22 February, 2766
1345 local
741st RoSR base of Operations
Conference Tent 2
The last week passed in a blur. Meetings, interviews, interrogations, one after the other, sometimes coming so hard on the heels of the one before it you'd have a waiting list of uniformed investigators outside your prefab barracks, all looking for just a "few moments of your time." For all the annoyance, you can somewhat understand the scrutiny. Blue-on-blue engagements are a tradition in warfare going all the way back to when the first pair of cavemen from the same tribe unexpectedly ran into each other on a moonless night, but the circumstances of this one have surprised even the most jaded of SLDF JAG personnel.
Luckily, this is wartime. Whereas in circumstances other than the middle of an active combat operation you'd be sure to be confined to quarters pending the investigation, here the ROUNDHAMMER forces need every 'Mech jock they can scrounge up. Radiological attacks, including cobalt-laced "dirty bombs" flown in via suicide attacks by prop-powered bush aircraft, have killed dozens and sickened hundreds of badly-needed troops, and as far as intelligence can figure the SLDF forces are now operating at near-numerical parity with the TDF units on-world. The SLDF can't afford to lose a veteran company right now, and so you're back on combat duty with the investigation suspended. For the moment. Which is why you're sitting in a conference tent now, listening to the rain pound down outside, and wondering privately if Colonel Jansfield has found a way to win the war and get you people out of her hair all at the same time.
"...and that's why the Colonel thinks that this mission is the best chance to recover the ball that was dropped when ARDBEG failed." Jaffray pauses for a moment and looks about the tent. "If none of you have any commentary about the general concept of Operation BOWMORE, then I'll move on to the specifics."
The lights dim and the holoprojector at the head of the room activates. A map of Taurian and SLDF area of operations is projected into the air, rotating slowly so everyone can see. The blue of the SLDF AOs covers most of the planet. Large swatches are in a neutral gray, and the angry red of hostile territory shines through in three distinct patches tenuously connected by strips of infrastructure. Black splotches denote areas contaminated by radiological or chemical fallout.
"As you can see, Vandenburg City, while still nominally under TDF control, is hard-pressed. The 302nd Hussars will be rotating into that combat zone very soon, and our hope is that they and what's left of the 108th Mech-Inf will be able to take the city in the next few days, leaving just these final two pockets of resistance here, and here. Marshal Ney has been coordinating the defense from a bunker inside Vandenburg City, but it's obvious that we're going to take the planet at this point. Intel has been considering the possibility of him bolting offworld for a while now, and an interview with a captured Taurian messenger has revealed that he's going to be leaving quite soon now. All bets are that he'll take off when the 302nd makes their assault on the city.
"Thusly, while they reinforce the 279th, you'll be boarding the Tristram and making an arial drop on the city to cut him off from the spaceport and capture him. Alive, I might add. Almost the entire defensive corps that the TDF has to offer will be on the front line responding to the 302nd's assault, so his guard should be fairly light. The only complication may be from civilian militias. Try not to wipe out the city, but if you're attacked by field-grade weapons, go wild. They've nuked us twice, and hit us with enough cobalt to choke a McKenna, so nobody's going to look askance over a bunch of dead civvies at this point. Restrain the Marshal and radio coordinates for pick-up; there's several large packs in the area where a DropShip can land. Just set a perimeter and wait - we'll come get you.
"Questions?"
Rules variants in play:
1) Morning Glory - the rain from the previous day has left the air thick with fog and a slick surface on the terrain. Skidding checks will be in play. Additionally, a cumulative +1 modifier to the PSR will apply for each hex greater than 9 which a unit moves that round (when using running or any type of WIGE MP only), representing the lack of reaction time due to being unable to see through the fog while moving at 90+ kph. The cumulative modifier portion of this rule will apply through the 6th turn of the game.
2) Mob Rule - any enemy infantry units, if any, may deploy in either platoon or squad-sized units. Any infantry unit has the capacity to use, instead of regular weapon fire, "molotov cocktails" (improvised incindiaries that are much more than a gasoline-soaked rag in a bottle). These weapons deal 1 point of heat for every member of the infantry unit in question, to a maximum of +8 heat. This heat may stack from other heat-causing sources such as infernos, but under no circumstances may a unit suffer more than +15 heat from external sources. Upon receiving casualties, infantry units may break. A 2d6 roll of less than their remaining strength (after casualties are taken) means the infantry unit breaks up and flees into the city. TDF infantry units do not suffer from this morale clause.
3) War to the hilt - Nobody cares too much about collateral damage anymore. Building hexes may be destroyed. Due to shoddy Periphery construction, a Light Building Hex may take 15 points of damage, a Medium takes 20, a Heavy 25, and a Hardened Building Hex takes 50. ALL of the damage necessary to destroy the hex must be done in the same shooting phase; damage will not be tracked across turns. If part of a multi-hex structure, the remainder of the building will collapse if a 1d6 roll is less than the number of remaining hexes (however, a 2-hex structure will always collapse if a single hex is destroyed). Standard "Mechs jumping on building" rules apply, including collapsing the building in question. Destroyed buildings are replaced with rubble counters.
4) Veteran Pilots - Members of the 741st will start the scenario already on the ground and will place their Mechs appropriately where they desire them. An ATOW Pilot/Mech skill roll (TN 12) will then be made. Each MoF will scatter the Mech 2 hexes in a random direction. In no case can a Mech be damaged or made immobile (on top of a building it cannot get off of) by this landing roll; the GM will displace the target Mech to the nearest "safe" hex if this occurs.
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Topic: IC: Briefing, 22 February, 2766 (Read 928 times)