Diplomacy is Dead - Mission Monday

We were providing security on the station, being "impartial", unless our lamb used a distress signal. It was a nice, easy gig until six seconds ago when that signal went off. Our job is to find our lost sheep, catalog his associates for prosperity and get gone.  The problem is the lil' bo peep knows the extraction codes to open the pod doors to get 'em outta here.

Hopefully he hasn't hired another extract team...

Mission Objectives:

1 VP per Diplomat Identified (Max 3 VP)

1 VP per Sync with Diplomat (Max 3 VP)

2 VP per Diplomat Extracted (Max 6 VP)

WARNING: If any Civilians are killed in this mission, the responsible player loses. If this scenario is used in an overall campaign, they lose 4 VP.

Deployment: 

Side A and Side B will deploy on opposite sides of a 48" x 48" table in an area 12" deep.  Place a Wide Gate Marker 4" away from each left-hand Deployment Zone.  Place a Diplomat 24" in the centre of the board.  Place another Diplomat on each side; 12" inwards from a board edge, 8" away from the centre line on the opposite side of each Wide Gate Marker.

The player that goes 2nd nominates which door starts open.  At the beginning of that player's turn, the other door opens.

Scenario Special Rules:
Identify the Diplomats:
Forward Observers (FO) are able to ID Diplomats for our men back home to analyze.  Each Diplomat is worth 1 VP if they are FO.

Contact the Diplomats:

Beyonce Requires Royal Treatment

These Diplomats are probably in a state of confusion, it's going to require a soft touch to get them to cooperate.  Each Diplomat is Hostile (-6 WIP to Sync) unless the figure is a Doctor, Chain of Command, Paramedic or Lieutenant. If your Lt. Syncs with the VIP, you may choose to declare it is your Lt. to remove the Hostile penalty or keep that information secret. If you Sync with a Diplomat, you gain 1 VP. You do not lose that VP if you opponent steals the Diplomat away.

NOTE: Impetuous models are unable to Sync with any figure. If a model becomes Impetuous, it immediately breaks the Sync. Models can only be Sync'd with up to two Diplomats at a time.

Extract the Diplomats:

Get Down, Get Out

To extract the Diplomats, your model and the Diplomat must leave the game board on the same order through Wide Gate Markers.  Models that leave the game board in this fashion do not contribute Orders to your army but do not count as Casualties for the purposes of Retreat unless they became Unconscious or Dead while crossing the Wide Gate Marker.

End of the Mission:
The mission ends whenever all of the Diplomats are Extracted or when both players are unable to complete the mission, such as all figures are Impetuous due to Retreat!

There is no game time limit.

Design Notes: I always felt that ITS is very bland while Paradiso had provided a "Map Editor" for scenarios. The idea with this scenario is provide the same necessity of required Specialists while providing a narrative mission that wasn't impossible to pull off. Using the mechanics in Paradiso, I built this story of a failed diplomatic mission. The narrative is shown here with your Black Ops team going active, not sure which target they need to extract, get the codes and get out.

Furthermore, it is possible to still win if you disregard parts of the mission.  It will be a lot harder for your army if you rely on snatching up the opponent without attempting to Forward Observe any Diplomats. I also wanted points to be able to be picked up if this mission is used in an overall campaign, so if you're getting hammered you can still gain some VP to not be left out.  And of course, Classified Objectives can certainly be added to taste, but quite honestly I think you'll be too busy to do that.

This is what Dead Diplomacy looks like

I also like the fact that there is a Deployment advantage. I do think that going first is a large advantage, especially if your foe is using many cheap Orders to accomplish a lot. Finally, I like using Sync'd Civilians as Objectives, because it limits the ability for a player to just load up on a Link Team that has all of the answers and win away.  Link Teams are still strong for providing covering fire and escorts, but they require more than just a "I Win" I find with a speedy Link. That's why I have no game turn limit, so players can unfold the scenario instead of go at a breakneck pace in an attempt to win before time runs out.

Name of Scenario is from Kiss of the Dragon action movie starring Jet Li. The Scenario's idea came from a phrase, not inspired by the plot. Though you should really check it out if you enjoy martial arts movies.

Try it out at your local store and let me know what you think of the scenario in the comments below! 

Would You Like to Know More?
Infinity Wiki - Civilians
Infinity Wiki - Forward Observe