Excerpt from a BattleTechnology interview by Special Combat Correspondent Douglas Warden with Lt. Travis Hunt of the 1st Crucis Lancers. "You want to know what it's like fighting in the jungle? It ain't like any other kind of MechWar, I'll tell you. No speed, no LOS, no way to tell where the bad guys are or how many of the malfing bastards are out there waiting for you. Jungles make city fighting look like a stroll on the beach with a good-looking sheila! "Some Liao sneaks were checking up on our garrison on Mira, trying to stir things up before Galahad could get rolling. We got called out to take care of them. Outnumbered 'em 10 to 1 or better, and they still gave us a bloody nose. Nah, the battle was never in doubt, nothing like that. But when you've got Archers and Crusaders against little 45-tonners, you don't expect to lose an y'Mechs. But we did. We surely did. "There we were, strung out in column, trying to push through the trees and all that undergrowth, when bang! our lead Archer-Kilgore's, it was-gets hit by a dozen or so of the little malfers. He stumbles back, falls down with a hole through the cockpit, and the bad guys go jumping off into the trees. We lose 'em before we can get a target lock. Meanwhile we've got fires dancing all around where their jump jets started firestorms, and nobody knows what to do next. Chaos, y'know? "so we start beating the bushes and they hit us again. And then a third time for good measure. One guy took out a Crusader by slamming his Wasp into it under full jump jets. And then to cap it all off, they left one guy out there distracting us while the rest got away, and with the jungle so dense and everything so bloody confused we didn't even realize it until it was too late. "You don't get that kind of mess in most places, let me tell you. Not even in cities. Jungle warfare ain't for me, man. It ain't my thing at all..." Situation: 0634 Local, 8 April 302 Mira The third Davion force attempting to snare Fraser's unit faced the worst terrain of all, but ironically was in the best position to foil the Kearny withdrawal. Several company- sized columns of Archers, Crusaders, and other large 'Mechs were dispatched to circle through the dense jungle of the northern sector and set up in Fraser's rear, with LRM racks ready to hammer refugees into submission. They didn't realize that they were moving towards the evac site chosen by Fraser ... or that the last Kearny stragglers, including the Battalion Commander himself, were waiting to slow down their columns and give the rest of the fugitives time to board their DropShip. Fraser's attack on the Davion column may have been rash, but it demonstrated a brilliant grasp of the possibilities of 'Mech operation in guerrilla-style jungle warfare. Though the action cost the Highlanders 'Mechs and time they could ill afford, it also threw the Davion forces into enough confusion to allow Fraser to embark. The DropShip escaped. Out of a full battalion, Fraser had suffered 60% losses to obtain information the Liao High Command later chose to disregard. It had been one of the most disastrous raids in the history of warfare on the Liao frontier. Through it all, though, the Northwind Highlanders had shown their mettle, facing their fate with bravery, determination, and fighting skill. Game Set-Up The scenario uses the BattleForce maps, set up as shown, with the standard BattleTech rules and procedures. All hexes between the edge of the board and the river line are treated as hills; hexrows 1-4 are level-1, hexrows 5-7 level-2, and hexrows 8 and beyond level1 once again. Jungle terrain is also present in all of these hill hexes. Ignore all river and road hexes. Other terrain types are as given, except that Jungle is present in all hexes in addition to normal terrain types shown. The Attacker sets up first; the Defender has the initiative. Attacker Mixed elements of the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Crucis Lancers, including the following: 4 Crusaders 8 Archers All are in good condition. These units enter the map on the first game-turn. Before the Defender sets up, the Attacker must designate a single hex on the north side of Map A as his intended entry hex; this is revealed to the Defender. Defender Rearguard elements of the 4 1h Battalion, 2nd Kearny Highland Regiment. The Defender deploys anywhere on either map; see the Special Rules for the option of deploying secretly. If this scenario is played as part of a campaign including the other Northwind scenarios, the Defender may select up to 10 jump-capable 'Mechs from among all the survivors of the previous fights. These enter with whatever damage they had sustained in those earlier encounters. If this scenario is played as a stand-alone situation, deploy these forces, all in good condition: 1 Vindicator (Major Fraser) 1 Javelin (SubCommander MacNeil, ex-Sinclair) 1 Panther (SubCommander Ling) 2 Wasps (SubCommanders Armstrong and Blake) 2 Stingers (SubCommanders MacDougall and Lovat) Victory Conditions The Defender gets points equal to the tonnage of all attacking 'Mechs destroyed in combat, plus 10 points per turn of play. The Attacker gets points equal to twice the tonnage of destroyed Kearny 'Mechs, plus points equal to the tonnage of his own'Mechs exited from the east edge of Map B prior to the end of the game. Play ends 10 turns after any turn on which the Defender announces a desire to end the fight (the 10 turns represent the time between ordering the DropShip to leave and its actual departure). All Defender 'Mechs still on either mapboard at the end of that 10-turn period are considered destroyed for Victory Point purposes. If the Defender has a higher point total, his DropShip and all escaped 'Mechs are successful in leaving Mira. If the Attacker has the higher total, the DropShip is caught during departure and destroyed, and none of the Kearny Highlanders escape. The Davion victory in this case would be overwhelming. Special Rules Attacker Movement Restrictions: The Attacker must bring all units onto the board in a single column, moving directly down the chosen hexrow until either a) they are fired on, or b) all 12 'Mechs are on the map. Thereafter they may maneuver freely. No Crucis Lancer BattleMech may move to Map B while enemies remain on Map A. No Lancer'Mech may leave Map B to earn VPs while enemies remain on Map B. If conditions change after 'Mechs have started to cross one of these boundary lines (Kearny'Mechs return to Map A after Davion units are already on Map B, for instance) penalties to Attacker movement are not re-imposed. Starting Positions: Kearny 'Mechs may treat the first hexes in which they are deployed as water hexes for purposes of heat (only). In the battle, they chose marshy spots fortheir initial deployment. Once they leave the original deployment hexes, they lose this benefit, even if they subsequently re-enter the hex. Withdrawal: Kearny'Mechs may exit the east edge of the map at any time but cannot later re-enter. They are considered to be boarding the DropShip Su'~ TZU. Hidden Deployment/Movement (Optional): If the players agree, Kearny 'Mechs can be initially deployed in secret hexes. When a Davion 'Mech moves adjacent, the Kearny unit is revealed. Moving out of sight (generally, in thejungle, 2+ hexes away) allows the Kearny 'Mech to hide once more. All hidden movement is performed with notations of positions on a piece of scratch paper. 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