I won. Than would usually be a good news, however, thanks to my ignorance (and TO's benevolence) the victory was rather undeserved.* Not having TechManual at hand I wasn't aware of BV2 increase on each mech in C3 network (and noone told me), so I entered the competition with approximately 1k BV2 advantage. Well, I had fun, and I hope my opponents had some too (with challenge included).
The tournament consisted of three games with different scenario in a swiss system.
My Lance:
- AS-7CM - an anchor of the whole lance, due to its armor the best place for a C3 master. Also, slow as a glacier. About as tough too.
- TDR-9r - trooper, workhorse. ECM (I had thought there would be more c3 lances) an active probe were a nice bonus (and a ticket to the frontline).
- SDH-9D - light mech hunter (AC5 with precision ammo), striker (2xMML worth of SRM? Yes, please!) and support with semi-guided LRMs.
- OW-1C - about the best Owens one can get, with target acquisition gear, active probe and all lasers.
Game 1 - Battle lines
Each player had to place two objectives, one in the middle of the battlefield, one in his rear. Points were scored for destroying/crippling enemy mechs and holding objectives (or having an uncontested home one) at the end of sixth round.
My opponent had Thor Prime, WVR-9M, JM-7D, COM-2D. My lance sallied forth, having taken both center objectives with SDH and TDR. While titans exchabged greetings on my left, right wing hosted much more fierce battle of lesser mechs: TDR fought JM while being flanked by COM, chased by SDH. OW did not contribude much and was put to better use by taking opp's home objective.
Thor decided to chip in on the right too (by that time the JM was on the ground and TDR just refused to die). I had remarked that it would be hilarious if the Owench charged Thor's rear, and this idea was immediately supported by nearby players and my opponent as well. Hilarious indeed: Owens charged the Thor, dodged the incoming fire and hit it hard - part of the damage went to the head. After that Thor fell, scoring more dmg to head and killing its warrrior. Wiped the rest of enemy forces in round five.
Game 2 - Recon in force
5 recon objectives on each side of the board, points awarded for every examined objective on opponent's half and destroyed/crippled mechs.
This time I had met a force better tailored against C3: Vulture IIIA, RFL-3N2, PHX-3PL and Arctuc Wolf equipped with ARAD missiles. As dreadful as it seemed, Arctic Wolf bit the dust due to ammo explosion in round 1 or two, becoming just a target of opportunity in the rest of the game. This shocked the opponent enough to keep out of my half of the board. As usual, big boys played with each other, failing to reach any conclusion, while the lesser mechs fought like hell. I have managed to destroy PHX and finish off the wounded Wolf, while my Thunderbolt acting as a bullet magnet remained standing.
Game 3 - Scoured land
Two buildings of CF40 are placed on each half of the map, you get points for keeping your together, destroying opponent's and destroyed/crippled mechs.
This time I was facing a striker lance of 6th Lyran Guards: GLT-10B, BHKU-0, NG-4S, WFL-2; all on a lovely 3d board with a river flowing between my and oppt's home edges. That striker lance was like a pack of velociraptors, any pair of them able to outflank and core my Atlas from behind. I put AS on my right back, guarding the buildings and the bridge while sending SDH on the left flank to watch a pass and OW with TDR on the right to pillage and burn. My opponent erred in the deployment, sending three mechs on my left (they jammed a bit in the pass) which left only a BHKU on my right.
BHKU ran anound TDR and OW (giving some, but getting twice as much) to join with GLT in order to shut down c3 network, preferably along with the Atlas. I had to send TDR back, so after a while AS and shot up TDR were against GLT and WFL that were eager to avenge their comrade, while SDH lured NGS away from my rear. Again, TDR just would not die. Missing one arm, ecm, probe and most of armor it retreated in the last round, much to the chagrin of my opponent. In a rage his mechs destroyed both my buildings and Nightsky tripped an Owens, but the final score was my two buildings vs one of his, his Black Hawk and a crippled Wolfhound.
Summary: I had seven hours of great time (that is, until I learned about the c3 bv2 thing), and adding to that countless hours of putting together a lance and testing it against my local bt player I can say I regret nothing. What's next, aside from waiting for the new boxes to arrive? There should be a 3039 tournament in the autumn, and until then I mean to try sort-of-linked games in 3039 period, inspired by the warchest system.
*) A trial of grievance is scheduled for the next 3050+ tournament.
