5 Scenarios

5.1 Scenario Formats
5.2 Scenario Forces
5.3 Optional Rules
5.4 Battlefield Support
5.5 Scenario Balancing
5.6 Scenario Scoring
5.7 Casual Scenarios
5.8 Narrative Scenarios

Commanders earn C-bills to spend on their forces through completing scenarios and accomplishing objectives. Scenarios are often be built to represent lore and objectives relevant to specific worlds in the Outworlds Wastes. Narrative based scenarios may include special rewards, such as recovering equipment from the 61st Royal Jump Infantry Division so a commander can add advanced jump infantry units to their force.

5.1 Scenario Formats

Outworlds Wastes forces are created and tracked using Battle Value (BV), but scenarios may be played in many formats. Common formats for the scenarios include

Regardless of the scenario format, force maintenance and improvement costs are always calculated per the Force Management rules. Use the rules for the scenario format to define terms such as destroyed, internal damage, and critical damage for the purposes of calculating repair, replacement, and salvage costs.

Alpha Strike cards for all units are available on the Master Unit List. To convert a unit skill levels from Total Warfare to Alpha Strike, take the average of the Piloting and Gunnery skills, rounded down. See Alpha Strike: Commander’s Edition, page 29 for more details.

League organizers may use additional formats, such as BattleTroops. The scenario format must define terms such as destroyed, internal damage, and critical damage for the purposes of calculating repair, replacement, and salvage costs.

5.2 Scenario Forces

Both sides should agree upon a BV (or Point Value, PV) and unit count limit before starting the scenario. A typical BV limit would be 6,000 BV per side for 1v1 or 10,000 BV per side for 2v2 with BattleTech: Total Warfare. A typical PV limit would be 150 PV per side for 1v1 or 250 PV per side for 2v2 for BattleTech: Alpha Strike. A typical unit limit depends upon the format but would be approximately 7 units per side for 1v1 or 10 units per side for 2v2. Additional limits on specific unit types, such as 2 infantry/Battle Armor units per side, can be imposed as well.

Scenario forces should include all applicable adjustments in their BV/PV calculations, to include TAG, C3, and pilot skill adjustments. See 83 for a summary of the most common adjustments. See BattleTech: TechManual, page 202 and all relevant errata for full details on calculating BV.

Scenarios can be played with higher BV/PV limits, but the C-bills awarded should be adjusted if the limits are more than 25% above or below the typical limits. For example, an Alpha Strike 300 PV per side 1v1 scenario would have its C-bill payments doubled compared to the standard Alpha Strike 150 PV per side 1v1 scenario. A Total Warfare 4,000 BV per side 1v1 scenario would have its C-bills payments scaled by 2/3 compared to the standard Total Warfare 6,000 BV per side 1v1 scenario.

Alpha Strike scenarios may be played with BV limits instead of PV limits. Commanders would select units to meet the BV limit but use the Alpha Strike cards and rules for the scenario.

5.3 Optional Rules

Scenarios may use optional rules if each side agrees. Some common optional rules include

Forced Withdrawal: BattleTech: Total Warfare page 258, BattleTech: Alpha Strike Commander’s Edition page 127

Sprinting: BattleTech: Tactical Operations Advanced Rules page 16

Floating Criticals: BattleTech: Tactical Operations Advanced Rules page 75

Firing When Down: BattleTech: Tactical Operations Advanced Rules page 83

Multiple Attack Rolls: BattleTech: Alpha Strike Commander’s Edition page 175

Fire For Effect: Weapon attack declaration and resolution occur simultaneously during the Weapon Attack Phase. Attacks are resolved in initiative order, per the usual rules. A unit destroyed during the Weapon Attack Phase will still fire.

5.4 Battlefield Support

By default, BattleTech: Outworlds Wastes uses full rules for aerospace and artillery units from BattleTech: Total Warfare and Alpha Strike: Commander’s Edition. League organizers may allow Battlefield Support rules from BattleTech: BattleMech Manual page 75 to provide simplified aerospace and artillery support and off-board artillery rules from Alpha Strike: Commander’s Edition page 151.

Each side for a scenario must agree to use Battlefield Support or off-board artillery rules. When using Battlefield Support rules in BattleTech: Total Warfare scenarios, each side receives the same number of Battlefield Support Points (BSPs) and may use them at any point during the scenario. A typical 6,000 BV 1v1 game would have 12 BSPs per side while a typical 10,000 BV 2v2 game would have 20 BSPs.

The following additional rules apply when using Battlefield Support or off-board artillery.

Counter-Battery Support: Counter-Battery Support is a new form of Battlefield Support. Counter-Battery Support costs 3 BSPs and can only be used once enemy Artillery Support has been used. The target number for Counter-Battery Support is 7. Reduce the target number by 1 for each use of enemy Artillery Support where a friendly unit had LOS to the point of impact. Reset the target number to 7 if the enemy artillery unit is destroyed by two successful Counter-Battery Support attacks.

5.5 Scenario Balancing

One of the goals of BattleTech: Outworlds Wastes is to foster a friendly and welcoming environment. A mix of experience levels between commanders is expected. Here are some options to help balance scenarios so game play is welcoming while also staying fresh and challenging:

Setup: When setting up a scenario, slight preference should generally be given to the commander whose force has the lower total BV, including all units and pilots. For example, the commander with the lowest total BV could be offered the choice between attacking and defending. For a scenario with a terrain setup phase, the commander with the lowest total BV could be offered the first placement of terrain pieces.

2v2: Many scenarios are described as 1v1; however, these scenarios often support team play, such as 2 players on each side. When playing on teams, experience should be divided roughly equally between the two teams. Teammates are encouraged to collaborate on strategy for the scenario.

5.6 Scenario Scoring

Scenarios award C-bills through completing objectives or receiving base pay. The C-bills awarded in a scenario will tend to follow these guidelines:

Objectives: Forces earn C-bills for completing primary and secondary objectives. This C-bill payment represents bonus pay in a mercenary contract and the value of resources or technology acquired by completing mission objectives. Objective payments should be proportionally adjusted if the BV limit for the scenario differs from the typical limit.

  • The primary objective is typically worth 7,000,000 C-bills and is split between the two sides based upon the portion of the primary objective completed.
  • The secondary objectives are typically worth 3,000,000 C-bills and each objective is awarded to each side separately.

Base Pay: If the force did not complete any objectives, then the force earns 2,000 C-bills for every 10 BV for the scenario, with a minimum of 600,000 C-bills. For example, a 6,000 BV vs 6,000 BV scenario will have a base payout of 1,200,000 C-bills. This C-bill payment represents the baseline cost of a mercenary contract or supplies sent by a faction.

Scenarios do not typically require a Game Master to run additional third party forces. If there are third party forces that require an additional person, this person may receive C-bills for one of their Outworlds Wastes forces. This C-bill payment should not exceed the maximum C-bill payment for the scenario, and it should be close to the average of the payments that the players in the scenario received. The exact conditions for the payout should be agreed upon before the scenario starts.

5.7 Casual Scenarios

Narrative scenarios are provided by the league organizers, but BattleTech: Outworlds Wastes also supports casual games between forces. Each side must agree upon the format, force limits, optional rules, and scoring before the scenario starts. Some sample objectives are included below.

5.7.1 Primary Objectives

  1. Reconnaissance: The map contains 15 buildings that are at least one hex large, 7 of which contain hidden objectives. These buildings can be distributed randomly or by each player taking turns placing a building. The defender rolls in secret to determine which buildings hold the hidden objectives. The attacker earns 1,000,000 C-bills for each hidden objective they find. The defender earns 1,000,000 C-bills for each hidden objective the attacker does not find.
  2. Supply Raid: 3-7 supply depots are on the map, near the center. Each supply depot has 1-3 loads of supplies. Any unit with hands or cargo capacity can load supplies from the depot if they end their Movement Phase in the same hex. Standard cargo loading rules apply. A unit carrying supplies in their hands cannot fire any arm mounted weapons. A unit carrying supplies earns a portion of 7,000,000 C-bills for bringing the supplies to their home edge. Each side cannot score from the same supply depot twice until they score from every other supply depot.
  3. Zone Control: 3, 5, or 7 key points are distributed on the map. The locations of the key points dramatically changes the gameplay. The basic configuration is 3 key points along the center of the map and 1 key point halfway between the center and each home edge. A side controls a key point if only their units are in or adjacent to the key point. During the End Phase, the side that controls the most key points earns 1,000,000 C-bills. If each side controls the same number of points and controls at least 1 point, then each side earns 500,000 C-bills for that round.
  4. Base Defense: 7 buildings are on the defenders side of the map. Each building is medium with a construction factor of 60 and 1-3 levels high, unless the players agree upon a different configuration. The attacker earns 1,000,000 C-bills for each building destroyed and the defender earns 1,000,000 C-bills for each building remaining.
  5. King of the Hill: A hex in the center of the map contains a building with valuable files. The building is medium with a construction factor of 60, unless the players agree upon a different configuration. The force earns 1,000,000 C-bills for every turn that they have the only infantry/Battle Armor unit(s) inside of the building at the end of the turn.
  6. Assassination: A local militia commander needs to be escorted across the battlefield. The defender selects a medium or heavy ’Mech from the Periphery General or Pirates list. The commander is a Gunnery 5/ Piloting 4 pilot and half of the adjusted BV of the ’Mech counts against the defender’s BV limit. The militia commander pilots this ’Mech and must transit the map from the defender’s home edge to the attacker’s home edge. The attacker earns 7,000,000 C-bills if the commander’s ’Mech is destroyed or 3,500,000 C-bills if the commander’s ’Mech receives crippling damage. The defender 7,000,000 C-bills if the commander’s ’Mech does not receive crippling damage or 3,500,000 C-bills if the commander’s ’Mech is crippled but not destroyed.
  7. Extraction: Extract 1-3 hidden infantry teams. For each hidden unit, the attackers select a hex within 4 rows of the defenders home edge and more than 4 hexes away from the other edges of the map. A unit with at least 1 ton of cargo capacity can pick up the target by being in the same hex as a target during the End Phase. The target is not destroyed if the carrying unit is destroyed. A unit earns a portion of 7,000,000 C-bills by exiting their home edge while carrying a target.
  8. Recovery: 4-6 disabled ’Mechs are equally spaced along the map diagonal. A unit of equal or higher weight class can drag a disabled ’Mech. To start dragging a disabled ’Mech, a friendly unit must end the turn in the same hex as the disabled ’Mech. Units without hand actuators must use one turn securing the disabled ’Mech. The dragging unit has a one half reduction in their walking MP and cannot jump. A dragging ’Mech cannot fire any weapons on the arm it uses for dragging. A unit earns a proportion of 7,000,000 C-bills for dragging a disabled ’Mech to its home map edge.

5.7.2 Secondary Objectives

There are three ways to select secondary objectives. First, a single secondary objective that both sides share could be selected, randomly or by mutual agreement. Alternatively, each side could randomly roll a secondary objective in secret. Finally, each player could randomly roll a secondary objective in secret.

The selected secondary objectives must be achievable by the forces selected for the scenario. If a secondary objective is impossible to accomplish based upon the scenario, map, or enemy force, determine a new secondary objective before play begins.

  1. Cripple or destroy a ’Mech.
  2. Cripple or destroy a ProtoMech.
  3. Cripple or destroy a Combat Vehicle.
  4. Cause critical or motive damage on a VTOL or aerospace unit.
  5. Kill at least half of the troops in an infantry unit.
  6. Swarm a ’Mech or Combat Vehicle with an infantry unit.
  7. Successfully complete a Death from Above attack.
  8. Damage an internal section of an opponent’s highest BV unit.
  9. Capture a vehicle crew or ’Mech pilot.
  10. Extract a hidden unit from within 4 hexes of the far map edge.

5.7.3 Additional Options

This list of scenario objectives is not exhaustive. Commanders may develop and play alternative scenarios as long as the scenarios are not intended to cheat the rules or otherwise give the commanders unfair advantages. Commanders are encouraged to develop scenarios that match the lore of their forces. For example, a pair of commanders for Clan forces may agree to a Trial of Possession or a commander of a Solaris VII force may challenge another force to a televised duel.

Any additional restrictions or conditions for the scenario need to be agreed upon by all commanders before the scenario starts. The outcome of the scenario may result in transfer of C-bills, personnel, or units between forces if that is agreed upon before the scenario starts.

These alternative scenarios may include a C-bill payment but do not have to. If the scenario includes a C-bill payment, it should stay close to the guidelines provided in the Scenario Scoring section. For example, a duel between two 1,500 BV ’Mechs could have a maximum of 1,750,000 C-bills as a primary objective payment, if there is a primary objective payment.

5.8 Narrative Scenarios

The following narrative scenario packs are available: