ScrapYard Armory

Put a Little Chaos in Your Life

I used to play MechWarrior Dark Age.  I played just about through Fire for Effect before noticing the writing on the wall and moving on to what turned out to be greener pastures (for many of you it might be back to greener pastures).  Despite it’s faults though, the MechWarrior game was a fast playing game that endeared a large number of gamers around the world.

There is no doubt in my mind that the BattleTech community has benefited from MechWarrior’s existence.  That benefit continues even today.  I make use of lots of the old MechWarrior figures I have in BattleTech games today.

I’m sure that there are a lot of gamers who are hanging on to their miniatures despite the closing of Wizkids and the death knell of the game.  To prove that the old Click-Tech game still has a little bit of life to it, I worked out a conversion of the popular Chaos Campaign system.  The Chaos Campaign system is a free download from Catalyst Game Labs.  Converting the rules is an easy affair.

PLAYER FORCE

The initial player Force Size should be large enough to support whatever size game desired.  As a rule of thumb, triple the average point value game you would like to play as a track.

Adam would like to play 400 point games on average during tracks.  He chooses to construct a 1,200 point force to begin his campaign (400 x 3 = 1,200).

Players wishing to add flavor to their campaign are encouraged to stick with a particular faction for force construction.

Faction Pride cards can be added to forces to represent Force Abilities similar to those presented in the Field Manual series of Battletech sourcebooks.

OPPOSING FORCES

Players should put together a collection of figures to represent the opposing forces for the campaign.  Figures should have a Regular experience level (Attack Stat of 9 for ‘Mechs and Vehicles and 7 for Infantry, see below) and be representative of what the Player force should expect to see in combat.  Obviously use what you have available.  It’s your collection so you’ll know what works best.

Ambitious players may want to construct an opposing force collection for each faction they own enabling them to switch out opposing forces to fit the particular Track they are playing.

Experience Levels

Tracks often call for opposing forces with different experience levels.  Some of you out there will probably have a diverse enough collection to fit every scenario.  For those who don’t, you can use the following chart to modify the Attack Value of Opposing Forces for each track.  Choose the way that works best for you.  So long as the challenge scales appropriately, you can’t go wrong.

Restricted Units

Let’s face it.  There are some brutal units in the MechWarrior game.  If players agree, make a shortlist of figures that should never be seen in the campaign.  Highlander Sniper Team comes to mind as well as monster game changers like Danni Haag and the Balac Strike VTOL.  We are here to have fun over a longer haul campaign.  Make it so and avoid the meta-game.

TERRAIN

A standard Chaos Campaign map should be 3 feet by 4 feet.  This slightly expanded size will provide the extra room required to incorporate some of the plot elements covered in a Chaos Campaign track.

CAMPAIGN SPECIAL RULES

There are a lot of optional bonuses and special rules that don’t mesh with MechWarrior without some noodling.  It will be up to the players and possibly a game master to come to an agreement how these unique special rules will be adapted to the MechWarrior game.

Obviously for time constraints and other obvious reasons I am not about to make a comprehensive list of each and every bonus and rule published so far.  However, I will go over a few examples to convey the flavor of what I’m talking about.

Adam is playing through the Chaos Unbound campaign and is playing the Vacationing in the Wasteland track.  Looking at the available optional bonuses he sees Blowing Sand, Lethargy, and Harsh Conditions.

In the Battletech game, Blowing Sand adds a +1 To-Hit penalty to all energy weapons.  This works well with MechWarrior and is a quick conversion.  Any unit with an Energy Attack Type gets a -1 To-Hit penalty.

Lethargy penalizes players with a -2 modifier to all Piloting and Initiative rolls.  Since there is no equivalent to Piloting skill in MechWarrior, Adam chooses to apply this modifier to the To-Hit number for all ‘Mechs using a Melee Attack Type.

Harsh Conditions gives a chance for weapons to fail during the track.  This seems a bit harsh as ‘Mechs have only two weapon types and every other unit type only one.  Adam decides that a weapon failure will result in a -1 damage penalty maximum to the affected Attack Type for the remainder of the Track.

You get the idea.  Use common sense and in the event of a disagreement, dice it and get back to playing.

FORCED WITHDRAWAL

Any unit that has the Salvage Special Ability (and most do except those damned Banson’s Raiders) will be affected by Forced Withdrawal if the track calls for it.

WARCHEST POINT SYSTEM

Use the Warchest system for all Chaos Campaign accounting as described in the PDF.  The only difference comes when it is time to repair or purchase units and equipment.  When it comes to these transactions, you would normally convert your Warchest Points to Supply Points.  Instead we convert them to MechWarrior points.

Force Size Modifier (FSM)

The Force Size Modifier allows players to scale the size of their forces to match their tastes.  The Warchest points will be adjusted up or down depending on how large a force you would like to run.

Divide the total MechWarrior point value of your force by 800 and round to the tenth digit (1.375 becomes 1.4).  This becomes your Force Size Modifier for the rest of the campaign.  Do not adjust this number as your force gains or loses units.  It is always based on what your force started the campaign with.

Technology Rating (TR)

Within the MechWarrior framework, Technology Rating becomes a self imposed handicap (or advantage) for the campaign.  Use it to dial up or down the difficulty of your campaign.  Use the following table to choose your Technology Rating.

Adam has just completed his first Track and is anxious to buy some new units to bolster his force and get back to the action.  Adam looks through his collection and spots a Veteran Legionnaire he wants.  The ‘Mech costs 119 MW Points.

Adam’s force began the campaign with 1,200 MW Points which gave him a Force Size Modifier of 1.5 (1,200 / 800 = 1.5).  Adam chose to give his force a Technology Rating of C (1.0).

Using this information, Adam figures out how many Warchest Points he will need to afford his Legionnaire.  He divides the MechWarrior Point cost of the Legionnaire by his FSM and his TR  to get 80 (119 / 1.5 / 1.0 = 79.33 rounded up to 80).  The new Legionnaire will cost Adam 80 Warchest points.

Upgrading Pilots

The costs for upgrading pilots in Chaos Campaign are absurdly low, so skip them for sanity’s sake.  Some things in life just shouldn’t be bought.  Experience is one of them.  I recommend using an experience system similar to what is presented in Total Warfare (pages 40-41).

If players agree, you can even buy the custom pilots for ‘Mechs in your force.

Purchased units are assumed to come with pilots consistent with their Attack Value.

Repairing Units

Repairs between tracks are based on the value of the unit and how much damage they have received.  Use the following table to determine the Mechwarrior Point repair costs.

Obviously this presents a problem when you have repair vehicles in the game that can repair units during a track.  Players may wish to mitigate this anomaly by disallowing them completely.  This is a harsh change to the game but a necessary one.  If you have a good mission going the temptation would be strong to hold off killing the last opposing unit while you ferry your units to the repair vehicle in order to avoid paying repair costs.

For more tips on balancing your campaign purchase and repair costs see my previous Chaos Campaign post Advanced Unit Costs.

Next Track?

Stay tuned as I present a new After Action Report detailing a Mechwarrior force in the Chaos Unbound campaign Track, Look Who’s Coming to Dinner.