Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

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

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Scrap the Von Luckner for spare parts - unanimous

Stick it out for salvage - 7
Retreat after recon lance gets by - 2
"Striker-Two, break southwest and take care of that Brutus. I'm heading south. Three and four, stick together, don't do anything stupid - you don't have jump jets."

Round 15:
Spoiler:
Image
Stefan turns the Trebuchet's LRMs skyward, getting a good piece of a Lightning as it passes by - the aerospace fighter drops some chunks of its tailpipe on the ground around our Raven then flies off, not returning.

Round 16:
Spoiler:
Image
While Wolf and Stefan continue firing LRMs at passing aerospace fighters and advancing south, I'd just like to take a moment to point out this heroic mercenary rifle squad (the blue ones). For pretty much the entire battle, they roped down to this cluster of buildings from a Ferret scout VTOL, and are currently down to three people. So far, they've a) baited a much larger enemy infantry platoon into stepping on some land mines and b) kept this Wasp LAM busy and not shooting at us. Truly, the heroes of our age. Hopefully they don't get squashed.

Round 17:
Spoiler:
Image
SgtSoldier hops up next to a Brutus assault tank. This particular armored vehicle packs fourteen SRM tubes facing forward, so landing in front of it is definitely a terrible idea, night-time conditions or not. Our Phoenix Hawk thus rapidly moves around within a fifteen meter radius of the tank, avoiding its turret and front-mounted weapons with quick hops from the jump jets, while pausing briefly every few seconds to try to pry off the turret. He also inadvertently causes a friendly-fire incident as an Eagle attempts to strafe our Phoenix Hawk but the lasers hit the Brutus instead - the tank retaliates with its LRMs. SgtSoldier sees a brief flash up in the sky, and then the hostile aerospace fighter goes down. Good riddance.

Round 18:
Spoiler:
Image
"Oh, shit! Thunderbolt!" SgtSoldier calls out, firing up the Phoenix Hawk's jump jets to get away as the 65-ton enemy mech comes to the Brutus' rescue.

"Right. I'm on my way." Wolf replies. "Just need to clean up these anklebiters." our mechwarrior adds after slashing across a Zephyr hovertank's skirt with several lasers, letting the air cushion out and causing it to splash water as it drifts to a stop.

Round 19:
Spoiler:
Image
Wolf takes some pot shots at a Skulker (which shoots back, ineffectively), while SgtSoldier switches targets to the Thunderbolt, taking care to stay out of the Brutus' line of sight. The heavy mech absorbs some of the Phoenix Hawk's firepower, then steps forward as our mechwarrior initiates a kick, causing our mech to overextend and fall over. Yikes.

Round 20:
[camera feed damaged]
"Need a little backup, here." SgtSoldier calls out. The ground-bound mechs are nowhere near, while Wolf is being kept away by a lance of tanks (one of which our mechwarrior blows away with the Grasshopper's lasers, detonating a Vedette's ammo bin). SgtSoldier manages to avoid most of the Thunderbolt's weapons fire, only taking a few stray MG rounds, and, thankfully, neither mech lands their physical attacks.

Round 21:
Spoiler:
Image
Wolf jumps back north, avoiding a Saladin which gets suppressed by LRMs from Stefan's Trebuchet, and melts the wheels off a Skulker.

SgtSoldier's Phoenix Hawk attracts a lot of fire from up and down the street, but manages to avoid most of it thanks to the "increment" weather. The Thunderbolt makes a mistake and trips up, winding up on the ground this time.

Round 22:
Spoiler:
Image
Wolf hops over the Saladin as it moves to help its Skulker buddy and melts through its left side with the Grasshopper's large laser, while SgtSoldier temporarily disengages.

Stefan halts, firing the Trebuchet's lasers at a building occupied by infantry that look like they're toting a support laser, which you want to avoid getting too close to.

Round 23:
Spoiler:
Image
"Saladin destroyed. Moving up." Wolf informs the rest of the lance.

SgtSoldier manages to outmaneuver the Thunderbolt, meanwhile, and knocks it down to the ground again.

Round 24-28:
Spoiler:
Image
The next half a minute is filled with our mechs briefly firing up their jump jets to relocate, firing lasers, dodging ineffectual return fire, and slowly scraping armor off the heavy units. Eventually, Wolf is able to take out a Bulldog to the southwest via application of multiple laser blasts and a stomp, while SgtSoldier gets into a rhythm and flits between the Brutus and Thunderbolt, letting neither unit have a good shot while inflicting major damage with the pulse lasers.

After Wolf squashes a Scorpion tank, the heavily damaged Thunderbolt and Brutus move off the field, as do their buddies stuck trying to navigate a minefield to the north. The infantry that Stefan has been trying to blow away scatter as well, leaving us in control of the field.

As Freyland's lance slinks by, our salvage crews recover the salvage. We scored a Zephyr and a pair of TAG Scimitars, as well as the Thunderbird and plenty of spare parts for our aerospace fighters. We'll be keeping the Zephyr, and scrapping the TAG Scimitars since we already have a whole bunch.

On the way north, Stefan comes across a pretty horrifying scene. The Spider that we'd disabled earlier wound up stumbling into a bunch of burning inferno gel dropped from the aerospace fighters. A lot of mechwarriors have complexes about getting pasted with inferno rounds or standing in inferno-lit fires, but it's fairly survivable in practice, as long as you weren't redlining your engine before while mashing the shutdown override button (and even better if you don't have on-board ammo) - as you can just run away to disengage and cool off. It gets a little more difficult when the place where your gyro is supposed to be has a giant hole in it where you can see clear through to the other side and the inferno gel slowly pouring into the opening while steadfastly ignoring the pouring rain. Even worse, the Spider doesn't normally come with an ejection seat (you have to open the bottom hatch and climb out). From the looks of it, it's still moving erratically, but the mechwarrior inside doesn't have much time.

[] A couple of lasers to the head will put the poor mechwarrior out of his misery.
[] Try to pull the poor thing out of the rubble - the Trebuchet's double heat sinks can handle it, although it might not be doing the mechwarrior inside any favors.
[] Wait for salvage crews with their specialized extinguishing equipment.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Isgrimnur »

[] Try to pull the poor thing out of the rubble - the Trebuchet's double heat sinks can handle it, although it might not be doing the mechwarrior inside any favors.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:51 pm [X] Try to pull the poor thing out of the rubble - the Trebuchet's double heat sinks can handle it, although it might not be doing the mechwarrior inside any favors.
Agree. Just because the enemy are dicks doesn't mean we have to be. We should at least try to save the pilot.

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

Post by El Guapo »

TheMix wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:30 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:51 pm [X] Try to pull the poor thing out of the rubble - the Trebuchet's double heat sinks can handle it, although it might not be doing the mechwarrior inside any favors.
Agree. Just because the enemy are dicks doesn't mean we have to be. We should at least try to save the pilot.
Doesn't the whole "it might not be doing the mechwarrior inside any favors" mean that the mechwarrior will probably die if we do that? I'm for whatever maximizes the guy's chance of living, so if there's time for the specialized extinguishing equipment to arrive then we should do that. If trying to yank the guy out and hoping for the best works, then I guess that's worth a shot.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Zenn7 »

TheMix wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:30 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:51 pm [X] Try to pull the poor thing out of the rubble - the Trebuchet's double heat sinks can handle it, although it might not be doing the mechwarrior inside any favors.
Agree. Just because the enemy are dicks doesn't mean we have to be. We should at least try to save the pilot.
Agree. But, if it looks clear that our rescue attempt it going to fail and the poor sap's gonna get roasted alive, put him outta his misery with a couple lasers.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

Zenn7 wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:18 pm
TheMix wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:30 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:51 pm [X] Try to pull the poor thing out of the rubble - the Trebuchet's double heat sinks can handle it, although it might not be doing the mechwarrior inside any favors.
Agree. Just because the enemy are dicks doesn't mean we have to be. We should at least try to save the pilot.
Agree. But, if it looks clear that our rescue attempt it going to fail and the poor sap's gonna get roasted alive, put him outta his misery with a couple lasers.
+1
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

I read the second option as "the pilot will live, but may be injured, possibly permanently". The first option is a definite, of course. And it seemed like the third option was a very slim possibility. It sounded like the odds of the pilot still being alive when the salvage crews showed up was not very likely. So I chose what sounded like the best option for survival. It may mean that the pilot will never control a mech again, but I was only trying to keep him/her alive.

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

Post by gbasden »

I'm reading it as "The Trebuchet has double heatsinks so it will survive, but the mechwarrior inside of the Trebuchet may be uncomfortable or injured." Regardless, I think we ought to try to save the driver of that Spider. Hearts and minds and all that.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Stefan Stirzaker »

Option 2, pull the mech out
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

gbasden wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:40 am I'm reading it as "The Trebuchet has double heatsinks so it will survive, but the mechwarrior inside of the Trebuchet may be uncomfortable or injured." Regardless, I think we ought to try to save the driver of that Spider. Hearts and minds and all that.
Oh. Doh! It didn't occur to me that it the second part was about our mechwarrior. Duh. :doh: Still my vote since it doesn't sound like our mechwarrior will be at serious risk.

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

Post by $iljanus »

Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:51 pm [] Try to pull the poor thing out of the rubble - the Trebuchet's double heat sinks can handle it, although it might not be doing the mechwarrior inside any favors.
Yeah, we'll fight no holds barred but I'm not into needless suffering. Besides, the pilot might show some gratitude in the form of Intel or tell us where the best pubs on the planet are. :orcs-cheers:
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Try to pull the guy out - unanimous
Stefan moves quickly into the inferno fire, grabbing the Spider's legs, and begins dragging. It's a slow process as good footing is hard to find, but our mechwarrior manages it, and the Trebuchet's heat sinks never go above 33% capacity.

---

"Thanks for getting me out of there, Hayden." The Kurita mechwarrior currently occupying a bed in the Thunderball (our Overlord-class dropship) says, with an expression of sincere gratitude. She got several scrapes, bumps and second-degree burns, but Stefan's quick action prevented any permanent damage. Well, the mech techs cringe when the mech is brought in, but the mechwarrior will be fine.

"Sure, Ruby." Stefan replies. "Guess that'll teach you to take on four times your mass by yourself." he adds with a smirk.

"Yeah, I guess it will. I'd bow, but... " she gestures vaguely at the multitude of bandages.

"Well, don't worry. You can buy me a beer when you get out of here." Stefan grins.

"I don't really drink that Steiner swill, but I'll buy you some sake." Ruby replies. "The real stuff, not the crap made out of quillar-soy-derivative."

Stefan raises an eyebrow. "You're not going to ask me to be your second in a disemboweling ceremony or anything?"

Ruby scoffs. "Come on. Not every mechwarrior out of Kurita is obsessed with pretending to be a noble warrior from a tiny country on Terra."

"So how come you were driving a Spider? No ejection seat and all that."

"It was never a problem before. You shot up half my lance, and by the time we got you out of that building, your Grasshopper and Raven friends got there. I hate to say it, but you guys are good."

Stefan smirks. "We try. You can always come work for us, we'll put you in a Venom. Still no ejection seat, though."

---

April 12, 3051
Yamashita Manufacturing Plant
Saffel, Draconis Combine

"All right, listen up." Zenn7 tells his lance and Alpha-Urban. "Our recon teams have found the last place we need to raid. We're going to go in to this complex here... " He points to the map on the flatscreen, " ...eliminate all mobile units and any stationary turrets that fire at us, then hold the place while our salvage teams grab everything that's not nailed down. After that, our contract is done. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Moley asks. "How come the Dislocator guys are only sending a lance of shitty tanks?"

Zenn7 shrugs. "Doesn't matter. They're not the ones paying us."

"... and also..." Moley adds, mumbling to Hyena, "... how come we have to have briefings in this smelly-ass Union... "

Hyena giggles, for lack of a better expression.

"You two jokers have anything to add?" Zenn7 asks.

"No sir." Comes the response.

"Right, then mount up and let's go finish this up. I feel we've overstayed our welcome."

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Most of Beta-Assault lance, approaches from the north, supported by two Dislocator tanks (a Galleon and a Striker), while our Victor approaches from the west, hoping to put the turrets in that section of the facility out of action quickly - there's some nasty ones, including a triple LB-10X, and many LRM tubes.

From the south approach our favorite two Falcon hovertanks, as well as the repaired Schrek PPC Carrier.

The LBX turret goes to work on our Victor right away, scoring hits with all three barrels and blasting a substantial amount of armor off the 80-ton assault mech as it feathers its jump jets to avoid a good number of rockets coming its way. The Victor retaliates, firing its gauss rifle at the LRM turret next to the LBX setup, hitting an ammo bin and collapsing about half the structure.

The Shreck fires its three PPCs into the base as well, cleanly taking out a turret with twenty four SRM tubes. Not the most important target right now, but it would have been painful to encounter up close.

Zenn7 and our Hatamoto-Hi (not the Hatamoto-Chi we salvaged, this is the better one we've had for a while) focus fire on an Archer coming up the hill towards them, scoring multiple PPC hits - the heavy mech's armor holds up.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Alpha-Urban lance shows up to the south.

"Somebody take out that Thumper before it starts trouble." Zenn7 orders, continuing to pump PPC shots into the Archer - combined with fire from the Hatamoto-Hi, the mech now sports two big armor breaches, one in the center torso and one over the left arm. Our mechwarrior sniffs as he watches a hostile Manticore zap the allied Striker tank, lighting up its fuel tank with a breaching shot from its PPC main gun followed up by some LRMs. The Manticore is disabled by an allied Scimitar tank's autocannon fire, however.

Our Falcon tanks circle around the outskirts of the base, and one catches a bunch of LBX pellets from the turret the Victor is trying to take out, disabling it completely as the engine blows out, knocking the crew around. The Victor takes multiple laser blasts from a nearby Jenner, accompanied by SRM fire from nearby turrets, resulting in an armor breach on the left arm and a blown out leg actuator.

The LBX turret is taken out by a perfectly accurate shot from Hyena's Grasshopper, the PPC flying straight into the ammo bin and evaporating the structure entirely.

"Dammit." Our mechwarrior states. "I wanted credit for that salvage."

Our Schrek takes some return LRM fire, losing one of its PPCs.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 looks over to the right, seeing our Flashman on the ground there, and briefly shakes his head, spreading his arms out in puzzlement before resuming fire on the damaged Archer. This particular Archer is proving pretty tough, as it's taken upwards of ten PPC shots and is still in one piece (although it finally drops to the ground after particularly nasty leg shot, and the armor is basically glowing at this point).

Our Victor jumps southeast to avoid the pretty unpleasant SRM fire coming from the north of the compound, intending to focus on some LRM turrets in the southern section. It swings the gauss rifle back to fire at the Jenner harassing our remaining functional Falcon, blasting its left weapons mount off. The Falcon takes some damage from the hostile Jenner, slowing it down significantly.

The allied Galleon tank to the southeast gets blasted apart by a hostile Blackjack and a Venom, the Venom's pulse lasers making short work of the lightly armored vehicle.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 switches targets, as the Archer stops shooting its LRMs off and begins pulling back. Our Awesome swivels left towards the Venom that has just finished an allied tank and fires off two PPCs, keeping the third one still to let the reactor temperature drop a little. The first shot grazes the light mech's right arm, nearly shearing it off, the second makes the head evaporate, dropping the mech like a sack of potatoes.

"That's good salvage." Our commander declares.

To the south, Moley blasts an AC/20 turret with the Thunderbolt's lasers, taking it out of action so that we can move through that part of the complex without having to worry about high caliber autocannon shells ripping our mechs apart. Which just leaves the other stuff on the field - we still have three heavy mechs and a bunch of heavy tanks which continue working on our Flashman, inflicting a right torso armor breach.

Our Victor takes out a forty-tube LRM/20 setup with up-close weapons fire and a kick as well.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Our second Falcon flips itself over trying to avoid the Jenner that got a piece of it earlier, reducing our population of hovercraft to basically just the allied Scimitar.

Zenn7 and the Hatamoto-Hi go "up and over", joining the Flashman in closing the distance a little bit. Zenn7 scores another head shot on a K2 Catapult, although this one leaves the cockpit intact.

Our Victor is now inside the compound and stomps a Packrat into the ground, although the mounted infantry have the opportunity to get out.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
We continue pressing the hostiles into the pocket, with Alpha-Urban on the south side and Beta-Assault on the north. Beta-Assault focuses fire on a Behemoth tank before it can bring its twin AC/10s to bear. Between five PPCs and two large lasers, the 100 ton tank's treads are fused and it stops moving. Our Flashman, though. takes a nasty hit from the K2 Catapult's PPC, losing its right arm and most of the torso section.

Hyena moves in from the south, blasting away with lasers at a Jenner that gets in the way. The lighter mech's left weapons pod simply falls away as lasers slice through the left torso section, while another laser goes closer to center of mass. A brief blue flash is followed by the mech dropping to the ground, as its gyro is completely wrecked and the engine goes into emergency shutdown.

The allied Scimitar plants a long-range autocannon round into the triple Thumper battery in the base, leaving just one functional tube remaining.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 sees another Jenner hop over to harass one of our mechs in the middle of the complex and lines up the Awesome's PPCs. Both of the side weapon mounts go flying off as two PPCs hit the light mech in mid-air. The third one misses, but it's a moot point - the mech is basically a sliver of structure around most of the engine.

Hyena takes advantage of this to disable a Scimitar hovertank by spearing it through the side with lasers, while Moley engages the nearby Blackjack and knocks it down to the rooftop where it landed.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 picks a turret mounting some TAG lasers off the top of a building. It's not that useful any more since there's only a few LRM-equipped units present on the field, but he's got no other targets currently.

Our Victor takes some nasty damage, losing the left arm entirely (along with both lasers there) and a couple of torso breaches. Time to leave. Moley's Thunderbolt steps forward, engaging and destroying a Packrat, though not before its infantry payload clears out. A Dragon comes around the corner, throwing a punch at our Thunderbolt - Moley moves the mech out of the way, then delivers a kick right to the hip joint, severing the Dragon's leg and sending it flopping to the ground.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
Things get a little confusing as our Victor retreats: our Blackjack trips over some rubble and takes arm actuator damage from the nearby Grand Dragon, rendering one of its PPCs and a laser basically useless, while Moley and Hyena focus on another Grand Dragon but are unable to inflict any major damage other than armor. Our Hatamoto-Hi gets knocked down to a knee as SRMs and laser pound the armor.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 fires the Awesome's PPCs at an exposed Grand Dragon as Hyena chases it, stripping armor off both arms, while our Hatamoto-Hi blows the left PPC (and arm) off the Katapult - the lighter mech returns the favor with both its PPCs, gouging out good chunks of our assault mech's armor, but it holds up - although one of its pulse lasers is blown out by a rear attack from a nearby Bulldog tank.

Our BattleAxe disables a Manticore with a pair of PPC blasts followed by an SRM salvo through the armor, while Moley continues working on the enemy Blackjack, which has gotten up off the roof it landed on - but now its left torso is disabled and the left arm is on the ground, and the mechwarrior opts to disengage.

Our Blackjack takes a punch to the head from the (unsurprisingly) agile Grand Dragon, but manages to wreck a pair of actuators on the heavier mech's left leg, slowing it down quite a bit.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
This should be about wrapped up now. Zenn7 directs concentrated fire on the eastern Grand Dragon, the mech losing its left leg after our BattleAxe puts a couple of PPC blasts through it; Our Blackjack takes down the escaping Jenner after it buzzes our mech, legging it (so that now it has exactly one leg left for limbs).

Hyena continues engaging the other Grand Dragon, inflicting serious leg actuator damage, while Moley moves to re-engage the "plain" Dragon, which has decided to prop itself up against a nearby building as it gets up with a disabled leg.

Round 12:
Spoiler:
Image
With all the Grand Dragons going down for good (one with a total engine shutdown, a second with both legs disabled, a third trapped in a building with no working leg actuators), all that's left is a Bulldog and the Katapult, which both beat a hasty retreat, while the remaining turrets power down.

Damage to our units was pretty heavy, but almost nothing irreparable - the Flashman will need a week or two in the shop, while the Blackjack, Hyena's Grasshopper and the Victor took heavy internal damage and will also need repairs. The driver of one our Falcon hovertanks ("Sadge") got sprayed with shrapnel from a Thumper impact after evacuating the disabled vehicle and didn't make it off the field.

However, first of all, having secured this compound, we call in the salvage crews to recover wrecks (ours and theirs), and the loot is pretty damn good. Let's go over it:

Dragon DRG-5N. This is like the standard Dragon, but with the rear-facing medium laser removed and the AC/5 upgraded to an Ultra AC/5, while all the ammo bins have been improved with CASE. Not too bad. This particular example's left leg is currently detached while the right leg is missing about half the actuators.

Grand Dragon DRG-5K. This is a Grand Dragon turned up to the max. Double heat sinks, CASE for the LRM ammo, particle cannon upgraded to extended-range, and... 360 XL engine. Well, you have to put one in to make room for all the new goodies.

Jenner JR7-K. Well, technically we picked up two of them, but there's really only enough parts to put one together. Nothing terribly different about it from the standard variant, but it's got ferro-fibrous armor and CASE for the short range missile ammo.

Venom SDR-9K. We've got one already, but it looks like it's an excellent upgrade for the old-school Spider.

We also scoop up four small pulse lasers, five Artemis IV guidance systems (and several tons of Artemis-capable SRMs), and an extra TAG laser. A shame we couldn't grab the LB-10x autocannons from the turret, but it blew up pretty good.

It does look like the local militia and 36th Dieron are making one last push to try to re-take this compound - a reinforced lance of light (but 35 ton) mechs and a short tank company. Gamma-Probe (and an attached auxiliary unit) are in position to intercept, but they'll basically be by themselves. Well, with a supporting lance of light allied merc armor, but that's pretty useless. Of the forces that took the compound, only Zenn7's Awesome and the BattleAxe are still in good shape - the rest have taken internal damage and are returning to our dropships.

So our main choice here is whether we engage the incoming hostiles well clear of the compound or let them get closer so Zenn7 and the BattleAxe can help out. The former will remove all risk to the compound and our salvage teams (assuming we can stop the hostiles) but we'll have less firepower available, while the latter means there's risk of stray fire hitting our non-combatants and our loot, but we'd have a good amount more firepower available.

[] Engage clear of the compound
[] Engage close to the compound
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by AWS260 »

NickAragua wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:24 pm [x] Engage clear of the compound
[] Engage close to the compound
We got this. Hopefully.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

AWS260 wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:00 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:24 pm [x] Engage clear of the compound
[] Engage close to the compound
We got this. Hopefully.
Agreed.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Zenn7 »

Leraje wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:36 pm
AWS260 wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:00 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:24 pm [x] Engage clear of the compound
[] Engage close to the compound
We got this. Hopefully.
Agreed.
If you don't, we'll still be in the compound to fry the leakers.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by $iljanus »

Zenn7 wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:55 pm
Leraje wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:36 pm
AWS260 wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:00 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:24 pm [x] Engage clear of the compound
[] Engage close to the compound
We got this. Hopefully.
Agreed.
If you don't, we'll still be in the compound to fry the leakers.
This seems to be a situation where the loot is worth taking some risk. Let’s keep that militia far away and let the pillaging commence!
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Engage further away - almost unanimous
"Don't worry, boss, we've got it." Akalon tells Zenn7.

The battlefield is a dried-out wetland - the water and the muck are gone, but it's still got lots of large cracks in the terrain, making it less than ideal for units without jump jets, which is unfortunate both for our TAG Scimitar and the allied tanks. Well, that's ok, that's why we have BattleMechs.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Our two Phoenix Hawks (the 3M driven by Bass), Vulcan (driven by Akalon) and Scimitar advance, while AWS slows down briefly to transform into airmech mode to zip around the relatively open terrain a bit better.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
"Wow, I haven't seen one of those little guys for a while!" AWS muses, observing the Hussar running in. It's a pretty fast, 30-ton, ground-bound recon mech with paper thin armor and pretty crazy armament - a large laser and two mediums.

The Jenner JR7 reads as a C variant, and appears to have less firepower than the standard Jenner, but looks more like the JR7-K as far as its armor layout goes.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
AWS encounters a little turbulence and isn't able to complete the original maneuver that the mechwarrior was thinking about, but the Phoenix Hawk LAM's movement drifts takes the crosshairs straight across the advancing Hussar's head as the light mech fires at one of our ground-bound Phoenix Hawks. The mechwarrior squeezes the trigger instinctively and the snub-nose PPC shot flies true, evaporating the head assembly.

"Whoo!" Our mechwarrior cheers.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Phoenix Hawk 3D moves to engage the Jenner as AWS zips past, clearing its legs of armor with pulse lasers and using the large laser to punch a hole through the right torso. The Jenner fires back with its laser, but our mech's armor holds, and then our mechwarrior delivers a boot to the center torso, causing another armor breach.

To the west, Akalon moves up to fire at a Valkyrie which tries to hide in a gully, inflicting an armor breach over the center torso.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Bass' anti-missile system goes to work, blasting some SRMs fired from a Packrat out of the air as our mechwarrior jumps forward to engage a lance of light tanks and APCs. Weapons fire is a little less effective than hoped for, but Bass does manage to crack a Packrat's axle with a stomp. Akalon helps the mechwarrior out on the way to engage a Firestarter in a gulch, blasting through a Scorpion tank's armor with medium lasers while stripping the armor off the back of the Firestarter's right leg.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
The Firestarter outmaneuvers Akalon, getting in behind our Vulcan. Our mech jukes out of the way and opens up on the nearby Scorpion tank instead, cutting it in half with the clan-spec medium lasers.

Meanwhile, Bass switches targets and hops southeast to get behind a Panther, firing the Phoenix Hawk's right arm weapons to take armor off the back of the slower, yet lighter, enemy mech. A few bullets from the machine gun ping off the Panther's head as well, while our mechwarrior plants the mech's foot down and rips the PPC arm off, leaving the Panther with just the four SRM tubes.

To the east, AWS zips the Phoenix Hawk LAM around a Saladin hovertank, cutting through the side with medium lasers and taking it out, although not before it's able to let rip with its AC/20 and take off our the LAM's left arm.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
The battle shifts northward - two allied units - a Hetzer and a Vedette, take out a hostile Scimitar zipping around, while Akalon brings the Valkyrie to the ground.

"Looks like they're pulling back, Lieutenant." Bass calls out over comms.

Akalon thinks for a second. We're in good enough shape to pursue, and that Jenner looks like it'd be interesting for salvage. We've also got a couple of mechwarriors for which we'll want to attempt to arrange a prisoner exchange, and it may be useful to have an extra bargaining chip of "equal" value in the negotiations in the form of an extra mechwarrior who was trusted enough to be allowed to drive a high-tech unit. On the other hand, establishing our "honor" with the 36th Dieron by allowing them to retreat may also go a long way in any such negotiations that occur, and shooting retreating units probably doesn't help do that.

[] Try and capture the escaping Jenner (we don't really care about the other stuff, honestly)
[] Let it go

Regardless of how that goes, that's it for this contract. Now we just have to get off world, get paid, and decide what to do with the diplomatic incident-causing intel we've acquired.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

Hmmm...
[X] Try and capture the escaping Jenner (we don't really care about the other stuff, honestly)
[] Let it go
Normally I'd be inclined to go with option 2. But... first, we are done here. So I don't think we need to build up any "good-will" credit for future negotiations. And... second, they've already made it clear what they think of us. I don't think that one nice act is going to change things. So if we want more leverage to get our peeps back, then we need a bigger bargaining chip. And one that is tangible.

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

Post by Zenn7 »

TheMix wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:08 pm Hmmm...
[X] Try and capture the escaping Jenner (we don't really care about the other stuff, honestly)
[] Let it go
Normally I'd be inclined to go with option 2. But... first, we are done here. So I don't think we need to build up any "good-will" credit for future negotiations. And... second, they've already made it clear what they think of us. I don't think that one nice act is going to change things. So if we want more leverage to get our peeps back, then we need a bigger bargaining chip. And one that is tangible.
That sums it up pretty accurately imo.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 11:18 pm
TheMix wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:08 pm Hmmm...
[X] Try and capture the escaping Jenner (we don't really care about the other stuff, honestly)
[] Let it go
Normally I'd be inclined to go with option 2. But... first, we are done here. So I don't think we need to build up any "good-will" credit for future negotiations. And... second, they've already made it clear what they think of us. I don't think that one nice act is going to change things. So if we want more leverage to get our peeps back, then we need a bigger bargaining chip. And one that is tangible.
That sums it up pretty accurately imo.
Sounds about right.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by $iljanus »

Leraje wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 4:08 am
Zenn7 wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 11:18 pm
TheMix wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:08 pm Hmmm...
[X] Try and capture the escaping Jenner (we don't really care about the other stuff, honestly)
[] Let it go
Normally I'd be inclined to go with option 2. But... first, we are done here. So I don't think we need to build up any "good-will" credit for future negotiations. And... second, they've already made it clear what they think of us. I don't think that one nice act is going to change things. So if we want more leverage to get our peeps back, then we need a bigger bargaining chip. And one that is tangible.
That sums it up pretty accurately imo.
Sounds about right.
Let's get that Jenner!
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Capture the Jenner - almost unanimous
The Jenner almost gets away, but a large laser from our Phoenix Hawk disables one of its legs just as it's about to clear the field. AWS' pursuit comes to a stop as a Brutus assault tank takes off the LAM's left leg, leaving it stuck in air-mech mode until repairs can be carried out.

Akalon takes out the fleeing Valkyrie, and Bass kicks over a Packrat, and then that's it.

---

As we assemble the various prisoners we've acquired during this process to initiate a pre-departure prisoner exchange, Ruby, the mechwarrior from the Spider we rescued out of the inferno deathtrap, requests not to be part of the prisoner exchange.

With Stefan all but jumping up and down with excitement while passing the request on and us having plenty of other mechwarriors to exchange, Leraje smirks, rolls his eyes and approves the request. We get our three MIA mechwarriors back, while the DCMS gets two mechwarriors and several APC loads of tank operators and infantry.

Our departure from the planet and system goes unchallenged - other than by rants about "dishonorable mercenary dogs" and other such subjects over the comms - probably because we've blown up or put out of action a good chunk of the local aerospace fighters. Thus, our dropships lift up and burn for the jump point.

---

"So..." El Guapo says, leg up on the table in one of the conference rooms in the Moonraker and leaning back in the chair, "... we ever figure out what the deal was with the mysterious fighters that kept bombing both us and the Kurita guys?"

Leraje shakes his head. "Nope. Not a clue."

Freyland shrugs. "We talked to some of the prisoners and, seems like there was some kind of internal dispute going on between the planetary governor and the commander in charge of the 36th Dieron. Maybe it was a manifestation of that?"

Zenn7 nods. "Regardless, those aerospace fighters helped us more than they helped them. And now we're not there any more, so it's not our problem. Now... what do we do about these random stolen battle armor bits in our cargo holds?"

The implication here is that our employer has hired multiple mercenary companies to steal battle armor prototypes from the Draconis CombineThe various options more or less boil down to "publicly release the info to cause a diplomatic incident", "use the evidence to demand more payment from our employer in the form of money or additional high-tech purchase slots" or "use the evidence to demand access to battle armor prototypes of our own". El Guapo also suggests that we may just "sit on it and forget it ever happened" before bursting into laughter to the point of tears after managing to keep a straight face for a couple of seconds. Still, there may be some point to holding on to a potentially damaging piece of blackmail in the future.

[] Cause diplomatic incident probably not the best idea, we're mercs, not clan spies
[] Extract concession from employer - more money
[] Extract concession from employer - more high-tech equipment purchases
[] Extract concession from employer - access to squad of battle armor prototypes
[] Bank it for the future

---

Overall, this contract went pretty well. Other than losing a couple of mediums and a heavy, mechwarrior casualties were minor. We also acquired a good amount of ground armor and hovertanks - just need to find some crew for those. Our rep on Outreach reports that he's found a platoon of gauss rifle-equipped field gunners willing to join us - we're always happy to see more gauss rifles on our side. We'll send some instructions to increase tank crew recruitment, since we're able to staff about five out of our fifteen or so tanks currently.

---

Our current budget is 908M C-Bills.

When all is said and done, we've got fifteen (twenty if we extort our employer a little bit) points of "high tech purchases" to work with. There are a few part requests that get made - one of the Venoms that we captured nees a pair of medium pulse lasers, while our Hatamoto-Hi could also use a replacement pulse laser. And needless to say, we could use some spares.

Thanks to our industrious scavenging of TAG Scimitars, we've got about 80 tons of spare ferro-fibrous armor and lots of NARC pods as well as NARC-capable SRM/4 ammo, and plenty of TAG lasers, so we don't need any of that stuff.

We've got a pair of mechs that could go for an LB-10X autocannon upgrade - a Rifleman RFL-3C and a Hunchback HBK-4H. Or we could spring for four LB-10X autocannons and get a start on upgrading the Annihilator - installing double heat sinks (we'd have to buy a bunch) would let us upgrade it to the original ANH-1X design used by the Star League way back in the day. It'd still be slow as molasses but the armor would be comparable to an Atlas, and the quad LB-10X autocannons are enough to ruin anybody's day. LB-10X ammo is freely available nowadays, so that's not an issue.

We've also got plenty of mechwarriors clamoring for double heat sink upgrades to their mechs - a Warhammer, one of the guys still riding around in an old-school Phoenix Hawk, and the guy driving an Archer. The mechwarriors riding in the Venoms probably won't complain about double heat sinks and extra armor, either.

Of the other "high tech" equipment available, we're not too wild about UAC/5s and we've got plenty of Artemis IV systems already, while Streak SRM/2s are widely available on the open markets. Gauss Rifles, we've got ten of them sitting in our Jumbo, so we're good with those.

Alternately, we could buy up ferro-fibrous armor by five ton lots and slap upgrades on units of our choosing to beef up their armor, keeping in mind that said type of armor is a little hard to come by still and gets consumed at a pretty good clip (for example, over the course of this campaign, we've probably gone through several hundred tons of standard armor). So having too many mechs with this stuff may lead to logistics problems. But it is a cheap, simple way to improve our mechs' armor or allow more space for heat sinks and such.

Endo-steel structural replacement is available if we travel back to Outreach, but will cost a pretty penny and a lot of "points" (eight to be exact), not to mention taking forever. Custom-made XL engines are also available, but cost 5 points apiece, are extremely expensive in terms of C-Bills and also take forever to install.

Each item costs a "point" unless otherwise noted and can be purchased multiple times. We have 15 points. Annotate a potential extra 5 points of stuff in case we decide to extort our employer in a specific way.
[] Ferro-fibrous armor, 5 tons
[] LB-10X autocannon
[] Double heat sink
[] Medium pulse laser
[] Endo-steel replacement (8 points per mech)
[] XL Engine (5 points)
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

Is there a primer on all this? :D

Specifically... how much money do we have? If we are running short, that might make the first decision easier.
Then, what's the deal with equipment purchases? We aren't allowed to just buy stuff from the market if we have the cash? We also have to get "vouchers"? And these only come as rewards for doing jobs?
Lastly, what's the deal with battle armor? This is for grunts, right? Not relevant for the mechs? How much do we depend on our grunts?

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

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 2:20 pm

[] Cause diplomatic incident probably not the best idea, we're mercs, not clan spies
[] Extract concession from employer - more money
[] Extract concession from employer - more high-tech equipment purchases
[X] Extract concession from employer - access to squad of battle armor prototypes
[] Bank it for the future

[] Ferro-fibrous armor, 5 tons
[] LB-10X autocannon
[XXXXX] Double heat sink
[] Medium pulse laser
[] Endo-steel replacement (8 points per mech)
[XX] XL Engine (5 points)
What does Endo-steel do, exactly?

Otherwise, the XL engines and double heat sinks seem the most generally useful. And I'm not 100% sure how useful prototype battle armor is...but seems worthwhile to get another new toy to play with and to expand our versatility.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

TheMix wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 3:32 pm Is there a primer on all this? :D

Specifically... how much money do we have? If we are running short, that might make the first decision easier.
Then, what's the deal with equipment purchases? We aren't allowed to just buy stuff from the market if we have the cash? We also have to get "vouchers"? And these only come as rewards for doing jobs?
Lastly, what's the deal with battle armor? This is for grunts, right? Not relevant for the mechs? How much do we depend on our grunts?
Heh, sure.

We've basically got more C-Bills than we know what to do with, so we can buy whatever want (barring actual WarShips).

So basically, equipment in BT is divided into a bunch of tech levels: intro, standard, advanced and experimental. The house rule I use is that anything that's intro can be bought readily as can anything that's "standard" and been out for "a while". So, for an example, an AC/10 is intro tech, while an LB/10x is standard. The difference is that stuff that's "standard" and beyond is available only in limited quantities due to relative scarcity and/or novelty. The nitty-gritty details can be found in the Interstellar Operations rulebook, but I just let MekHQ handle most of that stuff.

Ferro-fibrous armor is lighter than standard armor but takes up more critical slots on a mech. Same with endo-steel internal structure. Basically lets you put more equipment on the mech as long as you don't run out of space.
Pulse lasers in general, at least the Inner Sphere versions, have shorter range but are easier to hit with. Heavier and generate more heat, but worth their weight in gold when you're in the middle of the bell curve on a 2d6.
LBX autocannons can fire either standard slug rounds or cluster rounds which are easier to hit with and scatter little 1-point pellets all over the target - great if you're looking for crits or to disable tanks. They're also lighter and generate less heat than standard autocannons.
XL Engines are considerably lighter engines, so you can cram a lot more equipment or armor on a mech. They stick out into the side torso sections, so if a mech with an XL engine loses a side torso, it's out of the fight completely and is expensive to fix.
Battle Armor is basically highly-durable infantry. Normal infantry, you can hose down with flamers and machine guns, but these guys you need mech grade firepower to take out. We don't use infantry that much, due to the pretty horrific casualties they wind up taking basically every time (even now that we've started equipping them with heavy duty armor), but if we load up on battle armor, it's pretty useful in urban settings and completely schools standard infantry.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

I'd say negotiate and bank the "favour" for later usage, as at this time we do not seem to be in dire need of extra goodies.

As far as upgrades go - give poor Annie some loving - upgrade it to 1X and then up-engine to XL300 for a brisk move rate of 3/5. Only need to loose 2SPL for that.

As far the rest of upgrades - DHS for hot running mechs.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

Thanks, Nick!

So, if I'm understanding, for that last mission, troops in Battle Armor would have come in handy assaulting the artillery base to mine/blow it up? But probably not elsewhere. Still... I can see where they could be situationally REALLY handy. Additionally, it sounds like we aren't likely to find any other Battle Armor for a long time. I think I'm with the Guap on this one then:
[] Cause diplomatic incident probably not the best idea, we're mercs, not clan spies
[] Extract concession from employer - more money
[] Extract concession from employer - more high-tech equipment purchases
[X] Extract concession from employer - access to squad of battle armor prototypes
[] Bank it for the future
Reasoning... We don't need cash. We aren't desperate for any specific high-tech equipment (at least from what is currently available to us). Banking could be useful, but is seems unlikely that we will get another shot equipping a squad with Battle Armor for the foreseeable future. So while we may not use them much, they become a potentially valuable tool in our kit that doesn't have anything comparable.

As for the other part, I didn't follow all the technical talk, but I do know that everyone always wants more double heatsinks. So I'd vote for as many of those are logical. I don't think the engines sound like they are worth it. Too easy to lose them and be stuck. Armor raises the same concerns. I feel like we'd have the mechs back in the bays fairly quickly getting weapons reset once the ferro-fibrous armor runs out. But I'm game on the pulse laser and the autocannons, as needed.

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

Post by Zenn7 »

Access to a squad of prototype battle armor.

Enough LB10X for the 2 lighter mechs (unless someone is seriously itching to pilot Ani, that's just a backup mech for when we're desperate really, isn't it?)
1-2 spare LB10X so we're not screwed when they get shot.
Enough medium pulse lasers to fix up everything and a couple spares.
Double Heat Sinks with anything left over.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by gbasden »

Zenn7 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:05 pm Access to a squad of prototype battle armor.

Enough LB10X for the 2 lighter mechs (unless someone is seriously itching to pilot Ani, that's just a backup mech for when we're desperate really, isn't it?)
1-2 spare LB10X so we're not screwed when they get shot.
Enough medium pulse lasers to fix up everything and a couple spares.
Double Heat Sinks with anything left over.
I like all of this.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by AWS260 »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 2:20 pm [] Cause diplomatic incident probably not the best idea, we're mercs, not clan spies
[] Extract concession from employer - more money
[X] Extract concession from employer - more high-tech equipment purchases
[] Extract concession from employer - access to squad of battle armor prototypes
[] Bank it for the future

[XXXXXXXX] Ferro-fibrous armor, 5 tons
[XXXXX] LB-10X autocannon
[XXXXXXX] Double heat sink
[] Medium pulse laser
[] Endo-steel replacement (8 points per mech)
[] XL Engine (5 points)
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

gbasden wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:46 pm
Zenn7 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:05 pm Access to a squad of prototype battle armor.

Enough LB10X for the 2 lighter mechs (unless someone is seriously itching to pilot Ani, that's just a backup mech for when we're desperate really, isn't it?)
1-2 spare LB10X so we're not screwed when they get shot.
Enough medium pulse lasers to fix up everything and a couple spares.
Double Heat Sinks with anything left over.
I like all of this.
I'll make my agreement official. It was kind of what I said, but Zenn knows enough to actually put numbers to things. :)

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

Post by $iljanus »

Zenn7 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:05 pm Access to a squad of prototype battle armor.

Enough LB10X for the 2 lighter mechs (unless someone is seriously itching to pilot Ani, that's just a backup mech for when we're desperate really, isn't it?)
1-2 spare LB10X so we're not screwed when they get shot.
Enough medium pulse lasers to fix up everything and a couple spares.
Double Heat Sinks with anything left over.
I was tempted by the souped up engine but the maintenance that seems to be needed for it sounds like something a major house is more equipped to provide. Would be nice to build a decent mech around a nice engine like that someday though.

If we’re going to incorporate more infantry into our strategy then battle armor would be nice. Sounds like they can be a pain in the ass for opposing forces.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Battle Armor - ||||||
High-Tech Purchases - |
Bank - ||

5x LB-10x, 7x DHS, 8x Ferro-Fibrous
5x LB-10x, 5x DHS, 5x MPL |||
4x LB-10x, 8x DHS, 3x Ferro-Fibrous
4x LB-10x, 1x XL Engine, 6x DHS
2x XL engine, 5x DHS
After some discussion, our command staff decide to exert our leverage to see if we can acquire some battle armor. As far as high-tech stuff, the vast majority favors getting a bunch of LB-10x autocannons and double heat sinks, with medium pulse lasers coming in a distant third. So that's how we arrange that.

We place our orders via HPG once we jump out of Combine space.

We've also currently got two interesting contract offers.

First, we've got a quick extraction raid by an "anonymous" Federated Suns corporate concern against the Yori Mech Works facility on Al Na'ir. Nothing complicated here - we've got a list of parts and personnel that our potential employer would like to acquire, and they're paying us 86M C-Bills to do it. Yori Mech Works produces some hard-hitting mechs from the Atlas, Hatamoto and Catapult series, and with a 40% salvage share, we ought to be able to get our hands on some good loot. The downside being that we'll be negatively affecting the Combine's capability to wage war against the clans, but it's an interstellar empire, they can probably handle a mech factory losing a couple mechs here and there.

Details:
3 months expected contract duration, 1 month travel time
"Liaison" command
Regular/F allied forces
Green/C opposition
40% salvage
55% transport cost coverage
60% battle loss compensation
86M C-Bills expected profit

The employer will catch a ride with us and bring a dropship or two worth of mechs, but we'll be doing most of the work. Intelligence indicates we'll be facing the 15th Dieron Regulars and local planetary defense forces, but most of the Regulars have been re-deployed to front line positions against the clans. The factories are still pumping out mechs though, so we can expect to see some nasties, but piloted by ... less great pilots. Our estimates based on the intel we've been given is that we'll need two companies for this.

Second, we've got an offer to "forcibly resolve a corporate succession dispute". A Free Worlds League chemical manufacturing magnate is throwing her hat in the ring to inherit a controlling stake in a chemical extraction and refining operation, and has hired several mercenary groups (including potentially us) to go down there and "impose order on competing interests". This contract will take place on the hot and dry world of Alkaid, which is pretty distinct, as it orbits a blue supergiant. This means that it takes a whopping four months to get from the standard jump point to the planet. The expectation is that we'll be both working with and facing corporate and private security, with the elements of the 10th Donegal stationed on planet expected to remain neutral as long as nobody attacks any strategically important assets.

Details:
4 months expected contract duration, 5 months travel time
Liaison command
Regular/F allied forces
Green/F opposition
70% salvage
100% transport cost coverage
40% battle loss compensation
71M C-Bills expected profit

This should be an easy ride, smashing through poorly equipped and poorly trained corporate security while beefing up our pilots, although the awful in-system transit times will make logistics difficult at best. We'll need two companies for this, mostly because of the volume of opposition.

We also get a contract offer for a "rescue mission" on Capella. We might pass that one up, dropping in on one of the Capellan Confederation's capital worlds would be risky at best, and this is probably some kind of trap.

Let's pick a contract (or not) - we could probably take both, with the Al Na'ir contract likely to be done before anyone even gets to Alkaid.
[] Al Na'ir extraction raid: quick, good pay, counterproductive for overall war effort vs clans
[] Alkaid corporate succession dispute resolution: long, boring journey, easy, ok pay
[] None, take a break for a month and see what else we get

Last but not least, El Guapo announces his intent to retire. After 23 years of service, 126 missions and 205 confirmed kills, the fifty year old former Davion mechwarrior has decided to call it quits and make room for new blood. The 27M C-Bill payout is pretty good, too.

"Now, are you sure about that?" Zenn7 asks. "The latest HPG dump says your Marauder's finished re-fitting. Sure you don't want to take it for a couple more spins?"

El Guapo considers that for some time.
[] Better take the payout and retire, teaching mech tactics 210 ("Intermediate PPC Usage") and subtrefuge 101 ("How to Hide Behind Trees and Tree-like Objects") at the Point Barrow Military Academy over in boonies of the Federated Suns
[] Drive the Marauder 5S with the dual extended-range PPCs and the gauss rifle and the pulse lasers and the double heat sinks
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TheMix
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

That first one says "extraction", but it sure sounds like "kidnapping". I know we are mechs, but what's the skinny on reputation in the Battletech universe? Are we setting ourselves up for 'bad things' down the road if we do shady stuff? Or is everything always shady to someone?

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

Post by gbasden »

We just signed on to a joint cause to fight the clans. I'm not sure I want to do anything that could hurt the war effort.
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NickAragua
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by NickAragua »

TheMix wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 2:33 pm That first one says "extraction", but it sure sounds like "kidnapping". I know we are mechs, but what's the skinny on reputation in the Battletech universe? Are we setting ourselves up for 'bad things' down the road if we do shady stuff? Or is everything always shady to someone?
The Draconis Combine doesn't particularly like us anyway, so them thinking worse of us isn't that much of an issue.
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Leraje
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 1:47 pm Let's pick a contract (or not) - we could probably take both, with the Al Na'ir contract likely to be done before anyone even gets to Alkaid.
[] Al Na'ir extraction raid: quick, good pay, counterproductive for overall war effort vs clans
[] Alkaid corporate succession dispute resolution: long, boring journey, easy, ok pay
[x] None, take a break for a month and see what else we get
#1. There are still too few mech manufacturing centers in the IS, so messing with one may not be the brightest idea.
#2. Logistics turnaround is a bitch on this one.
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TheMix
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by TheMix »

Thanks.
Let's pick a contract (or not) - we could probably take both, with the Al Na'ir contract likely to be done before anyone even gets to Alkaid.
[X] Al Na'ir extraction raid: quick, good pay, counterproductive for overall war effort vs clans
[] Alkaid corporate succession dispute resolution: long, boring journey, easy, ok pay
[] None, take a break for a month and see what else we get
As noted, it seems unlikely that our raid would have much impact on the war effort. Not like we've been tasked with wrecking all of the factories on the planet.

Both sounds like an idea, but I think I'd rather not commit to the second one. If it's still available when we finish the first one, we can think about it then.

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

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 1:47 pm
[] Al Na'ir extraction raid: quick, good pay, counterproductive for overall war effort vs clans
[] Alkaid corporate succession dispute resolution: long, boring journey, easy, ok pay
[X] None, take a break for a month and see what else we get

El Guapo considers that for some time.
[] Better take the payout and retire, teaching mech tactics 210 ("Intermediate PPC Usage") and subtrefuge 101 ("How to Hide Behind Trees and Tree-like Objects") at the Point Barrow Military Academy over in boonies of the Federated Suns
[X] Drive the Marauder 5S with the dual extended-range PPCs and the gauss rifle and the pulse lasers and the double heat sinks
I don't really love either contract. I'm sure that the Al Na'ir raid wouldn't mean the difference between victory and defeat vs. the Clans, but I still don't love that part of it, and going against the anti-Clan effort seems like terrible PR. And the corporate dispute is fine, but too far away.

As for me....no way I'm letting some rookie drive that sweet souped up Marauder.
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Re: Let's Play: Battletech via MegaMek (G2)

Post by AWS260 »

Let's pick a contract (or not) - we could probably take both, with the Al Na'ir contract likely to be done before anyone even gets to Alkaid.
[x] Al Na'ir extraction raid: quick, good pay, counterproductive for overall war effort vs clans
[] Alkaid corporate succession dispute resolution: long, boring journey, easy, ok pay
[] None, take a break for a month and see what else we get
Looooooot.
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