Mission Catagory ~ Raid Supply Convoy

The Eridani's have located a Combine supply convoy and are ready to raid it.  Opposition is observed at (8) Contacts.  At least (4) are transport vehicles, and (2) are combat units.  (2) Units are 'unknown' 1-3 = Transport / 4-6 = Combat

Transports (roll d6)
1-4 = J-27 Ordance Transport w/Trailer (10 Supply Points of 'bulk' goods/1 ton per supply point)
5-6 = Tracked APC (10 Supply Points of 'fine' goods/200 pounds per supply point)

Each point of damage above and beyond what you need to 'kill' the vehicle will damage one supply point.

Combat Escorts (roll d6)
1 = Scorpion Light Tank
2 = Scorpion Light Tank (SRM 6 Variant)
3 = Striker Light Tank
4 = Vedette Medium Tank
5 = Goblin Medium Tank w/ Infantry (Regular Rifle)
6 = Manticore Heavy Tank

Units available for the raid is limited at this time.  Captain Garabaldo, draws as many units as he believes he can spare for the mission from the garrison on the base.

Primary Objective ~ Deny Supplies to Draconis Base. (+2 Prestige if none of the transport units escape)
Secondary Objective ~ Secure Supplies for Eridani Use. (+1 Prestige for every 10 supply points captured/recovered for Eridani)
Tetriary Objective ~ Withdraw from operations intact. (+1 Prestige if no Eridani mechs/vehicles are lost)
(+1) Prestige for capturing Combine Combat vehicle
(-1) Prestige for losing Commando, Locust, 411 or 412
(+1) Prestige for capturing Combine Transport vehicle
(-1) Prestige for for every (2) Eridani Transport units lost


(2) Base Scenario Points
(2) Rank Bonus
You may spend up to (4) of the units Prestige points for additional Units for this mission.

Available Units
(1) Point for Eridani Commando-2D
(1) Point for Eridani Locust-1V
(1) Point for Pegasus 411
(1) Point for Harasser 412
(1) Point for (2) Ferret Ground Support Combat Runs
(1) Point for One Infantry Squad and Transport (VTOL/Hover/Track)
(0) Points for one tracked unit (no infantry)

Conventional units available are drawn from the units listed at
link to a message in this game

The Commando will appear (5) Battletech rounds after contact with the Combine Convoy

Tracked APC's will appear (10) Battletech rounds after contact with the Combine Convoy.

All units are presummed to have a gunnery roll of 4+ and a Drive/Pilot roll of 5+ unless otherwise noted.  Infantry Battletech gunnery is noted by experience.

Baker and Foxtrot squads have gunnery values of 3+
All other infantry squads have gunnery values of 4+

(Infantry will be required to secure and move supplies captured)

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From a roleplaying point of view, Tony decides what goes.  From a practical point of view, all of the players should have some input on what they want to take into the fight.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:28, Sun 14 Aug 2011.

Will it cost points to bring units up after combat to secure the goods? I mean, can we have transports and infantry and such *not* in the battle to carry the stuff when we're done?

So- what does everyone else think? I've actually had little experience matching forces in BT, that's always been the GM's job and I've done very little GMing like that. (Mechwarrior stuff mostly, with a fixed force and the PCs able to bring whatever they had with them.)

There is a little bit of a fog of war being presented here since all Bailey knows is that there were (8) contacts.  Four transports, Two escorts, and Two questionables.

You're purchasing everything to go on the operation.  The only freebie youre getting is one Tracked APC to haul off one of the Trailers, and potentially a ton of 'stuff'.  If you want more units to haul stuff off, you have to purchase them.

There will be four transports... among the bad guys.  Alot of it comes down to how many trailers you think will be there, and how many APCs.  Then theres the possible consideration that some of those mystery units might be more loot to haul off, they might also be more guns shooting at you.  Obviously after having your butts kicked for months and months, and stuck in the cold for a week, everyone wants to go for a little pay back.  Relistically you need to leave a garrison behind at the base so Tony needs to pick and choose who goes.

You cant bring stuff in 'after the fact', because it's pretty obvious they'll radio for help so units on the site will be the only ones that get to gather loot unless you want to engage in another skirmish.

Well, it's risky in any case.
One of the heavier tanks (looking at the Manticore especially) could wipe out our unit by itself essentially. One PPC hit anywhere on the Harasser and it's toast.

We have only 4 points, including one freebie of a tracked APC to haul some supplies.

If we include Harry and Peggy
we don't have many resources after this to play around with.

The Commando has hands and might be able to grab some supplies (need a GM ruling), but the five round wait could be a killer to our team, yet if things are going badly, it should be able to cover our retreat.

Yes, it's unlikely but if two maniticores show up on the party it might be a scram and run, instead of a smash and grab.  You may not get any supplies but the transports are soft targets and you'll get to play cat and mouse with the escorts as you try and take out transports.

I would make a call, that presuming the mechs have legs and no mobility issues, they can grab a trailer and haul it off.  It's heavy load for them, and it would reduce their speed but they should be able to haul it off someplace away from the scene of the crime to let the Eridani's recover the loot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:04, Sat 13 Aug 2011.

as non mech warrior expert and seeing the delay presented i say we stuff a unit of infantery in our free APC mostly to have em haul off the loot. Especially as we need to pay to bring our own tank and if we mess this one up the next mission we might have to walk ;-)

1 point will get you a unit of infantry and transport for them.

The only way this goes south really bad is if 411 or 412 gets blown up.  So stay away from the manticores :P
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:15, Sun 14 Aug 2011.

Everyone has had a chance to look at the scenario (per the Cast attendance log).

Tony put a proposed mission team up. the players are free to comment on the proposal, and i'll give you one last chance to modify the plan, and we'll start.

Just a thought.

Don't use the Commando and I'm hesitant about even using the Locust.  If it looks like were are "just" armoured infantry units hitting a convoy they will rate it as a lower priority to deal with simply because we don't have mech support.  It's an ace in the hole to pull later.  Not to mention the fact that with the speeds that the hovercraft can cover the DCMS and Dragoons will have a much larger area they have to recon if they want to track us down.

I'd use the second two points on tracked infantry to work with the freebie tracked unit.  I know it's kinda risking that they don't have extra combat units but if they do have four combat units we turn it into a smash and dash rather than smash and grab while radioing to the tracked guys to abort.  If it is manageable we'll have three that can hook trailers and two sets of infantry that we can use to steal DCMS convoy transports that aren't totally destroyed...if we can knock out the defenders and force the convoy to surrender.

Advantage is we start the first fight with less to worry about other than just our two hovercraft  Gets people into learning their roles and not worrying about controlling additional assets.  Disadvantage is if luck is totally on the DCMS it turns into a simple ID and retreat.  My two c-bills.