Author Topic: Battle at Whitting, Coventry Campaign 3058  (Read 4881 times)

Rom Precentor

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Battle at Whitting, Coventry Campaign 3058
« on: 16 September 2015, 23:27:00 »
An old friend dropped into town for a couple days and I got the opportunity to run a Battletech Alpha Strike game for him and the guys.  I am going to relay here what I learned so hopefully next time around it will be better yet.

So, I had about a week to get ready.  Spent a day figuring out the setting and sides.  Had 5 initial players which got upped to 6 late.  I had done some stuff for the battle for Coventry a few years ago for Little Wars.  Had painted Falcons, Dragoons, & Coventry PTM.  Decided to go there again to save time.  The last action at Whitting sounded intriguing so I settled on that as I could have the coalition represented by several units which would be fun.  I set the battle as the players being the diversionary attack.  Whitting is a mountain town though so I needed some mountain  terrain fast.



A while back I had done some quick islands for a 40K Apocalypse game with the orks, patterned after one of the pictoral game in the rule book.  That left me poorly painted rock like island sections.  I decided I wanted to spruce them up and make them multi-purpose.  I went at them with my scroll saw and some paint and knocked out some that could pass for mountainside or hill region.



I had some Timecast buildings painted.  I got some Hallmark? houses from a friend.  They had thick, cutesy, round bases on them and where an array of happy pastel colors.  But they were painted and pretty close to the right scale so I put the belt sander in the driveway, donned a particle mask for the Chinese resin, and ground the bases off.  Washed and inked later they looked pretty good I think.



I also fixed up a tower from a terrain piece obtained from a game store for this also.  I had trees, cloth mat, and flock so I was ready to go.  I need to remember that once I get going on terrain making it is not that hard and goes quicker than expected.

I then made up record sheets for each force in the battle.  I decided it would be fun to add pics of action heroes for each player.  A couple examples:





Each player got a file containing a mission briefing, cheat sheet, & record sheet.  I kept the game at the introductory rules level and left out anything that would require very much explanation.  That part went well and they were up and running quick.  The boards:









And the Mission briefing & orders:

Operation: Cross-Divides

Assigned Unit: SC Tibbet's Command Star (Jade Falcon Gamma Galaxy)


Situation: All falcon units are deployed across a range of high hills and mountains holding the flank & rear of the Falcon line. Supplies are low and the reserve has been dangerously depleted by weeks of fighting. The rear command post has been established at a small mountain town of Whitting and all the Falcon reserve is deployed around it. Whitting holds a echo communication tower that Falcon command coordinates all comms through.

Assignment: You have been “enjoying” the local benefits of Whitting. As such you are a minimum of 8” away from your mech when action comes. Get to your mech and survive. Then hold the Comm tower of all costs. If enemy units capture the tower, no unit to unit comms will be possible and the Falcon front will fall.

Operation: Cross-Divides

Assigned Unit: SC Stoner's Star (Jade Falcon Gamma Galaxy)


Situation: All falcon units are deployed across a range of high hills and mountains holding the flank & rear of the Falcon line. Supplies are low and the reserve has been dangerously depleted by weeks of fighting. Fortune has not favored this cluster and now you have been relegated guard duty in the rear. With little chance of action or glory your chances of gaining a place in the remembrance are dwindling. No glorious entry and your entire career will be forgotten.

Assignment: Find a way into the remembrance any way possible. Find someone important to destroy!

Operation: Cross-Divides

Assigned Unit: Wolf's Dragoons


Situation: The coalition forces have been fighting the Falcons for months in a series of brutal engagements that have left the coalition troops worn down and without resupply. With only enough ammo and supplies for one final push a battle plan is formed and a target selected. You have scraped together a mix of units for that final strike. The target is the mountain town of Whitting and the Falcon rear HQ there.

Assignment: Capture the Comm tower at all costs. If your units capture the tower, no Falcon unit to unit comms will be possible and the Falcon front will fall.

Operation: Cross-Divides

Assigned Unit: Waco Rangers


Situation: The coalition forces have been fighting the Falcons for months in a series of brutal engagements that have left the coalition troops worn down and without resupply. With only enough ammo and supplies for one final push a battle plan is formed and a target selected. You have scraped together a mix of units for that final strike. The target is the mountain town of Whitting and the Falcon rear HQ there.

Assignment: The Dragoons are once again setting you up for failure. To getting ambushed by the Falcons in the drop zone and given every shit assignment, they are trying to ruin the Rangers. Prove them wrong. Destroy the comm tower and/or Falcon leader!

Operation: Cross-Divides

Assigned Unit: Coventry PTM


Situation: The coalition forces have been fighting the Falcons for months in a series of brutal engagements that have left the coalition troops worn down and without resupply. With only enough ammo and supplies for one final push a battle plan is formed and a target selected. You have scraped together a mix of units for that final strike. The target is the mountain town of Whitting and the Falcon rear HQ there.

Assignment: Star Commander Stoner of the Falcon Guards has gained a reputation for leveling local civilians. The death toll owed is considerable. Find him and take him out avenging the people he has destroyed!

Operation: Cross-Divides

Assigned Unit: Markgraf's Marauders (Coventry PTM)


Situation: The coalition forces have been fighting the Falcons for months in a series of brutal engagements that have left the coalition troops worn down and without resupply. With only enough ammo and supplies for one final push a battle plan is formed and a target selected. You have scraped together a mix of units for that final strike. The target is the mountain town of Whitting and the Falcon rear HQ there.

Assignment: Star Colonel Tibbets is lounging in comfort in the rear of the Falcon line. You own him a but kicking. Combat drop into Whitting and take him out before he reaches his mech!



So how did it go?  I think just OK.  I started the Coalition forces on the opposite side of the board, too far away to get into action right away.  I also prevented the units without jump jets from moving up the ridges.  This really hurt maneuver in the game.  The Falcons mostly maintain cover and stayed put.  The Coalition forced marched hard across the board then stalled out on the other side of the hill trying to find a coordinated way to hit the clanners.  The Waco Rangers were the only ones that achieved their objective.  We started about 7:30 and finished around 10:30 with 8 rounds done.

So what do I think I learned?

1)  Start the opponents closer or use a smaller board!  It just took too long to get everyone into combat.  This has to happen faster & I need to resist the urge to make something too big just because I can.

2)  Keep the objectives simple.  We had a lot of reminiscing going on as we hadn't been together in a game together in a while.  Part of that meant complex/multiple objectives just got over-looked.  Simple would have been easier.

3)  Base Introductory really works great.  Resist the urge to make it more complex with new/casual players.  In my opinion, this is Classic Battletech's greatest drawback today.

4)  Action heroes worked well.  They can help point the player towards a particular style of play too.  Will use again.

In closing, I will run this scenario again adjusting for the above.  I still had fun but I think my players could have had a better time too.





Louie N

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Re: Battle at Whitting, Coventry Campaign 3058
« Reply #1 on: 18 September 2015, 09:22:28 »
This looked incredible.  Thanks for the report.

The hills are impressive.  What thickness is the foam?

Rom Precentor

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Re: Battle at Whitting, Coventry Campaign 3058
« Reply #2 on: 18 September 2015, 20:54:47 »
They are 2" thick.  I used this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Corning-FOAMULAR-150-2-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-R-10-Scored-Squared-Edge-Insulation-Sheathing-45W/100320352

I like it because it is more durable than the other stuff.