Greetings, friend. My name is Jody Lukos and I am to be your liaison officer for the duration of this contract. You do not need to know who I represent, except that my client is a generous employer. The mission is simple. We need you to drop on the world of New Caledonia and carry out a simple assessment of its defences. You may be wondering why New Caledonia, so far out at the distant reaches of the Inner Sphere. Well, let’s just say my client has a vested interest in that region of space. We expect the garrison to be second-rate, but that does not mean that they will be pushovers. You are free to engage any hostiles encountered, but discretion is always the better part of valour. Good luck.
Location: New Caledonia
Employer: Jody Lukos.
Contract Duration: 1 game turn.
Mission Brief: Now, it may look like this run will be simple stroll in the park – it’ll be only if you don’t try anything stupid. Go in and scan as many objectives as you can and then get the hell out of there. With the exception of a Hornet, the rest of the garrison mechs are slow and so won’t be able to react fast enough if you do not get yourself bogged down. Remember, this is not a search and destroy mission. Don’t get into unnecessary trouble.
Threat Assessment: Intel on the ground places a reinforced lance of slow and poorly-armoured light to heavy mechs in the area.
Additional Intel: Players may purchase additional intel on the OpFor composition for 100,000 c-bills.
Contract Payout: 500,000 c-bills upon acceptance of the contract. 650,000 c-bills will be paid for each objective successfully scanned. 150,000 c-bills will be deducted for each objective destroyed. Enemy mechs cannot be salvaged. For secondary objective bonuses, see below.
PoW Options: OpFor pilots cannot be captured.
Deployment: The battle is fought on a 2×2 board. The player chooses one short board edge which is designated as his home edge. The opposite short board edge becomes the OpFor’s home edge.
The OpFor first deploys 4 objectives within 6 hexes of each corner of the board. These are a Mobile HQ (vehicle), a sensor tower (CF20 structure), a satellite station (CF75 structure) and a repair facility (CF40 structure).
The player chooses one short board edge which is designated as his home edge. The opposite short board edge becomes the OpFor’s home edge.
The OpFor is then given 5 counters to represent his mechs. He writes down what each counter represents on a piece of paper before the battle. He then deploys all counters to within 1 hex of a objective, with at least 1 counter assigned to each objective.
The player then deploys his force within 1 hex of his home edge.
Mission Special Rules:
Radio Interference – Due to the strong winds in the area, the OpFor mechs suffer from radio interference. Unless indicated in the mission parameters, OpFor mechs may not move more than 3 hexes from the objective they start out beside unless they or their assigned objective is being fired upon/scanned within normal sensor range (3 hexes). OpFor mechs that become ‘active’ in this manner may then activate other OpFor mechs by ending a movement phase within sensor range (3 hexes) of them. At the start of turn 12 however, the OpFor begins to realise that something is not right and are no longer bound by the restrictions imposed as a result of radio interference.
Counters – The counters represent the OpFor units that are unidentifiable at the start due to incomplete intel. When deployed, a facing must be identified and they then move according to the movement profile of the unit represented. Counters are revealed once a unit comes within direct line of sight (with 12 hexes using the front arc) or the sensor range (3 hexes) of an opponent’s unit at the end of any movement phase. Counters may not be fired upon until revealed.
Mobile HQ – The Mobile HQ uses the corresponding vehicle record sheet. It however remains stationary during the entire battle and does not count as a unit for the purposes of determining movement or firing sequence. It may however fire its weapons using a Gunnery Skill of 4. This is always done at the start of the firing phase. If the Mobile HQ is destroyed, the OpFor suffers a -1 penalty to its initiative roll from the start of the following turn.
Sensor Tower – The Sensor Tower occupies a single hex and counts as a level 3 structure. If it is destroyed, all OpFor mechs must converge to within 6 hexes of it at running speed before returning to their original assigned objective. OpFor mechs that have been fired upon in the same turn or who are fired upon along the way may ignore this requirement.
Satellite Station – The Satellite Station occupies a single hex and counts as a level 2 structure. If it is scanned, all OpFor counters are instantly revealed.
Repair Facility – The Repair Facility occupies 2 hexes and counts as a level 3 structure. Any mech that spends a full turn immobile (treated as pilot unconscious) inside one of its hexes has all its structure and armour points fully repaired and has its ammunition replenished. However, parts of the mech that have been lost already or equipment that has already been destroyed cannot be replaced. Any one of the hexes can be used for the purposes of scanning.
Scanning – To scan a building, a mech has to spend a full turn within a 3-hex radius of the target. In addition, the scanning mech may not fire its weapons while performing a scan. Multiple buildings may be scanned at the same time and line of sight is not required.
DC/BAP/ECM/EW Equipment – Scanning and detection of player units may be augmented by the use of DC/BAP/EW Equipment. In the same way, the abilities of these equipment may be countered by ECM/EW Equipment. For more detailed rules on these equipment, refer to the Campaign House Rules.
OpFor Objective: The OpFor’s objective is to prevent the scanning/destruction of more than 2 of its objectives. OpFor mechs are not subject to forced withdrawal rules.
Player’s Victory Conditions: The player is paid according to the number of installations he has scanned. However, for the purposes of recording a victory, the player has to scan at least 3 objectives and successfully withdraw half of his force (rounding up) off the field. Player mechs are subject to forced withdrawal rules. The entire player force must retreat as quickly as possible once more than 50 percent (rounding up) of his mechs are destroyed/forced to withdraw.
Secondary Objective: The player receives 650,000 c-bills if he successfully scans all the buildings.
A Singaporean Battletech Blog 