Onward to battle once more!

A viscous clash of the unpainted masses!

For the first time since February (I think...it was pre-pandemic), I managed to get a game in! My buddy Hoss brought his infamous PANDA-MONIUM!! mercenaries over to do battle vs. my own Mercs, the defending TBAGers. Both of us were fielding mostly recently acquired 3D printed mechs, and as such terrain aside, only my Phoenix Hawk was actually painted. 

The battlefield. The desert maps to the side were not in play.

My TBAGers were fielding (left-to-right) a Flashman-7K, (2) Crab-27s and a Phoenix Hawk 2. Hoss had his customized Jagermech (proxied by a blackjack after a record sheet mix up),  Griffin 1S, Shadowhawk 2K and a Dervish-6M. 

Just showing off my (still) half-painted Dropship. Kushial donated these Megaforce toy tanks to my cause for Scorpion Light tank proxies, as well as the wheeled carrier to be used as whatever. However I passed them onto Hoss post-Game as up until this point, he's still bereft of armored support (and quite frankly, I'm running out of room for my tanks). 

My initial left flank deployment, with no opposition before them.

On my right I deployed a crab with the unenviable task of being 'bait' behind the forest/park. Hoss was game and lined his entire lance up across from it. 

Turn one was the usual high speed maneuvers punctuated by random, long ranged potshots that as usual, hit nothing. 

My 'bait' deftly hides behind the forest. It did manage an angled shot off to it's left, killing many trees in the otherwise futile process. 

Turn two and the shots start connecting with enemy targets! My right flank Crab and Hoss's Shadowhawk savaged one another, with my Crab barely maintaining it's footing. However as for Hoss' Shadowhawk...

...my Crab landed 2 large lasers into the center torso scoring 2 snake eyes rolls for location! Those went on to result 2 engine and 1 gyro hit, effectively crippling the mech!

That highlight aside, there was a good pummeling all around elsewhere, with Hoss' Jagermech putting a medium laser into the face of my Flashman! There would be 3 head shots over the course of the game, with Hoss scoring two of them. No pilots were knocked out, though one came dangerously close! 

The short range firefight ensues, with my laser boats generally coming out for the the better. Meanwhile having already survived one heat induced shut down roll, the Shadowhawk starts to disengage, as it's dangerously high  heat levels render it's PPC more of a liability than an asset. 

My phoenix Hawk managed to skirt around the landing pad and outflank Hoss' lance. It did not however manage to hit any of it's targets whilst doing so. Grrrrr...

'DEATH FROM ABOVE!! Shouts the Griffin's pilot! Hoss' has a love of this so-called 'tactic' that borders on the irrational, but to each there own I guess. Whilst my Flashman scored hits but alas didn't shoot the Griffin out of the sky, it did distract the pilot enough to not connect with my mech and instead just suffer heavy leg damage on the rough landing. To the Flashman's rear, the scrum continued unabated. 

By this point the Shadowhawk had successfully disengaged, and I was soon to find that the Derish was angling to do the same after having it's right arm mangled (but I failed to crit the friggin' SRM ammo, damnit!). His Jager and Griffin were engaging in a holding action to allow their comrades to escape. Made all the more easy, as my now well overheated Phoenix could do nothing but flip Hoss' Dervish the bird. 

Taking one for the team, Hoss' Jagermech disintegrates under the all-around onslaught! whilst the Dervish flees the field. As all of my beat up (though none yet showing any internals) lance turns all guns on his lone Griffin, he ran up the white flag and we called it a game.  

HUZZAH! VICTORY AT LAST!! (I'm used to losing most games can't ya tell?). The aggressive up in your face laser lance seems to work for me a bit more than the usual, slow crawling, war of attrition tactics that I usually employ. Indeed, I may need to try this again soon. Admittedly though, the two lucky crit rolls early on that neutered his Shadowhawk -2K was a BIG help!

Still wins are rare and I'll take it! I'm looking forward to our next game my friend!