Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

"Thanks for the rescue, Zanthe. The Kuritans were perfectly friendly chaps... but they sure did have a lot of questions. And tea." Lt. Allred talks to Lt. Scrub as the walk down a dropship hallway. "I think I prefer it here. You're much better company."

"Real subtle there, sport." Lt. Scrub replies with a wink. "You're lucky I'm on board with the program. You need to stay focused, though."

The funeral ceremony for the S&R guy killed during the rescue attempt is short, as time is in short supply. And it's also quite unpleasant being outside when the temperature is around 50 degrees and the local atmospheric pressure is similar to the top of a mountain. Plus, it's kind of awkward as nobody actually knew his name. We're getting used to it (the local climate, not the awkwardness), but it's still quite unpleasant outside the mechs and dropships.

Leftenant Allred recovers fairly quickly. He spends most of his time poring over the sensor data we've gathered up and reviewing reports from the Star Guards. They're doing ok, although they've been taking a lot of damage and not bringing in enough salvage to keep up with the repairs, so they've had to scale back their operations. Which means we'll be facing more opposition.

Our techs pull the Centurion out of mothballs, and it's reassigned to Gamma lance. Turns out it's got one of those dumb rear-mounted lasers, but our techs turn the weapon around as they reactivate the mech. Theoretically, the rear-facing weaponry should make enemy mechs reluctant to walk behind us, but, that's never stopped any actual mechwarrior.

May 2, 3032
Detailed analysis of recon data has pinpointed the critical structures within the orbital defence facility. We've also figured out, more or less, their patrol routes. So, Alpha lance will engage outlying patrols while Beta lance hits the facility. Gamma lance will be standing by to reinforce if necessary. The liaison insists that this facility isn't part of the target list, but anything that can shoot down our dropships when we burn for the jupm point is a priority target in our book.

Separately, Delta lance will be conducting recon of a reported nexus of enemy activity well away from the main battle. The liaison appears to be quite focused on that, so he'll be coming along to help out. Which is ok, his mech fits Delta's movement profile and he appears to have improved his piloting skills slightly (maybe the Dracs gave him some free tips while they had him locked up?).

It's rainy and at dusk, which will make enemy shots more difficult. Perfect for a runthrough of the designated facility while getting shot at by the garrison. It's non-trivial, they've got LRM Carriers and a laser carrier. Also, a Champion and a Thunderbolt for mechs, plus a bunch of Tokugawa heavy tanks and Vedettes, which aren't a major threat since they're equipped with low-caliber autocannon. The plan is simple: sweep through the streets, don't linger. We don't have the firepower here to take these guys down.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
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That's... a large concentration of enemy units. Madmarcus breaks right while the liaison breaks left, leaving only the LTV-4 able to fire at Madmarcus. Neither of them hit. We focus fire on the LRM Carriers, with Archinerd emptying his LRM banks at his target and following up with a medium laser. A lucky LRM (literally, a single one) finds its way through the light armor and into the engine compartment, while the laser cuts off a wheel, and the tank stops in the middle of the street, black smoke pouring out. Freyland achieves similar results with his target, poking holes through the weak armor with medium lasers even as his LRMs go wide. Paingod takes a couple of stray LRMs but his armor holds up just fine.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
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Archinerd and Madmarcus bypass the large enemy unit concentration, catching an isolated Vedette. The Champion gets a shot off at Madmarcus but the autocannon rounds, SRMs and medium lasers miss. Our guys don't do much better though. We fire at some turrets in the distance, but only Freyland scores a hit.

For the record, the Champion CHP-2N is a 60 tonner with 5/8 movement profile. He's got pretty decent firepower, with a torso-mounted SRM/6 launcher, 2x medium laser, an AC/10 and 2x small lasers. With only ten heat sinks, it's got a few too many weapons for my taste. I'd consider removing the small lasers and adding an extra heat sink, but hey, I'm not the designer.

"What are you shooting at? We're supposed to scan those buildings, not blow them up!" Archinerd reminds them as he rips a bunch of armor off the Vedette's left side with his foot.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
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The Champion catches up to Archinerd and Madmarcus as they hop south. Madmarcus uses his torso twist ability to good effect, firing back at the slightly larger enemy mech. Archinerd and the Champion exchange fire as well, scoring some minor laser hits on each other without breaching armor. Archinerd boots the Vedette, and the Champion uses the opportunity to strip a bunch of armor off his leg with its foot. He'll have to watch that left leg, the armor's in the red. Freyland jumps over the laser carrier to avoid its firepower, unloading on it as he passes, but fails to get through the armor. With weapons, anyway. The boot goes through just fine, crushing the vehicle.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
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We're approaching the designated scan points. We just need to get close enough that the various sensors on our mechs get enough data - 30 meters usually does the trick. Madmarcus twists around again, zapping the same Vedette, the tread damage slowing the tank down. He takes an AC/5 round to the leg, but armor holds. The Champion seems to be coming after Archinerd with a vengeance, so he's got a fight on his hands. The enemy mech only scores a small laser hit. This time, Archinerd is paying attention and dodges the Champion's kick, landing a boot of his own to the right leg, forcing the enemy mech to take a knee.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
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The Champion makes a big mistake, getting up and heading towards Madmarcus. This exposes his rear torso to Archinerd's close-range firepower. Him and Madmarcus combine firepower. Madmarcus' SRM salvo hits at point blank range, one of the missiles stripping the last of the armor from the right leg. Archinerd has trouble connecting with the actual rear torso section, but does manage to land a head shot with a medium laser. The enemy mech blasts Madmarcus' left arm with the AC/10 and manages to stay upright. Madmarcus also absorbs a kick to the leg, while Archinerd crunches through the Champion's left leg armor and damages the foot actuator.

Elsewhere, Freyland dodges a PPC blast from a nearby turret, with his retaliatory kick shaking the gunner in his seat and stunning him, while Paingod avoids a rocket salvo.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
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It's foolish and unnecessarily risky, but it's hard to resist. The Champion appears to be having some trouble managing his heat and is facing the wrong way, so Archinerd hops up behind him. And gets drilled in the right leg by both the autocannon and a small laser, damaging the foot actuator and cracking the jump jet. At least he manages to stay upright.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
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The liaison takes a scan of the last designated area as he sprints by, and we scatter off board. Archinerd manages to stick the landing even with a damaged foot actuator. Freyland trades lasers with the pursuing Thunderbolt - his lasers hit, the other guy's don't. The Thunderbolt isn't a flimsy little tank though, so it's going to take a bit more than a couple of lasers to take it down - it's mostly symbolic.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
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Archinerd scatters to the west, firing LRMs at a pursuing Vedette as he jumps. His foot actuator throws out sparks as he lands, but the Vedette stops moving entirely. The Thunderbolt continues pursuing Freyland, but he's faster, so this time it's only large laser and LRM/15 that fly wide.

Round 9:
We just about clear the battlefield. The liaison's mech gets hit by one last AC/5 shot from a Vedette and whiffs his symbolic PPC return fire, but that's about it. At our faster pace, we lose them within minutes. Mission accomplished - data collected, and we blew up a laser carrier. The Dracs will be able to put their other units back together fairly quickly, but that's just how it goes.

The only annoying bit about this mission is that we don't have any spare parts with which to replace Archinerd's jump jet. But, we do have several 55 ton mechs in storage, so we grab a jump jet off one of those and mount it. Takes a little longer, but problem solved.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

May 3, 3032
Alpha lance engages an enemy unit in position to reinforce the orbital defence facility. It's mostly a light recon unit - a mixed company of hovercraft and wheeled vehicles, with some heavier tanks and light mechs bringing up the rear.

Alpha is Gbasden in the Awesome, Isgrimnur in the Vindicator, El Guapo in the Rifleman and Stefan in the Trebuchet. There's no ambush or anything, it's a spread-out force of recon vehicles. The terrain is somewhat hilly, and it's actually nice and cool thanks to some ash plumes from a nearby volcano that's decided to go off. The idea here is to blow up enough enemy units to force a rout. Hopefully not back to the enemy base.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
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The opfor has us somewhat ranged, and an LRM salvo detonates against the armor on El Guapo's head. The Sabaku Kaze is an interesting new piece of DCMS hardware, a fifty-ton hovertank packing four medium and two small lasers on a turret, plus eight SRM tubes in front. I'd say it's a little bit nastier than the standards Pegasus or Saladin.

Round 2:
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The pinnacle of DCMS technology charges ahead and eats two PPC shots as well as multiple AC/10 bursts. However, the armor holds up, which is kind of impressive.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
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Aaaand here we go. The hovercraft swarm in, attempting to make maximum use of their short range weapons. Except for the one J. Edgar hovertank, which crashes into a hillside as it tries to move a little faster than its engine is rated. Gbasden temporarily loses track of the Sabaku Kaze and unloads on a Scimitar tank instead, taking off nearly all the armor off the front, only plinking the closer hovertank a with a small laser. The Scimitar retaliates with SRMs and LRMs, scoring a head shot. Isgrimnur's PPC also hits the plucky hovertank, taking most of the armor off the turret.

The Sabaku Kaze fires at Gbasden's mech, cutting across the armor with medium lasers. One lucky SRM flies directly into the barrel of the PPC on the left torso and damages it, along with a heat sink. Well, the good news is that, without the PPC, he won't be needing the heat sink anyway.

Stefan fires his medium lasers at a nearby Scimitar, with one lucky laser going right through the front viewport and frying the crew.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
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Isgrimnur lines up a shot on the beat-up Scimitar and deflates it with his PPC. Tough little bastard, took five PPC shots before going down. El Guapo nails a Skulker that got a little too close, cutting across the front and left sides with autocannon and laser fire. Gbasden gets his revenge on the Sabaku Kaze - as the hovertank mills around trying to figure out where to go, it eats a pair of PPCs and settles to the ground when its engine gives out. It delivers three more medium lasers and another SRM salvo to the Awesome, but no lucky hits this time. Stefan's not really having any luck with kicking fast-moving hovercraft (rolled 3s on the last two melee attacks), but at least he attracts some fire that goes wide.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
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As the Saladin whizzes by, Gbasden tracks a nearby Skulker and evaporates it with his remaining PPCs. Isgrimnur manages to duck into the smoke, making AC/20 shots at him kind of difficult.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
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The enemy hovercraft continue to swarm around our mechs, but thankfully their weapons fire isn't that effective, when put up against us skulking around in the smoky woods. El Guapo stuns the crew of one of the Scimitars as it circles around behind Gbasden, while Stefan jumps over to an enemy Wasp and gives it a couple of lasers to the right side. The Wasp jumps aside to dodge the kick, then Stefan leans back a little to avoid the counterpunch.

The 1K wasp is another "Kurita Special". At some point in the last couple of succession wars, they started running short of SRMs, so they took the SRM/2 launcher off the left leg and put a torso-mounted machine gun in instead, while loading up on extra armor. So, less punch, but tougher. Still a bug mech though.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
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Some light enemy aircraft zip in to help their buddies out. We didn't notice them before because they're basically little cropdusters refitted to carry an LRM/5 and SRM/4 launcher respectively. That being said, Gbasden isn't having any of this plinking nonsense and evaporates a Sparrow as it passes overhead and pings him with a few LRMs.

Isgrimnur is the next target of the vehicle swarm, taking an AC/20 burst to the center torso - the heavy duty slugs blow through the armor and both the engine and gyro develop cracks, while an SRM salvo from the nearby Pegasus whaps the head and takes out a jump jet. He gets some revenge hits in on the Pegasus, but only causes light damage, then has to take a knee to steady his mech.

El Guapo cores out the engine on the stunned Scimitar with an AC/10 burst from the left arm, while his medium laser and other AC/10 disable the Skulker. Stefan finally lands a kick, giving the Pegasus' turret a good crack, destroying the stabilizer, which will make it harder for it to unload those SRM swarms.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
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The enemy force must have gotten word of the attack on the orbital defense facility, because the remainder turn tail and run. Stefan pursues briefly, but we're not in any real condition to give chase (and in any case, our mechs aren't fast enough to keep up for the most part). Although, he does take down the Saladin, putting a laser through the rear section and detonating the AC/20 ammo. We also take down a Vedette, with Gbasden cracking through the armor on one and El Guapo finishing it off with a medium laser (holding the AC/10 fire to conserve ammo).

Round 9:
The remainder of the enemy force disappears behind the hill to the south. As Stefan goes chasing after them, Gbasden orders him to pull back. He grumbles a little bit but complies after giving the Pegasus a parting kick. With a locked turret and damaged stabilizer, it's not going to be participating meaningfully in any future battles.

We get salvage in there. First thing we do is salvage the crashed Sparrow fighter. It didn't evaporate entirely - just the nose and the right wing. And the internal structure. The fire control computer is intact though, and our techs tell us they can use it to fix up our damaged Lucifer. Eventually. Pretty good, given that we're about to take down the site that's grounded all our air operations. We also seize a pair of hovertanks (including the one where Stefan zapped the crew), mostly to strip armor. Once that's done, we'll load the wrecks into the Mule for sale once we get back to civilization. As sad as it is, we'll let the Sabaku Kaze go to our employer.

Mech damage is relatively light - we have the spare parts to fix Gbasden's Awesome and Isgrimnur's Vindicator can be mostly repaired as well (we'll have to take one from a spare mech, but that's what they're for!)

Now, we'll need some input. The assault on the orbital defence facility is going to be pretty tough going. In addition to the fixed defences, there's a reinforced company of tanks (heavies and mediums, with a few lights for support), with a pair of medium mechs in support. The surviving aircraft is also vectoring in that direction.

We have two options for reinforcements (and can employ one, both or neither):
1. Some or all of Alpha lance will deploy immediately without repairs or ammo reloads. El Guapo's got a sprained right arm from an early cockpit hit, making gunnery harder (and is also down to about 33% ammo on the autocannons), Isgrimnur's mech isn't battle worthy at the moment, Gbasden's Awesome is missing a PPC and the right arm has no armor. Stefan's mech is the one in good shape. So, likely, we'd deploy everyone but Isgrimnur but they'd mostly need to hang back to avoid further damage.

This will also mean that the enemy forces that Alpha just ran off will join the battle - a pair of light mechs, a Scorpion tank and a Vedette (so, basically, a bunch of crap, except for the one Panther). Oh, and let's not forget the beat-up Pegasus.

2. Deploy Gamma lance. They're at full strength, but this will attract additional DCMS activity in the area going forward, increasing the chance that we'll have to fight to keep this particular area clear of Dracs.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Hyena »

By "full strength", does that mean that I'm back in the lineup, or does that mean we're using a plug-and-play rookie to fill my spot?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

The latter. Broken collar bones don't heal *that* quickly.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

How much does Alpha have in terms of long-range weaponry? I'd love to be part of the big battle, but I don't entirely get the point of showing up to the battle to mostly watch from distance. But if we can do some help from long-range, that seems potentially useful.

As for Gamma, seems like the issue is whether we need the help. If we do, then deploy them, and worry about the additional fighting later.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

I'd lean towards deploying Alpha and keeping Gamma back. The two remaining PPCs on the Awesome are still valuable at long range, we can still get some use from the AC10s while the ammo holds at a distance, and Stefan is close to 100%. Gamma would be fantastic, but I'm not sure it's worth it if we set ourselves up for a more powerful opfor going forward.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

May 3, 3032
Several kilometers east of Alpha's location

After thinking it over, we decide against deploying Gamma.

[With no majority opinion about it, I break the tie. My particular revision to the AtB rules is that I can deploy any uncommitted lance as reinforcements, but it increases the odds of a fight in that sector by 20%. Since they are already at 45% due to high enemy morale, we'd be pushing it to 65% next week, and we already have another enemy facility to deal with in another sector.]

The ash keeps coming down, creating a thin layer of soot on everything. Nothing that affects battlemechs, but the clouds help keep the temperature down to a reasonable level. Beta lance advances on the orbital defence facility with the goal of taking it down for good. Beta is Zenn7 and Zarathud in Awesomes, LordMortis in a Hunchback and the not-so-green newbie in the Blackjack. Gbasden leads the functional remnants of his Alpha lance towards the site of the battle as well. The target buildings are located in a dense section of the facility.

The main concerns in the defending garrison are an LRM Carrier, a Manticore, a Rhino (80 tons, two LRM/20 launchers) and a laser carrier. The rest is dinky little tanks and a few hovercraft, along with a few infantry transports. The stationary defenses are nothing to write home about, the most serious threat being a turret mounting sixteen SRM tubes (4x SRM/4 launcher), which we want to avoid getting close to.

The plan here is pretty simple. Advance the Awesomes down the streets, laying down PPC fire. Use the Hunchback and Blackjack to clean up enemies that get close. Keep our distance until Alpha arrives, then move in for the kill.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
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An enemy Ferret scout chopper makes a run at Zarathud and the Blackjack, a couple of squads of laser-rifle equipped infantry hopping out and taking out positions along the side of the street. Unfortunately for it, the Ferret is evaporated shortly after, eating a couple of medium lasers and disintegrating. Zarathud and the Blackjack use their feet to clear out some of the infantry, but there are still probably about ten dudes hanging around taking pot shots with their little pew pew guns.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
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The enemy units move into engage us, with a couple of hovercraft trying to circle around the back of Zarathud and the Blackjack. Unfortunately for them, LordMortis is right there. Zenn7 tracks a Maxim hover transport crossing the street up ahead and zaps it with a pair of PPC shots, leaving the left side without armor and the hovercraft grinding along the pavement as it stops. His Awesome takes some minor damage from a few SRMs as the enemy light aircraft zips by. LordMortis goes to fire up his AC/20, when a swarm of SRMs comes in from the Harasser and J. Edgar hovertank. Most actually go wide, but one loose rocket from the J. Edgar hovertank hits him in the right arm joint, blowing the arm off entirely. It's so shocking, he misses his entire salvo. He does manage to kick the Harasser over, at least.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
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The enemy Manticore and Zenn7 exchange fire, Zenn7 taking an SRM salvo while the Manticore takes a pair of PPCs, with the Vedette providing some supporting fire as well. Zarathud blows away a Galleon approaching from the north, while the Blackjack engages the Prowler, damaging the treads and rattling the crew, then cracking one of the wheels with a kick. LordMortis has trouble getting a shot at the Pegasus as it pounds him with SRMs, although he does better with his boot, stripping a lot of armor off the turret.

The Prowler is mostly unique in that it's fully amphibious and can carry a whole platoon of infantry (which it's deployed, by the way).


Round 4:
Spoiler:
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This one doesn't go so hot. We take some armor damage while not inflicting as much in return. The Clint and Blackjack brawl with each other using lasers, the Clint coming out with very minimal armor remaining on several locations.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
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The Blackjack pops a foot actuator while jumping a little further than rated, but remains upright. Still unfortunate. Zenn7 backs up and zaps a distant laser carrier. It's out of range now, but up close it gets pretty nasty. Zarathud waits in ambush for the enemy Manticore, then fires PPCs at it as it passes by. Most of the shots impact the left side, melting off armor, then the small laser cracks a structural element, disabling the vehicle. The enemy Clint gets the drop on Zarathud, but, well, it's only got two medium lasers and an AC/5. An infantry platoon fires laser rifles at us, and a couple of them eat foot for their trouble.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
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"This is Alpha lance, ETA 30 seconds."

"Just about time, we're almost done mopping up here." Zenn7 grunts as he has his Awesome kick out towards the adjacent Clint, snapping the left leg off below the knee. It got a little too ambitious and ate a PPC to the right leg before taking a boot. The smaller mech does deliver some damage to Zenn7's Awesome, but the armor holds up just fine. The mechwarrior bails out as soon as the mech hits the ground. The Blackjack and Prowler continue beefing, with the Prowler losing its left side armor and a bunch of treads. It's definitely had enough and begins a retreat. LordMortis conserves AC/20 ammo by frying a few infantry with his remaining medium laser.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
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Somehow, the enemy Bulldog is left to face our mechs all by itself. It doesn't end well. Between the AC/20 burst, the PPCs and the medium lasers, there's very little of the vehicle remaining. It does score a few SRM hits on Zenn7's Awesome, but it's sandpaper.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
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Additional enemy units arrive to the north - the remnants of the force taken apart by Alpha a short while ago. Zenn7 and Zarathud put six PPCs total into a Vedette that crosses their line of sight, annihilating the hapless tank. The Blackjack takes care of its own target, an AC/2 Vedette, by means of lasers and light autocannon fire, breaching the left side armor. LordMortis recovers his ability to aim the AC/20, nearly evaporating the J. Edgar hovertank. The infantry is proving to be a minor annoyance, with the occasional laser beam taking a little armor off, so we take the opportunity to clear them out whenever we can. Their vehicle counterparts still do more damage, however.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
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Alpha arrives from the east. Zarathud takes the opportunity to chase after the two enemy LRM units, trying to take them down from close range. He nails the LRM Carrier, but takes a bunch of fire from nearby infantry. El Guapo moves forward and zaps one of the annoying infantry squads with his lasers, conserving autocannon ammo for tougher targets. At least that's a little less annoying infantry plinking away. Zenn7 and Gbasden target the enemy Shadow Hawk, hitting with multiple PPCs and exposing internal structure on the right arm.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
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Having "cleared the air" a little (there are only three active enemy mobile units, not counting infantry, in the immediate area), it's time to move on the actual facility. Zenn7 catches a reinforcing Pegasus with a pair of PPCs to the left side (not firing the third one to cool off), melting the armor and inspiring the hovertank to retreat before even firing any shots. The Blackjack fires at the little aircraft zipping by, hitting the nose with an AC/2 and damaging the sensors. A distant Vedette strips the last of the armor from LordMortis' right torso, so it's time for him to hang back a bit.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
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Just kidding, he runs up to the enemy Shadow Hawk and engages at point blank range (although keeping the weak right side facing the other way). He takes a PPC shot (it's a 2K variant) to the left arm, losing armor and a hand actuator there, but retaliates by blasting the enemy mech's left leg, stripping armor. The loss of the heat sink is unimportant, as the 2K Shadow Hawk has way too many heat sinks anyway, but it does force the enemy mech to the ground.

Gbasden works on one of the target buildings, while Zarathud continues his close range fight with the Rhino (and is kind of losing, to be honest). The Galleon to the west appears to have crashed into something while fleeing the battlefield. Whoops!

Round 12:
Spoiler:
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The enemy reinforcements have joined the battle, blocking our access to the critical buildings for now. The Wasp runs in front of El Guapo, firing its one laser, then eats an autocannon burst and a medium laser to the left section. The arm comes off under the autocannon fire, then the laser detonates the machine gun ammo.

Stefan and LordMortis exchange fire with the enemy Shadow Hawk, as a Pegasus hovertank zips in to help. Stefan severely damages the Hawk's left arm, blasting through the armor with lasers and popping multiple actuators. LordMortis takes a nasty hit to the right side from some Pegasus-launched SRMs, losing an upper leg actuator and rendering the AC/20 non-functional. Before being detonated, the enemy Wasp takes off his left arm. His last shot with the AC/20 removes the Shadow Hawk's right arm while damaging a third left arm actuator. Despite being armless, he manages to keep his mech up. Him and Stefan proceed to curb stomp the Shadow Hawk, which winds up having no arms and a single leg left after falling over.

Zarathud whiffs with his PPC shots on the Rhino, but then his small laser hits just the right spot on the assault tank's turret and the ammo inside lights up. Whoo boy.

Oh yeah, and the Blackjack detonates the Scorpion scurrying around under Gbasden's feet by lighting up the on-board ammo with medium lasers.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
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Having about three mobile units left on the battlefield tops, the rest of the enemy force retreats to the south. We fire a few parting shots to keep them honest, but our main objective is to take out those buildings. With the mobile forces gone, we mop up the target buildings in short order, then get salvage in there. We've got some repairs to do, that's for sure. We claim the Prowler for the novelty value, the Manticore and the Clint (for nostalgia's sake). Nothing worth keeping, so we'll be selling all this stuff off after taking the armor and spare parts.

Actually, most of our mechs only take a couple of days to fix up - our tech crew is pretty hot stuff by now, a far cry from the bumbling idiots that would drop wrenches into people's gyroscopes and routinely mess up cockpits. Isgrimnur's gyro proves quite resistant to repair though, taking the tech two days to fix (we fail three 4+ repair rolls before succeeding). LordMortis' Hunchback takes some more time - one of the techs comes up with the idea to pull an arm off the spare Trebuchet - it's got the same kind of actuators and weight tolerances and all that. Of course, nobody bothers establishing which arm. So, we wind up with two right arms in the Hunchback's mech bay before the tech who's supposed to work on reattaching the arm realizes the problem. Which normally we wouldn't care about, but it means we won't be able to field the Hunchback next week.

The problem is compounded when somebody notices that our techs pulled the arms off the wrong mech. Apparently, it's so easy to mistake a Trebuchet TBT-5J for a Trebuchet TBT-5S, that Stefan's mech got taken apart instead of the spare. ::facepalm::

When the liaison tells us that he's finished analyzing data from Delta's recon run, we come to the conclusion that we need to temporarily reorganize.

So:

1) Stefan, LordMortis, both your mechs are currently missing an arm so you'll need to borrow rides. Your options are:
- Trebuchet TBT-5S. Packs three medium lasers and two SRM/6 racks for some serious short range firepower. No jump jets though.
- Grab a spare Griffin 1N. The usual: 5/8/5, PPC, LRM/10 rack. We have two of these.
- Stalker. As before, a nasty assault with a lot of close range punch, but half the locations have ammo and it heats up worse than a Liao at a Steiner-Davion wedding.

2) Zenn7, you've got enough XP to buy a some pilot abilities:
- One of Forest Ranger / Swamp Beast / Mountaineer - each improves your ability to handle the relevant terrain
- Range Master - swaps one of the other range brackets with the 'short' range bracket, so if you're taking a shot at long range, you get a 0 range penalty.
- Multi-tasker - split your fire among multiple targets at a reduced penalty for secondary targets

3) We need two substitutes - one for El Guapo in Alpha lance while his arm heals up and one for the Blackjack in Beta while we wrangle up spare actuators. Cylus Maxii and Xwraith will get pulled from Gamma, one will go to Alpha, the other to Beta.

Then, tactically:
4a) We have an enemy force skulking around in the general area of the orbital defence site, and it may be worthwhile to gather data and maybe give them a little "gentle ribbing" to keep them honest. We can ignore them as well, but then they'll probably stick around and make our lives more difficult in that area later on.

4b) The liaison informs us that we need to destroy what he's identified as a command center, and considers it a part of our contract requirements to do so. This will probably be Beta, but Alpha can get it done as well.

4c) There's a substantial enemy force (2x usual size) patrolling the area around the command center, which will no doubt reinforce when that comes under attack. It'll be useful to buzz them and lead them on a merry chase to distract them. Most likely I'll assign the fast-moving Delta lance to this task, and then they can loop back and help with the command center.
Last edited by NickAragua on Tue May 22, 2018 4:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

- Stalker. As before, a nasty assault with a lot of close range punch, but half the locations have ammo and it heats up worse than a Liao at a Steiner-Davion wedding.
Why not. I can take a punch.

I'm no fan of the Trebuchet and while I love a PPC, if it's someone else's mech and they don't care in what shape it's returned...

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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Stefan Stirzaker »

I'll take the Trebuchet TBT-5S, we seem to mostly be close range these days.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

To be honest, that's an artifact of the game mechanics - weapons fire is much less effective at long range (due to the +4 penalty in addition to movement mods, woods, etc), so the mechanisms encourage you to close to short (but not minimum!) range.

Now, if someone were to get the "Range Master" special pilot ability and swap short for long range, now we're cooking with gas for long range fire support.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 8:15 pm To be honest, that's an artifact of the game mechanics - weapons fire is much less effective at long range (due to the +4 penalty in addition to movement mods, woods, etc), so the mechanisms encourage you to close to short (but not minimum!) range.

Now, if someone were to get the "Range Master" special pilot ability and swap short for long range, now we're cooking with gas for long range fire support.
So when you say "swap", does that mean that if a "range master" is firing at short range, they would now have a +4 penalty?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Correct. However, they also have a 0 penalty at long range. It heavily benefits mechs with LRMs and PPCs, as they have a much bigger 0 penalty area with it, but it makes shots really difficult to hit at short ranges. So things like the Dervish, Griffin, Archer, Longbow and LRM Carrier all love this SPA, as it allows them to hang out on the other side of the board and fire missiles with deadly accuracy and impunity.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

May 7, 3032
Given the sizeable enemy force present in the area, we decide to reduce the numbers present near the command center. While Beta waits, Delta lance buzzes an enemy patrol, firing a couple of PPC and large laser shots at them from beyond maxim range, then taunts them over open comms (e.g. "I banged your mom last night"). Having taunted two companies of enemy units, about half and half mechs and tanks, they take off for the nearby swamp. Then it starts raining and a pair of gnats show up. You know, light conventional fighters. The rain is going to make the going tough for ground-bound units, and will also have the nice side effect of keeping temperatures reasonable.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
We get a little bit of a head start, and our jump jets allow us to navigate this swamp pretty well.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Most of the bad guys arrive (some tracked vehicles are trailing behind). The pursuit force consists of mostly fast or jumpy mechs, and some hovercraft, which are the main concern, as they'll be able to keep up with us. Well, except for one Harasser, where the crew apparently didn't buckle their seatbelts. They go over a bump and Madmarcus watches with some amusement as the vehicle splashes down into the mud while the crew members go flying out. The actual weapons fire is pretty symbolic - lasers and various kinds of ordnance fly around and plop into the mud or corkscrew off into the air. We conserve our ammo for the most part, as Delta still has another fight ahead of them.

It's a shame we won't be able to salvage one of those Ostscouts, even if we take it down. Their improved sensors would really be useful for recon runs and foiling ambushes.

Of note is the Trebuchet TBT-7K, a non-jumping variant which packs an AC/2 and a PPC to maximize long range firepower. And then an SRM/2 launcher on the right arm for some reason.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
As we jump away, the enemy fire slackens off a little - their ground units are unable to keep up through this section of terrain. Against all odds, Freyland scores a hit on a pursuing Wasp, grazing the right arm with a medium laser. Of course, when we're talking about "grazing" the right arm of a Wasp, that's all the armor gone and internals exposed. Madmarcus kicks out at the leg of an Ostscout that got a little too enthusiastic and rips off the armor, forcing the smaller mech to a knee.

Panicked chatter on the comms indicates that a Drac Galleon tank has sunk into some quicksand. That's some rough environmental conditions this mission.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
As we continue jumping west (taking care to keep the jumps within standard equipment tolerances, as the torrential downpour really makes it difficult to undertake extraordinary piloting tasks), a pursuing Pegasus crashes into a tree. Freyland takes a laser to the left arm from a pursuing Ostscout, then we all focus fire on a Saladin. It squeezes off an AC/20 shot at Madmarcus, who barely has time to duck, then we fire back. Our lasers are no good, but a pair of Archinerd's SRMs slam into the side of the hovertank, forcing it to splash down in the mud.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
The Dracs still have enough fast units left that they continue their pursuit. Weapons fire is ineffective, but Paingod winds up having to brawl with an Ostscout. He takes a kick to the right leg, then delivers a fist to the head, crunching the armor plating loose.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Those damned Ostscouts and hovercraft are persistent. Paingod's dance partner comes in and kicks him in the shin again, for which he retaliates by cracking its right leg in half. Madmarcus takes a kick to the right leg as well, returning the favor a little harder, damaging some hip actuators. Then Freyland breaks the leg off entirely, ripping internal structure out of the torso as well. Both Ostscouts wind up on the ground, but so does Paingod, which could prove to be a problem as it gives the enemy units more time to catch up. Madmarcus manages to keep his mech upright, but only barely, having to take a knee.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
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As our mechwarriors get up, it's a reminder that we still have a large group of angry Dracs to the east. Paingod really needs to get off that small hill, as PPC shots whizz by and a single SRM dings his rear armor.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
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We resume our hopping march, exchanging ineffective energy weapons fire with the pursuing units.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
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That's a brave Scimitar and Wasp right there. Although, let's be honest, our highest to-hit number is a 10, and Freyland falls over as he misses a kick on the Scimitar.

Round 10:
Freyland gets buzzed by a Defender fighter, taking a couple of missiles to the legs and rear armor, and an autocannon round whizzes by from long range.

Round 11+:
Spoiler:
Image
We're mostly in the clear. In their enthusiasm to avenge the insult to their honor, the Dracs appear to have gotten their large force stuck in a swamp. Based on sensor readings and personal observations, we've disabled a hovertank and two Ostscouts, two enemy units have become permanently stuck in quicksand (including a Blackjack mech), and two other hovercraft have crashed. The rest of their units have gotten strung out as well, so they call a halt to the pursuit as we clear the western edge of the swamp, once Freyland boots a Scimitar that gets a little too close.

With only light damage and minor ammo expenditure, Delta is in great shape to reinforce Beta as they assault the command center.

Outstanding input request:
Do we take on the enemy force skulking around the orbital defence facility or leave them be? It'll save us a fight now but they'll probably reinforce future battles there. We do have the forces available for it.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 10:20 pm Correct. However, they also have a 0 penalty at long range. It heavily benefits mechs with LRMs and PPCs, as they have a much bigger 0 penalty area with it, but it makes shots really difficult to hit at short ranges. So things like the Dervish, Griffin, Archer, Longbow and LRM Carrier all love this SPA, as it allows them to hang out on the other side of the board and fire missiles with deadly accuracy and impunity.
Yeah, paired with the right mech and right force composition, that seems pretty powerful. Though at the same time, kind of conceptually weird - like, just because someone is a good shot at long range, why would they have a hard time hitting a non-moving target right in front of them?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

I'd say we seem to be in pretty good shape. Taking care of the enemy force seems prudent.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Archinerd »

Outstanding input request:
Do we take on the enemy force skulking around the orbital defence facility or leave them be? It'll save us a fight now but they'll probably reinforce future battles there. We do have the forces available for it.
I say we take them out if you think we can do it. Sounds like we will be fighting them either way and I'd rather do it on our terms than theirs.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Yeah, I think we should take them out.

Well, you guys should, anyway. I'll be catching up on Space Netflix while my arm heals.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Paingod »

I need to remember to go around hills, not over them. They only make good cover if you have them in between you and the enemy. Standing on them, not so much... more like a beacon. :)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

May 7, 3032
The rain tapers out a little as Beta begins their assault. It also gets somewhat dark out, so this one will take a little longer as it's harder to hit things. On the plus side, the temperature is still a pretty reasonable 45 degrees celsius. The command center is located in another sprawling facility, but thanks to Delta's earlier recon run, we know exactly which buildings to hit. There's a river running through the complex to the north of the area we're going to hit, but it's not going to be too relevant.

Due to mechs and mechwarriors being down for repairs, we've reorganized our battle lances, redistributing Gamma lance between Alpha and Beta. Beta is some serious heavy metal - we've got two Awesomes, LordMortis flexing his muscles in a Stalker, while Xwraith in the Thunderbolt and Lt. Scrub in the Warhammer sub in from Gamma. "Someone's got to babysit that liaison.", she reasons. He goes in a spare Griffin. It's the least we can do to let him borrow one.

The garrison consists of several fixed emplacements, a heavy mech lance, some light mechs and tanks, as well as a pair of Manticore tanks. Enemy aircraft are also incoming, but they're of the little gnat variety, so they shouldn't be much of a problem.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis fires his first shots in the Stalker, scoring hits on an approaching Hermes mech (sprinter with mediocre armament), melting armor. He also sends an LRM salvo down the street, blasting chunks out of a Galleon tank. Which Zenn7 then evaporates with his PPCs. LordMortis takes a PPC hit from a Griffin, and the rest of the weapons fire is fairly unimpressive.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
There's a visible *pop* as one of the enemy Vedettes hits the gas - instead of the normal vroom vroom, a bunch of metal chunks come out the back. The southern flank of the enemy force attempts to mob Zenn7 and LordMortis, so they'll need some backup shortly. A lot of ordnance is exchanged, but the result is mostly missed shots and armor damage. LordMortis and Zenn7 fire their weapons at the Thunderbolt, hitting quite a bit, but the mechwarrior holds it up. LordMortis boots the Ostscout that comes up, breaking its left leg. To the north, Zarathud weathers the Quickdraw's laser fire and hits it pretty hard in the leg as well, damaging actuators and sending it to the ground.

LordMortis' combat computer helps run the coolant system more efficiently, keeping the mech cooler than expected (I need to start using more heat, as it's basically four free heat sinks).

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis backs up to the south to get out of the line of fire, while our northern mechs clear the street as an SRM Carrier trundles into range. LordMortis eats a lot of missiles from a Manticore to the south, but his armor holds up fine. Zenn7 blasts the Thunderbolt with three PPC shots, knocking out a left arm actuator and the machine gun there, as the enemy mech fires back - lasers, LRMs and SRMs sandpaper the armor, except one LRM, which impacts the head. He's fine though. A Jenner tries to get the drop on LordMortis by jumping up on a high building next to him, but he fires off a large weapons salvo at the building, which is unable to hold the little mech up. As the building collapses, the Jenner's right leg is mangled pretty badly.

Zarathud fires down the street at the SRM Carrier, burning off one of the SRM racks and damaging the treads, but it remains intact. He also exchanges kicks with the Quickdraw, stripping armor off its right leg. Lt. Scrub and Xwraith target the Vedette and Manticore respectively. The Manticore takes some damage, while the Vedette is annihilated.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
That tough little sonofabitch in the Ostscout actually manages to prop himself up, even with a broken leg.

Zenn7 is in a tough position, his mech is heated up and he's getting mobbed. Time to cool down so he can move next turn. He exchanges fire with the Thunderbolt, both mechs coming away with breached arm armor. He also gives the nearby Hermes a good kick to the leg, popping an actuator.

Zarathud takes out the SRM Carrier, freeing us up to move along the northern avenue. He eats a lot of incoming fire from the enemy Manticore and Quickdraw, and winds up having to take a knee, at which point the enemy mech kicks him in the shin, breaking a heat sink. LordMortis opens fire on a Peregrine VTOL buzzing around, hitting the rotor with a medium laser. Xwraith works on the Manticore, melting down armor with his lasers and snapping off the PPC main gun with a swift boot.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 pulls back, cooling off, while the enemy units focus on the incoming Stalker and Warhammer. LordMortis fires at the Manticore, damaging but not penetrating armor, while Lt. Scrub focuses on the Hermes, blowing off the left arm and just about taking off the right leg with weapons fire. LordMortis takes advantage of the Hermes' distraction by kicking the leg out from under it, sending it to the ground.

To the north, Zarathud fires his PPCs at the Manticore, absorbing a medium laser shot and some SRMs in return. He spares a small laser for the Quickdraw, grazing the damaged leg with unexpectedly spectacular results - at least two actuators blow out. Zarathud's mech is knocked down from the volume of incoming fire, but so is the Quickdraw as it takes several shots to the back from Xwraith. As it goes down, he capitalizes on it, stepping on the left arm to render it inoperative.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Delta lance arrives from the east. Just in time, too, we're getting pretty beat up. As they show up, the Hermes pilot bails out and the Thunderbolt steps over a small building and into an alley, while the Quickdraw engaging Zarathud gets up and runs into an alley, apparently trying to get clear. It still throws a punch, rattling Zarathud around in his cockpit, so he returns the favor with a foot, breaking the right leg off. Weapons fire is actually pretty disappointing. We score some hits on the enemy Griffin and Manticores. The bad part is that Zenn7's arm comes off as he rounds the corner to say hi to a Scimitar tank and eats some SRMs. Freyland gets bushwhacked by a laser carrier, but stops short, avoiding most of the beams and inflicts heavy damage on it. LordMortis empties a load of SRMs at the nearby Manticore, then whacks the nearby Griffin in the leg, leaving it on the ground. Even our liaison gets in on the kicking action, breaching the armor on the Hunter that he's engaged up close.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy Manticore that was giving a pretty good account of itself against Zarathud and Xwraith gives up the ghost once Xwraith shoots and kicks it a few too many times. The engine no longer turns the wheels (and there are no treads to speak of), so the crew bails out. LordMortis holds his ground against the remaining Manticore, taking some SRMs to the head, but blowing the tank away with a counterattack of his own. To the east, Freyland finishes dancing with the laser carrier, getting around its rear arc and cutting away the armor with lasers before plowing SRMs into the interior and setting off the fuel tank. Lt. Scrub comes after the Jenner as it tries to get away, hitting the weakened right leg and blowing away an actuator, bringing the smaller mech down, then bringing the Warhammer's foot down on the leg to keep it down. That stupid Ostscout keeps limping around, though.

Archinerd spots an enemy Mechbuster fighter coming in - although it gets a strafing run in on Zarathud, it catches some LRMs to one of the wings, causing it to spiral out of control and crash into the ground.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Madmarcus sends a couple of SRMs into a building holding a gun emplacement, and the gun stops firing (presumably as the crew is shredded by shrapnel). Although it wasn't being very effective anyway, as shooting LRMs at point blank range tends to be. Zenn7 gets revenge on the Scimitar hovertank by blowing it to bits with his two remaining PPCs, while LordMortis inflicts severe damage on the enemy Thunderbolt - lasers carve up the remaining armor, then SRMs hit the second machinegun and damage right leg actuators. Xwraith takes a couple of lasers to the annoying limping Ostscout, severing the left torso, then knocks it back down to the ground where it belongs. Lt. Scrub crushes the Jenner's torso.

The only combat capable unit remaining on the field is the enemy Thunderbolt, which beats a rapid retreat past Zenn7. And by "rapid", I mean limping with sparks flying off and coolant fluid leaving a trail. The two VTOLs and the second aircraft peel off as well, but they don't really count. We slag the target buildings with little effort, then call in salvage. We'll grab the Ostscout for sure, as we could use a mech able to conduct sensor scans from other than point blank range. We also strip some armor off the tank wrecks, then mark the rest for our employer.

Unfortunately, the right arm on Zenn7's mech proves unsalvageable. At least the PPC is intact. Which is fine, as PPCs cost more money than spare actuators and structural elements apparently. Although, really, our financial situation is such that we don't bother quibbling over individual parts any more, the main issue is time to repair and availability.

Zenn7 will still need a spare mech. Since he likes PPCs so much, the options are a Griffin or a Shadow Hawk 2K. The Griffin has more firepower and is faster, but overheats more easily. Thoughts?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Hyena »

Is my Striker out of service? I mean, *I* won't be using it anytime soon, I'm all hopped up on pain meds and playing the simulator, so if'n it's a PPC he wants...
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Another possibility would be to give him my Awesome as long as there is another mech available that is heavy on energy weapons.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

May 8, 3032
The nearby volcano is still belching up ash, the continued shade keeping things at a nice and cool 49 degrees celsius. As Alpha lance scouts a river near the destroyed Kurita command center, they come across a mixed company of enemy units. A mixed medium lance, two light mechs and six tanks, including a Hetzer and a Manticore. They also have an Orion and a Swayback.

Alpha is Gbasden in his Awesome, Isgrimnur in the Vindicator and Stefan in the 5S-trebuchet, with Cylus Maxii joining in the Phoenix Hawk.

As we engage, another lance of enemy tanks joins the fight, making for some dicey odds. On the plus side, we also get a transmission from a nearby allied recon unit, they're willing to provide backup. We just need to not die for the next minute and a half. Our goal here is to get sensor locks on all enemy units so we can have the data for analysis later, then either bug out ourselves or force the enemy to bug out.

The allied units will be approaching from the northwest, and a river crosses from north to east, so we'll deploy to the north. If we run into trouble, we can pull back past the river. Well, those of us with jump jets anyway.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Gbasden opens up on the Manticore in the middle of the enemy cluster, scoring solid hits on the treads, which will keep it out of the fight for a while longer. He takes some LRMs as the enemy Orion returns fire. A helicopter buzzes Isgrimnur, and he tries to swat it away, but it sideslips out of the way. We've acquired sensor locks on five enemy units sofar.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy units advance cautiously, and we tag a few more of them. Gbasden zaps a Hetzer in the back of the formation, giving it a flat tire. He takes some autocannon rounds from the Orion and a crap Vedette, but is fine otherwise. Nine sensor scans complete.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy is pretty close, but are having trouble hitting us. Of course, we're not doing so hot, either. Cylus lands a good hit on the enemy Maxim with a large laser, causing a puff of smoke to come out from the hovercraft's air ducts as it struggles to compensate. Thirteen sensor scans complete. One more turn and we're outta here.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
The opfor closes in to point blank range, but we're just about done scanning them. Stefan runs in to get scans on the last couple of Vedettes, blasting the main gun off of one in the process. Isgrimnur scans the Orion while Gbasden locks up the last Vedette. A Vulcan gets close to Gbasden and takes a backhand, stripping arm off the left arm. We've got the sensor scans, now it's time to pull out.

Round 5:
We undertake a fighting retreat to the east - just need to not get blown up for one more round. Gbasden fires his PPCs at the Manticore that's slowly made its way towards us, then takes a second to zap the nearby Vulcan with the small laser, cutting off the damaged left arm. Isgrimnur strips the armor off a Vedette, while Stefan brawls with a Hunchback to inconclusive results, then retreats to the west. Cylus takes an underwater kick from the Vulcan, but remains upright.

With no real reason to stick around, we pull out, with the allied units screening us. The opfor doesn't pursue once we get across the river, since that'd mean leaving most of their units behind while running into our reinforcements. A solid recon run: got sensor scans of all targets, no internal damage. El Guapo and Hyena are still in the medbay, so we'll keep things as they are for now, and consider adjustments as the next week comes up.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

I feel like someone who shall remain nameless, but I like to read my name kicking things. :oops:
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Thu May 24, 2018 4:36 pm Zenn7 will still need a spare mech. Since he likes PPCs so much, the options are a Griffin or a Shadow Hawk 2K. The Griffin has more firepower and is faster, but overheats more easily. Thoughts?
Assuming I am not kicking one of the others out of their Awesome... (hey, I'd do it fair and square, we can have a competition - whoever can stay conscious in the hot box the longest) I'll take the Griffon. Overheats more easily? And overheating is a problem because??? (Is that only a PPC thing or was that all weapons that my overheating thing applies to?)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Griffin 1N it is. The heat-related penalty is basically when you accumulate 8 heat, you normally take a +1 penalty to your to-hit numbers for all weapon attacks. However, you ignore that entirely. The mech still moves like a slug though, and at 15 heat, you run the risk of shutdown.

May 14, 3032
"Look, Lieutenant, you can't go on a fast recon mission. You drive a Warhammer."

"Sir, you drove an Awesome on *your* recon mission!" Lt. Scrub responds indignantly.

"Yeah, well, that was a recon-in-force. Anyway, relax. Archinerd hasn't lost anybody yet. Just his own mech now and again. Now are we going to have a problem, or..."

"No, sir."


Two days later
"Yup, we're lost." Paingod comments as the Griffin sprints at top speed away from a large group of pursuing Kurita units, Freyland and Lt. Allred close behind.

"Well, at least we lost most of those hovercraft and the mechs when Delta One and Two split off a few of clicks back." The liaison remarks. "We just have to make it past this Kurita parking lot, lose them in the town up ahead then hop over the river to the north, and we'll be in the clear!"

This particular scenario will be decided in the first couple of turns. If we can get clear of the mass of pursuing enemy tanks (mostly Vedettes, with a couple of hovercraft accompanying them), there's no way they'll be able to keep up with us over the long run. It's a moonless night, and the liaison's plan is sound. It'd be better if he wasn't such a crappy pilot, then we could move faster. On the plus side, the night time means the temperature drops to a cool 44 degrees celsius. Time to break out the sweaters!

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Having had a ten second start, we fire up our jump jets and hop into some light woods, autocannon rounds zipping by. We return fire with a PPC and LRM shots, but nothing hits.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Once our mechs clear the woods, nobody's actually able to meaningfully shoot at us. We fire some symbolic LRMs south while some symbolic autocannon rounds come north. The hovercraft are slowed down just as much as the tanks, while our jump jets allow us to move at walking speed.

Round 4+:
Spoiler:
Image
We've already lost them, other than a persistent Scimitar tank. An AC/2 Vedette in the distance keeps firing away for a few more seconds but gives up once we jump past and disappear on the other side of the town. We also cease fire to conserve LRM ammo.
Spoiler:
Image
Here's a shot of the pursuing force. Note the lack of jump capable mechs or really anything that's actually capable of chasing us down in these night time conditions. The rest of the scenario is completely boring - no shooting or anything, just jumping until we get to north edge of the map, then hopping over the river just beyond. Nearest bridge is like 40km away, so we'll be long gone and powered down by the time the Dracs catch up again.

"Hey, you guys want to hear a joke? How many mechwarriors does it take to screw in a light b..." the liaison's comm is cut off as Paingod toggles the "receive only" switch, then grumbles about comms discipline, only to hear Freyland's grumbling at not getting to blow anything up.

"Yeah, well, at least you can talk and drive your mech at the same time." comes the reply with a chuckle. "We're still stuck behind enemy lines, though. We should probably unmute the kid after we cross the river, figure out what we're going to do."

When the rest of Delta gets back to the dropships, Archinerd only gets a mild chewing out from Lt. Scrub.

Xwraith uses the downtime to practice firing his Thunderbolt's weapons, getting better at it (gunnery +1). He also figures out how to compensate partially for the effects of instability introduced by firing up the jump jets (Hopping Jack special pilot ability, reduces jumping penalty to +2). With this, our entire company is now composed of veteran or better mechwarriors. A far cry from the snot-nosed rookies of our early days.

Hyena and El Guapo recover from their injuries. El Guapo is assigned to Gamma lance temporarily, as our organizational structure is a mess anyway at the moment.

Hyena, your Striker's shoulder actuator is busted, rendering the internal structure on the right arm unrepairable, so it'll come off a lot easier in battle. It doesn't affect your weapons effectiveness very much, as all your weapons are torso-mounted. So, you can either head out in the damaged mech, or take one of the lighter spare mechs. Your options:

1) Hermes (40-ton, 6/9 ground-bound mech, packs a flamer, medium laser and AC/5)
2) Wolverine 6M (identical to Madmarcus' ride, packs a large laser, two medium lasers and an SRM/6 rack. Decent armor and speed, has jump jets.)
3) Stay in the Striker

The next week, the shit *really* hits the fan big time. Delta's separated elements make contact, and report finding two enemy facilities - a communications hub and a mech base. How could they tell it's a comms hub? The gigantic radio receivers all over the nearby hilltops and the large landline that Freyland trips over provide a clue. Additionally, two enemy forces have been spotted skulking around close to our dropships. The liaison insists that the closer one should be neutralized.

We have four active lances. Both of the targets that Delta has located are on our employer-provided "list of targets considered as having strategic value for disruption purposes". If we manage to blow one of those bases, our contract will be effectively complete (other than having to take advice from the liaison) and we can basically mop up and then hunker down for the next three months before burning for jumpship rendezvous, unless the liaison tells us to that we're required to do something dumb. There's no "incidental" allied support, although we can request some if we honestly feel we need it. It's likely though that they'll expect additional favors in the future. All enemy units are at normal strength, as we've been keeping their numbers down. Historically speaking, we lose fewer units in smaller engagements, but bigger battles are more awesome.

So, our options (of which we can take any number):

1) Engage and break through the lines of the enemy force closest to our dropships. Liaison wants this completed and will be coming along. Probably. Any of our non-crippled units that do manage to break through will be able to reinforce any other scenario. If we don't do this one, they'll probably be showing up at our doorstep. If we *do* do it, we'll probably be diverting some units from the mech base.

2) Engage and break through the lines of an enemy force blocking a route to the enemy bases. Again, any of our non-crippled units that manage to break through will be able to reinforce any other scenario. If left alone, they enemy force will probably wind up reinforcing one of the other scenarios. The mech base will probably divert some guys to here.

3) Engage and destroy the enemy communications hub. If it remains active and un-engaged, we won't be able to approach any other facility without being intercepted. The mech base will definitely reinforce this one.

4) Engage and destroy the enemy mech base. While it remains active and un-engaged, every battle will receive an additional lance of mechs as reinforcements. We are likely to see at least some of the fellows from Delta's run here.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

3) Engage and destroy the enemy communications hub. If it remains active and un-engaged, we won't be able to approach any other facility without being intercepted. The mech base will definitely reinforce this one.

4) Engage and destroy the enemy mech base. While it remains active and un-engaged, every battle will receive an additional lance of mechs as reinforcements. We are likely to see at least some of the fellows from Delta's run here.
That seems like a wise order of operations to me. It's very heroic story. And heroe's get paid, right? They come back they do the right thing they save the day but they still get paid.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Freyland »

Mech base. Possibly lots of nice replacement parts, and definitely lots of nice targets!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

You left out a ton of key details in this summary. While all the blasting and whatnot was going on, what shows was I watching? Were they good? Would I recommend them to others?

The people want to know.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Oh, and sure - I'd say target the mech base.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

You've got about five months of Battlestar Mechtactica queued up, plus the classic standby "The RFL-3N".

BSM is ok for the first couple of seasons, then it got all weird when that Liao defector guy took over making the show. The RFL-3N really underplays the overheating issues of that mech, and you kind of want to punch the main character in the face, but you still can't stop annoying the piss out of everyone on board the Union by talking about it.

As for the mission, just to be clear, I decided to draw a flow chart. There's a reason I work as a software engineer and not as an artist.
Spoiler:
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edit: I forgot to label the comms center and mech base nodes. Hope you guys can figure it out.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Hyena »

I will narrow it down to two options:

1. If the powers that be indicate that we need a heavy mech to fill the lance, I'll gladly take the Striker; I'll just try and position the vulnerable arm away from opfor, if possible.

2. If the powers that be indicate that we don't need a heavy mech, I'll gladly hop into the Wolverine. I like the mix of weaponry and armor, and will try to fill the role of a brawler/mid-range fighter.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Tue May 29, 2018 1:51 pm You've got about five months of Battlestar Mechtactica queued up, plus the classic standby "The RFL-3N".

BSM is ok for the first couple of seasons, then it got all weird when that Liao defector guy took over making the show. The RFL-3N really underplays the overheating issues of that mech, and you kind of want to punch the main character in the face, but you still can't stop annoying the piss out of everyone on board the Union by talking about it.

As for the mission, just to be clear, I decided to draw a flow chart. There's a reason I work as a software engineer and not as an artist.
Spoiler:
Image
edit: I forgot to label the comms center and mech base nodes. Hope you guys can figure it out.
ok. I'd say do #1 and #4. Though your chart seems to indicate that we can't do #4 without doing #3 (it lists an ignoring #3 consequence as "can't attack mech base")?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

It's more that, if the comms center is present and not engaged, they'll redirect some additional forces to intercept our guys before they get to the mech base. So, we'd have to fight twice when we attack the mech base.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Archinerd »

NickAragua wrote: Tue May 29, 2018 12:40 pm "Yeah, well, that was a recon-in-force. Anyway, relax. Archinerd hasn't lost anybody yet. Just his own mech now and again. Now are we going to have a problem, or..."
Hey, that's not true, I didn't lose anything! We have a record of exactly where each of those mechs was destroyed, all we have to do is look back through the logs.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

I definitely think #1 is first priority. I don't want our base to be at risk of attack. After that, it kind of seems like we should take them piecemeal instead of allowing every enemy mech to get between us and the mech base, doesn't it? If we ignore 2 and 3, doesn't that mean that all of #2's mechs will be at the mech base and #3 will summon additional mechs to intercept? It seems somewhat foolhardy to gamble everything on one roll of the dice.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

To be fair, I don't think I've ever seen a Flea survive an actual battle this campaign. And the ammo explosion, well, it happens to everyone. Some people even survive it!

May 21, 3032
After some discussion, we decide that our primary target will be the mech base. That will be up to Beta lance. To get there without excessive fighting, we will need to commit a lance to attacking the communications center. That'll be Alpha lance. Lt. Scrub jumps at the chance to lead Gamma lance to clear out the force near our base. Since Delta lance is already in the area near the mech base, they will remain there to reinforce Beta in case things go pear-shaped. We'll leave the second identified mobile force alone, as they're not really in the way, although we do dispatch our Ferret scout chopper to keep an eye on them.

Gamma's target force is located in the ruins of a small town, and we engage them while Alpha and Beta move out to their destinations. Due to organizational shuffling, Gamma is Lt. Scrub in the Warhammer, El Guapo in the Rifleman, the two "spare mechwarriors" in a Centurion and a Blackjack, and Hyena trying out a Wolverine. The liaison comes along in his Griffin as well. It's raining, and, as we approach, we see a Gazelle dropship lift off from the area, presumably having unloaded additional troops. At least we know it's only going to be extra light and medium tanks, and only up to fifteen of them. The rain is a little annoying, but not so much that everything turns to mud. Plus, the cloud cover keeps the temperature reasonable. We've had a good streak of night ops and other environmental factors allowing us to operate without having to worry about overheating. As much.

The enemy units are a medium lance of mechs, a few hover tanks and some Goblin medium tanks. The more obnoxious units are an LTV-4 hovertank, with its turret-mounted PPC, and a pair of Sabaku Kaze tanks, which aren't all that subtle, bristling with lasers and SRMs. Nothing heavy, they appear to be "trying to keep a low profile". Well, they'd have gotten away with it too, except for the part where they used a dropship. We want to buzz them, and preferably blow up a good number as well.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
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As soon as we close to weapons range, the Dracs waste no time in powering up and zipping in on their hovercraft. Their mechs and heavier units hang back. Our Centurion scores a solid series of hits on a Sabaku Kaze as it approaches Lt. Scrub's Warhammer, jamming the turret with a medium laser. Our Blackjack and the enemy Packrat exchange fire while the Packrat unloads an infantry squad. Hyena grazes a J. Edgar hovertank as machine gun rounds plink off his armor, then gives it a solid boot, knocking off chunks.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Now we're getting swarmed. Our Centurion mechwarrior effortlessly makes her way through the woods, scoring a good AC/10 hit on a Goblin tank, causing sparks to come out of the turret. El Guapo takes a couple of SRMs from a J. Edgar hovertank as it circles around behind him, but flips his arms back and lets rip with the autocannons, blowing away enough hover skirt that the vehicle stops moving. He also takes some fire from other mechs and struggles at but succeeds in keeping his mech upright. Still, the forest around him is on fire, so it's time to leave.

Our Blackjack blasts through the armor on the nearby Harasser, coring out the engine as it's busy firing SRMs at Hyena's dome. Hyena is unhappy about it and smashes the immobile tank to bits with his mech's foot.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
El Guapo evacuates the blazing forest (also with an eye for not getting shot at by about six different enemy tanks and mechs). He goes to engage the enemy Shadow Hawk, but it pings him with a couple of SRMS and a medium laser, then steps aside as he opens fire in return. The Galleon tank directly behind it isn't so lucky and gets taken apart by autocannon rounds and a laser beam. The Packrat rolling around underfoot eats a laser from our Blackjack, slicing off enough wheels that it stops moving, tilting to the side. It empties its SRM tubes back, then is crushed by El Guapo's foot.

Lt. Scrub takes a bunch of LRMs, which throws her aim off as she fires at the nearby hovercraft. Her eyes widen as an enemy Harasser (a "mini-peggy", which drops four SRM tubes for an advanced sensor package) dings the liaison's Griffin in the right torso with its SRMs, and the whole thing goes up in a shower of sparks and metal chunks.

Hyena damages one of the Sabaku Kaze tanks with lasers and foot, knocking the crew around a bit and out of the fight temporarily. That was somewhat demoralizing, but it's not like the guy was actually doing anything.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Centurion continues flitting through the woods and smoke, showing up next to an enemy Goblin to blow out its engine with a stream of autocannon rounds and a couple of lasers. Lt. Scrub translates her rage into about a 50% hit rate on the nearby Sabaku Kaze, not inflicting much damage other than superficial armor scrapes. El Guapo takes a nasty PPC shot from the enemy Griffin, blowing off his left arm as he's firing on the nearby Shadow Hawk. He also takes a kick to the leg, stripping armor from it, but remains upright. The enemy mech staggers but remains upright under combined fire from Hyena. Our Blackjack takes the time to stomp a couple of infantry pinging her with their rifles.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
It's time for El Guapo's mech to bug out. Or at least back away. Lt. Scrub nails a nearby J. Edgar hovertank with lasers, immobilizing it as it pours machine gun fire into her mech. Well, she only really hits with about half of them, but it's enough. The Blackjack gets a little bit surrounded as it jumps into the smoke, but still manages to down the LTV-4 hovertank, deflating its air cushion. Hyena melts the armor off the "mini-peggy" with a large laser, then El Guapo blows it apart with his remaining autocannon and another laser as he pulls back.

That lone mech to the west is a Wyvern. We've probably seen them before, but they're kind of rare. A 45 ton mech, 4/6/4 with a large laser, an SRM/6 launcher, an LRM/10 rack and two small lasers. Major heat issues and kind of slow.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
One of the enemy hovertanks runs itself into a tree. Thanks, buddy, we actually *could* use the help. Our Centurion backs up a little as well and fires LRMs and an autocannon burst at a Scorpion tank that rounds the corner. The AC/10 shots go wide, but the LRMs plow through left side tracks and armor to destroy the engine. Hyena dodges a substantial amount of fire, the smoke and his incessant jumping making him pretty hard to hit. He dodges some clumsy kicks from the nearby Griffin and Phoenix Hawk, landing a kick of his own on the Griffin's right leg, sending the enemy mech to the ground.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin struggles but gets up eventually. El Guapo sticks around in the rear of the battlefield and eats some LRMs, but is fine otherwise. Hyena targets the annoying little Warrior helicopter and blows it out of the sky with lasers. The Blackjack and Wyvern brawl a little, with the Blackjack losing some leg armor.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
The opfor begins pulling back to the south. We keep up the fire until they move out of range, but do not pursue. Our Centurion blasts the armor off a Vedette that was a little too slow, blowing away the machine gun in the front. El Guapo and Lt. Scrub fry some infantry, but the Blackjack loses an arm. That's annoying.

There's not really any time for salvage, so the liaison climbs into Lt. Scrub's Warhammer, and we hightail it back to base. The Rifleman and Blackjack are out of action at this point, so El Guapo's going to need to pick a temporary replacement mech. We really need to wrap this offensive action up then hunker down, as we're starting to run out of replacement mediums, and are going to have to start unboxing light mechs or fielding damaged units.

Your options are:

1) Phoenix Hawk (we'll have to pull a jump jet off the Blackjack to get it working fully, but the Blackjack is also missing an arm)
2) Griffin
3) Shadow Hawk
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

I'll take the Griffin for now.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

May 21, 3032
Mech Base

This is going to be a tough nut to crack. There's a reinforced heavy mech lance and a reinforced light mech lance, along with some garrison vehicles and turrets. A triple PPC turret is mildly unpleasant, as is an LRM/20 turret. Then there's a quad SRM-6 turret.

Beta lance will be starting the attack, with Zenn7 in the Griffin, LordMortis in a Stalker, Xwraith in a Thunderbolt and Zarathud in the remaining Awesome. Delta will be reinforcing within approximately sixty seconds, with the standard lineup. The facility is a sprawling urban complex, so success or failure will hinge on our ability to manage lines of sight. That means no hanging out in the middle of the street exchanging fire.

Notable enemy mechs include two Orions and an Archer. The Archer is a 2K variant, packing two large lasers and two LRM/15s.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis and Zenn7 advance down the eastern street, Zenn7 scoring a PPC and some LRM hits on a Quickdraw.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Well, we know where the other guys are going to dogpile. LordMortis takes some fire and a kick from the Quickdraw, missing every one of his shots. Zenn7 is hit with an AC/5 round but scores a solid PPC hit on the Manticore tank.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Zarathud and Xwraith engage their party, taking some SRMs and returning fire with PPCs. The exchange rate isn't so hot in our favor, but Zarathud breaks the Wasp's leg in several places with a well placed boot, sending the bug mech flopping to the ground.

To the east, LordMortis fires a good spread of lasers and SRMs at the Manticore, blowing apart treads and motive components, leaving it less of a tank and more of a smoke factory. He takes a lot of damage but remains upright and manages to dodge the physical attacks directed at him as well.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis moves aside a little bit, engaging the Quickdraw and the Clint. The Clint damages one of his way-too-many lasers with a lucky AC/5 shot, but the Quickdraw is savaged by his counterattack, losing left torso armor and taking an SRM to the dome. The mech goes down, crunching a laser and a jump jet, as well as the pilot a little bit. To the west, Zarathud doesn't like the way that Wasp keeps struggling to get up, so he stomps on it, ending the movement attempts.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
The hostile forces continue pressing the Stalker, inflicting heavy damage. The Quickdraw loses the right arm to a PPC from Zenn7 and another laser off the left torso to LordMortis' weapon array, leaving it with exactly one medium laser and an SRM/4 launcher facing forward. That and the two rear-mounted lasers. The two mechs exchange kicks and the Quickdraw nearly loses its right leg, popping a heat sink.

To the west, Xwraith works on a Wasp that harasses him, taking off the right arm and blowing out a jump jet on the right torso with his lasers.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Phew, Delta lance has arrived. This was getting a little hairy. Archinerd and Paingod team up on the Clint, with Paingod breaching armor on the right leg, knocking it down. Freyland and Madmarcus work on the nearby Orion, inflicting some armor damage. LordMortis finally disables the Quickdraw, blowing away the right torso section and knocking the mechwarrior out with an SRM to the dome. On the way down, the mech's center torso armor is breached and bits of engine shielding and gyro fly out.

Zenn7 jumps over next to a building where an enemy Panther landed, and overheats himself to knock it down. The building that is. It's unable to support the Panther's weight and the small mech falls quite a considerable distance.

To the west, Xwraith melts the last of the armor off the rear of the Manticore, and the tank begins a retreat.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
A pair of enemy aircraft scream in, including a Mechbuster, which is a problem as it packs an AC/20. Paingod ducks a 30-LRM salvo and a bunch of medium lasers, then returns fire at a Hetzer, hitting but not breaching armor. LordMortis goes to finish off the downed Panther but winds up on the ground instead, as the Mechbuster drills him in the center torso, cracking the engine shielding and gyro. The little mech then kicks him in the left torso, damaging an SRM/6 launcher and a large laser. Archinerd trades fire with the Clint, damaging some internal structure, then delivers a solid kick breaking off the right leg.

To the west, Zarathud and Xwraith engage and enemy Firestarter, just about taking the head off. Freyland and Madmarcus fight a Champion and Orion, exchanging fire at about an even rate.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Stalker is pretty beat up. LordMortis has trouble getting up, which is just as well since his mech needs to cool off. Paingod disables the Hetzer by means of PPC through the ride side and into the engine compartment. Freyland hops north along the road, firing lasers at the Champion. The mech takes some serios damage to the left leg, blowing out a pair of actuators. Zenn7 takes an AC/10 round to the left arm, damaging actuators there, but at least it's not the PPC arm, which he fires back at the Champion, the combined fire knocking it over. Archinerd jumps behind the enemy Panther. As it fires on Paingod, it suddenly finds itself without a leg after some lasers and a solid boot impact the right one.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy Champion fails to get up but the Orion moves to cover it, so we can't really take advantage of it. Zenn7 and Freyland work on the Orion, plastering it with weapons fire, with some assistance from Archinerd, and knock it down. Freyland strips the last of the center torso armor from the Champion with a boot. LordMortis struggles to his feet and unloads on the Archer, causing major damage and hitting the dome with a laser, but it may have been inadvisable.

Zarathud blasts a Vedette with PPCs, disabling it, while Xwraith removes the rest of the armor from the front of the Vedette next to him, then kicks a Saracen hovertank over, ending that set of annoyances.

Madmarcus takes some leg damage from a Firestarter that follows him, but kicks back, stripping armor from its right leg.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
The legged enemy Clint limps down the street, and Paingod takes a second to plant a PPC shot into it, shearing off the left arm and burning away a medium laser and a jump jet. The Clint does retaliate by blasting Paingod's left arm off, which is unfortunate.

The enemy Champion gets up but is paying too much attention to Zenn7, so doesn't see Freyland backing up right behind him and coring out the engine through the thin rear armor.

LordMortis and the enemy Archer exchange fire, with the Archer taking sandpaper damage all over while LordMortis loses the right arm.

The exchange of physical attacks is pretty devastating. Zarathud kicks the nearby Wasp, ripping off the leg. Some of the myomers jostle the SRM ammo bin as they are ripped off, and the bug mech explodes. Zenn7 kicks the Orion in the back of the leg, forcing the larger mech to the ground.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy Clint begins limping away, and to the west, the Firestarter jets off. Madmarcus targets the Orion's right arm, looking to take off the autocannon. With a great many sparks and a lot of creaking and groaning, the arm comes off. Combined with fire from Zenn7, the large mech goes down again. Zenn7 and the Archer exchange kicks, with the Archer winding up on the ground - although both mechs take hip damage, which isn't that great.

To the east, Archinerd targets the damaged, struggling Panther, coring out the engine.

LordMortis turns his guns skyward, blowing away one of the little fighters zipping around. His mech is pretty much totaled though, as the little mosquito sends a couple of LRMs into the center torso section, taking out the gyro. Well, on the plus side, your Hunchback is fixed anyway.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 eats a laser from the Archer, the shot cracking his left leg open and sending him the ground. Madmarcus desperately fights off the Orion, inflicting several hits while weathering the incoming fire. He takes a nasty shot to the right leg, popping a heat sink and an actuator, but severely damages the right leg on the Orion as well, sending the larger mech to the ground. The mechwarrior blacks out as he hits.

Zarathud and Xwraith collapse the triple PPC turret, making that intersection a little safer.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
Image
Madmarcus points his lasers at the Orion's head and fires, evaporating it. The Archer gets pounded as it struggles to its feet, with PPCs and lasers blowing away a leg... and the engine.

The last Orion decides that discretion is the better part of valor and retreats after stripping armor from Zarathud's leg with a kick and an AC/10 burst.

Our salvage is plentiful. We grab the Champion, Archer and Orion. Although we are unlikely to be able to use them in this campaign (what with them missing engines and heads), it'll always be useful to have some more heavies going forward.

It was a very nasty fight. Zenn7's Griffin needs its left arm replaced, LordMortis' mech... well, the less said about that poor Stalker the better. Actually, the only unrepairable damage is the destroyed right arm. But the engine and gyro need extensive repairs. Paingod's Griffin is also missing its left arm (what was it with these guys and left arms?).

Actually, some good news: Our techs inform us that we'll be able to get the Champion working. It'll take the better part of a week, but they can do it. Only thing they can't replace is a small laser, but who cares about those anyway. More good news: We ransack the storage at the mech base before slagging everything, and find replacement parts for an 80-ton arm, as well as an 85-ton arm. So, this will let us get Zenn7's Awesome back into circulation, as well as put LordMortis' Stalker back together. Eventually.
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