Lights Out! - Battletech AAR

I was back up in the old neighborhood this past weekend, and was looking to game with the guys. Battletech has been generating some interest lately, with the new starter sets and the explosively popular Clan Invasion kickstarter (which I'm a backer of at the Star Captain level - I've got my eyes on a pretty nasty Trinary to bring some pain to the Inner Sphere), and all the guys have played some amount of Battletech in the past. 

So we decided to set up a fight between a couple of Light Lances to get a feeling for the rules without potentially bogging down with Heavy or Assault class mechs. Gary and Russ teamed up to form a Lance, while I had Chris for an ally. 

The battlefield was a sparsely wooded area of flat land on the left side and a mountainous region with a river running through it on the right. 

For our Lance, I was fielding a Wasp (WSP-1A) and a Stinger (STG-3R), while Chris had a Commando (CMD-2D) and a Locust (LCT-1V). 

Gary and Russ decided to double up on the same mechs. Gary was running a pair of Locusts (LCT-1E and -1V) while Russ was going Commando (CMD-2D for both). 

Gary was my main opponent for the start of the fight, and both of his Locusts came screaming across the battlefield. My own mechs walked forward into the nearby patch of woods to get cover. With the various to-hit modifiers, most of the laser, MG, and SRM fire missed, but Gary managed to score several hits on my Stinger.

On the other side of the field, Chris and Russ were more cautious in their approach.

Gary and I continued to mix it up in the woods. I was able to use my mechs' jump jets (and the initiative) to maneuver behind Gary's machine, but the dice weren't on my side and I couldn't deal much damage.

Unfortunately, Russ scored an lucky hit again Chris' Commando, which took several SRM rounds to the face. This killed the Mechwarrior and toppled the machine. Chris' remaining mech kicked up a cloud of dust as it sped away, with Russ following.

The fighting moved over to my corner of the table, with Russ' mechs following Chris into the ongoing skirmish. The mechs ended up in a line that curved around the terrain. My Stinger took more of a beating, but Chris and I weren't able to do much in return.

In a desperate act of bravado (or stupidity), I launched my Stinger towards Gary's Locust with a Death from Above attack, only needing to roll an 8 on 2d6 - pretty good odds for such a risk!

So of course I ended up rolling snake eyes, and the stinger landed on its back in front of the enemy mech.

Chris' Locust sped away from the scrum, with its counterpart under Gary's command in hot pursuit.

The Stinger was quickly turned into scrap metal, armor slagging off and melting onto the ground. Then my Wasp was knocked over and beaten up like a school yard nerd, while Russ moved a Commando to support Gary's chase.

At that point we decided to call the game. With a 4-1 advantage, Chris' Locust wasn't going to last much longer.

Gary, Chris and Russ are all longtime fans of Battletech, with on-again, off-again relationships with the game. Chris even had old folders from high school! I ended up getting the new 8 mech starter box to paint up and hopefully get some games in back down in Cape May.