As previously mentioned, I wanted to start running in-store BattleTech games again and I did just that on May 27th.
The set-up was as follows:
Maps: BattleTech and Lake Area from the Introductory Box Set, River Valley from HexPack: Lakes and Rivers, and City (Hills/Residential) #1 from HexPack: Cities and Roads. I further modified the maps slightly with various HexTiles and even threw on a destroyed DropShip promotional tile.
Forces: The game was played with roughly 3050-era units/tech: a Trinary of 15 Clan OmniMechs and 28 Inner Sphere BattleMechs. As this game was all about getting my feet wet again in an in-store environment I didn’t focuse on a story/setting and instead it was simply about running a fun game.
Rules: As noted, I used the Quick-Start Rules for this game; basically the fast passed BattleForce style of game presented in Strategic Operations, but with a few modifications (such as single unit movement/fire instead of lance/star movement). I used card sheet protectors that I sliced into columns of three which allows for a Lance/Star of Quick-Strike Record Sheets to be placed in a single, easy to use strip (made it very easy to keep track of unit movement and fire).
Below are some photos of the game.
Outcome: As you can see by the last photo, the Clans tried to implement a solid flanking maneuver on both the left and right sides of the field against a glut of heavy and assault ‘Mechs, while an assault Star held the middle. Unfortunately, both of those flanking Stars went far too long without engaging the Inner Sphere. Paired with some turns of terrible rolls and the possibility I gave the Inner Sphere a little too much fire power, and ultimately the Clans were wiped from the field. Regardless, everyone had a blast and are looking forward to June’s game.
Of course my intrepid group of BattleTech teens were there (Bryn, Kristian and Seth), and Johnathan Corey, Michael Pfaff and Peter Gan happened to be in store and played (they’ve got their own BattleTech campaign that luckly runs opposite of the day I picked to be there). Thanks for coming down and making the game so much fun!
I plan on running another Quick-Strike game in a similar vein in June, this time introducing vehicles, infantry, artillery and minefields. Once I have the exact date, I’ll announce it and hopefully anyone in the area interested in playing will come out for a great evening.
As always, thanks to Tim and the crew at Games & Gizmos for hosting!
Till next battle report.
Randall
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