Data Sphere

Some Paradiso-style scenarios I'm working on. Thinking of running this as a mini-campaign at Dragoncon 2013. All feedback is welcome, but understand that I'm way more interested in a good time than in an 'unbreakable' scenario.

Return to Helicon
Mini Campaign

The Shasvastii reopen old wounds by provoking a second conflict in the Hesiod-5 sector of Helicon.

Mission One: Global Frequency
Attempting to prevent contact with the rest of the Human Sphere, Shasvastii infiltrators have placed a string of jamming devices on the asteroid that serves as the Miner's HQ. In order to create the greatest amount of chaos, Speculo agents have convinced both the Corporate Mercs and the Miner's Militia that the other side activated the jammers.

Mission Two: The Exchange
When the fighting broke out, contract negotiations were underway between the Miners and the Corporation. Each side's leader was captured by the other side. A cease fire has been called in order to effect an exchange of prisoners. However, alien agents provocateur have done their work, and one fighter on each side has been convinced that the enemy leader must die...

Mission Three: Infuego!
Alien agents have made a critical mistake, and allowed themselves to be seen by some of the civilians living on an agricultural asteroid that houses both Miner and Corporate families. To keep their infiltration secret, the aliens have sabotaged the asteroid's fire-prevention systems and set a deadly blaze. Both sides rush to the rescue.

Mission Four: Breakout
They are among us! Convinced now of the presence of Shasvastii agents, each side is eager to paint the other as negligent in preventive security. Several members have been captured by one side and accused of collaborating with the Shasvastii, and a kangaroo trial held. A transmission clearing the names of the accused has been sent, but execution has already been scheduled! A rescue must be attempted.

Global Frequency

Attempting to prevent contact with the rest of the Human Sphere, Speculo agent infiltrators have placed a string of jamming devices on the asteroid that serves as the Miner's HQ.  Comlogs on both sides have been given firewalls to protect them from the jamming virus. The virus is intelligent and begins seeking ways to subvert the firewalls as soon as the battle begins...

Special Requirements: 2 Civvie Models, 3 console markers or terrain pieces, 3 camo markers

Army choice: Normal, 250 points.

Terrain: Place 3 Jammer camoflage markers. 2 are placed 4” in, 1 from each board edge on the centerline. The third is placed midway between them. Adjust terrain so that the Consoles are on the ground  level of the board, on the centerline between deployment zones. Players deploy after the Jammers are placed.

Deployment: Civilian Engineers: Each player deploys along with his troops, one neutral civvie adjacent to one of the non-center jammers.

Hazardous Terrain: Until your Jammer and the Global Jammer are  destroyed, the entire table is considered Hazardous with a hostility level of 15. Any troop rolling a 15 or higher becomes Irregular. If the troop was the Lieutenant, the army enters Loss of Lieutenant.  If the troop was already irregular there is no effect. Ariadna and Tohaa troops treat the hostility level as a 17. Any troop with a Hacking device treats the hostility level as 19. Note: This will have no effect until the beginning of your next turn, as order pools will already have been generated when you roll your hostility result.

Game Length:
1)Until all 3 jammers have been destroyed or deactivated
2)Until the Global Jammer is destroyed or deactivated and one side ends a turn that began in Retreat!

Special Rules:
The Jammers render each side's troops Irregular and unable to form fireteams or coordinate orders until that side's target jammer is destroyed or rendered inactive.

A hacker, engineer, servant, or non-deployable repeater in base contact with a jammer can determine its frequency as a short skill and a successful WIP roll. Servants and Repeaters inflict a -3 to the roll. After the first roll, re-roll any duplicate results on further Jammers. After the second roll, apply the remaining result to the third Jammer. Both your side's Jammer and the Global Jammer must be destroyed or deactivated in order to cancel the jamming effect.

1-9 the Jammer is jamming the friendly troops
11-19 the Jammer is Jamming the enemy troops
10 or 20 and it is on the Global Frequency.

The jammers are BTS -3 ARM 5 STR 3. A successful hacking check will deactivate a jammer. Hackers can ice the enemy jammer by making a successful hacking roll against the Jammer's BTS. Once the jammer is iced any hacking attempts against it may be resisted by defensive hacking. Engineers can repair damage to the enemy Jammer with an engineering skill check. Hackers cannot reactivate a deactivated Jammer. The Jammers have the following special rules/skills:

Total Immunity

Unaffected by Viral ammunition and any weapon or ammunition that is resisted by BTS.

Minesweeper Plus: Any weapon deployed within 8" of a jammer or jammer marker is instantly hostile to both players. It will detonate as soon as an order is spent in it's detonation range by either player.

Camoflage: The Jammers are deployed as  camoflage markers. They can be discovered in the same manner as other camoflage L1 markers. An engineer or hacker (or servant or mobile repeater) in base contact with a discovered Jammer can reactivate it's camoflage with a successful WIP roll.

Civilian Engineers: Each engineer is considered neutral to one side and hostile to the other. Syncing with an engineer and having it alive at the end of the mission is a secondary objective. These engineers are considered Civvies and lack the skills to do anything to the alien technology.



Objectives:
Destroy or Deactivate the Global Jammer: 1 OBJ
Destroy or Deactivate your Jammer: 2 OBJ
Enemy's target Jammer is not destroyed or deactivated: 2 OBJ
ICE a Jammer: 1 OBJ once.
Retrieve your neutral civvie: 1 OBJ
Retrieve the hostile civvie: 2 OBJ
Cause a civvie to enter the unconscious or dead state: -2 OBJ

Mission 2: The Exchange

When the fighting broke out, contract negotiations were underway between the Miners and the Corporation. Each side's leader was captured by the other side. A cease fire has been called in order to effect an exchange of prisoners.

However, alien agents provocateur have done their work, and one fighter on each side has been convinced that the enemy leader must die...

Army choice: 150 points. Each side must include at least 1 troop with the Impetuous trait. This troop may not join or be part of any form of link or fireteam or sectorial-specific group that uses fireteam rules. (eg. Enomotarchos)

Deployment: Each player will need a Hostage model.

Each player must choose a Handler, who must be either the LT or the non-LT with the highest WIP. The Handler begins play synced with the enemy hostage. A synced Handler may not deploy as or become a marker, use airborne deployment, mechanized deployment, hidden deployment, or infiltration. If a Handler is killed, any other eligible Handler model can attempt to sync. Eligible Handler models must be Regular, and not a TAG, Remote, Hungry, or Antipode.

Deploy the Handlers 8” apart, with each Handler 20” forward from the back table edge of his own deployment zone. Players should swap Hostage models, with Player A deploying player B's hostage in base contact with his own Handler, and vice versa.

Before the first game turn, but after reserves are deployed, each Handler should make a WIP roll, modified by -3. A further modifier of +3 is added for each friendly troop that has LOS to the enemy Handler. This +3 modifier for troops with LOS is only applied to this roll before the first game turn. Any other sync rolls use the rules described in Human Sphere.

If both WIP rolls are successful, re-deploy the hostage models synced with their friendly handlers. If both fail both Hostages are now considered hostile to all forces. If One succeed and the other fails, the successful Handler is now synced with his friendly hostage. The other hostage in this case disperses 2” and must be re-synced by the Handler.

Game Length: Until both hostages are either dead or in their friendly player's deployment zones.

Special Rules:
Hostages are always considered hostile to the side they begin play under control of and neutral to the other side. Use the Civilian rules for the Hostages.

A -6 penalty is applied to shots at a Handler synced with a Hostage in base contact. Results within this failure category cause a hit on the hostage.

Each side chooses 1 of his own Impetuous troops to be the Loose Cannon. The LC makes his impetuous moves towards the enemy hostage rather than the nearest enemy model.

Objectives
Each player begins the game with 8 objective points.
Friendly hostage dies: -4
Enemy hostage dies: -4
Each Enemy troop reduced to the dead state: -1
Exchange WIP roll succeeds: +2

Infuego!

Alien agents have made a critical mistake, and allowed themselves to be seen by some of the civilians living on an agricultural asteroid that houses both Miner and Corporate families.  To keep their infiltration secret, the aliens have sabotaged the asteroid's fire-prevention systems and set a deadly blaze.

Both sides rush to the rescue.

Army choice: 300 points. AVA of any troop with the Engineer or Doctor trait is increased by 1, but at least 1 engineer or doctor of these troop types must be taken to qualify for the increased AVA.

Deployment: 12” deployment zones. Before deployment, place 3 fires using the method below. Place the template in the center of the table instead of over a troop.

Terrain: Players should take turns placing 12 civilians, 6 each. These civilians should be placed in a 12" band running parallel to the deployment zones across the center of the table, within or on the roofs of buildings.  If within a building, all doors of that building count  as closed and require a short skill to open. Place narrow gate markers as necessary for buildings without obvious doors or ladders.

Special Rules:

Neither side will retreat until all hostages have been removed from the Hazardous zone or are dead. Until this condition is met, the Retreat! rules are suspended.

The Civilians are considered neutral to both sides. Any attempt to sync with these civilians is made at +3 for all Doctors and Engineers. Multiple civilians may be synced to a single model, but each model already synced imposes a -3 WIP penalty for additional attempts.  These bonuses are cumulative with the normal -3 penalty to sync with a civilian. Attempts to sync with civilians inside the hazardous terrain zone are made at +3.

Immobilized or Unconscious Civilians may be moved using the Casevac rules.

Once a synced civilian has been moved outside the Hazardous terrain zone, it is considered rescued. Regardless of which deployment zone the civilian ends in, the objective is considered completed by the player whose model was synced with or carrying the civilian at the time it was rescued.

The 24” by 48” area between deployment zones is Hazardous 17. Place a circular template over that miniature and roll to disperse. The tens digit will be direction (1 facing the DZ of the miniature) & the ones digit multiplied by 1.5 to determine distance. After dispersing the template, any civilians or troops under the template must dodge at -6 or take a DAM 10 fire hit. Leave the template on the table to mark the new eruption of flame. Attempts to sync with civilians inside the hazardous terrain zone are made at +3.

Flame templates use the circular template and are considered Zero-Visibility Smoke areas that also cause a DAM 10 fire hit to any troop crossing the template.

These fires can be put out by specialist troops (Specialists, 112 Emergency Service, all Engineers and all remotes with Baggage.) Troops equipped with flamethrowers may opt to be specialists instead for this scenario. In this case the troop is no longer considered to be armed with a flamethrower. All troops in the army must make this swap or none may.

To extinguish a fire the specialist must be able to place a small teardrop template over the flame template and spend a long order. Those troops that were equipped with heavy flamethrowers may use the large teardrop instead.

Getting the Word out: If a player's force includes a troop with any level of the Journalist skill, an attempt to broadcast an interview with the survivors can be made. To do this, the Journalist must be outside of the hazardous terrain zone and sync with a conscious civilian. Once he is synced, the journalist must spend a long order and succeed at a WIP roll.

Game length:  When there are more Fires than Troops, finish the current game turn and count Objectives for victory. Otherwise, the game ends at the end of the game turn after the last civilian is dead or has been removed to a deployment zone.

Objectives:
At least 1 fire extinguished: 1 Objective point.
More fires put out than opponent: 2 Objective Points
At least 1 civilian rescued: 1 Objective Point
Rescued more civilians: 2 Objective Points
At least 1 Interview completed: 1 Objective Point
Completed more Interviews: 2 Objective Points

Killed a civilian, journalist, or declared an ARO against a model that is putting out a fire: -1 Objective point

Mission 4: Breakout

They are among us!

Convinced now of the presence of Shasvastii agents, both sides are eager to paint the other as negligent in preventive security.

Army Choice: Players in this scenario are Team Guard and Team POW. Team Guard is the winner of 2 out of the first 3 missions. Should there be a tie, compare objective points earned. Team POW is the loser.

Team Guard must field at least 1 CG of exactly 10 figures consisting entirely of Garrison and Line troops. Any other combat groups may be composed as desired.

Team POW must have 2 combat groups. These groups have no special restrictions on composition, but Team POW must designate one combat group as 'Prisoners'. The second Combat group will be designated as 'Rescue'. Group Prisoner cannot contain TAGs, Remotes, Hungries, Antipodes, or any G: Remote Presence troops.

Team POW receives 2 drop ships and may purchase additional drop ships.

Terrain: Place an Objective room with 4 narrow gates in the center of the table. Place 4 console markers, one beside each door.

Game Length: Until the one of the scenario end conditions is met:
Group Prisoner is still Immobilized, Last figure of Group Rescue is eliminated: Game end, Team Guard wins
Last Figure of Group Prisoner is killed or evac'd via drop ship: Game end: Team POW wins
Last Figure of Team Guard is eliminated: Game end, compare objective points.

Deployment: Team Guard deploys within a box 16” on a side, centered on the middle of the table. Terrain should be arranged to represent a compound or other defensible area for Team Guard to deploy into.

Group Prisoner is deployed in a box 8” on a side in the center of the table. An objective room or other similar building is suitable. Such a building will have 1 narrow gate on each wall and infinitely high walls. Each Figure in Group Rescue must be deployed within 8” of a drop ship. The drop ships may be placed anywhere within a 12” strip running around all 4 table edges.

Team Guard's Infiltrators or Impersonators may deploy up to 6” outside the box without rolling for dispersal, or with a normal PH roll if the 6” is exceeded. (-1 for each 4” past the mark, lose camo status if PH roll fails)

Group Rescue Infinitrators or Impersonators may deploy up to the edge of Team Guard's deployment box without a die roll, but may not deploy within the box.

Special Rules:
Group Prisoner is considered Immobilized and unarmed inside the building. Aside from weaponry, all other skills and attributes for these troops is treated as normal.

In order to release Group Prisoner, a specialist troop (Hacker, Engineer, LT or Chain of Command) or his servant must be in base contact with a console, spend a short skill, and succeed at a WIP -3 roll. Once successful, Group Prisoner is no longer immobilized, and arms itself with pistols and knives from subdued guards.

To open the gate, another short skill must be spent, and a WIP -3 roll passed. The presence of an EVO repeater belonging to TEAM POW will grant a +3 to both of these rolls. Team Guard may respond to both of these rolls with defensive Hacking. Alternately, a single D-Charge will blow open the door. If Group Prisoner is not released from Immobilization via the console, they must be CASEVAC'd.

Models lost from Group Rescue do not count towards retreat for Team POW. However, if Group Captured is still Immobilized when the last model from Group Rescue is eliminated (Immobilized, Sepsitored, etc) then Team POW loses immediately.

Objectives:
Team POW:
Hack Prison Console: 1
Hack Prison Door: 1
Each member of Group Prisoner that leaves by drop ship or table edge: 2
Each member of Group Rescue that is Casevac'd or leaves by dropship or table edge: 1

Team Guard:
Each member of Team Rescue that is unconscious, immobilized, sepsitored or disabled, but not dead: 1
Each Dropship destroyed: 2

I really, really like these. I will DEFINITELY be trying them out. I'm sure I'll have loads of questions but thanks for posting them!!!

Yes thanks for posting.

I started playing Global Frequency with my son and it's brutal! On my first turn I popped an exposed Caliban Engineer that failed its inferior infiltration out of its seed, planning to use a second order to move to and ID a Jammer. But then I realized he was irregular and could only spend that one order! One order per model really changes the game...this is a very interesting scenario.

SgtHulka wrote:I started playing Global Frequency with my son and it's brutal! On my first turn I popped an exposed Caliban Engineer that failed its inferior infiltration out of its seed, planning to use a second order to move to and ID a Jammer. But then I realized he was irregular and could only spend that one order! One order per model really changes the game...this is a very interesting scenario.

It's actually conceived as a 'break-in' scenario for new players used to warmachine, GW, etc. Since they're already used to only moving each player once, they can learn ARO and etc without having to sweat learning how to spend orders. The Jammers are intended to be adjustable too, so if it's newbie vs an experienced player, the newbie is only affected by the global jammer, and the experienced player would be affected by all 3. Seemed more interesting to me than just a point-handicap.

Great idea.

Quick question -- since the game lasts until one side is in retreat, do normal victory conditions apply? To be specific, my son hacked all the jammers without bothering to identify them (the areas around the jammers were too hot for either of us to linger!). That gave him 3 xp and me 2 xp (for my jammer that he destroyed). However, the global jammer was the last destroyed and so we all got our regular orders at the same time. Since I was Shavaasti, I was almost impossible to put in retreat and thanks to my camo modifiers I ended up putting him in retreat (Noctifier and Shrouded for the win!). So my interepretation would be I won the scenario, but his SpecOp gained more XP?

Or are XP exactly the same as victory points in this scenario? If the latter, I'd suggest dropping playing the game until retreat, because as soon as the jammers are destroyed one side or the other has won.

Thanks.

It's sort of a fluff thing. The political landscape is such that neither side wants to be seen as the aggressor OR the 'winner'. So no one's going to get massacred. Neither side wants to be caught on film standing over the other side's bloody corpse.

Also, the commanders don't like the idea of sending their expensive-to-train troops into a situation like that, lacking critical mission intelligence. So their orders are to get in there, blow up the jammers, and get out.

Intention was to create a situation where the players wanted to be very careful with their troops. I should probably add a victory condition along the lines of:

-3: Enemy enters Retreat! before your jammer and the Global Jammer are destroyed.

Globaly frequency revised based on some testing and SgtHulka's sweet sweet batrep. Thanks!

Mission 3 revised.