BattleTech Simulator

Battle of Kilgour:
Randall's Charge at
Bloody Field Scenario

by William H. Keith, jr.

The battle had been seesawing back and forth across that one damned plot of ground all morning. "Bloody Field," we called it, and the name stuck. The place was littered with the smoking ruins of burned out 'Mechs and with arms and legs and nameless bits of junk, as well as the far grimmer debris of War.

Flesh and steel can take only so much. The Liao enemy was pressing us hard...too hard. Our forces were falling back, unable to hold what felt like unlimited numbers.

The Captain had pulled us back for a breather, and that's when we realized our forces were starting to drift to the rear. "We've lost," Murdock said, and for once, I was ready to agree with him.

"No!" The Captain's voice snapped across our taccom lines like autocannon fire, and then that I saw his Victorout in front of our company formation--what was left of it--facing the enemy lines all alone. "No, goddammit! The enemy is that way! Form up, and move!"

Did I say that flesh and steel can only take so much? Perhaps I was mistaken. We were certain--dead certain--that there was nothing more in us left to give. But we urged our battered machines forward, into the teeth of hell.

--Excerpted from I Was There: Stories of Warriors and Their War Edited by William H. Keith, Jr. Exeter Press, Exeter

GAME SET-UP

Lay out the two BattleTech mapsheets as shown, or use a blank hexsheet. All terrain on the map area is considered to be flat, open ground.

Defender

The Defending forces consist of elements of Prata's Company and McFarlane's Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Kearny Highlanders:

Prate's Company

Command Lance
Captain Richard Prata; Veteran Thunderbolt
David Kingsley; Regular Catapult
Left torso medium laser gone
Cameron MacCorrie; Regular Rifleman

Fire Lance
James MacRae; Green Vindicator
Kathleen Fraser; Green Commando

Recon Lance
Lieutenant Sharon Gray; Veteran Phoenix Hawk
Charles McDonald; Green Stinger
Missing left arm, 1 point of armor left on right front torso
Stewart Kirk; Green Locust
2 points armor left in right leg

McFarlane's Fire Lance
Lt. Robert MacDougall; Veteran Shadow Hawk
Megan McFarlane; Regular Vindicator
Adam Gomez; Regular Phoenix Hawk
5 points of armor in front center torso, 6 points of armor in left arm
N'Gama M'botu; Green Cicada Left arm and left arm Medium Laser gone

In addition to the damage listed above, the defending player should take 50 additional points of armor damage and distribute them among his forces. This distribution should not be revealed to the attacker.

Attacker

The attackers are the remnants of Company A, Randall's Raiders, 1st Battalion, Scotian Highlanders.

Command Lance
Douglas Graham; Elite Phoenix Hawk
Larry Murdock; Veteran Vulcan

Fire Lance
Lieutenant Ryan Kelly; Elite Shadow Hawk

Recon Lance
Lieutenant Ian Douglas; Veteran Panther
Jean Fife; Veteran Stinger
Douglas Keith; Veteran Wasp

The attacking player should take 30 points of armor damage and divide them among the 'Mechs of his force. The distribution of this damage should not be revealed to the defender.

Victory Conditions

Randall's Raiders win a decisive victory if all Kearny forces are destroyed, and a major victory if the Kearny 'Mechs are forced to retreat off the map. Any other result is a major defeat.

The Kearny forces win a decisive victory if they can destroy all of the Scotian Highlander 'Mechs. It is possible (see: Special Rules, below) that orders will arrive directing the Kearny unit to withdraw. Once this order is received, the Kearny player's goal is not the destruction of enemy 'Mechs, but the withdrawal of as many of his surviving 'Mechs off the west end of the board as possible.

If all Kearny 'Mechs on the board at the time the order is received make it off the map, the Kearny player wins a major victory. If he loses one or two additional 'Mechs during the retreat, he wins a minor victory. If he loses three or more additional 'Mechs, he suffers a major defeat. If he loses all of his remaining 'Mechs (whatever the number), he suffers a major defeat. Note that it is possible for both sides to claim a major victory at the same time.

Special Rules: Surprise

Randall's Raiders had one overwhelming advantage in their attack: surprise. The commander of the Kearny company could not believe that the ragged formation approaching his own was, in fact, a Scotian Highlander attack.

To represent the element of surprise on a smoke-thick and confused battlefield, the Kearny 'Mechs may not fire until the turn tollowingthe turn on which the Scotian 'Mechs open fire, or the turn following the turn in which at least one Scotian BattleMech comes to within 5 hexes of any Kearny 'Mech.

In addition, each time one of the Kearny 'Mechs is destroyed or disabled (unable to move orfire due to shutdown or otherdamage), the Kearny player must roll 2D6. On a roll of 9 or higher, orders from his headquarters direct him to withdraw from the field, keeping as much of his unit intact as possible. From that point on, the Kearny side may continue to engage in combat, but his goal changes. To win a victory, he must now successfully withdraw as many of his surviving 'Mechs off the west edge of the map as possible.

Situation: Mid-day, July 6, 3027 Corella II

Second Day

During the height of the Battle of Kilgour, elements of the 31d Battalion, 2nd Kearny Highlanders, managed to secure a breakthrough of the Scotian Highlanders' lines. This breakthrough was of limited extent, and the Kearnyfield commanderwas not, at first, aware that any breakthrough had been made. The exhaustion of his own forces, as well as the heavy smoke which obscured much of the battlefield, slowed his reaction times and led to a fatal delay.

At the same time, Colonel Graham of the Scotian Highlanders, while he was not certain how bad the breach in his own lines was, did know that a breach had been made. If the enemy was able to exploit the hole it had made in his line, now stretched so thin as to be nearly nonexistent, the Scotian forces would be completely divided, with apowerful enemyforce squarely between the two halves.

Graham needed time to reorganize his own collapsing center. Reinforcements were available but in the wrong part of the field, and it was still to early to deploy them against the Kearny rear and flanks.

Working quickly, he assembled the only strike team available, survivors of the company known as Randall's Raiders. Already severely handled, Randall's Raiders were on the point of complete disintegration. But it was sacrifice the Raiders, or lose the battle.

Graham himself gave the orders to the exhausted Captain Randall: "Sweep the field!"

Map

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© Copyright 1987 by Pacific Rim Publishing.
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