I wrote this nearly a year ago, but didn't get around to publishing it. Now that more info is coming out about the game, I think it's a fine time to share the epic struggle between Lazaraus and Talon.

Original Post:

It's been over a year since I posted last so let me catch up my Game Dev buddies. You already know that I landed my dream job at Harebrained Schemes working on Battletech as a Unity/C# Tools developer. The job has been amazing and my co-workers are awesome. I look forward to going into work every morning and since then I've gotten to do even more cool things:

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• Go to Gen Con and show off the super pre-alpha.
• Talk to fans about the game.
• Sign people's Battletech rulebooks, swag, and posters like I'm a rockstar.
• Play table-top Battletech with oversized minis on twitch in a live-action show where damage is recorded by taking hammers, dremmels, and soldering irons to the minis. (Check out Death From Above on Hyper RPG)
• Help work on and shape a game that was such a big part of my teen/college life.
• Win the Ultimate Multiplayer Battletech Trophy for the first season at HBS.

• Anyway, back to the post at hand... Connor is a coworker of mine and one of the main DFA stars (Talon). There's a pretty big audience for the show and interest was expressed in getting to watch Connor and I battle it out in multiplayer. I wasn't setup to record the video so instead I took screenshots of us playing so I could write up this play by play post.

  We were fighting a Battle (20 Million C-Bills) fight on Big Loch. There's an island in the center with some trees, hills, and bigger cover surrounded by a body of water. I took a Jenner, Trebuchet, Hunchback, and Kintaro. Connor took a Commando, Centurion, Kintaro, and Jagermech (LRM variant).

  

  Round 2: We start out on opposite sides of the island. That beacon off in the distance marks where his units spawn. I start by moving my Trebuchet to the left and my Kintaro to the right. If he charges up the middle, he'll have to choose his facings carefully. I send my speedy Jenner up the middle to scout things out, and my Hunchback also takes the straightest route since he's the slowest unit I have.

  

  Round 4: Connor was too clever to go charging up the middle. Now my Trebuchet is a bit out of position, but it can still bring its LRMs to bear through indirect fire. You can see the results by the slight damage to armor, and minor amount of stability damage on his Centurion. I probably should have taken an action shot, but I was concentrating so hard on the tactics of the match. You can also see my Kintaro is out of position all by himself. Luckily I was able to use the initiative track and that cover to keep him fresh for a round or two.

  

  Round 7: There's only so much dancing around cover I can do and my Kintaro takes a pounding. I try to finish off the Commando and give the Centurion a tempting back shot. It's risky but my Kintaro's front armor is pretty wasted.

  

  Round 7: My Kintaro fails to take out the commando and I'm a little worried at this point. My hunchback finally gets close enough to threaten the Jagermech next turn.

  

  Still Round 7: Instead of shooting at the Centurion, I sprint my Jenner up to shoot at the Commando. It's on the edge of death now but still alive. Lucky for me Connor's Centurion missed an 85% AC/10 shot to the Kintaro's rear. He puts his back to the wall thinking he's safe...

  

  Round 8: In round 7, I made sure all my units were done before Connor's. That guarantees that I get to go first in round 8. I use my Jenner to finally finish off the Commando. Even though he only had 1 leg, he still had his large laser. Not only that, he could of still meleed one of my units to knock him down or just use his activation to manipulate the initiative track. Active units are always a threat.

  

  Round 8: My Kintaro somehow manages to stay alive even though it gets knocked prone. You can see here I have a pretty even spread. My right side is the least damaged so I try to offer that in future rounds. My Jenner is pretty exposed in the water, but he'll have to decide between taking a shot on my light or finish off the Kintaro.

  

  Still Round 8: I didn't take a screen shot, but Connor finished off my Kintaro and I take out his fresh Centurion with my Trebuchet. It was able to move just far enough up to get a rear shot on his Centurion. There were rocks in the way but my Jenner spots for him which allows me to indirect fire for some awesome back shots. Then my Hunchback slams an AC/20 into the center torso of the Jagermech.

  

  Round 9: Connor turns the Jagermech's back to my Hunchback. It was probably the right move since his front CT was gone, but the rear armor wasn't enough to save him. The AC/20 lands home in the rear CT. His Kintaro blows away my Jenner, but goes up a ton of heat to do it. He tries to use the rock as cover.

  

  Round 10: After the Kintaro moves, my Hunchback climbs the hill and manages to crit the SRM ammo. He only has a medium laser left so Connor calls the match.

  It was a great fight and I barely won. When I over-committed my Kintaro early in the fight I thought Connor was going to give me my first defeat. My luck held out though and the damage clustering favored me (both giving and receiving). Connor also meant to take a pilot with Sensor Lock but misclicked during the setup.

  I didn't talk much about the pilot skills, but they play a big part. My Kintaro had a pilot that gives him evasive (normally only granted by sprinting and not firing). That's one reason he could soak so much damned fire. My Jenner had Sensor Lock which allowed him to clear evasive and grant line of sight to a unit. My Trebuchet had master tactician which let him act one initiative phase sooner and exploit the sensor locking Jenner. My hunchback had Bulwark which gives you defensive bonuses for staying still. I had to move him every turn so it never came up.

  I don't remember everything Connor had but I do remember he had Master Tactician in his Kintaro... That thing being able to act during the light phase is freaking ridiculous.

  Anyway this was the first time the mighty Talon and Lazarus clashed on the field of battle and it was glorious. I can't wait for everyone to experience the fun and excitement of a multiplayer match.

  - Eck