New Player for Mechwarrior Age of Destruction (Setup for Fun)

[Geg]

I haven't played this or any of the Clicky games before.  I just grabbed the starter set off Ebay along with another dozen or so mechs and vees (from the later sets) and am looking to play a couple of game to see what I missed out on.  I have some indulgent friend, but I am really not expecting to play more than a 2 or 3 times total.

So I figured it was worth asking, what's a good setup for fun.  Anything to avoid?

Also,

Are there any communities that still play?

[CranstonSnord]

warrenborn has a pdf with all the old WizKids scenarios, so maybe look in there for a few that catch your eye. Depending on what units you have, you might be able to try combining factions with different paradigms (Rasalhague with Clan Wolf, etc). Artillery support can be fun, depending on the artillery and the scenario. The top-end VTOLs are probably game-ruining unless you have a deep enough well of units to counter it, but it sounds like you don't have enough units to degenerate into the meta that the game turned into by the end.