Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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$iljanus
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Zenn7 wrote:
NickAragua wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:00 pm [] Disengage, the dropship gets away
[x] Beta-Assault and Beta-Hunter move in anyway
<mumbling curses> Shoulda sent his blimp brigade to help him...

Alright peeps, we'll have to do this the hard way. Lets go get us a dropship!
The game is afoot!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

$iljanus wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:42 pm
Zenn7 wrote:
NickAragua wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:00 pm [] Disengage, the dropship gets away
[x] Beta-Assault and Beta-Hunter move in anyway
<mumbling curses> Shoulda sent his blimp brigade to help him...

Alright peeps, we'll have to do this the hard way. Lets go get us a dropship!
The game is afoot!
Let's drop a dropship.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Leraje wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:53 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:42 pm
Zenn7 wrote:
NickAragua wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:00 pm [] Disengage, the dropship gets away
[x] Beta-Assault and Beta-Hunter move in anyway
<mumbling curses> Shoulda sent his blimp brigade to help him...

Alright peeps, we'll have to do this the hard way. Lets go get us a dropship!
The game is afoot!
Let's drop a dropship.
Agreed.

And also - do send in a blimp brigade.
Black Lives Matter.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Disengage - |||
Move in anyway - ||||||
The elements of Beta Company that are present make their move, having been edging around the dropship for a while, using buildings and woods as cover. The dropship's been tracking them, so by the time they get to a point from which they can make a run at it without having to sprint through half a kilometer of open terrain while under fire from its guns, they're almost on top of Alpha-Heavy.

Meanwhile, the dropship trundles towards our forces so that it's in weapons range anyway. Its buddies show up as well.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
Thud and Wolf open up on the Leopard as they emerge from cover closest to it. A little too close in fact, but Wolf still manages to get a PPC shot at the nose - it looks like it goes through the armor a little bit. Unfortunately, our coolant truck appears to be the best target for the dropship and is evaporated by laser and PPC fire, with some LRMs thrown in for good measure.

To the north, Leraje, Moley and Zenn7 engage a pair of assault tanks, Leraje stepping on top of a Brutus and blasting an Ontos with the Black Knight's lasers. The enemy tank's return fire slashes at the Black Knight but doesn't penetrate armor. Thud had already put some major dents into the Ontos, so its armor doesn't hold up against the frsh barrage. Moley takes a headshot from the Brutus but armor holds up, and then Zenn7 punches through the tank's heavy armor with his Awesome's PPCs, disabling it.

"I don't know about this." Bully reports as another lance of tanks emerges around her position. "Lots of company in my area." She fires up the Thug's jump jets to move north and get clear of the newcomers. Surprised by a damaged Phoenix Hawk emerging from the new woods, she reflexively squeezes the trigger on the Thug's SRMs, blasting away at the mech's damaged armor.

El Guapo uses the confusion to blow away a nearby Maxim hover transport, sending PPC blasts and a gauss slug into it. Some infantry clambers out, but they're no threat, relatively speaking. "Understood, Alpha-Three. Pull back to my position."

"Alpha-Three, acknowledge." The lieutenant says, looking over just in time to see the Thug keel over, its head a smoking ruin. "Slag."

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
Wolf continues pumping PPC blasts into the Leopard, adding the Warhammer's medium range weapons to the mix. A large laser barrel on the dropship is melted down by the incoming energy weapons fire. Thud and El Guapo join their heavy weapons to the effort, El Guapo blowing another large laser mount off the hull with a gauss slug.

To the north, Xwraith, irritated by a Stinger picking at his Catapult, hops back out of the fire it had set with its laser and splashes down into a swamp. The Catapult gets stuck for a second, but its lasers still take a heavy toll on the bug mech, wrecking its right arm and popping multiple leg actuators. The bug mech is unable to stay upright and falls to the ground.

Siljanus' Mackie may be damaged, but it's still an imposing sight, as it attracts the efforts and attention of a lance's worth of mechs and tanks. An opportunity which Leraje uses to put a pulse laser through a Scimitar, making it disappear in a fuel tank explosion.

LordMortis hops on top of a hill for a good vantage point and uses it to blast the right weapons mount off a Jenner that El Guapo had damaged previously, leaving it with no lasers or ammo for the SRM launcher, which simply spills out onto the ground as the ammo bin is opened up without being detonated.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
Xwraith and LordMortis' Stinger and Jenner buddies respectively beat a rapid retreat to the north, which we let them do. It'll take a lot of spare parts to fix those mechs up.

Hyena finally closes in on a Behemoth assault tank to the north, using the woods to break up its line of sight and avoid the twin AC/10s mounted on its turret. The assault tank's armor is too thick to penetrate quickly with the Grasshopper's laser array, but its treads snap off under the onslaught, leaving it immobilized to be dealt with later at our leisure.

Thud's Awesome takes some fire from a Phoenix Hawk and the dropship, getting knocked over and losing a heat sink in the right torso. Most of our heavies continue focusing fire, disabling another laser cannon mounted on the dropship's hull, although El Guapo takes a few seconds to clear some of the units surrounding him, detonating a Wasp's on-board ammo storage with a strategically placed gauss slug.

Round 13:
Spoiler:
Image
The Phoenix Hawk that was giving Siljanus a hard time stops doing so after our Mackie takes a couple of lasers to the lighter mech's left leg, cutting it off below the hip. A curb stomp crushes the mech's right arm, just in case the little jerk gets any funny ideas.

Wolf's continued pounding of the Leopard proves pretty effective - some kind of internal ammo storage detonates after a PPC hit and one of the LRM launchers on the dropship's port side stops firing.

Zarathud's Awesome continues taking fire and its armor is, at this point more air then plating. The mechwarrior disengages, letting other mechs step up to the firing line.

Round 14:
Spoiler:
Image
Hyena moves on from the Behemoth, approaching another assault tank through the woods and administering precision laser shots to a small segment of the armor to cut through it and disable the Rhino's engine. The Rhino isn't much of a threat up close, its main firepower is the fifty LRM tubes which are useless at point blank range. Xwraith starts wrapping things up with the Vedettes, lasering and stomping one flat as the tanks are unable to avoid our jump-capable Catapult in the dense terrain, despite the cover provided by the nearby smoke.

LordMortis a) gets revenge for the Phoenix Hawk 1K's destruction of Fury's Dragon and b) demonstrates the general inferiority of mechs without jump jets in rough terrain - the 1K is simply unable to navigate the woods fast enough, while the Victor is able to hop over and zap the lighter mech with lasers and SRMs, followed by a kick to the left leg which knocks it off.

Round 15:
Spoiler:
Image
Between Wolf's and Zenn7's continuous PPC fire, the dropship loses its structural integrity. With several giant holes in the port side, its power plant shuts down. The Supreme Queen of Butte Hold won't be flying again.

El Guapo takes out a laser carrier, while LordMortis puts a gauss slug through a Vedette, and the rest of the hostiles retreat into the wilderness. Without a dropship, they're going to have a rough time getting off world. We'll be dispatching Alpha-Ranger to track them down to relieve our pretty battered heavies.

This one was pretty rough, we lost the Grand Dragon and Bully (the Thug is intact, but will need some major repairs), while Thud's Awesome looks like melted swiss cheese with the holes re-cut. We're still negotiating salvage credit with our employer, as there's an on-going argument over who's going to have to haul the dropship wreck out of there.

Holly "Bully" von Aalst joined us just two years ago, during our stint on Solaris VII. An excellent shot with PPCs, she only had the chance to participate in three battles, racking up five kills. Her final payout goes to her teenage daughter on her birth world of Lamon (on the Steiner side of the Steiner-Marik border).

Fury will need a new mech. Some options:
[] Guillotine GLT-4L(modified) - large laser, four mediums, SRM/6 rack. Slower than the Grand Dragon, but has jump jets. Good armor. Leraje's former ride.
[] Merlin MLN-1A - PPC, 2x medium laser, LRM/5 rack, flamer + MG for anti-infantry work. Same speed as Guillotine. Medium armor. Paingod's former ride.
[] Annihilator ANH-1A - 4x AC/10, 4x medium laser. Ridiculously slow. 100-ton mech with a 70-tonner's armor. Been sitting in a cargo bay for a few years now because nobody actually wants to drive it.

Alpha-Urban will also need a replacement Mechwarrior to drive the Thug. Two candidates:
[] Pvt Ok-Hwa Park. 3 gunnery, 3 piloting, maneuvering ace (can side-step, better at avoiding pavement skids). Is 45, so is probably planning on retiring soon.
[] Pvt Gurudasa Naimish. 3 gunnery, 4 piloting. 28 years old, so lots of time to improve as a mechwarrior.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Nov 30, 2020 3:26 pm Fury will need a new mech. Some options:
[x] Guillotine GLT-4L(modified) - large laser, four mediums, SRM/6 rack. Slower than the Grand Dragon, but has jump jets. Good armor. Leraje's former ride.
[] Merlin MLN-1A - PPC, 2x medium laser, LRM/5 rack, flamer + MG for anti-infantry work. Same speed as Guillotine. Medium armor. Paingod's former ride.
[] Annihilator ANH-1A - 4x AC/10, 4x medium laser. Ridiculously slow. 100-ton mech with a 70-tonner's armor. Been sitting in a cargo bay for a few years now because nobody actually wants to drive it.

Alpha-Urban will also need a replacement Mechwarrior to drive the Thug. Two candidates:
[] Pvt Ok-Hwa Park. 3 gunnery, 3 piloting, maneuvering ace (can side-step, better at avoiding pavement skids). Is 45, so is probably planning on retiring soon.
[x] Pvt Gurudasa Naimish. 3 gunnery, 4 piloting. 28 years old, so lots of time to improve as a mechwarrior.
Anni is begging for major shop time :)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Guillotine, Pvt Naimish
In addition to the loss of Pvt. van Aalst, we also lost one of the poor scrubs driving the coolant truck. Of all the things for a dropship to unleash its firepower on, you wouldn't expect a random coolant truck to be one, but that's how that goes.

Alpha-Ranger winds up spending several days tracking down the units that escaped from our encounter with the Queen of Butte Hold. Our lance lacks the firepower to take on the firebase that they discover, but they keep an eye on things. When two lances of heavy mechs, supported by a medium and light lance plus assorted tanks and hovercraft, emerge from the firebase and head towards one of our designated defense facilities, we decide to intercept them before they get there. Alpha-Ranger will nip on their heels while Alpha-Urban will move out from the facility they're defending and provide the anvil. Coming along with Alpha-Ranger is a Star Guards... Stinger. Sigh.

The good part is that we've been able to set up a minefield along the projected pirate route. The bad part is that someone swapped our conventional mine shipment for vibrabombs. For those that haven't heard of these before, this is special ordnance that "responds" to ground vibrations. Such as those generated by mechs walking along the ground. Or earthquakes. But we're not anticipating that here. When you set these up, you have to set them for a certain tonnage. Tanks and mechs lighter than the tonnage setting don't set them off, while mechs of the specified tonnage or higher do. So they're pretty tricky to use when you have a wide variety of mech tonnage on the field or don't know what the bad guys are fielding ahead of time. We'll see how it goes. Neither Isgrimnur nor Cujo are impressed.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
"Stay out of that water, it's flowing pretty fast." Cujo reminds everyone as Alpha-Ranger lance closes in on the middle of the enemy formation. The hovercraft have already moved south, so it'll be up to Alpha-Urban to stop them, but the jump-capable medium mechs and assorted tanks are fair game.

Including a Galleon tank trundling through the mud, which is cut to ribbons by the lasers on Bass's Griffin 1S.

Isgrimnur, to the south, moves his thumb to toggle the LBX autocannon between slug and cluster rounds, but all he hears is a click and a beep sound. Diagnostic computer shows no damage, but the ammo feed isn't switching over. And, the anti-aircraft targeting software craps out again. The mechwarrior reacts with indistinct grumbling. A little piece of crap Ferret scout chopper zips by unmolested, while a Warrior lingers briefly to fire LRMs in the general direction of our BattleAxe, missing.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Bass is on a roll, blasting the treads off a Vedette. It's not actually clear whether its the laser damage or something else, but long story short, the tank gets stuck in the mud. Bass's Griffin takes a couple of SRMs from nearby bad guys but it takes a little more than that to take a Griffin down.

Also, yet another advantage mechs have over tanks - they don't get stuck in relatively shallow mud. "Seriously?" Bass remarks. "It's only one or two meters, tops. Wankers."

Stefan is silent, concentrating on engaging a Grasshopper, which outmasses his Trebuchet by twenty tons, and is thus a pretty rough fight.

Cujo, meanwhile, knocks over a hostile Wolverine, avoiding its clumsy counter punches, while the Warrior VTOL lazily avoids Alpha-Urban's weapons fire. Granted, the rain and the VTOL's rapid movement is making weapon targeting a little difficult, but at least *one* of those PPCs and pulse lasers should have hit.

The allied Stinger reports shoulder actuator damage on its right arm, which is where pretty much all of its guns are, so that thing is basically useless now. Not that it was in any way useful before.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
As Cujo spots the two lances of heavies coming in, she fires up the Wolverine's jump jets and hops over the river to the south, expecting her Wolverine counterpart on the opfor to get back up and rejoin the fight. Instead, the opposing mech slips in the mud and lands face down, at which point an ammo explosion rips it apart. Our mechwarrior mouths a silent "what" before switching targets.

Bass continues his rampage, fuel-tanking another Vedette.

Our new Blackjack scores its first kill, finally taking the Warrior helicopter out just as the VTOL is about to fly out of range. Those rear-flipping arms can be really helpful sometimes.

Isgrimnur intercepts a Plainsman hovertank trying to slip by. The autocannon might be on the fritz, but the hatchet works just fine, smashing the hovercraft apart as the Hatchetman absorbs a few SRMs.

Stefan gets the upper hand on the Grasshopper, tripping it up while avoiding its laser attacks, while the Star Guards' Stinger somehow manages to knock over a Rifleman.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
"Alpha-Urban, be advised, you have a reinforced lance of light mechs and hovercraft moving in your direction, with three jump-capable medium mechs close behind." Cujo informs Isgrimnur.

Stefan disengages from the Grasshopper temporarily to give the Trebuchet's heat sinks a break - he's just not doing enough damage to the heavily-armored 70 tonner and the Trebuchet is starting to creak and groan. Our Ostroc takes the opportunity to remove half the treads from a nearby Goblin - a laser from the enemy tank blasts our mech in the head, but armor holds up and then the tank slowly sinks into the mud.

The allied Stinger continues its unexpected rampage, zipping in to trip a Marauder up. This guy seems to be surprisingly good at this - or lucky.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Isgrimnur jumps north to intercept the incoming hovercraft, hoping to repeat the performance with the Plainsman. An AC/20 blast from the Saladin rocks our mech, nearly breaching the armor on the right arm. A quick swing from the hatchet breaches the armor on another Saladin as our mechwarrior shakes off the impact.

To the north, Bass and the Ostroc continue picking off tanks, a Packrat and another two Vedettes being disabled.

Stefan continues the duel against the Grasshopper, the enemy mech's left leg armor looking pretty weak while our Trebuchet avoids most of the outgoing fire from the heavier mech.

The Star Guards Stinger flits back to the Rifleman it worked on earlier, tripping it up again.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Our weapons fire is pretty ineffective for a little while, as the hostile hovercraft and mechs pepper or mechs with hits from lighter ordnance. Isgrimnur decides to disengage from the Saladin that's tracking him and jumps north, bringing the hatchet down on a hapless Wasp's right shoulder. The impact crumples the right torso section and breaks the right leg as well, sending the bug mech to the ground.

With the tanks to the northwest wrapped up, Bass and the Ostroc move south to join Stefan and help out with the Grasshopper.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
"Sustained critical damage, pulling back." The Star Guards Stinger reports as its engine shielding evaporates after taking a PPC from the hostile Marauder - the heavy mech lance apparently has had enough of the stupid little bug mech jumping around and tripping them.

Bass puts a shot from the Griffin's large laser through a stray Vedette on the way to help Stefan, taking the tank out of action. Stefan, meanwhile, avoids most of the Grasshopper's laser fire and breaches its left leg armor, snapping one of the actuators.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Blackjack gets the remaining Saladin trying to get past us, a PPC shot frying the hovertank. Meanwhile, Stefan's duel with the Grasshopper is ended with the arrival of Bass and the Ostroc, the latter of which cracks the 70 ton mech's damaged left leg, sending it to the ground.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Blackjack scores the last kill of the fight, sinking a Maxim hover transport as it tries to cross a small lake to get past Alpha-Urban. A PPC shot causes the hovertank to dip, its fans suck up a bunch of water and the engine just gives out. The Hatamoto-Hi finally scores a hit as well, blasting bits off the Stinger that tries to take on our Blackjack, which gives said Blackjack an opening to leg the bug mech with short range weapons and a kick.

The rest of the heavies and mediums withdraw - so basically, we got all their support units but not the big guys (with the exception of the Grasshopper).

---

"So why can't we keep the Grasshopper?" Bass asks.

"Contract terms say salvage goes to employer until they reach 1.2 billion." Cujo replies.

"What are they at now?"

"Last time I checked, about 300 mil after we hauled in that Leopard."

"Do... we have to tell them about it? Like, just say the mech walked off under its own power or something, then shove the thing into our Jumbo and fix it up later. Not like any of the Lyran people are anywhere near here." Bass continues the line of inquiry, puppy dog eyes showing even through voice comms.

"... the guy driving it ejected, and you're literally holding his ejection seat and him in your mech's left hand." Cujo points out, with an expression of consternation on her face.

"... we could sign the guy up?" Bass presses on. "I mean, he kind of sucks if he couldn't even beat up a stupid little Trebuchet, but..."

"Hey!" Stefan pipes up, indignant.

[] Come up with some kind of contrived excuse to keep the Grasshopper and quickly shove it into our cargo dropship
[] Just let the stupid thing go
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:03 pm
[] Come up with some kind of contrived excuse to keep the Grasshopper and quickly shove it into our cargo dropship
[X] Just let the stupid thing go
The Grasshopper isn't rare, is it? Unless we have some particular need for it, doesn't really seem worth it.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Stefan Stirzaker »

Hey!

Let the stupid thing go
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

Let it go, it's not an SLDF Royal, so not worth the troubles.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

[X] Just let the stupid thing go

Not worth pissing off our employer...until a souped up mech with all sorts of Star League tech falls into our hands. Then we definitely will be jacking that ride!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

$iljanus wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 5:51 pm [X] Just let the stupid thing go

Not worth pissing off our employer...until a souped up mech with all sorts of Star League tech falls into our hands. Then we definitely will be jacking that ride!
This sounds about right. Unless there are Comm Star people looking for the souped up thing. Messing with them didn't work too well last time... :(
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Sure, fine. Just cause *you guys* don't want to upgrade to a Grasshopper you're all contract following citizens all of a sudden.

:D
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

I think we have another coolant truck.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Isgrimnur wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:08 pm I think we have another coolant truck.
That was poor form targeting that coolant truck. It shall be avenged!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Isgrimnur »

I think gbasden is just the person to ensure that the next one is handled appropriately in battle.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Isgrimnur wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:18 pm I think gbasden is just the person to ensure that the next one is handled appropriately in battle.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

gbasden wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 9:54 pm Sure, fine. Just cause *you guys* don't want to upgrade to a Grasshopper you're all contract following citizens all of a sudden.

:D
Not our fault you retired and your replacement got stuck in something significantly less AWESOME than your ride.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

$iljanus wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:17 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:08 pm I think we have another coolant truck.
That was poor form targeting that coolant truck. It shall be avenged!
I was amazed to read that only 1 person died with all that firepower hitting it. Figured the whole crew was toast.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Who is going to cool our mechs now??
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

El Guapo wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:09 am Who is going to cool our mechs now??
The coolant truck was assigned Beta Assault. We appreciate your cool thoughts and concerns. :)

We'd like another one if we have it. Personally, the heat's not so bad, but some of the other peeps in my lance seem to find it a bit challenging when their mechs warm up to the point they could step into a sauna and be cooled off.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

Zenn7 wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:19 am
El Guapo wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:09 am Who is going to cool our mechs now??
The coolant truck was assigned Beta Assault. We appreciate your cool thoughts and concerns. :)

We'd like another one if we have it. Personally, the heat's not so bad, but some of the other peeps in my lance seem to find it a bit challenging when their mechs warm up to the point they could step into a sauna and be cooled off.
Paint their mechs as ice-cream trucks. Let the placebo effect take care of things :)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zarathud »

The paint would melt, my mech is so Awesome.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
frozen_let_it_go.gif
"... no." Cujo ends the conversation.

---

"What do you mean we don't have any LRMs for my ten-rack?" Moley asks, incredulous.

"Exactly what I said." the tech answers. "There are no reloads available for LRM ten launchers in our storage. You're gonna have to suck it up until we get some."

"I guess so." Moley nods, putting a hand on the tech's shoulder. "You think the admin guys would have figured this out by now, we have over ten thousand tons of cargo space available and somehow wind up without ammo for one of the most common missile launcher types in the Inner Sphere."

"Yeah. At least we can just go out to the local quick-E-mech and get those without having to unearth a Star League cache."

---

Aside from some logistical difficulties, we also have a couple of interesting unit acquisition opportunities. First, a Starfire SF-1X, apparently a NAIS training cadre is unloading a bunch of these, having upgraded to actual fighters. These pretty fast FedSuns fighters were a testbed for various recovered Star League technology, including ferro-aluminum armor and a UAC/5. And also four medium lasers for when the UAC either jams or runs out of ammo after about five seconds of continuous fire (because it only has one ton of ammo). The fighter has way too many heat sinks and the armor of a light fighter half its tonnage. But the chassis and engine are solid - with some serious shop time, we could really tighten up the chassis, get rid of the unneeded heat sinks to mount extra ammo and armor, which will let it compete with our heavier fighters.

We've also got a line on a Galleon tank with a Beagle probe, ferro-fibrous armor and a medium pulse laser. The GAL-102 is fresh off the local production lines, and is an excellent tank if you're running an environmentally-conscious planetary militia (because it uses a clean fusion engine rather than a smoke-belching ICE). The armor protection actually allows it to take multiple hits from mech-size weapons without disintegrating. But it's still a light tank. Still, some of our lances might appreciate the presence of a Beagle probe.

Finally, we get a line on some crew-served ultra autocannons. We've got plenty of spare infantry so this would be something useful to add to our infantry roster as the UACs have pretty good range and do reasonable damage.

Purchase orders (pick 0 or more):
[] Starfire SF-1X. Fast medium fighter. Definitely needs refit. 3M C-Bills (+ refit costs).
[] Galleon GAL-102. Fast light tank. Can be attached to a lance or stripped for parts. 2M C-Bills.
[] 3xUAC/5 field gun. 600K C-Bills.

---

The pirates we routed appear to have gone to ground - with no dropships to ferry them around and us maintaining force superiority and constant patrols, things stay quiet for the rest of March and April. Reports from the northern periphery continue to coalesce, and things are looking pretty ominous. Among other things, the 12th Donegal Guards are defeated on Trell I (formerly made famous as the place where the Gray Death Legion got its founding), with Prince Victor Steiner-Davion's aide apparently having to sucker punch him to get him loaded on one of the last evacuating dropships. Multiple worlds across northern Commonwealth, Rasalhague and Combine space have fallen to the invaders, who, so far, have yet to suffer any defeats.
Spoiler:
Image
The 10th Donegal have been defeated on Chateau, having been reduced from a full regimental combat team to two mech companies and three tank regiments. The unit has retreated to Vantaa to rest and refit. This is mostly of interest because Vantaa is just one world over from where we are and rumors from the Star Guards stationed here say that the bulk of their forces are being committed there as well.

The invader mechs are superior in every way, although with a lesser edge against units equipped with recovered Star League tech. But those are few and far between. Interestingly, it has been observed that the invading forces make almost no use of combat vehicles.
Spoiler:
Image
By June, news reports indicate that both FedCom and the Draconis Combine have begun pulling forces off their shared borders and redeploying them in the path of the invasion. For now, nobody tries to change the terms of our contract, but, unless something drastic changes, based on the rate of progression, our command staff estimates that we'll be getting our turn within a few months.

We maintain strong patrols around our facilities. Delta-Ranger and Alpha-Ranger spend some time looking for the heavies that got away. Delta-Ranger "only" locates a source of all those tanks that have been assisting the former "Queen of Butte Hold" instead. A Triumph-class dropship. We've got some time to bring in reinforcements while the Star Guards mobilize a light tank lance. Currently, it's the middle of the night and pretty windy, which will make it a little more difficult for us to get accurate shots on anything, but our guys are pretty crack shots in general so we should be fine. The defenders are a company of armor, mostly hovertanks. Terrain is swampy.

We could bring in our Long Toms - the Triumph isn't exactly immobile unlike a spheroid, it can taxi around a little. We could also bring in aerospace support instead. Our fighters will have some trouble with their strafing runs, but should be able to drop bombs just fine as long as we designated coordinates properly. Finally, we could just bring in Beta-Assault lance.

[] Artillery support
[] Aerospace support
[] Mech support
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:40 pm
Purchase orders (pick 0 or more):
[X] Starfire SF-1X. Fast medium fighter. Definitely needs refit. 3M C-Bills (+ refit costs).
[X] Galleon GAL-102. Fast light tank. Can be attached to a lance or stripped for parts. 2M C-Bills.
[X] 3xUAC/5 field gun. 600K C-Bills.
This all seems useful, assuming it doesn't stretch out budget.

[] Artillery support
[] Aerospace support
[X] Mech support
Mechs in general are better, especially given the current conditions.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

El Guapo wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:55 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:40 pm
Purchase orders (pick 0 or more):
[X] Starfire SF-1X. Fast medium fighter. Definitely needs refit. 3M C-Bills (+ refit costs).
[X] Galleon GAL-102. Fast light tank. Can be attached to a lance or stripped for parts. 2M C-Bills.
[X] 3xUAC/5 field gun. 600K C-Bills.
This all seems useful, assuming it doesn't stretch out budget.

[] Artillery support
[] Aerospace support
[X] Mech support
Mechs in general are better, especially given the current conditions.
Agreed, though how effective is grounded Triumph vs ASF?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Leraje wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:08 pm Agreed, though how effective is grounded Triumph vs ASF?
Grounded aerodyne dropships cannot fire at airborne aerospace units, so, not effective at all.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

El Guapo wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:55 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:40 pm
Purchase orders (pick 0 or more):
[X] Starfire SF-1X. Fast medium fighter. Definitely needs refit. 3M C-Bills (+ refit costs).
[X] Galleon GAL-102. Fast light tank. Can be attached to a lance or stripped for parts. 2M C-Bills.
[X] 3xUAC/5 field gun. 600K C-Bills.
This all seems useful, assuming it doesn't stretch out budget.

[] Artillery support
[] Aerospace support
[X] Mech support
Mechs in general are better, especially given the current conditions.
This looks good.

Can we have a chat with our logistics admins regarding proper ammo stocking???
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

El Guapo wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:55 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:40 pm
Purchase orders (pick 0 or more):
[X] Starfire SF-1X. Fast medium fighter. Definitely needs refit. 3M C-Bills (+ refit costs).
[X] Galleon GAL-102. Fast light tank. Can be attached to a lance or stripped for parts. 2M C-Bills.
[X] 3xUAC/5 field gun. 600K C-Bills.
This all seems useful, assuming it doesn't stretch out budget.

[] Artillery support
[] Aerospace support
[X] Mech support
Mechs in general are better, especially given the current conditions.
Actually some good buys. If we can afford all three let’s buy em.

And bring in the mechs!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:35 pm
Leraje wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:08 pm Agreed, though how effective is grounded Triumph vs ASF?
Grounded aerodyne dropships cannot fire at airborne aerospace units, so, not effective at all.
I vote for ASF bombing run then.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Leraje wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 5:01 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:35 pm
Leraje wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:08 pm Agreed, though how effective is grounded Triumph vs ASF?
Grounded aerodyne dropships cannot fire at airborne aerospace units, so, not effective at all.
I vote for ASF bombing run then.
I concur. And buy all the things!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by AWS260 »

NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:40 pm Purchase orders (pick 0 or more):
[x] Starfire SF-1X. Fast medium fighter. Definitely needs refit. 3M C-Bills (+ refit costs).
[] Galleon GAL-102. Fast light tank. Can be attached to a lance or stripped for parts. 2M C-Bills.
[x] 3xUAC/5 field gun. 600K C-Bills.
2M is a lot of money for a light tank that may not survive its first combat.
NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:40 pm Interestingly, it has been observed that the invading forces make almost no use of combat vehicles.
They just haven't discovered coolant truck tech yet.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Leraje wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 5:01 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:35 pm
Leraje wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:08 pm Agreed, though how effective is grounded Triumph vs ASF?
Grounded aerodyne dropships cannot fire at airborne aerospace units, so, not effective at all.
I vote for ASF bombing run then.
I change my vote to this as well.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

AWS260 wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 6:14 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:40 pm Purchase orders (pick 0 or more):
[x] Starfire SF-1X. Fast medium fighter. Definitely needs refit. 3M C-Bills (+ refit costs).
[] Galleon GAL-102. Fast light tank. Can be attached to a lance or stripped for parts. 2M C-Bills.
[x] 3xUAC/5 field gun. 600K C-Bills.
2M is a lot of money for a light tank that may not survive its first combat.
Might be good for parts we can't otherwise get other than by buying/stripping down things though?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Zenn7 wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:54 pm Might be good for parts we can't otherwise get other than by buying/stripping down things though?
That's one thing we could do with it, yeah. Even though we're in a tech renaissance, Star League quality mech parts aren't quite available to random merc outfits at the local quick-E mart yet.

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Buy it all ||||||
Buy just Starfire + UAC |

Mechs |||
Aerospace |||
Tie-breaker: both
We scoop up the high-tech goodies. From the looks of it, we're going to need them.

Madmarcus gets on the horn and calls in support from Beta-Assault, who begin trundling over. Given that the target is a dropship, Zenn7 also sends in Beta's air support, loaded with HE bombs to drop on the grounded large craft. He then sends the go signal to the Star Guards detachment and we move on.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Looks like these guys have been here for a little while, because they've put in quite a few pop-up turrets. One pings an SRM off Madmarcus' Wolverine, who annihilates the turret in response, blasting it with short-range lasers and SRMs. The Star Guards get another turret, although not before it sends a lone rocket screaming towards one of their tanks. The former sags down, inoperative, the latter's turret blows off.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Madmarcus turns south, sinking a Harasser missile platform that comes zipping over a lake towards our Wolverine. The mech's large laser slices the rear fans off, the hovercraft dips in, and that's all she wrote.

The rest of Delta-Ranger engage approaching hostile armor and light mechs, the Exterminator taking some damage from a non-AC/20 Hunchback's medium autocannon and LRMs.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Freyland and the Exterminator engage the bulk of the pirates, with Madmarcus approaching from the south. Both sides score some minor hits but no damage is inflicted other than bits of armor being blown off.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
As our aerospace fighters come screaming in to dump their bombs on the dropship, Freyland jumps forward and blasts through a Scorpion tank's armor. Madmarcus engages a Spider, avoiding the light mech's kick and backhanding it to crack an arm actuator.

The bombs do a pretty good job of blasting giant chunks off the Triumph's armor. The structure is mostly intact, but we'll fix that after another pass or a few shots from our mechs.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Lucifer makes a pass on a Scimitar hovertank as it struggles after being lasered by Madmarcus' Wolverine. After a solid dose of LRMs and lasers, the hovertank is destroyed. Freyland continues jumping forward, disabling a Plainsman hovertank with the Cronus' lasers, while Archinerd, after sending sixty LRMs in its direction over the course of half a minute, finally breaches the armor on a Vedette.

Freyland's main target, however, is a Jenner, which is bowled over by the heavier mech.

Madmarcus also takes a second to squash a Saladin hovertank, ensuring its AC/20 is out of action.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Most of our aerospace fighters are unable to undertake the complex maneuvers to let them remain in the fight, so they circle around the long way to come back for another run. Except for the Gotha which manages a Split S and comes back in, blasting the leg off a Locust that's harassing Madmarcus.

Freyland jumps out of the line of fire of most of the Triumph's weapons (thankfully, the dropship isn't terribly accurate at night with the driving winds) and moves to kick a Maxim hover transport. The hovercraft just barely avoids the attack, the Cronus' leg only managing to dislodge a turret-mounted machine gun.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
Madmarcus and the Exterminator each bag a tank, Madmarcus finishing a Condor off with a six-pack of SRMs despite the driving winds throwing missiles off course. Freyland slices the armor off the back of a Hunter tank as it tries unsuccessfully to blast our Exterminator with its LRMs. Freyland's Jenner buddy takes some nasty leg actuator damage, falling over a second time. "You gonna stay down?" our mechwarrior asks.

Our Gotha hits some air turbulence to the east and loses altitude, those fancy maneuvers having gotten to our aero jock.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Beta-Assault arrives to the west, so the fight is basically all over but for the screaming. Our mechwarriors walk with derision past a pair of fleeing tanks to engage the rest of the active targets.

The answer to Freyland's question is "no", as the Jenner gets back up.

Our Gotha pilot is unable to keep the fighter above ground and crashes into a bunch of trees, the aero jock ejecting and floating gently to the ground.

Madmarcus jumps southwest, disabling a stray Drillson hovertank with lasers and SRMs, while Archinerd performs similar surgery on a Saladin tank to the north. Our Exterminator uses its small pulse laser, of all things, to pop the drive fans on a second Drillson, immobilizing it, then stomps another Saladin flat, while Freyland lasers then kicks over a Vedette.

With its armor breached in multiple places and facing the prospect of our aerospace fighters coming around for another run, the Triumph decides to try a desperation maneuver, revving up its engines. It's facing directly at Beta-Assault lance. Zenn7 and Siljanus look at each other.

[] Stand your ground and shoot it up, *probably* disabling it before it runs our mechs over
[] Run for it!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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[x] Stand your ground and shoot it up, *probably* disabling it before it runs our mechs over

Not today, dropship. Not today.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:38 pm [x] Stand your ground and shoot it up, *probably* disabling it before it runs our mechs over
[] Run for it!
Torro! :twisted:
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

[x] Stand your ground and shoot it up, *probably* disabling it before it runs our mechs over

If we don't shoot it down, the damage of ramming several assault mechs should finish it off... (I hope...)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

$iljanus wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:52 pm [x] Stand your ground and shoot it up, *probably* disabling it before it runs our mechs over

Not today, dropship. Not today.
Also, the relevant mechwarriors are required to utter a badass action-movie line upon (hopefully) stopping the dropship.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

El Guapo wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 1:34 am
$iljanus wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:52 pm [x] Stand your ground and shoot it up, *probably* disabling it before it runs our mechs over

Not today, dropship. Not today.
Also, the relevant mechwarriors are required to utter a badass action-movie line upon (hopefully) stopping the dropship.
I intent to stand there calmly as it comes flying straight at me to blasted off-course at the last moment narrowly missing me, just calmly turning my head and watching it go by and crashing. Knowing it was never going to hit me.
Unless of course, it actually hits me... Then my last words will be "Sometimes you're the windshield... sometimes your the bu-UGG (gasped in my dying breath).
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Zenn7 wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:23 am
El Guapo wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 1:34 am
$iljanus wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:52 pm [x] Stand your ground and shoot it up, *probably* disabling it before it runs our mechs over

Not today, dropship. Not today.
Also, the relevant mechwarriors are required to utter a badass action-movie line upon (hopefully) stopping the dropship.
I intent to stand there calmly as it comes flying straight at me to blasted off-course at the last moment narrowly missing me, just calmly turning my head and watching it go by and crashing. Knowing it was never going to hit me.
Unless of course, it actually hits me... Then my last words will be "Sometimes you're the windshield... sometimes your the bu-UGG (gasped in my dying breath).
You are a leaf in the wind.
Black Lives Matter.
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