More Alpha Strike Fun in San Diego

[Valkerie]

Hello fellow mechwarriors!  Got a game in this past Saturday with one of my fellow players.  Nothing fancy, just a little one-off.  He's still learning Alpha Strike, so we try to get a game in now and then to help get the rules and game play down.  This was a good one for us.  Vehicles and Mechs in play, with the game objective based instead of a free for all.

Setup
To give it a little flavor, and keep the tech simple, the scenario was set in 3026 on "some planet" in Davion space along the Kurita border.  Mission was a planetary raid for the Kurita mercenary forces.  They had gotten word that Fed Suns was stockpiling weapons and ammo on planet for something, and they were there to put an end to that idea.  They were tasked with destroying a weapons warehouse and an ammo depot.  Defenders were my 3rd Ceti Hussars company, with one lance of hover tanks in support.  His Kurita forces came in at 837 PV while my Davion units were at 808 PV.  Game began with my forces deployed throughout the depot, while his forces came on board in initiative order on Turn 1.  Winner would be determined by points at the end of play based on objectives completed, kills, and a few bonuses.

Turns 1 &2
Both of these turns were fairly uneventful in terms of combat.  However, movement was important here.  He put a big push towards the weapons building (the main objective), so I left my heavy and medium lances behind to defend it, while I sent my striker lance and the hover tanks out to try and flank him.  Specifically the four LRM Carriers he'd brought along.  My idea sort of worked.  While his main force continued towards the depot, he did peel off his heavy lance to deal with the flankers.

[Valkerie]

Turn 3, 4, & 5
This is when combat really got going.  I was daring and kept moving the hover tanks ahead.  This put them square in the sights of his heavy lance.  I brought the striker lance up in hopes of both ganging up on him, and giving him more options to shoot at.  The former worked, the latter did not.  He went straight for the hover tanks.  While he did strip the armor of one of my two Saracen tanks, there were no casualties.  My combined fire was able to take out his Griffin from that lance.  On the other side of the board, my medium and heavy lances were trying to hold off the remainder of his forces.  This didn't go to well as my Orion and my Shadow Hawk were both reduced to one armor by the end of the turn.

Turn 4 I ducked some units back into cover, while the striker lance and hover tanks continued their flanking maneuvers.  This was aided by the fact my playing partner gambled and turned his back on them and continued to advance on the depot.  He didn't think they would be too much of a threat (and I did remind him of the extra point of damage for getting shot in the back).  He marched on and I got my units in place for some rear attacks on his LRM Carriers.  Destroyed one and damaged another.  Dice did not roll well for him this turn, and I did not lose any units.  Took heavy armor damage on my Centurion though.  I repayed him by putting one of his two Awesomes into forced withdrawal.

Turn 5 some of his units were in range of the weapons supply and opened fire on it.  It was nearly destroyed by the end of the turn.  Meanwhile, my striker lance was able to take out a Catapult from behind and put the Thunderbolt from that same lance into withdrawal.  However, he unexpectedly turned his three remaining LRM carriers on my striker lance, and my Night Hawk and Wolfhound were wiped of the map.

[Valkerie]

Turns 6, 7, & 8
Now the action was really moving along.  Turn 6 saw the end of the weapons building.  He had also put his units in position to start firing on the ammo depot as well.  I brought all units out to fire at this point.  It was not enough, and while I was able to destroy a few more of his units (a Locust and a Commando), the ammo depot was destroyed by the end of Turn 7.

With the objectives completed, my opponent began his retreat off the board.  I continued to harass his units for a bit before withdrawing what I had remaining.  Managed to pick off his Wolverine and another LRM Carrier before we called it.

Based on points, it was technically a victory for me, but it was an empty one since my Davion units were unable to prevent the Kurita mercs from achieving their objectives.   But it was a really fun game for both of us, so no complaints.   Much thanks to my opponent for an excellent match!

Before I sign off, I want to give a big shout out to the guys running the Wolf Net Radio Podcast.  To Minnow, Coach, and Bloodbath: thank you guys for giving your time to the podcast.  I've enjoyed it, and your advice and insights have helped my game play immensely.  Keep up the great work!

Thanks to all who have read this and hope you enjoyed it!

[OpacusVenatori]

Nice report!