little rules

More like A Game of Kicking Ass

So last night my old BattleTech boxed set caught my eye and I pulled out the rule book and flipped through it.  You won't find a lot of posts here on the ol' Gameblog about BTech, but it is probably my number 2 tabletop game in terms of sheer hours of play logged.  My junior high/high school attended Frontier Wars, the vaguely Traveller-themed Bloomington, Illinois convention (GDW's home town, after all), not long after a letter from George Lucas's lawyers prompted the name change from the original BattleDroids to the now famous BattleTech.  A few guys had the whole set up with miniatures and everything going.  We were hooked.  I bought two games that weekend, BattleTech and Call of Cthulhu.  Not a bad haul for a snot-nosed farmboy with no idea what he was doing.

Anyway, I started flipping through the rulebook because I always loved the probably untenable Post-Apocalypse in Space vibe of the early BattleTech fluff.  The further along the game got, the more space operatic it seems to go, and the less I dug any part of it except the big robots blowing the bejeezus out of each other.  The one-two punch of the Clan invasions and  new rules in the Solaris boxed set soured us on the game.  But before those came out we played the crap out of this game.  I'm talking weekend long games with 36 mechs a side, plus whatever shorter games we could fit in during the week.

Which is why I surprised that as I flipped through the amazingly familiar rulebook that my eyes fell on a rule I do not remember.  I've played and read a jillion games with a jillion rules, but the two rule sets I know best are Moldvay Basic D&D and this rulebook.  To find a rule that I have no memory of whatsoever just flabbergasted me.

BattleTech normally uses a 2d6 hit location system to see what part of the mech you blasted.  A roll of seven hits the torso.  If your shot comes in from the right, it's a hit to the Right Torso, from the left its a hit to the Left Torso, and from the center arc the hit lands in the Center Torso.  With me so far?  A roll of snake-eyes on the same chart indicates the same locations hit, except that after the location listing it says "(Critical)".  Critical Hits are the key to defeating a BattleMech.  The normal way you get them is by blowing away all the armor in a location so you can start scoring internal damage.  A roll of '2' on the hit location chart is the other way.

For the more common way of scoring crits (piercing the armor shell) you go to the Critical Hit Effects Table and roll another 2d6.  2-7 means no critical.  An 8 or 9 means you get one roll on the location based critical chart for your target Mech (more rolling, yay!).  A 10 or 11 gives you 2 rolls on the appropriate crit chart.  A roll of 12 either scores 3 hits, or if the location is a limb, the limb is blown clean off.  Sweet!  One legged mechs are hilariously bad at hopping around the BattleField-I mean battlefield.  And other mechs can pick

No, no, no.  That's a Crusader
from BattleTech.  You're clearly
mistaken.

up your lost limb and beat you with it using the club rules.  Fun times.

Anyway, prior to yesterday I would have bet cash money that a 2 on the hit location chart sends you to the same Critical Hit Effects Table, or as we usually called it, the Possible Critical Chart, to see if you inflicted 0, 1, 2, or 3 rolls on the appropriate Torso chart.  It doesn't.  A rule at the bottom of page 14 says you roll 2d6 as per normal.  A 2-7 is no effect again, but an 8 or higher destroys the location.  Note that destroying the Center Torso destroys the Mech.

The consequences of this rule is that 1 in 36 hits to the front or back of the mech runs an almost even chance (41 and change percent) of being killed with one shot.  That doesn't sound like a lot but when you fire more than 36 shots per game and play regularly for several years, that ought to add up to a nice little pile of dead BattleMechs.

I've got a point here beyond complaining that I'm owed more kills than I am credited with in BattleTech.  (So are my friends from those days, to be fair.)  With the exception of super-elegant games like S. John Ross's Risus: The Anything RPG, little rules like this can fly under the radar.   I run up against these all the time in various editions of D&D.  The crummy helmet rule in AD&D1, the 1 in 6 chance of dropping anything held if you are surprised in Holmes Basic, the chance for anyone to find a trap in Moldvay are three examples off the top of my head.  Forgetting any of them won't kill your game, but remembering them add a little spice to the game.  Moral of the story #1: reread your rulebook once in a while.  You might find something cool even in a game you've been familiar with for 3 decades.

The other thing going on here is the effect of the BattleTech reference sheet.  The back page of the rulebook is all the key charts of the game.  Early on my group made photocopies for easy reference.  If we ever knew the special rule for snake-eyes hit locations we probably forgot it because the chart sheet didn't mention it.  Meanwhile, the Possible Crit Chart is right on the same piece of paper.  Why wouldn't we use it?  Moral of the story #2: If you think a fiddly little rule is important, put it in your easy reference sheet or on your screen.  For example, whenever I run a new edition of D&D, I make sure I have the specifics of Sleep on my screen or otherwise handy.  I've never seen an official screen that has the rules for one spell on it, but my screen for my game needs it.

Mystery Minis revealed!

So these figures were sold in the earliest days of Warhammer 40K as robots.  Any players from the Rogue Trader era (the original game, not the recent RPG) remember actually using the robot rules?  They're pretty much the most complicated part of the original game, as I recall.

Those of you who identified these figures as BattleTech mechs, fret not!  The top one is a dead ringer for the Archer, an 70-ton missile monster from first BT boxed set (and one of the anime designs later de-canonized as "Unseen").  The one with chicken legs is clearly based off of Duane Loose's original illo of the Catapult from the original BattleTech Technical ReadOut 3025, the first big book o' mechs.  

[Side note for BTech nerds on the Catapult's connection to the later Madcat from the Clan era:  Years before the clan stuff was in print a guy from Chicago (where FASA was headquartered) would occasionally come to my part of Illinois for BattleTech events.  He owned a Catapult figure to which he had attached Marauder arms.  He even called it a Madcat.] 

The bottom robot isn't an exact match to any mech design I've seen, but it's very close to Loose's version of the Vindicator, House Liao's 45-ton miscellaneous workhorse machine.  Dig the illo:

Loose rules.

Note the head mounted laser.  The arm mounted laser is not visible in this pic, but the Vindicator definitely has one.  Basically, if you swap out that big ol' particle cannon for a proper forearm and hand you'd end up with something that looks a crapload like the 'SAM' Type Light Wardroid from Slocombe.

Anyway, I was just curious yesterday to find out if anyone remembered these guys as 40K robots.  I knew a lot of people would see them as BattleTech figures.  Coopdevil offered a theory in the comments yesterday that these guys started as licensed figures, but I think the missing cannon on the SAM points more towards "borrowed" designs.

Geocities Redux: excerpts from "BattleDroids Variants"

Introduction

George MacDonald has an armful of credits for the HERO System. Until recently I was unaware of his involvement in Battledroids (and as it would later be called, BattleTech). Mr. MacDonald, along with fellow Hero Games alumnus Steve Peterson, first described in print the technical details of the BattleMech.

The material Mr. MacDonald presents in Space Gamer #75 represents the earliest Battledroids/BattleTech variants I have yet to see in print. To read this article is to go back in time, to an era when a game that would become a phenomenon was still taking form and to a time George Lucas had yet to assume complete domination over the word “droid”.

From an ludo-archeological perspective, it is interesting to note that in his article Mr. MacDonald apparently invented the concept of the torso twist, a key component of later BattleTech play. One difference between the MacDonald “Emergency Turn” and the later official rules is that Mr. MacDonald’s maneuver resulted in a –2 to-hit penalty for all fire. If that was in BattleTech as my group first played it, we didn't realize it.

More important that the historical reasons for preserving this material are the actual gaming benefits. In other words, despite the nearly twenty years since publication, I think some of this stuff looks useable. Emphasis on the “looks”. I have yet to try out either of the ideas excerpted below. If you have played with these variants, or read this page and give either of them a try, please let me know.

Excerpt #1: Ranged Weapons

“Battledroids contains only a very few weapons. The list below adds four new weapons: the Auto-Laser, Tank Cannon, Heavy Missile Launcher, and a Medium-Range Racks.

“Auto-Laser: A medium weapon that fires multiple pulses of laser light. For each point that the attacker makes his to-hit roll by, the target takes 2 points of damage. Thus, if an attacker has a to-hit roll of 6+ and rolls a 10, the laser hits at 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 for 5 hits of 2 points each. Divide the damage into 5-point increments and roll hit location once per set of 5 points.

“Tank Cannon: A relic of a bygone era, the Tank Cannon is a medium recoilless cannon firing a high-explosive shell at high velocity. Tanks in Battledroids have 12 tons for weapons, so a tank could carry 1 cannon, 120 cannon shots, and 2 machine guns, each with 200 shots.

“Heavy Missile Launcher: This is often a shoulder-fired weapon that resembles a giant bazooka. It can fire one shot per turn. It is based on the Long-Range Missile, with a similar guidance system and a scaled-up warhead and propulsion. Because each missile is fired individually, it is aimed better and has a shorter minimum effective range than a Long-Range Missile does.

“Medium Missile Rack: A beefed-up Short-Range Missile Rack, with 33% more range and a 10 rack size. Quite useful for times when a Short-Range Missile is too short and a Long-Range Missile is too long.”

[Click for larger version.]

Notes

I think I prefer the Auto-Laser to the later Pulse Lasers that first appeared in the Technical Read Out 2750, though I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use both in a game. My gut instinct tells me that Auto-Lasers ought to be deadly at a range of 3 to 4 hexes.

The Tank Cannon puts an AC/5 to shame. For a range penalty of 3 hexes, the Tank Cannon produces equal damage for equal heat, weighs 3 tons less, occupies 2 fewer critical locations, and has 50% better ammo capacity. I can only assume that the Autocannon as presented in Battledroids was significantly different from the one adopted in later editions. With an alteration or two I think you could find some use for the Tank Cannon in BattleTech games. Without editing the Tank Cannon very few mechs would be built with AC/5’s. Imagine, for example, the things you could accomplish with the RFL-3N Rifleman if you had 6 more tons to work with. The effective range reduction seems a paltry penalty under such circumstances.

I think the most obvious solution would be to demand a slower rate of fire from the (non-Auto) Tank Cannon. Perhaps a simple “can only fire every other turn” rule would suffice. Such a change would emasculate the weapon, but it’s specifically labeled “a relic of a bygone era” and the name of the system makes clear that it was intended for tanks and not BattleMechs.

The Heavy Missile Launcher has similar problems as the Tank Cannon, leaving me wondering if maybe LRM packs also worked differently back in the day. The flat 8 points of damage beats out the average amount done by an LRM10 salvo. The Heavy Missile has the same range as an LRM, a shorter min range, weighs the same as an LRM10 but gets 8 more shots per ton. Heck, the 8 points of damage approaches the LRM15’s average damage. Again I wonder what BattleTech player would use an LRM10 if the Heavy Missile Launcher is available and on an equal footing with regard to supply, maintenance, repair, etc. As far as I can tell, by swapping out LRM10s and replacing them with Heavy Missile Launchers you only face 2 minor issues: you lose the ability to do 10 points of damage on a lucky missile hit roll and the Heavy Missile takes up an additional crit location.

Still, I’m not sure how to make the HML a more balanced weapon. Since MacDonald clearly intended for the Heavy Missile to be a Mech weapon system I feel like I can’t chop it down to size like I suggested above for the Tank Cannon. Perhaps the best solution would be to keep the statistics as written but handwave the availability of the Heavy Missile Launcher. “A new development only available to [fill in your favorite faction here]” or “Lost Star League Technology” or something like that.

The Medium Range Missile launchers have a lot going for them. Weight, crit space, and shots per ton are all slightly worse than comparable SRMs. The MRM10 is a kooky little addition to the sequence. The only thing that weirds me out are the MRM heat ratings. For no apparent reason a MRM generates about half as much heat as a similarly sized SRM. Worst of all, the MRM2 causes zero heat build-up. I like the MRMs and want to use them in play, but I think you either have to change the heat curves of these puppies or else go the “special munchkin tech” route like for the Heavy Missile.

Excerpt #2: Additional Heat Build-Up

“The heat buildup inside a droid in combat is one of the major limiting factors in its performance. Battledroids covers the major things a droidwarrior does to cause his own droid to generate heat. But, as any droidwarrior who has taken a Head hit from a Heavy Laser will tell you, enemy weapons fire can also generate significant heat.

“The accompanying chart lists the heat effect of being hit by each of the weapons in Battledroids. Divide the number of points of damage caused by each type of weapon by the listed value; round fractions down. The heat buildup from each attack type is calculated separately from damage.

“Thus a target hit by a Heavy Laser (8 points), 6 Long Range Missiles and a Tank Cannon (11 points), and a Flamer (2 points) would add 2 + 1 + 1 = 4 to its Heat Points that turn.”

[Click for a more legible version.]

Notes

I have two reservations towards implementing these interesting heat rules. First of all, I’m not sure the science would support the idea, especially in the case of lasers and machineguns. Mechs build up heat because they are enclosed machines. I fail to grasp how running a laser light along the hull of one will results in overall heat build-up. Since we’re talking about a giant robot game, I don’t consider that a big issue.

The bigger objection I have is the way that these rules alter the core game concept of heat management. Managing heat buildup has always been one of the most interesting mechanics in the game. One of the reasons heat management continues to fascinate me is the fact that heat buildup is basically self-inflicted. You voluntarily take on the long-term pain of additional heat for the short-term gain of faster movement and more intense weapons fire. Certainly outside forces can effect your heat rating, but the main thrust of the heat rules have always been summarized in questions like “Do I dare screw myself over for the privilege of firing all four of my Rifleman’s lasers on the same turn?” Figuring every single enemy weapon hit into the equation undermines the delicious cruelty of the system as written.

Still, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at a game that tried these rules.

BattleTech Scenario 1, Take 2

RESERVOIR RAID

Background

In January 3025 the Draconis Combine staged a series of raids into the Moseby Sector to test the defenses of the Lyran Commonwealth. Combine High Command assigned the task of raiding Lyran space to the 11th Legion of Vega, known as “The Looters”. It was felt that the known unreliability and poor morale of the 11th Legion would help supply the Combine with plausible deniability; any captured forces could be explained away as rogue elements engaged in unauthorized plundering.

These raids would be the first time the 11th Legion of Vega would be commanded by Colonel Theodore Kurita, heir apparent to the Combine throne. Two initial attacks on Lyran backwater worlds met with minimal resistance. Enemy battlemechs weren’t encountered until the third week of raiding, while a single company of the 11th Vegan was plundering the water purification plant belonging to a small colony on Messick IV.

Bad intelligence had led Colonel Kurita to believe that the enemy forces on Messick IV would consist of nothing but a few platoons of light tank and infantry, easily swept aside by his superior battlemechs. To his surprise the 22nd Skye Rangers were deployed on Messick IV for desert maneuver training. The 22nd Skye were nicknamed “Katrina’s Bonnie Bairns” because this green regiment had been formed only a few years earlier on the authorization of Katrina Steiner, Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth.

Though untested in battle, the troops of the 22nd Skye Rangers were eager to prove themselves to their matron. The 22nd also had the benefit of several veteran officers leading the young mechwarriors, especially their commanding officer, Colonel Ivan Petroff, who had proven himself in several battles of the 3rd Succession War.

Situation

As the scenario begins both side’s main forces are pinned down in an intense firefight within sight of the Messick IV water purification facility. Both company commanders have dispatched reserve lances with the intention of flanking the main enemy force and setting up a deadly crossfire. The two reserve lances meet half a kilometer from the main battle. Whichever lance wins this exchange may very well be able to turn the tide of the whole engagement. The lance with the most tonnage of mechs capable of both movement and weapons fire at the end of ten turns wins the battle.

Opposing Forces

11th Legion of Vega insignia

Attackers: Akita’s Lance, 11th Legion of Vega, Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery

Pilot: Lieutenant Benjiro Akita
Despite coming from an influential and honorable mechwarrior line, Lt. Akita’s career so far has been a succession of dismal failures. When he flunked out of the prestigious Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy his family was able to use its political clout to secure him a commission with the 9th Pesht Regulars. After a sub par tour with the 9th Pesht, Lt. Akita accepted an assignment with the 11th Legion of Vega because they were the only Draconis unit that would take him. He is desperate to prove himself on the field of battle in order to regain some of his lost dignity and earn the respect of his family.

Vehicle: MAD-3R Marauder
Considered one of the best BattleMechs ever designed, the 75-ton Marauder is equipped with substantial armor and numerous heat sinks. Armament consists of two particle cannons and two medium lasers as well as a torso mounted autocannon. The speed of this vehicle meets or exceeds that of most mechs in or above its weight class.

Pilot: Sergeant Monty Diggs
Sgt. Diggs formerly commanded a lance as a lieutenant in the 13th Rasalhague Regulars but he was inadvertently caught up in a political scandal when his commanding officer ran afoul of the ISF (the Draconis Combine secret police). In order to avoid a courtmartial Sgt. Diggs accepted a demotion and transfer to the 11th Legion. He now seeks to once again command his own lance.

Vehicle: CRD-3R Crusader
The Crusader is a 65-ton Mech that relies primarily on missiles in combat: two shoulder-mounted long-range missile launchers and two hip-mounted short-range missile launchers. Secondary weapons are wrist mounted medium lasers and machine guns. Cruising speed and armor are typical for a Mech of this weight class. Limited missile storage capacity can be a problem for this vehicle in a protracted firefight.

Pilot: MechWarrior Kareem Rodrigues
Kareem Rodrigues first tour of duty was with the 2nd Arkab Legion, the force based out of his native Arkab Sector. Rodriques is a devout Zensunni but the majority of Arkabites are members of the Azami faith. Rodriques requested a transfer upon discovering that he would have to convert if he ever wanted to seek promotion in the 2nd Arkab. Because the Arkabites are considered politically suspect he could only find a post with the disreputable Legion of Vega.

Vehicle: RFL-3N Rifleman
This workhorse 60-ton mech is armed with two large lasers, two autocannon, and two medium lasers. Owing to the massive cannon, speed is slower and armor thinner than many mechs in the same weight class. Heat sinks are insufficient in the event that the pilot fires both large lasers simultaneously.

Pilot: MechWarrior Erma “Jinxo” Langley
MechWarrior Erma Langley is one of the rare female mechwarriors in the service of the Draconis Combine. Her comrades-in-arms have nickname her “Jinxo” for her apparent ability to find herself on the losing side in conflicts. Prior to be shanghaied into the 11th Legion of Vega, Langely served in two different mercenary units that were both blasted out of existence on different fields of battle. The second time this happened she found herself deep in Draconis territory, where she was offered the choice of signing on with the Legion or becoming a prisoner of war. She is determined to demonstrate that she is not the jinx many think her to be.

Vehicle: WSP-1A Wasp
This 20-ton scout mech is noted for its high speed and good jump capability. Lightly armored and armed with only a medium laser and a small missile launcher, this mech is not designed to engage heavier units in face-to-face combat.

22nd Sky Rangers insignia

Defenders: Barr’s Lance, 22nd Skye Rangers, Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces

Pilot: Lieutenant Waldo Barr
Young Lt. Barr is a recent graduate of the BlackJack School of Conflict, a relatively new mechwarrior academy that has produced many capable pilots but is looked down upon by the old boys of the Lyran High Command. Lt. Barr is eager to prove that the training he received at BlackJack is just as effective as the teachings of mechwarrior institutions with longer and more respected pedigrees.

Vehicle: TDR-5S Thunderbolt
Weighing in at 65 tons, the Thunderbolt is a heavy Mech with a beefy 13 tons of armor. Its primary weapons are an arm-mounted large laser and a torso-mounted long-range missile tube. This mech is also equipped with a variety of medium and short range weapon systems. The speed of this vehicle meets or exceeds that of most mechs in or above its weight class.

Pilot: Sergeant Trina Chapman
The Chapman family of the planet Skye has a long history of Lyran military service as aerospace fighter pilots. Trina is the first battlemech pilot to come from the Chapman family in three generations. Her hope is to show that the Chapmans make just as good mech pilots as they do aero-jockeys.

Vehicle: ARC-2R Archer
This heavily armored 70-ton battlemech is well known for its two large long-range missile launchers, capable of delivering a deadly volley of 40 missiles in a single salvo. Short ranged weaponry is limited to medium lasers, of which two are rear mounted.

Pilot: MechWarrior Donnell Cahill
Donnell Cahill comes from a long line Skye-born mechwarriors. He signed on to the newly-formed 22nd Skye Rangers in an attempt to get out from under the shadow of his two older brothers, who have already made names for themselves in the Cahill family’s traditional unit, the 2nd Royal Guards.

Vehicle: GRF-1N Griffin
This jump-capable 55-tonner possesses good speed and average armor for a mech of its mass. Weaponry consists of an arm-mounted particle cannon and a long-range missile drum. Unlike most other battlemechs this vehicle is not equipped with any short or medium range weaponry and must rely solely on brawling attacks when at close range.

Pilot: MechWarrior Kay Mcintosh
Older than most green mechwarriors, Kay Mcintosh was given her battlemech as a reward for 15 years of loyal and exemplary service as a mech technician with the 17th Skye Rangers. Unfortunately the 17thSkye had no openings, so she took an assigment with the 22nd. Mcintosh looks for an opportunity to engage the enemy, as some pilots from long-established mechwarrior families have questioned if her piloting skills are as keen as her technical know-how.

Vehicle: LCT-1V Locust
The ground speed of this 20-ton scout vehicle exceeds that of almost every other known battlemech. Armor is no better than would be expected on such a small unit. Weaponry consists of a medium laser and arm-mounted machine guns. Unlike most scout mechs this vehicle is not jump-capable.

Additional Information

Map depicting the area where Akita’s Lance encountered Barr’s Lance. Akita’s Lance approaches from the west (left side), Barr’s from the east (right side). One hex equals 30 meters.

Messick IV as seen from space

Official Lyran Commonwealth map of Messick IV

also, the car is a passing fancy

“…a pleasant little game. It provides enough optional or advanced material to keep it interesting from game to game… although I don’t think it will ever become a fan favorite or gain a cult following the way games such as Ogre have."

-Aaron Allston, BattleTech review. Space Gamer, issue #75, July/August 1985

Geocities Redux: old BattleTech scenario

[Sorry that cutting and pasting this from my soon-to-be-erased Geocities page did hell with the formatting.]

RESERVOIR RAID

Background

In January 3025 the Draconis Combine staged a series of raids into the Moseby Sector to test the defenses of the Lyran Commonwealth. Combine High Command assigned the task of raiding Lyran space to the 11th Legion of Vega, known as “The Looters”. It was felt that the known unreliability and poor morale of the 11th Legion would help supply the Combine with plausible deniability; any captured forces could be explained away as rogue elements engaged in unauthorized plundering.				Draconis Combine standard
Theodore Kurita		These raids would be the first time the 11th Legion of Vega would commanded by Colonel Theodore Kurita, heir apparent to the Combine throne. Two initial attacks on Lyran backwater worlds met with minimal resistance. Enemy battlemechs weren’t encountered until the third week of raiding, while a single company of the 11th Vegan was plundering the water purification plant belonging to a small colony on Messick IV.
Bad intelligence had led Colonel Kurita to believe that the enemy forces on Messick IV would consist of nothing but a few platoons of light tank and infantry, easily swept aside by his superior battlemechs. To his surprise the 22nd Skye Rangers were deployed on Messick IV for desert maneuver training. The 22nd Skye were nicknamed “Katrina’s Bonnie Bairns” because this green regiment had been formed only a few years earlier on the authorization of Katrina Steiner, Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth			Lyran Commonwealth standard
Skye Rangers insignia	.Though untested in battle, the troops of the 22nd Skye Rangers were eager to prove themselves to their matron. The 22nd also had the benefit of several veteran officers leading the young mechwarriors, especially their commanding officer, Colonel Ivan Petroff, who had proven himself in several battles of the 3rd Succession War.

Situation

As the scenario begins both side’s main forces are pinned down in an intense firefight within sight of the Messick IV water purification facility. Both company commanders have dispatched reserve lances with the intention of flanking the main enemy force and setting up a deadly crossfire. The two reserve lances meet half a kilometer from the main battle. Whichever lance wins this exchange may very well be able to turn the tide of the whole engagement. The lance with the most tonnage of mechs capable of both movement and weapons fire at the end of ten turns wins the battle.

Opposing Forces

Attackers: Akita’s Lance, 11^th Legion of Vega, Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery

MAD-3R Marauder	Pilot: Lieutenant Benjiro Akita
	Despite coming from an influential and honorable mechwarrior line, Lt. Akita’s career so far has been a succession of dismal failures. When he flunked out of the prestigious Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy his family was able to use its political clout to secure him a commission with the 9th Pesht Regulars. After a sub par tour with the 9th Pesht, Lt. Akita accepted an assignment with the 11th Legion of Vega because they were the only Draconis unit that would take him. He is desperate to prove himself on the field of battle in order to regain some of his lost dignity and earn the respect of his family.
	Vehicle: MAD-3R Marauder
	Considered one of the best BattleMechs ever designed, the 75-ton Marauder is equipped with substantial armor and numerous heat sinks. Armament consists of two particle cannons and two medium lasers as well as a torso mounted autocannon. The speed of this vehicle meets or exceeds that of most mechs in or above its weight class.

Pilot: Sergeant Monty Diggs	CRD-3R Crusader
Sgt. Diggs formerly commanded a lance as a lieutenant in the 13thRasalhague Regulars but he was inadvertently caught up in a political scandal when his commanding officer ran afoul of the ISF (the Draconis Combine secret police). In order to avoid a court martial Sgt. Diggs accepted a demotion and transfer to the 11th Legion. He now seeks to once again command his own lance.
Vehicle: CRD-3R Crusade
The Crusader is a 65-ton Mech that relies primarily on missiles in combat: two shoulder-mounted long-range missile launchers and two hip-mounted short-range missile launchers. Secondary weapons are wrist mounted medium lasers and machine guns. Cruising speed and armor are typical for a Mech of this weight class. Limited missile storage capacity can be a problem for this vehicle in a protracted firefight.

11^th Legion of Vega insignia

RFL-3N Rifleman	Pilot: MechWarrior Kareem Rodrigues
	Kareem Rodrigues first tour of duty was with the 2nd Arkab Legion, the force based out of his native Arkab Sector. Rodriques is a devout Zensunni but the majority of Arkabites are members of the Azami faith. Rodriques requested a transfer upon discovering that he would have to convert if he ever wanted to seek promotion in the 2nd Arkab. Because the Arkabites are considered politically suspect he could only find a post with the disreputable Legion of Vega.
	Vehicle: RFL-3N Rifleman
	This workhorse 60-ton mech is armed with two large lasers, two autocannon, and two medium lasers. Because of the massive cannon, speed is slower and armor thinner than many mechs in the same weight class. Heat sinks are insufficient in the event that the pilot fires both large lasers simultaneously.

Pilot: MechWarrior Erma “Jinxo” Langley	WSP-1A Wasp
MechWarrior Erma Langley is one of the rare female mechwarriors in the service of the Draconis Combine. Her comrades-in-arms have nickname her “Jinxo” for her apparent ability to find herself on the losing side in conflicts. Prior to be shanghaied into the 11th Legion of Vega, Langely served in two different mercenary units that were both blasted out of existence on different fields of battle. The second time this happened she found herself deep in Draconis territory, where she was offered the choice of signing on with the Legion or becoming a prisoner of war. She is determined to demonstrate that she is not the jinx many think her to be.
Vehicle: WSP-1A Wasp
This 20-ton scout mech is noted for its high speed and good jump capability. Lightly armored and armed with only a medium laser and a small missile launcher, this mech is not designed to engage heavier units in face-to-face combat.

Lt. Akita	Sgt. Diggs	Rodrigues	Langley

Defenders: Barr’s Lance, 22^nd Skye Rangers, Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces

TDR-5S Thunderbolt	Pilot: Lieutenant Waldo Barr
	Young Lt. Barr is a recent graduate of the BlackJack School of Conflict, a relatively new mechwarrior academy that has produced many capable pilots but is looked down upon by the old boys of the Lyran High Command. Lt. Barr is eager to prove that the training he received at BlackJack is just as effective as the teachings of mechwarrior institutions with longer and more respected pedigrees.
	Vehicle: TDR-5S Thunderbolt
	Weighing in at 65 tons, the Thunderbolt is a heavy Mech with a beefy 13 tons of armor. Its primary weapons are an arm-mounted large laser and a torso-mounted long-range missile tube. This mech is also equipped with a variety of medium and short range weapon systems. The speed of this vehicle meets or exceeds that of most mechs in or above its weight class.

Pilot: Sergeant Trina Chapman	ARC-2R Archer
The Chapman family of the planet Skye has a long history of Lyran military service as aerospace fighter pilots. Trina is the first battlemech pilot to come from the Chapman family in three generations. Her hope is to show that the Chapmans make just as good mech pilots as they do aero-jockeys.
Vehicle: ARC-2R Archer
This heavily armored 70-ton battlemech is well known for its two large long-range missile launchers, capable of delivering a deadly volley of 40 missiles in a single salvo. Short ranged weaponry is limited to medium lasers, of which two are rear mounted.

GRF-1N Griffin	Pilot: MechWarrior Donnell Cahill
	Donnell Cahill comes from a long line Skye-born mechwarriors. He signed on to the newly-formed 22nd Skye Rangers in an attempt to get out from under the shadow of his two older brothers, who have already made names for themselves in the Cahill family’s traditional unit, the 2nd Royal Guards.
	Vehicle: GRF-1N Griffin
	This jump-capable 55-tonner possesses good speed and average armor for a mech of its mass. Weaponry consists of an arm-mounted particle cannon and a long-range missile drum. Unlike most other battlemechs this vehicle is not equipped with any short or medium range weaponry and must rely solely on brawling attacks when at close range.

Pilot: MechWarrior Kay Mcintosh	LCT-1V Locust
Older than most green mechwarriors, Kay Mcintosh was given her battlemech as a reward for 15 years of loyal and exemplary service as a mech technician with the 17th Skye Rangers. Unfortunately the 17thSkye had no openings, so she took an assigment with the 22nd. Mcintosh looks for an opportunity to engage the enemy, as some pilots from long-established mechwarrior families have questioned if her piloting skills are as keen as her technical know-how.
Vehicle: LCT-1V Locust
The ground speed of this 20-ton scout vehicle exceeds that of almost every other known battlemech. Armor is no better than would be expected on such a small unit. Weaponry consists of a medium laser and arm-mounted machine guns. Unlike most scout mechs this vehicle is not jump-capable.

Lt. Barr	Sgt. Chapman	Cahill	Mcintosh

Additional Information

Map depicting the area where Akita’s Lance encountered Barr’s Lance.

Akita’s Lance approaches from the west (left side), Barr’s from the east (right side).

One hex equals 30 meters.

Messick IV as seen from space

Official Lyran Commonwealth map of Messick IV