Chris and I have started a somewhat monthly Battletech game. Gives me a chance to use those nice new shiny ‘Mechs I’ve painted. His son comes over as well, and the two plot and plan on how to best reduce my Lance to burning hulks. Not quite like this, but close…
This Friday, they chose a force of Marik ‘Mechs with Heavies and Mediums. After I selected similar, they chose to allow me to pick maps and they picked their starting spot. I set up approximately opposite and we started. The scenario was a “training exercise” to where if a Mech lost a leg or gyro, or all weapons, they were destroyed … or unless they were destroyed in the process. Since we’re not campaigning (yet), it was going to be a fight to the death.
The star of the night? Well, that would be the CLNT-2-3T Clint. Armed with a measly Autocannon/5 and 2 medium lasers, the Clint makes a good diversionary, recon ‘Mech. Except, this Friday night, where every time I declared fired for the Medium Mech, all my friends heard was this…
Let’s tally up what the Clint did…
- Scored a Center Torso critical shot with the AC/5 on an Assassin, resulting in a gyro hit and the Assassin falling down and staying prone for the rest of the game.
- Scored another critical hit on the Hunchback, which had been slugging it out against the Thunderbolt and Warhammer and staying in the fight. The Hunchback took so much damage that round, was finally blown to bits when its AC/20 ammo cooked off from heat.
- The Marik Archer had been perched on a roof, taking long pot shots with those damn LRM 20s, but with the Marik team down an Assassin and Hunchback, and the Locust was running around to save its life, the ARC-2R finally came down to see if it could finish off the badly mauled WHM and TDR. Clint to the rescue, as it pounded the ARC along with the WHMs PPCs and finally was the ‘Mech to “blow it (the right leg) clean off.” That meant the Marik ‘Mech was out of action, per scenario rules.
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| Yea, go ahead and lay down on the job, guys. I got this. Check out my kills… |
Next time we meet, we’re going to use Mech Attacks and see how that plays. While the bubbles of armor and scoring each missile may be simulationist fun, we want to see how a faster game plays.
Some more vanity pictures from our match.
Six hours is a loooong-ass night for BT (especially for players who know the game). I know it's probably due to the number of mechs to a side. Would you ever consider a simpler system for your stompy mech-on-mech action?
Nice to see you blogging again, by the way.
; )
Hey JB. I'm sure it was a few things, still some inexperience, and not having the hit locations memorized.
We're going to try "Mech Attacks" next time. I've converted the Battlemechs into the Mech Attacks format, and it is much simpler. There aren't quite the bubbles of armor and there are max of 4 weapons per Mech.
I only ask because I love BT myself (it's in the running for my favorite war-game), and I've kit-bashed a couple of streamlined versions. The most recent iteration is simple enough that I was able to play with my four year old (though we limited our battles to 3-on-3). If you're interested you can download the one-page at:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/ldzrkta6cx3xz6x/MechaWar3.pdf
With some easy-to-use mecha sheets at:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/b34emb4vr7bn571/MechaSamples_Sheet1.pdf
The older version is a little "chunkier," but I strongly prefer the current version with its easy heat tracking and removal of piloting rolls (which is a weird, extra complication and not all that fun in play…at least, I find that I don't miss 'em).
: )
Thanks. Have you tried Mech Attacks?
http://armorgridgames.blogspot.com/p/mech-attack-products.html