Game 148: Skunk Works - Mission Briefing
NorCal CBT
Mission Briefing
Game 148: Skunk Works
Date/Location:
July 22, 3065 / Muphrid, Lyran Alliance (Class B)
Mission Briefing:
New Calenaton Spaceport, 09:00 local time
At Miss Black’s orders, you all head to the briefing room after breakfast. You find her waiting for you there with a map already up on the briefing room display when you enter.
“Good morning, commanders,” she begins as you find your seats. “I hope you got your fill in the mess, because you’ve got a full day ahead of you.” She brings up headshot photos of Paris Heinlein, Cartman Parker, and Lukas Pippin on the display alongside the map. “Shortly after we finished our apologies to Miss Kawasaki, we received a distress call from Heinlein, Parker, and Pippin. They managed to slip away from the criminals we fought two days ago and found refuge in a building on the outskirts of what we thought was an abandoned production facility belonging to a company called Ulsop Robotics. However, when we sent in a search and rescue team last night…”
Miss Black taps a few keys, bringing up grainy footage from two Karnovs showing them dodging a mix of PPC, autocannon, and LRM fire from targets that are too far away to make out.
“I had the XO do a little digging on this, and it turns out that the company used to make security drones, which have continued to guard the company grounds long after all the human operators there were killed or fled during the Succession Wars. Since the place is part of a Castle Brian complex, no one has wanted to spend the resources needed to shut down command and control for the drones, so the place has been avoided by the locals since then. Your mission is to extract Heinlein, Parker, and Pippin. While you’re there…”
Miss Black dismisses the video and brings up a few images from one of the Karnovs showing a vaguely humanoid-shaped mound of overgrown vines, bushes, and brush.
“The search and rescue team reported what could be a salvageable mech at the outskirts of the facility. If you’re up to it, you can bring a recovery vehicle with you to try to salvage it. Just make sure to give adequate protection to any recovery teams you bring with you. Dismissed.”
Objectives:
Primary - Rescue Paris Heinlein, Cartman Parker, and Lukas Pippin from the building at Nav Point Alpha (Red Star on map)
Secondary - Recover the unknown mech at Nav Point Beta (Blue Star on map)
Special Rules
Executing the Pickup
The VIPs will be located at the building designated as Nav Point Alpha (red star) on your map. There are two ways you can extract them:
The Chauffeur Pickup: In the End Phase of any turn (or at the beginning of the game), AA can signal to the VIPs. In the next turn’s movement phase, they will leave the building they are in and move to a designated hex (determined in the previous End Phase or at the beginning of the game). Any friendly unit ending its movement in the same hex can pick them up, subject to space limitations (see below). The VIPs are considered to be picked up at the End Phase of that turn, meaning there’s a window of opportunity where they could be fired upon.
The Daycare Pickup: Infantry can be sent inside the building to secure the VIPs and escort them to any friendly adjacent unit. Again, the VIPs are considered to be picked up in the End Phase of the turn in which they are escorted outside. Note that this is a three turn process as you would need to unload infantry, move them inside, then escort the VIPs outside.
Heinlein, Parker, and Pippin (the VIPs)
The VIPs are unarmed and can move 1 hex per turn. When moving alone, they are treated as a three-man infantry stand. When moving with an infantry platoon, they move at the platoon’s speed. Damage applied to the accompanying infantry is applied to the troopers as normal, with the VIPs being the last three men in the platoon.
When picked up by a mech or vehicle, the VIPs are considered to be inside that unit. When riding in a mech, head hits will apply damage to them, with six head hits or cockpit destruction killing them alongside the controlling mechwarrior. When riding in a vehicle, the VIPs are considered to be the last crewman when determining crew/commander deaths resulting from vehicle destruction. In the event of a ‘Crew Killed’ critical hit, the VIPs perish along with the crew.
A mech can only carry one VIP, and a vehicle can carry a number of VIPs equal to its crew count.
Salvage Operations
In order to salvage the unknown mech at the outskirts of the facility, AA must bring a Heavy BattleMech Recovery Vehicle or Engineering Vehicle with them on this operation. The recovery vehicle must spend three turns stationary in the hex with the mech to recover it. The recovery vehicle’s speed is not affected by the weight of the salvaged mech. See Tonnage Allotment below for details on how this affects unit selection.
Forced Withdrawal
As Miss Black does not want any of the rescuers to become additional victims, the Forced Withdrawal rules on p.258 of Total Warfare will be in effect for AA units. In addition to the normal rules for Forced Withdrawal, any AA vehicle that falls below half its normal movement speed due to motive system damage will also be in Forced Withdrawal.
Tonnage Allotment
AA may bring 275 tons of units on this mission. This mission happens ~24 hours after Game 147, so MH Brutus is unavailable, but MH Bushwhacker can be considered reloaded and ready for action. G.U.M.s or Devil’s Playthings may volunteer their Heavy BattleMech Recovery Vehicle and crew for this mission. If neither of them are interested, then Periphery’s Finest will volunteer their Engineering Vehicle. The recovery vehicle does not count against AA’s deployment tonnage for this mission.
Players
KC + Tom
Meta Tags
Wooded Environment - This mission takes place in a forested environment.
Extraction - This mission involves getting an objective off-board within a time limit
VIP - This mission involves one or more VIPs that are directly connected to mission objectives
Time Sensitive - Success or failure of mission objectives hinges on completing them before time runs out
Asymmetric Force Composition - The amount of tonnage deployed by AA and OpFor may not be equal
Non-human Pilots - Some units are not controlled by human operators and may interact differently with some rules
Spreadsheet
Map
Chekhovs Gunslinger
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Northern California Gamers Eat More Vegetables
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NorCal CBT
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Devil Crayon
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NorCal CBT
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Devil Crayon
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Chekhovs Gunslinger
I'm assuming "drones" here refer to any kind of mech or vehicle? If the term means that we should expect a bunch of VTOLs instead, that will inform our choices for unit selection.
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NorCal CBT
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Chekhovs Gunslinger
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Chekhovs Gunslinger
Striker
Tom Ramirez
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Thomas F.
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2026 12:00 PM
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Subject: Re: Game 148: Skunk Works - Mission Briefing