INTRODUCTION FORCE CREATIION FORMATION BUILDING FORCE OPERATIONS

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1 INTRODUCTION CREATIION The Steps of Force Creation 8 STAGE 1: DEFINE THE 9 Step 1: Select Force Type 9 Step 2: Select Force Background 9 STAGE 2: SELECT SIZE 10 Step 1: Determine The Basic Budget 10 Step 2: Modify Budget 11 STAGE 3: PROCURE EQUIPMENT AND HIRE PERSONNEL 12 Step 1: Buy All The Stuff! 12 Step 2: Acquire Large Spacecraft 17 Step 3: Determine Special Abilities 20 Step 4: Leftover Funds 20 Step 5: Determine Support Personnel & Officers 20 Technical Personnel 20 Administrative Personnel 21 Officers 21 STAGE 4: DETERMINE OPERATING EXPENSES 24 Step 1: Complete the To&E 24 Step 2: Calculate Peacetime Operating Costs 29 OPTIONAL CONSTRUCTION RULES 30 Alternate Flexible Force Construction 30 Player Character Influences 30 Dependents 30 Random Backgrounds 31 Taking On Debt 31 OPERATIONS REPUTATION 32 Finding The Reputation Score 33 HIRING AND 38 Stage 1: Contract Offers 38 Stage 2: Determine Employer 39 Stage 3: Determine The Mission 40 Stage 4: Negotiate Terms 40 Base Payment 41 Length Of Mission 41 Operations Tempo 43 Employer Multiplier 43 Reputation Factor 43 Transport Payment 43 Support Payment 44 Final Payment 45 Command Rights 45 Salvage Rights 45 ADDITIONAL RULES 46 Wartime Definition And Costs 46 Contract Breaches And Mission Failures 46 Mission Failure & Partial Failure 47 Contract Breach 47 Resolving Mercenary Contract Breaches 47 Resolving Government Contract Breaches 48 Changing Force Type 48 Debt During A Campaign 48 Loans 49 Company Store 50 Repaying Debts By Shorting Salaries 50 Procuring Equipment and Personnel During s Campaign 51 6 Keeping Fit 51 Training 51 Maintenance 52 Administration 53 Chaos Campaign Conversions 53 Housing And Base Building 53 Step 1: Obtain Land 54 Step 2: Base Construction 54 FORMATION BUILDING FORMATION BUILDING BASICS 56 Step 1: Select Battle Value Total 57 Step 2: Build a Formation 57 Step 3: Select Skills And Modify Unit s BV 57 Step 4: More Formations 57 Step 5: Special Pilot Abilities 57 Step 6: Special Command Abilities 57 UNIT ROLE 57 Ground Unit Roles 57 Ambusher 57 Brawler 57 Juggernaut 57 Missile Boat 58 Scout 58 Skirmisher 58 Sniper 58 Striker 58 Aerospace Unit Roles 58 Attack Fighter 58 Dogfighter 58 Fast Dogfighter 58 Fire Support 58 Interceptor 58 Transport 58 LANCES, STARS AND LEVEL IIS 58 FORMATIONS 60 Formation Compositions 60 Formation Requirements 60 Ideal Role 60 Bonus Abilities 60 Variations 61 Naming Conventions 61 Ground Formation Types 61 Air Lance 61 Anti- Mech Lance 61 Assault Lance 61 Battle Lance 62 Command Lance 63 Fire Lance 64 Nova 64 Pursuit Lance 65 Recon Lance 65 Security Lance 65 Striker/Cavalry Lance 66 Support Lance 66 Urban Combat Lance 67 Aerospace Formation Types 67 Aerospace Superiority Squadron 67 Electronic Warfare Squadron 67 Fire Support Squadron 68 Interceptor Squadron 68 Strike Squadron 68 Transport Squadron 68

2 COMPANIES, BINARIES AND BEYOND 68 SPECIAL PILOT ABILITIES 70 Assigning Special Pilot Abilities 70 Animal Mimicry 72 Antagonizer 73 Blood Stalker 73 Cluster Hitter 73 Combat Intuition 73 Cross-Country 73 Demoralizer 74 Dodge 74 Dust-Off 74 Eagle s Eyes 74 Environmental Specialist 74 Fist Fire 75 Forward Observer 75 Foot Cavalry 75 Golden Goose 75 Ground-Hugger 75 Heavy Horse 75 Heavy Lifter 76 Hopper 76 Hot Dog 76 Human Tro 76 Iron Will 76 Jumping Jack 76 Light Horseman 76 Lucky 77 Maneuvering Ace 77 Marksman 77 Melee Master 77 Melee Specialist 77 Multi-Tasker 78 Natural Grace 78 Oblique Artilleryman 78 Oblique Attacker 78 Range Master 78 Ride The Wash 79 Sandblaster 79 Shaky Stick 79 Sharpshooter 79 Slugger 80 Sniper 80 Speed Demon 80 Stand-Aside 80 Street Fighter 80 Swordsman 80 Tactical Genius 80 Terrain Master 81 Urban Guerrilla 82 Weapon Specialist 82 Wind Walker 82 Zweihander 82 SPECIAL COMMAND ABILITIES 83 Determining Experience Rating 83 Commanders And Command Abilities 83 Anti-Aircraft Specialists 83 Banking Initiative 83 Berserkers 83 Brawlers 83 Camouflage 83 Combat Drop Specialists 84 Communications Disruption 84 Enemy Specialization 84 Environmental Specialization 84 Esprit De Corps 84 False Flag 84 Forcing The Initiative 85 Ground Attack Specialists 85 Highlander Burial 85 Hit And Run 85 Off-Map Movement 85 Overrun Combat 86 Rapid Strike 86 Savages 86 Special Pilot Ability Specialization 86 Sharp Shooters 86 Tactical Adjustments 87 Tactical Experts (Engineers) 87 Tactical Experts (Hidden Units) 87 Tactical Experts (Physical) 87 Tactical Specialization 87 Zone Of Control 87 INNER SPHERE AT WAR CONVERSIONS Converting ISW Combat Commands to ACS Formations, Combat Units and Teams 88 Abstract Combat System Formations 88 Determine ACS Combat Units 89 Determine ACS Combat Teams 90 Converting ACS Combat Teams To SBF Formations and Units 90 Determine SBF Formations 90 Determine SBF Units 90 Converting SBF Units To Battleforce, Alpha Strike and Total Warfare Elements 91 Random Method 91 PV Method 91 Converting Back From Battleforce, Alpha Strike And Total Warfare To SBF and ACS 91 SOLAR SYSTEM GENERATION The Primary 98 Star Type 99 Stellar Subtype 102 The Planets 102 Step 1: Generating Number Of Orbits 102 Step 2: Placing Orbits 102 Step 3: Filling Orbital Slots 103 Step 4: Planetary Details 104 Common Details 104 Asteroid Belts 106 Moons And Rings 106 Size Of Moons 107 Distribution Of Moons And Rings 107 Atmospheric Pressure And Composition 108 Planetary Temperatures 110 Habitable Planet Details 111 Special Features And Occupancy 114 Options 115 Brown Dwarfs 115 Exotic Moons 115 Eccentric Planetary Orbits 116 High Axial Tilts 116 Hot, Hot, Hot! 116 INTRODUCTION OPERATIONS FORMATION BUILDING INNER SPHERE AT WAR CONVERSIONS SOLAR SYSTEM GENERATION NARRATIVE MAP-BASED CHAOS CAMPAIGN RECORD SHEETS 3

3 It s Life, But Not As We Know It 117 Multi-Star Systems 117 Realistic Planetary Placement 118 Variable Stars 118 Very Young And Very Old Systems 118 Water, Water Everywhere 119 Planetary Location Versus Density And Exotic Densities 119 Math Guidance 120 Transit Times 120 Density Calculations 120 Surface Gravity Calculations 120 Escape Velocity Calculation 120 Planetary Year Length 121 Planetary Temperatures 121 COLONY 122 Step 1: Population 122 Population 122 Step 2: Usilr Codes 123 Exceptions 129 Step 3: Governments 129 Government Definitions 130 Step 4: Other Features 132 NARRATIVE CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND 134 Player Unit Rosters 135 WEBBING THE CAMPAIGN 135 SCENARIO HOOKS 137 Mission Balancing 139 Mission Creation & Webbing 139 MISSION WRAP UP 139 Salvage 139 Repair Cost And Time 140 Results And Follow Up 140 NARRATIVE AND MAP-BASED 141 FINAL TIPS & TRICKS 141 MAP-BASED CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN SCALE 142 RULES COMPLEXITY 143 CAMPAIGN SETUP 143 Determining Campaign Objectives 143 Determining Map Objectives 144 Valuing Map Objectives 147 Force Building 147 Deployment 147 PLAYING/RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN 148 Map-Scale Turns 148 Formation Orders 148 Battles 149 Choosing Mapsheets or Terrain 150 Scenarios 150 Battle Wrap-Up 153 Key Locations 154 WINNING THE CAMPAIGN 154 OPTIONAL RULES 155 Multi-Force Campaigns 155 Double-Blind Rules 155 Dynamic Campaign Scaling 155 CUSTOM CHAOS: CAMPAIGN HOW TO USE THE CHAOS CAMPAIGN RULESET 157 Tracks 157 Situation And Game Setup 157 Player Force Size 158 Opposing Forces 158 Warchest And Objectives 160 Special Rules 160 Aftermath And Next Track 160 Warchest Point System 160 Getting Started 160 Warchest Debt 160 Warchest Points Between Tracks 160 Optional Rule: Support Points 161 Purchase/Repair 162 Skill Advancement 164 Changing Force Commands And Formation Types 164 Warchest Campaign Record Sheet 164 CUSTOM CHAOS: BUILDING YOUR OWN CAMPAIGN 165 Game Setup 165 Additional Forces 165 Objectives 166 Victory Conditions (Optional) 169 OPTIONS 169 Warchest 174 Special Rules 174 Situation 180 Aftermath 180 Next Track 180 BUILDING A TRACK 180 Game Setup 182 Attacker 182 Defender 182 Warchest 182 Options: 182 Objectives: 182 Special Rules 182 Forced Withdrawal 182 Tinderbox 182 Aftermath 182 Victory 182 Failure 182 Next Tracks 182 RECORD SHEETS & TABLES

4 Project Concept Randall N. Bills Project Development Ben H. Rome Writing Randall N. Bills Brian Bunch Johannes Heidler Joshua K. Franklin Mike Miller Ben H. Rome Elliotte Want Product Editing Aaron Cahall BattleTech Line Developer Randall N. Bills Assistant Line Developer Ben H. Rome Products Developer Production Staff Art Director Brent Evans Assistant Art Director Cover Art Marco Mazzoni Cover Design BattleTech Logo Design Shane Hartley, Matt Heerdt and Steve Walker Evolved Faction Logos Design Jason Vargas Layout David Allen Kerber Illustrations Jeff Porter Miniatures Painting & Photography Camospecs Online CREDITS Additional Design and Development The following people have been involved in the creation and development of BattleTech rules, either by writing material that was assimilated into the main body of the rules, serving as the BattleTech line developer in the past, or otherwise contributing to the game in a major way., Samuel B. Baker, Herb Beas, Randall N. Bills, Forest G. Brown, Chuck Crain, Chris Hartford, Clare Hess, Scott Jenkins, J. Andrew Keith, James R. Kellar, Dale Kemper, L.R. Butch Leeper, Bryan Li- Brandi, Jim Long, David McCulloch, Jim Musser, Bryan Nystul, Mike Nystul, Blaine Pardoe, Boy F. Peterson Jr., Rick Raisley, Ben H. Rome, Paul Sjardijn, Jerry Stenson, Christoffer Trossen, Wm. John Wheeler. Playtesters/Proofers/Fact Checkers In addition, the following people have been involved in the thankless task of playtesting, proofing, and factchecking BattleTech rules since the start of the core rulebook series, beginning with Total Warfare. Anyone we may have missed, we apologize in advance. Matt Alexander, Sebastian Brocks, Brian Bunch, Aaron Cahall, Rich Cencarik, Bill Derer, Brent Moonsword Ezell, Bruce Ford, Eugen Fournes, Stephan Frabartolo, Joshua K. Franklin, William MadCapellan Gauthier, Keith Hann, Jason Hansa, Térence Harris, John Worktroll Haward, Matt Heerdt, Johannes Heidler, Ross Hines, Ken Horner, Daniel Isberner, Alex Kaempen, David Kerber, Stephen C. King, Chris Marti, Mike Miller, Jan Prowell, Craig Turboturtle Reed, Luke Robertson, Andreas Rudolf, Eric Salzman, Chris Sheldon, Cameron Smith, Lee Thoms, Mike Timbers, Drew Triebe, Øystein Tvedten, John Unchelenko, Elliotte Want, Chris Wheeler, Matthew Wilsbacher, Andreas Zuber. Special Thanks To BattleTech fans worldwide, your neverending addiction to this venerable game never ceases to amaze. The clamor for building campaigns has been constant for several years, and we re glad to finally present them to you in the last of the core rulebook lineup. A special thanks to Paul Sjardijn, who helped develop the initial Chaos Campaign ruleset that debuted in Dawn of the Jihad and has morphed into an essential game aid for fans wanting to participate in iconic universe-setting campaigns. Ben wishes to thank Randall for taking a chance way back when, giving him the chance to play behind the scenes with the game line and universe for so many years. And he also thanks his wife Ri, who continues to provide support and encouragement with all his creative endeavors. Dedication To all the BattleTech fans that have kept the faith for so many years thank you. Keep watch for the next big thing! 2016 The Topps Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Campaign Operations, Classic BattleTech, BattleTech, Mech, BattleMech, MechWarrior and Topps logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of The Topps Company, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Copyright Owner, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Game Labs logo are trademarks of InMediaRes Productions, LLC. Printed in USA Published by Catalyst Game Labs, an imprint of InMediaRes Productions, LLC. PMB st Ave NE E502 Lake Stevens, WA FIND US ONLINE: classicbattletech@catalystgamelabs.com ( address for any BattleTech questions) (official BattleTech web pages) (Catalyst web pages) (online ordering) INTRODUCTION OPERATIONS FORMATION BUILDING INNER SPHERE AT WAR CONVERSIONS SOLAR SYSTEM GENERATION NARRATIVE MAP-BASED CHAOS CAMPAIGN RECORD SHEETS 5

The Total Warfare (TW) and TechManual (TM) rulebooks present the core game and construction rules for BattleTech (BT), otherwise referred to as the standard rules.

5 The Total Warfare (TW) and TechManual (TM) rulebooks present the core game and construction rules for BattleTech (BT), otherwise referred to as the standard rules. These two volumes encompass eight core unit types several of which contain numerous subunit types and a host of weapons and rules, as well as covering many different game situations. However, despite the breadth of play covered, many game situations still fall outside those rules, not to mention a plethora of more advanced equipment, as well as a few advanced units. ADVANCED RULES Beyond the standard rules, a legion of advanced rules exists, allowing players to expand their games in any direction they desire. In an effort to bring these rules to players in the most logical form possible, the advanced rules are contained in three staging core rulebooks, each one staging up and building off of the previous rules set. Additionally, each one focuses on a particular in-universe time frame that will allow players to easily grasp where a given rulebook will plug into their existing game play. TACTICAL OPERATIONS Forces on-world. Conflict expected to last mere hours to achieve object. Tactical Operations (TO) is the is the first in the staging Advanced Rulebooks. Its focus is during game play, and applies directly to a game as it unfolds on a world in the BattleTech universe; its rules represent hours in-universe, the time frame it takes for a single, moderate-sized battle to play out on a gaming table. Building on Total Warfare and TechManual, Tactical Operations conveys numerous advanced rules for movement and combat across various units, while expanding core rules such as those for buildings, and implementing a host of advanced terrain and weather rules. Rules for the construction and use of advanced Support Vehicles are presented, as well as advanced and prototype construction options and weapons for use by almost every unit. STRATEGIC OPERATIONS Forces in solar system. Beginning burn to planet. Conflict expected to last weeks to achieve object. Strategic Operations (SO) is the second staging Advanced Rulebook. It stages a player up to the next logical area of play, focusing on in a solar system and multi-game play; its rules represent weeks within the BattleTech universe, the time frame needed for several battles to conquer an entire solar system. Strategic Operations contains advanced movement and combat operations emphasizing the importance of aerospace units, while extensive rules cover combat drops of numerous troop types into any situation. Linked scenarios and comprehensive maintenance, salvage, repair and customization rules provide an easy format for players to turn multiple games into an interconnected campaign to capture a target system, where the support crew of technicians and doctors and their skills can be just as important as any warrior. Complete game play and construction rules for advanced aerospace units are also included. Finally, a complete game system BattleForce allows players to use their existing miniatures and mapsheets to play quick, fast-paced BattleTech games, from small-scale skirmishes to largescale planetary invasions.

INTERSTELLAR OPERATIONS Forces marshaled. Flotillas assigned to target solar systems. Conflict expected to last months to achieve objectives.

Players are staged up to the final level of play, where they can assume the roles of a House Lord or Clan Khan and dominate the galaxy; IO rules represent months in the BattleTech universe, the time

More importantly, the system contains rules that allow players to stage any large-scale conflict back through the various rule sets, as they desire from BattleForce or Alpha Strike as detailed in

Players have complete flexibility for any type of conflict in which they wish to engage. CAMPAIGN OPERATIONS Prepare forces.

6 INTERSTELLAR OPERATIONS Forces marshaled. Flotillas assigned to target solar systems. Conflict expected to last months to achieve objectives. Interstellar Operations (IO) is the final staging Advanced Rulebook. Players are staged up to the final level of play, where they can assume the roles of a House Lord or Clan Khan and dominate the galaxy; IO rules represent months in the BattleTech universe, the time frame for conquering numerous star systems. Interstellar Operations contains rules for the running of an entire faction s military as a player tries to conquer (or defend) numerous solar systems. More importantly, the system contains rules that allow players to stage any large-scale conflict back through the various rule sets, as they desire from BattleForce or Alpha Strike as detailed in Strategic Operations, Alpha Strike and the Alpha Strike Companion, all the way up to the simple, easy-to-use rules of conflict at the largest scale. Players have complete flexibility for any type of conflict in which they wish to engage. CAMPAIGN OPERATIONS Prepare forces. Assign objectives, targets, and plans of attack across a world or a swath of interstellar space. Wage war to achieve your final objective. Campaign Operations (CO) is the rulebook you are holding in your hands and the foundational book to prepare players for campaigns that can encompass all of the three staging Advanced Rulebooks. Incorporating elements from all of the previous rulebooks, as well as Alpha Strike and the Alpha Strike Companion, CO represents an entire campaign, scenario, or story arc within the BattleTech universe. Players can assume the roles of any unit within the universe or create their own iconic force. Campaign Operations contains rules for the construction and detailing of solar systems, building an opposing force to put in conflict with the players, crafting specialized scenario and campaign arcs, and constructing a stylized Chaos Campaign that fits a group s play style. Players and gamemasters can use these rules with Total Warfare (and subsequent Advanced Rulebooks), A Time of War RPG, and the Alpha Strike system. CHOOSE WHAT YOU LIKE As previously noted, Campaign Operations encapsulates a myriad of advanced rules. In effect, all the rules in this volume are optional. This means you can use as many or as few of the rules in this book as you want. (In fact, this book contains so many new rules that we recommend you try them out a few at a time, rather than attempting to use them all at once.) Furthermore, most of the new rules here can be added individually to a standard game most of the rules do not rely on other rules in this book to work in existing BattleTech games. This allows you to tailor your BattleTech game to your taste by including only those rules that you find make the game more interesting or fun. Use whatever new rules you want and disregard the rest. Given the scope of the rules and the fact that they are optional, all players in a group should read through and agree to the use of any of these rules and weapons/equipment. PLAYER ADJUDICATION An advanced-rules book for any game is, almost by definition, more complex. In a game system with such a long and rich heritage as BattleTech this rulebook alone draws from dozens of different sources across a large number of years that complexity is even greater. Developers and writers have gone to great effort to make these rules as comprehensive as possible not only from one section to the next in this book, but in how such advanced weapons and rules interact with the core game and construction rules as presented in Total Warfare and TechManual. However, the sheer scope of Campaign Operations (as with Tactical Operations, Strategic Operations, and Interstellar Operations) and the plethora of options provided means that it is not possible to cover all potential situations. Once this product reaches the players hands, they ll envision scenarios and create situations on a game board that never crossed the minds of the developers or the legion of authors and playtesters that thoroughly worked over this product. With that in mind, when players encounter situations not covered in the rules as they integrate the contents of Campaign Operations into their playing group, they are encouraged to adjudicate each situation appropriately; make up the rules that work for you. If in the process a playing group runs into an argument, feel free to let a die roll resolve any disputes so you can return to playing the game and having fun. Finally, the forums on bg.battletech.com are an excellent resource. Players can tap into a strong and vibrant online community, tapping a wide selection of players for different ideas on how best to adjudicate a particular situation. INTRODUCTION OPERATIONS FORMATION BUILDING INNER SPHERE AT WAR CONVERSIONS SOLAR SYSTEM GENERATION NARRATIVE MAP-BASED CHAOS CAMPAIGN RECORD SHEETS 7

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WEBSITE: CATALYSTGAMELABS.COM file For centuries, the armies of the Great Houses have fought to reclaim the glory of the fallen Star League, sending regiments of their elite MechWarriors into battle across hundreds of worlds as humanity