Monday 25/2/2008 Battletech After Action Report

After the PW workshop on Monday, there wasn't much left to do for most of us teachers. So, I managed to get Xiang Hao and Scott to the Staff Lounge, where I proceeded to initiate them into the joys and despairs of Classic Battletech gaming.

The forces were BV2 balanced, with each side having 1 assault, 1 heavy, 1 medium, and 1 light mech.

Scott had the following mechs: Awesome 8Q, Catapult C1, Assassin 21, Locust 1V. This is a force centered around the Awesome's incredible firepower, with the Assassin and Locust threatening to backstab any force that tries to close in on the Awesome, with the Catapult dictating its range of engagement.

Xiang Hao had the following: Victor 9S, Thunderbolt 5S, Centurion AH, Commando 2D. This is a close in and brawl unit. With 2 AC/20s and lack of long range firepower, the lance needs to get within range of its main guns as soon as possible.

The game started off quite evenly, and Xiang Hao drew first blood when his T-Bolt scored on the Locust which was attempting to flank. The Locust advanced a bit too far ahead, and promptly lost its left arm( and machine gun) to the T-Bolt's LRMs. Xiang Hao then charged his forces at the hill where Scott had parked his Catapult and Assassin.

Scott made his biggest mistake at this point, although neither player would quite realize it till mater. While the northern side of the gaming area was asnarl with missiles, AC fire, and lasers, the Awesome was laboriously navigating a series of hills on the southern flank. Yes, it could still fire with the PPCs, but at long range and with virtually no chance of hitting. Those two rounds of ineffective fire would come back to haunt Scott.

At this point, Scott made another mistake by keeping the Assassin where it was, while the Commando charged up the hill at it. A vicious exchange of fire between the Catapult, Assassin, Centurion, Victor, and Commando resulted in both the Commando and Assassin taking severe damage to their torsos and blowing up in spectatcular fashion with simultaneous ammunition explosions.

Xiang Hao was quite happy - he had traded a light for a medium, and was now in a good position to wheel and charge the Awesome. Scott's Awesome was now on top of a hill in good sniping position, but once cornered, would find it very difficult to retreat.

Xiang Hao enjoyed a run of incredibly good luck at this point, with almost every single one of his weapons hitting the Awesome in the right leg. The right leg soaked up more than 50 points of damage in just two turns! Needless to say, it was crippled and took EIGHT critical hits! Obviously, the rest of the crits was transferred to the torso, cutting the PPC. The Awesome fell, and wasn't likely to get back up again.

Scott had his fair chare of luck, getting a golden BB engine hit on the Victor, and crippling the Centurion with a series of hits from the Awesome and Catapult. The Locust managed to snag the Victor on the right arm, destroying the shoulder actuator and making any shots from that arm (the dreaded AC/20) very difficult.

We stopped the game there, since it was clear that the Awesome was almost out of the fight. The Catapult was out of LRMs, while the Locust was nigh useless, especially against the combined might of the Victor(even with an engine hit) and Thunderbolt.

It was a useful exercise, and even better because for the first time in a long while, we were playing WYSIWYG!