The Scorpion's Nest Attacker ('Mechs) Orders: Salvage counters: Forced Withdrawal: Proportional Response: Defender (Tanks): Orders: Low Morale:

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1 The Scorpion's Nest A BattleTech demonstration scenario Attacker ('Mechs) You are a junior soldier in the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery, an Ashigaru in the service of your Warlord and Coordinator. Your Company of BattleMechs have landed on Santander's World, a dry and sandy hellhole the self-styled Bandit King and assassin Helmar Valasek falsely claims as his own. The accursed Valasek has stolen food, equipment, and even tanks from your people; it is time to show him the anger of the Dragon. Orders: Raid the warehouses in which the pirates are hiding their ill-gotten gains, and return them to your people. Destroy what cannot be saved, denying it to the pirates. Engage targets of opportunity, destroying the enemy's ability to defend himself in the future. It is dishonorable to retreat in the face of a true enemy, but it is treason to arm the enemies of the Dragon. Denying your 'Mechs to these rats is more important than your personal honor. (5VP per Salvage counter removed from the board via your home edge. 1 VP per building hex destroyed, empty or filled. 1 VP per enemy tank destroyed, immobilized, or with its primary weapons destroyed.) Salvage counters: To load Salvage, a 'Mech with hands must spend a full turn next to an unraided warehouse hex without shooting or moving. Place a Salvage counter next to the 'Mech at the beginning of the following turn. It must escape off the edge it entered from to score Victory points. If the 'Mech only has one arm, you score 2 VP instead. Forced Withdrawal: If your 'Mech has either lost a Side Torso, lost all weapons bigger than a machine gun, or taken at least two hits to the gyro and engine combined, it must immediately begin retreating. Ask the Referee for clarification if needed. Proportional Response: The number of enemies you face is based on the 'Mechs you select. Choose wisely. Defender (Tanks): Well, the Boss has finally stepped in it. Most of your 'Mechs are off-world raiding. All you have left to defend the storehouses is a battalion of Qwikscell crap-boxes. At least the mechanics managed to get most of them working - Scorpions are notoriously unreliable on a good day, and your boys stole these ones before they'd been tested out. At least you got some surprisesup your sleeves.. See if you can have a present waiting when the Boss gets back, and try to keep the Dracs from stealing what you already have. Orders: Defend your warehouses by any means necessary Destroy (or preferably, capture) as many enemy 'Mechs as possible. Show the Dragon that you've earned your new home. (5 VP per enemy 'Mech in salvageable condition - that means Center Torso intact, and not killed by an Engine or Ammo explosion. 2 VP per Warehouse hex that's still intact when the last Drac 'Mech leaves the table. 2 VP per unsalvageable 'Mech kill.) Low Morale: The pirate crews will ditch their tanks if they are immobilized or all weapons bigger than a Machine Gun are destroyed. Flip the tank upside-down in the hex; it still counts for stacking limits. Either side may continue to shoot it if desired.

2 Referee briefing/materials: Brush up on vehicle rules. One copy of the Vee hit location charts, &c., per Vee player. Building counters and Salvage counters. 2x1 Light buildings, Level 1 or 2 depending on how amusing you want the Movement phase to be. Show players how to do quick targeting math on the record sheets, and have them calculate all targeting simultaneously. They can learn about interlocked declarations later, but trying to do it now will suck up huge amounts of time. If there are more experienced players on either side, have them help the less-experienced ones calc out their desired shots. See the last pages of this document for "doubled-up" tank sheets, which will mean a lot less wasted paper. Setup: Place two two-hex buildings on each map (I recommend at least two maps, plus another map for every two additional players). These should be at least 5 hexes away from any edge and each other. Place a dropship model (if available) or other "home base" on the Attacker's Home Edge. The Defender sets up their tanks at the beginning of the game; the Attacker enters from their Home Edge on the first turn. As new players arrive, allow them to choose 'Mechs or tanks. They drive on from their respective home edges in the next Movement Phase; the Defending player may also place reinforcement tanks in any hex next to a Building hex not occupied by an enemy unit. Forces: Base this on whatever minis and record sheets you have. The DCMS players should have access to one Heavy and a large selection of Lights; I use a rough proportion based on historical numbers, but really you can get away with almost any Light in this scenario. I limit the number of the 'Mechs with an (*) below to one per player to help keep things a bit more balanced. If you want to add an unlisted 'Mech, remember that hands and speed are worth far more than raw firepower in this scenario; round up on the BV's worth of Scorps if it's fast and handy, and down if it's armless or slow. The Defenders receive Scorpion tanks based on the number of enemy 'Mechs, and for every three "regular" Autocannon Scorpions may take a Laser, SRM, or LRM variant. When possible, assign one tank player for each 'Mech player, but if you can't manage those numbers assist the "short" side. Tank ratios: For each: The Defender receives: Quickdraw*/Grand Dragon* 4 tanks Dragon -1C or -1N*, Ostscout* 3 tanks Panther, Jenner, Spider*, Javelin, Mongoose* 2 tanks Wasp, Stinger, Valkyrie 1.5 tanks (round up) Locust 1 tank Unless the variant is listed, the ratio applies to all variants of the chosen 'Mech.

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