The fight's almost over. You can tell by the way the defenders broke and ran before our attack. Our Intel told us there was nothing at all on Tremaine IV except a handful of mercs under contract to House Steiner, pulling garrison duty, and it looks like they're right, for a change. Varrick's Vandals, they call themselves. Well, the Vandals are getting themselves vandalized, this time. As soon as we grounded, the locals pulled a fast fade, falling back into the city of Penobscot. I've loosed my boys and girls to track 'em down. No use holding a tight offensive formation when there's no solid line to hit. There's still some shooting going on. I popped a Varrick Stinger a little while ago as I started into town. Don't think I killed him, but he's hurtin' bad. Mark me down for an assist if one of you gets him, will you, boys? Penobscot shows some damage ... stray shots from earlier today, mostly ... and some damage from a fighter strafing run a little bit ago. Lots of places for the Varricks to hide. I'm alone, now... the rest of my lance is circling to the east to try to bag any stay-behinds I flush. Should be okay. Hell... what idiot in his right mind would take on an Atlas? Say... what? What was that? Red Seven... Red Seven... I have contact. In the city, co-ords fiver niner alpha. Estimate two light 'Mechs, hiding behind thebuildings... range ninety meters. Weapons are armed. I'm on them... --Transcript from an on-board combat recorder recovered from Colonel Marcus Galliani's AS7-D Atlas, Tremaine IV, September 27, 3022 Situation: Mid-day, September 27, 3022. Tremaine IV GAME SET-UP Hide and Seek can be played using the CityTech game map and building markers. The section of the mapboard shown above represents one part of Droman Avenue (hexes 0114 through 0711). More of the city can be set up, but the central part of the city should be arranged as shown. The Defenders are four light 'Mechs, the Recon Lance from Company A, Varrick's Vandals. Lieutenant David Fletcher's Panther Piloting 4 Gunnery 3 Brad Finnegan's UrbanMech Piloting 4 Gunnery 3 Paula Mason's Wasp Piloting 4 Gunnery 3 Fred Jurgen's Stinger Piloting 3 Gunnery 3 Jurgen's Stinger has taken damage already. It has taken 3 armor points and 2 internal hit points of damage in its left arm, and 4 points of armordamageto its front center torso. The Attacker is the lone, 1 00-ton 'Mech belonging to the commander of the Marik invasion forces, Colonel Marcus Galliani: Col. Marcus Galliani's Atlas Piloting 3 Gunnery 2 No 'Mechs are placed on the board initially. Galliani's Atlas will enter the map on turn 1 at hex 0114. The defenders should choose their hiding places but should not place their BattleMechs on the board. DEPLOYMENT The Defender has four 'Mechs hidden among the buildings shown on the map above. The defending players may choose which hexes their 'Mechs will occupy and note them secretly. (If a referee is used, the hex positions may be told to the referee instead). It maybe assumed that all 'Mechs which have entered buildings did so without damage. Each building on the map has suffered 2D6 points of damage already, and additional damage should be applied to any building which is entered by a Wech. One or more of the Defenders' 'Mechs may, if desired, remain in the open. They are placed on the mapboard at the beginning of combat only if they are on Droman Avenue, which is the only part of the map along which Galliani has a clear line of sight. SPECIAL RULES The game begins as the Atlas moves to hex 0114 and proceeds along Droman Avenue. The Atlas must remain on Droman Avenue and may expend no more than 3 movement points per turn (a walk for an Atlas). The Atlas may not leave Droman Avenue or increase its speed until it is attacked. It may stop at anytime, may change its facing, and may move at a slower pace than 3 hexes per turn. The Defenders may attack or choose to remain in hiding. If the Atlas reaches 0810 (the upper right-hand hex on the map above) without being attacked at all, however, the Attacker wins. The Defending 'Mechs are placed on the map only when they attack, or when the Atlas reaches a hex from which it has a clear line of sight to a Defender's 'Mech. The first time it is fired upon, and if all of the Defending 'Mechs are not yet on the board, the Atlas mustturn to face its attacker if fired on from the rear. If it is fired on by two or more 'Mechs, it may face the 'Mech of the Attacker's choice. This restriction lasts only for the first turn the Atlas is attacked, and simulates Colonel Galliani's surprise at being attacked from the rear. On subsequent turns, the Attacker may move as he chooses. This scenario should be played using advanced BattleTech rules, and all rules for cities and buildings presented in CityTech. VICTORY CONDITIONS The Attacker wins if he can destroy at least two of the attacking 'Mechs without being destroyed himself. The Defender wins if the Atlas can be destroyed. Any other result is a draw. OPTIONAL VARIATION If the players desire, the situation can be made more fluid by allowing the Atlas to enter anywhere in the map area, and not limiting the Attacker's movement to Droman Avenue prior to the battle. The Atlas may move wherever the Attacker desires. The Defender should take this factor into account and plan their initial placement knowing that the Atlas will not necessarily , walk down Droman Avenue, but could take another route instead. A Game of Hide-and-Seek Classic MechWarrior combat pits Wech against 'Mech in a contest which is, surprisingly often, quite even. Light 'Mechs know better than to go up against heavies, andfor their parts, heavy and assault 'Mechs usually have better things to do than hunting down the light 'Mechs of an enemy's recon lance. It is generally accepted, however, that if a heavy 'Mech manages to catch a light, the engagement will be over very quickly indeed. But there are always exceptions. In a Marik raid against the Steiner world of Tremaine IV (Penobscot) in 3022, a situation arose which pitted four light Wechs from a Recon lance against a lone, 100-ton Atlas from a Marik raiding party. The initial goal of the House Marik raiders had been to secure their DropShip perimeter and scatter the defending forces-tasks which had been accomplished within a few minutes of unbuttoning the ships and disembarking the troops. There had been scattered resistance, but the local defenders, an understrength regiment of mercenaries known as Varrick's Vandals, had proven no match for the heavy and assault 'Mechs Colonel Galliani had deployed. Galliani was personally leading the mop-up of Penobscot, pursuing the scattered mercenaries and hunting them down, one by one. Lieutenant David Fletcher, Lance Commander of Company A's Recon Lance, was not frightened by the heavier Wech's deadly reputation. He knew that the Atlas was handicapped inside a city, with limited visibility and limited movement. It was precisely these limitations which Fletcher chose to exploit in a daring maneuver which was soon to become known as the David Ambush. Back to BattleTechnology 2 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1987 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com