Updated Campaign Map

Game Night #2

Quick Recap of the events of Game night #2.

Larry joined the campaign taking up the last remaining clan Steel Vipers.

He secured his drop zone with a very even battle...taking the base with a sole Elemental stand remaining.

Jeff also secured his drop zone as an elite unit with his Khan took out the Comguard mechs.

Jay pushed forward with his 122nd Jag Veterans...the trap sprung by Comstar was very effective...Pushing his force though a raging forest fire, The Smoke Jags were gunned down as they emerged.

Gregg wrapped up the evening with a classic case of being diced.  Wanting to secure his Dropzone, he landed the Falcon Guard with their 4 characters.  Gregg could not seem to be able to roll higher than a 5, while his opponents Larry and Rob, could not roll lower than a 9.  Yeah...dear gaming diary, Larry and Rob had good dice...in the same game...playing on the same team.  One for the books.

Tweaking the build rules...

Ok, have a different Idea for round #2.

It became obvious that allowing the clanners to bid / build first, lead to the comstar folks using pretty much the same force of assaults.

So here is what we will do for the next event.

I will pre-make Comstar forces for 6 - 10 scenarios.  These forces will each have a point value. 

The clanner will then draw one of these scenarios depending upon where their force is on the map.  (landing zone, desert, forest hexes)

The information the clanner will get is

• the number of units (6,12,18,or 24)
• the number of points (100-500) of the opposing Comstar force.
• Rough description of the terrain.  (badlands, forest, river delta, city, etc...)

The clanner will then bid away a number of points.  The clanner that bids away the most points will...

• Get to build his force first...giving him the widest selection of mechs to choose from.
• Pick the player running the Comstar forces (of the available players).
• Pick the player assisting them push their clan if they want (of available players)

We will then match up the highest bid and the lowest bid to play at the same time.

Then the next highest and next lowest.

Finally the middle two.

So that you will still get the advantage even though you may be ther 3rd highest bidder...if that makes sense. (we didn't do this last time)

That's all for now.

Rob

Game Night #1

We had a pretty good first night.  Four battles, 2 Clan wins, 2 Clan losses.

Fight #1

Smoke Jags  (122nd Striker Cluster - Regular) Vs. Green Comstar force.

Smoke Jags combat dropped onto a some Green troops.  Pretty easy Jag win.

Smoke Jags secure their landing Zone.


Fight #2

Jade Falcons drop two heavy stars (12th Falcon Regulars) onto a Comstar Firebase that had a Veteran force of 12 Heavy and assault mechs.

The 12th Falcon Regulars were destroyed to the mech. (and are removed from the campaign)

Jade Falcons will have to fight again to secure their drop zone.

Fight #3

Nova Cats land but detect an approaching force.  Nova Cats send out the 12th Cavaliers to intercept.

They ran into an Elite force of Comstar Assault mechs.  The Nova Cats sticking to dueling cost them dearly and the 12th was wiped out.

Nova Cats will have to secure their drop zone before advancing on the Map.

Fight #4

Diamond Sharks landed unopposed and Khan Jorel Davis quickly set out with the Elite 222nd Assault Cluster.

Comstar threw a pretty large regular force to blunt the quick advance of the Diamond Sharks.

The Comstar units were cut down at range with the superior weaponry of the Clan Mechs.

Nova Cats meet an Elite Assault force

Heavy Force gets gunned down in the open by Elite Diamond Sharks

The Map

Campaign Turn (Map rules)

The campaign turn has four phases...

1) Bidding
2) Movement
3) Battle
4) End

All clan players will complete a phase in a certain order before the next phase begins.  Meaning all the clans will declare their units movement before we move to the battle phase.

The order of the clans is on the table below.

1) Smoke Jaguar
2) Ghost Bear
3) Random each turn (Jade Falcon, Steel Viper, Nova Cat, Diamond Shark)
4) Random each turn (Jade Falcon, Steel Viper, Nova Cat, Diamond Shark)
5) Random each turn (Jade Falcon, Steel Viper, Nova Cat, Diamond Shark)
6) Random each turn (Jade Falcon, Steel Viper, Nova Cat, Diamond Shark)
7) Clan Wolf (Does not start until Campaign Turn 3)

Bidding Phase
If a single clan has more than one player, at the start of each turn they will bid a certain number of build points that they wish to use this turn.  Bidding is open and may go back and forth.  Know that the Clan mechs average 20 points, though many of the better designs are closer to or may exceed 30 points.
The lowest number bid will be the point value used in any battle this the clan may have this turn.
The lowest bidder also gets to...

• Move their clans forces in the movement phase of this turn
• Choose which unit or units of their's will take part in the battle in a given hex. 
• Build their part of the force first (First pick of available minis).  They must leave enough points for the other player to field at least 5 mechs / stands of elementals.
• First chance to take any special character that might be part of the force in the battle.
• Be commander in the upcoming battle, choosing which clan player must move a mech when it is their initiative to move.   

Movement Phase

During the movement phase the Clan player that won the bidding will move their units on the campaign board.  They may consult with their clan teammate but the final decision is theirs alone.

All units start off board (in orbit)
All units must enter the board with their first move being onto their clans Landing Zone hex.
Units on the board may move any number of hexes as long as they control those hexes.
Units may not make attacks from the dropship, they must first be in the landing zone or another hex before conducting an assault (the exception to this rule is the first turn of the game)
Clan players may only advance into one new unoccupied hex per turn.

Once a Clan has moved all their units they will draw a Battle card from the Battle deck based upon the new unoccupied hex they attempted to take.  (Landing zone deck, Desert deck, Water Deck, Mixed Deck, Minor City deck, Prime City Deck)
The only exception to this is the Comstar Command Center hex, which has a specific battle.

The Battle card will determine...

• Where the battle takes place. May not be in the unoccupied hex, but another of the clans hexes.
• The terrain to set up on the table.
• The Comstar force that is in that hex. (Skill level, Unit types) 
• Any special characters the ComGuard force may have there.
• Percentage adjustment.  Take the Point value of the Clanners bid and adjust it by this amount to determine how many points the Comguard forces may use to build their force.
• Victory conditions for clanners to win the battle
• If the clan actually hex with a victory.  Counter attacks and flanking actions by Comstar may prevent the clan force from securing the unoccupied hex they were trying to take.

Once every clan has a battle card, move on to the battle phase.

Battle Phase

  Clanners will build their force using the point value determined in the bidding phase.  The Clan players not taking part in this battle will be playing the Comstar forces.  Randomly assign all Comstar players to they are evenly spread if possible among the battles going on.

 Comstar players then build their force, using the adjusted point value from the battle card.  The point value must be split evenly among the Comstar players.  No sharing points between Comstar players they each must spend their allotted points or waste them.

  As we will be having at least two tables going at once, have one of the player not on a given set up the terrain in accordance with the battle card.

  Play the battle.  Consult the hex on the map to determine the clan units current ammo depletion level.


End Phase 

Ammo Depletion.
After every battle a given unit puts a force on the table they receive a spent ammo mark.  The unit can never remove this spent ammo mark.

There are two factors that determine how depleted a unit is on ammo.

• The number of battles they fought
• The number of hexes away from their landing zone.  

To determine a units ammo depletion number first look at the spent ammo markers the unit has.  If the unit does not have a direct path back to the landing zone hex, with a clan unit occupying each hex along that path (including the landing zone)...their ammo depletion number is their spent ammo markers.

If the unit does have a "Supply line", if the number of hexes is less than the units spent ammo marks, the number of hexes becomes the units ammo depletion number.

At the start of every battle subtract the ammo depletion number from each mechs range damage ratings, to a minimum of a 1.  Mechs with the ENE ability can ignore the effect of ammo depletion.  the number may be reduced from the mechs base numbers or from any special attacks (LRM / SRM / AC / FLAK).

Example:   The Falcon Guard of Clan Jade Falcon have taken part in 3 battles, and so they have 3 spent ammo marks.

• If the Falcon Guard had a battle in their landing zone hex, their ammo depletion number would be 0.
• If they had a battle in a prime city hex (3 away from the landing zone) their ammo depletion number would be 3.
• If they were one hex out of their landing zone and were subject to a counter attack, their ammo depletion would be 1.
• If they were 2 hexes away from the landing zone, but did not have a connecting hex with a Jade Falcon unit in that hex, their ammo depletion number would be 3.

There are some Comstar ammo dumps located on the map.  Should a clanner capture one of these hexes they may measure from the ammo dump rather than their landing zone for the purposes of ammo depletion.

Unit elimination.
  If a clan unit has all of their mech / elementals eliminated from a battle that unit is removed from the game and may no longer be used by the clan player.  Retreating does not count as being eliminated.

Special character elimination
  If a Special character looses their mech they are removed from the rest of the campaign and may not be used again. (Captured, Injured, MIA, KIA)

Hex ownership
  If the clan players achieve victory conditions stated on the battle card, and the battle card indicate they take the hex being fought for, then leave the units in the once unclaimed hex.  Otherwise return all the clan units that attempted to enter the hex back to their position they started the turn.

Clan Withdrawl
  If a clan loses both of their Khans (or the units that the Khans are in), they will be ordered to withdraw and are removed from the campaign.


Winning / Ending the campaign.
Once a clan player has taken a secondary city and primary city, their clan is considered victorious on Tukayyid and no longer will play battles.
A clan is defeated on Tukayyid if

• Both Khans or the units the khans are from have been eliminated from play.
• The clan is down to one unit (can't hold 2 cities with 1 units)
• The Clan players agree they can not take two cities with the units they have left and withdraw.

A clan achieves a draw if they take only 1 city.

If there is a point where it is determined the clanners cannot achieve more victories than defeats then the campaign ends.

The first clan to take their two city hexes will be declared overall winner of the campaign...and will have first choice of forces in the next campaign.

Mechwarrior Skill levels.

For the purposes of the campaign all mechwarriors from a given unit will have the same skill level.  This should make moving units easier.

Each of the Clanners clusters has rating of Elite, Veteran, or Regular.  All members of the unit have the same skill level, with the exception of special named characters that may be part of that unit.

Clan skills levels

Elite : 3

Veteran: 4

Regular: 5

The ComGuard forces are rated as Elite, Veteran, Regular or Green.  Being Inner Sphere they rate a little lower then the clanners fo the same rating.

ComGuard skill levels

Elite: 4

Veteran: 5

Regular: 6

Green: 7 

Now when building your force, there is a way to improve the skill level of one warrior.  This is where the paint scheme comes in.  I like to have easily identifiable forces on the table.  When you build a Star of 5 mechs for clanners, or a "Level 2" of 6 units for ComGuard, and all the mechs match their paintjob then one random mechwarrior from the clan Star or for the Comguard Level 2 gets to reduce their skill by 1.  Special characters may not reduce their skill this way.

Using the incorrect mini (Proxy) for a mech or vehicle will result in having a skill one point higher (worse).

Tukayyid Campaign Map

Here is the Campaign map for the Tukayyid Campaign.  You can click on it for a slightly larger image.  From this map we will keep track of Clan Cluster movements and progress made.

The goal of each Clan on Tukayyid is to capture one Prime City and a Secondary City.

Now a little about the tiles.

Prime City Tiles: Major city, Buildings covering the whole map.  Paved roads.

Command Center:  Where Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht commands all ComGuard forces on Tukayyid.  Holding this tile gives the ComGuard player an advantage for card initiative.  So long as the ComGuard hold this tile they will never move first for initiative.  At the start of each turn keep flipping cards over until the first Clan initiative card is flipped.  Take all of the skipped ComGuard initiative cards and shuffle them back into the initiative deck.  Should the Clanners take this tile, then the advantage goes to them and the ComGuard player must move first.

Secondary City: Less dense city setting, City outskirts, Factories, Warehouses, Paved roadways.

Clan Landing Zone:  Varying types of terrain for initial landings,  Space port / Fortress after Clanners secure their drop zone..

Cactus Tile: .Terrain here could be Desert, Mountains, Badlands, Abandon Towns, Ruins.  Few trees if any.  No rivers, lakes or water sources.

Waterfall Tile: Significant water of some sort in this hex. Major Lakes, Major Rivers, Swamps, River Deltas...etc.

Blank Tile: Mixed terrain, Forest, plains, rolling hills, farms, smaller rivers.  Traditional terrain found on standard battletech maps.