Hello, and welcome back to Battletech in the Dark Ages! Not Battletech in the Dark Age, of course, since that’s a totally different thing (and we are firmly pre-Clan-invasion at the moment).
This is the third battle my brother and I have played using the Battletech starter box, and this time we will see the first non-starter-box ‘Mech in use, though it's paint job and that of a few of the plastics are unfinished.
That new ‘Mech is the Hatchetman, which I will be personally (imaginarily) piloting for the game. The idea of a ‘Mech purely defined by the fact that it uses an axe in a world of long-range missiles and lasers has always appealed to me, so I was going to have to get this guy someday. I'll just ignore his pretty awful mobility and pretend he's as good as I think.
Honestly though, against lasers, you'd think moving fast to close the gap with your axe would be a priority. Not to mention that melee damage is based on weight, and this particular ‘Mech seems to be on the low end for a Medium - both of those combined mean he does little damage to the ‘Mechs he can catch, and can't catch the ‘Mechs he could kill. Still a cool idea at least.
So our lineup today pits two 200 ton Lances against each other, our biggest battle yet. On my side, we have Aaron, Pishniy, Lizbeth and Ashild in a Hatchetman, Hunchback, Commando and Awesome respectively vs an Atlas, Jenner and Catapult on my brother's side.
We quickly line up, using the long edges for more maneuver room. Putting two boards alongside each other is recommended in the game rules, but my table is only so big, and the Skype computer for my brother to see needs to go somewhere. Plus this is still the simplest board I own - we may start experimenting with more complicated terrain soon, but while we're still learning the rules for ‘Mechs we’re holding off.
Battle is joined quickly, with the emphasis on my right flank as I try to focus down his Atlas once again. The coloured cubes helped us track how far each ‘Mech moved in a turn, which is essential information for determining targeting Modifiers.
The Atlas is encircled but its team rushes in to help it.
My Commando, straying a bit too close to the fray for a light ‘Mech, takes severe torso damage from a volley or LRMs the Catapult lobs it's way, affecting both its engine and its gyro. This causes it to stumble, requiring a piloting roll to stay upright. This would turn out to be potentially the most fateful shot of the game, especially as the flanking Jenner chokes on a followup shot that could have ended the Commando right there.
After a failed piloting roll, the Commando still falls over, but takes little damage due to its low weight. The melee damage rules are applied in almost the same way to falls.
Everything starts to go mad when the Atlas moves back to curbstomp the Commando. The Hatchetman springs into action from behind the treeline, flying over on jump jets to axe the Atlas, while the Awesome comes in for a blast of point blank PPCs.
The Atlas launches an alpha strike spread out across the Hunchback and Awesome, but its fire is largely ineffective.
The Commando fires from the prone position in desperation but its weapons are not exactly powerhouses, and I'm not sure the Atlas felt a thing!
Atlas, with a single powerful kick, crushes the Commando’s arm right off while the Hatchetman sinks its hatchet into the Atlas’ left leg, already weakened by fire, but somehow the leg armour holds! Told you the hatchet wasn't that good…
This is where the battle really gets good though.
The Commando overheats so bad from the combination of firing all its weapons and the previous rupture of its engine shielding that it suffers rippling ammo explosions in all magazines (3 saving rolls, and I failed every one!). The pilot stays conscious despite the damage and the auto-eject function gets her clear of the ‘Mech. In the subsequent conflagration, the Commando takes 290 damage and is annihilated, the Atlas takes 29, and the hatchetman 15. (Using a combination of the ammo explosions rules from Total Warfare and the rules for dramatic engine meltdowns from the Tactical Operations rulebook to spread the damage around, since it seemed appropriate given the degree of fail going on)
The hatchetman’s left leg is stripped of armour, while the Atlas ‘ leg is blown clean off. It is then thrown clear of the hex! All 100 tons of it!
The Atlas pilot ejects as he realizes how difficult it would be to stand up and fight back effectively while surrounded, and the Jenner flees the battlefield using its incredible speed.
The Catapult and Awesome trade one last desultory volley, and the Awesome’s left arm is blown off as the Catapult flees into the sunset.
The Atlas pilot is picked up by our Lance and treated well before being released. His mech, or what's left, is kept as salvage.
I'm going to be honest, just resolving the ammo explosions took most of the time in that battle! There's always new rules to get hung up on in this game, it seems. They are worth it for the experience though, as you do get some tense battles every time.
It only remains to be seen how long I can keep my Lance on a winning streak like this… every time I've beat that Atlas so far, it has been sheer luck. When my luck gives out, something tells me we are in for a much rougher ride.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll come around to see how the next one turns out!
