The Clan codes of honor, or zellbrigen, also known as rules of engagement, are not part of the standard
BattleTech game rules as presented in the previous sections of Total Warfare. However, players can use these
codes to enhance the roleplaying aspect of BattleTech, creating a richer game experience more closely linked to the fi ctional BattleTech universe.
Using Clan honor puts Clan units at a distinct disadvantage. To compensate, in scenarios where the Clans must abide by these rules of engagement, the Clan side should have stronger forces or higher skills than it might otherwise have.
This change helps off set the limitations that the honor codes place on Clan tactics.
Players should be aware, however, that it is generally difficult to accurately balance BattleTech games, even under the rules in this section; the use of Clan honor codes makes absolute game balance almost impossible. Through game play you will discover what works best for you and your fellow players. Because everyone plays Clan honor a little differently and each Inner sphere commander opposes it diff erently, no two games are alike.
As the very concept of the Clan honor rules brings more of a roleplaying style to the game (as opposed to the explicitly defined rules of standard play presented previously in this book), the exact way to integrate Clan honor rules with a given scenario type is up to the players. If the players wish to incorporate these rules into a scenario, they should be prepared to make adjudications on the fl y, as Clan honor codes can generate numerous unforeseen circumstances. Players should agree before play begins that if a situation arises about which they cannot come to a consensus, they will roll 1D6 to determine the decision and get back to game play.
All players should agree to the use of Clan honor rules in a given scenario before play begins.
HONOR LEVELS
Clan honor codes fall into four categories, each dealing with a different part of combat: batchall, zellbrigen, physical attacks
and retreat. Because the batchall (bidding) takes place before the scenario begins, guidelines for its use appear on p. 266.
Within each of the other three categories, a number from 1 to 4 represents the level of commitment to Clan honor. Honor
Level 1 means strict conformity to the Clan codes; Level 2 and 3 require conformity only under certain circumstances; and
Level 4 throws Clan honor out the airlock. Normally, a fi ghting force’s overall commitment to Clan honor is rated at Level 1, 2, 3 or 4. However, scenarios may include more than one honor level. For example, Honor Level 1 may apply to physical attacks and retreat, while Honor Level 2 applies to zellbrigen. Each honor level is determined by the circumstances of the scenario and the particular Clan fighting in it; see Clan Honor Interpretation, below.
Clan dueling rules and restrictions on physical attacks apply only to enemy ’Mechs. Clan MechWarriors may attack vehicles and unarmored infantry targets without reference to Clan honor. Likewise, Clan unarmored infantry and vehicles need not follow the rules of engagement. Battle armor and ProtoMechs follow the code of zellbrigen, with each Point considered a single unit for dueling purposes.
Clan Honor Interpretation
While players may assign whatever honor levels they deem appropriate for a given scenario, the following material provides a guideline for the honor levels to which a given Clan will default in a scenario.
The Clan Honor Interpretation Table gives a general idea of how each Clan interprets zellbrigen. The table shows two diff erent time periods. Pre-Invasion describes the prevalent interpretation prior to the start of Operation Revival (the invasion of the Inner Sphere) in 3049; Post-Invasion reflects each Clan’s view after the Battle of Tukayyid in 3052. During the Inner Sphere invasion (and subsequent events up through the Refusal War), each Invading Clan and many Home Clans experienced an ideological shift that caused changes in their view of zellbrigen. Depending on the time frame in which a given scenario is run, players can use the table as a guide to determine what Clan honor levels are in eff ect before game play begins.
The table gives three diff erent levels of interpretation. A strict interpretation means that the Clan’s warriors generally follow
zellbrigen against almost all opponents (except those considered extremely dishonorable, such as bandits and pirates, or against a long-hated enemy). An opportunistic interpretation means that the warriors follow zellbrigen unless mitigating circumstances dictate otherwise (they are outnumbered/outgunned, they think they can get away with it, and so on). Clans following a liberal interpretation use zellbrigen only against other Clans, and then only if they have the advantage.
ZELLBRIGEN
CLAN HONOR INTERPRETATION TABLE
Clan Name....................Pre-Invasion.............Post-Invasion
Blood Spirit...................Strict.........................Opportunistic
Cloud Cobra.................Opportunistic............Opportunistic
Coyote..........................Strict.........................Strict
Diamond Shark.............Liberal......................Liberal
Fire Mandrill.................Varies (Strict)*...........Varies (Opportunistic)*
Ghost Bear...................Strict.........................Liberal
Goliath Scorpion..........Strict.........................Strict
Hell’s Horses................Opportunistic............Opportunistic
Ice Hellion....................Opportunistic............Opportunistic
Jade Falcon.................Strict.........................Opportunistic
Nova Cat......................Opportunistic............Opportunistic
Snow Raven.................Opportunistic............Opportunistic
Star Adder....................Strict.........................Opportunistic
Steel Viper...................Strict..........................Strict
Wolf.............................Liberal......................Opportunistic
Wolf (in-Exile)..............N/A............................Liberal
*Clan Fire Mandrill’s internal divisions make it difficult to classify the entire Clan;
each Kindraa follows its own interpretations. As such, players can either use the
general classification given in parentheses, or based on information provided
about the Kindraas in various sourcebooks, modify as appropriate.
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 Orion adorned 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 battlefield.
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 fire 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 is eff 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 effect 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 layers 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 fired.
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-Effect 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 area effect 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 fighting 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 first. 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 flee a losing battle, many Clan warriors prefer to fight 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.
Total Warfare pages 273 -275
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