Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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NickAragua
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Gamma-One and Alpha-One are still en route back to base, and won't really be available until the end of the week, effectively.

We do actually have plenty of salvaged mechs. Zarathud gets to climb into a Charger (the very same one that LordMortis disabled a couple of weeks ago). No, not the crappy one with five small lasers. This one has an LRM/20 rack, four medium lasers and jump jets. Ok, so it's still not that impressive, and it has way too many heat sinks. But it's ready right this second, which is important if we're going to get there before they fix up their engines enough to attempt to take off again.

Madmarcus "pulls rank", arguing that Delta-One is better used on the offense than on defense, so they go instead of Gamma-Two. We load the mech company (Beta-One, Beta-Three and Delta-One) onto the Union for fast delivery to the crash site area. Cpt. Allred arranges for an artillery battery and air support. The artillery winds up consisting of three Sniper tubes and a Thumper tube (20 and 15 damage at impact site respectively). They're a little short on ammo, but may still be useful. The aircraft are two heavies, an Eagle and a Hellcat. Here's hoping they don't get shot down.

When they get there, the Excalibur is damaged, but obviously saw us coming. It wasn't *fully* laden, but has deployed a good two lances of mechs plus two tank companies to defend itself. Also, it's raining cats and dogs, so the enemy tanks won't be too mobile.

Our mechs file out of the Union, and the party begins. There's not much manuevering to be done here - the dropship landed in a nice big caldera, almost on top of an abandoned mining town. The whole area is covered with mud and completely devoid of any cover, so we're just going to sweep forward like a slow-moving broom, blasting anything that comes into maximum weapons range.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
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Deploying to the southwest of the Excalibur. We have to move pretty slowly to avoid the falling over on the slippery downward slope and sliding into random crevices. Our jump-capable mechs fare a little better in the movement department.

The allied air support does a quick little strafing run, getting a little shot up and inflicting some damage. The allied artillery tubes begin thumping away, although the rounds won't land for another ten or so seconds.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
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We continue moving forward, jumping along. The first of the artillery rounds land, splashing mud up but doing little else.

Now this is a mech you don't see very often: a Thug. 80 tons, one PPC in each arm. Plus, dual SRM/6 launchers in the torso. Moves as fast as a Marauder or a Warhammer, but no jump jets. Solid armor.

Delta-One (Archinerd II, Freyland, Paingod and Madmarcus) opens up on the Excalibur from long range, hitting with a solid LRM salvo.

One of the allied aircraft knocks over a Cyclops with a strafing run, although they continue taking anti-aircraft fire.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
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Well, this is something you don't see every day. The Cyclops attempts to get up, but slips in the mud. Well, that's fairly normal, it's raining and the surface is slippery. But then, instead of just falling down, the assault mech throws out sparks as it falls to the ground and just explodes. Our mechwarriors all stop for a second, Freyland making a shrugging motion with the Quickdraw's arms.

Then the second round of artillery comes down, cracking open a pair of light tanks.

Moley and two of Beta-Three's mechs join Delta-One in peppering the Excalibur with LRMs. The dropship returns fire, damaging the armor on the Ostsol's right arm with a return LRM salvo.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
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Maybe the Excalibur turned up the sensor jamming or something, because most of our LRM attacks against it miss. However, Zarathud does nail a cargo bay door with the LRM/20 launcher, the Charger's only long-range option. Even in the rain, you can see a lot of cargo spilling out. Not exactly what we're after, but it's an indicator that the dropship's armor is low.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
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One of the Davion aircraft takes a substantial amount of AA fire and is forced down. At least it's not totalled. We're just going to need to tow it back.

The artillery has mixed success, but one shell nearly takes the arm off a Locust. The remaining Davion aircraft strafes a Manticore, disabling it. Then gets shot down, splashing down into the mud. The aero jock reports that it's still intact. They'll probably appreciate it if we didn't leave them here with two companies of angry Kurita guys.

A Catapult jumps up the hill, taking two PPCs from Zenn7 to breach the right torso armor. LordMortis also scores a few hits, but the AC/20 misses. Freyland disables a Pegasus that tries to zip up the hill, frying several air intakes with a laser blast.

Moley breaches the Excalibur's substantially weakened armor, blasting away a laser turret. Then, the Wyvern and Ostsol focus LRM and laser fire on the weakened aft section, along with the rest of Delta-One. A weakened landing strut cracks, then something in the bottom of the dropship explodes, and it keels over, rolling onto its side. A little too much polish on that one, fellas.

Round 6:
With no dropship to back them up and us having a major range advantage, this is more a matter of time than anything else. The Kurita Catapult's got himself in trouble and takes a lot of fire, eating three more PPCs from Zenn7 and an SRM salvo from LordMortis. Otherwise, it's mostly just LRMs and PPC shots zapping through the rain.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
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LordMortis isn't letting that Catapult get away, getting behind it and raking the AC/20 across the rear armor. With nothing to get in the way, the SRM/4 salvo blows away the gyro and most of the engine shielding, dropping the bird-legged mech to the ground and putting it out of action as the mechwarrior wastes no time in powering down and getting the hell out.

Moley takes a nasty PPC shot to the head, with equipment shorting out left and right. The rest of weapons fire isn't very impressive.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
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Zenn7 blows off the right half of a Wasp that moves to harass our mass of jumping mechs to the east. Combined with an AC/10 burst from our Centurion, the bug mech falls over. LordMortis and Zarathud team up on a Vedette, removing armor from about half of it, at which point the crew bails.

Zarathud takes a lot of fire though and gets knocked over, while our Centurion takes a hit to the right shoulder, and the arm pretty much goes limp, including the AC/10.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
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LordMortis blows away an annoying little Packrat, the AC/20 basically disintegrating the vehicle. Our Vindicator, after over a minute spent shooting LRMs at Manticores, finally disables one. Damn thing took enough missiles, that's for sure. Zarathud opens fire on a nearby Wolverine, peppering it with lasers while sending LRMs overhead at a Panther. The Charger takes several PPCs and large lasers, losing center torso armor and most of the right arm, but Paingod sends an LRM salvo over as well. That last little bit of instability causes the enemy Wolverine to fall over, crunching its right torso. Where the SRM ammo explodes. And then some more SRM ammo explodes (it's a 6K, with two tons of SRM/6 ammo, but no jump jets). Zarathud is forced to the ground, but it's ok.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
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The artillery battery reports that their ammo has been depleted. Except for a single Thumper piece. Well, not like they were doing much anyway.

Although, that infantry that scampered out of the Packrat probably feels differently when a Sniper artillery shell lands right on top of them and scatters them to the four winds.

LordMortis jumps over to help cover Zarathud, blasting the nearby Stalker with the AC/20. 85-ton mech or not, the right torso armor comes right off, leaving the arm hanging by a thread. Unfortunately, that doesn't help much, the Charger takes an AC/5 round to the center torso, cracking the gyro. As the mech stumbles, it eats multiple SRMs from the right side, which just knocks it over entirely.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
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With the Thug and Stalker still giving our Charger the stink-eye, and remembering the last time trying to stick it out while on the ground with a damaged gyro, Zarathud pulls the ejection lever.

Moley also pulls back, as sensor damage makes it almost impossible to shoot straight. Zenn7's got the Thunderbolt covered, blowing away a harassing Scimitar. LordMortis continues working on the Stalker, nailing it in the right torso again with the AC/20, which convinces the enemy mechwarrior that he's had enough, as about half of the mech is now missing or on the ground.

To the east, the rest of Delta-One have finished flanking the enemy force from the east and begin their attack. Freyland disables a Tokugawa heavy tank by application of laser, through the armor, directly to the engine. Our Centurion and Ostsol work together to take large chunks off another attacking Wasp, putting the bug mech into retreat.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
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This about wraps it up. The Centurion, despite its autocannon being damaged, disables the last of the Manticores with the AC/10, while Freyland blows the top off a Scorpion tank, putting an end to its LRM stream. LordMortis jumps over and stomps on a Von Luckner, rattling the crew both physically and psychologically, while Paingod puts a foot through the back of a Saladin.

The remainder of the Kurita force cedes the field, walking off. It'll be a long walk for them, that's for sure. We did ok, with only the Charger and Centurion needing substantial repairs.

Our salvage crews quickly determine that the Excalibur is no longer space or flight worthy. Between the high-speed initial crash and the damage inflicted by our mechs, the internal structure is "non-viable". Which is a shame, it would have been good to add it to our fleet. We'll still claim it, though. The Davion guys have expressed an interest in the spare parts, which is still a cool 7M C-bills, in addition to the 4-5M C-Bills in salvage we'll get from the Catapult and three Manticores. Plus, this means the Kurita guys won't be fixing it back up and using it to mess with us going forward - they'll just have to use all their other dropships, and it'll be up to FedCom to deal with that. Or us, from the ground.

The liaison is pretty happy about it, not only did both of the fighters survive, but they also recovered the Thunderbird we shot down earlier.

Zarathud gives an emphatic "thumbs down" to keeping the Charger. For an 80-ton mech, it really doesn't pack enough punch or armor. Sure it's got four medium lasers, but so does a Quickdraw, which moves much faster. And the armor level is pretty disappointing, two PPC shots expose the internals on all but the center torso (kind of like the standard Banshee design, a lot of the tonnage is devoted to an oversized engine).
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Good choice not keeping the Charger - we're "heavy metal", not "less slow paperweights".

Good job all around peeps! This is a nice haul for our warchest.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zarathud »

This is why I like my Awesome.

It does more than open the pod bay doors.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Zarathud wrote: Thu Dec 20, 2018 11:12 pm This is why I like my Awesome.

It does more than open the pod bay doors.
100% agreed. Awesomes rock!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

Zarathud wrote:This is why I like my Awesome.

It does more than open the pod bay doors.
HAL YEAH!
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Delta-three manages to disperse the Kurita infantry and irregular forces, after we send them Delta-Two for backup. They don't take too much damage, although their Firestarter winds up disabled after taking a center torso armor breach then falling over into a lake. Our salvage crews have to haul the mech back to base, where the techs spend a bunch of time draining water out of the engine and gyro. Despite the heavy workload, we get most of the mechs back in working order and only have three mechwarriors out of action. Isgrimnur's Hatchetman is still missing an arm, and Delta-Three is still in the shop, but otherwise we're at just about full strength.

Which is good, because the Combine forces launch a major counterattack. Both the Davion command center and air base come under attack.

February 22, 3037
We commit Gamma-One to defend the command center and Gamma-Two to defend the airbase. Despite being under attack, the airbase sends a flight of aircraft to help out, but they are forced back by high winds. The Kurita ground units are unable to operate either, leaving it just a lance of mechs on each side. They have a Crusader, a Catapult (K2 variant, replacing LRMs with PPCs), a Dragon and a Cyclops. Gamma-One is back in action, with the leg on Hyena's Striker re-attached.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
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Our mechs wait as the Kurita lance slowly, carefully, comes in.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
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There they are, the Katapult taking point. It takes two PPC shots from Scrub, and has to take a knee to avoid falling over.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
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The high winds make it difficult to get up, so Scrub helps out by putting a PPC on the right leg.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
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Xwraith and Hyena send PPC and ER laser shots down range. Scrub manages to score a headshot with one of the PPCs, shorting out the Katapult's sensors. Mostly we're focusing on it because the other guys have shorter ranged weapons only - the high winds make it impractical to operate missile launchers or autocannons.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
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The enemy mechs continue pushing forward, taking some more fire from our long range weapons. They're now within standard large laser range, so Cylus gets to join in on the disco party. After Xwraith lands an ER laser hit on the fellow 65-ton mech's right arm, Scrub follows up with two PPC shots, unbalancing the Katapult and toppling it to the ground.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
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Xwraith zaps the Katapult again, this time taking the left PPC off entirely. Scrub gives it a matching set on the right, leaving it with a couple of medium lasers and a pair of machine guns for weapons.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
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The Katapult loses center and right torso armor and goes down to a knee, which finally convinces the mechwarrior to give it up and turn around.

Round 8-11:
Spoiler:
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We go to work on the Crusader next, picking away with long range weapons. Eventually, Cylus zaps it in the head with the large laser, then Scrub follows up to the same location with a PPC, dropping the mech to the ground like a 65-ton sack of potatoes.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
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The Cyclops is up next, as we advance to take advantage of our numbers.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
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But it turns out the Dragon wants a piece of the action first. Between Cylus' and Xwraiths' lasers, plus a couple of PPCs from Scrub, the 60-tonner goes down, the right leg snapping off under the stress.

The Cyclops beats feet. Unfortunately, the command center itself is a total mess, the high winds really laid into the temporary structures the Davions were using. It'll take them some time to relocate and reconstruct. On the plus side, Gamma-One is completely untouched, so they'll be available to reinforce any subsequent action we choose.

As a result of all these attacks, the Kurita forces have left themselves exposed. Recon indicates that their regional command center is relatively lightly defended. Cpt. Allred explains the plan to capture their command staff.

"This data center, here." he points out on the display "is considered critical by the Kurita forces. A feint against it would draw off forces from their base of operations. Once that's done, I would suggest you take your heaviest units and eliminate the garrison. Our ground troops can then move in and capture the facility."

"What about their sensor network?" asks Scrub. "Won't they see us coming? Send reinforcements and such?"

"True." Allred answers. "I suppose you can always mount a feint against their early warning control center as well. But keep in mind the forces here and here:", he points to two red indicators, "and that our air base is in need of reinforcement as well."

"Right." Scrub purses her lips. This looks like the final push.

Our objectives (in order of priority):
1. Capture enemy base of operations. This will end the contract in our favor.
2. Engage enemy data center. This will draw off forces currently patrolling around the base of operations, making our assault on it easier. Or so the liaison says anyway, we're not convinced. But we can probably translate it into brownie points, aka opportunity to buy high tech equipment.
3. Engage or destroy enemy early warning facility. Optional, but will prevent extra enemy groups from intercepting our forces moving on objectives 1 and 2.

4a, b. There are three additional enemy groups moving towards the air base. We can either attempt to take them on or advise the Davion guys to pull back. The liaison doesn't feel strongly about either option.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Hyena »

Sheesh...looks like I need to hit the simulator more. Did I hit a single thing that entire mission?

I know we're not the heaviest, and I am low man on the totem pole, so I vote the way everyone else votes on this one. I'm willing to be a feint, a support, or the support to the hammer.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

1. Capture enemy base of operations. This will end the contract in our favor.
- Send Beta 1 (2/3 if we need more)

2. Engage enemy data center. This will draw off forces currently patrolling around the base of operations, making our assault on it easier. Or so the liaison says anyway, we're not convinced. But we can probably translate it into brownie points, aka opportunity to buy high tech equipment.
- This is a distraction, send Delta 1 (2 if needed) - goal here is to engage/distract, not necessarily wipe out. Delta can run after they tie up these folks for a bit.

3. Engage or destroy enemy early warning facility. Optional, but will prevent extra enemy groups from intercepting our forces moving on objectives 1 and 2.
- Let's engage (and destroy if possible) - send Alpha 1 (2/3 if needed)

4a, b. There are three additional enemy groups moving towards the air base. We can either attempt to take them on or advise the Davion guys to pull back. The liaison doesn't feel strongly about either option.
- Leave Gamma 1/2 here to accomplish this (do we need a 3rd lance?) Them not having the air base will make life easier if we have to stay and might at least make leaving easier (they will have to come form further away to shoot us down).

Leaves Gamma 3 and whatever we don't use above (I am assuming we won't need the full forces listed at every point above) to defend our base. Never sure how many lances are appropriate for these missions (except when Nick spells it out in detail).
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Hyena wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 4:17 pm Sheesh...looks like I need to hit the simulator more. Did I hit a single thing that entire mission?
You landed a couple of PPC hits. The high wind made it impossible to fire autocannons and missiles, and I didn't want to close in to medium laser range.
Zenn7 wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 4:34 pmNever sure how many lances are appropriate for these missions (except when Nick spells it out in detail).
By default, the requirement is one lance. The second lance is "reinforcements" and tends to deploy with a delay.

The scenario generation mechanism actually scales to as many lances as we want, but higher-unit-count scenarios take interminably long, so I try to keep it to 1-3 lances usually.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:35 pm
Zenn7 wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 4:34 pmNever sure how many lances are appropriate for these missions (except when Nick spells it out in detail).
By default, the requirement is one lance. The second lance is "reinforcements" and tends to deploy with a delay.

The scenario generation mechanism actually scales to as many lances as we want, but higher-unit-count scenarios take interminably long, so I try to keep it to 1-3 lances usually.
In actual gameplay, is it generally just going to always balance out any extra lances so we never really get more net power? Or do our reinforcements usually result in a net overall power gain for us?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Reinforcements result in a local increase in firepower relative to the opfor (so, it's good to use them if we really want to get a scenario done or if there's an obnoxious opfor), but carry a strategic-level cost.

We either use up support points (an abstract representation of logistical support and employer good will, gained mostly by completing certain scenarios), or risk getting into additional fights (either as a result of the opfor committing more troops once they see us committing more troops, or our employer saying "hey, you've been holding out on us, do more stuff"). Or, as is the case in some situations (e.g. Gamma-One), when there are two scenarios close to each other and we completely wallop the opfor and can walk over to help (normally, the opfor would join in as well, but...)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Since we really want the enemy base to go down, either send Alpha 1/2 or Beta 1/2. I'm open either way.

Delta 1 is good for the feint towards the data center.

Agreed that whoever doesn't go to the enemy base should destroy the early warning center. I would lean towards 2 lances as it's going to be a positive for us both in tech as well as in strategy.

Gamma 1-3 to defend the airbase seems reasonable, if we don't expect the opfor to be sending a lot of heavies. Do we have any idea what we might be expecting?

I'm assuming if we are in the final push committing more lances shouldn't necessarily have a significant downside as long as we can protect our dropships given that hopefully we are going to complete the mission?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

[Regular updates will resume after new years]

February 20, 3037
After some brief discussion among the command staff, we'll launch our attacks just about simultaneously. Beta-One and Beta-Two will hit the main base, Alpha-One and Alpha-Two will hit the early warning facility with the aim of destroying it. Delta-One will engage the indicated data center while those elements of Gamma not already busy will defend the air base, although the expectation is that once we take down the main base, we'll be in a pretty strong position to negotiate a cease-fire.

Delta-One moves to engage the data center identified by Cpt. Allred, who joins them in a Dervish. Good job picking a mech that's a little more appropriate to the mission at hand this time. Our goal is to engage the base garrison long enough to make them think they're under serious attack. Said garrison consists of an array of hovertanks, backed up by a reinforced lance of mechs - the main threat being a Warhammer. They also have a Hatchetman, but it's a modified version. Imagine taking the hatchet off and adding three unnecessary heat sinks. Seems pretty dumb, the Hatchetman doesn't really have overheating problems. If I was to take the hatchet off, I'd put on more guns and armor. But then it wouldn't be a Hatchetman anymore, it'd just be a slow 40-ton mech. Perhaps it's a philosophical issue, maybe the Drac mechwarriors are too good for a simple axe.

Another good question is where they got the Hatchetman, an ostensibly FedCom-only design.

The fixed defenses are mostly crap, except for a single PPC turret. We'll be staying at long range for the most part and picking off any hovercraft or mechs that come our way, then fading before the heavies or any reinforcements can get there.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
We open up on an SRM turret, Paingod and the liaison inflicting some damage with PPC and LRMs, but it's a tough building. "One hundred twenty seconds on the clock." Cpt. Allred informs us. From the looks of it, we caught them with their pants down and quite a few of their units haven't finished starting up yet.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
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A Saladin comes out from the northwest corner of the data center, backed up from the south by a few of its longer-ranged pals. Unfortunately for it, Freyland dodges the AC/20 burst and fires a full laser salvo, shearing the hovertank in half, left-to-right. A few SRMs impact the Quickdraw from a Scorpion tank to the south, but armor holds.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Madmarcus and Freyland rotate back and forth in that cluster of woods, alternating using jump jets to move back, then running forward to take relatively accurate shots. The Scorpion tank takes some damage, but is on the ball with its SRMs, hitting Madmarcus' mech with a few. No problem.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
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Archinerd II disables the Scorpion with LRMs as it drives forward for a better shot, then Madmarcus and Freyland finish it off. Normally, I'd be worried about salvage, but we're unlikely to be doing that here.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
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A Phoenix Hawk (1K variant with no jump jets) and a wasp (1K variant with no jump jets) come out to engage Madmarcus and Freyland. The Wasp eats three lasers and a pair of SRMs from the Quickdraw's streak launcher, blasting armor off both arms and the center torso, the sudden loss of moss unbalancing the bug mech and sending it to the ground. Madmarcus and the Phoenix Hawk exchange fire, scoring lasers across each other's armor.

After almost a minute of constant PPC and LRM bombardment, the liaison hits a sensitive spot on the SRM turret, sending the structure sky high when some ammo goes off. Perhaps this will convince the Kurita folks that this is a totally a serious attack and not at all a feint.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
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Madmarcus and Freyland switch targets - Madmarcus takes advantage of the Wasp's multiple armor breaches to fire a medium laser through a gap in the left torso armor and blow the on-board machine gun ammo, annihilating the little bug mech, while Freyland and the Phoenix hawk trade mostly ineffective laser fire.

"Sixty seconds on the clock." states the liaison.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
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A pair of Panthers come out from the data center to join the fight, while the Phoenix Hawk gets the drop on Freyland, sprinting around the back and shorting out one of the jump jets with a large laser. Madmarcus exchanges fire with one of the Panthers, the Griffin's controls crackling from a PPC impact.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
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To the east, the dumb Kurita Hatchetman emerges from the base to engage the liaison's Dervish.

Archinerd and Paingod open up on one of the Panthers - Archinerd's lasers, SRMs and LRMs heat the Dervish up but it's worth it, as the Panther loses a lot of armor. Which Paingod takes advantage of by sending a few LRMs into the left torso, which sprays out a substantial amount of coolant fluid as several heat sinks are ruptured. The incoming fire forces the Panther to the ground, although not before Archinerd's left arm flashes red as a PPC takes off all the armor.

Madmarcus and Freyland continue beefing with the Phoenix Hawk, taking and receiving a few hits. Madmarcus gets kicked in the left leg, and the on-board computer helpfully announces that both the foot and upper leg actuators have been destroyed. Nothing a day in the workshop can't fix but pretty unpleasant out here.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
The heat sink damage is quite apparent on the Panther, as the enemy mech sluggishly gets up and moves south. We're going to re-consolidate and break north soon, as it's just about time to leave. The enemy mechs take some minor hits but no significant damage.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
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We begin pulling back. No reason to get in an all-out brawl.

Round 11:
The enemy Phoenix Hawk persists in trying to take on a reinforced lance of mechs and takes a center torso armor breach from Archinerd's LRMs for his trouble. One of the missiles cracks the shielding on the fusion core, sending the mech's heat spiking. But, on the plus side, Paingod blows the large laser off the right arm, so it's really a net heat loss in the long run.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
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Just as we're about to leave, another Saladin zips out. Thankfully, the burst from its AC/20 misses Archinerd's mech. The Kurita-variant Phoenix Hawk takes a beating, the left half of the mech collapsing under Archinerd's LRMs while Freyland helps out on the right arm with a few missiles to the arm actuators. The left torso damage cracks the gyro, causing the Phoenix Hawk to stagger, although the mechwarrior manages to remain upright. But it peels off, abandoning pursuit.

"Delta-One, mission is accomplished. We are cleared to cease fire and depart." calls out the liaison.

Two tanks and a bug mech totalled, and a Phoenix Hawk crippled for a week or more, plus we leveled an expensive-looking defensive structure. Not bad for a day's work and mostly superficial damage.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

February 22, 3037
Early Warning Facility

Alpha-One and Alpha-Two move to engage (or destroy) this location, which the Kurita forces are using to coordinate their reinforcements. Alpha-Two peels off to intercept and delay an approaching group, giving Alpha-One plenty of time to hit the facility itself.

Isgrimnur in his Hatchetman is nominally in temporary command of Alpha-One, but El Guapo's repaired Marauder is better equipped for the role, which leads to some friction and quips between the two. Subbing in for Gbasden is an Enforcer (no offense, but we're not letting a guy who's been sitting in the reserves drive a Banshee). The lance is rounded out by Stefan in the Catapult.

The remaining garrison is an assortment of hovertanks, medium tanks and a pair of mechs. They look like they've got an artillery tube, so it'll be best for us to stay on the move and get in close. Alternately, we could simply skulk around for a couple of minutes on the outskirts to get these guys all riled up so they're not paying attention when Beta-One and Beta-Two hit their main base of operations. We also have reports of one of our aero jocks being held here for interrogation, so we may attempt to rescue them from the marked facility (defended by a triple SRM/6 turret) if conditions allow. The biggest threat is going to be the three AC/20-equipped Saladins, we'll have to be watchful.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
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We hear a "whump", indicating the launch of an artillery round from nearby. "Stay mobile until we disable that artillery turret!" El Guapo calls out.

"Yeah, that's what I just said." Isgrimnur grumbles as he fires off an autocannon burst towards a hovertank.

We connect with a few shots, but nothing major. In return, the Enforcer takes a ding from an AC/2.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Yep, we're getting swarmed by hovercraft. The problem with hovercraft swarm tactics though is that they lead to losses among the swarmers, as Isgrimnur cuts a Saladin in half with lasers. Unfortunately, he takes an AC/20 to the left leg, which is then chewed apart by a Pegasus' SRMs. The woods around his mech catch on fire. Yikes.

El Guapo's aim at another Saladin is spoiled by getting dinged with another AC/20 round, while the Enforcer fires north to back our guys up and rattles the crew of a different Pegasus.

To the south, a Wasp tries to get the drop on our Enforcer, but gets dropped to the ground instead when Stefan turns the Catapult to the side a little and zaps the left leg off with lasers. The bug mech falls to the ground and the mechwarrior blacks out.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
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Isgrimnur's left torso is disabled under sustained autocannon, laser and SRM fire, at which point he takes the approach of powering down to avoid getting blown to bits. El Guapo covers him by blowing out the engine on a Pegasus with short-range weapons, blasting through to the engine with lasers and blowing away air ducts with the streak SRMs. Then stomps on the second nearby Pegasus, crushing it underfoot as the crew tries to recover from being lasered by the Enforcer earlier.

To the south, Stefan opens up on the artillery turret, sending enough LRMs into it to jam the weapon. The Enforcer, meanwhile, disables an AC/2 Vedette with autocannon and laser fire.

"Don't mind me, just going to cook here for a bit." Isgrimnur calls out.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
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El Guapo evaporates another Saladin, blasting it with a PPC and short-range weapons. Stefan removes the armor from a nearby Galleon tank, giving the crew an excuse to withdraw from the field.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
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Isgrimnur blacks out from the heat. And the impact when his mech hits the ground after being unable to get up. El Guapo takes down another Saladin swarming around, although his right torso armor blinks red as some SRMs take off the last bits. The Enforcer finishes remodeling the nearby Scorpion tank's armor and turns his attention elsewhere as the light tank furiously backs away. Stefan takes out one of the other major threats, a Hetzer packing an array of SRM/6 launchers, which it had just fired at the Enforcer's back to take down a heat sink. Lasers and a kick do the trick, removing enough wheels that the vehicle can't even spin in place.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
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Stefan and the Enforcer jump out of the flaming woods to the north, Stefan taking the time to zap another Scorpion tank out of existence. El Guapo remains within the lit-up woods, even though it's costing him a lot of heat capacity, as the superior cover makes it hard for the other guys to hit him.

Not really sure why there are two helicopters landed on the field to the west. Fuselages look slightly bent, so crappy piloting, maybe? Well, good thing they're not shooting at us anyway.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
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The Enforcer makes a break for town, paying for it when the Hermes gets behind him and takes out another heat sink with an AC/5 shot. However, he does manage to crack open the last Saladin, detonating the fuel tank with a burst from the right arm AC/10. El Guapo uses the heavy smoke to stalk a Hunter. Although the light tank does manage to get a hit on his cockpit with the rear-mounted flamer, it's picked apart by lasers, SRMs and then crushed by a boot.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
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The Enforcer blows away the building housing the jammed artillery turret, just in case. El Guapo takes a hit to the damaged right torso, losing a heat sink there, and then lays into the offending Bulldog with PPCs and SRMs, breaching armor and immobilizing the heavy tank. Stefan gets into a brawl with the Hermes, taking most of the armor off its left side with lasers.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
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With the field looking a little bit clearer, El Guapo heads south, although not before blasting another Pegasus with a PPC, inflicting some impressive damage on the left side - armor breach, destroyed air ducts, lightly toasted crew. A Saracen tries to harass our Enforcer as he pounds the base, but its armor is breached by the 40-tonners autocannon and the driver guns it for the hills instead.

Stefan takes a kick from the Hermes that runs up behind him, which throws off his aim against the nearby Pegasus. Time to take that Hermes down, it's been quite an annoyance.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
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El Guapo disables that last obnoxious little Pegasus with a PPC shot through the left side, leaving exactly zero hovercraft on the field, zipping around and shooting at us.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
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In lieu of shooting the Hermes, Stefan and El Guapo open up on the Wasp, which is still shambling about the battlefield, dragging its disabled leg behind it. Well, not after El Guapo puts a PPC shot through the torso anyway. Meanwhile, the Enforcer disables another defense turret.

The mechwarrior in the Hermes evaluates the situation a little more soberly and concludes he's the only operational mech on the Combine side here. At which point he decides to leave rapidly, joining his crippled comrades in their retreat.

The salvage is a bunch of crappy tanks and the weaponry from the turrets, plus we're able to recover our captured aero jock. An elite, so that's good. The tanks, well, they'll sell for a pretty penny and keep our ammo and armor stocks high. El Guapo and Isgrimnur get to share space in the infirmary as they both have broken ribs (how one manages to break a rib from a flamer attack is probably best left unexplored).

El Guapo went on a rampage this battle, taking down seven tanks (and technically a mech, although it's not that difficult to destroy a Wasp with a disabled leg).

The Hatchetman will probably take several weeks to fix up, but the fight should be over by then anyway - all that's left is for Beta-One and Beta-Two to hit the Kurita base of operations.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Oct 01, 2018 1:33 pm How do I look?

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It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

I'm surprised you can make the W sound. I'd think R would be easier than W with no lips. So... Good for you!!!!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

The best part is he kind of looks like the guy with huge glasses.

February 23, 3037
Kurita Regional Base of Operations

Beta-One splashes through the mud as rain dribbles down in the early hours of the morning, followed by Beta-Two, trailing about a minute behind. Zenn7, Zarathud in their Awesomes, LordMortis in the Victor and Moley in the Thunderbolt. Beta-Two is a Catapult, a Trebuchet, an Orion and a Rifleman.

There are a total of eight buildings we'll need to blow up. We can either just do that or blow them up *and* rout the defenders, a group of heavy and assault tanks backed up by a lance and a half of light mechs, all huddling together in a cauldron. There are quite a few PPCs pointed in our direction from Panthers and Manticores. There's also a Behemoth tank and a Devastator, as well as a Hunchback.

With no support coming from elsewhere and a lot of their forces overcommitted against the Davion airbase, this should be a walkover.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
We approach from the north end of the cauldron and begin stomping down hill, opening fire almost immediately on the outlying buildings (dark red on the minimap). A couple of weapon barrels wink out or melt under Zenn7 and Zarathud's PPC fire, as they conserve heat by only firing two PPCs at a time.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
A Vulcan jumps on top of a fairly short building to the south, but Zarathud decides it's easier to hit the building than the Vulcan. Two PPC hits and one whiff later, the building is a pile of rubble and the Vulcan is on the ground. Zenn7 knocks the armor off a Panther's left arm (irrelevant), while Moley and LordMortis continue working to bring down one of the turrets. Some scattered light autocannon fire comes our way but nothing hits.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
"Alpha-Four, please remove that Skulker to our west flank."

"On it, sir." Moley moves to the west.

LordMortis gets into the base, with the intention of making a mess. A Locust tries to get in his way and loses about half of its torso to a burst from the AC/20, the left weapons mount spinning off and a combination of steam, metal chunks and coolant fluid venting from the center torso section.

The Vulcan gets up but takes three PPCs from Zenn7 and falls right back down. A brave J. Edgar hovertank zips in and shoots some SRMs at him, managing to avoid the worst of Zarathud's boot, although it still takes a bunch of armor off.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Zarathud cools off by firing only two PPCs, using one to collapse the MG turret and the other to melt a large amount of armor off a Panther's leg. Zenn7 can probably hit the other Panther just fine, but it's so much more fun to blow the building out from under it. LordMortis exchanges fire with the J. Edgar, scoring a hit with a medium laser, but it manages to avoid the AC/20's fire this time.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
As LordMortis continues to rumble in the center of the base, Zenn7 puts a PPC shot through the left torso of the Vulcan trying to get behind our Victor, setting off the machine gun ammo. The top part of the 40-ton mech basically disappears. LordMortis takes some fire from the heavies to the south, and will be pulling back briefly, but is able to evaporate the J. Edgar hovertank with a burst from the trusty autocannon.

Despite having some trouble navigating the base and crashing through a building, Moley finally manages to disable the Skulker, putting a large laser through the engine block.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
"Beta-two on station, ready to assist."

The Orion gets to work immediately, collapsing one of the designated target buildings with a short autocannon burst.

This is the main batch of buildings and tanks that we'll need to blow up down here. Now that Beta-Two has arrived, we can advance, with our longer-ranged units staying back to provide support.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
Spoiler:
An enemy Hunchback tries to run across a clear area from cover to cover, but takes a pair of PPC shots from Zenn7. One goes directly to the "heart", blasting through center torso armor to damage the engine shielding and gyro. The second melts the armor off the head and severely damages the internal structure. The medium mech drops to the ground (maybe he wanted to avoid a second dose of triple PPC from Zarathud).

Moley engages a Panther that moves in close, firing all lasers at it, while hitting a distant Behemoth with LRMs. The Panther has trouble handling the sudden armor loss and falls over, while the Behemoth loses the front weapons stabilizer, so he'll find it more difficult to make accurate shots on us going forward. Not that its shots were too on-target before. Moley takes a second to stomp on the downed Panther's right arm, wrenching the shoulder joint slightly out of place - good luck shooting that PPC now.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
The Panther does eventually manage to get up, but at the cost of completely bending its PPC out of shape. Moley helpfully removes the other arm with continued laser fire. The Kurita mech kicks, but Moley raises the Thunderbolt's leg to block then counters, removing the Panther's left leg. And most of its left torso section. At which point it drops to the ground and the mechwarrior blacks out.

The Hunchback's mechwarrior is completely unnerved and begins walking off the battlefield.

LordMortis takes the time off from sneaking around the eastern Kurita flank to open up on an infantry platoon skulking around in the middle of the base, killing about two thirds of them.

Our Rifleman completely disables another one of the designated structures with alternating large laser and autocannon fire.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
This is a bit of a "quiet" turn. Not in the sense that nothing happens, but in the sense that nobody hits anything.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis finishes his flanking manuever and opens up, blowing away a Hi-Scout Drone Carrier with an alpha strike, more or less ignoring the light SRM counterfire. Our Catapult collapses a building as the other remaining Panther tries to pull back, and the enemy mech winds up in a pile of rubble with actuator damage to the right arm.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 and Zarathud have moved up a little, to the point where Zenn7 can draw a bead on and destroy an SRM Carrier that's "hiding" in the back of the base.

LordMortis moves in to stomp on the Devastator, firing on the Behemoth. Moley and Zarathud contribute firepower as well, and the Behemoth loses a bunch of treads. However, LordMortis' AC/20 shorts out in the exchange as return autocannon fire walks up the Victor's right arm. Combined with other incoming fire, that knocks him down.

The Catapult and Orion engage the Panther as it attempts to get up, removing the right arm and severely damaging the left leg as well as breaching center torso armor. The Catapult follows up with weapons fire with a kick, removing said leg and sending the smaller Combine mech down to the ground, where she mercifully blacks out.

To the north, our Rifleman takes some short range fire but immobilizes the Maxim as it tries to avoid our Awesomes' line of fire.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
"Focus all fire on that Behemoth!" Zenn7 calls out, sending three PPC shots at the tank. Zarathud is the one that finishes it off, sending a pair of PPC shots through the front, although it still manages to remove LordMortis' right arm before going up in flames. That's ok, we were going to have to do a full rebuild of that thing anyway.

The only other thing of note that happens is that our Trebuchet removes the remaining active Panther's left arm with a large number of laser and SRM hits.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
Image
The Panther, perhaps bravely, perhaps foolishly, runs up to our two Awesomes. Unfortunately, so does the Trebuchet, removing the enemy mech's torso with a rear laser and SRM salvo. The other guy decides he's had enough and powers down weapons, walking off. He's lucky he didn't get cored out.

Moley, the Catapult and LordMortis continue working on prying their respective tank targets open. Armor's thick, but it'll break eventually - one on one, a mech can simply keep stomping on a tank from point blank range until something breaks.

Round 14:
Spoiler:
Image
With no further mech support and tanks being taken care of, we begin blasting designated buildings, Zenn7 and Zarathud taking one out with five PPC shots. LordMortis finishes stomping off the Devastator's treads, while Moley puts a foot through the Manticore's right side. The Trebuchet catches the infantry platoon as they try to fire at our mech, and an SRM salvo annihilates the lot of them.

The remaining Manticore and Tokugawa peel off to the south.

Other than the arm off LordMortis' Victor and some moderate damage to Moley's Thunderbolt, the rest is basically paint scratches. Meanwhile, we come away with about 5M C-Bills worth of salvage, including two Panthers. And we can replace LordMortis' autocannon with one of the Devastator's, it's just as good.

Within a few hours, the planetary governor contacts us, asking to negotiate a surrender, as the guys marching on the air base stand down.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Great job heavy metal! Tonight the hot cocoa is on me! (Gotta warm up some, that fight barely got the heat up in my mech).
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

So basically, I'm awesome and I'm actually in charge of Alpha One and Isgrimnur isn't even my real dad?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

I'd hope he's not your dad, you're older. Correct on the other parts, though. Until Gbasden wakes up.
------------------

Zenn7 and Scrub attend negotiations.

"Terms are pretty simple. You are to cease all hostilities and withdraw all forces beyond the territory marked here." the Cpt. Allred points at a planetary map with a small but visible segment of one of the continents shaded in yellow. "You have twenty four hours. We reserve the right to... remove any units violating the integrity of this territory. The rest of the planet will remain under your charge."

"What about civilians?" the governor, a graying old guy wearing a traditional silk bathrobe asks.

"Civilians may remain where they are, and we will be allowing non-military traffic through. We reserve the right to remove any such persons and equipment at any time."

"Prisoners?" the governor asks, Scrub nearly cringing as a flutter in the ventilation system causes his bathrobe to... flutter.

"Some prisoners are receiving medical care currently. They will be returned to you as soon as it is safe to move them. We'll contact you with details."

"I see. Well, considering the beating your mercenaries have inflicted on my forces, this is a mere formality. Although, I would advise you not to... overstay your... welcome, as the Coordinator is not likely to let this stand." the governor acquiesces, his bow dripping with sarcasm. "I will take my leave to make the necessary arrangements to withdraw my remaining forces."

Cpt. Allred nods.

"Glad he didn't try to sit in a lotus pose or whatever." Scrub whispers after the man leaves.

"Let them come." Zenn7 adds. "We have a very good salvage clause on this contract."

--------------------
We have one more conversation with our liaison.

"A job well done. We lost quite a few aerospace fighters, but nothing irreplaceable. We'll also be able to finish our work here unmolested."

"What exactly is your work here, anyway?" Scrub inquires, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I'm not at liberty to discuss it." Ben responds.

"That's a first." Scrub says with a chuckle.

"We all have to grow up sometime." comes the response. "One last thing: some of my superiors are looking to field-test some new weapons. Think your group would be interested?"

Scrub can barely contain her excitement. "Ooh, yeah, what'cha got? I mean, we may be depending on the gear in question."

Ben chuckles. "Autocannon upgrades."

Scrub looks crestfallen. Her Warhammer doesn't have autocannons.

-------------------
So, we've got 6 "points" worth of advanced autocannons and ammo we can buy.

The LB-10X is an upgrade of the AC/10, using a mixture of Star League tech rediscovered by the Gray Death Legion on Helm, and some "acquired" Marik tech from an industrial espionage raid earlier in the decade. It really is an all-around upgrade: range like a PPC and lighter by a ton. And less heat, but an AC/10's heat is negligible anyway. The only downside is it can't use specialized ammo like tracers and such. But it does have slug and cluster ammo, for punching through tough armor or spreading damage around respectively. The lower tonnage means we can basically plug it in to replace any existing AC/10.

The Ultra AC/5 is an upgrade of the AC/5. The improved targeting system increases its range to 60 meters beyond the PPC's maximum range (almost LRM-range), and it's got more barrels so it can fire faster, but heats up when it does. And has been reported to have a tendency to jam. Weighs a ton more than the standard AC/5, though, so it's not a trivial plug-and-play upgrade.

We'll need to pick one.

The main caveat is that the Davion guys have installed some "telemetry collection" devices and will send an MIIO guy over periodically to collect the data.

Some candidate mechs for an LB-10X upgrade are:
Hyena's Striker
Banshee
Centurion
Orion

Some candidate mechs for a UAC/5 upgrade:
Clint (probably have to pull a heat sink or a medium laser)
Wolverine 6R (pull one of the heat sinks, don't need it anyway)
Shadow Hawk (pull a heat sink, don't need it anyway)
----------------------

After resolving final contract payout, our warchest is at about 570M C-Bills. As the Davion forces take over security, we spend a couple of weeks repairing our mechs and boxing everything up before burning for orbit. We're not sure what their plan is, but hopefully they leave before any serious nearby units respond. If the Sword of Light or Galedon Regulars show up, they'll be in for a hell of a fight. However, it will no longer be our problem.

En route back to Outreach, Isgrimnur, Paingod and LordMortis, and a VTOL pilot who hasn't really been doing much consider retirement. The VTOL guy we can let go, they're a dime a dozen, but Scrub makes an effort to retain the mechwarriors. Isgrimnur apparently would like to travel to Terra or New Avalon to get some facial reconstruction surgery, Paingod got an offer from the New Avalon Institute training cadre to train cadets in "rapid deployment and movement tactics", while LordMortis' motivations are somewhat inscrutable. After some negotiation, our three elite mechwarriors are willing to stick around - for a 900k retention bonus each. Yea or nay?

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

Choices we're making:

Advanced autocannons
1) Buy an LB-10X and five tons of ammo (50 shots, probably 30 cluster and 20 slug)
[18 range vs the AC/10's 15 range, 11 tons vs the AC/10's 12 tons]
2) Buy a UAC/5 and five tons of ammo (100 shots)
[20 range vs the AC/5's 18 range, rapid fire mode shoots twice but may jam the weapon]

Retention payout for Isgrimnur, Paingod and LordMortis? (all are Mk I still, in their mid-30s)

Potential contract (as confirmed by Cpt. Allred prior to us leaving):
Relief Duty on Carbonis (have we been there before?)
We'll be tasked with salvaging a FedCom raid gone bad - bailing out the original mercenaries involved and completing their original objectives. Apparently, the planet is pretty solidly colonized, low gravity (.85G) and "tropical" (average surface temperature of 40 degrees C). The nitty gritty details:

5 months maximum duration
Liaison command
40% salvage rights
100% transport terms (free ride, sweet!)
89M profit (initial estimate, may go up after detailed negotiations)
Green/F opposition
Regular/F allied forces

The salvage rights are "meh", but it ought to be a walk in the park against poorly-trained planetary militia equipped with crap. But even elite badass mercs will get overrun eventually if they don't have their supply lines secured and don't properly pick their battles. The downside is that we would have limited downtime on Outreach - just long enough to get our mechs refitted with whatever advanced FedCom weaponry we choose to acquire. While we have secured replacement aircraft, we won't be able to carry out our air arm expansion, either. But hey, money's money.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Freyland »

Would go with the ac-5's to improve the lighter mech damage output.
Would pay the cash to keep the story going if nothing else.
Like the"f-opposition" contract.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Hyena »

Of course I will vote for the LBX for my Striker, but I also know I am low-man on the totem pole.

Yes for the retention fee, these are real people we're talking about...WE AREN'T JUST NUMBERS ON A PAGE, DAMNIT!

Yes for the contract.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Paingod »

I've always had a soft spot for LBX autocannons.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Freyland »

Paingod wrote: Fri Jan 04, 2019 3:26 pm I've always had a soft spot for LBX autocannons.
Every target I've ever hit with one has a "soft spot" for LBX autocannons!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Freyland wrote: Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:59 pm
Paingod wrote: Fri Jan 04, 2019 3:26 pm I've always had a soft spot for LBX autocannons.
Every target I've ever hit with one has a "soft spot" for LBX autocannons!
Yeah, no kidding, those things are like magic head shot machines.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

I'd vote for the AC-10, since it's an all-upside upgrade and can be used in any mech with an AC-10 without any other changes.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Vote for the AC10 upgrade.

Sure, let's go for this contract and get more money.

I am not a fan of these strong arm negation tactics these people are using, but they've been pulling their weight so I guess we give them the 900k each. <grumble grumble> Like we aren't already giving them enough money...
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zarathud »

It's Mortis. If he tells us his reasons, no one will understand anyway. Keep the talent.

LBX

Take the job. We need credits more than crap salvage.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Yes on retaining the mechwarriors. We can afford it.

I lean toward the LBX so we aren't worried about battlefield jams.

I'd go for the Carbonis contract, especially if we can negotiate up the salvage rights some.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by moleymoleymoley »

Yeah! I did a bit of ass kicking in that fight!

I vote for the LBX, I love critical rolls. Oh and definitely pay the bonuses.
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NickAragua
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

With the vote firmly in favor of the LBX and taking the Carbonis contract, we relay our decision to Cpt. Allred.

"Just a word of caution, it's a prototype. So, it may uh, malfunction. Also, we haven't quite gotten ammo production up and running. So, you'll need to be somewhat judicious in your ammo usage." We wind up paying them 2M C-Bills for the privilege of field-testing prototype equipment. Very Tom Sawyer. The LB 10-X prototype ships to us with only three out of the requested five tons of ammo, and an MIIO ("Ministry of Information, Intelligence, and Operations", the Federated Suns intelligence arm) guy who supervises the installation of the weapon in Hyena's Striker. "I'll send you contact details after the completion of the your ongoing contract." he says with a creepy smile.

Our techs have little trouble replacing the existing autocannon. With the left-over ton we take the simple option of increasing the mech's armor, with a particular focus on the center torso, although other sections benefit as well. Thanks to the Union's mech bays, we're able to carry out the refit en route, saving us the trip to Outreach.

After some brief discussion among the command staff and a non-zero amount of shrugging, we approve the retention bonuses for our elite mechwarriors.

The contract negotiations themselves go ok. The Davion guys refuse to budge on salvage rights (mostly because the other 60% are assigned to the other merc companies already on task), but they do up the total payout by about 100%, so we can expect a total payout of ~200M, plus 40% of whatever we salvage.

On the way to Carbonis, we arrange for the purchase of our first artillery unit, a Thumper. As it turns out, skilled artillery crews are pretty rare. And people aren't exactly itching to sell off their artillery pieces, either. But it's a start. It won't be participating in this campaign, but by the time we get finished here, we should be able to field our very own artillery lance.

We also build up our air arm, acquiring a Shilone heavy (65 tons, LRM/20, large laser and short range weapons), a Slayer (80 tons, LRM/15, shot range weapons), a Stuka and a Thunderbird (both 100-ton ASFs bristling with weapons - ill-suited for ground support, but good heavy hitters in space or atmosphere). And a Centurion to keep Delta-Air's light flyboys happy. Once we're done with acquiring new aerospace fighters and aero jocks, we'll be operating them in flights of three, Capellan style. At the time of our arrival, we're short one aero jock.

Gbasden recovers just fine over the trip, although the tech assigned to his Awesome becomes quite annoyed at his continued requests for "more armor on the head" and informs him that the head has the maximum possible amount of armor that it can hold and still retain structural integrity.

Our route (origin point is New Aberdeen, circled in the top right):
Spoiler:
Image
We arrive in orbit around Carbonis on July 28 and drop immediately. Our initial landing is uncontested, and we are able to establish a landing zone and make contact with the Davion-aligned forces already on world. Turns out we're the third group sent in: "Conway's Crescents" have been on-world for the better part of a year and "Skolkov's Scorpions" arrived about half a year ago. The Crescents came in on rented dropships. The Scorpions came in on their own, but got shot down by orbital defense installations. So they've all been stuck here awaiting rescue. The jumpship is coming back at the end of December, so overall, we'll need to a) gather up the survivors, b) blow up whatever facilities have been designated for destruction and c) clear a path for our exit.

Our immediate concern is three separate groups of Marik Militia moving in on our landing zone. We identify at least eight platoons of infantry with "irregular tank and mech support" advancing from one direction, while armor and mechs approach to form a rough triangle. The infantry and one of the larger hostile units are threatening to run over allied units as well en route to our landing zone.

A secondary concern is an impending attack by the Skolkov's Scorpions on a sensor network control center. They've requested our support, and the liaison insists that this is a critical objective - destroying it will prevent the local militia from coordinating interceptions when we go to blow up their facilities and also prevent them from firing their long-range air defense missiles at us if we decide to take to the air. We'll need to commit three lances here - one to blow up the actual facility and two to distract nearby infantry and armor garrisons.

We've also identified the location of an orbital defense facility. While out of range of our dropships currently, its long-range missile batteries will prevent any aircraft from operating within a significant radius (much extended thanks to the sensor network). It's not an urgent concern (unless we want to deploy air support), but a recent failed attack on it by the Scorpions has riled up the local militia defenders - if we don't hit it now, they will reinforce quite heavily and then it'll be really tough nut to crack. If we do decide to attack the orbital defense facility, we'll need to commit two lances.

If we fully commit, we'll have four lances left at the dropships.

Current force status (100% green):
Spoiler:
Alpha Company
Alpha-One (command lance, elite)
- Gbasden / Awesome
- Isgrimnur / Hatchetman
- El Guapo Mk2 / Marauder (modified, AC/5 replaced with armor, 2 heat sinks, 2x Streak SRM/2)
- Stefan / Catapult
Alpha-Two (battle lance, veteran)
- Blackjack BJ-1
- Rifleman RFL-3C
- Trebuchet TBT-5J
- Flashman FLS-7K
Alpha-Three (fast attack lance, regular)
- Wolverine WVR-6M
- Quickdraw QKD-4H (modified, all weapons forward, SRM/4 replaced with Streak SRM/2)
- Griffin 1N
- Shadow Hawk 2K (modified, two heat sinks removed, extra LRM/5 launcher added)
Alpha-Air (flying bricks, veteran)
- Lucifer LCF-R20
- Stuka STU-K5
- Shilone SL-17

Beta Company
Beta-One (assault lance, elite)
- Zenn7 / Awesome
- Zarathud / Awesome
- LordMortis / Victor
- Moley / Thunderbolt TDR-5SE
Beta-Two (battle lance, regular)
- Catapult
- Trebuchet TBT-5S (short-ranged monstrosity)
- Orion ON1-K
- Rifleman RFL-3N
Beta-Three (battle lance, regular)
- Ostsol OTL-4D (modified, all weapons forward)
- Centurion CN9-A (modified, all weapons forward)
- Vindicator VND-1R
- Wyvern WVE-6N
Beta-Air (mixed light/medium, regular)
- Lucifer LCF-R20
- Lightning LTN-G15
- Sabre SB-27

Delta Company
Delta-One (heavy recon lance, elite)
- Archinerd Mk2 / Dervish
- Madmarcus / Griffin GRF-1S
- Paingod / Griffin GRF-1N
- Freyland Mk2 / Quickdraw (modified, all weapons forward, SRM/4 replaced with Streak SRM/2)
Delta-Two (medium recon lance, veteran)
- Phoenix Hawk PXH-1D
- Griffin GRF-1N
- Griffin GRF-1S
- Wolverine WVR-6R
Delta-Three (light recon lance, regular)
- Cicada
- Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (modified, half-ton of mg ammo replaced with armor)
- Assassin ASN-21
- Firestarter FS9-K (modified, rear flamer replaced with heat sink)
Delta-Air (light air lance, regular)
- Cheetah F-10
- Seydlitz SYD-Z2
- Centurion CNT-1D

Gamma Company
Gamma-One (heavy battle lance, elite)
- Scrub / Warhammer WHM-6D
- Hyena / Striker (modified, prototype LB 10-X autocannon)
- Cylus Maxii Mk2 / Grasshopper GHR-5H
- Xwraith Mk3 / Thunderbolt TDR-5SE (modified, large laser replaced with ER large laser)
Gamma-Two (medium battle lance, regular)
- Wolverine WVR-6M
- Rifleman RFL-3N
- Champion CHP-2N (modified, two small lasers replaced with heat sink)
- Trebuchet TBT-5N
Gamma-Three (fast recon lance, regular)
- Phoenix Hawk PXH-1
- Ostscout
- Spider SDR-5V
- Clint CLNT-2-3T
Gamma-Air (heavy air flight, veteran)
- Thunderbird TRB-D36
- Lucifer LCF-R15
Mechwarrior upgrade choices:
Isgrimnur: upgrade piloting from 3 to 2,
"hopping jack" special ability (reduce to-hit penalty from jumping by 1)
"melee master" special ability (+1 damage with all melee attacks, -1 to hit)

Freyland, LordMortis: upgrade piloting from 3 to 2, or "hopping jack"?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

Piloting hasn't exactly been an issue, so I think I will have to sharpen the hatchet and go with melee master.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Freyland »

LOOK, MA! I'M A FRICKIN BUNNY!
Sims 3 and signature unclear.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by LordMortis »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 3:53 pm Freyland, LordMortis: upgrade piloting from 3 to 2, or "hopping jack"?
I should be like the rest but somehow I think I'm bit more HTH than most. I'll take piloting.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 3:53 pm Our immediate concern is three separate groups of Marik Militia moving in on our landing zone. We identify at least eight platoons of infantry with "irregular tank and mech support" advancing from one direction, while armor and mechs approach to form a rough triangle. The infantry and one of the larger hostile units are threatening to run over allied units as well en route to our landing zone.

A secondary concern is an impending attack by the Skolkov's Scorpions on a sensor network control center. They've requested our support, and the liaison insists that this is a critical objective - destroying it will prevent the local militia from coordinating interceptions when we go to blow up their facilities and also prevent them from firing their long-range air defense missiles at us if we decide to take to the air. We'll need to commit three lances here - one to blow up the actual facility and two to distract nearby infantry and armor garrisons.

We've also identified the location of an orbital defense facility. While out of range of our dropships currently, its long-range missile batteries will prevent any aircraft from operating within a significant radius (much extended thanks to the sensor network). It's not an urgent concern (unless we want to deploy air support), but a recent failed attack on it by the Scorpions has riled up the local militia defenders - if we don't hit it now, they will reinforce quite heavily and then it'll be really tough nut to crack. If we do decide to attack the orbital defense facility, we'll need to commit two lances.

If we fully commit, we'll have four lances left at the dropships.
We need to be able to get our air assets into play, we'll need take all 3 of these.

Send Alpha company (based on your math, assuming you want 3 lances for the first mission), to address the approaching forces.

Sensor network sounds good for Gamma company - 2 lighter lances for diversion with Gamma 1 to do the heavy hitting.

Beta 1/2 get the orbital defense.

That leaves Delta Company and Beta 3 for base defense. Not very heavy but we got heavier needs all around at the moment. Could swap Delta 2 for Gamma 2, keeping G2 for defense so we have something a little heavier if the need arises.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

August 1, 3037
Shoulders and wrists still smarting from the battery of immunization booster shots ("You either take your shots, or you sit out for a week while your immune system adjusts to the local common cold or whatever other god-awful microorganisms they have around here." Dr. Minnie pipes in with a helpful reminder), Alpha company moves to intercept incoming forces, while Beta and Gamma depart to hit nearby facilities.

Alpha-One shadows two companies of enemy units - medium/heavy tanks and medium mechs (with a sprinkling of lights). Gbasden waits until dusk, when the fog rolls in, then launches the attack as the militia units move past a small town. The buildings will give us decent cover and the fog will heavily impair the tanks' movement, so we should be able to split them up as they try to push past.

The heaviest unit on the Marik side is a Behemoth, but we're not too worried about it as it's not going anywhere in the fog. The main concern is the two lances of jump-capable light and medium mechs. We're looking at Griffins, Phoenix Hawks and some bug mechs.

In addition to the fog and thin atmosphere, we'll need to keep an eye on our movement - sure you *can* move faster in low G, but you run the risk of popping an actuator.

In addition to figuring out how to hit things better and harder, Isgrimnur figures out the "backswing" on the hatchet ("Melee Master" - melee attacks may be carried out twice!)

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
We exchange some long range fire. Stefan's LRMs pepper a laser carrier, damaging its treads and rattling the crew around. Low-caliber autocannon rounds and LRMs fly well clear of Isgrimnur, who steps out briefly to fire his AC/10 at the ground behind a Condor hovertank.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Stefan doesn't take the advise to keep it slow and maxes out his jump jets to try to get behind a Spider. The leg structure groans as his Catapult lands, but we avoid actuator damage. Despite a fairly substantial amount of weapons fire, nobody hits anything. But at least Stefan gets a good kick in on the Spider's right leg, which comes off in several pieces, sending the jumpy little mech to the ground.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Gbasden levels his PPCs at a Condor hovertank as it approaches our position and lets rip. The entirety of the hovertank's front armor melts off, and the driver pulls a hard right, peeling off.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
The jump capable mechs reach our position. One of the Griffins stumbles as he jumps a little too far, having to take a knee. Stefan rewards the mechwarrior's efforts with a couple of lasers to strip some armor. Gbasden switches targets to a laser carrier, blowing it away with two out of three PPC shots. El Guapo engages a Phoenix Hawk trying to get by, neither mech inflicting significant damage on the other. Isgrimnur and the Javelin fire weapons at each other ineffectively, then our Hatchetman takes a double swing with the hatchet. The first swing misses, but the backswing connects with the left leg, breaking through the armor and snapping an actuator.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
[Christ, you guys are rolling a lot of 2s]. Isgrimnur damages a leg actuator while trying to pursue one of the lighter, jump-capable enemy mechs. Unfortunate. The Javelin that he nearly legged takes a couple of PPC shots, one from Gbasden, one from El Guapo, and goes down. Perhaps the most remarkable display is from the one-legged Spider, which zips over the town, forgetting that he's only got the one working leg, then comes crashing down in a pile, throwing sparks everywhere. Gbasden tries to backhand the nearby Phoenix Hawk, but misses. However, the motion causes the nearby Stinger to miss its kick and land on its face.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Stefan stick around in the town to engage some of the tanks coming through - a Maxim transport comes under fire, eating multiple lasers the damage from which stuns the crew, knocks off an SRM launcher and causes the hover transport to grind dirt as the air cushion is punctured. Gbasden takes advantage of the Stinger's slip to blow off its right torso and nearly give it a matching left one as well. The bug mech peels off to the east, spraying coolant fluid everywhere. Isgrimnur's actuators aren't doing him any favors as he skids along some pavement.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
Stefan jumps to the north, firing lasers at a Bulldog as he goes - one punches through the armor and takes out the engine. As he lands, he boots a nearby Vedette, locking up the tank's turret. El Guapo gives up on the Griffin that just ran by him and puts a pair of PPC shots into a Hermes, knocking it over. Isgrimnur goes back to working on the Javelin, scoring a solid hit with the AC/10 and a laser to breach some armor on both sides of the mech.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
It seems that the Javelin has had enough, as it aborts its attempt to get by Alpha-One and breaks off. We have a ridiculously bad turn though, suffering multiple armor breaches while none of our weapons really find their mark. Stefan has to take a knee as his left leg just about comes off, and Isgrimnur reports a left leg armor breach as well.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
Despite making every attempt to protect the weakened leg, a Vedette's AC/5 disables it. Still, Stefan manages to core out an SRM Carrier's engine before getting knocked to the ground. Gbasden takes some time to blast a Vedette with PPCs, breaching the tank's armor and causing heavy tread damage, so it leaves behind metal chunks as it slowly grinds its way off the battlefield. He takes a faceful of SRMs but the mech remains upright. El Guapo fires at the last Griffin that hasn't gotten away yet - the PPC shot simply melts armor off the right leg, but a medium laser goes into the right torso where the stored LRM ammo is happy to explode.

Stefan is in kind of a precarious position, as the Behemoth to the south has him in its sights, so he powers down and plays possum.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
Isgrimnur walks up to a pair of Vedettes, taking one further one apart with the AC/10. His arms take some damage, but remain attached for now. That new double swing technique works pretty well, as a large amount of armor becomes separated from the adjacent Vedette.

Gbasden engages a Crusader that steps onto a building, nailing it in the right arm with a PPC and damaging an actuator (as well as blowing out a machine gun, but that's not that important).

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
The Crusader barrels through the building in front of it, taking some damage from the debris but managing to remain upright. Gbasden obliges its desire to engage by removing the left arm with a pair of PPC shots. Isgrimnur immobilizes the Vedette he's been chasing after by jumping in (managing to stick the landing) and stomping on the back and turret. Missing most of its armor and treads, the tank gives it up.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
Isgrimnur's mech is just about done, so he hits the jump jets and peels off. It'll be up to our heavies to handle the rest. El Guapo takes out a Vedette by peppering it with lasers and SRMs to immobilize it, while Gbasden hits the back of the Crusader. One PPC goes into the leg, where it shears off an SRM launcher and damages an actuator, while the other goes into center of mass, breaching armor but doing little else other than melting some internal structure.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
Image
As it currently stands, two lances of mechs have gotten past Alpha-One, but none of their heavy support and attached tanks will be able to. Gbasden and El Guapo pump PPC shots into the Crusader and Manticore respectively, then Gbasden breaks the Crusader's leg, sending the 65-ton mech to the ground.
Spoiler:
Image
As the rest of the enemy force retreats (minus Crusader), Gbasden stomps on an LRM Carrier.

It was a little messy, but the two mech lances by themselves won't be enough to attack our dropships.

Salvage is decent, we grab the Crusader, earmarking the tanks (wrecked or not) for our employer. Nothing wrong with having an extra 65-ton mech around. It'll be a while before we get it fixed though, it's missing an arm and a leg and half its weapons. And we'll have to rebuild the cockpit, since the mechwarrior panicked and yanked the ejection lever. Stefan's mech will take about a week to fix up - the left leg and right "arm" (missile rack, really)

Gamma-Two, meanwhile, begins Gamma company's operations against the sensor control network. The use of inferno SRMs to burn enemy infantry to a crisp is somewhat questionable, but if it was me, I wouldn't be deploying infantry in open terrain against battlemechs. Gamma-Two takes heavy damage (and the "Scorpions" tank lance working alongside us is totalled) but nothing that can't be fixed up pretty quickly - Gamma-One should have a clear path to the sensor network control center. We pick up some crappy tanks from salvage out of that one, mostly good for ammo and armor and then selling off for spare parts.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Doc... you sure you got that vaccine in Alpha 1? They act like they caught something before going into that fight... :(
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Stefan Stirzaker »

I still get the credit for the legged mech that thought he could fly?

What would of he needed to roll to land that??
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Yep. As I recall, he needed a 10+ on a 2d6 to get up, then another 10+ to stick the landing. Unlikely but doable.

Although to get to the far map edge where everyone else on his team was going, he was going to need to stick the landing another 5 or 6 times.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Thankfully, the infantry and irregular forces coming at the dropships are diverted by rough weather, making Alpha-Two's job trivial: just show up. Alpha-Three does a pretty bang-up job splitting up another enemy force, working together with elements from the "Scorpions" to separate an enemy armor and mech column moving towards our landing zone at night. While they lose a Griffin to an ammo explosion, they capture a brand-new toy that we've never seen before: an Icarus II. This is a 40-ton "Marik Special", the design dating all the way back to the dawn of the battlemech. It's got the speed and jump capability of a Hatchetman or a Vindicator. However, it has fewer axes than a Hatchetman and less armor than a Vindicator. Which is fine, it's only 40 tons, so it's in the same weight class as a Clint.

Alpha-Two also captures a Hunchback 4P, which is a boring disco-bot: 8 medium lasers and a small laser. Well, it's boring but effective. Still, we're probably going to sell this one to our fellow mercs. If we're using a Hunchback, it damn well better have an AC/20.

Meanwhile, Beta-Two screens for Beta-One by ambushing and destroying the command tank for a force moving towards the orbital defense facility.

August 6, 3037
Gamma-Three makes the initial approach to the early warning facility, attracting a few units and leading them on a wild goose chase, then Gamma-One hits the facility itself. The liaison suggests that the Scorpions provide air support, but it is pointed out to him that the air defense missiles and sensor network are still intact. "So sure, if you want your aircraft to get splattered."

The early warning facility is defended by a light mech lance, a scattering of heavy mechs, and a mix of armor. The main threats being an Ontos heavy tank and a Battlemaster BLR-1G. Both are in the "laser vomit" class. The supporting "Scorpions" forces are complete crap: a pair of AC/2 Vedettes, a Maxim hover transport and a Hetzer. At least the liaison comes with a Warhammer 6R.

We consider attacking during a rainstorm to help reduce enemy mobility a little, but most of their vehicles are hovercraft and it'd render the allied forces *completely* useless. At least this way, they'll be able to soak up some fire.

[Also, check it out: new tile set!]

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
We adopt a mixed approach: the Warhammers will hang back and pelt the base with PPCs while the Cylus, Hyena and Xwraith will move in close from the west.

Hyena opens up on an Archer to the northeast, scoring a solid hit with both a PPC and the LB-10X autocannon. Armor holds up, but the accuracy and range of the prototype weapon is pretty impressive. Our allies and Cpt. Scrub concentrate their fire on an outlying turret collapsing it.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Our three close-range mechs advance into a patch of woods while the Warhammers remain in the water. It's a minor risk, but Xwraith pushes the Thunderbolt's jump jets a little beyond their capability to get to the side of a Javelin that charges in.

Cylus points the Grasshopper's large laser at a turret inside the base and zaps it once. The turret wilts. Hyena and Xwraith score some hits as well, on the Archer and Javelin respectively, but armor remains unbreached.

The allied Hetzer gets pelted with SRMs from a Striker and stops moving as half its wheels pop off. The enemy Phoenix Hawk meanwhile jumps in and unloads on a Vedette, causing it to slip its treads, then stomps it flat. Useless.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
We're going to need to clear some of these anklebiters before we can advance into the base. Hyena gets a good start by taking the right missile rack off the Javelin with a solid slug from the LB-10X. The Striker takes some SRM hits, but nothing major. The Phoenix Hawk tries to get close to Scrub's Warhammer and engage with short range weapons but underestimates her mastery of the PPC - both the right arm and leg come off and the 45-ton mech tumbles to the ground.

Cylus gives the Javelin a solid boot, disabling the left leg, which, as the smaller mech falls over, crunches through the left torso, leaving it more or less combat ineffective.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
The Archer and a Hunchback (laser variant) come charging out of the base. Xwraith obliges the Hunchback by getting in directly behind it. Taking a second to fire some lasers at a Scorpion tank to cut it into ribbons, the Thunderbolt also uses its multi-trac system to send LRMs at a distant turret.

Between Cylus' lasers and a PPC from Scrub, the Hunchback is knocked over as the gyro is unable to compensate for the sudden loss of a ton or two of armor. Xwraith curb stomps the 50-ton mech, removing most of the armor from the right leg.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
The allied forces finally do something, their Maxim disabling a Striker harassing the liaison's mech.

The Phoenix Hawk's mechwarrior mechs a herculean effort and gets his mech back up, only two eat a couple of medium lasers and a small one from Scrub, disabling the right torso section entirely. After sending a pair of PPC shots towards the Hunchback as well, Scrub lightly "plinks" the lighter mech's intact leg and it falls back over.

Hyena takes some serious laser fire from the Hunchback as it gets up and has to take a knee, but then Cylus jumps in behind the enemy mech and surgically removes the right leg and left arm with laser fire. Hyena adds to the Hunchback's woes with a PPC and LB-10X salvo, then slugs the nearby Archer in the dome as it tries to turn to engage Xwraith. Our Thunderbolt gets a solid laser shot in the rear arc, then sweeps the leg - the Archer teeters and falls over, faceplanting. Normally not a problem, except for the "structural weakness" introduced by Hyena's bell-ringing activity, so it stops moving entirely instead. Score!

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
The guys in the Hunchback and Phoenix Hawk appear to have had enough and bail out, making the previous ten seconds pretty productive: three mechs and a tank out of the fight.

Of course, the Battlemaster is now moving up. At least all it's got at long range is its PPC.

Xwraith jumps in behind a cluster of advancing light tanks, blowing away a Striker with laser fire, torching the fuel tank for that "extra crispy" feeling, but spends a little too much time admiring the fireworks as the Thunderbolt gets taken out by a headshot from a stupid little Scorpion tank. We'll need to clear the area quickly so Search & Rescue can do their thing.

That puts a damper on Hyena's discovery that the LB-10X autocannon's cluster rounds are amazing at disabling vehicles, with a practical demonstration on a Condor's hover skirt.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
Missing that Thunderbolt is going to make this mission harder. But we continue on: Hyena disables the Hi-Scout while Scrub zaps the right arm off the Firestarter as it tries to get in behind Cylus. Two PPC shots knock the 35-ton mech on its ass.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
The guy in the Firestarter has had enough and breaks off. Hyena turns his attention to the Ontos as it trundles forward, switching the LB-10X to cluster rounds. Each individual pellet doesn't really do much against the assault tank's thick armor, but what they do manage to do is crack the treads. By the time the pellets stop, the tank is completely immobilized.

Cylus breaks south to laser an incoming Pegasus, forcing the hovertank to grind dirt as lasers cut its air ducts and hover skirt to ribbons.

The Locust that's been harassing our liaison finally gets what's coming to it as Scrub takes a leg off with a PPC, sending it flopping to the ground.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
Cylus moves towards the base, disabling a Scimitar hovertank with the large laser while moving forward. The liaison switches fire to a building within the base, and it appears somebody was storing ammunition in it - the structure explodes catastrophically after a pair of PPC impacts.

A Wasp makes the mistake of trying to engage Hyena in physical combat, delivering a kick to the Striker's left leg. After a solid "BWONNGGGG", Hyena counters with a one-two punch, ripping off the lighter mech's left arm and punching through a jump jet on the right torso.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
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Hyena lasers through a Vedette's armor, cutting various engine components to disable the tank. Not much happens otherwise, as the Battlemaster opts not to run out into the fray. Not sure why, that's his forte.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
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Another Vedette falls victim to Hyena's lasers, a fuel tank detonation annihilating the hapless tank. His right arm blinks red as the last of the armor is sandpapered away by a Wasp's SRMs. Another one, along with a Stinger, tries to sneak up behind him, but Cylus is on the job, cutting off the main gun with the large laser, then cracking the Stinger's leg with a solid kick. The Wasp nearby doesn't do much better, taking one of Hyena's punches directly into the center torso.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
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The Wasp has had enough and peels off, taking his disarmed Vedette pal with him. Scrub evaporates the Scorpion tank that took down Xwraith's mech, while Cylus and Hyena begin working on the Battlemaster, sending PPC and large laser shots its way.

The Battlemaster takes stock of the situation and realizes that it's basically the only functional enemy unit left on the field, at which point the mechwarrior turns it around and walks off.

Xwraith gets away with a concussion, a sprained hand and a bruised kidney, and will be out for a month and a half. Lucky that AC/5 round didn't go a couple meters lower, then it would have been mechwarrior puree in there.

Hyena is quite happy with the LB-10X autocannon's performance - the cluster shot is excellent against tanks or mechs with weakened armor, and the slug rounds provide good armor penetration against heavier targets. Pretty much as advertised. Hopefully we can get the Davion guys to bring in more ammo, though, Hyena ran through half of our stock of cluster ammo in that one battle.
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