Kings & Pawns

KingsandPawns.jpg
Kings & Pawns
Product information
Type Scenario Pack (PDF)
Development Herbert A. Beas II
Jason Robinette
Primary writing Ray Arrastia, Herbert A. Beas II, Jason Robinette, Scott Taylor, Jason Weiser
Loren Coleman (intro fiction)
Pages 17
Cover Artwork Ray Arrastia (Design)
Illustrations Ray Arrastia, Tom Baxa, Herbert A. Beas II, Earl Geier
Publication information
Publisher FanPro
Product code n/a
First published 2004
MSRP Free
Content
Era Civil War era
Timeline 3067

Kings & Pawns, subtitled "The Battle for Hall", is a scenario pack created by the FanPro Commandos, a group of freelance promoters and playtesters associated with FanPro. The scenarios were played out in a worldwide series of events under the supervision of the Commandos in 2004. FanPro subsequently made the scenario pack available for free download. Its content is fully canonical.

Unlike the previous event scenario pack (Lawyers, Guns, & Money), Kings & Pawns is not written as an in-universe document; instead, it took a classical sourcebook approach.

Overview[edit]

On Hall, civil war between several factions broke out when the Chaos March formed, with Baron William "Bud" Baranov a dominant force. However, it was only after a decade of strife that Baranov could finally bring down his last opponent, Count Radcliffe McNally, in late 3066. In this he was helped by the recently hired Stealthy Tigers mercenary unit whom he could hire with secret financial support from the Word of Blake. An uneasy peace ensued, with Baranov basically in control of the world and a remnant of McNally supporters under Elly Burton and Burton's Brigade entrenched in a remote location. Then the Allied Mercenary Command sent the 3rd Dismal Disinherited mercenary regiment to investigate the suspected Word of Blake involvement in the power shift on Hall.

Baranov tried to play the opposing forces off against each other, instigating conflict between his own forces (with clandestine Word of Blake support) and the McNally/AMC forces, and when they were tied up in conflict with each other made arrangements for Hall to become a member of the Free Worlds League much to the Word of Blake's shock, inviting FWL troops (the 4th Oriente Hussars) to uphold peace and order—troops that happen to harbor a burning hatred against House Marik and by extension, against John Marik-Johns, the local commander of the Dismal Disinherited. Before long, fighting breaks out.

Content[edit]

The scenario pack does not feature an index. The following list is taken from the headers within the document.
  • Credits
  • Bad Blood (short story by Loren Coleman)
    • Plot Summary
      (Explaining the political situation and events that have led to the outbreak of open war on Hall as of 11 October 3067)
  • General Campaign Rules
  • Scenario 1: Evacuation!
    (The Oriente Hussars move against the Dismal Disinherited base immediately upon landing on Hall. A light lance must attempt to buy time for the evacuation of an otherwise undefended base against a heavy lance of Hussars.)
  • Scenario 2: Poisoning the Well
    (In the face of the Hussars attack against noncombatants at their base, the Dismal Disinherited prepare "scorched earth" attacks against power stations and fuel refineries to extol a price from the attackers. In this scenario a 'Mech company attempts to destroy three key structures within a power plant, against a defending company from the Stealthy Tigers plus tanks from Baranov's Republican Guards.)
  • Scenario 3: The Lion's Den
    (Hoping to secure proof of an ongoing Word of Blake conspiracy on Hall, the Dismal Disinherited—supported by Burton's Brigade—raid into the South Harney district of the planetary capital in a running battle against Baranov's forces, hoping to secure certain key buildings that they have identified as Word of Blake holdouts.)
  • Notable Personalities
  • Participants
    (A rundown of FanPro Commandos, game shops and players who participated in playing out the event)

Notes[edit]

  • The 3067 conflict on Hall was also depicted in the 2016 novel Embers of War, from the viewpoint of the Stealthy Tigers mercenary unit.