Norcon XII Tournament Update- Scenarios

I've gotten a lot of work done in the last few days, the majority of it for the "Hostile Extraction" scenario. My finger tips are actually sore from making terrain, so I think it may almost be time to take a break.

The good news is that I now have enough terrain done to start playtesting scenarios for the tournament. I'll have all this terrain, and more, with me at Matrix this Sunday, and hopefully a few people would be interested in helping me play test!

So, without further ado, here is the first scenario for the Norcon XII tournament. If your interested in playing, please make an appropriate 250 point force, and come down on Sunday:

Scenario: Hostile Extraction

Theater: Quezon City, Phillipine Islands, Earth

Story:  The Philippine islands on Earth have changed hands many times throughout human history, but have always remained fiercely proud and independent throughout. Even today, as a Pan Oceania protectorate, they still maintain their own language and culture as well as an independent government.

                Among these people a hacker of rare talent has emerged who has launched successful attacks against several of the major powers of the Human Sphere. Despite the potential damage and chaos this hacker has inflicted, he has impressed the super-powers with his talent. Two armies have rushed covert teams to the islands to track and retrieve this Hacker. Whether they aim to recruit him, put him on trial for his crimes, or simply dissect his brain for science is up to faction they work for.

Table: 4’ x 4’ modern apartment complex. Moderate fields of fire, several large buildings, multiple elevations

Objective: This scenario uses the Civilian rules on page 148 of the Human Sphere rulebook. There will be a civilian marker placed on the top floor of one apartment building near the center of the table. The objective of the battle is to synchronize one of your fighters with the civilian counter, and then lead the civilian off the table.

Special Rules:

Civilian- It is unknown whether the civilian will come along peacefully or attempt to fight back when a soldier tries to apprehend him. Each time a soldier attempts to synchronize the civilian, make a new roll on the random Civvies Encounter Chart. The civilian may switch from being Hostile to Neutral at any time, but once he is synchronized to a model he will remain that way until the model he is following is killed.

No soldier on either side can deliberately target the civilian with any attacks that might kill him. This includes template attacks that might accidentally hit the civilian. Effectively this allows an unscrupulous soldier to use the civilian as a human shield against template attacks.

Deployment- All deployment rules work as normal, with one exception. No models can be deployed on or inside of the building that contains the objective civilian.

Doors & Windows- All doors start out closed and all windows start out open. A model can open or close any door or window by using the Open/Close short movement skill, as normal. Models with the Engineer skill can lock or jam any door or window (or unlock and unjam), as described in the Engineer skill. All of the doors and windows on this table are considered simple mechanical locks, and cannot be affected by Hackers.

Breeching- Doors and windows can all be breeched on this table. Doors and windows on this table have an ARM of 3 and 1 STR point, and, as normal, can only be damaged by EXP or DA attacks.

Trap Doors- the doors leading between floors for this scenario can only be used on the top floor to access the roof of each building. The trap doors between floors cannot be opened or used in any way. The rooftop trap doors follow the same rules as all other doors.

Destroying Terrain- No buildings or the parts of any buildings are allowed to be destroyed on this table, because it would put the objective civilian and his computer equipment in unnecessary danger. Chain link fences and exterior concrete walls can be demolished, however. Chain link fences have an ARM of 10 and 1 STR point, and concrete walls have an ARM of 8 and 3 STR points. As normal, all terrain elements can only be damaged by EXP or DA attacks. Once a fence or wall has been destroyed remove the entire section from the table, but neighboring sections are unaffected.

Victory Conditions:

The battle can end one of several ways:

If a model leads the civilian off of any table edge his army is declared the victor, even if they were already in Retreat condition. This is a complete victory, and the winner earns 4 victory points. The loser gets 1 victory point.

If one army completely eliminates the other army or drives them off the table, while synchronized with the civilian marker, this is also considered a complete victory. The winner earns 4 points, and the loser only gets 1 victory point.

If one army completely eliminates the other or drives them off the table, but neither army controls the civilian, this is considered a partial victory. As soon as the fighting stops the hacker escapes, but leaves behind all of his files and equipment. The victor gets 3 victory points, and the loser gains 1 point.

If one side accidentally kills the civilian in any way, such as with a template weapon that has scattered off target, they immediately lose. This only counts as a partial victory for the winner, who earns 3 victory points. The loser earns 1 point. Keep in mind that the civilian cannot be deliberately targeted in any way, this outcome can only be achieved accidentally.

If the time limit for the tournament round is reached, and one army is in retreat condition, they are considered the loser. If the time limit is reached this is only considered a partial victory for the winner, regardless of whether or not they control the civilian, and the winner earns 3 victory points. The loser gets 1 victory point.

If the time limit is reached, and neither army is in retreat condition (or both are), the battle is considered a draw. Regardless of whether one army controls the civilian, both armies gain 2 victory points.