Battletech - Battle for Togulous

[Furluge]

Battle for Togulous is a monthly Battletech campaign run during Battletech Day. The campaign is set in the year 3058 during the Clan Invasion era of Battletech's history. Total Warfare will be the basis for our gameplay. Additional rules from Tactical operations and Strategic Operations may be used depending on each scenario. The game is played on Battletech hexsheet maps. The scenarios are custom made, with the units participating pre-selected. The campaign is between Kurita, Davion, and Jade Falcon forces among the planets in the Togulous cluster systems. Games consist of 2-4 players, (First come, first seated) , each player will command a number of units determined by scenario for either Kurita, Davion, or Jade Falcon. I will act as gamemaster to facilitate and referee, unless we have an odd number of players in which case I will fill out the short team to make the teams even. The campaign is persistent, though players may play for whichever faction they like each scenario. The campaign uses the Warchest system (See Chaos Campaign, Blake Ascending, or Dawn of the Jihad) to keep track of each faction's progress to determine which way the tide of battle is moving. Information for New Players & Those Returning to the Game To help players are given a Battletech Primer packet which contains all of the rules a player may want to reference during a game. Also please be ready to play for the complete game, around four hours.. For some suggestions on tactics players may also ant to read the Battletech Painting and Tactics Guide which gives suggestions on how to play a tactically better game. Warchest System The campaign is divided into a series of mini-campaigns. A mini-campaign will typically involve a planetary assault, a series of skirmishes in a small system, etc. Each side starts each mini-campaign with 1,000 Warchest points (WP). Each scenario or "track" has a WP cost. Each track has handicaps a side can take for bonus WP, and objectives to be accomplished which grant WP. The gamemaster will also spend each team's WP after each scenario to replace lost equipment and personnel, termed rearmament. Teams may go into "Warchest debt". When a team has less than 500WP while another team has 500 more WP than that team the next scenario will be a base assault. (IE: One team has 100WP, one has 600WP, the next scenario will be a base assault.) If the attackers win this scenario they eliminate the other team from the scenario. If they lose the defenders manage to hold on. Base Assaults may occur back to back if the criteria for triggering a base assault are still met. Mini-campaigns may also have a soft-limit enforced. Base-assaults may be triggered at the game master's discretion anytime after the 3rd scenario in the mini-campaign. For those familiar the Warchest system each faction has an technology rating of A and counts as if it had a base force size modifier of 10.

Battle for Togulous Operation 1: Blackeye - May 29, 2010

Background
The year is 3058. It has been been almost 19 years since the 1st Robinson Ranger’s defeat on the planet Hephaestus. Since that battle the 6th Ghost has managed to drive the invaders from the Draconis Combine half of the Togulous Cluster, but has been unable to drive them from the area completely. While most of the 6th Ghost forces are busy engaging most of the 1st Robinson Rangers in the nearby system of Ios, a expeditionary force from Jade Falcon’s Omega Galaxy jumps into the edge of the Cluster via the Deathwatch system. Determined to better their names within the Jade Falcon tourman, the Omega Galaxy hopes to use the anomalous nature of the Togulous sytems to set up a hidden forward base within Inner Sphere space to help renew the drive toward Terra.

The story of the Battle for Togulous can be traced back all the way to 3039, nine years after the Fourth Succession War ended, a conflict precipitated by the Federated Suns and Lyran Commenwealth's alliance created by the marriage of Prince Hanse Davion and Archon-Designate Melissa Steiner, bringing together two of the largest nations of the Inner Sphere. The war was the most successful in history for the Davions, cutting deep swaths into the Cappellan Confederation, leaving House Liao's territory cut in half, the Draconis Combine, and House Kurita, reeling and the Free Worlds League only marginally involved. Though the war ended surprisingly soon, everyone expected the Steiner-Davion alliance to move against their ancient Kurita enemy and finish the job they started back in 3028. Knowing an attack is only a matter of time Gunji-no-Kanrei Theodore Kurita had restructured the DCMS, despite opposition from his father Coordinator Takashi Kurita, going so far as to make alliances with Yakuza and undesirables to make the Combine's fighting force a match for the Federated Suns' AFFS.

Using the Combine's suppression of protests on former Davion worlds lost in the war as his pretext for war, the Federated Suns declared war on the Draconis Combine. On April 16th as part of the first wave of attacks in the war the Davions dispatched the 1st Robinson Rangers to a treacherous region of space on the Federated Suns / Draconis Combine border known as the Togulous Cluster, and the combine gave the 6th Ghost Regiment a chance to prove itself by reinforcing the almost non-existent garrison in the region. The conflict during the war of 3039 ended with the 6th Ghost driving the 1st Robinson Rangers out of Draconis Combine territory, but not out of Togulous completely. The Clan invasion put a half to each units bit to remove the other from the region, most of each unit's fighting force being removed from the region to counter the Clan Invasion. With the Truce of Tukayyid giving the entire Inner Sphere a reprieve from fighting both units have returned to Togulous to finish what they started in 3039. But with the truce breaking down against the Crusader Clans' desire to resume the drive for Terra, it wasn't long before both sides had a new threat to contend with...

Rich in natural resources with a few inhabited words, the Togulous Cluster has gained a reputation as a current-day Bermuda triangle. It is theorized that the unusual binary and pulsar stars in the region warp space in such a way which make jump calculations difficult and dangerous. Whatever the reason travel through the cluster is slow, and making jumps bigger than 5 light years into the cluster is suicidal, forcing travelers to leapfrog from system to system. In addition, HPG communications in or out are destroyed by presumably the same forces that make travel within difficult, cutting off those inside the cluster from the outside world except for the few messages delivered via courier ship.

1st Robinson Rangers: The Vols

The First Robinson Rangers have come a long way since their inception. At first nothing more than a band of rogue MechWarriors looking to avenge the injustices the Draconis Combine visited upon their homeworld of Robinson, the First quickly shaped into a truly professional unit. Even after Robinson fell to Coordinator Miyogi's Marathon in 2858, the surviving elements of the regiment restrained themselves from launching a suicidal assault to recapture their home. The First Rangers have seen more than their fair share of action in the Second, Third, and Forth succession wars and every war since. The First Robinson Rangers possess a Regiment of Battlemechs, a Reinforced Wing of aerospace fighters, a regiment of infantry and a regiment of combat vehicles. Their insignia is a black-outlined yellow shield with a red arrow in the middle.

6th Ghost Regiment: Life Through Service

At the same time he bargained with the yakuza to help defend the Combine, Theodore Kurita also recruited less accepted warriors from the ranks of women and lower social classes. Composed completely of these non-traditional warriors, the Sixth Ghost is determined to prove it's worth and has done so in every engagement they have been a part of. The warriors of the Sixth recognize that they owe their present opportunity for honor and glory to Theodore Kurita, and without exception they are fanatically devoted to the Kanrei. The 6th Ghost Regiment possess a regiment of Battlemechs, Infantry, Combat Vehicles, and a Reinforced Wing of aerospace fighters. Their insignia is a traditional Japanese bonsai tree in front of a setting sun.

Omega Galaxy

Born of desperation at the end of the Refusal War, Omega Galaxy was built from the wreckage of other Galaxies. The three units that comprised the Galaxy were originally two full-strength garrison Clusters and a solahma unit. However, all had been the target of scavenging by front-line Cluster for replacement 'Mechs and pilots, weakening them to the point of uselessness. The Falcon Kahns considered merging the two garrison Clusters, but the unit's new commander, Jared von Jankmon, chose to leave the units as they were and rebuild each around a pre-existing core. Comprised of one front-line Clusters, two garriosn units, and a solahma Cluster, Omega Galaxy is the weakest in the Falcon Tourman. Only the newly arrived Fourth Striker Cluster, the Black Falcons, is considered fully operational. The Galaxy's insignia depicts a black falcon hovering above the yellow-gold disk of a sun.

Current Standings

Mini-Campaign 2: Encounter at Deathwatch
In Progress

Warchest	679WP	1,064WP	882WP
Salvage	None	1 Light 3 Medium	2 Light
POWs	None	1 POW	2 POWs

Mini-Campaign 1: The Hephaestus Invasion
Completed
Victory:

Warchest	-170WP	1,116WP
Salvage	None	1 Light 'Mech 2 Heavy 'Mechs
POWs	None	7 Mechwarriors

[ricottma]

Sounds fun

[Furluge]

Well from the sounds of things we're definitely going to have enough for this event to go off, so I've gone ahead and scheduled Operation 1: Blackeye for the campaign at 9PM during the May lock-in. I'll have a tiny brief available at the event about the story of the campaign to make things a little more interesting. I'll be posting those ahead of time here if I can, as well as reporting the results of each operation and what effect it has on the overall campaign in this thread.

[Zeta_One]

Are 'Mechs supplied or do you bring your own?

[mfrantz]

Please remember to look at the May schedule for the Lock-In...

We are showing a special movie presentation at 8:30pm that will have the lock-in tables and chairs set up in a theater pattern.

[Furluge]

Please remember to look at the May schedule for the Lock-In...

We are showing a special movie presentation at 8:30pm that will have the lock-in tables and chairs set up in a theater pattern.

Already ahead of you. Basically, whenever the Togumentary ends is when we'll start Battletech.

Are 'Mechs supplied or do you bring your own?

They'll be supplied. Though if you or anyone else have some Battletech minis and you'd like to bring them to help me out on the minis front send me a PM and let me know, or bring them to the game. My btech minis collection has enough for a 24-mech battle, but we'll probably have some mech minis standing in for other mechs, so if you have a more appropriate mini we can just sub it in for one of the stand-ins. My collection, of minis are from the Battletech 3rd edition boxed set and the Citytech 2nd edition boxed set. Any minis for infantry, combat vehicles, and aerospace would be particularly helpful, but we won't need them for this first scenario, but definitely PM me about them. Also if anyone has, say, a copy of the Classic Battletech Introductory Boxed Set that came with 24 plastic mechs, that'd be great to bring too, as those mechs are likely to feature heavily in scenarios. (And if anyone's willing to part with that boxed set, I'm interested as well. )

Just to clear things up, everything's going to be arranged ahead of time including the scenario and the mechs will be organized into lances. All you need to do is pick a side and one of the lances to command. If you've never played the game before and would like to give it a try this is a great opportunity to do so, and I'll be teaching the game while we play. Keeping that teaching motif in mind the first game played will have the simplest setup, focusing just on mechs, and we'll slowly introduce elements like combat vehicles, infantry, and Aerospace to scenarios as people get more accustomed to things.

[Furluge]

Just a quick update. I'm doing a few games right now, doing some dry runs for the lock-in. Based on what I find out the exact setup for things might get changed up a bit. In particular we may be changing from 2-6 players to 2-4 players with each player control a lance if we have 2 players and 2 mechs if we have four players, and maybe we'll increase the forces involved as people acclimate to the game. The decision isn't final yet, but I'll post an update here when it's been decided. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know.

[SpeilGeist]

I haven't played in forever. But I'll bring what boxed sets I can find to the lockin (I know of the location of one, two others are probably lost to the sands of moving)

[Furluge]

Great. Always good to have one more. I think between everyone we're going to be looking really good on the minis front.

[ricottma]

Can I drive this thing?

http://ironwindmetals.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=6253&osCsid=350dbf5051049c650b7128a5fa92a115

I don't know what it is but it looks sweeeet

[Furluge]

Can I drive this thing?

http://ironwindmetals.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=6253&osCsid=350dbf5051049c650b7128a5fa92a115

I don't know what it is but it looks sweeeet

That's a quad-walker Battlemech. That particular one is after the era we're playing in. There are two that are from the era we're playing in, they look like this.


Scorpion                                                                Goliath

Speaking of cool looking stuff though, I do have the Technical Readout for 3039 which features info and pictures of all the mechs and vehicles from the area with me, so if you just want to browse through the art it's there.

[Furluge]

Just a quick update. Well I've done the second dry-run and I've made a final decision for the first event as far as how forces are going to be distributed. First off we're going to distribute forces by scenario rather than the blanket "everyone gets a lance" statement before, so we can dial up or dial down the units each player has as we progress. Right now for how units will be distributed for the first scenario, which if things go as planned will become the baseline for future scenarios, breaks down like this.

2 Players: Each player commands a lance of 'mechs. (4 'mechs per side, 8 mechs total)
4 Players: Each player commands two 'mechs. (4 'mechs per side, 8 mechs total)
6 Players: Each player commands two 'mechs, with players 5 and 6 commanding reinforcements which join the battle later. (6 'mechs per side, 12 mechs total)

Reinforcements
When a scenario has 6 players players 5 and 6 command a group of reinforcements. To determine when reinforcements join the battle each team makes a roll on the reinforcements table below. If the scenario is started with 6 players the roll is made immediately at the start of the scenario. If the reinforcements players are late-entries to the scenario the reinforcements roll is made during the first initiative phase that occurs after the players have joined the scenario. The result of the roll determines the number of turns that must pass from the time the roll is made that the reinforcements may be deployed. (EX: If the roll is made in the initiative phase of turn 2, and a result of 2 is rolled, then the reinforcements may enter on turn 4.) This passage of turns will usually be tracked by handing a d6 each reinforcement player and having them tick off one number from the die during each end phase, handing it back to the gamemaster when 1 is ticked off.

These units start play off the map. Unless the scenario states otherwise a team’s reinforcement units may enter the map during the movement phase on any hex along the team’s home edge, regardless of terrain, provided the unit can legally enter that hex. Each unit must enter the map on a full hex nearest the home edge, and that hex counts as its first hex of movement, and it must pay the associated MP cost.

Reinforcements Table

Die Roll (1d6)	Turns Before Reinforcements May Join Battle
1-3	2
4-6	1

Example: The scenario has started and in the middle of the Weapon Attack Phase in turn 1 players 5 and 6 sit down to join the game. Player 5 joins the Kurita team and Player 6 joins the Davion team. In the initative phase of turn 2 both teams make one roll on the Reinforcements table. Kurita gets a 4 for 1 turn and Davion gets a 1 for 2 turns. Player 5 may deploy their units in turn 3, while Player 6 must wait until turn 4.

[Furluge]

Operation 1: Blackeye After Action Report

Victory

Aftermath Overconfident from their victories in the 4th succession war, the first battle on Hephaestus was a wake-up call for the 1st Robinson Rangers as they were repelled by the 6th Ghost defenders before reinforcements could arrive. Only the commander of the 1st Robinson Rangers Alpha Battalion 2nd Lance, Vincent Larouque, returned from the attack with every other Mechwarrior in his command losing their 'mechs and being picked up by Draconis Combine patrols. The battle boosted the morale of the 6th Ghost, giving the newly-formed unit their first taste of victory in what promised to be a long campaign while also denying the Federated Suns invaders the vital intelligence from the SATCOM facility, slowing the Davion's initial assault considerably. Unit Status Davion Wolfhound WLF-1 - Crippled, Salvaged by Kurita |  Estefani Wilke - 0/6 Hits, Ejected, Captured by Kurita Blackjack BJ-1DB - Truly Destroyed |  Anson Yurikev - 1/6 Hits, Ejected, Captured by Kurita Centurion CN9-AL - Truly Destroyed | Sabinna Defire - 5/6 Hits, Ejected, Captured by Kurita Rifleman RFL-4D - Damaged, Retreated | Vincent Larouque - 0/6 Hits, Returned Safely to Davion Kurita Panther PNT-9R - Damaged | Kenji Date - 1/6 Hits Shadow Hawk SHD-2K - Undamaged | Sakura Fujimori - 0/6 Hits Hunchback HBK-4G - Damaged | John Watanabe - 0/6 Hits Dragon DRG-1C - Truly Destroyed | Rei Toyotomi - 1/6 Hits, Ejected, Rescued by Kurita

Warchest

Davion
Starting Warchest	1,000WP
Track Cost	-125WP
Points Earned	35WP
Rearmament	-69WP
Final Warchest	841WP

Kurita Starting Warchest 1,000WP Track Cost -125WP Points Earned 340WP Rearmament -33WP Final Warchest 1182WP

[Furluge]

By request I've uploaded the small Battletech Primer packet I handed out to each player for Operation 1. For those who haven't played before this packet serves as a quick introduction to the game and contains all the rules players might want to reference in a game.

Operation 2 is scheduled for the next month-end Tower-con, Saturday June 26th at 8PM. Once again we'll have room for 2-6 at the table. If you're planning on joining the table ahead of time post either here or in the event thread. If you're new to game it's still a great time to join in. Usually it takes about 2 turns for new people to get the hang of things and all these scenarios are designed with teaching the game in mind.

[Zeta_One]

 I should have stayed.  Jeez, didn't even damage the Shadow Hawk!  When did it end?