[You get introduced to mine fields in this mission
so you need mechs under 35 tons, which won't trigger the mines. You have your
choice of Anubii, Hollanders or Razorbacks. Take the Anubii for their prime
speed, mobility and jump jets]
On arrival, travel West and then North into the convenient pocket below the
hilltop turret installation. Up there is a Fire Ant
and a few crawlers, which should be no problem to the Slayer/Yu team. Just
pop the Anubii up with jets and take a shot at the Ant; it will pursue, right
into the loving lasers of your ambush team. Then carefully jump your team
up and into the installation, capture the controls and the Resource
Building, and take a breath.
Avoid the mines and stay put
This installation will be your home base for most of this mission. Just out
front and down into the valley to the East is a huge
minefield; when you arrive, you can see the minelayers at work. The
problem with mines is, they don't discriminate. They will blow the leg off
an enemy's mech as well as your own. This can be used for huge enjoyment and
a lot of mocking as stupid mechs charge into their own minefield.
Arrange the Starslayers and the Sha Yu to flank the gate of this installation
and put them on Hold (H). You don't want them charging
down into the mine field when the action starts.
The Anubii become your probe team; send them out and down into the mine field.
Gleefully torch the horde of Vedettes, Minelayers,
Troop Transports and Cargo
Trucks from the relative safety of the center of this minefield.
Gain the ridge, but leave Liao HQ alone for now
North and East of this sunken field is a high ridge with an
LRM carrier and a Swarm
LRM carrier; SWARMs act like small bomblets,
so keep jumping to avoid them while you take out the trucks. Just East of
this ridge is the Liao HQ.
North of the minefield and east are woody hills. Hmmm. Don't
those spook-mechs of the Liaos like woody ravines and hillsides? They do!
And you want the ones hanging out in this group of hills and valleys - Men
Shen, which have Guardian ECM (Electronic jamming)
and Advanced Sensors, which widen your sensor
grid by 1/3. The Men Shen will come out when you fire on one of the turrets
of Liao HQ. Do that, or go into these woods and start circling around the
ridge that tops out over the Base. You may have to poke aways up this large
mountain ridge to flush both Men Shen out.
The Honorable & Venerable Men Shen get recruited
Pretty soon, they'll make an appearance, but you'll have to
watch close; their ECM will turn them invisible until
you're right on them (or them on you). Run the Anubii back down into
the minefield, jumping over trees to mess up the enemy's weapons-tracking.
Then run around in the minefield, tracking the Men Shen by the resulting explosions
(this cracks me up) and finally leading them around to meet your team waiting
patiently at the top of the hill.
[These are mechs you seriously want, so watch their
damage bars carefully. If they happen to fall in the minefield, carefully
make your team force-fire on all the mines surrounding the fallen mech until
you are sure it can walk clear. One mine is enough to nuke a recently-revived
chassis. If the 'Shen aren't too damaged, revive one right away for its firepower
and superior sensor reach]
2 Catapults stalk the Chemical Plant grounds
Then carefully tiptoe due West of the front of your station, skirting the
road along the minefield in the narrow safe band. There is a Resource
Building to the West that you'll need in order to salvage the 2nd Men
Shen, guarded by a Catapult with a nasty attitude.
Simply use the convenient fuel tank and truck
gathering to send him out with a bang. Keep going North, eliminating the irritating
Gun Towers and flushing out Mr Catapult #2.
Remember to stay grouped; this heavy mech is no match for your disciplined,
tight laser barrage. Scoop up the Resource Building
there and grab control of the turrets; they will help you eliminate the pesky
Infantry that nibbles at your knees.
It's tough finding all these midgets to complete the Objective
[when you hear radar ping, but see no readouts or
nothing visually, it's Infantry. If, after you've taken Liao HQ and eliminated
the force there, you still haven't completed the Secondary
Objective (Destroy All Enemies) then you have
missed one of these tiny warriors and have to comb the bushes until they all
come out to play]
These pretty explosions help to clear out Infantry mites
So... blow the Chemical Plant then head East
and up the mountain towards Liao HQ. It's almost
pitiful how easily you can take it, considering the large
amount of incendiary materials just lying around, close to critical
turret generators and so on. Have fun blowing things up. The turrets are all
SRMs, by the way, so it's simple to get close
enough to take them out by exploding fuel tanks with your ER lasers.
Afterwards, savor your victory and go salvage any mechs you still need to;
choose both Men Shen first, then a Catapult. Skip your way to Extract, laughing
all the way.
The front of Liao HQ is heavily guarded
[There is another, alternate way of coming at Liao HQ by going South, then
East and island-hopping to the front of Base Leo (see mission map). This way
will expose you to a lot of fire from the HQ. You can take that route also
and seized the HQ and the Repair Bay first, but because total RPs available
in this mission only allow the salvaging of three mechs at best, spend 6000
on your own Repair Vehicle at the original hilltop turret enclosure and don't
even bother with the 'Bay. It's all over by then anyway]
[Steel occupied a salvaged Men Shen and jumped to Veteran, gaining a skill
via combat kills]
Next Op
