A follow up: Last week we played 2 vs 1. I gave my son the Griffin 1-D and Locust LCT-1S while I grabbed the Wolverine WVR-6K. Well, the wolverine lost it's left arm, but ended up victorious. Of course, my son being 5 years old, there wasn't much tactic to his approach, so the Locust went down quickly.
So, this last weekend, I decided to teach him some tactics, and I told him *I* would take the Griffin and Locust, and he would get the Wolverine. I also told him I would win for sure, but that this was a teaching game so he could be better with 2 'mech next weekend. He agreed. What I didn't tell him is that I also printed a Battlemaster BLR-1D that I would give to him to play after roasting his Wolverine, so that he would still have fun(got the idea after reading an AAR of a grinder game from Adepticon. Loved the concept!)
So, I printed the wolverine 6-M for him, and the Griffin 1S for me, then I browsed the different locust variants from the RS:SS pdf. I looked only at the armament while comparing the 6 variants (you'll see why this little fact is important later on...) Finally I settled on the LCT-1M, who was clearly superior with it's 2 LRM5 + 1ML, and I printed the Battlemaster which I hid under the Locust sheet.
And the game begins: The field of battle was the moon battlemap. I started right away moving the LCT at full speed in the valleys, always ending under full cover and at +4 while the Griffin used it's jump jet to approach the Wolverine from the other way, telling my boy how this running helped the LCT and how making the bigger threat approach from another angle also helped the LCT because he would have to face the Griffin first while the LCt arrive from behind. Sadly, while getting very close to the WVR, there was a small miscalculation on my part. I ended the LCT move behind a lvl 3 elevation, prepping to finally attack the next round, but I thought I was 7 hexes away from the WVR, but I was actually 6 hexes away only... and my son saw that, and jumped right on top of that elevation, towering the LCT and fired everything he had. The Med lasers all missed, but his large laser hit. So he rolls for location... 7! I tell him he got a lucky shot, but he won't get another shot like that. And then I grab the sheet to apply the 8 damages and run away the next round, when I see... WTH!! 2 armor points only in the torso!!! The whole mech has 13 armor points total!!!(we play with the beginners rules, no internal structure) Now I see why this was the only LCT with LRM... Sheesh! Locust down, the WVR does a little dance, then turn his attention on the Griffin...
To resume the many other rounds: Dad: Bad rolls. Son: Crazy good rolls. The griffin eventually lost his right torso and only had it's LRM5 left, while the Wolverine was damaged, but evenly, so not close to losing any limbs at all. As such, I surrendered. I took a look at the hidden Battlemaster sheet under the LCT's and sighted. Seeing the face of my victorious son was worth the ego crushing though. :P Humility is learned at all age!
P.S. Thanks to Highlander00, who offered to grab the battlemaps at Adepticon and then ship them from within Canada since I couldn't afford the shipping cost from catalyst warehouse :thumbsup: After our game, my boy played on the reverse side of the moon map(grasslands + base) for the rest of the afternoon. They-are-gorgeous!
P.P.S. There is something seriously wrong with the Catalyst Store shipping cost calculator. I was looking at Campaign Operation and the shipping was listed at... 47$!!!(nope, there wasn't anything else in the basket) I sent them am email with a screenshot of that. I've never paid that much even for heavy wargames bought in the US. I finally got it from amazon.com instead with 7$US shipping.
