21 November 2011

Greetings, Mechwarrior!

You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Inner Sphere from the Clans!

Oh, wait, wrong series!

Well, Last week, I played Battletech with my second oldest daughter (Rene', 13 y.o.). I was using the 1st scenario from the 3e boxed set. 3025 Tech, a Wolverine and Stinger against a Wasp and Griffin. there was time spent explaining things; she's been gaming since she was 8ish, so it wasn't  too hard to get some of the important things across...heat, movement, etc.


The two medium mechs are built on the same basic chassis (armor and internals) but have different weapon load-outs. All four mechs are jumpers.  The Wolvie is a close-in scrapper (with AC/5 and SRM/6 backed up by a medium laser) while the Griffin is a sniper with a PPC and LRMs backed up by a medium laser. The Wasp and stinger are similar enough to be near identical (SRM/2 vs. MG, both with medium laser).

Another difference is heat buildup. Jumping and firing all weapons with the Griffin is Not Good (tm). Rene's AC/5, however, does minimal heat and that also told in the encounter once she closed.

The first few rounds, Rene' was pretty cautious, trying long-range shots with her Wolvie against the Griffin. I had the advantage and fired a few times scoring minor hints. She sent her light off to fight my light, so I obliged. I even tried a "Death-From-Above" attack with my Wasp against her stinger to show her why this is a Bad Idea (tm) with light jumpers. almost snapped my fool leg off.

Finally however, she decided to close and I was in trouble. The PPC and LRMs took penalties close-in while her AC/5 and SRMs didn't. Once she got in close, with identical movement (and she kept winning initiative!), it was impossible to shake her. the only thing that saved my mech was the fact that she had to leave for a party at school.


Anyway, a fun time was had by all. The next scenario, that we'll play this week, pits a Thunderbolt against a Crusader. Yep, it's a heavy mech slugfest. We'll play it twice, switching mechs to get a feel for the two.

No comments: