Romulus is a stark and unforgiving world: desert, for the most part, mingled with cold and rugged mountains, vast, forbidding badlands haunted by vagus and shimrin, and small and briny seas. It lies in the half-forgotten, peripheral realms of House Steiner, near the border with House Kurita and near the thin, ragged edge of civilization. Outward lie the miserable worlds of Hendrik, and the cold night of Star's End. A near neighbor is the feudal kinglet of Trell I, and the night sky is made strange by the sprawl of Dark Nebula, and the pock-faced and tide-locked globe of the planet's near twin Remus. Romulus and Remus produce little of value for export to other worlds, save the one resource which is always in demand: men. Severe climates and rugged conditions have produced a breed of men inured to hardship. The principal source of income on these worlds is men, soldiers shipped as mercenaries to serve on other worlds. But late in 3027, it was men of other worlds who came to Romulus. Volta is what passes as a major city on Romulus, a desert caravan trade center of perhaps 20,000 people, located at an oasis lake at the rim of the ancient Vorunnen Erg. A salt flat beyond the city serves as one of the planet's principal DropShip grounding fields. In 3027, elements of the 2nd An Ting Regiment, searching for weakness within the Steiner frontier defenses, descended on Romulus' night side and seized Volta and the surrounding desert flats. Though the raiders did not land in full regimental strength--it is estimated that only four companies of BattleMechs actually took part in the assault--the threat of Draconis regulars establishing a military foothold on Steiner's peripheral flank was severe enough to demand an immediate response. With no regular units available, the mercenary unit known as the Dragonslayers was sent in instead. The Dragonslayers arrived some two weeks after the Kurita forces... A History of the Successor State Wars Bamard Press Tharkad 3028 Situation: 1550 hours, November 4, 3027 Romulus Control of the important water source of the Voltan Reservoir was considered vital to the control of the town of Volta some three kilometers distant. Seized by Draco forces early in the invasion, the oasis/reservoir became the focal point in the struggle between the Kurita invaders and the Dragonslayer mercenaries. Since the Kurita forces needed only to maintain control of the oasis, the shape of the battle was determined in large part by the Steiner attackers. Although their actual numbers were nearly equal, the Dragonslayers outnumbered their Kurita toes by a comfortable margin in terms of 'Mech tonnage. This meant that'Mechs crippled during the approach phase of the battle left a correspondingly larger hole in the Attacker's line. Colonel Conrad decided that the best solution was a quick rush to place as many of his'Mechs close in among the enemy as possible. The Kurita forces adopted a flexible, in-depth defense, allowing their front line to drop back while firing, until they reached positions defined by a second supporting line several hundred meters to the rear. The aim was to cripple as many Steiner 'Mechs as possible, then rush the survivors and overwhelm them by weight of numbers. This simulation allows a comparison of the two strategies... as well as the evolution of new ones. Game Set-Up Lay out the BattleTech maps as shown, or use a large sheet of blank hex paper. All terrain is considered to be Level 0 and open. All lakes and elevations on the printed mapsheets are ignored. However, the lines shown on the map above should be marked in. The area enclosed by the lines represents the Volta oasis, a soft-bottomed lake approximately 250 meters across. All oasis hexes are at Depth 1- approximately knee-deep on a 'Mech. Defender The Defender consists of elements of the 2nd An Ting Regiment (Combine) detailed to hold the only major water reservoir in the area. His forces include Company C of the An Ting Tigers: Command Lance Captain Isoru Hashimoto: Veteran Dragon Piloting 5, Gunnery 4 MechWarrior Valery Kubachev: Veteran Dragon Piloting 5, Gunnery 5 MechWarrior Sharon Fitzpatrick: Veteran Rifleman Piloting 6, Gunnery 6 Fire Lance Lieutenant Charles Winefred: Veteran Dragon Piloting 5, Gunnery 5 MechWarrior Kathy O'Sullivan: Veteran Archer Piloting 5, Gunnery 4 MechWarrior Toshiro Kanawabe: Veteran Wolverine Piloting 5, Gunnery 4 Recon Lance Lieutenant Honey Fairchilde: Veteran Panther Piloting 4, Gunnery 5 MechWarrior "Death Wish" Takaki: Regular Locust Piloting 6, Gunnery 6 Attacker The Attacker consists of the mercenary Dragonslayers, in the service of House Steiner. Their orders are to seize and hold the Volta Oasis. Command Lance: Colonel George Conrad: Elite Warhammer Piloting 4, Gunnery 4 MechWarrior Lucille Cartier: Veteran Centurion Piloting 5, Gunnery 5 MechWarrior Robert Burns: Veteran Shadow Hawk Piloting 5, Gunnery 4 MechWarrior Fraser MacCandless: Veteran Phoenix Hawk Piloting 5, Gunnery 6 Fire Lance Captain Victor Jennings: Veteran Archer Piloting 5, Gunnery 5 MechWarrior Loni Landers: Veteran Rifleman Piloting 4, Gunnery 5 MechWarrior William Anders: Veteran Valkyrie Piloting 5, Gunnery 5 Recon Lance Vikki delaPaz: Regular Phoenix Hawk Piloting 5, Gunnery 5 Douglas McDonald: Regular Stinger Piloting 5, Gunnery 6 The Defender sets up first, anywhere on the map. The Attacker enters the mapboard from the east on Turn 1. The Attacker may, if he chooses, bring his 'Mechs in during subsequent turns as well, but at least one'Mech must enter on Turn 1, and all 'Mechs must enter from the east edge of the board. All BattleMechs begin the scenario in perfect condition, Both sides have suffered combat losses at the point when this scenario begins, but both sides have had time to make repairs to damaged'Mechs since the last combat. Victory Conditions The side which controls the oasis at the end of 20 turns is declared the winner. "Control" is defined as having at least 1 operational BattleMech in or within 3 hexes of the oasis for three consecutive turns, with no enemy'Mechs meeting the same conditions. "Operational" is defined as any BattleMech which is still able both to fire weapons and to move. As a more complex alternative, victory may be determined by scoring 1 point per ton for each destroyed or crippled BattleMech (i.e., 70 points for a Warhammer, 60 for a Dragon, etc.). In addition, 100 points are awarded to the side which possesses the oasis at the end of 20 turns. 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