Contrary to popular belief, the tactics of the Charger actually control this fight. That is because we already know what the Locust must do. He must stay at range. He must not make a mistake. He must use the death by a thousand paper cuts technique. Any other plan results in him losing.
Now, because that plan is easy to identify, i.e., "do this and you win", most people understandably pick the Locust. They think of it like a video game, where someone tells you to stand above the orange rock and fire up, because the boss can't hit you if you stand there and eventually you'll whittle him down and beat him. "There is nothing the Charger can do as long as you do this."
Why yes, that's true. But the Charger is not a video game boss, handicapped by a pre-arranged attack pattern. That's why his tactics control the fight, because it's his job to keep you from successfully achieving your plan. You must do XYZ. He must keep you from doing XYZ.
The Charger can play either offensively, or defensively. Or some combination thereof. If he plays defensively, he will do as I said earlier, hiding amongst the woods so that the Locust must get within range to fire. He will lay down behind a level 1 hill, sit in depth 2 water, or similar stall tactics until the Locust player either gets frustrated and closes or walks away from the table. "Turn 452. I sit in depth 2 water." Using these for the whole fight results in a draw, using them for part of the fight may draw your opponent into an unfavorable position, and that is important.
Using the Charger in an offensive manner is different. In this scenario the Charger makes use of the board edge as an ally. He runs out into the middle of the map. An average Battletech mapsheet is 15 hexes by 17 hexes. If the Charger stands in the dead center of the map (assuming appropriate facing and no terrain), he can get into firing range against nearly any hex on the map in one movement. The Locust may find himself trapped, may be forced to endure a round of fire from the Charger. If that happens, it suddenly becomes a traditional Battletech game regarding which player is smarter about his movement.
The Locust can only back away so much. Eventually (very quickly actually) he hits the board edge. Then he has to make real decisions about movement. Where to turn, which way to face when he ends his movement, how many hexes to end his movement away from the Charger, etc. Now remember that while initiative will average out between the two sides, it will frequently run in streaks. It is not uncommon for one side to win initiative two or three times in a row. What the Charger is hoping for is to make his aggressive move (going to the center of the Locust's board) on the first round of what is hopefully a 2 or 3 turn initiative winning streak. If that happens, he can trap the Locust and kill it.
