Nightward
12/07/01 06:04 PM
203.134.12.8
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THE OPERATIONAL GAME
Most people will recognize the Operational Game from the Tactical Handbook. With the advent of BVs, it has largely become redundant; I am presenting my version of them below. Feel free to comment, ask questions (though I will not be able to answer for a week, because I leave on holidays later this afternoon and will not have access to the Net for the duration) test them out, and otherwise bicker amongst yourselves whilst I am gone 
Note that I have not play-tested these rules. (Rant: I have no opponents. I am teaching a friend of mine, Bradley Loughrey, to play. He shows lots of potential but belongs to the ‘Assault 'Mechs Are The Only Ones Worth Having’ and ‘If I get Internal Damage I Am Dead’ schools of thought, mostly because he has played too many ‘MechWarrior computer games. I managed to weaken his beliefs in both tenants he holds to in our last games, where a hit anywhere on his Dire Wolf would have caused enough damage to transfer to the CT and kill the thing, so he wanted to quit. I convinced him to keep going, and his badly mauled Dire Wolf killed my Gyro and ripped off a Leg, dumping me unceremoniously on the ground and ending the game. I also taught him the value of fast 'Mechs; my Mongoose and Wolf Hound made his life hell whilst he concentrated on my Archer, Thunderbolt, and Wolverine. Things were slowly swinging his way when he conceeded the game, largely out of boredom. He despised Level 1 technology, so I gave him a Dire Wolf Widowmaker and turned him loose. I foresee a large number of U-A/C-20 weilding designs about to pounce on me the next time we play…)
The Operational Game represents a fairly standard BattleTech campaign. Note that the term ‘Scenario’ does not denote a BMR ‘Scenario’ game, but a sub-section of the Operational Game.
When generating maps for the Scenarios, players may either come to an agreement on a fair selection and arrangement of terrain or roll randomly per the standard tables.
CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE:
Players should agree upon a Campaign Objective before beginning an Operational Game. This may be a simple as annihilating all opposing forces, or as complex as occupying a certain terrain feature for a certain amount of time during the Assault scenario. If there is to be a GM for the campaign, the objective is, of course, solely at his (or her) discretion.
OPPOSING FORCES:
Although I recommend, for the sake of fairness, that the players agree on a set number of BVs to be allocated per side before commencing an Operational Game, some may want differing numbers of BVs allocated to each side for aesthetic reasons or smply because their opponent is too damn good and will beat them into the grounds if they have even numbers of BVs to toy with.
You can roll up your forces randomly or pick them from available unit types. (--For God’s sake, use your sportsmanship when you pick your 'Mechs. No matter how much you may like the 'Mech, a Com Guard force is unlikely to field a Sha Yu.--)
A good amount is 2,000 BV per 'Mech you want to field.
If you are going to play with a certain objecive in mind, the Defender may roll on the below tables to determine the amount of BVs they will be allocated, expressed as a fraction of the Attacker’s total BVs. If you feel the Defender’s Force/Objective Type fits into several of the below definitions, feel free to make the modifiers cumulative.
DEFENDER’S FORCE TYPE/ OBJECTIVE TYPE ROLL MODIFIER
Recon Raid +1
Retainer (Whatever that is) -3
Pirate Hunting -
Objective Raid +2
Planetary Assault +3
Diversionary Raid +2
Extraction Raid +2
Riot Duty -3
Security Duty -1
Guerrilla Warfare -1
Major Planetary Defence Force (eg: DC’s Otomo on Luthien) +3
Minor Planetary Defence Force (eg: Capellan Confederation Home Guard unit) -2
BATTLE VALUE
ROLL MULTIPLIER
1 or Less .25
2 or 3 .33
4 or 5 .5
6 .67
7 .75
8 1
9 or 10 1.25
11 or 12 1.33
13 or more 1.5
‘POOLS’
Each player divides his/her BVs into three ‘Pools’.
(--NOTE: This is different to the Tactical Handbook rules, where there were 4 pools. I decided to lump the Repair and Logistics pools together because there was so little difference between how they were used and the intent behind them.--)
COMBAT POOL:
Each player selects their starting forces from this Pool. The Combat Pool is further divided into 3 Detachments. .
DETACHMENT UNITS ALLOWED
Recon 'Mechs, Hovercraft, VTOLs and Infantry
Rear Guard Any
Main Body Any
The Recon and Rear Guard detachments can each be worth, at most, 50% of the BVs allocated to the Main Body.
Please make you choices for each detachment realistic and characterful; a Raven would be as likely to appear in a Rear Guard detachment as an Atlas in a Recon unit.
LOGISTICS POOL:
This pool is used to repair and maintain their forces. It represents ammunition reloads, spare parts, food, and replacement warriors to keep Infantry units at fighting strength. You may not allocate more points to this pool than you allocate to your Combat Pool.
REINFORCEMENTS POOL:
No more than half as many points allocated to the Logistics Pool may be allocated to the Reinforcements pool. Every BV allocated to the Reinforcement Pool is worth .75 Logistics Points. Reinforcements Pool points may be spent as though they were Logistics Points or Combat Pool points later in the Operational Game.
OPERATIONAL TURNS/SCENARIOS
PLANETARY LANDING-
The rather imaginatively title Planetary Landing is simply that. The attackers show up and the Defenders try to knock them off. This phase is replayed until the Attacker wins it or the Defender conceeds the Landing to the Attacker. If the Defender chooses to concede the Landing, they do not need to maintain their forces that turn, and can still bring in reinforcements f they so desire.
Any forces either player wishes to commit may be employed in the Planetary Landing.
If the Landing is contested, the Attacker chooses a modifier of –3 to +3. A –3 represents the Attacker grounding his (or her) forces a long way from the ‘front lines’ instead of making a more risky Combat Drop. A +3 Modifier represents the Attacker making a landing right in the heart of enemy territory and should thus be represented on the mapsheets- this kind of battle should occur in City terrain. Each player then rolls a D6; the results are tallied and the table, below, is consulted.
RESULT LANDING TYPE
1 UNOPPOSED!: The defender cannot move into position to contest the landing and is forced to Concede the Planetary Landing with the usual effects.
2 AMBUSH!: The amount of time you idiots took getting organised has allowed the enemy to prepare for you. The Defender sets up in hiding. The Attacker moves on from their edge of choice.
3-5 GROUND DEPLOYMENT: The Attacker makes their Drop a long way from enemy
Lines and them makes their advance. The Attacker picks an edge and sets up in turn 1. The Defender arrives in Turn 3 at the opposite edge.
6-7 COMBAT DROP!: The Defender sets up anywhere on the map; if by coincidence (or luck) a Defender occupies a Hex an Attacking unit pre-plotted, they may (Attacker’s discretion) make a Death from Above, resolved immediately. If the DFA fails, they must make a Piloting Test. Success allows them to land in a hex adjacent to the one they intended to land in. Note that Vehicles cannon make Combat Drops and thus arrive an the 2nd turn, at a table edge determined by the attacker before the Defender set up.
8-11 UNDER FIRE! Each 'Mech and vehicle in the Attacking force suffers 1D6 lots of 5
Damage. This does not effect their Piloting Skill rolls to avoid deviation/damage from a Combat Drop. Other than that, treat this as a result of 6-7.
12 or more CAUGHT’ EM WITH THEIR PANTS DOWN, SIR!: Your sudden change of
drop coordinates has caught your opponent with their pants down. If any of your
units can make it into terrain that would block LOS (woods etc, not behind hills) they
set up in Hiding. The Defender moves on from the edge of the Attacker’s choice.
Again, Vehicles and Troops which cannot Combat Drop arrive in Turn 2 on a
pre-determined table edge.
ADVANCE-
The Advance Turn/Scenario is played out after the Attacker wins a Planetary Landing. Only Recon Detachments may be used; this represents a (relatively) minor skirmish between lead elements of each unit. Consult the following tables to determine set-up and board edges.
TYPE MODIFIER
Slowest Unit’s Walking/Cruising/Infantry Top Speed MP-
2 or less -3
3-4 -2
5 -1
6 0
7-8 +1
9 or more +2
All units can Jump +2
Somebody has an Active Probe +1
Somebody has an ECM Suite +1
Planetary Landing Modifier -3 to +3
After tallying their modifiers, each player rolls 2D6, applying the modifier. The Attacker then subtracts their total from the Defender’s.
DIFFERENCE SET UP ORDER HOME EDGE CAN HIDE
-3 or more Attacker First Attacker Yes
-2-0 Simultaneous Defender No
+1-3 Defender First Defender No
+4 or more Defender First Defender Yes
The table needs a bit of explanation. Here we go.
‘SET UP ORDER’ is pretty obvious. If the ‘CAN HIDE’ column says ‘YES’ then the ‘HOME EDGE’ player may deploy Hidden. The player listed under ‘HOME EDGE’ gets to pick what board edge they want to start from. In the ‘Simultaneous’ instance of ‘SET UP ORDER’, the players take turns in placing their 'Mechs. In all other instances, the players deploy all of their units as a group.
PURSUIT-
The Pursuit Scenario represents the winner of the Advance scenario harassing the forces of the looser of the Advance Scenario. The winner of the Advance scenario has scouted ahead and located the main body of the enemy force, calling in reinforcements to help them deal with the larger units. The winner of the Advance Scenario is able to use their Main Body and Recon elements, and the looser can use their Main Body and Rear Guard. Whoever won the Advance Scenario gains a +1 Initiative Modifier.
COUNTER-ATTACK-
This Scenario is played out only if the person who lost the Advance Scenario managed to win the Pursuit Scenario. The winner of the Pursuit Scenario may employ his Recon detachment; the looser may only employ their Rear Guard units. This represents the Recon mob making a flank march or end run, slipping behind enemy lines to harrass their Rear Guard. If the player who won the Pursuit Scenario wins this scenario, the next scenario will be Defence. If the player who lost the Pursuit Scenario won the Counter-Attack, the next scenario will be another Pursuit.
DEFENCE-
The Defender has managed to sucker in the Attacker, who have (in an extremely ill-advised move) made their final push for victory. The Defender chooses all the Maps used in this scenario, arranges them in whatever manner they see fit, and automatically win the Initiative in the first turn. The Defender, however, must set up all of their units before the Attacker. Any forces either side wish to commit may be used. If the Attacker wins, the next scenario will be a Pursuit round to represent the Defender falling back. Should the Defender win, the Defender has won the campaign. Congradulations.
ASSAULT-
The Attacker has outmaneuvered the Defender and is making their final play for victory. However, frontal assualts against dug-in troops seldom run smoothly. The Defender chooses all maps in this scenario and may set them up in any manner they see fit. The Defender must set up their force first. The Attacker automatically wins the Initiative in the first turn. Any forces either side wishes to commit may be used. Should the Defender win, the next scenario will be a Pursuit; if the Attacker wins, feel free to salt their fields and enslave their children. Or whatever else.
VICTORY
A ‘Victory’ in any of the above Scenarios is achieved either when a turn limit agreed upon by both players is reached, a real-time time limit agreed upon by both players is reached, one player concedes the game and retreats, or one force is annihilated. If the game ‘Times Out’, use the following rules to determine the victor. Otherwise, a Decisive Victory is won.
Total the BVs of forces that were destroyed during the game. Note that only totally destroyed units count for this purpose; if a single Trooper or Elemental is left from a unit, it is still ‘alive’. (--Or, if both players agree, if an infantry unit is reduced to 50% of its starting size, it counts as ‘destroyed’ for victory purposes but may still fight on in subsequent Scenarios at their current strength. Units may be amalgamated, but only if they are of the same type. Eg: 6 Jump Flamer Infantry may amalgamate with 17 Jump Flamer Infantry to form a new Platoon, but 3 Elementals may not amalgamate with 2 Jump Flamer Infantry. If the experience levels of the two units are different, average the Gunnery levels of the unit.--)
Subtract the Looser’s total from that of the Winner. Then divide this by the BVs the winner deployed.
REMAINDER VICTORY TYPE
0.1-0.2 Pyrrhic
.21-.40 Tactical Victory
.41-.75 Marginal Victory
.76-1.0 Decisive Victory
1.5+ Crushing Humiliation (OK, OK…Overwhelming Victory)
REPAIR, REFIT, REFUEL, AND FEED
After each Scenario, the players will need to repair, refit, refuel, and feed their troops.
STEP ONE: HOW MUCH CAN I DO?
The winner of the scenario may spend an amount of Logistics Points equivalent to:
Victory Multiplier*2D6*200 Logistics Points per Lance/Star in your force
VICTORY MULTIPLIER
Pyrric 1.5
Tactical 2.25
Marginal 3.5
Decisive 4.5
Overwhelming 5.75
The amount the Winner spends is the limit for the Defender. So if your forces are OK, but your opponents are battered, you can elect to skimp on repairs and go to the next Game, hoping their poor state of repair will give you the edge in the coming conflict.
STEP TWO: CONTROLLING THE FIELD
If there was an Overwhelming Victory, the Winner of the previous scenario automatically controls the field. Otherwise roll below.
VICTORY TYPE CONTROL THE FIELD
Pyrrhic 11+
Tactical 9+
Marginal 7+
Decisive 5+
If the victor beats the above target numbers, they Control the Field. This means that they may take possession of the fallen 'Mechs present, and either gut them for spare parts or repair them for later use.
STEP THREE: STEALING THEIR STUFF
If you Control the Field, immediately set about stealing their stuff. If you want to nick their gear and use it against them later, you must repair the unit so that it can spend at least 1 MP. As soon as it can spend 1 MP, it can be dragged off the field and may be repaired later or put back together on the spot.
If you don’t think it’s worth the time to fix the 'Mech or Vehicle (eg, all you managed to kill was a Hoplite), you can scavenge its bits. Add half of its original BVs to your Logistics Pool. If something was ‘Truly Destroyed’, you can add 5% of its BVs to your Logistics Pool by scavenging from its wretched carcass.
STEP FOUR: FIXING YOUR GEAR
Each unit costs 1 tenth of its BV to keep in the fight per game. This represents food, spare parts, maintainance etc on the unit. If you do not pay this cost, you cannot use that unit during the next game. Note that you must pay this on ALL OF YOUR UNITS each turn; just because the next turn will be a Pursuit does not mean you can skimp on your Rear Guard.
Note that you only need to repair the Gyro or Engine to have suffered 1 Critical Hit to get a 'Mech moving. Also note you cannot fix anything that has been ‘Truly Destroyed’.
Each repair cost below is in Logistics Points.
REPAIR COSTS
COMPONENT PRICE
Ammo (Note, you don’t have to reload. If you feel you Ammo BV per ton
already have enough ammo, you do not have to top off)
Destroyed Item BV for that Item
Per Engine Critical Engine Rating (ER*1.5 if XL, ER *
1.25 for Light)
Per Gyro Critical Gyro Tonnage*100
Actuator 'Mech Tonnage/10
Heat Sink 5 (10 for a Double.)
Jump Jet Tonnage/10
Cockpit 50
Per Sensor Hit 30
Per Life Support Hit 15
Re-Attach Limb (Internal Structure and critical damage Tonnage/5
must be Repaired first)
Armour 1 Point per Circle repaired (1.5 if
Ferro Fibrous/Stealth etc.)
Internal Structure 1 point per Circle Repaired (1.5 if
Endo Steel etc.)
It is assumed that the Technicians assigned to your unit have the necessary skill to perform their reapair duties within the time limits imposed, so no Technician rolls or Time needs to be calculated (--Unless you want to. Go right ahead if that’s your thing.--).
If you have swiped an enemy 'Mech or Vehicle, it costs 100 Logistics Points to break though the Intrusion Countermeasures and Security systems left in place by the enemy.
STEP 5: JOE BLOG REPORTING FOR DUTY, SAH!
In war, somebody always dies. It will be necessary to replace them.
Pilots or Vehicle Crew cost a number of LPs equivalent to the amount of BVs they will add to the 'Mech they will pilot.
Infantrymen will cost an amount of LPs equivalent to the BVs of the troops they are replacing.
Current pilots can be moved to salvaged 'Mechs at no cost.
STEP 6: OMNIMECH RECONFIGURATION
OmniMechs are at a decided advantage in Operational Games. They may be reconfigured during Scenarios if you wish. The cost for doing this is equal to the amount of BVs the new configuration exceeds the Base Chassis of the OmniMech’s cost by.
REINFORCEMENT POOL
In the event of an emergency, you can spend Reinforcement Pool points as though they were Logistics Points or Combat Pool Points. In this fashion, you can directly purchase replacement 'Mechs and/or have an extra supply cache of spare parts to dig into.
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Well, that’s it. I hope you like it; I gave up watching Fierce Creatures to finish typing this up. Before you make the comment, I know it is a mess. I will polish it a little later. Feel free to add your corrections or what-have-yous below. For now, I am on holiday. La-la-la…I can’t hear you ;).
Who knows. If we can polish this crud up enough FanPro might have a look at using it again in the future.
Yea, verily. Let it be known far and wide that Nightward loathes MW: DA. Indeed, it is with the BURNING ANIMUS OF A THOUSAND SUNS that he doth rage against it with.
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Nightmare
12/09/01 10:46 AM
194.251.240.107
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I won`t even pretend to be interested, mainly because the FM:Mercenaries provides enough logistics for me, but:
Retainer as mission type means you`re on standby, ready to
do any defensive duty needed. You sit around as Garrison or
Security somewhere, but can be sent as a Relief force when needed by your employer.
Advice for Evil Overlords:
My legions of terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.
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Greyslayer
12/10/01 02:31 AM
137.172.211.9
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FM: Mercs? Man you mustn't expect anything in a campaign as far as logistics is concerned. That book was a joke and didn't provide much in the way of viable information in running a mercenary unit. A 3025 Locust costing the same amount of c-bills to maintain as a 3060 Pillager? get real, the earlier books were better for their information on logistics and formation assets than the field manual. Only get it if you care about units in 3059 and what they have done to get there (which may contradict information before or after it ... you know how they do things ;)).
Greyslayer
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Greyslayer
12/10/01 02:58 AM
137.172.211.9
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BV in a campaign does not work. Logistics is always on what a unit uses and has on board not how cheap it is to field on the battlefront as far as 'battle-life' is concerned. A unit becomes cheaper the more tons of ammo you have in a XL-Engined Torso but it certainly doesn't mean the unit should pay less logistics. Even in FM: Mercs it has units that are omni-mechs paying a higher maintanence value than normal units.... maybe that says something? I can see a serious problem when the use of omni-mechs are involved in your scenario and I will give an example:
Player A is a pathetic Clan Player (are there any other? ;)) and fields a Large Number of Dashers and Assault mechs to complete their Tourman. To minimize their logistical payment the player Configures all Dashers to the 'H' version (a whole 485 BV!) and at times of conflict quickly configure to the nastier 'D' version (I know some situations the 'H' is nastier). The 'D' is over 1300 BV but they will pay only 49 bv per week (about the price of a 3025 spider variant) in logistics.
At the moment I use BV for battle experience in the mercenary contracts I run for the players (since everything is 3025 no serious problems inherent in the BV system has become a problem yet in these campaigns).
As a side note on the BV system several players here have stated before how they have created negative BV units or units so cheap that several do not cost the price of a platoon of infantry ... this does not say the unit is useless (they can still charge/ram and enclose units just like other military units).
You never know someone out there might have a better value method though that is more realistic...
Greyslayer
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Nightmare
12/10/01 03:07 AM
194.251.240.107
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I said it`s enough logistics for me. I`m mainly interested
in BattleTech and MechWarrior, not MechAccountant.
Or if it was a White Wolf game, BattleTech: the Accounting :)
Advice for Evil Overlords:
My legions of terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.
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Greyslayer
12/10/01 03:22 AM
137.172.211.9
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Most of the earlier books that dealt with Mercenaries also had information with Mechwarrion 2 (munchwarrior 2 is closer though ;)) or even the original mechwarrior. Logistics isn't a heavy thing in their current methods with the earlier version requiring 10% of the Mechs CV being paid in C-bills (or equivalent H-Bills) and also taking a minimum amount of time (dependant on the experience/tech level of the person involved). A very simple spreadsheet can easily cover this for you, as a matter of fact if you really want to deal with the look at all those astechs and extra technicians you will need by using FM: Mercs version you practically need a infantry company of technicians to maintain a Light Mech Battalion...
Greyslayer
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