Placeholder for Battletech Scenario to be run at Origins 2022. More Information forthcoming!

NOTE: Scenario is not on official event run by Catalyst games.

*Image Source: Sarna.net. Scenario author makes no claim thereto.

CITY OF ALBERMARLE, ALPHERATZ, OUTWORLDS ALLIANCE

APRIL 2, 3081

OVERVIEW

A crack high tech Draconis Combine force strikes an Outworld Alliance city defended by an inferior force of reservists and militia.

Given advance warning of the attack, the Alliance relies heavily on prepared, and unconventional, defenses to prevent the assassination of their president, Mitchell Avellar. The Alliance also has been gifted with emergency military aid in the form of a lance of state-of-the-art Federated Suns' Javelins. While the Combine force is smaller, it is an elite force equipped with cutting edge designs and an advanced C3 computer network, allowing them to attack in a more flexible manner.

In part 1, Draconis Combine raiders must quickly fight their way into the city to position themselves to block an escape by President Avellar. Alliance defenders must minimize the number of Draconis Combine units inside the city.

In part 2, both sides are reinforced. Draconis Combine forces must assassinate President Avellar to claim victory. The Outworlds Alliance Defenders must eliminate the attackers or sacrifice themselves to allow President Avellar to escape.

PICKING A TEAM

The Draconis Combine team is geared towards highly experienced players familiar with advanced equipment, such as C3 networks, and who are ALSO eager to display their Battletech mastery by overcoming unexpected challenges; they are outnumbered and will be subject to dirty tricks by the Alliance defenders.

The Outworld Alliance team is composed of classic mech designs and older technology more easily recognized by casual players. Alliance mech forces have an inferior battle value than the attacker, but have the benefit of additional prepared defenses to ambush attackers and even the odds. At least one player on the Alliance team should be familiar with advanced rules and equipment.

Part 1 - "Defend the City, Defend the Alliance!"

Part 2 - "Defend the President, Defend the Alliance!"

Director-Precentor Thurlin,

Firstly, allow me to extend my sincere congratulations on your accession to the Board! Per your request, the focus of my recent research has been filling-in notable omissions in the historical record between the Jihad of our misguided brethren and the reformation of a more unified, pragmatic, and lucrative order.

Unsurprisingly, the most significant gaps occur in the periphery region, with control and character of entire states shifting with scant explanation in existing historical records. While many pay little head to the regions in the outer edges, it is, of course, the sacred duty of our order to shine the light of enlightenment for those who have the wisdom to benefit from our regular subscription services.

An outstanding example of the above-cited ignorance is the metamorphosis of the Outworlds Alliance from a backward and isolated non-entity into a powerful rising state, via its merger with Clan Snow Raven. Much is known of the Outworlds Alliance and Clan Snow Raven prior to the merger. The history of the merged Raven Alliance is similarly well-documented. Details of the events that brought about the merger, however, are noteworthy in their relative absence.

In 3080 and 3081, the Outworlds Alliance and Clan Snow Raven moved inexorably towards union; the Alliance seeking to benefit from Snow Raven technology and military strength while the Ravens, for their part, badly needed of Alliance territory and resources.

Unfortunately for both, the neighboring Draconis Combine and its ruling House Kurita felt threatened by the potential merger. Another clan nesting on the Combine’s spinward border was a reality House Kurita wished to prevent at all costs, especially after prior clashes with the Snow Ravens in the 3070s.

The Combine sensed an unexpected opportunity to derail the merger arise in early 3081, when Alliance President Mitchell Avellar hosted Snow Ravens and Federated Suns representatives to negotiate concerns the Suns had regarding a potential merger. President Avellar was a prime mover in advancing an Alliance with the Snow Ravens. Reasoning that the death of Avellar would immediately halt the merger process, the Combine quickly assembled an ad hoc force of units originally intended for transfer to the Ryuken-Roku and Sword of Light and tasked them with a deep raid to assassinate President Avellar. Little did they know that the Federated Suns Division of Military Intelligence (DMI) discovered plans for the raid and chose to provide advance knowledge, and some military assistance, to the Alliance.

As it turned-out, the April 3081 Combine raid would greatly impact discussions between the Outworlds Alliance and Clan Snow Raven, and serve as a catalyst for their rapid subsequent merger. Additionally, the resulting battle provides an excellent example of a defending force making use of unconventional resources and tactics to fight a nominally superior foe. Of special note regarding my current posting with the 3^rd Panzerhorse Regiment, the raid saw a re-emergence of cavalry on the modern battlefield, with the deployment of the “Panzerfaust Lancers”, a horse cavalry unit equipped with shaped charge lances, in defense of the president.

I obviously stand ready, Precentor, to research such further esoteric gaps in the historical record as you shall direct. That said, I respectfully ask that you reconsider my request for a reassignment to the Central Pacifica complex, where available resources will better allow me to forward more complete historical reports to your attention.

Yours in Service of Blake, our investors, and All Mankind,

— Garrick Whilk

Demi-Precentor VII-Tau (Historical Resource Acquisitions)

Bluegrass Administrative District, Terra

29 March 3183

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS

Alliance Reserve Militia (ARM)

The Alliance Reserve Militia, or ARM, was initially brought into being in 3057 by the direction of recently inaugurated Alliance President Mitchell Avellar. Influenced by his mother, former Davion diplomat Rebecca DeSanders, President Avellar created a military force similar to Federated Suns’ March Militias to provide garrison and defense forces across the Alliance and free-up other units.

The ARM is a reserve formation spread thinly across the Alliance, with only part time service obligations for the majority of personnel. The ARM consists of a diverse mixture of combat veterans retired from active service, green trainee recruits, and regulars who want stable postings near family or friends. ARM equipment consists of older technology purchased from nearby Davion and Kutita forces in the process of upgrading their own technology, with relatively inexpensive newer designs mixed-in. ARM units are often utilized in civil auxiliary duties, such as disaster relief, search and rescue, and similar roles. Unfortunately, the dispersed nature of the ARM allows it few opportunities for training in large unit operations. ARM personnel may be given a rotating assignment to a standing expeditionary force unit (ARM-EF), to gain experience across the Alliance by hunting pirates and similar tasks. Members of the ARM must request assignment to the ARM-EF, however.

The Alliance Reserve Militia utilizes the Outworlds Alliance insignia with a number imposed corresponding to the specific militia unit. ARM parade colors consist of light blue for the upper portions of their mechs and tanks, with yellow for lower portions.