Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

[NickAragua]

You'll be out of action about two game weeks. When the doctor says "bruises and cuts", we're not talking about little paper cuts.

The thing about the 20 ton bug mechs is that they kind of blow, especially on high gravity worlds where they can't take full advantage of their mobility. So instead of being a 6/9/6 Speedy Gonzales mech, a Wasp is a 5/8/5 that requires a PSR every jump or it crunches the internal leg structure. Even if we put the most elite badass pilot in a Wasp, it's still one or two good shots away from having a limb come off, so the loss of mobility means it's highly sub-optimal to deploy one in this environment.

Long story short, more the commander's fault than the pilot's.

[Paingod]

Thanks, Paingod, for the rescue and revenge.

When the next promotion? I've only fallen down once in the last few fights. That should be worth something, right?

[Hyena]

You'll be out of action about two game weeks. When the doctor says "bruises and cuts", we're not talking about little paper cuts.

The thing about the 20 ton bug mechs is that they kind of blow, especially on high gravity worlds where they can't take full advantage of their mobility. So instead of being a 6/9/6 Speedy Gonzales mech, a Wasp is a 5/8/5 that requires a PSR every jump or it crunches the internal leg structure. Even if we put the most elite badass pilot in a Wasp, it's still one or two good shots away from having a limb come off, so the loss of mobility means it's highly sub-optimal to deploy one in this environment.

Long story short, more the commander's fault than the pilot's.

Thanks...at least I still have all my limbs, though. Hard to simultaneously drink and play cards with only one hand. Especially if you have two drinks at a time...

***Edited to ask: On a side note, am I the only one that's excited for the new BattleTech game that's supposed to hit Steam "early 2018"? I don't think I've seen a thread on that yet...

[Paingod]

***Edited to ask: On a side note, am I the only one that's excited for the new BattleTech game that's supposed to hit Steam "early 2018"? I don't think I've seen a thread on that yet...

This one?

[Stefan Stirzaker]

Wow! Take that little mech!

Signex up for early access but not the level i can play at now

[El Guapo]

So if we're stuck on this planet, can we just march on the capital and declare ourselves emperors?

[Hyena]

***Edited to ask: On a side note, am I the only one that's excited for the new BattleTech game that's supposed to hit Steam "early 2018"? I don't think I've seen a thread on that yet...

This one?

Looks like piloting a mech isn't the only thing I suck at...

Thanks, I'm pretty psyched about this one.

[NickAragua]

So if we're stuck on this planet, can we just march on the capital and declare ourselves emperors?

Not quite that good, but you're pretty damn close to what AtB rolled for our next battle.

Also, yeah, I'm pretty pumped about the HBS Battletech game. In fact, that's what prompted me to do this let's play in the first place.

[gbasden]

You'll be out of action about two game weeks. When the doctor says "bruises and cuts", we're not talking about little paper cuts.

The thing about the 20 ton bug mechs is that they kind of blow, especially on high gravity worlds where they can't take full advantage of their mobility. So instead of being a 6/9/6 Speedy Gonzales mech, a Wasp is a 5/8/5 that requires a PSR every jump or it crunches the internal leg structure. Even if we put the most elite badass pilot in a Wasp, it's still one or two good shots away from having a limb come off, so the loss of mobility means it's highly sub-optimal to deploy one in this environment.

Long story short, more the commander's fault than the pilot's.

It's true. I'm awful. Either that or I simply like watching Hyena flail about in tiny underpowered mechs.

[Hyena]

You'll be out of action about two game weeks. When the doctor says "bruises and cuts", we're not talking about little paper cuts.

The thing about the 20 ton bug mechs is that they kind of blow, especially on high gravity worlds where they can't take full advantage of their mobility. So instead of being a 6/9/6 Speedy Gonzales mech, a Wasp is a 5/8/5 that requires a PSR every jump or it crunches the internal leg structure. Even if we put the most elite badass pilot in a Wasp, it's still one or two good shots away from having a limb come off, so the loss of mobility means it's highly sub-optimal to deploy one in this environment.

Long story short, more the commander's fault than the pilot's.

It's true. I'm awful. Either that or I simply like watching Hyena flail about in tiny underpowered mechs.

There's a Deadpool joke in there somewhere about tiny hands, I think...

Can I lay dibs on the next assault much we get? Once I've cleared all the plasteel fragments and the world has stopped spinning, of course...

[El Guapo]

So if we're stuck on this planet, can we just march on the capital and declare ourselves emperors?

Not quite that good, but you're pretty damn close to what AtB rolled for our next battle.

Also, yeah, I'm pretty pumped about the HBS Battletech game. In fact, that's what prompted me to do this let's play in the first place.

AtB?

[Hyena]

So if we're stuck on this planet, can we just march on the capital and declare ourselves emperors?

Not quite that good, but you're pretty damn close to what AtB rolled for our next battle.

Also, yeah, I'm pretty pumped about the HBS Battletech game. In fact, that's what prompted me to do this let's play in the first place.

AtB?

I think it's one of the programs/apps/things Nick is using to generate the battles and scenarios. I think he's got a rather...compli-mi-cated setup going to entertain us. In another thread he listed about 5 things he had to download/get in order to run this.

Or it was a typo.

[NickAragua]

Right, there's a program that manages the "strategic" layer, called MekHQ. Within it, there's a rule set called "Against the Bot" (AtB) which is a mechanism used to generate contracts, battles within contracts, opposing forces, units for sale in the market, etc.

[NickAragua]

January 25, 3030

Finally, some good news. Analysis of the scan data recovered by Delta lance shows a major enemy command center within striking range. We're talking command & control, logistics, the works. Furthermore, our Davion guys get in touch with a reinforced company of Federated Suns armor that has been stranded here as well. While Beta and Delta run interference and divert major enemy reinforcements from the facility, Gamma goes in.

The opposition is pretty stiff: a large amount of stationary gun emplacements, a lance of enemy heavy mechs, two companies of tanks (24) and an extra enemy patrol, along with some garrison forces. Nothing too nasty individually, but still a lot of tonnage. Definitely bringing in some air support on this one, loaded up with all our remaining bombs.

Gamma is Gbasden in his Wolverine, Isgrimnur in the Vindicator, Lt. Scrub in the Warhammer, an AC/10 Centurion and El Guapo in the newly-salvaged Rifleman. Pretty dense urban terrain, light fog and dusk conditions means it'll be pretty tough to hit anything, but we're better shots. We'll need to maximize our line of sight management and keep alert for those turrets - there's a lot of LRM/10s out there.

"Manage your lines of sight, keep the buildings between you and the bulk of the enemy. Enemy aircraft reported in the area, so watch your backs. And try not to shoot it down if it's heading directly at you." Gbasden stares at El Guapo. "We've got reports of enemy mechanized infantry in the area, so careful as you advance. Let's go."

For the record, we're blue, our allies are red, everyone else is hostile. The fog makes movement pretty difficult for everyone, and the sun is low enough that it's hard to see but still shines in your eyes just fine.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

We advance gingerly, as, at this point, tripping isn't a good option. We open up at long range on an LRM turret, inflicting pretty heavy damage, but the building remains intact. "Conserve your ammo, this is gonna be a slog."

Round 2:

Spoiler:

Picture from inside town.

Isgrimnur lines up a PPC shot and sends it right down the LRM turret's viewport, frying the crew. Our allies trade off a disabled Vedette for a disabled Maxim.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

Some enemy aircraft buzz in. We fire away - El Guapo scores a hit on his target's left wing and nose, damaging the fire control system - the fighter corkscrews towards the ground and just barely manages to recover. We target the nearby enemy Hetzer, but fail to destroy it. One of our allies blows another aircraft out of the sky with a PPC, causing it to crater.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

One of the allied tanks disables an enemy Manticore, but an allied Condor goes down to an enemy Vindicator. Lt. Scrub plows PPCs into the nearby Hetzer, melting the vehicle down to slag, although she takes an AC/20 to the arm. El Guapo nails the Crane fighter he had previously targeted in the tailpipe with a laser, and it wobbles off into the distance, trailing smoke and debris.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Our air support arrives. Gbasden hops over next to some buildings and fires his lasers and a spread of SRMs at the nearby Striker. Combined with a PPC shot from Isgrimnur, the vehicle is immobilized. One of our Lucifers takes some fire going over the base but nails an LRM Carrier with a lot of lasers. The second one flies over and drops its bomb load on a cluster of enemy units, cracking open a Bulldog and forcing a Warhammer to the ground and a civilian mech to a knee.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Gbasden hops in between a Hetzer and an APC, evaporating the APC with lasers and SRMs. Then, taking advantage of several PPC hits to the Hetzer from the rest of the crew, he drives a boot into the rear. Four tons of AC/20 ammo make for a spectaculare detonation. One of our Lucifers plows into the ground after failing to retain control but remains intact. The other breaches a Vedette's armor, causing the crew to rethink their participation in the battle.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

Two enemy mechs come out to engage us, while Gbasden presses into the enemy base. He zaps a Vedette with a medium laser, disabling it, then stomps on a nearby Haulermech's foot, causing it to fall over, damaging a bunch of actuators on its left arm. He does eat a flamer shot, but that's minor damage. Our Lucifer strafes a number of enemy tanks, cutting the armor off an AC/2 Vedette, but the second Lucifer has to bail out. The aircraft is recoverable though. The Grasshopper takes some serious fire from the allied Davion guys, although he does manage to blow the turret off a Vedette. The Vindicator takes several PPCs and lasers from us, falling over.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Additional Capellan forces close in around us. We'll need to thin the ranks out a bit more. Isgrimnur looks at his counterpart in the enemy Vindicator as the enemy mech struggles to get up, shakes his head, and aims the PPC directly at the enemy mech's cockpit. The head section evaporates under the blue lightning ball, and the mech crumples to the ground. Gbasden is now in the enemy base and making a mess - a Hunter catches lasers and SRMs but survives, while a flatbed truck gets turned upside down with a boot. Our Warhammer backs up a little and unloads lasers and a PPC on a nearby Hetzer, crushing it with a foot to finish up.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

Our Warhammer zaps an annoying Warrior attack helicopter out of the sky with lasers. The allied Davion units lose a hovertank but disable an enemy hovertank and finish off a mechanized infantry platoon. Gbasden hops over to the Haulermech whose foot he'd messed up earlier and kicks the other leg, snapping a couple of actuators. As the industrial mech falls down, the leg comes off entirely. And an arm. The pilot wastes no time clambering out.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

Gbasden continues making a mess in the enemy base, cutting a coolant truck to shreds with lasers. Our Warhammer blasts one of the enemy Vedettes with PPCs, melting through the front armor and the drive train. Isgrimnur teams up with a bunch of Davion fire to blast the wheels off the nearby Packrat.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

Our Lucifer finds some more mechanized infantry camped out in a good kill zone. Well, it's not that good any more now that we've found it. We begin working on some of the stationary guns as we advance into the base. Our remaining Lucifer strafes an APC, large lasers cutting the vehicle in two. The main concentration of enemy units is in the western half and center of the base, while the northeast is mostly uncontested.

Round 12:

Spoiler:

El Guapo takes an armor breach in the leg from the last Vedette in the northeast quadrant before it gets blown away. The rest of our firing is less than spectacular, although Gbasden strips the armor off a Hunter tank - the driver powers down almost immediately, as his steering wheel is momentarily replaced by a mech foot. Our Lucifer takes a couple of pot shots at the last remaining enemy aircraft, forcing the pilot to fight to regain control.

Round 13:

Spoiler:

Isgrimnur hops over to help out Gbasden, blowing away an APC's engine compartment with the PPC. Gbasden breaches the armor on a Loggermech in multiple places, then breaks its leg off, although he then trips up on the surrounding debris and has to take a knee. El Guapo works on a gun emplacement - as he fires a laser through the building, it touches of some kind of ammo storage, leaving the top of the building hanging on by a single support beam, which collapses in short order. Our Lucifer strafes a Rifleman, blasting it in the left leg. The actuator damage forces the mech to the ground.

Round 14:

Spoiler:

The Crosscut gets up somehow! The Rifleman that got strafed last round does not, and the mechwarrior blacks out. I'm ok with that. Gbasden unloads lasers and SRMs on the Crosscut, slicing off the right torso and damaging the engine. His kick shears off the right leg, and the mech pretty much falls apart after that. He takes a few SRMs clustered around the head, but remains standing. Our Warhammer comes around the north edge of the base and blasts an enemy Bulldog with both PPCs, breaching the armor and melting off a machine gun. Well, that last part's not that relevant, but our Centurion then follows up with AC/10 burst, all but cracking the vehicle in half. The last enemy aircraft blasts a friendly Hetzer apart, and El Guapo fires back, inflicting major damage to the right wing, before an allied PPC evaporates the craft altogether. Our Lucifer blasts the enemy Warhammer in the right torso, taking out the SRM/6 launcher. The lumbering mech falls backwards, the impact destroying a machine gun. Isgrimnur misjudges his hop, taking some fire from the enemy units and having to take a knee.

Round 15:

Spoiler:

Isgrimnur gets up, backs up and cuts the treads off the nearby Hunter with the medium laser. He takes a few SRMs, but nothing major.

Round 16:

Spoiler:

We don't find this out until we take a look at the sensor logs later on, but that Rifleman pilot wakes up, tries to get up and blacks out instead again. Our Warhammer breaches the armor on a Hunter tank with a PPC, forcing the crew to choose between continuing to fight exposed to the elements or retreat. They pick the latter. Our Centurion engages the enemy Grasshopper that's harrassing the cluster of Davion Vedettes, scoring some solid hits but no armor breaches. It falls over under combined fire though, and then our Centurion capitalizes on its plight by crushing the head. Gbasden and Isgrimnur continue brawling in the center, scoring some hits (and taking some sandpaper SRMs).

Round 17:

Spoiler:

"Sorry fellas, my craft's looking like a pasta strainer. I'll be on station just in case, but I gotta clear out." Our Lucifer departs. Our Warhammer and the group of Davions engage a mechanized infantry platoon camped out in a building, destroying both. Gbasden plows lasers and SRMs into a J. Edgar hover tank, cracking fans and air ducts and forcing the hovercraft to the ground. Isgrimnur continues working on his neighbor Bulldog, rattling the crew around. El Guapo starts working on a distant LRM turret.

Round 18:

Spoiler:

Gbasden gets the drop on the enemy Warhammer, jumping around its back and punching through the rear torso armor with a laser. Two of its front-facing lasers short out. The Warhammer blasts the nearby Haulermech in the left torso, destroying a heat sink. The Centurion opens up with the AC/10 on a Hetzer that comes around a corner, bursting through the armor and destroying the engine - the follow-up LRM/10 salvo obliterates the self-propelled gun completely. El Guapo and an LTV-4 hover tank work on the LRM turret with long range lasers and PPC blasts, killing the crew.

The enemy Warhammer dodges Gbasden's kick then gets on the open frequency. "This is San-ben-bing Jaime Marsh. We wish to discuss terms of surrender."

Gbasden lowers his large laser, pointed at the Warhammer's cockpit. "Fine. All Overlord and Davion units, cease fire. All mobile Capellan units may leave the area, as well as any personnel that may be recovered in the next minutes. All prisoners will be treated in accordance with the Ares conventions. Any further hostile action will be met with deadly force." Gbasden responds. "My guys are pretty wired up and have itchy trigger fingers."

"Understood. All Capellan units, departing the area, heading east."

The base is ours. The remaining turret crews and infantry pile into the remaining APCs, and the rag-tag group leaves the area, heading west.

Our search and rescue unit pries the second Lucifer pilot out of his ejection seat that's stuck in a tree. He's bleeding from the head pretty badly. The salvage is... substantial. We pick up the Rifleman (and the unconscious mechwarrior), the Grasshopper and the Vindicator. We also strap a bunch of wrecked tanks to salvage trucks with the intention of stripping armor. The allied Davions pick up a pretty good haul as well.

When we return to base the Davion liaison informs us that we should load up, because our ride just jumped in-system. Bullshit or not, we're finally off this rock. Multiple Davion dropships lift up from across the planet and burn hard for the jumpship, including us, as we frantically box up our mechs and tank wrecks for transport on the Mule.

A hard-fought campaign, and we just about ran out of mechs. But now, fully two thirds of our mechwarriors are veterans. We also scored a large number of mech chassis, including two assaults (a Striker and an Awesome). Once we get to Styk (home of the now-Federated Suns-controlled Tao Mechworks) and get our mechs all fixed up, we'll be ready to kick some serious ass.

[El Guapo]

Does this mean that we don't get to declare ourselves emperors of that planet?

[gbasden]

I'm enjoying this so very much.

[gbasden]

Does this mean that we don't get to declare ourselves emperors of that planet?

You can declare away. We'll set you up a nice little throne room in the mech bay and make you a crown and scepter out of spare parts. You can simply rule in absentia.

[Isgrimnur]

You said we were short on spare parts, so I acquired my own.

[El Guapo]

Does this mean that we don't get to declare ourselves emperors of that planet?

You can declare away. We'll set you up a nice little throne room in the mech bay and make you a crown and scepter out of spare parts. You can simply rule in absentia.

Listen, subjects!

[Stefan Stirzaker]

Time for refit and rebuild. Can't wait for the next contract, but please, no heavy planets!!! You can be emperor of that shitehole, to heavy for me!

[NickAragua]

We sort out payment details with the Davions and get the update on interstellar affairs. I guess we picked the right side, because the Capellan Confederation got s-c-r-e-w-e-d. The Federated Suns chopped off the northern half of it. Then, old Max Liao's top general decided to cut himself a piece of the action and declared the Tikonov Free Republic, taking about fifteen systems with him. On top of it all, one of the Liao daughters decided to separate from the Confederation and form the St. Ives Compact.

Honestly, at this point, I'm not really sure what the point is of us having captured that dude.

So, we discuss it between the command staff and decide that's where we're headed. St. Ives. Home of lots and lots of mech manufacturing centers. Our Dragoons Rating has been upgraded to a B, which means we can rent real maintenance facilities, and we'll have good access to the parts we need.

We put out the word that we're looking for a few mechwarriors. With the ongoing war, there are plenty of depressed, dispossessed mechwarriors hanging around. Some of them might even be good.

Now, for the fun part:

El Guapo's Rifleman will be getting refitted to a Rifleman RFL-3C. This variant packs two AC/10s instead of large lasers and AC/5s, with a pair of medium lasers for backup in close range. It also features a bit more armor.
--------------

Gbasden called the second Awesome. I personally hate to see him leave the Wolverine behind (especially since he's good with the medium lasers), but, a request is a request.
---------------

Madmarcus will be moving up to a Quickdraw, Wolverine or Grasshopper.
Quickdraw (the variant we're using anyway) is a 60-tonner with 5/8/5 movement and 128 armor. For weapons, 3x Medium lasers, SRM/4 launcher and an LRM/10 to let the bad guys know we're there at long range.

Wolverine is the 6M variant. A 55-tonner with 5/8/5 movement and 168 armor. For weapons, a large laser, two medium lasers and an SRM/6 launcher.

The Grasshopper is a 70-ton mech. 4/6/4 movement, 208 armor. For weapons, it's pretty straight-forward. Large laser and LRM/5 at long range, and an array of 4x medium lasers for short range.
--------------

Hyena will be going into the Striker (STC-2C). The configuration is:
4/6 movement
15 heat sinks
216 armor
AC/5, Large Laser, PPC for long range firepower
3x medium lasers for short range work

The alternate configuration (STC-2S) trades the large laser and AC/5 for an AC/10, which, in my opinion, is a superior configuration. While the AC/5 and large laser together can deliver more damage, firing all that plus the PPC will overheat the mech pretty badly, especially if you also move. With the AC/10, you can still deliver twenty points of concentrated damage while running.
-----------------

Archinerd, you have the option of staying in your Griffin, going back to the Dervish, or changing to a Quickdraw.

The Griffin is a 55-ton mech with 5/8/5 movement, 152 armor, a PPC and an LRM/10.
The Quickdraw is the same variant as Madmarcus would be using.
The Dervish is a 55-tonner with 5/8/5 movement, 120 armor. It brings two medium lasers, two SRM/2 launchers and a pair of LRM/10 launchers.

-----------------
Additionally, we'll have a Thunderbolt TDR-5SE up for grabs. 70 tons, 4/6/4, 208 armor, large laser and LRM/10, 3 medium lasers. Funny, it basically winds up being a Grasshopper with a little more long range firepower.

Lt. Scrub makes the suggestion that Gbasden swap mechs with Hyena - the medium laser specialization makes him a better fit, while Hyena is still a "tabula rasa" as far as weapon preferences are concerned.

[El Guapo]

Were Marauders one of the mechs that got removed as part of the Robotech settlement? I miss those guys.

[Isgrimnur]

Were Marauders one of the mechs that got removed as part of the Robotech settlement? I miss those guys.

Wiki

The Marauder BattleMech is arguably the most iconic early BattleMech image featured in BattleTech and, previously, BattleDroids. Marauder miniatures have been resculpted several times, more recently due to legal disputes. The original Marauder artwork and figures are unseen, bearing striking resemblance to Zentradi Officer's Battle Pods (Roiquonmi Glaug Battle Pod) from the anime series The Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Despite this, reseen Marauder images have replaced previous artwork, and aspects of the design have influenced artwork and construction for several other BattleMechs.

[NickAragua]

They might be under a legal cloud, but they exist here just fine. We just haven't seen one due to RNG issues.

Also, I was mistaken about Gbasden - he's got "gunnery specialization: energy", so he's good with *any* energy weapons. Awesome it is.

[Freyland]

Am I still in a Quickdraw, or back in a Wolverine, or am I injured? I can't remember exactly.
Is it that I can't remember because I'm injured? That's it, isn't it?
I have a head injury and I cant remember what happened!
Oh, God.. the humanity!

[Hyena]

Lt. Scrub makes the suggestion that Gbasden swap mechs with Hyena - the medium laser specialization makes him a better fit, while Hyena is still a "tabula rasa" as far as weapon preferences are concerned.

I have no issues with that at all. I will go with the Commander's decision (seeing as I'm a flat table or something? Which I'm assuming means that I like to shoot people in the torso?). Either way, I don't have a weapon specialization, so it would just make more sense for Gbasden to pilot a mech with lazers. I'll brush up on my awesome piloting skills...get it?

GET IT???

***EDITED
I still get to blow shit up with the Striker, right?

Cool.

[El Guapo]

They might be under a legal cloud, but they exist here just fine. We just haven't seen one due to RNG issues.

Also, I was mistaken about Gbasden - he's got "gunnery specialization: energy", so he's good with *any* energy weapons. Awesome it is.

That's good news. If we do wind up getting / salvaging a Marauder, I would like to place "dibs".

I know that they're not really that much different from a Warhammer, but they are much cooler.

[El Guapo]

Actually what I really want is this mech.

[Hyena]

Actually what I really want is this mech.

Reminds me of a Thor from StarCraft.

[NickAragua]

Am I still in a Quickdraw, or back in a Wolverine, or am I injured? I can't remember exactly.
Is it that I can't remember because I'm injured? That's it, isn't it?
I have a head injury and I cant remember what happened!
Oh, God.. the humanity!

You were in a Wolverine. However, we've got enough Quickdraws that you can hop into one. Funny thing is, it's heavier but much more lightly armored, and not that much more firepower.

[killbot737]

Actually what I really want is this mech.

Reminds me of a Thor from StarCraft.

UNSEEN! Avert your eyes, mechwarrior!

(Kind of a double unseen, this is the original.)

[Hyena]

Actually what I really want is this mech.

Reminds me of a Thor from StarCraft.

UNSEEN! Avert your eyes, mechwarrior!

(Kind of a double unseen, this is the original.)

With a name like "killbot" I figured you would be leading the charge! Where is thine mech, oh killer of bots??

[Archinerd]

-----------------

Archinerd, you have the option of staying in your Griffin, going back to the Dervish, or changing to a Quickdraw.

The Griffin is a 55-ton mech with 5/8/5 movement, 152 armor, a PPC and an LRM/10.
The Quickdraw is the same variant as Madmarcus would be using. Quickdraw (the variant we're using anyway) is a 60-tonner with 5/8/5 movement and 128 armor. For weapons, 3x Medium lasers, SRM/4 launcher and an LRM/10 to let the bad guys know we're there at long range.
The Dervish is a 55-tonner with 5/8/5 movement, 120 armor. It brings two medium lasers, two SRM/2 launchers and a pair of LRM/10 launchers.

-----------------

The Griffin isn't bad but it seems lacking in the short range department. It might not be a bad idea to have some close range stuff, since you seem to get us into kicking range on a pretty regular basis.

I'd say my first choice is the Dervish - it seems to give a good balance and plays to my strengths.

[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.

[gbasden]

Also, I was mistaken about Gbasden - he's got "gunnery specialization: energy", so he's good with *any* energy weapons. Awesome it is.

Yay! I was thinking it was energy specialization, but I wasn't going to argue. Much.

[Archinerd]

SRMs do 2 points of damage noob!

Good point though. I thought it was balanced out w/ having 2 LRM 10s. I'm fine with any of them really, whichever you think is best.

edit: and of course you made an edit to your post just before I replied.

[NickAragua]

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.

[NickAragua]

With 86M in the bank, we begin our repairs. We sell off the tanks and mechs we appropriated from the Liao guys - after the dust settles, we make out with an additional 15M.

The Atlas needs some serious work. Not only do we have to replace the missing right arm, but we have to pull the left arm and right leg due to shoulder and hip joints being damaged beyond repair. With access to real maintenance facilities and our veteran techs who are now used to doing this stuff in sub-zero weather in the woods while the wind howls around and Capellans are shooting lasers at us, this is a cinch.

Between the acquisition of spare parts, unloading tank wrecks (and stripping them for any armor we missed, and spare parts we need), and actually putting the mechs back together, it takes us the better part of a month. You wouldn't believe how many mech limbs (and especially heads) we had to order. Our techs declare have to declare one of the salvaged Riflemen and a Phoenix Hawk unrepairable. Sometimes, when you have to replace the entire engine, gyro and pretty much all the limbs, repairing a mech doesn't look all that attractive when you already have two other mechs of the same exact type in much better shape. Well, doesn't matter, apparently people are still willing to buy a Phoenix Hawk "chassis", even though it's basically just the center torso, head and legs with no internal components.

Our aero jocks spend a bunch of time workshopping how to evade ground fire, both gaining the "Shaky Stick" special ability, which makes it harder to hit them.

Iiro "Xwraith Mk III" Rintala joins the company. Comes highly recommended by his former Capellan superiors who "commend his enthusiasm in battlemech operations". Lost his mech in a defensive battle during Federated Suns deep raid on some high-gravity world. How coincidental.

The aero jock from the Lucifer isn't going to be doing any flying any more. "Chronic traumatic encephalopathy" are the words Dr. Minnie used. When asked for clarification, she explained. "Yeah, he hit his head real hard. Harder than the last guy you fellas had in here."


The St. Ives Compact turns out to be not such a great spot for picking up merc contracts. Still, we get a few bites:

#1: The St. Ives Compact wants us to hunt pirates on Glentworth. Why they are conducting military operations in Federated Suns territory we don't know (or really care).
Liaison command rights
100% transport coverage (nice)
40% salvage (ok)
80% straight support (ok)
Green/F opposition
5.8M expected profit (in addition to any salvage we take)
Three month duration

According to the liaison, the Federated Suns guys are on board with this and will grant us access to purchase supplies from them. More importantly, they also won't shoot at us.

#2: The Federated Suns want us to conduct a recon raid into the Capellan Confederation on the world of Preston. In addition to a crappy "exchange" salvage rights, the expected profit is -1.48M. We'll take a pass.

#3: St. Ives Compact wants us to carry out an objective raid in the Primus system. Independent command, 100% transport terms (man, these guys are generous with their dropships and jumpships). 10% salvage rights is complete crap, though. The expected profit is 17.7M, but since we make a majority of our money from selling off salvage, not to mention it's a raid, meaning no access to parts.

So, our only real option is #1. Or, we could hang out for another month and wait for something better to come along. We've got a 100m C-Bills to burn.

[El Guapo]

Are we all done with repair / modifications / etc. at this point, or could we use more time for that? If not, probably take contract #1. If yes, then chill a little longer while we get up to 100%.

[Hyena]

Is there an option to outright buy a couple of new mechs, or are we sitting pretty right now? Not sure how much each one is, so this is just sheer curiosity. As for action, do you think we could possibly get a better deal elsewhere, or is this normal? I thought I remembered the last set of options being much more lucrative (or at least seemingly, anyways).