General Katusov: "I don't understand, General. Could you describe the situation for the Board, please?" General Martell: "The situation was absolutely hopeless, General! I had nothing but incompetents to work with. Incompetents and disobedient traitors!" General Shamir: "What do you mean?" General Martell: "The forces under my command, General! Dregs and scrapings of the planetary defense forces. And one understrength regiment of traitorous mercenary scum!" General Katusov: "Those are strong words, General. Strong accusations." General Martell: "Words cannot describe my feelings at that confrontation, Sir! The merc unit..." General Shamir: "You refer to the unit known as 'MacKenzie's Marauders? General Martell: "Yeah. The traitorous dogs..." General Shamir: "in what way were the mercenary forces under your command 'traitorous dogs?'" General Martell: "They disobeyed orders. First they refused to advance to positions which I pointed out to them. Then, once my own forces had gone in and begun maneuvers which I was personally directing, they disregarded orders I had given them to hold their position..." Transcript from the official Board of Inquiry examining events during and after the Royal Campaign New Ivaarson, April, 3028 Situation: Mid-afternoon, April 5, 3028 Harmony Pass, Royal II The surviving Davion planetary defense forces on Royal found themselves forced to withdraw east across the King Mountains after their defeat at Port Royal. The mountains are high and ice-peaked, in places rising 9,000 meters above the coastal plain. To the east lies the rugged plateau known locally as the High Country. The King Mountains are pierced at various places by east-west passes. Highway 3, the main road east from Port Royal, passes through the easiest of these passes, just west of the town of Harmony. On April 5, 3028, A Company of MacKenzie's Marauders found itself holding Harmony Pass against a vastly superior force of Kurita BattleMechs. The local commander's decision to employ three companies of light cavalry against enemy BattleMechs (after the mercenary forces ref used his order to attack) has been widely criticized as a prime example of how not to use cavalry. In the subsequent engagement, the cavalry unit, the Royal Grays, suffered an astonishing 80% casualties, while losing all but 2 of the 30 vehicles employed. (One of these was later declared unsalvageable and junked.) The attack served to distract the Kurita forces, however, from the deployment of a company-strength attack by the mercenary BattleMech forces, which inflicted sufficient damage on the enemy that the Kurita forces withdrew in disarray. The Kurita forces were not able to mount a second attempt to penetrate the High Country and were soon forced to abandon their foothold on the planet. Game Set-Up Lay out the two BattleTech mapsheets as shown. All terrain printed on the map is treated as empty, open terrain. The lines shown above show terrain elevations. The ground furthest to the west is at Level 0. The next is Level 1, and so on. Defender The Defender consists of Company A, MacKenzie's Marauders, plus elements of the Royal Gray light cavalry militia forces. For a historical set-up, the Defender uses the same line-up presented in the Port Royal Scenario, with the following changes: Eliminate Lamonte's Stinger. Add 32 points of damage to Blake's Marauder's left arm. Add 12 points of damage to O'Hara's Crusader (randomly distributed). Add 8 points of damage each to Lee's Warhammerand Cutter's Marauder (randomly distributed). As an alternative, simply play this scenario after the completion of the Port Royal Scenario, carrying over the damage to each 'Mech engaged without allowing time for repairs. In addition, the Defender forces include 3 companies of the Royal Grays light cavalry: 10 Pegasus scout hover tanks 4 Saracen medium hover tanks 4 Saladin assault hover tanks 4 Vedette light tanks 4 Scorpion light tanks 2 Scimitar medium hover tanks 2 Striker light tanks Attacker The Attacker's forces consist of elements of the First Battalion, 3rd Benjamin Regulars. This will consist of the two Kurita companies listed in the Port Royal scenario. For a historical set-up, randomly distribute 50 points of damage among the Kurita'Mechs. As an alternative, simply begin this scenario with all damage sustained by the Kurita forces in the previous scenario. In addition, a third company of 'Mechs is acting as a reserve force behind the first two companies. This will consist of the following: Command Lance Warhammer Dragon Rifleman Rifleman Fire Lance Dragon Dragon Archer Shadow Hawk Recon Lance Javelin Spider Stinger Wasp The reserve company is not deployed until after Turn 15, and then only if at least 100 tons of Davion 'Mechs have been destroyed or disabled. The Defender sets up first anywhere along the east half of the mapboard. The Attacker (minus the reserves) enters on Turn 1 anywhere along the west map edge. The reserves may enter on the west map edge after Turn 15, if sufficient Davion tonnage has been disabled or destroyed. VICTORY CONDITIONS The Attacker wins if he exits at least 18 'Mechs (half his force) off the east edge of the mapboard before Turn 21, or if he destroys or disables all of the Davion 'Mechs before Turn 21. He must destroy 100 tons' worth of Davion 'Mechs (cavalry excluded) in order to be allowed to bring his reserve company onto the map. This represents the Kurita commander's uncertainty about the nature of the Davion attack. The Defender wins if he avoids the Kurita victory conditions. The cavalry forces must advance during Turn 1 and must continue to advance until they can engage the Kurita'Mechs. The Defender may advance his 'Mechs or hold them in place at the top of the hill, as the player wishes. As a variant, the Defender may have full control of the Royal Grays cavalry, using them for attack or defense, as he prefers. Stats for these vehicles can be found in the BattleTech Technical Readout 3026 (Vehicles and Personal Equipment) from FASA. Back to BattleTechnology 4 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 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