Background :
One of MKM's favorite pastimes, is trying to find leverage on Chrisjen Avasarala, which seems an easier way to deliver her the fatal blow than actually trying to find her.
Someone talked, and MKM have become aware of a group of her aging allies, that were no longer up to fighting on the run, and were thus settled down under aliases on Ganymede, in Dome 19.
Their interrogation was entrusted to MKM subsidiary CPM Security Corporation, who are not known for their subtlety. They were foolish enough to leave too much time between two interrogations, leaving a couple of their victims, somewhat the worse for wear, time to tip off Avasarala.
Intending to nip this attempt in the bud - for there are people in the Ganymede group that have quite valuable information - Avasarala sends in her best counter-espionage unit, the all-female team known (unofficially) as Avasarala's Angels. They are to gather information on the CPM operatives, eliminate them if necessary, round up and evacuate the "Ganymede Group", and discover who is the traitor among them.
One player represents Avasarala's Angels. His or her opponent runs a group of CPM Security Corporation thugs.
Players' Briefing :
CPM Security Corporation :
Your unit has been on Ganymede for eight years, providing security to Dome 19. Three weeks ago, a list landed on your desk. It is rarely a good thing to be on such a list. However, nobody was telling why the list existed; there was however a list of questions to ask those on it. This was to be an undercover operation. None of this really made much sense until your men began to get a few answers.
The next name had been picked out for a visit this very day. She turned out to be quite talkative, a sixty-something ex-UN diplomat, apparently a bit of a hotshot in her day. In any case she filled out some important gaps, and all of a sudden you are scared. You have a pretty good idea now of what is going down. This is big and if you blow it, it is pretty obvious that someone in MKM will turn up, to bury what is left of you somewhere that only archeologists would look to dig.
You've left some good men - well, perhaps not good, but the best you have - around the area watching the diplomat, to make sure she doesn't go ratting, and are heading back to company HQ, to send out the intel to the bigwigs via a tight-beam. Are you absolutely sure you are not being followed ?
Avasarala's Angels :
A covert op on Ganymede, which is something like MKM's armpit. Getting killed is possible but not an option. Everybody will in any case deny your existence. Business as usual, then.
Pretending to be part of the crew of a Pur N Kleen ice hauler got a section of the Angels into Ganymede with an excuse to stay for a couple of weeks. Ganymede is however Black Sky turf, and like all strangers you were flagged, and some OPA goons have been on your heels ever since. Either Black Sky can't spare any decent manpower, or they are arrogant enough not to bother hiding their interest; in any case you know all four of their team by now, and are certain there is nobody else lurking in the shadows.
All this attention has prevented the Angels from identifying any but the leader of the CPM unit that, undercover, is working the Dome 19 list. You have been on his tail for the last couple of days : he is as subtle as a brick, and as filthy as a pig. Typical CPM then. He was the sort of person that did for Eros.
Concentrate however on the task at hand. After a little fishing, the CPM leader has made a Category 1 contact and a comms tap gave you the time and location. The meet has just taken place. The job is to now follow the CPM turd, and also interrogate the contact. If she is liable to tell CPM more than they already know, kill her. This has to be done without drawing Black Sky attention, which means any dead bodies will have to be neatly disposed of. The Pur N Kleen ship leaves orbit in a few days, and you are either on it or forced to go to ground on Ganymede until someone comes up with an extraction plan. Double rations of suicide capsules, then...
Setting up :
0m90 x 0m90 gaming surface, portraying a residential sector of one of the Ganymede domes, refurbished by MKM after the fall of the mirrors. The gardens and the greenery are just amazing, but not enough to cover up the whiff of decay.
Combat in The Expanse can be deadly, so there should be plenty of cover.
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 40mm 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 CPM player builds a 300 pt force, inspired by but not limited to, the Local Security Forces Roster, and/or the Ceres OPA Roster. The highest points value figure is the CPM Team Leader.
The Angels choose a 360 pt force from their roster.
Environment :
Gravity : Ganymede is a moon with 0,146g. 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 : The Ganymede domes have normal oxygen levels.
Spin : Ganymede is not spun up.
Deployment and First Player :
The ex-UN diplomat's dwelling is at the middle of one board edge.
The CPM Team Leader sets up in the street, within 10cm of that dwelling.
All but one of the Angels now set up anywhere on the board; except no more than one figure may be placed within 30cm of the OPA Team Leader (vertical distance is however counted).
Two Black Sky OPA goons, using the Hitman profile from the Ceres OPA Roster, set up each within 5D6 cm of a random Angel, the direction from her determined at random (use a dispersion die or spin a D10).
The rest of the CPM team now set up, anywhere on the board. They are undercover operatives, so should ideally be dressed in civilian clothes.
Finally, the last Angel deploys, with the same restrictions as her comrades.
The Angels player goes first, then CPM, and finally Black Sky OPA take their (automated) turn.
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.
Special Rule 1 : Anybody who's anybody...
Black Sky OPA have identified two of the Angels, chosen by the Angels' player, but not the others.
The Angels have identified both Black Sky OPA, and the CPM Team Leader.
The CPM have not identified anyone.
A character may only interact with (and thus engage) an adversary that they have identified. As far as this scenario is concerned, Black Sky OPA and CPM are adversaries.
A character may use 1 Action to identify another figure in line of sight. He or she rolls 6 dice, less Q (hence a Q6 character cannot identify). One success is needed for each M stick between spotter and target (hence a Q4 character can normally identify at 2 x M).
If a spotting character has already moved during this Activation, he must reroll any successes.
If a spotting character is at least one level (one building storey) above the target, he or she counts the target as 1 x M closer, 2 x M if he or she has the Sniper special rule.
If the target has the Camouflage special rule, he or she counts as 1 x M further away.
A character can make additional spotting attempts if they have available Actions.
Once a member of a team has spotted an enemy character, that character is identified for all team members, for the rest of the game.
Special Rule 2 : Bring on the Goons
Black Sky OPA take an automated turn. They will roll 3 dice. They will always make one attempt to identify the closest unidentified character in line of sight if that is possible as their first action.
They will then randomly select one of the three closest identified characters. If that character has performed a combat action at some point in the game, they will shoot at him if within L (and in line of sight, of course). Otherwise they will move towards him, seeking the best cover and stopping to shoot if the previous conditions apply.
If they come into contact with the enemy character (which generally implies he or she has so far taken no combat actions during the game), they will attempt to put him or her down : hand-to-hand combat that if won, sees the enemy character handcuffed.
A Black Sky operative with a handcuffed opponent will spend all Actions to exit with him by the closest board edge.
Special Rule 3 : I'm sure I saw that woman earlier
Unless the CPM Team Leader has an Angel that his team has identified within line of sight at the beginning of his activation, or has been the target of any combat Action at an earlier point in the game, he can use no more than 1 Action for movement, and may not use any Special Rule that allows him to move faster. Once within L of the board edge opposite the diplomat's dwelling, at least 1 Action must be used for movement, and all permitted movement must be towards that board edge.
Special Rule 4 : Talking tough
The ex-diplomat is in her dwelling and does not move.
An Angel within her dwelling can kill her for 3 Actions.
An Angel within her dwelling can interrogate her, rolling 1 die vs Q for each Action. A character with the Engineer or Hacker Special Rule may roll an extra die. Any successes are retained. Once 3 successes have been obtained, the diplomat spills the beans on everything she told CPM. Once 6 successes have been obtained, the diplomat will have revealed exactly what CPM was asking, which will provide the Angel's with useful clues as to who is the traitor.
Game Over
The scenario ends instantly if the CPM Team Leader leaves the board or is put Out of Action or worse; or if all the Angels are Out of Action or worse; or all the CPM except the Team Leader are.
Victory Conditions
Each side is awarded VPs :
Angels
1 VP for killing the ex-diplomat
2 VP for the diplomat revealing everything she knows
4 VPs for the diplomat revealing everything CPM asked
1 VP if the scenario ends because the CPM Team Leader is Out of Action or worse, unless that was done by an Angel identified by the CPM
3 VPs if the scenario ends because all CPM except the Team Leader are Out of Action (or worse)
3 VPs if the scenario ends because the CPM Team Leader exits the playing area, and at least one Angel was within L of him when he did so (she'll get him down a side alley)
2 VPs if no Angel attacked a Black Sky character during the scenario (a defense roll in hand-to-hand combat initiated by Black Sky does not count as "attacking")
CPM
2 VPs if no CPM attacked a Black Sky character during the scenario (a defense roll in hand-to-hand combat initiated by a Martian does not count as "attacking")
1 VP for each Angel identified, or 3 VPs if that Angel is Out of Action or worse
2 VPs if the scenario ends because the CPM Team Leader exits the playing area, and no Angel was within L of him when he did so.
The side with the most VPs wins.
Post-scenario bonuses
Don't Call me Angel 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
+2 if undetected at the end of 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...)
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