Sitrep Showdown - River Bombardment

Generated with Interpoint's Station's Map Generator

Mission Brief

LL1 to 3 - Gauntlet
Attack the entrenched outpost on the other side of a river, hold it so allied infantry can support further tactics

Enemy Composition

1x Elite Bombard (Striker) - Cluster Munitions, High-Impact Shells, Flare Drone
The centerpiece of this battle, following a previous NPC Review. With its long reach and a Drone buffing its accuracy, is going to sit in the Control Zone (CZ) and rain hell upon the party for the entirety of the battle.

1x Support (Support) - Latch Drone
A nasty combo, intending to buff the Elite Bombard at the beginning of the battle and then position itself in the way of anything after that, supporting the other mechs closer to the front line and keeping them alive with Restock Drones.

1x Seeder (Controller) - Grav Spike
Relatively quick and tanky Controller that will aim to intercept the majority of the party at the River and create issues with its mines. The Grav Spike will be used to pull enemies close to each other, allowing the Bombard to follow up on the mass of enemies.

2x Pyro (Defender) - Siege Armor
Very slow, but a problem for anyone who gets too close due to their own threat as well as the threat of the Bombard including them in the targeting. With their high Armor and Siege Armor granting resistance to the Bombard's Attacks, they shouldn't be too troubled by this strategy.

Initial Deployment

1x Elite Bombard
1x Support

Followup Deployment

Round 2 -
2x Pyro
1x Seeder

Threat 

Moderate - High (Dependent on Group Composition)

Complexity 

Moderate

Overview

I'm gonna admit, this one's pretty mean. That said, it's still entirely doable due to some design decisions i've made, but it will require a good plan and constant wariness of positioning for the Party to get through without too much shrapnel in their chassis! The map itself is set up such that the CZ is extremely well defended and the way towards it is blocked by a sizeable river, counting as Difficult Terrain. With a few obvious chokepoints that the Seeder can use to mine and the Pyros can stay near to hold, there's a pretty nasty setup here! Deployment is pretty simple. The Bombard starts off in the CZ along with the Support. The rest wait until Round 2, with some variation depending on group composition and their plan. If someone is staying behind for long range fire or support, send a Pyro towards them via the leftmost Ingress Zones (IZ), giving them a problem to worry. If not, and the group is composed of very quick mechs capable of getting through the choke points during Round 2, deploy everyone at the rightmost IZs so as to not have a mech playing chase instead of helping out. The remaining Pyro and Seeder always deploy on the rightmost IZs, either together if everyone is aiming for a specific choke point or one on each side if they're splitting up.

The general game plan is fairly simple, but does require some consideration for positioning and actions taken. As mentioned before, the Bombard is the main antagonist and everyone is doing something to allow them to do most of the damage. The Support uses its Latch Drone, likely going first before anyone else on the NPC's team, targeting the Bombard and then leaves it. It'll prefer to hang around the southern side where that nice Size 2 cover is for it, but otherwise it's mainly acting as a body to support the other NPCs. Anyone who gets within range should get hosed down by their Sealant Gun, trying to both Slow them and apply Difficult terrain to make it even more difficult to approach the Bombard in the final stretch. Otherwise, it's laying out Restock Drones as often as possible wherever it's likely an ally can reach it as it falls back into cover, or uses the Latch Drone if it gets lucky enough to apply it again. Preferably on the Pyros, though, as the Seeder doesn't have much use for accuracy on its pitiful attacks.

The Seeder, under ideal circumstances, should have several rounds to mine the chokepoints its closest to, and should ideally prioritize crippling the leading mech. Sealant and Stun mines are a good catch-all for this situation, either fulfilling the Seeder's goal of stopping the advance at the choke point. Shock mines can also be used, though they're not going to stop the advance so much as they're going to stop any shenanigans from affecting the Bombard at medium range. Avoid usage of the Explosive mines until later in the round when destruction of mechs is more of a priority, once the enemy has crossed the river or destroyed the Bombard is a good time to switch. The Grav-Grenade launcher is fine to use if you're not in range of using the Grav Spike, but otherwise try to use that whenever you're not mining the place. The Grav Spike will do more damage and have much more of an impact, bunching up Players to be blasted by the Bombard on a followup. And don't just toss the mines on the choke points themselves, also get some mines thrown behind the choke point where they'll intercept players trying to make a direct approach to the IZ! Don't be afraid for the Seeder to come under some fire, they're pretty tanky.

The Pyros have the most variation in this Sitrep dependent on what method your group has to combat the Bombard threat. One should always be behind the river to prevent enemies from getting across and to support the Bombard with its crippling fear of close quarters threats. The other can either deploy to give even more of a threat behind the river, or more ideally, be deployed to intercept and disrupt the Party on their approach, giving them another problem to think about beyond just a Bombard blasting them. However, the Pyro's speed lets it down a bit here and if your group is generally speed 4 or more there's a very possible chance that they can just outrun the Pyro for the entire Sitrep if they deploy on the leftmost side. Consider your group before making this choice. Beyond that, the Pyro is going to do what it does best and flame anyone who gets close ideally in well defended positions. However, the Pyros have a few key things to keep in mind so let's go over them in detail!

The Pyros first of all are intended to be targets to be included while attacking the Party. With high armor and a natural resistance to basically all of the Bombard's attacks, they'll naturally boost the Bombard while taking minimal damage themself. Damage that can be healed with the Support's Drones, so don't be shy! Wherever possible, have the Bombard include a Pyro for some additional damage. Next up is that because of this fact, and the Bombard's High-Impact Shells providing knockback, the Pyros need to be aware of their positioning relative to the Bombard. Ideally they should have cover so that when they get hit with knockback, they immediately hit some obstruction that prevents them from moving. This allows their Firebreak Shields to remain up and active, ensuring that they and their allies remain defended. But if the choice needs to be made to move a Pyro, remember that the main priority they have is to keep them from getting to the CZ! Lastly, Pyros are going to build up heat quickly through use of their Flamethrower. Try to ensure there's a target for their Explosive Vent, but don't stress about it too hard. It's a nice treat, not the main idea the Pyro is here for. If used well, however, the main thing is knocking them Prone, slowing their advance down!

Finally, we have the Bombard themselves. An Elite, of course, granting them two turns per round to lay down the damage. Besides getting hit with the Latch Drone and targetting the Pyros, what else is there to say about the Bombard? Well, remember that Seeder mines cannot be targeted and thus aren't at risk of being destroyed by the Bombard's blast. And remember to position their Blast to avoid the Firebreak Shields of the Pyros, cover the Party is using to hide behind, and to maximize the additional damage of the Cluster Munitions. Their knockback is also always relative only to their own positioning, not the direction one was targetted via a Blast! They're going backwards, no matter how a Bombard shoots at them. The Flare Drone can be deployed at a choke point ahead of time, before it might have a chance of providing Accuracy. Deploy it alongside a Seeder's Stun and Sealant Mines to ensure the Party can't just dash through its radius, potentially allowing you to follow their interrupted turn with one of the Bombards, hitting the crippled mech with its Flare Drone providing further accuracy and an additional target for extra damage! Nasty. However, as the Bombard is the primary damage dealer of this encounter you may want to not focus on that strategy overly much, the Bombard will always have the Accuracy from the Latch Drone offsetting its natural Difficulty after all. At least, until the party realizes they can shoot or hack it off!

Final Thoughts

Outmaneuvering the various NPCs of this map will be key to the Party's victory, and they may just ford the river to avoid the obvious mines. That's fine! Victory for the Party should be entirely withing their grasp if they approach it in the right way and they should be rewarded if they have means to avoid the river entirely with means of flying or similar. The NPCs have other means to stop people from getting to their Bombard and the CZ it sits in. Plans rarely survive contact with the Party, after all, and adapting on the fly is part of the fun!

If I was to change anything to make this more difficult or more engaging for experienced players or a higher LL bracket, i'd probably include one or two fast moving NPCs that deploy on the leftmost side and act as more reliable distractions and problems than the lone Pyro. Perhaps I should have considered including it in this, but I think leaving room for people to add their own take is fine too. I think it's a fine Sitrep as it stands.

You don't need to credit me if you use anything here. I only generated the map and I don't own any particular NPC composition or Sitrep situation, after all. Just have fun, and make it yours!