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Help with Clan rules of engagement
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innersphere3050
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PostPosted: 21-Aug-2012 22:55    Post subject: Help with Clan rules of engagement Reply to topic Reply with quote

Hi all

Hope that someone can help me with a refresh of the official Clan rules of engagement. I have always played as Inner Sphere and am now playing some megamek games as the Clans. So my question is this:

Do each of my mechs get to choose their target regardless of whether an IS mech is targeting them?

So if an IS mech shoots and hits one of my mechs do I have to engage it? What if it shoots and misses.

Over the years we have adapted the Clan ROE, if you break LOS with the Clan mech it is free to engage someone else (no shooting a mech from 20 hexes then hiding behind a hill for 4 rounds while the Clan mech tries to get a shot). somewhere along the way I think I forgot the official rules and can't seem to find anything in my books. thanx
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Vagabond
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PostPosted: 23-Aug-2012 09:25    Post subject: Help with Clan rules of engagement Reply to topic Reply with quote

Total War pg. 274-275

wrote:
ZELLBRIGEN
Under the rules for ritual dueling, or zellbrigen, Clan players
must declare a target for each of their dueling ’Mechs. A typical
declaration might sound something like, “I am MechWarrior Seth
of Clan Steel Viper. I pilot the sole Summoner in Alpha Star. I hereby
invoke the ritual of zellbrigen and challenge the pilot of the Orionadorned with the unit designation eleven to a duel of warriors. In
this solemn manner, let no one interfere!”
During a duel, no other Clan warrior may attack either of the
dueling ’Mechs. If a third unit interferes with a duel, the dueling
Clan warrior may attack the interfering unit, provided that another
Clan ’Mech has not already challenged the interloper to a duel. A
duel ends when one combatant is destroyed, disabled or retreats
from the battlefi eld.
At Honor Level 1, the Clan warrior upholds all the rules of
dueling regardless of his opponent’s actions.
At Honor Level 2, the Clan warrior follows the rules of dueling
until the Inner Sphere side takes an action that violates the Clan
honor codes (a third party interfering, a unit involved in one
duel fi ring on a ’Mech involved in another duel, and so on). If
this happens, the duel immediately degenerates into a free-forall.
During the Weapon Attack Phase, if a player declares that his
unit will fi re on a target already involved in a duel, any Clan player
whose declaration of zellbrigen follows the Inner sphere player’s
declaration of a “dishonorable attack” may attack that Inner
Sphere ’Mech without regard for honor rules. Only the violator
may be attacked in this way.
At Honor Level 3, any infringement of Clan honor in the dueling
rules renders the entire ritual of zellbrigen null and void, leaving
the Clan ’Mechs free to attack any enemy unit without restraint
for the remainder of the game. At Honor Level 4, dueling rules do
not apply.
Using zellbrigen in a game requires a certain degree of
cooperation between players. A crafty Inner sphere player can
exploit the rules of engagement to deny the Clan player any
targets. Not only is this grossly unfair, but it is also inaccurate in
terms of the BattleTech universe (plus, it’s not much fun for the
Clan player).
Finally, the Clan player should not be expected to adhere to the
rules of engagement when it would be foolish to do so, as in the
following example:
You are playing the Clans in a scenario with Honor Level
1. You have one Daishi and your opponent has four ’Mechs:
a Banshee, an Orion, an Atlas and a Spider. The Spider
challenges the Daishi to a duel, which the Daishi accepts. The
Spider then uses its superior movement rate to hide behind hills
and heavy woods so that the Daishi never gets line of sight to
it. Meanwhile, the other three members of the Spider’s lance
pound the Daishi to dust. The Daishi cannot retaliate because
its player must adhere to Clan honor, which in this case means
he can only attack the ’Mech that challenged him to a duel. He
vainly attempts to chase the Spider, while “off -limits” enemies
destroy his BattleMech.
Requiring the Daishi in this example to strictly obey the rules of
engagement means that the Clan player must sit back and allow
his unit to be destroyed. To give players some options in such
situations, use the following guidelines to adjudicate the use of
zellbrigen in game play.
1. Making the Challenge: One of the most important parts
of a duel is the challenge. This takes place during the Weapon
Attack Phase, when attacks are declared. When a Clan unit
declares an attack on a unit that it has not attacked before, it iseff ectively announcing its intention to duel—the Clan player
should verbally issue his challenge at this time. Dueling makes
Initiative even more important, as Initiative also determines
the order of attack declaration and challenges.
If the Inner Sphere side outnumbers the Clan side, it is
considered bold (but acceptable) for a single Clan ’Mech to
challenge more than one opponent at the same time. All of
a single ’Mech’s opponents are considered part of the same
duel and may fi re on the lone challenger. However, at least
one target must be left for each ’Mech on the Clan side (this
tradition does not apply to non-’Mech Clan units). In fact, Clan
MechWarriors greedy for battlefi eld glory may force their own
armored vehicles, infantry units or even Elementals out of
combat in this way.
Though a single Clan ’Mech may challenge more than one
Inner sphere ’Mech, additional Inner Sphere ’Mechs cannot
invite themselves into an onging duel even if the Clans
outnumber their side. Such an action is a breach of zellbrigen.
2. Refusing a Challenge: A Clan warrior need not accept
a challenge issued by an Inner Sphere warrior, especially if he
suspects the challenge is a ploy to abuse zellbrigen and achieve
victory through deceit. As a general rule, a Clan warrior can
refuse a challenge from a ’Mech of a diff erent weight class
than his own, as long as he issues a challenge against another
Inner Sphere ’Mech instead.
Also, though Inner Sphere warriors are not expected to
accept or refuse challenges, the Inner Sphere side must
abide by Clan honor when Honor Levels 2 or 3 are in eff ect
or else risk touching off a melee. In these cases, the Inner
Sphere player can refuse challenges from Clan ’Mechs outside
the challenged ’Mech’s weight class as long as an alternate
challenge is made.
Finally, any challenge must be accepted if no alternate
targets are in play.
3. Declaring a Duel Void: Certain situations may render a
duel void, even if strict adherence to the rules of engagement
(Honor Level 1) is in force. In these cases the judgment of the
players must prevail; however, the gamemaster can use the
following simple penalty system to judge these situations. The
penalty system is intended to enforce the idea that dueling
’Mechs must actively fi ght one another for the duel to be valid.
Because Clan warriors call people without honor dezgra, the
penalties are referred to as dezgra points.
Each of the infractions listed below earns the violator a
dezgra point, unless the violator’s opponent declines the
penalty (which he might do if he decides that the action
was tactically appropriate). If a dueling ’Mech accumulates
3 dezgra points, it is clear that the duel is dishonorable, and
so it becomes void in the End Phase of the turn in which the
third point was earned. No dueling ’Mech can earn more than
1 dezgra point per End Phase.
If a dueling unit intentionally moves out of its opponent’s
line of sight, the unit earns 1 dezgra point.
If a dueling unit has line of sight to its opponent but
intentionally fails to fi re at the enemy, the unit earns 1 dezgra
point. This guideline assumes that at least one shot is possible,
meaning that the enemy unit is within the fi ring arc and range
of the weapon being fi red.
If a dueling unit moves out of fi ring range of all its weapons,
the unit earns 1 dezgra point.
If the unit earns no dezgra points in a turn, it may remove
1 dezgra point in the End Phase of that turn. A unit can not,
however, reduce its dezgra points to zero in this way.
Once a unit has accumulated 3 dezgra points, any Clan unit
may freely fi re on it for the remainder of the scenario without
violating the dueling rules.
Area-Eff ect Weapons: Area Aff ect Weapons (as well as
any system that requires multiple units to operate, such as
TAG, C3, semi-guided LRMs and so on) by their nature violate
Zellbrigen. No Clan warrior will use any area-eff ect weapon
system or special munitions while fi ghting at Honor Levels 1,
2 or 3. Only at Honor Level 4, when dueling rules do not apply,
will a Clan warrior use such systems.
A Clan warrior’s response to an Inner Sphere unit declaring
an attack using such a system against a Clan unit depends
on the honor level in use. At Honor Level 1, the Clan warrior
upholds all the rules of dueling, regardless of the type of
weapon used. At Honor Level 2, the duel degenerates into a
free-for-all, with the violators—the unit that fi red the areaeff
ect weapon, designated with TAG or used a C3 system—
open to attack by any Clan unit. At Honor Level 3, the use of
area-eff ect systems renders the entire ritual of zellbrigen null
and void.
Physical Attacks
Unlike dueling, the Clans’ dislike of physical attacks in ’Mech
combat is an informal, if widespread, custom. No explanation
is yet known for this distaste, though some experts suspect
that Nicholas Kerensky chose to encourage a long-range
fi ghting style among the Clans.
At Honor Level 1, a Clan warrior never makes physical
attacks in ’Mech combat. At Honor Level 2, a Clan warrior may
make a physical attack only if an enemy unit makes one fi rst.
During the Physical Attack Phase, if the Inner Sphere player
declares a physical attack, any Clan unit whose declaration
follows that violation of Clan honor may freely engage that
’Mech in physical combat.
At Honor Level 3, a single physical attack by an Inner Sphere
’Mech allows all Clan warriors to retaliate in kind against all
enemy units for the remainder of the game. At Honor Level 4,
the taboo against physical attacks no longer applies.
Retreat
Clan MechWarriors despise their Inner Sphere counterparts
because they consider Inner Sphere armies dishonorable
warriors fi ghting in inferior ’Mechs. Therefore, Clan warriors
consider retreating from Inner Sphere opponents a disgrace
almost beyond redemption. When allowed to choose whether
or not to fl ee a losing battle, many Clan warriors prefer to fi ght
to the death.
At Honor Level 1, a Clan warrior never retreats. At Honor
Level 2, Clan warriors may retreat from enemy ’Mechs that are
using advanced technology, but never from ’Mechs, vehicles
or infantry units using 3025 (introductory) technology. At
Honor Level 3, Clan warriors may retreat from any vintage of
enemy ’Mech, but will not retreat from vehicles or infantry
units. At Honor Level 4, Clan warriors may retreat at will.

_________________
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