TEXT: 35101
  35101
  
  ©2006 WizKids, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Classic BattleTech Total Warfare, Classic BattleTech, BattleTech, BattleMech, ’Mech, and WK 
  Games are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of WizKids, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Printed in Thailand.
  It is the 31st century, a time of endless wars that rage 
  across human-occupied space. As star empires clash, these 
  epic wars are won and lost by BattleMechs®, 30-foot-tall 
  humanoid metal titans bristling with lasers, autocannons 
  and dozens of other lethal weapons; enough firepower to 
  level entire city blocks. Your elite force of MechWarriors® 
  drives these juggernauts into battle, proudly holding your 
  faction’s flag high, intent on expanding the power and 
  glory of your realm. At their beck and call are the support 
  units of armored vehicles, power armored infantry, 
  aerospace fighters and more, wielded by a MechWarrior’s 
  skillful command to aid him in ultimate victory. Will they 
  become legends, or forgotten casualties? Only your skill 
  and luck will determine their fate!
  The product of more than twenty years of gaming 
  experience, Total Warfare™ presents the rules of the Classic 
  BattleTech® game system as never before. For the fi rst time, 
  all the rules for various units that have a direct impact on 
  the deadly battlefi elds of the thirty-fi rst century appear 
  in a unifi ed rules set: from BattleMechs to ProtoMechs, 
  Combat Vehicles to Support Vehicles, infantry to aerospace 
  fi ghters and DropShips. Interwoven and meticulously 
  updated, Total Warfare provides the most detailed and 
  comprehensive rules set published to date for BattleTech—
  the perfect companion for standard tournament play.
  Total Warfare is the single-source rulebook for people who play 
  Classic BattleTech. It is not intended to teach new players the game, 
  but rather to serve as a reference work for people who know the 
  game, while introducing more technologies and expansive rules 
  than appear in the basic box set. The introductory game in the 
  BattleTech line is the Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set. New 
  players should pick up that product before diving into this one.
  Construction rules for the various units presented in Total Warfare 
  can be found in Classic BattleTech TechManual™.
  
  CLASSIC BATTLETECH
  CLASSIC BATTLETECH
  TM
  TOTAL WARFARE
  • FANPRO LLC •
  
  8
  20
  Colonel John Marik-Johns leads an assault against ‘Emperor’ Baranov’s Fourth Tikonov Republican Guards on the contested world of Hall.
  RA
  GUARDIAN 
  UNNUMBERED
  INTRODUCTION
   
  Fiction 
  8
   
   
  Fiction vs. Rules 
  9
   
   
  Fiction and Art 
  9
   
  3-D Terrain vs. Paper Maps 
  9
   
  Standard vs. Advanced Rules 
  10
   
   
  Rule Levels 
  10
   
  Reader Response 
  10
   
  Classic BattleTech: More than a Game 
  10
   
   
  Core Rulebooks 
  10
   
   
  Technical Readouts 
  10
   
   
  The Jihad 
  11
   
   
  Handbooks 
  11
   
   
  Historicals 
  11
   
   
  Map Sets 
  11
   
   
  Record Sheets 
  11
   
  Where to Order? 
  11
   
  Other Avenues 
  12
   
   
  Iron Wind Metals 
  12
   
   
  FanPro Commandos 
  12
   
   
  Classicbattletech.com 
  12
   
   
  Battlecorps 
  12
   
   
  HeavyMetal Software 
  13
   
   
  Camo Specs Online 
  13
   
   
  Fighting Pirannha Graphics 
  13
   
   
  Virtual World Entertainment 
  13
   
   
  Armorcast 
  13
   
   
  WizKids 
  13
  A TIME OF WAR 
  14
  COMPONENTS
   
  Units 
  20
   
   
  BattleMechs 
  20
   
   
  IndustrialMechs 
  21
   
   
  ProtoMechs 
  21
   
   
  Combat Vehicles 
  22
   
   
  Infantry 
  23
   
   
  Conventional Fighters 
  23
   
   
  Aerospace Fighters 
  23
   
   
  Small Craft 
  24
   
   
  DropShips 
  24
   
   
  Support Vehicles 
  25
   
  Other Units 
  26
   
   
  Aerospace Units 
  26
   
   
  Support Vehicles 
  26
   
   
  Mobile Structures 
  26
   
  Record Sheets 
  26
   
   
  ’Mech Record Sheet 
  27
   
   
  IndustrialMech Record Sheet 
  27
   
   
  ProtoMech Record Sheet 
  28
   
   
  Combat Vehicle Records Sheets 
  28
   
   
  Generic Conventional Infantry Record Sheet 
  29
   
   
  Battle Armor Record Sheet 
  29
   
   
  Aerospace Record Sheets 
  30
   
   
  Support Vehicle Record Sheets 
  31
   
  Mapsheets 
  31
   
   
  Clear 
  32
   
   
  Light Woods 
  32
   
   
  Heavy Woods 
  32
   
   
  Rough 
  32
   
   
  Water 
  32
   
   
  Pavement 
  32
   
   
  Roads 
  32
   
   
  Bridges 
  33
   
   
  Buildings 
  33
  
  3
  36
  48
  74
  98
   
   
  Railroads 
  33
   
  Counters 
  33
   
   
  Buildings and Bridges 
  33
   
   
  Rubble 
  33
   
  Dice 
  33
  MILITARY ORGANIZATION 
  34
  PLAYING THE GAME
   
   
  A Note on Scale and the Rules 
  36
   
   
  Individual Unit Rules 
  36
   
  Sequence of Play 
  37
   
   
  Initiative Phase 
  37
   
   
  Movement Phase (Ground) 
  37
   
   
  Movement Phase (Aerospace) 
  37
   
   
  Weapon Attack Phase 
  37
   
   
  Physical Attack Phase 
  38
   
   
  Heat Phase 
  38
   
   
  End Phase 
  38
   
  Unequal Numbers of Units 
  39
   
  Warriors 
  39
   
   
  Skills 
  39
   
   
  Skill Improvement 
  40
   
   
  Damaging a Warrior 
  41
   
   
  Consciousness Rolls 
  41
   
  Game Terms 
  42
   
   
  Base To-Hit Number 
  42
   
   
  Modifi ed To-Hit Number 
  42
   
   
  Modifi ed Piloting/Driving Skill 
  42
   
   
  Target Number 
  42
   
   
  Modifi ed Target Number 
  42
   
   
  Attacker Movement Modifi er 
  42
   
   
  Target 
  42
   
   
  Target Movement Modifi er 
  42
   
   
  Margin of Success/Failure (MoS/MoF) 
  42
   
   
  Damage Value 
  43
   
   
  Armor Value 
  43
   
   
  Level, Elevation, Altitude 
  43
   
   
  Attack Path/Flight Path 
  43
   
   
  Mapsheet 
  43
   
   
  Playing Area 
  43
   
   
  Scenario 
  43
   
   
  Mechanized 
  43
  WOLF ON THE MOUNTAIN 
  44
  GROUND MOVEMENT
   
  Movement Basics 
  48
   
   
  Level Change 
  48
   
   
  Minimum Movement 
  49
   
   
  Prone ‘Mech Movement 
  49
   
   
  Stacked Terrain 
  49
   
   
  Movement Direction 
  49
   
   
  Dropping to the Ground 
  49
   
   
  Lateral Shift 
  50
   
   
  Standing Up 
  50
   
  Facing 
  50
   
   
  Facing Change 
  50
   
  Movement Modes 
  53
   
   
  Standing Still 
  53
   
   
  Walking/Cruising 
  53
   
   
  Running/Flanking 
  53
   
   
  Jumping 
  53
   
   
  VTOL Movement 
  54
   
   
  Wing-in-Ground-Eff ect (WiGE) Movement 
  55
   
   
  Naval Movement 
  56
   
   
  Underwater Movement (Non-Naval Units) 
  56
   
  Stacking 
  57
   
   
  Unit and Terrain Rules 
  57
   
   
  Elevation and Depth Rules 
  58
   
  Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls 
  59
   
   
  Making Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls 
  59
   
  Movement on Pavement 
  61
   
   
  Bridge Movement 
  62
   
   
  Skidding 
  62
   
   
  Sideslipping 
  67
   
  Falling 
  68
   
   
  Determining Location After a Fall 
  68
   
   
  Facing After a Fall 
  68
   
   
  Falling Damage to a ’Mech 
  68
   
   
  Falling Damage to the MechWarrior 
  69
  TRIAL OF POSSESSION 
  70
  AEROSPACE MOVEMENT
   
   
  Game Terms 
  74
   
   
  Mapsheets 
  75
   
   
  Scale 
  76
   
  Space Movement 
  76
   
   
  Movement Direction 
  76
   
   
  Movement Subphases 
  76
   
  Thrust Points 
  76
   
   
  Using Thrust Points 
  76
   
  Facing 
  77
   
   
  Facing Change 
  77
   
  Special Movement Modes 
  77
   
   
  Evasive Action 
  77
   
   
  Rolling 
  77
   
  High-G Maneuvers 
  78
   
  Stacking 
  78
   
  Atmospheric Movement 
  78
   
   
  Turn Sequence 
  78
   
   
  Space/Atmosphere Interface 
  78
   
   
  High-Altitude Movement 
  79
   
   
  Gravity 
  80
   
   
  Low-Altitude Movement 
  80
   
   
  Launching/Recovering Fighters/Small Craft 
  84
   
   
  Landing and Liftoff  
  87
   
   
  Carrying Units 
  89
   
  Matching Mapsheets to Low-Altitude Hexes 
  91
   
   
  Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets 
  91
   
  Control Rolls 
  92
   
   
  Out-of-Control Eff ects 
  93
  FIGHTING WITHDRAWAL 
  94
  COMBAT
   
   
  Game Terms 
  98
   
  Attack Declaration 
  98
   
   
  Torso Twist/Turret Rotation 
  98
   
  Line of Sight 
  99
   
   
  Levels and Height 
  99
   
   
  Intervening Terrain 
  100
   
   
  Partial Cover (’Mech Only) 
  102
   
   
  Water Hexes 
  102
   
  WEAPON ATTACKS 
  103
   
   
  Ammunition Expenditure 
  103
   
  Firing Arcs 
  104
   
   
  Forward Arc 
  105
   
   
  Left Side Arc 
  105
   
   
  Right Side Arc 
  105
   
   
  Rear Arc 
  105
   
   
  Rotating the Firing Arcs 
  105
   
   
  Reversing (Flipping) Arms 
  106
   
  Firing Weapons 
  106
   
   
  Base To-Hit Number 
  106
   
   
  Modifi ed To-Hit Number 
  106
   
   
  To-Hit Modifi ers 
  106
   
   
  Specialized Attacks 
  110
   
   
  Prone ’Mechs 
  113
  
  158
  166
  184
  192
   
   
  Weapons and Equipment 
  113
   
   
  To-Hit Roll 
  114
   
   
  Hit Location 
  119
   
   
  Damage 
  121
   
   
  Recording Damage 
  121
   
   
  Damage Resolution 
  122
   
   
  Transferring Damage 
  123
   
  Critical Damage 
  123
   
   
  ’Mech Critical Hits 
  124
   
   
  ’Mech Critical Hit Eff ects 
  125
   
  Destroying a Unit 
  128
   
   
  ’Mechs 
  128
   
   
  ProtoMechs 
  128
   
   
  Vehicles 
  128
   
   
  Infantry 
  128
   
   
  Aerospace Units 
  128
   
  Other Combat Weapons and Equipment 
  129
   
   
  Active Probe 
  129
   
   
  Anti-Missile System 
  129
   
   
  Anti-Battle Armor Pods 
  130
   
   
  Anti-Personnel Pods 
  130
   
   
  Artemis IV FCS 
  130
   
   
  Backhoe 
  130
   
   
  Bridge-layer 
  130
   
   
  Bulldozers 
  131
   
   
  C3 Computer 
  131
   
   
  Improved C3 Computer 
  133
   
   
  Cargo Bays 
  133
   
   
  CASE 
  133
   
   
  Chainsaw 
  134
   
   
  Combine 
  134
   
   
  Dual Saw 
  134
   
   
  Dumper 
  134
   
   
  ECM Suite 
  134
   
   
  Endo Steel 
  134
   
   
  Extended Fuel Tanks/Cells 
  135
   
   
  Ferro-Fibrous Armor 
  135
   
   
  Gauss Rifl e 
  135
   
   
  Heavy-Duty Pile Driver 
  136
   
   
  Lift Hoists 
  136
   
   
  Machine Gun Array 
  137
   
   
  MASC 
  137
   
   
  Mining Drill 
  138
   
   
  Missile Launchers 
  138
   
   
  Nail-Rivet Gun 
  138
   
   
  Narc Missile Beacon 
  138
   
   
  Retractable Blade 
  139
   
   
  Plasma Weapons 
  139
   
   
  Rock Cutter 
  140
   
   
  Rotary Autocannon 
  140
   
   
  Special Munitions 
  140
   
   
  Salvage Arm 
  142
   
   
  Spot Welder 
  142
   
   
  Stealth Armor System 
  142
   
   
  TAG 
  142
   
   
  Targeting Computer 
  143
   
   
  Tracks 
  143
   
   
  TSM  
  143
   
   
  Wrecking Ball 
  143
   
  PHYSICAL ATTACKS 
  144
   
   
  Base To-Hit Number 
  144
   
   
  Modifi ed To-Hit number 
  144
   
  Punch Attacks 
  145
   
  Club Attacks 
  145
   
   
  Finding a Club 
  146
   
  Physical Weapon Attacks 
  146
   
  Push Attack 
  147
   
  Kick Attacks 
  147
   
  Charge Attacks 
  148
   
   
  Damage 
  148
   
   
  Location after Attack 
  148
   
   
  Falls 
  148
   
  Death from Above Attacks 
  149
   
   
  Weapon Attack Phase 
  149
   
   
  Damage to Target 
  150
   
   
  Location After Attack 
  150
   
   
  Falls 
  150
   
  Diff erent Levels 
  150
   
  Physical Attacks by Prone ’Mechs 
  151
   
   
  Physical Attacks Against Prone ’Mechs 
  151
   
  Unit Displacement 
  151
   
   
  Accidental Falls From Above 
  152
   
   
  Domino Eff ect 
  152
  MUTUAL ADVANTAGE 
  154
  HEAT
   
  Heat Points 
  158
   
   
  Building Up Heat 
  158
   
   
  Recording Heat Build-Up 
  159
   
  Eff ects of Heat 
  159
   
   
  Movement 
  159
   
   
  Weapon Attacks 
  160
   
   
  Shutdown 
  160
   
   
  Ammunition 
  160
   
   
  ICE-Powered ’Mechs 
  160
   
   
  Damage to MechWarriors 
  160
   
  Aerospace Units 
  160
   
   
  Heat Eff ects 
  161
   
   
  Large Craft 
  161
  JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE 
  162
  BUILDINGS
   
  Building Types 
  166
   
   
  Construction Factor 
  166
   
   
  Building Levels 
  167
   
  Movement Eff ects 
  167
   
   
  Moving Through Buildings 
  167
   
  Combat Eff ects 
  171
   
   
  Attacking Buildings 
  171
   
   
  Attacking Units Inside Buildings 
  171
   
   
  Area Eff ect Weapons 
  172
   
   
  Combat Within Buildings 
  175
   
   
  Collapse 
  176
   
  Basements 
  179
  CHIAROSCURO 
  180
  PROTOMECHS
   
  Playing the Game 
  184
   
   
  Movement 
  184
   
   
  Combat 
  184
   
   
  Damage 
  185
   
   
  Frenzy 
  187
   
   
  Physical Attacks 
  187
   
  Other Combat Equipment 
  187
   
   
  ProtoMech Myomer Booster 
  187
  EISENJÄGER 
  188
  COMBAT VEHICLES
  Movement 
  192
   
  Combat 
  192
   
   
  Ground Combat Vehicles 
  192
   
   
  VTOL Combat Vehicles 
  196
   
   
  Naval Combat Vehicles 
  198
   
   
  WiGE Combat Vehicles 
  199
  
  5
  204
  212
  234
  256
  288
  300
  303
  SIMPLE FARMER 
  200
  SUPPORT VEHICLES
   
  Special Movement Rules 
  204
   
   
  Airships 
  204
   
   
  Tractors 
  205
   
   
  Trailers 
  205
   
  Additional Combat Rules 
  206
   
   
  To-Hit Modifi ers 
  206
   
   
  Hit Location 
  206
   
   
  Damage 
  206
   
  Carrying Units 
  207
   
   
  Mounting 
  207
   
   
  Dismounting 
  207
  PROPER WORK 
  208
  INFANTRY
   
  Infantry Movement 
  214
   
  Infantry Combat 
  214
   
   
  Conventional Infantry 
  214
   
   
  Battle Armor 
  217
   
  Anti-’Mech Attacks 
  220
   
   
  Leg Attacks 
  220
   
   
  Swarm Attacks 
  220
   
  Infantry Carriers 
  223
   
   
  Mounting 
  223
   
   
  Dismounting 
  225
   
  Mechanized Battle Armor 
  226
   
  Other Combat Weapons and Equipment 
  228
   
   
  Active Probe 
  228
   
   
  Armor 
  228
   
   
  Bomb Rack 
  228
   
   
  Camo System 
  228
   
   
  ECM Suite 
  228
   
   
  Improved Sensors 
  228
   
   
  Magnetic Clamps 
  228
   
   
  Manipulators 
  228
   
   
  Narc 
  229
   
   
  Pop-up Mine 
  229
   
   
  Special Munitions 
  229
   
   
  Squad Support Weapon 
  229
   
   
  TAG, Light 
  229
  ANGELS ON OUR SHOULDERS 
  230
   AEROSPACE UNITS
   
   
  Scale 
  234
   
   
  Large Craft Weapon Bays 
  234
   
   
  Aerospace Units vs. Ground Units 
  234
   
  Space Combat 
  235
   
   
  Line of Sight 
  235
   
   
  Firing Arcs 
  235
   
   
  Firing Weapons 
  235
   
   
  Damage 
  238
   
  Collisions and Ramming 
  241
   
   
  Ramming Attacks 
  241
   
   
  Damage from Collisions 
  241
   
  Atmospheric Combat 
  241
   
   
  Air-to-Air Attacks 
  241
   
   
  Air-to-Ground Attacks 
  242
   
   
  Ground-to-Air Attacks 
  247
   
   
  Damage to Aerospace Units in Atmosphere 
  249
   
   
  Attacks by Grounded Aerospace Units 
  249
   
  Other Combat Weapons and Equipment 
  251
   
   
  Screen Launchers 
  251
   
   
  Tele-Operated Missiles 
  251
  THE CIRCLE 
  252
  CREATING SCENARIOS
   
   
  General Rules 
  256
   
   
  Number of Players 
  256
   
   
  Set-Up 
  256
   
   
  Movement and Retreat 
  257
   
   
  Ending the Game 
  257
   
   
  Determining Victory 
  257
   
  Forced Withdrawal 
  258
   
   
  Crippling Damage 
  258
   
  Types of Scenarios 
  258
   
   
  Standup Fight 
  259
   
   
  Hide and Seek 
  260
   
   
  Hold the Line 
  260
   
   
  Extraction 
  260
   
   
  Breakthrough 
  261
   
   
  Chase 
  262
   
  Selecting Mapsheets 
  262
   
   
  Using the Mapsheet Tables 
  262
   
  Unit Generation 
  264
   
   
  Force Composition 
  264
   
   
  Assigning ’Mechs 
  266
   
   
  Experience Rating and Skills 
  272
   
   
  Finishing Touches 
  273
   
  Clan Honor 
  273
   
   
  Honor Levels 
  273
   
   
  Zellbrigen 
  274
  BACK END OF NOWHERE 
  276
  PAINTING MINIATURES
   
  Materials and Tools 
  280
   
  Painting to Match Cover Art 
  281
   
   
  The BattleMaster and Battle Armor 
  281
   
   
  The Harasser 
  284
   
   
  The Infantry 
  285
   
  Additional Advice 
  286
   
   
  Paints and Brushes 
  286
   
   
  Hobby Knife Safety Tips 
  286
   
   
  Using Spray Primer 
  286
   
   
  Basic Techniques 
  286
   
   
  Finishing Touches 
  288
   
   
  Mistakes 
  288
   
   
  A Final Note 
  288
   
  Kitbashing 
  289
   
   
  Concept and Planning 
  289
   
   
  Tools and Equipment 
  290
   
   
  Techniques 
  291
   
   
  Finishing 
  295
   
  Preparing Terrain 
  296
   
   
  Clear 
  296
   
   
  Hills 
  296
   
   
  Trees 
  296
   
   
  Water 
  297
   
   
  Roads/Bridges 
  297
   
   
  Buildings 
  298
   
   
  Rubble 
  298
   
   
  Rough Ground 
  299
   
   
  Assembling the Playing Area 
  299
  INDEX
  TABLES
  
  BattleTech Original Design
   Jordan K. Weisman
   L. Ross Babcock III
   Sam Lewis
  Project Concept 
   Randall N. Bills
  Project Development
   Randall N. Bills
   
  Assistance Development
    
  Herb Beas
  Writing
  Fiction
   Herb Beas
   Randall N. Bills
   Loren L. Coleman
   Dan C. Duval
   Kevin Killiany
   Jason M. Hardy
   David L. McCulloch
   Steve Mohan, Jr.
   Jason Schmetzer
   Phaedra M. Weldon
  Painting Miniatures
   Drew Williams
  Kitbashing
   Ray Arrastia
  Product Editing
   Diane Piron-Gelman
  BattleTech Line Developer
   Randall N. Bills
  Production Staff 
  Art Direction
   Randall N. Bills
  Cover Art
   Franz Vohwinkel
  Cover Design
   Adam Jury
   David M. Stansel-Garner
   Jason Vargas (Limited Edition)
  Classic BattleTech Logo Design
   Shane Hartley and Steve Walker
  Evolved Faction Logos Design
   Jason Vargas
  Graphic Presentation
   David M. Stansel-Garner
   Troy Stansel-Garner
  Layout
   Adam Jury (Rules)
   David M. Stansel-Garner (Fiction)
  Illustrations
  Chris Lewis
   Klaus Scherwinski
  Miniatures Painting & Photography
   Ray “Adrian Gideon” Arrastia
   William “sounguru” Burt
   Mike “Chewie” DuVal
   Paul M. Eckes 
   Dave Fanjoy
   Ross Hines
   Leigh-Alexandra Jacob 
   Steve “MadDoc” Livingston
   Mark “Hyena” Maestas
   Lance “Jal Phoenix” Scarinci
   Drew Williams
  2005 Origins International Games Expo Diorama
  Ray “Adrian Gideon” Arrastia, Chad “Urbiemech” Derrenbacker, 
  Ross “Savage Coyote” Hines, David “Dak” Kerber, Mark “Hyena” 
  Maestas, Steve “Insane Kangaroo” McCartney, Ryan “F15CFlyer” 
  Peterson, Robert “Cabal” Pidgeon, Ben “Ghostbear” Rome, Paul 
  Sjardijn, Allen “Papoose” Soles, Joe “Minidragon” Wiedeman
  Terrain
  Blair Line Signs, Busch, GHQ Miniatures, Ground Zero Games, 
  Herpa Miniature Models, Iron Wind Metals, Joker’s Terrain, 
  JR Miniatures, Kato USA, Marklin, Old Crow Models, Pegasus 
  Hobbies’ Platformer Terrain, Talon Games’ BattleHex Terrain
  Map of the Inner Sphere
   Øystein Tvedten
  Map Diagrams
   Ray Arrastia
  Record Sheets
   David L. McCulloch
  Index
   Rita Tatum
  Additional Design and Development
  The following people have been involved in the creation and 
  development of Classic 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 
  LiBrandi, Jim Long, David McCulloch, Jim Musser, Bryan Nystul, 
  Mike Nystul, Blaine Pardoe, Boy F. Peterson Jr., Rick Raisley, Jerry 
  Stenson, Christoff er Trossen, Wm. John Wheeler.
  Acknowledgements
  To Herb Beas for helping to make the new core rulebooks possible 
  by tackling the primary development of the Jihad sourcebooks and 
  more and being an all-round excellent development assistant.
  To the core group of people who, to one extent or another, 
  have signifi cantly contributed to keeping Classic BattleTech not 
  simply alive these last fi ve years, but thriving once more: Ray 
  Arrastia, Herb Beas, Loren Coleman, Warner Doles, David M. 
  Stansel-Garner, Diane Piron-Gelman, Jason Hardy, Chris Hartford, 
  Jason Knight, Chris Lewis, David McCulloch, Ben Rome, Matt Plog, 
  Paul Sjardijn, Peter Smith, Scott Taylor, Christoff er Trossen, Øystein 
  Tvedten, and Jason Vargas.
  CREDITS
  
  7
  To David Stansel-Garner for being the primary vision behind 
  the new re-branded graphic presentation of Classic BattleTech.
  To Eberhard von Massenbach who is always there to fi nd 
  the the obscure rules minutia and whose keeping the fl ame lit 
  by Christoph Nick alive across the pond. 
  To Rob Boyle for constantly putting up with my endless 
  demands and allowing me to go absolutely wild with the re-
  branding of Classic BattleTech.
  To all the Commandos…simply too many to name, but 
  thanks for your commitment!
  To Adam Jury and Ray Arrastia, who took on the assault lance 
  at the last second to save our hides (we’re even for SR4, Adam!)
  To Franz Vohwinkel, Klaus Scherwinski and Chris Lewis for 
  all the great Classic BattleTech art over the years (and the years 
  that will come) and for outdoing themselves this time around.
  To Peter LaCasse for quickly generating the Random 
  Assignment Tables found in the Creating Scenarios section.
  To Ray Arrastia, Jason Hardy, Eberhard von Massenbach, 
  Jason Schmetzer, Chris Smith, Andrew Timson, and Patrick 
  Wynne for those last frantic, late night proof checks.
  Playtesters/Proofers/Fact Checkers
  The playtesters for any game line are a necessary component in 
  the creation of a solid product. However, when tackling something 
  on the scope of Total Warfare, which involves the melding of 
  twenty years worth of rules into a uniﬁ ed whole that far exceeds 
  it constitute parts (particular when set against the millions-of-
  words background of the vast scale of Classic BattleTech history 
  and continuity) their roles are not only greatly expanded, but 
  become vital. A testament to the strength of the Classic BattleTech 
  community, their dedication knew no bounds: the product is far 
  superior due to their signiﬁ cant contributions.
  Joel Agee, Brian Alter, Ray Arrastia, Ron Barter, Terren “Tel Hazen” 
  Bruce, Rick Casarez, Doug Davidhizar, Brent Dill, Benjamin Disher, 
  John “Quentil” Dzieniszewski, Dave Fanjoy, David Ferguson, Thomas 
  Ferrell, Bruce Ford, Eugen Fournes, John “AngelRipper” Frideres, 
  Aaron “Bear” Gregory, Eric Hawkins, Glenn Hopkins, Ken Horner, 
  John “Bleusman” Hudson, Darryl Hunt, Stephen “Blayde” King, Rod 
  Klatt, Nadine Klatt, Michael “Konan” Koning, Peter LaCasse, Mark 
  Maestas, Eberhard “Rote Baron” von Massenbach, Brian McAuliﬀ e, 
  Tim, McAuliﬀ e, Jeﬀ rey “Fej” Morgan, Darrell “FlailingDeath” Myers, 
  Lou “Nukeloader” Myers, Andrew Norris, Mike Pﬁ ster, Max “Medron 
  Pryde” Prohaska, Ben Rome, Richard Sardiñas, Christopher K. Searls, 
  Chris Sheldon, Alyson Sjardijn, Paul Sjardijn, Scott Stansbury, Joel 
  “Septicemia” Steverson, Rob Strathman, Terry Sweetapple, Dr. Geoﬀ  
  “97jedi” Swift, Lee Thoms, Roland Thigpen, Todd “BlueWeasel” 
  Thrash, Andrew Timson, John Unchelenko, Chris Wheeler, Paul Wolf, 
  Patrick Wynne; Gravedigger Arms Limited: James Humpula, Darlene 
  Morgan, Aaron “Gravedigger” Pollyea, Jeﬀ  Skidmore, Charles 
  “IronSphinx” Wilson; The Singapore Longshoremen: Jason Chodara, 
  Leonard Conklin, Dan Eastwood, Tom Evans, Rick “Rick Steele” 
  Remmer, Chris “Chungalo” Smith, Sam “Wasp” Snell, Jeremy Zuvich; 
  Seacoast BattleTech Society: Debra Atkinson, David Baughman, 
  James Bernard, Josh Carter, Alex Ellis, Korac MacArthur, Clayton 
  Poland; Steel City MechWarriors: Rich Cencarik, Rich Darr, Brian 
  Golightly, Dave Lang, Drew Martin.
  And to all the players that fought through the endless delays 
  to get on-line questions answered over the years; your questions 
  generated numerous FAQs oﬀ  of which much clariﬁ cation came 
  about in this book.
  Additional Thanks
  To the BattleTech Community who through thick and thin 
  have supported the game and universe we all love, making 
  this book possible. 
  Special Thanks
  To Iron Wind Metals, who has staunchly supported Classic 
  BattleTech for long years, continues to do so and signifi cantly 
  donated to the cause of Total Warfare; to Fighting Pirannha 
  Graphics for their support and contributions; fi nally to the 
  artists from Camo Specs Online—specifi cally Ray Arrastia, 
  Mike DuVal, Dave Fanjoy, Ross Hines, Steve Livingston, Mark 
  Maestas and Lance Scarinci—for instantly taking on the scope 
  of the mission, and giving their all to take the visuals of Classic 
  BattleTech to a whole new level.
   
  Randall’s Thanks and Dedication
  Friends have always meant the world to me. While I add 
  new friends that are as close as family as the years move on, 
  I’m blessed to still stay in touch with friends from twenty years 
  ago. While there are so many who have touched my life, when 
  it comes to BattleTech, two in particular were there twenty 
  years ago when I fi rst pulled the cover off  the BattleTech box 
  set: Chad Dean and Tony Liddle. Thanks for all the years we’ve 
  had and all the years to come
  To my magnifi cent family and wife…there wouldn’t be a 
  Total Warfare without Tara’s unfl agging support.
  Finally, this book is dedicated to Bryan Nystul: thanks for 
  being a great sensei when my work in the industry began and 
  for showing me the possibilities. I hope you fi nd what you’re 
  looking for.
  ©2006 WizKids Inc. All Rights Reserved. Classic BattleTech 
  Total Warfare, Classic BattleTech, BattleTech, ’Mech, BattleMech, 
  Classic BattleTech RPG, AeroTech 2, 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, 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. Printed in Thailand.
  Published by FanPro LLC 
  1608 N. Milwaukee • Suite 1005 • Chicago, IL 60647 
  FIND US ONLINE:
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   (e-mail address for any Classic BattleTech questions)
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   (Offi  cial Online Classic BattleTech Fiction)
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  New Home
  Blake Protectorate
  18 may 3069
  Yellow-white sparks of tracer fire chewed up the last of the 
  morning fog, slashing wildly at the fleeing Caesar. Two of the tiny 
  flares streaked past the BattleMech’s head, along the left side, and 
  Marcus GioAvanti wrenched his control sticks right; turning, ducking. 
  Grabbing an angle at the pursuing Blakists who boiled up out of 
  New Home’s Teskargon Valley like fire ants stirred with a stick.
  A very big stick.
  “Cover,” the mercenary commander ordered. Sweat stung at the 
  corners of his eyes and his muscles ached with fatigue. “Grab and 
  hold! Protect the package. Sixty second count until—”
  He broke off as two fiery splashes scorched the ferroglass shield 
  right in front of his face and a trio of bullets smashed fist-sized 
  stars into the transparent armor. More slugs rattled off the side of 
  the Caesar’s head, shaking Marcus against his restraint harness. He 
  bit the end of his tongue hard and tasted blood. 
  “Never lead with your chin, Commander.” Paula Jacobs, dodging 
  past him in her fleet-footed Valkyrie. “Fleet-footed” was rarely a term 
  one would use in describing a thirty-ton machine which left behind 
  it twenty-centimeter footprints cracked through the rural highway’s 
  thin asphalt shoulder. But somehow, between the Valkyrie’s long legs 
  and Paula’s deft hand at the controls, she made it work.
  The Valkyrie abandoned the highway’s wide shoulder, striding 
  down the far side and over a drainage ditch, easily shouldering its 
  way into a spread of tall, thin alder. The light wood slowed Paula’s 
  retreat, but not so much she didn’t find a few spare seconds to twist 
  back from the waist, spreading out a flight of long-range missiles 
  from her ’Mech’s side-mounted launcher. An 
  eruption of fire and black, powdery smoke. 
  Gray contrails which arced up and then down 
  at the lead Blakist machine; a Sentinel, still 
  barking at Marcus’ Caesar with its fifty-mil ultra-
  class autocannon. 
  Bright fiery blossoms cratered the highway’s 
  surface and drove the forty-ton machine briefly to 
  its knees. But behind the Sentinel, a weapons-heavy 
  Initiate and a redesigned Thunderbolt stomped up onto 
  the elevated highway’s shoulder, drawing fire away from 
  their comrade. Around them leaped and scurried two squads of 
  Purifier battlesuit infantry, their mimetic armor making them little 
  more than gray-green blurs against the mist-shrouded roadway. 
  And further back, still struggling up from the deep, forested 
  valley, would be the heavy-footed Crockett assault ’Mech which 
  had dogged his Angels right to the foot of the Ashentine 
  Mountains. Relentless.
  Marcus throttled down, then reversed into a backward walk. 
  Facing back along the highway as he toggled for both his Gauss 
  rifle and PPC, pulled his crosshairs over the Thunderbolt’s wide 
  shouldered outline. The Gauss flashed out one of its heavy, nickel-
  ferrous payloads, smashing it into the T-bolt’s right side. The blue-
  white discharge of his particle cannon flayed armor from the 
  machine’s left leg. 
  The Blakist ’Mech toppled over, shoved back with its left leg 
  kicked out from beneath it. Landed heavily on its left side, striking 
  a few friction sparks against the shattered blacktop. 
  Too much to hope that the Word of Blake MechWarrior would 
  need a moment to gather himself back up. The T-bolt got its left 
  arm beneath it, propping itself up to spear Marcus’s Caesar on the 
  electronic targeting sights of its right-arm Imperator light Gauss rifle. 
  A blue-white electrical pulse and a silver-gray blur. The heavy 
  mass slammed into the side of the Caesar’s right knee, smashing 
  armor into shards and long, jagged splinters which rained down 
  onto the highway’s surface.
  Stumbling back, his ’Mech’s right leg nearly buckling under, 
  Marcus wrestled his control sticks against gravity. One hand nearly 
  slipped on the sweat-slick handles, but he bore down long enough 
  to turn the Caesar and sidestep it down the soft shoulder slope. 
  Adjusted his grip. Pegged his throttle against the forward stops 
  and angled for the heavy mix of cedar and alder which nested 
  inside the highway’s elbow turn. 
  Thick limbs snapped off as he shouldered through, cracking 
  like rifle shots. Autocannon fire chopped through the heavy stand, 
  Loren L. Coleman
  
  chasing him. Missiles exploded in the upper boughs of trees, 
  creating fiery, smoking nests. 
  The protection gave Marcus a moment’s breathing room, which 
  he used to check on his team. Paula Jacobs, still holding her own 
  cover only a rifle’s shot distance. And behind the narrow stretch of 
  wood, where the highway continued on toward the Ashentines, a 
  Savannah Master hovercraft idled in the protective shadow of Nihail 
  Sallahan’s Centurion. The wounded Centurion raised its left arm, a 
  stub severed at the elbow joint, and managed an abrupt wave. 
  Then static burst to life in Marcus’ ear. “Coming over…top,” 
  Charlene Boske warned.
  The last member of Marcus’ raiding lance. Caught in the 
  open flats on the far side of the highway when her commander 
  ordered the unit to cover, Charlene’s Phoenix Hawk turned in 
  and then leaped up into the air on jets of fiery plasma. Angling 
  on his position from the eastern flank. It was a long reach, and 
  one hundred eighty meters was not enough to make it over the 
  highway. She grounded her ’Hawk in a deep-knee crouch on the 
  outside curve. The elevated bank didn’t give her much in the way 
  of protection. Trusting, instead, her BattleMech’s speed and jump 
  jets should she need to escape.
  Raising her ’Hawk’s right arm, she added two large lasers to 
  Marcus’ heavy weaponry and Paula Jacob’s missile barrage. Ruby-
  red lasers flashed and struck like scalpels. One raked an angry, 
  molten furrow down the Thunderbolt’s left side. Her second sliced 
  a Purifier infantryman clean in two.
  The Blakist Sentinel fell back and the Initiate moved up, drawing 
  in to protect the fallen T-bolt. More fifty-mil autocannon fire and a 
  spread of long-range missiles chewed up the treeline around Marcus’ 
  position. A trio of missiles slammed into his badly damaged leg. The 
  Blakists had certainly fixated on him as leader of the small unit. Not 
  that the pearlescent paint job and the golden letters screaming 
  “Archangel” across the Caesar’s front wasn’t enough of a clue already.
  “I think you have their attention,” Charlene Boske said. A fresh 
  squelch of telltale static riding beneath her words.
  Marcus traded more fire with the downed Thunderbolt. “I have 
  something they want,” he said. Let his voice-activated mic pick up on 
  the Angel’s common frequency. No need to switch over to a private 
  channel. Word of Blake had certainly cracked their encryption hours 
  ago. Helping to prepare the lance for its mission, Ki-Lynn Tanaga, the 
  Angels’ communications officer, had made some modifications she 
  hoped would afford them some measure of protection. But what 
  kind of promises could she have made against an organization that 
  specialized in communications. And how to subvert them. 
  Nodding to himself: “They won’t turn back without the package. 
  Not now.” 
  Baron Shienzé had warned them about the Word of Blake 
  Level I guard, but perhaps had not been entirely forthcoming as 
  to how strongly the jihadists would fight to recover their prize 
  from Avanti’s Angels. They had ditched pursuit of the Angels’ 
  diversionary force fast enough, and come after Marcus’ Guardian 
  lance with righteous vengeance. 
  He swallowed back the coppery taste of blood. Glanced over 
  his wireframe damage schematic, flashing a red outline around 
  the Caesar’s right knee. “And we have a new problem,” he said, 
  stomach sinking. “I’ve got actuator trouble.” He flexed his ’Mech’s 
  leg a few times, trying to feel out the damage. Nearly fell. Would 
  have, except for one, giant hand fastened onto the thick bole of a 
  nearby tall cedar. “Yeah. It’s shot.”
  Behind his position, Nihail’s Centurion stepped forward as if to 
  prepare for a quick swing back around the highway bend, back into 
  the fight. “Then here we make our stand,” the Astrokaszy native said.
  Not going to happen. Marcus couldn’t allow it. Nihail’s forward 
  armor was a ruin of its former strength. He saw myomer bundles 
  flexing and stretching through the gaping rents. Another solid 
  hit…maybe two… He had no doubt Nihail Sallahan had taken 
  a private moment in the last few to make peace with his God 
  (“preparing the way,” as he liked to put it) but now was not the 
  time for desperation.
  And there was still the package to consider. The reason the 
  Angels had come back to New Home in the first place. 
  “We made a promise,” Marcus reminded Nihail. Reminded them all. In 
  the chaos of the Jihad, there was little more to cling to than such truths.
  He levered his Caesar’s right arm forward. Put a Gauss slug into 
  the Initiate’s left shoulder, taking its anti-missile system clean off. 
  The Word of Blake machines, including the struggling  Thunderbolt, 
  fell back out of weapons fire range. 
  “So what do we do?” Paula asked. Expecting a miracle, perhaps.
  “We make rendezvous.” Marcus nodded again. He wanted to take 
  the brief respite to massage some of the ache out of his shoulders, 
  his neck, but there was no time to waste. “Best speed.”
  “No!” Charlene realized instantly what he was suggesting, and 
  wasn’t having any of it. “Marc, that’s suicide. We finish this together.”
  His HUD popped a new threat as, barely a kilometer downrange, 
  the Crockett finally cleared the Teskargon Valley. It rose on its own 
  jump jets, using the ninety meter boost to clear the valley’s steep 
  rim. Its arrival nearly doubling the enemy’s long-range firepower. 
  And Marcus couldn’t see the Purifier infantry anymore, which 
  meant they were either hunkered down, using their mimetic armor 
  to camouflage their position, or they were off in the surrounding 
  woods trying to flank his position, again.
  “The only way to finish this together, here, is in a funeral pyre, 
  Charlie. I can’t keep up, and we can’t afford to slow down.” His fault, 
  he knew. The one thing he hadn’t effectively weighted in pulling 
  together this fast-strike force was the mismatch between his Caesar 
  and the faster machines. Specifically, his lack of jump jets. Slogging 
  it out over broken, hilly terrain had been a distant third option in 
  this grab-and-go job. It hadn’t seemed like a high probability. Then. 
  “You’re going to ditch this cross-country route and make your 
  best speed back along the highway. The three—four!—of you.” 
  Damn near forgot to include the hovercraft in his orders. And he 
  didn’t want there to be any confusion. Couldn’t afford it, if they had 
  any hope of salvaging this mission. He quickly pulled a detailed 
  map of the Ashentine foothills to an auxiliary screen, making fast 
  calculations in his head.
  “Thirty minutes to rendezvous,” he said, choosing every word 
  carefully. He rocked his BattleMech around in a waddling circle, 
  powered into a forward walk as he cleared the back side of the small 
  wood, and limped up one side of the highway and down the other, 
  continuing an overland route. “I’m responsible for the package. We 
  do this my way. Cut and run, Charlie. Get them out of here.”
  “But we can’t—”
  “Cross that bridge when you get to it,” Marcus interrupted, quickly 
  dialing up his high gain boost to overpower her transmission. 
  “Thirty minutes up the highway. I’m not giving you one second 
  more! Understand!”
  There was no question involved in this last. And instantly, on 
  that order, the Savannah Master spun in place and poured power 
  
  through its drive fans to speed up the deserted highway. Nihail 
  struggled after it, fighting a damaged gyroscope but his Centurion 
  still managing a respectable eighty kilometers per hour. 
  Paula Jacobs could easily match that in her Valkyrie, and did. 
  First cutting the curve with a long, fiery blast from her own jump 
  jets. Dropping from the sky in an asphalt-cracking landing. Then 
  throttling into a smooth, loping run. 
  Only Charlene hesitated. Long enough that Marcus felt 
  certain she was—hopefully!—checking things out on her own 
  topographical maps. And remembering that Word of Blake was 
  likely listening in by now.
  “Yessir,” she finally said. Flat. Hollow. Perfect. 
  She stepped her Phoenix Hawk up onto the highway. Stood 
  there watching as he struck out over the open flats, hobbled by 
  the ruined knee actuator. “Luck,” she called after him.
  “For all of us,” he said. And cut transmission.
  But Charlene’s Hawk stood there on the highway’s shoulder for 
  several long heartbeats. Morning fog swirling around its legs. Head and 
  shoulders rising above the treeline backdrop, outlined against a gray 
  sky. Waited a moment longer, until the first explosions from new missile 
  salvoes shattered the pocket forest and the far shoulder of the highway. 
  Then turned. 
  And ran.
  Which left Marcus alone, hunted now by the Word of Blake unit 
  which turned onto his trail like Lyrans sniffing out a profit. Maybe 
  they had monitored the transmissions, and were after the package. 
  Maybe they had only (and rightly) come to the conclusion that the 
  others were out of reach. The Sentinel might have caught up, only 
  to be decimated by combined fire. The Crockett, the wounded 
  Thunderbolt limping along on what appeared to be a damaged 
  hip—they could never hold the pace.
  But Marcus was prey they still hoped to run to ground. Shuffle-
  stepping across the flats, setting a slow pace which his pursuers 
  easily matched. And, forced to shift east and then west as the 
  Sentinel flanked him again, and again, the steady-moving assault 
  ’Mech slowly crawled up on The Archangel’s HUD. 
  Another three quarters of an hour, fighting against control sticks 
  growing heavier by the minute as fatigued muscles cramped.
  Sweat drying to a powdery scale on his legs and upper arms. 
  Still burning a salty taste across his upper lip.
  No time even for a sip of tepid water, drawn from the sports 
  bottle he’d Velcroed to the side of his command chair. 
  Until he reached the Medron River, washing down out of the 
  Ashentines and cutting a deep channel through the forested plains. 
  Here Marcus allowed himself ten seconds, no more, as he drew greedily 
  on the corrugated straw, washing his mouth with plastic-tasting water 
  and then simply throwing the sports bottle back over his shoulder to 
  roll around loose in the cockpit, spilling wherever it wanted.
  “No jump jets,” Marcus said, talking to himself and not caring who 
  listened in over the comms system. A double-flight of long-ranged 
  missiles fell in a hard rain all around his position. “Brilliant move.”
  Slogging his way across the river’s soft shoulder, the Caesar’s 
  feet sinking deep, deep into the swampy mud, he struggled 
  against the ruined actuator, trusting that the entire knee joint 
  would not simply give way and leave him permanently hobbled. 
  More eruptions dug into the earth and river, throwing up geysers 
  of water and steam, gravel and scorched dirt. He splashed through 
  the Medron’s wide cut. Climbed up the far side at a pace any 
  halfway motivated footsoldier could match. 
  Then found what it was he had been looking for.
  He was back up on the highway. Having regained it after nearly 
  an hour of fighting New Home’s terrain as well as the pursuing 
  Blakists. Only a hair’s breadth ahead of his enemies, true, but still 
  moving. Still alive. Still on the run.
  Only at a much faster pace. Limping straight down the center 
  of the deserted highway Marcus was able to ignore the soft earth 
  as well as the trees, growing thicker along the river’s course. No 
  worries about stumbling over rockfalls as the highway turned up 
  into the mountains. A much easier grade than trying to clamber 
  up over rough hillside. The highway meandered a bit, forcing him 
  down to a hard walk on one tight hairpin, but then he was on an 
  upper switchback with a straight, even path bridging the river 
  before turning hard into the mountains.
  Laserfire joined the missiles chasing him down, now, as the 
  Initiate and then the Crockett broke cover further downstream 
  than he had, gaining the highway on the lower level but able to 
  reach up the hillside with their long-reaching weapons. Cutting 
  him off. Red lances of energy sliced deep into his right side. 
  Missiles chewed across his lower legs, taking fiery bites out of 
  armor, myomer, and support struts.
  His Caesar shook hard under the assault, nearly went down hard. 
  Stumbled forward as new telltale lights flashed with demanding 
  urgency. Marcus checked his wireframe with a veteran’s glance. Power 
  feed to his PPC, severed. Right foot and upper leg actuator, burned out. 
  No, dammit! NO!
  And then behind him! The pounding hammers of the Sentinel’s 
  fifty-millimeter autocannon striking a rapid tattoo across his back. 
  Like ballpeen hammers beating a dangerous rhythm against deep, 
  hollow metal. The faster, forty-ton ’Mech had swung wide to the 
  west and come up behind him on the mountainside. Lacking jump 
  jets, it half-ran, half-stumbled down the rocky terrain, fighting to 
  gain the switchback not far behind Marcus. Call it medium range, 
  and closing fast.
  Ahead and below, the Thunderbolt broke onto the roadway, as well 
  as the bulk of the Purifier infantry. The Initiate and Crockett turned into 
  the hillside, climbing up to cut him off on the far side of the bridge.
  The bridge wasn’t much of a thing. Barely sixty meters across and 
  then the hairpin which reached up for the safety of the mountains. 
  But it might have been a kilometer as the Caesar struggled 
  forward with a crippled leg. Even with his throttle pegged forward, 
  the best it managed was a weak twenty kilometers per hour. Each 
  step threatening to spill him from the highway, and back down the 
  mountainside as his right leg shifted precariously. Three burned 
  actuators. Like walking a marionette forward with the strings 
  severed down its right side.
  Shuffle…STEP!  Shuffle…STEP! Each meter a precious gain.
  “Not yet,” Marcus said through clenched teeth. Halfway over the 
  bridge, and in a spot of luck as the Crocket and its Initiate sidekick were 
  too far below the edge of the switchback to grab line of sight on him. 
  Below, holding the lower stretch of highway, the T-bolt slammed 
  at him with its Gauss rifle. Caromed a heavy slug off his left chest. 
  Smashed away what little armor he’d had left.
  “Not… yet…”
  Behind him, the Sentinel gaining the highway. Throttling up to 
  a full run. Ultra-class autocannon barking wildly. Pecking away 
  across the Caesar’s fairly fresh back armor. Drifting lower. Lower. 
  The Archangel balked, pitching forward hard as its already-
  savaged leg took a pounding. Marcus arched his back, feeding his 
  
  own sense of balance down to the protesting gyro, thrust his right 
  leg forward in a vain attempt to catch himself.
  And did.
  In the split-second he had before the Crockett rose before him 
  on flaring jets, ready to cut him off from the turn, and the Sentinel 
  moved up fast at a full sprint from behind, Marcus understood what 
  had happened. Only one thing which could have saved that fall. That 
  autocannon fire had smashed into the Caesar’s hip joint, blowing out 
  all myomer connectors and seizing the joint. Freezing his leg into an 
  extended crutch and actually improving his top-end speed.
  Giving him a chance!
  Instincts, honed over thirty-plus years of mercenary service, 
  kicked in. 
  “Now now NOW!” he yelled. Pressed his control sticks forward to 
  draw a hard line at the landing Crockett. Timing had to be perfect. 
  And he had scant meters to play with.
  Facing the assault ’Mech at point-blank, then quickly throttling 
  down into a walk as he turned into the hairpin. Not running way 
  so much as simply sidestepping the hell which broke loose above, 
  beside, and especially right behind him. As the Angels arrived.
  Charlene jumped down out of hiding, having found a perch 
  for her Phoenix Hawk somewhere in the folded hillside above the 
  bridge. Paula Jacobs appeared on the highway from deeper within 
  the mountains and raced back along to Marcus’ aide, her LRMs 
  already spinning out flight after flight. Nihail’s Centurion guarded 
  her back. Added some fire support of his own.
  This was the spot Marcus had found on the maps, all right. A 
  thirty minute run along the highway from where they’d last parted 
  company.
  And Charlene had crossed the bridge she’d found there.
  The complete disaster which struck the Blakists was sixty percent 
  engineered but also a solid forty in luck. Bad luck. For them. No 
  way Marcus could have planned ahead for what happened next. 
  Just taking advantage of the circumstances as they’d been thrust 
  upon him in those final seconds:
  The Crockett, suddenly flanked by a nearly-pristine Phoenix 
  Hawk and Marcus’ fleeing Caesar, chose to ward off the greater 
  threat to itself at that moment. Drilled lasers and missiles into the 
  Hawk’s side. Worried armor away in great, gaping ruins. But forgot 
  to keep track of its own comrades.
  The Sentinel, in its maddened run to catch Marcus, suddenly with 
  its forward viewscreen filling with the bulk of the assault ’Mech as 
  Marcus hobbled around the corner. Making a snap judgment to 
  chase after him. Too fast for the road’s slick surface. Halfway into the 
  turn, the Sentinel’s feet skidded out from beneath it. The machine 
  went down with a horrific crash, striking sparks and gravel from the 
  highway as it tumbled right into the Crockett’s embrace, slamming 
  the assault ’Mech back over the side of the highway.
  Where the climbing Initiate and half a dozen Purifier infantry 
  had been about to gain the battlefield as well.
  In a tangle of broken limbs and peeled armor, both ’Mechs and 
  the scattered Purifiers ended up back on the lower highway. At 
  the feet of a thunderstruck T-bolt which had very nearly been 
  taken down by the falling machines as well.
  In that instant all fight went out of the jihadists. For this day, at 
  least. 
  The Crockett levered itself quickly back to its feet, though missing 
  its left arm now. The Initiate rose much more slowly, and looked to 
  have some internal troubles. Gyroscope damage, perhaps. 
  The Sentinel did not bother to even try. Under orders or perhaps 
  recognizing instantly its suicidal position, the forty-ton machine 
  powered down in surrender.
  “Salvage?” Charlene asked. Hopeful, but her spirit not fully 
  behind the question.
  Marcus had never bothered to turn his Caesar back. He’d 
  watched on his rear monitor, but at this point was grateful to 
  escape with all their lives. 
  “No time,” he said. Also, he didn’t want to give the Blakists an 
  excuse to resume battle. Let them retreat. His HUD picked up the 
  Savannah Master hovercraft, riding its cushion of air, tucked neatly 
  back behind Nihail Sallahan’s Centurion.
  “Besides,” he said. “We got what we came for.”
  “Bowling for Blakists,” Paula Jacobs commented. “Not bad, 
  Commander.”
  Marcus stood at the cliff face between her and Nihail Sallahan. 
  The wind whipped at Paula’s long, dark hair. Pulling it to one side 
  like a dark banner. Nihail wore the long, dark jubba he habitually 
  donned when leaving his ’Mech. The jubba’s hem fluttered and 
  danced, but he kept the robe pulled tight around him. 
  The three of them stared back down the long fall of mountainside, 
  ’Mechs waiting to one side of the small plateau they’d found. Just 
  able to see the bridge where the final blows had been struck. 
  Paula nudged him with an elbow. “Tell me you planned that.”
  Marcus swallowed, his mouth dry from breathing the dust-
  choked air which swirled along the nearby highway. Squinted into 
  the distance where he thought he saw a flash of light glint off the 
  ferroglass shield of one of the retreating Blakist ’Mechs. 
  “Think I’m some kind of Jaime Wolf?” No, there was no Wolf. Not 
  anymore. “Blind luck, Paula. And some days, I’d much rather be 
  lucky than good.” An old saw, common in gaming halls and on 
  many battlefields. 
  But Nihail was not one for such easy platitudes, Marcus knew. 
  “Allah protects those doing God’s work,” the Astrokaszy native said 
  in a distracted whisper. 
  God’s work? Marcus wished he could believe so easily. Though 
  certainly on this day it seemed that someone had been watching 
  over them. He said as much aloud.
  “Not necessarily over us,” Charlene said as she joined the small 
  group at the cliff’s edge, carrying the package against her right hip. 
  Passed the large bundle over to Marcus. “The Heaven Sent is on its 
  way. No losses in our diversionary force. One salvaged ’Mech. ETA 
  five minutes.”
  Marcus looked down at the child held in his arms, wrapped in a 
  thick blanket made from warm, New Home wool. Bright blue eyes 
  looked up with interest. A chubby arm shot out and pointed at the 
  nearby Caesar, still on its feet though listing to one side. 
  “Caesar,” the two-year old said. Proudly.
  “That’s right,” Marcus said. Saddened. Born into the jihad, raised 
  in a universe tearing itself apart, Raphael Shienzé would likely 
  recognize most BattleMech designs before he knew the names of 
  most of his relations. 
  Not that the child would be seeing any of them anytime soon.
  “All right, Baron.” Marcus looked south, out over the lower 
  flats. Nodded once, and bid his last farewell to New Home. “Your 
  package is safe with us.” Overhead, he heard the distant roar of 
  their approaching DropShip.
  
  Total Warfare (TW) has been carefully reworked from previous 
  Classic BattleTech rules (CBT) editions to clarify confusing or 
  contradictory information, folding in many years of Frequently 
  Asked Questions (FAQs), play testing and game play. In addition, 
  for the fi rst time in well over a decade, all the various rules sets that 
  directly aff ect BattleTech ground warfare—including aerospace rules 
  covering units that can enter a planet’s atmosphere—appear in a 
  single volume, woven together to make sure that all rules function 
  seamlessly with one another. Total Warfare also includes additional 
  material to expand and enhance game play. Along with the rules 
  of BattleTech, this book contains an easy-to-use scenario creation 
  system, as well as a painting section that will have players quickly 
  painting the plastic miniatures in the Classic BattleTech Introductory 
  Box Set, as well as priming them for the complete Classic BattleTech 
  line of metal miniatures from Iron Wind Metals. 
  This book contains a number of rules changes from previous 
  editions. We feel confi dent that these are the most complete, clear 
  and concise rules for Classic BattleTech ever presented.
  As noted in the back cover text of this book, unlike previous 
  editions of the BattleTech rulebook, no construction rules appear 
  in Total Warfare; those rules are in the TechManual (see Core 
  Rulebooks, p. 10). 
  The rules in this book supersede all previously published rules, 
  including the BattleTech Manual, the BattleTech Compendium, 
  BattleTech Compendium: The Rules of Warfare, BattleTech Master 
  Rules (standard and revised editions) and older editions of the 
  Classic BattleTech boxed set. Where applicable, these rules also 
  supersede sections of various other rules expansions, including 
  AeroTech 2, Revised; Maximum Tech, Revised; and so on. In other 
  words, if a rule in Total Warfare directly confl icts with rules in a 
  previously published rulebook or expansion, Total Warfare takes 
  precedence. 
  To play BattleTech, players will need dice, maps and counters 
  or miniatures to represent the BattleMechs and/or other units 
  used by each side. All of these items can be found in the Classic 
  BattleTech Introductory Box Set, the recommended product for 
  beginning Classic BattleTech players. For more information about 
  the availability and use of these items, see Components, p. 20 of 
  this book.
  FICTION
  Fiction has always played an important role in Classic BattleTech, 
  with more than eighty novels published to date (and well over a 
  hundred sourcebooks) fl eshing out and expanding the universe 
  into its current, vibrant form.
  Classic BattleTech uses two diff erent types of fi ction to convey its 
  story. “Story fi ction” includes novels, novellas, short stories and so 
  on; fi ction that puts the reader inside the heads of the characters 
  that populate the universe. “Sourcebook fi ction”—which appears 
  in the various Handbooks, Historicals, Technical Readouts and so on 
  (see Classic BattleTech: More Than a Game, p. 10)—presents story 
  elements as though the reader were a character transplanted into 
  the game universe, reading military documents, historical texts, 
  secret security briefs, intercepted personal communications, local 
  newspapers and so on. These two methods work hand-in-hand to 
  bring the BattleTech universe to life.
  While the current BattleTech novel line (MechWarrior: Dark Age) 
  deals with events transpiring three generations in the future of 
  the Classic BattleTech era, story fi ction still serves a vital function. 
  Every Classic BattleTech sourcebook published by FanPro includes 
  a short story. In addition, www.battlecorps.com publishes 
  numerous Classic BattleTech stories every month that support 
  
  9
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  product releases (sourcebooks and rulebooks), as well as the 
  current Jihad story arc (see p. 11).
  Because it hurls the players directly into the CBT universe, 
  Total Warfare includes more “story fi ction” than any core 
  rulebook previously published for Classic BattleTech. Twelve 
  short stories off er a taste of the core factions with which 
  players will come to associate, while conveying the theme of a 
  given section of the rulebook; players can also use these stories 
  to launch endless games and campaigns, whether set in the 
  current Jihad era or in the rich history of Classic BattleTech.
  Finally, A Time of War (see p. 14) and Military Organization 
  (see p. 34) provide two examples of the many diff erent types 
  of “sourcebook fi ction” players will discover in the various 
  sourcebooks published for Classic BattleTech.
  FICTION VS. RULES
  It is important to note that fi ction, though essential in 
  making the game universe come alive, should never be 
  construed as rules. While Classic BattleTech fi ction usually 
  attempts to adhere to the aesthetics established by the rules, 
  authors often use creative license to accomplish the needs of 
  a given story. 
  To eliminate confusion in Total Warfare about which sections 
  are fi ction and which are rules, the fi ction sections have a 
  unique look. In addition, all fi ction sections are italicized in the 
  Table of Contents.
  FICTION AND ART
  From the moment of Classic BattleTech’s inception, it 
  was conceived as a visually intensive universe. Though the 
  Technical Readout series is one of the better examples of 
  the importance of art in conveying the universe to a reader, 
  every sourcebook employs art to work hand-in-hand with the 
  fi ction to bring the universe to life: from a stunning cover to 
  the smallest illustration buried on a last page.
  Even the graphic layout of rulebooks and sourcebooks—
  the borders around the edges of a page, how the words are 
  placed on the page and so on—are specifi cally designed to 
  accentuate the universe.
  For Total Warfare, the graphic design concept is that of a 
  computer interface. Specifi cally speaking, it is a computer 
  from House Steiner’s (see A Time of War, p. 14) Nagelring; one 
  of their premier military academies (for more information 
  on House Steiner and specifi cally on the Nagelring, players 
  should check out Handbook: House Steiner).
  To further cement this concept directly into a reader’s 
  mind, the art at the beginning of this section shows the very 
  Nagelring military computer represented “in universe” by the 
  text and layout of this rulebook.
  Note that as with fi ction, players should never construe art 
  as rules. In a similar vein, while the diagrams used throughout 
  this book are rules, players should note that the graphic 
  icons within each diagram only represent specifi c unit types 
  (‘Mechs, vehicles, infantry and so on). As such, players should 
  not be confused by a specifi c unit image (such as the Mad Cat
  for the ‘Mech) used in an example, when its game stats do not 
  mirror the example.
  3-D TERRAIN VS. 
  PAPER MAPS
  Classic BattleTech at its core is a board game; players move 
  pieces on a hex-grid mapsheet. Unlike tabletop miniatures 
  games, which use three-dimensional (3-D) terrain and rulers 
  to approximate movement and combat, the core Classic 
  BattleTech game rules use specifi c, codifi ed movement and 
  combat ranges within a mapsheet’s hex grid. 
  Nevertheless, any game system that uses three-dimensional 
  miniatures (such as the complete line of Classic BattleTech 
  miniatures sold by Iron Wind Metals; see p. 12) looks better 
  when played on 3-D terrain—hence the photos in this 
  rulebook. Three-dimensional terrain also enhances the feel 
  of the game. When using 3-D terrain, however, players should 
  note that Classic BattleTech requires hex-grids.
  While the Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set, Total 
  Warfare and future rulebooks all require the playing 
  area (whether mapsheets or 3-D terrain) to be a hex 
  grid, some players may wish to learn how to play Classic 
  BattleTech as a table-top miniatures game (using rulers 
  and without the hex grid on 3-D terrain). Players can visit 
  www.classicbattletech.com to download a free conversion 
  rules set—Classic BattleTech Miniatures Rules—covering the 
  diff erences between the two types of play.
  WSB 
  WSB
  WSB 
  WSB
  
  STANDARD VS. 
  ADVANCED RULES
  The rules presented in Total Warfare are considered the 
  standard rules of Classic BattleTech. They represent all tournament-
  appropriate rules: the “big” Classic BattleTech tournaments run 
  directly by FanPro at the Origins International Games Expo®, any 
  Gen Con Game Fair® and many other conventions all use the rules 
  presented in Total Warfare.
  Advanced rules—which will be presented in future books like 
  Classic BattleTech Tactical Operations, Classic BattleTech Strategic 
  Operations (see Core Rulebooks, at right) and so on—provide more 
  depth for virtually every aspect of play. However, the additional 
  complexity makes such rules inappropriate for tournament play.
  RULE LEVELS
  Previously, Classic BattleTech split its rules into levels. However, 
  with the introduction of several new units and their construction 
  systems (notably IndustrialMechs and Support Vehicles), the lines 
  between the levels became blurred. The current rules are simply 
  classifi ed as standard or tournament and advanced or non-
  tournament, as appropriate.
  READER RESPONSE
  We hope this product will help you better enjoy your Classic 
  BattleTech games. If you have questions or comments about 
  Classic BattleTech or any other FanPro (or FASA) product, please 
  write to FanPro LLC, 1608 N. Milwaukee, Suite 1005, Chicago, IL 
  60647, or send an e-mail to precentor_martial@classicbattletech.
  com. While we read all correspondence, we simply do not have 
  the time to indulge in the luxury of writing detailed answers to 
  general questions. To make it easier for us to answer you quickly, 
  provide us with multiple-choice questions or phrase your query 
  so that we can answer yes or no. Please include a self-addressed, 
  stamped envelope with your letter for our reply.
  Alternatively, 
  players 
  can 
  visit 
  the 
  forums 
  at 
  www.classicbattletech.com, where they can post reviews of 
  products, ask rules and universe questions and more (see 
  www.classicbattletech.com, p. 12).
  CLASSIC BATTLETECH: 
  MORE THAN A GAME
  Classic BattleTech is much more than a board game as presented 
  in the Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set. Vibrant, strong and 
  still growing after twenty years, the fi ctional universe and the 
  valiant struggles of its dynamic human characters, set against a 
  far-future battlefi eld, has endeared it to millions of fans and will 
  continue to do so into the future.
  To convey the universe to the BattleTech community (as well as 
  demonstrate how players can take that universe and integrate it 
  into the game system), FanPro LLC publishes several diff erent lines 
  of rulebooks, sourcebooks, campaign packs and so on. While not an 
  all-inclusive list, the following provides an overview of the primary 
  series of products published by FanPro LLC for Classic BattleTech.
  CORE RULEBOOKS
  Following the introduction to the game through the Classic 
  BattleTech Introductory Box Set, the core rulebooks are the foundation 
  of game play (and the universe) for the various aspects of Classic 
  BattleTech. Total Warfare is the fi rst 
  in this new series of core rulebooks, 
  delivering a breadth and a visual 
  presentation never before achieved. 
  Classic BattleTech Total Warfare 
  will be followed by fi ve more core 
  rulebooks, which will act as the 
  bedrock for any type of game players 
  may wish to undertake: Classic 
  BattleTech TechManual (construction 
  rules for the various units found 
  in Total Warfare), Classic BattleTech 
  Universe (a one-stop guide to the 
  places and people of BattleTech), 
  Classic BattleTech: Tactical Operations 
  (advanced rules, equipment and units, 
  including construction rules) Classic 
  BattleTech RPG, Revised (a complete 
  game 
  system 
  for 
  roleplaying), 
  and 
  Classic BattleTech: Strategic 
  Operations (a rules framework for 
  building and running any type of 
  unit through everything from small-
  scale campaigns to multi-war clashes 
  between stellar empires and more).
  TECHNICAL READOUTS
  The ultimate guidebooks to the weaponry and war machines 
  of the 31st century, Classic BattleTech technical readouts describe 
  the BattleMechs, Combat Vehicles, Support Vehicles, aerospace 
  fi ghters, DropShips, WarShips, infantry and more of the BattleTech 
  universe. Each fully illustrated entry in these reference books 
  contains complete Classic BattleTech game statistics. 
  Pre-fi lled record sheets for the various units found in the technical 
  readouts are published separately (see Record Sheets, p. 11).
  
  1111
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  THE JIHAD
  Classic BattleTech has always been a dynamic universe 
  with progressing storylines that shake things up, uniting and 
  shattering factions, developing 
  characters into beloved (or 
  despised) icons that wage a 
  valiant struggle or die a glorious 
  death. Such events breathe life 
  not only into the fi ction players 
  read, but the games they play. 
  The current universe-shaking 
  storyline is the Word of Blake’s 
  Jihad, begun in 2005 with the 
  publication of Dawn of the Jihad 
  and Jihad Hot Spots: 3070. Look 
  for future Jihad books that will 
  continue to shock, amaze and 
  entertain for years to come.
  HANDBOOKS
  The Classic BattleTech Universe book in the Classic BattleTech 
  Introductory Box Set provides a taste of the Great Houses of 
  the Inner Sphere. Each House 
  represents a fully fl eshed-out 
  star-spanning realm, with its 
  own history, cultural identity, 
  fi ghting style and so on. Each 
  volume in the series is fi lled 
  with the essential histories, 
  politics, culture and industry 
  that makes up the Great Houses; 
  the books include rules for 
  personal equipment, creatures, 
  campaign ideas and more for 
  Classic BattleTech and Classic 
  BattleTech RPG.
  HISTORICALS
  The Historical series delves into the pivotal wars of the Inner 
  Sphere’s thousand-year history, with important personalities, 
  maps of individual attack waves 
  and regiment listings, along with a 
  campaign framework that allows 
  players to enact every aspect of 
  each of these important events. 
  War of 3039 and Brush Wars 
  are currently available. More 
  such sourcebooks will appear 
  in the future, allowing players 
  to explore the stunning events 
  of the current Jihad and the 
  historical wars that have shaped 
  every faction to date.
  MAP SETS
  The Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set contains two 
  playing maps, but players will quickly fi nd that one of the 
  easiest ways to make an already played scenario fresh and new 
  is to play it on a diff erent map. In addition, the style of a playing 
  map (mountain, forest, city and 
  so on) can reinforce the fl avor of 
  a given scenario or campaign.
  The map sets published by 
  FanPro (Map Set Compilation 
  #1, Map Set Compilation #2 and 
  so on) contain numerous full-
  color, 17” x 22” playing maps, 
  providing a plethora of choices 
  when playing any type of Classic 
  BattleTech game. Each map also 
  comes with a blank hex-grid on 
  the back, allowing players to 
  generate their own maps.
  RECORD SHEETS
  While players can use the blank record sheets found in 
  Classic BattleTech TechManual to fi ll out any number of units, 
  pre-fi lled record sheets (such as those found in the Classic 
  BattleTech Introductory Box Set) allow players to jump directly 
  into the action. 
  Players can order various pre-fi lled PDF record sheet books 
  from www.battlecorps.com (see p. 12); and they can fi nd blank 
  record sheets at www.classicbattletech.com. Players can also 
  order a HeavyMetal software program that will allow them to 
  print offi  cial/canon sheets (see p. 13). 
  Note: Not all units found 
  in available pre-fi lled record 
  sheets have a corresponding 
  in-print technical readout entry. 
  With the publication of revised 
  editions 
  of 
  some 
  technical 
  readouts, various units were no 
  longer included. However, all the 
  appropriate rules for using these 
  “out-of-print” units in game 
  play are found in said pre-fi lled 
  record sheets, and players may 
  feel free to use these units in 
  Classic BattleTech tournaments, 
  as published campaigns/scenarios direct, or as they wish in 
  their own campaigns. Players wishing to locate the original 
  “sourcebook fi ction” for those units (such as many of those 
  included in the original Technical Readout: 3025) are directed to 
  the PDF sourcebooks sold at www.battlecorps.com (see p. 12). 
  WHERE TO ORDER
  Visit your local game store to purchase the item you’re 
  looking for; if they do not have an item, order it through them 
  (feel free to let the store know about www.fanprogames.com, 
  where they can fi nd a complete list of distributors used by 
  FanPro LLC). Players can also send a request letter to Studio 
  2 Publishing, 1828 Midpark Rd., Suite I, Knoxville, TN 37921, 
  to receive a catalog of products available through direct 
  mail order.
  ™
  ™
  
  OTHER AVENUES
  From the moment of Classic BattleTech’s inception, it proved 
  fl exible and dynamic enough to spawn a host of related products 
  and services that provide additional support to the gaming 
  community. Below are just a few of the most important.
  IRON WIND METALS
  Iron Wind Metals produces a complete line of metal miniatures 
  for almost any type of Classic BattleTech play; all the miniatures 
  shown in this book are part of that line. As players have discovered 
  for years, assembling and painting miniatures is a joy unto itself. 
  The feel of a weighted, beautifully painted miniature provides a 
  whole new level of play experience.
  For more information, visit www.ironwindmetals.com.
  Ral Partha Europe
  For players in Europe (and other appropriate countries outside 
  the United States), Classic BattleTech miniatures support is 
  provided by Ral Partha Europe.
  For more information visit www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk.
  FANPRO COMMANDOS
  The FanPro Commandos are the team of fans that work 
  directly with retailers worldwide to help promote the Classic 
  BattleTech game system and universe. Whether running games 
  at conventions or at local retail stores, FanPro Commandos help 
  the gaming community stay in touch through worldwide events 
  and tournaments, as well as supporting local retailers. Visit the 
  FanPro Commando website to fi nd whether a local retailer in your 
  area is a “Commando Firebase” and how you can become a FanPro 
  Commando.
  Fore more information, visit www.commandohq.com.
  CLASSICBATTLETECH.COM
  This is the offi  cial website for Classic BattleTech, where players 
  can get the lowdown on what’s happening in the BattleTech 
  universe, be the fi rst to preview new products, download exclusive 
  BattleTech fi les, exchange ideas with other fans from around the 
  world and more!
  For more information, visit www.classicbattletech.com.
  BATTLECORPS
  BattleCorps.com is the premiere online fi ction source for Classic 
  BattleTech. Developed by InMediaRes Productions, LLC, to actively 
  support the Classic BattleTech community, their BattleShop off ers 
  everything from poster maps to PDF sourcebooks to miniatures 
  to software, and players can order the paper product direct as 
  well. BattleCorps is a one-stop shop for any fan of the BattleTech/
  MechWarrior universe. The site’s subscription-based services take 
  the Classic BattleTech experience to a whole new level, featuring a 
  stable of authors from national best sellers to great new talent, new 
  art, unique product previews, faction-specifi c message boards, 
  moderated chats with authors and developers, and more.
  For more information, visit www.battlecorps.com.
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  13
  13
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  HEAVYMETAL SOFTWARE
  HeavyMetal Software is the offi  cial software companion 
  for Classic BattleTech. The company’s line of programs—
  HeavyMetal Battle Armor, HeavyMetal Aero and Heavy Metal 
  Plus—allows players to print record sheets for every offi  cial 
  unit: from BattleMechs to ProtoMechs, Combat Vehicles to 
  aerospace fi ghters, infantry to DropShips and more. Players 
  can also design their own units and print record sheets for 
  their own games.
  For more information visit www.heavymetalpro.com.
  CAMO SPECS ONLINE
  Camo Specs Online is the offi  cial source for the camo specs 
  of the Classic BattleTech universe. See more than 600 diff erent 
  schemes already represented, with frequent updates; talk 
  directly to the artists; view never-before-seen canon schemes; 
  submit your own art and become a CSO artist!
  For more information, visit www.camospecs.com. 
  FIGHTING PIRANNHA GRAPHICS
  Fighting Pirannha Graphics ships high quality, Classic 
  BattleTech waterslide decals worldwide, with more than 
  600 Clan, House, Periphery and mercenary insignias already 
  available. They’ll even take original artwork and create custom 
  decal sheets!
  For more information, visit 
  www.fi ghtingpirannhagraphics.com. 
  VIRTUAL WORLD ENTERTAINMENT
  Test-drive a ’Mech in adrenalin-pumping, full-tilt computer 
  game action as you face off  against seven other pilots in the 
  world’s most sophisticated civilian combat simulator. 
  For more information, visit www.mechjock.com. 
  ARMORCAST 
  Armorcast produces a line of 28mm Classic BattleTech 
  resin fi gures that are fi ve times the size of Classic BattleTech 
  miniatures produced by Iron Wind Metals and are scaled to fi t 
  with 28mm infantry fi gures. 
  For more information, visit www.armorcast.com. 
  WIZKIDS 
  WizKids, Inc. produces MechWarrior: Age of Destruction, The 
  BattleTech Collectible Miniatures Game, set 65 years in Classic 
  BattleTech’s future. With a full line of novels and multiple set 
  releases each year to support the game, Age of Destruction 
  is just one more way to enjoy the exciting universe of Classic 
  BattleTech.
  For more information, visit www.wizkidsgames.com/mechwarrior/
  
  —Excerpt from Humanity’s Destiny (fi rst year geopolitical curriculum text, condensed by Misha Auburn from Manifest Destiny: Humanity’s Star 
  Empires, by Misha Auburn, Commonwealth Press, 3067/3054) 
  For almost a thousand years, humans have journeyed into the far 
  reaches of space, colonizing thousands of worlds and forming star-
  spanning nations. From these grew the fi ve vast star empires that make 
  up the Inner Sphere. 
  But the Inner Sphere was divided. Its ruling dynasties warred 
  constantly over colony worlds with valuable resources. These titanic 
  struggles led to the development of BattleMechs: gigantic, humanoid 
  battle machines bristling with lethal weapons. From the twenty-fi fth 
  century onward, these walking tanks ruled the battlefi elds. BattleMechs 
  and their skilled pilots changed combat forever.
  As the price of confl ict grew, the Inner Sphere tired of war. In 2571, 
  the fi ve ruling Houses joined together with the Terran Hegemony in the 
  Star League, a federation led by a Hegemony First Lord and served by 
  its own army: the Star League Defense Force. For nearly two hundred 
  years, the Star League brought the Inner Sphere peace and prosperity.
  In 2751, the sudden death of its First Lord left the Star League in the 
  care of a child. Young Richard Cameron ruled in name, but the real power 
  lay with the fi ve Council Lords, each a sovereign of the original fi ve Great 
  Houses. Ambitious and distrustful, they plotted against one another, while 
  a Machiavellian prince from the Periphery named Stefan Amaris wormed 
  his way into Richard’s trusting heart. In 2766, Amaris assassinated the young 
  First Lord and took control of the Star League in a bloody coup d’etat.
  The Star League Defense Force, commanded by the brilliant General 
  Aleksandr Kerensky, refused to accept Amaris’ rule. For thirteen years, they 
  fought him in a bitter civil war that was the largest confl ict ever fought by 
  humanity, before or since. Kerensky’s forces won, but at a terrible price. In 
  the chaos that followed, the Council Lords were each determined to step 
  in as First Lord. Despite Kerensky’s eff orts to hold the failing Star League 
  together, it dissolved amid mutual hostility in 2781.
  Unable to halt the impending confl ict between the fi ve Great 
  Houses, Kerensky appealed to his soldiers to join him in leaving the 
  Inner Sphere. Nearly eighty percent of the Star League army heeded 
  Kerensky’s call to build a new Star League far beyond the explored 
  universe. In 2784, Kerensky and his followers abandoned their homes 
  and headed into uncharted space, presumably never to return.
  War followed war in the wake of Kerensky’s dramatic departure. For 
  nearly three centuries, the Houses of the Inner Sphere fought in vain 
  for the right to rule over all humanity. These Succession Wars brought 
  ever-shifting alliances and cost the Inner Sphere precious, irreplaceable 
  technology. Constantly maneuvering for position—including the 
  grand alliance of Houses Davion and Steiner signed in 3022 that 
  would eventually lead to the formation of the fearsome Federated 
  Commonwealth—the House Lords assumed that the most dangerous 
  enemy they would ever face was each other.
  They were wrong.
  Even as the Inner Sphere was blowing back its technological and 
  industrial base almost a thousand years, Kerensky’s followers built a new 
  society in the harsh environs beyond known space. They developed a 
  rigid caste system, designed to produce the ultimate warriors. For nearly 
  three centuries, the separate castes of Kerensky’s Clans were unifi ed 
  by one burning ideal: that when the time was right, they would return 
  home and conquer the Inner Sphere. They would become the saviors of 
  humanity, rebuilding the Star League in their own image. 
  In 3048, the warlord Khans of the Clans decided the time had come 
  to launch their invasion. With their powerful ’Mechs and MechWarriors, 
  they drove straight toward Terra, the birth world of humanity.
  Faced with a common enemy, the empires of the Inner Sphere united 
  against the threat, establishing a new Star League. Finally victorious 
  in 3060, the Star League halted the Clan invasion. A new era of peace 
  beckoned, but it was not to be. Before long, war once again swept 
  through every House and Clan, with the most vicious fi ghting centered 
  around the FedCom Civil War between Houses Davion and Steiner.
  Following the FedCom Civil War, the leaders of the Great Houses 
  met, declared their Star League a sham and disbanded. The pseudo-
  religious Word of Blake—a splinter group of ComStar, the protectors 
  and controllers of interstellar communication—had been on the verge 
  of joining the Star League in fulfi llment of their ancient prophecies. 
  Cheated of their dream, they took swift vengeance and launched the 
  Jihad:  an interstellar war that would ultimately pit every faction against 
  each other and even against themselves.
  
  GREAT HOUSES
  The Great Houses have dominated most of the Inner Sphere’s two thousand star systems for centuries. Each House is ruled by a single individual 
  who wields immense power, shaping the futures of trillions of people. These dictatorships, benign or otherwise, sprang up in direct response to 
  humankind’s expansion to the stars. After the collapse of the central government that supported humanity’s fi rst wave of expansion, regional power 
  brokers arose. They wrought the empires that exist today, binding nearby planets together with various forms of feudalism.
  The vast distances between planets made interstellar travel a rarity. Until humans developed the HPG system in 2630, interstellar communication 
  was extremely diffi  cult and unreliable. This meant that each world enjoyed considerable autonomy. The warlords who ruled the planets rarely 
  faced the risk of overthrow by an invading military force. Variations on this feudal system remain in place today, resulting in a patchwork of mostly 
  independent local governments overseen by a neo-feudal lord.
  In keeping with their feudal origins, all the Inner Sphere nations include a noble class. Many noble titles are common to several nations. Terran 
  nobility originated with the feudal system of government most prevalent in the European Middle Ages, when a sovereign delegated responsibility 
  and authority over an area to select subjects in exchange for a personal oath of fealty. These subordinate leaders received a patent of nobility 
  allowing them to use a title commensurate with their importance.
  Nobility in the thirty-fi rst century is largely hereditary, with the designated heirs of nobles inheriting their parents’ rights, estates and responsibilities. 
  Though most sovereigns can grant titles to their subjects, this practice is relatively rare—even for MechWarriors, the modern equivalent of knights.
  THE CLANS
  While most of the peoples and social groups in the Inner 
  Sphere are culturally descended from ancient forebears that 
  originated on Terra and brought their cultures with them (along 
  with attendant ideologies, passions, bigotry and more) during the 
  colonization of space over the past thousand years, the Clans are 
  culturally unique. Made up of descendants from the original Star 
  League Defense Force, the warriors of the Clans excel in battle and 
  all things military.
  The Clans came into being when the Star League Defense Force 
  fl ed the Inner sphere almost 300 years ago, following the fall of the 
  Star League. Under the direction of General Aleksandr Kerensky 
  and his son Nicholas, the army left and formed its own society on 
  what we now call the Clan homeworlds, located approximately 
  one thousand light-years from the edge of the Inner Sphere. 
  Clan society resembles that of ancient Sparta, focusing on the 
  warrior ethic and dedicated to advancing the technology of war, 
  specifi cally the BattleMech.
  Each of the diff erent Clans has its own fl avor—all bound to 
  honor, some more, some less. In general, the Clans divide into two 
  camps: the Crusaders, who believe it their destiny to conquer the 
  Inner Sphere and Terra, and the Wardens, who believe their role 
  is to protect the Inner Sphere against an as yet unrealized threat. 
  While most of the Clans are secular, a few are given to mysticism. The 
  common spoken tongue among the Clans is based on Star League 
  English, but they have enhanced it with a rich collection of unique 
  words. Clansmen also rarely use contractions, considering such 
  shortened speech vulgar and lazy. 
  The most powerful Crusader Clans returned to the Inner Sphere 
  in the year 3050, in hopes of conquering it and reestablishing 
  the Star League. The combined armies of the Great Houses 
  stopped them, and they have since gradually become permanent 
  inhabitants of many Inner Sphere worlds. Other Clans, not wanting 
  to be kept from the planets they see as paradise, have contrived to 
  return to the Inner Sphere as well.
  Though these Inner Sphere Clans strive to retain their unique 
  ways, various elements of Clan life have begun to erode through 
  continued contact with the Inner Sphere.
  PERIPHERY STATES
  Beyond the boundaries of the Inner Sphere lie the endless 
  reaches of the Periphery, traditionally home to independent-
  minded souls who sought escape from the often repressive 
  regimes of the Great Houses. The Periphery is the Inner Sphere’s 
  frontier, keeping the spirit of exploration and discovery alive 
  and well. The less savory aspects of frontier living are equally 
  abundant; numerous pirate bands and petty bandit kingdoms 
  thrive in this almost lawless region of space. Largely unexplored 
  and sparsely populated compared with the Inner Sphere, the 
  Periphery has nonetheless played a pivotal role in several major 
  interstellar events, including the fall of the Star League.
  The Periphery’s reputation as backward and technologically 
  inferior is only partly true. Though many areas in it are 
  underdeveloped industrially and well behind the technology 
  curve compared with the Inner Sphere, it includes scattered 
  regions that boast cultural and technological advancement. The 
  Taurian Concordat is well known for its excellent educational 
  system and high literacy rate, while the Magistracy of Canopus 
  exemplifi es some of the most progressive views on human rights 
  in known space.
  PIRATES
  Throughout humankind’s history, rogue elements have always 
  lived outside the confi nes of civilization, willing to do whatever it 
  takes to survive. In practice, that usually means taking what they 
  need from someone else.
  Though pirates are generally associated with the Periphery, 
  interested readers can dig into the history of any Great House 
  and fi nd small-time, planet-bound pirates, or pirates that made 
  a name for themselves in a few close star systems. Some pirates 
  have become legends, feared and reviled (and sometimes 
  romanticized) across known space: Lady Death, the Band of the 
  Damned and the New Belt Pirates are a few examples.
  MERCENARIES
  In a universe at war, some will always be willing to sell out to the highest bidder and fi ght someone else’s battles. From the legendary (Wolf’s 
  Dragoons, the Kell Hounds, the Eridani Light Horse, the Northwind Highlanders) to the unknown (the Medusans, the Stone Ponies), from mere 
  ad-hoc lances to multi-regiment commands, mercenaries are a staple of the Inner Sphere. Though not technically a power unto themselves, they—
  perhaps more than any private army—have raised and toppled empires.
  
  Coreward
  Spinward
  Anti-spinward
  Rimward
  MAXIMUM  JUMP: APPROXIMATELY 30 LIGHT YEARS
  30 LIGHT YEARS
  120 LIGHT YEARS OR 26,8 PARSECS
  Map compiled by COMSTAR.
  From information provided from the COMSTAR EXPLORER CORPS 
  and the STAR LEAGUE ARCHIVES on Terra.
  © 3067 COMSTAR CARTOGRAPHIC CORPS
  L E G E N D
  HOUSE STEINER (LYRAN ALLIANCE)
  RULER:
  Archon Peter Steiner-Davion
  GREAT HOUSE
  GREAT HOUSE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Constitutional Monarchy 
  (with German Feudal stylings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Tharkad City, Tharkad
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English and German (ofﬁ cial), 
  Scottish Gaelic, Italian, French
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity (protestant), 
  Judaism, Islam
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  368
  368
  Founding Year
  2341
  Currency
  Kroner
  CLAN JADE FALCON OCCUPATION ZONE
  RULER:
  Khan Marthe Pryde
  CLAN
  CLAN
  GOVERNMENT:
  Clan (Caste-driven, 
  Warrior-dominant hierarchy)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Hammarr, Sudeten
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  None
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  59
  59
  Founding Year
  3050
  Currency
  Kerensky
  HOUSE MARIK (FREE WORLDS LEAGUE)
  RULER:
  Captain-General Thomas Marik
  GREAT HOUSE
  GREAT HOUSE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Parliamentary Confederacy
  (operating under military rule)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Atreus City, Atreus
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial), Spanish, 
  Greek, Romanian, Urdu
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity (Catholic), Judaism, 
  Islam
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  334
  334
  Founding Year
  2271
  Currency
  Eagle
  CLAN WOLF (IN-EXILE)
  RULER:
  Khan Phelan Ward
  CLAN
  CLAN
  GOVERNMENT:
  Clan (Caste-driven, 
  Warrior-dominant hierarchy)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Wolf City, Arc-Royal
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  None
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  N/A
  N/A
  Founding Year
  3057
  Currency
  Kerensky
  CLAN DIAMOND SHARK
  CLAN DIAMOND SHARK
  RULER:
  Khan Barbara Sennet
  CLAN
  CLAN
  GOVERNMENT:
  Clan (Caste-driven, 
  Warrior-dominant hierarchy 
  with mercantile stylings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Camora, Twycross
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  None
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  3
  Founding Year
  3067
  Currency
  Kerensky
  Inner Sphere: General term used to 
  describe a region of space roughly one 
  thousand light-years across, composed 
  of more than two thousand populated 
  planets, with Terra (Earth) at the center. 
  This area is further divided into geopolitical 
  regions, where one power or another holds 
  sway. For most of the centuries since human-
  kind took to the stars, the vast majority 
  of these worlds have belonged to one 
  of the fi ve Great Houses. Smaller powers 
  have come and gone over this same time 
  period. Any world or geopolitical power 
  outside the Inner Sphere is said to lie in the 
  Periphery, considered the frontier of the 
  known universe.
  —Encyclopedia Galactica
  
  CLAN WOLF OCCUPATION ZONE
  RULER:
  Khan Vlad Ward
  CLAN
  CLAN
  GOVERNMENT:
  Clan (Caste-driven, 
  Warrior-dominant hierarchy)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Tamar City, Tamar
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  None
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  80
  80
  Founding Year
  3050
  Currency
  Kerensky
  CLAN NOVA CAT
  RULER:
  Khan Santin West
  CLAN
  CLAN
  GOVERNMENT:
  Clan (Caste-driven, 
  Warrior-dominant hierarchy)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  New Barcella, Irece
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  None
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  14
  14
  IN STEWARDSHIP
  IN STEWARDSHIP
  Founding Year
  3060
  Currency
  Combine Ryu
  CLAN SNOW RAVEN
  RULER:
  Khan Lynn McKenna
  CLAN
  CLAN
  GOVERNMENT:
  Clan (Caste-driven, 
  Warrior-dominant hierarchy)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  None
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  None
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  2
  Founding Year
  3064
  Currency
  Kerensky
  GHOST BEAR DOMINION
  GHOST BEAR DOMINION
  RULER:
  Khan Bjorn Jorgensson
  CLAN
  CLAN
  GOVERNMENT:
  Clan (Caste-driven, 
  Warrior-dominant hierarchy)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Silverdale, Alshain
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  None
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  51
  51
  Founding Year
  3050
  Currency
  Kerensky
  HOUSE KURITA (DRACONIS COMBINE)
  RULER:
  Coordinator Theodore Kurita
  GREAT HOUSE
  GREAT HOUSE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Autocracy
  (Japanese feudal stylings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Imperial City, Luthien
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  Japanese (ofﬁ cial), Arabic, 
  English
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Shinto (ofﬁ cial), Buddhism, 
  Islam
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  323
  323
  Founding Year
  2319
  Currency
  Ryu
  HOUSE LIAO (CAPELLAN CONFEDERATION)
  RULER:
  Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao
  GREAT HOUSE
  GREAT HOUSE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Dictatorship 
  (Chinese feudal stylings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Zi-jin Cheng (Forbidden City), 
  Sian
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  Chinese (Mandarin, ofﬁ cial), 
  Chinese (Cantonese), Russian, 
  English, Hinduism
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Buddhism, Taoism, Hindu
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  167
  167
  Founding Year
  2366
  Currency
  Yuan
  HOUSE DAVION (FEDERATED SUNS)
  RULER:
  Princess-Regent 
  Yvonne Steiner-Davion
  GREAT HOUSE
  GREAT HOUSE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Constitutional Aristocracy 
  (Western European feudal stylings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  New Avalon City, New Avalon
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial), French, 
  German
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity (Catholicism), 
  Buddhism, Judaism
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  515
  515
  Founding Year
  2317
  Currency
  Pound
  
  Coreward
  Spinward
  Anti-spinward
  Rimward
  MAXIMUM  JUMP: APPROXIMATELY 30 LIGHT YEARS
  30 LIGHT YEARS
  120 LIGHT YEARS OR 26,8 PARSECS
  Map compiled by COMSTAR.
  From information provided from the COMSTAR EXPLORER CORPS 
  and the STAR LEAGUE ARCHIVES on Terra.
  © 3067 COMSTAR CARTOGRAPHIC CORPS
  L E G E N D
  NUEVA CASTILE   
  Umayyad Caliphate (C) & Castilian Principalities (P)
  RULERS:
  Caliph Lise Burrill (C)
  King Joseph Noye (P)
  DEEP PERIPHERY STATE
  DEEP PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENTS:
  Feudal Monarchy (C)
  Monarchy (with Spanish 
  stylings, P)
  CAPITAL (WORLDS)
  Granada (C)
  Asturias (P)
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  Arabic, English & Russian (C)
  Spanish & German (P)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Islam (C) 
  Christianity (P)
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  2 (C) 
  2 (C) 
  7 (P)
  7 (P)
  Founding Year
  2830 (C)
  2392 (P)
  Currency
  None (Barter)
  MARIAN HEGEMONY
  RULER:
  Caesar Julius O’Reilly
  PERIPHERY STATE
  PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Dictatorship (with Romanesque 
  republican stylings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Nova Roma, Alphard
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English and Latin (ofﬁ cial), 
  German, Spanish, Greek
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity (Lutheran), 
  Judaism, Islam
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  26
  26
  Founding Year
  2920
  Currency
  Talent
  CIRCINUS FEDERATION
  CIRCINUS FEDERATION
  RULER:
  President Calvin McIntyre
  MINOR PERIPHERY STATE
  MINOR PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Military Dictatorship
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Zachariah, Circinus
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English, German, Spanish, 
  Greek
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity, Judaism, Islam
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  8
  Founding Year
  c. 2775
  Currency
  Skull
  MAGISTRACY OF CANOPUS
  RULER:
  Magestrix Emma Centrella
  PERIPHERY STATE
  PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Monarchy (Matriarchal)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Crimson, Canopus IV
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial), Spanish, 
  Greek, Romanian, Chinese 
  (Mandarin)
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Buddhism, Christianity, Wicca, 
  Judaism
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  44
  44
  Founding Year
  2530
  Currency
  Dollar
  THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE
  RULER:
  The Council of Merchants
  DEEP PERIPHERY STATE
  DEEP PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Mercantile Alliance (with 
  German feudal stylings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Commerce, Bremen
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  German (ofﬁ cial), English, 
  Spanish
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity (Protestant), 
  Judaism
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  24 
  24 
  (EST)
  (EST)
  Founding Year
  2891
  Currency
  None (Barter)
  RIM COLLECTION
  RIM COLLECTION
  RULER:
  President William Roberts
  MINOR PERIPHERY STATE
  MINOR PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Democracy
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  New Promise, Gillﬁ llan’s Gold
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English, German, Scottish 
  Gaelic, Italian, Greek
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity (Protestant), 
  Judaism, Islam
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  6
  Founding Year
  3048
  Currency
  Lyran Kroner
  
  WORD OF BLAKE
  RULER:
  Precentor William Blane, 
  Ruling Conclave
  MINOR POWER
  MINOR POWER
  GOVERNMENT:
  Corporate Confederacy 
  (with mystical trappings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Hilton Head Island, Terra
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial), others by 
  realm of birth
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Word of Blake
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  4
  Founding Year
  3052
  Currency
  C-Bill
  COMSTAR
  RULER:
  Primus Sharilar Mori
  MINOR POWER
  MINOR POWER
  GOVERNMENT:
  Corporate (with reformed 
  mystical trappings)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Memoria, Tukayyid
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial), others by 
  realm of birth
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  None
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  N/A
  N/A
  Founding Year
  2785
  Currency
  C-Bill
  TAURIAN CONCORDAT
  RULER:
  Protector Grover Shraplen
  PERIPHERY STATE
  PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Constitutional Monarchy
  (with democratic sub-government)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Samantha, Taurus
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial), Spanish, 
  French
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Deism (ofﬁ cial), Christianity 
  (Catholic), Judaism, Islam
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  47
  47
  Founding Year
  2335
  Currency
  Bull
  FREE RASALHAGUE REPUBLIC
  RULER:
  Elected Prince Regent 
  Christian  Månsdottir
  MINOR POWER
  MINOR POWER
  GOVERNMENT:
  Representative Democracy
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Erinyes, Orestes
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  Swedenese (ofﬁ cial), English, 
  Japanese, German, Swedish
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity (Protestant), Shinto, 
  Judaism
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  7
  Founding Year
  3034
  Currency
  Krona
  OUTWORLDS ALLIANCE
  RULER:
  President Mitchell Avellar
  PERIPHERY STATE
  PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Parliamentary Confederacy
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  Farmindas, Alpheratz
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial), Japanese, 
  French
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Christianity (Gregorian), 
  Muslim, Agnostic, Shinto
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  37
  37
  Founding Year
  2417
  Currency
  Escudo
  CALDERON PROTECTORATE
  CALDERON PROTECTORATE
  RULER:
  (Regent) Baron Cham Kithrong
  MINOR PERIPHERY STATE
  MINOR PERIPHERY STATE
  GOVERNMENT:
  Constitutional Monarchy
  (currently under military regency)
  CAPITAL 
  (CITY, WORLD)
  New Taurus, Erod’s Escape
  DOMINANT 
  LANGUAGE(S):
  English (ofﬁ cial), Spanish, 
  French
  DOMINANT 
  RELIGION(S):
  Deism (ofﬁ cial), Christianity 
  (Catholic), Judaism, Islam
  Inhabited
  Worlds
  6
  Founding Year
  3066
  Currency
  Protectorate Bull
  
  Classic BattleTech simulates combat between BattleMechs, 
  Combat Vehicles, ProtoMechs, infantry and aerospace units (and 
  any other vehicles that might get caught in the crossfi re) on a 
  variety of terrain. This chapter describes the various combat units 
  that compete on the Classic BattleTech battlefi eld and the record 
  sheets and maps needed to play the game.
  While Total Warfare provides a comprehensive rules set for all 
  unit types detailed within this section, players should remember 
  they are free to select which ever forces they wish to use in any 
  given game.
  UNITS
  In these rules, the term “unit” refers to any mobile element 
  that can be fi elded in a Classic BattleTech game—BattleMech, 
  IndustrialMech, ProtoMech, Combat Vehicle, conventional infantry 
  platoon/Point, battle armor squad/Point, small craft, conventional 
  fi ghter, aerospace fi ghter, DropShip or any Support Vehicle. Each 
  unit moves and attacks individually on the map.
  During game play, each unit is represented by a counter or 
  miniature. A complete line of Classic BattleTech miniatures is 
  available from Iron Wind Metals (see Iron Wind Metals, p. 12), not 
  to mention the plastic miniatures available in the Classic BattleTech 
  Introductory Box Set. If the correct miniature is unavailable, players 
  may use whatever miniature they have on hand or any other 
  counter or item to represent each unit, as long as it is clear what 
  unit the counter represents and which direction it is facing (if it 
  has a facing).
  Terminology: Unless specifi cally stated otherwise, the 
  following terminology applies where appropriate (i.e., wherever 
  the rules allow the specifi c unit types to be used):
  • The word “’Mech” refers to BattleMechs/OmniMechs and 
  IndustrialMechs (bipedal and four-legged). “’Mech” never 
  refers to ProtoMechs.
  • The word “Omni” refers to OmniMechs and OmniVehicles.
  • The word “fi ghter” refers to conventional and aerospace fi ghters.
  • The word “vehicle” refers to all Combat and Support vehicles.
  • The word “infantry” refers to conventional and battle armor 
  infantry.
  • The term “aerospace unit” refers to all types of aerospace 
  units: conventional fi ghters, aerospace fi ghters, small craft, 
  DropShips and Fixed-Wing/Airship Support Vehicles.
  • The term “ground unit” refers to ’Mechs (BattleMechs, 
  OmniMechs 
  and 
  IndustrialMechs); 
  ProtoMechs; 
  hover, 
  wheeled and tracked Combat Vehicles; infantry; and hover, 
  wheeled and tracked Support Vehicles.
  • The term “ground vehicle” refers to hover, wheeled and tracked 
  Combat and Support vehicles. 
  • “Large Craft” is a general description used to refer to any 
  aerospace unit that weighs more than two hundred tons.
  BATTLEMECHS
  BattleMechs—the most powerful ground-based war machines 
  ever built—dominate the battlefi elds of the thirty-fi rst century. 
  These huge, mostly humanoid vehicles stand eight to fourteen 
  meters tall and weigh as much as one hundred tons. They are 
  faster, more maneuverable, better armored and more heavily 
  armed than any other ground combat unit. Equipped with particle 
  projector cannons, lasers, rapid-fi re autocannons and missiles, 
  these behemoths pack enough fi repower to fl atten city blocks.
  Armies of the thirty-fi rst century fi eld two classes of BattleMechs: 
  those used primarily by the Inner Sphere, representing variations 
  of and improvements on the original ’Mech technology, and the 
  modular machines known as OmniMechs that gave the Clans 
  RA 
  RA
  A rare Davion BattleMech Repair Facility on Marlette is abuzz with activity. 
  
  Light ´Mechs
  Medium ´Mechs
  Heavy ´Mechs
  Assault ´Mechs
  IndustrialMechs
  ProtoMechs
  21
  COMPONENTS
  their initial edge. ´Mechs are classifi ed as 
  light, medium, heavy or assault.
  BattleMechs also come in two primary 
  chassis confi gurations: the signifi cantly more 
  common bipedal (humanoid) design and a 
  four-legged (quad) design. 
  Light ’Mechs
  Light ’Mechs range in weight from 20 to 
  35 tons. On the battlefi eld, light ’Mechs serve 
  most often in reconnaissance roles. Their 
  above-average speed and jump capability 
  make them well suited to effi  ciently avoiding 
  heavy fi ghting while maneuvering to assess 
  enemy troop formations. Despite their many 
  assets, however, light ’Mechs rarely manage 
  to stand against heavier units, even with the 
  advantage of numerical superiority.
  Medium ’Mechs
  The workhorses of the Inner Sphere armies, 
  medium BattleMechs range in weight from 
  40 to 55 tons. On the battlefi eld, medium 
  ’Mechs form the core of almost every unit 
  or formation. While light ’Mechs scout out 
  battlefi eld terrain and enemy forces, medium 
  ’Mechs wade in and slug it out with opposing 
  troops until the heavy and assault units 
  arrive.
  Heavy ’Mechs
  Heavy ’Mechs weigh from 60 to 75 
  tons. Usually piloted by commanders and 
  experienced MechWarriors, they play a 
  major role on the battlefi elds of the Inner 
  Sphere. Heavy ’Mechs can dish out and take 
  immense amounts of damage, and so only 
  another heavy or an assault ’Mech usually 
  can successfully take on a typical heavy 
  BattleMech.
  Assault ’Mechs
  Assault ’Mechs, weighing from 80 to 
  100 tons, are the kings of the 31st-century 
  battlefi eld. So fearsome are these behemoths 
  in battle that one assault ’Mech is often equal 
  to an entire lance of lighter ’Mechs. The pilot 
  of a well-designed assault ’Mech fears no 
  opponent in the fi eld, and the ’Mech’s physical 
  attacks can cripple nearly any target.
  INDUSTRIALMECHS
  BattleMechs are the best-known ’Mechs 
  of the thirty-fi rst century, but other types 
  of ’Mechs still exist. During the Star League 
  era, IndustrialMechs played a role in various 
  aspects of life, from farming to loading 
  DropShip cargo bays, from construction to 
  police work and so on. After the fall of the 
  Star League, these IndustrialMechs (also 
  known as UtilityMechs or WorkMechs) fell 
  into disuse, their parts often scavenged to 
  repair BattleMechs. As the Succession Wars 
  raged on, the technology needed to build 
  and repair ’Mechs declined and the Successor 
  States 
  concentrated 
  their 
  dwindling 
  technological resources on the BattleMechs 
  they needed to continue fi ghting. However, 
  with the technological renaissance of the 
  past few decades fi nally reaching beyond 
  the military sector, these rare machines are 
  making a comeback, as the civilian demand 
  for their use drives the market and companies 
  rush to fi ll the void.
  It is not unheard of for poorer worlds, and 
  the militias that struggle to keep them safe, 
  to jury-rig weapons on IndustrialMechs for 
  that last-ditch, desperate measure. While 
  no match for a BattleMech, such modifi ed 
  IndustrialMechs can prove eff ective against 
  infantry and even many Combat Vehicles.
  IndustrialMechs use the same weight 
  classifi cations as BattleMechs, except that 
  light IndustrialMechs weigh from 10 to 35 
  tons.
  PROTOMECHS
  Fielded exclusively by the Clans, ProtoMechs 
  stand four to six meters tall and weigh from 
  two to nine tons. The pilot rides in a small 
  compartment in the upper chest of the the 
  torso contains the engine, weapons and 
  motive systems. 
  Larger than a battle armor suit but smaller 
  than a BattleMech, a ProtoMech has abilities 
  in common with both types of units. Their 
  small stature permits them to hide where 
  BattleMechs cannot, and they can even move 
  through buildings without causing excessive 
  collateral damage.
  Though tiny compared to even the 
  smallest 
  BattleMech, 
  ProtoMechs 
  can 
  carry an impressive arsenal. Because they 
  operate in Points of fi ve, their coordinated 
  fi re compensates for each Proto’s individual 
  shortcomings. 
  ProtoMechs 
  are 
  also 
  extremely durable. Though they carry little 
  armor compared to BattleMechs, they can 
  survive the loss of limbs and even the head 
  and remain eff ective.
  The pilot controls the ProtoMech through 
  a direct neural interface as though it were his 
  own body, and so all ProtoMech designs are 
  humanoid. To supplement their fi repower, 
  ProtoMechs often carry large hand-held 
  weapons called main guns. These weapons 
  are braced to the torso but fi red with both 
  hands, allowing the pilot accurate control of 
  the gun, as if fi ring a large support weapon by 
  hand. Because the weapon fi res similarly to 
  
  standard infantry weapons, plus the integration 
  between ProtoMech and pilot through the Clans’ 
  enhanced imaging technology, ProtoMech 
  pilots enjoy a signifi cant advantage in training 
  and combat accuracy. While BattleMech and 
  battle armor pilots must learn to accurately 
  fi re weapons directly mounted on their war 
  machine’s “body”—which is not a natural state 
  of aff airs—ProtoMechs wield the main gun 
  almost as easily as a person uses a handgun or 
  rifl e, allowing for a more fl exible fi ring arc.
  COMBAT VEHICLES
  Most armies use their BattleMech resources 
  sparingly when they can, and so maintain forces 
  of Combat Vehicles to serve in low-intensity 
  confl icts and as auxiliaries to BattleMech units. 
  Like BattleMechs, vehicles can be constructed as 
  modular OmniVehicles. Vehicles are classifi ed by 
  weight in the same manner as BattleMechs, and 
  also by type of locomotion.
  Light Vehicles: Light vehicles have a 
  maximum weight of 35 tons. Primarily used 
  for reconnaissance, the light vehicle is almost 
  exclusively 
  designed 
  for 
  speed. 
  Though 
  tracked and wheeled light vehicles exist on 
  the battlefi eld, hovercraft—with their greater 
  speeds—dominate this weight class. 
  Medium Vehicles: Medium vehicles weigh 
  from 36 to 55 tons. Used as skirmishers, medium 
  vehicles are fi elded by the various House 
  militaries of the Inner Sphere to harass and pin 
  down an enemy until heavier forces can be 
  brought to bear.
  Heavy Vehicles: Heavy vehicles range from 56 
  to 75 tons. Mirroring the medium ’Mech weight 
  class, heavy vehicles are the workhorse vehicle 
  of all Successor State armies. Packing a serious 
  punch with armor to match, a heavy vehicle 
  can stay in the fi ght longer than some medium 
  ’Mechs.
  Assault Vehicles: Assault vehicles weigh from 
  76 to 100 tons. Though they lack the mobility 
  of their ’Mech counterparts, the sheer volume 
  of fi repower that an assault vehicle carries can 
  be the downfall of even a heavy ’Mech if the 
  MechWarrior piloting it fails to exercise caution.
  Ground Vehicles
  The armies of the thirty-fi rst century deploy 
  three types of ground vehicles: tracked, wheeled 
  and hovercraft. 
  Not all types of ground vehicles can be built 
  using the full weight gamut of 5 to 100 tons. As 
  such, though a vehicle’s name might include 
  the word “heavy” (for example, the Condor 
  Heavy Hover Tank), unless it falls within the 56- 
  to 75-ton weight range, it is not considered a 
  heavy vehicle. 
  Tracked: A tracked vehicle’s maximum weight 
  is 100 tons. Because they move using caterpillar 
  treads, these vehicles are normally referred to as 
  tanks, though the original meaning of this term 
  has been lost in antiquity. Commonly armed 
  with turret-mounted heavy weapons, some of 
  the heaviest vehicles of this class can infl ict a 
  great deal of damage, even on a BattleMech.
  Wheeled: A wheeled vehicle’s maximum 
  weight is 80 tons. Wheeled vehicles move faster 
  than tracked vehicles while still mounting 
  eff ective weapons. These vehicles suff er serious 
  terrain restrictions, however, so commanders 
  usually assign them to relatively open terrain and 
  cities to serve as convoy escorts or fi re-support 
  vehicles for dismounted infantry.
  Hovercraft: A hovercraft’s maximum weight 
  is 50 tons. Hovercraft are designed for speed 
  and rely on that feature for protection rather 
  than their weak armor and light armament. 
  Hovercraft also cost more and require a more 
  advanced technological base than tracked or 
  wheeled vehicles. Their ability to rapidly close 
  with the enemy and just as rapidly break contact, 
  however, makes these units highly valued for 
  reconnaissance and screening missions.
  Vertical Takeoff  and Landing (VTOL)
  The maximum weight of a VTOL vehicle is 
  30 tons. Fast, deadly and highly vulnerable to 
  damage, VTOLs and their pilots suff er the highest 
  mortality rate of any Combat Vehicle type. The 
  term VTOL refers to a variety of vertical takeoff  
  and landing vehicles whose primary mission is 
  to support the battle on the ground, including 
  conventional rotary-wing craft (helicopters) and 
  tilt-rotor aircraft (the engine mountings rotate 
  in a 90-degree arc). Because of the high torque 
  required for their operation, VTOL rotors cannot 
  be heavily armored and so cannot absorb much 
  combat damage. More VTOLs are destroyed by 
  rotor hits than by any other type of damage.
  WiGE
  A WiGE (Wing in Ground Eff ect) vehicle’s 
  maximum weight is 80 tons. Wing in ground 
  eff ect—or near ground eff ect—describes a 
  phenomenon fi rst observed in the twentieth 
  century, where a craft fl ying close to a surface 
  receives additional lift from the cushion of air 
  trapped between that surface and the craft’s 
  lifting surfaces, making them almost a cross 
  between a hovercraft and a true aircraft.
  While more common in its support role, a 
  combat version has begun to see deployment, 
  though it remains a rare sight on the battlefi eld.
  Naval Vessels
  High-tonnage military naval vessels long ago 
  gave way to superior conventional and aerospace 
  Tracked Vehicle
  Wheeled Vehicle
  Hovercraft
  Vertical Takeoff  and 
  Landing (VTOL)
  Wing in Ground Eff ect
  (WIGE)
  Surface Navel Vessel
  
  Submarine
  Foot Infantry
  Motorized Infantry
  Jump Infantry
  Mechanized Infantry
  Battle Armor
  23
  COMPONENTS
  fi ghters. However, small combat naval vessels 
  still serve in counterinsurgency missions and 
  defending underwater command posts. 
  The maximum weight of a naval vehicle 
  (surface or submarine) is 300 tons, except for 
  hydrofoils, which have a maximum weight of 
  100 tons.
  Surface Naval Vessels: As the name 
  implies, this class of vessel operates only on 
  bodies of water. Surface vessels come in two 
  types: those with a displacement hull and 
  hydrofoils. Vessels built with a displacement 
  hull represent the cheapest, best protected 
  and best armed naval vessels, but their 
  conventional rounded hull prevents them 
  from attaining the speed necessary to close 
  quickly with an elusive enemy. Hydrofoils 
  off er speed with fi repower that displacement-
  hulled vessels lack. Featuring wings that lift 
  the vessel’s hull out of the water, these naval 
  assets usually patrol coastlines and guerrilla-
  infested river deltas. 
  Submarines: 
  Technological 
  advances 
  allowed manufacturers to create ever-
  smaller submarines over the past several 
  centuries, and these underwater vessels still 
  reign supreme in the oceans of most worlds. 
  In their home environment, these expensive 
  and specialized vessels can reasonably expect 
  to defeat an equivalent-weight BattleMech. 
  Their commanders usually assign them 
  to protect underwater installations and 
  command centers.
  INFANTRY 
  The Inner Sphere and the Clans deploy 
  two types of infantry: conventional and 
  battle armor.
  Conventional Infantry
  Both the Clans and Inner Sphere deploy 
  platoons of varying size depending on 
  type, weapon use and so on; the Inner 
  Sphere’s standard maximum size platoon is 
  28-man, while the Clan’s is a 25-man Point. 
  Conventional infantry units fall into one of 
  the following categories: foot, motorized, 
  jump and mechanized. 
  Foot: Foot infantry have no transportation 
  beyond their own legs, carry light arms, and 
  cannot hope to successfully assault or defend 
  against even the lightest ’Mech. Foot infantry 
  generally provide population control, man 
  city garrisons and mount counterinsurgency 
  operations. Though the start-up price for 
  such units seems relatively high, they cost 
  very little to maintain. In addition, most 
  planets can call up and arm thousands of 
  foot infantry on short notice.
  Motorized: Equipped with a variety of 
  light unarmored vehicles, motorized infantry 
  move around the battlefi eld more readily 
  than foot infantry, but are still no match for 
  BattleMechs. Motorized infantry units serve 
  the same duties as foot infantry and also 
  serve as forward observers or reconnaissance 
  personnel.
  Jump: 
  Jump 
  infantry 
  troopers 
  are 
  equipped with jump packs. In open, fl at 
  terrain, this equipment makes jump infantry 
  as mobile as motorized troops. In built-up 
  areas, jump-capable troops are more mobile 
  than any other type of infantry. Their jump 
  capabilities allow these troops to close 
  quickly with enemy units, but a close assault 
  of this type can devastate defender and 
  attacker equally.
  Mechanized: These troops work in close 
  conjunction with vehicles and rely on them 
  to move around the battlefi eld. A wide 
  variety of mechanized forces see battlefi eld 
  service from hover-sleds or armored jeeps 
  to intrinsic APC or IFV transport, providing 
  mechanized infantry with unprecedented 
  maneuvering capabilities.
  Battle Armor
  Battle-armored infantrymen wear powered 
  suits of armor equipped with various 
  weapons. Clan battle armor troopers, known 
  as Elementals, are organized into 5-man 
  Points. Their individually powered battle 
  suits mount missiles, small lasers and anti-
  personnel weapons. Because Elemental armor 
  can survive direct hits from BattleMech-class 
  weapons, a single Point of battle armor can 
  often disable or destroy a ’Mech.
  Inner Sphere forces also fi eld battle-
  armored infantry in 4- to 6-man squads, 
  depending on faction. Such equipment, 
  though more diverse, remains rare and less 
  powerful than Clan battle armor.
  Most battle-armored infantry soldiers 
  receive extensive anti-’Mech training.
  CONVENTIONAL FIGHTERS 
  Conventional fi ghters weigh from 10 to 50 
  tons. Though weak compared to aerospace 
  fi ghters, and unable to fl y in the vacuum of 
  space, conventional fi ghters are considerably 
  cheaper to build and require a much lower 
  base technology level. This means that most 
  worlds, especially backwater planets, fi eld at 
  least a small conventional fi ghter force.
  AEROSPACE FIGHTERS
  Often possessing the fi repower of a 
  BattleMech, the aerospace fi ghter is far more 
  resilient than its conventional counterpart, 
  
  and its ability to operate both in-atmosphere and 
  in space gives it a versatility that commanders 
  have used for centuries. Able to screen for or 
  participate in an incoming assault, aerospace 
  fi ghters play an integral role in any objective 
  raid or full-blown planetary invasion. Only their 
  extreme expense, high technology level and 
  relative fragility compared with BattleMechs keep 
  aerospace fi ghters from unseating BattleMechs 
  as the kings of the battlefi eld.
  In the thirty-fi rst century, two classes of 
  aerospace fi ghters are used: those employed 
  primarily by the Inner Sphere, representing 
  variations of and improvements on the original 
  aerospace fi ghter technology, and the modular 
  OmniFighters that gave the Clans their initial 
  edge. Both are divided into light, medium and 
  heavy weight categories.
  Light Fighters
  Light fi ghters weigh between 20 and 45 tons. 
  Their incredible speed and agility enables them 
  to fi ll a variety of roles, from reconnaissance to 
  surgical strikes to dogfi ghts. The fi rst to deploy 
  and the last to return to base, the light fi ghter is 
  the workhorse of aerospace fi ghters.
  Medium Fighters
  Ranging in weight from 50 to 70 tons, the 
  medium fi ghter specializes in dogfi ghts. Though 
  fl exible enough to fi ll multiple combat roles, the 
  medium fi ghter excels at attacking and defeating 
  an enemy’s air support.
  Heavy Fighters
  Heavy fi ghters weigh from 75 to 100 tons. Too 
  large and cumbersome for dogfi ghts, the heavy 
  fi ghter can be equally well employed as a long-
  range bomber or as an escort for DropShips. 
  Additionally, their superior armor and fi repower 
  enable heavy fi ghters to attack DropShips and 
  WarShips, where protection and fi repower rather 
  than speed and agility are the keys to victory.
  SMALL CRAFT
  “Small craft” is a catchall category for any 
  spacegoing vessel weighing from 100 to 200 
  tons. Ranging from near orbit to far, shuttling 
  between DropShips and JumpShips and even 
  between planets and moons within a system, 
  small craft represent a myriad of vessels of 
  every type and size not covered by aerospace 
  fi ghters or DropShips. Like DropShips, small craft 
  are categorized by shape, either aerodyne or 
  spheroid.
  DROPSHIPS
  DropShips fi ll a broad range of mission roles, 
  ranging from simple cargo supply ships to 
  massive assault craft. Many military DropShips 
  serve as specialized troop transports that can 
  bridge the gulf between a JumpShip and a 
  target planet during a military campaign to 
  land a substantial combined-arms force. Most 
  DropShips also mount an impressive array of 
  weaponry and armor, making them mobile 
  weapons platforms in their own right. Whether 
  for military conquest or simple commerce, 
  DropShips are a key link in humanity’s 
  interstellar empires. They are categorized by 
  the frequently extreme diff erences in their 
  design, size and use. 
  Size: Primary size designations are small, 
  medium or large, though assault ships fall 
  outside these standard size categories. 
  Role: The intended role of a DropShip results 
  in six classifi cations: troop carriers, BattleMech 
  carriers, fi ghter carriers, assault ships, cargo 
  carriers and passenger liners. 
  Shape: DropShips can be aerodyne (relying on 
  wings and aerodynamic hull shapes to provide 
  lift for atmospheric fl ight) or spheroid (so named 
  for their distinctive spherical hulls, relying on 
  their fusion drives to provide lift).
  Small DropShips
  Weighing from 200 to 2,499 tons, small 
  DropShips are employed during small-unit 
  actions. Small DropShips can quickly insert 
  or redeploy forces—a company of infantry or 
  a lance of ’Mechs or vehicles—when a long 
  distance must be covered quickly.
  Medium DropShips
  Weighing from 2,500 to 9,999 tons, medium 
  DropShips are the mainstay of any naval fl eet 
  and can be found in every navy of the Inner 
  Sphere and Clans. Medium DropShips enable 
  every military to transport signifi cant assets to 
  any target.
  Large DropShips
  Weighing from 10,000 tons to a gargantuan 
  100,000 tons, large DropShips enable a military 
  to transport massive quantities of assets, 
  personnel and supplies between the stars. With 
  only three or four of these monstrous ships 
  needed to transport an entire regiment, they 
  are primarily employed in planetary assaults. 
  Because of practical limitations, military/combat 
  DropShips weigh 20,000 tons or less.
  Assault Ships
  Not a true weight-class designation (meaning 
  that they can weigh any tonnage), Inner Sphere 
  militaries employ assault ships to destroy enemy 
  DropShips before they can land and disembark 
  their troops. Exceptionally powerful, some 
  assault ships pack enough fi repower to even 
  threaten small WarShips.
  Conventional Fighter
  Light Fighter
  Medium Fighter
  Heavy Fighter
  Small Craft
  Small DropShip
  Medium DropShip 
  
  Large DropShip 
  Wheeled Support
  Tracked Support
  Hover Support
  VTOL Support
  Airship Support
  FixedWing Support
  Naval Support
  25
  COMPONENTS
  SUPPORT VEHICLES
  No battle can be waged or won without 
  the 
  mammoth 
  numbers 
  of 
  Support 
  Vehicles that feed the war machines of the 
  Great Houses. From cargo trucks to tanker 
  airships, from airborne M.A.S.H. units to 
  communication satellites, from armored 
  transport trains to coastal patrol boats, from 
  hauler exoskeletons to LoaderMechs, and 
  even hover and wheeled police cruisers or 
  civilian vehicles conscripted into the military, 
  the Support Vehicle is the backbone of any 
  military machine. Support Vehicles may 
  be custom-designed for inclusion in the 
  support apparatus of a military organization 
  or conscripted into service as the need arises. 
  Though usually not intended for direct use 
  in combat, Support Vehicles often end up 
  there. 
  Support Vehicles belong to one of eight 
  chassis types: wheeled, tracked, hover, VTOL, 
  WiGE, Airship, Fixed-Wing and Naval vehicles. 
  Within each chassis type, all Support Vehicles 
  fall into one of three size classes: small, 
  medium and large.
  Aerospace Units: For game purposes, 
  Airship and Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles 
  are considered types of conventional fi ghter 
  (aerospace unit). 
  Ground Vehicles: For game purposes, 
  wheeled, tracked and hover Support Vehicles 
  are also defi ned as ground vehicles (see p. 22).
  Wheeled Vehicles
  Wheeled Support Vehicles weigh from 0.1 
  to 160 tons. Simple and inexpensive, wheeled 
  units operate most effi  ciently on established 
  road networks, though some special models 
  possess off -road capabilities.
  Tracked Vehicles
  Tracked Support Vehicles weigh from 0.1 
  to 200 tons. A vehicle equipped with tracks 
  has a distinct advantage over a wheeled 
  vehicle when crossing soft or rough terrain. 
  The expense, maintenance requirements and 
  oversized tonnage that can infl ict damage 
  on roads sometimes limit the use of tracked 
  vehicles.
  Hover Vehicles
  Hover Support Vehicles weigh from 0.1 
  to 100 tons. Supported on a cushion of 
  air, hovercraft can cross land and water 
  with equal ease. Sometimes referred to as 
  “skimmers,” hover vehicles see extensive use 
  on water-rich planets.
  VTOLs
  VTOL Support Vehicles weigh from 0.1 
  to 60 tons. Rotary wings or vectored-thrust 
  vehicles can achieve Vertical Take Off  and 
  Landing (VTOL). The high thrust-to-weight 
  ratio required limits the maximum weight of 
  such fl ying machines.
  WiGE Craft
  WiGE Support Vehicles weigh from 0.1 to 
  240 tons. With a larger frame than its military 
  counterpart, the WiGE Support Vehicle can 
  achieve a larger overall size and carrying 
  capacity. Though not common, this type of 
  Support Vehicle still sees use.
  Airships
  Airship Support Vehicles weigh from 0.1 to 
  1,000 tons. These vehicles use lighter-than-
  air gases (usually inert helium) to fi ll lifting 
  cells that keep them aloft, and propellers for 
  maneuvering and station keeping. Airships 
  are an attractive form of low-tech bulk cargo 
  transport for locations that lack rail or sea 
  links.
  Only small and medium Airships are 
  covered in these rules. Large Airships 
  (weighing from 300.5 to 1,000 tons) will be 
  covered in Tactical Operations.
  Fixed-Wing Craft
  Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles weigh from 
  0.100 to 200 tons. Lacking the fl exibility of 
  VTOLs because of their need for prepared 
  runways, Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles can 
  operate at higher altitudes, are more rugged 
  and can be larger.
  Naval Vessels
  Naval Support Vessels weigh from 0.1 to 
  100,000 tons. Often eclipsed by the DropShip, 
  these naval vessels are nonetheless a 
  cost-eff ective means of transporting bulk 
  cargo. Primitive paddle-wheel steamers 
  still exist, their unsophisticated design an 
  asset on backwater worlds. Elsewhere, more 
  advanced (and effi  cient) propulsion methods 
  are employed.
  These rules cover only Small and Medium 
  Naval Support Vessels. Large Naval Vessels 
  (weighing from 300.5 to 100,000 tons) will be 
  covered in Tactical Operations. 
  
  OTHER UNITS
  Additional units—combat, support and otherwise—exist in 
  the Classic BattleTech universe. However, these units are generally 
  outside the scope of one-off  games played on mapsheets, and are 
  either space-only units or are better suited for campaign play. Rules 
  for using them will appear in the rulebook Tactical Operations, but 
  this book provides a brief description for interested players.
  AEROSPACE UNITS
  JumpShips, WarShips and space stations also exist in the Classic 
  BattleTech universe.
  JumpShips
  JumpShips provide the only means of transportation between 
  the far-fl ung star systems of the Inner Sphere, the Periphery and 
  beyond. These vessels make interstellar leaps of 30 light-years at a 
  time by harnessing the radiant energy of the stars with their huge 
  solar-energy sails and Kearny-Fuchida hyperdrive technology. 
  JumpShips are primarily used to transport DropShips between 
  star systems.
  WarShips
  Heavily armored, massively armed and highly mobile, the 
  military JumpShips known as WarShips generally have the 
  fi repower to destroy even an assault DropShip with a single volley. 
  They usually need only fear another WarShip.
  Space Stations
  Numerous orbital facilities, colloquially known as space 
  stations, serve multiple functions throughout the Inner Sphere. 
  From factories to habitats, shipyards to system-defense stations, 
  all of these facilities fall into one of three broad groups: low-orbit, 
  geosynchronous-orbit or stable-point stations.
  SUPPORT VEHICLES
  In addition to the Support Vehicles already described, the Classic 
  BattleTech universe also includes satellites and rail systems.
  Satellites
  Used for communications, surveying and information-gathering, 
  satellites rely on station-keeping drives and lack the powerful 
  propulsion systems that would make them true spacecraft. 
  Rail
  Rail systems transport cargo and passengers over land. Standard 
  rail requires little technology to produce or maintain, but advanced 
  maglev systems (which require a much higher level of technology) 
  achieve far greater speed by suspending the train above the track 
  and propelling it with powerful magnetic fi elds.
  MOBILE STRUCTURES
  An exceptionally rare sight in the Classic BattleTech universe, 
  mobile structures represent super-large units and mobile 
  buildings. Such unique constructs are usually reserved for 
  specialized planetary environments, where the costs of 
  construction and maintenance are outweighed by the needs of 
  survival, or the desire to plumb harsh environmental locations for 
  rare minerals and so on.
  RECORD SHEETS
  Players use the following record sheets to track various 
  types of information while playing BattleTech. Each type of 
  unit (’Mech, ProtoMech, Combat Vehicle, infantry, battle armor, 
  aerospace fi ghter, and so on) uses a unique record sheet, 
  while the Support Vehicles use Combat Vehicle record sheets 
  appropriate to the unit type. A complete description of each 
  record sheet appears below.
  Total Warfare introduces a new look to all the record sheets for 
  the various unit types of Classic BattleTech. While the following 
  descriptions cover the layout of the new record sheets, in form 
  and function they are similar enough that players should have no 
  problems utilizing older record sheets.
  Finally, new pre-generated record sheets include an illustration 
  of the unit represented by the record sheet. However, the 
  illustrations on each record sheet do not represent the exact 
  SL 
  SL
  The FWLS Santorini and FWLS Galahad (Athena- and Eagle-class WarShips) of House Marik deploy for maneuvering exercises. 
  
  1
  2
  34
  5
  27
  27
  COMPONENTS
  COMPONENTS
  variant of the unit detailed. Instead, those illustrations are from 
  various technical readouts and represent the stock design of 
  the unit in question (i.e., while weapons and equipment may 
  change, the basic look of a given unit always stays the same).
  Note: Record sheets are not provided with this rulebook. 
  Players will fi nd blank, generic record sheets for the units 
  presented in Total Warfare in the TechManual. Alternatively, 
  players can fi nd pre-generated record sheets for various units 
  in other sourcebooks, or online (see Record Sheets, p. 11). 
  ’MECH RECORD SHEET
  Players use the ’Mech Record Sheet to track damage done 
  to a BattleMech during combat. The same record sheet 
  represents regular ’Mechs and OmniMechs. A diff erent record 
  sheet is provided for four-legged ’Mechs. The following 
  paragraphs describe each section of the record sheet.
  Armor Diagram 
  The Armor Diagram on the top right-hand side of the record 
  sheet shows the arrangement of a BattleMech’s armor plating, 
  while the Internal Structure Diagram directly below it shows 
  the arrangement of a ’Mech’s internal structure. Each circle 
  on the Armor Diagram represents a point of armor. Circles 
  in excess of a specifi c BattleMech’s armor rating are fi lled in 
  prior to play. As weapon hits destroy the armor, the player 
  checks off  the appropriate circles. When all the circles in one 
  location are fi lled in, damage transfers to the appropriate 
  internal structure location, as shown on the Internal Structure 
  Diagram. When all the circles in an internal structure location 
  are fi lled in, that location is destroyed.
  The Armor Diagram also shows the front and rear armor of 
  the BattleMech’s torso (the arms, legs and head do not have 
  rear armor locations). The Damage Transfer Diagram, which 
  appears at the bottom of the Critical Hit Table, shows where 
  the player must transfer damage when an already destroyed 
  location takes additional damage.
  For ease of reference during game play, next to the name 
  of each location on both the armor diagram, as well as the 
  internal structure diagram, a line is provided to fi ll in that 
  section’s starting Armor Value (or in the case of the internal 
  structure, the starting internal structure value).
  ’Mech Data
  Located in the upper left-hand corner, this section of the 
  record sheet lists the BattleMech’s most important statistics, 
  including type, tonnage, movement, and weapons inventory.
  Warrior Data
  This section lists the name, skills and condition of the 
  MechWarrior piloting the BattleMech.
  Critical Hit Table
  The Critical Hit Table shows the physical location of the 
  BattleMech’s critical equipment, weapons and ammunition. 
  Each part of the ’Mech’s body, such as the left arm, right leg or 
  center torso, is referred to as a location. Each line in a location 
  (six in the head and legs, twelve in other locations) is referred 
  to as a critical slot, or a slot. Each slot usually represents a 
  particular weapon or other piece of equipment susceptible to 
  destruction. Most equipment occupies so much space in the 
  ’Mech that it requires multiple slots on the table.
  Heat Data and Heat Scale
  Located in the bottom right-hand corner, the Heat Data 
  and Heat Scale help the player track each ’Mech’s internal 
  heat buildup, as well as indicate how many heat sinks a ’Mech 
  mounts (circles underneath the numerical value in the Heat 
  Data section allow players to mark off  heat sinks as they are 
  damaged). As heat builds up, the player checks off  the boxes 
  in the Heat Scale from low to high (usually with a pencil, as 
  heat will fl uctuate up and down the Heat Scale all through 
  a game). At certain levels of heat buildup (those heat levels 
  with asterisks), corresponding information in the Heat Data 
  describes the heat’s eff ect on the ’Mech’s operation. The blank 
  space marked Heat Overfl ow at the top of the Heat Scale is 
  used to record heat generated in excess of 30 points.
  INDUSTRIALMECH RECORD SHEET
  IndustrialMechs use ’Mech record sheets.
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  
  1
  233
  4
  5
  1
  2
  PROTOMECH RECORD SHEET
  ProtoMech record sheets come fi ve to a page, allowing players 
  to track damage done to each individual ProtoMech in a Point.
  ProtoMech Data
  Though not named specifi cally on the record sheet, this 
  section—located at the left-hand side of each ProtoMech record 
  sheet—lists the ProtoMech’s type, tonnage, and movement.
  Pilot Data
  This section lists the name, gunnery skill and condition of the 
  pilot.
  Armor Diagram
  The Armor Diagram on the right-hand side of the record sheet 
  shows the arrangement of each ProtoMech’s armor plating and 
  internal structure. Each circle represents a point of armor; white 
  circles represent armor, while shaded circles represent internal 
  structure. Circles in excess of a specifi c ProtoMech’s armor rating 
  are fi lled in prior to play. As weapon hits destroy the armor, the 
  player checks off  the appropriate circles. When all the circles in 
  one location are fi lled in, that location is destroyed.
  Hit Locations and Critical Hits
  This section includes a Hit Location Table for each ProtoMech, 
  as well as a list of specifi c eff ects from multiple critical hits to each 
  location on the ProtoMech. The player marks off  the boxes by each 
  eff ect when a critical hit occurs. Shaded boxes represent damage 
  to the MechWarrior.
  Weapons Inventory
  Located in the middle of each record sheet, this section includes 
  a detailed inventory of weapons carried by each ProtoMech.
  COMBAT VEHICLE RECORD SHEETS
  Vehicle record sheets allow players to track damage done to 
  individual vehicles during combat. Each type of vehicle (ground, 
  VTOL and naval) uses a diff erent record sheet, but they all share 
  the features described below (with the exceptions of the Elevation 
  and Depth tracks, as noted below).
  Armor Diagram
  The Armor Diagram on the right-hand side of the record 
  sheet shows the arrangement of the vehicle’s armor plating and 
  internal structure. Each circle represents a point of armor. Circles 
  in excess of a specifi c vehicle’s armor rating are fi lled in prior to 
  play. As weapon hits destroy the armor, the player checks off  the 
  appropriate circles. When all the circles in one location are fi lled 
  in, damage transfers to the adjacent internal structure, indicated 
  on the sheet by shaded areas.
  For ease of reference during game play, next to the name of 
  each location on the armor diagram, a line is provided to fi ll in 
  that section’s starting Armor Value.
  Vehicle Data
  The Vehicle Data section lists the vehicle’s other important 
  statistics, including its tonnage, movement, weapons inventory 
  and other components. 
  GROUND VEHICLE RECORD SHEET
  CLASSiC
  TM
  T
  © 2006 WizKids, Inc. Classic BattleTech, ’Mech and BattleMech are trademarks of WizKids, Inc. All rights reserved.
  Permission to photocopy for personal use.
  VEHICLE DATA
  GROUND COMBAT VEHICLE HIT LOCATION TABLE
  GROUND COMBAT VEHICLE CRITICAL HITS TABLE
  MOTIVE SYSTEM DAMAGE TABLE
  CREW DATA
  CRITICAL DAMA
  NOTES
  Type:
  Movement Points:
  Cost:
  Tech Base:
  Clan
  Inner Sphere
  Weapons & Equipment Inventory
  (hexes)
  Qty Type
  Loc Dmg Min Sht Med Lng
  Tonnage
  BV:
  Movement Type:
  Engine Type:
  Cruising:
  Flank:
  Turret Locked
  Eng
  Stabilizers
  Front
  Left
  g
  Turret
  Sensor Hits
  +1 +2 +3
  Rear
  Crew:
  Crew:
  Gunnery Skill:
  Gunnery Skill:
  Driv
  Driv
  Driver Hit
  Commander Hit
  Modifier to Driving 
  Skill rolls
  Modifier to all Skill rolls
  +1
  +2
  ATTACK DIRECTION
   
  2D6 Roll 
  FRONT
  REAR
  SIDE§
  2*
  Front (critical)  
  Rear (critical)  
  Side (critical) 
  3
  Front†
  Rear†
  Side†
  4
  Front†
  Rear†
  Side†
  5
  Right Side†
  Left Side†
  Front†
  6
  Front
  Rear
  Side
  7
  Front
  Rear
  Side
  8
  Front
  Rear
  Side (critical)*
  9
  Left Side†
  Right Side†
  Rear†
  10
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret
  11
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret  
  12*
  Turret (critical) 
   Turret (critical)  
  Turret (critical)  
  *A result of 2 or 12 (or an 8 if the attack strikes the side) may inﬂict a critical hit on the vehicle. For each result of 2 or
  12 (or 8 for side attacks), apply damage normally to the armor in that section. The attacking player then automatically rolls
  once on the Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hits Table below (see Combat, p. 192 in Total Warfare for more information).
  e
  A result of 12 on the Ground Combat Vehicles Hit Location Table may inﬂict critical hit against the turret; if the vehicle has
  no turret, a 12 indicates the chance of a critical hit on the side corresponding to the attack direction.
  †The vehicle may suffer motive system damage even if its armor remains intact. Apply damage normally to the armor in 
  that section, but the attacking player also rolls once on the Motive System Damage Table at right (see Combat, p. 192 in 
  Total Warfare for more information). Apply damage at the end of the phase in which the damage takes effect.
  e
  §Side hits strike the side as indicated by the attack direction. For example, if an attack hits the right side, all Side results
  strike the right side armor. If the vehicle has no turret, a turret hit strikes the armor on the side attacked.
  2D6 Roll  
  EFFECT*
  2–5
  No effect
  6–7
  Minor damage; +1 modiﬁer to all Driving Skill Rolls
  8–9
  Moderate damage; –1 Cruising MP, +2 modiﬁer to all
  Driving Skill Rolls
  10–11 
  Heavy damage; only half Cruising MP (round fractions up), 
  +3 modiﬁer to all Driving Skill Rolls
  12+
  Major damage; no movement for the rest of the game.
  Vehicle is immobile.
  Attack Direction Modiﬁer:
  Hit from rear
  + 1
  Hit from the sides  
  + 2
  Vehicle Type Modiﬁers:
  Tracked, Naval 
  +0
  Wheeled
  +2
  Hovercraft, Hydrofoil  
  +3
  WiGE 
  +4
  *All movement and Driving Skill Roll penalties are cumulative. If a unit’s Cruising MP is reduced
  to 0, it cannot move for the rest of the game, but is not considered an immobile target. In
  addition, all motive system damage takes effect at the end of the phase in which the damage 
  occurred. For example, if two units are attacking the same Combat Vehicle during the
  Weapon Attack Phase and the ﬁrst unit inﬂicts motive system damage and rolls a 12, the –4
  immobile target modiﬁer would not apply for the second unit. However, the –4 modiﬁer would
  take effect during the Physical Attack Phase.
  LOCATION HIT
   
  2D6 Roll  
  FRONT  
  SIDE
  REAR
  TURRET
  2–5
  No Critical Hit  
  No Critical Hit
  No Critical Hit
  No Critical Hit
  6
  Driver Hit
  Cargo/Infantry Hit  
  Weapon Malfunction  
  Stabilizer
  7
  Weapon Malfunction  
  Weapon Malfunction  
  Cargo/Infantry Hit  
  Turret Jam
  8
  Stabilizer
  Crew Stunned
  Stabilizer 
   Weapon Malfunction
  9
   Sensors
  Stabilizer
  Weapon Destroyed  
  Turret Locks
  10 
  Commander Hit  
  Weapon Destroyed  
  Engine Hit  
  Weapon Destroyed
  11 
  Weapon Destroyed  
  Engine Hit  
  Ammunition**  
  Ammunition**
  12
  Crew Killed
  Fuel Tank*  
  Fuel Tank*  
  Turret Blown Off
  *If Combat Vehicle has ICE engine only. If Combat Vehicle has a fusion engine, treat this result as Engine Hit.
  **If Combat Vehicle carries no ammunition, treat this result as Weapon Destroyed.
  OR DIAGRAM
   Le
   )
  Right Side Armor (      )
   Front Armor
  (      ) 
  Rear Armor
  (      ) 
  Turret Armor
  (      ) 
  BAR:
  1
  2
  3
  4
  6
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  
  34
  66
  123
  1
  29
  29
  COMPONENTS
  COMPONENTS
  Crew Data
  This section lists the name, skills and condition of the 
  vehicle crew.
  Critical Damage
  This section allows players to track the critical damage that 
  occurs to a vehicle during a game.
  Elevation and Depth Tracks
  Located on VTOL and naval record sheets (for use on 
  submarines), this sections includes a Turn Row and an 
  Elevation/Depth Row, which the player uses to track the 
  VTOL’s elevation or the submarine’s depth at the end of the 
  vehicle’s movement. The current elevation of a VTOL cannot 
  be lower than the level of the terrain over which the VTOL is 
  moving, nor can the current depth of a submarine be greater 
  than the water’s depth or water’s surface (see VTOL Movement 
  and Naval Movement, pp. 54 and 56 respectively).
  BAR
  Barrier Armor Rating (BAR) is only used for support vehicles 
  (see Support Vehicle Record Sheets, p. 31), and represents the 
  fact that support vehicles are more susceptible to critical 
  damage than Combat Vehicles (see Damage, p. 206, in the 
  Support Vehicles section).
  GENERIC CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY RECORD SHEET
  Each generic conventional Infantry record sheet includes six 
  infantry platoons and are used for all conventional (non-battle 
  armor) infantry types, with each box representing an individual 
  trooper. Any excess armor boxes (i.e. troopers) are crossed off  
  based upon the standard size of the platoon type used.
  Movement MP and Type
  This area of the record sheet covers the specifi c movement 
  and type of infantry: i.e. 3 Ground MP, LRM (mechanized/
  wheeled); 1 Ground MP, Rifl e, Ballistic (foot); and so on.
  Skills
  This area lists the specifi c skills of each infantry platoon. 
  Tables
  A series of tables are located on every record sheet and 
  provide the data for all generic conventional infantry types; 
  players are free to highlight specifi c sections of each table once 
  infantry types have been assigned to aid in quick referencing 
  during a game.
  BATTLE ARMOR RECORD SHEET
  Each battle armor record sheet can record the information 
  for fi ve Points or squads of battle armor. Each of the Point/
  squad’s six rows represents a single trooper.
  Armor
  Each circle represents a point of armor. As a trooper takes 
  damage, the player checks off  the circles in that trooper’s 
  row, right to left, with the fi nal shaded circle representing the 
  trooper. When all the circles (including the shaded circle) are 
  checked off , that trooper is out of the game (eliminated). 
  GENERIC CONVENTIONAL
  INFANTRY RECORD
  SHEET
  CLASSiC
  TM
  © 2006 WizKids, Inc. Classic BattleTech, ’Mech and BattleMech are trademarks of WizKids, Inc. All rights reserved.
  Permission to photocopy for personal use.
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY DAMAGE TABLE
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY RANGE MODIFIER TABLE
  NON-INFANTRY WEAPON DAMAGE AGAINST INFANTRY TABLE
  NUMBER OF TROOPERS
  Rifle, Ballistic 12 12 11 11 10 10 10
  9
  9
  8
  8
  8
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  4
  4
  4
  3
  3
  2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  0
  MAX WEAPON DAMAGE
  PER PLATOON/POINT TYPE 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
  9
  8
  7
  6
  5
  4
  3
  2
  1
  Rifle, Energy 8
  8
  8
  8
  7
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  5
  4
  4
  4
  4
  3
  3
  3
  3
  2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  1
  1
  0
  Machine Guns 13 12 12 12 11 11 10 10
  9
  9
  9
  8
  8
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  4
  4
  3
  3
  3
  2
  2
  1
  1
  0
  SRM 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 11 10 10
  9
  9
  8
  8
  7
  7
  6
  6
  5
  5
  4
  4
  3
  3
  2
  2
  1
  1
  0
  LRM 10 10 10
  9
  9
  9
  8
  8
  7
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  5
  4
  4
  4
  3
  3
  3
  2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  1
  0
  Flamer 11 11 11 10 10 10
  9
  9
  8
  8
  8
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  5
  4
  4
  3
  3
  3
  2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  0
  WEAPON TYPE 
  RANGE IN HEXES (TO-HIT MODIFIER)
  0 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  4 
  5 
  6 
  7 
  8 
  9 
  Riﬂe, Ballistic 
  –2 
  0 
  +2 +4 — — — — — —
  Riﬂe, Energy 
  –2 
  0 
  0 
  +2 +2 +4 +4 — — —
  Machine Guns 
  –2 
  0 
  +2 +4 — — — — — —
  SRM
  –1 
  0 
  0 
  +2 +2 +4 +4 — — -—
  LRM
  –1 
  0 
  0 
  0 
  +2 +2 +2 +4 +4 +4
  Flamer 
  –1 
  0 
  +2 +4 — — — — — —
  NUMBER OF CONVENTIONAL
  WEAPON TYPE* 
  TROOPERS HIT†
  Direct Fire (Ballistic or Energy)
  Damage Value / 10§
  Cluster (Ballistic)
  Damage Value / 10 + 1§
  Pulse
  Damage Value / 10 +2§
  Cluster (Missile)
  Damage Value / 5§
  Area-Effect (AE)
  Damage Value / .5
  Burst-Fire
  See Burst-Fire Weapons
  *See Combat, p. XX, for weapon terminology.
  †This equals the number of conventional infantry troopers hit and eliminated, regardless of
   
  armor protection. Attacks by non-infantry weapons against mechanized infantry double
   
  the number of troopers eliminated. 
  §Round all fractions up.
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 1
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 2
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 3
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 4
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 5
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 6
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  GENERIC CONVENTIONAL
  INFANTRY RECORD
  SHEET
  CLASSiC
  TM
  T
  © 2006 WizKids, Inc. Classic BattleTech, ’Mech and BattleMech are trademarks of WizKids, Inc. All rights reserved.
  Permission to photocopy for personal use.
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY DAMAGE TABLE
  RST-FIRE WEAPON DAMAGE VS. CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY TABLE
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY RANGE MODIFIER TABLE
  NON-INFANTRY WEAPON DAMAGE AGAINST INFANTRY TABLE
  NUMBER OF TROOPERS
  Rifle, Ballistic 12
  12
  11
  11
  10
  10
  10
  9
  9
  8
  8
  8
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  4
  4
  4
  3
  3
  2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  0
  MAX WEAPON DAMAGE
  PER PLATOON/POINT TYPE* 30
  29
  28
  27
  26
  25
  24
  23
  22
  21
  20
  19
  18
  17
  16
  15
  14
  13
  12
  11
  10
  9
  8
  7
  6
  5
  4
  3
  2
  1
  Rifle, Energy
  8
  8
  8
  8
  7
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  5
  4
  4
  4
  4
  3
  3
  3
  3
  2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  1
  1
  0
  Machine Guns
  13
  12
  12
  12
  11
  11
  10
  10
  9
  9
  9
  8
  8
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  4
  4
  3
  3
  3
  2
  2
  1
  1
  0
  SRM
  14
  14
  13
  13
  12
  12
  11
  11
  11
  10
  10
  9
  9
  8
  8
  7
  7
  6
  6
  5
  5
  4
  4
  3
  3
  2
  2
  1
  1
  0
  LRM
  10
  10
  10
  9
  9
  9
  8
  8
  7
  7
  7
  6
  6
  6
  5
  5
  5
  4
  4
  4
  3
  3
  3
  2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  1
  0
  Flamer
  11
  11
  11
  10
  10
  10
  9
  9
  8
  6
  6
  5
  5
  5
  4
  4
  3
  3
  3
  2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  0
  WEAPON TYPE 
  RANGE IN HEXES (TO-HIT MODIFIER)
  0 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  4 
  5 
  6 
  7 
  Riﬂe, Ballistic
  –2 
  0 
  +2 
  +4 
  — 
  — 
  — 
  — 
  Riﬂe, Energy
  –2 
  0 
  0 
  +2 
  +2 
  +4 
  +4 
  — 
  Machine Guns 
  –2 
  0 
  +2 
  +4 
  — 
  — 
  — 
  — 
  — 
  —
  SRM
  –1 
  0 
  0 
  +2 
  +2 
  +4 
  +4 
  — 
  — 
  -—
  LRM
  –1 
  0 
  0 
  0 
  +2 
  +2 
  +2 
  +4 
  +4 
  +4
  Flamer
  –1 
  0 
  +2 
  +4 
  — 
  — 
  — 
  — 
  — 
  —
  NUMBER OF CONVENTIONAL
  WEAPON TYPE* 
  TROOPERS HIT†
  Direct Fire (Ballistic or Energy)
  Damage Value / 10§
  Cluster (Ballistic)
  Damage Value / 10 + 1§
  Pulse**
  Damage Value / 10 + 2§
  Cluster (Missile)
  Damage Value / 5§
  Area-Effect (AE)
  Damage Value / .5
  Burst-Fire
  See Burst-Fire Weapons Table
  Heat-Effect Weapons
  See Heat-Effect Weapons‡
  *See Combat, p. 113 in Total Warfare, for weapon terminology.
  **Except for Small and Micro Pulse Lasers, which are treated as Burst-Fire Weapons.
  †This equals the number of conventional infantry troopers hit and eliminated, regardless of  armor protection.
  Attacks by non-infantry weapons against mechanized infantry double the number of troopers eliminated.
  §Round all fractions up.
  ‡Each Heat-Effect Weapon has speciﬁc damage against conventional infantry, as noted on either the
  appropriate Weapon and Equipment Tables or in Other Combat Weapons and Equipment (see p. 129 in
  t
  Total Warfare).
  CHS, PROTOMECHS AND
  S
  VEHICLES
  APON
  DAMAGE vs. CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY
  t Anti-Personnel Gauss
  2D6
  Light Machine Gun
  1D6
  Machine Gun
  2D6
  Heavy Machine Gun
  3D6
  Small/Micro Pulse Laser
  2D6
  Flamer
  4D6
  BATTLE ARMOR
  WEAPON
  DAMAGE vs. CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY
  Light Machine Gun
  1D6/2 (round up)
  Machine Gun
  1D6
  Heavy Machine Gun
  2D6
  Flamer
  3D6
  Light Recoilless Riﬂe
  1D6
  Medium Recoilless Riﬂe
  2D6
  Heavy Recoilless Riﬂe
  2D6
  Light Mortar
  1D6
  Heavy Mortar
  1D6
  Automatic Grenade Launcher
  1D6/2 (round up)
  Heavy Grenade Launcher
  1D6
  *Damage is always applied
  in 2-point Damage Value
  Clusters
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 1
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 2
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 3
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 4
  Gunnery Skill:
  Anti-’Mech Skill:
  Movement MP: 
  Type:
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY: PLATOON/POINT 5
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  3
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  2
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  1
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  5
  Circles in excess of a specifi c battle armor’s armor rating are 
  fi lled in prior to play; excess troopers are also crossed off  if using 
  a faction that deploys less than six troopers per battle armor unit.
  Underneath the rows of armor representing each trooper, 
  players can note the specifi c armor type mounted, as well as any 
  to-hit modifi ers that might apply.
  Data
  This area lists the battle armor unit’s other important statistics, 
  including type, movement, skills, weapons inventory and other 
  components. 
  Mechanized and Anti-’Mech Attacks
  For ease of referencing during a game, players check the boxes 
  indicating whether the battle armor unit can make Swarm or Leg 
  Anti-’Mech attacks, an AP attack or can mount other units using 
  the Mechanized Battle Armor rules. 
  Tables
  A series of tables applicable to the specifi c abilities of battle 
  armor units are included on every sheet. 
  AEROSPACE RECORD SHEETS
  Though conventional and aerospace fi ghters, small craft 
  and DropShips all use diff erent record sheets, the forms share 
  common features. 
  Armor Diagram
  The Armor Diagram on the top right-hand side of the record 
  sheet allows players to track damage sustained by the armor 
  plating on the various facings of each unit. Each circle on the 
  Armor Diagram represents a point of armor. Circles in excess of 
  a specifi c aerospace unit’s armor rating are fi lled in prior to play. 
  As weapon hits destroy the armor, the player checks off  the 
  appropriate circles. When all the circles in a location are fi lled in, 
  that location is destroyed.
  The number of armor sections varies by ship class. 
  Each armor facing has a Damage Threshold. If the damage from 
  a successful attack exceeds this threshold, critical damage may 
  result (see Damage Thresholds, p. 239). 
  Critical Damage
  The Critical Damage section allows players to record the status 
  of various vital components that are vulnerable to weapons fi re. 
  Most systems have a number of boxes, one of which is crossed 
  off  each time the system suff ers a critical hit. In most cases, a 
  system’s abilities deteriorate as boxes are crossed off , as noted by 
  the modifi ers printed in each box. When all the boxes for a system 
  have suff ered critical damage (the system has taken multiple hits), 
  the system is destroyed.
  Fighter Data
  The Fighter Data section contains important statistics, such 
  as Safe and Maximum thrust values and Structural Integrity, as 
  well as the weapons carried by each unit and their fi ring arcs, 
  heat build-up (for aerospace fi ghters and small craft), range and 
  damage. This section also lists the name(s), skills and conditions 
  of the pilot/crew piloting the aerospace unit.
  Velocity Record
  This section provides space to record the thrust spent each 
  turn, the current Velocity, as well as altitude when operation on 
  a low-altitude map. 
  Heat Scale
  Only aerospace fi ghters and Small Craft track heat and so have 
  a Heat Scale on their record sheets.
  Located in the bottom right-hand corner, the Heat Data and 
  Heat Scale help the player track each aerospace’s internal heat 
  buildup, as well as indicate how many heat sinks an aerospace 
  unit mounts (circles underneath the numerical value in the Heat 
  Data section allow players to mark off  heat sinks as they are 
  damaged). As heat builds up, the player checks off  the boxes in 
  the Heat Scale from low to high (usually with a pencil, as heat 
  will fl uctuate up and down the Heat Scale all through a game). 
  At certain levels of heat buildup (those heat levels with asterisks), 
  corresponding information in the Heat Data describes the heat’s 
  eff ect on the aerospace unit’s operation. The blank space marked 
  Heat Overfl ow at the top of the Heat Scale is used to record heat 
  generated in excess of 30 points.
  1
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  31
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  COMPONENTS
  COMPONENTS
  SUPPORT VEHICLE RECORD SHEETS
  Support Vehicle record sheets, depending on the unit in 
  question, are identical in usage to the various record sheets 
  described above (see Barrier Armor Rating below for the 
  exception). Use the appropriate descriptions above when 
  reviewing a Support Vehicle record sheet for use.
  Barrier Armor Rating (BAR)
  As described under Combat Vehicle Record Sheets, the 
  armor of a Support Vehicle has a unique Barrier Armor Rating 
  (BAR). This rating represents the fact that Support Vehicles are 
  not Combat Vehicles and so their armor is more susceptible to 
  damage (see Damage, p. 206).
  MAPSHEETS
  The 17-by-22 inch mapsheets used in Classic BattleTech are 
  divided into six-sided areas called hexes (short for hexagon). 
  The players use these hexes to regulate movement and 
  combat by moving units from hex to hex during a turn. Each 
  hex on the mapsheet represents an area of ground 30 meters 
  across (roughly 100 feet). 
  The forests, rivers, hills, buildings and rough areas on a 
  Classic BattleTech mapsheet represent a typical mixture of 
  terrain found on the habitable worlds of the Inner Sphere. The 
  following symbols represent each type of terrain as described, 
  and the accompanying text gives an overview of the terrain’s 
  eff ects in the game. Specifi c rules regarding the eff ect of 
  terrain on movement and combat appear in the Movement
  and Combat sections.
  Note: Only full hexes are considered legal in game play. 
  Players may not move into or through, or end their movement 
  in, a half hex. Units that do so (voluntarily or not) are considered 
  destroyed for the remainder of the scenario. 
  Level
  The level of a hex is the height to which it rises above the 
  prevailing terrain. All terrain has a level, but each hex’s level is 
  independent of the type of terrain it contains, such as woods 
  or water. Hexes with levels higher than 0 are also referred to as 
  hills. If it is not marked on the map, assume a hex’s level is 0.
  This height is expressed in terms of levels. Level 1 is 
  approximately six meters high, waist-high to a ’Mech. A ’Mech 
  (bipedal or four-legged) standing behind a Level 1 hill may 
  be partially hidden, and a vehicle, ProtoMech or infantry unit 
  behind a Level 1 hill is completely hidden. Level 2 terrain is 
  approximately twelve meters high, roughly the same height as 
  a ’Mech. A ’Mech standing behind Level 2 terrain is completely 
  hidden. Level 3 terrain is approximately eighteen meters high, 
  and so on. The level of a hex is considered equal to the highest 
  level present in it.
  Sublevels: Hexes with levels lower than 0 are referred 
  to as sinkholes. These hexes are marked in sublevels that 
  correspond to levels in reverse. For example, a Sublevel 1 hex 
  is six meters deep, while a Sublevel 2 hex is twelve meters 
  deep, and so on.
  RA 
  RA
  The forces of the Allied Mercenary Command and the rogue “Emperor” Baranov clash on the planet Hall.
  
  5
  6
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  4
  If any part of a hex contains a sublevel, the entire hex is considered 
  to be the deepest sublevel marked in it. The exception to this rule 
  occurs if the hex also contains a level greater than 0, in which case 
  the level of the hill takes precedence as described above.
  CLEAR
  Clear terrain represents fi elds, meadows and other grasslands. 
  The ground is fi rm and may be gently rolling, but its level does not 
  change signifi cantly from one side of the hex to the other.
  If a hex is not clearly marked as containing another terrain type, 
  assume it is clear.
  LIGHT WOODS
  Light woods terrain is covered with sparse trees up to twelve 
  meters tall. Most units cannot cross this terrain as easily as clear 
  terrain. Unless the wood is relatively large (i.e., covers numerous 
  hexes), units may have line of sight through light woods. When 
  light woods aff ect line of sight, they do so for 2 levels above the 
  level of their hex. (See Intervening Terrain, p. 100.)
  HEAVY WOODS
  Heavily wooded terrain is covered thickly with twelve-
  meter-tall trees, making movement through these areas very 
  diffi  cult. Light woods often border heavy woods. It is diffi  cult 
  to see through heavy woods. As with light woods, heavy woods 
  aff ect line of sight for 2 levels above the level of their hex (see 
  Intervening Terrain, p. 100).
  ROUGH
  Rough terrain represents broken, rocky and jumbled ground. 
  Though fi rm, the uneven surface makes it more diffi  cult to cross 
  than clear terrain. Commonly encountered near cliff s and bluff s, 
  rough ground may also be formed by the destruction of woods.
  WATER
  Water hexes are covered by streams, rivers, swamps, ponds or 
  lakes. A water hex is defi ned by depth (see Level Change, p. 48). 
  Depth 0 water is very shallow, only ankle-deep on a ’Mech, and 
  represents terrain such as streams, swamps or shallow ponds. 
  Depth 1 water is six meters deep, or one level below ground level 
  (about waist-high on a ’Mech). Depth 2 water is twelve meters 
  deep, enough to just cover a ’Mech. Depth 3 water is eighteen 
  meters deep, and so on. Even when a shallow stream fi lls only part 
  of a hex, that entire hex is considered a water hex.
  Water hexes eff ectively have two levels, the surface of the water 
  and the bed (or fl oor) of the body of water they represent. The 
  surface level is equal to the level of the hex. The bed level is equal 
  to the level of the hex minus the depth of the water. For example, 
  for a Depth 2 river in a Level 3 hex, the surface is at Level 3 while 
  the riverbed is at Level 1.
  PAVEMENT
  A paved hex off ers a fairly smooth and very hard surface. Paved 
  hexes typically include roads, sidewalks and landing fi elds made 
  of asphalt, cement or even cobblestone. This terrain increases 
  the speed of ground vehicles, but running ’Mechs and ground 
  vehicles moving at fl ank speed may skid on paved hexes (see 
  Movement on Pavement, p. 61).
  ROADS
  Roads are narrow strips of pavement that pass through other 
  terrain. All the rules that apply to a paved hex apply to a road 
  hex, except that units must move from one road or paved hex 
  to another road or paved hex to be considered “on” the road. A 
  unit not on the road in a hex is considered to be moving on the 
  underlying terrain type.
  4
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  • SAMPLE MAPSHEET AND TERRAIN HEXES •
  
  8
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  blbl
  bmbm
  33
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  COMPONENTS
  COMPONENTS
  BRIDGES
  When a road passes over water or over terrain that is 
  lower than the road level, that road is considered a bridge. 
  Units moving along a road may use a bridge and so ignore 
  the normal terrain restrictions and movement penalties they 
  otherwise would suff er while moving through the underlying 
  terrain (for example, through a water hex or across changes 
  of level). The Construction Factor of a bridge represents the 
  amount of weight each hex of the bridge can bear. Any bridge 
  not strong enough to support the weight of the crossing unit 
  will collapse. (See Collapse, p. 176 in Buildings.)
  BUILDINGS
  Buildings are usually multi-hex terrain, representing a variety 
  of diff erent structures, as described below (see Buildings, p. 
  166, for specifi c rules covering buildings). A building hex has 
  the structure’s type and level printed on it.
  Light Buildings 
  Light buildings generally represent small wooden or sheet-
  metal structures through which most ’Mechs and vehicles can 
  move with little trouble.
  Medium Buildings
  Constructed from stone, heavy wood and metal, medium 
  buildings represent light industrial structures that off er more 
  substance than light buildings. Their heavier construction 
  materials mean they can take more damage than light 
  buildings before being reduced to rubble.
  Heavy Buildings
  Usually part of industrial complexes, heavy buildings are 
  constructed of reinforced concrete, built to bear large loads. 
  All but the heaviest ’Mechs can jump onto heavy buildings 
  without collapsing the structure.
  Hardened Buildings
  The builders intentionally strengthen hardened buildings 
  to withstand combat. Of all types of buildings, hardened 
  structures can bear the most weight and sustain the most 
  damage before being reduced to rubble.
  RAILROADS
  This terrain type represents a variety of tracks, from 
  traditional steel rails on wooden ties to advanced extruded 
  ferrocrete troughs for maglevs and more. All ground vehicles 
  and ´Mechs treat railroad hexes as rough terrain, but railroad 
  hexes have no eff ect on any other unit’s movement and do 
  not aff ect line of sight. 
  COUNTERS
  Certain terrain features, such as rubble—or buildings, if 
  players wish to add buildings to a mapsheet that does not have 
  building hexes already printed on it—can be represented on 
  the map by cardboard or paper counters. You can make your 
  own, or purchase generic counters for such use. Rather than 
  printing these kinds of features on the maps, using counters 
  to represent them allows the players to alter their locations 
  before the game begins, based on the requirements of the 
  scenario being played or on mutual player agreement.
  The following text off ers an overview of counters used in 
  the game and their eff ects. Specifi c rules regarding eff ects on 
  movement and combat appear in the appropriate sections 
  later in this book.
  BUILDINGS AND BRIDGES
  Buildings and bridges represented on a map by counters—
  as opposed to already printed on a map sheet—function just 
  like other types of buildings and bridges (see Buildings and 
  Bridge Movement, pp. 166 and 62, respectively).
  RUBBLE
  Weapons fi re, fi re damage and physical damage infl icted by 
  BattleMechs can reduce a building to rubble. A rubble hex is 
  diffi  cult to move through. 
  Only the destruction of a building results in a rubble hex. 
  The reduction of terrain other than a building results in a 
  rough hex (see Clearing Woods, p. 112).
  DICE
  Classic BattleTech requires players to use two six-sided dice, 
  preferably of two diff erent colors. If the situation requires the 
  player to roll one die, the rules indicate this in shorthand as 
  1D6. Unless otherwise noted, the abbreviation 2D6 means the 
  player rolls both dice and adds the results together.
  DF 
  DF
  Gal-1GLS Gallowglas, Fourth Donegal Guards (House Steiner)
  
   —From Modern Warfare: A Manual of Tactics and Strategy, 2nd 
  Edition, by permission of the College of Military Arts, New Avalon 
  Institute of Science
   
  Most Great House militaries organize their forces along the Star 
  League model described below. Irregular forces such as mercenary 
  commands and Periphery armies often use organization schemes 
  designed to maximize their limited resources, bolstering their 
  main forces with vehicles and/or infantry.
  LANCE/PLATOON/SQUAD 
  A lance consists of four BattleMechs or combat vehicles 
  commanded by a lieutenant. The standard aerospace lance 
  (commonly called a fl ight) consists of two fi ghters. 
  The infantry equivalent of a lance is a platoon, which can 
  consist of anywhere between eight and 28 men depending on 
  infantry type. The smallest—and most rarely deployed—infantry 
  organization is a squad, usually consisting of seven men. Battle 
  armor infantry deploy in squads of four to six troopers.
  COMPANY 
  The standard company consists of three lances (twelve 
  BattleMechs or combat vehicles) commanded by a captain. 
  A fourth lance of aerospace fi ghters may be assigned to the 
  company to support the primary BattleMech force. 
  A company of aerospace fi ghters is often referred to as a 
  squadron and consists of three lances/fl ights (six fi ghters). An 
  infantry company consists of three platoons, often with an 
  attached command squad.
  BATTALION 
  A standard battalion consists of three companies (36 
  BattleMechs or combat vehicles) commanded by a colonel or 
  major. Battalions may include a command lance that provides 
  mobile command and logistical support. Some battalions 
  organize attached aerospace lances as separate companies 
  or squadrons. Though the standard Star League organization 
  included a command lance at the battalion level, this is not 
  current standard practice and varies with each military. 
  A battalion of aerospace squadrons is often referred to as a 
  wing and consists of three squadrons (eighteen fi ghters), often 
  with an attached command lance/fl ight. An infantry battalion 
  consists of three companies, often with an attached command 
  squad.
  REGIMENT 
  A standard regiment consists of three to fi ve battalions (108 
  to 180 BattleMechs and/or combat vehicles) commanded by a 
  general or colonel. DropShips or JumpShips are usually attached 
  to regiments, as are support battalions such as infantry or tank 
  forces. 
  A regiment of aerospace fi ghters consists of two to three 
  wings, with an attached command lance/fl ight. An infantry 
  regiment consists of three to four battalions, often with an 
  attached command squad.
  REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM (RCT) 
  Commanded by a general, the modern regimental combat 
  team (RCT) consists of one BattleMech regiment, three regiments 
  of combat vehicles, fi ve infantry regiments, one artillery battalion 
  and two aerospace fi ghter wings.  
  Federated Suns military leaders introduced RCTs to modern 
  warfare during the Succession Wars. Though most Great Houses 
  now use RCTs to some extent, the Federated Suns and Lyran 
  Alliance use this form of organization almost exclusively. 
  Father, 
  While current events have conspired to keep me away from this 
  project, your words return to me all too often and I strive to fi nd 
  the time to update and expand my Secret History of the Clans. In 
  an attempt to calm my mind following the most recent fi ghting, I 
  reread a passage I have perused at least a dozen times, only to spot 
  an error that should have been caught long ago. 
  Below is a supposed direct excerpt from Nicholas Kerensky’s own 
  papers, and yet the timeline is off . We have irrefutable proof that 
  the OmniMech debuted in 2854, while battle armor saw its fi rst use 
  in 2868, and then the Horses fi rst fi elded their genetically enhanced 
  Elementals in 2870. And yet Nicholas died in 2834, a decade before 
  dedicated research initiated the development of the OmniMech. 
  Is this simply an overzealous scientist casteman transcribing 
  material and updating it appropriately? Or, as you and I have 
  surmised on numerous occasions, is this a move of later ilKhans to 
  make sure that the all-powerful Founder remained all-knowing in 
  word as well as deed? 
  I know such thoughts are trivial next to the horrors unfolding, but 
  in such minutiae sanity can be found. 
  Take care, father.
  Phelan
  Arc-Royal, 14 July, 3069 
  Excerpted from the papers of Nicholas Kerensky:
   
  We must eradicate all vestiges of the tainted past so that we 
  can forge ourselves into a people worthy of our destiny. We must 
  kill the traditions that blinded and crippled us for so long, for the 
  old ways are like shackles that hinder our true strength. We are a 
  new people, reborn in the fi re, and we must follow new ways. 
  Henceforth, our eight hundred warriors will be divided into 
  twenty Clans. And they will no longer fi ght as lances, companies, 
  battalions or regiments. Instead, they will enter battle in Points, 
  Stars, Binaries, Clusters and Galaxies. 
   
  
  SMALL FORMATIONS: POINT, STAR AND NOVA 
  Each MechWarrior shall form a Point. In the absence of an OmniMech, two aerospace fi ghters or fi ve battle-armored Elementals 
  shall comprise a Point. (Editor’s Note: Nicholas may not have liked vehicles, but the Clans use them, with two in a Point.) Five Points shall 
  form a Star and follow the orders of a Star Commander. 
  A Star of OmniMechs and a Star of Elementals shall together form a Nova. Each OmniMech will carry a Point of Elementals into 
  battle. 
  BINARY/TRINARY/SUPERNOVA 
  Two Stars shall form a Binary. Three shall form a Trinary. 
  Star Captains shall lead these forces. Nova pairs shall fi ght as 
  Supernova Binaries, and three Novas shall form a Supernova 
  Trinary.
  LARGE FORMATIONS: CLUSTER AND GALAXY 
  A Cluster shall contain three to fi ve Binaries, Trinaries or 
  Supernovas. A Star Colonel shall command each Cluster. 
  Three to fi ve Clusters shall comprise a Galaxy, led by a Galaxy 
  Commander. 
  —From Field Manual: ComStar, a military readiness report on Com 
  Guards forces, commissioned by Precentor Martial Victor Steiner-
  Davion, 3062. Second Printing (3065). Used with Permission.
  FORCE STRUCTURE 
  ComStar forces diverge from the Star League-originated 
  system of lances, companies, battalions and so forth. Instead, 
  they use a system based on multiples of six that off ers enormous 
  fl exibility for deployments. Both the Com Guards and the Word 
  of Blake Militia make use of combined-arms forces, for which this 
  system is ideally suited. 
  The smallest formation is a Level I, which comprises a single 
  BattleMech, fi ghter, tank or infantry squad. Such forces are 
  the building blocks of ComStar armies. The next formation, a 
  Level II, contains six Level Is and is thus roughly analogous to 
  a reinforced lance or a demi-company. In many cases a Level II 
  contains forces of the same type (for example, BattleMechs), but 
  combined-arms groups are also possible at this level. 
  The next formation, a Level III, contains six Level II formations 
  and is the ComStar equivalent of a battalion (and is frequently 
  referred to as such). Level IIIs are almost all combined-arms 
  formations. Level IIIs are usually the largest formation to operate 
  together on a regular basis. 
  Level IV formations, known as divisions, contain six Level 
  III formations, making them equivalent to two SLDF-style 
  regiments. Divisions are the largest permanent formation and 
  form the backbone of the administrative network. The Com 
  Guards also use a larger formation, the Level V or army that 
  contains between four and six divisions. Though principally 
  administrative, Level V formations can form fi eld commands, as 
  demonstrated on Tukayyid in 3052. 
  Composition
  Each ComStar/Word of Blake formation is a combined-arms 
  force and uses a Greek letter to denote the proportion of ’Mech, 
  armor and infantry forces it contains (aerospace forces are more 
  or less constant). Letters closer to the start of the alphabet contain 
  a higher proportion of ’Mechs and are intended for off ensive 
  operations, while letters toward the end of the alphabet imply a 
  higher proportion of armor and infantry and are generally used 
  by garrison or city-fi ghting formations. 
  —Partial transcript of Caradoc Trevena’s seminar of ’66, Focht 
  War College.
   
  Most military forces in known space organize in multiples of 
  four, fi ve or six: lance, Star or Level II. And while I could bore you 
  with well-known parlance, I leave the standard lance, company, 
  battalion and so forth discussion for another day. And hopefully 
  another speaker.  
  However, some military vernacular isn’t in common usage. I’ll 
  quickly cover those. 
  A brigade is formed from a group of three or more regiments, 
  usually of a similar composition. Though not often used in 
  modern military combat operations (or parlance), a division 
  is made up of two or more brigades. Don’t confuse this with a 
  ComStar division; again, see another day and another speaker 
  for that information. A corps is composed of fi ve to ten divisions, 
  and fi nally an army consists of three to fi ve corps. 
  The term “combat command” usually refers to a temporarily 
  organized force—generally larger than a regiment—that 
  combines smaller, cohesive ’Mech, armored and infantry forces 
  from several diff erent commands into a unifi ed force. These 
  formations give a commander fl exibility and capabilities beyond 
  what the independent components of the combat command 
  can muster. Rare for small-scale battles, such commands come 
  into their own during large-scale operations. Of course, the rarity 
  of such commands applies only to the Great Houses, not to the 
  Com Guards; one might argue that every Com Guards Level III is 
  a combat command. 
  Continuing, a combat organization represents any and all 
  forces—whether a single regiment or multiple regiments—that 
  fall under the same administrative chain of command, such as 
  the Davion Brigade of Guards, House Kurita’s Sword of Light or 
  the Marik Militias. 
  Now, with your pens scribbling furiously over these grandiose 
  military terms, don’t forget that not every force strictly adheres 
  to such regimentation.  
  First off , you’ve got your down-on-their-luck forces—
  mercenaries, forgotten planetary militias or Periphery troops—
  that simply lack the training and/or resources to fi eld such 
  organized military commands. Ad-hoc is generally the name of 
  their game—these types of forces put together whatever they 
  can. They can show you some unpleasant surprises if you’re not 
  careful. 
  Then there are the oddball militaries that organize along 
  unique lines. We see the most famous example in the legions of 
  the Marian Hegemony, which organize in fi ve ’Mechs or vehicles 
  to a century, two centuries to a maniple, three maniples to a 
  cohort and three to fi ve cohorts to a legion. 
  
  This section provides the sequence of play for Classic BattleTech
  and presents the basic rules for playing the men and women 
  (MechWarriors, aerospace pilots, vehicle crews, infantry troopers 
  and so on) who pilot or crew the machines of war in BattleTech.
  To begin a game, the players lay out the BattleTech mapsheet(s) 
  on a table or on the fl oor in a way agreed to by all players, or, 
  if using a FanPro (or FASA)-published scenario, according to the 
  game setup given for the scenario to be played. This step may 
  include placing buildings of varying height and type on the 
  mapsheets, or placing other types of counters. Guidelines for 
  creating your own scenarios appear in Creating Scenarios, p. 256.
  Next, players should fi ll out the appropriate record sheets 
  for each of their units involved in the battle. The ’Mech, vehicle, 
  aerospace fi ghter and DropShip descriptions required to fi ll out 
  various unit record sheets can be found in any Classic BattleTech 
  technical readout, or players may purchase pre-fi lled out record 
  sheets from www.battlecorps.com. 
  If all players agree, they can create one-of-a-kind units or make 
  minor tweaks to existing units using the various construction 
  rules found in Classic BattleTech TechManual. 
  A NOTE ON SCALE AND THE RULES
  Classic BattleTech turns represent ten seconds of real time, while 
  each hex on a mapsheet represents thirty meters of a battlefi eld 
  (for the exception, see Aerospace Movement, p. 74). However, 
  players should note that such “real world” terms are abstractions 
  when applied to the board game. Classic BattleTech is a game, not 
  a detailed simulation. Therefore, the real world must take a back 
  seat to game play—for simplicity, length of play, space required 
  and simple enjoyment.
  For example, while only a single ’Mech can occupy a hex, it does 
  not actually take up the entire hex. A 30-meter-wide hex off ers 
  plenty of room for a twelve-meter-tall ’Mech to move around 
  and avoid fi re. In real-world terms, another ’Mech could easily fi t 
  in that space as well. However, for ease of play, a ’Mech tactically 
  controls the hex it occupies even though it does not physically fi ll 
  that space. Therefore, only a single ’Mech is allowed in a hex.
  Weapon ranges provide another example. Players will quickly 
  realize that the longest-range standard weapon in the game can 
  only hit targets out to thirty hexes (900 meters) from the attacker. 
  Real-world primary main battle tank weapons have operational 
  targeting ranges in excess of 4,000 meters. Because Classic 
  BattleTech mapsheets are only seventeen hexes long, recreating 
  real-world ranges on a table would require more than seven 
  mapsheets laid end to end, for a playing space greater than twelve 
  feet in length. Not many people have that type of table space, nor 
  would it provide players with any tactical maneuvering room. 
  Anywhere a player might move a unit on the map, an attacker 
  could hit that unit.
  Finally, the abstractions of real-world factors such as fi ring 
  distance often can enhance the aesthetic of the game universe. 
  Classic BattleTech has always been about “in-your-face” combat, 
  which works best with closer ranges. Players are encouraged to 
  remember such abstractions and not get bogged down in real-
  world mechanics and physics. Just enjoy the game!
  INDIVIDUAL UNIT RULES
  Beginning with Playing the Game and proceeding through 
  Buildings, the following sections present the rules as they apply 
  to all units equally, with specifi c exceptions noted in each section 
  under appropriate headers. ProtoMechs, infantry, Combat 
  Vehicles, Support Vehicles and aerospace units have additional 
  specifi c rules, which appear in their respective sections. 
  LS 
  LS
  Though almost annihilated during the FedCom Civil War, a lance of Davion Assault Guards show their indomitable will to defend their realm. 
  
  37
  37
  PLAYING 
  PLAYING 
  THE GAME
  THE GAME
  Because BattleMechs are the primary focus of Classic BattleTech, 
  the rules often focus on ´Mechs fi rst (movement, combat and so 
  on), and then provide specifi cs for other types of units. 
  SEQUENCE OF PLAY
  A Classic BattleTech game consists of a series of turns. During 
  each turn, all units on the map have an opportunity to move 
  and fi re their weapons.
  Each turn consists of several smaller segments of time, 
  called phases. During each phase, players may take one type 
  of action, such as movement or combat. The players execute 
  the phases in a given order. Specifi c actions, movement, 
  eff ects of damage and so on are fully explained in separate 
  sections later in this book.
  Each turn includes the following phases, performed in the 
  following order:
  1. Initiative Phase
  2. Movement Phase (Ground)
  3. Movement Phase (Aerospace)
  4. Weapon Attack Phase
  5. Physical Attack Phase
  6. Heat Phase
  7. End Phase
  INITIATIVE PHASE
  One player from each side rolls 2D6 and adds the results 
  together to determine his team’s Initiative. The team with the 
  higher result has Initiative throughout the turn. Reroll all ties.
  MOVEMENT PHASE (GROUND)
  The team that lost Initiative chooses one ground unit (non-
  aerospace; this includes VTOLs) and moves it fi rst. If this team 
  has more ground units than the team that won Initiative, it 
  may need to move more than one ground unit, as described 
  in Unequal Numbers of Units, p. 39.
  The team that won Initiative then moves one ground unit. 
  If this team has more ground units than the team that lost 
  Initiative, it may need to move more than one ground unit 
  (see Unequal Numbers of Units).
  Movement alternates between sides until all ground units 
  have been moved. Each time a player must move a ground 
  unit, he may designate movement for any ground unit that has 
  not been destroyed, even if a unit is completely immobile, as 
  long as it is not destroyed it can still be given a “move” action, 
  and it will remain in its hex. For example, units whose warriors 
  are unconscious are not destroyed and can be designated to 
  remain immobile. 
  MOVEMENT PHASE (AEROSPACE)
  The team that lost Initiative chooses one aerospace (non-
  ground) unit and moves it fi rst. If this team has more aerospace 
  units than the team that won, it may need to move more than 
  one aerospace unit (see Unequal Numbers of Units).
  The team that won Initiative then moves one aerospace 
  unit. If this team has more aerospace units than the team that 
  lost, it may need to move more than one aerospace unit.
  Movement alternates between sides until all aerospace units 
  have been moved. Each time a player must move an aerospace 
  unit, he may designate movement for any aerospace unit that 
  has not been destroyed, even if the move is to expend no 
  thrust. Aerospace units whose warriors are unconscious are 
  not destroyed and can be designated to expend no thrust, 
  even if the unit is currently out of control; see Out-of-Control 
  Eff ects, p. 93.
  Any aerospace units that are grounded or that crashed but 
  survived are considered a ground unit. Players may move 
  them during the Movement Phase (Ground). 
  WEAPON ATTACK PHASE
  The team that lost Initiative chooses a unit (ground or 
  aerospace) to declare fi re fi rst. If this team has more units 
  than the team that won Initiative, the players may need to 
  declare attacks for more than one unit as described in Unequal 
  Numbers of Units, p. 39. The player controlling the fi ring unit 
  declares whether it will twist its torso or fl ip its arms or turn its 
  turret, and in which direction. He must declare any attacks he 
  plans to make using his unit’s weapons—or the type of attack 
  in the case of aerospace units—specifying which weapons he 
  will fi re and at what target(s). If a weapon uses special ammo 
  loads, such as LB-X cluster munitions, or can make special 
  types of attacks, such as double-fi ring an Ultra autocannon, 
  or can produce any other unusual eff ects, the player must 
  declare those eff ects at this time.
  The team that won Initiative then chooses a unit (ground 
  or aerospace) to declare fi re. If this team has more units than 
  the team that lost Initiative, the players may be required to 
  declare attacks for more than one unit (see Unequal Numbers 
  of Units). The player controlling the fi ring unit declares any 
  torso or turret twists and attacks he plans to make using that 
  unit’s weapons, as described above.
  The act of declaring attacks alternates between players until 
  all fi re has been declared. Each time a player must declare an 
  attack, he may do so for any unit that has not been destroyed, 
  even if the declaration is to make no attack. 
  Torso/Turret Twist
  Torso or turret twists are made when declaring a weapon 
  attack, but the torso or turret remains pointed in the same 
  direction throughout the remainder of the turn. This aff ects 
  physical attack fi ring arcs as well; the torso or turret returns to 
  its forward-facing position during the End Phase (see below).
  Resolving Weapons Fire
  Players resolve weapons fi re one unit at a time. The order 
  in which each unit’s successful attacks are resolved is up to 
  that unit’s controlling player. All weapons attacks by one unit 
  should be resolved before those of the next unit in order for 
  the players to more easily track which weapons have fi red.
  All declared attacks must be made, even if the intended 
  target is destroyed before all attacks against it have been 
  resolved. Also, players must resolve all declared weapons 
  fi re for the purpose of tracking ammunition and heat. In 
  addition, players may not change an attack declaration once 
  made, as the time-scale (and the general confusion of battle) 
  makes it impossible to do other than follow through with a 
  declared attack. 
  
  Determining Damage
  Damage from weapon attacks takes eff ect next. Players record 
  damage as attacks are resolved, but this damage does not aff ect 
  the unit’s ability to attack during this phase. This means a unit may 
  make its declared attacks in the same phase even if that unit or its 
  weapons are destroyed. 
  At the end of the phase, all damage takes eff ect immediately. 
  Players must make any Piloting Skill Rolls and/or Control Rolls 
  required according to the eff ects of weapon attacks. Damage taken 
  by a unit during the Weapon Attack Phase takes eff ect before the 
  start of the same turn’s Physical Attack Phase. As needed, Piloting 
  Skill Rolls, Control Rolls and Consciousness Rolls may be required 
  at the end of the Weapon Attack Phase.
  Note that even though damage does not take eff ect until the 
  end of the phase, destroyed sections take eff ect immediately for 
  the purposes of assigning damage. For example, if a ’Mech’s torso 
  is destroyed during the Weapon Attack Phase, the appropriate 
  arm falls off  immediately, and so any other damage in the same 
  Weapon Attack Phase that strikes the arm automatically transfers.
  PHYSICAL ATTACK PHASE
  Players repeat the steps given for the Weapon Attack Phase, 
  with all damage from physical attacks taking eff ect before 
  the Heat Phase. As needed, Piloting Skill rolls, Control rolls and 
  Consciousness rolls may be required at the end of the Physical 
  Attack Phase.
  HEAT PHASE
  Players adjust their units’ heat scales for units that track heat, 
  to refl ect any heat built up or lost during the turn. Resolve any 
  temporary or permanent damage caused by excessive internal 
  heat at this time. Heat eff ects may also damage a warrior, resulting 
  in a Consciousness roll (see p. 41).
  ProtoMechs, infantry, and Combat and Support Vehicles do not 
  keep track of heat. See Heat, p. 158, for specifi c rules regarding 
  such units during this phase.
  END PHASE
  Players whose warriors were unconscious during the Initiative 
  Phase of this turn now roll 2D6 to see if the pilot regained 
  consciousness during this turn. Players may also execute any 
  miscellaneous actions remaining in the turn, such as switching 
  heat sinks on or off . The specifi c rules for such actions state 
  whether or not they take place during the End Phase. 
  Players repeat all the steps given above until one team meets its 
  victory conditions for the scenario. Under normal circumstances, 
  the team with the last surviving unit(s) left on the map wins. If 
  the last units from each team are destroyed simultaneously in the 
  same turn, or if the last units from each team cannot move and 
  have no ability to damage one another, the game is a draw. The 
  players may set other victory conditions by mutual agreement 
  before play begins or by using the victory conditions given in 
  a FanPro (or FASA) published scenario. See Creating Scenarios, 
  page 256, for guidelines on setting up unique scenarios.
  Torso/Turret Twist: Torsos and turrets that were turned or 
  twisted return to a forward-facing position during the End Phase. 
  Turrets jammed by damage (see Ground Combat Vehicle Critical 
  Hit Eff ects, p. 193) do not return to a forward-facing position, but 
  remain in their current facing for the remainder of the game. 
  BattleMech torsos cannot be jammed in this fashion.
  MM 
  MM
  A Mad Cat Mk II and Phoenix Hawk IIC from House Kurita’s Ryuken-ni brave a lava fl ow to corner their prey. 
  
  39
  39
  PLAYING 
  PLAYING 
  THE GAME
  THE GAME
  UNEQUAL NUMBERS 
  OF UNITS
  The 
  Movement 
  Phase 
  (Ground), 
  Movement 
  Phase 
  (Aerospace), Weapon Attack Phase and Physical Attack Phase 
  require each player to alternate moving or declaring attacks 
  with his or her units. When both sides have an equal number 
  of units, each player simply takes a turn moving or declaring a 
  single unit’s action, then the other player declares movement or 
  an action for one unit, and so on. If the number of units on each 
  side is not equal, however, this procedure must be altered.
  If, prior to any pair of movement or attack declarations, one 
  team has at least twice as many units left to declare for as the 
  other team, the team with twice as many units declares for 
  two units rather than one. If one team has at least three times 
  as many units, it declares for three each time, and so on. 
  See the example below for how to handle unequal numbers 
  of units.
  At the beginning of the Movement Phase (Ground), 
  Side A has eight units and Side B has ﬁ ve units. Side A wins 
  Initiative. Before the ﬁ rst pair of movements, Side A does 
  not have double or more the number of units Side B has 
  remaining to move, and so Side B moves one unit, then 
  Side A moves one unit. Now Side A has seven units left to 
  move, while Side B has four units left to move. Because 
  Side A still does not have twice as many units left, each side 
  again moves one unit. Before the third pair of movements, 
  Side A has six units left to move, twice as many as the three 
  units remaining for Side B. This means Side A must now 
  move two units for every one that Side B moves.
  The following table shows how many units each side 
  moves during this Movement Phase (Ground).
  WARRIORS
  The soldiers who pilot BattleMechs are called MechWarriors; 
  aerospace and conventional fi ghter jockeys are simply called 
  pilots. A BattleMech or fi ghter is knocked out of action if its 
  MechWarrior or pilot is killed or seriously injured, even if the 
  machine itself suff ers only minor damage.
  Vehicles and DropShips are piloted by crews (several 
  individuals who work together to make a unit function 
  properly), and infantry units represent a platoon of individual 
  soldiers. The battlefi eld performance of these unit types 
  degrades as their crews or platoons take damage. For purposes 
  of Classic BattleTech game rules, the term “warrior” represents 
  the human element of any unit, whether a single individual or 
  a crew of many. 
  SKILLS
  Though warriors possess diff erent skills, for purposes of 
  Classic BattleTech they use only two skills in combat: Piloting/
  Driving and Gunnery. Skills have a rating; the lower the skill 
  rating, the better the warrior is at the skill.
  Piloting Skill represents a warrior’s ability to control his 
  machine’s movements. This skill includes keeping a ’Mech from 
  falling down (see Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls, p. 59), keeping an 
  aerospace fi ghter from tumbling out of control (see Control 
  Rolls, p. 92), keeping a vehicle from skidding (see Skidding, p. 
  62, Sideslipping, p. 67) and so on. 
  Gunnery Skill helps determine how easy or diffi  cult it is for 
  the warrior to make a successful shot using his unit’s weapons. 
  See Firing Weapons, p. 106.
  Vehicles: Vehicle crews have Driving Skill, used in the same 
  way as Piloting Skill.
  RA 
  RA
  Leftenant Terrero of the Third Crucis Lancers suits up and prepares to board his Davion AS7-D Atlas. 
  Move 
  No.
  Side B Units
  Left to Move
  Side A Units 
  Left to Move
  Side B 
  Moves
  Side A 
  Moves
  1
  5
  8
  1
  1
  2
  4
  7
  1
  1
  3
  3
  6
  1
  2
  4
  2
  4
  1
  2
  5
  1
  2
  1
  2
  
  Infantry: Infantry units have Gunnery Skill, but no Piloting Skill. 
  In addition, only infantry units may also have Anti-’Mech Skill.
  ProtoMechs: The unique capabilities of ProtoMechs mean that 
  ProtoMech pilots never need to make Piloting Skill Rolls, and so 
  these pilots have only Gunnery Skill (see Piloting Skill Rolls, p. 59).
  Default Skill Ratings
  Inner Sphere and Clan warriors have diff erent average Piloting 
  and Gunnery skills, depending on the type of unit. Though these 
  skill ratings can change (see Skill Improvement, below), unless 
  otherwise stated in the scenario being played, assume all warriors 
  have average skills as shown on the Average Skills Table below. 
  Rather than defaulting to these skill ratings, players may use the 
  Experience Ratings and Skills rules on p. 272.
  Piloting/Driving Skill and Control Rolls
  When a unit (piloted by a warrior with Piloting or Driving skill) 
  attempts a potentially dangerous maneuver, or whenever the 
  warrior might lose control of the unit, that warrior’s controlling 
  player must make a Piloting or Driving Skill Roll, or Control roll 
  in the case of aerospace units (see Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls and 
  Control Rolls, pp. 59 and 92 respectively).
  Additionally, a unit’s base to-hit number for physical attacks is 
  equal to its Piloting Skill rating. When modifi ed for movement, 
  terrain and other factors, this number 
  becomes the modifi ed to-hit number for 
  such attacks (see Physical Attacks, p. 144).
  Shutdown and Unconscious Units: A 
  shutdown unit or one with an unconscious 
  pilot cannot make a Piloting/Driving Skill or 
  Control roll, and fails it automatically (see 
  Shutdown, p. 106).
  Gunnery Skill Rating
  A unit’s base to-hit number is equal to 
  its Gunnery Skill Rating. When modifi ed for 
  range, terrain and other factors, this number 
  becomes the modifi ed to-hit number (see 
  Firing Weapons, p. 106).
  Anti-’Mech Skill Rating
  During anti-’Mech attacks (see p. 220), an 
  infantry’s base to-hit number is equal to its 
  Anti-’Mech Skill rating. When modifi ed for 
  movement and other factors, this number 
  becomes the modifi ed to-hit number.
  SKILL IMPROVEMENT
  Players may want to use the warriors 
  they create in future scenarios or in Classic 
  BattleTech campaign games—assuming, 
  of course, that the warrior survives the 
  current battle. If so, they may wish to 
  improve their soldiers’ skills. Optional rules 
  for skill improvement should only be used 
  if all players agree and will keep track of skill 
  advancement for their forces.
  Players should keep track of Experience 
  Points for each warrior who survives a 
  scenario. Each surviving warrior earns 1 
  Experience Point. In addition, each player 
  must award a bonus Experience Point to 
  one surviving warrior on the enemy team 
  (if there were any), based on his opinion 
  of which warrior performed most bravely, 
  scored the most damage or any other 
  desired criteria. If a player group is opposing 
  a force run by a gamemaster, then it falls to 
  the gamemaster to decide which warrior 
  will receive the bonus point.
  AVERAGE SKILLS TABLE
  Warrior/Crew Type
  Gunnery 
  Skill
  Piloting 
  Skill
  Driving 
  Skill
  Anti-
  ’Mech 
  Skill
  Inner Sphere
  MechWarrior
  4
  5
  —
  —
  Combat Vehicle crew
  4
  —
  5
  —
  Support Vehicle crew
  5
  —
  5
  —
  Conventional infantry*
  4
  —
  —
  8
  Conventional infantry (anti-’Mech)
  Foot
   4
  —
  —
  5
  Jump/Motorized
   4
  —
  —
  6
  Battle armor infantry
  4
  —
  —
  5
  Aerospace fi ghter pilot
  4
  5
  —
  —
  Conventional fi ghter pilot
  4
  5
  —
  —
  Small craft crew
  4
  5
  —
  —
  DropShip crew
  4
  5
  —
  —
  Clan
  MechWarrior
  3
  4
  —
  —
  ProtoMech pilot
  4
  —
  —
  —
  Combat Vehicle crew
  5
  —
  6
  —
  Support Vehicle crew
  6
  —
  6
  —
  Conventional infantry*
  5
  —
  —
  8
  Conventional infantry (anti-’Mech)
  Foot
   5
  —
  —
  5
  Jump/Motorized
   5
  —
  —
  6
  Battle armor infantry
  3
  —
  —
  4
  Aerospace fi ghter pilot
  4
  5
  —
  —
  Conventional fi ghter pilot
  5
  5
  —
  —
  Small craft crew
  5
  5
  —
  —
  DropShip crew
  4
  5
  —
  —
  *Mechanized infantry cannot make anti-’Mech attacks.
  
  41
  41
  PLAYING 
  PLAYING 
  THE GAME
  THE GAME
  After each scenario, any warrior may spend accumulated 
  Experience Points on skill improvement. Improving Piloting/
  Driving Skill costs 4 points per rating, improving Gunnery Skill 
  costs 8 points, and improving Anti-’Mech Skill costs 6 points. 
  Each improvement reduces the improved skill’s rating by 1. For 
  example, spending eight points to improve a warrior’s current 
  Gunnery Skill of 4 would lower the skill rating to 3.
  Classic BattleTech RPG, the roleplaying game for the Classic 
  BattleTech universe, off ers a comprehensive character creation 
  and skill advancement system that can be used in place of 
  these rules.
  Maximum Skill Ratings: No skill Rating can be improved 
  beyond 0. 
  DAMAGING A WARRIOR
  The following section provides a brief overview of how 
  damage aff ects warriors piloting or driving diff erent units. For 
  greater detail, see the appropriate Combat sections.
  MechWarriors
  Three types of damage to a ’Mech can also damage the 
  MechWarrior inside: head hits, falling and internal ammunition 
  explosions. In addition, excessive heat buildup can harm the 
  MechWarrior if the ’Mech’s life support system takes damage. 
  A MechWarrior can take up to 5 points of damage before dying 
  from injuries. The sixth point of damage kills the warrior.
  Head Hits: The MechWarrior takes 1 point of damage 
  whenever the ’Mech’s head is hit, even if the hit does not 
  penetrate the ’Mech’s armor.
  Falling: If a ’Mech falls, the controlling player must make a 
  Piloting Skill Roll for the MechWarrior. If the roll fails, the warrior 
  takes 1 point of damage. (If the MechWarrior is unconscious 
  or the ’Mech is shutdown, such a fall automatically damages 
  the warrior.)
  Ammunition Explosions: An internal ammunition or Gauss 
  explosion causes 2 points of damage to the MechWarrior 
  as a result of the electric shock he receives through his 
  neurohelmet.
  Excess Heat: When life support systems take a critical hit, 
  the MechWarrior suff ers 1 point of damage every turn that the 
  ’Mech’s internal heat is 15 or higher on the heat scale at the 
  end of the Heat Phase. Every turn that the heat is 26 or higher 
  causes 2 points of damage to the MechWarrior if his or her life 
  support system is down.
  ProtoMech Pilots
  The pilot of a ProtoMech can sustain the same amount of 
  damage as a MechWarrior, and the damage has the same 
  eff ects. Rather than taking damage as described above, 
  however, the ProtoMech pilot takes a point of damage each 
  time the controlling player fi lls in a shaded critical hit box (see 
  Damage, p. 185). 
  The ProtoMech warrior does not automatically take a point 
  of damage when an attack hits the head.
  Vehicle Drivers
  Unlike ’Mechs, damage against a vehicle does not directly 
  aff ect its warrior. Instead, if the vehicle takes damage to its 
  internal structure (see Critical Damage, p. 192), a roll on the 
  Ground Vehicle Critical Hits Table may give a Crew Stunned or 
  Crew Killed result. 
  Support Vehicles: Depending on the type of armor they 
  mount, every hit against a Support Vehicle may result in a 
  penetrating critical hit; see Damage, p. 206.
  Infantry
  Damage to infantry is applied directly to a unit, with a 
  trooper’s armor marked off  fi rst (if appropriate). The player 
  next marks off  an individual trooper within the unit, with 
  the damage transferring to the next trooper (depending on 
  weapon type) and so on until all the damage of an attack is 
  expended (see Infantry, p. 212).
  Battle Armor: Damage does not transfer between troopers 
  in battle armor units (see Attacks Against Battle Armor, p. 219).
  Aerospace Pilots
  The pilots of conventional fi ghters, aerospace fi ghters, small 
  craft, DropShips, Airships and Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles all 
  sustain damage in the same manner. Each aerospace unit’s 
  warrior can take up to 5 points of damage before dying from 
  injuries; the sixth point of damage kills the warrior.
  Critical Hit: Each time one of these units sustains a Crew 
  Critical Hit (see Damage, p. 238), the warrior takes 1 point of 
  damage.
  Ammunition Explosions (aerospace fi ghters and small 
  craft only): An internal ammunition or gauss explosion causes 
  1 point of damage to the warrior.
  Excess Heat (aerospace fi ghters and small craft only): 
  Warriors may suff er 1 point of damage every turn that the 
  unit’s internal heat is 21 or higher on the heat scale at the end 
  of the Heat Phase (see Damage to the Warrior, p. 161).
  CONSCIOUSNESS ROLLS
  Warriors who pilot ’Mechs, ProtoMechs, fi ghters and small 
  craft can survive up to 5 points of damage, but may be knocked 
  unconscious long before taking that much. Every time such 
  a warrior takes a point of damage, the player must roll 2D6 
  immediately and consult the Consciousness Table below (the 
  Warrior/Pilot Data section of the appropriate record sheet 
  also contains the information on this table). The player makes 
  this roll for every point of damage taken, so in the case of an 
  ammunition explosion in a ’Mech, that MechWarrior will need 
  two consecutive Consciousness Rolls.
  If the roll result is equal to or greater than the warrior’s 
  consciousness number, the warrior remains conscious. If the 
  result is less than the consciousness number, the warrior is 
  knocked unconscious. The unit becomes an immobile target; 
  a non-grounded aerospace unit goes out of control. The unit 
  cannot move, fi re or take any other action, but its player can 
  still declare that it is not moving (see p. 53).
  Once a warrior has been knocked unconscious, no other 
  Consciousness roll need be made in the same turn, regardless 
  of additional damage. Only in the End Phase of a subsequent 
  turn can a controlling player attempt to awaken the warrior. 
  Equipment: All equipment that does not require action 
  by the warrior to operate still functions while the warrior is 
  unconscious.
  
  Immobile Target: A unit with an unconscious pilot is an 
  immobile target, and may be targeted by aimed shots as described 
  on page 110.
  Piloting Skill/Control Rolls: Any Piloting Skill or Control 
  rolls that the player must make for the unit while the warrior is 
  unconscious automatically fail.
  Recovering Consciousness: During the End Phase of each 
  turn after the turn in which the warrior lost consciousness, 
  the player rolls 2D6. If the result is equal to or greater than the 
  consciousness number for the warrior’s current degree of damage, 
  the warrior regains consciousness. The player need not roll again 
  to determine consciousness until the warrior takes new damage. 
  A warrior that has taken 6 points of damage is dead and cannot 
  regain consciousness.
  In Turn 3, a Grasshopper takes a head hit from an attack with 
  a medium laser. Though the laser does not penetrate the head’s 
  protective armor, the Grasshopper’s warrior takes 1 point of 
  damage. He took 2 points of damage in previous attacks, and 
  so now has 3 points of damage. The player consults the Warrior 
  Consciousness Table and rolls against a target number of 7. 
  He gets a 6, one point less than his warrior needed to remain 
  conscious. Because the warrior fell unconscious immediately 
  during the Weapon Attack Phase, the Grasshopper is considered 
  an immobile target for the Physical Attack Phase of Turn 3. 
  The Grasshopper cannot move or ﬁ re and is still considered 
  an immobile target during Turn 4. In the End Phase of Turn 4, 
  the player rolls 2D6 again. If he gets a 7 or higher, the warrior 
  regains consciousness and his BattleMech can move and ﬁ re 
  normally during Turn 5. 
  If an action requires a Piloting Skill Roll while the warrior is 
  unconscious, the roll automatically fails and the Grasshopper
  falls. The warrior automatically takes another point of damage. 
  If the Grasshopper had fallen during the Physical Attack Phase 
  of Turn 3, or at any time during Turn 4, the player would need 
  to roll a 10 or higher for the warrior to regain consciousness 
  during Turn 4’s End Phase, because the warrior would have 
  taken a fourth point of damage from the fall.
  GAME TERMS
  The following terms describe important concepts used in the 
  Classic BattleTech rules.
  BASE TO-HIT NUMBER
  A unit’s base to-hit number equals its Gunnery Skill rating (see 
  Gunnery Skill Rating, p. 40).
  MODIFIED TO-HIT NUMBER
  When a unit’s base to-hit number is modifi ed for range, terrain 
  and other factors, it becomes the modifi ed to-hit number (see 
  Firing Weapons, p. 106).
  MODIFIED PILOTING/DRIVING SKILL
  When a unit’s Piloting Skill (see Piloting Skill Rating, p. 40) is 
  modifi ed for events that take place during a turn— for pre-
  existing damage and so on—this number becomes the Modifi ed 
  Piloting Skill (see Making Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls, p. 59).
  TARGET NUMBER
  Any action in Classic BattleTech that requires a dice roll has 
  an associated target number, representing the diffi  culty of the 
  action. If the roll result equals or exceeds this target number, the 
  action succeeds. If the result is less than the target number, the 
  action fails.
  MODIFIED TARGET NUMBER
  A target number may be modifi ed up or down (consequently 
  making the action more or less diffi  cult), based on various 
  circumstances such as terrain, range, damage to the unit taking 
  the action and so on. The fi nal number against which a player 
  makes a dice roll is called the modifi ed target number.
  Note: Gunnery, Piloting/Driving and Anti-’Mech Skill actions 
  may use such terminology. For example, when forced to make 
  a Piloting Skill Roll, the player rolls against the fi nal modifi ed 
  Piloting Skill target number.
  ATTACKER MOVEMENT MODIFIER
  When an attacking unit has moved during the same turn, the 
  target number is modifi ed (making a successful attack more 
  diffi  cult) to refl ect the attacker’s movement type: walking/
  cruising, running/fl anking, jumping and so on (see Attacker 
  Movement, p. 108).
  TARGET
  A target is defi ned as anything a unit may attack, whether 
  with a weapon or physically. This can be another enemy unit (a 
  friendly can never be the target of a direct attack, though it can 
  be damaged through the eff ects of another attack), a structure 
  (such as a building), terrain (such as woods) or even a clear hex. 
  Anything can be the target of an attack, as long as the rules for the 
  type of attack in question do not disallow it.
  TARGET MOVEMENT MODIFIER
  If a target has moved during the turn in which an attack is made 
  against it, the number of hexes entered may modify the target 
  number. The more hexes moved, the more diffi  cult it is to hit the 
  target; see Target Movement, p. 108.
  MARGIN OF SUCCESS/FAILURE (MOS/MOF)
  Most actions in Classic BattleTech have simple pass/fail results. 
  The outcomes of some actions, however— most notably those 
  involving aerospace units—depend on the amount by which 
  the roll succeeds or fails. To determine the Margin of Success or 
  Margin of Failure, compare the roll result to the target number. If 
  the result is greater, the diff erence is the Margin of Success. If the 
  result is less, the diff erence is the Margin of Failure. If the dice roll 
  matches the target number, that result is a simple success. 
  WARRIOR CONSCIOUSNESS TABLE
  Total Damage Points
  Consciousness Number 
  1
  3
  2
  5
  3
  7
  4
  10
  5
  11
  6
  Dead
  
  43
  43
  PLAYING 
  PLAYING 
  THE GAME
  THE GAME
  DAMAGE VALUE
  Damage Value is defi ned as the specifi c amount of damage 
  each weapon infl icts on a target. The Weapon and Equipment 
  Tables list the Damage Values of each weapon.
  Some weapons do not deal their full Damage Value to a 
  single location. Instead, the points of damage from the weapon 
  are divided into Damage Value groupings (each weapon has 
  its own way to determine how the Damage Value is divided 
  up) and then each grouping is assigned to a separate location 
  (see Cluster Weapons, p. 113).
  ARMOR VALUE
  Armor Value is defi ned as the total number of armor circles 
  (or boxes, depending upon the unit type) in a location on a 
  unit’s record sheet. Some rules also use the terms “points 
  of armor” or “armor points,” or “armor points remaining” to 
  reference the number of armor circles in a location, or the 
  number of remaining armor circles in a location.
  Note that in a Technical Readout, Armor Value denotes total 
  number of armor circles in all locations.
  LEVEL, ELEVATION, ALTITUDE
  These three terms are used to defi ne the heights of various 
  units and terrain within the game as follows:
  • 
  Level refers to the height of ground terrain; i.e. a Level 
  2 hill hex, a Level 5 building hex, woods rising 2 levels 
  above the underlying level of the hex and so on (all 
  printed maps published by FanPro have hill and building 
  terrain marked in terms of Levels); see Level Change, p. 48. 
  The term will also be used when referring to the height 
  of a ground unit; i.e. a ’Mech rises 2 Levels above the 
  underlying level of the hex.
  • 
  Elevation refers to the height of non-aerospace units 
  when they are airborne; i.e. a VTOL Vehicle is 3 elevations 
  above the underlying level of the hex. In other words, 
  elevation is synonymous with level, but used to refer to 
  such airborne units.
  • 
  Altitude refers to the height of aerospace units when 
  they are airborne and are fi xed; i.e. unlike elevations 
  for airborne non-aerospace units, which rely on the 
  underlying level of the hex to determine the total height 
  of a unit, altitudes have fi xed, un-changing values (see 
  Low-Altitude Table, p. 81).
  It is important to note that these terms are used exclusively. 
  Anytime ‘altitude’ is used in the rules, it is referring to airborne 
  aerospace units, while ‘elevation’ refers to airborne non-
  aerospace units and ‘levels’ refers to the height of terrain, or 
  ground units, as appropriate.
  Heat: The only exception to this rule is heat, which is 
  measured in levels (see p. 158).
  Sublevels and Depths
  A subset of levels, Sublevel refers to any level below 0, while 
  Depth refers to water hexes. 
  ATTACK PATH/FLIGHT PATH
  These two terms are used for aerospace units moving in 
  relation to ground mapsheets (and non-aerospace units) and 
  are used interchangeably. Whether the term attack path or 
  fl ight path is used, in both instances it refers to a single row 
  of hexes across a ground mapsheet over which an aerospace 
  unit fl ys, as well as along which an aerospace unit can attack 
  non-aerospace units on the ground.
  MAPSHEET
   This general term refers to a single 17” x 22” playing map 
  as published by FanPro (or FASA) in the various map sets 
  (see p. 11)
  PLAYING AREA
  This general term refers to the total playing area of a given 
  game—anywhere from a single mapsheet to dozens. 
  SCENARIO
  This term usually describes a game with specifi c forces and 
  set-up conditions (see Creating Scenarios, p. 256). It can also 
  be used to describe a single game—for example, the one-off  
  game currently involving the players. 
  MECHANIZED
  The term Mechanized is used in two specifi c, yet distinct 
  ways. Mechanized Infantry refers to a specifi c type of 
  conventional infantry (see p. 23), while Mechanized Battle 
  Armor refers to rules governing battle armor riding on other 
  units during a scenario (see p. 227).
  MD 
  MD
  Forces in the Chaos March are constantly on alert for trouble.
  
  NEW 
  HAMPSHIRE 
  CITY
  NORTHERN 
  OUTSKIRTS, ORKNEY
  15 SEPTEMBER 3069
  The jagged side of the mountain be-
  trayed her as she stepped to the left along 
  the ninety-degree slope with her Linebacker 
  Prime. One hundred and eighty meters away stood 
  the enemy Hellbringer. Green, leathery cactus-shaped 
  trees the size of ‘Mechs stood in clumps all around them, tower-
  ing sentinels to the chunks of crystalline formations that broke 
  apart beneath the weight of her stumbling machine. 
  Star Commander Shayla of Striker Star Kappa Alpha powered 
  back her Linebacker’s off ensive as the ground gave way. The sixty-
  fi ve ton ‘Mech skittered downward several meters, sending up 
  dust, rocks and the carcasses of groups of spires that resembled 
  batches of dried coral. 
  “Savashri!” Shayla hissed. A wrong move in her descent and she 
  could topple over, careening end over end, likely crashing into 
  one of the cactus trees before hitting bottom. 
  Her left foot and leg found a stable ledge against a clump 
  of the odd trees. Just as the ‘Mech stopped, the Jade Falcon 
  Hellbringer above her fi red two of its medium lasers. A larger 
  cluster of trees thirty me-
  ters higher on the moun-
  tainside took most of the 
  damage. Fibrous, aspara-
  gus-like strands spiraled to 
  either side of her Linebacker, ac-
  companied by sprays of thick red liquid.
  Orkney represented a key world in the corridor to 
  Terra for the Jade Falcons. Taking Orkney would imperil the 
  remaining Falcon worlds of Jabuka, Rasalgethi and Tomans—all 
  prime staging planets for the race to reclaim humanity’s birth-
  world. The Falcons were too busy attacking the Lyrans to guard 
  their takings. Such careless strategy, so common among the 
  Pigeons—it was laughable.
  Shayla’s Star was part of a larger force sent in to take the busi-
  est of Orkney’s spaceport cities. Four of them already lay under 
  Clan Wolf’s control. New Hampshire was the last. The city rested 
  amid the crystal mountain passes, its defenses dependent on the 
  planet’s natural landscape.   
  Shayla smiled as the enemy’s laser fi re went wild. In keeping 
  the skidding Linebacker in sight, the Hellbringer had reached an 
  unsteady ledge of granite and crystal. The Falcon ‘Mech wobbled, 
  almost backpedaling. She watched as it found better footing fi fty 
  meters closer to her Linebacker, but still one hundred and fi fty 
  meters away. Her grin widened. Orkney belongs to Clan Wolf. 
  Heat encased her in the cockpit of her ‘Mech. She reveled in the 
  sensation. Cleansing. Victorious. 
  Phaedra M. Weldon
  
  Her heads-up showed the other members of her team near-
  by. Daryna in her Nova Prime was engaging a Jade Falcon Black 
  Lanner. Turan had neatly dispatched an Adder Prime with his 
  Kit Fox Prime. The enemy Adder lay in a smoking heap near the 
  lake below. Some of the cactus trees reached higher than the 
  ‘Mechs, with rounded tops that resembled giant green mush-
  rooms, each decorated with silver spikes as large as a man’s 
  head. The Star’s battlesuits used this on both sides for hide 
  and strike moves.  
  The Hellbringer steadied itself on the treacherous footing. 
  Nearly hugging the mountainside, Shayla could not launch 
  her Streak SRM-4. She braced the Linebacker up on its right 
  elbow just enough to target the Hellbringer. Firing at a target 
  within one hundred and fi fty meters, the missiles’ accuracy 
  would be sketchy at best. A range of two hundred and ten 
  meters would be preferable, but ideal situations came rarely 
  in battle.
  Shayla fi red the LRMs from her left torso. Several went wild, 
  as she had expected, but one detonated against the enemy’s 
  left leg, throwing the Hellbringer off  balance. Fire sizzled 
  around the Hellbringer’s leg as it re-evaluated its precarious 
  position. 
  “By my hand you die, freebirth,” came Warren’s voice from the 
  cockpit of his Adder. Shayla nodded at her warrior’s work. The 
  enemy Nova Prime came tumbling down the moun-
  tainside, losing metal along with mounted weap-
  ons as its armor smashed into jutting granite and 
  thick cactus-trees. An arm bolted free and stuck 
  against the base of a large trunk that clung to 
  the mountainside. 
  Targeting klaxons fi lled Shayla’s cockpit 
  as the Hellbringer fi red on her.  SRMs fl ew at 
  her position. One of them hit a nearby Wolf 
  battlesuit, sending the suit and its wearer 
  into an airborne pirouette. Another missile 
  struck the rocks, sending granite shrapnel 
  into the Linebacker’s right side. Shayla heard 
  the clanging of rock on armor as the shards 
  lodged in place.
  Two of the enemy missiles struck her ‘Mech, 
  smashing into the left stabilizing actuator joint of 
  the leg she had been using to cement her posi-
  tion against the ninety-degree slope. The com-
  puter warned her of imminent joint failure. She 
  silenced it with a slap of her hand. If she lost that 
  joint, she would fall. 
  She refused to end up at the bottom of the 
  mountain. With an eye on her HUD to track the 
  Hellbringer’s movements, she scanned the mountain-
  side around her. Her Linebacker’s left foot was braced 
  against a cactus tree, her right leg up with its knee 
  bent and foot pressed into the side of the mountain. 
  She had to reverse the stress on each leg without 
  straining the damaged joint. One wrong move and 
  the leg would buckle. 
  A voice came through her neurohelmet’s speakers, 
  cold and haughty, issuing a batchall. “Once again the Jade 
  Falcons have shown our mettle on the battlefi eld against the 
  unweaned cubs who seek to take what is ours. I will defeat 
  
  you, Star Commander. In a few seconds I will send you down the 
  mountain.”
  Surat. Shayla sneered at the Hellbringer through the ferroglass 
  of her cockpit. Beyond it she could see the movement of battle-
  suits, popping up and down like grasshoppers in a spring fi eld as 
  they engaged their jump jets.
  “Only your arrogance, little pigeon, leads you to believe you have 
  won. A single victory is but a drop in the whole of the mightiest 
  of Clans. The Wolves own this world—this battle is the last of our 
  victories here before we scour the Jade Falcon infestation from 
  this corridor of space. It is you who are defeated, Star Commander. 
  Bow to the might of Clan Wolf!” 
  His response to her rebuke was to swing around with 
  his remaining medium lasers. As she had anticipated, the 
  Hellbringer’s aim was less than accurate. He struck one of the 
  larger nearby cactus trees, with a root stalk as thick as her 
  Linebacker’s ankle. The thick skin split as chunks of it flew in 
  several different directions. Most of it hit Shayla’s ‘Mech, splat-
  tering it with viscous red fluid. 
  Now was her best chance to move. The HUD gave stress points 
  in fl owing numbers. She overlaid her internal readout with a look 
  at all systems on her schematic. The left actuator fl ashed orange, 
  not yet critical, but close. She had two movements at best before 
  it gave. 
  She needed to create her own cover in case her antagonist real-
  ized what she intended and fi red again at her leg. Shayla targeted 
  the Falcon ‘Mech’s right leg, which now stood in the same posi-
  tion as her left and showed damage. She would hit that leg as she 
  made two swift moves, shifting the stress off  her own damaged 
  joint onto her right leg. 
  She swiveled the rear-mounted small laser, its sighting limited 
  by her tilted position, and targeted the crystalline granite at the 
  Hellbringer’s foot. The laser’s initial hit caused the encased air 
  and gas that formed the crystal to explode, sending up spears of 
  shrapnel into the Hellbringer’s torso. The laser’s heat also melted 
  the crystal, which fl attened beneath the enemy ‘Mech’s support-
  ing foot. 
  She could not aff ord to hit one of the trees. She had seen a 
  PPC strike to a tree when a Jade Falcon ‘Mech fi red at it. The tree 
  had shredded into rubbery strips that clung to the crystalline 
  rocks like green webbing. The resulting mess had tripped both 
  machines, entangling their limbs and sending them down the 
  mountainside. No—Shayla wanted a clear shot at her target. 
  She wanted to see the Pigeon’s eyes widen when he knew a Wolf 
  had claimed her prize. 
  The Hellbringer slid as the crystals turned to molten rock.  
  Shayla slammed down her right footpedal while pressing her 
  joysticks forward to support her weight, shifting the Linebacker’s 
  position while maintaining balance. The ‘Mech felt sluggish, and 
  she gritted her teeth. The horizon dials tilted dangerously to the 
  left, toward the drop. She threw all the ‘Mech’s weight onto the 
  left joint, angled the hip and then moved the right leg down and 
  back. The left knee bent as the huge machine’s weight transferred 
  swiftly from left to right.
  The horizon dials steadied. She powered up both PPCs as she 
  glanced at her heads-up to see the Hellbringer—
  The cactus-tree below her right foot gave, weakened by the 
  Hellbringer’s earlier fi re. The Linebacker lurched backward. 
  “Savashri!” Shayla threw the joysticks and pedals forward, push-
  ing her ‘Mech into the mountainside. If she tipped away from the 
  mountain, her own weight would destroy her. 
  The ploy worked. The Linebacker skidded a few meters down-
  ward on its belly until the right foot found purchase against the 
  base of another cactus tree. Now she was in front of one instead 
  of behind it. She stopped, clouds of dust surrounding her cockpit. 
  She heard the plink of rocks as they bounced off  the cockpit and 
  shoulders and tumbled to the lake below. 
  She lay on her stomach, her ‘Mech’s arms out at its sides. Only 
  the harness held her in her couch. It bit into her sternum between 
  her breasts. Orange, red and green lights illuminated her con-
  trols. She took several deep breaths before pushing forward with 
  her joysticks, moving the ‘Mech out from the mountain on its el-
  bows. The HUD showed both PPC cannon mounts intact and fully 
  charged. But she was in no position to fi re them. 
  The Hellbringer was attempting to close the distance between 
  them. Shayla could see the massive ‘Mech in the upper right cor-
  ner of her shield, its fully charged PPCs glowing white. Three hun-
  dred and forty meters lay between her and the Falcon. Every step  
  brought the Hellbringer closer.
  The Falcon’s voice came again, arrogant as ever. “Again I show 
  you the might of the Jade Falcon, little milk-cub. Once in range, 
  I will send your ‘Mech down the mountain where you belong. 
  Wolves should not dare the lofty heights—they are reserved for 
  the Falcons that fl y above you. Order your men to surrender.”
  Shayla almost laughed at the demand. This surat had defeated 
  nothing. She could still see on her HUD the movement of all her 
  ‘Mechs, a full roll call. Of her antagonist’s Star, there remained only 
  four. 
  “Star Commander,” came the stern, deep voice of Joachim over 
  the private channel. “You look like you could use support, quiaff ?” 
  “You have dispatched your enemy, quiaff .” Shayla knew he had. 
  She had seen it on the HUD. 
  “Aff .” 
  “Aff .” 
  What they were about to do broke zellbrigen. But as a Wolf, 
  Shayla knew that at some moments, she could honorably accept 
  aid given by other members of her Star. 
  The enemy Star Commander—as infl exible as he was arro-
  gant—did not expect a third combatant. He had no defense 
  prepared against the Alpha Adder’s large pulse laser as it melted 
  armor along his left arm and torso. Joachim followed up with a 
  spear of fi re across the Falcon’s path, between the Hellbringer and 
  Shayla.  She used this distraction to push the Linebacker onto its 
  right shoulder until it faced the Hellbringer, which had begun re-
  turning fi re at the Adder.  Along with it, the enraged Falcon sent a 
  stream of curses and insults through the open channel. “Freebirth! 
  Surat! You have broken zellbrigen!”
  Shayla checked her PPCs, then set her firing reticule over the 
  Hellbringer’s chest. Joachim’s fire had loosened the Hellbringer’s 
  position and sent it closer to her. Two hundred and ten meters. 
  “You are right, little pigeon,” she said after opening her own 
  channel. “Without the mountainside, I would have beaten you 
  fairly in a batchall of equals. But we are not in the realm of fair-
  ness—not with the Word of Blake winning on all fronts. Your 
  ineptitude at understanding your enemy once again is your 
  undoing. To invade Lyran space is a waste of power and shows 
  the stupidity of Clan Jade Falcon. Clan Wolf will take back Terra 
  
  and crush those who stand in our way.”  She fired without wait-
  ing for an answer. 
  Both PPCs engulfed the Hellbringer. The blast forced the ‘Mech 
  backward as lancing arcs of blue and white rippled over its armor. 
  The ground shook as it struck the crystalline terrain and began 
  rolling down the slope. It slammed into another thick cactus tree, 
  this one as tall as an Adder. The force of the impact cracked the 
  Hellbringer in half. 
  Shayla needed to right her BattleMech and check for damage. 
  They still had a barrier to breach—and from the looks of her HUD, 
  three more BattleMechs to defeat. 
  “Wolf Star Commander,” a new voice boomed through her open 
  channel. 
  Shayla tested her Linebacker’s right foot. The cactus trunk 
  seemed fi rm enough to support any movement she wished. She 
  bounced once, then pushed back with the right foot from the 
  mountainside. Looking at her HUD, she saw a Jade Falcon Nova 
  Prime approaching from her right, its armor gleaming in the sun, 
  a stark contrast to the green, spiraling forest. 
  She did not bother to respond, instead checking her heads-up 
  and horizon signals. 
  “I am Star Commander Ballar, slayer of Wolves, Steel Vipers and 
  Snow Ravens alike! I challenge the Wolf cub in the Linebacker 
  Prime to a duel of equals. In this solemn matter, let no one else 
  interfere!”
  Shayla pursed her lips and checked the position of her closest Star 
  members. Turan had taken on a Black Lanner several hundred me-
  ters to her left. Daryna had decided to amuse herself by picking off  
  enemy battlesuits, swatting at them like errant bugs, aiming them 
  so they exploded against the cactus trees. Some stuck, the pointed 
  spindles skewering the armor as well as the soft fl esh inside. 
  She switched channels. “Joachim—keep on point.”
  “Aff .” 
  Shayla checked her diagnostics. Her left actuator could not last 
  long, and she preferred to do mountain battle if her movement 
  was limited—but movement was what they needed. To drive the 
  Jade Falcons backward, inside the city. Corral them. 
  Even if she won the battle, though, the Linebacker would not 
  make it up the mountain. Not without jump jets—and even if she 
  had those, the landing would be tricky with a shot leg. 
  She needed a new machine. A jump-capable one.
  “Challenge accepted,” Shayla said. “Term and condition.”
  “Aff .” 
  With a glance at Joachim, and a feral grin she knew he could 
  not see, Shayla said, “I claim your ‘Mech as my prize.” 
  There was a pause. Shayla knew she was taking a big risk. 
  The sizes of the ‘Mechs were comparable, but not even. On an 
  even field in battle, the Nova Prime would barely have a chance 
  against a Linebacker.  But here, fighting on a near-perpendic-
  ular slope against a damaged opponent—the Falcon ‘Mech 
  could take her. If so, Shayla could only hope her codex was 
  found intact. 
  She wiped the sweat from her face when the challenger said, 
  “Aff .”
  With the Nova Prime’s schematics pulled up on her computer, 
  Shayla made a quick assessment. She had few LRMs left, and 
  even fewer SRMs. She also saw an error light on her right PPC. Of 
  course, she only needed one to knock her enemy back. But the 
  Nova Prime, though it carried twelve extended-range medium la-
  sers, was jump capable. Even in as treacherous a fi eld as this one, 
  the jump jets off ered a slight advantage. 
  As challenger, the enemy Nova Prime took the fi rst shot, fi ring 
  half his medium lasers into the neck and cockpit area of Shayla’s 
  Linebacker. Heat sinks worked overtime as the red and orange 
  beams burned into armor, seals and gears beneath. 
  Shayla pushed her Linebacker up and shifted her left leg to the 
  right on the nearest boulder. Her HUD gave a distance of two hun-
  dred meters. She fi red LRMs from her left torso and swiveled the 
  rear-mounted small laser to fi re at the ground. It struck directly in 
  front of the Nova. Shayla wanted to get close enough to the ‘Mech 
  to stop it, but not damage it too much. 
  She targeted one of the larger trees near the Nova, explod-
  ing it into a tangle of rubbery strands and blood-red fl uid that 
  showered the enemy ‘Mech. The Linebacker moved sluggishly as 
  it drew a little closer to increase the aim of her working PPC. The 
  Nova had started fi ring medium lasers at Shayla and the cactus 
  webbing draped over its torso and right arm. The shots mostly 
  missed Shayla, though some glanced off  her shoulder. The en-
  emy was aiming where the Linebacker had been, not where it 
  was now. 
  The HUD read a pulse of energy from the Nova. Star Commander 
  Ballar was planning on using jets to get airborne, above the 
  smoke and plants to see the area. But Shayla had a better idea. If 
  the Nova did not shoot out her cockpit, if she did not misstep, if 
  her actuator held until she was fi nished... . 
  Using her HUD as a guide, Shayla pushed the footpedals, 
  pressed the joysticks forward and reached into the smoke. She 
  counted, felt the fi rst vibration of jets igniting and pushed off  
  from her feet, using the cactus-tree trunk as a springboard. Not 
  quite a death-from-above attack, but close enough. Inside, Shayla 
  slammed forward, caught and held against the couch by the har-
  ness. Warnings clanged around her. She heard the crack of ferro-
  glass as her cockpit smashed against the rock. 
  “Commander,” came Joachim’s voice. “Nova Prime is down. Again 
  the Wolf Clan reigns supreme.” 
  Shayla wiped her forehead, blinking as the stinging, salty sweat 
  coursed down her cheeks. Her internal systems remained online, 
  but her cockpit was dimmed, the light cut out by the Nova Prime’s 
  feet beneath her. She had done it—landed on top of the enemy 
  ‘Mech before it could jump. She hoped she had not damaged it 
  too badly. 
  “Wolf Star Commander,” came Ballar’s voice—low and fl at, as if 
  through gritted teeth. “I accept my defeat.”
  Shayla hit her harness release and lowered herself to the 
  cracked ferro-glass. She removed her helmet and smiled. Ballar 
  could destroy them both by fi ring his lasers directly into the 
  Linebacker holding him down. It depended on the position of the 
  Nova Prime. 
  But perhaps Ballar wanted off  the side of this mountain as 
  much as she did.  
  
  Classic BattleTech units change position and location on the 
  mapsheet by performing any one of several movements. 
  During the Movement Phase (Ground) of each turn, players 
  must choose a movement mode for each unit they intend to move 
  in that turn: walking/cruising, running/fl anking or jumping. Units 
  with VTOL/UMU movement, depending on the specifi c units in 
  question, may choose cruising/fl anking or may simply have a set 
  number of VTOL/UMU MPs to spend. When it is the player’s turn 
  to move a unit, the player must announce its movement mode or 
  that the unit is staying still. The player always chooses how a unit 
  moves, within the limits set by the rules.
  Aerospace Units: All aerospace unit movement is described in 
  Aerospace Movement (see p. 74). Airships and Fixed-Wing Support 
  Vehicles are considered aerospace units.
  MOVEMENT BASICS
  As shown at the top of the Movement Cost Table, p. 52, a unit 
  must spend 1 movement point (MP) to enter a hex. The type of 
  terrain within a hex adds more MP costs, as shown under the MP 
  Cost Per Hex/Terrain Type column of the table. A unit can also take 
  any of three other movement actions—facing change, dropping to 
  the ground and standing up—at the MP cost shown on the table.
  The controlling player always starts with a base cost of 1 MP for 
  a unit to enter a new hex. The player then consults the Movement 
  Cost Table and adds any MP required, based on the type of hex 
  being entered and/or the action being taken. Such additional 
  modifi ers are cumulative. For example, a unit entering a Clear 
  hex only spends the base 1 MP for entering a new hex. However, 
  a unit entering a heavy woods hex two levels above its current 
  hex would spend 5 MP (1 base MP for entering a new hex, +2 for 
  the two-level change and another +2 for heavy woods). A unit 
  entering a heavy woods hex and making a one-hexside facing 
  change spends 4 MP (the base 1 MP for entering a new hex, +2 
  MP for heavy woods and +1 MP for the facing change).
  Water: Water hexes have a depth that functions like a level 
  change (see below). However, units entering Water hexes must 
  pay the MP cost for entering water, plus the cost of entering 
  the hex, plus the cost for the level change (if any), except for 
  hover, WiGE and naval vehicles (see Movement Cost Table, p. 
  52). Submerged units use slightly diff erent movement rules (see 
  Underwater Movement, p. 56). 
  Diffi  cult or Prohibited Terrain: For some terrain, a player must 
  make a successful Piloting/Driving Skill Roll (see p. 59) in order 
  for a BattleMech to remain standing once it enters that terrain. 
  Also, certain kinds of units may not enter certain types of terrain. 
  These terrain types and movement restrictions appear on the 
  Movement Cost Table.
  Support Vehicles: If a wheeled Support Vehicle lacks an off -
  road vehicle chassis and controls, then movement costs an 
  additional 1 MP per hex, unless the hex is pavement or the unit 
  is following a road.
  LEVEL CHANGE
  While moving forward, a ’Mech may change level or depth 
  by only 1 or 2 levels per hex, at a cost of 1 MP per level. Ground 
  vehicles, infantry and ProtoMechs may only change 1 level per 
  hex (this rule does not apply to jumping, VTOL or WiGE units. See 
  Jumping, p. 53; VTOL Movement, p. 54; and Wing-In-Ground-Eff ect 
  Movement, p. 55). Level changes greater than these are considered 
  prohibited terrain. No unit may “voluntarily fall” from a greater 
  level in order to circumvent the maximum allowable level change 
  in a single hex. 
  RA 
  RA
  A Beta Galaxy Nova from Clan Wolf marches through an abandoned research facility on Quarell.
  
  49
  49
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  ProtoMechs, VTOLs and Submarines: ProtoMechs, VTOLs and 
  submarines must spend 1 MP to change their level by 1 level. 
  Ground Vehicles and Infantry: Ground vehicles must spend 
  2 MP to change level by 1 level. If using ground movement 
  (not jumping or VTOL), infantry must likewise spend 2 MP (see 
  Infantry Movement, p. 214). 
  Confl icting Terrain and Levels: Even though all FanPro-
  published mapsheets have level and terrain clearly marked, 
  situations may arise that involve confl icting levels or terrain. 
  For example during a tournament, one player may place a 
  map normally, while another places a map with the blank side 
  up—eff ectively creating a single map fi lled with Level 0, clear 
  hexes. Players may also face this situation when using maps 
  they have created.
  In such cases, if any part of a hex contains Level 0 terrain, 
  the entire hex is considered at Level 0. If no part of the hex 
  contains Level 0 terrain, the entire hex is considered at the 
  level closest to 0. In the case of diff erent levels, the level of the 
  entire hex is the lowest level marked. In the case of sublevels 
  or water, the entire hex is at the highest-marked level or the 
  shallowest depth, in addition to whatever other terrain may 
  be present (see Stacked Terrain, below). 
  MINIMUM MOVEMENT
  A unit must possess suffi  cient MP to pay the cost of entering 
  each new hex. A unit can always move into the hex directly 
  in front of it, regardless of the terrain cost, provided such 
  movement is the only MP expenditure the unit makes in that 
  turn (i.e. the unit cannot make any facing changes in the same 
  turn it uses the Minimum Movement rule). The controlling 
  player can only make this kind of move if the unit has at least 1 
  MP to spend (meaning it is mobile) and is not prohibited from 
  entering that terrain (see Level Change, p. 48); all units reduced 
  to 1 MP either due to heat or damage can still make use of 
  the minimum movement rule. A unit that enters a hex under 
  these conditions is considered to have used running/fl anking 
  movement. Units using this rule can enter hexes that normally 
  could not be entered by a running unit (for example, water 
  hexes). Any Piloting Skill Rolls for running still apply. 
  ’Mechs: A prone ’Mech with only 1 MP available can make a 
  single attempt to stand using the Minimum Movement rule. If 
  a ’Mech has only 1 MP because it is missing a leg, attempting to 
  stand will require only a single Piloting Skill Roll, with a +5, plus 
  any modifi ers for other damage (see Leg Destruction, p. 122).
  PRONE ’MECH MOVEMENT
  A ’Mech lying prone at the beginning of its movement may 
  declare walking or running movement, but may not jump. The 
  ’Mech expends MP to attempt to stand (see Standing Up, p. 
  50). Though a prone ’Mech cannot crawl into another hex, it 
  may expend running MPs, and change its facing in the hex it 
  occupies at the standard cost of 1 MP per hexside while it still 
  remains prone, attacker movement modifi er is based on what 
  type of movement mode the player selected.
  STACKED TERRAIN
  Though all FanPro-published mapsheets have all level and 
  terrain clearly marked, and never mix terrain types, situations 
  may arise where multiple terrain types occur in the same 
  hex. For example, at the start of a game, players might place 
  building counters on rough hexes, which become rubble 
  during the game.
  In such situations, all appropriate modifi ers are cumulative. 
  In the example above, to enter a rough/rubble hex would cost 3 
  MP (1 for the hex, 1 for the rubble and 1 for the underlying rough 
  terrain). If the entering unit is a ´Mech, its controlling player must 
  make a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid falling on the rubble.
  MOVEMENT DIRECTION
  A unit can move forward into the hex it is facing or backward 
  into the hex directly to its rear. It cannot move into any other 
  hex unless it fi rst changes its facing (see below). The diagram 
  above shows the two hexes that a unit may enter without 
  changing its facing. 
  Four-Legged ’Mechs: Four-legged ’Mechs are the exception 
  to this rule (see Lateral Shift, p. 50).
  Infantry: Because infantry units have no facing, they may 
  enter any of the six hexes surrounding the hex they occupy, 
  subject to terrain restrictions.
  Backward Movement
  During the course of its movement, a unit can move 
  forward and backward (i.e. it can make both moves within the 
  same Movement Phase) and change direction in any manner 
  the player chooses, as long as the unit possesses the required 
  number of MP. However, if a ’Mech or vehicle declares at the 
  beginning of its turn that it will use running/fl anking mode, it 
  cannot move backward at any time during that turn.
  Units moving backward may not change levels; this includes 
  water hexes where a level change is required to enter the hex. 
  VTOL/WiGE Vehicles and submarines, or units expending 
  VTOL or UMU MPs, may change elevations/depths while 
  moving backwards.
  DROPPING TO THE GROUND (’MECHS ONLY)
  A player may choose to have his ’Mech drop to the ground 
  during combat—usually at the end of movement to hide or 
  to make attacks against the ’Mech more diffi  cult. This action 
  creates no additional heat, causes no falling damage and costs 
  1 MP, but the ’Mech can only change its facing in the hex until 
  it stands once more. The ’Mech drops with the same facing it 
  had while standing and is automatically facedown, as in an 
  unintentional fall (see Falling, p. 68). The ’Mech is thereafter 
  considered prone. To regain its feet, it must attempt to stand, 
  as described below.
  • MOVEMENT DIRECTION DIAGRAM • 
  
  LATERAL SHIFT (FOUR-LEGGED ’MECHS ONLY)
  Four-legged ’Mechs may also move laterally, or sideways, 
  without changing their facings. A quad ’Mech making a lateral 
  shift moves into an adjacent hex that is not directly to its front or 
  rear, while retaining its original facing.
  A lateral shift costs 1 Movement Point in addition to the cost of 
  moving into the target hex. A two-legged ’Mech can perform a 
  similar action using facing changes for 1 MP more.
  A backwards lateral shift—moving into hexes C or D in the 
  diagram above—is considered backward movement (see 
  Running/Flanking, p. 53). 
  STANDING UP (’MECHS ONLY)
  The player may have a ’Mech attempt to regain its feet after 
  falling or dropping to the ground. Each attempt to stand costs 
  2 MP. A prone ’Mech with only 1 MP available at the beginning 
  of its turn may make one attempt to stand using the Minimum 
  Movement exception on p. 49. 
  A ’Mech may stand during the same Movement Phase that it 
  fell, as long as it still has suffi  cient MP to make the attempt and 
  was not jumping that turn. ’Mechs may only attempt to stand 
  during the Movement Phase. A ’Mech may attempt to stand 
  even if missing one leg, or one arm and one leg, or both arms, 
  but can never stand if missing all its legs. A ’Mech missing one 
  leg and both arms cannot attempt to stand. If a ’Mech begins the 
  Movement Phase prone, it must declare whether it will walk or 
  run before it attempts to stand.
  For a fallen ’Mech to stand up, the player must make a successful 
  Piloting Skill Roll (see p. 59). If the roll fails, the ’Mech falls again 
  and takes falling damage. Use the same facing it had on the 
  ground as its initial facing when rolling on the Facing After a Fall 
  Table (see p. 68). The ’Mech may make repeated attempts to stand 
  as long as it has MP available. 
  Once the ’Mech successfully stands, it may face in any direction 
  at no cost, regardless of its facing while on the ground, and may 
  continue to use MPs as per the movement mode restrictions 
  appropriate to the mode the player selected before attempting 
  to stand.
  Four-Legged ’Mechs: After a quad ’Mech falls down or drops to 
  the ground, the player need not make a Piloting Skill Roll to stand 
  unless one or more legs have been destroyed (see Leg Destruction, 
  p. 122). The usual MP cost and heat generation apply.
  Heat: Each attempt to stand creates 1 point of heat, in addition 
  to the standard heat for movement.
  FACING
  Every hex on the map has six edges, called hexsides. In Classic 
  BattleTech, every unit must face one of those six hexsides. A 
  BattleMech is considered to be facing the way its feet are pointing. 
  A vehicle is considered to be facing in the direction of its front 
  side. Infantry units have no facing. 
  A unit’s facing aff ects movement (see below) and combat (see 
  Combat, p. 98), and can only be voluntarily changed during the 
  Movement Phase.
  Units not clearly facing a hexside at the end of the Movement 
  Phase can be realigned to one of the two closest hexsides by the 
  opposing player. 
  FACING CHANGE
  Changing a unit’s facing costs 1 MP per hexside changed, 
  regardless of the terrain type in the hex. For example, a 180-
  degree turn costs a unit 3 MP.
  Possible Lateral Shifts (1 additional MP to enter hexes)
  • LATERAL SHIFT DIAGRAM • 
  • FACING CHANGE DIAGRAMS • 
  • FIGURE 1 • 
  • FIGURE 2 • 
  
  51
  51
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  In the facing Change diagram on p. 50, a player wants to 
  move the BattleMech from Hex A to Hex B. However, the 
  BattleMech is currently facing Hex C, and so cannot legally 
  move to Hex B. If the BattleMech changes its facing, as shown 
  in Figure 2, it can legally move into Hex B. This facing change 
  costs 1 MP.
  If the player wanted to move the BattleMech into Hex D 
  (without going backward), the BattleMech would have to 
  make a two-hexside facing change, at a cost of 2 MP.
  In the Movement Basics diagram at left, the BattleMech 
  in Hex A on the Wide River map has a Walking MP of 5 and 
  a Running MP of 8. The controlling player declares that the 
  BattleMech will walk this turn. 
  It costs 4 of the BattleMech’s available Walking MP to 
  change facing one hexside to the left (1 MP), move forward 
  into the clear hex (1 MP) and then, after climbing 1 level (1 
  MP), enter clear Hex B (1 MP).
  It costs 6 MP for the BattleMech to move to Hex C: 
  straight forward into the clear hex (1 MP), then change 
  facing one hexside to the left (1 MP), then move forward 
  into the clear hex (1 MP) and then, after climbing two levels 
  (2 MP), enter clear Hex C (1 MP). As this move costs more 
  than the Walking MP of the BattleMech, the controlling 
  player cannot make it.
  Likewise, the controlling player cannot move the 
  BattleMech to Hex D. Doing so would require 7 MP: straight 
  forward into a clear hex (1 MP), then straight forward again 
  into a clear hex (1 MP), then change facing one hexside to 
  the left (1 MP) and then, after climbing one level (1 MP), 
  enter a heavy woods hex (3 MP).
  The ’Mech can enter Hex E, moving straight forward into 
  the clear hex (1 MP), then straight forward again into the 
  clear hex (1 MP) and then moving straight forward a ﬁ nal 
  time into the light woods Hex E (2 MP). Similarly, the ’Mech 
  can enter Hex F by spending 5 MP: straight forward into the 
  clear hex (1 MP), straight forward again into the clear hex 
  (1 MP), change facing one hexside to the right (1 MP) and 
  move straight forward into the light woods Hex F (2 MP).
  Finally, the BattleMech can change one hexside to the 
  right (1 MP), then one more hexside to the right (1 MP), and 
  then enter the Depth 1 water hex (2 MP), which requires an 
  additional 1 MP for the level change (total 5 MP). As noted 
  on the Movement Cost Table, however, the controlling 
  player would need to immediately make a Piloting Skill 
  Roll to avoid falling after entering the water hex.
  DF 
  DF
  A Griffi  n IIC from Clan Blood Spirit’s Omega Galaxy hunts for Clan Star Adder raiders on York.
  • MOVEMENT BASICS DIAGRAM • 
  
  MOVEMENT COSTS TABLE
  Movement Action/Terrain Type
  MP Cost Per Hex/Terrain Cost
  Prohibited Units
  Cost to Enter Any Hex
  1
  Terrain Cost When Entering Any New Hex
  Clear
  +06
  Naval vessel
  Paved/Bridge
  +0
  Naval vessel
  Road
  +03
  Naval vessel
  Rough
  +1 
  Wheeled, naval vessel
  Light woods
  +110 
  Wheeled9, hover, VTOL12, WiGE12, naval 
  vessel
  Heavy woods
  +211 
  Vehicles12, naval vessel
  Water
  Depth 0
  +0
  Naval vessel
  Depth 1
  +11 (Level change MP cost not included)
  Infantry14, vehicles4, 7
  Depth 2+
  +31 (Level change MP cost not included)
  Infantry14, vehicles4, 7, IndustrialMechs8
  Level change (up or down)
  1 level
  +1 (’Mechs, VTOLs, subs, ProtoMechs)
  +2 (infantry, ground vehicles)
  —
  2 levels
  +2 (’Mechs, VTOLs, subs)
  Infantry, ground vehicles, 
  WiGE13, ProtoMechs
  3+ levels
  +1/level (VTOLs, subs)
  ’Mechs, ProtoMechs, infantry, 
  ground vehicles, WiGE13
  Rubble
  +11
  Wheeled, Naval vessel
  Light building
  +12
  VTOL, WiGE, Naval vessel
  Medium building
  +22
  VTOL, WiGE, Naval vessel
  Heavy building
  +32
  VTOL, WiGE, Naval vessel
  Hardened building
  +42
  VTOL, WiGE, Naval vessel
  Additional movement actions
  Facing change
  1/hexside5
  Dropping to the ground (’Mech only)
  1
  Standing up (’Mech only)
  2/attempt
  1 MP cost to move along the bottom of the water hex; Piloting Skill Roll required to prevent falling.
  2 Piloting Skill Roll required to prevent damage; infantry pays only 1 MP (except mechanized infantry, which pays 2 MP) to enter any building hex.
  3 If traveling along road; otherwise cost of underlying terrain.
  4 Hovercraft may enter all water hexes along the surface and may enter such hexes using fl anking movement.
  5 No cost for infantry.
  6 If a wheeled Support Vehicle lacks the Off -Road Vehicle Chassis and Controls modifi cation, then movement costs 1 additional MP per hex.
  7 Wheeled or tracked Support Vehicles with the Amphibious Chassis and Controls modifi cation can move through any water hex on the surface at a cost of 2 MP (see p. 56).
  8 IndustrialMechs can enter a Depth 2 or greater water hex. However, the IndustrialMechs must mount either a fuel cells, fi ssion or fusion power plant and must mount the 
  Environmental Sealing Chassis and Controls modifi cation to do so. If the IndustrialMech does not meet those requirements, it is considered destroyed if they remain in a Depth 
  2 or greater water hex (or prone in a Depth 1 water hex) in the End Phase of the turn immediately following the turn in which they entered it.
  9 Wheeled Support Vehicles with either the Monocycle or Bicycle Chassis and Controls modifi cation can enter a light woods hex.
  10 Infantry pays only 1 MP (except mechanized infantry, which pays 2 MP) to enter any light woods hex.
  11 Infantry pays only 2 MP (except mechanized infantry, which pays 3 MP) to enter any heavy woods hex.
  12 VTOL and WiGE vehicles can enter a woods hex provided their elevation is higher than the level of the woods in the hex.
  13 This only applies to WiGE units entering a hex whose level is higher than the unit’s current hex; see Wing-In-Ground-Eff ect, p. 55, for rules governing entering hexes whose level 
  is lower than the unit’s current hex.
  14 Infantry can enter a water hex of Depth 1 or deeper if they are noted as having UMU MPs
  
  53
  53
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT MODES
  At the beginning of each unit’s movement, a player must 
  select one of the following movement modes. A unit may not 
  combine movement modes during a turn. 
  STANDING STILL
  If the player declares that a unit will “stand still”, the unit 
  stays in the hex in which it started the turn. It may expend 
  no MP during that turn. It does not move, not even to change 
  facing. Standing still generates no heat, gives no penalty to 
  weapons fi re and allows attackers to fi re on the unit without 
  target movement modifi ers.
  A unit that stands still is not considered immobile, and so 
  that to-hit modifi er does not apply (see Firing At Immobile 
  Targets, p. 110).
  WALKING/CRUISING
  Generally speaking, units with legs walk or run, while units 
  without legs cruise or fl ank; the record sheet or Technical 
  Readout game stats of each unit will indicate which type of 
  movement it can make. 
  If the player declares that a unit will walk or cruise, the unit 
  may expend a number of MP up to its walking/cruising MP 
  rating. A walking/cruising unit suff ers a +1 to its to-hit number 
  when making attacks. As a moving target, a walking/cruising 
  unit may also be harder to hit. These combat eff ects appear on 
  the appropriate To-Hit Modifi er tables in the Combat section, 
  p. 98, and are explained in that section.
  Heat: Walking creates 1 point of heat for BattleMechs.
  RUNNING/FLANKING
  A unit can move further in a turn when running (or moving 
  at fl ank speed) than it can walking. The player may spend up to 
  the unit’s Running/Flanking MP rating each turn. A unit that is 
  running or fl anking suff ers a +2 to-hit modifi er when making 
  attacks, but its speed may make it a more diffi  cult target to 
  hit. These eff ects are explained in the Combat section, p. 98. In 
  addition, a unit using running/fl anking movement on a paved 
  surface risks skidding (see Skidding, p. 62). No unit can move 
  backward while running/fl anking. 
  Critical Damage: After the end of its movement, a ’Mech 
  that runs with damaged hip actuators or gyros must make a 
  Piloting Skill Roll to avoid falling. See Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls, 
  p. 59.
  WiGE, VTOL, and Hover Vehicles: VTOL, WiGE, or hover 
  unist risk sideslipping any time it uses fl anking movement 
  (see Sideslipping, p. 67). 
  ’Mech Heat: Running creates 2 points of heat for BattleMechs.
  MP Reduction: With the exception of infantry, a unit’s 
  Running/Flank MP rating is always equal to its Walking/
  Cruising MP times 1.5, rounding up. If damage to a non-
  infantry unit reduces its Walking/Cruising MP rating, the player 
  must recalculate the unit’s running/fl ank speed.
  Water: No unit except hover, VTOL, WiGE and naval vessels 
  can enter Depth 1 or deeper water hexes while running/
  fl anking, though a running unit may leave or change facing 
  in a water hex. 
  JUMPING
  Jumping allows the most fl exibility in movement, but 
  generates a great deal of heat (for those units that track heat). 
  A Jumping unit suff ers a +3 to-hit modifi er when making 
  attacks, but a jumping unit makes a more diffi  cult target. 
  These eff ects are explained in the Combat section, p. 98. Any 
  jump-capable unit has Jumping MP listed among its game 
  statistics, or is described as jump-capable in the rules specifi c 
  to that unit.
  ’Mechs must be standing at the start of the turn in order 
  to jump. When a unit jumps, it can move 1 hex for every 
  available Jumping MP. It may jump in any direction, regardless 
  of its original facing. The player chooses a target hex for the 
  unit to jump into, and then the unit travels to that hex along 
  the shortest possible route landing with any facing desired. 
  A unit can jump over and into any hex, regardless of terrain 
  type. If this path crosses a level higher than the sum of the 
  unit’s Jumping MP plus the level of the hex in which the jump 
  started, then the unit cannot make the jump. If more than one 
  possible path exists between the unit and its goal hex, the 
  player may declare which path his unit takes.
  A unit with at least one Jumping MP may jump down any 
  number of levels.
  Critical Damage: BattleMechs that jump with destroyed 
  hip or leg actuators or a damaged gyro must make a Piloting 
  Skill Roll to avoid falling when they land (see Piloting/Driving 
  Skill Rolls, p. 59). 
  Heat: Jumping generates 1 heat point for every hex jumped, 
  with a minimum cost of 3 heat points. Even if a ’Mech only 
  jumps 1 hex, it builds up 3 heat points for that jump.
  Water: Jump jets cannot be fi red while submerged in water, 
  and so a ’Mech standing in Depth 2 or deeper water (or a 
  ProtoMech in Depth 1 or deeper water) cannot jump. A ’Mech 
  standing in Depth 1 water may not fi re jump jets located in its 
  DF 
  DF
  Goshawk 3 (custom), Twelfth Division (Word of Blake) 
  
  legs, but it may use jets located in the torso, each one providing 
  1 Jumping MP. For example, a ’Mech with a Jumping MP of 5 that 
  has one jump jet in each leg and each torso location may only use 
  3 MP when jumping out of Depth 1 water.
  In the Jumping diagram above, the BattleMech in Hex A 
  on the Lake Area map has a Jumping MP of 6 and a Walking/
  Running MP of 6/9. The BattleMech jumps to Hex B, four hexes 
  away. Because the BattleMech is using jump movement, it 
  spends only 1 MP for every hex that it moves, ignoring all 
  terrain costs for the hexes it passes over and for the hex in 
  which it lands. As it lands, the player can face the BattleMech in 
  any direction he chooses, at no extra cost. To reach Hex B with 
  the facing shown by walking or running, the BattleMech would 
  have had to spend at least 10 MP. The ’Mech is starting in Depth 
  1 water (Hex A), giving it a level of –1. Two of the jump jets are 
  mounted in the legs (one in each leg) and so cannot be used 
  as they are submerged; its other jump jets are located in the 
  torsos, however, so it can still jump with a Jumping MP of 4. 
  At ﬁ rst, it looks like the BattleMech could have jumped into 
  Hex B by at least four diﬀ erent hex paths that are equally short 
  (four hexes), as indicated on the diagram. There are actually two 
  additional paths (1-5-6-B and 4-5-3-B), but for the purposes of 
  this example, only the primary four paths will be discussed.
  Path I: 1, 2, 3, ending Hex B.
  Path II: 1, 5, 3, ending Hex B.
  Path III: 4, 5, 6, ending Hex B.
  Path IV: 4, 7, 6, ending Hex B. 
  The player cannot choose Path I and II, however, because a 
  hill in the intervening terrain (Hex 3) has a level of 4. The ’Mech 
  only has 4 Jumping MP, and that plus its –1 starting level only 
  equals 3 (4 + –1 = 4 – 1 = 3). Four is higher than 3, and so the 
  ’Mech cannot jump over Hex 3. 
  While the trees in Hex 5 rise two levels above the underlying 
  terrain, they only rise to Level 3 (1 (underlying terrain) +2 (trees) 
  = 3). As the jumping MP of the ’Mech equals or exceeds that 
  level (4 (Jumping MP) –1 (Depth 1) = 3), the ’Mech can cross that 
  path. As such, the player may still choose either Paths III or IV. 
  If the ’Mech had a Jumping MP of 5 or higher (i.e. it had a 
  higher over-all Jumping MP, or if the two jump jets mounted in 
  the legs were mounted in the torsos), then it could have traveled 
  to its destination along Paths I or II, because the unit’s Jumping 
  MP (5) plus the level of the starting hex (–1) would equal or 
  exceed the level of the intervening hilly terrain (4).
  VTOL MOVEMENT 
  Though this type of movement is primarily reserved for VTOLs, 
  other units may share this movement type, such as Sylph battle 
  armor; the rules governing that unit type will cover any additional 
  rules beyond VTOL Movement that apply to movement. As with 
  jumping, a unit using VTOL movement is harder to hit, but fi nds it 
  more diffi  cult to make an attack (see Combat, starting on p. 98). 
  Like other vehicles, a VTOL may move at cruising or fl ank speed 
  during the Movement Phase (Ground). To make a facing change or 
  enter a new hex, regardless of the underlying terrain type, costs 1 MP. 
  In order to make a facing change or enter a new hex, the VTOL must be 
  at least one elevation above the level of the hex it currently occupies. 
  A VTOL may move vertically at a cost of 1 MP per elevation that 
  the unit ascends or descends. A VTOL can move any number of 
  elevations up and down in a single hex, as long as it has suffi  cient MP. 
  Players must record the elevation of each VTOL on its record sheet’s 
  Elevation Track at the end of the Movement Phase (Ground). 
  VTOLs cannot fl y at or below the tops of trees while in wooded 
  hexes (2 levels high), and cannot fl y at or below the building’s level 
  in a building hex unless they are landing on the building. The only 
  movement a VTOL can make while at ground level (landed) is to 
  ascend at least one elevation above the ground. A VTOL that begins 
  or ends its movement at an elevation equal to the terrain’s level 
  has landed. VTOLs may only land in clear, paved or building hexes 
  (on the roof; see Collapse, p. 176, for additional rules concerning 
  a unit’s interaction with a building hex), or on the helipad on a 
  Large Naval Vessel Support Vehicle. If they attempt to land in any 
  other hex, even if using vertical movement, they automatically 
  crash (see VTOL and WiGE Crashes, p. 68); if a unit attempts to land 
  in a hex occupied by a DropShip or Large Support Vehicle, they 
  automatically charge the unit (see Collisions, p. 67). 
  Roads: VTOLs can choose to move along a road, allowing them 
  to traverse woods hexes at a level below the treetops. In order to 
  do this, a VTOL must begin the movement through the woods on 
  a road and stay on the road for the entire movement. Of course, 
  at any point the VTOL can increase its elevation to rise above the 
  trees and continue its movement off  the road. 
  Sideslipping and Crashes: A VTOL vehicle using fl anking 
  movement may sideslip (see Sideslipping, p. 67). If a VTOL 
  sideslips, it may crash. VTOL vehicles that enter a hex horizontally 
  (as opposed to vertically, which means it would land) at or below 
  the level of that hex’s terrain likewise crash (see VTOL and WiGE 
  Vehicle Crashes, p. 68). Additionally, if a VTOL vehicle horizontally 
  enters a hex that contains ground units at the same level as the 
  VTOL’s current elevation (whether through voluntary movement, 
  or through a sideslip), may accidentally charge said unit (see 
  Collisions, p. 67).
  Water: A VTOL cannot land on water hexes unless the unit has 
  the Amphibious Chassis and Controls modifi cation, nor can it 
  descend below Depth 0 in a water hex. A VTOL that makes either 
  of these movements crashes and is destroyed.
  • JUMPING DIAGRAM • 
  
  55
  55
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  In the VTOL Movement diagram 
  at right, a VTOL is landed in Hex A on 
  the BattleForce 2 map. The controlling 
  player decides to move the VTOL to Hex 
  B, four hexes away. It costs the VTOL 3 
  MP to rise high enough in the starting 
  hex to ﬂ y over the Level 2 hill in Hex 1. 
  However, the trees in Hex 2 rise two 
  levels above the underlying terrain, 
  which is Level 1, making the height of 
  the trees Level 3. The controlling player 
  spends 1 more MP to raise the VTOL to 
  Elevation 4. He then expends 4 MP to 
  move to Hex B, and then 3 MP to land 
  again, for a total of 11 MP.
  WING-IN-GROUND-EFFECT
  (WIGE) MOVEMENT
  Though this type of movement is 
  primarily reserved for WiGE vehicles, 
  other units may also move in this way; 
  the rules governing that unit type will 
  cover any additional rules beyond WiGE 
  Movement that apply to movement. 
  As with jumping and VTOL movement, 
  a unit using WiGE movement is harder 
  to hit, but fi nds it more diffi  cult to 
  make an attack (see Combat, starting 
  on p. 98).
  For WiGE vehicles, takeoff  costs 5 MP, which must be spent 
  in a single turn, and places the vehicle at one elevation above 
  the level of the underlying terrain in the hex from which it 
  took off . While airborne, WiGE vehicles fl y one elevation above 
  the underlying terrain, and so are unaff ected by water, rubble 
  or rough terrain.
  A WiGE vehicle must move at least 5 hexes per turn to 
  remain airborne (this minimum movement requirement does 
  not apply on the turn the WiGE takes off ) or else it is forced to 
  land at the end of its movement (landing for a WiGE vehicle 
  does not cost any MP). WiGE vehicles may only land in clear 
  or paved hexes. If they attempt to land in any other hex, they 
  automatically crash (see VTOL and WiGE Crashes, p. 68); if 
  a unit attempts to land in a hex occupied by a DropShip or 
  Large Support Vehicle, they automatically charge the unit (see 
  Collisions, p. 67).
  While grounded, a WiGE vehicle has 1 Ground MP , and is 
  considered a hover vehicle for terrain restrictions. A grounded 
  WiGE vehicle can enter a hex using the Minimum Movement rule 
  (see p. 49), provided it is not prohibited from entering that hex.
  Roads: WiGE vehicles can choose to move along a road, 
  allowing them to traverse woods hexes at a level below the 
  treetops. In order to do this, a WiGE must begin the movement 
  through the woods on a road and stay on the road for the 
  entire movement. 
  Sideslipping and Crashes: A WiGE vehicle using fl anking 
  movement may sideslip (see Sideslipping, p. 67). If a WiGE 
  sideslips, it may crash. WiGE vehicles entering a hex greater 
  than one level above their current hex likewise crash (see VTOL 
  and WiGE Vehicle Crashes, p. 68). Entering a woods hex (either 
  because of a sideslip or deliberately) automatically causes the 
  WiGE to crash. In addition, if damage reduces an airborne WiGE 
  vehicle’s MP to 0 at any time during a turn, it automatically 
  crashes in the hex where the damage occurred. Additionally, if 
  a WiGE vehicle enters a hex horizontally that contains ground 
  units at the same level as the WiGE’s current elevation (whether 
  through voluntary movement, or through a sideslip), may 
  accidentally charge said unit (see Collisions, p. 67).
  Water: WiGE vehicles cannot land on water hexes unless the 
  unit has the Amphibious Chassis and Controls modifi cation, nor 
  can they descend below Depth 0 in a water hex. If they make 
  either of these movements, they crash and are destroyed.
  Elevation Changes
  A WiGE vehicle entering a hex whose level is one higher 
  than its current hex automatically maintains its one elevation 
  of clearance above the terrain, and expends no additional MP 
  to do so. A WiGE vehicle cannot enter a hex whose level is two 
  or more higher than its current hex.
  A WiGE entering a hex with a level lower than its current 
  hex automatically descends to maintain the standard one 
  elevation above the underlying terrain, regardless of the 
  diff erence in levels between the two hexes, at no additional 
  MP expenditure. However, in certain circumstances, a WiGE 
  vehicle may prefer to avoid such a descent. A WiGE vehicle 
  may maintain the same elevation in a new hex (regardless of 
  how many level changes occur in the lower level hex entered) 
  by expending 2 additional MP per hex that it crosses. If the 
  WiGE does not reach a hex within 1 level diff erence than 
  the one it exited from by the end of its Movement Phase, it 
  automatically descends to the standard elevation above the 
  underlying terrain in the fi nal hex of its movement. 
  MM 
  MM
  • VTOL MOVEMENT 
  DIAGRAM • 
  NDA-1K No-Dachi, Otomo (House Kurita) 
  
  In the WiGE Movement 
  diagram 
  above, 
  a 
  WiGE 
  vehicle is airborne at the start of its 
  Movement Phase in Hex A on the Deep 
  Canyon #2 map. The controlling player wants 
  to move the WiGE to Hex B. He expends 1 MP moving 
  into Hex 1 (1 to enter the hex; it automatically climbs an 
  elevation). The WiGE is now at Level 5, one level above the 
  Level 4 hex. Normally, if the player moved into Hex 2, the WiGE 
  would automatically descend to Level 1 (one level above the 
  underlying terrain, which is Level 0). However, the player does 
  not want to descend to that level, because after his vehicle 
  moves into Hex 3, he would not be able to enter Hex 4. (Because 
  he has not yet moved 5 hexes in the turn, he would land in Hex 
  3 unless he keeps moving, and the player does not wish to land 
  there.) Making a facing change risks a sideslip and a crash into 
  the higher level of Hex 4. 
  Upon entering Hex 2, the player expends 3 MP, and also 
  expends 3 MP in Hex 3. Upon entering Hex 4, the player only 
  expends 1 MP. The WiGE automatically descends to one level 
  above the Level 3 underlying terrain, putting it at Level 4 in 
  Hex 4. The player then expends 1 MP to enter Hex 5 and 3 MP 
  to enter Hex 6. The player once again expends 3 MP to enter 
  Hex 7 (because the player wants to reach Hex B and, more 
  importantly, the WiGE would crash if it entered the wooded 
  hex at an elevation equal to or less than the level of the trees). 
  Finally, the player expends 1 MP to enter Hex B, and the WIGE 
  automatically descends to one level above the underlying Level 
  1 terrain. It is now at Level 2 in Hex B. Because it moved for more 
  than 5 hexes, it stays airborne at the end of the Movement 
  Phase. The total cost to move from Hex A to Hex B was 16 MP.
  NAVAL MOVEMENT
  Naval movement applies only to Naval Vessels (Combat and 
  Support) and hovercraft/WiGE units. This type of movement 
  includes moving on and below the water’s surface. Surface naval 
  units may only move through Depth 1 or deeper water hexes, at 
  a cost of 1 MP per hex entered, regardless of depth. Unlike other 
  units, naval units moving on the surface can use fl ank speed in 
  Depth 1 or deeper water. For line of sight purposes, a surface 
  vessel is at Level 0 (on the water’s surface).
  Hovercraft and WiGE Units: Treat hovercraft and WiGE units 
  moving over Depth 1 or greater water hexes like surface units. 
  Submarines
  Regardless of depth, a submarine (including Support Vehicles 
  with the Submersible Chassis and Controls modifi cation) expends 
  only 1 MP to enter a water hex.
  A submarine unit can move vertically at a cost of 1 MP per depth 
  that it ascends or descends. A submarine can move any number 
  of depths up and down at cruising speed in a single water hex as 
  long as it has suffi  cient MP. If a submarine changes more depths 
  (up or down, or in combination) than its Cruising MP during a 
  single Movement Phase, it must automatically roll once on the 
  Motive System Damage Table, see p. 193.
  A submarine cannot descend to a depth greater than that of 
  its hex or ascend above the water’s surface (Depth 0). In order to 
  move horizontally or change facing, the submarine must be at a 
  vertical depth higher than the depth of the hex it occupies—in 
  other words, it cannot move along the bottom. If a submarine is 
  at the depth of the hex it occupies and/or enters, it is considered 
  to be resting on the bottom. Players should record the depth of 
  each submarine on the Depth Track on its record sheet at the end 
  of the Movement Phase (Ground).
  UNDERWATER MOVEMENT (NON-NAVAL UNITS)
  Underwater movement—moving across the bottom of a water 
  hex, as opposed to moving through the water itself—while rare, 
  does occur, though few units not classifi ed as naval vessels can 
  survive complete submersion and still function. In addition to the 
  movement eff ects described below, only specifi c types of weapons 
  may be used and their ranges signifi cantly decrease. Units must 
  also deal with hull integrity and possible hull breaches (see 
  Underwater Units, p. 121). To be considered underwater, a unit must 
  be completely submerged. It cannot be in Depth 0 water; ’Mechs 
  must be in at least Depth 2 water, or at least Depth 1 if prone.
  Unless a unit’s write-up or record sheet describes it as having 
  Underwater Movement MP (Underwater Maneuvering Units, or 
  UMUs), the following rules apply for movement underwater. Note that 
  these rules apply only for Depth 1 to 15 water. Rules for water hexes of 
  Depth 16 or greater will be covered in Tactical Operations. 
  • WIGE MOVEMENT DIAGRAM • 
  
  57
  57
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  A unit must pay 4 MP (base MP of 1 for entering a hex, +3 
  for Depth 2 or greater water) for each hex it enters and must 
  make a Piloting Skill Roll (if applicable) using the appropriate 
  modifi ers for each Depth 2 or deeper water hex. In addition, 
  a ’Mech must pay all standard MP for moving from one level 
  (depth) to another (see Movement Cost Table, p. 52). If the 
  Piloting Skill Roll fails, the unit automatically falls.
  Falling Damage: If a unit below the water’s surface falls, it 
  suff ers normal falling damage divided by 2 (see Falling, p. 68). 
  A unit above the water’s surface suff ers normal falling damage 
  divided by 2 for hitting the water’s surface and normal falling 
  damage divided by 2 for the fall from the water’s surface to 
  the bottom of the water hex. Normal damage for hitting the 
  water’s surface equals tonnage/10 (round up) x (# of levels 
  fallen + 1)/2. Normal damage for hitting the bottom of the 
  water hex equals tonnage/10 (round up) x (depth of water hex 
  + 1)/2. Damage is resolved separately.
  Hull Integrity: Whenever an underwater unit takes damage 
  through movement (such as falling), it must immediately check 
  for hull integrity as though it took damage from a weapon 
  attack. Use the underwater Hull Integrity rules under Damage 
  (see p. 121) to resolve such situations. A unit above the surface 
  of a water hex that falls into a water hex does not check for 
  hull integrity, but would check for hull integrity when the unit 
  strikes the bottom of the water hex.
  Minimum Movement: A unit can use the Minimum Movement 
  rule (see p. 49) to enter a hex when moving underwater; this is the 
  only time a unit can use running movement to enter a water hex.
  Prohibited Units: Only ’Mechs may move underwater using 
  these rules. (An IndustrialMech must be specifi cally equipped, 
  or such movement might destroy the unit; see Movement 
  Cost Table, p. 52.) No other unit may move underwater unless 
  it has Underwater Movement MP. 
  Underwater MP: If a unit has Underwater Movement MP, 
  the unit suff ers none of the movement penalties of other units 
  capable of underwater movement—i.e. it is not moving across 
  the bottom of a water hex, but is instead moving akin to a 
  submarine—but suff ers targeting penalties as normal and 
  remains subject to hull integrity rules (see Underwater Units, 
  p. 121).
  STACKING
  At the end of each Movement Phase, up to two units from 
  each side may occupy a single hex (a maximum of four). These 
  units can consist of any combination of vehicles and infantry, 
  but only one of the four can be a ’Mech. This maximum is 
  called the stacking limit.
  During the Movement Phase, a unit may move through 
  hexes occupied by other friendly units. Though a unit can 
  enter a hex occupied by an enemy unit, it may not leave that 
  hex in the same turn; entering an enemy hex automatically 
  ends a unit’s movement. 
  Regardless of the conditions noted above, no unit may 
  voluntarily end its movement in a hex if that movement would 
  violate the stacking limit.
  If a unit inadvertently violates the stacking rules, the result 
  is a domino eff ect (see Domino Eff ect, p. 152). Most often, this 
  occurs when a ’Mech moves into a hex with a friendly unit 
  and the terrain requires a Piloting Skill Roll. If the roll fails, 
  the entering ’Mech falls. The domino eff ect results if it cannot 
  manage to stand up and move out of the hex. 
  UNIT AND TERRAIN RULES
  The following specifi c unit and terrain rules modify the 
  basic stacking rules as noted above.
  ’Mechs
  If the enemy unit(s) located in the hex are only infantry, a 
  ’Mech exit that hex in the same turn it entered. If the enemy 
  unit(s) are any other units, then the ’Mech must stop in the hex 
  as noted above.
  Infantry
  Infantry mounted on or in a vehicle (see Infantry Carriers, p. 
  223) and battle armor riding on a unit using the Mechanized 
  Battle Armor rules (see p. 226)—as well as infantry swarming 
  a unit (see Swarm Attack, p. 220)—do not count against the 
  stacking limit. This includes infantry using VTOL or underwater 
  movement, though such infantry cannot dismount if it will 
  violate the stacking limit. 
  Large Support Vehicles
  No other unit may move through or occupy a hex(es) 
  occupied by a Large Support Vehicle, except for infantry (in 
  this case, a single friendly infantry unit and two enemy infantry 
  units may occupy the hex of a Large Support Vehicle). 
  ProtoMechs
  A ProtoMech counts as a vehicle for stacking purposes. 
  Trailers
  One small or one medium Support Vehicle trailer acts 
  as part of a tractor for purposes of stacking; two small, two 
  medium, or one small and one medium trailers together act as 
  a single Support Vehicle. Treat Large Support Vehicle trailers 
  as individual units for stacking purposes. See Trailers (p. 205 of 
  Support Vehicles) for more information. 
  Airborne Non-Aerospace Units
  These ground stacking limits do not apply to airborne units 
  such as WiGE and VTOL Vehicles, or other units expending 
  such MPs (such as a battle armor unit expending VTOL MP). 
  Instead, apply the limits to each elevation within a hex; see 
  Elevation and Depth Rules, p. 58, for the exception.
  Grounded Aerospace Units
  If an aerospace unit is grounded (either because it landed 
  or crashed) in a ground hex(es), the following rules apply for 
  stacking purposes:
  • 
  Aerospace and conventional fi ghters (this includes Fixed-
  Wing Support Vehicles), are considered vehicles.
  • 
  Small craft are considered ’Mechs.
  • 
  Airships are considered Large Support Vehicles.
  • 
  DropShips are considered Large Support Vehicles for the 
  target hex and the six surrounding adjacent hexes.
  • 
  Units mounted in grounded aerospace units do not count 
  against the stacking limit (see Carrying Units, p. 89, in the 
  Aerospace Movement section.)
  
  Buildings
  These stacking rules do not apply to units in the same 
  building hex on diff erent levels. Within a building hex, apply 
  the unit stacking limits to each level of the building hex (see 
  Building Levels, p. 167).
  ELEVATION AND DEPTH RULES
  All the above stacking rules apply to the elevation or depth 
  of every hex, with the exceptions noted below.
  Airborne Aerospace Units
  The stacking rules do not apply to aerospace altitude 
  movement (see Stacking, p. 78, in Aerospace Movement).
  Unit Heights
  Various units rise a number of levels above 
  the level of the underlyiing hex they are in, 
  depending on the unit type (see Unit Heights, 
  p. 99, in Combat). These heights must be taken 
  into consideration when dealing with the 
  stacking limits of each elevation (or depth) in 
  a hex.
  Jumping: The only exception to this rule is when jumping 
  movement is used. Any time jumping movement is used, the 
  jumping unit may ignore the heights of all ground units for the 
  purposes of moving through a hex occupied by an enemy unit. 
  The only exception to this rule is grounded DropShips, which act 
  as terrain Levels for purposes of how many Jump MP a unit must 
  have to jump over a grounded DropShip. 
  During the Movement Phase, controlling Player A wishes to 
  move his units on the Open Terrain #1 map. He has a ’Mech, and 
  battle armor unit in Hex F, which is the maximum amount of 
  units one player can have in a hex. At Elevation 2 in the same 
  hex, player A also has a VTOL Vehicle, which is also the maximum 
  amount of units one player can have in a hex, since the ’Mech 
  rises two levels above the level of the underlying hex (which is 
  Level 0), making its height equal to that of the VTOL; i.e. the 
  ’Mech counts in both Levels 1 and 2, which equates to Elevations 
  1 and 2. Furthermore, Player A could not have the VTOL Vehicle 
  in that hex at Elevation 1, as that equates to the Level 1 of the 
  battle armor unit already in that hex, and the player can only 
  have two units at a Level/Elevation, in the same hex.
  Arrayed against him are controlling player B’s units (in all 
  cases, the level of the underlying terrain is Level 0): a grounded, 
  spheroid DropShip in Hex A (and 6 additional hexes) occupying 
  Levels 1 to 10 of those hexes; a Large Support VTOL Vehicle in 
  Hex B occupying Elevations 2 and 3 of that hex; a ’Mech and 
  ground vehicle in Hex C occupying Level 1 of that hex (the ’Mech 
  also occupies Level 2 of that hex); a battle armor unit (expending 
  VTOL MPs) and a VTOL Vehicle in Hex D occupying Elevation 2 of 
  that hex; a battle armor unit and conventional infantry unit in 
  Hex E occupying Level 1 of that hex; ﬁ nally, an aerospace ﬁ ghter 
  using Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets (see p. 91), is in 
  Hex E as well, ﬂ ying at Altitude 1 (NOE).
  First Player A notes that regardless of what unit type he is 
  moving or where, non-aerospace units (including grounded 
  aerospace units) never interact for height, stacking or 
  movement purposes with airborne aerospace units. As such, 
  even though the aerospace ﬁ ghter in Hex E is ﬂ ying at it’s 
  lowest altitude, no matter how many elevations high a non-
  aerospace unit (such as a VTOL Vehicle) might occupy, he will 
  never have to worry about stacking limits against the airborne 
  aerospace unit.
  Player A ﬁ rst moves his ’Mech (without using jumping MP). 
  If the ’Mech moves into Hex D, it cannot then exit that hex; the 
  enemy units at Elevation 2 overlap the Level 2 height that the 
  ’Mech occupies, so that it can enter the hex occupied by the 
  enemy units, but cannot exit; if the VTOL were at an elevation 
  higher than 2, then the ’Mech could exit Hex D as the only 
  enemy unit to occupy the hex (and appropriate overlapping 
  Levels/Elevations) is an infantry unit. If the ’Mech moves into 
  Hex E, it could continue its movement this turn as the only 
  enemy units that occupy that hex are infantry. However, the 
  ’Mech cannot enter Hex A, as it cannot enter a hex occupied 
  by a grounded DropShip. It cannot enter Hex B as a Large 
  Support Vehicle occupies Elevation 2, which overlaps with the 
  Level 2 height of the ’Mech, and it cannot enter a hex occupied 
  by a Large Support Vehicle. Finally, it cannot enter Hex C, as 
  it cannot enter a hex occupied by an enemy ’Mech. Perhaps 
  player A should’ve taken a diﬀ erent route.
  Player A then attempts to move the infantry (without using 
  jumping MP). If the infantry enters Hex D, it can continue its 
  movement, as the enemy unit’s Elevation of 2 does not overlap 
  with the infantry’s Level 1 height. If the infantry unit enters hex 
  E, it also must stop and cannot exit the hex as both Player A’s 
  and enemy’s units are at ground level, occupying Level 1 of that 
  hex. If there were no units in Hex E, the infantry unit would have 
  the following additional movement options this turn (provided 
  it had the MPs available): it could actually enter Hex A, as 
  • STACKING DIAGRAM • 
  
  59
  59
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  infantry can enter the same hex as a grounded DropShip, 
  but it would not then be able to exit Hex A this turn; it could 
  enter Hex B and actually exit Hex B as its Level 1 height 
  doesn’t overlap with the Elevation 2 occupied of the Large 
  Support Vehicle (even if the Large Support Vehicle occupied 
  Elevation 1 or was landed, the infantry unit would still be 
  able to enter the hex, it simply could not exit it this turn); 
  ﬁ nally it could enter Hex C, but would be unable to exit.
  Finally player A moves his VTOL. The VTOL could enter 
  Hex D, but since it occupies the same elevation (Elevation 
  2) as an enemy unit, it cannot then exit; if it changed its 
  Elevation up or down by one before entering the hex, it 
  could then continue its movement this turn. It could enter 
  Hex E, and then exit this turn as its elevation does not 
  overlap with the level occupied by the enemy infantry units. 
  However, it cannot enter Hex A because it cannot enter the 
  hex at an elevation occupied by a grounded DropShip; 
  provided it had the MP available, if the VTOL changed its 
  elevation in Hex E to Elevation 11, it could then enter Hex A. 
  It cannot enter Hex B, as it occupies the same elevation as 
  the Large Support VTOL Vehicle; if it changed its Elevation 
  to 1 or 4 (the Large Support VTOL Vehicle occupies Both 
  Elevations 2 and 3), it could not only enter the hex, but exit 
  it this turn. Finally, if it entered Hex C, it could not exit as 
  its Elevation 2 overlaps with the Level 2 of the ’Mech; once 
  again, if it changed its elevation in Hex E to 3 or greater, it 
  could then enter Hex C and exit Hex C this turn.
  In the case of both Player A’s ’Mech and battle armor, if 
  the units had been using jumping movement when entering 
  Hexes B, C, D or E, they could’ve continued towards their 
  destination hex without stopping even though those hexes 
  are occupied by enemy units, as jumping units ignore the 
  heights of other units for movement and stacking purposes 
  (though they must still adhere to the stacking rules in their 
  destination hex). The one exception is the DropShip in Hex 
  A; the only way for the ’Mech to enter Hex A using Jumping 
  MP is if the unit had a Jumping MP of 11, allowing it to jump 
  over the Level 10 height of the grounded DropShip. 
  PILOTING/DRIVING 
  SKILL ROLLS
  Players must make Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls for their 
  warriors under a variety of treacherous circumstances, usually 
  to avoid falling (for ’Mechs). All of the events that require a 
  Piloting/Driving Skill Roll are listed in the Piloting/Driving Skill 
  Roll Table on p. 60. 
  Four-Legged ’Mechs: A four-legged ’Mech adds a –2 
  modifi er to all Piloting Skill Rolls made to avoid falls, as long as 
  none of its four legs are destroyed.
  Immobile ’Mechs and Unconscious Warriors: Immobile 
  ’Mechs or ’Mechs with an unconscious warrior forced to make 
  a Piloting Skill Roll automatically fail (see Falling Damage to the 
  MechWarrior, p. 69).
  IndustrialMechs: When an ICE-powered ’Mech fails 
  a Piloting Skill Roll, the controlling player must make a 
  second unmodifi ed Piloting Skill Roll to prevent the engine 
  from stalling. A stalled ’Mech is treated as if shut down (see 
  Shutdown, p. 160), and the player may try to restart it during 
  the End Phase of the next turn by making a successful 
  unmodifi ed Piloting Skill Roll. 
  Infantry: Infantry units have no Piloting Skill and so never 
  need Piloting Skill Rolls. 
  ProtoMechs: ProtoMechs never need Piloting Skill Rolls. 
  They cannot fall down, drop prone or skid. Even the destruction 
  of a ProtoMech’s legs will not cause it to fall, though it will be 
  unable to move. 
  Vehicles: Vehicle crews make Driving Skill Rolls only to 
  avoid skids or sideslips and to avoid taking damage when 
  entering buildings.
  MAKING PILOTING/DRIVING SKILL ROLLS
  The Piloting/Driving Skill Roll Table lists the events that 
  require a player to make a Piloting Skill Roll for his MechWarrior. 
  Each time one of these events occurs, the player adds the 
  following modifi ers to his MechWarrior’s Piloting Skill: all 
  indicated modifi ers for the event, plus additional modifi ers 
  from any other events taking place in the same phase, 
  including those listed under Preexisting Damage on the 
  Piloting Skill Roll Table. The resulting number is the Modifi ed 
  Piloting Skill.
  To make the Piloting Skill Roll, the player rolls 2D6. If the 
  result is equal to or greater than the Modifi ed Piloting Skill, 
  the ’Mech avoids falling. If the result is less than the Modifi ed 
  Piloting Skill, the ’Mech falls. 
  Movement Phase: Piloting Skill Rolls required because 
  of movement (entering water, trying to stand up, entering 
  rubble, avoiding falling damage and so on) must be made 
  immediately following the action. Multiple rolls may be 
  required during the ’Mech’s movement for a turn. For example, 
  if a ’Mech is moving through three hexes of Depth 1 water, the 
  player must make a Piloting Skill Roll when the ’Mech enters 
  each water hex. If the ’Mech falls during the Movement Phase 
  and has at least 2 MP remaining, it may attempt to regain its 
  feet that turn.
  LS 
  ENF-6M Enforcer III, Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers (House Davion) 
  
  Situation
  Modifi er
  Damage to ’Mech
  ’Mech takes 20+ damage points in one phase
  +1
  ’Mech fusion (or fi ssion) reactor shuts down
  +31
  Leg/foot actuator destroyed
  +1
  Hip actuator destroyed
  +2
  Gyro hit
  +3
  Gyro destroyed
  Automatic fall2
  Leg destroyed
  Automatic fall3
  Physical attacks against ’Mech
  ’Mech was kicked
  0
  ’Mech was pushed
  0
  ’Mech was successfully charged/hit by death 
  from above
  +2
  Unit’s actions
  ’Mech missed kick
  0
  ’Mech made a successful charging attack
  +2
  ’Mech made death from above attack
  +44
  ’Mech entered Depth 1 water hex
  –1
  ’Mech entered Depth 2 water hex
  0
  ’Mech entered Depth 3+ water hex
  +1
  ’Mech attempted to stand
  0
  ’Mech entered rubble hex
  0
  Running/fl anking unit moved after facing 
  change while on pavement
  See Skidding, 
  p. 62.
  Flanking VTOL/WiGE/Hover Vehicle moved 
  after facing change
  See Sideslipping, 
  p. 67
  ’Mech jumped with damaged gyro or leg/foot/
  hip actuators
  per Preexisting 
  Damage, at right
  ’Mech jumped with destroyed leg
  per Preexisting 
  Damage, at right
  ’Mech ran with damaged hip or gyro
  per Preexisting 
  Damage, at right
  Special cases
  MechWarrior trying to avoid damage when his 
  ’Mech is falling
  +1/level fallen8
  IndustrialMech trying to avoid critical damage 
  when falling
  +1/level fallen8
  IndustrialMech with ICE power plant fails PSR 
  (see Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls, p. 59)
  0 (no additional 
  modifi ers)
  Situation
  Modifi er
  Special cases (Continud)
  Four-legged ’Mech with intact legs
  –2
  Unintentional charge
  +3
  ’Mech mounts small cockpit
  +1
  Preexisting Damage
  Per leg/foot actuator previously destroyed
  +1
  Per hip actuator previously destroyed
  +25
  Gyro previously hit
  +3
  Leg previously destroyed
  +56
  Skidding Movement
  Hexes moved in turn
  0–2
  –1
  3–4
  0
  5–7
  +1
  8–10
  +2
  11–17
  +4
  18–24
  +5
  25+
  +6
  Building Movement7
  Unit entering/leaving light building hex
  0
  Unit entering/leaving medium building hex
  +1
  Unit entering/leaving heavy building hex
  +2
  Unit entering/leaving hardened building hex
  +5
  Hexes moved in turn
  1–2
  0
  3–4
  +1
  5–6
  +2
  7–9
  +3
  10–17
  +4
  18–24
  +5
  25+
  +6
  PILOTING/DRIVING SKILL ROLL TABLE
  1Only during the phase that the reactor shuts down. If the MechWarrior must make a 
  Piloting Skill Roll for a ’Mech with a shutdown reactor, the ’Mech automatically falls; 
  in either case, if the ’Mech falls, the warrior automatically takes 1 point of damage 
  (see Falling Damage to the MechWarrior, p. 69).
  2The modifi er for a destroyed gyro is +6 when making a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid 
  damaging the MechWarrior during an automatic fall.
  3The modifi er for a destroyed leg is +5 when making a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid 
  damaging the MechWarrior during an automatic fall.
  4Automatic fall if death from above attack is unsuccessful.
  5Ignore all modifi ers from previous critical hits on that leg.
  6Do not add modifi ers for other damaged actuators in the leg.
  7To avoid damage only. Does not result in a fall if Piloting Skill Roll fails. See Buildings, p. 
  166. Add an additional +1 modifi er if unit is charging or being charged (in addition 
  to the +2 modifi er normally required in that situation).
  8 For the purposes of falling, a ‘Mech only rises 1 level above the underlying terrain.
  
  61
  61
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  If a Piloting Skill Roll is required in the Movement Phase due 
  to weapon attacks, such rolls are made immediately.
  Weapon Attack Phase: All Piloting Skill Rolls required 
  because of weapons attacks must be made at the end of the 
  Weapon Attack Phase. A ’Mech only makes one Piloting Skill 
  Roll for taking 20+ damage points in a single phase, regardless 
  of how many points of damage over 20 it takes. All weapons 
  attacks are resolved before the players make any required 
  Piloting Skill Rolls. ’Mechs that fall during the Weapon Attack 
  Phase begin the turn’s Physical Attack Phase in a prone 
  position. This means that Death From Above and Charging 
  attacks automatically fail if the ’Mech fails its Piloting Skill Roll 
  before the beginning of the Physical Attack Phase (see p. 38).
  Physical Attack Phase: All Piloting Skill Rolls required 
  because of physical attacks are made at the end of the Physical 
  Attack Phase. Resolve all physical attacks before making any 
  Piloting Skill Rolls. 
  During the Weapon Attack Phase, a ’Mech whose 
  MechWarrior has a Piloting Skill of 5 takes 40 points of 
  damage and loses two leg actuators. The player makes one 
  Piloting Skill Roll for taking 20 or more points of damage, 
  and two more for losing two leg actuators. The modiﬁ ed 
  Piloting Skill target number for each of the three rolls is 8 
  [5 (Piloting Skill) + 1 (20+ points of damage) + 1 (damaged 
  leg actuator) +1 (damaged leg actuator)].
  During the Physical Attack Phase, the same BattleMech 
  is kicked in the leg by two other ’Mechs, losing another 
  actuator and taking 23 more points of damage. The player 
  must make four more Piloting Skill Rolls: two for getting 
  kicked twice, one for losing a leg actuator and one for the 
  23 points of damage. The modiﬁ ed Piloting Skill target 
  number for each of the four rolls is 9 [5 (Piloting Skill) + 
  2 (existing actuator damage) + 1 (another damaged leg 
  actuator) + 1 (20+ points of damage)].
  MOVEMENT ON 
  PAVEMENT 
  Movement on pavement is handled in the same way 
  as movement through clear terrain, with a few important 
  exceptions. Units may skid when moving on pavement, and 
  roads may allow passage through prohibited or diffi  cult terrain. 
  A road is simply a narrow strip of pavement that passes 
  through terrain of some other type. All ground units 
  traveling on roads pay only 1 MP per hex regardless of the 
  hex’s underlying terrain. A ground unit is considered to be 
  traveling on a road if it moves from one hex to the next on 
  that road. Ground units may move through prohibited terrain 
  while traveling on a road, but they must begin and end their 
  movement through such terrain on the road and remain on 
  it while traversing the terrain. A ground unit traveling on 
  a road must pay any costs required to change levels while 
  entering a hex.
  Ground Vehicles: Ground vehicles moving on pavement 
  may receive a movement bonus of 1 MP, regardless of 
  whether the vehicle uses cruising or fl anking movement. To 
  gain the extra MP, the unit must begin its turn on a paved 
  hex and continue to travel on pavement for the entire 
  Movement Phase.
  SL 
  SL
  An Atrean Dragoons’ LCT-5M Locust chances a fall as it races down a city street towards a developing battle. 
  
  BRIDGE MOVEMENT
  Roads that cross a water hex (or span a distance where the 
  underlying terrain of the hex is lower than the level of the bridge) 
  are considered bridges. Bridges are classifi ed as light, medium, 
  heavy or hardened in the same manner as buildings, and have 
  the same range of Construction Factors (CF) as light, medium, 
  heavy and hardened buildings (see Buildings, p. 166). If the type 
  of bridge is not marked or defi ned by the scenario being played, 
  assume it is a medium bridge with CF 40.
  Bridges can also be attacked like buildings. When a bridge’s CF 
  is reduced to 0, it has collapsed. 
  Maximum Capacity: Just like buildings, each hex of a bridge 
  will only support units with a total tonnage equal to or less than 
  the bridge’s current CF. If the total tonnage of units in a bridge hex 
  exceeds the bridge’s current CF, that bridge hex collapses, and units 
  on it must take normal falling damage. In the case of bridges that 
  cover more than a single hex, CF values are assigned to each hex. 
  The destruction of a single hex of a multi-hex bridge does not aff ect 
  any other hex in the same bridge, unless more than half the total 
  hexes have been destroyed. In this case, the entire rest of the bridge 
  collapses. If the collapse of the fi nal hex that destroys the whole 
  bridge occurs because of movement, it happens immediately; if 
  from weapon or physical attacks, the bridge collapses at the end of 
  the appropriate phase (see Collapse, p. 176).
  Under Bridge Movement: A unit may enter a bridge hex and 
  be considered underneath the bridge, provided the level of the 
  underlying hex, plus the height of the unit, is equal to or less than 
  the level of the bridge: for surface naval vessels, the level of the 
  underlying hex is the surface of the water hex; for submarines or 
  units expending UMU MPs, the level of the underlying hex is their 
  current Depth; for ‘Mechs, the level of the underlying hex is the 
  bottom of the hex.
  If a unit cannot move on top of the bridge, or underneath the 
  bridge, the bridge is treated as a building hex for the purposes of 
  movement (see Buildings, p. 166).
  SKIDDING
  If a ground unit using running/fl anking movement makes 
  a facing change in a paved hex (including a road or bridge) at 
  any point in the turn and then attempts to enter a new hex in 
  the same turn, before that unit actually enters the hex, the player 
  must make a Piloting Skill Roll to see if the unit skids. 
  The player must modify the roll by a factor based on the total 
  number of hexes moved in the turn so far, using the Skid Modifi er 
  Table (see p. 63). If the die roll result equals or exceeds the ground 
  unit’s modifi ed Piloting Skill target number, the unit does not skid 
  and may enter the hex and continue its movement. If the result is 
  less than the modifi ed Piloting Skill target number, the ’Mech falls 
  (see Falling, p. 68). It suff ers normal falling damage and then skids.
  A ground unit skids for a number of hexes equal to the number 
  of hexes it has moved in the turn so far divided by 2 (round up), 
  continuing in the direction it was traveling before making the 
  facing change that caused it to skid. For every hex that a ’Mech 
  skids, it suff ers damage equal to one-half its normal falling 
  damage, rounded up; after the skid has ended, add up all damage, 
  then apply it in 5-point groups (see Falling, p. 68). Use the column 
  of the ’Mech Hit Location Table determined by the fall (see p. 119 
  in Combat) to determine the location of this damage.
  After a skid, the ground unit’s movement ends, even if it had 
  MP remaining.
  Skidding in Combat 
  Add +2 to the to-hit modifi er for all weapons fi re and physical 
  attacks made against a skidding ground unit during the turn in 
  which it skid. In addition, apply a +1 to-hit modifi er for all weapons 
  fi re and physical attacks made by a skidding ground unit during 
  the turn in which it skids.
  These modifi ers are in addition to all the standard attacker and 
  target movement modifi ers. 
  Ground Vehicles (Except Hover Vehicle)
  Ground Vehicles (except hover vehicles) that fail a Driving Skill 
  Roll lose control and skid as described above. In addition, they 
  must make one immediate roll on the Motive System Damage 
  Table (see p. 193). No further damage occurs unless the vehicle 
  hits something or moves into a hex that is more than one level 
  below its current level (if this occurs, use the Accidental Falls from 
  Above rules, p. 152). 
  Hover vehicles do not skid but instead sideslip; any time a hover 
  unit uses fl anking movement, regardless of underlying terrain, it 
  risks sideslipping (see Sideslipping, p. 67). 
  Collisions
  If an obstacle (a unit, terrain, a building and so on) lies in the 
  path of the skid, the skidding unit may crash into it; the following 
  rules cover how to resolve the various situations a skidding unit 
  may encounter.
  Note that the falling (if any) and skidding damage to a unit 
  should be applied fi rst before any damage from a collision is 
  applied, then any further damage that might result from a skid 
  is applied. If a unit continues to skid after a collision, then that 
  additional damage is applied after all the resulting damage from 
  a collision is applied. For example, if a ’Mech falls and skids for 
  four hexes, but runs into a building hex in the second hex of its 
  skid—which it destroys and so continues to skid—the damage 
  from the fall and two hexes of skid would be applied fi rst, then the 
  damage from the collision would be applied, then the damage 
  from the collapsing building would be applied, then the damage 
  from the additional hexes skid (if any) would be applied. 
  If at any time during a collision and the application of damage 
  the skidding unit is destroyed, the skid ends immediately, with no 
  further eff ects applied or resolved.
  Buildings: Skidding units automatically crash into buildings 
  if entering a building hex. The building hex and skidding unit 
  take damage as if the skidding unit had executed a successful 
  charge attack (see Charge Attacks, p. 148). If the building hex is 
  not destroyed, the unit’s skidding ends, with the unit occupying 
  the building hex. If the building hex is destroyed and the skidding 
  unit still has hexes it is required to skid, look at the MP Cost 
  column on the Building Modifi ers Table, p. 167, and subtract that 
  number of MPs for the type of building hex destroyed from the 
  remaining hexes to be skid. After subtracting, if there are still 
  hexes to be skid, the skid continues. For example, if a unit skid into 
  a Medium Building hex and destroyed the building hex and still 
  had 4 more hexes to skid, the controlling player would subtract 2 
  (after looking at the MP cost column of the Building Hex Table), 
  leaving the unit to skid only 2 more hexes. In either case (i.e. if the 
  building hex was not destroyed, or if the subtraction of the MP 
  cost from the building type reduced the remaining hexes to be 
  skid to 0), the skid ends, with the skidding unit now occupying 
  the building hex.
  
  63
  63
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  Other Units: A skidding unit must make a successful charge 
  attack (meaning an unintentional charge), with all the standard 
  modifi ers (including those for unintentional charges), against 
  any unit in the path of its skid. In addition to multiple units 
  in diff erent hexes, if two or more units occupy a single hex, 
  a successful charge attack must be made against each unit; 
  randomly determine the order in which such unintentional 
  charge attacks occur. An unintentional charge is not modifi ed 
  for diff erences in Piloting Skill between the attacker and 
  potential target units.
  If the unintentional charge is successful, the skidding unit 
  applies damage as for a standard charge (see Charge Attacks, p. 
  148). For target ’Mechs, the damage is rolled on the ’Mech Kick 
  Location Table (unless the ’Mech is prone, in which case use 
  the appropriate column of the ’Mech Hit Location Table). The 
  charge is resolved immediately and, unlike standard charge 
  attacks, can aff ect a unit that has not yet moved. Use the 
  distance the skidding unit moved before the skid to calculate 
  damage. After the crash is resolved, the skid continues if 
  the target unit was destroyed. Otherwise, adjust both units’ 
  positions on the map as for a successful charge, and the skid 
  ends. This could result in an additional displacement from the 
  target hex when the skidding unit is placed in it, if that hex 
  contained multiple units, or a domino eff ect in the hex where 
  the displaced unit ends up (see Unit Displacement, p. 151).
  If the unintentional charge is unsuccessful (if the skidding 
  unit struck no other units in the hex), the skidding unit 
  continues its skid.
  Note that a skid is one of the few instances when a unit can 
  enter and exit a hex occupied by an enemy unit in the same 
  Movement Phase.
  Levels: If the levels of the hex to be entered is one or more 
  higher than the level of the skidding unit’s current hex, the 
  skidding unit automatically crashes into it and stops, taking 
  1 point of damage for every 20 tons the skidding unit weighs 
  (round fractions up). Group the resulting damage into 5-point 
  groupings, then roll once for each grouping on the appropriate 
  Hit Location Table (always use the Front/Rear column). If the 
  level of the hex to be entered is one level lower than the level 
  of the skidding unit’s current hex, the level change has no 
  eff ect on the skid. For ’Mechs, if the level is one or two levels 
  lower, the change has no additional eff ect on the skid.
  Accidental Falls From Above: If a unit skids into a hex 
  whose level is lower and greater than the maximum allowable 
  level change for that unit (see Level Change, p. 48), the unit 
  experiences an accidental fall from above (see p. 152). 
  Regardless of the results of the accidental fall, the unit’s skid 
  ends in that hex. 
  Terrain: If a unit skids into any terrain hex (not including 
  buildings, level changes or water), other than clear and/or 
  paved hexes (such as woods, rough terrain and so on), that 
  terrain aff ects the duration of the skid. For each such hex 
  entered, subtract the Movement Points required to enter 
  that terrain type from the remaining hexes to be skid, as 
  shown on the Movement Cost Table, p. 52, with no additional 
  damage applied (unless the terrain is prohibited; see below). 
  For example, if a unit in the process of skidding through six 
  hexes enters a light woods in the third hex, it would subtract 
  an additional one from the hexes left to skid (plus the one for 
  entering the hex), leaving it two hexes to skid. If a unit would 
  enter a hex that would reduce its remaining hexes to skid to 0 
  (or less), it would still enter that hex, ending its movement in 
  that hex. In the example above, the unit has 2 hexes still to skid. 
  If the next hex it entered were a heavy woods hex, that would 
  subtract 2 hexes (plus the one for entering the hex), which 
  it doesn’t have, but it would skid into that hex regardless (as 
  above, with no additional damage applied), ending the skid in 
  the heavy woods hex.
  Prohibited Terrain: If a unit skids into prohibited terrain—
  such as a hover vehicle sideslipping into woods or a wheeled 
  vehicle skidding into rough—the unit takes 1 point of 
  damage for every 5 tons it weighs (round fractions up). Group 
  the resulting damage into 5-point groupings, then roll once 
  for each grouping on the appropriate Hit Location Table 
  (always use the Front/Rear column). The unit is considered 
  immobile for the remainder of the game. If a unit prohibited 
  from entering water skids into Depth 1 or greater water, it is 
  automatically destroyed.
  Water: Units not prohibited from entering a water hex 
  automatically end their skid if they enter Depth 1 or greater 
  water (except hover vehicles, which continue sideslipping). 
  No additional damage is applied in this case. If a hover vehicle 
  suff ered critical damage that rendered it immobile during a 
  sideslipping (see Combat, p. 98), it is destroyed when it enters 
  a Depth 1 or greater water hex. 
  Avoiding a Collision: A unit that has not yet moved during 
  the current Movement Phase can attempt to dodge a skidding 
  unit that has made a successful unintentional charge attack 
  to-hit roll against it. In order to get out of the way, the player 
  controlling the target unit must make a successful Piloting/
  Driving Skill Roll just before the skidding unit enters the 
  target’s hex. A successful roll means the target unit may make 
  its entire movement immediately, before the skidding unit 
  stops. Failure means the target remains in its hex (though a 
  failed roll does not cause the target unit to fall). Units moved in 
  this way have expended their movement (by walking/cruising) 
  and may not move again later in the Movement Phase. Once 
  the skidding unit’s movement is completely resolved, make 
  sure to immediately adjust for the number of units shifted per 
  side (see Unequal Numbers of Units, p. 39).
  Infantry: Infantry that has not yet moved can automatically 
  dodge a skidding unit. If a unit skids into infantry, the infantry 
  takes damage equal to the skidding unit’s tonnage divided 
  by 5, and the skidding unit continues its skid even if the 
  infantry survives. 
  SKID MODIFIERS TABLE 
  Hexes Moved
  Piloting Skill Modifi er
  0-2
  –1
  3-4
  0
  5-7
  +1
  8-10
  +2
  11-17
  +4
  18-24
  +5
  25
  +6
  
  Large Support Vehicles: Large Support Vehicles may never 
  attempt to avoid a collision with a skidding unit.
  ProtoMechs: ProtoMechs that have not yet moved can 
  automatically dodge a skidding unit; the ProtoMech stays in the 
  same hex and is not required to make a Piloting Skill Roll. If this would 
  violate the stacking rules, however, then it cannot automatically 
  dodge, and the skidding unit may strike the ProtoMech.
  In Skidding Diagram 1, the controlling player wants his 
  BattleMech in Hex A to end its turn in numbered hexside, 
  facing numbered hexside on the City (Skyscraper) map. To 
  spend the required 10 MP, this BattleMech must run (it has a 
  Walking MP of 7 and a Running MP of 11). It runs to Hex C and 
  makes a facing change toward Hex D. No Piloting Skill Roll is 
  required. However, when the BattleMech attempts to enter 
  Hex D, still running, the player must make a Piloting Skill Roll 
  before entering the hex because the BattleMech will be running 
  as it moves into a new hex after making a facing change on 
  pavement. So far, the BattleMech has moved 2 hexes, and 
  so the modiﬁ er for the Piloting Skill Roll is –1 (there are no 
  additional modiﬁ ers due to damage to the ’Mech). The player 
  needs to roll a 4 or higher to avoid skidding. The player rolls a 
  10, and the BattleMech continues to run toward Hex H.
  The BattleMech makes another facing change in Hex E 
  toward Hex F. In order to move safely from Hex E to Hex F while 
  running on pavement, the player must make another Piloting 
  Skill Roll, this time modiﬁ ed by 0 because the BattleMech has 
  moved 4 hexes. The modiﬁ ed target number is 5 (5 + 0). 
  If the player rolls a 4 or less, the warrior failed to maintain 
  control of the BattleMech and it skids down the 1A-1B hex row. 
  Normally the ’Mech would skid for two hexes (4 / 2 = 2), placing 
  it in Hex 1B. However, the light woods in Hex 1A must be taken 
  into consideration. The Movement Point Cost Per Hex for light 
  woods is 1, so that is subtracted from the total amount of hexes 
  to be skid, meaning the ’Mech only skids 1 hex into 1A. The 
  BattleMech, which weighs 55 tons, suﬀ ers 6 points of damage 
  falling into hex E where it failed its Piloting Skill Roll (55 tons 
  divided by 10 is 5.5, rounded up to 6) and 3 points of damage 
  per hex it enters during the skid (half the falling damage of 5.5, 
  rounded up) for a total of 9 (6 + 3 = 9); it only skid 1 hex and the 
  woods do not cause any additional damage. Once the skid is 
  ﬁ nished, the player rolls two times to determine the locations of 
  the falling/skid damage: one 5-point Damage Value grouping 
  and one 4-point Damage Value grouping. Both groupings are 
  applied to the appropriate location determined through the 
  fall (see Falling, p. 68).
  If the light woods had not been in Hex 1A, then the ’Mech 
  would’ve skid into the building Hex of 1B, which would’ve 
  required the controlling player to resolve the damage to both 
  the ’Mech and the building hex as though the ’Mech had 
  charged the building (see Charge Attacks, p. 148).
  If the player rolls a 5 or greater, then the BattleMech 
  continues to run towards Hex H. The ’Mech makes another 
  facing change in Hex G towards Hex H. Once more, in 
  order to move safely from Hex G to Hex H while running on 
  pavement (even though the hex the ’Mech is moving into is 
  not pavement), the player must make another Piloting Skill 
  Roll, this time modiﬁ ed by +1 because the ’Mech has moved 6 
  hexes. The modiﬁ ed target number if 6 (5 + 1).
  If the player rolls a 5 or less, the warrior failed to maintain 
  control of the BattleMech and it skids down the 2A-2D hex 
  row. Normally the ’Mech would skid for three Hexes (6 / 2 = 
  3), placing it in Hex 2C. However, the units in hexes 2A and 2B 
  might modify the total number of hexes skid before the unit 
  reaches Hex 2C. 
  If the ’Mech collided with the ProtoMech in Hex 2A, the 
  controlling player would ﬁ rst apply the damage (a 5-point 
  and 4-point Damage Value groupings) from the fall and skid 
  to the hex occupied by the ProtoMech and then would resolve 
  the damage from the collision; this might result in the ’Mech 
  being destroyed in Hex 2A, before it actually unintentionally 
  charges the ProtoMech in Hex 2A, which would mean that 
  no collision or further damage is resolved for the ’Mech or 
  ProtoMech. Of course a charging resolution doesn’t need to 
  be resolved at this point because the ProtoMech has not yet 
  moved in this Movement Phase and so automatically avoids 
  the skidding unit. As such, the player does not yet apply its 
  falling or skidding damage.
  As the skidding ’Mech enters Hex 2B, there are two units 
  it must avoid; a vehicle and ’Mech— the vehicle has already 
  moved, but the ’Mech has not yet moved in the current phase. 
  The controlling player of the skidding unit randomly determines 
  • SKIDDING DIAGRAM 1 • 
  
  65
  65
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  to ﬁ rst roll to see if the skidding unit strikes the vehicle. The 
  Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number for the unintentional charge 
  attack is 12 (5 (base to-hit number) +2 (attacker ran), +2 
  (vehicle moved 5 hexes), +3 (unintentional charge)). The 
  player rolls a 10 and so doesn’t hit the vehicle.
  The controlling player must then determine if the 
  skidding unit strikes the ’Mech. The Modiﬁ ed To-Hit 
  Number for the unintentional charge attack is 10 (5 (base 
  to-hit number) + 2 (attacker ran) + 0 (no target movement 
  modiﬁ er, as the target has not yet moved in this phase) + 3 
  (unintentional charge)). The controlling player rolls a 10!
  Because the target unit has not yet moved, it can avoid 
  the successful charging attack by making a successful 
  Piloting Skill Roll (in this case, a result of 4 or better). 
  However, before the player makes the Piloting Skill Roll, 
  the controlling player of the skidding unit ﬁ rst applies the 
  falling damage and skidding damage to the skidding unit. 
  The BattleMech, which weighs 55 tons, suﬀ ers 6 points of 
  damage falling into Hex G, where it failed its Piloting Skill 
  Roll (55 tons divided by 10 is 5.5, rounded up to 6) and 6 
  points of damage for skidding into Hex 2A and 2B (half the 
  falling damage of 5.5, rounded up) for a total of 12 (6 + 6); 
  the controlling player applies the two 5-point and one 2-
  point Damage Value groupings to the appropriate location 
  as determined by the fall (see Falling, p. 68).
  This damage is applied before the controlling player of 
  the enemy ’Mech makes its Piloting Skill Roll to dodge the 
  skidding unit, because if the falling and skidding damage 
  destroys the ’Mech, then the charge would not occur and 
  the dodging unit would still be able to move normally this 
  turn. The controlling player, however, rolls a 3, which means 
  it failed to dodge. In addition, because it has now moved, it 
  cannot move again later in the Movement Phase. 
  The skidding unit strikes the target unit doing 33 points 
  of damage: 5.5 (55 tons divided by 10) x 6 (the number 
  of hexes the skidding unit entered during the turn, not 
  counting skidding hexes), rounding up (if needed). The 
  controlling player then rolls seven times for each of the six 
  5-point, and the single 3-point, Damage Value groupings 
  on the front side of the ’Mech Kick Hit Location Table. 
  The skidding ’Mech also takes damage from the 
  successful charge equal to 1 point of damage for every 10 
  tons that the target weighs (round fractions up), applied 
  in 5-point Damage Value groupings on the Front/Rear 
  column.
  At the end of the successful charge, the skidding unit is 
  in Hex 2B (even though it would normally have skid for 1 
  more hex, because it unintentionally charged another unit, 
  it ends its movement in that hex), while the target ’Mech 
  is moved into Hex 3B. The skidding unit is already prone, 
  and so its player need not make a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid 
  a fall, but the target unit must make the standard Piloting 
  Skill Roll to avoid a fall after impact; it fails, the target 
  ’Mech will fall into Hex 2C.
  Finally, the displacement of the ’Mech in Hex 2B to Hex 
  2C automatically causes a domino eﬀ ect to the ’Mech in 
  Hex 2C. If it had not yet moved this turn, it could attempt 
  to get out of the way (see Domino Eﬀ ect, p. 152); if it has 
  already moved, it will be moved to Hex 2D, after which 
  both ’Mechs in Hexes 2C and 2D must make Piloting Skill 
  Rolls to avoid falling.
  If the ‘Mech had fallen and skid at any time in the turn, 
  regardless of whether the ‘Mech still had MP to expend, its 
  movement would be over.
  SL 
  SL
  The MechWarrior of a Masakari Prime demonstrates his piloting acumen on the dangerous ferrocrete of a city. 
  
  In Skidding Diagram 2, Player 1 wants his 55-ton BattleMech 
  to end its movement in Hex 1F on the Large Mountain #2 map. 
  To spend the required 8 MP, this BattleMech must run (it has a 
  Walking MP of 6 and a Running MP of 9). The BattleMech runs 
  to Hex 1D. When it attempts to enter Hex 1E, the controlling 
  player must make a Piloting Skill Roll (due to the road) against 
  a Modiﬁ ed Target Number of 5 (5 for the MechWarrior’s Piloting 
  Skill +0 because the ’Mech has only moved 3 hexes at this point). 
  If the roll is successful, the ’Mech can move to Hex 1F. There, the 
  controlling player—thinking ahead to where he wants his unit 
  to be in the next turn—will spend the ’Mech’s remaining 1 MP 
  to turn to Hexside 6, in preparation for moving to the light trees 
  in Hex 3A. If the roll in Hex 1D fails, the ’Mech skids into Hex 
  4A. Hex 1E has a level of 4, while Hex 4A has a level of 0. This 
  four-level drop means that the controlling player must consult 
  the Falling rules (see p. 68) to determine damage and results. 
  In this case, the ’Mech takes 36 points of damage (6 for the 
  initial fall—there is no damage for the 1-hex skid as the unit 
  skids ‘into air’ when it enters hex 4A—and 30 for the accidental 
  fall from the level change). The player assigns the damage in 5-
  pont Damage Value groupings, using the appropriate column 
  of the table once the facing has been determined (see Facing 
  After a Fall, p. 68).
  Once Player 1 has successfully moved his ’Mech to Hex 1F, 
  Player 2 wants his 50-ton hover vehicle (Cruising 6 MP, Flanking 
  9 MP) to end its movement in Hex 2F. As the hover vehicle does 
  not have a turret and wants to 
  get into the ’Mech’s rear arc for 
  an attack during the Weapon 
  Attack Phase, it must end up 
  facing Hexside 6, and so it 
  must use ﬂ anking movement 
  to get there. The hover vehicle 
  ﬂ anks to Hex 2E. When it 
  attempts to enter Hex 2F, 
  Player 2 must make a Driving 
  Skill Roll (unlike other ground 
  vehicles, 
  a 
  hover 
  vehicle 
  always requires a Driving Skill 
  Roll to avoid a sideslip when 
  ﬂ anking, regardless of terrain; 
  see Sideslipping, p. 67). The 
  modiﬁ ed target number for 
  the roll is 4 (4 for the vehicle’s 
  Driving Skill, with no additional modiﬁ ers as there is no 
  damage to the vehicle). The controlling player rolls a 2. Because 
  no obstructions exist to automatically block its path, the hover 
  vehicle sideslips for 2 hexes (Margin of Failure for the Driving 
  Skill is 2 (4 (the target number) –2 (dice roll result) = 2); as the 
  unit is a hover vehicle, it does not need to make an immediate 
  roll on the Motive System Damage Table for the sideslip. 
  It ﬁ rst sideslips into Hex 1F, which means it might strike 
  the ’Mech that Player 1 just moved. Because that ’Mech has 
  already moved for the turn, it cannot attempt to dodge the 
  hover vehicle. To determine if the vehicle strikes the ’Mech, 
  the vehicle’s player must make a Charging Attack to-hit roll 
  against a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 11: 4 for the base to-hit 
  number (driving skill) +0 (charge attack modiﬁ er) + 2 (attacker 
  ﬂ anked) + 2 (target movement modiﬁ er) + 3 (unintentional 
  charge). Even though the target unit’s Piloting Skill rating is 
  two higher than the sideslipping unit, the standard –2 modiﬁ er 
  for the diﬀ erence between attacker and target Piloting Skills 
  does not apply for an unintentional charge. 
  The vehicle’s player rolls an 8, which means the vehicle 
  missed the ’Mech. The change in level when the hover vehicle 
  entered Hex 1F was only one level lower, which has no eﬀ ect, 
  and so the vehicle moves into Hex 5A. That hex is ﬁ ve levels 
  below Hex 1F, and so the player must consult the VTOL Rotor 
  Destruction rules (see p. 197) to determine damage. In this 
  case, the vehicle takes 30 points of damage. The player assigns 
  the damage in 5-point Damage Value groupings, using the 
  appropriate column of the table once the facing has been 
  determined (see Facing After a Fall, p. 68).
  Had any ground units been located in Hexes 4A or 5A, 
  respectively, when the ’Mech and the hover vehicle fell oﬀ  the 
  cliﬀ —or if airborne vehicles were in those hexes at or below 
  the elevation equal to the level of Hexes 1D and 1F (Levels 4 and 
  5, respectively)—a collision might have occurred, which would 
  have required the players to use the Accidental Falls From 
  Above rule (see p. 152). 
  • SKIDDING DIAGRAM 2 • 
  
  67
  67
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  SIDESLIPPING
  Sideslipping is similar to a skid. However, as a sideslipping 
  unit is not actually touching the ground as it moves, it incurs no 
  damage during the sideslip itself unless it runs into something.
  If a VTOL, WiGE or hover vehicle using fl anking movement 
  makes a facing change at any point in the turn and then 
  attempts to enter a new hex in the same turn, before that 
  vehicle actually enters the hex, the player must make a Driving 
  Skill Roll to see if the unit sideslips. 
  If the Driving Skill Roll is successful, the vehicle follows 
  its desired course. If the Driving Skill Roll fails, the vehicle 
  sideslips a number of hexes equal to the Margin of Failure in 
  the direction of the hex that it would have moved to without 
  the facing change; regardless of the MoF, a vehicle can only 
  sideslip for a number of hexes equal to one less than the 
  number of hexes entered in the turn prior to a sideslip. For 
  example if a unit has moved for 3 hexes and then is forced to 
  make a Driving Skill Roll with a resulting Margin of Failure of 4 
  or more, the vehicle could only sideslip for 2 hexes. A Driving 
  Skill Roll is not required if the vehicle does not move after it 
  changes facing.
  The player has no opportunity to change the elevation of a 
  VTOL or WiGE vehicle (see WiGE below for the exception) that 
  sideslips before it enters the new hex. Therefore, it is possible 
  for a vehicle to sideslip into an obstacle that causes it to crash. 
  If the sideslip does not result in a crash, the vehicle may move 
  normally (continue in the direction of the facing change) after 
  the failed turn. The sideslip, no matter how many hexes are 
  traversed during a sideslip, costs no MP.
  WiGE: Even during a sideslip, if a WiGE enters a hex that is 
  only 1 level higher than the level of the underlying hex the 
  WiGE exits from, the WiGE vehicle will automatically rise 1 
  elevation above the level of the new hex (see WiGE Movement, 
  p. 55). If the terrain is greater than 1 level diff erence, then a 
  collision occurs.
  In the Sideslipping Diagram above right, a VTOL Vehicle 
  with a Driving Skill of 5 is at Elevation 2 in Hex A on the Wide 
  River map. The controlling player declares that it will move 
  at ﬂ ank speed during the Movement Phase, and moves 2 
  hexes without changing elevation. When the VTOL arrives 
  in Hex B, the VTOL changes facing and then declares that 
  it will move into Hex C; though the Hex is at Level 1, the 
  Elevation 2 of the VTOL would allow it to enter that hex 
  without forcing a landing or a crash. The player makes a 
  Driving Skill Roll with a result of 3. Because he needed a 5 
  to succeed, the VTOL sideslips into Hex D, Light Woods. The 
  Margin of Failure is 2, however, since the unit only moved 
  2 hexes prior to making the Driving Skill Roll, the unit does 
  not sideslip 2 hexes, but only sideslips 1 hex.
  However, even if the unit had moved more than 2 hexes 
  prior to making the Driving Skill Roll, as the tops of the 
  trees are at Level 2 and the VTOL is at Elevation 2—i.e. 
  they overlap—the VTOL crashes in the hex; it couldn’t 
  have sideslipped for two hexes. Because the right side of 
  the VTOL faced the terrain it crashed into, the VTOL Vehicle 
  takes the crashing damage on its right side.
  If the VTOL had climbed to Elevation 3 before attempting 
  the turn, then it would have risen above the trees and could 
  have continued to move normally into Hex E.
  Collisions
  VTOL, WiGE and hover vehicles use all the standard rules for 
  collisions during a sideslip as described under skidding (see p. 
  62), with the following exceptions.
  Other Units: VTOL and WiGE vehicles only encounter an 
  accidental charge during a sideslip if the level of the hex 
  they sideslip into (i.e. the level of the underlying terrain, plus 
  the level of the unit) is at or higher than the elevation of the 
  sideslipping unit (see Stacking, p. 57, for the heights of various 
  units). If a VTOL or WiGE vehicle sideslips into a hex where it 
  could potentially charge an infantry unit, then the elevation 
  of the sideslipping unit is at the level of that hex’s underlying 
  terrain and automatically crashes (see VTOL and WiGE Vehicle 
  Crashes below).
  Buildings, DropShips, Large Support Vehicles and 
  Levels: VTOL and WiGE vehicles that sideslip into a hex whose 
  level is at or higher than the elevation of the sideslipping 
  unit, automatically crash (see VTOL and WiGE Vehicle Crashing 
  below). If such vehicles sideslip into a hex containing a 
  building, DropShip or Large Support Vehicle, and the level 
  MD 
  MD
  Yellow Jacket Gunship, Tikonov Republican Guards (House Steiner) 
  • SIDESLIPPING DIAGRAM • 
  
  of the hex (i.e. the level of the underlying terrain, plus the level 
  of the unit or building) is at or higher than the elevation of the 
  sideslipping unit, it automatically charges the unit or building hex 
  (see Stacking, p. 57) for the heights of Large Support Vehicles and 
  grounded DropShips.
  Accidental Falls from Above: VTOL vehicles ignore the rules 
  for sideslipping into a hex that would cause a normal ground 
  vehicle to incur an accidental fall from above.
  WiGE vehicles, provided they have the MP available, can avoid 
  an accidental fall in such a situation (see Wing-In-Ground-Eff ect 
  Movement, p. 55).
  VTOL and WiGE Vehicle Crashes
  Sideslipping VTOL and WiGE vehicles that crash take damage 
  from crashing on whatever side impacted the terrain. The damage 
  is equal to the number of hexes that the vehicle moved in that 
  turn times its tonnage, divided by 10 (rounded up). Group the 
  damage into 5-point Damage Value groupings. The controlling 
  player then rolls once on the VTOL Vehicle Hit Location Table (or 
  Ground Vehicle Hit Location Table for WiGE Vehicles) for each 
  grouping of damage (see pp. 196 and 193 respectively).
  If the vehicle is still functional after taking damage from the 
  crash and it can normally land in the terrain of the hex in which it 
  crashed, the vehicle is considered to have landed in the hex and 
  can move as normal in the next turn. Otherwise, the vehicle is 
  considered destroyed. 
  The vehicle may not attack in the turn that it crashes.
  Accidental Falls from Above: If a VTOL or WiGE Vehicle crashes 
  during a sideslip and there are units occupying the hex in which 
  the vehicle crashes, all the standard rules for an Accidental Fall 
  from Above apply (see p. 152).
  FALLING
  Whenever a ’Mech falls, it suff ers damage and its warrior 
  may suff er damage. The amount of damage taken by the ’Mech 
  depends on its weight and the distance it falls. Whether or not the 
  MechWarrior suff ers an injury depends on a Piloting Skill Roll.
  Other types of units do not fall. If they are moved out of their 
  hexes for any reason, they are considered displaced and use the 
  Unit Displacement rules (see p. 151). 
  DETERMINING LOCATION AFTER A FALL
  To determine a ’Mech’s location after a fall, players must 
  use their judgment and the following guidelines to create a 
  reasonable outcome. The action that caused the fall should 
  determine location afterward.
  In general, when a ’Mech falls while moving from one level to 
  another, it drops into the lower of the two hexes. If the fall occurs 
  during the Movement Phase on level ground, the ’Mech falls in 
  the hex it was entering. If a fall occurs because of weapons fi re, 
  a physical attack or any other combat-related reason, the ’Mech 
  falls in the hex it currently occupies. To fi nd the number of levels 
  the ’Mech fell, subtract the level of the hex into which it fell from 
  the level of the hex from which it began the fall.
  Falling and Collisions: If a ’Mech falls into a hex occupied by 
  another unit, that unit might also take damage. If the fi rst ’Mech 
  fell from a hex two or more levels above the landing hex, use the 
  Accidental Falls from Above rules, p. 152. If the ’Mech fell from a 
  hex one level higher or at the same level, use the Domino Eff ect 
  rules, p. 152. 
  FACING AFTER A FALL
  When a ’Mech falls, it takes damage and its facing may change. 
  This facing change determines the ’Mech Hit Location Table used 
  when assigning damage from the fall. To determine the unit’s 
  facing after the fall and the area of the ’Mech that takes damage, 
  roll 1D6 and consult the Facing After a Fall Table.
  A fallen ’Mech lies prone and face down. ’Mechs that fall on 
  their sides or back automatically roll over 
  to lie face down after taking damage. Any 
  damage to the prone ’Mech from outside 
  sources such as weapons fi re or physical 
  attacks is treated as if the ’Mech was 
  standing facing its current facing.
  In the falling diagram at right, the 
  controlling player wants his BattleMech in 
  Hex A to move into Hex B on the City (Suburbs) 
  map. Hex B was originally part of a multi-
  hex building, but damage has reduced it to 
  rubble; the players placed a rubble counter 
  on the hex to signify the change in terrain. 
  As soon as the player enters the rubble hex, 
  he must make a Piloting Skill Roll. The roll 
  fails, and so the controlling player rolls 1D6. 
  He gets a result of 3 and consults the Facing 
  After a Fall Table. The BattleMech is now 
  facing two hexsides to the right (clockwise) 
  of its original facing and takes the damage 
  from the fall on its right side (i.e. it uses the 
  right side column of the ’Mech Hit Location 
  Table). It lies prone and face down in the 
  rubble hex.
  FALLING DAMAGE TO A ’MECH
  A ’Mech always takes damage from a fall equal to 1 point for 
  every 10 tons that the ’Mech weighs (rounding up) times the 
  number of levels plus 1 that the ’Mech fell; this is the level of the 
  underlying terrain and not the height of the ‘Mech. If it fell into 
  a water hex, use the rules described in Falling Damage , p. 57, in 
  Underwater Movement.
  • FALLING DIAGRAM • 
  FACING AFTER FALL TABLE 
  Die Roll (1D6)
  New Facing
  Hit Location
  1
  Same Direction
  Front
  2
  1 Hexside Right
  Right Side
  3
  2 Hexsides Right
  Right Side
  4
  Opposite Direction
  Rear
  5
  2 Hexsides Left
  Left Side
  6
  1 Hexside Left
  Left Side
  
  69
  69
  GROUND
  GROUND
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  Divide the damage into groupings of 5 points each, assigning 
  any remaining points to one smaller group, and determine 
  a hit location for each grouping. For example, a ’Mech that 
  suff ers 33 points of falling damage takes six groupings of 5-
  point hits and one 3-point hit. To determine the location of 
  the damage, use the appropriate column of the ’Mech Hit 
  Location Table, p. 119 in Combat, as specifi ed by the Facing 
  After a Fall Table. If the fall occurs during the Movement Phase, 
  resolve the damage as it happens.
  IndustrialMechs: During the End Phase of any turn in which 
  an IndustrialMech falls or is the target of a successful physical 
  attack (see p. 144), roll 2D6 and consult the Determining 
  Critical Hits Table (see p. 124). Apply a +1 modifi er to the result 
  for each level above 1 fallen. To determine the location of any 
  resulting critical hits, roll once on the Front/Rear column of the 
  ’Mech Hit Location Table (see p. 119). The controlling player 
  makes only one roll per turn, regardless of the number of falls 
  (or successful physical attacks) the IndustrialMech suff ers.
  A Grasshopper in a Level 1 hex attempts to stand during 
  the Movement Phase. The MechWarrior fails his Piloting Skill 
  Roll, and the BattleMech falls again in the same hex. This 
  means the BattleMech fell 0 levels. The player rolls a 1 on 
  the Facing After a Fall Table and ﬁ nds that the BattleMech 
  landed on its front, so it takes the falling damage on its 
  front. The Grasshopper suﬀ ers 7 points of damage (70 tons 
  divided by 10 equals 7; the number of levels fallen plus 1 
  equals 1; 7 x 1 = 7). The player divides the 7 points into one 
  5-point grouping and one 2-point grouping. He then uses 
  the Front column of the BattleMech Hit Location Table to 
  determine the exact location of the damage.
  FALLING DAMAGE TO THE MECHWARRIOR
  To determine if the warrior took damage when the ’Mech 
  fell, the player makes a second Piloting Skill Roll after every 
  fall. First, apply all appropriate modifi ers to the target 
  number (including all pre-existing damage modifi ers, as well 
  as any current situational modifi ers such as taking 20+ points 
  of damage in the current phase, and so on). Then add +1 
  to the MechWarrior’s Piloting Skill target number for every 
  level above 1 fallen. If the die roll result is equal to or greater 
  than this modifi ed target number, the MechWarrior avoided 
  taking damage. If the result is less, the MechWarrior takes 1 
  point of damage. 
  Automatic Damage: The only ways in which automatic 
  damage occurs to a warrior whose ’Mech falls is if the warrior 
  is unconscious at the time of the fall, if the ’Mech is considered 
  immobile (for example it is shut down) or if the modifi ed to-
  hit number for the Piloting Skill Roll to avoid warrior damage 
  is greater than 12. In those three instances, the warrior 
  automatically takes 1 point of damage. In any other instance, 
  there is always a chance that the Piloting Skill Roll can stop 
  damage to the warrior.
  The Grasshopper in the previous example has a Piloting 
  Skill of 5. It does not have any pre-existing damage, it 
  did not take 20 points of damage in this turn, and it fell 0 
  Levels, and so no modiﬁ ers apply to the Piloting Skill target 
  number. The controlling player therefore need only roll 5 or 
  better to avoid damaging the MechWarrior.
  RA 
  RA
  A Davion BattleMaster from the Third Crucis Lancers rights itself after skidding into a building. 
  
  NEAR ORBIT, DEHRA DUN
  CIRCE, PENTAGON WORLDS
  CLAN HOMEWORLDS
  16 SEPTEMBER 3057
  Falling around the planet would 
  have been better. An object in motion, 
  circling helplessly in the grip of blind 
  physics, would have been less noticeable 
  than a bit of refi ned metal hanging in 
  geosynchronous orbit.
  No matter how null its energy signature.
  Ilya fl exed his muscles, rippling them through 
  a series of isometrics designed to keep him from 
  growing stiff  as he sat long hours at the controls of 
  his Bashkir. The fl ight suit hugged his body close, the 
  sensation hovering at the edge of feeling trapped. 
  Extra layers of insulation had been worked into the 
  already heavy fl ight suits for the orbital pickets. There 
  was no dishonor in harboring as much body heat as 
  possible, to keep refl exes sharp. To hang without energy at 
  the edge of the absolute cold of space required intelligent 
  marshalling of resources as well as a predator’s patience.
  A predator. Ilya clung to that image. 
  It was better than imagining himself a buff alo. He had seen 
  herds of the dull herbivores with the males standing, back to 
  the herd, staring blankly over the waving grasses. Positioned by 
  instinct to face threats they lacked the wit to imagine.
  Unlike those food beasts grazing on prairies thirty-six thousand 
  kilometers below, Ilya could imagine the threat bearing down on 
  Circe. The Galaxy Commander of the Jade Falcons’ Sigma Galaxy 
  had bid the First Falcon Dragoons to take the genetic repository 
  at Dehra Dun. The Fifteenth Raven Garrison Cluster had been 
  bid to defend. Neither Galaxy Commander had cut down, each 
  committing the full fi ve Trinaries of 
  his force to the battle. 
  The Jade Falcons had been accorded 
  safcon in system. Neither side would risk 
  WarShips in a naval battle. But once the 
  DropShips slipped their moorings, they 
  would become rightful prey. Which suited 
  Ilya well. Safcon to the surface would have left 
  him with no opportunity to accrue honor. 
  The Jade Falcons were attempting to cripple 
  the Snow Ravens; claiming they had the right 
  to retake genetic material traded to that Clan. 
  Their raid would threaten the entire repository and 
  set a precedent for other Clans to raid as well. The 
  Snow Raven genetic store was made up of material 
  traded and won from other Clans in the centuries since 
  the Not-Named Clan had destroyed Dehra Dun with a 
  nuclear strike. 
  Ilya deactivated his neurohelmet’s visor. Sliding the 
  viewscreen up out of his way, he looked directly at the stars—
  pinpoints of pure light etched on the ferroglass canopy of his 
  cockpit. Circe lay below him, its presence betrayed by a faint 
  glow and the haze of upper atmosphere barely visible beyond 
  the prow of the Bashkir.
  The twenty-ton craft was new to him, yet familiar. His fi rst 
  fi ghter had been a Bashkir, mounted with lasers—paired large 
  and small—for the close personal combat he loved. The ship 
  around him now was armed with a pitiful small laser and twin 
  long-range missile racks. Not a weapons mix he would have 
  chosen. But the defeat that had placed him in this cockpit had 
  also robbed him of the status to demand better. That would 
  come after this day’s battle.
  The proper showing here would earn him the right to demand 
  more than sharper claws for a tiny fi ghter.
  Kevin Killiany
  
  Ilya had earned a proper fi ghter nearly a decade ago. A 
  Stooping Raven. Despite Uniform Designation Protocols 
  requiring the craft be called an Issus, not a single Snow Raven 
  aerospace pilot ever failed to call the swift and nimble war bird 
  by its proper name.
  A mere week ago he had challenged for a new prototype 
  of the Stooping Raven—one that mounted an ATM-9 and 
  a heavy laser for close combat—and lost. Lost through a 
  subtlety of strategy on the other pilot’s part that bordered on 
  dishonorable subterfuge. Yet even as he formed the partial 
  excuse, Ilya dismissed it. He’d been out-thought and out-
  fought in the simulator dogfi ght. His opponent, a Bloodnamed 
  warrior, had defeated him honorably.
  Not so the pilot who had challenged Ilya for his own Stooping 
  Raven within hours of his defeat. She had been a giant among 
  the aerospace subcaste—a freakish one point seven meters 
  tall and heavily muscled. She had not challenged him to a 
  simulator duel, which would have measured their piloting 
  skills, but to unaugmented combat.
  Ilya had been foolish to accept so quickly, but the sting of his 
  earlier defeat prodded him to rashness. And more defeat. He 
  would never forget his feet kicking uselessly clear of the fl oor 
  as she held him aloft from behind, the arm clamped around 
  his throat stopping blood from reaching his brain. Nor would 
  he forget the faces of the watching warriors in the Circle of 
  Equals growing dim as his consciousness fl ed.
  That she had broken nothing, had left no permanent mark, 
  made the humiliation all the more bitter.
  Now he knew she waited below, ready to scramble the 
  Stooping Raven that had been his, while he hung here in the 
  Bashkir, which had been hers. Though he dared to hope the 
  Star to which he’d been relegated would prevent the Jade 
  Falcon onslaught, he knew their purpose was to slow the 
  invaders while Circe’s true defenders rose to the challenge. 
  “Pirate point insertion.”
  The terse information came with no hooting alarms, no 
  frantic orders. The opponents’ arrival was expected, the 
  warriors ready.
  Ilya slapped the neurohelmet’s visor in place. 
  Instantly open space replaced his view of the stars 
  from a darkened cockpit. Tied to the Bashkir’s 
  passive sensor array, the visor of the Snow Raven 
  fl ight suit presented all directions in hyperfocused 
  clarity. Glancing down, he saw Circe, to his left and 
  right the silvery curve of the upper atmosphere 
  pressing against the vault of space. Behind him, in the 
  reverse view just above his line of sight, he could see 
  the golden halo of the dawn line retreating toward the 
  far horizon. Only the pressure of the harness and the array 
  of controls suspended against the stars before him defeated 
  the illusion of fl ying unaugmented above his homeworld.
  Information fl owed across the bottom of his view: hard data 
  and images broadcast by automated satellites to the dark and 
  silent aerospace fi ghters. 
  A Sovetskii Soyuz had appeared at the lunar Lagrange point. 
  To choose the most obvious arrival point indicated either 
  that the Jade Falcons lacked imagination or were eschewing 
  pointless misdirection. Ilya cared only that their choice placed 
  his Point closest to their landing vector. The WarShip’s screen 
  
  of aerospace fi ghters—two full Stars—deployed even as three of 
  the four suckling DropShips slipped from their docking rings. 
  The satellite’s sensors could not discern individual aerospace 
  fi ghters at range, but as they cleared the WarShip, the larger 
  moving vessels were tagged as a Lion and a brace of Union-Cs. 
  Subscreens opened with attack/defense data on each vessel as it 
  was identifi ed. 
  A Star of aerospace fi ghters launched from the fourth DropShip, 
  prompting the computer to identify it as a Carrier. Despite its 
  formidable weapons, the Jade Falcons were not willing to bid the 
  valuable vessel in today’s assault.
  Ilya did nothing, touched nothing, activated nothing. The Jade 
  Falcon forces would be committed to their path before the ten 
  Bashkirs on high patrol announced their presence
  None of the aerospace assets held back to defend the WarShip—
  they were freed to attack by the safcon that protected the Sovetskii 
  Soyuz. The thirty fi ghters did not arrow immediately for the surface 
  of Circe, but formed a complex screen between the ships and the 
  planet. Or tried to. Though the satellite image could not resolve 
  details at distance, there seemed to be some confusion concerning 
  attack order. 
  The two smaller spheroid DropShips formed on the Lion with 
  apparent reluctance, maneuvering much closer to the WarShip 
  than sound navigation would dictate. Ilya’s readout on the Soyuz 
  blanked for a moment as the DropShips occluded the larger vessel 
  from the satellite’s sensors. A second array activated immediately—
  more distant and thus less exact, but clear enough. 
  For twenty minutes Ilya sat motionless, watching the 
  disorganized milling. At fi rst he found himself embarrassed on their 
  behalf as they stumbled through what should have been a simple 
  formation. Then it occurred to him that the apparent blundering 
  was a ruse intended to draw impatient defenders out of position 
  with the promise of easy prey.
  A few moments later, the Jade Falcon force confi rmed his 
  suspicions. The confusion evaporated and the wandering mass of 
  aerospace fi ghters resolved itself into a crisp battle array.
  Ilya dismissed the WarShip with the still-docked Carrier and 
  focused on the descending assault force. A Star of fi ghters fell 
  ahead—but not too far ahead. A curved shield to sweep high-
  altitude defenders aside. The other two Stars enclosed the 
  DropShips, their formation folding back to cup them in a tight 
  defensive bubble. A classic formation. 
  It assumed the planetary defenders would not allow the invaders 
  to pass, then stoop to attack from the unguarded space above.
  The fi rst shield of escorts descended and swept past Ilya’s 
  orbit. Scythas, Visigoths, and a point of Sabutais—rare so far from 
  the Crusade to redeem the Inner Sphere—heavy fi ghters, all. No 
  targeting sensors pinged the Bashkir’s passive array. The fi ghters 
  of the forward shield were not so much hunting as deterring 
  interference while they rushed to establish air superiority over the 
  landing zone.
  Ilya knew that somewhere below him his beloved Stooping 
  Raven was rising—the mad giantess at the controls—to destroy 
  the heavy Star. Though he did not wish her to distinguish herself, he 
  mentally marked the leading Scytha as his Raven’s prey. Twice the 
  mass would not avail the Jade Falcon design against the superior 
  war bird. The tactician within him admitted that the ninety-ton 
  Scytha would more likely fall to an eighty-fi ve-ton Xerxes than his 
  forty-ton Stooping Raven. 
  His former Stooping Raven.
  Ideally the enemy would fl y completely past—unaware of any 
  threat—before the high defenders revealed their presence. But 
  physics cared little for the ideal. To attack, the Bashkirs had to be in 
  motion, vectoring in before the invading DropShips traveled too 
  deep into the atmosphere.
  Through his neurohelmet visor, Ilya saw tiny sparks come to life: 
  the blue-white markers of his own Star’s IFF transponders coming 
  online as aerospace fi ghter fusion reactors powered up, their 
  energy signatures making them targets. Those farthest from the 
  invaders’ line of fl ight fi red up fi rst, but the others swiftly followed 
  suit. The blue-white sparks rippled forward in a wave.
  Ilya kicked his Bashkir’s extralight 220 reactor to full fi re, giving 
  the drive systems the bare minimum of warm-up before leaping to 
  maximum thrust. The heavy Snow Raven fl ight suit, which had felt 
  restrictive at zero gravity, snugged tighter. Hundreds of capillary 
  tubes rushed fl uid support to his limbs, a massaging cycle of 
  constrictions that kept blood fl owing against angular accelerations 
  that would have killed an unaugmented Elemental.
  To his right and slightly below him, Ilya’s Point mate fi red up, 
  matching vectors. Patir, a man half again his age whom he knew 
  not at all.
  Attacking DropShips and their escorts with light Bashkirs 
  required cooperation—a concept at odds with personal honor, 
  but necessitated by the overwhelming fi repower of their enemy. 
  When aerospace fi ghters engaged capital ships, the honor of the 
  individual warrior fl owed through the whole.
  The other Bashkir, armed with extended-range lasers, would 
  target an escort, stripping away the protector. Ilya would then 
  drive through the gap, fi ghting past the DropShip’s defenses to 
  deliver his long-range missiles. 
  A single Bashkir could not bring down a DropShip, but it 
  could do signifi cant damage. The bay doors and thinner armor 
  of the vessel’s aft were the targets of choice. Particularly the bay 
  doors. A door breached in fl ight would force a slow and cautious 
  landing. Simple damage might prevent it opening properly when 
  the ship was down, delaying—or even preventing—BattleMech 
  deployment.
  Chance or fate selected their target as the Falcon formation 
  rotated to bring the Lion close.
  For half a heartbeat, a warning beep distracted Ilya. A new 
  subscreen opened to announce the Carrier had separated from 
  the Soyuz and was accelerating toward them. According to the 
  satellites’ long-range scan, it was too far away to be a factor for 
  several minutes. 
  Refocusing on the target at hand, he dismissed the DropShip’s 
  odd behavior. The battle would be over before it arrived.
  Counting on his Point mate to know his job, Ilya snapped his 
  craft through a half roll. For a moment the gold and dun globe of 
  Circe hung above him. Then he pulled back on the yoke, diving in 
  
  behind the trailing edge of the fi ghter cover. The maw of the Lion’s 
  forward battery seemed to fi ll his viewscreen. 
  Ilya threw his nimble fi ghter through asymmetric spirals, varying 
  thrust randomly.
  If even half the weapons from the Lion’s nose weapon bays 
  struck they would vaporize his fi ghter, not to mention the escorts. 
  Those were his Point mate’s responsibility, however.
  Ignoring everything but the prey before him, Ilya calculated 
  ranges and vectors. Not consciously, of course; there was not 
  enough time. Rather, a lifetime of training enabled him to integrate 
  the targeting data fl owing across the bottom of his visor, his ersatz 
  sight and the coded audio tones of status readouts into a three-
  dimensional gestalt of the world around him. The entire battle—
  his entire life—was reduced to this one moment, guiding his war 
  bird to its target. 
  The bow of the DropShip was useless to him. He needed to get 
  past its waist, past the escorting fi ghters, to hit the thinner armor 
  of the aft quarters and the vital bay doors.
  A staccato vibration rose through his acceleration couch as the 
  fi rst faint wisps of upper atmosphere snatched at him. Without 
  wasting focus, part of his conditioned mind registered his Point 
  mate engaging a Tyre, pulling it far enough from position to open 
  a hole in the screen protecting the Lion’s midsection.
  Choosing his fi nal attack vector, Ilya fl ared wide. Far enough to 
  give him vantage on a bay door, but not far enough to give the 
  DropShip’s batteries a clear shot. At the peak of his arc—the most 
  dangerous point—he matched velocities briefl y and lined up on 
  his target. Good tone was useless—the targeting computer could 
  not diff erentiate one part of the DropShip from another. Ilya had to 
  narrow its options, coax it into aiming for the bay door by pointing 
  the nose of the Bashkir directly at the portal. 
  Factoring lead in concert with the targeting computer, he 
  unleashed both batteries of long-range missiles in a staggered 
  salvo. As soon as the second fl ight cleared the launch tubes, Ilya 
  shoved the throttle to maximum thrust. Acceleration slammed 
  him into his couch as the Bashkir leapt in pursuit of the missiles. 
  His target lock alarm sounded and faded as sheer speed carried 
  him through the weapons arc of a second Tyre before the other 
  craft could fi re.
  Space exploded.
  Blinding fl ash after blinding fl ash—four, six, ten white-hot 
  fi reballs—as the Lion’s aft quarter anti-missile battery destroyed 
  Ilya’s opening salvo. 
  Ilya grinned.
  The thin air reduced the shockwaves to vibrations. The dust of 
  debris rattled and whistled off  his invisible canopy as the Bashkir 
  powered through the expanding cloud of destruction. So close 
  the main guns would have diffi  culty tracking him, too fast for the 
  anti-missile system to react and retarget, Ilya drove in, closer than 
  reason allowed, and unleashed a double fl ight at minimum range. 
  He saw a snapshot image of the impacts stitching across the 
  armored portal. Then he was fl ying for his life.
  Collision alarms hooted as he sideslipped, passing close enough 
  to the aft laser battery to count its rivets. The massive column of 
  superheated plasma slowing the giant DropShip’s descent nearly 
  blinded him before the visor compensated. Established strategy at 
  this point was to pull out and away, to gain distance for another 
  run as the DropShips landed.
  Ilya pulled back on the yoke. Angular acceleration became a tidal 
  surge, pulling blood and consciousness from his brain. Even as his 
  vision faded to red-shot grey, he kept the throttle to the limit. A 
  Sulla fl ashed past, momentarily attracting his targeting computer, 
  but he overrode, focusing on a second DropShip. 
  Rising beneath a Union-C, he physically aligned his fi ghter with 
  a set of bay doors. A clear shot with no anti-missile batteries in the 
  way. Three heartbeats and the salvo was away—ten long-range 
  missiles detonating against the hull and door even as he snap-
  rolled right, peeling away and down, diving into the gravity well 
  the behemoths above him were fi ghting. 
  Circe spread out before him. His tactical display showed 
  swirling sparks of red and blue-white as the fi rst wave of Jade 
  Falcon aggressors broke against the rock of the Snow Raven 
  defenders.
  Kilometers slipped under his wings as he turned, as tightly as 
  the aerodynamics of the thickening atmosphere allowed. The 
  mighty DropShips shrank to toys, to insects, as his fi ghter clawed 
  for position. He still had time for a second pass at the Union-C. One 
  run straight in, at speed, minimal evasion. A single salvo, ripping 
  into the bay doors. He hoped the same bay he’d hit before would 
  present itself, but he had no way to anticipate how the DropShip 
  would—
  Weapons lock.
  Ilya sideslipped without thought as three laser beams slashed 
  down from above.
  His right wing diagnostic fl ashed red, the missile launcher going 
  black. Air screamed, tearing at the raw edge of fresh wounds.
  The targeting computer identifi ed a Vandal matching speeds 
  from above, closing for the kill. Ilya stared. There had been no 
  Vandals in the escort Stars. 
  Weapons lock. Ilya tried a snap roll, but the Bashkir wallowed, 
  its airframe moaning. Fully operational, he’d be hard pressed by a 
  Vandal with position on him. Now...
  A Vandal from above? Even as he fought his wounded craft and 
  physics, staggering through evasive maneuvers that should have 
  been easy as thought, Ilya wrestled with the mystery. 
  A trio of medium lasers burned into the rear edge of the ravaged 
  wing, all but severing it. Giving up all hope of evasion, Ilya struggled 
  to keep his craft aloft. He didn’t need his diagnostics to know it was 
  futile. He could feel the Bashkir dying around him.
  The Carrier. The Sovetskii Soyuz had carried the Vandals as cargo. 
  Under cover of what he’d mistaken for confusion, they’d been 
  transferred to the Carrier and brought in for close launch. 
  The Bashkir’s stuttering fl ight became a spiral, the horizon 
  replaced by the plains of Circe. Sure of its victory, the Vandal broke 
  off , not even granting him the honor of a fi nal salute as the pilot 
  went in search of other prey.
  Three defeats in the space of seven days. First by superior tactics, 
  then by superior strength, and now by both in concert.
  Ilya looked at the ejection lever and considered whether his life 
  was worth saving.
  
  Movement for aerospace units is more complex than for 
  ground units. Diff erent movement systems apply depending 
  on whether a unit is operating in space, in high atmosphere 
  or in low atmosphere. Aerospace movement in atmosphere 
  is a subset of these units’ standard movement in microgravity 
  (space); the following rules apply to movement in space and 
  also provide the basis for all other aerospace movement. 
  Classic BattleTech aerospace units (including conventional 
  fi ghters, Airships and Fixed-Wing support craft) change their 
  position and location on the mapsheet by applying thrust to 
  control their velocity. During the Movement Phase (Aerospace) 
  of each turn, each player must choose how he will apply thrust 
  to control his unit’s position. As with ground units, the player 
  must announce what movement mode he is using when it is his 
  turn to move an aerospace unit. Unlike ground units, aerospace 
  units must move in a specifi c order during the Movement Phase 
  (Aerospace). All DropShip movement is completed before any 
  other aerospace unit moves. Next, small craft, Fixed-Wing and 
  Airship Support Vehicles move. Aerospace and conventional 
  fi ghters move last. Conventional fi ghters, Airships and Fixed-
  Wing Support Vehicles can only operate in atmosphere (see 
  Atmospheric Movement, p. 78).
  GAME TERMS
  The following terms describe important concepts in aerospace 
  movement rules.
  Additionally, players should once again familiarize themselves 
  with the defi nition of level, elevation and altitude (see Game 
  Terms, p. 43).
  Atmospheric
  The term “atmospheric” serves as a prefi x to other game 
  terms—atmospheric movement, atmospheric map, atmospheric 
  turn and so on—to describe any portions of a turn, or any actions 
  that occur, in a planet’s atmosphere at high or low altitude.
  Ground Map
  A ground map represents the mapsheets used by Classic 
  BattleTech ground units. 
  Large Craft
  As defi ned in the Components section, “Large Craft” is a general 
  description used to refer to any aerospace unit that weighs more 
  than two hundred tons (such as a DropShip or WarShip).
  The term “Large Craft” is used in these rules when the rules 
  apply to more than one type of Large Craft, in order to make the 
  integration of additional Large Craft (such as WarShips, which will 
  be described in Tactical Operations) simpler. Whenever the rules 
  only apply to DropShips, the term DropShip is used; WarShips 
  cannot operate in atmosphere, and so all rules for atmospheric 
  movement use the term DropShip. 
  Low-Altitude Map
  A low-altitude map is where aerospace unit movement is tracked 
  whenever such units are interacting directly with ground units; 
  the aerospace units are not on a space map, or in an atmospheric 
  hex on a high-altitude map (see High-Altitude Movement, p. 79). 
  Each hex on the low-altitude map is roughly equivalent to one 
  Classic BattleTech mapsheet.
  PME 
  PM
  A lance of Corsairs joins a combined aerospace fi ghter force from House Kurita’s Galedon Regulars, along with local militia support, to intercept incoming raiders. 
  
  75
  75
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  Space
  The term “space” serves as a prefi x to other game terms—
  space movement, space map, space turn and so on—to 
  describe any portions of a turn, or any actions that occur, in 
  space.
  Space Map vs. High-Altitude Map
  The only diff erence between a space map and a high-
  altitude map (as shown above) is that the high-altitude map 
  has a planet and its corresponding atmosphere noted on one 
  of its edges; i.e. the space map is just that, hexes that represent 
  space (the high-altitude map also has hexes that represent 
  space beyond the atmosphere and planet/ground hexes). 
  Structural Integrity
  A unit’s structural Integrity (SI) determines its general 
  resilience, indicating how well it performs at high Gs and when 
  damaged. A unit’s SI is noted either in its Technical Readout 
  entry or on its record sheet.
  Velocity
  The velocity of a unit equals the number of hexes that 
  unit must travel during the Movement Phase (Aerospace) of 
  a turn, unless the controlling player spends Thrust Points at 
  the beginning of movement to brake (see Changing Velocity, 
  p. 76). 
  MAPSHEETS
  Aerospace units may operate on space maps or atmospheric 
  maps. Not every type of aerospace unit may operate on each 
  map. The four oversized BattleSpace maps found in Classic 
  BattleTech Map Set Compilation #2 provide nice visuals for game 
  play, but players can use the back of any Classic BattleTech 
  mapsheet to represent space.
  Atmospheric maps may be high-altitude and low-altitude. 
  As noted under Game Terms, see p. 74, the high-altitude map 
  is similar to the space map except that one row of hexes 
  represents the planet’s surface and additional hex rows 
  represent atmosphere (see Atmospheric Movement, p. 78). The 
  low-altitude map can be represented by any Classic BattleTech 
  mapsheet (see Low-Altitude Movement, p. 80).
  • SPACE MAP • 
  • HIGH-ALTITUDE MAP • 
  
  SCALE
  Space turns—those where the aerospace action does not occur 
  in atmosphere—represent one minute of “real time,” meaning 
  that six ground turns occur between each space turn. Each hex on 
  a space map represents roughly eighteen kilometers. 
  An atmospheric turn equals a ground turn of ten seconds, with 
  each atmospheric hex representing fi ve hundred meters (roughly 
  corresponding to one Classic BattleTech mapsheet).
  This information is provided solely for reference. Players should 
  remember to not let these “real-world” numbers come between 
  them and having fun.
  SPACE MOVEMENT
  Unlike ground units, aerospace units do not expend Movement 
  Points (MP) to enter hexes. Instead, aerospace units have a 
  velocity that indicates the number of hexes through which they 
  must travel. 
  In the frictionless vacuum of space, a moving unit continues in 
  a straight line at a constant speed unless aff ected by an outside 
  force. This application of force can alter velocity or direction. It 
  may be a natural force, such as gravity, or a generated force, such 
  as the thrust from a unit’s engines. A similar principle applies in 
  atmosphere, with momentum carried forward from one turn to 
  the next. However, atmospheric friction drag will steadily decrease 
  a unit’s velocity unless engine thrust is applied. 
  MOVEMENT DIRECTION
  An aerospace unit can move forward into the hex it is facing. 
  It cannot move backward or into any other hex unless it fi rst 
  changes its facing (see below). 
  MOVEMENT SUBPHASES
  Within the Movement Phase (Aerospace), each type of unit 
  moves within its own subphase. All units of a single type (fi ghters, 
  DropShips and so on), regardless of the controlling player(s), 
  move only in their subphase. Within each subphase, the Unequal 
  Number of Units rule applies (see p. 39). The following list shows 
  the movement subphases in order (all players start at 1, resolve all 
  movement, move to 2 and so on).
  1. DropShips
  2. Small Craft
  3. Fighters 
  THRUST POINTS
  Each unit capable of movement has two thrust values. Safe 
  thrust is the number of Thrust Points a unit can spend in a single 
  turn without suff ering adverse eff ects. Maximum thrust is the total 
  number of Thrust Points a unit can spend in one turn and is equal 
  to 1.5 times the safe thrust value (round up). Spending a number 
  of Thrust Points greater than the safe thrust value degrades the 
  unit’s handling, making it harder to control and increasing the 
  diffi  culty of targeting enemy units (see Aerospace Attack Modifi es 
  Table, p. 237). 
  Airship Support Vehicles: Airship Support Vehicles also use 
  fractional thrust; see Airships, p. 204.
  USING THRUST POINTS
  In space, each unit travels at a constant speed and heading 
  unless thrust from the engines is used or the unit is aff ected by the 
  pull of a planet’s gravity (see p. 80). At the beginning or end of a 
  unit’s movement, it can spend Thrust Points to change its velocity 
  or facing. For simplicity, spending thrust does not consume a 
  unit’s fuel. 
  Changing Velocity
  Each Thrust Point spent increases or decreases the unit’s 
  velocity by 1. Aerospace units have no maximum velocity, though 
  the size of the playing area creates practical limits. A unit’s velocity 
  cannot be reduced below zero, because aerospace craft cannot 
  move backward.
  Velocity changes made before movement aff ect the current 
  turn’s movement. Velocity changes made at the end of movement 
  take eff ect in the following turn. A unit that changes velocity at 
  the end of one turn cannot change velocity again at the start of 
  the next turn.
  John’s ﬁ ghter has a Safe Thrust of 5 and a Maximum Thrust 
  of 8. He accelerated the ﬁ ghter in the same direction for the ﬁ rst 
  two turns of the game, spending 5 Thrust Points in the ﬁ rst turn 
  and 6 Thrust points in the second; the unit ends the second turn 
  with a Velocity of 11.
  During the Movement Phase (Aerospace) of Turn 3, John’s 
  ﬁ ghter still has a Velocity of 11. He can spend Thrust Points 
  at the start or at the end of the unit’s movement. If he spends 
  Thrust Points at the beginning to brake, the number of points 
  spent will subtract from the unit’s velocity this turn.
  John realizes he needs to move in the opposite direction 
  quickly, but doesn’t want to chance forcing a Control Roll. He 
  spends 5 Thrust Points at the start of his turn (his maximum 
  Safe Thrust) to bring his unit’s Velocity down to 6; now he 
  must move the ﬁ ghter six hexes. Unless he spends additional 
  thrust to change facing, the ﬁ ghter must move forward in a 
  straight line.
  If John had chosen to spend his ﬁ ghter’s Thrust Points at 
  the end of the unit’s movement, the ﬁ ghter would need to 
  move 11 hexes, after which it would end the movement with a 
  Velocity of 6. That means the ﬁ ghter would start the following 
  Movement Phase (Aerospace) with Velocity 6.
  Finally, John can choose not to spend any Thrust Points, 
  moving his ﬁ ghter the required 11 hexes in a straight line for 
  Turn 3’s movement and ending the turn with Velocity 11. His 
  ﬁ ghter then starts Turn 4 with that velocity.
  PME 
  PME
  A pair of Clan Snow Raven Carrier-class DropShips on maneuvers. 
  
  7777
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  FACING
  As with ground units on ground mapsheets, aerospace units 
  in space use a hex map to regulate movement, and every unit 
  must face one of the six sides of the hex in which it is placed. 
  A unit’s facing—the direction in which its nose points—
  determines where it can fi re and where attacks against the unit 
  strike. Under standard aerospace unit movement rules, a unit’s 
  facing and heading (direction of movement) are the same. 
  FACING CHANGE
  Thrust Points are used to change a unit’s facing during 
  movement by 60 degrees (one hexside). The Thrust Point cost 
  to change facing depends on the unit’s current velocity, as 
  shown in the Changing Facing Cost Table. Critical damage to 
  the unit can increase this cost. Each point of velocity above 10 
  increases the cost of a facing change by one Thrust Point. 
  If a unit does not have enough thrust to change facing at its 
  current velocity, it cannot change facing. Aerospace fi ghters 
  and other units with a Velocity of 0 can change facing as many 
  hexsides within a single hex as their available thrust allows. 
  When moving, DropShips and small craft can change facing 
  a maximum of two hexsides before moving forward at least 
  one hex.
  Forward Movement: Each unit must move a number of 
  hexes equal to its velocity. Unless it has a Velocity of 0, an 
  aerospace unit must move forward at least one hex before it 
  makes any facing changes. 
  At the start of Turn 4, John’s ﬁ ghter has a Velocity of 6. 
  Checking the Changing Facing Cost Table, he must spend 
  3 Thrust Points to turn one hexside. However, he needs to 
  turn two hexsides, requiring him to spend 6 Thrust Points. 
  He decides he doesn’t want to do that; he’s lining up a good 
  shot at a target for the Weapon Attack Phase and doesn’t 
  want the modiﬁ er that using maximum thrust will add to 
  the target number.
  Instead, at the beginning of his ﬁ ghter’s movement, he 
  spends 1 Thrust Point to brake, which changes its Velocity 
  from 6 to 5. Now each facing change will cost 2 Thrust 
  Points. Before John can make any facing changes, he must 
  move at least one hex forward. He does so, and then spends 
  4 more Thrust Points, 2 for each facing that he wants to 
  change. John changes his ﬁ ghter’s facing two hexsides 
  to the left and then moves forward 4 more hexes (4 + 1 
  = Velocity 5), ending the Movement Phase (Aerospace) of 
  Turn 3 with a Velocity of 5.
  But that’s okay, because he’s got a great shot lined up!
  SPECIAL MOVEMENT 
  MODES
  Aerospace units can use certain optional special movement 
  modes. Unlike ground units, aerospace units may combine 
  normal movement with special movement. 
  EVASIVE ACTION
  Any aerospace unit listed on the Evasive Action Modifi er 
  Table can spend 2 Thrust Points to undertake evasive 
  maneuvers, making it harder for an opponent to target 
  it. Increase the to-hit number for attacks against any unit 
  engaged in evasive action as indicated on the table below. 
  Airships: Airships cannot evade. 
  Capital Missiles: Capital missiles (standard and tele-
  operated versions) suff er no to-hit penalties when fi red by an 
  evading unit.
  Fighters and Small Craft: Fighters and small craft engaged 
  in evasive action may not fi re any weapons during the turn 
  they evade (not counting defensive systems). 
  Large Craft: Large Craft making evasive maneuvers may 
  still fi re at their opponents, but suff er a +2 to-hit penalty. 
  ROLLING
  Any aerospace unit can spend one Thrust Point to roll, a 
  move that eff ectively reverses the unit’s right and left sides. 
  A unit may make this maneuver at the beginning or the end 
  of the Movement Phase (Aerospace). Only one roll can be 
  safely made in each Movement Phase (Aerospace). A second 
  rolling maneuver in the same phase forces the player to make 
  a Control Roll (see p. 92). A unit cannot roll in any other phase 
  of a turn.
  The rolling maneuver is roughly equivalent to a ground 
  unit’s torso/turret twist in that it increases the unit’s fl exibility, 
  particularly when damaged. In combat, this means weapons 
  mounted in a left-side arc fi re into their right-side equivalents, 
  and vice versa. Hits to locations on the left side armor are 
  applied to the right side armor facings. Similarly, any critical 
  CHANGING FACING COST TABLE
  Current Velocity
  Thrust Point Cost
  0-2
  1
  3-5
  2
  6-7
  3
  8-9
  4
  10
  5
  11
  6
  12+
  +1 per point
  EVASIVE ACTION MODIFIERS TABLE
  Target’s Evasive 
  Action Modifi er
  Attacker’s Evasive 
  Action Modifi er
  Evading Unit is: 
  Fighter 
  +3 
  N/A
  Small craft, 
  Fixed-Wing 
  Support Vehicle 
  +2 
  N/A
  DropShip
  +2 
  +2
  Airship
  N/A
  N/A
  
  damage that limits turns in one direction limits turns in the 
  opposite direction after a unit rolls.
  Atmospheric Flight: A unit may not roll in atmosphere, but 
  may execute a half-roll special maneuver (see Special Maneuvers, 
  p. 84).
  Normally, a ﬁ ghter with one box of thruster damage on 
  the left side would pay normal costs to turn left, but one extra 
  point to turn right (see Damage, p. 238). If the unit rolls, it must 
  pay an extra Thrust Point to turn left and normal costs to turn 
  right.
  HIGH-G MANEUVERS
  Aerospace units and their pilots can sustain only a certain 
  amount of G-forces before suff ering adverse eff ects. If a single 
  expenditure of Thrust Points (in a single hex) to turn or change 
  velocity exceeds a unit’s current structural integrity (SI), the 
  maneuver might damage the unit. If the Thrust Points spent on 
  a single maneuver exceed twice the number of pilot/crew boxes 
  not crossed off , the maneuver might damage the pilot/crew. If 
  the thrust spent exceeds both values, then the player must roll to 
  determine if both the unit and the pilot/crew sustained damage.
  If the amount of thrust spent exceeds the Structural Integrity, 
  the controlling player must make a Control Roll (see p. 92), adding 
  the Thrust Points spent in excess of the unit’s SI to the target 
  number. If the roll succeeds, the maneuver is completed normally. 
  If the roll fails, the maneuver is completed but the unit suff ers 1 
  point of SI damage. For example, an aerospace fi ghter with an 
  SI of 6 attempts a maneuver that uses 8 Thrust Points. Because 
  this is 2 points higher than the fi ghter’s SI, the pilot must make a 
  successful Control Roll with a +2 modifi er (Target Number 7) or 
  suff er 1 point of damage to the unit’s SI.
  If the amount of thrust exceeds twice the number of pilot/crew 
  boxes not crossed off , the controlling player must roll 2D6 against 
  a target number equal to 2 + (2 x number of pilot/crew boxes 
  crossed off ) + excess Thrust Points. Success indicates the pilot/
  crew is unharmed. Failure infl icts 1 box of pilot/crew damage, and 
  a fi ghter pilot must make a Consciousness roll (see p. 41).
  An uninjured warrior in an aerospace ﬁ ghter with an SI of 7 
  executes a maneuver that uses 14 Thrust Points. This exceeds 
  the ﬁ ghter’s SI, so the player must make a Control Roll with a 
  +7 modiﬁ er. Because this is also more than double the number 
  of boxes not crossed oﬀ  (2 x 6 =12), the player must roll 2D6 to 
  determine whether the warrior suﬀ ers damage. The Base Target 
  Number is 2, modiﬁ ed by +2, the diﬀ erence between the Thrust 
  Points the warrior can sustain (12) and the points spent (14). He 
  rolls 2D6 against Target Number 4, and unfortunately gets a 3. 
  He suﬀ ers a point of damage and must make a Consciousness 
  roll against Target Number 3. If the aerospace ﬁ ghter has to 
  make another such dice roll anytime afterward, the controlling 
  player must add +2 to the target number to reﬂ ect that 1 point 
  of damage.
  STACKING
  Any number of units can stack in the same hex on the space 
  map, high-altitude or low-altitude map, regardless of the player 
  to whom they belong. Units in the same hex can collide if one or 
  more of them is out-of-control (see Control Rolls, p. 92).
  Landed Aerospace Units: If an aerospace unit is landed on a 
  ground map—either because it landed or, because it crashed—
  it follows specifi c ground stacking rules (see Stacking, p. 57 of 
  Ground Movement).
  ATMOSPHERIC 
  MOVEMENT
  Engagements fought in a planet’s near orbit almost inevitably 
  spill over into the atmosphere. The following rules refl ect this 
  occurrence. 
  Atmospheric movement can occur at high altitude or low 
  altitude. High-altitude movement is eff ectively beyond any 
  interaction with ground units, and so is more abstract. Low-
  altitude movement brings aerospace units into contact with 
  ground units, and so the rules governing it are more complex. 
  When fi ghting an engagement near a planet, make the 
  following changes to the space map (to create a high-altitude map) 
  and rules. Nominate one edge of the space map as the planet’s 
  surface. Treat the four hex rows above the ground as the planet’s 
  high-altitude atmosphere, with the ground row representing 
  low-altitude atmosphere (see Low-Altitude Movement, p. 80). The 
  fi fth row is the space/atmosphere interface. The Close Up of High-
  Altitude Map (see p. 79) illustrates the planet to near-orbit setup. 
  TURN SEQUENCE
  Because space turns represent one minute, six atmospheric turns 
  take place for each space turn. During play, the six atmospheric 
  turns come fi rst, followed by one space turn. Units moving 
  between the space map and low-altitude map are removed from 
  the current map at the end of their turn and enter the new map 
  at the beginning of the next appropriate Movement Phase. For 
  example, a unit on the low-altitude map moves to Altitude 11 in 
  the Movement Phase (Aerospace) of Turn 3. At the end of that 
  turn, it is removed from that map. It enters the space map on Row 
  1 of the atmosphere during the next space Movement Phase, 
  which takes place after the sixth atmospheric turn.
  SPACE/ATMOSPHERE INTERFACE
  The space/atmosphere interface marks the divide between the 
  vacuum of space and the increasingly dense planetary atmosphere 
  on a high-altitude map. Because it acts as a barrier, the interface 
  can damage or destroy a craft that enters an interface hex. When 
  crossing from a space hex to an interface hex, a unit must make a 
  Control Roll, applying the appropriate modifi ers from the Re-Entry 
  Table (to a maximum of 6) in addition to any other applicable 
  modifi ers.
  If the result is equal to or higher than the target number, re-entry 
  is successful. The unit enters its destination hex and continues its 
  movement. If the result is less than the target number, re-entry has 
  
  79
  79
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  failed. The unit’s Velocity drops to 0 and it remains in the hex 
  from which it tried to enter the interface; it’s movement turn is 
  over. In addition, for each point of the margin of failure, apply 5 
  points of damage to the nose of the craft (see Damage, p. 238).
  Only craft that can currently spend 4 or more Thrust Points 
  can move from an interface hex to a space hex. An out-of-
  control unit (including fi ghters) that enters the interface 
  suff ers 250 points of damage to its nose per point of Velocity; 
  the specifi c location determined via a 2D6 roll on the Hit 
  Location Table. 
  Apply this damage as a single hit to the aff ected section 
  (transferring to structural integrity as appropriate). In the 
  unlikely event that an out-of-control unit enters the interface 
  with a Velocity of 0, the craft suff ers 50 points of damage to its 
  nose (or forward facing); the specifi c location determined via 
  a 2D6 roll on the Hit Location Table.
  Bomb Critical Hits: For every bomb critical hit an aerospace 
  fi ghter has received, apply a +1 modifi er to the Control Roll 
  (see Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 239, in Aerospace Units).
  Door Critical Hits: For every door critical hit a Small Craft or 
  DropShip has received, apply a +1 modifi er to the Control Roll 
  (see Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 239, in Aerospace Units).
  Gravity: Gravity (see p. 80) aff ects any unit within ten hexes 
  of the space-atmosphere interface.
  HIGH-ALTITUDE MOVEMENT
  In the atmosphere hexes of the space map, lift and drag 
  alter fl ight dynamics considerably, giving fi ghters, aerodyne 
  DropShips and aerodyne small craft a distinct performance 
  edge over spheroid DropShips and spheroid small craft. 
  The following rules refl ect this reality and only apply to the 
  atmospheric hex rows 1 through 4 of the space map.
  For every unit operating in atmosphere hexes, increasing 
  velocity by 1 costs 2 Thrust Points. Every unit in an atmosphere 
  hex automatically decreases velocity by 1 in the End Phase of 
  every turn. Use the standard rules to decrease velocity by more 
  than 1 point in a turn. If a unit exceeds the safe velocity for the 
  altitude (see High-Altitude Table, p. 80), it automatically suff ers 
  • CLOSE UP OF HIGH-ALTITUDE MAP • 
  
  5 points of damage to its nose armor for each point by which its 
  speed exceeds the safe velocity.
    Prohibited Units: Conventional fi ghters and Airship and 
  Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles cannot operate at high altitudes. 
  This means they cannot move into an atmospheric hex on the 
  space map. Such a prohibited move automatically fails and the 
  unit’s controlling player must immediately make a Control Roll.
  Aerodyne Units
  Aerodyne DropShips, small craft and fi ghters can operate at 
  higher speeds than spheroid craft by using wings and other lifting 
  surfaces to fl y and by using ailerons, fl aps and rudders to maneuver. 
  As atmospheric density and friction increase with proximity to the 
  surface, a craft’s maximum speed in atmospheric hexes on the 
  space map will decrease, as shown on the Altitude Table. 
  If a fi ghter, aerodyne small craft or aerodyne DropShip has 
  Velocity of 0, it will be aff ected by gravity (see below).
  Airship Support Vehicles: Airships maneuver in the same 
  fashion as aerodyne DropShips, but they may also hover like 
  spheroid small craft (see below).
  Spheroid Units
  Because spheroid DropShips and small craft must use their 
  thrusters to provide lift, control and velocity, they are impractical 
  for atmospheric combat. A spheroid unit in an atmospheric hex on 
  the space map must end its movement facing away from planet—
  meaning that its nose is facing either of the two hexsides that 
  point away from the planetary surface map edge—or else make 
  an immediate Control Roll. However, a spheroid unit can hover 
  by pointing its nose to face one of the two hexsides facing away 
  from a planet and reducing its Velocity to 0. The unit must spend 2 
  Thrust Points each turn to off set gravity. While the spheroid unit is 
  hovering, this thrust will not increase the unit’s velocity. A hovering 
  spheroid may sideslip into an adjacent hex for a total cost of 3 
  Thrust Points (without having to pay to off set gravity). A DropShip 
  can sideslip more than one hex if it has suffi  cient Thrust Points.
  GRAVITY
  Gravity infl uences the position of any units on the same high-
  altitude mapsheet as the planetary surface, provided they are 
  within ten hexes of the space-atmosphere interface. This game 
  mechanic represents a “standard” world; individual scenarios may 
  extend or reduce this area of eff ect.
  In the End Phase, displace any units in the area aff ected by 
  gravity one hex row closer to the planetary surface. If a unit can 
  move into two possible hexes, the controlling player selects the 
  hex in which the unit ends the turn. Units displaced into the 
  interface hex must make a Control Roll for re-entry.
  Gravity does not infl uence units in the interface, in atmosphere 
  or in a ground (low-altitude) hex unless their Velocity is 0. Units in 
  a ground hex with a Velocity of 0 must either hover (at a cost of 2 
  MP) if allowed, land (see Landing, p. 87) or crash at the end of the 
  Movement Phase (Aerospace). A unit that crashes may damage 
  ground targets (see Crashes, p. 81).
  LOW-ALTITUDE MOVEMENT
  The following rules apply to movement on a low-altitude map, 
  modifying the standard rules where appropriate. Units entering a 
  ground hex on the high-altitude map move to the low-altitude map. 
  In each turn, a unit must move a number of hexes equal to its velocity, 
  though special maneuvers (see p. 85) can reduce this number.
  Terrain and Altitude
  Low-altitude atmospheric operations use the Classic BattleTech 
  hex-based maps, either the terrain side or the blank side. Each 
  hex of the low-altitude map roughly corresponds to one Classic 
  BattleTech ground mapsheet.
  DF 
  DF
  RE-ENTRY TABLE
  Situation 
  Modifi er (Maximum 6)
  Craft has engine damage
  +1 per box crossed out
  Craft has damage to thrusters 
  +1 per box crossed out
  Craft has no thrust*
  +6
  *A craft has no thrust if it cannot generate any due to critical engine damage or 
  lack of fuel.
  HIGH-ALTITUDE TABLE
  Hex Row 
  Altitude (km) 
  Max. Safe Velocity
  Ground
   0–17
   2
  Row 1
   18–35
   3
  Row 2
   36–53
   6
  Row 3 
  54–71
   9
  Row 4 
  72–89 
  12
  Interface 
  90–107 
  15
  Clan Ghost Bear Beta Galaxy aerospace fi ghters. 
  
  81
  81
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  Atmospheric operations divide mapsheets into ten 
  horizontal layers (altitudes), from the ultra-low Altitude 1 ( NOE) 
  (Nape-of-the-Earth) to very high. Each unit in the atmosphere 
  operates at one of these altitudes. As noted in A Note on Scale 
  and the Rules, p. 36, the “real-world” heights quoted for these 
  altitude bands should not distract players from having fun—
  the information is provided solely for reference.
  If players choose to use the printed side of a Classic BattleTech 
  mapsheet for low-altitude movement (as opposed to using the 
  Aerospace Units with Ground Mapsheets; see p. 91), the terrain 
  determines where units fl y. (Unlike ground mapsheets, which 
  represent human-scale hills, copses of trees and so on, when 
  aerospace units use such maps for low-altitude movement, the 
  various terrain represents continent-scale features; each hill is 
  a mountain range, each woods a giant forest and so on.)
  Each level on a ground mapsheet hex corresponds to an 
  aerospace altitude. For example, a hill marked Level 2 equals 
  Altitude 2. Units can enter that hex only if fl ying at Altitude 3 
  or higher (or 2 if landing; see p. 87). Wooded hexes rise one 
  altitude above the underlying terrain. For simplicity sake, 
  building hexes do not rise above the underlying terrain and 
  are ignored by aerospace units (unless the unit is attempting 
  to land, see p. 87).
  Units with damaged sensors cannot fl y at Altitude 1 (NOE). 
  Units dropping from Altitude 1 (NOE) to Altitude 0, or entering 
  a hex with a level equal to the unit’s altitude, must land or crash 
  (see pp. 87 and 81 respectively). A unit entering a hex with a 
  level higher than its own altitude automatically crashes. Units 
  that move from Altitude 10 to Altitude 11 have climbed into 
  space (Row 1 of the atmosphere on the space map). Any unit 
  doing so that is prohibited from space operations remains at 
  Altitude 10 and must immediately make a Control Roll.
  Crashes
  If a unit’s altitude matches the level of the hex it occupies 
  and it does not attempt to land (see Landing, p. 87), it crashes. 
  The controlling player rolls 2D6, multiplying the result by 
  10 and then multiplying again by the current velocity of the 
  unit. The fi nal result is the number of damage points the unit 
  suff ers. Apply damage to randomly determined locations in 
  ten-point groups. If the unit is a fi ghter, aerodyne DropShip 
  or aerodyne small craft, use the Nose Hit Location Table for 
  the appropriate unit class. If the unit is a spheroid DropShip 
  or small craft, apply the damage using the Aft Hit Location 
  Table.
  If an aerospace unit crashes into a low-altitude hex, it may 
  strike units or buildings on the Classic BattleTech mapsheet. 
  If an aerospace unit crashes into a hex occupied by another 
  unit or a building, those targets also take damage. The type 
  of damage and the number of hexes aff ected depend on the 
  type of unit that crashes, as described below. 
  Players must make several dice rolls to determine the crash 
  hex on the Classic BattleTech mapsheet. Start with Hex 0909 
  and roll 1D6 to determine an initial direction of travel. Where 
  1 is the hexside with the numerical designation, 2 is the 
  fi rst hexside to the right, 3 the next hexside and so on. After 
  determining an initial direction of travel, roll 2D6. The result is 
  the number of random movement rolls the controlling player 
  must make (see Random Movement, p. 93) to determine the 
  crash hex. Move the craft according to the random movement 
  chart until all random movement rolls have been made; all 
  results are multiplied by 8 as the unit is now operating on 
  ground mapsheets. The end result of this movement is the 
  crash hex; if the random movement moves the crashing 
  unit off  the playing area, it is automatically destroyed. Non-
  aerospace units (or grounded aerospace units) near a crash 
  site are unaff ected unless they are in the crash hex, or the six 
  adjacent hexes if the crashing unit is a DropShip.
  LS 
  LS
  LOW-ALTITUDE TABLE
  Altitude
  Minimum 
  (in meters) 
  Maximum 
  (in meters) 
  High-Altitude Table 
  18,000+
  10 
  5,001 
  18,000
  9 
  2,001
   5,000
  8 
  1,001 
  2,000
  7 
  751
   1,000
  6
   501 
  750
  5 
  251 
  500
  4 
  151
   250
  3
   101
   150
  2 
  51
   100
  1 (NOE) 
  1
   50
  0 (Ground)
   0 
  0
  STU-K5 Stuka, Twentieth Avalon Hussars (House Davion) 
  
  Airship Support Vehicles: Airship Support Vehicles cause less 
  damage to other units and buildings when crashing. Calculate the 
  damage as normal, then reduce it by half. 
  Fighters, Small Craft and Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles:
  These unit types only aff ect the crash hex. For a building hex, 
  apply the same amount of damage the aerospace unit received to 
  the structure’s CF; a hardened building hex doubles the standard 
  crashing damage applied to the aerospace unit. 
  DropShips: DropShips aff ect the crash hex and the six 
  adjacent hexes surrounding it. Any building hexes the unit hits 
  are automatically destroyed; a hardened building hex doubles 
  the standard crashing damage applied to the DropShip. This 
  is not cumulative; for example, if a DropShip crashes into three 
  hardened building hexes, the damage remains only double, 
  rather than six times the standard crash damage. Any unit in the 
  crash hex automatically takes damage, as described below. Units 
  other than ´Mechs in the crash hex are automatically destroyed.
  A crashing DropShip also alters levels in the aff ected hexes; the 
  crash hex and the six adjacent hexes surrounding it are lowered 
  by two levels. Any adjacent hexes higher than the crash hex are 
  automatically reduced to the level of the crash hex; this takes 
  eff ect after all ground units in those hexes have taken damage 
  and been displaced. 
  Avoiding or Taking Damage: All units in hexes aff ected by a 
  crash have a chance to avoid damage. The controlling player of 
  the crashing unit rolls 1D6 for each unit in the aff ected hexes. Non-
  infantry units take no damage on a result of 1–2. On a result of 3–
  6, non-infantry units take damage. For each such unit damaged, 
  divide by 2 the damage received by the aerospace unit and apply 
  the result to each of the target units in fi ve-point Damage Value 
  groupings. If the crashing unit is a large Fixed-Wing Support 
  Vehicle, double the damage done to the target. When applying 
  damage, use the Punch-Hit Location Table for ’Mechs and the 
  Front column for vehicles. Any unit in the target hex, regardless 
  of whether or not it took damage, is automatically displaced 
  (provided it survived; see Unit Displacement, p. 151).
  Infantry units take no damage on a result of 1–3. On a result 
  of 4–6, infantry takes damage like non-infantry units. For battle 
  armor, apply each fi ve-point group of damage points randomly to 
  the troopers within the squad or Point; for conventional infantry 
  in clear terrain, double the damage. 
  All units can likewise avoid damage from a crashing DropShip 
  if they are in one of the six adjacent surrounding hexes with the 
  exception of ‘Mechs noted below, all other unit types in the target 
  hex of a crashing DropShip are automatically destroyed. The craft’s 
  controlling player rolls 1D6 for each unit. On a result of 1–2, non-
  infantry units take no damage. On a result of 3–6, they take damage. 
  Apply the amount of damage taken by the aerospace unit to each 
  of the other units in fi ve-point groups. Use the Punch-Hit Location 
  Table for ’Mechs and the Front/Rear column for vehicles.
  Infantry units take no damage from a crashing DropShip on a 
  result of 1–3. On a result of 4–6, infantry takes damage just like 
  non-infantry units. For battle armor, apply each 5-point Damage 
  Value grouping randomly to the troopers in the squad or Point; 
  for conventional infantry in clear terrain, double the damage.
  Any ’Mech in the DropShip crash hex, as well as any units in the 
  six adjacent hexes, are automatically displaced (with the exception 
  of infantry, which can occupy the same hex as a DropShip; if two 
  infantry units on the same side occupy such a hex, one of them 
  will be displaced, see Stacking, p. 57)—provided they survived 
  the damage. This can mean that a unit gets displaced two hexes 
  (see Unit Displacement, p. 151); in a case where a unit is displaced 
  two hexes, the unit must roll twice to avoid damage. A unit that is 
  displaced must, where possible, move into a hex other than the 
  crash hex or one of the six surrounding hexes, even if this means 
  moving into prohibited terrain (which may destroy the unit); a unit 
  displaced two hexes cannot move from the impact hex to one 
  of the surrounding hexes then back to the impact hex, nor may 
  it move from one of the hexes surrounding the impact hex of a 
  DropShip to another hex immediately adjacent to the impact hex.
  Buildings: Any aerospace unit other than a DropShip that 
  survives a crash into a building hex is considered immobile for the 
  rest of the game. Surviving units inside a destroyed building hex 
  must resolve damage caused by the collapse of the building, as 
  described in Collapse, starting on p. 176, before resolving damage 
  from the crashing unit.
  Woods and Water: With two exceptions, aerospace units that 
  crash into woods hexes reduces the terrain in the crash hex: heavy 
  woods become light woods, and light woods become rough 
  terrain. Regardless of the type of woods in the crash hexes, a 
  crashing DropShip reduces the woods in the target hex and the six 
  adjacent hexes to rough; the target hex and six adjacent hexes are 
  also lowered by two levels. In both instances, a rough hex remains 
  a rough hex. Airship Support Vehicles do not change the terrain.
  With the exception of DropShips, an aerospace unit that 
  crashes into Depth 1 or greater water is automatically destroyed. 
  If the central hex where a DropShip crashes is Depth 1 water 
  hex, it is immobile for the rest of the game. If the central hex 
  where a DropShip crashes is a Depth 2 or greater water hex, it is 
  automatically destroyed. 
  In the Low Altitude Crash Diagram 1 above, during the 
  Movement Phase (Aerospace), an aerospace ﬁ ghter has a 
  Velocity of 6 and is at Altitude 6 on the Large Mountain #1 map 
  when it enters Hex A, using low-altitude atmosphere rules. As 
  the unit’s altitude is one lower than the level of Hex A (Level 7), 
  the ﬁ ghter crashes; if the hex had been Level 6, the aerospace 
  ﬁ ghter could’ve attempted a landing. The player must now 
  resolve the damage before play continues.
  Because Hex A is a low-altitude hex, it represents a Classic 
  BattleTech mapsheet. Unfortunately, ground units are active 
  on the mapsheet, so the player must ﬁ rst determine the exact 
  crash location and then determine if he struck any ground 
  units. In this example, the mapsheet represented by Hex A is 
  the Open Terrain #1 map. 
  • LOW-ALTITUDE CRASH DIAGRAM 1 • 
  
  83
  83
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  As shown on the Low-Altitude Crash Diagram 2 above, 
  the player rolls 1D6 and gets a result of 3, indicating an 
  initial direction of travel. He then rolls 2D6 and gets a 4, 
  indicating that he must make four random movement 
  rolls to determine the crash hex for his aerospace ﬁ ghter; 
  at this point the player also remembers that he has to 
  multiply all results by 8, as the ﬁ ghter is now operating on a 
  ground mapsheet. Starting in Hex 0909 (marked as A in the 
  diagram), he faces his aerospace ﬁ ghter toward hexside 
  3 and makes his ﬁ rst random movement roll. He gets a 2, 
  consults the random movement chart, and then moves his 
  ﬁ ghter into Hex B (which is actually on the adjacent Open 
  Terrain #2 map) and turns one hexside to the left to face 
  hexside 2. His second random movement roll is a 1, and so 
  he moves the ﬁ ghter into Hex C and turns two hexsides to 
  the left to face hexside 6. His third random movement roll 
  is another 1; the player moves the ﬁ ghter into Hex D and 
  turns two hexsides to the left to face hexside 4. His ﬁ nal roll, 
  a 4, determines that the ﬁ ghter actually crashes in Hex B. 
  As luck would have it, a ‘Mech and battle armor unit from 
  side A and a conventional infantry riﬂ e (foot) platoon from 
  side B currently occupy that hex. 
  The controlling player applies damage from the 
  crash to his own unit. He rolls 2D6 and gets a 7, which he 
  multiplies by 10 for a running total of 70. He then multiplies 
  70 by his ﬁ ghter’s current Velocity of 6, for a total of 420 
  damage points! Because the unit is an aerospace ﬁ ghter, 
  the player will roll 42 ten-point hits on the Nose column of 
  the Aerospace Hit Location Table. Perhaps he should have 
  ﬂ own a little more cautiously!
  Next, regardless of whether the aerospace ﬁ ghter 
  survives the crash damage, the player must resolve 
  damage to the other units in the hex. The player ﬁ rst 
  determines whether or not he damaged the ’Mech by 
  rolling 1D6. He gets a 5: the ﬁ ghter hit the ’Mech! The 
  player divides the ﬁ ghter’s total damage of 420 by 2 and 
  gets 210. The player now rolls 42 ﬁ ve-point hits on the 
  Punch Hit Location Table. 
  Next, the player rolls to determine whether or not he 
  damaged each infantry unit. He gets a 1 for the battle 
  armor unit, which escapes unscathed, and a 4 for the 
  conventional infantry unit. That unit is in clear terrain, 
  and so it takes double the ﬁ ghter’s 420 points of damage, 
  for a grand total of 840 points. Talk about overkill!
  If the crashing aerospace unit had been a DropShip, it 
  would have destroyed both infantry units, while the ’Mech 
  would have to make two avoid rolls or take 420 points of 
  damage, applied in 84 ﬁ ve-point hits on the Punch Hit 
  Location Table. No ’Mech can survive such damage, and 
  so the player would not need to consult the displacement 
  rules. As a ﬁ nal note, the player marks on the map that the 
  target hex and the six adjacent hexes are now Sublevel 2.
  • LOW ALTITUDE CRASH DIAGRAM 2 • 
  • LOW-ALTITUDE CRASH DIAGRAM 2 • 
  
  Velocity Loss, Stalling and Overspeed
  Units moving on the low-altitude map steadily lose speed 
  unless they spend Thrust Points to off set the atmospheric 
  resistance. At the beginning of each turn, reduce the velocity of 
  atmospheric units by half (rounding fractions down). For example, 
  a unit ending the turn at Velocity 6 starts the next turn at Velocity 
  3, while one ending a turn at Velocity 5 begins the next at Velocity 
  2 (2.5, rounded down).
  Fighters, aerodyne DropShips and aerodyne small craft that 
  drop to a Velocity of 0 stall. Stalled units fall one altitude and must 
  make a Control Roll. Units equipped with VSTOL do not stall if 
  their Velocity is 0, provided they can still expend thrust.
  Units may not fl y at a velocity greater than twice their safe thrust 
  in atmosphere. If forced to do so by damage or circumstances (for 
  example, a unit at high velocity suff ering damage and fi nding 
  itself at more than twice its safe thrust) must make a Control Roll, 
  applying a +1 modifi er for each point of excess velocity.
  Facing Changes
  While operating in a atmosphere hex, fi ghters, aerodyne 
  DropShips and aerodyne small craft need not spend Thrust Points 
  to change facing. Instead, they use control surfaces built into their 
  wings to change facing and altitude. These surfaces allow the unit 
  to make a number of free facing changes, depending on unit 
  type and velocity. The faster a unit moves, the fewer free facing 
  changes it receives.
  Before it can make a facing change, a unit must move in a 
  straight line at least the number of hexes shown on the Straight 
  Movement Table below. This movement may be split across two 
  turns. For example, an aerospace fi ghter traveling at Velocity 7 
  must move two hexes forward before making a facing change. 
  A conventional fi ghter at the same eff ective velocity would need 
  to move only one hex between facing changes. An aerodyne 
  DropShip would need to move three hexes. Regardless of velocity, 
  a unit can only make one facing change one side in each hex.
  Additional Facing Changes: Aerospace fi ghters and aerodyne 
  DropShips and small craft can also spend Thrust Points to gain 
  additional facing changes. At any point in their movement, such 
  units may spend Thrust Points equal to half their current velocity 
  (round up) to change facing one hexside. However, they may not 
  do so if they have already changed facing in that hex or if this 
  is the fi rst hex of their movement. For example, the pilot of an 
  aerospace fi ghter with a Velocity of 7 wants to make an additional 
  facing change. This will cost 4 MP (half the fi ghter’s current 
  velocity, rounded up). 
  Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles: These units must move double the 
  minimum straight movement requirement of a conventional fi ghter. 
  Rolling Maneuvers: Units in atmosphere cannot roll simply by 
  spending Thrust Points. They must instead perform the maneuver 
  as a half-roll (see the Special Maneuvers Table, p. 85).
  Changing Altitude
  Units may also spend Thrust Points to change altitude. Aside 
  from the obvious limits of the ground and the boundaries of 
  the low-altitude and space maps, as well as rules regarding 
  prohibited units, a unit may ascend or descend any number of 
  altitudes in a single turn. Climbing one altitude costs 2 Thrust 
  Points. Units may descend altitudes for no Thrust Point cost, and 
  a fi ghter that descends two or more altitudes in a turn gains an 
  additional point of velocity (to a maximum Velocity of 12) for that 
  turn. If a unit descends more than two altitudes in a single turn, 
  it must make a Control Roll, with a modifi er equal to the number 
  of altitudes descended. A unit that ascends when at Altitude 10 
  leaves the low-altitude map and should be placed in Row 1 of 
  the atmospheric hexes on the space map (unless prohibited from 
  doing so, see High-Altitude Movement, p. 79), in the specifi c hex 
  that corresponds to its present location. If players are not using the 
  space map, such a unit is assumed to have left the engagement.
  Spheroid DropShips
  Spheroid DropShips and small craft can operate in atmosphere. 
  Unlike fi ghters, aerodyne DropShips and aerodyne small craft, such 
  units do not have a facing because they are eff ectively nose-up. 
  Instead, they can spend 2 Thrust Points to hover at their current 
  altitude or move to any adjacent hex at the same altitude. The cost for 
  spheroid DropShips or small craft to change altitude is the same as for 
  aerodyne craft, though they do not gain velocity when descending 
  two or more altitudes in a turn. If a spheroid DropShip or small craft 
  does not spend Thrust Points, it loses one altitude each turn.
  Airship Support Vehicles
  Though Airships are treated as conventional fi ghters under 
  these rules, these units have specialized movement. For more 
  information, see Aerospace Units, p. 234.
  Special Maneuvers
  As shown on the Special Maneuvers Tables, an aerodyne unit’s pilot 
  can exploit his craft’s agility and the three-dimensional playing area 
  to execute a number of acrobatic maneuvers. Each maneuver has a 
  minimum or maximum velocity at which it can be executed, as well 
  as a Thrust Point cost. All special maneuvers require a Control Roll 
  with the indicated modifi ers. A successful result means the maneuver 
  succeeds. Failure means the unit must move forward in a straight 
  line a number of hexes equal to half its current velocity, rounded up, 
  for a minimum of one hex. With the exception of a sideslip, which 
  can be executed at any time during movement, special maneuvers 
  occur at the start of the Movement Phase (Aerospace). Each unit can 
  make only one special maneuver per turn. 
  Support Vehicles: Airship and Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles 
  cannot make any special maneuvers.
  LAUNCHING/RECOVERING FIGHTERS/SMALL CRAFT
  Small craft and fi ghters may take off  (called launching while 
  airborne) and land (called recovering while airborne) on an airborne 
  Large Craft that is equipped with a small craft or fi ghter bay. 
  STRAIGHT MOVEMENT TABLE
  Minimum Straight Movement (in hexes)
  Eff ective
  Velocity 
   Aerospace 
  Fighter 
  Conventional 
  Fighter 
  Aerodyne
  DropShip
  1–3 
  1
  1 
  1
  4–6 
  1
  1
  2
  7–9 
  2
  1
  3
  10–12
   3
  2 
  4
  13–15
   4 
  3 
  5
  16+
  5
  4
  6
  
  85
  85
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  SPECIAL MANEUVERS TABLE
  Min/Max 
  Velocity 
  Thrust
  Cost 
  Control
  Modifi er 
  Maneuver 
  Eff ect
  Loop 
  Min 4 
  4 
  +1 
  The unit spends its fi rst 4 points of velocity in the loop, though the 
  actual velocity remains unchanged. It ends in the same hex where it 
  started the move, then spends the remainder of its velocity normally.
  Immelmann 
  Min 3 
  4 
  +1 
  The unit gains two altitudes and ends the maneuver facing any 
  hexside. Velocity drops by 2. The remainder is spent normally.
  Split-S 
  Any 
  2
   +2 
  The unit loses two altitudes and ends the maneuver facing any 
  hexside. Velocity increases by 1.
  Hammerhead 
  Any 
  Velocity 
  +3 
  The unit remains in the hex it started, but changes facing 180 degrees.
  Half-roll 
  Any 
  1 
  –1
  The unit rolls 180 degrees, reversing left and right sides and up/
  down facings.
  Barrel roll
   Min 2 
  1
   0 
  The unit rolls 360 degrees, ending with the same facing. Velocity 
  drops by 1.
  Side-slip 
  Any 
  1
   0/–1* 
  Instead of moving into the hex directly ahead, the unit moves into 
  the front-left or front-right hex without changing facing. (Modifi er is 
  –1 for VSTOL units.)
  VIFF
   Any* 
  Velocity +2 
  +2 
  Successfully using this “Vector in Forward Flight” maneuver, a VSTOL 
  unit halts its forward momentum and gains one altitude.
  *VSTOL units only
  • SPECIAL MANEUVERS DIAGRAM • 
  
  Launching
  Fighters and small craft may launch from a carrier only at the 
  end of that carrier’s movement. Two fi ghters or small craft can exit 
  each fi ghter/small craft bay door each turn at no risk; the number 
  of fi ghter/small craft bay doors on the Large Craft will be noted 
  in either the unit’s technical readout or record sheet game stats. 
  Additional fi ghters/small craft may attempt to launch from the same 
  bay door in a turn, but if they do, each unit (including the fi rst two) 
  must make a Control Roll with a +1 penalty per additional fi ghter/
  small craft launched beyond the fi rst two. 
  If this roll succeeds, that fi ghter/small craft launches successfully, 
  and occupies the same hex, with the same heading and velocity as 
  the carrying unit; it may expend its standard Thrust MP in the same 
  turn it launches and may make attacks during the Weapon Attack 
  Phase of the same turn (this may require players to revisit the order 
  of movement determined by Initiative and Unequal Number of Units
  (see p. 39). 
   If it fails, the fi ghter/small craft still launches, but suff ers 10 points of 
  standard-scale damage to the nose (the specifi c location determined 
  via a 2D6 roll on the Hit Location Table) per point of MoF. 
  A fi ghter or small craft should not launch from a unit that is out-
  of-control or operating in atmosphere at a velocity higher than 2. If 
  they attempt to do so they suff er 2D6x10 points of standard-scale 
  damage to the nose.
  When more than two fi ghters/small craft attempt to launch 
  from a single bay door in a single turn, for every unit that launches 
  beyond the fi rst two, the controlling player rolls 2D6 (this roll is also 
  made if a fi ghter/small craft launches while the carrying unit is out 
  of control). On a result of 2, while the unit successfully launches, the 
  door is damaged and cannot be used for the rest of the scenario (it 
  is considered to have been critically hit; see Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 239, 
  in the Aerospace Units section). 
  Recovering
  Fighters and small craft may only be recovered by a carrier at the 
  end of that carrier’s movement. Each operational fi ghter/small craft 
  bay door allows two fi ghters or small craft every fi ve turns to be 
  recovered; this process cannot be accelerated. For example, on Turn 
  1, the Large Craft recovers a single fi ghter. That single fi ghter takes 
  up one of the two ‘recovering slots’ for an operational fi ghter/small 
  craft bay door for fi ve turns. In Turn 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 another fi ghter/small 
  craft may be recovered by that same door. So if in turn 3, another 
  fi ghter is recovered through that same door, both “recovering slots” 
  are occupied and no other fi ghter/small craft may be recovered by 
  that door until turn 6, when the “recovering slot” occupied by the 
  fi rst fi ghter has passed its fi ve turns.
  To be recovered, a small craft or fi ghter must end its turn in the 
  same hex as the transport unit, with the same heading and velocity. 
  Make a Control Roll for each individual small craft or fi ghter in the 
  turn of recovery. If the transport unit spends Thrust Points during the 
  turn in which the recovery takes place, increase the target number 
  by +5. The unit is successfully recovered if the Control Roll succeeds. 
  If the result is less than the target number, the recovery fails. Apply 
  2 points of standard-scale damage to the fi ghter or small craft to the 
  nose for each point of MoF; the specifi c location determined via a 
  2D6 roll on the Hit Location Table. The fi ghter must wait another turn 
  before attempting another recovery.
  If the dice roll result of the Control Roll was a 2, the door is 
  damaged and cannot be used for the rest of the scenario (it is 
  considered to have been critically hit; see Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 239, 
  in the Aerospace Units section).
  Fighters and small craft cannot launch or be recovered directly by 
  a landed DropShip (see Carrying Units, p. 89).
  LANDING MODIFIERS TABLE
  Condition
   Modifi er 
  Unit has damaged thrusters 
  +4
  Unit is out-of-control 
  Automatic failure 
  (assume MoF of 10)
  Unit is attempting vertical 
  landing 
  +1 per point of Velocity 
  above 1
  Unit is attempting horizontal 
  landing 
  +1 per point of Velocity 
  above 3
  Landing gear damaged 
  +3 per box crossed
  Condition
  Modifi er
  Nose armor destroyed (fi ghters and aerodyne units)
  +2
  Unit reduced to 50% or less of starting thrust 
  +2
  No thrust available (aerodyne) 
  +4
  No thrust available (spheroid)* 
  +8
  Runway too short for unit 
  +2
  Unit is aerospace fi ghter making vertical landing 
  +2†
  Terrain Modifi ers‡
  Unit landing at manned, friendly airfi eld‡‡
  –2
  Unit landing at unmanned, friendly airfi eld‡‡
  –1
  Unit landing on road or paved hex 
  0
  Unit landing at unfriendly airfi eld‡‡ 
  +1
  Unit landing in clear hex 
  +2
  Unit landing in water hex 
  +3
  Unit landing in rough or rubble hex 
  (landing gear damaged, cross off  1 box)
  +3
  Unit landing in elevated hex (non-vertical landing)§
  +3
  Unit landing in building hex (non-vertical landing)§§
  +3
  Unit landing in light woods hex 
  +4
  Unit landing in heavy woods hex
  +5
  *Only applies if spheroid unit lost thrust this turn, otherwise the unit falls and is 
  destroyed (see Crashes, p. 81).
  †Only applies in atmospheres and does not apply to VSTOL-equipped conventional 
  fi ghters.
  ‡Determine all appropriate modifi ers based on the hexes of the landing area and then 
  apply only the highest modifi er (if there are multiple “highest” modifi ers, still only 
  add a single hex modifi er). These modifi ers are halved for vertical landings.
  ‡‡The placement of such features, which do not appear on BattleTech maps, 
  depends on the scenario being played or a designated gamemaster.
  §If the hex is greater than a one level change, the unit automatically crashes in the 
  elevated hex (see Crashes, p. 81); determine all damage normally, than reduce 
  to half (round down) before applying.
  §§The unit automatically crashes in the building hex (see Crashes, p. 81); determine 
  all damage normally, than reduce to half (round down) before applying. If a 
  unit makes a successful vertical landing into a building hex, immediately check 
  for a collapse (see Collapse, p. 176).
  
  87
  87
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  LANDING AND LIFTOFF
  The following rules cover how aerospace units land or lift 
  off  during game play.
  Note that “In-universe” DropShips range in size from forty-
  two meters wide and fi fty meters in length to two hundred 
  and seventy-seven meters in width and length. However, for 
  simplicity, all DropShips use the same “footprint” when landed, 
  as noted above.
  Similarly, aerodyne units (from DropShips to fi ghters) present 
  widely diff ering appearances, from the more spheroid-like, to 
  ships that mount landing skids in place of wheels and so on. 
  For simplicity, the landing rules center on the concept of a 
  wheeled model and apply that template to all aerodyne units, 
  regardless of their artistic portrayal—or how the sourcebook 
  fi ction describes said units—in a technical readout.
  Landing
  Any units entering a hex (or hexes, for a DropShip) at the 
  same altitude as the underlying terrain can attempt to land on 
  any available hex on a ground map. They may make either a 
  vertical or a horizontal landing.
  Vertical landings require the least amount of space, 
  but cause signifi cant damage to the ground. All spheroid 
  small craft and spheroid DropShips must land vertically. 
  Conventional fi ghters mounting VSTOL equipment may also 
  attempt vertical landings in atmosphere, as may all aerospace 
  fi ghters. Units making vertical landings reduce by half (round 
  down) the terrain modifi ers on the Landing Modifi ers Table, p. 
  86. If the hex in which a DropShip lands is not a paved, road 
  or water hex, the landing hex and the six adjacent hexes are 
  reduced by 1 level; any adjacent hexes higher than the central 
  hex are automatically reduced to the level of the central 
  hex. If any of the seven hexes were building hexes, they are 
  automatically reduced to rubble, while woods hexes are 
  automatically reduced to rough.
  Conventional fi ghters, aerodyne small craft and aerodyne 
  DropShips must make horizontal landings. To make such 
  a landing safely, a DropShip requires a fl at surface on the 
  ground map three hexes wide and fi fteen hexes long (referred 
  to as a landing strip). Conventional fi ghters and small craft 
  need a landing strip only a single hex wide and eight hexes 
  long. Fighters equipped with VSTOL require fi ve ground-map 
  hexes in which to land. 
  This landing strip must be in a continuous line, unobstructed 
  by level changes, buildings or other units. An airfi eld or other 
  continuous strip of paved hexes is preferred, but any other 
  terrain types listed on the Landing Modifi er Table above may 
  be present along the landing strip (for DropShips, this means 
  any such terrain types anywhere in the width or length of the 
  landing strip). In such a case, note all applicable terrain types 
  appearing along the landing strip, adding each appropriate 
  modifi er once. For example, if there are 3 light woods hexes in 
  the landing strip, the modifi er is +4 for light woods terrain, not 
  +4 for each hex of light woods.
  Fighters equipped with VSTOL require fi ve ground-map 
  hexes in which to land. The pilots of aerodyne DropShips can 
  attempt to reduce the landing distance by up to half the base 
  distance by tilting the nose of the craft upward, cutting the 
  aft drive and using the bottom-mounted drive to provide 
  braking thrust. To accomplish this maneuver, the pilot must 
  make a Control Roll (see p. 92) with a +4 modifi er. If the roll 
  succeeds, reduce the required landing distance by 1 ground-
  map hex for every point of the MoS, to a minimum of half the 
  standard landing distance. If the roll fails, consult the Failed 
  Braking Maneuver Table, below.
  For every landing attempt, the pilot must make a Control Roll 
  to determine the success of the landing, applying modifi ers for 
  critical damage and failed braking maneuvers if necessary, and 
  any appropriate modifi ers from the Landing Modifi ers Table. If 
  the landing roll is successful, the craft touches down safely. If 
  the roll fails, the unit suff ers 10 points of standard-scale damage 
  on the nose (or aft, for spheroid units) per point of MoF.
  Once an aerospace unit fi nishes landing, if it occupies a 
  water hex (or if the central hex for DropShips is a water hex), 
  use the rules for crashing into a water hex (see Woods and 
  Water, p. 82).
  Once grounded (provided it was not destroyed), regardless 
  of spheroid or aerodyne shape, all DropShips occupy a central 
  hex and the six adjacent hexes, while fi ghters and small craft 
  occupy only a single hex (see Stacking and Line of Sight, pp. 57 
  and 99 respectively, for the height of such grounded units as 
  it applies to both rules).
  SL 
  SL
  A lance of Galedon Regulars Reivers skim roof tops, preparing to land.
  FAILED BRAKING MANEUVER TABLE
  Margin of 
  Failure
  Eff ect
  1–4 
  Landing requires full distance. The pilot 
  can attempt to land normally or abort 
  the landing, circle and try again in a 
  subsequent turn.
  5 
  The unit must land. However, the unit 
  becomes harder to control, adding 1 to the 
  landing Control Roll target number.
  6+ 
  The unit must land and requires 20 hexes 
  of runway to do so, regardless of unit 
  type. The unit suff ers 20 points of damage 
  on the nose and the landing gear is 
  destroyed. Add 2 to the landing Control 
  Roll target number.
  
  Liftoff 
  Aerodyne DropShips, fi ghters and small craft can lift off  from a 
  ground map during the Movement Phase (Ground) by accelerating 
  along a runway or open ground until they reach liftoff  velocity. 
  The distance required for all units is twenty clear or paved hexes 
  in a continuous line that do not change levels at any point. VSTOL-
  equipped units can take off  in ten hexes. Players need not make a 
  Control Roll for a horizontal liftoff .
  Aerodyne DropShips, small craft and aerospace fi ghters (as well 
  as VSTOL-equipped conventional fi ghters) may lift off  vertically; 
  all spheroid DropShips and spheroid small craft lift off  vertically. A 
  unit cannot lift off  if it has a Safe Thrust of 2 or less. A vertical liftoff  
  requires a Control Roll with modifi ers as shown on the Vertical 
  Liftoff  Modifi ers Table. If the roll succeeds, place the unit in the 
  appropriate hex on the atmospheric map. If the roll fails, calculate 
  the Margin of Failure (MoF) and refer to the Failed Liftoff  Table.
  Taxiing: Grounded aerospace fi ghters, aerodyne small craft 
  and aerodyne DropShips may need to taxi along the ground after 
  landing (or a crash) to fi nd a suitable stretch of hexes for liftoff . 
  All such units are considered wheeled vehicles for the purpose 
  of terrain restrictions, with a Cruising MP rating equal to one-half 
  (round down) their Safe Thrust. They may not expend any greater 
  movement.
  Spheroid small craft and spheroid DropShips cannot move 
  along the ground once landed.
  Proximity Damage
  The fusion exhaust of a DropShip can cause immense damage 
  to units too close to the ship when it lands or takes off . Any unit 
  within six hexes of a spheroid unit as it lands or takes off  suff ers 
  damage according to the DropShip Exhaust Damage Table below, 
  broken into 5-point Damage Value groupings and applied using 
  the appropriate hit location table; that is, the “attack” occurs 
  along the line of sight between the DropShip’s center hex and the 
  aff ected unit’s hex. Spheroid DropShips infl ict this damage on any 
  unit within six hexes of the ones adjacent to the central landing 
  hex, rather than on units within six hexes of the central hex.
  This damage only applies to units in the rear arc of an aerodyne 
  DropShip when it takes off .
  Fighters: The exhaust of a fi ghter landing or taking off  causes 
  no damage.
  DF 
  DF
   
  F-100 Riever, Beta Galaxy (Clan Ghost Bear) 
  VERTICAL LIFTOFF MODIFIERS TABLE
  Conditions 
  Modifi er
  Landing gear damaged 
  +1
  Maneuvering thrusters damaged
  +3
  Unit lifting off  from a crater
  +3
  Unit lifting off  from an airfi eld or landing pad
  –1
  Fighter making vertical liftoff 
  +2
  FAILED LIFTOFF MANEUVER TABLE
  Margin of 
  Failure
  Eff ect
  1–2 
  Unit lifts off . Landing gear damaged (cross off  
  1 box).
  3–4 
  Landing gear damaged (cross off  1 box). The 
  pilot must make an additional Control Roll 
  with no modifi ers. If the roll is successful, the 
  unit has lifted off . If the roll fails, the unit falls 
  back to the ground, suff ering 20 points of 
  standard-scale damage on the aft side.
  5 
  The landing gear is destroyed and the unit 
  strikes the ground, causing 50 points of 
  standard-scale damage to the aft side.
  6+ 
  The landing gear is destroyed and the unit 
  strikes the ground, causing 100 points of 
  standard-scale damage to the aft side. The 
  unit cannot attempt another liftoff  until 
  repairs are completed.
  DROPSHIP EXHAUST DAMAGE TABLE
  Distance 
  Damage 
  Same Hex
   Destroyed
  1 Hex 
  12D6
  2 Hexes
  10D6
  3 Hexes
  8D6
  4 Hexes
  6D6
  5 Hexes
  3D6
  6 Hexes
  2D6
  
  89
  89
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  CARRYING UNITS
  The following rules cover how non-aerospace units mount 
  and dismount grounded Small Craft and DropShips.
  Carrying units do not suff er reductions in Thrust for hauling 
  units. Units may not mount enemy aerospace units using 
  these rules. 
  Mounted units may not fi re weapons, spot for indirect fi re or 
  take any action other than dismounting from the carrier and 
  any electronic equipment that might interfere with an enemy 
  unit does not function. 
  Infantry: Infantry mount and dismount from carrying Small 
  Craft and DropShips as though the units were Large Support 
  Vehicles (see Infantry Carriers, p. 223). The carrying unit’s 
  capacity is limited to the tonnage of its cargo area. The Generic 
  Conventional Infantry Units and Battle Armor Organization/
  Weight Table (see pp. 213 and 214 respectively) indicate how 
  much tonnage each type of infantry unit occupies. Do not 
  reduce these tonnages for units that have suff ered casualties.
  Infantry are the only unit type that may mount or dismount 
  a fi ghter during a game, provided the fi ghter has dedicated 
  cargo space (as above, the carrying unit’s capacity is limited 
  to the tonnage of its cargo); infantry mount and dismount 
  fi ghters as though the fi ghters were vehicles (see Infantry 
  Carriers, p. 223).
  Dropping Troops: While non-infantry units can be dropped 
  from airborne aerospace units, those rules are beyond the 
  scope of Total Warfare and will be found in Tactical Operations.
  Hot zone: It is important to remember that these rules 
  approximate the mounting and dismounting of units directly 
  within the “hot zone” of a scenario; in other words fast and 
  furious, with weapons blazing on all sides. Outside of a 
  scenario (i.e. outside of direct combat), when forces have the 
  time to dedicate to mounting and dismounting, many of 
  the restrictions noted below do not apply; for example units 
  can be mounted into cargo holds, no roll is made to see if a 
  door is damaged and so on. However, those rules are outside 
  the scope of Total Warfare and will be covered in another 
  rulebook. 
  Mounting
  To mount a carrying unit during a turn, the carrying Small 
  Craft or DropShip must have grounded (either crashed or 
  landed) in a previous turn and must still be operational; i.e. it 
  is not destroyed.
  A carrying Small Craft or DropShip can mount a number of 
  units each turn equal to its operational door capacity (i.e. if a 
  door is damaged either through critical damage or through 
  RA 
  RA
  Victor Steiner-Davion and his Tenth Lyran Guards disembark from a grounded Leopard-class DropShip.
  SMALL CRAFT/DROPSHIP BAY TABLE
  Unit Type
  Bay
  ’Mech
  ’Mech Bay
  ProtoMech
  ProtoMech Bay or Vehicle Bay
  Vehicle
  Light, Heavy, or 
  Super-Heavy Vehicle Bay
  Infantry
  NA
  Fighters and 
  Small Craft
  Fighter or Small Craft Bay
  
  mounting and dismounting a unit that results in critical damage, 
  no units can use that door for the remainder of the scenario). 
  Doors noted as pure cargo bay doors, or fi ghter/small craft bay 
  doors, cannot be used; the number of ’Mech/ProtoMech/vehicle 
  bay doors a Small Craft or DropShips has will be noted in either 
  the unit’s technical readout or record sheet game stats.
  Additionally, the carrying Small Craft or DropShip must contain 
  an appropriate bay for the type of unit mounting, as shown on the 
  Small Craft/DropShip Bay Table. If a Small Craft or DropShip does 
  not contain an appropriate bay that a unit can use, that unit cannot 
  mount the Small Craft or DropShip; as with the bay doors, the type 
  of bays each Small Craft or DropShip mounts will be noted in either 
  the unit’s technical readout or record sheet game stats. 
  The mounting unit must be in an adjacent hex to the Small Craft 
  or DropShip (any adjacent hex, though the hex must be within two 
  levels of the level of the underlying hex(s) of the aerospace unit), 
  and then expend half its standard Walking/Cruising MP to enter 
  the carrying Small Craft or DropShip. Units cannot have declared 
  Running/Flank in a turn they will mount a Small Craft or DropShip. 
  If a unit enters an adjacent hex using Walking/Cruising MP and 
  then does not have suffi  cient Walking/Cruising MPs to enter the 
  Small Craft or DropShip hex, it must wait until the following turn’s 
  Movement Phase (Ground) to enter the Small Craft or DropShip. If 
  a unit starts its Movement Phase in an adjacent hex and still does 
  not have suffi  cient Walking/Cruising MP (i.e. for any reason, such as 
  damage, heat and so on), the unit may use the Minimum Movement 
  rule (see p. 49) to enter the Small Craft or DropShip hex.
  Every time a unit mounts a Small Craft or DropShip, the 
  controlling player rolls 2D6. On a result of 2, while the unit 
  successfully mounts the Small Craft or DropShip, the door is 
  damaged and cannot be used for the rest of the scenario (it is 
  considered to have been critically hit; see Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 239, 
  in the Aerospace Units section).
  VTOLs, Small Craft and Fighters: These units cannot expend 
  MP to mount an aerospace unit; i.e. they cannot mount a Small 
  Craft or DropShip under their own power. Instead, they must be 
  in an adjacent hex (within two levels of the level of the underlying 
  hex of the carrying Small Craft or DropShip) during the End Phase 
  of a turn. It then takes four subsequent turns for the DropShip 
  to use cranes to load the units into the carrying aerospace unit; 
  during the End Phase of the fourth turn after the turn in which the 
  units were in an adjacent hex, they are loaded and strapped down. 
  Doors are not occupied when loading units in this fashion..
  Carrying Aerospace Unit Attacks: Fighters and Small Craft 
  can only make weapon attacks with weapons mounted in the 
  nose or aft arcs when mounting non-aerospace units; DropShips 
  can make any kind of weapon attack. 
  Critical Damage: Critical damage that occurs to a carrying 
  aerospace unit aff ects its cargo in diff erent ways (see Critical Hit 
  Eff ects, p. 239, in the Aerospace Units section).
  Destruction: If an aerospace unit is destroyed in the air or in a 
  crash, all units mounted in it are also destroyed. If an aerospace 
  unit survives a crash, roll 1D6 for each mounted unit. On a result of 
  1-2, the unit survives and may move and fi re normally in the turn 
  after the crash; on a result of 3-6, the unit is destroyed.
  If at the end of the phase in which the carrying aerospace unit 
  was destroyed, any surviving units violate stacking rules, the 
  controlling player must move those non-aerospace units into an 
  adjacent hex using the following rules:
  • 
  Only the minimum number of units are moved to ensure 
  that the stacking rules are not violated in the hexes where 
  the carrying aerospace unit was destroyed.
  • 
  The adjacent hex that requires the least expenditure of MP 
  to enter is used fi rst, with the next lowest MP expenditure 
  second, and so on.
  • 
  If a unit cannot be moved into an adjacent hex because 
  of prohibited movement, lack of available MP, or because 
  it would violate the stacking rules, the unit is destroyed 
  (though such a unit may use the minimum movement rule to 
  enter a hex; see p. 49).
  Non-aerospace units in this situation may move and fi re 
  normally in the turn after the aerospace unit is destroyed.
  Lift-off : A carrying aerospace unit can lift off  at any time during 
  the Movement Phase (Ground), even if units are still attempting to 
  mount the carrying unit (see Lift-off , p. 88). However, the exhaust 
  of an aerospace unit taking off  can cause tremendous damage 
  to any units (friendly or enemy) caught in the blast (see Proximity 
  Damage, p. 88). 
  Additionally, a Small Craft or DropShip must wait for the 
  mounting units to be secured, or they will cause damage. A 
  Small Craft or DropShip must wait until the Movement Phase 
  (Ground) of the turn immediately following the turn when the 
  last unit mounted.
  If the Small Craft or DropShip lifts-off  in the same turn as 
  it mounted a non-infantry unit, the controlling player must 
  automatically roll once on the Above/Below column of the 
  Aerospace Units Hit Location Table and apply the critical hit. 
  Any non-infantry units that mounted the carrying Small Craft 
  or DropShip in the same turn in which it takes off  must apply 25 
  points of damage in 5-point Damage Value groupings to the front 
  column of the appropriate Hit Location Table.
  PME 
  PM
  A squadron of Corsairs from House Kurita’s Galedon Regulars.
  
  91
  91
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  Dismounting
  To dismount a carrying Small Craft or DropShip during a 
  turn, the carrying aerospace unit must have grounded (either 
  crashed or landed) in a previous turn.
  A carrying Small Craft or DropShip can dismount a number 
  of units each turn equal to its operational door capacity (i.e. if 
  a door is damaged either through critical damage or through 
  mounting and dismounting a unit, no units can use that door 
  for the remainder of the scenario). Doors noted as pure cargo 
  bay doors, or fi ghter/small craft bay doors cannot be used; the 
  number of ’Mech/ProtoMech/vehicle bay doors a Small Craft 
  or DropShips has will be noted in either the unit’s technical 
  readout or record sheet game stats.
  To dismount, a unit must spend half its standard Walking/
  Cruising MP; units cannot declare Running/Flank in a turn 
  they will dismount a Small Craft or DropShip. Units carried by 
  Small Craft and DropShips dismount into adjacent hexes (any 
  adjacent hex, though the hex must be within two levels of the 
  level of the underlying hex(s) of the aerospace unit), with a 
  facing of their choice, and the dismounting unit must be able 
  to enter the terrain (though a unit may use the Minimum 
  Movement rule, p. 49, to enter a hex, but it still cannot be 
  prohibited from entering that hex). The dismounting unit may 
  not violate the stacking limits. 
  Units can, once they have successfully entered an adjacent 
  hex, continue their movement provided they have suffi  cient 
  MP remaining to continue movement (this may require players 
  to revisit the order of movement determined by Initiative 
  and Unequal Number of Units (see p. 39). The move of the 
  dismounting unit from the carrying Small Craft or DropShip 
  to an adjacent hex is considered a single hex of movement for 
  purposes of target movement modifi er. 
  Every time a unit dismounts a Small Craft or DropShip, the 
  controlling player rolls 2D6. On a result of 2, while the unit 
  successfully dismounts the Small Craft or DropShip, the door 
  is damaged and cannot be used for the rest of the scenario (it 
  is considered to have been critically hit; see Critical Hit Eff ects, 
  p. 239, in the Aerospace Units section).
  VTOLs, Small Craft and Fighters: These units cannot 
  expend MP to dismount a grounded aerospace unit; i.e. they 
  cannot dismount an aerospace unit under their own power. 
  Instead, it takes three turns for cranes to unload the units from 
  the carrying aerospace unit; during the End Phase of the third 
  turn after the turn in which the units began to dismount, they 
  are dismounted into an adjacent hex (the hex must be within 
  two levels of the underlying level of the hex occupied by the 
  aerospace unit), with a facing of their choosing. In the turn 
  following, such units may move and fi re normally.
  Carrying Aerospace Unit Attacks: Fighters and Small Craft 
  can only make weapon attacks with weapons mounted in 
  the nose or aft arcs when dismounting non-aerospace units; 
  DropShips can make any kind of weapon attack. 
  MATCHING MAPSHEETS 
  TO LOW-ALTITUDE HEXES
  Though each ground mapsheet roughly corresponds to one 
  hex on a low-altitude map, the rectangular mapsheets and the 
  hexagons do not precisely match. Players can approximate 
  the relationship between Classic BattleTech mapsheets and 
  low-altitude map hexes by arranging the ground mapsheets 
  as shown in the diagram below.
  AEROSPACE UNITS ON GROUND MAPSHEETS 
  The most exciting way to use aerospace units in the game 
  is to fl y them directly onto the ground maps playing area, 
  moving them and engaging the enemy in the same way as 
  other battlefi eld units. 
  It is important to note, however, that aerospace units still 
  operate (with the few exceptions noted below) as though 
  they were moving on the low-altitude map. This means that 
  they operate using altitudes (as defi ned in Game Terms, see 
  p. 43; aerospace units, even if operating directly on ground 
  maps, never use elevations). More importantly, the speed of 
  aerospace units when translated from a low-altitude map to 
  moving directly on ground mapsheets—a ground map hex 
  equals 30 meters, while a low-altitude hex equals 500 meters 
  (roughly the size of an entire ground map)—means that 
  aerospace units move substantial distances (see Movement 
  below). With that in mind, to use aerospace units directly 
  on ground maps requires a very large playing area; ideally 
  an arrangement of nine, twelve, sixteen or more mapsheets. 
  These should be laid out 3 x 3, 3 x 4 and so on to provide 
  enough room for the aerospace units to maneuver.
  Movement
  Aerospace units operating on ground maps ignore all 
  terrain features for movement (and combat, see Air-to-Ground 
  Attacks, p. 242) and are not counted for ground units’ stacking 
  purposes in any way. 
  At anytime during their movement, a player can choose 
  to have their aerospace unit exit a ground map edge (even 
  if the ground map edge leads to another ground map), and 
  appear on the corresponding low-altitude map hex and 
  move according to the appropriate rules. Or, if an aerospace 
  unit leaves a ground playing area edge (i.e. there is no new 
  • MATCHING GROUND MAPSHEETS TO LOW-ALTITUDE HEXES • 
  
  ground map to enter), the unit automatically appears on the 
  corresponding low-altitude map hex and moves according to the 
  appropriate rules.
  Aerodyne Units: Aerodyne units use the rules for low-altitude 
  movement (see p. 80) when operating on ground maps, except 
  that an aerodyne unit must move sixteen Classic BattleTech hexes 
  for each point of Velocity. Aerodyne units also use the facing 
  changes rules for low-altitude movement, except that the straight 
  movement required before making a facing change has a greater 
  eff ect at this scale. See the column appropriate for the unit’s class 
  on the Straight Movement on Ground Maps Table, below, for the 
  minimum number of ground map hexes a unit must move in a 
  straight line between one-hexside facing changes. This movement 
  may be split across two turns. For example, a fi ghter with a Velocity 
  of 1 fi nished its movement in Turn 6 by moving straight ahead fi ve 
  hexes. If it does not change its velocity in Turn 7, it can make a 
  facing change after moving straight for three hexes.
  Spheroid Units: Spheroid units may move into any ground hex 
  within eight hexes of their current position at a cost of 1 MP.
  Large Support Vehicles: Airborne Large Support Vehicles use 
  the Small Craft column on the Straight Movement on Ground 
  Maps Table.
  CONTROL ROLLS
  Some situations or types of damage can cause an aerospace 
  unit to crash or make it diffi  cult for the pilot to control the unit. 
  Aerospace units use Control Rolls (similar to Piloting Skill rolls for 
  ground units) to represent a pilot’s attempts to handle a unit’s 
  movement in diffi  cult situations.
  To make a Control Roll, a player rolls 2D6 against a target number 
  based on Piloting Skill, damage and environmental factors, per 
  the Control Roll Table. If the result is equal to or greater than the 
  target number, the unit remains in control. Otherwise, the unit is 
  considered out of control. Control Rolls are made in the End Phase 
  of the turn in which the conditions creating the potential loss of 
  control occurred, unless the specifi c rule in question requires the 
  Control Roll to be made immediately. 
  Some game mechanics use Control Rolls to determine success 
  or failure of an action, rather than determining whether or not a 
  unit is out of control. The Control Roll actions that may result in 
  the unit going “out of control” are shown in the Situation column 
  of the Control Roll Table.
  Shutdown Units: Shutdown units are automatically out of 
  control.
  OUT-OF-CONTROL EFFECTS
  An out-of-control unit cannot spend Thrust Points. It cannot 
  change velocity or facing and must continue on its present 
  heading, moving the appropriate number of hexes in a straight 
  line for its velocity.
  Out-of-control units also risk colliding with other units. If an 
  out-of control unit enters the same hex as another unit, friendly 
  or enemy, roll 2D6; only a single roll is made, regardless of how 
  many units are in the hex. On a result of 11 or higher—10 or 
  higher if either or both units are Large Craft—the out-of-control 
  unit may collide with that unit. If multiple units are in the hex, 
  use the Movement Subphases (see p. 76) to determine which 
  PME 
  PME
  House Kurita Slayer aerospace fi ghters pass overhead.
  STRAIGHT MOVEMENT ON 
  GROUND MAPS TABLE
  (AERODYNE CRAFT ONLY)
  Minimum Straight Movement (in hexes)
  Velocity 
  Fighter 
  Small Craft 
  DropShip
  1
   8
  8 
  8
  2 
  12
  14 
  16
  3
  16 
  20 
  24
  4
  20
  26
  32
  5 
  24 
  32
  40
  6 
  28
  38
  48
  7 
  32
  44 
  56
  8 
  36
  50
  64
  9 
  40
  56
  72
  10
  44
  62
  80
  11
  48
  68
  88
  12
  52
  74
  96
  Units on ground maps cannot reach a velocity above 12. If required to gain a 
  velocity above 12 (through special maneuvers, for example) the unit remains 
  at Velocity 12 and must make a Control Roll.
  
  93
  93
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  MOVEMENT
  MOVEMENT
  unit gets hit fi rst; i.e. a DropShip will always be struck before a 
  small craft, which will always be struck before a fi ghter. If the 
  units in the hex are all the same type (or there are two or more 
  of the same type), randomly determine which one gets hit. 
  After determining the target, if that unit has not yet moved 
  in a turn and has at least 1 Thrust Point, the controlling player 
  may attempt to avoid the collision. To do so, the controlling 
  player makes a standard Control Roll. If successful, the unit 
  avoids the collision, but expends all its available Thrust Points 
  in getting out of the way. This expenditure does not eff ect a 
  unit’s velocity or heading. The out-of-control unit continues 
  moving. If the Control Roll fails, a collision occurs as normal, 
  ending the out-of-control unit’s movement. See Collisions 
  and Ramming, p. 241, for details of the damage suff ered by 
  both units.
  In addition, out-of-control units suff er a +2 modifi er on to-
  hit numbers and cannot attempt to land, launch or recover 
  fi ghters, or dock with other units. If an out-of-control unit 
  attempts to re-enter the atmosphere, it takes damage (see 
  Space/Atmosphere Interface, p. 78). 
  Random Movement
  When a Control Roll fails by a margin of 5 or more points, 
  or when indicated by critical hits or heat eff ects, a unit might 
  suff er random movement in its next Movement Phase. For 
  each point of velocity, roll 1D6 instead of moving the unit 
  forward and compare the result to the Random Movement 
  Table, carrying out the indicated movement. This movement 
  occurs regardless of what type of unit is out of control, or 
  whether the unit is operating on the space map, high-altitude 
  map or low-altitude map. Out of Control aerospace units 
  using the Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets rules, see p. 
  91, multiply the distances moved by 8 hexes and roll twice per 
  velocity point. Repeat this process until all points of velocity 
  have been used. 
  The controlling player should note the number of Thrust 
  Points he would normally spend to carry out each maneuver 
  at the unit’s current velocity (eff ective Thrust Points) and 
  apply the appropriate eff ects for high-G maneuvers (see 
  High-G Maneuvers, p. 78). Random movement allows units to 
  execute maneuvers normally considered impossible for their 
  class or velocity (i.e. a unit with Velocity 10 and only 5 thrust 
  points making a two-hexside turn). In such cases, double 
  the eff ective Thrust Point cost when calculating the eff ects 
  for high-G maneuvers. For example, a unit undertaking an 
  “impossible” manuever that exceeds its SI by 3 would apply 
  a +6 modifi er to the Control Roll rather than the usual +3, 
  making it unlikely that the unit or crew will avoid further 
  damage. A unit experiencing random movement may exceed 
  its maximum thrust for purposes of calculating these eff ects.
  Simon makes a Control Roll for his Shilone ﬁ ghter 
  and fails by a margin of 6, meaning the unit undergoes 
  random movement. The ﬁ ghter has a Velocity of 4 and so 
  Simon must make four rolls on the Random Movement 
  Table. The ﬁ rst result is a 3; the ﬁ ghter moves forward one 
  hex. The second result is a 4, and the unit moves forward 
  another hex. The third result is a 6, which means the ﬁ ghter 
  moves forward one hex, then turns right two hexsides—a 
  maneuver that normally costs 4 Thrust Points. The ﬁ nal 
  result is a 5; the unit moves forward one hex and turns 
  another hexside right, which would normally cost 2 Thrust 
  Points. The Shilone has an SI of 6, and so neither of the 
  maneuvers exceeds the restrictions on high-G maneuvers.
  CONTROL ROLL TABLE
  Base Target Number: Piloting Skill
  Situation*
  Movement
  Hovering (spheroids)
  Exceed normal operational ceiling (conventional 
  fi ghters, Airships and Fixed Wing Support Vehicles)
  Atmospheric re-entry
  Rolling more than once in a turn
  Using thrust in excess of current SI rating
  Unit with velocity over 2x Safe Thrust in a 
  atmosphere hex
  Stalling
  Descending 3+ altitudes in a single turn
  Damage
  Avionics critical
  Control critical
  Sustaining damage while in atmosphere
  Modifi ers
  Pilot/crew damage 
  +1 per crossed box
  Avionics damage 
  +1 per crossed box
  Life support damage
  +1 per crossed box
  Atmospheric operations 
  +2
  Above safe thrust 
  +1
  Above 2x Safe Thrust
  +1 per velocity point 
  above 2x Safe Thrust
  *Requires a Control Roll; apply all appropriate modifi ers
  RANDOM MOVEMENT TABLE
  1D6 Result
  Eff ect
  1 
  Forward 1 hex, turn left 2 hexsides
  2 
  Forward 1 hex, turn left 1 hexside
  3–4 
  Forward 1 hex
  5 
  Forward 1 hex, turn right 1 hexside
  6
  Forward 1 hex, turn right 2 hexsides
  
  LAKE CARANTHA, ALRAKIS
  DIERON MILITARY DISTRICT
  DRACONIS COMBINE
  24 APRIL 3039
  The powerful crump of Tai-sa Esau Olivares’ heavy artillery rolled 
  over the sparkling blue water of Lake Carantha like a peal of thun-
  der heralding the coming of a great storm. It was a unique sound, 
  deeper and more substantial than the crack of a tank’s gun, more 
  sonorous and stately than the deadly rattle of a ’Mech’s autocan-
  non.
  To Olivares it was the sound of salvation.
  The rain of carefully placed shells ripped into the Lyran striker 
  company, forcing back the light, fast ’Mechs. Buying his support 
  troops precious time to evac.
  Time.
  From this point on, everything would be measured in time.
  Olivares stalked his Dragon forward, toward the whistle of fall-
  ing shells. It was a dangerous, desperate maneuver, but now was 
  the time for dangerous, desperate maneuvers. He came upon a fl at 
  white Locust, the light ’Mech painted in the colors of the Twenty-
  third Arcturans—the Frost Giants. The battered Locust was moving 
  back, pushing its way through spruce and beech, and some trees 
  that looked like giant orange willows. 
  Trying to get clear.
  Olivares pulled his reticle over the light ’Mech’s back. The sym-
  bol fl ashed gold and his fi nger curled around his secondary trig-
  ger. His autocannon/5 tore into the Locust’s rear armor, followed by 
  twin beams of emerald fi re. Heat spiked in his cockpit, but he held 
  the shot despite the sweat that stung his eyes and made his hand 
  slippery on the trigger. Despite the shrill cry of the heat alarm.
  The Locust shuddered and went down, with a crash that shook 
  the trees and drowned out the roar of artillery.
  Olivares studied the fallen machine for an instant. The pilot 
  would be rattled, dazed.
  Ignoring the shells falling all around him, Olivares strode for-
  ward, crouched down and pointed his left arm at the Locust’s 
  canopy. He never decided to fi re, but suddenly emerald light was 
  melting through the ferroglass and blasting the cockpit into smol-
  dering wreckage.
  Olivares spared no thought for the pilot whose life he’d just 
  brutally ended. He planned to give the Twenty-third Arcturan a 
  bloody nose. Faced with such savagery, the Steiner commander 
  might hesitate: a minute, fi ve, maybe even ten.
  And everything was measured in time.
  He glanced down at his tactical schematic. Blue triangles were 
  falling back through the forest. The plan was working. But it could 
  only work for so long.
  Olivares stepped back out of his own artillery’s fi re zone, pulling 
  out of the woods and taking station with his regiment north of the 
  woodland. What was left of his regiment.
  Olivares was a big man, two meters of lean muscle crammed 
  into his Dragon’s tight cockpit. He rubbed his chin, feeling the 
  stubble against his palm. During his long journey to respectability 
  he’d given up the nose stud and the blood-red scharacki feather. 
  But shave?  That was asking too damn much. 
  He glanced out his canopy. Fate had sent them a gorgeous sum-
  mer day. Sunlight glistened on the surface of the blue lake like 
  spun gold. Sigmundrac’s white skyline was visible on the far side. 
  Olivares knew if he cracked his hatch he’d catch the perfume of 
  blooming wildfl owers carried on a cool breeze.
  Only the desperate roar of combat marred the illusion.
  Eight days before, a surprise attack by the Elsies had pushed 
  his troops out of Sigmundrac. Olivares had lost a company of 
  ’Mechs and a battalion of infantry. And now the Lyrans were driv-
  ing him toward the Caradhradene Mountains, where they’d crush 
  Steven Mohan, Jr.
  
  his force like a piece of iron worked between a hammer and 
  an anvil. 
  The battle was over. But with the planetary HPG in enemy-
  held territory, Olivares could not request permission to retreat 
  off -world. He pushed the thought away. Allowing his troops 
  to be slaughtered was no way to serve the Dragon. So he’d 
  ordered a fi ghting withdrawal. That order had been the be-
  ginning of his troubles rather than the end. Somehow he had 
  to hold his line while the bulk of his troops embarked their 
  DropShips, leaving a rapidly shrinking force to fi ght a horribly 
  dangerous delaying action.
  Olivares saw movement and looked down. A pair of troop-
  ers was moving left. His artillery spotters, brave souls who had 
  crept up on the Steiner line to call in the deadly rain of shells.
  A Steiner Phoenix Hawk pushed through the trees. The 
  ’Mech was slim and humanoid. Except for its immense size, it 
  might’ve been a soldier in heavy armor.
  Olivares scarred the fl at white paint on the Hawk’s chest 
  with his lasers, melting the armor below. Two other 
  gray and red Combine ’Mechs stepped forward 
  to help, but the enemy ’Mech ignored them. It 
  raised the laser clutched in its right hand and the 
  spotters disappeared in a fl ash of ruby light. Then 
  the Phoenix Hawk rose on its jump jets, fl eeing its 
  enemies.
  Olivares stepped his Dragon forward and released a fl ight 
  of LRMs. The missiles caught the Hawk in the back. A plume 
  of plasma stuttered out and the Phoenix Hawk tumbled out 
  of the sky. 
  Which didn’t solve Olivares’ main problem. Suddenly, his ar-
  tillery had lost its eyes.
  For a moment he considered calling a light ’Mech forward 
  to spot, and then thought better of it. At some point his artil-
  lery would have to withdraw anyway. “Artillery Actual, this is 
  Legion Actual. Tiger Six Orange.”
  “Tiger Six Orange,” answered the artillery commander. “Hai, 
  Olivares-sama.”
  And just like that, the heavy crump of the big guns fell si-
  lent.
  Olivares keyed the loadmaster’s frequency. “Sho-sa, report 
  status.”
  Static fl ared briefl y before Olivares heard Sho-sa Leonardo 
  Nicosia’s deep voice. “At least an hour, Tai-sa.”
  Olivares’ heart sank. “Come again, Sho-sa.”
  “We require six zero minutes for evac.”
  Olivares closed his eyes. His forces couldn’t hold out that 
  long. “Dammit, Nicosia, that ain’t gonna cut it.”
  “It requires time to load and secure equipment,” Nicosia said 
  stiffl  y. Then, perhaps remembering who he was talking to: 
  “The Snow Crane is fully loaded. I could order her to boost.”
  “Hell, no,” Olivares snapped. “I mean, iie.” He’d need the 
  Leopard’s guns later. “Just hurry it up. Load the people fi rst. If 
  necessary we’ll spike the guns and leave them.”
  “Hai, Tai-sa.”
  He glanced toward the city and saw one of his Lightnings 
  dropping like a stone. Suddenly the sleek fi ghter pulled out 
  of its power dive and shot away fi fty meters off  the deck. 
  Incandescent white fi re rippled along the ground in the 
  Lightning’s wake.
  
  The Elsie commander was trying to bring up his armor and ar-
  tillery. Olivares’ aerospace forces were fi ghting a desperate hold-
  ing action to keep them out of the fi ght, buying precious minutes 
  with their daring attacks. But their eff orts wouldn’t turn the battle. 
  Olivares didn’t have many support forces either—his were board-
  ing DropShips. 
  Damn it, he needed those minutes.
  As he watched, one of the Lightnings dove for the ground, pur-
  sued by an Elsie Stuka. Coherent light sparked between them. 
  The Lightning never pulled up. An immense orange fi reball rose 
  on the horizon.
  “Iie,” Olivares whispered fi ercely. “I will not break.”
  The Lyrans were advancing through the evergreen forest 
  that shadowed the lake’s shore line. Smart move. It prevented 
  Olivares from deploying his armor. He considered detaching 
  his lance of Manticores, then thought better of it. The tanks 
  would only end up waiting to embark. He’d leave them at the 
  border between the woods and the grassy plain that separated 
  him from his DropShips to the north, waiting to pound the first 
  Lyran ’Mech to poke its head out of the trees. But he still had to 
  slow the Lyrans down.
  Olivares keyed his tactical channel. “Armor, wheel about and 
  stand by to engage at Grid Six Four One. All ’Mechs, press into the 
  forest.” 
  A chorus of hais sounded over the tactical channel as his war-
  riors threw themselves into the teeth of the Lyran advance.
  Olivares stalked his Dragon forward. A quick glance at his sche-
  matic told him his artillery had cut the Lyran striker company 
  down to size. A limited victory. His warbook identifi ed a Victor, a 
  Zeus, two Crusaders and a Grasshopper. The Elsie commander had 
  brought up his assault battalion.
  He saw a fl ash of white against dark green and charged forward. 
  The Quickdraw pilot didn’t see him until the last minute.  By then 
  it was too late.
  Olivares rushed forward at full speed, pulling up at the last min-
  ute and clipping the Quickdraw in the leg. The limb wasn’t designed 
  to take a 60-ton ’Mech smashing into it at eighty kph. It snapped 
  like a dry twig. The Quickdraw tumbled to the ground. Olivares 
  knelt and gutted the cockpit with laser fi re. Then he turned and 
  ran in the direction the Quickdraw had been heading.
  He found Gunsho Lukin’s gray and red Trebuchet shuddering 
  under the attack of an Elsie Marauder. For a second the Marauder 
  pilot must have thought the ’Mech moving in on his back was the 
  friendly Quickdraw.
  That second was all Olivares needed. He let loose with lasers and 
  autocannon. The Marauder staggered under the brutal assault. 
  Lukin darted toward the bigger machine and took a point-blank 
  shot at its knee.
  The Lyran pilot ejected before his Marauder went down. Olivares 
  clubbed him out of the air with his ‘Mech’s left arm. A glance at 
  his tactical schematic told him they’d stopped the Lyran advance 
  cold, but the victory had come at a fearsome price. A third of the 
  Combine ’Mechs were down. And it was only going to get worse.
  A fl icker of orange light at Olivares’ feet caught his attention. A 
  stray laser beam had ignited the underbrush. 
  Suddenly he had an idea.
  He sprayed laser fi re into a pine tree. For a heartbeat the tree 
  withstood the assault, and then it exploded in a shower of burn-
  ing embers. It had been a beautiful summer, and the branches and 
  needles that littered the forest fl oor were dry and brittle. 
  Ready to burn.
  The fl ames caught. Suddenly, a thousand fi res bloomed where 
  there had only been one.
  “All ’Mechs, this is Olivares. Withdraw west toward the lake. Fire 
  the forest as you go. Keep your backs to the water. No Elsies get 
  past you.” He listened to his commanders acknowledge the order. 
  Then he switched frequencies. “Armor Actual, this is Legion Actual. 
  We’re sending them to you one at a time. Hurt them.”
  “Hai, Tai-sa.”
  Yellow-orange fl ames danced along the ground, carpeting the 
  forest fl oor with fi re. A light breeze carried burning embers to the 
  branches. The trees were starting to catch. A pine to Olivares’ left 
  popped as its needles caught, fl ashing into orange fl ame. Soon the 
  forest would blaze with a crown of fi re, racing from tree to tree and 
  roaring with the fury of a thousand ’Mechs. 
  Olivares and Lukin came across Smith’s Warhammer trying to 
  hold back an Awesome. Olivares pounded the assault ’Mech with 
  his autocannon to give the pilot something to think about while 
  the world around him burned.
  The Awesome broke and ran. Nothing terrifi ed MechWarriors 
  more than fi re.
  Olivares tied into his armor’s tactical channel just to hear the 
  whine of the tanks’ PPCs. His Manticores were picking off  the 
  panicked Lyran ’Mechs one at a time. A glance at his rear monitor 
  showed patches of blue through the burning branches. He turned, 
  stepped out of the forest and crossed a short beach, the mud giv-
  ing under his Dragon’s 60-ton weight. Then he was in the water, 
  where seventeen of his ’Mechs waited for him.
  His cockpit temperature dropped fi ve degrees in thirty seconds. 
  The heat alarm fell silent.
  An Elsie Stinger came stumbling out of the forest and pulled 
  back as every Combine ’Mech targeted it at the same time. Jeweled 
  lines marked the air: ruby, emerald and sapphire energies slicing 
  into the little ’Mech. It fell forward into the lake.
  “Legion Actual, this is Armor Actual, we are engaging a large en-
  emy force.”
  “On our way,” Olivares shouted. “’Mechs, one hundred meters 
  north and cut right. Now.”
  His pilots slogged through the lake, then cut across the plain 
  to the north of the woodland. Olivares turned a corner and saw 
  his two remaining Manticores pulling back, firing all the way. 
  Two more of his tanks were gutted hulks, but the Lyrans had 
  paid a heavy price for those tank kills. Five Elsie ’Mechs lay 
  crumpled on the grass. And now a force of Combine ’Mechs 
  lurked at their rear.
  Olivares keyed his transmitter. “All units, fi re.”
  Autocannons, lasers and missiles rippled out from the Combine 
  line. The Lyrans buckled under the sudden volley of fi re from be-
  hind. One ’Mech fell. Then a second. Some of the Lyrans turned 
  to face the new threat, while others continued to work the tanks. 
  Now they were the ones caught between hammer and anvil.
  They started to fall back, to regroup.
  Olivares had won a temporary advantage. He was still outgunned 
  and outmanned, and once the Lyrans formed up, they’d slaughter 
  his troops, but he had the opening he’d been looking for.
  
  “Eleventh Legion of Vega, all forces, this is Legion Actual. 
  Fall back to the DropShips. I say again, FALL BACK TO THE 
  DROPSHIPS.”
  It was a race. A running fi refi ght all the way back to the LZ, un-
  til Olivares lumbered up over a shallow ridge and saw his waiting 
  DropShips below: a Leopard, two Unions, his Fortress-class fl agship 
  and more descending to provide fi re support.
  A Lyran Stalker followed him up over the ridge. The big guns on 
  all four DropShips opened up. The Elsie ’Mech dissolved.
  At that moment, Olivares knew the Eleventh Legion of Vega 
  would survive the battle of Alrakis.
  FORTRESS-CLASS DROPSHIP ASTRINGENT BEAUTY
  EN ROUTE TO NADIR JUMP POINT, ALRAKIS
  DIERON MILITARY DISTRICT
  DRACONIS COMBINE
  24 APRIL 3039
  Tai-sa Esau Olivares centered the elegant rice paper on the desk 
  and taped it down so it would not fl it away during the many odd 
  accelerations that came to a DropShip. The same message was re-
  corded in his command log, but it might matter that he had com-
  posed the note in his own hand.
  It might matter a great deal.
  He lighted a candle, trusting the ship’s ventilation system to fi l-
  ter out the trace of smoke. His white silk kimono shifted against his 
  skin as he carefully arranged the ceremonial items:  the large white 
  cushion on a tatami mat, a second piece of rice paper resting on 
  a black tray along with a brush and ink block, a lacquered cup, a 
  fl ask of sake.
  His wakizashi. The sword’s blade was carefully wrapped in rice 
  paper and bound with a red cord.
  He knelt on the white cushion and drew a deep breath, compos-
  ing himself for what must come next.
  This was not how seppuku was supposed to be. He should 
  have been attended by his offi  cers and family. But he took on the 
  added burden of performing the ritual alone as a message to the 
  Coordinator, the same message written in delicate kanji calligra-
  phy on the rice paper taped to the desk.
  I alone am responsible for the debacle on Alrakis.
  For centuries, no Combine commander could retreat off -world 
  without the Coordinator’s explicit permission. The penalties were 
  harsh: death for the commander, his staff  and a third of the unit’s 
  soldiers.
  And so Olivares had compounded his shame with a lie. In his 
  note he had said he’d quieted his offi  cers’ objections by telling 
  them he had permission to withdraw. In truth, the subject had 
  never come up.
  But perhaps the lie would be enough to save his people.
  A small ding told him there was someone at his stateroom 
  hatch. 
  “Go,” Olivares snapped.
  The hatch swung open. Sho-sa Leonardo Nicosia entered. “Gomen 
  nasai, Tai-sa, but I—” The man’s eyes widened as he took in the 
  scene. Shock warred with despair on his face, but then he got con-
  trol of himself. “Tai-sa, perhaps if you petition the Coordinator—”
  “Silence,” Olivares roared. “I left orders not to be disturbed.”
  Nicosia bowed his head. “Hai, Tai-sa. But we just received this.” 
  He handed Olivares a message.
  The Tai-sa took the paper without looking at it. “Get out.”
  “Sir, it’s a transmission from an ISF operative who managed to 
  get to the Sigmundrac HPG—”
  “Get out.”
  Nicosia blanched. “Hai, Tai-sa.” He bowed from the waist and 
  quickly departed, shutting the hatch softly behind him.
  Olivares fi ngered the printout. Perhaps Nicosia was right. The 
  Coordinator might not forgive an unauthorized retreat, but his 
  son? Theodore Kurita was more pragmatic. Less bound by tradi-
  tion. And as Gunji-no-Kanrei, Deputy for Military Aff airs, his infl u-
  ence within the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery was consid-
  erable. Maybe...
  Iie.
  Olivares had served with Theodore, owed his command to 
  Theodore. It was the Kanrei’s example that had caused him to fi ght 
  so long and hard to regain his honor. He would not abandon it 
  now.
  He drew a deep breath. His gaze fell across the message.
  A chill took him.
  The message was brief, a list of worlds: Alnasi, Kessel, Vega. 
  Athenry, New Mendham, An Ting. It went on from there. Alrakis 
  was not alone. The Federated Commonwealth had launched a 
  massive assault along four separate axes, striking at the heart of 
  the Draconis Combine.
  Ten years before, during the Fourth Succession War, Hanse 
  Davion had digested large chunks of the Capellan Confederation. 
  Now it was the Combine’s turn.
  The message revealed the work of the yellow bird, the mythical 
  creature capable of killing the Dragon.
  He let the paper fall from his hand. If the yellow bird truly threat-
  ened the Combine, then she would need all her warriors to survive. 
  Perhaps a small role remained for him to play. 
  Olivares rose to his feet, crossed the room and detached the 
  piece of rice paper he’d taped to his desk. He touched it to the can-
  dle fl ame, allowing the yellow fi re to consume his fi nal words.
  Perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps the Coordinator would still or-
  der him to commit seppuku. If that day came, he would face it 
  like the samurai he was. But until it did, he would fi ght the 
  yellow bird with all his strength, all his will.
  And if he were wrong, the sword would still be there.
  Hai.
  The sword would always be there.
  
  After all players complete Movement Phase (Ground) and 
  Movement Phase (Aerospace) of a turn, units engage in combat. 
  Classic BattleTech units use two forms of combat: weapon attacks 
  and physical attacks. Units make weapon attacks using armaments 
  such as missiles, lasers and autocannons. For physical attacks, 
  each unit has a variety of options. Most physical attacks rely on 
  the weight of the attacking unit to infl ict damage.
  In Classic BattleTech, weapon and physical attacks (as well as 
  any other type of damage, such as falling) fi rst infl ict damage on 
  the outer armor that protects every unit (except conventional 
  infantry). When an attack or series of attacks destroys all of a 
  location’s Armor Points, any remaining damage aff ects the unit’s 
  internal structure in that location (or eliminates the trooper, in 
  the case of battle armor). Anytime a unit’s internal structure takes 
  damage, a critical hit may result that can knock out a weapon or 
  movement system or even destroy the unit.
  Infantry: Infantry units absorb damage diff erently than other 
  units (see Infantry, p. 212).
  Non-’Mech Special Combat Rules: As discussed in Individual 
  Unit Rules (see p. 36), the primary focus of Classic BattleTech is 
  ’Mechs. The Combat section fully covers ’Mech combat, but also 
  includes rules that can apply to multiple unit types. Specifi c combat 
  rules unique to ProtoMechs, Combat Vehicles, Support Vehicles, 
  infantry and aerospace units appear on pages 184, 192, 204, 212 
  and 234, respectively. Unless specifi cally stated otherwise in those 
  specifi c rules, the following rules apply equally to all units.
  Aerospace Units: This section only touches on aerospace 
  combat as it applies to ground units, and assumes the aerospace 
  unit is in fl ight. For rules governing aerospace units vs. aerospace 
  units in atmosphere or space (and for landed or crashed aerospace 
  units), see Aerospace Movement and Aerospace Units, pp. 74 and 
  234, respectively.
  GAME TERMS
  Before reading this section, players should revisit the defi nitions 
  of the most important game terms in Classic BattleTech, which will 
  provide a solid framework from which the rules in this section 
  can build (see Game Terms, p. 42). Players should also familiarize 
  themselves with the record sheets of the various units (especially 
  ’Mechs), paying particular attention to the defi nitions of location, 
  internal structure, slot and so on (see Record Sheets, p. 11).
  ATTACK DECLARATION
  As described in Playing the Game (see p. 36), all attacks are 
  declared before any are resolved. Only weapon attacks declared 
  during weapon attack declaration are resolved in the Weapon 
  Attack Phase. Likewise, only physical attacks declared during 
  physical attack declaration are resolved in the Physical Attack 
  Phase (except Charging and Death From Above, which are 
  declared during the Movement Phase). 
  All declared attacks must be resolved, even if the intended 
  target is destroyed before all attacks against it have been made 
  (though an attack may be aborted if the Modifi ed To-Hit Number 
  is greater than 12; see Modifi ed To-Hit Number, p. 42). Likewise, 
  attacks not declared cannot be made, even if the opportunity 
  presents itself during play.
  TORSO TWIST/TURRET ROTATION
  As part of each unit’s weapon attack declaration, players can 
  twist the torsos of their ’Mechs (except for four-legged ’Mechs, 
  which cannot torso twist) or rotate the turrets of any turreted 
  vehicles. This twist or rotation lasts for the remainder of the turn, 
  aff ecting fi ring arcs for the Weapon Attack and Physical Attack 
  MM 
  MM
  A lance of Otomo, led by Chu-sa Lainie Shimazu in her NG-C3A Naginata, confront rebels from the Second Sword of Light outside of Imperial City. 
  
  99
  99
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  phases. The torso or turret returns to its forward position in 
  the End Phase (unless the turret jams, see Ground Combat 
  Vehicle Hit Location Table, p. 193 of Combat Vehicles).
  ’Mechs: A ’Mech can twist its torso one hexside (60 degrees) 
  to the left or right of the direction in which its feet are pointing. 
  This new alignment modifi es a ’Mech’s upper body fi ring arc 
  as described in Firing Arcs, p. 104, but for movement and hit 
  location purposes the ’Mech is still considered to be facing in 
  its pre-twist direction.
  Vehicles: Vehicles with turrets may align the turrets to any 
  hexside. Rotating its turret modifi es a vehicle’s fi ring arc as 
  described in Firing Arcs, p. 104.
  LINE OF SIGHT 
  In order to attack a target, a clear line of sight (LOS) must 
  exist between the target and the attacker. A straight line 
  running from the center of the attacking unit’s hex to the 
  center of the target unit’s hex defi nes the LOS between two 
  units. (see Attacks by Grounded Aerospace Units, p. 249, for 
  the exception). Any hexes through which this line passes lie 
  along the LOS, even if the line barely crosses a given corner 
  of a hex. 
  If the LOS passes exactly between two hexes, the player 
  controlling the targeted unit decides which of the two hexes lie 
  along the LOS. This choice can also aff ect the attack direction 
  for incoming attacks (see Attack Direction, p. 119). The chosen 
  hexside is used for all attacks between those two units for the 
  remainder of the turn (see Line of Sight Between Two Hexes 
  diagram on p. 101). 
  The hexes containing the attacking and target units are 
  not considered when determining LOS, and they almost 
  never interfere with LOS (see Water Hexes, p. 102, and Terrain 
  Modifi ers, p. 108, for the sole exceptions to this rule).
  Adjacent Ground Units: Units in adjacent hexes always have 
  LOS to each other, unless one unit is completely underwater 
  and a unit in an adjacent hex is not (see Terrain Modifi ers, p. 
  109). Likewise, if both units are in adjacent building hexes 
  but at diff erent levels, LOS may not exist (see Combat Within 
  Buildings, p. 175).
  Airborne Aerospace Units and LOS: Airborne aerospace 
  units always have LOS to one another, unless players are 
  using the printed side of a Classic BattleTech map for low-
  altitude movement, in which case terrain intervenes in the 
  same manner as for non-aerospace units (see Low-Altitude 
  Movement, p. 80, and Air-to-Air Attacks, p. 241). 
  Airborne Aerospace Units vs. Non-Aerospace Units: All 
  non-aerospace units (including grounded aerospace units) 
  not submerged in a water hex always have LOS to airborne 
  aerospace units that are operating anywhere from Altitude 1 
  (NOE) to Altitude 8 on the low-altitude map, provided the 
  aerospace units ended the Movement Phase (Aerospace) in 
  a low-altitude map hex corresponding to the unit’s ground 
  mapsheet. Ground units do not have LOS to aerospace units 
  fl ying at Altitude 9 or 10 (or on any row of the atmosphere on a 
  high-altitude map; see p. 79) and so cannot attack them.
  The same LOS rules apply if using the Aerospace Units 
  on Ground Mapsheets rules (p. 91), except that LOS always 
  exists regardless of the size of the playing area, or where the 
  aerospace units ended their movement in relation to the non-
  aerospace units.
  Aerospace units can only attack non-airborne units along 
  their nominated attack path (see Air-to-Ground Attacks, p. 242)
  LEVELS AND HEIGHT
  Terrain and units apply the following height rules for 
  purposes of LOS (unit heights are also summarized on the Unit 
  Heights Table).
  Unit Heights
  Unit height applies to LOS in the following manner:
  ’Mechs: Standing ’Mechs rise 2 levels above the level of the 
  underlying hex; prone ’Mechs rise 1 level above the underlying 
  hex. 
  ProtoMechs, Vehicles and Infantry: ProtoMechs, vehicles 
  and infantry rise 1 level above the level of the underlying hex.
  Submarines: While submerged, submarines subtract their 
  depth from the surface of the water hex they occupy (normally 
  Depth 0), but add 1 depth to the depth of the hex they occupy; 
  a submarine at Depth 1 is still considered underwater. A vessel 
  on the surfaces rises 1 level above the level of the hex.
  Large Support Vehicles: Large Support Vehicles rise 2 
  levels above the level of the underlying hex(s).
  Airborne Non-Aerospace Units: VTOLs and WiGE vehicles, 
  or other units expending such MP (such as a battle armor unit 
  expending VTOL MP), add their elevation +1 to the level of 
  the underlying hex; airborne Large Support Vehicles add their 
  elevation +2. 
  Grounded Aerospace Units: For purposes of LOS, treat 
  grounded aerospace units as follows: 
  • 
  Fighters rise 1 level above the level of the underlying hex 
  they occupy
  • 
  Small craft rise 2 levels above the underlying hex
  • 
  Aerodyne DropShips rise 5 levels above the levels of the 
  underlying hexes they occupy 
  • 
  Spheroid DropShips rise 10 levels above the underlying 
  hexes they occupy.
  UNIT HEIGHTS TABLE 
  Type
  Heights*
  ’Mech
  2 levels**
  ProtoMechs, vehicles, infantry and 
  fi ghters
  1 level
  Submarines
  1 depth
  Large Support Vehicles and small craft
  2 levels
  Aerodyne DropShips
  5 levels
  Spheroid DropShips
  10 levels
  *A unit’s height levels (or elevations, if airborne) must be included in the level 
  of the underlying hex for determining a unit’s total height; the height of 
  aerospace units for LOS purposes is irrelevant while airborne.
  **Prone ’Mechs rise one level above the level of the underlying hex.
  
  Terrain Height and Depth
  A hex’s level is marked on the map. Hexes with 
  levels higher than 0 are also referred to as hills. 
  Hexes with levels lower than 0 are also referred to as 
  sinkholes. All aff ect LOS in the same way. 
  If targeting a hex, the level of the adjacent hex 
  along the LOS between the attacker and target is 
  considered to be 1 level lower.
  Woods: Woods rise 2 levels above the level of the 
  underlying hex they occupy. Units occupying woods 
  hexes are standing on the underlying terrain, not on 
  top of the trees (see VTOL Movement, p. 54, for an 
  exception to this rule).
  Buildings: Buildings rise above the level of the 
  underlying hex they occupy for a number of levels 
  equal to the level listed for the building. For example, 
  a Level 2 building on a Level 4 hex makes Level 6 the 
  total height of the hex.
  Water: Water hexes descend to a specifi c depth 
  below the surface; the surface of the water is actually 
  at the same level as the surrounding terrain. The 
  depth represents the bottom of the body of water. 
  This means that water intervenes for LOS purposes 
  as if it is at the level of the surrounding terrain, while 
  a ’Mech in the water stands on the bottom, at the 
  depth level of the hex, and rises 2 levels above that 
  depth.
  INTERVENING TERRAIN
  Terrain along the LOS between the attacker and the target 
  that actually lies within the LOS (not including the hexes 
  occupied by the attacker and target) has the potential to be 
  intervening terrain. The terrain of these hexes may or may 
  not intervene in LOS, depending on the terrain’s level relative 
  to the attacker and target. Likewise, features of the terrain in 
  the hexes along the LOS (buildings, water, woods and so on) 
  may or may not intervene in LOS, depending on their level 
  relative to the attacker and target. Only terrain features that 
  have levels, such as trees and buildings, can intervene in LOS. 
  For example, rubble would not intervene, though the hex 
  containing the rubble might (depending on its underlying 
  level).
  Terrain along the LOS between two units intervenes if:
  • 
  The level of the terrain or feature is equal to or higher 
  than the level of both units; or
  • 
  The terrain or feature is adjacent to the attacker and 
  equal to or higher than the attacker’s level; or 
  • 
  The terrain or feature is adjacent to the target and equal 
  to or higher than the target’s level.
  Eff ects of Intervening Terrain
  Intervening terrain has the following eff ects on LOS.
  Buildings and Bridges: Intervening building hexes block LOS; 
  bridges, however, do not.
  Heavy Woods: Two or more hexes of intervening heavy woods 
  block LOS. One hex of intervening heavy woods combined with 
  one or more hexes of intervening light woods will also block LOS.
  Hills: Intervening hills block LOS.
  Light Woods: Three or more hexes of intervening light woods 
  block LOS. One hex of intervening light woods combined with 
  one or more hexes of intervening heavy woods also block LOS.
  Water: Intervening water blocks LOS unless attacker and target 
  are completely submerged and no other terrain intervenes. See 
  also Water Hexes, p. 102; Terrain Modifi ers, p. 108; and Partial Cover, 
  p. 102 (see Multi-Purpose Missiles, p. 229, for the exception).
  Other Units: Except for grounded DropShips, intervening units 
  have no eff ect on LOS or attacks; grounded DropShips block LOS. 
  • LINE OF SIGHT DIAGRAM • 
  
  101
  101
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  The LOS diagram on p. 100 of numerous units on the 
  Large Mountain #1 map illustrates many of the principles 
  governing line of sight. 
  The BattleMech in Hex A wants to attack in this turn. 
  It is standing in a Level 6 hex, and is therefore considered 
  to be at Level 8 for purposes of LOS. Checking LOS for the 
  BattleMech in Hex A to the other units shown, we ﬁ nd the 
  following conditions:
  ’Mech A has a clear LOS to several of the B hexes occupied 
  by the DropShip. The ship is considered to be at Level 8 for 
  purposes of LOS; the original central hex on the map was 
  Depth 1, but a landing spheroid DropShip increases that 
  depth by 1 for a total Depth of 2; 10 (height of a spheroid 
  DropShip) – 2 (depth of underlying hex) = Level 8. 
  LOS to the infantry unit in Hex C passes through one hex 
  of light woods, and so is not blocked.
  The WiGE vehicle in Hex D is at Elevation 8 (1 elevation 
  above the Level 7 of the underlying hex) and since it rises 
  one level above its underlying terrain, for purposes of LOS 
  it is considered to be at Elevation 9. However, as the woods 
  in Hex 4 are equal to or higher than the attacker and also 
  adjacent to the attacker, and since the LOS from the ’Mech 
  in Hex A to the WiGE in Hex D passes directly between 
  the clear hex and that light woods hex, the target WiGE’s 
  controlling player decides that the LOS is aﬀ ected by the 
  light woods; they do not block LOS, however.
  LOS to the ’Mech in Hex E passes through one light woods 
  and one heavy woods hex, and so is blocked. Likewise, LOS 
  to the ground vehicle in Hex F is blocked because it passes 
  through one light woods and one heavy woods hex.
  LOS to the ’Mech in Hex G passes through two light 
  woods and a heavy woods hex, and so is blocked.
  The ’Mech in Hex H is standing in a Level 7 hex, and is 
  therefore considered to be at Level 9 for LOS purposes. Even 
  though the LOS passes through hexes 1 and 2, those woods 
  are at Level 8 for purposes of LOS and so do not intervene. 
  The woods in Hex 3, however, are in the LOS and are at 
  Level 9 for purposes of LOS. Because these woods are equal 
  to or higher than both attacker and target, they intervene. 
  As with the LOS to the WiGE, the woods in Hex 4 are equal 
  to or higher than the attacker and adjacent to the attacker, 
  and so they intervene as well; only two of these light woods 
  hexes intervene, however, and so they do not block LOS.
  The VTOL in Hex I is at Elevation 14, and because it 
  rises one elevation above its terrain, it is considered to be 
  at Elevation 15 for purposes of LOS. However, as with the 
  units in Hexes D and H, the woods in Hex 4 are equal to or 
  higher than the attacker and adjacent to the attacker, and 
  so they intervene. Only 1 light woods hex intervenes, which 
  does not block LOS.
  Finally, the ’Mech in Hex J is in a Level 9 hex and so is at 
  Level 11 for LOS purposes. LOS is not blocked.
  Use the diagram to practice ﬁ nding LOS with the other 
  units. Try to determine how many targets each unit can 
  see, and compare your results to the correct results that 
  follow: Hex B has 9 targets, Hex C has 8 targets, Hex D has 9 
  targets, Hex E has 7 targets, Hex F has 7 targets, Hex G has 
  7 targets, Hex H has 8 targets, Hex I has 8 targets and Hex 
  J has 5 targets.
  In the LOS Between Two Hexes diagram, Controlling 
  Player 1 wants his ’Mech and conventional LRM 
  (Foot) Platoon in hex A and Combat Vehicle in Hex B 
  to attack Controlling Player 2’s ’Mech in Hex C on the 
  Woodland map. 
  Fortunately for Player 1, Player 2 lost the Initiative and 
  so must make his weapon declaration before Player 1 must 
  announce any attacks from his three units. Unfortunately 
  for Player 1, however, Player 2 is well aware of what he’s 
  doing and declares an attack against the conventional 
  LRM (Foot) Platoon in Hex A. As the LOS between the 
  attacker and target falls exactly between two sets of paired 
  hexes (1 and 2 on the diagram), it is up to Player 1—who 
  controls the targeted unit in Hex A—to determine which 
  side of those hex pairs the LOS will pass. He cannot choose 
  one hexside (Side I on the diagram) in the ﬁ rst pairing and 
  then another hexside in the second pairing (Side II on the 
  diagram), but must instead choose one hexside that will 
  aﬀ ect all such hex pairings. Player 1 knows that such an 
  attack is likely to hit the infantry unit hard, especially as it 
  is in a clear hex, but he is desperate to try to damage Player 
  2’s ’Mech again, as it is already heavily damaged and any 
  additional damage might destroy it. He also knows that 
  once the defender chooses the path for the LOS, it is “locked 
  in” between those two units for the rest of that turn. He 
  therefore chooses Side I for the LOS to pass, allowing Player 
  2’s ’Mech to attack him, but knowing his infantry can 
  counterattack. If he had chosen Side II, the LOS would have 
  passed through two intervening light woods hexes and an 
  intervening heavy wood hex, blocking LOS and making an 
  attack between either unit impossible for this turn. 
  When the infantry attacks the ´Mech, any damage 
  inﬂ icted will be rolled on the Front column of the ’Mech 
  Hit Location Table to determine location, as the attack is 
  striking the front (see Attack Direction, p. 119).
  After Player 2 announces his attack, Player 1 is free to 
  announce attacks for his three units. The LOS between the 
  LRM (Foot) Platoon and the enemy ’Mech is already “locked 
  in” and so he announces that attack. 
  However, even though the infantry in Hex A can ﬁ re at 
  the target in Hex C, when Player 1 announces an attack 
  from the ’Mech in Hex A to the ’Mech in Hex C, Player 2 
  controls the targeted unit, and so can choose Side I or Side 
  • LINE OF SIGHT BETWEEN TWO HEXES DIAGRAM • 
  
  II of the paired hexes (1 and 2 in the diagram). In an attempt to 
  protect his ’Mech as much as possible, he chooses Side II for the 
  LOS to pass through. Two light woods hexes and a heavy wood 
  hex intervene between the attacker and target, blocking LOS 
  and making an attack between either unit impossible for this 
  turn. (Had Player 2 chosen Side II, the Level 1 hill next to the 
  targeted ’Mech would have provided partial cover from attacks 
  by the ’Mech in Hex A, if the woods hexes had not already 
  blocked LOS; see Partial Cover, below.)
  Player 1 then announces that his Combat Vehicle in Hex B is 
  attacking the target ’Mech in Hex C. Once again, as the LOS passes 
  between the single pairing of hexes (1 in the diagram), the target 
  ´Mech’s controlling player may choose Side I or Side II for the LOS 
  to pass through. Once again, Player 2 chooses Side II in order to 
  protect his ´Mech. This means that only a single light woods hex 
  intervenes between attacker and target; however, because the 
  Combat Vehicle is considered to be at Level 1 (the underlying hex 
  is Level 0), and the Level 1 hex adjacent to the Combat Vehicle lies 
  between attacker and target and is higher than the attacker, LOS 
  is completely blocked, leaving only the attacks between Player 
  1’s infantry and Player 2’s ’Mech to be resolved.
  If Player 2 had chosen Side I, any damage inﬂ icted by the 
  attack would have been rolled on the Front column of the ’Mech 
  Hit Location Table to determine location, as the attack is hitting 
  the front. If no Level 1 hill existed between attacker and target 
  and the target’s player chose Side II, any damage from the attack 
  would have been rolled on the Left Side column of the ’Mech Hit 
  Location Table to determine location, because the attack would 
  have struck the left side (see Attack Direction, p. 119).
  If no one moves during the next turn’s Movement Phase 
  (Ground), both players may choose diﬀ erent paths than in the 
  previous turn for each attacker and target unit during attack 
  declaration in the Weapon Attack Phase. 
  Finally, Player 2 could have announced that he was 
  making no attacks in the turn, which would have left Player 
  1 announcing an attack from his LRM (Foot) Platoon to the 
  target ’Mech in Hex C. Player 2 could then have chosen Side II 
  for the LOS, thus blocking all attacks in that turn.
  PARTIAL COVER (’MECH ONLY)
  Only a standing ’Mech can receive partial cover from terrain. 
  Even though Large Support Vehicles, grounded small craft and 
  grounded DropShips rise more than a single level above the 
  underlying terrain of the hexes they occupy, they never receive 
  partial cover.
  To receive partial cover, a ’Mech must be adjacent to a hex one 
  level higher than the level of the underlying hex it occupies, and 
  that hex must lie between it and the attacking unit. For example, 
  a ’Mech standing on Level 0 terrain is at Level 2 for determining 
  LOS. An adjacent Level 1 hex lying between the attacker and the 
  target would provide partial cover. The fi ring unit must also have 
  an LOS level equal to or lower than the defending unit’s LOS level 
  in order for the target to receive partial cover. In other words, 
  an attacker fi ring downhill (regardless of how many hexes lie 
  between attacker and target) negates its target’s partial cover. 
  The intervening level can be a hill, a building (but not a 
  bridge, which does not provide partial cover), a DropShip or 
  any combination. Partial cover does not block LOS, but it adds a 
  +1 modifi er to the attacker’s to-hit number. The attack is then 
  resolved normally, but if the hit location roll indicates a leg, the 
  attack strikes the cover instead. If the partial cover is a building or 
  grounded DropShip, the hit damages the building or DropShip; see 
  Buildings and Attacks by Grounded Aerospace Unit , pp. 166 and 249 
  respectively. For four-legged ’Mechs, a leg hit means any leg at all, 
  front or rear. For further explanation, see To-Hit Modifi ers, p. 106.
  ProtoMechs: Because they are only the height of vehicles, 
  ProtoMechs never benefi t from partial cover.
  Woods: A ’Mech does not receive partial cover from woods.
  WATER HEXES
  A Depth 1 Water hex provides partial cover for a standing ’Mech 
  occupying that hex. Because the water surrounds the ’Mech, the 
  partial cover applies even if the attacker is at a higher level than 
  the target. 
  Depth 2 or deeper water completely blocks LOS to and from 
  the ’Mech standing in that hex, while LOS is blocked to a prone 
  ’Mech in Depth 1 or deeper water. This means that units above 
  the water, such as hover or WiGE vehicles, never have LOS to a 
  submerged unit, even if they occupy the same water hex.
  Vehicles: Hovercraft moving over water and surface naval 
  vessels rise 1 level above the surface level of the water hex. 
  Submarines can be at any depth on or under the water (see Naval 
  Movement, p. 56). Other types of vehicles cannot enter water 
  hexes (except for a Support Vehicle with the Amphibious Chassis 
  and Controls modifi cation).
  Underwater Attacks: Special rules apply to attacks that travel 
  through water. See Terrain Modifi ers, p. 108.
  The Line of Sight diagram on p. 100 illustrates some examples 
  of partial cover. 
  The ’Mech in Hex G has partial cover from the units in Hexes 
  A, B, C and E because it is adjacent to a level that is one level 
  below its own LOS height, along the LOS between the ’Mech 
  and those three units, and the LOS height of those three units is 
  equal to or less than the LOS height of the ’Mech. 
  The ’Mech in Hex H has partial cover from the units in Hexes 
  A, B, C, D and E for the same reason. In the case of the ’Mech in 
  Hex E, the target ’Mech in Hex H would only receive partial cover 
  if the ’Mech in Hex E declared its attacks ﬁ rst—the LOS passes 
  exactly between the hexes that would allow the partial cover to 
  intervene, which means the target can choose the partial cover 
  hex. Even though the WiGE in Hex D is at Elevation 9 for LOS 
  purposes (all WiGEs are one elevation above the level of their 
  underlying hex, which is Level 8), the WiGE’s LOS height is not 
  greater than that of the target, and so partial cover still applies.
  Finally, the ’Mech in Hex J has partial cover from the units in 
  Hexes A, B, C, D and E. For the units in Hexes A, C, D and E, the 
  partial cover comes from the terrain in Hex 4, which is one level 
  MM 
  MM
  Cauldron-Born, Second Sword of Light (House Kurita) 
  
  103
  103
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  below the LOS height of the ’Mech in Hex J, and is adjacent 
  to the ’Mech in Hex J along the LOS. For the DropShip in Hex 
  B, whose LOS does not pass through Hex 4, the ’Mech still 
  has partial cover because it is standing in Depth 1 water.
  WEAPON ATTACKS
  During the Weapon Attack Phase, players use their units’ 
  armaments to attempt to infl ict damage on targets. Players 
  should not consider the list below a hard-and-fast set of rules 
  for exactly how to resolve weapon attacks, but instead as a 
  way to lay the framework, from which the specifi c rules in the 
  rest of this section can easily build a full understanding of how 
  to resolve combat in BattleTech.
  The rough order of such actions is as follows:
  • 
  An attacking unit fi res a weapon at an enemy target 
  unit; 
  • 
  If the weapon hits, it infl icts a certain amount of 
  damage;
  • 
  The attacker rolls a hit location; 
  • 
  The targeted player marks off  in that location a number of 
  armor circles equal to the amount of damage infl icted;
  • 
  If no more armor circles remain in a location and damage 
  from the attacking weapon remains, that damage aff ects 
  the location’s internal structure;
  • 
  The targeted player marks off  a number of internal 
  structure circles equal to the remaining damage 
  infl icted;
  • 
  The attacker rolls to determine critical hits;
  • 
  Critical hits, if any, are applied;
  • 
  If a location is destroyed and damage from the attacking 
  weapon remains, that damage is transferred to the next 
  location inward;
  • 
  This basic procedure repeats until all weapons fi re is resolved.
  For one unit to fi re at another, the attacking unit must 
  have a valid line of sight to the target, and the target must be 
  within the range and fi ring arc of the weapons the attacking 
  player wishes to use. The attacking player then calculates the 
  likelihood of a shot hitting the target based on range to the 
  target, target and attacker movement, intervening terrain and 
  other factors.
  Players fi re each weapon on a unit individually (see Infantry 
  and Large Craft Weapon Bays for the exceptions, pp. 212 and 
  234 respectively), and can fi re as many or as few of their unit’s 
  weapons at the target as they wish, within the restrictions 
  described below. Unless otherwise stated, each weapon may 
  be fi red only once per turn. Each weapon only gets one to-hit 
  roll per turn, even though some weapons may infl ict damage 
  more than once against the target.
  If the attack hits the target, the attacking player determines 
  the damage location and the target player records the result 
  on the damaged unit’s record sheet.
  The rules for weapon attacks provide general guidelines 
  for ’Mech fi ring arcs, infl icting damage and critical hits (the 
  specifi c rules governing such situations for other units are 
  covered in those units’ respective sections). These rules also 
  apply to physical attacks (see p. 144).
  AMMUNITION EXPENDITURE
  Units carry a limited amount of ammunition for missile 
  launchers, machine guns, autocannons and other ballistic and 
  missile weapons. Weapons that require ammunition indicate 
  the number of shots available for that weapon in the Ammo 
  column of the Weapons and Equipment Tables (see p. 303). A 
  “shot” in this case represents a single use of the weapon in a 
  single turn, not a single missile or round of ammunition. For 
  example, an LRM-20 with one ton of ammo has six shots, so 
  the weapon can be fi red six times (once a turn, for a total of six 
  turns), each shot launching twenty missiles. Every time one of 
  these weapons is fi red, one shot of ammo is expended.
  The exception to this rule is rapid-fi re weapons (such as Ultra 
  autocannons, rotary autocannons and so on; they are noted 
  as such in the Type column of the Weapon and Equipment 
  Tables). Such weapons can fi re multiple shots in a single use 
  in one turn. For example, a rotary AC/5 can fi re anywhere from 
  one to six shots in a single turn, as designated by the player. A 
  rotary AC/5 with one ton of ammo has 20 shots. This weapon 
  can be fi red at a rate of one shot per turn for twenty turns, or 
  fi red three times at a rate of six shots in three diff erent turns, 
  which would consume 18 shots—meaning it could then 
  only fi re two single shots in two separate turns, or two shots 
  in a single turn, or any combination thereof (see Rapid-Fire 
  Weapons, p. 114). 
  The record sheet for each unit indicates the available 
  number of shots for each weapon in the actual ammo slot(s) 
  on the Critical Hit Table (older record sheets included that 
  information in the Weapons Inventory as well). The player 
  should keep a tally of shots fi red using the Critical Hit Table, 
  making a hash mark (when the attack is declared) next to the 
  appropriate ammo slot every time he fi res the corresponding 
  weapon. When the number of marks equals the amount of 
  ammo carried in that slot, that ammo bin is empty. If no other 
  bins in the unit carry that type of ammo, the weapon is out of 
  ammunition and cannot be fi red for the rest of the game. 
  MM 
  MM
  OBK-M10 O-Bakemono, Fifth Sun Zhang Cadre (House Kurita) 
  
  Each weapon can draw ammo from any ammo bin that carries 
  the right ammunition for that weapon. The ammo need not be 
  carried in the same location as the weapon. For example, an LRM-
  15 in the left arm of a ’Mech can use LRM-15 ammo carried in any 
  location, but cannot use LRM-5, -10, or -20 ammo. In addition, 
  provided the weapon is drawing from the correct ammo slot and 
  multiple ammo slots of the correct type exist, a player can draw 
  ammo from whichever slot he wants in a given turn, switching 
  around each turn at his discretion. For example, a ’Mech mounting 
  an LRM-15 has three LRM-15 ammo slots, one in the right arm, 
  one in the left torso and one in the left arm. In three consecutive 
  turns the player fi res the LRM-15. In each turn, the player can put a 
  hash mark next to a diff erent ammo slot (one for each turn); three 
  hash marks in one location (again, one for each turn); two in one 
  slot and one in another slot; and so on. This rule also applies to 
  rapid-fi re weapons; a ’Mech mounting a rotary AC/5 with three 
  diff erent ammo slots of the correct type can “rapid-fi re” six shots 
  in a single turn and then mark off  all six shots in any combination 
  in the three diff erent ammo slots (two shots in each, all six shots 
  in one, three shots in two and so on).
  Infantry: Infantry units do not need to keep track of 
  ammunition, with the exception of certain battle armor missile 
  attacks (see Battle Armor Attacks, p. 217).
  Dumping Ammunition
  During a game, a player might wish to dump the ammunition 
  carried by his ’Mech or vehicle. He accomplishes this by opening 
  the ammo loading doors on the back of the ’Mech or rear of the 
  vehicle and allowing the ammunition to feed out.
  During the End Phase of a turn, a player can announce that his 
  unit will dump ammunition in the next turn. The unit may dump 
  any or all of the ammunition it carries, but ammunition must be 
  dumped by slot (or by ton on vehicles; .5 tons if it is the only MG 
  ammo on the vehicle); if any ammo in a slot is dumped, all of it 
  must be dumped (for vehicles, the entire ton must be dumped). 
  Dumping is carried out during the following turn.
  When a player announces that his unit will dump ammunition, 
  that ammunition is immediately unavailable for use, and so that 
  weapon may not be fi red from this point on (unless there is another 
  ammo slot, or ton, of the same type of ammo available). However, 
  the ammunition is not actually gone from the unit until the End 
  Phase of the following turn. For that one turn, the ammunition 
  remains onboard in its normal location and critical slot, and can 
  suff er critical hits (or heat build-up for ’Mechs).
  A unit dumping ammunition cannot run/fl ank or jump in that 
  turn. Any hit against the dumping unit on any rear location during 
  the Weapon Attack or Physical Attack phases infl icts normal 
  damage, but it also causes all dumping ammunition that can 
  explode to do so. (Rear locations include the rear torso on ´Mechs, 
  but not the turret on a vehicle that mounts one.) Ammunition can 
  be stored in many diff erent ’Mech locations, but it is loaded and 
  unloaded through the rear torso.
  Ammunition dumped in a hex cannot be exploded or used for 
  any type of attack.
  Aerospace 
  Units: 
  Grounded 
  aerospace 
  units 
  dump 
  ammunition like vehicles; airborne aerospace units may not 
  expend Maximum Thrust, and any hit against a dumping unit’s 
  aft armor causes the ammunition to explode.
  Prohibited Units: Only ProtoMechs cannot dump ammunition.
  Underwater: Units may not dump ammunition when 
  submerged. If a unit submerges during the turn it is dumping 
  ammunition, all three torso locations automatically fl ood (see 
  Underwater Units, p. 121).
  FIRING ARCS
  If an attacking unit has LOS to its intended target, the attacking 
  player can then check the fi ring arcs of his unit’s weapons to see 
  which weapons can hit the target. There are four fi ring arcs as 
  shown on the Firing Arcs diagram: the forward arc (in yellow), left 
  side arc (in blue), right side arc (also in blue), and rear arc (in red). 
  Note that the fi ring arcs extend from the fi ring unit to the edge 
  of the playing area. The maximum ranges for diff erent weapons 
  are described in the Weapons and Equipment Tables, beginning 
  on p. 303.
  Infantry: Infantry do not have fi ring arc restrictions.
  ProtoMechs: ProtoMechs use the fi ring arcs for ’Mechs and can 
  twist their torsos according to the standard rules (see Rotating the 
  Firing Arc, p. 105). If the ProtoMech is carrying a main gun, that 
  weapon can be fi red at targets in the forward, right side and left 
  side fi ring arcs. The weapon is rotated if the torso is twisted, giving 
  it a potential 360-degree fi eld of fi re.
  Vehicles: Vehicles use the fi ring arcs for ‘Mechs. If a vehicle has 
  a turret, weapons mounted in that location fi re into the forward 
  arc, though this fi ring arc can be rotated as described in Rotating 
  the Firing Arcs, p. 105.
  Aerospace Units: Aerodyne units have four arcs: nose, left, 
  right and rear (see Aerodyne Firing Arcs, p. 236.
  Spheroid units have six arcs: nose, front left, front right, aft left, 
  aft right and aft (see Spheroid Firing Arcs, p. 235).
  Grounded aerospace units have specifi c rules for fi ring arcs (see 
  Attacks By Grounded Aerospace units, p. 249).
  Non-Aerospace Units to Airborne Aerospace Units: When 
  non-aerospace units attack airborne aerospace units, normal 
  fi ring arcs apply. 
  LS 
  LS
  TSH-7S Tai-sho, Twenty-second Dieron Regulars (House Kurita) 
  
  105
  105
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  If the airborne aerospace unit is operating on a low-altitude 
  map, the LOS to the target from the attacker is drawn to Hex 
  0909 and the appropriate fi ring arcs that implies. (An attacker 
  can only target airborne aerospace units that occupy a low-
  altitude map hex corresponding to their ground mapsheet; 
  see p. 242.) 
  If the airborne aerospace unit is using the Aerospace Units 
  on Ground Mapsheets rules, LOS—and subsequent fi ring 
  arcs—are drawn to the target’s ending hex, regardless of the 
  size of the playing area or where the aerospace units ended 
  their movement in relation to the non-aerospace units. 
  FORWARD ARC
  Weapons mounted in the three forward torso locations, 
  the legs or the head of a ’Mech may fi re only at targets in the 
  forward arc. Arm-mounted weapons may fi re into the forward 
  arc plus the appropriate side arc.
  Leg-Mounted Weapons: Leg-mounted weapons may not 
  fi re through a hex that provides the fi ring ’Mech with partial 
  cover. The fi ring arc is always “forward” for forward-mounted 
  leg weapons, and is not aff ected by torso twisting.
  Vehicles: Weapons mounted on the front location of a vehicle 
  may only fi re into the front arc. Weapons mounted in the turret 
  can also fi re into the forward arc, though this fi ring arc can be 
  rotated as described in Rotating the Firing Arcs, below.
  Prone ’Mechs: The standard arcs for attacker and target do 
  not change if either one is a prone ’Mech.
  LEFT SIDE ARC
  Weapons mounted in a ’Mech’s left arm may fi re at targets 
  in the left side arc and forward arc. 
  Vehicles: Weapons mounted on the left side of vehicles 
  may only fi re at targets in the left side arc.
  RIGHT SIDE ARC
  Weapons mounted in a ’Mech’s right arm may fi re at targets 
  in the right side arc and forward arc.
  Vehicles: Weapons mounted on the right side of vehicles 
  may only fi re at targets in the right side arc.
  REAR ARC
  Weapons mounted in any of a ´Mech’s three rear torso 
  locations may only fi re into the rear arc. Weapons may also be 
  rear-mounted on the head and legs (rear legs only for four-
  legged ’Mechs). All rear-mounted weapons are indicated by 
  an (R) on a unit’s record sheet and may only fi re at targets in 
  the rear fi ring arc.
  Leg-Mounted Weapons: Leg-mounted weapons may not 
  fi re through a hex that provides the fi ring ’Mech with partial 
  cover. The fi ring arc is always to the rear for rear-mounted leg 
  weapons, and is not aff ected by torso twisting.
  Vehicles: Weapons mounted on the rear of vehicles may 
  only fi re at targets in the rear arc.
  ROTATING THE FIRING ARCS
  During weapon attack declaration, a ’Mech can rotate its 
  torso one hexside to the left or right while keeping its feet 
  pointed straight ahead. This means that a ’Mech can move in 
  one direction while fi ring in another. A ’Mech’s upper-body 
  fi ring arcs are determined by the direction in which its torso is 
  turned, not by the ’Mech’s facing; leg-mounted weapon fi ring 
  arcs, including kick attacks, are always aligned with the feet.
  When the ’Mech’s torso rotates, all upper-body fi ring arcs 
  rotate with it as shown on the diagram.
  • ´MECH FIRING ARCS DIAGRAM • 
  • ROTATING FIRING ARCS DIAGRAM • 
  
  Four-Legged and Prone ’Mechs: These units cannot torso 
  twist.
  Vehicles: Turret-mounted weapons in vehicles can be 
  positioned to fi re through any hexside, per the Torso/Turret Twist 
  rules, p. 37. Treat turret arcs as the forward arc, except that they are 
  defi ned by the hexside at which the turret is currently pointing, 
  not the hexside toward which the vehicle is facing.
  REVERSING (FLIPPING) ARMS
  ’Mechs constructed without hand and lower arm actuators in 
  both arms can fl ip their arms over and fi re backward. This ability 
  only applies to ’Mechs originally constructed without those 
  actuators (or OmniMechs that remove their hand and lower-arm 
  actuators for a certain confi guration), not ’Mechs that lose them 
  due to critical damage.
  A ’Mech that intends to reverse its arm-mounted weapons must 
  fl ip both arms during weapon attack declaration. This maneuver 
  takes the place of a torso twist (a ’Mech cannot torso twist and 
  reverse its arms simultaneously). After fl ipping its arms, the ’Mech 
  may then fi re any arm-mounted weapon into the rear fi ring arc 
  instead of the usual fi ring arcs for those weapons. The one exception 
  to this rule occurs if weapons are split between the arm and torso; 
  while the arms can still fl ip to fi re weapons that do not have a split 
  location, split-location weapons can only fi re into the front arc.
  If a ’Mech that can reverse its arms loses one during a game, 
  it can still reverse the remaining arm. During the End Phase, 
  reversed arms automatically return to the standard front arc.
  Prone ’Mechs and ProtoMechs: Neither of these units may 
  reverse their arms.
  FIRING WEAPONS
  After a player has determined that a target lies within LOS and 
  has determined the fi ring arc of his weapons, the unit may make a 
  weapon attack. The player counts the range in hexes to the target 
  to fi nd the base to-hit number for the attack. For each weapon he 
  fi res, the player determines if the shot is more or less diffi  cult than 
  normal by factoring in terrain, movement, specifi c weapon eff ects 
  and other conditions. These factors add modifi ers to the base to-hit 
  number, creating a modifi ed to-hit number. The more diffi  cult the 
  shot because of distance, concealment by terrain or movement, 
  the higher the modifi ed to-hit number. The player then rolls 2D6 
  to see if the attack hits the target. If the result is equal to or greater 
  than the modifi ed to-hit number, the attack hits. 
  Each weapon may be fi red only once per turn, including 
  weapons that can fi re more than one shot in a single turn (see 
  Rapid-Fire Weapon, p. 114).
  A unit cannot make a weapon attack against another unit 
  occupying the same hex. See Point-Blank Weapon, p. 114, and 
  Infantry, p. 212, for exceptions.
  As defi ned under Game Terms (see p. 42), a target can be another 
  unit, or a clear hex, or almost anything in between. Players can fi re 
  weapons at almost anything, even if the result will not infl ict any 
  damage. For example, a player can shoot at a hex to heat up his 
  ’Mech so that it can use triple-strength myomer (see p. 143), or a 
  player may simply wish to expend ammunition. Regardless of why 
  or what target is chosen, if a weapon is fi red, all its eff ects must be 
  taken into account (ammunition must be expended, heat tracked, 
  specifi c weapon eff ects dealt with and so on, as appropriate for 
  each weapon).
  BASE TO-HIT NUMBER
  The base to-hit number for a weapon attack is equal to the 
  fi ring unit’s Gunnery Skill Rating (see Skills, p. 39).
  MODIFIED TO-HIT NUMBER
  The modifi ed to-hit number equals the base to-hit number plus 
  all applicable modifi ers for range, minimum range, movement, 
  terrain and other factors discussed in To-Hit Modifi ers. 
  If the modifi ed to-hit number is greater than 12, the shot 
  automatically misses. If a player determines that his unit’s declared 
  attack will automatically miss, he can choose not to make the 
  attack, thereby avoiding a waste of ammunition and some heat 
  build-up. He may not switch his attack to another target. 
  If the modifi ed to-hit number is 2 or less, the shot automatically 
  hits. Because some weapons have additional eff ects based on the 
  to-hit roll result, even automatic hits may require the player to 
  make a to-hit roll (see Weapons and Equipment, p. 113).
  TO-HIT MODIFIERS
  The base to-hit number may be modifi ed by several factors, 
  including range, terrain, movement, multiple targets, heat 
  and damage, and prone or immobile targets. All modifi ers are 
  cumulative.
  Range Modifi er
  The farther away the target is from the fi ring unit, the more 
  diffi  cult it is to hit. The range to the target, which is the distance 
  between the target and the attacking unit, determines the range 
  modifi er for an attack. To determine range, fi nd the shortest path 
  to the target and count the hexes between target and attacker, 
  starting with the hex adjacent to the attacker’s hex along the 
  line of sight and including the target’s hex. This total number of 
  hexes between attacker and target (including the target’s hex) 
  is the range.
  The ranges for all available weapons appear in the Weapons 
  and Equipment Tables, beginning on p. 303. A weapon’s maximum 
  range is divided into short, medium and long distances. Find the 
  distance to the target in the row for the appropriate weapon, and 
  determine if the unit’s current range is short, medium, long or out 
  DF 
  DF
  SCB-9A Scarabus, Brock’s Buccaneers (Mercenary) 
  
  107
  107
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  of range. A shot at short range requires no to-hit modifi er. A 
  medium-range shot has a +2 to-hit modifi er, while a shot at 
  long range has a +4 modifi er. 
  Weapons cannot hit a target at a distance greater than the 
  weapon’s long range.
  Non-Aerospace Units Attacking Airborne Aerospace 
  Units: Range from a non-aerospace unit (including grounded 
  aerospace units) to an airborne aerospace unit depends on 
  whether the airborne aerospace unit is operating on a low-
  altitude map (see p. 80) or is using the Aerospace Units on 
  Ground Mapsheets rules (see p. 91). If the airborne aerospace 
  unit is operating on a low-altitude map, range is based on the 
  distance from the attacker’s hex to Hex 0909. In addition, add 
  two hexes to the range for each altitude (for example, a fi ghter 
  at Altitude 3 would add six hexes to the range). 
  If the airborne aerospace unit is using the Aerospace Units 
  on Ground Mapsheets rules, range is based on the target’s 
  ending hex, regardless of the size of the playing area or where 
  the aerospace units ended their movement in relation to the 
  non-aerospace units. As with operations on the low-altitude 
  map, add two hexes to the range for each altitude.
  In both instances, if the attacker also suff ered an attack this 
  turn by the targeted aerospace unit (meaning if the attack has 
  been announced, even if it has yet to be resolved), the range 
  to the target is considered 0 hexes. Also in both instances, 
  weapon minimum ranges are not taken into account against 
  airborne aerospace units.
  Airborne Aerospace Units: Airborne aerospace units do 
  not use weapon ranges when making attacks against non-
  aerospace units (including grounded aerospace units). Instead, 
  they select from a specifi c list of attacks, each with its own rules 
  for determining targets, success or failure, damage and so on. 
  For more information, see Air-to-Ground Attacks, p. 242.
  Airborne aerospace units also use diff erent rules when 
  fi guring ranges against other airborne units (see Air-to-Air 
  Attacks, p. 241).
  Equipment: Some equipment can increase the range 
  modifi ers against a target (see Other Combat Weapons and 
  Equipment, p. 129).
  Underwater Ranges: In addition to the special-case rules 
  that apply to attacks traveling through water (see Terrain 
  Modifi ers, p. 108), water greatly reduces the ranges of all 
  energy weapons. When a submerged unit makes an attack 
  (in Depth 2+ water, or Depth 1 for a prone ’Mech), use the 
  weapon ranges shown on the Underwater Range Table to 
  determine range modifi ers. If a weapon listed in the Weapons 
  and Equipment Tables does not appear on the Underwater 
  Range Table, it cannot be used underwater; see Torpedo 
  Launchers, p. 138, for the sole exception.
  Minimum Range Modifi er
  Some weapons, such as particle projector cannons, 
  autocannons and long-range missiles (LRMs), are designed 
  to be fi red at long-range targets. Close-range, targets are 
  more diffi  cult to hit. The minimum eff ective range of each 
  available weapon, the range at which the weapon becomes 
  less eff ective than normal, appears in the Weapons and 
  Equipment Tables, p. 303.
  UNDERWATER RANGE TABLE 
  Weapon
  Min.
  Short
  Medium
  Long
  Small Laser
  0
  1
  2
  —
  Medium Laser
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  Large Laser
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  Light PPC
  3
  1–4
  5–7
  8–10
  PPC
  3
  1–4
  5–7
  8–10
  Heavy PPC
  3
  1–4
  5–7
  8–10
  Snub-nose PPC
  0
  1–6
  7–8
  9
  ER Micro Laser
  0
  1
  2
  —
  ER Small Laser (Clan)
  0
  1
  2
  3–4
  ER Small Laser (IS)
  0
  1
  2
  3
  ER Medium Laser (Clan)
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–10
  ER Medium Laser (IS)
  0
  1–3
  4–5
  6–8
  ER Large Laser (Clan)
  0
  1–5
  6–10
  11–16
  ER Large Laser (IS)
  0
  1–3
  4–9
  10–12
  ER PPC (Clan and IS)
  0
  1–4
  5–10
  11–16
  Micro Pulse Laser
  0
  1
  2
  —
  Small Pulse Laser (Clan)
  0
  1
  2
  3–4
  Small Pulse Laser (IS)
  0
  1
  2
  —
  Medium Pulse Laser (Clan)
  0
  1–3
  4–5
  6–8
  Medium Pulse Laser (IS)
  0
  1–2
  3
  4
  Large Pulse Laser (Clan)
  0
  1–4
  5–10
  11–14
  Large Pulse Laser (IS)
  0
  1–2
  3–5
  6–7
  Small Heavy Laser
  0
  1
  2
  —
  Medium Heavy Laser
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  Large Heavy Laser
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  DF 
  DF
  Jagatai, Beta Galaxy (Clan Ghost Bear) 
  
  Players can use the following formula to determine the 
  minimum range modifi er: [Min. Range] – [Target Range] + 1 = 
  Minimum Range Modifi er.
  In the Minimum Range diagram above , a ’Mech on the 
  Open Terrain #1 map mounts a particle projector cannon 
  (PPC), which has a minimum eﬀ ective range of three hexes. If 
  the ’Mech is ﬁ ring the PPC at a target unit three hexes away, the 
  modiﬁ er would be +1 (3 (minimum range) – 3 (target range) +1 
  = 1). If the target unit is only two hexes away, the modiﬁ er is +2 
  (3 (minimum range) – 2 (target range) +1 = 2). If the target is 
  one hex away, the modiﬁ er is +3 (3 (minimum range) – 1 (target 
  range) +1 = 3); these numbers assume a Gunnery Skill of 4.
  If the ’Mech in the above example allows its target to move 
  to within two hexes of its position, the player must modify 
  the ’Mech’s to-hit number because the target stands inside its 
  weapon’s minimum eﬀ ective range. The Base To-Hit Number is 
  4 because the MechWarrior’s Gunnery Skill Level is 4, and the 
  Minimum Range Modiﬁ er is +2. This gives the attacking ’Mech 
  a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 6, the same as if the target were 
  at medium range.
  Attacker Movement
  A moving attacker must constantly adjust his aim to compensate 
  for his movement, so an attacking unit’s to-hit number is modifi ed 
  by its own movement using the values in the Attack Modifi ers 
  Table. The attacker movement modifi er is based on the movement 
  mode the attacking unit used in the turn, regardless of the actual 
  MP expended or distance moved.
  Infantry: Attacker movement modifi ers do not apply to infantry 
  units when they attack.
  Target Movement
  A moving target is harder to hit, and so an attacking unit’s to-
  hit number is modifi ed by its target’s movement using the values 
  in the Attack Modifi ers Table. The target movement modifi ers 
  are based on the hexes traversed rather than the number of 
  Movement Points spent. If the target moved backward and 
  forward in the turn (regardless of facing changes), base the 
  movement modifi er on the number of hexes moved from the hex 
  in which the unit last reversed its movement. For example, if the 
  target moved backward three hexes and then forward two hexes, 
  the target movement modifi er would be based only on the fi nal 
  two hexes of movement, resulting in a Target Movement Modifi er 
  of 0. If the target jumped in the current turn, the player must add 
  a jump modifi er in addition to the modifi er for the number of 
  hexes moved.
  The Target Movement diagram on p. 109 diagram of units 
  on the Open Terrain #1 map illustrates the to-hit modiﬁ ers 
  discussed so far. The Jenner has used its Walking movement 
  of 7 MP to move from Hex A to Hex B. Though it expended 7 
  MP in the move, it actually traveled ﬁ ve hexes, as shown. The 
  JagerMech had to run to get from Hex C to Hex D facing the 
  Jenner. It spent a total of 5 MP but only traveled two hexes. 
  Finally, the Atlas remained standing in Hex E. All of the ’Mechs 
  have standard Gunnery Skills of 4.
  The Jenner is ﬁ ring four medium lasers at the Atlas. The 
  target is four hexes away, which is in the medium range for the 
  lasers, adding a Range Modiﬁ er of +2. The Jenner used Walking 
  movement this turn, so the Attacker Movement Modiﬁ er is +1. 
  The target did not move. The Base To-Hit Number is 4, so the 
  Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number is 7 (Base 4 + Range 2 + Attacker 
  Movement 1 = 7).
  The JagerMech is attacking the Jenner with its AC/5s. The 
  JagerMech used Running movement this turn, so it must add 
  an Attacker Movement Modiﬁ er of +2 to its to-hit number. 
  The target traveled ﬁ ve hexes, creating a +2 Target Movement 
  Modiﬁ er. The range to the target is two hexes, which is in short 
  range for the AC/5s. However, the AC/5 has a minimum range 
  of 3. This means an attack at a range of three hexes would be 
  modiﬁ ed by +1, while an attack made at two hexes—such as 
  this attack—is modiﬁ ed by +2. The Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number 
  for the JagerMech’s AC/5s is 10 (Base 4 + Attacker Movement 
  2 + Target Movement 2 + Minimum Range 2 = 10).
  The Atlas is launching its LRMs at the JagerMech. The 
  range to the target is four hexes, which is short range for 
  that weapon, but the LRMs have a minimum range of 6. This 
  means a +3 Minimum Range Modiﬁ er applies to the attack. 
  The Atlas did not move, and so no attacker movement 
  modiﬁ er is applied. The JagerMech spent 5 Running MP, but 
  only traveled two hexes, and so no target movement modiﬁ er 
  applies. The Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number for the LRM attack is 7 
  (Base 4 + Minimum Range modiﬁ er 3 = 7).
  Terrain Modifi ers
  Terrain can aff ect the probability of a successful shot by forcing 
  the attacker to account for intervening land features and partial 
  cover. Specifi c terrain modifi ers appear below.
  Light Woods: Add a +1 terrain modifi er if the target occupies 
  a light woods hex. In addition, modify the to-hit number by +1 
  per hex of light woods intervening between the attacker and 
  the target. (The woods must be intervening as defi ned in Line of 
  Sight, p. 99. If the treetops lie below the LOS between the units, 
  do not apply this modifi er.)
  Heavy Woods: Add a +2 terrain modifi er if the target occupies 
  a heavy woods hex. In addition, modify the to-hit number by +2 
  per hex of heavy woods intervening between the attacker and 
  its target. (The woods must be intervening as defi ned in Line of 
  Sight, p. 99.) If more than one heavy woods hex intervenes, the 
  woodland blocks LOS.
  • MINIMUM RANGE DIAGRAM • 
  
  109
  109
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  Partial Cover: 
  Partial 
  cover 
  only applies to standing ’Mechs. 
  Add a +1 terrain modifi er to the 
  to-hit number if the target ’Mech 
  is partially concealed (see Line of 
  Sight, p. 99). When a ’Mech receives 
  the partial cover modifi er, resolve 
  damage using the standard ’Mech 
  Hit Location Table, but any hits 
  against the target’s legs strike the 
  intervening terrain.
  Depth 1 Water: ’Mechs in Depth 
  1 water receive partial cover (see 
  Partial Cover, p. 102). 
  A ’Mech standing in Depth 1 water 
  may make underwater attacks with 
  leg-mounted weapons, as well as 
  attacks from weapons mounted in 
  any other location against units not 
  underwater, provided the target 
  unit meets the normal requirements 
  for each type of attack. 
  Other underwater units can attack 
  a standing ’Mech in Depth 1 water; the 
  target has partial cover, and an attack striking any 
  location except for a leg strikes the intervening terrain.
  A battle armor unit in Depth 1 water carrying multi-purpose 
  missiles can attack non-submerged targets (see p. 229).
  Depth 2+ Water: A unit underwater cannot fi re on or take 
  fi re from other units unless those units are also underwater, 
  with the two exceptions listed below. (For ’Mechs, being 
  underwater means standing in a Depth 2 or deeper water hex, 
  or lying prone in a Depth 1 water hex.) 
  • 
  Other units can attack a standing ’Mech in Depth 1 water; 
  the target has partial cover, and an attack striking any 
  location except a leg strikes the intervening terrain.
  • 
  An attack against a surface vessel can always be made. 
  Regardless of whether or not the vessel has a turret, treat 
  it as though it has no turret.
  Calculate line of sight normally, treating depth as negative 
  numbers. For example, Depth 1 is at Level –1 and so is two 
  levels below a Level 1 hill.
  Units without a clear line of sight cannot attack one another. 
  The Underwater Line of Sight Table below summarizes which 
  units can fi re at each other, and with what modifi cations.
  Only lasers and PPCs may be used in an underwater attack; 
  torpedo launchers (see p. 138) are the sole exception (see 
  Underwater Range Table, p. 107). 
  Multiple Targets Modifi er
  A player may declare that his unit will engage more than 
  one target in a turn and allocate diff erent weapon systems to 
  fi re at diff erent targets. The only real limit on the number of 
  targets is how many weapons a unit mounts.
  The player designates one of the targets as the primary 
  target. If any of the declared targets are in the attacker’s 
  forward arc, one of those must be the primary target. If the 
  • TARGET MOVEMENT DIAGRAM • 
  UNDERWATER LINE OF SIGHT TABLE 
  Attacker is:
  Target is:
  Underwater1
  Surface Naval
  Airborne
  Ground2
  ’Mech at Depth 1
  Underwater1
  Yes
  Yes
  No
  No
  Yes4
  Surface Naval
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes3
  Airborne
  No 
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes 
  Yes3
  Ground2
  No
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes3
  ’Mech at Depth 1
  Yes6
  Yes7
  Yes5
  Yes5
  Yes8
  6Can only fi re leg weapons.
  7Can fi re any weapon, but hit location and damage to target may vary (see Depth 1 Water above, as well as Hull Integrity, p. 198, in the Combat Vehicles section).
  8Can only fi re leg weapons at legs and upper-body weapons at upper bodies; +1 for partial cover (see Depth 1 Water, above).
  1Includes standing ’Mechs at Depth 2+ and 
  prone ’Mechs at Depth 1; see Multi-Purpose 
  Missiles for exception, p. 229.
  2Includes ’Mechs standing at Level 0+.
  3At +1 for partial cover; use the appropriate 
  column of the ’Mech Hit Location Table, 
  with any leg hits striking the water and 
  infl icting no damage.
  4At +1 for partial cover; use the appropriate 
  column of the ’Mech Hit Location Table, 
  with any location hit but leg hits striking 
  the water and infl icting no damage.
  5Can only fi re torso, arm or head weapons.
  
  attacker is declaring attacks only against targets in the side and 
  rear arcs, he may choose any target as the primary target. The 
  remaining targets are considered secondary, and the player must 
  add a multiple targets modifi er to the to-hit numbers for those 
  attacks. Against secondary targets in the forward arc, the modifi er 
  is +1; against secondary targets in the side and rear arcs, the 
  modifi er is +2. This modifi er is not cumulative—the modifi er for 
  the third and each subsequent target remains only +1 (or +2).
  All the rules above apply regardless of where the weapons 
  are mounted. For example, a ’Mech with three medium lasers 
  in the right arm fi res one medium laser at a target in the front 
  arc, designated as the primary target; the second medium laser 
  at a target in the right side arc; and the third medium laser at 
  another target in the right side arc. The primary target receives no 
  additional modifi er at this stage, while the secondary target in the 
  right side arc receives a +2 to-hit modifi er and the second target 
  in the right side arc also receives a +2 to-hit modifi er.
  Physical Attacks: The multiple targets modifi er does not apply 
  to physical attacks.
  Aerospace Units: Aerospace units handle multiple targets 
  diff erently than ground units (see Aerospace Units, p. 234).
  Battle Armor: As battle armor units do not have fi ring arcs, 
  they only apply a +1 modifi er for secondary targets (never a +2 
  modifi er for secondary targets).
  Conventional Infantry: Conventional infantry may only 
  engage one target per turn.
  Vehicles: Treat turret rotation on a vehicle exactly like a ’Mech’s 
  torso twist for purposes of multiple target modifi ers.
  Heat and Damage Modifi ers
  The attacking ’Mech may need to modify its base to-hit number 
  for current combat damage and heat build-up. Modifi ers for 
  these conditions are discussed in ’Mech Critical Hits, p. 124, and 
  Building Up Heat, p. 158. The Heat Data section of the record sheet 
  summarizes the modifi ers for the eff ects of heat build-up.
  Lower Arm and Hand Actuators: Certain ’Mechs are designed 
  without lower arm actuators in one or both arms. Such ’Mechs do 
  not suff er actuator damage modifi ers to weapon attacks because 
  they do not include that actuator, though the missing actuator 
  still aff ects physical attacks.
  Physical Attacks: Though damage modifi ers apply, heat to-hit 
  modifi ers never apply to physical attacks (see Physical Attacks, p. 144).
  IndustrialMech Modifi er
  IndustrialMechs suff er a +1 to-hit modifi er to all weapon 
  attacks. If an IndustrialMech mounts advanced fi re control, this 
  to-hit modifi er does not apply.
  Support Vehicles Modifi er
  Support Vehicles also suff er additional to-hit modifi ers unless they 
  mount additional fi re control systems (see To-Hit Modifi ers, p. 206).
  SPECIALIZED ATTACKS
  Several specialized attacks have their own rules and to-hit 
  modifi ers, as outlined below.
  Firing at Immobile Targets
  If a unit fi res at an immobile target such as a building, a wooded 
  hex, a shut-down unit or one whose crew is unconscious, a vehicle 
  immobilized by critical damage, or even a clear hex, add a –4 modifi er 
  to the to-hit number. This modifi er does not apply to attacks against 
  active units that are simply remaining stationary, nor does it apply 
  to prone ’Mechs or ’Mechs with destroyed gyros or two destroyed 
  hip actuators. Such units are still assumed to be moving within their 
  hex and must be fi red upon as for a normal target.
  Aimed Shots: Players may make aimed shots against units 
  that are shut down or whose warrior is unconscious, using any 
  weapons other than missile launchers and LB-X autocannon 
  fi ring cluster munitions. When fi ring on an immobile ’Mech, the 
  attacking player can make an aimed shot by naming a target 
  location. Against any hit location except the head, the player 
  makes the to-hit roll using the standard –4 to-hit modifi er for 
  fi ring at an immobile target.
  If the attack is successful, the player rolls again. On a result of 6, 
  7 or 8, his shot hits the designated location. For any other result, 
  the player rolls normally on the ’Mech Hit Location Table. (This roll 
  may still result in the attack striking the desired location.)
  If the attacker is taking an aimed shot at the target ’Mech’s 
  head, modify the to-hit number by +3 rather than the normal –4. 
  If the shot hits, the player rolls 2D6. On a result of 6, 7 or 8, the shot 
  hits the head. For any other result, roll normally on the ’Mech Hit 
  Location Table.
  Players cannot use the Aimed Shots rule to make physical attacks.
  Targeting Computer: A warrior can use a targeting computer 
  to make an aimed shot against an active target (see Targeting 
  Computer, p. 143). If using a targeting computer to make an aimed 
  shot against an immobile target, the player adds a –1 modifi er 
  (representing the targeting computer) to the –4 immobile target 
  modifi er. (All other rules remain the same.)
  Attacks Against Large Support Vehicles and Grounded Small Craft
  All weapon attacks against Large Support Vehicles (including 
  Airships and Fixed-Wing craft) and grounded small craft receive a  –1 
  to-hit modifi er, while all physical attacks receive –2 to-hit modifi er.
  Firing at Grounded DropShips
  Treat all weapon attacks against grounded DropShips as 
  though fi ring at an immobile target, applying the standard –4 to-
  hit modifi er (see Firing at Immobile Targets, above). See Attacks by 
  Grounded Aerospace Units, p. 249, for more information on making 
  attacks against Grounded DropShips.
  Non-Aerospace Units Firing at Airborne Aerospace Units
  The number of Thrust Points expended by an aerospace unit, or 
  the number of hexes entered, does not aff ect the to-hit modifi er 
  of any non-aerospace unit fi ring at an airborne aerospace unit 
  (including grounded aerospace units).
  Apply a +3 to-hit modifi er against any aerospace unit at 
  Altitude 1 (NOE), unless the attacking non-aerospace unit lies in 
  the attack/fl ight path of the aerospace fi ghter, or within one hex 
  of the fl ight path, in which case apply a +1 modifi er. Players must 
  take the angle of attack into account when fi ring at an airborne 
  aerospace unit (see Angle of Attack, p. 236).
  Non-aerospace units fi ring at airborne aerospace units cannot 
  fi re at other non-aerospace units (including grounded aerospace 
  units) in the same turn. Also, a non-aerospace unit cannot attack 
  more than one airborne aerospace unit in a turn. See Attacks by 
  Grounded Aerospace Units, p. 249, for the exception.
  
  111
  111
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  For an extensive example of non-aerospace units 
  attacking an airborne aerospace unit, see p. 247 in the 
  Aerospace Units section.
  Airborne Non-Aerospace Units Firing at Airborne 
  Aerospace Units: Airborne non-aerospace units (VTOL and 
  WiGE vehicles, for example) fi ring at airborne aerospace 
  units use all the standard rules for ground units. However, 
  if an airborne non-aerospace unit occupies the same hex as 
  an airborne aerospace unit, it is considered to have a higher 
  Initiative than any aerospace unit (even a fi ghter), and so is 
  one hex back along the attack path of the aerospace unit 
  for purposes of fi ring arcs and angle of attack (see Air-to-Air 
  Attacks, p. 241).
  Infantry: Unless specifi cally stated otherwise by the rules 
  for that unit, infantry cannot attack aerospace units.
  Firing at Buildings
  Treat all weapon attacks against building hexes as though 
  fi ring at an immobile target, applying the standard –4 to-hit 
  modifi er (see Attacking Buildings, p. 171).
  LRM Indirect Fire
  Units armed with LRM-type weapons may fi re those 
  missiles indirectly. Indirect fi re allows a unit without a direct 
  line of sight to a target to attack that target, though a friendly 
  unit must have a valid line of sight to the target (this unit is 
  referred to as the spotter). An attacker with a valid LOS to a 
  target cannot make an LRM indirect fi re attack, even if that 
  attack would have a better to-hit modifi er.
  Resolve LRM indirect fi re attacks in the turn they are 
  launched. The base to-hit number is the fi ring unit’s Gunnery 
  Skill. Use the following modifi ers: 
  • 
  Range modifi er based on the range between the target 
  and the fi ring unit, including minimum range modifi ers;
  • 
  +1 for indirect fi re;
  • 
  All standard modifi ers for target movement;
  • 
  All standard modifi ers for attacker movement and a 
  modifi er for the spotter’s movement (infantry have no 
  attacker movement modifi er for spotting);
  • 
  Terrain modifi ers based on line of sight from the spotting 
  unit; this includes the +1 modifi er if partial cover exists 
  between the spotting unit and the target. (Regardless 
  of whether partial cover shields the target from either 
  the spotting unit or the attacking unit, Damage Value 
  groupings from LRM indirect fi re always strike the target 
  and not the partial cover, even if they hit a leg location; 
  see Partial Cover, p. 102.)
  Finally, if the spotting unit makes any attacks in the turn 
  that it spots for another unit, apply a +1 modifi er to all of the 
  spotting unit’s attacks, as well as a +1 modifi er to the LRM 
  indirect fi re attack. If the spotting unit makes no attacks, do 
  not apply these additional modifi ers. The spotter can spot for 
  any number of attacking units to a single target, but it cannot 
  spot for multiple targets.
  In the LRM Indirect Fire Diagram at right on the 
  Woodland map, Controlling Player 1 has walked his ’Mech 
  into Hex A, and wishes to attack the enemy ’Mech in the 
  light woods Hex B; the enemy ’Mech did not move this 
  turn. Normally, as the LOS between the attacker and target 
  passes through a hex whose elevation is equal to or greater 
  than either unit (the Level 2 hill in Hex 1A), neither ’Mech 
  could attack the other. However, the ’Mech in Hex A mounts 
  LRMs and the ’Mech in Hex B is within their range. Player 1 
  also has two friendly units on the board that have LOS to 
  the target: the VTOL in Hex C (which expended Flanking MP 
  this turn) and the infantry in Hex D that did not move this 
  turn. The player can choose which of these units will spot 
  for LRM indirect ﬁ re.
  • LRM INDIRECT FIRE DIAGRAM • 
  
  For VTOL spotting, the modiﬁ ed to-hit number is 11: 4 (´Mech 
  A’s Gunnery Skill) + 2 (medium range for the LRMs) +1 (indirect 
  ﬁ re modiﬁ er) +1 (’Mech A walked) + 2 (VTOL spent Flanking MP 
  this turn) +1 (light woods in target hex) = 11.
  For infantry spotting, the modiﬁ ed to-hit number is 10: 
  4 (´Mech A’s Gunnery Skill) + 2 (medium range for the LRMs) 
  +1 (indirect ﬁ re modiﬁ er) +1 (’Mech A walked) +1 (intervening 
  light woods between spotter and target) +1 (light woods in 
  target hex) = 10.
  Even though the infantry is spotting through an extra 
  intervening light woods hex compared to the spotting VTOL, 
  because the attacker movement modiﬁ er does not apply to 
  infantry units, the spotting infantry has a better modiﬁ ed to-hit 
  number. If Player 1 chose to have the infantry spot for the LRM 
  indirect ﬁ re and make an attack of its own, a +1 to-hit modiﬁ er 
  would apply to the indirect attack (making the Modiﬁ ed To-Hit 
  Number 11) and to the attack by the infantry unit.
  If the target occupied Hex 2A, it would lie within the LRM’s 
  minimum range. Assuming the infantry spotted again, the 
  modiﬁ ed to-hit number would be 8: 4 (´Mech A’s Gunnery 
  Skill) +0 (short range for the LRMs) +2 (6 [minimum range] – 5 
  [target range] + 1 = 2 [minimum range modiﬁ er]) +1 (indirect 
  ﬁ re modiﬁ er) +1 (’Mech A walked) = 8.
  Clearing Woods
  Units can use weapon attacks to clear wooded hexes. Each type 
  of woods hex is rated to describe the damage it can withstand.
  The Terrain Factor (TF) determines the number of damage 
  points a woods hex can take before being reduced from heavy 
  to light, or cleared of trees completely (the fallen trees convert 
  the hex to rough rather than clear terrain). Regardless of when 
  it occurs, this damage is tracked across a game until the TF of 
  the woods hex drops below the threshold required to reduce 
  the woods. 
  Regardless of a woods hex’s current Terrain Factor, its type does 
  not change until the TF falls below the value of the reduced hex 
  shown on the Terrain Factor column of the Terrain Factor and 
  Conversion Table. For example, a heavy woods hex that takes 35 
  points of damage remains a heavy woods hex; if the same hex 
  takes 6 more points of damage it is automatically reduced to 
  light woods. A heavy woods hex can be changed to a rough hex 
  in a single Weapon Attack Phase, provided enough damage is 
  infl icted. 
  Finally, clearing woods requires a conscious eff ort. If an attack 
  against a unit passes through or into wooded hexes, the attack 
  does not reduce that hex’s TF.
  Area-Eff ect Weapons: As Area-Eff ect weapons target the hex, 
  AE weapons always damage a woods hex; double the Damage 
  Value of these weapons against woods hexes.
  Cluster Weapons: For weapons that use the Cluster Hits Table, 
  use the weapon’s total Damage Value.
  Infantry: Infantry cannot clear woods.
  TERRAIN FACTOR 
  AND CONVERSION TABLE 
  Terrain Factor
  Former Terrain
  New Terrain
  Heavy Woods: 90
  Heavy Woods
  Light Woods
  Light Woods: 50
  Light Woods
  Rough
  Rough: 0
  All others
  No change
  RA 
  RA
  A ForestryMech clears back undergrowth to allow a Davion military caravan quick passage along a seldom used road. 
  
  113
  113
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  LOS: When trying to clear a woods hex, treat the woods as 
  a standing ‘Mech. If the “’Mech” would have partial cover from 
  the attack (see p. 102), than the attacker cannot attempt to 
  clear the woods.
  PRONE ’MECHS
  Prone ’Mechs may still make weapon attacks. Because they 
  are largely stationary, they also often make better targets.
  Firing When Down
  A ’Mech that has fallen or dropped to the ground may fi re 
  some of its weapons as long as neither of its arms has been 
  destroyed. The warrior uses one arm to support the ’Mech 
  as it fi res, and so the weapons on that arm cannot fi re. The 
  warrior may fi re all weapons mounted on the other arm, and 
  the ’Mech may fi re any weapons mounted in its head or torso 
  (including rear-mounted weapons). A prone ’Mech may not 
  fi re any leg-mounted weapons. 
  Add a +2 to-hit modifi er for fi ring when down, in addition 
  to any other standard modifi ers. For example, if a ’Mech runs 
  and then drops prone, it receives a +4 to-hit modifi er for any 
  attacks (+2 modifi er for running + 2 for fi ring when prone = 4), 
  in addition to any other modifi ers that might apply.
  Four-Legged ’Mechs: A prone four-legged ’Mech (provided 
  it has 4 legs, and has taken no hip critical hits) fi res as though it 
  were standing; the +2 to-modifi er does not apply.
  Attacking Prone Targets
  A ’Mech that has fallen or dropped prone makes an easier 
  target for an opponent in an adjacent hex and a more diffi  cult 
  target at longer ranges. 
  Apply a –2 modifi er to the to-hit number of any physical or 
  weapon attack made against a prone ’Mech from an adjacent 
  hex. Add a +1 to-hit modifi er for all other attacks made 
  against a prone ’Mech. Both modifi ers are in addition to any 
  other standard modifi ers. For example, if a ’Mech runs seven 
  hexes and then drops prone, it receives a +4 to-hit modifi er 
  for attacks made by non-adjacent units (+3 for entering seven 
  hexes + 1 for fi ring at non-adjacent prone ’Mech = 4), or a 
  +1 to-hit modifi er for attacks made by adjacent units (+3 for 
  entering seven hexes – 2 for fi ring at an adjacent prone ’Mech 
  = 1). In both instances, these modifi ers are cumulative with 
  any other modifi ers that might apply.
  WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
  Once a player has determined the to-hit modifi ers for 
  terrain, target and attacker movement and so on—as well 
  as the modifi ers for any specialized attacks—the player then 
  determines if the weapon also has additional special eff ects. 
  To fi re a weapon at a target, the player should determine 
  if the weapon in question has additional to-hit modifi ers, 
  or other special rules that might aff ect the way it is fi red or 
  interacts with the target, before making the fi nal to-hit roll. 
  These special rules might include other equipment tied to the 
  weapon that can also aff ect to-hit modifi ers, how the weapon 
  is fi red and interacts with the target and so on. Look on the 
  unit’s record sheet to verify what weapon is being fi red and 
  then consult the Weapons and Equipment tables beginning 
  on p. 303. Remember to look on the appropriate technology 
  table, Inner Sphere or Clan. The player should also consult 
  the appropriate unit table (battle armor and aerospace units 
  have their own tables). All the tables use a standardized 
  abbreviation (found in the Type column, directly to the right 
  of the Item column) for the type of weapon used: direct-fi re 
  energy, missile, rapid-fi re and so on. The type of weapon 
  determines what additional eff ects the weapon may have 
  beyond a simple “point and fi re.” Additional rules, if any, are 
  noted on the table. 
  Players should also consult Other Combat Weapons and 
  Equipment (see p. 129) at the end of this section, to determine 
  if any other equipment the unit may carry might aff ect the 
  weapon(s) the attacker is fi ring, or aff ect any weapon attacks 
  against the unit. Finally, the player should consult with the 
  target unit’s controlling player to determine if the target unit 
  mounts any equipment that might aff ect the attack.
  Below is a complete list of abbreviations, along with the 
  description of the weapons’ eff ects. Many weapons fall under 
  multiple types, so make sure to verify the various eff ects of 
  each weapon.
  • 
  AE: Area-Eff ect Weapon. Area-eff ect weapons damage all 
  units in the target hex. Some AE weapons can also damage 
  all the surrounding hexes adjacent to the target hex. Area-
  eff ect weapons always deal their full damage to each 
  trooper in a battle armor unit, and deal double damage 
  to conventional infantry (this damage doubles again if the 
  conventional infantry unit is located in a clear hex).
  • 
  C: Cluster Weapon. Cluster weapons roll on the Cluster 
  Hits Table to determine damage, with each type of 
  weapon dividing its damage into diff erent Damage Value 
  groupings. The groupings are then assigned separate hit 
  locations (see Cluster Hits, p. 116). LB-X weapons may fi re 
  as a direct-fi re ballistic or cluster weapon.
  • 
  DE/DB: Direct-Fire Energy or Ballistic Weapon. These 
  weapon types (except fl amers and machine guns) can 
  use a targeting computer when making attacks (see 
  Targeting Computer, p. 143).
  • 
  P: Pulse Weapon. Apply a –2 to-hit modifi er to all 
  weapon attacks. This weapon type can use a targeting 
  computer when making attacks, except for aimed shots 
  (see Targeting Computer, p. 143).
  • 
  H: Heat-Causing Weapon. This weapon type may infl ict 
  additional heat, damage or both—the additional heat 
  applies to ’Mechs and aerospace fi ghters/small craft only, 
  as indicated in the notes on the appropriate Weapon and 
  Equipment tables (see also Outside Heat Sources in the 
  Heat section, p. 159, for the eff ects of such weapons).
  • 
  M: Missile Weapon. Missile weapons use the following rules:
  o Missile weapons deliver damage equal to the number 
  of individual missile hits, times the damage per missile 
  (abbreviated as “X/Msl” on the Weapon and Equipment 
  tables, where “X” is the damage of each missile). 
  o Once the attacker has determined the specifi c 
  number of missiles that struck the target by rolling 
  on the Cluster Hits Table, missile weapons divide the 
  damage that actually struck the target into specifi c 
  Damage Value groupings before assigning them to 
  the target; the specifi cs of how each missile weapon 
  determines its Damage Value groupings are indicated 
  in the Damage column on the appropriate Weapons 
  
  and Equipment tables. The number to the left of the 
  slash indicates the maximum damage per grouping. The 
  number to the right of the slash indicates what column of 
  the Cluster Hits Table is used (see Cluster Hits, p. 116).
  • 
  R: Rapid-Fire (Multi-Firing) Weapon. Rapid-fi re weapons 
  use the following rules:
  o Rapid-fi re weapons may fi re more than one shot in a 
  single Weapon Attack Phase. The number after “R” in 
  the Damage column of the appropriate Weapons and 
  Equipment tables indicates the total number of rapid-fi re 
  shots that can be made (for example, an R2 weapon may 
  fi re one or two shots in a single turn, while an R6 weapon 
  may fi re anywhere from one to six shots in a single turn). 
  o When using the rapid-fi re option, the weapon consumes 
  ammo and creates heat equal to the shots fi red, times the 
  single-shot ammo/heat costs. 
  o Each time a rapid-fi re weapon fi res more than a single shot 
  in a single turn, the weapon may jam, making it useless 
  for the rest of the game (see Rotary Autocannon, p. 140, 
  for the exception); the shots are still fi red, however. When 
  fi ring two or three shots, if the to-hit roll result is a 2, the 
  weapon is useless for the rest of the game; for every two 
  additional shots fi red, add 1 to that number. This means 
  that for two or three shots, the jamming only occurs on a 
  to-hit result of 2, for four to fi ve shots the jamming occurs 
  on a to-hit result of 3 and so on. 
  o Rapid-fi re weapons deliver damage as cluster weapons, 
  resolved using the appropriate column of the Cluster 
  Hits Table (see Cluster Hits, p. 116). Each Damage Value 
  grouping is based on the single-shot damage of the 
  rapid-fi re weapon (abbreviated as “Sht” on the Weapon 
  and Equipment tables). 
  o A rapid-fi re weapon is only a cluster weapon, and so the 
  attacker rolls on the Cluster Hits Table when making an 
  attack that fi res more than a single shot. 
  o Rapid-fi re weapons can use a targeting computer when 
  making attacks, but cannot use the targeting computer to 
  make an aimed shot if fi ring more than one shot in a turn 
  (see Targeting Computer, p. 143).
  • 
  V: Variable Damage Weapon. Damage declines over range, 
  assigned in order of short to long (V25/20/10 = 25 damage 
  points at short range, 20 at medium, 10 at long).
  • 
  AI: Anti-Infantry Weapon. Anti-infantry weapons deliver 
  special damage to conventional infantry in place of standard 
  damage (see Burst-Fire Weapons under Attacks Against 
  Conventional Infantry, p. 215).
  • 
  OS: One-Shot Weapon. One-shot weapons can only be fi red 
  once in a scenario.
  • 
  PD: Point-Blank Weapon. Point-nlank weapons can only be 
  used against targets in the same or adjacent hexes. 
  • 
  E: Electronics. ECM systems may jam electronic equipment 
  (see ECM Suite, p. 134).
  • 
  CE: Counter-Electronics. These systems negate electronics 
  noted as “E” (see ECM Suite, p. 134).
  • 
  T: Targeting System. This equipment allows for better 
  targeting (see Targeting Computer, p. 143).
  • 
  S: Switchable Ammo Supply. This type of weapon may choose 
  from multiple ammo types (see Special Munitions, p. 140). 
  • 
  PE: Performance Enhancement. This equipment is designed 
  to enhance the performance of a specifi c aspect of a unit, 
  such as improving its speed.
  • 
  F: Flak. When used against airborne aerospace units or 
  VTOLs and WiGEs, apply a –2 to-hit modifi er in addition to 
  any other modifi ers such weapons might convey. Treat all 
  other aspects of the attack as normal. (Some weapons may 
  include a better or worse modifi er, as described in the Notes 
  section of the appropriate Weapons and Equipment Table for 
  those specifi c weapons.) 
  • 
  X: Explosive Weapon. Weapon explodes when damaged 
  (see Gauss rifl e, p. 135).
  TO-HIT ROLL
  Once the player has determined all the modifi ers for the attack 
  (including any special eff ects provided by the weapon or other 
  equipment mounted by the attacker or target), he makes a to-hit 
  roll. For each weapon attack, the player rolls 2D6. If the result is 
  equal to or greater than the modifi ed to-hit number, the attack 
  succeeds.
  Players choose the order in which they resolve the to-hit rolls 
  for all their unit’s announced attacks; resolve all attacks against 
  one target before moving on to attacks by the same unit against 
  another target. From turn to turn this order can diff er at the 
  player’s discretion. For example, in Turn 1, the controlling player of 
  an AS7-D Atlas fi res all its forward-mounted weapons. He chooses 
  to make the to-hit roll fi rst for the AC/20, then the SRM-6, then 
  the two medium lasers and fi nally the LRM-20. The player may 
  also fi re the rear-mounted medium lasers at a second target, but 
  he must fi rst resolve all the aforementioned weapons fi re against 
  the fi rst target. In Turn 2, after announcing that he is fi ring all the 
  Atlas’ forward-mounted weapons again, the controlling player 
  can decide to resolve the to-hit roll for the LRM-20 fi rst, then the 
  SRM-6, then two medium lasers, then the AC/20 and fi nally the 
  rear medium lasers.
  In practice, to avoid confusion and ease the tracking of which 
  to-hit rolls have been resolved and which remain, most players 
  simply start at the top of a unit’s Weapon and Equipment Inventory 
  on the record sheet and resolve to-hit rolls top to bottom. They 
  need not stick to this order, however.
  After looking through the TechManual, Ray created a new 
  conﬁ guration for the Daishi OmniMech in Technical Readout: 
  3050 Upgrade—the Daishi X, which mounts the following 
  weapons and equipment:
  • Ultra AC/10
  • Large Pulse Laser
  • 2 ER Micro Lasers
  • Heavy Medium Laser
  • LB 5-X AC
  • Streak SRM-2
  • SRM-4
  • ATM-6
  • LRM-15 with Artemis IV FCS
  • Targeting computer 
  
  115
  115
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  Ray takes his creation into a game on the BattleForce 
  2 map, piloted by a MechWarrior with Gunnery Skill 4, as 
  shown on the To-Hit Roll diagram. During the Movement 
  Phase (Ground) of a turn, Ray walked the ’Mech to enter 
  Hex A, while the enemy tank in the light woods Hex C 
  moved two hexes and the enemy ’Mech in Hex B moved 
  ﬁ ve hexes. During the Weapon Attack Phase of the same 
  turn, Ray decides to ﬁ re all his weapons. The weapons can 
  reach the vehicle in Hex C, but Ray considers the ’Mech in 
  Hex B a much more dangerous enemy. Even though it is 
  further away and harder to hit, he nominates the enemy 
  ’Mech as his own ´Mech’s primary target, while the enemy 
  vehicle becomes the secondary target. He also decides to 
  torso twist to the right to bring the enemy vehicle into his 
  front ﬁ ring arc, so that all the weapons mounted in his left 
  arm can strike the vehicle as well.
  With a Clan Weapons and Equipment Table at hand, Ray 
  gets to work ﬁ guring out his to-hit numbers; he has already 
  determined that he has LOS to both targets.
  The range to the enemy ’Mech is thirteen hexes, which 
  means the following weapons can strike that target: Ultra 
  AC/10 (long range), Large Pulse Laser (medium range), 
  LB 5-X AC (medium range) and LRM-15 (medium range). 
  Looking at the ATM (after reviewing its description in the 
  Other Combat Weapons and Equipment section, p. 
  129), he knows that because he mounted three tons of 
  ammunition for the ATM-6 and designated each ton a 
  diﬀ erent type of submunition before play began, he can 
  use either standard, ER or HE ammo. He cannot use the HE 
  ammo if he wants to attack the ’Mech, as the range is only 
  9. If he uses standard ammo (which inﬂ icts more damage 
  than extended-range ammo), the weapon will ﬁ re at long 
  range, while the ER ammo ﬁ res at medium range. 
  The range to the enemy vehicle is four hexes. After 
  thinking about it, Ray decides to switch the ATM to target 
  the vehicle and use HE ammo (medium range). He can also 
  ﬁ re the rest of his weapons at the vehicle: Heavy Medium 
  Laser (medium range), Streak SRM-2 (short range), SRM-4 
  (medium range) and two ER Micro Lasers (long range).
  After carefully looking at each weapon on the Weapons 
  and Equipment Table (and reviewing the Other Combat 
  Weapons and Equipment section) to make sure he has all 
  the applicable modiﬁ ers for the various weapon types in mind, 
  Ray determines the modiﬁ ed to-hit numbers for his weapons.
  Against the ’Mech:
  • The Ultra AC/10 has a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 11: 4 
  (Gunnery Skill) + 4 (long range) +1 (attacker movement) 
  + 2 (target movement) +1 (partial cover) – 1 (targeting 
  computer) = 11.
  • The large pulse laser has a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 
  7: 4 (Gunnery Skill) + 2 (medium range) +1 (attacker 
  movement) + 2 (target movement) +1 (partial cover) – 2 
  (pulse weapon modiﬁ er) – 1 (targeting computer) = 7.
  • The LB 5-X AC has a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 9: 
  4 (Gunnery Skill) + 2 (medium range) +1 (attacker 
  movement) + 2 (target movement) +1 (partial cover) 
  – 1 (LB-X ﬁ ring cluster ammo) = 9.
  • The LRM-15 has a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 10: 4 (Gunnery 
  Skill) + 2 (medium range) +1 (attacker movement) + 2 
  (target movement) +1 (partial cover) = 10.
  Against the vehicle:
  • The Streak SRM-2 has a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 
  7: 4 (Gunnery Skill) + 0 (short range) +1 (attacker 
  movement) + 0 (target movement) +1 (light woods) +1 
  (secondary target modiﬁ er) = 7.
  • The SRM-4 has a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 9: 4 
  (Gunnery Skill) + 2 (medium range) +1 (attacker 
  movement) + 0 (target movement) +1 (light woods) +1 
  (secondary target modiﬁ er) = 9.
  • The ATM-6 has a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number of 9: 4 
  (Gunnery Skill) + 2 (medium range) +1 (attacker 
  movement) + 0 (target movement) +1 (light woods) +1 
  (secondary target modiﬁ er) = 9.
  • The two ER micro lasers each have a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit 
  Number of 10: 4 (Gunnery Skill) + 4 (long range) +1 
  (attacker movement) + 0 (target movement) +1 (light 
  woods) +1 (secondary target modiﬁ er) – 1 (targeting 
  computer) = 10.
  • The heavy medium laser has a Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number 
  of 9: 4 (Gunnery Skill) + 2 (medium range) +1 (attacker 
  movement) + 0 (target movement) +1 (light woods) +1 
  (secondary target modiﬁ er) +1 (heavy laser modiﬁ er) 
  – 1 (targeting computer) = 9.
  Everyone’s jaw hits the ﬂ oor as Ray makes a successful 
  to-hit roll for all weapons to both targets!
  • TO-HIT ROLL DIAGRAM • 
  
  Cluster Hits
  If a weapon includes a “C” in its Type column on the appropriate 
  Weapons and Equipment Table, it is a cluster weapon. Use the 
  following rules after each successful to-hit attack against a target 
  using a cluster weapon.
  On a successful attack, the player determines what size weapon 
  was fi red (or the number of shots fi red for a rapid-fi re weapon), 
  rolls 2D6 and compares the result to the appropriate column of 
  the Cluster Hits Table (see below). First, fi nd the weapon size (or 
  number of shots) fi red on the top row of the table; for example, 
  the 4 column for an SRM-4, the 6 column for a Rotary AC/5 rapid-
  fi ring six shots, the 12 column for an ATM-12, the 30 column for 
  an MRM-30 and so on. Cross-reference this number to the die 
  roll result in the left column. The result is the actual number of 
  individual shots (whether rounds from an Ultra autocannon, 
  missiles, fl echettes from an LB-X autocannon and so on) that hit 
  the target. Unless otherwise noted, once the number of shots is 
  known, the player rolls a separate hit location for each shot.
  Some advanced weapon systems modify this roll to refl ect their 
  greater accuracy (see Other Combat Weapons and Equipment, p. 113). 
  Anti-Missile System: The target’s anti-missile systems may 
  reduce the number of missiles from a missile launch (see Other 
  Combat Weapons and Equipment, p. 129).
   Infantry: Infantry also use the Cluster Hits Table to resolve 
  damage (see Infantry Combat section, p. 214).
  From the To-Hit Roll diagram and example, Ray notes that the 
  LRM-15, SRM-4 and ATM-6 each have a “C” in the Type column 
  on the Weapons and Equipment Table. After reviewing Cluster 
  Weapons under Weapons and Equipment (see p. 113), he 
  knows that those weapons always use the Cluster Hits Table to 
  determine how much damage actually strikes the target.
  He also notes that the Ultra AC/10 and LB 5-X both have a 
  “C” in the Type column, but they also have a “DB” (Direct-Fire 
  CLUSTER HITS TABLE 
  Die 
  Roll
  (2D6)
  Weapon Size
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 40
  2
  1
  1
  1
  1
  2
  2
  3
  3
  3
  4
  4
  4
  5
  5
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  7
  7
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  9
  10
  10
  12
  3
  1
  1
  2
  2
  2
  2
  3
  3
  3
  4
  4
  4
  5
  5
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  7
  7
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  9
  10
  10
  12
  4
  1
  1
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  4
  5
  5
  5
  6
  6
  7
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  9
  10
  10
  10
  11
  11
  11
  12
  12
  18
  5
  1
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  10
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  16
  17
  17
  17
  18
  18
  24
  6
  1
  2
  2
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  10
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  16
  17
  17
  17
  18
  18
  24
  7
  1
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  10
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  16
  17
  17
  17
  18
  18
  24
  8
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  10
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  16
  17
  17
  17
  18
  18
  24
  9
  2
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  21
  22
  23
  23
  24
  32
  10
  2
  3
  3
  4
  5
  6
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  21
  22
  23
  23
  24
  32
  11
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  40
  12
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  40
  Ballistic) annotation (plus an R2 notation for the Ultra AC/10). 
  After reviewing the appropriate sections, he knows he can ﬁ re 
  both weapons either as direct-ﬁ re ballistic or cluster weapons. 
  He had already chosen to switch the ammo supply on the LB 5-
  X to cluster ammo in order to get the –1 to-hit modiﬁ er, and so 
  he must now use the Cluster Hits Table. For the Ultra AC/10, R2 
  means he can ﬁ re a single shot or two shots in the same turn; if 
  he ﬁ res two shots, he must use the Cluster Hits Table (Ray made 
  this decision before the to-hit roll, and so he will use the Cluster 
  Hits Table for this weapon as well).
  Finally, he notes that while a Streak SRM launcher applies 
  the damage from each missile to a separate location, it does 
  not apply its damage using the Cluster Hits Table; if the to-hit 
  roll succeeds, all the missiles strike the target.
  Once again, after a review of the appropriate tables, Ray 
  determines the exact damage his cluster weapons inﬂ ict 
  against each target by rolling 2D6 for each weapon and 
  comparing the result to the appropriate column of the Cluster 
  Hits Table.
  Against the ’Mech:
  • Roll result for the Ultra AC/10 is a 4; only one 10-point 
  Damage Value shot strikes the target.
  • Roll result for the LB 5-X AC is a 5; three 1-point Damage 
  Value ﬂ echettes strike the target
  • Roll result for the LRM-15 is a 7; Ray applies a +2 modiﬁ er 
  for the Artemis IV FCS and gets a total of 9, meaning twelve 
  missiles strike the target
  Against the vehicle:
  • Roll result for the SRM-4 is a 2; one missile strikes the target. 
  • Roll result for the ATM-6 is a 9; Ray applies a +2 modiﬁ er for 
  the integral Artemis IV FCS and gets a total of 11, meaning 
  all six missiles strike the target.
  
  117
  117
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  ATTACK MODIFIERS TABLE 
  *Does not apply to infantry units.
  **See Terrain Modifi ers, p. 108, for exceptions.
  ***If the IndustrialMech mounts advanced fi re control, this modifi er does not apply.
  † Does not necessarily apply to Four-legged ‘Mechs (see Firing When Down, p. 113).
  All Attacks: Weapons and Physical 
  Modifi er
  Attacker
  Movement (modifi ers are cumulative)*
  Stationary 
  None
  Walked/Cruised 
  +1
  Ran/Flanked
  +2
  Jumped 
  +3
  Prone
  +2 (does not apply to four-legged ’Mechs)
  Skidding
  +1
  Terrain (modifi ers are cumulative)
  Light Woods 
  +1 per intervening hex; +1 if target in light woods
  Heavy Woods 
  +2 per intervening hex; +2 if target in heavy woods
  Water**
  Depth 1
  +1; see Partial Cover, p. 102
  Depth 2 
  Underwater units cannot target units that are not underwater (see 
  Terrain Modifi ers, p. 108).
  Partial Cover 
  +1; see Partial Cover, p. 102
  Target (modifi ers are cumulative)
  Prone 
  –2 from adjacent hex; +1 from all others†
  Immobile
   –4 (Includes Grounded DropShips)
  Skidding
  +2
  Movement
  Moved 0–2 hexes 
  0
  Moved 3–4 hexes 
  +1
  Moved 5–6 hexes 
  +2
  Moved 7–9 hexes
  +3
  Moved 10–17 hexes 
  +4
  Moved 18–24 hexes
  +5
  Moved 25+ hexes
  +6
  Jumped/Airborne (non-aerospace units)
  +1 additional
  Battle armor unit 
  (only applies to non-infantry attackers)
  +1
  Airborne VTOL unit
  +1
  Airborne aerospace unit at Altitude 1 (NOE)
  (attacker in attack/fl ight path)
  +1
  Airborne aerospace unit at Altitude 1 (NOE)
  (attacker not in attack/fl ight path)
  +3
  Weapon Attacks Only
  Modifi er
  Attacker
  ’Mech Damage
  Sensor hit 
  +2
  Shoulder hit 
  +4 for weapons in arm, disregard other damaged actuators in arm
  Upper or lower arm actuator (each) 
  +1 for weapons in arm
  
  ATTACK MODIFIERS TABLE (CONTINUED) 
  Weapon Attacks Only
  Modifi er
  Heat
  0–7 
  None
  8–12 
  +1
  13–16 
  +2
  17–23 
  +3
  24+ 
  +4
  Making indirect LRM attack 
  +1
  Attacker is IndustrialMech***
  +1
  Grounded DropShip
  –2
  Range and Terrain
  Range
  Short 
  None
  Medium 
  +2
  Long 
  +4
  Minimum range 
  [Minimum] – [Target Range] +1 (see Minimum Range Modifi er, p. 107)
  Each Intervening Hex/Level between 
  Attacker and Target (as well as target’s hex) 
  in same multi-hex building
  +1 per hex/level (maximum +3; see Combat Within Buildings, p. 175)
  Target
  Secondary target in forward arc 
  +1
  Secondary target in side or rear arc 
  +2
  Large Support Vehicle or
   Grounded Small Craft
  –1
  Physical Attacks Only
  Attacker
  ’Mech Damage
  Shoulder hit 
  No punching or physical weapon attack with arm; no clubbing attacks; +2 to 
  pushing attack (each)
  Upper or lower arm actuator hit (each) 
  +2 to punching and physical weapon attack with arm; half damage for 
  punching attack with arm; +2 to clubbing attacks
  Hand actuator hit 
  +1 to punching attack with arm; no clubbing attacks; no physical weapon 
  attack with arm
  Hip actuator hit 
  No kicking attacks
  Upper or lower leg actuator hit (each) 
  +2 and half damage to kicking attack with that leg
  Foot actuator hit 
  +1 to kicking attack with that leg
  Target
  Infantry 
  +3 to kicking and death from above attacks
  Large Support Vehicle or 
  Grounded Small Craft 
  –2
  Other Modifi ers
  Charging attack: Modify for relative Piloting Skills (see p. 40)
  Death from above attack: Modify for relative Piloting Skills (see p. 40)
  *Does not apply to infantry units.
  **See Terrain Modifi ers, p. 108, for exceptions.
  ***If the IndustrialMech mounts advanced fi re control, this modifi er does not apply.
  † Does not necessarily apply to Four-legged ‘Mechs (see Firing When Down, p. 113).
  
  119
  119
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  HIT LOCATION
  When an attack hits its 
  target, the fi ring player 
  must determine precisely 
  where the attack struck. Hit 
  location is determined by 
  the attack direction and the 
  target’s facing.
  Attack Direction
  When an attack hits a non-
  infantry unit, it hits from the target’s front, rear, left or right 
  side. Lay a straightedge from the center of the attacker’s hex to 
  the center of the target’s hex. Compare the hexside crossed by 
  the straightedge to the appropriate unit diagram to fi nd the 
  side of the unit hit by the attack. If the straightedge crosses 
  at the intersection of two hexsides, the target chooses which 
  side is hit by the attack before the attacking player makes the 
  hit location roll. 
  ’Mechs: Use the ’Mech Attack Direction diagram, above. 
  To determine which side of a ’Mech is hit, use the facing of a 
  standing ’Mech’s feet to determine its front side, regardless of 
  torso twist. If the target ’Mech is prone, use the hexside toward 
  which its head is pointing as its facing.
  ProtoMechs: Regardless of attack direction, ProtoMechs 
  use only a single Hit Location Table (see p. 185).
  Vehicles: Use the Vehicle Attack Direction diagram, p. 192. 
  The side on which a vehicle is hit depends on the alignment 
  of its front side.
  Grounded Aerospace Units: Grounded aerospace units 
  use slightly diff erent attack direction diagrams (see Attacks By 
  Grounded Aerospace Units, p. 249).
  ’MECH HIT LOCATION TABLE
  Die Roll
  (2D6) 
  Biped (Four-legged)
  Left Side 
  Front/Rear 
  Right Side
  2* 
  Left Torso [critical]
  Center Torso [critical]
  Right Torso [critical]
  3 
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  4
   Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  5 
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  6 
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  Right Torso 
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  7 
  Left Torso 
  Center Torso 
  Right Torso
  8 
  Center Torso 
  Left Torso 
  Center Torso
  9 
  Right Torso 
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  Left Torso
  10 
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  11 
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  12 
  Head 
  Head 
  Head
  *A result of 2 may infl ict a critical hit. Apply damage to the armor in that section in the normal manner, but the attacking player also rolls once on the Determining 
  Critical Hits Table, p. 124.
  Non-Aerospace Units to Airborne Aerospace Units: Use 
  the Above/Below column on the Aerospace Units Hit Location 
  Table p. 237, for attacks from non-aerospace units (including 
  grounded aerospace units) to airborne aerospace units. 
  Infantry and Buildings: Hits on infantry and buildings do not 
  rely on attack direction. Players who make a successful attack 
  against these targets need not determine attack direction or 
  hit location. Detailed explanations for assigning damage to 
  infantry and buildings appear in their respective sections.
  In the To-Hit Roll diagram and example on p. 115, Ray 
  draws a straight line between the center of Hex A (where his 
  ’Mech is located) to the centers of Hex B and C to determine 
  attack directions. After looking at the attack direction 
  diagram for the ’Mech above, Ray determines that the attacks 
  cross the left side, meaning that all his attacks against the 
  ’Mech will use the Left Side column of the ’Mech Hit Location 
  Table. After consulting the attack direction diagram for the 
  ground Combat Vehicle (see p. 192), Ray determines that 
  the attacks cross the vehicle’s left side as well, and so all his 
  attacks against the vehicle will use the Left Side column of 
  the Ground Combat Vehicle Hit Location Table.
  Determining Hit Location
  To determine the exact location of a hit, the player rolls 2D6 
  and consults the appropriate column of the Hit Location Table 
  for each unit type. ’Mechs use the ’Mech Hit Location Table, 
  above (specifi c locations for four-legged designs appear 
  in parentheses on the table); other units have their own Hit 
  Location tables, found in their respective sections.
  As with resolving to-hit rolls, the players choose the order 
  in which they determine hit locations (and resolve damage to 
  the target) for all of their unit’s announced attacks. From turn 
  • ’MECH ATTACK 
  DIRECTION DIAGRAM • 
  
  to turn, players can change this order. However, to avoid confusion 
  and ease the tracking of which hit locations and damage have 
  been resolved, most players simply resolve hit locations and target 
  damage in the same order that they resolved to-hit rolls—starting 
  at the top of a unit’s Weapon and Equipment Inventory on the 
  record sheet and moving to the bottom. 
  Cluster Weapons: As defi ned under Weapons and Equipment
  (see p. 113), cluster weapons assign their damage as follows:
  • 
  LB-X Weapons: If an LB-X weapon is fi red as a cluster weapon 
  (using cluster munitions, rather than acting as a direct-fi re 
  ballistic weapon and using standard munitions), once the 
  actual Damage Value that struck the target is determined, 
  the controlling player makes a diff erent hit location roll for 
  each 1-point Damage Value grouping.
  • 
  Missile Weapons: Once the Damage Value that actually 
  struck the target is determined, the division of damage into 
  Damage Value groupings and their assignment to the target 
  depend on weapon type, as described under Weapons and 
  Equipment, p. 113. Anytime damage remaining from a cluster 
  weapon attack does not equal the Damage Value as indicated 
  in the Damage column of the appropriate Weapons and 
  Equipment tables, this leftover damage is assigned to the 
  target as its own “remainder” grouping. 
  • 
  Rapid-Fire Weapons: If a rapid-fi re weapon is used as a 
  cluster weapon (fi ring multiple shots in a single use rather 
  than fi ring a single shot), once the controlling player has 
  determined the actual Damage Value that struck the target, 
  he makes a diff erent hit location roll for each Damage Value 
  grouping (each grouping is based on the single-shot damage 
  of the rapid-fi re weapon, abbreviated as “Sht” on the Weapon 
  and Equipment tables).
  Grounded Aerospace Units: Aerospace Units Hit Location 
  Tables appear in Aerospace Units, p. 237.
  Non-Aerospace Units to Airborne Aerospace Units: 
  Aerospace Units Hit Location Tables appear in Aerospace Units, p. 
  237; use the Above/Below column.
  ProtoMechs: ProtoMech Hit Location Tables appear in 
  ProtoMechs, p. 185.
  Vehicles: Vehicle Hit Location Tables appear in Combat Vehicles 
  and Support Vehicles, pp. 193 and 206, respectively.
  Now it’s time for Ray to determine the locations struck for 
  each weapon from the To-Hit Roll diagram and example. He 
  knows cluster weapons have speciﬁ c rules when determining 
  location, and so he determines hit locations for the non-cluster 
  weapons ﬁ rst (not because he has to—he knows he can choose 
  any order—but simply because it’s easier right now).
  Against the ’Mech:
  • Hit Location result for the Large Pulse Laser is a 4: 10 points 
  of damage are applied to the left arm.
  • Hit Location result for the Ultra AC/10 is a 3, meaning a 
  left-leg location. Because the target has partial cover, the 
  attack strikes the terrain instead of the ’Mech, and so the 
  10 points of damage is lost (even though the Ultra AC/10 
  rolled on the Cluster Hits Table because it ﬁ red two shots, 
  the damage of each shot always equals the standard 
  Damage Value of the weapon).
  Against the vehicle:
  • Hit Location result for the ﬁ rst ER Micro Laser is a 7: 2 points 
  of damage are applied to the left side. 
  • Hit Location result for the second ER Micro Laser is an 11: 2 
  points of damage are applied to the turret.
  • Hit Location result for the Heavy Medium Laser is a 9: 10 
  points of damage are applied to the rear. 
  Next, Ray moves on to the cluster weapons. 
  For the LB-X AC, Ray knows that cluster ammo is always 
  applied as 1-point Damage Value groupings against the target.
  For the LRM and its twelve-missile Damage Value, Ray looks 
  at the Damage Column of the Clan Weapons and Equipment 
  Table, and ﬁ nds the following annotation: 1/Msl, C5/15. From 
  consulting the Weapons and Equipment Type abbreviations 
  section, Ray knows that those abbreviations mean each missile 
  does 1 point of damage (1/Msl) and that each Damage Value 
  grouping is no more than 5 points (C5); he’s already aware that 
  ﬁ fteen missiles are ﬁ red as a single shot because this weapon is 
  an LRM-15 (the second part of the “C5/15” abbreviation). With 
  12 points of damage, and no more than 5 points assigned to 
  a single Damage Value grouping, that leaves Ray with two 
  Damage Value groupings of 5 and one grouping of 2 to assign 
  to the target.
  For the Streak SRM-2 and SRM-4, the annotations in the 
  Damage Value column are as follows, respectively: “2/Msl, 
  C2/2” and “2/Msl, C2/4.” This means that for both weapon 
  systems each missile delivers 2 points of damage, and that the 
  Cluster Damage Value is always 2 no matter how many missiles 
  strike the target.
  Finally, for the ATM-6 HE ammo, the annotation in the 
  Damage Value column is the following: 3/Msl, C5/6. As all six 
  missiles struck the target, the total Damage Value is 18 points: 
  3 (Damage Value of each missile) x 6 (number of missiles that 
  struck the target). That means Ray has three 5-point Damage 
  Value groupings and one 3-point Damage Value grouping.
  With all that in mind, he makes the following rolls to 
  determine hit location.
   
  Against the ’Mech:
  • Hit location results for the LB 5-X AC are 5, 9 and 12; a 1-point 
  Damage Value grouping is assigned to the left arm, right torso 
  and head (the 12 result  will cause a Consciousness Roll).
  • Hit location results for the LRM-15 are 7, 6 and 8; a 5-point 
  Damage Value grouping is assigned to the left torso, 
  the second 5-point grouping strikes the hill and does no 
  damage, and the ﬁ nal 2-point grouping is assigned to the 
  center torso.
   
  Against the vehicle:
  • Hit location results for the Streak SRM-2 are 5 and 6; a 2-
  point Damage Value grouping is assigned to the front and 
  side.
  • Hit location result for the SRM-4 is 11; a 2-point Damage 
  Value grouping is assigned to the turret. 
  • Hit location results for the ATM-6 are 4, 8, 9 and 12; two 5-
  point Damage Value groupings are assigned to the left side, 
  the third 5-point grouping is assigned to the rear and the 3-
  point grouping is assigned to the turret (the hit location roll 
  results of 8 and 12 will cause automatic rolls on the Ground 
  Combat Vehicle Critical Hits Table).
  
  121
  121
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  DAMAGE
  Each attack that hits the target does damage to the target. 
  Every weapon does a specifi c amount of damage, defi ned 
  as Damage Value, which appears under the Damage Value 
  column on the appropriate Weapons and Equipment tables, 
  beginning on p. 303.
  Underwater Units: Whenever an underwater unit takes a 
  hit that infl icts damage, the controlling player rolls 2D6. On a 
  result of 10 or greater, the unit’s hull has been breached. The 
  unit has lost integrity in that location, and it fi lls with water. 
  Only make this roll for fl ooding at the moment an underwater 
  unit takes damage, not for a damaged unit that later enters 
  the water. If all of a location’s armor is destroyed (whether this 
  occurred before the unit entered the water hex or while it is 
  submerged), that location is automatically breached. 
  Treat all of a unit’s components in a breached location as 
  nonfunctional. None of that location’s actuators, weapons 
  or other equipment works. If the breached location contains 
  engine slots, the engine functions as if it took as many critical 
  hits as engine critical slots in that location; if the breached 
  location is the head, the ’Mech is considered destroyed and the 
  MechWarrior killed. If a side torso is fl ooded, the corresponding 
  arm and all of it is equipment are considered nonfunctional as 
  well. Even if a unit exits the water, all the equipment in the 
  fl ooded location remains non-functional
  These eff ects are not technically critical hits, and will not 
  cause ammunition to explode. Equipment and components 
  in the breached location can still take critical hits per 
  standard rules, even though the component is temporarily 
  out of commission. 
  RECORDING DAMAGE
  Follow the step-by-step procedure outlined in Damage 
  Resolution below to determine the eff ects of damage.
  IndustrialMechs: IndustrialMechs that mount commercial 
  armor are assigned damage like Support Vehicles, with a 
  Barrier Armor Rating (BAR) of 5; this means IndustrialMechs 
  using commercial armor may suff er penetrating critical hits 
  (see Damage in the Support Vehicles section, p. 206).
  ProtoMechs: Hits against ProtoMechs follow the same 
  general procedure as hits against ’Mechs. See ProtoMechs, 
  p. 184.
  Vehicles: Hits against vehicles follow the same general 
  procedure as hits against ’Mechs, though vehicles cannot 
  survive the destruction of a location and damage does not 
  transfer. In addition, some diff erences exist between Combat 
  Vehicles and Support Vehicles. See Combat Vehicles and 
  Support Vehicles, pp. 192 and 204 respectively.
  Aerospace Units: Hits against aerospace units follow the 
  same general procedure as hits against ’Mechs. See Aerospace 
  Units, p. 234.
  Infantry and Buildings: Hits against infantry and buildings 
  are recorded diff erently from hits on ’Mechs and vehicles. See 
  Infantry, p. 212, and Buildings, p. 166, for details.
  Torso Destruction
  If a ’Mech’s right or left torso has all of its internal structure 
  destroyed, the corresponding arm (or, in the case of four-
  legged ’Mechs, the corresponding front leg) is blown off  
  immediately and sustains no further damage for the rest of the 
  game (see ’Mech Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 125). The corresponding 
  leg is not damaged. If the center torso is destroyed, the entire 
  unit is destroyed (see Destroying a Unit, p. 128).
  MM 
  MM
  Spear-headed by an ARC-8M Archer, a Second Davion Guards’ fi re lance moves into position. 
  
  Leg Destruction
  When a ’Mech loses one leg, either through a critical hit or 
  the destruction of the leg’s internal structure, a standing ’Mech 
  automatically falls. The controlling player makes an immediate 
  Piloting Skill Roll, with a +5 modifi er for the destroyed leg (plus any 
  modifi ers for other damage; the +5 modifi er for leg destruction 
  replaces all pre-existing modifi ers for damage to that leg), to 
  avoid damaging the MechWarrior during the fall. Regardless of 
  how or in what phase a ’Mech loses its leg, its movement is over 
  for that turn.
  In a subsequent turn, during the Movement Phase (Ground), 
  the ’Mech may attempt to stand on its remaining leg by making a 
  single Piloting Skill Roll with a +5 modifi er, plus any modifi ers for 
  other damage. If the ’Mech manages to stand, it has a Walking MP 
  of 1 and cannot run. To take into account the missing leg, add +5 
  to any Piloting Skill Roll made thereafter. The ’Mech may still jump 
  (minus the power of the jump jets on the missing leg, if any), but 
  the pilot must make a Piloting Skill Roll each time the ’Mech lands.
  For purposes of attacker movement, such an attempt to stand 
  is considered a run.
  If the ’Mech stays prone, it can still change its facing one hexside 
  per turn; it is considered to have walked if it changes its facing.
  Four-Legged ’Mechs: A single destroyed leg immediately 
  causes a quad ´Mech to fall and negates all the movement and 
  combat bonuses gained from being a quad. The ’Mech can no 
  longer make lateral shifts, it loses the –2 modifi er to Piloting Skill 
  Rolls, it must make a successful Piloting Skill Roll to stand after 
  falling, it must prop itself up with one of its forward legs to fi re 
  while prone and it suff ers a +2 modifi er to fi ring while prone. In 
  addition, a –1 MP penalty replaces any penalties associated with 
  damaged leg actuators in the destroyed leg.
  After losing two legs, a quad functions with the same restrictions 
  as a two-legged ’Mech that has lost one leg: it immediately falls, it 
  has only 1 MP, Piloting Skill Rolls are modifi ed by +5 and so on.
  A quad that loses three or four of its legs cannot move. It 
  automatically falls and has 0 MP available. It cannot prop itself 
  up to fi re, change hexsides or attempt to stand and is considered 
  immobile.
  DAMAGE RESOLUTION
  To apply damage from an attack, begin with the amount of 
  damage the attack infl icts and its hit location, and start at Step 1. 
  Answer each question yes or no, and follow the instructions.
  1. Does the location have armor?
  Yes: Check off  one armor circle on the Armor Diagram in the 
  appropriate location for every point of damage taken, until all 
  damage is applied or all armor in the location is destroyed. Go 
  to Step 2.
  No: Proceed to Step 3.
  2. Is there damage remaining?
  Yes: Go to Step 3 to allocate remaining damage.
  No: Attack is fi nished.
  3. Does the location have an internal structure?
  Yes: Check off  one internal structure circle on the Internal 
  Structure Diagram in the appropriate location for every point of 
  damage taken, until all damage is applied or all internal structure 
  in the location is destroyed. Go to Step 4.
  No: Proceed to Step 6.
  4. At the beginning of the current phase, did the location 
  contain any components that could sustain a critical hit?
  Yes: Roll once on the Determining Critical Hits Table, p. 124. 
  Apply the eff ects of any critical hits to the location. Excess critical 
  hits that cannot be applied are not transferred. Go to Step 5.
  No: Roll once on the Determining Critical Hits Table. Any critical 
  hits are applied to the next location inward (see Damage Transfer 
  Diagram). Go to Step 5.
  5. Does any internal structure remain in the location?
  Yes: Attack is fi nished.
  No: The location and all components contained in it are 
  destroyed; any armor remaining at that location (whether front 
  or rear) is also destroyed. The destruction of components in 
  this fashion does not cause ammunition or other components 
  to explode, but otherwise all components in the location are 
  aff ected as though critically hit (see Transferring Criticals, p. 125). 
  Go to Step 6.
  6. Is there damage remaining?
  Yes: Go to Step 7 to allocate remaining damage.
  No: Attack is fi nished.
  7. Did the damage result from an ammunition (or other 
  internal component) explosion?
  Yes: Go to Step 8.
  No: Damage transfers to the armor of the next location inward 
  (see Damage Transfer Diagram). Go to Step 1.
  8. Is the location protected by CASE?
  Yes: The remaining damage is lost. The attack is fi nished.
  No: The remaining damage transfers to the next location inward 
  (see Damage Transfer Diagram), directly to the internal structure. 
  Go to Step 3.
  SL 
  LS
  NJT-2 Ninja-To, Ryuken-yon (House Kurita) 
  
  123
  123
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  TRANSFERRING DAMAGE
  BattleMechs can survive the destruction of any body section 
  except the head or center torso. If a section is destroyed and 
  the same location takes another hit, or excess damage remains 
  from the shot that destroyed the location, that damage 
  transfers to (aff ects) the outer armor of the next location 
  inward. Excess ammunition explosion damage transfers 
  directly to the internal structure of the next location inward. 
  This principle is illustrated on the Damage Transfer Diagram.
  Damage to a missing arm or leg transfers to the torso on 
  the same side (left leg or arm damage is transferred to the left 
  torso, right arm or leg damage to the right torso). Additional 
  damage to a destroyed side torso location transfers to the 
  center torso. Damage from a destroyed head or center torso 
  does not transfer.
  Damage from the rear fi ring arc that hits a missing limb is 
  transferred to the appropriate rear torso location. For example, 
  damage from the rear that hits a missing left leg is transferred 
  to the left rear torso.
  Blown-Off  Arms: As soon as a torso is destroyed, the 
  corresponding arm is blown off . This means additional 
  damage in the same phase that would normally have struck 
  the arm is automatically transferred to the appropriate torso 
  (which is destroyed, so the damage ultimately transfers to the 
  center torso).
  A Grasshopper’s left arm is hit by an attack from a PPC 
  (Damage Value 10), a large laser (Damage Value 8) and 
  two 5-point groups of long-range missiles (Damage Value 
  1 per missile hit, for 5 points per Damage Value grouping). 
  Before this turn, the BattleMech had its full Armor Value of 
  22 in that arm.
  The PPC hit reduces the Armor Value by 10, so the 
  Grasshopper’s player ﬁ lls in ten armor circles. The laser 
  hit does 8 points of damage, and so the player ﬁ lls in 
  eight more circles, leaving four. The ﬁ rst cluster of missiles 
  reduces the Armor Value by another 5 points, but since the 
  Grasshopper’s remaining Armor Value is 4, that leaves 1 
  point of damage that the hit location cannot absorb.
  The remaining 1 point of damage from the ﬁ rst cluster 
  of missiles transfers to the ’Mech’s internal structure, and 
  so the player ﬁ lls in one circle on the Internal Structure 
  Diagram, leaving ten circles out of the original eleven. 
  The last group of missiles reduces the internal structure by 
  another 5 points. The player ﬁ lls in ﬁ ve more circles on the 
  Internal Structure Diagram, leaving ﬁ ve. (The attacking 
  player would make two rolls on the Determining Critical 
  Hits table, p. 124, because two diﬀ erent hits damaged the 
  internal structure of the left arm.)
  If the Grasshopper’s left arm takes a hit from a weapon 
  that inﬂ icts 5 or more points of damage, the arm will be 
  destroyed.
  CRITICAL DAMAGE
  Every time the internal structure of a ’Mech, ProtoMech, 
  vehicle or aerospace unit takes damage (from a weapon 
  attack, physical attack, falling, ammo explosion and so on), an 
  internal component may take critical damage.
  To determine whether a unit takes critical damage from 
  an attack that damages the internal structure, the player rolls 
  2D6 and consults the Determining Critical Hits Table. On a 
  result of 8 or higher, the target unit takes critical damage. The 
  higher the result, the more serious the internal damage. If the 
  unit takes critical damage, the target player rolls 1D6 or 2D6 
  depending on the location and unit, and consults the unit’s 
  Critical Hit Table to determine the precise critical damage (as 
  described in ’Mech Critical Hits).
  Each successful attack that damages internal structure 
  creates only one opportunity for the attacker to infl ict a critical 
  hit, regardless of the number of internal structure circles 
  destroyed by a single weapon or other attack (see Hit Location 
  Critical Hits, p. 124, for an exception). The attacking player rolls 
  2D6 once for each potential critical hit.
  The location of the damage determines the exact nature 
  of the critical hit. Several types of critical hits can aff ect each 
  section of a unit. Furthermore, every type of ’Mech can suff er 
  diff erent critical hits, depending on the array of weapons and 
  other equipment it carries. The Critical Hit Table for each type 
  of ’Mech appears on the record sheet for that type. A partially 
  blank Critical Hit Table that players can customize for all ’Mechs 
  is provided on all blank ’Mech record sheets.
  • TRANSFER DAMAGE DIAGRAM • 
  
  Multiple Locations: If a single attack damages the internal 
  structure of two diff erent locations, the attacker makes a roll to 
  determine critical damage for both locations.
  IndustrialMechs: When rolling on the Determining Critical Hits 
  Table for damage infl icted on an IndustrialMech, add +2 to the 
  dice roll result. Treat a modifi ed result of 13 as 12. On a modifi ed 
  result of 14, the IndustrialMech’s head or limb is blown off . If the 
  hit struck a torso location, make four critical hit rolls.
  A CattleMaster IndustrialMech is on the wrong end of a COM-
  5D Commando and has already sustained signiﬁ cant damage. 
  The Commando hits the CattleMaster on the right arm with 
  both missiles from its SRM-2 launcher, ﬁ nally overcoming the 
  armor there. For the ﬁ rst missile, the critical hit roll results are 
  1 and 4, giving a ﬁ nal result of 1 + 4 + 2 = 7. No critical hit. The 
  second critical hit roll gives results of 4 and 3. Normally this 
  would not generate a critical hit, but the modiﬁ ed result is 4 + 3 
  + 2 = 9. The CattleMaster suﬀ ers one critical hit in its right arm.
  ProtoMechs: Though ProtoMechs have diff erent weapons 
  per diff erent designs, the base Critical Hit Table found on every 
  ProtoMech record sheet is the same for every ProtoMech. 
  ProtoMechs have additional rules for resolving critical hit eff ects 
  (see p. 185).
  Vehicles and Aerospace Units: Unlike ’Mechs, which have 
  a unique Critical Hit Table for every design, all vehicles and 
  aerospace units use a standard set of Critical Hit tables. The 
  Critical Hit tables for the various types of vehicles and aerospace 
  units appear in Combat Vehicles, and Aerospace Units, pp. 192 and 
  234, respectively.
  Infantry: Infantry units never suff er critical damage. Once any 
  armor is removed from an infantry unit (provided the unit mounts 
  armor), the trooper is eliminated.
  Hit Location Critical Hits: Certain results on the hit location 
  tables provide the chance for a critical hit, even if the attack did 
  not damage internal structure. Resolve these by rolling on the 
  Determining Critical Hits Table just as for other critical hit rolls. This 
  chance is in addition to the normal roll for a critical hit provided by 
  damage to the internal structure. For example, a hit location result 
  of 2 against a ’Mech with no torso armor left requires two rolls on 
  the Determining Critical Hits Table. If the ’Mech had armor in the 
  location hit, the attacker would still have at least one chance for 
  a critical hit.
  Destroyed Location: If a location is destroyed by the 
  elimination of its internal structure, and occupied slots remain in 
  that location that have not yet taken critical hits, a player still rolls 
  to determine if a critical hit occurred in that location. Such critical 
  hits, however, do not transfer. This rule only comes into play if the 
  section in question contained one or more explosive slots. 
  If a location is destroyed by the elimination of internal structure 
  and contains one or more ammo slots (or other explosive 
  equipment and weapons, such as a gauss rifl e), the controlling 
  player must still determine if any critical hits occur from the 
  damage to that location’s internal structure. If a critical hit is rolled, 
  damage is assigned per standard rules. If the critical hit strikes an 
  ammo slot that is not yet empty, the ammo explodes per standard 
  rules for ammunition explosions (see p. 125).
  Advanced Weapons and Equipment: If a unit mounts any 
  weapons and/or equipment not found on the appropriate 
  Weapons and Equipment Tables (see p. 303) or in Other Combat 
  Weapons and Equipment (see p. 129), the weapon/equipment in 
  question still takes damage. 
  ’MECH CRITICAL HITS
  When an attacker infl icts a critical hit on a target, the target 
  player fi nds the damaged location on the Critical Hit Table on his 
  ’Mech’s record sheet. He then rolls dice for each critical hit and 
  marks off  the damage infl icted on the Critical Hit Table.
  Head or Leg Hits: If the critical hit strikes the ’Mech’s head or 
  legs, roll 1D6, fi nd the result on the Critical Hit Table and mark off  
  the damaged location. If the critical location rolled cannot take a 
  critical hit or has already been destroyed by a critical hit, roll the 
  die again.
  Torso or Arm Hits: If the critical hit strikes the ´Mech’s torso 
  or arms, the player rolls both dice. The result of the fi rst die tells 
  which half of the Critical Hit Table for that location is aff ected, 
  and the second die result identifi es the location hit. The Critical 
  Hit Table for these locations is divided into two sets of six critical 
  slots, labeled 1–3 and 4–6.
  The fi rst die result identifi es which set of slots takes the hit. On 
  a result of 1, 2 or 3, the shot hits a location in the fi rst set of critical 
  slots. On a result of 4, 5 or 6, the attack hits a location in the second 
  set of critical slots. The result of the second die roll identifi es the 
  specifi c critical slot that takes the hit.
  If a location has twelve slots, but a critical hit can only strike the 
  fi rst set (the fi rst six), players can simply roll 1D6, instead of rolling 
  the fi rst die to determine the fi rst or second set of critical slots and 
  then another 1D6 to determine the specifi c critical slot that takes 
  the hit. If a roll result on the bottom half occurs, the controlling 
  player simply re-rolls. This can occur at any time during the game 
  that all the specifi c slots in the fi rst or second set have taken 
  critical hits; players can then simply roll 1D6 to save time.
  A Grasshopper takes a critical hit to its left arm. The defending 
  player rolls the ﬁ rst die with a result of 3. This means the critical 
  hit aﬀ ects a slot in the ﬁ rst half of the Critical Hit Table for the left 
  arm (labeled 1–3). The player rolls the second die and gets a 2, 
  inﬂ icting a critical hit on the ’Mech’s upper arm actuator.
  Each weapon and other piece of equipment fi lls at least one slot 
  on the Critical Hit Table. If the player rolls damage for a slot for which 
  no component exists; a slot that cannot take critical damage, such 
  as endo steel, CASE or ferro-fi brous armor; or a slot that has already 
  taken a critical hit, he rolls both dice again. (On pre-generated 
  record sheets, the words in equipment slots that cannot take critical 
  DETERMINING CRITICAL HITS TABLE
  Die Roll (2D6)
  Eff ect
  2–7
  No Critical Hit
  8–9
  Roll 1 Critical Hit Location
  10–11
  Roll 2 Critical Hit Locations
  12
  Head/Limb Blown Off ; Roll 3 Critical Hit 
  Locations*
  *Roll 3 critical hit locations if the attack strikes the torso.
  
  125
  125
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  damage always appear more faint than the words in a critical 
  slot fi lled with equipment that can take critical damage.)
  Some weapons, double heat sinks and other equipment 
  take up multiple slots on the Critical Hit Table. A single critical 
  hit disables any weapon or equipment except the engine, gyro 
  and sensors. (A heat sink critical hit destroys only the specifi c 
  heat sink hit.) Critical hits on additional slots occupied by the 
  weapon, double heat sink and so on have no further eff ect, 
  but soak up the critical damage; the critical is assigned to the 
  slot, but no further eff ects occur.
  Transferring Criticals: If all the possible slots in the 
  damaged location took critical hits in previous phases, or if 
  no items in the location can be aff ected by critical hits, the 
  critical hit transfers to the next location per the Damage 
  Transfer Diagram (this diagram also appears on every ’Mech 
  record sheet). Critical hits to the center torso and head do 
  not transfer. However, if all the possible slots in the damaged 
  location were not hit in a previous phase, any excess critical 
  hits do not transfer and are lost.
  For example, during the Weapon Attack Phase of Turn 6, 
  an attacking unit damages the internal structure of a target 
  ’Mech’s right torso. The controlling player must immediately 
  roll to determine critical hits before resolving any further 
  weapons fi re. The player rolls a 12, resulting in three critical 
  hits. The right torso of that ’Mech mounts two medium lasers, 
  one of which was destroyed during Turn 4, and so one critical 
  hit destroys the fi nal medium laser. The two remaining critical 
  hits do not transfer and are lost. However, during the Physical 
  Attack Phase of the same turn, the same controlling player 
  damages the internal structure of the same target ’Mech’s right 
  torso. He rolls a 10 for determining critical hits, resulting in two 
  critical hits. As all possible slots in the damaged location took 
  critical hits in a previous phase, both critical hits transfer to the 
  target ’Mech’s center torso.
  ’MECH CRITICAL HIT EFFECTS
  Each type of critical hit aff ects a ’Mech’s performance in a 
  specifi c way, as described below. The critical hit locations are 
  arranged alphabetically by item; the location of the item on 
  the ´Mech (head, leg, torso, arm) is noted in parentheses.
  Four-Legged ’Mechs: Consider all leg critical hit damage 
  cumulative. Each hip critical hit reduces the quad’s Walking 
  MP by half. Three destroyed hips cut the quad’s Walking MP 
  to an eighth of its normal rate, and the pilot must modify the 
  Piloting Skill Roll target number by +4 (+6 for three destroyed 
  hips and –2 for four intact legs).
  Ammunition
  If a critical hit destroys a slot carrying explosive ammunition, 
  the ammo explodes (explosive ammunition will be noted 
  appropriately in Other Combat Weapons and Equipment, 
  starting on p. 129). The MechWarrior automatically takes 2 
  Damage Points as a result of the feedback received through 
  his neurohelmet. In addition, the ’Mech takes damage to its 
  internal structure; CASE does not prevent this damage.
  Calculate the total Damage Value of all ammo currently 
  carried in the slot and apply that total to the Internal Structure 
  Diagram (ammunition explosion damage starts the damage 
  resolution process at Step 3, as described on page 122). If the 
  location is not protected by CASE, any excess damage transfers 
  to the internal structure of the next location. For locations 
  protected by CASE, vent any remaining damage without 
  further harm. See Other Combat Weapons and Equipment, p. 
  129, for details.
  A critical hit to an ammo slot only explodes the ammo in 
  that slot. It explodes with a force equal to the ammo’s Damage 
  Value times the shots remaining. Missile ammo explodes with 
  a force equal to the number of missiles remaining times their 
  Damage Value. For example, 1 full ton of machine gun ammo 
  explodes with a force of 400 points of damage (2 x 200), while 
  1 full ton of SRM-2 ammo explodes with a force of 200 points 
  of damage (2 x 2 x 50).
  If an ammunition slot has been emptied (the hash marks of 
  weapons fi re next to the slot equal the number of shots in that 
  slot), then the slot takes the critical hit, but no further damage 
  or eff ects occur.
  Because an ammunition explosion damages the internal 
  structure of the location where it explodes, a roll to determine 
  critical hits is necessary.
  Arm Blown Off  (Arm)
  This critical hit occurs when the player rolls a 12 on the 
  Determining Critical Hits Table, if the location hit is an arm, and 
  is automatic (the player rolling the critical hits cannot choose 
  to roll the three critical hits instead). The hit blows the arm off , 
  and the weapons and equipment mounted in that arm are no 
  longer available to the ’Mech. The arm may be picked up and 
  used as a club per the rules for Club Attacks, p. 145.
  Explosive Components: When an arm is blown off  in 
  this way, any explosive components in that section do not 
  explode.
  Cockpit (Head)
  A critical hit to the cockpit destroys that slot, kills the 
  MechWarrior and puts the ’Mech out of commission for 
  the game.
  DF 
  DF
  Heavily modifi ed Thunder fi elded by Periphery pirates.
  
  Small Cockpit: A critical hit against a small cockpit has the 
  same eff ects as for a standard cockpit.
  Engine (Torso)
  ’Mech fusion engines have 3 points of shielding. Each critical 
  hit to an engine slot destroys 1 point of shielding. As shielding is 
  destroyed, the amount of heat escaping from the ’Mech’s fusion 
  drive increases.
  The fi rst hit increases the ’Mech’s heat build-up by 5 points per 
  turn. The second hit results in 10 (total) points of added heat build-
  up per turn, and the third critical hit to an engine slot shuts down 
  the engine and puts the BattleMech out of commission for the 
  rest of the game. Though XL and light engines take up additional 
  slots (in the side torsos), critical hits to any three engine slots also 
  shut down XL and light engines.
  A ´Mech is considered destroyed and out of the game if it 
  suff ers three engine hits (remember to count engine slots in the 
  side torso if the torso is destroyed).
  Compact Engines: Critical hits against compact engines have 
  the same eff ects as for a standard engine.
  ICE: Engine critical hits on ICE-equipped ’Mechs do not generate 
  additional heat. Instead, the ´Mech’s controlling player makes a 
  2D6 roll to see if the engine explodes, at the end of the phase 
  in which its ICE is hit. Apply a +3 modifi er to the target number 
  if this is the second hit, or +6 if this is the third such hit. On a 
  result of 10 or greater, the engine explodes, destroying the unit. 
  For purposes of game play, three or more internal-combustion 
  engine hits destroy the ’Mech, regardless of whether or not the 
  engine explodes. An ICE explosion destroys the ’Mech but has no 
  eff ect on other units.
  Fuel Cell Engines: Like ICE-equipped ’Mechs, engine hits on 
  fuel cell engines do not generate additional heat. Instead, roll 
  to see if the damage causes an uncontrolled combination of 
  reactants that results in an explosion, destroying the unit. The 
  rules for ICE explosions above apply to engine explosion rolls for 
  fuel cell engines.
  Fission Engines: In game play, fi ssion engines function exactly 
  like their fusion counterparts, but in addition to the normal heat 
  eff ects of an engine critical hit, a damaged fi ssion power plant 
  also has a detrimental impact on the ’Mech’s operator because 
  of radiation leakage. The fi rst critical hit to a fi ssion engine causes 
  the pilot to suff er one hit every six turns (beginning six turns after
  the turn in which the original damage was caused). A second 
  engine hit decreases this damage interval to one pilot hit every 
  three turns.
  Foot Actuator (Leg)
  This critical hit destroys the muscle (actuator) in the foot. The 
  controlling player must make a Piloting Skill Roll at the end of 
  the phase in which the critical hit occurred, with a +1 modifi er 
  (in addition to any other standard modifi ers); see Making Piloting/
  Driving Skill Rolls, p. 59.
  For each foot actuator damaged, reduce the ’Mech’s Walking 
  MP by 1 and add a +1 modifi er to any subsequent Piloting Skill 
  Roll. (The player must refi gure the Running MP as well; multiply 
  the new Walking MP by 1.5, rounding up.) A Piloting Skill Roll is 
  required whenever the ’Mech jumps; the roll is made at the end of 
  the ’Mech’s movement. For each foot actuator critical, apply a +1 
  to-hit modifi er to a kick attack.
  These eff ects are cumulative with other leg and foot actuator damage.
  Gyro (Torso)
  The gyroscope is a ’Mech’s most sensitive piece of machinery. It 
  keeps the ’Mech upright and able to move. The gyro can survive 
  only one critical hit; the second destroys it. 
  After the fi rst critical hit to the gyro, the controlling player must 
  make a Piloting Skill Roll at the end of the phase in which the 
  critical hit occurred, with a +3 modifi er (in addition to any other 
  standard modifi ers); see Making Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls, p. 59. In 
  addition, the player must make a Piloting Skill Roll every time the 
  damaged ’Mech runs or jumps, with a +3 modifi er; the roll is made 
  at the end of the ’Mech’s movement.
  When a ’Mech’s gyro is destroyed (after a second critical hit), the 
  ’Mech automatically falls and cannot stand up again; the controlling 
  player makes an immediate Piloting Skill Roll, with a +6 modifi er 
  for the destroyed gyro (plus any modifi ers for other damage), to 
  avoid damaging the MechWarrior during the automatic fall. 
  ’Mechs with a destroyed gyro may make weapon attacks per 
  Firing When Down, p. 113, and may change facing by one hexside 
  per turn provided they have at least 1 MP available. A ’Mech with 
  a destroyed gyro is not considered immobile.
  Compact Gyros: Critical hits against compact gyros have the 
  same eff ects as against a standard gyro.
  Heavy-Duty Gyros: Critical hits against a heavy-duty gyro 
  are identical to those against a standard gyro, with the following 
  exceptions: it takes three critical hits to destroy a heavy-duty 
  gyro; on the fi rst critical hit, a +1 modifi er applies to all Piloting 
  Skill Rolls, but no such rolls are required when the ’Mech runs or 
  jumps; treat the second critical hit to a heavy-duty gyro as the 
  fi rst critical hit to a standard gyro; the third critical hit destroys the 
  heavy-duty gyro with all the standard eff ects.
  XL Gyros: Critical hits against XL gyros have the same eff ects 
  as a standard gyro.
  Hand Actuator (Arm)
  A critical hit to the hand actuator destroys the muscles controlling 
  the ’Mech’s wrist and hand. Add a +1 to-hit modifi er to all punches 
  made with this arm. In addition, the ’Mech can no longer make 
  physical weapon or clubbing attacks with this arm. This eff ect is 
  cumulative with the eff ects of destroyed arm actuators.
  Head Blown Off  (Head)
  A hit blows off  a ’Mech’s head when the player rolls a 12 on 
  the Determining Critical Hits Table for the head hit location. This 
  DF 
  DF/MD
  Griffi  n IIC 4, Omega Galaxy (Clan Blood Spirit) 
  
  127
  127
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  critical hit destroys the ’Mech’s head, kills the MechWarrior and 
  puts the ’Mech out of commission for the rest of the game.
  Heat Sinks
  One critical hit to a heat sink destroys the heat sink and 
  reduces the ’Mech’s ability to dissipate heat. For example, if a 
  ’Mech is designed to dissipate 16 points of heat per turn and 
  three of its heat sinks have been destroyed, it can now only 
  dissipate 13 points of heat per turn.
  A double heat sink takes up more than one slot on the 
  Critical Hit Table but is destroyed by a single critical hit. 
  Additional critical hits to a multi-slot heat sink produce no 
  further eff ects. Each double heat sink destroyed reduces the 
  ’Mech’s ability to eliminate heat by 2 points.
  The loss of any heat sinks take eff ect at the beginning of the 
  Heat Phase of the turn in which they occur, meaning they will 
  not dissipate any heat in the turn they are destroyed.
  Hip (Leg)
  A hip critical hit freezes the aff ected leg in a straight 
  position. The controlling player must make a Piloting Skill Roll 
  at the end of the phase in which the critical hit occurred, with 
  a +2 modifi er (in addition to any other standard modifi ers); 
  see Making Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls, p. 59.
  The ’Mech’s Walking MP is cut in half (round up). Add a 
  +2 modifi er to any Piloting Skill Rolls required, and make a 
  Piloting Skill Roll every turn that the damaged ’Mech runs or 
  jumps; the roll is made at the end of the ’Mech’s movement. 
  The ’Mech cannot make kick attacks.
  After a hip critical hit, ignore all modifi ers from previous 
  critical hits on that leg. This means it is possible for a ’Mech’s 
  performance to improve after a hip critical hit if it had suff ered 
  previous critical damage to the same leg. Since the leg 
  becomes locked in a straight position, it serves as a sort of 
  crutch, making movement easier in some cases than moving 
  on a number of free-fl exing damaged actuators.
  A critical hit to the second hip reduces the ’Mech’s MP to 0 
  and adds another +2 modifi er to its Piloting Skill Roll target 
  number (the ’Mech is not considered immobile, however). 
  For four-legged ’Mechs, the fourth hip critical hit reduces the 
  ’Mech’s MP to 0 and adds another +2 modifi er to all Piloting 
  Skill Rolls.
  Four-legged ‘Mechs: A four-legged ‘Mech with a single hip 
  critical loses its ability to ignore the modifi er for fi ring while 
  prone (see p. 113)
  Jump Jet (Leg/Torso)
  When a jump jet exhaust port takes a critical hit, that jump 
  jet can no longer deliver thrust. This decreases the distance 
  the ’Mech can jump. For each exhaust port hit, reduce the 
  ’Mech’s Jumping MP by 1.
  Leg Blown Off  (Leg)
  This critical hit occurs when the player rolls a 12 on the 
  Determining Critical Hits Table for a leg hit location hit, and is 
  automatic (the player rolling the critical hits cannot choose to 
  roll the three critical hits instead). When a ’Mech’s leg is blown 
  off , the ’Mech automatically falls and takes normal falling 
  damage, though it might be able to stand up again. See Leg 
  Destruction, p. 122. The leg may be picked up and used as a 
  club per the rules for Club Attacks, p. 145.
  Explosive Components: When a leg is blown off  in this way, 
  any explosive components in that section do not explode.
  Life Support (Head)
  Any critical hit knocks out this system permanently and 
  leaves the pilot vulnerable to increased heat; the other critical 
  location can still take damage, but this has no additional 
  eff ect.
  The MechWarrior takes 1 point of damage every Heat Phase 
  that the ’Mech’s internal heat ranges from 15–25, and 2 points 
  of damage for every turn that its internal heat is 26+ on the 
  Heat Scale.
  A life-support critical hit also eliminates the ’Mech’s internal 
  air supply. If the ’Mech is submerged (in Depth 2 or deeper 
  water, or prone in Depth 1 or deeper water) in the End Phase 
  of any turn, the pilot takes 1 point of damage.
  Lower Arm Actuator (Arm)
  This critical hit destroys the actuator in the ’Mech’s lower 
  arm. Add a +1 modifi er to the to-hit number for weapons 
  fi ring from that arm and a +2 modifi er for all clubbing attacks 
  and any punches or physical weapon attacks with this arm. 
  Damage from punches with this arm is halved (round down).
  These eff ects are cumulative with other arm and hand 
  actuator damage in the same arm.
  Missing Actuators: Some ’Mechs are designed without 
  one or both lower arm actuators. These ’Mechs do not suff er 
  the weapon attack modifi er for the missing actuators, though 
  the modifi ers for physical attacks still apply.
  Lower Leg Actuator (Leg)
  This critical hit destroys the muscle (actuator) in the lower 
  leg. The controlling player must make a Piloting Skill Roll at 
  the end of the phase in which the critical hit occurred with a 
  +1 modifi er (in addition to any other standard modifi ers); see 
  Making Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls, p. 59.
  For each lower leg actuator damaged, reduce the ’Mech’s 
  Walking MP by 1 and add a +1 modifi er to any subsequent 
  Piloting Skill Roll. (Refi gure the Running MP as well; multiply 
  the new Walking MP by 1.5, rounding up.) The player must 
  make a Piloting Skill Roll whenever the ’Mech jumps; the roll is 
  made at the end of the ’Mech’s movement. For each lower leg 
  RA 
  RA
  Shadow Cat Prime, Beta Galaxy (Clan Wolf) 
  
  actuator critical, apply a +2 to-hit modifi er to a kick attack to-hit 
  modifi er and infl ict half the standard damage (round down).
  These eff ects are cumulative with all other leg and foot actuator 
  damage.
  Sensors (Head)
  When a ’Mech takes a critical hit to its sensors, add a +2 modifi er 
  to the to-hit number every time the ’Mech fi res its weapons. A 
  second sensor hit makes it impossible for the ’Mech to fi re its 
  weapons. Critical hits to sensors do not aff ect physical attacks or 
  other electronic equipment mounted by the unit (such as ECM 
  suites, C3 computers and so on).
  IndustrialMechs: The sensors on an IndustrialMech are 
  completely disabled after taking a single critical hit, rather than 
  the two hits necessary in a BattleMech. The other critical location 
  can still take damage, but this has no additional eff ect.
  Shoulder (Arm)
  A critical hit to this location freezes the shoulder joint. The 
  ’Mech may not punch or make physical weapon attacks with that 
  arm, nor may it make clubbing attacks, and a +2 modifi er applies 
  to pushing attack to-hit numbers for each damaged shoulder. 
  Add a +4 modifi er to the to-hit number for all weapon attacks 
  made with weapons mounted on that arm. After a shoulder 
  critical hit, ignore all other weapons fi re modifi ers from critical 
  hits to that arm.
  Upper Arm Actuator (Arm)
  This critical hit destroys the actuator in the ’Mech’s upper arm. 
  Add a +1 modifi er to the to-hit number for weapons fi ring from 
  that arm and a +2 modifi er for all clubbing attacks as well as any 
  punches or physical weapon attacks with that arm. Damage from 
  punches with the arm is halved (round down).
  These eff ects are cumulative with other arm and hand actuator 
  damage in the same arm.
  Upper Leg Actuator (Leg)
  This critical hit destroys the muscle (actuator) in the upper leg. 
  The controlling player must make a Piloting Skill Roll at the end 
  of the phase in which the critical hit occurred, with a +1 modifi er 
  (in addition to any other standard modifi ers); see Making Piloting/
  Driving Skill Rolls, p. 59.
  For each upper leg actuator damaged, reduce the ’Mech’s 
  Walking MP by 1 and add a +1 modifi er to any subsequent 
  Piloting Skill Roll. (Refi gure the Running MP as well; multiply the 
  new Walking MP by 1.5, rounding up.) The player must make a 
  Piloting Skill Roll whenever the ’Mech jumps; the roll is made at 
  the end of the ’Mech’s movement. Kick attacks made with the 
  aff ected leg have a +2 to-hit modifi er and infl ict half the standard 
  damage (round down).
  These eff ects are cumulative with all other leg and foot 
  actuator damage.
  Weapons and Equipment
  Weapon systems are surprisingly delicate, and so a single critical 
  hit disables a weapon or other internal component. Though some 
  weapon systems occupy more than one slot on the Critical Hit 
  Table, the fi rst critical hit knocks out the weapon. Additional 
  critical hits to a multi-slot weapon have no further eff ect, other 
  than to make the equipment more diffi  cult to repair. For example, 
  a particle projector cannon fi lls three critical slots. However, the 
  PPC is disabled as soon as one of its three critical slots takes a hit.
  Explosive Components: Certain non-ammo components 
  such as gauss rifl es can explode when they suff er critical hits. The 
  specifi c rules for the equipment state whether this is the case, and 
  how much damage is infl icted (see Other Combat Weapons and 
  Equipment, p. 129). These explosions are handled in the same way 
  as ammunition explosions.
  DESTROYING A UNIT
  Under the specifi c conditions described below, a unit is 
  considered destroyed. Destroyed units are removed from the map 
  in the end of the phase in which they were destroyed, and have 
  no further eff ect on game play.
  ’MECHS
  A ´Mech is considered destroyed and out of the game if 
  its MechWarrior dies or the ´Mech suff ers three engine hits 
  (remember to count engine slots in the side torso if that torso is 
  destroyed). The destruction of the head, cockpit or center torso 
  has the same eff ects and renders a ’Mech destroyed. 
  MechWarrior Survival: The MechWarrior dies when the 
  destruction/loss of the head or cockpit occurs, or if the center 
  torso is destroyed by an ammunition explosion or area-eff ect 
  weapon. If the center torso is destroyed in any other fashion, the 
  MechWarrior does not automatically die. CASE mounted in the 
  center torso does not protect a MechWarrior from a center torso 
  ammo explosion.
  PROTOMECHS
  A ProtoMech is considered destroyed and out of the game if 
  its pilot dies or the ProtoMech suff ers three critical torso hits. The 
  destruction of the center torso has the same eff ect. A ProtoMech 
  pilot is killed when the ProtoMech is destroyed.
  VEHICLES
  A vehicle is considered destroyed and out of the game when 
  all of its internal structure circles in one location (including 
  the turret, if any) are marked off , or when its Critical Hit Eff ects 
  indicates that it is destroyed. A vehicle’s crew is killed when the 
  vehicle is destroyed.
  INFANTRY
  Conventional infantry platoons are considered destroyed when 
  all circles in the unit row have been marked off . Battle armor units 
  are destroyed when all circles in each unit member’s row have 
  been marked off .
  AEROSPACE UNITS
  All aerospace units are considered destroyed and out of the 
  game if their Structural Integrity (SI) is reduced to 0 or if the unit 
  in question is destroyed through a critical hit (see Aerospace 
  Units, p. 234).
  If an aerospace unit is destroyed while airborne, it breaks up 
  in the air and so does not crash to the ground, or have any other 
  eff ects in game play. A pilot/crew is killed if the aerospace unit 
  is destroyed.
  
  129
  129
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  OTHER COMBAT 
  WEAPONS AND 
  EQUIPMENT
  If a unit’s Technical Readout or record sheet game statistics 
  indicate that it carries one of the following equipment types, 
  it may signifi cantly aff ect game play. Players should consult 
  the unit’s game statistics and familiarize themselves with the 
  appropriate equipment rules below before play begins.
  Note that if a weapon or equipment’s rules for playing 
  the game can be covered with the stats that appear on the 
  appropriate Weapons and Equipment Tables, then it will not 
  appear in this section. Weapons and equipment will only appear 
  in this section if they have additional rules for playing the game 
  that cannot be covered on the appropriate Weapons and 
  Equipment Tables and under Weapons and Equipment, p. 113
  Advanced Weapons and Equipment: If a unit mounts 
  any weapons and/or equipment not found here, or on the 
  appropriate Weapons and Equipment tables (see p. 303), then 
  the weapon/equipment in question is either advanced (not 
  appropriate for standard tournament play) and will be covered 
  in Classic BattleTech Tactical Operations, or has no direct impact 
  on Classic BattleTech game play, only aff ecting construction 
  (such weapons and/or equipment that are not considered 
  advanced will be described in Classic BattleTech TechManual).
  Specifi c Units: Multiple unit types can use the following 
  weapons and equipment. Some weapons and equipment that 
  might appear on a given unit’s record sheet (or in Technical 
  Readout game statistics) may only be mounted on a specifi c 
  type of unit. If a weapon or equipment does not appear here 
  or on the appropriate Weapons and Equipment Tables (see 
  p. 303), look in the appropriate section for that unit (Combat 
  Vehicles, Support Vehicles, Infantry and Aerospace Units).
  Terminology: Some equipment below uses the standardized 
  abbreviations on the Weapons and Equipment tables to explain 
  its eff ects (see Weapons and Equipment, p. 113).
  ACTIVE PROBE
  An active probe only aff ects game play if players are using 
  the Hidden Units rules from the Creating Scenarios section (see 
  p. 256). Otherwise, the active probe has no eff ect, though its 
  slot can soak up a critical hit (such a critical hit has no eff ect).
  Under the Hidden Units rules, an active probe can detect any 
  hidden ’Mech, battle armor or vehicle (but not conventional 
  infantry), if at the end of a Ground Movement Phase the 
  concealed unit lies inside the probe’s range (see Weapons 
  and Equipment tables, p. 303) and line of sight would exist 
  between the unit carrying the probe and the hidden unit (if 
  that unit were not concealed). 
  Water: An active probe cannot detect units hidden underwater.
  ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM
  Anytime a missile weapon makes a successful to-hit attack 
  against a unit carrying an AMS, and the missile weapon strikes 
  in the attack direction covered by the fi ring arc where the 
  AMS is mounted, the AMS will automatically engage with the 
  following results:
  • 
  The attacking player applies a –4 to the die roll result 
  when rolling on the Cluster Hits Table (an AMS never 
  reduces a roll on the table below 2)
  • 
  If the missile weapon is a Streak launcher, treat the launcher as 
  though the controlling player rolled an 11 on the appropriate 
  column of the Cluster Hits Table, then apply the –4 modifi er 
  to determine how many missiles struck the target.
  • 
  If the missile weapon normally fi res only a single missile 
  in a shot (such as a Narc Missile Beacon), roll 1D6: on a 
  result of 1-3 the missile is destroyed, on a result of 4-6 the 
  missile strikes the target. 
  MM 
  MM
  The personal guards of the Coordinator of the Combine, an Otomo lance marches to face its enemies in honorable combat. 
  
  The player cannot choose for the AMS to not engage, as it is 
  always active until it runs out of ammo or is destroyed; 1 shot of 
  ammunition is marked off  each time the AMS engages a missile 
  weapon.
  If, in a single Weapon Attack Phase, more than one missile 
  weapon successfully strikes the target in the attack direction 
  covered by the fi ring arc where an AMS is mounted, the defending 
  player can choose which missile weapon to infl ict the modifi er 
  against.
  Only 1 AMS can engage 1 missile weapon in a turn, regardless 
  of how many AMS cover the attack direction. If a unit mounts 
  more than 1 AMS that covers the same attack direction, the 
  defender chooses the order in which they activate and against 
  which missile weapons they infl ict their modifi ers. 
  Cluster Hit Table Modifi ers: The AMS Cluster Table modifi er 
  is cumulative with other Cluster table modifi ers, for instance the 
  bonus generated by NARC or Artemis IV-equipped missiles. In 
  that instance, the net eff ect on the Cluster Table would be –2.
  Critical Hits: Anti-missile system ammo explodes for Damage 
  Value 2 per shot of ammo. 
  Aerospace Units: AMS against missile attacks from aerospace 
  units operates as described above, with the following exceptions: 
  for each AMS in the appropriate attack direction from an attacking 
  aerospace unit, roll 1D6 and subtract that number from the 
  missile’s standard-scale Attack Value before generating Damage 
  Value groupings (see Determining Hit Location, p. 238, in Aerospace 
  Units); AMS has no eff ect against Capital Missiles.
  ANTI-BATTLE ARMOR PODS (B-PODS)
  When a ’Mech is targeted by infantry for a leg or swarm attack, 
  the controlling player can activate one or more B-Pods, with each 
  activated B-Pod targeted at the same infantry unit, or against 
  multiple units at the controlling player’s discretion.
  The activation of a B-Pod occurs and is resolved before the leg or 
  swarm attack to-hit roll is made, which could aff ect the to-hit roll 
  (for example, troopers might be eliminated). B-Pods mounted in 
  the legs or center torso can be used against leg attacks, while those 
  on the arms, front torsos or head can engage swarm attacks.
  Each B-Pod automatically hits and infl icts damage equivalent 
  to a 20-point attack—split into groups of 5-point Damage Value 
  groupings—against battle armor. Conventional infantry receive 
  1D6 points of damage (double if in clear terrain). Swarming infantry 
  are forced off  the ’Mech as if the ’Mech had fallen (see p. 222).
  B-Pods mounted in a ’Mech’s legs (or any location on a 
  vehicle) can also be used against infantry located in the same 
  hex; as above, multiple B-Pods can be used in the same turn in 
  this fashion against the same target, or against multiple targets. 
  In such a case, the damage to a battle armor unit is equivalent 
  to a 10-point attack, split into 5-point groups of Damage Value 
  groupings, while an attack against conventional infantry receives 
  1D6/2 (round down) points of damage (1D6/3, rounding down, 
  against mechanized infantry) to a minimum of 1.
  Damage from a B-Pod is only applied to a single infantry unit, 
  never to multiple infantry units. B-Pods have no eff ect on any 
  other type of unit.
  Critical Hits: Unexpended B-Pods that take a critical hit explode 
  for 2 points of damage. Expended B-Pods can still be aff ected by a 
  critical hit in the same way as empty ammo bins.
  One-Shot: B-Pods are single-shot weapons, meaning they can be 
  fi red once and then cannot be used for the remainder of the game. 
  ANTI-PERSONNEL POD (A-POD) 
  When infantry units make anti-’Mech attacks or point-blank 
  shots from hiding (see rules for Anti-’Mech Attacks, p. 220, and 
  Hidden Units, p. 259 in Creating Scenarios), a ’Mech with an A-
  pod can defend itself by detonating the pod before the infantry 
  player makes the to-hit roll. If the defender triggers an A-pod, any 
  conventional infantry unit (friendly or enemy) in the same hex as 
  the ’Mech takes 1D6 – 1 (minimum 1) points of damage before 
  resolving its own attack. A-pods do not aff ect battle armor.
  Critical Hits: Unexpended A-pods that take a critical hit do 
  not explode, but simply become inoperative. Critical hits can still 
  aff ect expended A-pods in the same way as empty ammo bins.
  One-Shot: A-Pods are single shot weapons, meaning they 
  can be fi red once and then cannot be used for the remainder 
  of the game.
  ARTEMIS IV FCS
  Add +2 to the die roll when rolling on the Cluster Hits Table 
  for attacks by standard LRM/SRM launchers, as well as MML 
  launchers, using this system and fi ring Artemis-equipped missiles 
  (see p. 140).
  Special Munitions: Artemis IV cannot be used with Streak SRM 
  or Narc missile beacon munitions. It can be used with any other 
  kind of special munitions, but those munitions do not gain any 
  benefi ts from the Artemis IV. The system may be used with one-
  shot (OS) missile packs.
  Ammunition: If the launcher is loaded with normal ammo, it 
  can still be used but functions as a normal launcher.
  Critical Hits: If the Artemis system assigned to a specifi c 
  launcher is destroyed, the missile launcher can still be fi red as a 
  normal launcher.
  LRM Indirect Fire: The Artemis system has no eff ect on LRM 
  missiles fi red indirectly.
  BACKHOE
  This equipment can be used to make a physical attack; see 
  Physical Weapon Attacks, p. 146. A Support Vehicle cannot use the 
  backhoe to make any kind of attack against another unit, but it 
  can be used to attack a building hex.
  Buildings: A backhoe attack infl icts 1D6 points of damage 
  (in addition to its standard Damage Value, see Physical Weapon 
  Attacks, p. 146) to a building hex.
  BRIDGE-LAYER (LIGHT, MEDIUM, HEAVY) 
  While a ´Mech is carrying this one-hex-long folding bridge, any 
  attacks that otherwise would have hit the torso locations where 
  the bridge is mounted will hit the bridge instead, reducing its CF 
  by a like amount of damage. Once the bridge’s CF has fallen to 
  0, it is considered destroyed, and the center torso location takes 
  attack damage normally. Critical hits to the bridge disable the 
  mechanism that deploys it. Additional critical hits have no eff ect.
  The bridge-layer’s controlling player may declare that the 
  ’Mech is deploying the bridge during any End Phase. The ’Mech 
  must remain stationary during the following turn. At the end of 
  that turn, the bridge is placed in the hex directly in front of the 
  bridge-layer, along the same facing as the ’Mech. (The bridge 
  cannot extend away from the bridge-layer at an angle. A bridge 
  may be placed in any water hex, but must be adjacent to at least 
  one land hex or another bridge).
  
  131
  131
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  The bridge is made of a strong, lightweight material and 
  is supported by fl otation devices when deployed on water. 
  A bridge can support units weighing up to twice its current 
  CF before collapsing. This limit is the total weight of all units 
  occupying the bridge in a particular hex.
  Alternatively, the bridge can be placed between two 
  elevated hexes to cover a gap, provided no more than a one-
  level diff erence exists between the two hexes. 
  Support Vehicles: A Support Vehicle mounting a bridge-
  layer uses the rules above, except any attack that otherwise 
  would have hit the turret location hits the bridge.
  BULLDOZERS
  A bulldozer can clear a path through a rubble hex, allowing 
  units to move through it as if traversing a clear hex. This process 
  takes a varying amount of time, based on the type of structure 
  the rubble represented before it was destroyed. Rubble from 
  a light structure takes two turns to clear. Each heavier class of 
  structure doubles the required time, so a medium structure 
  takes four turns, a heavy structure takes eight turns, and the 
  rubble from a hardened structure takes sixteen turns to clear. 
  While clearing rubble, the Support Vehicle must remain in 
  the hex, though it can make facing changes as usual. It can 
  also make weapon attacks, though all shots are modifi ed as 
  though the Support Vehicle were moving at Flank speed (+2 
  modifi er).
  Also, a bulldozer takes half the standard damage (round 
  down) when it charges (it takes standard damage from 
  being charged). Each time the bulldozer takes damage to its 
  front armor, roll 2D6. On a result of 2, the bulldozer blade is 
  destroyed.
  Buildings: Double the standard charging damage against the 
  target when a vehicle with a bulldozer charges a building hex.
  C3 COMPUTER (MASTER/SLAVE) 
  The C3 computer system can link up to twelve ’Mechs 
  or vehicles together—utilizing a series of C3 Master and 
  C3 Slaves—in a communications network that will share 
  targeting information.
  To make an attack using a C3 computer network, calculate 
  the to-hit number using the range to the target from the 
  networked unit nearest the target with line of sight. Use the 
  fi ring unit’s modifi ers for movement, terrain eff ects, minimum 
  range and so on. A weapon attack using a C3 network must 
  conform to standard LOS restrictions and cannot fi re beyond 
  its maximum range, though a well-placed lancemate may 
  allow the fi ring unit to use his weapon’s short-range to-hit 
  number at long range.
  The C3 network itself has no maximum range, but only units 
  actually on the playing area can benefi t from the network, and 
  the C3 Master (or C3 Masters if using a company-sized network) 
  must be on the playing area.
  TAG: The C3 Master (but not the C3 Slaves) exactly duplicates 
  the function of target acquisition gear (see TAG; p. 142).
  LRM Indirect Fire: C3-equipped units spotting targets for 
  or launching an LRM indirect fi re attack use the LRM Indirect 
  Fire rules (see p. 111), and gain no benefi t from a C3 network. 
  Minimum Ranges: Minimum range is always determined 
  from the attacking unit to the target.
  Variable Damage Weapons: The range, to determine 
  the Damage Value of a Variable Damage Weapon, is always 
  determined from the attacking unit to the target.
  Stealth Armor: Armor that infl icts range modifi ers against 
  attacking units does not confuse a C3 network. While such 
  additional range modifi ers apply to the nearest attacking 
  unit, they do not apply to any other units using the network 
  to attack. However, some such systems (notably the Stealth 
  Armor System, p. 142) include their own ECM system; in this 
  case, an attacking unit must be outside the eff ective range of 
  the ECM mounted on the target unit, or the attacker gets cut 
  off  from the network.
  BRIDGE-LAYER TABLE
  Type
  Weight
  Crits.
  CF
  Light
  1
  2
  8
  Medium
  2
  4
  20
  Heavy
  6
  12
  45
  DF 
  DF
  Forces from the Word of Blake’s First Division surround a Steel Viper Goshawk 3. 
  
  In the C3 diagram, the BattleMech in Hex A on the Open 
  Terrain #2 map is facing enemy units in Hexes B, C, D and E, 
  which are connected to a C3 network. The VTOL vehicle in Hex 
  B is closest to the enemy, at a Range of 2; even though it is at 
  Elevation 10, elevations are never taken into consideration when 
  determining range to target. The ’Mech in Hex C can attack as 
  though it were at a Range of 2, provided the weapons it ﬁ res 
  have a Maximum Range of 4 or more. The Combat Vehicle in 
  Hex D can also ﬁ re as though at a Range of 2, but must add the 
  terrain modiﬁ er for ﬁ ring through the light woods in Hex F. The 
  BattleMech in Hex E cannot attack the ’Mech in Hex A because 
  no line of sight exists between the two units. In all cases, if the 
  ’Mechs in Hex C, D or E ﬁ red weapons with minimum ranges, 
  those ranges must be taken into consideration, with the range 
  determined from the attacker to the target, not the range from 
  the VTOL in Hex B to the target. 
  Designating A C3 Network
  Prior to the start of play, the controlling player of a C3 network 
  must clearly designate on his unit’s record sheets which C3 Masters 
  controls which C3 Masters and/or C3 Slaves, and which C3 Master 
  connects three C3 Masters together to form a company-level (12 
  unit) C3 network; as noted above, the C3 network can never be 
  extended beyond 12 units. 
  To designate a C3 network, use the following rules:
  • 
  A C3 Master can only control one to three C3 Slaves or one to 
  three C3 Masters.
  • 
  While a C3 Master controls another C3 Master, it cannot 
  control a C3 Slave.
  • C3 DIAGRAM • 
  • C3 CONFIGURATION DIAGRAM • 
  
  133
  133
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  The C3 Confi guration diagram illustrates the only four ways 
  (see All C3 Master Network below for the exception) a C3 network 
  can be created. In each of the four diagrams, a circle represents 
  either a ’Mech or vehicle; an “S” represents a C3 Slave, while an 
  “M” represents a C3 Master. The arrows show the network links 
  between C3 Masters and C3 Slaves, while the colors diff erentiate 
  between each lance-level (4 unit) C3 network. 
  In Confi guration 1, two of the three C3 lance-level networks 
  are built with a single C3 Master controlling three C3 Slaves 
  (the maximum number a C3 Master can control). In the third 
  lance, a C3 Master is networked to two C3 Slaves, while the 
  fourth and fi nal unit of the lance carries the C3 Master that 
  networks the three C3 Masters of each lance (the maximum 
  number a C3 Master can control) into a twelve unit C3 network; 
  the unit carrying the C3 Master that links the three lances is 
  automatically networked into the system.
  In Confi guration 2, everything remains the same, but instead 
  of a separate unit carrying the C3 Master that links the three 
  lances, a single unit carries two C3 Masters; in the third lance, 
  the C3 Master can control three C3 Slaves now, as opposed to 
  the two C3 Slaves it controlled in Confi guration 1, maintaining 
  a twelve unit C3 network.
  In Confi guration 3, three of the C3 Masters are carried by a 
  single unit, with a single C3 Master carried by a separate unit. 
  As a C3 Master cannot control more than three C3 Masters or 
  three C3 Slaves, the network is down to only eleven units.
  Finally, in Confi guration 4, all four of the C3 Masters are 
  carried by a single unit. As with Confi guration 3, since a C3 
  Master can only control three C3 Masters or three C3 Slaves, the 
  network is down to only ten units.
  All C3 Master Network: The only allowable variation on 
  those four confi gurations is to replace C3 Slaves with C3 
  Masters. For example, in Confi guration 1, if the controlling 
  player replaced any of the C3 Slave in the red lance with a C3 
  Master, then all three C3 Slaves in that lance would have to 
  be replaced with C3 Masters, as a C3 Master cannot control 
  another C3 Master and control a C3 Slave simultaneously. Such 
  an exchanging of C3 Slaves for C3 Masters can happen at the 
  lance-level, without aff ecting the company-level. In the cited 
  example, even if the entire red lance was composed of C3 
  Masters, the blue and green lances could still be composed of 
  networks consisting of a C3 Master and three C3 Slaves.
  Multiple Networks: If multiple C3 networks are established 
  at the start of the game and they are not designated as 
  connected before play begins, they can never share targeting 
  information during the scenario, regardless of destroyed units. 
  For example, if a controlling player fi elded Lances A and B, and 
  each lance of four units are connected by a C3 network, but 
  the lances were not designated at the start of play as being 
  part of the same network (regardless of whether they could be 
  connected), even if a unit in Lance A is destroyed during the 
  game, a unit in Lance B could not join the network in Lance A.
  Losing a C3 Network
  The destruction of a ’Mech or vehicle carrying a C3 Master, 
  or a critical hit to the C3 Master, eliminates the portion of the 
  network it controlled. If the ’Mech carrying the C3 Master 
  that connects the three C3 Masters together to form a twelve 
  unit C3 network is destroyed (or if that designated C3 Master 
  is destroyed due to a critical hit), than the three lance-level 
  networks still function, but can no longer share targeting 
  information, one lance to another.
  The destruction of a unit carrying a C3 Slave has no eff ect on 
  the rest of the C3 network.
  For example, in the C3 Confi guration 1 diagram, if the C3 
  Master in the red lance is destroyed (either through the 
  destruction of the carrying unit or through a critical hit), the 
  three C3 Slave carrying units would be severed from the C3 
  network completely. In the same confi guration diagram, if 
  the C3 Master in the yellow lance that links all three lances 
  together is destroyed through a critical hit, all three lance-level 
  C3 networks would still operate, but the lances could not share 
  information, and the unit that carried that C3 Master would be 
  severed completely from the network.
  IMPROVED C3 COMPUTER
  The C3i computer follows the standard C3 computer rules 
  above, with the following changes.
  In place of a “master” C3i computer, every unit in an improved 
  C3i network must mount a C3i computer. Up to six units may 
  be linked in a single C3i network. Multiple networks cannot be 
  linked together.
  Because no master computer exists in an improved C3i 
  network, the entire network cannot be shut down by the loss 
  of a single unit. Only those units in the eff ect radius of enemy 
  ECM or whose C3i computer is destroyed by a critical hit are 
  isolated from the network. 
  Improved C3i computers are not compatible with standard 
  C3 Masters/C3 Slaves and do not have the TAG capability of the 
  standard C3 Master.
  CARGO BAYS
  If a critical slot containing cargo is hit, all cargo in that 
  location is destroyed.
  CASE 
  (CELLULAR AMMUNITION STORAGE EQUIPMENT)
  If ammo (or any other explosive component, such as a gauss 
  rifl e) in a CASE-equipped location explodes, it damages the 
  internal structure in that location. Any excess damage simply 
  dissipates, rather than transferring to an additional internal 
  structure location. Remember that the loss of all internal 
  • C3I DIAGRAM • 
  
  structure in a side torso location also blows off  the corresponding 
  arm, though the arm is not damaged by the explosion and can 
  still be used as a club (see p. 145).
  If an ammo explosion transfers into a location protected by 
  CASE, the internal structure in that location takes damage as 
  normal. All excess damage is dissipated, as above. For example, 
  if an Inner Sphere ’Mech suff ered an arm ammo explosion and 
  damage transferred to a side torso equipped with CASE, the 
  internal structure of the side torso would suff er damage as 
  normal, and then the excess damage would harmlessly blow out 
  the CASE panels.
  Critical Hits: Critical hits on slots occupied by CASE have no 
  eff ect and should be re-rolled.
  Vehicles: See Ammunition under Ground Combat Vehicle Critical 
  Hit Eff ects in the Combat Vehicles section, p. 193.
  Aerospace Fighters: See Heat, p. 161.
  CHAINSAW 
  A chainsaw can be used to make a physical attack; see Physical 
  Weapon Attacks, p. 146.
  A chainsaw can clear a path through wooded hexes. Instead of 
  having to make multiple weapon attacks and track Terrain Factor 
  (see Clearing Woods, p. 112), using a chain saw simply takes two 
  turns to reduce a wooded hex from its current state to one lower; 
  heavy woods become light woods, and light woods become rough 
  terrain. Two units can combine to reduce this time to one turn.
  While clearing woods, the unit must remain in the hex, though 
  it can make facing changes as usual. It can also make weapon 
  attacks, though all shots receive a +2 modifi er as though the unit 
  were moving at Running/Flank speed.
  Buildings: A chainsaw attack infl icts 1D6 points of damage 
  (in addition to its standard Damage Value, see Physical Weapon 
  Attacks, p. 146) to a building hex.
  Support Vehicles: Two Support Vehicles mounting chainsaws 
  can reduce a wooded hex in one turn.
  The chainsaw mounted on a Support Vehicle can also be 
  used in a charge attack with a +1 to-hit modifi er, plus applicable 
  movement and terrain modifi ers. A successful attack infl icts 5 
  points of damage to ’Mechs, vehicles and battle armor. Against 
  ’Mechs, use the appropriate Kick Location Table or the appropriate 
  full Hit Location Table if the ’Mech is prone. Against conventional 
  infantry, the chainsaw delivers 1D6 damage; this damage is 
  applied as though the attack came from another infantry unit (see 
  Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, p. 215). 
  COMBINE
  A combine can be used to make a physical attack; see Physical 
  Weapon Attacks, p. 146. A Support Vehicle cannot use a combine 
  to make any kind of attack.
  DUAL SAW
  A dual saw can be used to make a physical attack; see Physical 
  Weapon Attacks, p. 146.
  Buildings: A dual saw attack infl icts 2D6 points of damage 
  (in addition to its standard Damage Value, see Physical Weapon 
  Attacks, p. 146) to a building hex.
  Support Vehicles: A dual saw can clear a path through wooded 
  hexes, using the rules for a chainsaw (see Chainsaw, above).
  The dual saw can also be used in a modifi ed charge attack 
  with a +1 to-hit modifi er, plus applicable movement and terrain 
  modifi ers. A successful attack infl icts 7 points of damage to all 
  units (use the Kick Location Table for a standing ’Mech, or the 
  appropriate full Hit Location Table against a prone ’Mech). Against 
  conventional infantry, the chainsaw delivers 1D6 damage; this 
  damage is applied as though the attack came from another 
  infantry unit (see Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, p. 215). 
  A successful attack against a ’Mech forces a Piloting Skill Roll as 
  though the ’Mech had been charged (see Charge Attacks, p. 148).
  DUMPER
  A unit equipped with a dumper can empty all the cargo in 
  the dumper’s location at the end of the Movement Phase, at no 
  MP cost. Any equipment or personnel dumped take damage 
  equivalent to a Level 1 fall (see Falling, p. 68, or Unit Displacement, 
  p. 151, for infantry). 
  A unit cannot dump cargo on top of another unit in the same 
  hex, unless transferring the cargo to a friendly unit.
  ECM SUITE 
  An ECM suite has an eff ect radius of six hexes that creates a 
  “bubble” around the carrying unit. The ECM’s disruptive abilities 
  aff ect all enemy units inside this bubble, as well as any line of sight 
  traced through the bubble. It has no eff ect on units friendly to the 
  unit carrying the ECM.
  In the ECM diagram, the ’Mech in Hex A on the Open Terrain 
  #1 map is equipped with an ECM suite, which has an eﬀ ect 
  radius of six hexes (shown as the shaded area). The suite 
  aﬀ ects any enemy unit in this area or any enemy LOS traced 
  through it. The ’Mech in Hex B is aﬀ ected because it falls inside 
  the eﬀ ect radius. A shot from Hex C to Hex D would also be 
  aﬀ ected because LOS passes through the radius. A shot from 
  Hex C to Hex E would not be aﬀ ected because LOS does not pass 
  through the radius.
  Within its eff ect radius, an ECM suite has the following eff ects 
  on the following systems. The ECM suite does not aff ect other 
  scanning and targeting devices, such as TAG and targeting 
  computers.
  Active Probe: Active probes cannot penetrate the ECM’s area 
  of eff ect. The probing unit would notice that it is being jammed, 
  however.
  Artemis IV FCS: ECM blocks the eff ects of Artemis IV fi re 
  control systems. Artemis-equipped launchers may be fi red as 
  normal missiles through the ECM, but they lose the Cluster Hits 
  Table bonus.
  Narc Missile Beacon: Missiles equipped to home in on an 
  attached Narc pod lose the Cluster Hits Table bonus for that 
  system if the pods themselves lie within an ECM “bubble.” The 
  Narc launcher itself (standard and iNarc) is not aff ected by ECM.
  C3 and C3i Computer: ECM has the eff ect of “cutting off ” any C3- 
  equipped unit from its network. If a C3 master unit is isolated from 
  the network because it ventures inside the ECM radius, the entire 
  portion of the network below it is eff ectively shut off  (all units 
  subordinate to it on the diagram on p. 132). Only those C3 units able 
  to draw an LOS to the master unit that does not pass through the 
  ECM radius can access the network. If the master unit that connects 
  the lances of a company lies inside the ECM eff ect radius, the link 
  between the lances is lost, though each lance’s network functions 
  normally (unless the ECM also interferes with them individually).
  
  135
  135
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  Using the C3 diagram on p. 132, thh situation becomes 
  quite diﬀ erent if the BattlMech in Hex A is equipped with 
  an ECM Suite. The units in Hexes B, C and D would be cut 
  oﬀ  from the network because they are within six hexes of 
  the ECM unit.
  ENDO STEEL
  Critical hits against an endo steel critical slot have no eff ect 
  and should be re-rolled.
  EXTENDED FUEL TANKS/CELLS 
  Extended fuel tanks that suff er a critical hit on an ICE-
  powered ’Mech explode like ammunition (CASE may 
  mitigate the eff ects of this blast as normal). The tanks infl ict 
  internal damage equal to 1 damage point for every 5 points 
  of remaining Walking MP. Extended fuel cells on fuel cell-
  powered ’Mechs do not explode, but all remaining fuel in that 
  location is lost as a result of the damage.
  FERRO-FIBROUS ARMOR
  Critical hits against any type of ferro-fi brous armor 
  (standard, light or heavy) critical slot have no eff ect and 
  should be re-rolled.
  GAUSS RIFLE
  If a slot containing any type of gauss ammunition takes a 
  critical hit, the ammo does not explode, but the hit destroys 
  the ammo-feed mechanism, rendering the rest of the 
  ammunition in that slot useless. 
  A critical hit on the gauss rifl e itself destroys the capacitors 
  that power the weapon, causing a catastrophic discharge 
  of the capacitor’s stored energy with results identical to an 
  ammunition explosion. If a gauss rifl e takes a critical hit, treat 
  the result as a 20-point ammunition explosion in the location 
  containing the rifl e.
  Heat: Excess heat does not cause a gauss rifl e or its 
  ammunition to explode
  Anti-Personnel Gauss Rifl e
  Treat a critical hit against an anti-personnel Gauss as a 3-point 
  ammunition explosion in the location containing the rifl e.
  • ECM DIAGRAM • 
  
  Light Gauss Rifl e
  Treat a critical hit against a light gauss rifl e as a 16-point 
  ammunition explosion in the location containing the rifl e.
  Heavy Gauss Rifl e
  The heavy gauss rifl e follows all the rules for Gauss rifl es, with 
  the following exceptions.
  A ’Mech expending any MP and fi ring a heavy Gauss rifl e 
  in the same turn requires the attacker to make a Piloting Skill 
  Roll at the end of the Weapon Attack Phase, with the following 
  modifi ers based on the unit’s weight class: Assault –1, Heavy 0, 
  Medium +1 and Light +2. Unlike other Piloting Skill Roll eff ects, 
  this is not cumulative; if the same unit fi res two heavy gauss rifl es 
  in the same turn, two rolls would be required, but only the single 
  modifi er would apply to each roll. Other standard modifi ers (such 
  as 20+ points of damage infl icted in the Weapon Attack Phase, 
  damage to actuators and gyros and so on) apply to the Piloting 
  Skill Roll as usual.
  Critical Hits: Treat a critical hit against a heavy gauss rifl e as 
  a 25-point ammunition explosion in the location containing the 
  critical slot struck. If a heavy gauss rifl e is split between the center 
  torso and side torso, CASE located in the side torso that contains 
  the heavy gauss rifl e stops any transfer of damage to the center 
  torso; if the gauss rifl e is struck in the center torso, however, a 25-
  point ammunition explosion applies to the center torso.
  Fighters and Small Craft: Fighters and Small Craft apply a +1 
  to-hit modifi er to any attack made with a heavy Gauss rifl e.
  Hyper-Assault Gauss Rifl e
  When an HAG hits a target, roll on the appropriate column of 
  the Cluster Hits Table, but apply a +2 modifi er at short range and 
  a –2 modifi er at long range. Treat a result of less than 2 as 2, and a 
  result of greater than 12 as 12. 
  Once the Damage Value has been determined from the Cluster 
  Hits Table, damage from an HAG is divided into 5-point Damage 
  Value groupings (any remainder damage assigned to a fi nal 
  grouping), with each grouping assigned to a diff erent location 
  using the appropriate Damage Location Table (provided the 
  target has separate locations).
  Critical Hits: Treat a critical hit against a hyper-velocity Gauss 
  rifl e as an ammunition explosion in the location containing the 
  critical slot struck: HAG 20 as a 10-point explosion; HAG 30 as a 
  15-point explosion; HAG 40 as a 20-point explosion.
  Flak: When used against any airborne target, apply a –1 
  modifi er plus the standard –2 Flak modifi er to the to-hit number 
  (for a total –3 modifi er).
  HEAVY-DUTY PILE DRIVER 
  A pile-driver can be used to make a physical attack; see Physical 
  Weapon Attacks, p. 146.
  Buildings: A pilediver attack infl icts 1D6 points of damage 
  (in addition to its standard Damage Value, see Physical Weapon 
  Attacks, p. 146) to a building hex.
  Support Vehicles: Support Vehicles can use this powerful 
  construction equipment to make a modifi ed charge attack with 
  a +3 to-hit modifi er, plus applicable movement and terrain 
  modifi ers. A successful attack infl icts 9 points of damage against 
  the target (use the Kick Location Table for a ’Mech, or the full Hit 
  Location Table for a prone ’Mech). A successful attack against a 
  ’Mech forces a Piloting Skill Roll as though the ’Mech had been 
  charged (see Charge Attack, p. 148).
  LIFT HOISTS
  Each lift hoist allows a unit to lift cargo equal to half its tonnage 
  (or 200, whichever is lower). These limits can be combined—for 
  MM 
  MM
  On Itabaiana, forces from House Kurita’s Ryuken-ni attempt to challenge ’Mechs from Diamond Shark’s Omega Galaxy to another Trial of Possession for Clan supplies. 
  
  137
  137
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  example a 30-ton IndustrialMech mounting two lift hoists can 
  lift cargo weighing up to 30 tons. 
  Units suff er no movement penalty when carrying cargo up 
  to half their tonnage. When carrying cargo greater than half 
  its tonnage, reduce the unit’s Walking/Cruising MP by 1. (Also 
  refi gure the Running/Flank MP, multiplying the new Walking 
  MP by 1.5 and rounding up.) 
  A ’Mech mounting TSM can lift double the usual cargo 
  (cargo equal to its full tonnage for each lift hoist mounted). 
  However, when carrying cargo that weighs more than the 
  ´Mech’s tonnage, reduce the ’Mech’s Walking MP by 2 (this also 
  means refi guring the Running MP; multiply the new Walking 
  MP by 1.5 and round up). While Industrial TSM is always “on” 
  (see Industrial TSM, p. 143), standard TSM requires the unit to 
  raise its heat scale to 9 or more before receiving this benefi t.
  In both instances above, if the recalculated Walking/Cruising 
  MP is reduced to zero or less, then the unit is considered to 
  have a Walking/Cruising MP of 1 and cannot run or fl ank; it 
  can, however, use the Minimum Movement Rule (see p. 49) to 
  enter a hex.
  Lift hoists cannot be used to lift another unit during combat.
  Carrying vs. Loading or Unloading Cargo: If a unit simply 
  carries cargo in the lift hoists, as opposed to loading or 
  unloading it into cargo bays, the unit can lift or set down its 
  cargo in a single turn, though all the rules for cargo carriers 
  still apply (see p. 261). The unit stops to lift or set down the 
  cargo in a Movement Phase (Ground), and sets down or lifts 
  said cargo by the End Phase of the same turn.
  If a unit mounts suffi  cient dedicated cargo capacity (see 
  Cargo Bays, p. 133), all the cargo lifted in the hoists can be 
  transferred to the internal cargo bays in two turns, though all 
  the rules for cargo carriers still apply for (see p. 261). The unit 
  stops to lift the cargo into (or set it down from) its bays in a 
  Movement Phase (Ground), and loads or unloads said cargo 
  by the End Phase of the following turn. In this case, the carrier 
  incurs no movement penalty.
  Combat: For purposes of combat, treat cargo in a lift hoist 
  as unprotected cargo; resolve damage per the Cargo Carrier 
  rules in the Creating Scenarios section (see p. 261). 
  MACHINE GUN ARRAY (MGA)
  The range of a given MGA is the same as for the appropriate 
  machine gun type, grouped (light, standard or heavy).
  When an MGA hits a target, roll on the appropriate column 
  of the Cluster Hits Table (an MGA 3 rolls on the 3 column, an 
  MGA 4 on the 4 column and so on). The result is the number of 
  hits that struck the target, with each hit’s damage equal to the 
  Damage Value of the appropriate machine gun type, grouped 
  (light, standard or heavy).
  Once the number of hits has been determined, roll once on 
  the appropriate Hit Location Table and apply all hits to that 
  location as separate damage groups (such damage may result 
  in multiple critical hit rolls when damaging a target). This 
  means that if an MGA 4 rolls on the Cluster Hits Table, with 
  three machine guns hitting, and then roll’s the target ´Mech’s 
  head as its hit location, the weapon causes 3 MechWarrior hits 
  and subsequently requires three Consciousness Rolls. 
  Shutting Off  MGAs: Like heat sinks, the MGA can be turned 
  off  during the End Phase of a turn. In any subsequent turn, the 
  grouped machine guns can be fi red individually. The MGA can 
  then be turned back on during the End Phase of any turn, after 
  which it functions as described above.
  Critical Damage: If a machine gun is destroyed (such as 
  through a critical hit), use the next appropriate column of the 
  Cluster Hits Table to determine damage. If the MGA critical 
  slot is destroyed (such as through a critical hit), the machine 
  guns revert to individually fi red weapons.
  ProtoMechs: A ProtoMech can only fi re a MGA into the 
  front fi ring arc.
  Conventional Infantry: After a successful MGA attack 
  against conventional infantry, the controlling player does 
  not roll on the Cluster Hits Table. Instead, all machine guns 
  grouped in the array hit the target; the controlling player rolls 
  the appropriate number of damage dice for the type of MGA 
  (light, standard and heavy) times the number of machine guns 
  in the array. For example, the player rolls 2D6 x 4 for an MGA 4 
  to determine how much damage the infantry unit takes.
  MASC (MYOMER ACCELERATOR SIGNAL CIRCUITRY)
  Any ’Mech with MASC can activate the system as it declares 
  which movement mode it will use. The player declares that he 
  is using the MASC system and immediately rolls 2D6 (before 
  the ’Mech moves). 
  On a result of 3 or higher, the ’Mech can run that turn at a 
  speed equal to double its standard Walking MP. 
  On a result of 2, the player automatically assigns one critical 
  hit to each leg that has not yet been destroyed; the players 
  does not roll on the determining critical hits table. For a 
  biped with both functioning legs, two critical hits would be 
  assigned, one to each leg, while a four-legged ’Mech would 
  assign a total of four critical hits, one to each leg; this damage 
  is applied before the ’Mech moves. Any speed reductions 
  that occur apply immediately, with the controlling player 
  recalculating the appropriate Walking MP and then doubling 
  that new number to determine how many total MPs the ’Mech 
  may expend that turn due to the MASC system activation. 
  The player must roll 2D6 every turn the ’Mech is using 
  MASC to determine whether or the system delivers a critical 
  hit to each leg. On the second consecutive turn of MASC use, 
  a result of 4 or less infl icts a critical hit to each leg. A result of 6 
  or less infl icts a critical hit to each leg on the third consecutive 
  turn, 10 or less on the fourth, and the fi fth turn of MASC use, a 
  critical hit is automatically assigned to each leg.
  For each turn in which the system is not used, reduce the 
  target number at which critical hits are assigned by one 
  interval, but never below 3. For example, a player using MASC 
  for three consecutive turns needs a result of 7 or higher on the 
  third turn to stay mobile. After an intervening turn of not using 
  the system, the player needs a 5 or higher to avoid infl icting 
  critical hits on the ’Mechs legs. Two turns without using MASC 
  reduces the threshold number to the original 3.
  Piloting Skill Rolls: Any Piloting Skills that might result from the 
  critical hits are resolved immediately, before the ’Mech moves. 
  Critical Hits: When a MASC slot suff ers a critical hit, the 
  equipment ceases to function for the remainder of the game. If the 
  critical damage occurs during the Movement Phase (Ground) while 
  the ’Mech is using MASC (for example, because of a fall), the MASC 
  immediately stops functioning and the player must recalculate 
  the unit’s MP. If this recalculation results in the unit having already 
  expended more MP than it has available, its movement ends.
  
  MINING DRILL 
  A mining drill can be used to make a physical attack; see Physical 
  Weapon Attacks, p. 144.
  Buildings: A mining drill attack infl icts 1D6 points of damage 
  (in addition to its standard Damage Value, see Physical Weapon 
  Attacks, p. 144) to a building hex.
  Support Vehicles: A Support Vehicle can use the mining drill 
  to make a modifi ed charge attack with a +0 to-hit modifi er, plus 
  applicable movement and terrain modifi ers. A successful attack 
  infl icts 4 points of damage to the target (use the Kick Location 
  Table for ’Mechs, or the full Hit Location Table for a prone ’Mech). 
  A successful attack against a ’Mech forces a Piloting Skill Roll as 
  though the ’Mech had been charged (see Charge Attack, p. 148).
  MISSILE LAUNCHERS
  The following rules cover missile launchers that fall outside the 
  standard rules for such weapons.
  ATM (Advanced Tactical Missile System)
   Resolve an attack with an ATM system in the same way as a 
  standard LRM attack, with the following exceptions.
  The ATM includes an integral Artemis IV targeting system at no 
  cost in space or tonnage; add +2 to the Cluster Hits Table die roll 
  for the weapon. The integral system functions exactly like standard 
  Artemis IV, and may be jammed by enemy ECM. In addition, ATM 
  launchers cannot use any special missile munitions, aside from 
  the two variants specifi cally designed for them.
  An ATM can use two custom-made ammunition loads: 
  extended-range (ER) and high-explosive (HE). These are unique 
  to the ATM; other launchers cannot use them. Like other special 
  munitions, they must be carried in full-ton lots, and the controlling 
  player must announce the missile type to be used during weapon 
  attack declaration.
  Damage from ATM hits is divided into 5-point Damage Value 
  groupings, regardless of missile type used. Multiply the Cluster 
  Hits Table result by the damage per missile, then divide the total 
  damage into 5-point groupings for hit location.
  The ATM may not fi re indirectly using the LRM Indirect Fire rules.
  Multi-Missile Launcher
  The multi-missile launcher can fi re SRMs or LRMs, and each 
  missile type retains its characteristic damage and ranges.
  MMLs can use standard SRM or LRM ammunition, as well as all 
  missile special munitions that can be used by either LRM or SRM 
  launchers (see p. 140). This includes Artemis and Narc-compatible 
  missiles.
  Damage is assigned per the type of missile fi red; LRMs fi red 
  from an MML are divided into 5-point Damage Value groupings, 
  while SRMs are divided into 2-point groupings.
  Missile Ammo: A unit can carry LRM, SRM and torpedo ammo 
  slots for the MML, announcing during attack declaration which 
  ammo type will be used.
  Streak SRMs (Short-Range Missiles)
  A player attempting to lock a Streak missile on target must make 
  a standard to-hit roll during the Weapon Attack Phase as if he 
  were fi ring a standard SRM. If successful, the player immediately 
  fi res his Streak SRM at the locked-on target. All Streak missiles 
  automatically hit (no roll on the Cluster Hits Table is required), and 
  the player rolls as normal to determine the hit locations. If the roll 
  fails, the player does not achieve a lock and so does not fi re the 
  SRMs or build up any heat.
  The player must roll for a targeting lock each turn, even if he 
  achieved a lock in the previous turn. The player must make a 
  separate to-hit roll for each individual Streak system being fi red.
  Torpedo Launcher
  Torpedo launchers can be any size SRM or LRM launcher and 
  are designed to function underwater; they use the same statistics 
  as any SRM or LRM launcher, as found on the Weapons and 
  Equipment tables (see p. 303). Torpedoes may only be fi red from 
  or into a water hex of Depth 1 or greater, and the attacker must 
  trace LOS through water hexes of Depth 1 or greater.
  NAIL/RIVET GUN 
  A nail/rivet gun only infl icts damage against conventional 
  infantry and Support Vehicles with a Barrier Armor Rating (BAR) of 
  less than 5. If the location struck does not contain armor (meaning 
  the nail/rivet gun hits internal structure), apply its standard 
  Damage Value to the struck location; ignore any damage transfer 
  to an armored location.
  Critical Hits: If a location containing nail/rivet gun “ammunition” 
  takes a critical hit, the ammo does not explode, but the hit 
  destroys the ammo-feed mechanism, rendering the rest of the 
  ammunition in that slot useless. 
  NARC MISSILE BEACON
  If a Narc missile beacon attack hits, the Narc pod is attached to 
  the target unit; the target’s player should still roll a hit location 
  to determine exactly where the pod attaches. If that location is 
  destroyed during any subsequent turn, the pod is also destroyed 
  DF 
  DF
  CPLT-C4 Catapult, Twenty-sixth Lyran Guard (House Steiner) 
  
  139
  139
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  and its eff ects are lost during the end of the phase in which 
  the location was destroyed.
   In all following combat phases, any unit attacking with 
  Narc-equipped missiles adds +2 to the result of the roll on 
  the Cluster Hits Table. This modifi er remains in eff ect for the 
  targeted unit throughout the rest of the battle. 
  Other Narc pods attached to a target have no additional 
  eff ect. Other Narc beacons in the target hex do not confuse 
  Narc-guided missiles. The Narc system can be used to aid 
  narc-equipped  SRM and LRM missile attacks, but does not 
  aff ect attacks made with special munitions or launchers. 
  Critical Hits: Exploding Narc ammo causes 2 points of 
  damage per pod. 
  Buildings: Narc pods cannot be fi red into or inside 
  buildings. 
  ECM: Narc-guided missiles function like conventional 
  missiles if the narc pod they are homing in on is within the 
  “bubble” of an active enemy ECM suite; they do not receive 
  the +2 modifi er when rolling on the Cluster Hits Table (See 
  ECM Suite, p. 134).
  Indirect LRM Fire: Once a Narc pod is attached to a target, 
  all Narc-equipped missiles may be fi red indirectly at a target 
  without a spotter; all other standard modifi ers for Indirect 
  LRM fi re apply (see p. 111). In addition, if used in this manner, 
  the Narc-equipped missiles lose their +2 modifi er to the roll 
  result on the Cluster Hits Table.
  Infantry: A Narc missile beacon cannot be used to attack 
  infantry.
  Improved Narc Launcher
  The iNarc functions just like a standard Narc missile beacon, 
  with the following exceptions.
  The improved pods launched by the iNarc are larger than 
  standard Narc pods, and can be brushed off  in the same way 
  as swarming anti-’Mech infantry (see p. 220). A successful 
  roll destroys one pod of the target’s choice. Unlike swarming 
  infantry, jumping movement or falling does not knock off  
  iNarc pods. Because they have no arms, vehicles cannot 
  brush off  the pods, but if a vehicle does not move or fi re for 
  an entire turn and its crew is not stunned, all attached iNarc 
  pods can be removed in that turn’s End Phase (this rule has 
  no eff ect on standard Narc pods, which cannot be removed 
  during game play).
  Critical Hits: If a slot containing iNarc ammo is critically hit, 
  the resulting ammo explosion infl icts 3 points of damage per 
  shot remaining in the bin.
  RETRACTABLE BLADE 
  During the Movement Phase (Ground), the controlling 
  player must designate whether the blade is extended or 
  retracted before moving the unit on which it is mounted. When 
  retracted, the unit can use the hand actuator on the same arm 
  as normal. When extended, the hand actuator cannot be used 
  to carry items or execute a punch or push attack. 
  The retractable blade can be used to make a physical attack; 
  see Physical Weapon Attacks, p. 144.
  PLASMA WEAPONS
  If a location containing plasma weapon ammunition 
  takes a critical hit, the ammo does not explode, but the hit 
  destroys the ammo-feed mechanism, rendering the rest of 
  the ammunition in that slot useless. (A critical hit against the 
  plasma weapon does not cause the weapon to explode.)
  Heat: Excess heat does not cause a plasma weapon or its 
  ammunition to explode.
  Underwater Operations: Plasma weapons cannot be fi red 
  underwater.
  Woods and Buildings: Once the Damage Value of a plasma 
  weapon has been determined for an attack, double the 
  damage it infl icts against a woods or building hex.
  Aerospace Units: Plasma weapons, while considered 
  energy weapons, have ammunition and so cannot be used in 
  a strafi ng attack, only in strike attacks (see p. 245). 
  Battle Armor: Battle armor units that mount fi re-resistance 
  armor are immune to damage from the heat of a plasma 
  weapon. The armor also reduces any standard Damage Value 
  by half, rounded down (see Fire-Resistant Armor, p. 228). For 
  example, a plasma rifl e infl icts 10 points of damage, plus 
  an additional 2D6 damage from heat against any unit that 
  does not track heat; against a battle armor unit mounting 
  fi re resistance armor, the plasma rifl e only infl icts a 5-point 
  Damage Value grouping (10 / 2 = 5).
  Plasma Cannon
  A plasma cannon delivers no damage, aside from 2D6 points 
  of heat, to ’Mechs, aerospace fi ghters and small craft during 
  the Heat Phase (see Outside Heat Sources, p. 159). For any other 
  unit type, apply 3D6 damage. After determining Damage 
  Value by rolling 3D6, divide the damage from a plasma cannon 
  into 5-point Damage Value groupings (assign any remaining 
  damage to a fi nal grouping), with each grouping assigned to 
  a diff erent location using the appropriate Damage Location 
  Table (provided the target has separate locations).
  Goshawk 3, Beta Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)
  DF 
  DF
  
  Plasma Rifl e
  In addition to its standard Damage Value of 10, a plasma rifl e 
  delivers 1D6 points of heat to ’Mechs, aerospace fi ghters, and 
  small craft during the Heat Phase (see Outside Heat Sources, p. 159). 
  For any other unit type, add 2D6 extra damage. After determining 
  the extra Damage Value by rolling 2D6, combine that damage 
  with the standard 10-point Damage Value. Then divided that total 
  into 5-point Damage Value groupings (assigning any remaining 
  damage to a fi nal grouping), with each grouping assigned to a 
  diff erent location using the appropriate Damage Location Table 
  (provided the target has separate locations; in the case of battle 
  armor, apply this damage to the unit as a whole, rather than to 
  each trooper).
  ROCK CUTTER 
  A rock cutter can be used to make a physical attack; see Physical 
  Weapon Attacks, p. 146.
  Buildings: A rock cutter attack infl icts 3D6 points of damage 
  (in addition to its standard Damage Value, see Physical Weapon 
  Attacks, p. 146) to a building hex.
  Support Vehicles: A Support Vehicle can make a modifi ed 
  charge attack with a +2 to-hit modifi er, plus applicable movement 
  and terrain modifi ers. A successful attack infl icts 5 points of 
  damage to all units (use the Kick Location Table for ’Mechs, or the 
  full Hit Location Table against a prone ’Mech). A successful attack 
  against a ’Mech forces a Piloting Skill Roll as though the ’Mech had 
  been charged (see Charge Attack, p. 148).
  ROTARY AUTOCANNON
  A player wishing to clear a jammed a rotary autocannon (see 
  Rapid-Fire Weapons, p. 114) during a game must declare in the 
  End Phase of any turn that he or she will attempt to clear the 
  weapon in the next turn. During the turn in which the player is 
  attempting to clear the weapon, the unit that suff ered the jam 
  must stand still or expend Walking/Cruising MP (the unit may not 
  run/fl ank or jump). The unit also cannot make weapon attacks 
  (including TAG attacks or spotting for indirect LRM fi re, though 
  all other electronics, such as C3 and Guardian ECM suites, operate 
  normally). At the end of the Weapon Attack Phase, the player 
  controlling the unit should make a Gunnery Skill Roll with a +3 
  modifi er. A successful roll indicates the weapon is cleared and 
  can be used in successive turns; a failure means the jam is not 
  cleared (though the player may attempt to clear the weapon 
  in a subsequent turn). The player may attempt to clear a single 
  weapon only once per turn, though he or she may try to clear 
  multiple rotary autocannons in the same turn (making a Gunnery 
  Skill Roll for each jammed weapon).
  Critical Hits: If a rotary autocannon suff ers a critical hit while 
  jammed, the hit causes an ammo explosion with a Damage Value 
  equal to a single shot for the weapon.
  SPECIAL MUNITIONS
  Some weapons (standard autocannons, standard LRM and 
  SRM launchers and NARC missile beacons) can use diff erent 
  submunitions. Before play begins, a player should determine 
  what weapons his or her units mount and then, based on the 
  information below, what submunitions (if any) those weapons 
  may use.
  Special munitions must be assigned in full-ton lots and clearly 
  marked on the carrying unit’s record sheet. For example, if an 
  ammo slot on a record sheet reads “Ammo (LRM 5) 24”, a player 
  can review the submunitions below before play begins to fi nd 
  those that can be used in LRMs and then assign all 24 shots in that 
  slot to the selected special munition (except for special munitions 
  that assign only half the ammo per ton (round down) to each 
  critical slot).
  The player must announce the type of special munition to be 
  used during weapon attack declaration. If the player makes no 
  announcement, assume that he or she is fi ring normal munitions 
  (provided the weapon in question has a corresponding ammo 
  slot available).
  The following list does not cover ammunition that comes 
  standard with a given ammo-fed weapon type: autocannon, 
  Gauss, LRM, SRM, Streak, Narc and so on. Those standard munitions 
  are either covered in the description for a given launcher on the 
  appropriate Weapons and Equipment tables (beginning on p. 
  303), under Missile Launchers (see p. 138) or under the specifi c 
  weapon description in this section.
  No launcher may combine more than one special munition or 
  other special property (Streak, Artemis and so on) in a single shot 
  unless specifi cally allowed by the rules for that item.
  Infantry: Unless stated otherwise, infantry may not carry 
  special munitions.
  Armor-Piercing Ammunition 
  Every attack with armor-piercing ammunition that successfully 
  damages armor provides a chance for a critical hit, even if the 
  internal structure took no damage. After marking off  the armor 
  damage for the attack, roll once on the Determining Critical Hits 
  Table. Apply a modifi er to the target number based on the type 
  of autocannon used: –1 for an AC/20, –2 for an AC/10, –3 for an 
  AC/5 or –4 for an AC/2. If the initial attack damages the internal 
  structure, make the standard roll for possible critical hits. Armor-
  piercing ammunition has no additional eff ect for attacks that 
  damage internal structure.
  The weight of armor-piercing ammunition means that a ton 
  of armor-piercing ammo contains half as many shots as a ton 
  of standard ammo (rounded down). In addition, armor-piercing 
  rounds are harder to aim, adding a +1 modifi er to the to-hit 
  number at all ranges.
  Aerospace Units: Armor-piercing ammo has no eff ect against 
  aerospace units.
  Vehicles: Every successful attack against a vehicle automatically 
  causes a roll on the appropriate column of the Vehicle Critical 
  Hits Table, corresponding to the location damaged; in the case 
  of Support Vehicles with a BAR less than 10, apply a +2 modifi er 
  to the die roll. In both cases, the standard modifi ers infl icted by 
  armor-piercing ammunition for determining critical hits still apply 
  when rolling on the Vehicle Critical Hits Table (see p. 192).
  Weapon Type: Standard and light ACs 
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Artemis-Equipped Missiles 
  Artemis-equipped missiles used in conjunction with an Artemis 
  IV FCS (see p. 130) gain a +2 modifi er when rolling on the Cluster 
  Hits Table.
  Weapon Type: Standard LRMs/MMLs/SRMs
  Technology Base: Clan or Inner Sphere 
  
  141
  141
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  Cluster Ammunition 
  For attacks made with cluster munitions, apply a –1 modifi er 
  to the to-hit number at all ranges. Resolve successful attacks 
  as a cluster weapon (see LB-X Weapons, p. 120).
  When fi ring cluster munitions, LB-X autocannons cannot make 
  aimed shots, and they also lose the benefi ts of the fi ring unit’s 
  targeting computer (if any); see Targeting Computer, p. 143.
  Flak: Cluster ammo can be used to make fl ak attacks (see 
  Flak, p. 114).
  Weapon Type: LB-X ACs 
  Technology Base: Clan or Inner Sphere 
  ECM Pod 
  On a successful attack, treat the target as if within a hostile 
  ECM fi eld (see ECM Suite, p. 134). The ECM pod has no eff ect 
  radius of its own, and thus does not aff ect other units—it only 
  works on targets to which it is attached. ECM pods have no 
  eff ect against infantry units.
  Weapon Type: iNarc
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Explosive Pod 
  On a successful attack, the target suff ers 4 points of damage 
  (6 for iNarcs); if ammunition is critically hit, the resulting ammo 
  explosion infl icts 4 points of damage (6 for iNarcs) per shot 
  remaining in the ammo bin slot.
  Weapon Type: Narc/iNarc 
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Flechette Ammunition 
  Double the standard Damage Value against conventional 
  infantry; half damage to all other units (round down). This 
  damage is in addition to the doubling of damage against 
  conventional infantry in a clear hex. In addition, double the 
  standard damage against woods hexes.
  Weapon Type: Standard and light ACs
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Fragmentation Missile 
  Double the standard Damage Value to conventional 
  infantry; no damage to all other units or building hexes. This 
  damage is in addition to the doubling of damage against 
  conventional infantry in a clear hex. In addition, double the 
  standard damage against woods hexes.
  Weapon Type: Standard LRMs/SRMs 
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Haywire Pod 
  On a successful attack, the target suff ers a +1 to-hit modifi er 
  to all weapon attacks (including TAG) and may not spot for 
  indirect LRM attacks. Multiple pods are not cumulative and 
  have no further eff ect. Haywire pods have no eff ect against 
  infantry units.
  Weapon Type: iNarc
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Homing Pod 
  The homing pod has an improved ability to attract Narc-
  equipped missiles (see Narc-Equipped Missile below). In 
  addition to the usual +2 modifi er when rolling on the Cluster 
  Hits Table, apply a –1 to-hit modifi er to all Narc-capable missile 
  attacks made against a target that has been hit with a homing 
  pod. Homing pods have no eff ect against infantry units.
  Weapon Type: Narc/iNarc
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Infernos 
  Infernos deliver no standard Damage Value. Instead, 
  depending on the target unit type, they deliver heat or 
  automatic chances for critical damage, or they automatically 
  eliminate troopers.
  Building Hexes: For every missile that strikes a building 
  hex (not a unit inside it; see Attacking Buildings, p. 171, in the 
  Buildings section), roll 1D6 for each unit occupying that hex 
  (regardless of what level the units occupy). On a result of 1–4, 
  the missile has no eff ect against that unit. On a result of 5–6, 
  the missile strikes the unit, with the following rules applying 
  for each unit type. Each missile that strikes a building hex 
  infl icts 2 points of damage to the hex.
  Woods: Every missile that strikes a woods hex infl icts 4 
  points of damage to the hex.
  Infantry: Every missile that strikes a conventional infantry 
  unit automatically eliminates three troopers; every three 
  missiles that strike a battle armor unit automatically eliminate 
  one randomly determined trooper (unless the unit mounts 
  fi re-resistance armor; see Fire-Resistant Armor, p. 228). After all 
  inferno attacks against an infantry unit have been resolved, 
  add together the total number of inferno missiles that struck 
  the target and then determine how many troopers were 
  eliminated. For example, if two separate SRM attacks utilizing 
  inferno missiles result in a total of fi ve missiles striking a battle 
  armor unit, only a single trooper would be eliminated; if those 
  same fi ve missiles strike a conventional infantry platoon, 15 
  troopers would be eliminated.
  ’Mechs, Aerospace Fighters, and Small Crafts: For every 
  missile that strikes the target, increase the unit’s heat level 
  by 2 points during the Heat Phase of the turn in which the 
  infernos hit (see Outside Heat Sources, p. 159).
  Conventional Fighter: Every three missiles that strike 
  a conventional fi ghter infl ict 1 point of SI damage; after all 
  inferno attacks against the unit have been resolved, add 
  together the total number of inferno missiles that struck the 
  target and then determine how much damage is infl icted 
  against the SI.
  DropShips: No eff ect.
  INFERNO AMMO EXPLOSION TABLE
  Heat Level
  Avoid Number
  10 
  4+
  14 
  6+
  19
   8+
  23 
  10+
  28
   12
  
  Vehicles: Every missile that strikes the target automatically 
  causes a roll on the appropriate column of the appropriate unit’s 
  Critical Hits Table, corresponding to the location hit (see Ground 
  Combat Vehicle Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 193), with the following 
  modifi ers to the dice roll result: –2 for Combat Vehicles; no 
  modifi er for Support Vehicles (unless the Support Vehicle has 
  the Armor Chassis and Controls modifi cation and a BAR of 10, in 
  which case it is treated as a Combat Vehicle).
  Attacks by Battle Armor: In addition to the standard rules for 
  infernos described in this section, battle armor making use of 
  inferno missiles that do not also mount fi re-resistant armor have 
  additional rules (see Infernos, p. 229).
  Attacks by SRM Infantry: An SRM infantry platoon that hits 
  its target does so with a number of inferno missiles equal to its 
  Damage Value after rolling on the Cluster Hits Table, divided by 2 
  (round fractions down).
  Tracking Heat: ’Mechs, aerospace fi ghters, and small craft that 
  carry infernos must make an additional set of Heat Scale Avoid 
  Rolls to determine whether or not the inferno ammo explodes per 
  the Inferno Ammo Explosion Table. The inferno Avoid Rolls at 19, 
  23 and 28 heat points must be made in addition to the normal 
  Avoid Rolls required at these heat levels. If the inferno ammo 
  explodes, it infl icts 2 heat per missile to the carrying unit, to a 
  maximum of 30 heat, along with the standard damage from an 
  SRM explosion.
  Weapon Type: Standard SRMs
  Technology Base: Clan or Inner Sphere 
  Narc-Equipped Missile 
  Narc-equipped missiles gain a +2 modifi er when rolling on the 
  Cluster Hits Table, when fi red on any unit hit by a friendly Narc-
  Equipped beacon. Friendly iNarc beacons also apply a –1 modifi er 
  to the to-hit roll for attacks using Narc-equipped missiles.
  Weapon Type: Standard LRMs/SRMs
  Technology Base: Clan or Inner Sphere 
  Nemesis Pod 
  A successful attack tags the target. Friendly units that use 
  Artemis IV-capable missiles, semi-guided missiles or Narc-
  equipped missiles to attack an enemy unit may instead hit the 
  Nemesis-tagged unit, if that unit is within LOS of such attacks. 
  Apply a +1 modifi er to such unintentional attacks, starting with 
  the closest Nemesis-tagged friendly if more than one unit meets 
  the criteria. Nemesis pods have no eff ect against infantry.
  Weapon Type: iNarc
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Precision Ammunition 
  When fi ring precision ammunition, reduce the target movement 
  modifi er by 2 to a minimum of zero.
  A ton of precision ammo contains half as many shots as a ton of 
  standard ammo (rounded down).
  Weapon Type: Standard and light ACs 
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  Semi-Guided Missile 
  When fi ring semi-guided missiles at any target in range 
  successfully designated by a friendly TAG (at right), the attacker 
  ignores the target movement modifi er. When fi ring indirectly, also 
  ignore indirect fi re and spotter movement modifi ers.
  Once a successful to-hit roll has been made, use the rules for 
  standard LRMs to determine the number of missiles that struck 
  the target, hit locations and so on.
  Weapon Type: Standard LRMs 
  Technology Base: Inner Sphere
  SALVAGE ARM 
  A unit mounting a salvage arm cannot use it to make any kind 
  of attack. A ’Mech that makes a punch or push attack with an arm 
  that mounts a salvage arm should treat the attack as though the 
  arm in question has no hand actuator.
  SPOT WELDER
  A spot welder can be used to make a physical attack; see 
  Physical Weapon Attacks, p. 146.
  STEALTH ARMOR SYSTEM
  A ’Mech with the stealth armor system must also mount an ECM 
  suite. When the stealth armor system is not engaged, the ECM suite 
  functions normally. When the stealth armor system is engaged, the 
  ECM continues to function normally, but the ’Mech suff ers eff ects 
  as if in the radius of an enemy ECM suite see p. 134). If the ECM suite 
  is destroyed, the stealth armor system cannot function.
  A player may turn the stealth armor system on or off  during the 
  End Phase of any turn. A ’Mech may also start the game with the 
  system engaged; this must be indicated on the unit’s record sheet.
   While the system is engaged, attacks against a unit equipped 
  with stealth armor receive additional to-hit modifi ers of +1 at 
  medium range and +2 at long range. In addition, a ’Mech with its 
  stealth armor system engaged cannot be attacked as a secondary 
  target (see Multiple Targets Modifi er, p. 109).
  Finally, while engaged, the stealth armor system generates 10 
  heat points per turn.
  Aerospace Units: Stealth armor has no eff ect on attacks by 
  aerospace units.
  Critical Hits: Critical hits against a stealth armor critical slot 
  have no eff ect and should be re-rolled.
  TAG (TARGETING ACQUISITION GEAR)
  Targeting acquisition gear designates (or “paints”) an enemy 
  unit to be struck by another unit’s weapons. Instead of making 
  a to-hit roll for TAG during the Weapon Attack Phase, all units 
  needing to make TAG to-hit rolls do so after the end of the 
  Movement Phase (Aerospace), but before the beginning of the 
  Weapon Attack Phase (initiative is still followed, however).
  To use TAG equipment for target designation, calculate the to-
  hit number as for a standard weapon attack. Unlike spotting for 
  indirect LRM fi re (see LRM Indirect Fire, p. 111), a unit can use TAG to 
  spot and make a weapon attack with no additional to-hit penalty.
  If the to-hit roll fails (meaning the TAG spotter fails to designate 
  the target), TAG has no further eff ect. If the to-hit roll is successful, 
  the system designates the target for that turn’s Weapon Attack 
  Phase; the target unit is designated for any number of attacks 
  from any number of units using TAG.
  A TAG system cannot designate infantry, but can designate any 
  other target, such as a building or other hex and so on (see Target, 
  p. 42 of Playing the Game). 
  ProtoMechs: The fi ve ProtoMechs of a ProtoMech Point may 
  declare diff erent targets for any mounted TAGs. For example, if all 
  
  143
  143
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  DF 
  DF
  the ProtoMechs in a ProtoMech Point mounted a TAG, they could 
  declare up to fi ve diff erent targets with TAG in the same turn.
  TARGETING COMPUTER
  To make an attack using the targeting computer, follow all 
  standard rules for weapons of that type, but modify the to-
  hit number for any attacks using the unit’s weapon by –1 (see 
  the appropriate Weapons and Equipment table to determine 
  which weapons can be used with a targeting computer).
  The controlling player may use the targeting computer to 
  attempt to attack a specifi c hit location on an active unit. To do 
  so, an attacking unit ignores the standard –1 to-hit modifi er 
  for the targeting computer and uses the Aimed Shots rule (see 
  p. 110), but applies an additional +3 to-hit modifi er. The target 
  need not be immobile when using a targeting computer to 
  make such an aimed shot; if the target is not immobile, then 
  the –4 to-hit modifi er for an attack against an immobile target 
  does not apply. An attacker cannot target a ’Mech’s head when 
  making an aimed shot with a targeting computer.
  If using a targeting computer to make an aimed shot against an 
  immobile target, apply an additional –1 modifi er (representing 
  the targeting computer) to the –4 immobile target modifi er. All 
  other rules for an aimed shot remain the same.
  LB-X Autocannons: When fi ring cluster munitions, LB-X 
  autocannons lose the benefi ts of the fi ring unit’s targeting 
  computer.
  Pulse and Rapid-Fire Weapons: Pulse and rapid-fi re 
  weapons may not use a targeting computer to make an aimed 
  shot, unless a rapid-fi re weapon is fi ring a single shot, in which 
  case it can make an aimed shot as described above).
  TRACKS 
  During the Movement Phase, the controlling player of a 
  ’Mech equipped with tracks must declare what movement 
  mode the ´Mech will use throughout the turn—foot or tracked. 
  These modes cannot be combined.
  Tracks provide Track MP equal to the ’Mech’s Walking MP, 
  but do not provide a corresponding Running MP. Actuator 
  critical hits do not reduce tracked movement, but a critical hit 
  on a track—or the loss of a leg containing a track—reduces 
  the Track MP by half for a humanoid chassis (or by a quarter 
  for quad chassis designs). While moving in tracked mode, leg 
  actuator and gyro critical hits do not require a Piloting Skill Roll, 
  though Piloting Skill Rolls for suff ering 20 points of damage or 
  sustaining kick, charge or push attacks are still required and 
  should be modifi ed appropriately for component damage.
  While using tracked movement, ’Mechs receive all the MP 
  bonuses (including the +1 MP for paved surface movement) 
  and terrain restrictions (including those for heavy woods and 
  Depth 1+ water, not changing more than one level in a hex 
  and so on) that apply to tracked vehicles. Tracked movement 
  generates heat as normal for a walking ’Mech (as with walking, 
  ICE-equipped ’Mechs generate no heat), but TSM movement 
  modifi ers do not apply for a ’Mech using tracked movement.
  If a ’Mech is using tracked movement in the turn when its 
  gyro is destroyed, it does not automatically fall. In addition, 
  it can continue to use tracked movement provided it starts a 
  Movement Phase on its feet.
  ’Mechs mounting tracks are more vulnerable to anti-’Mech 
  infantry. Any leg attacks receive a –2 to-hit modifi er. 
  TSM (TRIPLE-STRENGTH MYOMER)
  Triple-strength myomer provides a benefi t only when a 
  BattleMech is running hot. If a BattleMech is equipped with 
  triple-strength myomer, for each turn that it ends with a heat 
  level of 9 or higher, the following eff ects take place the next 
  turn; apply other modifi ers that decrease movement, such as 
  heat and damage, normally.
  • 
  Increase the ’Mech’s Walking MP by 2 and recalculate 
  its Running MP; multiply the new Walking MP by 1.5, 
  rounding up. Triple-strength myomer does not aff ect 
  Jumping MP.
  • 
  Double the ’Mech’s lifting ability (see Cargo Carriers in the 
  Creating Scenarios section, p. 261).
  • 
  Double the damage for punch, kick and club attacks, as 
  well as some physical weapon attacks (see p. 146).
  Critical Hits: Critical hits against slots containing triple-
  strength myomer have no eff ect and are re-rolled.
  Industrial TSM 
  Industrial TSM follows the rules above, with the exceptions 
  given below.
  • 
  Industrial TSM is always on; it operates regardless of a 
  ’Mech’s heat level.
  • 
  All physical attacks receive a +2 to-hit modifi er.
  • 
  A ’Mech using industrial TSM gains no additional MPs. 
  • 
  Apply a +1 modifi er to all Piloting Skill Rolls.
  WRECKING BALL
  A wrecking ball can be used to make a physical attack; see 
  Physical Weapon Attacks, p. 146.
  Buildings: A wrecking ball attack infl icts 4D6 points of 
  damage (in addition to its standard Damage Value, see Physical 
  Weapon Attacks, p. 146) to a building hex.
  Support Vehicles: A Support Vehicle can make a physical 
  attack with a wrecking ball against a target in the arc 
  corresponding to the location where the wrecking ball is 
  mounted, with a +2 to-hit modifi er, plus applicable movement 
  and terrain modifi ers. A successful attack infl icts 8 points of 
  damage to all units (use the full Hit Location Table against 
  ’Mechs). A successful attack against a ’Mech forces a Piloting 
  Skill Roll as though the ’Mech had been charged (see Charge 
  Attack, p. 148).
  A Word of Blake Lancelot is struck from behind by Clan Steel Viper ’Mechs. 
  
  PHYSICAL ATTACKS
  ’Mechs can make seven diff erent types of physical attacks: 
  punching, clubbing, pushing, kicking, charging, death from above 
  or physical weapon attacks (this last attack requires that the ’Mech 
  mount a specifi c physical attack weapon, such as a hatchet, sword 
  and so on). 
  In order to make a physical attack, the unit must be adjacent 
  to its target and the target must be within the attacking ’Mech’s 
  forward fi ring arc (see Punch Attacks, Charge Attacks and Death 
  from Above Attacks for exceptions).
  The rules for physical attacks assume that attacker and target 
  are ’Mechs standing at the same level. Special rules regarding 
  other types of units, diff erent levels and prone ’Mechs appear 
  starting on p. 150.
  Aerospace Units: Aerospace units cannot make physical 
  attacks. They have their own special physical attack akin to 
  charging, called ramming (see p. 241), but it only applies to 
  aerospace units ramming other aerospace units. Aerospace units 
  cannot intentionally ram a ground unit.
  IndustrialMechs: During the End Phase of any turn in which 
  an IndustrialMech is the target of a successful physical attack, roll 
  2D6 and consult the Determining Critical Hits Table (p. 124). To 
  determine the location of any resulting critical hits, roll once on the 
  Front/Rear column of the ’Mech Hit Location Table (see p. 119). The 
  controlling player makes only one roll per turn, regardless of the 
  number of successful physical attacks the IndustrialMech suff ers.
  Infantry: Infantry units cannot make physical attacks; they 
  have their own unique attacks (see Anti-’Mech Attack, p. 220).
  ProtoMechs: ProtoMechs cannot make physical attacks; they 
  can, however, make a single “frenzy” attack (see p. 186).
  Vehicles: The only physical attack a vehicle can make is a 
  charge (ram).
  Attacks Against Large Support Vehicles and Grounded 
  Small Craft: As noted on p. 110, all physical attacks against Large 
  Support Vehicles (including Airships and Fixed-Wing Support 
  Vehicles) and grounded DropShips receive a  –2 to-hit modifi er.
  Initiative and Displacement: If one unit’s charge, push or DFA 
  attack would displace the target of another unit’s charge, push or 
  DFA, the unit with the lower Initiative resolves its physical attack 
  fi rst. If both attacking units are on the same team, the controlling 
  player may determine which attack is resolved fi rst. If the target 
  of an attack is subsequently displaced before the attack can be 
  resolved, and another unit is in the hex that can become the 
  target of the attack, apply an additional +1 modifi er and resolve 
  the attack against the new target normally. If no valid target exists, 
  the attack automatically fails.
  Multiple Physical Attacks: A ‘Mech may only make a single 
  type of physical attack in a single turn: charging, clubbing, death 
  from above, kick, punch, push or phyiscal weapon attack. Even if 
  a ’Mech mounts two physical weapons (identical or otherwise), it 
  can only make a single physical weapon attack. When making a 
  single punch attack, a player can punch with one or two arms (see 
  Punch Attacks, p. 145).
  Water
  The following rules apply to physical attacks between units that 
  occupy water hexes. 
  Any successful physical attack that occurs underwater infl icts 
  half its standard damage (round down), including a ramming 
  attack by a surface naval vessel. A physical attack against a surface 
  vessel is only considered underwater if the attack originated 
  underwater, so a ramming attack by a surface vessel would not be 
  considered underwater.
  Depth 1 Water: A ’Mech standing in Depth 1 water may 
  make any physical attack, provided the unit meets the normal 
  requirements for each type of attack. However, the physical 
  attack cannot be made against a unit that is underwater, unless 
  the attack begins underwater as well. For example, a ’Mech 
  standing in Depth 1 water adjacent to a submerged submarine 
  in Depth 1 water can only make a kick attack, since the kick attack 
  occurs completely underwater. The ´Mech cannot make any other 
  attack, including a charge or death from above attack, against the 
  adjacent submarine because a portion of the attack would take 
  place outside the water.
  Depth 2+ Water: A ’Mech standing in Depth 2 (or deeper) 
  water can make any of the following physical attacks, provided 
  the unit meets the normal requirements for each type of attack: 
  charging, clubbing, kicking, punching, pushing or a physical 
  weapon attack.
  BASE TO-HIT NUMBER
  The base to-hit number for a physical attack is equal to the 
  attacking unit’s Piloting Skill Rating (see Skills, p. 39).
  MODIFIED TO-HIT NUMBER
  The modifi ed to-hit number equals the base to-hit number 
  plus the modifi er for the specifi c physical attack as noted on the 
  Physical Attack Modifi ers Table. All other standard modifi ers for 
  weapon attacks also apply, such as attacker movement modifi er, 
  target movement modifi er, damage to actuators, terrain and 
  so on, unless specifi cally stated otherwise by the rules for each 
  PHYSICAL ATTACK MODIFIERS TABLE
  Attack Type
  Modifi er
  Charging
  +0*
  Clubbing
  –1
  Death From Above (DFA)
  +0*†
  Kicking
  –2
  Punching
  +0
  Pushing
  –1
  *Whenever one unit charges another, compare their Piloting Skill Levels and use the 
  diff erence between the two skill levels as a modifi er to the to-hit number. If the 
  target’s skill level is lower, add the modifi er to the to-hit number. If the attacker’s 
  Piloting Skill Level is lower, subtract the modifi er from the to-hit number.
  †All the normal attack modifi ers apply, including the attacker’s jumping 
  movement, but the roll is not modifi ed for terrain. For DFA attacks against 
  infantry targets, apply an additional +3 to-hit modifi er (because infantry 
  units have no Piloting Skill, neither player needs to add a modifi er for relative 
  Piloting Skill Rating).
  
  145
  145
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  attack type. The sole exceptions are heat and sensor modifi ers, 
  which never apply.
  As with weapon attacks, if the modifi ed to-hit number is 
  greater than 12, the physical attack automatically misses. If a 
  player determines that his unit’s declared physical attack will 
  automatically miss, he can choose not to make the attack, 
  thereby avoiding the need to make a Piloting Skill Roll for a 
  failed attack. If the modifi ed to-hit number is 2 or less, the 
  physical attack automatically hits. 
  PUNCH ATTACKS 
  (’MECH ONLY)
  In a single turn, a ’Mech may punch with one or both arms. 
  It can deliver a punch using its arm or fi re the weapons on that 
  arm, but it may not do both. Weapons mounted in the torso, 
  legs or head may be fi red in the same turn as a punch attack is 
  made without aff ecting the punch.
  All punch attacks must be made against targets in the attacking 
  ’Mech’s forward or side fi ring arcs. If the target is in the right or 
  left arc, only the right or left arm, respectively, may punch. 
  A ’Mech cannot make a punch attack using a shoulder that 
  suff ered critical damage. Likewise, any arm actuator damage 
  on the punching arm makes success more diffi  cult and reduces 
  the damage infl icted.
  See Modifi ed To-Hit Number, p. 106, to determine the target 
  number for a punch attack.
  A punch attack has a Damage Value of 1 for every 10 tons 
  (or fraction of 10 tons) that the attacker weighs. Reduce the 
  damage by half for each upper or lower arm actuator damaged 
  or not present, with these eff ects being cumulative. In other 
  words, if both arm actuators are missing or damaged, reduce 
  the attack damage to one-quarter of its original value (round 
  fractions down, to a minimum of 1).
  Determine damage location by rolling 1D6 and consulting 
  the appropriate column of the ’Mech Punch Location Table 
  based on whether the ’Mech is a biped or four-legged design.
  Multiple Targets: A ‘Mech can make two punches at two 
  diff erent targets and ignores the secondary target modifi er.
  Missing Actuators: A ’Mech does not need hands (or hand 
  actuators) to punch. However, ’Mechs not equipped with a 
  hand on the punching arm must add the +1 modifi er as for a 
  hand actuator critical hit. Likewise, ’Mechs that do not come 
  equipped with a lower arm actuator on the punching arm 
  must add a +2 modifi er to the to-hit number (in place of the 
  +1 modifi er for punching without a hand actuator), and the 
  punch infl icts only half the standard damage (round down).
  A Grasshopper with Piloting Skill Level 5 and a 
  damaged upper arm actuator punches a JagerMech (a 
  biped design) standing in light woods on its right side with 
  one ﬁ st. Because the Grasshopper has a damaged arm 
  actuator, the player adds a +2 to-hit modiﬁ er and reduces 
  the normal damage by half (rounding down). Neither unit 
  moved, and so the Modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number is 7: 5 (Piloting 
  Skill Level) – 1 (punching attack modiﬁ er) + 2 (damaged 
  upper arm actuator) +1 (light woods) = 7. The player rolls 
  an 8 and hits the target. The Grasshopper weighs 70 tons, 
  so its punch has a normal Damage Value of 7 (70 divided 
  by 10), but the damaged actuator reduces this to 3.
  The attacking player rolls a 3 on the ’Mech Punch 
  Location Table, which means the attack hits the target’s 
  center torso.
  CLUB ATTACKS 
  (’MECH ONLY)
  To attack another unit with a club, all the ’Mech’s shoulders 
  and hand actuators must be undamaged and the ´Mech 
  cannot have fi red any arm-mounted weapons in that same 
  turn, though it may fi re weapons mounted in the torso, legs 
  and head. The target must be in the forward fi ring arc.
  See Modifi ed To-Hit Number, p. 144, to determine the target 
  number for a club attack.
  A successful attack with a club does 1 point of damage for 
  every 5 tons that the attacking ’Mech weighs. Roll normally on 
  the ’Mech Hit Location Table.
  ’MECH PUNCH LOCATION TABLE
  D6 Roll 
  Result
  Biped
  Four-Legged
  Left Side
   Front/Rear
  Right Side
  D6 Roll 
  Result
  Left Side
  Front/Rear
  Right Side
  1
  Left Torso
  Left Arm
  Right Torso
  1
  Left Torso
  Left Front Leg/
  Left Rear Leg
  Right Torso
  2
  Left Torso
  Left Torso
  Right Torso
  2
  Left Torso
  Left Torso
  Right Torso
  3
  Center Torso
  Center Torso
  Center Torso
  3
  Center Torso
  Center Torso
  Center Torso
  4
  Left Arm
  Right torso
  Right Arm
  4
  Left Front Leg
  Right Torso
  Right Front Leg
  5
  Left Arm
  Right Arm
  Right Arm
  5
  Left Rear Leg
  Right Front Leg/
  Right Rear Leg
  Right Rear Leg
  6
  Head
  Head
  Head
  6
  Head
  Head
  Head
  
  Missing Actuators: A ’Mech must have hands (or hand 
  actuators) to use a club. ’Mechs with damaged upper or lower arm 
  actuators must add a +2 modifi er to the to-hit number for each 
  damaged actuator.
  FINDING A CLUB
  Whenever an attack blows off  a ’Mech’s leg or arm, the limb 
  remains lying in the hex where the ’Mech took the damage. ’Mechs 
  that later occupy the hex may pick up the arm or leg and use it 
  as a giant club. A ’Mech may not fi re weapons or make physical 
  attacks during the turn that it picks up a club.
  Other objects may also be used as clubs. If the ’Mech is in a 
  wooded hex (or a hex that has been reduced to a rough hex by 
  a chainsaw or dual saw), it may uproot a tree and use it as a club. 
  Uprooted trees may be used for only one successful club attack. 
  Girders from rubbled medium, heavy or hardened buildings 
  may also be used as clubs. To search the rubble in the hex a unit 
  occupies for a suitable girder, the player must roll 2D6 during the 
  Weapon Attack Phase of a turn. A result of 7 or greater is needed 
  to fi nd a girder in a rubbled medium building, 6 or greater for a 
  rubbled heavy building, and 5 or greater for a hardened building. 
  Girders may be reused again and again, regardless of the number 
  of successful club attacks.
  Beyond what is noted above, carrying a club has no aff ect other 
  than to occupy both ‘Mech’s hands.
  PHYSICAL WEAPON 
  ATTACKS (’MECHS ONLY)
  ’Mechs can be equipped with a variety of external heavy 
  equipment. Though some of this equipment is tailor-made to infl ict 
  damage—such as a hatchet or sword—most such equipment has 
  other uses. However, the agility and strength of ’Mechs means 
  that they can use any such equipment in a physical weapon attack 
  against a potential target As with all physical attacks, the base to-
  hit number is equal to the MechWarrior’s Piloting Skill Level (see 
  Base To-Hit Number, p. 146). 
  The Physical Weapon Attacks Table below shows all the various 
  equipment that ´Mechs can use to make a physical weapon attack, 
  PHYSICAL WEAPON ATTACKS TABLE
  Weapon Type
  To-Hit 
  Modifi er
  Damage Value
  To-Hit
  Location Table
  Firing Arc**
  Aff ected by 
  TSM
  To-Hit/Damage Value 
  Aff ected by Actuator 
  Damage
  Backhoe
  +1
  6
  Standard
  Arm
  Yes
  Yes/Yes
  Chainsaw
  +0
  5
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Combine
  –2
  3†
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Dual Saw
  +0
  7
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Hatchet
  –1
  1/per 5 tons††
  Standard*
  Arm
  Yes
  Yes/Yes
  Heavy-Duty Pile Driver
  +2
  9
  Standard
  Forward
  No
  Yes/No
  Mining Drill
  –1
  4
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Retractable Blade
  –2
  1/per 10 tons‡
  Standard*
  Arm
  Yes
  Yes§§/Yes
  Rock Cutter
  +1
  5
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Spot Welder
  +0
  5‡‡
  Punch
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Sword
  –2
  1/per 10 tons +1‡
  Standard*
  Arm
  Yes
  Yes/Yes
  Wrecking Ball
  +1
  8§
  Standard
  Forward
  No
  Yes/No
  *Roll normally on the ’Mech Hit Location Table. Alternatively, when the controlling player announces the physical weapon attack, he may also announce that he will use the Punch 
  or Kick Hit Location Table to resolve damage if the attack succeeds, in which case apply a +4 modifi er in addition to all the standard modifi ers, including the standard to-hit 
  modifi er for the weapon (this modifi er does not apply when attacking on a Punch/Kick Location Table due to attacks from diff erent levels; see p. 150)
  **Forward: the target of a physical weapon attack can only be in the ’Mech’s forward arc. Arm: the target of a physical weapon attack can be in the ’Mech’s forward arc or in the 
  side arc corresponding to the arm in which the equipment is mounted.
  †1D6 against conventional infantry.
  ††A successful attack does 1 point of damage for every 5 tons that the attacking ’Mech weighs. 
  ‡A successful attack does 1 point of damage for every 10 tons that the attacking ’Mech weighs (round up); +1 to that Damage Value for a sword.
  ‡‡Whenever the spot welder is used in a physical weapon attack, it generates 2 points of heat.
  § On any to-hit roll result of 2, the ball has successfully delivered a self-infl icted hit against the attacker rather than the target. Such a self-infl icted strike causes half the normal 
  damage and is resolved using the Front Hit Location Table. Immediately after sustaining damage from a self-infl icted wrecking ball hit, the player must make a Piloting Skill 
  Roll to avoid falling from being thrown off -balance by this critical failure.
  §§Damage to the hand actuator (or the absence of a hand actuator) in the arm mounting this equipment does not modify the to-hit number of the attack.
  
  147
  147
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  along with relevant information such as to-hit modifi ers, 
  Damage Value, the To-Hit Location Table to be used and so on.
  Critical Hits: Like weapons, a critical hit to any slot for any 
  equipment shown on the table below destroys the equipment, 
  rendering it useless for the rest of the game.
  PUSH ATTACKS 
  (’MECH ONLY)
  A ’Mech uses both arms to make a push attack against its 
  target, which must be another standing ’Mech. The target 
  ’Mech cannot execute a charge attack this turn.
  A ’Mech may make no arm-mounted weapon attacks in 
  the turn that it makes a push attack. All torso-, leg- and head-
  mounted weapons may be fi red normally. Pushing attacks 
  can be made against a target in the hex directly in front of the 
  attacker (based on the orientation of its feet, not its upper body, 
  as in the case of a torso twist). See Modifi ed To-Hit Number, p. 
  144, to determine the target number for a push attack.
  A successful push attack does not damage the target. 
  Instead, it moves the defending ’Mech into the adjacent 
  hex in the direction that the attacker pushes it. If the push is 
  successful, the attacking ’Mech advances into the hex formerly 
  occupied by its target (unlike a charge attack, this does not 
  require additional MP expenditure). At the same time, the 
  defender must make a successful Piloting Skill Roll or fall. See 
  also Unit Displacement, p. 151. 
  Multiple Pushes: Only one push attack may be declared 
  against a single target per turn. If two ’Mechs are pushing each 
  other, resolve both attempts and apply the net eff ect. If both 
  attacks fail, nothing happens. If both attacks succeed, neither 
  ’Mech moves, and both must make Piloting Skill Rolls or fall. If 
  only one push attack succeeds, resolve it as usual.
  Prohibited Terrain: If the hex to which the target unit 
  would be displaced is prohibited terrain (except into a hex 
  more than two levels lower than the target’s current hex, 
  which would result in an automatic fall; see Unit Displacement, 
  p. 151), neither the attacker nor the target move; all other 
  eff ects occur, however, including any Piloting Skill Rolls to 
  avoid falling. 
  Shoulder Actuators: Each damaged shoulder actuator 
  adds +2 to the pushing ’Mech’s target number.
  If the Pushing diagram, above right, the ’Mech in Hex A 
  on the Open Terrain #1 map is successfully pushed by the 
  BattleMech in Hex B, it moves into Hex C. If the ’Mech in 
  Hex A is successfully pushed by a BattleMech in Hex D, it is 
  forced into Hex E. In both cases, the pilot of the target ’Mech 
  must make a Piloting Skill Roll to remain standing, and its 
  attacker advances into Hex A. The ’Mech in Hex A cannot 
  push either of its opponents because neither of them lies 
  directly in front of it.
  KICK ATTACKS 
  (’MECH ONLY)
  No weapons mounted on a kicking leg can fi re in the turn 
  in which a ’Mech kicks. To make a kicking attack, both hips 
  must be undamaged, and the ’Mech’s target must be in one 
  of the three forward-arc hexes, based on the facing of the 
  attacker’s feet (not the upper body, as in the case of a torso 
  twist). See Modifi ed To-Hit Number, p. 144, to determine the 
  target number for a kick attack.
  Kicks have a Damage Value of 1 point for every 5 tons of the 
  attacking ’Mech’s weight. For example, a 70-ton Grasshopper’s 
  kick infl icts 14 Damage Points. Determine the damage location 
  by rolling 1D6 and consulting the appropriate column of the 
  ’Mech Kick Location Table, based on whether the ’Mech is a 
  biped or four-legged design.
  A kicked ’Mech (regardless of what location took the 
  damage) must make a Piloting Skill Roll. If the attacking ’Mech 
  misses its kick, it must make a Piloting Skill Roll.
  Critical Damage: Reduce damage from kick attacks by 
  half for each upper and lower leg actuator damaged on the 
  kicking leg, with these eff ects being cumulative. For example, 
  if two leg actuators are missing, reduce the damage to one-
  quarter its original value, rounding fractions down.
  Four-Legged ’Mechs: A quad ’Mech can kick into its rear 
  arc, but cannot kick into the front and rear arc in the same turn. 
  Resolve the kick exactly like a standard kick, but with an additional 
  • PUSHING DIAGRAM • 
  ’MECH KICK LOCATION TABLE
  D6 Roll 
  Result
  Left Side
  Biped
  Right Side
  D6 Roll 
  Result
  Left Side
  Four-legged
  Right Side
  Front/Rear
  Front/Rear
  1–3
  Left Leg
  Right Leg
  Right Leg
  1-3
  Left Front Leg
  Right Front Leg/Right Rear Leg
  Right Front Leg
  4–6
  Left Leg
  Left Leg
  Right Leg
  4-6
  Left Rear Leg
  Left Front Leg/Left Rear Leg
  Right Rear Leg
  
  +1 to-hit modifi er. A quad ’Mech may not make a rear-arc kick attack 
  if it has fi red rear leg-mounted weapons in the same turn.
  Infantry: A ’Mech may kick or stomp an infantry unit in the hex 
  it occupies; apply a +3 to-hit modifi er for such an attack.
  Vehicles: A ’Mech can kick or stomp a vehicle in the hex it 
  occupies; randomly determine the side on which a vehicle takes 
  damage.
  CHARGE ATTACKS
  In order for a unit to charge, the target must be in the hex 
  directly in front of the charging unit (disregarding torso twists) at 
  the beginning of the Physical Attack Phase. The charging unit may 
  not make any weapon attacks in the same turn.
  Charging attacks must be declared during the Movement Phase 
  (Ground), but like all other physical attacks, they are resolved 
  during the Physical Attack Phase. This means the charging unit 
  can only attack units that have fi nished their movement. It also 
  means a charging unit cannot be the target of a charge or death 
  from above attack, because its movement will not be fi nished 
  until the end of the Physical Attack Phase.
  The charging unit must spend MP to enter the target hex 
  regardless of whether or not the charge is successful. If a unit 
  does not have enough MP in the Movement Phase (Ground) 
  to enter the target hex, it may not make a charging attack See 
  Modifi ed To-Hit Number, p. 144, to determine the target number 
  for a charge attack.
  If the attacking ’Mech takes damage during the Weapon 
  Attack Phase that forces the warrior to make a Piloting Skill Roll, 
  the player should roll as normal. A failed roll means the attack 
  automatically misses. Resolve the fall normally at the end of the 
  Weapon Attack Phase. An exception occurs if the unit falls into a 
  paved hex, in which case it is treated as a skidding ’Mech (this is 
  resolved at the end of the Weapon Attack Phase). It will skid for 
  a number of hexes equal to half the hexes it entered during the 
  Movement Phase; when it skids into the hex containing the unit 
  it was attempting to charge, it makes an unintentional charging 
  attack (see Skidding, p. 62).     
  If the target takes damage during the Weapon Attack Phase 
  that requires a Piloting Skill Roll and the roll fails, resulting in a fall, 
  the charge attack cannot be made (see Physical Attacks Against 
  Prone ’Mechs, p. 151). 
  MP Loss: A charging unit that loses MP due to damage can still 
  make a charging attack that turn.
  Multiple Attacks: A unit may only be the target of one charging 
  or death from above attack in a given turn.
  Prohibited Terrain: If the target unit occupies prohibited 
  terrain for the attacking unit, the attacker cannot charge 
  (meaning the player cannot declare a charge attack during the 
  Movement Phase).
  Unusual Targets: A vehicle or ’Mech may charge a building 
  hex, or may be forced to accidentally charge a building or hill hex 
  under certain circumstances.
  Infantry: Infantry units may not charge or be the target of 
  standard charge attacks.
  ProtoMechs: ProtoMechs cannot be targets of charging 
  attacks.
  Vehicles: All vehicles except VTOLs, WiGEs, Airships and Fixed-
  Wing Support Vehicles may make charging attacks. Vehicles may 
  charge other vehicles, but may not be charged by ’Mechs.
  DAMAGE
  If the attack succeeds, both units take damage from the collision. 
  The defender takes 1 point of damage for every 10 tons that the 
  charging unit weighs, multiplied by the number of hexes moved 
  by the attacker in the Movement Phase, rounding fractions up 
  (the hexes moved do not count the hex containing the target). 
  The charging unit takes 1 point of damage for every 10 tons the 
  target weighs (round fractions up).
  Divide the damage from charging attacks into 5-point Damage 
  Value groupings. The attacking player rolls once on the appropriate 
  Hit Location Table for each grouping.
  If a unit charges a target in a building hex, the building hex 
  absorbs damage as normal (see Attacking Units Inside Buildings, 
  p. 171). The charging warrior also must make a Piloting/Driving 
  Skill Roll modifi ed by +3 in addition to the building modifi er to 
  avoid taking damage from entering the building hex (see Moving 
  Through Buildings, p. 167). If the charging unit crashes through 
  multiple building hexes, the warrior must make all appropriate 
  Piloting/Driving Skill Rolls upon entering each building hex.
  Vehicles: When a vehicle charges a standing ’Mech, allocate 
  damage according to the ’Mech Kick Location Table. Against another 
  vehicle or a prone ’Mech, the normal hit location rules apply.
  Regardless of whether a vehicle executes a successful charge 
  or is the target of a successful charge, in addition to any rolls that 
  might occur due to damage, the vehicle must make an immediate 
  roll on the Motive System Damage Table (see p. 193). 
  Unusual Targets: If a charge attack is made against a target 
  with no tonnage, such as a building or hill (for example, as the 
  result of a skid), calculate damage to the attacker using the 
  attacker’s tonnage rather than the target’s.
  A 65-ton JagerMech moves 5 hexes and declares a charging 
  attack against another BattleMech. If the charging attack is 
  successful, the target takes 33 points of damage (6.5 for the 
  JagerMech’s tonnage multiplied by 5 for the number of hexes 
  it moved, rounded up).
  LOCATION AFTER ATTACK
  If the charging attack succeeds, the target unit must move as 
  if it had been pushed, and the attacker advances into the target’s 
  hex. (See Unit Displacement, p. 151). If the attacker misses the 
  target, the attacking player places his unit in the hex to the right 
  or left of the attacker’s forward arc.
  Prohibited Terrain: If the hex into which the target unit would 
  be displaced is prohibited terrain (except a hex more than two 
  levels lower than the target’s current hex; see Unit Displacement, 
  p. 151), neither the attacker nor the target units move; all other 
  eff ects occur, however, including any Piloting Skill Rolls to avoid 
  falling. 
  FALLS
  After any successful charging attack, the attacking and target 
  ’Mechs must make Piloting Skill Rolls modifi ed by +2, plus all other 
  applicable modifi ers, or fall in the hex they currently occupy.
  
  149
  149
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  DF 
  WB
  DEATH FROM ABOVE 
  ATTACKS (’MECH ONLY)
  A desperate MechWarrior piloting a jump-capable ’Mech 
  can literally leap onto his target, bringing the full weight of 
  his machine crashing down on the victim’s head. This type of 
  attack, known among MechWarriors as “death from above,” 
  is extremely diffi  cult and always results in some damage to 
  the attacker (’Mech legs were not designed to take this kind 
  of stress), and so MechWarriors rarely attempt it except as a 
  last-ditch measure.
  In order to execute a DFA, the attacker must have enough 
  Jumping MP and be able to jump into the hex containing 
  the target. The attacker then literally jumps into the hex 
  containing the target, though it stops just short of that hex 
  until the Physical Attack Phase (see Weapon Attack Phase).
  DFA attacks must be declared during the Movement Phase, 
  but like all other physical attacks, they are resolved during the 
  Physical Attack Phase. This means the attacking unit can only 
  attack units that have fi nished their movement. It also means 
  a unit making a DFA cannot be the target of a charge or DFA, 
  since its movement will not be fi nished until the end of the 
  Physical Attack Phase.
  A ’Mech making a DFA cannot be the target of physical 
  attacks, but may be the target of weapon attacks.
  Multiple Attacks: A unit may only be the target of one 
  charging or DFA attack in a given turn.
  Submerged Naval Vessels and Aerospace Units: These 
  units cannot be the target of a death from above attack.
  Stacking: A ’Mech does not count as stacked in a hex while 
  executing a death from above attack until it completes the 
  attack. As soon as it lands, normal stacking limits apply (see 
  Stacking, p. 57).
  WEAPON ATTACK PHASE
  The attacking unit cannot make any weapon attacks during 
  a turn in which it is executing a DFA.
  During the Weapon Attack Phase, the attacking unit is 
  considered adjacent to the target hex along the path that the 
  attacking unit will travel during the jump, and facing the target 
  hex. If the path of the jump passes exactly between two hexes 
  adjacent to the target, the attacker must choose which one he 
  will occupy. For purposes of determining LOS, the attacking 
  unit is considered to be in the air above the hex, standing 
  one level higher than the target hex or the level of the hex 
  the attacker occupies, whichever is higher. See Modifi ed To-Hit 
  Number, p. 144, to determine the target number for a death 
  from above attack.
  If the attack is successful, both BattleMechs take damage 
  as determined below. If the attack fails, the jumping ’Mech 
  crashes to the ground and takes damage (see Falls, below).
  Falls: If the attacking ’Mech takes damage during the 
  Weapon Attack Phase that forces the pilot to make a Piloting 
  Skill Roll, the player should roll as normal. A failed roll means 
  the attack automatically misses. Resolve the attacker’s fall and 
  ending location per the rules below.
  In the DFA Diagram at left, the Jenner is making a 
  death from above attack from Hex A against an Atlas on 
  the Woodland map. The Jenner’s path during the jump 
  is shown in the illustration. During the Weapon Attack 
  Phase, the Jenner is considered to be in Hex C, as though 
  it were standing on a Level 2 hill (the target hex’s level +1). 
  The Atlas may ﬁ re against the Jenner’s front side with any 
  weapons it can bring to bear at a range of 1. Other units on 
  the map can check for LOS and ﬁ re as though the Jenner 
  were in Hex C with an LOS height of Level 4.
  Busosenshi Seyla Teresa Martinez from House Kurita’s Sorenson’s Sabres initiates a Death From Above. 
  • DEATH FROM ABOVE DIAGRAM • 
  
  WB 
  WB
  DAMAGE TO TARGET
  To determine damage to the target infl icted by a death from 
  above attack, divide the weight of the attacking ’Mech by 10 and 
  multiply the result by 3, rounding fractions up. For example, a 
  Jenner weighing 35 tons infl icts 11 points of damage.
  Divide the damage into 5-point Damage Value groupings. 
  Determine attack direction as though the attack had come from 
  the attacking ’Mech’s starting hex, then determine the hit location 
  of each damage grouping by rolling 1D6 and consulting the ’Mech 
  Punch Location Table, p. 145.
  Vehicles: Resolve successful death from above attacks against 
  a vehicle on the Front column of that vehicle’s Hit Location Table.
  Prone ‘Mech: Resolve successful death from above attacks 
  against a prone ‘Mech on the rear column of the ‘Mech Hit Location 
  Table (see p. 151).
  DAMAGE TO ATTACKER
  The attacker takes damage as if from a successful attack on its legs. 
  To determine the amount of damage, divide the attacker’s weight 
  by 5. Then divide the result into 5-point Damage Value groupings. 
  Roll 1D6 for each damage grouping and consult the Front column 
  of the ’Mech Kick Location Table to fi nd the hit location.
  LOCATION AFTER ATTACK
  At the end of a death from above attack, the attacker lands in 
  the target’s hex. If the DFA is successful, the target is pushed one 
  hex in the direction opposite the attack. If the attack fails, the 
  target chooses an adjacent hex and moves to it, even if immobile 
  or prone. This motion might result in an accidental fall from above 
  or a domino eff ect or even a Piloting Skill Roll for entering a 
  building hex; see Unit Displacement, p. 151.
  If the target unit cannot be displaced into the appropriate hex 
  (for example, if the terrain is prohibited), the hex chosen must 
  be as close as possible to the original hexside through which the 
  target unit would have moved. For example, if the direction of 
  the attack would have pushed the ’Mech through Hexside A, the 
  controlling player then looks at hexsides B or F to see if those hexes 
  are passable, then at hexsides C or E, then fi nally at hexside D. If 
  two equally distant hexes, such as B or F, are open, the appropriate 
  player may choose either one, as described above.
  If all the surrounding hexes contain impassable terrain, the 
  target unit cannot be displaced. For example, the target ’Mech 
  may be on Level 0 terrain surrounded by Level 3 or higher hills. 
  In this case, if the attack succeeds, the target is destroyed. If the 
  attack fails, the attacker is destroyed. 
  FALLS
  A successful death from above attack may cause both ’Mechs to 
  fall. Both MechWarriors must make Piloting Skill Rolls, the target 
  adding a +2 modifi er and the attacker adding a +4 modifi er. If 
  either unit fails this roll, the unit takes damage as from a 0-level 
  fall.
  On an unsuccessful attack, the attacker automatically falls, 
  taking damage as though the ’Mech had fallen 2 levels onto its 
  back (see Falling, p. 68).
  DIFFERENT LEVELS
  The rules for punching, clubbing, physical weapon, kicking 
  and charging attacks assume that the opposing ’Mechs are at the 
  same level. Most physical attacks against vehicles occur only if the 
  vehicle is attacked by a unit at the same level. See Physical Attacks 
  Against VTOLs, p. 198, for exceptions.
  A ’Mech may make a physical attack against another ’Mech only 
  if the level of the underlying hexes of both ’Mechs are within one 
  level of each other. The Diff erent Levels Table shows which types 
  of physical attacks can be made in various situations. Players 
  must use diff erent Hit Location tables to determine the location 
  of damage from punching, clubbing, physical weapon or kicking 
  attacks against an opponent on various levels.
  ’Mechs cannot make punch attacks against ground vehicles or 
  infantry unless the ’Mech is one level lower than normal because 
  it is prone, on lower terrain or standing in Depth 1 water.
  DIFFERENT LEVELS TABLE
  Target is:
  Allowed Physical Attack
  Standing ’Mech 1 level higher
  Charge, Punch (Kick Table), Club (Kick Table), Physical Weapon (Kick Table)
  Standing ’Mech 1 level lower
  Charge, Kick (Punch Table), Club (Punch Table), Physical Weapon (Punch Table)
  Prone ’Mech, ProtoMech, Vehicle 
  or infantry 1 level higher
  Punch, Club, Physical Weapon
  Prone ’Mech, ProtoMech, Vehicle 
  or infantry 1 level lower 
  None
  Note: A ´Mech can always make a death from above attack if it has the necessary Jumping MP, provided the target is valid.
  Captain Ian McKinnon prepares to hatchet a Thunder Hawk from the Thirty-second Lyran Guard. 
  
  151
  151
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  WB 
  WB
  PHYSICAL ATTACKS BY 
  PRONE ’MECHS
  Prone ’Mechs can make only two types of physical attacks; 
  punches against ground vehicles in the same hex and 
  thrashing attacks against infantry.
  Punching While Prone
  In order to punch while prone, a ’Mech may not have a 
  destroyed arm. As with Firing When Down (see p. 113), the 
  ’Mech props itself up on one arm and may punch once with 
  the other arm. Vehicles take punch damage from attacks by 
  prone ´Mechs against a randomly determined side.
  Thrashing Attack
  When a prone ’Mech and an infantry unit occupy the 
  same hex, the ’Mech may make a thrashing attack by wildly 
  waving its arms and legs in hopes of striking the infantry. The 
  ´Mech can only make this attack in a clear or paved hex, and 
  it automatically succeeds. This attack infl icts damage on the 
  infantry equal to the ’Mech’s tonnage divided by 3 (round up 
  at .5 or greater). Against battle armor, divide this damage into 
  5-point Damage Value groupings and determine hit location 
  for each grouping (see Attacks Against Battle Armor, p. 219). If 
  a ’Mech makes a thrashing attack, it cannot make any other 
  attack in that turn, and the MechWarrior must make a Piloting 
  Skill Roll to prevent damage to his ’Mech. If the pilot fails this 
  roll, the ’Mech suff ers normal falling damage as though it had 
  failed an attempt to stand.
  Anti-’Mech Infantry: Thrashing attacks cannot be made 
  against an infantry successfully executing a swarming attack. 
  Swarming infantry must be dislodged according to the Anti-
  ’Mech Attacks rules on p. 220.
  PHYSICAL ATTACKS AGAINST PRONE ’MECHS
  The only physical attacks that can be made against a prone 
  ’Mech are kicks and death from above, plus charge attacks 
  made by vehicles. ’Mechs cannot charge prone ’Mechs. 
  Determine the location of successful attacks using the 
  appropriate column of the ’Mech Hit Location Table, p. 119. 
  Determine damage infl icted by death from above attacks 
  against prone ’Mechs using the Rear column of the table, 
  regardless of the attack direction.
  Diff erent Levels: A prone ’Mech one level higher than the 
  attacking ’Mech can also be hit by punch, club and physical 
  weapon attacks. These attacks also use the ’Mech Hit Location 
  Table (unless noted otherwise for physical weapon attacks).
  UNIT DISPLACEMENT
  Units moved from their hexes as a result of their opponent’s 
  actions are displaced. Displacement can result from charging, 
  pushing and death from above attacks. It can also result from 
  a so-called domino eff ect that displaces a string of units.
  A unit cannot be displaced into a hex it is prohibited from 
  entering (see Movement Cost Table, p. 52). This includes hexes 
  at higher levels than the displaced unit can move upward in a 
  single hex. Units can be displaced downward any number of 
  levels, though this results in an accidental fall (see p. 152).
  If the rules call for a unit to be displaced into an illegal hex, 
  the displacement cannot occur. Unless the specifi c rules of 
  the attack or action state otherwise, in these cases neither the 
  target nor the attacking unit moves. All other eff ects of the 
  displacing action occur, including damage and any required 
  Piloting Skill Rolls.
  Buildings: If a unit is displaced into a building hex, the 
  building takes damage as if the displaced unit had executed a 
  successful charge attack (see Charge Attacks, p. 148). 
  Infantry: If an infantry unit is displaced into a hex at a level 
  two or more lower than the hex from which it was displaced, 
  the unit takes falling damage as shown on the Infantry Falling 
  Damage Table. 
  Vehicles: A vehicle can be displaced into water. If the water 
  is impassable for the vehicle type, the vehicle is destroyed. A 
  vehicle displaced into a hex 2 levels or more lower than its 
  previous position takes damage per VTOL Rotor Destruction 
  (see p. 197).
  INFANTRY FALLING DAMAGE TABLE
  Infantry Type
  Damage Per Every 2 Levels
  Foot Platoon
  3D6
  Motorized  Platoon
  2D6
  Mechanized/Jump Platoon
  1D6
  Battle Armor
  1 point per trooper
  *Every 2 Levels or fractions thereof.
  A Sabres’ Mongoose fi nds itself entangled in a physical melee with Word of Blake troops. 
  
  WB 
  WB
  ACCIDENTAL FALLS FROM ABOVE
  An accidental fall from above results when a unit is displaced 
  by a charge, push or death from above attack, or as a result of 
  another accidental fall from above or the domino eff ect into a hex 
  containing another unit, and the hex it is entering is two levels 
  or more lower than the hex from which it was displaced. If the 
  diff erence in hex levels is 1 or 0, a domino eff ect occurs instead.
  When a ’Mech accidentally falls two levels or more into a hex 
  occupied by another unit, make a to-hit roll with a Base To-Hit 
  Number of 7, modifi ed by target movement and terrain. 
  A unit may not intentionally fall from above.
  Airborne Units: If an airborne unit occupies the hex where 
  an accidental fall occurs and the airborne unit is at or below the 
  elevation equal to the level of the hex where the unit began its 
  accidental fall, the falling unit may strike the airborne unit. In such 
  a situation, apply a +3 to-hit modifi er. 
  Infantry: While infantry can be displaced so they fall more than 
  two levels, the Accidental Falls From Above rules do not apply, and 
  accidental falls by non-infantry units automatically miss infantry.
  Large Vehicles: Apply a –3 to-hit modifi er if the hex of the 
  accidental fall is occupied by a Large Vehicle.
  ProtoMechs: Treat ProtoMechs as ’Mechs (see Special 
  Circumstances, p. 185 in the ProtoMechs section).
  Falling Unit Hits Target
  If the to-hit roll is successful, treat the accidental fall as 
  a successful death from above attack with the following 
  exceptions:
  If the “target” unit is a ’Mech, the falling ’Mech assigns damage 
  per the Punch Hit Location Table. 
  If more than one unit is in the target hex (friend or foe), 
  determine randomly which one is the target unit.
  To determine the amount of damage infl icted on the target 
  unit, divide the weight of the falling ’Mech by 10, multiplied by 
  the number of levels fallen at the point of impact. Divide the 
  damage into 5-point Damage Value groupings, then roll 1D6 for 
  each damage grouping and consult the ’Mech Punch Location 
  Table (or a randomly determined Hit Location Table for other 
  unit types. 
  Determine damage to the falling ’Mech as normal for a fall, with 
  the ’Mech landing on its back.
  Airborne Units: If the to-hit roll is successful striking airborne 
  unit, and another airborne unit occupies the same hex at a lower 
  elevation, or if a ground unit also occupies the hex, the controlling 
  player of the falling unit must still make the standard to-hit roll, 
  potentially causing further damage to those additional targets 
  and itself.
  If a falling unit strikes an airborne VTOL or WiGE, and the airborne 
  vehicle takes damage that causes it to crash, it automatically 
  crashes in the same hex. Resolve the damage to the airborne unit 
  using the VTOL Rotor Destruction rules, p. 197.
  If airborne units occupy the same hex below the elevation of 
  the struck airborne unit, or ground units occupy the same hex, the 
  controlling player of that airborne unit must make the standard 
  to-hit roll(s) using the Accidental Falls From Above rules to resolve 
  the fall.
  If any airborne units are struck by an accidentally falling unit 
  and they crash, resolve the accidental fall (and any displacement 
  that might occur), before resolving any other crashes. If multiple 
  airborne units crash during a single accidental fall of a ground 
  unit, completely resolve the crash and potential accidental falls 
  of the unit at the highest altitude unit, and then proceed to any 
  lower units.
  Falling Unit Misses Target
  If the to-hit roll fails (or rolls, for multiple targets), the falling 
  unit lands in an adjacent hex as close as possible to the hex from 
  which it fell, and takes the standard damage from falling. No other 
  units take damage. If multiple adjacent hexes lie equally close to 
  the hex from which the unit fell, randomly determine which hex 
  it enters.
  Airborne Units: If the to-hit roll is unsuccessful for an airborne 
  unit, and another airborne unit occupies the same hex at a lower 
  elevation, or if a ground unit occupies the hex, the controlling 
  player of the accidentally falling unit must still make the standard 
  to-hit roll, potentially causing damage to those additional targets 
  and itself.
  DOMINO EFFECT
  A domino eff ect only results if a new unit entering the hex 
  would exceed the stacking limit (see Stacking, p. 57).
  A domino eff ect usually results when a unit is displaced into 
  a hex containing another unit by a charge, push or death from 
  above attack, or as a result of another domino eff ect or accidental 
  fall from above, and the hex it is entering is 1 or 0 levels lower or 
  higher than the hex from which it was displaced. A domino eff ect 
  might also occur if a building hex collapses with units on Level 0 
  and Level 1, or when a ´Mech dislodges a swarming infantry unit. 
  If a unit accidentally falls one level or less, or is forced into a hex 
  occupied by another unit that violates the stacking rules (such as 
  a ’Mech entering a hex that contains another ’Mech, or friendly 
  vehicles and so on), a unit already in the hex is forced out of it 
  in the direction opposite the hexside of where the accidentally 
  falling unit entered the hex. The second unit can avoid this by 
  A Clan Ghost Bear Arcas crashes down into a Marik Militia BattleMaster.
  
  153
  153
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  deliberately moving out of the hex, as long as it is neither 
  facing the fi rst unit nor facing directly away from it. 
  If either unit is a ’Mech, both players must make a Piloting 
  Skill Rolls to avoid falling. When the domino eff ect originates 
  from one of a unit’s four side hexes, however, the unit can 
  avoid the domino eff ect by moving one hex directly forward 
  or backward, assuming it has suffi  cient Ground MP remaining 
  from the Movement Phase (meaning it cannot have jumped), 
  it is mobile (standing, if a ’Mech), and the player made a 
  successful Piloting/Driving Skill Roll (as appropriate) for that 
  unit. It cannot move backward, however, if its player declared 
  running movement for the turn.
  If the Piloting/Driving Skill Roll was not successful, the unit 
  does not move out of the way. The domino eff ect continues 
  as long as ’Mechs remain in hexes adjacent to one another in 
  the direction of the eff ect, and none of them manages to step 
  out of the way.
  If more than one unit occupies a hex where a domino eff ect 
  will occur, the entering unit dislodges the same type of unit 
  fi rst; randomly determine what units are dislodged if they are 
  not the same type.
  For example, a ’Mech carrying mechanized battle armor 
  falls into a hex containing a friendly vehicle and infantry unit 
  that have already moved (and the ´Mech has no remaining 
  MP to attempt to stand and continue moving). The hex now 
  contains two more units than are allowed (the mechanized 
  battle armor troops are knocked off  when the ’Mech falls). The 
  battle armor unit automatically displaces the infantry unit, 
  while the ’Mech displaces the vehicle, as it is the only unit left 
  to displace. Because both of these units had moved before the 
  displacement occurred, neither can attempt to move out of 
  the way.
  In the Unit Displacement diagram above, the ’Mech in 
  Hex A on the Woodland map has fallen 1 level into Hex B. 
  The BattleMech standing in Hex B will be forced into Hex 
  C and must make a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid falling. The 
  BattleMech in Hex C can try to avoid the domino eﬀ ect by 
  moving. First, the player must make a Piloting Skill Roll. If 
  the roll fails, the ’Mech is forced into Hex D and must make 
  another Piloting Skill Roll to avoid falling. If another ’Mech 
  occupied that hex, the domino eﬀ ect continues. If the roll 
  is successful and the ’Mech has at least 1 MP left from the 
  previous Movement Phase, it may move one hex directly 
  backward, into Hex E, ending the domino eﬀ ect. If the 
  BattleMech had 2  or more MP left, it could move forward 
  into the heavy woods in Hex F. 
  A Blakist Viking and Scarabrus are about to discover the devastating aff ects of a fall from above and forced displacement.
  MM 
  MM
  • UNIT DISPLACEMENT DIAGRAM • 
  
  IN THE SHADOW OF FEUERBERG
  BROKEN LANDS, SÜDLAND, RIGA
  HANSEATIC LEAGUE, DEEP PERIPHERY
  4 APRIL 3067
  Waves of emerald static washed over Merchant 
  saFactor Mark Sennet’s thermal display, one more 
  unwanted gift from the vengeful God who had made the 
  Broken Lands: Feuerberg.
  Fire Mountain.
  The cinder cone rose out of a fractured landscape the color of 
  night. None could doubt that it ruled here. The volcano fi lled the 
  air with the stink of sulfur, lent the land the heat that pulsed in its 
  angry heart.
  Mark had never fought in a worse place.
  Aside from clouding his sensors, the heat sapped agility from 
  his ’Mech. The brittle landscape made it nearly impossible to 
  maneuver beyond the single ferrocrete road that curled through 
  this accursed place.
  He pounded the useless display. Where were the stravags hiding? 
  He could abandon passive sensors, initiate a radar sweep. But that 
  would reveal his own position. 
  Neg. 
  He was a Diamond Shark, a predator of the dark seas of Strana 
  Mechty. He would strike without warning.
  He selected a VHF channel to ensure 
  he had line-of-sight comms, then turned 
  back to the Dire Wolf that shadowed him. 
  “Stay here.” No reason for both of them to risk 
  a crippling fall.
  “Aff , saFactor,” Star Captain Anna Borghev answered 
  crisply.
  Mark took a careful step off  the road and onto the 
  shattered landscape. He felt the jagged outcroppings of basalt 
  lava crack and give under the sixty-fi ve ton weight of his borrowed 
  Ha Otoko. 
  This was a dangerous course. Step wrong and he would crash 
  through the brittle surface to one of the hollow lava tubes that 
  riddled the Broken Lands. But he would never fi nd Watanabe’s 
  lance if he kept to the safety of the road.
  Sometimes the most lucrative trades required the most risk.
  He made his way toward a ridge, labored up its side. 
  And saw a lone Hunchback.
  It stood four hundred meters out, painted dark blue with gold 
  and red trim. The colors of RDF 4.
  Mark pulled his reticle down over the Hunchback’s left knee. The 
  icon fl ashed gold and he let go with a fl ight of Short Bow LRMs.
  Realizing he was being hunted, the Hunchback’s pilot turned as 
  the missiles hit. Multiple explosions wrenched the knee joint just 
  as the pilot put his weight on it. The Hunchback toppled over.
  Steven Mohan, Jr.
  
  Mark drew back.
  He could have chosen to use exercise rounds for this 
  demonstration, but he wanted to bloody the Hansa, prove the 
  worth of the Ha Otoko.
  One down, three to go.
  He crossed the road and headed east, Star Captain Borghev 
  trailing behind him. She held back far enough to keep her 
  radar signature distinct from his. She was not to take part in 
  the live fi re exercise. Four to one, those were the odds Mark 
  had agreed to with Major Hohiro Watanabe.
  He stumbled as the ground shook. A harmonic tremor, a 
  sign of the coming eruption. A careful study of the seismic 
  traces would give an approximate idea of when it was coming. 
  Mark hoped it wouldn’t come soon.
  He pointed his ’Mech’s right arm at a distant hill. “That will give 
  me a commanding view of the landscape.” He started forward, 
  Anna behind him. Brittle rock crunched under their feet.
  The land itself was a mixture of volcanic forms: meter-wide 
  blisters where lava had hardened around upwellings of gas, 
  tree molds where molten rock had taken on the twisted shape 
  of the trees it had killed, fumaroles where the earth belched 
  poisonous hydrogen sulfi de.
  None dared live in the shadow of this great beast. The 
  closest village—Kepten, a hamlet so small it did not even 
  appear on local maps—lay a good twenty klicks away. Mark 
  glanced up. A plume of black ash marked Riga’s gunmetal sky. 
  He wondered if twenty klicks was far enough.
  “I see nothing on my scanners, saFactor,” Anna reported. “A 
  Hansa trick, quiaff .”
  “Neg,” answered Mark, “A Hansa negotiation tactic. It is 
  important to know the diff erence.”
  Anna was a fi ne warrior, which was why Mark had chosen 
  her to escort him on this venture, but she had much to learn 
  about the art of trading. She made a small hmm sound that 
  was neither challenge nor agreement, inviting him to read 
  into it whatever he wished.
  Mark smiled. Perhaps she had potential after all.
  “We are here to show them the value of the Ha Otoko,” 
  he said. “This is why I agreed to four to one odds. When 
  my single machine defeats Watanabe’s lance, the Hansa 
  will be forced to acknowledge the ’Mech’s value. But our 
  ‘Bladed Man’ is a missile carrier. If it cannot see, it cannot 
  fi ght. The Hansa force us to battle in this wasteland, 
  thinking to gain an advantage and therefore a lower price.”
  “Perhaps, saFactor. But I do not trust the Hansa.”
  “And I do? Why do you think you are here, Star Captain?”
  “How do we know they will not just take what they want?”
  “All trade relationships are built on trust.”
  “Meaning . . . ?”
  Mark laughed. “Meaning that the other side 
  understands the cost of cheating you well enough 
  that they would never try it.”
  “I still would feel better if Razor Tooth were here.”
  After much pressing the Hansa had fi nally allowed 
  Mark’s DropShip to inspect the inner belt processing 
  plant that was to supply the germanium quota the Hansa 
  were off ering in trade. The Razor Tooth had left just before 
  commencement of the live fi re exercise.
  
  “It is not important that Razor Tooth is nine days out. It is 
  important that the Hansa know she will be back.”
  “We have battled them often, quiaff ?”
  “Aff . But that is why this contact is so valuable. If the Hansa 
  acknowledge the value of our trade goods, their resistance to our 
  merchant caste will wither away and we can deploy our WarShips 
  and Galaxies to more profi table markets.”
  “It sounds like a fl anking movement.” Mark could hear the 
  sudden understanding in her voice.
  “Trade is war by another name,” he said.
  “Still, it is risky.”
  “All things of value are.”
  In truth, this venture was risky for another reason. Many within 
  Clan Diamond Shark opposed trading military technology with 
  Periphery states. Mark meant to change that view. And why not 
  start with the Ha Otoko? It was a solid second-line design, one that 
  any Periphery military would be happy to have.
  The name Ha  Otoko meant “bladed man,” and the ’Mech did have 
  sharp lines. It looked very much like a Japanese samurai complete 
  with helmet and armor, a design specifi cally intended to entice the 
  followers of bushido.  No surprise the Combine had purchased the 
  ’Mech.  Nor that a second Spheroid power, the Lyran Alliance, had 
  followed the fi rst.
  In the end, who could argue against also selling them to the 
  Hanseatic League?
  He set his sensors on passive and stalked his ’Mech partway up 
  the hill, proceeding just far enough for his cockpit to peek above 
  the crest. No reason to make this easy for Watanabe.
  What he saw chilled his blood.
  He had found the Hansa, all right. They were half a klick east, but 
  not the rest of Watanabe’s lance.
  A company.
  Some kind of scout company, a collection of light, swift ’Mechs. 
  Which meant Watanabe’s lance of heavies was elsewhere. That 
  meant sixteen to two, deadly odds even for Bloodnamed Clan 
  warriors fi ghting Periphery barbarians.  Worse if Watanabe had 
  also managed to pry infantry or armor out of his RDF commander.
  It also meant they had been betrayed.
  Mark ducked down and turned toward Anna’s Dire Wolf. “I ask for 
  surkairede, Star Captain.”
  Anna understood his meaning at once. “They lied,” she said grimly.
  “Aff . I saw a company beyond the hill.”
  “Very well, saFactor. What do we do now?”
  Mark’s mind raced with possibilities. He did not believe the Hansa 
  had the courage to destroy a Clan DropShip, not when it would 
  only earn them a visit from a WarShip. It followed that whatever 
  Watanabe was planning had to look like an accident.
  Which meant witnesses would pose a problem.
  “We head for the village.”
  “You expect help from the villagers, quineg?”
  “Neg. But Watanabe cannot very well cover up a fi refi ght within 
  a population center.”
  “And knowing this, he may choose not to have one at all,” Anna 
  said. “Very well, saFactor. To the village, but not by the road.”
  “Agreed,” Mark said. He glanced at a map. “If we head off  at zero 
  seven eight, we can thread our way between the Hansa forces.”
  The two ’Mechs set out across the fractured landscape, making 
  as much speed as they dared. It was a nerve-wracking transit, 
  knowing that any wrong step could hobble them. After fi fteen 
  minutes Mark was drenched with sweat, and not just because of 
  the high ambient temperature.
  “We are fortunate,” Anna said. “We have managed to avoid the 
  Hansa.”
  Mark’s lips tightened. 
  His skill as a trader had earned him the new rank of saFactor, 
  but before joining the merchant caste he had been a Bloodnamed 
  warrior—and those instincts never went away. Something did not 
  feel right. “Hardly fortunate, I think. This is a Hansa world, Anna.  
  And the Hansa have more wealth than most Periphery states.  Do 
  you really believe Watanabe would not have taken the precaution 
  of placing satellites in orbit to track us?”
  “Perhaps there is not one due for an overhead.”
  Mark off ered her a humorless laugh. “Watanabe has planned 
  everything else.”
  She kept silent for a long moment. “A trap, then.”
  “Aff .”
  “What do we do?”
  “What can we do? Keep your eyes open.”
  After another twenty minutes they saw Kepten on the horizon. A 
  jumble of concrete boxes, nothing taller than two stories. As close 
  to a refuge as Mark could imagine.
  He guessed they would be ambushed before they reached it.
  Minutes ticked by, but the ambush did not materialize. Could 
  they be that lucky? 
  They rejoined the road as it passed through Kepten. No traffi  c 
  moved in or out of the hamlet. They saw no one on the streets, as if 
  the village knew they were coming. An ugly feeling crept through 
  Mark’s gut. “Do you see anyone moving?”
  “I see people inside some of the buildings,” Anna answered.
  “But are they moving?”
  A long pause. “Neg. And my thermal scan says none of them are 
  warmer than ambient.”
  Mark tried to swallow in a dry mouth. He stopped next to a bar, 
  enhanced the image of a shape behind a window. It was a man, a 
  scorpion tattoo on his bulging left bicep. Lady Death’s symbol. His head 
  lolled forward, but he sat upright. As if he had been tied to the chair.
  “Watanabe’s Regional Defense Force,” Mark said slowly. “They 
  hunt pirates, quiaff ?”
  “Aff .”
  Mark screwed his eyes shut against the horror of this place. “We 
  are in very big trouble.”
  “I do not—”
  “Ask yourself: how could the Hansa keep our ’Mechs in such a 
  way that the theft would not invite retaliation? What if they could 
  convince Razor Tooth that we had been destroyed, swallowed by 
  the earth itself?”
  Her Dire Wolf turned, seemed to consider the monstrous shape 
  of Feuerberg. “Our warriors would never believe it.”
  “They will if they see an entire Hansa town destroyed by the 
  volcano. Think, Anna. This town does not exist on Hansa maps. 
  I would wager quite a bit that this town is populated by pirate 
  corpses, but once it is fl ooded with lava none of that will be 
  obvious. It will look like a tragedy.”
  “But we are Clan. Surely the Hansa know we will fi ght to the 
  death, that we will not allow them to take our ’Mechs.” 
  Mark frowned. She was right about that. Had Watanabe made 
  one fatal mistake? “I do not—”
  The angry warble of an alarm interrupted him. 
  
  He ducked left as a beam of green light fl ashed by him. Anna 
  stepped forward and answered with her Ultra-5 autocannon, 
  ripping into the lead Jenner that raced toward them. The scout 
  company was upon them, the fastest ’Mechs only half a klick out.
  “Up ahead,” Anna shouted. “An unpaved spur vees off  the main 
  road. It runs through a defi le. It will slow them down, force them to 
  come at us one at a time.”
  Mark did not like it, but they were out of options.  “Very well. 
  Keep behind me. I will hit them as long as they are in range.”
  He fought his ’Mech through a clumsy pivot. Damn the heat. 
  Mark dropped his reticle over the fl eet Jenner and pulled into his 
  triggers as the icon burned gold. A fl ight of LRMs smashed into the 
  Jenner’s delicate chicken leg. Then he hit it again.
  And again.
  The leg snapped under the furious assault of three fl ights of 
  LRM-20s. The Jenner smashed to the ground, partially blocking the 
  road. The Hansa’s light ’Mechs would have to pick their way around 
  the Jenner, costing them precious seconds.
  The heat alarm screamed for attention. He slapped the override 
  and wiped sweat from his face with the back of his arm. What he 
  would not give for an autocannon right now.
  A Spider came upon the Jenner. Mark hit it with a fl ight of missiles. 
  He gasped at the sudden bloom of heat that washed through his 
  cockpit, fl ash-drying the sweat on his skin. He could not sustain 
  this rate of fi re much longer.
  The Spider trembled under the assault. But it did not fall, until 
  Anna tore into it with her large laser. “SaFactor, we must make it to 
  the defi le.”
  “Aff ,” Mark rasped. He put his ’Mech into a slow backward walk, 
  he and Anna fi ring as their sinks dissipated the terrible heat.
  A Hansa Panther fell. And then they were off  the main road. 
  “You go fi rst,” Anna said. “I will back in to protect our rear.”
  It made sense. The Dire Wolf was far more eff ective in close-
  quarters combat. “Aff .”
  Mark turned and lumbered toward the defi le’s entrance. The 
  maddening screech of his heat alarm cut out.  Finally. He started 
  down the defi le, hemmed in on both sides by walls of black 
  volcanic basalt. Forward and down he went—eighty, ninety meters 
  downward for every 150 meters forward.
  He gasped in the superheated air of his cockpit. The shrill bleat of 
  the heat alarm sounded again. It was getting hotter, if such a thing 
  were possible. He glanced at the ambient temperature display. It 
  read 38°C. Not much higher than before. He panted for breath. It 
  felt hotter, no matter what the sensor said.
  Stravag. The heat had damaged his electronics.
  Suddenly, Mark understood everything. He stopped.
  “What are you doing?” Anna shouted. “Keep going. Keep going.”
  “It is a trap. Stay here.”
  “But—”
  “For the love of your Clan, stay here.”
  Without another word, he stalked forward, moving as fast as he 
  dared.
  Moving down.
  He turned a corner and came to a quick halt, then backed up a 
  step. The defi le opened up onto a small valley, a lake of bubbling, 
  glowing lava at its center.
  Across the little circle of molten rock was another opening. Mark 
  could not see into it, but he did not doubt what lay hidden behind 
  that black wall.
  The rest of Watanabe’s heavies.
  Mark turned his ’Mech and lumbered back the way he had 
  come. A few more steps and his Ha Otoko would have locked up. 
  He would have been trapped like a fl y in amber.
  “We must withdraw, saFactor,” Anna called to him. “I cannot hold 
  much longer.”
  “Anna. They maneuvered us into this place so our ’Mechs would 
  lock up from the heat. So we could be captured. We cannot go 
  down the defi le.”
  “But there are two lances of light ’Mechs out there. We cannot 
  hope to stand against so many.”
  The land suddenly shook under their feet. Rocks cascaded down 
  from the defi le’s walls. Mark staggered and braced himself against 
  the black stone to keep from falling. Then, just as quickly as it had 
  come, the earthquake passed.
  “Harmonic tremor. I would guess the Hansa have been watching 
  the seismic activity closely. Watanabe needs a volcanic eruption to 
  hide his crimes, and he is about to get one.”
  “What does that mean?”
  “It means we have some leverage.”
  Mark stalked his ’Mech forward, twisted past Anna’s Dire Wolf.
  “What are you doing?” Anna hissed.
  “This battle will not be won by weapons.”  Thinking of Watanabe, 
  he selected a VHF circuit so as not to be overheard.
  “This is saFactor Mark Sennet for the scout company commander. 
  We have not fallen into your trap. We will not yield.”
  He marched up to the mouth of the defi le. For a moment the 
  ’Mechs clustered outside did not fi re.
  A Javelin stalked toward him. He heard the hiss of static, and 
  then a woman’s voice said, “I am Commander Hanna Pence. If you 
  will not yield, we’ll destroy you.”
  “Then destroy us. We are Clan warriors. We do not fear death. But 
  we will kill many of you, and you will lose your prize.”
  She had no answer to that.
  “And,” Mark said, “our brothers and sisters will not be fooled.”
  “They will,” she answered quickly. Mark heard the thread of 
  desperation through the steel in her voice.
  “Perhaps, but that is a slender assurance on which to rest the 
  future of a world.”
  “What do you propose?”
  “This is not your plan, Hanna Pence. And I would guess your 
  superiors do not sanction such recklessness. So withdraw. Report 
  Watanabe’s actions to the Hansa and let the consequences of his 
  betrayal fall on him alone, rather than on your whole nation.”
  “I cannot withdraw,” she said softly.
  “Already the lava below rises out of its prison. Soon Watanabe’s 
  lance will be cut off . Who could blame you for retreating before the 
  fury of a volcano?”
  For a long moment the Javelin faced him. Then it made a little bow. 
  One by one, the remnants of the scout company began to retreat.
  Anna’s Dire Wolf made its way up the defi le. “You really believe 
  the Hansa did not know of Watanabe’s actions, quiaff ?” she asked 
  over an encrypted channel.
  “Neg,” answered Mark. “But they will say so. The lie will help them 
  out of this mess and also save our lives.”
  “Incredible,” Anna whispered.
  “Not at all, Star Captain. Trade is a contest where the contestants 
  fi nd victory by working together. In the end, the wise merchant 
  can always fi nd mutual advantage.”
  
  HEAT POINTS
  Players track a ´Mech’s internal heat by the number of heat points 
  it builds up. The greater the number of heat points, the greater the 
  ’Mech’s internal heat. The player keeps track of his ’Mech’s heat 
  points using the column of boxes on the ’Mech record sheet labeled 
  Heat Scale. The Heat Scale records heat levels from 0 to 30 heat 
  points. The Heat Overfl ow box is used to track heat levels above 
  30. As the ’Mech’s internal heat reaches various levels on the Heat 
  Scale, the ’Mech suff ers the adverse eff ects listed for those levels.
  BUILDING UP HEAT
  Diff erent activities build up heat at diff erent rates. A good 
  MechWarrior balances the tactical value of an action against the 
  heat it will add to his ’Mech. The Heat Point Table indicates the 
  number of heat points generated by various actions and damage. 
  It also shows the number of heat points a ’Mech can dissipate 
  through its heat sinks and by standing in a water hex.
   Heat Sink Types: Heat sinks may be standard or double, though 
  not all unit types can mount double heat sinks. Standard heat sinks 
  dissipate 1 point of heat per turn, and double heat sinks dissipate 2 
  points of heat per turn.
  ICE-Powered IndustrialMechs: ICE-powered IndustrialMechs 
  generate no heat from walking or running, a side eff ect of their 
  engine and structural designs.
  Jumping: Jumping generates more heat than walking or running. 
  Jump jets generate 1 heat point per Jumping MP expended, with a 
  minimum of 3 heat points. For example, when a ’Mech jumps 1, 2 or 
  3 hexes, it generates 3 heat points. If it jumps 4 hexes, it generates 4 
  heat points; if it jumps 6 hexes, it generates 6 heat points; and so on.
  Water: Heat sinks dissipate twice as much heat when underwater 
  during the Heat Phase. When a ’Mech is standing in Depth 1 water, 
  only heat sinks mounted in the legs are underwater. A ’Mech 
  One of the most severe problems facing any ’Mech in combat 
  is internal heat build-up. Though every ’Mech can dissipate heat 
  through its heat sinks (devices designed to pump heat away from 
  heat-generating systems) or by standing in water, the ’Mech builds 
  up heat whenever it moves or fi res its weapons.
  Even when using both of those methods to cool its systems, a 
  high rate of activity commonly produces more heat than a ’Mech 
  can dissipate. An overheated ’Mech can continue to function, but a 
  warrior who pushes his ’Mech past its limits eventually must pay the 
  price. As a ’Mech’s internal heat increases, it moves more slowly and 
  its weapons fi re becomes less accurate. If its internal heat reaches 
  a certain level, the ammunition it carries may explode. The ’Mech’s 
  fusion reactor may even shut down, making the ’Mech inactive and 
  immobile until the heat drops below a certain point.
  Aerospace Units: Aerospace units (except conventional fi ghters), 
  which don’t track heat treat heat somewhat diff erently than ’Mechs. 
  See Heat Eff ects under Aerospace Units, p. 160 of this section. 
  ProtoMechs and Infantry: ProtoMechs never build up heat. 
  They are specifi cally designed to dissipate all the energy-weapon 
  heat they can build up, and do not generate heat for movement or 
  for fi ring non-energy weapons. Likewise, infantry never builds up 
  heat or tracks heat from movement, weapons fi re and so on. 
  Vehicles and Conventional Fighters: Vehicles (including Airship 
  and Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles) and conventional fi ghters do not 
  generate heat in the same manner as ’Mechs. Such units must be 
  designed with enough heat sinks to fi re all of their energy weapons 
  at once. Also, because of their more open (and fl imsier) structure, 
  vehicles and conventional fi ghters automatically shed all heat built 
  up from movement and from fi ring non-energy weapons.
  MM 
  MM
  Even as the colossal machines of Clan Diamond Shark and House Kurita collide, they have to be weary of nature’s fury and the excessive heat of a coastal lava fl ow. 
  
  159
  159
  HEAT
  HEAT
  standing in Depth 2 or deeper water or prone in Depth 1 or 
  deeper water is completely submerged, so all of its heat sinks 
  are considered underwater. Regardless of how many heat sinks 
  are underwater, however, the ’Mech can shed no more than an 
  additional 6 points of heat per turn.
  Shutting Off  Heat Sinks: A MechWarrior may actually wish 
  to build up heat in some situations, particularly if his ’Mech is 
  equipped with triple-strength myomer (see p. 143). Building up 
  heat is most easily accomplished by shutting off  as many heat 
  sinks as desired during the End Phase of any turn. Shut-off  heat 
  sinks dissipate no heat in the following Heat Phase, and may 
  only be switched back on during a subsequent End Phase.
  Outside Heat Sources
  Outside factors can also build up a unit’s heat. Diff erent heat-
  causing weapons (see Weapons and Equipment, p. 113), as well 
  as environmental conditions (hostile environments and fi re, 
  both of which are covered in Tactical Operations), add heat to 
  whatever a unit builds up with its own activities.
  All such outside heat sources—meaning any heat that does 
  not come from a unit’s own movement and weapons fi re—are 
  tracked somewhat diff erently before being added to a unit’s 
  own heat. These heat sources are cumulative, to a maximum of 
  15 heat points. 
  For example, during a Weapon Attack Phase, ’Mech A is 
  struck with an Inner Sphere Plasma Riﬂ e (see Weapons and 
  Equipment Table, p. 303), as well as an SRM-6 loaded with 
  inferno submunitions (see Infernos, p. 141). After rolling 
  the heat generation for the Plasma Riﬂ e (8 heat points) 
  and rolling on the Cluster Hits Table for the amount of 
  infernos that struck the target (a 9, resulting in 5 missiles 
  hitting the target), ´Mech A’s controlling player tallies the 
  heat generated: 8 for the Plasma Riﬂ e + 10 for the infernos 
  (2 heat points per missile x 5) = 18. However, such outside 
  heat sources can only inﬂ ict a total of 15 heat points in a 
  turn, and so 3 points are wasted. After the controlling player 
  determines the heat for ’Mech A’s movement and weapons 
  ﬁ re, he adds the two numbers together.
  RECORDING HEAT BUILD-UP
  During the Heat Phase of every turn, each player adds up the 
  heat points built up by his ’Mech, as well as any heat from outside 
  sources (see Outside Heat Sources above). He then subtracts the 
  heat dissipated by heat sinks and any additional dissipation if 
  his ’Mech occupies a water hex. The result may be positive or 
  negative. Add this number to the current level of heat shown 
  on the Heat Scale. If the result is negative, adjust the Heat Scale 
  downward; if the result is positive, adjust it upward. The Heat 
  Scale cannot drop below 0. We suggest that players mark the 
  Heat Scale with a pencil, because the heat level will rise and fall 
  many times during the game.
  Extremely High Heat: Heat higher than 30 causes a 
  ´Mech’s power plant to shut down, but has no additional 
  eff ect. Restarting the ´Mech takes longer, however, because 
  the heat level must drop below 30 before the ’Mech’s reactor 
  can function. Mark any heat generated beyond 30 in the Heat 
  Overfl ow box on the record sheet. If the record sheet has no 
  Heat Overfl ow box, write the extra heat points at the top of the 
  Heat Scale. When dissipating heat, the heat overfl ow must be 
  dissipated before a player can reduce the Heat Scale below 30. 
  EFFECTS OF HEAT
  Excessive heat causes a ’Mech to function less effi  ciently. It 
  moves more slowly, fi res less accurately and may shut down 
  or even explode. Some of these eff ects are permanent; others 
  disappear when the ’Mech cools.
  The ’Mech suff ers the eff ects listed below after players have 
  adjusted the heat level for the turn as described in Recording 
  Heat Build-up.
  MOVEMENT 
  At 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 heat points, subtract the number 
  indicated from the ’Mech’s Walking MP. For example, at 
  anywhere from 5 to 9 heat points, subtract 1 from the ’Mech’s 
  Walking MP. Remember that Running MP is 1.5 times the current 
  Walking MP; if the Walking MP is reduced, the player must also 
  recalculate his ’Mech’s Running MP, rounding fractions up.
  This eff ect is not cumulative with any previous heat-caused 
  loss of movement points. When a ’Mech’s heat build-up reaches 
  5 on the Heat Scale, its Walking MP is only reduced by 1. When 
  the build-up reaches 10 on the Heat Scale, reduce Walking MP 
  by 2 total, not by 2 more movement points.
  When heat build-up drops below the point at which these 
  eff ects occur, the ’Mech regains 1 Walking MP, though previous 
  applicable losses remain in force. For example, if the heat falls 
  below 10 on the Heat Scale but remains at or above 5, the ´Mech 
  continues to suff er–1 MP until the heat drops below 5. 
  Jumping: Reductions in Walking MP from heat build-up do 
  not aff ect a ’Mech’s Jumping MP.
  HEAT POINT TABLE 
  Activity 
  Heat Points
  Walking
  +1 per turn 
  Running
  +2 per turn
  Jumping
  +1 per hex (minimum of 3 per 
  turn)
  Attempting to stand
  +1 per attempt 
  Weapons fi re
  Per Weapons and Equipment 
  Tables, p. 303
  Heat-Causing 
  Weapons 
  Per Weapons and Equipment 
  Tables, p. 303, or Other Combat 
  Weapons and Equipment, p. 129
  Heat sink
  –1 per operational heat sink
  –2 per operational double heat sink
  –1 additional per operational 
  single heat sink under water 
  (maximum 6 points)
  –2 additional per operational 
  double heat sink underwater 
  (maximum 6 points)
  First engine hit
  +5 per turn
  Second engine hit
  +10 (total) per turn
  
  WEAPON ATTACKS
  At 8, 13, 17 and 24 heat points, add the number indicated to the 
  ’Mech’s base to-hit number for weapon attacks. For example, at 8 
  heat points, add 1 to all base to-hit numbers for as long as the heat 
  remains at or above 8. As with movement, these eff ects are not 
  cumulative, and disappear when heat build-up is reduced.
  SHUTDOWN
  At 14, 18, 22, 26 and 30 heat points, a ’Mech attempts to shut 
  down its power plant automatically as a safety procedure. Until the 
  MechWarrior restarts the reactor, the ’Mech is shut down.
  When a ’Mech shuts down, it is considered immobile, and its 
  equipment ceases to function except for heat sinks and life support. 
  (See also Piloting/Driving Skill Table, p. 60.) It cannot make attacks 
  or move, and cannot build up more heat by its own actions. Even 
  engine critical hits will not generate extra heat while the ’Mech is 
  shut down. Outside infl uences, such as weapons hits that generate 
  heat, can create heat build-up, however. 
  A shutdown ’Mech’s heat sinks continue to dissipate excess heat. 
  For every turn that the ’Mech is shut down, the heat sinks dissipate 
  as normal, and the player may attempt to restart the power plant 
  during each Heat Phase. To do this, the player rolls 2D6. If the result 
  is equal to or greater than the highest current Avoid number, the 
  player can restart the power plant. A ’Mech may move and fi re in 
  the turn following the turn in which the power plant is restarted. 
  When the heat drops below 14 on the Heat Scale, the power plant 
  restarts automatically, even if the pilot is out of action.
  A MechWarrior can override the power plant’s safety shutdown 
  procedure, as indicated by the Avoid number listed with the eff ect, 
  though shutdown cannot be avoided at 30 or more heat points. If 
  his ´Mech’s heat is at or above 14, the player rolls 2D6 once during 
  the Heat Phase. If the roll result is equal to or greater than the 
  highest Avoid number corresponding to the ’Mech’s heat level, the 
  pilot avoids shutdown for that turn. If heat accumulation reaches 
  two or more trigger levels in one turn, roll 2D6 only once, against 
  the highest Avoid number.
  Aimed Shots: Other players can target a shutdown ´Mech with 
  aimed shots (see p. 110). 
  A Hatamoto-Chi begins a turn with a Heat Scale reading of 
  4. During the turn, it ﬁ res both its PPCs and walks (generating 
  21 heat points). The BattleMech only has sixteen standard heat 
  sinks working. They dissipate 16 heat points, leaving 5 to build 
  up. During the Heat Phase, these 5 points are added to the 4 
  already on the Heat Scale, bringing the total to 9. In the next 
  turn, the ’Mech must reduce its Walking MP by 1 (giving it a 
  Walking MP of 3 and a Running MP of 5) and add +1 to its to-hit 
  number for weapon attacks.
  If the BattleMech repeats these actions in the next turn, the 
  player must add 5 more heat points to the Heat Scale, bringing 
  the total to 14. Now the player must make a 2D6 roll of 4 or higher 
  to avoid shutdown. Even if he manages this, he must reduce the 
  Hatamoto-Chi’s Walking MP by 1 more, to 2, until its heat falls 
  below 10 on the Heat Scale. At the same time, the ’Mech ﬁ res its 
  weapons with a +2 to-hit modiﬁ er. 
  AMMUNITION
  If the heat level reaches or exceeds an Ammo Explosion 
  threshold of 19, 23, or 28 heat points, the ammunition a ’Mech 
  carries may explode. The MechWarrior can avoid the explosion 
  by pure luck, as indicated by the Avoid number. If the ´Mech’s 
  heat is at or above 19, the player rolls 2D6 once during the Heat 
  Phase. If the roll result is equal to or greater than the highest Avoid 
  number corresponding to his ’Mech’s heat level, the pilot avoids an 
  ammunition explosion for that turn. If heat accumulation reaches 
  two or more trigger levels in one turn, roll 2D6 only once, against 
  the highest Avoid number.
  When an overheated ’Mech’s ammo explodes, the ammunition 
  critical slot with the most destructive ammo per shot explodes fi rst. 
  Ammo per shot is defi ned as the Damage Value done by one turn’s 
  worth of shots. For example, the ammo per shot of a machine gun 
  slot has a Damage Value of 2, an AC/10’s Damage Value is 10, an 
  LRM-15 has a Damage Value of 15, and an SRM-6 has a Damage 
  Value of 12. When the ’Mech carries two ammo slots with equivalent 
  per-shot Damage Values, the ’Mech’s controlling player chooses 
  which ammo explodes. All of the appropriate ammo type in a 
  single critical slot explodes. If more than one critical hit slot holds 
  the appropriate ammo type, the one with the most shots remaining 
  explodes. If two or more locations have an equal number of shots 
  remaining, randomly determine which one explodes. Resolve the 
  explosion following the rules in ’Mech Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 125.
  Exploding Weapons and Single-Shot Weapons: Exploding 
  weapons and their ammunition (such as Gauss rifl es), as well as all 
  single-shot weapons, do not explode from overheating.
  MechWarrior Damage: Ammunition explosions automatically 
  injure the MechWarrior, infl icting 2 points of damage and requiring 
  a Consciousness roll (see p. 41).
  ICE-POWERED ’MECHS
  In addition to possible ammunition explosions avoid rolls, ICE-
  powered ’Mechs must make Fuel Explosion checks when their heat 
  levels exceed 19, 23 and 28 points. The target number to avoid 
  these explosions is the same as that required to avoid ammunition 
  explosions at those heat levels. Failure results in an engine 
  explosion, destroying the ’Mech.
  DAMAGE TO MECHWARRIORS
  If life-support systems take a critical hit, the MechWarrior suff ers 
  1 point of damage for every turn that the ’Mech’s internal heat 
  reaches 15 or more. For every turn that the heat rises to or remains 
  higher than 25, the MechWarrior suff ers 2 points of damage.
  AEROSPACE UNITS
   
  Game mechanics for heat generation and dissipation in small 
  craft and aerospace fi ghters are based on those for ’Mechs, with 
  the following exceptions. Large Craft use a more abstract system to 
  track heat; see Large Craft, p. 161.
   
  Aerospace fi ghters and small craft generate heat points only 
  through weapons fi re, taking damage from heat-causing weapons, 
  or taking critical engine damage, as shown in the Heat Point Table. 
  They build up no heat through movement.
  HEAT EFFECTS
  Aerospace fi ghters and small craft follow the same basic 
  rules as ’Mechs for heat eff ects on weapon attacks, shutdown, 
  ammunition and pilots, using target numbers and Avoid rolls 
  based on the Heat Scales found on the Aerospace Fighter and 
  Small Craft record sheets. The following eff ects and expansions 
  on existing rules also apply.
  
  161
  161
  HEAT
  HEAT
  Random Movement
  At 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 heat points, the unit’s navigation 
  and piloting systems may malfunction. A malfunction means 
  the aerospace fi ghter or small craft cannot voluntarily spend 
  Thrust Points in the following turn. The unit is treated as out-
  of-control and suff ers random movement (see p. 93). 
  A pilot can avoid this eff ect if he can keep the navigation 
  and piloting systems on-line, as indicated by the Avoid number 
  listed with the corresponding eff ect. If the unit’s heat is 5 or 
  greater, the controlling player rolls 2D6 once during the Heat 
  Phase. If the roll result is equal to or greater than the highest 
  Avoid number corresponding to the unit’s heat level, the pilot 
  avoids random movement for the following turn. If heat build-
  up reaches two or more trigger levels in one turn, roll 2D6 only 
  once, against the highest Avoid number.
  If the roll fails, the unit undergoes random movement in 
  the subsequent turn. To bring the unit back under control, 
  the player must make a successful Control Roll during the End 
  Phase of the subsequent turn. The unit remains subject to the 
  trigger event and the player must make a successful random 
  movement Avoid roll in each subsequent End Phase until 
  the Control Roll succeeds or the heat drops below the lowest 
  trigger (5 heat points).
  Shutdown
  If a unit shuts down in space, it drifts at its current velocity 
  and heading until the pilot can restart the power plant by 
  making a successful shutdown Avoid roll in a subsequent 
  turn. The power plant automatically restarts when the heat 
  drops to 13 or less. The unit is considered out-of-control for 
  purposes of determining collisions, but it does not suff er 
  random movement.
  In atmosphere, a shutdown unit likewise continues in a 
  straight line, but runs the risk of stalling and losing altitude 
  (see Atmospheric Movement, p. 78). A shutdown unit that 
  moves from a space hex to the space/atmosphere interface is 
  automatically destroyed.
  Ammunition Explosions
  High heat levels can cause ammunition to explode, infl icting 
  immense damage to the unit. Avoid rolls are required at 19, 23, 
  and 28 heat. If the Avoid Roll fails, the ammunition with the 
  most destructive ammo per shot explodes fi rst. A machine gun 
  infl icts 2 points of damage, an SRM 2 infl icts 4 points, an AC/10 
  infl icts 10, and so on. This means that a fi ghter with machine 
  gun and AC/10 ammo would suff er an AC/10 ammo explosion. 
  Gauss rifl e ammunition, as well as the Gauss rifl e itself, are not 
  subject to explosion caused by heat.
  If an explosion takes place, multiply the damage caused by a 
  single shot of the weapon by the number of rounds remaining, 
  divided by ten (rounding down, to a minimum of 1). Apply this 
  damage to the unit’s SI. If a fi ghter equipped with CASE suff ers 
  an ammo explosion, divide the total damage by 20 (rounding 
  down, to a minimum of 1) The rest of that weapon’s ammo is 
  destroyed, but infl icts no additional damage.
  For example, a Slayer aerospace fi ghter has a full ton of 
  AC/10 ammunition that explodes. This infl icts 100 points of 
  damage , divided by 10 for a total of 10 points assigned to the 
  SI—10 points per shot x 10 shots per ton / 10—which destroys 
  the unit, as its SI is only 8. Had the fi ghter been equipped 
  with CASE it would have sustained only 5 points of damage, 
  allowing it to survive.
  Ammunition explosions automatically injure the unit’s pilot, 
  infl icting 1 point of damage and requiring a Consciousness 
  Roll (see p. 41). 
  Damage to Warriors
  High heat levels can injure a warrior; Avoid Rolls must be 
  made at 21 and 27 heat. When a heat damage Avoid Roll fails, 
  the warrior suff ers 1 point of damage and a fi ghter pilot must 
  make a Consciousness Roll (see p. 41).
  LARGE CRAFT
  Large Craft work on a zero-net-heat principle that prevents 
  them from generating heat in excess of their ability to dissipate 
  it. This simplifi es heat management for units that can have 
  dozens of weapons and thousands of heat sinks, and also 
  refl ects the fact that “heat” for such units represents more 
  than excess temperature. It includes the resources required to 
  power weapon and targeting systems and the superstructure 
  to support crew to operate those systems.
  Large Craft generate heat points per fi ring arc, rather than 
  per weapon or bay. Players should calculate the total heat for 
  all weapons in each fi ring arc and write down that information 
  on the appropriate record sheet. Firing all or some of the 
  weapons in that arc is considered to generate the full heat of 
  all weapons in the arc.
  A Large Craft that lacks suffi  cient heat sinks to fi re the 
  weapons in an arc may still fi re all the weapons in that arc. This 
  is the only weapons fi re the unit may make in that turn, and 
  the player must make an immediate Control Roll, applying a +1 
  penalty for every 100 heat (or part thereof) in excess of what 
  the unit can dissipate. The unit may not fi re weapons from 
  other arcs.
  A Lion-class (Clan) DropShip generates 76 heat points in 
  its nose arc, 76 in each of the front left and front right arcs, 48 
  in the aft left and aft right arcs and 44 in the aft arc—a total 
  of 368 heat points. It can only dissipate 110 heat points. The 
  DropShip cannot generate more than 110 points in a single 
  turn, and so the controlling player cannot ﬁ re all the weapons 
  at once. In a given turn, the controlling player can only ﬁ re a 
  combination of arcs that does not exceed 110 heat points.
  AEROSPACE FIGHTER/SMALL CRAFT
  HEAT POINT TABLE 
  Activity 
  Heat Points
  Weapons fi re 
  Per Weapons and Equipment Tables, 
  p. 303
  Heat-causing 
  weapons
  Per Weapons and Equipment Tables, 
  p. 303, or Other Combat Weapons 
  and Equipment, p. 129
  Heat sink 
  –1 per operational heat sink
  –2 per operational double heat sink
  Engine damage
  +2 per hit
  
  BASINGSTOKE CITY
  PRESTON
  FREE WORLDS LEAGUE
  21 JUNE 3068
  Emile Aiello’s teeth rattled 
  as another tremor shook the di-
  lapidated offi  ce building. Fine dust 
  drifted down, adding a light frosting to 
  the mottled grays of the Marik urban cam-
  oufl age fi eld uniform that clad his squat and 
  muscular frame. The dust obscuring his corporal’s 
  stripes puff ed upward into the air as he absently 
  brushed the grit from the cold metal-and-plastic AX-22 
  assault rifl e cradled in his left arm. Hard, dark eyes set in 
  a scarred face stared into the grey dawn light. In the gloom 
  around him, tense fi gures crouched unmoving at the third fl oor 
  windows as another tremor rippled through the building. Chunks 
  of yellowing plaster clattered onto the piles of tired furniture 
  stacked against walls covered in peeling wallpaper. The wallpa-
  per had long since abandoned its pristine whiteness for the faded 
  color of old bones.
  Somewhere out in the city, BattleMechs were on the move.
  The nice recruitment offi  cer in his spotless uniform with the chest 
  full of medals had missed some important details, Aiello mused 
  sourly as he checked his spare magazines for the tenth time that 
  morning. Little 
  incidentals—
  like being expected 
  to place one’s soft and 
  fragile body in the path of 
  towering metal avatars of war. 
  The sort of thing that probably 
  would have dissuaded even gullible 
  farm boys like sixteen-year-old Emile 
  from joining the army. Even ten years ago, 
  he’d had at least that much sense.
  Another tremor shook the heavy building. 
  Whatever caused them was getting closer.
  “Get ready! Stay calm!” Behind Aiello, Lieutenant 
  (Junior Grade) Santorini was pacing up and down the 
  platoon’s position, with Sergeant Isaacs at his shoulder. In the 
  dusty twilight the lieutenant’s olive skin had a marked greenish 
  cast to it. “You all know the plan!”
  Yes, Aiello thought as he continued to scan the roofl ine across 
  the street. They did. More important, so did Santorini—after Isaacs 
  had spent the better part of the previous evening telling the lieu-
  tenant just what the plan was going to be. The iron-haired ser-
  geant might not aff ord junior offi  cers the level of respect consid-
  ered appropriate from a noncom in FWLM service, but she was a 
  real wizard when it came to small unit tactics—the reason she was 
  still in the service. Few offi  cers lasted long in Third Platoon, Delta 
  Company, Second Battalion of the 97th Marik Infantry Regiment. 
  David L. McCulloch
  
  Some of the more skilled (or lucky) ones got promoted rap-
  idly and went on to greater things. Others had been killed or 
  wounded in gruesome ways that FWLM recruitment literature 
  never talked about. Two had been cashiered. One had simply 
  disappeared. The task of breaking in the replacements fell to 
  Isaacs—which probably went a long way toward explaining 
  her attitude.
  The unmistakable tearing sound of a heavy autocannon cut 
  into the ponderous silence between titanic footfalls.
  Aiello pondered just how long Santorini would last. He was 
  not alone; in whispers, PFCs Ferrier and Hendman were run-
  ning a book with the rest of his squad. “Hendman! Ferrier! Shut 
  it!” he hissed as Santorini came back up the line. Aiello wished 
  Isaacs could make the lieutenant just stand still for a moment 
  and shut up.
  “Now remember, our orders are to maintain the foothold on 
  this side of the river. The Nineteenth Megrez Home Guard is 
  on our fl ank, so don’t go ruining their day with stray rounds!” 
  Santorini delivered his typical pre-battle pep talk, while Isaacs 
  kept busy whispering into the lieutenant’s ear. 
  “Those pukes from Megrez couldn’t maintain a foothold on 
  a pile of Branth droppings!” Hendman grunted as Santorini 
  passed out of earshot. For the tenth time in as many minutes, 
  he checked the missile loaded into the SRM launcher braced 
  on Ferrier’s shoulder.
  “None of that, now! We’re all one big happy Free Worlds 
  League!” Ferrier delivered this last in a fair imitation of 
  Lieutenant Santorini without taking his eye from the sights of 
  Second Squad’s one and only support weapon. Aiello’s squad 
  mates fought to stifl e their laughter. Then the building trem-
  bled again, bombarding them with more misshapen chunks 
  of discolored plaster. Mirth evaporated as hands tightened on 
  weapons.
  Aiello spotted movement on the Irian Media Interstellar 
  building across the abandoned street. Snapping the lens pro-
  tectors open, he pressed the rubber eyepieces of his binocu-
  lars to his face and trained them on the high roof. PFC Valdez 
  came into focus. Aiello waved to signal that she had his at-
  tention. Valdez raised her right hand in a fi st, then raised four 
  fi ngers. A pause, then she held up six fi ngers, and then fi ve. 
  Finally she signed two fi ngers walking, then made a sharp ges-
  ture across the throat. 
  “Sarge!” Aiello called back over his dust-encrusted shoul-
  der. “Valdez says we’ve got BattleMechs coming! Four bandits! 
  Sixty-fi ve tons plus!” 
  His shout brought Isaacs striding up, a surprised Lieutenant 
  Santorini scurrying in her wake. “What about support?” Isaacs’ 
  drawl sounded calm, almost bored.
  “She says no support.” 
  If correct, that was good—very good. If the Lyrans were 
  coming in without infantry support, Third Platoon 
  might survive the next half hour. Some of them, 
  at least.
  Isaacs pondered this information. “Just a 
  probe, then. Better tell our lookouts to 
  come on in.” 
  Aiello nodded in agree-
  ment. If the Elsies 
  were serious they’d 
  
  be sending in the big stuff . Considering that the Lyrans, either 
  through luck or design, were about to hit the Marik line at its weak-
  est point—the junction between Second Battalion and the dis-
  placed Megrez Home Guard—the sergeant had sounded almost 
  cheerful.
  The savage rip of an autocannon echoed again as Aiello sig-
  naled to Valdez and O’Flagherty to abandon their exposed lookout 
  position. This time the roar of weapons fi re was accompanied by 
  the sound of breaking glass and falling masonry. As far as Aiello 
  knew, there were no troops forward of their position. Perhaps the 
  approaching Lyran was shooting at shadows. Aiello took a sip of 
  tepid water from his canteen to wash away the chalky taste of dust 
  and spat on the cracked tile fl oor. Better at shadows than at him.
  With a tornado’s roar, BattleMech jump jets rattled the grimy 
  windows and broken light tubes as the distinctive hunched form of 
  a Skye Jaegers’ Axman, its fi ve-ton club held menacingly aloft, rose 
  into view. It alighted on the IMI building’s fl at roof with a teeth-rat-
  tling impact. Now more than dust was making Aiello’s mouth so 
  dry. Third Platoon would be lucky to scratch the paintwork on that 
  BattleMech, let alone penetrate the ten tons of ferro-fi brous armor 
  protecting it.
  Sergeant Isaacs, though, had avoided the IMI building as the 
  best place for Third Platoon to dig in for good reason. Even though 
  its height aff orded an excellent view of the surrounding streets, 
  all of its structural strength was concentrated in its core. The outer 
  sheathing of emerald glass would become a whirlwind of glass 
  shards just as deadly to lurking infantry as any autocannon or mis-
  sile. It was also the tallest building in the neighborhood, attracting 
  jump-capable BattleMechs like Andurien moths to fl ame. Indeed, 
  Third Platoon was counting on it.
  Aiello didn’t have to wait for the order Isaacs barked a moment 
  later. “Semis! Target the fourth fl oor! Fire!” First and Fourth squads’ 
  semi-portable autocannons roared into life, belching meter-long 
  tongues of malevolent yellow fl ame. The air fi lled with the acrid 
  taste of propellant as the crews raked the frontage across the 
  street. The rest of Third Platoon added to the weight of fi re with 
  their AX-22s, blowing ten-meter tall sheets of glass into ruin. In 
  seconds the street was littered with cruel emerald blades as Third 
  Platoon’s assault ripped open gaping black scars to expose the 
  building’s interior.
  “Missiles! Fire! Hit the dirt!” Aiello screamed above the pande-
  monium of the semis’ roar. 
  “Fire in the hole!” Ferrier’s call was echoed by Morris in Fourth 
  Squad. As Aiello joined his squad on the fl oor, he caught sight of 
  Isaacs pulling Lieutenant Santorini out of harm’s way. In this con-
  fi ned space the launchers were deafening. As their brace of HE mis-
  siles streaked across the street like miniature comets, Ferrier and 
  Morris joined their comrades and became one with the ancient 
  tiles.
  The warheads found their mark with deadly accuracy. The det-
  onation blew out the few windows that had survived their fi rst 
  murderous attack on the IMI building. Spectacular as the blast ap-
  peared, it was the damage wrought inside that counted. Normally 
  even that damage would have been little more than cosmetic...
  until some overly confi dent MechWarrior parked sixty-fi ve tons of 
  BattleMech on the roof.
  Aiello heard the shriek of metal stressed beyond endurance, 
  punctuated by the staccato snapping of cross-supports as they 
  gave way under a strain the building’s architects had never fac-
  tored into their design. With appalling suddenness, the building 
  collapsed onto itself, as if in slow motion. The fi fth fl oor went fi rst, 
  the damaged structure on the fl oor below unable to support the 
  weight above it. Structural failure rippled up through the sixth, 
  seventh and eighth fl oors. Then the whole disintegrating mass 
  hammered into the lower fl oors like a titanic pile driver.
  The sound was indescribable. Vast clouds of dust billowed out-
  ward from the seat of destruction, enveloping Third Platoon’s ref-
  uge like a tsunami, blasting in through the glassless windows and 
  coating everything in gray.
  Coughing, Aiello pulled himself up to peer at the destruction. 
  Smoke and dust fi lled the air, choking breath and making eyes tear.  
  He could just see a fresh mound of still-settling wreckage across 
  the street. Somewhere beyond the veil of dust came the sound 
  of battle. The other ‘Mechs must have run into Second Battalion’s 
  picket line. Aiello hoped they were having as much luck as Third 
  Platoon. A ragged cheer swelled to full voice, joined by whoops 
  of victory as Third Platoon pulled themselves to their feet and sur-
  veyed the altered cityscape. 
  “Well, now,” Aiello said. “That went about as well as could be ex-
  pected.”
  Unfortunately, their celebrations proved premature.
  With a grating sound of protest—as if some monster were 
  drawing titanic metal fi ngernails with vindictive delight across an 
  unimaginably gigantic blackboard—the Axman levered itself up 
  from the center of the debris pile. Its hatchet was gone, its right 
  arm missing from the shoulder down. Only a mangled stump re-
  mained—a raw wound of twisted metal, cables and tubing that 
  dripped sickly green coolant. Almost every square millimeter of 
  the Axman’s armored hide was caked in dust or dulled where the 
  distinctive checker-work paint scheme had been scoured down to 
  the Kallon Unity Weave ferro-fi brous armor. Only the Steiner fi st 
  emblem miraculously remained, clenched as if in defi ance of their 
  ambush attempt. 
  One fi nal heave sent more rubble spilling out into the street 
  as the maimed BattleMech regained its footing. Perhaps the 
  MechWarrior had seen the spot from which they’d delivered the 
  fatal blow against the IMI building, or maybe he was still stunned 
  from the fall and lashed out blindly. Regardless, the result was the 
  same. 
  “Take cover!” Sergeant Isaacs shouted. Aiello and the rest of the 
  platoon dropped instinctively as the Axman opened up with its 
  heavy autocannon. A whirlwind of high explosives raked the build-
  ing, followed by a rain of coherent light as the Lyran BattleMech 
  brought its surviving laser weapons into play.
  Third Platoon weathered the storm of high-tech destruction, 
  for Isaacs had chosen their position with care. The squat edifi ce of 
  local granite and endo-steel might resemble a giant pillbox and 
  surely harked back to the heyday of the First Star League, but un-
  like the snazzy glassed-in IMI building, it off ered protection from 
  heavy weapons—for a while.
  The roar of the autocannon died. “I think we pissed him 
  off ,” Ferrier said, bracing the SRM launcher into fi ring position. 
  Hendman slapped another missile into the launcher, then slapped 
  Ferrier’s helmet. A sharp squeeze of the trigger sent the missile 
  straight into the Lyran war machine’s broad chest. The semis re-
  
  newed their song of destruction accompanied by the sharp crack 
  of AX-22s as Third Platoon scoured their foe with a tide of near-
  impotent bullets. 
  As if to ridicule their feeble attacks, the Axman fi red its autocan-
  non again. Further down the room, two fi gures fl ew back from the 
  windows, as if jerked by invisible strings.
  Aiello looked up at Hendman and slapped a fresh magazine into 
  his AX-22, oblivious to a cut sliced across his left cheek by a fl ying 
  shard of granite. “Yup. I’d say so!” Two more from First Squad were 
  down now. So was Lieutenant Santorini. The air was thick with the 
  smell of cordite and coolant, cooked meat and blood.
  Once more the Axman’s autocannon fell silent. Swinging up his 
  reloaded weapon, Aiello sprayed fi re into the ‘Mech’s elongated 
  head, more in the hope of distracting the MechWarrior than doing 
  any real damage. The BattleMech shifted its feet, leaning forward. 
  Aiello’s experienced eye read the move. “Sarge!” he called to Isaacs. 
  “Think we’re going to have company in here!”
  The Lyran MechWarrior had to realize by now that he couldn’t 
  blast Third Platoon out of their building. Not quickly. Not if he 
  wanted his Axman fi t to deal with the Marik BattleMechs that 
  Aiello prayed were rushing to intercept the Lyran thrust at this very 
  moment. The Axman’s pilot had two choices: bypass this stubborn 
  infantry position and fi nd something else to molest, or physically 
  root out the infuriating insects impudent enough to challenge 
  the king of the battlefi eld. So how angry had they made that 
  MechWarrior? Aiello hosed down the Axman’s cockpit once more 
  for good measure.
  The Axman lunged at the building.
  The collision threw Aiello to the fl oor so hard, he wondered if 
  it was worthwhile getting back up. The structure shook a second 
  time as sixty-fi ve tons of BattleMech slammed into the ferrocrete 
  outside. What remained of the ceiling plaster fi nally gave up its 
  battle against gravity. It came crashing down in ragged sheets, 
  throwing white powder everywhere. Aiello crawled out from un-
  der crumbling bits of roof and pulled himself up to the window. In 
  the rubble-strewn street, the Axman was struggling to regain its 
  feet—an operation hampered by its missing arm. Whether from 
  its encounter with the building or the sidewalk, plates of armor 
  had been torn away from the left thigh, exposing myomer bundles 
  that writhed as the ‘Mech continued to struggle. Aiello thought 
  he spotted actuator damage, too. With all the shifting rubble, the 
  ‘Mech couldn’t get its left leg under it. 
  “Oops!” Aiello muttered as the Axman overbalanced and fell for-
  ward. It crashed into the building and then slid back to the street, 
  jolting the structure once more.
  “This place can’t take much more of this. Time for us to go.” Isaacs 
  spoke from behind Aiello’s shoulder. “OK, people! Grab your gear! 
  We’re falling back to the fi rst rally point. Cho! Wilson! You two bring 
  the lieutenant.”
  Ominous grinding sounds told of movement in the street as 
  they ran for the emergency stairwell.
  Stumbling in the dark on uneven fl oors, Aiello expected the 
  building to disintegrate around him as sixty-fi ve tons of infuriated 
  BattleMech came crashing through the walls. Panting now, he 
  led the platoon down the stairwell with reckless haste. The oth-
  ers came scrambling after him—half carrying, half dragging the 
  wounded.
  Aiello hit the fi re door at a run. After the dread-infested dark, 
  the dim light from the overcast sky that lit the litter-strewn alley-
  way hit him like a drink of sweet spring water. No time to stop and 
  admire the scenery, though. With Second Squad in the van, Aiello 
  raced down the alley toward the river. 
  He had gone perhaps fi fty meters when the sounds he’d been 
  dreading came from behind—the thud of impact and falling ma-
  sonry. The Axman had broken through the building’s stone façade 
  at last. 
  He endured a moment of endless silence before the dark fer-
  rocrete convulsed under him. Aiello found himself thrown into the 
  air with the rest of Third Platoon. He landed on his left side. Hard. 
  His shoulder exploded in pain and a yawning blackness sucked at 
  his consciousness.
  He came to on a cold surface, gazing up at an empty gray sky 
  as he tried to remember who he was. Then memory came rush-
  ing back, along with throbbing agony in his shoulder. He was ly-
  ing on his back in the center of the grimy alley. Fighting to ignore 
  his screaming shoulder, he pushed himself up to a sitting position 
  with his right arm. He saw Sergeant Isaacs kneeling next to him, 
  blood streaming from her nose. 
  “Looks like he found the basement,” she croaked.
  “I didn’t even know that building had a basement.” Aiello got his 
  legs underneath him on the second attempt. Around him, Third 
  Platoon’s dazed survivors were beginning to regain their feet.
  Isaacs stood up, looking as shaky as Aiello felt. She nodded to-
  ward the ruins of their hastily abandoned refuge. “Neither did he.”
  The grating sound that came from beneath their feet was felt 
  more than heard. Aiello shot an incredulous glance at Isaacs. 
  “You’ve got to be kidding me! What does it take to stop this guy?”
  Isaacs didn’t answer. “Third Platoon! Everyone move it! Now!” 
  She grabbed Aiello’s good arm and pushed him down the alley. 
  “Quick! Take the fi rst right. Head for the storm drain.” Then she was 
  gone, shoving stragglers in the same direction.
  Waving Ferrier and Hendman ahead of him, Aiello began to jog 
  unsteadily. He could hear grunts and curses mixed with the sounds 
  of the entombed BattleMech’s struggles behind him. He fought 
  the urge to look back. Rounding the corner, he immediately saw 
  the storm drain. But it was not the sight of Isaacs’ sanctuary that 
  brought a sudden grin to a face caked with dust and blood. The 
  squat shape of an FWLM SRM carrier was parked just beyond the 
  ferrocrete spillway.
  As Third Platoon piled into the ready-made trench, thunder-
  ous footfalls made it abundantly clear that the Axman had freed 
  itself once more. Bringing up the rear, a sprinting Isaacs leaped 
  down into cover. Spraying wild shots from its remaining lasers, 
  the BattleMech came staggering round the corner—straight into 
  a fi restorm of sixty short-range missiles. The high-explosive war-
  heads ate into the heavy ‘Mech like a shoal of high-tech piranhas. 
  Armor shattered and internal structural components were blown 
  clear. For a moment the ravaged titan stood motionless. Then it 
  collapsed backward into a two-story garage.
  Wiping his face, Aiello noticed the blood for the fi rst time. 
  He looked across to where Isaacs lay panting. “Can we go home 
  now?”
  
  The rampant destruction caused during the early Succession 
  Wars appalled even the most hardened soldiers. Until the Jihad, 
  recent decades saw the evolution of a common practice to avoid 
  combat in populated areas, especially among the warrior Clans, 
  who consider the collateral damage caused by such battles 
  unacceptable. Despite this unwritten law, combat still had a 
  tendency to drift from the intended battlefi eld into urban areas. 
  There is also no shortage of less than noble commanders who set 
  ambushes in cities, counting on the unspoken truce in those areas 
  to off er an extra measure of surprise. The Jihad has opened up a 
  whole new chapter of brutal combat within cities.
  Historically, the buildings and irregular terrain in urban areas 
  made it diffi  cult for Combat Vehicles to successfully achieve their 
  objectives. Though ’Mechs have superior fl exibility, cities still 
  complicate warfare in the thirty-fi rst century. Battles fought in long, 
  narrow streets fi lled with buildings that block line of sight, provide 
  enemy hiding places and off er limited protection from weapons 
  fi re require a change in tactics and operations. In urban combat, 
  even conventional infantry may substantially damage a ’Mech.
  Note: The rules in this section represent a simplifi ed system 
  for integrating basic buildings into Classic BattleTech play. A more 
  comprehensive system for other kinds of structures (such as 
  hangars, railway stations and so on, as well as how diff erent units 
  deal with those larger, more unique structures) will be covered in  
  Tactical Operations.
  BUILDING TYPES
  Classic BattleTech divides buildings into four types: light, 
  medium, heavy and hardened. Each type is rated to describe 
  the damage it can withstand, the protection it provides and the 
  weight it can bear. Two numbers describe buildings in Classic 
  BattleTech: the Construction Factor (CF) and levels.
  Default Values: If a scenario does not specify a building’s type, 
  treat it as medium, Level 2.
  CONSTRUCTION FACTOR
  The Construction Factor (CF) determines how a building’s 
  physical structure aff ects the play of the game. Specifi cally, the 
  CF is the number of damage points a building hex can take 
  before being reduced to rubble; this damage, regardless of when 
  it occurs, is tracked across a game until the building hex CF is 
  reduced to 0. This number applies to the hex as a whole; each 
  level of a building hex (regardless of how many) does not have 
  its own CF, even though damage can be infl icted on diff erent 
  levels of a building hex under some circumstances (such as Area 
  Eff ect Weapons; see p. 172). The CF also represents the number of 
  tons of additional weight each level of a building hex can support 
  without collapsing. 
  The range of possible CF values for each building type appears 
  on the Building Modifi ers Table, p. 167. Regardless of a building 
  hex’s current Construction Factor, its type never changes. A 
  damaged heavy building hex with a current CF of 15 remains a 
  heavy building hex.
  Several map sets published by FanPro and FASA have buildings 
  printed directly on mapsheets (for example, Classic BattleTech 
  Map Set 7 and Classic BattleTech Map Set Compilation #2). Players 
  can also use counters to represent buildings on a mapsheet. Any 
  type of counter will do, but the building’s type and level should 
  be clearly marked (players can use the pre-printed buildings on 
  the above-mentioned mapsheets as an example of how best to 
  designate the counters), and the counter should fi t appropriately 
  within the hex or hexes it will occupy on the mapsheet.
  SL 
  SL
  House Marik’s First Atrean Dragoons deploy to secure a city on a world in House Davion’s Sarna March during Operation Guerrero. 
  
  167
  167
  BUILDINGS
  BUILDINGS
  Default Values: If the scenario does not specify a building’s 
  CF, assume that a light building hex has CF 15, a medium 
  building hex has CF 40, a heavy building hex has CF 90 and a 
  hardened building hex has CF 120.
  Multiple-Hex Buildings: For buildings that cover more 
  than one hex, each hex has its own CF value. The destruction 
  of a single hex in a multi-hex building does not aff ect any 
  other hex within the same structure, unless more than half 
  the total hexes have been destroyed. At that point, the rest of 
  the building collapses. For example, if four hexes of a seven-
  hex building are destroyed, the remaining three hexes will 
  collapse. For more information, see collapse (see p. 176)
  Current CF: The Current CF of a building is defi ned as the CF 
  at the instant an action takes place. For example, if two ‘Mechs 
  enter the same building hex at diff erent times in the same 
  Movement phase, the current CF for both units will be diff erent 
  (as the fi rst ‘Mech will have damaged the building hex).
  BUILDING LEVELS
  Treat building levels exactly like other terrain levels for line of 
  sight and movement, with each level of a building measuring 
  roughly six meters high. These levels do not represent a 
  specifi c number of fl oors, but rather are an abstraction of the 
  building’s interior. 
  This means that even though a ’Mech stands two levels tall, 
  when inside a building hex it only occupies a single level at 
  a time. However, it still is considered to rise two levels above 
  the underlying level it occupies in a building hex for purposes 
  of LOS to any hex that is not a non-adjacent building hex. For 
  more information, see Changing Levels in a Building, p. 169. 
  MOVEMENT EFFECTS
  Units can move into, through or onto buildings. Building 
  levels aff ect movement in the same way as all other terrain 
  levels. In other words, a unit can move to the roof of a building 
  hex, change levels as though the building were a hill (provided 
  the unit does not change more than its maximum allowed 
  level changes in a single hex and the CF of the hex can support 
  the unit). Of course units may also enter a building rather than 
  climbing on top (see Moving Through Buildings, below). The 
  Building Modifi ers Table below summarizes movement costs 
  and modifi ers for each type of building.
  If the total tonnage of units on any single level of a 
  building hex exceeds the hex’s current CF (except Level 0, the 
  ground fl oor; see Basements, p. 179), the entire building hex 
  immediately collapses (see Collapse, p. 176).
  Prohibited Units: Aerospace units, VTOLs, WiGEs, Fixed 
  Wing and Airship Support Vehicles, and naval vessels may not 
  voluntarily enter a building hex.
  MOVING THROUGH BUILDINGS
  Note that the rules in this section cover entering building 
  hexes below the level of the roof; i.e. movement actually 
  inside the building in a hex, as opposed to entering a hex on 
  the roof of the building. For example, when the rules talk of 
  making a Piloting/Driving Skill Roll for entering a building hex, 
  it refers to below the level of the roof.
  All units can enter a building hex at ground level (Level 0), 
  provided that other terrain in adjacent hexes does not block 
  such movement. Units that involuntarily enter a building hex 
  (such as during a skid or after being displaced by another 
  unit’s actions) should use Skidding and Unit Displacement rules 
  to resolve such movement (pp. 62 and 151, respectively). 
  Collapse: If a building hex sustains enough damage to collapse 
  during a unit’s movement, the collapse is resolved immediately, 
  before the unit exits the hex (such as in a continuing skid) or 
  expends any more MP in any way (either to change facing, 
  attempt to exit the buildings and so on); this includes assigning 
  all damage to all units, resolving any accidental falls and/or 
  displacement and so on. See Collapse, p. 176. 
  ’Mechs and Vehicles
  A ’Mech may enter a building hex at a level higher than 
  ground level only if entering from an adjacent hex with a level 
  equivalent to the building level being entered; i.e. a ´Mech may 
  enter a building, but only at a level equal to that of the last hex 
  the ´Mech entered. A ’Mech cannot use Jumping MP to enter 
  a building hex, though it can enter the hex by jumping on top 
  of the building (it lands on the building’s roof). However, a 
  ’Mech can use Jumping MP to leave a building hex, provided 
  it does not enter another building hex, below the level of that 
  building hex’s roof, at any point in the rest of that ’Mech’s 
  current Movement Phase.
  Every time a ’Mech or vehicle enters a building hex (not 
  including movements onto the roof), the warrior must make 
  a Piloting/Driving Skill Roll, adding all appropriate modifi ers 
  from the Piloting/Driving Skill Roll Table, (see p. 60). In 
  BUILDING MODIFIERS TABLE
  Building Type
  Original CF
  MP Cost Per 
  Hex*
  Piloting Skill 
  Modifi er
  Light
  1–15
  +1
  0
  Medium
  16–40
  +2
  +1
  Heavy
  41–90
  +3
  +2
  Hardened
  91–150
  +4
  +5
  Cost to Enter Any Hex
  1
  *Infantry (except mechanized infantry) pay only 1 MP to enter a building hex 
  regardless of building type; ProtoMechs and mechanized infantry only 
  pay 2 MP to enter a building hex.
  BUILDING MOVEMENT 
  MODIFIERS TABLE
  Hexes Moved 
  In Turn
  Piloting Skill 
  Modifi er
  Hexes Moved 
  In Turn
  Piloting Skill 
  Modifi er
  1–2
  0
  10–17
  +4
  3–4
  +1
  18–24
  +5
  5–6
  +2
  25+
  +6
  7–9
  +3
  
  addition, modify the roll for the unit’s movement per the Building 
  Movement Modifi ers Table, above. If the roll is successful, the unit 
  takes no damage. If the roll is unsuccessful, the unit takes damage 
  equal to the building hex’s current CF divided by 10 (round up). 
  This damage hits from the front if the unit was moving forward 
  into the hex, from the rear if the unit was moving backward into 
  the hex. The damage hits from the left or right side as appropriate 
  for a four-legged ’Mech entering a building using a lateral shift. 
  A failed roll does not cause a ’Mech to fall. In addition, whenever 
  a ’Mech or vehicle enters a building hex, the hex suff ers damage 
  equal to the unit’s tonnage divided by 10 (rounded up), regardless 
  of the Piloting/Driving Skill Roll result. 
  Vehicles: Vehicles that fail their Driving Skill Roll when entering 
  a building hex must make one immediate roll on the Motive 
  System Damage Table (see p. 193).
  Large Support Vehicles: Large vehicles infl ict double the 
  standard damage against buildings when entering a building hex. 
  Falling: If a ’Mech falls inside a building hex, it infl icts the same 
  damage on the building hex as though the unit entered the 
  building hex.
  Infantry and ProtoMechs
  Infantry enter building hexes as though entering clear terrain, 
  paying only 1 Ground MP to enter a building hex, regardless of 
  building type. Mechanized infantry must pay 2 Ground MP to 
  enter a building hex, but a mechanized infantry unit with only 1 
  Ground MP available may still enter the building if it qualifi es under 
  the Minimum Movement rule (see p. 49). Infantry units may enter a 
  building at a higher level, just like a ’Mech. When moving from one 
  building hex to an adjacent building hex (including when inside a 
  multi-hex building), infantry may only use Ground MP. 
  ProtoMechs enter and move through buildings according to the 
  rules for infantry, except that ProtoMechs must pay an additional 
  1 MP (for a total of 2) to enter each building hex and cannot enter 
  buildings using the rules for battle armor with Jumping MP. In 
  addition, whenever a ProtoMech enters a building hex, the hex 
  suff ers 1 point of damage.
  Battle Armor
  A battle armor unit with Jumping MP may enter a building at 
  any level higher than ground level (Level 0), provided that level 
  is equal to or less than the sum of the battle armor’s Jumping MP 
  plus the level of the battle armor unit in the hex where the jump 
  started. The unit must have suffi  cient Jumping MP to allow it to 
  enter the target building hex (1 MP); it must have line of sight to 
  the target building hex level before starting movement; and it 
  cannot enter such a hex if that would violate the stacking rules. 
  Finally, when using Jumping MP to enter a building hex below 
  the level of the roof, the battle armor unit’s movement ends 
  immediately upon entering the fi rst building hex.
  When the battle armor unit jumps into a building hex (not 
  including the roof), it must make an Anti-’Mech Skill roll. The 
  controlling player should fi rst consult the Piloting Skill Modifi er 
  column of the Building Modifi ers Table and apply the appropriate 
  target number modifi er for the building type. If the roll is successful, 
  the battle armor unit takes no damage. If unsuccessful, the battle 
  armor unit takes a single hit, with damage based on the building 
  type. A light building infl icts 2 points of damage; a medium 
  building, 3 points; a heavy building, 4 points; and a hardened 
  building, 5 points. Regardless of the roll result, the building never 
  takes damage from battle-armored infantry movement. A battle 
  armor unit does not make an Anti-’Mech Skill roll when using 
  Jumping MP to leave a building hex.
  A battle armor unit with VTOL MP may enter a building hex at a 
  level higher than ground level (Level 0). The unit simply moves into 
  the target building hex at the same building level as the level of the 
  adjacent hex it left. The battle armor unit must have suffi  cient VTOL 
  MP to allow it to enter the target building hex (1 MP), and it cannot 
  enter such a hex if that would violate the stacking rules. Finally, when 
  using VTOL MP to enter a building hex below roof level, the battle 
  armor unit’s movement ends immediately upon entering the fi rst 
  building hex. Unlike Jumping MP, a battle armor unit using VTOL MP 
  to enter a building hex does not make an Anti-’Mech Skill roll.
  In the Entering Building Hex Diagram 1 below, two enemy 
  units on the City (Downtown) map are moving through or into 
  building hexes.
  Player 1 wants to move his 65-ton JagerMech (Piloting Skill 
  5) through a medium building (CF 40) hex to ﬁ re at units on 
  the other side. The JagerMech starts in Hex A and will move 
  to Hex C. The ’Mech runs one hex so that it is adjacent to the 
  building hex (Hex B), then spends 3 MP to enter Hex B. As the 
  ’Mech enters Hex B, the player must make a Piloting Skill Roll, 
  modiﬁ ed by +1 because this is a medium building. This gives 
  Player 1 a modiﬁ ed target number of 6 (5 + 1 = 6). As shown 
  on the Building Movement Modiﬁ ers Table, the player need 
  not add another modiﬁ er for the unit’s movement because the 
  JagerMech only moved two hexes so far. The player rolls 2D6 
  and gets a result of 10, a success. The BattleMech suﬀ ers no 
  damage, but the building hex takes 7 points of damage (the 
  JagerMech’s 65 tons divided by 10, rounded up), leaving it with 
  a current CF of 33. The JagerMech then moves into Hex C.
  Had Hex C had been a building hex, Player 1 would need to 
  make another Piloting Skill Roll to enter it. This time he would 
  add a +1 building movement modiﬁ er, because the ’Mech 
  would be moving into its third hex, thereby raising the target 
  number to 7 (5 + 1 + 1 = 7). On a die roll result of 6 or less, the 
  JagerMech would suﬀ er 4 points of damage (Hex C’s current CF 
  of 40 divided by 10, rounded up. Hex C would suﬀ er 7 points of 
  damage, reducing its current CF to 33. 
  LEVEL 0
  LEVEL 1
  LEVEL 2
  LEVEL 3
  LEVEL 4
  0405
  • ENTERING BUILDING HEX DIAGRAM 1• 
  
  169
  169
  BUILDINGS
  BUILDINGS
  Player 2 has an Elemental battle armor unit (Anti-
  ’Mech Skill 4) in Hex D, at Level 3 (on the top ﬂ oor of that 
  building). The unit is out of short-range missile ammo, and 
  so if Player 2 wants to ﬁ re on the JagerMech he’ll need to 
  move the battle armor unit within three hexes of the target 
  (the range of the unit’s small laser). While Player 2 doesn’t 
  wish to leave his battle armor unit out in the open, he 
  also doesn’t want to enter the target hex at Level 3 of the 
  building in Hex B; his opponent’s infantry unit on that level 
  has already moved in the current Ground Movement Phase. 
  Player 2 veriﬁ es that he has line-of-sight to the target hex 
  building level from the battle armor’s current location, and 
  that the unit has suﬃ  cient Jumping MP. The player wants 
  to move his battle armor to Level 4 in the building hex, 
  and the unit is already at Level 3, so Player 2 needs only 1 
  Jumping MP to make the vertical move. The battle armor’s 
  Jumping MP is 3; adding that to its current level makes 
  6. Level 4 in the target hex building is less than 6, and so 
  Player 2 can make the jump (the player will expend all of 
  the Jumping MP of the battle armor to actually traverse the 
  three hexes to enter Hex B).
   As the battle armor unit enters the building hex, the player 
  must make an Anti-’Mech Skill roll. Player 2 checks the Piloting 
  Skill Modiﬁ er column on the Building Modiﬁ ers Table and 
  applies the +1 modiﬁ er for a medium building, and another 
  +1 because the unit is jumping. This gives him a modiﬁ ed 
  target number of 6 (4 + 1 + 1 = 6). The player rolls 2D6 and 
  gets a result of 3. The battle armor unit suﬀ ers 3 points of 
  damage, but is now inside the building at Level 4 and ready 
  to attack the JagerMech during the Weapon Attack Phase.
   Because battle armor is a type of infantry unit, the building 
  takes no damage from the unit’s movement. Finally, even if 
  the unit had spare MP and Player 2 wished to move it further, 
  the use of Jumping MP to enter a building hex at a level 
  below the roof immediately ends that unit’s movement.
  Changing Levels in a Building
  Once inside a building, a ’Mech may not change levels, 
  except as noted under Basements, p. 179. Vehicles cannot 
  move beyond the ground fl oor (Level 0).
  Infantry and ProtoMechs may change levels in a building 
  hex as though entering clear terrain. Infantry pays 1 Ground 
  MP to move up or down one level regardless of building type, 
  except for mechanized infantry, which must pay 2 Ground 
  MP to change levels. If a mechanized infantry unit only has 
  1 Ground MP available, it can still change levels in a building 
  using the Minimum Movement rule (see p. 49 ). Provided the 
  unit has the necessary MP, infantry can enter a building hex and 
  change levels in that hex during the same turn. ProtoMechs 
  follow the rules for mechanized infantry when changing levels 
  in a building hex, but infl icts 1 point of damage to the building 
  hex for each level it enters.
  Stacking: Normal stacking limits are in eff ect at each level 
  in a building, in each hex. Players should remember that each 
  level of a building hex can support tonnage equal to the hex’s 
  current CF.
  In the Entering Building Hex 
  Diagram 2 at left, two ’Mechs are 
  on the City (Downtown) map. 
  The ’Mech in Hex B is adjacent 
  to the Level 5 building in Hex C. 
  The ’Mech may attempt to enter 
  the building hex at ground level, 
  or it may jump up to the roof (provided it has 5 
  or more Jumping MP). The ’Mech on the roof of 
  the adjacent Level 3 building hex (Hex A) may 
  jump or climb to the roof of the building in Hex 
  C, or it may use ground movement to enter Hex 
  C at Level 3.
  • ENTERING BUILDING HEX DIAGRAM 2 • 
  RA 
  RA
  A Beta Galaxy Mad Cat from Clan Wolf’s Thirteenth Battle Cluster searches abandoned buildings for isorla. 
  
  Exiting Building Hexes
  In addition to the rules in Moving Through Buildings (p. 167) for 
  entering a building hex, when a unit exits a building into a non-
  building hex, the following rule applies.
  Unless a unit is using Jumping or VTOL MP, it cannot enter a 
  new hex with a level more than one level higher or lower than 
  the unit’s current level (more than two for BattleMechs). If using 
  VTOL or Jumping MP, the restrictions on level changes for those 
  movement types apply (see pp. 54 and 53, respectively).
  In the Exiting Buildings Diagram 1 below, the controlling 
  player has several units on the City (Skyscraper) map that he 
  wishes to move oﬀ  of their buildings (the buildings are close to 
  collapsing).
  Unfortunately for the infantry platoon, infantry can only change 
  one level per hex. In addition, this infantry unit cannot use the 
  Minimum Movement rule, because such a move is prohibited per 
  the Movement Cost Table (again, it cannot change more than one 
  level per hex). The controlling player has no choice but spend the 
  infantry unit’s 1 MP to move to Level 1 in the building during this 
  Ground Movement Phase. He would then move the unit to Level 0 in 
  a subsequent turn, and ﬁ nally exit the building during the Ground 
  Movement Phase of the turn after that.
  A ’Mech in Hex B is at Level 7, and so its controlling player can 
  make two moves. The ’Mech can use ground movement to enter 
  Hex 4; because the ’Mech is moving onto the roof, it can make the 
  level change. From there, the ’Mech can enter hexes 5 or 6 at Level 6. 
  Because no additional adjacent building roofs are within two levels 
  of the ’Mech’s current level, however, the controlling player chooses 
  a diﬀ erent move. He has the ’Mech use its jump jets 
  to move out of Hex B and into a non-building hex 
  (a ´Mech cannot enter a building hex if it uses jump 
  jets, except to land on a roof). 
  In Hex C, a ’Mech and an Elemental battle armor 
  unit are at Level 28 in the building. If the ’Mech had 
  jump jets, it could exit the building hex through 
  hexes 7, 8 or 9 (a unit can jump down any number 
  of levels using jump jets). If the ’Mech has no jump 
  jets, he is stuck at that level of the building for the 
  rest of the game; the player will know next time not 
  to start the game with the ’Mech in a building level 
  it cannot exit.
  A ’Mech and a riﬂ e (ballistic) foot platoon are on the roof 
  in Hex A (Level 2). The controlling player wishes to move his 
  ’Mech oﬀ  of the building as quickly as possible. Hexes 1, 2 and 
  3 all have levels within the two-level limit on level changes for 
  ´Mechs, and so the ´Mech can enter any of them provided it 
  has suﬃ  cient MP available. If it had jump jets, the ´Mech could 
  simply jump to its target hex, as none of the hexes into which it 
  might move contain buildings (a ´Mech cannot enter a building 
  hex using jump jets, except to land on a roof). 
  LEVELS 0-6
  LEVELS 0-27
  LEVELS 8-24
  0804
  0802
  LEVEL 7
  LEVEL 30
  LEVEL 29
  LEVEL 28
  LEVELS 0-3
  LEVEL 4
  0804
  LEVELS 5-8
  • EXITING BUILDINGS DIAGRAM 1 • 
  • EXITING BUILDINGS DIAGRAM 2 • 
  
  171
  171
  BUILDINGS
  BUILDINGS
  The battle armor, also using its jump jets, could exit Hex C 
  through hexes 7, 8 or 9. As with the ’Mech, it can jump down 
  any number of levels. However, unlike the ’Mech, if another 
  building hex lies within range of its Jumping MP, the 
  Elemental battle armor unit could enter that hex, using its 
  Anti-’Mech Skill (see Moving Through Buildings, p. 167).
  Also in Hex C, a Sylph battle armor unit is at Level 29. 
  The unit has VTOL MP 5, so it cannot move to Level 0 in 
  hexes 7, 8 or 9, but it can spend 1 MP to move into any of 
  those hexes and then 4 more MP to descend to Level 25 
  (or continue at the same level for four more hexes, or any 
  combination thereof). As with the Elemental battle armor, 
  if an appropriate building hex is in range, the Sylph can use 
  its Anti-’Mech Skill to enter that building.
  In Exiting Buildings Diagram 2 on p. 170, a ’Mech in Hex 
  D is at Level 4. Any new hex the ’Mech attempts to enter 
  is a building hex, and so it cannot use jumping movement 
  this turn. The controlling player can move the ’Mech to 
  hexes a, b, c, d or e this turn, with the idea of jumping 
  out of any of those hexes in the following turn’s Ground 
  Movement Phase. Depending on its facing, the ’Mech can 
  also use ground movement to enter hexes f or g on the roof 
  of either building hex; provided the ’Mech has suﬃ  cient 
  MP available, the player can make such a move in this 
  turn. If the ’Mech moved to hexes I, II, III or IV, it could not 
  use Jumping MP to exit any of those hexes, as it would 
  immediately enter another building hex below roof level.
  The ’Meches in hexes A, B and C, if they move using any 
  of the options listed above, do not enter a building hex at 
  below the level of the roof and so do not need to make any 
  Piloting Skill Rolls to avoid damage and do not damage 
  the building. Any move the ’Mech in hex D makes will 
  automatically damage the building hex the unit enters 
  and force the ’Mech to make an immediate Piloting Skill 
  Roll to avoid damage.
  COMBAT EFFECTS
  Combat in and around buildings may damage the buildings 
  and the units inside. Players may attack units inside buildings, 
  or the buildings themselves.
  ATTACKING BUILDINGS
  Units fi ring directly at a building hex add a –4 to-hit modifi er 
  for fi ring at an immobile target. Weapon attacks targeted at 
  a building hex from adjacent hexes always hit (use the full 
  Damage Value for Cluster Weapons; i.e. Cluster Weapons do 
  not use the Cluster Hits Table when determining damage 
  against a building hex), as do all physical attacks (though 
  players must still roll for weapon eff ects such as jamming if 
  fi ring an Ultra autocannon at double the standard rate, and 
  so on).
  When a building hex suff ers damage, subtract the damage 
  points from the building hex’s current CF and write the 
  resulting number in pencil on the back of the counter or on 
  a piece of scratch paper (with the hex number, to keep track 
  of which building hexes have been damaged). When the 
  cumulative damage equals or exceeds the building hex’s CF, 
  fl ip the counter over to the rubble side, or generate a rubble 
  counter for use with buildings pre-printed on mapsheets. The 
  building hex stays rubble for the rest of the game. If it is part of 
  a multi-hex building, this may or may not result in the rest of 
  the building hexes collapsing (see Collapse, p. 176).
  ATTACKING UNITS INSIDE BUILDINGS
  Players may make attacks against units inside a building 
  hex. Any attacker must have a valid LOS to the building hex, 
  as well as the level within the building hex occupied by the 
  target unit. Like woods, building hexes block line of sight, 
  but the building hex a unit occupies is not considered when 
  determining LOS. A unit fi ring at non-infantry units inside a 
  building hex does not modify the to-hit number to represent 
  this situation, but the building provides some protection 
  against damage to the non-infantry units.
  Attacks against infantry in a building hex use diff erent rules; 
  see Infantry Inside Buildings, p. 172. 
  From each attack that hits a unit inside the building, the 
  hex absorbs an amount of damage equal to its CF at the 
  beginning of the current phase, divided by 10 (round up). 
  For this purpose, treat as a seperate attack each individual 
  Damage Value grouping for which the attacker would make 
  a hit location roll, including all cluster weapons (LRMs, 
  individual LB-X autocannon fl echettes from Cluster Ammo 
  and so on) as well as individual conventional infantry Damage 
  Value groupings. The building hex absorbs the same amount 
  of damage from each attack. Resolve the damage (reducing 
  the CF) only after all weapons fi re is complete.
  All missed shots aimed at a target inside a building hex 
  do not damage the building hex; in addition, when a cluster 
  weapon successfully strikes a target inside a building hex 
  (unless the attacker is adjacent, in which case all missed shots 
  automatically strike the building hex), any damage that does 
  not strike the target as indicated by a roll on the Cluster Hits 
  Table also does not damage the building hex. 
  ’Mechs and LOS: Because a ’Mech only occupies a single 
  level inside a building, for purposes of LOS within the same 
  multi-hex building, a ’Mech only rises one level above the 
  level of the underlying hex. 
  Physical Attacks: Physical attacks cannot be made against 
  targets in a building hex by units outside the hex, unless 
  the attacker is located in the same multi-hex building and is 
  adjacent to the target, on the same level of the building hex 
  (see Combat Within Buildings, p. 175). 
  Several opponents make successful attacks against a 
  Hunchback inside a medium building hex, hitting it with 
  an AC/10, a small laser, a large laser and nine missiles from 
  an LRM-15. The building hex has a current CF of 38. Each 
  attack’s damage is reduced by 4 (38 ÷10 = 3.8, rounded 
  up to 4). The AC/10 inﬂ icts 6 points of damage on the 
  Hunchback. The small laser inﬂ icts no damage, while the 
  large laser inﬂ icts 4 damage points. The LRM damage is 
  divided into a 5-point grouping and a 4-point grouping. 
  One point of the 5-point grouping reaches the Hunchback, 
  while the 4-point grouping is entirely absorbed by the 
  building (the six missiles from the LRM-15 that did not 
  strike the target do not damage the building hex). The 
  Hunchback takes a total of 11 points of damage, while the 
  building hex’s CF is reduced from 38 to 19 (38 – 4 – 3 – 4 
  – 4 – 4 = 19).
  
  Infantry Inside Buildings
  Because infantry are comparatively small and are trained to use 
  even the least bit of concealing terrain to their advantage, units 
  outside a building hex cannot fi re directly at infantry units inside a 
  building. They must fi re at the building hex instead. As with other 
  units, the attacker must have a valid line of sight to the building 
  hex, as well as the level within the building occupied by the target 
  infantry unit. Damage applied to the building hex from an attacker 
  that did not have LOS to the level occupied by the infantry has no 
  eff ect on the infantry unit and only damages the hex’s CF. 
  Damage done to a building hex that aff ects the infantry units 
  inside the building hex, does so according to the Infantry Damage 
  in Buildings Table (round .5 fractions up). Players should use this 
  table only when damage is intentionally infl icted on the building 
  hex from a weapon or physical attack, or from a ’Mech or vehicle 
  entering a building hex (whether intentionally or due to a skid), 
  corresponding to the level the infantry occupies. For damage to 
  battle armor infantry inside a building hex, divide the damage into 
  5-point groupings and roll 1D6 for each grouping to determine 
  hit location (see Attacks Against Battle Armor, p. 219).
  If more than one infantry unit is eff ected by such damage, the 
  damage is applied equally to all aff ected infantry units.
  If an attacker is inside a building hex and in the same hex as an 
  infantry unit, the attacker may make a weapon attack against the 
  infantry, may fi re at the building or may make a direct physical attack 
  against the infantry unit (see Combat Within Buildings, p. 175). 
  Burst-Fire Weapons: Burst-fi re weapons apply their standard 
  damage value against building hexes, not their damage vs. 
  conventional infantry (see Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, 
  p. 215).
  A controlling player wishes his ’Mech to attack a conventional 
  infantry unit hiding in a medium building hex, so the ’Mech 
  must strike the building rather than the infantry. However, 
  the ’Mech still only inﬂ icts damage as per the Non-Infantry 
  Weapon Damage against Infantry Table (see p. 216). The ’Mech 
  ﬁ res a large pulse laser (Pulse Weapon) and an Autocannon 20 
  (Direct-Fire Ballistic Weapon). 
  From the large pulse laser 10 points of damage is applied 
  to the CF of the building hex, while 50 percent of the damage, 
  Damage Value 5, is passed on to the infantry unit. The player 
  than compares the Damage Value 5 to the Non-Infantry 
  Weapon Damage Against Infantry Table, and notes that 3 
  troopers are eliminated. 
  From the AC/20 20 points of damage is applied to the 
  CF of the building hex, while once again 50 percent of that 
  damage, Damage Value 10, is passed on to the infantry unit. 
  After consulting the table once again, he determines that the 
  remaining damage eliminates a single trooper.
  AREA EFFECT WEAPONS
  Area-eff ect (AE) weapon types (as defi ned under Weapons 
  and Equipment, p. 113) aff ect building hexes in a unique fashion. 
  Because such weapons are designed to blanket an entire hex, 
  eff ectively creating a “sphere of damage,” AE weapons do not 
  simply damage the target hex or hexes, but also damage the 
  building (and any units inside it) at levels above and below the 
  level where the weapon struck. 
  Making the Attack
  AE weapons can be targeted at a specifi c level of a building 
  hex, as well as at the hex. However, LOS must exist between the 
  attacker and the target level. This means an attacker may not be 
  able to target the hex itself (Level 0) due to blocking terrain, but 
  it may have LOS to higher levels of the building in that hex and so 
  can make a valid attack against them.
  AE weapons that use a scatter diagram on a failed to-hit roll 
  must also determine what level of a building hex is struck (if 
  the fi nal hex where the AE weapon hits is a building hex). Once 
  the target hex has been determined, the player fi rst divides the 
  margin of failure (MoF) for the to-hit roll by 2 (rounding up). This 
  number represents the diff erence in levels between the original 
  level targeted and the actual level struck. Finally, the player 
  randomly rolls 1D6. On a result of 1 to 3, the diff erence in levels is 
  down; on a result of 4 to 6, the diff erence in levels is up. 
  In the target hex, the target level for AE weapon damage can 
  never go below Level 0 (unless a basement already exists in that 
  hex; see Basements, p. 179), or above the building hex’s highest 
  level. If the diff erence in levels would make the target level higher 
  than the roof, the damage is applied to the roof of the building. 
  If elevated terrain (for example, a hill) or a building is in the hex 
  adjacent to the target hex along the LOS between the attacker and 
  the target building hex, the AE weapon may strike the adjacent 
  hex instead. Once the players have determined the diff erence 
  between the target level and the actual level struck, compare 
  that to the level of the building in the adjacent hex. If the level in 
  the adjacent hex is greater than the targeted level in the target 
  hex, the attack strikes the adjacent hex instead. Regardless of the 
  height of the building in the adjacent hex, the damage is always 
  applied to the roof in that hex. 
  RA 
  RA
  Clan Wolf Elementals fi nish securing a building.
  INFANTRY DAMAGE IN BUILDINGS TABLE
  Building Type
  Damage to Infantry is:
  Light
  75 percent of damage to building
  Medium
  50 percent of damage to building
  Heavy
  25 percent of damage to building
  Hardened
  None
  
  173
  173
  BUILDINGS
  BUILDINGS
  Resolving Damage
  When an AE weapon strikes a building hex, use the following 
  rules to resolve damage. In all cases, building hexes do not 
  absorb any damage until after it is applied to units occupying 
  a building hex. Players should apply the full damage value for 
  an AE weapon to all aff ected units.
  It is important to note that while the assignment of damage 
  is tracked per level within a building hex to determine what 
  units (if any) are damaged and how much damage is applied 
  over all to a building, the total CF of a building hex is tracked 
  per hex, not per level.
  If an AE weapon damages a single hex: 
  • 
  In the target hex and at the target level, standard AE 
  weapon damage is applied to all units per the rules for 
  the AE weapon in use.
  • 
  Damage is also applied one level above and one level 
  below the target level in the same building hex; the 
  weapon’s standard damage is divided by 2 (rounded up) 
  and applied to all units in those two additional levels (use 
  the Special Hit Location Table when determining damage 
  location for ’Mechs in the levels above and below the 
  target level).
  • 
  Damage to the building hex’s CF is two times the 
  standard damage value for the target level, and equal 
  to the standard damage value for the levels above and 
  below the target level (if any).
  If an AE weapon damages a target hex and the six 
  adjacent hexes:
  • 
  In the target hex and the six adjacent hexes (at the target 
  level in all seven hexes), standard AE weapon damage is 
  applied to all units per the rules for the AE weapon in use.
  • 
  In the target hex, damage is also applied to two levels 
  above and two levels below the target level. For the fi rst 
  levels above and below the target level, standard damage 
  is applied. For the second levels above and below the 
  target level, the weapon’s standard damage is divided by 
  2 (rounded up). In both cases, damage is applied to all 
  units in those levels (use the Special ’Mech Hit Location 
  Table when determining damage location for ’Mechs in 
  the levels above and below the target level).
  • 
  In the adjacent six hexes to the target hex, damage is 
  also applied one level above and one level below the 
  target level; the weapon’s standard damage is divided 
  by 2 (rounded up) and applied to all units in those two 
  additional levels (use the Special Hit Location Table when 
  determining damage location for ’Mechs in the levels 
  above and below the target level).
  • 
  Damage to the building hexes’ CF is three times the 
  standard damage value for the target hex and level, two 
  times the standard damage value for the six adjacent 
  hexes as well as the levels above and below the target 
  hex level, and the standard damage value for the levels 
  above and below the six adjacent hexes as well as the 
  second levels above and below the target hex level.
  In the AE Weapons Diagram on p. 174, on the City 
  (Downtown) map, Player 2 has parked an entire Star of 
  Golem battle armor in buildings and is causing havoc for 
  Player 1’s ground units: two battle armor units at Level 2 
  in Hex A, a battle armor at Level 0 in Hex A, one in Hex B 
  at Level 3 and the ﬁ nal unit at Level 0 in Building Hex C. 
  A single Sylph battle armor unit has also just left Hex A at 
  Level 2 and is now in Hex D at Level 2. 
  Player 1 might use some of his ground units to snipe 
  at the enemy battle armor—speciﬁ cally, his Tempest 
  and a riﬂ e (energy) mechanized platoon in Hex G—or he 
  could attempt to destroy the building hexes in which the 
  Golem battle armor are taking cover. However, he has to 
  deal with the opponent’s other ground units in the open. 
  Also, destroying multiple building hexes takes signiﬁ cant 
  amounts of time and energy. Player 2 would likely move 
  the Golem battle armor from building hex to building 
  hex, forcing Player 1 to spend more time and dividing his 
  ﬁ repower: a sure recipe for losing the battle. Instead, Player 
  1 decides to bring in area eﬀ ect weapons.
  At the end of the Aerospace Movement Phase on a low-
  altitude map, Player 1’s Shiva aerospace ﬁ ghter (Gunnery 
  4) is in the atmospheric hex corresponding to the City 
  (Downtown) ground mapsheet. He designates an attack 
  path over the map that includes the building hexes in 
  question (see Air-To-Ground Attacks, p. 242); if the player 
  was using the Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets 
  rules, see p. 91, the attack path would have to correspond 
  to the actual ﬂ ight path across the map. 
  During the Weapon Attack Phase, Player 1 announces that 
  the Shiva will dive-bomb Hex A. While Hex C along the ﬂ ight 
  path has a Level of 5, the Shiva is higher than the intervening 
  terrain and so Player 1 can designate any level of Hex A as the 
  target. He cannot, however, designate any level except Level 
  9 (the roof) of Hex B, as Hex A and B along the Shiva’s line of 
  sight are in the same multi-hex building. In the end, Player 1 
  announces the Shiva will drop one HE (high explosive) and 
  two cluster bombs, targeted at Level 2 in Hex A.
  The modiﬁ ed to-hit target number for the dive-bombing 
  attack is 6 (4 Gunnery + 2 for the dive-bombing modiﬁ er). 
  If the attack is successful, all three bombs hit the target 
  building hex at the level designated.
  The order of bomb damage resolution has no eﬀ ect, and 
  so Player 1 simply starts with the ﬁ rst HE bomb. It inﬂ icts 
  10 points of damage against all units in the target hex and 
  levels. In the case of battle armor, area eﬀ ect weapons inﬂ ict 
  all their damage against each trooper in a unit, and so all 
  ten troopers in both Golem battle armor units at Level 2 in 
  SL 
  SL
  Galedon Regulars Reivers fi nish a straffi  ng attack run in a city. 
  
  Hex A take 10 points of damage. The HE 
  bomb also delivers 5 points of damage 
  to all units in levels 1 and 3 of Hex A, but 
  no units are in those locations. Weapon 
  damage to buildings does not take eﬀ ect 
  until the end of the phase, and so Player 
  1 decides to continue allocating damage 
  from the rest of the bombs to enemy units. 
  Afterward, he will sum up the appropriate 
  CF damage for all the building hexes 
  involved.
  Next, Player 1 resolves the ﬁ rst cluster 
  bomb. It deals 5 points of damage to all 
  ten troopers in both Golem battle armor 
  units at Level 2 in hex A. As with the HE 
  bomb, it does 5 points of damage to 
  levels 1 and 3 as well, but no units are 
  there to take damage. The cluster bomb 
  does 3 points of damage (5 divided by 2, 
  round up) to levels 0 and 4 in Hex A, and 
  so all the troopers in the Golem battle 
  armor unit at Level 0 take 3 points of 
  damage.
  In addition to damaging the target 
  hex, a cluster bomb does 5 points of 
  damage in each adjacent hex. Therefore, 
  any units in hexes C, D, E, F, and G 
  at Level/Elevation 2 take 5 points of 
  damage. The only unit in those hexes is 
  the Sylph battle armor, at Elevation 2 in Hex D. Each of the ﬁ ve 
  troopers in that battle armor unit takes 5 damage points. 
  Finally, because this area eﬀ ect weapon exploded above 
  Level 0, it inﬂ icts 3 additional points of damage (5 divided by 
  2, rounded up) to each level above and below the adjacent 
  six hexes (twelve total levels/elevations). First, all ﬁ ve troopers 
  in the Golem battle armor unit in Hex B, Level 3, take 3 points 
  of damage. The Golem battle armor unit at Level 0 in Hex C is 
  out of the blast radius and so does not take damage. The riﬂ e 
  (energy) mechanized platoon at Level 0 in Hex G likewise takes 
  no damage. Because ’Mechs rise two levels above the underlying 
  terrain, however, the upper half of the Tempest is at Level 1 and 
  so takes 3 points of damage (assigned using the Shot From 
  Above column of the Special ’Mech Hit Location Table).
  The second cluster bomb is resolved in the same manner. 
  This ﬁ nal bomb does enough damage to the Golem battle 
  armor units at Level 2 in Hex A for the 
  total to equal 20 points, eliminating 
  both units. Ten total points (from both 
  cluster bombs) are then assigned to the 
  Sylph battle armor unit at Elevation 2 
  in Hex D, which destroys that unit as 
  well. Three points of damage are then 
  assigned to each trooper in the Golem 
  battle armor unit located at Level 3 in 
  Hex B (for a total of 6 points per trooper). 
  Finally, 3 more points are assigned 
  to the Tempest (using the Shot From 
  Above column of the Special ’Mech Hit 
  Location Table).
  Now that the damage to units has 
  been resolved, Player 1 moves on to 
  calculating the CF of the damaged 
  building hexes. On a separate piece 
  of paper, he notes that the HE bomb 
  inﬂ icts 10 points of damage at Level 2 
  and 5 points each at levels 1 and 3 for 
  a total of 20 points of damage to Hex A. 
  Area eﬀ ect weapons inﬂ ict double their 
  standard damage against buildings, 
  and so the HE bomb inﬂ icts 40 points of 
  damage against Hex A.
  Next, Player 1 notes that the ﬁ rst 
  cluster bomb deals the following damage: three times standard 
  damage at Level 2 (5 x 3 = 15), two times standard damage 
  at levels 1 and 3 (5 + 5 = 10 x 2 = 20), and ﬁ nally standard 
  damage at Levels 0 and 4 (5 + 5 = 10). That damage adds 
  up to 45, bringing the running total to 85 points of damage. 
  The cluster bomb also deals two times standard damage to 
  each adjacent building hex at Level 2 (5 x 2 = 10 per hex), and 
  standard damage at levels 1 and 3 (5 + 5 = 10 per hex). This 
  means that hexes C, B and E each take 20 points of damage. 
  Player 1 repeats this process for the second cluster bomb, which 
  gives a running total of 130 damage points to Hex A and 40 
  points each to building hexes C, B and E.
  At the end of the Weapon Attack Phase, hexes A and C will 
  collapse, causing Player 2 to resolve the damage of a building 
  falling onto his Golem battle armor units at Level 0 in those 
  hexes. Because hexes A and C do not amount to more than half 
  LEVEL 0
  LEVEL 1
  LEVEL 2
  LEVEL 0
  LEVEL 0
  LEVEL 1
  LEVEL 2
  LEVEL 3
  • AE WEAPONS DIAGRAM • 
  
  175
  175
  BUILDINGS
  BUILDINGS
  of either building’s hexes, their collapse does not aﬀ ect the 
  rest of the hexes for both buildings.
  While Player 1’s Tempest took friendly ﬁ re (6 points 
  of damage), he eliminated three enemy battle armor 
  units and damaged three more (either directly with the 
  area eﬀ ect weapons or through the collapse of building 
  hexes), while eliminating two building hexes as hiding 
  spots and severely damaging the other nearby building 
  hexes, making them easier to knock down should Player 2 
  attempt to move units into them again.
  Of course, if the Shiva had missed, the bombs would 
  have scattered and could very well have ended up striking 
  Player 1’s own units…but such are the choices in battle. 
  This time, at least, the plan worked as intended.
  COMBAT WITHIN BUILDINGS
  Units fi ghting in the same building (including units occupying 
  diff erent hexes in a multi-hex building) must do so according 
  to the following special rules. Units on a building’s roof use the 
  rules given above under Attacking Units Inside Buildings. 
  Unlike standard combat, units in the same building hex (and 
  even at the same level in the same hex) can attack one another. 
  If the attacking unit is in the same building hex and on the same 
  level as the target, use the normal weapon and physical attack 
  rules, but do not modify the to-hit number for the terrain.
  When units on diff erent levels inside a building hex—or in 
  diff erent hexes (and/or levels) of a multi-hex building—fi re 
  at each other, use the standard to-hit procedures, with the 
  following modifi cations: 
  • 
  Each building hex and level acts like light woods for 
  purposes of the to-hit modifi er: a unit inside a target 
  building hex being fi red upon by another unit inside the 
  same building receives +1 to-hit modifi er, and line of 
  sight is blocked if more than two building hexes and/or 
  levels intervene between the attacker and target hex.
  • 
  Do not add a level to a ’Mech’s height when it is inside a 
  building hex for line of sight purposes.
  • 
  If a shot from a diff erent level than the level a ‘Mech occupies 
  hits that ‘Mech, roll 1D6 and consult the appropriate section 
  of the Special ’Mech Hit Location Table. If the ’Mech is prone, 
  use the Front/Rear column of the standard ’Mech Hit Location 
  Table (see p. 119). 
  • 
  If a shot from a diff erent level hits a vehicle, consult that 
  vehicle’s Hit Location Table. The shot (meaning every 
  individual weapon attack, including damage-point 
  groupings) hits a randomly determined side of the 
  vehicle. If a shot from the same level hits a vehicle, the 
  vehicle’s facing in relation to the shot determines which 
  column to use on the vehicle’s Hit Location Table.
  • 
  Some attack damage against infantry units may be 
  assigned to the building hex the infantry unit occupies, 
  depending on the building type (see Infantry Damage 
  From Attacks Inside Buildings Table, at left).
  Burst Fire Weapons and Conventional Infantry: When 
  burst-fi re weapons are used against conventional infantry in 
  a building hex, treat such weapons as non-burst fi re weapons 
  and assign damage per the Non-Infantry Weapon Damage 
  Against Infantry Table. All such weapons are considered direct 
  fi re (ballistic); see Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, p. 215.
  RA 
  RA
  AS7-D Atlas, Third Crucis Lancers (House Davion)
  SPECIAL ’MECH HIT LOCATION TABLE
  Shot from Above
  Die Roll (1D6)
  Hit Location (Four legged)**
  1
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  2
  Front/Rear Left Torso*
  3
  Front/Rear Center Torso*
  4
  Front/Rear Right Torso*
  5
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  6
  Head
  Shot from Below
  Die Roll (1D6)
  Hit Location (Four legged)**
  1
  Left Leg (Left Front Leg)
  2
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  3
  Front/Rear Left Torso*
  4
  Front/Rear Right Torso*
  5
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  6
  Right Leg (Right Front Leg)
  *The attack hits the front if from the front or the side. It hits the rear if from 
  the rear.
  **Location in parenthesis are for a four-legged ’Mech.
  INFANTRY DAMAGE FROM ATTACKS 
  INSIDE BUILDINGS TABLE
  Building Type
  Damage to Infantry is:
  Light
  All damage is assigned to infantry unit
  Medium
  All damage is assigned to infantry unit
  Heavy
  75 percent of damage to building
  Hardened
  50 percent of damage to building
  
  In the Building Combat Diagram above, on the City 
  (Residential) map, Player 1 has a Siren 2 ProtoMech (Gunnery 
  4) on the hunt for infantry and has run to enter Building Hex 
  A at Level 0. Player 2 has three infantry units: a riﬂ e (energy) 
  jump platoon that did not move this turn at Level 4 (the roof) 
  in Hex A, a Kobold (TAG) battle armor unit that jumped 3 hexes 
  to Level 1 of Hex A, and an LRM jump platoon (Gunnery 5) that 
  moved from Level 3 to Level 2 in Hex C.
  During the Weapon Attack Phase, Player 1 determines which 
  infantry unit the Siren 2 will attack. He sees that 3 building hex 
  levels are between the Siren 2 (Level 0, Hex A) and the riﬂ e 
  (energy) jump platoon (Level 4, Hex A). Three or more hexes 
  and/or levels of intervening building between attacker and 
  target means line of sight is not valid, and so Player 1 cannot 
  attack the riﬂ e jump platoon.
  The modiﬁ ed to-hit target number for the Kobold is 13 (4 
  Gunnery, + 2 because the Siren ran, + 2 for medium range 
  using the Siren’s machine guns, + 2 for the target movement 
  modiﬁ er, +3 for the building hex between the Siren and the 
  target, the building hex the target occupies and the diﬀ erence 
  in levels). Player 1 cannot make this attack, either. 
  The modiﬁ ed to-hit target number for the LRM jump platoon 
  is 8 (4 Gunnery, + 2 because the Siren ran, + 2 for the building 
  hex the target occupies and the diﬀ erence in levels), making 
  that unit the only one suitable for attack. However, even if the 
  attack strikes the infantry unit, the Siren’s machine guns will 
  only do their standard 2 points of damage to the platoon rather 
  than the brutal 2D6 points of damage each, if the LRM jump 
  platoon was not in a building hex. In addition, the 2 points 
  will be reduced to 1 point because the infantry unit occupies a 
  hardened building hex; a quick check of the Infantry Damage 
  From Attacks Inside Buildings Table shows that the building 
  absorbs 50 percent of any damage dealt to an infantry unit.
  COLLAPSE
  A building hex will collapse if it takes total damage equal to or 
  greater than its CF, or if the combined tonnage of units occupying 
  any one level of a building hex above the ground fl oor exceeds 
  the current CF of that building hex; regardless of whether a 
  building has a basement or not, this never includes Level 0 of a 
  building hex (see Basements, p. 179). (This tonnage rule applies 
  to infantry; use the Tons of Cargo Space Occupied column on 
  the Generic Conventional Infantry or Battle Armor Organization/
  Weight Tables for this calculation.)
  Because CF is tracked per hex of a multi-hex building, the 
  collapse of one hex will not aff ect any other hex in that building, 
  unless it brings the total of collapsed hexes to more than half, in 
  which case the entire building collapses.
  When a building hex (or a multi-hex building) collapses because 
  its maximum weight limit has been exceeded, or because of 
  damage from unit movement, it falls immediately. If it collapses 
  due to damage from attacks, the collapse occurs at the end of the 
  attack phase in which the damage was infl icted.
  When a building hex collapses, any unit inside suff ers damage 
  equal to the hex’s CF at the beginning of the current phase 
  divided by 10, multiplied by the number of levels of building 
  above the aff ected unit (round up). In a multi-hex building where 
  the remaining hexes collapse simultaneously, the CF per hex may 
  vary, depending upon the course of the game, what damage 
  has been tracked per hex and so on. Units on top of a collapsing 
  building hex suff er damage as though they were on the highest 
  level inside it.
  Players divide this damage into 5-point groupings, with any 
  remaining points assigned to a fi nal grouping. Each grouping is 
  then assigned to a diff erent hit location. For ’Mechs on the roof 
  of a building hex, use the Front column of the ’Mech Hit Location 
  Table; for ’Mechs inside a building hex, use the Front column of the 
  ’Mech Punch Hit Location Table; for ProtoMechs, use the Special 
  ProtoMech Hit Location Table; for vehicles, use the Front column 
  of the Ground Vehicle Hit Location Table; for conventional infantry, 
  apply the damage as though it were an attack from another 
  infantry unit (see Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, p. 215). 
  Basements and Collapse: When a building hex collapses, the 
  rules assume that the resulting rubble will fi ll in any basement the 
  building might have had. A building with a basement becomes 
  a rubble hex equal to the level of the terrain underneath the 
  building, not a sublevel rubble hex. If the collapse occurs as a 
  unit moves into the building hex at Level 0 for the fi rst time in 
  the scenario, the controlling player need not make a basement 
  roll (see Basements, p. 179). If a unit occupies a basement when a 
  building hex collapses, that unit is destroyed. 
  LEVEL 0
  LEVEL 1
  LEVEL 2
  LEVEL 3
  LEVEL 4
  LEVEL 0
  LEVEL 1
  LEVEL 0
  LEVEL 1
  LEVEL 2
  1311
  1309
  1410
  • BUILDING COMBAT DIAGRAM • 
  
  177
  177
  BUILDINGS
  BUILDINGS
  Extra Damage to Infantry: Conventional infantry suff ers 
  three times the normal damage caused by a collapsing 
  building hex. Battle armor and mechanized infantry suff er 
  twice the normal damage. 
  Falling: Any units occupying a building level higher than 0 
  (including the roof) suff er standard falling damage (see Unit 
  Displacement, p. 151) in addition to the damage caused by the 
  collapse.
  Damage and Displacement
  Damage from moving into a hex is applied fi rst, if the 
  unit fails its Piloting Skill Roll for entering a hex. All damage 
  from the collapsing building hex or hexes is resolved next 
  for all units involved, followed by falling damage (if any; see 
  Falling Damage to a ’Mech, p. 68) and then unit displacement 
  (accidental falls from above, domino eff ect and so on; see Unit 
  Displacement, p. 151). When determining unit displacement, 
  the units located in the lowest levels are dealt with fi rst, then 
  units in higher levels. If multiple units occupy a level, randomly 
  determine which unit’s fall and displacement is resolved fi rst. 
  If enough units are occupying diff erent levels of a multi-
  level building hex when it collapses, and those units survive 
  the collapse, some units may be displaced multiple times. If a 
  unit cannot be displaced (for example, all the adjacent hexes 
  are prohibited terrain), the unit is destroyed.
  In the Building Collapse Diagram at left, on the City 
  (Residential) map, Player 1 wants the following to happen 
  by the end of the same Ground Movement Phase: a Locust
  to walk from Hex A to Level 2 of a building in Hex B, two 
  infantry units to move to Hex B, and a Spider to jump to 
  Hex B. (Because a ’Mech cannot enter a building hex using 
  Jumping MP, the Spider must land on the roof, and so it 
  will end up at Level 3). Player 1 lost the initiative, and so 
  Player 2 plans to move his Marauder last, walking from 
  Hex C through Hex D to Level 0 of Hex E. 
  The building itself has taken signiﬁ cant damage. Each 
  hex with an X represents a collapsed building hex that 
  is now rubble, while hexes D and E each only have 8 CF 
  remaining. Hex B has taken 1 point of damage, leaving it 
  with a CF of 39.
  As the Locust enters Hex B, Player 1 must make a 
  Piloting Skill Roll to avoid damage against a modiﬁ ed 
  Target Number of 7: 5 (Piloting Skill) + 1 (four hexes moved, 
  including the building hex the unit is attempting to enter) 
  + 1 (Medium Building). Regardless of whether the roll 
  is successful, Hex B takes 2 points of damage (20 for the 
  tonnage of the Locust divided by 10), leaving the building 
  hex with a current CF of 37.
  Following the Locust’s move, Player 1 moves a riﬂ e 
  (ballistic) foot platoon from Hex C to Hex B using 
  Ground MP, ending up at Level 0 inside the building. 
  Because it is the ﬁ rst unit to enter this building hex at 
  Level 0 in the scenario, Player 1 must immediately roll 
  2D6 for a basement. He gets a 9, indicating a small 
  basement. Next, Player 1 moves the other infantry 
  unit, a standard Inner Sphere battle armor unit. It 
  jumps to the roof of Hex B.
  After the infantry units move, the Spider jumps 
  to the roof of the building in hex B. An infantry unit 
  can occupy the same hex as a ’Mech, so this does 
  not violate the stacking limit. No Piloting Skill Roll is 
  required to enter the hex, nor is the hex damaged. 
  The combined weight of the Locust (20 tons), Spider 
  (30 tons), battle armor (5 tons) and riﬂ e platoon (3 
  tons) is 58 tons, more than the building’s current CF 
  of 37. (The infantry unit on Level 0 does not add its 
  weight whether there is a basement or not.) However, 
  because all these units are located on three diﬀ erent 
  levels in the hex, their combined weight does not 
  collapse the hex. (The combined weight of the Spider 
  and the battle armor—the only two units on the same 
  level—is 35 tons, 2 less than the current CF.)
  Player 2 can now make his planned move. His 
  Marauder ﬁ rst walks from Hex C to Hex D, ending up 
  at Level 0 inside the building in Hex D. As with the Locust, 
  Player 2 must make a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid damage 
  upon entering the building hex, against a modiﬁ ed Target 
  Number of 6: 5 (Piloting Skill) + 1 (medium building). 
  Regardless of the roll’s success or failure, the building hex 
  LEVEL 0
  LEVEL 1
  LEVEL 2
  LEVEL 3
  • BUILDING COLLAPSE DIAGRAM • 
  
  takes 8 points of damage (75 for the tonnage of the Marauder
  divided by 10 = 7.5, rounding up to 8). 
  Hex D has a current CF of 8, and so it collapses. Before 
  any other action is taken in the game, that collapse must be 
  resolved. Because the building collapses as the Marauder is 
  entering the hex, no roll is needed to determine if the building 
  hex has a basement. The collapse of Hex D does not exceed more 
  than half the total hexes of the multi-hex building. The entire 
  building spans eighteen hexes, of which Hex D is the ninth to 
  collapse; the rest of the building hexes remain unaﬀ ected.
  Player 2 applies damage from the collapse after any 
  damage received from entering the hex, if the Marauder failed 
  its Piloting Skill Roll. At the beginning of the Ground Movement 
  Phase, Hex D’s CF was 8; divided by 10, this gives a base damage 
  of 0.8. The building had 3 levels above the Marauder, and so 
  the ´Mech takes 3 points of damage (base damage 0.8 x 3 = 2.4 
  (rounded up to 3). Player 2 assigns the 3 damage points using 
  the Front/Back column of the ’Mech Punch Hit Location Table.
  Having applied all appropriate damage, Player 2 can 
  continue the Marauder’s movement into Hex E. As before, he 
  must make a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid damage upon entering 
  this building hex, against a modiﬁ ed Target Number of 6. If the 
  roll fails, damage is taken immediately. Regardless of success 
  or failure, Hex E takes 8 points of damage (75 for the tonnage 
  of the Marauder divided by 10 = 7.5, rounding up to 8). Like Hex 
  D, Hex E has a current CF of 8, and so the Marauder’s entrance 
  collapses it. The collapse occurs as the Marauder entered the 
  hex, meaning no basement roll is required.
  The collapse of hex E means that ten of the building’s 
  eighteen hexes have collapsed. Ten is more than half, and so 
  the rest of the building hexes automatically collapse as well. 
  These events must be resolved before the players take any 
  other action in the game.
  First, the players apply damage inﬂ icted by the collapsing 
  building. In the case of the Marauder, at the beginning of the 
  Ground Movement Phase, Hex E had a CF of 8. Divided by 10, 
  this gives a base damage of 0.8. The building had 3 levels above 
  the Marauder, and so the ´Mech takes 3 points of damage 
  (base damage 0.8 x 3 = 2.4, rounded up to 3). Player 2 assigns 
  the damage using the Front/Back column of the ’Mech Punch 
  Hit Location Table.
  Player 1’s units, all in Hex B, fare somewhat worse. At 
  the beginning of the Ground Movement Phase, Hex B had 
  a CF of 39; divided by 10, this gives a base damage of 4 (3.9, 
  rounded up). Luckily, the Spider is on the roof, meaning that 
  no building levels are above it. It therefore takes 4 points of 
  damage, assigned against the Front/Back column of the ’Mech 
  Hit Location Table. The battle armor is likewise on the roof, 
  but battle armor takes double damage from buildings: in this 
  case, a 5-point and a 3-point hit. The Locust is at Level 2 in Hex 
  B. With only 1 level above the ’Mech, it also takes 4 points of 
  damage, applied against the Front/Back column of the Punch 
  Hit Location Table. 
  The unluckiest unit is the riﬂ e platoon on Level 0. It has three 
  building levels above it, and as a conventional infantry unit, it 
  takes three times standard damage from a building collapse. 
  The platoon takes 36 total points of damage (base damage of 
  4, x 3 for the number of levels above the unit, x 3 = 36). The unit 
  only has 28 troopers, and so is destroyed.
  Next, the players resolve falling damage. The Locust falls 
  two levels and so takes 9 points of damage: 20 tons divided 
  by 10, multiplied by the number of levels fallen +1 (2 levels 
  +1 = 3). Player 1 rolls on the Facing After a Fall Table (see p. 
  68) and gets a 1 (same direction, front). He assigns damage 
  to the front of the Locust in one 5-point grouping and one 4-
  point grouping, using the Front/Back column of the ’Mech Hit 
  Location Table. The Locust ends its fall prone at Level 0 in Hex 
  B (now a rubble hex). 
  The battle armor unit and the Spider occupy the same level, 
  and so Player 1 chooses which unit’s damage to resolve ﬁ rst. 
  He decides on the battle armor. Battle armor troopers take 1 
  point of damage per trooper for every two levels (or fractions 
  thereof) they fall. A three-level fall inﬂ icts 2 points of damage 
  to each trooper.
  Player 1 next resolves the Spider’s fall. The Spider was at 
  Level 3, more than two levels higher than the Level 0 hex it’s 
  falling into. Also, the hex contains another non-infantry unit, 
  and so Player 1 must use the Accidental Falls From Above rule. 
  The battle armor unit in the hex cannot be hit by an accidental 
  fall, and so Player 1 need only determine if the Spider strikes 
  the Locust. The modiﬁ ed Target Number is 6 (7 for the base to-
  hit number +1 for the target movement modiﬁ er, – 2 (target is 
  prone and adjacent)). 
  If the roll result equals or exceeds 6, the Spider strikes the 
  Locust and inﬂ icts 9 points of damage (the weight of the falling 
  DF 
  DF
  RFL-8D Rifl eman, Twenty-sixth Lyran Guard (House Steiner) 
  
  179
  179
  BUILDINGS
  BUILDINGS
  ’Mech divided by 10 x 3 for levels fallen) on the Locust’s 
  rear, using the Front/Back column of the ’Mech Hit Location 
  Table. Player 1 then randomly determines an adjacent 
  hex into which the Locust is displaced. If the result is less 
  than 6, the Spider does not strike the Locust, but instead is 
  displaced into a randomly determined hex adjacent to Hex 
  B. (If a building were still standing in that hex, the Spider 
  would take additional damage, but since every adjacent 
  building hex is rubble, the ’Mech is oﬀ  the hook.)
  Regardless of whether or not the Spider struck the Locust, 
  the Spider takes the same 12 points of falling damage: 30 
  tons (weight of the Spider) divided by 10, multiplied by the 
  number of levels fallen, +1 (3 levels +1 = 4). Player 1 assigns 
  the damage to the back of the Spider (per the standard 
  rules for damage resolution after an accidental fall from 
  above, see p. 152) in two 5-point groupings and one 2-
  point grouping, using the Front/Back column of the ’Mech 
  Hit Location Table. The Spider ends the fall prone at Level 
  0 with a new facing. Its exact hex placement depends on 
  whether the Spider struck the Locust or not.
  If the Locust were struck and randomly displaced into a 
  hex that contained another unit—or if the Spider missed 
  and were randomly displaced into such a hex—and if 
  the entrance of either unit into that hex would violate 
  the stacking limit, a domino eﬀ ect would occur, requiring 
  immediate resolution.
  Had the Spider instead been any ’Mech heavier than 30 
  tons, Hex B would have collapsed when the Spider made 
  its jump, as the combined weight of the heavier ’Mech 
  and the Inner Sphere battle armor would be greater than 
  the building’s current CF after the damage inﬂ icted by the 
  Locust. In this scenario, when the Marauder moved into 
  Hex D, that hex’s collapse would have demolished the rest 
  of the hexes in the multi-hex building before the Marauder 
  could continue its movement into Hex E, meaning that the 
  Marauder would have moved into a rubble hex.
  BASEMENTS
  Most building hexes have basements, which can work to a 
  unit’s advantage or disadvantage. For example, a heavy ’Mech 
  might enter a light building hex and unexpectedly crash 
  through the fl oor, suff ering damage. On the other hand, a 
  ’Mech might use a basement hex for partial cover. 
  Frequently, a building’s description in the scenario being 
  played will state whether or not it has a basement. Under 
  other circumstances, players can determine if a building has 
  a basement—and the eff ect of a unit falling into it—by rolling 
  2D6 and consulting the Basements Table below whenever 
  a unit enters a building hex at Level 0 for the fi rst time in a 
  scenario. Only one basement roll is made for each building 
  hex per scenario.
  A unit automatically falls through the fl oor into a basement 
  if the combined tonnage of all units located on Level 0 is 
  greater than the building hex’s CF at the start of the current 
  Ground Movement Phase. This rule also applies to infantry; 
  use the Tons of Cargo Space Occupied column on the Generic 
  Conventional Infantry or Battle Armor Organization/Weight 
  tables for this calculation. A collapsed basement creates a 
  sublevel below the ground fl oor of the building hex, with 
  a depth equal to the number of basement levels (1 or 2). A 
  collapsed basement will not automatically collapse the 
  building hex but the building hex will take damage equal to 
  the tonnage of the falling units divided by 10 (round fractions 
  up) double the damage for a two-level basement—for infantry 
  use the Tons of Cargo Space Occupied column on the Generic 
  Conventional Infantry or Battle Armor Organization/Weight 
  tables for this calculation.
  ProtoMechs, Vehicles and Infantry: ProtoMechs, vehicles 
  and infantry take normal falling damage (see Unit Displacement, 
  p. 151) when they fall into a basement, regardless of the roll 
  result on the Basement Table. To determine damage locations 
  for ProtoMechs and vehicles, use the Special ProtoMech Hits 
  Table (see p. 185) or the Ground Combat Vehicle Hit Location 
  Table (p. 193), respectively. Vehicles that moved forward 
  into the basement use the Front column, while vehicles that 
  backed into the basement use the Rear column.
  Trapped Vehicles: Any vehicle that falls into a double 
  basement is trapped there for the rest of the game, unless 
  an adjacent hex is also a building hex and becomes a single 
  basement through a roll on the Basements Table at some 
  point in the scenario (before or after the vehicle falls into the 
  double basement). 
  See the Basements Table for additional eff ects.
  BASEMENTS TABLE
  Die Roll
  (2D6)
  Eff ect
  2
  Double basement. The unit falls 2 levels. 
  Apply all damage to a ’Mech’s legs (use the 
  Front column of the ’Mech Kick Location 
  Table).
  3
  Basement. The unit falls 1 level. Apply all 
  damage to a ’Mech’s legs (use the Front 
  column of the ’Mech Kick Location Table).
  4
  Basement. The unit falls 1 level (for ’Mechs, 
  use the Front/Rear column of the ’Mech Hit 
  Location Table).
  5-8
  No basement.
  9
  Small basement. Infantry may move into 
  the basement as though it were a new level 
  of the building (Sublevel 1); ProtoMechs 
  cannot enter this level. No eff ect on ’Mechs 
  or vehicles.
  10
  Basement. The unit falls 1 level (for ’Mechs 
  use the Front/Rear column of the ’Mech Hit 
  Location Table).
  11
  Basement. The unit falls 1 level. ’Mechs fall 
  headfi rst (use the Front/Rear column of the 
  ’Mech Punch Location Table).
  12
  Double basement. The unit falls 2 levels. 
  ’Mechs fall headfi rst (use the Front/Rear 
  column of the ’Mech Punch Location Table).
  
  JADE FALCON CLAN HALL, SUDETEN
  JADE FALCON OCCUPATION ZONE
  30 OCTOBER 3063
   “Report.” Khan Marthe Pryde’s voice rang through the large Clan 
  Hall. 
  Scientist Joach’s hands twitched as he smoothed his immaculate 
  white smock. He bowed to those gathered in the multi-tiered 
  chamber, acknowledging the conclave of Bloodnamed warriors of 
  the Jade Falcon Clan Council on Sudeten. “Scientist-General Renata 
  bids me report that the Olivetti Weapons factory is fully upgraded 
  and on-line,” he said. He suppressed a shiver at the momentary 
  quiver in his voice. They are warriors, but I am a scientist. I serve the 
  Clan, just as they do. “The fi rst run of Spirit BattleMechs is undergoing 
  fi eld-testing to assure quality control.”
  “Excellent. The time comes soon when the Falcon will spread its 
  wings to blood a new fl ock of warriors.” Khan Pryde turned away to 
  discuss something with saKhan Clees. 
  Though he knew his Khan considered his report delivered, Joach 
  nervously cleared his throat.
  Marthe looked back, cool eyes biting. 
  Despite misgivings about some of the decisions made in designing 
  the new ProtoMech (who was he to question), he fi nished his report. 
  “The Erinyes will also be ready for combat by the end of the year.”
  He repressed a desire to raise his arms at the rustling that swept 
  the room; an impression of a fl ock of raptors taking wing in angry 
  surprise and zeroing in on the disturbance: Joach.
  Khan Pryde’s gaze turned colder. “Then we shall see if the new 
  trinket is worth Falcon eff ort, or if Clan Blood Spirit and those who 
  follow their lead are as deluded as ever.”
  Joach bowed and backed out of the room.
  ORBITAL INSERTION , MELISSIA
  LYRAN ALLIANCE
  15 AUGUST 3064
  Nikol ignored the heavy vibrations of re-entry as 
  the Broadsword-class DropShip plowed through 
  the thick atmosphere of Melissia, and fi nished 
  suiting up in the cramped corner of the cargo 
  bay. The one-piece suit fl owed like liquid metal 
  (instantly warm to the touch), the Clan copper 
  composite mesh woven with biosynthetic 
  fi ber ribbings into a second skin. 
  “Five minutes to combat drop,” an electronic 
  voice echoed. 
  “You mean second combat drop,” Nikol snapped 
  to a bay that contained only strapped-down cargo 
  and a labor casteman in a loader exoskeleton 
  moving an ammo crate. During combat operations? 
  Brave, or stupid? She shook her head at questions 
  that could easily apply to her, stomped the two paces 
  to the leg of her ProtoMech and scrambled up the lean-to ladder. 
  Nikol couldn’t believe that Star Colonel Uvin Buhallin had actually 
  ordered two Clusters of Elementals, along with her Point of 
  ProtoMechs, to cram into every available space in order to fool the 
  Lyrans into thinking only a Star of ’Mechs were about to combat-
  drop onto their fortifi ed base.
  Yet what fl ared white-hot next to such a pale annoyance was that 
  her Clan appeared at every step to throw up a roadblock to defeat 
  her and her protokin. Whether Khan Pryde knew of Buhallin’s order 
  or not didn’t matter. They drop the Elementals and then move to a 
  second pass to drop us? The fi ghting will be over before we even arrive. 
  It will be too late! Stravag!
  At least I managed to keep my Roc, instead of being assigned our 
  newest over-sized Erinyes battle armor. 
  The vibrations through the deck plating changed in cadence and 
  worked up through the ladder, tickling skin as the seconds ticked 
  down. With little choice, Nikol set aside her annoyance. Anticipation 
  spiked as she slid into the ProtoMech’s chest cavity, kicking away the 
  ladder, pulled down the skein of wires connecting the neurohelmet 
  and positioned it properly on her scalp. She quickly stripped the 
  padding from a row of small monitors to her right as she ran a fi nal 
  course diagnostic. Then she activated the remote control they’d 
  rigged for the makeshift gantry that held her Roc’s chest plate. The 
  machine trembled and fi nally heaved toward her. Replacing the 
  heavy padding over the monitors, she folded into a fetal-like position 
  in the padded cavity as the chest plate banged into place. Locking 
  mechanisms clanged, while ear drums popped with equalizing 
  pressure. As the ProtoMech gained life, dozens of overlapping plates 
  of the enclosure expertly adjusted to her size and weight until she 
  eventually fl oated as though in the synthetic amniotic fl uid of a 
  Trueborn gestation chamber. 
  Randall N. BIlls
  
  Power surged to the neurohelmet, which synched with the 
  enhanced imaging circuitry along her shaved scalp. The fi rst 
  waves of pleasure swept through and warmth blossomed in the 
  pit of her stomach. Three prongs snapped down from the back 
  edge of the neurohelmet, just piercing neck skin, completing 
  the circuit between the neurohelmet, her suit and the enhanced 
  imaging circuitry that ran the length of her exposed skin. The 
  pleasure surge broke in a torrent…
  …and the world ballooned and expanded. Dull existence fell 
  away, as though she stepped out of her body, beyond a transparent 
  pane into another reality. She enlarged and expanded until she 
  stood a giant. Meters taller. Stronger. Solid, metal legs and arms 
  now her own; she knew her expression never changed, but the 
  true inner ferocity of her warrior’s visage was now etched in steely 
  glowing eyes and a sharp, hooked alloy beak: she perceived her 
  new metallic corporeal existence sheathing her consciousness as 
  she never could her frail fl esh. 
  Her blood fl owed like magma, hot and demanding, her need for 
  more and more a hot knife twisting her gut. She swam in raging 
  ecstasy, her awareness expanded exponentially with wracking 
  pleasure/pain. As ever, the ecstasy moved in crescendo as Nikol 
  sensed another veil of existence behind her. And another beyond 
  that. And another. Levels of perfect integration and interface. 
  Levels of ecstasy and agony. Of understanding and perceptions. 
  Mirrors within mirrors within mirrors; planes of knowledge and 
  existence marching off  in an endless corridor, beckoning.
  In a small corner of her mind, Nikol recalled the pain she would 
  experience upon interface termination until she could inject 
  the drugs to keep her sanity in the dull existence outside of her 
  ProtoMech…knew at this moment it mattered not at all.
  The surging ecstasy fi nally gained equilibrium and her senses 
  focused down to a razor wire: her body stood rock solid, ready to 
  rend armor, to tear enemies—to become the ultimate warrior.
  Her mind willed her ProtoMech into motion. It instantly 
  responded, a hungry predator stalking toward a swift 
  decapitation that would sunder the Lyran defender’s head from 
  its body and cede the Falcons the world of Melissia.
  It is not too late. MechWarriors believe they are the ultimate 
  warriors in their twelve-meter tall giants. Yet they know nothing. 
  They scorn our half-sized ’Mechs, but they have no understanding 
  of what we bring to the strength of Falcon’s talons and beak. They 
  bring death. But I am become death.
  A God of War.
  SCIENTIST CASTE TESTING STATION, LAST CHANCE
  JADE FALCON OCCUPATION ZONE
  15 MAY 3065
  Though she knew the building scrubbed the air of any 
  particulates from the Torrence Iron Mines located a half-hundred 
  kilometers away, her nose twitched as her brain told Nikol she 
  could still smell it. The dust coated the exterior of the scientifi c 
  outpost, turning to clumpy, blackened streaks in the near-
  constant rains of spring that reminded her of the congealed 
  blood slicking the burned remains of her protokin’s Erinyes. She 
  distantly noted her dirty fi ngertips rasping a nervous rat-a-tap-
  tap on the worn vinyl of her chair’s arm rest, but couldn’t bring 
  herself to chastisement as her mind grasped at straws.
  
  I am a warrior. Death shadows my footsteps, a constant companion. 
  I must accept. But her words were as hollow now as when fi rst 
  spoken more than a half year ago. 
  Nikol started slightly as a scientist casteman entered the room. His 
  light hair and immaculate white coat caused her to squint, forced her 
  further back into the chair; the creak of rusty bolts and too-stressed, 
  old metal legs an audible personifi cation of her wounded state.
  Moving to the other side of the table, he sat down, smile reaching 
  eyes and lips with equal ease. “Hello, Nikol.”
  She stared sullenly behind the caged bars of her body and mind’s 
  desperate need and her soul’s desire to forget.
  “My name is Joach.”
  She tried to still her nervous tics, but gave up after several tense 
  seconds. At least she had managed to keep her lips sealed; small 
  victories were important.
  “How are you?”
  How do I look, surat.
  “Can I get you anything?”
  You know what I need. 
  “A drink, perhaps?” He raised his hand as though to signal an 
  unseen camera.
  She tried to marshal the piercing eyes of a warrior to put him in 
  his place and found only hollowness. The ache intensifi ed.
  “How long have you been here?”
  The aff ront of this man to question a warrior, someone above his 
  station, un-stopped her tongue before she could resist. “You would 
  know better than I, surat.”
  “Ah, so you can still talk,” he rejoined, eyes searching her face. “I was 
  beginning to think you might have fallen too far into an episode.”
  A sneer bared teeth and cracked too-dry lips; the pinpricks of pain 
  and the teasing of copper to tongue brought some renewal. She 
  leaned forward, with intensity. “Call it what it is, surat. Withdrawal. I 
  need integration.” 
   He reached into his pocket and pulled something out, placed it 
  on the table. The room seemed to unfocus as a halo of light engulfed 
  the self-applicable syringe-ampoule, focusing her attention like 
  the razor-wire of integration. The clear liquid seemed to shine, 
  scintillating as the few precious drops rocked gently back and forth 
  with residual motion. She bared teeth until her lips felt like they 
  might peel from her face. Then she glanced back at Joach. “I said 
  integration. I will no longer accept your synthetic substitute.”
  “But the ProtoMech program has been canceled by offi  cial decree,” 
  he said, shrugging, voice coated in sympathy. “Our Khan has spoken. 
  The performance of the ProtoMechs on Melissia was…less than 
  adequate in our Khan’s eyes. She—”
  Rage blossomed past despondency and all her unspoken 
  justifi cations of her own Clan cutting her off  at the knees. She slashed 
  the air with a hand. “You have told me that. Told me so many times…I 
  do not care any more! Have all remaining pilots been consigned to this 
  death as well?!” She lurched forward, slamming her fi st into the desk. 
  The ampoule skittered and danced, a siren to her body shrieking its 
  need. “Have we Falcons become Spheroids to waste such resources? 
  If so, then I shall welcome death, glad I’ll not see the fall of my Clan! 
  Will not see what you have done to Kerensky’s dream.” The shout still 
  echoing, she collapsed back into her chair, all energy draining from 
  her body, uncaring of her lazy use of a contraction as the last of her 
  will seemingly fl owed away into nothingness.
  Joach did not move during the entire episode. Respect, sympathy 
  and revulsion warred, creating his own turmoil. How could our Clan do 
  this? How can a warrior be reduced to such a shadow? He just managed 
  to avoid thinking about the most important question of all.
  He slowly reached forward to stop the still-spinning ampoule, 
  then pocketed the drug. His revulsion crested at the relief that 
  peeked through her angry mien. Marveled at how so short a time 
  could pass and yet perceptions could alter so unequivocally. Warriors 
  are not infallible. Joach’s own anger fl ared. You speak of loss? I have 
  been consigned to this hell-hole of a world at the edge of the Periphery 
  because of my advocacy of the program. My advocacy of you! Have I 
  not lost as well?
  She closed her eyes, her pain etching her skin muscle-deep. “All I 
  want is…to be a warrior. To serve my Clan.” 
  As her anger drained away, his fl owed with it and sympathy 
  returned. We have done this to you. He took a breath. The stench of 
  her unwashed body and defeat-fi lled sweat almost curled his nose. 
  I follow orders now. Orders of a man I never thought to see again, but 
  orders nonetheless. He barely kept a cynical chuckle trapped behind 
  tight lips. Orders a bone that I might fi nd a path to serve again. A bone 
  I throw to you, warrior.
  “There is another way,” he fi nally responded. He watched warring 
  emotions cross her face and sympathy fl owed to empathy. I am sorry.
  “Tell me.”
  WATCH COMMAND CENTER, SUDETEN
  JADE FALCON OCCUPATION ZONE
  21 JANUARY 3066
   “Why do we allow this? And why do you keep the stravag lighting 
  so low?” Khan Marthe Pryde asked. 
   Loremaster Kael Pershaw’s deep voice seemed to come from 
  every direction in the darkened offi  ce. “I fi nd warriors can accept my 
  orders more readily when they cannot see that I am more machine 
  than man…or see my age.”
  Marthe slashed the air. “I care not for such useless vanities. I know 
  your value.”
  “Of course, my Khan. Mere habits.”
  “You did not answer the question.”
  “Of course, my Khan. We allow it, because if we do not…well, 
  better to know what part of the garden houses the snake, than not 
  to know where the snake is.”
  She shook her head, hating such philosophical talk. “But we 
  should simply destroy the snake. After the scientists’ machinations 
  surrounding the Pryde Bloodname…” She snapped her jaw shut, all 
  too aware of what Kael would say, yet unable to say it herself.
  “Yet we cannot survive without them. And despite their…airs…of 
  late, they have been a vast asset to the Clan over the centuries. We are 
  where we are in no small part thanks to their contributions, quiaff ?
  “Aff ,” she ground out. “Yet I still should have killed him when I replaced 
  him with Renata. What is he up to? Is he pulling Renata’s strings?”
  “I do not know. But we will continue to reap the rewards of 
  a relatively unfettered scientist caste, while waiting for the ex-
  Scientist-General, and those that still follow his lead, to wrap the 
  noose around their throats. Quiaff ?”
  She ground her teeth harder, but knew there could be only one 
  response. Kael had painted all too stark a picture of the possible 
  internal rebellion that a harsh crackdown might precipitate, now 
  that her lower castes had drunk the base freedoms off ered by 
  Spheroid societies. An event that might even force us down the path 
  
  of the Ghost Bears and their vile integration with the Inner Sphere. If 
  she must accept an aff ront to her honor to safeguard her Clan and 
  the Founder’s vision…so be it.
  “Aff .”
  SCIENTIST CASTE TESTING STATION, LAST CHANCE
  JADE FALCON OCCUPATION ZONE
  1 SEPTEMBER 3066
  The upgraded Centaur shot forward with the aid of the new 
  myomer booster, fl uid grace and precision a BattleMech could 
  never hope to match, slicing through the other training Erinyes with 
  exquisite beauty.
  “Nikol seems to have adapted well to the newest interfaces, quiaff ?” 
  Joach said while monitoring the steady stream of data fl owing 
  across his computer terminal.
  “Nikol?” Etienne Balzac responded, straightening from his own 
  hunch over a monitor, rubbing a sore back. His ancient features 
  matched his infamous reputation. Despite their close work over 
  the last year and more, Joach’s resolve to question the ex-Scientist-
  General concerning Nikol and their work here died against the 
  emptiness of Etienne’s black-eyed stare.
  Why are we doing this? What are we doing? Why do we try to 
  create a superior ProtoMech and pilot if the Jade Falcon program has 
  been eliminated? The questions hammered relentlessly against his 
  inability to confront Etienne. He cleared his throat. “The subject.”
  Etienne nodded. “Aff , the subject is adapting very well.”
  Silence descended except for the tapping of keys as two additional 
  scientists in the control room continued diligent work. Joach grew 
  increasingly uncomfortable as Etienne continued to stare at him. 
  Warmth fl ushed his cheeks as a smile played at the corners of the 
  older man’s lips. “You have a question?”
  Joach started, surprised. In all the time they’d worked together, 
  the man never asked him that. “A question?”
  “Aff . You have a question.”
  Joach licked his lips as he glanced away. Can I ask? He saw the 
  ProtoMech, and for a moment the haunted look of a tortured warrior 
  overlaid everything before him. He took a deep breath and spoke. 
  “Why are we doing this? The program has been canceled. Why do 
  we continue to increase ProtoMech capabilities and to adapt the 
  pilots even more to their integration?” Why do we torment Nikol? The 
  fi nal question hovered, unasked. Joach knew it would cross the line, 
  despite Etienne’s apparent good mood.
  The other man’s half-smile stayed in place as he smoothed 
  wrinkled hands across his bald pate. “Joach, I continue to work 
  because my work is needed.”
  “But the Scientist-General has agreed with the Khan,” Joach 
  responded. “They failed during the Falcon Incursion into House 
  Steiner. And failure is discarded.”
  “Of course it is.”
  “What?” A feeling in the depths percolated. A feeling he’d had for 
  years, but could never articulate. Could never allow articulation.
  “Of course I knew the program would be canceled.”
  “You could not have expected it?!”
  “Of course I did.”
  “But…” Words failed.
  The other man stood silent for a moment, then chuckled. “We 
  Falcons are ever traditionalists, Joach. Ever warriors adherent to 
  the Founder’s strictest precepts. It is our greatest strength…and 
  our greatest weakness. And all too often we do not bend without 
  breaking. That leads to animosity toward anything out of the norm.”
  “Such as ProtoMechs?”
  “Precisely.”
  “But she has canceled the program.”
  “She has canceled the Jade Falcon ProtoMech program. We no 
  longer have an offi  cially sanctioned Falcon program for developing 
  new ProtoMech designs, or for turning failed aerospace pilots into 
  ProtoMech warriors.” 
  He paused. Joach struggled against a rising answer he did not 
  wish to face and found another answer. “And by canceling offi  cial 
  Falcon sanction, any such testing run on ProtoMechs falls one 
  hundred percent within the authority of the scientist caste, quiaff ?”
  “Aff . Like any of half a hundred experimental programs we have 
  in development, we need not report any part of it to Khan Pryde or 
  the Clan Council.” 
  “Yet I still do not understand. Why do we keep experimenting? 
  And how could you know she would cancel the program?” The 
  sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach opened like the fabric of 
  reality torn asunder during a hyperspace jump. He knew…had 
  known for years and refused to believe, until now. The horrid reality 
  burned, and yet what sliced through it all like a hot energy beam 
  was the crystal-clear knowledge that even the monstrousness of 
  the act would not drive him away. Would not drive him from this 
  bone that might eventually pull him out of this hell-hole. He’d sold 
  his soul and everything with it to Etienne Balzac and his endless 
  machinations. I am sorry, Nikol….
  “Because I made sure of it.”
  Etienne enjoyed the stunned fl ush that swept Joach’s features. 
  The game of cat and mouse was almost more enjoyable at times 
  than scientifi c research. It was art. The way he used and placed 
  emphasis in his actions to highlight only what he wanted them to 
  see. Making an object appear important to him, to hide the truth; a 
  fl at object made round. Chiaroscuro.
  You think I will hang myself, Kael, but I know you watch. And I hide my 
  actions in plain sight, right underneath your mechanically deformed nose.
  Joach stammered. “You manipulated the Khan into canceling the 
  ProtoMech program.” 
  Though it came from the younger man as an accusation, the 
  words fl owed past Etienne without a ripple. “Of course.”
  “And Renata Salk?”
  “An innocuous bureaucrat.” He waved his hand. “If the Khan wishes 
  the Scientist-General not to be manipulated by outside forces, she 
  should not fi ll such a vital role with a sycophant.”
  Joach opened his mouth. Nothing came out for long seconds as 
  the full impact of Etienne’s words settled in.
  You must learn to ask your questions, Joach. Questions are what 
  make us human.
  “I fail to see…” Joach fi nally choked out.
  “You will.” Etienne crossed over to him, gripping his arm in 
  an unusual display of physical contact. “When you piece the 
  puzzle together, you will be ready. I am confi dent you will fi nd it 
  eventually.” 
  Etienne turned aside, glancing at the monitors as the ProtoMech 
  fi nished the course and raised its arms triumphantly. Looked at 
  what his machinations had wrought and knew it as one more step 
  along the path…and smiled.
  
  The expense of manufacturing BattleMechs—combined with 
  the general disdain that the Clans hold for combat vehicles—led 
  the hence destroyed Clan Smoke Jaguar to develop a completely 
  new piece of technology: the lightweight, agile quasi-’Mechs 
  called ProtoMechs. Piloted by aerospace phenotype warriors—
  who use the Clans’ advanced enhanced-imaging technology to 
  literally become one with their machines—ProtoMechs work 
  in fi ve-unit Points that allow them to bring their larger cousins 
  down. The relatively cheap cost to produce them, along with their 
  combined eff ectiveness against ’Mechs, has insured that at least 
  some of the more resource-starved Clans will always fi nd a home 
  for this unique BattleTech unit.
  Most of the rules for ProtoMechs appear in the Movement and 
  Combat sections. This section off ers additional rules for these units 
  in game play. Though ProtoMechs share many characteristics with 
  vehicles and infantry, they follow all the standard rules for ’Mechs, 
  unless otherwise noted.
  Deployment: ProtoMechs are always deployed in Points 
  consisting of fi ve units, though circumstances may leave a Point 
  with less. Each record sheet provides space for fi ve Protos, but each 
  ProtoMech is represented as an individual unit on the playing area. 
  The player may choose to make all members of a Point the same 
  type of ProtoMech or diff erent types, unless otherwise dictated 
  by the set-up of the scenario being played.
  PLAYING THE GAME
  Each of the fi ve ProtoMechs in a Point is an individual unit for 
  weapon attacks and damage resolution. However, the entire Point 
  moves when the player declares his ProtoMechs’ movement, and 
  the Point’s fi re declaration counts as if for a single unit. The player 
  resolves all attacks for a Point before moving on to another unit.
  MOVEMENT
  During the Movement Phase, when a controlling player chooses 
  to move a ProtoMech Point, he must move all ProtoMechs in that 
  Point before going on to the next unit. However, each ProtoMech 
  is still moved separately, without regard for how the other 
  ProtoMechs in the Point move. If damage reduces the number of 
  ProtoMechs in a Point, the controlling player moves the remaining 
  ProtoMechs in that Point; multiple ProtoMech Points that each 
  have less than fi ve ProtoMechs due to damage do not combine 
  for movement purposes.
  Skidding: ProtoMechs cannot skid, regardless of what 
  movement they use or the terrain they traverse.
  COMBAT
  ProtoMechs make attacks and are targeted by attacks in the 
  same way as ’Mechs, with the following exceptions. 
  Weapon Attacks
  All standard rules for ’Mech weapon attacks apply to 
  ProtoMechs, except that ProtoMechs may not fi re arm-mounted 
  weapons in the same turn that the main gun is fi red.
  Firing Arcs
  ProtoMechs use the same fi ring arcs as ‘Mechs (see Firing Arcs, 
  p. 104).
  Hit Location
  Players determine hit location against a ProtoMech by rolling 
  on the ProtoMech Hit Location Table. This table appears on the 
  RH 
  RH
  During the Falcon Incursion into the Lyran Alliance, a Falcon Night Gyr and two Points of ProtoMechs face off  against a Sixth Donegal Guard Atlas. 
  
  185
  185
  PROTOMECHS
  PROTOMECHS
  ProtoMech record sheet and is duplicated on p. 185. Hits 
  against ProtoMechs are not aff ected by attack direction, 
  and ProtoMechs have no rear armor locations. Both legs are 
  considered a single hit location, as is the torso.
  Near-Misses: ProtoMechs make diffi  cult targets because 
  of their small size and extreme agility. They are constantly in 
  motion, and their limbs are especially narrow and diffi  cult to 
  hit. As a result, an attack (or part of an attack, in the case of 
  missiles and similar weapons) that would have hit a ’Mech 
  might miss a ProtoMech. As shown on the ProtoMech Hit 
  Location Table, a hit location roll result of 3 or 11 is considered 
  a near-miss. This damage has no eff ect on the ProtoMech, 
  even though the to-hit roll result indicated a hit.
  Special Circumstances: Regardless of their small size and 
  agility, ProtoMechs cannot avoid certain types of damage 
  using the Near-Miss rule. Players should consult the Special 
  ProtoMech Hit Location Table below when determining 
  damage under the following circumstances: area-eff ect 
  weapons, building collapse, crashing aerospace units, falling 
  and collisions with skidding and sideslipping units. See also 
  Weapons and Equipment, p. 113; Collapse, p. 176; Crashes, p. 
  81; Unit Displacement, p. 151; Skidding, p. 62; and Sideslipping, 
  p. 67.
  Targeting Computers: ProtoMechs are so small that 
  targeting computers cannot be used to make attacks against 
  specifi c hit locations. The standard –1 to-hit modifi er for a 
  targeting computer still applies.
  DAMAGE
  As with attacks against ´Mechs, damage fi rst destroys the 
  armor in the location hit (white circles), and then infl icts 
  internal structure damage (shaded circles) in the same 
  location. Damage transfers normally when a location is 
  destroyed; damage from all locations transfers to the torso, 
  including damage from the head.
  Roll on the Determining Critical Hits Table (see p. 124) 
  whenever the internal structure in a location is damaged. Each 
  location has a number of critical hit boxes on the record sheet. 
  Players mark these off  from left to right as the ProtoMech 
  takes critical hits. Each time a player crosses off  a shaded 
  critical hit box, the warrior takes a point of damage. When a 
  location is destroyed, all of the location’s critical hit boxes are 
  automatically crossed off  and all equipment in the location is 
  RH 
  RH
  Fully embracing ProtoMechs, Clan Blood Spirit’s Iota Galaxy fi elds a Point of Centaurs along side a Shamash and Crimson Langur.
  PROTOMECH HIT LOCATION TABLE 
  2D6 Result
  Hit Location
  2
  Main Gun
  3
  * Near Miss
  4
  Right Arm
  5
  Legs
  6
  Torso
  7
  Torso
  8
  Torso
  9
  Legs
  10
  Left Arm
  11
  * Near Miss
  12
  Head
  *A result of 3 or 11 infl icts no damage on the target. In the case of a kick 
  attack from a ’Mech, a Near Miss on the ProtoMech Hit Location Table does 
  not force the attacking ’Mech to make a Piloting Skill Roll.
  SPECIAL PROTOMECH HIT 
  LOCATION TABLE 
  2D6 Result
  Hit Location
  2
  Main Gun
  3
  Legs
  4
  Legs
  5
  Right Arm
  6
  Torso
  7
  Torso
  8
  Torso
  9
  Left Arm
  10
  Legs
  11
  Legs
  12
  Head
  
  destroyed. Critical hits do not transfer, and excess critical hits to a 
  location have no further eff ect.
  Eff ects for specifi c critical hits and location destruction appear 
  below.
  Arm Hits
  For the fi rst critical hit to an arm, add a +1 modifi er to the to-hit 
  number for attacks made with that arm, for the weapons mounted 
  there and for the main gun. The second hit destroys the arm, along 
  with its weapon (if any). After one arm has been destroyed, add a 
  +2 modifi er to attacks with the main gun.
  After both arms have been destroyed, the main gun may not 
  be fi red.
  Leg Hits
  The fi rst critical hit to the legs reduces the ProtoMech’s Walking 
  MP by 1 (which means the player must also recalculate Running 
  MP). The second hit reduces the Walking MP by half, rounding up. 
  The third hit blows the legs off  and makes movement impossible. 
  The ProtoMech cannot use Jumping MP, though it can still make 
  a single-hexside facing change during each Movement Phase 
  provided that it still has at least one arm. When doing so, it is 
  considered to have used Running Movement. If the ProtoMech 
  has lost both arms, it cannot make this move. 
  Legs Destroyed: After the legs are destroyed, the ProtoMech 
  can no longer torso twist, but it can fi re its weapons. A ProtoMech 
  whose legs are destroyed is not considered prone. 
  Torso Hits
  The fi rst critical torso hit reduces Jumping MP by 1, and may 
  also destroy a torso-mounted weapon. To determine if a torso 
  critical hit destroys a weapon, roll 1D6. On a result of 1 or 2, Torso 
  Weapon A (as shown in the Weapons Inventory) is destroyed. On 
  a 3 or 4, Torso Weapon B is destroyed. A result of 5 or 6 has no 
  additional eff ect. If the result indicates an empty or destroyed 
  weapon slot, do not roll again.
  The second critical hit reduces Jumping MP by half (round 
  up), and may also destroy a torso-mounted weapon. Roll as 
  described above. The third critical hit destroys the engine and the 
  ProtoMech, killing the pilot.
  Main Gun Hits
  The main gun cannot suff er a critical hit, but is aff ected by critical 
  hits to the arms. All eff ects from arm damage are cumulative 
  when determining to-hit modifi ers for fi ring the main gun. For 
  example, if the right arm has been destroyed (+2) and the left arm 
  has suff ered one critical hit (+1), the total modifi er for attacks with 
  the main gun is +3. 
  Head Hits
  The fi rst critical head hit damages the sensors, adding a +1 to-
  hit modifi er to all weapon and physical attacks. The second critical 
  hit destroys the head, resulting in +2 to-hit modifi er to all attacks. 
  In addition, the ProtoMech may make no attacks against targets 
  at long range for any of its weapons. For example, after a Roc’s 
  head is destroyed, it can attack targets up to ten hexes away with 
  its extended-range medium laser (at short and medium range 
  for that weapon), but cannot attack units eleven to fi fteen hexes 
  away (at long range for that weapon).
  Because the pilot is in the torso, a ProtoMech can survive head 
  destruction.
  RH 
  RH
  In a fi nal eff ort to prove (or disprove) the battle worthiness of ProtoMechs, Clan Jade Falcon fi elds them in a Trial of Possession against Clan Blood Spirit. 
  
  187
  187
  PROTOMECHS
  PROTOMECHS
  FRENZY
  As noted in Physical Attacks (see p. 144), ProtoMechs cannot 
  make such attacks. However, a ProtoMech can make a single 
  “frenzy” attack that combines a punch, a kick and anything 
  else the ProtoMech can muster. The net eff ect of this eff ort is 
  a single attack with a Damage Value of 1 for ProtoMechs that 
  weigh two to fi ve tons, or 2 for ProtoMechs that weigh six to 
  nine tons. 
  The base to-hit number for this attack is 4, with the standard 
  modifi ers for a kick. The attack can only be made against an 
  adjacent target in the front fi ring arc. If the ProtoMech has 
  twisted its torso, the attack can only be made into the rotated 
  front fi ring arc. This attack never forces the target to make 
  a Piloting Skill roll, because the ProtoMech does not have 
  Piloting Skill.
  If the attack hits, consult the ’Mech Kick Location Table (see 
  p. 147) for a target on the same level. If the target is a ’Mech 
  one level lower than the ProtoMech, the attack uses the ’Mech 
  Punch Location Table (see p. 145). When making this attack 
  against vehicles, use the appropriate hit location table for the 
  attack direction.
  PHYSICAL ATTACKS
  A ProtoMech can be the target of physical attacks as though 
  it were a vehicle: a kick if on same level as attacker, a punch if 
  one level higher than attacker, a club or a hatchet in either case. 
  It cannot be charged, though it may be the target of a death-
  from-above attack. These attacks use the standard ProtoMech 
  Hit Location Table to determine damage locations.
  OTHER COMBAT 
  EQUIPMENT
  If ProtoMech’s Technical Readout or record sheet game 
  statistics indicate that it carries this equipment, it may 
  signifi cantly aff ect game play. Players should consult the unit’s 
  statistics, then familiarize themselves with the equipment rule 
  below before play begins.
  Advanced Weapons and Equipment: If a unit mounts 
  any weapons and/or equipment not found below or on the 
  appropriate Weapons and Equipment Tables (see p. 303), then 
  the weapon/equipment in question is either advanced (not 
  appropriate for standard tournament play) and will be covered 
  in Classic BattleTech Tactical Operations, or it only aff ects 
  construction and so has no direct impact on Classic BattleTech 
  game play. Any such weapons and/or equipment that is not 
  considered advanced will be covered in the upcoming Classic 
  BattleTech TechManual.
  PROTOMECH MYOMER BOOSTER
  The system increases the Running MP of a given ProtoMech 
  by double its standard Walking MP (i.e. a 6 Walking MP/9 
  Running MP ProtoMech with a ProtoMech Myomer Booster 
  would have a 6 Walking MP/12 Running MP). Whenever a 
  ProtoMech unit uses MP in excess of its standard movement 
  (i.e. in the example above, expends MP of 10+), it must roll 
  2D6 (this is a single roll made for any amount of MP used in 
  excess of standard movement in a single turn). On a result of 2, 
  the warrior immediately takes a single point of damage.
  RH 
  RH
  Masters of the ProtoMech, Clan Blood Spirit allows the battle to devolve into a brutal maelstrom of infi ghting, pushing the Falcons at every step. 
  
  SEMIER DATA TRON 
  FACTORY RUINS
  MAKO CITY OUTSKIRTS, 
  THARKAD
  LYRAN ALLIANCE
  13 JANUARY 3071
  With thunderous, deliber-
  ate strides, the Blue Flame 
  trampled the earth, pounding 
  through meter-thick ice-en-
  crusted snow only three shades 
  lighter than the whitewash covering 
  each of its four cloven feet. The foot-
  falls shook the earth despite the snow’s cushioning eff ect, send-
  ing icicles raining down from the blackened skeletons of nearby 
  structures. Red-tinged cockpit glass lent the 45-ton quadruped an 
  otherworldly look, like the eyes of a ghostly mechanical hellhound, 
  searching the charred factory ruins for prey.
  And all the while, its prey watched back.
  Through the rangefi nder on his targeting display, Sergeant Major 
  Rolf Solomon watched the Blakist monster with a steady gaze. His 
  breath, tinged with the stink of stale coff ee, puff ed frosty clouds 
  in the cabin despite the woolen black scarf that covered most of 
  his face. Even with the insulation built into the armored hide of 
  his Manteuff el attack tank—so new Rolf could still smell the fac-
  tory welds over his own stench—the eff ort to keep out the bite of 
  another Tharkan winter was relentless. Hiding beneath two days’ 
  worth of drifting snow, with only a Magna 350 Extralight—set to 
  low idle to avoid discovery—for heat…
  Sometimes, playing dead came too close to the real thing.
  The Flame slowed right in front of him, the armored beast sud-
  denly hesitant about moving forward. Solomon frowned.
  “They know we’re here!” Though spoken barely louder than a 
  whisper, and carried over a hundred meters to his headset ear-
  phones, the morose tone 
  of the tinny voice made the 
  veteran tank gunner cringe. 
  Leutnant Kramer, stating the 
  patently obvious as usual.
  More than two years of oc-
  cupation—two years spent 
  hiding from the fanatics’ fi re, 
  dodging 
  BattleMech 
  and 
  fi ghter patrols, seeking shel-
  ter in burned-out cities, pop-
  ping up only long enough to 
  scavenge for food, parts, and 
  maybe a little revenge along the 
  way—had taught the survivors of 
  the Blakist Ragnarok that the invaders had eyes everywhere.
  Even when help came from outside, it had invariably failed. The 
  Word was always one step ahead. All-knowing. All-powerful. They 
  had kept an Archon imprisoned on his throne world, stymied every 
  eff ort to reclaim the Alliance, crushed the Lyran spirit with victory 
  after bloody victory.
  Conventional wisdom now held that they could not be stopped.
  And Kramer was entirely too full of conventional wisdom 
  right now.
  “Halt die Klappe, Leutnant,” another voice hissed back, harsh and 
  stern, yet echoing softly within the Manteuff el and Solomon’s ear-
  piece. Hauptmann Stella Heigl occupied the tank’s command sta-
  tion directly behind him. Silent for hours, her sudden reaction to 
  Kramer’s defeatism startled Solomon, but he did not dare fl inch 
  from the targeting display. His reticule settled over the Blue Flame’s 
  stubby snout.
  They may know we’re here, Solomon told himself, but they don’t 
  know exactly where.
  “Jäger One,” a new voice chimed in, barely above a mutter. This 
  one came from Sergeant Isaka, whose older Pegasus hid beneath 
  Herbert A. Beas II
  
  a drift in the shadow of a ruined Buccaneer DropShip half a ki-
  lometer further east. “Forward shows a new contact inbound. 
  Support-model Legacy, with black skull markings.”
  Solomon’s eyes narrowed.
  The Marauder of Mako Valley, at last…
  “That’s him,” Heigl replied. “Everyone get ready.”
  Solomon sucked in a breath and nodded imperceptibly as his 
  fi ngers tensed on the trigger and the engines thrummed to life 
  behind him. 
  The Legacy appeared on Solomon’s tactical display as a simple 
  red dot on the far right edge of the board, while the Blue Flame 
  stood due north, barely a fi nger’s breadth away. Surrounding 
  the Flame were six blue dots, the hidden members of half his 
  company. Six armored hunters, hidden among the ruins, be-
  neath snow and ice.
  The EISENJÄGER—Iron Hunters.
  Solomon grinned inwardly. Finally, Precentor Roman 
  McKinnsey, the Marauder of Mako Valley, would be the 
  Jäger’s prey.
  Suddenly, the Blue Flame shifted, kicking up snow as its body 
  swung around. Its menacing glare turned straight toward the 
  Manteuff el. Solomon released his breath with a hiss..
  Come back to tour your latest atrocity, monster? He thought 
  bitterly, remembering the hard-fought battle here that pitted 
  a hodgepodge of corporate security, mercenary troops and a 
  remnant of LAAF forces against a wall of Blakist shock troops. 
  The Jägers missed the fi ght, but all of Tharkad heard of the 
  outcome, saw the mangled ruins of the factory complex, the 
  smoking remains of DropShip hulls and the twisted, blackened 
  hulks of BattleMechs and hastily converted WorkMechs—the 
  pitiful wreckage that remained after the Marauder of Mako 
  Valley called in another orbital weapons strike from the cap-
  tured WarShip above. Captives taken from the battle went to 
  gods-only-knew-where, but Solomon remembered the Blakists’ 
  propaganda-vids showing lines of civvies and military prison-
  ers being dragged from the rubble and escorted at gunpoint by 
  ’Mechs and battle-suit squads after McKinnsey’s forces mopped 
  up the remaining defenders.
  Another “glorious” victory for the Word of Blake. Solomon had 
  to force his jaw to unclench. 
  Kramer’s voice cursed on the tactical channel. With no fur-
  ther warning, the earth around the Flame’s hindquarters ex-
  ploded amid the roaring blasts of autocannon fire. One 
  burst caught the Blakist ’Mech square on its right 
  rear flank, gouging away armor and claw-
  ing at the SRM housings that rode just 
  above the hip. Shaken by the loss of 
  more than a ton of armor, but far 
  too stable and skilled to fall 
  down, the ghostly hound 
  twisted toward Kramer’s 
  Fortune wheeled as-
  sault tank—unseen 
  from Solomon’s 
  vantage point—
  and unleashed 
  a pair of angry 
  sapphire 
  laser 
  bolts.
  
  “Scheiße!” Heigl spat, her voice carrying over to the tactical 
  channel as well. “Kramer, you Arschloch! ECM, now! EISENJÄGER 
  open fi re!”
  With a savage growl, Solomon mashed down his triggers, un-
  leashing a trio of ruby laser bolts that fl ashed a triangular chunk 
  of armor away from the Flame’s broad left side even as the 
  Manteuff el’s turret-mounted rotary autocannon screamed to life. 
  The fast-rotating barrels poured fi re and tracers into the Blakist’s 
  armored hide even as missiles, lasers and autocannon fi re con-
  verged on the same target from no less than four diff erent direc-
  tions. Explosions and fi re scattered snow, ice and mangled metal 
  in all directions while the armored hellhound writhed under the 
  onslaught, its pristine white hide chewed to pieces in seconds.
  Conventional wisdom held that the BattleMech was the king of 
  the battlefi eld, but even the king had to bow beneath the com-
  bined might of enough tanks—especially with surprise on their 
  side. An explosion erupted along the Blue Flame’s right side, pos-
  sibly coming from the hole opened by Kramer’s panicked weapons 
  fi re. With a blossom of golden fl ame and a blast that practically 
  spun the machine around ninety degrees, the ’Mech’s missile bins 
  ruptured. Lacking the benefi t of CASE, secondary explosions quick-
  ly tore the Flame open from end to end, until the machine’s death 
  throes ended in a blast powerful enough to produce a ring of scat-
  tering ice and steam. Two ruined hangars nearby collapsed as well.
  On the tactical channel, Kramer was screaming incoherently 
  and Heigl was barking orders, but Solomon barely registered 
  any of it as the Manteuff el lurched forward. The vehicle’s treads 
  clawed their way free of its hiding place of snow and ice, throw-
  ing him hard against his gunnery chair. Lurching into the open, 
  the tank tore past the corpses of secondary machine shops and 
  the twisted, blackened remains of two forgotten LoaderMechs, al-
  ready swinging away from the bonfi re of burning metal that had 
  once been a Blue Flame. 
  With the landline broken, the communicators automatically 
  switched to standard tactical channels, which laced each trans-
  mission with the pops and static caused by the Manteuff el’s own 
  Guardian ECM suite. Even so, Solomon caught up quickly with the 
  action beyond this little intersection, and the news was not good:
  The Marauder’s Legacy had brought more friends.
  “Forward taking fi re here!” Isaka’s voice called out. “Now count 
  two Thugs, in support of target Legacy! We have lost Forward 
  Three and Four!”
  “We’re coming, Forward!” Heigl reassured him, her voice clipped. 
  “EISENJÄGER, ignore those Thugs. Focus all fi re on the priority tar-
  get. That bastard’s not getting away this time.”
  Solomon nodded again, more to himself than to anyone. With 
  Kramer’s panicked fi re, they had lost the element of surprise, and 
  already, two hovertank crews—whose vehicles sacrifi ced armor 
  for speed—had paid the ultimate price. Now three assault  ‘Mechs-
  -one the assault ‘Mech—the Marauder’s own Legacy—stood 
  against a depleted company of vehicles.
  But EISENJÄGER always got their man.
  The Marauder had to die.
  Jorg brought the Manteuff el around and slammed the vehicle 
  to full throttle, coaxing almost eighty kilometers per hour out of 
  the tracks to lead the eastward charge, sending chunks of hard-
  packed snow and ice fl ying back in the tank’s wake. Solomon let 
  out a grunt as he was thrown back in his seat. He swiveled the 
  turret through a complete 360-degree rotation, sweeping the en-
  tire fi eld before his rangefi nders while brushing away the 48-hour 
  accumulation of snow and ice.
  Hot on the trail of his Manteuff el, Solomon saw the twin 
  Manticores commanded by sergeants Donovan and Resse, fol-
  lowed by Kramer’s Fortune, wheels wildly whipping up slush in 
  an almost comical eff ort to keep up. The ruins of the DropShip 
  factory grounds, the half-buried wreckage of buildings and black-
  ened ’Mechs—every one a Lyran machine—created an eerie, skel-
  etal labyrinth of cold death that sent an involuntary shiver down 
  Solomon’s spine. The chill was forgotten by the time he reset the 
  turret forward and caught a glimpse of azure PPC fi re in the dis-
  tance ahead.
  The Thug that fi red it was at a full run, chasing down Isaka’s slate-
  gray Pegasus as it darted over a mound of wreckage. Instead of 
  hitting the fast-moving hovercraft, the particle cannon discharge 
  struck the debris mound, vaporizing snow and setting what 
  looked like the arm of some dead and unrecognizable ’Mech 
  twitching. Just behind the Thug, Solomon spotted the hated 
  Legacy, its V-shaped torso so similar to that of the Thug, and yet so 
  much more sinister with twin 20-pack LRM launchers sprouting 
  up from the shoulders. And there, riding high on the ’Mech’s left 
  chest, was the telltale mark—the broadsword logo of the Word of 
  Blake superimposed on the black silhouette of a giant skull.
  At the extreme range for the Manteuff el’s autocannon, Solomon 
  let loose with one screaming burst. The stream of tracer fi re 
  chased the Legacy, but the MechWarrior within dodged the hasty 
  shots with a strangely graceful sidestep.
  The Marauder retaliated with a double fl ight of LRMs that show-
  ered the Manteuff el with bone-jarring explosions.
  The ripple of warhead blasts rattled the vehicle’s fi ve-man crew, 
  and Solomon felt the bite of his four-point harness even through 
  the padded armor of his vest. The thrum of the fusion plant be-
  came a brief stutter and the cabin lights fl ickered.
  “Schweinehund!” he spat, even as he heard the loaders chamber 
  the next volley.
  Outside, two PPC bolts converged on the Legacy, fi red from the 
  turret muzzles of Donovan’s and Resse’s Manticores. Though in-
  capable of penetrating the armor with a single hit, the two bolts 
  staggered the ’Mech just long enough for Solomon’s second burst 
  of autocannon fi re to track in on its torso, marring the black skull 
  logo beyond recognition.
  “Got you!” Solomon hissed.
  “Damage!” Heigl snapped.
  At the sudden request, Solomon became aware of a strange 
  new smell, the oily stench of fused electronics, and a rattling 
  sound somewhere outside that sent a harsh vibration through 
  the cabin. Had one of those missiles penetrated after all?
  “It’s a drive wheel,” Corporal Reuben came back, his voice piped 
  in from the rear section. “Left fl ank number three. We’re slipping, 
  but not too badly.”
  “Not too badly?” Jorg echoed in a voice laced with contempt. 
  “This thing’s dragging like a stuck pig now! Verdammtes StarCorps 
  engineering!” 
  “Keep us on that Legacy!” Heigl yelled.
  Solomon ground his teeth as he swiveled the turret to keep the 
  Legacy bracketed on the rangefi nders. The red reticule of a partial 
  weapon lock fl ashed gold as the targeting sensors gained confi -
  dence in his bead, incidentally noting that the range had closed 
  to less than 360 meters—close enough to add the Manteuff el’s 
  
  trio of medium lasers to his next volley. Even as the image of the 
  Legacy bounced before his eyes to the irregular rhythm of the ve-
  hicle’s inhibited ride, he squeezed the triggers again, unleashing a 
  fresh stream of depleted uranium shells and a triple-bolt of coher-
  ent light at the Marauder’s ’Mech.
  Only to miss with half of it when a spine-tingling jolt of electric-
  ity stunned him.
  Reuben’s pain-fi lled cry fi lled Solomon’s ears, even as he screwed 
  his eyes shut to clear his vision.
  PPC hit! his mind screamed. The metallic scent of ozone fi lled his 
  lungs. 
  “Thug!” Jorg called out. “Port fl ank!”
  “Ignore it!” Heigl snapped.
  Solomon glanced at the tactical display and cursed.
  “Two more Blakies,” he called out. “One klick and closing! Looks 
  like assaults!”
  “Stay on the mark!”
  “Take that, you bastards!” came Kramer’s voice again, exul-
  tant as his Fortune fi nally reached range and opened up with its 
  Disintegrator LB 20-X cannons. Once more opting for the heavy 
  punch of solid bursts over the sandblasting eff ect of cluster muni-
  tions, his vehicle’s fi re tore over a ton of armor off  the ’Mech’s right 
  arm, twisting it violently sideways and spoiling its aim. A volley of 
  LRMs streaked out from the Legacy’s right-side missile rack, only to 
  splash harmlessly in the battle-churned snow.
  Two fl ights of missiles showered the stricken machine next, add-
  ing insult to injury by rending ghost-white armor in clusters that 
  rained on the ground. A lesser MechWarrior would almost certainly 
  have lost his balance, but the Legacy seemed to absorb its punish-
  ment, bracing its doglegs against the incoming storm of missiles 
  and shells.
  Straightening, it fi red back with a fusillade of missiles and la-
  ser fi re that—this time, at least—did not focus on the incoming 
  Manteuff el.
  Kramer’s terrifi ed scream told Solomon who the target was.
  “Jäger One!” Sergeant Donovan’s voice cut in over the scream, 
  “Striker Three is pouring smoke! I think that last one hit his engine!”
  “Kramer,” Heigl growled, her voice sounding only within the cabin 
  “so help me! Don’t you fl ake out on us now!”
  “Die, you motherless schwein!” Kramer’s shriek fi lled the channel 
  as the scream of autocannon fi re once more resounded across the 
  battlefi eld.
  This time, both streams of tracers caught the Legacy in its right 
  leg, tearing through armor to claw away at the endo-steel bones 
  within.
  Go down! Solomon willed the hated machine, but again, the 
  Legacy kept its feet.
  The PPCs fl ashed again, and this time Solomon felt the hits as a 
  thunderous pounding that shook the entire cabin. A fi ery tingle made 
  his fi ngers spasm and set his skin crawling along the back of his neck. 
  His vision blanked for a moment—he was sure it was only a moment—
  and popping sounds echoed around him. He opened his eyes to fi nd 
  sparks still dancing across the targeting panels, telltale 
  signs of a hit that had penetrated armor to touch 
  the delicate electronics.
  But it was Heigl’s low moan that fi nally tore Solomon’s eyes away 
  from his fl ickering targeting displays.
  She was hunched over her boards, the right side of her neck and 
  the shoulder of her uniform shredded by shrapnel from an explod-
  ing monitor. Her eyes, already half-glazed, found his as her blood-
  slicked fi ngers clutched at the wound. Solomon began to move, 
  but she shook her head.
  Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She glanced past 
  Solomon, at his weapons console. Her eyes narrowed.
  Solomon nodded and returned to his post, turning away 
  and trying to ignore the wet coughing that suddenly racked his 
  commander.
  Nothing else mattered now.
  The targeting system placed the Legacy to the left, limping away 
  from the ruins of Kramer’s Fortune. Only two friendly blue discretes 
  remained on the tactical displays—Resse and Donovan, he fi gured, 
  but how did they get ahead of him? He tried to swing the weapons 
  around, only to see the red idiot lights fl ash beneath the targeting 
  displays: turret jam.
  Were we out? he wondered. How long?
  “Jorg!” he croaked after a moment, “bear left!”
  A low groan answered, but the Manteuff el’s engine still 
  thrummed. With jerks that shook him in his chair, the tank fought 
  its own damage and came about. Solomon spared only a moment 
  to consider just how crippled they were, before the tracking sys-
  tems again found the Legacy’s silhouette. Its armor in tatters, its leg 
  gimped and missing its right arm, the BattleMech was struggling 
  to get between its barely damaged partners—two Thugs trying to 
  play bodyguard for their wounded commander.
  But a BattleMech could only cover another BattleMech so well 
  from the fi repower of a dedicated Jäger…
  At last, the jerky motions of the Manteuff el’s awkward turn 
  brought the reticule over the Legacy’s heart, where its forward-
  thrust cockpit gleamed in the overcast afternoon light. In that in-
  stant, Solomon unleashed one last blast, pouring every last shell 
  and kilojoule of lethal force out of his weapons, even as the Thugs 
  retaliated on their battered commander’s behalf.
  Even as manmade lightning sprang forth from the muzzles of 
  the twin Thugs, Solomon let out a triumphant whoop as his au-
  tocannon fi re scored a direct hit on the Marauder’s cockpit, shat-
  tering the ferroglass canopy and—if there was any justice in the 
  universe—the MechWarrior within.
  A heartbeat later, a quartet of PPC bolts washed over his 
  crippled Manteuff el, boiling away armor to fl ash-fry the 
  crew inside in a blinding burst of white-hot par-
  ticles. But even in death, Sergeant Major 
  Rolf Solomon knew one last mo-
  ment of victory. 
  At the end of the day, 
  the EISENJÄGER got 
  their man.
  
  BattleMechs reign supreme on the battlefi eld, but Combat 
  Vehicles can hold their own in battle. Though not as tough as 
  BattleMechs, they are generally much cheaper and easier to build. 
  BattleTech provides rules for four types of vehicles: ground, VTOL, 
  WiGE and naval, as defi ned in Components (see p. 20). 
  Most of the rules regarding the use of Combat Vehicles in the 
  game are contained in the Movement and Combat sections. Those 
  rules are not repeated here; instead, this section covers rules that 
  only apply to specifi c Combat Vehicles, along with hit location 
  and critical hits tables used exclusively for Combat Vehicles.
  MOVEMENT
  Combat Vehicles move on the map like ’Mechs, with the 
  restrictions and diff erences addressed in the Movement section. 
  Keep in mind that any time a ground vehicle (except hover 
  vehicles) fails a Driving Skill Roll that results in a skid, that vehicle 
  must make an immediate roll on the Motive System Damage 
  Table; see Skidding, p. 62.
  COMBAT
  Combat Vehicles use the standard rules for multiple targets and to-
  hit modifi ers; a turret rotation is treated exactly like a ’Mech torso twist 
  for purposes of multiple target modifi ers. They follow the standard 
  rules for fi ring arcs as well, with two exceptions: side-mounted 
  weapons never fi re into the front arc, and turrets have a three-hex 
  wide arc that resembles the front arc (see Firing Arcs, p. 104). 
  Combat Vehicles use slightly diff erent rules for taking damage.
  GROUND COMBAT VEHICLES
  Ground Combat Vehicles use the standard rules for resolving 
  hit locations, with the following exceptions.
  Attack Directions
  The diagram shows the front, 
  side and rear attack directions for all 
  Combat Vehicles.
  Determining Hit Location
  Combat Vehicles take hits to four 
  or fi ve locations: Front, Right Side, 
  Left Side, Rear and Turret or Rotor (if 
  applicable). When a Combat Vehicle 
  takes a hit, roll 2D6 and consult the 
  Ground Combat Vehicle Hit Location Table for that vehicle type to 
  determine the location that took damage, using the appropriate 
  column based on the attack direction. Other results may also 
  apply, as noted on the table. 
  Armor-Piercing 
  Special 
  Munitions: 
  Every 
  successful 
  attack against a vehicle automatically causes a roll on the 
  appropriate column of the appropriate Vehicle Critical Hits Table, 
  corresponding to the location damaged. The standard modifi ers 
  indicted by armor-piercing ammunition for determining critical 
  hits still apply when rolling on the Vehicle Critical Hits Table (see 
  Armor Piercing Ammo, p. 140).
  Turret Hits: If the Combat Vehicle has no turret, a turret hit 
  strikes the armor on the side attacked.
   
  Critical Damage
  A Combat Vehicle may take critical damage under two 
  circumstances, both of which require an immediate roll on the 
  Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hits Table on the following page.
  • ATTACK DIRECTIONS • 
  MD 
  MD
  In the Chaos March, a Tikonov Republican Guard mixed force deploys in the hopes of catching Word of Blake insurgents. 
  
  193
  193
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  VEHICLES
  VEHICLES
  • 
  As described on the Ground Combat Vehicle Hit Location 
  Table, critical damage occurs when a specifi c roll on that 
  table indicates a roll on the Ground Combat Vehicle 
  Critical Hits Table.
  • 
  A critical hit occurs whenever a location’s internal structure 
  is damaged; the controlling player automatically rolls on 
  the appropriate column of the Ground Combat Vehicle 
  Critical Hits Table.
  Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hit Eff ects
  Critical hits only aff ect items in the location struck. If the 
  item listed on the Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hits Table 
  does not apply in that location (the item doesn’t exist, only 
  one such critical hit can occur per location and so on), simply 
  move down the column until an applicable critical result 
  is achieved. For example, a dice roll result of 9 for the Rear 
  location indicates Weapon Destroyed. If the vehicle mounts 
  MD 
  MD
  Alacorn Mk VI Heavy Tank, Tikonov Republican Guard (House Steiner) 
  GROUND COMBAT VEHICLE 
  HIT LOCATION TABLE
   
  Attack Direction
  2D6 Roll 
  Front 
  Rear
   Side§
  2* 
  Front 
  (critical) 
  Rear 
  (critical) 
  Side 
  (critical) 
  3 
  Front† 
  Rear† 
  Side† 
  4 
  Front† 
  Rear† 
  Side† 
  5 
  Right Side†
  Left Side†
  Front† 
  6 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  7 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  8 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  (critical)*
  9 
  Left Side† 
  Right Side† 
  Rear† 
  10 
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret
  11 
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret 
  12* 
  Turret 
  (critical)
   Turret 
  (critical) 
  Turret 
  (critical) 
  *A result of 2 or 12 (or an 8 if the attack strikes the side) may infl ict a critical hit 
  on the vehicle. For each result of 2 or 12 (or 8 for side attacks), apply damage 
  normally to the armor in that section. The attacking player then automatically 
  rolls once on the Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hits Table, p. 194. A result of 
  12 on the Ground Combat Vehicles Hit Location Table may infl ict a critical hit 
  against the turret; if the vehicle has no turret, a 12 indicates the chance of a 
  critical hit on the side corresponding to the attack direction.
  †The vehicle may suff er motive system damage even if its armor remains intact. 
  Apply damage normally to the armor in that section, but the attacking 
  player also rolls once on the Motive System Damage Table, at right. Apply 
  damage at the end of the phase in which the damage takes eff ect.
  §Side hits strike the side as indicated by the attack direction. For example, if 
  an attack hits the right side, all Side results strike the right side armor. If the 
  vehicle has no turret, a turret hit strikes the armor on the side attacked.
  MOTIVE SYSTEM DAMAGE TABLE
  2D6 Roll
    Eff ect*
  2–5
  No eff ect
  6–7  
  Minor damage; +1 modifi er to all Driving 
  Skill Rolls 
  8–9
   Moderate damage; –1 Cruising MP, +2 
  modifi er to all Driving Skill Rolls
  10–11
  Heavy damage; only half Cruising MP 
  (round fractions up), +3 modifi er to all 
  Driving Skill Rolls
  12+ 
  Major damage; no movement for the rest of 
  the game. Vehicle is immobile.
  Attack Direction Modifi er:
  Hit from rear
  +1
  Hit from the sides 
  +2
  Vehicle Type Modifi ers:
  Tracked, Naval 
  +0
  Wheeled 
  +2
  Hovercraft, Hydrofoil 
  +3
  WiGE
   
  +4
  *All movement and Driving Skill Roll penalties are cumulative. If a unit’s 
  Cruising MP is reduced to 0, it cannot move for the rest of the game, but is 
  not considered an immobile target. In addition, all motive system damage 
  takes eff ect at the end of the phase in which the damage occurred. For 
  example, if two units are attacking the same Combat Vehicle during the 
  Weapon Attack Phase and the fi rst unit infl icts motive system damage 
  and rolls a 12, the –4 immobile target modifi er would not apply for the 
  second attacker. However, the –4 modifi er would take eff ect during the 
  Physical Attack Phase.
  
  no weapons in that location, the player moves down to the Rear 
  result for 10: Engine Hit. If a player reaches 12 without achieving a 
  critical result, start over at 6 and continue down again. If a vehicle 
  has already taken all the critical damage in a column, ignore the 
  critical hit.
  Ammunition: This result means the Combat Vehicle’s 
  ammunition explodes. Unlike a ’Mech, where only a single slot 
  explodes, the Combat Vehicle loses all its ammunition (see p. 125). 
  Count the total damage for all ammunition carried and apply the 
  damage directly to the vehicle’s internal structure in the location 
  struck. If the vehicle has CASE, apply the damage instead to its rear 
  armor, with any excess damage ignored and the vehicle suff ers a 
  Crew Stunned result.
  Cargo/Infantry Hit: The Combat Vehicle’s internal cargo and/or 
  infantry troops are hit. (This result applies to items in a dedicated 
  cargo bay, not carried using the Cargo Carriers rules on p. 261.) 
  Infantry suff ers damage as though the weapon that caused the 
  critical hit had struck the infantry unit; apply the weapon’s full 
  damage. For example, if an SRM causes the critical hit, the infantry 
  unit suff ers 2 points of damage, while a Gauss rifl e infl icts 15 points 
  of damage. Cargo is destroyed. If the Combat Vehicle carries more 
  than one type of cargo or more than one infantry unit, randomly 
  determine which one gets hit.
  Commander Hit: The vehicle’s commander is injured, causing 
  confusion among the crew equivalent to a Crew Stunned critical 
  hit. In addition, for the rest of the game the vehicle suff ers a +1 
  modifi er to all to-hit rolls and Driving Skill Rolls. Treat successive 
  Commander Hit results as Crew Stunned.
  Crew Killed: The critical hit penetrates the crew cabin, killing 
  or severely injuring the entire crew. The Combat Vehicle remains 
  intact, but is considered destroyed for purposes of determining 
  victory. Without its crew it cannot move, fi re or take any other 
  action for the remainder of the game and is considered immobile. 
  However, all its electronics function until the vehicle is destroyed 
  (see Destroying a Unit, p. 128). This result has no eff ect on any 
  infantry the vehicle is carrying. 
  Crew Stunned: Damage from the critical hit shakes the crew 
  compartment, disorienting the crewmen. During the following 
  turn, the Combat Vehicle may move no faster than Cruising speed, 
  and may take no other actions (fi ring weapons and so on). After 
  MD 
  MD
  Pegasus, Tikonov Republic Guard (House Steiner) 
  GROUND COMBAT VEHICLE CRITICAL HITS TABLE
   
  Location Hit
  2D6 Roll 
  Front 
  Side 
  Rear 
  Turret
  2–5 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit
  6 
  Driver Hit 
  Cargo/Infantry Hit 
  Weapon Malfunction 
  Stabilizer
  7 
  Weapon Malfunction Weapon Malfunction 
  Cargo/Infantry Hit 
  Turret Jam
  8 
  Stabilizer 
  Crew Stunned 
  Stabilizer
  Weapon Malfunction
  9
   Sensors 
  Stabilizer 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Turret Locks
  10 
  Commander Hit 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Engine Hit 
  Weapon Destroyed
  11 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Engine Hit 
  Ammunition** 
  Ammunition**
  12 
  Crew Killed 
  Fuel Tank* 
  Fuel Tank* 
  Turret Blown Off 
  *If Combat Vehicle has ICE engine only. If Combat Vehicle has a fusion engine, treat this result as Engine Hit.
  **If Combat Vehicle carries no ammunition, treat this result as Weapon Destroyed.
  
  195
  195
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  VEHICLES
  VEHICLES
  that, the vehicle may act normally. Multiple Crew Stunned 
  results in the same turn extend the number of turns for which 
  these eff ects last. If the vehicle has suff ered Commander Hit 
  and Driver Hit results, and then takes a Crew Stunned hit (even 
  if all this occurs in the same phase), treat the latter result as 
  Crew Killed. This outcome has no eff ect on any infantry units 
  the vehicle carries.
  Driver Hit: The vehicle’s driver is injured. For the remainder 
  of the game, apply a +2 modifi er to all Driving Skill Rolls. Treat 
  successive Driver Hit results as Crew Stunned.
  Engine Hit: The vehicle’s engine is severely damaged. The 
  vehicle may not move or change facing for the remainder of 
  the game and is considered an immobile target. However, 
  its electronics still function; any Direct-Fire Energy and Pulse 
  Weapons no longer work; also treat as a turret lock.
  Fuel Tank: The fuel tank is breached, causing the entire Combat 
  Vehicle to explode in a spectacular fashion. Any cargo or infantry 
  carried is destroyed. This critical hit only aff ects ICE engines; if the 
  vehicle has a fusion engine, treat this result as Engine Hit.
  Sensors: Each critical hit to the vehicle’s sensors adds a +1 
  modifi er to all to-hit rolls, with multiple hits being cumulative. 
  The fourth sensor hit makes it impossible for the vehicle to 
  fi re weapons.
  Stabilizer: A vehicle’s weapon stabilizers help it fi re straight 
  while moving. When this system takes a critical hit, double 
  the attacker movement modifi er for all attacks from weapons 
  mounted in the location struck. Weapons mounted elsewhere 
  in the vehicle are not aff ected. Second and subsequent hits to 
  the stabilizer in the same location have no further eff ect.
  Turret Blown Off : The Combat Vehicle’s turret gets blown 
  off , eff ectively destroying the vehicle. 
  Turret Jam: The turret rotation mechanism temporarily 
  freezes, leaving the turret stuck in its current facing until 
  the crew spends a Weapon Attack Phase fi xing the jam. The 
  Combat Vehicle may not fi re any weapons while the jam is 
  being fi xed. Treat a second or subsequent Turret Jam critical 
  hit—regardless of whether the crew cleared fi rst jam—like a 
  Turret Locks critical hit.
  Turret Locks: The turret rotation mechanism is severely 
  damaged, locking the turret in its current facing for the 
  remainder of the game. Additional critical hits of this type—or 
  Turret Jam critical hits—have no further eff ect.
  Weapon Destroyed: One weapon mounted in the damaged 
  location suff ers major damage and ceases to function. The 
  attacking player then rolls 1D6. On a result of 1–3, the player 
  controlling the target unit chooses which weapon in that 
  location stops working. On a 4–6, the attacking player chooses 
  which weapon stops working. The vehicle cannot fi re that 
  weapon for the remainder of the game.
  If a weapon is destroyed that can explode (such as a Gauss 
  rifl e, see p. 135), it is treated as an ammunition explosion for 
  the location where the weapon is mounted (see Ammunition, 
  p. 125).
  Weapon Malfunction: This critical hit causes a weapon 
  mounted in the location struck to malfunction. If a Combat 
  Vehicle has multiple weapons in that location, randomly 
  determine which one takes the hit. The vehicle cannot fi re that 
  weapon until the malfunction is fi xed. The vehicle crew must 
  RA 
  RA
  A lance of Davion Patton tanks in their shed, awaiting maintenance. 
  
  spend one Weapon Attack Phase clearing the malfunction, during 
  which the vehicle may make no weapon attacks (though it may 
  move normally during the Ground Movement Phase). The crew 
  may only fi x one weapon malfunction per Weapon Attack Phase.
  VTOL COMBAT VEHICLES
   BattleTech VTOLs represent a wide range of vehicles, from the 
  standard rotor-helicopter to tilt-wing craft and so on; they include 
  any airborne craft designed for atmospheric fl ight that can 
  make vertical take-off s and landings. However, for simplicity, the 
  following rules center on the standard rotor-helicopter and apply 
  that template to all VTOLs for game purposes, regardless of any 
  VTOL’s artistic portrayal or how the sourcebook fi ction describes a 
  VTOL in a technical readout.
  Combat VTOLs use the same rules as ground Combat Vehicles 
  for fi ring arcs, multiple targets, to-hit modifi ers, taking damage 
  and so on, with the following exceptions.
  Attack Declaration
  A VTOL vehicle may not fi re at a target in the same hex it 
  occupies, regardless of its elevation.
  Line of Sight
  Resolve line of sight as if the VTOL occupies a clear hex at a level 
  equal to the VTOL’s present elevation; see LOS example on p. 101.
  To-Hit Modifi ers
  Because a VTOL fl ies above woods, it does not benefi t from 
  woods modifi ers for the hex it occupies while in fl ight.
  Apply an additional +1 target movement modifi er when 
  making attacks against airborne VTOLs (this includes non-vehicles 
  airborne and expending VTOL MPs). Even when a VTOL is airborne, 
  attacker movement modifi ers remain +1 or +2 depending on 
  whether the VTOL expended Cruising or Flank MP.
  VTOL COMBAT VEHICLE 
  HIT LOCATION TABLE
  2D6 Roll 
  Front
  Rear
  Side
  2* 
  Front (critical)
  Rear 
  (critical)
  Side 
  (critical)
  3 
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  4 
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  5 
  Right Side 
  Left Side 
  Front
  6 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side
  7 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side
  8 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side (critical)*
  9
  Left Side 
  Right Side 
  Rear
  10 
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  11 
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  12* 
  Rotors 
  (critical)†
  Rotors 
  (critical)†
  Rotors 
  (critical)†
    
   
  *A result of 2 or 12 (or 8 if the attack strikes the side) may infl ict a critical hit on 
  the VTOL. For each such attack, apply damage normally to the armor in that 
  section. The attacking player then immediately rolls once on the VTOL Combat 
  Vehicle Critical Hits Table, below.
  †Damage Value / 10 (round up); see Rotor Hits, p. 197. Additionally, damage to 
  the rotors slows down the VTOL. Each hit reduces the VTOL’s Cruising MP by 1, 
  meaning that the controlling player must also recalculate Flank MP; multiply 
  the new Cruising MP by 1.5 and round up. As with all damage, such movement 
  penalties do not apply until the end of the phase in which the damage occurred.
  VTOL COMBAT VEHICLE 
  CRITICAL HITS TABLE
  Hit Location
  2D6 Roll 
  Front 
  Side 
  Rear 
  Rotors
  2–5 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit
  6 
  Co-Pilot Hit 
  Weapon Jam 
  Cargo/Infantry Hit 
  Rotor Damage
  7 
  Weapon Jam 
  Cargo/Infantry Hit 
  Weapon Jam 
  Rotor Damage
  8 
  Stabilizer 
  Stabilizer 
  Stabilizer 
  Rotor Damage
  9 
  Sensors 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Flight Stabilizer Hit
  10 
  Pilot Hit 
  Engine Hit 
  Sensors 
  Flight Stabilizer Hit
  11 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Ammunition** 
  Engine Hit 
  Rotors Destroyed
  12 
  Crew Killed 
  Fuel Tank* 
  Fuel Tank* 
  Rotors Destroyed
  *Only if the VTOL has an ICE engine. For VTOLs with fusion engines, treat this result as Engine Hit.
  **If the VTOL carries no ammunition, treat this result as Weapon Destroyed.
  
  197
  197
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  VEHICLES
  VEHICLES
  MD 
  MD
  Determining Hit Location
  When a combat VTOL takes a hit, roll 2D6 and consult the 
  VTOL Combat Vehicle Hit Location Table to determine the 
  location that took damage, using the appropriate column 
  based on the attack direction. Other results may also apply, as 
  noted on the table.
  Rotor Hits
  For each attack that strikes a rotor location, for every 10 
  points (or fraction there of) of a weapon’s Damage Value, 
  apply 1 point of damage. For example, a 5-point medium laser 
  and a 10-point PPC would both infl ict 1 point of damage each, 
  while a heavy Gauss Rifl e at short range (25-points of damage) 
  would infl ict 3 points of damage to the rotors.
  Cluster Weapons: When determining the damage to a 
  rotor, each Damage Value grouping is considered separately. 
  For example an LRM 20 that stuck a VTOL with 12 missiles, 
  and all three groupings (5, 5 and 2) struck rotors, would infl ict 
  a total of 3 points of damage to the rotors (1 point for each 
  Damage Value grouping).
  Critical Damage
  A VTOL may take critical damage under two circumstances, 
  both of which require an immediate roll on the VTOL Combat 
  Vehicle Critical Hits Table below:
  • 
  As described on the VTOL Combat Vehicle Hit Location 
  Table, critical damage occurs when a specifi c roll on that 
  table indicates a roll on the VTOL Combat Vehicle Critical 
  Hits Table.
  • 
  A critical hit occurs whenever a location’s internal structure 
  is damaged; the controlling player automatically rolls on 
  the appropriate column of the VTOL Combat Vehicle 
  Critical Hits Table.
  VTOL Combat Vehicle Critical Hit Eff ects
  Unless stated otherwise in this section, critical hits against a 
  VTOL are the same as those for ground Combat Vehicles (see 
  p. 192).
  Co-Pilot Hit: The VTOL’s co-pilot or gunner is injured. For 
  the rest of the game, apply a +1 modifi er to all to-hit rolls. 
  Treat a subsequent Co-Pilot Hit as Crew Killed.
  Engine Damage: If a landed VTOL’s engine takes damage, 
  the unit cannot move for the rest of the game. If a fl ying VTOL’s 
  engine takes damage over a clear, paved, rough or building 
  hex, make a Driving Skill Roll with a +4 modifi er (plus any 
  additional modifi ers that might apply) to avoid crashing. If the 
  roll is successful, the VTOL lands in a hex but may not move 
  for the rest of the game. If the roll fails, the VTOL crashes (see 
  Rotor Destruction, at right). If the VTOL takes engine damage 
  while fl ying over other terrain, it automatically crashes , as per 
  Rotors Destroyed at right.
  Per standard rules for buildings, if a VTOL is forced to land in 
  a building hex that cannot support the VTOL’s weight, the hex 
  collapses (see Construction Factor and Collapse, pp. 166 and 
  176 respectively).
  Fuel Tank: A fuel tank hit causes the VTOL to explode; see 
  VTOL Explosions, p. 198. If the VTOL mounts a fusion engine, 
  treat this result as an Engine Hit.
  Pilot Hit: The VTOL’s pilot is injured. For the remainder of the 
  game, apply a +2 modifi er to all Driving Skill Rolls. In addition, 
  the controlling player must immediately make a successful 
  Driving Skill Roll or the VTOL drops one elevation. The drop 
  may cause the vehicle to crash. Treat a subsequent Pilot Hit 
  as Crew Killed.
  Rotor Damage: Damage to the rotors slows down the 
  VTOL. Each critical hit reduces the VTOL’s Cruising MP by an 
  additional 1, meaning that the controlling player must also 
  recalculate Flank MP (multiply the new Cruising MP by 1.5, 
  rounding up). This results in a loss of 2 MP, one for the critical 
  hit and one for the actual rotor damage. (see VTOL Combat 
  Vehicle Hit Location Table, p. 196)
  Rotors Destroyed: If a VTOL’s rotor is destroyed in fl ight, 
  the unit crashes in its current hex and takes 1 point of falling 
  damage for every 10 tons that it weighs (rounding up), times 
  the number of levels plus 1 that it fell. VTOL vehicles falling 
  into wooded hexes plunge to the ground, not to the treetops. 
  If the VTOL falls into a water hex, it is destroyed.
  Divide the damage into 5-point Damage Value groupings and 
  determine a hit location for each grouping. Use the appropriate 
  column of the VTOL Combat Vehicle Hit Location Table as 
  specifi ed by the Facing After a Fall Table in Ground Movement, 
  p. 68. Re-roll any hits to the rotor. Falling damage takes eff ect 
  simultaneously with all other damage in the phase.
  A VTOL with a destroyed rotor cannot move and is 
  considered an immobile target.
  Yellow Jacket Gunboat, Tikonov Republican Guard (House Steiner) 
  
  Flight Stabilizer: The VTOL suff ers damage to its fl ight 
  stabilizer, making it diffi  cult to turn steadily or fl y straight. The 
  VTOL may move no faster than Cruising speed for the remainder 
  of the game; also apply a +3 modifi er to all Driving Skill Rolls. 
  Finally, apply a +1 to-hit modifi er to all attacks. Additional critical 
  hits to the fl ight stabilizers have no further eff ect.
  VTOL Explosions
  If any part of a VTOL’s internal structure takes damage from 
  a crash, the VTOL explodes and is destroyed. A VTOL may also 
  explode as a result of a critical hit, as noted on the VTOL Combat 
  Vehicle Critical Hits Table. The latter rule does not apply to a 
  vehicle mounting a fusion, fi ssion or fuel cell engine.
  Physical Attacks Against VTOLs
  ’Mechs may make physical attacks against landed VTOLs in 
  the same manner as against ground vehicles. A ’Mech may also 
  physically attack a fl ying VTOL per the Physical Attacks Against 
  VTOL Vehicles Table. The fi rst column lists the diff erence in levels 
  between the ’Mech’s hex and the VTOL; to fi nd this number, 
  subtract the ’Mech’s hex level +1 from the VTOL’s elevation. Any 
  successful physical attack by a ’Mech automatically destroys the 
  VTOL’s rotor.
  Death From Above: A ’Mech may only make a death from 
  above attack against a VTOL if the ´Mech’s Jump MP equals or 
  exceeds the diff erence in levels between the two units.
  In the Physical Attacks Vs. VTOLS Diagram at above, a 
  BattleMech in Hex A is on a Level 3 hill facing a VTOL in Hex B 
  at Elevation 2 on the BattleForce 2 map. The level diﬀ erence 
  between the BattleMech’s hex and the VTOL’s elevation is 
  –1 (2 – 3). The BattleMech may not physically attack the 
  VTOL. However, if the BattleMech has not yet moved and 
  is jump-capable, and the VTOL has ﬁ nished its movement, 
  the BattleMech can make a death from above attack. If the 
  VTOL were 1 elevation higher, the level diﬀ erence would be 
  0 and the BattleMech could make a kick, club or physical 
  weapon attack.
  Note that if the VTOL were a Large Support Vehicle, even if it 
  were at Elevation 2, a Large Support Vehicle rises one level (in 
  this case elevation) above its underlying elevation, meaning in 
  this example it occupies both Elevation 2 and Elevation 3 of Hex 
  B, which means the ’Mech could make a kick, club or physical 
  weapon attack against the VTOL.
  NAVAL COMBAT VEHICLES
  Naval Combat Vehicles use the standard rules for ground 
  Combat Vehicles with respect to fi ring arcs, multiple targets, to-hit 
  modifi ers, taking damage and so on, with the exceptions below. 
  Use the same rules and tables as for ground Combat Vehicles 
  when rolling for hit locations, taking critical damage and so on. 
  Hull Integrity
  Naval Combat Vehicles that take damage may require a Hull 
  Integrity roll, as described in the Underwater section of Damage 
  (see Combat, p. 98). Submarines follow all the standard rules for 
  hull integrity. 
  Surface Vessels: Surface vessels follow all the rules for hull 
  integrity, except that only damage to such a vehicle’s front, side or 
  rear armor locations requires a Hull Integrity roll. A strike against 
  a unit’s turret—provided the unit mounts one—does not require 
  a roll. 
  Finally, attacks against a surface vessel from an underwater 
  unit use the standard rules for the Hull Integrity roll, while attacks 
  from units that are not underwater must roll a 12 for a hull breach 
  (to represent the fact that the weapon strike will more often hit a 
  section above the waterline).
  PHYSICAL ATTACKS AGAINST 
  VTOL VEHICLES TABLE
  Diff erence in Levels
  Type of Physical Attack Allowed
  –1 or lower
  None
  0
  All except Punch
  1–2
  All except Kick
  3
  Club and Physical Weapons only
  4+
  None
  • PHYSICAL ATTACKS VS. VTOLS DIAGRAM • 
  
  199
  199
  COMBAT
  COMBAT
  VEHICLES
  VEHICLES
  MD 
  MD
  WIGE COMBAT VEHICLES
  WiGE Combat Vehicles use the standard rules for ground 
  Combat Vehicles with regard to fi ring arcs, multiple targets, to-
  hit modifi ers, taking damage and so on, with the exceptions 
  described below. Use the same rules and tables as for ground 
  Combat Vehicles when rolling for hit locations, taking critical 
  damage and so on. 
  BattleTech WiGE vehicles are eff ectively low-fl ying airplanes 
  (see Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex for a sample of what 
  such vehicles look like). An entire series of rules could merge 
  the eff ects of conventional aircraft with hovercraft, but for 
  simplicity WiGE in combat are treated as vehicles. They have 
  some unique characteristics; they are tougher than VTOLs, but 
  more fragile than standard ground vehicles, with a few unusual 
  movement options (see Wing-in-Ground-Eff ect, p. 55).
  Attack Declaration
  A WiGE Combat Vehicle may not fi re at a target in the hex it 
  occupies, regardless of its level.
  Line of Sight
  Resolve line of sight as if the WiGE vehicle occupies a clear hex 
  one elevation above the level of the underlying hex it occupies.
  To-Hit Modifi ers
  Because a WiGE vehicle fl ies above terrain, it does not 
  benefi t from woods modifi ers for the hex it occupies while in 
  fl ight. Apply an additional +1 target movement modifi er when 
  making attacks against airborne WiGEs. Even when a WiGE 
  vehicle is airborne, the attacker movement modifi ers remain 
  Too late, Word of Blake soldiers realize they’ve fallen into a Tikonov Republic Guard ambush. 
  +1 or +2 depending on whether the WiGE vehicle expended 
  Cruising or Flank MP.
  Motive System Damage
  If damage reduces a WiGE vehicle’s MP to the point that it 
  cannot enter at least fi ve hexes in a turn, it must land at the end 
  of its movement. Landing does not cost MP, and WiGE vehicles 
  may only land in clear or paved hexes. WiGE units cannot land 
  on water hexes unless the unit has the Amphibious Chassis 
  and Controls modifi cation, nor can they descend below Depth 
  0 in a water hex. A WiGE vehicle that makes either of these 
  movements crashes and is destroyed.
  In addition, if at any time during a turn a WiGE vehicle is 
  airborne when damage reduces its MP to 0, it automatically 
  crashes in the hex where the damage occurred.
  Engine Damage
  If a landed WiGE vehicle’s engine is critically damaged, the 
  unit cannot move for the rest of the game. If a fl ying WiGE 
  vehicle’s engine takes damage over a clear, paved, rough or 
  building hex, make a Driving Skill Roll to avoid crashing. If the 
  roll is successful, the WiGE vehicle lands in the hex but may 
  not move for the rest of the game. If the roll fails, the WiGE 
  vehicle crashes. If the WiGE unit takes engine damage while 
  fl ying over other terrain, it automatically crashes.
  Buildings: Per the standard rules for buildings, if a WiGE 
  unit is forced to land in a building hex that cannot support 
  its weight, the hex automatically collapses (see Construction 
  Factor and Collapse, pp. 166 and 176 respectively).
  
  The Twelfth Deneb Light Cavalry on David was attacked by the Ninth Dieron 
  Regulars and Brion’s Legion. ... The early stages of the ﬁ ght for David were 
  inconclusive. The efforts of Combine forces to pin down the Deneb ’Mechs were 
  thwarted repeatedly by a determined militia and the actions of civilians, who 
  aided the AFFS forces whenever possible.
  —From Fourth Succession War Military Atlas, Volume 1, by Doctor B. Banzai 
  (copyright March 3029), by permission of the New Avalon Institute of Science
  OREGON PLAINS
  ANDROPO, DAVID
  DRACONIS MARCH, FEDERATED SUNS
  17 APRIL 3029
  Ty pretended he couldn’t see the Dragon standing at the edge of the 
  fi eld as he fi nished his fi nal pass. He kept his head turned, looking back 
  over one shoulder at the whirling disks of metal as they pulverized the 
  ground cover, shredding the thick sod and driving it down into the top-
  soil. The ground and vegetation were too moist for a dust cloud.
  He glanced forward again, keeping his head low. He hoped the 
  hat brim shielding his eyes from the reddish sun would give the 
  impression he was only checking his ancient tractor’s alignment 
  with previous swaths. 
  A second BattleMech had come out of the sandalwoods to stand 
  behind the other’s right shoulder. It was bigger than the Dragon. 
  Given the Dracs’ passion for appearances, Ty would have expected 
  the bigger boss to drive the bigger machine, but its position indi-
  cated the newcomer was of lower rank. 
  As if rank mattered when two BattleMechs confronted a simple 
  farmer driving his tractor.
  Ty decided the big guy wasn’t a Drac design. It had hulking 
  rotator shoulders like the Dragon, but its cockpit was lower and 
  thrust forward, making it resemble a lowlife brawler more than the 
  noble warrior look the Dracs preferred. It looked tougher to Ty’s 
  untrained eye, but he knew it made Drac sense for the boss to drive 
  a Drac ’Mech even if a better one was available.
  Coming up on the end of the pass, Ty could see he was running 
  out of fi eld. The Combine BattleMechs were standing between him 
  and the access road. He’d either have to drive straight into one or 
  admit he could see them.
  Tough choice. At the last moment he snapped his head back, 
  dropping his jaw in amazement as he stared up at the towering 
  war machines.
  Yes, folks, the local yokel is an idiot.
  The driver of the Dragon said something over his external speak-
  ers. Maybe her external speakers. Ty couldn’t tell for sure over the 
  yammer of his tractor’s aging diesel. He made a show of cupping 
  his ear and gaping while gunning the engine just a bit.
  He’d laid it on too thick. The Drac ’Mech jockey let him know 
  he—or she—wasn’t buying it by pointing the Dragon’s left arm at 
  the tractor’s nose.
  Not anxious to see what a medium laser could do to a six-hundred-
  year old Deere, Ty—with much comic fumbling—shut his machine 
  down. Any way he could waste these guys’ time was a victory.
  “This is the wrong time of year to harrow,” the MechWarrior’s 
  voice boomed in the sudden silence. Defi nitely a woman. “This 
  fi eld should be left fallow.”
  A hundred Drac ‘Mech jockeys on David, and Ty had to draw the 
  only farmer.
  Kevin Killiany
  
  “Killing dung voles, Captain,” he called back, then kicked him-
  self for revealing that he’d recognized the blue katana “fi ve” 
  badge on the Dragon’s breast. He could also read the unit desig-
  nations—four weeks of resistance had taught him a little about 
  the invaders. Commander of Second Company, First Battalion 
  of the Ninth Dieron Regulars would be—Ty fl ipped through his 
  mental fi les—Tai-i  Lisa Montgomery.
  “Trying to, anyway,” he went on, hoping she hadn’t noticed the 
  pause during his mental gymnastics. “Once they get in a fi eld like 
  this, the only way to keep them from spreading to the crops is burn 
  ‘em out or chop ‘em up. They don’t dig deep,” he added helpfully.
  The Dragon kept its medium laser leveled at his tractor. Ty sus-
  pected the fi rst indication he’d have that Montgomery knew no 
  dung voles existed would be a bolt of coherent light burning 
  him to smoke.
  “Did a group of BattleMechs pass this way?”
  You mean the Twelfth Deneb’s recon lance? Ty thought. I was just 
  covering their tracks.
  “No, ma’am,” he said. “Until you two popped up, I hadn’t seen 
  a soul.”
  On the heels of his words, two more Combine BattleMechs 
  stepped out of the forest—both good, solid, predictably Drac-
  built Lancelots. 
  Ty felt his mouth go dry as he realized one had come from 
  the north. He waited out the silence as Second Company’s First 
  Lance chose not to include him in their deliberations.
  “What is the metal building to the north?” Montgomery asked. 
  Ty wished she’d point her laser elsewhere.
  “That’d be my tractor shed,” he said. No point in playing too dumb, 
  particularly with the tai-i clearly not buying his innocence. “It’s full of 
  tractors, harvesters, stuff  like that. Half of it doesn’t work.” Then, mak-
  ing no eff ort to hide his pride: “The Jones farm has been here ever 
  since folks colonized David.”
  “Jones farm?”
  “What you’re standing on,” Ty said, then swept his arms to illustrate. 
  “From Mount Shasta to the Sometimey River; from Taylor east to the 
  desert. Grains, vegetables, koi ponds and timber. That’s Jones farm 
  and I’m Tybalt Jones.”
  “The owner of such an estate plows the 
  fi elds like a common hand?”
  “The owner of such a working farm.” 
  Ty had no trouble putting an appro-
  priate level of pride-fueled heat into 
  his words. “I spend twelve hours a 
  day, seven days a week, keeping ev-
  erything running right.”
  Pause. Unmoving laser.
  “Show us this tractor shed.”
  The shed—which Ty had to admit was 
  actually an extensive garage that covered a 
  good quarter of an acre—stood at the north end 
  of Home Ridge, a long hill named by the third-genera-
  tion Jones. Ty didn’t imagine his long-dead ancestor 
  had put much thought into naming the place 
  after building the family homestead on its 
  highest point. 
  Building high was a David tradition 
  without explanation, as far as Ty knew. On 
  such an arid world, everyone built their 
  
  houses as high above the plains as they could, as though expect-
  ing fl oods momentarily.
  The badlands began just north of Home Ridge, the abrupt tran-
  sition to rocky hardpan demarking the end of the Jones family’s 
  terraforming eff orts. The ground was not stone, but even the Drac 
  assault ‘Mech failed to mark the packed clay with its passing.
  The treeless land was rumpled like a coarse blanket thrown on 
  the ground, a place of blind arroyos and abrupt escarpments. The 
  broad shape of Danson’s Hill was visible to the northeast and the 
  rugged white cone of Mount Shasta dominated the northern ho-
  rizon. Ty made certain not to glance toward the peak, crowned 
  with white mineral deposits that gave the illusion of year-round 
  snow—and that refl ected most active sensors. 
  He made a production of working the clumsy mechanical com-
  bination lock that secured the shed’s double doors. They should not 
  have been locked at midday. In fact, they had been wide open, giv-
  ing Sid and the boys light and air while they’d stripped a harvester 
  when Ty had taken the harrow out. No doubt his mechanic and farm 
  hands had run for the woods when they’d got wind of the Dracs.
  The doors were high enough and wide enough for the Dragon 
  to enter. Montgomery didn’t wait for the sodium lights far over-
  head to heat up. Instead, she turned on external spotlights, prob-
  ing the shadows as she moved through the cavernous shed. One 
  of the Lancelots fi lled the doorway, the muzzles of its two large 
  lasers casting about in a vague search for targets. 
  Ty would have stood back and waited for something to fl ush 
  while the guys getting paid for it beat the underbrush, but the 
  Dracs worked backward. Or maybe it was a military thing. He 
  suspected their sensors had already told them there were no 
  BattleMechs present, but from the way the tai-i was examining 
  every truck and fruit gondola, there were probably enough simi-
  larities between farm equipment and military vehicles to make 
  eyes-on inspection necessary.
  From the way she was peering at everything, Ty guessed the Drac 
  captain wasn’t as familiar with tractors as she was with growing 
  seasons. He felt his pulse quicken as she spent several long seconds 
  considering a rounded cylinder—the size of a ten-thousand-liter 
  water tank—protruding from a pile of parts and vehicle panels.
  “This is built for underwater,” Montgomery said, her amplifi ed 
  voice echoing off  the corrugated metal walls.
  “It’s one of the oldest things in here,” Ty shouted back. “Maybe 
  they needed to be sealed while terraforming?”
  He got no answer. No doubt more convinced by the encum-
  bering mound of dust-covered debris than Ty’s words, the Drac 
  captain moved away from his multiple-great grandfather’s most 
  beloved treasure to examine a combine.
  Ty didn’t draw an easy breath until he saw the backs of the four 
  BattleMechs leaving his land, heading south.
  MOUNT SHASTA, ANDROPO, DAVID
  DRACONIS MARCH, FEDERATED SUNS
  22 APRIL 3029
  “Thank God.”
  The captain made no eff ort to hide her delight as Ty threw back 
  the tarp, revealing the crates of Combine MREs. 
  Ty grinned, bending to lift the fi rst case out of the trailer.
  There had not been enough vaccine—or enough time—for 
  the FedSuns MechWarriors and troops to have been immunized 
  against David’s native microorganisms. Though the water could 
  be boiled and irradiated to purity, the Twelfth Deneb had been 
  forced to live on hoarded battle rations, dependent on local sup-
  porters for fresh supplies.
  One man could not work fast enough, and Ty found himself 
  politely moved aside as a squad of volunteers took over food dis-
  tribution. Stepping back, he looked up at the narrow sliver of grey 
  sky visible past the overhanging roof of the shallow cave—more 
  an alcove, he thought—that shielded Second Battalion from sight 
  of any Drac overfl ights.
  “Any news, Tybalt?”
  Ty turned to fi nd Major Marcia Teon at his elbow. Almost liter-
  ally. At maybe fi fty kilos and a hundred and sixty centimeters, she 
  was the smallest MechWarrior he’d ever seen.
  She smiled at his startled reaction, her chocolate-brown cheeks 
  squeezing her grey-green eyes nearly shut. Ty suspected that if she 
  ever gave up the military’s strict physical training she’d turn plump. 
  The thought of a butterball MechWarrior made him smile in return.
  Then he sobered as he remembered his news.
  “The Dracs have fi gured out that if they can’t fi nd you any-
  where, you must be somewhere their sensors don’t work,” he said. 
  “They’re eliminating the Badlands one area at a time.”
  “Any chance they’re saving us for last?”
  Ty shook his head.
  “The Brion mercenaries are a few days east of here, headed this 
  way,” he said. “The Ninth Dieron are farther south—they went 
  after the fl ats south of the Sometimey fi rst—but it’s a sure bet 
  they’ll get here pronto once the mercs call for help.”
  Teon nodded. Her eyes scanned the shallow cave, one of sev-
  eral in the fl anks of Mount Shasta that concealed elements of the 
  Twelfth Deneb. 
  Ty had no idea what her orders were, but he couldn’t imag-
  ine this mountain as a good place for a last stand. The narrow 
  gorges and shallow caverns might favor the Deneb’s light ’Mechs, 
  but they were easily blocked. A relatively small portion of the 
  Combine forces could keep the Federated Suns warriors from 
  breaking free while the rest of them methodically blasted the 
  mountain to rubble around them.
  Or not. Just contain them until their food supply ran out and 
  they either surrendered or starved to death. 
  Teon didn’t share her thoughts with Ty, of course. But it didn’t 
  take a genius to guess the Twelfth’s job was to stay alive and keep 
  the Dracs tied up until some kind of reinforcements got here. The 
  staying alive part meant Teon’s boss needed to get his people out 
  of this hidey-hole before they got trapped. 
  With the ocean to the north and most of Andropo’s civilian 
  population to the west, east and south were their only options. 
  Take what was left of a regiment of light ’Mechs through the Dracs 
  or through the mercs—both units as big as the Twelfth used to be 
  and both made up of heavy and assault ’Mechs.
  “We need intel,” Teon said, then looked quickly at Ty as though 
  startled she’d spoken. “Sorry. You guys are doing one hell of a job. 
  But getting news a day or two old isn’t the same as hard numbers 
  real time.”
  It was Ty’s turn to look startled. But he only nodded as an idea 
  formed in the back of his mind.
  
  OREGON PLAINS, ANDROPO, DAVID
  DRACONIS MARCH, FEDERATED SUNS
  07 MAY 3029
  “Look alive,” Ty called down into the control cabin. “We got four 
  coming out of the woods up ahead.”
  “We got eight more in the woods,” Sid answered. “It’s spooky. I can 
  give you temperature, range, speed—I don’t know what all these 
  numbers mean. I think that’s the pilot’s shoe size.”
  Ty pulled his head down into the cabin, still gripping the rim of 
  what Sid called the skylight with both hands. His eyes couldn’t ad-
  just to the dim interior after the noon glare, but he could see the 
  glow of a dozen screens.
  “Shut those things down,” he said. “We don’t know how well those 
  guys can see us.”
  He heard a series of slaps and clicks, and the screens went dark. 
  The only light was the smoky grey glow from the heavily polarized 
  windscreen. The kid driving peered straight ahead through the 
  thick ferroglass, oblivious to the activity behind him. Billy was driv-
  ing because that job required the least imagination.
  Ty pulled his head back up into the sunlight and tried to make bal-
  ancing at the top of a truncated ladder look like relaxing in the catbird 
  seat. According to the schematics loaded into the computer, he should 
  have been head and shoulders inside a turret mounting a small laser. 
  The turret, the laser and half the waldos built into the hide of the 
  ancient Cortez explorer had disappeared over the past half-millen-
  nium. Ty had no clue where to look for them and he didn’t care. 
  All that mattered was the Beagle Active Probe, which was in place 
  and working—just enough—after Ty and Sid took apart the pieces 
  they didn’t recognize, cleaned them all carefully and put them 
  back exactly the way they’d found them.
  Ty raised his hand, ordering his little caravan to stop. No use pre-
  tending he didn’t see the quartet of heavy ’Mechs striding toward 
  them.
  He didn’t need to see the bear paw badge to know these weren’t 
  Dracs. These ‘Mechs hailed from Brion’s Legion, the merc unit he’d 
  heard about but never seen. The Twelfth had moved up to Danson’s 
  Hill, a better place to make a stand and from which to make a quick 
  break. From the way the mercs had been moving in these last few 
  days, they had a pretty good idea where the Twelfth was. 
  He hoped Brion didn’t fi eld any farmers—or historians—among 
  his MechWarriors.
  One ’Mech—a high-shouldered fi replug Ty thought might be 
  a JagerMech—stepped ahead of the others and leveled its arm-
  mounted cannon at his head. 
  Ty could see from the markings that he’d drawn another captain. 
  With a total of twelve ‘Mechs around, that meant this was another 
  company commander. He guessed the habit of having the head 
  man check things out wasn’t restricted to the Dracs.
  “Name and business,” the mercenary captain demanded over his 
  loudspeaker.
  “Ty Jones, farmer,” he shouted cheerfully, fi ghting the urge to 
  duck down inside the explorer. “Just taking the harvesters and pro-
  cessor over to the Lattimer place.”
  Sarah and Jenny, each perched atop a fruit picker and dressed to 
  risk sunburn and wind chill, smiled and waved at the BattleMech 
  on cue. Ty knew he’d taken a risk betting on male ‘Mech jockeys, 
  but the odds were in his favor. Dressed as they were, he was bet-
  ting his niece and Sid’s wife were pretty enough to keep the merc 
  from looking too closely at the “processor.” 
  “Stick to the main roads,” the merc’s voice grated. “When you get 
  where you’re going, stay put until you’re told you can travel.”
  “The way Marge cooks, that’ll be a pleasure,” Ty said as though that 
  were the best news ever. He waved to the departing BattleMechs.
  A trailer with a conveyor leading into the rear cargo bay wasn’t 
  much of a disguise.  But it was enough to fool folks who couldn’t 
  tell a Cortez explorer from a farm truck.
  “Jones, how did you get these readings?”
  “Colonel, my great-great-gran laid some old tech away for a rainy 
  day,” Ty grinned at the radio speaker as though the Twelfth Deneb’s 
  commander could see him. 
  Outside the skylight was as dark as the Cortez’s interior. After a day 
  of casting back and forth in front of the mercenaries’ position, he’d 
  sent everything the Beagle Active Probe had recorded over the off  
  frequency the resistance used to communicate with the Twelfth.
  “Don’t suppose you tagged Brion?” the colonel asked. “Chop the 
  head off  a personal merc group like this and they usually fall apart.”
  “No, sir,” Ty admitted. 
  Figuring out that the equipment worked had been the extent 
  of their success. They hadn’t a clue how to analyze the data they’d 
  recorded. He should have rolled his Cortez right up into the middle 
  of the mercs, and then head honcho Brion would have stepped 
  forward to look them over himself—
  Ty straightened abruptly, hitting his head on an unnamed box 
  of electrics.
  “Sid,” he said, holding his head and wondering if he felt blood. 
  “The soil analysis augers work?”
  “We can dig holes and throw rocks with the best of them,” Sid as-
  sured him. “What do we need with soil samples?”
  Keying open the mike so the colonel could hear him as well, Ty 
  laid out his plan.
  As [Brion’s Legion] advanced up a gentle slope toward the Deneb Light Cavalry, a Legion MechWarrior 
  noticed that the ground ahead had been dug up and strewn about. Suspecting vibrabombs, Colonel 
  Pythonius Brion’s Dragon moved to examine the freshly dug ground more closely. Finding no mines, 
  an irritated Colonel Brion gave the order to advance. The Davion trick had succeeded, however, for 
  Colonel Brion had identiﬁ ed himself to the watching Twelfth Deneb by moving to investigate the sup-
  posed mineﬁ eld. An entire battalion trained its weapons on the commander as Brion’s Legion moved 
  within range. In a moment, Colonel Brion’s ’Mech exploded, leaving only its legs standing on the 
  ﬁ eld. The sudden loss of their commander demoralized the warriors of Brion’s Legion. When they broke 
  and retreated, the ’Mechs of the Deneb Light Cavalry were in hot pursuit.
  —From Fourth Succession War Military Atlas, Volume 2, by Doctor B. Banzai (copyright February 
  3031), by permission of the New Avalon Institute of Science
  
  While ’Mechs and Combat Vehicles receive all the glory, no 
  battle could be waged or won without the mammoth apparatus 
  of Support Vehicles that feed the war machines of the Great 
  Houses. From cargo trucks to tanker airships, patrol boats to fi xed-
  wing aircraft, even hover and wheeled police cruisers and civilian 
  vehicles conscripted into the military, the Support Vehicle is the 
  backbone of any military machine.
  BattleTech provides rules for several diff erent types of Support 
  Vehicles, as defi ned in Components (see p. 20). Most of the rules 
  for using Support Vehicles in the game appear in the Movement, 
  Combat and Combat Vehicles sections. This section covers 
  additional rules that only apply to specifi c Support Vehicles.
  SPECIAL MOVEMENT RULES
  In general, Support Vehicles move on the map like other units, 
  with the restrictions already addressed in the Movement section. 
  Two types of these vehicles require unique sets of movement 
  rules: Airship Support Vehicles and Support Vehicles with the 
  Tractor and Trailer Chassis and Controls modifi cation.
  AIRSHIPS
  As a special class of conventional aircraft, Airships fl y and 
  maneuver in the same fashion as aerodyne DropShips (see p. 80), 
  but they may also hover like spheroid small craft and must use 
  the Spheroid Small Craft rules for landing and takeoff . Hovering 
  maneuvers only cost an Airship 1 Thrust Point rather than 2, and 
  landing maneuvers only require 1 Thrust Point (see p. 87). Because 
  of their unique construction, Airships move far more slowly than 
  most other conventional air vehicles and can be designed using 
  fractional Thrust Points.
  Rather than tracking fractional velocity, Airships instead must 
  “stockpile” their thrust over a cycle of four game turns and may 
  not change the rate at which they expend Thrust Points until 
  the end of each cycle. If an Airship suff ers damage that makes it 
  impossible to maintain its current thrust rate, it must reduce its 
  thrust appropriately at the end of the four turns. During each 
  cycle, Airships using Thrust Points at their current rate may apply 
  their accumulated points in each turn of the cycle as indicated 
  RA 
  RA
  Sergeant Berlanga returns his Davion BLR-4S BattleMaster to its hangar, followed by a Light Utility Truck. 
  AIRSHIP VELOCITY TABLE
  Current 
  Velocity 
  Thrust Points per Cycle Turn
  1
   2 
  3 
  4
  0.25 
  1
   —
   —
   —
  0.5 
  1 
  — 
  1 
  —
  0.75 
  1
  — 
  1
   1
  1 
  1 
  1 
  1 
  1
  1.25 
  2
   1
   1 
  1
  1.5 
  2
   1 
  2 
  1
  1.75 
  2
   1
  2 
  2
  2
   2 
  2 
  2 
  2
  2.25 
  3 
  2 
  2
   2
  2.5 
  3 
  2
   3
  2
  2.75 
  3
   2
   3 
  3
  3 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  3
  
  205
  205
  SUPPORT
  SUPPORT
  VEHICLES
  VEHICLES
  RA 
  RA
  under the Thrust Points per Cycle Turn column on the Airship 
  Velocity Table. Special maneuvers that normally use more 
  than 1 Thrust Point (such as landing) must be announced at 
  the beginning of each cycle. Unused Thrust Points are lost at 
  the end of each cycle.
  When using the Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheet rules 
  (see p. 91), an Airship moves the equivalent of four ground 
  map hexes for every 0.25 points of velocity.
  At the start of a game, the controlling player of an 
  Airship sets its Velocity at 0.5. The vehicle must maintain 
  this velocity for turns 1 through 4 (the four-turn cycle). After 
  looking at the 0.5 Velocity row on the Airship Velocity Table, 
  the player sees that in the ﬁ rst and third turns of each cycle, 
  his Airship may expend 1 Thrust Point. The player may 
  choose to apply that thrust in forward movement, or spend 
  each point to hover, or even announce at the start of the 
  cycle that the Airship will be landing, and may stockpile 
  the ﬁ rst Thrust Point so that the vehicle can execute the 
  landing maneuver in Turn 3. At the start of the Movement 
  Phase (Aerospace) in the ﬁ fth turn, the Airship’s controlling 
  player can decrease its velocity to 0.25 or increase it to 0.75 
  for the next four-turn cycle.
  Airships attempting to travel at a Velocity greater than 
  3 automatically go out of control. Airships cannot operate 
  beyond the limits of an atmosphere. When landed, Airships 
  occupy a single ground hex. 
  TRACTORS
  Wheeled and tracked Tractors may pull one or more Trailers 
  whose combined weight is less than or equal to the Tractor’s 
  own weight. The weight of the Trailers reduces the Tractor’s 
  speed as follows: if the Trailers weigh up to a quarter of the 
  AIRSHIP RANDOM ALTITUDE
  CHANGE TABLE
  2D6 
  Result
  2 
  Altitude reduced by 3*
  3 
  Altitude reduced by 2*
  4 
  Altitude reduced by 1*
  5 
  Altitude reduced by 1*
  6 
  Altitude remains the same
  7 
  Altitude remains the same
  8 
  Altitude remains the same
  9 
  Altitude remains the same
  10
   Altitude increased by 1*
  11 
  Altitude increased by 1*
  12 
  Altitude increased by 2*
  *Airships may only climb as high as Altitude 10 on a low-altitude map (see 
  Low-Altitude Movement, p. 80).
  Tractor’s own weight, the Tractor must subtract 3 from its 
  Cruising MP or half of its Cruising MP (round down), whichever 
  is less. If the Trailers weigh more than a quarter of the Tractor’s 
  tonnage, the Tractor may only move at half its Cruising MP 
  (round down). Once the player has calculated the Tractor’s 
  modifi ed Cruising MP, he must also recalculate its Flank MP, 
  multiplying that number by 1.5 and rounding to the nearest 
  whole number (round .5 up). Wheeled or tracked Tractors 
  always pull Trailers from the front.
  A player may announce that a Tractor is detaching its Trailer 
  at the end of the Movement Phase. In the following turn, the 
  player can recalculate the Tractor’s Cruise and Flank MP. The 
  detached Trailer or Trailers become immobile targets. 
  TRAILERS
  A Trailer may be towed by a Tractor or by another Trailer, but 
  any Trailer intended to tow another must mount Tractor and 
  Trailer Chassis and Controls modifi cations. A Trailer cannot 
  move under its own power; it must be towed by a Tractor or 
  be part of a series towed by a Tractor.
  Small and medium Trailers act as part of the Tractor Support 
  Vehicle for purposes of movement, stacking and fi ring (two 
  small and medium Trailers together act as a single Support 
  Vehicle). Large Trailers are treated as individual units for 
  purposes of stacking (see p. 57), and they must always follow 
  the movement of the Tractor (or Trailer) in front of them.
  If LOS falls across the hexside through which a Trailer/Tractor 
  is connected to another Trailer/Tractor, no attack can be made. 
  A turret mounted on the Tractor may fi re as usual.
  When attacking a Support Vehicle in a hex consisting 
  of a Tractor and one or more large Trailers, or two or more 
  small/medium Trailers, the attacker announces the intended 
  target—a specifi c Trailer or the Tractor. The target must 
  be visible to the attacking unit per standard LOS rules. For 
  example, an attack from the sides may aim for any target, but 
  an attack into the front fi ring arc can only be made against the 
  Tractor, while one from the rear will strike the rearmost Trailer. 
  In addition, a Tractor may be visible, while terrain obscures all 
  or part of its Trailers.
  Destroying a Trailer eff ectively detaches all Trailers behind it 
  in a chain, rendering them immobile targets. 
  A Davion BattleMech technician scurries across the grounds of the massive Crucis Lancers base. 
  
  ADDITIONAL COMBAT RULES
  Support Vehicles use the standard rules as Combat Vehicles for 
  fi ring arcs, multiple targets, to-hit modifi ers, taking damage and 
  so on, with the following exceptions.
  Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles: Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles 
  are treated as conventional fi ghters (see Aerospace Units p. 242) for 
  the purpose of making attacks and determining hit locations and 
  critical hits. However, damage to the armor of Fixed-Wing Support 
  Vehicles is resolved according to the rules under Damage, below.
  TO-HIT MODIFIERS
  Support Vehicles must take into account the following to-hit 
  modifi ers when making weapon attacks.
  Fire Control Systems
  If a Support Vehicle does not mount a fi re control system, the 
  unit suff ers a +2 to-hit modifi er. A Support Vehicle with a basic fi re 
  control system suff ers a +1 to-hit modifi er. If the vehicle mounts 
  an advanced fi re control system, no additional to-hit modifi ers for 
  weapon attacks apply.
  HIT LOCATION
  Support Vehicles use the standard 
  rules for resolving hit locations, 
  with the following exceptions.
  Attack Direction
  Large Ground Support Vehicles 
  take damage to more armor 
  locations than standard vehicles. Use 
  the adjacent diagram to determine 
  attack direction for these units.
  Determining Hit Location
  When rolling to determine hit location, Support Vehicles use 
  the same tables as Combat Vehicles. Large Ground Support 
  Vehicles, however, use the Large Ground Support Vehicle Hit 
  Location Table.
  If the attack hits the front right side, all Front Side results strike 
  the front right side armor, while Rear Side results strike the rear 
  right side armor. If the Support Vehicle has no turret, a turret hit 
  strikes the armor on the side attacked. 
  Airship Support Vehicles: Airships use the aerodyne DropShip 
  hit locations on the Aerospace Units Hit Location Tables (see p. 
  237). However, players must re-roll all critical hits to the K-F boom, 
  docking collar or gear until an applicable critical hit occurs. 
  VTOL Large Support Vehicles: VTOL Large Support Vehicles 
  use the same Hit Location Table as Combat VTOLs (see p. 196).
  DAMAGE
  Support Vehicles handle damage diff erently than Combat 
  Vehicles. Every time a Support Vehicle suff ers a hit that exceeds 
  its BAR rating, a chance exists for a critical hit (called a penetrating 
  critical hit), even if armor remains in that location. Penetrating 
  critical hits are rolled in the same fashion as standard critical hits 
  (see Critical Damage p. 192), with the following exceptions.
  Armor-Piercing Ammunition: Every successful attack against 
  a vehicle automatically causes a roll on the appropriate column of 
  the appropriate Vehicle Critical Hits Table, corresponding to the 
  location damaged; in the case of Support Vehicles with a BAR less 
  than 10, apply a +2 modifi er to the die roll. The standard modifi ers 
  indicated by armor-piercing ammunition for determining critical 
  hits still apply when rolling on the Vehicle Critical Hits Table (see 
  Armor Piercing Ammo, p. 140). 
  Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles: Any location on a Fixed-Wing 
  Support Vehicle without additional armor beyond the basic BAR 
  of 2 receives a Damage Threshold of 0. Any location protected by 
  armor with a BAR rating of up to 9 receives a Damage Threshold 
  of 1 regardless of the amount of armor carried. When using armor 
  with a BAR 10 rating, calculate Damage Threshold values per 
  standard Damage Threshold value rules (see p. 239).
  Modifi cations: If the Support Vehicle possesses the Armored 
  Chassis and Controls modifi cation and a BAR of 10, it is immune to 
  penetrating critical hits. Treat the unit as a Combat Vehicle when 
  resolving critical damage. If the Support Vehicle possesses the 
  Armored Chassis and Controls modifi cation but has a BAR of less 
  than 10, modify the roll for penetrating critical hits by –1.
  Penetrating critical hits may occur in addition to any normal 
  critical hits due to location or internal structure damage. The 
  LARGE GROUND SUPPORT VEHICLE 
  HIT LOCATION TABLE
  Attack Direction
  2D6 Roll 
  Front 
  Rear
   Front Side 
  Rear Side
  2* 
  Front 
  (critical) 
  Rear 
  (critical) 
  Side 
  (critical)§ 
  Side 
  (critical)§
  3 
  Right 
  Side† 
  Left Side† 
  Front† 
  Rear†
  4 
  Front†
  Rear† 
  Side† 
  Side†
  5 
  Front†
  Rear† 
  Side 
  Side
  6 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  Side
  7 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  Side
  8 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  (critical)*
  Side 
  (critical)*
  9 
  Front† 
  Rear† 
  Side† 
  Side†
  10 
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret 
  Turret
  11 
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret
  Turret
  12* 
  Turret 
  (critical)
   Turret 
  (critical) 
   Turret 
  (critical) 
  Turret 
  (critical)
  *A result of 2 or 12 (or 8 if the attack strikes the side) may infl ict a critical hit. 
  For each such roll result, apply damage normally to the armor in that section. 
  The attacking player then rolls once on the Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hits 
  Table, p. 194. A result of 12 on this roll may infl ict a critical hit against the 
  turret. If the vehicle has no turret, a 12 indicates the chance of a critical hit on 
  the side corresponding to the attack direction.
  †The vehicle may suff er motive system damage even if its armor remains intact. 
  Apply damage normally to the armor in that section, but the attacking player 
  also rolls once on the Motive System Damage Table, p. 193 (applying damage 
  at the end of the phase in which the damage takes eff ect).
  §If the attack hits the front right side, all Front Side results strike the front right 
  side armor, while Rear Side results strike the rear right side armor. If the vehicle 
  has no turret, a turret hit strikes the armor on the side attacked.
  • ATTACK DIRECTION 
  DIAGRAM • 
  
  207
  207
  SUPPORT
  SUPPORT
  VEHICLES
  VEHICLES
  RA 
  RA
  Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH), Third Crucis Lancers (House Davion) 
  Armored Chassis and Controls modifi cation does not aff ect 
  rolls for these normal critical hits.
  A tracked Support Vehicle with an Armored Chassis and 
  Controls modiﬁ cation and a BAR of 7, with 12 armor points 
  per side, takes a hit from a large laser to its front side (Hit 
  Location Roll result of 7). Because the laser’s 8 points of 
  damage exceeds the Support Vehicle’s BAR, a penetrating 
  critical hit has occurred, even though 4 points of armor 
  remain in the front.
  Because the Support Vehicle has an Armored Chassis 
  and Controls modiﬁ cation, however, the roll for the 
  penetrating critical is modiﬁ ed by –1. When the attacker 
  rolls for the critical, his result of 6 becomes a 5, narrowly 
  saving the unit from a possible critical hit.
  In a later turn, the same Support Vehicle takes a second 
  large laser hit to its front, in this case from a Hit Location 
  Roll result of 2. The laser causes a penetrating critical hit, 
  has breached the armor, and has struck a location that gives 
  the attacker an additional possible critical hit. The attacker 
  rolls three times for critical hit eﬀ ects, modifying only the 
  ﬁ rst roll—the one for penetrating critical hits—by –1. 
  If the Support Vehicle in the above example possessed 
  a BAR of 10, the attacker would make neither penetrating 
  critical hit roll, though the vehicle would still suﬀ er the 
  standard critical hit chances for damage to its internal 
  structure and the possible critical hit for a result of 2.
  If, on the other hand, the Support Vehicle were struck by 
  an AC/5 using armor-piercing rounds, the vehicle would be 
  treated as if it had a BAR of 4 (7 / 2 = 3.5, rounding up to 
  4) rather than 7 for purposes of determining penetrating 
  critical hits. Both hits might do critical damage because the 
  autocannon’s damage points exceed the unit’s eﬀ ective 
  BAR, even though together the two autocannon hits would 
  only eliminate 10 of the Support Vehicle’s 12 armor points.
  CARRYING UNITS
  The following rules cover how units mount and dismount 
  from Support Vehicles.
  Unless specifi cally noted otherwise, units use the same 
  rules to mount and dismount from Support Vehicles as for 
  mounting and dismounting from grounded aerospace units 
  (see Carrying Units, p. 89, in the Aerospace Movement section). 
  The number of cargo doors and the type of bays a particular 
  Support Vehicle may have will appear in the unit’s technical 
  readout or record sheet game statistics. 
  Infantry: Use the Infantry Carriers rules (see p. 223) for 
  infantry mounting and dismounting from Support Vehicles.
  MOUNTING
  To mount a Support Vehicle during a turn, a unit must start 
  its Ground Movement Phase in the same hex as the carrier 
  (or an adjacent hex for Large Support Vehicles; the adjacent 
  hex must be at the same elevation as the Support Vehicle’s 
  underlying hex). The unit may mount only at the end of the 
  carrier’s movement. Carrying units suff er no reductions in MP 
  for hauling other units as long as those units’ weight does not 
  exceed the carrier’s own weight or cargo capacity (see Cargo 
  Carriers, p. 261).
  A Support Vehicle must spend 1 MP to mount a number of 
  units in a turn equal to the number of doors it contains. For 
  example, a Support Vehicle with three doors would spend 
  1 MP to mount three units in a turn. If a vehicle has 0 MP to 
  expend, it cannot mount any units.
  Units may not mount enemy Support Vehicles using these 
  rules.
  Critical Damage: Critical damage to a carrying Support 
  Vehicle aff ects its cargo in diff erent ways (see Ground Combat 
  Vehicle Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 193 of Combat Vehicles).
  DISMOUNTING
  As with mounting, a Support Vehicle must spend 1 MP at 
  the end of its movement to dismount a number of units in a 
  turn equal to the number of doors it contains. If a carrying unit 
  has 0 MP to expend, the carrier may only dismount a number 
  of units equal to half its doors, rounded down (to a minimum 
  of 1). For example, if a support vehicle has three doors but 
  has had its Movement reduced to 0 through damage, it can 
  dismount only one unit in a turn.
   If a unit’s movement is cut short—for example, if a vehicle 
  fails a skid and slides into an object, thereby ending its 
  movement phase prematurely—no unit may dismount even 
  if the carrier has not expended all of its MP.
  
  BERKDALE, BRIGHTON
  XIN SHENG COMMONALITY
  CAPELLAN CONFEDERATION
  13 SEPTEMBER 3060
  The screen showed translucent image 
  layered over translucent image. Determining 
  where one item ended and another began was 
  not always easy, and occasionally Si-ben-bing Siu 
  pressed a button on his terminal that told the ve-
  hicle outside to go even slower. He leaned forward 
  and explained to Shia-ben-bing Lawson just what he 
  was looking for.
  “If you mean to do this job properly, the fi rst thing 
  you must remember is that many people are coming 
  down from the mountain mines, and can therefore 
  be expected to have many of the tools you’d expect 
  to see in such an operation. Do not mistake those 
  tools for any sort of weapon.
  “At the same time, be aware that potential insur-
  gents know mining equipment is regularly coming 
  through the city’s checkpoints, and they seek to 
  smuggle in weapons by disguising them as mining 
  equipment. Pay particular attention to such items.”
  So you’re telling me something that looks like min-
  ing equipment may or may not be mining equipment, 
  and that I should ignore it while simultaneously paying 
  particular attention to it, Lawson thought. Part of him 
  wanted to say the words aloud, but as Siu’s trainee 
  he didn’t dare.
  Lawson sat in the small yellow kiosk, perched on 
  an unpadded metal stool, surrounded by screens 
  and weapons and buttons. His uniform, with its 
  long Liao-green sleeves, felt too warm for the 
  Brighton sun. He tried to ignore his discomfort and 
  absorb Siu’s instruction while more vehicles passed 
  through. The drivers waved their identifi cation 
  cards at the reader while the scanners gave their 
  vehicles a thorough look. Some of them looked 
  bored, some nervous, some strained to look ca-
  sual. None of them looked happy. Lawson couldn’t 
  blame them.
  Fifteen more minutes went by. Then Siu abruptly 
  leaned forward and pressed a black button on his 
  terminal. The checkpoint outside fi lled with fl ashing 
  red lights, and an automated voice—a pleasant but 
  fi rm female tone—came on.
  “Please pull over to the green square on your right. 
  Please pull over to the green square on your right. 
  Please pull over to the green square on your right.”
  The voice did not mention what would happen if 
  the vehicle didn’t comply, but by this point it didn’t 
  need to. The residents of the St. Ives Compact (or, 
  as Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao had renamed it, the Xin 
  Sheng Commonality) were by this point quite fa-
  miliar with the lengths to which the soldiers of the 
  Confederation would go to enforce law and order. 
  The car pulled into the square.
  Siu stood. “Shia-ben-bing, come with me. You’ll 
  need to learn how to work this side of the operation 
  as well.”
  Lawson obediently followed Siu outside.
  “Keep your hand near but not on your weapon,” Siu 
  instructed as they walked. “You don’t want to make 
  the subjects nervous, but you also don’t want them 
  to be able to shoot faster than you.”
  “Yes, sir,” Lawson said. Maybe someday Siu will give 
  me a completely unambiguous piece of advice.
  Jason M. Hardy
  
  The car in the green square was small and blue, a four-seat-
  er. A woman sat behind the steering wheel, a man in the pas-
  senger seat to her left. Siu walked up to the woman.
  “Ngh on,” he said politely, his long face dour. “May I ask your 
  business in Berkdale today?”
  “We live here,” the woman said shortly. Her black hair was 
  chin length, plastered to her head like a helmet, the front ends 
  curling in toward her mouth.
  “Then what took you out of the city?”
  “Business.”
  “I’ll need you to be more specifi c.”
  “A meeting with potential clients in Verdure. We run a cater-
  ing business. We were discussing the terms of a job.”
  “I see. What sort of job?”
  “I don’t see how …”
  “I’m not asking you to see how it matters,” Siu said, his voice 
  level but fi rm. “I’m asking you what sort of a job it was.”
  “A wedding reception.”
  “At a private residence?”
  “Yes.”
  “Family of the bride or groom?”
  “Friend. Of the bride’s family.”
  “Will it be held indoors or outdoors?”
  “Now, this is too …”
  “Indoors or outdoors?”
  “Outdoors. The wedding is in October. The weather should 
  warm up nicely.”
  “What do you plan to serve?”
  “Pastries, cakes, cookies. Assorted sweets.”
  “The groom likes sweets?” Lawson noticed that Siu was talk-
  ing faster and faster.
  “The bride. These are friends of the bride.”
  “Of course. And how many people are they going to be 
  expecting?”
  “About two hundred.”
  “And their living room is large enough to hold all those 
  people?”
  “Yard. Their yard is big enough. The reception is 
  outdoors.”
  “Ah, yes, I believe you said that. Well, the yards 
  in Corson Creek are usually quite large.”
  “Verdure,” the woman said, her right hand 
  drumming a rapid rhythm on the door of 
  her car. “We were in Verdure.”
  “Fine. You may proceed.”
  The woman scowled at Siu as he walked 
  away. She looked ready to fl y away 
  from the checkpoint with a scream of 
  burning rubber. Instead, she pulled 
  smoothly out of the green box and 
  drove off . 
  Siu began offering more point-
  ers as soon as the woman’s car 
  started moving. “Never apologize 
  for pulling someone over. Never 
  thank them for their time. They 
  should never feel like they are doing 
  you a favor. Ask them enough ques-
  tions to make them repeat their facts 
  
  a couple of times, but don’t rely on that. Any insurgents with 
  even a small degree of skill will have a good cover story worked 
  out that you can’t easily shred. You need to use the interroga-
  tion time to look for visual clues as well as listening to their 
  responses.”
  “What kind of clues?”
  Siu, true to form, responded with contradictions as he walked 
  back toward their kiosk. “Be cautious of anyone who does not 
  display any items that refl ect the spirit of Xin Sheng. All Capellan 
  citizens should take part in this rebirth, especially those citizens 
  of the newly christened Xin Sheng Commonality. Resisting this 
  movement could be a sign of someone who harbors dangerous 
  thoughts. However, you must also beware of those who cover 
  themselves in Xin Sheng items. Such a rapid assimilation of the 
  ideals of their conquerors is suspicious and is likely insincere. 
  People who seem overly dedicated to the rebirth could be con-
  cealing treasonous tendencies.”
  Lawson dared venture a question. “Is there a specifi c number 
  of Xin Sheng-related items that would be considered neither too 
  many nor too few?”
  He tried to make his tone as innocent as possible. It wasn’t in-
  nocent enough. Siu stopped and pivoted, hands on hips, glaring 
  at Lawson.
  “Impertinence is not accepted in any branch of the Chancellor’s 
  gwan deuih,” Siu snapped. “Perform your duty with a proper de-
  meanor or you will not be in the service for long.”
  Lawson knew better than to attempt a response.
  The rest of the day did nothing more to assuage his growing dis-
  satisfaction. He managed to contain his frustration until the next 
  morning, when Siu wandered to another kiosk in the checkpoint 
  to enlighten another recruit with his unique wisdom. Lawson was 
  left with Shia-ben-bing Lin, and Shia-ben-bing Lin was left to listen 
  to Lawson’s rants.
  He covered his irritation with Siu, his dislike of the glares he 
  regularly got from the citizens of Brighton, then moved on to his 
  annoyances with his general assignment.
  “Is this what you thought you were signing up for? Is this what 
  you thought you’d be doing?” he asked—though, as he hadn’t 
  given Lin a chance to speak in the past twenty minutes, the ques-
  tions were purely rhetorical. “There’s a major off ensive going on all 
  around us, in systems just a jump away, and we’re sitting here in 
  a glorifi ed tollbooth. We were trained to destroy, and they’ve got 
  us acting like bloody thought police—like we’re the tian sha de 
  Maskirovka or something.”
  Lin’s eyes widened. “Watch what you say!”
  “Oh, who cares? You’re not Maskirovka, are you? Of course not. 
  And I’m not. So I can call them tian sha de if I want to. They wouldn’t 
  put me in irons just for a simple epithet, would they?”
  Both of them knew the answer to that question was likely “Yes,” 
  but neither of them said so.
  He hadn’t succeeded in calming Lin. Her eyes darted back and 
  forth; her right hand scratched her thigh. He knew she wasn’t just 
  nervous for his sake. For all she knew, he could be Maskirovka, and 
  his little utterance could be an on-the-spot loyalty test. If she didn’t 
  adequately rise to the Maskirovka’s defense, she might be the one 
  in irons before the end of the day.
  “It’s just … not the best thing to say,” Lin said. “They’ve got a part in 
  this struggle just like we do. We shouldn’t treat them like an enemy.”
  “Okay, fi ne. Sorry,” Lawson said. “I guess it’s our part in the strug-
  gle that really bothers me. More than anything they do.”
  “We’re infantry,” Lin said. “We do the things the big ma-
  chines can’t. Sometimes that’s house-to-house combat. 
  Sometimes open field operations. And sometimes—” she 
  shrugged “—it’s sitting in a kiosk helping keep a planet un-
  der control.” She smiled. “Couldn’t really put a Ti Ts’ang on the 
  roadside, could we?”
  “I dunno,” Lawson said. “Could have a good eff ect on traveler mo-
  rale. Good for us, I mean. Just seeing it hovering over the highway 
  would keep people in line.”
  “But it would put them on their guard,” Lin countered. “Everyone 
  would clam up on us. Bad for business.”
  Lawson gave a dissatisfi ed snort. But there wasn’t much to be 
  gained by complaining anymore. At least, not out loud. He kept a 
  running internal monologue going, most of it complaints. All the 
  while, he imagined himself sitting by the checkpoint in the cockpit 
  of a Ti Ts’ang, blasting anyone who didn’t follow his instructions to 
  smithereens.
  Ten more days passed before Lawson got to lead his fi rst ques-
  tioning. Siu didn’t like his trainees to think of it as interrogation, as 
  he believed that made them come off  too heavy-handed. The driv-
  er, identifi ed by his papers as Roderick Hirt, was a square-headed 
  man with a short, fl at haircut. He looked ready to rip Lawson in 
  two. Lawson stood 1.7 meters, and he guessed the driver was 1.9 
  and about 120 kilos. If the encounter turned physical, it could get 
  bad—except, of course, for the fact that Lawson had his rifl e.
  “Ngh on, sir. Where are you coming in from?” He cringed as soon 
  as he delivered the sentence, waiting for Siu to correct his poor 
  grammar. His superior said nothing.
  “Been out of the city for a few days.”
  “Yes, sir.” The computers at the checkpoint had scanned the car, 
  an Avanti Starfi re that wore its newness with pride, as soon as it 
  came through. They had alerted Lawson that the car had been out 
  of the city for exactly fi ve days. “And where were you?”
  “Diff erent places. St. Simon, Paulson, Friedlander.”
  All mining towns, Lawson thought—like pretty much every 
  small town in the area around Berkdale. “And what brought you 
  out to those towns?”
  “Business.”
  Unwilled, one of Siu’s “guidelines” came to Lawson’s mind. “Be 
  suspicious of people who provide a bare minimum of information 
  in reply to your questions. It often means they have something 
  to hide. At the same time, remember to respect the privacy of 
  loyal citizens of the Confederation. If you encounter people who 
  wish to withhold information from you in order to preserve their 
  own dignity, you owe them a certain amount of respect. Though 
  that respect should never compromise your pursuit of the truth.”
  Lawson tried to push all thoughts of Siu out of his mind.
  “What sort of business?”
  “Research. I’m with a commodities brokerage. Never hurts to see 
  how the actual mining and production of commodities is going.”
  “Looking into the silver production in Paulson?”
  “No silver in Paulson. Big copper mine there.”
  
  “Yes, yes, of course. Which brokerage fi rm did you say you work 
  for?”
  “I didn’t.”
  “Then please do.”
  “Waterman and Clask.”
  “On Fifteenth Street?”
  “Ninth.”
  “I assume you slept in hotels on your trip?”
  “Of course.”
  “Which ones?”
  “I’m pretty sure I don’t need to tell you that.”
  “Actually, sir, you do. The names of the hotels, please.”
  Hirt squinted. “The Accord, the Yu Yang, and the Deep Valley 
  Inn.”
  “That’s three.”
  “Right.”
  “But you were gone fi ve days. Four nights.”
  “That’s not true. I was gone for three nights.”
  “Not according to our records.”
  “Then your records are wrong.”
  “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
  “It is.”
  “Sir, you left Berkdale four nights ago. I need to know where you 
  spent that fourth night.”
  “There was no fourth night!”
  Lawson put both hands on his automatic rifl e. “Sir, I have to ask 
  you to step out of your car.”
  “This is ridiculous!”
  “Step out of the car!”
  “All right, all right.”
  Hirt reached for the door handle. Then the Starfi re’s engine 
  gunned, its tires squealed, and the sporty red car shot off  toward 
  Berkdale.
  Alarms blared across the checkpoint. Red lights fl ashed. 
  Monocycle engines roared to life, ready to give pursuit.
  Lawson leveled his rifle and fired several rounds into the 
  back of the red car. Clear shots at someone who was clearly an 
  enemy.
  The first rounds bounced off the back window, but Lawson 
  wasn’t the only one firing at the fleeing vehicle, and eventu-
  ally the rounds had an impact. Glass flew away in chips, then in 
  chunks, then the entire back window fell inward like hail. The 
  rounds kept coming, and some of them found the driver. The 
  Starfire skidded off the road before it had traveled three hun-
  dred meters.
  Siu, who had been fi ring right along with Lawson, turned to his 
  recruit once the red car came to a complete stop.
  “It’s unfortunate that your interrogation came to this,” Siu said. 
  “Perhaps you could have handled the situation in other ways, ways 
  we will discuss in the near future. But I believe you’ll be able to 
  clear this as a good shooting.”
  Lawson kept his head tilted down, looking at his hands. It might 
  make him look downcast, which he wasn’t, but it also might make 
  Siu follow his gaze downward. 
  It worked. Siu looked curiously at his recruit for a moment, then 
  glanced down at Lawson’s hands. Then he saw something Lawson 
  thought he needed to see.
  Siu’s expression didn’t change, but when he spoke, the conde-
  scension in his voice was gone.
  “I’m certain it was a good shooting,” he said.
  The incident made Lawson’s life better and worse. As it turned 
  out, Roderick Hirt really did work for the wealthy brokerage fi rm of 
  Waterman and Clask; in fact, he was a well-regarded vice-president. 
  In the wake of his death, rumors about why he had been killed, 
  what he might have been involved in and what, by extension, his 
  fi rm might have been involved in spread across the city. Wealthy 
  clients, understandably nervous about having any of their money 
  attached to a fi rm with a trace of disloyalty, pulled their money 
  by the millions. Almost overnight, Waterman and Clask’s business 
  dried up. One of the most powerful brokerages in the city became 
  little more than a shell that had investments from Mr. Waterman, 
  Mr. Clask and pretty much no one else.
  The whole thing, Lawson thought, made an eff ective demonstra-
  tion. He regretted that he had to reveal his true position to Siu, but 
  his superiors had authorized the move. Not only had Lawson shut 
  down Waterman and Clask’s fi nancing pipeline to St. Ives loyalists, 
  but he’d eff ectively controlled Siu. The supposed superior offi  cer 
  was now quite deferential to his trainee, and he no longer off ered 
  a hint of his “wisdom.” Lawson had long ago learned questioning 
  techniques Siu had never even heard of, so Siu’s new silence on 
  the subject was welcome. 
  It didn’t matter, though. He likely wouldn’t stay at the check-
  point for long. He had shown the Maskirovka his worth in carrying 
  out the assignment quickly and cleanly. Everything he planned—
  the computer tampering that made it look like Hirt had been gone 
  for four days instead of three, the gizmo in the car that locked the 
  doors and made the vehicle accelerate away when Hirt was get-
  ting ready to exit—had worked to perfection. Lawson 
  didn’t even have to pull any strings to get the shooting 
  cleared.
  He’d get into the battlefi eld soon. The front lines, the 
  heart of the ongoing battle. He was sure of it. He could 
  fi ght both sides then—using his Maskirovka skills to 
  weed out disloyalty in the Confederation while aim-
  ing his weapon squarely at the faces of foreign foes. 
  When he wasn’t doing the agency’s dirty work, 
  he’d be fi ring rounds at the enemy. He knew 
  well the importance of enforcing loyalty—
  what Maskirovka agent didn’t?—but he’d re-
  cently gained an appreciation for the simple 
  clarity of shooting people whose very uni-
  form told you they were your enemy. He’d spent 
  years developing his own rules for intelligence work, 
  rules that made Siu’s paradoxes seem cut-and-dried by 
  comparison. He would, of course, keep following those 
  rules, but when he needed to get away from them for 
  a time, when he needed a black-and-white world, the 
  battlefi eld would be waiting for him. Dividing his 
  time between enforcing loyalty to the Chancellor 
  and smiting the enemies of the Confederation—
  could any agent ask for more proper work? 
  
  BattleMechs and vehicles are expensive to manufacture 
  and diffi  cult to maintain. In addition, the process of training 
  MechWarriors and vehicle crews is time-consuming and costly. 
  By comparison, infantry can be recruited and given rudimentary 
  training and equipment rapidly and inexpensively. There is almost 
  no limit to the number of infantry troops that can be thrown, 
  willing or unwilling, into battle.
  Though many stellar empires regularly include infantry as part 
  of integrated ’Mech and vehicle forces, the strength of infantry 
  reveals itself most in defensive operations, which bypass the 
  difficulty of transporting and feeding a mass interstellar army. 
  Infantry forces also rarely last long against BattleMechs, being 
  heavily outgunned by those behemoths of the battlefield. Even 
  in offensive operations, however, infantry can sometimes inflict 
  enough damage to turn the tide of battle, and can become a 
  serious threat in confined areas such as dense woods and 
  urban zones.
  Just as there is no limit to the number of troops that can be 
  thrown into battle, there are few limits to the composition of such 
  conventional infantry, with every faction fi elding troopers bearing 
  specifi c, faction-made weapons, armor and so on. Though basic 
  unit types and organization apply across factions, conventional 
  infantry are too varied to cover fully in a technical readout. While 
  such diff erences rarely change the basic game statistics of a 
  particular conventional infantry platoon, they can increase the 
  enjoyment of the game as a player further immerses himself in 
  the unique aspects of a given faction. This makes conventional 
  infantry unique compared with any other unit type in Classic 
  BattleTech. 
  A detailed design system for conventional infantry platoons 
  appears in Classic BattleTech TechManual, allowing players to build 
  faction-specifi c infantry units sporting a myriad of weapons and 
  armor types. Total Warfare presents a set of generic conventional 
  infantry units, as noted on the Generic Conventional Infantry Units 
  Table (see p. 213). The table also notes Movement Points and the 
  number of men in a full-strength unit of each type. The basic units 
  under each infantry type—a Rifl e (Ballistic) Foot Platoon, Machine 
  Gun (Ballistic, Support) Motorized Platoon and so on—can 
  represent diff erent kinds of weapons, though they all fall under 
  the general description of the unit type in question. For example, 
  a Rifl e (Ballistic) Platoon can fi eld standard rifl es, Gauss rifl es, 
  gyrojet rifl es, needlers and so on (or any combination thereof). 
  Finally, it should be noted that the specifi c number of troopers 
  per platoon are for game purposes, regardless of how the 
  sourcebook or story fi ction has previously described the number 
  of troopers per a given platoon type.
  Record Sheets: As noted under Record Sheets, p. 11, blank, 
  generic record sheets for conventional infantry are found in 
  Classic BattleTech TechManual. Players can also locate generic 
  sheets (as well as pre-generated generic conventional infantry 
  platoon record sheets) online at www.classicbattletech.com. 
  Using the information in this section, players can quickly fi ll out 
  the infantry record sheet with a variety of conventional infantry 
  units, as needed.
  Though conventional infantry using the infantry platoon 
  construction rules found in the TechManual can be armored 
  beyond the single point of armor represented by the trooper, 
  all the generic infantry units presented below have a single box 
  of armor per trooper (representing the trooper’s actual body, 
  as depicted by the infantryman in each box). That means each 
  point of damage infl icted against these infantry units eliminates 
  a single trooper, with the exception of mechanized infantry (see 
  Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, p. 215). 
  LS 
  LS
  A Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers Enforcer III defends against anti-’Mech attacks by elite House Liao battle armor infantry. 
  
  213
  213
  G
  U
  O
  G
  D
  N
  R U
  ROO
  GROUNDD
  N
  ROU
  G
  INFANTRY
  INFANTRY
  GENERIC CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY UNITS TABLE
  Type
  MP
  Number of Troopers (Inner Sphere/Clan)
  Tons of Cargo Space Occupied
  Foot Infantry Platoon
  3
  Rifl e (Ballistic)
  1 Ground
  28/25
  Rifl e (Energy)
  1 Ground
  28/25
  Machine Gun (Ballistic)*
  0 Ground**
  28/25
  SRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  0 Ground**
  24/25
  LRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  0 Ground**
  20/25
  Flamers (Energy)†
  0 Ground**
  28/25
  Motorized Infantry Platoon
  6
  Rifl e (Ballistic)
  3 Ground
  28/25
  Rifl e (Energy)
  3 Ground
  28/25
  Machine Gun (Ballistic)*
  2 Ground
  28/25
  SRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  2 Ground
  24/25
  LRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  2 Ground
  20/25
  Flamers (Energy)†
  2 Ground
  28/25
  Jump Infantry Platoon
  4
  Rifl e (Ballistic)
  3 Jump/1 Ground
  21/20
  Rifl e (Energy)
  3 Jump/1 Ground
  21/20
  Machine Gun (Ballistic)*
  2 Jump/1 Ground
  21/20
  SRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  2 Jump/1 Ground
  18/20
  LRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  2 Jump/1 Ground
  15/15
  Flamers (Energy)†
  2 Jump/1 Ground
  21/20
  Mechanized Infantry Platoon††
  Hover‡
  20
  Rifl e (Ballistic)
  5 Ground
  20/20
  Rifl e (Energy)
  5 Ground
  20/20
  Machine Gun (Ballistic)*
  4 Ground
  20/20
  SRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  4 Ground
  16/15
  LRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  4 Ground
  12/15
  Flamers (Energy)†
  4 Ground
  20/20
  Wheeled‡
  24
  Rifl e (Ballistic)
  4 Ground
  24/25
  Rifl e (Energy)
  4 Ground
  24/25
  Machine Gun (Ballistic)*
  3 Ground
  24/25
  SRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  3 Ground
  20/20
  LRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  3 Ground
  16/15
  Flamers (Energy)†
  3 Ground
  24/25
  Tracked‡
  28
  Rifl e (Ballistic)
  3 Ground
  28/25
  Rifl e (Energy)
  3 Ground
  28/25
  Machine Gun (Ballistic)*
  3 Ground
  28/25
  SRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  3 Ground
  24/25
  LRMs (Missile/Ballistic)
  3 Ground
  20/20
  Flamers (Energy)†
  3 Ground
  28/25
  *Machine Gun Infantry Platoons infl ict an additional 1D6 damage against conventional 
  infantry platoons (see Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, p. 215).
  **Units with 0 Ground MP can either move or make a weapon attack in a turn, but 
  not both (see Anti-’Mech Attacks, p. 220, for the exception). 
  †Flamers can cause heat or damage at the discretion of the controlling player. Some 
  weapons have the capacity to do both (see Heat-Eff ect Weapons, p. 113).
  ††Double the damage from all infantry attacks each mechanized infantry trooper 
  can sustain (see Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, p. 215). 
  ‡Movement type and restrictions, as shown on the Movement Cost Table, p. 52, 
  apply per each vehicle of the same type.
  
  Terminology: Conventional Infantry units use the same 
  weapon terminology as other units, as defi ned in Combat (see p. 
  113), and all applicable rules apply. 
  Conventional and Battle Armor Infantry: As defi ned under 
  Units (see Components, p. 20), in these rules the term infantry 
  refers to any infantry unit, whether conventional or battle armor. 
  If the rules refer to only one type of infantry, the text will stipulate 
  either conventional or battle armor infantry.
  INFANTRY MOVEMENT
  Infantry units have no facing and can move in any direction 
  unless blocked by impassable terrain. In general, infantry must 
  pay the same Movement Point costs as other units (as noted on 
  the Movement Cost Table, p. 52).
  Changing Level: Infantry may only climb 1 level per hex when 
  using ground movement.
  Jump infantry and jump-capable battle armor move per the 
  jumping rules for ’Mechs, with the exception that infantry cannot 
  enter a water hex of Depth 1 or deeper (see Jumping, p. 53). 
  Infantry with VTOL and UMU MP move per the rules for those 
  types of movements (see VTOL and Underwater Movement, pp. 54 
  and 56, respectively). 
  Buildings: Infantry units enter building hexes and change levels 
  within a building as though entering Clear terrain, paying only 1 
  Ground MP to enter a building hex regardless of building type. 
  Mechanized infantry must pay 2 Ground MP to enter a building 
  hex. If a mechanized infantry unit only has 1 Ground MP available, 
  it can still enter the building using the Minimum Movement rule 
  (see p. 49). See Buildings, p. 166, for more information.
  Water: Infantry may not move into Depth 1 or deeper water 
  unless the rules regarding a particular type of infantry specifi cally 
  state otherwise, such as a battle armor unit with UMU MPs.
  Woods: To enter any light woods hex, infantry pay only 1 MP 
  (except for mechanized infantry units, which pay 2 MP). Infantry 
  pay only 2 MP (mechanized infantry pays 3 MP) to enter any heavy 
  woods hex, unless prohibited from entering by the specifi c unit’s 
  movement type; see Movement Cost Table, p. 52). 
  INFANTRY COMBAT
  Rules for infantry combat are divided into two categories: 
  conventional infantry and battle armor. 
  Arcs: All types of infantry have a 360-degree arc of fi re and may 
  fi re at units occupying the same hex; when determining damage, 
  assume such attacks strike from the front. 
  Attacker Movement Modifi er: Infantry units never add 
  attacker movement modifi ers to their to-hit numbers.
  Weapons and Equipment: As with the rules under Weapons 
  and Equipment (see p. 113) of the Combat section, players should 
  determine if a given conventional infantry platoon or weapon 
  on a battle armor unit has additional to-hit modifi ers, or other 
  special rules that might aff ect the way the weapon is fi red, by fi rst 
  reviewing the record sheet and then consulting the appropriate 
  Weapons and Equipment Table. Players should also consult Other 
  Combat Equipment at the end of this section, to determine if any 
  other equipment the unit might carry can aff ect the weapons the 
  unit is fi ring or any weapon attacks against the unit.
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY
  The following rules apply to conventional infantry in combat. 
  Unless specifi cally stated otherwise, conventional infantry follow 
  all the standard applicable rules for weapons fi re, to-hit procedures 
  and so on (see the Combat section, p. 98). 
  Conventional Infantry Attacks
  While conventional infantry use the same range modifi ers 
  as ’Mechs and vehicles, unlike those units, infantry can attack 
  another unit in the same hex. The Conventional Infantry Range 
  Modifi er Table (see p. 215) shows the to-hit modifi ers for each 
  platoon type at 0 range; for convenience, the table also lists the 
  range to-hit modifi ers for every generic platoon type, out to their 
  maximum range in hexes. Because conventional infantry units 
  only have a single weapon attack, they can only target a single 
  unit for a weapon attack during a given Weapon Attack Phase. 
  LS 
  LS
  BATTLE ARMOR ORGANIZATION/WEIGHT TABLE
  Type
  Number of Troopers
   (Inner Sphere)
  Number of Troopers 
  (Clan)
  Number of Troopers 
  (ComStar/WoB)
  Tons of Cargo 
  Space Occupied
  Battle armor 
  4
  5
  6
  1 per trooper
  Rifl e, Ballistic (Foot) Platoon, Prefectorate Guard (House Liao) 
  
  215
  215
  G
  U
  O
  G
  D
  N
  R U
  ROO
  GROUNDD
  N
  ROU
  G
  INFANTRY
  INFANTRY
  The amount of damage that a standard infantry platoon 
  can infl ict is based on its current number of troopers and the 
  type of weapons with which it is armed, modifi ed by a roll on 
  the Cluster Hits Table. After making a successful attack, the 
  controlling player cross-references the current number of active 
  troopers in the unit to the appropriate column on the table 
  (see p. 116); for example, a platoon with 19 surviving troopers 
  would roll on the Cluster Hits Table using the 19 column. 
  After determining the appropriate column, the controlling 
  player rolls 2D6 and consults the Cluster Hits Table to determine 
  how many troopers actually struck the target. The player then 
  cross-references the number of troopers that struck the target 
  with the appropriate Maximum Weapon Damage Per Platoon 
  Type column on the Generic Conventional Infantry Damage 
  Table (see p. 216) to determine the actual damage dealt to the 
  target; players can also fi nd this information on the Generic 
  Conventional Infantry record sheet. Finally, the controlling 
  player divides the damage into as many 2-point Damage Value 
  groupings as possible and rolls that number of separate hit 
  locations. If a single damage point remains, roll that separate 
  hit location by itself. If the target is a conventional infantry 
  platoon, the attacking player simply applies the damage. 
  Machine Gun Platoons: An attacking Machine Gun Platoon 
  infl icts an additional 1D6 of damage against any conventional 
  infantry unit.
  Stealth Equipment: To-hit modifi ers generated by basic, 
  improved, prototype and standard stealth armor systems 
  (regardless of which unit mounts the equipment) have no 
  eff ect on conventional infantry (see Other Combat Equipment, 
  p. 228). To-hit modifi ers from mimetic armor and camo systems 
  do apply to conventional infantry.
  Jim has a Gunnery Skill 4 Inner Sphere LRM (Jump) 
  Platoon that begins the Weapon Attack Phase with 
  its standard complement of 15 troopers. Jim makes a 
  successful to-hit roll against an opposing unit, and so 
  must determine how many troopers actually strike the 
  target. Jim rolls 2D6 and gets a result of 7. Consulting the 
  15 column of the Cluster Hits Table, Jim ﬁ nds that nine 
  troopers actually struck the target. Jim now consults the 
  Generic Conventional Infantry Damage Table and ﬁ nds 
  that 9 troopers, cross-referenced with the LRM column, 
  provide a ﬁ nal result of 4. Jim now rolls two to-hit 
  locations (two 2-points ) against the target; if the target is 
  a conventional infantry platoon, Jim can simply apply the 
  4 points of damage. 
  Attacks Against Conventional Infantry 
  Unlike other units, conventional infantry are spread across 
  a hex, with each man fi nding maximum protection using the 
  terrain. This means that damage from a single weapon does 
  not magically transfer from one trooper to the next; that is, 
  the infantry unit does not simply take damage equal to the 
  weapon’s damage value. Instead, the damage from a single 
  weapon to a conventional infantry unit depends on the type 
  and size of the weapon fi red.
  Once a non-conventional infantry unit has made a 
  successful attack against a conventional infantry unit, consult 
  the Number of Conventional Troopers Hit column on the Non-
  Infantry Weapon Damage Against Infantry Table (see p. 216) 
  and compare it to the type and damage value of each weapon 
  that successfully strikes the target to determine how many 
  troops have been eliminated. Use the maximum damage 
  potential for cluster weapons, instead of rolling on the Cluster 
  Hits Table for damage. Successful non-infantry attacks against 
  conventional mechanized infantry double the number of 
  troopers eliminated in this fashion. 
  Burst-Fire Weapons: When a conventional infantry platoon 
  takes a hit from any burst-fi re weapon (noted as Type AI on the 
  Weapon and Equipment Tables), the attacking player rolls for 
  damage based on the type of weapon used; see the Burst-Fire 
  Weapon Damage Vs. Conventional Infantry Table, p. 217. Battle 
  armor units equipped with burst-fi re weapons that fi re on a 
  conventional infantry platoon should roll the appropriate number 
  of dice per the Burst-Fire Weapon Damage Vs. Conventional 
  Infantry Table for each successful hit rolled on the Cluster Hits 
  Table (see Battle Armor Attacks, p. 217). Add the die roll result 
  for each hit to create a running total. This total represents the 
  damage infl icted on the unit. As damage is taken, mark off  the 
  boxes indicating troopers on the platoon’s record sheet, left to 
  right, one for each damage point infl icted. As with attacks from 
  conventional infantry, double the damage each mechanized 
  infantry trooper can sustain from burst-fi re weapons.
  When an attacker uses burst-fi re weapons against 
  conventional infantry located in a building hex, treat such 
  weapons as direct-fi re ballistic weapons, with their standard 
  Damage Values as noted on the appropriate Weapons and 
  Equipment Tables (see Attacking Units Inside Buildings, p. 171). 
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY RANGE MODIFIER TABLE
  Weapon Type
  Range in Hexes (To-Hit Modifi er)
  0
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  Rifl e, Ballistic
  –2
  0
  +2
  +4
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  Rifl e, Energy
  –2
  0
  0
  +2
  +2
  +4
  +4
  —
  —
  —
  Machine Gun
  –2
  0
  +2
  +4
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  SRM
  –1
  0
  0
  +2
  +2
  +4
  +4
  —
  —
  —
  LRM
  –1
  0
  0
  0
  +2
  +2
  +2
  +4
  +4
  +4
  Flamer
  –1
  0
  +2
  +4
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  
  Assign damage as appropriate according to the Non-Infantry 
  Weapon Damage Against Infantry Table. 
  Clear Terrain: Conventional infantry hit while in Clear terrain 
  suff er twice the normal damage. This includes damage received 
  from infantry and burst-fi re weapons, as well as other non-
  conventional infantry-mounted weapons, Area Eff ect weapons 
  and so on.
  Damage from Other Infantry Units: Damage done by one 
  infantry unit to another always equals the standard damage 
  infl icted; it cannot be reduced by using the Non-Infantry Weapon 
  Damage Against Infantry Table. As damage is taken, mark off  the 
  boxes indicating troopers on the platoon’s record sheet, left to 
  right, one for each damage point infl icted.
  Mechanized Infantry: Successful non-infantry attacks against 
  conventional mechanized infantry double the number of 
  troopers eliminated.
   Against successful infantry attacks, double the damage 
  each mechanized infantry trooper can sustain before being 
  eliminated. If such a trooper is not eliminated, that unit’s record 
  sheet always retains at least one box of armor (which requires 
  2 points of infantry damage to eliminate) until the trooper is 
  crippled or killed. 
  Maximum Weapon Damage Per Platoon Type*
  Number 
  of 
  Troopers
  Rifl e, 
  Ballistic
  Rifl e, 
  Energy
  Machine 
  Gun
  SRM
  LRM
  Flamer
  1
  1
  0
  1
  0
  0
  0
  2
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  3
  2
  1
  2
  1
  1
  1
  4
  2
  1
  2
  2
  2
  2
  5
  3
  1
  3
  2
  2
  2
  6
  3
  2
  3
  3
  3
  3
  7
  4
  2
  4
  3
  3
  3
  8
  4
  2
  4
  4
  3
  4
  9
  5
  3
  5
  4
  4
  4
  10
  5
  3
  6
  5
  4
  5
  11
  6
  3
  6
  5
  5
  5
  12
  6
  3
  7
  6
  5
  6
  13
  7
  4
  7
  6
  6
  6
  14
  7
  4
  8
  7
  6
  7
  15
  8
  4
  8
  7
  6
  7
  Maximum Weapon Damage Per Platoon Type*
  Number 
  of 
  Troopers
  Rifl e, 
  Ballistic
  Rifl e, 
  Energy
  Machine 
  Gun
  SRM
  LRM
  Flamer
  16
  8
  4
  9
  8
  7
  8
  17
  9
  5
  10
  8
  7
  8
  18
  9
  5
  10
  9
  8
  9
  19
  10
  5
  11
  9
  8
  9
  20
  10
  6
  11
  10
  9
  10
  21
  11
  6
  12
  10
  9
  10
  22
  11
  6
  12
  11
  9
  11
  23
  12
  6
  13
  11
  10
  11
  24
  12
  7
  13
  12
  10
  12
  25
  13
  7
  14
  12
  11
  12
  26
  14
  7
  15
  13
  11
  12
  27
  14
  8
  15
  13
  11
  13
  28
  15
  8
  16
  14
  12
  13
  29
  15
  8
  16
  14
  12
  14
  30
  16
  8
  17
  15
  13
  14
  GENERIC CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY DAMAGE TABLE
  *Damage is always applied in 2-point Damage Value groupings
  NON-INFANTRY WEAPON DAMAGE 
  AGAINST INFANTRY TABLE
  Weapon Type*
  Number of Conventional Troopers Hit†
  Direct Fire (Ballistic or Energy)
  Damage Value / 10
  Cluster (Ballistic)
  Damage Value / 10 + 1
  Pulse**
  Damage Value / 10 + 2
  Cluster (Missile)
  Damage Value / 5
  Area-Eff ect (AE)
  Damage Value / .5
  Burst-Fire
  See Burst-Fire Weapons above
  Heat-Eff ect Weapons
  See Heat-Eff ect Weapons‡
  *See Combat, p. 113, for weapon terminology. If a weapon falls under multiple 
  types, use the type that infl icts the most damage. For example, a rotary AC/5 
  is defi ned as a direct-fi re (ballistic) and a cluster (ballistic) weapon. A cluster 
  (ballistic) weapon does more damage than a direct-fi re (ballistic) weapon, 
  and so players should use the statistics for cluster (ballistic) weapons when 
  determining damage against conventional infantry.
  **Except for Small and Micro Pulse Lasers, which are treated as Burst-Fire Weapons 
  (see Burst-Fire Weapons Damage Vs. Conventional Infantry Table, p. 217).
  †This equals the number of conventional infantry troopers hit and eliminated, 
  regardless of armor protection. Attacks by non-infantry weapons against 
  mechanized infantry double the number of troopers eliminated; round all 
  fractions up.
  ‡Heat-Eff ect Weapon each has specifi c damage against conventional infantry, 
  as noted on either the appropriate Weapon and Equipment Tables or in Other 
  Combat Weapons and Equipment (see p. 129).
  
  217
  217
  G
  U
  O
  G
  D
  N
  R U
  ROO
  GROUNDD
  N
  ROU
  G
  INFANTRY
  INFANTRY
  LS 
  LS
  Suzanne’s Inner Sphere Machine Gun (Mechanized/
  Hover) Infantry Platoon and her Atlas attack Jim’s Inner 
  Sphere LRM (Jump) Platoon, which is located in light 
  woods. The Atlas declares it will attack with a Gauss riﬂ e, 
  ER large laser and LRM-20. Much to Jim’s shock, Suzanne’s 
  infantry platoon and all three weapons ﬁ red by the Atlas
  successfully strike his LRM (Jump) Platoon. 
  Suzanne declares damage from her infantry platoon 
  ﬁ rst. After rolling on the Cluster Hits Table and then 
  consulting the Generic Conventional Infantry Damage 
  Table, Suzanne sees that she has inﬂ icted 11 points of 
  damage (20 troopers, corresponding to the Machine 
  Gun column). Because she is attacking a conventional 
  infantry unit with a Machine Gun Platoon, she rolls 1D6 
  for an additional 4 points of damage. Jim marks oﬀ  15 
  troopers killed out of 21, leaving him with 8 troopers.
  Suzanne then moves to her Atlas and compares each 
  type of weapon that hit the infantry unit against the 
  Non-Infantry Weapon Damage Against Infantry Table. 
  The Gauss riﬂ e is a direct-ﬁ re ballistic weapon that does 
  15 points of damage, eliminating 2 troopers (15/10 = 
  1.5, rounded up to 2). The ER large laser is a direct-ﬁ re 
  energy weapon that does 8 points of damage, taking out 
  1 trooper (8/10 = .8, rounded to 1). Finally, the LRM-20 is 
  a cluster/missile weapon that does 20 points of damage, 
  eliminating 4 troopers (20/5 = 4). The Atlas has cost Jim 
  7 of his remaining 8 troopers, leaving him with a single 
  trooper, eliminating that platoon’s oﬀ ensive capability as 
  it can no longer deal damage. 
  If Jim’s platoon had been in clear terrain, it would 
  have taken 30 points of damage from Suzanne’s infantry 
  platoon alone, obliterating the jump platoon without 
  the Atlas’ weapons ﬁ re. If Jim had ﬁ elded a Mechanized/
  Tracked Infantry Platoon carrying ballistic riﬂ es, Suzanne’s 
  platoon would have eliminated 7 troopers, because each 
  mechanized trooper absorbs double the standard damage. 
  The trooper taking the ﬁ fteenth damage point would 
  retain his armor and survive. Each successful strike by the 
  Atlas would double the number of troopers eliminated: 4 
  troopers for the Gauss riﬂ e, 2 for the ER large laser and 8 for 
  the LRM-20. This would have cost Jim a total of 20 troopers, 
  leaving 8 alive.
  Had Jim’s Mechanized/Tracked Infantry Platoon been in 
  clear terrain, Suzanne’s platoon would have eliminated 15 
  troopers (15 x 2 = 30, with each trooper taking 2 points of 
  damage for a total of 15 eliminated). The Atlas’ weapons 
  would take out double again the number of troopers, for a 
  total of 28 troopers eliminated. 
  BATTLE ARMOR
  The following rules apply to battle armor infantry in combat. 
  Unless stated otherwise, battle armor infantry follow all the 
  standard applicable rules for weapons fi re, to-hit procedures 
  and so on as described in the Combat section (see p. 98).
  Battle Armor Attacks
  When the controlling player of an attacking battle armor unit 
  announces a weapon attack, all troopers in that unit fi re the same 
  weapon at the same target. The number of weapon attacks a 
  battle armor unit can make depends on the number of weapons 
  Ying Long (Trinity) battle armor, Death Commandos (House Liao) 
  BURST-FIRE WEAPON DAMAGE VS. 
  CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY TABLE
  BattleMechs, ProtoMechs and Vehicles
  Weapon
  Damage vs. 
  Conventional Infantry
  AP Gauss Rifl e
  2D6
  Light Machine Gun
  1D6
  Machine Gun
  2D6
  Heavy Machine Gun
  3D6
  Small/Micro Pulse Laser
  2D6
  Flamer
  4D6
  Battle Armor
  Weapon
  Damage vs. 
  Conventional infantry
  Light Machine Gun
  1D6/2 (round up)
  Machine Gun
  1D6
  Heavy Machine Gun
  2D6
  Flamer
  3D6
  Light Recoilless Rifl e
  1D6
  Medium Recoilless Rifl e
  2D6
  Heavy Recoilless Rifl e
  2D6
  Light Mortar
  1D6
  Heavy Mortar
  1D6
  Automatic Grenade Launcher
  1D6/2 (round up)
  Heavy Grenade Launcher
  1D6
  
  it carries, with the controlling player making a separate to-hit roll for 
  each type of weapon attack. For example, a Clan Elemental battle 
  armor unit may make an SRM-2 attack and an attack with a small 
  laser, fl amer, machine gun, micro-pulse laser, ER micro-pulse laser or 
  heavy machine gun, depending on which of the latter weapons the 
  player chooses to deploy the unit with in the game. A Golem battle 
  armor unit can make an SRM-5 attack and two diff erent “Bearhunter” 
  superheavy autocannon attacks; a Corona battle armor unit may 
  only make a single medium pulse laser attack, because it does not 
  mount any other weapons; and so on.
  Players should use all range and line of sight restrictions, 
  modifi ers and so on as appropriate for each weapon. All weapon 
  attacks against units in the same hex as the battle armor unit are 
  considered to be at Range 1, except anti-personnel weapons, 
  which are at Range 0.
  Non-Missile Attacks: When a battle armor unit attacks with a 
  weapon other than a missile, roll 2D6 and consult the appropriate 
  column of the Cluster Hits Table, based on the number of troopers 
  in the unit, to determine how many troopers scored a hit. A single-
  trooper unit always hits on a successful to-hit roll. Each trooper 
  whose fi re hits the target infl icts normal damage for the weapon. 
  Determine a hit location separately for each hit. If the target 
  is a conventional infantry platoon, its controlling player simply 
  applies the damage; for a mechanized infantry unit, double the 
  damage that each trooper can take (see Damage From Other 
  Infantry Units, p. 216). Attacks with weapons other than missiles 
  do not track ammunition expenditures.
  Missile Attacks: When a battle armor unit makes a missile 
  attack, fi rst determine the number of missiles fi red by multiplying 
  the number of troopers in the unit by the size of the launcher 
  mounted on each trooper. Then roll 2D6 and consult the Cluster 
  Hits Table (see p. 116). If a column does not exist for the number of 
  missiles fi red, use the fewest columns to arrive at the appropriate 
  number, without exceeding the number of missiles fi red. For 
  example, if a battle armor unit mounts nine missiles in a six-man 
  squad, resulting in 54 missiles, the player rolls twice on the 27 
  column (27 x 2 = 54).
  Determine a hit location separately for each missile hit. As 
  with other weapon types, if the target is a conventional infantry 
  platoon, simply apply the damage; if a mechanized infantry 
  unit, double the damage that each trooper can take. Mark off  
  ammunition on the record sheet for each missile fi red.
  Anti-Personnel Weapons: If a battle armor unit carries anti-
  personnel weapons, follow all the rules for conventional infantry, 
  using the Rifl e, Ballistic column of the Generic Conventional 
  Infantry Damage Table and the number of active troopers in 
  the battle armor unit to determine range and assign damage. 
  Regardless of how many anti-personnel weapons a battle armor 
  unit mounts, it can only make one anti-personnel weapon attack 
  in a turn.
  Vibro-Claw Manipulators: Battle armor units equipped with 
  vibro-claws may make a melee-style attack against another 
  infantry unit during the Physical Attack Phase, provided the target 
  is located in the same hex. Calculate the to-hit number as if for a 
  non-missile attack, with the number of hits rolled as normal on 
  the Cluster Hits Table, based on the number of active troopers in 
  the attacking unit. 
  For battle armor units equipped with a single vibro-claw 
  manipulator, assign the number of hits as 1 point each; for units 
  equipped with two vibro-claws, assign the hits as 2 points each. 
  Against conventional infantry, the controlling player simply 
  applies the damage.
  SL 
  LS
  Grenadier battle armor, Davion Heavy Guards (House Davion) 
  
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  Secondary Targets: Unlike conventional infantry, battle 
  armor units can attack multiple targets, with the standard 
  modifi ers as described in Combat (see p. 109); as battle armor 
  units do not have arcs, they never apply the +2 modifi er, 
  only the +1 modifi er. Diff erent weapons can be targeted 
  at diff erent units, but all the troopers in the attacking unit 
  fi re the same weapon at the same target, using a single to-
  hit roll. For example, a Golem battle armor unit can fi re at a 
  target with its SRM-5, at another target with a set “Bearhunter” 
  superheavy autocannon and a third target with its other set of 
  “Bearhunter” AC.
  A Golem battle armor unit (ﬁ ve-man Point) may make 
  three attacks in a single Weapon Attack Phase (provided 
  a target is within range of all three weapons, the modiﬁ ed 
  to-hit number makes a weapon attack possible and so 
  on). It can make a missile attack with its SRM-5 and two 
  non-missile attacks with its two “Bearhunter” superheavy 
  autocannons. During a Weapon Attack Phase, the 
  controlling player can make three separate to-hit rolls, one 
  for the missile and two for the two non-missile attacks. 
  If all three attacks are successful, the controlling player 
  would then roll two times on the 5 column of the Cluster 
  Hits Table (provided the Point still has ﬁ ve active troopers) 
  to determine the number of autocannon hits. Rolling a 4 
  and a 9 nets six total hits. The controlling player next rolls 
  six diﬀ erent hit locations against the target (provided the 
  target has diﬀ erent locations for sustaining damage). 
  Having ﬁ nished with the two autocannon attacks, the 
  controlling player would then determine the number of 
  missiles in the missile attack (25, provided the Point still 
  has ﬁ ve active troopers), then roll and consult the Cluster 
  Hits Table. Rolling a 7 results in fourteen SRM hits, and so 
  the controlling player would roll fourteen diﬀ erent SRM hit 
  locations, applying a Damage Value grouping of 2 points 
  each time (provided the target has diﬀ erent locations for 
  sustaining damage). Finally, the controlling player marks 
  oﬀ  a single ammunition shot for the SRM-5 launcher, 
  leaving one more shot for another turn.
  If the unit in question is a four-man Kanazuchi 
  battle armor squad, during the Weapon Attack Phase 
  the controlling player can make four separate to-hit 
  rolls: one for the medium lasers, one for each of the 
  two SRM-2s and one for the anti-personnel weapons. 
  (Even though the Kanazuchi battle suit has two anti-
  personnel weapon mounts, it can only make a single 
  anti-personnel attack in a turn.) Providing all the 
  attacks struck the target, the controlling player would 
  consult the 4 column of the Cluster Hits Table (four 
  being the number of troopers) to determine how many 
  medium lasers hit. A roll result of 11 nets four medium 
  laser hits, and so the controlling player would roll four 
  different hit locations. 
  For both missile attacks, the controlling player rolls on 
  the Cluster Hits Table—in this case, on the 8 column (2 
  SRMs per launcher x 4 troopers = 8). Results of 6 and 10 
  net eleven total SRM hits, and so the controlling player 
  would roll eleven diﬀ erent hit locations against the target, 
  applying a Damage Value grouping of 2 points each time 
  (provided the target has diﬀ erent locations for sustaining 
  damage). For the anti-personnel weapon, the controlling 
  player rolls on the 4 column of the Cluster Hits Table and 
  comes up with a 7. This means three troopers struck the 
  target. Cross-referencing three troopers with the Riﬂ e, 
  Ballistic column of the Generic Conventional Infantry 
  Damage Table results in a ﬁ nal Damage value of 1 to be 
  assigned to a location (or simply assigned, if the target is a 
  conventional infantry unit). Finally, the controlling player 
  marks oﬀ  a single ammunition shot for each trooper 
  launcher, leaving one more shot for another turn.
  If the unit in question is Afreet battle armor (ﬁ ve-man 
  Point), during the Weapon Attack Phase the controlling 
  player can make a to-hit roll for the light recoilless riﬂ e, 
  while during the Physical Attack Phase the controlling 
  player could make a to-hit roll for the vibro-claws (the 
  target of the vibro-claw attack must be an infantry unit 
  located in the same hex as the Afreet unit). Providing 
  both attacks hit, the controlling player ﬁ rst rolls on the 5 
  column of the Cluster Hits Table to determine how many 
  recoilless riﬂ es hit. He gets a result of 7, for a net three hits, 
  and rolls three diﬀ erent locations for damage. If the target 
  is a conventional infantry unit, the controlling player rolls 
  1D6 three times per the Burst Fire Weapon Damage Vs. 
  Conventional Infantry Table, keeping a running total of 
  the damage, to arrive at the ﬁ nal damage value to assign 
  to the target. For the vibro-claws, the controlling player 
  rolls a 9 on the Cluster Hits Table, giving him a net 4 hits. 
  The controlling player then rolls four diﬀ erent 2-point hits 
  against a battle armor unit, or simply applies 8 points of 
  damage to a conventional infantry unit. (Had the Afreet 
  unit only mounted a single vibro-claw, a successful attack 
  would have meant four 1-point hits.)
  Attacks Against Battle Armor
  When a unit attacks a battle armor unit, the attack targets the 
  unit as a whole, though individual troopers take the damage. 
  A single member of a battle armor unit cannot be the target 
  of an attack; the trooper damaged by a successful attack is 
  determined randomly. Use all standard modifi ers. In addition, 
  all non-infantry units must modify their to-hit numbers by 
  +1 for attacks against battle armor units to account for the 
  spread-out formation and tactics of battle armor units.
  On a successful attack against a battle armor unit, roll 1D6 
  for each Damage Value groupings to determine which battle 
  armored troopers are hit. Each grouping strikes a diff erent, 
  randomly determined trooper. Re-roll if the unit does not have 
  that number of troopers or if the result indicates a trooper 
  destroyed in the current or a previous phase. Any excess 
  damage from a single damage grouping is wasted.
  Armor Value: Each trooper of a battle armor unit has a 
  damage capacity consisting of its Armor Value +1 (representing 
  the soldier inside). A battle-armored trooper is destroyed only 
  after taking damage equal to its full damage capacity. Even if 
  all the “armor” has been destroyed from a trooper, leaving only 
  the “+1” representing the soldier, that battle armor trooper still 
  operates at full capacity.
  Area-Eff ect Weapons: Area-Eff ect Weapons always apply 
  their damage to every trooper in a battle armor unit.
  
  ANTI-’MECH ATTACKS
  Most infantry units can make specialized anti-’Mech attacks, 
  which involve closing with a ’Mech, climbing it and planting 
  satchel charges in strategic, vulnerable locations. However, for 
  such attacks to have any real hope of success, an infantry platoon 
  must be composed of dedicated, highly skilled troops that have 
  undergone signifi cant training. Despite its near-suicidal aspect, 
  this type of attack successfully executed can quickly turn the tide 
  of battle. 
  Resolve anti-’Mech attacks in the Weapon Attack Phase of the 
  turn. 
  Anti-´Mech Skill: Diff erent types of infantry have diff erent base 
  Anti-’Mech Skills, and so players should review the Average Skills 
  Table, p. 40, before making this kind of attack. 
  Prohibited Units: Mechanized infantry cannot make anti-
  ’Mech attacks.
  IndustrialMechs: Against IndustrialMechs, anti-´Mech attacks 
  receive a –1 to-hit modifi er.
  ProtoMechs: ProtoMechs cannot be targeted by anti-´Mech 
  attacks. 
  Vehicles: Vehicles can be the target of a swarm attack, a type of 
  anti-´Mech attack (see Swarm Attacks, at right.).
  LEG ATTACKS
  Infantry units that begin a Weapon Attack Phase in the same 
  hex as a ’Mech may choose to attack the ’Mech’s legs instead of 
  making a standard weapon attack. During leg attacks, infantry 
  troopers climb the ’Mech’s legs and plant explosive charges in the 
  joints to damage the actuators.
  The base to-hit number is the infantry unit’s Anti-’Mech Skill 
  Rating, modifi ed by the number of troopers currently active in 
  the unit (as shown on the Leg Attacks Table, p. 221). The more 
  troopers, the greater the chance of success. Modify the infantry 
  unit’s base to-hit number as normal for target movement and 
  terrain, also if the ’Mech is prone or immobile. 
  If the to-hit roll is successful, the attacker rolls on the front-
  column of the appropriate ’Mech Kick Location Table—either 
  bipedal, or Four-legged—(see p. 147) and applies four points of 
  damage to the rolled location. 
  In addition to the 4 points of damage, the attacker rolls 2D6 and 
  consults the Determining Critical Hits Table. If the result is 7 or less, 
  the leg only takes the 4 points of damage already determined. 
  If the attack results in one or more critical hits, resolve those 
  normally (this may result in two rolls on the Determining Critical 
  Hits Table, one for the 4 points of damage if the attack hit the 
  ’Mech’s internal structure and one for the automatic roll made for 
  a successful leg attack). A ’Mech may only be the target of a single 
  leg attack in a given turn. 
  Aimed Shots: If the target unit is immobile, the infantry unit 
  may make an Aimed Shot (see p. 110). 
  Vibro-Claw Manipulator: Battle armor units equipped with a 
  single vibro-claw infl ict 1 additional point of damage (for a total of 
  5 points) during a leg attack. Units equipped with two vibro-claws 
  infl ict 2 additional points of damage, for a total of 6 points.
  SWARM ATTACKS
  Infantry units that begin a Weapon Attack Phase in the same 
  hex as an enemy ’Mech may choose to swarm the ’Mech, rather 
  than use their weapons or attack its legs. Swarm attacks represent 
  the boldest and most dangerous attacks that infantry can perform 
  against a ’Mech. A unit making a normal swarm attack rushes a 
  ’Mech, grapples and climbs it, and then infl icts damage against 
  the MechWarrior or the upper parts of the ’Mech in the next turn. 
  Only one swarm attack can be made against a unit in a given 
  turn.
  The base to-hit number is the attacking unit’s Anti-’Mech Skill 
  Rating, modifi ed by the number of troopers currently active in the 
  unit (as shown on the Swarm Attacks Table). The more troopers, 
  the greater the chance of success. Modify the infantry unit’s base 
  to-hit number as normal for target movement and terrain, and if 
  the ’Mech is prone or immobile. 
  The swarm attack to-hit roll determines only if the infantry unit 
  manages to gain secure footholds on the ’Mech. The infantry unit 
  does not infl ict damage on the ’Mech during either the Weapon 
  or Physical attack phases of this turn. 
  A swarming unit cannot make attacks against any other target 
  other than the unit it is swarming, or mechanized battle armor 
  being carried by the unit it is swarming. A swarming unit may end 
  a swarming attack during any subsequent Weapon Attack Phase. 
  It is then placed in the hex containing the target ’Mech with no 
  further eff ects. 
  Aimed Shots: As with leg attacks, if the target unit is immobile, 
  the infantry unit may make an Aimed Shot (see p. 110). 
  Magnetic Claw Manipulator: Battle armor units equipped 
  with magnetic claws receive a –1 modifi er to any swarm attack 
  to-hit roll.
  Prohibited Attacks: Aerospace units and VTOLs cannot be 
  targets of swarm attacks unless they land. In addition, a unit that 
  has been successfully swarmed cannot be the target of another 
  swarm attack until the current attacking unit ends the swarm, is 
  removed or is destroyed. 
  Stacking: While an infantry unit is swarming a target, it does not 
  count against the stacking limit of the hex. However, if a swarmed 
  ’Mech is in a hex containing two enemy units and is destroyed, the 
  swarming infantry unit automatically violates the stacking rules 
  if it survives. In this case, randomly determine which of the two 
  non-swarming enemy units will be displaced using the Domino 
  Eff ect rule (see Domino Eff ect, p. 152). 
  Mechanized Battle Armor: If the target unit is carrying a 
  friendly battle armor unit using the Mechanized Battle Armor rules 
  (see p. 227), the carrying unit can still be the target of a swarm 
  attack, but the attacking player must apply additional to-hit 
  modifi ers based on the number of surviving troopers attacking, 
  versus the number of surviving troopers mounted on the carrying 
  unit. See the Swarm Attacks Modifi er Table below; these modifi ers 
  are in addition to all other standard modifi ers applied for such an 
  attack.
  Vehicles: Vehicles can be targets of a swarm attack; all standard 
  modifi ers as described above apply. The attacker also applies a –2 
  to-hit modifi er, to refl ect the inherently easier task of climbing a 
  vehicle rather than scaling a moving ´Mech.
  
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  Karla has an anti-’Mech trained Riﬂ e (Ballistic) Foot 
  Platoon with eighteen remaining troopers and wants to 
  swarm an OmniMech that is carrying a friendly Point of 
  battle armor. The three remaining battle armor troopers 
  are riding the ´Mech using the Mechanized Battle 
  Armor rules. The ’Mech is in light woods and moved 5 
  hexes this turn.
  The base to-hit number is 5 (the Anti-’Mech Skill Rating 
  of Karla’s infantry unit) +5 (Swarm Attack Modiﬁ er for 
  number of active troopers), modiﬁ ed as follows: +1 (light 
  woods), +2 (target moved 5 hexes), +3 (eighteen attacking 
  conventional troopers versus three defending mechanized 
  battle armor troopers). The modiﬁ ed to-hit number for 
  the swarm attack is 16. Karla will need to wait until she 
  has a stronger infantry unit to make the attack, or until 
  the OmniMech is no longer protected by the mechanized 
  battle armor.
  Fighting Off  Swarm Attacks
  If an infantry unit successfully swarms a ’Mech, the ’Mech 
  can try to remove the swarming unit by using its arms during 
  the Physical Attack Phase of the turn, rather than making a 
  physical attack. The ’Mech’s controlling player can make up to 
  two Piloting Skill Rolls (one for each arm), adding a +4 modifi er 
  as well as any modifi ers for damage or construction normally 
  applied to a punching attack (see Punch Attacks, p. 145). The 
  ’Mech cannot make such an attempt with any arm that fi red 
  a weapon during the Weapon Attack Phase in the same turn, 
  or with an arm that mounts any physical attack weapon (see 
  p. 146). 
  A ’Mech that attempts to remove a swarming unit in this 
  way may not make any other physical attack during the same 
  turn. If the ’Mech announced a death from above or charging 
  attack during the Movement Phase, then it cannot attempt to 
  remove swarming infantry with its arms during the Physical 
  Attack Phase of the same turn.
  A successful Piloting Skill roll forces the infantry unit off  
  the ’Mech and back into the hex, and the infantry unit takes 
  damage equal to a punch from that ’Mech. Unlike non-infantry 
  weapon attacks against conventional infantry, the damage 
  LEG ATTACKS TABLE
  Active Troopers in 
  Conventional Platoon
  Battle Armor 
  Troopers Active
  Attack Modifi er
  22 or more
  4–6
  0
  16–21
  3
  +2
  10–15
  2
  +5
  5–9
  1
  +7
  1–4
  —
  No attack possible
  SWARM ATTACKS TABLE
  Active Troopers in 
  Conventional Platoon
  Battle Armor 
  Troopers Active
  Attack Modifi er
  22 or more
  4–6
  +2
  16–21
  1–3
  +5
  1–15
  —
  No attack 
  possible
  SWARM ATTACK MODIFIERS TABLE
  Attacking Enemy
  Friendly Mechanized
  Active Troopers in
  Conventional Platoon
  Battle Armor
  Troopers Active
  Battle Armor Troopers Active
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  NA 
  6
  +0
  +0
  +0
  +0
  +1
  +2
  28–30 
  5
  +0
  +0
  +0
  +1
  +2
  +3
  24–27 
  4
  +0
  +0
  +1
  +2
  +3
  +4
  21–23 
  3
  +0
  +1
  +2
  +3
  +4
  +5
  18–20 
  2
  +1
  +2
  +3
  +4
  +5
  +6
  16–17 
  1
  +2
  +3
  +4
  +5
  +6
  +7
  Battle Armor Equipment
  Situation*
  Claws with magnets
  –1
  ’Mech prone 
  –2
  ’Mech or vehicle immobile
  –4
  Vehicle
  –2
  *Modifi ers are cumulatives
  
  from a punch in this case is applied to the infantry unit as though 
  from an infantry attack, meaning that the unit takes full damage.
  If the Piloting Skill roll is unsuccessful, the ’Mech damages itself 
  in the attempt to get rid of the infantry and must take punching 
  damage from the appropriate arm (rather than falling from the 
  failed Piloting Skill roll). The infantry troopers stay attached. Roll 
  1D6 and consult the Front column of the ’Mech Punch Location 
  Table to determine the location of the damage. If a ’Mech makes 
  two attempts to remove the infantry, one may succeed and the 
  other may fail. If the player declares that his ’Mech will make two 
  attempts, he must resolve both, even if the fi rst is successful (this 
  could result in the fi rst attempt being successful, yet the second 
  attempt failing and still damaging the ’Mech).
  During the Movement Phase of the following turn, infantry 
  units that have not been knocked off  travel with the ’Mech. Jump-
  capable ’Mechs may attempt to shake off  their attackers during 
  the Movement Phase. If the ’Mech jumps, the controlling player 
  makes a Piloting Skill roll with a +4 modifi er upon landing (in 
  addition to any other Piloting Skill Rolls required by the jump). On 
  a successful roll, the infantry unit falls off  into the hex in which the 
  ’Mech landed. The infantry unit cannot move or shoot for the rest 
  of the turn, and takes 3D6 damage points of damage. The damage 
  is applied to the infantry unit as if from an infantry attack. If the 
  Piloting Skill roll for shaking the infantry off  fails, the infantry stays 
  on and the ’Mech does not fall.
  Falling/Dropping Prone: If a swarmed ’Mech falls, the swarming 
  infantry unit falls off  the ’Mech into that hex. As with infantry 
  shaken off  by a jumping ’Mech, the infantry unit cannot move 
  or shoot for the rest of the turn. It also takes one hit consisting 
  of 2D6 damage points, applied to the infantry unit as if from an 
  infantry attack. A ’Mech may also intentionally drop prone (with 
  much more force than a standard going prone move) to shake off  
  its assailants, but doing so requires a successful Piloting Skill Roll. 
  If the rolls fails, the ’Mech goes prone but doesn’t dislodge the 
  infantry. If the roll succeeds, the infantry fall off  and take damage 
  as though the ’Mech had fallen as described above; the ’Mech that 
  drops prone takes damage as from an accidental fall as well, and 
  the controlling player must make an additional Piloting Skill roll to 
  avoid pilot damage. If the fallen infantry unit violates the stacking 
  limit of the hex, a domino eff ect will occur (see Domino Eff ect, p. 
  152). Any infantry unit prohibited from entering the terrain into 
  which it is knocked off  is destroyed.
  Magnetic Claw Manipulator: Battle armor units equipped 
  with magnetic claws add a +1 modifi er to the target unit’s Piloting 
  Skill roll for attempting to remove the battle armor.
  Water: If a swarmed ’Mech enters Depth 2 or deeper water, 
  or falls prone in Depth 1 or deeper water, the swarming infantry 
  unit is destroyed unless it has UMU MP. Likewise, any swarming 
  infantry unit that lacks UMU and is knocked off  the target ’Mech 
  in Depth 1 or deeper water hex is destroyed.
  Aerospace Units: If an aerospace unit takes off , it automatically 
  shakes off  a swarming infantry unit. The infantry unit is placed in 
  the fi rst hex where the aerospace unit left the ground, and takes 
  on hit consisting of 4D6 damage, applied to the infantry unit as if 
  from an infantry attack. 
  Mechanized Battle Armor: A friendly battle armor unit may 
  attempt to mount a swarmed unit in order to aid in fi ghting off  
  the attacking enemy infantry. The battle armor unit must make a 
  standard swarm attack, with all appropriate modifi ers. This includes 
  those from the Swarm Attack Modifi ers Table for the number of 
  active enemy troopers swarming the friendly carrying unit versus 
  the number of active friendly battle armor troopers attempting 
  to mount; this modifi er is applied as a negative number to the 
  target number. For example, if 21 enemy conventional infantry 
  were swarming a ’Mech and a 4 trooper friendly battle armor 
  unit attempted to mount the ’Mech in order to aid against the 
  swarming attack, in addition to all the standard modifi ers, a –3 
  modifi er (the +3 from the table, turned into a negative modifi er) 
  would be applied to the target number. If the attack succeeds, the 
  mechanized battle armor may attack the enemy infantry directly 
  during the Weapon Attack Phase of the following turn, ignoring 
  all target movement and terrain modifi ers.
  Even if the swarming enemy infantry have fewer troopers then 
  will provide a modifi er from the Swarm Attack Modifi ers Table (for 
  example a conventional infantry unit with fewer than 16 active 
  troopers), the friendly battle armor attempting to mount must 
  still make a standard Swarming Attack, but no modifi ers from that 
  table are applied.
  Vehicles: During the Movement Phase, a swarmed vehicle can 
  perform erratic maneuvers to fi ght off  the swarming unit. The 
  vehicle must be capable of moving at fl ank speed; it is considered 
  to be at fl ank speed for the turn, but can spend only its Cruising 
  MP during the Movement Phase. All Driving Skill rolls receive a 
  +1 modifi er while the vehicle is performing erratic maneuvers. At 
  the end of the vehicle’s movement, its controlling player makes a 
  Driving Skill roll with a +4 modifi er (this includes the +1 modifi er 
  already noted); this modifi er drops to +2 if the vehicle is using 
  VTOL MP. If the roll is successful, the swarming infantry is shaken 
  loose as if knocked off  by a jumping ’Mech.
  Attacks Against Swarmed Units
  Attacks against a swarmed unit may strike the swarming infantry 
  as well. When a swarmed ’Mech takes a hit on any torso location—
  or a vehicle takes one in any location—roll 1D6. On a result of 1–4, 
  the infantry unit does not take damage, and the total value of the 
  weapon damage is applied directly to the carrying unit’s location; 
  a result of 5–6 means the swarming infantry unit is hit. 
  SWARM ATTACKS HIT LOCATION TABLE
  2D6 Roll
  Bipedal Location
  Four-legged Location
  2
  Head
  Head
  3
  Rear Center Torso
  Front Right Torso
  4
  Rear Right Torso
  Rear Center Torso
  5
  Front Right Torso
  Rear Right Torso
  6
  Right Arm
  Front Right Torso
  7
  Front Center Torso
  Front Center Torso
  8
  Left Arm
  Front Left Torso
  9
  Front Left Torso
  Rear Left Torso
  10
  Rear Left Torso
  Rear Center Torso
  11
  Rear Center Torso
  Front Left Torso
  12
  Head
  Head
  
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  For battle armor, a randomly chosen trooper takes maximum 
  damage before the entire swarmed unit takes damage. Any 
  damage left after the trooper is destroyed is applied to the 
  location hit. For conventional infantry, mark off  damage 
  as though the attack came from another infantry unit (see 
  Damage From Infantry Units, p. 216).
  Swarm Attack Damage
  If the swarming infantry unit stays on the ’Mech, it may 
  make normal arm-mounted weapon attacks during the 
  Weapon Attack Phase of the turn after it successfully swarmed 
  the ’Mech. Only weapons mounted in the arms of a battle 
  armor unit can be used in swarm attacks. 
  All attacks automatically hit. The player rolls 2D6 and consults 
  the appropriate Swarm Hit Location Table for a bipedal or 
  four-legged ’Mech to determine the damage location. Swarm 
  damage to vehicles uses a randomly determined side column 
  of the Vehicle Hit Location Table. 
  Damage from a swarm attack equals the attacking unit’s 
  total non-missile, arm-mounted weapon damage potential 
  (not counting anti-personnel weapons). Battle armor units 
  apply all damage to one hit location. For example, a full-
  strength Elemental battle armor Point equipped with small 
  lasers infl icts a single 15-point grouping of damage on one 
  location. A battle armor Point equipped with two small lasers 
  would infl ict 30 points of damage. 
  Infantry units can continue to make weapon attacks on the 
  ’Mech in subsequent Weapon Attack Phases until the ’Mech is 
  destroyed or manages to shake off  the attacking unit, or the 
  swarming unit chooses to end its swarming attack. 
  Critical Hits: A swarm attack may also result in one or more 
  critical hits. In addition to determining normal damage, the 
  player rolls once on the Determining Critical Hits Table (p. 
  124), even if no internal structure took damage in the attack. 
  If internal structure does take damage, this may result in two 
  or more critical hits. 
  Vibro-Claw Manipulator: Battle armor units that include 
  troopers equipped with a single vibro-claw infl ict 1 additional 
  point of damage during a swarm attack; units containing 
  troopers equipped with two vibro-claws infl ict 2 additional 
  points of damage during a swarm attack.
  Conventional Infantry: A conventional infantry unit 
  applies its standard damage of 2-point Damage Value 
  groupings and applies each to a location by rolling on the 
  Swarm Attacks Hit Location Table or the Hit Location Table 
  for the appropriate unit type. Conventional infantry do not 
  roll on the Determining Critical Hits table unless their attack 
  damages the target’s internal structure.
  Mechanized Battle Armor: If a target ´Mech or vehicle 
  is carrying mechanized battle armor, a swarming unit may 
  choose to make standard attacks against the battle armor 
  instead of damaging the ’Mech or vehicle. The attacker can 
  use any or all of its weapons as though the battle armor 
  unit were not mounted, ignoring all target movement and 
  terrain modifi ers.
  INFANTRY CARRIERS
  Infantry may ride inside any unit during the course of a 
  game, provided the unit has dedicated cargo space. The 
  carrying unit’s capacity is limited to the tonnage of its cargo 
  area. The Generic Conventional Infantry Units and Battle Armor 
  Organization/Weight tables indicate how much tonnage each 
  type of infantry unit occupies. Do not reduce these tonnages 
  for units that have suff ered casualties. 
  Charging and Death From Above Attacks: Even though 
  dismounting infantry are placed after all other movement has 
  occurred in a turn, ’Mechs can still declare charging and death 
  from above attacks against infantry-carrying units once those 
  units have resolved their movement in the turn. 
  Initiative and Stacking: Mounted infantry units do not 
  count toward initiative. Likewise, a mounted infantry unit 
  does not count toward stacking limits.
  As infantry cannot move or fi re in the turn they dismount, 
  though each unit is placed on the board when they dismount, 
  they are not counted towards initiative until the beginning of 
  the next turn.
  Mechanized Infantry: Mechanized infantry cannot be 
  carried using these rules, unless the carrying unit is a Large 
  Support Vehicle, small craft or Large Craft.
  ’Mechs: Though ’Mechs can mount and dismount some 
  infantry, additional rules apply; see Mechanized Battle Armor, 
  p. 227. 
  MOUNTING
  To mount a carrying unit during a turn, an infantry unit 
  must start its Ground Movement Phase in the same hex as 
  the carrier. The infantry unit may mount only at the end of the 
  carrier’s movement. Carrying units do not suff er reductions 
  INFANTRY DESTROYED IF 
  CARRYING UNIT DESTROYED TABLE
  Die Roll Result
  Carrying Unit Type
  Survived
  Destroyed
  Vehicle
  1–4
  5–6
  VTOL/WiGE*
  1–3
  4–6
  Naval†
  Jumping MP
  1‡
  2–6
  VTOL MP
  1–2
  3–6
  UMU MP
  1–3
  4–6
  Submarine†
  UMU MP
  1
  2–6
  Aerospace Units*
  1
  2–6
  *Only if the VTOL and WiGE vehicle or aerospace unit survives the crash; if the 
  unit is destroyed while airborne, all carried units are destroyed.
  †All other infantry types are automatically destroyed.
  ‡See Jumping MP under Naval Carriers.
  
  in MP for hauling infantry. Infantry may not mount enemy units 
  using these rules. 
  Mounted infantry may not fi re weapons, spot for indirect fi re 
  or take any action other than dismounting from the carrier. Any 
  equipment that does not require an action to use (such as an ECM 
  suite on a battle armor unit) still functions; hence in the case of an 
  ECM suite on a battle armor unit, the carrying unit will be covered 
  by the 1-hex “ECM bubble”.
  When a carrying unit is destroyed, there is a chance it will 
  destroy any carried units as well. While such details are covered in 
  the rules below, the Infantry Destroyed if Carrying Unit Destroyed 
  Table summarizes the 1D6 rolls made to determine such results.
  Large Support Vehicles: Infantry units can be in adjacent 
  hexes to mount a Large Support Vehicle, but those hexes (and the 
  infantry attempting to mount) must be at the same level as the 
  vehicle. 
  Vehicles Carrying Infantry
  Vehicles must spend 1 MP to mount each infantry unit. If a 
  vehicle has 0 MP to expend in a turn, it can only mount a single 
  infantry unit in that turn.
  Damage from Movement: Any time a vehicle carrying 
  infantry takes damage from a fall, skid, sideslipping, collision 
  or displacement, roll 1D6 for each mounted infantry unit. On a 
  result of 1–4, the infantry takes no damage; on a result of 5–6, the 
  infantry unit takes a single point of damage (for a battle armor 
  unit, randomly determine which trooper took the damage).
  Critical Damage: Critical damage that occurs to an infantry 
  carrying vehicle aff ects carried infantry in diff erent ways. For a 
  complete list of vehicle criticals and how they apply to carried 
  infantry, see Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 193, in the 
  Combat Vehicles section (for aerospace units—i.e. conventional 
  fi ghters, and Fixed Wing and Airship Support Vehicles—see 
  Critical Hit Eff ects, p. 239 in the Aerospace Units section).
  Stacking: If, at the end of the phase in which the carrying vehicle 
  was destroyed, any surviving infantry units violate stacking rules, 
  the controlling player must move those units into an adjacent hex 
  using the following rules:
  • 
  Only the minimum number of infantry units are moved to 
  ensure that the stacking rules are not violated in the hex 
  where the carrying vehicle was destroyed.
  • 
  The adjacent hex that requires the least expenditure of MP 
  to enter is used fi rst, with the next lowest MP expenditure 
  second, and so on.
  • 
  If an infantry unit cannot be moved into an adjacent hex 
  because of prohibited movement, lack of available MP, 
  or because it would violate the stacking rules, the unit 
  is destroyed (though such a unit may use the minimum 
  movement rule to enter a hex; see p. 49).
  Infantry in this situation may move and fi re normally in the turn 
  after the vehicle is destroyed.
  VTOL/WiGE Carriers: VTOLs and WiGE follow the same rules 
  as other vehicles carrying infantry, with the following additions. 
  Infantry units that do not have VTOL MP cannot mount a VTOL 
  or WiGE vehicle unless it is landed. Infantry units with VTOL MP 
  can mount a VTOL or WiGE at the start of their Ground Movement 
  Phase, provided they are at the same elevation and in the same 
  hex as the VTOL or WiGE vehicle.
  If a VTOL or WiGE vehicle is destroyed in the air or in a crash, all 
  infantry units mounted in it are also destroyed. If a VTOL or WiGE 
  vehicle survives a crash, roll 1D6 for each mounted infantry unit. 
  On a result of 1–3, the infantry unit survives and may move and 
  fi re normally in the turn after the crash; on a result of 4–6, the 
  infantry is destroyed. 
  Naval Carriers: Naval vessels follow all the rules for vehicles 
  carrying infantry, with the following additions. Naval vessels must 
  spend 2 MP to mount each infantry unit, unless the infantry uses 
  VTOL or Jumping MP to mount, in which case the naval vessel 
  only expends 1 MP. Infantry units without UMU MP cannot mount 
  a naval vessel unless the vessel is adjacent to the hex occupied by 
  the infantry unit at the start of the infantry’s Ground Movement 
  Phase. In this case, the infantry unit moves to the hex occupied by 
  the naval vessel and mounts. 
  Infantry units with UMU MP can mount a naval vessel at a cost 
  of 1 MP, provided they are at the same depth and in the same hex 
  as the naval vessel (either submerged or on the surface) at the 
  start of their Ground Movement Phase. Submerged submarines 
  must expend 3 MP to mount an infantry unit in this fashion.
  If a naval vessel on the surface of a water hex is destroyed 
  by anything except an ammunition or fuel tank critical hit, any 
  carried infantry with VTOL, Jumping or UMU MP may survive (all 
  other infantry is destroyed). Roll 1D6 for each type of mounted 
  infantry unit.
  • 
  Jumping MP: On a result of 1, the unit survives, but only if it 
  can dismount per the rules for naval vessels carrying infantry 
  with Jumping MP (see Dismounting, below). Otherwise, it is 
  destroyed. On a result of 2–6, the unit is destroyed outright.
  • 
  VTOL MP: On a result of 1–2, the unit survives and is placed 
  in the hex previously occupied by the destroyed naval vessel, 
  one level higher than the water’s surface; on a result of 3–6, 
  the unit is destroyed. 
  • 
  UMU MP: On a result of 1–3, the unit survives and is placed 
  on the surface in the hex previously occupied by the carrier. 
  On a result of 4–6, the unit is destroyed.
  If a submerged submarine is destroyed by anything but an 
  ammunition or fuel tank critical hit, any carried infantry units 
  with UMU MP may survive (any other infantry is destroyed). For 
  each infantry unit with UMU MP, roll 1D6. On a result of 1, the unit 
  survives and is placed in the same hex and at the same depth 
  previously occupied by the destroyed carrier; on a result of 2–6, 
  the unit is destroyed;.
  All such infantry units must adhere to the stacking rules, as 
  noted above.
  Aerospace Carriers: Aerospace units (including Airships and 
  Fixed-Wing Support Vehicles) need not expend any Thrust Points 
  to mount an infantry unit, but the aerospace unit must be landed. 
  The sole exceptions are Airship Support Vehicles and Infantry with 
  VTOL MP, in which case use the rules above for VTOLs carrying 
  infantry.
  If an aerospace unit is destroyed in the air or in a crash, all 
  infantry units mounted in it are also destroyed. If an aerospace 
  unit survives a crash, roll 1D6 for each mounted infantry unit. On 
  a result of 1, the infantry unit survives and may move and fi re 
  normally in the turn after the crash; on a result of 2–6, the infantry 
  unit is destroyed. 
  DISMOUNTING
  An infantry unit may dismount a carrier only at the end of that 
  carrier’s movement. The infantry dismounts in the same hex as 
  the carrying unit. If the terrain is prohibited for that infantry type, 
  
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  or if dismounting would violate stacking rules, the infantry 
  cannot dismount; also, no more than one infantry unit can 
  dismount into a target hex in a turn. An infantry unit may 
  not move or make attacks in the same turn that it dismounts. 
  Attacks made against the dismounted unit are made as if the 
  unit had moved 0 hexes, rather than using the movement of 
  the carrying unit.
  Vehicles, including VTOLs, must spend 1 MP to dismount 
  each infantry unit. If a carrying unit has 0 MP to expend 
  in a turn, 1 infantry unit (2 for Large Support Vehicles and 
  DropShips) may still dismount per turn, following all the 
  standard rules. 
  Large Support Vehicles and DropShips: Infantry units 
  carried by Large Support Vehicles and DropShips dismount 
  into adjacent hexes. However, for Large Support Vehicles, the 
  adjacent hex level must be equal to the level of the underlying 
  hex the unit occupies; for DropShips, the adjacent hex must be 
  within two levels of the level of the underlying hexes the unit 
  occupies. In both cases, infantry units must be able to enter 
  the terrain (though an infantry unit may use the Minimum 
  Movement rule, p. 49, to enter a hex). The dismounting infantry 
  may not violate the stacking limits.
  MP Reduction: If a unit’s movement is cut short—for 
  example, if a hover vehicle failed a sideslip and hit an object, 
  thereby ending its movement phase prematurely), no infantry 
  may dismount even if the carrier has not expended all of its MP.
  Dismounting From VTOLs
  Infantry units with Jump MP may dismount from a VTOL that 
  has not landed, regardless of the VTOL’s elevation. The infantry 
  unit is placed on the ground, in the hex occupied by the VTOL. 
  Battle armor units that must eject their missile launchers 
  (including detachable weapon packs) before they are jump-
  capable, and that have not yet done so in the course of the 
  game, cannot dismount in this fashion; they cannot eject their 
  missile launchers while mounted on a VTOL. Infantry units 
  with VTOL MP may likewise dismount from a VTOL that has 
  not landed; they are placed in the same hex occupied by the 
  VTOL, at the same elevation.
  Attacks against infantry with Jump or VTOL MP dismounting 
  from an airborne VTOL are made as though the infantry moved 
  0 hexes, adding a +1 modifi er for the jump.
  Dismounting From Naval Carriers
  Except as noted below, naval vessels must spend 2 MP to 
  dismount each infantry unit, unless the infantry uses VTOL or 
  Jumping MP, in which case the naval vessel need only expend 
  1 MP.
  Infantry units with only Ground MP cannot dismount from 
  a naval vessel unless it is on the water’s surface and is adjacent 
  to a non-water hex at the same level as the surface. In this case, 
  the infantry unit moves to the adjacent hex. If the infantry unit 
  is not prohibited from entering the hex, but lacks suffi  cient MP 
  to enter, it can enter the hex using the Minimum Movement 
  rule (see p. 49). 
  Infantry units with UMU MP may dismount from a naval 
  vessel even if it is not adjacent to a non-water hex; they occupy 
  the same hex and depth as the carrying unit. Submerged 
  submarines must expend 3 MP to dismount an infantry unit 
  in this fashion.
  Infantry units with VTOL MP may dismount from a naval 
  vessel not adjacent to a land hex, though the carrying unit 
  must be on the water’s surface. They are placed in the same 
  hex occupied by the naval vessel, one elevation level higher 
  than the surface of the water.
  Infantry units with Jumping MP may likewise dismount 
  from a naval vessel not adjacent to a land hex, provided 
  the infantry has suffi  cient Jumping MP to reach a land hex 
  whose terrain the unit can enter (players should remember 
  to account for diff erences in levels). The infantry unit moves 
  to the target hex, which requires the fewest MP to enter. If 
  multiple hexes fi t this criteria, the controlling player may 
  choose the destination hex. Battle armor units that must eject 
  their missile launchers before they are jump-capable, and that 
  have not yet done so, can eject them in order to dismount in 
  this fashion. The controlling player announces he is ejecting 
  the missile launchers and marks them off  on the appropriate 
  record sheet.
  Additional modifi ers do not apply to attacks against infantry 
  with UMU MP dismounting in a water hex. Attacks against 
  dismounting VTOL/Jumping infantry units that do not simply 
  move to an adjacent hex are made as though the unit only 
  moved 0 hexes, but with a +1 modifi er for the jump.
  Dismounting From Aerospace Carriers
  Infantry units cannot dismount from aerospace units unless 
  the aerospace carrier is landed. If an aerospace unit is landed, 
  use the rules for vehicles, Large Support Vehicles or DropShips 
  as appropriate, except that the carrying unit need not expend 
  MP to dismount infantry.
  The only exceptions are Conventional Fighters, and Fixed 
  Wing and Airship Support Vehicles in conjunction with infantry 
  that have Jumping or VTOL MP. The carrying units must be 
  fl ying at Altitude 1 (NOE). If the carrying units are fl ying on a 
  low-altitude map, at the end of the aerospace unit’s movement, 
  jump infantry are placed in hex 0909 of the ground mapsheet 
  that corresponds to the low-altitude hex (if the infantry are 
  prohibited from entering that hex they are destroyed), while 
  infantry with VTOL MPs are placed in hex 0909 of the ground 
  mapsheet that corresponds to the low-altitude hex at Elevation 
  10. If the carrying units are using the Aerospace Units on Ground 
  Mapsheets rules (see p. 91), the infantry units are placed in the 
  hex of the ground mapsheet where the aerospace unit ended 
  its movement (with the same restrictions above on prohibited 
  terrain). In either case, the carrying aerospace unit does not 
  expend any MP to dismount the carried infantry.
   
  In the Infantry Dismounting diagram on p. 226, the 
  controlling player has several diﬀ erent units on the 
  Archipelago #1 map, each with various infantry units he 
  wants to dismount.
   A modiﬁ ed Monitor naval vessel (Cruising 3, Flanking 
  5) carrying a Point each of Elemental, Sylph, Gnome and 
  Undine battle armor is in Hex A. During its Movement 
  Phase, the controlling player announced it was ﬂ anking 
  and spent 1 MP to enter Hex A; at the end of its Movement 
  Phase, the Monitor has 4 MP that it can spend to dismount 
  infantry. The Sylph (using VTOL MP) only requires 1 MP from 
  the carrying unit, and the controlling player notes that the 
  Sylph is in Hex A at Level 1. The Elemental unit also requires 
  
  only 1 MP to dismount; however, it cannot move into hexes 1 
  or 2, as the levels of those hexes are higher than the combined 
  total of the Elemental battle armor’s Jumping MP plus the level 
  of the naval carrier. The Elemental unit can only enter Hex 3. 
  Hex 3 is the nearest hex, so even though the Elemental Point 
  normally would have enough Jumping MP to move to Hex 4, 
  it ends the Movement Phase in Hex 3. The Undine requires 2 
  MP to dismount and is placed on the water’s surface in Hex A. 
  That move uses up all the Monitor’s remaining MP, so it cannot 
  dismount the Gnome battle armor. The Gnome unit could not 
  dismount in any case; it does not have UMU or VTOL MP, and 
  with only 2 Jumping MP, it cannot enter Hex 3.
  A cargo variant Anhur transport VTOL (Cruising 8, Flank 12) 
  is in Hex B at Level 5, carrying a Point each of Elemental and 
  Sylph battle armor. During its Movement Phase, the controlling 
  player announced it was cruising and spent 5 MP to enter the 
  hex; at the end of its Movement Phase, the Anhur has 3 MP that 
  it can spend to dismount infantry. The controlling player spends 
  1 MP to dismount the Sylph, noting that it is in Hex B at Level 5. 
  The Elemental Point can dismount from a ﬂ ying VTOL because 
  it has Jumping MP, and the Anhur has the MP necessary to 
  dismount the unit, but the Elemental unit is prohibited from 
  entering the terrain in Hex B (infantry cannot enter a water 
  hex). This means it cannot dismount this turn.
  Finally, a King Karnov Support Vehicle (Cruising 3, Flank 
  5) is in Hex C, carrying eight Motorized Infantry Platoons. 
  During its Movement Phase, the controlling player announced 
  it was ﬂ anking and spent 2 MP to land in Hex C; at the end of 
  its Movement Phase, the King Karnov has 3 MP to dismount 
  infantry. Remembering that the King Karnov is a Large Support 
  Vehicle, the controlling player realizes he has much more 
  ﬂ exibility in dismounting troops than a typical vehicle. Each 
  infantry unit only requires a single MP to dismount, and so 
  the controlling player spends 3 MP to dismount two units into 
  Hex 6 and one into Hex 7. If the King Karnov decides to remain 
  in Hex C, in the following turn it can only dismount one more 
  infantry unit into Hex 7 unless the three previously dismounted 
  infantry units move ﬁ rst. Hex 6 already contains two friendly 
  units, Hex 5 is water and prohibited terrain for infantry, and 
  Hexes 8, 9 and 10 are prohibited because entering them would 
  require a level change. 
  If the King Karnov were destroyed upon landing in the hex, 
  the controlling player would need to redistribute the infantry 
  units at the end of the Movement Phase, in order to keep from 
  violating the stacking rules. Hex 6 requires the least number of 
  MP to enter, and so the controlling player moves two infantry 
  units there ﬁ rst. He then moves two more infantry units into 
  Hex 7, and he can leave two more infantry units in Hex C. This 
  leaves him with two infantry units he cannot redistribute, 
  either because they are prohibited from entering the hex or 
  they would violate the stacking rules. These two units are 
  destroyed, leaving him with six Motorized Infantry Platoons to 
  move next turn.
  MECHANIZED BATTLE 
  ARMOR
  Battle armor units train to work closely with OmniMechs 
  and OmniVehicles in combat. Each OmniMech torso features 
  handholds that allow up to six battle armor infantry troopers to 
  attach themselves for transport; OmniVehicle hand-holds are 
  located on the sides and rear.
  While riding on an Omni, each battle armor trooper is placed on a 
  specifi c location. This location never changes, regardless of troopers 
  eliminated by damage, mounting and dismounting multiple times 
  INFANTRY DISMOUNTING TABLE
  Carrying Unit Type
  MP Spent Per Unit Dismounted
  Ground vehicle
  1 MP
  VTOL
  1 MP*
  Surface naval vessel
  2 MP†
  Submarine
  3 MP‡
  Aerospace unit
  0 MP§
  *If an infantry unit does not have Jumping or VTOL MP, it cannot dismount from 
  an airborne unit; a carrying VTOL expends 1 MP for dismounting infantry units 
  using Jumping or VTOL MP.
  †If the dismounting infantry unit uses Jumping or VTOL MP, the carrying unit only 
  expends 1 MP (see Dismounting From Naval Carriers, p. 225).
  ‡Only if submerged and only if the infantry unit has UMU MP. If on the surface, the 
  submarine uses the same rules as surface naval vessels.
  §Cannot dismount units while airborne, except for Airship Support Vehicles; 
  landed aerospace units dismount infantry using the rules for vehicles, Large 
  Support Vehicles or DropShip, as appropriate. 
  • INFANTRY DISMOUNTING DIAGRAM • 
  
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  in a scenario and so on. On a Battle Armor Record Sheet, each 
  trooper is numbered from 1 to 6. This number indicates where on 
  the Omni unit each trooper rides during transport; see Occupied 
  Locations on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles, below. A battle armor 
  unit mounts and dismounts an Omni just like a conventional 
  infantry unit mounting or dismounting a vehicle (see p. 223). 
  Attacks by Carrying Units: An OmniMech cannot use any 
  torso-mounted weapons in a location occupied by a trooper 
  (a weapon that occupies multiple locations cannot be used 
  if any location it occupies is also occupied by a trooper); 
  OmniVehicles cannot use any weapon in the Left Side, Right 
  Side or Rear locations occupied by a trooper. An OmniVehicle 
  can always use its turret weapons, regardless of whether a 
  trooper occupies that location. 
  Carrying Limits: With the exception of Large Support 
  Vehicles, a carrier may only transport a single battle armor unit 
  at any time using these rules. Large Support Vehicles may carry 
  two battle armor units at a time; the battle armor troopers from 
  both units occupy the locations shown on the Battle Armor 
  Transport Position Table, below. 
  Magnetic Clamps: Mechanized battle armor units equipped 
  with magnetic clamps can mount standard ’Mechs and 
  vehicles (except for VTOLs) using the same rules as Omni units. 
  Aerospace units, including Fixed-Wing and Airship Support 
  Vehicles, cannot be mounted in this fashion.
  MP Reduction: Omni units suff er no MP reduction for 
  carrying battle armor units. Standard units carrying battle 
  armor equipped with magnetic clamps receive a –1 MP 
  modifi er to their Walking/Cruising MP. This modifi er applies 
  immediately; if a non-Omni carrier only has 1 MP left to spend 
  in a Movement Phase, a battle armor unit cannot mount that 
  carrier this turn. 
  Occupied Locations on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
  A six-trooper unit occupies all torso locations (front and 
  back) of an OmniMech. A fi ve-trooper unit occupies all torso 
  locations except the front center torso, while a four-trooper unit 
  occupies the front and back side torsos, leaving the front and 
  back center torso free. A six-trooper unit places two troopers 
  on each of the left, right and rear locations, while a fi ve-trooper 
  unit places two troopers on the left and right sides and a single 
  trooper on the rear. A four-trooper unit places two troopers on 
  the left and right sides (see the Battle Armor Transport Position 
  Table, p. 227). 
  Dumping Ammunition: A ‘Mech with battle armor troopers 
  occupying any rear torso location (or a vehicle with battle armor 
  troopers occupying the rear location) cannot dump its ammo.
  Falling and Dropping Prone
  When a unit carrying battle armor fails a Piloting Skill Roll 
  and falls, follow the same rules found under Falling/Dropping 
  Prone, p. 222, in the Swarm Attacks section.
  If a carrying ’Mech intentionally drops prone while carrying 
  infantry, the infantry is not knocked off  and takes no damage.
  Skidding and Sideslipping
  Skidding units that collide with a carrier do not knock off  any 
  carried infantry. In addition, carried infantry take no damage 
  from a vehicle that skids or sideslips, unless the unit skids/
  sideslips into a building (see below).
  Infantry units are knocked off  if the ’Mech that is carrying 
  them skids, however, because the ’Mech falls when it begins 
  its skid. 
  Buildings
  Whenever a unit carrying battle armor enters a building 
  hex, roll 1D6. On a result of 1–3, the infantry unit takes one hit 
  consisting of 1D6 damage points but stays on the carrying unit. 
  On a result of 4–6, the infantry unit falls off  into the building hex 
  and takes 2D6 points of damage. In both instances, damage 
  is applied as if from an infantry attack (2-point Damage Value 
  groupings; no damage reduction). The infantry unit cannot 
  move or shoot for the rest of the turn. If the infantry unit 
  cannot enter the terrain in the hex in which it is knocked off , 
  the unit is destroyed.
  Accidental Entry: If a carrying unit enters a building hex 
  accidentally—for example, during a skid—its infantry is 
  knocked off  and takes damage as if the controlling player had 
  gotten 4–6 on the die roll described above.
  Attack Damage to Troopers
  When a unit carrying battle armor takes a hit in a location 
  where a surviving trooper is riding, roll 1D6. On a result of 1–4, 
  the trooper does not take damage; the total damage value of the 
  weapon used is applied directly to the location on the carrier. On 
  a result of 5–6, the trooper takes damage before the carrying unit 
  does; any damage left after the trooper is destroyed is applied to 
  the location struck. Battle armor units riding on carriers cannot 
  be targets of an attack; only a successful attack against the 
  carrier can infl ict damage on the battle armor. 
  When a location is destroyed, all troopers riding on that 
  location (both front and rear for ’Mechs) are also destroyed. 
  If the entire unit is destroyed, roll 1D6. On result of 1–2, the 
  infantry unit survives (except for any troopers riding on a 
  destroyed location); on a result of 3–6, the infantry unit is 
  destroyed. The infantry unit is placed in the hex where the 
  carrier was destroyed and may move and fi re normally in the 
  BATTLE ARMOR TRANSPORT 
  POSITION TABLE
  Troop
  Number
  ’Mech Location 
  Vehicle
  Location
  Large Support 
  Vehicle Location*
  1
  Right Torso
  Right Side
  Right Side 
  (Unit 1/Unit 2)
  2
  Left Torso
  Right Side
  Right Side 
  (Unit 1/Unit 2)
  3
  Right Torso 
  (rear)
  Left Side
  Left Side 
  (Unit 1/Unit 2)
  4
  Left Torso 
  (rear)
  Left Side
  Left Side 
  (Unit 1/Unit 2)
  5
  Center Torso 
  (rear)
  Rear
  Rear 
  (Unit 1/Unit 2)
  6
  Center Torso
  Rear
  Rear 
  (Unit 1/Unit 2)
  *Unit 1 and Unit 2 represent two battle armor units
  
  next turn; its target movement modifi er for the current turn is 
  equal to that of its destroyed carrier. If the carrier was destroyed in 
  a hex that the infantry unit is prohibited from entering, the infantry 
  is automatically destroyed.
  Multiple Troopers in a Single Location: When determining 
  damage in a location with more than one trooper, roll 1D6 for each 
  trooper in that location to determine if any receive damage before 
  the carrier does. The controlling player determines which trooper 
  he will roll for fi rst.
  OTHER COMBAT WEAPONS 
  AND EQUIPMENT
  If an infantry unit’s Technical Readout or record sheet game 
  statistics indicate that it carries one of the following equipment 
  types, the equipment may signifi cantly aff ect game play. Players 
  should consult the unit’s statistics, then familiarize themselves with 
  the appropriate equipment rules below before play begins.
  Advanced Weapons and Equipment: If a unit mounts any 
  weapons and/or equipment not found below or on the appropriate 
  Weapons and Equipment Tables (see p. 303), then the weapon/
  equipment in question is either advanced (not appropriate for 
  standard tournament play) and is covered in Classic BattleTech 
  Tactical Operations, or it only aff ects construction and so has no 
  direct impact on Classic BattleTech game play. Any such weapons 
  and/or equipment that is not considered advanced is covered in 
  Classic BattleTech TechManual.
  ACTIVE PROBE
  This equipment operates according to the rules for the Active 
  Probe suite (see p. 129).
  ARMOR
  The armor types listed below have the following game eff ects, 
  generally noted on record sheets and in technical readouts. 
  All modifi ers are in addition to the standard target movement 
  modifi ers.
  Basic Stealth Armor
  Attacks against a unit equipped with basic stealth armor receive 
  additional to-hit modifi ers of +1 at medium range and +2 at long 
  range.
  Fire Resistant Armor
  Attacks from Heat-causing Weapons (see Weapons and Equipment, 
  p. 113) against a unit equipped with fi re resistant armor do not infl ict 
  any damage.
  Improved Stealth Armor 
  Attacks against a unit equipped with improved stealth armor 
  receive additional to-hit modifi ers of +1 at short range, +2 at 
  medium range and +3 at long range.
  Mimetic Armor  
  Attacks against a mimetic-equipped unit receive an additional to-
  hit modifi er based on the number of hexes moved by the target unit 
  in the same turn as the attack: +3 for 0 hexes moved, +2 for 1 hex 
  moved, +1 for 2 hexes and no modifi er for 3+ hexes.
  Prototype Stealth Armor 
  Attacks against a unit equipped with prototype stealth armor 
  receive additional to-hit modifi ers of +1 at medium range and +2 
  at long range.
  Standard Stealth Armor 
  Attacks against a unit equipped with standard stealth armor 
  receive additional to-hit modifi ers of +1 at short range, +1 at 
  medium range and +2 at long range.
  BOMB RACK
  An attack by a Bomb Rack may only be declared against the hex 
  the unit occupies and only if the attacking battle armor unit is one 
  elevation above the level of the underlying hex. The only to-hit 
  modifi er that applies to the attack is Attacker Movement modifi er. 
  If the to-hit roll is successful, the attack is treated as a cluster 
  bomb attack (see Cluster, p. 246, in the Aerospace Units section), with 
  a Damage Value equal to the number of active troopers in the unit x 
  2, applied in 5-point groupings. 
  If the to-hit roll fails, the attack scatters one hex; use the Dive-
  Bombing Scatter Diagram, p. 245.
  One-Shot: A Bomb Rack is a single shot weapon, meaning it can 
  be used once and then cannot be used for the remainder of the 
  game.
  CAMO SYSTEM 
  Attacks against a unit mounting a camo system receive a to-hit 
  modifi er based on the number of hexes moved by the target unit 
  in the same turn as the attack: +2 for 0 hexes moved, +1 for 1 hex 
  moved and no modifi er for 2+ hexes.
  ECM SUITE 
  This equipment operates according to the rules for the ECM suite 
  (see p. 134), except that it only aff ects the hex occupied by the ECM-
  equipped unit.
  IMPROVED SENSORS 
  This equipment uses the same rules as the Beagle Active Probe 
  (see p. 129), with the following exceptions: sensors with an Inner 
  Sphere technology base have a 2-hex range, while Clan-tech sensors 
  have a 3-hex range. 
  MAGNETIC CLAMPS 
  A battle armor unit equipped with magnetic clamps that also 
  satisfi es the standard criteria for mechanized battle armor can 
  mount standard BattleMechs and vehicles as though the carrying 
  units were Omni units (see Mechanized Battle Armor, p. 227).
  MANIPULATORS 
  The following manipulators have the following game eff ects, 
  generally noted on record sheets and in technical readouts.
  Armored Gloves 
  Light and PA(L)/exoskeleton humanoid battle armor with two 
  armored gloves may use rules for mechanized battle armor (see 
  p. 227), conduct anti-’Mech attacks (see p. 220) and make anti-
  personnel weapon attacks (see Battle Armor Attacks, p. 217).
  Basic Manipulator 
  Medium, light and PA(L)/exoskeleton humanoid battle armor with 
  two basic manipulators may conduct anti-’Mech attacks; heavy, medium, 
  
  229
  229
  G
  U
  O
  G
  D
  N
  R U
  ROO
  GROUNDD
  N
  ROU
  G
  INFANTRY
  INFANTRY
  light and PA(L)/exoskeleton humanoid battle armor with at least one 
  basic manipulator may use mechanized battle armor rules.
  Battle Claw/Heavy Battle Claw 
  Medium, light and PA(L)/exoskeleton humanoid battle armor 
  with at least one battle claw or heavy battle claw may conduct 
  anti-’Mech attacks; heavy, medium, light and PA(L)/exoskeleton 
  humanoid battle armor with at least one such claw may use 
  mechanized battle armor rules (see p. 227).
  Cargo Lifter
  Cargo lifters only aff ect game play if players are using Cargo 
  Carriers rules from the Creating Scenarios section (see p. 261). 
  Otherwise, the cargo lifters have no aff ect.
  Vibro-Claw 
  Battle armor units equipped with vibro-claws infl ict additional 
  damage during swarm and leg attacks (see Anti-’Mech Attacks, 
  p. 220). Battle armor units thus equipped can also make an 
  additional melee attack against an infantry unit located in the 
  same hex (see Battle Armor Attacks, p. 217).
  Magnetic Claws 
  Battle armor units equipped with magnetic claws receive 
  a –1 modifi er to the to-hit roll for any swarm attack (see 
  Swarm Attacks, p. 220). Battle armor units thus equipped add 
  a +1 modifi er to the Piloting Skill roll made by the target unit 
  attempting to remove the battle armor unit after a successful 
  swarm attack (see Fighting Off  Swarm Attacks, p. 221).
  NARC 
  This equipment operates according to the rules for the Missile 
  Beacon (see p. 138), with the following exceptions:
  It may not use any submunitions.
  Unlike standard weapons mounted by a battle armor unit, 
  each trooper of a unit can fi re a Narc individually rather than as 
  a salvo, but the unit still cannot attack more than a single target 
  in a turn with a Narc.
  POP-UP MINE 
  If a unit equipped with a pop-up mine begins the Weapon Attack 
  Phase in the same hex as ’Mech, vehicle or grounded fi ghter, it may 
  launch one or more magnetic mines instead of making a standard 
  weapon attack. Unlike missile attacks, the controlling player 
  chooses how many troopers in a unit will fi re mines and marks off  
  the ammunition expenditure against each battle armor trooper. If 
  a trooper is destroyed before using any mines, those mines are lost. 
  Though battle armor troopers can carry more than one pop-up 
  mine, each trooper can only launch one per turn.
  The base to-hit number for a magnetic mine attack is 8, 
  modifi ed for target movement and terrain as normal. If the 
  attack hits, roll on the Cluster Hits Table (corresponding to the 
  appropriate number of troopers active in the unit who fi red) 
  to determine how many mines have become attached to the 
  target. The mines automatically hit the center torso if the target 
  is a ’Mech, the front if the target is a vehicle, or nose if the target 
  is a grounded fi ghter: four points of damage are assigned per 
  mine that struck the location.
  In addition to those 4 damage points, the attacker rolls 2D6 
  for each pop-up mine that struck the target and consults the 
  Determining Critical Hits Table. If the result is 7 or less, the location 
  only takes the initial 4 points of damage. If the attack results in 
  one or more critical hits, resolve those normally (this may mean 
  making two rolls on the Determining Critical Hits Table, one for 
  the 4 points of damage if the attack hits internal structure and one 
  for the automatic roll made for a successful pop-up mine attack).
  SPECIAL MISSILE MUNITIONS
  Battle armor units mounting standard SRM or LRM launchers 
  may make use of the following missile munitions. At the 
  beginning of the scenario, provided the battle armor unit can 
  carry multiple shots for a given standard missile launcher, the 
  controlling player clearly marks which submunitions the battle 
  armor unit will be carrying. The controlling player can mix and 
  match standard and special missile munitions found below; the 
  only limitation is the ammo capacity of the battle armor unit.
  Infernos 
  Battle Armor units carrying infernos follow all the standard rules 
  for that special munition (see Infernos, p. 141). Additionally, when 
  ever a battle armor trooper that is not equipped with Fire Resistent 
  armor and is carrying inferno missiles at the moment it is eliminated 
  (regardless of how the damage is infl icted), the controlling player 
  must immediately roll 2D6. On a result of 8 or more, the inferno 
  detonates; all units within the hex are treated as though they were 
  successfully struck by a number of inferno rounds equal to the 
  number of inferno missiles the trooper carried when eliminated.
  Weapon Type: Standard SRMs
  Technology Base: Clan or Inner Sphere
  Multi-Purpose Missiles
  Multi-Purpose Missiles can either be fi red as a torpedo (see 
  Torpedoes, below), or it can also be launched as a standard attack 
  by a battle armor unit that occupies a Depth 1 water hex against 
  non-submerged unit. Determine LOS to the target as though the 
  battle armor unit rose 1 level above the surface of the water hex it 
  occupies; apply all standard modifi ers. Enemy units cannot make 
  attacks against a battle armor making such an attack unless the 
  attacker is submerged and has a clear LOS to the battle armor unit.
  Weapon Type: Standard LRMs
  Technology Base: Clan
  Torpedoes 
  Torpedoes use the same statistics as any standard SRM, LRM or 
  MRM the battle armor unit mounts, but may only be fi red from 
  or into a water hex of Depth 1 or greater, and the attacker must 
  trace LOS through water hexes of Depth 1 or great to the target.
  Weapon Type: Standard LRMs/SRMs
  Technology Base: Clan or Inner Sphere
  SQUAD SUPPORT WEAPON 
  Only one trooper in a unit can use a squad support weapon 
  and is considered to be Trooper #1 on the record sheet. Until 
  that trooper is eliminated, the unit can attack with the squad 
  support weapon in addition to its other weapons each turn. 
  This is the one exception to battle armor troopers in the same 
  unit always mounting identical weapons.
  TAG, LIGHT 
  This equipment operates according to the same rules as TAG 
  (see p. 142), except that the range is 3/6/9.
  
  ORBITAL SPACE
  THULE
  GHOST BEAR DOMINION
  15 SEPTEMBER 3060
  Star Commander Marko rolled his Xerxes to port, bringing the 
  white-streaked brown orb of Thule into view through his cockpit 
  canopy.  He and his Star hung two hundred kilometers above 
  the Fresdon Desert.  He craned his neck, looking.  Not even his 
  genetically perfect eyes could pierce the veil of distance and 
  see the battle raging below.  His fi ngers twisted the controls in 
  frustration.  Maybe Snow Ravens could deal with waiting better.  
  He knew the equations as well as any Raven; he knew he had to 
  wait for the window.
  “Star Commander,” his wingman said, “thirty seconds to de-orbit 
  burn.”
  Marko rolled his fi ghter back to its previous orientation.  He 
  checked his tactical display, noting the precise separation of the 
  other nine Xerxes in his Star.  Each was where it belonged.  Lucien 
  was on his wing, and the others staggered 
  behind for almost a kilometer.  Marko nodded, 
  checked the timer and toggled the Star channel 
  on his comm systems.
  “Twenty-fi ve seconds, Red Bears,” he said.  “Right 
  now our Elementals are holding against stravag 
  bandits from the Inner Sphere.  Right now, on the 
  hallowed plains where we claimed this world ten years 
  ago, Ghost Bear warriors are fi ghting and dying.”  He 
  squeezed his control yoke again and swallowed.  “Not against 
  scum.  Not any longer.”  He sent a pre-arranged signal on another 
  channel.  “We are the only support in range.  We are the Red Bears.”
  “It is time.”
  As one the ten Xerxes, awash in the actinic white glare of Thule’s 
  sun, fi red thrusters and fl ipped end for end, until they were fl ying 
  tail-fi rst and canopy-down.  Marko waited for the last few seconds 
  to tick off  the chronometer that glowed on his heads-up display.  
  The 1 fl ickered and died.  Marko jammed his throttle forward, 
  igniting the fusion-fi red torch at the rear of his fi ghter.
  The Star staggered, slowed and fell, fl aming spears of righteous 
  fury from the sky.
  Heat shuddered from the ground in waves, distorting the view 
  of the approaching BattleMechs until they looked like wavering 
  shapes from a Nova Cat’s vision.  Elemental Star Captain Drew 
  Kabrinski of the Fifty-fourth Provisional Garrison Cluster lowered 
  himself a few centimeters and looked around him.  Beta Point was 
  still huddled around the fallen Commando. The three remaining 
  troopers of Gamma Point huddled with them, their backpack 
  missile launchers empty.  The blasted corpse of the bandit Valkyrie 
  was still smoking, providing enough cover for the Elementals of 
  Delta and Epsilon Points to hide.  The rest of the pirate scout lance 
  Jason Schmetzer
  
  had fl ed, but Drew didn’t doubt they’d be returning with the 
  rest of their stravag company.
  “Less than a minute, Star Captain,” his Point second said.  
  Timothy had the rest of Alpha Point concealed behind them. 
  They were the vanguard, the only Point not hidden amid 
  the shattered BattleMechs.  They would stall the bandits’ 
  advance openly, and the rest of the Star could fall on them 
  from ambush.
  “We cannot hold them all,” Timothy said.  
  Drew grinned in his helmet, safe from the other’s view.  
  “We are Ghost Bears, Timothy,” he said. He beckoned with his 
  small-laser arm. “We, all of us, are a pack.  We will hunt, and 
  these dezgra pirates will feel the power of our jaws and claws.”  
  He lowered his arm and his voice. “It will be a battle worth 
  remembering.  Perhaps I’ll include it in my Great Work.”
  Timothy’s armor stared at him, then bobbed its helmet.  “Aff , 
  Star Captain.”  The Star thought little of his chosen Work, 
  but not all warriors took the same path to enlightenment.  
  History was not well thought of in the Clan.  He did not 
  mind; the Work was his, not theirs.
  Drew looked back at the approaching ’Mechs.  He 
  saw the range counting down, watched it fall beneath 
  a kilometer.  An amber signal burned to life in the 
  upper-left edge of his display, and his grin widened.  
  Worthy, indeed.
  “Four minutes,” he said.  “We hold them for four 
  minutes.”
  The interference cleared from Marko’s display as 
  the fi ery cocoon of ionization fell away.  He heard the 
  shrill scream of air outside his canopy as his Star fell through 
  the ever-thickening atmosphere.  The Xerxes began to respond 
  as he manipulated his rudder pedals, and the brown desert 
  below him took on defi nition. He saw a tiny speck of black 
  that his brain recognized as a pall of smoke.  His lips drew back 
  from his teeth as he kept the throttle forward, driving the 85-
  ton aerospace fi ghter faster down the gravity well.
  “Star Commander!” Lucien shouted, but static and a rippling 
  boom cut off  his words.  Marko craned his neck, searching the 
  sky for his wingman’s aircraft, but saw only the gray-red-black 
  mussel shape of a falling explosion.
  “Fighters!” one of the other pilots called.
  “Savashri!” Marko spat, and jerked his yoke to port.  He 
  kicked his starboard rudder and put the fighter into a spin, 
  trying to evade the weapons lock that screamed from his 
  computers.  The sky lit with more explosions, and Marko 
  saw a white-painted hull flash by as the enemy fighters 
  climbed past them.
  “They caught us while we were in the ionization blanket.”  
  Marko knew his pilots knew that already, but he spoke the 
  words nonetheless.  “Deal with these interlopers and then get 
  dirtside.  Our people are counting on us.”
  Acknowledgments rang in his helmet as the Point 
  Commanders peeled away from the formation in pairs.  Marko 
  manipulated his controls and fl ipped his Xerxes around, 
  venting plasma exhaust toward the surface while he dumped 
  velocity.  The g meter rose, while the weight pressing on 
  
  Marko’s chest climbed.  The Xerxes fought its away around gravity 
  and hurled itself after the off ending enemy aerospace fi ghter.  
  Lucien would have done the same for him, Marko knew.  This surat 
  was his, and his alone.
  The warbook computer fl ashed through wireframe schematics 
  in the lower right corner of his HUD.  Marko waited until the 
  computer froze on one fi ghter model, then frowned.  A Rapier.  It 
  was rare to see a vintage fi ghter like that in the inventories of the 
  Inner Sphere.  He pulled the Xerxes into a bank and followed the 
  enemy fi ghter around.
  “Star Commander!” Point Commander Devin shouted.  “I have 
  a positive ID on markings.  These are ComStar fi ghters!  What is 
  ComStar doing supporting bandits?”
  “It. Does. Not. Matter.” Marko ground out the words as he 
  pushed his throttle to its limits.  Acceleration crushed him 
  against his command couch, but he held the turn.  The Rapier 
  bucked in the thin air, a few kilometers in front of him.  Tones 
  sounded in Marko’s helmet as the targeting computers sought a 
  fi ring solution.  The powerful extended-range large lasers in the 
  Xerxes’ nose locked on fi rst, blaring their strident note in his ears.  
  Marko squeezed his triggers.
  Twin ruby fl ashes of laser light linked the two fi ghters for a few 
  milliseconds.  Marko’s lasers burned armor from the Rapier’s aft 
  section and right wing.  Quick-cooling shards of melted armor 
  pelted the Xerxes as Marko followed his prey.  He was a Ghost Bear, 
  and he had the scent of his enemy.
  The hunt was on.
  Drew Kabrinski ducked his head as he fi red the short-range 
  missiles mounted in the shoulders of his battle armor.  The pair of 
  fat-bodied munitions spiraled in, both of them true on target, and 
  struck the bandit Sentinel on the right arm.  He allowed himself a 
  grin as he straightened and triggered his jump jets, trying to get 
  clear of the return-fi re zone.
  The remaining BattleMechs were moving cautiously, trying to 
  smoke out the Elemental ambush they knew had to be waiting.  
  The enemy commander was smart, but not that smart.  Their target 
  had to be something in the depot at the edge of the Fresdon 
  Desert, but the bandit was allowing himself to be slowed by a 
  group of armored infantry.
  “If I were him,” Drew whispered as he landed, ninety meters from 
  where he’d been standing, “I would ignore us and move to the 
  objective.”
  “Then let us be glad you are not a bandit, Star Captain,” Timothy 
  said.  His battlesuit landed a dozen meters or so away from Drew’s.  
  “Or else we would be chasing them, instead of evading them.”
  Drew sidestepped a barrage of cannon fi re from the Sentinel 
  and glanced around the shattered stump of a BattleMech’s 
  forearm behind which he’d taken cover. “He will fi gure it out soon 
  enough,” he said.  “Unless we can delay him, the Star Colonel will 
  not have enough time to get the rest of the Cluster in place to 
  cut them off .”
  Drew leaned at the waist as far as the cumbersome armor 
  would allow and aimed carefully.  The scars on the long barrel 
  of the KWI autocannon were plain, and he sighted on them.  The 
  Sentinel moved, trying to get a shot around the armored bulk of 
  the mangled forearm.  
  Drew let out half a breath and squeezed the trigger. The 
  Sentinel’s autocannon exploded as the battlesuit’s laser reached 
  through the damage from the SRMs and detonated ammunition 
  waiting in the feed line.
  “Delay them we can,” Timothy said, taking advantage of the 
  momentary confusion to burn his own scar on the Sentinel’s armor.  
  “But for how long?”
  Drew looked to the sky, past the chronometer that stood almost 
  at zero, and wondered the same thing.
  They hung like a string of pearls on Marko’s tactical display: 
  himself, the Rapier he was pursuing, and the two Xerxes of Epsilon 
  Point that the Rapier was itself pursuing.  The Ghost Bear pilots 
  were running, fl ying pure evasion routines, not because they 
  were scared, but to keep the Rapier occupied while their Star 
  Commander ripped its wings away.
  “Almost there,” he ground out, and squeezed.
  The massive autocannons slung beneath each wing hurled 
  a fusillade of high-explosive slugs that tracked straight up the 
  Rapier’s exhaust bell.  The plasma exhaust, scintillatingly visible 
  in the thin air, fl ickered and fi lled with smoke.  Marko ground his 
  teeth and pulled on his yoke, bringing the heavy fi ghter around.  
  He waited, his hawk’s eyes watching while his ears counted the 
  tones, until the shrill solid whine of a lock reverberated through his 
  helmet. He pulled the trigger again.
  This time his large lasers tore into the savaged Rapier’s tail, 
  eating away at armor and the structure beneath.  The Rapier’s port 
  wing tore loose and fell, sending the 85-ton fi ghter into a death 
  spin that would last for almost a hundred kilometers.  The other 
  intruding fi ghters had already been dealt with.
  Compliments rang on the Star channel, but Marko ignored them.  
  He allowed himself one victory roll and then fl ipped and dove for 
  the surface. The rest of the Star fell in behind him, and together the 
  nine remaining fi ghters embraced gravity.
  They were late.
  Drew grunted as he hit the Sentinel, the shock of the impact 
  almost smacking his head against the screens displayed in his 
  helmet.  He managed to dig his battle claw into a rent on the 
  Sentinel’s armor and hold on.  A series of clangs and double-click 
  signals on the radio told him his entire Point had managed to 
  attach itself to the 45-ton ’Mech.
  “Target the gyro,” he ordered, and suited action to word.  Bringing 
  his laser around, he triggered the beam.  The armor began to smoke 
  and run like water beneath the laser’s caress. Drew narrowed his 
  eyes against the glare.
  “Beta Point is bingo,” the Point Commander reported.  They’d 
  used up all their missiles.
  “Gamma as well,” Drew heard.
  “Keep moving,” Drew ordered.  “Harassment protocols, maximum 
  stress.  I want them kept here.”
  The Sentinel began to run, trying to jostle the Elementals loose.  
  Drew released his claw just long enough to bury it in the still-
  glowing weal his laser had made before securing himself again.  
  He clenched his fi st, forcing the claw to do the same, and held on.  
  
  The chronometer on his HUD had passed zero some time ago.  He 
  began to feel frustrated, fearing that all his Elementals had won 
  would be tossed away because an aerospace pilot couldn’t read 
  a chronometer.
  The fl aming wreck of an aerospace fi ghter crashed to the ground 
  three hundred meters behind the Sentinel, very near where it had 
  been when the Point had mounted.  Drew stared at it, ignoring the 
  short-range missile fi re from a nearby bandit Javelin, then turned 
  his visor toward the sky.
  Like great white arrows, contrails billowing behind them, a 
  cluster of fi ghters dove for the ground.
  “Get ready,” he called on the Star channel.
  At sixty kilometers, Marko’s heads-up display pinged and 
  painted green and red icons on the ground below.  Marko had to 
  adjust the magnifi cation before he could distinguish between the 
  green clusters—depleted Points of Elementals, he knew—and the 
  red icons of pirate BattleMechs.  He sent targeting data to the rest 
  of the Point and adjusted his descent, fl aring out and angling for 
  a strafi ng run.
  “Shock barrage,” he ordered.  “Show the surats we are here.”
  The Star fell into a staggered column, with Beta Point leading 
  and Marko in the second position.  The Beta Point Commander 
  selected a targeting zone between the bulk of the ‘Mechs and 
  the largest concentration of Elementals.  A red target indicator 
  appeared on Marko’s HUD.  Beta Point fi red.  Marko fi red.  The rest 
  of the Star, stretched out behind them, fi red.
  From the ground it looked as though a fl ickering red wall of 
  laser light divided the battlefi eld.  Volley after volley of carefully 
  targeted cannon shells exploded into the desert sands, raising 
  massive clouds of dust and smoke.  Some of the other Clans might 
  call such a display wasteful, but Marko knew the truth that all 
  Ghost Bears knew.  Fear was a powerful weapon, not to be wasted.  
  From the brief scan his sensors had made, Marko saw the battle 
  had paused as the bandits eyed the line the fi ghters had drawn.  
  They must know they had already crossed it.
  “The Elementals have held,” he said, speaking to his pilots.  “Now 
  it is our turn.”
  He spotted a concentration of enemy BattleMechs a safe 
  hundred meters away from the nearest Elemental Point.  “Target,” 
  he said, and tapped in the data. “Epsilon, Gamma, move to the east. 
  Delta, Beta, from the west.”  He selected a lone ’Mech, a thirty-ton 
  Javelin near a Sentinel crawling with Elementals, as his own target.
  “Engage,” he said, and jerked back on his yoke.  The Xerxes leapt 
  into a long climb.  Marko held the stick back and let the fi ghter 
  turn over.  It fell again into the gentle caress of Thule’s gravity, 
  and Marko adjusted his targeting.  The Javelin was fi ring at the 
  Elementals on the Sentinel.
  “You threaten Ghost Bears,” he whispered, too low for his 
  microphone to pick up. “Now we threaten back.”
  The single laser he fi red missed low, melting a huge glistening 
  patch of sand into glass before it shattered.  His cannons hit dead-
  on, striking the lightweight ’Mech in the chest and obliterating it.  
  He held back his other laser, not wanting to push his heat curve too 
  high this close to the ground.  Already he could feel the diff erence 
  in his controls as the Xerxes drank heat from the thick air near the 
  sands.  He banked, letting his sensors pick through the data, and 
  nodded at the few red icons remaining.
  The other Points were diving and rising in a macabre dance 
  too swift for the untrained to follow.  The lone lance of ’Mechs 
  were the raiders’ heavier elements, and they stood up under the 
  Xerxes’ heavy guns.  At fi rst.  As the Points stooped again and again, 
  however, the ’Mechs turned back the way they’d come and ran, 
  ignoring the fi ghters and dredging every last erg of strength from 
  their myomers as they fl ed.
  Marko let them go.  He reduced his throttle and began a slow 
  orbit of the battlefi eld.  “Epsilon,” he said, “high-altitude pursuit.  
  Keep an eye on the rest of those ’Mechs.  Maybe we can catch their 
  DropShip, too.”  He watched the two fi ghters peel away from the 
  orbiting cloud, then looked back at the ground.  Only one red icon 
  remained.
  The Sentinel.
  Drew watched the other BattleMechs retreat from over the 
  Sentinel’s shoulder with satisfaction.  It irked him to allow bandits 
  to escape, but he knew the Ghost Bear fi ghters would tail the 
  ’Mechs back to their DropShips.  He turned his attention back to 
  his own task, and climbed the last meter to the Sentinel’s cockpit 
  hatch.
  His claw made short work of the entry locks, and he kicked the 
  hatch inward with one battlesuit boot.  He had just enough room 
  to stick his right-arm laser in and fi re.
  And fi re.
  And fi re again.
  The Sentinel collapsed, a marionette with cut strings.  Drew 
  withdrew his laser and leaped, fi ring his jets for as long as they 
  would burn.  Timothy and the Point Commanders were waiting for 
  him when he landed.
  “We could not have defeated them without the fi ghters, quiaff ?” 
  Timothy asked.
  Drew reached back and unsealed his helmet.  The hot, dry air 
  stank with burnt metal and overheated coolant, but it was fresh. 
  “Aff .”
  “Then we were fodder for the fi ghter pilots?” said the Beta Point 
  Commander.
  “Neg,” Drew answered.  “We did our part.  The bandits died here, 
  and not closer to the depot.”  He looked up as a single Xerxes heavy 
  fi ghter screamed overhead.  It dipped its wings in salute and then 
  ripped the air as it climbed toward orbit.  “The angels did the rest.”
  “Angels?”
  “An ancient saying.” Drew turned his back to the downed Sentinel. 
  “From before humankind left Terra.  Warriors on the ground would 
  refer to their supporting fi ghters as ‘angels on our shoulders.’”  
  Drew raised his battle claw toward the dwindling fi ghter in salute.  
  “Guardians from on high.”
  
  As with movement, combat involving aerospace units is 
  complex when compared to ground unit combat rules. Diff erent 
  systems apply depending on whether a unit is operating in space, 
  in atmosphere against other aerospace units or in atmosphere 
  against ground units. Rules for aerospace combat in atmosphere 
  are a subset of the standard rules for combat in microgravity 
  (space). The following rules apply to combat in space and also 
  provide the basis for all other aerospace combat. 
  Some of the rules for aerospace combat against ground units 
  appear in the Combat section; this section fully fl eshes out those 
  rules for aerospace units in game play. 
  SCALE
  Aerospace units encompass a vast range of sizes, from ten-ton 
  fi ghters to million-ton WarShips. Using the same scale for such 
  units is impractical, so weapons and armor are divided into two 
  categories—standard and capital. When standard-scale weapons 
  attack standard-scale armor, or capital-scale weapons attack 
  capital-scale armor, the eff ects follow the standard rules: one 
  point of damage destroys one box of armor. With weapons and 
  armor from diff erent categories, several additional eff ects come 
  into play (see Damage, p. 238).
  While Total Warfare does not cover WarShips and similar Large 
  Craft that mount capital-scale armor as well as additional capital-
  scale weapons, the rules in this section make the integration of 
  such vessels simple and easy. These rules also defi ne such units to 
  eliminate potential confusion when players are looking at record 
  sheets or technical readout statistics (such as Technical Readout: 
  3057, Revised) and wondering why such large units appear to 
  have so little armor in comparison to DropShips and fi ghters. 
  (WarShips and similar Large Craft will be covered in detail in 
  Tactical Operations.)
  LARGE CRAFT WEAPON BAYS
  Many Large Craft carry dozens of weapons, and so it is 
  impractical to make to-hit rolls for each individual laser, 
  autocannon, PPC and missile launcher. Instead, Large Craft use 
  a system that places similar weapons in a group, for which the 
  controlling player makes a single to-hit roll and hit location 
  roll. This system speeds up play involving heavily armed Large 
  Craft. Such weapon groups are known as “bays,” with each bay 
  containing a number of weapons of the same class. For example, 
  diff erent types of lasers appear in the same bay.
  In the game description of a Large Craft (on a record sheet or 
  in a technical readout), each row in the Weapons Table represents 
  a bay of one or more weapons in the same class. A weapons 
  bay is fi red as though it were a single weapon, generating heat 
  and infl icting damage in the same manner even though it may 
  actually consist of many individual weapons.
  AEROSPACE UNITS VS. GROUND UNITS
  Though Total Warfare integrates aerospace and ground units 
  as much as possible for ease of play, important diff erences exist 
  between the two because of inherent diff erences of design and 
  use. These are not simply small diff erences of modifi ers between 
  units (as between diff erent types of ground units), but core 
  diff erences in game mechanics that aff ect all aerospace units 
  and are distinct from similar rules governing ground units. The 
  following short list provides a quick thumbnail reference guide 
  to these diff erences. 
  Players should not consider this list a substitute for reading the 
  rules in this section, but instead as a way to lay the groundwork 
  of important diff erences from previous sections, from which the 
  rules in this section can easily build.
  DF 
  DF
  Aerospace fi ghters from Clan Ghost Bear’s Beta Galaxy begin an attack run against forces of Clan Nova Cat during the Combine-Ghost Bear War. 
  
  235
  235
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  • 
  Aerospace units have an extreme range bracket
  • 
  Weapon Damage Values are fi xed
  • 
  Weapon range brackets are standardized and 
  applied to all weapons equally
  • 
  The angle of attack from attacker to target may 
  infl ict a to-hit modifi er
  • 
  Large Craft group their weapons into 
  bays and make a single to-hit and 
  location roll
  • 
  Damage to warriors creates 
  to-hit modifi ers
  • 
  Any successful to-hit roll that 
  is a natural 12 may cause critical 
  damage
  • 
  Multiple infl icted Damage Values 
  of 20 (20, 40, 60 and so on) are 
  cumulative for Control rolls
  SPACE 
  COMBAT
  Aerospace units use many of the 
  standard rules for attack declaration, 
  fi ring arcs, multiple targets, to-hit 
  modifi ers and so on, as described 
  in the Combat section, along with the 
  expansions and exceptions given in the 
  paragraphs below.
  Attack Value: Aerospace units use the term 
  Attack Value instead of Damage Value for weapons 
  (see Damage Value, p. 43).
  LINE OF SIGHT
  Line of sight (LOS) is easy to determine in space. Other units 
  do not block it, and space has no terrain altitudes or intervening 
  terrain (meaning few obstacles exist in space). Only the clouds 
  generated when using the Screen Launchers rule (see p. 251) 
  block LOS. Measure a line from the center of the attacker’s hex 
  to the center of the target’s hex to determine if LOS passes 
  through these obstructions (as described on p. 99).
  FIRING ARCS
  Aerospace units use slightly diff erent fi ring arcs, depending 
  on the unit type.
  Aerodyne Units
  Fighters, aerodyne DropShips and aerodyne small craft use 
  four weapon arcs—nose, aft, right wing and left wing (see 
  Aerospace Firing Arcs Diagram 2, p. 236)
  Spheroid Units
  Spheroid DropShips and small craft have the least restricted 
  fi ring arcs: nose, aft, fore-right, fore-left, aft-right and aft-left. 
  (see Aerospace Firing Arcs Diagram 1, above)
  FIRING WEAPONS
  Aerospace units use the same rules as ground units for 
  fi ring weapons, with the expansions and exceptions noted 
  below and on the Aerospace Attack Modifi ers Table.
  Range Modifi er
  Aerospace units employ a modifi ed version of the ground-
  unit rules to determine range to the target and range modifi ers. 
  Unlike ground units, where every weapon has its own short, 
  medium or long range, aerospace units use standardized 
  ranges that apply to all weapons equally. The four range 
  brackets for all aerospace weapons are Short, Medium, Long 
  and Extreme, as shown on the Aerospace Weapon Range Table. 
  AEROSPACE WEAPON RANGE TABLE 
  Range Bracket
  Hexes (Standard)
  Hexes (Capital)
  Short
  0 –6
  0–12
  Medium
  7–12
  13–24
  Long
  13–20
  25–40
  Extreme
  21–25
  41–50
  • SPHEROID FIRING ARCS DIAGRAM • 
  
  For example, any standard-scale weapon that has a maximum 
  range of Medium can hit a target within twelve hexes of the fi ring 
  unit, but cannot strike a target thirteen or more hexes away. 
  As noted under Scale (see p. 234), range works diff erently 
  depending on whether a standard-scale or capital-scale weapon 
  is being fi red (also noted on the Aerospace Weapon Range Table). 
  In the above example, no standard-scale weapon with a maximum 
  range of Medium can hit a target thirteen or more hexes away 
  from the attacker; a capital-scale weapon with a maximum range 
  of Medium cannot strike a target more than 24 hexes away. 
  The Weapons and Equipment tables for aerospace units 
  (beginning on p. 303) list the maximum range for each weapon 
  system. (On record sheets and in technical readout stat blocks 
  for aerospace units, weapon ranges are denoted by listing the 
  weapon’s Attack Value out to the weapon’s range; for example, a 
  weapon with a maximum range of Medium and an Attack Value 
  of 5 would list a 5 in the Short Range Value (SRV) column and a 5 
  in the Medium Range Value (MRV) column.) 
  As with ground units, once a player has determined the range 
  bracket for an attack, he or she can assign the appropriate to-hit 
  modifi er, as shown on the Aerospace Attack Modifi ers Table. A 
  shot at short range requires no to-hit modifi er. A medium-range 
  shot has a +2 to-hit modifi er, a shot at long range has a +4 to-hit 
  modifi er and an extreme-range shot has a +6 to-hit modifi er.
  Angle of Attack
  The direction of the target’s movement relative to the 
  attacker—the angle of attack—can have a signifi cant impact 
  on the accuracy of a shot. Firing at a target’s aft off ers 
  the least amount of relative motion, while fi ring at the 
  target’s side as it fl ies past off ers the greatest diffi  culty. 
  To determine the angle of attack, fi nd the attack 
  direction and use the appropriate modifi er as 
  shown on the Aerospace Attack Modifi ers Table.
  Targets in the Same Hex: If two units in the 
  same hex wish to attack one another, players 
  should fi rst determine what unit types are 
  attacking. Treat the unit with the higher Initiative 
  as one hex back along its direction of travel. 
  Per the Movement Subphases rule (see p. 
  76), for the purposes of attack angles, fi ghters 
  are considered to have a higher Initiative than 
  small craft, which have a higher Initiative than 
  DropShips. If the two units in the same hex are 
  identical (two DropShips, two aerospace fi ghters 
  or two small craft), then treat the unit with the 
  higher Current Velocity as one hex back along its 
  direction of travel. If two units if the same type 
  also have the same velocity, roll 2D6 and treat 
  the unit with the higher result as one hex back 
  along its direction of travel. Re-roll any ties. 
  Eff ects of Atmosphere
  Atmospheric distortion, clouds and winds 
  dramatically reduce the ranges of weapons carried 
  by fi ghters and DropShips. To refl ect this, each 
  atmosphere and ground hex on a space map counts as 
  six hexes for range purposes. If this conversion results in a 
  shot passing through one attack range and into the next, use 
  the longer range.
  The space/atmosphere interface also reduces the eff ective 
  ranges of weapons and counts as three hexes for purposes of 
  determining range. Standard-scale weapons can fi re into or out of 
  but not through an interface hex. A unit must occupy an interface 
  hex in order to fi re at units in space and in the atmosphere. These 
  range modifi cations are in addition to the to-hit penalty for fi ring 
  through atmospheric hexes as shown on the Aerospace Attack 
  Modifi ers Table (see p. 237). 
  Only capital-scale weapons can pass through a space/
  atmosphere interface hex, though the range modifi ers still apply.
  Weapons and Equipment
  As with ground units (see Weapons and Equipment in the 
  Combat section, p. 113), once a player has determined the to-
  hit modifi ers for target and attacker movement and so on, he or 
  she then determines if the weapon has additional special eff ects. 
  Players should also consult Other Combat Weapons and Equipment 
  at the end of this section (see p. 251) to determine if any other 
  equipment the unit carries might aff ect the weapon being fi red, 
  or any weapon attacks against the unit.
  Cluster Weapons: Aerospace units use cluster weapons 
  diff erently than non-aerospace units. Instead of variable damage 
  rolled on the Cluster Hits Table, aerospace units use the average 
  Damage Value of a cluster weapon to arrive at the specifi c 
  weapon’s Attack Value. (The Attack Values for all weapons that can 
  • AERODYNE FIRING ARCS DIAGRAM • 
  
  237
  237
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  Range
  Modifi er
  Short 
  +0
  Medium 
  +2
  Long
   +4
  Extreme
   +6
  Target/Intervening Conditions
  Angle of Attack
  Attack against aft 
  +0
  Attack against nose 
  +1
  Attack against side 
  +2
  Target is at 0 Velocity
   –2
  Weapon is capital-scale
  vs. unit less than 500 tons 
  +5†
  Firing through atmospheric hex* 
  +2 per hex
  Firing into or out of screen hex 
  +2
  Target is evading 
  Variable
  Range
  Modifi er
  Attacker Conditions
  Attacker exceeded Safe Thrust this 
  turn 
  +2
  Attacker is out-of-control 
  +2
  Attacker has pilot/crew damage 
  +1 per box crossed
  Attacker has CIC or FCS 
  critical damage 
  +2 per box crossed
  Attacker has sensors 
  critical damage 
  +1 per box crossed, or 
  +5 if sensors destroyed
  Attacker is evading 
  Variable
  Special Weapons and Equipment
  Barracuda missile 
  (not tele-operated) 
  –2§
  AEROSPACE UNITS HIT LOCATION TABLE 
  FIGHTERS
  2D6 Roll 
  Nose 
  Aft 
  Side 
  Above/Below
  2 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Nose/Weapon
  3 
  Nose/Sensors 
  Aft/Heat Sink 
  Wing/Gear 
  Wing/Gear
  4 
  Right Wing/Heat Sink 
  Right Wing/Fuel 
  Nose/Sensors 
  Nose/Sensors
  5 
  Right Wing/Weapon 
  Right Wing/Weapon 
  Nose/Crew 
  Nose/Crew
  6 
  Nose/Avionics 
  Aft/Engine 
  Wing/Weapon 
  Wing/Weapon
  7 
  Nose/Control 
  Aft/Control 
  Wing/Avionics 
  Nose/Avionics
  8 
  Nose/FCS 
  Aft/Engine 
  Wing/Bomb 
  Wing/Weapon
  9 
  Left Wing/Weapon 
  Left Wing/Weapon 
  Aft/Control 
  Aft/Control
  10 
  Left Wing/Heat Sink 
  Left Wing/Fuel 
  Aft/Engine 
  Aft/Engine
  11 
  Nose/Gear 
  Aft/Heat Sink 
  Wing/Gear 
  Wing/Gear
  12 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon
  DROPSHIPS/SMALL CRAFT
  2D6 Roll 
  Nose 
  Aft 
  Side 
  Above/Below
  2 
  Nose/Crew 
  Aft/Life Support 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Nose/Weapon
  3 
  Nose/Avionics 
  Aft/Control 
  Nose/FCS
  Nose/FCS
  4 
  Right Side/Weapon 
  Right Side/Weapon 
  Nose/Sensors 
  Nose/Sensors
  5 
  Right Side/Thruster 
  Right Side/Door 
  Side/Thruster 
  Side/Thruster
  6 
  Nose/FCS 
  Aft/Engine 
  Side/Cargo 
  Side/Cargo
  7 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Side/Weapon 
  Side/Weapon
  8 
  Nose/Control 
  Aft/Docking Collar
  Collar Side/Door 
  Side/Door
  9 
  Left Side/Thruster 
  Left Side/Door 
  Side/Thruster 
  Side/Thruster
  10 
  Left Side/Weapon 
  Left Side/Weapon 
  Aft/Avionics 
  Aft/Avionics
  11 
  Nose/Sensors 
  Aft/Gear 
  Aft/Engine 
  Aft/Engine
  12 
  Nose/K-F Boom 
  Aft/Fuel 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon
  AEROSPACE ATTACK MODIFIERS TABLE
  *This applies to atmospheric hexes on the high-altitude map, not to hexes on a 
  low-altitude map, or when using Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets rules.
  †Modifi er does not apply to capital missiles, which are designed to track small 
  targets.
  §Modifi er does not apply if Barracuda missiles are fi red in conjunction with other 
  capital missiles (see Large Craft Weapon Bays, p. 234).
  
  be used by aerospace units appear on the appropriate Weapons 
  and Equipment Tables, beginning on p. 303.) 
  ECM and Active Probes: Electronic countermeasures have no 
  eff ect on combat between aerospace units, but they still aff ect 
  other types of units. 
  NARC and TAG: Neither TAG nor NARC play a role in aerospace 
  combat, and they confer no advantage to the user when targeting 
  his opponents. Aerospace units may use such equipment against 
  non-aerospace units.
  Rapid-Fire Weapons: Rapid-fi re weapons always fi re at their 
  maximum rate, and so players must check for jamming every time 
  they use such weapons (see p. 114).
  Special Munitions: Aerospace units may not use special 
  munitions.
  Attack Direction
  The diagram shows the Nose, 
  Side and Rear attack directions 
  for all aerospace units.
  Determining Hit Location
  Aerospace units take hits to 
  only four locations: nose, right 
  side, left side and aft. When an 
  aerospace unit takes a hit from 
  a weapon or bay, roll 2D6 and 
  consult the appropriate section 
  of the Aerospace Units Hit 
  Location Table to determine the 
  location that took damage, using the appropriate column based 
  on the attack direction. Each entry on the table has two parts. The 
  fi rst indicates the armor facing from which damage is subtracted. 
  The second is used for determining critical hits (see p. 237).
  Above/Below: The Above/Below column is only used in specifi c 
  situations (see Air-to-Air Attacks, p. 241). When determining the 
  side or wing aff ected by an above/below shot, roll 1D6. On a result 
  of 1–3, the right side or wing is aff ected; on a 4–6, the left.
  Cluster Weapons: Determining hit locations for cluster weapons 
  works diff erently with aerospace units than with other unit types. 
  The Attack Value of all cluster weapons (or cluster weapon bays) is 
  divided into 5-point Attack Value groupings, with any remaining 
  damage assigned to its own grouping. The attacking player then 
  makes a separate hit location roll for each Attack Value grouping. 
  For example, an LRM-20 with Artemis has an Attack Value of 16. 
  Whenever that cluster weapon is fi red, it infl icts four Attack Value 
  groupings (5, 5, 5 and 1), with the controlling player making four 
  separate hit location rolls against the target to assign damage. 
  A Marik Transgressor ﬁ res three large lasers and two 
  medium lasers at the nose of a Davion Corsair. Two large lasers 
  and one medium laser strike the target. The attacker elects to 
  determine the hit location of the two large lasers, followed by 
  the medium laser. The ﬁ rst 2D6 roll results in a 6, a nose hit for 
  8 points of damage, while the second results in a 10, inﬂ icting 8 
  points of damage to the left wing. The ﬁ nal roll, for the medium 
  laser, results in an 11, another nose hit.
  DAMAGE
  Aerospace units use the same rules for resolving damage as non-
  aerospace units, with the following expansions and exceptions.
  Scale
  Before resolving the damage, determine whether the weapon 
  used is a standard-scale, or capital-scale weapon. Capital-scale 
  weapons infl ict 10 boxes (i.e. points) of damage for every point of 
  their Attack Value against standard-scale armor. 
  Note that all aerospace units covered in Total Warfare only 
  mount standard-scale armor, but for reference, attacks by 
  standard-scale weapons against capital-scale armor are totaled 
  then divided by 10 and rounded down for each location once all 
  to-hit rolls have been made from a single attacker.
  Structural Integrity (SI) Damage
  When all the armor in a location is destroyed, subtract half 
  the excess damage (round down) from the unit’s SI value. For 
  example, a large laser (Attack Value 8) strikes the wing of a fi ghter. 
  Only 3 armor boxes remain on the wing, and so 2 points (half the 
  remaining 5 damage points, rounded down) are subtracted from 
  the fi ghter’s SI.
  Capital-scale weapons infl ict ten times as much damage 
  (rounded down) against a unit’s Structural Integrity.
  Critical Hits
  Aerospace units can sustain critical damage in one of the four 
  ways described below. If more than one of these conditions 
  applies, the attacking player must roll for each occurrence. For 
  example, if a single strike exceeds the Damage Threshold, causes 
  SI damage and is a natural 12, the player must roll three times for 
  critical hits.
  To determine if a unit takes a critical hit, roll 2D6 whenever one 
  of the four conditions below is met. 
  For attacks against units mounting standard-scale armor, on a 
  result of 8 or higher the appropriate critical hit for that location 
  takes eff ect, as shown on the Hit Location Table (see p. 237).
  PME 
  PM
  Clan Snow Raven Carrier-class DropShips prepare to deploy fi ghters. 
  • AEROSPACE ATTACK 
  DIRECTION DIAGRAM • 
  
  239
  239
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  Damage Thresholds: Each armor facing has a Damage 
  Threshold equal to 10 percent of its full armor value, rounded 
  up. If the damage from a single hit exceeds this threshold, 
  critical damage can result. (On Large Craft, a single hit means 
  the damage from all the weapons in a bay.) Damage Thresholds 
  are fi xed values; they do not change regardless of how much 
  armor damage a location receives during a game.
  SI Damage: If a hit to a location infl icts 1 or more points of 
  damage to the SI, critical damage can result.
  Lucky Hits: Any successful to-hit roll that is also a natural 12 
  (a 6 on each die) also may cause critical damage. If an attack 
  targets multiple locations, such as with a cluster weapon, only 
  the fi rst Attack Value grouping assigned to a location can 
  cause critical damage with a lucky hit.
  Capital Missiles: Every hit with a capital missile or missile 
  bay that strikes armor may infl ict a critical hit, even if the attack 
  did not damage SI or meet any other standard critical hit 
  requirement. After marking off  the armor damage for the attack, 
  roll 2D6 and compare the result to the Capital Missile Critical Hit 
  Table based on what type of capital missile was used.
  A player makes only one critical roll per missile bay. If a bay 
  contains multiple missile types (for example, a Barracuda and 
  a Killer Whale), use the highest modifi er (11+ for the Barracuda 
  in the previous example). The chance of damage by an AR-10 
  launcher depends on the missiles it fi res in the current turn.
  The nose armor of a Slayer is 94, giving it a Damage 
  Threshold of 10 in that location (94 ÷ 10 = 9.4, rounded 
  up to 10). Consequently, any single hit inﬂ icting more than 
  10 points of damage may result in a critical hit. In stark 
  contrast, a Texas-class battleship has a nose Armor Value of 
  234, and so has a Damage Threshold of 24 points of capital-
  scale damage (or 234 points of standard-scale damage).
  Jon’s Slayer gets hit on the nose by a standard PPC that 
  inﬂ icts 10 points of damage, equaling but not exceeding 
  the nose’s Damage Threshold. This means there is no risk 
  of critical damage from that hit unless the to-hit roll result 
  was a natural 12. In the following turn, a gauss riﬂ e attack 
  strikes the nose (hit location result of 6). The 15 damage 
  points inﬂ icted by the gauss riﬂ e exceed the Damage 
  Threshold, so a critical hit may result. Jon’s opponent rolls 
  2D6 and gets an 8, suﬃ  cient for a critical hit to occur. The 
  critical damage associated with the hit location roll of 6 
  is an avionics hit, and so one avionics box is crossed oﬀ  
  on the Slayer’s record sheet. If the gauss riﬂ e attack had 
  removed the last of the nose armor with enough damage 
  points left over to aﬀ ect the Slayer’s SI, the attacking player 
  would roll another possible critical hit, also damaging the 
  avionics if successful.
  A Killer Whale hits the nose of Michael’s Union-X, 
  inﬂ icting 4 points of capital damage (40 points of standard 
  damage) to Location 7 (Nose/Weapon). Because this 
  exceeds the Damage Threshold value of the Union-X’s 
  nose armor, the hit inﬂ icts critical damage on a to-hit roll 
  result of 8 or better. Also, because the attack came from a 
  capital missile, a second critical hit may occur—this time 
  on a result 10 or better. Michael’s opponent rolls for the ﬁ rst 
  possible critical hit and gets a 9. He rolls for the second and 
  gets an 11. The Union-X DropShip sustains two critical hits 
  to its weapons.
  Critical Hit Eff ects
  A hit that infl icts critical damage has the following eff ects 
  per the hit location roll made for the attack (see Hit Location 
  Table, p. 237).
  Avionics: The fl ight computer is damaged. The fi rst two 
  hits each impose a +1 penalty on all Control rolls. The third 
  avionics critical hit destroys the system and imposes a +5 
  penalty to Control rolls. Each avionics hit also forces the unit 
  to make a Control roll.
  Bomb: One bomb is rendered useless; it does not explode 
  nor causes damage. If the unit carries no bombs, the critical hit 
  has no eff ect. The controlling player determines which bomb 
  the critical hit aff ects. Bomb damage makes re-entry operations 
  more diffi  cult (see Space/Atmosphere Interface, p. 78).
  Cargo: Part of the unit’s cargo sustains damage, determined 
  randomly between general cargo bays and unit bays.
  To determine the percentage of cargo destroyed, divide the 
  amount of damage that caused the critical hit by twice the 
  vessel’s SI. Multiply that number by 100, rounding fractions up. 
  For DropShips and small craft, use the standard-scale damage 
  value in this calculation. 
  When a cargo hit occurs, roll 1D6. On a result of 1–3, general 
  cargo suff ers damage (if present). On a result of 4–6, unit bays 
  (if present) are aff ected. Round any fractions up.
  CAPITAL MISSILE CRITICAL HIT TABLE
  Missile
  Critical Hit Chance
  Barracuda
  11+
  White Shark 
  9+
  Killer Whale
  10+
  Kraken
  8+
  PME 
  PME
  Point of Jagatai, Alpha Galaxy (Clan Snow Raven) 
  
  If a PPC (Damage Value 10) inﬂ icts a cargo critical hit 
  against a Mercer-class DropShip and the vessel has an SI of 
  30, 17 percent of the cargo is destroyed ([10 ÷ 60] x 100 = 16.6, 
  rounded up to 17). The Mercer carries ten ’Mechs and 586 tons 
  of general cargo. The PPC hit destroys either 100 tons of general 
  cargo (17 percent x 586 tons = 99.62 tons, rounded up) or two 
  ’Mechs (17 percent x 10 ’Mechs = 1.7 ’Mechs, rounded up to 2).
  CIC: The Combat Information Center is damaged. Apply a 
  +2 to-hit modifi er for each CIC critical hit. The third CIC critical 
  hit destroys the system and prevents the unit from making any 
  weapon attacks.
  Control: The crew must make a Control roll. If the roll fails, the 
  unit goes out-of-control (see p. 93).
  Crew: If a crew location takes a critical hit, cross off  one pilot/
  crew status box. Each unit can sustain fi ve pilot/crew hits. The 
  sixth hit kills the pilot or disables the crew. See Aerospace Pilots, p. 
  41, for additional eff ects.
  Docking Collar: A critical hit against the docking collar 
  damages the collar so that the ship cannot dock with a JumpShip 
  or WarShip.
  Door: A randomly determined cargo/vehicle door is damaged 
  and cannot be used for the rest of the scenario (see Carrying 
  Units, p. 89 in the Aerospace Movement section). Additionally, door 
  damage makes re-entry operations more diffi  cult (see Space/
  Atmosphere Interface, p. 78).
  Engine: Against a fi ghter, each engine hit reduces the unit’s 
  Safe Thrust by 2 (meaning that the controlling player must also 
  recalculate the Maximum Thrust, multiplying the new Safe Thrust 
  by 1.5 and rounding up). Each engine hit also generates 2 points 
  of heat. If the Safe Thrust value is reduced to 0, the unit cannot 
  spend thrust and the heat penalty remains in eff ect. Three engine 
  critical hits destroy the fi ghter’s engine, permanently shutting 
  down the unit (see Shutdown Eff ects, p. 161).
  Against other types of aerospace units, each engine critical 
  hit reduces the unit’s Safe Thrust by 1 (meaning that the 
  controlling player must also recalculate the Maximum Thrust, 
  as described above). If the unit suff ers six engine critical hits, 
  the engine is destroyed.
  FCS: The Fire Control System is damaged. Apply a +2 to-hit 
  modifi er to all weapon attacks for each FCS critical hit. The third 
  FCS critical hit destroys the system and prevents the unit from 
  making any weapon attacks.
  Fuel: Every time a fuel tank critical hit occurs, roll 2D6. On a result 
  of 10 or more, the fuel tank explodes and the unit is destroyed.
  Gear: The landing gear is damaged. Apply a +5 modifi er to all 
  Control rolls when attempting to land. Subsequent gear critical 
  hits have no additional eff ect.
  Heat Sink: For a standard-scale attack, this critical hit destroys 
  a heat sink, reducing the amount of heat the craft can dissipate 
  by 1 (or by 2 if the unit mounts double heat sinks). This critical hit 
  destroys 10 heat sinks if the attacker uses a capital-scale weapon.
  K-F Boom: The DropShip’s K-F boom is damaged and the craft 
  cannot be carried through hyperspace.
  Life Support: The life support system fails. Apply a +2 modifi er 
  to all Control rolls. Subsequent life support critical hits have no 
  additional eff ect.
  Sensors: The unit’s sensors are damaged. Apply a +1 to-hit 
  modifi er for each sensor box crossed off . The sensors can suff er 
  two hits and remain operational. The third sensor hit destroys 
  the system. Units with destroyed sensors can still make weapon 
  attacks, but must apply a +5 to-hit modifi er.
  Thruster: The attitude control thrusters on the indicated side 
  are damaged, increasing by 1 the cost to turn in the direction 
  opposite the thruster’s location. For example, hits to the left-side 
  thruster increase the cost of turns to the right. Units can suff er 
  three hits to the thrusters on each side. The fourth hit renders the 
  thrusters inoperative and prevents turns in that direction (see the 
  Half-roll maneuver, p. 85).
  Weapon: One weapon (or one bay on Large Craft) mounted 
  in the damaged location suff ers major damage and ceases to 
  function. The attacking player then rolls 1D6. On a result of 1–3, the 
  player controlling the target unit chooses which weapon in that 
  location stops working. On a 4–6, the attacking player chooses 
  which weapon stops working. If the location has no weapons, the 
  critical hit has no eff ect. The unit cannot fi re that weapon (or bay 
  on Large Craft) for the remainder of the game.
  If a weapon is destroyed that can explode (such as a Gauss 
  rifl e, see p. 135), it is treated as an ammunition explosion for 
  the location where the weapon is mounted (see Ammunition 
  Explosions, p. 161).
  PME 
  PM
  A lance of Kurita Galedon Regulars Corsair medium fi ghters patrol just outside atmospheric interface. 
  
  241
  241
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  COLLISIONS AND 
  RAMMING
  The following rules provide a system for incorporating 
  ramming attacks and for resolving accidental collisions that 
  occur when aerospace units go out-of-control (see p. 93). 
  Resolve accidental collisions immediately, regardless of the 
  phase in which they occur.
  RAMMING ATTACKS
  To make a ramming attack, a unit must end its movement 
  in the same hex as the target and declare a ramming attack. 
  Like a charge attack (see p. 148), the target must already have 
  moved in the turn (or be incapable of manuevering), and a 
  unit executing a ramming attack cannot itself be rammed in 
  that turn. A ramming unit cannot fi re weapons in the turn it is 
  ramming, though it can be fi red upon.
  The aerospace pilot must next convince himself that a 
  ramming attack is the only option. Roll 2D6. If the result is 11 
  or 12, the warrior has steeled himself for the task and the unit 
  can ram the target. 
  Before it suff ers a ramming attack, the target has already 
  executed its standard movement between hexes. However, it 
  can still attempt to evade the oncoming unit by moving around 
  in the hex. For example, a fi ghter can jink back and forth in an 
  attempt to get out of the ramming unit’s way. Deliberate rams 
  are resolved at the end of the Weapon Attack Phase. In order 
  to successfully ram another unit, the attacker must roll 2D6 
  and compare the result to the Ramming Attacks Table below. 
  Calculate the base to-hit number, then apply any appropriate 
  modifi ers from the table for the fi nal to-hit number. 
  If the ramming unit is destroyed, the attack fails.
  DAMAGE FROM COLLISIONS
  To determine damage from a collision or ramming attack, 
  roll 1D6. On a result of 1–5, the two units collide and suff er full 
  damage as indicated below. A result of 6 indicates a glancing 
  collision that causes half the normal damage.
  The ramming or colliding unit suff ers damage on its nose. The 
  target suff ers damage on the armor facing that corresponds to 
  the hexside from which the attacker entered its hex. Each unit 
  causes damage to the other equal to its own mass divided by 
  10, multiplied by the net velocity of the impact.
  The net velocity of the impact is the attacker’s velocity 
  modifi ed by the position and movement of the target (see 
  Facing, p. 77). If the target is moving directly toward the 
  ramming unit, add its velocity. If it is moving toward the 
  attacker diagonally, add half its velocity, rounded down. If it 
  is moving directly away from the ramming unit, subtract its 
  velocity. If it is moving diagonally away from the ramming unit, 
  subtract half its velocity (rounded down). If the net velocity is 
  less than 1, treat it as 1.
  Apply this damage (always standard-scale) in a single strike 
  to one location for both attacker and target, determined by 
  rolling 2D6 on the relevant Hit Location Table. If the damage is 
  more than twice the full armor value of the indicated location, 
  the unit is automatically destroyed. Otherwise, apply the 
  damage and determine any critical hits normally.
  ATMOSPHERIC COMBAT
  Aerospace units that operate in an atmosphere can take 
  part in air-to-air dogfi ghts or air-to-ground combat.
  AIR-TO-AIR ATTACKS
  Atmospheric combat uses the same rules as space 
  encounters, with the following exceptions.
  Units at the same altitude can fi re at each other using the 
  standard rules. Units at diff erent altitudes can fi re at each 
  other, but they add one hex to the range for each diff erent 
  level of altitude. For example, two fi ghters are ten hexes apart. 
  One is at Altitude 3 and the other is at Altitude 5. The eff ective 
  distance between the two units is 12 hexes (10 + [5 – 3]). Units 
  cannot aim into the area immediately above or below their 
  own hexes.
  A diff erence in altitude creates a “dead zone” around each 
  unit. If the attacker and target are one altitude apart, the 
  target must be at least two hexes away (the attacker cannot 
  fi re at a target in an adjacent hex). If the attacker and target 
  are two altitudes apart, the target must be three hexes away, 
  and so on. If units are within two altitudes of each other, use 
  the appropriate column of the Hit Location Table (see p. 237) 
  based on the attack direction. Otherwise, use the Above/
  Below column. 
  Aircraft fl ying at Altitude 1 (NOE) rely on their terrain-
  following radar to hug the ground and constantly jink to make 
  use of available terrain as cover. As a result, all units fl ying at 
  Altitude 1 (NOE) suff er a +2 to-hit modifi er when making 
  attacks against air targets.
  RAMMING ATTACKS TABLE
  Base To-Hit Number: 
   
  6 + (target Piloting Skill – attacker Piloting Skill)
  Modifi ers
  Attacker existing damage:
  Sensor damage 
  +1
  Avionics damage 
  +1 per box
  Target is:
  Fighter or small craft
  +4
  DropShip 
  +2
  Cannot spend thrust 
  –2
  Attacker is:
  Fighter or small craft
  –2
  DropShip
  –1
  
  Units engaged in ground-attack missions cannot easily dodge 
  incoming attacks. Apply a –3 to-hit modifi er for all attacks by 
  airborne aerospace units against such targets.
  OmniFighters: Because of their superior integration of FCS 
  and navigation computers, OmniFighters only suff er a +1 to-hit 
  modifi er for fl ying at Altitude 1 (NOE) and attacking air targets.
  Low-Altitude Map
  If players choose to use the printed side of a Classic BattleTech
  mapsheet for low-altitude movement, then they must also take 
  terrain into account. Use the rules for Intervening Terrain, p. 100.
  In the diagram above, during the Weapon Attack Phase 
  an aerospace ﬁ ghter in Hex A on the Large Mountain #1 map 
  (which is being used as a low-altitude map) wants to attack the 
  aerospace ﬁ ghter in Hex B. The ﬁ ghter in Hex A is at Altitude 10, 
  while the ﬁ ghter in Hex B is at Altitude 7. 
  First, the attacking player looks at the ﬁ ring arcs on p. 236 
  for an aerospace ﬁ ghter and determines that the target is in his 
  nose and right-wing arcs.
  Next, the attacking player draws a line from the center of Hex 
  A to the center of Hex B, and discovers that the line crosses exactly 
  between a pair of hexes (hexes labeled 1 on the diagram). This 
  means the player who controls the ﬁ ghter in Hex B (the target) 
  can choose the hexside through which the attack passes. The 
  defending player chooses to have the attack pass through 
  Hex C, since Hex C is a Level 10 hex. This equals Altitude 10 on 
  the low-altitude map, which in turn equals the altitude of the 
  aerospace ﬁ ghter in Hex A. Hex C therefore contains intervening 
  terrain, meaning that the attacker cannot make a shot. 
  If the ﬁ ghter in Hex A were at Altitude 11, it could make the 
  shot because it would be higher than the intervening terrain. 
  Of course, if it moved higher than Altitude 10, it would leave 
  the low-altitude map and enter Row 1 of the atmosphere on 
  the high-altitude map (see p. 79).
  Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets
  If players are using the Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets 
  rules (p. 91) and an airborne aerospace unit launches an attack 
  against another airborne aerospace unit, keep in mind that the 
  ranges for such weapon attacks must be multiplied by 16 to fall 
  into line with the necessary changes of scale. For example, the 
  standard-scale short range bracket would extend to 96 hexes, 
  while the standard-scale medium range bracket would extend 
  to 192 hexes, and so on. Likewise, players would need to multiply 
  the capital-scale ranges by 16.
  Airborne Aerospace Units vs. Other Airborne Units
  Airborne aerospace units cannot make air-to-ground attacks 
  against other types of airborne units, such as WiGE and VTOL 
  vehicles, or other units expending VTOL MPs, such as battle 
  armor (see Air-to-Ground Attacks, below). Instead, aerospace 
  units follow the standard rules for air-to-air attacks against such 
  targets, with the following exceptions:
  • 
  The “dead zone” is measured in ground mapsheet hexes, not 
  low-altitude hexes.
  • 
  Treat all airborne non-aerospace units as if at Altitude 1 (NOE).
  • 
  To make the attack, the aerospace unit must end its 
  movement in an atmospheric hex of a high-altitude map (or 
  any hex of a low-altitude map) corresponding to the ground 
  mapsheet where the airborne units are located. 
  • 
  If using the Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets rules, the 
  aerospace unit may attack the other airborne unit anywhere 
  on the playing area, provided the target is in the appropriate 
  fi ring arcs and weapon ranges for the aerospace unit.
  • 
  Apply a +5 to-hit modifi er, in addition to all standard 
  modifi ers, for all such attacks.
  AIR-TO-GROUND ATTACKS
  Though more fragile than ground-based units, aerospace units 
  can carry a massive array of weapons that allows them to cripple 
  or destroy ground units from the relative safety of the sky. Even a 
  handful of aerospace units can provide a devastating advantage 
  when supporting ground combat.
  When an aerospace unit ends its movement in an atmospheric 
  hex of a high-altitude map (or any hex of a low-altitude map) 
  containing a ground mapsheet, it can attack targets on that 
  ground mapsheet. The player must fi rst nominate an attack path, 
  a row of hexes over which the fi ghter will pass. This row must form 
  a straight line and represents the fi ghter’s fl ight path across the 
  ground mapsheet (see diagrams below). Aerospace units using 
  the Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets rules use their actual 
  fl ight path (the hexes they moved through during that turn’s 
  Movement (Aerospace) Phase; see p. 37) to determine the line of 
  hexes, rather than designating an attack path.
  Aerospace units making air-to-ground attacks cannot make 
  any air-to-air attacks in the same turn.
  Types of Attack: Conventional fi ghters and aerodyne small 
  craft can make all the attacks described below. Spheroid 
  DropShips/small craft and VSTOL-equipped units may only make 
  CAPTION NEEDED CAPTION NEEDED CAPTION NEEDED CAPTION NEEDED 
  • LOW-ALTITUDE AIR-TO-AIR ATTACKS DIAGRAM • 
  
  243
  243
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  strike attacks. Aerodyne DropShips may only make strike and 
  strafi ng attacks.
  Non-Aerospace Airborne Units: Airborne aerospace 
  units cannot make air-to-ground attacks against airborne 
  non-aerospace units (WiGE and VTOL vehicles, or other units 
  expending VTOL MP, such as battle armor). Such units cannot 
  be damaged by these attacks, with the exception of bombs 
  (which attack an area vertically as well as horizontally; see 
  Bombing, p. 245).
  Firing Arcs: Fighters, aerodyne small craft and aerodyne 
  DropShips may only use the weapons in their nose and front 
  wing locations. Spheroid small craft and DropShips may only 
  use the weapons in their aft-left, aft-right and aft locations; 
  hovering (VSTOL-equipped) fi ghters and small craft may use 
  the weapons in their nose and front wing locations.
  Base To-Hit Number
  The base to-hit number for all air-to-ground attacks is equal 
  to the attacking unit’s Gunnery Skill Rating (see Skills, p. 39).
   
  Modifi ed To-Hit Number
  The modifi ed to-hit number equals the base to-hit number 
  plus the modifi er for the specifi c air-to-ground attack as 
  noted on the Air-To-Ground Attack Modifi ers Table. All other 
  standard modifi ers used in weapon attacks—such as those 
  for target movement, terrain, damage to the aerospace unit 
  and so on—also apply, unless specifi cally stated otherwise. 
  Modifi ers for being prone and for partial cover never apply.
  As with standard weapon attacks, if the modifi ed to-
  hit number is greater than 12, the air-to-ground attack 
  automatically misses. If a player determines that his unit’s 
  declared air-to-ground attack will automatically miss, he can 
  choose not to make the attack and avoid wasting ammunition 
  or bombs. 
  If the modifi ed to-hit number is 2 or less, the air-to-ground 
  attack automatically hits. 
  Rapid-Fire Weapons: As noted under Weapons and 
  Equipment, rapid-fi re weapons always fi re at their maximum 
  rate, and so players must check for jamming every time they 
  fi re such weapons (see p. 114).
  Strafi ng
  Units fl ying within three altitudes of the ground on a low-
  altitude map (or within three altitudes of the ground if the unit 
  is fl ying directly on a ground playing area; see Aerospace Units 
  on Ground Mapsheets, p. 91) can make strafi ng attacks against 
  ground targets. Lacking the precision of a striking attack, a 
  strafi ng attack sprays a large area with weapons fi re, making 
  it less likely to hit a specifi c target but potentially damaging 
  numerous targets.
  A unit making this type of attack chooses from one to fi ve 
  consecutive hexes along the attack path. These hexes must lie 
  in a straight line. The unit may fi re one, some or all of its direct-
  fi re energy and pulse weapons when strafi ng. The player must 
  roll for every target, hostile or friendly, in all of the chosen 
  hexes. See Modifi ed To-Hit Number, at left, to determine the 
  target number for a strafi ng attack.
  The attacking player makes separate to-hit rolls for each 
  weapon against each target. Apply weapon hits using the 
  standard rules for the appropriate unit type. Use the column 
  of the appropriate Hit Location Table that corresponds to the 
  attack direction, based on the direction from which the fi ghter 
  entered the target’s hex, rather than the fi ghter’s position at 
  the end of the Movement Phase.
  Most strafi ng attacks must take into account only the terrain 
  in the target’s hex. However, units fl ying at Altitude 1 (NOE) 
  fi nd it harder to establish a clear line of sight and so must also 
  take into account the terrain in the hex adjacent to the target 
  and along the fl ight path in the direction that the attacking 
  unit entered the target’s hex. If the hex in front of the target is 
  two or more levels higher than the level of the target unit, the 
  target is in a dead zone and cannot be attacked.
  AIR-TO-GROUND 
  ATTACK MODIFIER TABLE
  Attack Type
  Modifi er
  Strafi ng
  +4*
  Striking
  +2‡
  Bombing
  +2†
  *Aerospace units fl ying at Altitude 1 (NOE) also suff er a +2 to-hit modifi er as 
  described in Movement (see p. 80).
  †Terrain and target movement modifi ers do not apply to any type of bombing 
  attack; fi ghters can make altitude-bombing attacks from any altitude, but 
  suff er a to-hit modifi er equal to their altitude (see Altitude-Bombing, p. 246).
  ‡As noted under Weapons and Equipment, rapid-fi re weapons always fi re at 
  their maximum rate, and so players must check for jamming every time 
  they fi re these weapons (see p. 114).
  • LEGAL MAP • 
  • ILLEGAL MAP • 
  • LEGAL MAP • 
  • ILLEGAL MAP • 
  • ATTACK/FLIGHT PATH DIAGRAM • 
  • STRAFING DIAGRAM • 
  
  In the Air-To-Ground Attack diagram at left, a primary Shiva 
  ﬁ ghter (Gunnery Skill 4) ended its movement at Altitude 3 in a 
  hex on the low-altitude map that corresponds with the Canyon 
  map (the ground mapsheet). The enemy player has numerous 
  units holed up in the canyon, tearing up the controlling player’s 
  ground troops: a vehicle (moved 3 hexes) and a conventional 
  infantry unit (moved 1 hex) in Hex A; a battle armor unit 
  (jumped 3 hexes) and a ’Mech (moved 5 hexes) in Hex B; a 
  ProtoMech (jumped 5 hexes) in Hex C; an airborne VTOL at 
  Elevation 3 (moved 5 hexes) in Hex D; an airborne WiGE vehicle 
  at Elevation 1 (moved 7 hexes) in Hex 1; and another ’Mech 
  (moved 4 hexes) in Hex 2. The controlling player has brought in 
  the aerospace ﬁ ghter to try to soften things up.
  Regardless of whether the controlling player decides to 
  launch a straﬁ ng, striking or bombing attack, he must ﬁ rst 
  select an attack path across the ground mapsheet. He chooses 
  his attack path (as noted on the diagram) so that he can ﬁ re on 
  as many enemy units as possible. 
  If the controlling player were using the Aerospace Units on 
  Ground Mapsheets rules (see p. 91), then the ﬁ ghter’s actual 
  ﬂ ight path—the speciﬁ c hexes the ﬁ ghter traversed across the 
  Canyon map during the Movement (Aerospace) Phase—would 
  need to coincide exactly with the selected attack path in the 
  diagram for the ﬁ ghter to make the same attacks.
  The controlling player chooses to have his ﬁ ghter make a 
  straﬁ ng attack, and so he selects ﬁ ve continuous hexes (in this 
  case, A, B, C, D and E). He also chooses to exploit the Shiva’s 
  four large pulse lasers. He must make a separate to-hit roll for 
  every target in the ﬁ ve nominated hexes.
  The modiﬁ ed to-hit numbers for all four pulse lasers against 
  the various units are as follows:
  Against the vehicle in Hex A: 7 (4 (base to-hit number) + 4 
  (straﬁ ng attack modiﬁ er) + 1 (vehicle movement) –2 (pulse 
  weapon modiﬁ er) = 7). If the attacks succeeds, the player 
  makes the hit location roll against the front side of the vehicle.
  Against the conventional infantry in Hex A: 6 (4 (base to-
  hit number) +4 (straﬁ ng attack modiﬁ er) –2 (pulse weapon 
  modiﬁ er) = 6. Infantry have no arcs, and so the attack direction 
  does not matter for applying damage. However, conventional 
  infantry take damage from non-infantry units in a unique way, 
  which would result in only three troopers eliminated per pulse 
  weapon (doubled to six troopers because the unit is in a clear 
  hex) that strikes (see Attacks Against Conventional Infantry, 
  p. 215).
  Against the battle armor in Hex B: 10 (4 (base to-hit number) 
  + 4 (straﬁ ng attack modiﬁ er) +2 (battle armor’s movement), +1 
  (attacks against battle armor modiﬁ er) +1 (light woods), – 2 
  (pulse weapon modiﬁ er) = 10). Infantry have no arcs, and so 
  the attack direction does not matter when applying damage. 
  Against the ’Mech in Hex B: 9 (4 (base to-hit number) 
  + 4 (straﬁ ng attack modiﬁ er) +2 (’Mech’s movement) +1 
  (light woods) –2 (pulse weapon modiﬁ er) = 9). If the attack 
  succeeds, the player makes a hit location roll against the right 
  side of the ’Mech.
  Against the ProtoMech in Hex C: 10 (4 (base to-hit number) 
  +4 (straﬁ ng attack modiﬁ er) + 3 (ProtoMech’s movement) +1 
  (light woods) –2 (pulse weapon modiﬁ er) = 10. As hits against 
  a ProtoMech are not aﬀ ected by attack direction, the attacking 
  player would simply roll any successful hits on the ProtoMech 
  Hit Location Table.
  • AIR-TO-GROUND ATTACKS DIAGRAM • 
  
  245
  245
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  Because the VTOL vehicle in Hex D is airborne, the 
  Shiva cannot make an air-to-ground attack and so the 
  straﬁ ng attack has no eﬀ ect. The Shiva can only attack 
  the airborne VTOL air-to-air. However, the diﬀ erence in 
  altitudes between the two units is 2, meaning they must 
  be at least three hexes away from each other for a valid 
  attack. They are less than three hexes apart, and so neither 
  may attack the other (see Air-to-Air Attacks, p. 241).
  Had the Shiva had been at Altitude 1 (NOE) when 
  making the straﬁ ng attack, the attack would have missed 
  the vehicle in Hex A, as the adjacent Hex 3 would have 
  blocked LOS.
  Striking
  An attacker fl ying at Altitude 5 or lower can make a precision 
  strike on a single ground unit or ground hex (a building, woods 
  and so on). The target must lie along the fl ight path. A strike 
  attack reduces the attacker’s altitude by one. Units fl ying at 
  Altitude 1 (NOE) cannot make strike attacks.
  The unit may fi re one, some or all of its weapons at the 
  target, except for bombs (which cannot be used in a striking 
  attack). See Modifi ed To-Hit Number, p. 243, to determine the 
  target number for a striking attack.
  The attacker must make separate to-hit rolls for each weapon. 
  Apply weapon hits using the standard rules for the appropriate 
  unit type. Use the column of the appropriate Hit Location Table 
  that corresponds to the attack direction, based on the direction 
  from which the fi ghter entered the target’s hex, rather than its 
  position at the end of the Movement Phase.
  In the straﬁ ng example above, the controlling player 
  of the Shiva could have decided to make a striking attack 
  instead. In this case, the controlling player nominates the 
  ’Mech in Hex B as the target of the attack, which allows him 
  to bring the Shiva’s LB 20-X autocannon, SRM-6, and small 
  laser to bear.
  The modiﬁ ed to-hit number against the ’Mech is 7 for the 
  four pulse lasers and 9 for all other weapons (4 (base to-hit 
  number) + 2 (striking attack) +2 (’Mech’s movement) +1 
  (light woods) –2 (pulse weapon modiﬁ er only) = 7 and 9). If 
  the attack succeeds, the attacker makes the hit location roll 
  against the right side of the ’Mech. The controlling player 
  also remembers that cluster weapons work diﬀ erently for 
  aerospace units than for non-aerospace units. He splits 
  the Attack Value of 12 for the LB 20-X autocannon and the 
  Attack Value of 8 for the SRM-6 into 5-point Damage Value 
  groupings (5, 5 and 2 for the autocannon, 5 and 3 for the 
  SRM-6), then makes a damage location roll against the 
  ’Mech’s right side for each damage grouping (in place of a 
  roll on the Cluster Hits Table for each weapon).
  Finally, the controlling player adjusts the Shiva’s altitude 
  from 3 to 2 on the ﬁ ghter’s record sheet.
  Bombing
  Most fi ghters are equipped to carry bombs, though capacity 
  varies depending on the unit’s size and engine power. Each 
  unit can carry one bomb for every 5 tons of mass, but each 
  increment of 5 bombs (or part thereof) carried reduces the 
  unit’s Safe Thrust by 1. For example, a 20-ton unit can carry 
  four bombs (20 ÷ 5), but doing so reduces its Safe Thrust by 
  1. A 30-ton unit can carry six bombs (30 ÷ 5), but reduces its 
  Safe Thrust by 2. Recalculate Maximum Thrust based on the 
  adjusted Safe Thrust; multiply the new Safe Thrust by 1.5, 
  rounding up.
  A unit can make a bombing attack or a weapons attack 
  in a single turn. Bombs can be delivered by dive-bombing 
  or altitude-bombing. Dive-bombing is more accurate, but 
  requires the attacker to lose altitude and exposes him to 
  return fi re. Altitude-bombing is less precise, but allows attacks 
  against a strip of ground, much like a strafi ng run. See Modifi ed 
  To-Hit Number, p. 243, to determine the target number for a 
  bombing attack.
  Dive-Bombing: A unit at Altitude 5 or lower can make a 
  dive-bombing attack against a single hex on the fl ight path, 
  though doing so requires the fi ghter to dive two altitudes. The 
  fi ghter can drop one, some or all of its bombs in the attack.
  If the attack is successful, all bombs explode in the 
  designated hex. If the attack fails, the bombs scatter before 
  exploding. To determine the direction of the scatter, roll 
  1D6 for each bomb dropped and consult the Dive-Bombing 
  • ALTITUDE BOMBING SCATTER DIAGRAM • 
  • DIVE BOMBING SCATTER DIAGRAM • 
  
  Scatter Diagram, below. Roll 1D6 again to determine the number 
  of hexes by which the attack deviates from its target. The resulting 
  hex becomes the impact hex.
  Altitude-Bombing: Altitude-bombing works similarly to 
  strafi ng, allowing a fi ghter to attack a continuous row of hexes 
  along the fl ight path. Altitude-bombing can attack up to ten 
  hexes, but the fi ghter must drop at least one bomb and no more 
  than two bombs in each hex. All targeted hexes must be adjacent. 
  If the unit carries several types of bombs, the pilot chooses which 
  are targeted at which hexes. Finally, a to-hit modifi er is applied, 
  which is equal to the Altitude of the aerospace unit.
  The player makes one to-hit roll for each hex targeted. If the roll 
  succeeds, the bombs land in the designated hexes. If the roll fails, 
  the bombs scatter before exploding. To determine the direction 
  of the scatter, roll 1D6 for each bomb dropped and consult the 
  Altitude-Bombing Scatter Diagram. Roll 1D6 again to determine 
  the number of hexes by which the attack deviates from its target. 
  The resulting hex becomes the impact hex.
  Area-Eff ect Weapons: All bombs are area-eff ect weapons (see 
  Weapons and Equipment, p. 113).
  The various types of bombs available are described below. 
  Players must designate the bomb types their fi ghters are carrying 
  before play begins, writing their choices clearly on each fi ghter’s 
  record sheet.
  Divide damage infl icted by bombs into 5-point Damage Value 
  groupings. Targets in the impact hex take damage in the front or 
  the back. Roll 1D6. On a result of 1–3, the attack hits the front; on 
  a result of 4–6, it hits the back. Some munitions also attack units in 
  surrounding hexes. Treat such attacks as originating in the impact 
  hex when determining attack direction.
  • 
  High Explosive (HE): Each HE bomb causes 10 points of 
  damage to all units in the target hex.
  • 
  Cluster: A cluster bomb infl icts 5 points of damage on targets 
  in the impact hex and in the adjacent six hexes.
  • 
  Laser-Guided (LG): Laser-guided bombs act exactly like HE 
  bombs, except when targeted against a unit designated by a 
  friendly TAG (see below). Against such units, apply a –2 to-hit 
  modifi er.
  • 
  Rocket Launchers: Inner Sphere forces may carry rocket 
  launchers on their wing pylons. One rocket launcher occupies 
  the same space as one bomb.
  • 
  TAG: Not a weapon in its own right, TAG (see p. 142) can 
  be used to designate targets for weapons like laser-guided 
  bombs or semi-guided LRMs. TAG units can be built into a 
  unit’s fuselage in the same way as a weapon or carried as 
  an external pod. A pod-mounted TAG occupies the same 
  space as one bomb. To designate a target, the fi ghter must 
  be at Altitude 5 or higher. The target must be on the ground 
  mapsheet that corresponds to the fi ghter’s atmospheric 
  hex, or within fi fteen hexes if the aerospace unit is using the 
  Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets rules (see p. 91). The 
  base to-hit number for the system is the warrior’s Gunnery 
  Skill +2. The designating aerospace unit cannot make any 
  other attacks while attempting to designate a target. 
  In the straﬁ ng example on p. 244, the controlling player 
  of the Shiva could have decided to make a bombing attack 
  in place of a straﬁ ng attack (provided the ﬁ ghter has bombs 
  loaded). 
  As an 85-ton aircraft, the Shiva can carry up to 17 bombs 
  (one per 5 tons of mass) but doing so would reduce its Safe 
  Thrust by 4 (1 for every 5 bombs, rounded up), bringing it all 
  the way down to 1. The Shiva is currently carrying ten cluster 
  DF 
  DF
  Clan Ghost Bear aerospace fi ghters provide close ground support for Beta Galaxy ground forces. 
  
  247
  247
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  bombs, reducing its Safe Thrust by 2 for an eﬀ ective Safe 
  Thrust of 3 and a Maximum Thrust of 5.
  The controlling player nominates Hex B for its dive-
  bombing attack and opts to drop half his bomb load (5 
  bombs) against the target hex. The player makes a single 
  to-hit roll against the modiﬁ ed To-Hit Number 6 (4 (base 
  to-hit number) + 2 (dive-bombing attack modiﬁ er) = 6). 
  Unfortunately, he rolls a 5 and the bombs miss their target. 
  For each bomb, he must now roll the direction and distance 
  of deviation. If he’s lucky, they may still land in another 
  hex containing an enemy unit, or—since they are cluster 
  bombs—adjacent to an enemy unit’s hex. 
  If the bombs had struck Hex B, the player would apply 
  the following damage. 
  Against the ‘Mech, the player rolls a 3, so the attack 
  strikes the front; the Shiva’s player would roll 5 diﬀ erent hit 
  locations for each of the ﬁ ve bombs (each with a 5-point 
  Damage Value) against the ’Mech’s front.
  Against the battle armor infantry, attack direction does 
  not matter. However, unlike standard weapon attacks 
  against battle armor units, area-aﬀ ect weapons inﬂ ict 
  damage on every trooper in the unit. This means that 
  a total Damage Value of 25 points is assigned to each 
  trooper in the battle armor unit: 5 (number of bombs) 
  x 5 (each bomb’s Damage Value) = 25. This damage 
  eliminates the unit.
  Now that the bomb damage has been assigned in Hex 
  B, the Shiva’s controlling player moves to each adjacent 
  hex. With no speciﬁ c order in mind, he starts with the 
  ProtoMech in Hex C. Once again, regardless of the attack 
  direction, a ProtoMech only has a single hit location table. 
  However, unlike standard weapons, which can get a Near 
  Miss result on a roll of 3 or 11, area-eﬀ ect weapons always 
  damage a ProtoMech. The Shiva’s player rolls ﬁ ve times 
  for the location of each 5-point bomb, all on the Special 
  ProtoMech Hit Location Table (see p. 185).
  The player then moves to the WiGE in Hex 1. This unit 
  is airborne, and so the bombs have no eﬀ ect; aerospace 
  units cannot make air-to-ground attacks against airborne 
  units.
  Finally, the player moves to Hex A, where he ﬁ rst deals 
  damage to the vehicle. He rolls ﬁ ve times, once for the 
  location of each 5-point bomb, all on the front of the 
  vehicle.
  The player moves on to the ﬁ nal unit to take damage, 
  the conventional infantry in Hex A. As with the battle 
  armor in Hex B, this infantry unit has no arcs and so the 
  attack direction does not matter. Unlike other non-
  infantry unit attacks, area-eﬀ ect weapons double their 
  damage to conventional infantry units. The infantry is also 
  in the open, which doubles the damage again. This means 
  that the total Damage Value of 25 points becomes 100, 
  eliminating the unit.
  AE weapons inﬂ ict double their damage against woods 
  for clearing purposes (see Clearing woods, p. 112); 50 points 
  of damage is applied to the Terrain Factor of the light 
  woods in Hexes B and C, as well as 0810 and 1011, which 
  reduces each to rough terrain. 
  Finally, the player adjusts the Shiva’s altitude from 3 to 1 
  (NOE) on its record sheet.
  Dumping Bombs
  Units usually drop bombs only in the Weapon Attack Phase. 
  Some circumstances, such as engine critical hits, can require 
  the unit to jettison bombs in order to remain aloft. To carry out 
  an emergency bomb dump, the player specifi es the number 
  of bombs to be dumped and makes a Control Roll, with all 
  applicable modifi ers. 
  A successful roll indicates that the desired bombs are 
  dumped. A failed roll indicates all bombs remaining on the 
  craft are dumped. Dumped bombs do not infl ict damage 
  when they land. Players can also carry out non-emergency 
  bomb dumps using the rules for Dumping Ammunition (see 
  p. 104). The fi ghter cannot exceed Safe Thrust during the turn 
  in which it is dumping its bombs. No ammunition explosion 
  results if a fi ghter dumping its bomb load is hit in the aft 
  location.
  GROUND-TO-AIR ATTACKS
  The rules for ground units attacking airborne aerospace units 
  are covered in the appropriate areas of the Combat section (see 
  p. 98). However, because the use of weapons by aerospace units 
  can diff er signifi cantly from the use of those same weapons 
  by non-aerospace units, an example of a non-aerospace unit 
  attack against an airborne aerospace unit is appropriate. 
  In the straﬁ ng example on p. 244, the controlling player of 
  the ground units wishes to attack the aerospace ﬁ ghter. The 
  Shiva is at Altitude 3 in a hex on the low-altitude map that 
  corresponds with the Canyon map (the ground mapsheet).
  First, all of the units on the ground mapsheet have 
  line of sight to the Shiva. (They would have LOS whether 
  the ﬁ ghter was at Altitude 1 all the way up to Altitude 8; 
  at Altitude 9 or higher, the units on the ground mapsheet 
  could not attack the Shiva. See Line of Sight under 
  Airborne Aerospace Units Vs. Airborne Non-Aerospace 
  Units, p. 99 of the Combat section.) 
  Next, the ground units’ player must take his units’ ﬁ ring 
  arcs into consideration. The Shiva is operating on a low-
  altitude map, and so the line of sight is drawn from the 
  attacking hexes to Hex 0909 to determine appropriate arcs 
  as follows (see Firing Arcs under Non-Aerospace Units to 
  Airborne Aerospace Units, p. 110 of Combat): 
  1. Firing arcs do not apply to the infantry in hexes A and B. 
  2. The vehicle in Hex A can only ﬁ re its rear-mounted weapons, 
  or turret-mounted weapons if the unit had a turret and 
  rotated it appropriately during weapon declaration. 
  3. The ﬁ ghter is in the front arc of the ’Mech in Hex B. 
  4. The ﬁ ghter is in the ProtoMech’s rear arc, and so the 
  ProtoMech can only ﬁ re on the ﬁ ghter if it mounts a 
  main gun. or arm-mounted weapons. 
  5. The VTOL in Hex D is considered to be one hex back 
  along the ﬁ ghter’s attack path, meaning the ﬁ ghter 
  is actually in the VTOL’s rear arc (see Airborne Non-
  Aerospace Units Firing at Airborne Aerospace Units, 
  p. 111 of Combat). 
  6. The WiGE in Hex 1 can only ﬁ re left-side mounted 
  weapons. 
  7.  The ’Mech in Hex 2 can ﬁ re its left-arm mounted 
  weapons, or it may torso twist during weapon 
  declaration, bringing the ﬁ ghter into its front ﬁ ring arc.
  
  As the Shiva is operating on a low-altitude map, the range 
  of the ﬁ ghter is drawn from the attacking unit’s hex to Hex 
  0909, except for those units directly attacked by the ﬁ ghter this 
  turn, which treat the range as 0. In addition, for each altitude, 
  all attacking non-aerospace units add 2 hexes to the range 
  (see Non-Aerospace Units Attacking Airborne Aerospace 
  Units, p. 107). With that in mind, the ranges for each unit are 
  as follows: 
  1. The vehicle in Hex A, the ’Mech in Hex B and the ProtoMech 
  in Hex C would all attack the Shiva as though the range were 
  0 (though they would still apply altitude range). 
  2. Even though the VTOL in Hex D was in the straﬁ ng line, it 
  escaped direct attack and so would normally treat the 
  range as greater than 0; however, since it actually occupies 
  Hex 0909, the range is 0. Because the diﬀ erence in altitudes 
  between the VTOL and the ﬁ ghter is greater than 1, the VTOL 
  cannot attack the Shiva.
  3. The range from the WiGE in Hex 1 is 2, but the WiGE needs to 
  be three or more hexes away from the ﬁ ghter because of the 
  altitude diﬀ erence between them. It is less than three hexes 
  away, and so cannot make an attack. 
  4. The range from the ’Mech in Hex 2 is 2 (plus the altitude 
  range).
  5. The two infantry units cannot make attacks against airborne 
  aerospace units.
  If the Shiva had been at Altitude 1 (NOE), the vehicle in 
  Hex A, the ’Mech in Hex B, the ProtoMech in Hex C, the VTOL 
  in Hex D and the WiGE in Hex 1 would have applied a +1 to-
  hit modiﬁ er, while the ’Mech in Hex 2 would have applied a 
  +3 to-hit modiﬁ er. In addition, the VTOL would have been 
  able to attack the ﬁ ghter. (see Non-Aerospace Units Firing at 
  Airborne Aerospace Units, p. 110)
  Finally, the player must consider the angle of attack (see 
  Angle of Attack, p. 236). The units in hexes A, B and C are 
  attacking the aerospace ﬁ ghter’s aft and so apply no modiﬁ er 
  for angle of attack. The ’Mech in Hex 2 is attacking the left side, 
  and so applies a +2 to-hit modiﬁ er.
  With the above information determined, the controlling 
  player of the ’Mech in Hex B (a Legacy) determines the exact 
  to-hit numbers for his weapons. The base range is 0 hexes, +2 
  hexes for each of the three altitudes for a net range of 6 hexes. 
  This is medium range for the Legacy’s ER medium lasers and 
  its single Streak SRM-4. The ’Mech’s twin Ultra AC/10s (which 
  the controlling player opts to ﬁ re at double rate) are at short 
  range. The ER small laser has a maximum range of 5 and thus 
  cannot be used against the Shiva. The Legacy walked this turn, 
  increasing the to-hit target number modiﬁ er at short range to 
  5 and at medium range to 7.
  The player rolls a 6 and an 11 for the ER medium lasers (one 
  hit, one miss), an 8 for the SRM-4 (which inﬂ icts four 2-point 
  hits) and a 6 and 7 for the Ultra AC/10. He rolls 2D6 twice to see 
  how many AC rounds struck the target and gets a 6 and a 10, 
  which he compares to the appropriate column of the Cluster 
  Hits Table. One round from the ﬁ rst autocannon and both 
  rounds from the second struck the Shiva, inﬂ icting 43 total 
  points of damage. 
  Because the attacking unit is launching an assault from the 
  ground against an airborne aerospace unit, the player uses the 
  Above/Below column of the Aerospace Units Hit Location Table 
  (see p. 237). The ER medium laser hits the ﬁ ghter’s aft and does 
  5 points of damage, exceeding the Damage Threshold of 4 and 
  RA 
  RA
  A McGee’s Cutthroats’ Rifl eman attempts to shoot down an over-fl ying spotter plane. 
  
  249
  249
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  possibly inﬂ icting critical damage to the engine, while the 
  SRM rounds strike the right wing, left wing and aft (x2) for 
  2 points each (no chance of a critical hit). Two AC rounds 
  strike the right wing for 10 damage points each and one AC 
  round to the nose for 10 points, all exceeding the Damage 
  Thresholds in those locations. The wing hits oﬀ er two 
  possible critical hits—a gear hit and a weapon hit—while 
  the nose hit may have done critical damage to sensors. 
  The player rolls 2D6 for each possible critical hit. He gets 
  9 for the engine roll (critical), 7 for the gear (no critical), 11 
  for the wing weapons (taking out one of the pulse lasers) 
  and 7 for the sensor (no critical). The damage takes eﬀ ect 
  immediately; not enough to destroy the aircraft but enough 
  to place it in great danger.
  The Shiva’s player must make a Control roll with at +2 
  modiﬁ er (+1 for each 20 points of damage sustained). He 
  rolls a 5—a failure—and the ﬁ ghter goes out of control. 
  Next, he rolls 1D6 to determine the number of altitudes 
  lost and gets a 2. The aircraft drops to Altitude 1 (NOE), 
  surviving—for now—to continue the ﬁ ght.
  If the Shiva were operating under the Aerospace Units 
  on Ground Mapsheets rules (see p. 91), then the range 
  to the aerospace ﬁ ghter (and attack direction) would 
  have been determined by the ﬁ ghter’s ending hex and 
  orientation, regardless of the size of the playing area.
  DAMAGE TO AEROSPACE UNITS IN ATMOSPHERE
  A unit in atmosphere must make a Control roll in the End 
  Phase of every turn in which it suff ers damage, using the 
  modifi ers shown on the Atmospheric Control Modifi ers Table 
  above. A unit that goes out-of-control on the low altitude 
  map automatically loses 1D6 altitudes and may crash if this 
  causes it to enter a hex with an altitude higher than its own 
  (see Crashes, p. 81).
  ATTACKS BY GROUNDED AEROSPACE UNITS
  A grounded DropShip can provide a phenomenal amount 
  of fi repower for the force employing it; these units often serve 
  as the focal point of a fi xed defense. The following rules allow 
  the use of such powerhouses on the battlefi eld.
  Fighters and Small Craft: Fighters and Small craft have the 
  same fi ring arcs and attack directions for incoming fi re on the 
  ground map as they do on the space map; all weapon attacks 
  by grounded fi ghters apply a +2 to-hit modifi er.
  ATMOSPHERIC CONTROL
  MODIFIERS TABLE
  Condition
  Control Roll
  Per 20 points of damage
  +1
  Unit is spheroid DropShip 
  +1
  Unit is aerodyne DropShip
  0
  Unit is fi ghter or small craft
  –1
  Line of Sight
  Unlike airborne aerospace units, grounded aerospace units 
  rise above the level of the underlying hex(es) they occupy, 
  which is used when determining the LOS from an attacking 
  grounded aerospace unit to the target (see Unit Heights 
  Table, p. 99).
  Unlike other units, a grounded DropShip determines LOS 
  from one of the six adjacent hexes it occupies to the target; 
  which ever hex provides the best LOS circumstances. For 
  example, in the LOS diagram on p. 100, the height of the 
  woods in both Hexes 1 and 2 equal the height of both the 
  DropShip and the ’Mech in Hex E (Level 8) and so both hexes 
  potentially intervene. If the controlling player of that DropShip 
  draws LOS from Hex 1115 to Hex E, it passes through both 
  hexes 1 and 2 and so both woods hexes intervene. However, if 
  the player draws LOS from Hex 1014 to Hex B, only the woods 
  in Hex 1 intervenes.
  Attacks from the DropShip’s nose arc (see Firing Weapons 
  below) against airborne aerospace units, however, draw LOS 
  from the central occupied hex.
  Firing Arcs
  Aerodyne DropShips have the same orientation on a 
  ground map as on a space map and so their fi ring arcs do not 
  change when grounded; simply use the Aerodyne Firing Arcs 
  Diagram on p. 236, blocking out a central hex and six adjacent 
  hexes to determine the ground-based fi ring arcs, in particular 
  which hexes the unit cannot fi re into. Aerodyne DropShips 
  cannot fi re at targets in the hex they occupy, nor can they fi re 
  at airborne aerospace units.
  Spheroid DropShips land aft-first and so use distinct 
  firing arcs as shown on the Grounded Spheroid DropShip 
  Firing Arcs diagram on p. 250:
  • 
  Left Side Arc: All fore-left and aft-left weapons fi re into 
  the Left Side Arc.
  • 
  Right Side Arc: All fore-right and aft-right weapons fi re 
  into the Right Side Arc.
  • 
  Nose-Mounted Weapons: Nose-mounted weapons can 
  only target airborne aerospace units (see Firing Weapons 
  below).
  • 
  Aft-Mounted Weapons: Aft-mounted weapons can only 
  target units in the same hexes the spheroid DropShip 
  occupies; it can target any of the 7 hexes it occupies with 
  any aft-mounted weapons (see Firing Weapons below). 
  Note: The controlling player decides on the orientation of 
  a grounded spheroid DropShip’s fi ring arcs after the unit has 
  landed (see Landing, p. 87), crashed (if it crashes and survives, 
  treat the spheroid DropShip as though it landed aft-fi rst) or 
  when placing it on the battlefi eld if part of a scenario set-
  up. Firing arcs remain unchanged once determined until the 
  DropShip lifts off .
  Firing Weapons
  Attacks by DropShips are carried out in the same manner 
  as on the space map, with the exceptions noted above 
  concerning fi ring arcs for grounded spheroid DropShips.
  Grounded DropShips apply a –2 to-hit modifi er against all 
  non-aerospace targets (this includes grounded aerospace units).
  Multiple Targets: Grounded spheroid DropShips are the 
  only units that can attack both airborne aerospace units—
  
  using nose-mounted weapons—while simultaneously attacking 
  non-aerospace units (this includes grounded aerospace units—
  with the weapons in their other arcs. Grounded DropShips ignore 
  the multiple targets modifi er when fi ring at more than one unit.
  Attack Direction
  Attacks against a grounded aerodyne DropShip use the 
  Grounded Aerodyne DropShip Attack Direction diagram above.
  Attacks against a grounded spheroid DropShips use the 
  Grounded Spheroid DropShip Attack Direction diagram above. As 
  with Firing arcs, the controlling player decides on the orientation of 
  the DropShips left and right side for attack direction once the unit 
  has landed, crashed or been placed in a scenario; attack direction 
  remains unchanged once determined until the DropShip lifts off .
  LOS: Line of Sight from an attacking unit to a grounded 
  DropShip is drawn to one of the six adjacent hexes the DropShip 
  occupies, not the central hex.
  Immobile Target: As noted on p. 110, grounded DropShips are 
  considered immobile targets.
  Damage
  Damage to grounded aerospace units is resolved exactly like 
  damage to airborne aerospace units. 
  DropShip Combat
  DropShips take damage in the same way on the ground map 
  as on the space map. The angle of attack determines the facing 
  struck by incoming fi re and the attack must exceed the Damage 
  Threshold to cause critical damage. Aerodyne DropShips use the 
  same facings as on the space map, while attacks against spheroid 
  DropShips always strike the side.
  Attacks by DropShips are carried out in the same manner as on 
  the space map.
  • GROUNDED SPHEROID DROPSHIP FIRING ARCS DIAGRAM • 
  • GROUNDED SPHEROID DROPSHIP ATTACK DIRECTION DIAGRAM • 
  • GROUNDED AERODYNE DROPSHIP ATTACK DIRECTION DIAGRAM • 
  
  251
  251
  AEROSPACE
  AEROSPACE
  UNITS
  UNITS
  OTHER COMBAT 
  WEAPONS AND 
  EQUIPMENT
  If a unit’s technical readout or record sheet game statistics 
  indicate it carries one of the following equipment types, it 
  may signifi cantly aff ect game play. Players should consult 
  the unit’s game statistics and familiarize themselves with the 
  appropriate equipment rules below before play begins.
  Advanced Weapons and Equipment: If a unit mounts 
  any weapons and/or equipment not found here, or on the 
  appropriate Weapons and Equipment tables (see p. 303), 
  then the weapon/equipment in question is either advanced 
  (not appropriate for standard tournament play) and will 
  be covered in Classic BattleTech Tactical Operations, or it 
  has no direct impact on Classic BattleTech game play, only 
  affecting construction. Such weapons and/or equipment 
  that are not considered advanced will be described in 
  Classic BattleTech TechManual.
  SCREEN LAUNCHERS
  Screen launchers may only be used in a space map hex 
  (a non-atmospheric or atmospheric-interface hex). A single 
  launcher can fi re one canister per turn. Each canister may 
  be targeted against any hex in the appropriate fi ring arc and 
  within range, except for the fi ring unit’s own hex. No to-hit roll 
  is required. Once the canister is detonated, designate (with a 
  makeshift counter, written on a piece of paper and so on) that 
  the target hex is occupied by the chaff  of a screen launcher.
  Any unit (including tele-operated missiles) in the target 
  hex at the time of a canister’s detonation suff ers 15 points of 
  standard-scale damage, rolled on the Nose column of the Hit 
  Location Table, p. 237. If multiple screen launcher canisters 
  detonate in a hex, each one causes damage. 
  Hexes containing screen launcher chaff  block line of sight, 
  though units can fi re into or out of a hex containing a screen 
  launcher. Modify the to-hit number by +2 for attacks into or 
  out of a hex containing a screen launcher. Multiple screen 
  launchers in a hex have no impact on shots simply passing 
  through the hex (each canister blocks LOS), but additional 
  screen launchers in a hex infl uence shots into or out of that 
  hex. Each screen launcher after the fi rst adds +1 to the to-hit 
  penalty. For example, two screen launchers give a +3 penalty, 
  +2 for the fi rst and +1 for the second, while four screen 
  launchers give a +5 penalty (+2 for the fi rst and +1 for each 
  additional canister).
  In the End Phase of each turn, roll 2D6 for each hex on the 
  space map that contains screen launcher chaff . On a result of 7 
  or greater, the hex is cleared of chaff , regardless of how many 
  screen launcher canisters may have detonated in it. On any 
  other result, the screen launcher chaff  remains in the hex.
  TELE-OPERATED MISSILES
  Tele-operated missiles may only be fi red from, and 
  targeted at, units that occupy a space map hex. Whenever a 
  tele-operated missile is launched, place a makeshift counter 
  representing the missile in the attacker’s hex, with the same 
  heading and velocity as the fi ring unit.
  Tele-operated missiles move like fi ghters, executing their 
  movement after small craft and before fi ghters. Use the standard 
  rules for facing changes and acceleration; tele-operated 
  missiles have no G-force or SI movement restrictions.
  Missiles cannot decelerate but also do not have a maximum 
  Thrust Value. Instead, thrust is limited only by the amount 
  of fuel available. For example, a missile with 30 Fuel Points 
  can spend up to 30 Thrust Points. If the missile spends all of 
  its Fuel Points, it can no longer maneuver or accelerate. The 
  tele-operated missiles currently available have the following 
  Fuel Points: Kraken-T, 25; White Shark-T, 40; Killer Whale-T, 30; 
  Barracuda-T, 30. 
  A clear line of sight must be maintained between the fi ring 
  unit and the missile to facilitate the transmission of control 
  data. All objects that block LOS or infl ict to-hit penalties 
  prevent the operator’s commands from reaching the missile. 
  Consequently, missiles without LOS to the operator may 
  not maneuver or accelerate. Instead, the missile continues 
  on its last heading and velocity. Likewise, if the fi ring unit is 
  destroyed, the missile cannot be controlled and continues on 
  its last heading and velocity.
  Tele-operated missiles cannot attack fi ghters, but are treated 
  as fi ghters when attacked. The Armor Value of a tele-operated 
  missile is equal to the amount of capital-scale damage it may 
  infl ict. Missiles remain fully functional and are not destroyed 
  until all of their armor is destroyed.
  If a missile ends the Aerospace Movement Phase in the 
  same hex as an enemy unit—even if it is currently out of the 
  operator’s LOS—the missile’s targeting computer assumes 
  control and attempts to hit the “target” unit. Tele-operated 
  missiles use a Base To-Hit Number of 2. Modify this number 
  by +1 for each point of capital-scale damage taken by the 
  missile (i.e. each armor point lost) during the turn in which it 
  attacks, and for each point of thrust spent during that same 
  turn. A missile with no Fuel Points suff ers an additional +6 
  to-hit modifi er. If the fi ring unit has suff ered critical hits that 
  aff ect to-hit numbers (such as FCS and CIC), these modifi ers 
  also aff ect this to-hit number.
  A missile that misses its target remains on the space map 
  and can continue to maneuver until it hits a target, runs out of 
  fuel, is destroyed, enters an atmospheric-interface hex (which 
  destroys it) or leaves the playing area.
  Each tele-operated missile launcher can only control 
  one missile at a time. If a second tele-operated missile is 
  launched before the fi rst is either destroyed, runs out of fuel 
  or leaves the playing area, that fi rst missile can no longer be 
  controlled and continues on its last heading and velocity; 
  if it ends any movement phase in a target’s hex, it can still 
  attempt an attack.
  
  ILLIUSHIN
  TAURIAN CONCORDAT
  7 OCTOBER 3067
  No windows glowed in the target 
  house as Subaltern Alan Noppadoi 
  waved two ﬁ ngers to the left, then to 
  the right, sending agents to cover the 
  dwelling on either side. Backup wait-
  ed on the next block to catch any run-
  ners. The houses on this block faced 
  almost onto the sidewalk, with narrow 
  strips of bushes or vines between them 
  and concrete.
  He wasn’t an old man at forty-two, but 
  rapidly running out of time if he wanted to 
  ever be more than a subaltern of security. 
  Capturing these Blakist spies was his way 
  up. So far that year, they had collected more 
  than twenty of them, across the various 
  planets that made up the Concordat.
  Blakists. Supposed allies.
  He hooked a fi nger over the whisker on 
  the side of his headset and pulled the micro-
  phone down to his cheek.
  “Close in. Slow. Quiet.”
  Noppadoi started walking across the street, 
  while the fi ve agents that had remained behind 
  him ran past him, heading for the front door of 
  the target house.
  “Go, go, go,” he murmured. No need to shout. 
  No need to warn whomever else might be in the 
  house.
  As the two fl anking teams came up on their des-
  tination, they turned in between the houses, lift-
  ing their SMGs into shooting position. Standard 
  procedure: the weapon points where the shooter 
  is looking.
  The door of the house was three steps up from 
  the sidewalk. The team crossing the street raised 
  their weapons from under their jackets, all but the 
  lead man. He’d stayed with Noppadoi. He moved 
  swiftly forward, then leaped and hit the door with 
  both feet. It fl ew open with a crash as the man fell 
  to the stoop and rolled out of the way, into the 
  bushes by the steps. The other four men rushed 
  through the door, one after the other.
  Noppadoi continued his stroll, barely reaching 
  the steps before the kicker was on his feet, fol-
  lowing the rest of the team in. Noppadoi stepped 
  through the doorway and stopped, turning 
  to face the outside. He drew his service pistol, 
  clicked the safety off  and waited.
  Behind him, he heard the insertion team mov-
  ing through the house, announcing each room as 
  clear before they started up the stairs. They made 
  no eff ort at quiet. Quiet had ceased to be part of 
  the plan.
  Above him and to his right, Noppadoi heard 
  the near-silent scrape of a window opening, plas-
  tic on plastic.
  He waited. Then he stepped back outside and 
  hopped off  the stoop to his right, just in time to 
  stick the muzzle of the pistol into the face of the 
  man who had jumped from the window above.
  Proof that his anonymous source was reliable—
  at least enough that his score of captured agents 
  kept growing. As long as he could count on that, 
  Noppadoi didn’t give a damn who his source re-
  ally was.
  Dan C. Duval
  
  “Live or die,” Noppadoi said to the man squatting on the 
  ground. “It makes no diff erence to me.” 
  The man didn’t look like he came from the Concordat. He 
  looked more like a Magistracy dog. Regardless, as easy to shoot 
  him as not. Behind them, the house rumbled and shook as the 
  insertion team cleared the upstairs, then clattered back down-
  stairs. Agents took the man into custody, cuffi  ng his hands be-
  hind him.
  Grinding his molar down on the transmit key, Noppadoi 
  said, “Bring up the cart. Insertion team, hold the perimeter until 
  relieved.”
  His Number Two, Coronet Jaruwan, stopped at his side. 
  “Should be lots of intel in there. Lots of papers upstairs.”
   “Good.” Noppadoi nodded toward the captive. “What we re-
  ally need is in his head. We’ll get it.”
  Jaruwan grunted. “Then we recondition him, like the rest?”
  Noppadoi nodded. “Make him think he’s a double for FedCom, 
  then drop him in the Confederation.”
  Jaruwan grinned. “Break up this stupid alliance with Liao.”
  Report him as a FedCom spy rather than whatever he might ac-
  tually be, Noppadoi thought. Stir up Shraplen’s paranoia some 
  more. Move me another step up the chain.
  SAMANTHA
  TAURUS
  TAURIAN CONCORDAT
  Protector Grover Shraplen did not look happy, the demi-pre-
  centor thought. From the information given him by his supe-
  riors at ComStar, Zwick assumed much of Shraplen’s ill humor 
  stemmed from the mere fact of this intelligence briefi ng. He 
  also knew that much of it sprang from his presence, as a rep-
  resentative of ComStar, in Shraplen’s inner sanctum. The 
  Word of Blake had succeeded brilliantly in turning Grover 
  Shraplen to their cause.
  Zwick prayed that whatever powers watched over hu-
  manity would not let Shraplen know how desperate things 
  were for ComStar these days. Desperate enough that Zwick 
  had to get to Shraplen any way he could.
  What the Taurians called the Secure Room was empty ex-
  cept for a conference table and eight chairs. The masonry walls 
  hid a set of tubes that surrounded the room, where air bubbled 
  through water, creating a white-noise screen around the en-
  tire space. Even the door contained the tubes, in a closed 
  loop. With a Faraday cage and a double-core induction 
  electricity supply, no more secure place existed anywhere 
  on Taurus.
  Brellan Stark, Air Marshal 
  Senior Grade, was giving 
  this briefi ng. Tall, gaunt 
  and stiff , his informal 
  attire did not hide a mili-
  tary bearing. Stark was 
  one of the last partisans 
  ComStar could count on in the Concordat. Given Shraplen’s feel-
  ings about Taurian Military Intelligence, getting to him through 
  them was indeed an act of desperation.
  “I have asked, ah…” Stark turned slightly in his chair to indi-
  cate the ComStar offi  cer in the corner. “…Mister Zwick to join us. 
  
  We have information on Blakist agents in the Concordat.“ Stark 
  cleared his throat. “Brought to us from our friends in ComStar.”
  Shraplen raised a hand, cutting Stark off . “I assume that Subaltern 
  Noppadoi is still capturing Blakist spies, then reporting them to us 
  as FedCom.”
  “Yes. Yes, exactly,” Stark said, visibly shaken at being interrupted.
  Zwick felt his insides twist. A bad situation to start with, it was 
  getting worse by the moment. “You know these agents all claim to 
  be from the Magistracy or from the Capellan Confederation?” he 
  said. He must remain calm. Cool. “That’s a lie. They are spies from 
  the Word of Blake. They claim to be your friends and yet they send 
  these agents, these provocateurs, to your worlds. The Blakists are 
  not your friends.”
  “Is Noppadoi getting them all?” Shraplen snapped.
  Stark paled. Zwick merely shrugged. “Our intelligence says prob-
  ably not.”
  Shraplen nodded.
  “And we know Noppadoi supports Marshal Kithrong,” Stark said, 
  attempting to regain some respect from Shraplen. “We can arrest 
  him most anytime, or transfer him elsewhere.”
  Shraplen shook his head. “No. For the time being, he’s where we 
  can watch him closely. We know who his subordinates are. We can 
  collect them anytime we want.” Raising a water glass, Shraplen took 
  a long drink. “And I will be long dead,” he said, “before Noppadoi 
  commands anything larger than a twenty-man security squad.”
  Shraplen did not care, Zwick realized, that the Word of Blake was 
  sending operatives into the Concordat. Shraplen cared more about 
  a single ambitious intelligence offi  cer than about whatever the 
  Blakists might do. ComStar is doomed in the Concordat, he thought. 
  There is no hope.
  At least, not as long as men like Shraplen ruled in this realm.
  But if they were swept out of the way …
  NEW ABILENE
  MAGISTRACY OF CANOPUS
  The old rancho stood at the top of the tallest of several ridges 
  that marched down from the Stearns Mountains to the wide, emp-
  ty plains below. Tiny dots on those plains were cattle, feeding on 
  the last grass.
  The rancho itself was stone, with a red-tile roof, sprawling for 
  nearly fi fty meters along the ridge top. All of the rooms on the 
  single fl oor faced either up toward the mountains or down across 
  the ridges. The main room spanned the whole house, giving views 
  of both. Inauspicious as the local headquarters of the Blakists’ True 
  Believers faction, but also inconspicuous. The Magistracy was not 
  yet under Blakist control, and so inconspicuous was best.
  At the picture window facing the plains, Demi-Precentor 
  Santiago Przbtesky watched the tiny dots in the grasslands. Their 
  pattern changed slowly, but it did change. Everything changes. He 
  must remember that.
  “Have you passed that report on to Precentor Blane, yet?” 
  Przbtesky said.
  “It has been done,” his aide replied.
  A mere adept, the boy already knew much too much. Przbtesky 
  knew he would have to dispose of him and fi nd someone else. He’d 
  gotten rather fond of the youth—but as the old saying went, two 
  people may keep a secret if one of them is dead.
  “This Noppadoi,” Przbtesky said, “has taken many Toyama agents. 
  You are sure he has not captured any of ours?”
  “As of the last reports from the Concordat, our network remains 
  in place, while we feed the Toyama agents to Noppadoi as fast 
  as they arrive.” The young man spoke almost without emotion. A 
  good trait. A pity.
  And if that little farce worked, using Capellan and Canopian citi-
  zens as agents to divert attention away from the Word, so much 
  the better.
  The Magistracy was not ready for the Blakists to do much more 
  than attempt to steer them. When the time came, though, True 
  Believers would take charge in the Magistracy and the Concordat, 
  not the fools of the Toyama faction.
  It could be no other way.
  LANTAU ISLAND
  SIAN
  CAPELLAN CONFEDERATION
   “Jiang-jun Chi’n.” Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao glided into the study. 
  His long, painted robe hid the movement of his feet, its long 
  sleeves concealing his hands. “I thank the deputy commander of 
  the Maskirovka for coming all this way for our discussions.” 
  Chi’n bowed at the waist until his upper body was parallel to the 
  fl oor. The motion almost made him drop the contents of the thick 
  leather folder under his arm. Without straightening up, he said, “I 
  am honored to serve, Chancellor.” He tried to ease the papers back 
  into the folder.
  Years before, Chi’n had been here, in the main room of the 
  Chancellor’s retreat. Then, overstuff ed chairs and long plush 
  couches had fi lled the chamber. Now it held a single enameled 
  chair, the wood of the seat curving up to make armrests, with a 
  single embroidered pad for comfort. No other furniture broke up 
  the expanse of thick carpeting on the fl oor. Sun-Tzu Liao’s guests 
  had to sit on the fl oor. Or kneel.
  Sun-Tzu sat carefully in the chair, his robe rising enough to reveal 
  red slippers woven of goose quills, imported from Terra. One hand 
  slid out of a sleeve, motioning Chi’n down.
  His knees too old and stiff  to kneel, Chi’n sank slowly to the fl oor, 
  cross-legged. He waited, carefully not looking the Chancellor in 
  the face.
  “Proceed,” Sun-Tzu said.
  “Yes, Chancellor. For the past year or so, we have intercepted 
  agents from the Concordat, Blakist agents who believe they are 
  also in the pay of the FedCom. Obviously conditioned.” He started 
  shuffl  ing through the pages in his folder.
  Sun-Tzu held up a hand. “Don’t bother. Your verbal report is 
  sufficient. You are still transferring these agents to the Combine, 
  yes?” At Chi’n’s nod, he added, “And you have made sure that 
  an agent known to the Combine performs the actual insertion 
  for us?”
  Chi’n smiled. “Of course. In the Outworlds Alliance. He is suffi  -
  ciently incompetent that they can easily trace it back to us.”
  Chancellor Liao nodded gravely. “Excellent. Blakists who are 
  double agents for the FedCom, but obviously tampered with, set 
  upon our good friends in the Combine ISF. Their intelligence peo-
  ple will make themselves insane trying to determine what we are 
  doing, simply because we are doing nothing.” He gave a hollow 
  laugh. “It even saves us the cost of executing these Blakist agents.” 
  He almost spat the last words.
  Chi’n cleared his throat. He had been dreading this moment ever 
  since he had found out. Nothing for it but to dive in. And hope. 
  
  “During our interrogations, we determined that many of these 
  agents are from the Confederation. Our people.” 
  Sun-Tzu Liao did not move, not even a fl ick of an eyelid. When he 
  spoke, his voice was slow and deliberate. “What concern what trai-
  tors do? They are traitors. These, in the end, will serve the purposes 
  of their homeland.”
  The Chancellor clapped his hands loudly, once. A servant hurried 
  into the room. “Would you care to take tea, Chi’n,” Sun-Tzu asked, 
  “before we get to the real business of the day?”
  7 OCT 3067
  TO: PRESIDENT MITCHELL AVELLAR, OUTWORLDS ALLIANCE
  FROM: COORDINATOR STEVEN WOODWARD, OAI
  RE: YOUR MEMO OF 2 OCT 3067
  As ComStar Precentor Grieg has pointed out, the Capellan 
  Confederation has been feeding agents into the Draconis Combine 
  through the Alliance, by way of a merchant named Allois Bauer, 
  who operates from Quatre Belle.
  Regarding your concerns about an Alliance citizen being in-
  volved with this smuggling of agents, Bauer uses a Marian trader, 
  Lucius Shute, who owns a merchant vessel and makes a common 
  run from Alpheratz to Galedon V in the Combine. Shute sometimes 
  makes unscheduled stops at Quatre Belle and, in the Combine, 
  at Sinope. Apparently the agent transfers take place at these un-
  scheduled stops.
  Our people have confi rmed this information and sealed off  
  those sources, making it unlikely that Combine assets will connect 
  the Alliance to these people. We cannot yet determine how long 
  this pipeline has been in operation, though it appears to have been 
  running for at least twelve months.
  The Precentor also tells us this operation originates with the 
  Word of Blake, but I have not yet confi rmed that. I will add progress 
  on this case to your regular briefi ngs.
  HOUSE OF THE SCARLET HAND
  LUTHIEN
  DRACONIS COMBINE
  Louis Yamashi rocked his head in his hands. What could it 
  mean?
  It was long past sunset. Only the desk lamp provided light to 
  Yamashi’s small offi  ce, much too small and plain for a tai-sa in the 
  Internal Security Force. But small meant nothing got lost here. 
  Unless immediately needed, it got moved out of the offi  ce.
  Near the lamp and a porcelain cup containing some very cold 
  tea, a single fi le occupied the desk. A very thick fi le. It contained 
  dossiers on nearly sixty men and women the ISF had come across, 
  a few at a time over the past several years, all with the exact same 
  conditioning: Blakist spies on top, with the conditioned belief that 
  they also served the Federated Suns. Yet the conditioning was so 
  obvious and these people so badly trained to fi t into Combine soci-
  ety—not to mention that they were so obviously gaijin.
  Half of them were certainly Capellan. So easily traced back to 
  House Liao and the Confederation. Maybe too easily. What other 
  hands might there be in this, targeting the Capellans?
  The agents themselves had all been quietly disposed of. But 
  Yamashi’s opposites in the Confederation had to know that these 
  agents would be picked up almost immediately and that such slop-
  py conditioning would be noticed almost as quickly.
  Why? Why? Why?
  A knock sounded at the door. “Come,” Yamashi called.
  Chu-sa Moshima entered, his uniform bright and crisp, in con-
  trast to the rumpled tunic Yamashi wore. He bowed. “Yamashi-
  sama. The Coordinator’s offi  ce has requested a report on the mat-
  ter you were assigned.”
  His face still in his hands, Yamashi shook his head slowly. “I am no 
  further along than last week, Moshima. Or last month. It just does 
  not make sense.”
  Moshima looked at the small fi nger of Yamashi’s right hand. The 
  last joint was missing, the fi nger ending in a smooth cap of skin. 
  According to the stories, that was Yamashi’s apology for missing 
  the machinations of the Black Dragon Society, years ago when 
  Yamashi was a junior offi  cer in the ISF. Many ISF senior intelligence 
  offi  cers were missing the same fi nger joint.
  Unconsciously, Moshima held his hands in front of him, his left 
  hand rubbing the small fi nger of his right.
  DARWIN DESERT
  BALTAZAR III
  CIRCINUS FEDERATION
  Sand scoured the single window of the training room, high on 
  the long wall opposite the sole door. At a table in the front, be-
  tween door and window, a demi-precentor stood, knuckles on the 
  tabletop. His height made him stoop to allow his hands to reach 
  the table. The stoop revealed hiking boots below the hem of his 
  dress robes.
  Behind him and to his left, near the door, two adepts stood in 
  somewhat cheaper robes, hands folded, trying hard to not look 
  proud and self-satisfi ed. In front of them, in two rows of four chairs, 
  robed acolytes sat, waiting for the demi-precentor to speak. Five 
  more rows of chairs sat empty. All of the acolytes had been recruit-
  ed from the Capellan Confederation or the Magistracy of Canopus.
  “First of all,” the demi-precentor said, “I want to congratulate 
  you on completing the course. As you can see”—he waved at the 
  empty chairs behind them—“most of those who started did not 
  fi nish. You are the best, the ones who will carry our glorious vision 
  into the Concordat.
  “You have been trained in Concordat culture, in its history, in the 
  locals’ manner of speaking, until you can pass for Concordat citizens. 
  Soon you will be assigned to your stations, given your fi rst missions. 
  Do not expect these to concern more than minor matters, but every 
  mission advances our holy cause, and so you must succeed.
  “You will have heard that other factions of the Word are also op-
  erating in the Concordat. Remember that we are all trying to bring 
  the great Blake’s vision to fruition. If you encounter fellow agents, 
  do not associate with them, but do not interfere with them, either. 
  Let them do their work and they will let you do yours.
  “Remember that in the Concordat, there are those who wish to cast 
  us out. These are the people we must combat. You must discover 
  their identities, reveal their plans and thereby help us thwart them.
  “Some will be ComStar agents. Winnow these out above all 
  others.
  “I remind that you that, in the unlikely event of capture, you are 
  agents of your home nation, not of the Word. The Great Work has 
  only begun, but with your help, we, the followers of Conrad Toyama, 
  will lead the way to a future for humanity that will outshine any 
  previous civilization.
  “My heart goes with you.”
  
  This section is not part of the standard rules of Classic BattleTech
  as presented in previous sections of Total Warfare, and so Creating 
  Scenarios should not be considered part of standard/tournament 
  play. Instead, this section provides additional rules and tables 
  that players can use to quickly generate BattleTech scenarios once 
  they have a grasp of the game rules. Using the Creating Scenarios 
  system, players can generate relatively balanced scenarios in short 
  order. By combining the various scenario types with mixes of 
  units and mapsheets, players can create a nearly infi nite number 
  of diff erent scenarios.
  Battle Value System: The Battle Value (BV) system provides a 
  numerical rating (a “point system”) that represents the damage 
  capabilities and survival potential of every BattleTech unit. BV can 
  be combined with the Creating Scenarios section to generate an 
  even more balanced scenario, increasing every player’s enjoyment 
  of the game.
  Unless otherwise stated the Battle Value of the skills of the 
  warrior should be included with the Battle Value of the unit.
  While the Battle Value system appears in the Classic BattleTech 
  TechManual, most technical readouts and record sheets provide 
  the BV of the unit in question. If a BV is not readily available in either 
  a technical readout or on the unit’s record sheet, players can fi nd 
  a comprehensive BV list at www.classicbattletech.com. Note that 
  the Battle Value System published in Classic BattleTech TechManual 
  has been revised. As such, most of the currently in print technical 
  readouts and record sheets use an older Battle Value system.
  GENERAL RULES
  Unless otherwise noted in the specifi c rules for each scenario 
  type, the following rules apply to all BattleTech scenarios created 
  with this system.
  NUMBER OF PLAYERS
  The mission-generation rules are written for two-player 
  scenarios. If more than two individuals are playing, simply divide 
  all the players into two opposing teams. Players can use these 
  rules to set up games involving three or more sides, but such 
  games tend to get complicated and the players must determine 
  how to apply the rules in various situations.
  SET-UP
  First, choose a scenario type (see p. 258). Next, select the 
  mapsheets (see p. 262). Then determine the force composition 
  (see p. 264), and fi nally both players roll 2D6 to begin. The player 
  with the higher result chooses his home map edge—the edge of 
  the map where his units will enter. The opposite edge becomes 
  the opposing player’s home map edge. A player’s units can safely 
  exit the map only through that player’s home edge.
  Roll Initiative for the fi rst turn per standard rules. All units start 
  play off  the map, unless a specifi c scenario states otherwise. A 
  player’s units may enter the map on any hex along the player’s 
  home edge, regardless of terrain, provided the unit can legally 
  enter that hex. Each unit must enter the map on a full hex nearest 
  the home edge, and that hex counts as its fi rst hex of movement.
  Aerospace Units
  If players choose to use aerospace units—whether on their 
  own or in conjunction with ground units—they need to set up a 
  separate mapsheet that represents either the low-altitude map, 
  high-altitude map or space map. The rules above for map edges 
  and movement onto the map also apply to aerospace units. 
  However, before an aerospace unit enters the map, the controlling 
  player must announce its starting velocity.
  DF 
  DF
  A Goshawk 3 from Clan Steel Viper’s Beta Galaxy is cornered by a Word of Blake Level II from the First Division. 
  
  257
  257
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  Whether the aerospace units begin on a space map or 
  atmospheric map is left up to the players. Both sides must 
  agree before play can begin.
  MOVEMENT AND RETREAT
  Scenario maps are fi xed once play begins. No new maps will 
  be added to the play area during the game. Unless otherwise 
  noted, units that exit the map at any edge other than their 
  home edge are considered destroyed. Units that exit the map 
  through their home edge have retreated—they remain out 
  of play for the remainder of the scenario and cannot return. 
  Retreated units do not count as destroyed when determining 
  victory. Units may exit the map intentionally or unintentionally 
  (such as a skid), or may be forced off  by an opposing unit—for 
  example through a push, charge or death-from-above attack.
  Half-hexes along the edge of the map—even those with 
  hex numbers in them—are not considered part of the map. 
  A unit that enters one of these half-hexes for any reason is 
  considered to have exited the map.
  ENDING THE GAME
  Generally, a scenario ends when all of one player’s units have 
  been destroyed or have retreated off  the map. At that point, 
  the opposing player wins. Depending on the specifi c scenario 
  type, however, a player may need to achieve additional or 
  alternative goals to claim victory.
  DETERMINING VICTORY
  Victory in each scenario goes to the side that survives at the 
  end, or to the side that fulfi lls specifi c victory conditions. Most 
  scenarios include diff erent levels of victory as well: decisive, 
  substantial or marginal. A given player may win a decisive, 
  substantial or marginal victory depending on how well he 
  meets the victory conditions.
  Depending on the scenario being played, victory levels may 
  be determined in various ways. Players can also score Victory 
  Points by achieving certain goals in a scenario (see Types of 
  Scenarios, following). 
  Beyond the absolute win/lose victory conditions listed with 
  each scenario type, players may include additional victory 
  conditions. While this requires a little more work on the 
  players’ part, additional victory conditions can make a scenario 
  more varied and challenging when replayed. For example, the 
  standard win/lose victory condition for the Standup Fight 
  is simply to eliminate all opposing forces. However, players 
  might stipulate that if Player A eliminates all of Player B’s forces 
  but loses more than half his own forces in the process, Player A 
  achieves a substantial rather than a decisive victory. Whatever 
  additional victory conditions are used, all players must agree 
  to their use in a given scenario before play begins. 
  Battle Value: Players using the Battle Value system can 
  also use an alternate method of determining who wins and 
  the level of victory. Both players start with 0 Victory Points. 
  For every enemy unit destroyed, add twice its point value to 
  your total (include the points for the pilot, if any). For each of 
  your units destroyed, deduct the point value of the unit (plus 
  the pilot) from your score. At the end of the scenario, the side 
  with the most points wins. If the diff erence between the two 
  players’ scores is greater than the number of points used to 
  purchase forces for the winning side, the victory is decisive. 
  Otherwise, it is marginal. If the players’ scores are tied at the 
  end of the scenario, the game is considered a draw.
  Players A and B are playing a scenario in which the 
  ﬁ ghting forces consist of four ’Mechs on each side. All of the 
  ’Mechs are worth 1,000 BV points each, for a total of 4,000 
  points per side. The scenario ends with Player A destroying 
  all four of Player B’s ’Mechs. Player B has only destroyed 
  DF 
  DF
  A Word of Blake Level II from First Division deploys a salvaged Goshawk 3, fi eld-repaired with on-hand Inner Sphere technology. 
  
  two of Player A’s Mechs. Player A scores twice the point value of 
  each enemy ’Mech he destroyed (2 x 1,000 = 2,000 points each). 
  Because he destroyed all four of his opponent’s ’Mechs, he 
  scores 8,000 points (2,000 x 4 = 8,000). However, his opponent 
  destroyed two of his ’Mechs, so Player A must deduct their point 
  value from his score. Two ’Mechs at 1,000 points each equals 
  2,000 points, reducing Player A’s ﬁ nal score to 6,000.
  The two ’Mechs that Player B managed to destroy give him 
  4,000 points (2 x 1,000 = 2,000, 2,000 x 2 = 4,000). However, Player 
  B lost all four of his own units. Subtracting 1,000 points each for 
  the four destroyed ’Mechs leaves Player B with zero points.
  Player A wins this scenario. Because the diﬀ erence between 
  the players’ scores is greater than the 4,000 points each player 
  used to purchase his forces, the victory is decisive. If Player B 
  had managed to destroy three of Player A’s units, Player A 
  would have won only a marginal victory.
  FORCED WITHDRAWAL
  Most military forces will not fi ght to the last man. Instead, 
  once they have taken appreciable amounts of damage, they will 
  begin to retreat. The forced withdrawal rules help simulate this 
  situation. Players are free to play any of the scenarios without the 
  forced withdrawal rules; the scenarios are enjoyable to play as 
  described under Types of Scenarios (at right). However, the forced 
  withdrawal rules add variety for enjoyable replay, heighten the 
  human element and bind players to the warriors represented by 
  the playing pieces in a game.
  Under forced withdrawal, crippled units must retreat from the 
  battlefi eld when damage has rendered them useless or they are 
  in imminent danger of being destroyed (see Crippling Damage, 
  below). A unit making a forced withdrawal must move toward 
  its home map edge as designated by a scenario. However, a unit 
  need not spend Running, Flanking or Maximum Thrust MP; it can 
  also move backward if the controlling player wishes. Also, a unit 
  equipped with MASC need not engage that system when forced 
  to withdraw.
  Withdrawing units may still attack an enemy unit that closes within 
  range of a weapon or physical attack. The following guidelines cover 
  the many circumstances that may occur. Within these guidelines, 
  the gamemaster’s decision is fi nal. If no gamemaster is present and 
  players cannot come to a consensus, simply roll 1D6 to determine a 
  resolution and get back to play. All players should agree to the use of 
  the forced withdrawal rules in a given scenario before play begins.
  CRIPPLING DAMAGE
  Any unit that suff ers crippling damage must withdraw from the 
  map board. (Clan units must follow Clan honor rules if they are 
  being used; see Clan Honor, p. 273.) Crippling damage is defi ned 
  as follows:
  • 
  A ’Mech is considered crippled when a side torso location is 
  destroyed; the ’Mech takes two engine critical hits; one gyro 
  and one engine critical hit; or loses the use of its sensors. 
  Internal structure damage in either three or more limbs or 
  two or more torso locations (the torso internal structure 
  damage does not count towards crippling damage if that 
  location still has front armor), or four or more pilot hits, also 
  render a ’Mech crippled, as does the loss of all the ’Mech’s 
  weapons to damage or ammunition depletion. If all of a 
  ’Mech’s weapons are destroyed and it can no longer move, 
  the ’Mech is considered destroyed. The pilot of a destroyed 
  ’Mech may eject normally.
  • 
  With the exception of infantry, all of a unit’s weapons are 
  considered destroyed if it loses all weapons with a range 
  greater than fi ve hexes and if it can no longer cause more 
  than 5 points of combined weapons damage.
  • 
  A ProtoMech is considered crippled if all its weapons are lost 
  to damage or ammunition depletion, or if the pilot suff ers four 
  or more hits. A ProtoMech Point will not begin to withdraw 
  until three or more of its component ProtoMechs are crippled 
  or destroyed, in which case the entire Point must withdraw.
  • 
  A vehicle is considered crippled if it loses all its armor in a 
  single location or if all its weapons are destroyed.
  • 
  An aerospace unit is considered crippled if it suff ers a critical 
  hit to its engine or fuel tank; if all its weapons are destroyed; 
  if it loses more than half its original Structural Integrity; or if 
  its pilot/crew suff ers four or more hits.
  • 
  A conventional infantry platoon is considered crippled if it 
  loses 75 percent (round down) or more of its troopers.
  • 
  A battle armor unit (Point or squad) is considered crippled if 
  it loses half or more (round up) of its members.
  • 
  Vehicles and ’Mechs that are immobilized—usually through 
  motive, leg or gyro damage—are shut down and typically 
  abandoned (though abandonment places the crew at the 
  mercy of the battlefi eld). Only the most fanatical crews or 
  those in dire circumstances will continue to fi ght. Likewise, 
  only orders from the highest possible source will prompt an 
  immobilized element to keep fi ghting.
  TYPES OF SCENARIOS
  If desired, one player may randomly generate a type of 
  scenario by rolling 1D6 and consulting the Scenario Type Table. 
  Alternatively, players may simply select a scenario type. These 
  general types represent only a few of the possible scenarios that 
  BattleTech players can create. You can use these as models to 
  create your own scenarios.
  The following paragraphs contain brief descriptions and victory 
  conditions for each type of scenario. Each description includes the 
  special rules used to play that scenario type, along with guidelines 
  for force composition and victory conditions.
  Note: Many of the scenarios mention using equal numbers of 
  units. This is a general rule of thumb to help balance a scenario 
  that applies to an equal number of the same type of units. For 
  example, if Player A has four ’Mechs and Player B has four combat 
  vehicles, most likely Player A will have an unfair advantage. To 
  correct this problem, players should work to make sure that each 
  side has an appropriate number of the same type of units when 
  choosing and assigning forces.
  Aerospace Units
  Most of the scenarios are tailor-made for ground forces, making 
  them slightly more diffi  cult to use when incorporating aerospace 
  units. Though some scenario types (particularly the Standup Fight) 
  can be used with aerospace units only, players should be inventive 
  when adopting some scenario types for aerospace units.
  
  259
  259
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  Infantry
  In most cases, infantry units—even those with high Gunnery 
  and Anti-’Mech skill levels—are valued well below the lightest 
  ’Mech and even most combat vehicles. To refl ect this, players 
  should be a fl exible in balancing a force when using infantry. 
  For example, in a Hold the Line scenario, the attacking player 
  has twice the number of units as the defender—and, if using the 
  Battle Value system, twice the number of points. If both players 
  are randomly determining forces and the defending player 
  rolls an infantry unit, the attacking player will fi nd it diffi  cult 
  to balance his forces to twice that of the defender’s force. The 
  easiest way to solve this dilemma is to have the attacking player 
  randomly switch one of his units for an infantry unit as well. 
  As players get a feel for how games play out with various 
  unit types, it becomes easier to know during set-up and force 
  creation when fl exibility is needed in massaging players’ forces 
  appropriately so that everyone has an enjoyable time.
  STANDUP FIGHT
  In a stand-up fi ght, the simplest and most common scenario, 
  two forces of roughly equal size square off  against each other. 
  Only one side leaves the fi eld alive.
  Force Composition
  Both sides should have the same number of units. 
  Battle Value: If you are using the BV system, each side 
  should have an equal allotment of points. For example, an 
  appropriate number of points for each side in a lance-on-
  lance battle is 4,000 to 6,000 points.
  Victory Conditions
  The scenario ends when all the units on one side have been 
  destroyed or retreated off  the map. The surviving side at the 
  end of the scenario wins. 
  Battle Value: If you are using BV to build forces, the standard 
  Victory Points and victory levels described in Determining 
  Victory (p. 257) apply.
  HIDE AND SEEK
  In the hide-and-seek scenario, the defending player is “it”—his 
  forces hide, and the attacker attempts to fi nd and destroy them.
  Use half the number of mapsheets (rounded up) recommended 
  in the Selecting Mapsheets rules, p. 262. If possible, avoid using 
  the Wetland or Coastal Terrain mapsheets. Light Urban and 
  Heavy Urban Terrain mapsheets are ideal, but only if buildings 
  are used. Otherwise, avoid these mapsheets as well, because 
  they provide few hiding places for the defender’s units.
  After the attacking player selects a home map edge, the 
  defending player sets up his units using the Hidden Units rules 
  below. Defending units may be placed anywhere on the map, 
  except for clear and paved hexes. 
  Hidden Units
  At the start of the scenario, the defender may hide his 
  units on the map. The defending player must write down the 
  number of each hex in which a unit is hidden and designate 
  the unit’s facing, if it is prone and so on. Hidden units remain 
  hidden until they attack or move, or until an enemy unit 
  moves into their hex, attempts to move into their hex or ends 
  its movement adjacent to their hex.
  Unless the player plans to move a hidden unit during the 
  Movement Phase, hidden units are not counted for purposes 
  of determining movement order during that phase. If the 
  player plans to activate a hidden unit during a turn, he must 
  reveal that unit and place it on the map at the start of that 
  turn’s Movement Phase. If a player plans to attack using a 
  hidden unit, he must reveal that unit and place it on the map 
  at the beginning of the Weapon Attack Phase. Hidden units 
  revealed during the Movement Phase cannot move during 
  that phase.
  If a unit attempts to enter a hex containing a hidden unit, 
  the hidden unit is revealed if that move would violate the 
  stacking rules (see Stacking, p. 57). The unit attempting to 
  enter the hex containing a hidden unit immediately ends its 
  movement before moving into that hex. 
  Paved and Water Hexes: No unit may hide in a paved 
  (or road/bridge) hex, or on the surface of a water hex (a 
  submerged unit may be hidden using these rules).
  ’Mechs and large support vehicles: ’Mechs and Large 
  Support Vehicles cannot hide in clear or paved hexes.
  Airborne Units: No airborne unit (including aerospace 
  units, VTOLs, WiGEs and so on) can hide using these rules.
  Grounded Aerospace Units: DropShips cannot be hidden 
  using these rules. All other aerospace units may hide, provided 
  they are landed at the start of the scenario.
  DF 
  DF
  ’Mechs from the Twenty-sixth Lyran Guards face down a Word of Blake Exterminator. 
  SCENARIO TYPE TABLE
  1D6
  Scenario Type
  1
  Standup Fight
  2
  Hide and Seek
  3
  Hold the Line
  4
  Extraction
  5
  Breakthrough
  6
  Chase
  
  Pointblank Shots From Hidden Units: When an enemy unit 
  moves into or ends its movement adjacent to a hex occupied 
  by a hidden unit, the hidden unit may interrupt the move and 
  immediately make a pointblank weapon attack. The unit may only 
  fi re weapons with a valid fi ring arc to the target, using a Range of 
  1. However, the hidden unit may immediately torso twist or rotate 
  its turret in order to bring its weapons to bear against the target. 
  Do not modify the base to-hit number for movement or terrain. 
  Any damage takes eff ect immediately during the Movement 
  Phase, and the results may aff ect the actions of the target unit for 
  the rest of the phase. A unit attacking with a pointblank shot may 
  not move, fi re again, make physical attacks or perform any other 
  action during that turn.
  Force Composition
  Set the attacking force at twice the size of the defending force. 
  For example, if the defending force fi elds four units, the attacking 
  force should fi eld eight units. Players should also attempt to make 
  the total tonnage of the attacking force roughly double that of 
  the defender; if the defending player controls a single lance, the 
  attacking player uses two lances. Players may use any size forces 
  they wish, as long as the attacker’s force is twice the size of the 
  defender’s.
  Battle Value: If using the BV system, the point value of the 
  attacking force should be double that of the defending force.
  Victory Conditions
  The scenario ends when all of one player’s units have been 
  destroyed or retreated off  the map. The player whose forces 
  control the map or simply survive at the end wins the scenario.
  Battle Value: When using the BV system, standard rules for 
  victory conditions apply.
  HOLD THE LINE
  In a hold-the-line scenario, the defending player must fend off  
  a larger attacking force. The defending units may not intentionally 
  leave the boundaries of the playing area for any reason; ground 
  forces may not leave the ground map playing area, and aerospace 
  units may not leave the space or atmospheric map—though they 
  may move between playing area maps as they change altitude 
  during normal movement maneuvers.
  Force Composition
  Set the attacking player’s force at twice the size of the 
  defender’s force. Players may use any size forces they wish, as 
  long as the attacker’s force is twice as large as the defender’s. Set 
  the experience levels of the defending player’s forces at one level 
  higher than those of the attacker. For example, if the attacking 
  force consists of regular units, the defender uses veteran units.
  Battle Value: If you are using the BV system, the point value of 
  the defending force equals that of the attacking force, though the 
  defending force must be only half as large as the attacking force. 
  In addition, each defending unit receives a 1-point improvement 
  in Piloting and Gunnery skills at no cost in points, rather than the 
  experience-level increase.
  Victory Conditions
  The scenario ends when all the units on one side have been 
  destroyed or retreated off  the map. 
  If the defenders destroy a number of opposing units equal to 
  or greater than the number of defending units that started the 
  scenario, the defending player wins. For example, if the defending 
  player begins with a single lance (four units), he can claim victory 
  if he manages to destroy four or more attacking units. In all other 
  cases, the player whose forces survive or control the map at the 
  scenario’s end wins.
  Battle Value: If using the BV system, standard rules for 
  determining victory apply.
  EXTRACTION
  In an extraction scenario, the attacking player attempts to 
  extract a target, such as a secret weapon, an important diplomat 
  or a computer memory core, from behind the defender’s lines.
  After the players roll dice and select their home map edges, 
  the attacker secretly chooses a target hex for the extraction. The 
  target hex must be within four hex rows of the defender’s home 
  edge and cannot be within four hexes of any other map edge. The 
  attacker then writes down the target hex’s number and mapsheet 
  name on a slip of paper, which he folds and gives to a neutral 
  party for safekeeping (or the defending player can simply put the 
  paper in his pocket without looking at it).
  The attacking player can reveal the target hex to the defender 
  during any End Phase, but must reveal the target hex if an 
  attacking unit ends the turn in the target hex. Any attacking unit 
  can pick up the extraction target by occupying the target hex 
  during an End Phase. In addition, a unit that retrieves the target 
  can pass it to any friendly unit in the same hex or an adjacent hex 
  during any End Phase.
  If a unit carrying the extraction target is destroyed, place the 
  slip of paper in the hex previously occupied by the unit. Any unit 
  in play can retrieve the target by occupying the target hex during 
  any End Phase.
  Variations
  A variation on the Extraction scenario is to designate the object 
  as having a specifi c tonnage; this would be done before play 
  begins. Then, during the extraction scenario, the players use the 
  DF 
  DF
  With the Blakist’s violation of Clan honor, Clan Steel Viper surrounds a lone ’Mech. 
  
  261
  261
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  Cargo Carriers rule below to provide additional variety. This 
  rule can also be used to increase the diffi  culty of the scenario; 
  depending on the tonnage of the item to be carried, players 
  may need an assault ’Mech or even a large support vehicle to 
  move the item, making it harder to achieve victory.
  Cargo Carriers
  In addition to the cargo a unit can carry in a dedicated cargo 
  bay, a ’Mech or vehicle may also carry unprotected cargo (in 
  slings, strapped to the top, in lightweight containers and so 
  on) equal to its own tonnage. 
  Movement Penalties: Unlike cargo in a dedicated cargo 
  bay, a unit carrying external cargo must modify its movement. 
  Cargo weighing up to a quarter of the carrying unit’s weight 
  subtracts 3 from—or cuts in half, rounding down—the carrier’s 
  Walking/Cruising MP, whichever is less. A unit carrying a load 
  weighing more than a quarter of its own tonnage may only 
  move at half its Walking/Cruising MP (round down).
  Loading and Unloading: Unless it mounts a lift hoist (see 
  p. 136) or is a ’Mech carrying the cargo in its hands (see ’Mech 
  Lifting Capabilities, below), a unit can only load or unload cargo 
  during a scenario if friendly infantry is present in the same hex.
  To load or unload cargo, a unit must end its Movement Phase 
  in the same hex as the cargo (or adjacent hex if Large Support 
  Vehicle). It may make no weapon or physical attacks for that 
  turn and three subsequent turns (meaning it cannot expend 
  any MP in those three subsequent turns) for each 20 tons of 
  cargo (or fractions thereof). A friendly infantry unit must be 
  present in the same hex for the duration of loading. If the 
  infantry unit is eliminated or moves out of the hex, the clock 
  stops for loading or unloading. If another friendly infantry unit 
  ends the Movement Phase in the same hex as the unit loading 
  or unloading cargo, the clock starts once again, for as long it 
  takes to load each 20 tons of cargo (or fractions thereof). The 
  carrying unit cannot expend any MP during this time, or the 
  cargo is considered to not be loaded and the clock stops.
  The controlling player of a unit unloading cargo announces 
  that he is beginning to unload at the end of any Movement 
  Phase. The cargo is considered to be in the same hex as the 
  unloading unit during the End Phase of the fi nal turn in the 
  unloading process.
  The following conditions cut down on the number of turns 
  it takes to load and unload cargo (to a minimum of 1 turn). 
  These conditions are cumulative: 
  • 
  Subtract 1 turn if two friendly conventional infantry units 
  occupy the same hex
  • 
  Subtract 1 turn for every friendly battle armor unit that 
  occupies the same hex.
  • 
  Subtract 1 turn if any of the battle armor units mount 
  cargo lifter manipulators (see p. 229).
  • 
  Subtract 1 turn if the cargo is being loaded or unloaded 
  into or from a dedicated cargo bay (as opposed to 
  strapped or slung on as unprotected cargo).
  Dropping Cargo: A hauling unit may drop its cargo 
  (as opposed to unloading, as described above) during its 
  Movement Phase by expending 1 MP and declaring that it is 
  dumping all its cargo. The dropped cargo remains in the hex 
  where it was dropped, regardless of whether the dropping 
  unit is grounded or airborne.
  Cargo dumped in this fashion may be destroyed. For 
  ground units dumping cargo, roll 1D6. On a result of 1–3, all 
  the dumped cargo is destroyed; on a result of 4–6, the cargo is 
  undamaged. For airborne units dumping cargo, roll 1D6. On a 
  result of 1–5, all the dumped cargo is destroyed; on a result of 
  6, the cargo is undamaged. Undamaged cargo may be picked 
  up in a subsequent turn using the rules above.
  Combat: Any successful attack on a unit carrying 
  unprotected cargo also strikes the cargo. If the cargo is infantry, 
  the attacking weapon applies its damage as though it were 
  an attack from another infantry unit (see p. 216). Determine 
  hit location and damage against the carrying unit as normal; 
  unprotected cargo does not reduce this damage. For every 
  point of damage applied to the carrying unit, a ton of cargo 
  is destroyed.
  ’Mech Lifting Capabilities: In some situations, a 
  MechWarrior may want his machine to lift and carry a piece 
  of equipment. A ’Mech may not pick up another unit. Only 
  ’Mechs with functioning hand actuators may pick up an object. 
  To pick up an object, a ’Mech must end its Movement Phase in 
  the same hex as the object, it must have an undamaged hand 
  actuator in both arms and it may make no weapon or physical 
  attacks that turn. A ’Mech can pick up objects weighing up to 
  ten percent of its tonnage (this is increased to 20 percent of the 
  ’Mech mounts operating Triple Strength Myomer, see p. 143). 
  While the ’Mech is carrying the object, it cannot fi re any arm 
  or forward-fi ring torso-mounted weapons, make punching or 
  pushing attacks, use a club or make physical weapon attacks, 
  though it may charge, kick and execute death-from-above 
  attacks. In addition, the ’Mech suff ers the limitations described 
  in Cargo Carriers, above.
   
  Force Composition
  Both sides start with an equal number of units. 
  Battle Value: If using the BV system, each side should be 
  worth an equal number of points.
  Victory Conditions
  If the attacker can move a unit carrying the extraction target 
  off  his home map edge, he wins the scenario. Otherwise, the 
  defender wins.
  Battle Value: If using the BV system, determine victory as 
  follows. The defender scores points normally. However, the 
  attacker scores only the point value for each opposing ’Mech 
  he destroys (instead of twice their point value, as normal). The 
  attacker loses points normally for each of his ’Mechs that the 
  defender destroys. If the attacking player manages to move 
  the extraction target off  his home map edge, he scores points 
  equal to the total points used to buy forces for the defender’s 
  side in the scenario.
  BREAKTHROUGH
  In a breakthrough scenario, the attacking player’s forces have 
  become trapped behind enemy lines. To reach safety, the units 
  must cross the map and break through the defender’s forces.
  Use one more mapsheet than the standard single map for 
  every four units (see Selecting Mapsheets, p. 262). For example, 
  if eight units will be in play, use three mapsheets rather than 
  two. If you have fewer than the needed number of mapsheets, 
  
  simply use all available mapsheets. Place the mapsheets in a 
  single, long row with their short edges touching.
  Next, both players roll 2D6. The player who gets the higher 
  result may choose to play the defender or the attacker. The 
  attacker then chooses one of the narrow edges of the map as the 
  place from which his forces will enter. The attacker’s home edge is 
  the one opposite the entry edge. The attacker’s objective is to exit 
  his forces at his home map edge.
  The defender may set up his forces in any hexes on the map, 
  and may position up to half of his units (round down) using the 
  Hidden Units rules, p. 259.
  Force Composition
  Both sides should have the same number of units. 
  Battle Value: If using the BV system, each side should be worth 
  the same number of points.
  Victory Conditions
  The scenario ends when all the defending units have been 
  destroyed or retreated off  the map, or when all attacking units 
  have retreated, been destroyed or been crippled. For this type of 
  scenario, units become crippled when they lose one or more legs 
  or their gyros are destroyed. Attacking units may intentionally exit 
  the map only at their home edge; a unit exiting from any other 
  edge has retreated.
  If all the attacking units survive and exit at their home edge, 
  the attacking player wins a Decisive victory. If all the attacking 
  forces are destroyed or crippled, or none exit at their home edge, 
  the defending player wins a Decisive victory. If the players meet 
  neither of these conditions, consult the Breakthrough Victory 
  Points Table to determine each player’s Victory Points. The player 
  with the most points wins a Marginal victory. 
  If both players score the same number of Victory Points, the 
  scenario ends in a draw. 
  Battle Value: If players are using the BV system to buy their forces, 
  Victory Points are allocated somewhat diff erently. The defender 
  scores points normally, though he gains only half the listed points 
  for enemy units forced off  the wrong edge of the map. The attacker 
  scores the unmodifi ed point value for destroying opposing ’Mechs, 
  instead of twice their point value. He also scores the unmodifi ed 
  point value for each attacking unit that exits the map via the 
  attacker’s home map edge. The attacker loses points normally for 
  any of his own ’Mechs that the defender destroys. Determine the 
  level of victory as normal, based on each side’s fi nal score.
  CHASE
  In a chase scenario, the attacker’s forces must race across the 
  map to reach their DropShip before a larger force of pursuing 
  defenders can reach them. Chase scenarios use the same rules as 
  breakthrough scenarios, with the following exceptions.
  The defending player does not deploy his forces until Turn 2. 
  During Turn 1, attacking units may enter and move unopposed per 
  standard rules. The defending units enter during the Movement 
  Phase of Turn 2, from the same map edge as the attacking units.
  Force Composition
  Set the defender’s force at twice the size of the attacking force. 
  For example, if the attackers form a single lance, the defending 
  force should contain two lances. 
  Battle Value: Under the BV system, the defending force should 
  be worth twice the point value of the attacker’s force.
  SELECTING MAPSHEETS
  After selecting a scenario type, determine the terrain by selecting 
  mapsheets. Certain scenarios require specifi c types of mapsheets 
  according to their descriptions. In most scenarios, however, players 
  can simply select whichever mapsheets they like or make random 
  dice rolls and consult the appropriate mapsheet tables. 
  Before selecting mapsheets, determine how many you want to 
  use. For most BattleTech play, an appropriate ratio is one mapsheet 
  for every four units. For example, a scenario that pits one lance of 
  attackers against one lance of defenders (eight units total) works 
  best with two mapsheets. A scenario that pits one company of 
  attackers against a company of defenders (twenty-four total 
  units) works best with six mapsheets. Diff erent scenarios may 
  work best with other mapsheet/unit ratios, so check the scenario 
  type description.
  USING THE MAPSHEET TABLES
  Players may either select a terrain type and then roll 1D6 to 
  determine each map used, or roll 2D6 to determine the terrain type 
  for the scenario and then roll 1D6 to determine the specifi c maps. 
  Before play begins, one player rolls 2D6. The result indicates which 
  terrain table is used. For example, on a result of 7, use the Flatlands 
  DF 
  DF
  BREAKTHROUGH VICTORY 
  POINTS TABLE
  Attacker
  2 points for each attacking unit that safely exits at home edge
  1 point for each defending unit destroyed
  Defender
  3 points for each attacking unit destroyed or crippled
  2 points for each attacking unit forced to retreat off  the map
  A Castillian Brigada Vulcan and Pegasus on patrol in the Deep Periphery. 
  
  263
  263
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  MAPSHEET TABLES
  2D6
  Terrain
  2
  Hills
  3
  Badlands
  4
  Wetlands
  5
  Light Urban
  6
  Hills
  7
  Flatlands
  8
  Wooded
  9
  Heavy Urban
  10
  Coastal
  11
  Wooded
  12
  Mountains
  Table 1: Flatlands Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  Open Terrain #1 (MS5, MSC1)
  2
  Open Terrain #2 (MS5, MSC1)
  3
  Desert Hills (MS2, MSC1)
  4
  City Ruins (MS2, MSC1)
  5
  CityTech Map (MS2, MSC1)
  6
  Scattered Woods (MS2, MSC1)
  Table 2: Hill Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  Desert Hills (MS2, MSC1)
  2
  Rolling Hills #1 (MS3, MSC1)
  3
  Rolling Hills #2 (MS3, MSC1)
  4
  Woodland (MS6, MSC2)
  5
  Box Canyon (MS6, MSC2)
  6
  BattleForce (MS6, MSC2)
  Table 3: Mountain Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  Mountain Lake (MS2, MSC1)
  2
  River Valley (MS2, MSC1)
  3
  Desert Mountain #1 (MS3, MSC1)
  4
  Desert Mountain #2 (MS3, MSC1)
  5
  Large Mountain #1 (MS5, MSC1)
  6
  Large Mountain #2 (MS5, MSC1)
  Table 4: Badlands Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  Desert Sinkhole #1 
  (MS3, MSC1)
  2
  Desert Sinkhole #2 
  (MS3, MSC1)
  3
  Moonscape #1 (MS5, MSC1)
  4
  Moonscape #2 (MS5, MSC1)
  5
  Desert Mountain #1 
  (MS3, MSC1)
  6
  Desert Mountain #2 
  (MS3, MSC1)
  Table 5: Wetlands Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  Wide River (MS6, MSC2)
  2
  Lake Area (MS2, MSC1)
  3
  Large Lakes #1 (MS4, MSC1)
  4
  Large Lakes #2 (MS4, MSC1)
  5
  River Delta/Drainage Basin #1 
  (MS4, MSC1)
  6
  River Delta/Drainage Basin #2 
  (MS4, MSC1)
  Table 6: Wooded Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  Scattered Woods (MS2, MSC2)
  2
  BattleTech (CBT, MS2, MSC1)
  3
  Woodland (MS6, MSC2)
  4
  Rolling Hills #1 (MS3, MSC1)
  5
  Heavy Forest #1 (MS4, MSC1)
  6
  Heavy Forest #2 (MS4, MSC1)
  Table 7: Light Urban Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  City (Residential) (MS6, MSC2)
  2
  City (Suburbs) (MS6, MSC2)
  3
  City (Hills/Residential) #1 (MS3, 
  MSC1)
  4
  City (Hills/Residential) #2 (MS3, 
  MSC1)
  5
  City Street Grid/Park #1 (MS4, 
  MSC1)
  6
  City Street Grid/Park #2 (MS4, 
  MSC1)
  Table 8: Heavy Urban Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  Military Base #1 (MS7)
  2
  Military Base #2 (MS7)
  3
  Drop Port #1 (MS7)
  4
  Drop Port #2 (MS7)
  5
  City (Skyscraper) (MS6, MSC2)
  6
  City (Downtown) (MS6, MSC2)
  Table 9: Coastal Terrain
  1D6
  Mapsheet
  1
  Archipelago #1 (MS7)
  2
  Archipelago #2 (MS7)
  3
  Coast #1 (MS7)
  4
  Coast #2 (MS7)
  5
  Seaport (MS7)
  6
  River Delta/Drainage Basin #1 
  (MS4, MSC1)
  Abbreviations: MS = Map Set, MSC = Map Set Compilation, 
  CBT = Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set
  
  Terrain Table; on a result of 6, the Hill Terrain Table; and so on. Players 
  may simply select a specifi c Terrain Table and skip this step. 
  Next, select mapsheets from the appropriate table by rolling 
  1D6. If using two mapsheets, roll twice; if using four mapsheets, 
  roll four times; and so on.
  Note: All of the mapsheet tables assume that players possess at 
  least one copy each of BattleTech Map Sets 2–6 (or one set each 
  of Classic BattleTech Map Set Compilation 1 and Classic BattleTech 
  Map Set Compilation 2), as well as Map Set 7. (For easy reference, 
  each mapsheet name is followed by an abbreviation of the map 
  set or boxed game that contains the mapsheet.) If any roll result 
  indicates an unavailable mapsheet, repeat the roll.
  Laying Out Mapsheets
  To begin laying out mapsheets, the players roll 2D6. The player 
  with the higher result places the fi rst selected mapsheet on the 
  table or fl oor. The other player then places the next selected 
  mapsheet. The players continue to alternate laying out the 
  remaining mapsheets.
  Each mapsheet must be placed with one of its short edges 
  touching the short edge of a mapsheet already placed or with one 
  of its long edges touching the long edge of a mapsheet already 
  placed. In addition, unless players agree otherwise or the specifi cs 
  of a scenario call for an unusual set-up, the mapsheets must form 
  a continuous rectangular or square playing area. Within these and 
  any guidelines provided in the scenario type description, players 
  may arrange the mapsheets as they see fi t.
  UNIT GENERATION
  After selecting the scenario type and mapsheets, generate 
  the units that will take part in the scenario. Players can generate 
  their forces in three ways. They may simply assemble any units 
  they wish, perhaps based on the unit descriptions provided in the 
  Field Manual series. A unit’s battlefi eld strength is determined by 
  its size, weight class, equipment and experience level, so players 
  who want to create evenly matched battles should take note of 
  these factors when assembling their forces. Players should also 
  select appropriately sized forces for the chosen scenario.
  Alternatively, players may use dice rolls to randomly generate 
  forces. When using this system, players fi rst determine their forces’ 
  composition, then assign units and fi nally set unit experience 
  levels. This system may not always produce evenly matched forces, 
  but players may increase the likelihood of generating balanced 
  forces by setting a specifi c weight class, equipment rating and 
  experience level for both sides before rolling the dice.
  Battle Value: The most accurate method of force generation is 
  to purchase forces for each side using Battle Value points (see p. 
  256). By setting a point level for each side, the players are free to 
  choose any forces they wish within the point limit and need not 
  rely on luck. 
  The following tables assist mainly in assigning forces randomly, 
  though players can also use them with the BV point system. 
  Players should not use these tables to construe what constitutes a 
  standard lance weight (or even composition) for various factions 
  within the fi ctional universe. They are provided here simply as a 
  quick and convenient way to help players generate forces and 
  jump into playing the game.
  FORCE COMPOSITION
  Begin assembling forces by determining the size of each 
  force. Often, the specifi c conditions of a scenario may suggest a 
  particular size. Players may wish to consider available playing time 
  as well—larger engagements may take considerably longer to 
  complete than smaller ones. Most engagements pit lance against 
  lance, whether ’Mechs, vehicles, aerospace fi ghters, infantry or a 
  combination of various units (though combination battles tend to 
  be company-sized or larger), but players may use any size forces 
  they desire.
  After determining the size of each force, determine its weight 
  class. For lance-sized forces, roll 2D6 and consult the Lance Type 
  section on the Random Weight Class Tables. For company-sized 
  forces, roll 1D6 and consult the Company Type section of the 
  table. If a company-sized force contains more than three lances, 
  use the Lance Type section to determine the weight class of the 
  extra lances.
  In an Inner Sphere force, some or all of the units may be combat 
  vehicles and infantry instead of BattleMechs. Normally, the players 
  make this choice, though they can also randomly generate each 
  unit’s type using the Unit Type Table. Keep in mind that using 
  the Unit Type Table will likely result in high numbers of combat 
  vehicles, as such units are far more common than BattleMechs 
  in Inner Sphere armies. Clan units usually consist of ’Mechs and 
  battle armor unless a scenario specifi cally calls for other types of 
  units or players are using the point system.
  Finally players should note that while ‘Mechs remain the kings 
  of the battlefi eld, often a combined-arms approach is the best 
  • MAP COMBINATIONS • 
  • ALLOWABLE: 1, 2 •
  • NOT ALLOWABLE: 3, 4 •
  1
  2
  3
  4
  
  265
  265
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  2D6 Result
  Star Weight Classes (Binary)
  Star Weight Classes (Trinary)
  2–4
  2 Light
  3 Light
  5–6
  2 Medium
  1 Light, 1 Medium, 1 Heavy
  7
  1 Light, 1 Medium
  2 Light, 1 Heavy
  8
  1 Medium, 1 Heavy
  1 Light, 1 Heavy, 1 Assault
  9
  1 Heavy, 1 Assault
  2 Heavy, 1 Assault
  10–11
  2 Heavy
  1 Medium, 1 Heavy, 1 Assault
  12
  Supernova Binary (roll again for weight classes)
  Supernova Trinary (roll again for weight classes)
  LANCE WEIGHT COMPOSITION TABLE
  1D6 Roll
  Light Lance
  Medium Lance
  Heavy Lance
  Assault Lance
  1
  4 Light
  1 Light, 2 Med., 1 Heavy
  1 Medium, 3 Heavy
  1 Medium, 1 Heavy, 
  2 Assault
  2–3
  3 Light, 1 Medium
  4 Medium
  4 Heavy
  2 Heavy, 2 Assault
  4–5
  2 Light, 2 Medium
  3 Medium, 1 Heavy
  1 Med., 2 Heavy, 1 Assault
  1 Heavy, 3 Assault
  6
  2 Light, 1 Med., 1 Heavy
  2 Medium, 2 Heavy
  3 Heavy, 1 Assault
  4 Assault
  STAR WEIGHT COMPOSITION TABLE
  1D6 Roll
  Light Star
  Medium Star
  Heavy Star
  Assault Star
  1
  5 Light
  1 Light, 4 Medium
  2 Med., 3 Heavy
  1 Med., 2 Hvy, 2 Assault
  2–3
  4 Light, 1 Medium
  5 Medium
  1 Med., 4 Heavy
  4 Heavy, 1 Assault
  4–5
  3 Light, 2 Medium
  4 Med., 1 Heavy
  5 Heavy
  3 Heavy, 2 Assault
  6
  2 Light, 2 Med., 1 Heavy
  3 Med., 2 Heavy
  1 Med., 3 Hvy, 1 Assault
  2 Heavy, 3 Assault
  RANDOM WEIGHT-CLASS TABLES
  RANDOM BINARY/TRINARY TYPE
  Unit Type
  1D6 Result
  Unit
  1
  Battle armor/Infantry
  2–4
  Combat vehicle
  5
  ’Mech
  6
  Aerospace fi ghter
  Random Lance Type
  2D6 Result
  Weight Class
  2–3
  Battle armor
  4–5
  Light
  6–7
  Medium
  8–9
  Heavy
  10–11
  Assault
  12
  Aerospace fi ghter
  Random Star Type
  2D6 Result
  Weight Class
  2
  Battle armor
  3
  ProtoMech
  4–5
  Light
  6–7
  Medium
  8–9
  Heavy
  10
  Assault
  11
  Aerospace fi ghter
  12
  Nova (roll again for 
  weight class)
  Random Company Type
  1D6 Result
  Lance Weight Classes
  1
  1 Light, 2 Medium
  2
  1 Light, 1 Medium, 
  1 Heavy
  3
  2 Medium, 1 Heavy
  4
  1 Light, 2 Heavy
  5
  3 Heavy
  6
  2 Heavy, 1 Assault
  
  allocation of forces, as it allows infantry to deal with infantry and 
  vehicles with vehicles, while ‘Mechs take the most dangerous 
  enemy on the board: another ‘Mech. In the end, of course, it is 
  ultimately up to the players to decide what is most enjoyable.
  After determining the weight classes of the lances or Stars in 
  each force, use the Lance or Star Weight Composition Table to 
  determine the weight classes of the units in each lance or Star. 
  Aerospace Units: Aerospace fi ghters do not have an assault 
  class, so players should simply take a heavy fi ghter. DropShips 
  represent a special case, as they are signifi cantly more powerful 
  than any other ground-based force. Players should not choose 
  DropShips unless the scenario specifi cally calls for it, or both 
  players agree to their inclusion in the game.
  Clans: To refl ect the unique confi guration of Clan forces, use the 
  following guidelines. For Star-sized forces, roll 2D6 and consult the 
  Star Type section on the Random Weight Class Tables. A result of 12 
  indicates a Nova, consisting of a Star of OmniMechs and a Star of 
  battle armor. Roll again to determine the weight class of the ’Mechs 
  in the Nova, re-rolling a result of 2 or 12; also roll to determine 
  which specifi c battle armor units are deployed in the Nova. Nova 
  ´Mech Stars must contain OmniMechs, so second-line units should 
  re-roll Nova results. For Binary- and Trinary-sized forces, roll 2D6 
  and consult the Random Binary/Trinary Type Table.
  ComStar and Word of Blake: The table on p. 265 provides 
  weight classes and compositions for standard Inner Sphere and 
  Clan forces. For ComStar and Word of Blake forces (which operate 
  in formations of six), use the Inner Sphere tables, modifi ed as 
  follows: for a Level II formation (6 units), start with a random lance 
  weight and add one additional unit of the heaviest and lightest 
  weight classes. For example, a Lance Type roll result of 1 on the 
  Medium Lance Composition Table normally results in 1 Light, 2 
  Medium and 1 Heavy ’Mech. A ComStar Level II formation adds a 
  light and a heavy ’Mech to this confi guration. 
  Bidding
  When playing a game involving Clan forces on both sides, 
  players can add the element of batchall to the force selection 
  process. First, the players set the size of the defending force. Then, 
  starting with the number of units that the attacker would normally 
  be allowed in the scenario, the players take turns bidding away 
  units from the attacking force to determine which of them will 
  have the honor of being the attacker. The lowest bidder becomes 
  the attacker. If neither player is willing to bid away any portion of 
  the attacking force, determine the attacker randomly.
  As long as the attacker bids away some portion of his starting 
  force, he receives the following bonuses. He may add +1 to the 
  dice roll result when rolling on the Random Experience Rating 
  Table, and he gains a +1 Initiative bonus for the entire scenario, 
  in addition to any other Initiative bonuses to which he may be 
  entitled. If the attacker bids away half or more of his starting force, 
  double these bonuses to 2.
  ASSIGNING ’MECHS
  After determining the weight classes of the units in each force, 
  use the appropriate Random Assignment Tables to determine the 
  specifi c unit designs.
  To use the Random Assignment Tables, roll 2D6 and cross-
  reference the result with the appropriate weight class of the unit 
  involved (if the unit has a weight class) on the appropriate faction 
  column. Often, scenarios determine which factions are involved, 
  but players can choose whatever faction they like as well; feel free 
  to peruse the various fi ction pieces in Total Warfare to see if the 
  “feel” of a faction grabs your interest.
  Weight: For ease of reference, every unit on the Random 
  Assignment Tables has its weight in brackets following the name. 
  In the case of battle armor, the information in brackets represents 
  their weight class.
  Note: The units on the Random Assignment Tables represent a 
  “plain vanilla” selection of a faction’s force, circa 3070. Players can 
  generate much more detailed faction-specifi c units using faction-
  specifi c tables from the various Field Manuals, or they can use the 
  comprehensive Faction Force Tables at www.classicbattletech.com 
  to select appropriate units. Players can also use the Battle Value 
  system, in conjunction with these tables, the tables in the various 
  Field Manuals, or the Faction Force Tables, to determine the force 
  they wish to deploy.
  For ease of use, the tables have been annotated to show which 
  technical readouts contain which units: (3025) is Technical Readout: 
  3025, Revised; (3026) is Technical Readout: 3026, Revised; (3050) is 
  Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrade; (3055) is Technical Readout: 3055 
  Upgrade; (3057) is Technical Readout: 3057, Revised; (3058) is Technical 
  Readout: 3058 Upgrade; (3060) is Technical Readout: 3060; (3067) is 
  Technical Readout: 3067; and (PP) is Technical Readout: Project Phoenix.
  The units on the tables below represent the stock design as 
  presented in the various technical readouts. Almost all units have 
  numerous variants that provide a diff erent assortment of weapons 
  and so on, many of them faction-specifi c, which can be found in 
  various record sheet books (see Record Sheets, p. 11).
  If players do not have a specifi c technical readout or record 
  sheet for said unit, they can substitute another unit of equal 
  weight from another portion of the table. Players should stay 
  within the same faction (using the Faction Force Tables, as noted 
  above, as a guide), or at least stay on an Inner Sphere table if 
  rolling for an Inner Sphere faction and on the Clan table if rolling 
  for a Clan faction.
  DF 
  DF
  A Clan Steel Viper Marauder IIC 2 faces down a Word of Blake Buccaneer. 
  
  267
  267
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  RANDOM ’MECH ASSIGNMENT TABLE: INNER SPHERE 1
  Light ’Mechs
  2D6
  House Kurita
  House Davion
  House Liao
   House Marik
  2
  HM-1 Hitman [30] (3055)
  RTX1-O Raptor [25] (3058)*
  JA-KL-1532 Jackal [30] (3055)
  ZPH-1A Tarantula [25] (3055)
  3
  JR7-D Jenner [30] (3025)
  HNT-171 Hornet [20] (3050)
  JR7-D Jenner [35] (3025)
  ZPH-1A Tarantula [25] (3055)
  4
  OW-1 Owens [35] (3058)*
  ALM-7D Fireball [20] (3055)
  RVN-3L Raven [35] (3050)
  JA-KL-1532 Jackal [30] (3055)
  5
  PN-10K Panther [35] (3050)
  JVN-10P Javelin [30] (3050)
  UM-R63 UrbanMech [30] (3050)
  HER-3S Hermes [30] (3050)
  6
  RTX1-OC Raptor [25] (3058)*
  WLF-2 Wolfhound [35] (3050)
  FS9-S Firestarter [35] (3050)
  SDR-7M Spider [30] (3050)
  7
  RTX1-O Raptor [25] (3058)*
  JVN-10P Javelin [30] (3050)
  RVN-3L Raven [35] (3050)
  HMR-3M Hammer [30] (3055)
  8
  SDR-9K Venom [35] (3055)
  COM-5S Commando [25] (3050)
  SDR-5V Spider [30] (3025)
  HMR-3M Hammer [30] (3055)
  9
  JR7-K Jenner [35] (3050)
  VLK-QD1 Valkyrie [30] (PP)
  C-SK1 Cossack [20] (3060)
  JR7-D Jenner [35] (3025)
  10
  SDR-7M Spider [30] (3050)
  DRT-3S Dart [25] (3055)
  ZPH-1A Tarantula [25] (3055)
  HER-3S Hermes [30] (3050)
  11
  KBO-7A Kabuto [20] (3067)
  BH-305 Battle Hawk [35] (3055)
  JVN-10N Javelin [30] (3025)
  FNHK-9K Falcon Hawk [35] (3058)
  12
  PTN-9R Panther [35] (3025)
  SPR-5F Spector [35] (3058)
  UM-R60 UrbanMech [30] (3025)
  ZPH-1A Tarantula [25] (3055)
  Medium ’Mechs
  2D6
  House Kurita
  House Davion
  House Liao
   House Marik
  2
  KTO-20 Kintaro [55] (3055)
  ENF-6M Enforcer III [50] (3060)
  BJ2-OE Blackjack [50] (3058)*
  FS9-OF Firestarter [45] (3058)*
  3
  BSN-3K Bishamon [45] (3060)
  FS9-O Firestarter [45] (3058)*
  SYU-2B Sha Yu [40] (3067)
  APL-1M Apollo [55] (3055)
  4
  WFT-1 Wolf Trap [45] (3050)
  STH-1D Stealth [45] (3055)
  HUR-WO-R4L Huron Warrior [50] (3055)
  CDA-3M Cicada [40] (3050)
  5
  DMO-1K Daimyo [40] (3055)
  BJ-2 Blackjack [45] (3050)
  VND-3L Vindicator [45] (3050)
  HER-2S Hermes II [40] (3025)
  6
  BJ2-O Blackjack [50] (3058)*
  WTH-2 Whitworth [40] (3050)
  DV-7D Dervish [55] (3050)
  TBT-7M Trebuchet [50] (3050)
  7
  FS9-O Firestarter [45] (3058)*
  ENF-5D Enforcer [50] (3050)
  VND-3L Vindicator [45] (3050)
  HER-5S Hermes II [40] (3050)
  8
  SR1-OD Strider [40] (3058)*
  HCT-5S Hatchetman [45] (3050)
  BJ-2 Blackjack [45] (3050)
  HBK-5M Hunchback [50] (3050)
  9
  KIM-2 Komodo [45] (3055)
  CN9-D Centurion [50] (3050)
  CLNT-2-3U Clint [40] (3050)
  B1-HND Bloodhound [45] (3067)
  10
  WFT-1 Wolf Trap [45] (3050)
  NGS-4S Nightsky [50] (3055)
  SNK-1V Snake [45] (3055)
  TBT-7M Trebuchet [50] (3050)
  11
  WVR-8K Wolverine [55] (PP)
  SNT-04 Sentry [40] (3060)
  HUR-WO-R4L Huron Warrior [50] (3055)
  TR1 Wraith [55] (3055)
  12
  LNX-9C Lynx [55] (3058)
  SR1-O Strider [40] (3058)*
  MS1-O Men Shen [55] (3060)*
  BJ2-OE Blackjack [50] (3058)*
  Heavy ’Mechs
  2D6
  House Kurita
  House Davion
  House Liao
   House Marik
  2
  NJT-2 Ninja-To [65] (3067)
  TNS-4S Thanatos [75] (3067)
  THR-1L Thunder [70] (3055)
  TDR-9M Thunderbolt [65] (PP)
  3
  DGR-3F Dragon Fire [75] (3058)
  OTL-6D Ostsol [60] (PP)
  ON1-K Orion [75] (3025)
  ANV-3M Anvil [60] (3055)
  4
  AV1-OA Avatar [70] (3058)*
  AXM-1N Axman [65] (3050)
  LHU-2B Lao Hu [75] (3067)
  GLT-5M Guillotine [70] (3050)
  5
  BHKU-O Black Hawk-KU [60] (3058)*
  CES-3R Caesar [70] (3050)
   TSG-9H Ti Ts’ang [60] (3060)
  TMP-3M Tempest [65] (3055)
  6
  DAI-01 Daikyu [70] (3055)
  PTR-4D Penetrator [75] (3055)
   JN-G8A Jinggau [65] (3060)
  ON1-M Orion [75] (3050)
  7
  DRG-5K Grand Dragon [60] (3050)
  JM6-DD JagerMech [65] (3050)
  MAD-5L Marauder [75] (PP)
  ON1-M Orion [75] (3050)
  8
  DRG-5K Grand Dragon [60] (3050)
  FLC-8R Falconer [75] (3055)
  GHR-5H Grasshopper [70] (3025)
  CPLT-C1 Catapult [65] (3025)
  9
  MTR-5K Maelstrom [75] (3058)
  JM6-D3 JagerMech III [65] (3060)
  CPLT-C1 Catapult [65] (3025)
  GLT-5M Guillotine [70] (3050)
  10
  SJA-7D Shugenja [75] (3060)
  WHM-8D Warhammer [70] (PP)
  ANV-3M Anvil [60] (3055)
  YMN-6Y Yeoman [65] (3060)
  11
  CDR-5K Crusader [65] (PP)
  CTF-3D Cataphract [70] (3050)
  OSR-4L Ostroc [60] (PP)
  HRC-LS-9000 Hercules [70] (3055)
  12
  NDA-1K No Dachi [70] (3067)
  RFL-8D Rifl eman [60] (PP)
  HEL-3D Helios [60] (3060)
  P1 Perseus [75] (3067)*
  Assault ’Mechs
  2D6
  House Kurita
  House Davion
  House Liao
   House Marik
  2
  TSH-7S Tai-sho [85] (3060)
  DVS-02 Devastator [100] (3058)
  SRC-3C Sirocco [95] (3060)
  ALB-3U Albatross [95] (3055)
  3
  NG-C3A Naginata [95] (3055)
  TLR1-O Templar [85] (3067)*
  AWS-9M Awesome [80] (3050)
  CGR-1A1 Charger [80] (3025)
  4
  HTM-27T Hatamoto-Chi [80] (3050)
  AWS-8Q Awesome [80] (3025)
  MR-V2 Cerberus [95] (3055)
  T-IT-N10M Grand Titan [100] (3055)
  5
  SD1-O Sunder [90] *
  GUN-1ERD Gunslinger [85] (3055)
  AS7-K Atlas [100] (3050)
  STK-5M Stalker [85] (3050)
  6
  AS7-K Atlas [100] (3058)
  VTR-9K Victor [80] (3050)
  EMP-6A Emperor [90] (3058)
  AS7-D Atlas [100] (3025)
  7
  HTM-27T Hatamoto-chi [80] (3050)
  VTR-9K Victor [80] (3050)
  AWS-8Q Awesome [80] (3025)
  AWS-9M Awesome [80] (3050)
  8
  MAL-1R Mauler [90] (3050)
  AS7-K Atlas [100] (3050)
  STK-5M Stalker [85] (3050)
  AWS-9M Awesome [80] (3050)
  9
  CRK-5003-2 Katana [85] (3050)
  VTR-9B Victor [80] (3025)
  PLG-3Z Pillager [100] (3058)
  AS7-K Atlas [100] (3050)
  10
  CGR-3K Charger [80] (3050)
  LGB-12C Longbow [85] (PP)
  T-IT-N10M Grand Titan [100] (3055)
  MR-V2 Cerberus [95] (3055)
  11
  SD1-OB Sunder [90] (3058)*
  BNC-5S Banshee [90] (3050)
  CP-11-A Cyclops [90] (3050)
  LGB-7Q Longbow [85] (3055)
  12
  AKU-1X Akuma [90] (3060)
  SGT-8R Sagittaire [95] (3067)
  Y-H9G Yu Huang [90] (3060)
  GRN-D-01 Grand Crusader [80] (3055)
  *OmniMech
  
  RANDOM ’MECH ASSIGNMENT TABLE: INNER SPHERE 2
  Light ’Mechs
  2D6
  House Steiner
  ComStar
  Word of Blake
  Periphery
  2
  OSR-3D Osiris [30] (3067) 
  SPR-5F Spector [35] (3058)
  RDS-2A Red Shift [20] (3067)
  NTK-2Q Night Hawk [35] (3058)
  3
  STO-4A Stiletto [35] (3060)
  HSR-200-D Hussar [30] (3050)
  HSR-200-D Hussar [30] (3050)
  THE-S Thorn [25] (3025)
  4
  BZK-F3 Hollander[35] (3055)
  THE-N Thorn [20] (3050)
  MON-66 Mongoose [25] (3050)
  ABS-3L Anubis [30] (3067)
  5
  WLF-2 Wolfhound [35] (3050)
  MCY-99 Mercury [20] (3050)
  MCY-99 Mercury [20] (3050)
  PNT-9R Panther [35] (3025)
  6
  COM-5S Commando [25] (3050)
  HER-1S Hermes [30] (3050)
  SDR-7M Spider [30] (3050)
  JR7-D Jenner [35] (3025)
  7
  FS9-S Firestarter [35] (3050)
  RTX-O Raptor [25] (3058)*
  NXS2-A Nexus II [25] (3055)
  MON-67 Mongoose [25] (3025)
  8
  NTK-2Q Night Hawk [35] (3058)
  OW-1 Owens [35] (3058)*
  HMR-3M Hammer [30] (3055)
  FS9-H Firestarter [35] (3025)
  9
  DRT-3S Dart [25] (3055)
  HM-1 Hitman [30] (3055)
  EGL-2M Eagle [25] (3055)
  JVN-10N Javelin [30] (3025)
  10
  RZK-9S Razorback [30] (3067)
  RTX1-O Raptor [25] (3058)*
  GUR-2G Gurkha [35] (3067)
  STG-5R Stinger [20] (PP)
  11
  ALM-7D Fireball [20] (3055)
  C-SK1 Cossack [20] (3060)
  LCT-5M Locust [20] (PP)
  HMR-3M Hammer [30] (3055)
  12
  TLN-5W Talon [35] (3058)
  OTT-9CS Ostscout [35] (PP)
  TLN-5W Talon [35] (3058)
  LDT-1 Brigand [25] (3067)
  Medium ’Mechs
  2D6
  House Steiner
  ComStar
  Word of Blake
  Periphery
  2
  GRF-6S Griffi  n [55] (PP)
  LNX-9Q Lynx [55] (3055)
  BJ2-OA Blackjack [50] (3058)*
  HCT-3F Hatchetman [45] (3025)
  3
  BTZ-3F Blitzkrieg [50] (3060)
  BJ2-OD Blackjack [50] (3058)*
  APL-1M Apollo [55] (3055)
  HBK-4G Hunchback [50] (3025)
  4
  ENF-5D Enforcer [50] (3050)
  CLNT-2-3U Clint [40] (3050)
  GRM-R-PR29 Grim Reaper [55] (3055)
  DV-6M Dervish [55] (3025)
  5
  HCT-5S Hatchetman [50] (3050)
  END-6Q Enfi eld [50] (3058)
  LGH-4W Lightray [55] (3067)
  TBT-5N Trebuchet [50] (3025)
  6
  STH-1D Stealth [45] (3055)
  BEO-12 Beowulf [45] (3060)
  INI-02 Initiate [40] (3060)
  VL-2T Vulcan [40] (3025)
  7
  NGS-4S Nightsky [50] (3055)
  BJ-2 Blackjack [45] (3050)
  FS9-O Firestarter [45] (3058)*
  WTH-1 Whitworth [40] (3025)
  8
  HBK-4G Hunchback [50] (3025)
  HBK-4G Hunchback [50] (3025)
  HBK-4G Hunchback [50] (3025)
  HBK-4G Hunchback [50] (3025)
  9
  UZL-3S Uziel [50] (3060)
  FS9-O Firestarter [45] (3058)*
  BCN-3R Buccaneer [55] (3060)
  ASN-21 Assassin [40] (3025)
  10
  CN9-D Centurion [50] (3050)
  TSN-1C Tessen [50] (3067)
  RJN-200-A Raijin II [50] (3055)
  BJ-1 Blackjack [45] (3025)
  11
  STY-3C Starslayer [50] (3058)
  GRM-R-PR29 Grim Reaper [55] (3055)
  TBT-7M Trebuchet [50] (3050)
  BJ-1 Blackjack [45] (3025)
  12
  SCP-12S Scorpion [55] (PP)
  DV-6M Dervish [55] (3025)
  BLF-21 Blue Flame [45] (3067)
  MHL-X1 Marshal [55] (3060)
  Heavy ’Mechs
  2D6
  House Steiner
  ComStar
  Word of Blake
  Periphery
  2
  CTS-6Y Cestus [65] (3058)
  BMB-12D Bombardier [65] (3050)
  MAD-5L Marauder [75] (PP)
  JM6-S JagerMech [65] (3025)
  3
  AXM-1N Axman [65] (3050)
  CHP-3N Champion [60] (3050)
  YMN-6Y Yeoman [60] (3060)
  QKD-4G Quickdraw [75] (3025)
  4
  CES-3R Caesar [70] (3050)
  GLT-3N Guillotine [70] (3050)
  ANV-3M Anvil [60] (3055)
  DRG-1N Dragon [60] (3025)
  5
  GAL-1GLS Gallowglas [70] (3055)
  FLC-8R Falconer [75] (3055)
  TMP-3M Tempest [65] (3055)
  BL-7-KNT Black Knight [75] (3025)
  6
  PTR-4D Penetrator [75] (3055)
  BL-6-KNT Black Knight [75] (3050)
  FLS-8K Flashman [75] (3050)
  MLN-1A Merlin [60] (3058)
  7
  FLC-8R Falconer [75] (3055)
  FLS-8K Flashman [75] (3050)
  BL-6-KNT Black Knight [75] (3050)
  GHR-5H Grasshopper [70] (3025)
  8
  DRG-3F Dragon Fire [75] (3058)
  AV1-OE Avatar [70] (3058)*
  TYM-1A Toyama [75] (3060)
  GLT-4L Guillotine [70] (3025)
  9
  MTR-5K Maelstrom [75] (3058)
  HEL-3D Helios [60] (3060)
  WFB-3B White Flame [70] (3067)
  ON1-K Orion [75] (3025)
  10
  BGS-1T Barghest [70] (3060)
  ST-8A Shootist [70] (3058)
  AV1-OE Avatar [70] (3058)*
  CPLT-C1 Catapult [65] (3025)
  11
  VR5-R Verfolger [65] (3067)
  EXT-4D Exterminator [65] (3050)
  ARC-8M Archer [70] (PP)
  JM6-S JagerMech [65] (3025)
  12
  TNS-4S Thanatos [75] (3067)
  EXC-B2 Excalibur [70] (3058)
  TDR-9M Thunderbolt [65] (PP)
  QKD-4G Quickdraw [75] (3025)
  Assault ’Mechs
  2D6
  House Steiner
  ComStar
  Word of Blake
  Periphery
  2
  BLR-4S BattleMaster [85] (PP)
  KGC-000 King Crab [100] (3050)
  KGC-000 King Crab [100] (3050)
  CGR-1A1 Charger [80] (3025)
  3
  BRZ-A3 Berzerker [100] (3055)
  T-IT-N10M Grand Titan [100] (3055)
  AWS-8Q Awesome [80] (3025)
  KGC-0000 King Crab [100] (3025)
  4
  PPR-5S Salamander [85] (3055)
  AWS-8Q Awesome [80] (3025)
  MR-V2 Cerberus [95] (3055)
  HGN-733 Highlander [90] (3025)
  5
  HA1-O Hauptmann [95] (3060)*
  THG-11E Thug [80] (3050)
  GRN-D-04 Grand Crusader II [80] (3055)
  BNC-3E Banshee [95] (3025)
  6
  AS7-K Atlas [100] (3050)
  HGN-732 Highlander [95] (3050)
  AWS-9M Awesome [80] (3050)
  THG-10E Thug [80] (3025)
  7
  ZEU-9S Zeus [80] (3050)
  AS7-K Atlas [100] (3050)
  THG-11E Thug [80] (3050)
  AWS-8Q Awesome [80] (3025)
  8
  BNC-5S Banshee [95] (3050)
  MR-V2 Cerberus [95] (3055)
  VNQ-2A Vanquisher [100] (3067)
  CRK-5003-1 Crockett [85] (3025)
  9
  TDK-7X Thunder Hawk [100] (3058)
  VKG-2F Viking [90] (3060)
  LGC-01 Legacy [80] (3067)
  VTR-9B Victor [80] (3025)
  10
  GUN-1ERD Gunslinger [85] (3055)
  PPR-5S Salamander [85] (3055)
  T-IT-N10M Grand Titan [100] (3055)
  AS7-D Atlas [100] (3025)
  11
  MR-V2 Cerberus [95] (3055)
  STK-5M Stalker [85] (3050)
  ALB-3U Albatross [95] (3055)
  AS7-D Atlas [100] (3025)
  12
  FNR-5 Fafnir [100] (3067)
  TDR-7K Thunder Hawk [100] (3058)
  PLG-3Z Pillager [100] (3058)
  ZEU-6S Zeus [80] (3025)
  *OmniMech
  
  269
  269
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  RANDOM ’MECH ASSIGNMENT TABLE: CLAN
  Light ’Mechs
  2D6
  Clan Wolf
  Jade Falcon
  Ghost Bear
  Snow Raven
  Diamond Shark
  2
  Locust IIC 4 [20] (PP)†
  Locust IIC 4 [20] (PP)†
  Locust IIC 4 [20] (PP)†
  Baboon 2 [20] (PP)†
  Hellion Prime [30] (3067)
  3
  Puma A [35] (3050)
  Cougar C [35] (3060)
  Solitaire [25] (3067)†
  Dasher A [20] (3050)
  Solitaire [25] (3067)†
  4
  Koshi B [25] (3050)
  Hellion Prime [30] (3067)
  Koshi B [25] (3050)
  Puma C [35] (3050)
  Hankyu Prime [30] (3058)
  5
  Puma B [35] (3050)
  Fire Falcon H [25] (3058)
  Puma A [35] (3050)
  Puma A [35] (3050)
  Fire Moth Prime [20] (3050)
  6
  Dasher D [20] (3050)
  Cougar Prime [35] (3060)
  Dasher A [20] (3050)
  Dasher Prime [20] (3050)
  Hankyu C [30] (3058)
  7
  Puma Prime [35] (3050)
  Fire Falcon Prime [25] (3058)
  Dasher Prime [20] (3050)
  Uller D [30] (3050)
  Puma Prime [35] (3050)
  8
  Uller C [30] (3050)
  Uller Prime [30] (3050)
  Kit Fox C [30] (3050)
  Uller Prime [30] (3050)
  Hellion A [30] (3067)
  9
  Uller A [30] (3050)
  Uller A [30] (3050)
  Puma C [35] (3050)
  Uller B [30] (3050)
  Koshi Prime [25] (3050)
  10
  Puma C [35] (3050) 
  Fire Falcon B [25] (3058)
  Puma D [35] (3050)
  Koshi Prime [25] (3050)
  Hankyu H [30] (3058)
  11
  Koshi A [25] (3050) 
  Hellion B [30] (3067)
  Pack Hunter [30] (3060)†
  Peregrine 4 [35] (PP)†
  Piranha [20] (3058)†
  12
  Icestorm [25] (3060)†
  Spirit [35] (3067)†
  KBO-7A Kabuto [20] (3060)†
  UrbanMech IIC [30] (3060)†
  Pack Hunter [30] (3060)†
  Medium ’Mechs
  2D6
  Clan Wolf
  Jade Falcon
  Ghost Bear
  Snow Raven
  Diamond Shark
  2
  Arctic Wolf [40] (3060)†
  Pinion [45] (3067)†
  Stooping Hawk Prime [55] (3060)
  Crimson Langur Prime [50] (3067)
  Shadow Hawk IIC 4 [45] (PP)†
  3
  Fenris H [45] (3050)
  Ryoken Prime [55] (3050)
  Fenris Prime [45] (3050)
  Dragonfl y A [40] (3050)
  Hellhound 2 [50] (3055)†
  4
  Ryoken Prime [55] (3050)
  Fenris A [45] (3050)
  Dragonfl y H [40] (3050)
  Fenris Prime [45] (3050)
  Black Hawk Prime [50] (3050)
  5
  Black Hawk Prime [50] (3050)
  Dragonfl y A [40] (3050)
  Dragonfl y A [40] (3050)
  Dragonfl y Prime [40] (3050)
  Fenris Prime [45] (3050)
  6
  Phantom C [40] (3055)
  Black Lanner C [50] (3058)
  Black Hawk Prime [50] (3050)
  Black Hawk C [50] (3050)
  Grendel Prime [45] (3058)
  7
  Fenris Prime [45] (3050)
  Black Lanner Prime [50] (3058)
  Dragonfl y Prime [40] (3050)
  Black Hawk Prime [50] (3050)
  Ryoken Prime [55] (3050)
  8
  Pouncer Prime [40] (3055)
  Ryoken B [55] (3050)
  Dragonfl y B [40] (3050)
  Grendel Prime [45] (3058)
  Grendel A [45] (3058)
  9
  Phantom Prime [40] (3055)
  Black Hawk A [50] (3050)
  Ryoken C [55] (3050)
  Ryoken D [55] (3050)
  Fenris D [45] (3050)
  10
  Pouncer D [40] (3055)
  Grendel Prime [45] (3050)
  Dragonfl y C [40] (3050)
  Shadow Cat B [45] (3058)
  Shadow Cat Prime [45] (3058)
  11
  Phantom H [40] (3055)
  Hunchback IIC [50] (3058)†
  Ursus [50] (3060)†
  Phantom H [40] (3055)
  Nobori-nin A [50] (3058)
  12
  Lobo [40] (3067)†
  Phantom C [40] (3055)
  Arctic Wolf [40] (3060)†
  Clint IIC [40] (3060)†
  Griffi  n IIC 4 [40] (PP)†
  Heavy ’Mechs
  2D6
  Clan Wolf
  Jade Falcon
  Ghost Bear
  Snow Raven
  Diamond Shark
  2
  Linebacker D [65] (3055)
  Night Gyr D [75] (3058)
  Arcas [65] (3067)†
  Guillotine IIC [70] (3060)†
  Ha Otoko [60] (3060)†
  3
  Mad Cat D [75] (3050)
  Night Gyr B [75] (3058)
  Thresher [60] (3058)†
  Cauldron-Born C [65] (3058)
  Nova Cat D [70] (3060)
  4
  Vulture Prime [65] (3050)
  Loki B [65] (3050)
  Vulture C [60] (3050)
  Linebacker D [65] (3055)
  Mad Cat Prime [75] (3050)
  5
  Mad Cat B [75] (3050)
  Thor A [70] (3050)
  Vulture B [60] (3050)
  Mad Cat C [75] (3050)
  Summoner [Thor] D [70] (3050)
  6
  Loki B [65] (3050)
  Loki Prime [65] (3050)
  Thor Prime [70] (3050)
  Thor D [70] (3050)
  Vulture A [60] (3050)
  7
  Mad Cat Prime [75] (3050)
  Thor Prime [70] (3050)
  Vulture Prime [60] (3050)
  Mad Cat Prime [75] (3050)
  Cauldron-Born Prime [65] (3058)
  8
  Mad Cat A [75] (3050)
  Thor D [70] (3050)
  Vulture A [60] (3050)
  Vulture B [60] (3050)
  Cauldron-Born H [65] (3058)
  9
  Thor Prime [70] (3050)
  Night Gyr Prime [75] (3058)
  Thor C [70] (3050)
  Loki Prime [65] (3050)
  Vulture Prime [65] (3050)
  10
  Mad Cat C [75] (3050)
  Night Gyr A [75] (3058)
  Cauldron-Born Prime [65] (3058)
  Loki A [65] (3050)
  Nova Cat Prime [70] (3060)
  11
  Linebacker Prime [65] (3055)
  Loki A [65] (3050)
  Nova Cat A [70] (3060)
  Vulture A [60] (3050)
  Rifl eman IIC 3 [65] (PP)†
  12
  Orion IIC [75] (3060)†
  Night Gyr C [75] (3050)
  Grizzly [70] (3058)†
  Grizzly [70] (3058)†
  Predator [60] (3060)†
  Assault ’Mechs
  2D6
  Clan Wolf
  Jade Falcon
  Ghost Bear
  Snow Raven
  Diamond Shark
  2
  Man O’ War H [80] (3050)
  Man O’ War Prime [80] (3050)
  Warhammer IIC 4 [80] (PP)†
  Man O’ War A [80] (3050)
  Warhammer IIC 4 [80] (PP)†
  3
  Daishi H [100] (3050)
  Gladiator Prime [95] (3050)
  Kodiak [100] (3058)†
  Gladiator A [95] (3050)
  Masakari H [85] (3050)
  4
  Masakari C [85] (3050)
  Masakari C [85] (3050)
  Man O’ War B [80] (3050)
  Masakari B [85] (3050)
  Gladiator A [95] (3050)
  5
  Gladiator D [95] (3050)
  Turkina B [95] (3058)
  Masakari B [85] (3050)
  Masakari C [85] (3050)
  Daishi S [100] (3050)
  6
  Daishi C [100] (3050)
  Turkina Prime [95] (3058)
  Daishi Prime [100] (3050)
  Kingfi sher Prime [90] (3058)
  Masakari C [85] (3050)
  7
  Man O’ War Prime [80] (3050)
  Masakari Prime [85] (3050)
  Gladiator A [95] (3050)
  Daishi Prime [100] (3050)
  Masakari Prime [85] (3050)
  8
  Gladiator Prime [95] (3050)
  Masakari B [85] (3050)
  Gladiator Prime [95] (3050)
  Gladiator D [95] (3050)
  Gladiator D [95] (3050)
  9
  Man O’ War A [80] (3050)
  Daishi Prime [100] (3050)
  Kingfi sher Prime [90] (3058)
  Man O’ War C [80] (3050)
  Daishi C [100] (3050)
  10
  Daishi Prime [100] (3050)
  Daishi A [100] (3050)
  Gladiator D [95] (3050)
  Masakari Prime [85] (3050)
  Masakari B [85] (3050)
  11
  Masakari Prime [85] (3050)
  Masakari A [85] (3050)
  Kingfi sher B [90] (3058)
  Daishi A [100] (3050)
  Daishi A [100] (3050)
  12
  Supernova [90] (3058)†
  Mad Cat Mk. II [90] (3067)†
  Mad Cat Mk. II [90] (3067)†
  Daishi C [100] (3050)
  Phoenix Hawk IIC 4 [80] (PP)†
  †Non-OmniMechs
  
  RANDOM COMBAT VEHICLE ASSIGNMENT TABLE: INNER SPHERE
  2D6
  Light
  Medium
  Heavy
  Assault
  2
  Hunter [35] (3058)
  Goblin [45] (3058)
  Manticore [60] (3058)
  Demolisher II [100] (3060)
  3
  J. Edgar [25] (3026)
  Blizzard [25] (3058)
  LRM Carrier [60] (3058)
  Behemoth [100] (3026)
  4
  Scorpion [25] (3026)
  Hetzer [40] (3026)
  LRM Carrier [60] (3026)
  Ontos [95] (3058)
  5
  Savannah Master [5] (3026)
  Drillson [50] (3026)
  Po [60] (3026)
  Ontos [95] (3026)
  6
  Skulker [20] (3026)
  Myrmidon [40] (3060)
  Patton [65] (3025)
  Schrek PPC Carrier [80] (3026)
  7
  Pegasus [35] (3026)
  Vedette [50] (3026)
  Manticore [60] (3026)
  Demolisher [80] (3026)
  8
  Hunter [35] (3026)
  Maxim [50] (3026)
  Rommel [65] (3025)
  Partisan [80] (3026)
  9
  Saracen [35] (3026)
  Condor [50] (3026)
  Von Luckner [75] (3025)
  Partisan [80] (3058)
  10
  Scimitar [35] (3026)
  Vedette [50] (3058)
  SRM Carrier [60] (3026)
  Heavy LRM Carrier [80] (3060)
  11
  Saladin [35] (3026)
  Maxim [50] (3058)
  SRM Carrier [60] (3058)
  Challenger X MBT [90] (3058)
  12
  Mobile HQ [25] (3025)
  Regulator [45] (3058)
  Von Luckner [75] (3058)
  Alacorn Mk. VI [95] (3058)
  RANDOM COMBAT VEHICLE ASSIGNMENT TABLE: CLAN
  2D6
  Light
  Medium
  Heavy
  Assault
  2
  Beagle [15] (3050)
  Epona C [50] (3060)*
  Demon [60] (3050)
  Heimdall A [95] (3067)*
  3
  Hephaestus C [30] (3067)*
  Hachiman [50] (3060)
  Burke [75] (3050)
  Fury [80] (3050)
  4
  Odin [20] (3067)
  Ku [50] (3060)
  Shoden [70] (3067)
  Rhino [80] (3050)
  5
  Zorya [35] (3060)
  Ares [40] (3060)
  Ishtar [65] (3060)
  Mars [100] (3060)
  6
  Mithras [25] (3060)
  Enyo [55] (3067)
  Athena [75] (3060)
  Morrigu [80] (3067)
  7
  Indra [35] (3060)
  Epona Prime [50] (3060)*
  Oro [60] (3060)
  Mars [100] [3060)
  8
  Svantovit [35] (3060)
  Tyr [45] (3067)
  Ishtar [65] (3060)
  Morrigu [80] (3067)
  9
  Asshur [20] (3060)
  Epona A [50] (3060)*
  Athena [75] (3060)
  Alacorn Mk IV [95] (3058)
  10
  Shamash [11] (3060)
  Hachiman [50] (3060)
  Shoden [70] (3067)
  Morrigu [80] (3067)
  11
  Hephaestus Prime [30] (3067)*
  Epona B [50] (3060)*
  Oro [60] (3060)
  Heimdall Prime [95] (3067)*
  12
  Hephaestus A [30] (3067) *
  Zephyr [40] (3050)
  Magi [70] (3050)
  Puma [95] (3050)
  *OmniVehicle
  RANDOM PROTOMECH AND INFANTRY ASSIGNMENT TABLE
  2D6
  ProtoMech*
  Clan BA†
  Inner Sphere BA†
  Conventional Infantry‡
  2
  Harpy [2]
  Sylph [L]
  Kage [L]
  Mechanized, Hover Platoon
  3
  Siren [3]
  Sylph [L]
  Infi ltrator Mk. II [M]
  Mechanized, Wheeled Platoon
  4
  Satyr [4]
  Salamander [M]
  Fa Shih [M]
  Mechanized, Wheeled Platoon
  5
  Centaur [5]
  Salamander [M]
  Achileus [L]
  Jump Platoon
  6
  Hydra [6]
  Elemental [M]
  Gray Death Standard [M]
  Motorized Platoon
  7
  Roc [7]
  Elemental [M]
  Inner Sphere Standard [M]
  Foot Platoon
  8
  Roc [7]
  Elemental [M]
  Raiden [M]
  Foot Platoon
  9
  Gorgon [8]
  Gnome [H]
  Longinus [M]
  Motorized Platoon
  10
  Gorgon [8]
  Gnome [H]
  Purifi er [M]
  Jump Platoon
  11
  Minotaur [9]
  Undine [M]
  Fenrir [A]
  Mechanized, Tracked Platoon
  12
  Minotaur [9]
  Undine [M]
  Kanazuchi [A]
  Mechanized, Hover Platoon
  *All ProtoMechs are from Technical Readout: 3060.
  †All battle armor is from Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade.
  ‡After rolling an infantry platoon, roll an additional 1D6 to determine the specifi c type: 1 Rifl e, Ballistic; 2 Rifl e, Energy; 3 Machine Gun; 4 SRMs; 5 LRMs; 6 Flamers.
  
  271
  271
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  RANDOM AEROSPACE ASSIGNMENT TABLE: INNER SPHERE
  2D6
  Light Fighter
  Medium Fighter
  Heavy Fighter
  DropShip
  2
  SL-21 Sholagar [25] (3025)
  DARO-1 Dagger [45] (3067)*
  SL-15 Slayer [80] (3025)
  Nekohono’o (3067)
  3
  SPR-H5 Sparrowhawk [30] (3025)
  CMT-3T Troika [65] (3067)
  SHV-O Shiva [85] (3067)*
  Fortress (3057)
  4
  F-10 Cheetah [25] (3025)
  DFC-O Defi ance [55] (3067)*
  F-100 Riever [100] (3025)
  Excalibur (3057)
  5
  F-10 Cheetah [25] (3025)
  LCF-R15 Lucifer [65] (3025)
  F-100 Riever [100] (3025)
  Union-X (3067)
  6
  SPR-H5 Sparrowhawk [30] (3025)
  CSR-V12 Corsair [50] (3025)
  TR-13 Transgressor [75] (3025)
  Leopard (3057)
  7
  SL-21 Sholagar [35] (3025)
  TR-10 Transit [50] (3025)
  SL-15 Slayer [80] (3025)
  Union (3057)
  8
  TR-7 Thrush [25] (3025)
  SL-17 Shilone [65] (3025)
  CHP-W5 Chippewa [90] (3025)
  Overlord (3057)
  9
  SYD-21 Seydlitz [20] (3025)
  F-90 Stingray [60] (3025)
  STU-K5 Stuka [100] (3025)
  Triumph (3057)
  10
  SYD-21 Seydlitz [20] (3025)
  LX-2 Lancer [55] (3067)
  HSCL-1-O Huscarl [75] (3067)*
  Seeker (3057)
  11
  TR-7 Thrush [25] (3025)
  ON-1 Oni [55] (3067)
  EST-O Eisensturm [85] (3067)*
  Overlord A3 (3067)
  12
  Corax [30] (3067)*
  MIK-O Tatsu [70] (3067)*
  CHP-W5 Chippewa [90] (3025)
  Conquistador (3067)
   *OmniFighter
  RANDOM AEROSPACE ASSIGNMENT TABLE: CLAN
  2D6
  Light Fighter
  Medium Fighter
  Heavy Fighter
  DropShip
  2
  Vandal [30] (3055)
  Jagatai [70] (3055)
  Xerxes [85] (3067)†
  Noruff  (3057)
  3
  Avar [35] (3055)
  Turk [50] (3055)
  Sabutai [75] (3055)
  Outpost (3067)
  4
  Charonea [25] (3067)†
  Visigoth [60] (3055)
  Scytha [90] (3055)
  Confederate (3057)
  5
  Bashkir [20] (3055)
  Ammon [65] (3067)†
  Kirghiz [100] (3055)
  Carrier (3057)
  6
  Sulla [45] (3055)
  Turk [50] (3055)
  Jengiz [80] (3055)
  Union-C (3057)
  7
  Batu [40] (3055)
  Visigoth [60] (3055)
  Scytha [90] (3055)
  Overlord-C (3057)
  8
  Bashkir [20] (3055)
  Visigoth [60] (3055)
  Hydaspes [95] (3067)†
  Broadsword (3057)
  9
  Batu [40] (3055)
  Turk [50] (3055)
  Kirghiz [100] (3055)
  Mercer (3067)
  10
  Issus [40] (3067)†
  Tyre [55] (3067)†
  Scytha [90] (3055)
  Arcadia (3067)
  11
  Vandal [30] (3055)
  Issus [40] (3067)†
  Jengiz [80] (3055)
  Sassanid (3057)
  12
  Corax [30] (3067)
  Jagatai [70] (3055)
  Sabutai [75] (3055)
  Miraborg (3057)
  †Not an OmniFighter
  EXPERIENCE RATING AND SKILLS
  After determining the units employed by each force, the 
  players determine their forces’ experience ratings: Green, 
  Regular, Veteran or Elite. If the players are using elements of 
  specifi c units, they can consult the appropriate fi eld manual. 
  Alternatively, the players may simply set any experience 
  ratings they wish, or use the Random Experience Rating Table. 
  (Players can help ensure a balanced battle by setting the same 
  level for both forces.)
  After determining his forces’ experience, each player 
  determines the Gunnery and Piloting skills of his warriors. 
  If the players agree, they can simply assign all warriors the 
  standard starting skill ratings (see p. 39). Alternatively, 
  each player may use the Random Skills Table to randomly 
  determine skill ratings. To do so, each player makes two 
  1D6 rolls for each warrior in his force. The fi rst die roll result 
  determines the MechWarrior’s Piloting Skill; the second, his 
  or her Gunnery Skill.
  For Clan MechWarriors, add 1 to each roll result; subtract 1 
  for Clan combat vehicle warriors. 
  DF 
  DF
  Highlander IIC, Beta Galaxy (Clan Ghost Bear) 
  
   
  2005 Origins International Games Expo Diorama
  ENDGAME: THE FINAL PUSH
  
  273
  273
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  FINISHING TOUCHES
  If all players agree, they can fi ne-tune their forces by shifting 
  units between lances and Stars after they have generated all 
  units and skills, though warriors may not be removed from 
  their assigned units. Fine-tuning a force in this manner enables 
  a player to group units with similar movement capabilities in 
  lances and so on. 
  Commanders
  In some cases, players may wish to designate lance, 
  company, battalion or regiment commanders within their 
  forces. Usually, the MechWarrior with the highest skills and/or 
  heaviest BattleMech in a given formation is its commander, but 
  players may use any criteria when designating such offi  cers. 
  After selecting commanders, each player should identify 
  command units as such on those units’ record sheets.
  CLAN HONOR
  The Clan codes of honor, or zellbrigen, also known 
  as rules of engagement, are not part of the standard 
  BattleTech game rules as presented in the previous 
  sections of Total Warfare. However, players can use these 
  codes to enhance the roleplaying aspect of BattleTech, 
  creating a richer game experience more closely linked to 
  the fi ctional BattleTech universe. 
  Using Clan honor puts Clan units at a distinct disadvantage. 
  To compensate, in scenarios where the Clans must abide 
  by these rules of engagement, the Clan side should have 
  stronger forces or higher skills than it might otherwise have. 
  This change helps off set the limitations that the honor codes 
  place on Clan tactics. 
  Players should be aware, however, that it is generally 
  diffi  cult to accurately balance BattleTech games, even under 
  the rules in this section; the use of Clan honor codes makes 
  absolute game balance almost impossible. Through game 
  play you will discover what works best for you and your fellow 
  players. Because everyone plays Clan honor a little diff erently 
  and each Inner sphere commander opposes it diff erently, no 
  two games are alike.
  As the very concept of the Clan honor rules brings more of 
  a roleplaying style to the game (as opposed to the explicitly 
  defi ned rules of standard play presented previously in this 
  book), the exact way to integrate Clan honor rules with a 
  given scenario type is up to the players. If the players wish 
  to incorporate these rules into a scenario, they should be 
  prepared to make adjudications on the fl y, as Clan honor codes 
  can generate numerous unforeseen circumstances. Players 
  should agree before play begins that if a situation arises about 
  which they cannot come to a consensus, they will roll 1D6 to 
  determine the decision and get back to game play.
   All players should agree to the use of Clan honor rules in a 
  given scenario before play begins.
  HONOR LEVELS
  Clan honor codes fall into four categories, each dealing with 
  a diff erent part of combat: batchall, zellbrigen, physical attacks 
  and retreat. Because the batchall (bidding) takes place before 
  the scenario begins, guidelines for its use appear on p. 266. 
  Within each of the other three categories, a number from 1 
  to 4 represents the level of commitment to Clan honor. Honor 
  Level 1 means strict conformity to the Clan codes; Level 2 and 
  3 require conformity only under certain circumstances; and 
  Level 4 throws Clan honor out the airlock.
  Normally, a fi ghting force’s overall commitment to Clan 
  honor is rated at Level 1, 2, 3 or 4. However, scenarios may 
  include more than one honor level. For example, Honor Level 
  1 may apply to physical attacks and retreat, while Honor Level 
  2 applies to zellbrigen. Each honor level is determined by the 
  circumstances of the scenario and the particular Clan fi ghting 
  in it; see Clan Honor Interpretation, below.
  Clan dueling rules and restrictions on physical attacks 
  apply only to enemy ’Mechs. Clan MechWarriors may attack 
  vehicles and unarmored infantry targets without reference to 
  Clan honor. Likewise, Clan unarmored infantry and vehicles 
  need not follow the rules of engagement. Battle armor and 
  ProtoMechs follow the code of zellbrigen, with each Point 
  considered a single unit for dueling purposes.
  Clan Honor Interpretation
  While players may assign whatever honor levels they 
  deem appropriate for a given scenario, the following material 
  provides a guideline for the honor levels to which a given Clan 
  will default in a scenario.
  The Clan Honor Interpretation Table gives a general idea 
  of how each Clan interprets zellbrigen. The table shows two 
  diff erent time periods. Pre-Invasion describes the prevalent 
  interpretation prior to the start of Operation Revival (the 
  RANDOM EXPERIENCE RATING TABLE
  2D6 Roll
  Experience Rating
  2-5
  Green
  6-9
  Regular
  10-11
  Veteran
  12
  Elite
  RANDOM SKILLS TABLE (EXPANDED)
  1D6 
  (Green)
  1D6 
  (Regular)
  1D6 
  (Veteran)
  1D6 
  (Elite)
  Piloting
  Gunnery
  0
  —
  —
  —
  7
  7
  1
  —
  —
  —
  7
  6
  2–3
  0
  —
  —
  6
  5
  4–5
  1–2
  0
  —
  6
  4
  6–7
  3–4
  1–2
  0
  5
  4
  8
  5–6
  3–4
  1–2
  4
  3
  —
  7–8
  5–6
  3–4
  3
  2
  —
  —
  7–8
  5–6
  2
  1
  —
  —
  —
  7–8
  1
  0
  
  invasion of the Inner Sphere) in 3049; Post-Invasion refl ects each 
  Clan’s view after the Battle of Tukayyid in 3052. During the Inner 
  Sphere invasion (and subsequent events up through the Refusal 
  War), each Invading Clan and many Home Clans experienced an 
  ideological shift that caused changes in their view of zellbrigen. 
  Depending on the time frame in which a given scenario is run, 
  players can use the table as a guide to determine what Clan honor 
  levels are in eff ect before game play begins.
  The table gives three diff erent levels of interpretation. A strict 
  interpretation means that the Clan’s warriors generally follow 
  zellbrigen against almost all opponents (except those considered 
  extremely dishonorable, such as bandits and pirates, or against a 
  long-hated enemy). An opportunistic interpretation means that 
  the warriors follow zellbrigen unless mitigating circumstances 
  dictate otherwise (they are outnumbered/outgunned, they think 
  they can get away with it, and so on). Clans following a liberal 
  interpretation use zellbrigen only against other Clans, and then 
  only if they have the advantage.
  ZELLBRIGEN
  Under the rules for ritual dueling, or zellbrigen, Clan players 
  must declare a target for each of their dueling ’Mechs. A typical 
  declaration might sound something like, “I am MechWarrior Seth 
  of Clan Steel Viper. I pilot the sole Summoner in Alpha Star. I hereby 
  invoke the ritual of zellbrigen and challenge the pilot of the Orion 
  adorned with the unit designation eleven to a duel of warriors. In 
  this solemn manner, let no one interfere!”
  During a duel, no other Clan warrior may attack either of the 
  dueling ’Mechs. If a third unit interferes with a duel, the dueling 
  Clan warrior may attack the interfering unit, provided that another 
  Clan ’Mech has not already challenged the interloper to a duel. A 
  duel ends when one combatant is destroyed, disabled or retreats 
  from the battlefi eld.
  At Honor Level 1, the Clan warrior upholds all the rules of 
  dueling regardless of his opponent’s actions. 
  At Honor Level 2, the Clan warrior follows the rules of dueling 
  until the Inner Sphere side takes an action that violates the Clan 
  honor codes (a third party interfering, a unit involved in one 
  duel fi ring on a ’Mech involved in another duel, and so on). If 
  this happens, the duel immediately degenerates into a free-for-
  all. During the Weapon Attack Phase, if a player declares that his 
  unit will fi re on a target already involved in a duel, any Clan player 
  whose declaration of zellbrigen follows the Inner sphere player’s 
  declaration of a “dishonorable attack” may attack that Inner 
  Sphere ’Mech without regard for honor rules. Only the violator 
  may be attacked in this way.
  At Honor Level 3, any infringement of Clan honor in the dueling 
  rules renders the entire ritual of zellbrigen null and void, leaving 
  the Clan ’Mechs free to attack any enemy unit without restraint 
  for the remainder of the game. At Honor Level 4, dueling rules do 
  not apply.
  Using zellbrigen in a game requires a certain degree of 
  cooperation between players. A crafty Inner sphere player can 
  exploit the rules of engagement to deny the Clan player any 
  targets. Not only is this grossly unfair, but it is also inaccurate in 
  terms of the BattleTech universe (plus, it’s not much fun for the 
  Clan player).
  Finally, the Clan player should not be expected to adhere to the 
  rules of engagement when it would be foolish to do so, as in the 
  following example:
  You are playing the Clans in a scenario with Honor Level 
  1. You have one Daishi and your opponent has four ’Mechs: 
  a Banshee, an Orion, an Atlas and a Spider. The Spider 
  challenges the Daishi to a duel, which the Daishi accepts. The 
  Spider then uses its superior movement rate to hide behind hills 
  and heavy woods so that the Daishi never gets line of sight to 
  it. Meanwhile, the other three members of the Spider’s lance 
  pound the Daishi to dust. The Daishi cannot retaliate because 
  its player must adhere to Clan honor, which in this case means 
  he can only attack the ’Mech that challenged him to a duel. He 
  vainly attempts to chase the Spider, while “oﬀ -limits” enemies 
  destroy his BattleMech.
  Requiring the Daishi in this example to strictly obey the rules of 
  engagement means that the Clan player must sit back and allow 
  his unit to be destroyed. To give players some options in such 
  situations, use the following guidelines to adjudicate the use of 
  zellbrigen in game play.
  1. Making the Challenge: One of the most important parts 
  of a duel is the challenge. This takes place during the Weapon 
  Attack Phase, when attacks are declared. When a Clan unit 
  declares an attack on a unit that it has not attacked before, it is 
  CLAN HONOR INTERPRETATION TABLE
  Clan Name
  Pre-Invasion
  Post-Invasion
  Blood Spirit
  Strict
  Opportunistic
  Cloud Cobra
  Opportunistic
  Opportunistic
  Coyote
  Strict
  Strict
  Diamond Shark
  Liberal
  Liberal
  Fire Mandrill
  Varies (Strict)*
  Varies 
  (Opportunistic)*
  Ghost Bear
  Strict
  Liberal
  Goliath Scorpion
  Strict
  Strict
  Hell’s Horses
  Opportunistic
  Opportunistic
  Ice Hellion
  Opportunistic
  Opportunistic
  Jade Falcon
  Strict
  Opportunistic
  Nova Cat
  Opportunistic
  Opportunistic
  Snow Raven
  Opportunistic
  Opportunistic
  Star Adder
  Strict
  Opportunistic
  Steel Viper
  Strict
  Strict
  Wolf
  Liberal
  Opportunistic
  Wolf (in-Exile)
  N/A
  Liberal
  *Clan Fire Mandrill’s internal divisions make it diffi  cult to classify the entire Clan; 
  each Kindraa follows its own interpretations. As such, players can either use the 
  general classifi cation given in parentheses, or based on information provided 
  about the Kindraas in various sourcebooks, modify as appropriate.
  
  275
  275
  CREATING
  CREATING
  SCENARIOS
  SCENARIOS
  eff ectively announcing its intention to duel—the Clan player 
  should verbally issue his challenge at this time. Dueling makes 
  Initiative even more important, as Initiative also determines 
  the order of attack declaration and challenges.
  If the Inner Sphere side outnumbers the Clan side, it is 
  considered bold (but acceptable) for a single Clan ’Mech to 
  challenge more than one opponent at the same time. All of 
  a single ’Mech’s opponents are considered part of the same 
  duel and may fi re on the lone challenger. However, at least 
  one target must be left for each ’Mech on the Clan side (this 
  tradition does not apply to non-’Mech Clan units). In fact, Clan 
  MechWarriors greedy for battlefi eld glory may force their own 
  armored vehicles, infantry units or even Elementals out of 
  combat in this way. 
  Though a single Clan ’Mech may challenge more than one 
  Inner sphere ’Mech, additional Inner Sphere ’Mechs cannot 
  invite themselves into an onging duel even if the Clans 
  outnumber their side. Such an action is a breach of zellbrigen.
  2. Refusing a Challenge: A Clan warrior need not accept 
  a challenge issued by an Inner Sphere warrior, especially if he 
  suspects the challenge is a ploy to abuse zellbrigen and achieve 
  victory through deceit. As a general rule, a Clan warrior can 
  refuse a challenge from a ’Mech of a diff erent weight class 
  than his own, as long as he issues a challenge against another 
  Inner Sphere ’Mech instead.
  Also, though Inner Sphere warriors are not expected to 
  accept or refuse challenges, the Inner Sphere side must 
  abide by Clan honor when Honor Levels 2 or 3 are in eff ect 
  or else risk touching off  a melee. In these cases, the Inner 
  Sphere player can refuse challenges from Clan ’Mechs outside 
  the challenged ’Mech’s weight class as long as an alternate 
  challenge is made.
  Finally, any challenge must be accepted if no alternate 
  targets are in play.
  3. Declaring a Duel Void: Certain situations may render a 
  duel void, even if strict adherence to the rules of engagement 
  (Honor Level 1) is in force. In these cases the judgment of the 
  players must prevail; however, the gamemaster can use the 
  following simple penalty system to judge these situations. The 
  penalty system is intended to enforce the idea that dueling 
  ’Mechs must actively fi ght one another for the duel to be valid. 
  Because Clan warriors call people without honor dezgra, the 
  penalties are referred to as dezgra points.
  Each of the infractions listed below earns the violator a 
  dezgra point, unless the violator’s opponent declines the 
  penalty (which he might do if he decides that the action 
  was tactically appropriate). If a dueling ’Mech accumulates 
  3 dezgra points, it is clear that the duel is dishonorable, and 
  so it becomes void in the End Phase of the turn in which the 
  third point was earned. No dueling ’Mech can earn more than 
  1 dezgra point per End Phase.
  If a dueling unit intentionally moves out of its opponent’s 
  line of sight, the unit earns 1 dezgra point.
  If a dueling unit has line of sight to its opponent but 
  intentionally fails to fi re at the enemy, the unit earns 1 dezgra 
  point. This guideline assumes that at least one shot is possible, 
  meaning that the enemy unit is within the fi ring arc and range 
  of the weapon being fi red.
  If a dueling unit moves out of fi ring range of all its weapons, 
  the unit earns 1 dezgra point.
  If the unit earns no dezgra points in a turn, it may remove 
  1 dezgra point in the End Phase of that turn. A unit can not, 
  however, reduce its dezgra points to zero in this way.
  Once a unit has accumulated 3 dezgra points, any Clan unit 
  may freely fi re on it for the remainder of the scenario without 
  violating the dueling rules.
  Area-Eff ect Weapons: Area Aff ect Weapons (as well as 
  any system that requires multiple units to operate, such as 
  TAG, C3, semi-guided LRMs and so on) by their nature violate 
  Zellbrigen. No Clan warrior will use any area-eff ect weapon 
  system or special munitions while fi ghting at Honor Levels 1, 
  2 or 3. Only at Honor Level 4, when dueling rules do not apply, 
  will a Clan warrior use such systems.
  A Clan warrior’s response to an Inner Sphere unit declaring 
  an attack using such a system against a Clan unit depends 
  on the honor level in use. At Honor Level 1, the Clan warrior 
  upholds all the rules of dueling, regardless of the type of 
  weapon used. At Honor Level 2, the duel degenerates into a 
  free-for-all, with the violators—the unit that fi red the area-
  eff ect weapon, designated with TAG or used a C3 system—
  open to attack by any Clan unit. At Honor Level 3, the use of 
  area-eff ect systems renders the entire ritual of zellbrigen null 
  and void.
  Physical Attacks
  Unlike dueling, the Clans’ dislike of physical attacks in ’Mech 
  combat is an informal, if widespread, custom. No explanation 
  is yet known for this distaste, though some experts suspect 
  that Nicholas Kerensky chose to encourage a long-range 
  fi ghting style among the Clans.
  At Honor Level 1, a Clan warrior never makes physical 
  attacks in ’Mech combat. At Honor Level 2, a Clan warrior may 
  make a physical attack only if an enemy unit makes one fi rst. 
  During the Physical Attack Phase, if the Inner Sphere player 
  declares a physical attack, any Clan unit whose declaration 
  follows that violation of Clan honor may freely engage that 
  ’Mech in physical combat.
  At Honor Level 3, a single physical attack by an Inner Sphere 
  ’Mech allows all Clan warriors to retaliate in kind against all 
  enemy units for the remainder of the game. At Honor Level 4, 
  the taboo against physical attacks no longer applies.
  Retreat
  Clan MechWarriors despise their Inner Sphere counterparts 
  because they consider Inner Sphere armies dishonorable 
  warriors fi ghting in inferior ’Mechs. Therefore, Clan warriors 
  consider retreating from Inner Sphere opponents a disgrace 
  almost beyond redemption. When allowed to choose whether 
  or not to fl ee a losing battle, many Clan warriors prefer to fi ght 
  to the death.
  At Honor Level 1, a Clan warrior never retreats. At Honor 
  Level 2, Clan warriors may retreat from enemy ’Mechs that are 
  using advanced technology, but never from ’Mechs, vehicles 
  or infantry units using 3025 (introductory) technology. At 
  Honor Level 3, Clan warriors may retreat from any vintage of 
  enemy ’Mech, but will not retreat from vehicles or infantry 
  units. At Honor Level 4, Clan warriors may retreat at will.
  
  COCHRAN VALLEY
  RANDALL’S REGRET
  THE PERIPHERY
  11 APRIL 3065
  Tendrils of black smoke curled into the chill azure of the morn-
  ing sky—hazy tombstones around which blue-tailed buzzards 
  circled. The Jameson place had been hit two days ago, the third 
  ranch to be raided in the past week. The hammering started up 
  again, making Mathew Garret wince as he scanned the horizon 
  with blood-shot blue eyes. Stooping at the roughhewn water 
  trough, he splashed icy water over sandy hair and a face weath-
  ered by years toiling under the blowtorch sun.
  Perhaps it had been a mistake to drink quite so much of cousin 
  Errol’s home-brewed liquor last night.
  The night before, Garret had been creeping through Satan’s 
  ruddy moonlight. The silvery face of Gabriel was cresting the ho-
  rizon when he reached the smoking ruins of the Jameson ranch. 
  He’d smelled the stink of death everywhere. Dead cattle. Dead 
  pigs. Dead nurfers. Dead people. Garret had not lingered in that 
  charnel house. The main building had been blasted apart. Giant 
  footprints traced a path of destruction. The feed store he had 
  helped the Jamesons erect two summers ago was unrecogniz-
  able. The barn that had served as a DropShip in childhood games 
  was a smoldering pile of wreckage.
  It looked like the raiders had at least one ‘Mech, an armed 
  IndustrialMech or maybe a BattleMech. Not good.
  The closest law was in Fort McNeil, and Sheriff  Brandon packed 
  nothing more lethal than a gopher gun. The nearest BattleMech 
  was way over in Silverpeak. Marshal Hancock and his deputies 
  could be here in three weeks—perhaps two with luck.
  More hammering pounded at Garret’s throbbing head. After 
  splashing more water on his unshaven face, he pulled on a shirt of 
  green homespun wool as he walked across the yard. Echoes from 
  two nights before were everywhere he looked. A low-built house 
  with thick walls that was supposed to keep storm and bandit at 
  bay. Weighty tiles of red clay on the roof. A veranda to shade the 
  women from the burning sun as they sewed and wove. The barn 
  Garret and his brothers had built three years ago. The Jamesons 
  had helped. A string of outbuildings arranged in a defensible 
  square on a solid base of ferrocrete to keep the lion moles—bur-
  rowing predators colloquially known as “gophers”—at bay.
  Leaning on a doorpost that had taken two days to carve from 
  the trunk of a titan palm, Garret observed the frenzied activity 
  inside. Errol couldn’t read too well, but the skinny man was ex-
  ceptionally skilled with his hands. The air was thick with the odor 
  of coolant and spirits, cut with the ozone tang of an arc-welder. 
  Errol had completed mating a boxy missile launcher to the chas-
  sis of Garret’s CattleMaster—a tired and battered IndustrialMech 
  brought to the Regret by Randall’s original colonists fl eeing the 
  chaos of the Succession Wars. Now Errol’s attention had turned 
  to the squat form of the Kerns’ faded yellow HarvesterMech. He 
  was working to dismount a wide-throated combine unit from the 
  front of the quadruped’s chassis.
  David L. McCulloch
  
  “How’s it going?”  Garret looked over to where Jonathan Kerns 
  was propping up the other doorpost, shouting to be heard.
  “Your cousin says he reckons he can get those guns onto 
  our Harvester.” Jonathan’s face bore the scars of a run-in 
  with a lion mole fi ve summers back. Garret looked at the 
  mismatched machine guns leaning against the barn’s 
  rough-plank wall. He didn’t know where his eternally grease-
  smeared cousin had come by all these weapons. Right now 
  he wasn’t going to ask.
  With a hollow clanging that drove spikes of pain through 
  Garret’s brain, the combine unit dropped away at last. Errol 
  turned, his grin of triumph shockingly white against a wide, 
  grimy face. Garret gestured toward the guns. “How long do 
  you reckon?”
  Errol glanced over his shoulder at the IndustrialMech he 
  was tearing apart. “Say three or four hours. More time and I 
  could maybe tack on some metal plating around the cockpit. 
  Maybe give Jonathan here a might bit more protection.” He 
  fl ashed another grin at Kerns. “Don’t think they maybe put 
  this critter together with combat in mind.”
  “I’d appreciate it.” Kerns smiled back, then looked at Garret. 
  “What do you fi gure we’re looking at? How many gun hands? 
  How many ’Mechs?”
  “Hard to say. They made a real mess of the Jamesons’.” Garret 
  thought for a moment. “Nobody’s seen any BattleMechs wan-
  dering around. Reckon they must be holing up somewhere out 
  of sight. About the only place you can hide something that big 
  would be over by Cedar Creek.” He nodded toward 
  the foothills in the west. “Reckon I’ll go have a 
  look.”
  No doubt about it. Things were 
  getting more dangerous by the day. 
  Ringo sat cross-legged on the foot of 
  his faithful Bessie, back against the cool 
  armor of her right leg. The tree-dotted 
  hills off ered little cover from the elements, but the winding 
  canyons made a perfect place to plan his next move with-
  out getting bothered by the locals. It had not rained for 
  several days, and the air was thick with the scent of tree 
  resin and nose-tingling pollen. He scratched absently at 
  a scraggly ginger beard that had been growing since he 
  fi rst set foot on the sorriest excuse for a planet it had 
  ever been his misfortune to see.
  He had picked off  all the easy marks. Outlying farms 
  and ranches that lacked support from the others. Worse, 
  by now the locals would have some idea what they were 
  up against—probably gone hollering for help to Silverpeak 
  and Marshal stinking Gregor God-damned Hancock.
  Ringo spat on the mossy ground.
  Hancock had run Bessie and him out of Southfi eld, and 
  now word was that the grizzled Marshal was none too hap-
  py about Ringo shooting out some of his right leg actuators. 
  Spare parts were hard to come by all the way out here—
  they’d cost a body an arm and a leg. No, he didn’t want 
  to cross trails with Hancock and his deputies again.
  
  Tugging at the collar of his cooling vest, Ringo wondered 
  whether he should ditch the bulky garment. It had quit on him 
  three weeks ago, and only the protection off ered by the rough 
  ballistic cloth armor covering had prevented him from throwing 
  it away on the spot. Ammo was becoming a problem, too. The 
  local dirt farmers made a good enough source for food, drink, 
  clothing, women and a little coin if he was lucky. But Ringo was 
  barely scratching a living out here in the boonies. He needed 
  one good caper. One big payoff , and Bessie and he could get 
  themselves off  this rock. Maybe he could even get Bessie a much-
  needed refi t. She’d been barely operational when he won her in 
  that smoky poker game on Tortuga. To think! His mother had 
  said he’d never amount to anything. But he’d proved her wrong. 
  If only she could see him (wherever she was now). He was a high 
  and mighty MechWarrior now! Not some two-bit stick-up artist 
  or petty thief.
  Now all he had to do was get himself off  this accursed rock to 
  someplace where the real action was.
  Randall’s Regret. Ringo snorted in disgust. Randall (whoever 
  the hell he was) doubtless regretted even landing on the Blake-
  forsaken place. Ringo certainly did. Damned system wasn’t even 
  on the charts. Maybe he should’ve listened to that Precentor 
  back on Herotitus. The Robes had been scurrying around the 
  back streets like mice in a cheese factory. Looking for a few good 
  men (and women), they’d said. Good pay, they’d said. Chance 
  to be part of something special, they’d said. Ringo had always 
  stayed well clear of religion. It had never helped his mother 
  and sisters. Weekly visits to the rickety old church had certainly 
  never done him or his family a single shred of good. Some of 
  the stories about the toaster-worshipers had made him a might 
  bit nervous, though. But now that he was stuck on an elbow of 
  a planet, signing on with the Wobbies looked like a much more 
  attractive proposition.
  Pulling a scrap of paper from the breast pocket of his cooling 
  vest, Ringo unfolded the rough map he had sketched out dur-
  ing the week he’d spent scouting out the region. The three farm-
  steads he had already visited were spread out along the edge of 
  a river valley fertile enough to attract enough families to create a 
  self-suffi  cient community. After last night, those farmers would 
  probably expect him to strike further north. Probably some hot-
  heads would have gotten the idea of concentrating their meager 
  fi repower up there in the hope of giving him a bad case of lead 
  poisoning or (if he were really unlucky) fi tting him for an uncom-
  fortably tight rope necktie.
  Better to break from his previous pattern. Visit somewhere near 
  the last place. Don’t go at night. Go now, perhaps. One last caper, 
  and then move on before Marshal elbow-sucking Hancock came 
  looking for him and Bessie.
  More than two hours’ hard riding had carried Garret to where 
  the hills broke like a sea of stone on the rocky shore of the riv-
  er valley’s edge. Bringing a second nurfer had allowed him to 
  switch mounts every few kilometers and make good time, but 
  the ride had left his rawhide coat and knee-length boots coated 
  in dust. Scaly, ugly and smelly, the hexapedal nurfers were na-
  tive to the Regret. Once domesticated, they had proven to be 
  excellent draft animals, despite a strangely jointed backbone 
  that gave them a swaying side-to-side gait guaranteed to in-
  voke nausea (or worse) in a novice rider. Resting the barrel of 
  his wide-bore gopher gun at the ready across the pommel of his 
  saddle, Garret threaded his way between thick gray cedar trunks 
  and under the sprawling canopy of titan palms as he worked his 
  way into the hills, following the familiar game trails to the ac-
  companiment of chattering stone squirrels.
  His quarry proved ridiculously easy to fi nd. Garret was sure 
  even a deaf man could have heard the rhythmic thumping of 
  ‘Mech footfalls.
  Beneath the winding trail Garret was following, a lone 
  BattleMech plodded laboriously along a narrow gully, follow-
  ing the bed of a dried-out wash. Half-obscured by the cedars, 
  the outline of the machine’s bulbous body was broken up with 
  a peeling gray-and-tan camoufl age paint scheme—and by the 
  cargo nets stuff ed with a bizarre collection of items. Mixed in 
  with the crates and barrels, Garret could see farm implements, 
  furniture, even a glossy black stove that had been Mrs. Jameson’s 
  pride and joy. 
  He was unfamiliar with the design—Garret was no expert 
  when it came to BattleMechs. Jack would know, perhaps. His sis-
  ter’s ten-year-old son was fanatical about everything connected 
  with the combat versions of the IndustrialMechs the colonists 
  had brought with them. This machine lacked the humanoid pro-
  fi le of the half a dozen BattleMechs he had ever seen. It moved 
  slowly, kicking up dust from the dry wash. Garret cussed. Slow 
  meant big. Perhaps too big for him to deal with, even with all his 
  neighbors along for the ride. The only good thing was that the 
  BattleMech appeared to be alone. No vehicles or hordes of gun-
  toting bandits on foot.
  Garret considered taking a shot at the ’Mech, but then thought 
  better of it. His gun had the stopping power to put down a three-
  meter hexapedal lion mole at close range, but it’d hardly scratch 
  the paint on that manmade monster out there. More likely, all 
  he’d do was get himself killed. Then who would tell everyone 
  where the BattleMech was?
  Garret spat another curse into the afternoon heat. He remem-
  bered where this particular wash ran out of the hills. Muttering a 
  string of expletives, he hauled both nurfers around on the narrow 
  trail and nudged his mount into a foolhardy canter. It looked like 
  his own ranch was next on the bandit’s list of targets. If he pushed 
  his luck—and his mounts even further—he could cut across the 
  hills and beat the bandit back to the ranch.
  He coaxed more speed from his mount.
  Garret’s last nurfer was yowling piteously as it staggered through 
  the gates. Under normal circumstances he never would have 
  dreamed of pushing a valuable animal on that fi nal run. The other 
  nurfer lay dead on the trail twelve kilometers back.
  
  Tossing the reins to young Jack, Garret dismounted with haste. 
  “Look after him, boy. He’s had a long run.” Seeing his sandy-haired 
  nephew’s nod of understanding, Garret walked with a gait stiff  
  from hours in the saddle toward the barn, brushing trail dust 
  from his clothes and beckoning his brothers George and Paul 
  to join him.
  “We got trouble coming,” he told the others as they gathered at 
  the doorway. “A BattleMech, headed this way. An hour behind me. 
  Maybe less.” Ignoring the confusion of shouted questions, Garret 
  snatched up a printed technical readout. Dog-eared and battered, 
  the disreputable-looking book was missing its cover and several 
  pages. It belonged to his nephew, who’d been sulking since the 
  adults had appropriated it. Flicking through the pages, Garret jab-
  bing a fi nger at the book. “That’s it.”
  Jonathan Kerns took the readout. “An Imp? One hundred tons.” 
  He glanced at the others as they gathered round to read. “PPCs. 
  Lasers. Missiles. You think we can stop this thing? All we’ve got 
  here are two IndustrialMechs and a bunch of rifl es. We haven’t got 
  everybody organized yet.”
  “I don’t see that we have any choice, Jon. If we run for it now, 
  maybe we could get everyone away before that ‘Mech gets 
  here—but we’d lose everything. This is my home, and I don’t 
  feel like giving it up without a fi ght.” Garret looked steadily at 
  Kerns. “If you want out, I’ll understand. You’ve got your own folks 
  to look out for.” Kerns stared at the ground, scratching his mat-
  ted hair. “Maybe you can get the others organized better and 
  stop the next raid.”
  “No. I said I’d stand with you.” Kerns met Garret’s gaze. “I’ll stick 
  with you.”
  Garret was the fi rst to break the silence. “Let’s do it. How are we 
  set, Errol?”
  “Well, now. I’ve got Jon’s HarvesterMech patched together. 
  Center of gravity’s shifted some after the hack job I did on her, 
  but she’ll fi ght.” Errol threw a thumb over his shoulder at the 
  CattleMaster.  “Just fueling up your rig now. You’ve got twenty 
  missiles onboard, but watch it—fi re control is going to be by 
  guess and by gosh. Don’t know how close you’re maybe gonna 
  have to get to hit anything.”
  Garret pulled off  his dusty coat and threw it aside as he strode 
  over to the foot of his CattleMaster. “You let me worry about 
  that. Just fi nish getting me fueled up. Everyone else, mount 
  up.” Climbing the chain-link ladder that trailed down from the 
  IndustrialMech like a necktie, Garret looked down to see Errol lift 
  a large earthenware jug and pour the contents into a rusty old 
  funnel protruding from the ‘Mech’s engine pack. As he clambered 
  into the cramped cockpit, the roar of Kerns’ HarvesterMech start-
  ing up was joined by the growl of a second engine as George and 
  Paul drove up in a four-by-four. George had their father’s hunting 
  rifl e. Paul had taken up the gopher gun that Garret had been car-
  rying.
  Pulling the canopy shut, Garret fastened the seat-harness 
  straps before settling the heavy bulk of the battered neurohel-
  met on his shoulders. Without a cooling vest, he had to depend 
  on homemade pads of cloth stuff ed with nurfer hair to carry the 
  weight of the thing. 
  “You’re good to go!” Errol had to scream to get Garret’s atten-
  tion. Waving Errol clear, he thumbed the starter and listened as 
  the IndustrialMech’s IC power plant spluttered into life. Greasy 
  black smoke smelling worse than Errol’s outhouse poured from 
  the CattleMaster’s twin exhaust stacks. 
  “Real smooth!” Errol bellowed, taking a swig from the jug before 
  joining George and Paul in the four-by-four.
  Following the HarvesterMech out of the barn, Garret glanced 
  at the house. Mother was watching from the veranda. Next to her 
  was Emma, holding tight to young James to keep him out from 
  under the crushing ‘Mech feet. He was too far away to see their 
  faces clearly. That made it a bit easier. “Let’s go kick some!”
  Throttling up to walking speed, Garret led them into the west 
  to fi ght for their home.
  Ringo yawned and stretched mightily before tossing an-
  other chunk of broken roof-beam onto the fi re. A constellation 
  of sparks erupted into the night sky. The smell coming from the 
  pig suspended on a makeshift spit over the fi re was mouthwa-
  tering. Taking another pull from an earthenware jug, Ringo sat 
  back against Bessie’s right leg and fl icked through the crumpled 
  pages of a book he had found when picking through the wreck-
  age. Finding nothing of interest, he tossed the remains of the dog-
  eared book into the fl ames.
  Things were defi nitely getting harder.
  A pair of cobbled-together IndustrialMechs and a jeep full 
  of yokels armed with popguns were no match for his mighty 
  UrbanMech. He’d left the quad lying on its back like a dead me-
  chanical spider, and a single burst from Bessie’s small laser has 
  seen to the yahoos in the four-by-four. The CattleMaster had 
  burned. But even as it died, it had made that one last lunge—try-
  ing to catch his BattleMech in a dying embrace. That had been 
  too close.
  Leaning forward, Ringo retrieved the spit without burning him-
  self too badly. He cut a chunk of meat free with his belt knife, blew 
  on it, and then stuff ed it in his mouth.
  Not too shabby a haul, though. Some coin and even a compact 
  roll of C-bills—someone’s savings for a rainy day that would never 
  come. Maybe his luck would hold and he could get enough to buy 
  passage off  this rock.
  The pig tasted very good.
  
  by Drew Williams
  Classic BattleTech Total Warfare is fi lled with photos of painted 
  miniatures by a variety of talented artists. Perhaps “there is a 
  fi ne line between inspiration and intimidation,” but don’t be 
  intimidated! The artists who painted these miniatures wanted to 
  inspire you to paint. Feel free to try painting your minis to match 
  the photos you like. This is how most painters improve and learn. 
  Experimenting is also an excellent way to learn how to paint. If 
  you don’t like how it turned out, you can strip the paint off  in a 
  bath of Pine-Sol and try again. 
  This guide provides the specifi c information you’ll need to paint 
  miniatures in a particular style, based on the art of Franz Volwinkel. 
  We all see his cover art from numerous Classic BattleTech products 
  and say, “I wish my ’Mechs looked like that.” Well, this guide is an 
  attempt to mimic his style on miniatures and teach you how to do 
  it as well. Also included is advice on materials, paints and brushes, 
  and various techniques. Inspiration and guidance can also be 
  found online at the battlecorps.com, classicbattletech.com and of 
  course camospecs.com websites. Many fan sites and miniatures 
  painter sites have tutorials and forums as well. 
  If you’re a “green” painter, you may want to stock up on some 
  supplies. Below is a list of handy items. Given the right tools, 
  inspiration and motivation, you can work your way up to being a 
  “gunslinger” with a paintbrush.
  MATERIALS AND TOOLS
  Here’s a list of materials and tools you’ll fi nd useful. Those 
  marked with an asterisk were used for the miniatures in this guide. 
  You can fi nd most of these items at hobby, craft or art stores:
  Size 5/0 (for the smallest details)
  Size 000 brush* (useful for small details and fi nal highlights)
  Size 00 brush* (primary detail and highlight brush)
  Size 0 brush* (good for coverage and base coats)
  Size 8 round brush* (for dry-brushing)
  Palette* (for mixing paints; this can be a simple piece of cardboard, 
  plastic or a palette paper pad)
  Water container* (for rinsing paint brushes)
  Paper towels/clean rag* (for cleaning and drying paint brushes)
  Old newspaper (for covering your work surface)
  Modeling knife* (the type with the replaceable blades, such as an 
  x-acto with #11 blades)
  Super glue* (also called gap fi lling CA, or cyanoacrylate)
  Set of small jeweler’s fi les* (fi ngernail fi les, aka emery boards, and 
  foam sanding blocks are also handy)
  Sand, fl ock and ground cover materials*
  Bottle of PVA glue * (Elmer’s, Mrs. Glue or any white glue will work)
  Modeling putty (optional, useful for fi lling gaps or converting 
  minis)
  Spray varnish* (spray Testor’s Dullcote, Krylon Crystal Clear, etc.)
  Primer spray paint (black, gray and white are the most common)
  Selection of acrylic paints*
  Selection of “water mixable” oil paints*
  DF 
  DF
  A Castilian Brigada force defends ancestral holdings against a raid by un-identifi ed pirates. 
  
  281
  281
  PAINTING
  PAINTING
  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  PAINTING TO MATCH 
  COVER ART
  To match cover art, the fi rst thing you need to do is 
  collect your references. For this project I printed the cover 
  art for Classic BattleTech Total Warfare. This print will serve as 
  reference for the BattleMaster, Inner Sphere standard battle 
  armor and conventional infantry. I also used my CD case for 
  HeavyMetalPlus design software; I’ve always liked the color 
  scheme on the Scimitar vehicle and wanted to paint a Harasser 
  to match. 
  Next, assemble and clean the minis to be painted. Refer to 
  Kitbashing (see p. 289) for advice on cleaning, assembly and 
  converting the miniatures if you desire. 
  Before jumping right in and experimenting with painting, 
  green painters may wish to consult Additional Advice (see p. 
  286) for general guidelines on the basic painting techniques 
  used for the miniatures below, as well as some safety tips that 
  should always be observed.
  THE BATTLEMASTER AND BATTLE ARMOR
  The mottled appearance of the BattleMaster in the art presents 
  a challenge, but can be approximated using a complicated but 
  eff ective method. Most of the techniques described can also 
  be used to paint the battle armor, though you can skip some 
  steps because of the battle armor’s smaller size. 
  Clean and Assemble the ’Mech (BM-1, BA-1)
  First, clean and assemble the ’Mech miniature. Scrape 
  off  mold lines with a sharp blade and do touch-ups with a 
  combination of emery boards and jeweler’s fi les. For the hex 
  base, press each face fl at against a sheet of fi ne sandpaper 
  and sand in a fi gure-eight pattern (fi rst clockwise and then an 
  equal amount counter-clockwise). If the arms do not fi t well, 
  drill matching holes where the arms and shoulders fi t together 
  and insert pins and glue (see Pinning, p. 293). 
  After gluing the miniature together with Superglue, position 
  it in the hex base. Carefully add more Superglue to fi ll the gaps 
  in the hex base and spritz a little zap-a-gap to accelerate the 
  cure of the Superglue. You can also use putty to fi ll these gaps. 
  Once the miniature is assembled, carefully wash it in warm 
  soapy water and let it dry. 
  Prime the Miniature (BM-2, BA-2)
  Prime the miniature with Krylon Gray Primer spray. Warm the 
  can under hot tap water, and then shake it thoroughly. Position 
  the miniature face down on a piece of scrap cardboard. Spray 
  the mini in a well-ventilated area with a light but even coat. I 
  fi nd that spraying from about eight inches away works well. 
  It’s also useful to spray at a 45-degree angle from the bottom 
  of the fi gure, so you can get all those hard to reach places. 
  Once the paint is dry, fl ip the miniature on its back and do it 
  again. Spray the third and fi nal coat with the fi gure standing 
  straight up. It works better to spray a miniature with a few 
  light coats than one thick coat.
  Undercoat with Wash (BM-3, BA-3)
  Create a wash using Vallejo Game Color #816 and water and 
  apply it to the miniature. I expected this wash to be darker 
  than the primer because it’s a much darker gray. However, 
  the wash turned out to be lighter with a blue splotchiness. I 
  still don’t understand why it did that, but it turned out to be a 
  happy accident, so I went with it. 
  Paint Body (BM-4, BM-5, BM-6, BA-4)
  Squeeze a bit of titanium white onto your palette (Windsor 
  and Newton, Artisan, water mixable oil). Take care; even though 
  titanium white can be mixed with acrylic and cleans up with 
  water, it still behaves like oil paint. It takes a long time to dry 
  and if it accidentally gets on something, the paint will transfer 
  to everything it touches. 
  Dab a large paintbrush (#8 round; it’s huge!) into the white oil 
  and create a mixing area on your palette. Now add Vallejo #816 
  until it’s a little lighter than the primer. Once mixed, wipe most of 
  the paint off  the brush onto the palette. Start brushing this mix 
  all over the mini with downward or side strokes (see Figure 4).
  With the paint still wet, add a little more white to the mix 
  and do it again. This time, don’t cover the miniature quite as 
  much (see Figure 5).
  Finally, add a little more white to the mix (it should be very 
  light gray) and do it again. This fi nal application will be lighter 
  than the last and should only catch highlights (see Figure 6 
  and Figure 6A)
  Let the mini sit for a couple of hours. The paint will still be wet, 
  so be careful handling it. Spray a coat of Testor’s Dullcote on the 
  miniature. This sets the paint while forming a protective barrier. 
  If you are profi cient at dry brushing and feel more 
  comfortable doing that, you can substitute dry-brushed layers 
  of standard acrylic for the technique described above. The 
  miniature will not look the same, but should be close.
  Dry-Brush Highlights (BM-7, BA-5)
  For the fi nal highlight, dry-brush the miniature with white 
  acrylic using a medium fl at-tipped brush. IWM white works 
  well for this. To dry-brush, fi rst dip the brush into the paint, 
  then wipe off  most of the paint on a paper towel until the 
  brush is almost dry. Lightly brush the miniature to catch raised 
  detail and create highlights.
  Preparing to Paint
  
  For additional mottling, mix some Vallejo 
  #816 with glaze medium. Carefully add areas 
  of darker gray in small angular patterns to 
  further discolor the overall gray. 
  Brown Body (BM-8, BA-6)
  Paint all areas that you’d like to be brown 
  with GW Bestial Brown. Use a fi ne-tipped 0 
  brush and take care to “keep it in the lines.” 
  Brown Highlights (BM-9, BA-7)
  Thin some GW Snakebite Leather with 
  water and make random triangular patterns 
  with a 00 brush. Then mix a little Vallejo 
  white with the Snakebite Leather and 
  carefully paint the highlights (sharp upper 
  edges and details).
  Yellow Highlights (BM-10, BA-8)
  Paint all areas intended to be warning 
  stripes with GW Golden Yellow. You can 
  highlight this yellow by adding a little white 
  to the mix and using a 00 brush.
  Metallic Touches (BM-11, BA-8)
  Paint all areas intended to look metallic 
  with GW Boltgun Metal using a 00 brush. 
  Black Wash (BM-12, BA-9)
  At this point, apply a targeted black wash 
  (also referred to as black lining). The most 
  common method is to thin black paint with 
  water and apply it only to deep engraved 
  details or joints to create shadow. You can 
  also achieve this by adding glaze medium to 
  black or using future fl oor fi nish with black. I 
  used a mix of turpentine and standard black 
  oil paint for this miniature. Be warned—
  turpentine plus oil paint is not only smelly, 
  it’s fl ammable and toxic, so take precautions! 
  I prefer this type of wash because it works 
  so well on an acrylic base. Use a 5/0 or 000 
  brush to carefully create shadows and panel 
  lines. The mix will fl ow, so take care not to 
  apply too much at a time.
  Finishing Touches (BM-13, BA-10 Final)
  In this stage, fi nishing touches are added 
  to the miniature. Paint the black checkers on 
  the leg, black stripes on the warning panels, 
  black canopy and numbers with appropriate 
  brushes. The checks can be traced out using 
  a sharpened mechanical pencil to make 
  painting easier. You can use decals from 
  Fighting Piranha Graphics for unit insignia, 
  and for numbers and checks as well. The 
  unit insignia, numbers and checks on the 
  BattleMaster pictured were hand-painted.
  BattleMaster-3
  BattleMaster-1
  BattleMaster-2
  BattleMaster-4
  BattleMaster-7
  BattleMaster-8
  BattleMaster-6
  BattleMaster-5
  BattleMaster-10
  BattleMaster-11
  BattleMaster-12
  BattleMaster-9
  
  283
  283
  PAINTING
  PAINTING
  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  Style the Base (BM-Final, BA-10 Final)
  I fi nished the base in the following 
  manner. First, I painted the edges 
  painted black. Then I painted the top 
  Bestial Brown. Once dry, I painted the 
  top again with a white glue and water 
  mix. While the glue mix was wet, I 
  dropped a few small rocks in place, 
  then added fi ne ballast around these 
  rocks. Finally, I covered the base in fi ne 
  sand and then turned it to dump off  
  the excess. This combination looks 
  realistic and didn’t need to be painted. 
  Once the glue was dry, I carefully 
  applied another layer of white glue 
  where I wanted the fl ock to be, then 
  sprinkled it with fl ock.
  BattleMaster-13
  BattleMaster-14 Final 
  BattleArmor-3
  BattleArmor-6
  BattleArmor-2
  BattleArmor-5
  BattleArmor-8
  BattleArmor-1
  BattleArmor-4
  BattleArmor-7
  BattleArmor-9
  BattleArmor-10 Final
  
  THE HARASSER
  The method used to paint the harasser is straightforward and 
  simple. It takes a steady hand and good brush control, but is a 
  faster way to paint. In my opinion, it is also the best method for 
  mimicking the art of Franz Volwinkel in miniature form. It also makes 
  an effi  cient method for painting multiple miniatures at once.
  Clean and Assemble the Miniature (H-1)
  Clean and assemble the miniature.
  Prime the Miniature (H-2)
  Prime the miniature with Krylon Gray Primer in a manner similar 
  to the BattleMaster.
  Blackline (H-3) 
  Mix black paint with glaze medium or future. Carefully blackline 
  the entire tank.
  Paint the Panels Blue (H-4, H-5)
  Using a fi ne-tipped brush (0 or 00), start painting the panels 
  with GW Enchanted Blue. Take care not to paint all the way to the 
  edges. The eff ect we want is worn paint, so feel free to leave tiny 
  unpainted areas. These will represent chipped paint later on.
  Harasser-4
  Harasser--6
  Harasser-5
  Harasser-7
  Harasser-8
  Harasser-9 Final
  Harasser-1
  Harasser-2
  Harasser-3
  Paint Panel Edges Gray (H-6)
  The remaining gray now gets highlighted with GW Chainmail 
  where light would collect or along panel edges. These fi ne lines 
  need not be uniform; in fact, they look better if broken and varied.
  Add Further Gray Highlights (H-7)
  At this stage, paint certain areas light gray for accent. GW Codex 
  Gray works well for this. Add some white to the mix and highlight 
  this gray.
  Add Light Blue Highlights (H-8)
  Mix some white with the Enchanted Blue and glaze medium 
  in a puddle on your palette. Paint a thin outline around the blue 
  areas as a highlight. If the paint is kept thin and transparent, you’ll 
  get a subtle eff ect. You can do additional highlighting for more 
  contrast; I chose not to for this Harasser. 
  Add Warning Stripes, Mount on Base (H-9 Final) 
  Paint or use decals to make yellow and black warning stripes 
  and white numbers. Paint the canopy black. Mount the miniature 
  on its hover stand with Superglue. Dullcote the miniature and 
  you’re done.
  
  285
  285
  PAINTING
  PAINTING
  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  THE INFANTRY
  Conventional infantry are tiny, but can be painted. We 
  recommend 2x reading glasses or some other form of 
  magnifi cation for this. 
  Clean and Assemble the Miniatures (I-1)
  Clean up the miniatures and cut the base between each 
  fi gure. I glued them to a popsicle stick using a little Superglue 
  for each miniature. Gluing them to a stick makes it much easier 
  to paint many fi gures at once.
  Prime the Miniatures (I-2)
  Prime the miniatures with GW Chaos Black spray paint. I 
  warmed the can under hot tap water and painted the front, 
  back and standing in the same manner as a ’Mech. 
  Paint Arms and Legs (I3, I4)
  Using a 000 or 5/0 brush, paint the arms and legs with GW 
  Snakebite Leather. Be sure to leave some black in the shadows 
  to function as blacklining. After painting this color on all the 
  fi gures, I added a bit of white to the puddle to make a lighter 
  brown and touched the highlights on the arms and legs. 
  Highlighting something this tiny is optional. 
   Paint the Bodies (I-5)
  The body armor or torso of the miniature gets a coat of GW 
  Vermin Fur brown. Again, add a tiny bit of white to lighten the 
  color for highlights (if you want them).
  Paint Flesh and Highlight (I-6)
  Use GW Dwarf Flesh to paint all fl esh areas. Another round 
  of optional highlighting.
  Paint Weapons and Metals(I-7)
  Paint the weapons with GW Boltgun Metal. 
  Paint Highlights and Base (I-8)
  Paint the bottom GW Bestial Brown. Mix a little GW Shadow 
  Gray with black and paint the highlights on the helmets. Paint 
  the hexbase black.
  Attach to Base and Style Base (I-9 Final)
  Carefully remove the fi nished miniatures from the popsicle 
  stick and glue them to the hex base. Once all fi gures are on 
  the hex base, the gaps between them are fi lled with Superglue. 
  Once the glue dries, the “ground” is painted brown. Use the 
  same method for sanding and fl ocking as for the BattleMaster. 
  Next, hand-paint unit insignias and—just kidding—you’re done!
  Infantry-1
  Infantry-2
  Infantry-3
  Infantry-4
  Infantry-5
  Infantry-6
  Infantry-7
  Infantry-8
  Infantry-9 Final
  
  ADDITIONAL ADVICE
  The following section provides some general advice on the 
  equipment needed for painting and how to take care of it, as well 
  as additional techniques that will prove useful in your painting.
  PAINTS AND BRUSHES
  Your paints and brushes are the most important materials and 
  tools you’ll be using, so it’s worth saying a little more about them.
  Though other types of paints are available, most modelers favor 
  water-based—or acrylic—paints. Acrylics dry much more quickly 
  than most other types of paints and produce “cleaner” colors. 
  And because they are water-based, you can use water to clean 
  your brushes and thin your paints. Acrylics are waterproof once 
  they dry, and they also tend to be kinder to your brushes than 
  other types of paints. Acrylic glaze medium can be used to extend 
  the drying time of acrylic paints and makes an excellent mixing 
  medium for washes. Future fl oor fi nish also works for mixing and 
  washes, but leaves a glossy sheen.
  Acrylics come in a wide variety of colors from many 
  manufacturers. For this guide, I used only three brands of paint, 
  each of which is described below. Feel free to try any acrylic paints 
  and fi nd what works best for you.
  • 
  Vallejo makes two ranges of paints, model color and game color. 
  Model color covers better and the colors are more military-
  looking. Game color is vibrant and excellent for blending. This 
  manufacturer also makes additional items like glaze medium, 
  slow dry and other useful additives for acrylics.
  • 
  Games Workshops paints are rich in color but dry out quickly. 
  The inks are fantastic but can stain paint, so it’s best to thin 
  them down. These mix well with most other paints.
  • 
  Iron Wind Paints are excellent for dry brushing. IWM Ivory is 
  one of the most useful paints I have ever worked with, and is 
  my primary weathering paint for dry brushing.
  Brushes can be the most expensive tools you use, so be sure to 
  take good care of them. Wash them in warm soapy water or use brush 
  soap between colors, and do not leave them in the water cup or the 
  bristles will curl. The more a brush is used, the better it becomes. You 
  can paint a very fi ne line with a well cared for 0 brush.
  Most brushes used for this guide were Windsor and Newton 
  Series 7. Other brushes should work fi ne. Like paints, the choice 
  of brush should be up to the painter. Store them with bristles 
  facing up.
   
  HOBBY KNIFE SAFETY TIPS
  Hobby knives are very sharp, and it’s easy to give yourself a bad 
  cut if you’re not careful. To avoid accidents, follow the safety tips. If 
  you’ve never used a hobby knife before, ask for some help.
  • 
  ALWAYS cut AWAY from yourself! It may seem easier to 
  scrape the blade back toward your thumb, but sooner or 
  later your blade will slip and you’ll give yourself a deep cut.
  • 
  Always cover the blade and store your hobby knife when 
  you’re done using it. Don’t leave the blade exposed, and 
  don’t leave the knife laying on your work surface. It’s too easy 
  to forget it’s there, and you’re likely to lean onto the blade or 
  knock it off  the work surface.
  • 
  Never use excessive force when working with a hobby 
  knife. Go slow and trim any imperfections a little bit at a 
  time. If you try to trim away large pieces, you’re more likely 
  to slip and injure yourself, break the knife blade and damage 
  the miniature. 
  USING SPRAY PRIMER
  Primers are usually available in brush-on and spray types. 
  Spraying produces thinner and more even undercoats than 
  brushing. Here are a few tips to remember when spraying:
  • 
  Always spray in a well-ventilated area. You can get very 
  sick if you breathe in fumes from the spray can, so it’s best to 
  spray outside if possible. Some painters spray in garages or 
  sheds. If you spray in an enclosed area, keep the doors and 
  windows open.
  • 
  Use a spray booth. Using a spray booth will keep the paint 
  from getting on things you don’t want painted. You can 
  make a spray booth out of a cardboard box. Simply remove 
  the fl aps from the top and set the box on its side. Place the 
  miniatures inside the box. The excess paint that misses the 
  miniatures when you spray will stay inside the box.
  • 
  Check with your parents, your spouse or whoever is in 
  charge before spraying. Make sure the place where you’ll 
  be spraying is okay.
  • 
  Read the instructions on the can. Ask for help if you don’t 
  understand the instructions on the can. When you’re set up 
  and ready to start, hold the can about 10–12 inches away 
  from the miniatures and spray with light, smooth strokes. 
  Don’t try to drench them in one fell swoop! Once this fi rst 
  coat has dried, turn the miniatures around and spray the 
  backs. You can use brush-on primer to touch up any small 
  areas the spray missed.
  BASIC TECHNIQUES
  Here are some common painting techniques and terms. Most 
  of them are used in the examples provided in this guide.
  Washes
  A wash is a thin layer of color, usually applied on top of another 
  color that has already dried. The wash is semi-transparent, so that 
  the base color under it still shows through. For example, a red 
  wash applied over a black base color will produce a dark red tone. 
  The black base provides the darkness, while the wash adds color 
  to the fi nal tone. A dark wash may also be applied to a lighter base 
  color. In this case, the thin wash color will seep into the deeper 
  details of the painted section, accentuating the surface texture of 
  the miniature.
  The simplest way to create a wash is by thinning paint with water. 
  The consistency of the wash—how thin or thick it is—determines 
  how much of the base color shows through. The consistency of a 
  wash will also aff ect how easily the wash fl ows, or bleeds. 
  To apply a wash, fi rst mix a little black paint into a puddle of 
  the base coat color. Add water to this puddle until it turns semi-
  transparent. Now you have a choice: you can do a coverage wash 
  or a detail wash. A coverage wash will often darken, or stain, the 
  basecoat. A coverage wash is good to use before you block in the 
  
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  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  panels or dry-brush the miniature. For detail washing, you 
  use a fi ne-tipped brush such as a 0 or 5/0 to paint the wash 
  into panel lines, crevices and details. Detail washing is similar 
  to blacklining/outlining. Detail washing works best after dry 
  brushing but may be used before. Another use for detail 
  washing is to “clean up” panels and large areas that have been 
  dry-brushed. Refer to the banding technique, but use a wash 
  that is the same as the base coat. 
  Vary the consistency of your washes, and watch how the 
  wash aff ects the fi nal color.
  Dry Brushing
  Dry brushing lets you apply small bits of color, usually 
  highlights, to a section already painted. This method is used to 
  apply colors to the raised surfaces of the miniature, rather than 
  the recessed details. Dry brushing can be hard on the bristles 
  of a brush, so use your roughest brush (in this case, the Size 2 
  brush) or an old/cheap brush. Many painters reserve specifi c 
  brushes for dry brushing. Size 8 is an example of a dedicated 
  dry brush.
  To apply a dry-brushed highlight, fi rst mix a little white 
  paint into a puddle of base coat color. Always use a diff erent 
  brush for mixing in order to keep your dry brush dry. It may 
  be a good idea to let the paint sit for a few minutes, giving it 
  a chance to thicken and making it easier to apply. When the 
  paint is the right consistency, tap the dry brush into the paint. 
  You want only a little paint on the tip of the brush. 
  Wipe the excess paint onto a paper towel or piece of 
  paper until almost no paint comes off  the brush. With angled 
  strokes, brush the fi gure to catch panel edges and details. If 
  the lighter color isn’t catching the details, then dip your brush 
  again. Once the entire fi gure is highlighted this way, you can 
  add a little more white to the mix. This lighter mix should be 
  applied with less pressure than the last one. This technique is 
  easy to learn but diffi  cult to master. Practice and do what you 
  are comfortable with. 
  Experiment by leaving diff ering amounts of paint on the 
  bristles and altering the amount of pressure you apply with the 
  brush. You’ll soon see what looks right and what looks messy.
  Panel Painting and Blending
  Panel painting and blending are two advanced techniques 
  used to accentuate the three-dimensional surface features of 
  a miniature ´Mech or vehicle. In our examples, we used the 
  panel painting technique when adding our middle tones.
  When panel painting or blending a section of a miniature, 
  fi rst paint the entire section a darker shade of the base color; 
  a coverage wash will suffi  ce for this purpose. After this coat of 
  paint or wash has dried, paint each panel with the base color. 
  Be sure to use a size 0 brush for this so you get a clean, even 
  coat on each panel. If you make a mistake and paint outside 
  the line, just wipe it off  and try again. Clean your brush after 
  applying the base color. (In our examples, the base color is the 
  middle tone of each section.) 
  If you are blending, you can paint onto the base color before 
  it dries. Paint the edges of the panels with a lighter shade of 
  the base color. Blend the edges where the highlight and the 
  base color meet, so that the edges disappear.
  After applying the highlight, clean your brush. If you like, 
  you can add a second highlight to the section. Simply go back 
  to your palette and add a touch of white to the color to lighten 
  it more. Then apply this third tone to the edge of the panels. 
  Leave a band of the second tone showing, or blend the edges 
  between the second and third tones.
  DF 
  DF
  VL-2T Vulcan and QKD-4G Quickdraw, Castilian Brigada (Nueva Castile)
  
  Panel painting and blending can be a bit tricky, so it’s a 
  good idea to practice on an old miniature before you try these 
  techniques on your favorites. In addition to changing the tone of 
  each successive layer, you can change the consistency of the paint 
  by mixing in a bit of water to thin it.
  Blacklining
  Blacklining requires a steady hand and fi ne brush control, 
  so you may want to wait to try this technique until you’ve had 
  a bit more experience. Blacklining consists of painting fi ne lines 
  between diff erent parts of the miniature to separate one area 
  from another. Often this is done as one of the last jobs on the 
  fi gure. Many modelers use black to do their outlining (hence the 
  term blacklining), but you can also use dark grays and browns.
  When blacklining, the consistency of the paint is the most 
  important factor. Generally, the paint must be thinned a little so 
  that it fl ows freely and can be applied in thin lines. If the paint is 
  too thin, however, it will run, making it diffi  cult to paint controlled 
  lines. Acrylic inks and fi ne permanent ink pens also work well for 
  blacklining. Inks can be purchased at local hobby stores; most 
  paint lines have a selection of inks. Art and craft stores also carry 
  artists’ ink. If you use this ink, it’s advisable to thin it before applying 
  it to the miniature. Ultra-fi ne 005 permanent pens can be found at 
  art and/or craft stores and come in a variety of colors.
  Adding Details 
  Details are the really small areas and features of the miniature, 
  such as the cockpit, gun and jump jet ports. Details also include 
  any “extras” that don’t show on the unpainted miniature, such as 
  divisional and unit insignias, rank insignias and “kill” markers.
  Usually, details are added after all the other painting is 
  fi nished. Painting details requires a steady hand and fi ne 
  brush control, so it’s best for beginners to add only a few. 
  You can also add details using commercially available decals. 
  Licensed Classic BattleTech decals are available online at 
  http://www.fi ghtingpirannhagraphics.com/.
  FINISHING TOUCHES
  Unless you plan to lock your miniature away in a glass display 
  case, you should probably fi nish it with a coat of protective varnish 
  or sealer. The varnish will enhance and protect the paint job (If 
  you use an unvarnished miniature in games, parts of the paint will 
  eventually start rubbing away).
  You can fi nd protective varnish at your local hobby shop, available 
  in brush-on or spray varieties. If you plan to use spray varnish, be 
  sure to apply it in a well-ventilated area. For best results, tell your 
  hobby dealer what kind of paints you used on your miniature 
  (acrylic paints, in this case) and ask him to recommend a varnish or 
  sealer formulated to work with that type of paint. Acrylic brush-on 
  lacquers are the safest and can be found at local game stores.
  MISTAKES
  Even the best fi gure painters in the world make the occasional 
  blunder, and everyone makes mistakes when they’re fi rst painting. 
  Don’t let mistakes discourage you. Mistakes are an important way 
  of learning, and sometimes a mistake may look better than what 
  you intended to paint or give you an idea for something you 
  wouldn’t have thought of otherwise!
  Also, keep in mind that you can fi x most mistakes by painting 
  over them. Most of your mistakes will probably involve getting 
  paint from one part of the miniature onto an area where you 
  don’t want it. If you get a bit of light-colored paint on a dark area, 
  you can fi x it by painting it over with a darker color. If you get a 
  bit of dark paint on a light area, you may need to paint over the 
  dark color with a little white before retouching the area with the 
  original light color.
  Most often, you’ll make mistakes when you’re getting tired. This 
  is a sign to stop painting and start fresh the next day or evening. 
  Otherwise, you’re likely to make more mistakes and get frustrated, 
  which is the last thing you want. Painting miniatures is supposed 
  to be fun; don’t get so caught up in the challenge of the work that 
  you forget about the fun part.
  A FINAL NOTE
  Hopefully, this section off ers you enough guidance to paint 
  some cool miniatures. However, you don’t need to rely on this 
  information alone. Ask other painters how they like to paint their 
  miniatures. Ask the people at your local hobby shop how they do 
  it. Most people will be happy to talk about their hobby. Online 
  BattleTech forums often have good tips and discussions about 
  painting and modeling, and most painters online are happy to 
  help as well.
  As you continue to paint miniatures, you’ll get better and better 
  at it. You’ll probably learn new techniques and new skills. Pretty 
  soon, people will be asking you for advice. Just remember to be 
  patient. You may not be the greatest painter when you start, but if 
  you keep at it you’ll get better.
  DF 
  DF
  SDR-9K Venom (un-identifi ed mercenary)
  
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  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  KITBASHING
  by Ray Arrastia
  Kitbashing is a term coined by model kit builders to describe 
  the process of building a model with altered or additional 
  pieces (including parts from multiple kits) to achieve a 
  completely diff erent model than the original. The term applies 
  equally well to the miniature gaming hobby, and to BattleTech 
  in particular. Kitbashing techniques are invaluable for creating 
  ’Mech and vehicle variants not currently in production, as well 
  as miniatures of your own design. We’ll be looking at a few 
  diff erent projects as we go along to help illustrate the various 
  stages and skills involved in kitbashing.
  CONCEPT AND PLANNING
  Before you grab any tools and start cutting up miniatures, 
  you need a concept and a plan of action. Decide what your 
  fi nished product is, what your starting point will be and 
  what parts, tools and techniques are necessary to complete 
  the project. Below are a few sample kitbashing projects that 
  we’ll describe throughout this section. Additional details and 
  techniques for these projects will appear in later sections.
  Light Utility Truck (LUT) 
  When I saw this vehicle in the Technical Readout: Vehicle 
  Annex (TRO:VA), I was struck by the similarity between it and 
  the Mobile HQ [IWM stock # 20-743]. The LUT looks like an 
  intermediary between the Mobile HQ and the more common 
  command van, making the Mobile HQ the perfect basis for 
  the LUT. Kitbashing the LUT requires cutting the Mobile HQ’s 
  tractor to six wheels and shortening the cabin to match. Some 
  paneling needs sculpting and minor details should be added.
  Land Train Cargo Transport (LCT)
  This kitbash is loosely based on the vehicle by the same 
  name from TRO:VA. The compact design of the Swift Wind 
  scout car [IWM stock # 20-306] can be used as the basis for the 
  six-wheeled pod-like cars of the LCT. For the three cargo pods, 
  we can remove the crew compartments, detach the wheels 
  from the discarded crew segments and affi  x them to the cargo 
  pods. A Swift Wind can stand in for the LCT’s crew car with a 
  minor modifi cation—adding an extra pair of wheels to bring 
  its total to eight.
  Heavy Truck 
  The heavy truck from TRO:VA can be approximated by once 
  again using the versatile Mobile HQ miniature as a base. Like 
  the LUT, this modifi cation requires cutting the chassis down 
  to six wheels. Also, walls for the truck bed can be created from 
  cut-down parts of the body, and some additional sculpting 
  will be necessary. 
  Completed Light Utility Truck (LUT).
  Mobile HQ parts used in the creation of the LUT and Heavy Truck.
  Completed Land Train Cargo Transport (LCT).
  Swift Wind Scout Car, used in the creation of the LCT.
  Completed Heavy Truck.
  
  Daishi (Dire Wolf) Widowmaker 
  All OmniMechs have several standard confi gurations, and the 
  Widowmaker is among the more unique confi gurations for the 
  Daishi (Dire Wolf) OmniMech [IWM stock # 20-607RE]. Kitbashing a 
  Widowmaker may pose a bit of a challenge, but the modular nature 
  of OmniMech weaponry and design principles makes project 
  planning and acquisition of parts relatively simple. The current 
  arm weapons should be replaced, the left top torso fi lled to cover 
  the unneeded SRM slot, the right torso fi lled out and an AC/20 
  installed, medium lasers positioned on either side of the nose, and 
  the chin box modifi ed or replaced in order to house a small laser. 
  TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
  In 
  kitbashing, 
  the 
  old 
  adage, “use the right tools 
  for the right job” proves true. 
  For minor work you can get 
  away with almost no tools at 
  all—but if you plan on lots of 
  kitbashing or intricate work, 
  it’s a good idea to expand 
  the collection of tools at your 
  disposal. Always keep in mind 
  the need to take proper safety 
  precautions.
  Knives and Saws
  A hobby knife with an 
  interchangeable blade is an 
  ideal kitbashing tool. Besides 
  minor cutting, some blade 
  replacements 
  are 
  suitable 
  for sawing, and a few are 
  even helpful when sculpting 
  small details. Hobby knives 
  are extremely sharp; always 
  cut away from yourself and 
  use caution when cutting. 
  Some hobby saws are good 
  for cutting styrene and balsa 
  wood, and jeweler’s saws 
  allow for very fi ne cutting. A 
  pair of hobby clippers is also 
  useful for cleanly removing 
  items from sprues and for 
  cutting though hunks of 
  unwanted material. 
  Files and Sandpaper 
  Use jeweler and needle 
  fi les for metal or for hard-
  to-reach areas; sandpaper is 
  more useful for larger surfaces 
  or non-metallic items. Use 
  fi ner (high-grit) sandpaper to 
  smooth surfaces and clean up 
  any imperfections created by 
  rougher fi ling or sanding. When 
  doing heavy fi ling or sanding, 
  wear a protective mask. 
  Pin Vise 
  The 
  old 
  stand-by 
  tool 
  for drilling into plastic or 
  metal miniatures, a pin vise 
  is basically a hand-powered 
  drill. It fi ts in your hand as you 
  turn it, just like a screwdriver. 
  The force from your palm 
  helps push the drill bit 
  deeper. Most pin vises allow 
  for interchangeable drill bits, 
  CAD Rendering of Daishi Widowmaker
  Cutting Tools
  Files
  Pin Vise and Rotary Tool
  Final Assembled and Painted Daishi Widowmaker
  
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  PAINTING
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  MINIATURES
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  completely compatible with smaller power tool drill bits. A 
  rotary tool can be useful for more intensive work, or to give 
  your poor wrist a break (see Rotary Tool, below). 
  Rotary Tool
  A Dremel rotary tool can be indispensable for kitbashers. 
  This item alone often replaces all the aforementioned tools, 
  saving you lots of time and eff ort. However, using a Dremel 
  for simpler or fi ner jobs is overkill and can potentially ruin 
  your work. Some forethought is needed when deciding what 
  equipment to use. Take extreme caution, as this is a power 
  tool. Always use proper safety equipment such as protective 
  goggles/glasses and mask, and a vise for holding your work.
  Adhesives and Gap-fi llers 
  Glues and epoxies are used as adhesives and to fi ll gaps. For 
  kitbashing Classic BattleTech miniatures, there aren’t too many 
  adhesives to worry about. Cyanoacrylate glues and gels (AKA 
  Superglue) are the bare minimum required for gluing metal 
  to metal, or styrene plastic to metal. On the rare occasion 
  that you’ll glue plastic to plastic, a styrene glue or cement is 
  preferred. Both types of adhesives are fast acting. Products 
  known as “kickers” are available for cyanoacrylate glue 
  that can accelerate the curing process and strengthen the 
  bond. Epoxies are cold-welding compounds that hobbyists 
  sometimes use as alternatives to glues, and are much more 
  versatile gap-fi llers than cyanoacrylate glue (styrene glues are 
  not recommended for gap-fi lling). In addition, most hobby 
  shops carry putties specifi cally suited for gap fi lling.
  Green Stuff , Brown Stuff  and Sculpting Tools
  Sometimes in kitbashing, sculpting is required. The majority 
  of miniature hobbyists use a two-part epoxy called Kneadatite®, 
  which comes in a green or brown variety (universally known as 
  green stuff  and brown stuff ). Both epoxies have their uses, but 
  brown stuff  is better suited for working on Classic BattleTech 
  ’Mechs and vehicles. Some hobbyists also use traditional 
  modeling clays. When deciding what to use as sculpting tools, 
  the possibilities are vast: fi ngers, hobby knives, toothpicks, 
  erasers, pen nibs, nails and pins, dental tools and so on. 
  Many professional hobby sculptors make their own tools by 
  combining the previously listed items. Through trial and error, 
  you’ll discover what tools work best for you. 
  Bits
   “Bits” is the term applied to the parts and pieces used in your 
  kitbash that are drawn from other sources, though it usually 
  means parts from other miniatures. The more kitbashing 
  projects you undertake, the more discarded bits you wind up 
  with. Eventually, you’ll build up a “bits box,” which becomes 
  your fi rst resource when kitbashing. If you have a part in mind 
  but don’t have it in your bits box, you can always call up Iron 
  Wind Metals and request the bit directly; please make sure 
  you have the product number of the miniature the bit came 
  from, and be as specifi c as possible. In addition to raiding your 
  bits box, you can create new bits from styrene plastic, which 
  is sold in a wide variety of sheet thicknesses, rods, tubes and 
  other architectural and engineering shapes. Pins, needles and 
  fl orist wires are also handy for some projects, as are washers 
  of all sizes. 
  Hobby Vise 
  A vise or hobby vise is a necessity for complex modifi cations. 
  Any work involving heavy sanding, fi ling, cutting, sawing or 
  drilling greatly benefi ts from using a vise; it allows you to have 
  both hands free while keeping the miniature perfectly steady. 
  If using a rotary tool, a vise is an absolute safety must-have. 
  TECHNIQUES
  Now that we’re familiar with the requisite tools, we can go 
  over some of the tips and techniques used in kitbashing. Many 
  of these techniques overlap. For ease of reference, we have 
  separated the techniques in a logical fashion, with specifi c 
  examples from the four kitbashing projects mentioned earlier.
  Cutting
  Whether you’re removing unwanted parts from your 
  miniature or scavenging parts off  another, cutting is the 
  most basic procedure involved in kitbashing. You can do 
  most cutting with a hobby knife, but you’ll want to use more 
  effi  cient tools for arduous tasks. For thin or frail pieces, or 
  removal of surface details, a hobby knife is suffi  cient. Brace 
  the piece on your work mat, and make sure to cut away from 
  yourself. Use only moderate pressure—too much force and 
  you may send the detached piece (and possibly the blade tip) 
  hurtling through the air. 
  Adhesives and Green Stuff 
  Hobby Vise
  
  In our four kitbashing projects, I chose to use the standard 
  hobby knife blade only while trimming fl ash and the large lasers 
  off  the right and left arm of a Vulture (Mad Dog) for later use on 
  the Daishi. I also used the knife to scrape off  the nubs under the 
  Daishi’s nose, as that area must be fl at in order to attach the small 
  laser housing. 
  When dealing with a slightly larger cut, or one that requires a 
  little more control, swap out the standard blade in your hobby 
  knife for a saw blade. At this point, we recommend you use a vise 
  to hold the mini, as the sawing motion may throw off  your cut 
  otherwise. Lubricating the blade with water or petroleum jelly 
  helps ensure a steady back and forth motion. Depending on 
  how you position the piece in the vise, you may need to remove 
  it and fl ip it once you reach a halfway point. Keep in mind that 
  saw blades destroy a lot of material where the cut is made. In our 
  sample kitbashing projects I used the saw blade on the Swift Wind 
  cars to remove the wheels from the crew segments, as well as cut 
  the crew segments from the rest of the vehicle. 
  For pieces that require a longer cut, or are thicker in diameter, 
  you can use a jeweler’s saw or hobby saw. Use the same technique 
  as when using saw blades; however, these blades tend to do less 
  damage, and you can use them with a little more fi nesse. On the 
  other hand, jeweler’s saw blades are very fi ne and can snap if too 
  much pressure is applied or if they get stuck. Luckily, the blades 
  are easy enough to replace. 
  Extremely thick pieces might require a rotary tool. The rotary 
  tool’s cutting discs do a lot of excess damage, so you should only 
  resort to a rotary if you don’t care about damaging the piece 
  you’re removing. Even then, proceed cautiously. You can also 
  use the cutting wheel to shave away large amounts of unwanted 
  material, but this requires patience, and again must be done with 
  caution. When using the rotary tool, secure the miniature in a 
  vise, and wear protective goggles and a mask. Using a rotary even 
  briefl y on pewter miniatures heats them up a lot, so you’ll need to 
  wait for them to cool down before handling them. 
  In our sample kitbashing projects, I found the rotary quite 
  useful in removing the Daishi’s weapon pods at its “wrist,” and 
  for removing an AC/20 from the left arm of a Ryoken (Stormcrow) 
  [IWM stock # 20-611] for later use. I also cut the Daishi’s right torso 
  vent and “subtracted” extraneous material from that area, in order 
  to create a fl at vertical surface later on. I also had to use the rotary 
  to cut down the two Mobile HQ cabs, shortening one to form the 
  LUT cab and the other to form the walls of the Heavy Truck bed.
  You can use hobby clippers as a quick-and-dirty way to cut 
  through lots of unwanted metal, but the clippers will fl atten and 
  push material away from themselves. Clippers are really only 
  Cutting with a Knife Blade
  Cutting with a Saw Blade
  The pink areas were removed to create the Heavy Truck and the LCT, respectively.
  The pink areas were removed to create the LUT.
  Attaching the Legs
  
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  PAINTING
  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  suitable for brute force removal 
  of material, and only if you don’t 
  have a rotary tool at hand.
  Attaching Parts
  Before permanently attaching 
  pieces, make sure to test-fi t 
  everything. Take note of how 
  all the parts connect with each 
  other and make sure all the 
  pieces have clearance. To help 
  strengthen the bond between 
  two pieces, we recommended 
  that you roughen their surfaces, 
  either by using very low grit 
  (rough) sandpaper or scoring 
  the surface in a criss-cross 
  pattern with the hobby knife. 
  This creates small grooves, 
  nooks and crannies where your 
  adhesive can go. 
  Follow the directions for the 
  glue or epoxy you are using, 
  and allow for the recommended 
  curing time before handling 
  the newly connected parts again. You can speed up the 
  curing process if desired. For cyanoacrylate glue, you can 
  use “kickers” to cure the bond almost instantly. With green or 
  brown stuff , place the piece under a hot lamp for about 30 
  minutes—closely monitored, as too much exposure will cause 
  it to warp and bubble. You can also use small clamps or a vise 
  to secure the connection while the bond cures. If the bond will 
  be fi ghting gravity as it cures (as when attaching legs to feet in 
  a hexbase, or setting an upraised arm), you can use modeling 
  clay to secure the miniature in its pose. 
  Pinning: Pinning refers to the practice of strengthening a 
  bond by drilling into both pieces and inserting a metal pin 
  or rod. I use brass rods for most pinning, but straightened 
  paperclips work just as well and are usually at hand. Before you 
  drill, put a small dot of paint on one of the pieces where you 
  plan to drill. Carefully test-fi t it with the piece you’re attaching 
  it to—now the other surface has picked up the paint showing 
  you where to drill so that the pin will be correctly aligned. A pin 
  vise is suffi  cient for most jobs, but at times you may want to 
  drill deeper, and the rotary tool will make things easier. Make 
  sure you don’t drill clean through the other side of the piece! 
  Once you have your pinholes, test the length of pin you’ll need, 
  and cut it to size using hobby clippers. From there, follow the 
  steps for attaching parts. In our sample kitbashing projects, 
  most of the Daishi’s limbs and weapons needed pinning. 
  Gap Filling: Regardless of whether you’re attaching 
  standard parts or fi tting kitbashed pieces to your miniature, 
  you are often left with small gaps that need to be fi lled. Though 
  there are excellent products made specifi cally to fi ll gaps, we 
  can manage just fi ne with material on hand. Very small or thin 
  cracks can be fi lled with Superglue. Use a kicker to quickly 
  cure the glue, and see if more is needed. Sometimes the gaps 
  are signifi cantly larger, longer or deeper, such as when two 
  parts cannot be attached fl ush, or you have “obsolete” weapon 
  ports or slots that need to be covered. In these cases, use some 
  brown stuff  to seal the gap, scraping off  excess and smoothing 
  the seal with a lubricated tool or your fi nger. If necessary, you 
  can fi le or sand the seal smooth after the brown stuff  cures.
  Sculpting
  Most kitbashes are simple, requiring little more than 
  replacing parts and fi lling a few gaps. Other modifi cations 
  result in large gaps or transitions that seem illogical, are 
  visually not pleasing, or that do not match your concept. In 
  these cases you may have to resort to sculpting to rebuild the 
  area. Typically, green stuff  or brown stuff  is used; green stuff  
  has an elasticity that suits it well for more organic sculpts, 
  while brown stuff  can hold sharp edges better and can be fi led 
  and sanded after it cures. Brown stuff  (or a mixture of green 
  and brown) is better suited for modeling machinery. 
  When working with brown stuff , keep your fi ngers and 
  tools well lubricated, or they will stick to the epoxy. The most 
  convenient lubricant is water—keep a small dish of water 
  close by to dip your tools or fi ngers as you work. Petroleum 
  jelly is slightly better, but requires you to wash the piece after 
  the epoxy cures to remove the grease. Once the epoxy is 
  mixed, break off  a piece, roll it into a ball or a sausage shape 
  and smooth it into the area you need to cover. (If you mix 
  more epoxy than you think you’ll need, it can be stored in 
  the freezer and reused for up to 24 hours.) Work on creating a 
  smooth transition between the miniature and the brown stuff  
  area. Once you’re satisfi ed with the transition, allow the epoxy 
  to cure for about 15-20 minutes, or place it under the heat of 
  a lamp for about 5 minutes. At that point you may select the 
  appropriate tools to create panel lines and details. If the area 
  you’re covering is especially deep, it’s best to fi ll the area fi rst, 
  allow the brown stuff  to fully cure, and then apply a layer of 
  brown stuff  over top for detailing. The same goes for when 
  you need to create layered details.
  Daishi arm, with “pin”.
  Shoulder drilled to receive pin.
  Assembled Light utility Vehicle (LUT).
  Assembled Heavy Truck
  
  In our sample kitbashing projects, attaching the LUT’s cabin to 
  the trailer left a gap between the crew cab and the main cabin. I 
  used brown stuff  to fi ll the breach and sculpted details to match 
  the cabin. As for the heavy truck, the truck bed walls looked fi ne, 
  but there was no rear wall, so I created a thin rear wall with brown 
  stuff . After it cured, I added a second layer for detailing. I also used 
  brown stuff  to sculpt a tarpaulin over the truck bed. 
  I used brown stuff  on the Daishi torso, to fi ll in the slot on the 
  left torso where the SRM normally goes. I smoothed out the area 
  using a blade-tool and created some panel details with the fl at 
  edge of a hobby knife. After it cured, I used the knife to trim away 
  excess and then fi led to blend the transition. The Daishi’s right 
  torso “underhang” needed to be fl ush with the overhang, and I 
  needed a fl at area in the front right torso (where the AC/20 will 
  sit). Accomplishing this was easy; I fi lled the area slightly to excess, 
  and then trimmed and fi led it down fl ush after curing.
  Reposing
  Reposing 
  can 
  be 
  considered a subset of 
  kitbashing—using any 
  or all the techniques 
  above, you can create a 
  miniature representing 
  the exact same unit you 
  began with, but in poses 
  ranging from slightly to 
  radically diff erent than 
  the original. A simple but 
  eff ective technique used 
  in reposing is bending. Bending an arm or a leg, or twisting a torso 
  just a few degrees, can have a major impact on the miniature’s overall 
  stance and attitude. Prior to bending, the piece should be warmed 
  up, either in your hands or by running it through some warm water. 
  Find the best way to leverage the piece in your hands (or using a 
  clamp or vise), and apply fi rm but slow pressure. Pewter can be 
  unstable, so pay close attention and feel for any cracking. You can 
  use a little brown stuff  to sculpt over any cracks or unnatural-looking 
  results. In our sample kitbashing projects, I bent the Daishi’s right leg 
  slightly back at the knee to make a running pose. An approximately 
  1mm crack opened at the knee, which I repaired with brown stuff .
  Using Bits
  The fi rst place to check when you need to produce new weapons 
  or equipment is your bits box. Your bits collection may be modest 
  at fi rst, but as you put together more and more miniatures and 
  kitbashes, your bits box will grow. After all, bits are nothing more 
  than the unused pieces of your past projects, including hacked-
  up remains of whole 
  miniatures. You 
  can 
  even keep interesting 
  or fl at pieces of sprue 
  on hand in your bits 
  box for later use. If your 
  set of bits is small, or 
  you don’t have the right 
  part for the job, take 
  some time to peruse 
  the Classic BattleTech 
  section of the Iron Wind Metals catalog at www.ironwindmetals.
  com or the CamoSpecs Gallery at www.camospecs.com. You 
  might fi nd a piece that perfectly suits your needs. You can order 
  the individual piece directly from IWM, or pick up the whole 
  miniature and throw the superfl uous parts in your bits box. You 
  can be as staid or imaginative as you like when using bits. You 
  can transplant a laser from one miniature to another, and feel 
  confi dent that other players will recognize it as such; or you can 
  take an entire limb from a small ’Mech and use it as a cannon on a 
  larger ’Mech, and create a completely convincing result.
  In our sample kitbashing projects, the Daishi Widowmaker used a 
  number of modifi ed bits. An AC/20 from a Ryoken left arm was cut 
  down to size, and a casing created from brown stuff . The weapon 
  was pinned and glued to the fl at forward area of the Dire Wolf that I 
  had created earlier. To represent the ’Mech’s large lasers, I cut down 
  a Mad Dog’s lasers and pinned them to the Dire Wolf’s wrists. 
  The LUT and heavy truck required little in the way of extra 
  bits. The LUT needed a small antennae dish, so I used one of the 
  discarded Swift Wind dishes. The base of the antennae had to be 
  cut down to sit at the proper angle, and I had to drill a new hole 
  in the LUT’s roof to allow for the antennae’s peg. The heavy truck 
  merely required a small wedge-shaped device on its roof. I cut off  
  the tip of the Mobile HQ’s laser and mounted that on top of the 
  heavy truck.
  While recycled bits are the primary source for parts in kitbashing, 
  they’re not always suitable. Styrene plastic sheets, rods and tubes, 
  brass rods and tubes, and other basic hobby building materials 
  make a good secondary resource for parts and are readily 
  available at hobby shops. Styrene is versatile and easy to use, 
  though somewhat fragile. Drilling holes in styrene with a pin vise 
  is quick and painless, and cutting styrene is a simple matter of 
  scoring your cut lines with a hobby knife and a straight edge, then 
  bending it at the mark until it snaps. Styrene can be easily carved, 
  fi led or sanded into any shape. Using a rotary tool on styrene is 
  not recommended, as even the briefest use can melt the plastic. If 
  you feel you must use a rotary, use it at the lowest possible speeds 
  and pause it frequently so that the styrene stays cool. 
  For the Daishi’s arm-mounted particle projector cannons 
  (PPCs), I originally intended to use PPC tips from a Masakari 
  (Warhawk), but found they were too short compared to the 
  conceptual art. Instead, I took a styrene rod of compatible 
  diameter (2.5mm) and cut two pieces to the desired length. I 
  hollowed out these barrels about a quarter of the way through 
  and fi lled them with brown stuff , which I then detailed to match 
  the inner barrel of a PPC. When cured, I pinned and glued them 
  to the Daishi’s wrists. 
  The Daishi also needed a small laser and housing to fi t just under its 
  nose. I cut a rectangle from a 2mm-thick styrene sheet, and carved and 
  fi led it into shape. I used a 
  small pin to recreate the 
  small laser, pinning and 
  gluing it under the Dire 
  Wolf’s nose. I made the 
  lasers on either side of 
  the ’Mech’s cockpit from 
  plain metal rod—fi rst I 
  carefully drilled a hole 
  and groove on each side, 
  then glued and fi tted the 
  rods into place.
  Torso gap fi lled in.
  Styrene and a paperclip become a laser. 
  The weapons are recycled bits and styrene. 
  
  295
  295
  PAINTING
  PAINTING
  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  Limb-Swapping and Magnets
  The diff erences between some ’Mech variants are so minor 
  that you can achieve them simply by swapping out a limb or 
  weapon for another that is similarly equipped. This is especially 
  true with OmniMechs, given the uniform appearance of their 
  limbs and weaponry. You can even go a step further and outfi t 
  a miniature with multiple limbs and weapons that swap out. 
  The way to achieve this is similar to pinning. Drill a hole on 
  each of the connecting surfaces, test-fi t a pin or rod, and then 
  glue the pin to the limb instead of gluing the parts together. 
  You may need longer pins and deeper drilling to create good 
  temporary holds. 
  If you are seriously interested in limb swapping, the most 
  useful items at your disposal are rare earth magnets. These 
  powerful, compact magnets are not rare despite their name 
  and can be obtained from numerous vendors, as revealed by 
  a simple Internet search. Rare earth magnets not only make 
  limb swapping a breeze, they also allow you to attach or 
  detach other external equipment at will. Numerous shapes 
  and sizes are available, but I fi nd the 1/8” x 1/16” and 1/16” x 
  1/32” discs the most useful.
  Once you determine the size of the disc you’ll need and 
  where it will be placed, choose a drill bit a little larger in 
  diameter than the disc. Drill a little and test-fi t the magnet. 
  It should lie fl ush against the surface; if it doesn’t, drill a 
  little further and repeat. Once the magnet fi ts perfectly, use 
  Superglue to set it in place, and fi ll any gaps as you normally 
  would. Once the glue and/or epoxy are cured, you may repeat 
  the process for the other surface. Before gluing the second 
  magnet in place, make certain the polarities are properly 
  aligned. Allow the loose magnet to attach itself to the fi rst 
  magnet. Then paint or mark the exposed face of the loose 
  magnet. Now you know that the non-painted side of the 
  second magnet must face outward. In our sample kitbashing 
  projects, I installed magnets in all the component cars of the 
  LCT, allowing the vehicle some modularity.
  FINISHING
  Once you’ve completed your kitbashing, you can use the 
  techniques described earlier in the section under Painting 
  Miniatures to paint your miniatures, allowing you to place your 
  own creations on the fi eld of battle. For examples of the fi nal 
  results for the sample kitbashing vehicles, see the photos in 
  the Support Vehicles section, beginning on p. 204.
   
  Your standard friendly neighborhood ForestryMech.
  A ForestryMech armed and ready for combat.
  Magnets allow for on the fl y miniature customization.
  
  PREPARING TERRAIN
  Once the miniatures are ready, players will need to construct 
  the terrain on which their miniatures will fi ght. We recommend 
  creating a playing surface that measures at least three feet square. 
  That size allows you to add enough terrain to make the battlefi eld 
  interesting. An ideal playing surface measures six feet by four feet 
  or larger.
  For beginners, virtually any objects found around the house 
  can be used as miniature terrain. Foam packaging, small boxes 
  and a piece of felt spread out over stacked books for hills can be 
  used to represent a useful (if not realistic) playing surface. Once 
  you have gotten accustomed to 3-D gaming, see the following 
  suggestions for ways to represent various terrain features more 
  realistically on the tabletop.
  CLEAR
  For clear terrain, we recommend a fl ocked gaming table. The 
  most common type of game table is a four-foot by six-foot piece of 
  fl ocked hardboard or plywood with one-by-two battens. If space 
  is limited, you can use commercially available fl ocked mats, which 
  have the bonus of being portable. The most inexpensive playing 
  surface can be made by covering the table with a felt cloth of the 
  appropriate color.
  HILLS
  Make hills out of blue or pink insulation foam measuring from 
  half an inch to three-quarters of an inch thick, or out of white 
  Styrofoam (also called expanded polystyrene). Each piece of foam 
  represents one elevation level. Construct hills of various levels by 
  cutting and shaping successively smaller contour levels and then 
  stacking them on top of each other. The result should resemble 
  a contour map. Each contour of a hill should be cut and shaped 
  individually, then stacked to make hills of various sizes. A good 
  utility knife will work, or you can use a purpose-built foam cutter. 
  A foam cutter is an electric device that heats up a wire, and is the 
  cleanest and quickest way to cut foam. Be careful, though, as the 
  wire gets quite hot.
  When stacking the levels together, leave enough ledge exposed 
  on the lower levels to allow a mounted miniature to easily stand 
  on them. If the exposed area is not large enough for a mounted 
  miniature, that section represents a cliff  face.
  The advantage of Styrofoam is the ease of cutting it to a desired 
  shape and size. We recommend that you paint and fl ock the hills 
  to match your playing surface. Use latex paint of the appropriate 
  color to seal the hills; this gives a good undercoat for the fl ock 
  and helps protect the hillsides. Flock or model railroad grass 
  can be found at your local hobby store and should be glued to 
  your hills with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. If using a felt 
  playing surface, simply glue a piece of extra felt to the hilltop and 
  cut around its edge with scissors. You can fi nd white Styrofoam 
  at hobby and craft stores. Local home improvement or hardware 
  stores carry blue and pink insulation foam.
  To get a rock-like texture around your hill, apply sculptamold 
  papier maché to the edge. Crumple some aluminum foil and 
  then open it back up. Wrap the edge of the hill with the foil so the 
  crumpled surface of foil makes a pattern on the sculptamold. Once 
  the sculptamold is hard, you can peel off  the foil and paint your 
  hill. Paint washes are an excellent way to paint the rock texture.
  TREES
  Hobby and model railroading shops carry a large variety of 
  trees. To make tree stands, mount individual trees on hex bases or 
  large washers. You can use trees mounted in this way on woods 
  templates, and also on hill levels to denote whether a hill is 
  wooded. When placed next to water, marsh templates and roads, 
  these individual tree stands add realism.
   Model railroad trees that measure between 1 and 1 1/2 inches 
  tall can be purchased at local hobby stores. Tree making kits for 
  deciduous trees can also be purchased, or you can make realistic 
  trees from various fl oral products found at your local craft store. 
  Below is a step-by-step guide for making and using both types 
  of trees. 
  To create light woods, make a woods template base and mount 
  it with a group of trees, spacing them about three inches apart. You 
  can make the template of any material sturdy enough to support 
  Preparing Terrain
  Single Trees
  Tree Template
  
  297
  297
  PAINTING
  PAINTING
  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  the trees. Gator board is among the best materials and can be 
  found at your local art and craft store. Paint the template the 
  same shade of green as your ground cloth. For a more realistic 
  look, paint the template and sprinkle landscaping material 
  over it before the paint dries to represent grass. Alternatively, 
  you can cover the template with a coat of Durham’s water 
  putty and mix various grades of ballast or sand into it. When 
  dry, it becomes rock-hard and very durable. Paint and fl ock 
  after the putty dries.
  An excellent way to demonstrate the type of woods the 
  template represents is to use the woods template together 
  with the tree stands. Use light green trees for light woods, 
  medium for medium, and so on. If all your trees are the same 
  color, then the number of tree stands on a woods template 
  makes a useful way to identify woods: one stand for light, two 
  for medium, and so on.
  WATER
  To create rivers, streams and lakes, use one of the following 
  methods. The simplest is to use pieces of blue felt or cloth to 
  represent water. Some model railroading suppliers sell ready-
  made plastic sheets of “water” that can be cut to a specifi c 
  shape. If using this method, you can create a realistic shoreline 
  for your rivers and lakes by gluing sand around the edge. Then 
  you can paint the entire thing and glue fl ock on the edge as 
  well. Be sure to leave a thin strip of the bank showing between 
  the water and the fl ock. 
  If you used gator board for your woods, you have a simple 
  and eff ective way to make water templates. Cut the template 
  as you would for woods. Then mark where you want the water 
  to be. Carefully cut the wood veneer in that pattern and pull 
  the veneer away. Scrape the foam away from the bottom 
  veneer to create the depression where your water will be (see 
  examples below). Use thinned-down water putty to create the 
  “water” (go fi gure…). Once dry, this can be painted blue and 
  gloss-coated for a realistic water template.
  ROADS/BRIDGES
  Hobby and railroad modeling shops carry all kinds of 
  appropriate materials for representing roads and bridges, 
  including simulated road materials ranging from fl exible cork 
  roadways to rolls of paper roadway. Often the rolled roadway 
  is the most realistic because of its texture and printed lines, 
  and is usually the least expensive to boot. Use “Z gauge” scaled 
  bridges—these most closely match the scale Iron Wind Metals 
  uses for its BattleTech miniatures.
  Water
  Road
  Simple Building
  Complex Building
  
  BUILDINGS
  Foam and plastic packaging, painted and detailed, is an 
  inexpensive and convincing way to make your own buildings. 
  Plastic caps for spray paint as well as many other household items 
  that would otherwise be tossed out can be put to use on the 
  battlefi eld. A little imagination can go a long way
  Buildings appropriate for BattleTech miniatures play can also 
  be found at hobby and model railroading shops. We recommend 
  products scaled for micro-armor or “Z-gauge” scale model 
  railroading. Resin-cast buildings produced especially for micro-
  armor gaming are also available, as are kits that allow you to 
  fabricate buildings in plaster to your own specifi cations (these 
  require quite a bit of time and eff ort).
  If the BattleMechs in your game jump a lot, you might prefer 
  buildings with fl at roofs. Remember that each half- to three-
  quarter-inch of height represents one elevation level. Mark the 
  Construction Factor (CF) on the bottom of each building model, 
  preferably with a pencil so it can be easily changed from scenario 
  to scenario.
  RUBBLE
  You can use anything you have lying around to represent 
  rubble. Broken buildings, pieces left over from making other 
  parts of the terrain, or even other models can be “distressed” 
  using woodworking tools, a soldering iron and/or a hot knife. 
  Please be very careful using such tools. The result should look like 
  something that got blasted apart or burned down. You can also 
  make rubble with gravel, sand, leftover foam, bits of plastic and 
  even BattleMech parts from your bits box. 
  Rough Ground
  Rubble
  This tank shed was easily constructed out of molded/textured styrene sheets and foam core board.
  
  299
  299
  PAINTING
  PAINTING
  MINIATURES
  MINIATURES
  ROUGH GROUND
  Rough ground can be represented by gluing small rocks 
  or model railroad ballast to a gator board, plastic or card 
  template. Gravel, sand and fl ock can be added to make it more 
  realistic. We recommend that you paint the template and then 
  glue fl ock around its edge so it looks good on your playing 
  surface. If using a felt surface, cut some extra felt and place a 
  couple of small rocks on it.
  You can make rocky outcroppings using extra bits of foam 
  and papier maché.
  ASSEMBLING THE 
  PLAYING AREA 
  Now that you’ve created all the necessary terrain, it’s time to 
  assemble a playing area and start a game. Enjoy! 
  Terrain table ready for play.
  
  • A •
  Accidental entry, battle armor, 228
  Accidental falls from above, 63
  sideslipping, 68
  Active probe, 129, 134, 228, 238
  Adhesives, 291
  Adjacent ground units, LOS, 99
  Advanced weapons, equipment, 
  124, 129
  aerospace units, 251
  mounting, 228
  Aerodyne units, 235
  high-altitude movement, 80
  movement, 92
  Aerospace assignment, random, 272
  Aerospace attack modifi ers table, 237
  Aerospace carriers, 225
  dismounting from, 226-27
  Aerospace fi ghter/small craft heat 
  point table, 161
  Aerospace fi ghters, 23-24
  infernos, 141
  Aerospace movement phase, 37
  atmospheric, 78-84, 86-91
  control rolls, 92-93
  evasive action, 77
  facing, 77
  high-G maneuvers, 78
  mapsheets, 75
  matching mapsheets to low-
  altitude hexes, 91-92
  rolling, 77-78
  scale, 76
  space, 76
  stacking, 78
  terms, 74-75
  thrust points, 76
  Aerospace pilots damage, 41
  Aerospace record sheets, 30
  Aerospace units, 20, 25, 26, 234-
  35, 266
  armor-piercing ammunition, 140
  atmospheric combat, 240-50
  atmospheric damage, 249
  collisions, ramming, 240
  combat, 98
  critical damage, 124
  damage recording, 121
  death from above, 149
  destruction, 128
  dumping ammunition, 104
  ground mapsheets, 242
  ground units and, 234-35
  heat, 158, 160-61
  hit location table, 237
  movement, 91-92
  multiple targets modifi er, 110
  other weapons, equipment, 251
  physical attack, 144
  plasma weapons, 139
  scenario set-up, 256
  scenarios, 258
  space combat, 235-36, 238-40
  stealth armor system, 142
  swarm attack, 222
  vehicles, fi ring arcs, 104
  Aerospace weapon range table, 235
  Aimed shots
  heat, 160
  leg attacks, 220
  specialized attacks, 110
  swarm attacks, 220
  Airborne aerospace units, 242
  attack direction, 119
  fi ring arcs, 104-5
  hit location, 120
  LOS, 99
  specialized attacks, 110
  stacking, 58
  weapons fi ring, 107
  Airborne non-aerospace units
  height, 99
  specialized attacks, 111
  stacking, 57
  Airborne units, 242
  accidental falls, 152
  falling units and, 152
  hiding, 259
  Airship random altitude change 
  table, 205
  Airship support vehicles
  crashes, 81
  high-altitude movement, 80
  hit location, 206
  movement, 84
  thrust points, 76
  Airship velocity table, 204
  Airships, 25, 204-5
  evasive action, 77
  Air-to-air attacks, 241-42
  Air-to-ground attack modifi er table, 243
  Air-to-ground attacks, 242-47
  Altitude, 43 
  bombing, 246
  changing, 84
  Ammunition
  critical hit eff ects, 125
  dumping, 104
  expenditure, 103-4
  explosions, 41, 161
  ground combat vehicle, 194
  heat, 160
  Angels on our shoulders, 230-33
  Anti-’Mech attacks, 30
  infantry, 220-23
  skill, 220
  skill level, 40
  Anti-battle armor pods, 130
  Anti-missile system, 129-30
  cluster hits, 116
  Anti-personnel Gauss rifl e, 135
  Anti-personnel pod, 130
  Anti-personnel weapons, battle 
  armor, 218
  Area-eff ect (AE) weapons, 112, 172-75, 
  219, 246-47, 275
  Arm 
  blown off , 125
  critical hit, 126
  hits, 124-25, 186
  Armor, 29-30, 228-29 
  data, 30
  diagram, 27, 28, 30
  value, 219, 43
  Armored gloves, 229
  Armor-piercing ammunition, 140
  ground combat vehicles, 192
  Art, fi ction and, 9
  Artemis IV FCS, 130, 134
  Artemis-equipped missiles, 140
  Assault ’Mechs, 21
  Assault ships, 24
  Assault vehicles, 22
  ATM (advanced tactical missile) 
  system, 138
  Atmosphere eff ects, 236
  Atmospheric, 74
  Atmospheric combat, 241-50
  Atmospheric control modifi ers 
  table, 249
  Atmospheric movement, 78-84, 86-91
  Attack angle, aerospace units, 236
  Attack declaration, 98-99
  VTOL, 196
  WIGE, 199
  Attack direction, 119
  aerospace units, 238
  ground combat vehicles, 192
  support vehicles, 206
  Attack modifi ers table, 117-18
  Attack path, 43
  Attack value, space combat, 235
  Attacker movement, 108
  Attacker movement modifi er, 42
  Attacks, battle armor, 217-18
  Automatic damage, ’Mech falling, 69
  Avionics, 239
  • B •
  Backend of nowhere, 276-79
  Backhoe, 130
  Backward movement, 49
  BAR (Barrier Armor Rating), 29, 31
  Base to-hit number, 42, 106, 144, 243
  Basements, 179
  collapse and, 176
  table, 179
  Battle armor, 23, 217-19, 281
  attacks against, 219 
  damage, 41
  moving through buildings, 168-69
  multiple targets modifi er, 110
  organization/weight table, 214
  plasma weapons, 139
  record sheet, 29-30
  transport position table, 227
  Battle claw, 229
  Battle Value (BV) system, 256, 257-59, 
  260, 261, 262, 264
  BattleMaster, 281
  BattleMechs, 20-21
  Bidding, 266
  Bits, 291
  Bits use, 294
  Blacklining, 288
  Blending, 287-88
  Blown-off  arms, 123
  Bomb, 239 
  critical hits, 79
  dumping, 247
  Bombing, 245-47
  Breakthrough, 261-62
  Breakthrough victory points table, 262
  Bridge, 33, 297
  intervening terrain, 100 
  maximum capacity, 62
  movement, 62
  Bridge-layer, 130-31
  Bridge-layer table, 131
  Brown stuff , 291
  Building modifi ers table, 167
  Building movement modifi ers table, 167
  Buildings, 33, 100, 297
  attack direction, 119
  attacking, 171
  attacking units inside, 171-72
  backhoe damage, 130
  basements, 179
  battle armor, 228
  bulldozer damage, 131
  chainsaw damage, 134
  collapse, 176-79
  combat eff ects, 171-79
  crashes, 81
  damage recording, 121
  displacement, 151
  dual saw damage, 134
  exiting, 170-71
  fi ring at, 111
  heavy-duty pile driver damage, 136
  infantry, 214
  infernos, 141
  intervening terrain, 100
  mining drill, 138
  movement eff ects, 167-71
  NARC missile beacon, 139
  rock cutter, 140
  sideslipping, 67-68
  skidding, 62-63
  stacking, 58
  types, 166-67
  VTOL, 197
  WIGE landings, 199
  wrecking ball, 143
  Bulldozers, 131
  Burst-fi re weapon 
  damage vs. conventional infantry 
  table, 217
  infantry, 215-16, 217
  inside buildings, 172, 175-76
  • C •
  C3 computer, 131-33, 134
  Camo system, 229
  Capital missiles
  aerospace units, 239
  evasive action, 77
  Cargo, 239-40
  Cargo bays, 133
  Cargo carriers, extraction, 261
  Cargo dropping, 261
  Cargo hit, ground combat vehicle, 194
  Carrying 
  aerospace unit attacks, 90, 91
  limits, 227
  unit attacks, 227
  units, 89-91
  CASE (Cellular ammunition storage 
  equipment), 122, 133-34
  Chainsaw, 134
  Challenge
  making, 274-75
  refusing, 275
  Charge attacks, 148
  Charging attacks, 223
  Chase, 262
  Chiaroscuro, 180-83
  CIC, 240
  Circle, 252-55
  Clan honor, 273-75
  interpretation table, 274
  Clans, 206
  aerospace assignment, 272
  combat vehicle assignment, 271
  ‘Mech assignment table, 269
  Classic BattleTech, 10-11
  Clear terrain, 32, 216, 295
  Clearing woods, 112
  Club attacks, 145-46
  Cluster ammunition, 141
  Cluster hits table, 116
  Cluster weapons
  aerospace units, 236, 238
  hit location, 120
  specialized attacks, 112
  Cockpit, critical hit, 125
  Collapse, buildings, 167
  Collisions
  aerospace units, 241
  avoiding, 63-64
  falling and, 68
  sideslipping, 67-68
  skidding, 62-64
  Combat, 98 
  attack declaration, 98-99
  cargo carriers, 261
  charge attacks, 148
  critical damage, 123-28
  death from above attacks, 149-50
  diff erent levels, 150
  eff ects, buildings, 171-79
  fi ring arcs, 104-6
  infantry, 214-19
  inside buildings, 175-76
  kick attacks, 147
  lift hoists, 137
  line of sight, 99-102
  other weapons, equipment, 129-43
  physical attacks, 144-45
  physical attacks by prone ‘Mechs, 151
  physical weapon attacks, 146
  ProtoMechs, 184
  punch attacks, 145
  push attacks, 147
  skidding in, 62
  terms, 98
  unit destruction, 128
  unit displacement, 151-53
  weapon attacks, 103-4
  Combat Vehicles, 22-23
  combat, 192-99
  movement, 192
  random assignment, 271
  record sheet, 28-29
  Combine, 134
  Commander hit, ground combat 
  vehicle, 194
  Commanders, 273
  Compact engine, critical hit, 126
  Compact gyros, 126
  ComStar, 266
  Confl icting terrain, levels, 49
  Consciousness 
  rolls, 41-42
  recovering, 42
  Construction 
  factor, 166-67
  rules, 8
  Control, 240
  Control roll table, 93
  Control rolls, 42
  aerospace movement, 92-93
  Conventional fi ghters. See Fighters
  Conventional infantry. See Infantry
  Co-pilot hit, VTOL, 197
  Counters, 33
  Crashes, 54-55, 81-83
  Crew, 240
  data, 29
  killed, ground combat vehicle, 194
  stunned, ground combat vehicle, 
  194-95
  Critical damage, 29, 30, 53
  carrying units, 90
  ground combat vehicles, 192-94
  infantry carriers, 224
  support vehicles, 207
  VTOL, 197
  Critical hits, 28, 41
  aerospace units, 238-39
  swarm attacks, 223
  transferring, 125
  Critical hits table, 27, 124
  Cruising, 53
  Cutting, 291-92
  • D •
  Damage, 121-22
  aerospace units, 238-40
  attacker, 150
  building collapse, 177-79
  charge attacks, 148
  crashes, 81
  crippling, 258
  determination, 38
  modifi ers, 110
  other infantry units, 216
  ProtoMechs, 185-86
  recording, 121-22
  resolution, 122
  support vehicles, 206-7
  target, 150
  thresholds, 239
  value, 43
  warrior, 41
  Death from above 
  attacks, 149-50
  infantry carriers, 223
  VTOL, 198
  Depth 1 water
  physical attack, 144
  terrain modifi ers, 109
  Depth 2+ water
  physical attack, 144
  terrain modifi ers, 109
  Depth rules, stacking, 58-59
  Depth tracks, 29
  Depths, 43
  Destroyed location, 124
  Destruction, carrying units, 90
  Details, 288
  Dice, 33
  Diff erent levels table, 150
  Dismounting, 225-27
  carrying units, 91
  support vehicles, 207
  Displacement, building collapse, 
  177-79
  Dive-bombing, 245-46 
  scatter diagram, 245
  Docking collar, 240
  Domino eff ect, 152-53
  Door, 240
  critical hits, 79
  Driver hit, ground combat vehicle, 195
  Driving skill, 40 
  roll table, 60
  rolls, 59-61
  Dropping prone, 49
  battle armor, 228
  swarm attack, 222
  DropShip, 24 
  bay table, 89
  combat, 250
  crashes, 81
  dismounting, 225
  exhaust damage table, 88
  infernos, 141
  sideslipping, 67-68
  Dry brushing, 287
  Dual saw, 134
  Duel voiding, 275
  Dumper, 134
  • E •
  ECM, 238 
  pod, 141
  NARC missile beacon, 139
  suite, 134-35, 229
  Eisenjagers, 188-91
  Elevation, 29, 31-32, 43 
  changes, 55-56
  rules, stacking, 58-59
  End phase, 38
  Endo steel, 135
  Engine, 240
  critical hit, 126
  ground combat vehicle hit, 195
  Engine damage
  VTOL, 197
  WIGE, 199
  Equipment, 113-14
  Equipment
  aerospace units, 236, 238
  critical hit, 128
  infantry, 214
  warrior unconscious, 41
  weapons fi ring, 107
  Evasive action, 77
  Evasive action modifi ers table, 77
  Excess heat, 41
  Exploding weapons, heat, 160
  Explosions, VTOL, 198
  Explosive components, critical hit, 128
  Explosive pod, 141
  Extended fuel tanks/cells, 135
  Extraction, 260-61
  • F •
  Facing 
  aerospace movement, 77
  after fall, 68
  change, 50-51, 84
  change cost table, 77
  Failed braking maneuver table, 87, 88
  Falling, 41, 68-69
  battle armor, 228
  inside building, 168
  swarm attack, 222
  
  301
  INDEX
  Falling unit 
  hits target, 152
  misses target, 152
  Falls, 148
  accidental, 152
  death from above, 149, 150
  Ferro-fi brous armor, 135
  Fiction, 8-9
  Fighter return table, 92
  Fighters, 20, 23, 249, 250
  carrying units, 90
  crashes, 81
  dismounting, 91
  evasive action, 77
  heat, 158
  infernos, 141
  launching, 84, 86
  proximity damage, 88
  recovering, 86
  return table, 92
  Fighting withdrawal, 94-97
  Files, 290
  Finishing, 295
  Fire control systems, support 
  vehicles, 206
  Fire resistant armor, 228
  Firing arcs, 243, 249-50
  rotating, 105-6
  space combat, 235
  Firing at grounded DropShips, 110
  Firing at immobile targets, 110
  Firing weapons, 106-16, 119-23
  aerospace units, 235-36, 238
  Fission engine, critical hit, 126
  Fixed-wing craft, 25
  Fixed-wing support vehicles, 206
  crashes, 81
  damage, 206
  facing changes, 84
  Flak, 136, 141
  Flanking, 53
  Flechette ammunition, 141
  Flight path, 43
  Flight stabilizer, VTOL, 197
  Flipping arms, 106
  Foot actuator hit, 126
  Foot infantry, 23
  Force 
  composition, 262, 264, 266
  experience level, skills, 272
  Forced withdrawal, 258
  Forward arc, 105
  Forward movement, 77
  Four-legged ‘Mechs, 32, 49, 50
  critical hit eff ects, 125
  kick attacks, 147
  piloting, driving skill, 59
  rotating fi ring arcs, 106
  specialized attacks, 113
  torso destruction, 122
  Fragmentation missile, 141
  Frenzy, ProtoMechs, 187
  Fuel cell engine, critical hit, 126
  Fuel, 240
  Fuel tank
  ground combat vehicle, 195
  VTOL, 197
  • G •
  Gap fi lling, 293
  Gap-fi llers, 291
  Gauss rifl e, 135-36
  Gear, 240
  Generic conventional infantry 
  record sheet, 29
  Gravity, 79, 80
  Green stuff , 291
  Ground combat vehicle critical hits 
  table, 194
  Ground combat vehicle hit location 
  table, 193
  Ground combat vehicles, 192-96
  Ground map, 74
  Ground mapsheets, aerospace units 
  on, 242
  Ground movement 
  basics, 48-50
  costs table, 52
  facing, 50-51
  modes, 53-57
  pavement, 61-68
  phase, 37 
  stacking, 57-59
  Ground unit, 20
  aerospace units and, 234-35
  Ground vehicle, 20, 22, 25, 49
  pavement movement, 61
  skidding, 62
  Grounded aerospace units
  attack direction, 119
  attacks by, 249-50
  height, 99
  hiding, 259
  hit location, 120
  stacking, 57
  Grounded DropShips
  fi ring at, 110
  physical attack, 144
  Grounded small craft, attacks 
  against, 110
  Ground-to-air attacks, 247-49
  Gunnery skills, 40
  Gyro, critical hit, 126
  • H •
  Hand actuator, critical hit, 126
  Handbooks, 11
  Harasser, 284
  Hardened buildings, 33
  Haywire pod, 141
  Head blown off , 126-27
  Head hits, 41, 124, 125, 186
  Heat, 50, 53
  aerospace units, 160-61
  data, 27
  eff ects of, 159-60
  gauss rifl e, 135
  modifi ers, 110
  outside sources, 159
  phase, 38
  plasma weapons, 139
  point table, 159
  points, 158-59
  recording build-up, 159
  scale, 27, 30
  tracking, 141-42
  Heat sinks, 240 
  critical hit, 127
  shutoff , 159
  types, 158
  Heavy ’Mechs, 21
  Heavy buildings, 33
  Heavy fi ghters, 24
  Heavy Gauss rifl e, 136
  Heavy truck, 289
  Heavy vehicles, 22
  Heavy woods, 32
  intervening terrain, 100
  terrain modifi ers, 108-9
  Heavy-duty gyros, 126
  Heavy-duty pile driver, 136
  Height, LOS, 99-100
  Hex levels, skidding, 63
  Hidden units, 259
  Hide and seek, 259-60
  High-altitude 
  map, 75
  movement, 79-80
  table, 80
  High-G maneuvers, 78
  Hills, 296
  intervening terrain, 100
  Hip critical hit, 127
  Historicals, 11
  Hit location, 28, 119-20
  aerospace units, 238
  critical hits, 124
  determining, 119-20
  ground combat vehicles, 192
  ProtoMechs, 184-85
  support vehicles, 206
  VTOL, 197
  Hobby knife safety, 286
  Hobby vise, 291
  Hold the line, 260
  Homing pod, 141
  Hot zone, 89-90
  Hover vehicles, 25, 53, 62
  Hovercraft, 22, 56
  Hull integrity, 57, 198
  Hyper-assault Gauss rifl e, 136
  • I •
  ICE-powered IndustrialMechs, 158
  ICE-powered ’Mechs, 160
  Immobile ’Mechs, piloting, driving 
  skill, 59
  Immobile target, 42
  Improved C3 computer, 133, 134
  Indirect LRM fi re, NARC missile 
  beacon, 139
  Individual unit rules, 36
  Industrial TSM, 143
  IndustrialMech, 21
  damage recording, 121
  falling, 69 
  modifi er, 110
  physical attack, 144
  piloting, driving skill, 59
  record sheet, 27
  sensors critical hit, 128
  Infantry, 20, 23, 49, 212, 214, 285 
  accidental falls, 152
  ammunition expenditure, 104
  anti-‘Mech attacks, 220-23 
  assignment, 271
  attack direction, 119
  attacker movement, 108
  attacks, 214-15
  attacks against, 215-17
  basements, 179
  carrying units, 89
  charge attacks, 148
  cluster hits, 116
  collision avoidance, 64
  combat, 98, 214-19
  destroyed if carrying unit 
  destroyed table, 223
  destruction, 128
  dismounting table, 226
  displacement, 151
  falling damage table, 151
  fi ring arcs, 104
  heat, 158
  height, 99
  hit, 194
  infernos, 141
  inside buildings, 172, 175-76
  kick attacks, 147
  machine gun array, 137
  mechanized battle armor, 227-28
  movement, 49, 214
  moving through buildings, 168
  NARC missile beacon, 139
  other combat equipment, 228-29
  physical attack, 144
  piloting, driving skill, 59
  range modifi er table, 215
  scenarios, 259
  special munitions, 140
  specialized attacks, 111, 112
  stacking, 57
  support vehicles, 207
  swarm attacks, 223
  units table, 213
  Infantry carriers, 223-27
  Infantry damage, 41, 124 
  from attacks inside buildings 
  table, 175
  building collapse, 177
  in buildings table, 172
  recording, 121
  table, 216
  Inferno ammo explosion table, 141
  Infernos, 141-42
  Initiative phase, 37
  Initiative, infantry carriers, 223
  Inner Sphere 1
  aerospace assignment, 272
  ‘Mech assignment table, 267, 271
  Inner Sphere 2
  ‘Mech assignment table, 268, 270
  Intervening terrain, 100-102
  • J •
  Jihad, 11
  Jump infantry, 23
  Jump jet critical hit, 127
  Jumping, 53-54 
  heat, 158, 160
  MP, 225
  stacking, 58
  JumpShips, 26
  Just another day at offi  ce, 162-65
  • K •
  K-F boom, 240
  Kick attacks, 147
  Knives, 290
  • L •
  Lance weight composition table, 265
  Land train cargo transport, 289
  Landed aerospace units, stacking, 78
  Landing, 87 
  modifi ers table, 86
  Large craft, 20, 74
  evasive action, 77
  heat, 161
  weapon bays, 234
  Large DropShips, 24
  Large ground support vehicle hit 
  location table, 206
  Large support vehicles, 99
  attacks against, 110
  collision avoidance, 64
  dismounting, 225
  mounting, 224
  physical attack, 144
  sideslipping, 67-68
  stacking, 57
  Large vehicles
  accidental falls, 152
  moving through buildings, 168
  Lateral shift, 50
  Launching, fi ghters, small craft, 84, 86
  LB-X autocannons, 143
  Left side arc, 105
  Leg 
  attacks, 220 
  attacks table, 221
  blown off , 127
  critical hit, 126, 127
  hits, 124, 186
  Leg-mounted weapons
  forward arc, 105
  rear arc, 105
  Legs destroyed, 186
  Level, 43
  change, 48-49, 169, 214
  Level-bombing scatter diagram, 245
  Levels
  building, 167 
  diff erent, 150
  LOS, 99-100
  sideslipping, 67-68
  Life support, 240 
  critical hit, 127
  Lift hoists, 136-37
  Liftoff , 88
  carrying units, 90
  Light ’Mechs, 21
  Light buildings, 33
  Light fi ghters, 24
  Light Gauss rifl e, 136
  Light utility truck, 289
  Light vehicles, 22
  Light woods, 32
  intervening terrain, 100
  terrain modifi ers, 108
  Limb swapping, 294-95
  Line of sight. See LOS
  Location 
  after attack, 148, 150
  after fall, 68
  LOS (line of sight), 99-102
  ‘Mechs attacking inside, 171
  space combat, 235
  specialized attacks, 112
  VTOL, 196
  WIGE, 199
  Low-altitude map, 74, 242
  Low-altitude movement, 80-84
  Low-altitude table, 81
  Lower arm actuator critical hit, 127
  Lower arm and hand actuators, 110
  Lower leg actuator critical hit, 127
  LRM indirect fi re, 111-12, 130, 131
  Lucky hits, aerospace units, 239
  • M •
  Machine gun array, 137
  Machine gun platoons, 215
  Magnetic clamps, 227, 229
  Magnetic claw manipulator, 229
  swarm attack, 220, 222
  Magnets, 294-95
  Main gun hits, 186
  Manipulators, 229
  Map sets, 11
  Mapsheets, 31-33, 43, 75, 91-92
  selection, 262, 264
  tables, 263
  Margin of success/failure 
  (MOS/MOF), 42
  MASC (myomer accelerator signal 
  circuitry), 137
  ’Mech, 20 
  attack direction, 119
  attacking inside, 171
  club attacks, 145-46
  cluster hits against, 116
  critical hits, 124-28
  data, 27
  death from above attacks, 149
  destruction, 128
  dropping to ground, 49
  falling damage to, 68-69
  heat, 53
  height, 99
  hiding, 259
  hit location, 120
  hit location table, 119
  infernos, 141
  kick attacks, 147
  kick location table, 147
  lifting capabilities, 261
  minimum movement, 49
  moving through buildings, 167-68
  partial cover, 102
  physical weapon attacks, 146
  punch attacks, 145
  punch location table, 145
  push attacks, 147
  random assignment, 266-71
  record sheet, 27
  stacking, 57
  to-hit roll against, 115
  torso twist, 99
  Mechanized attacks, 30
  Mechanized battle armor, 227-28
  swarm attack, 220, 222, 223
  Mechanized infantry, 23, 216-17
  carriers, 223
  MechWarriors 
  damage, 41, 160
  survival, 128
  Medium ‘Mechs, 21
  Medium buildings, 33
  Medium fi ghters, 24
  Medium vehicles, 22
  Military organization, 34-35
  Mimetic armor, 228
  Miniatures
  additional advice, 286-88
  fi nishing touches, 288
  kitbashing, 289-95
  materials and tools, 280
  painting to match cover art, 
  281-85
  Minimum movement, 49, 57
  Minimum range modifi er, 107-8
  Mining drill, 138
  Missile ammunition, 138
  Missile attacks, battle armor, 218
  Missile launchers, 138
  Missing actuators, 127
  Mobile structures, 26
  Modifi cations, support vehicles, 206-7
  Modifi ed piloting/driving skill, 42
  Modifi ed target number, 42
  Modifi ed to-hit number, 42, 106, 
  144-45, 243
  Motive system damage 
  table, 193
  WIGE, 199
  Motorized infantry, 23
  Mounting
  carriers, 223-25
  support vehicles, 207
  Movement
  combat vehicles, 192 
  costs table, 52
  damage, infantry carriers, 224
  direction, 49
  eff ects, buildings, 167-71
  heat and, 159-60
  infantry, 214
  MP, type, 29
  phase, 37
  phase, piloting skill, 59, 61
  ProtoMechs, 184
  scenarios, 257
  MP loss, 148
  MP reduction, 53, 225, 227
  Multi-missile launcher, 138
  Multiple targets modifi er, 109-10
  Multiple-hex buildings, 167
  Mutual advantage, 154-57
  • N •
  Nail/rivet gun, 138
  NARC, 229
  aerospace units, 238 
  missile beacon, 134, 138-39
  NARC-equipped missile, 142
  Naval carriers, 225
  dismounting from, 225-26
  Naval combat vehicles, 198
  Naval movement, 56
  Naval vessels, 22-23, 25
  Near-misses, ProtoMech, 184-85
  Nemesis pod, 142
  Non-’Mech special combat rules, 98
  Non-aerospace airborne units, 243
  attack direction, 119
  
  attacking airborne aerospace 
  units, 107
  fi ring arcs, 104
  hit location, 120
  LOS, 99
  specialized attacks, 110
  Non-infantry weapon damage against 
  infantry table, 216
  Non-missile attacks, battle armor, 218
  • O •
  Omni, 20
  OmniFighters, 242
  OmniMechs/OmniVehicles, 227-28
  Ordering, 11
  Out-of-control eff ects, 93
  Overspeed, 84
  • P •
  Panel painting, 287-88
  Paper maps, 9
  Partial cover, 102
  terrain modifi ers, 109
  Parts attachment, 292
  Paved hexes, 259
  Pavement, 32 
  movement, 61-68
  Physical attack, 144-45, 275
  against VTOL vehicles table, 198
  heat damage modifi ers, 110
  inside buildings, 171 
  modifi ers table, 144
  multiple targets modifi er, 110
  phase, 38
  phase, piloting skill, 61
  ProtoMechs, 186
  VTOL, 198
  Physical weapon attacks table, 146
  Pilot 
  data, 28
  hit, VTOL, 197
  Piloting skill, 39, 40, 42 
  roll table, 60
  rolls, 59-61
  Pin vise, 290
  Pinning, 293
  Plasma cannon, 139
  Plasma rifl e, 140
  Plasma weapons, 139-40
  Playing, 36-37
  terms, 42-43
  unequal numbers of units, 39
  Playing area, 43 
  assembly, 299
  Playing sequence, 37-38
  Pointblank shots from hidden units, 260
  Pop-up mine, 229
  Precision ammunition, 142
  Prohibited attacks, swarm, 220
  Prohibited terrain
  charge attacks, 148
  location after attack, 148
  push attacks, 147
  skidding into, 63
  Prohibited units
  anti-’Mech attacks, 220
  dumping ammunition, 104
  high-altitude movement, 80
  underwater movement, 57
  Prone ’Mechs
  fl ipping arms, 106
  forward arc, 105
  movement, 49
  physical attacks by, 151
  rotating fi ring arcs, 106
  specialized attacks, 113
  Prone target attacks, 113
  Proper work, 208-11
  ProtoMech, 21,22, 40, 49
  accidental falls, 152
  anti-’Mech attacks, 220  
  assignment, 271
  attack direction, 119
  basements, 179
  charge attacks, 148
  collision avoidance, 64
  critical damage, 124
  damage recording, 121
  data, 28
  destruction, 128
  fi ring arcs, 104
  fl ipping arms, 106
  game playing, 184-86
  heat, 158
  height, 99
  hit location, 120
  hit location table, 185
  machine gun array, 137
  moving through buildings, 168
  myomer booster, 187
  other combat equipment, 187
  partial cover, 102
  physical attack, 144
  piloting, driving skill, 59
  pilots damage, 41
  record sheet, 28
  stacking, 57
  TAG, 142
  Proximity damage, 88, 250
  Pulse weapons, 143
  Punch attacks, 145
  Punching, 151
  Push attacks, 147
  • R •
  Rail systems, 26
  Railroads, 33
  Ramming, 241
  Ramming attacks table, 241
  Random binary/trinary type, 265
  Random experience level table, 273
  Random movement, 93, 161
  table, 93
  Random skills table, 273
  Random weight-class tables, 265
  Range modifi er, 106-7
  aerospace units, 235-36
  Rapid-fi re weapons, 143, 243
  aerospace units, 238
  Rear arc, 105
  Record sheets, 11, 26-31
  infantry, 212
  Recovering, fi ghters, small craft, 86
  Re-entry table, 80
  Reposing, 294
  Retractable blade, 139
  Retreat, 275
  scenarios, 257
  Reversing arms, 106
  Right side arc, 105
  Roads, 32, 54, 55, 297
  Rock cutter, 140
  Rolling, 77-78
  Rolling maneuvers, facing changes, 84
  Rotary autocannon, 140
  Rotary tool, 290
  Rotor 
  damage, VTOL, 197
  destruction, VTOL, 197-98
  Rough terrain, 32, 299
  Rubble, 33, 297
  Rule levels, 10
  Rulebooks, 10
  Rules, 36
  fi ction and, 9
  standard vs. advanced, 10
  Running, 53
  • S •
  Salvage arm, 142
  Sandpaper, 290
  Satellites, 26
  Saws, 290
  Scale, 36, 76, 234 238
  Scenarios, 43
  clan honor, 273-75
  determining victory, 257-58
  ending game, 257
  forced withdrawal, 258
  general rules, 256
  mapsheet selection, 262-64
  movement, retreat, 257
  number of players, 256
  set-up, 256
  type table, 259
  types of, 258-62
  unit generation, 264, 266, 272-73
  Screen launchers, 251
  Sculpting, 293
  Sculpting tools, 291
  Secondary targets, battle armor, 219
  Sensors, 240 
  critical hit, 128
  ground combat vehicle, 195
  improved, 229
  Shoulder 
  actuators, push attacks, 147
  critical hit, 128
  Shutdown unit, 40, 92
  aerospace units, 161
  heat, 160
  Sideslipping, 54-55, 67-68
  battle armor, 228
  Simple farmer, 200-203
  Single-shot weapons, heat, 160
  Skid modifi ers table, 63
  Skidding, 62-66
  battle armor, 228
  ProtoMechs, 184
  Skills, 29
  default levels, 40
  improvement, 40-42
  table, 40
  warriors, 39-40
  Small cockpit, critical hit, 126
  Small craft, 24 
  bay table, 89
  carrying units, 90
  crashes, 81
  dismounting, 91
  evasive action, 77
  launching, 84-86
  recovering, 86
  Small DropShips, 24
  Space, 75
  atmosphere interface, 78-79
  combat, 235-36, 238-40
  map, 75
  movement, 76
  stations, 26
  turn sequence, 78
  Special ‘Mech hit location table, 175
  Special circumstances, ProtoMechs, 185
  Special maneuvers, 84 
  table, 85
  Special munitions, 140-42
  aerospace units, 238
  Special ProtoMech hit location 
  table, 185
  Specialized attacks, 110-13
  Specifi c units, aerospace, 251
  Spheroid DropShips, 84
  Spheroid units, 235
  fi ring arcs, 104
  high-altitude movement, 80
  Spot welder, 142
  Spray primer, 286
  Squad support weapon, 229
  SRM infantry attacks, 141
  Stabilizer, ground combat vehicle, 195
  Stacked terrain, 49
  Stacking
  aerospace movement, 78
  death from above, 149
  infantry carriers, 223, 224
  inside building, 169
  swarm attacks, 220
  Stalling, 84
  Standing still, 53
  Standing up, 50
  Standup fi ght, 259
  Star weight composition table, 265
  Stealth armor, 131, 142, 228-29
  Stealth equipment, infantry, 215
  Strafi ng, 243-45
  Straight movement, 92
  table, 84
  Streak SRMs (short-range missiles), 138
  Striking, 245
  Structural integrity (SI), 75, 238, 239
  Sublevels, 31, 43
  Submarines, 23, 49, 56
  Submarines, height, 99
  Submerged naval vessels, 
  death from above, 149
  Support Vehicles, 25, 26, 48
  armor-piercing ammunition, 140
  carrying units, 207
  chainsaw damage, 134
  combat rules, 206-7
  damage, 41
  dual saw damage, 134
  heavy-duty pile driver damage, 136
  mining drill, 138
  modifi er, 110
  movement rules, 204-5
  record sheet, 31
  rock cutter, 140
  special maneuvers, 84
  wrecking ball, 143
  Surface naval vessels, 23
  naval combat vehicles, 198
  Swarm attack, 220-21 
  damage, 223
  fi ghting off , 221-22
  hit location table, 222
  modifi ers table, 221
  table, 221
  Swarmed units, attacks against, 222
  • T •
  Tables, 29, 30
  TAG (targeting acquisition gear), 131, 
  142 229
  aerospace units, 238
  Target, 42
  in same hex, 236
  Target movement, 108 
  modifi er, 42
  Target number, 42
  Targeting computer, 110, 142-43
  ProtoMechs, 185
  Technical readouts, 10-11
  Tele-operated missiles, 251
  Terrain
  altitude, 80-81
  diffi  cult or prohibited, 48 
  factor, conversion table, 112
  height and depth, 99-100
  modifi ers, 108-9
  preparation, 295-97, 299
  rules, stacking, 57
  skidding into, 63
  3-D, 9
  Thrashing attack, 151
  Thrust points, 76
  Thruster, 240
  Time of War, A, 14-19
  To-hit modifi ers, 106-10
  support vehicles, 206
  VTOL, 196-97
  WIGE, 199
  To-hit roll, 114-16
  Torpedo launchers, 138
  Torso 
  critical hit, 126
  destruction, 121-22
  hits, 124-25, 186
  twist, 37, 38, 98-99
  Tracked vehicle, 22, 25
  Tracks, 143
  Tractors, 205
  Trailers, 205
  stacking, 57
  Trapped vehicles, basements, 179
  Trees, 296
  Trial of possession, 70-73
  Troop drops, 89
  Troopers, attack damage, 228
  TSM (triple-strength myomer), 143
  Turret 
  blown off , ground combat 
  vehicle, 195
  hits, ground combat vehicles, 192
  jam, ground combat vehicle, 195
  rotation, 98-99
  twist, 37, 38
  • U •
  UMU MP, 225
  Unconscious unit, 40
  piloting, driving skill, 59
  Underwater 
  attacks, 102
  dumping ammunition, 104
  movement, 56-57
  MP, 57
  operations, plasma weapons, 139
  range table, 107
  units, damage, 121
  Units, 20-26
  carrying, 207 
  destruction, 128
  displacement, 151-53
  heights stacking, 58
  heights table, 99
  rules, stacking, 57
  skidding, 63
  unequal numbers of, 39
  Unusual targets
  charge attacks, 148
  damage, 148
  Upper arm actuator critical hit, 128
  • V •
  Vehicles, 20
  anti-’Mech attacks, 220
  armor-piercing ammunition, 140
  attack direction, 119
  basements, 179
  CASE damage, 134
  charge attacks, 148
  cluster hits against, 116
  critical damage, 124
  damage, 148
  data, 28
  destruction, 128
  displacement, 151
  drivers damage, 41
  forward arc, 105
  heat, 158
  height, 99
  hit location, 120
  infernos, 141
  kick attacks, 147
  moving through buildings, 167-68
  multiple targets modifi er, 110
  physical attack, 144
  piloting, driving skill, 59
  rear arc, 105
  rotating fi ring arcs, 106
  skills, 39
  swarm attacks, 220-21, 222
  to-hit roll against, 115
  turret rotation, 99
  water hexes, 102
  Velocity, 75
  changing, 76 
  loss, 84
  record, 30
  Vertical liftoff  modifi ers table, 88
  Vessel data, 30
  Vibro-claw manipulator, 229
  battle armor, 218
  leg attacks, 220
  swarm attacks, 223
  VTOL (Vertical ta keoff  and landing), 
  22, 25, 49
  carriers, 224
  carrying units, 90
  combat vehicle, 196-98
  combat vehicle critical hits 
  table, 196
  combat vehicle hit location 
  table, 196
  crashes, 68
  dismounting from, 91, 225
  driving skill, 67
  large support vehicles, hit 
  location, 206
  movement, 54-55
  MP, 225
  • W •
  Walking, 53
  Warriors, 39-42
  consciousness table, 42
  data, 27
  Warriors, 39-42
  WarShips, 26
  Washes, 286-87
  Water, 32, 53, 100, 296-97 
  active probe, 129
  crashes, 81
  heat, 159
  hexes, 48, 102
  intervening terrain, 100
  movement, 55
  physical attack, 144
  skidding into, 63
  swarm attack, 222
  Weapons, 113-14, 240
  aerospace units, 236, 238 
  attacks, 37-38, 103-4, 149
  critical hits, 128
  destroyed, 195
  fi ring, 37, 106-16, 119-23
  heat, 160
  infantry, 214
  inventory, 28
  malfunction, 196
  piloting skill, 61
  ProtoMechs, 184
  Wheeled vehicle, 22, 25
  WIGE (Wing in Ground Eff ect), 22, 25
  carriers, 224
  crashes, 68
  movement, 55-56
  vehicles, 199
  Wolf on Mountain, 44-47
  Woods, 100
  crashes, 81
  infantry, 214
  partial cover, 102
  Word of Blake, 266
  Wrecking ball, 143
  • X-Z •
  XL gyros, 126
  Zellbrigen, 274
  
  INNER SPHERE WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT TABLE
  Damage
  Minimum
  Short
  Medium
  Long
  Ammo
  Attack
  Aerospace
  To-Hit
  Item
  Type*
  Heat
  Value
  Range
  Range
  Range
  Range
  Per Ton
  Value††
  Range‡
  Modifi er
  Direct-Fire Ballistic Weapons†††
  Autocannon/2
  DB, S
  1
  2
  4
  1–8
  9–16
  17–24
  45
  2
  Long
  0
  Autocannon/5
  DB, S
  1
  5
  3
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  20
  5
  Medium
  0
  Autocannon/10
  DB, S
  3
  10
  0
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  10
  10
  Medium
  0
  Autocannon/20
  DB, S
  7
  20
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  5
  20
  Short
  0
  Light Gauss Rifl e
  DB, X
  1
  8
  3
  1–8
  9–17
  18–25
  16
  8
  Extreme
  0
  Gauss Rifl e
  DB, X
  1
  15
  2
  1–7
  8–15
  16–22
  8
  15
  Long
  0
  Heavy Gauss Rifl e
  DB, X, V
  2
  25/20/10
  4
  1–6
  7–13
  14–20
  4
  25/20/10
  Long
  0
  LB 2-X AC
  DB, C/S/F‡‡
  1
  2
  4
  1–9
  10–18
  19–27
  45
  2
  Extreme
  0, –1†
  LB 5-X AC
  DB, C/S/F‡‡
  1
  5
  3
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  20
  3
  Long
  0, –1†
  LB 10-X AC
  DB, C/S/F‡‡
  2
  10
  0
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  10
  6
  Medium
  0, –1†
  LB 20-X AC
  DB, C/S/F‡‡
  6
  20
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  5
  12
  Medium
  0, –1†
  Light AC/2
  DB, S
  1
  2
  0
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  45
  2
  Medium
  0
  Light AC/5
  DB, S
  1
  5
  0
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  20
  5
  Medium
  0
  Light Machine Gun
  DB, AI§
  0
  1
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  200
  1
  Short
  0
  Machine Gun
  DB, AI§
  0
  2
  0
  1
  2
  3
  200
  2
  Short
  0
  Heavy Machine Gun
  DB, AI§
  0
  3
  0
  1
  2
  —
  100
  3
  Short
  0
  Nail/Rivet Gun
  DB, AI**
  0
  0**
  0
  1
  —
  —
  300
  0**
  —
  0
  Rotary AC/2
  DB, R/C
  1/Sht
  2/Sht, R6
  0
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  45
  8
  Medium
  0
  Rotary AC/5
  DB, R/C
  1/Sht
  5/Sht, R6
  0
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  20
  20
  Medium
  0
  Ultra AC/2
  DB, R/C
  1/Sht
  2/Sht, R2
  3
  1–8
  9–17
  18–25
  45
  3
  Extreme
  0
  Ultra AC/5
  DB, R/C
  1/Sht
  5/Sht, R2
  2
  1–6
  7–13
  14–20
  20
  7
  Long
  0
  Ultra AC/10
  DB, R/C
  4/Sht
  10/Sht, R2
  0
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  10
  15
  Medium
  0
  Ultra AC/20
  DB, R/C
  8/Sht
  20/Sht, R2
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–10
  5
  30
  Medium
  0
  Direct-Fire Energy Weapons
  ER Large Laser
  DE
  12
  8
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–19
  —
  8
  Long
  0
  ER Medium Laser
  DE
  5
  5
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  —
  5
  Medium
  0
  ER Small Laser
  DE
  2
  3
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5
  —
  3
  Short
  0
  Flamer 
  DE, H, AI§
  3
  2§§
  0
  1
  2
  3
  —
  2§§
  Short
  0
  Flamer (Vehicle)
  DE, H, AI§
  3
  2§§
  0
  1
  2
  3
  20
  2§§
  Short
  0
  Large Laser
  DE
  8
  8
  0
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  —
  8
  Medium
  0
  Medium Laser
  DE
  3
  5
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  —
  5
  Short
  0
  Small Laser
  DE
  1
  3
  0
  1
  2
  3
  —
  3
  Short
  0
  Plasma Rifl e
  DE, H, AI
  10
  10**
  0
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  10
  10**
  Medium
  0
  Light PPC
  DE
  5
  5
  3
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  —
  5
  Medium
  0
  PPC
  DE
  10
  10
  3
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  —
  10
  Medium
  0
  Heavy PPC
  DE
  15
  15
  3
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  —
  15
  Medium
  0
  ER PPC
  DE
  15
  10
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–23
  —
  10
  Long
  0
  Snub-Nose PPC
  DE, V
  10
  10/8/5
  0
  1–9
  10–13
  14–15
  —
  10/8
  Medium
  0
  Pulse Weapons
  Large Pulse Laser
  P
  10
  9
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–10
  —
  9
  Medium
  –2
  Medium Pulse Laser
  P
  4
  6
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  —
  6
  Short
  –2
  Small Pulse Laser
  P, AI§
  2
  3
  0
  1
  2
  3
  —
  3
  Short
  –2
  Missile Weapons‡‡‡
  LRM 5
  M, C, S
  2
  1/Msl, C5/5
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  24
  3/4
  Long
  0
  LRM 10
  M, C, S
  4
  1/Msl, C5/10
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  12
  6/8
  Long
  0
  LRM 15
  M, C, S
  5
  1/Msl, C5/15
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  8
  9/12
  Long
  0
  LRM 20
  M, C, S
  6
  1/Msl, C5/20
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  6
  12/16
  Long
  0
  MML 3**
  M, C, S
  LRM ammo
  —
  2
  1/Msl, C3/3
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  40
  2/2
  Long
  0
  SRM ammo
  —
  2
  2/Msl, C2/3
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  33
  4/4
  Short
  0
  MML 5** 
  M, C, S
  LRM ammo
  —
  3
  1/Msl, C5/5
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  24
  3/4
  Long
  0
  SRM ammo
  —
  3
  2/Msl, C2/5
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  20
  6/8
  Short
  0
  MML 7**
  M, C, S
  LRM ammo
  —
  4
  1/Msl, C5/7
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  17
  4/6
  Long
  0
  SRM ammo
  — 
  4
  2/Msl, C2/7
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  14
  8/12
  Short
  0
  MML 9**
  M, C, S
  LRM ammo
  —
  5
  1/Msl, C5/9
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  13
  5/7
  Long
  0
  SRM ammo 
  —
  5
  2/Msl, C2/9
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  11
  10/14
  Short
  0
  MRM 10
  M, C
  4
  1/Msl, C5/10
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  24
  6
  Medium
  +1
  MRM 20
  M, C
  6
  1/Msl, C5/20
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  12
  12
  Medium
  +1
  MRM 30
  M, C
  10
  1/Msl, C5/30
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  8
  18
  Medium
  +1
  MRM 40
  M, C
  12
  1/Msl, C5/40
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  6
  24
  Medium
  +1
  Narc Missile Beacon
  M, E, S
  0
  **
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  6
  **
  **
  0
  Improved Narc Launcher
  M, E, S
  0
  **
  0
  1–4
  5–9
  10–15
  4
  **
  **
  0
  Rocket Launcher 10
  M, C, OS
  3
  1/Msl, C5/10
  0
  1–5
  6–11
  12–18
  OS
  6
  Medium
  +1
  Rocket Launcher 15
  M, C, OS
  4
  1/Msl, C5/15
  0
  1–4
  5–9
  10–15
  OS
  9
  Medium
  +1
  Rocket Launcher 20
  M, C, OS
  5
  1/Msl, C5/20
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–12
  OS
  12
  Medium
  +1
  SRM 2
  M, C, S
  2
  2/Msl, C2/2
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  50
  2/4
  Short
  0
  SRM 4
  M, C, S
  3
  2/Msl, C2/4
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  25
  4/6
  Short
  0
  SRM 6
  M, C, S
  4
  2/Msl, C2/6
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  15
  8/10
  Short
  0
  Streak SRM 2
  M, C**
  2
  2/Msl, C2/2
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  50
  4
  Short
  0
  Streak SRM 4
  M, C**
  3
  2/Msl, C2/4
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  25
  8
  Short
  0
  Streak SRM 6
  M, C**
  4
  2/Msl, C2/6
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  15
  12
  Short
  0
  Equipment
  A-Pod
  PD, OS, AI
  0
  **
  —
  —
  —
  —
  OS
  **
  —
  —
  B-Pods
  PD, OS, AI
  0
  **
  —
  —
  —
  —
  OS
  **
  —
  —
  Anti-Missile System
  PD
  1
  **
  —
  —
  —
  —
  12
  **
  —
  —
  Beagle Active Probe
  E
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  4
  —
  —
  **
  —
  Guardian ECM Suite
  E
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  6
  —
  —
  **
  —
  Machine Gun Array
  T
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  0
  TAG 
  E
  0
  —
  0
  1–5
  6–9
  10–15
  —
  —
  **
  —
  *See the Weapon and Equipment Types Table, p. 304, for abbreviation explanations, or Weapons and Equipment, p. 113, for 
  complete details. If weapon types are separated by a slash, then those weapon types all apply at once. For example, an 
  LB-X can either be fi red as a Direct-Fire Ballistic Weapon, or as Cluster Weapon, which means it also has switchable ammo 
  and is fl ak capable. 
  **See Other Combat Weapons and Equipment, p. 129; for aerospace units, see Weapons and Equipment, p. 236.
  †When fi red as a Cluster Weapon by non-aerospace units; aerospace units always apply the –1 to-hit modifi er.
  ††For Missile Weapons, the number after the slash represents a missile weapon linked to Artemis IV FCS (see p. 130).
  †††Rapid-Fire Weapons display their Damage Value uniquely; i.e. an Ultra AC/2 is “2/Sht, R2”, meaning each shot that is fi red 
  deals 2 points of damage (2/Sht) and it can fi re a total of two shots in a turn (R2). 
  ‡Maximum range for weapons mounted on aerospace units; see Range Modifi er, p. 235, in the Aerospace Units section.
  ‡‡May use Cluster Ammunition; see LB-X Weapons and Cluster Ammunition, pp. 120 and 141 respectively.
  ‡‡‡Missile Weapons display their Damage Value uniquely; i.e. an LRM 20 is “1/Msl, C5/20”, meaning each missile does 1 point 
  of damage (1/Msl), the largest Damage Value grouping is 5 (C5), and that 20 missiles are fi red with each shot (/20).
  §See Burst-Fire Weapon Damage Vs. Conventional infantry Table, either p. 217 or p. 309.
  §§Against ’Mech/aerospace fi ghter/small craft targets only, every time the weapon is fi red, before the to-hit roll is made, 
  the player may announce he is applying the Damage Value as heat to the target, in place of damage (see Heat-Causing 
  Weapon, p. 113).
  
  CLAN WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT TABLE
  Damage
  Minimum
  Short
  Medium
  Long
  Ammo
  Attack
  Aero
  To-Hit
  Item
  Type*
  Heat
  Value
  Range
  Range
  Range
  Range
  Per Ton
  Value††
  Range‡
  Modifi er
  Direct-Fire Ballistic Weapons†††
  LB 2-X AC
  DB, C/S/F‡‡
  1
  2
  4
  1–10
  11–20
  21–30
  45
  1
  Extreme
  0, –1†
  LB 5-X AC
  DB, C/S/F‡‡
  1
  5
  3
  1–8
  9–15
  16–24
  20
  3
  Long
  0, –1†
  LB 10-X AC
  DB, C/S/F‡‡
  2
  10
  0
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  10
  6
  Medium
  0, –1†
  LB 20-X AC
  DB, C/S/F‡‡
  6
  20
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  5
  12
  Medium
  0, –1†
  AP Gauss Rifl e
  DB, X, AI§
  1
  3
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  40
  3
  Short
  0
  Gauss Rifl e
  DB, X
  1
  15
  2
  1–7
  8–15
  16–22
  8
  15
  Long
  0
  HAG 20
  DB, X, C, F
  4
  C5/20**
  2
  1–8
  9–16
  17–24
  6
  16/12/12
  Long
  0
  HAG 30
  DB, X, C, F
  6
  C5/30**
  2
  1–8
  9–16
  17–24
  4
  24/18/18
  Long
  0
  HAG 40
  DB, X, C, F
  8
  C5/40**
  2
  1–8
  9–16
  17–24
  3
  32/24/24
  Long
  0
  Light Machine Gun
  DB, AI§
  0
  1
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  200
  1
  Short
  0
  Machine Gun
  DB, AI§
  0
  2
  0
  1
  2
  3
  200
  2
  Short
  0
  Heavy Machine Gun
  DB, AI§
  0
  3
  0
  1
  2
  —
  100
  3
  Short
  0
  Nail/Rivet Gun
  DB, AI
  0
  0**
  0
  1
  —
  —
  300
  0**
  —
  0
  Ultra AC/2
  DB, R/C
  1/Sht
  2/Sht, R2
  2
  1–9
  10–18
  19–27
  45
  3
  Extreme
  0
  Ultra AC/5
  DB, R/C
  1/Sht
  5/Sht, R2
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  20
  7
  Long
  0
  Ultra AC/10
  DB, R/C
  3/Sht
  10/Sht, R2
  0
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  10
  15
  Medium
  0
  Ultra AC/20
  DB, R/C
  7/Sht
  20/Sht, R2
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  5
  30
  Medium
  0
  Direct-Fire Energy Weapons
  ER Large Laser
  DE
  12
  10
  0
  1–8
  9–15
  16–25
  —
  10
  Extreme
  0
  ER Medium Laser
  DE
  5
  7
  0
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  —
  7
  Medium
  0
  ER Small Laser
  DE
  2
  5
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  —
  5
  Short
  0
  ER Micro Laser
  DE
  1
  2
  0
  1
  2
  3–4
  —
  2
  Short
  0
  Flamer 
  DE, H, AI§
  3
  2§§
  0
  1
  2
  3
  —
  2§§
  Short
  0
  Flamer (Vehicle)
  DE, H, AI§
  3
  2§§
  0
  1
  2
  3
  20
  2§§
  Short
  0
  Heavy Large Laser
  DE
  18
  16
  0
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  —
  16
  Medium
  +1
  Heavy Medium Laser
  DE
  7
  10
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  —
  10
  Short
  +1
  Heavy Small Laser
  DE
  3
  6
  0
  1
  2
  3
  —
  6
  Short
  +1
  Plasma Cannon
  DE, H, AI
  7
  0**
  0
  1–6
  7–12
  13–18
  10
  0**
  Medium
  0
  ER PPC
  DE
  15
  15
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–23
  —
  15
  Long
  0
  Pulse Weapons
  Large Pulse Laser
  P
  10
  10
  0
  1–6
  7–14
  15–20
  —
  10
  Long
  –2
  Medium Pulse Laser
  P
  4
  7
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  —
  7
  Medium
  –2
  Small Pulse Laser
  P, AI§
  2
  3
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  —
  3
  Short
  –2
  Micro Pulse Laser
  P, AI§
  1
  3
  0
  1
  2
  3
  —
  3
  Short
  –2
  Missile Weapons‡‡‡
  ATM 3**
  M, C, S
  2
  2/Msl, C5/3
  4
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  20
  4
  Medium
  0
  ATM 6**
  M, C, S
  4
  2/Msl, C5/6
  4
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  10
  8
  Medium
  0
  ATM 9**
  M, C, S
  6
  2/Msl, C5/9
  4
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  7
  14
  Medium
  0
  ATM 12**
  M, C, S
  8
  2/Msl, C5/12
  4
  1–5
  6–10
  11–15
  4
  20
  Medium
  0
  ATM ER Ammo
  —
  **
  1/Msl, C5/**
  4
  1–9
  10–18
  10–27
  **
  §§§
  Extreme
  0
  ATM HE Ammo
  —
  **
  3/Msl, C5/**
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  **
  §§§
  Short
  0
  Narc Missile Beacon
  M, E, S
  0
  **
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  6
  **
  **
  0
  LRM 5
  M, C, S
  2
  1/Msl, C5/5
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  24
  3/4
  Long
  0
  LRM 10
  M, C, S
  4
  1/Msl, C5/10
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  12
  6/8
  Long
  0
  LRM 15
  M, C, S
  5
  1/Msl, C5/15
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  8
  9/12
  Long
  0
  LRM 20
  M, C, S
  6
  1/Msl, C5/20
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  6
  12/16
  Long
  0
  SRM 2
  M, C, S
  2
  2/Msl, C2/2
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  50
  2/5
  Short
  0
  SRM 4
  M, C, S
  3
  2/Msl, C2/4
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  25
  4/6
  Short
  0
  SRM 6
  M, C, S
  4
  2/Msl, C2/6
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  15
  8/10
  Short
  0
  Streak SRM 2
  M, C**
  2
  2/Msl, C2/2
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  50
  4
  Medium
  0
  Streak SRM 4
  M, C**
  3
  2/Msl, C2/4
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  25
  8
  Medium
  0
  Streak SRM 6
  M, C**
  4
  2/Msl, C2/6
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  15
  12
  Medium
  0
  Equipment
  A-Pod
  PD, OS, AI
  0
  **
  —
  —
  —
  —
  OS
  **
  —
  —
  B-Pods
  PD, OS, AI
  0
  **
  —
  —
  —
  —
  OS
  **
  —
  —
  Anti-Missile System
  PD
  1
  **
  —
  —
  —
  —
  24
  **
  —
  —
  Active Probe
  E
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  5
  —
  —
  **
  —
  Light Active Probe
  E
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  3
  —
  —
  **
  —
  ECM Suite
  E
  —
  —
  —
  —
  —
  6
  —
  —
  **
  —
  Machine Gun Array
  T
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  **
  0
  TAG
  E
  0
  —
  0
  1–5
  6–9
  10–15
  —
  —
  **
  —
  Light TAG
  E
  0
  —
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  —
  —
  **
  —
  WEAPON AND EQUIPMENT TYPES TABLE
  See Weapons and Equipment, p. 113, for complete details of weapon and equipment types.
  AE: Area-Eff ect Weapon
  C: Cluster Weapon
  DE: Direct-Fire Energy Weapon
  DB: Direct-Fire Ballistic Weapon
  H: Heat-Causing Weapon
  M: Missile Weapon
  R: Rapid-Fire (Multi-Firing) Weapon
  V: Variable Damage
  AI: Anti-Infantry
  OS: One-Shot Weapon
  P: Pulse Weapon
  PD: Point-Blank Weapon
  E: Electronics
  CE: Counter-Electronics
  T: Targeting System
  S: Switchable Ammo Supply
  PE: Performance Enhancement
  F: Flak
  X: Explosive Weapon
  *See the Weapon and Equipment Types Table, below, for abbreviation explanations, or Weapons and Equipment, p. 113, for 
  complete details. If weapon types are separated by a slash, then those weapon types all apply at once. For example, an 
  LB-X can either be fi red as a Direct-Fire Ballistic Weapon, or as Cluster Weapon, which means it also has switchable ammo 
  and is fl ak capable. 
  **See Other Combat Weapons and Equipment, p. 129; for aerospace units, see Weapons and Equipment, p. 236.
  †When fi red as a Cluster Weapon by non-aerospace units; aerospace units always apply the –1 to-hit modifi er.
  ††For Missile Weapons, the number after the slash represents a missile weapon linked to Artemis IV FCS (see p. 130).
  †††Rapid-Fire Weapons display their Damage Value uniquely; i.e. an Ultra AC/2 is “2/Sht, R2”, meaning each shot that is fi red 
  deals 2 points of damage (2/Sht) and it can fi re a total of two shots in a turn (R2). 
  ‡Maximum range for weapons mounted on aerospace units; see Range Modifi er, p. 235, in the Aerospace Units section.
  ‡‡May use Cluster Ammunition; see LB-X Weapons and Cluster Ammunition, pp. 120 and 141 respectively.
  ‡‡‡Missile Weapons display their Damage Value uniquely; i.e. an LRM 20 is “1/Msl, C5/20”, meaning each missile does 1 point 
  of damage (1/Msl), the largest Damage Value grouping is 5 (C5), and that 20 missiles are fi red with each shot (/20).
  §See Burst-Fire Weapon Damage Vs. Conventional infantry Table, either p. 217 or p. 309.
  §§Against ’Mech/aerospace fi ghter/small craft targets only, every time the weapon is fi red, before the to-hit roll is made, the player 
  may announce he is applying the Damage Value as heat to the target, in place of damage (see Heat-Causing Weapon, p. 113).
  §§§Non-Bays: When using ER ammo, increase the range bracket to extreme and half the Attack Value (round up). When using 
  HE ammo, reduce the range bracket to short and then multiply the Attack Value by 1.5 (round up). Bays: If all the ATMs in a 
  given bay have at least one ton of each ammo type, the bay’s short range bracket Attack Value is multiplied by 1.5 (round 
  up), the medium range bracket remains the same, and it also has a long and extreme range brackets, with an Attack Value 
  that is halve (round up) the standard value. 
  AEROSPACE WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
  Item
  Heat
  Attack Value*
  Aerospace Range‡
  To-Hit Modifi er
  Killer Whale
  20
  4
  Extreme
  0
  White Shark
  15
  3
  Extreme
  0
  Barracuda
  10
  2
  Extreme
  –2
  AR10
  †
  †
  †
  †
  Kraken-T‡
  50
  10
  Extreme
  0
  Killer Whale-T‡
  20
  4
  Extreme
  0
  White Shark-T‡
  15
  3
  Extreme
  0
  Barracuda-T‡
  10
  2
  Extreme
  0
  *Capital-scale damage; see p. Damage, p. 238
  †AR10 can fi re Killer Whale, White Shark, or Barracuda missiles (but not tele-operated missiles) as long as the appropriate ammunition 
  is available.
  ‡See Tele-Operated Missiles, p. 251.
  
  ADDITIONAL INNER SPHERE WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT  FOR BATTLE ARMOR
  Item
  Type
  Damage
   Value
  Minimum 
  Range
  Short 
  Range
  Medium 
  Range
  Long 
  Range
  To-Hit 
  Modifi er
  Direct-Fire Ballistic Weapons
  “Firedrake” Support Needler
  DB, AI‡‡
  1
  0
  1
  2
  3
  0
  “David” Light Gauss Rifl e
  DB
  1
  0
  1–3
  4–5
  6–8
  0
  “King David” Light Gauss Rifl e
  DB
  1
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  Grand Mauler Gauss Cannon
  DB
  1
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5
  0
  Magshot Gauss Rifl e
  DB
  2
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  Tsunami Gauss Rifl e
  DB
  1
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5
  0
  Micro Grenade Launcher
  DB, AI§
  1
  0
  1
  2
  —
  0
  Grenade Launcher
  DB, AI§
  1
  0
  1
  2
  3
  0
  Light Mortar
  DB, AI§
  3
  1
  1
  2
  3
  0
  Heavy Mortar
  DB, AI§
  3
  2
  1-2
  3-4
  5-6
  0
  Light Recoilless Rifl e
  DB, AI§
  2
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  0
  Medium Recoilless Rifl e
  DB, AI§
  3
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  0
  Heavy Recoilless Rifl e
  DB, AI§
  3
  0
  1–3
  4–5
  6–7
  0
  Direct-Fire Energy Weapons
  Flamer
  DE, H, AI§
  2§§
  0
  1
  2
  3
  0
  Man-Portable Plasma Rifl e
  DE
  2
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5–6
  0
  Support PPC
  DE
  2
  0
  1–2
  3–5
  6–7
  0
  Missile Weapons
  Compact Narc
  M, E
  **
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5
  0
  LRM 1
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  LRM 2
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  LRM 3
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  LRM 4
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  LRM 5
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  6
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  MRM 1
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  +1
  MRM 2
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  +1
  MRM 3
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  +1
  MRM 4
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  +1
  MRM 5
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–8
  9–15
  +1
  Rocket Launcher 1
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–12
  +1
  Rocket Launcher 2
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–12
  +1
  Rocket Launcher 3
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–12
  +1
  Rocket Launcher 4
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–12
  +1
  Rocket Launcher 5
  M, C
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–7
  8–12
  +1
  SRM 1
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 2
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 3
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 4
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 5
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 6
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  Equipment
  Light TAG
  E
  —
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  —
  ADDITIONAL CLAN WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT  FOR BATTLE ARMOR
  Item
  Type
  Damage
   Value
  Minimum 
  Range
  Short 
  Range
  Medium 
  Range
  Long 
  Range
  To-Hit 
  Modifi er
  Direct-Fire Ballistic Weapons
   “Bearhunter” Superheavy AC
  DB, AI‡‡
  3
  0
  0
  1
  2
  +1
  Heavy Grenade Launcher
  DB, C, AI§
  1
  0
  1
  2
  3
  0
  Light Recoilless Rifl e
  DB, AI§
  2
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  4–6
  0
  Medium Recoilless Rifl e
  DB, AI§
  3
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  4–6
  0
  Heavy Recoilless Rifl e
  DB, AI§
  3
  0
  1–3
  4–5
  6–7
  0
  Direct-Fire Energy Weapons
  Flamer
  DE, H, AI§
  2§§
  0
  1
  2
  3
  0
  Support PPC
  DE
  2
  0
  1–2
  3–5
  6–7
  0
  Missile Weapons
  Compact Narc
  M, E
  **
  0
  1–2
  3–4
  5
  0
  LRM 1
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  LRM 2
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  LRM 3
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  LRM 4
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  LRM 5
  M, C, S
  1/Msl, C5/‡
  0
  1–7
  8–14
  15–21
  0
  SRM 1
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 2
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 3
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 4
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  SRM 5
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0 
  SRM 6
  M, C, S
  2/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–3
  4–6
  7–9
  0
  Advanced SRM 1†
  M, C
  1/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  0
  Advanced SRM 2†
  M, C
  1/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  0
  Advanced SRM 3†
  M, C
  1/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  0
  Advanced SRM 4†
  M, C
  1/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  0
  Advanced SRM 5†
  M, C
  1/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  0
  Advanced SRM 6†
  M, C
  1/Msl, C2/‡
  0
  1–4
  5–8
  9–12
  0
  *See the Weapon and Equipment Types Table, p. 306, for abbreviation explanations, or Weapons and Equipment, p. 113, for complete details.
  **See Other Combat Weapons and Equipment, p. 129
  †Add +1 to the die roll when rolling on the Cluster Hits Table.
  ‡See Missile Attacks, p. 218
  ‡‡Treat as Flamer on Burst-Fire Weapon Damage Vs. Conventional Infantry Table, see either p. 217 or p. 309.
  §See Burst-Fire Weapon Damage Vs. Conventional infantry Table, either p. 217 or p. 309.
  §§Against ’Mech/aerospace fi ghter/small craft targets only, every time the weapon is fi red, before the to-hit roll is made, the player may 
  announce he is applying the Damage Value as heat to the target, in place of damage (see Heat-Causing Weapon, p. 113).
  
  G R O U N D  M O V E M E N T
  G R O U N D  M O V E M E N T
  G R O U N D  M O V E M E N T
  G R O U N D  M O V E M E N T
  MOVEMENT COSTS TABLE
  1Only during the phase that the reactor shuts down. If the MechWarrior must make a Piloting Skill Roll for a ’Mech with a shutdown reactor, the ’Mech automatically falls; 
  in either case, if the ’Mech falls, the warrior automatically takes 1 point of damage (see Falling Damage to the MechWarrior, p. 69).
  2The modifi er for a destroyed gyro is +6 when making a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid damaging the MechWarrior during an automatic fall.
  3The modifi er for a destroyed leg is +5 when making a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid damaging the MechWarrior during an automatic fall.
  4Automatic fall if death from above attack is unsuccessful.
  5Ignore all modifi ers from previous critical hits on that leg.
  6Do not add modifi ers for other damaged actuators in the leg.
  7To avoid damage only. Does not result in a fall if Piloting Skill Roll fails. See Buildings, p. 166. Add an additional +1 modifi er if unit is charging or being charged (in 
  addition to the +2 modifi er normally required in that situation).
  8 For the purposes of falling, a ‘Mech only rises 1 level above the underlying terrain.
  PILOTING/DRIVING SKILL ROLL TABLE
  Situation
  Modifi er
  Damage to ’Mech
  ’Mech takes 20+ damage points in 
  one phase
  +1
  ’Mech fusion (or fi ssion) reactor shuts 
  down
  +31
  Leg/foot actuator destroyed
  +1
  Hip actuator destroyed
  +2
  Gyro hit
  +3
  Gyro destroyed
  Automatic fall2
  Leg destroyed
  Automatic fall3
  Physical attacks against ’Mech
  ’Mech was kicked
  0
  ’Mech was pushed
  0
  ’Mech was successfully charged/hit by 
  death from above
  +2
  Unit’s actions
  ’Mech missed kick
  0
  ’Mech made a successful charging 
  attack
  +2
  ’Mech made death from above attack
  +44
  ’Mech entered Depth 1 water hex
  –1
  ’Mech entered Depth 2 water hex
  0
  ’Mech entered Depth 3+ water hex
  +1
  ’Mech attempted to stand
  0
  ’Mech entered rubble hex
  0
  Running/fl anking unit moved after 
  facing change while on pavement
  See Skidding, 
  p. 62.
  Situation
  Modifi er
  Flanking VTOL/WiGE/Hover Vehicle 
  moved after facing change
  See 
  Sideslipping, 
  p. 67
  ’Mech jumped with damaged gyro or 
  leg/foot/hip actuators
  per Preexisting 
  Damage, below
  ’Mech jumped with destroyed leg
  per Preexisting 
  Damage, below
  ’Mech ran with damaged hip or gyro
  per Preexisting 
  Damage, below
  Special cases
  MechWarrior trying to avoid damage 
  when his ’Mech is falling
  +1/level fallen8
  IndustrialMech trying to avoid critical 
  damage when falling
  +1/level fallen8
  IndustrialMech with ICE power plant 
  fails PSR (see Piloting/Driving Skill 
  Rolls, p. 59)
  0 (no additional 
  modifi ers)
  Four-legged ’Mech with intact legs
  –2
  Unintentional charge
  +3
  ’Mech mounts small cockpit
  +1
  Preexisting Damage
  Per leg/foot actuator previously 
  destroyed
  +1
  Per hip actuator previously destroyed
  +25
  Gyro previously hit
  +3
  Leg previously destroyed
  +56
  Situation
  Modifi er
  Skidding Movement
  Hexes moved in turn
  0–2
  –1
  3–4
  0
  5–7
  +1
  8–10
  +2
  11–17
  +4
  18–24
  +5
  25+
  +6
  Building Movement7
  Unit entering/leaving light building hex
  0
  Unit entering/leaving medium 
  building hex
  +1
  Unit entering/leaving heavy building 
  hex
  +2
  Unit entering/leaving hardened 
  building hex
  +5
  Hexes moved in turn
  1–2
  0
  3–4
  +1
  5–6
  +2
  7–9
  +3
  10–17
  +4
  18–24
  +5
  25+
  +6
  Movement Action/
  Terrain Cost
  MP Cost Per Hex/Terrain Type
  Prohibited Units
  Cost to Enter Any Hex
  1
  Terrain Cost When Entering Any 
  New Hex
  Clear
  +06
  Naval vessel
  Paved/Bridge
  +0
  Naval vessel
  Road
  +03
  Naval vessel
  Rough
  +1 
  Wheeled, Naval vessel
  Light woods
  +110 
  Wheeled9, Hover, VTOL12, WiGE12, 
  Naval vessel
  Heavy woods
  +211 
  Vehicles12, Naval vessel
  Water
  Depth 0
  +0
  Naval vessel
  Depth 1
  +11 (Level change MP cost not 
  included)
  Infantry14, Vehicles4, 7
  Depth 2+
  +31 (Level change MP cost not 
  included)
  Infantry14, Vehicles4, 7, IndustrialMechs8
  Movement Action/
  Terrain Cost
  MP Cost Per Hex/Terrain Type
  Prohibited Units
  Level change (up or down)
  1 level
  +1 (’Mechs, VTOLs, subs, ProtoMechs)
  +2 (infantry, ground vehicles)
  —
  2 levels
  +2 (’Mechs, VTOLs, subs)
  Infantry, Ground Vehicles, 
  WiGE13, ProtoMechs
  3+ levels
  +1/level (VTOLs, subs)
  ’Mechs, ProtoMechs, Infantry, 
  Ground Vehicles, WiGE13
  Rubble
  +11
  Wheeled, Naval vessel
  Light building
  +12
  VTOL, WiGE, Naval vessel
  Medium building
  +22
  VTOL, WiGE, Naval vessel
  Heavy building
  +32
  VTOL, WiGE, Naval vessel
  Hardened building
  +42
  VTOL, WiGE, Naval vessel
  Additional movement actions
  Facing change
  1/hexside5
  Dropping to the ground 
  (’Mech only)
  1
  Standing up (’Mech only)
  2/attempt
  1 MP cost to move along the bottom of a water hex; Piloting Skill Roll required to prevent falling.
  2 Piloting Skill Roll required to prevent damage; infantry pays only 1 MP (except mechanized infantry, which pays 2 MP) to enter any building 
  hex.
  3 If traveling along road; otherwise cost of underlying terrain.
  4 Hovercraft may enter all water hexes along the surface and may enter such hexes using fl anking movement.
  5 No cost for infantry.
  6 If a wheeled Support Vehicle lacks the Off -Road Vehicle Chassis and Controls modifi cation, then movement costs 1 additional MP per hex.
  7 Wheeled or tracked Support Vehicles with the Amphibious Chassis and Controls modifi cation can move through any water hex on the surface 
  at a cost of 2 MP (see p. 56).
  8 IndustrialMechs can enter a Depth 2 or greater water hex. However, the IndustrialMechs must mount either a fuel cells, fi ssion or fusion 
  power plant and must mount the Environmental Sealing Chassis and Controls modifi cation to do so. If the IndustrialMech does not meet 
  those requirements, it is considered destroyed if they remain in a Depth 2 or greater water hex (or prone in a Depth 1 water hex) in the End 
  Phase of the turn immediately following the turn in which they entered it.
  9 Wheeled Support Vehicles with either the Monocycle or Bicycle Chassis and Controls modifi cation can enter a light woods hex.
  10 Infantry pays only 1 MP (except mechanized infantry, which pays 2 MP) to enter any light woods hex.
  11 Infantry pays only 2 MP (except mechanized infantry, which pays 3 MP) to enter any heavy woods hex.
  12 VTOL and WiGE vehicles can enter a woods hex provided their elevation is higher than the level of the woods in the hex.
  13 This only applies to WiGE units entering a hex whose level is higher than the unit’s current hex; see Wing-In-Ground-Eff ect, p. 55, for rules 
  governing entering hexes whose level is lower than the unit’s current hex.
  14 Infantry can enter a water hex of Depth 1 or deeper if they are noted as having UMU MPs.
  PAGE 52
  PAGE 60
  FACING AFTER FALL TABLE 
  Die Roll (1D6)
  New Facing
  Hit Location
  1
  Same Direction
  Front
  2
  1 Hexside Right
  Right Side
  3
  2 Hexsides Right
  Right Side
  4
  Opposite Direction
  Rear
  5
  2 Hexsides Left
  Left Side
  6
  1 Hexside Left
  Left Side
  PAGE 68
  
  C O M B AT
  C O M B AT
  C O M B AT
  C O M B AT
  ATTACK MODIFIERS TABLE 
  All Attacks: Weapons and Physical 
  Modifi er
  Attacker
  Movement (modifi ers are cumulative)*
  Stationary 
  None
  Walked/Cruised 
  +1
  Ran/Flanked
  +2
  Jumped 
  +3
  Prone
  +2 (does not apply to four-legged ’Mechs)
  Skidding
  +1
  Terrain (modifi ers are cumulative)
  Light Woods 
  +1 per intervening hex; +1 if target in light woods
  Heavy Woods 
  +2 per intervening hex; +2 if target in heavy 
  woods
  Water**
  Depth 1
  +1; see Partial Cover, p. 102
  Depth 2 
  Underwater units cannot target units that are not 
  underwater (see Terrain Modifi ers, p. 108).
  Partial Cover 
  +1; see Partial Cover, p. 102
  Target (modifi ers are cumulative)
  Prone 
  –2 from adjacent hex; +1 from all others†
  Immobile
   –4 (Includes Grounded DropShips)
  Skidding
  +2
  Movement
  Moved 0–2 hexes 
  0
  Moved 3–4 hexes 
  +1
  Moved 5–6 hexes 
  +2
  Moved 7–9 hexes
  +3
  Moved 10–17 hexes 
  +4
  Moved 18–24 hexes
  +5
  Moved 25+ hexes
  +6
  Jumped/Airborne (non-aerospace units)
  +1 additional
  Battle armor unit 
  (only applies to non-infantry attackers)
  +1
  Airborne VTOL unit
  +1
  Airborne aerospace unit at Altitude 1
  (NOE) (attacker in attack/fl ight path)
  +1
  Airborne aerospace unit at Altitude 1
  (NOE) (attacker not in attack/fl ight path)
  +3
  Weapon Attacks Only
  Modifi er
  Attacker
  ’Mech Damage
  Sensor hit 
  +2
  Shoulder hit 
  +4 for weapons in arm, disregard other damaged 
  actuators in arm
  Upper or lower arm actuator (each) 
  +1 for weapons in arm
  Heat
  0–7 
  None
  8–12 
  +1
  13–16 
  +2
  17–23
  +3
  24+
  +4
  CLUSTER HITS TABLE 
  Die Roll
  (2D6)
  Weapon Size
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  40
  2
  1
  1
  1
  1
  2
  2
  3
  3
  3
  4
  4
  4
  5
  5
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  7
  7
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  9
  10
  10
  12
  3
  1
  1
  2
  2
  2
  2
  3
  3
  3
  4
  4
  4
  5
  5
  5
  5
  6
  6
  6
  7
  7
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  9
  10
  10
  12
  4
  1
  1
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  4
  5
  5
  5
  6
  6
  7
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  9
  10
  10
  10
  11
  11
  11
  12
  12
  18
  5
  1
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  10
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  16
  17
  17
  17
  18
  18
  24
  6
  1
  2
  2
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  10
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  16
  17
  17
  17
  18
  18
  24
  7
  1
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  10
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  16
  17
  17
  17
  18
  18
  24
  8
  2
  2
  3
  3
  4
  4
  5
  5
  6
  7
  8
  8
  9
  9
  10
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  16
  17
  17
  17
  18
  18
  24
  9
  2
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  21
  22
  23
  23
  24
  32
  10
  2
  3
  3
  4
  5
  6
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  11
  12
  13
  14
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  21
  22
  23
  23
  24
  32
  11
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  40
  12
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  40
  Weapon Attacks Only
  Modifi er
  Making indirect LRM attack 
  +1
  Attacker is IndustrialMech***
  +1
  Grounded DropShip
  –2
  Range and Terrain
  Range
  Short 
  None
  Medium 
  +2
  Long 
  +4
  Minimum range 
  [Minimum] – [Target Range] +1 (see Minimum Range 
  Modifi er, p. 107)
  Each Intervening Hex/Level between 
  Attacker and Target (as well as target’s 
  hex) in same multi-hex building
  +1 per hex/level (maximum +3); see Combat Within 
  Buildings, p. 175
  Target
  Secondary target in forward arc 
  +1
  Secondary target in side or rear arc 
  +2
  Large Support Vehicle or
   Grounded Small Craft
  –1
  Physical Attacks Only
  Attacker
  ’Mech Damage
  Shoulder hit 
  No punching or physical weapon attack with arm; no 
  clubbing attacks; +2 to pushing attack (each)
  Upper or lower arm actuator hit 
  (each) 
  +2 to punching and physical weapon attack with 
  arm; half damage for punching attack with arm; +2 
  to clubbing attacks
  Hand actuator hit 
  +1 to punching attack with arm; no clubbing attacks; 
  no physical weapon attack with arm
  Hip actuator hit 
  No kicking attacks
  Upper or lower leg actuator hit 
  (each) 
  +2 and half damage to kicking attack with that leg
  Foot actuator hit 
  +1 to kicking attack with that leg
  Target
  Infantry 
  +3 to kicking and death from above attacks
  Large Support Vehicle or 
  Grounded Small Craft 
  –2
  Other Modifi ers
  Charging attack: Modify for relative Piloting Skills (see p. 40)
  Death from above attack: Modify for relative Piloting Skills (see p. 40)
  *Does not apply to infantry units.
  **See Terrain Modifi ers, p. 108, for exceptions.
  ***If the IndustrialMech mounts advanced fi re control, this modifi er does not apply.
  † Does not necessarily apply to Four-legged ‘Mechs (see Firing When Down, p. 113).
  PAGE 116
  PAGES 117-118
  
  C O M B AT
  C O M B AT
  C O M B AT
  C O M B AT
  ’MECH HIT LOCATION TABLE
  Die Roll
  (2D6) 
  Biped (Four-legged)
  Left Side 
  Front/Rear 
  Right Side
  2* 
  Left Torso [critical]
  Center Torso [critical]
  Right Torso [critical]
  3 
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  4
   Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  5 
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  6 
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  Right Torso 
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  7 
  Left Torso 
  Center Torso 
  Right Torso
  8 
  Center Torso 
  Left Torso 
  Center Torso
  9 
  Right Torso 
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  Left Torso
  10 
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  11 
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  12 
  Head 
  Head 
  Head
  *A result of 2 may infl ict a critical hit. Apply damage to the armor in that section in the normal manner, but the attacking player also rolls once 
  on the Determining Critical Hits Table, p. 124.
  DETERMINING CRITICAL HITS TABLE
  Die Roll (2D6)†
  Eff ect
  2–7
  No Critical Hit
  8–9
  Roll 1 Critical Hit Location
  10–11
  Roll 2 Critical Hit Locations
  12
  Head/Limb Blown Off ; 
  Roll 3 Critical Hit Locations*
  *Roll 3 critical hit locations if the attack strikes the torso.
  †When rolling for damage infl icted on an IndustrialMech, add +2 to the dice 
  roll result. Treat a modifi ed result of 13 as a 12. On a modifi ed result of 
  14, the IndustrialMech’s head or limb is blown off . If the hit struck a torso 
  location, make four critical hit rolls.
  Attack Type
  Modifi er
  Charging
  +0*
  Clubbing
  –1
  Death From Above (DFA)
  +0*†
  Kicking
  –2
  Punching
  +0
  Pushing
  –1
  ’MECH PUNCH LOCATION TABLE
  D6 Roll 
  Result
  Left Side
  Biped
   Front/Rear
  Right Side
  D6 Roll 
  Result
  Left Side
  Four-Legged
  Front/Rear
  Right Side
  1
  Left Torso
  Left Arm
  Right Torso
  1
  Left Torso
  Left Front Leg/
  Left Rear Leg
  Right Torso
  2
  Left Torso
  Left Torso
  Right Torso
  2
  Left Torso
  Left Torso
  Right Torso
  3
  Center Torso
  Center Torso
  Center Torso
  3
  Center Torso
  Center Torso
  Center Torso
  4
  Left Arm
  Right torso
  Right Arm
  4
  Left Front Leg
  Right Torso
  Right Front Leg
  5
  Left Arm
  Right Arm
  Right Arm
  5
  Left Rear Leg
  Right Front Leg/
  Right Rear Leg
  Right Rear Leg
  6
  Head
  Head
  Head
  6
  Head
  Head
  Head
  DIFFERENT LEVELS TABLE
  Target is:
  Allowed Physical Attack
  Standing ’Mech 1 level 
  higher
  Charge, Punch (Kick Table), Club (Kick 
  Table), Physical Weapon (Kick Table)
  Standing ’Mech 1 level 
  lower
  Charge, Kick (Punch Table), Club (Punch 
  Table), Physical Weapon (Punch Table)
  Prone ’Mech, 
  ProtoMech, Vehicle or 
  infantry 1 level higher
  Punch, Club, Physical Weapon
  Prone ’Mech, 
  ProtoMech, Vehicle or 
  infantry 1 level lower 
  None
  Note: A ´Mech can always make a death from above attack if it has the necessary Jumping 
  MP, provided the target is valid.
  TERRAIN FACTOR AND CONVERSION TABLE 
  Terrain Factor
  Former Terrain
  New Terrain
  Heavy Woods: 90
  Heavy Woods
  Light Woods
  Light Woods: 50
  Light Woods
  Rough
  Rough: 0
  All others
  No change
  HEAT POINT TABLE 
  Activity 
  Heat Points
  Walking
  +1 per turn 
  Running
  +2 per turn
  Jumping
  +1 per hex (minimum of 3 per turn)
  Attempting to 
  stand
  +1 per attempt 
  Weapons fi re
  Per Weapons and Equipment Tables, p. 303
  Heat-Causing 
  Weapons 
  Per Weapons and Equipment Tables, p. 303, or 
  Other Combat Weapons and Equipment, p. 129
  Heat sink
  –1 per operational heat sink; –2 per operational 
  double heat sink
  –1 additional per operational single heat sink under 
  water (maximum 6 points)
  –2 additional per operational double heat sink 
  underwater (maximum 6 points)
  First engine hit
  +5 per turn
  2nd engine hit
  +10 (total) per turn
  UNIT HEIGHTS TABLE 
  Type
  Heights*
  ’Mech
  2 levels**
  ProtoMechs, vehicles, infantry and fi ghters
  1 level
  Submarines
  1 depth***
  Large Support Vehicles and small craft
  2 levels
  Aerodyne DropShips
  5 levels
  Spheroid DropShips
  10 levels
  *A unit’s height levels (or elevations, if airborne) must be included in the level of the 
  underlying hex for determining a unit’s total height; the height of aerospace units 
  for LOS purposes is irrelevant while airborne.
  **Prone ’Mechs rise one level above the level of the underlying hex.
  ***A vessel on the surface rises 1 level above the level of the hex.
  PHYSICAL WEAPON ATTACKS TABLE
  Weapon Type
  To-Hit 
  Modifi er
  Damage Value
  To-Hit Location 
  Table
  Firing 
  Arc**
  Aff ected by 
  TSM
  To-Hit/Damage Value 
  Aff ected by Actuator Damage
  Backhoe
  +1
  6
  Standard
  Arm
  Yes
  Yes/Yes
  Chainsaw
  +0
  5
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Combine
  –2
  3†
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Dual Saw
  +0
  7
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Hatchet
  –1
  1/per 5 tons††
  Standard*
  Arm
  Yes
  Yes/Yes
  Heavy-Duty Pile Driver
  +2
  9
  Standard
  Forward
  No
  Yes/No
  Mining Drill
  –1
  4
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Retractable Blade
  –2
  1/per 10 tons‡
  Standard*
  Arm
  Yes
  Yes§§/Yes
  Rock Cutter
  +1
  5
  Standard
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Spot Welder
  +0
  5‡‡
  Punch
  Arm
  No
  Yes/No
  Sword
  –2
  1/per 10 tons +1‡
  Standard*
  Arm
  Yes
  Yes/Yes
  Wrecking Ball
  +1
  8§
  Standard
  Forward
  No
  Yes/No
  *Whenever one unit charges another, compare 
  their Piloting Skill Levels and use the diff erence 
  between the two skill levels as a modifi er to the 
  to-hit number. If the target’s skill level is lower, add 
  the modifi er to the to-hit number. If the attacker’s 
  Piloting Skill Level is lower, subtract the modifi er 
  from the to-hit number.
  †All the normal attack modifi ers apply, including the 
  attacker’s jumping movement, but the roll is not 
  modifi ed for terrain. For DFA attacks against infantry targets, apply an additional +3 to-hit modifi er (because 
  infantry units have no Piloting Skill, neither player needs to add a modifi er for relative Piloting Skill Rating).
  PHYSICAL ATTACK MODIFIERS TABLE
  ’MECH KICK LOCATION TABLE
  D6 
  Roll 
  Result
  Left Side
  Biped
  Right Side
  Front/Rear
  1–3
  Left Leg
  Right Leg
  Right Leg
  4–6
  Left Leg
  Left Leg
  Right Leg
  Four-legged
  1-3
  Left Front Leg
  Right Front Leg/
  Right Rear Leg
  Right Front 
  Leg
  4-6
  Left Rear Leg
  Left Front Leg/
  Left Rear Leg
  Right Rear Leg
  PAGE 119
  PAGE 144
  PAGE 112
  PAGE 124
  PAGE 145
  PAGE 150
  PAGE 99
  PAGE 147
  PAGE 159
  PAGE 146
  *Roll normally on the ’Mech Hit Location Table. Alternatively, when the controlling player announces the 
  physical weapon attack, he may also announce that he will use the Punch or Kick Hit Location Table to 
  resolve damage if the attack succeeds, in which case apply a +4 modifi er in addition to all the standard 
  modifi ers, including the standard to-hit modifi er for the weapon (this modifi er does not apply when 
  attacking on a Punch/Kick Location Table due to attacks from diff erent levels; see p. 150)
  **Forward: the target of a physical weapon attack can only be in the ’Mech’s forward arc. Arm: the target 
  of a physical weapon attack can be in the ’Mech’s forward arc or in the side arc corresponding to the 
  arm in which the equipment is mounted.
  †1D6 against conventional infantry.
  ††A successful attack does 1 point of damage for every 5 tons that the attacking ’Mech weighs. 
  ‡A successful attack does 1 point of damage for every 10 tons that the attacking ’Mech weighs (round up); 
  +1 to that Damage Value for a sword.
  ‡‡Whenever the spot welder is used in a physical weapon attack, it generates 2 points of heat.
  § On any to-hit roll result of 2, the ball has successfully delivered a self-infl icted hit against the attacker 
  rather than the target. Such a self-infl icted strike causes half the normal damage and is resolved using 
  the Front Hit Location Table. Immediately after sustaining damage from a self-infl icted wrecking ball 
  hit, the player must make a Piloting Skill Roll to avoid falling from being thrown off -balance by this 
  critical failure.
  §§Damage to the hand actuator (or the absence of a hand actuator) in the arm mounting this equipment 
  does not modify the to-hit number of the attack.
  
  P R O T O M E C H S  &  V E H I C L E S
  P R O T O M E C H S  &  V E H I C L E S
  P R O T O M E C H S  &  V E H I C L E S
  PROTOMECH 
  HIT LOCATION TABLE 
  2D6 Result
  Hit Location
  2
  Main Gun
  3
  * Near Miss
  4
  Right Arm
  5
  Legs
  6
  Torso
  7
  Torso
  8
  Torso
  9
  Legs
  10
  Left Arm
  11
  * Near Miss
  12
  Head
  *A result of 3 or 11 infl icts no damage on the target. In 
  the case of a kick attack from a ’Mech, a Near Miss on 
  the ProtoMech Hit Location Table does not force the 
  attacking ’Mech to make a Piloting Skill Roll.
  SPECIAL PROTOMECH 
  HIT LOCATION TABLE 
  2D6 Result
  Hit Location*
  2
  Main Gun
  3
  Legs
  4
  Legs
  5
  Right Arm
  6
  Torso
  7
  Torso
  8
  Torso
  9
  Left Arm
  10
  Legs
  11
  Legs
  12
  Head
  *Use Special ProtoMech Hit Location Table when determining 
  damage under the following circumstances: area-aff ect 
  weapons, building collapse, crashing aerospace units, falling 
  and collisions with skidding units.
  GROUND COMBAT VEHICLE HIT LOCATION TABLE
   
  Attack Direction
  2D6 
  Roll 
  Front 
  Rear
   Side§
  2* 
  Front (critical) 
  Rear (critical) 
  Side  (critical) 
  3 
  Front† 
  Rear† 
  Side† 
  4 
  Front† 
  Rear† 
  Side† 
  5 
  Right Side†
  Left Side†
  Front† 
  6 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  7 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  8 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side (critical)*
  9 
  Left Side† 
  Right Side† 
  Rear† 
  10 
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret
  11 
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret 
  12* 
  Turret (critical)
   Turret (critical) 
  Turret (critical) 
  *A result of 2 or 12 (or an 8 if the attack strikes the side) may infl ict a critical hit on the vehicle. For 
  each result of 2 or 12 (or 8 for side attacks), apply damage normally to the armor in that section. 
  The attacking player then automatically rolls once on the Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hits 
  Table, p. 194. A result of 12 on the Ground Combat Vehicles Hit Location Table may infl ict a critical 
  hit against the turret; if the vehicle has no turret, a 12 indicates the chance of a critical hit on the 
  side corresponding to the attack direction.
  †The vehicle may suff er motive system damage even if its armor remains intact. Apply damage 
  normally to the armor in that section, but the attacking player also rolls once on the Motive 
  System Damage Table, at right. Apply damage at the end of the phase in which the damage 
  takes eff ect.
  §Side hits strike the side as indicated by the attack direction. For example, if an attack hits the 
  right side, all Side results strike the right side armor. If the vehicle has no turret, a turret hit 
  strikes the armor on the side attacked.
  MOTIVE SYSTEM DAMAGE TABLE
  2D6 Roll
    Eff ect*
  2–5
  No eff ect
  6–7  
  Minor damage; +1 modifi er to all Driving 
  Skill Rolls 
  8–9
  Moderate damage; –1 Cruising MP, +2 
  modifi er to all Driving Skill Rolls
  10–11
  Heavy damage; only half Cruising MP 
  (round fractions up), +3 modifi er to all 
  Driving Skill Rolls
  12+ 
  Major damage; no movement for the 
  rest of the game. Vehicle is immobile.
  Attack Direction Modifi er:
  Hit from rear
  +1
  Hit from the sides 
  +2
  Vehicle Type Modifi ers:
  Tracked, Naval 
  +0
  Wheeled 
  +2
  Hovercraft, Hydrofoil 
  +3
  WiGE
   
  +4
  *All movement and Driving Skill Roll penalties are cumulative. If a unit’s 
  Cruising MP is reduced to 0, it cannot move for the rest of the game, but is not 
  considered an immobile target. In addition, all motive system damage takes 
  eff ect at the end of the phase in which the damage occurred. For example, if 
  two units are attacking the same Combat Vehicle during the Weapon Attack 
  Phase and the fi rst unit infl icts motive system damage and rolls a 12, the –4 
  immobile target modifi er would not apply for the second attacker. However, 
  the –4 modifi er would take eff ect during the Physical Attack Phase.
  GROUND COMBAT VEHICLE CRITICAL HITS TABLE
   
  2D6 
  Roll 
  Hit Location
  Front 
  Side 
  Rear 
  Turret
  2–5 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit
  6 
  Driver Hit 
  Cargo/Infantry Hit 
  Weapon Malfunction 
  Stabilizer
  7 
  Weapon 
  Malfunction 
  Weapon 
  Malfunction 
  Cargo/Infantry Hit 
  Turret Jam
  8 
  Stabilizer 
  Crew Stunned 
  Stabilizer
  Weapon 
  Malfunction
  9
   Sensors 
  Stabilizer 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Turret Locks
  10 
  Commander Hit 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Engine Hit 
  Weapon 
  Destroyed
  11 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Engine Hit 
  Ammunition** 
  Ammunition**
  12 
  Crew Killed 
  Fuel Tank* 
  Fuel Tank* 
  Turret Blown Off 
  *If Combat Vehicle has ICE engine only. If Combat Vehicle has a fusion engine, treat this result as Engine Hit.
  **If Combat Vehicle carries no ammunition, treat this result as Weapon Destroyed.
  LARGE GROUND SUPPORT VEHICLE HIT LOCATION TABLE
  Attack Direction
  2D6 Roll 
  Front 
  Rear
   Front Side 
  Rear Side
  2* 
  Front (critical) 
  Rear (critical) 
  Side (critical)§ 
  Side (critical)§
  3 
  Right Side† 
  Left Side† 
  Front† 
  Rear†
  4 
  Front†
  Rear† 
  Side† 
  Side†
  5 
  Front†
  Rear† 
  Side 
  Side
  6 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  Side
  7 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side 
  Side
  8 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side (critical)*
  Side (critical)*
  9 
  Front† 
  Rear† 
  Side† 
  Side†
  10 
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret 
  Turret
  11 
  Turret 
  Turret
  Turret
  Turret
  12* 
  Turret (critical)
   Turret (critical) 
   Turret (critical) 
  Turret (critical)
  *A result of 2 or 12 (or 8 if the attack strikes the side) may infl ict a critical hit. For each such roll result, apply damage normally to the 
  armor in that section. The attacking player then rolls once on the Ground Combat Vehicle Critical Hits Table, p. 194. A result of 12 
  on this roll may infl ict a critical hit against the turret. If the vehicle has no turret, a 12 indicates the chance of a critical hit on the 
  side corresponding to the attack direction.
  †The vehicle may suff er motive system damage even if its armor remains intact. Apply damage normally to the armor in that section, 
  but the attacking player also rolls once on the Motive System Damage Table, p. 193 (applying damage at the end of the phase in 
  which the damage takes eff ect).
  §If the attack hits the front right side, all Front Side results strike the front right side armor, while Rear Side results strike the rear right 
  side armor. If the vehicle has no turret, a turret hit strikes the armor on the side attacked.
  PAGE 193
  PAGE 193
  VTOL COMBAT VEHICLE 
  HIT LOCATION TABLE
  2D6 
  Roll 
  Front
  Rear
  Side
  2* 
  Front (critical)
  Rear (critical)
  Side (critical)
  3 
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  4 
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  5 
  Right Side 
  Left Side 
  Front
  6 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side
  7 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side
  8 
  Front 
  Rear 
  Side (critical)*
  9
  Left Side 
  Right Side 
  Rear
  10 
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  11 
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  Rotors†
  12* 
  Rotors 
  (critical)†
  Rotors 
  (critical)†
  Rotors (critical)†
   
   
   
  *A result of 2 or 12 (or 8 if the attack strikes the side) may infl ict a critical hit on the 
  VTOL. For each such attack, apply damage normally to the armor in that section. 
  The attacking player then immediately rolls once on the VTOL Combat Vehicle 
  Critical Hits Table, below.
  †Damage Value / 10 (round up); see Rotor Hits, p. 197. Additionally, damage to the 
  rotors slows down the VTOL. Each hit reduces the VTOL’s Cruising MP by 1, meaning 
  that the controlling player must also recalculate Flank MP; multiply the new Cruising 
  MP by 1.5 and round up. As with all damage, such movement penalties do not apply 
  until the end of the phase in which the damage occurred.
  PAGE 196
  VTOL COMBAT VEHICLE CRITICAL HITS TABLE
   2D6 
  Roll 
  Hit Location
  Front 
  Side 
  Rear 
  Rotors
  2–5 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit 
  No Critical Hit
  6 
  Co-Pilot Hit 
  Weapon Jam 
  Cargo/Infantry Hit 
  Rotor Damage
  7 
  Weapon Jam 
  Cargo/Infantry Hit 
  Weapon Jam 
  Rotor Damage
  8 
  Stabilizer 
  Stabilizer 
  Stabilizer 
  Rotor Damage
  9 
  Sensors 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Flight Stabilizer Hit
  10 
  Pilot Hit 
  Engine Hit 
  Sensors 
  Flight Stabilizer Hit
  11 
  Weapon Destroyed 
  Ammunition** 
  Engine Hit 
  Rotors Destroyed
  12 
  Crew Killed 
  Fuel Tank* 
  Fuel Tank* 
  Rotors Destroyed
  *Only if the VTOL has an ICE engine. For VTOLs with fusion engines, treat this result as Engine Hit.
  **If the VTOL carries no ammunition, treat this result as Weapon Destroyed.
  PAGE 196
  PAGE 194
  PAGE 206
  PAGE 185
  PAGE 185
  PHYSICAL ATTACKS AGAINST 
  VTOL VEHICLES TABLE
  Diff erence in Levels
  Type of Physical Attack Allowed
  –1 or lower
  None
  0
  All except Punch
  1–2
  All except Kick
  3
  Club and Physical Weapons only
  4+
  None
  PAGE 198
  
  B U I L D I N G S  &  I N FA N T R Y
  B U I L D I N G S  &  I N FA N T R Y
  B U I L D I N G S  &  I N FA N T R Y
  B U I L D I N G S  &  I N FA N T R Y
  BUILDING 
  MOVEMENT  
  MODIFIERS TABLE
  Hexes Moved 
  In Turn
  Piloting Skill 
  Modifi er
  1–2
  0
  3–4
  +1
  5–6
  +2
  7–9
  +3
  10–17
  +4
  18–24
  +5
  25+
  +6
  INFANTRY DAMAGE
   IN BUILDINGS TABLE
  Building 
  Type
  Damage to Infantry is:
  Light
  75 percent of damage to building
  Medium
  50 percent of damage to building
  Heavy
  25 percent of damage to building
  Hardened
  None
  INFANTRY DAMAGE FROM 
  ATTACKS INSIDE BUILDINGS TABLE
  Building 
  Type
  Damage to Infantry is:
  Light
  All damage is assigned to infantry unit
  Medium
  All damage is assigned to infantry unit
  Heavy
  75 percent of damage to building
  Hardened
  50 percent of damage to building
  BASEMENTS TABLE
  Die Roll
  (2D6)
  Eff ect
  2
  Double basement. The unit falls 2 levels. Apply all damage to a ’Mech’s legs (use 
  the Front column of the ’Mech Kick Location Table).
  3
  Basement. The unit falls 1 level. Apply all damage to a ’Mech’s legs (use the Front 
  column of the ’Mech Kick Location Table).
  4
  Basement. The unit falls 1 level (for ’Mechs, use the Front/Rear column of the 
  ’Mech Hit Location Table).
  5-8
  No basement.
  9
  Small basement. Infantry may move into the basement as though it were a new 
  level of the building (Sublevel 1); ProtoMechs cannot enter this level. No eff ect on 
  ’Mechs or vehicles.
  10
  Basement. The unit falls 1 level (for ’Mechs use the Front/Rear column of the ’Mech 
  Hit Location Table).
  11
  Basement. The unit falls 1 level. ’Mechs fall headfi rst (use the Front/Rear column of 
  the ’Mech Punch Location Table).
  12
  Double basement. The unit falls 2 levels. ’Mechs fall headfi rst (use the Front/Rear 
  column of the ’Mech Punch Location Table).
  GENERIC CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY DAMAGE TABLE
  Maximum Weapon Damage Per Platoon Type*
  Number of 
  Troopers
  Rifl e, 
  Ballistic
  Rifl e, 
  Energy
  Machine 
  Gun
  SRM
  LRM
  Flamer
  1
  1
  0
  1
  0
  0
  0
  2
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  3
  2
  1
  2
  1
  1
  1
  4
  2
  1
  2
  2
  2
  2
  5
  3
  1
  3
  2
  2
  2
  6
  3
  2
  3
  3
  3
  3
  7
  4
  2
  4
  3
  3
  3
  8
  4
  2
  4
  4
  3
  4
  9
  5
  3
  5
  4
  4
  4
  10
  5
  3
  6
  5
  4
  5
  11
  6
  3
  6
  5
  5
  5
  12
  6
  3
  7
  6
  5
  6
  13
  7
  4
  7
  6
  6
  6
  14
  7
  4
  8
  7
  6
  7
  15
  8
  4
  8
  7
  6
  7
  16
  8
  4
  9
  8
  7
  8
  17
  9
  5
  10
  8
  7
  8
  18
  9
  5
  10
  9
  8
  9
  19
  10
  5
  11
  9
  8
  9
  20
  10
  6
  11
  10
  9
  10
  21
  11
  6
  12
  10
  9
  10
  22
  11
  6
  12
  11
  9
  11
  23
  12
  6
  13
  11
  10
  11
  24
  12
  7
  13
  12
  10
  12
  25
  13
  7
  14
  12
  11
  12
  26
  14
  7
  15
  13
  11
  12
  27
  14
  8
  15
  13
  11
  13
  28
  15
  8
  16
  14
  12
  13
  29
  15
  8
  16
  14
  12
  14
  30
  16
  8
  17
  15
  13
  14
  *Damage is always applied in 2-point Damage Value groupings
  NON-INFANTRY WEAPON DAMAGE 
  AGAINST INFANTRY TABLE
  Weapon Type*
  Number of Conventional Troopers Hit†
  Direct Fire (Ballistic or Energy)
  Damage Value / 10
  Cluster (Ballistic)
  Damage Value / 10 + 1
  Pulse**
  Damage Value / 10 + 2
  Cluster (Missile)
  Damage Value / 5
  Area-Eff ect (AE)
  Damage Value / .5
  Burst-Fire
  See Burst-Fire Weapons above
  Heat-Eff ect Weapons
  See Heat-Eff ect Weapons‡
  *See Combat, p. 113, for weapon terminology. If a weapon falls under multiple types, use the type 
  that infl icts the most damage. For example, a rotary AC/5 is defi ned as a direct-fi re (ballistic) and a 
  cluster (ballistic) weapon. A cluster (ballistic) weapon does more damage than a direct-fi re (ballistic) 
  weapon, and so players should use the statistics for cluster (ballistic) weapons when determining 
  damage against conventional infantry.
  **Except for Small and Micro Pulse Lasers, which are treated as Burst-Fire Weapons (see Burst-Fire 
  Weapons Damage Vs. Conventional Infantry Table, p. 217).
  †This equals the number of conventional infantry troopers hit and eliminated, regardless of armor 
  protection. Attacks by non-infantry weapons against mechanized infantry double the number of 
  troopers eliminated; Round all fractions up.
  ‡Heat-Eff ect Weapon each has specifi c damage against conventional infantry, as noted on either the 
  appropriate Weapon and Equipment Tables or in Other Combat Weapons and Equipment (see p. 129).
  Shot from Above
  Die Roll (1D6)
  Hit Location (Four legged)**
  1
  Left Arm (Left Front Leg)
  2
  Front/Rear Left Torso*
  3
  Front/Rear Center Torso*
  4
  Front/Rear Right Torso*
  5
  Right Arm (Right Front Leg)
  6
  Head
  Shot from Below
  Die Roll (1D6)
  Hit Location (Four legged)**
  1
  Left Leg (Left Front Leg)
  2
  Left Leg (Left Rear Leg)
  3
  Front/Rear Left Torso*
  4
  Front/Rear Right Torso*
  5
  Right Leg (Right Rear Leg)
  6
  Right Leg (Right Front Leg)
  SPECIAL ’MECH HIT LOCATION TABLE
  *The attack hits the front if from the front or the side. It hits the rear if from the rear.
  **Location in parenthesis are for a four-legged ’Mech.
  BattleMechs, ProtoMechs and Vehicles
  Weapon
  Damage vs. 
  Conventional 
  Infantry
  AP Gauss Rifl e
  2D6
  Light Machine Gun
  1D6
  Machine Gun
  2D6
  Heavy Machine Gun
  3D6
  Small/Micro Pulse Laser
  2D6
  Flamer
  4D6
  Battle Armor
  Weapon
  Damage vs. 
  Conventional 
  infantry
  Light Machine Gun
  1D6/2 
  (round up)
  Machine Gun
  1D6
  Heavy Machine Gun
  2D6
  Flamer
  3D6
  Light Recoilless Rifl e
  1D6
  Medium Recoilless Rifl e
  2D6
  Heavy Recoilless Rifl e
  2D6
  Light Mortar
  1D6
  Heavy Mortar
  1D6
  Automatic Grenade 
  Launcher
  1D6/2 
  (round up)
  Heavy Grenade Launcher
  1D6
  BURST-FIRE WEAPON DAMAGE VS. CONVENTIONAL INFANTRY TABLE
  BUILDING MODIFIERS TABLE
  Building Type
  Original CF
  MP Cost Per 
  Hex*
  Piloting Skill 
  Modifi er
  Light
  1–15
  1
  0
  Medium
  16–40
  2
  +1
  Heavy
  41–90
  3
  +2
  Hardened
  91–150
  4
  +5
  Cost to Enter Any Hex
  1
  *Infantry (except mechanized infantry) pay only 1 MP to enter a building hex regardless of building 
  type; ProtoMechs and mechanized infantry only pay 2 MP to enter a building hex.
  PAGE 216
  PAGE 172
  PAGE 175
  PAGE 175
  PAGE 179
  PAGE 217
  PAGE 167
  PAGE 167
  PAGE 216
  
  A E R O S P A C E
  A E R O S P A C E
  A E R O S P A C E
  A E R O S P A C E
  RAMMING ATTACKS TABLE
  Base To-Hit Number: 6 + (target 
  Piloting Skill – attacker Piloting Skill)
  Modifi ers
  Attacker existing damage:
  Sensor damage 
  +1
  Avionics damage 
  +1 per box
  Target is:
  Fighter or small craft
  +4v
  DropShip 
  +2
  Cannot spend thrust 
  –2
  Attacker is:
  Fighter or small craft
  –2
  DropShip
  –1
  ATMOSPHERIC CONTROL
  MODIFIERS TABLE
  Condition
  Control Roll
  Per 20 points of 
  damage
  +1
  Unit is spheroid 
  DropShip 
  +1
  Unit is aerodyne 
  DropShip
  0
  Unit is fi ghter or 
  small craft
  –1
  CHANGING FACING COST TABLE
  Current 
  Velocity
  Thrust 
  Point Cost
  Current 
  Velocity
  Thrust 
  Point Cost
  0-2
  1
  8-9
  4
  3-5
  2
  10
  5
  6-7
  3
  11
  6
  12+
  +1 per 
  point
  EVASIVE ACTION MODIFIERS TABLE
  Evading Unit is: 
  Target’s Evasive 
  Action Modifi er
  Attacker’s Evasive 
  Action Modifi er
  Fighter 
  +3 
  N/A
  Small craft, Fixed-Wing 
  Support Vehicle 
  +2 
  N/A
  DropShip
  +2 
  +2
  Airship
  N/A
  N/A
  HIGH-ALTITUDE TABLE
  Hex Row 
  Altitude (km) 
  Max. Safe Velocity
  Ground
   0–17
   2
  Row 1
   18–35
   3
  Row 2
   36–53
   6
  Row 3 
  54–71
   9
  Row 4 
  72–89 
  12
  Interface 
  90–107 
  15
  STRAIGHT MOVEMENT TABLE
  Minimum Straight Movement (in hexes)
  Eff ective
  Velocity 
   Aerospace 
  Fighter 
  Conventional 
  Fighter 
  Aerodyne
  DropShip
  1–3 
  1
  1 
  1
  4–6 
  1
  1
  2
  7–9 
  2
  1
  3
  10–12
   3
  2 
  4
  13–15
   4 
  3 
  5
  16+
  5
  4
  6
  STRAIGHT MOVEMENT ON GROUND 
  MAPS TABLE (AERODYNE CRAFT ONLY)
  Minimum Straight Movement (in hexes)
  Velocity 
  Fighter 
  Small Craft 
  DropShip
  1
   8
  8 
  8
  2 
  12
  14 
  16
  3
  16 
  20 
  24
  4
  20
  26
  32
  5 
  24 
  32
  40
  6 
  28
  38
  48
  7 
  32
  44 
  56
  8 
  36
  50
  64
  9 
  40
  56
  72
  10
  44
  62
  80
  11
  48
  68
  88
  12
  52
  74
  96
  Units on ground maps cannot reach a velocity above 12. If required to gain 
  a velocity above 12 (through special maneuvers, for example) the unit 
  remains at Velocity 12 and must make a Control Roll.
  CONTROL ROLL TABLE
  Base Target Number: Piloting Skill
  Situation*
  Movement
  Hovering (spheroids)
  Exceed normal operational ceiling (conventional fi ghters, Airships and Fixed Wing Support Vehicles)
  Atmospheric re-entry
  Rolling more than once in a turn
  Using thrust in excess of current SI rating
  Unit with velocity over 2x Safe Thrust in a atmosphere hex
  Stalling
  Descending 3+ altitudes in a single turn
  Damage
  Avionics critical
  Control critical
  Sustaining damage while in atmosphere
  Modifi ers
  Pilot/crew damage 
  +1 per crossed box
  Avionics damage 
  +1 per crossed box
  Life support damage
  +1 per crossed box
  Atmospheric operations 
  +2
  Above safe thrust 
  +1
  Above 2x Safe Thrust
  +1 per velocity point above 2x Safe Thrust
  *Requires a Control Roll; apply all appropriate modifi ers
  AEROSPACE UNITS HIT LOCATION TABLE 
  FIGHTERS
  2D6 
  Roll 
  Nose 
  Aft 
  Side 
  Above/Below
  2 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Nose/Weapon
  3 
  Nose/Sensors 
  Aft/Heat Sink 
  Wing/Gear 
  Wing/Gear
  4 
  Right Wing/Heat Sink 
  Right Wing/Fuel 
  Nose/Sensors 
  Nose/Sensors
  5 
  Right Wing/Weapon 
  Right Wing/Weapon 
  Nose/Crew 
  Nose/Crew
  6 
  Nose/Avionics 
  Aft/Engine 
  Wing/Weapon 
  Wing/Weapon
  7 
  Nose/Control 
  Aft/Control 
  Wing/Avionics 
  Nose/Avionics
  8 
  Nose/FCS 
  Aft/Engine 
  Wing/Bomb 
  Wing/Weapon
  9 
  Left Wing/Weapon 
  Left Wing/Weapon 
  Aft/Control 
  Aft/Control
  10 
  Left Wing/Heat Sink 
  Left Wing/Fuel 
  Aft/Engine 
  Aft/Engine
  11 
  Nose/Gear 
  Aft/Heat Sink 
  Wing/Gear 
  Wing/Gear
  12 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon
  DROPSHIPS/SMALL CRAFT
  2D6 
  Roll 
  Nose 
  Aft 
  Side 
  Above/Below
  2 
  Nose/Crew 
  Aft/Life Support 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Nose/Weapon
  3 
  Nose/Avionics 
  Aft/Control 
  Nose/FCS
  Nose/FCS
  4 
  Right Side/Weapon 
  Right Side/Weapon 
  Nose/Sensors 
  Nose/Sensors
  5 
  Right Side/Thruster 
  Right Side/Door 
  Side/Thruster 
  Side/Thruster
  6 
  Nose/FCS 
  Aft/Engine 
  Side/Cargo 
  Side/Cargo
  7 
  Nose/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Side/Weapon 
  Side/Weapon
  8 
  Nose/Control 
  Aft/Docking Collar
  Collar Side/Door 
  Side/Door
  9 
  Left Side/Thruster 
  Left Side/Door 
  Side/Thruster 
  Side/Thruster
  10 
  Left Side/Weapon 
  Left Side/Weapon 
  Aft/Avionics 
  Aft/Avionics
  11 
  Nose/Sensors 
  Aft/Gear 
  Aft/Engine 
  Aft/Engine
  12 
  Nose/K-F Boom 
  Aft/Fuel 
  Aft/Weapon 
  Aft/Weapon
  RE-ENTRY TABLE
  Situation 
  Modifi er (Maximum 6)
  Craft has engine damage
  +1 per box crossed out
  Craft has damage to thrusters 
  +1 per box crossed out
  Craft has no thrust*
  +6
  *A craft has no thrust if it cannot generate any due to critical engine 
  damage or lack of fuel.
  FAILED BRAKING MANEUVER TABLE
  Margin of Failure
  Eff ect
  1–4 
  Landing requires full distance. The pilot can attempt to land normally or 
  abort the landing, circle and try again in a subsequent turn.
  5 
  The unit must land. However, the unit becomes harder to control, adding 1 
  to the landing Control Roll target number.
  6+ 
  The unit must land and requires 20 hexes of runway to do so, regardless of 
  unit type. The unit suff ers 20 points of damage on the nose and the landing 
  gear is destroyed. Add 2 to the landing Control Roll target number.
  PAGE 77
  PAGE 77
  PAGE 84
  PAGE 80
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  PAGE 92
  PAGE 93
  PAGE 249
  PAGE 241
  PAGE 237
  PAGE 87
  
  A E R O S P A C E
  A E R O S P A C E
  A E R O S P A C E
  A E R O S P A C E
  AEROSPACE WEAPON RANGE TABLE 
  Range Bracket
  Hexes (Standard)
  Hexes (Capital)
  Short
  0 –6
  0–12
  Medium
  7–12
  13–24
  Long
  13–20
  25–40
  Extreme
  21–25
  41–50
  CAPITAL MISSILE CRITICAL HIT TABLE
  Missile
  Critical Hit Chance
  Barracuda
  11+
  White Shark 
  9+
  Killer Whale
  10+
  Kraken
  8+
  RANDOM MOVEMENT TABLE
  1D6 Result
  Eff ect
  1 
  Forward 1 hex, turn left 2 hexsides
  2 
  Forward 1 hex, turn left 1 hexside
  3–4 
  Forward 1 hex
  5 
  Forward 1 hex, turn right 1 hexside
  6
  Forward 1 hex, turn right 2 hexsides
  AEROSPACE ATTACK MODIFIERS TABLE
  Range
  Modifi er
  Short 
  +0
  Medium 
  +2
  Long
   +4
  Extreme
   +6
  Target/Intervening Conditions
  Angle of Attack
  Attack against aft 
  +0
  Attack against nose 
  +1
  Attack against side 
  +2
  Range
  Modifi er
  Target is at 0 Velocity
   –2
  Weapon is capital-scale
  vs. unit less than 500 tons 
  +5†
  Firing through atmospheric hex* 
  +2 per hex
  Firing into or out of screen hex 
  +2
  Target is evading 
  Variable
  Attacker Conditions
  Attacker exceeded Safe Thrust this turn 
  +2
  Attacker is out-of-control 
  +2
  Range
  Modifi er
  Attacker has pilot/crew damage 
  +1 per box crossed
  Attacker has CIC or FCS critical damage 
  +2 per box crossed
  Attacker has sensors critical damage 
  +1 per box crossed, 
  or +5 if sensors destroyed
  Attacker is evading 
  Variable
  Special Weapons and Equipment
  Barracuda missile (not tele-operated) 
  –2§
  *This applies to atmospheric hexes on the high-altitude map, not to hexes on a low-altitude map, or when using Aerospace Units on Ground Mapsheets rules.
  †Modifi er does not apply to capital missiles, which are designed to track small targets.
  §Modifi er does not apply if Barracuda missiles are fi red in conjunction with other capital missiles (see Large Craft Weapon Bays, p. 234).
  AEROSPACE FIGHTER/SMALL CRAFT HEAT POINT TABLE 
  Activity 
  Heat Points
  Weapons fi re 
  Per Weapons and Equipment Tables, p. 303
  Heat-causing weapons
  Per Weapons and Equipment Tables, p. 303, or Other Combat Weapons and Equipment, p. 129
  Heat sink 
  –1 per operational heat sink; –2 per operational double heat sink
  Engine damage
  +2 per hit
  SPECIAL MANEUVERS TABLE
  Min/Max 
  Velocity 
  Thrust
  Cost 
  Control
  Modifi er 
  Maneuver 
  Eff ect
  Loop 
  Min 4 
  4 
  +1 
  The unit spends its fi rst 4 points of 
  velocity in the loop, though the actual 
  velocity remains unchanged. It ends 
  in the same hex where it started the 
  move, then spends the remainder of 
  its velocity normally.
  Immelmann 
  Min 3 
  4 
  +1 
  The unit gains two altitudes and ends 
  the maneuver facing any hexside. 
  Velocity drops by 2. The remainder is 
  spent normally.
  Split-S 
  Any 
  2
   +2 
  The unit loses two altitudes and ends 
  the maneuver facing any hexside. 
  Velocity increases by 1.
  Hammerhead 
  Any 
  Velocity 
  +3 
  The unit remains in the hex it started, 
  but changes facing 180 degrees.
  Half-roll 
  Any 
  1 
  –1
  The unit rolls 180 degrees, reversing 
  left and right sides and up/down 
  facings.
  Barrel roll
   Min 2 
  1
   0 
  The unit rolls 360 degrees, ending 
  with the same facing. Velocity drops 
  by 1.
  Side-slip 
  Any 
  1
   0/–1* 
  Instead of moving into the hex 
  directly ahead, the unit moves into 
  the front-left or front-right hex 
  without changing facing. (Modifi er is 
  –1 for VSTOL units.)
  VIFF
   Any* 
  Velocity 
  +2 
  +2 
  Successfully using this “Vector in 
  Forward Flight” maneuver, a VSTOL 
  unit halts its forward momentum and 
  gains one altitude.
  *VSTOL units only
  LANDING MODIFIERS TABLE
  Condition
   Modifi er 
  Unit has damaged thrusters 
  +4
  Unit is out-of-control 
  Automatic failure (assume MoF of 10)
  Unit is attempting vertical landing 
  +1 per point of Velocity above 1
  Unit is attempting horizontal landing 
  +1 per point of Velocity above 3
  Landing gear damaged 
  +3 per box crossed
  Condition
  Modifi er
  Nose armor destroyed (fi ghters and aerodyne units)
  +2
  Unit reduced to 50% or less of starting thrust 
  +2
  No thrust available (aerodyne) 
  +4
  No thrust available (spheroid)* 
  +8
  Runway too short for unit 
  +2
  Unit is aerospace fi ghter making vertical landing 
  +2†
  Terrain Modifi ers‡
  Unit landing at manned, friendly airfi eld‡‡
  –2
  Unit landing at unmanned, friendly airfi eld‡‡
  –1
  Unit landing on road or paved hex 
  0
  Unit landing at unfriendly airfi eld‡‡ 
  +1
  Unit landing in clear hex 
  +2
  Unit landing in water hex 
  +3
  Unit landing in rough or rubble hex 
  (landing gear damaged, cross off  1 box)
  +3
  Unit landing in elevated hex (non-vertical landing)§
  +3
  Unit landing in building hex (non-vertical landing)§§
  +3
  Unit landing in light woods hex 
  +4
  Unit landing in heavy woods hex
  +5
  *Only applies if spheroid unit lost thrust this turn, otherwise the unit falls and is destroyed (see Crashes, p. 81).
  †Only applies in atmospheres and does not apply to VSTOL-equipped conventional fi ghters.
  ‡Determine all appropriate modifi ers based on the hexes of the landing area and then apply only the highest modifi er (if there are 
  multiple “highest” modifi ers, still only add a single hex modifi er). These modifi ers are halved for vertical landings.
  ‡‡The placement of such features, which do not appear on BattleTech maps, depends on the scenario being played or a designated gamemaster.
  §If the hex is greater than a one level change, the unit automatically crashes in the elevated hex (see Crashes, p. 81); determine all 
  damage normally, than reduce to half (round down) before applying.
  §§The unit automatically crashes in the building hex (see Crashes, p. 81); determine all damage normally, than reduce to half (round 
  down) before applying. If a unit makes a successful vertical landing into a building hex, immediately check for a collapse (see 
  Collapse, p. 176).
  AIR-TO-GROUND  ATTACK MODIFIER TABLE
  Attack Type
  Modifi er
  Strafi ng
  +4*
  Striking
  +2‡
  Bombing
  +2†
  *Aerospace units fl ying at Altitude 1 (NOE) also suff er a +2 to-hit modifi er as 
  described in Movement (see p. 80).
  †Terrain and target movement modifi ers do not apply to any type of bombing 
  attack; fi ghters can make altitude-bombing attacks from any altitude, but suff er 
  a to-hit modifi er equal to their altitude (see Altitude-Bombing, p. 246).
  ‡As noted under Weapons and Equipment, rapid-fi re weapons always fi re at 
  their maximum rate, and so players must check for jamming every time 
  they fi re these weapons (see p. 114).
  PAGE 235
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/BattleTech [multi]/Core Rulebooks/BattleTech - Total Warfare.pdf