Background From Claws of the Dragon, an Infantryman's View 3029-3039 Kenji Nakamura, Dieron District College Press, to be released, September 3040 Having carried the war at last to the attacker's planets, we succeeded beyond expectations ... We had totaled most of the defending forces mustered by the Fox on Quentin, but we ran into an unexpected resistance... There I was in my Swiftwind, binoculars in hand, scouting out the Federats position. I was hidden behind a shoreline hillock. Reports had indicated a DropShip somewhere in the area. Whoever that foolish Fed in the Awesome was, he had given away the DropShip's position, standing in the shallows there. He had no visible support; with the numbers we had already disposed of, he could have very little hidden support. He must therefore be close enough to the DropShip to make a run for it. I thanked the Dragon for this insight, and reported his position to a nearby patrol. And so I watched as the patrol gathered around me. The Chu- i in command had gotten out of his Thug to speak to me without betraying his position by radio transmission. He asked if any other units had been spotted in the area. No, I replied. I looked over his patrol's Mechs and kept my thoughts to myself. The two Panthers and the Thug were appropriate to the situation. The two Hunchbacks would be virtually useless in the underwater environment they were about to enter. The Chu-i had no other questions. He ordered his men into battle, and I watched as they chased that Federat into the water. My radio reported a sighting three klicks west, and I hurried to investigate. There was nothing there. The Awesome must have been the last effective Federat Mech. I wonder which of our Mechs finally took him, for I never heard the results of that action. Quentin was ours. Long live the Dragon! one hex = two hexes on a standard BattleTech Map Background In August, Kurita forces began to strike back against the Federated Commonwealth's offensive. They pushed many Commonwealth units off of Draconis Worlds. They dislodged the great Ardan Sortek off of An Ting; the DEST attack on Vega virtually paralysed the Steiner offensive. It was a complete surprise when the Draconis Combine then launched a full counterattack against Davion border worlds. This particular battle deals with the Ryuken assault on Quentin, and the removal of the remnants of the 22nd Avalon Hussars RCT. (See the story A Soldier's View.) Game Set-up Place three boards side by side running east to west. The 12 most eastern hex rows are considered rough terrain (the beach). The next five hexes are level 0 water. On the middle board, the 2 eastern hex rows are level 1 water; the next 14 rows are level 2 water. The last hex row on the middle board is level one water. The western board is an island with terrain as pictured on a standard BattleTech board. Attacker Set-up The Ryuken units may set up anywhere on the eastern board, excluding the level 0 water. Attackers: Ryuken Unit Thug, Piloting: 3, Gunnery: 3 Panther, Piloting: 4, Gunnery: 3 Panther, Piloting: 4, Gunnery: 5 Hunchback, Piloting: 5, Gunnery: 4 Hunchback, Piloting: 3, Gunnery: 4 Defender Set-up The defenders have three BattleMechs at their disposal. The two Catapults are on the island portion (the western map board). The Awesome is located anywhere in the level 0 water or the level 1 water of the eastern board as its starting point. Defenders: Last Mechs remaining of the 22nd Avalon Hussars RCT Sgt Justin Karlton Piloting: 2, Gunnery: 3 Awesome, missing 6 pts armor on Left Torso, Small laser out of commission Jessica Ross Piloting: 4, Gunnery: 3 Catapult, 1/2 ammunition expended Skye Troy Piloting: 3, Gunnery: 4 Catapult, +2 to hit because sensors now faulty, 1/2 ammunition expended Attacker Goal The Ryuken wish to finish off the last of the 22nd Avalon RCT and pass them to capture their DropShip. Defender Goal The 22nd Avalon RCT must eliminate three of the opposing Mechs in order to get their last three Mechs off the western edge of the board. It is assumed that if they get off the board, they will rendezvous with their DropShip and escape to the planet Helen. They may not leave the board until they have eliminated those three Mechs. Back to BattleTechnology 11 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1989 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com