# May Day (5150) tags: #articles #game/wargame/5150-total-war > [!note] > > This is a scenario intended to be used with **[[5150 - Total War (wargame line)|5150: Total War]]**, though with minimal modifications it can be played with the **[[Chain Reaction 2023|Chain Reaction]]** rules which are available for free. [![[May Day 1996.png]]](https://www.businessinsider.com/these-photos-show-how-crazy-may-day-used-to-be-during-the-cold-war-2015-5) ## Briefing | Planet | Control | Class | Ring | | --------- | ------------ | ---------- | ---------------- | | Karlon-3b | Rebel Forces | 2 (Medium) | 5 (Fringe World) | Karlon is part of a multi-planetary system around an aging M-class star. Its position on the edge of Gaea Prime[^gp] space is strategically important because of its distance from the homeworld and of the unexpected density of natural raw resources available in the region to Karlon. As such, for centuries it has stood as a bastion of GP transport and security on what is the razor's edge of their galactic control. Like all things at the edge of control, this couldn't last forever. Aspiring regional warlords in nearby systems collaborated with corrupt political and social figures on the planet itself to execute a coup. Since many of the leaders were indigenous it was extremely hard for GP to get ahead of the problem before the planet was effectively politically realigned. Normally this problem works itself out quickly as without the rest of galactic trade, breakaway planets find their standard of living dropping extremely precipitously. Unfortunately, Karlon is isolated enough that they are self-contained in terms of resources. Isolating them from galactic culture will take much longer to break down their resolve. As such, Gaea Prime command has decided on an incrementalist approach to solving this problem. While mass attacks on surrounding warlords followed by an aggressive military drop on Karlon itself remains an option, it's expensive and slow to arrange. Instead, your *squad* of newly minted ISS troopers will be given a small ship with the cover story of being data traders to get into Karlon orbital space. Your arrival will be planned to coincide with their one year celebration of rebellion in the city of *Renzo*, where they will be parading a portion of the military forces which they used to remove GP loyalists from control. It is not entirely known what forces which may be on display or in reserve, but they do not expect an active military attack. You will be dropped from low orbit, sliding in through active and passive defenses inside two drop pods. Consider the deployment of your squad between the pods; they may drift before delivery. Once the pods have landed and you've geared up, the pods will melt-down to indistinguishable slag. As always, as ISS troopers you will be equipped with *BTA*,[^bta] making you stronger, faster, and better – but make no mistake, you are still vulnerable to weapon platform attacks and are expected to survive. This is not a suicide swarm. Get in, do as much damage as possible to military equipment, then extract from the area to be picked up. Do not leave a brother in BTA behind: GP cannot afford to have that level of technology fall into the rebels' hands. If a member of your platoon is downed and unable to be extracted, alive or dead, your duty is to activate the self-destruct system on their BTA manually before extracting yourself. All right, grab your gear and go. FTL in 20 minutes! ## Mechanics ### Squad Setup Assemble a GP ISS squad as you normally would using the following table, which has Reputation adjusted slightly downwards to account for the fact that you are an untested, brand-new ISS team. ![[#Newbie ISS Squad Table]] > [!info]- > > The A-4 is a heavy assault rifle with a 48" range and Target 4. > > The PG is a plasma gun with a 24" range and a 5" circle target template. It is your only antivehicle/anti-structure weapon. When used against structures or vehicles, it is extremely effective. When used against infantry - it is extremely effective. If your PG is dropped by an injured or killed trooper, retrieving it is a priority. As always, you are allowed to create a Rep 5 Star to represent yourself and the people you might be playing with in co-op on the battlefield. Don't forget *Star Power* and remember its uses during this battle. You will *only have six troopers in BTA*. Roll 1/2d6 and start there on the list to determine the Reputation and weapon of each of your men. Assuming you want to be the commander of the squad, the first one picked represents the weapon you have so increase the Rep to 5, roll for Attribute, and you're good to go. Break your troopers into two groups of 3, the first commanded by you, the second commanded by your corporal. If you're playing co-op with more, shuffle around as you like. ### Terrain Generate terrain as usual with the following changes: Sections 2, 5, and 8 are a major road through the middle of town. This is the expected path of the celebratory parade and is the focus of your operation. Sections 4 and 6 have a smaller crossroad which meets in section 5. The rest of the area is considered *urban*, with structures filling the space except for 2 inch gaps minimum between them. These are civilian structures so aren't particularly reinforced; roll d6 and on a 6 the SV is 4, otherwise the SV[^sv] is 3. In both cases, the building size is 1/2d6. ![[#Civilian Urban Building Table]] Effectively this is an aggressive ambush in the middle of a densely populated city area. Choose your terrain appropriately. Season with vehicles (not on the main road) and scatter terrain to taste. Buildings should be able to be occupied by both civilian and military forces. ### Forces #### Civilians The road on both sides of the main thoroughfare, except where there are side streets, will be lined with civilians watching the parade. Represent civilians on the map with groups of three models, three groups on each side of the major road section (for a total of nine). Civilians always activate last and will attempt to move directly away from the nearest weapon discharge or target. If by some miracle they find some cover, they will take that cover and stay there until rallied to continue moving or that cover is destroyed; this can include buildings. Civilians themselves count as concealment by obscuring line of sight to forces behind them. Note that the ROE[^roe] for neither side is concerned with civilian casualties. #### Karlon Local indigenous forces are primarily composed of a mix of Gaea Prime militia and planetary defense forces, both of which are relatively combat experienced given the recent unpleasantness and relatively well equipped given their Fringe World status. At the beginning of the scenario, there is one PEF[^pef] in section 5 and two PEFs in section 2, representing the front of the "liberation" celebration parade. Until/unless they become active, they will move down the road and off the map in section 8 by 4" per turn. Until/unless activated, PEFs will continue to enter the road two at a time from the northern edge of section 2, traveling south. Once any PEF is observed and that unit becomes active, PEFs will stop automatically entering at section 2 and will only enter the map as a result of being called for reinforcement. To resolve a PEF: ![[#Is It Karlon Civilian, Infantry, or Vehicle?]] To determine the contents of a Karlon infantry squad, roll 1/2d6, start on that line and take six soldiers. ![[#Karlon Infantry]] Karlon vehicles may not be combat ready in the parade. If they are, they may require a turn of activation before they are able to fight. Vehicle crews are uninterested in combat themselves so if forced out of the vehicle, treat them as a group of unarmed civilians. APCs and trucks may carry a squad of infantry; if they become active, their first available action will be used to deploy that squad next to them. If you are particularly unlucky, you'll have a fully combat ready mech with a hot plasma gun ready to go immediately right in your face. ![[#Karlon Vehicles]] ##### Reinforcements If one of the Karlon forces has been activated, there's a chance starting on the next turn that reinforcements could be deployed. If the Activation dice total 7 and the Karlon force has the higher die, roll 1d6. On 3-6, they receive reinforcements. Roll 1/2d6 and place a PEF in the appropriate section. (This may result in that PEF being resolved immediately.) #### Gaea Prime GP forces are being dropped from orbit by the insertion ship in two drop pods. They are shielded and as stealthy as possible for something dropping from orbit. You have two choices for deployment which can be applied to each drop pod separately: - You can drop off-map. Roll 1/2d6+6 and enter that section with your fireteam at the southern edge of the map with 6" of movement. - You can drop right into the shit. Roll 1d6+3 and place your fireteam anywhere in that section.^[This is considered the goddamn manly way to do it.] Remember, you can choose separately for each pod. ##### Reinforcements If the Activation dice total 7 and the GP forces have the higher die, roll 1d6. (1-4) nothing happens, (5-6) your ship provides some supporting fire. Target the largest enemy group or vehicle and resolve as if it took a Plasma Gun hit. ## Goals ### Karlon Karlon forces are primarily interested in protecting themselves first and foremost with a focus on making sure they preserve their primary weapons platforms. Infantry is cheap, hardware is expensive – especially since they no longer have access to off-world GP support. Karlon PEFs will simply drive down the road with infantry squads and crews waving at the assembled citizenry, occasionally honking their horns – right up until one of them is engaged. Merely being resolved is not sufficient; they are not expecting or looking for trouble so GP BTA troops which are at least trying to keep a low profile even a little bit aren't going to set off the alarms. Once engaged, Karlon PEFs will react as directed by the PEF Movement section on page 30. Civilians count as cover for infantry but not for vehicles. Just as a note. Once resolved, switch to the NPE Tactics mechanics on page 31. ### Gaea Prime Your job as GP ISS is to effectively attack Karlon morale, destroy as much military material as you can, and then exfiltrate the area without leaving any GP equipment or personnel behind. Your ship will meet you on the ground in whatever direction you happen to leave. As previously noted, if you cannot recover a fellow ISS trooper, you must trigger the self-destruct on his BTA to remove any useful intel or salvage. #### Exfiltration You may stay as long as you want before exfiltration but manpower losses are going to rapidly become challenging because you only have two fireteams. Exfiltration with all six members of your squad after destroying at least one enemy vehicle will be considered a fully successful assault. Their physical status doesn't matter in this analysis. Exfiltration with a partial squad but leaving no equipment behind, having destroyed an enemy vehicle, will not be considered a full success. There may be repercussions. Leaving a trooper behind or failing to destroy at least one vehicle, regardless of exfiltration status, will be considered a failure and punished appropriately. In order to exfiltrate a unit, all you have to do is move off the edge of the battlespace in any direction. It's assumed that with the speed and resilience of the BTA, evasion for long enough to reassemble and be extracted with the dropship is well within your capabilities. Once you leave the battlespace, you may not reenter it. ## Tables ### Newbie ISS Squad Table | \# | Type | Rep | Armor | Weapon | | :-: | :-----: | :-: | :---: | :----: | | 1 | Trooper | 5 | BTA | A-4 | | 2 | Trooper | 4 | BTA | A-4 | | 3 | Trooper | 5 | BTA | PG | | 4 | Trooper | 3 | BTA | A-4 | | 5 | Trooper | 4 | BTA | PG | | 6 | Trooper | 3 | BTA | A-4 | | 7+ | Trooper | 3 | BTA | A-4 | ### Civilian Urban Building Table | \# | Structure<br>Value | Size | | :-: | :----------------: | :---: | | 1-5 | 3 | 1/2d6 | | 6 | 4 | 1/2d6 | ### Is It Karlon Civilian, Infantry, or Vehicle? | \# | Type | | :-: | :------------------------------ | | 1 | Civilian (3 figures in a group) | | 2-4 | Karlon Infantry | | 5-6 | Karlon Vehicle | ### Karlon Infantry | \# | Type | Rep | Armor | Weapon | | :-- | ----------- | :-: | :---: | :----: | | 1 | Soldier | 5 | HB | A-3 | | 2 | Millitiaman | 4 | HB | A-3 | | 3 | Millitiaman | 4 | HB | A-3 | | 4 | Soldier | 4 | SB | A-4 | | 5 | Millitiaman | 3 | SB | A-3 | | 6 | Soldier | 3 | SB | A-3 | | 7+ | Millitiaman | 3 | SB | A-3 | ### Karlon Vehicles | \# | Combat Ready? | | --- | --------------------------------- | | 1-4 | No | | 5 | Yes (after 1 turn of actrivation) | | 6 | Yes (immediately) | | \# | Type | Rep | SV | Weapon | | :-- | ---------------- | :-: | :-: | :----: | | 1 | APC (crew only) | 4 | 3 | A-4 | | 2 | APC (with squad) | 4 | 3 | A-4 | | 3 | Truck | 3 | 2 | None | | 4 | Truck (infantry) | 4 | 2 | None | | 5 | Tank | 4 | 4 | HMG | | 6 | Mech | 4 | 5 | PG | When APC or truck with squad is activated, deploy the squad beside it. HMG is range 60", Target 6. ## Author Notes I really want to start creating a set of scenarios, plot set ups, or environments related to holidays and important dates. The first opportunity to do so has been May Day – and given that I grew up during the 80s, the May Day parades in combloc countries made a significant impact on me. ![[May Day (definition).png]] If it helps you get into the mood, I imagine the trucks with no infantry on board are actually towing massive missiles (theoretically nuclear) on their trailers. If you have miniatures for that in 15 mm, even better! [^gp]: "Gaea Prime is Mother. From her good graces, the known worlds were populated. We are all her children from her all that is good flows. Honor thy Mother. From the randomness of Chaos, Gaea brought order, and it is the duty of the children of Gaea to continue to bring order to all." [^bta]: Better Than Armor, an enhanced exo-suit. [^sv]: Structural Value [^roe]: Rules of Engagement [^pef]: Potential Enemy Force