"When we first got the order, I didn't think I'd heard the Captain right. 'Flush 'em out', he said. It didn't make sense to me. I mean, we were right on the tail of those lousy bandits heading for their grounded DropShip. It didn't seem to matter much if afew'Mechs had slipped into a reservoir on the path of their withdrawal. But as our Lance approached the water, it began to make more sense. We couldn't leave any of the enemy 'Mechs a chance to escape on planet to disrupt Carver V any further. Add to that the possibility that the other bandit 'Mechs could reverse course at any time and attack the company. Caught between two lances we'd be easy pickings. Boy, if I had known what was going to happen you could have counted me out! As we entered the reservoir I just couldn't figure why the bandits had to pick this particular place. Deep waterwas no place to fight 'Mech combat. They should have picked a well-concealed ravine or a forest area. I guess they didn't plan on us spotting them entering the water. The Molito Reservoir has to be the oldest slimepit on the planet; the dike at the far end didn't look like it was supposed to hold back spit, let alone a klick-wide piece of water. But all we had to do was flush 'em out, right? Well, that's just what we did, but we flushed everything else out as well!" --Subcommander August O'Higgins Situation The House Liao planet of Carver V has been raided by elements of a renegade bandit 'Mech unit known collectively as the 'Mech Pirates. With the arrival of Kleinholt's Battalion of the Liao Tenth Chesterton Reserves on training rotation, a supply raid by the bandit force was foiled and a substantial portion of the raiders were either destroyed or captured. As the raiders fell back from ransacking 'Mech supplies in warehouses located in the hamlet of Denton, a skirmish developed between four 'Mechs of the 'Mech Pirate force and the Pursuit Lance of Miller's Company in the old Molito Reservoir. During the action, the underwater concussions caused by the opposing armaments weakened the containment wall of the dike located on the far side of the reservoir and it crumbled away. A torrent of water flooded into the streambed and the lowlands below the dike, taking some incautious 'Mechs with it. One bandit MechWarrior attempted to eject before he was caught, but his 'Mech's head was still five meters underwater and he apparently drowned in his ejection seat as it sank to the bottom. The flood so dazed another flushed-out raider that he surrendered his mud- covered machine to Liao forces on the spot. The skirmish at Molito Reservoir has gone into the annals of 'Mech history as one of the most slippery and slimy ever. And it has added a new term to 'Mech folklore: the Mech Flush. Game Set-up Lay out two BattleTech game maps in the configuration shown and prepare the BattleMech record sheets for all of the 'Mechs represented in the scenario. The maps represent a major portion of the water area of the Molito Reservoir and its antiquated dike. This scenario uses the Expert BattleTech rules. Defender The defender is Recon Lance, "Backstabber", of the raiding bandit unit known only as the 'MechPirates. It has been specially trained in infiltration and ambush tactics. It is not aware that it was spotted entering the reservoir. (All bandit pilots are Piloting 5, Gunnery 4): Centurion: pilot unknown, (rear medium laser out; AC/10 will only fire on a roll of 7+) Whitworth: pilot unknown, (jump jets limited to half movement; head laser out) Panther. pilot unknown, (PPC will fire only on a roll of 7+) Stinger: pilot unknown, (no armor on right leg) Defender is deployed anywhere on the northern part of the map in Level 3 water. Attacker The Attacker is the Pursuit Lance of Miller's Company, Kleinholt's Battalion, Tenth Chesterton Reserves, composed of the following: Trebuchet: Commander Hans Gunther: Piloting 4, Gunnery 3 Javelin:: Subcommander Clarson Kelly: Piloting 4, Gunnery 4 Cicada: Subcommander August 0. Higgins: Piloting 5, Gunnery 5 Wasp: Subcommander Philip T Franklyn: Piloting 4, Gunnery 5 Victory Conditions The attacker must destroy all defending units or force them to leave the map. The defender must destroy the attacker underwater in order to launch the ambush on the Command Lance of Miller's Company as planned. In the event that the reservoir dike is destroyed, the side with the greater number of intact 'Mechs is considered to have won. (An "intact" 'Mech is one which is still able to move and to fight.) All other outcomes will be considered a draw. Special Rules Terrain: All terrain features except water are considered to be Level 3 water. The water hexes on the map show their actual level in the scenario so they are considered shallows in the middle of the reservoir. The entire eastern side of the map is the reservoir dike; it is unclimbable from the water. Weapons: Combat can be conducted in all levels of water with the following restrictions: Ranges for all autocannons and lasers are halved underwater. Flamers and machine guns will not function. All other weapons operate normally. The Dike: At the start of Turn Five a die is rolled. If a six comes up the dike has broken; the reservoir begins to drain at a catastrophic rate. All 'Mechs on the board must roll on Piloting Skill +3 to avoid failing. If the 'Mech falls it will be dragged at a rate of five hexes per turn toward the eastern side of the board by suction. Each turn a 'Mech is being dragged, the pilot may attempt to halt its progress by rolling Piloting Skill +5. If the 'Mech continues on past the dike it is considered to have taken a three level fall, taking double failing damage. All 'Mechs who are swept past the dike are considered out of action. Any 'Mech that did not fall on the initial turn of dike collapse must immediately use all movement to head for the south side of the mapboard away from the dike. Any opposing 'Mechs left in the reservoir after the water has been drained may continue to battle it out using all normal rules. Movement is halved due to the 'Mech ankle-deep mud. The die is rolled for dike collapse every turn after Turn Five until a six is rolled or the victory conditions are achieved. Back to BattleTechnology 12 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1990 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