Round 1
June 25 - July 26
Ride out

Bidding

The players bid to see which one of them will play each side. After both players have read the scenario, they flip a coin to decide who'll bid first. Starting with that player, they take turns bidding total numbers of tons with which they propose to attempt the scenario as the Attackers. The players bid back and forth, going lower each time, until one of them decides to drop out of the bidding. The player who drops out plays the Defenders. His opponent plays the Attackers. Each time a player has the chance to bid, he must either drop out of the bidding (and play the Defenders) or bid at least five tons less than his opponent's most recent bid. The final bid one player makes before his opponent drops out is the Winning Bid. It is the maximum tonnage of 'Mechs that the Attackers can deploy (see Attackers below).

Attackers

The Attackers deploy first.

They deploy a force of 'Mechs with a combined tonnage equal to or less than the Winning Bid. Each 'Mech must be a Standard Design or come from the player's Tournament Reserves. As usual, the Attackers may deploy multiple 'Mechs of the same Standard Design if they want to (or even multiple 'Mechs of the same custom design if they have the necessary number of copies in their Tournament Reserves).

A MechWarrior with Piloting 5, Gunnery 1 pilots each 'Mech.

The Attackers deploy each 'Mech wherever they like on the mapboard, facing whichever way they want.

The Attackers also choose three hexes secretly. For each one, they write down its number and whether it belongs to the east or west map. Each hex can be anywhere they like on the mapboard, but they can't choose the same hex more than once. These hexes contain hidden traps (see Traps below).

Defenders

The Defenders deploy second.

They deploy either a single 'Mech of eighty tons or less or two 'Mechs whose combined tonnage is eighty tons or less. Each 'Mech must be a Standard Design or come from the player's Tournament Reserves.

A MechWarrior with Piloting 5, Gunnery 1 pilots each 'Mech.

The Defenders deploy their 'Mech or 'Mechs wherever they like on the mapboard, facing whichever way they want.

Special rules

During their deployment, the Attackers choose three hexes secretly to be the ones that contain traps (see Attackers above). At the end of each Physical Attack Phase, the Attackers check secretly to see if any of those hexes now contains one of the Defenders' 'Mechs. For each trap, if the hex that contains it also now contains one of the Defenders' 'Mechs, the Attackers reveal its location and destroy the 'Mech in that hex. That hex then becomes Prohibited Terrain for the rest of the game (see Classic Battletech Introductory Rulebook page 13).

Just moving through a hex that contains a trap is not enough to trigger it. A trap only goes off if one of the Defenders' 'Mechs occupies the hex that contains it at the end of the Physical Attack Phase.

Victory conditions

Count the turns.

The Attackers win if they destroy all the Defenders 'Mechs (or other circumstances destroy them) before the end of the eighth turn. The game then ends immediately.

If the Attackers have not won by the end of the eighth turn, the Defenders win.