Wave 4: The Falcon Guard Falls
With their supply line issue that plagued wave 3 finally solved, the Clan Jade Falcon resumes their invasion targeting 15 worlds. While initially successful despite increasing resistance from inner sphere forces, on Twycross the entire Falcon Guard was lead into an ambush and destroyed. This, coupled with the death of the Ilkhan a month later, stalled the rest of the clan invasion as Clan Jade Falcon rebuilt the Falcon Guard while electing a new ilKhan. These setbacks would take a year off their invasion timeline for the next wave, giving the defenders of the inner sphere time to issue field upgrades to their mechs, greatly expanding the inner sphere's technical capabilities in the face of the clans. For the Turkina Keshik, wave 4 started with Baker 3, and ended with Sudeten where they, along with the Blue Devil cluster, fought the storied Grey Death legion. While nothing so severe as the honor losses of the Falcon Guards and Malthus bloodname, the Turkina Keshik and Blue Devils were unsuccessful at stopping the escape of the famous mercenaries.
Track 1: Baker 3 August 3050, under strength militia (regular; combined arms battalion).
The Baker militia used traps and ambushes to engage and destroy a few mechs and elementals, trying to use subterfuge to make up for the militia's unsupported and under strength numbers. These dishonorable tactics caused Turkina Keshik fly into a frenzy, hunting down and killing every militia member they could find.
Track Cost: 0
Option: (Warden) Mine clearance ordinance: The Warden Player uses their heavy aerospace strike fighter to identify safe hexes. Each turn the player can probe 1 hex, and upon finding an unsafe hex one heavy strike is automatically expended springing the trap.
Option: (Crusader) Canary in a Coal Mine: The crusader player uses their unit of sensor equipped elementals to jump into hexes ahead of the mech, marking them safe.
Option: Fight with honor. +1 point.
Map: Hot springs. The geothermal activity allows the defender to place hidden deadfall traps. These work like medium density (20 point) minefields, but also lower the elevation 3 hexes, causing a PSR to avoid falling for 1.5 times falling damage. Mechs without jumpjets will be stuck in the deadfall, and will need to deal damage to the terrain to climb out. (200 damage needed to lower adjacent terrain 1 hex level). Hexes that might look like lava are just heated sulfur water. +2 heat for mechs in water hexes, regardless of depth.
Objective: Destroy all militia forces for using such dishonorable tactics. (+1 point)
Forces: 50% of clan BV in combined arms militia (1/3 mech, 1/3 tank, 1/3 infantry). For each clan unit, place 1 secret dead fall trap and hide 1 unit per the hidden unit rules.
Note: Militia forces will move towards and attempt to attack units stuck in a deadfall, as they have or will have no movement modifier and are thus the easiest targets.
Track 2:
The Turkina Keshik must penetrate through the enemies defensive line, and infiltrate 2 flamer elemental units into the defensive bunker network the militia commander has been using to move their forces and set up ambushes. The commander is killed when 2 flamer elemental units are slipped past their lines into his bunker.
Track Cost: 1
Option (Warden): More traps. +1 point. A player taking this option gives the defender 1 deadfall trap, per the previous scenario.
Option (Crusader): More ambushes. +1 point. A player taking this option gives the defender 1 hidden unit, per the previous scenario, from the forces deployed on the defense line.
Option: Fight with Honor. +1 point.
Map: Lush forest. The midpoint between the two maps represents the militia's defense line. Militia units on this line are not subject to forced withdrawal, and units deployed on the line have improved positions (partial cover) facing the clan players board edge.
Objective: Infiltrate 2 units of flamer elementals into the militia's command bunker to find and kill the militia commander responsible for the defender's dishonorable tactics. +2 points if elementals infiltrated into both hexes. +1 point instead if both hexes of the bunker are destroyed (and the commander presumed, but not confirmed, dead).
Forces: 50% of clan BV in combined arms militia (1/3 mech 1/3 tank 1/3 infantry) deployed on the defense line. In addition, the enemy commander is in a Hardened Command Fort 6 hexes from the enemies board edge.. This structure is 2 hexes long, level 2 high, and has 144 armor and 150 CF per hex. To identify the enemy commander, the armor must be stripped from a hex and elementals then embarked into that hex. Once both hexes are embarked into, the commander is found and brought to swift justice, ending the militia's resistance on the planet. The hardened command fort is found in the free hexpack promotion. It has a BV of 906, and is armed with a variety of weapons including a sniper artillery piece and pair of autocannons using flak to cover versus air attacks. Due to the placement of the forests, line of sight to the Command bunker is extremely limited, forcing clan units to pierce the defense line to even get line of sight to the building.
Sudeten Sept-Oct 3050, Grey Death Legion and militia. The Grey Death introduce the idea of heroic enemy units for player forces to deal with, who have edge or special pilot abilities.
Battlesites: Braunfield, Killiring, Hammar. Scenarios found and adapted from the 'Day of Heroes' PDF.
GDL: 36 mechs, 9 infantry platoons (3 foot, 3 mechanized, 3 antimech commandos), 12 vehicles (all hovertanks)
Grayson: NA tactics, 4 edge
Lori: 3 edge
Davis Mccall 3 edge
Hassan Al khalid 5 edge sixth sense
Charles Bear 4 edge
Delmar Clay 2 edge
Tracy Kent 3 edge
Track 3: The Battle of Braunfield (historic 7 gdl mechs lost to 3 clan)
After Baker 3, the Turkina Keshik headed to Sudeten to support the 124th striker cluster (the Blue Demons). Following a clumsy batchal by the Grey Death commander Greyson, the mercenary force met the Falcons in open battle that immediately turned into a rout and retreat for the mercenaries.
Track Cost 1
Option: Fight with honor (+1 Honor)
Option (Warden): 0 Honor. Guard against infantry. The player may, if their omnimech has leg critical space, add up to 4 .5 ton APOD systems to prevent infantry ambush attacks. They must subtract an equal tonnage in other systems per the omnimech special rules. (apods each automatically deal 1d6-1 damage to all infantry units in a hex, done before any suprise or leg attack is made)
Option (Crusader): +1 Honor. Big game hunter. The player challenges a 'heroic' unit of the Grey Death Legion. If they do not defeat this unit (the unit falls off the board) then you lose this honor point (so net zero).
Map: This portion of the Braunfield battle takes place on the eastern side. The clan forces arrive from the north on the standard battletech map, while the GDL units start already deployed in the south on 'Rolling hills #2', arranged in chase format. The 4 infantry units are deployed anywhere as hidden units.
Objective: The enemy quickly falls into a retreat once they realize the superiority of clan omnimechs and the folly of meeting the enemy head on. This happens when any mech loses an arm, takes 2 engine hits or a gyro hit, or any ammo explosion/sensor hit, in addition to normal forced withdraw rules. Once one unit is in retreat/destroyed, the entire force retreats. Defeat or drive from the field all enemy mercenary mechs. (+1 point) Points for mech kills for holding the field as normal.
Forces: One mech of the GDL per mech of the players. The roster available for this fight is below. In addition, 4 units of hidden infantry: mechanized laser, mechanized mgun, foot rifle, 21 strong commando srm. Canonically Grayson and Davis lose their Marauder and Rifleman, but are not killed. Use these 2 as the first heroic units. Use a minimum of 1 heroic unit per 3-4 clan mechs if not more from players who challenged a heroic unit using the crusader option (no bonus honor for players facing a heroic unit if they did not select the crusader option). Grayson has the tactical genius bonus, and his Marauder command mech provides a +1 initiative bonus. Both are lost when his mech is destroyed. Assume the rest of the GDL roster is engaging Blue Devil forces elsewhere.
+Grayson 3/ 4 Marauder * NA tactics 4 edge
+Lori 4/4 shadowhawk 3 edge
Dallas 4/5 Trebuchet
Miles 4/5 Griffin
+Hassan 4/4 Warhammer 5 edge
Rachel 4/4 Catapult
Wayne 4/5 Centurion
Paul 4/4 Archer
Gomez 3/3 Griffin
+Bear 4/4 Crusader 4 edge
Mai 3/3 Vindicator
Dimitri 4/5 Enforcer
+Davis 3/3 Rifleman* 3 edge
+Delmar 3/3 Wolverine 2 edge
Sharyl 3/3 Shadowhawk 2D
Francis 3/ 4 Assassian
Thomas 4/5 Thunderbolt
Martha 3/ 4 Jaegermech
Craig 4/6 Dervish
+Tracy 3/3 Phoenix Hawk 1K 3 edge
Thomas 4/4 Griffin
Philip 4/4 Vulcan
Winston 4/5 Commando
Track 4: The Battle of Killiring Crossing (historic 3 gdl to 4 clan)
Following the disastrous opening battle, the GDL re-earned their reputation by making a historic fighting retreat behind clan lines for 2 weeks, effecting repairs and sabatoging clan supply points along the way. This culminated in a final breakthrough to territory still held by the federated commonwealth after making a river crossing under enemy fire using a heavy rainstorm as cover. Now better accustomed to the clan method of fighting, the GDL engaged only 2 to 1 or better in mech fights, and scored more kills then losses overall.
The clan forces finally found and began to move against the fleeing GDL, though reinforcements were delayed due to weather. The majority of the GDL mech force crossed the river, with only a few light and medium mechs and hovertanks holding the line as rearguard.
Track Cost 1
Option: Fight with honor (+1 Honor)
Option Warden: Strider Star (0 Honor) A player may deploy turn 1 using elementals instead of a mech, thanks to advanced strider stars of elementals.
Option Crusader: Mech Duel (cost 0) A player may preemptively challenge the Hunchback instead of waiting until the weapon attack phase the turn they arrive on the board. This nets 1 honor for defeating 50+ tons of enemy mechs and holding the field. If multiple players use this option, the player with the lightest mech has bid the lowest and earns the right to the challenge.
Map: River Crossing map. Depth 0 water and all hexes within 1 hex of depth 1+ water is treated as mudslide/swamp (+1 mp, +1 PSR, stacks with rain) due to heavy rainstorm (bog down rules instead of falling over, automatically bog down if jumped). Heavy Rain imposes a +1 MP and +1 PSR cost to all hexes, and a +2 penalty to fire (stacking with the mud special terrain).
Objectives: Defeat the rearguard in 10 turns to harry the remainder of GDL forces as they make their river crossing. (+1 point)
Forces: A rear guard of light and medium mechs, as well as a regular hover lance and infantry company. Greyson is directing the battle from afar, provided the tactical genius initiative bonus.
Rebekeh Frye 4/4 Hunchback* half ammo
Santon Lynn 4/5 Javelin* half ammo
2 j edgar, saracen, scimitar, 2 mech rifle, foot rifle, foot mgun. The LRM support from the mercenaries many LRM equipped mechs may be called in from off map to support the rear guard. 1 LRM 20 of long range support per turn is added per attacking clan mech, using the indirect fire rules.
Special Rules: To deploy onto the map, the clan player must first move 17 hexes in the rainstorm. So a Nova, with a 5/8/5 speed, would take 4 turns moving with jumpjets to move 17 hexes, and can deploy on turn 5. A Vulture, with 5/8 speed, paying 2 per hex due to rain, would take 5 turns to move 17 hexes, and can deploy on turn 6.
Track 5: The Battle of Hammarr Spaceport
The Grey Death Legion as well as much of the militia forces have been ordered to evacuate Sudeten instead of continuing to fight, despite the exceptional fighting retreat of the GDL and recovering much of their fighting strength in the days after the Killiring river crossing. The falcons must try and stop the retreat as much as possible to recover honor lost from letting their prey escape their talons. While initially hard pressed, a suicidal last stand of some of the GDL including the hero Delmar Clay, along with a militia mech company, are trying to buy enough time for the dropships to launch.
Track Cost 2
Option: Fight with honor (+1 Honor)
Option Warden: Wing Support (1 honor). The player may use aerofighter support stationed on the moon to harrass the fleeing dropships. +1 turn to the turn limit if buying this option with honor. If using own aerosupport, for each 20 damage done +1 to the turn limit.
Option Crusader: Strider support (1 honor) The player may control a second unit (a unit of elementals). If bought with honor, these are 3/ 4 skill. If using players own elementals, use their skill (4/5 free pilots most likely)
Map: The clan players arrive from desert hills on turn 1, while the GDL deploy on the Citytech map representing an unused dropship staging pad at the edge of Hammarr spaceport. The militia arrive from the citytech edge on turn 3.
Objectives: Defeat the enemy forces by turn 10 to be able to attack the launching dropships. (+1 point) Earn points for mech kills holding the field as normal.
Forces: The defenders have hardened their resolve and are not subject to the forced withdrawal rules.
Mai Li-Fong 3/3 Vindicator*
Delmar Clay 3/3 Wolverine* 2 edge Delmar is providing a +1 initiative bonus with his command mech.
Craig Priestly 4/6 Dervish*
Charles Lovell 4/4 Centurion*
1 Foot rifle 1 foot SRM
1 company of militia mechs arriving on turn 3.
Rifleman 3/ 4, Rifleman 4/4, Archer 5/4, Warhammer 4/4
Hatchetman 3/3, Phawk 4/3, Dervish 4/4, Griffin 4/4
Locust 2/3, Ostscout 3/3, Spider 4/4, Wasp 4/4
