Opportunity Knocks; a Mini-Campaign

[Colt Ward]

These scenarios were written as a series of battles to be fought in the space of a week or two across a planet in the Chaos March set in 3063.  The intent is to exploit the better techs & support the mercs bring to the field, forcing the planetary garrison into early repair & refit cycles as well as part of the effort to rally the planet to the cause of the rebels they are supporting.  The nature of the geography divided the habitable zones into north and south polar/near-polar areas.  Most were fluffed to be in the polar area opposite the planetary capital with the planet under the control of a Viscount.

Mini Campaign Rules for GMs
The point of this mini-campaign is for the merc/rebel side (or invading House) to have a lot of small battles that can be waged where the primary player force has to decide where, based on intelligence, to allocate their forces.  Players should be reminded they will still need to defend their base as well as mount patrols and they will have limited lift opportunities for their dropship to shuttle around forces.  The GM will secretly allocate their forces to guard all the objectives during the period from their forces which will be no more than 70% of the PC’s total force to include rebel assets.  The GM can re-assign survivors from earlier battles to help protect other objectives later in the 2 weeks or have them sent to central bases to bolster those garrisons.

Travel-  To keep it simple, the rebels/mercs operate on the southern continent.  It will take them one 24 hour period of marching to the objective and one 24 hour period of marching to reach objectives on the southern continent. 

DS Transport-  For transport to the northern continent to hit those targets it will be 1 day loading on the DS & flying north, 1 day to the target, battle,  and back, and 1 day returning to the southern continent where they are based.  Each mech company the merc force has gets them 1 DS to use while for every 3 armor companies the mercs have they get a DS.  When counting for transport purposes, it is rounded down- IE, 20 mechs just gets you a single DS.  Unless otherwise built into the merc organization, the mech DS for this purpose is assumed to be a Union and the armor DS is assumed to be an Intruder.  DS will take 1 day between operation for maintenance checks and refueling- IE for 2 weeks of operation you can only get 6 trips to the northern continent.  Any time DS are in operation, all merc/rebel ASF are tasked to defend DS travel.

Repairs & Reload-  For my purposes I used the detailed repair times provided in the FM Merc books.  I also use spreadsheets for detailed general parts tracking (AC/5 rather than Imperator AC/5 vs Armstrong AC/5) to performing my repairs.  For those plugging this into a Chaos Campaign, I suggest using the more detailed repair time-table just using the regular Chaos Campaign RP use to pay for the repairs if you are not tracking parts.  GMs will have to determine the value for RP of salvage or captured supplies.


Scenarios are the following for suggested locations-

Southern Continent
You Can't Stop the Signal (Mal)
Railroaded
Turtle Hunting
Grocery Run
Masada
Duck Hunt (tied to Masada)
A Sinking Ship
Going to Leave a Mark
Chance Encounter

Northern Continent
Big Bada Boom
Free At Last
Turning Out the Lights
All Fall Down
Rinse and Repeat

Note- Most of this was done through MegaMek and I will supply the special maps as able.

[Colt Ward]

'You Can't Stop the Signal (Mal)'

Take over a rebroadcasting station on the edge of a port city so that the rebel's council can send out a message announcing themselves to the population (expected to be blocked on northern continent) in an effort to drive recruitment, perhaps government sabotage, and even more passive resistance.  The port has a ready garrison of a company of light-med armor and no known enemy mech patrols are expected to be in the area.

Map-  The battle area is a few rolling hills with a road between them and the side with smaller hills has a few buildings.  On the side of one of the larger hills (L5 or L6) is a 2 or 3 hex facility where the rebroadcasting station is located.  The battle location is on the southern continent.

Objective-  Get your infantry into the building and hold it for 5 turns before bailing back out to leave.  ONLY controlling the building matters for success/failure of the mission.  Destroyed enemy units, or captured MW/veh crews are very secondary objectives and are only considered for strategic impact.

Victory Result-  Rebels get a boost to morale (in battle) and recruitment (addition to any periodic recruitment efforts, basically +1 or +2 on rolls)

[Colt Ward]

Railroaded
The target is a railyard that is a hub for the logistics chains in the southern continent, primarily for moving ammunition to the southern commands after it moves inland from the main port.  The railyard has a section of secured warehouses where various types of ammunition is stored before it is broke up into packets to be delivered to the proper location.  Intel has also informed us that for the last week it will has been receiving replacement AC/2s, AC/5s and SRMs for the refurb depot that rebuilds Scorpions, Vedettes, Bulldogs, and other tanks for the planetary militia.  The railyard is usually garrisoned by a rotating lance of mechs and a reinforced mechanized infantry company.  Be aware the railyard is also in range of a firebase (offboard) that can send artillery fire onto targets that are reported back.  Rebels & Mercs will need to limit damage to the infrastructure so as not to prevent distribution of food and other necessities to the population which the rebels draw their support for the rebellion.

Map-  The center of the map has a collection of buildings, most of a warehouse type though a few are for support of the railroads.  Warehouses would be 2 levels tall and 4 to 5 hexes long and 3 hexes wide of moderate CF.  Some will be light CF construction but not in the ‘secured’ area of the railyard.  Barracks/Guardhouses will be single hex buildings that are reinforced CF, one at each cardinal point and be the access point for the ‘secure’ area.  A tank farm will also be on the edge of the railyard, some tanks containing explosive contents while others would be POL or even greywater for the locomotives.  Forming a ‘L’ shape would be a dry riverbed/ravine with in 6-7 hexes of the W & S sides of the map.  The ravine would be 4 levels (occasionally 3) below elevation and 4 to 5 hexes wide, one lesser graded area 2 and then 3 before merging to the 4 level depth would exist on the S side going to the edge and one on the west side going towards the center of the map.  Railroads will spur out from the center of the map, with 2 bridges across the Ravine to the S that are 4 hexes apart and duplicating that on the W side of the ravine.

Objective-  Destroy or set fire to 70% of the railyard buildings, total will include the secure section of the railyard though does not include the security bunkers.  Destroy or set fire to 90% of the secure warehouse buildings.  Secondary objective would be destruction or forced withdrawal of defending mech lance.  Secret Objective-  Rail networks must be intact, at least one bridge across the ravine in each direction must remain standing.

Victory Result-  Work halts on repairing or converting militia armor.  All southern commands will be limited to the AC/LRM/SRM/MG ammo they have on hand for the foreseeable future.

[Colt Ward]

Big Bada Boom

One of the munitions factories on the northern continent has a slight vulnerability as revealed by intelligence sources, but our detailed snapshot of their current dispositions is what matters more for the current timeframe.  The munitions factory has a security company made up of two armor companies, most of which are Brutus Assault Tank variants, and two companies of security troops (foot infantry) who perform patrols and man gun positions in pillboxes.  Most of the planetary government’s contribution to the garrison has been rotated out leaving a single medium lance along with a Vedette lance to hold on until the other two lances arrive from their annual refit cycle.  The munitions factory has recently been built as part of the Viscount’s militarization initiatives and features some expensive imported equipment for it’s planned expansion into the primary munitions plant for the whole planet as well as possible export items.

Corporate Security Force-  10 Brutus of the various 3025 types, 2 Zhukov, 2 Demolisher, 2 Bulldog, 4 Vedette, 4 mixed Scorpion, 4 mixed Goblin along with 8 platoons of foot infantry with Wheeled and Heavy Wheeled APC.  8 LRM5 turrets in reinforced pillboxes, 10 SRM4 turrets in reinforced pillboxes, 16 MG turrets in pillboxes, and 4 AC/5 field gun set ups manned by infantry.

Map-  The munitions plant is divided up into munition storage bunkers protected by berms and the production lines which are also protected by berms along with walls.  Surrounding the edge of the facility is a 15 hex wide ‘kill zone’ with no elevation changes or trees to give shelter to any attackers or covert insertion teams.  To the west is a even larger flat area where the planned expansion of the factory will be built, it already had several 4 level deep munitions bunker excavations with berms around the holes.

Victory Conditions-  For the attacker, 75% of the production or storage bunkers are destroyed or on fire (defender will select the production buildings from offices or other support buildings), only a sensor sweep can determine specific buildings purposes.  Intel can indicate that a majority of the buildings in ‘this’ or ‘that’ area are production buildings.  For the Defender, having half the production facilities survive intact with 10% or less of the rest on fire.  Defender will also secretly designate one large building that houses the imported equipment, if this building survives it is a stand-alone minor victory though it can also count for the 50%- this building cannot be on fire!  IE, a defender can collapse a single hex that is on fire in a effort to keep it from spreading.

Surprise Condition-  The security force has a lance of Inquisitor SecurityMechs piloted by old 4SW veterans.

[Colt Ward]

Grocery Run

One of the distant enemy garrisons is getting it’s regular supply run, mostly food for the chow hall.  The fresh items are sent by hovers, our intel has given us the route for this convoy.  It has limited guards, but it does have hovertanks watching over the convoy simply because they are military vehicles which must have security ensured.

Map-  Random map that will have a path for the convoy to follow.  Both sides will be aware of the planned route.  Attacker’s force will be hidden units placed at their discretion no closer to the start point than 20% of the course.  Convoy will be limited to the slowest hover’s cruising speed until contact with attackers.  Upon contact the hover convoy can break at speed for the exit point without having to follow the exact planned route.

Attacker Major Victory-  80% of the convoy destroyed or disabled (which can include driving accidents) which does not include escorts hovertanks.  Minor Victory-  50% of the convoy destroyed or disabled.

Defender Victory-  60% of total convoy escapes and/or half of attacker force is destroyed or in forced withdrawl

Impact-  Attacker victory gives a morale penalty for the next campaign month

[Colt Ward]

Free At Last

One of the largest prison complexes on the planet, once a dumping ground for the Capellan justice system, is barely in the northern habitable zone.  Most political prisoners were freed when the Federated Suns took over the planet with the facility being handed over to the planetary council.  Use of the facility slowly declined until Operation Guerrero threw off FedCom control.  Once the Viscount subsumed the planetary council, the population of the old Liu facility started to climb once again with the prisoners charged with restoration of the abandoned facilities of the last 20 years.  Some of the current guards were once prisoners when the compound was under Liao control.  While escape is possible, the facility existing in the barely habitable zone would require escapees to cross vast arid areas that are known to have giant dust storms sweep out of the lands to the south or electrical storms trashing unprotected electronics.  The facility is known to house nobles, labor union leaders, city and district politicians, members of the press who were too critical of the current government, ‘anarchists,’ and suspected Capellan sympathizers along with the more garden variety criminals.  Inside the Liu Prison, two classes exist- the Crims and the Pols- and in the hierarchy the Pols are the absolute bottom rung.  Rumors abound about Liu, but few have returned from the facility since the Viscount gained control of the planet.  The ones who have returned were sent there for criminal charges and are reluctant to discuss the state of the prison.  The rebels suspect hundreds of their leaders, operatives, and supporters have been sent to the Liu prison over the last five years but it is difficult to get an exact number- how do you know if someone disappeared went there or were killed?

Rumors also exist that the Viscount was using the prisoners as slave labor in LosTech prospecting to the abandoned Star League era cities south of Liu.  Venturing further south than Liu is extremely dangerous even with proper preparations as the area suffers from quick forming tornadic storms which supercharge the surrounding area with electrical charges that have been known to burn out shielded vehicles and navigation equipment.

Map-  The main prison barracks form a ‘n’ with the opening facing to the south.  The barracks are three levels high and medium CF and provide shelter for the admin buildings and the vehicle garage.  No trees are on the map, a road leads north between rolling hills.  Sand, rocks, mud are the scattered differences in the barren arid terrain.

GM Notes
Defenders-  The guards have multiple MG & SRM towers ringing the facility.  The guard force numbers roughly a understrength battalion of irregular infantry armed with rifles and some infantry Inferno SRMs.  The guards also maintain a pair of riot control SecurityMechs and a mix of Flatbed Trucks, Ibex (MG) clones, Pitbull clones, and Knox armored cars.  The GM can supplement this from their available forces with at most two light mechs or two light vehicles.

To set this up properly, use all the prison tropes that exist-  Soviet gulags, Devil’s Island, all the worst prison rumors.

[Colt Ward]

Turtle Hunting

The planetary government maintains a tight grip on the planet by the use of militia armor and infantry formations.  Recruited from among the population that supports the Viscount and leavened by mercenary recruits who ensure the loyalty and professionalism, the armor formations are the foundation of his control.  While the planetary government does have nearly two mixed regiments of mechs, one is usually engaged ‘liberating’ materials from neighbors.  The regiment that remains on planet is equipped with lighter and out-of-date mechs (to include security mechs) as well as agreements with mercenary forces allowed to base themselves on planet.  Halberd Base is the southern training facility as well as the primary military base in the south besides the city garrison.  Mech patrols rotate through Halberd Base and are assigned for refit & training cycles.  During the infrequent stays of the Bryant Regulars’ primary regiment, one of the battalions will be assigned to Halberd as a garrison- currently the regiment is offplanet which is what has allowed the rebellion to surge.

The armor training facility is on the western side of the base and isolated from the main base compound by the various training areas between the two sites.  Primary buildings are located behind a Level 1 berm with a SE gate situated right at the motor pools.  Just inside the gate are four isolated munitions dump bunkers.  Currently training is a mixed armor battalion of Vedettes, Goblins, Galleons, and Scorpions along with a recon company and two mechanized infantry companies equipped with wheeled heavy APCs.

Armor BN-  All models used must be present in at least 8 models.  All of the armor crews will be random green crews except FREX if there are 2 lances of Vedettes then each lance leader will be a ‘instructor’ crew of random regular skill.  If there are 3 lances or more, one of the ‘instructor’ crews will be random veteran skills.  All armor will start in their training compound parking positions before moving into the attack.  Each vehicle will be limited to half ammo-loads as a reflection of carrying a mix of training & live rounds.

Map-  The base will be at the center, surrounded by lightly wooded rolling hills with a road connecting to the training base from the main base as well as splitting off into the training areas.

Special Rules-  To preserve initiative for the attackers, vehicles will move in groups of 2 or 4 counting as 1 initiative place, FREX a armor BN would have 9 lances- if the attacker sent two lances you would end up with a 8v9 initiative count.  If the attacker brought a company it would be a 12v9 initiative count.