Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

[El Guapo]

Two SRM2 launchers sucks, though - you'll wind up dealing like 1 damage to the right leg, one damage to the left torso, one damage to the center torso, one damage to the right torso, etc. Mostly useless against mechs (except for the occasional crit / head shot, I suppose). I feel like the Quickdraw is probably the better mech.

edit: though I forgot that SRMs deal 2 damage apiece (right?) unlike LRMs. So that changes it a bit, though I still remember (from playing a long time ago) getting frustrated with SRM launchers smaller than SRM6s, and LRM launchers smaller than LRM20s.

Yeah, SRM/2s aren't the best SRMs ever. However, we've got a big stack of crates of SRM/2 inferno rounds sitting in a rented warehouse. Great against infantry, or if you want to heat up some enemy tanks or mechs. Or just set something on fire.

Really though, the Dervish is mostly about the LRMs.

Note that when you come up against a company of Saracens, each with three SRM/2 launchers apiece in a turret mount, they work just fine.

In general I'm not a huge fan of missiles - I tend to think of lasers (medium + large), PPCs, and autocannons as way more useful, since they focus the damage much more.

[Hyena]

Two SRM2 launchers sucks, though - you'll wind up dealing like 1 damage to the right leg, one damage to the left torso, one damage to the center torso, one damage to the right torso, etc. Mostly useless against mechs (except for the occasional crit / head shot, I suppose). I feel like the Quickdraw is probably the better mech.

edit: though I forgot that SRMs deal 2 damage apiece (right?) unlike LRMs. So that changes it a bit, though I still remember (from playing a long time ago) getting frustrated with SRM launchers smaller than SRM6s, and LRM launchers smaller than LRM20s.

Yeah, SRM/2s aren't the best SRMs ever. However, we've got a big stack of crates of SRM/2 inferno rounds sitting in a rented warehouse. Great against infantry, or if you want to heat up some enemy tanks or mechs. Or just set something on fire.

Really though, the Dervish is mostly about the LRMs.

Note that when you come up against a company of Saracens, each with three SRM/2 launchers apiece in a turret mount, they work just fine.

In general I'm not a huge fan of missiles - I tend to think of lasers (medium + large), PPCs, and autocannons as way more useful, since they focus the damage much more.

And no chance of ammo explosions removing limbs...

[El Guapo]

Two SRM2 launchers sucks, though - you'll wind up dealing like 1 damage to the right leg, one damage to the left torso, one damage to the center torso, one damage to the right torso, etc. Mostly useless against mechs (except for the occasional crit / head shot, I suppose). I feel like the Quickdraw is probably the better mech.

edit: though I forgot that SRMs deal 2 damage apiece (right?) unlike LRMs. So that changes it a bit, though I still remember (from playing a long time ago) getting frustrated with SRM launchers smaller than SRM6s, and LRM launchers smaller than LRM20s.

Yeah, SRM/2s aren't the best SRMs ever. However, we've got a big stack of crates of SRM/2 inferno rounds sitting in a rented warehouse. Great against infantry, or if you want to heat up some enemy tanks or mechs. Or just set something on fire.

Really though, the Dervish is mostly about the LRMs.

Note that when you come up against a company of Saracens, each with three SRM/2 launchers apiece in a turret mount, they work just fine.

In general I'm not a huge fan of missiles - I tend to think of lasers (medium + large), PPCs, and autocannons as way more useful, since they focus the damage much more.

And no chance of ammo explosions removing limbs...

Well, you still have ammo explosion risks with autocannons, and for the most part it's not wise to go full energy weapon due to heat issues. But autocannons are generally better as a ballistic weapon than missiles.

[Archinerd]

You can do a lot with an AC-20 & some medium lasers. That's what I'd always go for when I played table top. Nowadays I'm more drawn to the weird looking mechs with interesting lore/fluff than anything. IF I were to ever play TT again, I'd use the optional rules that add in all the quirks of each mech.

[gbasden]

It seems that the pirate hunting expedition isn't awful. I'm ambivalent, honestly. If there's anything productive we can do for a month, great. If not, I suppose blowing up some pirates isn't too horrid.

[Archinerd]

Is Space Netflix working again?

[Stefan Stirzaker]

I hope so! Davion Days of our Lives series 47 just got released!

[Madmarcus]

I'm partial to the Wolverine. The command and control fluff appeal to my tactical genius.

[NickAragua]

April 12, 3030

We've had about two months' worth of R&R (not including the interstellar transit time). After all is said and done, we currently have almost a battalion's worth of mechs (35 total), but only twenty three mechwarriors. I don't really want to grow the company too much beyond that currently. Our refits are just about done, the repairs finished. Everyone's out of the hospital who's going to get out of the hospital.

At the end of the day, an idle merc company is just burning money. The war is over (until the next one starts up), so we aren't expecting too much in the way of big profitable jobs. So, we take the pirate hunting contract. Our negotiators bring in a 10% signing bonus in addition to several other concessions, bringing the expected income to about 10.4M. It'll actually be even higher, since we're going with our usual plan of boxing up most of our mechs and renting a Mule. We'll be renting a single Leopard though, just in case somebody decides to screw with our landing zone. Sigh. Only another 200m to go before we can go shopping for our own Union (and then a Mule).

Spoiler:

Here's the current lineup. Lance assignments will wind up changing no doubt as mechs get beaten up and mechwarriors taken out of action. Or if I decide to reshuffle lance assignments to optimize weight loadout.

We receive our briefing packets and head off to Glentworth to undertake Operation Forgotten Crown.

Spoiler:

For reference, Terra is to the north. We're heading to the southwestern end of Federated Suns space. It's right on the border with what remains of the Capellan Confederation. While the Capellans got their asses kicked pretty hard in the last war, the Federated Suns haven't quite finished consolidating their hold on their newly acquired territories. So, we're going to fill the gap. Our liaison informs us that there's a fairly sizeable and well-funded separatist movement (because of course there is) and our job is to a) defend local production facilities and b) find and destroy their strongholds. We'll be on contract for three months, so this will be a good chance to "shake down" our expanded mech and mechwarrior roster.

Epsilon lance goes in with the Leopard to secure the landing zone, then the Mule follows. As of May 27th, we're on planet. The Federated Suns guys give us clearance and nobody messes with our landing zone, so we're able to deploy our mechs and set up our base. It's no dedicated mech maintenance facility, but we have warehouses and spare parts. And, our employer even threw in access to the HPG, so we can get the latest soaps from Solaris.

We don't have too long to wait. Under the cover of rain, Delta Lance detects a reinforced company of tanks, mostly tracks, making a pass at one of the facilities we're supposed to be defending. It's... a lot of Vedettes. Eleven of them, to be exact. With a few of other miscellaneous tracked vehicles and hovercraft for support. Sensors also show a lance of light mechs slightly separated from the main body of tanks. We confirm with the liaison (a guy in a crappy Shadow Hawk) that they're hostile. Wouldn't want to shoot up some friendlies by accident.

Beta lance is in the area as well, so we're really going to put the hurt on these guys.

Delta is Archinerd in a Dervish, a Quickdraw, Madmarcus in Gbasden's old Wolverine, a Thunderbolt and Cylus Maxii in a Phoenix Hawk.
Beta is Zenn7 in the Awesome, LordMortis in a Hunchback, a Centurion, a Griffin and Xwraith Mk III in a Phoenix Hawk.

Best part about this? Normal gravity. The sheer joy of our faster mech pilots can't be understated. Imagine, a Phoenix Hawk moving at 6/9/6 instead of a crappy 5/8/5 with a risk of crunching leg structure after each jump. So nice. Archinerd waits until the enemy tanks enter a hilly area then gives the command to let 'er rip. Unfortunately for them, a deluge has turned the area into a total mud bath. Our mechs can get out of the mud in a pinch, their tanks are hosed.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

We advance, they advance. Well, their hovercraft advance. Their tread-heads are stuck in the mud a few hundred meters back. Our Thunderbolt makes good use of its multi-trac system to fire a large laser at the approaching Maxim and LRMs at the Saracen. It's all for show though, the only thing we or they kill is mud.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

We continue taking some minor autocannon and LRM fire, but it all whiffs. the Quickdraw scores the first hit of the fight, with a medium laser on the Saracen. Then, Archinerd fires off his dual LRM/10 launchers. Only six missiles hit, but it's enough to get the Saracen to dip into the mud and get permanently stuck there. Faced with the prospect of six mechs (remember our liaison is here) turning their guns on it, the crew very quickly scampers out.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

Oh man, you know what's great? Being able to fire up the jump jets at full power. Whoosh! We hop up, attempting to close with the enemy units. Our liaison takes some LRM and autocannon fire, but he's fine. Meanwhile, to the south, Archinerd turns his mech sideways as the Maxim dodges around Cylus Maxii's lasers, and fires off his short range weapons. The medium lasers both whiff, but two SRMs hit. And how. Straight up the air intake. The vehicle shudders and spits about half its engine into the mud, then splashes to the ground. Guess SRMs aren't too bad.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

We jump toward the eastern flank, intending to take out the smaller cluster of enemy tanks there before breaking west to the big group. The results of firing are pretty disappointing - we take a few autocannon rounds while missing completely.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

We hop in closer and let rip. We score a good number of hits, but nothing serious.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

As the enemy mech lance arrives, Archinerd is forced to take a knee after getting hit with a bunch of autocannon rounds, breaching the right arm. He does manage to blow through the enemy Commando's right torso. Madmarcus engages the enemy Scorpion and Vedette to some effect, while our liaison doesn't do so well against the Hetzer, taking a laser to the head.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

Archinerd falls back, although he's pursued by the Ostscout. He fires at the Commando, blasting off the right torso with an SRM, but nearly loses an arm to a Locust's medium laser. To the east, Madmarcus disables a Vedette by cutting through some armor with the large laser, then sending SRM/6s into the breach, destroying enough treads and wheels to make the tank immobile. The Thunderbolt and Quickdraw each take a leg off the enemy Commando. The poor mech just plops into the ground as a torso. Cylus Maxii hops up behind a Locust, firing off some lasers, then ripping the left arm off with a foot. The mech overcompensates for the damage and falls backwards.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Beta lance arrives from the west. The poor scrub Locust that Cylus Maxii knocked down can't get up from the mud, and the mechwarrior eventually blacks out. Cylus Maxii and the Quickdraw fire up their jump jets and get "stuck in", landing in the middle of the large pile of Vedettes. Cylus Maxii runs a medium laser along a Vedette's flank, causing the treads to slip off. The Thunderbolt intercepts the second enemy Locust as it runs east, kicking off the left leg. 20-ton bug mech pro tip: don't be directly in front of a 70-ton heavy. The mechwarrior blacks out as he tries to get his mech up off the ground.

To the east, Madmarcus finishes off the Scorpion, rendering it immobile and smoking with an armor breach. Our liaison finishes off his target Hetzer, cutting through the last of the armor and into the internals with a medium laser.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

Things get a little ugly. Zenn7 blows a Vedette's engine out, while the Quickdraw cuts through a different Vedette's armor and exposed motive elements before sending a four-pack of SRMs into the tank, blowing it to bits. Cylus Maxii's laser finds its way through a weak spot in the nearby Goblin's armor. The damage appears superficial, but it fries two of the crewmen inside.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

The Vedette formation starts to come apart. Zenn7 blows away another Vedette. LordMortis closes in and blasts the Goblin with the AC/20, following up the armor breach with a pair of medium lasers to carve the tank to ribbons. The Thunderbolt breaches armor on another Vedette, shrugging off the return fire. Cylus Maxii hops over to another pair of tanks, cutting through the left side armor of one with the laser and removing the engine block. Archinerd manages to dodge the Ostscout's kick, and then the lighter mech scampers off.

The rest of the tanks retreat. Very slowly, tossing mud everywhere. Our salvage crews grab the pair of Locusts and the Commando (25 tons is a pretty unusual weight for a mech), leaving the crap tanks for our employers. They're probably going to bolster the local planetary militia. That way, when the next group of mercs comes by with their heavy mechs, they can have some crappy tanks to stomp on.

We hand over the captured enemy personnel for a 107k bonus. I know, awfully specific, but the local Davion guys have this weird pay scale that depends on whether the guy drove a tank or a mech (or was on foot), the phase of moon when the guy was captured, how many ribbons he has on his left chest, etc. After we fix the Locusts up, the local militia guys offer us 1.5M to take the Locusts off our hands. That's a deal.

Other good part about this contract is that our employer has negotiated access to spare parts. So, even though the right arm came off of Archinerd's mech after taking a few too many lasers and AC/5 rounds, we can get a replacement.

[LordMortis]

I got my ride back!

[Archinerd]

Delta is Archinerd in a Dervish and a Quickdraw, Madmarcus in Gbasden's old Wolverine, a Thunderbolt and Cylus Maxii in a Phoenix Hawk.
Beta is Zenn7 in the Awesome, LordMortis in a Hunchback, a Centurion, a Griffin and Xwraith Mk III in a Phoenix Hawk.

Good move, just put me in both!

[xwraith]

Lets see if I can avoid becoming the Sean Bean of the unit.

[Hyena]

Lets see if I can avoid becoming the Sean Bean of the unit.

[NickAragua]

June 6, 3030
As Alpha Lance sweeps through a wooded sector of our operational area to investigate some unexpected sensor contacts, they're ambushed by two lances of heavy tanks. Where the "pirates" got a lance of Rhinos and other military-grade heavy and assault tanks is a mystery, but one we will have to solve afterwards.

To make matters worse, sensors also show a lance of light mechs and a flight of aerotechs closing in. We send in our own air support.

Alpha is Gbasden in his "brand new" Awesome, Paingod in the Shadow Hawk, Isgrimnur in the Vindicator, Freyland in the Quickdraw and Stefan in the Vulcan. The Liaison is a guy (or a girl? it's kind of hard to tell) in a Wolverine 6R.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

They really got us good. At this point, we might as well close in to knife range. If we can take out that Demolisher quickly, we have a good chance as they're mostly LRM-equipped units. Gbasden takes his first shots from the Awesome at a Rhino, scoring two hits but failing to breach armor. He takes a bunch of LRMs but remains standing. Stefan hops up to the Behemoth. While he somehow manages to fail to set the nearby woods on fire, he does zap it with a medium laser, locking up the turret. Isgrimnur lights up the woods in the middle of the tank formation. Our liaison scores some weapon hits then his foot glances off the 100-ton Behemoth's armor and he falls over. Idiot.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

Isgrimnur's fire melts a medium laser off the front of a Manticore, so that's pretty good. The liaison has a lot of trouble getting up, falling over a full three times before finally struggling to his feet. He takes a beating from SRMs and whatever else but remains standing, even managing to plant a boot on one of the Behemoth's SRM/6 launchers, putting it out of action. Our weapons score quite a few hits, but no armor breaches. These are tough customers.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

"I shouldn't have to say it, but stay the hell out of the lit-up areas." Gbasden reminds the crew. The enemy aircraft buzz us, targeting Freyland and Paingod. Gbasden and Isgrimnur pile PPC fire into a Rhino, with Isgrimnur's PPC finding its way into the engine compartment. The vehicle issues a loud *thump* and shuts down. Freyland dodges two AC/20 shots and opens up with lasers and SRMs on the Demolisher, with the SRMs inflicting a lot of motive damage and knocking the crew around.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

Gbasden has had enough LRMs for a bit and displaces. Isgrimnur is a lot harder to hit for some reason, avoiding a total of maybe 90 or so. We score some more hits but inflict only superficial motive damage.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Our air support arrives for a pass on the enemy units. Freyland targets the Bulldog skulking around to the south, inflicting the death of a thousand cuts by applying lasers to its flanks. Individually the damage is superficial, but the tank's last move leaves a lot of loose parts on the ground and it grinds to a halt. Stefan drills through the Demolisher's weakened left side, a laser damaging the engine. Then the aircraft come in and torch the tank entirely. As it turns out, when you blow both the fuel tank and four tons of AC/20 ammo, not much remains. We can hear muted grumbling through the comlink about "kill stealing flyboys". The Manticore and Behemoth take a bit of a pounding as well, while the Rhinos remain mostly unscathed.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Even though we can see them on sensors, it's still kind of annoying when the pirate mech lance shows up just as we start getting a handle on the tanks. Gbasden and Isgrimnur combine fire on another Rhino, breaching the armor and disabling what's left of its motive system. The enemy mechs hop around but their weapons fire isn't very effective. Stefan and the liaison open fire on the Behemoth, with Stefan's foot rattling the vehicle hard enough to disorient the crew.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

We continue working on the enemy tanks while the mechs hop around and fire ineffectually. The Behemoth's armor is almost gone, so that's good. Paingod grabs a fairly large and sturdy-looking tree and whacks the nearby Jenner in the right arm, knocking it off. He takes a kick from the Spider but remains standing. Stefan breaches the Behemoth's rear armor, then the liaison sticks a foot in there and roots around, destroying the vehicle.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Gbasden opens up on the enemy Javelin hopping about, taking off the left leg with a PPC. The smaller mech topples over. Isgrimnur takes a bunch of LRMs and SRMs from the Rhino across the river and the nearby Panther respectively. He retaliates with a boot, forcing the squat mech to an underwater knee. Stefan damages the leg on the enemy Jenner, although it remains upright.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

The legged Javelin attempts to get up, but slips and falls awkwardly on its side, cracking the engine shielding. Whoops! The enemy Jenner hops east and eats two PPCs, breaching the armor on left and right torso. Stefan then walks up from behind and breaches the rear torso armor several times. The mech can't take the punishment and falls over. Freyland engages the Spider that lands next door, hitting with lasers. Gbasden boots the Panther in the center torso as it gets up from the knee, sending a wave of heat out as the engine takes a big puff. Paingod hops over and boots a nearby Rhino, immobilizing it. Stefan follows up the damage to the Jenner by putting a foot down on the left torso, breaking it, and the arm, off. Along with the center torso SRM/4 launcher.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

The enemy force beats a retreat. Gbasden boots the head off the Panther as it throws a parting punch at his foot, causing the mech to sink to the water. That'll be annoying to get out. Isgrimnur stomps on the Javelin's right missile rack to discourage the legless mech from twitching and firing its SRMs. The Jenner catches a boot from the liaison, losing a leg actuator and falling over.

The Spider and Jenner manage to escape, as do the remaining Rhino and Manticore. We claim the headless Panther and legged Javelin for salvage, and strip the armor off one of the Rhinos. The local planetary militia is going to be super happy about getting the other Rhinos and Bulldog. Well, the Rhinos anyway, the Bulldog kind of sucks. The Javelin, Panther and Rhino go on the market for about 4m c-bills after we strip off the armor and fix up the internal structure. Much easier to maintain our own units' armor if we don't have to wait for shipping.

We also spend some time asking questions of the guys we pulled out of the vehicle wrecks. Such as "where's your base" and "how many more assault tanks do you have up your sleeve". Between that and examining the nav systems on the captured enemy units, we figure out a few things. Then we hand them over to our liaison's people for about 100k bonus.

[Isgrimnur]

Isgrimnur is a lot harder to hit for some reason, avoiding a total of maybe 90 or so

[LordMortis]

<3 <3 <3

That is my favorite cartoon of all time. I can't help by smile when it comes up. How many cartoons did that bear and park ranger do?

[Isgrimnur]

Per Wiki, the bear was in seven theatrical cartoons with one more cameo. J. Audubon Woodlore was in five theatrical cartoons.

[LordMortis]

[Stefan Stirzaker]

You have to wait on armour shipments? Space amazon doesnt have same day delivery on armour >500 tons?

[NickAragua]

Heh, depends on where you are. If you're on (let's say) on a hostile planet deep in enemy territory or some random periphery dump where the biggest industry is water wheels, chances are Amazon doesn't have a command circuit set up to where you are. So, we're looking at a couple of weeks or even months, even for a bulk delivery. Although, if you think about it, the amount of ammo and armor we use, would probably pay for it.

And even if the wait is a short 2d6 + 1 - (how good your logistics guy is) days for on-planet delivery, you still have to pay for armor from the factory. Meanwhile, you disable a random tank and strip the armor off, that's enough armor to patch up most battle damage.

[Archinerd]

Thank god for universal armor bits and pieces.

[gbasden]

Did the people we captured shed any light on why pirates have 100ton death tanks?

[Hyena]

Did the people we captured shed any light on why pirates have 100ton death tanks?

Got 'em from the last group of suckers that tried to "liberate" this planet?

[Archinerd]

No, seriously guys. Thank God for the universal armor or he will smite us with the Holy Long Tom.

[Paingod]

Does this mean I could wear a tank turret like a hat? I'd like to wear a tank turret like a hat.

[Isgrimnur]

Does this mean I could wear a tank turret like a hat? I'd like to wear a tank turret like a hat.

There was a typo on the work order. You have been given a tank tread as a hat.

[NickAragua]

May 17, 3030
Our questioning of the captives yields some useful information. The location of a staging area and supply base out in the desert to the south, for one. They're fairly tight-lipped about where they got the assault tanks. Could be stolen from the local militia, or salvaged after another battle. Or brought in from off-world, this planet isn't exactly the most secure or covered by sensors. This isn't high-stakes enough that we want to violate Ares conventions, so we arrange with our St. Ives liaison to hand them over to the local Davion militia and call it a day.

Now, for that staging area. We count twenty eight tanks of various kinds (a mixture of hovercraft, Vedettes, Hunters and other light tanks), as well as two mechs: a Crab and a Griffin. We bring in Epsilon lance - Lt. Scrub in the Warhammer, Hyena in his "brand new" Striker, El Guapo in the Rifleman 3C and one of our NPC warriors in a Grasshopper. Our Wolverine liaison buddy is back as well. Air support is two Lucifers with ten cluster bombs each.

As a reminder, the Striker is a 4/6, 80 ton mech, packs an AC/10, a PPC and three medium lasers. The Rifleman 3C is also a 4/6, but 60 tons, bringing two AC/10s and two medium lasers to the party.

When we approach, a lance of the tanks and two mechs are out on patrol, so we'll have some time before they respond.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

We advance. The Warhammer drops into a small pond to cool off from the upcoming PPC firing, but whiffs both PPCs. El Guapo lets rip with the AC/10s at a Hetzer emerging from the town, mangling the front of the vehicle, causing it to nose down into the sand. The helicopter fires at the Warhammer but hits water, while the liaison Wolverine sets a nearby planted field on fire for some smoke cover. Some of our other units try to do the same, but, for being in the desert at 30 degrees celsius, we sure have trouble setting things on fire.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

A couple of Saladins come around the east flank, while other hovercraft zip around the west - we've got our work cut out for us: take those out, or we're eating AC/20s and PPCs for the next couple of minutes. It goes pretty badly for us, El Guapo takes an AC/20 round to the left torso, breaching the armor there while the Wolverine gets knocked on his ass as we whiff way too many shots.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

We're going to need that air support soon for sure, before those guys get out of the town and swarm us. More than they already have. Hyena and the Warhammer combine fire on a Saladin, blowing away armor and air ducts. It kicks up a nice cloud as it settles into the sand. The Wolverine gets nailed again by a whole bunch of PPC and LRM fire and this time the pilot blacks out.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

A Saladin zips up and takes off the Wolverine's left leg with the AC/20. El Guapo stays in the smoke and targets one of the Scorpion tanks firing at the Wolverine, blowing all the armor away with the AC/10s, then zapping the exposed fuel tank with a medium laser. Before going up in smoke, the Scorpion fires off one last SRM salvo at the Wolverine, along with a burst from the machine gun. The Wolverine's SRM ammo explodes, so we really see a lot of fireworks this round. To add insult to injury, our Grasshopper fails to kick a J.Edgar hover tank zipping by, falling on its ass.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Hyena lines up the AC/10 and PPC at the nearby Saladin and whiffs with both, but manages to land a medium laser on the right side, cutting off the armor and hover skirt there. The hovercraft tilts to the side and thumps into the sand. Maybe the missed shots were due to the large volume of incoming fire that forced his Striker to a knee. El Guapo opens up on a nearby Hunter, blasting away the armor on the right side with the AC/10s, then cutting into the internals with the medium laser. The on-board machine gun throws out sparks, and the tank's crew begin an expeditious retreat. Overall though, we're taking a lot of damage and need to turn this around. Setting fires in the area for some smoke cover will help a little bit.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

We finally nail that annoying LRM-toting Striker tank - the Warhammer lines up some PPCs and blasts the tank's left side as it fires on El Guapo, breaching armor and the fuel tank, sending debris sky high. El Guapo nails an LTV-4, stitching holes across the left side with the autocannons. The crew are quick to abandon the smoking, immobile vehicle. Hyena takes a mix of autocannon, laser and SRM fire, falling to the ground.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

Our air support arrives, just in time. This should work out super, as the enemy tanks have picked this moment to pile up closer to one another as they swarm our mechs - making themselves great targets for cluster bombs. Our aircraft are brutally effective, destroying or disabling a total of nine tanks with a single bombing run. El Guapo contributes to the party by blowing through the right side of a Vedette with the autocannons, plastering the engine and knocking the crew around. Hyena breaches armor on a nearby Scorpion that's harrassing him with lasers, while the Grasshopper nearly loses an arm to a PPC, but takes out a neighboring Scorpion by detonating the fuel tank.

This does wonders for enemy morale, as the remaining enemy units (of which there aren't many) rapidly disengage and retreat. Our sensors also show the enemy mech patrol, which was just about due to join the battle, peeling off as well. Hyena sends a Vedette on its way by delivering a boot to the main gun, causing it to jam.

The St. Ives guys aren't too happy about the loss of their mechwarrior. The poor guy got obliterated in the ammo explosion - there wasn't even a body left for burial. Just a single mech leg.

We claim an LTV-4 tank for salvage, mostly to strip the armor, while our employer gets the rest. There isn't as much as usual, because of our unusual effectiveness in targeting their fuel tanks. Well, maybe if they stopped strapping them to the outside of the vehicle, they wouldn't be such tempting targets. After we strip the armor and fix up the motive system, we sell it to the local planetary militia. 320k C-Bills isn't too shabby and just about covers our ammo and armor expenses for the mission. Our employer also pays us 187k for handing over the prisoners we captured. No higherups, unfortunately (they were probably driving the mechs that peeled off).

[NickAragua]

May 24, 3030
"This is SIMC dropship Stinging Crane. We have been forced down by enemy fighters and require immediate assistance."

"This is Octopus Overlords, Beta Lance leader. We are en route to your position. What's your status?"

"Our mech bay doors got jammed up in the crash, so we only got one mech out. Sensors show a lance of enemy medium mechs, three lances of tanks, and two light mechs. Weapons are operational and our landing gear is fine, so we can move around, but this isn't exactly smooth terrain."

"Understood. We'll be there in ten."

Beta lance: Zenn7 in the Awesome, LordMortis in the Hunchback, Xwraith in a Phoenix Hawk and two NPCs, one in a Centurion, one in a Griffin. The allied dropship (a Leopard) got a Phoenix Hawk out of one of its bays, but the rest are jammed up. Not to worry, we've got our two Lucifer's on station to provide air support, which is just as well, since the pirates are bringing a Sabre and two Sparrowhawks to continue to harass the allied dropship. We get there just in time to set up around it as the pirate force approaches from the east.

"... and I'm just saying that I've yet to meet a dropship crewman who wasn't off his rocker." grumbles one of our mechwarriors.
"Are you still bitter about that one guy that kept following you around offering to 'fill the void'?" replies another.
"I'm still bitter about the two privates who didn't clear the comms and got docked a month's pay." LordMortis decides to put an end to the discussion.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

We take up positions slightly in front of the Leopard. The terrain is slightly mountainous but completely unobstructed. We're out of range for the most part, except for an 11+ LRM/10 shot.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

We advance a bit with our lighter units, to give ourselves some room to fall back. The opfor uses a gully to the east for cover for their tanks, and probes forward with a couple of hovercraft and a Phoenix Hawk. We engage at long range, exchanging PPCs, LRMs and long range autocannon fire. Our Griffin nails the Maxim directly in the front with the PPC, causing it to plow into the dirt. Some infantry scamper out the back. Zenn7 scores a PPC hit on the approaching Condor, while the allied Phoenix Hawk takes some SRMs from the Maxim before it hits the dirt.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

We hop back a little. The pirates stick together and advance northwest, using the hills for cover. We get buzzed by a couple of Sparrhowhawks, firing their medium and small lasers at LordMortis, who also takes a large laser from a Phoenix Hawk. Zenn7 does a little anti-aircraft work, blasting one with a PPC and knocking out a small laser. Well, every little bit helps. The rest of weapons fire is pretty ineffective.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

The opfor is actually being pretty clever, they're staying back at AC/2 and AC/5 range for the most part. The Condor learns a valuable lesson about moving around directly in front of a Hunchback. Well, it would have, but LordMortis took an AC/20 and two medium lasers to the turret - the AC/20 clears off the armor, the first laser knocks off the main gun, and the second laser carves up the interior. Zenn7 fires PPCs at a distant Vedette that strayed too close, melting the armor off the front entirely, exposing the crew to a fresh breeze. The Griffin also hits it with a few LRMs, reinforcing to the crew the suggestion that they should go elsewhere.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

The allied Phoenix Hawk puts himself to work, hopping over and raking machine gun fire over the infantry squad huddling around the incomign Wolverine. The enemy mech gets a lot of splatter. Xwraith (Mk III) hops over to a Vedette trying to sneak around the north side of the hill, kicking it while zapping another one pretty hard with the large laser. Our Griffin follows up with a flight of LRMs, breaching the tank's armor entirely and getting a little into the internals. The rest of weapons fire is disappointingly ineffective from our end (I'm fine with most of the enemy shots missing), although a few autocannon rounds and LRMs connect with the dropship for little effect.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

We get buzzed by a Sabre - Zenn7 "cools off" by firing two PPCs at it, with one hit stripping most armor off the right wing. LordMortis and our Griffin score some hits on the enemy Trebuchet, while the Leopard helps with some LRMs and zaps the armor off a stray Vedette with the large laser. The Trebuchet can't stay up right under the barrage and falls face first. Xwraith hops forward briefly to engage some Vedettes and boot one but scores no kills.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

Our air support comes in, chasing after those annoying Sparrowhawks. The Trebuchet winds up being a little bit alone, so LordMortis zaps it with a pair of lasers, while Xwraith strips the armor off with a boot. Our Centurion takes a few medium lasers from the enemy Hetzer, losing the AC/10. Then, the enemy Wolverine fires off a salvo of SRMs, with a couple of lucky missiles finding their way through the right torso armor and detonating the AC/10 ammo. The multiple laser hits from the Sparrowhawk don't even matter at this point. The smaller fighter pays the price for gawking, as one of our Lucifers nails it in the rear with lasers, damaging the engine. The aircraft shudders as the pilot loses altitude while trying to regain control.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Zenn7 takes the right arm off the struggling enemy Trebuchet with a PPC. LordMortis contributes some medium lasers, and the mech goes to the ground again, this time on its back, breaching its rear torso armor. As it goes down, the allied Phoenix Hawk stomps on the right leg, taking it off. The only other successes on our end are our Lucifers scoring some hits on those Sparrowhawks.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

As Xwraith jumps in to try to boot an enemy Wolverine in the head, Zenn7 clears the way for him by blowing away a Vedette. Xwraith takes a front load of SRMs but sticks the landing despite multiple SRMs to the dome. He dings his head pretty hard though and is unable to land the kick. LordMortis turns his AC/20 on the Vedette that drives up to him, blasting off the armor, then finishing it off with a medium laser through the interior. Our Lucifers, having temporarily driven off the enemy aircraft, turn their attention to ground targets. One of them breaches a Vedette's armor with large lasers, then gently caresses the fuel tank with a small laser. The Leopard opens fire on the troublesome laser Hetzer, annihilating it in a storm of PPC and LRM fire.

Having lost their vehicular padding, the enemy mechs and remaining tanks pull back. Except the Trebuchet. We "politely encourage" the mechwarrior to stop trying to get up with only one working arm and leg. I guess our Centurion mechwarrior is now going to be driving a Trebuchet. Within a few hours, the Leopard gets its mech and aero bays unjammed and the rest of its mech lance deployed, so Beta lance heads home, dragging a legless Trebuchet behind them. The militia gets some beat-up Vedettes and a Maxim. Xwraith will be out of action for nearly a month and a half with a concussion. We reassign the former Centurion pilot to a spare Phoenix Hawk and bring in a Vindicator from the reserves to fill out Beta lance.

We're running a bit low on armor, so our admin guys go to work to see if we can rustle some spare armor up from the local militia. We even get ahold of a 50-ton mech leg to fix up the Trebuchet. Delivery time is a week though, as they have to ship it across the planet.

[NickAragua]

July 1, 3030
While our techs put the Trebuchet back together, it appears that our destruction of the "pirate" staging area and rescue of the St. Ives dropship just pissed them off. On the plus side, the St. Ives guys really come through on the intel angle and we get a detailed breakdown of the incoming enemy forces and where they're coming from. We get a detailed, real-time satellite feed on the enemy forces thanks to an old Star-League era weather satellite, and elect to stage a defense-in-depth. There are two large groups of enemy units, all hovercraft, light/medium tanks and light/medium mechs. Both are rolling at top speed towards a factory that makes myomer bundles for industrial mechs. We'll have one lance engage each enemy force further out from the factory to thin their numbers out, then we'll have a secondary lance on backup a little closer to the factory to finish off whoever breaks through. Beta and Alpha lance are positioned to the north. Beta will get first crack, then Alpha mops up the leftovers. To the south are Epsilon and Delta. Seems like a great plan, and if we pull it off we'll really have put the hurt on these guys.

Except the satellite data turns out to be lagging by over a minute, so both Beta and Epsilon are out of position and gets the unenviable task of chasing down a bunch of light units who get a nice, long head start. Beta lance is Zenn7 in the Awesome, LordMortis in the Hunchback, and NPCs in a a Griffin, a Vindicator and a Phoenix Hawk. Our Phoenix Hawk buddy from the dropship mission has been assigned as a liaison as well. The pirate units have a seventy second head start. Well, at least we've got two Phoenix Hawks and a Griffin to chase them down. Our air support is commited to the southern approach to counter enemy aircraft there, so it's up to the ground-pounders.

This particular group is a mixed grab bag of light and medium units. A lot of APCs, meaning they probably intend to capture the factory. Forty different units total, which is pretty impressive. At least it's mostly light mechs and low-powered crap.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

We are badly out of position. A few enemy hovercraft appear to have suffered "tree-related malfunctions", while the Hetzer appears to be lost. Well, that's unfortunate for it, as LordMortis comes up from behind and lets rip with the AC/20 and all lasers. The AC/20 tears into the self-propelled gun, peeling off the entirety of the left-side armor and blasting into the engine compartment, then a medium laser torches the fuel tank. He does take about fifteen SRMs, cratering his armor all around, but stabilizes his mech and keeps moving.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Our Phoenix Hawks crest the hill, firing their lasers at a Scorpion that's fallen behind. Tread damage slows the vehicle down further, making it unlikely that it'll be joining the attack on the factory.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

Our heavier units come over the first hill. We take some return fire, including our Phoenix Hawk catching a PPC to the right arm from an LTV-4 hovertank. Our Griffin polishes off the damaged Scorpion with its PPC, while the St. Ives liaison targets the other Scorpion for some minor armor and blowthrough damage.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

Zenn7 climbs on top of the first hill and fires PPCs at a distant Vedette. Two hit the tank's front armor, melting it off completely. The second straggler Scorpion takes a PPC from the Griffin and a bunch of medium lasers from the allied Phoenix Hawk, which then cracks the light tank open with a foot.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

Zenn7 might be a good shot even when the cockpit temperature approaches the boiling point of water, but his mech still moves like a slug when overheated. Since the point of this mission is *movement*, he winds up having to cool off by firing only two PPCs. He lands a hit on a distant APC, giving it a flat tire. As our lighter units approach the second hill, a couple of the "mobility challenged" enemy units open fire, despite being stuck in the bushes. We take some AC/5 fire, and LordMortis has had enough, so he disintegrates the Condor with the AC/20. Our Phoenix Hawk dodges some sporadic fire, but the effort prevents her from landing any shots herself.

Round 12:

Spoiler:

Our lighter units catch up with the slower bulk of the enemy force. Our Vindicator finishes off an enemy Saladin stuck in the woods, just to keep it from turning its AC/20 on us as we pass it. Between it and LordMortis' lasers, they also manage to start a fire.

Round 13:

Spoiler:

We continue pursuit. LordMortis eats some LRMs from a distant Hunter, while our Phoenix Hawk loses armor in the other arm after taking an AC/5 burst. The woods she's taking cover in also get set on fire. She delivers a laser and a boot to a nearby Vedette, but the armor holds.

Round 14:

Spoiler:

Zenn7 clambers on top of the second hill and nails a heavy APC, stripping armor from the front. Our Griffin opens up on a Vedette, damaging the treads with a PPC shot and some LRMs. The allied Phoenix Hawk continues working on the already damaged nearby Vedette, putting holes into the wheels with a burst from the machine gun, then hitting the AC/5 main gun hard enough that the loading mechanism jams.

Round 15:

Spoiler:

Zenn7 breaches armor on a Vedette, giving the crew a serious case of static shock. Our Phoenix Hawk then cores it out with a large laser. Our Griffin slows down a Vedette by cracking some wheels and the treads with an LRM salvo. The allied Phoenix Hawk chases after an armored, wheeled APC, punching through the front armor with medium lasers, then blasting the front of the vehicle apart with a machine gun burst. The infantry platoon it was carrying spills out. We'll need to either steer clear or annihilate them quickly - they're carrying flamers, which isn't great for heat-sensitive mechs like the Phoenix Hawks and Griffin.

Round 16:

Spoiler:

Long-range sensors count at least fourteen enemy units have hit clear ground beyond our range. We need to clear out more of these guys, or Alpha is going to have a hell of a time stopping them. We try our best - Zenn7 breaches armor on a Vedette, then LordMortis destroys the ground around it with the AC/20 but cores it out with a medium laser blast. We take a few minor SRM hits and inflict a little more damage but nothing critical.

Round 17:

Spoiler:

LordMortis spares a few lasers for the flamer platoon as he runs by. Frying individual infantry is pretty easy, just inefficient. We exchange some fire with the enemy force - they get in a few hits, we get in a few hits.

Round 18:

Spoiler:

Zenn7 blows apart the Maxim that's stuck in the woods but still firing at our mechs. It doesn't really add anything long term, but not getting shot at by SRM and LRM volleys is nice. Our Phoenix Hawks are getting a bit beat up, so I pull them back. We don't need to be losing mechs here.

Round 19:

With our heavier units caught up, we make one last push, although it's not looking too good. A mistake - our Phoenix Hawk loses the right arm to a mass of SRMs and medium lasers from the enemy Trebuchet. We score basically one large laser hit on a galleon, damaging one of the tires.

Round 20:

Spoiler:

LordMortis catches up a little bit, blasting the trailing Galleon apart with the AC/20. The rest of our fire whiffs, and the rest of the enemy force continues to Alpha's position.

We only destroyed a little over a quarter of the enemy strength - twelve units. The enemy infantry platoons disperse into the surrounding woods, and we don't even bother calling in for salvage - let the employer have these wrecks. Alpha is going to have a hell of a fight on their hands: two lances of light mechs (with a single medium) and a bunch of APCs and hovercraft.

As an aside, anybody in for another GM-ed game? It's not going to be a search and rescue this time!

[Isgrimnur]

Always.

[El Guapo]

Definitely.

[Hyena]

Is this GM's game in the other gaming forum, and dealing with this scenario, or is that something else entirely? I'm game if invited!

As an aside, how much of the setup and info/details of battle is from the game, and how much of this is straight from your imagination? If the former, that's pretty cool, and if the latter, I'm truly impressed. I loved the little things, like the sat feed is a minute delayed, and that's why we're out of place when the shit hits the fan.

Either way, I'm really enjoying this, even when I'm not in a mech blasting off torsos.

[NickAragua]

Is this GM's game in the other gaming forum, and dealing with this scenario, or is that something else entirely? I'm game if invited!

As an aside, how much of the setup and info/details of battle is from the game, and how much of this is straight from your imagination? If the former, that's pretty cool, and if the latter, I'm truly impressed. I loved the little things, like the sat feed is a minute delayed, and that's why we're out of place when the shit hits the fan.

Either way, I'm really enjoying this, even when I'm not in a mech blasting off torsos.

MekHQ generates the contracts, scenarios and opposing forces. It also determines what units we can salvage after a battle, what mechwarriors are available for hire, etc. Basically, it does all the book keeping. Megamek obviously handles all the game mechanics of the tactical battles.

The storyline is of my own making. At some point, I got bored of repeatedly fighting "destroy 50% of enemy force" scenarios with no context, so I wanted to jazz it up a little by trying to explain why a particular lance is fighting a particular battle, and why we're on this random dirt ball in the first place. Makes it about 1000% more fun (for me, anyway).

As for the GM'd scenario yeah, that's the "GM-ed Battletech" threads in the other forum. Basically, each participant takes control of one or more mechs and takes them through a scenario with me playing the op-for. To make it easier to collect orders and for me to keep sane, the opfor totally loses initiative, meaning they move first. Then, everyone posts their orders ("move mech A to hex B, fire at target C (and D), kick target E"). I'll occasionally adjust the orders for legality or ask for clarification. Then, I process the turn and we go around again until the scenario is complete one way or the other. Usually, we wind up cranking through one turn a day.

Other than that, it's standard Battletech rules ("Total Warfare") with some minor stuff from "Tactical Operations" thrown in (such as the ability to set things on fire, take a knee, etc).

[Hyena]

That's impressive on all fronts, sir. Well played.

Literally.

As for the forum game, I would love to do that, and in fact was involved in a D&D game that died a lonesome and sad death after about three battles, but I don't have the time to invest that I once did. If only there was a gaming group near me in San Antonio that I could join up with to scratch that itch... But alas, I'll just have to stick with BattleTech when it comes out...um..."early this year?"

[NickAragua]

You sure? It's rare that a scenario lasts more than 15 turns, and you only need to order around a few mechs per turn.

[Zenn7]

Haven't had a chance to read this thread in a week or two. We finally made it off that hellhole! I kicked ass at the end. Obviously need to explain to my minions how to kick ass and not die better (step 1 - get a an assault mech...)

I find it extremely amusing that I, a mere LT jg get paid twice what our company commander gets paid. Since Gbadsen's now in an Awesome too though, I take every opportunity to explain to him how hotter is better and the value of shooting birds with PPCs and other such valuable tactical insights.

I also challenge him to shooting competitions whenever possible.

[gbasden]

I'm totally in for the GM'd game.

[gbasden]

I find it extremely amusing that I, a mere LT jg get paid twice what our company commander gets paid. Since Gbadsen's now in an Awesome too though, I take every opportunity to explain to him how hotter is better and the value of shooting birds with PPCs and other such valuable tactical insights.

I also challenge him to shooting competitions whenever possible.

It's fine. Whenever I think about it, I just assign you to latrine duty in order to restore my inner zen.

Zen! Get it!

[Stefan Stirzaker]

Happy to try the gmd round

[Zenn7]

I find it extremely amusing that I, a mere LT jg get paid twice what our company commander gets paid. Since Gbadsen's now in an Awesome too though, I take every opportunity to explain to him how hotter is better and the value of shooting birds with PPCs and other such valuable tactical insights.

I also challenge him to shooting competitions whenever possible.

It's fine. Whenever I think about it, I just assign you to latrine duty in order to restore my inner zen.

Zen! Get it!

That explains why everyone hates being in my lance. They keep getting latrine duty much more frequently. (It's good to be an officer with underlings to delegate these crappy jobs to).