This has been something I have seen people ask for on the forums and I have been meaning to put this up for a while now. This is taken from the MechForce Quarterly North America Volume 2, Issue 2.
A Solo System for the BattleTech Game – by Mike and Ian Nelson
Most BattleTech scenarios are intended for two or more players. Well, “two or more players” is great if your roommate enjoys BattleTech or if you have a friend nearby to game with. Maybe, if you are lucky, you belong to a gaming group or know people who play at a local hobby shop. But what happens if you can only play once a month because opponents aren’t readily accessible?
We were on the BBS where one of the past winners of the BattleTech Open at the GEN CON Game Fair was asked what he did to prepare for the tournaments. He replied that he played every day he could. He studied all of the hex maps and read and reread the rules.
But how do you practice if you’ve read all the books, looked at all the maps, and don’t have a regular gaming partner? the answer is the Gauntlet. It is a set of basic rules designed to allow solo BattleTech play. You fight against a force of drones that are randomly located.
EQUIPMENT
You will need a half dozen six-sided dice of the same color; two 20-sided dice of different colors; Map Set #3, Rolling Hills #2; SDR-9K Venom with Record Sheet; assorted dice; and pencils.
SETUP
The Rolling Hills #2 map should be placed so that you can read the hex numbers. The top is considered north.
DEPLOYMENT
The attacker enters from the south edge of the map after the drones have been deployed.
Each of the six defending drones is placed by rolling 2D20. Assign one color D20 to columns and the other to rows. Both dice are rolled together, with 16 through 20 on the column die and 18 through 20 on the row die being re-rolled. The resulting numbers show where to place the drones. The drones are represented by the same color D6s, with each drone having its own number. When you are finished, you should have six dice with numbers one through 6 showing. The drones are left in place for the remainder of the game. The drones automatically face toward the attacking ‘Mech at the beginning of each round. Drones can torso-twist, as allowed in the BattleTech rules.
DRONE WEAPONS
The weapons cannot be greater that one-half the Combat Value of the attacking ‘Mechs weapons. The drones can have up to 10 weapons. For example, the attacking ‘mech is a SDR-9K Venom with four medium pulse lasers. Each laser has a Combat Value of 32, for a total of 128. Therefore, the weapons on each drone cannot be worth more than 64 points.
DRONE MODIFIERS
Use standard modifiers for the drones the first couple of times you run the Gauntlet. The best way to do this is to calculate their modifiers using the same Movement, Piloting, and Gunnery as your ‘Mech and pilot. Calculate the modifiers for drones 1 and 2 as if they had walked their full movement; for drones 3 and 4 as if they had run their full movement; and drones 5 and 6 as if they had jumped their full range. Add all other applicable modifiers.
| Drones |
Weapons |
Movement |
Gunnery |
| #1 |
2 MPLs |
Walk-8 |
4 |
| #2 |
2 MLs |
Walk-8 |
4 |
| #3 |
1 LRM 10 |
Run-8 |
4 |
| #4 |
1 A/C 5 |
Run-8 |
4 |
| #4 |
10 MGs |
Jump-8 |
4 |
| #6 |
1 SRM 6 |
Jump-8 |
4 |
GAME PLAY
The attacker moves onto the board after the drones have been placed. His objective is to score a single hit on each drone within eight rounds. The attacker then stalks and destroyes the drones with a second hit as quickly as possible. All the rules in the BattleTech Total Warfare are in effect.
VARIATIONS
1: Drones are re-rolled and placed on a new hex each round
2: At the start of each round, 1D6 is rolled for each drone. The result is used as a direction indicator. Use the Scatter Diagram from Total Warfare. The drone is moved that number of hexes in the indicated direction, based on the assigned Movement rate. If a drone’s movement takes it to the edge of the board, treat it like a bounce.
3: When one drone is destroyed, another replaces it. The new drone cannot fire or be fired upon until the next turn.
4: The Level of Difficulty can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing a drone’s weapons, Gunnery skill, Movement rates, and the number of hits required to destroy it.
5: Drones can be assigned an armor value and must receive the corresponding damage to be destroyed.
