Excerpted from a statement by SubCommander David MacNeil, 2nd Kearny Highland Regiment, April, 3028. "The plains beyond that river must have held a regiment or more of 'Mechs. At least that's what our detectors showed. Between the jungle and the fog, there might have been twice as many we just couldn't pick up. But I'd say a regiment's a good, safe guess. "Those guys didn't take any chances. It wasn't enough that they outnumbered us 9 or 10 to 1 ... no, they decided to drop some artillery in just to make sure we wouldn't be a problem. Captain Campbell went down first, and Commander Dunbar right after him ... I don't know if [Commander] Crane could have held it all together after that. I'm glad the Major sent in Captain Sinclair to take over-and not because it was me she relieved. "We nailed the spotters who were dropping in the arty fire, and after that it wasn't so bad. Captain Campbell found us some real nice spots down in the river where we could take cover and get some extra cooling too. Then they started sending 'Mechs in to dig us out, and things got hot in more ways than one, I'll tell you. There were so damned many of them ... and they mostly outweighed those little Commandos we were holding on with. That was one bad sit. "But don't get me wrong. We'd been talking it over ever since Captain Campbell bought it, and we knew the scan. There was no way we were going to escape from all those 'Mechs, not with Voelker's boys already out of it and the one stretch of clear ground out of there blocked by those malfing hovertanks. We also knew the rest of the battalion might still have a shot at getting to the DropShip if they weren't waiting around for us. Captain Sinclair's the one who finally laid it all out for us. If we could put up a good enough fight, we'd make 'ern think they'd caught everybody in their trap, and the Major could get out with the Intel. I volunteered to stay just like the rest of them. "I don't know why the Captain chose me to trade 'Mechs. Luck of the chip, I s'pose. She wasn't going to waste her Javelin, not when it might help the Major. It had jumpjets, it could get out ... you know? So she picked me, we changed places, I joined the rest and we got the hell off that ball of clay. I won't say I'm sorry to be alive ... but I wish I could've stayed and seen it through with my mates, 'stead of having to come back here and seethe families and friends of the ones who didn't make it. "We've got to go back there and show those Davions what happens when they hurt the Northwind ... the Kearny. We've just got to. If HighComm doesn't do something, I tell you there'll be trouble. The Highlanders take care of their own!" Situation: 0608 Local, 8 April 3028 Mira The only real error in the Davion response was the decision to approach the battle cautiously in case the Liao recon was strong enough to hold the Crucis Lancers. A swift attack by fast, jump-capable 'Mechs would have sufficed to break the Kearny defences and overrun the entire line, but that was precisely the kind of attack that would have failed miserably if the Liao troops had landed in force. The slow developing of pincers movements around both flanks took longer to mount, and the Davion center was largely wasted. By the time they did attack, they faced no more than a stubborn handful of Warriors set on holding to the bitter end. The Davion center was a hodgepodge of 'Mechs from different units, organization and deployment based more on availability than tactical plans. Their assaults were, on the whole, poorly coordinated; without reliable forward observation, their artillery support proved very poor indeed. It seems likely that the Highlanders might have given the Davion force a run for its money if they had only had a trio of regiments instead of three poorly-trained companies. The defenders at the river line were some of the best Warriors in the Kearny unit, and the account their Commandos gave against Thunderbolts, Shadow Hawks, and other medium and heavy 'Mechs was quite impressive. On the other hand, it is also interesting to speculate as to what the Davions might have done with better organization and more determination in their assault. Would the Highlanders have escaped at all if a line of 'Mechs had charged the river just as Colin Campbell was killed by Long Tom fire? Game Set-Up The scenario uses the BattleForce maps, set up as shown. BattleTech rules and procedures are used to play the game. Rivers are treated normally, but the roads and bridges shown do not exist. All clear terrain hexes east of the river line and north of the Map A road line are considered to be jungle. Those south of the Map A road line are clear terrain. Other terrain types are treated as usual. The Defender sets up first. The Attacker has the initiative. Defender The First Company of the 4th Battalion, 2nd Kearny Highland Regiment. Additional reinforcements from other elements of the Battalion may appear as well. See the Campaign listing on page 51 for 'Mech types. AII 'Mechs are in good condition except as noted later. The Defender deploys in any hexes on or east of the river. Attacker Mixed elements of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Crucis Lancer regiments, including the following basic mix of 'Mechs: 4 Crusaders 6 Thunderbolts 6 Shadow Hawks 2 Archers 3 Commandos 3 Locusts This is the maximum number and mix of Davion 'Mechs which may be present on the board at any one time. However, each time a Lancer 'Mech is lost, it is set aside and "brought back into play" (replaced by a similar BattleMech) 1 D6 turns later. Attacking 'Mechs may enter the map on the west edge of the board on any turn at least 2D6 turns after the Attacker declares his intention to launch a 'Mech attack. All 'Mechs enter play in good condition. See also the special rules for the scenario. Victory Conditions The Defender receives 10 points per turn of play, plus points equal to the tonnage of all enemy 'Mechs destroyed. An additional 25 points is awarded for each jump-capable 'Mech which exits the eastern edge of either mapboard before the end of the game. This includes 'Mechs which appear as reinforcements, but only if they spend at least one turn in or adjacent to a river hex without moving before they retire. The Attacker receives 5 points for each defending BattleMech eliminated, plus points equal to the tonnage of all attacking 'Mechs located east of the river at the end of play. As before, the game ends when no Kearny 'Mechs are left in play. While the last stand of the Highlanders offers little chance of true Kearny "victory," the side with the highest VP total is considered to have performed better tactically. Special Rules Kearny Reinforcements: All 'Mechs of the Recon Company (Second Company) plus some from Third Company and Battalion Headquarters will be eligible to be brought in as reinforcements. If this scenario is played as part of a campaign in sequence after "Cavalry Action," any 'Mech which withdrew from the north edge of the board may be brought in, still suffering whatever damage was inflicted in the previous game, as part of the reinforcements. If no prior game was played, add all four Battalion HQ 'Mechs (undamaged).' Mechs of Third Company are rolled for randomly; on a 2D6 roll of 10+ the 'Mech will appear. Another 2D6 roll is made to determine the number of points of damage suffered, which are inflicted like LRM hits. All eligible Third Company 'Mechs must be brought in as reinforcements during the course of play. Others are optional. However, if Captain Campbell's 'Mech is destroyed, either Captain Sinclair orMajor Fraser must be brought in as a reinforcement in the next game turn. That officer's 'Mech must spend one turn in or adjacent to the river (and the officer must be transferred to another 'Mech) before it may depart. If a replacement officer dies, no further replacement is needed. Beyond this, entry of reinforcements may be staggered as desired. Withdrawal: The Defender's BattleMechs with intact jump jets may exit the map during the course of play, using the east edge (only). This may earn extra VPs, but only if the 'Mech has spent a turn immobile in or next to the river. A 'Mech which has been withdrawn can be used as a later reinforcement if desired, but VPs for successful exit are only awarded once-for the last time the 'Mech actually leaves the board and does not return. Attackers may exit the west edge of the map freely, reappearing on that edge as and when desired. They may not exit the east edge, nor do they ever earn VPs for moving off-map. Prepared Positions: The steep river banks are ideal defensive positions for small 'Mechs. An extra DM-2 over and above all To-Hit modifiers is applied to attacks against Kearny 'Mechs in any river hex. The Davion Attackers never receive this bonus. Off-Map Artillery and Artillery Spotting: The Davion units are supported by a Long Tom cannon located off the map. Beginning on turn 1, spotters located near the Kearny positions can attempt to call in artillery strikes on specific coordinates. Before the Kearny troops deploy at the start of the game, the Davion player should secretly select six hexes on the map as potential spotter posts. Each turn, a 1 D6 roll is used to locate spotters randomly at one of those positions. Spotters may direct the fire of the Long Tom against any one target within LOS of the spotting hex. The random shifts made each turn reflect the movement of the spotters during the course of the baffle. Artillery fire may be resolved using the rules in The Rules of Warfare; alternatively, treat any artillery attack as totally destroying the target 'Mech on a 2D6 roll of 8+. No terrain bonuses or other modifiers are applied to this roll. If (and only if) artillery has fired, spotters may be eliminated on any turn in which a Defender BattleMech ends the turn in or adjacent to the hex currently occupied by the spotters. Once the spotters are eliminated, artillery fire may not be called in again. Back to BattleTechnology 5 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. 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