, though, even with your staff working your regimental commander's reports together into cohesive wholes for you to then meld into a State of the Brigade for him.
Naturally, Cauthon's arrived a half hour after you sent the couriers with yours, and his looked twice as good to boot. That said, the information within… you didn't like it.
To wit: his right flank, with the 219th, 220th, and 155th had almost, but not quite, achieved their goals. The Oleander Light Guards had managed to bull a mechanized infantry regiment over the river, and were slugging it out under the cover of a battalion of their own guns. While three on one and a half was not what you'd consider good odds, it was a hell of an opening for Overwatch/Kingmaker to throw a backhand blow into if they had something nasty like a battalion of rocket artillery ready to go.
The Red Hand's center was in much better shape, happily enough. With the 154th dug in around Iron End, they were just in range to start lobbing shells into The Crossing by way of Pommel Annex, where the Collie defensive line was anchored. The 27th was ready to push as soon as they had some support ready to go, and unless the enemy units in Callahan's Boot wanted to try and sally into them it would only be units in The Crossing and Abandoned Ward itself to stop them.
Regarding logistics, now that you had a link secured with his lines, your supplies were starting to pull through to him, and combat sustainment was ready to roll for running your kit through the interconnection between the Red Hand and the Folkvangr.
While you yourself weren't in an amazing place, your units were still on the dots and the plan was still good to go. The 64e was heavily engaged, the 62e was lightly engaged, the 15e was likewise lightly engaged but fighting by battalion under local officer control while Asuna was setting up a resupply point, and the 163e was out of combat and out of position. If you needed to, you could also put your QRF on frontline combat details. The 115e might be young, but they were reasonably well-equipped and you trusted them to hold flanks and otherwise allow your units to take a more forward approach to combat.
At the moment, as Cauthon had put in his report, his current operational plan was to tie up his right flank, and then use his artillery to level The Crossing, move them up, and then start shooting tit-for-tat into Abandoned Ward to suppress enemy artillery while his bridge building teams went up and got shit done.
You didn't like this plan. It invited disaster, and worse, it invited stalling out as the campaign turned into a miniature form of Stalingrad. Your entire ability to keep your brigade together was built around fast, decisive action; something Cauthon's plans wouldn't provide. There was a way, though.
Hope's Causeway. It was narrow- about a tank's width wide- and tall enough to let ships under it without a drawbridge. More importantly, you couldn't blow it. Take that, and you could slip units in the footbridge behind it that was able to be rebuilt without a CV. It wouldn't let you get a large force into Abandoned Ward, but you didn't need a large one to fuck with artillery betting on the buildings for cover.
There were also a number of beaches around Abandoned Ward- and Mulloys, your default APC, were amphibious. It would be a long bet, but between your own units and the 108th Naval Infantry, you could mount a credible landing force that would buy time to let you put up a bridge so you could rush armor over. It would be hell, and casualties could get very high very quickly, but it was an option.
Two plans, plus Cauthon's snail pace race. It'd have to be enough. If you waited, there was a risk that Overwatch/Kingmaker could get their feet back under them, and then there'd be a counter-attack somewhere and somehow.
///
MAP
///
Unit Statuses
1 Brigade, Folkvangr: Good Supply, Fair Morale, Good Cohesion. The majority of the brigade is engaged in battle or was recently engaged in battle. Logistics apparatuses are running normally, but front lines are rapidly hitting local exhaustion due to combat intensity.
-15e Flying Artillery: Fair Supply, Fair Morale, Poor Cohesion. The 15e has had to divide into battalion combat with new equipment and has not properly rehearsed this series of evolutions, causing a notable increase in failures and cross-communications issues. If the unit has time to consolidate, it may yet recover.
-62e Grenadiers: Good Supply, Fair Morale, Good Cohesion. The 62e has finished a hard-fought fortress-breaking mission and is currently under fire from an energetic 150mm battalion located on the far side of the river. While enemy fires are inncacurate, they're still taking a toll on the units providing overwatch on the bridge's remains.
-64e Grenadiers: Fair Supply, Poor Morale, Good Cohesion. The 64e has found itself locked into a shoving match against an enemy with superior equipment and freshly deployed, versus their own work breaking two major concrete fortifications. Losing tanks and AFVs to enemy fire is plummeting morale, not aided by the fact that this heavy fight in constrained space is preventing officers from taking initiative.
-163e Fusaliers: Fair Supply, Fair Morale, Good Cohesion. The 163e has finished breaking a major fortifiaction and has achieved a link-up with Red Hand supply apparatus units, and is in position to natively resupply most consumables even if it cannot replenish vehicles.
///
Votes
(Choose One)
[] Plan Cauthon
--- A slow walk into The Crossing, and artillery forever after.
PROS: Low risk, and high likelihood of success
CONS: Slow, with risks of Colonial units performing counterattacks and inviting partisans.
[] Plan Causeway
-[] Commit Reserves (163e Fusiliers, 115e Dragoons)
--- A fast assault to Hope's Causeway, a quick crossing under rocket bombardment for cover, and then another bridge crossing into Abandoned Ward.
PROS: High speed, guaranteed infrastructure, relieves pressure on Zairman
CONS: High risk of getting mulched by pre-registered artillery, unknown ability and location of counterattack forces to break the supply line over the causeway.
[] Plan Landings
-[] Commit Reserves (163e Fusiliers, 115e Dragoons)
--- A riverine crossing using APCs to deliver the maximum number of people into Abandoned Ward in the minimum amount of time under a covering bombardment.
PROS: Medium risk once landed, high likelihood of underdefended beaches, puts a lot of people into Abandoned Ward quickly.
CONS: Poor casualty recovery process, high material risks, large numbers of potentially permanent casualties if intercepted.
Decim
On again, off again lurker.
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
[X] Plan Cauthon
Today is not the day to be rolling the dice. Its stupid simple, horrible on logistics, but Cauthon's plan is almost certain to work. Pour in shirts, vics, and ammo, and I'm very willing to bet we'll win this. All of the Warden's industrial might is coming here to supply us and Cauthon. Best to make use of it.
Today is not the day to be rolling the dice. Its stupid simple, horrible on logistics, but Cauthon's plan is almost certain to work. Pour in shirts, vics, and ammo, and I'm very willing to bet we'll win this. All of the Warden's industrial might is coming here to supply us and Cauthon. Best to make use of it.
- Pronouns
- He
Tough call, very tough call. Kind of leaning towards the bridge, even if that comes with some serious risks.
My issue with plan Causeway is that I don't see how it would disrupt what seem to be the biggest threat of O/K doing some sort of major counterattack. I fear Orr is losing her nerve as the fight turns into a grind and is looking for a way to make it "quick" again without keeping a clear mind.
- Location
- United States
It may be required for the final stretch, however. The other options strike me as giving far too much leeway for O/K to pull something - number three's the only one with gusto, for all it'll be paid in blood.
I like landings much more then I like Causeway. However it feels like we might be deploying our reserves early; a landing to support the slow and steady approaches final stretch could be extremely effective for example. If we deploy our reserves now, which we should if we want to do anything but the slow and steady approach we rob ourselves of the ability to react to the counterattacks Orr is afraid of.
Also, have something that should help visualise what is going on:
Plan Cauthon:
Cauthons plan looks to be something like this if Im reading the update correctly. Have his right flank go firm and block the enemy regiment, before concentrating on the center and just steadily smashing his way into Abandoned Ward, which he has engineers to help manage the river crossing. He hasn't told us to do anything but it's fair to assume that he wants us to keep fighting in some capacity to tie down the enemy.
Plan Causeway:
Plan Causeway meanwhile involves deploying our reserves (if we want to have a realistic chance of success) to defeat and break through the regiment currently smacking the shit out of the 64th, then cross Hope's Causeway and raid the Colonial rear.
Plan Landings:
Plan Landings is even looser on details apart from the idea of involving a naval infantry regiment + getting whatever troops has the amphibious APCs and using the river to circumvent the enemy and land directly in Abandoned Ward.
This is just my interpretation of course, and I could be getting something wrong. I think that covers the broad strokes going on here though.
Also, have something that should help visualise what is going on:
Plan Cauthon:
Cauthons plan looks to be something like this if Im reading the update correctly. Have his right flank go firm and block the enemy regiment, before concentrating on the center and just steadily smashing his way into Abandoned Ward, which he has engineers to help manage the river crossing. He hasn't told us to do anything but it's fair to assume that he wants us to keep fighting in some capacity to tie down the enemy.
Plan Causeway:
Plan Causeway meanwhile involves deploying our reserves (if we want to have a realistic chance of success) to defeat and break through the regiment currently smacking the shit out of the 64th, then cross Hope's Causeway and raid the Colonial rear.
Plan Landings:
Plan Landings is even looser on details apart from the idea of involving a naval infantry regiment + getting whatever troops has the amphibious APCs and using the river to circumvent the enemy and land directly in Abandoned Ward.
This is just my interpretation of course, and I could be getting something wrong. I think that covers the broad strokes going on here though.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Cauthon
15e is noted that they may be able to recover should they have time to consolidate, which only Plan Cauthon provides.
Plan Causeway involves us charging directly into the Ares super heavy tanks that are currently mauling 64e, which I do not view us as having good odds on considering our complete lack of ability to penetrate their armor. Our best course of action to deal with those things is heavy sustained artillery bombardment and pray we don't get counter batteried.
Plan Landing goes around it to secure a beachhead and build a bridge for the tanks to flank around. Extremely high risk, high reward with the added complication of casualty recovery being basically impossible in the case of a failure. I am very disinclined to take this option especially since Kirito mentioned that they were about to start mining the waters.
15e is noted that they may be able to recover should they have time to consolidate, which only Plan Cauthon provides.
Plan Causeway involves us charging directly into the Ares super heavy tanks that are currently mauling 64e, which I do not view us as having good odds on considering our complete lack of ability to penetrate their armor. Our best course of action to deal with those things is heavy sustained artillery bombardment and pray we don't get counter batteried.
Plan Landing goes around it to secure a beachhead and build a bridge for the tanks to flank around. Extremely high risk, high reward with the added complication of casualty recovery being basically impossible in the case of a failure. I am very disinclined to take this option especially since Kirito mentioned that they were about to start mining the waters.
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
You're missing a bridge in Plan Causeway because your map is slightly out of date: about half a klick past the initial bridge to the west is a footbridge directly into Abandoned Ward. I'll post a corrected map soon, but it's very much a plan that involves pushing leg infantry in.
That said your landings mask also has them start much further away than would be happening here: there are better beaches than the one you have marked.
Maps: Detailed Map of Plans for Abandoned Ward Assault
Decim
On again, off again lurker.
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
Addendum, Cauthon's plan is basically to push the Collies off of the north side of the river, then move to assist Cauthon in taking Crossing and Abandoned Ward.Since it came up in Discord, detail maps of Plan Causeway and Plan Landings.
Plan Causeway
Plan Landings
[X] Plan Cauthon
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
[X] Plan Cauthon
Last time we did any huge bold assaults it went terribly. This time may be different... But my gut is saying the other plans are too clever by half. Really don't like fort Lima, re causeway, and amphibious landings are always hell to support and pull out.
Last time we did any huge bold assaults it went terribly. This time may be different... But my gut is saying the other plans are too clever by half. Really don't like fort Lima, re causeway, and amphibious landings are always hell to support and pull out.
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Cauthon
[X] Plan Cauthon
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Cauthon
So close to getting out probably, let's not break and be risky, eh?
So close to getting out probably, let's not break and be risky, eh?
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
Unattended, probably
I'm lingering on Orr's thoughts about fast, decisive action though. We aren't built for a long term slugfest.
Last edited:
Trace Coburn
BattleTech Starfighter Analyst
- Location
- NDBBM, New Zealand
[X] Plan Cauthon
Orr's inner dialogue has her on the verge of going Full Rommel. You never go Full Rommel. You can set up contingencies for if/when things come unstuck, you can go Part Rommel if the original plan completely goes to pieces, but you never go Full Rommel, and you most certainly do not go Full Rommel when the original plan is still more-or-less working!
Orr's inner dialogue has her on the verge of going Full Rommel. You never go Full Rommel. You can set up contingencies for if/when things come unstuck, you can go Part Rommel if the original plan completely goes to pieces, but you never go Full Rommel, and you most certainly do not go Full Rommel when the original plan is still more-or-less working!
[X] Plan Cauthon