On May 17, 3026, Captain Alan I Cameron and his wingman, Lt. Scott Davis, engaged HQ elements of the third battalion, Second Kearny Highlanders. Pitting their 30-ton Wyvern VTOL gunships against a numeri cally and tactically superior force, Cameron and Davis disrupted the command structure long enough to allow the Second New Syrtis Fusiliers, first battalion, to escape, after raiding the 'Mech production facility on Wei. In this engagement, Cameron personally destroyed a VTR-9B, identified as the command 'Mech belonging to Commandant Albert Fong, CO of the third/Second Highlanders. Thanks to the courage and daring of Captain Cameron and Lt Davis, the Second Fusiliers were able to escape with few casualties - excerpt from after-action report: Wei raid, Second New Syrtis Fusiliers. In order to more fully understand the battlefield applications of VTOLs and VTOL gunships, Lt Fairchild has developed the following program forthe BattleTech Combat Simu- lation System. This program is a recreation of Captain Alan I Cameron's raid on Commandant Albert Fong's HQ lance. Mapboard used: Basic BattleTech mapboard. Treat all water hexes as level 0 ground. Hexes 0115 to 0317 inclusive are treated as the opening of a narrowvalley. Treatthis valley as one level below ground level for purposes of targeting. Only VTOLs orjump-capable'Mechs may enter these hexes due to the sheer sides of the valley. Forces used: Attacker: elements of the tactical aerospace division of the Second New Syrtis Fusiliers. Captain Alan I Cameron Wyvem VG Pilot 3, Gunner 3, Leadership 2, Tactics 2 Sergeant Scott Davis Pilot 2, Gunner 2 Defender: headquarters lance of the third battalion, Second Kearny Highlanders. Commandant Albert Fong Victor Hex 1003 Pilot 2, Gunner 3, Leadership 4, Tactics 3 Lt Jefferson Wills Shadow Hawk Hex 1207 Pilot 2, Gunner 2 Cpl E.J. Morin Assassin Hex 0906 Pilot 1, Gunner 1 Pvt Mary Dakis Locust Hex 0910 Pilot 1, Gunner 1 All of the 'Mechs in the HQ lance have sustained some damage during the fighting earlier in the day. Fong's Victor has lost 16 points from its right front torso and 8 from its left leg. It has only 8 rounds left for its autocannon, and 10 rounds for its SRM 4. Wills' Shadow Hawk's autocannon has been disabled and its left arm and left front torso suffered 9 points of damage, while its left torso has taken 8. Its LRM 5 and SRM 2 have 19 and 21 rounds left respectively. Dakis' Locust has taken 7 points of damage to its right leg, and the left arm machine gun is damaged. There are 150 rounds left in the MG magazine. The defender sets up and moves first. Attacker enters the board through the valley hexes (0115 through 0317) on turn one. Objective The Davion VTOL gunships are to tie up the Liao HQ lance until the raiders can withdraw. Victory Conditions Attacker: Engage the Liao 'Mechs for eight turns and escape through the valley with at least 1 VTOL. Defender: Destroy both Davion VGs before the end of turn 8. Special Rules 1) For each Liao 'Mech destroyed or disabled, the Davion VTOLs can subtract one turn from the length of time for which they are required to tie up the 'Mechs. 2) Due to the reluctance on the part of the Liao Mechwarriors to fire at the VGs when it was possible that such fire might hit their friends, any time a Liao 'Mechs is in the same line-of-fire as the target VG, the Liao pilot must roll a 7 or better on 2d6 before he fires. (The Liao player may add his gunnery skill level to that roll.) If he fails the roll, that particular 'Mech may not fire on that VTOL in that game turn. If he makes the roll, a normal "to-hit" roll is made. If the shot misses, a second "to-hit" roll must be made. If the second roll is a hit, the shot misses the friendly unit also. If the second roll indicates a miss, the shot hits the friendly 'Mech, and is handled like a normal hit on an enemy. 3) Because of the sudden appearance of the Davion gunships, the Liao forces were taken by surprise. To represent this, the Liao 'Mechwarriors may not fire or make physical attacks during the first turn. Beginning on the second turn, the Liao 'Mechs may fire at will, subject to special rule # 2. Modifications to the basic BattleTech Simulator Rules Strafing VTOL gunships share the ability of aerospace fighters to make somewhat limited strafing runs. In order for a VG to make a strafing run, it must declare its intention to strafe before expending any MP that turn. The "strafing row" of a VG's strafing run is only 1 hex row wide, and is only as long as the VTOL's maximum number of MPs available that turn. The VTOL may not make any other movement that turn besides the strafing run. That is, a VTOL with a current flank speed of 9 MP may make a strafing run affecting an area 9 hexes long and one hex wide. The strafing run affects all targets in its strafing row, modified by the pilot's gunnery skill and the condition of the aircraft. As with an aerospace fighter, all of a VTOL gunship's "strafing weapons" may fire at the targets in the strafing row. Strafing weapons include all lasers, PPCs, and machine guns which are mounted facing forward. "Non-strafing weapons", which are defined as autocannons and all missile launchers, may fire once per strafing run at one specific target in the strafing row. Strafing runs may not be conducted while flying "nape-of-the-earth". Ground fire against a strafing VTOL gunship is treated much in the same manner as fire against a strafing fighter. Ground units have a basic "to-hit" number of 8 plus, with a minus two modifier if the firing unit is in the strafing row. Chin turrets As mentioned in the article, the Draconis Combine has begun experimenting with mounting small "chin-turrets" under the nose of their VTOL gunships. Although they are still in the experimental stages and somewhat unreliable, chin turret design specifications are included here. Chin turrets may only be mounted on VTOLs weighing 20 tons or more. The turret itself weighs 1 ton and may house a weapon weighing no more than 1/2 ton (a machine gun or a small laser). Chin turrets provide a 300-degree field of fire only to the weapon mounted in them (see Diagram). Any time a chin turret is rotated (during the same phase as a 'Mech would swivel its torso), 2d6 should be rolled. An 11 or 12 indicates that the turret has jammed on its track; it may not be rotated again until it is repaired by the pilot, or by a technician while the VTOL is on the ground. The turret is considered to have jammed at the end of its rotation, and the weapon mounted in it may fire only along that facing until the turret is repaired. Any time the turret-mounted weapon fires, 2d6 should be rolled prior to the "to-hit" roll. A result of 10, 11, or 12 indicates that the ammunition or power feed devices have failed. The turret-mounted weapon may not fire again until repaired. The Last Word Helicopters present no serious threat to battlemechs. - Cdt Albert Fong, Second Kearny Highlanders Back to BattleTechnology 9 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1990 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