That Guy vs. That Guy = SO. MUCH. NERD. RAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!!

 o/

That's me on the left in the brown shirt. 

Okay so first things first: I had fun.  

Two rounds, Lostech Era, with lances provided by the TOs including several custom mechs, randomly chosen by the players for both rounds, so each player didn't field the same lance twice. That said, I believe Sven bucked the trend and did get the same lance for both rounds. Each lance also came with predetermined piloting and gunnery skills which were all over the place too. All lances were play tested by the TOs with those of higher tonnage having lower skilled pilots and vice versa. 

Both of my games were against good opponents, with my games being enjoyable despite my going 0-2. My first game against Sven came down to the wire, with me losing my Vindicator to a trio of headshots (the last of which was delivered via a hatchet) at the very end of the last turn! 

Round two was vs Noah whom I played in my first Battletech tournament (which, as it turns out was the last time he has played a game). As we had both lost our first round and were out of the running, I had suggested we just play a game and ignore the scenario. However, the scenario was rather novel so 2-3 turns in, we made a go of it. 

Both rounds spawned VERY loud arguments, with two of the FLGS' that guys in attendance. One player whom I prefer to avoid gaming with (he's just fine to BS with though) was involved in the both of them. That said, from what bits & pieces I gathered from the 2nd round his arguments were justified. His opponent whom I have played once before was by far the worst of the two that guys playing, refused to even listen to the TOs (both of them) and kept arguing his point. Whatever it was. 

Something about underwater movement, & surviving tonnage of said underwater unit which was unable to move and/or shoot. Honestly, I steered clear of both confrontations. Especially the one in the 2nd round which had me wondering if fists would fly. Remember kids, this is supposed to be fun with giant stompy robots. 

At one point a trio of US Navy Seamen (this is Charleston) were watching bemused from the FLGS' entrance as a couple of guys their dads' age, argued loudly about their toys. Having later played said scenario with Noah, I have no idea what the issue was. However, in my game with Sven, the volume of arguing had gotten so loud however, that Sven and I were having difficulty communicating with one another about what mech hit what, and what damage was applied to where. 

That guy number 2 won 2nd place and a $20 store credit to go with it. He was the one that was arguing with even the TOs as well as the other that guy whom he was playing. I hope he enjoys his store credit, because after this experience, I am sure he will have a hard time finding anyone who was present willing to play against him. Seriously dude, is winning worth it so much that you're content to alienate the entire local player base to get said win?

Anyways, tournament ranting over, below is a photo dump of the festivities (photos of the aforementioned arguments omitted): 

Early on and off to a good start. 

Nick 2.0 had intended to just stop by and shit-talk me. However, as somebody was a no show, he got sucked in for a round. He played this tournament's that guy #2 and unfortunately, as you can tell by this photo, he was not enjoying his impromptu game. 

There is one lance I didn't want (based purely on the paint jobs), and so naturally that is what I got for round 1. The Yen Lo Wang was the only stock model, with the rest being custom mods, and all with Hatchets. The only weapons I had that could reach beyond 9 hexes were two large lasers. 

Tourney Organizer Blaine on the left and my opponent Sven on the right. Am already in the process of working out a timeframe to get another game in with Sven. Note: his t-shirt. 

Sven weighing his options. That or I just did something that threw him for a loop. 

Believe it or not, my Vindicator came thru this exchange completely unscathed!

The Yen Lo Wang goes down! Yes, even the Archer had a hatchet!

Blaine took Nick 2.0's place for round two. Noah on the right is calculating his firing solutions.

My Awesome is starting to feel the 'love'.

My s

My Shadow Hawk (another custom variant, no hatchet though), advancing on the CPLT-K2 in the distance. My Archer spent the game camped on the hilltop, raining sporadically accurate missile fire down on Noah's mechs all game. 

Turn three and the Battlemaster and my Wolverine manage to hop aboard the moving hover train. A shootout was attempted, but nothing came of it. All that was missing from these two were the cowboy hats. 

The train, sans cargo/objectives. My Wolverine captured one while Noah's Battlemaster captured the other two which, along with the loss of my Shadow Hawk (typical) would hand him the win. the train's 'track' was numbered which made for a handy turn counter as well. 

My Wolverine escaped with an objective, garnering me all 27 of my victory points. However, by moving off of the board to capture the 20 VPs, it cost me 55 tons against my surviving tonnage which seemed a bit counter intuitive.

Another train scenario table, much nicer than the one I played on. Nick played on this in the first round and in the second Sven got brutally tabled on it in the 3 or 4 turns.