Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

[Leraje]

[] Cash in a favor for the medium pulse laser
[] Cash in a favor for the LB-10X autocannon
[x] Skip

[x] Beta Company - River Delta/Mountains terrain, heavier mechs
[] Gamma Company - Plains/Mountains, mix of mech weights
[] Delta Company - Lakes/Desert, lighter mechs

Let's hold off on calling favours till something more juicy like ER LL or ER PPC becomes available...

Go in alphabetic order.

[Zenn7]

[x] Cash in a favor for the medium pulse laser
[] Cash in a favor for the LB-10X autocannon
[] Skip

[x] Beta Company - River Delta/Mountains terrain, heavier mechs
[] Gamma Company - Plains/Mountains, mix of mech weights
[] Delta Company - Lakes/Desert, lighter mechs

Let's hold off on calling favours till something more juicy like ER LL or ER PPC becomes available...

Go in alphabetic order.

Assuming 20 Favor points means 20 favors - we just spend 1 point to get a clan mpl - let's go this way. No point getting the LB-10X if we don't have a source of ammo for it.

Alphabetical order is as good as any order.
I've had a good run with the company... if it's my time to die, at least it will be to some worthy opponents, not some pirate loser's lucky shot.

[El Guapo]

[x] Cash in a favor for the medium pulse laser
[] Cash in a favor for the LB-10X autocannon
[] Skip

[x] Beta Company - River Delta/Mountains terrain, heavier mechs
[] Gamma Company - Plains/Mountains, mix of mech weights
[] Delta Company - Lakes/Desert, lighter mechs

Let's hold off on calling favours till something more juicy like ER LL or ER PPC becomes available...

Go in alphabetic order.

Assuming 20 Favor points means 20 favors - we just spend 1 point to get a clan mpl - let's go this way. No point getting the LB-10X if we don't have a source of ammo for it.

Alphabetical order is as good as any order.
I've had a good run with the company... if it's my time to die, at least it will be to some worthy opponents, not some pirate loser's lucky shot.

I agree with this, depending on how many "favor points" it costs to get the medium pulse laser. If it's 1, then definitely take it. If it's like 10 or something...probably not. Mainly I want to make sure that we have enough to claim an ER PPC.

[$iljanus]

[] Cash in a favor for the medium pulse laser
[] Cash in a favor for the LB-10X autocannon
[x] Skip

[x] Beta Company - River Delta/Mountains terrain, heavier mechs
[] Gamma Company - Plains/Mountains, mix of mech weights
[] Delta Company - Lakes/Desert, lighter mechs

Let's hold off on calling favours till something more juicy like ER LL or ER PPC becomes available...

Go in alphabetic order.

I'll be optimistic that some of us will be alive at the end of this to get a shiny ER weapon!

And send in Beta

[Stefan Stirzaker]

Send in the clowns....i mean beta

[Zenn7]

Just had a thought on this subject...

We have a medium laser lab we can fire up on our planet. A powerful new medium pulse laser would surely have significant value to the lab?

[El Guapo]

Just had a thought on this subject...

We have a medium laser lab we can fire up on our planet. A powerful new medium pulse laser would surely have significant value to the lab?

Yeah, this is a good point. Seems like the best value for Clan Tech in general is if we can reverse engineer it rather than just slapping the individual weapon on one mech, and presumably our ability to reverse engineer medium lasers would be higher given the lab / factory.

[AWS260]

That does make a lot of sense...

[$iljanus]

Just had a thought on this subject...

We have a medium laser lab we can fire up on our planet. A powerful new medium pulse laser would surely have significant value to the lab?

Yeah, this is a good point. Seems like the best value for Clan Tech in general is if we can reverse engineer it rather than just slapping the individual weapon on one mech, and presumably our ability to reverse engineer medium lasers would be higher given the lab / factory.

Hmmm, if we can take advantage of this then I'll switch my vote to obtaining a med pulse laser. It could pay off for the company in the long term.

[NickAragua]

Vote Results:

Spoiler:

Beta Company - 7
Delta Company - 2

Skip - 3
Pulse Laser - 4

We have our techs pull the pulse laser from its housing and set it aside, with an eye on bringing it back with us and seeing if we can reverse engineer it. We'll sort it out once the rest of the fighting has been resolved.

October 3, 3050
Abandoned Comm Center, Grindtooth Foothills

Beta Company has been tasked with guarding the HQ facility that the 10th Donegal and Star Guards have appropriated, running joint patrols with units from the two outfits.

"You guys tuned in to the general frequency?" Xwraith transmits across Beta-Hunter lance comms, as they patrol their assigned sector. "Sounds like Alpha-Heavy got into a scrap, but ran them off."

"Hope we can do the same." Wolf states.

"Looks like we'll find out soon." Leraje points out, hostile contacts coming in. Sensors are a little fuzzy, but the Black Knight's Beagle Probe cuts through most of the bullshit, letting us resolve the incoming force - five mechs. Three heavies, one light, one assault. Additionally, it looks like two heavy aerospace fighters are closing in.

---

Beta-Hunter and allied units are engaged by a superior force, and Leraje makes the call to back off, executing a "tactical advance to the rear" through an abandoned comm center, aiming to rendezvous with Beta-Assault to concentrate firepower. Our goal will be to get a majority of our mobile units (mechs and support vehicles both) across the northern edge of this map:

Spoiler:

Our lance leader briefly ponders whether to "forcibly drain" the moat that's kind of formed at the east edge of the comm center. Doing so will allow our tanks a little more space to move (the "water" will be shallow enough that anything can splash through it), but will also do the same for the clan mechs.

As before, our lance is accompanied by allied support units. This time, support is limited to units that can keep up with us, so we won't be seeing any heavy or assault tanks on our side.

We have 24 support points worth of Lyran/Merc support:
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[] Air support (limit 1): 6 - Beta-Strike aerospace flight participates in the battle
[] air superiority
[] ground attack

Additionally, given the situation, Beta-Hunter is accompanied by up to two of our "surplus" support vehicles that we've been able to acquire from the corporate security outfits that fled the planet before the Jade Falcons arrived. Here's what we've got that can keep up with our mech lance:
[] Galleon GAL-102 - We just saw these in action but still have two left.
[] Galleon GAL-102 - Beagle Probe, pulse laser turret, regular lasers on the sides. Didn't do too well.
[] Harasser - Ultra-fast hovercraft, evaporates upon hit, 2x SRM/6 launchers
[] Falcon - Slightly slower hovercraft, reasonable armor, 2x SRM/6 and medium laser
[] Pegasus - Slightly slower than Falcon, reasonable armor, 2x SRM/6 and medium laser (but in the front for some reason)
[] Vedette - We've blown up probably literally hundreds of these things.
[] Vedette - They're basically just a light autocannon on a turret, with some armor.
[] Vedette AC2

[El Guapo]

Our lance leader briefly ponders whether to "forcibly drain" the moat that's kind of formed at the east edge of the comm center. Doing so will allow our tanks a little more space to move (the "water" will be shallow enough that anything can splash through it), but will also do the same for the clan mechs.

As before, our lance is accompanied by allied support units. This time, support is limited to units that can keep up with us, so we won't be seeing any heavy or assault tanks on our side.

We have 24 support points worth of Lyran/Merc support:
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[XX] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[XX] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[X] Air support (limit 1): 6 - Beta-Strike aerospace flight participates in the battle
[X] air superiority
[] ground attack

Additionally, given the situation, Beta-Hunter is accompanied by up to two of our "surplus" support vehicles that we've been able to acquire from the corporate security outfits that fled the planet before the Jade Falcons arrived. Here's what we've got that can keep up with our mech lance:
[] Galleon GAL-102 - We just saw these in action but still have two left.
[] Galleon GAL-102 - Beagle Probe, pulse laser turret, regular lasers on the sides. Didn't do too well.
[] Harasser - Ultra-fast hovercraft, evaporates upon hit, 2x SRM/6 launchers
[XX] Falcon - Slightly slower hovercraft, reasonable armor, 2x SRM/6 and medium laser
[] Pegasus - Slightly slower than Falcon, reasonable armor, 2x SRM/6 and medium laser (but in the front for some reason)
[] Vedette - We've blown up probably literally hundreds of these things.
[] Vedette - They're basically just a light autocannon on a turret, with some armor.
[] Vedette AC2

Basically air superiority air support, two medium hovercraft, two light hovercraft, two Falcons. Keep the Clan airpower away, and then use the hovercraft focused on additional mobile firepower and leave the "moat" as is.

[Leraje]

Basically air superiority air support, two medium hovercraft, two light hovercraft, two Falcons. Keep the Clan airpower away, and then use the hovercraft focused on additional mobile firepower and leave the "moat" as is.

Agreed.

[$iljanus]

Basically air superiority air support, two medium hovercraft, two light hovercraft, two Falcons. Keep the Clan airpower away, and then use the hovercraft focused on additional mobile firepower and leave the "moat" as is.

Agreed.

Good decision. Since speed is important for this encounter the hovercraft have a good combo of speed, armor and firepower. And we don't need Clan airpower adding to our worries.

[Zenn7]

Basically air superiority air support, two medium hovercraft, two light hovercraft, two Falcons. Keep the Clan airpower away, and then use the hovercraft focused on additional mobile firepower and leave the "moat" as is.

Agreed.

Good decision. Since speed is important for this encounter the hovercraft have a good combo of speed, armor and firepower. And we don't need Clan airpower adding to our worries.

Sounds good.

[moleymoleymoley]

Aaaaaand I'm caught up, phew! My apologies for disappearing for basically a year, that was very rude of me. Glad to see you all carrying on so spectacularly, it's been a great read! And now you're at my favourite time period, the clan invasion when all the sweet mechs I love from mechwarrior 3 & 4 come into play, Nick, you're doing an absolutely fantastic job as GM, I know mekHQ has a real struggle with this era and it's usually where my mekHQ games end (/all my pilots get headshot).

This is something mekHQ lacks actually, a campaign system, even a few fan made ones would work great. Is there any way you can save and export the missions you create Nick?

[xwraith]

Me, seeing that clan assault lance coming in.....

Spoiler:

[NickAragua]

This is something mekHQ lacks actually, a campaign system, even a few fan made ones would work great. Is there any way you can save and export the missions you create Nick?

Welcome back!

I can save/export the individual scenarios easily, but the campaign system requires a bunch of manual book-keeping on my part. This current set of engagements is actually a Chaos Campaign run-through.

Speaking of which: Beta-Hunter is now getting their crack at the Jade Falcons. Or rather, the Jade Falcons are getting a crack at Beta-Hunter. Play-by-post thread up:

http://octopusoverlords.com/forum/viewt ... 6#p2796966

[moleymoleymoley]

that's a great point, I've got a few of these scenario things coming as part of my backing on Kickstarter! Never thought about using them on MM, thought they would just be a waste.

Well that is if they ever bother replying to my emails and giving me the stuff I ordered

[NickAragua]

Wolf pulls the neurohelmet off and disconnects all the sensor pads stuck to her arms and legs before climbing out of the Warhammer. The mech almost looks relaxed as it rests against the building behind it, chunks of wall smashed out by impact from the mech falling backwards and by stray MG rounds from the Mad Cat. The Warhammer's left arm lies loose on the ground next to the mech. Our mechwarrior sits on top of the mech as the Mad Cat turns around and raises its battle-scarred right arm in salute.

The clan salvage teams arrive shortly - cleaner-looking than the average Inner Sphere crew, and wearing gray uniforms with green trim, but pretty similar in every other way. As the flatbed truck pulls up to Wolf's Warhammer, a trooper in powered battle armor gestures our mechwarrior towards an APC.

--

"Greetings, bondsman... ?"

"Mellum, Karla. Corporal. 1st Octopus Overlords." Wolf replies, tersely, sitting in a chair in a room somewhere in an Overlord-looking dropship.

The clan mechwarrior folds her arms. "I keep forgetting that you Inner Sphere barbarians are not aware of civilized customs. It will be a lot of work to teach you our ways, and, as a bondsman, it will be your task to learn."

"Bondsman? Awfully fancy way of saying prisoner."

The clanner scoffs. "Neg. A bondsman is not a prisoner - such a state is degrading to a mechwarrior, even an inferior freeborn. I am Star Commander Bella Nilloba, and you are here because you demonstrated uncommon competence and courage. For an Inner Sphere surat, that is." She smirks. "Of course, let me know any time you wish to cease your status as a bondsman, and I will be happy to re-assign you to the labor caste."

"What happened to Xwraith? My lancemate?"

"An honorable death." Bella nods. "Better to die in glorious battle while still in your prime than become an ancient derelict, barely fit for a solamha unit, quiaff?"

Wolf sighs. "No idea what most of that means, but sure, whatever."

"That attitude will need adjustment as well, bondsman. Now come, walk with me. You have much to learn."

Wolf shrugs and gets up, mouthing "weirdos" while doing so when the clan mechwarrior turns around briefly to open the door, figuring that getting to walk around the dropship will be less boring than sitting in a chair in an empty metal room for who knows how long.

--

A couple of questions:
Have we fatigued out of doing GM-ed resolutions to clan battles or do we want to keep it going? I'm happy to continue doing these, as I like running them, but if you guys are getting tired/bored, we can move on (although I reserve the right to do another one if the scenario objectives aren't something the bot can handle).
[] More GM-ed play-by-post fights
[] Enough of that

Which company do we resolve next?
[] Delta - our recon company, lighter hostile units
[] Gamma - our command company, variety of opposing unit weights

[Captainwolfer]

Well, I wish I could have been a bondsman in Clan Wolf, instead of in the Jade Falcons, but since my character isn't dead, I'm not going to ask for a new character yet.

Also, I already voted on SV so don't count this twice, but I think we should go back to normal posts, and do Delta next

[El Guapo]

[] More GM-ed play-by-post fights
[X] Enough of that

Which company do we resolve next?
[X] Delta - our recon company, lighter hostile units
[] Gamma - our command company, variety of opposing unit weights

Yeah, I'd say enough for now, at least in terms of my participation (happy to watch others do a simulated battle), though I'll be eager to do another play-by-post battle farther down the line.

[Hyena]

[] More GM-ed play-by-post fights
[X] Enough of that

Which company do we resolve next?
[X] Delta - our recon company, lighter hostile units
[] Gamma - our command company, variety of opposing unit weights

This. Also, is everyone in Beta either dead or captured? I wasn't sure if Hyena Mk. II was involved in the past two battles, or if I'm just a nameless casualty.

[NickAragua]

Also, is everyone in Beta either dead or captured? I wasn't sure if Hyena Mk. II was involved in the past two battles, or if I'm just a nameless casualty.

Nope, just Xwraith and Wolf respectively. You're perfectly fine. For now.

[El Guapo]

Clan bondsmen generally don't serve as mechwarriors, right? Any chance we dramatically re-encounter Wolf at a later date in combat?

[NickAragua]

Clan bondsmen generally don't serve as mechwarriors, right? Any chance we dramatically re-encounter Wolf at a later date in combat?

From what I've read, it looks like it's basically like an apprenticeship. So, theoretically possible.

[AWS260]

[] More GM-ed play-by-post fights
[X] Enough of that

Which company do we resolve next?
[X] Delta - our recon company, lighter hostile units
[] Gamma - our command company, variety of opposing unit weights

[Leraje]

Clan bondsmen generally don't serve as mechwarriors, right? Any chance we dramatically re-encounter Wolf at a later date in combat?

From what I've read, it looks like it's basically like an apprenticeship. So, theoretically possible.

Unless Wolf is in his late 30s, than he's kinda screwed.

I concur with rest. Let's take a bit of a break and do Delta on auto.

[$iljanus]

[] More GM-ed play-by-post fights
[X] Enough of that

Which company do we resolve next?
[X] Delta - our recon company, lighter hostile units
[] Gamma - our command company, variety of opposing unit weights

But will be happy to participate in a play by play in the future. HOVERTANKS 4 EVA!

[Zenn7]

[] More GM-ed play-by-post fights
[X] Enough of that

Which company do we resolve next?
[X] Delta - our recon company, lighter hostile units
[] Gamma - our command company, variety of opposing unit weights

This is good.

[gbasden]

[] More GM-ed play-by-post fights
[X] Enough of that

Which company do we resolve next?
[X] Delta - our recon company, lighter hostile units
[] Gamma - our command company, variety of opposing unit weights

But will be happy to participate in a play by play in the future. HOVERTANKS 4 EVA!

This, only because work is kicking my ass right now.

[NickAragua]

Vote Results:

Spoiler:

Take a break from play-by-post resolution
Delta Company

Delta company has been tasked with delaying a force advancing through a sector a few hundred kilometers east of Beta Company's action.

Delta-Ranger lance detects a group of five medium mechs moving along their patrol zone, going a good clip faster than any medium mech has a right to. Additionally, four light clan aerospace fighters are present in the area, and will likely intervene in case of any combat occurring. We've got two possible interception sites - hilly/lightly-wooded terrain around a warehouse and distribution site, or just hilly/lightly wooded terrain. Having the warehouse and distribution site would allow us to get a little extra cover, but would also allow the clan units to use them as cover if they get there first. It's a minor difference on paper, but may become significant.
[] hills/light woods with warehouse
[] hills/light woods without warehouse

Delta-Ranger lance has just one of our light tanks accompanying it, mostly due to Madmarcus' disdain for ground-pounders. Our lance leader may be a self-proclaimed (and, to be fair, proven) tactical genius, but a lot of our mechwarriors are more used to stomping ground vehicles rather than working with them. Additionally, we don't have that much light, fast ground support left, since those units keep getting blown up or disabled. Well, we've got a bunch of Vedettes, but even their drivers don't like them, so we're only going to deploy them as a last resort.

Our ground support:
[] Harasser missile platform (ultra-fast hovertank, 2x SRM/6 launcher turret)
[] Galleon (fast wheeled tank, 1x pulse laser turret, 1x laser on each side, active probe)

The good news about Delta Company is that it's easier to get their light fighters into the air and to their destination, letting us organize more support from our 10th Donegal / 12th Star Guards buddies. We're limiting ourselves to what can keep up with us, so we'll have to leave any Demolishers and Manticores behind.

As usual, we have 24 support points worth of Lyran/Merc support:
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Delta-Intercept aerospace flight participates in the battle
[] air superiority
[] ground attack

[gbasden]

[] hills/light woods with warehouse
[x] hills/light woods without warehouse

- If their mediums are moving that fast, better not to give them a shot at extra cover

Our ground support:
[X] Harasser missile platform (ultra-fast hovertank, 2x SRM/6 launcher turret)
[] Galleon (fast wheeled tank, 1x pulse laser turret, 1x laser on each side, active probe)


As usual, we have 24 support points worth of Lyran/Merc support:
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[XXXX] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Delta-Intercept aerospace flight participates in the battle
[x] air superiority
[] ground attack

- Speed is life! I'm figuring with how accurate these guys are, keeping fast units is probably our best option.

[$iljanus]

[] hills/light woods with warehouse
[x] hills/light woods without warehouse

- If their mediums are moving that fast, better not to give them a shot at extra cover

Our ground support:
[] Harasser missile platform (ultra-fast hovertank, 2x SRM/6 launcher turret)
[x] Galleon (fast wheeled tank, 1x pulse laser turret, 1x laser on each side, active probe)


As usual, we have 24 support points worth of Lyran/Merc support:
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[XXXX] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Delta-Intercept aerospace flight participates in the battle
[x] air superiority
[] ground attack

- Speed is life! I'm figuring with how accurate these guys are, keeping fast units is probably our best option.

Switched to the Galleon but agree with everything else!

[Leraje]

[x] hills/light woods with warehouse
[] hills/light woods without warehouse

[] Harasser missile platform (ultra-fast hovertank, 2x SRM/6 launcher turret)
[x] Galleon (fast wheeled tank, 1x pulse laser turret, 1x laser on each side, active probe)

[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[xxxx] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Delta-Intercept aerospace flight participates in the battle
[x] air superiority
[] ground attack

[El Guapo]

[] hills/light woods with warehouse
[x] hills/light woods without warehouse

- If their mediums are moving that fast, better not to give them a shot at extra cover

Our ground support:
[] Harasser missile platform (ultra-fast hovertank, 2x SRM/6 launcher turret)
[x] Galleon (fast wheeled tank, 1x pulse laser turret, 1x laser on each side, active probe)


As usual, we have 24 support points worth of Lyran/Merc support:
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[XXXX] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Delta-Intercept aerospace flight participates in the battle
[x] air superiority
[] ground attack

- Speed is life! I'm figuring with how accurate these guys are, keeping fast units is probably our best option.

Switched to the Galleon but agree with everything else!

Generally agree with this. What caliber of laser is on the Galleon? I don't love the Harrasser because if it gets close enough to use the SRMs then it'll be annihilated in short order, so if the Galleon has a large laser then we should do that. If it has medium / small lasers then I'd favor the Harrasser.

Similarly I like the Drillson, but can't remember the range of its weaponry. In general I'd favor tanks / hovercraft with range.

[moleymoleymoley]

[X] hills/light woods with warehouse
[] hills/light woods without warehouse
.

Our ground support:
[X] Harasser missile platform (ultra-fast hovertank, 2x SRM/6 launcher turret)
[] Galleon (fast wheeled tank, 1x pulse laser turret, 1x laser on each side, active probe)



As usual, we have 24 support points worth of Lyran/Merc support:
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[XXXX] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[X] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Delta-Intercept aerospace flight participates in the battle
[] air superiority
[X] ground attack

Any kind of cover is going to help with the clan range, and give me hovertanks over wheeled/tracked any day of the week

[NickAragua]

Generally agree with this. What caliber of laser is on the Galleon? I don't love the Harrasser because if it gets close enough to use the SRMs then it'll be annihilated in short order, so if the Galleon has a large laser then we should do that. If it has medium / small lasers then I'd favor the Harrasser.

Similarly I like the Drillson, but can't remember the range of its weaponry. In general I'd favor tanks / hovercraft with range.

Galleon has a medium pulse laser, so it's actually shorter range than the Harasser, but it can usually take a couple of laser shots before becoming disabled.

Drillson has LRMs and a large laser, so it can hang out at long range, then bring its SRMs to bear at short range.

[El Guapo]

Generally agree with this. What caliber of laser is on the Galleon? I don't love the Harrasser because if it gets close enough to use the SRMs then it'll be annihilated in short order, so if the Galleon has a large laser then we should do that. If it has medium / small lasers then I'd favor the Harrasser.

Similarly I like the Drillson, but can't remember the range of its weaponry. In general I'd favor tanks / hovercraft with range.

Galleon has a medium pulse laser, so it's actually shorter range than the Harasser, but it can usually take a couple of laser shots before becoming disabled.

Drillson has LRMs and a large laser, so it can hang out at long range, then bring its SRMs to bear at short range.

Ok, so I'd say use the Harrasser and the Drillsons.

[Zenn7]

[] hills/light woods with warehouse
[x] hills/light woods without warehouse

- If their mediums are moving that fast, better not to give them a shot at extra cover

Our ground support:
[X] Harasser missile platform (ultra-fast hovertank, 2x SRM/6 launcher turret)
[] Galleon (fast wheeled tank, 1x pulse laser turret, 1x laser on each side, active probe)


As usual, we have 24 support points worth of Lyran/Merc support:
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] Light Hovercraft: 4 - good firepower, weak armor, fast (e.g. Pegasus hovertank)
[XXXX] Medium hovercraft: 5 - good firepower, medium armor, fast (e.g. Drillson hovertank)
[] Light armor: 4 - light firepower, light armor, fast (e.g. Skulker scout tank)
[] Medium armor: 4 - medium firepower, medium armor, medium speed (e.g. Vedette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Delta-Intercept aerospace flight participates in the battle
[x] air superiority
[] ground attack

- Speed is life! I'm figuring with how accurate these guys are, keeping fast units is probably our best option.

This is good.

[NickAragua]

Vote Results:

Spoiler:

No warehouse

Harasser - ||||
Galleon - ||

Medium Hovercraft x4 + Air superiority

"Hey, Int-Two, you ever get those heat sinks fixed?"

"Nah, Three. Don't see why. Fighter doesn't even generate enough heat to use 'em."

"Yeah, but come on, don't the red status lights bother you?"

"Nope."

Our aerospace flight, consisting of two Sparrowhawks (one with a pair of bad heat sinks) and a Sholagar, gets into a furball with four light-medium clan fighters.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

"Hit the burners and dive!"

"Int Two, I'm hit. Fire control systems damaged!"

Round 2:

Spoiler:

"I'm going down! Ejecting!"

Round 3:

Spoiler:

"Stay on the deck, make them work for it."

Round 4:

Spoiler:

"Locking on... firing. Got him!"

Round 5:

Spoiler:

"Wow, these fighters sure blow up easy."

Round 6:

Spoiler:

"Ok, one on one now. We got these bastards."

Round 7:

Spoiler:

"Tough little sonofabitches."

Round 8:

Spoiler:

"He's on my two."

"Got him, he's breaking off."

Round 9:

Spoiler:

"On his tail... good hit. Oh shit, I'm hit, losing altitude!"

"Got him too. They're pulling back! Search and Rescue, Int-Three has ejected but is not responding to comms."

Despite their fighters being faster and a lot better armed, and taking one of ours out early, we get lucky and manage to blow up two of them with direct fuel tank hits, driving the other two off. However, it takes our guys quite a while to get this done, which means our two remaining aerospace fighters - a Sholagar with damaged avionics and a Sparrowhawk - won't be able to help out until almost two minutes into the fight. Which basically means our ground forces will be on their own for most of the fight. And even when they do get there, they're just light fighters so they won't be much help.

The good news is that Delta-Ranger's allied support units aren't too bad - an LTV-4, a Condor, a Drillson and a Maxim with an infantry platoon. Well, the infantry platoon is kind of pointless, but it's not our infantry so we don't really care. But we do get a PPC, a large laser and a bunch of LRMs.

Delta-Ranger's upcoming battlefield:

Spoiler:

We can deploy from the west side, where our hovercraft will have a little more room to maneuver, but our mechs will have less cover, or we can deploy from the east side, where the opposite will be true.
[] Deploy west
[] Deploy east