Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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Leraje
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:39 pm [] Delta-Ranger helps out Alpha-Urban
[x] Delta-Ranger moves to defend Long Tom battery
It would be a pity to loose now well-trained arty.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

[] Delta-Ranger moves to defend Long Tom battery

They more than earned some reciprocal assistance.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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[x] Delta-Ranger moves to defend Long Tom battery

Worth defending a valuable asset.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Delta-Ranger watches Long Toms - unanimous
Delta-Ranger moves north to guard our artillery battery, while Beta-Assault heads back to our staging area for some shower and sack time. After a few hours, our Long Toms are able to get their motive systems repaired (it helps that the temperature warms up during the day) and are able to make it back to our drop zone unmolested. Only one requires any serious repairs, needing a stabilizer replaced.

Alpha-Urban's job is just beginning, however. They get into position, along with some supporting infantry, to intercept a pirate convoy heading towards their dropship landing zone.

The convoy is multiple tracked vehicles (some on the heavy side), two industrialmechs and a light/medium mech lance. There's a lot of LRMs in that convoy, so we'll need to close in rapidly.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Isgrimnur and Paingod make contact with the southeastern elements of the convoy as they struggle through the woods while the escorts use their jump jets to move a little faster.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Isgrimnur figures out where one of the industrial mechs is going and jumps over to it, firing the Hatchetman's autocannon and lasers. The autocannon cracks the right leg in half while the lasers savage the core components leaving the mech a broken mess on the ground, cargo crates spilled all around.

Paingod uses the Merlin's PPC to blast the "Engineering Vehicle" (basically a 40-ton truck) through the left side, and it turns around.

The little hovertruck though, moves past and is in danger of escaping.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
The hovertruck chooses the wrong exit, and is evaporated by laser and autocannon fire from our supporting infantry.

Paingod stays in place, targeting a second industrial mech, blasting chunks off its left torso and right leg.

Isgrimnur jumps north but is distracted from targeting a Manticore tank by a Griffin trying to engage him. This costs the Griffin as it has to "block" a swing from the hatchet with its left arm, losing most of the armor there. And taking a good ding to the right torso as well, the combination of hatchet impact and balance loss due to "missing tonnage" forcing the heavier mech to the ground.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Paingod ducks into the nearby woods to avoid fire from a Manticore, blasting a few panels off it with the Merlin's medium laser.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Isgrimnur jumps north, drawing a lance of enemy armor and the Griffin after him. The Manticore takes some more armor and mobility damage, as does the Tokugawa down there. Meanwhile, Hyena and our BattleAxe try to stop the last dedicated cargo-carrier (the "engineering truck" making its way off the battlefield, smoking).

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Our BattleAxe takes out the last industrialmech, leaving just the escorts and improvised cargo units.

Paingod and Isgrimnur team up on the Griffin, blasting it with lasers and a little flamer action, while Isgrimnur uses the distraction to sweep the hatchet across the back of the Griffin's left leg, breaking through the armor and snapping an actuator. The 55-tonner goes down, though not entirely out.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
There's a lot of missed shots this round, and quite a few fires get started. Isgrimnur does manage to blast a small weak spot through the Manticore's armor with the Hatchetman's lasers and take it out.

Paingod takes some fire from the two lighter mechs nearby, a laser from the Wasp briefly brushing the Merlin's dome, while lasers damage its leg armor. Our mechwarrior returns fire and blasts the Griffin in the head with a laser as well.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin loses an arm and a leg to Isgrimnur's continued laser fire, going down to the ground, where its damaged head makes contact with a tree and is caved in. Our mechwarrior then swings the hatchet at a Wasp that lands behind Paingod, caving in its right torso and dropping it to the ground as the bug mech's right arm and leg separate from the main body.

Paingod spares a few lasers and a PPC shot from the Merlin to disable a nearby Vedette, breaching its armor and causing its treads to slip off.

The rest of the pirates decide call it a day and pull back to the east at this point.

The very next day, their dropships lift off. Our sensors detect an outgoing jump signature a few days later. A job well done, though we're still on the clock. On the plus side, we rack up about half a million C-Bills in prisoner capture bonuses from all the pirates we handed over to our employer. We don't hear much about them from that point, although there are a few news stories on the planetary networks about trials and imprisonments (or executions in one particularly unpleasant case).

---

We snap up another Phoenix Hawk 3D from the Satalice factory. At the very least, we'll be able to pull double heat sinks and put it into another mech. Another idea has been to dismount a ton of anti-missile ammo and put a beagle probe on it instead, to help reduce how often we get bushwhacked by hidden Atlases. We'll think about it.

Thud's Awesome and Akalon's Vulcan are repaired and put back into service. As much as the Wolfhound's large laser was good, the lack of jump jets didn't really work for our mechwarrior.

Our landing zone is probed once again. A trio of mechs attack one of our units, a Crusader patrolling alongside one of the employer's Orions. The Orion is legged and taken out, while our Crusader escapes.

Other than that, there is no further action in the Flegmann or our main garrison contract over the next two months - Flegmann and Sukarto both consolidate their positions and prepare their next off-world shipments to bring in more money (presumably so they can pay our employer, who will then pay us).

Amusingly enough, the liaison for our garrison contract asks us if we're interested in some supplemental work carrying cargo out of system for a few weeks. It seems that the local industrial concerns are a little short on cargo transport capacity and need a few extra kilotons of cargo capacity. The liaison also confides in us that he's not really sure that all the out-system pirates have been caught, so the transports may get attacked. We look at it and decide that this is a good opportunity to test-drive our Overlord - between it and the Seeker, we can load quite a bit of cargo if we use all the mech and vehicle bays to cargo capacity and we'll still have plenty of maintenance facilities for our mechs on planet. We'll send some aerospace fighters as escorts as well. Any opposition is unknown, but if they figure out we're bringing an Overlord, they'll come in loaded for bear or leave us alone entirely. The pay is 7M C-Bills, which isn't too bad for a few weeks mostly spent sitting attached to a jumpship or burning back and forth between planet and jump point.

Alternately, we could pass if we don't feel like risking our dropships or having them unavailable for a few weeks, but we'll still be required per the terms of our contract to send aerospace fighter escorts with any dropships that get sent out, while they're in system.

[] Try out the Overlord
[] Just the fighters, thanks
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Stefan Stirzaker »

Try out overlord
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2020 4:57 pm [x] Try out the Overlord
[] Just the fighters, thanks
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Leraje wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2020 6:03 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2020 4:57 pm [x] Try out the Overlord
[] Just the fighters, thanks
This. Though I have a strong feeling with our luck, we'll find bear hunters.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

[x] Try out the Overlord

Let them face the power of our fully operational Overlord!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Try the overlord - unanimous
Getting paid a few million extra c-bills sounds pretty good, so we detach the Overlord and Seeker for transport duty. Delta-Intercept will be coming along in their aerospace bays, as will one of the planetary garrison fighters, a Lightning.

About three quarters of the way to the jump point, in the middle of the deceleration burn, a swarm of light fighters (with three or for heavies for backup) matches vectors and moves to engage. There are the usual calls to surrender cargo for inspection, but our liaison tells us that no such inspection has been authorized and that we can fire at will. Our Overlord's gunners practically start drooling. Our dropship crews have been reading up on the latest techniques for flying large craft, and have figured out something called the ECHO maneuever. Nobody remembers what it stands for, but it's basically a rapid application of thrusters to get the drop on pesky fighters trying to hang out in a dropship's weak ark.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Our dropships get swarmed. Our escort fighters do their best to hold off the attackers, not succeeding entirely. But still, we cripple two of the light fighters, while our employer's lightning nails a Sabre with the AC/20. The impact actually knocks the aero jock out, so the light fighter just kind of drifts along with our dropships, having built up some pretty good speed. Delta-Intercept's Sholagar takes some damage after polishing off one attacker and its engine starts burbling (not to mention both its lasers are knocked out), so he's going to try to get back to the hangar. Good luck, buddy.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
The Lyran Lightning plasters a pursuing Shilone with its autocannon, forcing the aero jock to disengage. Another one of our light fighters takes critical damage as well, but they're doing their job of keeping the bad guys off the dropships.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
The guy in the Sabre wakes up, only to be blasted apart by the Lightning. The aero jock ejects just in time.

Our Overlord takes some light armor damage, but it's a monster and the only hostiles in range are light fighters.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
"Overlord to Seeker. Tighten up that formation, you're drifting out of range."

"Understood, Overlord."

Tempting as it might be to have the Seeker run for it (since it's faster), that would just leave the lighter transport craft exposed to the swarm of fighters - the Overlord's firepower acts as a substantial deterrent.

The Seeker fires its main engine a little bit, getting closer to the Overlord and blasting a pursuing Sparrowhawk. Combined with fire from the Lightning, the hostile craft breaks off.

The good news is that the hostiles appear to have taken enough damage that they're kind of hanging back, only firing LRMs.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
We're basically in the clear at this point. Our Overlord blows away the only pursuing craft in range, and the rest disengage, having decided that they didn't get lucky - the Overlord is neither under-crewed, nor damaged, nor has it had any number of weapons removed.

Our three light fighters come away from the battle with severe damage that takes multiple days to fix, but they've got the time as they wait for jumpship recharges. Our dropship crews get some good practice patching up armor damage in deep space, and all around it was a good shakedown fight. It could have gone a lot differently if the pirates had pressed their attack, though.

----

Having had their first real combat, the Overlord and Seeker can both get names. So, we're taking suggestions.
[] Write-In, we'll be voting on nominations

While the dropships are off adventuring, we've got a line on a "salvaged" Black Knight BL-6-KNT. This is a slight upgrade of the "standard" model, featuring some lostech to bring it up to speed with the original design. Mostly, the internal structure of the (relatively, they're not *that* common) familiar BL-7-KNT has been replaced with endo-steel to allow for more armor, and a Beagle probe is located in the center torso. The weapons are an all energy mix - 4x medium lasers, 2x large lasers and a PPC, just in case you thought it wasn't generating enough heat. With twenty heat sinks, it's going to be bracket-firing. As for mobility, it's average for a 75-tonner, and has no jump jets.

This particular example is a little bit... well, it's been "gently used". It's missing a head, and we may as well toss the right leg out, since the hip actuator is jammed. It's a "bargain deal" at only 3M C-Bills. Although it'll require probably another half a million C-Bills worth of parts.

[] Buy the Black Knight
[] Pass

[author's note: This last update brought the bot to a crawl, to the point where the battle was more or less unplayable - had to spend a couple of evenings on it, but the bot's performance is drastically improved as a result. I'll be taking a hiatus for the rest of the week due to a "developing daycare situation", expecting to come back next Monday]
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm Having had their first real combat, the Overlord and Seeker can both get names. So, we're taking suggestions.
[] Write-In, we'll be voting on nominations
We already have a Moonraker, so Thunderball and Octopussy :)
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm [x] Buy the Black Knight
[] Pass
Can we refit it with DHS as well?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by AWS260 »

Leraje wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:27 pm
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm Having had their first real combat, the Overlord and Seeker can both get names. So, we're taking suggestions.
[] Write-In, we'll be voting on nominations
We already have a Moonraker, so Thunderball and Octopussy :)
Thunderball and Skyfall! Save Octopussy for a future battle blimp.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm Having had their first real combat, the Overlord and Seeker can both get names. So, we're taking suggestions.
[] Write-In, we'll be voting on nominations
For the Overlord, let's go with a little Starcraft and call it The Overmind
For the seeker, let's call it Hunter Seeker
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm [x] Buy the Black Knight, but also retrofit it so that it has a sword, and also paint it 100% black, and make its cockpit look like a knight's helmet.
[] Pass
Black Lives Matter.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Leraje wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:27 pm
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm Having had their first real combat, the Overlord and Seeker can both get names. So, we're taking suggestions.
[] Write-In, we'll be voting on nominations
We already have a Moonraker, so Thunderball and Octopussy :)
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm [x] Buy the Black Knight
[] Pass
Can we refit it with DHS as well?
I like the continuted Bond references. And Yes for the Black Knight.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

El Guapo wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 1:58 pm
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm Having had their first real combat, the Overlord and Seeker can both get names. So, we're taking suggestions.
[] Write-In, we'll be voting on nominations
For the Overlord, let's go with a little Starcraft and call it The Overmind
For the seeker, let's call it Hunter Seeker
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:09 pm [x] Buy the Black Knight, but also retrofit it so that it has a sword, and also paint it 100% black, and make its cockpit look like a knight's helmet.
[] Pass
Hunter Seeker? It's not a Hunter ship. I like Overmind. For the seeker transport - how about something like "The Whale" (sort of aquatic, not exactly octo theme?) Or Umber Hulk maybe for a more Overlords theme? Or if you remember a transport in Starcraft (don't remember if they have any sort of primarily transport unit), we could go for that maybe?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

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

Post by Freyland »

Sea Cucumber ticks my marine-oriented boxes for a transport ship.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Buy and pimp out the Black Knight with the appropriate gear.

Perhaps call the seeker, "Moneypenny"? (or the Overlord if it fits better)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Buy the black knight - unanimous
The Black Knight is wheeled into one of our dropship hangars for repairs - the mech is in a sorry state and will need some serious work. After we get it restored to working order, we'll look into refitting it with some double heat sinks, although our techs tell us we still won't be able to fit all the ones we want in there - there's just not enough room. The schematics for the royal variant show that it had two large pulse lasers instead of large lasers, as well as an extended-range PPC, but we only have one large pulse laser at the moment.

We could strip one of the new-model Phoenix Hawk's we've been buying up, take out the heat sinks and a large pulse laser, which will allow us to simply follow the upgrade schematics for the 6b.

Alternately, we could just upgrade the heat sinks, add a ton of armor and change the medium lasers over to their pulse versions, which we do have in stock.

[] Upgrade to royal model, put a 3D Phoenix Hawk out of action
[] Upgrade to semi-royal model

---

Flegmann and Sukarto wind up having one last dustup. The Flegmann rep calls Scrub in and tells her to "get all her mechwarriors moving - the Sukarto mercs have a company of mediums, heavies and assaults moving in on us. We've got two medium lances in the field, but they're going to get plastered, which is where you come in."

Scrub calls in Gamma-Probe from their patrol, and we move out. Things aren't looking too good for the Flegmann guys when we get there, they're outnumbered and outmassed.

"Fleg One, Fleg Two, move south to my coordinates. We'll pull back then take them together." Scrub recommends.

For once, they actually listen. More or less. At least they haven't gotten themselves completely wiped out by the time we get there.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Akalon and our Phoenix Hawk are the first ones to arrive, Scrub having sent them ahead to get reliable eyes on the situation. The Flegmann guys are taking armor damage, but are intact so far. Their return fire is pretty ineffective.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
The Flegmann Griffin makes the mistake of jumping up on top of a building and eats quite a large number of LRMs and other ordnance. Six PPC shots fly out at it as well, though thankfully, those miss. The Griffin fires back at a distant Dragon, disabling its autocannon, but is then knocked over and its PPC disabled.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Undaunted, the Flegmann Griffin fires its LRMs at the Dragon as the two mechs continue exchanging fire. A lucky missile blasts through the center torso armor, dinging the slightly larger mech's gyro and dropping it to the ground.

Akalon, our Phoenix Hawk and Drazzil engage a hostile Quickdraw but score little damage. Instead, Akalon loses one of the Vulcan's lasers to missile fire from a hostile Crusader.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Command lance has arrived, although things are looking a little rough for our employer at this point. Hopefully we can turn it around. At least the guy in the Dragon knocks himself out trying to get up with a damaged gyro.

Akalon can't quite get back at the Crusader, but manages to land the Vulcan directly behind an Ostroc, blowing out two of its lasers with a laser to the back armor. A follow-up kick knocks the 60-tonner to the ground.

AWS gets our first kill of the battle, jumping in behind another Crusader without bothering to transform away from airmech mode after using that to rapidly close range. As the hostile mech is busy blowing the leg off an allied Shadow Hawk, the snub-nose PPC strips away armor from its rear torso, then a couple of lasers to the back detonate an SRM ammo bin, scattering the 65-ton mech to the four winds.

In addition to losing the Shadow Hawk, the allied force loses a Vulcan as well to a kick from an annoying little Cicada.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Cylus and the Thunderbolt jump over some buildings to join the fight, while Scrub and Angel swing around the east side of the complex. Drazzil chases after a Quickdraw, which silhouettes itself nicely against the skyline, presenting a good target for our approaching heavies.

Akalon jumps in behind a Longbow to the north, but is unable to do much damage to the assault mech before being forced to disengage by an approaching Awesome - the idea being to stay out of that line of fire, since a Vulcan can't take that kind of firepower at all.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
The Flegmann Vulcan is unable to eject in time to avoid getting annihilated by an Awesome's PPC fire (and/or the ammo explosion). No chance of recovering that one. The other Awesome blows away an allied Stinger's leg, putting that mech out of action.

Akalon gives the Longbow a couple of laser blasts on his way north, stripping a little armor, which allows Cylus to run in from the south and inflict major damage on the assault mech's left leg with the Grasshopper's lasers. Nearly every actuator goes out, so that leg is as good as gone.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
AWS hops behind the Ostroc as it blasts away at the downed Stinger, finishing it off, putting two laser shots into the enemy mech's head from the back. The ejection seat fires just in time... to be fried by the LAM's third laser.

Our advanced Phoenix Hawk scores its first kill. Well, technically not a kill yet, but breaking that Quickdraw's leg with laser fire and a solid kick will more or less take it out of action. Especially if the impact, once it hits the ground, jostles its LRM ammo bin and blows the 60-ton mech to bits.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Cylus slips in behind an Awesome as it stomps through the town with an eye towards finishing the rest of the allied units. The Grasshopper's lasers do their work, blasting through the assault mech's rear armor and damaging the engine. Not enough to put it out of action, but enough to force the mechwarrior down to two PPCs at a time. Our Grasshopper rocks a bit as lasers and missiles from the nearby Crusader come in, but armor holds. AWS jumps in to help out, tripping the hostile mech up as the allied Griffin strips the SRM launcher off its leg.

The Longbow continues taking a pounding, one of its legs coming off under fire from a combination of an allied Wasp's and Drazzil's lasers. Scrub blasts off the left-side missile pod with PPCs as the assault mech hits the ground.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
A very brave Wasp moves to engage the Awesome in the center of town, pinging it in the head with a single SRM. The Awesome hanging out to the north of town immediately cores the bug mech out. Cylus continues working on the back of the enemy mech, causing heat sink fluid to spray out in ridiculous amounts from the back as the Grasshopper's lasers evaporate internal structure and equipment.

Drazzil gets behind the Crusader that's firing at Cylus, detonating the 65 ton mech's ammo bin and ending that stream of missiles.

Akalon jumps back south, engaging a Cicada. With combined fire from our upgraded Phoenix Hawk, the 40-tonner goes down to the ground, although not out.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
Well, about that Cicada not being out. The mechwarrior manages to break one of his lasers *and* knock himself out trying to get up. Whoops!

Scrub does not look forward to eating the three PPCs from the northern Awesome, but returns fire with all the firepower she can muster at that range. Between those two mechs, about four tons of armor gets evaporated in the space of ten seconds.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
That's about it. The Awesome in the center of the complex gets mobbed by our and allied units, and its head is taken clean off, while the northern Awesome trades more PPC fire with Scrub. This allows Cylus to jump north and slice off the big mech's damaged left leg.

The remaining fire support mechs across the river cease their LRM and long-range autocannon fire and retreat.

This brings an end to the Flegmann contract. The mercs come away better than they started - even though they lost a Shadow Hawk, a Vulcan and two bug mechs (and the Griffin took severe damage as well), but they salvaged two Awesomes, a Longbow and a Dragon. Plus the Cicada and some spare Ostroc parts. The 10% salvage clause really hurt us on this one, but at least they didn't have an excuse to try to come after us for repair costs for their destroyed mechs.

For our part, we took very little damage - just armor and the one laser. AWS and Drazzil share a good guffaw over how easy it is to take out a Crusader, having each nabbed one.

Sukarto withdraws their takeover bid and terminates their contract with their remaining mercs. This series of battles took a major toll on the directly-employed security forces and profits of both companies, and it's not clear whether either will remain in business for much longer without a serious cash infusion. In fact, the local ComStar arbitration office contacts Scrub to ask her to provide testimony and records regarding the actions we were involved in, as Flegmann appears to be trying to stiff our employer (and, by extension, us). Scrub grinds her teeth a little, thinking about her options. Which mostly boil down to whether we let the chips fall where they may, throw our direct employer under the bus for a better chance of payout for us, or coordinate with said direct employer in a show of force for a little intimidation factor.

[] Show up, present the evidence, hope the arbitrator rules in our favor
[] Show up, present the evidence, play up the direct employer's incompetence
[] Show up, present the evidence, coordinate with direct employer to march a couple lances of mechs through Flegmann facilities in a show of force

-----

Finally, we've got the following name options for our dropships:

Overlod
[] Thunderball
[] Overmind

Seeker (a lot less consensus on this one)
[] Octopussy
[] Skyfall
[] Hunter
[] Umber Hulk
[] Remora
[] Sea Cucumber
[] Moneypenny
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Freyland »

Sea 🥒!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by AWS260 »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm [x] Show up, present the evidence, hope the arbitrator rules in our favor
[] Show up, present the evidence, play up the direct employer's incompetence
[] Show up, present the evidence, coordinate with direct employer to march a couple lances of mechs through Flegmann facilities in a show of force
Not worth the hassle of stirring up sh*t.
Finally, we've got the following name options for our dropships:

Overlord
[x] Thunderball
[] Overmind

Seeker (a lot less consensus on this one)
[] Octopussy
[] Skyfall
[] Hunter
[] Umber Hulk
[] Remora
[x] Sea Cucumber
[] Moneypenny
Time to jump on the Sea Dildo bandwagon, I guess.
Zenn7
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm [] Show up, present the evidence, hope the arbitrator rules in our favor
[] Show up, present the evidence, play up the direct employer's incompetence
[x] Show up, present the evidence, coordinate with direct employer to march a couple lances of mechs through Flegmann facilities in a show of force
Don't let these runts try and push us around! Our money. You can't pay up, don't hire us.
Finally, we've got the following name options for our dropships:

Overlord
[] Thunderball
[x] Overmind

Seeker (a lot less consensus on this one)
[] Octopussy
[] Skyfall
[] Hunter
[] Umber Hulk
[x] Remora
[] Sea Cucumber
[] Moneypenny
Sounds closest to our Octopus theme (I think?)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by xwraith »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm -----
[X] Show up, present the evidence, hope the arbitrator rules in our favor
[] Show up, present the evidence, play up the direct employer's incompetence
[] Show up, present the evidence, coordinate with direct employer to march a couple lances of mechs through Flegmann facilities in a show of force

-----

Finally, we've got the following name options for our dropships:

Overlord
[X] Thunderball
[] Overmind

Seeker (a lot less consensus on this one)
[] Octopussy
[] Skyfall
[] Hunter
[] Umber Hulk
[] Remora
[] Sea Cucumber
[X] Moneypenny
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
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm [x] Upgrade to royal model, put a 3D Phoenix Hawk out of action
[] Upgrade to semi-royal model
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm [] Show up, present the evidence, hope the arbitrator rules in our favor
[] Show up, present the evidence, play up the direct employer's incompetence
[x] Show up, present the evidence, coordinate with direct employer to march a couple lances of mechs through Flegmann facilities in a show of force
Being stiffed is bad for reputation. Also would be good if we can somehow charge them extra for trying.
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm Overlod
[x] Thunderball
[] Overmind

Seeker (a lot less consensus on this one)
[] Octopussy
[] Skyfall
[] Hunter
[] Umber Hulk
[] Remora
[] Sea Cucumber
[x] Moneypenny
Zenn7
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Leraje wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:13 pm
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm [x] Upgrade to royal model, put a 3D Phoenix Hawk out of action
[] Upgrade to semi-royal model
Oops... missed this one.

Concur, let's make our new toy the best toy it can be!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm [x] Upgrade to royal model, put a 3D Phoenix Hawk out of action
[] Upgrade to semi-royal model
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm [] Show up, present the evidence, hope the arbitrator rules in our favor
[] Show up, present the evidence, play up the direct employer's incompetence
[x] Show up, present the evidence, coordinate with direct employer to march a couple lances of mechs through Flegmann facilities in a show of force
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm Overlod
[] Thunderball
[X] Overmind

Seeker (a lot less consensus on this one)
[] Octopussy
[X] Skyfall
[] Hunter
[] Umber Hulk
[] Remora
[] Sea Cucumber
[] Moneypenny
Black Lives Matter.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »


xwraith wrote:
NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm -----
[X] Show up, present the evidence, hope the arbitrator rules in our favor
[] Show up, present the evidence, play up the direct employer's incompetence
[] Show up, present the evidence, coordinate with direct employer to march a couple lances of mechs through Flegmann facilities in a show of force

-----

Finally, we've got the following name options for our dropships:

Overlord
[X] Thunderball
[] Overmind

Seeker (a lot less consensus on this one)
[] Octopussy
[] Skyfall
[] Hunter
[] Umber Hulk
[] Remora
[] Sea Cucumber
[X] Moneypenny
Black lives matter!

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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:56 pm
[X] Upgrade to royal model, put a 3D Phoenix Hawk out of action
[] Upgrade to semi-royal model

---


[X] Show up, present the evidence, hope the arbitrator rules in our favor
[] Show up, present the evidence, play up the direct employer's incompetence
[] Show up, present the evidence, coordinate with direct employer to march a couple lances of mechs through Flegmann facilities in a show of force

-----

Finally, we've got the following name options for our dropships:

Overlod
[X] Thunderball
[] Overmind

Seeker (a lot less consensus on this one)
[] Octopussy
[X] Skyfall
[] Hunter
[] Umber Hulk
[] Remora
[] Sea Cucumber
[] Moneypenny
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Oh yeah, upgrade Black Knight to the full royal.

And even though I said we should just play it straight with the arbitration board I won't be disappointed if we decide to show off our mechs to remind the Ragamufffins or whatever they're called about their financial obligations.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by xwraith »

Also if they can't pay, can we seize high value tooling/machinery to take back home?
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
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

xwraith wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:23 am Also if they can't pay, can we seize high value tooling/machinery to take back home?
Given that Steiner is interested in keeping theses facilities operational - probably not.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Leraje wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:37 am
xwraith wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:23 am Also if they can't pay, can we seize high value tooling/machinery to take back home?
Given that Steiner is interested in keeping theses facilities operational - probably not.
What a buzzkill! Well I’m stealing some of those shiny Steiner subsidiary pens and the Steiner subsidiary coffee mug they’re sitting in. Fight the power, man!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

$iljanus wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:59 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:37 am
xwraith wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:23 am Also if they can't pay, can we seize high value tooling/machinery to take back home?
Given that Steiner is interested in keeping theses facilities operational - probably not.
What a buzzkill! Well I’m stealing some of those shiny Steiner subsidiary pens and the Steiner subsidiary coffee mug they’re sitting in. Fight the power, man!
Though if we ever deployed to destroy industrial installations, we may want to secure the site, land a DS in the middle of it and let loose our PBIs with pry-bars. :twisted:
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Thunderball ||||||| - 7
Overmind || - 2

Remora ||| - 3
Sea Cucumber || - 2
Moneypenny ||| - 3
Skyfall || - 2
---

Show up, present evidence, hope arbitrator rules in our favor ||||| - 5
Coordinate with employer for show of force |||| - 4

---

Semi-royal ||
Royal model ||||
Thunderball is pretty unambiguous. We'll have a run-off between Remora and Moneypenny for the Seeker.

[] Remora
[] Moneypenny

----

Scrub decides against too much subterfuge. The arbitration hearing is a pretty straightforward affair - the panel reviews relevant battle ROM footage. The three-member panel consists of reps from ComStar, Steiner and Rasalhague. Between the battle ROM footage and testimony, and our current rep with the Steiner guy, the ruling comes out in our favor (the ComStar and Rasalhague reps mostly sit there filing their fingernails).

So we get paid, which is good. No damages are awarded to either side. "Quit wasting our time." is the comment from the Rasalhague rep.

----

We wind up shipping the Phoenix Hawk 3D and Black Knight over to Twycross for some factory work. The remains of the Phoenix Hawk we'll keep around for spare parts for the other two.

Our dropship and tank crews experience some turnover, and a few of our mechwarriors make noises about wanting to cash out at the end of this contract (notably, Cujo, Drazzil, Stefan and LordMortis, but a few others as well). When that happens, we'll probably be looking at ~100M in share payouts.

----

October 6, 3049
Zenith Jump Point to Zoetermeer transit, prior to turnover

A Triumph-class dropship gets dropped off by a jumpship that arrives at the zenith jump point, undocks its passengers then jumps out right away, using a lithium-fusion battery for a double jump. Seems they really didn't want to stick around. Our employer informs us that the Triumph is not authorized to approach the planet and "suggests" that we intercept it. We vector in Gamma and Alpha-Strike flights, joined by an employer-provided Seydlitz, a light fighter that's unlikely to make a difference in the fight.

Our two flights are three Lucifers, a Lightning, an Eagle and Shilone, all upgraded with the latest toys (except the Shilone, which is good enough as is). As our fighters close in, the Triumph kicks off its escorts - an Eagle, a Slayer, a Shilone and a Lucifer II (not as heavily armored as our bricks).

The Triumph itself is no joke, but it's got a pair of blind spots and its aft armament is pretty weak, so we should be able to get this done. If not, then we're looking at ~50 tanks dropping in on the planet. A little less, since they appear to have converted some of their tank bays to aerospace fighter bays, but still, a substantial force that will likely link up with other forces these guys have on planet.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
As our fighters and the Seydlitz zip in to engage the Triumph's port-aft arc (a blind spot, which even a quick 'ECHO' maneuver doesn't help the dropship overcome), the "allied" Seydlitz opens up on our Lightning. Our fighter makes a pass on the Triumph, causing heavy damage with the AC/20 and lasers, blowing out a control thruster, but is blindsided by the light fighter and the aero jock reports heavy sensor damage. The Eagle's pass on the Triumph is unimpeded, but the damage is just armor - the Triumph is pretty heavily armored up.

Our Lucifer and the enemy Shilone exchange fire, blasting chunks of armor off each other, but the Lucifer simply has more armor.

The heavy armor doesn't help the Triumph as much as it should have, the Lightning must have damaged some kind of control system, because the thrusters on the aerodyne dropship wink in and out of operation, causing our Eagle to have to initiate evasive maneuvers and drift out of control as well after the aero jock nearly blacks out.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Lightning continues hammering on the Triumph, giving it another burst from the AC/20, followed up by some laser blasts. A bay door gets blown out and a fairly large number of personnel get vacuumed. The Lightning takes some more armor damage but nothing serious, while the Triumph continues drifting.

Our Lucifer continues firing at the Shilone, inflicting some internal damage with its large lasers. The Shilone's pilot loses control of the fighter, continuing on his present vector.

The guy in the Seydlitz has accelerated way too much and will need to come back around for another pass later.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
The Triumph's defensive fire, combined with sensor damage, forces our Lightning's shots to go wide, given the dropship a break.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Our fighters continue to have trouble getting good hits in as the Triumph twists and turns, surprisingly nimble for a multi-thousand-ton dropshop. Either that or its the on-board electronic warfare systems scrambling our targeting mechanisms.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Alpha-Strike joins Gamma Strike, having "circled" around to where the Triumph is going. It'll likely be a quick interception pass, but it'll still make a difference, hopefully. Our Lightning takes a beating from the Slayer and will be forced to disengage as the aero jock reports damage to multiple systems (and the report is interrupted by a sharp crack), but the Slayer takes a nasty hit to the front sensor cluster from our Eagle.

After their pass, the Triumph's left-side armor looks like swiss cheese, and they blow out another bay door, sending what looks like a couple of hovertanks spinning off into the void as the dropship continues on. Our Eagle misjudges its run and winds up in the Triumph's front arc, where it eats multiple laser and autocannon blasts and begins spewing smoke and atmosphere. The aero jock opts to disengage in order to address the air leak and catastrophic engine damage.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
The only one of our craft that's able to keep is a Lucifer from Gamma-Strike. Our fighter scores two nasty large laser hits on the Triumph's port side, blowing out multiple weapons systems, but the hull holds together, just barely. An LRM salvo from the Shilone wrecks the docking collar, but then the dropship makes it out of range.

A quick calculation shows that our fighters may be able to catch up at the edge of their fuel range, but they'd be getting hammered by the hostile fighters the entire time. Alternately, our fighters can drive off the hostile fighters, but then they'd lose the dropship for sure.

The Triumph is still spaceworthy, but has taken crippling damage in the form of a couple of bay doors blown out and multiple personnel and units its been carrying spaced.

[] Pursue, high risk of major damage to our fighters
[] Fight off the escorts, low damage risk to our fighters but dropship reaches planetside
Black Lives Matter
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Madmarcus »

I've been out of this thread for over a year - a small break for a vacation spiraled as unread posts built up. I'll probably start skimming the 50+ pages of posts but I'm looking for a spoiler. Did I die or retire?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:14 pm [X] Remora
[] Moneypenny

[X] Pursue, high risk of major damage to our fighters
[] Fight off the escorts, low damage risk to our fighters but dropship reaches planetside
Standing by my first vote for the name.

Hmm... if we're still looking at 40+ tanks and a good shot our fighters can take them out, seems like it might be worth the risk?
Is there an option to split the party, some engage enemy fighters, some pursue the dropship?

Why does it seem like we suck at taking down dropships, other people don't do so bad against us? (though I guess they don't destroy our dropships, just thinking of damage/throwing them off course)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

The Triumph is still spaceworthy, but has taken crippling damage in the form of a couple of bay doors blown out and multiple personnel and units its been carrying spaced.
Hmmm, do we have an estimate of how many units have been spaced? Probably impossible to tell but worth an ask, especially since I’m not keen on risking our fighters to stop a force of 10 tanks.

Oh and call her Moneypenny.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:14 pm [] Remora
[x] Moneypenny

[x] Pursue, high risk of major damage to our fighters
[] Fight off the escorts, low damage risk to our fighters but dropship reaches planetside
Pursue, unless we gutted it enough to loose over 40% of payload.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Madmarcus wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:40 pm I've been out of this thread for over a year - a small break for a vacation spiraled as unread posts built up. I'll probably start skimming the 50+ pages of posts but I'm looking for a spoiler. Did I die or retire?
Long story short, your character is still around (although pushing late 40s and strongly considering retirement), and in charge of Delta Company, which is the recon company of the outfit.
Zenn7 wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:43 pm Hmm... if we're still looking at 40+ tanks and a good shot our fighters can take them out, seems like it might be worth the risk?
Is there an option to split the party, some engage enemy fighters, some pursue the dropship?

Why does it seem like we suck at taking down dropships, other people don't do so bad against us? (though I guess they don't destroy our dropships, just thinking of damage/throwing them off course)
Splitting our fighters is risky - we're down to four operational ones against five hostiles.

As for taking down dropships, the last "blockade run" scenario was our Overlord and Seeker vs a bunch of bad guys, and they barely scratched our paintjob (our light fighters are another issue). I might need to adjust the map size on those scenarios because most dropships are pretty tough and you only really get like 5 or 6 turns to take them down before they cross the map.
$iljanus wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 7:10 pmHmmm, do we have an estimate of how many units have been spaced? Probably impossible to tell but worth an ask, especially since I’m not keen on risking our fighters to stop a force of 10 tanks.
Our fighters reported ~4 tanks being spaced, and some of the bay space was being used for aerospace fighters instead, so we're probably looking at ~40 units still being on the dropship.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:40 pm
$iljanus wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 7:10 pmHmmm, do we have an estimate of how many units have been spaced? Probably impossible to tell but worth an ask, especially since I’m not keen on risking our fighters to stop a force of 10 tanks.
Our fighters reported ~4 tanks being spaced, and some of the bay space was being used for aerospace fighters instead, so we're probably looking at ~40 units still being on the dropship.
Zenn7 wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:43 pm Hmm... if we're still looking at 40+ tanks
It's my astute tactical acumen and observations like this that is why I'm so highly ranked on this company!

(Also, I've learned now is a horrible time to buy lottery tickets - the luck comes in good and bad... there went the good for a while).
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Freyland »

Mech pilots have names, fighter pilots don't. Risk the pilots over the mechs.
Sims 3 and signature unclear.
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