Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by $iljanus »

Buy the double heat sinks.

Will have to think about the contracts. Since we're on our own I'm tending more towards easy opposition and salvage rights greater than 50%. The Nirasaki - Objective Raid contract has grabbed my attention. Would be nice if along with the destruction if we can grab some computers to fence...
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Isgrimnur »

Penetrator PTR-4D, please.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Zenn7 »

"Curent War Chest (thanks to most of our liquid funds being invested in Dowles): 241M C-Bills"
- Uh... how much did we have before? (and is it too late to go get our freaking money back???) Do we have any diplomatic options or anything to try and get some portion of our funding back (maybe premium/bonus pay contracts if nothing else?)

As for our contract options:
Are the "crappy refitted mechs" the "ancient, green" clanners using refitted w/ some clan tech (er/pulse laser, double heat sinks, etc)? If not, what is refitted?

Thinking in terms of salvage, that could be good!
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

Buy the DHS.

Clan-stomp sounds fun, the only drawback it's for Dracs.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Zenn7 wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:41 pm - Uh... how much did we have before? (and is it too late to go get our freaking money back???) Do we have any diplomatic options or anything to try and get some portion of our funding back (maybe premium/bonus pay contracts if nothing else?)

As for our contract options:
Are the "crappy refitted mechs" the "ancient, green" clanners using refitted w/ some clan tech (er/pulse laser, double heat sinks, etc)? If not, what is refitted?
Upwards of 1B C-Bills. But, not much way of getting it back - we're once again homeless vagabonds, wandering the stars. But hey, now we no longer have to invest our cash into fixed assets - between reduced salaries and "planetary investments", our monthly outflow has actually gone down by about 30M/month.

As for the refits, yeah, the standard practice for really back-field garrison units is to take an Inner Sphere mech chassis and mount Clan equipment on it, swap out heat sinks and add more armor.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:43 am
Zenn7 wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:41 pm As for our contract options:
Are the "crappy refitted mechs" the "ancient, green" clanners using refitted w/ some clan tech (er/pulse laser, double heat sinks, etc)? If not, what is refitted?
As for the refits, yeah, the standard practice for really back-field garrison units is to take an Inner Sphere mech chassis and mount Clan equipment on it, swap out heat sinks and add more armor.
Buy the heat sinks.

I vote for this clan raid - won't get clan mechs, but we'd still get clan tech!
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:43 am
Zenn7 wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:41 pm - Uh... how much did we have before? (and is it too late to go get our freaking money back???) Do we have any diplomatic options or anything to try and get some portion of our funding back (maybe premium/bonus pay contracts if nothing else?)

As for our contract options:
Are the "crappy refitted mechs" the "ancient, green" clanners using refitted w/ some clan tech (er/pulse laser, double heat sinks, etc)? If not, what is refitted?
Upwards of 1B C-Bills. But, not much way of getting it back - we're once again homeless vagabonds, wandering the stars. But hey, now we no longer have to invest our cash into fixed assets - between reduced salaries and "planetary investments", our monthly outflow has actually gone down by about 30M/month.

As for the refits, yeah, the standard practice for really back-field garrison units is to take an Inner Sphere mech chassis and mount Clan equipment on it, swap out heat sinks and add more armor.
I understand that there's no way we get back all or most of it. But can't we message our Davion contacts and be essentially like "look, we are one of the premier mercenary groups around [that's true, right?]. If you want to be able to make use of us in important matters, you probably shouldn't dick us over completely." Maybe at least get the Jumbo back? Or some type of store credit?
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by El Guapo »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:13 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:43 am
Zenn7 wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:41 pm As for our contract options:
Are the "crappy refitted mechs" the "ancient, green" clanners using refitted w/ some clan tech (er/pulse laser, double heat sinks, etc)? If not, what is refitted?
As for the refits, yeah, the standard practice for really back-field garrison units is to take an Inner Sphere mech chassis and mount Clan equipment on it, swap out heat sinks and add more armor.
Buy the heat sinks.

I vote for this clan raid - won't get clan mechs, but we'd still get clan tech!
Yeah I'm fine for either the clan raid or the raid on Space CompUSA.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

El Guapo wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:20 pm I understand that there's no way we get back all or most of it. But can't we message our Davion contacts and be essentially like "look, we are one of the premier mercenary groups around [that's true, right?]. If you want to be able to make use of us in important matters, you probably shouldn't dick us over completely." Maybe at least get the Jumbo back? Or some type of store credit?
We do have the Jumbo, it's with us on Outreach. The Sparrow and the uh, other dropship (the one that carries vehicles) plus the second jumpship flew the coop. So right now we're hauling our vehicles around in re-purposed mech and cargo bays.

We can certainly see if us letting this takeover happen would give us favorable negotiation terms on FedCom contracts / purchases.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

I'm still fuzzy on that.

Did we not actually own "our" stuff. I get that the government of the world is changing, but did they just come in and take everyone's possessions? What about the people that lived there? Do they lose ownership of their houses?

If my car is parked in a lot, and the lot gets sold, I still own the car.... So, why did we lose stuff that we owned? And was our money sitting around in bags stuffed under beds? Or was none of this really "ours"?

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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

TheMix wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:30 pm I'm still fuzzy on that.

Did we not actually own "our" stuff. I get that the government of the world is changing, but did they just come in and take everyone's possessions? What about the people that lived there? Do they lose ownership of their houses?

If my car is parked in a lot, and the lot gets sold, I still own the car.... So, why did we lose stuff that we owned? And was our money sitting around in bags stuffed under beds? Or was none of this really "ours"?
A large chunk of our mercenary activities' profit was being funneled to the planet, where it was invested by the "local OO government" in local infrastructure - dropship landing pads, reconstruction/excavation efforts, etc. The planet is now owned by FedCom, thus all the government-owned objects are also owned by FedCom.

Now, if your mechwarrior took their share payouts/salary and bought a car (or real estate) and it's on-planet, the car/real-estate still belongs to you.

So in other words, publicly owned infrastructure is now FedCom controlled, but private ownership still works like you'd expect it to (it might be different if it was the Capellans or Dracs taking over)
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:11 pm
El Guapo wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:20 pm I understand that there's no way we get back all or most of it. But can't we message our Davion contacts and be essentially like "look, we are one of the premier mercenary groups around [that's true, right?]. If you want to be able to make use of us in important matters, you probably shouldn't dick us over completely." Maybe at least get the Jumbo back? Or some type of store credit?
We do have the Jumbo, it's with us on Outreach. The Sparrow and the uh, other dropship (the one that carries vehicles) plus the second jumpship flew the coop. So right now we're hauling our vehicles around in re-purposed mech and cargo bays.

We can certainly see if us letting this takeover happen would give us favorable negotiation terms on FedCom contracts / purchases.
Gotcha. I take it the Sparrow and the other (vehicle) dropship were essentially owned by the planetary government? Any room for us to assert either or both was owned by the mercenary company and not the planet?

MORE IMPORTANTLY - can we have a legal mini-game where we hire counsel and play out a negotiation with FedCom where we try to recover as much of our property as possible?
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

So what does " The Sparrow and the uh, other dropship (the one that carries vehicles) plus the second jumpship flew the coop." mean?

Were they manned by mercenaries that we were paying? And when FedCom offered them more money, they just got to take company equipment with them?

I mean... I don't want to fight FedCom, but those pricks need to turn in their company equipment when they leave, FedCom needs to write us a check to pay for the equipment, or they should expect for us to come collecting.

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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

Or, if Guap is correct, then the planetary government needs to write us a check.

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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

El Guapo wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:49 pm Gotcha. I take it the Sparrow and the other (vehicle) dropship were essentially owned by the planetary government? Any room for us to assert either or both was owned by the mercenary company and not the planet?

MORE IMPORTANTLY - can we have a legal mini-game where we hire counsel and play out a negotiation with FedCom where we try to recover as much of our property as possible?
Ownership is kind of murky, but in practical terms, yeah - they were transferred to be a part of the planetary defense force/merchant "marine"/etc (so, in practical terms we already weren't using them).

LegalTech - a hex-based miniatures law-wrangling simulator coming soon to a game store near you. With exciting actions such as "researching chain of ownership" and "discovery motions", you will have to deal with your legal representative being delayed because of a jump point blockade or being kidnapped by pirates who were actually looking to ransom the heir to house so-and-so. Except it turns out the pirates were actually MIIO agents posing as Maskirovka agents to provoke a military response by House Marik. And then it turns out the judge is a Davion sympathizer, rules against you and refuses to recuse himself.

Then it's on to the AppealTech expansion, coming to a store near you ~3060.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

:D

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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:07 pm
El Guapo wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:49 pm Gotcha. I take it the Sparrow and the other (vehicle) dropship were essentially owned by the planetary government? Any room for us to assert either or both was owned by the mercenary company and not the planet?

MORE IMPORTANTLY - can we have a legal mini-game where we hire counsel and play out a negotiation with FedCom where we try to recover as much of our property as possible?
Ownership is kind of murky, but in practical terms, yeah - they were transferred to be a part of the planetary defense force/merchant "marine"/etc (so, in practical terms we already weren't using them).

LegalTech - a hex-based miniatures law-wrangling simulator coming soon to a game store near you. With exciting actions such as "researching chain of ownership" and "discovery motions", you will have to deal with your legal representative being delayed because of a jump point blockade or being kidnapped by pirates who were actually looking to ransom the heir to house so-and-so. Except it turns out the pirates were actually MIIO agents posing as Maskirovka agents to provoke a military response by House Marik. And then it turns out the judge is a Davion sympathizer, rules against you and refuses to recuse himself.

Then it's on to the AppealTech expansion, coming to a store near you ~3060.
YES. I think we can all agree that would be a lot of fun, and way better than simulating boring ol' mech combat.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

Except there would be even less chance for blimps...

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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by El Guapo »

TheMix wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:13 pm Except there would be even less chance for blimps...
A drawback for sure. But then, Nick is steadfastly refusing to incorporate blimps into our playthrough, so I guess nothing would really be lost there.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Zarathud »

El Guapo wrote:
TheMix wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:13 pm Except there would be even less chance for blimps...
A drawback for sure. But then, Nick is steadfastly refusing to incorporate blimps into our playthrough, so I guess nothing would really be lost there.
We’ll write a motion to discover that will expose FedComm’s suppression of blimp technology! Then take the IP as damages to fund our Brave New World (of Blimps)!
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Buy the double heat sinks - unanimous
objective raid - charipare - almost unanimous
Spoiler:
Image
We decide to take the Caripare contract - the idea of beating up on some rear-line clan reserve units is fairly appealing. The DCMS liaison hands over the transit authorization codes to jump through Combine systems.

"I know my nation has had a... tumultous... history with mercenaries in the past, but we have had a ... leadership realignment." he tells our command staff. "We expect top performance out of the mercenary groups we hire, but directives about honoring contract clauses have been very clear."

Everyone looks at each other, adopting a "we'll see about that" attitude for the most part.

---

The double heat sinks are delivered without incident, giving us a welcome buffer of spares. Wolf is still nursing a broken hand when we leave, while Isgrimnur runs the Penetrator through multiple simulated deployments (per day). It's as fast as the Thug, but carries a *lot* more firepower - although with a considerably shorter effective range. We'll see how it holds up against the clans.

En route, while still in Inner Sphere space, we mostly focus on replenishing our tank gunners, tech teams and aerospace flight crews. We get back to a point where we have a tech team for every mech plus two "expert troubleshooters". We also poach one tech who wows us with her knowledge on the subject matter - apparently, "there's a trick" to pretty much every piece of clan tech.

We also manage to get a hold of a salvaged Visigoth-class fighter - a 60-ton Clan aerospace unit. Well, calling it a fighter is being generous. We'd be paying 8.1M C-Bills for a wing and a part of the nose assembly. But, our new clan-tech expert assures us that we'll be able to recover two large pulse lasers and a medium pulse laser from it - so we grab it anyway. Clan lasers are few and far between and any we can get without having to fight for them are worth it.

The process is repeated a couple more times en route as we make our way through Combine space - we score another two medium pulse lasers off another Visigoth wreck and some extended-range small ones off a salvaged clan-refit Locust.

May 5, 3054

By the time we get to Caripare, our operating budget is at 138M C-Bills. We scoop up a few Meteor-class conventional fighters for a little extra in-atmosphere airpower during our jumpship's recharge cycle in Luthien.

Everyone's on edge when we jump into clan space, with a surprisingly low number of rounds of "jump-shot" being played during both jumps. However, neither our jump-in nor our planetary approach is challenged. Our dropships stick together and land in an out-of-the-way location on the eastern continent. According to our liaison, this is home to a major industrial center.

Our first stop is an early warning center controlling sensor networks across the continent - we locate it by monitoring local comms traffic, a large chunk of which seems to be getting routed through a particular area. A couple of quick patrols confirm it. Being an early warning center, it's going to call up reinforcements when we hit it. The good news is that the liaison is able to make contact with some local guerillas that are happy to help us stick a bone in the clans' craw. Their equipment is a little... well, let's just say they're not exactly a top outfit.

El Guapo takes his lance to level the comms hub quickly - Dire Wolf, Isgrimnur/Penetrator, Thud/Hunchback, Cylus/Grasshopper. We task our Waddles with sneaking in before we hit it, planting several minefields before the clan patrols get to be too much and they have to clear out. The clan defense force appears to be a bunch of heavy and assault tanks, and we have a few airborne contacts closing in.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
As the alarm klaxons begin blaring and the vehicles scramble, El Guapo opts to level the facility quickly, beginning by blasting down a building covered in comms gear and sporting a flamer turret. A few LRMs fly out from the building cluster in Thud's general direction, but don't make contact.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
We bring down a chunk of a second comms building, about a third of the structure collapsing under a hail of laser fire as the clan tanks slowly trundle out of their base. Isgrimnur takes a laser hit to the right torso, but the Penetrator's armor holds.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
A gauss slug spangs off Isgrimnur's Penetrator, which seems to be attracting a disproportionate amount of weapons fire. A massive explosion lights up the remaining comms building as Cylus' Grasshopper's fires its large laser - must have been something fun in there. With the comms-emitting structures no longer emitting anything, it's time for us to leave.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
El Guapo delivers a parting laser to a particularly enthusiastic Demon tank attempting to pursue us - its gauss slug goes wide.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Cylus also has to spend some LRM ammo and a laser blast to discourage a Demon tank from its pursuit.

We're able to clear the area before the hostile aerospace fighters (a pair of 100-ton Stukas, apparently) get there. And certainly long before any of the guerilla forces arrive.

"Did we just successfully execute a hit and run attack?" Thud comments. "I don't think we actually blew any tanks up."

"Took some hits, but no armor breaches on my end." Isgrimnur shrugs, happy with the Penetrator's limited live-fire performance so far - it is, in fact, possible for it to hit a stationary target at maximum extended-range laser range. While getting dinged with laser beams and gauss slugs.

The destruction of the early warning facility allows us to send out recon patrols without having to worry about them being intercepted and chased down. Said patrols start getting a good layout of the area, although we still haven't been able to find a good route to the target industrial complex located in this region.

We do locate some roving clan patrols - multiple lances fast hovertanks here and there, Zephyr-class. *Our* hovertank patrols locate a particularly obnoxious Mongoose recon mech - fast, light, equipped with a beagle probe.

We could attempt to take these pickets down - they are likely to get in the way of our assault forces when we plot a route to the industrial complex, or summon tougher reinforcements. Or even locate our landing zone, although their patrol routes are currently pretty far and won't take them there too soon. Of course, if we attack them, they might just escape and try to call in reinforcements anyway, which could be troublesome. Or, in the case of our hovertank lance, the clanners might just blow it away and keep on trucking.

In both cases, the guerillas are willing to help out, although their tanks are slow and ponderous and won't be very useful in a running fight.

Epsilon Lance (Summoner, Timberwolf, Warhawk, Thunderbolt) vs
1x hover star, 1x medium mech star
[] Attack
[] Let them be

4x Hovertanks vs 1x hover/wheeled star, 1x light mech
[] Attack
-[] With aerospace backup (may result in clan air support coming in)
[] Let them be
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:37 pm Epsilon Lance (Summoner, Timberwolf, Warhawk, Thunderbolt) vs
1x hover star, 1x medium mech star
[x] Attack
[] Let them be

4x Hovertanks vs 1x hover/wheeled star, 1x light mech
[] Attack
-[] With aerospace backup (may result in clan air support coming in)
[x] Let them be
Hovers are too piddly to tangle with a superior numbers+mech.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by gbasden »

Leraje wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 11:46 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:37 pm Epsilon Lance (Summoner, Timberwolf, Warhawk, Thunderbolt) vs
1x hover star, 1x medium mech star
[x] Attack
[] Let them be

4x Hovertanks vs 1x hover/wheeled star, 1x light mech
[] Attack
-[] With aerospace backup (may result in clan air support coming in)
[x] Let them be
Hovers are too piddly to tangle with a superior numbers+mech.
That light mech is the one with the beagle probe - are we ok with that continuing to watch us?
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by gbasden »

Leraje wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 11:46 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:37 pm Epsilon Lance (Summoner, Timberwolf, Warhawk, Thunderbolt) vs
1x hover star, 1x medium mech star
[x] Attack
[] Let them be

4x Hovertanks vs 1x hover/wheeled star, 1x light mech
[] Attack
-[] With aerospace backup (may result in clan air support coming in)
[x] Let them be
Hovers are too piddly to tangle with a superior numbers+mech.
That light mech is the one with the beagle probe - are we ok with that continuing to watch us?
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

gbasden wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:13 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 11:46 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:37 pm Epsilon Lance (Summoner, Timberwolf, Warhawk, Thunderbolt) vs
1x hover star, 1x medium mech star
[x] Attack
[] Let them be

4x Hovertanks vs 1x hover/wheeled star, 1x light mech
[] Attack
-[] With aerospace backup (may result in clan air support coming in)
[x] Let them be
Hovers are too piddly to tangle with a superior numbers+mech.
That light mech is the one with the beagle probe - are we ok with that continuing to watch us?
I'd say yes - stealth is not our thing anyway :D
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Zenn7 »

Leraje wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 3:13 am
gbasden wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:13 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 11:46 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:37 pm Epsilon Lance (Summoner, Timberwolf, Warhawk, Thunderbolt) vs
1x hover star, 1x medium mech star
[x] Attack
[] Let them be

4x Hovertanks vs 1x hover/wheeled star, 1x light mech
[] Attack
-[] With aerospace backup (may result in clan air support coming in)
[x] Let them be
Hovers are too piddly to tangle with a superior numbers+mech.
That light mech is the one with the beagle probe - are we ok with that continuing to watch us?
I'd say yes - stealth is not our thing anyway :D
Given our options/chances of successfully taking down the opposition, I agree.

Our vehicles aren't super-clan tech with elite pilots/gunners the way our mechs are.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TotallyNotEvil »

Epsilon Lance (Summoner, Timberwolf, Warhawk, Thunderbolt) vs
1x hover star, 1x medium mech star
[X] Attack
[] Let them be

4x Hovertanks vs 1x hover/wheeled star, 1x light mech
[] Attack
-[] With aerospace backup (may result in clan air support coming in)
[X] Let them be

Agree with this, yeah. Epsilon is super stacked, the hover lance very much isn't.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by $iljanus »

Leraje wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 11:46 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:37 pm Epsilon Lance (Summoner, Timberwolf, Warhawk, Thunderbolt) vs
1x hover star, 1x medium mech star
[x] Attack
[] Let them be

4x Hovertanks vs 1x hover/wheeled star, 1x light mech
[] Attack
-[] With aerospace backup (may result in clan air support coming in)
[x] Let them be
Hovers are too piddly to tangle with a superior numbers+mech.
Agree. Our brave hover tank crews can face their doom when the odds are better.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Freyland »

Clans use vehicles?
Sims 3 and signature unclear.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Freyland wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:52 pm Clans use vehicles?
Their frontline units don't, and the tankers get about as much respect as infantry and anyone older than 30, but when they need warm bodies to guard some rear-area depot, their big shot mechwarriors usually can't be bothered. So they use tanks.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Epsilon Lance Attack - unanimous
Hovertanks hold fire - almost unanimous
Leraje's patrol moves to engage the clan patrol - a star of medium mechs and a star of hovertanks. Mostly hovertanks. There's a medium tracked tank that appears to be packing 40 LRM tubes. Other than that - two mechs designated "Lynx", a standard Crab, a souped up Wyvern and a souped up Kintaro.

Leraje's lance is supported by a Warrior attack helicopter and a Maxim hover transport (3052 upgrade).

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
The leader, a Lynx is a 55-ton design dating back to the Star League. Mostly not something that can be found in the Inner Sphere. Double heat sinks, jump jets, an array or lasers and a PPC - this thing is a crazy good heavy recon mech. The particular one that our lance targets avoids most of the PPC blasts and LRMs thrown at it from long range while returning equally ineffective fire. Two of Leraje's PPC shots connect to the outer armor layer, but at only fry small amounts of armor.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Leraje and Xwraith focus fire on the lead Lynx, Leraje's PPCs forcing a left torso armor breach, while Xwraith's LRMs exploit damage to the right torso to open it up.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
The Lynx continues poking around the cluster of dried-up trees, firing its PPC at Xwraith's Thunderbolt and scoring armor off the right arm. Xwraith returns fire, the Thunderbolt's long-range missiles making their way in an arc towards the 55-tonner's right leg. Armor plates blow out, and the mech begins limping - tell-tale signs of actuator damage. This slows it down enough that Leraje is able to line up the Warhawk's PPCs (only three, to shut up the "overheat warning" beeping). The first one flies high, while the second one impacts the head, evaporating it - the third one hits the center torso, but it's a moot point. Amazingly, the mechwarrior sees it coming and yanks the ejection lever just in time, going for a flight instead of being turned into a little pile of ash mixed in with the dirt. Leraje allows himself a smirk.

Our Maxim hovers at maximum range, and some of its LRMs find their way through the armor of a Zephyr hovertank - an explosion sends chunks blowing out the back and its drive fans stop as it grinds to a halt along the ground.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
The cluster of dry wood Hyena was using for cover lights up as lasers catch the tinder on fire, forcing our mechwarrior to abandon the nice cover and shoot at an approaching Crab instead, blasting most of its left-side armor off with the Timber Wolf's extended-range PPCs.

Leraje takes a break from shooting at mechs to blast an approaching hovercraft - we've never seen this one before, but the Warhawk's targeting software classifies it as a Bandit (C). Apparently it packs an LRM/20 rack and carries a platoon of infantry. A PPC melts the drive fan down and immobilizes it, so it won't be transporting any more infantry anywhere.

Our Maxim and Warrior helicopter open up on another Zephyr hovertank, immobilizing it.

Return fire is surprisingly ineffective - maybe these second-line clanners really *aren't* as good as their front-line counterparts.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
In fact, the remainder of the recon unit decides they're not equipped to handle a heavy mech lance and beats a retreat.

"Continue engaging, but do not pursue past designated nav point." Leraje orders.

There are two slower units that can't quite keep up with the retreating Lynx, Kintaro and remaining hovertank - the Crab and the "Hachiman". The Crab takes no less than four PPCs to the back from Hyena and Leraje, shredding its torso, evaporating one of its arms and dropping the other one to the ground - any mechwarrior would be hard-pressed to stay upright after that, so nobody would give him a hard time for dropping to the ground.

As for the Hachiman, it's a pretty tough tank as it turns out, and remains mobile after multiple LRM impacts from Xwraith and our Maxim. Barely.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Amazingly, the clan mechwarrior somehow manages to lever his "mech" up and walk off the field. Really, at this point it's a reactor and a gyro vertically arranged beneath a cockpit with a pair of legs barely attached.

"Let him go, he's earned it." Leraje says. "... plus, we don't really need a standard-tech Crab anyway."

The only active unit remaining is the Hachiman, which manages to immobilize our Maxim with a salvo from one of its LRM racks shot at point-blank range, but the PPC shots and a blast from Xwraith's "Diverse Optics" laser take the tank apart.

"Hey boss, you think those guerillas are ever actually going to show up to a fight, or are they just something the liaison is making up to make it look like he's doing something useful?" Moley asks.

Leraje shrugs. "I don't know. But he's paying the bills, he can be as useful or as useless as he wants."

Obviously, we grab the Lynx for salvage - a nearly pristine 55-tonner (minus head) will go into our mech roster just fine - maybe replace one of the Griffins. Once we replace the head and all the leg actuators anyway. The disabled and destroyed hovertanks go into the Jumbo for review by the Kurita liaison and his staff.

Our hovertanks have no problems avoiding the hostile patrol; thus, the clan forces are left with about 2/3 of their patrol strength - they'll either have to put up with holes in whatever the perimeter is they're trying to keep or draw additional units up. We'll see what they do.

Damage to our units is minor and patched up within a day of their return. We send out the hovertank lances on patrol again and are able to map a good route to the target industrial complex - Gamma Lance gets this job - destroy it. Wolf/Hellbringer, TheMix/Vulture, Backwash/Griffin and 9B/Archer. According to our recon units, the defenses are two stars of hovertanks backing up a star of Demon tanks (the ones with the turreted gauss rifle), and some short-range turrets. The liaison tells us again that guerilla forces stand ready to help out again with their heavy tanks, although at this point nobody really believes him anymore.

What auxiliary units get brought as backup?
[] Chaparral Arrow IV artillery (faster, less damage)
[] Long Tom (god-awful slow, more damage)
[] Hovertank
[] Heavy tank
[] Medium aerospace fighter (may cause clan aerospace response)

We can also deliver some battle armor support:
[] Waddles to pre-place landmines
[] Standard battle armor (short-range, somewhat mobile)
[] Field guns (long-range, mostly stationary)
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:23 pm Damage to our units is minor and patched up within a day of their return. We send out the hovertank lances on patrol again and are able to map a good route to the target industrial complex - Gamma Lance gets this job - destroy it. Wolf/Hellbringer, TheMix/Vulture, Backwash/Griffin and 9B/Archer. According to our recon units, the defenses are two stars of hovertanks backing up a star of Demon tanks (the ones with the turreted gauss rifle), and some short-range turrets. The liaison tells us again that guerilla forces stand ready to help out again with their heavy tanks, although at this point nobody really believes him anymore.

What auxiliary units get brought as backup?
[] Chaparral Arrow IV artillery (faster, less damage)
[X] Long Tom (god-awful slow, more damage)
[] Hovertank
[] Heavy tank
[] Medium aerospace fighter (may cause clan aerospace response)

We can also deliver some battle armor support:
[] Waddles to pre-place landmines
[] Standard battle armor (short-range, somewhat mobile)
[X] Field guns (long-range, mostly stationary)
Straight up destroy? I'm inclined to do as much long-range bombardment as possible.

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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Zenn7 »

TheMix wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:19 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:23 pm Damage to our units is minor and patched up within a day of their return. We send out the hovertank lances on patrol again and are able to map a good route to the target industrial complex - Gamma Lance gets this job - destroy it. Wolf/Hellbringer, TheMix/Vulture, Backwash/Griffin and 9B/Archer. According to our recon units, the defenses are two stars of hovertanks backing up a star of Demon tanks (the ones with the turreted gauss rifle), and some short-range turrets. The liaison tells us again that guerilla forces stand ready to help out again with their heavy tanks, although at this point nobody really believes him anymore.

What auxiliary units get brought as backup?
[] Chaparral Arrow IV artillery (faster, less damage)
[X] Long Tom (god-awful slow, more damage)
[] Hovertank
[] Heavy tank
[] Medium aerospace fighter (may cause clan aerospace response)

We can also deliver some battle armor support:
[] Waddles to pre-place landmines
[] Standard battle armor (short-range, somewhat mobile)
[X] Field guns (long-range, mostly stationary)
Straight up destroy? I'm inclined to do as much long-range bombardment as possible.
Agreed!
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by $iljanus »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:23 pm
TheMix wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:19 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:23 pm Damage to our units is minor and patched up within a day of their return. We send out the hovertank lances on patrol again and are able to map a good route to the target industrial complex - Gamma Lance gets this job - destroy it. Wolf/Hellbringer, TheMix/Vulture, Backwash/Griffin and 9B/Archer. According to our recon units, the defenses are two stars of hovertanks backing up a star of Demon tanks (the ones with the turreted gauss rifle), and some short-range turrets. The liaison tells us again that guerilla forces stand ready to help out again with their heavy tanks, although at this point nobody really believes him anymore.

What auxiliary units get brought as backup?
[] Chaparral Arrow IV artillery (faster, less damage)
[X] Long Tom (god-awful slow, more damage)
[] Hovertank
[] Heavy tank
[] Medium aerospace fighter (may cause clan aerospace response)

We can also deliver some battle armor support:
[] Waddles to pre-place landmines
[] Standard battle armor (short-range, somewhat mobile)
[X] Field guns (long-range, mostly stationary)
Straight up destroy? I'm inclined to do as much long-range bombardment as possible.
Agreed!
Destruction from a distance works for me!

Those guerrillas, they aren't going to try and pull some trickery on us are they? :think:
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:23 pm
TheMix wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:19 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:23 pm Damage to our units is minor and patched up within a day of their return. We send out the hovertank lances on patrol again and are able to map a good route to the target industrial complex - Gamma Lance gets this job - destroy it. Wolf/Hellbringer, TheMix/Vulture, Backwash/Griffin and 9B/Archer. According to our recon units, the defenses are two stars of hovertanks backing up a star of Demon tanks (the ones with the turreted gauss rifle), and some short-range turrets. The liaison tells us again that guerilla forces stand ready to help out again with their heavy tanks, although at this point nobody really believes him anymore.

What auxiliary units get brought as backup?
[] Chaparral Arrow IV artillery (faster, less damage)
[X] Long Tom (god-awful slow, more damage)
[] Hovertank
[] Heavy tank
[] Medium aerospace fighter (may cause clan aerospace response)

We can also deliver some battle armor support:
[] Waddles to pre-place landmines
[] Standard battle armor (short-range, somewhat mobile)
[X] Field guns (long-range, mostly stationary)
Straight up destroy? I'm inclined to do as much long-range bombardment as possible.
Agreed!
Make things go BOOM!
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by El Guapo »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:23 pm
TheMix wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:19 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:23 pm Damage to our units is minor and patched up within a day of their return. We send out the hovertank lances on patrol again and are able to map a good route to the target industrial complex - Gamma Lance gets this job - destroy it. Wolf/Hellbringer, TheMix/Vulture, Backwash/Griffin and 9B/Archer. According to our recon units, the defenses are two stars of hovertanks backing up a star of Demon tanks (the ones with the turreted gauss rifle), and some short-range turrets. The liaison tells us again that guerilla forces stand ready to help out again with their heavy tanks, although at this point nobody really believes him anymore.

What auxiliary units get brought as backup?
[] Chaparral Arrow IV artillery (faster, less damage)
[X] Long Tom (god-awful slow, more damage)
[] Hovertank
[] Heavy tank
[] Medium aerospace fighter (may cause clan aerospace response)

We can also deliver some battle armor support:
[] Waddles to pre-place landmines
[] Standard battle armor (short-range, somewhat mobile)
[X] Field guns (long-range, mostly stationary)
Straight up destroy? I'm inclined to do as much long-range bombardment as possible.
Agreed!
Agreed, but also:

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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by AWS260 »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:23 pm What auxiliary units get brought as backup?
[X] Long Tom (god-awful slow, more damage)

We can also deliver some battle armor support:
[X] Waddles to pre-place landmines
Land mines have always been good to us. A bit of insurance while we pummel things from afar.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Long Tom - almost unanimous
Field Guns - almost unanimous
Wolf opts for a Long Tom artillery piece and some crew-served gauss rifles. Theoretically, the guerillas will show up about a minute after we start shooting, with some tanks.

We'll see how that goes.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
The Long Tom gives a solid boom to start things off. But Wolf and the rest of the lance don't wait. There are two central buildings that, if leveled, will prevent the rest of the facility from functioning, so we simply go in and blow them away.

Wolf and TheMix begin working on the bigger structure, causing the segment (and turret on top) to collapse, while Backwash and 9B hits the second one with a PPC and LRM salvo.

Wolf swats aside a Zephyr as it blasts some armor plating off the Hellbringer, flipping the hovertank over. A hovercraft that 9B's computer identifies as an "Asshur" opens up on the gauss rifle crew, spoiling their aim and hitting a few of the armored troopers, but 9B puts a stop to any further activity of that sort pretty quickly by stepping on it.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
The first Long Tom round lands more or less right on target, completely collapsing the larger of the structures. With 9B and the gauss rifle infantry set to finish off the last structure, Wolf, TheMix and Backwash begin to back off.

The clan units start pursuing, but their lead Demon tank is disassembled by Wolf's methodical PPC fire, while Backwash disables a pursuing Asshur with a PPC shot to its left flank - the blue lightning penetrates the side armor and the electrical feedback shuts down the vehicle's motive systems.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
9B sends a few more LRMs into the facility, pinging a Demon tank and blowing one of its wheels off, and then we're off the field, the Long Tom ceasing fire and disengaging. By the time any response force shows up, we'll be long gone.

The remaining tanks are somewhat reluctant to pursue us. The guerillas have once again failed to show up in time for the fight. Go figure.

No matter - we've taken out all the designated targets on this landmass, and it's time for us to move on. The main decision to make here is whether to wait the three days for everything we have to come back to the landing zone then sub-orbital hop the dropships together, or send the Moonraker ahead to do some aggressive recon.

The latter will let us get started on taking out targets in our second assigned area quicker so that we can be done with this contract quicker and run less risk of a "proper" clan response. We've been here for a little over a week - so there wasn't a quick reaction force standing by just waiting for us. We also haven't seen any signs of jumpships arriving at the local jump points and the time to transit from standard point to planet is ~4 days - this means that we'll have that much warning time (unless they decide to use a pirate point).

The downside of that approach is that the local forces may catch on to what we're doing and try to intercept our non-lead dropship or hit one or both of the landing zones while the dropships aren't grouped together.

[] Wait ~3 days, move everyone together
[] Move smaller force to next area immediately
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Isgrimnur »

Never split the party.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

That was fast, we are getting surprisingly good at this whole hit and run business.

And yes, never split the party (TM)!
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