Fights on Moons

[SCC]

OK this has been interesting me lately and I want to know if there are any cases of fights occurring on moons, the two most likely that I can think of are Luna (Earth's Moon) and Talon (Of Wernke) but from the Sarna articles don't have any information about fight occurring on them (Which is rather odd, especially in the case of Luna), so does anyone know of any?

[Feenix74]

Aidan Pryde's Trial to win his Bloodname.

[Frabby]

During the Jihad, the WoB wiped out SAFE's Dark Shadows battalion on Wendigo, the moon of Atreus (the FWL capital world).

I distinctively recall at least one BattleTechnology short story and scenario concerned with taking out a HPG relay station on a moon... somewhere.

Generally though, why the interest in moons as battle sites? How are moons different from other planetary bodies with no or toxic atmosphere and/or low gravity conditions?

[SCC]

I'm talking about moons around inhabited planets, which may be inhabited themselves (Mining operations at least), taking it away from the nominal owner causes problems, plus their useful staging points for assaults on the planets they orbit, the owner has to reinforce the planet, attack you, or run the risk that this is a feint.

[Kit deSummersville]

There's a BC scenario, Organic Ice, about taking a moon of New Earth with plentiful Hydrocarbons on the road to retaking Terra from Amaris.

[Arkansas Warrior]

OK this has been interesting me lately and I want to know if there are any cases of fights occurring on moons, the two most likely that I can think of are Luna (Earth's Moon) and Talon (Of Wernke) but from the Sarna articles don't have any information about fight occurring on them (Which is rather odd, especially in the case of Luna), so does anyone know of any?

There was fighting on Talon during the FedCom Civil War.  It's thoroughly discussed in the FedCom Civil War Sourcebook.

[Archangel]

I can recall only one occasion where a battle on a moon had an immediate impact on the inhabited planet it orbited.  During Anton's Revolt, the miners on the moons of Sackville favored Anton while the planet favored Janos.  Trying to force the planet to shift their support, the mining colonies used their mass accelerators to bombard the planet until the FWLN was able to free the ships and troops needed to secure the moon.  (Hist.: BW, p24)

During the FedCom Civil War, the Seventh F-C RCT and the Twenty-Second Avalon Hussars RCT fought for control of the moon's production facilities resulting in the Seventh's destruction but they were able to sufficient damage the Twenty-Second that it was only able to dispatch a mixed brigade to New Avalon where it was destroyed.  The planet itself played no direct role in their conflict.

I do seem to recall one occasion after the Blackout where forces from Clan Sea Fox pursued a pirate band that had been harassing them to a moon under the guise of initiating trade negotiations with the FWL?/former FWL? planet.  Upon destroying the pirate they discovered evidence that the planet had been sponsoring the pirates in order to weaken the merchant clan.  They used this evidence to gain favorable terms in the subsequent negotiations.  I guess depending upon your point of view negotiations can been seen as a bloody and vicious conflict.

[Frabby]

During the Ronin Wars, the Predlitz moon of Krakau was captured by Ronin forces. They threatened to blow up its ancient fusion engine and thereby crash the moon into Predlitz. (Brush Wars and Ronin! scenario packs).

[Arkansas Warrior]

During the Ronin Wars, the Predlitz moon of Krakau was captured by Ronin forces. They threatened to blow up its ancient fusion engine and thereby crash the moon into Predlitz. (Brush Wars and Ronin! scenario packs).

Wait, what?  That doesn't even sound possible.  Also, just checked Brush Wars, and while it mentions (briefly) a battle on Krakau, it doesn't say anything about crashing it into the planet.

[glitterboy2098]

if the moon is small enough (comparable to say Phobo/Deimos) a massive explosion (especially under the surface, where it can propel a lot of debris off in one direction) might knock it out of orbit.

[Frabby]

Wait, what?  That doesn't even sound possible.  Also, just checked Brush Wars, and while it mentions (briefly) a battle on Krakau, it doesn't say anything about crashing it into the planet.

The Brush Wars writeup was based on the apocryphal German-only Ronin! scenario pack. Check the Sarna entry, I summarized the storyline and scenarios (the moon situation is the third campaign). The desperate Ronin commanders threatened to blow up the reactor; while it was considered unlikely that they could actually crash the moon or parts of it into the planet, the Predlitz government wouldn't take chances and responded to the threat.

The "canonical" outcome of the apocryphal sourcebook storyline is that the Ronin were stopped just short of blowing up the reactor. A sidebox explains that if the players fail to prevent the destruction of the reactor, only a huge crater remains on the surface of Krakau; this crater is then named after the honorable but ultimately unsuccessful player unit. The blast turns out to be not strong enough to destroy the moon or to harm the world of Predlitz after all though.