Missions

Mission/Campaign Contracts:

Campaign contracts will be posted every Sunday where available. They should include a bit of fluff regarding the on going situation and the climate regarding the armed forces staying there such the availability of air support and the capabilities of the armed forces. An observation of current force strength and confidence will also be included. They will also include a random weather table to determine the atmosphere of the planet for any given skirmish. Mission pay will vary and occur on a per unit per engagement basis as a retainer. Often there will be bonuses for successful completion of objectives as described in the campaign profile. The mercenary command will be paid at the end of the contracted campaign. Salvage and other benefits are typically posted in the mission profile.

For instance, a defense contract on the distant Federated Commonwealth world of Memphis against periphery bandits might yield $10,000 per light unit fielded. Over the course of 5 games, the mercenary command would have been awarded $50,000 for the service of 1 Locust.

Generating Scenarios:

The GM has discretion in scenario type and play, though missions should be thematic to the type of game being played.

Force composition and balance will be done on a tonnage basis as compared to what the players have elected to field. The composition of the tonnage will be dictated by the campaign profile. As such campaigns described as being against Clan front line units should be terrifying on the field and reservist conventional arms units will present easy pickings. Pay will be proportionate to the risk. In addition the units will be given either a bonus or handicap in tonnage as referenced in the campaign profile.

Travel

Transport:

All transport, for the sake of brevity unless stated otherwise, takes 1 week from the order inception point (Sunday) to the next impulse of the campaign (Sunday).

Player owned transport may be used if it is possessed. In such an event it costs 100,000cr for every docking collar used.

From Outreach, Players may lease combat dropships at the cost of 0.1% of the value of the craft being leased for the duration of their campaign. In addition the player must pay for all damages to the leased craft. These craft will always operate under forced withdrawl rules. At the GM’s discretion they will avoid unnecessary combat were possible.

Civilian transport to and from combat zones costs 1,000cr per ton being shipped. Civilian transport is non-combat only and requires an operating starport for arrival. Upon arrival, player must roll 2d6. On a 5+ the cargo ship arrived and the player may use all assets. On a 2, the ship and cargo is missing in transit. The player will keep rolling every week even if the combat zone has for some reason changed. Undeliverable cargo will be at the discretion of the GM (most likely seized in the combat zone by the power with air superiority).

Emergency Evacuation can be purchased at the discretion of the GM. These craft are randomly selected and are assumed to charge 1% of the value of the craft available for emergency extraction. In addition the player must pay for all damages to the leased craft. These craft will always operate under forced withdrawl rules.

As an example, ferrying an assault lance of 4 Atlases at 400 tons would cost $400,000 to ship through civilian lanes. A Leopard Dropship ($171,385,128) would cost $171,385 to lease, plus a docking collar fee of $100,000 for a total of $271,385. However, getting that same dropship’s use, should it be available, in an emergency would cost $1,713,851 plus any extra fees such as docking collar fees and repairs.

Unit Inception

Character Creation:

The player is assumed to be a veteran 3/4 pilot. You may take quirks according to the Scarpyard Armory Mechwarrior quirks document so long as the balance of positive and negative quirks even out.

Mercenary Unit Creation:

Players can choose one of two options.

They can either be given 20 million credits to purchase equipment and personnel. It can be spent or reserved in any manner.

Or they can make 2 random unit rolls on any non-clan, non-Word of Blake random unit table for lights and another 2 for medium mechs. They receive an additional 3 million in funds to be used at their discretion.

Purchasing pilots/crew/squad leaders:

7/7 personnel are free and may be assigned a role and equipment immediately.

Training:

You may increase any skill of any pilot on Outreach during recruitment for 10,000cr. Every point beyond the first costs an additional 10,000cr and accumulates with every training level. You may train stats up to 6 times during recruitment. You may not extend the gunnery skill beyond 2 points of the piloting skill.

For instance a 4/5 pilot straight from the recruitment office would cost 150,000cr. A 6/7 pilot would cost 10,000cr. A 6/6 pilot would cost 30,000. The maximum you can recruit is a 4/4 at 210,000cr (or alternatively a 3/5).

Hardware Purchases:

All non-Clan equipment is assumed to be available at Outreach under their listed cost. Equipment can be purchased in the field during campaign at costs listed by the GM. These prices often vary widely and often do not have the variety found on Outreach. Outreach will also post random mechs and items posted at reduced rates and features one of the few ways to purchase Clan tech directly.

Mercenary Campaign Synopsis

The purpose of the campaign is to provide context and greater scope for the tactical game and let players perform what is the quintessential rite of passage for a Battletech player, run a mercenary company. Each game should be administrated by a GM whom should play OpFor unless players can be pitted against each other. Players themselves can take turns acting as OpFor as necessary. The GM will also generate the campaign contracts and subset missions available for mercenary companies to take. Missions and equipment for sale will be posted on Mondays. All mercenary paperwork, such as transport and purchase orders, need to be submitted by Sunday for it to be put into effect that week. The “heartbeat” or “campaign impulse” occurs every Sunday. All equipment purchased is assumed to be at OutReach (and OutReach is assumed to be the functional defacto mercenary world) unless otherwise stated. As nearly all missions will take place offworld it will be an important concept for Mercenary commands to properly anticipate what they will need during the campaign their contract stipulates.

Battletech Code of Common Play

“The objective of the game is to win. The purpose of the game is to have fun.”

Contained herein is a set of commonly accepted optional rules in most Battletech games. While anything in the Total Warfare book is considered perfectly acceptable, if you want to use more or less rules, always discuss it with your opponent before play. Remember that the game is supposed to be FUN and use whatever rules that you feel will enhance the game. The suggested rules are just some of many that have been in common practice (with the author anyway) in one form or another and are clearly written here so that one can become familiar with them before hand and are paraphrased here for brevity.

Never let the rules get in the way of the game. If something falls out of line and/or gets mired in details, do what you think is fun or makes the most sense. Always be mindful of your opponent and worry about researching the details later.

And even though you can land a drop ship on someone’s house… it’s considered pretty rude and unsportman like if you meta game a threat you know your opponent can’t respond too. This and other cheese deserves at least buying the your opponent a coke. Even though Battletech is pretty balanced in most respects, it can still be abused occasionally in one off games.

-MOST OF ALL, HAVE FUN!

Scenario:

• Forced Withdrawal (TotalWarfare Pg.258)
• BV 2.0 rules for force balance unless agreed otherwise.

Movement Modes:

• Sprinting (TacOps Pg. 18) (-1 to hit mod and no shooting for double walking move.)
• Evading(TacOps Pg.18) (Pilot skill based to hit mod increase for no weapons fire.)
• Shielding(TacOps Pg.19) (Firing through the shielded hex causes it to potentially hit the shielding unit on near miss. +1 mod for shooting through shield Vehicle, +2 for mech, +3 for large structure.)
• Hull Down(TacOps Pg.21) (2mp in front of partial cover allows for a +2 to hit mod.)

Conditions:

• Planetary Conditions (TacOps Pg. 28)

Advanced:

• Picking Up and Throwing Objects (TacOps Pg. 92)
• Anti Missile Systems: Used as a weapon (TacOps Pg.100) (Effectively a range 1 LMG.)
• ECM Suites: ECCM (TacOps Pg.100) (Counters ECM bubbles.)
• Gauss Weapons (TacOps Pg.102) (They can be turned off at the end phase to prevent explosions.)
• Infantry: Digging In (TacOps Pg. 108) (+2 to hit mod and No double dmg vs. Conv. Inf. In open for infantry that spend a undisturbed turn digging in. Ineffective against AoE weapons.)
• Infantry: Using Non-Infantry as cover (TacOps Pg. 108) (Nominate a hex side, +3 to hit for shots across it and +1 shooting from it. Non-hexside shots do not get any mod.)
• Advanced Support Vehicles (TacOps Pg.148) (Use with discretion.)

General Rules:

• Artillery (TacOps Pg. 179)
• Battle Armor Weights (TacOps Pg. 186) (Some armor gets heavier to transport, some lighter. Most stay at 1t per soldier.)
• Command Level Comms (TacOps Pg. 191)
• Ejection and Abandoning Units (TacOps Pg. 196)
• Improved Positions (TacOps Pg. 198) (When agreed, setting up on board allows the defender to give their units a CF 15 light building to setup in.)
• Mine Fields (TacOps Pg. 207)
• Rearming Under Fire (TacOps Pg. 213)
• Advanced Weapons and Equipment (Pg. 275+) (If you choose to use it, be sure to bring the rules and pay the BV.)