Semo can work the monotask to move the crates into position, then take cover in his assigned location.

Max grabs welding tools and goes to working patching up the ship, keeping his rifle nearby when things turn dicey.

We're already using Claymores. Might as well go with "best for the job." Also, like Max, Luis will be coming to the barricade line once the shooting starts. Taylor probably will too.

Round 1!



Purple dots are the hostiles you can see. The outer airlock to the main thoroughfare is closed. The inner door to your hangar is open. The shuntway door will be fully open at the end of the round. I am assuming Angel has the Claymore clackers. He can fire one or both on his initiative - he may still take a shot at a double penalty (one for swapping weapons, one for using an action to detonate the mines)

Initiative:

Well, everyone who was on defense was waiting just for this moment, plus you had ample warning from the airlock. On the other hand, the Turai know as soon as they reach that inner door that "hey, these guys made a fort out of those containers - hey, there's a guy there with a bigass gun!" So I've made some Stealth rolls, and those who beat the Turai will act first. Those who don't will STILL get an initiative bonus over the Turai, who will roll normally.

Angel, Hugh, and Mellish make their rolls and act first. Then:

Arketta, Semo
Luis, Turai
Davis
Max
Taylor

One-Ton we'll say was inside the ship connecting the sensor boom up to the cockpit. Swims, as I mentioned, is likewise inside.

EDIT: Mistyped initiative order slightly

I recommend we open up on them with a full barrage of beam rifle asskicking while they're still in the airlock. Confined space, no place to hide, it pretty much forces them to charge out into the open where we can pick them off with our heavy gear.

Gatac

Yeah, pretty much my read. I recomend Angel holds his action, then if there's still a co-ordinated threat after the first barage (Hugh, Mellish (if he has line of sight), Semo, Arketta), we can blow the Claymore next to Semo.

Alternately, since they're so tightly packed and all, somebody could toss a frag grenade while the rest use conventional weapons. Put it right in the middle of the squad, do some nice damage while they're so busy being shot at they can't move out.

So, sequences of actions for options 1&2:

Option 1:
1: Semo, Hugh, Mellish, Arketta fire.
2. If Turai are still co-ordinated, Angel blows facing Claymore (the one placed next to Semo).
3. Surving Turai attack, I fire if I have LOS under the Morningstar.
4. Everybody else goes.

Option 2:
1. Hugh or Semo tosses a frag grenade into lock.
2. Mellish, Arketta, and either Semo or Hugh (whichever hasn't gone yet) fires into lock.
3. If Turai try to charge, Angel blows facing Claymore.
4. Surviving Turai attack, I fire if I have LOS under the Morningstar.
5. Everybody else goes.

EDIT: After re-examining the map, wherever I said "facing Claymore," substitute "stairway Claymore." It's better positioned for this use and lets us save the other in case a group actually makes it out of the lock.

Also, after this round, Mellish should move his gun to be able to cover the lock and the shuntway. He's kind of in a bad place right now. Not a big deal, but it could be inportant, give the whole "rain-of-killer-lead" purpose of a machine gun.

Gatac wrote:

I recommend we open up on them with a full barrage of beam rifle asskicking while they're still in the airlock. Confined space, no place to hide, it pretty much forces them to charge out into the open where we can pick them off with our heavy gear.

Gatac

Sounds good to me.

I recommend that Semo toss a frag. Like e said, you won't often get a better setup for using one. Plus, Semo has a decent arm for doing so.

[EDIT] Oops. My mistake. Semo traded his frags for more cannon ammo. He'll go with an HE round, which should have just about the same effect.

fanchergw wrote:

I recommend that Semo toss a frag. Like e said, you won't often get a better setup for using one. Plus, Semo has a decent arm for doing so.

[EDIT] Oops. My mistake. Semo traded his frags for more cannon ammo. He'll go with an HE round, which should have just about the same effect.

Or Hugh could do it. Doesn't really matter.

As pleased that I am that we're about to just devastate these guys, we do need one of them alive. Not exactly in one piece, but alive. That said, Davis opens fire into the airlock as well.

Punkey wrote:

As pleased that I am that we're about to just devastate these guys, we do need one of them alive. Not exactly in one piece, but alive. That said, Davis opens fire into the airlock as well.

I have few if any doubts there are more of them coming. They wouldn't be opening the shuntway if they didn't plan on using it, somehow. Taking care of this first squad in about twenty seconds sends a pretty powerful "not-the-usual-jokers" message. We can refrain from killing a few from the next set.

Mellish: 3/6 Wounds, 5/12 Shock; dropped weapon, stunned a round
Taylor: -2/6 Wounds, -4/12 Shock

Initiatives:

Max
Shuntway Turai
Semo
Airlock Turai, Davis
Angel, Hugh
Luis, Arketta

How many Turai in a Quad? I figure we were probably told at some point, but I don't remember now, and I can't find it.

Twelve, but you don't know how many to expect. Luis was not privy to the cutscene, even if you were.

admiralducksauce wrote:

Twelve, but you don't know how many to expect. Luis was not privy to the cutscene, even if you were.

Yeah, but since Semo saw the assault ship and Arketta would probably be able to tell us how many would be assigned in this kind of role, we might be able to assume that she mentioned twelve when we were preparing our defense.

Well rationalized. Carry on.

Someone with grenades or other explosives blow one of the crates by the cargo slipway open. It might knock our invisible friend over and cover him in sludge.

I don't really have a feel for the blast radius of the HE rounds. For example, would he be able to get two of those guys along the wall in one blast? If not, I suspect Semo may be better off to switch to fleshettes as they move closer to his own guys.

It's hard for me to find info on those airburst rounds too - I can't tell whether the stuff I find is for aircraft weapons or Semo's, and whether it's just grant money-seeking exaggeration or what. I'll make it up then.

I'd say anything within 10-15 feet or so of an airburst round would be in trouble. They're smaller than grenades, so they'll have a smaller blast. If you're aiming for a group and hit normally, I'll roll personal-scale damage for everyone in the blast. Body armor will protect against those fragments. If you want to forgo the multiple targets thing and physically plant a 25mm shell into someone's chest, I'm not going to roll damage on their friends but your target is going to take vehicular-scale damage. Turai armor isn't really going to help much.

Remember that to switch ammo types basically requires you to spend an action reloading, as your ammo is all in different magazines. But if your aim to still keep pumping HE airburst rounds at the bad guys, you've got 4 shots left in your weapon.

I'm going out of town for the next day and a half. Might not be able to post. Basically, Luis'll be following Max to help deal with the shuntway guys. Punkey's idea isn't too bad, if the math works out and the grenade could punch through the side of a crate and still have enough force to splatter it enough. Oh, and I think Arketta should yank Mellish off the top of that crate if he's in LOS of an unengaged enemy. Getting him out of the line of fire is probably worth loosing her action, especielly with that cruddy initiative roll of hers (not that I can talk...).