As mentioned in the previous The Succession Wars, Play By Email post, VASSAL  is a free open source board game engine for playing online and several modules have already been made for you to play The Succession Wars using it.

Our commendations to the developer of the 2.0 module, mycenae.  If at first you think it appears simple, you would be mistaken.  I’ve looked at the code and there is a lot of it.  I’m sure the Module Editor helped, but it is still pretty extensive work; not to mention the ton of little images.

The original layout of the 2.1 map was designed by nkestral, who is currently the GM running A New League.  I’ve helped revise it and adapted the layout several times including for my reference map.  There were some map errors in the 2.0 map caused by the fact that Terra was supposed to be added afterwards when using the region outline available online for the 2.0 map.  This 2.1 map keeps to the original connections of the board game and makes square pieces fit much better.

The House logos were made by Punakettu and there are more beautiful vector logos available in Punakettu’s deviantART Battletech Logos gallery.

You can download the 2.1 version from the ScrapYard Armory Downloads page or from the  The Succession Wars Modules wiki page.

It has been a while but I finally have found the time to pick up my brush and get to work on a new project.  This time around is a Davion reinforced lance made from a Davion Lance Pack I got for a gift ages ago.

I started with the lance pack (which curiously had two Garms) and added in two spare vehicles with accompanying infantry.  I keep a stash of battle armor handy for just such occasions and found a lovely pair of Hauberk Battle Armor to add to the force.  Nothing says good times like a combined arms force ready for a tabletop battle.

The red base of the minis was a three step red drybrush starting with Scarlet Red and Gory Red.  After a wash of black ink Bloody Red finished off the mini with a final highlight.

The black streaks were simple enough.  Black lines were haphazardly painted on each mini and then highlighted with an accompanying streak of grey made from a mix of Black and Dead White.  Gun barrels were drybrushed with Gun Metal.  Missile tips were dotted with white to provide contrasting detail.

The bases were done with Beasty Brown to Plague Brown to a dusting of Dead White.  Some dark mixed flocking spotted the top for good measure.

The two cockpits available to jewel were done in a standard blue pallet that I have used time and time again.  Stormy Blue to Magic Blue to Electric Blue with the smallest Dead White dot to seal the deal.

Decals were from Fighting Pirannha Graphics.

It feels good to have a project completed.  I can’t wait for my next one, which I assure you I am planning right now.  I’d like to keep the brush moving if I can manage.

The game in question is the Succession Wars board game.  If that sort of thing is up your alley drop me a line at brian@scrapyardarmory.com and sign up for a slot.  There are only five available slots so hurry!

Please keep in mind the following short list of general requirements to be a tester.

• Must be available to play between the hours of 8:30-10:00 PM EST (I’d like all players to be available at the same time to aid progress)
• Must be willing to take notes along the way, bugs, improvements, comments and criticism welcome.
• Must be willing to accept that bugs may force the game offline from time to time.  Your patience and perseverance would be appreciated.

Thanks and hope to hear from you!

Chaos Reigns

The opening fiction wastes no time to throw the reader into the very heart of the conflict that dominates the Dark Age.  As the Republic crumbles the manifestations of war are impossible to keep at bay turning former collegues into mortal enemies.

Chaos Reigns is action packed and a brilliant introduction to the PDF and the conflict on Vega.  I can’t wait to delve further into the fray and learn more about the battle and the forces that have thrown this world asunder.

One thing I noticed above all else was the deliberate inclusion of several Dark Age designs that I was first familiar with through the Click-Tech game.  It is nice to see these designs find a home in new BattleTech fiction.

Vega

Included in all Chaos Campaign PDFs is a large and gorgeous atlas of the planet with all pertinate information game masters need to piece together whatever campaign they could want.  This information is not Era specific so even gamers who are not interested in the Dark Age would find it useful.

A small history writeup is accompanied by a mapsheet table and optional Tactical Operations rules dealing with terrain and weather.

The Vega Campaign

A one page summary wraps up the very eventful life of the planet, Vega, in the Dark Age.  The battle for Vega was a three way contest of sorts and saw significant action spread across many years with many different combatants.  It will be interesting to see how the tracks are framed and packaged when there is so much chaos in the timeline.

Overall the section is a good read with just enough information to summarize the military action on the planet.  Think of it as a cheat sheet for the battle that will be fleshed out further in the tracks section.

Random Assignment Tables

I’m very very pleased to see full RAT tables for all three factions (Republic, Combine, and Ghost Bear).  What makes me even happier is to see vehicles and infantry included as well.

Any opportunity the developers take to encourage combined arms games is a welcome addition.  The availability of mixed force compositions can radically change the tracks.  I really enjoy seeing that option encouraged.

As an added era specific bonus there is also an Industrial Mech RAT table snuck onto the next page to add additional options for force selection.  Industrial ‘Mechs are prominently featured in the tracks section so you will be checking this table often if you plan a battle on Vega.

Combatants

It’s a shame to see, but BattleTech PDFs always seem to be referring to page XX over and over again.  A minor grievance really, so back to the review.

Each combatant involved is detailed with stats for experience, RAT table, Commanding Officer name, unit abilities, extra notes, and a full color logo.

The combatants section is splendid with varied and thoughtful unit abilities that are almost all tied to their descriptions and the circumstances of their individual history.  Abilities from A Time of War and Tactical Operations are used but not abused.  The highlights of the section involve neither and are perfectly crafted.  Top honors are split between Amaterasu who are honor bound to never fire upon a crippled opponent and the Vega Republic Standing Guard who suffer a momentary penalty whenever they lose a commander as their chain of command reforms.

At first I thought that the number of combatants seemed short considering the information provided about the Vega campaign.  As it turns out, a number of additional Warlord factions are given force abilities within the tracks themselves.  This interesting twist was a welcome surprise and made the tracks involving said Warlords a little bit more interesting.

Tracks

We have nine tracks to choose from in Vega.  I’ve noticed a slow uptick in the average number of tracks being offered in these PDFs.  I love the tracks most of all and am very happy to see the increase.  To put things into perspective, the very first Turning Points PDF, Luthien had only six tracks.

Vega begins slowly with Dragonet, an attack in force with a few Dark Age tweaks such as the addition of Industrial ‘Mechs.  I’m a bit disappointed that TacOps rules are included as optional bonuses.  In certain instances these make sense but Bracing and Careful Aim don’t tie into the story or offer unique tactical options related to any objective and are better left for the players to add on their own.  Using them as optional bonuses seems like a cop-out.

The next two tracks pick up the pace with very well put together battles.  Power and Chaos has predictable objectives but is saved by the use of killer mechanics within the special rules.  Turncoats will have you guessing who you can trust and make positioning your units in relation to each other a challenge as you attempt to reduce the potential loss from a bad loyalty roll.

Emptiness, Eagles and Snow is a great story and provides a fantastic backdrop for the battle.  The lovers quarrel atop snow covered terrain make up for the run of the mill objectives.  I hardly notice them after reading into the special rules covering the opposing leaders and the avalanche prone terrain.

Not to be outdone, Grudge Match includes a Monorail, pipelines with volatile chemicals and a barren sand blasted flatlands.  The interactive terrain elements is epic and gets my mental gears turing.  Like a good novel or short story, my imagination is drawn into this track.

The tracks continue along these lines.  There is a good mix of objectives along with a few standard bread and butter kill the other guy variety.  Enough of a mix to keep things interesting.  The terrain layout and special rules are dominate features in almost every track and will have your imagination racing.  Optional bonuses fall flat most of time and seem to rely on Tactical Operations rules far too often.  They seem tacked on as an afterthought.

All together, there are several tracks I would really like to try out.  They are not perfect but more than make up for any shortcomings with amazing attention to setting up the battle.  You will see a venerable cornucopia of terrain configurations and force compositions as you read through Vega.

Record Sheets

Wrapping up Vega is an assortment of unique and not so unique record sheets for use in the Campaign.  The Ghost Bear commander and a Vega Warlord each get custom rides, a Pack Hunter and an Atlas respectively.  Three industrial ‘Mechs round out the offering which are not so much unique but required for anyone who does not have the absolute latest record sheets from Catalyst.  Industrial ‘Mechs are included throughout Vega and it seems right to include these as an option for players to get their game on faster.  The mining ‘Mech MOD isn’t half bad if you overlook it’s abismal speed…  Then again if you are on Vega fighting for your life you have to make due with what you have.

The Final Word

Vega is an excellent addition to the Turning Point line and features some great tracks with a lot of imagination put into them.  Maybe it’s the selection of battles to feature but there doesn’t seem to be a dull moment in these pages.

If you are on the fence about the Dark Age, Vega is worth a look.  For the economical price of $5, who could resist?  For less than the price of lunch you can relive  a plethora of battles between the Clans, the Combine, and ruthless Warlords.  Vega is among the best of the Turning Points series and I’m looking forward to more Dark Age PDFs in the future.

Catalyst Game Labs continues to be a force in the gaming industry and reguarly supplies the BattleTech community with new material for our games covering multiple eras.

The ScrapYard has been busy as always and have a full compliment of games, miniatures, and articles to write about in the coming year.  Here are the most popular articles from the past year based on a weighted average of page views.

1. Portable MercRoster
2. Breaking and Entering
3. BattleTroops Reborn in A Time of War
4. Hold the Line
5. Twilight of the Clans, The Great Refusal
6. 25th Anniversary Box Set
7. Dark Age Turning Points: Liao
8. Bad Intel
9. Chaos Reaving
10. Wolves in Exile for a Friend

Thanks to all those who took the time to comment on the many articles here on the ScrapYard.  I really enjoy your feedback and will continue to bring great material to the BattleTech community.

Heres to a great 2012!  Get those dice rolling!

Succession Wars has been long out of print and copies on eBay are a coveted commodity.  That doesn’t mean that the game is out of reach though.  The rules are available to those who know where to look and many conversions have made play by email possible.  This article will dive into the experiences of a small group of gamers who have played the game completely over email and are hungry for more.  We’ve compiled rules, argued intention, and generally made a mess of the place in the hopes of clearing up the cluttered and at times ambiguos rules set.

First, a special thanks to a couple people that have acted as GM while we here at the ScrapYard have participated as players and for the first time got a chance to play this game:

Oboe Cop GM of the “December Winds”, a game that ran from March into October of 2011.

nckestrel GM of the “A New League”, a game just getting started as of this posting.

nckestral developed a cubic version of the map for displaying the progress of December Winds that we’ve adapted to several other presentations.  I use this one as a reference map:

Playing-by-Email

GM

To play by email effectively, you’ll need a GM to host.  Most importantly, the GM will receive your orders, make the rolls, and clear up or decide any rule interpretations.  However, they can also assist by providing documents to the users for them to fill out.  For instance when the A New League game first started, nkestral provided a list of the starting units with a space for each for where the player wants to deploy them.  Those units that have an assigned location to start had their locations already filled in already.  For placing units and declaring attacks you are generally given 48 hours and for other responses you are given 24 hours.  As usual though, life can get in the way.  Just keep in contact, let everyone know if you need more time, and make a reasonable effort.

Communications

As far as communication procedures go, you email only the GM when it is a secret or a choice made at the same time as someone else such as a bid or what cards to play as you attack.  Otherwise you email the entire play group (and the lurkers).  Some declarations such as changing unit combinations need to be declared with other required responses such as when you decide to retreat or not.

Bidding Procedures

Traditional means of bidding, as can be observed on tv shows such as Storage Wars, would be fairly time intensive when bids are received via email and everyone has to keep track of the latest bid then how do you figure out when to stop accepting bids?  Like ebay allowing bid snipers, and what if players aren’t available?  To speed up the process and not require too much time from players, we use a Highest Unique Bid Auction where all players make a secret bid to the GM within a certain time, usually 24 hours, and only the highest bidder wins.  In December Winds and A New League, the highest bidder paid what they bid, while in A New League the highest bidder will pay 1 more then the 2nd highest bid.

Tracking Tools

By all means, you can use The Succession Wars board game itself.  I think most of us playing have a copy, though maybe not all the pieces.  Also, it is sometimes difficult to give up that much space.  Others may have cats or dogs nicknamed Hurricane.

VASSAL is a free open source board game engine for playing online and several modules have already been made for you to play The Succession Wars using it.  However, I’ve found at least one mistake in version II: Liao is marked as a Regional Capital.  However, this is actually easily fixed since the map is just an image inside the module which is really just a zip file.  Still, once you get used to how to select and expand a stack of pieces or an individual piece it is pretty awesome.  However, a not so easy fix is that Ozawa should be connected to Tikonov, the only enemy territory Almach should only be connected to is Tikonov, and Acula should not be connected to Liao.

Cyberboard is another play by email application. BoardGameGeek hosts a Gamebox for The Succession Wars in the Files section.

If you like to play with the original board game pieces but find the map provided a little unclear or so little space to do anything besides stack the pieces in some regions you could also make your own map with larger boxes and hide it in the basement to keep it from your dog’s tail.  The one on the right is based on the reference map above.  Actually you can see an 8.5″x11″ copy of it along with the original map for size comparison.

Read The Standard Rules Carefully

Stealing Periphery Units: If an enemy bids on and wins a periphery state and then takes all their units elsewhere, simply capture the periphery region and you gain control of it’s units.

Once a player gains control of a Periphery state, he may move and attack with that state’s forces just as if they were his own.  If another player captures the Periphery state’s Region, he gains control of those Periphery forces. -page 12

New Mercenary units are formed in Regional or House capitals.  Rebuilt Mercenary units are placed in Manufacturing Centers in the same way as House units. -page 11

You can control periphery units from the other side of the Inner Sphere: We’ve seen it.  A player leaves no combat units between (nor on) their capital and a Periphery state nearby thinking their front line troops separate their space from the enemies’…  Instead, an enemy bids on and wins a Periphery State just before their move phase and uses those periphery units to take control of an enemy House Capital!

Rules Addendum

Below is a collection of rule additions, subtractions, or clarifications that came up while playing (or preparing for) the game.  Use some, all, none, or modify them to your heart’s content!

Note that these are NOT the official rules that will be used to play, though I’ll probably update these as we play as well.

Placing units: The rules make it sound like you pay for units during the “Spend taxes” phase, but then get to choose where the units get placed during the “Place new units” phase, especially since it talks about not being able to place units at newly constructed factories.  Well duh…

Units purchased during the Spend Taxes phase must have designated locations where they will be built.  i.e. Their placement designation occurs during the “Spend taxes” phase and not the “Place new units” phase.

Hidden Merc Units: Since the rules don’t specify, your GM may allow you to use the card to create Merc units at any capital.  But, it obviously doesn’t seem quite right to be able to hire them behind enemy lines.  Still, you can use them in a surprise attack if your dropship has an extra spot that your enemy didn’t expect filled.

New Mercenary units are formed in Regional or House capitals you control.

Don’t Follow Your Leader: He was bribed…  Don’t follow them.

No troops will change affiliation because a Leader is bribed (with the standard exception of Mercenary Leaders and their associated units).

Standard Game Pieces: Because when playing by email we aren’t playing with a single customized map, it is best to use the standard pieces as they are to prevent confusion and errors in tracking.

Regions, Leaders, Units will not have their names nor stats changed from the rules as in the original rule book.

Bribed Leaders: This is really just a restatement of a rule from the rule book.

Leaders of yours that have been bribed that are in a region you control during the tax phase will reduce your overall tax revenue by their administration skill.

Travel in Terra: Even a Marik Leader starts on Terra according to the rule book.

Jumpships and leaders may pass through and even stop in Terra (while it remains neutral) and will not be captured by Comstar.

More then 2 House Combat: Even the standard rules allow this situation if a 3rd party bids on and wins a merc unit in an already contested region.

When more then 1 enemy House has units in a region where your units are participating in combat, you declare which units of yours are attacking which enemy House.  You may switch their target when you reply that you are not retreating with them.  They will automatically be switched between (not during) combat rounds if all but one enemy House are eliminated.

Extra Cards: These rules make it possible to have more then 4 cards, however it is expressly forbidden by the rules and creates

If you get more than 4 cards in hand, you can look at them all before discarding.  You must discard down to 4 cards before playing any.  Once told what the new ones are, it is too late to play cards before you recieve the new ones.

Discard Cards: Since you can give, trade, or sell cards to other players, why not be able to just get rid of them?

You may discard cards voluntarily to the discard pile.

Changing Combined Units in Play By Email: Because waiting for yet another email to arrive takes time… your choice is simply required with your required response.

You can you mix up the combinations of units from the first attack if you include the combinations with your order to retreat or not retreat.

Interdict and Combine: There is no defined interaction between these rules nor an example.  This rule will encourage keeping combat units from the same ‘unit’ together and reward combining units if an interdict is played.

Interdict effectively occurs after 2 units combine. example: Unit4+Unit3 = Unit7 w/o Interdict = Unit5 w/interdict.

ComStar Regional Interdict: The card is pretty general since it only defines that it affects a region, and a -2 to the roll rather then the attack force would actually be a bonus making the troops more deadly.  However, there is a lengthy description of interdicts further on in the rules manual.

*The card: “ComStar Regional Interdict. -2 on combat rolls in affected region.” is a -2 to all enemy forces in a region just before the attack roll.  These cards (like others) may be played on behalf of another player.

Create new Merc Unit: I think this is a ruling in A New League to get more merc units on the board faster, though I don’t have enough experience yet as to say why.

Merc counters count as one unit when creating new mercs.

i.e. Both counters of the mercs “Bounty Hunters” (a unique unit in the print board game) will count as one for the card to create new merc card.

Combining Conventional Units:

Conventional units are considered to be in the same unit for the purposes of combining attacks.

Build a New House Unit: I was a little confused in that the rules specify rebuilding merc units and also say new House unit.

Rebuilding a House unit is the same as building a new House unit.

Setup:

During setup, you cannot place any units on territory you do not control.

Bidding: I thought some of these auction models were interesting, so I’m providing a sample of options here for you.  A slight change goes a long way here.

When bidding, each player shall submit one secret bid to the GM.  The winner pays 1 million more than the next closest bid. (Highest Unique Bid Auction)

When bidding, each player shall submit one secret bid to the GM.  The winner pays 1 million more than the next closest bid.

When bidding, each player shall submit two secret bids to the GM.  The winner pays their lowest bid higher then the next closest bid.

When bidding, each player shall submit one secret bid to the GM.  All players pay their bid. (All Pay Auction) It may seem odd, but scholars use it to model lobbying/campaign donations and… bribes.

When bidding, each player may pay 1 million C-Bills to submit only a single secret bid to the GM.  The winner pays [choose something from above]. (Bidding Fee Auction)

Spy-Trade

Spy-Trade cards with another player’s hand.  The player playing this card can look at an opponent’s hand.  The player may then choose any number of cards from the opponents hand to trade with an equal number of cards from their hand.  The target lppayer may not play cards in response to the spy-trade.

Lift House Interdict: It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to lift an interdict from Comstar from an entire house, but leave regional interdicts in place.

Lift House Interdict removes any House interdict and all Regional interdicts for a chosen House.

Death Commando: The Death Commando cards will be removed from the game after they are used.  They could be shuffled into the deck with the rest of the discard pile, but they aren’t called Special Forces cards.

Death Commando cards are removed from the game after being used.

Mercenaries with Leaders: Hired leaders lead their own troops.

If all associated combat units are destroyed, the leader may be automatically moved to where the first new associated combat unit is built for free.  Mercenary leaders can only use their Combat ability while in the same region with at least one of their associated combat units.

If a merc leader is bribed, only the associated combat units change sides, but all associated combat units change sides, regardless of region. (Jaime Wolf is bribed, all Wolf’s Dragoons change sides, but no other units even if in region with Jaime Wolf and without another leader).

“5. Adjust Technology Scale”: Specifically defining that technology is only adjusted at this time for the current player rather then whenever something might adjust it, whereas it may seem that this phase is meant to adjust technology only from the results of combat.

Technology does not change for a player until their Adjust Technology phase.  Technology rolls, cards, gaining/losing regions, etc. do not take effect until that player’s own Adjust Technology Phase.

Official Capital: Some rules assume you have your House Capital, but you could have lost it…

When a player looses their original House Capital or their current Official Capital, they must first choose their Official Capital from other House or Regional Capitals that they control, and then finally they must choose from any plain region they control if they control no Regional nor House Capitals.  If they recapture their original House Capital it automatically becomes their Official Capital.

Periphery Movement: Nothing specifically forbids you to move through a periphery state with your units, although nothing specifically allows it either.  It doesn’t seem right that you could move freely through an enemy region though.

You cannot move freely through Periphery states and they will attack/capture.  If you move units into a periphery state you cannot move them out. i.e. You cannot “pass through”.  Combat will occur during the next combat phase and they will capture any leaders or jumpships that remain.

Faction Leader: This will prevent the last leader of a House from simply being bribed away.  Because a House that controls you leaders gets a portion of your House, this will prevent somone from throwing money at a bribe just to end up getting money back.

If faction leader is bribed/captured/killed, and no other Leaders have * for loyalty, the heir chosen by the player becomes Faction Leader.  The faction leader is always * for loyalty (not bribable).  If an old faction leader that is naturally unbribable (* for loyalty) is returned, the Faction Leader status is automatically switched back to that Leader, returning the previous Faction Leader to their old loyalty.

Elimination Outfall From Losing Your Leaders: There are quite a few holes on what to do when a player is eliminated when they lose control of all of their Leaders.

A player is eliminated if the only Leaders they control are of Houses they do not have the ability to build units of.  If a player is eliminated by losing control of all their leaders, their forces come under control of other houses.

If another House controls all of the Leaders of a House controlled by a player who was just eliminated, the House is merged with the new Controlling player’s House. They gain full control including all Regions, units, money, and cards that were controlled by the eliminated player and they may build new or reconstructed units as that House could. All units and Leaders are now considered to be affiliated with the controlling player’s original House.  Such leaders are no longer considered captured nor bribed.

If more than one House controls Leaders of the eliminated House, the House’s forces are split between the Houses that have control of the eliminated. Immediately after the player is eliminated, the units, money, and cards are split randomly in proportion to how many Leaders are controlled by other Houses.  If there are 3 Leaders left and a House controls 2 of the Leaders, their chance is 2/3 of gaining control of a particular unit.  Money and cards should be split in proportion, but where any remainders of less than 1 million c-bills or 1 card are combined and randomly given to a House similar as to units, 1 card/million at a time.  The Leaders and combat units retain their House affiliation, but combat units are controlled and act as though part of the new controlling House.  No units of the eliminated House can be built nor Leader’s abilities used until a single House controls all of it’s leaders at which point the House merges with the controlling player’s original House and are then considered to be affiliated with that House and those leaders are no longer considered captured nor bribed.  All units that had retained their House affiliation now come under control of this merged house and are now affiliated with the controlling House. If a region has occupying combat units from multiple Houses, combat will take place during the next available combat phase. If the player was eliminated during a combat phase, combat will take place immedately.

Example: Marik’s last leader is captured (as result of capturing a region).  Since Marik’s last leader was captured, the region and jumpships in that region belong to the conquering House, regardless of leaders, and are not affected by player elimination.

Marik had the following in other regions: Jumpship 5 Jumpship 3 Jumpship 1 SuperLegion 9 ScrubbyMilitia 3 HighlyPolishedGuard 2 Conventional Conventional Conventional 32 c-bills 7 cards.

Steiner has 2 of Marik’s leaders, Kurita has 1, Liao has 2.  We roll for each unit separately.  2/5 for Steiner, 1/5 for Kurita, 2/5 for Liao.   (Conveniently we can use a d10, 1-4 Steiner, 5-6 Kurita, 7-10 for Liao).

Kurita could end up with most or even all of the Marik’s combat units and jump ships by sheer lucky dice rolls.  If Kurita gets the Jumpship 5 but no combat units in that region and Steiner gets the one combat unit in that region, next combat phase Steiner takes control of the jumpship (unless Kurita got a move phase before the next combat phase and was able to move it to a safe region).  For the cards, (don’t ask me how Marik got 7 cards…) there’s 1 for each leader, and then the last two are individually rolled for as the units were.  32 c-bills are split 6 per leader, and the remainder of 2 are individually rolled for as the units were.  Regions are conquered as usual…  After combat, whoever is the only one with combat units in the region gains control of  it.  Until then they are still effectively owned by Marik.  But, you can’t move through until you gain control (or there are no enemy combat troops).  For more complex or fractional house asset distribution you can download and use this Distribution of House Assets calculator.

Wrapping it Up

Running or playing a play by email Succession Wars can be a lot of work but it is tons of fun.

If only there were a way to play the game online, with friends or strangers without all the record keeping and rules arbitration.  That would be something indeed…

For a complete review of the sourcebook, Chaos Reaving excluded, visit OurBattleTech.com.

The Chaos Reaving rules annex brings a new dynamic to the Chaos Campaign system.  Instead of a collection of individual tracks, the Chaos Reaving campaign provides a build-it-yourself framework that promises to allow players and gamemasters to play out any Clan faction on any number of worlds involved in the Wars of Reaving.

As a build your own system, the Reaving Campaign presents a menu of choices for the players to select from.  The final sum of these parts make up the individual battles the players will fight as they navigate through their custom length campaign.

BattleField Setup

The first selection to be made is the location for the track and there is a long list of target planets to choose from.  Most of them are specific planets but there are two generic options (Deep Periphery and Occupation Zone) to cover all potential targets.  Each location has a table of information for players and game masters to utilize to spice up the battle.  Each mission will use the Warchest Points and Map Sheet Tables.  Optionally, there are weather conditions, advanced terrain features, gravity, and temperature for those detail minded individuals.  Further into the details are purely roleplaying elements such as the Star type, travel time to the jump point and others meant for an adventurous game master to weave a set of battles into an epic yarn.

With no less than fifty locations to choose from, players are sure to find an interesting location or two to battle on.  The available locations feature an impressive array of optional terrain and weather conditions that ensure that no two planets will seem the same.

The Warchest point cost per location is the base cost per mission on that planet and ranges from 200 to 700 points which covers a wide enough range to accomodate those with a flush warchest and those that have not been so fortunate.

Options

The options section is the next step in mission construction.  Players (or game masters as we will see later) select from a range of options that either help or hurt the players to generate War Chest bonus opportunities (or penalties).

Options present a way to tweak the risk/reward curve for the mission.  You can select a bonus which will decrease both the upfront cost of the track as well as the reward for successfully completing the objectives.  Alternatively you could pay more upfront in order to make an additional reward available to you if you are able to complete your objectives.

This presents new avenues for cash strapped commands to continue the campaign or for the more adventurous to increase the potential windfall.  An important note, these options are selected before you know your objectives or your opponent.

By selecting up to two options, you can create an interesting mix of conditions and potential Warchest Point bonuses.  For example, you could take the seemingly impossible bonus of doubling the opposing force size then temper it by increasing your own force’s skill level.  The end result is +100 Warchest cost for the track and a possible +500 in Warchest Points if you can win your objectives.

There are twenty-one options to choose from.  Seven are cost and victory deductions while the rest add to the cost and potential awards.

The available options are often mirrored from positive to negative with some special positive options.  It is up to the player to keep things interesting as the campaign moves along.  After giving the available options some thought, I like what I see.  While you can very easily treat them as linear elements (help me or hurt me!) when combined you are treated to unique conditions and a delightful selection of possible combinations.

Special Rules

As expected for a campaign involving the Clans, Honor is a prominent feature of the rules which borrows from the Dezgra point system originally published in Total Warfare.  The Honor system presents another resource for players to manage.  Since Dezgra points would carry over between tracks, you will be as concerned with your units current honor as much as their pilot damage, experience points, and ‘Mech repairs.

Each faction in the Reaving campaign follows an Honor level specific to the era allowing for unique situations when your opponent does not match your own units Honor level.  The Honor rules are in my opinion a critical piece to the the Reaving Campaign and provides that special flavor that makes the system unique among other Chaos Campaigns.

Other rules including Forced Withdrawal, Salvage, and Isorla round out the mandatory special rules.

Additional Special Rules

Even more special than above, these additional rules are a tad out there.  While some of them are rather benign and carry no Warchest point impact (Dropping Troops, Special Unit Rules, etc.) others can break any track open.  Care should be taken when exercising any of these rules.

Ultimately, common sense should prevail when shopping the Additional Special Rules section.  I think it would be more reasonable for a Game Master to select these for their players.  Inappropriate use of the Operational Timeframe or Betrayal special rules potentially breaks the game and may quickly ruin the difficulty level of the campaign.  These types of special rules don’t seem to fit the pick your own track construction.  Without context, a turn limit on a track does not fit.  Only when you consider its implications in the light of your objectives and terrain does it become a meaningful addition.

Objectives

The center piece of any track are the objectives.  The Reaving Campaign always begins with one, Win your Bid where you attempt to cripple or destroy your opponent.  From there you can add up to three additional objectives.  There are twelve objectives to choose from ranging from destroying a particular building to escaping the battle with a percentage of your force intact.  Each additional objective increases your base cost while providing additional avenues for Warchest point gain.

The range of objectives is fairly standard.  There are no wildly creative additions to the list which is to be expected due to the standardized format of the campaign.  Suffice to say, you will not find anything more than the usual suspects in the objectives made available to you.  While your objectives will guide your overall strategy, the most thought provoking decisions will be made agonizing over the Options section.

I am happy to see opportunities for a well balanced force to be put to good use.  A fast light force has a great chance at acing a track with a destroy the target objective combined with a force preservation objective.  Available campaign selections that will detract from a player force made exclusively by Daishi variants is a plus.  Even so, almost all of the available objectives can be exploited by an ultra heavy death star type force in one way or another.

Opponent

The opponent section is brief and includes a quick table describing the Warchest point adjustment for an opposing force greater or less than the player’s force.  The actual opposing Clan will depend on the players to figure out from the information contained in the sourcebook.  There are three political balance tables available (for three different years) to find an opponent.  However, if you need to know who was fighting who at such and such a time, you have to consult the other 190 or so pages of the sourcebook.

Then again, since this is a make your own adventure campaign you should design your battles as you like them.  Playing Jade Falcons and hate the Steel Vipers?  Go get ‘em.

Setting Up a Game

The next section is a generous double page of concentrated examples that give players a feel for how this whole pick your own campaign system works.  There are three different perspectives presented; a basic campaign with a friend playing the opposing force, a more complicated campaign with a friend picking and playing the opposing force, and a campaign where two players go head to head with a game master moderating the action.  Each example goes a little further into the details and are fantastic and approachable introductions to the thinking behind building a track.

I believe that these examples provide a view into the original intent of the author.  It is fun to see how Mr. Rome thought things would shake out as players sat down at the table to construct their campaign.

Downtime

Activities between tracks are exactly as you would expect with some key changes.  You will be repairing units, healing pilots, and acquiring new equipment in order to keep your force in fighting trim.  You will be dealing with Support Points like in other Chaos Campaigns with some Clan related differences.

The Clan milieu takes center stage when it comes to acquiring new units.  Clans don’t “buy” their weapons of war, they use their merchant caste to trade for them.  This major change from the standard Chaos Campaign really makes it feel like a Clan centric campaign and will make for some careful consideration by the players as they weigh their need for equipment versus their greed in the hunt for a Diamond Shark quality bargain.

The Good, The Bad, and the Clans

I’m happy to see the Chaos Campaign format move to new ground in The Wars of Reaving.  While I enjoy seeing a pick your own track system there are potential pit falls to avoid.  In most cases, the guiding hand of a game master is absolutely necessary in order to keep the campaign balanced and fresh.  A numbers minded player generating his own tracks may fall into a dull loop of maxing his Warchest points through a careful mix of options and objectives.  Analysis paralysis is a real threat to creativity and fun in this case.  The Chaos Reaving can be a perfect tool for game masters though.

The Chaos campaign provides near infinite re-playability value and is the best bang for your buck than any other Chaos Campaign offering to date.  If you are a fan of the Clans and plan on getting the sourcebook anyways you are getting this system thrown in for free.  The modular nature of the system ensures that you can generate a campaign with the size and detail that you want.

The critical thing missing from Chaos Reaving is that spark that makes certain tracks in the rest of the series absolutely spectacular.  It’s the wow factor that can never be duplicated by a modular pick it yourself system.

In the end the greatest strength of Chaos Reaving is also it’s greatest weakness.  While modular, scalable, and replayable it will never be able to trump the creative offerings of the best of the Chaos Campaign series.  That is not to say that Chaos Reaving is not worth your while.  There was obviously a great deal of thought put into the available options and objectives and the potential combinations thereof.  The only way to fully explore the hidden fruits of this campaign system is to get down to business and play it out.  I’ve always had a soft spot for the Jade Falcons, maybe its time for a Reaving campaign of my own…

I’m a huge fan of the Chaos Campaign system in all its iterations.  You can view previous articles on the Chaos Campaign PDF exclusive series below.

• Chaos Campaign Review
• Youling Zhanshi
• OTP: Falcon Incursion
• Lamenkov’s Liability
• OTP: Death to Mercenaries
• HTP: Misery
• OTP: The Red Corsair
• HTP: Galtor
• JTP: New Avalon
• JTP: Luthien
• HTP: Glengarry
• JTP: Dieron
• JTP: Atreus
• JTP: Sian
• JTP: Tharkad

The newest incarnation of the Chaos Campaign debuted with the Wars of Reaving sourcebook.  The campaign rules in the rules annex provide a pick your own adventure flavor of system that spans all the worlds involved in the Reaving story arc.  I plan on fully reviewing this new campaign in future post.

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to interview Mr. Rome about all things Chaos Campaign and a little bit more!

Ben, first off, let me thank you for the opportunity to chat.  It is always a pleasure when the developers make themselves available to the fans.

My pleasure.  I enjoy the interaction, especially since I can never make the online chats any more.

The Chaos Campaign made its debut with Dawn of the Jihad.  Did you view the campaign system as a grand experiment at the time?  Did you have any idea it would grow well beyond the Jihad sourcebooks?

Grand experiment?  Definitely.  Back when Randall and Herb were taking pitches for DOTJ, which was also the first BattleTech product I’d been invited to write in, someone in the ensuing mass email discourse wished we could put in some sort of campaign for players to enjoy the coming “hot mess” of a war.

At the time, I’d been toying with a flexible campaign with my (then) gaming group, the Steel City Mechwarriors over in Pennsylvania.  We disliked “account tech” but were using an abstract system of points derived from victory conditions to affect repairs, reinforcements, and whatnot.  (We also did this with our MechWarrior: Dark Age and Age of Destruction games.)  I’ve always liked the “video game” treatment of campaigns in various games, where certain details are abstracted but others not.  MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries and the MechCommander games come to mind.

So, I reasoned, why not attempt to redefine how BattleTech presented scenarios?  Perennially poor sellers, this seemed a way to make them more fun and give the control to the players with regards to force selection and a myriad of other battlefield details.

I quickly pulled a proposal together after mentioning the idea to Paul Sjardijn, who gave some great feedback.  Together we drafted the initial campaign rules and pitched a 12-track arc for DOTJ.  The initial idea was to promote continued replayability for ground, air/space, and RPG games – and that each player’s experience would be different and unique.  Just like a video game.  Both Randall and Herb liked the idea, so I quickly drew up the 12 tracks and crafted how the arcs would work; the whole “choose your own adventure” style seemed to add to the coolness factor.

We had hopes it would be maintained throughout the rest of the JHS books, if only so it would “guarantee” us continued writing work for those books.  We were really excited when fans seemed to take to this new, fresh take on scenarios.

There have been several authors of the Historical, Jihad, and Turning Point Chaos Campaign supplements.  How do you select a writer for a new addition to the line?  Do you have someone in mind based on the faction or timeline involved?

Herb and I still see the TP series as a “breaking in” point for our more new authors, as well as a vehicle for our more veteran writers to use for generating some quick product (and cash).

I’ve sent out a few “calls for proposals” over the last couple of years and got some interesting responses and pitches.  Most of those you’ve seen come into print over the last year or so, such as Geoff Swift’s HTP: Mallory’s World or Jason Schmetzer’s OTP: Death to Mercenaries.

I’ve been pretty open to whatever a writer proposes, as long as it “fits” the aesthetic of the various TP branches (Jihad, Historical, Operational, Dark Age).  More by accident than purpose have we had the Combine as a common antagonist in several TP works; the Dracs seem to be a popular foil and opponent in many a BattleTech war!

At any point did you throw a new writer into the series to shake things up to get a fresh perspective on the system?

The closest I’d come to that is introducing Geoff Swift through the line.  He actually started pulling in more core sourcebook work because of the quality of his stuff for the TP line.  Those writers who work (and write) well with me with this project tend to find me back them for more work with in-print material.

It has been reported that sales of the Jihad Turning Points series (as well as other PDF exclusive products) have performed well.  Has the series kept up the momentum with later releases and the expanded lineup?

It has.  Initially, the idea was simply to do them for the Jihad: all five capital worlds and a couple on some key industrial worlds – Dieron, Hesperus, Irian, Solaris.  Because the reception was so far beyond what we’d thought, it was easy to expand the idea into pretty much any era.  As long as the conflict made sense within the scope of the line, I was willing to give it a go.

Why do you think the Starterbook series which borrows the Chaos Campaign framework has not flourished?

No idea, and that really bummed me out.  And I’m not saying that because I was one of the two principle authors on both projects, either.  Those books were awesome ideas and it really surprised us all they didn’t do so well.  Jason Schmetzer and I had worked up several more ideas for the Starterbook idea and to see it cut off at the knees was a huge disappointment.

Are there any more Jihad Turning Point episodes to come or is the series wrapped up?

For the Jihad line specifically, I still have a few on the table I want to see finished off.  Hesperus, Solaris VII, and a “special” one for Terra.  Of those, Solaris is half-written but has been on hold ever since I had to take on finishing Masters and Minions, then Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, and Wars of Reaving.  I do hope to get back to it to finish it off, as it will help fill in a lot of gaps from that world’s struggle, but I also have Handbook: House Kurita to write.

Hesperus and Irian are writer-proposed projects from some of our authors who have been just avalanched with other life issues, and I’m not sure they’ll ever see the light of day.  Terra’s a project that Øystein Tvedten and I have bounced around but I’ve not had time to do much more than sketch it out.

Most likely, any future Jihad-era Turning Points will end up falling under the “Historical” banner instead, as we’ll be moving BattleTech past that era before I have time to put them out.

The format of the Chaos Campaign has evolved over time. Can you elaborate on some of those changes?  Specifically, between JHS 3072 and JHS 3076 the tracks became more ‘Mech force centric and looked much closer to the PDF only releases.

Part of that shift came from the release of A Time of War, the BattleTech RPG.

Initially, I was writing each track to encompass all portions of the BT line: standard, AeroTech, and RPG.  It’s a little difficult to work a track into a generic enough guideline that can account for each “version” and in some cases, clear delineation needed made such as buildings and asteroids.  And it was pretty impossible to do more for the RPG (such as providing stats, layouts, etc.) other than provide a story framework for a creative GM to build on.

As ATOW continued to be written and shaped into form, we were still progressing with the next couple of JHS books.  Without being a part of the RPG’s reformation, I didn’t want to put in guidelines and rules for that system without it being formally released.  So I either went pretty vague in the hopes that really creative GMs could pull what was needed, or “ignored” it altogether.  There was—and still is—a TP-style RPG-only concept on the table that would help alleviate that need.  But with the JHS campaigns, it came down to addressing the primary two systems in use.

By JHS76, I had really streamlined the process through several Turning Point releases.  With those products, the overall bias by our authors is to be ‘Mech-centric (very understandable) and something I continue to remind them to be aware of going forward.  Time constraints sometimes keep me from really tweaking them to handle or be adjusted to AeroTech-style and RPG play.

Regarding the layout and information for the tracks—yeah, they’ve adjusted with time.  As the TP series began to unfold, it became evident that despite a variable fundamental difference in setup, the overall look needed to be consistent.  So we did some tweaking with regards to presenting the awards amounts, Objective and Options wording, and Special Rules.  I’ve continually aimed to streamline and simplify the language and structure to best get the maximum use of space for providing the necessary game information, and less the standard nomenclature.

On your blog you alluded to the fact that a Chaos Campaign construction system was tossed around for Interstellar Operations.  Can you elaborate on your hesitation to the idea?  Will we ultimately see a generic construction system in the finished tome?

Randall asked me back in 2009 to consider including a base “setup” rules chapter for IO.  I’ve been really hesitant on that for a couple of reasons.

Initially, it was because that was my “in” with the entire line.  By keeping that process insular, I guaranteed myself continued work for future projects.  But that attitude isn’t exactly the best to have within a licensed game line, where we thrive on the concept of a “shared universe.”  What if I’d been hit by a bus?  No more track campaigns!  Paul would’ve been the closest writer to understanding the process but considering out of the first five JHS books, he’s only written one complete track (the rest were constructed and written by me), it would’ve been a steep learning curve.

Contrary to some opinion, there is no actual written-down formula for creating tracks.  What I’ve told my TP authors is to look at the campaign in general and figure where the climax battle will be, as well as the biggest “struggles.”  Those are the “peaks” of the arc; every track that leads to those peaks needs to provide enough gradual points to pay for it—but just barely.  You really want to force the players to step out into risk-taking to really build their cushion to handle those peaks, as well as the increased damages those difficulties will cause.

From there, it’s a matter of keeping the point totals in mind, including how a min/max player might fare if they tried to break the track and scoop the points.  It happens; that’s not something you as a writer can mitigate but have to trust that the gaming group will balance things out instead.

One other thing I look for: ways to make each one challenging beyond “enter battlefield, kill all opponents, leave.” Games are the most fun when you have different objectives and plans besides “kill ‘em all” and I really try to shy away from those formats, especially if the game is played with the bare minimums.

That entire thought process isn’t exactly the easiest to express in written rules.

Finally, there’s another reason: wiggle room.  I’ve found that many projects tend to vary the scope and idea of a campaign arc.  The Starterbooks, for example, are focused on a single company-level unit.  Many of the Historical Turning Points involve forces that can be regimental-sized.  And the Jihad arc is very mercenary-centric.  Each of these really requires different looks and perspectives with regards to the tracks, and that’s simply not a very scalable idea to translate into rules.  By keeping them “unwritten,” I can not only construct tailor-made tracks for various projects, but also keep them from being analyzed and broken down into component parts and compared to a written rule set.  It keeps the focus away from number-crunching and rules lawyering and squarely on what’s important: carrying a story through the game that is personal and unique to your experiences.

Do you have a favorite Chaos Campaign supplement so far?

Wars of Reaving, to be honest.  And yes, I say this in light of what I just mentioned with regards to a possible IO construction chapter.

WOR was a different animal.  With the amazing amount of conflict I put in those pages, there was no real campaign I could offer that would be “generic” enough to allow any Clan unit to adventure through.  While a mercenary angle (and less so, a House unit) works well for the Jihad series, it doesn’t fit at all for the WOR.  And I really, really wanted a campaign set there.

So, I hit upon the idea of making a true “mix-n-match” experience for a Clan campaign while allowing a construction rule set to be made a la IO.  You’ll also notice I made it very clear that the rules for the WOR Chaos Campaign were specific to that time and conflict, keeping it confined within the era but still very wide open for limitless possibilities for player campaigns.

And I think it covered all of those bases fairly well.  As an added bonus, we got to insert planetary data for all of the Clan home systems, several Periphery systems, and even a modified version of Clan zellbregin designed for the CC system.

You were the first author in the expanded Chaos Campaign PDF series.  When it came time to delegate the writing duties for future releases, did it feel like you were giving up something personal? 

Oh, most definitely yes.  But, I had to delegate if I wanted to work on other BattleTech projects.  I simply had no additional time to keep it all to myself.

Did you have any fears that new authors would not be able to do the series justice?

Initially, yes.  But I made sure that I got all of their drafts before shipping them off to playtest.  Tweaking point totals, adjusting options and objectives, adding/deleting special rules was a common occurrence.  I think out of all the authors who’ve done various TP releases, Geoff Swift had the best grasp of what I wanted.

Is there anything you can tell us about the future of the Chaos Campaign series?

It’s not going anywhere!  I’m still inordinately pleased the system is in continued use and that the PDF line is still very successful three years after its first release.  While most of the series will shift to more “Era” specific in the title (e.g. “Succession Wars Turning Point,” “Age of War Turning Point,” etc.), I do not lack for proposed ideas.  If I did every single one of the projects pitched to me that I liked, the line would still be going three years from now—assuming a one- per two months release, that is.  This year’s been a challenging hiccup, as a backlog of product has pushed layout and design of some of the current TPs in production to the bottom of the pile.  But we’ve got a few fixes in the works that will correct this problem in the near future.

As far as upcoming planned titles, we’ve got in various stages of writing:

• DATP: Vega
• DATP: Irian
• DATP: Marik
• HTP: Towne
• HTP: Chesterton
• HTP: York
• HTP: Luzerne
• HTP: Rezak’s Hole
• HTP: Tortuga
• JTP: Solaris VII
• JTP: Hesperus
• JTP: Priori (WOR)
• JTP: Vantaa (WOR)
• OTP: Wolf and the Widowmaker
• OTP: Somerset Strikers

Now, that’s not a definitive list. And understand, it’s not a guarantee that all of those will see publication.  But they are pitches I have accepted or are in progress of some form, so they’re more than just ideas.

Slightly off topic but I must quash my curiosity.  Is there anything you can tell us about the upcoming Solaris 7 product tweeted by Randall?

Not really, no.  Though it does tie in somewhat with the upcoming Jihad Turning Point: Solaris VII release, which I hope to finally kick out the door before GenCon next year.

Is there a conflict or significant event in BattleTech history that you would love to see covered in a Chaos Campaign product but know it never will happen?

There’s a couple I can think of that are more RPG-centric that I’d like to see—and hopefully end up covered in Paul’s RPG offshoot of the line.

Probably the best non-candidate I can think of is Tukayyid.  It’s not really conducive to a campaign, per se, and would need a lot of specialization rules to fight that battle.  My concern there is that it would end up more a reworking of the original scenario book and less a campaign-style Turning Point, which defeats the purpose of the line.

But, as in all things BattleTech, you never really know, do you…

Back in September of last year I reviewed the open source BattleTech tracking tool MercRoster.  After helping a reader through the process of setting up their own instance I thought it would be appropriate to provide a step by step guide to make it portable.

MercRoster is a great tool and I want to show how easy it can be to setup and use.  All you will need is an internet connection (you got here didn’t you?) and a USB stick.

My web stats tell me the vast majority of ScrapYardArmory readers use Windows, so that’s what I’ll use in this post.

XAMPP

Visit the XAMPP project website and download the latest ZIP option.  http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp

Extract the files into the root of your thumb drive. For me, that ends up being the E: drive but your system is likely to be different.  Inside the xampp directory you will find a executable batch file called setup_xampp.  Go ahead and run it.  It’s job is to figure out what drive letter you are using and map xampp correctly.

Setting Up PHP

To make sure we have a smooth experience I have found that a small modificcation is needed to the php.ini configuration file.  On your thumb drive locate the php.ini file in the following directory E:/xampp/php.

This game was played at Historicon 2011 and uses the A Time of War combat system.  Several modifications are in effect as well as redesigned record sheets more suitable for skirmish level infantry combat.

Miniatures are a mix from MERCS and Iron Wind Metals.  Terrain used is from World Works Games and was painfully constructed by Saxywolf and myself.  We used their TerrainLinx system to build the two level SDS.  I plan on having a full post describing the construction of the terrain later on.

Delvin Stone Loyalists

• Heavy Weapons, MG
• Heavy Weapons, Dual SMGs
• Heavy Weapons, Man Pack Flamer
• Assault Leader, Rifle
• Assault Leader, SMG, Vibroblade
• Soldier, Rifle
• Soldier, SMG
• Assassin, SMG, Vibrodaggar

Word of Blake Security Detail

• Manei Domini Leader, Rifle and Vibroblade, Full Body Myomer
• Manei Domini Assassin, Pistol, Vibrodaggar
• Security Guard Captains, Rifles
• Lots and lots of Redshirts, Pistol, Rifle

Prototype Record Sheets

We used a new record sheet for this game and I’m glad to share a few examples with you.  I’m not 100% happy with the result thus far but it showed a lot of promise during the game.  A few more adjustments and it will be ready for prime time.

• Dual Heavy Weapons (PDF, 188KB)
• MG Heavy Weapons (PDF, 156KB)
• Assault Leader (PDF, 86KB)

Breaking In

Our adventure begins with the group of loyalists already inside the SDS.  A compromised set of security codes helped them gain access.  Standing in the opening hallway they are undetected… for now.

The main door towards the elevators to the lower level is blocked by a hardened security door.  The security code they have doesn’t work.  The team has to find another way through.

Instead of splitting up, the team decided to stick together and makes a right turn into what appears to be a barracks or living area.

The Barracks

The team fans out and attempts to sneak into position.  As luck would have it, the Assassin is the first to fail a stealth skill check and alerts a nearby guard of their presence.  The hapless guard peeks out his door and gets a bullet through the eyes for his trouble from one of the Soldiers in the back of the room.

The Soldier did not have a silenced weapon though and all the rest of the guards in the room go on alert and draw weapons.

As the guards pile out of their comfortable quarters, they are gunned down by numerous concentrated volleys from the Loyalists.  The team fans out and secures each room in sequence leaving no witnesses.  The team recovers fatigue, reloads and positions themselves to advance through an adjoining long hallway.

Corridor A

Two guards are chatting about halfway down the hall.  The assassin takes a quick peek to setup a shot but again fumbles his Stealth check and the two guards turn to attack.  One fires away while the other runs backwards and around a corner for better cover.  The guard that stands and shoots is quickly gunned down and the team moves up to take positions at the open door.

A strong perception check alerts even more guards in the room on the opposite side of the hallway.  Five more guards rush into the fight and take cover in the small L section of the hallway out of sight for now.

The assault team moves into the hallway, forsaking cover to lay down a wall of suppression fire at the corner of the hallway.  Two guards test their luck and move for a shot but win the bullet catching contest.

The Loyalist assault leader readies a grenade and rushes up to the corner after suppression fire dies down.  A quick reflexed guard at the corner sneaks off a double shot and hits twice.  The point blank shots rip through the Assault Leader’s armor and kills him.  And then there were seven.

The Loyalists take no chances now and spray the area with suppression fire again.  As one of the guards readies a grenade of his own the team seizes the initiative and overtakes their position gunning down everyone in their way.

Corridor B

Meanwhile in the other attached hallway a set of guards lie in wait alerted by the noise of gunfire close by.  As the team attempts to move in, they are greeted by several volleys of suppression fire.  As one guard lays down cover the other edges closer for a potential kill shot next turn.

Sensing the danger, the Heavy Weapons wades into the suppression fire, taking a hit in the process, but manages to stay on his feet (thank you pain resistance…) long enough to shoot up the near guard.  The assassin and dual wielding Heavy Weapons back him up and pummels the other guard with longer ranged gun fire.

Searching the Area

With the hallways clear, the team once again reloads and restores fatigue.  The room at the end of Corridor A appears to be an armory of sorts.  There are plenty of HE and AP mini grenades, TK Assault Rifles and plenty of associated ammo that won’t fit most of the team’s weapons.

The other hallway is a security room.  The assassin goes to work and unlocks the video feed to all of the security cameras.  Green markers are placed on the map to represent guards that are not yet alerted.  The next task is to disable the lock on the hardened door blocking their way to the elevators.  The Assassin fumbles his skill check and the door remains stubbornly locked.

Moving Back

The security and armory are dead ends so the team moves back to the main entrance.  As they make it to the door a frustrated guard opens the security door to take a pot shot at the incoming team.  His shots miss and the Assault Leader lays down suppression fire wounding the closest guard but failing to hit a guard further behind.

More guards from an adjacent room begin to threaten as they take up positions behind their closed door.  The team is caught in a tricky balancing act trying to cover two directions at once!  Overlapping suppression fire and overwatch actions do the work and prevent the guards from overwhelming them.  As the rest of the team moves into position the pressure subsides as more guns in the area make it easier to divide up tasks.  With the security door unexpectedly open, the team can push towards their objective but not without coving their flank from potential attacks from alerted guards in unexplored rooms.

Moving On

With their teammates covering the rear the two Heavy Weapons shuffle down the main corridor spewing lead.  The guards manage to sneak a shot onto the MG Heavy who shrugs off the damage and mows them down to the last man.

With the way clear the team peels off the rear guard one by one and moves into the large center room which happens to be an infirmary.  After numerous perception checks by almost all members of the team they end up finding less than useful supplies.

The Assassin takes the lead now and makes his stealth check turning the corner on a pair of guards.  With the drop on them both he primes a grenade and gently rolls it between their feet.  BOOM!!!  No more guards.  The team gains access to the elevators and pushes the button to go down.

Second Level

As the elevator door opens the MG Heavy Weapons unloads a fierce volley into two unwitting guards who dodge most of the long range shots and trade bullets with the team for a turn before being done in.

The team moves aggressively down the long hallways and use copious amounts of suppression fire to clear the way.  There are two doors to the SDS control room.  The team splits up to cover both doors while the guards inside scurry around to take positions to ambush.  The players then notice a curious looking barrel of potentially volitile contents.  With two teammates on overwatch covering the door they roll the barrel into place in front of the left door.

After taking cover, they pull the pin on a grenade and toss it on the barrel.  The resulting explosion kills two guards outright and blasts the door into bits.  On cue, the team at the other door burst through and lay down cover fire.  The hapless guards can do nothing but flail about and get shot up.

Easy Street

As the team makes entry the door to the center of the SDS flashes open and a Security Guard Captain pumps a burst into the chest of the Dual SMG Heavy Weapons.  Another Captain peeks out the other door and sprays a suppression fire action into the tightly grouped Loyalist squad approaching from the right door.

The Flamer and MG Heavy Weapons both take hits as well as the Soldier.  The Soldier is KO’d, the Flamer starts to bleed from a wound and the MG can’t keep his footing and falls to the floor.

Return fire from the Dual Wielding Heavy knocks down and bleeds one of the Captains.  The Manei Domini Assassin moves into the fray from the doorway but misses both of his shots.  The Loyalist Assassin returns the favor and hits solidly, causing a fortunate KO.

The Manei Domini leader now moves into view and lays down another pattern of suppression fire covering the team coming from the left door.  Every one of the Loyalist Assault Squad is now inside a suppression fire area of effect and cannot act without first potentially getting shot up!

The Dual Heavy Weapons tries to break the suppression fire but takes more wounds in the process and now takes a stun as his Pain Resistance has reached it’s limit.

In a desperate act the Soldier near the left door primes a grenade and chucks it wildly at the Manei Domini Leader.  The throw is awful and manages to bounce off a wall and BACK into the Loyalist squad.  The explosion kills the Assassin, mortally wounds the Heavy Weapons and mildly damages the Soldier who threw it.  Lesson learned, try to throw grenades from the FRONT of a group of friendlies and never from BEHIND them.

Redemption

Things are looking grim when the Man-Pack Flamer Heavy Weapons avoids the numerous suppression fire rounds and pours plasma onto the Manei Domini and the Security Captain.    The Captain is put out of commission while the MD Leader is stunned and bleeding.  The suppression fire trap is broken and the remaining Soldier, Assault Leader, and Flamer Heavy Weapons move in to finish off the wounded Word of Blake troops.

With the Word of Blake forces defeated, the remaining Loyalist force takes control of the SDS and makes contact with the anxious leadership topside.  The SDS is down and the invasion can proceed!