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| This is Dave |
Then I played it twice with Dave
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This is normally the point where a designer pretends everything went exactly to plan and nods wisely. That is not what happened.
What did happen is that I learned a lot, lost some ’Mechs, nearly lost a VIP in increasingly stupid ways, and had several moments where I realised I’d accidentally designed something far better (or far more dangerous) than I intended.
Which, honestly, is the best possible outcome.
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| The Map |
I love Classic BattleTech. Well, I remember enjoying it as a teen.
I love narrative play.
And I love spending time pushing toy robots around a table with friends far more than I care about winning.
What I don’t love is scenarios that end when one side stops moving.
Evacuation Under Fire was an attempt to fix that - to create a game where:
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Killing ’Mechs isn’t the whole point
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Standing still feels like a mistake
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And both players feel mildly stressed from Turn 1 onwards
Basically, I wanted a scenario that yells:
“Stop faffing about. Something important is happening.”
The Dignitary (a.k.a. “The Problem Child”)
Let’s start with the obvious star of the show.
The VIP.
On paper, this is just a slow-moving token with armour. In practice, it became the single most motivating object on the table. Players ignored perfectly good targets just to take speculative shots at it. Light ’Mechs did absolutely unhinged things to get line of sight. Heavy ’Mechs soaked terrifying amounts of fire because maybe, just maybe, they could end the game right now.
Which is exactly what I wanted.
After a few tweaks (yes, 15 armour was the correct choice), the VIP stopped being fragile and started being tempting. You couldn’t casually kill it - but you could absolutely ruin your own game trying.
Perfect.
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| Some Turrets |
I’ll be honest - the turrets were supposed to be background noise.
They were not background noise.
Turret control became a mini-game inside the scenario:
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Unmanned turrets annoyed people
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Manned turrets scared people
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High-gunnery pilots on turret duty became priority targets very fast
At one point I realised I’d created a situation where a lightly armoured Raven was more important than a heavy ’Mech. That’s not something that happens often in BattleTech, and I’m choosing to pretend it was intentional. It wasn't. Honest to god.
What Actually Decided Games (Hint: Not BV)
Across 2 games, a few patterns became very clear:
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The player who committed first usually did better
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The player who tried to do everything usually did worse
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Overkilling already-dead units happened more than I care to admit
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Light ’Mechs died heroically, stupidly, and often
Victory Points did their job quietly in the background. They rewarded:
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Pulling out damaged units
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Playing the objective
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Knowing when to stop
Which meant games ended because the story ended, not because the table was empty.
That’s a huge win in my book.
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| I think you're winning Dave... |
No. And I’m genuinely relieved about that.
There are sharp edges, sure:
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High-gunnery turret controllers are terrifying
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Narrow corridors can be exploited
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Assault ’Mechs can absorb frankly offensive amounts of punishment
But nothing ever felt unfair - just dangerous. And there’s a difference.
If anything, the scenario punishes hesitation more than bad luck, which feels very on brand for BattleTech.
What I Learned (And Will Steal for Next Time)
If there’s one big lesson from this, it’s this:
Objectives should fight back.
The VIP moved. The turrets mattered. Time mattered. Players had to react, not just optimise.
Second lesson:
Narrative happens whether you plan for it or not.
You just need to give it somewhere to live.
I also learned that swapping sides is essential. Playing both attacker and defender exposed problems far faster than theory ever could - and it stopped me blaming the scenario for my own terrible decisions.
Final Thoughts
Evacuation Under Fire isn’t perfect.
But it is interesting, stressful, cinematic, and replayable.
Most importantly:
Every game ended with us talking about what we’d do differently next time.
That’s why I design scenarios.
That’s why I keep learning.
And that’s why there will absolutely be more of these - whether my friends are ready for them or not.
Until next time. Hopefully I can get some PROPER board games on the table. See yah.
P.S. Thanks to Dave and the Classic and Everything Battletech Facebook pages for all their help, time and advice. We KILLED it!!
PEW PEW.
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