Capture The Flag!

This scenario is intended for the campaign/tourny elsewhere in this web of B-Tech documents. But feel free to use it as a standalone scenario (just try to make sure each side has same tonnage of 'Mechs).

Capture The Flag is a scenario which pits two even(?) 'Mech companies against each other, with the primary objective being to capture the other Company's flag and bring it back across to your side of the maps. The game lasts 10 turns, whether or not the opposing force's flag has been found/captured. All 'Mechs with Ammunition have only enough for 10 turns, not full reloads or maximum ammunition stored, whichever is less.

Set-up:

Need battletech four maps, two identical pairs. Preferably 2 lake and 2 river maps, or 2 river and 2 standard b-tech maps. You should opt to avoid using citytech maps as no city tech rules are used here. The maps should be set up lengthwise, parallel and mirror-imaged. Set the maps up as follows:

           river map         lake map
         |---------------||---------------|
  ^      |....   ..   ...||...  ....@@    |
  |      |    ...  ...   ||   ..    @@@   |
enemy    |_______________||_______________|border
friendly |---------------||---------------|  zone
   |     |   @@@    ..   ||   ...  ...    |
   v     |    @@....  ...||...   ..   ....|
         |_______________||_______________|
           lake map          river map

Each side has a 'flag' which can be placed secretly anywhere in a clear hex on the friendly side of the battlefield. Record the location of your flag. This flag remains hidden until spotted by the opposing player (via 'Mech) and remains visible thereafter.

'Hiding' the flag merely means putting it behind a hill or woods or some obstacle that would require the opposing side to come across to see it. If you desire to put the flag in the middle of nowhere, where the enemy 'Mechs/side can pick it out from their side of the map...that's your option. I have no idea why you'd want to do this, though.

After the maps are set and the flags hidden, deploy your forces. Roll for initiative to determine who begins to set up first. Winner of initiative choses if they wish to set up first or second. Once this has been determined, alternate sides, with each side setting up one 'Mech at a time until all 'Mechs are completely set up.

To capture the flag:

In order to capture an enemy flag, a 'Mech must have 2 functional hands. If the 'Mech is carrying a hatchet or laser (eg, Stinger 'mechs) it may not use the weapon. If the 'Mech is carrying a club (read: limb) it picked up in the battle somewhere, it must drop it. The 'Mech must then spend one turn adjacent to the flag in order to pick it up. The 'Mech may not fire any weapons during this turn, except those facing to the rear ('Mechs like Quickdraws cannot use their arm-mounted weapons to fire to the rear during this turn).

After the flag has been 'captured', no arm-mounted weapons may be fired or used, period. Also, depending on the side of the capturing 'Mech, movement may be reduced, as follows:

Light 'Mechs (<40 tons): -3 to movement

Medium 'Mechs (<60 tons): -1 to movement

Heavy and Assault 'Mechs: no movement penalty

LAMs: costs 4 movement to take off and land, in addition to above

The enemy flag must be on the ground of the friendly map board(s) to be considered fully captured (thus, LAMs must land to officially capture the flag).

Victory Conditions and Point Allocations

See campaign/tourny rules for kill points

The first side to capture the enemy's flag gets 1/2 objective point to each surviving 'Mech at the end of the game.

In addition to normal kill and objective points, there is a secondary objective: Aggression! At the end of each turn count the number of surviving friendly 'Mechs in enemy territory and record these numbers. Whomever has had more 'Mechs total in enemy territory by the end of the game gains +1/4 pt 'aggressor objective' for each surviving 'Mech.

Example of Aggressiveness Objective:


                Number of 'Mechs in Enemy Territory 
Turn           Charlie Company        Legion of Doom 
----           ---------------         --------------
 1                   9                       5
 2                   9                       6
 3                  10                       5
 4                  10                       5
 5                   6*                      3
 6                   6                       4
 7                   5                       4
 8                   5                       3
 9                   5                       1
 10                  3                       0
                   ----                    ----
                    68                      36

Note that Charlie Company won the aggressive objective. '*' indicates the turn and side the enemy flag was brought over (ie, officially captured). In this case Charlie Company was able to snatch Legion of Doom's flag and get it back across by turn 5. So each 'Mech of Charlie Company that survived the game gets 1/4(aggressor) + 1/2(flag) = 3/4 pts, plus any individual kill points. The Legion of Doom surviving 'Mechs only get kill points.

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