The Further Adventures of Cranston Snord's Irregulars: The Bribery Gambit
Sarna News
 | Apocryphal This article's subject is only mentioned in apocryphal sources, i.e. official BattleTech products which are not clearly Non-canon but do not meet the current Canon criteria either. For more information, check the Canonicity section. |
| The Further Adventures of Cranston Snord - The Bribery Gambit | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Scenario |
| Author | Blaine Pardoe |
| Pages | 2 |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Stardrive magazine, Volume 3 issue #6 |
| First published | |
| Content | |
| Era | Succession Wars era |
| Timeline | 3025 |
Overview
The Further Adventures of Cranston Snord - The Bribery Gambit is a BattleTech scenario published in issue #6 (volume 3) of the Stardrive magazine. Featuring a battle involving Snord's Irregulars, it was written by Blaine Pardoe who also authored the two scenario books about Cranston Snord and his unit.
Canonicity
Magazines, "even official ones", do not fall under the current definition of Canon by default.
Also, while the Stardrive magazine had close ties to FASA and had the line "Your OFFICIAL BattleTech connection" on the cover, the imprint clarified that all material from the magazine was considered "optional". The scenario is thus considered apocryphal (official, but not fully canonical).
Scenario
Lyran intelligence had learned in ca. June 3025 of a plan by the vengeful House Marik to abduct Misha Auburn, the daughter of House Steiner court historian Thelos Auburn, during their annual visit to Clinton, in order to blackmail her father into assassinating Archon Katrina Steiner or Archon-Designate Melissa Steiner. Snord's Irregulars thus arranged for their entire company to be ready on Clinton, and indeed within a week of the Auburns' arrival an unidentified DropShip deployed the "Marik Strike Company Zeta". The attackers first saturated the museum site with a stunning gas, but then were brought to battle by the Irregulars who had been laying in ambush.
The attackers consisted of a BattleMaster, a Marauder, a damaged Warhammer, two Thunderbolts, a Shadow Hawk, a Locust, and some tanks: two Von Luckners, two Galleon and a Patton.
On the defending side, historian Thelos Auburn was given a refurbished Crusader to join the fight.
The Irregulars encircled and battered the defenders in the Ferrald highlands next to the museum, and even managed to cripple their DropShip with their own light aerospace fighters.
Notes
- Thelos Auburn is otherwise portrayed as a timid academic. It seems notably out of character for him to drive a 'Mech in battle, though the scenario is framed as Thelos narrating the event in an interview where he also mentions that he thinks he may perhaps have missed his true calling as a MechWarrior.
- The participiants' stated gunnery and piloting skills, if read like the usual base numbers that have to be rolled for a success, would indicate decidedly mediocre skills for Snord's Irregulars, while portraying Thelos Auburn as a MechWarrior with elite skills. They may have been meant to be skill ranks for the MechWarrior RPG, where higher numbers indicate better skill. (No skills at all are mentioned for the Marik force except its CO, Lt. Raph Wilson, who curiously has very low numbers indicated that are roughly similar to those given to Thelos Auburn.)
Bibliography
- Stardrive magazine, volume 3, issue #6