First thing's first, I apologize profusely for abandoning my own topic for so long! Rest assured though, I'm still quite interested in the game, and I'm still wanting to chat about it with all you more experienced folks.
It was over a month ago now, but I did in fact play that 2nd game with that friend. We decided to use 2 map sheets, and since we both own a copy of AGoAC, we decided to use the same map sheet on both sides, one from his box and one from mine, to make for perfectly balanced terrain. That way, if he spilled his beer, he'd be more likely to ruin his own map sheet than mine, and vice versa!
This means that we did introduce elevation rules this time around. It went well for the most part, but there was one situation where line of sight wasn't clear. I wish I took a photo, because my memory of exactly what went down is unclear, but basically, my opponent's mech was up on lv2 terrain, firing at my mech on lv0 terrain, but he wasn't "at the edge of the cliff". He was at least 2 hexes from the edge. So we weren't sure if his mech's line of sight would be blocked by the cliff or not.
We opted for a 2 on 2 scenario very similar to the one suggested by Liam's Ghost, the only difference being that both mechs on one side needed to be destroyed to end the game, instead of just one as suggested. I'm glad we chose that variant, because I made the mistake of leaving my Locust in the open for a turn! It went from perfect health to completely destroyed in one round of shooting from both of my opponent's mechs, and from sheer damage too, no ammo explosions required. Lesson learned! Thankfully, he later made the mistake of allowing my lonely Wolverine to maneuver behind his Shadow Hawk. I landed a lucky crit on his gyroscope, his Shadow Hawk fell, and I then proceeded to recreate the famous scene from American History X, turning the game in my favour. I thought I was gonna lose after losing my Locust so early, but I ended up winning in the end.
I suspect we did PSRs incorrectly though. I'll have to review the rules on those more thoroughly before our next game next weekend.
Again, I'm sorry for abandoning my topic here for so long, but I've been busy preparing for the next game! I'm taking this somewhat seriously. Those last two games, I was paranoid about damaging those flimsy paper map sheets, so I went to one of the local copy shops, and got full-size full-colour copies of all 6 of my map sheets on Duracopy. So, instead of 3 double sided map sheets on fragile paper, I have 6 single sided map sheets on a nice waterproof (beerproof) material that doesn't rip easily, and lays flat even after being rolled up in a tube for over a month. I'm sure there was a more economical option, but screw it, I'm really happy with these copies and look forward to using them in my next game, and keeping my paper master copies safely tucked away in the box. Even the texture feels nicer when sliding my minis around on it!
In both of my previous games, there were tricky line of sight situations that were hard to judge. Is the corner of that woods hex impeding line of sight, or isn't it? So I picked up a laser level! Specifically, the The Army Painter Target Lock. I'm pretty happy with this thing, and look forward to busting it out when the inevitable LOS issue turns up in our next game.
This friend of mine that I've been playing with is actually a coworker. An older guy that we work with apparently used to be into the game in his younger years. So, upon hearing us talk about Battletech at work, he loaned me his Battletech Technical Readout 2750. I've only skimmed through it so far, but it's very cool indeed! In fact, so far I'm really loving the Battletech lore! Holy ****ing shit, there is a ****-ton of it! Far too much for me to truly grasp at this point. But I've been putting youtube lore videos on in the background while I do housework etc. I think it's amazing that the mechs themselves, while being the obvious focal point of the lore and games, are literally the most fantastical part of the lore, while most everything else is actually somewhat believable and realistic, at least compared to other popular sci-fi universes like Star Wars, Star Trek, and WH40K. I like that there are no sentient alien races, that humanity is it's own worst enemy. I like that we still squabble over stupid **** like race and religion, as well as somewhat-less-stupid squabbles over territory and resources. I like that these religions, apart from the Word Of Blake, are the same dumbassed religions from our time, as depressing as it is. And it's a more realistic kind of depressing than the grimdark setting of 40k. I like its focus on politics, and how the lore is told as though it's the future of our own timeline. I like the story of the Cameron dynasty, and the Amaris wars. I especially like that one of the most important battles of Battletech's early history took place on Vancouver Island, my home, and that the nearby Puget Sound was the location of the capital of the Star League. I'm probably getting details wrong, as there is just so much to learn, but I'm definitely interested in the lore and looking forward to diving deeper.
This post is practically turning into an essay, so I'll keep my last few questions brief.
I plan on introducing more people to the game. What is a good, simple, balanced 1 on 1 scenario that uses the minis (not the cardboard mech tokens) and maps that come with the Beginners Box and AGoAC, but uses the full rules as opposed to the beginner rules? As I detailed in my very first post, me and my friend did the Wolverine vs Griffon scenario from the Beginners Box using the full ruleset, but as others in this topic have stated, the Griffon is at a disadvantage. That might explain why I lost that first game. Can you give suggestions for a better scenario than the one from the Beginners Box?
My Catapault mini has a fault. The missile launchers on it's shoulders are not level. How do I go about getting a replacement? I have my original receipt. I know it can be fixed with some modelling know-how, but I'm not so good at that kind of thing, and I'd love to get a 2nd Catapault if I can. I could just paint this one to look like the discrepancy is caused by battle damage, but I'd like a normal one as well.
Speaking of painting, I'm no artist, but I might eventually want to paint these minis. As a kid in my early teens, I had some interest in miniatures games, so I know a BIT about painting, but I was never actually good at it. I just slapped some colour on my archers and my space marines so they'd at least look a little better than grey plastic, but considering this game involves massive robots that are probably mostly one colour anyways, simply slapping some colour on it is probably not good enough. What is the absolute easiest way to make them not look like complete **** and doesn't require skill or talent? And far more importantly, what colours do I paint them? I've put some time into learning about the lore, but I still have no idea what faction I should go with, as I don't know how that will limit my mech selection, among other considerations. Perhaps I should just use a custom colour scheme, call them mercenaries or something, and make my own backstory, altering that backstory as I learn more about the lore to make them fit in better with that lore? Would that give me more mech options? I'm a little lost to be honest. Though, to also be honest, I'm not sure I will ever get around to painting them, so don't put too much effort into your reply on this matter. At least the idea of painting 4-10 mechs is a whole lot less daunting than the idea of painting that goblin army that's been sitting in my closet for years...
Sorry about the sloppy nature of this post. I ought to edit it to make it more readable, organized, and succinct, but I've spent too much of my Saturday on it already. However, I value any input that I can get from you Battletech veterans.
