WizKids 35014 - CBT - Historical - War of 3039 OEF.pdf - [2002-2008] - WizKids - trzeci

™

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE HARDER THEY FALL 4

Introduction 5

HOW THINGS CAME TO PASS 7

The Rise of Teddy K 7

Independence Fever 8

“I Will Fight No More Forever” 11

The War of 3039 11

Allied Preparations 11

DCMS Preparations 15

Rank and File 15

PERSONALITIES 16

First Prince Hanse Davion 16

Archon Melissa Steiner 17

Archon-Emeritus Katrina Steiner 17

Coordinator Takashi Kurita 18

Gunji-no-Kanrei Theodore Kurita 19

General Nondi Steiner

Lima (March) 49

McComb (March-July) 50

New Aberdeen (March-July) 50

Royal (March-April) 50

Galedon Thrust 51

An Ting (April-June) 51

Capra (May) 52

Delacruz (May-July) 52

Elidere IV (April) 53

Huan (April) 55

Thestria (May-July) 56

Other Wave One Actions 57

Lyran Operations 58

DCMS Operations 59

FWL Operations 63

SHADOW WARS 64

The Irregular War 64

The ISF War 64

The LIC and MIIO War 66

The Media Conflict 67

Communications 68

WAVE TWO AND COUNTERATTACK 69

Commonwealth Thrust 69

Alnasi (July-August) 70

Alrakis (July-August) 70

Altais (November) 74

Kessel (July-December) 74

Konstance (August-November) 75

Vega (July-August) 76

Dieron Thrust 78

Ancha (July-September) 78

Athenry (July-December) 79

Biham (July-September) 80

Dieron (July) 82

Halstead Station (August) 83

Kervil (August) 83

Nashira (July-November) 83

Pike IV (July-November) 84

Sadachbia (July-December) 86

Telos IV (July-October) 86

Miscellaneous Actions 88

Benjamin Thrust 88

Fellanin II (August-September) 89

Klathandu IV (August-October) 90

Marduk (August-October)

Harrow’s Sun (July)

100

Lima

100

McComb

100

New Aberdeen

(August-December) 101

Royal 101

Galedon Thrust 102

An Ting (July-August) 102

Capra (July-October) 104

Delacruz (August-September) 105

Elidere IV (July-August) 106

Huan (August-September) 107

Thestria (August-September) 107

Other Actions 108

DCMS Counter-Invasion 111

Breed (July-November) 112

Cartago (September) 113

Clovis (August-September) 114

Dobson (September) 114

Doneval II (September-October) 115

Exeter (September-October) 116

Le Blanc (July-September) 117

New Ivaarsen (August-October) 118

Rochester (August-October) 118

Xhosa VII (August-November) 119

Other Wave Two Actions 119

Combine Operations 119

Free Worlds League Operations 120

Capellan Operations

Field Marshal Ran Felsner

Field Marshal Vanessa Bisla

Field Marshal Ardan Sortek

Field Marshal Duke

James Sandoval

Tai-shu Michi Noketsuna

WAVE ONE

Commonwealth Thrust

Alnasi (April-May)

Alrakis (April)

Altais (April-June)

Kessel (April-June)

122

Konstance (April-July)

The Mac Attack

123

Vega (April-June)

Countering the Big Mac

127

Dieron Thrust

AFTERMATH

131

Ancha (April-June)

Aftershocks

131

Athenry (April-May)

Repercussions: The Combine

134

Biham (April-June)

Repercussions: The Allies

134

Dieron (April-June)

DEPLOYMENT TABLE

135

Halstead Station (April-May)

RULES ANNEX

142

Kervil (April-June)

Prototypes and Developmental

Dead Ends 142

Listen-Kill Missiles 144

Prototype Systems 144

Force-Specific Abilities 145

Unit Assignment Tables 145

Assigning Units 146

Assigning Pilots 146

BattleForce 2 Command Lists 152

The Inner Sphere in Flames:

War of 3039 Annex

Nashira (May-June)

Pike IV (May-June)

Sadachbia (April-June)

Telos IV (April-June)

Benjamin Thrust

Fellanin II (April-July)

Klathandu IV (May)

Marduk (May-July)

Matar (September-December)

Matar (April-July)

New Mendham (July-October)

New Mendham (April-July)

Sadalbari (July-October)

153

Sadalbari (April-May)

Other Actions

Special Rules

153

Mercenary-Supported Actions

Force Compositions

153

Bergman’s Planet (March)

Bergman’s Planet (August-

September)

Force Listings

155

Galtor III (February-March)

Leaders and Factions

165

Harrow’s Sun (March)

Galtor III (3041 and 3042)

INDEX

166

CREDITS

Petersen, Jr.), the various Field Manual

authors (you know who you are) and in

particular Robert Charrette for the novel

Heir to the Dragon , for building the frame-

work off of which the War of 3039 could

be fully fleshed out.

Todd Thrash, Jason “Panzerfaust 150” Weiser,

Patrick “Roosterboy” Wynne

Writing

Chris Hartford

Christoffer Trossen

Historical: War of 3039, AeroTech 2, Revised,

Classic BattleTech, BattleTech, ’Mech,

BattleMech, Classic BattleTech RPG,

MechWarrior, BattleForce 2, and WK Games

are registered trademarks and/or trademarks

of WizKids, 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, with-

out the prior permission in writing of the

any form other than that in which it is pub-

lished. Printed in the USA.

Product Development

Randall N. Bills

Special Thanks

To the Fact Checkers, who were shang-

haied from their work on the Handbook

series to work on this book: Paul Bowman,

Peter La Casse, Mike Miller, Ben “Ghost

Bear” Rome, Chris “Chinless” Wheeler; as

well as additional comments by Daniel Ball,

Herbert Beas, Randall N. Bills, Warner

Doles, Paul Sjardijn and Øystein Tvedten. To

the ever helpful proof checkers: Peter La

Casse, Rich Cencarik, Mike Miller, David

McCulloch, Ben Rome, Paul Sjardijn and

Øystein Tvedten.

Product Editing

Diane Piron-Gelman

BattleTech Line Developer

Randall N. Bills

Production Staff

Art Direction

Randall N. Bills

Cover Art

Klaus Scherwinski

Cover Design

Jason Vargas

Layout

Jason Vargas

Illustrations

Kevin McCann

Chris Lewis

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Maps

Øystein Tvedten

Version 1.0, February 2005, based on first

printing.

Playtesters

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“Shadhawk” Hardenburgh, John “Worktroll”

Haward, Glenn “Lobsterback” Hopkins,

Michael “Konan” Koning, Edward

“TenakaFurey” Lafferty, Chris “SCUG” Lewis,

Darrell “FlamingDeath” Myers, Lou

“Nukeloader” Myers, Aaron Pollyea, Simon

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Published by FanPro LLC • 1608 N. Milwaukee •

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Find us online:

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Acknowledgements

To the authors of the 20 Year Update

(Jim Musser, Donna Ippolito and Boy F.

(official

THE HARDER THEY FALL

Orbital Assault Trajectory, Telos IV

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

13 August 3039

cocoon, the Panther began to shudder violently, its controlled

spin threatening to turn into an uncontrolled tumble. Fujimori

wrenched the humanoid body around into the traditional para-

chutist’s pose and slowly drew its legs down so that the in-

built jump jets could slow its descent. Without the jets, this

last phase was going to be very swift and end messily. He

needed to concentrate on the movement controls and the

attitude indicators. One wrong move or ill-timed distraction

could make the difference between life and death. He need-

ed another twenty seconds, fifteen, ten …

The proximity alert sounded. Fujimori’s attention

snapped to the small drop-radar. With the pilot no longer

focusing on posture and attitude, the ’Mech began to tumble.

“Kuso,” he swore, as much at his own incompetence as

at the inbound fighter that lit up the Threat Warning Indicator.

For a moment panic gripped him, followed by steely calm. All

thoughts of the Dieron Regulars’ assault landing at Triumph

Spaceport left his mind. The Way of the Samurai may be

death but I’m not going to die here , he thought.

A dot appeared on the horizon and then, almost faster

than his eyes could register, closed the gap with the falling

‘Mech. In his brief glimpse of the flying machine Fujimori rec-

ognized it as a Sparrowhawk, presumably one of the Avalon

Hussars. Its speed carried it flashing past, spitting fire as it

went. The jammers and noisemakers concealed in the cocoon

shards drew some of its fire, but one laser beam struck the

Panther high in the torso. The shot scored a long rent in the

armor but failed to breach its protective layers. The impact

accelerated the ’Mech’s tumble.

The Threat Warning Indicator remained on. Fujimori knew

what that meant. The falling Panther was still the Davion fight-

er’s target, the Sparrowhawk’s tracking radar maintaining a lock

on the vulnerable descending ‘Mech. Fujimori realized he’d

been lucky. The pod shards had protected him from the brunt of

the attack, but on a second pass they would be a lot farther

from the Panther and the ’Mech would be much more vulnera-

ble. He fought to maintain control of the falling machine, swear-

ing at the sluggish controls while pulling, pushing and kicking

with all his might. The tumbling machine slowed, but Fujimori

winced as he caught sight of his attacker’s contrails. At first

they were heading away, but then they looped up and over

before heading back toward him, an arrow pointed at his heart.

I’m dead, he thought. How do I get out of this?

He rolled the Panther on its side and pointed his particle

cannon at the approaching streak. His bolt of man-made light-

ning missed the approaching fighter by dozens of meters. Last

chance , he thought desperately as he aimed again. His finger

tightened on the trigger as tracer fire lanced out across the

Sparrowhawk’s path. The Davion fighter pulled up and rolled,

now more prey than hunter. A second fighter passed briefly

The rocking of the falling ’Mech made Chu-i James

Fujimori feel queasy, the fifteen-meter ceramic ovoid continu-

ing to oscillate after its drogue chute deployed and yanked it

upright. Now high in the atmosphere, the temperature inside

the pod began to fall and Fujimori no longer expected to be

burned to a crisp.

“Hell of a way to gain my jump wings,” he muttered as he

fought nausea. He hadn’t suffered space sickness on the

transport and had refused the tablets offered by the medical

orderly prior to the jump. Now he understood why the more

experienced troops had sniggered at his bravado. His stom-

ach heaved again as his inner ear reported wild oscillations

while his eyes disagreed. Only another thirty seconds.

Please, only another thirty seconds! He counted them down.

Almost perfectly on cue, his neurohelmeted head

slammed forward, the sudden deceleration more than his

scrawny neck muscles could support. The restraint fitted to

his couch kept Fujimori from slamming headfirst into his com-

mand console, but didn’t keep him from mashing his face

against the inner facing of the fragile helmet. He tasted

blood, either from biting his lip or from his injured nose. He’d

have to wait until he was on the ground to check.

The deceleration faded, or at least his perception of it,

and the cockpit instrumentation signaled a perfect deploy-

ment of the main chute. The pod was now sub-sonic, a far cry

from the almost 20,000 kph it had been traveling when it

punched into Telos’ upper atmosphere. Fujimori counted a

dozen seconds under his breath. He reached twenty-five and

his stomach lurched again as the plummeting drop-pod

passed 10km altitude and the back-shell disengaged from

the cocoon, freeing the ceramic egg from its parachute har-

ness. The floor seemed to fall away. Rather than being

pressed down on the couch, he returned to freefall. This time

Fujimori barely managed to lift the visor before he fouled his

faceplate with vomit. The stomach spasms stopped, but now

the stench assailed his sore nose. Something else to deal

with on the ground.

The cocoon began to spin, propelled in part by the back-

shell release and accelerated by small pyrotechnic charges in

anticipation of the final stage of separation. In carefully

choreographed sequence, additional charges detonated

throughout the ceramic casing, some in solid blocks and oth-

ers in linear arrangements. The artificial eggshell splintered

and cracked, sloughing off into the thickening air, thrown

away from the valuable cargo by centrifugal force. No longer

protected from the buffeting of the wind by its aerodynamic

into Fujimori’s field of vision, this time a sleek Samurai in

Dieron Regulars colors. It pulled up sharply too, its contrails

entwining with those of the Davion fighter.

Fujimori in his Panther continued to fall. He became sud-

denly, crashingly aware of the ground rushing up to meet him.

Twisting desperately he aligned his ’Mech’s body with its feet

downward. Then he stamped hard on the jump pedals. The

Panther ’s jets roared to life, slowing the descent. The ‘Mech

continued to spin. From the corner of his eye he could see

the spaceport complex and beyond it the city, some dozen

kilometers distant, but he didn’t have time to make a course

correction. He would need every ounce of skill to survive the

landing, let alone worry about where he came down.

He arched the ’Mech’s body again, seeking to control the

spin, all the while maintaining pressure on the jet triggers. Air

speed bled off. An impact now would still be fatal, but at

least he wouldn’t leave a smear across the landscape. An

alert sounded as his altimeter recognized 500 meters. Only

seconds remained of the descent. Fujimori triggered the

booster pack strapped to the Panther ’s back. Solid rocket

motors cut in, further slowing the plunging ‘Mech. The altime-

ter warning rose in pitch to a scream. Fujimori began to pray.

Namu Amida Butsu. O Amida, I take refuge in you.

There was a bone-shaking blow as the thirty-five ton

’Mech touched down, its actuators struggling to absorb the

impact. Artificial bones and muscles creaked ominously and

sensors flashed for attention. Yet the ’Mech remained intact,

legs bending to absorb the stress. One knee grazed the

ground, tearing a jagged rent in the turf, and the Panther fell

forward. Fujimori’s right hand shot out. The sensor mesh built

into his gloves recognized the action and produced a near-per-

fect mimicry with the Panthe r’s own right arm. The massive

hand dug into the turf but the machine remained upright.

Fujimori breathed heavily for what seemed like hours but was

probably only half a minute, then triggered the command

macro that stood the ’Mech upright once more. Dirt clung to

the leg and hand that had braced the unsteady machine, but

those were minor concerns now.

Pulling the Panther fully erect, Fujimori gave the ’Mech’s

throttle a shove and the humanoid machine took a step for-

ward. He spun the massive war machine so that he could

observe his immediate surroundings. Scorched grass marked

his landing site, some of it still burning from the rocket boost-

er strapped to his back. He reached up to the overhead con-

sole and armed a pair of switches before opening the cover

over a third. He pressed it. Dull detonations sounded in his

cockpit as small pyrotechnic charges detonated and separat-

ed the smoking rocket backpack from the ’Mech. He stepped

forward again, clear of the straps and cables, and then

turned toward his objective, now lost beyond the horizon but

clearly identifiable by the rising plume of smoke.

Time to join this war , he thought, and bring the Dragon’s

vengeance to his enemies . Fujimori advanced the throttle and

the ’Mech accelerated into a long-legged lope that would

quickly eat up the kilometers.

The Davion teki won’t know what hit them .

INTRODUCTION

Victor,

You may wish to circulate this treatise among your troops.

I have not corrected any of General Caradoc Trevena’s mis-

conceptions about the participants or their motivations—I’m

sure you can understand why—but even as it stands, it pro-

vides a comprehensive overview of the War of 3039 and cer-

tainly avoids the political bias of Misha Auburn. I have always

liked Misha and her father, but neither of them has ever let go

of their Steiner roots. Trevena has generally managed to bal-

ance his heritage with an unbiased view of events. He doesn’t

put your mother and father on a pedestal, nor does he paint

Theodore as the bogeyman—a portrayal unfortunately preva-

lent in contemporary AFFS and LCAF accounts. He looks at the

facts, not the image, and understands why the war happened

the way it did and what we can learn from it.

Trevena used the DCMS, LCAF and AFFS archives to build

his picture of the conflict, providing unparalleled insights into the

actions on both sides. Where he errs is in the interpretation of

material that remains classified, and also in seeking to examine

the motivations of the participants. As regards the latter, he can

do little more than make educated guesses, though his “wild

stabs in the dark” are often more insightful than those of thirty-

year veterans in the Lyran military—in particular some of those

buffoons now seeking to ingratiate themselves with young Peter.

One thing is worth noting. Trevena portrays your great-

aunt Nondi in a favorable light that is at odds with current

perceptions of her. He depicts her as a strong and insightful

leader, moody but competent—a far cry from the caricature

put about during her regency. She and I never got on particu-

larly well—childhood rivalries and all that—but I did respect

her accomplishments and abilities. It is refreshing to see a

report that does her justice and stands as a testament to a

fine General of the Armies.

I commend the manuscript to your hands. Take it to

Tharkad and the Star League conference and share it with

Hohiro and his colleagues. I should see you there, but I admit

my new garden here is most distracting. You should visit me

soon and I will tell you tales of this place and its distin-

guished visitors that will prove valuable in your present role.

—Anastasius Focht,

Mimir House, Fort Odin,

Dromini IV, Lyran Alliance

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