Scenario 4 : So, which OPA are you fighting for ? (85/2335)

Background :
 

It turns out that the mysterious OPA commando that busted Fiday out of Pandora-A prison is from a faction allied to retired UNMC Colonel Frederik Johnson.  The infamous "Butcher of Anderson Station" is the current head of Tycho Station, where he is overseeing the construction, for the Mormons, of the gigantic colony ship Nauvoo.

Fred Johnson learned through back-channels that some sort of biological weapon had been smuggled off Phoebe Station, and the sudden Martian lockdown further increased his vigilance.  He cannot, however, risk being directly linked to OPA activity using open force, hence his reliance on his allies.

Through Fiday, Johnson learns the identity of the buyer on Ceres, Carl Beckercoiler.  He is a known front man for Anderson Dawes, the OPA strong man on the asteroid, so it is pretty likely Dawes is also showing interest in the new weapon.

Anderson Station's surrender had deliberately not been relayed to then Colonel, and it was only afterwards that Fred Johnson learned what he was unwittingly guilty of.  The medal pinned to his chest for his actions only made it worse.  He quit the UNMC and was slowly dying of alcohol abuse when Dawes picked him up and recruited him into the OPA.

Dawes and Johnson thus go way back, but their methods are not the same; Dawes is betting on terrorist methods to win the OPA cause, whilst Johnson firmly believes in a political solution.  The Tycho Station Chief decides to send his strike team into Ceres to find out what Dawes actually knows about the Phoebe weapon.  Obviously wishing to avoid both detection and bloodshed, he offers Fiday a small fortune for her assistance.  She takes the price that the Ceres buyer was going to give her, but refuses the rest of the payoff in return for a future unspecified favour, which Johnson accepts.

The Scenario :

One player represents the crew of the Tears of Corruption.  His or her opponent runs a team of Ceres Station OPA, and potentially some Star Helix intervention forces.

 
Players' Briefing :

Tears of Corruption / Zig Ochoa OPA :

You have spent an entire life running for one OPA affiliated crime faction or another, but this is something else.  These are the politicians, the people that will run this entire shit show if, someday, they manage to kick Earth and Mars back to where they came from.

You don't really care which OPA faction should have their hands on whatever weapon has been manufactured in Phoebe, whichever does it will be chaos, and chaos is your business.  Since you don't care, you'll run with Fred Johnson, since having him owe you a debt, is like having dibs on the first delivery straight out of a sparkly new gold mine.  

This has been talked over with the crew and most of them agree, this attack is a necessary evil.  It is not as if the Tears of Corruption had never had run-ins with the OPA before; there is always someone wanting a better cut.  These are Belterloders, however, and the fight must be as bloodless as possible.  Fred Johnson was straight up on that himself; he and Dawes don't see things the same way, but they are wary friends, not bitter enemies.

Here you are on Ceres station after an 18-day burn from Pandora-A.  You've spent a few days checking out the location, and are ready to move in.  You are going in hot, to tell the buyer that goddamn Martian IS was no your back; he surely suspects by now that you are empty handed, but confirming that is not going to make him any happier, and that will be a perfect excuse to start a fight.  The hard bit will be getting into his information system, and that is why you have an OPA hacker in tow.  She must however be protected and extracted at all costs.

Ceres Station OPA : 

It is business as usual, keeping the careful balance between criminal activities, keeping the OPA tipped off and well nourished, and making sure Star Helix are around the corner when you need them, and down the street when you don't.

The word has it that the Tears of Corruption has moored at Ceres.  You learned that Cornelius Groot is dust, and word has also come in from Pandora that Fiday had a spell in jail before her crew daringly bust her out, so you are not expecting her to deliver the goods.  However, you have learned not to underestimate neither this pirate nor her crew.  A friendly but expensive call from Star Helix lets you know she is coming down the street, and you decide it would be better to ensure that she comes alone...

 

Setting up :

0m90 x 0m90 gaming surface, mostly portraying a bustling street in downtown Ceres, 30cm wide, with plenty of civilians.

Combat in The Expanse can be deadly, so there should be plenty of cover [although, for this particular scenario, it is less necessary].

Anything physically placed on the table offers some cover.  Small elements of scatter terrain, or bystanders, are soft cover.  Walls and buildings provide hard cover; doors and windows are always WYSIWYG. A character can climb up a surface if there is physically portrayed some way of doing so (even a drainpipe to shimmy up), or if the obstacle is under 4cm tall.

Cover is defined as "concealing" if a character could lay down behind it, either from choosing to go prone, or having to go to ground.  This includes all doors and windows and corners of walls, as well as any terrain feature which is either at least 15mm tall and 15mm wide, or of any height but at least 30mm wide.  Obviously, concealment is dependent on direction of LOS and it should always be obvious on what side of the cover a figure is.

Note : plenty of such cover allows characters with Move and Shoot weapons, which are common in this setting, to "stand, fire and duck back", and therefore also rewards well chosen overwatch tactics.


The Tears of Corruption player choses a 275pt force from their roster, which must include Fiday.  To this they add Eretria Windrey from the OPA Infiltraton Team roster.

The Ceres Station OPA player chooses a 275pt force from their roster.

All characters may retain their CCW Weapon or, as a choice, replace it with a CCW Weapon : Basic.  The only other weapons that may be carried are : Pistol, Assault Pistol, Viral Pistol, Contender, Light Shotgun.  Each character must replace his standard firearm with one of these of equal or lower cost, and reduces his points cost by this amount.

Environment :

Gravity : Ceres is a spun-up asteroid, with 0,30g.  Any characters with the "No Low-G" penalty trait increase their Q by 1 during the rest of the scenario if they cause a turnover during an activation for which they used 3 dice.

Oxygen : Ceres is a domed asteroid with normal oxygen levels.

Spin : Thanks to the dome, the spin of Ceres is imperceptible.

Deployment and First Player :

The Tears of Corruption crew set up first along the left board edge; Fiday must enter along the street but other crewmembers can deploy as they see fit.  Carl Beckercoiler's shop is placed 60cm away from this edge, him within it, and his OPA team are then placed inside the shop or within 20cm of it.

Two patrols of two Star Helix security guards, Q5+, C2 armed with a Contender are placed at opposite ends of the main street.

The Tears of Corruption player goes first.

 

Rerolls

Both sides may make two rerolls during the game.  Rerolls may normally only be used on activation dice; all dice must be rerolled and the new result must be accepted.  In this specific scenario, rerolls may also be used during combat.

Special Rule 1 : Let's keep this bloodless... 

The Ceres OPA gain +1VP at the end of each enemy turn, if at least one Tears of Corruption character is currently Shaken.

Either side loses -1VP if an opponent is put Out of Action, and -2VP if Killed in Action.  Fiday and Johnson want to keep this as bloodless as possible, whilst Star Helix can only turn a blind eye to so much.

This includes results that are transformed because of the target being Shaken.

Characters can always choose, for each combat, not to use a CCW weapon available to them, but both protagonists must make and reveal their choice simultaneously.  Bare fisted attacks are made at -2 to combat rating and inflict, at most, a Shaken result.

 

Special Rule 2 : It sure is crowded...  

Every time a character uses a movement stick on the main street, unless their move ends in contact with the closest opposing character, or inside a building, they may be slowed or jostled by the crowd.  Roll a directional die and 2D6 for the distance in cm, to determine their random movement from their ending location.

Special Rule 3 : Star Helix on patrol

Each pair of Star Helix officers will move forward 1D3 Slow Moves at the beginning of the Ceres Station OPA turn.

If any of the following events occur, each they must immediately make a Q test on three dice, needing one success to activate :

- 1)  Any combat occurs within M of them

- 2)  A firearm is used, and the firer or the target are within S of any civilian figure

If activated by a combat that does not involve a firearm, the Star Helix officers will be controlled by the Ceres OPA player.  If activated by a combat that involves a firearm, they will be controlled by the opposing player to the one who opened fire.

Star Helix officers can only engage characters who caused their activation.  They can handcuff a Shaken character for one action, that character and the Star Helix officer are then removed from the board.  The owning player loses -1 VP.

A Star Helix officer tracking a firearm user will also track any figures of the same side that also use a firearm under the same conditions. If a figure of the opposing side uses a firearm, the Star Helix Officer will only test if that figure is currently closer than any current valid target.  A Star Helix Officer can only pursue firearm-using characters from one side, but different Officers may pursue characters from the other side.

If a Star Helix officer causes a turnover with no valid target within M, he is deactivated, will return to the main street by the quickest route and then patrol either up or down it (determined randomnly).

Special Rule 4 : Star Helix to the rescue
 

The Ceres Station OPA can call on Star Helix for assistance.  Three Q dice are rolled for each officer remaining on board, upon two or more successes the player takes permanent and full control of them; otherwise the Star Helix officer is removed from the board.

The Ceres Station OPA player forfeits -2VP for this choice.

 

Special Rule 5 : The Hacker

Once the Hacker is within L of Beckercoiler's shop, she may start to gain access to his system.  This requires use of the Hacker skill, the system counting as one target.  Each two successes on one Activation are worth 1VP, up to a total of 3VP.

Game Over

The scenario ends instantly if :

-  There is a difference of more than 3VP between the two players

-  The Hacker has obtained 3VP from hacking Beckercoil's systems

Victory Conditions

The player with the highest VP score wins.


Post-scenario bonuses

Tears of Corruption is a campaign, which means that the characters involved can acquire advantages or suffer penalties for future scenarios.  Only named (recurring) characters are concerned by this.

Any character that suffered a Gory Death result is permanently dead, and cannot be used again in the Campaign.

Any character that was put Out of Action may not gain Renown.

Any character that was Killed in Action is Dead on a D6 roll of '1', otherwise is considered as Out of Action.

All characters eligible for Renown gain it as follows :
+2 if on the winning side

+1 if no enemy character was Killed in Action during the scenario

 

Renown
Renown has no actual in game impact, but serves to measure the importance of the character in the Expanse universe and affects their storyline.  For each 10 Renown gained by a character, something special should happen to him (promotion for a soldier, a ship hand on a pirate vessel getting their own ship as a captain, and so forth...)