I'm looking at converting a BattleSpace-rules scenario from
The Dragon Roars scenario pack to Alpha Strike, but the thoughts here should also apply the virtually-identical Abstract Combat rules from IO.
The scenario in question is "Fool me twice...", or #4 in that book. The gist of the scenario is an invading force needs to land a fleet of troop transports down on a planet, and a defending fleet wants to stop that from happening. The forces involved are largeish... 3 warships, almost 20 dropships, and over 70 fighters between the two sides combined.
In more detail, the story of the battle basically goes like this:
It is during Operation BULLDOG, and the SLDF forces are invading Luzerne as part of that concentrated effort to eject Clan Smoke Jaguar from the Inner Sphere. The SLDF side jumps in at a pirate point and drifts towards the planet under total EMCON, planning to brake at the last few hours and catch the CSJ naval pickets too far away to intercept in time. Only the twist is this is the same pirate point used in 3055 when CSJ was embarrassed during the Luzerne Raid, and the Clan naval forces have been withdrawn to orbit around the planet to avoid history repeating itself.
The forces are:
SLDF: Sovietskii Soyuz, 3 escort dropships, 7 fighter squadrons, 6 troop transport dropships (generally all skill 4, 2523PV)
CSJ: Congress, Lola III, 4 assorted dropships, 3 fighter stars (generally all skill 3, 2442PV)
The scenario has a points-based victory determination. Survival for the SLDF combat forces is not emphasized. Having the troop transports reach Luzerne in a condition to drop troops IS rewarded with points, as is a minor degree of points being awarded for destroying Clan targets. The Clan side wants to destroy enough troop transports to foil the invasion and preserve their WarShips in the process.
The scenario as presented has the players line up two space combat maps along their short ends representing the approach vector to low orbit around Luzerne. The SLDF troop transports don't come onto the map until turn 4, and they are considered to reach Luzerne if they cross the entire playing area, but with a cap on their velocity. SLDF transports zooming off the Clan deployment edge at too high a velocity don't give points since they're not able to drop their troops onto Luzerne.
So, converting this scenario has a couple key hurdles. Foremost is the map itself. Abstract combat uses sector maps, and I don't see any reason to modify that sector map to match the paradigm of only representing the last moments before atmospheric interface. So to convert the map, I plan to:
Have all Clan forces begin the game in the center zone (Luzerne)
The SLDF picks a single periphery sector that all forces set up inside. The SLDF player can have his troop transports move towards Luzerne on a timing that he feels fit, rather than coming onto the playing area at some defined point after the scenario begins.
Dealing with 70+ fighters: BattleSpace put all those fighters into Squadrons. I'm leaning against it. Yeah it's potentially a bitch to track where that many units are going if they spread out, but I'm not so sure they WILL spread out significantly. And spreading out a LITTLE will actually be a huge help by making tracking engagements easier. Besides, with using the wide open capital sector map instead of a very, very narrow path the troop transports must travel through, it seems unfair to the Clan player to allow the SLDF player the ability to spread out with their greater number of maneuver units. Besides, individual fighters are gonna die quick. So very quick. Once fighters get into hairballs with one another, their numbers will drop precipitously.
The interceptor factor in abstract combat: A big problem I think I'll have is how to address the ability for a fast interceptor to tarpit something exactly like a troop transport trying to get past combat and to a destination. Being able to break out of a hail-mary type engagement is key to the scenario working at all. Without a house rule, I'm pretty convinced the invading side has an absolute Zero percent chance of success, b/c the only way to keep dropships alive when enemy fighters (to say nothing of WarShips) are gunning for them is to tie up those enemy units before they can reach them. Once an interceptor slips past your own fighters and reaches the slow transports, it'll take an act of the dice gods for your transport to ever get to move again. So I'm pretty sure a house/scenario rule is called for to allow dropships to continue to move even while engaged. I mull some ideas in another thread
here and
here. Also, IO has some interesting ideas that can be borrowed from the Engagement Control rules in Strategic BattleForce (beginning on page 237)
