Invasion of Cylene 1 (Alpha Strike)

I bought Alpha Strike, Battletech’s quick play rules, some years back but never got around playing it for real. Partly due the lack of Mechs and partly due to lacklustre test games.

I decided to give it another try and generally stock up on some Battlemechs. Together with my existing miniatures and the new recruits I’m about to field a company of Draconis Combine and a company of Federated Suns each, with about two stars of Clan Mechs as well.

I decided to play the campaign outlined in the core rulebook which is basically a branching and winding scenario tree with basic supply management later on. The Combine invades the border planet Cylene in the 3rd Succession War. They have a recon lance, a battle lance and an assault lance. Their commander has the Disrupt Communications special rules which limits enemy movement on a roll of 6 on 1d6 at the start of the turn.

The Federated Suns field a light battle lance and two normal battle lances. The command ability is Forcing the initiative, which grands initiative bonuses for destroyed Mechs the turn prior. Pilots on both sides start as veterans.

Meeting Engagement at Valley Pond

After Combine forces made planetfall the battle lance starts an aggressive patrol to deny defensible areas to FedCom forces. One of such areas is the aptly named Valley Pond where a FedCom battle lance was about to go in defensive position. Battle is joined shortly after.

Disclaimer: Miniatures and Mechs they represent differ. If you are a purist who only plays with the Mechs the miniatures reperesent that’s Ok. But I don’t.

The start of the battle has both sides in good positions for a long range battle but neither side is really equipped for these ranges.

In an aggressive move the FedCom lance pushes out to get their close range Mech, the Victor, into range (bottom). They also want to park the Crusader in the water to cool it down for more firepower (the Warhammer in the pond).

Initially the plan goes well. After several turns of concentrated firepower the Combine Whitworth slides down the hill, completely destroyed.

On the other side of the table, heavy Combine Mechs overheat and bring down the Victor before just before it can deal serious damage.

With the threat to their firing line gone, Combine forces concentrate on the Crusader in the pond, while their light Mech flanks around to be a general nuisance. With the mighty Victor lost FedCom cannot match the firepower and the Crusader goes down while retreating. This secures the win for Combine forces.

Aftermath

FedCom losses are heavy after this first clash but several Combine Mechs are already stripped of armor. Neither side can repair or recruit after this scenario so these damaged assets are of no use right now and are shifted behind the front line as emergency reserve.