Avastan Planning & OOC

[shaidar]

We need to decide to go big, or to take the quieter route to a meet a single, but still major, objective.

My issue with a big attack is we show our cards, and will we be able to withstand the retaliation. We punch above our weight and are flexible, but if they throw everything at us we are likely to be squashed. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I'm more than likely underestimating something.

So, if we are to take out the ships, and/or rescue the ship under guard, then I feel a covert option would be best, with supporting teams in case things go TU and we need to distract any help they might send.

It seems logical to see if 4DC can provide eyes for any incoming teams that might be a problem.

The above are just my uneducated thoughts, feel free to pick them apart

[joertexas]

We need to decide to go big, or to take the quieter route to a meet a single, but still major, objective.

My issue with a big attack is we show our cards, and will we be able to withstand the retaliation. We punch above our weight and are flexible, but if they throw everything at us we are likely to be squashed. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I'm more than likely underestimating something.

So, if we are to take out the ships, and/or rescue the ship under guard, then I feel a covert option would be best, with supporting teams in case things go TU and we need to distract any help they might send.

It seems logical to see if 4DC can provide eyes for any incoming teams that might be a problem.

The above are just my uneducated thoughts, feel free to pick them apart

The advantage of moving now is that the confusion from the fight can cover our own movements. Someone has already shot the Impies, and the pirate crews are both exposed and distracted. We can unload from the ship, and let it lift out of harm's way. Our grav vehicles can exfil all the way to orbit, if needed, so we have a way out.

[shaidar]

Good point about the exfil, that had slipped my mind.

[Tiglath]

The advantage of moving now is that the confusion from the fight can cover our own movements. Someone has already shot the Impies, and the pirate crews are both exposed and distracted. We can unload from the ship, and let it lift out of harm's way. Our grav vehicles can exfil all the way to orbit, if needed, so we have a way out.

Good point about the exfil, that had slipped my mind.

A point well made. There is certainly confusion in Avastan City by now and this may well be above the norm even for a lawless place policed only by the elite citizens' private security. The Imperials will surely be confused and the pirates have had a rude and unwelcome interruption to their "run ashore" on leave.

However, once you unload your AFVs and troops there's no disguising them. It's a bold "all in" move. You will likely have a window tactical surprise but the balloon will surely go up. The Pivot close orbital fighters are a threat to your vehicles and ship (but it's not your ship) and the Stag attack helos will kill your infantry.

So considering potential "retaliation" as per the earlier post above is sound reasoning. You just need to plan to get yours in first!

I'll add that "military wisdom" would suggest that while your force is (advantageously) mobile it is also relatively small and, while this doesn't penalise your strike ability vs lower tech opponents, attempting to defensively hold ground in attritional warfare against an active and more numerous opponent would surely be disadvantageous. Of course, that's not to say you couldn't do it (you have some good quality infantry) but you likely don't want to get drawn into a "knifefight" while you can still "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee".

NB There is nothing to prevent you "standing to" with AFVs crewed and Carriers loaded with troops at the hover inside the trader. You can then "wait and see". If the Trojan Horse plan all goes bent then open up both ends of the Fat Trader and let slip the dogs of war!

[shaidar]

I was certainly thinking in the direction of your last paragraph.

[joertexas]

So, if we let out the IFV, then the gloves are definitely off. We can use the other grav vehicles without raising a stink, so how about we take/kill the pirate crews, with priority given to taking a couple of captives from the patrol cruiser, since it's the biggest threat. We can also try to rescue the hijacked ship and its crew. For this, we can use everyone available, including the Aslan, while holding Kit's squad (and his IFV) in reserve.

If possible, we can damage or destroy as many other pirate ships as possible. Otherwise, we withdraw after taking out as many pirates as we can.

Oh, and we can also ask the Vargr to join in, if they're amenable to it.

[Tiglath]

More from the peanut gallery...

I'm trying to keep options open whilst being aware that as professional soldiers there is stuff your PCs could reasonably be expected to just know. I may be stating the obvious...

As to raising the alarm and the observed alert level of the local troops there's stuff you might get away with (i.e. Gaughan's "de-frocked" G Carrier) and stuff you won't. G Carriers exist on base (you know that the ISS have them) so seeing one on a secure(ish) base in peacetime might initially cause more curiosity than alarm. Obviously seeing a bespoke IFV of an unknown type ("Grav Tank" to the common squaddie) is going to cause reactions to start at "blind panic" and cause much pressing of the big red alarm button.

Thoughts for the day/night. Vandalising ships (and thereby significantly reducing their value) is likely much much easier than "repossessing" them. As for allocating your resources each berm complex will have a platoon (up to about 40 or so troops) in its defences and a small pirate ship's crew is likely about ten strong (if all are aboard).

More random: the problem with the pirate crews is you don't know where they are currently or indeed which crew is which (but you do know their destination).

If you had someone who could drive a ground car like a lunatic you could do your recon direct?

The G Carrier is faster than ground vehicles even travelling as local traffic.

I'll update the map identifying the berms with the Intel you have.

[joertexas]

Do we know where the hijacked ship is?

How many pirate patrol cruisers are here, and where are they?

[Tiglath]

This should hopefully help the planning along:

Avastan Tactical.jpg (197.19 KiB) Viewed 417 times

A blue square is ~500m so the ships are somewhat overscale to aid identification.

Legend (starting in top left berm):

D Deliverance an ex Imperial 400ton Patrol Corvette
H Hawkwind An Empress Marava II class merchant
S Saxon 200ton trader paired with Deliverance

V The Viper's Nest a 400ton "Fat" Trader converted to an auxiliary carrier. Has suffered nine crew casualties ashore from Kit and the Iyhlua Clan.

D Drachenfels a 500ton Maru Class Merchantman/Corsair

A Abyss a 440ton Nishemani Class Corsair. Very likely to have suffered multiple crew casualties ashore from Red Angel.
N Nazareth 200ton trader paired with Abyss

M McClellan Merchant "Four Nine" a 400ton non spec trader owned by McClellan currently housing the SEMC.

V Vargr Auxiliary Police Unit HQ vessel) suspected to be Raersthog (Revenge) a 400t Aeogz class corsair).

T (White ship Black T) Trader a 400t Civilian Trader

T (Black Ship White T) Trader a 200t Civilian Trader

Blue Dots are Stag Attack Helos with crews on standby

Brown Dots are Avastan Light Infantry sections (~ 10 men) in prepared positions (bunkers and trenches).

I'll repost the results of Freya's initial sensor work and other's observation and tactical appreciation:

Analysis of the sensor data (confirmed by your visual sighting and further Intel from Erica) reveals power plants consistent with what you are looking for together with a faint ghost return consistent with an electronically masked vessel and further power plants occupying the “berms” north of the runway.

So, west to east (left to right on the map) Deliverance (Patrol Corvette) plus a 200ton trader (so in the nearest berm to you), Viper's Nest (Fat Trader), Drachenfels (Maru Class), Abyss (Corsair) plus a 200ton trader (furthest from you nearest the Vargr).

Further tactical recon reveals that each fighting position on the berms' perimeter is manned by about ten Avastan infantry. This gives effective company strength or about 100 soldiers. They wear soft armour under their cold weather clothing and are equipped with ACRs and RPGs. The “Flak Towers” have 12.7mm HMGs for local defence and AA medium range missiles on their rooftop launchers. It would appear that another company mans the other/outer defensive positions on the downport with a further company in reserve/deployed elsewhere (likely Avastan City) which would amount to the entire Battalion strength defence force.

[Tiglath]

As an alternate approach to a "grand strategy" a "shopping list" of what needs to be taken out (and in what order) is perhaps the way to go.

Remember that you have allies and a rather healthy amount of organic direct and indirect fire support...

[joertexas]

As an alternate approach to a "grand strategy" a "shopping list" of what needs to be taken out (and in what order) is perhaps the way to go.

Remember that you have allies and a rather healthy amount of organic direct and indirect fire support...

Hawkwind is the hijacked ship, correct?

[gurusql]

First the one for "right now" - Any sniper that we can stop cars that are coming in fast tonight would crews returning. If they were to have an accident mid-flight that would be OK by me.

Some notes and ideas on a possible strategy

• The center of the starport is much more guarded than the perimeter (I can see 11 groups of 10 men on the interior perimeter (the box inside the runways)) and only 6 for the perimeter (and 4 of those are the Scouts) leaving only 2 others on the perimeter.
• In addition, some of the surface to air locations are manned, but others are not.
• There are all kinds of things at least power and water, and who know what else that is sent below the ground level.
• This could mean that there are tunnels from the surface-to-air location to other locations. This would be required so that the control towers could use the missiles in all weather situations.
• Two berths over (right behind our neighbors at F) there are two surface-to-air buildings. If we send a small trading party over to the that ship a group could break off and get into the surface-to-air missile building. From there at worst we can get control of the missiles and use them to take out the helicopters or with some reprogramming some ground targets and if the underground connections exist we would have an entrance. If we worried that that is a little to close to home, there is another tower in the northwest part of the starport and if we came from the outside there would be no connecting those resources to us and there are no guards on that part of the perimeter.

[Tiglath]

Hawkwind is the hijacked ship, correct?

Yes, that's correct.

[Tiglath]

Observations as per gurusql's thoughts above: any returning ground vehicle will likely be entering through Igor and Ivan's (much abused) check point via the roadway passing under/through the starport admin building.

NOTE: the tunnel/roadway goes straight through under the building continuing to run parallel and adjacent to the thin blue square edge line and thereby avoiding a subterranean town planning disaster beneath that building! An error corrected on an earlier map (I believe) but not this one.

As to buildings this is an Imperial template site (so the underground service tunnels referenced above are surely a given) but it is now manned on the cheap! Unless buildings are manned/defended by Avastan troops (brown dots) do not consider them either a threat or capable of offensive action against your troops (although they block tactical LOS).

Planetary orbital defences are mostly concentrated in the up port and are not your concern. It is apparent (and becoming ever more obvious) that multiple merc organisations have been hired to conduct this operation: the troops in the mountain campaign, the expensive starmerc Vargr, the very expensive 4DC, your well paid selves...

This all possibly bids a strategic consideration that purely mercenary mercs might not need ponder - someone has paid an awful lot of money to make things happen on Avastan...

As to the enemy at hand you are facing a Light Infantry Battalion. There is a Company defending the berms, a Company defending the starport perimeter and a Company in reserve. That's a lot of (arguably entirely static) troops - thankfully without much organic support.

It may be worthy of note that should you be at one location on the Tac Map and have grav transport you can very shortly be at another. Those without such a boon are going to be moving at speeds we can all relate to!

Due to current events and "terrorism" in the mountains it appears that the reserve Company (plus a force of mercenary gopnik volunteers) have been sent from the starport and the city to subjugate the mountain farms.

"Suborning" the AA missiles sounds feasible (and you do have a significant air threat!) but you would need to put those awkward techie folk in the field...

Credit due here the "AA Missile swindle" is also really rather shrewd given the local politics..

[shaidar]

Well spotted gurusql! Perhaps this is a good time to use the grav belts to sneak a unit in and send over the techs once secure. This would have to be one of the first actions.

So, it seems to me that it is highly convenient that Deliverance, Hawkwind (rescue) and Saxon are all in the same place. That means that there is likely to be more troops defending, but we can focus our troops there with cover against any enemy units that might come to their assistance.

[BackworldTraveller]

Two questions

1) Is there any good high-ground from which we could operate an observation post in case our drone supply falters
2) Is that ground held by observation posts of any other group!

[Tiglath]

Two questions

1) Is there any good high-ground from which we could operate an observation post in case our drone supply falters
2) Is that ground held by observation posts of any other group!

Just to the North (off the top of the starport map) the ground rises sharply into a mountain range more than 1500m high.

There are abandoned huts and what may have been an old OP which the Avastan garrison has given up using since their helos arrived.

The other reason is likely the difficulty of maintaining a garrison with the insurgency being currently so active.

[gurusql]

As to buildings this is an Imperial template site (so the underground service tunnels referenced above are surely a given) but it is now manned on the cheap! Unless buildings are manned/defended by Avastan troops (brown dots) do not consider them either a threat or capable of offensive action against your troops (although they block tactical LOS).

So I assume that this means I misunderstood and only square boxes with troops have surface to air missiles - in other words there are only five such launch sites not the many more that I thought?

[joertexas]

I know that Jess' IFV has a VRF Gauss as a primary weapon, but what weapon does Kit's IFV mount?

Also, what other weapons do we have that can punch a starship's hull? Even a basic starship has a hull equivalent to about 5cm of armor plate.

[Tiglath]

As to buildings this is an Imperial template site (so the underground service tunnels referenced above are surely a given) but it is now manned on the cheap! Unless buildings are manned/defended by Avastan troops (brown dots) do not consider them either a threat or capable of offensive action against your troops (although they block tactical LOS).

So I assume that this means I misunderstood and only square boxes with troops have surface to air missiles - in other words there are only five such launch sites not the many more that I thought?

Yes, a black square with a brown blob signifies a "Flak Tower" (with AA missiles and HMGs - both in open emplacements on the top). There are three about the berms in the central "island" and two more in the bottom row of the map.

NB There's one more to the NE just off the Tac Map.

Other brown blobs elsewhere signify a ten man section of infantry in trenches or bunkers (usually with an HMG or other support weapon).