Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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Leraje
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:05 pm [] Deploy west
[x] Deploy east
Our mechs can use all the advantages they can get.
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El Guapo
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Leraje wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 6:26 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:05 pm [] Deploy west
[x] Deploy east
Our mechs can use all the advantages they can get.
Makes sense.

Can we also defer possession until the second half?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Leraje wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 6:26 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:05 pm [] Deploy west
[x] Deploy east
Our mechs can use all the advantages they can get.
Agreed!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

$iljanus wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 6:38 pm
Leraje wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 6:26 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:05 pm [] Deploy west
[x] Deploy east
Our mechs can use all the advantages they can get.
Agreed!
Cover is good...
Can we drag some cover along w/ us? :)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Deploy east
"... so then, he reaches out his hand for the laser sword, but grabs a vibrator from the shelf instead!" the Griffin pilot finishes, to the laughter of most of the lance.

Madmarcus performs a practiced eyeroll. "Great. Cut the chatter and ready op, or you'll be waving a your personal belongings around in the unemployment line."

Sensors show the enemy force on scope. Unlike Inner Sphere units, these invaders operate in groups of five. So far, we've never seen them use vehicles in combat - kind of like us, actually. Well, we've branched out a little bit recently, but most of our mechwarriors still snub their noses at the treadheads. And given the pretty horrific casualty rates among the supporting armor and hovercraft forces, it's not entirely unjustified.

Among the hostiles are a pair of 45 tonners we haven't seen yet. The updated targeting software our Lyran buddies have provided us identifies them as "Fenris", but that doesn't really tell us anything. Both of the mechs are carrying battle-armored infantry, which, so far, are pretty tough, but thankfully only a little faster than regular infantry.

Additionally, a pair of 55-ton Ryokens are a part of the enemy force, including one with a monster autocannon in its left arm and what looks like a laser cannon bracelet over its right arm.

Rounding out the group is a 40-tonner with a pair of lasers in each arm.

Our force is Madmarcus' trusty Wolverine, Freyland in the Cronus, Archinerd in a brand-new up-armored Dervish (which we further customized by removing a ton of Streak SRM ammo to add more armor), and our new Griffin pilot. The 1DS mounts a large pulse laser in the right arm and a huge 20-rack of LRMs over the right shoulder, where the standard Griffin's 10-rack would be. Our customization removed some of the unnecessary heat sinks to add area ECM and an active probe.

We've also got a stack of hovercraft riding along side us, so this should be some kind of fun. For somebody.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
"Wow, they've really got us ranged." Archinerd points out as several pairs of laser blasts poke out from the enemy formation. We return fire with LRMs, but nobody scores any hits.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
"Keep moving, close as fast as you can to our weapons range." Madmarcus exhorts our lance and the allied hovercraft.

The hovercraft do so, the Maxim zipping forward and getting immediately immobilized by a series of laser blasts from the nearby Ryoken. The gunners spray MG fire at the battle armor hopping off the nearby Fenris as the Maxim's passengers dismount - a pair of battle armor troopers drop to the ground, and then the Maxim gets perforated by SRMs. A pair of our infantry don't make it out. MG fire from the dismounted battle armor doesn't help, killing another eight troopers.

The Fenris eats a good amount of firepower, our Harasser blasting chunks of its rear armor off, while the allied Drillson scores a head shot with a couple of SRMs. Archinerd focuses LRM fire on the Ryoken, as does our Griffin pilot, although the latter also rakes the Griffin's pulse laser across the Fenris' center torso. Both clan mechs stagger, but remain upright. A pulse laser zaps the allied Condor, stunning the crew briefly.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
"Hovercraft, flank north." Madmarcus orders, then watches as the Fenris zips in to engage his mech in close range. Lasers of various kinds, extended-range and pulse, along with SRMs pepper the Wolverine's right side, with one SRM landing against the dome. Our mechwarrior turns the Wolverine's torso to face the attacker, returning fire with short-range lasers and SRMs to flake a bunch of armor off. This exposes the Wolverine's right arm to fire from across the field to the west, and the right arm sparks and goes limp, status indicators showing both lasers there disabled. "Fine." our mechwarrior scoffs, watching with amusement as our Griffin circles around behind the enemy 45-tonner. The nearby Stormcrow gets a good piece of our Griffin as it does so, burning off a significant chunk of left torso armor with lasers, but the Griffin's mechwarrior keeps the mech upright and puts a pulse laser blast through the 45-tonner's rear armor, weakened earlier by fire from our Harasser. The enemy mech seizes up and falls forward.

About half the Lyran hovercraft obey the order, the others zipping straight for the Ryoken with the monster autocannon and laser array. The laser array gets put to use cutting the Drillson into several less-than-50-ton pieces. The Drillson gets a good laser hit on the back of the Ryoken before being destroyed, while our Harasser pelts the enemy mech with SRMs, but the enemy mech's armor holds up.

Archinerd scowls, thinking briefly that this isn't the best time for the Dervish's arm actuators to malfunction, preventing our mechwarrior from rotating the mech's arms all the way back.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
Madmarcus and Freyland move northwest, firing at the Ryoken as they go. One of Madmarcus' SRMs blasts through the 55-tonner's left torso armor, causing a substantial amount of coolant fluid to spray out, along with what must be a hit on the engine. The enemy mech delivers multiple blasts to our Wolverine's rear armor, melting some internal structure but not damaging any critical components.

Archinerd focuses LRM fire on the three remaining battle armor troopers, blasting two to bits with direct hits.

To the west, the allied Condor hovertank's crew picks their teeth up off the floor and joins the LTV-4 in engaging the mechs to the west. The Ryoken there fires its monster autocannon, peeling armor off the hovertank's top and left side, then blasts through the engine block with lasers.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
The Condor's crew exits the vehicle through the convenient hole in their armor.

The allied LTV-4 breaks south, hovering over a lake, but is intercepted by a Ryoken, which melts a good chunk of the hovertank with lasers, causing it to lose its air cushion and splash into the water, sinking rapidly. Before going under, LTV-4 gets revenge on the Ryoken to the southwest, blasting it in the left torso with the PPC. A fireball blossoms from within the 55 ton mech, sending its left arm (and attached autocannon) flying off the hill entirely.

Our mechs attempt to flank to the north as well, but our weapons fire isn't terribly effective, other than a good shot to the back of the Ryoken from our Griffin. However, said Griffin eats several medium lasers to the center of mass, including one from the above-mentioned Ryoken that blasts through the already-damaged left torso armor, melting engine shielding and frying the Guardian ECM system.

Our Harasser gets in behind the 40-ton mech our targeting systems identify as a Battle Cobra, pelting it with SRMs (including a good ding to the cockpit), but the enemy mech turns around, blasting away with arm-mounted pulse lasers, and scores multiple hits. Needless to say, the ultra-light hovercraft does not remain intact.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
"Our screen's gone. Ranger lance, disengage and head east." Madmarcus states, exchanging what little weapons fire the Wolverine has left with the Ryoken that's still milling around in the middle of our lance. "Move out by..."

Our mechwarrior's transmission suddenly cuts out as the enemy mech returns fire, a laser brushing the Wolverine's cockpit briefly. Our mech remains standing, while the Ryoken is somewhat discouraged from its pursuit, with its left arm having flown off and slinks off, scooping up the remaining battle armor trooper.

Our remaining mechs keep the remaining hostiles from targeting our temporarily disabled Wolverine, while the two Ryokens limp off the field. Eventually, Madmarcus wakes up, just in time for our aerospace fighters to fly over, keeping the area long enough for our surviving tank crews to get clear and for search & rescue to bail out our ejected aerospace jock.

"Good thing we had those hovercraft for the green guys to kick around." Freyland comments on the way back.

Our entire screening force got plowed under, including all the allied units and our Harasser (one dead, one with a concussion). Madmarcus is a little beat up with multiple minor bruises and burns, as is the Wolverine (missing an arm). Our Griffin took an engine hit and the ECM system is out. The two other mechs are fine.

With their losses pretty minor - although they did wind up with two mechs crippled and one completely disabled, plus four battle armor troopers gone - the clans continue pushing through Delta Company's sector, although with different units on a subsequent day.

---

Meanwhile, Gamma Company engages their own opposition. Gamma-Command lance (Scrub in upgraded Warhammer, Angel in modified Flashman, Cylus in Grasshopper, plus a Thunderbolt) works alongside a 12th Star Guards task force that engaged a group of Clan mechs. The Star Guards were routed, but inflicted some damage on the hostile units before retreating. Rallying the survivors, Gamma Command moves in to finish the Clanners off. They do appear to have a pair of aerospace fighters patrolling the area, so we're likely to need some of our own.

We're bringing along two of our tanks - this time, we can bring some of the heavier stuff:
[] Manticore (up to 2) - Main Battle Tank. PPC, LRM/10, SRM/6, Medium Laser. Heavy armor.
[] Demon Tank - Basically a gauss rifle turret on wheels. Heavy armor.
[] Hetzer/Standard - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor.
[] Hetzer/Scout - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor. Slightly less ammo, but beagle probe.

24 points of support units are available - again, this time, we can bring heavier stuff (but the assault tanks aren't fast enough to get there on time):
[] 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)
[] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Gamma-Strike aerospace flight participates in the battle
--[] air superiority
--[] ground attack
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

We're bringing along two of our tanks - this time, we can bring some of the heavier stuff:
[x] Manticore (up to 2) - Main Battle Tank. PPC, LRM/10, SRM/6, Medium Laser. Heavy armor.
[x] Demon Tank - Basically a gauss rifle turret on wheels. Heavy armor.
[] Hetzer/Standard - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor.
[] Hetzer/Scout - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor. Slightly less ammo, but beagle probe.

24 points of support units are available - again, this time, we can bring heavier stuff (but the assault tanks aren't fast enough to get there on time):
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[xx] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Gamma-Strike aerospace flight participates in the battle
--[x] air superiority
--[] ground attack
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El Guapo
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Leraje wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:39 pm We're bringing along two of our tanks - this time, we can bring some of the heavier stuff:
[x] Manticore (up to 2) - Main Battle Tank. PPC, LRM/10, SRM/6, Medium Laser. Heavy armor.
[x] Demon Tank - Basically a gauss rifle turret on wheels. Heavy armor.
[] Hetzer/Standard - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor.
[] Hetzer/Scout - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor. Slightly less ammo, but beagle probe.

24 points of support units are available - again, this time, we can bring heavier stuff (but the assault tanks aren't fast enough to get there on time):
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[xx] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Gamma-Strike aerospace flight participates in the battle
--[x] air superiority
--[] ground attack
Sounds good to me.

Also, we should give our air corps / space force a bonus. They've been doing solid work thus far against the Clans - been a big big help.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

El Guapo wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 8:43 pm
Leraje wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:39 pm We're bringing along two of our tanks - this time, we can bring some of the heavier stuff:
[x] Manticore (up to 2) - Main Battle Tank. PPC, LRM/10, SRM/6, Medium Laser. Heavy armor.
[x] Demon Tank - Basically a gauss rifle turret on wheels. Heavy armor.
[] Hetzer/Standard - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor.
[] Hetzer/Scout - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor. Slightly less ammo, but beagle probe.

24 points of support units are available - again, this time, we can bring heavier stuff (but the assault tanks aren't fast enough to get there on time):
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[xx] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Gamma-Strike aerospace flight participates in the battle
--[x] air superiority
--[] ground attack
Sounds good to me.

Also, we should give our air corps / space force a bonus. They've been doing solid work thus far against the Clans - been a big big help.
Looks good.

Why would we ever want to use our air forces for ground attack when our enemy keeps bring their own air forces and ours keep kicking their butts pretty solidly??
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Leraje wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:39 pm We're bringing along two of our tanks - this time, we can bring some of the heavier stuff:
[x] Manticore (up to 2) - Main Battle Tank. PPC, LRM/10, SRM/6, Medium Laser. Heavy armor.
[x] Demon Tank - Basically a gauss rifle turret on wheels. Heavy armor.
[] Hetzer/Standard - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor.
[] Hetzer/Scout - Mobile AC/20 on wheels. Medium armor. Slightly less ammo, but beagle probe.

24 points of support units are available - again, this time, we can bring heavier stuff (but the assault tanks aren't fast enough to get there on time):
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[xx] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Gamma-Strike aerospace flight participates in the battle
--[x] air superiority
--[] ground attack
Yes, let’s bring this to the party!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:01 pm Why would we ever want to use our air forces for ground attack when our enemy keeps bring their own air forces and ours keep kicking their butts pretty solidly??
The ground attack option basically loads our fighters up with bombs, making them a lot more effective against ground targets but at the expense of slowing them down in air-to-air combat. The way it's been working out, it doesn't seem necessary.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:12 pm
Zenn7 wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:01 pm Why would we ever want to use our air forces for ground attack when our enemy keeps bring their own air forces and ours keep kicking their butts pretty solidly??
The ground attack option basically loads our fighters up with bombs, making them a lot more effective against ground targets but at the expense of slowing them down in air-to-air combat. The way it's been working out, it doesn't seem necessary.
I knew that, I just meant, we need to take their air forces out, and our air forces are doing kick-ass at it, let them keep doing that and then provide whatever support they can afterword (which has actually been pretty good for not being loaded up for that role).
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Manticore
Demon
2x Medium Hovercraft
2x Heavy Armor
Air Support - Air Superiority
Gamma-Strike is engaged by three fighters, a pretty mismatched group - 190 tons of assault fighter, and a single 20-tonner. Gamma-Strike is a Lucifer, a Lightning and an Eagle, so three heavies. Our scans show that the two assault fighters are loaded for bear, so we'll need to watch ourselves. The two assaults are incredibly fast, especially for assaults, matching our heavies in speed. And, from what we know, their double heat sinks let them keep firing all those guns until the cows come home.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
"They've got us ranged. Maximum speed, close in."

"Strike two, minor armor damage. Strike three, get that guy."

"Target hit, losing altitude."

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
"Shit, how do those fatasses get the drop on us?"

"Don't worry, I got him."

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
"Strike One, finishing off target."

"Watch out, the little guy's back!"

"Don't worry, I got him."

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
"He's on my tail!"

"Got him."

"Last guy's pulling back. Good work, let's go see if we can back up the guys on the ground."

---

A pretty solid showing on the part of our aerospace crew. The smaller fighter completely disintegrated, while one of the assaults, the 90-tonner, is somewhat intact. If we can beat the clanners on the ground, we should be able to get some salvage going.

Our Eagle is slightly damaged, having lost one of its lasers and a whole bunch of armor, while our Lightning's aero jock got tossed around a little, used up most of her autocannon ammo and has almost no armor on the left wing. The Lucifer is still fine, just some armor damage.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Scrub has rallied Gamma Command and the remainder of the 12th Star Guards. A Drillson and an AC/2 Condor are the supporting hovercraft, while the tanks are a Bulldog (with a large laser as its main gun) and an SRM carrier, which will be deadly if we can get it in close.

This is the layout of the battlefield, and current positions of the enemy mechs. Three of them have battle armor riding on them. We're looking at three seventy tonners that look like jacked-up Thunderbolts, a Loki and a Mad Cat.
Spoiler:
Image
(ignore the yellow highlights, we have to deploy directly on the edge)

A little barren, so it's going to be a slug fest. Which side do we come in on? Other than east. North side will let us get into the action right away, but it'll be pretty hard to maneuver with all the rocks in the way. West side seems inadvisable due to the clanners' range advantage. South doesn't have as much in the way of rocks, but we'll have to spend a few seconds closing in.

[] West
[] North
[] South
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:54 pm [] West
[x] North
[] South
Given the slug-fest nature of the fight, we might as well deploy as close as possible to minimize range advantage.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Leraje wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:35 am
NickAragua wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:54 pm [] West
[x] North
[] South
Given the slug-fest nature of the fight, we might as well deploy as close as possible to minimize range advantage.
No sense in delaying our enemy’s deaths so north it is! :horse:
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

$iljanus wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 10:07 am
Leraje wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:35 am
NickAragua wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:54 pm [] West
[x] North
[] South
Given the slug-fest nature of the fight, we might as well deploy as close as possible to minimize range advantage.
No sense in delaying our enemy’s deaths so north it is! :horse:
No sense delaying somebody's death anyhow... tot he NORTH! (or, from the north I guess would be more accurate?)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
North
"Up and over!" Scrub calls out as our mechs and tanks clear the ledge.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Scrub's Warhammer rocks as the hostiles focus on her Warhammer. Armor plates blast off under multiple missile salvos as Scrub returns fire. Having seen reports from the other lances that have engaged the clan forces, she decides to target the Loki in the back - those seem to be pretty weakly armored, and a PPC blast zaps the enemy mech's right leg. Our Demon tank scores a gauss hit on it as well.

Cylus slices a large amount of armor off the Mad Cat, joining Angel's Flashman in carving up the hill in front of it as well as its left torso armor. Scrub's mech helpfully informs her that the right leg armor is gone and the limb has suffered internal damage.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
"Wow, they turned my mech into swiss cheese real quick." Scrub thinks, backing up. Her and the Mad Cat continue exchanging fire, both mechs laying into each other with maximum firepower to rip through weakened armor and inflict major damage.

The Mad Cat's operator makes a major mistake though and walks into our SRM Carrier's field of fire. As the enemy mech fires its weapons at Scrub's Warhammer, a point-blank full salvo from the missile carrier really messes the 75-tonner up - the left arm goes flying off, its heat readings spike and it falls to the ground, not moving any more. Fire from our nearby Bulldog blows a relatively empty ammo bin on the Mad Cat's left torso as well. One of Scrub's PPCs blasts through the enemy mech's cockpit as well, in case it wasn't shot up enough.

Scrub's Warhammer is annihilated in an ammo explosion - weapons fire from the Mad Cat pierces the left torso, lighting off the SRM ammo bin. Scrub's ejection seat fires but she loses consciousness.

The SRM Carrier doesn't last long however, as it is targeted by the Loki and destroyed with a pair of laser blasts and a burst from its ultra autocannon. The Loki takes some damage from our

Cylus jumps the Grasshopper over behind the nearby Thor, blasting through its rear armor with several lasers, including a hit that appears to have melted some engine shielding. Our Thunderbolt serves as bait for the Thor, which allows Cylus to also get in a solid kick to the back of the enemy mech's leg, ripping it off and dropping it to the ground.

"They're swarming all over us, shit!" our Demon tank's commander reports as the tank drives south, firing its gauss rifle at the Loki. Then transmissions from our tank cease. The Loki takes another hit to the left torso, blowing through the armor and destroying some components in there - an opening which the allied Condor uses to blast a hole in that mech's engine shielding.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
The allied Bulldog gets swarmed by battle armored troopers and its fuel tank detonates as the enemies jump away. Our Manticore does a pretty good job on the nearby Thor, nailing it in the right torso with a PPC and severely damaging the engine shielding, which helps our Thunderbolt not get pummeled. As much.

Our allied Drillson hovertank is immobilized by laser and rifle fire from more battle armor guys, coming to a stop among the rock piles through which it was dodging and weaving.

Cylus jumps south, blasting the damaged Loki in the left torso and taking out its left arm, following up with a kick at the nearby Thor, which strips off a bunch of armor but fails to penetrate.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
"Command-One is down." Angel reports. "Ejection pod fired, but no comms."

The situation would be looking pretty good normally - one enemy mech eliminated, two with severe engine damage and another missing a leg, but our force is pretty beat up too - one mech down, four tanks out of action and little battle armor guys hopping around almost as fast as our mechs.

"Looks like the bad guys are disengaging." Cylus orders. "Move back north and break contact until our air support gets here."

"And someone get rid of that stupid battle armor." our mechwarrior grunts as the (relatively) little guys leave the Bulldog's wreckage and fire their shoulder-mounted SRMs and other ordnance at our Grasshopper, blowing out a heat sink in the left torso. Our mechwarrior replies with the 70-tonner's laser array, frying one trooper.

The allied Condor takes a battle armor trooper out with its AC/2, while Angel uses the Flashman's large lasers to good effect, putting a shot through two more as they exchange fire with out Manticore, destroying its right side treads. The remaining trooper in that crew zips off to the east, leaving his wrecked comrades behind.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Our arriving air support resolves the rest of the fight pretty decisively, knocking the remaining Thor out as it jumps south and unloads its LRMs on Angel's Flashman. The Thor's anti-missile system blasts a couple of the incoming LRMs, but its engine can't take the massive damage it sustains from a combination of the Flashman's lasers and our Lightning's AC/20 and the mech falls over, shutting down.

The remaining crippled mechs and battle armor troopers run and hop off, not including the legged Thor. Cylus approaches the enemy mech, the Grasshopper's lasers pointed at the cockpit.

"Your friends are destroyed or have run off. You've got only one working leg. Cease fire and power down."

The enemy mechwarrior complies, although the little bastard manages to sneak off while we wait for the salvage crews to arrive.

---

Other than losing Scrub's Warhammer, and three of our allied tanks, not to mention the crew of the Demon tank having earned themselves an extended stay in our medical facilities and our Manticore needing a ride back to base on a flatbed, that went ok. The clanners lost a Mad Cat and two Thors, in addition to a squad's worth of battle armor. But still, we stopped them pretty cold.

---

"Jeez, Major, what'd you do, take a hacksaw to your arm?" Madmarcus asks, standing up on crutches next to Scrub's bed in the Moonraker's medbay.

"You're one to talk, bandage-head." Scrub retorts, her voice weak from a combination of trauma and painkillers.

Zenn7 stands over the two silently, Cujo standing further back near the room entrance. Scrub looks at her bandaged stump of an arm. "Still can't believe how many guns those clan mechs pack. If we put that much firepower on one of our mechs, it'd just melt to slag."

She sighs. "Look, guys, it's time for the rest of you guys to get back out there. Yu-bao, you're in charge for now." Scrub looks at Zenn7. "Hope you do better than I did."

Zenn7 smirks. "You did all right, Major."

---

Our forces that engaged the clans took some heavy damage.

Alpha-Heavy probably came out the least damaged, with only Guru's Thug in such a state that it won't be available for the next round of engagements. Well, it's more the mechwarrior than the mech. The rest of the mechs and the air component are in pretty good shape. The support units, not so much - both Galleon tanks were destroyed as part of the action.

Beta-Hunter took over 50% casualties, including both the hovercraft we had in support. The Grasshopper took some internal damage but should be fixable in a day or two, while the Black Knight had some armor damage. Beta's aerospace component didn't do so hot - the Chippewa was destroyed completely, while the Starfire and Lucifer will take over two weeks to fix up, by which point the fight will be over one way or the other. We do have a few spare aerospace fighters and pilots kicking around, so Beta company will still have air support, it just won't be as heavy weight as they're used to.

Delta-Ranger lance took some damage to mechs, but mostly to support units, which were basically wiped out. Madmarcus is also out of action for a week with some injuries. Delta-Intercept lost an aerospace fighter, but we've got replacements. The support hovercraft were wiped out as well.

Gamma-Command lost the Warhammer (and, effectively, Scrub), with the Thunderbolt's pilot taking a ding as well. Remarkably, *our* two tanks survived and were recoverable, although the same can't be said for most of the Lyran support units.

Still, we've stopped the clan advances cold in our areas of operation. The same can't be said of our 10th Donegal and 12th Star Guards employers. We're "fresh", while they've been getting beat up in engagement after engagement, so it's not too surprising.

----

Alpha Company's next engagement involves a confrontation with an impressively heavy Clan force. Two Thors (which are basically jacked-up 70-ton Thunderbolts, although these units seem to have widely varied weapon loadouts from the Thors observed by Gamma-Command, two Lokis (65 tons, pretty light armor) and a Ryoken (55 tons) pursue one of our lances.

Our goal here is to lure these guys into the water to the east, where the local planetary garrison's oceanlarge lake-going vessels (including submarines) can torpedo them. The projected battlefield is pretty flat for the most part, but is crisscrossed with swamps and "river inlets" and other such geographical features.First - who's got the job?

[] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

For Alpha-Urban, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[] Merlin MLN-1A - a jack of all trades, master of none.
[] Guillotine GLT-4L - short-range brawler.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Leraje wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:44 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
Looks good. But does "limit 1" mean only one of each type of air support, or does it mean only one air unit between those choices?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

El Guapo wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:41 pm Looks good. But does "limit 1" mean only one of each type of air support, or does it mean only one air unit between those choices?
The former. Each of those is a distinct aerospace fighter that we have, so you can't send the same fighter in twice, but you can send in all three different ones.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:13 pm
El Guapo wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:41 pm Looks good. But does "limit 1" mean only one of each type of air support, or does it mean only one air unit between those choices?
The former. Each of those is a distinct aerospace fighter that we have, so you can't send the same fighter in twice, but you can send in all three different ones.
Ok. Then yeah, Leraje's set up makes sense.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Leraje wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:44 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
2 Medium hovercraft at 5 each = 10 points
3 Air support at 3 each = 9 points
Can we get a 3rd Medium hovercraft for the last 5 points or am I missing something?

Otherwise, sounds good to me.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

Zenn7 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:09 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:44 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
2 Medium hovercraft at 5 each = 10 points
3 Air support at 3 each = 9 points
Can we get a 3rd Medium hovercraft for the last 5 points or am I missing something?

Otherwise, sounds good to me.
Yeah, it should've been 3x "X" :)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Leraje wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:13 am
Zenn7 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:09 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:44 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
2 Medium hovercraft at 5 each = 10 points
3 Air support at 3 each = 9 points
Can we get a 3rd Medium hovercraft for the last 5 points or am I missing something?

Otherwise, sounds good to me.
Yeah, it should've been 3x "X" :)
This has the makings of an unstoppable force! :horse:
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

$iljanus wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:20 am
Leraje wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:13 am
Zenn7 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:09 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:44 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
2 Medium hovercraft at 5 each = 10 points
3 Air support at 3 each = 9 points
Can we get a 3rd Medium hovercraft for the last 5 points or am I missing something?

Otherwise, sounds good to me.
Yeah, it should've been 3x "X" :)
This has the makings of an unstoppable force! :horse:
Indeed.

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No one can stop us now!
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

El Guapo wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:35 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:20 am
Leraje wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:13 am
Zenn7 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:09 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:44 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
2 Medium hovercraft at 5 each = 10 points
3 Air support at 3 each = 9 points
Can we get a 3rd Medium hovercraft for the last 5 points or am I missing something?

Otherwise, sounds good to me.
Yeah, it should've been 3x "X" :)
This has the makings of an unstoppable force! :horse:
Indeed.

Enlarge Image

No one can stop us now!
Can the vehicles do awesome jumps and other stunts? And engage in trash talking banter?
Black lives matter!

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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

$iljanus wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:22 pm
El Guapo wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:35 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:20 am
Leraje wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:13 am
Zenn7 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:09 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:44 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
2 Medium hovercraft at 5 each = 10 points
3 Air support at 3 each = 9 points
Can we get a 3rd Medium hovercraft for the last 5 points or am I missing something?

Otherwise, sounds good to me.
Yeah, it should've been 3x "X" :)
This has the makings of an unstoppable force! :horse:
Indeed.

Enlarge Image

No one can stop us now!
Can the vehicles do awesome jumps and other stunts? And engage in trash talking banter?
And how!

Can we just send XXX against Jade Falcon?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

El Guapo wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:24 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:22 pm
El Guapo wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:35 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:20 am
Leraje wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:13 am
Zenn7 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:09 am
Leraje wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:44 pm
NickAragua wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:00 pm [x] Alpha-Ranger lance - faster medium mechs, but can only bring one support mech
[] Alpha-Urban lance - slightly slower heavy mechs, can bring two support mech

We're all out of hovercraft and VTOLs, so we're going to pull some spare mechs in:
For Alpha-Ranger, these mechs fit the speed profile:
[x] Griffin GRF-1N - PPC, LRM/10. 9.5 tons armor.
[] Dervish DV-6M (DA) - Twin LRM/10s, SRM/2s, medium laser. 8.5 tons armor.

24 points of support units are available - no wheels or tracks as they'd just get stuck in the coastal swamps or get left behind when we hit the water. Our aerospace guys are getting stressed and we have to expend a lot of resources on stimulants, promises of hookers and blow, and actually repairing their aircraft. We've also more or less given up on bombs in this situation, since the clanners are bringing a substantial number of aerospace fighters to the party, and dogfighting with external racks full of bombs is just asking for trouble. We're fighting near the coast, so we'll be able to call on some wet-navy support from the local militia.
[] VTOL: 5 - crap firepower, weak armor, super fast (e.g. Warrior VTOL)
[] 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)
[] Naval craft: 3 - crapshoot firepower, sinks easily, can't go on land obviously, disposable (patrol boat or corvette)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Shilone
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (too many heat sinks variant)
[x] Air support (limit 1): 3 - Lucifer (armor variant)
2 Medium hovercraft at 5 each = 10 points
3 Air support at 3 each = 9 points
Can we get a 3rd Medium hovercraft for the last 5 points or am I missing something?

Otherwise, sounds good to me.
Yeah, it should've been 3x "X" :)
This has the makings of an unstoppable force! :horse:
Indeed.

Enlarge Image

No one can stop us now!
Can the vehicles do awesome jumps and other stunts? And engage in trash talking banter?
And how!

Can we just send XXX against Jade Falcon?
They should just surrender now if XXX was going up against them...flying a souped up blimp of course.
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NickAragua
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

While our mechs and operational tanks move on to engage the next wave of incoming clanners, our techs back at base get to work. Among the more notable repairs is the ingenous removal of the sensor system from a Galleon tank wreck to replace a similar destroyed mechanism on the Demon. Of our damaged mechs, Leraje's Black Knight and Kwan's Grasshopper require more than the day's repair, as do Guru's Thug and Madmarcus' Wolverine. Although, only the Wolverine requires more than two days of work - we have to pull some replacement actuators from a wrecked Griffin we'd been keeping around. Three aerospace fighters, including the Lightning form Gamma-Strike and the Lucifer + Starfire from Beta-Strike are sidelined for the foreseeable future.

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Alpha-Ranger
Griffin GRF-1N
3x Medium hovercraft
3x air support
October 5, 3050
Zoetermeer Low Orbit

This aerospace skirmish winds up taking place above the atmosphere. Our three-fighter flight is intercepted by four clan fighters. It seems they've learned their lesson about the effectiveness of our aerospace units and have committed more force this time. Three of the fighters are a chassis we've seen before, designated as the Jagatai, a medium-armored 70-ton "medium". Only one of them appears armed with the monster autocannon, the rest sensors show as having gauss rifles and PPCs as primary weapons, which isn't much better. The other fighter is designated a Visigoth, and reads as 60 tons. We're not sure exactly what it's packing.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Our fighters close in on the hostiles, staying in formation, the weaker-armored Shilone in the back of the two Lucifer bricks. The Lucifers might not have as much ranged firepower as those clan fighters, but they've got twice the armor.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Here's the trio of bad guys, with the odd man out to the north, who appears to be having trouble with his thrusters.

"Rookie." scoffs our Shilone's pilot. "Hey, what the?!" our aero jock reacts to a target lock warning and manages to jink just in time to avoid a pair of laser blasts from one of the Jagatais (the B). "Holy shit, they've got some range on those lasers. Get in close before they pick us apart."

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
One of the Jagatais lets rip with its monster autocannon, gouging huge chunks out of our Lucifer's armor, the impact shaking our aero jock around and causing him to lose control of the fighter temporarily.

Our Shilone targets the offending fighter, scoring multiple hits on its right wing, while our other Lucifer rakes lasers and LRMs along another fighter's bottom as it banks and fires up its thrusters. The Shilone takes damage to the fire control systems and loses a laser, but one of the Jagatais drifts out of control as well.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
The Shilone's pilot grunts as he whips the fighter around and is pressed into the back of his seat, dodging a laser blast from the back of a clan fighter on an outbound vector. Our fighter opens fire on the Jagatai it previously damaged, scoring a nasty hit with a laser and multiple LRMs - bits flake off the enemy fighter and one of its PPCs is now bent at an odd angle.

"Shit, they got me." our Lucifer pilot reports as he tries to bring the fighter under control - a gauss slug from the Jagatai B cracks the engine shielding on our fighter, causing hot air to vent into the cockpit and the fighter to shudder.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Shilone and second Lucifer exchange long-range fire with the Clan fighters as they vector off. The Jagatai Prime eats a few LRMs to the left wing, blowing out a laser, while the Shilone loses its nose-mounted laser. The Lucifer takes a pair of gauss rifle hits, but the extremely thick armor holds.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Lucifer reports damage to the fire control system. We score some hits on the Jagatai B, but fail to penetrate its armor.

Round 7:
Spoiler:
Image
"Go evasive, I'm on his three!" our Lucifer exclaims excitedly, as he finally manages to get the drop on the "has-no-business-being-that-nimble" Jagatai. The clanner still manages to glance a gauss slug off our Shilone's wing, but eats four laser blasts that cause heavy armor damage but fail to penetrate. Still, this is a great opportunity as the other clanners are still coming around for another pass and have left their buddy high and dry.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Lucifer sticks to the Jagatai's tail like glue, removing more and more armor from the tail section with lasers and LRMs. Unfortunately, the Visigoth has decided to make a return, so our fighter will have odds against it, as the Shilone is basically done at this point.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
The two-on-one doesn't go well for our Lucifer, which eats a hit to the fire control system, and its nose armor is almost gone. A couple of small laser hits do manage to make the guy in the Visigoth lose control for the second time.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Lucifer rotates relatively undamaged armor towards the Jagatai's deadly gauss rifles, at which point the fighter shudders and informs its pilot that the fuel tank has been hit and is leaking.

Round 11:
Spoiler:
Image
Our Shilone gets a good hit on the Jagatai, dinging the nose with LRMs, but it looks like that's it for our aerospace fighters this time around.

The Shilone stalls for a little bit, keeping the clan fighters occupied as long as possible, forcing them to waste more ammo, but takes an engine hit and is forced to retreat as well.

"Sorry, Captain." the flight leader transmits to Alpha-Ranger. "Just too many of them, and they're too tough. They're vectoring on your position now, ETA one hundred sixty seconds."

Cujo nods, revving up her Wolverine's engine as the clan mechs close in. "Don't worry about it, Strike Flight. That's plenty of time for us to wrap this up."
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NickAragua
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

"Hovercraft, move ahead, but stay in weapons range, we'll need covering fire." Cujo orders, throttling the Wolverine up. Bass (in the Griffin), Stefan (in the Trebuchet), our Ostroc and the Griffin move up as well.

The Star Guards have sent three hovercraft with us, a Drillson, a Condor (an anti-infantry variant with two flamers, two MGs and three medium lasers), and an LTV-4. That LTV-4 is a venerable design dating back to the Star League, and is not that fast for a hovercraft, but you can't go wrong with a turret-mounted PPC.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
Our mechs stay in formation for now, moving east as rapidly as their jump jets will allow, the swampy terrain preventing meaningful ground-based movement.

"Hey, you ever wonder why they don't put more armor on those hovercraft skirts?" Bass idly asks Stefan. "Seems like a stiff breeze usually disables them."

"Yeah, but then where are you gonna put all the guns?" Stefan retorts.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
"In the water, if you can! Watch your backs!" Cujo calls out - some of our mechs have jump jets in the legs, but most don't, and they'll benefit greatly both heat-wise and in terms of not taking leg damage.

That's because the clan force has arrived. No battle armor at least, not that it'd be useful in this terrain anyway.

Cujo's Wolverine rocks as a Thor plants a gauss slug and a blast from a large pulse laser in its center of mass. Her return fire seems inadequate, although everything hits - lasers, SRMs. But it just pings off the much heavier mech's armor. Another gauss slug nails the Wolverine's right arm, stripping most of the armor off there, and then a pulse laser cracks the gyro and engine shielding. Her mech rocks, but she's able to keep it upright.

The allied LTV-4 lands a PPC shot on a hostile Loki, scoring a head hit, which is about the only bright spot this round, as Stefan's Trebuchet loses all left torso armor.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
Cujo sighs. The plan involved our mechs going under water, but, at this point her mech's engine will cease working when she splashes in - the armor's gone and it'll just flood. And then she'll be going for a swim. Furthermore, the engine shielding damage basically prevents the Wolverine from firing any weapons at this point. She keeps it going for now, but she'll have to make a hard call in a few seconds.

"Just one more hop... " Stefan thinks, firing an LRM salvo at a slightly distant Thor, shortly before his mech suddenly decides to fire his ejection seat before the right torso shreds itself in an ammo explosion. To add insult to injury, the seat lands in the water, and our mechwarrior has to go for a swim.

To cap off this dismal round, an LRM salvo from a distant Ryoken disables an allied hovertank, the Condor. The LTV-4 continues its deadly accurate PPC fire, hitting another Loki in the center of mass, while the rest of our return fire is ineffective.

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
"Over the cliff, then into the water. Now. Walk the rest of the way." Cujo calls out.

Our allied LTV-4 gets a little enthusiastic and hits a support on the bridge crossing the small bay, spinning out of control and sinking under the water.

We lob a few LRMs over the hill, scoring a couple of minor hits on a Thor that got itself stuck in one of the swamps, but for the most part the hill blocks line of sight and firing, for which we're pretty thankful.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
We continue firing LRMs over the hill, with little effect, but the clanners aren't shooting at us at all. However, sensors show that one of the Thors is about to crest the hill.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
Jammed up against the coast with nowhere to go and no way to escape, Cujo bails out. The rest of the lance splashes into the lake, with the Thors in hot pursuit. The Drillson dances enticingly beyond what we think is the Thors' maximum range, hoping to lure them into the lake, in range of torpedoes.

Unfortunately, the clanners don't fall for it and stop at the lake shore, apparently satisfied with having eliminated two mechs and two tanks with very little damage in return.

"It was kind of a stupid idea anyway." Bass points out later to nobody in particular, picking underwater plants out of his Griffin's lower leg joints.

Cujo and Stefan manage to make their way out of the area before the Clan salvage crews arrive. Not exactly the best outcome in that particular engagement, losing two mechs and two of the allied hovertanks. Our aerospace fighters got pretty shot up as well, while we didn't really inflict any meaningful damage on the opposition.

----

Orbital tracking manages to get a good trajectory on a Jade Falcon dropship heading in from orbit. It's radar profile indicates that it's an aerodyne craft, similar to a Leopard (which, as we know, carries four mechs - given that these guys operate in units of five, it's reasonable to assume it'll be carrying five). We've got a projected drop point (which is behind our lines) so we'll be able to bring in a lance of mechs from Beta Company to set up an ambush and see if we can get the drop on these guys for once. Not that that's done us too much good recently.

The terrain is pretty obnoxious - low scrubs, puddles, mud and muck, broken up with hills, so it'll be a close-range battle that gives tanks the advantage. This will be more or less a fight to the death, as the clanners will have no where to go.

What's the primary lance?
[] Beta-Assault - Awesome, Mackie, Victor, Thunderbolt - 3 support units
[] Beta-Fire - 2x Archer, Stalker, Crusader - 2 support units Just kidding, these guys are mostly LRMs and not very good for this scenario at all
[] Beta-Hunter - Black Knight, Grasshopper 5N, Hatamoto-Hi (replacement), Guillotine 4L (replacement) - 2 support units

Beta-Assault is the best we've got, with the nastiest mechs. Beta-Hunter is looking for some payback, and we've fixed the mechs that came back and reinforced the lance.

Which are our support units (2 or 3 depending on Beta Assault or Beta Hunter)?
[] Demon Tank - gauss rifle on wheels with replacement crew
[] Manticore (up to 2) - main battle tank with good armor
[] Demolisher - twin AC/20s, ultra slow
[] Schreck PPC Carrier - 3x PPC
[] Hetzer (up to 2) - AC/20 on wheels, expendable

Allied support (24 points):
The clans have really stepped up their combat air patrols, so aerospace support is unavailable. But, on the other hand, we can bring the big boys with us on this one.
[] 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)
[] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[] Assault armor: 7 - extreme firepower, extreme armor, basically stationary (e.g. Demolisher)
[] Jump Infantry: 2 - high mobility, limited firepower, swarm capability
[] Mechanized Infantry: 2 - medium mobility, crapshoot firepower (maybe field guns)
[] Low-Density Minefield: .5 - plink the legs
[] Medium-Density Minefield: 2 - actually damage the legs
[] High-Density Minefield: 4 - maybe blow a leg off
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:59 pm
What's the primary lance?
[X] Beta-Assault - Awesome, Mackie, Victor, Thunderbolt - 3 support units
[] Beta-Fire - 2x Archer, Stalker, Crusader - 2 support units Just kidding, these guys are mostly LRMs and not very good for this scenario at all
[] Beta-Hunter - Black Knight, Grasshopper 5N, Hatamoto-Hi (replacement), Guillotine 4L (replacement) - 2 support units

Beta-Assault is the best we've got, with the nastiest mechs. Beta-Hunter is looking for some payback, and we've fixed the mechs that came back and reinforced the lance.

Which are our support units (2 or 3 depending on Beta Assault or Beta Hunter)?
[] Demon Tank - gauss rifle on wheels with replacement crew
[X] Manticore (up to 2) - main battle tank with good armor
[X] Demolisher - twin AC/20s, ultra slow
[X] Schreck PPC Carrier - 3x PPC
[] Hetzer (up to 2) - AC/20 on wheels, expendable

Allied support (24 points):
The clans have really stepped up their combat air patrols, so aerospace support is unavailable. But, on the other hand, we can bring the big boys with us on this one.
[] 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)
[XX] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[XX] Assault armor: 7 - extreme firepower, extreme armor, basically stationary (e.g. Demolisher)
[] Jump Infantry: 2 - high mobility, limited firepower, swarm capability
[] Mechanized Infantry: 2 - medium mobility, crapshoot firepower (maybe field guns)
[] Low-Density Minefield: .5 - plink the legs
[] Medium-Density Minefield: 2 - actually damage the legs
[] High-Density Minefield: 4 - maybe blow a leg off
This is the ideal shot for our slowest and heaviest units.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:24 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:59 pm
What's the primary lance?
[X] Beta-Assault - Awesome, Mackie, Victor, Thunderbolt - 3 support units
[] Beta-Fire - 2x Archer, Stalker, Crusader - 2 support units Just kidding, these guys are mostly LRMs and not very good for this scenario at all
[] Beta-Hunter - Black Knight, Grasshopper 5N, Hatamoto-Hi (replacement), Guillotine 4L (replacement) - 2 support units

Beta-Assault is the best we've got, with the nastiest mechs. Beta-Hunter is looking for some payback, and we've fixed the mechs that came back and reinforced the lance.

Which are our support units (2 or 3 depending on Beta Assault or Beta Hunter)?
[] Demon Tank - gauss rifle on wheels with replacement crew
[X] Manticore (up to 2) - main battle tank with good armor
[X] Demolisher - twin AC/20s, ultra slow
[X] Schreck PPC Carrier - 3x PPC
[] Hetzer (up to 2) - AC/20 on wheels, expendable

Allied support (24 points):
The clans have really stepped up their combat air patrols, so aerospace support is unavailable. But, on the other hand, we can bring the big boys with us on this one.
[] 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)
[XX] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[XX] Assault armor: 7 - extreme firepower, extreme armor, basically stationary (e.g. Demolisher)
[] Jump Infantry: 2 - high mobility, limited firepower, swarm capability
[] Mechanized Infantry: 2 - medium mobility, crapshoot firepower (maybe field guns)
[] Low-Density Minefield: .5 - plink the legs
[] Medium-Density Minefield: 2 - actually damage the legs
[] High-Density Minefield: 4 - maybe blow a leg off
This is the ideal shot for our slowest and heaviest units.
Agreed. Swamp them with tonnage. Especially if DS will present on the map.
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gbasden
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Leraje wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:32 pm
Zenn7 wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:24 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:59 pm
What's the primary lance?
[X] Beta-Assault - Awesome, Mackie, Victor, Thunderbolt - 3 support units
[] Beta-Fire - 2x Archer, Stalker, Crusader - 2 support units Just kidding, these guys are mostly LRMs and not very good for this scenario at all
[] Beta-Hunter - Black Knight, Grasshopper 5N, Hatamoto-Hi (replacement), Guillotine 4L (replacement) - 2 support units

Beta-Assault is the best we've got, with the nastiest mechs. Beta-Hunter is looking for some payback, and we've fixed the mechs that came back and reinforced the lance.

Which are our support units (2 or 3 depending on Beta Assault or Beta Hunter)?
[] Demon Tank - gauss rifle on wheels with replacement crew
[X] Manticore (up to 2) - main battle tank with good armor
[X] Demolisher - twin AC/20s, ultra slow
[X] Schreck PPC Carrier - 3x PPC
[] Hetzer (up to 2) - AC/20 on wheels, expendable

Allied support (24 points):
The clans have really stepped up their combat air patrols, so aerospace support is unavailable. But, on the other hand, we can bring the big boys with us on this one.
[] 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)
[XX] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[XX] Assault armor: 7 - extreme firepower, extreme armor, basically stationary (e.g. Demolisher)
[] Jump Infantry: 2 - high mobility, limited firepower, swarm capability
[] Mechanized Infantry: 2 - medium mobility, crapshoot firepower (maybe field guns)
[] Low-Density Minefield: .5 - plink the legs
[] Medium-Density Minefield: 2 - actually damage the legs
[] High-Density Minefield: 4 - maybe blow a leg off
This is the ideal shot for our slowest and heaviest units.
Agreed. Swamp them with tonnage. Especially if DS will present on the map.
Seems reasonable to me.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Leraje wrote:
Zenn7 wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:24 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:59 pm
What's the primary lance?
[X] Beta-Assault - Awesome, Mackie, Victor, Thunderbolt - 3 support units
[] Beta-Fire - 2x Archer, Stalker, Crusader - 2 support units Just kidding, these guys are mostly LRMs and not very good for this scenario at all
[] Beta-Hunter - Black Knight, Grasshopper 5N, Hatamoto-Hi (replacement), Guillotine 4L (replacement) - 2 support units

Beta-Assault is the best we've got, with the nastiest mechs. Beta-Hunter is looking for some payback, and we've fixed the mechs that came back and reinforced the lance.

Which are our support units (2 or 3 depending on Beta Assault or Beta Hunter)?
[] Demon Tank - gauss rifle on wheels with replacement crew
[X] Manticore (up to 2) - main battle tank with good armor
[X] Demolisher - twin AC/20s, ultra slow
[X] Schreck PPC Carrier - 3x PPC
[] Hetzer (up to 2) - AC/20 on wheels, expendable

Allied support (24 points):
The clans have really stepped up their combat air patrols, so aerospace support is unavailable. But, on the other hand, we can bring the big boys with us on this one.
[] 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)
[XX] Heavy armor: 5 - good firepower, good armor, slow speed (e.g. Manticore)
[XX] Assault armor: 7 - extreme firepower, extreme armor, basically stationary (e.g. Demolisher)
[] Jump Infantry: 2 - high mobility, limited firepower, swarm capability
[] Mechanized Infantry: 2 - medium mobility, crapshoot firepower (maybe field guns)
[] Low-Density Minefield: .5 - plink the legs
[] Medium-Density Minefield: 2 - actually damage the legs
[] High-Density Minefield: 4 - maybe blow a leg off
This is the ideal shot for our slowest and heaviest units.
Agreed. Swamp them with tonnage. Especially if DS will present on the map.
Bring on Beta Assault!

I agree with all of this but just wanted to ask if there were any good choke points to lay a minefield or is it not worth it on this map?
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NickAragua
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

There are a couple of chokepoints, but we can't predict exactly where the bad guys will land, other than we'll be surrounding them, so they'll be a mixed bag. Also, in retrospect, the way things worked out, the minefields would have worked against us rather than for us, so, lucky break on that one.

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Beta-Assault

Manticore
Demolisher
Schreck

2x Heavy
2x Assault
The Shcreck develops a mechanical fault that prevents its deployment - the tech goes on a lengthy rant about "drive shafts" and "control boards", but we don't really have the time for an in-depth explanation, so Zenn7 orders the other Manticore brought up instead.

Our Lyran buddies rendezvous with us at the drop point - they brought a 50/50 mix. The Brutus assault tank is a 75-ton unit that wants to be an assault tank - it packs fourteen SRM tubes in the front, and a twin large laser turret with an LRM/20 rack. They also brought a Schreck PPC carrier, which is basically just three PPCs in a turret (so a short Awesome that can't stomp things). But... they also brought a Partisn and an AC/2 Carrier, which are great if you want to shoot down aircraft that aren't shooting back, but not for much else.

Well we'll do what we can.

The dropships comes flying over and drops five mechs off from high altitude before zipping back off to orbit. Two Lokis (great!), two Thors (less great) and a 50-ton Black Hawk. We've seen all of these in action before. The bad part is that all of them are loaded to the gills with battle armor troopers clinging on, and they even have an extra five-pack of battle armor jumping down on their own.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
A "light wind" causes the clan units to drift off their projected landing zone. Which is great, except, well, our units are slow and have a little trouble relocating into optimal position.

LordMortis frowns in consternation, but no time to worry about that now - our mechwarrior fires up the Victor's jump jets, hopping on top of a small rise and blasting away at a Thor that has landed nearby. The Victor's gauss slug scores a hit, along with a laser and some SRMs, but the Thor's armor holds. A brief glance to the right shows the allied Brutus getting swarmed by battle armor, lasers, SRMs and small arms carving up its right-side treads as the vehicle fires its lasers at the same Thor and SRMs at the battle armor trying to keep it off. The Thor returns fire, its lasers flaying armor off the Victor's arms, the left arm briefly flashing a warning light. The nearby Partisan joins the party as well, pinging AC/5 rounds off the Thor's legs. The Thor wobbles as a laser penetrates the center torso armor and falls over.

Zenn7 targets the other Thor, hitting it with three PPC blasts. Armor holds up, but about two tons of it came off, so not too bad. An explosion beyond that Thor signals the demise of the allied AC/2 carrier which really got caught with its pants down.

Siljanus and Moley move to engage a Loki, the Thunderbolt's lasers melting torso armor and the Mackie causing a breach in the right torso with a solid PPC shot. Siljanus' face scrunches up as the Black Hawk to the south rotates its squad body to the right and blasts away with its PPCs and pulse lasers - the rapid-fire coherent light beams track upwards from the torso and straight into the Thunderbolt's cockpit. The Loki looks pretty beat up, but shows no signs of retreat.

Siljanus barely even notices the "gentle" rocking that the Mackie takes as the nearby Thor blasts off armor with its weapons array. The left torso flashes red in warning.

Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
Moley blinks his eyes, watching the Thunderbolt settle down on the ground. Somehow, our mechwarrior managed to yank the ejection lever before getting completely burnt to a crisp.

The Thor to the southeast gets up, but is put down rapidly by a combination of three PPC shots from Zenn7's Awesome and a gauss slug from LordMortis' Victor. LordMortis' vision briefly goes white as a laser impacts the Victor's head, but our mechwarrior is able to let out a breath - he's not dead yet.

To the southwest, the clanners have established a pocket - our Manticore attempts to fire at the Black Hawk, but the PPC only grazes it, while the mech's anti-missile system plucks all the Manticore's LRMs out of the air, blasting them with its rapid-fire auto-targeting machine gun. Our Demolisher puts two AC/20 blasts into the nearby Thor, but the mech somehow survives, although it very obviously limps as its left leg has taken severe damage.

Siljanus continues his duel with the Loki that refuses to surrender - a PPC blast and a gauss slug from the Mackie takes off the lighter mech's left arm, but the little bastard returns fire with its remaining PPC, popping three of Siljanus' heat sinks.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis' targeting systems have taken severe damage, so he has to "eyeball" it for the most part. Our mechwarrior finds himself thankful that the mech's heat sink capability is pretty good, because the damage report shows "life support" as red. He watches with detached horror as a squad of battle armor swarms and disables one of our Manticores - the allied Partisan pings one of them with a pair of AC/5 rounds, but he just staggers briefly before resuming his laser barrage. LordMortis shatters one trooper with a gauss slug, but can't get a good shot on the rest.

One of the Demolisher's AC/20s jams, but the other nails the nearby Black Hawk in the right shoulder, effectively putting one of its PPCs out of action. The Black Hawk returns fire with both PPCs anyway, melting through the front of our tank and destroying it.

Siljanus attempts to get into the nearby woods, having to hold one of the Mackie's PPCs to avoid overheating the mech. The gauss rifle shot hits the the persistent Loki - its right torso disappears in a massive ammo explosion, but the worst of it is vented out a blow-out panel in the back, but the mech drops to the ground anyway.

Zenn7 switches targets to the southwest Thor, nailing it with three more PPC shots and knocking it to the ground. A PPC blast from Siljanus' Mackie to the left torso doesn't help, sending the Thor's heat readings spiking. The enemy mech returns fire, hitting our Mackie in the damaged left torso, blowing off the left arm and crippling our mech.

Round 4:
[footage damaged]
LordMortis moves northwest, intent on keeping the battle armor off Zenn7, which he does a good job off, blowing away a pair of troopers with laser and SRM fire. To the south, the Partisan gets disabled by another battle armor squad, despite Zenn7's best efforts - our mechwarrior takes the "one shot, one kill" approach to the little guys, evaporating three of the Partisan's attackers with PPC shots while frying a nearby one with the Awesome's small laser.

Yes, that's right, the small laser actually did something.

Zenn7 curls his lip in derision as he squashes the last battle armor trooper in front of his mech, bringing the Awesome's foot down.

"Assault-Two, pulling back to the north." Siljanus reports, the Mackie limping as the gyro starts acting up.

Our second Manticore gets destroyed by the Black Hawk's remaining PPC, while our Schreck hits rock instead of mech.

Round 5:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 sniffs as the air in the cockpit ripples due to the heat rising from the reactor. "Assault-seven, pull back to our position if you can. Assault-Three, stay with me."

"Sorry, no can do, Captain." the Lyran crew responds. "We're screwed. Gonna take at least some of them down with us."

"Understood, Assault-Seven." our lance commander responds as he lines up a pair of PPC shots on the Thor staggering in the distance, holding the third one to let the Awesome's heat sinks work their magic. The enemy mech stops staggering once it takes a hit, seizes up, and falls over.

Continuing to retreat, Siljanus brings the Mackie's gauss rifle around, firing at a pursuing Loki, more or less blowing its foot off. This causes the mech to stagger, which lets the Schreck line up a shot with its triple PPCs, blowing the 65-ton mech's head right off. The Schreck is eliminated by LBX autocannon fire from the enemy Thor before that mech's demise, however.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
LordMortis and Zenn7 briefly look at each other as Siljanus leaves the field.

With most of the enemy mechs gone or not really combat effective, it's actually kind of a turkey shoot on the battle armor troopers that are caught out in the open. Zenn7 manages to nail two, while LordMortis simply fires on the remaining Loki, scoring a gauss hit to the center of mass.

Round 7-9:
Spoiler:
Image
Some long-range fire is traded as the battle armor closes in. The Loki's long-range weapons appear to be gone (along with both of its arms), as it's only using its lasers, but the Black Hawk gets several PPC hits on Zenn7's Awesome, receiving a few gauss slugs in return. Several battle armor troopers get fired by PPC blasts, and then the Black Hawk decides to close in to weapons range.

At which point, Zenn7 blasts it with all three PPCs, wrecking the left torso section and causing the mech to seize up and drop the ground.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
"Crazy, suicidal bastards." LordMortis thinks, dropping down from the hill he'd camped out on to avoid the annoying but persistent fire from the Loki. A group of battle armor troopers sneaks up on our mech, and although he's able to blow one of them away with an SRM salvo, they let loose with their SRMs, one of which blasts the Victor's already damaged head. LordMortis manages to yank the ejection lever just in time.

Our mechwarrior's ejection seat lands slightly to the north, where an armored trooper moves towards him, but Zenn7 blows the little guy away.

Round 14:
Spoiler:
Image
The remaining battle armor troopers bound towards Zenn7's position, with the Loki limping far behind. Six make it to cover just on the other side of Zenn7's hill, but the Loki doesn't. It scores a couple of minor laser hits on the Awesome's armor, but our mechwarrior drops it with a pair of PPC shots.

Round 15:
Spoiler:
Image
Zenn7 decides not to wait for the battle armor to jump over the hill and charges around it instead, blasting a pair of troopers into oblivion with the Awesome's PPCs and squashing another one. They fire SRMs and small arms, but are unable to penetrate the Awesome's armor. The remaining troopers try to bound off the hill, but our mechwarrior shows no mercy, frying the remainder.

"Anybody else have something to say?" our lone mechwarrior calls out, the mech surveying the scene of devastation before it.

"Reactor temperature, critical. Shutting down." The mech's computer informs him.

Zenn7's hand hovers over the override button, but he lets it go - there's no point. Nothing else moves on the battlefield.

---

Mech damage is pretty extensive - the Victor and Thunderbolt will need their cockpits rebuilt, while the Mackie's left torso is gone. Of the tanks we deployed, one Manticore and a Demolisher are gone, as is the entirety of the Lyran force that came with us. One Manticore survives.

Three of the Demolishers crew were killed in action, with the rest being badly injured.

Between the two of them, LordMortis and Moley have a broken rib, a concussion and multiple other minor injuries. They'll recover, but not in time to participate in the rest of this campaign.

Other than Zenn7's Awesome, Beta-Assault is out of action.

The only real bright side is that, other than completely taking four heavies and a medium mech out of action, along with thirty suits of battle armor, we get salvage this time around. As per the terms of our contract, we won't be able to pull whole mechs, but we should be able to get away with grabbing a few guns or miscellaneous systems - a summary of our techs' and post-battle reports follows:

Extended-Range Large Laser (x2) - these things have ridiculous range and do more damage than a standard large laser.

Extended-Range Medium Laser (x5) - the weight of a medium laser, but the range and (almost) the damage of a large laser.

Targeting Computer - our techs say that one of the Thors had this multi-ton processing system that's hooked into all the weapons and vastly increases accuracy.

ECM Suite - like our ECM suites, except better.

Active Probe - like our active probes, except better.

Extended-Range PPC (x3) - like our ER PPCs, except can hit targets at way beyond the range of any weapons that we have, and does 150% more damage.

There's also an assortment of anti-missile systems, and an LBX/10 autocannon. Whose ammo isn't compatible with our systems.

We'll need to pull some serious favors from our employer to get this stuff, but it might be worth it.

We've got 19 "favor points" left. Each piece of salvage costs one.
[] ER Large Laser (up to 2)
[] ER Medium Laser (up to 5)
[] ER PPC (up to 3)
[] Targeting Computer
[] ECM Suite
[] Active Probe
[] LBX/10 autocannon + 5 shots of ammo
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Captainwolfer
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Captainwolfer »

Already voted on Sufficient Velocity, but I say we take all the lasers and PPCs, and nothing else, using up 10 favor
The order is- Lady Harrington, and no mercy!
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Leraje
Posts: 608
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Location: NYC

Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

NickAragua wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:08 pm We've got 19 "favor points" left. Each piece of salvage costs one.
[xx] ER Large Laser (up to 2)
[xxxxx] ER Medium Laser (up to 5)
[xxx] ER PPC (up to 3)
[] Targeting Computer
[] ECM Suite
[] Active Probe
[] LBX/10 autocannon + 5 shots of ammo
Clan ERPPCs imo the best headhunting weapon in the game. Can never ave enough of those.
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gbasden
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Leraje wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:53 pm
NickAragua wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:08 pm We've got 19 "favor points" left. Each piece of salvage costs one.
[xx] ER Large Laser (up to 2)
[xxxxx] ER Medium Laser (up to 5)
[xxx] ER PPC (up to 3)
[] Targeting Computer
[] ECM Suite
[] Active Probe
[] LBX/10 autocannon + 5 shots of ammo
Clan ERPPCs imo the best headhunting weapon in the game. Can never ave enough of those.
Agreed. If the targeting computer adds that much accuracy, might it be worth grabbing for one of our high damage mechs? An Awesome with 3 ERPPCs and bonus accuracy would be pretty fearsome.
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Leraje
Posts: 608
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

gbasden wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 4:11 pm
Leraje wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:53 pm
NickAragua wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:08 pm We've got 19 "favor points" left. Each piece of salvage costs one.
[xx] ER Large Laser (up to 2)
[xxxxx] ER Medium Laser (up to 5)
[xxx] ER PPC (up to 3)
[] Targeting Computer
[] ECM Suite
[] Active Probe
[] LBX/10 autocannon + 5 shots of ammo
Clan ERPPCs imo the best headhunting weapon in the game. Can never ave enough of those.
Agreed. If the targeting computer adds that much accuracy, might it be worth grabbing for one of our high damage mechs? An Awesome with 3 ERPPCs and bonus accuracy would be pretty fearsome.
You will need to free up 1T in order to add TC with 3x ERPPCs to the AWS. Also could be the issue of crit slots - TC will need 4 free slots in one of the torsos and that could be an issue since you need to sink 45+ heat/turn.

What you really want is Masakari - for a Prime version loose the LRM and add heatsinks.With good skills you can sustain 4/2 firing, or just 3 indefinitely. :violence-instagib:
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$iljanus
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

gbasden wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 4:11 pm
Leraje wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:53 pm
NickAragua wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:08 pm We've got 19 "favor points" left. Each piece of salvage costs one.
[xx] ER Large Laser (up to 2)
[xxxxx] ER Medium Laser (up to 5)
[xxx] ER PPC (up to 3)
[] Targeting Computer
[] ECM Suite
[] Active Probe
[] LBX/10 autocannon + 5 shots of ammo
Clan ERPPCs imo the best headhunting weapon in the game. Can never ave enough of those.
Agreed. If the targeting computer adds that much accuracy, might it be worth grabbing for one of our high damage mechs? An Awesome with 3 ERPPCs and bonus accuracy would be pretty fearsome.
All the shiny pew pew stuff and if the targeting computer works efficiently with one of our mechs snap that one up too.

You done good, Beta! You done good.
Black lives matter!

Wise words of warning from Smoove B: Oh, how you all laughed when I warned you about the semen. Well, who's laughing now?
Zenn7
Posts: 4447
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

$iljanus wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:15 pm
gbasden wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 4:11 pm
Leraje wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:53 pm
NickAragua wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 3:08 pm We've got 19 "favor points" left. Each piece of salvage costs one.
[xx] ER Large Laser (up to 2)
[xxxxx] ER Medium Laser (up to 5)
[xxx] ER PPC (up to 3)
[] Targeting Computer
[] ECM Suite
[] Active Probe
[] LBX/10 autocannon + 5 shots of ammo
Clan ERPPCs imo the best headhunting weapon in the game. Can never ave enough of those.
Agreed. If the targeting computer adds that much accuracy, might it be worth grabbing for one of our high damage mechs? An Awesome with 3 ERPPCs and bonus accuracy would be pretty fearsome.
All the shiny pew pew stuff and if the targeting computer works efficiently with one of our mechs snap that one up too.

You done good, Beta! You done good.
Agreed on the salvage.

Let's be sure to notify our allies... "AND THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE." Not in a snarky tone, but in a hardcore serious manner.

Say... we need our space e-bay guys looking into more mechs/asf's for us?
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