BattleTech Alpha Strike - Communications Station Attack

After having a go at Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries yesterday, Number 2 son asked for a game using my BattleTech stuff, and I was more than happy to oblige.  Alpha Strike was the obvious choice, I don't think that he's quite ready for the detail and crunchiness of original BattleTech quite yet.  Alpha Strike will get more units on the table too, something that he was keen on.  It was nice to have an opportunity to use some units that I haven't ever had the chance to use since I bought them!  Only the Commandoes, Javelin and Stinger have taken part in games before, probably more than 25 years since they were last in action!

 

Seiduts, Coreward part of Draconis Combine/Lyran Commonwealth border region

12th September 3039: 

++Begin transmission++

++FAO: Commanding Officer, Tiger Squad++

++Recon has identified a Lyran communications centre on Seiduts.  Destroy the generator building and the main transmission tower.  Enemy forces identified in the area include light tanks and missile carriers.  Enemy 'Mech reinforcement may join the battle, so destroy the targets and escape with best speed.++

 A couple of reinforced lances from Tiger Squad mercenary company have been tasked with disrupting communications for the Lyran Commonwealth.  A unit of the 8th Arcturan Guards is patrolling the area and will arrive as reinforcements for the Lyran Commonwealth side on turn 3.  The mercenaries under contract to the Draconis Combine must destroy the generator building and communications tower.  Tiger Squad are equipped with mainly lighter weight recon units, suited for hit-and-run raids.  The defenders are 5 Scorpion light tanks, 2 Striker light missile tanks, 3 APCs, plus a couple of LRM carriers for fire support.

Tiger Squad mercenary forces.

 

Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces defenders.

  The generator (radar station standing in for this) is located in a patch of woodland about halfway down the board.

Generator building.

The communications relay is close to the Lyran edge of the board.

Communications tower.

Tiger squad deploy in 2 groups, the command unit with slower 'Mechs like a Catapult and Panther, Javelin and Valkyrie, plus a Jenner and Locust which will range ahead to hunt out the enemy.

Tiger Squad command lance

The Recon Lance with 2 Commandos, a Stinger and a Wasp, will move down the centre of the battlefield.

Tiger Squad recon lance.

A sturdy Lyran Fire Lance will be reinforcing the defences from the start of turn 3.

8th Arcturan Guards reinforcements.

A couple of 3D printed Striker missile tank proxies move out from the communications centre.

Striker missile tank proxies.

5 Scorpion light tanks move down one flank.

Scorpion light tanks.

The Jenner rushes in and opens fire on a couple of APCs.

Jenner attacking APCs.

With the Locust leading the charge, a small unit of Tiger Squad close in on the generator building, delivering several hits.  The building will take 10 damage before being destroyed.

Mercenaries close in a pincer movement on the APCs, destroying both, one after the Jenner has given it a good kick.  The Jenner and one Commando have taken light damage.

The 2 Strikers move into range and pummel the Jenner into wreckage.  In the woods, the generator takes more damage.

The Scorpions also open fire, but their shooting is ineffective, bar a single hit on a Commando.

The Valkyrie circles behind the Strikers while the Catapult confronts them.  In the woods, the Locust and Javelin continue to bombard the generator.

The Recon Lance move away from the burning APCs towards the Scorpions.

The LRM carriers commence long-range bombardment of the Valkyrie, but inflict only light damage.

The Valkyrie's shots destroy one of the Strikers, while in the woods a large explosion signals the demise of the generator.

Scorpions and light 'Mechs exchange fire.  One of the damaged Commandoes falls, and a Scorpion is also destroyed.

The 'Mechs hold their ground as the Scorpions try to encircle them.  Autocannon, SRMs, lasers and machine guns flicker back and forth, eventually leaving a Stinger and the other Commando wrecked on the Tiger's side, while 2 more Scorpions and the other Striker are destroyed on the Lyran side.

With the other Tiger 'Mechs closing in, the remaining 2 Scorpions and a lone heavy APC will soon be destroyed... but has their delaying action worked?

The Lyran reinforcement lance has arrived at the communications centre, ready to defend it.  The LRM carriers are trading long-range fire with the Catapult and have inflicted heavy damage to its armour, having already badly mauled the Valkyrie.

At this point, it was lunch time, so we had to pack up quickly and lay the table.  He enjoyed the game, so we'll definitely be playing again.

So, what is the butcher's bill?  Tiger Squad have lost 5 scout 'Mechs, half their force, with the Valkyrie and Catapult almost out of armour.

Tiger Squad casualties.

The Lyrans have lost 7 vehicles, with one of the 2 surviving Scorpions devoid of any armour.

LCAF casualties.

I edited a lot of the 'Mech cards to use the original 3025 Technical Readout images, because I'm using the original metal BattleMechs from the 1980s.  It's really easy to do in the online unit creator, all you do is just edit the existing card and insert a link to the image file.  In this case they're all easily found on the Sarna.net, where each 'Mech or Vehicle includes images from all the different Tech Readouts.  I also edited some of the cards to match the vehicles in my possession, all of which were 3D printed.  These were a bit more awkward because there weren't URLs to locate the images.  I had to save the record cards as PNGs, then open them in Paint and paste the correct image in, but it didn't take very long.

Alternate heavy APC.

Old school LRM carrier.

Striker proxy.

Full Spectrum Dominance APC.

 

 

Weekend playing with toys...

 Number 2 son was keen to get out my "sand houses" and "big robots", not for a game, just to play with.  Next day he wanted Mega Force out to play with too.  So, no actual games, just some pretty pictures of scenery and models!

First off, my ExoSquad RoboTech Destroids, plus lots of pullback toy tanks and some 1:72 toy soldiers.  They're on my desert terrain mat with 15mm adobe style buildings constructed from foamcore, with filler & masonry paint texturing. 

Next, we have Kenner Mega Force on my Lidl wargaming mat with Epic scale Space Marine buildings, plus a few 3D printed and some Heki model railway trees.

Epic Knights and Epic box art

 During our game of Adeptus Titanicus the other week, I also dug out my Epic Knights and admired once again the fantastic box art and model photography of these big box games.

AT88 box art.

Number 1 son had fun playing with all the various weapons I have.  I won an eBay lot of 16 Warlords many years ago and have lots to use!  I have a couple of metal Reaver Titans there too.

 I started using some of the bits to build some alternate weapon heads for my Titans, inspired by the Colin Dixon-designed metal ones that GW released around 1990-91.  I constructed a carapace landing pad too, though it's only a square of plasticard with a magnet mounting underneath, more work needed!

 The Imperial Knights (presumably the "one man titans" mentioned in an earlier White Dwarf as something that would have been in the never-released Codex Titanicus II) were a bit of an oddity.  I really loved the models, and got a set of each, but never really got to use them.

My Knights Paladin are accompanied by a couple of plastic Knights from the Titan Legions box.  I never had Titan Legions, but did pick up a second hand set of the Knights to bolster my forces.  The plastic Knights were obviously based on the metal knight on the left, with chainsword and battlecannon.  I was slightly disappointed in the rules, I had hoped for more weapon variety, the same as larger Titans, but they all counted as a battle cannon and generic close combat weapon.  That Paladin with a power fist and multi-melta would have been great!

Knights Paladin

I have a couple of Warhound Titans, one of which is seen here leading my Knight Lancers.  I picked up an extra Lancer from somewhere, handy because the rules in WD gave minimum unit sizes of 4 and the Knights were sold in packs of 3.  These all had a las-cannon and 2 multi-lasers.  2 of the 3 designs clearly had las-cannon, but the lead Lancer weapon looks more like a battle cannon.

Warhound & Knights Lancer

Wardens were slow-moving, heavily armoured units, with a battle cannon and 2 multi-lasers.  That fits the centre & right models, but the left one obviously has a multi-launcher instead (would presumably count as a grade 2 weapon for AT88/SM).

Wardens

 The model photography for Adeptus Titanicus and Space Marine was comparable to that which appeared in White Dwarf at the time.  These were obviously much more involved photo shoots than those which appeared from 1990-91 onwards.  Time was taken to disguise the bases with flock, "smoke" was blown across the battlefield to give a greater sense of atmosphere.  Most of the scenery was scratch built or modified model railway or 1/300 WWII resin scenery.  The AT88 pictures exclusively feature the prototype metal Warlord Titans.  Within a year or two, photography focussed more on the individual paint jobs, with models simply grouped on a gaming board with some scenery arrayed around them.  They would still "tell a story", but not with the same atmosphere that you got from these older images.  A lot of the artistry was gone.  Make sure you click on the images to view them at a larger size so you can appreciate the amount of detail in them!

AT88 model photography.

The same city walls can be seen in the box art for Space Marine, but here the Titans are plastic Warlords, along with the metal Reavers, Warhounds and Eldar Phantom.  The Space Marines, Land Raiders and Rhinos are the metal ones released for Adeptus Titanicus, not the plastic ones included in the Space Marine box.

Space Marine model photography.

The Warp Runners "Sunburst Group" task force picture from White Dwarf made a big impact on me when I originally saw it.

"Sunburst Group" Warp Runners Titans.

It's interesting to see where much of the scenery in the original AT88 photo-shoots originated.  The towering scenery, tiny Space Marines and smoke all come together to make a great battle scene.

Original battle scene.

"Legions of Power" toys have been used for the block structure atop the tower on the left of the photo, augmented with some lattice steelwork to help give a sense of scale.  A hemispherical Legions of Power connector sticks up from one corner, with a Blue Zoid gun and dish antenna on top.  Incidentally, a Legions of Power cockpit made its way into a 40K scale Scout Titan that appeared in a later issue of White Dwarf, along with parts from the Red Scavenger Zoid.  Guns from the Dark Future plastic kits appear in various guises.  Some were also used in White Dwarf to convert Rhino APCs into what looked like an early form of proto-Predator tank.  There looks to be an electric motor used as the base of a tower.  The warehouses in the foreground are from a resin WWII/modern scenery range sold by a long-closed company, I think it was TableTopGames ("TTG").  I ordered a lot of their scenery (from a photocopied paper mail-order catalogue - no internet then!) to use for BattleTech and recognised the warehouse when my order arrived.  There are obviously bits from various railway model kits in there, probably N gauge.  Those fuel silos on the left - maybe started life as ping-pong balls?  I'm not sure, but the storage tank, back right, might have been 25mm scenery from Ainsty Castings.

Annotated battle scene.

I hope you've found these ramblings of interest!