The Alyina Mercantile League had put out the call for help and the Full Throttle Lemmings had responded. The terms of the contract were generous because the Hinterlands were full of opportunity for those that sought it, so companies were always busy. A remnant of Clan Jade Falcon was standing in the way of the AML's newest business opportunities and the AML had declared that this aggression should not stand. The meeting with the factor had been interesting and had given Jai the opportunity to practise her sales spiel, even though it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Lemmings would get this contract.
"You see," Jai Rator, CEO of the Full Throttle Lemmings, explained to the factor, "The lemming of ancient Terra was a ferocious creature. Despite its small size, it could bring done prey much larger than itself. A swarm of lemmings could fall on a fully grown heffalump and reduce it to just bones in less than a minute. Lemmings were so ferocious and committed to the hunt that they would even throw themselves off cliffs en masse to land on the prey below. They originated the death-from-above attack, you know. That is why we have adopted them as our nomme de guerre and company name. We may not be the largest mercenary company around, but our commitment to ferocity and teamwork has ensured that the company has lasted for over one hundred years."
The factor looked sceptical about this biology lesson. They had never heard of lemmings before though, so perhaps it was true. There were many strange creatures out there in the universe.
"Now," continued Jai, "let me show you our current roster of mechs and vehicles. You will notice that we tend to keep them in the livery of their original owners, apart from painting the head and shoulders in our Lemming colours. We want our foes to know that we do not fear them and find it enrages or unnerves them, so they make mistakes that we can take advantage of."
She stood up and led the recruiter out into the mech bay, where the company was being serviced before the next contract.
 |
| (L to R) Wasp, Archer, Phoenix Hawk, Devastator, Wolfhound, Centurion, Spider, Mad Cat (Timber Wolf) |
Jai was pleased with the newly signed contract and with the fact that she could continue the family tradition of drinking and fighting in this way. It had not always been easy to keep the Full Throttle Lemmings going while she had been CO of the company, but she had managed it, and she was sure her great-great-grandmother Jennie would be proud of what she had done with them. Now, of course, Jai had to get the company through this next campaign without going bankrupt, which would mean trying to get her pilots to care about damaging their mechs. She reviewed the resources available to her for this contract and assigned two lances and support units to it. The units assigned were the best fit she could manage based on budget and utility. They would have to do. At least she knew she could mostly rely on the ground commander Tom Skalle, who had been with the company for a while now, to try to nurse them through this campaign. For her own part, she was stuck with doing the company accounts again. The Mercenaries Review Board was demanding a full audit. Honestly, she would rather face a Dire Wolf in a Locust than wade through all these numbers with her accountants.
 |
| (L to R) Patton, Savannah Master, Patton, J. Edgar, Savannah Master, J. Edgar |
The force listed below, and pictured here, will be my assigned unit for my first run through Battletech Aces: Scouring Sands. I have no idea how effective it will be. It was designed around using mainly unpainted figures from my collection, so that I was pushed to paint them. The mechs I assign to the Full Throttle Lemmings are always those that are left over after I have allocated mechs to regular forces, which I feel is as good a way as any of simulating salvage and the vagaries of the market for an irregular force.
The force is heavy on lights and mediums, with a couple of heavies and an assault mech in support. The Savannah Masters are present for fast scouting and scanning of objectives. The tanks are there as additional cheap and relatively quick support. The Lemmings prefer highly mobile tactics and I have designed with that in mind, even though I know that light mechs tend to go up in smoke with just one hit in Alpha Strike. Wish me luck!
In terms of content, I am going with the recommended 4 named pilots. These are the heroes with the potential to improve and earn special abilities. I have also saved 2 points to convert to Support Points so that I have a small warchest available for paying the named pilots and hopefully enough to cover repairs if things go completely sideways in an early mission.
Roster
Named Pilots
- Tom 'Headcase' Skalle (Mech Pilot)
- Anne 'Goldfish' Rikke (Mech Pilot)
- Turi 'Ironwood' Skogen (Mech Pilot)
- Lene 'Dodger' Stolen (Combat Vehicle Pilot)
Units (399 PV + 40 SP)
- Archer ARC-5R
- Centurion CN-10D
- Devastator DVS-2
- Mad Cat (Timber Wolf) B
- Phoenix Hawk PXH-9
- Spider SDR-8K
- Wasp WSP-5A
- Wolfhound WLF-2
- J. Edgar Light Hover Tank
- J. Edgar Light Hover Tank
- Patton Tank
- Patton Tank
- Savannah Master (Reflective)
- Savannah Master (Reflective)
No comments:
Post a Comment