Date sent: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 22:03:29 -0600 (CST) From: Wraith To: babylon5-wars@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU Subject: [B5W] Scenario: No Surrender, No Retreat (The Battle of Proxima) Send reply to: babylon5-wars@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU Okay, Most of you don't have the White Star, and even the playtesters who do probably don't have the most current version, but soon, hopefully with in the month we all will, and maybe this HUGE scenario will appeal to you. Any suggestions on how to make this more similar to the show battle with out totally scripting it out. Also a number of the White Stars on the web would be fun to play with this scenario as well... at least for the time being. Wraith * * * * * * * * * * No Surrender, No Retreat (The Battle of Proxima): A Scenario for B5 Wars Based on the Television Battle as seen in the fourth season episode of Babylon 5, "No Surrender, No Retreat." For 2 to a whole lot of players BACKGROUND: September 2, 2261. The First Ones have left for the rim. The Narn, Centauri and League of Non-Aligned Worlds know peace for the first time in 2 long years. President Clark is continuing to constrict his strange hold on the Earth Alliance by ordering civilian ships to be targeted and destroyed, and unfortunately he has enough friends in place that these orders are being carried out. No More! The recent attacks on civilian ships attempting to escape the blockaded world of Proxima 3, nearly 10,000 killed in the most recent attack, has pushed beyond the line. As of this day Babylon 5 declares war on President Clark and his illegal and unethical designs. The first strike Proxima-3. PLAYER #1 (Alliance) - 24 White Star Medium Warships, 24 Aurora Starfury Heavy Fighters (Delta and Zeta Squadrons), 24 Thunderbolt Starfury Heavy Fighters (Alpha and Beta Squadrons.) Note: One White Star is commanded by Sheridan and gains 2 levels of Expert Helmsman and 1 Level of Expert Engineer. Another White Star is commanded by Marcus and receives 1 level of Expert Helmsman. PLAYER #2 (Earth) - 6 Omega Class Destroyers (Hereclies, Pollux, Juno, Nemesis, Vesta, Furies) w/ 144 Thunderbolt Starfury Heavy Fighters (24/Omega) No Missiles!!! Note: The Hereclies , Pollux, Juno and Vesta all receive 1 level of Advanced Defensive Targeting on all interceptors (bringing them to -5's) The Hereclies and Nemesis are all Heavy Pulse Omegas with no Heavy Lasers but 2 extra Heavy Pulses in the Front (in place of Heavy Lasers and) and 4 Heavy Pulse Cannons on the aft with the reverse arcs of those on the front. The Hereclies also has a level 1 Expert Helmsman.. The Furies has 1 level of Hardened Armor on the Port, Starboard and Aft structure blocks, and Gunsights on the Forward Heavy Lasers and Heavy Pulse Cannons. The Nemesis has 2 level of Improved Engine for 10 thrust. The Juno has 2 levels of Improved Sensors for a total of 10. Further Note: These Optional Enhancements add character to the ships but you may not wish to use them, which is fine (especially for new players.) Use them as you see fit. SET UP: Map: (A1)(B1)(C1)[A2][B2][C2] (D1)(E1)(F1)[D2][E2][F2] [A3][B3][C3](A4)(B4)(C4) [D3][E3][F3](D4)(E4)(F4) Note: This is a BIG map 4 times as big as the standard map from the box set. Proxima-3 takes up a large portion of (F1)[D2][C3](A4) You may choose to let this whole region be the planet, or make it circular by placing a pizza pan, or circular cooler lid, or garbage can lid on the board. There is a Jump Gate located at [D3]0525 Earth Forces begin at: Hereclies: (E1)1820, facing 4, speed 3 Pollux (D4)1030, facing 2, speed 3 Nemesis [F3]3525, facing 2, speed 3 Vesta [B3]1810, facing 4, speed 3 Furies (B1)2910, facing 5, speed 3 Juno [A2]1515, facing 6, speed 3 All fighters are in the barn. Pollux and Nemesis may launch fighters at the end of turn 2, all others at the end of turn 5. Game begins with an alliance jump point open in F4 (chosen ahead of time) from which 3 White Star begin moving. Pollux and Nemesis are sent to investigate and thus may launch fighters at the end of turn 2. On turn 4 an Alliance jump point opens in A1 (chosen ahead of time) and 6 White Stars depart. Hereclies, Vesta, Juno and Furies move to investigate and thus may launch fighters at the end of turn 5. On turn 8 an Alliance jump point opens in F3 (chosen ahead of time) and 15 White Stars, 24 Aurora Starfuries and 24 Thunderbolt Starfuries depart. SPECIAL RULES: Fighter Flight Rules are in use. Called shots are in use (a necessity for the EA Thunderbolts, at least according to old playtest info.) Alliance will not fire first. They may target the enemy and fire in the same round that the enemy first opens fire, but it is Earth that decides when the battle begins. Vesta: The Vesta will stop all combat at the end of turn 10. On turn 12 it will begin combat again. At the end of turn 16 roll a d10. When a 1 or 2 is rolled the Vesta become non-combatant for the rest of the game. Juno: On turn 20 if still active the Juno will recall all fighters and open a jump point to escape. Furies: Between turn 10 and 12 the Furies is non-combatant. If Alliance forces do a non-aggressive fly by there is a 70% chance that the Furies will become non-combatant. If an Earth ship has already been destroyed then the chance is -20% for every Earth ship destroyed. Pollux: If any White Star becomes dead in space through destruction of either its Engine, Reactor or C&C and crosses a hex that the Pollux just past through in its last movement phase, then that White Star rams the Pollux. Figure damage, this can only happen to the first White Star to fit these criteria during the game. Hereclies: After Turn 24 roll a d10. On a 1 or 2, the captain of the Hereclies is removed of command and the Hereclies surrenders. When the Hereclies surrenders all other Earth ships surrender. Fighters and Non-Combatant Ships: When a ship becomes non-combatant it orders its fighters to do so as well. However the Hereclies is in charge of this mission and will give a contradictory order. For each flight of fighters that go along with a non-combatant ship, roll a d6 when the ship goes non-combatant. On a 1 or 2 the fighters go non-combatant. This roll is made at the end of the round. Any flight that has been damage in that round will only go non-combatant on a 1. Shooting Down Sheridan: Sheridan's White Star is quite visible (sword and shield painting on wings) and should the EA player ask this ship should be pointed out. The destruction of Sheridan's White Star will place the entire Alliance force at a -8 initiative penalty for the next 2 rounds and a -2 sensors for the first round due to shock and an inability to concentrate on the work. The next round will have a -4 initiative penalty, and all following rounds will have a +1. OPTIONS: Depending on the White Stars BPV in 2nd ed. this battle will probably be point valued in the Alliance's favor. For a slightly more even battle there is mention of a number of early detection satellites around Proxima-3. I think these are represented by the blue line on the map that Marcus brings up of the system after his recognizance mission. Essentially these might be able to offer ENLINT support to the Earthforce vessels. Say there are 4 of them, each with a sensors rating of 6, with all other ENLINT abilities. Take the total number of White Stars down to 18. In the show there was mention of a White Star squadron all ready in hyperspace with other coming to join in 2's and 3's. Based off of what I could see in the show I came up with 2 squadrons of White Stars but its possible that there were only 18. This also might make it a closer BPV game. Allow the Alliance to choose different jump point location. SUGGESTIONS: Okay so this isn't your every day, "Hey let's sit down for a couple hours and play," scenario. It's more of a convention/game shop special day/demo sort of scenario. But damn it looks exciting to me. If I were to run this I'd say 20 people: 8 w/ 3 White Star each 1 w/ 24 Aurora Starfuries 1 w/ 24 Thunderbolt Starfuries 4 w/ 1 Omega and 6 Thunderbolt Starfuries 2 w/ 1 Omega and 12 Thunderbolt Starfuries 4 w/ 24 Thunderbolt Starfuries I'd probably place all the ship sheets (with names and numbers and enhancements and special rules) in sealed enveloped, and randomly pass these envelopes out. Place EA on one side of the map and the Alliance on the other. I'd also designate two movers on each side who'd be in charge of moving the mini's/counters for their side. (I.e. each player would choose there own movement but only these four player touch the mini's/counters.) I'd be sure to nominate 1 judge (probably the one organizing the whole thing) or 2 if you feel that is necessary. I'd run movement as fast as possible by figuring out how many Alliance ships move before the next Earth ship and letting them all move at the same time. Visa versa for the Earth ships. In damage resolution I leave the rolling to the players but keep an eye out for munchkins who are constantly hitting under incredible odds, and then start looking over their shoulders. I'd have the Alliance ships resolve damage first and the Earthers second as Earth is probably have less targets per round than the Alliance and this would give some of the Alliance players a small breather. However I would encourage the players to all be a part of the whole game. Encourage the Alliance players to all get upset when a White Star is lost and the same for the Earth. Encourage players (especially the non-combatant Earth ships) to role-play their commanding officers. I'd probably allow a quick 3-5 minute meeting after rolling initiative between each side to make a group plan. Most importantly is to keep the game moving, because its number will chop into that speed like nothing else. COMMENTS: Oh do I have a lot of them, but my knowledge of the White Star right now is under NDA. Once 2nd ed. comes out I'll probably repost this with comments on combating White Stars.