BattleTech!

Kurita light lance(l-r): Spyder, Panther, Assassin, Jenner

WARNING: Some of my photos came out blurry. Tough.

Brother David and I tried a game of BattleTech today. Dave's been keen on playing this for a while, and got a nice scenario put together to try this out. His miniatures came from the Introductory Box Set and we were using the Quickstart rules. The basic scenario is that Kurita forces are building up an invasion force on one of their planets. To keep the local Comstar force from getting word of this out from the planet, Kurita military has been jamming communications. Comstar technicians have figured out a way to overcome the jamming and have sent a small ship upriver to a communications station to install the fix. Guarding the station is a Comstar light lance of Commando, Hermes, Clint and Cicada. The boat must navigate a tight river and moves only 5 inches per turn. Once within 5 inches of the station, they only need three complete turns to upload the software and the station may attempt to broadcast. If the Kurita forces destroy the boat or tower they win.

Comstar Lance defends the comstation.

Kurita lance in the deployment zone. Deployment markers by Litko.

Comstar boat moves upriver.

The Comstar boat is a toy model of a Norwegian stealth vessel Dave found on eBay. The plastic minis were just fine, although they have trouble on hill slopes.

Battle begins. Kurita left flank starts gunfighting with Comstar units. The Panther takes the hill position.

The basic Quickstart rules did not include close combat, so we battled it out. My Kurita mechs took the worst of the initial fighting.

Right flank. Panther potshots the Cicada as Spyder prepares to run for the boat.

The Panther was a slow mech for a light lance, but had the powerful PPC cannon. Each hit would score 10 damage points, but moving the Panther brought movement penalties. Arrrrg.

Left flank. Each side loses a mech. Litko explosion and smoke markers.

At some point I remembered I had an objective other than blasting away at medium range. I moved the Spyder at a run for the boat, but his rapid speed kept him from hitting the target. The Cicada went after him while the Hermes tried to stop the Panther.

Overall view. The boat is closer to the station now.

So close! The Spyder misses the boat, and Cicada misses the Spyder!

Spyder turns and fights. Scores a headshot on the Cicada, but it's not enough.

Finally- Hermes goes down and Panther is free to back up the Spyder.

Arrg! Assassin has had it, but at least immobilized the Clint. The Spyder moves up to the tower.

The boat is damaged but is still uploading software. One turn left for it to finish, and the Cicada is closing...

Pyrrhic victory. The boat is destroyed, the scenario won, but Spyder is shot in the back and destroyed...

Kurita forces succeed in stopping the Comstar mission. Left alone and badly damaged, the Panther calls it quits and retreats to pick up reinforcements. There might be a political price to pay for aggression against Comstar, but the secret buildup of Kurita forces continue to be kept quiet.

Fun game. We'll be playing Battletech again.