Defilade! DEFILADE! Who said anything about Defilade? Mechwarrior Action on Proserpina

Definition of DEFILADE

:  to arrange (fortifications) so as to protect the lines from frontal or enfilading fire and the interior from fire from above or behind

— defilade noun

Can a 80 ton mech use terrain, movement, and intention to provide a defensive bonus?  Hell, I don't know but on Proserpina in 3057, in a toe to toe major battle in our campaign, they sure tried.  

An aerial view of the Pridetown on the morning that hostilities break out.

The Draconis Combine (House Kurita) rules with an iron fist. Dirt poor people scratch out meager existences by foraging in the 'Dead Zones' and finding lost tech or anything else of value. The populace rails silently against the oppressive Draconis regime. The Highlanders, a collection of mercenaries, aim to throw off Kurita’s yoke and return Proserpina to its original ‘glory’.

Situation:Kurita’s iron grip on Proserpina is challenged. Pride Town has been attacked repeatedly by growing forces of insurgent mechs and equipment.  The dragon has awakened and the "wrath of the people," 9th Benjamin Regulars are operating at peak efficiency.

  

Planetary Info

Proserpina was one of the Core Worlds housing heavy industry companies such as Guided Technologies and Bulldog Enterprises. These factories, and many others, exploited the petrochemical and mineral resources of the planet directly and refined metals from the ores in the world were shipped to many other planets. After the fall of the Star League the world faced nearly constant raids by the Federated Suns. During one of these raids the defending DCMS forces used a nerve gas to destroy the invaders. As a result the planet's surface is mostly poisonous after combat during the Succession Wars; In fact two of it's five continents (Amerigo and Greater Harpago)[9] are totally uninhabitable. In 3066, despite the years that have passed since the wars both the air and water on planet surface are still contaminated. Yet the rich minerals of the planet and well developed industry bring prosperity to it's inhabitants, even if they do need to wear environmental suits and breathing masks.[10]

The location of Proserpina on the Federated Suns border insures that the DCMS has kept a strong defensive force in place on the world, as well as establishing an extensive network of refit and rearm points for defending troops. In addition to the military forces on world, the planet also hosts the University of Proserpina, a military academy that has consistently turned out high-quality graduates for the DCMS.[9]  From Sarna Net

The graduates were out in full force this battle.  The Kuritan force won the engagement quite handily and forced the insurgents to slink back into the hostile forbidden zone.  Action photos provided by PRSPNN follow.  Click images for a Heads UP Display.

Rebel Attack.  In a western gunfight fashion from old terra, the assault lance of the rebels marched down main street of Pride Town ready to go toe to toe with the dragon.  We pressed into service the WW2 D6 rewrite that I had done to  bring a very simplified game mechanics to our sci fi game.  In reality the game was huge and the game mechanic of defilade defensive positioning came under tight scrutiny.  By giving up maneuverability the playing piece could adopt a defensive terrain advantage broadly described as defilade.  We gave this option to all units in the game and it met with pretty high criticism.  (I don't know, having never actually piloted a 80 ton mech.)  Here is the AAR photo album.  Enjoy.

The scree and whine of high powered hover craft is one of my favorite mechwarrior attributes.

My medium lance of Centurion meet and greet with overwhelming dragon firepower.

Herky bird makes a bonsai attack.

Look at all that damage!

Finished as a flaming wreck.

Well that is one soldiers view of the battle.  This game was so huge that I couldn't get all the images in from my perspective.  I manned the extreme right flank of the rebel assault and cannot even begin to describe what happened on the far left flank.  All I know is that the IFF blips on my display kept blinking out and visual confirmation from that third of the battlefield revealed columns of black sooty smoke rising into the air.

Highlanders retreat into the wasteland.........