ScrapYard Armory

The Last Day of Zeta: A BattleTech Scenario

This scenario is based on the BattleCorps fiction of the same name.  It is one of the sadder tales within the BattleCorps library. On the barren and desolate surface of Mars one of the most storied units in the Inner Sphere meets it’s end .  The is hope that their sacrifice was not in vain.  Something lies within the sands of Mars.  The Dragoons knew something even ComStar was unaware of.  And that made the Word of Blake very very upset.

SITUATION

The Dismal D’s are gone.  All of the Dragoon Jumpships are either captured or destroyed.  No help is coming.  Zeta is surrounded by the Word of Blake Protectorate and there is no escape.

Weaker Mechwarriors would have given up.  They would have surrendered and prayed for the mercy of their defeaters.

But Zeta are not just any Mechwarriors.  They are the Zeta Battalion of Wolf’s Dragoons.

GAME SETUP

Arrange two maps as shown below.  The west map is Moonscape 1 and the east map is Moonscape 2.

DEFENDER

The Defender consists of elements from Wolf’s Dragoons Zeta Battalion.

Deployment

Zeta may begin the game anywhere on the battlefield.

ATTACKER

The Attacker is made up of several waves of units from the Word of Blake Protectorate.

Wave 1

Wave 2

Wave 3

Deployment

Wave 1 enters the game on turn 1 from any single map edge.  Waves 2 and 3 enter the game from any single map edge at the end of the turn during which the preceding wave is completely crippled or destroyed.

SPECIAL RULES

Buried in the Sand

Before the Defender deploys, the Word of Blake player may deploy up to two squads of Purifier Battle Armor as hidden units anywhere on the battlefield per Total Warfare pg 259.  These units may be hidden in clear hexes.

Extreme Cold (-50 C)

‘Mechs dissipate an additional 2 heat per turn.

Low Gravity (0.38 G)
(Tactical Operations pg 55)

Apply a +3 to-hit modifier to all missile and ballistic weapon attacks.

Multiply falling damage by 0.38 and round up.

‘Mechs and battle armor are capable of moving faster in lower G environments.  Use the following table to determine an adjusted walking and jumping MP.  Then recalculate the running MP normally.

(Game Note: We toned down the actual speed increase associated with Mars gravity due to some rather dramatic results from playtesting.  We knew something was seriously wrong when an assault star of clan Omnis gets steamrolled in four turns by Wave 1.  In this instance, we chose to trump the game rules as written in order to preserve game balance.  I hope you won’t mind.)

Every time a unit spends more MP than it’s standard running MP or jumps farther than it’s normal jumping MP, make a pilot skill roll.  If the roll fails, the ‘Mech takes 1 internal armor damage to each leg for every MP expended over it’s normal running MP and roll for possible criticals.

Trace Atmosphere
(Tactical Operations pg. 54)

Whenever any unit takes damage, roll 2D6.  On a result of 12 the section is breached.  Also, if all external armor is destroyed the section is automatically breached.

No End in Sight

In the unlikely event that the Wolf’s Dragoons player makes it past the third wave, simply repeat Wave 1 and so on until all of the Wolf’s Dragoons are destroyed.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

The Dragoons may claim a Marginal Victory if they can defeat Wave 1 and half of Wave 2.  They achieve Complete Victory if they defeat Wave 2 and a Major Victory if they can defeat half of Wave 3.

The Word of Blake may claim a Major Victory if they can destroy the unbelievers with Wave 1 alone.  They achieve a Complete Victory if they defeat the Dragoons with Wave 2 and a Marginal Victory if they have to bring in Wave 3.

And with it we now have BattleForce record sheets! Get it here.

This is a moment I have been waiting a long time for.  Many thanks go to Catalyst Demo Agent “SkyHigh” for making this recent addition possible.

BattleForce and QuickStrike Made Easy

With easy access to BattleForce record sheets, the gates have been opened to put Strategic Operations to full use.  BattleForce is only the tip of the iceberg.  QuickStrike is a great way to make use of the new record sheets.  You can play fast paced skirmishes or epic regimental slug-fests with relatively minimal setup.  At least you won’t have to fill out countless sheets by hand or bother with the very complicated BattleForce conversion.

BattleTech Force Balancer

An easy way for you to manage your lances/stars is by using the BattleTech Force Balancer.  Get it for free via SourceForge.  You can setup your lances to make the best use of your BattleMechs movement modes.  Another terrific fan produced program.

A great day for BattleTech.  Now get those games running!

There are not many better wedding gifts in the 31st century than an entire nation.  In 3028 Hanse Davion sparked an interstellar war with a toast to his new wife.  This is just one of those battles fought on a distant planet for control of military objectives and opposing head quarters. 

The battle was fought using Battle Force rules in Strategic Operations.  Each side had a reinforced battalion to command which included three BattleMech companies with one elite command lance, one Vehicle company, and one Infantry company.

We used a few special rules/tweaks to make our game resolve just a bit faster.

• Attacks were resolved as they were declared.  It made our game slightly more deadly/efficient, but kept the action moving smoothly.
• Damage from attacks was applied randomly against a target lance’s units.  Very similar to firing on Battle Armor in Total Warfare.
• Dice/tokens were used to mark units that had moved.  As the units fire was resolved the token was removed.  An easy way to avoid confusion on both sides of the table.

After spending a significant amount of time preparing record sheets (something Solaris Skunk Werks will soon help) we plunged into the action, foregoing the optional command rules.  Each side has two objectives and a single HQ.  The objectives are worth 50 points and the HQs are 25 points.   This is not strictly per the rules in Strategic Ops but a simplification for us so we could begin playing sooner.

Deployment

Turn 1 – Liao Wins Initiative

Each side moves towards their objectives.  Movements appear even across the battle line.  Not much action but much thought for later position.

(Davion: 0 pts, Liao: 0 pts)

Turn 2 – Davion Wins Initiative (Davions: 0 pts, Liao: 0 pts)

More movement as both sides tip their hands.  The Davions are employing a more even attack while the Liaos are concentrating the bulk of their forces closer to the southern objectives.

The first Davion unit crosses the river while to the North several units cover the Liao objective.  Each force has units close to their Southern objectives and are looking for an easy capture in the turns to come.

(Davion: 0 pts, Liao: 0 pts)

Turn 3 – Liao Wins Initiative

Davion units bypass the Northwestern Liao objective and begin the long trek across the lake.  To the South the Davions envelop their objective and begin slugging it out against Capellan troops in range.

A single Davion light Mech is dropped by long range fire as the Liao forces occupy their Southeastern objective.

(Davion: 0 pts, Liao: 13 pts)

Turn 4 – Davion Wins Initiative

Northern Liao troops make a major shift South at the last minute.  A huge firefight erupts around the Davion objective.  To the North a skeleton defense force is left behind to protect the Davion objective.

Davion troops make headway against their attackers, eliminating eight combat units while losing only three.  However the Southern Liao objective is captured uncontested.

(Davion: 13 pts, Liao: 59 pts)

Turn 5 – Liao Wins Initiative

Liao forces make a dash across the river and begin to threaten the Davion bulk from the rear.  A single lance of jump infantry to the North takes cover from the attacking Davions allowing uncontested control of the objective for now.  A lone light lance of Davions makes a dash towards the Liao HQ but is cut down by a far luckier opposing light lance.

The fight centered around the Southern Davion objective turns sour for the Davions.  The Liao forces strike down seven units while only losing six.  While numerically close, Davion casualties were far heavier units.

(Davion: 23 pts, Liao: 76 pts)

Turn 6 – Liao Wins Initiative

Liao infantry units to the North  jump into combat to keep the North objective free of Davion control and are joined by a light lance of ‘Mechs.  A Liao hover lance is within one turn of occupying the Davion HQ.  The Davion assault on their Southern objective is crushed while an understrength company can only hope to delay the capture of the Northern Liao objective.

(Davion: 52 pts, Liao: 98 pts)

It was agreed by both players that the scenario was not as fair as it could have been.  The Liao force was heavier than the Davions and the terrain placement hampered the Davion advance enough to severely hinder their ability to threaten objectives or respond to enemy movement.  In addition, poor force combinations further complicated the Davion’s movement woes.

A rough loss for the Davions but from what canon history tells us, not at all representative of the 4th Succession War in total.