BattleTech Mercenaries Contract 1

VENUE and DATE TBA. This is the FINAL version of the event rules

BattleTech Mercenaries Contract 1 is the first in a series of events using the Mercenaries Chaos Campaign rules found in Battletech: Mercenaries and Hot Spots: Hinterlands. Players will create a Scale 1 Mercenary Force and participate in 3 Tracks as part of a Contract for either the Great Eagle Agroworks Union or the Pearl Dragon Mining Company. After each scenario players will need to spend Support Points to repair and rearm. Players may then keep their Mercenary Force to use in the next Contract at the next event, or bring a new force.

Players are not expected to have access to either the BattleTech: Mercenaries Box or the Hot Spots Hinterlands book, but both are available as a PDF from Catalyst Games Labs or Drive Through RPGs.

Unless otherwise noted – all rules in use are identical to those found in BattleTech: Mercenaries or Hot Spots: Hinterlands.

Scale 1 Force Construction

• Each player needs to design a Scale 1 Force with no less than 2360 BV and no more than 3000 BV.
• Players may select BattleMechs from the Mercenaries IlClan Master Unit List.
• Each player may select 1 -2 BattleMechs from their factions Master Unit List
• Players may only select BattleMechs, which include OmniMechs (No Industrial Mechs, LAMs, or SuperHeavy Mechs).
• Players may not select “named” BattleMechs e.g. The Bounty Hunters Marauder
• Players MechWarriors start the games with a regular training level (Piloting 5, Gunnery 4).
• Players receive two skill advancements. These must be used to improve Gunnery or Piloting Skill by 1 point. No more than one upgrade can be applied to a single MechWarriors skill. These upgrades do not add to the BV cost of the unit. [Mercenaries Chaos Campaign does not use the Skill Multiplier Table in Tech Manual. All BV’s for Mechs use basic BV Values.
• Any use of C3, C3i, guided munitions (Semi Guided LRMs or Arrow IV Homing) or any other special ammo that changes BV must be factored into the above cost.
• If players select units that use Advanced Rules or Equipment (not in Total Warfare or BattleMech Manual), the those players are expected to have access to those rules in Tactical Operations Advanced Units and Equipment on the day.
• Players will have 32 Battlefield Support Points to spend on Strike Cards (maximum of 6) or Assets (Maximum of 6).
• Players can trade in unspent BV from their 3000 BV to gain more BSP’s for 20 BV per BSP to a maximum of and additional +32 BSP.
• Players select their BSP, in secret, at the start of the Track once they know the map sheet used and if they are an attacker or defender. They do not have to have copies of the cards but must write them down before each Track.
• Players receive 3000 Support Points (SP) to spend in Time Between Tracks.
• Reloading ammo and repairing units between tracks is NOT optional. Units must be repaired and reloaded with ammo. Lost BattleMechs must be replaced to bring the forces BV back within the above range.

Battlefield Support Points

Below is a summary/errata of the current BSP costs for Strike Cards – these are found in the BattleTech Mercenaries box of Hot Spot Hinterlands and supersede those in the BattleMech Manual (although the rules remain unchanged)/or Battle Field Support Deck (First Printing).

Battlefield Support

• Offensive Air Support – Air Support Bluff (5 BSP)
• Offensive Air Support – Light Air Strike (9 BSP)
• Offensive Air Support – Light Bombing (12 BSP)
• Offensive Air Support – Heavy Air Strike (16 BSP)
• Offensive Air Support – Heavy Bombing (20 BSP)
• Offensive Air Support – Straffing (22 BSP)
• Deffensive Air Support – Light Air Cover (5 BSP)
• Deffensive Air Support – Heavy Air Cover (8 BSP)
• Artillery Support – Thumper (12 BSP)
• Artillery Support – Sniper (12 BSP)
• Artillery Support – Long Tom (12 BSP)
• Minefield Support – Light Density (4 BSP)
• Minefield Support – Medium Density (48 BSP)
• Minefield Support – Heavy Density (12 BSP)

Asset Cards

Asset Cards can be found in the BattleTech Mercenaries box or Mercenaries Force Packs. All players are required to bring cards for their Assets (proxies/printed copies are allowed).

Full details of all Asset Cards can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EikPR5MUWbdTq1bQMre1eW3GdeuH_g64STkJa8XylBc/edit?usp=sharing

Rules for the Day

• All games will take place on 1 mapsheet.
• Players must use the correct miniature for BattleMechs, using CGL Plastic/Iron Wind/Ral Partha miniatures. Assets may be proxied by tokens.
• No painting requiement.
• Dice must be rolled in pairs of the same colour/type.
• Sheets may be physical or virtual such as Flechs, OneNote etc can be used, preferably on a Tablet, phones are not ideal. (No in app automation allowed e.g. Flechs)
• Each players will be assigned to Team A: Great Eagle Garrison OR Team B: Pearl Dragon Raid
• Players will play 3 Tracks in order: Meeting Engagement, Defend, and Strike.
• Tracks will last 90 minutes with 15 minutes set up time and 15 minutes at the end for spending Support Points.
• Forced Withdrawal on Crippling Damage is in effect.

BattleMech Manual Optional Rules

The following optional rules from the BattleMech Manual will be used.

• Floating Criticals (Optional) [BMM pg 45]
• Backwards Level Changes (Optional) [BMM pg 15]
• One-Armed Prone Fire (Optional) [BMM pg 30]

Mercenary Conduct

• WITHDRAWAL Any BattleMech may withdraw from the field by leaving the map via its deployment edge. Leaving by any other edge causes the unit to be truly destroyed. Cripple ‘Mechs must withdraw as per Force Withdrawal rules.
• CONCEEDING THE FIELD At the end of any turn a Player may declare they are Withdrawing from the field. Units with the following can’t withdraw (Two Legs Destoyed, MP=0, Knocked Out/Pilot Dead, Gyro Destroyed, Engine Destroyed, Shutdown) and are considered captured.
• RANSOM If the opponent controls the battlefield they must off the other player the opportunity to pay ransom to have their units returned (Only BattleMechs are ransomed). Ransom costs support points equal to half the cost of buying the BattleMech new (see below table). Pilots are ransomed at half the cost of hiring a new pilot. Ransoming back a ‘Mech to the owner replaces the Salvage section of a contract.
• TRUCE Both players may declare to agree a truce. Both players may recover their units and MechWarrirors without ransom. The Track ends and all points are scored
• EJECT! Players may choose at the start of any phase to eject. When a MechWarrior ejects they must make a test as per the BattleMech Manual pg. 81 and their BattleMech may no longer be targeted (as per the Mercenary Code of Conduct). Ejected MechWarriors are not in play and can’t be targeted. In many cases it is preferable to eject rather than continue to be a target!
• TRULY DESTROYED If a player’s BattleMech is truly destroyed (is Central Torso reduced to 0), and the player is now short of a BattleMech, there will be a pool of temporary hires which players can employ for the rest of the contract at a cost.
• PILOT DEATH If a pilot is killed, or has 4 hits, the player must purchase a new Regular MechWarrior or hire a free ‘Green” MechWarrior.
• SALVAGE AND FORCE SIZE During the course of a contract a player may have salvage or buy more BattleMechs to have as spares but their force is still limited to the BV range for a Scale 1 force.

Campaign Actions

After Track Completion

Players Mercenary Forces complete 1 track per month and will receive Monthly Pay at the end of each track, but at the end of each month, players are required to pay Maintenance Costs. The force will receive Combat Pay base on their success in the contract.

Time Between Tracks

SP Activity Cost Table (BT:M p. 30) (HS:H p. 30)

After each track players may spend Support Points on any of the below activities. New BattleMechs may not be purchased until the end of the contract, but the base BV costs (not including skill increases) must still not exceed 3000 BV. Each contract will have Temporary Hire Mercenaries which can be use to replace a destroyed unit – these leave the force at the end of the contract.

Assets Cards do not need repairs or rearming.

[There is a discrepancy between sources. I have merged the two as much as possible]

Support Activities

Activity	Support Point Costs
Repair ‘Mechs Armor (no location at 0 Armor remaining)	Tonnage/2
Repair ‘Mechs Entire Armor* #	Tonnage
Repair ‘Mechs Internal Structure (no locations at 0 internal structure remaining)** #	Tonnage
Repair ‘Mechs Entire Internal Structure** #	Tonnage x 2
Repair ‘Mech Entire Internal Structure ** # (Crippled)	Tonnage x 3
Repair ‘Mech Entire Internal Structure ** # (Destroyed by Head Destruction or Engine Destruction)	Tonnage x 5
Purchase ‘Mech (Introductory) #	Tonnage x 10
Purchase ‘Mech (Standard) #	Tonnage x 20
Purchase ‘Mech (Advanced/Experimental) #	Tonnage x 30
Sell a ‘Mech (Fully Repaired)	SP cost x 0.5
Re-arm Unit (Introductory, per ton of ammunition [AC, LRM, SRM, MG])	5
Re-arm Unit (Standard, per ton of ammunition [Streak, Narc, Artemis, Inferno, Smoke, Flak, LBX, Gauss, UAC, AMS, A-POD, B-POD, Flechette, Fragmentation, Precision, Armour Piercing, Semi-Guided, Arrow IV, ATM, MML, HAG])	10
Re-arm Unit (Advanced/Experimental, per ton of ammunition – Any ammo types found in Tech Manual or TacOps)	50
Hire new Regular MechWarrior****	100
Hire new Green MechWarrior****	0
Heal MechWarrior	30 per wound (1/month)
Reconfigure Omni-Mech or Omni-Vehicle. # (BV must remain within force scale limits)	Tonnage/4
#Unit has Clan or Clan Mixed Technology Base	Cost x 1.5
#Unit has Inner Sphere Mixed Technology Base	Cost x 1.25

* Armor is restored only to locations which do not have internal structure damage.

** ’Mechs whose center torso internal structure has been reduced to 0 cannot be repaired.

*** A ’Mech must be fully repaired before it can be sold.

**** Regular Training Level (Piloting 5, Gunner 4). Green Training Level (Piloting 6, Gunner 5). Does not come with a ’Mech; a new ’Mech must be purchased separately.

# Apply Technology Base Multiplier to Repair Armor, Repair Internal Structure, Sell and Purchase values. Mech’s must be purchased from the pool of units decided as per the contract.

After Contract Completion

Players may also purchase new BattleMechs to replace truly destroyed unit, and sell unwanted units. Players may purchase Advancements to either increase their MechWarriors Skills, or purchase Special Pilot Abilities.

Personnel Training Activities

MechWarriors may increase skills at the end of the contract by spending support points. Increasing skills DOES NOT increase BV cost.

Gunnery and Piloting skills must always be within two points of each other. Each MechWarrior may only purchase one advancement per contact other increase 1 skill by 1 point or by one SPA.

Piloting:

6 –> 5 = 25 (Or any higher skill)
5 –> 4 = 50
4 –> 3 = 100
3 –> 2 = 200
2 –> 1 = 400
1 –> 0 = 800

Gunnery:

6 –> 5 = 50 (Or any higher skill)
5 –> 4 = 125
4 –> 3 = 250
3 –> 2 = 500
2 –> 1 = 1000
1 –> 0 = 1500

1 new SPA – 200 SP per SPA point.

Special Pilot Abilities

Mech Warriors can purchase an advancement of a new Special Pilot Ability per contract. The maximum number of SPA’s a MechWarrior can have is found by calculate the Average Skill of the MechWarriors Pilot and Gunnery skills (rounded down) and look at the following table.

Average Skill	Training Level	Number of SPA’s	Maximum SPA Level
4	Regular	2	1
3	Veteran	4	2
2	Elite	6	3
1	Heroic	8	4
0	Legendary	10	4

Details of SPA’s can be found on Pilot Cards (or in Campaign Operations). A summary of SPA’s can be found here – Special Pilot Abilities

Skill Imbalance

At the start of future contracts, count up the number of Advancements each players force has (one advancement = 1 SPA or 1 skill level in piloting or gunnery). The opponent will automatically receive 3 BSP for the next tracks per difference in the number of advancements.

Errata

BattleTech Mercenaries

Current errata version is 2.01, and can be found here:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8wtbixutgrd1mv07xq4sk/BattleTech-Mercenaries-2025-12-29-v2.01.pdf?rlkey=7udaj3dq2j4io39h37706xkeq&st=7h8pixmq&dl=0

Hot Spots: Hinterlands

Current errata version is 2.2, and can be found here:
https://bg.battletech.com/errata/