Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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El Guapo
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

NickAragua wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:47 pm
The force that ran Gamma-Probe off is a 40-ton Dragonfly, two 50-ton Black Hawks, a 55-ton Ryoken, a 60-ton Vulture. Plus, the guys that Delta-Ranger didn't fight (25, 3x30, 1x55 Ryoken), and five suits of battle armor.

Which mechs are escorting our artillery? (pick 2)
[X] Angel's Flashman - nice, big 75 tonner with an all-laser loadout
[X] Griffin GRF-1N - classic 55 tonner
[] Javelin JVN-10N - 30-tonner, fast, light armor, 2x SRM/6
[] Raven RVN-1X - 35-tonner, ECM and active probe capability
[] Hunchback HBK-4G - slow 50-tonner with AC/20, elite gunner

Akalon also considers our overall approach - we can simply focus on taking down the buildings quickly then escape, or attempt to re-capture the strongpoint. The latter will let us hold this area down a little longer, while the former probably minimizes our losses in the short term.

[] Recapture the strongpoint
[X] Blow it to bits
I think the priority here under the circumstances is preserving our own forces first and foremost, so it doesn't seem worth it to take on the risk of loss that would come with trying to retake the strongpoint.

As for the force, the Griffin seems like a no-brainer. I struggle a bit between the other options as being either too slow or too underpowered, but on balance I figure it's better to have as much firepower as we can. I'm assuming here that there aren't two Griffins available, incidentally.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

I agree with the blimp commander. Preserving as much of our forces as possible comes first.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

Is the overall campaign winnable or are we all doomed on this planet in the end? If preserving our forces can help us possibly win or at least let us leave the planet then let’s destroy everything down to the toilets and bug out. But if we’re gonna die anyway and we have a favorable advantage for this fight...
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

$iljanus wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:00 pm Is the overall campaign winnable or are we all doomed on this planet in the end?
Depends on how the Lyran assault on the Clan dropships goes. We haven't heard anything about it yet.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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NickAragua wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:03 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:00 pm Is the overall campaign winnable or are we all doomed on this planet in the end?
Depends on how the Lyran assault on the Clan dropships goes. We haven't heard anything about it yet.
I'm sure that's going to go great.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

El Guapo wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:04 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:03 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:00 pm Is the overall campaign winnable or are we all doomed on this planet in the end?
Depends on how the Lyran assault on the Clan dropships goes. We haven't heard anything about it yet.
I'm sure that's going to go great.
Oh they’ll have it under control I’m sure...(starts reading How to be a Clan Bondsman for Dummies)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

$iljanus wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:21 pm
El Guapo wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:04 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:03 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:00 pm Is the overall campaign winnable or are we all doomed on this planet in the end?
Depends on how the Lyran assault on the Clan dropships goes. We haven't heard anything about it yet.
I'm sure that's going to go great.
Oh they’ll have it under control I’m sure...(starts reading How to be a Clan Bondsman for Dummies)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Leraje wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:28 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:21 pm
El Guapo wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:04 pm
NickAragua wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:03 pm
$iljanus wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:00 pm Is the overall campaign winnable or are we all doomed on this planet in the end?
Depends on how the Lyran assault on the Clan dropships goes. We haven't heard anything about it yet.
I'm sure that's going to go great.
Oh they’ll have it under control I’m sure...(starts reading How to be a Clan Bondsman for Dummies)
Rule 11: no contractions, quiaff?
I bet the dropship assault went amazing, but they're just waiting to tell everyone because they're worried about people getting too excited.

On an unrelated note, I already snagged all the bright green paint, so you guys will have to find your own.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Blow it to bits.

Let's go out fighting! After all, we become clansmen, we're losing all our shares of the company! Not trading life as a millionaire merc (I'm assuming if the company doesn't lose all it's money, my effective net worth places me solidly in the millionaire category) for a slave bondsman for a group of lunatics who don't seem to understand/value money and luxury!

As for the Lyran assault on their dropships... I have so much confidence in their assault that I'm going to stick with plan A - go out fighting rather than become a clan bondsman.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

Zenn7 wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:50 pm Blow it to bits.

Let's go out fighting! After all, we become clansmen, we're losing all our shares of the company! Not trading life as a millionaire merc (I'm assuming if the company doesn't lose all it's money, my effective net worth places me solidly in the millionaire category) for a slave bondsman for a group of lunatics who don't seem to understand/value money and luxury!

As for the Lyran assault on their dropships... I have so much confidence in their assault that I'm going to stick with plan A - go out fighting rather than become a clan bondsman.
Exactly. Now how long is it before they get to our home planet? I should have kept that Awesome...
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Flashman, Griffin
Blow it to bits
Akalon takes Gamma-Probe lance and approaches from the northeast, distracting all ten of the clan mechs. That's going to be pretty rough, but meanwhile, our Long Toms, Griffin and Angel's Flashman can hang out in the southeast and shell the firebase without being counterattacked.

Round 1:
Spoiler:
Image
"Well, that distraction worked a little too well." Drazzil remarks, jumping his Cronus into some dense woods to try to avoid the incoming fire. A little 30-tonner mechs runs up and plants a burst from its right arm autocannon and a laser into the Cronus' center of mass. Drazzil rakes the Cronus' laser over a Ryoken's left leg, while AWS nails a different one in the back with the Phoenix Hawk LAM's snub-nose PPC.

Our Long Toms start shelling away.


Round 2:
Spoiler:
Image
A massive ammo explosion comes from the firebase, indicating a direct hit by one of our Long Toms on a firebase building.

Delta-Probe exchanges fire with the bulk of the clan force, coming out roughly even in terms of damage, but we can afford it less.

Round 3:
Spoiler:
Image
A Ryoken comes over to attack our Long Toms, disabling one. Ideally, our Griffin and Angel will be able to deal with it, but they have trouble scoring weapons hits.

Meanwhile, Delta-Probe lance has a pretty good round, being able to avoid most incoming fire. A little 20-ton mech actually hops into the water behind AWS, firing its lasers underwater, but not inflicting enough damage to breach armor. Our mechwarrior hops upwards

Round 4:
Spoiler:
Image
The Ryoken keeps trying to move towards our Long Toms, so Angel takes a knee and zaps the 55-ton mech with the Flashman's laser array, the laser tracking towards its left leg and breaching armor. The Flashman takes some damage in return, but no armor breaches.

Akalon breathes out as a gauss slug spangs off the Vulcan's cockpit just a couple of meters above the glass - any lower and that would have been it. The Vulcan's left arm comes off as well as a PPC blast just rips it right off.

AWS jumps back, firing the LAM's snub-nose PPC at the tiny 25 ton mech engaging him. It hits the left arm, blasting an SRM launcher off, then our othe Phoenix Hawk disables the arm entirely. The nearby 30-tonner (designated an Uller) takes a kick to the right leg from our Phoenix Hawk LAM, breaching its armor there.

Round 5:
[camera feed disrupted]
"Dammit, Delta, where are you. We need some serious backup here!" Akalon calls out.

"Ten seconds out, comes the response."

Akalon smirks. "Probably won't be here in ten seconds.", firing up his jump jets and landing to minimize exposure to the hostile mechs, a gauss rifle slug flying overhead.

Our 3D Phoenix Hawk takes an engine hit, though, sending its heat spiking a little more than the mechwarrior would like.

On the plus side, our Long Toms take out another of the strong points, leaving just two.

Angel's opponent gets around the back of the heavy mech, but our mechwarrior still swings the left arm around and nails it in the head with a large laser, taking off most of the armor and about half the cockpit glass.

Round 6:
Spoiler:
Image
"Probe-One, Probe-Four, pulling back." Akalon informs the now-arriving Delta-Ranger.

"Great! Targets destroyed!" Our force commander calls out as the last of the Long Tom rounds land in the strong point, flattening the remaining structures.

The allied hovercraft zip on to the field alongside Delta-Ranger. A PPC shot from a Black Hawk immediately punches through the right side of one, taking it out. Its Saracen buddy skids off the field and books it. The other two, at least, stick around for now.

AWS takes a hit from a rapid-fire autocannon to the left arm, blowing out an actuator and throwing our mechwarrior's aim off against the nearby Dragonfly, although it still loses left leg armor from a kick.

Our retreating Phoenix Hawk takes a couple of lasers blasts from the Vulture, but its anti-missile system engages and destroys the few LRMs flying in its direction.

To the south, Angel continues blasting away at the Ryoken as it tries to deal with our two mechs, working on the left leg some more with lasers and fusing the hip joint, which becomes telling when the 55-ton mech attempts to move forward and keels over to the right instead.

Round 7:
[camera feed disrupted]
"Well, now that everyone's here..." Akalon pipes up. "Objective accomplished, everyone pull back." He punctuates this by firing the Vulcan's lasers at the nearby 25-ton mech. The little mech's armor has already taken significant damage, so a laser is able to find its way past the remains of said armor and into an SRM ammo bin. As usual with these clan mechs, the ammo blows out the back, but it still causes severe damage and wobbling.

Three of our othe mechs team up on a 30-tonner equipped with a rapid-fire autocannon - AWS takes some internal damage from it, but the incoming fire, mostly from our Griffin, but from AWS' snub-nose PPC as well, drops it on its back. Sensor scans show that it basically has no armor.

One of our standard Phoenix Hawks also rips the arm off another fast 25-tonner, which appears to have contained the entirety of the mech's offensive weapons (it does have some equipment on the left arm, but it looks like anti-missile systems and a TAG laser).

To the south, Angel's target Ryoken gets up, but is forced back to a knee immediately as our Flashman doesn't let up - the hip damage slows the clan mech down so it can't keep tracking our mech.

Round 8:
Spoiler:
Image
One of the allied Scimitars plows into a tree and is immobilized, the crew bailing out right away - although it doesn't do them any good as a nearby clan mech just guns them down.

With three of the clan mechs retreating and the rest mostly hanging back, we have a reasonable shot at clearing out of here with relatively little damage.

AWS breathes a sigh of relief after being able to feather the Phoenix Hawk LAM's jump jets just right to disrupt its movement pattern and avoid a burst from an incoming rapid fire AC/20.

Round 9:
Spoiler:
Image
One of our mechs, an upgraded Griffin, doesn't quite make it - its left leg crumples under assault from a rapid-fire AC/20 operated from a Ryoken, and it goes down to the ground.

Round 10:
Spoiler:
Image
The Griffin actually makes it up off the ground, but then the enemy Vulture launches a full LRM volley and blasts through its left torso, disabling the oversized XL engine.

It *could* have made it off the field with a broken leg, a little limping never hurt anyone, but making it off the field without power is another thing altogether.

Overall, that wasn't too bad - we mostly took some armor damage, and a few blown out actuators. We did lose one of our Long Toms and the 1DS Griffin, which is a shame, but otherwise, we did a pretty bang-up job, leveling the firebase (and probably all the battle armor guys that were likely camped out in the buildings) and crippling three of the clan mechs. We also lost two of the militia hovercraft, but that's less of a concern for us.

The mechwarrior in the Griffin was unable to clear the field and was captured, while two of the Long Tom crew members were killed when their vehicle was disabled. Akalon winds up benched with a sprained leg, while AWS gets forehead stitches.

---

Zenn7's brief nap is interrupted by a comms tech knocking on his door. It takes him a few seconds to blink his eyes open, but he gets it done, staggering over to the comms terminal, where the video call is routed. Our liaison is on the line, an apologetic and resigned look on his face.

"I understand you're in charge of the Overlords for the time being, Captain."

Zenn7 shakes his head to clear it. "Yeah. Let's skip the pleasantries."

"Fine. I've authorized the release of the rest of your payment. The HPG transmission has already gone out." the liaison states.

"Uh... is this about the dropship assault?" our acting CO replies.

"... kind of. There's been a new development." the liaison sighs. "We've negotiated a withdrawal of our forces from this world - the Falcons have apparently had enough combat on the ground and their Star Colonel has threatened to use their warships to initiate orbital bombardment. We just don't have anything to counter that." He smirks. "Your people pushed them back pretty hard."

"Great." Zenn7 replies, frowning. "We'll just pack up and leave then - without a break in the fighting, we're no longer combat effective anyway."

"I think not, Captain. The General only negotiated, uh, what's that term, 'Hegira' for our forces. You've been surrendered as, uh... what did that guy call it, 'Isorla'."

"I don't think I've been exposed to this type of Steiner humor before." Zenn7 states.

"It's not a joke. You, and the remaining planetary militia, are to stand down and surrender yourselves." the liaison says. "I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be. You have eight hours to comply."

The transmission cuts. Zenn7 punches the wall next to the comm terminal.

---

Discussion among the command staff (held in the medical bay, since three quarters of said command staff are either stitched together or have missing limbs) is animated. Without the 10th Donegal and 12th Star Guards, there's no way we can hold off the Falcons, especially if they decide to use their warships. And also, we've gotten paid, so we no longer have a reason to be here - we can pack everything up in the eight hours and burn for our jumpship, which is still at the jump point. However, with several warships maintaining a blockade, trying to escape carries a significant risk of everyone dying. We could probably plan our route so that we only get intercepted by one warship, but a warship is a warship.

[] Accept the surrender and stand down
[] Load up and run the warship blockade
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by AWS260 »

Well shit.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

So...a few questions. If we accept the surrender, is it game over? Or we switch to all roleplaying as Clan bondsmen?

Also, if we can navigate it so that we only have to get by one Clan warship, what are our rough odds of making it out? 80%? 50%? 10%?

Lastly, can we negotiate hegira for ourselves?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Cylus Maxii »

Shit, indeed.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

El Guapo wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 5:13 pm So...a few questions. If we accept the surrender, is it game over? Or we switch to all roleplaying as Clan bondsmen?

Also, if we can navigate it so that we only have to get by one Clan warship, what are our rough odds of making it out? 80%? 50%? 10%?

Lastly, can we negotiate hegira for ourselves?
Heh, if you guys want, we certainly can try that. A large chunk of the OO mechwarriors are a little old (the clanners have a thing about "old" people, aka anyone older than 30), so it won't be the exact same crew if that does happen. Individuals who the clanners consider worthy will get a choice (or determine randomly).

Regardless, I'm planning on taking a sabbatical from this and launching a sort of sequel subsequently. The shape of the sequel will be pretty heavily influenced by the next couple of decision points.

We've got five dropships (two Unions, a Seeker, an Overlord and a Jumbo), so, chances are that *something* will make it past. It depends on the kind of warship and how lucky we get. The nastier warships can vaporize a lighter dropship in one or two salvos, but if we spread out, it's unlikely that any warship will be able to take out every dropship we have.

We can attempt a negotiation. Whether it'll be successful, well...
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by AWS260 »

If we make a break for it, will the Clan presume that the Lyrans have violate the agreement and take it out on their butts? Because that would be nice.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

AWS260 wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 5:45 pm If we make a break for it, will the Clan presume that the Lyrans have violate the agreement and take it out on their butts? Because that would be nice.
By the time we do, the Lyrans will probably be long gone - they've probably been burning out to the jump point for the last day while we were brawling.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Captainwolfer »

So, looking at what ships the Jade Falcons had, it looks like most of their ships were Aegis Class Heavy Cruisers

The main guns of the Aegis Class is 18 NAC/35s (Naval Autocannon), which deal 350 damage per hit. Our 2 Unions have 180 armor at best, while our Seeker has 140 armor at best. Our Fortress class dropship does have over 400 armor on each side, so it can take a hit from a NAC/35, but not much more than that.

Oh, and the Aegis class can carry up to 20 aerospace fighters.

The least bad match-up for us would be if they only sent a Fredasa corvette, which would still have 4 NAC/10s and a NAC/40. NAC/10 deal 100 damage per hit, while a NAC/40 deals 400 damage per hit. Also the corvette has 8 NL/45s (45 damage per hit), 16 ER large lasers, 16 small lasers, 6 Streak SRM-6, and 4 LRM-20 with Artemis (Although the LRMs point backward for some reason). Also, it can carry up to 20 aerospace fighters as well.

In short, even against a single warship I would expect to lose at least 1 dropship, probably more than 1.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Captainwolfer »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 5:42 pm
El Guapo wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 5:13 pm So...a few questions. If we accept the surrender, is it game over? Or we switch to all roleplaying as Clan bondsmen?

Also, if we can navigate it so that we only have to get by one Clan warship, what are our rough odds of making it out? 80%? 50%? 10%?

Lastly, can we negotiate hegira for ourselves?
Regardless, I'm planning on taking a sabbatical from this and launching a sort of sequel subsequently. The shape of the sequel will be pretty heavily influenced by the next couple of decision points.
I would suggest just telling us what our options are for the shape of the sequel, instead of making us guess what votes will lead to what.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by gbasden »

I vote for making a run for it.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

The Clans don't hire mercs, right? So we can't hire ourselves out to JF?

Any chance that they would bite on us offering to trade information (on the Lyrans / defenses / local systems / etc.) in exchange for Hegira?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Captainwolfer wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:02 pm I would suggest just telling us what our options are for the shape of the sequel, instead of making us guess what votes will lead to what.
I'm not really sure at this point, either. If we surrender here, it'll be drastically different from if we all get killed trying to run off, which will be drastically different from if we mostly make it out.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

El Guapo wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:08 pm The Clans don't hire mercs, right? So we can't hire ourselves out to JF?

Any chance that they would bite on us offering to trade information (on the Lyrans / defenses / local systems / etc.) in exchange for Hegira?
Unknown to us (but they don't) and they don't seem to have (too) much trouble rolling over Inner Sphere forces regardless of what information they have.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

Try negotiating, failing that attempt a blockade run.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Captainwolfer »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:10 pm
Captainwolfer wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:02 pm I would suggest just telling us what our options are for the shape of the sequel, instead of making us guess what votes will lead to what.
I'm not really sure at this point, either. If we surrender here, it'll be drastically different from if we all get killed trying to run off, which will be drastically different from if we mostly make it out.
I guess my point was that I want the story to continue as a mercenary company, and it feels like these are both bad options "just because".

IE why wouldn't the Falcons allow the honorable withdrawal of the group that was fighting them to a standstill in mech combat? Why wouldn't the General try to get our company as part of the withdrawal as well. Sure, in story there is sense to it (Who cares they are mercs or whatever), but out of story it's kinda like "We (the voters) didn't make any really wrong choices and are still getting fucked over"
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Captainwolfer wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:17 pm
NickAragua wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:10 pm
Captainwolfer wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:02 pm I would suggest just telling us what our options are for the shape of the sequel, instead of making us guess what votes will lead to what.
I'm not really sure at this point, either. If we surrender here, it'll be drastically different from if we all get killed trying to run off, which will be drastically different from if we mostly make it out.
I guess my point was that I want the story to continue as a mercenary company, and it feels like these are both bad options "just because".

IE why wouldn't the Falcons allow the honorable withdrawal of the group that was fighting them to a standstill in mech combat? Why wouldn't the General try to get our company as part of the withdrawal as well. Sure, in story there is sense to it (Who cares they are mercs or whatever), but out of story it's kinda like "We (the voters) didn't make any really wrong choices and are still getting fucked over"
Sometimes, you just take a Gauss slug to the dome.

But regardless, unless I read you guys very, very wrong, I'm not really seeing a "Clan Octopus Overlords" in the future - we're likely to see a continuation of the mercenary company one way or the other.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by $iljanus »

No harm negotiating while we plan our escape. I really don’t relish being called a “Surat” for the rest of my days.

Or we repair what we can and die well on this planet.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

$iljanus wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:14 pm Or we repair what we can and die well on this planet.
aka "Trial of Refusal"
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zarathud »

Damn, too effective for our own good. The Clan wants to remove us from play.

Send a transmission to let the rest of the band know are employer was dishonorable assholes who left us to hang.

Who do we have left to bid against the Clan to negotiate our own withdrawal in a trial by combat?
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by AWS260 »

NickAragua wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 4:09 pm [x] Accept the surrender and stand down
[] Load up and run the warship blockade
I don't wanna die.
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El Guapo
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Leraje wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:28 pm
$iljanus wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:14 pm Or we repair what we can and die well on this planet.
aka "Trial of Refusal"
Wait, can we do something like that? Propose an honorable combat, if we win we get to leave peacefully, if they win then we surrender.
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Leraje
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

El Guapo wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 8:43 pm
Leraje wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:28 pm
$iljanus wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:14 pm Or we repair what we can and die well on this planet.
aka "Trial of Refusal"
Wait, can we do something like that? Propose an honorable combat, if we win we get to leave peacefully, if they win then we surrender.
We played fairly with them without much underhanded tactics so far... Well, mostly fairly... So we are not on their KOS list :P
Zenn7
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

Negotiate (the trial by combat sounds like how that might work best).

If that fails, blockade run.

If that fails, guess whats left of the company back on our new home world just got a whole hell of a lot richer, assuming clans don't make it there to make our company's continued existence a moot point.

If we make it out of this, we don't do missions anywhere near the clan frontline unless it's an offensive mission against the clan. Offensive against the clan, we have some control of the situation. Doing something on a planet and having the clan show up while we finish out our contract leaves us subject to this BS abandonment again.

I somehow doubt the Lyrans screwed us over any more than any other employer would in the same situation; though I'd be willing to work for an employer who would not have left us to surrender/die if we do believe someone would have done better by us.

AND DEFINITELY SCRATCHING THE LYRANS OFF OUR CHRISTMAS CARD LIST! :csmile:

(and punching the wall, again!)
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:45 pm I somehow doubt the Lyrans screwed us over any more than any other employer would in the same situation; though I'd be willing to work for an employer who would not have left us to surrender/die if we do believe someone would have done better by us.
At least they paid us what was owed. Kuritans would've just left us behind without even a courtesy call.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Stefan Stirzaker »

Load up the ships and make a sacrificial ship against the blockage. It distracts and or rams the enemy while the fully loaded ones run. YOU WILL LIVE IN OUR MEMORIES
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

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Stefan Stirzaker wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:56 pm Load up the ships and make a sacrificial ship against the blockage. It distracts and or rams the enemy while the fully loaded ones run. YOU WILL LIVE IN OUR MEMORIES
Let's draw straws and the short straw gets to pull a Holdo Maneuver with one of our ships.
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El Guapo
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by El Guapo »

Zenn7 wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:45 pm Negotiate (the trial by combat sounds like how that might work best).

If that fails, blockade run.

If that fails, guess whats left of the company back on our new home world just got a whole hell of a lot richer, assuming clans don't make it there to make our company's continued existence a moot point.

If we make it out of this, we don't do missions anywhere near the clan frontline unless it's an offensive mission against the clan. Offensive against the clan, we have some control of the situation. Doing something on a planet and having the clan show up while we finish out our contract leaves us subject to this BS abandonment again.

I somehow doubt the Lyrans screwed us over any more than any other employer would in the same situation; though I'd be willing to work for an employer who would not have left us to surrender/die if we do believe someone would have done better by us.

AND DEFINITELY SCRATCHING THE LYRANS OFF OUR CHRISTMAS CARD LIST! :csmile:

(and punching the wall, again!)
This sounds like the right approach to me.
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by NickAragua »

Vote Results:
Spoiler:
Negotiate/trial by combat, run for it if negotiations fail |||||||
Surrender |
"... I see." the Star Colonel crosses his tree-trunk arms in front of his chest. "And if you are defeated, what exact benefit is it to me? I am already entitled to take posession of all your personnel and equipment."

Zenn7 shrugs. "Efficiency. If we run for it, you'll probably have to blow a bunch of us up. But this way, you just have to take out a few more mechs, and then we'll surrender."

The video screen shows Star Colonel Kozyrev briefly looking to his right, as if attempting to confirm something. "This is obviously a transparent ploy to distract us. However, I accept your challenge, since it will give me a chance to further blood my mechwarriors. We will fight augmented, using battlemechs only. I bring a reinforced trinary of battlemechs to defend my claim." He smirks. "You will not have the opportunity to hide behind disposable chaff this time - you must face me and my mechwarriors in honorable combat." He raises a finger. "Somewhat honorable, anyway. Your dezgra tactics leave me no choice but to forego Zellbrigen for this battle. As the challenger, you may now select the battlefield."

Zenn7 looks around the comm center, briefly considering our options. If we're doing this, it's going to be a massive fight - almost three companies of mechs on our side, with eighteen mechs on the clan side - he manifest transmitted to us from the Star Colonel is mostly in the medium and heavy range, although it looks like that 95-ton Gladiator will be making a return. The clan forces will have the advantage on open terrain of any kind, so we want to pick an area where we will be at least somewhat manage lines of sight. Otherwise, it will be a complete blood bath.

"We will meet you in... "
[] "Mozenplatz" - a medium-sized town, hopefully we can get it evacuated
[] "Skudlarz Factory Complex" - heavy duty factory complex, everyone's already fled
[] "Zoetermeer Preserve" - biggest cluster of woods on our side of this planet
[] "Gnass Mountain Range" - what it says on the tin

"Very well." The Star Colonel responds. "You have eight hours to arrive at the site of the battle. Or surrender if you are getting second thoughts. Otherwise, I will move Kerensky's Lament into position and commence the orbital bombardment."

"We'll be there." Zenn7 responds with gritted teeth.

After the comms are cut, Scrub rubs her chin with her remaining arm.

"We'll pack everything up and get prepped to go just in case." She states. "It might be the painkillers talking, but no way we're actually surrendering. Just... try not to lose."

---

Some of our mechwarriors' rides are beat up, but they're fine - we can break a few battle mechs out of the Jumbo's cargo bay, and put up another two lances for the fight, in addition to the two companies we're already bringing in.

Siljanus' Mackie still has a huge hole in the left torso, with the arm hanging off a lift in the mechbay for now.

Leraje's Black Knight is missing its right arm, the left arm is hanging by a thread and one of the heat sinks still needs replacement.

The right leg on Paingod's Blackjack is effectively non-functional until we replace the actuators.

We also have three other mechwarriors whose rides are shot up who need replacement mechs, so in addition to these three picking a mech, if anybody really wants to see a particular mech in action, feel free to nominate it.

Here's a list of what we've got:

Annihilator ANH-1A - we never got a chance to refit this 100-ton chunky mess. It's got about 66% armor coverage, painfully slow even for an assault mech, and has overheating issues. It does have quad AC/10s, though.

Catapult CPLT-C1 - classic 65-ton fire support mech with a surprising short-range punch.

Catapult CPLT-K2 - this is a Kurita catapult where they took off the jump jets and LRM racks and added two PPCs instead.

Crusader CRD-3L(O) - we've been systematically refitting any Crusaders we find to this jump-capable Liao variant, then cutting the MG ammo to a half ton.

Grasshopper GHR-5H - we've got a spare one of these 70-ton brawlers.

Griffin GRF-1N, 1S - it's a Griffin. The 1N has a PPC, the 1S has several lasers.

Hunchback HBK-4G - classic slow, well-armored AC/20-equipped 50-tonner.

Hunchback HBK-4H, 4N, 4SP - a collection of random Hunchback variants equipped with less imposing weaponry.

Jagermech JM6-A - you know what, no, we're not putting a mechwarrior in this deathtrap.

Kintaro KTO-18 - this 50-tonner has a lot of SRMs but heats up worse than old Max Liao after attending a wedding on Terra.

Ostsol OTL-4D/4F - these 60 tonners have an all-energy loadout, medium armor and respectable speed.

Phoenix Hawk - everyone and their kid brother has a Phoenix Hawk. We've got an advanced-tech 3D, and a lance's worth of standard ones.

Rifleman RFL-3C - the only Rifleman variant anyone in the company is willing to drive, putting out good firepower downrange with its twin AC/10s.

Shadow Hawk SHD-2H - 55-ton jack of all trades, master of none, but ridiculously common across the Inner Sphere.

Trebuchet TBT-5N, 5S, 3C - ground-bound LRM and SRM-equipped 50-tonners, respectively. The 3C is a Star League tech model with Artemis-equipped LRMs and double heat sinks.

Thunderbolt TDR-5S, 5SS - 65-ton brawler, with large laser and PPC respectively as the main gun.

We also have a collection of Phoenix Hawks, Ostsols, a classic Marauder, a Kintaro and a Champion.
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Leraje
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Leraje »

[x] "Gnass Mountain Range" - what it says on the tin

I'll take the 'Hopper
Zenn7
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Re: Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

Post by Zenn7 »

A reinforced trinary is what - 3 stars + another star? 20 mechs?

We're shooting to bring 32 mechs to the fight? They won't call that unfair?

I'm good with the mountain or the woods. Factory wouldn't be bad, definitely not the town though (be our luck it wouldn't get fully evac'd).

Annihilator
Grasshopper
Thunderbolt
Phoenix Hawk 3d
Trebuchet 3c
Catapult - C1
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