BattleTech Alpha Strike - AAR - Easter Egg Hunt

A couple of friends (Cody and Forrest) invited me to join in a game of BattleTech Alpha Strike that they were putting together.  They invited several people with varying degrees of experience with the BattleTech universe.  Of the 7 players that joined in on the game, some had never played anything from the universe, others had (or currently) played Classic BattleTech, and a few of us have played Alpha Strike.  

Cody and Forrest assembled some force, put together a scenario and we all battled it out.  I helped by providing some terrain for the game, but they supplied everything else.  Sorry in advance for the unpainted models in the pictures; I guess everyone isn't as picky about playing with painted forces.  ;)

Here is the scenario background, force distribution, and scenario rules.  All pilots had a skill of 4.

10 December 3062

Hostilities between forces loyal to Archon Katherine Steiner and Victor Steiner-Davion are breaking out across the old Federated Commonwealth.  On the planet Bromhead in the Capellan March of the Federated Suns units loyal to both have previously separated themselves in order to prevent bloodshed.  The 22nd Avalon Hussars remain loyal to the AFFS high command and Katherine while the 2nd Davion Guards maintain the personal loyalty to the Davion Family common to all the guards regiments.  Now that Victor has begun his attempt to unseat the usurper Katherine forces loyal to the Davion's have begun striking out.

The 22nd Avalon Hussars have been ordered to retake key supply bases left between the units to avoid just this comflict before the Davion troops can grab them.  The 2nd Davion Guards, having been tipped off to the order by a Davionist communication tech at the AFFS High Command, also move to secure the supplies ahead of the 22nd Hussars.

Scenario:  The Mad Scramble to Civil War

Scenario Type:  Reconnaissance - Easter Egg Hunt Variant

Forces:

B Company 1st Batallion of the 22nd Avalon Hussars with attached support lance 

Command Lance

Timber Wolf Prime

ARC-8M Archer

GLT-3N Guillotine

GAL-1GLS Gallowglas

Calvary Lance

NGS-4S Nightsky

HOP-4D Hoplite

CN9-D Centurion

HBK-5M Hunchback

Scout Lance

JR7-K Jenner

GRF-6S Griffin

ASN-23 Assassin

VLK-QD1 Valkyrie

Support Lance

GHR-5J Grasshopper

Man O' War Prime

Stormcrow Prime

WHM-8D Warhammer

B Company 1st Batallion 22nd Avalon Hussars w/ attached support lance

Sword Company (reinforced) 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Davion Guards

Assault Lance

AS7-K Atlas

SGT-8R Sagittaire

BLR-4S Battlemaster

AWS-9M Awesome

Striker Lance

Hellbringer Prime

FLC-8R Falconer

CES-3R Ceasar

CTF-3D Cataphract

Raider Lance

ASN-23 Assassin

Shadow Cat Prime

ENF-5D Enforcer

RFL-5D Rifleman

Recon Lance

Kit Fox Prime

JR7-k Jenner

COM-5S Commando

SDR-7M Spider

Sword Company (reinforced) 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Davion Guards

Rules:

Attacker and Defender will move onto the board from their table edge.  There will be 12 buildings placed on the map to simulate the supply base.  Both sides will choose 6 buildings secretly to be the objectives for the other team.  Forced withdrawal rules are in effect.

6 buildings on the map must contain an objective secretly noted by each team.  Objectives are revealed by a successful scan.  To successfully scan a building, a unit must end its movement phase in contact with the building and spend the combat phase scanning (while scanning, the unit cannot make any shooting or physical attacks of its own).  Once a building is successfully scanned, the opponent must reveal if it has a hidden objective within.

Scoring:

• Every objective that is successfully found by a team is worth 50 vp.
• Points value scoring is in effect for units destroyed.  Units that successfully exit the board due to forced withdrawal do not count toward VP count.
• Play will continue for one full turn after a side has successfully located all 6 of their objectives.

**In the pictures below the Avalon Hussars normally have green dice by them and the Davion Guards normally have red or blue dice by them.

The table set-up.

My Davion recon lance takes up position next to some building and starts scanning.

The enemy forces advance and open fire.

The Davion raider lance moves up and engages the enemy.

The Davion Guard comes under fire of the Hussars from long range.

Getting in close both sides jockey for advantageous firing positions and try to get rear shots when possible.

The Hussar's get across the board and try to capture target locations within the enemy lines.

Hussars advancing across the open roadways.

My Davion recon lance continues to seek cover while advancing upon the objectives.

The Hussars push forward across the main roadway with their line of mechs.

The Davion Guards have mechs holding the oil fields against the Hussars.

After the Hussars have secured all 6 objectives, both sides open up trying to do as much damage as possible in the closing moments of the battle.

This was a close game and at the end of the battle both sides had lost 7 mechs.  The total points earned breakdown was:  Davion 497 points versus Hussars 529 points.  While the Hussars earned more points it was a very close battle and I would say it was at most a marginal victory for the Hussars (and more likely a draw).

Thanks again to Cody and Forrest for putting the game together, finding the players and running the game for all of us.  I had a lot of fun and look forward to more Alpha Strike games.

I stole their scenario and have used it in another game that you will be seeing here in the very near future.