After Action Report: Pirate Raid on Borgan's Rift

Borgan's Rift is a backwater. Formerly a major trading hub in the Periphery, centuries of piracy and neglect have left it with few major industries; aside from the wineries of Magliss Spirits, nominally the planet's owners, the planet holds little of value.

In the waning years of the FedCom civil war, the Magistcracy of Canopus gave permission to the Capellans to patrol the planet, turning it into a warzone. As the months rolled into years, the Magistcracy has spent some funding to redevelop the world, establishing a provincial military academy and other 'Mech facilities. Unfortunately, the collapse of the Second Star League has led to instability across the region, even if there have yet to be any major attacks on Canopian worlds.

Over the last few months, there have been increasing reports of pirate units bearing no unifying insignia. Canopian intelligence has succesfully tracked at least a half-company worth of light and medium 'Mechs to the scratchy foothills north of Old Port Town, an old smugglers' haven.

Colonel Lane Meisel of the 1st Canopian Cuirassiers dispatches a company of the 3rd Battalion to put down the pirates in force...

Rocky foothills north of Old Port Town.

'Mechs of Lord Ethan's Exiles 

'Vanguard' lance, Lord Ethan's Exiles

The pirates identified themselves with the call-sign Lord Ethan's Exiles, and proved to be far more well-equipped than Canopian military intelligence had indicated. Any investigation into the failure of the Magistcracies usually excellent spy network was swallowed by the coming of the forthcoming Jihad. The obvious conclusion is that the 'pirates' were a) mercenaries operating for the Capellans at arms' length; b) Blakist infiltrators; c) smarter than the Canopians.

The mid-morning sun backlights elements of the Cuirassiers assault lance (R)
Anubis ABS-3MC from the recon lance (L)

Canopian 'Mechs advance through the river valley

Whatever the reason for their strength, the Canopians were in for a brutal fight. The pirates were split into four lances of three 'Mechs, contrary to the usual Inner Sphere four-'Mech lance. This gave them a slight advantage in their reaction; combined with their superior knowledge of the local terrain, they were able to outfox the Canopian commander.

Canopian Catapult CTLT-C1 takes up a firing position behind a high ridge

Canopian Commando COM-2D from the recon lance spots pirate recon 'Mechs

On the eastern half of the field, the two recon lances clashed, with the Canopians adding some medium 'Mechs (a Shadow Hawk and Catapult) to the mix. On the western flank, the Canopians relied on the river to protect their flank, while the pirates hunkered down, the rough terrain of Borgan's Rift's temperate highlands giving them some protection from Canopian fire.

Canopian Shadow Hawk SHD-2H takes a position on a massive cliff

Early exchanges of fire see the pirates lose a 'Mech in the rocky terrain

..but on the western flank, Lord Ethan's Exiles concentrate their fire and disable the Canopian Awesome AWS-8Q

Despite the rarity of Assault-class Battlemechs in the Periphery, Colonel Meisel had assigned an entire lance to this mission, in the hope of crushing the entire pirate force in a single assault. The pirate commander (Lord Ethan?) took few chances, and concentrated his fire on the elements of the Canopian assault lance, which crippled the Awesome AWS-8Q early.

The pirates then advanced toward the river, taking punishing fire from the Canopians but easily holding their own. The Canopian reliance on the river to cool their 'Mechs saw them rapidly outflanked and overrun.

Canopian Eyleuka EYL-45A attempts to counter

while the recon lance is outmanoeuvred and surrounded

Having defeated the Canopian BattleMaster BLR-1G,
pirate 'Mechs from 'Vanguard' striker lance outflank the Catapult

'Mechs from the pirate 'Ranger' fire lance raining fire on the Canopians

The breakthrough resulted in a Canopian rout. While the surviving assault 'Mechs fought a futile battle to hold the pirates off, Battlemechs from the cavalry lance doubled back in an attempt to contain the pirate 'Vanguard' striker lance. It was at this point that the Canopian commander knew that the battle was lost; all initiative had been surrendered to the enemy, and all that remained was to try and take as many down as she could.

Canopian cavalry 'Mechs succeed in driving off one of the 'Vanguard' 'Mechs

Even the Anubis is outflanked!

The Thunderbolt TDR-5S backs away from the pirate assault lance 'Monarch' 

The battle-worn Canopian Locust LCT-1V fires a salvo at the damaged pirate Commando COM-2D
but fails to cripple him

 With the battle lost, the 1st Canopian Cuirassiers call a full retreat. The pirates celebrate, digging into their highland stronghold and preparing for a full-fledged campaign of terror on Borgan's Rift. Within a few years, the Jihad will engulf the Periphery in flames, so their eventual fate is as yet unknown...

The western half of the field, strewn with yellow-armoured Cuirassiers smouldering 

A Cyclops CP-10-Z smoulders in the river, its engine fried by pirate laser fire

Elements of the pirate battle lance 'Monarch', victorious

This was our (my opponent's website) first game of Alpha Strike, which we kept fairly simple to just test the rules. I had 368PV vs his 369PV. Everyone had the base skill value. The only additional abilities used were those granted by the lance types (recon, assault, etc), although even then we forgot to use them half the time.

We got to our respective companies pretty much by using the 'Mechs out of the Armoured Combat box, with Lil' Mangs 3-D printing a couple and me buying a few of the old Iron Wind metals (via). You could almost certainly get to the 'standard' 400PV straight out of the Armoured Combat box and adding a few skill increases.

As for the game itself, it went astonishingly quickly. Lil' Mangs and I are slow players because only game about once a month and we're constantly trying new things, but we finished this in about two or three hours, including set-up and 'let me constantly take photos for Instagram' time. The simple mechanics of initiative, activated moving, simultaneous shooting (with very rapid calculations) and vastly simplified damage all combine to make a rapid-fire, tactical game.

We both absolutely loved it. In an era of 40K's constant re-rolling and permanently shifting meta, I think Alpha Strike really offers something refreshing to wargaming. It's fast, fun, simple, and features giant robots shooting lasers. Hell yes.

'Mountain Assault', by Shimmering Sword © 2016