A few battle ideas are:
King of the Hill:
Something has been found, and both sides want it. The GM selects a hex on the map, writes it down, and keeps it handy. Any Mech with a Beagle scanner that gets within 5 hexes, or a regular mech that gets within 2 hexes, can spot the MacGuffin. There is an additional company of vehicles assigned to both sides to carry away the loot/Star League equipment.
Tactics for both sides:
- Light Mechs with scanners rapidly going across the map to find the MacGuffin
- Initial fights as Light Mechs try to damage the other Mech's Beagle Scanner
- One person spots the hex and diverts their trucks to it
- other person sends everything at that hex
- surprise, it was a fake out
- other force spots the real location on their retreat
- initial trapping force now has to fight through the other side
Lots of fun
Capture and hold:
Have one player as defense and put in charge of improving the planet for their liege lord. The other player represents the faction that has heard of the upgrades, and wants to drop in for a raid (to steal some supplies), a smash (to destroy the defender's military assets), or even a conquest (the defender gets kicked off the planet).
The defender gets several non-mobile forces (artillery, infantry, a few APCs), and only a Lance or two of Mechs. They also have a large storehouse of material that they are supposed to protect (it is their rations, water, and spare parts while deployed here). The attacker is highly mobile and has cargo trucks waiting for the all-clear to grab the loot.
Tower defense:
Defender has several nearly immobile Assault Mechs that had tech teams working on them scattered around the map, plus an artillery unit nearby. Attacker has mostly medium to heavies, and a road they can run down to get past the Assault Mechs and take out the artillery. Assault Mechs move at 1/2, and any jumping Assault Mechs have a Jump of 1.
Fire vs Water
Defender has a number of Firestarters armed with Fluid guns, but equipped with water. Attacker is only a Lance of Firestarters, but armed with Flamers. Defender starts on one end of a map next to a lake (the lake is along a side of the map, rather than at the defender's end), attacker starts on the other side of the forest. Attacker's goal is to get the several of the forest hexes on the defneder's side set on fire and kept that way for 3 turns.