The Mira Campaign

Fog of War

by J. Andrew Keith

From the minutes of the Court Martial of Brevet-Major Ian Scott Fraser, 2nd Kearny Highland Regiment, Northwind Highlanders, May 3028.

"Under the circumstances, we were lucky to get out with what we had. All previous Capellan raids on Mira were centered on the polar regions or in the high uplands; this time we were in the equatorial jungles, and that's a whole order of magnitude worse than anything our Army has had to deal with before.

"Yes, McCarron's Armored Cavalry fought on Mira very successfully a few years ago. Agreed. They pretty much kept to the Mesa Grande, too. I've read accounts of the times they ventured down into the lowlands in search of Davion guerrillas, and I've seen what McCarron and his top officers had to say about it. They agree with what I'm saying-the problems with heat, visibility, terrain ... all of them make jungle operations on Mira chancy at best. Throw in all those regiments of Crucis Lancers and the word fiasco doesn't even begin to cover it.

"That doesn't lessen the culpability of the CO, of course. I've spent every waking minute since that day knowing I might have saved those people from disaster. What gets me is the way this operation was mounted; you sent in a battalion to look around, and when the survivors come back with a report you don't want to hear, you just sweep everything, report and survivors all together, under the nearest table! Yes, I'm responsible for those men. But I'm not the only one. We should be going back there in strength to prove my Intel, not sitting here finding reasons why it isn't believable!"

Situation: Pre-Dawn 8 April 3028 Mira

Under orders to scout out and report on Davion activities on Mira, the ad hoc "4th Battalion" of the 2nd Kearny Highland Regiment was smuggled onto the planet and deployed in the rugged lowlanc jungle, 25 kilometers from the reported Federated Suns base. The 4th Battalion lacked cohesion and experience, but not courage; the next several hours would certainly demonstrate that.

Conditions in the lowlands turned out to be unexpectedly troublesome to the Liao mission. The Kearny troops wero slowed by a combination of jungle terrain, dense mist, and excess heat buildup caused by the high temperatures of Mira's equatorial lowlands. These factors made progress difficult, and effective scouting well-nigh impossible.

Nightfall found the Highlanders several kilometers short of their goal, and the poor visibility forced Brevet- Major Fraser to halt for the night rather than push ahead blindly. Unfortunately, Davion sensor stations had already spotted the Northwind battalion, and the Miran garrison deployed to envelop the Kearny troops.

Contrary to the original Liao intelligence, the Davion force on Mira included more than just the usual 2nd Crudis Lancers in garrison. The entire Crucis Lancers brigade, plus various auxiliary units, had been shifted to Mira as part of the preporations for the annual "Galahad" wargames. Their base, an extensive repair and staging facility, was much larger than anticipated. Even allowing for 'Mechs out of service or held back to guard the base complex proper, the Davion advantage was enormous.

Even the Crucis Lancers didn't realized just how badly the Highlanders were outnumbered; they mounted a carefully-prepared three-pronged envelopment, just to be sure of winning the battle. Fraser's position was not merely untenable, it was completely impossible. The 4th Battalion was doomed ... the only real question was just how much they'd pay when the butcher's bill was tallied.

Northwind Highlanders

2ndKearny Highland Regiment

Provisional 4th Battalion

The scratch unit assembled for the Miran recon mission included 'Mechs drawn from the regular battalions of the regiment, augmented by cadre drafts and mercenary hirelings. A listing of the 'Mechs involved is given below. All Warriors may be considered to have skill levels of Piloting 5 and Gunnery 4.

Battalion Headquarters Lance (Fraser)

    Vindicator (Major Ian Fraser)
    Wasp (SubCommander Jock Armstrong)
    Wasp (SubCommander Jessica Blake)
    Stinger (SubCommander Archibald MacDougall)

First Company (Campbell)

    Command Lance (Campbell)
      Phoenix Hawk (Captain Colin Campbell)
      Commando (SubCommander Pamela Kernighan)
      Commando (SubCommander Andrew O'Hara)
      Commando (SubCommander Nicholas Black)

    Fire Lance A (Dunbar)

      Blackjack (Commander William Dunbar)
      Commando (SubCommander James Murray)
      Commando (SubCommander Robert MacCrimmon)
      Stinger (SubCommander Willis Fletcher)

    Fire Lance B (Crane)

      Blackjack (Commander David Crane)
      Commando (SubCommander Lee Marshal)
      Commando (SubCommander Thomas Kirk)
      Commando (SubCommander Donald Lovat)

Second Company (Sinclair)

    Command Lance (Sinclair)
      Javelin (Captain Cassandra Sinclair)
      Wasp (SubCommander Wu Fong)
      Wasp (SubCommander Jason Montgomery)
      Stinger (SubCommander Lisa Caswell)

    Recon Lance A (Lee)

      Ostscout (Commander Hsien Lee)
      Wasp (SubCommander Jennifer Rand)
      Wasp (SubCommander John Hamilton)
      Stinger (SubCommander Nathan Turner)

    Recon Lance B (O'Leary)

      Javelin (Commander Martin O'Leary)
      Wasp (SubCommander Richard Talbott)
      Wasp (SubCommander Lutz Richter)
      Stinger (SubCommander Maureen Callahan)

Third Company (Voelker)

    Command Lance (Voelker)
      Jenner (Captain Fritz Voelker)
      Panther (SubCommander Mustapha Kemal)
      Panther (SubCommander Ellen Running Deer)
      Vindicator (SubCommander Mark Willis)

    Fire Lance A (Fitzgerald)

      Javelin (Commander Edward Fitzgerald)
      Panther (SubCommander Marion Hay)
      Panther (SubCommander Dolph Keller)
      Vindicator (SubCommander Alexandre Deladier)

    Fire Lance B (Hernandez)

      Javelin (Commander Roberta Hernandez)
      Panther (SubCommander Chou Ling)
      Vindicator (SubCommander Nikolaii Kuragin)
      Vindicator (SubCommander Horst von Seisser)

Map Layout

The diagram shows the placement of BattleForce mapsfor use in a campaign covering the entire Mira action. The three Northwind scenarios can be played in succession as a campaign using this map layout.

Special Rules

The following special rules pertain to all three scenarios set on Mira.

Heat: External temperatures are very high in the lowland jungles. As a result, heat sinks are much less effective. It requires two heat sinks to shed one point of heat in a turn; only three points of extra heat per turn (maximum) can be shed by standing in water.

Fires: Mira's richly oxygenated atmosphere and high sea level pressure cause a dangerous oxygen concentration which, among other effects, causes fires to burn quite fiercely. Any use of jump jets or energy weapons in a jungle hex (only) starts a fire on a 2D6 roll of 7+. Jump jets affect all hexes the'Mech passes through in its move except for the landing hex. Fires spread 1 hex per turn in all directions, there are no prevailing winds in the jungles to push the flames a certain way.

Fog and Mist: At the start of each turn, roll 1 D6 to determine the maximum number of hexes through which Line of Sight can be traced. For 'Mechs on higher elevations, multiply the elevation level by the number; the mist on Mira is a ground fog and has much less impact on sighting from higher altitudes.

Jungle Terrain: Units spend 3 MP per hex to enter Jungle Terrain on Mira. They may not attempt to run through jungle hexes at all. Jump movement is normal except for the hazards of fire noted earlier. Jungle hexes block line of sight and have an elevation level1 for sighting purposes.

Marsh Terrain: Hexes designated as marshes are considered to be water hexes for purposes of heat reduction, land for all other purposes. A'Mech must roll 1 D6 greater than or equal to the number of hexes separating a current marsh hex from the nearest clear terrain or jungle hex in order to leave the marsh hex in question. Hovertanks, of course, are free to move over marshes without difficulty.

Special Attacks: Any 'Mech equipped with jump jets and lying prone may launch a special type of physical attack by firing jump jets. The 'Mech in question may "ram" an opponent in an adjacent hex, inflicting a number of damage points to the enemy equal to its tonnage and receiving a number of points of damage equal to the target's tonnage. Allocate damage in 5-point groups, using the Shot From Below hit location table for the target and the Shot From Above location table for the attacker. This devastating tactic is generally a suicide maneuver and is rarely encountered under normal circumstances.

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