"What Now, Lieutenant" is a war-game prepared as a set of training exercises for an unknown reasons by order of Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion, who requests that we reprint them here. Presumably, these exercises will be used in some way to train the Federated- Commonwealth Military. Battle Technology is happy to cooperate with the Archon in this project The scenarios presented are versions of historical battles along with the decisions made by the unit commanders. The scenarios are intended to be used to start discussions. Each of the participants offers their recommended actions to each of the decision points then discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of the offered solutions. In Battle Technology 's test of the workability of this method, we discovered that such discussions are apt to become quite heated so we recommend that they be conducted in a relaxed, informal atmosphere conducive to the free exchange of information. (The Battle Technology Editorial staff wishes to apologize to the management of Jameston's Bar and Ammo Shop for the damages incurred. Full payment will be forthcoming.) It is worth noting that there are no 'right' answers to the presented problems. The historical information simply shows how one commander handled the presented problem. Someone may well come up with a better solution. The information contained with in these scenarios is not classified or considered militarily sensitive. BattleTechnology magazine wishes to thank Capt. Roquan of the New Avalon Military Information Center for his help in providing the information presented in this article. Copies of standard simulator programs are available for 100 C-bills from your BattIeTechnology magazine distributor. Please include the scenario name and programming language when ordering. FIRST CONTACT You are in command of BattleMech recon lance on a small, thickly forested planet near both the Periphery and a hostile successor state border. An unknown jump ship has jumped in system to a pirate jump point in the planetary orbital plane. All attempts to communicate with the invaders have failed and orbital telescopes show that neither the jump ship nor the six over-lord class DropShips it carried show insignia. ComStar communications with your district command reveal no indication of the onset of a major war. The six DropShips burning towards your planet may indicate otherwise. The drop-ships entered the planetary atmosphere twenty minutes ago. Your lance has been sent out to recon a sector thirty kilometers from the main star port and planetary defense headquarters. The terrain is overgrown with trees and light brush and is cut by a series of north to south running ridge lines approximately 60 meters high. Spaced between the ridges are flat bottom valleys between 20- to 25-meters wide. Rain has been falling, making the ground quite muddy and generating small streams in the valleys. Heavy lightning and the resulting atmospheric ionization has made communication with base command erratic. Your lance consists of the following: two Valkyries and a Locust, all of standard configurations controlled by average pilots, and your own Clint. All the'Mechs are in prime condition, have sustained no damage and are fully supplied. In your scouting, you come across signs of fresh damage to vegetation. You investigate and find a wrecked Dervish 'Mech down on its side in the center of a good sized crater. As best you can tell, the 'Mech was dropped from low orbit and its ablative drop cowling managed to clog its jets, resulting in a crash. The insignia on the 'Mech's torso matches that used by a band of periphery pirates who are known to operate in the area, but this BattleMech, aside from the crash damage, looks like a frontline unit. At the same time, the Locust pilot who is at the foot of the next ridge forty meters further west of your position, informs you she is picking up the sounds of large objects moving through trees beyond the ridge. What now, MechWarrior? (Recommended discussion Items: Displacement of forces in the terrain, intention of reconnaissance patrols, meaning of insignia on the Dervish.) (Historical: The Lieutenant attempted to contact command and was unable to. He dispatched the Valkyries to move up to the ridge line and scout for enemy units, instructing them to walk rather than jump or run so as to avoid slipping on the muddy slopes. While the Locust stood guard, the Lieutenant dismounted his machine to enter the fallen 'Mech.) The Valkyries wait until the advancing 'Mechs begin climbing the ridge. Then, from concealment, they each snap off two flights of long range missiles into the Vindicator. The 45-ton'Mech staggers in the rain of missiles, then slips on the mud. It tumbles back down the slope, knocking over trees. It doesn't get up but its two lance mates begin firing towards the concealed lighter 'Mechs. What now, MechWarrior? (Recommended discussion Items: Best way to fight larger, heavy armed foes, Effects of terrain.) Historical: The lieutenant ordered the Valkyries tojump down from the ridge rather then engage a superior foe. He gave the battle recorder to the Locust pilot with orders to take it back to headquarters as quickly as possible for analysis. He then remounted his 'Mech.) As auto-cannon rounds begin to fall on the ridge line the Valkyries jump back into the valley. The Locust departs at top speed to deliver the recorder. By the sound from beyond the ridge, you can tell the Centurion and the Shadow Hawk are slowly climbing the ridge, possibly expecting another ambush or infantry support fire. What now MechWarrior? (Recommended discussion items: Providing a rear guard for the Locust. The relative benefits of a static defense versusa mobile one. Possible use of terrain on your tactics.) (Historical: The Lieutenant managed to reach command but was turned down for tac-air support. He advised them that the Locust was in-bound with potential timesensitive intelligence and established a cleared land corridor for the 'Mech. He then set up a Leapfrog defense using the ridge lines. The Valkyries would cover one ridge using the same procedure as the first ambush while he moved his Clint to the next ridge. The Valkyries fired only their LRM's then faded back covered by the Clint's autocannon. They continued retreating until they were under the umbrella of their own air support. The final results of this action included the destruction of the enemy Centurion and the capture of a large body of military intelligence, with only minor damage sustained to the scout lance 'Mechs.) Back to BattleTechnology 16 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1992 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