Before the Battle... Battle Recording: interlance dialogue Ninth Pesht mechwarriors Mann: Those pointy-eared devils are not going to get the best of us, gentlemen. What I think we'll do is to cross the river about half a klick up and come around behind them to cut off their line of supply. Hakimoto: Sho-i, MAD is detecting 'Mechs in front of us. ASSAULT 'Mechs! Mann: Are they friendlies? Kitakami: I've got visual, Sho-i. No, not friendIies. They're those bleeding Tyr! Hakimoto: Why do we always get the short end of the stick? Mann: Gentlemen, a variation of the Hans and Fritz maneuver! You go up the frontend; I'll come round the back. I'm changing form. Kitakami: Rain death from above Dragon meets with Tyr canary. This yellow bird dies. River Lule,Stanzach June 1, 3029 Background: On this date a Tyr underground assault regiment attacked the poorly equipped and undersupplied Ninth Pesht Regulars. This particular scenario is a part of that battle. Late in the afternoon, a lance of Tyr assault 'Mechs crossed the river a kilometer north of the actual ford to cur off any evading 'Mechs that might have broken away from the battle. Before they could take up their positions they ran into two 'Mechs and a LAM from Mikaru's Company of the Ninth Pesht Regulars. Game Setup: Set up two BattleTech boards running east to west. A river is running north to south near the far eastern edge of the board. The terrain is light woods with patches of heavy woods interspersed. (Only the patches of heavy woods are shown on the map). The river is level 1 water, and the two hexes on either side of the river should be considered rough terrain to represent the muddiness and steepness of the riverbank. Defender may set up anywhere on the eastern board west of the river, but he must remain two hexes away from the river. Attacker sets up on river or on either side of it within two hexes of the river. Since the defenders were surprised, the attacker has the initiative for the first turn. Defender: Defender represents the remains of Mikaru's Company, Ninth Pesht Regulars. These troops are all veteran. In 3025 they were listed as green, but they have seen heavy combat since then. Sho-i Hans Mann, Phoenix Hawk LAM, Piloting 4, Gunnery: 5 4pts off center torso; right arm machine gun inoperable Mechwarrior Kazuo "Kaz" Kitakami, Jenner Piloting: 4, Gunnery: 3 Damage: Gyro hit, plus two to piloting level Center torso jump jet destroyed (Jump mps cut to 4) Center torso missing 3 pts of armor Mechwarrior Ben Hakimoto, Panther Piloting: 5, Gunnery: 3 Damage: head missing 2 pts of armor center torso missing 6 pts of armor Attacker: Assault 'Mechs from a Tyr lance (designations of this mysterious group's units remain unknown: although names have been released to the press it is quite possible that they are pseudonyms or noms-de-guerre). These troops are elite. Lt Talber Mangold, Battlemaster Piloting: 3, Gunnery:4 3 pts armor permanently missing from head Okama Nishi, Warhammer Piloting: 4, Gunnery:3 6 pts armor missing from right arm Sensor hit, plus one on to-hit rolls Har Levinson, Cyclops Piloting: 3, Gunnery:3 Engine hit, plus 3 to heat per turn 6 pts armor missing from center torso Sean Mangold, Marauder Piloting:3, Gunnery:3 A/C 5 missing completely Victory Conditions: The defender must disable the attackers and/or escape off the western end of the board. For each enemy disabled, 5 points For each defending 'Mech off the board, 1 point. The attacker must disable or destroy the defenders. For each 'Mech disabled, 5 points For each 'Mech destroyed, 6 points Overwhelming Victory: 18-23 points Victory: 8-17 points Marginal Victory: 3-7 points Draw: 1-2 points ... After the Battle Lt TaIber MangoId ", Tyr Battlemaster interviewed by Maddelena Brandt, BattleTechnology WeeklyNews Lt Mangold: Our culture believes in honoring a brave enemy according to his own customs. So, this may be the first Tyr haiku ever recorded. A still forest day. The Pesht were Kurita's brave. Death came in Tyr's way. Brandt: How did the battle seem to you as it was occurring? Lt Mangold: Dir Drabbling ar Himla Bra! Brandt: What does that mean? Lt Mangold: (with a grin) Er..'The battle was creative and memorable', young lady! Now, how about dinner? Back to BattleTechnology 8 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1989 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