Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

If it's a video game it goes here.

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, Arcanis, $iljanus

Post Reply
User avatar
xwraith
Posts: 1085
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 6:42 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by xwraith »

Love that I got a p-hawk, one of my favorite mechs.
I forgot to call it "a box of pure malevolent evil, a purveyor of
insidious insanity, an eldritch manifestation that would make Bill
Gates let out a low whistle of admiration," but it's all those, too.
-- David Gerard, Re: [Mediawiki-l] Wikitext grammar, 2010.08.06
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

July 21st, 3027
26:33 local time

"This is Delta Lance, approaching nav two. Sensor contact with multiple vehicles and one lance of mechs. Command, do we have any friendlies in the area?"
"Uh, that's a negative Delta. Contacts are presumed hostile. Engage and destroy."
"Understood. Delta out."

It's the middle of the night, in a mostly open field with a very limited terrain variety. Historically speaking, we don't do too well in open field battles against vehicle swarms. Thankfully, the night time movement penalty will slow everyone down, but it hurts us less than the opfor - half our mechs aren't really built for "movement" per se. The officer previously supervising Delta lance (the guy in the Hermes) is still missing both his torso sections. While his mech is out of action, we've got a 3/6 Shadow Hawk buddy. The enemy force is a mixture of hovercraft, medium-weight tanks and a lance of mechs, all jump-capable. There's also a Manticore heavy tank sitting in the back. My main concern is the five hovercraft combined with the jumping mechs. There are also two extra vehicle lances on sensors, which will arrive shortly after our air support does.
Spoiler:
Image
We deploy in the depression to the southwest, while the enemy unit is spread out across the eastern side of the map.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
We advance to the edge of the depression. All weapons are out of effective range.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
We start taking "low-caliber autocannon" and LRM fire from long range. We toss out some LRMs to let them know we're there as well.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
In an effort to get to some cover, Zenn7 trips as he runs down an incline. On the plus side, one of the enemy sensor contacts stops moving altogether - a helicopter temporarily loses control in the darkness and crashes into a nearby hill. Whoops! Archinerd puts his LRM/10 skills to use, nailing an advancing enemy Blackjack.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Uh...

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 lights up an approaching J.Edgar hover tank with his PPCs, and the vehicle grinds to a halt as it contacts the ground. We then go to work on the Javelin. Archinerd and XWraith score a couple of good hits, and then the Atlas takes the head off with the AC/20. Then continues pounding with medium lasers and SRMs. Well, at least the ammo doesn't go off, so there'll be *some* salvage. Relax, there, champ!

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Even though their reinforcements have arrived, the enemy force seems reluctant to close in for some reason. All weapons fire misses this turn. I think we're going to try to conserve ammunition until the opposing force gets a little closer. The reinforcements appear to include some "factory vedettes", which is annoying but at least they're not heavier equipment.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
Our aircraft arrives. I dispatch Xwraith way to the southeast to take down that LRM carrier, while our aircraft makes a pass on the enemy Manticore, with the goal of divebombing the large cluster of enemies to the northeast of our ground units' position. Archinerd gets a solid LRM lock on a Scorpion tank to the east and blows it away.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Our air support drops some bombs from high altitude. Not very accurate, but the enemy units are so densely packed, he's bound to hit something, and he does, flipping over a Saracen tank.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
I'm pretty concerned about our FWL officer running off and getting himself killed, so we urge him to come back (by setting the bot's cowardice and herding priorities a little higher). He listens, thankfully. Archinerd scores the only hits with a few LRM/10s on the approaching Pegasus, damaging the air intakes.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
Ah, my favorite. Overenthusiastic enemy mech pilot. Actually, he jumped in so he only takes a couple of hits. The Atlas's secondary target, a Pegasus hover tank, however, takes sixteen LRMs, cooking off his SRM ammo and scattering the vehicle to the four winds. In the southeast, Xwraith dispatches his target LRM carrier with lasers and a boot. Our aircraft's bombing run is... less than successful. Dude, that's 30,000 c-bills worth of bombs you just dropped on that random corn field.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
The Wolverine gets behind our Atlas, which isn't great, but the Atlas has two butt lasers. The SRM6 shot to the rear arc barely even dings the paint, and the Wolverine can't actually close the deal on the kick. To the southeast, Xwraith engages the Manticore heavy tank. At close range, that PPC isn't going to be very effective.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
The Wolverine is still in there, mixing it up, but more concerning is the fact that the main enemy unit is finally closing to effective weapons range. We take some minor damage, but it's all sandpaper against an Atlas. Zenn7 takes the armor off the left side of an approaching APC, and the driver shifts gears so frantically he grinds them. Xwraith misses what should have been an easy kick on the Manticore and falls over.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
Image
This is starting to get ugly. The Atlas takes a gyro hit and goes down, while we inflict no appreciable damage on the enemy force. We do succeed in stripping the armor off the Wolverine's legs, knocking it down.

Round 14:
Spoiler:
Image
The Atlas gets up, slowly and painfully. We're going to start pulling back a little. The enemy Stinger gets in close range to mix it up, while the Wolverine gets up (with some trouble). Zenn7 melts down an approaching Harasser missile platform, which is great, we don't want any more SRMs coming in. The Atlas gets revenge on the Wolverine for being annoying, by blowing the right arm off with an AC/20. The incoming fire takes its toll, however and the mech falls over again, with the pilot blacking out. Archinerd jumps back and gets a solid LRM lock on an approaching Pegasus tank, knocking out air ducts and causing the hovercraft to eat dirt. Our air support lasers an SRM-equipped APC attempting to make its way towards our force, further reducing the incoming fire. The allied officer delivers a solid kick to the Wolverine's right leg, collapsing it. The impact from the fall detonates the Wolverine's remaining SRM ammo, with the pilot just barely managing to eject. Xwraith steps up to the Manticore that's been underfoot for the last two rounds and knocks the main gun off the turret. Without that PPC, the Manticore might as well be a paperweight.

Round 15:
Spoiler:
Image
This is bad. A Saladin with an AC/20 has picked this moment to close on our Atlas. The Stinger is also trying to get some shots in. Thankfully, the Saladin misses, and Zenn7 melts the left side armor off with a PPC, forcing the vehicle to break off. The Stinger shoots pointblank lasers, breaching the Atlas's rear armor, but not causing any crits thankfully.

Round 16:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Atlas continues taking a dirt nap while the pilot "relaxes" in her chair. A Condor and Skulker close in for the kill, while the Stinger jumps away. We need to finish this quickly, or we risk the Atlas getting shredded or taking a bunch of called shots to the head. Zenn7 burns a medium laser off an approaching Galleon light tank's turret with a PPC, then, as an afterthought dings the approaching Condor with the small laser. Archinerd capitalizes on the Condor driver's distraction and perforates it with medium lasers and SRMs. We deliver some kicks and punches to some other nearby enemy vehicles to help convince them that this isn't a fight worth continuing any more.

With their heaviest units destroyed or disabled, the rest of the enemy force pulls back. This was a tough fight by any measure, and the Atlas was starting to take armor breaches - another couple of rounds and that pilot was screwed. Everyone involved breathes a sigh of relief at not having to explain to the commander why they lost an Atlas to a bunch of treadheads. Our employer claims all the salvage this time (not that we mind - it's a half destroyed Javelin and a bunch of crap vehicles). We turn over a few prisoners for 75k, which should just about pay for all the ammo we used in the last fight. The salvage teams discover the helicopter pilot that crashed at the beginning of the match in a somewhat compromising position, with her gunner's brains splattered all over the front console. She wishes to defect, but does not want to be turned over to the FWL. We accept the offer, although we'll have some questions to ask her about this whole situation.

Lt. Adnan will be out of action for forty two days with a concussion and a sprained leg, so El Guapo will get a crack at the Atlas. Zenn7's kill record is safe for now.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41247
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Well, at least Lt. Adnan set a low bar for an Atlas outing, which I appreciate.
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

El Guapo wrote:Well, at least Lt. Adnan set a low bar for an Atlas outing, which I appreciate.
That mech is cursed! Not even your freakish Electronic Axis and Allies dice can save you!!! I mean, by all means, please to enjoy...
Zenn7
Posts: 4447
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:15 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote:Lt. Adnan will be out of action for forty two days with a concussion and a sprained leg, so El Guapo will get a crack at the Atlas. Zenn7's kill record is safe for now.
<SHEW>... uh... I mean... El Guapo, you better be more useful in that thing than that last scrub Adnan!
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Heh, yeah, she only got two kills with the Atlas the second time out. It's just not as good in open field battles. First battle was like six kills though.

While El Guapo is messing around with the Atlas, I have Zenn7 take over the training lance.

July 29th, 3027
Riverbank

Several hours ago, an FWL unit engaged and routed an enemy tank unit. It's a total rout, "every man for himself". Delta lance is in position to give chase and further degrade enemy capabilities. The enemy forces appear to be heading to a rally point, and enemy reinforcements are en route from that direction to cover their escape, so we'll have to work pretty quickly. We're talking marshy river terrain here, so the enemy ground-bound units will have a hard time getting away, while their hovercraft should escape pretty handily. Our FWL commanding officer's Hermes got put back together, so I look forward to seeing him lose both torso sections again. I deploy our air support to help chase down escaping hovercraft.

Round 1-4: A bunch of enemy hovercraft and a helicopter get a solid head start.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Xwraith in the Phoenix Hawk is the first to arrive. One of the hovercraft tries to go through some heavy woods and crashes into a tree. However, it's pretty hard to get a good bead on any of those vehicles. The Packrat dings Xwraith with four SRMs, doing no appreciable damage.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Archinerd arrives in the Dervish, as does the Hermes CO and two lances of enemy reinforcements way to the north. It'll be a little while before they're a factor but they'll be a factor eventually. Xwraith goes to chase down an escaping Pegasus. Weapons fire is exchanged but is mostly ineffective.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
The Lucifer fighter zooms in, flying overhead and buzzing a Packrat and breaching the armor. Xwraith lasers the nearby enemy Saladin's armor off as well. Normally, I'd be super happy about armor breaches, because vehicles operating under "forced withdrawal" begin to retreat at that point. However, it makes little difference since they're already running as fast as their little engines can carry them. Archinerd delivers a kick to a Vedette's side, damaging the treads and slowing it down a little.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Some Hetzers and Scorpion light tanks arrive on the battlefield. If the enemy units weren't already in a panicked retreat, they might notice that they outnumber us about six to one and have local fire superiority. Our CO lines up a beautiful shot on one of the Hetzers with his AC/5, the shot flying through a weak spot in the armor and punching out the engine. While he's busy doing that, he takes a nasty medium laser hit to the rear section, damaging the engine. The Lucifer plows an escaping Saladin with lasers, scattering it all over the small lake it was crossing. Archinerd backs up a little to avoid the AC/20s, but should have backed up more, as he gets sandblasted by SRMs, with a lot of his armor becoming free from the confines of being an outer shell for a battlemech. He manages to stay upright though.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
El Guapo finally trundles up in the Atlas and goes to work on some Scorpion tanks. The AC/20 blows away one of them, and a boot takes out the other, but not before it manages to fire a piddly little machinegun. Somehow, a couple of rounds find their way through the Atlas' center torso armor and ding the gyro. El Guapo stays upright though. Archinerd knocks the wheels off that annoying Packrat with a laser. Off in the north, our aircraft drops half his bomb load on a pair of escaping Saladins. A direct hit on one takes it apart completely, while the other is flipped on its side and becomes stuck in the ground.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
El Guapo blows away the armor and treads of a Scorpion across the small lake. The Hermes capitalizes on this by kicking through the remains of the front armor. Meanwhile Archinerd takes out the engine of the Vedette at the bottom of his hill. The Lucifer goes to strafe a J.Edgar hovertank and clogs up some air ducts with lasers, but a Saracen blows a bomb off his right wing with an LRM round. The look on the pilot's face must be something along the lines of "how the hell am I still alive"? Then he plows into the ground. That's why I love the Lucifer though, it's a tough craft that can survive a low-speed crash from low altitude. Next round he's back up in the air again, like nothing happened.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
Archinerd jumps over to take care of a loose enemy Vedette and catches a PPC to the rear torso. It melts through the armor and detonates the LRM/10 ammo, blowing the mech away completely. Archinerd luckily manages to eject safely. Xwraith's Phoenix Hawk takes an AC/20 to the right arm, destroying that completely as well and falling over. El Guapo blows away another Scorpion with the AC/20.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
El Guapo blasts one more Scorpion with the AC/20, while using a rear-firing medium laser to disable a fleeing Hetzer. I think this marks our company's first butt-laser kill. XWraith's Phoenix Hawk is completely disarmed by an enemy Saladin, losing the other arm to an AC/20.

The FWL commanding officer gets on the comms and informs us that our mission objective is accomplished. Which is just as well, since we don't actually have any mechs left in the field that can engage enemy units (it's not like the Atlas can catch up to hovercraft). The remainder of the enemy force (including two mechs and a loose assortment of hovercraft and tanks) retreat, leaving the field to us. We pick up the pieces of our mechs and head back to base, leaving the vehicles and prisoners to our employers, who pay out a 70k prisoner capture bonus. The Phoenix Hawk will be out of action for some time, as will our air support - the pilot greatly underestimated the damage that happened to his aircraft when the attached bomb exploded, and had to make a vertical landing at base due to damaged landing gear. Losing Archinerd's Dervish also blow chunks big time, since he was a crack shot with those LRM/10s.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41247
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Did we get an Atlas with a faulty gyro? Did you check LemonMechs.com before buying?

Anyhow, at least *some* pilots around here can keep a mech upright with a damaged gyro...
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
AWS260
Posts: 12664
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:51 pm
Location: Brooklyn

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by AWS260 »

NickAragua wrote:I think this marks our company's first butt-laser kill.
I'm pretty sure I know what upgrade comes after butt-lasers.

Image
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Our conversations with the defecting VTOL pilot yields a lot of academically interesting information, but no actual leads - apparently the "pirates" use mobile field bases to avoid detection, so we won't be tracking their base of operations and blowing it up any time soon.

We continue patching up the beat-up Phoenix Hawk and Lucifer fighter. That on-wing bomb detonation really did a number on him, and the technician estimates it'll take two weeks(!) to fix the landing gear and all other damage.

August 2nd, 3027

While on patrol, Delta lance gets a panicked call. "This is dropship Albacore. We have been shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Sending grid coordinates. Any friendlies need to get here fast, my radar's covered in red!".

"Delta Leader to Albacore, we are en route. ETA, thirty minutes."

"In thirty minutes, they're gonna be all over us."

"Acknowledged Albacore. Just sit tight."

Our Hermes buddy is still getting his engine fixed, so the attached house CO is driving a Clint and tells us to kick it into overdrive. Well, as much overdrive as you can get with an Atlas. Alpha Lance is El Guapo, a Quickdraw and a Panther. A little understrength, but still pretty combat effective.

There's some serious snow and hail coming down, which will make for interesting fighting. Well, we still need to get over there and protect the dropship. As we approach, we detect two groups of contacts - several lances of vehicles backed up by two mechs and another lance of mechs approaching from the west. Our objective is to protect the dropship.
Spoiler:
Image
All in all, the dropship could have picked a worse spot for an emergency landing. There's a solid line of trees between him and the enemy force, so we can pretty much just wait for them to come through the tree line (we'll encourage them with LRMs at long range) and then plow them with the full loadout.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
We advance to the treeline, and exchange a few ineffectual LRMs and long-range AC rounds.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
A Maxim hover transport tries to make an end-run around the dropship's main guns to its blind spot, but El Guapo is having none of it. SRMs impact the hovercraft and clean out the air ducts on the right side, rattling the crew around and causing the vehicle to dig a long ditch. He takes some SRMs back, but he's in an Atlas, so it barely dings the paintjob. Off to the southeast, the foolhardy allied Clint takes internal damage after engaging the entire rest of the enemy force.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
It looks like the dropship's position isn't as good as we thought. Enemy AC/5 rounds and LRMs whizz by. The dropship fires LRMs back at a tank in the distance. After the smoke clears, the tank isn't moving any more. The allied Clint does better this time, avoiding landing in the middle of a pack of enemies. He uh, misses a kick on an SRM carrier though and plops down to the ground.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
It takes our allied Clint some effort to stand up, meaning the bad guys will have an easier time whaling on him. A few enemy units advance pretty close to our position, so we open up at short range. El Guapo blows through a Vedette's armor with the AC/20, removing the engine while he's at it. The Panther melts the armor on the Scorpion tank, causing heavy tread damage as well. The Assassin wanders a little too close to the dropship and takes two PPC shots, one to the right leg and one to the left torso. The impact damages enough actuators that the mech falls over. The allied Clint takes a beating. With no armor left on any of the torso sections and some serious internal structure damage, the pilot begins a strategic advance to the rear. "This is Delta leader. Pulling back. Good luck!"

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
"The snow begins to accumulate". The enemy heavies slowly move towards our position, but are still too far out to support their lighter units, which get chewed up. Our Panther disables a Vedette with a couple of SRMs, while the Assassin gets completely plowed by PPC and laser fire from the dropship, with his LRM/5 ammo lighting up. The escape pod barely clears the blast. The Quickdraw decides to scoop up the pilot anyway. El Guapo takes a hit to the dome but keeps going.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
The "additional sensor contacts" come into short sensor range and we resolve them as a Jenner, a Blackjack, a Spider and a Centurion. Fast mechs, mostly, so they'll be in the fight quickly. The Jenner runs into range almost immediately, while the others hang back a little. El Guapo takes the opportunity to cool of a little by firing "only" an LRM/20 salvo, completely plastering the approaching Condor. The vehicle plows into the accumulating snow and stops moving.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
The Jenner runs past our defensive line. With the rest of the enemy force closing in, this battle will resolve one way or the other pretty quickly - all we've done so far is take out their light stuff. Now, the heavy metal is shooting at us. Maybe that Clint wasn't so foolhardy after all - he delayed the enemy advance for a good five turns. Both us and the enemy miss every single shot, and we're not talking about 12s to hit, either. Our Panther does manage to kick the Jenner in the right leg though, damaging an actuator and causing the enemy mech to fall over. It manages to stop its fall with its arm, but leaves behind chunks of armor from the impact.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
We're being pressed pretty hard, so we fall back a little. El Guapo blows the Jenner's right torso off with the AC/20, also inflicting critical damage on the center torso with a medium laser. The little mech falls over, the pilot blacking out from the combined impacts. And then we have a problem. The Phoenix Hawk lands right in front of the Atlas, blasting the head with a medium laser. The shot breaches the armor and causes "structural issues" within the cockpit, shaking the mechwarrior around like a sack of coins in a dryer. To add insult to injury, the Spider finds that weak spot in the center torso armor... damaging the gyro. The large mech falls flat forward. The Leopard tries to keep the rest of the enemy force off him, unloading on a Condor hovertank and perforating it with LRMs, but the Phoenix Hawk follows up with a curb stomp to the rear torso section. The impact detonates the LRM/20 ammo. The ejection pod functions, but instead of firing into the air, it blasts into a tree. The mechwarrior is killed on impact.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
The Phoenix Hawk pilot gets a little greedy and jumps directly in front of the dropship, which proceeds to plow his mech with PPCs, lasers and LRMs. The center torso armor is evaporated, as is the engine shielding, and the mech falls over. Over on the west side, our Panther takes a pounding, falling over.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
The Panther is going to get taken apart. The Bulldog and SRM carrier open up with every SRM they have, blowing off an arm and cracking the engine shielding. The mech keels over and shuts down. The dropship vaporizes the damned SRM carrier in revenge. Normally, I'd pull back at this point, but losing the dropship is going to be a major contract breach.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy force continues pressing on, but there's no way we're leaving that dropship. He actually does a good job, blasting a Manticore to bits.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
Things suddenly don't look so hot for the opposing force. With their second Manticore out of action and the bulldog missing all its left treads, it's basically two medium mechs and a light mech against a dropship and a heavy. The remaining enemy force retreats.

Well, that was a shit show. The uh... Atlas is still intact, surprisingly. There apparently wasn't very much LRM ammo left in the bin. We hand over the captured prisoners to our employer for a piddling 55k bonus and claim a Phoenix Hawk as salvage, although the money from the sale goes immediately to pay out El Guapo's death benefits (to the tune of 3.6M C-Bills). It wasn't that damn gyro that got you, but it sure didn't help. We'll see you on the other side, Mechwarrior.

Image
Image
Image

One last item to take care of. El Guapo's death opens a spot in the officer corps. The candidates are:
Cpl. Adam "Archinerd" Belak: 3/3, 7 missions, 9 kills, joined 2/13/3026
Cpl. Kanakraj "LRM" Priyabroto: 4/3, 19 missions, 18 kills, founding member

The good part is you get a pay bump and an extra share when shares are distributed. The down side is you'll probably have to climb into that damned Atlas. LRM has seniority but his anti-social tendencies make him let's say a suboptimal officer candidate.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

Enjoy your cursed atlas archinerd. I assume Zenn7 would be after that? Tell me, I'm way down the line.

RIP El "Farrah" Guapa!
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82089
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

That Atlas has a heavy burden on its shoulders.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
Freyland
Posts: 3041
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:03 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Freyland »

What is this "weak spot in the torso armor" you have mentioned a few times? It's been a long time since I played, I cannot remember if you can get torso crits without eliminating all the armor.
Sims 3 and signature unclear.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

Freyland wrote:What is this "weak spot in the torso armor" you have mentioned a few times? It's been a long time since I played, I cannot remember if you can get torso crits without eliminating all the armor.
Rolling a 12 (or was it a 2?) gets you an internal hit on the Torso no matter how much armor you have.
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

There are "through-armor criticals" (TAC), which you get if you roll a 2 on the hit location table, at which point have a chance to score a crit without eliminating the armor. Incidentally, these can only go to the "facing torso section", so if you're shooting from the right, a TAC will only hit the right torso, if you're shooting from the front, a TAC will only hit the center torso, etc.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41247
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Sweet, death benefits!

Oh, wait... :?
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
Archinerd
Posts: 6837
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:18 am
Location: Shikaakwa

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Archinerd »

:shock:
I ain't scared of no Atlas.

Enlarge Image
Zenn7
Posts: 4447
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:15 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

LordMortis wrote:Enjoy your cursed atlas archinerd. I assume Zenn7 would be after that? Tell me, I'm way down the line.

RIP El "Farrah" Guapa!
Spoiler:
I'm pretty well situated in my Awesome thanks muchedly. Between just being happy with that and my hot shot ability working well w/ the 3 PPC load, don't see any reason for me or our company to benefit by moving me to the Atlas.

Until my salary get's too high and you want to get rid of me...
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Heh, I wouldn't worry about your salary getting too high. Only reason most of us even get a salary is that, in a large number of planetary jurisdictions, in order to count as full-time employees for legal and tax purposes, a person has to receive a salary. Most of the money you guys get is actually from shares - 50% of our contract pay goes towards those, as a founding principle of the company. So when I say we're making 36 million from a contract, what I really mean is that 18 million of that is distributed to our mechwarriors, aero jocks and tech team leads. You currently get 4 shares (1 for being a founding member, 1 for being an officer, 2 for being a mechwarrior), so, for this contract, we'll divide 18 million by the number of shares (something close to the 150 mark), and that's the total payout you'll receive, in addition to your salary.

Let's all congratulate Adam "Archinerd" Belak on his promotion to Lt. Junior Grade.

Our employer informs us that they have detected several dropships burning out towards the nadir jump point and that Magistracy forces have ceased raiding operations for the time being. We are still obligated to deploy three lances to garrison duties around strategic facilities, but they are not expected to encounter any opposition. Additionally, we are still obligated to deploy one lance for offensive operation against "pirates or insurgents".

With that in mind, Lt. Adnan may not be able to handle combat duty, but she can handle instructing greenhorn scrubs. So, we re-assign her to the training lance while Zenn7 takes command of Delta lance again. Given that Alpha, Beta and Gamma lances will not be engaging enemy forces any time soon, we adjust lance assignments so that Alpha lance has the possibility of reinforcing Delta if needed. Sigil finishes her training shortly and is promoted to a full-fledged 5/4 Private.

September 1st, 3027
Without support from Magistracy dropships and forces, the local insurgents "wither on the vine". Allied command informs us that they have tracked down all vehicles stolen from the factory and destroyed the insurgent mobile field bases. Our employer pays out the rest of our subcontract, bringing operation Red Justice to an end, and immediately offers another.

Magistracy dropships have been detected coming in from both jump points. It appears they've brought reinforcements and our employer needs us to detach a lance for reconnaissance duty to help track down these vessels and destroy them. The contract pays out about 9 million C-Bills, so we'll take it. Operation Final Engine begins in a few days.

Archinerd is spared the burden of having to get in the Atlas as the doctor clears Lt. Adnan for active duty. For now, Archinerd is going to be in a Thunderbolt TDR-5SE (identical model to gbasden's), until I can find him a Jenner. Unless you want to keep the Thunderbolt, of course. Alpha, Gamma and Delta lances are on defensive operations, while Beta (headed by Scrub) is on recon duty.

September 14th, 3027
Here we go again with these Magistracy assholes. Several lances of enemy vehicles have "gone to ground" after being deployed by Mac dropships, and Delta lance tracks them down, in the middle of the night in the dense woods. We call in our air support and begin the assault. Currently, Delta is Zenn7, the Atlas, LordMortis and a Centurion. Not exactly the most mobile crew, but it's a lot of PPCs and AC/20s. Our liaison isn't much better, being a Scorpion quad mech. The opposition looks to be a bunch of Bulldogs and Vedettes with a sprinkling of light hover tanks and other heavies. As we make our approach, a second group of blips powers up in the distance, so if we don't take care of business quickly, we'll have more trouble on our hands.
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy scrambles, but they're going to have some trouble getting through the woods.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
The less said about this round the better.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
The Scorpion takes some minor damage advancing to the clearing.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Nothing exciting. We fire at the woods where the opfor is hiding in an effort to clear some space.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
An enemy Vedette makes the mistake of poking out of the woods and gets pummeled, its armor stripped off. The Atlas wants to encourage the vehicle to leave so he gives it a quick boot. Unfortunately, a "quick boot" from an Atlas equals a splattered vehicle.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Right, time to get in there and mix it up. The Atlas brawls with the Manticore and Bulldog and kicks the little Vedette underneath in the process. The smaller vehicle bugs out, trailing smoke and debris.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
The Atlas moves on top of the Bulldog and Manticore to try to avoid some of that incoming fire. The enemy reinforcements have arrived, but moving through the woods in the middle of the night is a laborious process. We can't hit jack, though, while the Atlas's armor is slowly being peeled off by SRM fire.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
Our air support arrives. Our weapons fire dings some armor and the bombing run is pretty ineffective. We also miss all our kicks.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Finally, we make some progress. Shrugging off shot after shot, the Manticore's armor finally breaches. The Atlas is also finally able to blast through the Bulldog's armor, coring the vehicle out completely, then joins LordMortis and our Centurion in kicking the Manticore to pieces.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy reinforcements advance very slowly while we continue to remain in melee contact with the main body. LordMortis blasts right through an enemy Vedette with his AC/20, while the Atlas stumbles a bit and takes an SRM round through the torso armor, hitting an ammo bin. Luckily, it was empty.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
The Atlas stumbles forward again, plopping down in some deep woods, damaging the AC/20 with the impact. Our Scorpion liaison gets plowed with SRMs and goes down, the pilot blacking out. The Centurion breaches the armor on a Bulldog, knocking the crew around. Zenn7 and LordMortis team up on a little Galleon zipping around underfoot, kicking it back and forth like a soccer ball until it falls apart.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
I pull the Atlas back and out, moving the Centurion, LordMortis and Zenn7 up instead, to try and protect the Scorpion. Unfortunately, that doesn't quite work out, as it gets completely blasted apart by SRMs, both external and internal once those detonate. The pilot is incinerated in the explosion. Meanwhile, we miss just about every damn shot. On top of it all, the Lucifer aerotech takes a hit and loses control, the pilot screaming about ailerons or some such nonsense.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
Our aircraft crashes. Zenn7 manages to dive out of the way and winds up in the dirt, but at least he didn't get nailed by a 65 ton fighter. LordMortis braves the incoming SRM storm to land a solid AC/20 on the SRM Carrier in front of him, while the Atlas opens up with lasers and SRMs on a Scorpion tank off to the side, taking the armor off.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
Image
The Lucifer takes off like nothing happened (except for damage to the landing gear which will no doubt take another two weeks to fix). We screw up weapons fire again, although Zenn7 does manage to rip the armor off the side of an LRM Carrier (a little out of place in the dense woods here), forcing a retreat. A Bulldog gets a little too brave for its own good and takes an Atlas kick to the left side breaching armor as well. The Lucifer takes some fire as he zooms away, but retains control of the aircraft this time.

Round 14:
Spoiler:
Image
With the enemy heavies in retreat and their reinforcements unable to find a way to help them out, we finish off the rest of the lighter enemy units. LordMortis takes another full SRM salvo to the front, stripping off just about all his armor and inflicting some structural damage, but manages to land an AC/20 round on the SRM carrier, putting it out of action permanently. The Centurion lasers a nearby Scimitar hovertank, punching through the armor and blowing the engine apart. The Atlas nails a J.Edgar hovertank zipping next to the Centurion. It's just a medium laser, but Zenn7 had already stripped the armor away. The Centurion gives the nearby Vedette a boot to the rear as a send-off, stripping off the armor.

With 3/4 of the original enemy force destroyed, disabled or running away as fast as they can, the rest retreat in a more organized fashion, along with their ineffectual reinforcements (seriously, who brings hovercraft into the deep woods?). We call in the salvage teams and head back to base to lick our wounds. We do collect 315k in prisoner capture bonuses, and keep a Scimitar hover tank for salvage. We also hire a green scrub mechwarrior, recruit Imer Berisaj. 7/6, disposessed. Normally, I'd pass, but we need the manpower. Well, we'll stick him in a training lance. El Guapo, feel free to pick a call sign.

Since we won't get a replacement for the Atlas' AC/20 in time for its next scheduled sortie, we take one off a Centurion we had in mothballs. LordMortis' Hunchback is patched up just in time to get thrown back into the crap. Zenn7 and LordMortis are still nursing a sprained arm and leg respectively (which affects their gunnery and piloting skills, respectively), but we don't really get to pick which lance gets in a fight at this point and don't have the spare pilots.

Turns out we'll be getting plenty of fighting in the next week.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Archinerd
Posts: 6837
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:18 am
Location: Shikaakwa

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Archinerd »

Thunderbolts are good. I'll try not to get it blown up like the faulty Dervish you had me in before.
Last edited by Archinerd on Thu Aug 24, 2017 5:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

I'm ascared, if memory serves a not so well piloted hunchback is a target.

Ah well, for the... company?!
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

September 18th, 3027
With their mechs just barely patched up, the mechwarriors of Delta Lance suit up again. Remnants of the enemy unit routed on the 14th have regrouped with a mixed mech/vehicle lance and it's our job to root them out of these damn woods since we didn't quite get it done last time. The replacement liaison is a 4/4 driving a Wyvern, seems quite excited for a guy whose predecessor got disintegrated. As we corner the bad guys, it's pouring cats and dogs, but hey at least there's moonlight to see by. The enemy force is about half hovercraft and half slowpoke ground vehicles, with a pair of mechs that have decided to join the party. Alpha Lance is probably going to have some trouble, since our best weaponry is short range. We do have Zenn7 and his PPC firehose though, along with an AC/10 + Large Laser Centurion, the Atlas and Wyvern have some LRMs and a large laser as well.

So this is pretty unpleasant. Wide-open terrain with mud deep enough for mechs to get stuck in. Sorry about the lack of unit names, I think I hit some

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy hovercraft and fast mechs advance, while we mostly get stuck in the mud. We take some LRM and low-caliber autocannon hits but nothing major.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Every single shot misses. However, an enemy Maxim gets a little too close to our liaison, who promptly kicks it. The vehicle's air intakes take in some mud and the whole thing sputters to a complete stop, with the crew quickly bailing out.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
A Saladin and a Scimitar come up the right side, and the Atlas makes a herculean effort, running up close to them. Weapons fire doesn't go in our favor, although the damage is pretty minor. However, the Atlas does kick through the AC/20 and armor on the Saladin. With no weapons or armor, the enemy vehicle turns right around and retreats.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
A quick radio message from the Atlas stops LordMortis from turning his AC/20 and boot on the weaponless Saladin buzzing underfoot. We laser the J.Edgar zipping around nearby, damaging its motive systems, but don't kill it. A Scimitar hovertank just about runs into the Atlas' foot, but the armor holds up, surprisingly.

Round 5:
LordMortis has a little trouble with the mud on the way to kick a Saracen, which costs him some mobility, making it easier for the enemy units in the distance to hit him. He manages to avoid most of the fir though, and kicks it in half. Zenn7's Awesome takes a ding from a little SRM through a small hole in the center torso armor, shattering the gyro. Ugh. The crew of the Scimitar delivering the shot gets rattled by return fire, with the gunner dropping his SRM reload and having to scramble around to pick it back up.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Now we're playing a game of "protect the Awesome facing the wrong way". Despite being in the dirt, facing the wrong way, Zenn7 manages to land a PPC hit on a Scimitar zipping around. The Atlas blasts his target Scimitar with some SRMs, clearing off the motive elements, then launches an LRM/20 salvo at a Saladin off in the distance, detaching a large amount of armor from one of the sides. The vehicle crew's appetite for a fight goes away, as it turns around and zips off in the other direction. LordMortis kicks the J.Edgar buzzing around his feet, doing heavy damage to its hover skirt and stripping off almost all the armor.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy units focus fire on the Awesome, but it's mostly at long range with weak weapons. LordMortis nails a J.Edgar coming around the forest corner with his AC/20, but the vehicle takes it and keeps coming. He then kicks at the other J.Edgar still hovering around underfoot, completing the armor removal process. The hovercraft, missing armor on two sides now, elects to turn the other way and flee the battlefield.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis has some more trouble with the mud and takes a few hits, including a worrying large laser. The allied Wyvern blasts a J.Edgar with an LRM salvo, the vehicle's crew getting shaken around.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
I decide to have our liaison jump around the west flank and see if he can get some kicks in on those two guys hanging out in the woods. The Atlas fires through the woods, nailing the Scimitar on the other side with medium lasers, followed by multiple SRM impacts, which perforate the vehicle, turning it into scrap.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
The Wyvern sets up for the jump, while the Atlas and LordMortis hang out in the woods, scoring a sensor hit on the J.Edgar hovertank to the east. Good luck hitting anything, scrub.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis uses his AC/20 to blow away the little Packrat that's been pelting him with SRMs. Rest of weapons fire is pretty ineffective, but the Wyvern has completed his relocation to next to that enemy Locust and Galleon combo.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
The Wyvern fails to claear the mud, but nails a J.Edgar trying to make a run northwest with a large laser, causing the interior equipment to throw sparks. The Atlas drops the engine out of her target Scorpion tank to the south with a precision shot from a medium laser. LordMortis continues taking armor damage, and I seriously consider pulling him back. If he can free himself from the moshpit he's made in those woods.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
Image
The Atlas steps in front of LordMortis to take some of the fire off his rapidly deteriorating mech. "I got you covered. Pull back to the previous tree-line." He still takes a shot to the dome, but is ok. While the crew of the J.Edgar buzzing around in front is busy picking up SRMs off the floor, the Atlas melts down its left side armor and engine. The little hovercraft gently settles down into the mud. The Wyvern gets bogged down, but still manages to land a couple of laser hits on the Locust in front of him, cutting away the center torso armor. He then delivers a solid kick to the left leg, damaging the hip actuator after knocking away all the armor. The little mech falls face first, damaging the center torso section some more, with the mechwarrior getting some serious whiplash.

Round 14:
Spoiler:
Image
The Locust pilot tries to get up, but his left leg gives out just as he almost get there, and the mech slams back into the ground, knocking the mechwarrior out. LordMortis turns his mech around and takes a shot at the J.Edgar hovertank plinking at his back armor with the AC/20. The shot goes through the right side armor, and the vehicle is completely cored. The LRMs from the Centurion to the west don't help. The Atlas takes careful aim at the Locust's center torso and hits everything but the center torso. She does destroy the left torso section, blowing away an arm. With that mech apparently out of action, the Wyvern blasts and kicks away at the Galleon huddled in the woods, but the vehicle manages to make its escape, leaving behind only some armor and the crew's dignity.

We assume the rest of the enemy force is attempting to retreat when the remaining vehicles stop spinning their wheels and treads forward and start spinning them backward. It also helps that they stop ineffectually plinking away with long range weapons. It's just as well they couldn't really participate in the battle, it would have been a massacre otherwise. The salvage teams work through the night to get Zenn7's Awesome on the back of a (very large) flatbed truck and drive it back to base to begin fixing (or replacing) the gyro. We collect 230k in prisoner capture bonuses and haul back the Locust and the Maxim Hover Transport, although we'll probably sell the Locust. Now the Maxim is a different issue altogether. We might consider hiring an infantry platoon (preferably with jump packs). This way, we can have our own search and rescue unit with fast transport capability, instead of relying on the tender mercies of the enemy force or our employer.

Once he wakes up, the Locust pilot offers to join up. Apparently being sent to fight a bunch of assault mechs in a Locust with only treadheads for backup was the last straw. It's also possible his previous employer didn't like him. Neither Zenn7 nor Lt. Adnan recommend the mechwarriors tactical sense (he spent the entire fight camping out in a patch of woods), but he scores pretty well on the gunnery and piloting evaluation, so we hire him.

Zenn7 and LordMortis get the rest of the week off to convalesce.

El Guapo, you've now got a choice between two pilots:
Recruit Imer Berishaj (7/6), will be a training scrub for a while
Private Patrick Allain (4/4), as soon as his punctured lung heals up, he's getting put in a solid mech and into the fight.

Three choices for a mech for the new recruit:
Centurion CN9-AL - 4/6, 16 heat sinks, 169 armor, Large Laser, 2x Medium laser, Small Laser, LRM/10. Got it 50% off as surplus from our employer, I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it.
Clint CLNT-2-3T - 6/9/6, 10 heat sinks, 72 armor, AC/5 and 2x Medium Laser. Archinerd's former mech, which served him pretty well.
Griffin GRF-1S - 5/8/5, 16 heat sinks, 152 armor, Large Laser, 2x Medium Laser, LRM/5. A version of the Griffin that I personally prefer, as it can fire weapons without overheating.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Archinerd
Posts: 6837
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:18 am
Location: Shikaakwa

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Archinerd »

Does it make sense to move me into the Centurion to take advantage of that sweet sweet LRM-10?
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Your Thunderbolt also has one of those, and is both heavier and more manueverable (go figure).
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

time for a nap.
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41247
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote:
El Guapo, you've now got a choice between two pilots:
Recruit Imer Berishaj (7/6), will be a training scrub for a while
Private Patrick Allain (4/4), as soon as his punctured lung heals up, he's getting put in a solid mech and into the fight.

Three choices for a mech for the new recruit:
Centurion CN9-AL - 4/6, 16 heat sinks, 169 armor, Large Laser, 2x Medium laser, Small Laser, LRM/10. Got it 50% off as surplus from our employer, I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it.
Clint CLNT-2-3T - 6/9/6, 10 heat sinks, 72 armor, AC/5 and 2x Medium Laser. Archinerd's former mech, which served him pretty well.
Griffin GRF-1S - 5/8/5, 16 heat sinks, 152 armor, Large Laser, 2x Medium Laser, LRM/5. A version of the Griffin that I personally prefer, as it can fire weapons without overheating.
Choices in bold. Am I missing something, or in Allain better than Berishaj in every respect (except that he needs to wait a bit to heal)?

Griffin seems like a solid mech. Lose a little bit of armor, a small laser, and the LRM gets downgraded vs. the Centurion, but in exchange you get better speed and jump jets.
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Nope, he's better in every respect.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Archinerd
Posts: 6837
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:18 am
Location: Shikaakwa

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Archinerd »

NickAragua wrote:Nope, he's better in every respect.
I don't believe it. An LRM-5 can't possibly be as good as a 10.
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Private Patrick "El Guapo Segundo" (we'll shorten it to "Segundo") Allain is pretty enthusiastic when he learns he'll get to pilot a Griffin.

September 22nd, 3027

While Scrub's Beta lance is conducting a sweep of their assigned patrol area (a sector around small factory town), they get spotted by a helicopter. "Finish your sensor sweep at nav gamma, then we'll bug out", the attached FWL Lieutenant tells us. Beta lance is Scrub in a Vulcan, LRM in a Griffin, a Quickdraw and Xwraith in a Phoenix Hawk. The town appears infested with enemy vehicles, a lot of Vedettes and Scorpions and a few hovercraft. And that stupid little helicopter. Our aircraft is still getting patched up, so we're on our own.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
From the looks of it, we should be able to just run right by the town before the enemy scrambles, get our sensor readings on the east side and be gone.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
A single Galleon rolls out along the road. We exchange some fire, but everyone's moving pretty fast so it's hard to hit things.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin slips on the pavement and falls over like an idiot. The allied Firestarter decides to start some beef in town, kicking the treads off a Vedette. Thankfully, nobody on our side takes any serious damage.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Scrub reaches the eastern edge of the map and begins her high intensity sensor sweep. The Griffin melts down the annoying Galleon's turret armor with a PPC, jamming the turret and dripping molten metal on the crew. The Quickdraw lasers the right side of the tank, destroying a small laser mount. Xwraith gives it a good boot to the front to send it on its way, as the vehicle retreats at top speed.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
"Beta One, sensor sweep 33% complete." Some of the vehicles come out of the town to engage our force. The allied Firestarter jumps on top of a building and gets shot up, losing the right torso section and taking arm damage. The pilot wisely opts to fall back. The Quickdraw tangles with the approaching Condor, cutting the barrel off the AC/5 with a laser.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
"Beta One, sensor sweep 66% complete." Looking at the situation, I think our escape path will be around the south side of the town, as the enemy vehicles are concentrated in the north now. Just as the mass of enemy vehicles closes in on the Quickdraw, the pilot hits the jump jets real quick and leaves line of sight. "Later, suckers!". As she lands, the Quickdraw pilot zaps out a couple of quick lasers at the nearby Scorpion, blowing away armor and treads. The only thing the small tank can do now is spin its wheels in place. The Griffin and Xwraith team up on the one Scorpion they have LOS on, dinging it with LRMs and a large laser shot to the turret, although the vehicle remains active.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
"Beta One, sensor sweep complete. Returning to rally point." The Quickdraw demonstrates the vast superiority of jump capable battlemechs in urban environments. She's facing off against three vehicles, but only one can fire on her, and two are underfoot. She uses her lasers to good effect, damaging treads and destroying the target Vedette's turret rotation mechanism. Then she whiffs a kick on a Vedette and falls over. Xwraith, meanwhile, boots aside the Scorpion in the way.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Scrub takes stock of the situation, and comes to the conclusion that Beta lance could probably take these vehicles out completely. "What do you think, commander?". The attached CO reflects on it for a bit. "If you think you can, go for it. You ain't getting paid by the hour though, if they give you a hard time, forget it and get that data back!" The enemy vehicles appear mostly reluctant to engage our mechs though. The Griffin dodges a flight of SRMs and LRMs and plows his LRMs into the Condor, and the previously damaged vehicle's systems can't handle it, as it gently settles down on the pavement in the center of town.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin takes some damage to the left arm as the Saracen pursues him out of town. Xwraith jumps away from the Vedettes and goes to work on the damaged AC/2 variant, lasering more armor and treads off, then booting the turret as he jumps by.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
Our main force continues to engage the enemy in town, while Scrub makes her way to the west edge of the map with the recon data. The Quickdraw takes a couple of SRMs from the Saracen, but fires back with medium lasers, causing the hovercraft to "settle down". For all his specialization with LRMs, the Griffin can't actually land an LRM hit. Xwraith breaches the adjacent Vedette's left side armor with a large laser, getting a bit into the crew compartment. He follows it up with a boot as the driver grinds his gears trying to get out of that deathtrap cul-de-sac.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
The Quickdraw pilot finds herself facing a few too many enemy vehicles all of a sudden. She blasts a Scorpion with medium lasers and SRMs, detonating the fuel tank and sending vehicle debris everywhere. She takes an armor breach, but is ok. The Griffin gets nailed by an AC/5 shot in the left shoulder, which sucks because now we're going to have to replace the whole arm. Xwraith jumps off to the east to pick on an isolated Scorpion and Scimitar, softening up the Scorpion's armor with a laser then kicking through the remaining scraps and cracking the vehicle open.

"This is Beta One, I am clear of the town. Beta lance disengage and fall back to rally point."
"Uh, Lieutenant, they're running."
"Say again, Beta Two?"
"The, uh, the enemy force is disengaging and retreating east."
"Roger that. Beta One to command, be advised that the enemy force is in retreat and we can call in salvage teams. Primary and secondary objective secure."

In addition to salvaging a Condor (which we'll sell for about 400k), we also get 110k as a bonus after we hand over the captured prisoners. Pretty good haul for what was supposed to be an "in and out" recon mission. Xwraith really begins to get the hang of piloting the Phoenix Hawk, improving piloting skill to 4.

The next week rolls around, and Beta lance continues its reconaissance duties without incident. We also elect to hire a platoon of jump infantry. We'll put them through training first, and then they'll be on permanent search and rescue duty (we've got the APCs to carry them). In practical terms, this means that we'll be able to recover downed mechwarriors and vehicle operators when we don't control the battlefield after a fight. Sometimes.

While the techs bumble about fixing the Griffin 1N's arm and El Guapo Segundo works on being able to breathe, we reassign "LRM" to the Griffin 1S.

The next month rolls around. First of all, we get paid. Second, Magistracy forces begin attacking raw materials gathering points and convoys again. It's going to be a busy week.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

October 3rd, 3027
It's Wednesday evening, which means time to head out to the bars and party. Just kidding, Delta lance, it's actually time to wade through the fog at dusk trying to find a "lance" of cargo carrying units that have made off with a bunch of raw materials seized from a nearby storage facility. As we make the interception, the enemy units are heading towards a rendezvous point and allied air traffic control informs us that there's a Mac dropship heading our way. We need to splatter or disable the cargo units along with as many enemy combat units as possible in ten turns, then beat feet. The attached unit is a Crab CRB-20 with a 2/5 pilot. This is a reasonable 50-ton mech with a couple of large lasers and 5/8 speed. Sensors show that the enemy force is a lance of light mechs and several lances of light enemy vehicles.
Spoiler:
Image
We've picked an excellent interception site - there are a couple of pools of depth 1 water so our mechs can take a dip and cool off in people's swimming pools if needed. Hope the residents of the town don't mind too much. I deploy our air support on this mission, as we need to work quickly and it'll be tough to chase the enemy units down if they start escaping. We deploy to the south of a line of woods, while Zenn7 camps out in a corporate office fountain/fish pond.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
This is Zenn7's heaven. Each PPC fires as soon as the capacitor charges. You still have to hit your targets though. The Atlas scores the only hits from our side, damaging an LRM Scorpion's treads. She takes some LRM and long-range AC fire in return, but nothing serious. It looks intimidating, but those are mostly light vehicles and mechs with a few mediums thrown in.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 sights a cargo-carrying unit and zaps away with PPCs, stripping armor from both sides and popping a wheel. Fantastically, the vehicle continues moving. The liaison Crab walks over to the J.Edgar zipping in and delivers a large laser to an air duct, which the vehicle takes as a cue to plow into the dirt. The Atlas unloads on a Scorpion tank, with a medium laser and some SRMs slicing off armor and stripping gears. The vehicle elects to disengage.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 finishes off the annoying APC. The trailer trundles to a halt behind it. The Atlas has a wealth of easy-to-hit targets in front of her, so she picks a Saracen hover tank and holds down the trigger. Between the AC/20 blowing away large chunks of armor and the medium lasers and SRMs slicing and destroying interior components, the vehicle gives up the ghost. The Centurion blasts the armor and a wheel off another APC with a cargo trailer, blowing away about half the wheels with the AC/10. The Crab lasers and kicks the armor off the Scimitar's right side. The crew gets away with a few light second degree burns, but when you can see the enemy mech from your cockpit without looking through a viewport, it's time to pull back.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
The enemy force makes a push along the right flank, trying to bypass the Atlas, LordMortis and the Centurion. Zenn7 gets in a couple of good long-range shots on the Crosscut with a large crate strapped to its back, blowing off the right arm and just about removing the right leg. The mech wobbles around and falls down, stalling its engine and spilling what looks like a bunch of processed ore out the back of a cargo container. The Centurion saws the APC she previously damaged in half with the AC/10. The Atlas unloads on a the nearby Locust, "surgically" removing the left leg and torso with the AC/20 and a medium laser. The little bug falls to the ground as the Atlas follows up with a boot to the Pegasus zipping by. Meanwhile, the allied Crab dodges an AC/20 shot from a nearby Hetzer and blows away a flatbed truck carrying more cargo.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
The pilots of the Crosscut and Locust stagger out of their respective mechs. Zenn7 takes careful aim at a Scorpion skulking around the woods way up north and pulls the trigger on the PPCs, blasting away the tank, along with several small trees. LordMortis and the Centurion team up on the Vedette in front of them, with LordMortis blowing away the front armor and the Centurion melting the insides with a medium laser. The Atlas takes an SRM hit to the engine from the Pegasus, but nails it pretty hard with the AC/20. By the time the exchange is over, the hovercraft has one functional air intake left and one of the crew members is hanging out from a hole in the side. The Atlas also boots the Scimitar trying to sneak around the back of LordMortis.

The remains of the enemy force signal their retreat, having failed their objective and lost a bunch of units in the process, as their dropship aborts the approach and redirects elsewhere. We call in the salvage teams and grab the Locust, which we can sell for about 800k. The FWL also pays us a 155k prisoner bounty. Not a bad haul. Oh yeah, and we completed the mission objective, too. Damage is patched up within the day.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
xwraith
Posts: 1085
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 6:42 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by xwraith »

Payday!

However, I'm starting to wonder how many armored regiments the Maggie's have managed to drop onto this rock.
I forgot to call it "a box of pure malevolent evil, a purveyor of
insidious insanity, an eldritch manifestation that would make Bill
Gates let out a low whistle of admiration," but it's all those, too.
-- David Gerard, Re: [Mediawiki-l] Wikitext grammar, 2010.08.06
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

From the looks of it, we've engaged about a regiment's worth of vehicles and slightly under a battallion worth of mechs (160 and 31 respectively). The actual number of distinct enemy units present is probably lower, as vehicles tend to retreat when their armor is breached and the whole opposing force tends to retreat when they've taken 33%-50% losses, meaning we've probably seen the same units multiple times. The hostile forces also briefly seized a local vehicle factory and took a substantial number of medium-weight combat vehicles. Planetary air defence and sensor coverage is pretty poor, so they probably skipped combat deployment and just landed a couple of Triumphs (each packs ~50 units and 750 tons of cargo) with techs and units boxed up for storage. All of this appears to be in support of an insurgency that's in favor of leaving the Free Worlds League to join the Magistracy (something about "male patriarchy perpetuating economic misery by using funds intended for public works to undertake glory-seeking military projects"). They may have a point, between having paid us over 20 million C-Bills so far for shooting up (escorted) industrial mechs and cargo trucks and using military grade battle mechs to suppress civil disorder, we're not exactly looking at a benevolent government here. But hey, we're getting paid, so who are we to complain?

October 4th, 3027
As Delta Lance is getting patched up and having ammo reloaded, Beta Lance continues their recon sweeps. They're making good progress, but discover that their way along the planned route is blocked by an enemy Warhammer. Cpl. Priyabroto announces "I've got this one!" and sprints off to engage the lone enemy mech. Beta Lance's attached CO informs them that they need to continue on with their objective, and Scrub decides that it's better to lose the insubordinate mech jock than to eat a contract breach. Thus, we have an Ace Duel between our 3/4 in a Griffin and an enemy 4/4 piloting a Warhammer. "Just remember that's Segundo's mech you're in, jackass!"

The Warhammer is a beast at long, medium and short ranges, but has major heat problems (it can't even fire both PPCs without overheating) and is slower and has no jump jets. However, he does have fifteen tons on the Griffin. The battlefield is wide open with just about zero cover, so it'll be all about movement modifiers and initiative.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
The two combatants charge towards each other. The Warhammer lets rip with PPCs and a medium laser but the Griffin is too fast. As the PPC shots crackle behind him, he fires off some lasers and LRMs, scoring a hit on the right leg with a large laser.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin over jumps, allowing the Warhammer to get the drop on him, scoring a PPC hit to the left leg while our mech is at the wrong angle to fire back.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin jumps to the left, while the Warhammer backs up. The two units exchange weapons fire, stripping off some armor with lasers, although the Griffin gets more hits in.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin jumps some more, and the Warhammer follows up to get close. The Griffin's heat gauge is firmly in the yellow, while the Warhammer unloads with every short-ranged system he has, whiffing every shot.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
This time, the Warhammer anticipates the Griffin's jump and arrives just as our mechwarrior lands. He still catches a large laser to the left arm while whiffing every shot, then goes in for the kick. Here's where our mechwarrior's superior piloting skills come into play - he steps aside, then delivers a kick on the right leg, stripping off the armor, damaging the hip actuator and a heat sink. The larger mech stays upright, but will be hurting with the loss of the heat sink.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Now that he's got the upper hand, the Griffin jump jets over the Warhammer as it goes in for another kick. Taking advantage of the fact that most of the Warhammer's weapons are torso-mounted, he lands directly behind the enemy mech. The enemy pilot somehow manages to ding the Griffin with a right arm PPC and stumbles out of the way of a kick, so he's not quite out of the fight yet.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin jumps back to regroup a little and takes a PPC to the leg for his trouble.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin jumps back in and catches a full salvo of short-ranged weapons to the front. The armor holds, but the cockpit is battered by small lasers and SRMs. The mechwarrior braves the incoming fire and delivers a precise large laser to the right leg, severing it from the mech. The Warhammer topples over facing the wrong way, and the Griffin plants a boot through the rear torso armor, damaging the engine and gyro. The enemy mechwarrior doesn't waste any time ejecting.

Well, duh, we claim the Warhammer as salvage. The mechwarrior is released. The mech is basically factory-new, so I'm highly tempted to keep it, rather than sell it. It currently packs the following equipment:

WHM-6R: 4/6, 160 armor, 18 heat sinks, 2x PPC, 2x each of medium laser, small laser, machinegun and an SRM/6 launcher. This is amazingly overheat-prone.

Instead, I'll have our techs refit it to one of the following:

WHM-6D: 4/6, 217 armor, 20 heat sinks, 2x PPC, 2x medium and small lasers. Much better - no more machineguns, can fire both PPCs and a serious armor upgrade. A slight downgrade in point blank range firepower, but that's not a problem.
WHM-6K: Same as the 6D, except 160 armor and an extra SRM/6 launcher for more punch up close.

I'll think about it for a while, as we don't have anyone who can go into it anyway so it'll be in mothballs while we figure it out.

Meanwhile, back at base, our tech's report that the 1N Griffin's gyro was irreparably and inexplicably damaged during ongoing repairs. It's a little suspicious, since nobody reported anything wrong with it previously. It'll probably be about 900k c-bills to replace it unless we can scrounge one up from some battlefield salvage.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

I so wish I could make the campaign work and get out what you are putting in to this AAR. You are illustrating the exact game I wish could buy off the shelf.
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41247
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

I'd go with the 6D Warhammer variant. The extra armor is great, and losing the SRM6 isn't terrible - there's still the lasers for point blank, and the minimum range on the PPCs really aren't too onerous anyway.

I'm hoping it's ready by the time that I'm healed.
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

xwraith wrote:Payday!

However, I'm starting to wonder how many armored regiments the Maggies have managed to drop onto this rock.
Maggies. I like that term. Kind of appropriate too, given the fluff for the Magistracy. Think I'm going to start using it from now on.

LM: If you want, I can walk you through setting up a campaign. We'll take it to PM.

El Guapo: Warhammer is probably going to take several (in-game) weeks to refit, while your guy is just about ready to go back to duty (he can almost walk around the base without an inhaler now!)
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

NickAragua wrote:LM: If you want, I can walk you through setting up a campaign. We'll take it to PM.
I will probably take you up on this offer. Thank you!
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41247
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote:
El Guapo: Warhammer is probably going to take several (in-game) weeks to refit, while your guy is just about ready to go back to duty (he can almost walk around the base without an inhaler now!)
It sounded like the Griffin is also non-functioning at the moment? If not (if that repair is quick) then the Griffin's fine.
Black Lives Matter.
Freyland
Posts: 3041
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:03 pm

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Freyland »

LordMortis wrote:
NickAragua wrote:LM: If you want, I can walk you through setting up a campaign. We'll take it to PM.
I will probably take you up on this offer. Thank you!
And then I will beg for a transcript, 'cause I looked at this a few years ago and felt I really didn't have the time to figure it all out.

Also, when do I get to get killed again?
Sims 3 and signature unclear.
User avatar
Archinerd
Posts: 6837
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:18 am
Location: Shikaakwa

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Archinerd »

Freyland wrote:
LordMortis wrote:
NickAragua wrote:LM: If you want, I can walk you through setting up a campaign. We'll take it to PM.
I will probably take you up on this offer. Thank you!
And then I will beg for a transcript, 'cause I looked at this a few years ago and felt I really didn't have the time to figure it all out.

Also, when do I get to get killed again?
Actually, I'd be interested too. Maybe you can just start a new thread with a guide in it?
User avatar
Cylus Maxii
Posts: 3348
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 10:13 pm
Location: Denver, CO
Contact:

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Cylus Maxii »

I've really been enjoying this thread. Please sign me up as a MechWarrior!
My nephew, Jake - "I mean is there really anything more pure? Than sweet zombie monkey love?"
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82089
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

I would like a guidance for DIY campaign as well. Especially since I seem to be locked into a training regiment. :(
It's almost as if people are the problem.
Post Reply