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Off-Topic Discussion => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Scotty on June 09, 2013, 12:43:55 pm

Title: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on June 09, 2013, 12:43:55 pm
After seeing so many fun LPs across HLP in the last couple years, I've been inspired to start my own, playing a game I'm familiar enough with to (hopefully) actually accomplish the task!

For those of you who are unaware, BattleTech is the board/tabletop game that birthed such titles as MechWarrior(Online), MechCommander, and MechAssault.  'Mechs, and the pilots known as MechWarriors, are the kings and queens of the battlefield, blazing death and destruction from multi-ton autocannons and lasers and missile batteries of all sizes.  Vehicles and infantry support these behemoths on their rampages, employed by the monolithic Successor States and their rulers, hellbent on conquering the Inner Sphere to reclaim the glory of the lost Star League.  These men and women of the Successor State armies fight and die for worlds that hold little or no value, only to do it again the next time a lord deems it amusing or beneficial.

However, not all fight for the whims or glory of the House Lords or their nations.  Many see the fires of war and catch the scent not of smoke and death, but of profit.  Mercenaries of every type and description bolster the ranks of the Successor States as they clash.  Some are penniless bands of disenchanted soldiers, no longer willing to pledge allegiance to anything but the next kroner to fall into their pockets.  Others see profit in every twist and dark alley, selling themselves to the highest bidder.  Still others are professional, expert, elite soldiers of fortune that fight with as much (or more!) honor than the House soldier next to them.

That's where you come in.  Fledgling mercenary companies are almost always green and full of old or outdated equipment, compared to their House counterparts.  The challenge lies in building enough connections and respect on the field of battle to triumph despite meager beginnings.

For this LP, I'll be using this nifty set of rules called rather unimaginatively the Against the Bot Campaign Rules (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,23390.msg521754.html#msg521754), henceforth abbreviated as the "AtB" rules.  The AtB rules use MegaMek (http://megamek.info/) and MekHQ (http://megamek.info/mekhq) to track and manage the campaign.  Under this system (which I will probably be modifying quite heavily as we go), a starting campaign begins with twelve 'Mechs and twelve support personnel, randomly rolled.  The first change I would be more than happy to make is to switch out the twelve 'Mechs for any combination of 'Mechs and vehicles, depending on interest.  If anybody wants to be a vehicle commander, just let me know, and I'll make it happen!  If we run out of spots (unlikely) and have some vehicles open, all vehicle crewmen are available, not just the commanders.  Also available are the starting support personnel, which includes one Admin (sorry, that's mine), one Doctor, and ten Tech crew leaders.  If that's still not enough (again, unlikely), there are plenty of opportunities to pick up more members along the way as the campaign goes on.

For anyone who has never played BattleTech, MechWarrior, etc., I'll try to provide some helpful descriptions on the weapons, 'Mechs, vehicles, and factions encountered during the game as we come across them.

Before I get started setting up the campaign itself (which will have to wait for about a week anyway), I'd like to have a commander picked out (Commanders get a bonus to their starting skills and vehicle) at the very least, and preferably the other two lance leaders.  I've already got one lance leader picked for an RL buddy of mine, but the other is open.  I also haven't decided what time period to set the campaign.  The current options are 3025 (standard, introductory tech), 3040 (improved tech), and 3050 (advanced, Clan tech).

If you're interested, drop a post here, preferably with a desired position and callsign (if different from your handle), and I'll start drafting the roster.

Current roster:

Hard Light Brigade

1st Mixed Company
   
   11th Combat Lance "Daybreakers"
      Major Caden "Easy" Webb, 3/5, Awesome AWS-8Q (The_E)
         Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs, 3/4, Grasshopper GHR-5H
         Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman, 4/5, Awesome AWS-8Q (Dragon)
         Corporal Jean "Werewolf" Vidal, 4/6, Crab CRB-20 (Spardason21)

   12th Scout Lance
      Captain Bowen "Polly" Borham, 2/5, Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Polpolion)
         Corporal Dereje "Esarai" bin Hassan, 6/5, Wasp WSP-1A (Esarai)
         Corporal Ian "Patriot" Fatin, 5/6, Wasp WSP-1A (Patriot)
         Corporal Richard "Night" Adeboro, 5/5, Locust LCT-1V (NGTM-1R)

   13th Combat Lance
      Lieutenant Aaron "StarSlayer" Yi, 3/6, Brutus Gunner/Commander (StarSlayer)
            Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne, 3/6, Brutus Gunner (Scourge of Ages)
            Corporal Nancy Ma, 3/6, Brutus Gunner
            Corporal Kevin Huffman, 3/6, Brutus Gunner
            Corporal Cheng-gong Pak, 4/5, Brutus Driver
         Sergeant Allan "Toothless" Moore, 4/5, Vedette Commander/Gunner (Aesaar)
            Corporal Hanlon Turtle, 4/5, Vedette Gunner
            Corporal Monica Nasuton, 4/5, Vedette Gunner
            Corporal Mark "DJ" McMickan, 4/5, Vedette Driver (CommanderDJ)
         Sergeant Cliff "Dire" De, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner/Commander (DireWolf)
            Corporal Corey Lovegrove, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner
            Corporal Donna Lewis, 4/6, Hetzer Driver
         Corporal Esmail "Scorpion" Osmani, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner/Commander (-Joshua-)
            Private Farraj bin Abu Bakr, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner
            Private Christian Pescaru, 4/6, Hetzer Driver
         Corporal Lage "Phantom" Duineveld, 6/5, Shadow Hawk SHD-2H (PhantomHoover)
         Corporal Alan "Mongo" Fisting, 4/6, Vindicator VND-1R (dsockwell)

   2nd Aerospace Wing
      Lieutenant Chris "Tophat" Valsan, 5/6, Sparrowhawk SPR-H5 (HerraTohtori)

   3rd Jump Infantry Company
      Lieutenant Rostislav "Soos" Kalakay, 1, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Cornelia-Antonia Parent, 3, Jump Infantry
               Private Loren Manstein, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Kamilia Gramm, 5, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Anne-Sophie Qosja, 3, Jump Infantry
               Private James Noussen, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Xiao-yan Nao, 5, Jump Infantry
         Master Sergeant Askari Adel, 2, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Maximo Martinez, 3, Jump Infantry
               Private Phillipe Provost, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Tom Ramirez, 6, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Iwan Snel, 4, Jump Infantry
               Private Bommareddy Tyagri, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Samantha Takeuchi, 5, Jump Infantry
         Senior Sergeant Iman Alatas, 2, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Scott Tann, 3, Jump Infantry
               Private Ajaz Stanisic, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Simi Armstrong, 5, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Anne Ryan, 4, Jump Infantry
               Private Ed Williams, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Carla Duret, 5, Jump Infantry
           

   Unassigned
      Sergeant Dermott "Iron" Carver, 4/6 (IronBeer)
      Corporal Zhong-xian Wang, 4/5

Support Personnel

   Captain Stan "Strobe" Roberts, Elite, Admin/Command (Scotty)
      Lieutenant Michelle Lachann, Green, Admin/HR
   Lieutenant Hsin "Deathfun" Bones, Regular, Doctor (deathfun)
   Master Sergeant Robert "Red" Kahiga, Veteran, Mechanic (redsniper)
      Corporal Ryan "Junkpile" Subhi, Regular, Mechanic (oldlaptop)
      Corporal Janne Kalto, Regular, Mechanic
      Private Beverly Luong, Green, Mechanic
      Private Kenzie MacRae, Green, Mechanic
      Private Clarissa Curry, Green, Mechanic
   Master Sergeant Anthony "Mongoose" Sato, Regular, Mech Tech (Mongoose)
      Sergeant Gary "Niffiwan" Reyes, Veteran, Mech Tech (niffiwan)
      Corporal Phil "Carbine" Brinklow, Regular, Mech Tech (Carbine7)
      Corporal Bich Ngo, Regular, Mech Tech
      Corporal Xanthus "Fire Spawn" Kalergi, Regular, Mech Tech (FireSpawn)
      Corporal Waseem bin Usama, Regular, Mech Tech
      Private Juan Ressurreio, Green, Mech Tech
   Master Sergeant Steven Kayneti, Regular, Aero Tech

Killboard
Rapier - 16
Easy - 3
Iron - 3
Duck - 1

In the queue:
IronBeer - Aerospace pilot "Wormwood"
Hobbie - MechWarrior "Hobbie" (conditional, Trebuchet)
that_guy_melvin - MechWarrior "Melvin"
AdmiralRalwood - MechWarrior "Archmage"

Attached to this post is the Against the Bot (AtB) version 2.27 rules, and the most recent save file I have for the Hard Light Brigade, for those of you who want to follow along at home.  Nobody has their biographies yet, but I'll get those in eventually.  Also not included is the group of map seeds I use to make maps for MegaMek.

Commendation list

Blue Light Award for Valor
Master Sergeant Anders “Rapier” Bullman

Yellow Light Award (* indicates award for valor)

Red Light Award (* indicates award for valor)
*Sergeant Dermott "Iron" Carver
*Corporal Zhong-xian Wang
*Corporal Cheng-gong Pak

Distinguished Marksmanship Award
Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman

Combat Wound Ribbon (* indicates multiple awards)
Major Caden “Easy” Webb*
Lieutenant Aaron “StarSlayer” Yi
Master Sergeant Anders “Rapier” Bullman
Sergeant Dermott “Iron” Carver
Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne
Corporal Kevin Huffman
Corporal Nancy Ma
Corporal Cheng-gong Pak
Corporal Zhong-xian Wang

Thule Campaign Ribbon
Major Caden "Easy" Webb
Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman
Corporal Jean "Werewolf" Vidal

Milos Campaign Ribbon
Major Caden "Easy" Webb
Lieutenant Aaron "StarSlayer" Yi
Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman
Sergeant Dermott "Iron" Carver
Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne
Corporal Kevin huffman
Corporal Nancy Ma
Corporal Cheng-gong Pak
Corporal Zhong-xian Wang

Long Service Ribbon

Original Member Ribbon
Major Caden "Easy" Webb
Captain Bowen "Polly" Borham
Captain Stan "Strobe" Roberts
Lieutenant Aaron "StarSlayer" Yi
Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
Lieutenant Hsin "Deathfun" Bones
Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman
Master Sergeant Robert "Red" Kahiga
Master Sergeant Anthony "Mongoose" Sato
Sergeant Dermott "Iron" Carver
Sergeant Allan "Toothless" Moore
Sergeant Cliff "Dire" De
Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne
Corporal Nancy Ma
Corporal Kevin Huffman
Corporal Cheng-gong Pak
Corporal Zhong-xian Wang
Corporal Dereje "Esarai" bin Hassan
Corporal Ian "Patriot" Fatin
Corporal Richard "Night" Adeboro
Corporal Hanlon Turtle
Corporal Monica Nasuton
Corporal Mark "DJ" McMickan
Corporal Corey Lovegrove
Corporal Donna Lewis
Corporal Lage "Phantom" Duineveld
Corporal Ryan Subhi
Corporal Janne Kalto
Corporal Phil Brinklow
Corporal Bich Ngo
Corporal Xanthus "Fire Spawn" Kalergi
Corporal Waseem bin Usama
Private Juan Ressurreio

Legacy Ribbon

[attachment deleted by ninja]
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 09, 2013, 03:10:19 pm
Lance leader please; callsign Werewolf.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 09, 2013, 03:36:17 pm
Mechwarrior, reporting for duty, SIR! Callsign: Scourge.

Will we get to pick our own mechs, or just positions?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 09, 2013, 03:41:14 pm
Odds of being able to blow the dust off an old custom design of mine? Probably zero. ****s given? Point one.

TROOPER NIGHT, REPORTING FOR DUTY WITH THE SCOUT LANCE.

(plztobe3040 or 3025, clans are bad for our health, unless it is desired we be there for invasion day, drama is good)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 09, 2013, 03:51:12 pm
I would like 3040 so we have the possibility of advanced technology later on without 3050's large probability of getting wrecked by Clan Omnis.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 09, 2013, 04:01:16 pm
Will we get to pick our own mechs, or just positions?

For the AtB rules, 'Mechs are randomly rolled and assigned, but I can hold off on picking exactly what pilot gets your name until I figure out what my pool of 'Mechs is.  I'll have a round dozen vehicles, potentially minus one or two (a result of 2 or 3 on 2d6 when rolling weight class results in dispossession), most of which will be Lights and Mediums.  I won't have any control over what exactly those 'Mechs end up being, however.  Additionally, there will likely only be one or two Heavies at most (10 or 11 on 2d6), and an Assault is unlikely (12 on 2d6)

(plztobe3040 or 3025, clans are bad for our health, unless it is desired we be there for invasion day, drama is good)

The "3025" option encompasses anything from right around 2800 to 3025, and in the event of 3050, the campaign will actually start in early 3049 so I don't have to go up against Clans with POS bugs and 6/6 greenies.

Also, keep in mind that, as mercenaries, the likelihood of having good advanced tech without prying your enemies' scorched corpses from the cockpit is rather low.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 09, 2013, 04:08:31 pm
All right, lemme at them Vipers/Falcons/whatevers.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 09, 2013, 04:12:12 pm
No, I rather like the idea of looting salvaging all our advanced technology away from the scorched corpses of our defeated enemies.

And if the start is 3049 for that campaign, let's do that instead so we can possibly pillage salvage an Omni of some kind.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 09, 2013, 06:04:47 pm
Ironically looking at my old design files I only did a couple of Level 1 designs anyways, and one of them has been lost to the mists of time (like my copy of HeavyMetal Pro).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 09, 2013, 08:14:20 pm
As promised, a little bit of background and introduction to the universe before we take the plunge:

Diaspora

That which is now known as the Inner Sphere can trace its roots back to pre-spaceflight Terra with little difficulty.  Beginning with the Second Soviet Civil War, the political climate necessitated more room to expand and escape from the pressures of existing power blocs.  However, prior to FTL travel, colonization was worse than impractical - it was suicide.  The innovations of two now-legendary scientists in the 2100s changed all of that.  Thomas Kearny and _____ Fuchida made the revolutionary breakthrough that allowed vessels equipped with a special kind of drive system the ability to transit instantly between two systems up to 30 light years apart.  The Kearny-Fuchida drive provided the springboard for a huge explosion of colonization.  In a few short years, scores of systems spanning 120 light years appeared on the interstellar map, and humanity began to leave its mark on more than just its homeworld.

Fast forward three hundred years.  A state called the Terran Hegemony controls Terra and many of the worlds around it.  Further colonization, now reaching upwards of 500 light years in any direction from Terra, has resulted in several large, interstellar governments, each vying to control its sector of the Sphere through any means necessary, and to eliminate dangerous competitors.  Among these are the Federated Suns, led by the Great House of Davion; the Draconis Combine, guided in the ways of feudal Japan by House Kurita; the Capellan Confederation, unified in work and spirit by the divine right of House Liao; the Lyran Commonwealth, pressing the Sphere with its economic might under the watchful guidance of House Steiner; and the Free Worlds League, bastion of democracy and liberty kept in check by the troubled rule of House Marik.  Other nations populated the Periphery of the Sphere, most notable among them the powerful Taurian Concordat, the Rim-World Republic, the Outworlds Alliance, the Magistry of Canopus, and the neo-barbaric Marian Hegemony.

These Houses and nations wage war on each other in an almost constate state of conflict, none ever gaining more than a passing advantage on another.  Tanks and aerospace fighters and men fight continually for stability that never comes.  Then, in 2439, the battlefield changes forever.  Engineers in the Terran Hegemony design the very first of the gargantuan beasts that will come to rule the field of combat for centuries to come.  Although primitive by modern standards, the very first BattleMech, the Mackie, crushes everything in its path.  The other nations scramble to implement their own 'Mechs, and by 2455 the 'Mech can be seen in the armed forces of every major state in the Sphere.  The Age of War had begun.

Age of War

Unable or unwilling to conquer each other, the Terran Hegemony and the five largest states closest to Terra formed a mutual alliance in 2570, headed by the ruler of the Terran Hegemony, the Star League.  United under the First Lord of the Star Leage, the house of Cameron, the states demanded that all submit to the new pact.  Unsurprisingly, the Periphery nations refused, triggering a war of a scale never before seen.  The so-called Reunification War lasted twenty years, from 2577 to 2597, and saw the unruly Periphery nations brought into the fold at great cost.

The Star League

For another 150 years, a golden age of peace and prosperity blossomed throughout the Sphere.  Then, in 2766, at the very height of the prosperity, the ruler of the Rim Worlds Republic, Stefan Amaris, murdered the First Lord and launched a bloody coup.  The commander of the Star League Defense Force, General Alexandr Kerensky, refused to accept this false ruler, and launched the bloodiest war then or since.  Eleven years later, with billions dead, Kerenksy finally captured Terra and executed the usurper.  During the conflict, both the Rim Worlds Republic and the Terran Hegemony ceased to exist, torn asunder by the warring sides.  Into the vacuum of power rushed the other states, bickering and arguing for who should have the glory and honor of being the next First Lord.  As weeks turned to months turned to years with no clear successor, a grieving General Kerensky ordered the tattered remains of his SLDF to depart the Inner Sphere for parts unknown in 2784.  Greater than 75% of the surviving SLDF heeded his call and disappeared, never to be seen again.

Paradise Lost

The bickering lords of the surviving nations wasted no time.  The newly christened Successor States immediately savaged each other in conflicts known as the Succession Wars.  The golden age of prosperity was well and truly lost, as dozens of worlds simply ceased to exist under the brilliant fires of nuclear weapons and planetary bombardment.  Billions died in the First Succession War, and billions more in the Second.  By the end of the Second Succession War in 2864, the Inner Sphere was in ruins, a pale, decrepit shadow of its former self.  Gone were the vast divisions of 'Mechs, the pristine legions of military might.  Now all that which could move and shoot was pressed into the service of the House Lords, condition be damned.  Failing, damaged equipment was commonplace, experienced technicians rare.  The powerful advanced weapons, equipment, and armor of the Star League was gone, replaced by only the most basic and sustainable equipment.  Colossal warships, once heralds of Star League power, faded and vanished, one by one.

Through the chaos of the Succession Wars, there was only one constant beacon of preserved enlightenment.  ComStar, the corporation that controlled all interstellar instant communication, declared itself neutral of any conflict, and acted as neutral ground, playing the role of caretakers of Terra, and peaceful communicator.

The clumsy mass bombings of the First and Second Succession Wars eventually brought the House Lords to their sense, far too late.  The Ares Conventions, which banned the use of such weapons, also had the unintended side effect of legalizing warfare as a way to acquire resources and worlds.  The Third Succession War followed in its wake.  More akin to a prolonged session of raid and counter-raid, the Third Succession War lasted until 3025.  Very little territory truly changed hands, and very little progress was truly made as 'Mechs fought until they fell apart, only to be rebuilt again to fight until they fell apart on the field, and on and on until there was nothing left of the noble machine but rubble and shattered dreams.

Stalemate Broken

It was during this time of meaningless conflict that the first upheavals in centuries would arise.  First, arriving from the middle of nowhere in the early 3000s came the mysterious Wolf's Dragoons.  A mercenary unit that put many of the premier, elite line units of the Great Houses to shame, the Dragoons brought with them five gleaming regiments of 'Mechs never before seen in the Inner Sphere, and sold their services immediately to the Federated Suns for a five year contract.  In less than two, the unit had, almost by itself, taken more territory in the name of House Davion than had been taken in 150 years prior.  The mercenary unit gained great fame and prestige in the service of every house that employed it.  In just a few short decades, the Wolf's Dragoons became the most prestigious mercenary unit in the Sphere, to the immense irritation of several other elite commands, such as the Eridani Light Horse or the MacCarron's Armored Cavalry.

The next momentous event to rock the Inner Sphere came in 3028.  Prince Hanse Davion of the Federated Suns and Archon Melissa Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth announced their wedding, and invited the other House Lords to attend.  At the ceremony, the two formalized the unification of their two realms into one, the Federated Commonwealth.  Simultaneously, the Davion half of the new state launched a massive attack on the Capellan Confederation.  Nearly half of the smaller state was conquered.  At the same time, the Steiner half launched an attack against the neighboring Draconis Combine, though with less spectacular results.  By 3030, the lines had once again stabilized, though now with the gargantuan mass of the Federated Commonwealth occupying over 40% of the Inner Sphere.  The other three Houses scrambled to defend themselves, loosely allying themselves against any future aggression.  Additionally, the Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine agreed to a tenuous sort of peace along the Steiner-Kurita border.  The formation of a new state, the Free Rasalhague Republic, agreed to on both sides, provided a buffer to attacks going both directions.  No longer forced to worry about the potential of attacks through the fledgling nation, both nations became bolder for it.

Technological Renaissance

In 3039, less than ten years after the last major conflict, the Federated Commonwealth struck again, using technology rediscovered with the Helm Memory core.  New equipment appeared on the battlefields of the Inner Sphere for the first time in centuries.  Though there was little territorial gain on any side, the simple reclamation of technology once thought to be lost forever emboldened the House Lords.

The State of the Sphere

The year is now 3049.  There has been an uneasy peace for nearly a decade following the War of 3039.  New equipment continues to proliferate through the armies of the Successor States, though little has reached the hands of freelancers and mercenaries.  Gauss rifles, lighter engines, improved armor, improved heat sinks, and more dot the battlefield, making the life of a MechWarrior more dangerous - and also more rewarding.  The weak fail, and the strong reap the benefits.

Life is cheap.  BattleMechs aren't.

Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: CommanderDJ on June 09, 2013, 08:47:18 pm
I've heard a lot about this game on this forum and other places, but never played it or seen it played. It sounds really interesting, soo... sign me up! And I do have "Commander" in my name, so... CO?  :nervous:

:P
But seriously, put me wherever you want me!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: DireWolf on June 09, 2013, 09:27:40 pm
Sign me up! Preferably a mech pilot or a vehicle commander. Callsign Dire; don't want any confusion over the comns if we live long enough to run into Daishis.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 09, 2013, 10:03:33 pm
I doubt our company will survive long enough to learn that they're really called Dire Wolves.

Plus you could always be Dire <insert other animal here>. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 09, 2013, 10:17:15 pm
Dire Weasels!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 09, 2013, 10:45:08 pm
If we want rodents, Dire Rat for DireWolf.  Or for mass confusion on everyone's parts he could always be a former Drac who chose the callsign "Great Death". :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 10, 2013, 01:01:40 am
So what is the go-to program(s) for nerds like me who have a sudden urge to design vehicles and BattleMechs anyways? HeavyMetal is hard to get now plus screw PayPal in the ear, and I can't get my old BattleMech Designer and The Drawing Board programs to install/work anymore. (Vehicle Factory Three seems to work...)

Old stuff that is old should be fine. It would be designing to Level 2/3050.

Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 10, 2013, 01:31:43 am
I'm also gonna apply for a position here, because I just have to (Given what happened in the XCOM thread, I'm just gonna go ahead and apply for CO, but that's up to you of course). Callsign would be "Easy".
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 10, 2013, 01:44:23 am
Throw me into a mech, my HLP name is good for me :)

If we get to it I will happily pilot a medium
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 10, 2013, 03:22:59 am
Applying for MechWarrior, Callsign: Patriot



Also, Solaris Skunkwerks is the better unit builder for MegaMek

http://www.solarisskunkwerks.com/

It actually has a working export function, just make sure to turn off canon units only when selecting units, or you'll not find your new mech/vehicle design.

Also, if at all possible i'd love to have me a hunchback, either a 4G or 4J :D
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Polpolion on June 10, 2013, 06:55:53 am
I volunteer! Callsign: Polly.

If no one else has snagged it I request that XO position, too.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Phantom Hoover on June 10, 2013, 07:53:37 am
Do we have to actually do things to join in
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 10, 2013, 07:54:42 am
Sign me in as a MechWarrior. Callsign: Rapier. In MW4: Mercs, I prefered high-end assault mechs, especially DireWolf/Daishi (dunno which names you're using), usually toting an array of Clan ER PPCs. I don't know if this suits your campaign or not, though, not to mention this config works for the MW4: Mercs version (specifically, the free version), not sure about BattleTech.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 10, 2013, 08:03:48 am
Most builds that are possible in MW4: Mercs are either straight-up impossible in the tabletop, or hilariously bad ideas (Mostly because going into heat shutdown is pretty much an instant death sentence in the tabletop, with a lot of very harsh penalties creeping up quickly, something MW4 does not simulate).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: esarai on June 10, 2013, 10:59:13 am
I'd like to volunteer as a MechWarrior, callsign Esarai.  Probably a bit late but eh, if someone dies horribly I can be the new recruit.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Aesaar on June 10, 2013, 11:56:28 am
I'll have a go.  Mechwarrior (or vehicle commander if you'd rather that), callsign Toothless.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Phantom Hoover on June 10, 2013, 12:24:02 pm
the old people in #bp told me to sign up, plz. make me some kind of cannon fodder so i can die senselessly and you can all mourn the senseless waste of youth in the meatgrinder of the wars of the old (also make my callsign Phantom Hoover)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 10, 2013, 01:00:09 pm
the old people in #bp told me to sign up, plz. make me some kind of cannon fodder so i can die senselessly and you can all mourn the senseless waste of youth in the meatgrinder of the wars of the old (also make my callsign Phantom Hoover)

Ah, so that's how you die. "Phantom Hoover, dodge lef- oh you're dead."
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Mongoose on June 10, 2013, 01:44:06 pm
I knew next to nothing about the whole BattleTech universe until your excellent summary, so I don't feel right going after an actual mech, but you can throw me in as part of the tech crew.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: redsniper on June 10, 2013, 02:54:30 pm
Put me in. I want to drive the MFB.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 10, 2013, 03:05:29 pm
Most builds that are possible in MW4: Mercs are either straight-up impossible in the tabletop, or hilariously bad ideas (Mostly because going into heat shutdown is pretty much an instant death sentence in the tabletop, with a lot of very harsh penalties creeping up quickly, something MW4 does not simulate).
Well, I once made a quick-firing mech with enough heatsinks for a continuous barrage with all it's energy cannons. It doesn't have heating problems (doesn't even heat up that much), but probably ended up weak-ish on the armor side. Also, it's the MekTek version of MW4 (the free one, supposed to no longer be available, but you know the internet :) ), which seems to somewhat closer to the tabletop (well, at least from what I know from reading the wiki and a stock walkthrough, I don't really play tabletop games, mostly because of lack of partners).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: IronBeer on June 10, 2013, 03:18:20 pm
If you need another 'mech pilot, I want in. If you just need some schmuck to drive a tank or a support vehicle, I want in anyways.

Callsign: Iron
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 10, 2013, 03:21:20 pm
If a slot eventually opens for a 50 tonner jock, I would gladly hop in.  MBTs are also welcome.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 10, 2013, 08:03:17 pm
Wow, this is a lot more than I expected to show up.  The new roster is as follows, and will be added to the first post:

CO: The_E "Easy"
XO/Lance Leader: Polpolion "Polly"
Lance Leader: Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
Officer (Vehicle Commander): StarSlayer (you'll see why)

MechWarrior: headdie "Headdie"
MechWarrior: Patriot "Patriot"
MechWarrior: Phantom Hoover "Phantom"
MechWarrior: Esarai "Esarai"
MechWarrior: Dragon "Rapier"

Vehicle Commander: IronBeer "Iron"
Vehicle Commander: Aesaar "Toothless"
Vehicle Commander: Direwolf "Dire"

Admin: Me "Strobe"
Doctor:
Mech Techs and Mechanics: redsniper, Mongoose.

Now then, onto why the roster is set up this way!

Starting off, I have to roll up a total of 12 combat units and 12 support personnel.  Everything is rolled up with 2d6, so I don't get to cheat and fudge numbers here and there for better stuff.  With that in mind, there are a series of tables in the AtB rules that govern how to generate the company.  In a nutshell, these tables determine skill level and weight class of vehicle, as well as something called Tech Level that I'm going to leave behind the scenes.  It only really influences how likely it is for you to get a "better" (as determined by battlevalue, the balancing mechanism for the board game) ride when you start, and nothing else.  I'll post the meat and potatoes of the tables here:

Skill level
2-6 = Green
7-9 = Regular
10-11 = Veteran
12 = Elite

Weight class
2-3 = Dispossessed (i.e. the "**** you" result)
4-6 = Light
7-9 = Medium
10-11 = Heavy
12 = Assault

As you can see, the game is heavily stacked against starting with large numbers of Heavy and Assault 'Mechs, and probably for good reason.  Most struggling, starting up merc companies aren't likely to have a huge reserve of big bruisers.

With those tables, and a pair of trusty six sided dice, I can start rolling up the company.

The company commander comes first (Hi, The_E!).  The important thing about the company commander is that he has to be designated before rolling, because he gets bonuses to his rolls.  A +2 bonus to every roll is added, and while that might not sound like much, the 2d6 bell curve makes it a powerful tool.  Rolling the dice, the first result to come up is an 8, modified to 10.  A Veteran.  Excellent, it's always good to have an experienced commander.  Another roll finds the weight class of his 'Mech.  12.  Well, ****.  I just wasted that +2, since nothing above 12 gives you anything better than a 12, and I just rolled a 14.  Still, I can't cry about having an Assault 'Mech handed to me for the very first 'Mech of the company, no siree.  A couple more rolls on the individual skill level tables that I'm not going to post here because they'd take up huge amounts of space reveals that The_E's skills are Gunnery 3, Piloting 5.

The "average" skill for a Regular pilot in the Inner Sphere is Gunnery 4/Piloting 5, so The_E is a bit above average.  How Gunnery works is by taking the base skill score, in this case 3, and using it as the "must beat" number for a given check.  This is the base number for the most ideal shot, meaning the target hasn't moved, the shooter hasn't moved, the target is at short range, and there's nothing in the way.  If all those conditions are met, the attacker will hit the target on a result of 3 or greater, henceforth abbreviated as 3+.  Any result 3 or higher on 2d6 will inflict damage on the target.  Considering there's only 1/36 chance of getting lower than a 3, that's pretty damn good.  That also means that the lower the Gunnery skill, the better the gunner, and the higher the Gunnery skill, the less likely he is to hit the broad side of a barn at 10 paces.  Skills cap out at 0 on the god-level side and 8 on the danger-to-yourself-and-others side.  Piloting works the same way, except it governs whether a pilot can maintain course and balance after taking damage, running on pavement, or navigating tough terrain.  A bad pilot will frequently find him or herself landing hard on their ass, while a good pilot can probably dance through a landslide without falling.

A 3/5 Assault 'Mech is not bad at all to start with, but I still have 11 units to go.  I have the feeling karma is going to bite me here pretty soon for that one.

The next three pilots confirm my fears.  5/5 Light, 5/6 Light, 6/5 Medium.  ****.  Well, at least they're not as bad as it is actually possible to be, though both the guys with 6s take the cake as "worst in the unit" in their own special ways.  Note that is is technically possible to start as high as 7 in Piloting, so it could, in fact, be worse.

The company so far:

*** 3/5 Assault
5/5 Light
5/6 Light
6/5 Medium

As a 'Mech lance, that thing would be pretty godawful.  An Assault, two Lights, and a Medium, most of whom are barely graduates from the academy?  I need some better pilots, stat.  The answer to that is another 'Mech lance.  This one goes a bit better to start with.  The first pilot I roll is a Regular (4/6).  Okay, sweet.  His ride?  Another Assault 'Mech.  The karmic whiplash is making my neck ache.

The next pilot is even better, for the most part.  He drives a Medium, which I actually need more of, and is a Veteran.  Woo!  His exact skills?  2/5!  Yeah, that's right, Gunnery 2.  That's absurd for an IS pilot right there.  That's actually getting close to being as good of a shot as a whole bunch of Clan Veterans, though he's not nearly the sheer pilot.  This guy is going to be the XO, I can almost feel it.  I'd have to get really lucky on the last lance to make that not happen.

Pilot 3 in Lance 2 is mundane, even terrible.  A 6/5 Light 'Mech pilot.  Yawn.  File him away in the bin with the others.

The fourth pilot makes everything even better, again.  A Regular pilot who somehow manages to pull out a 3/4 skill!  It's possible, but it doesn't happen very often.  That also means that this particular pilot is all around better than our company commander (Sorry, E).  That happens sometimes, and isn't even really a bad thing.  Having pilots better than your commander means there's not really any question that somebody is going to be able to step up if the commander goes down.

The company again, with another officer marked:

*** 3/5 Assault
5/5 Light
5/6 Light
6/5 Medium

4/6 Assault
** 2/5 Medium
6/5 Light
3/4 Heavy

Looking okay for now, but it needs a bit of rearrangement, methinks.  Let's try matching up the weight classes and seeing what we can smash together.  Immediately I see the opportunity for another officer, and I can see what these lances are going to morph into.  This is, of course, barring any anomalies, like getting a Dragon for the Heavy, or a Panther or Urbanmech or even Valkyrie for Lights.

Assault/HQ
*** 3/5 Assault
4/6 Assault
* 3/4 Heavy
6/5 Medium

Scout
** 2/5 Medium
5/5 Light
5/6 Light
6/5 Light

That's still not all of it, though.  After two 'Mech lances, I want to mix it up with some vehicles.  If the rolling doesn't go well, and I don't get some of the vehicles that are just flat out better than 'Mechs at things like scouting, I can just mix the vehicles in with my 'Mech lances to smooth out the rough edges.

The first vehicle surprises me a little bit.  A Regular crew turns out 3/6 and a Heavy vehicle.  Alright, not gonna ***** about that one too much.  That'll fit into my Assault/HQ lance to replace that ****ty 6/5 Medium easily enough.  The other three are less surprising, and also more disappointing.  4/6, 4/5, and 4/6, all Medium vehicles.  Welp, looks like I won't be getting those scouts I wanted.  At least they should be cheap to replace and maintain when I lose them (and I probably will).

With the additions to the company, and the need to elect a fourth officer, I rearrange the lances a bit.  Immediately I run into problems when I find all four of my officers in two lances.  Well damn.  Guess I won't get to have the lances I want, either.  Every lance has to have an officer, or they're effectively useless and can't deploy to anything.  Oh well.  Moving them around a little bit finds me with this rather workable set up.  I'll even add names, since this is everybody:

Assault/HQ
*** 3/5 Assault (m) The_E "Easy"
4/6 Assault (m) Dragon "Rapier"
4/6 Medium (v) IronBeer "Iron"
* 3/6 Heavy (v) StarSlayer "StarSlayer"

Scout
** 2/5 Medium (m) Polpolion "Polly"
5/5 Light (m) NGTM-1R "Night"
5/6 Light (m) Patriot "Patriot"
6/5 Light (m) Esarai "Esarai"

Combat
* 3/4 Heavy (m) Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
6/5 Medium (m) Phantom Hoover "Phantom"
4/5 Medium (v) Aesaar "Toothless"
4/6 Medium (v) DireWolf "Dire"

Unfortunately, Dragon, a custom Dire Wolf/Daishi is probably the single least possible option I have for your Assault 'Mech right now.  You're far more likely to be stuck with something like a Victor, Zeus, or Awesome.  I've got a brawler mixed Assault/HQ lance, a (hopefully) fast Scout lance that will one day birth the greatest pilots the Sphere has ever known (seriously, Scout lances improve so fast), and one general purpose combat lance with everything I can't fit somewhere else.  Pretty standard for a starting company, I suppose.

Next up, the support personnel.  All I need to roll for these guys is skill level, so it goes really fast.  I decide to split my Techs 70/30, with seven 'Mech Tech teams and three Mechanic teams.  'Mechs can take more punishment, but then also need significantly more repairs after a fight than a comparably sized vehicle.  That, and I have double the number of 'Mechs I have vehicles.  In a pinch, I can use either tech team to fix either unit, but they're less effective, and sometimes can't perform the necessary repairs.  A 'Mech Tech team can't replace the stabilizer on a hovertank, while a Mechanic team can't replace actuators, and so on.

The rolling is quick, and I end up with five teams of Regular 'Mech Techs, two teams of Green 'Mech Techs, one Veteran Mechanic team, and two Regular Mechanic teams.  For right now, I'm going to have redsniper be the Veteran Mechanic, while Mongoose gets to be one of the regular 'Mech Techs.

The other two support personnel in a starting company are the Administrator and the Doctor.  The Doctor is a normal Regular.  Once Herra finds his way to this thread, this'll probably be him.  The Admin for this game will be played by me, and in light of that, I choose to make him a Command Admin.  Totally coincidentally, that roll makes him Elite.  No bull****, got a 12.

There are four different kinds of Administrators in the AtB rules, Command, Logistics, Transport, and Human Resources.  Each admin gives a bonus to a different field of contract negotiation or recruitment.  Command admins help negotiate command clauses, logistics admins negotiate overhead and support, transport admins negotiate transport rights, and human resources admins attract higher quality recruits.  Normally, I have my first admin be a HR admin to bulk up my pool of proficient personnel quickly, but if I want to be telling the story, I need a command admin.  That's not bad early game, anyway, since command rights determine how much control you have over your own forces, and how many attached allies you have per mission.

Attached allies are possibly the most horrible things ever.  In the Integrated and House command contract types, you get two and one allies respectively.  They are controlled by the bot, and if you lose them, you lose contract points (more on those later).  Since contract points directly affect how much you're getting paid, that's a Very Bad Thingtm.  Liaison command contract types have one ally, but he's under your control.  You still lose points if he dies, but you can make him run away, concentrate fire, and do other, similarly not-retarded-bot things.  Independent is widely regarded as the best command type, and comes with no allies whatsoever.  You live and die by your own merits.

I still have no idea what exact 'Mechs and vehicles I'm getting yet, since I'm away from my assignment tables at the moment.  Once I figure that out, I can boot up MekHQ, input all the stuff I've got so far, hire pilots and buy the 'Mechs to start, find my starting treasury, and then find a contract to pursue.

I'll try to start adding some pictures once the game gets started up for proper like, I swear.  Hell, I'm tempted to go back and add some to that wall o' text exposition block, too.

That should be it for tonight.  Tomorrow night will proooobably be contract generation.  I'm going to hold off on actually picking the contracts just yet, but it's nice to know what my options are.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Phantom Hoover on June 10, 2013, 08:10:32 pm
those look like some proper cannon fodder stats, i for one am pumped
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 10, 2013, 08:19:01 pm
I look forward to being assigned something sufficiently useless, like a Wasp, in the hopes of one day upgrading to something insufficiently useless, like a Phoenix Hawk.

(Will accept upgrades to Super Stinger (http://www.tro42.com/wiki/index.php?title=SSTG-3R_Super_Stinger).)

Then, in the far future, I can be dead. Or have a TR-1 Wraith, either way.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: CommanderDJ on June 10, 2013, 08:28:10 pm
Since I was skipped over, any chance I could snag a support spot somewhere? "DJ" will do for a callsign, if applicable.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 10, 2013, 09:00:45 pm
I'd still like to pilot a mech, if a spot is available (now or later), or a vehicle if not. Otherwise, I'd like to be support or something.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 10, 2013, 09:26:19 pm
(http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/thumb/1/13/Rs-vol5-vehicles.jpg/280px-Rs-vol5-vehicles.jpg)

"Ladies like Grinding Treads"
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 10, 2013, 10:17:20 pm
Battletech! :D

It seems I missed the fighting roster, but I'd like to be included as a mechtech, or a Mechwarrior replacement (fast light or medium FTW, no Urbies/Panthers/Whitworths/Vindicators/etc!)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 11, 2013, 12:34:59 am
Since I was skipped over, any chance I could snag a support spot somewhere? "DJ" will do for a callsign, if applicable.
You got skipped over?  I asked for a lance leader slot and callsign in the very first reply! :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 11, 2013, 12:37:41 am
You got skipped over?  I asked for a lance leader slot and callsign in the very first reply! :P

He did, about half-way down the first page, right before Direwolf. So did I actually, was the second reply. No big deal, just sayin'  :nod:
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 11, 2013, 12:44:30 am
I thought the smiley implied agreement and a joking manner.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: CommanderDJ on June 11, 2013, 01:38:49 am
It's okay. I knew what you meant. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: FireSpawn on June 11, 2013, 04:07:51 am
I think I'll just watch this one from the sidelines to get a grasp of game.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 11, 2013, 05:04:50 am
I think I'll just watch this one from the sidelines to get a grasp of game.

It's not like you'll be actually playing it. Unless Scotty goes "WHAT DO" at us like a /tg/ quest thread which would actually be kind of neat but significantly increase our risk of TPK.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: redsniper on June 11, 2013, 09:17:37 am
I make the tanks go. You can just call me Red.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Polpolion on June 11, 2013, 10:22:18 am
I am looking to pewing anything and everything for you, Scotty. Also have we decided what era we'll be playing in yet?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 11, 2013, 11:59:52 am
Scourge and DJ: Whoops!  I don't know how I missed you guys (especially since I had your names down on the first post at one point), but I'll fix that as soon as I can.  You can either wait for a real 'Mech or vehicle commander slot to open up, or volunteer for vehicle crewman like gunner or driver.  None of the vehicles I got are Lights, so all of them will have between three and six crewmen.

NGTM-1R and FireSpawn: I've got a decent idea of what I want to do, including some deliberately OOC-retarded stuff like taking a contract in the FRR around July 3049 or thereabouts.  I've got a pretty good grasp of the system, and I know for a fact that most of the people watching are totally unfamiliar with the tabletop in general and this ruleset in particular.  That means that most of the decisions will fall on my shoulders.  I might, eventually, poll the troops about who wants/deserves an officer's billet or a brand new 'Mech, or a given pilot about what spare part I should put in instead of the ruined PPC on his 'Mech, but that's going to be the extent of it until after the first or second contract when you guys know what's up.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 11, 2013, 12:19:09 pm
Just put me on the wait list for a Mech pilot slot then since I seem to have been skipped over yet again. :banghead:
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 11, 2013, 12:37:46 pm
Just put me on the wait list for a Mech pilot slot then since I seem to have been skipped over yet again. :banghead:

Oooohhh, I get it now! I thought you meant you actually did get in.

I'll take a gunnery position in a heavy vehicle, sounds fun and safe (ha!).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 11, 2013, 01:06:07 pm
Two assaults and a heavy, sounds pretty good for the start. I hope I get an Awesome. :) It was one of my favorites, with it's PPCs swapped for Clan ER versions, some armor stripped and the extra free space used for some additional close range lasers (on tabletop, extra heatsinks would probably be in order instead). Looking at the Wiki, this actually was somewhat similar to the AWS-9M variant (or 9Q, at the time when I had a 4th ERPPC. That one might cook itself when applied to the tabletop, though :)).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 11, 2013, 01:08:55 pm
We'll be lucky to get the first batch of updated designs.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 11, 2013, 01:11:25 pm
What do you think this is, the Kell Hounds?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 11, 2013, 01:35:01 pm
If he settles on 3049 or earlier then we won't be getting any Clan Tech.  Heck, even after the Clanners invade wasn't it was a few years before the IS could retrofit their tech into IS hardware?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 11, 2013, 01:39:12 pm
That's what loot salvage is for. ;)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 11, 2013, 01:59:08 pm
True, but while you can certainly stomp about with a captured Stormcrow, I was under the impression its a while before you can stuff a Clan Gauss, SSRM-6 and ERMLas in your AS7.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: DireWolf on June 11, 2013, 02:05:43 pm
That depends on how clever our techs turn out to be.

Also, how do personnel ratings affect the performance of vehicles with several crew members? Say, if the gunner of a given vehicle has a general skillset of 2/5, the pilot has a skillset of 4/5 and the commander has a skillset of 6/6, what will determine the vehicle's accuracy and mobility modifiers?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 11, 2013, 02:08:54 pm
A vehicle crew is treated as a single entity (at least as far as I recall the rules). That is, there are no separate skill values for gunners, drivers and commanders.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Aesaar on June 11, 2013, 03:27:33 pm
Aww, no VTOL for me. :(

If we acquire one, I can haz it?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: ShadowWolf_IH on June 11, 2013, 03:37:08 pm
Will more slots open when the Clans invade?  If so, you can put me down as Star Commander Shadowwolf Kerensky of Clan Wolf.  I prefer to pilot a TimberWolf D. 

If it were me, I'd let the IS modify, but not the clans. Clans are forced to run stock, but any variant.  Adds balance  sort of.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 11, 2013, 04:46:56 pm
I think you've failed to understand what Scotty is doing.  He's setting up a brand-new (read: rookie and unknown) IS mercenary unit in 3049 and using that as his campaign unit in an AI-run campaign in MegaMek.  Any Clan units will be AI-controlled opposition when 3050 rolls around.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 11, 2013, 07:01:20 pm
Clearly a doctor if you haven't updated that already
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: CommanderDJ on June 11, 2013, 07:19:04 pm
Scourge and DJ: Whoops!  I don't know how I missed you guys (especially since I had your names down on the first post at one point), but I'll fix that as soon as I can.  You can either wait for a real 'Mech or vehicle commander slot to open up, or volunteer for vehicle crewman like gunner or driver.  None of the vehicles I got are Lights, so all of them will have between three and six crewmen.


I'll volunteer for a gunner position, then. :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 11, 2013, 07:50:28 pm
Spardason: Dammit, I knew I was still forgetting someone. :(  I didn't expect near this level of interest, but even then turnover is probably going to be pretty high.  Not XCOM high, but high enough you'll be one of the first on the list.   CommanderDJ  and Scourge will be vehicle gunners.

The way vehicle crew work for this set is that all crewmen are hired at the same skill, meaning that the Heavy tank I have is going to have between 5 and 6 crewmen that all share a 3/6 skill rating.  What I do with them after I hire them, however, is my own perogative.  The determining factor for a vehicle's aggregate skill ratings depends on both position and average skill.  If the driver of a vehicle is a 5/1 (unlikely), and the gunner is a 1/5 (slightly less unlikely), the aggregate skill rating of the vehicle is going to be 1/1.  At the same time, if there are two gunners, and the other gunner is a 7/8, the skill rating of the vehicle is going to be 4/1.  There will never be more than one driver to a vehicle, but there will more than likely be several gunners.  The commander of the vehicle is the one I give the highest rank in MekHQ, with ties broken by the sum of their gunnery and piloting skills.

Two assaults and a heavy, sounds pretty good for the start. I hope I get an Awesome. :) It was one of my favorites, with it's PPCs swapped for Clan ER versions, some armor stripped and the extra free space used for some additional close range lasers (on tabletop, extra heatsinks would probably be in order instead). Looking at the Wiki, this actually was somewhat similar to the AWS-9M variant (or 9Q, at the time when I had a 4th ERPPC. That one might cook itself when applied to the tabletop, though :)).

You're going to like what I rolled up to start.  Speaking of which, I have that list!  Every single 'Mech was rolled randomly from a series of tables helpfully provided by a guy who goes by Xotl over on the BT forums.  He has this nifty Faction Assignment and Rarity Tables (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=1219.0) project that's a wonderful way to make a force.  If anyone is playing along with MegaMek, these tables are actually included in the "Roll Random Army" section, under RATs -> Unofficial -> Xotl.

Anyway.  That Tech Rating thing I glossed over before?  Here's where it matters.  Each 'Mech is assigned a rating from A to F, with A being the best and F the worst.  What the ratings do is alter the roll (of 1d1000) up or down on the Random Assignment Table (RAT) to reflect better or worse equipment.  A 'Mech with the A rating gets a +100, B is +50, C is 0, D is -50, and F is -100.  For a good idea of just how ****ty merc equipment is to start, the company before I rolled exact vehicles and 'Mechs had three Cs, seven Ds, and two Fs.

Amusingly, our glorious company CO had one of the Fs.  The_E's chances for a pimpin' command 'Mech didn't look good.  Then I hit the button to roll, and out popped an Awesome, specifically an AWS-8Q model.  Talk about lucky!  Those of you that have played MWO are probably already familiar with this guy.  Those of you that haven't...?  Well, TRO time!

Name: Awesome
Model: AWS-8Q
Tonnage: 80 tons
Engine: 240 standard
Speed: 35.4 km/h (3) walking, 51.2 km/h (5) running
Armor: 15 tons standard
Armament: 3 PPCs, 1 Small Laser

(http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/088/5/8/7th_crucis_lancers_awesome___mech_by_sightsonyou-d4ud1kc.png)

Not the largest 'Mech ever built, but definitely one of the most dangerous, the Awesome has lived up to its name since first rolling off the production lines in 2665.  Fifteen tons of armor is fully 75% of the entire mass of some 'Mechs that can be found on the same battlefield, the unlucky bastards.  A 240 rated Pitban standard fusion engine propels the Awesome to a top speed of just over 50 km/h.  That doesn't sound like much, but it gets you where you need to go, especially if that where isn't going away.

What really makes the Awesome shine, though, is in the weapons.  Three PPCs are alone more than most 'Mechs can handle in a stand up fight.  There's one PPC each mounted in the left torso, right torso, and right arm.  The small laser is just gravy, sitting in the head.  Each of those Kreuss model particle cannons is capable of shearing off more than half a ton of armor per hit out to a range of over 500 meters.  The only downside is that firing all three PPCs is going to heat the pilot up after a sustained barrage.  Twenty eight heat sinks isn't quite enough to handle taping the triggers down and walking away, but compared to a lot of contemporary designs, it's still doing well for itself.

What does all that mean?  The Awesome is an anvil.  A very painful anvil, against which to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.

The very next roll, I got another one (this one from a tech C).  So, our company is going to have one hell of an anvil, yes siree.

A little bit more on the PPC:

PPCs are direct fire energy weapons.  Not only that, they are the most powerful direct fire energy weapons available to most armies.  With a maximum range of 540 meters, the PPC also boasts a very long range for an energy weapon in 3049, surpassed by exactly two systems: the ER Large Laser and the ER PPC, the former by only 30 meters.  At that range, the PPC is capable of cleaving more than half a ton of armor from the target per hit.  For some smaller 'Mechs, this is enough to amputate entire limbs in a single strike.  The only drawbacks to the PPC are the high heat load and high tonnage of the weapon system.  Each PPC masses seven tons and takes up fully a quarter of the space in a 'Mech's torso or limbs.  Additionally, PPCs are ineffective at extremely short ranges.  From point blank to 90 meters, the PPC suffers degraded performance when compared to other, shorter ranged weapons.

In-game stats
Name: PPC
Type: Direct-fire energy
Mass: 7 tons
Critical: 3 spaces
Range: 90 meters minimum, 540 meters maximum (3/6/12/18)
Damage: 10
Heat: 10

What do all those numbers mean?  The mass should be obvious.  Each 'Mech has a certain tonnage, and it cannot surpass that and still be a legal design.  The mass of the PPC counts toward that total mass for any 'Mech it is mounted on.  Critical spaces are the internal space of the 'Mech.  Every single (bipedal, we might see quads later, maybe) 'Mech has the same amount of critical spaces, regardless of size, and the PPC takes up 3 of those spots.  Before advanced materials like Endo-Steel and Ferro-Fibrous armor are commonplace, that doesn't mean too much, but after they show up, critical space starts to run short very fast.  The range in meters is pretty self-explanitory, but I'll explain the numbers in parentheses after it.  Each number represents the weapon's range in hexes.  The first number is the minimum range.  Any target within 1-3 hexes of the PPC when it fires is harder to hit.  Not every weapon has a minimum range, so if there are only three numbers, that one is the one missing.  The next number (or first, if there's no minimum range) is the short range.  All the way up to that number, in this case six hexes, the weapon behaves with no penalty to shots.  At medium range, from hexes 7-12, there is a +2 penalty imposed on the shot.  Remember, a pilot with Gunnery 4 would suddenly find him/herself at 6+ to hit, instead of the 4+ earlier.  Finally, long range is a +4, and occupies the space between the last and second to last numbers, in this case 13-18.  At long range, that Gunnery 4 pilot would find him/herself firing at 8+, before taking anything else into account!

And on the Small Laser:

Quite possibly one of the least terrifying weapons on the field when viewed from a MechWarrior's perspective, the small laser is still a capable weapon.  With a maximum range of 90 meters, it's difficult to get in range, but at such close range there is no more efficient weapon on the field.  Though the directed beam of coherent light sears off less than a quarter ton of armor, it does so at miniscule heat production, and with the smallest base mass of any weapon system out there.

In-game stats
Name: Small Laser
Type: Direct-fire energy
Mass: 0.5 tons
Critical: 1 space
Range: 90 meters maximum (1/2/3)
Damage: 3
Heat: 1

So, that's what our pair of Awesomes wade into battle with.  You'll have to take my word for it at this point, but having two of them is pretty damn impressive.  Our company CO, The_E's "Easy" and Dragon's "Rapier" will be piloting these two.

This post is already getting to be huge and info-dumpy, so I'll cut it off here.  I've still got two vehicles in the command lance to do, and then two more full lances.  There are some more duplicates, here and there, but for the most part the company is pretty diverse.

Rest assured, this will actually get more interesting once I get something to actually do.  I'm not technically released from training until Thursday around noon, and until then I don't have access to either enough time to play out the game, or any way to put MekHQ on a government computer (not that I'd do such a thing...).  That, and once the biggest infodump is out of the way (ten distinct designs in the company, plus their weapons), it'll speed up.

Actually, you know what?  I'll just post the entire company here, and do the write-up sections later.  You guys deserve to know what's up, and can look them up yourselves if you absolutely need to.  The write-up sections will still happen, just spaced a bit better.

After those two Awesomes rolled up, I was pretty damn ecstatic.  The rest of the lance did not disappoint me.  The 4/6 Medium vehicle came up as a Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun.  Hetzers gonna Hetz.  The 3/6 Heavy vehicle resulted in a Manticore Heavy Battle Tank.  StarSlayer, please enjoy your ride.

The Scout lance was less impressive.  The 2/5 Medium landed me exactly what I wanted in the form of a Phoenix Hawk PXH-1, often affectionately referred to as a Pixie.  It's fast, jumps, and has a good weapons suite on it, so our Scout lance has at least a little bit of bite.  The rest of the lance... well, when I said "POS Bugs" a while back, it was spot on.  NGTM-1R got a Locust LCT-1V, and the 5/6 and 6/5 both got Wasps WSP-1A models.  The Wasp is a strong contender for "most useless 'Mech in the game" at this level, so there.  The Locust is at least speedy.

The third lance ended up significantly lower powered than the command lance, but not terrible in its own right.  The officer in the Heavy, Mr. Gibbs, rolled a Grasshopper GHR-5H.  Initially, in fact, he rolled the upgraded 3050 version.  Then I realized that the 3050 "upgrade" was one of those lemons that is pretending to be something sweet, and GM-fiat'd that back to a normal one.  Seriously, two tons of Streak ammo for one Streak SRM-2 is kind of, uh... well, put as kindly as possible, ****ing retarded.  And that's why we can't have nice things.  The next 'Mech ended up a Shadow Hawk SHD-2H.  This 'Mech is very nearly the definition of mediocre, even in 3025.  I'd take the Pixie over it in a fair fight any day, and the Pixie is ten tons lighter.

The two vehicles in third lance were pretty mundane, too.  The 4/5 got a Vedette, which GMs across the world have used as the mook enemy for decades, and the 4/6 got another Hetzer.

So, to sum it all up:

Assault/Command
*** 3/5 Awesome AWS-8Q, The_E "Easy"
4/6 Awesome AWS-8Q, Dragon "Rapier"
4/6 Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun, IronBeer "Iron"
* 3/6 Manticore Heavy Battle Tank, StarSlayer "StarSlayer", Scourge "Scourge"

Scout
** 2/5 Phoenix Hawk PXH-1, Polpolion "Polly"
5/5 Locust LCT-1V, NGTM-1R "Night"
5/6 Wasp WSP-1A, Patriot "Patriot"
6/5 Wasp WSP-1A, Esarai "Esarai"

Combat
* 3/4 Grasshopper GHR-5H, Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
6/5 Shadow Hawk SHD-2H, Phantom Hoover "Phantom"
4/5 Vedette Medium Tank, Aesaar "Toothless", CommanderDJ "DJ"
4/6 Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun, DireWolf "Dire"

Admin: Me "Strobe"
Doctor: deathfun "Deathfun"(?)
Mech Tech: Mongoose "Mongoose"
Mechanic: redsniper "Red"

Vacant slots:
Six Mech Techs
Two Mechanics

Waiting list:
SpardaSon21
ShadowWolf_IH

And now, regarding customization:  Probably going to be limited early game, as I'm going to want every single 'Mech available all the time for missions.  Downtime between missions is possible, however, as is emergency repairs of the "Just shove a large laser in there, the PPC is busted!" variety.  Refitting Clan equipment onto the company's 'Mechs runs into a couple of hurdles.

1) Shooting down the Clan pilots in the first place.

2) Controlling the field to get the salvage.

3) Maintaining the equipment once we get it.

Number 3 is by far the most concerning.  I'll cross that bridge when we get there, but a 4xCERPPC Awesome is probably the pinnacle of "not gonna happen" right now.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 11, 2013, 08:02:09 pm
Well crap, I actually have a 'Mech that's in theory useful! Only because of speed, though.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 11, 2013, 08:02:30 pm
sweet, you missed me on the reserves list though ;)

and that manticore in the assault/command lance is count to be handy as well
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 11, 2013, 08:37:00 pm
Could you please also add me to the reserves/waiting list, callsign "Loon" ;)

And 7 PPC's in the command lance?  That's some serious long range firepower!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Aesaar on June 11, 2013, 08:50:47 pm
I'm gonna get so exploded.


I'd like to change my callsign to "Redshirt".  We can change it back if I manage to graduate to a vehicle that isn't hilarious. :p
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 11, 2013, 08:59:23 pm
At least the Vedette's AC/5 gives you "some" stand-off capabilities, I'd be more worried about crewing the rolling coffins / Hetzers...
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 11, 2013, 09:00:04 pm
I just looked the Vedette up on Sarna, and well, I can't decide if a red paint job on it is the world's best idea or the world's worst idea. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: IronBeer on June 11, 2013, 10:04:49 pm
At least the Vedette's AC/5 gives you "some" stand-off capabilities, I'd be more worried about crewing the rolling coffins / Hetzers...
:sigh: Well at least I can hit back pretty hard. ...I think. ...on paper.

On behalf of all of us riding in rather subpar gear, here's hoping we live long enough to get some better rides.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: ShadowWolf_IH on June 11, 2013, 10:17:30 pm
actually, if you are playing battletech in 3050, the guass is a much better weapon than the erPPC.  As far as customizing and repair goes...I still have the compendium, and if I am not mistaken, maximum tech is running around here someplace (if so the expanded rules for repair may come in useful to you).  I can't believe that no one is sitting in a BLR-3g Battlemaster.  Or a 70 ton Warhammer. 

Using clan tech on IS mechs is much harder than just swapping out  an erppc for a clan erppc, clan weaps come in pods. It can be done, but it is much harder than replacing it with the weapon that came from there.

The only thing that I liked about the coasters on my coffee table (you probably call them Mechwarrior 4) was that the slots for weapons take into account how the mech engineered. ie The mech was engineered to have ballistic weapons in location x, energy weapons in location y,  and missile types in location z.  It would make customizing on paper a pain in the ass, but it makes sense. That concludes the ONLY thing I liked about mech 4. 

Anyway, let me know if I can help in any way.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Aesaar on June 11, 2013, 11:26:06 pm
On behalf of all of us riding in rather subpar gear, here's hoping we live long enough to get some better rides.

Can vehicle pilots even eject?  If not, is there a way to allow us to?  Us medium vehicles will definitely need it.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 11, 2013, 11:42:54 pm
Can vehicle pilots even eject?  If not, is there a way to allow us to?  Us medium vehicles will definitely need it.

It's not a standard feature, but some vehicles are noted for their crew safety features. Y'all in the Hetzers are probably screwed, but the Vedette has a decent number of hatches for the crew to get out before it brews up.

Perhaps we'll get lucky at some point in 3050 and stumble across a Ku.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 12, 2013, 03:37:22 am
Well, as starting loadouts go, that's not too bad. Having our main heavy hitters be all-energy designs will certainly help keep down operating expenses.

That said, that Scout lance needs replacing ASAP. Let's get some Valkyries and Spiders in there.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: FireSpawn on June 12, 2013, 06:28:32 am
Drop me in as a Tech. I don't know what they do specifically but it sounds like a nice, safe place to be.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 12, 2013, 06:53:52 am
I love how the command lance ended up. This kind of firepower could probably gut lighter mechs in one salvo. Can't wait to see it in action. :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 12, 2013, 07:04:48 am
One thing I am worried about is that we have little in the way of indirect fire support capability. I'd loooove to have a Longbow, Archer, Catapult, or even an LRM carrier on our side.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 12, 2013, 10:54:25 am
We got maybe 20 tubes between my Manticore, the SHD and GHR?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 12, 2013, 11:04:09 am
Yep, which is not a lot.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Polpolion on June 12, 2013, 11:31:32 am
Quote
2/5 Phoenix Hawk PXH-1, Polpolion "Polly"

how am I going to fit my heavy mass driver on this
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 12, 2013, 06:01:42 pm
Quote
2/5 Phoenix Hawk PXH-1, Polpolion "Polly"

how am I going to fit my heavy mass driver on this

Well, not a heavy, but if you wait until 3058 I can fit a mass driver.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 12, 2013, 07:28:15 pm
On behalf of all of us riding in rather subpar gear, here's hoping we live long enough to get some better rides.

Can vehicle pilots even eject?  If not, is there a way to allow us to?  Us medium vehicles will definitely need it.

Yes, and yes.  Vehicle crew do not instantly die when their vehicle is destroyed, and I can "eject" vehicle crew if the situation warrants it (it'll be a helluva lot cheaper than fighting to the bitter end).  I'll probably disable MechWarriors and vehicle crews running around the battlefield, too.  The bot has some rather... interesting target priorities when there are infantry on the field, and prior experience with AtB has shown that ejecting is a rather more certain prospect that merely attempted suicide.

AT ANY RATE I don't expect you guys to really need it.  Both lances with Hetzers have some rather more pressing targets to take fire, and against Green/Regular bot enemies I don't expect much trouble.  Against Clan?  Well... have your life insurance forms filled out and notarized.

Well, as starting loadouts go, that's not too bad. Having our main heavy hitters be all-energy designs will certainly help keep down operating expenses.

That said, that Scout lance needs replacing ASAP. Let's get some Valkyries and Spiders in there.

Spiders would be nice but are fairly rare; Valkyries are right out.  I don't like anything slower than 6/9/x in my Scout lances, because Scout lances are typically also used as reinforcement lances, and reinforcements enter the field at a speed of 12 turns minus their walking speed.  Honestly, even in 3025, Wasps and Stingers are the lower bound on the mobility curve that I deem acceptable, unless the 'Mech brings some exceptional firepower or ability to the field.  Those exceptions are Phoenix Hawks for heavy hitting and things like Firestarters for (duh) starting fires.  Javelins also get a pass for being really painful.

actually, if you are playing battletech in 3050, the guass is a much better weapon than the erPPC.  As far as customizing and repair goes...I still have the compendium, and if I am not mistaken, maximum tech is running around here someplace (if so the expanded rules for repair may come in useful to you).  I can't believe that no one is sitting in a BLR-3g Battlemaster.  Or a 70 ton Warhammer.

Not that simple, on both counts.  My access to gauss is exactly nill right now.  My access to 'Mechs was essentially totally random.  If I could have my way, the Grasshopper would be an Archer, all of my vehicles would be hovers, and all of my Scout lance would be that Phoenix Hawk and a bunch of Spiders

Using clan tech on IS mechs is much harder than just swapping out  an erppc for a clan erppc, clan weaps come in pods. It can be done, but it is much harder than replacing it with the weapon that came from there.

Eh.  Kinda.  MekHQ tracks parts as parts, not as pods.  It really is that simple, except I'm fairly certain there's a modifier for Clan parts being more difficult to fit onto Inner Sphere equipment.  I doubt that has to do with pods, though, since second line equipment is just as difficult to work with.

The only thing that I liked about the coasters on my coffee table (you probably call them Mechwarrior 4) was that the slots for weapons take into account how the mech engineered. ie The mech was engineered to have ballistic weapons in location x, energy weapons in location y,  and missile types in location z.  It would make customizing on paper a pain in the ass, but it makes sense. That concludes the ONLY thing I liked about mech 4. 

Anyway, let me know if I can help in any way.

This is absolutely not at all how refits work in the tabletop, and MekHQ follows the tabletop rules when it comes to implementation.  Refits are from one variant to the next, and if I want a custom variant I have to build it in either MekLab or SSW and export it, then convert to the new model.  It's very much not as simple as plug ballistic weapon x into slot y.

How it works instead is that each form of refit is given a rating.  A class refits are same-class (ballistic, missile, etc), same-size or smaller refits.  They are the easiest to accomplish.  B class are same-class, larger-size.  C is different class, same-size (includes armor), D is different class, different size (I think this one includes endo-steel, but may be mistaken).  E and F are factor refits, and alter things like engine size and type.

In the field, A and B are the norm, and if you're doing C, prepare for it to take a long time to finish, because you will fail the roll, and it will take several dozen man-hours longer than expected.  Same for D.  E and F cannot even be attempted in the field.

I'm gonna get so exploded.


I'd like to change my callsign to "Redshirt".  We can change it back if I manage to graduate to a vehicle that isn't hilarious. :p

Heh, can do.  You're certainly not "toothless", no matter how "lifeless" your pilot could be in the next few months. :P

The remainder of this post is a post I had ready to go last night, before the forum decided to flip me the bird and die.

/me headdesks and adds headdie to the list.

So, I discovered I had two more hours than I thought I did tonight, so here's more stuff!

Name: Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun
Type: Wheeled combat vehicle
Tonnage: 40 tons
Engine: 140 I.C.E.
Speed: 43.2 km/h (4) cruising, 65.8 km/h (6) flank
Armor: 8 tons standard
Armament: 1 AC/20

(http://images.frpgames.org/products/product_56196.jpg)

The Hetzer is an unassuming vehicle.  It's shaped a lot like a bunker, sloped armor rising to a flat surface with the commander's cupola rising a few centimeters higher than that.  The wheeled motive system grants a little bit of a bonus to mobility, but has the downside of rendering the vehicle more vulnerable to disabling hits.  Eight tons of armor on a 40 ton frame is pretty strudy for the day and age, but the armor isn't the distinguishing feature.  The most prominent feature of the Hetzer is the boomstick.  A single, massive AC/20 protrudes from the front casemate.  As the single most damaging weapon available to anyone in 3049, the AC/20 is an intimidating weapon, capable of shearing off over a full ton of armor in one hit.  A respectable 20 casettes of ammunition ensure that the main gun will be capable of firing long after the Hetzer is incapable of anything else.

Vehicles are interesting in BattleTech.  'Mechs are very clearly superior in a variety of roles, but vehicles tend to perform much better than an equivalent 'Mech at single roles.  The Hetzer is a study in such specialization.  There is exactly one 'Mech smaller than the Hetzer that mounts an AC/20 in 3049, and it's an Urbanmech, lemon of lemons.  Everything else is larger and much more expensive.

What sets vehicles aside from 'Mechs is the damage resolution.  While a 'Mech can lose an arm and keep on trucking with little (or in some cases zero) loss of capability, vehicles go belly up the moment even one of their locations is destroyed.  While that's annoying in that their survivability is somewhat lower (only somewhat, you'll see later), it's also easier to salvage a vehicle from the field because a vehicle is only unsalvageable if it is destroyed by an un-CASEd ammunition or fuel explosion, or if more than one section is destroyed.

That somewhat I was talking about?  Well, while 'Mechs have eight (count 'em, eight) locations that may be destroyed independently of one another, most vehicles only have four or five.  The turret on a vehicle is optional (the Hetzer doesn't have one), so it has four.  VTOLs have a rotor for five, and any turreted vehicles have five as well.  How does that help them out?  You have the same tonnage of armor covering 37% less locations (55% less if you're counting rear locations).  That means you can have impossibly thick armor on your MBT that even your assault 'Mech can't pretend to match.  The eight tons of armor on the Hetzer are arranged such that the front sloped armor on the vehicle (slope doesn't do anything, unfortunately) can take three whole PPCs to the face before buckling, and the internal structure is untouched.  Since vehicles (and 'Mechs) are only really damaged when the soft insides are damaged, that's a big step up from the max of 14 or 16 points on an arm or 20 on a leg in the same weight classes.  The rest of the Hetzer is even able to take a shot from its main gun with some left over.

But that's that.  You guys want to know more about that BFG on the front, right?  Right.  Here it is.

Name: AC/20
Type: Direct-fire ballistic
Mass: 14 tons
Critical: 10 spaces
Range: 270 meters maximum (3/6/9)
Damage: 20
Heat: 7

The AC/20.  The boomstick.  The big ****ing gun.  There is literally nothing bigger than this on the Inner Sphere battlefields of 3049.  There is nothing more powerful than this.  One and a quarter tons of armor shatter and fall to the ground every time one of these babies connects with a target, if there's even that much there.  More likely, entire limbs and sections of torso cease to exist.  Then again, weighing in at 14 tons, only the gauss rifle masses more, and the amount of space it takes up is enough to make mounting it almost impossible if there's anything there first.  Two hundred seventy meters may not sound like much, but when an AC/20 gets rolling, it's a 540 meter wide bubble of "Don't **** with me" that even assault 'Mechs pay attention to.  That high damage comes with a hefty heat price, though, especially for a ballistic weapon.  Most pilots are okay with this.  Just don't ask what caliber any given weapon is.  What classifies an AC/20 is raw damage, not shell size or diameter.

Name: Manticore Heavy Tank
Type: Tracked combat vehicle
Tonnage: 60 tons
Engine: 240 standard
Speed: 43 km/h (4) cruising, 65 km/h (6) flank
Armor: 11 tons standard
Armament: 1 PPC, 1 LRM 10, 1 SRM 6, 1 Medium Laser

(http://www.camospecs.com/images/schemes/31_MadDoc_36LyranGuards_Manticore.jpg)

Hetzer not doing it for you?  Want a real tank?  Say hi to the Manticore.  This bad boy is one of the oldest and best main battle tanks in the Inner Sphere.  Even in the fires of 3049, the Manticore holds its own, and a little bit more.  A PPC, six-tube short range missile launcher, and ten-tube long range missile launcher occupy a well armored turret, with a medium laser pulling security front at all times.  A good speed and good armor supplement excellent armament to make this more dangerous than some comparably sized 'Mechs at just about everything except scouting (looking at you, Dragon).  Ammunition for the missile weapons is a little light, considering how much punishment this thing can take, with two minutes of fire for the LRMs and two and a half for the SRMs, but by the time you run out of ammo you should probably be moving to the rear anyway.  The use of a fusion engine is an oddity on a combat vehicle in this day and age, but it proves on this vehicle right here that sometimes, it's the best choice for the job.

You've already met the PPC, but this time there are a few new buddies to get to know, eh?  Fortunately, LRMs and SRMs can get lumped together fairly easily into one system, so I'll get those out of the way now.

Name: Long Range Missile Launcher
Type: Missile
Mass: 2/5/7/10 tons
Critical: 1/2/3/5 spaces
Range: 180 meters minimum, 630 meters maximum (6/7/14/21)
Damage: 1/missile
Heat: 2/4/5/6

LRMs are, as of 3049, the only ubiquitous indirect-fire platform available to the modern pilot.  Each launcher fires a flight of either 5, 10, 15, or 20 missiles out to a maximum range of 630 meters, where the missiles come arcing down on a target.  Each missile does little damage, but they tend to cluster, and where one hits, more follow.  LRMs are ammunition fed missile weapons, meaning that once the ammunition runs out, the launcher goes quiet, and the unit carrying it must be reloaded before it can start up again.  Each bin of LRM ammunition holds 120 missiles and is fairly expensive.  Most commanders call the expense well worth it, as LRMs are the primary heavy fire support of any decently equipped force.  The LRM outranges all but the lowly AC/2 and the devastating gauss rifle on the battlefield.  Any LRM far outstrips the former in damage dealing potential, and an equivalent tonnage of missile weapons to any gauss weapon will deal significantly more damage.  Missiles' main downsides are a vulnerability to anti-missile systems and a penchant for running out of ammunition when you want it least.

Name: Short Range Missile Launcher
Type: Missile
Mass: 1/2/3 tons
Critical: 1/1/2 spaces
Range: 270 meters maximum (3/6/9)
Damage: 2/missile
Heat: 2/3/4

SRMs are the LRMs shorter, more painfully inclined cousin.  Each launcher is individually composed of less tubes, but each missile carries a more potent explosive charge.  SRMs are incapable of indirect fire, but at such short ranges, the loss is hardly noticed.  Unlike their long ranged cousins, SRMs also tend to seek their own individual locations on a target, scattering and sandpapering the target clear of armor with explosion after explosion.  The behavior of these missiles also makes it more likely for an SRM tube to reach out and touch something vulnerable beneath the armor.  They share the weakness to AMSs, unfortunately.  Each ton of SRM ammunition is 100 missiles, with the exception of the SRM-6, which holds 90 per bin.

That should cover both types of missile systems available at this point in time.  Other kinds of missiles don't show up until later (MRMs) or way later (ATMs, MMLs, Thunderbolts).  Last but not least on this version of Let's Play Infodump, the humble Medium Laser.  Min-maxer's dream, and inarguably the most efficient weapon in the game.  Players new to the game almost invariably gravitate toward fast designs armed with multitudes of medium lasers.  That's not going to happen in this campaign, mind you, but imagine:

Name: Medium Laser
Type: Direct-fire energy
Mass: 1 ton
Critical: 1 space
Range: 270 meters maximum (3/6/9)
Damage: 5
Heat: 3

The Medium Laser fills the gap, unsurprisingly, between Small and Large Lasers.  More range, damage, and heat than the Small Laser, less of all three than the Large.  Massing one ton and taking up the bare minimum critical space, medium lasers put out solid damage for their mass at short but workable ranges.  The heat build up is... actually really low for how much damage it does as an energy weapon.  There's not a whole lot to go into about the Medium Laser except how workhorse it is.  It's not flashy, it's not monstrous, it's not bad.  The one ton mass and one critical requirement means that you can find Medium Lasers on juuuust about anything with a spare ton.

That concludes the lessons for tonight, methinks.  This wait is driving me just as stir-crazy as you guys, if not more.  Thursday/Friday should have the first real stuff connected with managing this beast, with contracts and maybe even an actual mission, depending on how long the initial write-up takes.

Okay, so, that's the end of this post.  I'm adding FireSpawn as a tech, niffiwan to the waiting list callsign "Loon", headdie to the waiting list callsign "Headdie".  Am I missing anyone else?

The company, as it stands now:

Assault/Command
*** 3/5 Awesome AWS-8Q, The_E "Easy"
4/6 Awesome AWS-8Q, Dragon "Rapier"
4/6 Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun, IronBeer "Iron"
* 3/6 Manticore Heavy Battle Tank, StarSlayer "StarSlayer", Scourge "Scourge"

Scout
** 2/5 Phoenix Hawk PXH-1, Polpolion "Polly"
5/5 Locust LCT-1V, NGTM-1R "Night"
5/6 Wasp WSP-1A, Patriot "Patriot"
6/5 Wasp WSP-1A, Esarai "Esarai"

Combat
* 3/4 Grasshopper GHR-5H, Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
6/5 Shadow Hawk SHD-2H, Phantom Hoover "Phantom"
4/5 Vedette Medium Tank, Aesaar "Toothless", CommanderDJ "DJ"
4/6 Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun, DireWolf "Dire"

Admin: Me "Strobe"
Doctor: deathfun "Deathfun"(?)
Mech Tech: Mongoose "Mongoose", FireSpawn "Fire Spawn"
Mechanic: redsniper "Red"

Vacant slots:
Five Mech Techs
Two Mechanics

Waiting list:
SpardaSon21 "Werewolf" - 'Mech pilot
ShadowWolf_IH "Shadow Wolf" - 'Mech pilot
headdie "Headdie" - 'Mech pilot
niffiwan "Loon" - 'Mech pilot
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: IronBeer on June 12, 2013, 10:12:33 pm
Well, I feel a lot better about my assignment now- can't wait to see that big gun in action!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 12, 2013, 10:25:02 pm
By the way, you can rename my character as "Dr. 'deathfun' Bones" for several references all at once
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 12, 2013, 10:25:27 pm
The bot has some rather... interesting target priorities when there are infantry on the field, and prior experience with AtB has shown that ejecting is a rather more certain prospect that merely attempted suicide.

In my experiences with MegaMek, the bots behaviour can be best described as "possesses a psychotic hatred of ejected pilots". Seriously, it goes out of its way to step on them.

What sets vehicles aside from 'Mechs is the damage resolution.  While a 'Mech can lose an arm and keep on trucking with little (or in some cases zero) loss of capability, vehicles go belly up the moment even one of their locations is destroyed.  While that's annoying in that their survivability is somewhat lower (only somewhat, you'll see later), it's also easier to salvage a vehicle from the field because a vehicle is only unsalvageable if it is destroyed by an un-CASEd ammunition or fuel explosion, or if more than one section is destroyed.

That somewhat I was talking about?  Well, while 'Mechs have eight (count 'em, eight) locations that may be destroyed independently of one another, most vehicles only have four or five.  The turret on a vehicle is optional (the Hetzer doesn't have one), so it has four.  VTOLs have a rotor for five, and any turreted vehicles have five as well.  How does that help them out?  You have the same tonnage of armor covering 37% less locations (55% less if you're counting rear locations).  That means you can have impossibly thick armor on your MBT that even your assault 'Mech can't pretend to match.  The eight tons of armor on the Hetzer are arranged such that the front sloped armor on the vehicle (slope doesn't do anything, unfortunately) can take three whole PPCs to the face before buckling, and the internal structure is untouched.  Since vehicles (and 'Mechs) are only really damaged when the soft insides are damaged, that's a big step up from the max of 14 or 16 points on an arm or 20 on a leg in the same weight classes.  The rest of the Hetzer is even able to take a shot from its main gun with some left over.

On the downside, hits on vehicles tend to be more concentrated one location, e.g. from the front most hits on a vehicle are to the front armour (especially when lacking a turret, e.g. Hetzer), whereas a mech has more even spread of locations that can be hit.  This partially cancels out benefit of having more armour in each individual location.  Vehicles also receive more criticals (especially from the side, and when including motive system damage as a "critical") than mechs receive which also reduces the effectiveness of having huge amounts of amour.  So yeah, I'm of the opinion (unfortunately for the crew :() that vehicles are a fair bit more flimsy than similar mechs.

(sorry IronBeer, just saw your post as I was writing this.  It is a good gun though, just as long as you can get into range)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: IronBeer on June 12, 2013, 10:35:53 pm
(sorry IronBeer, just saw your post as I was writing this.  It is a good gun though, just as long as you can get into range)
I know- I went ahead and did some reading on the Sarna (BT) wiki. According to info there, the Hetzer is... well, it's got a big gun. Gotta wonder though, how exactly would the lack of a turret affect its combat ability?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 12, 2013, 10:50:44 pm
not too much, its not as much of a big deal as it is IRL.  Obviously if you're immobilised you're in more trouble without one, and running away while shooting is harder (not that the Hetzer has the speed to run from much). Apart from that, showing your sides to the enemy while using a turret to engage is usually not a good idea unless you've already lost most of your front armour.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 12, 2013, 11:19:58 pm
Hetzer has two problems for mobility.

One, it's wheeled. This impacts the terrain it can move across and on pavement/clear terrain occasionally results in unwanted drifts. (You'll also see other vehicles drift occasionally, yes you can totally Fast and the Furious with your giant robot if it's quick enough, and one of the things MegaMek doesn't simulate IIRC was that you could deliberately fail a piloting roll to drift a vehicle.)

The second is the weapon is fixed-forward. Turreted weapons have a 360 degree field of fire. BattleMech torso weapons are similarly fixed but the 'Mech can torso-twist to bring them to bear on side arcs, while the arm weapons have both front-arc and their side-arc field of fire (and you can stack with torso twist to bring one arm to bear on the aft arc).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 12, 2013, 11:40:43 pm
Yes to all counts.  Hetzers aren't particularly shining beacons of vehicle design.  They still have their uses, though.  A big boomstick is always helpful, and if my vehicle crews are anything, they are consistently average gunners.  That doesn't sound like much, but Gunnery 4 on an AC/20 is still a lot of pain.  Most of the time on the field, Hetzers are going to be scooting from cover to cover and staying out of LOS as much as is physically possible until in range.  If getting in range like that is impossible, I'll hang back and make them come to me.

Vehicles are generally fairly balanced with 'Mechs, though "fairly balanced" means 'Mechs are kings of the battlefield for only a couple reasons instead of every reason ever.

Fun fact: the AtB rules only count vehicles as half-tonnage for balancing purposes.  That Hetzer?  Carries the same balancing weight as a Wasp or Stinger when it comes to rolling OpFor, instead of a 40 ton mobile boomstick that's capable of one-shotting said Wasp or Stinger.  It's also really cheap to buy more of, so I can honestly have a stack of Hetzers back at base to stick the crew into if one goes boom.  That's slightly less possible for 'Mechs.  If it ever gets too bad with the vehicle attrition rate, expect to see a lot of "<Hetzer> VII" or some other amusingly large Roman numeral.
Title: Warbook Posting
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 13, 2013, 12:39:04 am
Also, I am totally going to save Scotty a post here or annoy him endlessly and tell you all you need to know about the Locust and the Vedette.

This is a Locust. It's actually the correct model of Locust, too; can't always be sure of that with BattleMechs.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/ngtm1r/Locustjpg_zps1e068473.png)

Armament for an LCT-1V consists of a Medium Laser and a pair of Machineguns. It has a 8/12/0 movement profile, or in practical terms it cruises at slightly better than eighty-five kilometers an hour, runs at just short of hundred and thirty, and doesn't jump. The design is armored to the efficient maximum, i.e. there are no wasted armor points from the last half-ton, but this is somewhat irrelevant for a twenty tonner. The only location on the Locust that will survive contact with a headchopper weapon (one that does twelve points of damage, the maximum necessary to take the head clean off a 'Mech) is its center torso, and that will be hanging on at three points of internal structure. There are estimated to be at the time of this game somewhere well over two thousand Locusts in service in the Inner Sphere.

The good point is that the Locust can outrun almost anything, making it a very effective scout since it can get away to report back. The bad points are the popgun weapons array (my kingdom for an LCT-1E conversion kit) and the use of a whole ton of machinegun ammo for one hundred turns of sustained fire from both barrels, which is utterly pointless, in addition the machinegun ammo being by far one of the most explosive substances in the game and that one ton contains enough explosive power to scrap this 'Mech entirely. (Every structure point, every armor point, flat gone.)



This a Vedette. Don't count on it to look like any other Vedette you may ever meet, however, for reasons mentioned below.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/ngtm1r/Vedette-3026_zps37634a08.jpg)

Armament consists of an AC-5 in a turret and a machinegun on the bow. Movement profile is 5/8/0, or fifty-four kilometers an hour cruise, eighty-six flank, and with one exception combat vehicles don't jump. The armor protection is fairly good and in an engagement with an infantry force or a light BattleMech a Vedette is more likely to be disabled by critical damage than by penetration of its armor. Vedettes are produced by eight major arms companies across the Inner Sphere and Periphery, in addition to countless minor ones. They are thus one of the most common commodities in the universe after hydrogen, the various APC designs, and human stupidity.

Good points are that as a tracked vehicle the Vedette can go almost anywhere, and for such and its engine type it's actually quite fast. The AC-5 also provides some range to play with, and the turret means the Vedette is very good at the Monty Python Maneuver of running the hell away while firing backwards at pursuing enemies. Bad points are that total damage output is actually less than the Locust's already popgun array of weapons, and 5/8/0 actually isn't too fast with a large number of medium and light BattleMechs, even in this era, able to keep pace or close the range. Both problems can be laid at the cheap but weight-inefficient Internal Combustion Engine's feet.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 13, 2013, 01:46:13 pm
Good post, and yes thank you for saving me a bit of info-dumpy exposition.  Wasp, Grasshopper, Phoenix Hawk, and Shadow Hawk are all still in the pipe, but I should be able to get those done myself without too much trouble.

As helpful as that post was, this post is for more than just to thank.  As of approximately four hours ago, I have graduated my initial entry training into the US Army, and am boarding a plane home in just over an hour and a half.  By 9:30 EST, I'll be back home and sinking back into my comfortable routine of sit-on-my-ass-and-play-vidya-games for most of the week.  Woo!

What does that mean?  That means expect to see some screenies of the company management 'action' later tonight.  Also possible are the initial contract offers for the company, which means people should start dying getting paid soon!  A big thanks to you all for bearing with me through the rather dry spool-up week before I could actually do anything. :D
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 13, 2013, 02:20:38 pm
I like that the Hetzer literally is a Jagdpanzer 38(t) minus treads.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 13, 2013, 03:30:41 pm
aww fudge, i wanted a Hunchback :(

And of all things i get put into the mech i didn't wanna be in xD

Scotty, could you please strive to get me a medium when salvage comes around? No need to reroll my guy/mech just cause of me not liking it.


EDIT: Fun part is that i get to be in the same lance as my X-COM brethren xD
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: DireWolf on June 13, 2013, 05:19:34 pm
Congratulations Scotty!

I'm slightly more excited about my ride now, especially since I can DRIIIIIIFT.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 13, 2013, 06:01:01 pm
I like that the Hetzer literally is a Jagdpanzer 38(t) minus treads.
Well, it is called the Hetzer after all. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 13, 2013, 06:33:38 pm
I like that the Hetzer literally is a Jagdpanzer 38(t) minus treads.
Well, it is called the Hetzer after all. :P

I guess Škoda Works is a bit less zealous than Harmony Gold in protecting their IP.








too soon?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 13, 2013, 08:47:30 pm
As helpful as that post was, this post is for more than just to thank.  As of approximately four hours ago, I have graduated my initial entry training into the US Army, and am boarding a plane home in just over an hour and a half.  By 9:30 EST, I'll be back home and sinking back into my comfortable routine of sit-on-my-ass-and-play-vidya-games for most of the week.  Woo!

\o/

Lemme know if you ever feel like having me do more of them (like for enemy gear or whatever), I'd be happy to.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Hobbie on June 13, 2013, 09:36:06 pm
Let me know when we get some Conventional/Aerospace fighters (if we do anyway). I'd love to be up in the skies.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 14, 2013, 01:34:36 am
As helpful as that post was, this post is for more than just to thank.  As of approximately four hours ago, I have graduated my initial entry training into the US Army, and am boarding a plane home in just over an hour and a half.  By 9:30 EST, I'll be back home and sinking back into my comfortable routine of sit-on-my-ass-and-play-vidya-games for most of the week.  Woo!

\o/

Lemme know if you ever feel like having me do more of them (like for enemy gear or whatever), I'd be happy to.

Right this minute?  Should be good.  I have literally nothing to do all tomorrow, and can knock out some right proper write-ups while I hammer through a mission.  That said, I really have no interest in doing another two dozen of them if my first week on the job ends up encountering two dozen units that haven't come up before.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Grizzly on June 14, 2013, 04:07:35 am
How about Aerotech?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 14, 2013, 04:22:06 am
oh god no

There was this one big event battle me and a friend of mine organized at a con once that had a fully integrated aerospace component, meaning that people on the ground were able to call in air strikes from above; it was a real nightmare coordinating all of that.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 14, 2013, 05:07:58 am
Since this one is played on a computer, coordinating aerospace stuff could be less of an issue. On the other hand, something tells me this engine may not support this.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 14, 2013, 06:10:45 am
How about Aerotech?

I could attempt to shave my eyeballs and it would be less excruciatingly painful than attempting direct integration of AT rules.

That said, there are a few ways to sneak air units into the tabletop that won't make you scream for mercy. As a timed or a start-of-match thing, yes. The creative or crazy or the-Clans-just-overran-my-DZ use of DropShips as setpieces, sure. And VTOLs.

Of those options, I think MegaMek only incorporates the last.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 14, 2013, 06:16:03 am
VTOLs are awesome.

Yellowjackets doubly so (For those situations where you just need some highly mobile direct-fire artillery).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 14, 2013, 07:15:47 am
VTOLs are awesome.

Yellowjackets doubly so (For those situations where you just need some highly mobile direct-fire artillery).

I believe in Yellowjackets, but not quite as much as I believe in Hawkmoths.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: carbine7 on June 14, 2013, 12:52:17 pm
I'll throw my engineering hat in for a Mech tech position, ready to replace all your blown off limbs and blown out weapons (as soon as you pay me my c-bills).

Always wanted to get into BattleTech after playing MechWarrior and MechAssault (despite the abomination it is) extensively, but I just can't be bothered unfortunately. Feel free to drop the 7 when writing for your convenience.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 14, 2013, 05:20:51 pm
I'm home, I have my computer and all my stuff back.  You know what that means!  Time to start for real.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/MekHQMenu_zpsc5511c0c.png)

The menu screen.  Pretty simple.  I'll be chosing the "Start a New Campaign" button because I'm not very smart and didn't make a 'blank' with the set up for this particular campaign ruleset.  One click later brings me to this screen:

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/CampaignOptions-General_zps499fe933.png)

Here I set up what the unit is called, what faction it is, when the campaign starts, and what camo the unit is going to use.  I've already filled in the info for now.  If anyone objects to that name for the unit, let me know so I can ignore you.  Start day is Monday, January 1, 3049.

You can see all those tabs up top?  All those are for different options for using MekHQ.  A good deal of them I'm not even going to touch, because they're fairly universal unless you're going for something really specific, but I am going to be visiting the Experience and Rank System ones pretty soon.  Repair, Personnel, Tech Limits, and Finance are all getting quick looks and a few checked boxes that I won't waste screenies on.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/ExperienceGain_zps7e8cdd1e.png)

Here's how experience gain is going to be handled for the company.  All combat units gain one experience per sortie and one per kill.  Support personnel like techs and doctors gain one experience per 25 successful tasks.  Everybody in the company gains 1 exp per 2 months if they roll a 7 on 2d6.  That means that, in general, everybody in the company is going to get 3 experience per year, even if they do jack **** all year long, 6 if they're lucky, and a lot more than that if they're active.  In my previous campaigns, normal experience gain was right about 10 per year.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Ranks_zps9f9d9272.png)

The ranks that the Hard Light Brigade is going to be using. 

Recruits are non-combatants that don't have a job (dependents, which enter the company based on a few events and don't really have a use aside from meaning I don't have to hire tech assistants). 

Privates are infantry (which I'll have a few of) that don't command a platoon, squad, or team, as well as green vehicle crew and techs.  If a really green vehicle crew has a vehicle to itself, the commander will be a corporal.

Corporals are all green MechWarriors, regular vehicle crew, and regular techs.

Sergeants are all regular MechWarriors and veteran vehicle crews, as well as green and regular vehicle commanders and veteran techs.

Senior Sergeants are veteran and elite MechWarriors, elite vehicle crew, veteran and elite vehicle commanders, and elite techs (that aren't head techs).

Master Sergeants occur at a rate of one per company and are the senior non-officer in the company.  This position may only be held by the most experienced MechWarrior or vehicle commander in the company, and the most experienced techs on either side of the divide (Mech Tech and Mechanic).  In this fashion, until the unit grows, there will be exactly three Master Sergeants.

Command Sergeants occur at a rate of one per battalion.  As such, this rank will not be in use for quite some time.

Lieutenants are the lowest officer rank, held by the most junior MechWarrior and vehicle officers.  Administrators and doctors are all officers, with green and regular admins/doctors holding the rank of lieutenant.

Captains are company seconds, the second most senior officer in a company, also commonly called the company XO.  Veteran and elite admins and doctors are also captains.

I've added Majors since making this list (oh, that's another thing, every option can be changed after starting by hitting the "Campaign Options" button under File), and will occupy the position of company CO and, once the unit gets a bit bigger, the most senior admin.

The highest rank, Colonel, is reserved for once the unit expands to more than one company, and will be granted to the most senior officer in the entire unit.

Speaking of the entire unit:

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/UnitRoster3049-01-01_zpsdb5d84a8.png)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/UnitHangar3049-01-01_zps58f4c202.png)

At this point, I also figured how much money the unit has to start with.  Ten percent of equipment costs adds up to 1,779,343 c-bills.  That's not terribly much, but it'll definitely be enough to get us to our first contract.  Contract generation is a pain in the ass, so I'll be tackling that sometime later tonight or tomorrow.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 14, 2013, 06:43:30 pm
Jesus that's a lot of customization
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 14, 2013, 07:04:58 pm
Indeed.  MekHQ allows the level of in-depth to be frankly absurd, and it's still not everything.  Just wait till you see the contract offers go up, and the contract I pick into the briefing room.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 15, 2013, 12:58:29 am
Now, about those contracts....

Generating contracts is annoying, time-intensive, and incredibly tedious.  That said, I'm not going to go through every step right here.  All I'm going to put here is what you need to figure out to generate a contract.  Each contract has certain fields, modified by a whole lot of stuff, that determine what you're going to get and when.  These fields are: Contract type, employer, enemy, duration in months, command type, salvage rights, support, and transport.

Contract type tells you what kind of mission you're on, for example planetary invasion, riot duty, garrison, extraction raid, or something like that.  It determines what missions you're going to encounter, and the aggressiveness of the enemy you're likely to encounter out of the gate.  Contract type also influences the difficulty of repairs or resupply mid-contract, but I'll get to that a bit later.

Your employer and enemy are who you're working for and who you're shooting.  There's not really a penalty for picking contracts against the same state every time, but there is sometimes a bonus to working with the same one multiple times.  That bonus doesn't happen for like ten full contracts, though, and I doubt it's ever going to come up, but it exists.

Duration is how long the contract lasts.  High intensity contracts like invasions and raids last between two and five months, if you're unlucky, while garrison and cadre contracts can last a year and a half by themselves.  Duration strongly influences how much you get paid, since everything is calculated based on your starting force and the duration, instead of anything like your performance or anything.

Command type I went over a bit previously in the thread, but it determines what kind and how many allies you get per mission.  It's essentially what determines how easy it is to get ****ed over by the bot.  This is why my admin is a command admin.

Salvage rights determines how much of your salvage is actually yours, and how much belongs to your employer.  A "good" salvage amount is 50 or 60% - more typically with a D rating, I'll be getting between 20 and 30%.  100% is a pipe dream right now.

Support deals with things like overhead (how much your employer covers your monthly operating expenses) and BLC, battlefield loss compensation.  BLC is probably the second most important thing to have a high number for (right after salvage), since it basically pays you back if you lose anything in the line of duty.  Wasp get blown out from under you?  Have a pile of money.  I've never actually seen that get up to 100%, but 30 or 40% isn't too shabby.

Transport is the most straightforward.  It's how much of your transport costs the employer is going to pay when you leave for the contract destination.  Transport costs tend to hang out in the mid-hundred thousands range, so this can be the difference between a third Hetzer or hoofing it back to Outreach.

That's a contract in a nutshell.  I'll skip the tedious part, and leave you with the finalized options.  At the beginning, every starting company gets two contract offers.  And here's option one:

Employer: St. Ives Compact
Contract type: Pirate Hunting
Enemy: Pirates
Contract length: 6 months
Payment: 5,068,800
Enemy Skill/Tech: Green/F
Allied Skill/Tech: Green/F
Command type: Liaison
Salvage: 40%
Support: Straight/Full
Transport: 20%, 14 jumps.

A couple of surprises on this one.  First, getting a Green/F Pirate Hunting contract is like striking gold for an early company.  Pirates are poorly equipped (relatively), and Green means that they're easy, too.  If I wanted an easy blooding, this would be it.  The next biggest surprise was St. Ives.  I honestly don't know all that much about the dinky little state.  In a nutshell, it's a splinter faction from the Capellan Confederation in the immediate aftermath of the Fourth Succession War, when the CapCon just couldn't maintain control of its various commonalities.  It's fiercely independent, and just as fiercely coveted by House Liao.  I wouldn't be surprised if these "pirates" were Liao irregulars.  The last surprise was 20% transport and 14 jumps.  Ouch.  That's gonna end up being expensive.  Still, let's look at the other contract to see if there's anything good.  Straight/Full support isn't exactly a surprise, but it's also unpleasant.  No BLC for me.

Employer: Federated Commonwealth
Contract type: Recon Raid
Enemy: Taurian Concordat
Contract length: 3 months
Payment: 4,055,040
Enemy Skill/Tech: Veteran/F
Allied Skill/Tech: Regular/F
Command type: House
Salvage: 20%
Support: BLC/80%
Transport: 45%, 9 jumps.

I might as well have stopped once I rolled Veteran enemy, honestly.  Fighting Veterans at this point, who typically fall between 4/4 and 3/3, is pretty much tantamount to committing suicide.  House command and 20% salvage doesn't exactly bring me running either.  But that 80% BLC..... no, gotta pass it up.  That's honestly the highest BLC I've ever seen, but it's still not worth it considering I'd need every c-bill to replace my suddenly destroyed equipment going up against vets, periphery or no.

With that particular no brainer, I've got a contract!  The AtB rules don't support randomly figuring out what planet I'm going to, so I'll be doing that myself.  A little bit of half-random browsing later, and I find out I'm headed to sunny (I think it's sunny) Milos, the system most directly adjacent to the nearest CapCon world.  What's on Milos?  I haven't got the faintest idea.

It'll take seven weeks to get there, and I'm going to have to rent a dropship and jumpship headed that way.  A Mule costs 30,000 a week to rent, and will comfortably transport everything the company has with room to spare.  A Scout jumpship is 70,000 a week to transport the Mule.  Total cost is 100,000 per week, and it'll take seven weeks.  700,000, and only 20% of that covered by the employer.  See?  Expensive.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/BriefingRoom3049-01-01_zps11e3eef5.png)

Here's a good look at the briefing room right before we start rolling out the weeks.  Seven weeks in transit will take us clear to most of the way through February before the contract gets started, and that contract will last us through August.

Speaking of rolling weeks, here we go.  Every week has a series of rolls and events to see what happens.  When in transit, just about the only thing that happens is recruitment, and sometimes markets offer their wares.  There won't be any battles or special events while we're hanging out at the jump point waiting for our jumpship to recharge.

Not having a Human Resources admin means I get -2 to all rolls when determining skill and equipment for new recruits.  Oof.  What it doesn't affect is what kinds of recruits walk through the door.  The rolls for recruits for the first week of January ends up spitting out a flamer foot infantry platoon seeking employment.  Infantry are a *lot* of mouths to feed (and more importantly, keep track of), even if infantry are generally pretty good under these rules.  I'll pass on them for now, simply because I don't feel like dealing with retraining them to something less useless than flamers.

One week down, another six to go.  The next week brings something more interesting: a vehicle crew with a light vehicle!  Even with the -2 to every roll, my non-existent admin apparently found something!  Let's see what -

6/7 J-27 Ordnance Truck

Get out.

So much for that.  Next week!  An MG foot infantry platoon seeks employment.  Again, no.  Not doing well on the recruitment so far.  MG foot infantry is almost as bad as flamer infantry.

The week of Jan 22 to Jan 28 gets me another Flamer foot infantry platoon.  Jesus, how many infantry platoons can there be waiting to jump to the next system?  I mean, damn.

January 29 dawns, and we're four weeks into the journey already.  Nothing of note has happened whatsoever.  Maybe something interesting will -

No recruits.

Sigh.  Oh well, next week!

February 5 brings with it a useful recruit.  A tech seeks employment.  He's a Green Mechanic.  Not exactly stellar, but any tech is a good tech.  Adding him to the roster.  Jeez, it only took 35 days for anything interesting at all to happen to the company.  At this rate, the contract is making me really nervous.

February 12.  One week from landfall on Milos.  More infantry apply for a position and are rejected, surprise surprise.

February 19.  Landfall.  One a pirate hunt contract, the odds are around 2:1 for a battle any given week.  Time to see what happens.  A quick check turns up no recruits (surprise).  Pirate hunting contracts roll 1d6 and subtract 4 to see how many battles there are in a given week during the contract.  As luck would have it, the very first week sees the company engaging in one battle.

There are a whole bunch of different battle types.  Stand-up fights, hold the line, break contact, hide and seek, extraction, and base attacks, just to name a few.  Base attacks in particular are significant events, since a Base Attack (Atk) can end the contract with an early victory, while a Base Attack (Def) can do the same in defeat, depending on the outcome.

The first thing to do when determining a battle is to find the type.  It's a simple roll of 1d100, compared to what contract you're on to find what battle you're fighting.  And the first battle the Hard Light Brigade engages in is:

Base Attack (Atk)

You're joking, right?  Unreal.  Gotta remember there's still a chance that I'll lose and the contract won't end immediately, however slim.

A base attack features a whole bunch of units.  I bring a combat lance to the fight.  My allies bring two smaller lances to the fight.  The defenders bring 10 "base" units that are civilian 'Mechs/vehicles, as well as double my weight in combat units, which really means two mixed heavy lances.  In order to win, I have to kill all ten base defenders, as well as half of the combat units.  One helpful bit is that my allies lances aren't counted against me if they get creamed.

This'll be fun.

I'm going to figure out the nitty gritty of the base attack tomorrow, like what exact units are involved and what map it's on.  Base attacks are always done on urban terrain of some kind, though, so this battle is going to be kind of awesome.  The command lance is the obvious choice for such a mission, with two assault 'Mechs, a main battle tank, and the urban renewal box (Hetzer).  A quick roll determines that the assault is going to happen on... Monday.  Wow, same day.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/FirstMission_zpsd3a3357f.png)

That basically means that, at the same time the company is making landfall, they practically land on top of the enemy base.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 15, 2013, 01:43:54 am
Hope the dropship doesn't take any fire on the way to drop us off...

Quick! Somebody find a recording of Ride of the Valkyries (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AlEvy0fJto) to play as we fly over!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 15, 2013, 02:04:44 am
I'm now imagining a dropship making planetary entry in some crazy ass fashion with it flying over the base dropping units as it goes
Slaughter ensues, etc
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: carbine7 on June 15, 2013, 04:53:43 am
Excellent, good old bandit slaughtering for the combat trials. Just don't break a PPC first time out of the hangar, I don't feel like replacing one just yet.

(also "urban renewal box" should not be this damn funny...)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 15, 2013, 05:35:44 am
Wow. This is gonna be fun. *cocks PPCs* :) If we make it through this, I guess we're going to have quite a reputation.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 15, 2013, 05:44:24 am
Yes, a reputation of being an averagely competent, but inexperienced merc crew. AKA the same rep we had before.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 15, 2013, 07:49:25 am
a day one campaign resolution would be awesome, good luck to the company
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 15, 2013, 01:44:56 pm
Saint Ives pirates.

Tortuga, possibly, but very likely Warrior House or regular Liao troops pretending to be pirates.

Saint Ives is a breakaway state from the Capellan Confederation, having seceded during the Fourth Succession War over a number of issues, but mainly the fact that Candace Liao wanted to marry Justin Allard. Though the Capellan Confederation's greatest current threat to its existence is the Federated Commonwealth, its greatest long-term threat is the fact that Candace Liao's intelligence service has repeatedly proved able to infiltrate the palace on Sian without apparent effort and could likely assassinate the other members of her family and make herself ruler of the Confederation by default.

Given current leader of the Confederation Romano Liao's mental instability, Candace not being provoked enough to do so is by guess and by Blake.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 15, 2013, 03:22:49 pm
Compact produces a good chunk of the Fed Suns' Victors, yes?  I don't suppose they might reward us some hardware for a consistently good job?

Possibly of the flying AC 20 kind?  ;)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 15, 2013, 04:08:44 pm
Personally, I don't much care for Victors. I would like to make a down payment on a Pillager (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Pillager) though.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 15, 2013, 05:00:21 pm
Are there any still kicking round until production restarts in 3058?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 15, 2013, 06:39:08 pm
Alrighty, time to figure out what's going to be involved in this battle.  I've already selected the Command lance for this one.  That lance has been designated the 11th Combat Lance for the time being; it'll get a nickname sometime soon.  In case anyone needs a refresher:

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/11thCombatLance3049-02-19_zpseae6102d.png)

The lance consists of The_E commanding, StarSlayer as his second, Dragon in the Awesome, and IronBeer driving around the urban renewal box.  For this fight, we'll have one allied unit attached to the lance, under our direct control - no bot for this guy.  For a combat lance, that means adding a medium 'Mech of the same tech level as our allies for the contract.  A quick roll show me that we have a friendly Phoenix Hawk to accompany us.  There are absolutely worse things to have, and the high mobility should serve us well in the city that all base fights have to take place in, for whatever reason.  Just about all I'd ask for in exchange is a Hunchback.

On a base attack, my allies also send in two lances that are lighter than mine, which means two medium lances.  A pair of quick 1d3 rolls determines that our employer isn't exactly swimming with 'Mechs, sending along a vehicle lance and a mixed lance.  Every single unit getting sent along are mediums, too, so these guys might not be very helpful.  Let's find out.  Punching in how many units I want to the RATs in MegaMek, my allies end up with:

Phoenix Hawk PXH-1
Wolverine WVR-6R
4x Vedette
1x Vedette (AC/2)
1x Vedette (Liao)

Well ****.  Vedettes for everyone, and they'll be green to boot.  Wonderful.  Ah well, the enemy is going to suffer almost as much, right?  Hopefully.  Turns out I misunderstood the forces the enemy would have to oppose us.  It's not just a pair of Heavy lances, I have to roll twice on the table that determines who's defending, on the Heavy table, since I'm bringing a Heavy lance.  This will generate things like 3 Light or 2 Medium lances, or 1 Heavy and 1 Medium, or something like that.  The effect is that I'm going to be hideously outnumbered.

Rolling once gets me 2 Medium lances.  Rolling a second time gets me 3 Light lances.  Hoo boy.  Five lances, plus base personnel, line up to oppose our two-hour-contract.  Woooo 13:30 odds.  At least the 11th is going to be qualitatively astronomically superior to any individual enemy.

More rolling, to figure out the types and weighs of the vehicles arrayed against me: 'Mech Medium, Mixed Medium, 2 'Mech Lights, 1 Mixed Light.  That means 16 'Mechs and 4 vehicles. 

Further rolling (it's a trend) finds the exact distribution of weights: 7 Lights, 8 Mediums, and 1 Heavy for 'Mechs, and 2 Lights and 2 Mediums for vehicles.  That should be enough to figure out the exact variant of everything on the field (minus base units, which are civilian stuff that's closer to target practice than actual enemies).  Plugging all of that into the MegaMek RATs gives me:

Wasp WSP-1L
Wasp WSP-1A
Stinger STG-3R
Stinger STG-3R
Stinger STG-3G
Urbanmech UM-R60
Hermes HER-1A

Crab CRB-20
Clint CLNT-2-4T
Wolverine WVR-6R
Vindicator VND-1R
Vindicator VND-1R
Vindicator VND-1R
Vindicator VND-1R
Vindicator VND-1R

Rifleman RFL-3N

Scorpion Light Tank
Scorpion Light Tank

Vedette Medium Tank
Vedette Medium Tank

...

(http://x14.xanga.com/e9af93e0d3431283009321/m225646870.jpg)

This is going to be hilarious.

Those base vehicles I keep mentioning end up looking like this:

Flatbed Truck (LRM)
Flatbed Truck (LRM)
Flatbed Truck (SRM)
Wheeled MG APC
Wheeled LRM APC
Coolant Truck
Harvester Ant (LRM)
Harvester Ant (LRM)
Quasit QUA-51T
Icarus ICR-1X

Yeah, this is going to be awesome.  Any single shot from a PPC can cripple or destroy over half of those vehicles, and the same to quite a few of the line combat units the pirates are bringing, too.  All of their skills will be taken from the Green table, which means ranging between 4/5 and 6/7.  That's a lot more tedious than this, so I'll do that behind the scenes and just use MegaMek for it.

Next up, figuring out the exact size/terrain/conditions of the battle.  Since it's a base attack, it has to be either light or heavy urban terrain.  A coinflip tells me Heavy Urban.  After that, lighting.  This roll comes up "Moonless Night".  Good God.  I might not actually even have to kill most of these enemies at this rate; they'll do it themselves.  At least it's clear, without a torrential downpour or a tornado, or something.

After that, finding start locations.  Base defenders always start center, but I have to roll for anyone else, and it comes up SW.  We'll be deploying in the southwest corner of the map initially.  This map should be kind of hyooj, too, so that's actually significant.

Map size is started with a random roll, and added to based on the number of units in the scenario.  I rolled up a 40 x 10 hex initial map.  Every lance involved adds 5 hexes to either dimension, and base attack adds another 10.  Wow.  This map just ballooned to 90 x 60 (+10 base attack, +40 for eight lances involved).

Figuring the exact map used is pretty random.  The rules that I'm using come with a set of map seeds that I just alter the dimensions of and then generate before each battle.  That keeps me from fighting the same battles on the same maps over and over again, across the entire sphere.  I take the terrain type (heavy urban), and figure out what exact map type I encounter.  There are four options with varying probabilities of coming up, and I happened to roll City-high for my map seed.  That means lots of high rise buildings and restricted sight lines, as well as lots of pavement for moving and falling on.

That's all it takes to set up a battle.  It gets easier the more times you do it, so after this I'll just post the results instead of walking through the process every single time.  The final scenario:

Terrain: City-high
Size: 90 x 60
Light: Moonless night
Weather: Clear
Allied Start: SW
Enemy Start: C

Now I can actually play a game.  Holy ****.  I'm not going to sit here for the next six hours and play the game while I wait to post this though, so enjoy this token of appreciation for your continued support.  Just stare at that image of pure malicious delight, and know that's what's about to happen.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 15, 2013, 07:07:23 pm
if this was an open map i would be worried by the shear LRMage the Pirates have but in an urban-highrise map, this is going to be funny

edit, heck even that rifleman is going to be hard pressed to be useful
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 15, 2013, 08:37:13 pm
Ironically, I'd be worried (when dealing with a competent player) about my PPC minimum range.

Still, there's some decent stuff in there we could try to salvage. We'll probably get the Crab, but even money the RFL-3N blows itself to pieces with an ammo hit.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 15, 2013, 09:25:05 pm
Well, Moonless night is wreaking havoc with everything.  The Awesomes can move one hex per turn, so I'm 18 hexes in and they started opening up about two turns ago.  One enemy 'Mech is gone, another is crippled (literally dragging itself through a building to escape), and the Rifleman just bit dirt from sustained damage.

This is taking forever.  I'll probably save and do the rest tomorrow, and post what I've got now once I hit 24 turns.

UPDATE: The Hetzer is crewed by the reincarnations of Michael Wittmann.  They've fired seven shots, hit seven times, killed two 'Mechs (Vindicator, Rifleman), and crippled a third (Hermes).  In sadder news, the Manticore went down to an absurd collection of hits that ignored the turret and ate away at the front.  The turret still had something like 35 points on it when the tank got knocked out.  Fortunately, it's still salvageable.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: IronBeer on June 15, 2013, 10:06:08 pm
UPDATE: The Hetzer is crewed by the reincarnations of Michael Wittmann.  They've fired seven shots, hit seven times, killed two 'Mechs (Vindicator, Rifleman), and crippled a third (Hermes). 
Awwwwwww yeah!  ;7 Looks like we're really tearing it up! (The rest of the lance *is* tearing it up, right?)

Quote from: Scotty
In sadder news, the Manticore went down to an absurd collection of hits that ignored the turret and ate away at the front.  The turret still had something like 35 points on it when the tank got knocked out.  Fortunately, it's still salvageable.
Damn. I hope Scourge and StarSlayer are ok.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: DireWolf on June 15, 2013, 10:13:41 pm
You're setting a hell of a standard, IronBeer  :p

Any status on StarSlayer and Scourge?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 15, 2013, 10:33:30 pm
I won't know how badly they're hurt (if at all) until after the battle.  More than likely, they'll be fine.  The tank is disabled, but didn't suffer an ammunition hit, and the crew didn't abandon the vehicle to get gunned down by bot 'Mechs.  I'd say good chances.

The bots, on the other hand, have no had a pilot survive yet.  THey keep ejecting into buildings.

EDIT:  It doesn't help that I'm engaging literally the only things on the map that are capable of withstanding sustained punishment.  Five Vindicators, a Rifleman, and an Icarus were blockading this gap.  Those are literally the only 'Mechs on the map that can take more than one PPC and shrug it off.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 15, 2013, 10:51:48 pm
Did we at least give as good as we got or just act as a damage sink?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 15, 2013, 11:19:57 pm
So what are the other lances up to? Just cooling their heels on the DropShip now?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 15, 2013, 11:39:57 pm
So what are the other lances up to? Just cooling their heels on the DropShip now?

Pretty much.  Had I brought them along, the resistance would be orders of magnitude more annoying.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 16, 2013, 12:11:45 am
Pity, it'd be fun to show up as reinforcements or drop in.

Then again, in urban terrain, dropping is "fun" in the Dwarf Fortress sense.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 16, 2013, 12:19:08 am
If I had a Reserve lance, I could theoretically call in reinforcements.  During a battle where movement isn't restricted to 1/3 of normal, I might even use that sometime.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 16, 2013, 12:45:59 am
Now I'm curious how to set this all up and perhaps rebuild my old tabletop company, run a campaign...
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 16, 2013, 12:52:07 am
Oooh, ouch. Well go Hetzer, at least :)

I think we'll just stay buttoned up here for the time being. Send a tech to cut us out after the battle.

Starslayer, bring any cards?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 16, 2013, 01:06:52 am
Can we get a pic of the map and a turn-by-turn event log?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 16, 2013, 01:13:06 am
Yes, you may, once I've got the battle finished and the write-up finished, sometime tomorrow.  I wanted to get it done tonight, but I'm on turn 57 right now and just killed the fifth civilian vehicle.  50% done.  I'm actually kind of afraid of how many pics I've got. :nervous:  I'll also post a copy of the save log for those of you that know how to read that stuff.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 16, 2013, 01:16:23 am
Awesome, looking forward to it. Also looking forward to writing about it from my characters' POV :D
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: esarai on June 16, 2013, 01:34:16 am
How the hell did these pirates end up with an Icarus 1X?  I thought those were destroyed centuries ago.  Looks like they've got a collector in the ranks, and speaking of which if we can steal it I'm sure there's a museum that'd love to buy it.

Also if anyone wants to submit a description of their character I'd love to try my hand at drawing some story art.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 16, 2013, 03:53:58 am
Finished the battle, finally.  I'll have it posted up here sometime tomorrow, hopefully.  It ended up going 95 turns.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: carbine7 on June 16, 2013, 04:23:12 am
Well go team Urban Renewal Box, I apologizing for having little faith.

Looks like at least the Crab would be useful as an addition, though I don't suppose the Icarus holds any extra value as being a one-of-six museum piece.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 16, 2013, 08:39:13 am
How the hell did these pirates end up with an Icarus 1X?  I thought those were destroyed centuries ago.  Looks like they've got a collector in the ranks, and speaking of which if we can steal it I'm sure there's a museum that'd love to buy it.

Also if anyone wants to submit a description of their character I'd love to try my hand at drawing some story art.

[I am going to assume we'll be keeping the auto-assigned names. "Caden Webb" is way more awesome than anything I could have come up with on my own]

Major Caden "Easy" Webb
Born 25th February, 3016, Alistair's Crossing, New Avalon
Joined FedSuns Armed Forces in 3035. Graduated from NAIS College of Military Science, 3039. Dismissed from service in December 3049 for cause (excessive gambling, conduct unbecoming), thereafter last seen travelling to Outreach, presumably to form a Merc Company.

Medium-height male, slender build, bald head, distinctive scar on left arm due to fire in Mech cockpit after heat sink failure. Never seen without trademark pipe.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 16, 2013, 09:29:05 am
The Doctor insists that smoking the pipe is hazardous to his health
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 16, 2013, 09:32:56 am
So's getting shot at with PPCs, Lasers, Autocannons, and golf balls.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: esarai on June 16, 2013, 01:01:27 pm
First bit of art to start, sketch of a redesigned WSP-1A. 

(http://i.imgur.com/qmC34oy.jpg?2)

The original artwork is too derp for my liking, and is scaled to make it look like an assault mech.  Not sure I did much better on the scale front.

Next time, Major Webb and his Awesome.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 16, 2013, 01:24:34 pm
/me fires up photobucket, ready to knock out this write-up.

"80 images"

Welp.  This might take a bit longer than expected.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 16, 2013, 01:29:20 pm
looks good esarai, dare I say has a slightly stronger Japanese vibe going off, I like it

Scotty, take your time mate :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 16, 2013, 03:37:08 pm
Nice work on the mech we're both piloting Es.

Dunno what the full name of my guy is(could you give us a list Scotty?)

Private Unkown "Patriot" Unkown
Born 25th February, 3026, Farmhouse #2019283, Carver V

Grew up on a farm, standing at 1.78 meters in height, Muscular build. Gray eyes, dark blond military cut hair. Joined Militia at age 17, learned to drive a tank. At age 21 moved to Outreach to learn how to pilot a mech.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 16, 2013, 03:46:13 pm
Sure thing on that list of people.  I'll make sure there's a killboard that's periodically updated, too, in case you guys want to boast about who's more awesome.  Although, right now, Dragon has that on lockdown.  Like you guys don't even know.

A pulled plug wiped out like 15 turns of write-up, so I'm still in the middle of it.  Getting much closer to the end, though.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 16, 2013, 03:48:19 pm
awesome, maybe you could keep the killboard and such in the first post?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 16, 2013, 03:54:12 pm
Mission briefing, such as it is, included here for a quick refresher on what's going on:

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/FirstMission_zps8760a45b.png)

Here we go.  Initiative determines who goes in what order over the turn.  I have it set to “individual” mode, because otherwise the bot goes so slowly with this many units that the game actually locks up and crashes.  Go figure.  It still takes a few seconds for every move, and it has a lot of units (30 of them) to move every time.  At least, to start.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackDeploy_zps6c0cbc7c.png)

Here's the initiative for deployment.  As you can see, the bot has a loooot of stuff.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackTurn1_zpsc7b7352a.png?t=1371407319)

And here's what my guys look like deployed and ready to move out.  I'm sticking to roads, because moonless night means that it is literally impossible to move through buildings at a greater rate than one hex per turn.  The Awesomes are actually limited to one hex per turn anyway, since moonless night increases the MP cost for moving into nearby hexes.  It also makes everything harder to succeed, including both Gunnery and Piloting rolls.  With that, I fully expect to not have to shoot at roughly half of the enemies on the map; the piloting rolls will take care of the rest.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackminimap1_zps5b86e385.png?t=1371407253)

As you can see, the map is pretty consistently a “**** you” configuration city.  I'm the tiny collection of blue and green in the bottom left corner, and the enemies are the red at the city center.  Triangles represent 'mechs, while squares represent vehicles.  Later, you might see some diamonds that represent infantry and ejected MechWarriors.  What you won't see is the star-pattern that represents aircraft.  It's gonna get hairy.  Here we go!

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackrangeturn1_zps1f65a6e1.png?t=1371407311)

Annnnnd the downside to all this.  It's going to take forever to get in range.  I'll do everyone involved a favor and leave out the arduous trek to the city center and only mention important things like the enemy committing suicide.

Speaking of which:

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn2fallspart1_zpsfbba6ec9.png?t=1371407337)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn2fallspart2_zpsaf6e5a16.png?t=1371407339)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn2fallStinger_zpsa24c548a.png?t=1371407342)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn2fallIcarus_zps9f115b7d.png?t=1371407298)

The first victims of the night.  No significant damage yet, but they haven't had a chance to brain themselves getting up yet.

The next turn is similar.  The enemy Wolverine falls over, the Stinger falls over again.  Amusingly, the Stinger now has only 4 points of armor on the front torso.  Who wants to place bets on when it outright kills itself?

The next turn, a friendly 'Mech takes the plunge too, and actually crits a heat sink.  Two more enemy 'Mechs topple, and two of their vehicles effectively immobilize themselves skidding into buildings.  It's a regular peanut gallery in the city center.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackTurn5contact_zpsc3f45688.png?t=1371407350)

Contact!  Finally close enough to take a shot on turn five at a Vindicator that's strayed from the city center.  At least... theoretically close enough.  13+ means it's actually impossible.  Oh well.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackTurn6fire_zps01700491.png?t=1371407365)

And the first actual rounds of the match.  An enemy Vindicator (same one from last time) takes a potshot with an LRM 5, and the Manticore responds in kind at max range.  I don't expect anything to happen, just wasting ammo, honestly.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn6fireresults_zps5352f5c0.png?t=1371407358)

Yeah, not surprised.  The next couple turns are the exact same thing, the Manticore and a Vindicator trading potshots that are probably never going to hit.

Turn 8 I accidentally do something stupid, and get the Phoenix Hawk caught in a gaggle of buildings he can't jump out of.  Whoops.  He spends the next two turns getting back to the road the long way, through the buildings.

Several more turns pass, with various Pirate 'Mechs damaging themselves to various degrees, and another three mission-kills in the form of immobilized enemies.  It's turn 9, and I haven't landed a hit, but half the enemies are already sporting damage.

Turn 10 finally brings some good action with it.  My Phoenix Hawk gets back to the road, and jumps right behind a Vedette and Harvester Ant aaaaaaand

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn10fireresults_zps84f5d1c1.png?t=1371407375)

Does absolutely nothing except get dinged by the Vedette's machine gun.  Figures.  Hopefully the kick will go better. (spoiler: it doesn't)  The Pixie misses, and at least manages to stay standing after the whiff.

Turn 11 actually features combat damage.  The Hetzer takes a PPC hit from one of the Vindicators.  Damn.  It takes a bit of mobility damage, but nothing insurmountable.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn12fireresults_zpse4d55480.png?t=1371407384)

Then Turn 12 happens, and I finally get a solid shot in.  The Hetzer takes revenge on the Vindicator by almost blowing its right leg off with a single shot.  A little more superficial damage changes hands on other battlefields, and the Pixie misses another kick.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackminimap12_zps9527f310.png?t=1371407303)

The map of turn 12.  As you can see, the Pirates are spreading down the avenue, with a few groups clustering up for protection.  In order to win the fight, I have to destroy all ten civilian vehicles, as well as 50% of the defenders.  With these concentrations, it's likely I'll have to destroy just about everything that moves in order to win.  That means this game is going to be really ****ing long (Edit from the future: Good God, I had no idea).  Woo.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn13fireresults1_zpsedbce2a5.png?t=1371407401)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn13fireresults2_zps18c00896.png?t=1371407410)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn13fireresults3_zps85296751.png?t=1371407419)

At this point, the Hetzer crew is proving to be excellent shots.  I'm considering nicknaming this Hetzer the Spoonzer, just because it's mimicking the actions of the Spoonzer I on the first mission of HLPX-COM quite well.

Shots are starting to go back and forth in earnest now, and there will be legitimate kills soon enough.  It's just a question of whether it's the Vindicator or one of the tiny Light 'Mechs dueling with the Pixie first.  Or the Rifleman to a lucky headcap, because those things are deathtraps.

Then the Pixie fell over, and I facepalmed.

Turn 14 was slightly better.  That Vindicator that fell over fell over another two times, and almost took off his own leg just by trying to stand, suffering two leg crits.  He now stands at range 1 to the Hetzer, which hasn't moved.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackVindicatoris****ed_zps86abd6f9.png)

Like so.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn14fireresults1_zpsad22a130.png?t=1371407427)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn14fireresults2_zpsac054881.png?t=1371407434)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn14fireresults3_zpscfd7c3df.png?t=1371407441)

Lucky hit on the Hermes leaves it writhing in pain on the ground with one engine crit and one gyro crit.  It won't be getting back up.  The Hetzer should finish off the Vindicator momentarily, and then the combined Manticore and Hetzer will claim a second victim seconds afterward.

I'm getting a little concerned at the rate I'm taking damage, however.  The Awesomes are taking far too long to advance, and haven't even entered the fight yet.  I'm going to have to take a few extra turns to rotate them to the front after this to keep the vehicles from being knocked out unnecessarily.

The next turn, a Wasp and Stinger both fall over, and the Hermes tries to get up, and instead blows its own arm off.  Hah.

Combat has started to get really interesting.  That line of 'Mechs heading down the avenue is almost in range of
 my Awesomes, and momentarily both sides are going to be practically wading into each others' fire.  The Hetzer slams the Vindy with a fourth AC/20 blast, which it still survives, making this the most resilient Vindicator, or even Medium 'Mech for that matter, that I have ever seen.  It only has three structure left on the center torso, but that's still technically alive.

The Manticore starts firing at the next 'Mech in line, a Rifleman, while the Hermes crawls its way into a building to escape the deadly fire.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackTurn15post-firing_zpse71f61fb.png?t=1371407456)

Not pictured: Awesomes marching up the alley from the southwest.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn16fireresults1_zps524af591.png?t=1371408845)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn16fireresults2_zps2acf5c16.png?t=1371408851)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn16fireresults3_zps69ab3403.png?t=1371408854)

FIRST BLOOD!  The Hetzer lands hit number five (in sequence) on the Vindicator, and the center torso crumples into something unrecognizable.  The crew is then stunned by return fire, but they'll be able to move, if not fire.  Also noteworthy: The Rifleman goes down in a heap from fire from the Manticore.  The Awesomes have finally gotten into range, and six PPCs per turn even at 11+ and 12+ are going to do some damage.  Stuff's about to start going down hard.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn17fireresults_zps9a3c3745.png?t=1371408871)

The only really significant thing to happen this turn.  The Manticore is now a pillbox.  With its rapidly draining front armor, that's worrying.  I'll have to get my other guys out in front as soon as possible.  I'm a little bewildered at how little damage the turret is taking, however.  Usually that's what takes the most damage, not the least.

The next turn, the Rifleman knocks himself unconscious trying to stand.  With any luck, I'll be able to kick its ass before he wakes up.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn18fireresults1_zps51440606.png?t=1371408879)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn18fireresults2_zps828bce38.png?t=1371408882)

Hit number six for the Hetzer, in sequence.  This makes the crew the best shots I have ever seen, and they've already dealt more damage with the main gun than their tank has armor on it, much less enough to destroy it.

Tragedy then strikes when the Manticore goes down to concentrated fire, which somehow hits the front and side exclusively.  Seriously, the turret, typically the most struck location, still had over 35 armor on it.  It gave good, though, crippling the Rifleman completely before succumbing.  It only lost one location, to boot, so I'll be able to restore it, albeit painfully and expensively.  If this mission ends in victory, I'll have all the time in the world, and over six million in c-bills to spend on repairing it, so their sacrifice has not been in vain.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn18physicalresults_zps28df6f9d.png?t=1371408896)

And the Pixie finally inflicts damage.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn19firingresults_zpsea8f8f49.png?t=1371408903)

Good kill.  That's number two for the Hetzer, which is making a name for itself as the tank that doesn't miss.  The pilots tonight aren't having a good time.  Ejecting into buildings is a certain kind of suicide that they seem all too eager to undertake.

On turn 20, the Hetzer finally misses on a 12+.  It rolled an 11.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn21physicalresults_zps4e21e9e7.png?t=1371408909)

The dangers of kicking.  Sigh.

Turn 21 ended up being too busy for me to snap that many screenies.  A friendly Wolverine ninja'd the Hermes kill out from under the Hetzer, who nailed it with an AC/20 at point blank.  I'm considering awarding the kill to the Hetzer crew anyway, since the Wolverine basically just killsniped it at the end.  All six PPCs on the Awesomes opened up on one Vindicator, which hit the dirt after three of them connected.  The Pixie survived being unconscious in the middle of combat, somehow.

Turn 22 ended with more tragedy.  The Hetzer succumbed to a terminal case of pillbox-itis.  It, too, is salvageable, fortunately.  Now it's all up to the Awesomes to batter down the doors and kill everything.  At this point, I realize that I made a big mistake letting the vehicles take point like this.  Underestimating your enemy, and all that jazz.  Still, for being two vehicles in a BattleMech's world, three kills and two cripples by themselves is not a bad showing.

And then Turn 23 had absolutely nothing significant happen.  At this point, the next several turns were right back to the introductory few turns' meaningless shots across the bow.  The friendly Wolverine takes a bit too much damage and drops to the dirt because he walked into the middle of a running (waddling) gunfight between the Awesomes and the Icarus.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn27fireresults_zpsa48b75b7.png?t=1371408914Turn 27 is notable only for how three different pilots blacked out during the movement phase, as well as one of the Awesomes scoring an engine hit on an already down Vindicator.  At this rate, the game is going to take dozens more turns.  It's an arduous ordeal.  At this point, however, neither Awesome has taken a hit, nor even really been targeted at all.[lvlshot]http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn28AlleyofDeath_zpsdbbbf6eb.png?t=1371408919)

Pictured here what the alley has turned into.  I'm calling it the Alley of Death, because it's pretty much the only place on the map that any significant fighting has taken place on.  Ms. Pixie up top isn't really what I'd call "significant" at this point.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn28fireresults_zpsca4f2542.png?t=1371408924)

A hearty round of applause to Dragon, who gets the unit's first headcap and salvage!  Add one Vindicator to the pile.  Next target, Icarus.

After that fit of activity, the next two turns are eminently forgettable.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn30fireresults_zpsaa188b4e.png?t=1371408933)

And this is why you don't mess with Awesomes.  One of the Awesomes actually took three damage from an LRM launcher.  That bastard.  He will pay for his crimes.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn32fireresults_zps507316e1.png?t=1371408938)

That bastard paid for his crimes.  Congratulations, The_E, on downing the first of the mission-critical vehicles that have to be destroyed, and the fourth 'Mech overall.  Just 26 more units to go.

At this point, the game has been going for 32 turns and over five in-game minutes.  Anyone who's ever played BT knows that's an eternity, and I just managed to down the first lance of enemies.  I'm also getting really tired of recording most of this, but don't want to just say '**** it' and wait till the end.  Decisions, decisions.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn34predicament_zps78d501c9.png?t=1371408950)

Turn 34 brought to my attention a terrible predicament: A friendly Wolverine that has been disabled in the alley is blocking the advance of the Awesomes.  They'll have to either carve a path around, or hope that he dies before they kill the Vindicator.  Kinda morbid, but oh well.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn34fireresults_zps48a8e321.png?t=1371408944)

This turn ended up being pretty significant.  The Quasit went down under sustained PPC fire, and the Stinger that's been leading the Pixie on a merry chase for literally the entire game has finally lost its leg far from home.  Perfect.  A kick, and he's down to 4 IS on the center torso, and an engine hit.  The following turn, the Pixie destroys the Stinger with extreme prejudice.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn36fireresults_zpsba764902.png?t=1371408959)

And another fusillade from the Awesomes takes another Vindicator down.  This one went down hard, and might be in salvageable condition by the time they're done.  Still gotta figure out how to get around that roadblock, though.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn37fireresults1_zps5229f1e3.png?t=1371408966)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn37fireresults2_zps90a0acec.png?t=1371408970)

Hell yeah.  Two Awesomes, two kills.  The_E's kill in particular makes me think of the end of the Incredibles,
 with the Stinger's entire engine exiting the back of the 'Mech from the hit.  The Quasit is a complete and total write-off, not even worth picking up for scrap.  Amusingly, the pilot actually survived ejecting.  For once.  The Stinger, though, that one is fully and totally salvageable, with literally the only missing piece being the engine and some armor.  Finally some momentum here after six minutes of heated combat.

During turn 38, literally nothing happened.  Everything missed.

Turns 39 through 40-some odd consisted of the Awesomes demolishing buildings with PPC and foot until they could get around the trapped Wolverine.  It took a while.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn41mouseholinginprogress_zpse1206bf2.png?t=1371408978)

This was halfway through the process, turn 42.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn43fireball_zps79c20afc.png?t=1371408984)

Turn 43 brought about probably the most amusing thing I'd seen all game: A Harvester Ant civilian 'Mech's engine stalled, and the resulting “fall” touched off the ammunition and turned it into a fireball.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn44mousehole_zpsb6addb4e.png?t=1371408992)

And the Awesomes finally get through the 'roadblock' a couple turns later.  In this picture it's already been blown through, but they still have to walk around, and that takes a while.

Of course, traversing the new route soon proved to be more dangerous than the entire enemy resistance up until now, at least for The_E.  He successfully inflicted more damage on himself than the enemy had.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn46fireresults_zps3ea29558.png)

BOOM!  Headshot.  Dragon logs his second such decapitation, and unless I'm much mistaken, third kill as he takes a Stinger's head clean off at 300 meters.

Turn 48: Breakthrough!  Both Awesomes and the Pixie have broken through enemy lines and are converging on the city center.  Finally.  Now the enemy's tender rear areas are vulnerable to my wrath, and both Awesomes are still nearly 100%.  I still need to hunt down and destroy every single civilian vehicle, but now that seems more plausible than the pipe dream it looked like twenty turns ago.

The Pixie (who, I'd like to remind everyone, is a liaison, and not anyone important) breaks off to go headhunting flatbed trucks, while both Awesomes pick an alley and proceed to level everything that moves.  The alley they pick plays host to three of the remaining 'Mechs, one Scorpion tank, and one civilian APC.  The 'Mechs are an Urbanmech, a Vindicator (again), and a Crab that's been having trouble staying upright.  In fact, I think that Crab might very well brain itself before I even get there.  That'd be nice.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn50CentralSquare_zps780992f9.png)

Here we are, right at turn 50 (which anyone who's played BT knows is HOLY **** LONG game, and it's not even close to done).  There's an impromptu standoff in the square, with an untouched Wolverine that I'm not certain had even moved until now, a Wasp chasing my Pixie, and all three surviving Hard Light 'Mechs.  Nobody has shots, but next turn the Awesomes should be able to get into better position.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn51suicide_zpsf1ad3a49.png)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn51suicideresults_zps41b25ef2.png)

For those of you unaware, this is what suicide looks like.  He took two PPCs to the face, dropped like a rock, and then the Awesome stepped on him until he died.  Moving on.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn52centralsquare_zpsce79732d.png)

Everybody wants a piece.  Just about every remaining able-bodied 'Mech and vehicle is withdrawing to the central square, right into the Awesomes.  That Vindicator standing over the corpse of the Stinger is the first one back, and took two PPCs in the left side for his trouble.  He's still standing, but who knows for how long.  (hint: not long).

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn53beertime_zpsb636e233.png)

What happens when two unarmed MechWarriors end up in the same hex.  There was literally half a dozen PPCs crackling over their heads this turn alone, and they just crack a beer.  Mech jocks, man.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn54fireresults_zpscdc93abb.png)

Flatbed truck down.  Good kill, Dragon.  One less target to worry about hunting down later.  Now full attention on the trio of Mediums making themselves nuisances.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn54partyinthesquare_zps7cb6863d.png)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn55fireresults_zps8b022168.png)

The_E takes a nasty head hit that shouldn't have happened, but in return drops Vindicator #4 on its ass.  Dragon should have an easy time stomping on it in the next phase.  He does, nearly amputating its PPC arm.  These guys are inflicting, at most, five or ten damage per turn, while the Awesomes are dishing out 40+.  It's quite the sight.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn56fireresults_zpsefcb6a34.png)

Update the kill board.  Another less flatbed.  Enemy civilian vehicles should be down around five left, now.  Halfway there.

At some point right around here, I noticed something amusing and odd.  There were no less than two units under the Pirate's command that were stuck.  Looking back after the game, there were also fully half of the allied units trapped similarly.  They'd deployed in clearings between buildings and had no way to get out.  That included one of the civilian trucks, and a Wasp.  The truck is the most troublesome, since it means standing stock still and doing nothing but trying to take down the building for several turns.  It'll have to wait for last.  This is also the turn that the Crab pilot knocked herself out for the fifth time, without me even firing a shot.  One more, and the pilot dies with no damage to the 'Mech aside from a few scuffs and dings.  Fingers crossed.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn58partyisover_zps03e5d18e.png)

At this point the party in the square is mostly over.  Later that turn, the Wolverine got to feel what two Awesomes kicking in tandem feels like.  The answer was to fall to the ground in pain.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn58physicalresults_zps1ab44d05.png)

Stompy stompy.  The central square is just a collection of spare parts and battered machines, at this point.  A Vindicator and Wolverine are writhing in collected agony on the ground, another Vindicator watches helplessly, and the 'Mechs not engaged are cowering in their respective alleys (or knocked the **** out from trying to stand up).

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn59helloooooo_zpsdd8f0ae4.png)

Ms. Pixie does her best George Takei impersonation rounding the corner.  'Bout to get painful for this guy.

The next turn ends up being painful for everybody, but moreso for the Pirates.  PPC fire crackles back and forth, with a puny autocannon adding to the report.  Then, the kicking starts.  The Wolverine gets a good hit in on Dragon's ride, and he goes down, but the Wolverine goes down too, missing a leg.  The Vindicator on the ground is still somehow alive, too.  I have new respect for the pest 'Mech.  It can take a terrible beating.

Turn 60 rolls around, celebrating 10 minutes of continuous combat in the besieged city center.  The Vindicator and Wolverine closest to the Awesomes are not getting up again, but aren't technically destroyed yet.  Dragon's Awesome tripped, and had a little trouble standing, but should be up again this turn.  The last mobile Vindicator is dancing around the other side of the square, taking between two and four PPC hits per turn and not ****ing dying.  Our Pixie is mauling the other Harvester Ant, and is
preparing to go maul another Flatbed and an APC as soon as that's done.

All in all, looking mostly like mop up, now.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn61fireresults_zpsb7853287.png)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn61physicalresults1_zpsee9584cc.png)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn61physicalresults2_zps477b3279.png)

Another turn, three kills.  Wolverine, Vindicator, and Harvester Ant explode violently.  Now the only thing left in the square is the Vindicator that's still up and walking.  A few combat vehicles, a Clint, an Urbanmech, and an unconscious Crab are pretty much all that remain of the actual combat effective
 pirates.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn62movementresults_zpsc8334976.png)

**** yeah.  Free Crab.  I never even targeted it.  Neither did my bot allies.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn62fireresults_zps84c9c0e0.png)

Uh oh, that's not good.  Gotta gut this bastard quick.  The retaliatory kick from Dragon topples the Vindicator, now missing a leg.  The_E takes another hit when the Awesome hits the ground from the Vindy's kick, but he's still alive.  Gonna spend some time in the infirmary after this, but alive.  Just a couple more turns, and the Vindicator, and with it, the last effective 'Mech resistance in the city, is going to go up in smoke.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn63fireresults_zps40d471a1.png)

Another truck up in smoke.  Just a couple more, and we can get the **** back to the dropship and enjoy a good month of R&R while everything gets fixed.  Sounds good, no?  It looks like The_E has four hits, so it could be a while before he wakes up.  In the meantime, Dragon is making short work of that Vindy, and next up is the Urbanmech trying desperately to hide around the corner.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn64centralsquare_zpsb2b2d382.png)

Scratch that, the Vedette and Clint are being more aggressive right now, and must die first.  Amusing side note: that Vedette just wrecked his engine getting stuck in that building.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn64physicalresults_zps58c0231b.png)

Vindicator down.  Vedette crippled.  Clint next.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn65fireresults_zpsd53c33c3.png)

Dragon strikes again!  I've lost count of his kills, but it has to be past five already.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn66fireresults_zps980747e5.png)

More Dragon being Awesome.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn68movement_zps6104a9c5.png)

I love cities.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn68fireresults_zpsaa91f973.png?t=1371412535)

Dragon being Dragon.  Seriously.  This is an almost automatic skill-up when we get back to the barracks.  At this rate, it could damn well be TWO.  Now if only The_E would wake up, they could leave the damn square.  I'm not having Dragon pull out for new targets until The_E is up and at 'em.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn69fireresults_zpsf38569a6.png?t=1371412950)

Another one down!  I'm pretty sure there are only two left on the map, though all of them are either enclosed in buildings or heavily (relatively speaking) escorted.  Our Pixie's job is now to guard the commander while Dragon goes hunting.

That is, if it gets there.  I'm sometimes stupid, and jumped with damaged actuators.  Let's see if the Pixie can stand up again.

Apparently not.  Tried, pilot fell over and blacked out.  Oh well.  Dragon's operating on his own here.  Fortunately, he has the least damaged 'Mech by far, so we're still good.

To my surprise, the Urbanmech actually came out to play.  See the 'suicide' of the Stinger above to see why that's a bad idea.  He suffered nearly the same fate, with three points left in the leg that Dragon stomped on.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn73movement_zps3507b2e8.png?t=1371412976)

Audacious little bugger, ain't he?  Dragon shows him the error of his ways with a PPC to the chest, followed by a mean left hook.  Missing most of the armor on its torsos, the Urbanmech is pretty much screwed if it doesn't GTFO right about... last turn.

It's now been near a dozen turns, and The_E hasn't woken up yet.  Damn 10+.

The next turn sees me accidentally click through the weapons fire phase, so no PPCs, but the next kick knocks the Urbie down.  He's not going anywhere.

Turn 79 sees our Pixie wake back up and succeed in standing.  Woo!  Back to the square to relieve Dragon.  The Vedette and Scorpion that have been hiding in the northwest alley for most of the game are starting to get frisky and take potshots at the downed 'Mechs.  As of now, that includes only The_E, unconscious for a record 20 straight rounds.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn80movement_zps6552dfac.png)

There are the sneaky buggers.  Getting into position is slow and annoying.  Every turn I'm absolutely dreading a headshot, as at this point even an AC/5 would finish the job.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn82fireresults1_zps887a7d2c.png?t=1371413124)
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn82fireresults2_zps672e54e9.png?t=1371413143)

Two more down.  Urbanmech and Vedette out of commission.  That leaves, running free, two Scorpions and one APC.  A Wasp and a coolant truck are trapped in buildings, leaving a total of five enemy combatants left on the map.

Too easy.

(http://s1314.photobucket.com/user/Strobe238/media/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn68fireresults_zpsaa91f973.png.html?sort=9&o=68#/user/Strobe238/media/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn83physicalresults_zps78631e0e.png.html?sort=9&o=75&_suid=137141576245105389705743306323)

It takes Dragon exactly one turn to kill the Scorpion.  One tank, one 'Mech, two civilian vehicles left.

On turn 88, the Phoenix Hawk pilot wakes up again (she slipped and fell again about five turns ago), before The_E does.  She's going to be staying down this time.  Just in case.

Turn 91.  Luck mocks me once again with a headshot against Dragon.  He's alive, but falls unconscious at the wheel.  The Scorpion that made the shot takes two PPC hits in return, so not even a bad exchange.  Just unlucky.  There's not much a Scorpion and LRM APC can do to an Awesome to make me worry about one turn.

Then, luckily, Dragon wakes back up next turn.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn93fireresults_zps1ddaee0f.png)

Ladies and gentlemen, Dragon.

And then, impossibly, after five full minutes unconscious, The_E wakes up!  Now I can actually go after those bastards hiding in the buildings.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttackturn94fireresults_zps0ecd8936.png)

And yet again.  I'm not sure, but I think Dragon might be nearing 15 kills for this engagement.

At this point, I decided to just **** it.  It's 3:30 am, and this is now a foregone conclusion.  I could reasonably just abandon the city at this point and let the locals clean up the trapped enemies.  I type in /victory, and the game is over.  Hard Light triumphs.

95 turns.  Over 15 minutes of continuous combat.  Dragon deserves a medal for that one.  How big of a medal?  Well....

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02-19%20Base%20Attack/3049-02-19BaseAttacksurvivors_zps937bedd2.png?t=1371407314)

That big.

At the end of the engagement, everybody from the vehicles that were knocked out survived, miraculously (a couple had five hits.  Six hits, and you're dead).  I picked up the Crab, the salvageable Vindicator, and a pair of Scorpion tanks for salvage, and let the employer have the rest.  My techs will have their hands full with these for the next while.

I'll tackle the post-battle stuff like medical treatment, salvage, and repairs some other time.  This is a ****load of stuff to sift through.  What I am taking care of right this minute is getting Dragon promoted right quick.  In one game, he gained 14 experience.  That's one short of getting his 4/6 to a 4/4.  He'll get a promotion to sergeant, at the least.  At the rate he's going, senior sergeant is like one mission from now.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: IronBeer on June 16, 2013, 03:59:58 pm
Also if anyone wants to submit a description of their character I'd love to try my hand at drawing some story art.
Name: Sgt. Dermott "Iron" Carver

Physical Description: 27 years of age, appears a bit older due to hard living. Tightly curled blond hair, kept in a short, neat cut. Squarish, yet somewhat rounded face with few prominent structures. Deep-set heterochromic eyes, blue right and brown left. Nose is short and flat, mouth is rather thin-lipped and does not readily hold a smile. Not very tall at 1.67m, but stoutly built at 77-ish kg.

Personal History: Born to a lower-class family of laborers on Hesperus II. Barely scraped through secondary school with minimally passing grades and near-continuous discipline problems. Muddled about in the foundries of Maria's Elegy for a few years before joining the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces. Fractious by nature, Dermott would usually solve disputes with violence rather than discussion. Despite a penchant for pugilism, Dermott has a lesser-known passion for classical theatre productions, and on several occasions has been known to drag his friends or brothers-in-arms to a current production.

Military Experience: Joined LCAF at the age of 22 and went straight into a tank unit. Despite a characteristic less-than-professional bearing, proved to be a competent and dependable tanker, eventually rising to the rank of Sergeant. A promising if rough road to a military career was cut short when a dispute with the unit CO turned violent. Nobody remembers who threw the first punch, but Dermott threw the last one, flattening his CO. Though discharged, Dermott managed to evade other disciple or punishment and moved on to join a mercenary group. Held one the the highest marks in his unit for hand-to-hand combat. Earned the nickname "Iron" through a combination of preternatural resilience to incoming punches and battlefield dependability.

Edit: (Didn't want to discard the above post when Scotty ninja'd in the update) Just gonna formally acknowledge that the Hard Light Brigade rules! Nice job everybody, especially The E and Dragon. Can't wait to see where this goes.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 16, 2013, 04:56:15 pm
Can i call dibs on the Crab when it's repaired? :D
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: FireSpawn on June 16, 2013, 04:57:59 pm
Did I just see an Awesome axe-kick the arm off another mech?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 16, 2013, 05:05:26 pm
Did I just see an Awesome axe-kick the arm off another mech?

Yes.  Yes you did.  You also saw that same Awesome brutally murder an entire company of 'Mechs and armor.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: FireSpawn on June 16, 2013, 05:59:22 pm
Did I just see an Awesome axe-kick the arm off another mech?

Yes.  Yes you did.  You also saw that same Awesome brutally murder an entire company of 'Mechs and armor.

Then this 'Mech shall be under my personal care whilst off the battlefield, and will recieve only the best duct-tape and super-glue C-Bills can buy after each engagement.
I'll also paint a "Your Face Here" sign on the bottom of it's foot.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 16, 2013, 06:02:05 pm
wow - epic length battle.  I wonder why the bot loves running on pavement so much :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: pecenipicek on June 16, 2013, 06:05:27 pm
Did I just see an Awesome axe-kick the arm off another mech?

Yes.  Yes you did.  You also saw that same Awesome brutally murder an entire company of 'Mechs and armor.
there's a reason its called "Awesome" :p



also, apropos, am i the only one who had an absolute nightmare of a time trying to get the pics to load up? maybe imgur would be a better choice for an imagehost in the future, scotty?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 16, 2013, 06:09:52 pm
also, apropos, am i the only one who had an absolute nightmare of a time trying to get the pics to load up? maybe imgur would be a better choice for an imagehost in the future, scotty?

I had 2 images fail to load - most were OK.

edit: updated fail-to-load image count
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 16, 2013, 06:13:42 pm
can I call the vindicator?

while not my first choice I like the variable range of the thing and that PPC really sweetens the deal :)

edit

on the images I only had 1 fail
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 16, 2013, 06:25:17 pm
Regarding salvage, is it better to form a new lance from the new gear (Crab, Vindicator, 2x Scorpion tanks) or use them as upgrades/spares for the existing 12?  You already indicated that deploying more of the unit increases the opposition count, which may mean upgrades/spares is of more benefit?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 16, 2013, 06:30:58 pm
The two Scorpions aren't repairable.  I need to figure out exactly what conditions vehicles recovered from the field are repairable, because I had some misconceptions on that one.  Next time I'm going to try immobilizing, and then leaving the vehicle for the end of the battle.  Potentially risky, but getting more vehicles would be great.

The Crab is already fully repaired and ready to go, just needs a new pilot (eventually we'll get some of those).  The Vindicator, on the other hand, is going to take probably a couple weeks to get back up and running.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Polpolion on June 16, 2013, 06:58:49 pm
I love the pictures of the map and your account of what's happening but I hope you decide to drop some of the images of text now that people have the gist of how the game works. :p

Quote
At the end of the engagement, everybody from the vehicles that were knocked out survived, miraculously (a couple had five hits.  Six hits, and you're dead).  I picked up the Crab, the salvageable Vindicator, and a pair of Scorpion tanks for salvage, and let the employer have the rest.  My techs will have their hands full with these for the next while.

Can I assume we recovered our own disabled combat vehicles too? Those things were a huge asset.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 16, 2013, 07:12:19 pm
So glorious
So very glorious

Fairly impressive about no casualties despite the fact the vehicles were so close
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 16, 2013, 09:50:45 pm
Why the **** would jump directly in front of an Awesome! STINGGGEEEERRRRR! Seriously, AI, you're a derp, seek help.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Mongoose on June 17, 2013, 12:13:35 am
With how crazy in-depth that whole awesome account was, I'm picturing someone trying to work it all out with actual pen/paper and dice...*shudder*
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 17, 2013, 12:17:30 am
With how crazy in-depth that whole awesome account was, I'm picturing someone trying to work it all out with actual pen/paper and dice...*shudder*

If it had been done on actual PnP it would have gone faster, mainly because deployments would have been done better.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 17, 2013, 12:21:16 am
Also, the initial 20 turns or so of "I move my Awesome one hex forward and fire no weapons" would have taken about five seconds each.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: General Battuta on June 17, 2013, 12:30:27 am
Pen and paper Battletech is basically unplayable with more than a few units on the board, so you're right to shudder. It is in most mechanical respects a pretty dreadful game.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 17, 2013, 12:42:30 am
In PnP, dread any unit mounting large numbers of LBX ACs or SRM launchers.  You'll spend a month of Sundays rolling all the hit locations every time it fires...
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 17, 2013, 12:45:34 am
One on one, it's fairly easy (if boring) to play.  Four on four, it starts slowing down perceptibly.  Twelve on twelve (company engagement), it slows to a crawl, and you'd be lucky to get through a dozen turns in three or four hours.

Larger than that I've never even attempted.  I have heard of regiment-size games that go for several days, though.

@niffiwan: fishing box and lots of tiny d6s.  Rolls the hit locations 20 at a time. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 17, 2013, 12:53:17 am
Larger than that I've never even attempted.  I have heard of regiment-size games that go for several days, though.

Regimental Combat Team vs Clan Cluster. Took two weeks to play.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 17, 2013, 01:21:43 am
Just assign the Crab to me ;D
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 17, 2013, 01:24:55 am
Larger than that I've never even attempted.  I have heard of regiment-size games that go for several days, though.

Regimental Combat Team vs Clan Cluster. Took two weeks to play.

damn thats some dedication
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 17, 2013, 01:55:48 am
That's more accurate to insanity
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 17, 2013, 03:48:06 am
Pretty much. It was the centerpiece of our The Dragon Roars release/Operation Bulldog event.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 17, 2013, 04:17:54 am
@niffiwan: fishing box and lots of tiny d6s.  Rolls the hit locations 20 at a time. :P

My anal retentive nature says, I hope you're using 20 different colour patterns in those 40x d6  :p

Just assign the Crab to me ;D

At 5/8 it's too slow for the scout lance :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 17, 2013, 04:21:57 am
It does make an excellent addition to the Combat lance though (or the HQ lance, if we're willing to drop the Manticore; I am NOT going to give up the Spoonzer!)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 17, 2013, 04:33:18 am
Yeah, it'd be a really good replacement for the Combat lance Vedette, iffy IMO if it's an improvement over the Manticore.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 17, 2013, 04:54:01 am
I should point out that while everyone went wtf about the Icarus (AND THEY SHOULD), the Crab is itself pretty rare in this timeframe. The appearance of Crabs and similar Star League-era designs among Kurita forces only ten years ago with the DCMS during the War of 3039 was enough to cause morale problems for their opponents. Outside of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery and the ComGuards, Crabs are still virtually unknown.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 17, 2013, 05:00:20 am
Maybe these guys got lucky and found some sort of SLDF cache?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 17, 2013, 05:19:59 am
Actually, that variant (CRB-20) was the downgraded one given to the DCMS by Comstar for the war in '39, so it didn't come from a SLDF cache.  Perhaps a DCMS deserter?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 17, 2013, 05:45:35 am
Guess that's a possibility. Pretty far from home then, I think.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Spoon on June 17, 2013, 07:50:10 am
Quote
At this point, the Hetzer crew is proving to be excellent shots.  I'm considering nicknaming this Hetzer the Spoonzer, just because it's mimicking the actions of the Spoonzer I on the first mission of HLPX-COM quite well.
The legend lives on!
Shooting mechs in a WWII self propelled gun.

Bloody hell man, that was one seriously long write up. Making that post must have consumed a lot of your free time.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Grizzly on June 17, 2013, 07:52:34 am
Guess that's a possibility. Pretty far from home then, I think.

You'd probably want to be.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: carbine7 on June 17, 2013, 10:28:53 am
Great job with the write-up Scotty, that was a marathon game there. I'm thinking you missed my post applying for mech tech though, you can give me whichever you please, all the names have comedic story value.

Anyways...
Shame team Urban Renewal Spoonzer got knocked out halfway through, but I'm going with the theory that they and E were just getting out of Dragon's way.
I even have a virtually untouched SLDF Medium to tinker with now.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 17, 2013, 11:53:44 am
Just assign the Crab to me ;D

At 5/8 it's too slow for the scout lance :)

pfft, who needs speed when you have no need for ammo :D
'Sides, i hate being a scout xD
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 18, 2013, 08:59:24 am
So did the first battle burn scotty out on this plan already? Because I wouldn't really blame him.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 18, 2013, 11:53:12 am
I hope not. It started really great. I hope it'll get to Clan invasion someday, and I'll get to kick some clanners and steal their mechs. :)

Speaking of badassery:

Corporal Master Seargent :) Anders "Rapier" Bullman
Born 14th April 3026, Atreus City, Atreus
Rather gaunt, with pale skin and very short, brown hair. Blue eyes.
Manners (and mannerisms) of an aristocrat, even when they're very out of place (like in a hardened merc unit...). A bit of a dandy, but once things get serious, watch out. Pretty handy with a blade, hence the nickname. Has a bit of a rose-tinted view of "old times", especially if they involve his family being important (except if somebody asks him just why they weren't killed during the Amaris coup, or exiled after that...).

Born in an aristocratic family which has been in a steady decline since it's main branch was decimated in the Amaris coup, and the rest went with general Kerensky into exile. His side-branch was the only one that remained in the IS. Though once prominent in Free Worlds League politics, the Bullman family is now but a footnote in modern FWL, and, with the exception of possesing an ancestral AWS-8Q mech (said to be a gift from the Captain-General himself, though nobody seems to know which one...), is no different from any other upper-middle class family. Not very happy with that, "Rapier" decided to use his old, but well preserved Awesome in order to make the galaxy hear about his family once again. After solid military training, attempted, and failed, to form his own merc unit. After that, he found out about another startup unit, which had good perspectives with it's Awesome and a couple of other, quite decent mechs. Hoping it'll succeed, he joined in, bringing a second AWS-8Q to the Hard-Light Brigade.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 18, 2013, 01:06:50 pm
I'm trying my hand on one of these right now, spent 4 hours last night setting everything up for my first battle, ironically, i also got a Pirate Hunting contract. But no early resolution as i have to do an extraction of 2 trucks, a hover APC and a Quasit(thank god the mech is there, it can shoot back with more than a puny missile launcher)

Got me a Centurion to back my lance up xD
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 18, 2013, 02:33:17 pm
So did the first battle burn scotty out on this plan already? Because I wouldn't really blame him.

I recently rediscovered I had a social life, so that's where the delay has come from.  In an effort to avoid delays like that again, I'll break up the posts I have planned into smaller, less enormous posts.  Instead of covering the immediate aftermath of the battle clear to the start of the next contract, I'll post something up as soon as I hit March.

Corporal Anders "Rapier" Bullman
Born 14th April 3026, Atreus City, Atreus

Actually, this rank is no longer correct.  After Rapier beat the **** out of an entire company of "pirates", he had enough exp to up from Piloting 6 to Piloting 5, moving him from "Green" to "Regular" on the caste hierarchy skill level scale.  That's good for a promotion to Sergeant.  Immediately after that, I realized that I didn't have a Master Sergeant for this company, and he'd just finished proving that no one in the company can touch him.  Fittingly, he's exactly one exp to up from Piloting 5 to Piloting 4, which is almost 50% of the way to Veteran from where he started.  That kind of rise is meteoric.

Everyone give a big round of applause to Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman.

In other news, I don't actually have a pilot for that Crab yet.  The only candidate is PhantomHoover, and he's expressed a desire to be the "mook" of the group.  Hopefully the recruitment goes better between contracts than it did before contracts.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 18, 2013, 02:50:20 pm
*Claps rather loudly*

Congratulations Dragon :D

mook, being what exactly?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 18, 2013, 03:47:03 pm
Fixed. Thanks. :D If it keeps going like that, I'll make officer before Clans even start showing up. That's quite of an achievement, but I guess 13 kills on the first mission will do that. The Awesome lives up to it's name, too. Well, I hope the next contract will go just as well as this one. :) Can't wait to see what we'll get this time.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 18, 2013, 05:30:11 pm
Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne
Born February 14, 3024, New Olympia, Ares, Capellan Confederation

Rather short to average height, with light skin and dark, shaggy hair. Face is not exactly chiseled; roundish, but not fat. A persistent stubble hangs out around his chin despite best efforts to shave it off every few days. Brown eyes, usually narrowed from incredulity.

The only child born to a fairly average family, he coasted through school on cleverness alone. With a great distaste for studying, he found himself graduated in the middle of his class, with no great prospects for further education or employment. He didn't particularly care, he just wanted to take it easy for a bit.
But coasting doesn't pay the rent. He went to work in the Quickscell Company equipment factories. After a few years working the assembly lines, watching tanks and components pass by for what seemed like forever, he was promoted to "Refurbishing", where old or damaged equipment was repaired, tested, and re-sold to anybody willing to take it.

One day in 3047, a small mercenary company came through Ares, and stopped by to see what kind of equipment was available and affordable. Having just personally tested a shiny, new, pre-owned but totally functional Manticore Heavy Tank, Scourge pushed it to them, and finally, volunteered to crew the tank himself. Hey, he had experience on it already from months of testing and certifying it, and it would save the trouble of recruiting. John "Scourge" Aherne was hired right there, and he quit his job at the factory and left for adventure! His parents were mostly indifferent.

Usually quiet and laid-back, he comes alive when sitting behind the PPC of the Manticore, or when any of his new friends need help. Doesn't particularly like the nobility; he feels that a person's actions speak louder than bloodlines.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 18, 2013, 06:52:40 pm
mook, being what exactly?

I believe it's item 7 here, I'm sure Scotty didn't mean any of the other definitions :)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mook
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 18, 2013, 07:56:48 pm
Or more effectively, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mooks
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Aesaar on June 18, 2013, 11:29:09 pm
If PH really wanted to be a mook, he'd have joined as vehicle commander.  We're the mookiest!

So stick him in that Crab.  Or if he's really dead set on being a mook and we haven't been in action yet, you could switch our names around and put him in my Vedette.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 19, 2013, 04:10:43 pm
At long last, the continuation!

After that kind of massive battle, the repairs are going to be annoying.  Even if I didn't deploy many units, the ones that I did deploy got kinda messed up.  The Awesomes are okay, for the most part, with just a little internal damage each.  The vehicles, on the other hand... well, in those cases, what we're doing is stripping them of useful equipment and then selling the scrap for what we can get out of them.  That means stripping any working weapons, the engines, and any armor left on the chassis before selling what's left.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/Personnel_zpsc9b13e06.png?t=1371674339)

I also need to get my people who were injured back on their feet.  Everybody in red on that list has an injury of some severity.  All of them see the same doctor, our resident deathfun, and heal one hit per day on a result of 7+.  This is mostly hands off, and there's nothing I can do to accelerate the process.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/Infirmary_zpseefeeb5a.png?t=1371674306)

As you can see, deathfun has his work cut out for him. 

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/InfirmaryDay2_zps02f5280a.png?t=1371674298)

Luckily, the first day sees most of his patients back out the door with nary a scratch left on their little heads.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/Hangar_zpsa39bd29d.png?t=1371674280)

Here's what my hangar looks like after the fight.  White entries are 100%, yellow is damage of any sort, red is crippling or incapacitating damage, like missing legs, engines, or heads.  Whatever the reason is, a 'Mech in red can't deploy, whereas if I'm getting desperate I can send one of the yellow boys into the field with only minor degradation of capabilities.  Brown is unrepairable, and only good for stripping parts.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/RepairBay_zps8ad7bc20.png?t=1371674348)

The view from the repair bay condenses all that into everything I need to know to conduct repairs on my damaged units.  In the top left, there's a display for what still has work orders out on it, and what state the unit is in, including how many parts are missing and how many individual tasks are still needed.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/WhatsMissing_zps969a0fcd.png?t=1371674506)

The bottom left displays the currently selected damaged machine, with everything that's wrong with it.  This example comes from our commander's Awesome, proving that even if you don't get that ****ed up, your machine still needs a lot of work to get back to 100%.

The big display in the middle shows exactly what needs to be done, what level the repair is, and how long it'll take to do it.  If the part is missing, this is where it tells me that.  I select a job here, and then scoot over to the right hand side of the display to pick a tech to carry it out.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/TakingOurSweetTime_zps68e0f30e.png?t=1371674454)

The fastest way to fix things, ironically, is to take your time doing it.  Each level of taking your time improves the target number by one.  On a 2d6 bellcurve, that's a whole damn lot.  Especially when things are going to have 10s or 12s without it.  Hell, some repairs have 10s or 12s with taking my time.  A little more on that later.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/Repairleftleg1stattempt_zpsdae28909.png?t=1371674359)

There's a distinct advantage to having Green and Regular techs around, and not just all veterans.  If a Green tech fails the roll, the job gets bumped up to Regular difficulty, and a Regular tech can try to fix it, and if he fails the Vets get their crack at it, etc.  However, if a Vet tries a random job, the difficulty if he or she fails is automatically set to Elite.  You want Green techs in order to get the most attempts out of every repair.  It saves you money, if not time.  They're much more likely to fail, however, so you'll probably end up using your regulars and vets anyway.  Plus, it gets your greenies some good experience under their belt, and they'll likely advance faster, which is a good thing.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/Rightlegrepair1stattempt_zps40b85690.png?t=1371674392)

Not all repairs are created equal.  This one is still pretty easy compared to how difficult some of them can get, like repairing center torsos.  When repairing the Vindicators legs, which is the subject of that previous picture, I actually failed the first attempt on each leg, but thanks to having multiple tech crews, they got fixed on the second attempt.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/ExampleOvertime2_zps2bd91e36.png?t=1371674245)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/Rightlegrepair1stattempt_zps40b85690.png?t=1371674392)

One of the powerful tools in repairing 'Mechs is overtime.  You don't have to finish the repair in the current day in order to attempt it, and instead you can start it now, and eat up whatever time your tech has left.  He or she will finish the job tomorrow, or the next day, or even the next day, however long it takes.  Things like engines, repairing torsos, or repairing huge amounts of armor (like here) take more than a day to finish.

Taking all this time makes it easier to succeed, but what it doesn't do is make a failure sting any less.  If my veteran mechanic (who shouldn't even be doing 'mech repairs at all, but does sometimes in a crunch) fails on a repair, I have to scrap the component and start over from green.  This can get expensive fast with things like weapons, though actuators and body parts are actually pretty damn cheap.  Plus, if it gets to that point, my techs have to go find a suitable replacement part, which isn't always a sure thing.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/Acquiringarmor_zps786246bf.png?t=1371674042)

Fortunately, it's not too difficult either, but a fail means I have to wait another day to conduct the repairs.

Repairing carries on in this fashion all the way up until I run out of minutes on my techs.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/OutoftimeDay1_zps56e00919.png?t=1371674330)

Kind of like that.  Techs run out of minutes fast when they take their time, so this repair process could take days.  The Vindicator may well take several weeks to get back up and running.  As of this writing, actually, both Awesomes and the Crab are finished repairing, and I've managed to strip all but the engines and things I don't want off the vehicles and the Vindicator is still struggling with accepting a pair of new arms.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/AdvanceDaybutton_zps83f494bb.png?t=1371674059)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/CarryoversfromDay1_zps3a93caec.png?t=1371674235)

I hit the Advance Day button and see what happens.  Like I showed earlier, most of the infirmary patients are good to go, while the one overtime event I had yesterday is a success.  Woo.  Repairing goes on in this fashion until everything is finished.

Now that repairing is already rolling, I need MechWarriors.  I have two new 'Mechs that I don't yet have pilots for, and I want them up ASAP.  That means I'll have to do some targeted recruiting.  For 100,000 c-bills, I can target specific kinds of recruits.  MechWarriors, unfortunately, get a -2 to the roll, being a D rated unit another -1, and my lack of a HR admin gives me another -2.  What does that mean?  Well, the number of recruits I get is directly related to the roll result.  If I get 3 or less, I get no recruits despite the spent money.  Higher than that, and I get at least one potential recruit.  With a good unit, a good HR admin, and a good roll, I could conceivable attract up to six.  Odds are, though, on one or two at most at this point.

The result ends up a 5, which gives me one recruit.  Worth it.  This particular recruit comes to me as a Regular pilot and no 'Mech.  Good, I had extras for him anyway.  His skills come up as 4/6.  Not stellar, but Dragon proved pretty conclusively that 4/6 can still **** **** up.

Everybody welcome Corporal Jean "Werewolf" Vidal, new pilot of the Crab CRB-20, to the company.  He'll be assigned to the 11th to replace the downed vehicles until more become available.

I think that's a good wrap for now.  Not exactly action packed, but it's a pretty damn important part of the game to keep your equipment running.

Until next time.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 19, 2013, 04:23:54 pm
Fear my guerrilla warfare large lasers of doom.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 19, 2013, 04:54:07 pm
Why am I always associated with bones?
I pretty much nailed what I wouldn't of minded to be named though (despite not being able to be named that) which is doubly hilarious
Dr. Bones
Love it
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 19, 2013, 05:18:20 pm
You made a comment earlier that you'd misunderstood how easy vehicles were to repair, backed up by the fact that the Manticore & Hetzer were written off.  Do vehicles have to survive in order to be repairable?  (I don't have a copy of TacOps, or whichever sourcebook these rules are in).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 19, 2013, 05:46:33 pm
I was under the impression that a single destroyed location meant recoverable, but have since been educated on that.  I'm pretty sure that I have to capture it alive in order to get the vehicle in repairable condition.

Both the Hetzer and the Manticore were not repairable, that much I know, and both of them suffered catastrophic damage to only one section.  In light of that, it's clear that the destruction of one section is enough to destroy the vehicle.  I'm not sure, however, if the fact that they were body locations mattered, or if the turret would make it salvageable.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 19, 2013, 06:28:17 pm
So that it for the Urban Renewal Box, then? We'll have to get a Spoonzer II, it seems. That Crab might work better than the Manticore, though, just make sure it watches it's step... :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 19, 2013, 06:52:46 pm
The Urban Renewal Box is indeed destined for the trashbin.  Rest assured, the Spz.Kpfw. II is going to exist, and as soon as I can make it.  I can't guarantee it'll be better than the Hetzer, but honestly speaking it's hard to make it worse.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 19, 2013, 07:17:31 pm
Well, actually, it's pretty easy, the Hetzer is one of the few vehicles from the original TRO that you had to actually worry about with a 'Mech, and probably the only one in its weight class.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 19, 2013, 07:56:44 pm
Indeed. Think that you could've rolled a 10 ton APC with a puny MG or a Savannah Master with a puny laser and no armor to speak of. :) A Hetzer is actually a pretty nice vehicle. I learned to watch out for their AC/20 in MCO and, as Spoonzer proved, they can be a lot deadlier on tabletop.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Mongoose on June 19, 2013, 08:33:16 pm
Personal log, Master Sergeant Anthony "Mongoose" Sato, dated Feburary 20, 3049:

So much for easing our way into this first contract.  Seven weeks of transit to get to this hunk of rock, and our dropzone is practically on top of the enemy HQ.  I have no idea what the jocks were doing out there, but every 'Mech came back pretty dinged up at the least, and the Vindicator wasn't much more than a walking slag heap.  With all the smacking into buildings the hotshots must have been doing, you'd think they'd forgotten where the IR mode switches were.  My team's going to be pulling triple shifts for at least a week to take care of this.  At least we're better off than Red's boys...if they can dredge up more than twenty kilos worth of scrap combined from what's left of the vehicle fleet, I'll be shocked.  What was I thinking when I signed up with this outfit?

(I have no real idea how this universe works, so someone can feel free to whip up a fun backstory for my guy if they're bored.)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 19, 2013, 10:06:51 pm
Manticore's kaput...

Well ****.  Guess its for the best I didn't become too attached to the tank.  I'll hope for the best when it comes time to look at the cavalry remounts.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 19, 2013, 11:20:25 pm
Battle report, Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne, Operation Daybreak, op date 12/02/3049:

Report, eh? kk, let's see here. Well, inbound to Milos, our employer gives us some fresh intel. They found the pirate base, and we didn't even have to hunt anything yet! Good news. The dropship pilot and Commander Strobe decide on a drop point right next to the city. Cool, stand up fight, get it over with.
Now, there's not much to say that's not obvious from the recordings, so I'll just stick to what I saw: Us tanks go scouting ahead of the main force, looking for targets of opportunity, and our ally Phoenix Hawk goes ahead with us, before splitting off to hack through some buildings. More meat for us.

There're three mechs vs us two tanks - a Vindicator, a Rifleman, and a Hermes. Iron's Hetzer trades blows with the Vindicator, takes a PPC but pummels it to scrap with its AC/20. I got a lucky PPC shot on the Hermes, all but crippling it, and Starslayer kept the Rifleman on its back with sustained missile fire. Things are looking good, despite both tanks losing a little armor.

But while the first one explodes, a second Vindy moves up, and it unloads at us. We take a PPC through our left side armor which takes out our engine. Worrying, yes. Then an Icarus punches a LL through the last of our front armor. It starts a small fire, knocks out the electrical systems, and sends some of equipment in the cabin bouncing around like shrapnel. Nancy Ma got hit in the head and ankle and went out cold. When we had all the fires extinguished, the whole crew had minor burns and/or cuts, but Nancy had clearly taken the brunt; we had to use all the meds in the first-aid box just to keep her stable and breathing.

When the battle was over, we heard that the Hetzer was immobilized shortly thereafter, with Iron taking severe injuries himself, but thankfully surviving. Easy and Rapier carried the day, getting 16 kills between them, 13 of which went to Rapier. That's pretty danged respectable, no matter who you are.

UPDATE: When I was released from the medical bay with a clean bill of health, I went to the garage to check up on my tank. Mongoose had bad news: Cora is beyond repair, and is getting scrapped. Man... just. Man. *sigh* Well, at least they managed to salvage my hula-girl from the turret dashboard.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 20, 2013, 04:08:46 am
Just don't even think about sending us scouts to do a combat lance's duty Scotty :P

Lookin forward to our first scout/raiding party :)


Semi-related, just netted myself a Star League Cache special mission, have to defend a Thunderbolt from 3 mediums with my Wolverine xD
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: FireSpawn on June 20, 2013, 04:09:38 am
Personal Log #001, Corporal Xanthus "Fire Spawn" Kalerg

Not to self, begin design process on funny/insulting decals for the bottom of our 'Mechs feet. I also have resolved to do a shot of whiskey every time one of our 'Mechs axe kick the arms off the enemy.

*SIGH* I've got to get back to work, so many things came back busted up that us Techs have our work cut out for us.
Now, lets see what needs to be hit with my hammer first...

End Log
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 20, 2013, 04:18:19 am
Also, of sort of important note, i think the roster needs an update to reflect the loss of our tanks :(
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: The E on June 20, 2013, 04:49:25 am
Personal Log, Major Caden "Easy" Webb

Right, so we got our first combat mission as the reformed Hard Light Brigade. Our admin pulled up a little contract that, on the surface, seemed easy enough. Little "pirate band" making trouble down in St Ives. So we load up our Mechs and equipment, hijackcharter the nearest JumpShip, and off we go.

Approaching the planet, we're able to determine where our targets are bay the simple expedient of triangulating their comms chatter. These idiots are talking so much over wideband, I want to eliminate them just to make them SHUT THE **** UP. Seriously, how did these guys even manage to climb into their 'Mechs, it seems like we're hitting a training establishment here.

Anyway, so we know where they're hiding. Problem is, they're hiding smack in the middle of a goddamn city. So we have a little brainstorm. We could either land somewhere on the planet and wait for them to come out to meet us (Not bloody likely, given that Intel says they're a light to medium outfit), or we could pay them a visit. And by pay them a visit I mean landing our DropShip right outside the city limits, marching the HQ lance right up the main alley, and shoot them until they stop glowing.
For extra fun, we'll go in at night.

Personal Log, addendum.

Well, so that happened.

Nothing much to say about the walk up to the target; we went down a road while they were scrambling to counter us. Turns out, there isn't much that you can do when you have two AWS, a Hetzer and a Manticore coming up main street. I suppose that if they'd managed to concentrate their fire some more, or if they had been a little more lucky, it might have gone differently, but as it stands, I'm kinda glad that it was amateur hour.

Because this was one ****ed up sortie, let me tell you. Going in at night meant that we had to be extra careful walking down the streets (You'd think walking up a straight road would be trivial. It isn't. Stop asking.), and while we managed to approach to firing range more or less unscathed, post-battle examination showed that some of our opponents were apparently convinced that 'Mechs move by rubbing their faces vigorously on the tarmac.

As far as our combat performance went, I'm really impressed by the crews we have. Sgt Carver proved to be a veritable surgeon in the Hetzer, with a really impressive hit rate for weapons as notoriously unstable as AC/20s. The star of todays' performance, however, has got to be Master Seargeant Bullman. I thought I was pretty good at handling an AWS' weapons, but that guy is a ****ing artist with those PPCs. 13 kills this night alone, a well-earned promotion if there ever was one.

For myself, well, not too shabby if I dare say so myself. Would have been even better if a freak hit hadn't knocked me out cold for much of the action. Doc says there's no permanent damage, which I guess is good.

****ing shame about our tanks though. Seems that they're both irreparably damaged and only good for salvage. Gonna have to see about arranging some extra compensation for those crews, they really showed what disciplined crews can do.

Speaking of salvage, out of all this wreckage we managed to pull a slightly damaged Crab, which'll go a long way toward replacing those vehicles.

Well then. Let's see what our admin staff has managed to get for our next contract.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 20, 2013, 10:18:30 pm
What's the steps towards replacing the lost vehicles?  Is it randomized or do you get to select the remounts?  Would we be getting another Manitcore or possibly something like a Rommel, Patton or Po?

I'm willing to put up some of my cut of the payout towards the new vehicle.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: niffiwan on June 20, 2013, 11:06:58 pm
From my reading of the AtB rules, I think you get a random pool of mechs/vehicles to buy from each month.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 20, 2013, 11:34:16 pm
Quote
So there's a Crab under a tarp in the hanger.

You always hear about people managing to fall over and their 'Mech flops around on the ground until they break their neurohelmet cradle and it gets loose and snaps their neck. But you never expect to actually see it.

The Crab? We saw it. No really, we saw it. Fell over into a building, flopped around until their neurohelmet cradle broke and the weight of their neurohelmet snapped their neck.

Didn't really want to see it happen. Liked it as an urban myth. Kind of thing that keeps you up at night, like cockpit fires and reactor accidents.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on June 20, 2013, 11:34:46 pm
This is totally awesome; if you need another 'Mech pilot to bravely get himself killed, "Archmage" reporting for duty.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 21, 2013, 12:27:20 am
Quote
So there's a Crab under a tarp in the hanger.

You always hear about people managing to fall over and their 'Mech flops around on the ground until they break their neurohelmet cradle and it gets loose and snaps their neck. But you never expect to actually see it.

The Crab? We saw it. No really, we saw it. Fell over into a building, flopped around until their neurohelmet cradle broke and the weight of their neurohelmet snapped their neck.

Didn't really want to see it happen. Liked it as an urban myth. Kind of thing that keeps you up at night, like cockpit fires and reactor accidents.

Jimmie crickets you make it sound like its the cursed Crab.  Been kicking round the Successor States killing its own pilots since Kerensky left.  :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 21, 2013, 12:42:11 am
Frankly, considering how the pilot died, I think that qualifies it for a possible curse.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 21, 2013, 01:52:21 am
I think that'd qualify a lot of things for a lot of possible curses
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Aesaar on June 21, 2013, 01:54:57 am
It's only a confirmed curse if Sparda dies in it.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 21, 2013, 02:18:23 am
Now I feel so much better about acting as the scouting portion of the lance.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 22, 2013, 07:45:09 pm
Personal log, Master Sergeant Anders Bullman

Joining this unit has proven to be no mistake. First contract, first battle, 13 kills. Made a Master Sergeant for that, not to mention it was fun. The group is an odd bunch, but they're good at what they do. We had some loses, but the reward for the contract should cover everything, especially since it took less than 10 hours from our arrival in-system to our departure. The battle itself lasted about 20 minutes, but those were the longest 20 minutes of my life.

We were working for St. Ives against so called "pirates". I thought they'll be Liao-affiliated troops posing as pirates, but now I have doubts. Their mech selection was really odd, the Crab that we captured would suggest a DCMS-affiliated group, but the skill of the aforementioned Crab's pilot disproved that hypothesis. No DCMS pilot would kill herself trying to stand up like that. Granted, it was the middle of the night, I tripped too, happens to everyone. But she did that 7 times, eventually snapping her neurohelmet mount. That leaves a really shady merc unit doing odd jobs for both Liao and Kurita, or actual pirates with a stolen DCMS Crab.

Not that it matters now, since they're pretty much all dead, or prisoners for St. Ives. Ironically, while my PPCs gutted their mechs pretty throughly, the actual cause of death for the pilots was usually their own automatic ejection system. When a hit knocked down a mech, it usually launched the unfortunate pilot into a building. I need to have the techs disable that darn thing next time we go into the city like that. I'd rather claw my way out of a burning mech than be shot into a skyscrapper by the automatic system. Though I hope there won't be need for this, my Awesome might be a bit old, but it performed admirably on this sortie.

The fight was really fierce this night. The rest of the lance left our Awesomes behind and rushed into the city. Big mistake. Though our Hetzer aimed really well on this sortie, it was eventually crippled, much like our Manticore. Me and Easy carefully strolled down the street, caught up with the action, and promptly reduced the pirates to slag. It would have helped if Easy didn't get knocked out a few minutes after the shooting started, but I guess one can't have everything. Besides, by that time, the only enemies left were a couple of utility vehicles, some medicore lights and an Urbie. Kicking down and beating the latter to a pulp was surprisingly satisfying. Due to darkness and cramped conditions, aiming was hard and I dealt just as much, if not more, damage by throwing kicks and punches as by PPC fire. It helps that a stomping with an 80 ton Awesome is a rather effective at ruining a stomped mech pilot's day. Of course, that's not to say my target practice with those PPCs didn't pay off. The sight of two AWS-8Qs unleashing a total of 6 PPC shots at once is indeed a sight to behold, especially if there are hardly any other light sources present, as was the case tonight.

It was fortunate that we finished this contract so quickly. Those guys weren't even trying to hide, and thus we quickly found them and decided to drop straight on top of them, right after our arrival, in the dead of the night. The last part turned out not to be such a good idea. That night was very dark and very problematic to move in. Everyone, even I, fell over at least once. Vehicles routinely drove into buildings and disabled themselves. Weapon fire mostly made it worse by blinding everyone around, but both Awesomes made it through without too much damage. The same can't be said for anything pirate, except the Crab, of course. A mighty fine piece of salvage, but somehow, I'm happy I'm not the one to pilot it. They way it's pilot died makes me feel uneasy about it. I'm not usually superstitious, but better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to cutting-edge mechs of dubious origin. Though if I had to choose between this Crab and the Icarus (which we also encountered), I guess I'd chose the former. It's the first time I've seen an ICR outside of a museum. To think somebody's still using them these days. Mackie, I can understand, it's a cheap-ish assault mech, 100-tons aren't exactly easy to come by. But Icarus? Come on, this Vindicator we captured was heavier. And yet another odd choice was the converted Harvester Ant. A poor choice, too, since it's engine apparently stalled and it fell over, which caused the LRM ammo to explode. Jury-rigged missile boats risk shenanigans like that.

Anyway, here we are, getting some R&R aboard our ship. Bones patched up my wounds from the battle (which, by the way, Patriot had to point out to me. I guess I got a bit excited and forgotten about them) and I'm eagerly awaiting the next sortie. Since the tech finished fixing my mech (I watched them carefully whenever they laid their hands on it), there isn't much to do, so I'm reading up on some tactics literature. I'm looking forward to the next contract we get. Those pirates were amateurs, but we never know who we'll face next. Our employers were pretty impressed by our day-1 completion of the contract, so I hope they'll put a good word for us.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Mongoose on June 22, 2013, 11:01:10 pm
I threw this in a bit tongue-in-cheek earlier, but just why is it that nighttime combat goes so FUBAR in this setting?  Do the 'mechs not have the equivalent of IR displays?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 22, 2013, 11:50:09 pm
I threw this in a bit tongue-in-cheek earlier, but just why is it that nighttime combat goes so FUBAR in this setting?  Do the 'mechs not have the equivalent of IR displays?

They do actually, along with a magnetometric one, but in a city that's being actively inhabited when fighting breaks out neither of those is likely to be worth anything. The other point is that something with feet has more worries about traction than something on wheels or treads. The Awesomes couldn't run on pavement without worries about skidding, reducing them to a base movement of three anyways, which regardless of your night-vision options is going to go down in the dark.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 23, 2013, 01:53:39 am
Dr. Bones - Patient Logs

Lieutenant Aaron Yi

Minor cuts found around left arm, some stitching was required. Patient was responsive, no other signs of injuries.

Corporal Kevin Huffman

Some bruising on the right side of torso. No signs of broken ribs. Patient was released shortly after.

Corporal Zhong-xian Wang

Patient proved to be difficult during examination. Insisted on being "Fine" despite possible concussion due to hit on the head. Will keep patient under observation for the time being.

Corporal John Aherne

Minor bleeding from hand. No stitching required.

Corporal Cheng-gong Pak

First degree burns near right shoulder. Bandaged and released

Master Sergeant Anders Bullman

Patient was still feeling the effects of the adrenaline as he entered Medical. Laceration along his left torso required immediate attention. No sign of internal bleeding or broken ribs. Possible concussion due to head trauma, overnight observation required.

Major Caden Webb

Brought in barely able to walk, definite head trauma. Reactions were slow, responsiveness was lacking. Will have to check for brain damage. Minor lacerations were found haphazardly around the patient.

Addition - Patient moved due to pipe smoke causing unrest from neighbor. No permanent brain damage detected.

Corporal Nancy Ma

Unconscious upon arrival. The head had some bleeding, but the immediate concern was the piece of metal lodged in the patient's ankle. Upon removal, there was no apparent damage to the main artery despite the proximity.

Addition - Patient remains unconscious, but condition is stable.

Sergeant Dermott Carver

Second Degree burns were found around the patient's body along with fiber imbedded into some deeper cuts. Infection unlikely.


Personal Log - Dr. Bones

The sortie went rather well despite the injuries incurred. Some surprises from how heavily damaged those vehicles were in comparison to the crew. I'm amazed they even managed to crawl out of them in relatively one piece.

I heard some talk about a Crab and Icarus being among the Pirate's ranks. Not everyday you hear about an Icarus being around these days, so that should prove to an interesting spectacle.

A lot of celebration going around. Hopefully some of the cashflow will find its way into Medical. I could certainly use some more supplies after realizing I was short some painkillers. Luckily, the patient passed out before his screams were too unnerving for anyone passing by.




(I didn't really do this whole personal log thing before, and know very little about the lore of this Universe. Just let me know if I'm off base or to just "No")

Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: esarai on June 23, 2013, 02:33:40 am
Lulz that seems pretty spot on.  I want to post a log about annoyance at being left out of the action, but I don't even know my character's name yet. 

Scotty, any chance of seeing the full roster anytime soon?

EDIT:

CO Easy chillin' with the repair crew.

(http://i.imgur.com/Ia39beK.jpg?2)

Started as a test sketch and evolved.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 23, 2013, 02:44:50 am
12th Scout Lance
Corporal Dereje "Esarai" bin Hassan, 6/5, Wasp WSP-1A (Esarai)

(First page was updated)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: esarai on June 23, 2013, 03:38:55 am
Ooh thanks Scourge.  With that name... let's see, Dereje is African in origin, and the Hassan surname could be either Irish, Arabic or Jewish.  Since the bin is in there I take it that I'm african/arabic.  Only house I know of that has Arabic origins is Kurita, so yaaaay I'm Kuritan.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 23, 2013, 03:13:25 pm
I wonder what's in store for us next, some scouting perhaps :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: carbine7 on June 23, 2013, 05:14:59 pm
Personal Log, Corporal NAME REDACTED, BattleMech Technician
(since Scotty has somehow developed a blindness to my posts and missed me repeatedly :( )
Contract 1, Surface of Milos, St. Ives Compact

Despite our dramatic entry into the system, the 'Mechs at least came out of it relatively well (though I definitely wouldn't mention that in front of my non-bipedal focused grease monkeys). I've seen drops on top of enemy encampments go a lot worse than this, despite the loss of our vehicles. It was surprising to see the 'Manti go so quickly, but even more surprising was the performance of what the crew have taken to calling the Urban Renewal Box, one of our Hetzers. I'd hate to have been on the receiving end of that thing.

Boy did I sure pick the right company to sign up with though. When you hear about a new merc company recruiting, you never quite know what you're going to get. One AWS-8Q alone would've been a treat, two is just pure joy. Some techs like the lighter 'Mechs more because they're smaller and therefore easier to get around. These techs have no admiration for the true beauty that is the BattleMech.

Eighty tons of towering metal filled to the brim with enough energy to level a small city by itself; how can you not feel privileged to work in the presence of that? Sure, lighter 'Mechs serve their roles and do so well, but it is pure fact that they are cheap and expendable, despite what their pilots may insist. Awesomes and their counterparts are the lords of the battlefield, and loosing even just one is a keen loss. Thanks to Helm, new SLDF-design Assault frames are starting to show up, but none of the Houses can afford to produce them in large numbers yet, leaving them a rare enough breed.

Speaking of lighter 'Mechs, we pulled what I'd term as an...interesting haul for salvage. The two AWSs did a through job of torching pretty much everything, unfortunately including a vintage Icarus, and our employer pretty much took the rest, leaving us a Crab and a Vindicator impersonating a T-Rex. Mongoose has spent hours slinking around the inside of the Vindicator (I can see where the devil gets his nickname), but the thing wants to continue being armless for the time-being.

The Crab however...the Crab. I worked on that thing, had the unfortunate pleasure of helping open up the cockpit to extract the pilot and remove her control hookups. I've worked on 'Mechs a long time, seen the weird stuff that can happen around them, but this is different. The 'Mech itself only needed some patchwork here and there from its falls, that and a new neurohelmet, but something about it feels...wrong. Broken even, like something will never quite be right with it. Normally it'd be a pleasure to see such a rare piece of prime SLDF hardware still working, but I don't like being near the thing. Good luck to Werewolf, who's been dumb brave enough to volunteer himself as pilot. No one else even wanted it...


[I know a fair bit about BattleTech between Mech Warrior/Assault and the wiki, but feel free to point out if I screw up something.]
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 26, 2013, 09:45:42 am
Nothing wrong in that post.

Just wondering when the next installment is coming :D
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 26, 2013, 11:35:19 am
Not sure.  I've had tons and tons of **** to sort through in the last week or so, and it doesn't look to be letting up in the next few days.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 28, 2013, 07:55:58 pm
Or maybe it does!  It's the start of the month in-campaign, which means it's market time.  Hopefully I'll be able to replace my destroyed vehicles, and if not, pick up something cheap that I can sell for more later.  Sometimes you can get lucky like that, finding a 'Mech for 20% off.

Before all that, though, I have meaningless fluff to bombard you with!  In this specific instance, it's actually company specific fluff, because while my time lately hasn't lent itself well to actually playing the game, it has to other, slightly less complicated activities.  So, without further ado, I present you with the Hard Light Brigade Commendation List and Order of Preference.  This is totally awarded solely by me, and the game doesn't track it at all.  For ****s and giggles, essentially.  First off, the highest award available in the Hard Light Brigade: the Blue Light Award for Valor.

Awarded to personnel who display the heights of courage and skill in combat.  Only combat personnel are eligible for this award.  Blue Light Awards for Valor are solid blue flanked by gold bars.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/bth_BlueLightAwardforValor_zpsb5be22c3.png?t=1372464845)

Current recipients:
Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman

Yellow Light Award (for Valor) – Awarded to personnel who high distinguish themselves in the line of duty.  Combat personnel earn this award for extraordinary valor in the face of the enemy.  Yellow Light Awards earned in the face of the enemy are denoted by flanking silver bars.  Non-valor awards are solid yellow.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/YellowLightAwardforValor_zps4e160fe5.png?t=1372465363) (http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/bth_YellowLightAward_zps771056e7.png?t=1372464855)

Current recipients:
None

Red Light Award (for Valor) – Awarded to personnel who distinguish themselves in the line of duty.  Combat personnel earn this award for valor in the face of the enemy.  Red Light Awards earned in the face of the enemy are denoted by flanking gold bars.  Non-valor awards are solid red.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/RedLightAwardforValor_zps1a1c0eca.png?t=1372465372) (http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/RedLightAward_zpsf15d59ed.png?t=1372465367)

Current recipients (* indicates for valor):
*Sergeant Dermott “Iron” Carver
*Corporal Cheng-gong Pak
*Corporal Zhong-xian Wang

Combat Wound Ribbon – Awarded to combat personnel who suffer injury requiring medical attention as the direct result of enemy action.  Colors are silver flanked by double purple stripes, one thick and one thin.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/CombatWoundRibbon_zpsc9d73634.png?t=1372465415)

Current recipients:
Major Caden “Easy” Webb
Lieutenant Aaron “StarSlayer” Yi
Master Sergeant Anders “Rapier” Bullman
Sergeant Dermott “Iron” Carver
Corporal John Aherne
Corporal Kevin Huffman
Corporal Nancy Ma
Corporal Cheng-gong Pak
Corporal Zhong-xian Wang

Long Service Ribbon – Awarded to combat personnel who remain with the Hard Light Brigade for three years continuously, and to support personnel who remain continuously for six.  Colors are blue, green, and silver arrayed vertically.  Blue occupies the center, green the top and bottom, with silver dividing.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/LongServiceRibbon_zpsea8445b6.png?t=1372465398)

Current recipients:
None

Milos Campaign Ribbon – Awarded to combat personnel who engaged the enemy during the campaign on Milos, February 3049.  Color is solid green with blue flanking.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/MilosCampaignRibbon_zps58c6a4fd.png?t=1372465383)

Current recipients:
Major Caden “Easy” Webb
Lieutenant Aaron “StarSlayer” Yi
Master Sergeant Anders “Rapier” Bullman
Sergeant Dermott “Iron” Carver
Corporal John Aherne
Corporal Kevin Huffman
Corporal Nancy Ma
Corporal Cheng-gong Pak
Corporal Zhong-xian Wang

Original Member Ribbon – Awarded to combat and support personnel who were serving with the Hard Light Brigade on or prior to 1 January 3049.  Colors are red a red center block flanked by black.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/OriginalMemberRibbon_zps4045dc31.png?t=1372465376)

Current recipients:
Major Caden "Easy" Webb
Captain Bowen "Polly" Borham
Captain Stan "Strobe" Roberts
Lieutenant Aaron "StarSlayer" Yi
Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
Lieutenant Hsin "Deathfun" Bones
Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman
Master Sergeant Robert "Red" Kahiga
Master Sergeant Anthony "Mongoose" Sato
Sergeant Dermott "Iron" Carver
Sergeant Allan "Toothless" Moore
Sergeant Cliff "Dire" De
Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne
Corporal Nancy Ma
Corporal Kevin Huffman
Corporal Cheng-gong Pak
Corporal Zhong-xian Wang
Corporal Dereje "Esarai" bin Hassan
Corporal Ian "Patriot" Fatin
Corporal Richard "Night" Adeboro
Corporal Hanlon Turtle
Corporal Monica Nasuton
Corporal Mark "DJ" McMickan
Corporal Corey Lovegrove
Corporal Donna Lewis
Corporal Lage "Phantom" Duineveld
Corporal Ryan Subhi
Corporal Janne Kalto
Corporal Phil Brinklow
Corporal Bich Ngo
Corporal Xanthus "Fire Spawn" Kalergi
Corporal Waseem bin Usama
Private Juan Ressurreio

Legacy Ribbon - Awarded to dependents who join the Hard Light Brigade in any capacity after first spending a minimum of six months under the unit's care.  Colors are gold and silver alternating, with silver in the center.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/LegacyRibbon_zps9e67a1b9.png?t=1372465408)

Current recipients:
None

Hard Light Service Ribbon – Awarded for enlisting or attaining the rank of officer in the Hard Light Brigade.  Colors are orange, black, and red, arrayed vertically.  Black occupies half of the ribbon, centered, with orange and red flanking left and right, respectively.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/HardLightServiceRibbon_zps79f38ec9.png?t=1372465404)

Current recipients (* indicates multiple awards):
*Major Caden "Easy" Webb
*Captain Bowen "Polly" Borham
*Captain Stan "Strobe" Roberts
*Lieutenant Aaron "StarSlayer" Yi
*Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
*Lieutenant Hsin "Deathfun" Bones
Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman
Master Sergeant Robert "Red" Kahiga
Master Sergeant Anthony "Mongoose" Sato
Sergeant Dermott "Iron" Carver
Sergeant Allan "Toothless" Moore
Sergeant Cliff "Dire" De
Corporal Jean “Werewolf” Vidal
Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne
Corporal Nancy Ma
Corporal Kevin Huffman
Corporal Cheng-gong Pak
Corporal Zhong-xian Wang
Corporal Dereje "Esarai" bin Hassan
Corporal Ian "Patriot" Fatin
Corporal Richard "Night" Adeboro
Corporal Hanlon Turtle
Corporal Monica Nasuton
Corporal Mark "DJ" McMickan
Corporal Corey Lovegrove
Corporal Donna Lewis
Corporal Lage "Phantom" Duineveld
Corporal Ryan Subhi
Corporal Janne Kalto
Corporal Phil Brinklow
Corporal Bich Ngo
Corporal Xanthus "Fire Spawn" Kalergi
Corporal Waseem bin Usama
Private Juan Ressurreio
Private Beverly Luong

Long post is already long, so I'll let this post end with a shot of Dragon's ribbon rack:

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Awards%20and%20Ribbons/RapiersRibbons3049-03-01_zpsf285a899.png?t=1372467316)

Next post should see the Hard Light Brigade advance as far as the next contract!  Woo, progress.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 28, 2013, 09:49:38 pm
A gift for my fellow Milos campaign tankers:

(http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/1553/l0ia.jpg)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 28, 2013, 10:46:47 pm
Maybe I'll get the chance to shoot something \o/
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 28, 2013, 11:07:43 pm
Dem Ribbons
You could start a fire with all of them Dragon
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 29, 2013, 06:59:35 am
Yeah, I guess so, but when you think of it, I've only got one more ribbon than most of our Command Lance, and Spoonzer's crew got just as many (I did get the highest ranking one, though :) ). Anyway, I love the ribbons idea.
BTW, how do you plan to distinguish a ribbon that's been awarded twice? I suggest putting a star on it on a double award, two stars for triple, etc.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 29, 2013, 01:20:32 pm
BTW, how do you plan to distinguish a ribbon that's been awarded twice? I suggest putting a star on it on a double award, two stars for triple, etc.

Yeah, pretty much.  It's gonna be "fun" making stars that small to put on it, but I'll manage. :P

Those Combat Wound Ribbons are going to end up with a LOT of stars on them if that keeps up.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Hades on June 29, 2013, 01:27:32 pm
bunch of fat, larper nerds
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 29, 2013, 02:55:03 pm
Just had a little fun in blender this afternoon

(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/1b50/gnnheyaggbn3vve6g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/0a37/efy3rn5mm2hl2uu6g.jpg)(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/52bd/kbdt31qnrhhm6ra6g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/ab11/yc7vei1vrtt65my6g.jpg)(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/6b81/06ue684pdmugxjq6g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/2b95/9k8j9n88calea6y6g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/ee71/8w40z8245f7qpo56g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/274b/kz2q9j5j7a65zqj6g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/9921/yab8aihv6qahs5p6g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/edc6/f84vsw8ya2ge5316g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/50f0/os74przzs35z4616g.jpg)


could probably do with being rendered with either red, black or transparent backgrounds, If you want me to I can easily do that for you scotty, I can also render new ribbons if you want and I have a fun idea for a repeat pin :)

edit
Black bg and a little bigger
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 29, 2013, 03:08:59 pm
Just had a little fun in blender this afternoon

(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/53e1/wpx05b4787ln7jt4g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/a93e/bbcy047o5rnw0fh4g.jpg)(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/175d/orkksbnm3rk6rnd4g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/727f/e0nqzoi77g18dr64g.jpg)(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/e33c/xzm2kkr034u74h74g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/3709/k2qz2dwws560whe4g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/09a1/e1n4u8abms3ser34g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/b443/6hw4128868r99ba4g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/fa61/iyidi0rm145bhgi4g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/d59b/jvy2j557ndzjjif4g.jpg)
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/ffdf/d0nv0yijdkrmnoj4g.jpg)


could probably do with being rendered with either red, black or transparent backgrounds, If you want me to I can easily do that for you scotty, I can also render new ribbons if you want and I have a fun idea for a repeat pin :)

Headdie, you are awesome.  My idea for the brigade dress uniforms was black, with blue trim for MechWarriors, yellow/gold for vehicle crew, red for support personnel, and white/silver for officers.  With that in mind, black backgrounds would be perfect.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 29, 2013, 03:19:22 pm
Double post.

Alright!  Like I said last time, first of the month!  That means two things.  One, it's market time.  Two, I get to generate the possible contracts for next time.  Neither of those are guaranteed to actually happen even though this is technically the day to do it.

First off, market.  There are five different venues to purchase vehicles and 'Mechs.  They are, in order of difficulty, Open Market, Employer Market, Black Market, Mercenary Auction, and Factory Line.  Factory Line is actually totally unavailable to me at this point, and requires the unit to be a B-rated unit or higher before the option is even given.  For those of you who are curious, the unit as it stands right now (with some damage to that Vindicator still) is solidly in the middle of the D section.  Open Market and Employer Market are both roughly 40% chance of happening in a given month (I have to roll 8+ to get anything), and each pull from different assignment tables to figure out what I can buy.  The Black Market is harder to get into at a 10+, but generally has better quality equipment (Tech C versus Tech D and F for the other two).  On the other hand, if I roll poorly I can just flat out lose the 'Mech that I buy, so I don't really like it.  Finally, Mercenary Auctions are damn hard to get into (11+), but give good quality 'Mechs and vehicles and there are generally a damn lot of them to choose from.  All in all, the odds of getting anything other than Open and Employer markets are fairly difficult.

I don't technically have an employer yet, but I am still on Milos, so I'm just going to roll with it.  Rolling with it gets me two markets that actually have things to sell to me, Open and Employer (big surprise there).  Rolling for number of 'Mechs (1-3 and 1-2, respectively) gets me a maximum showing from both (wow).  Now I roll for what 'Mechs and vehicles they actually are.  There's not a way to distinguish between a 'Mech market and a vehicle market in the rules as they are, so I just flip a coin on each of them to figure it out.  Somewhat amusingly, all five of them end up being vehicles.  I'll probably be doing pretty good on vehicles and vehicle backups if this keeps up.  More rolling shows me that the vehicles available on the Open Market are two Heavies and a Medium, and the two available from my Employer are another Heavy and a Medium.  After that, I take it to the RATs, and then finally determine the price.

The results:
105% Bulldog – 1,185,240
100% LRM Carrier – 1,872,000
95% Brutus (LRM) – 3,772,213
120% Vedette – 870,900
100% Prowler – 1,935,083

Welp, I think we found our Manticore replacement.  That Brutus looks mighty good to me.  Lighter armor, and slower, but damn does it hurt.  This particular model comes standard with two LRM-20s, so that solves our missile shortage quite handily all on its lonesome.  It's also on sale for cheap, which is a good thing because ammo is going to be a *****.  The other thing I'm almost interested in is the Prowler, but it's the Succession Wars variant and not as good as the old Star League version that would really kick ass.  However, that Brutus is pretty damn expensive, and I do want to have enough money to get to where we're going next, so I'll take the Brutus and leave the rest.

With the new Brutus parked in the hangar, I quickly staff it with the crew of the Manticore.  Since this tank is roughly 15 tons heavier, it also requires a larger crew, so I take one of the Hetzer crewmen to take the wheel.  I'd have picked Sergeant Carver, but I suspect he'd be happier with a vehicle command of his own.  This is the part where vehicles having large crews is actually helpful, as the previous Manticore crew ended up as a 3/6, but with the influx of a 4/5 driver, I can take that 3/6 who was being wasted at the wheel and keep the Brutus at a 3 Gunnery and drop it to a 5 Piloting.  Everybody wins!

Next up, contracts!  Generating contracts that aren't at the start of the company is a bit different, in that I might not get one, or I might get three.  The definite number of contracts to start is what sets it apart.

Three.  Great.  Lots of rolling.  I'll skip all of the nitty gritty this time and just show you the end results.  Last contract wasn't a great representative of what each field means, but I'll give you guys reading a chance to put in your two cents before I pick a contract, though I'll be offering my own thoughts in this post as well.

Contract One:
Employer: Draconis Combine
   Skill/Rating: Veteran/C
Contract Type: Planetary Assault
Enemy: Free Rasalhague Republic
   Skill/Rating: Veteran/D
Length: 9 months
Payment: 12,960,000
Command: Independent
Salvage: 50%
Support: Straight/Full
Transport: Full
   Jumps: 28/None

Contract Two:
Employer: Draconis Combine
   Skill/Rating: Green/A
Contract Type: Extraction Raid
Enemy: Federated Commonwealth (Steiner)
   Skill/Rating: Regular/C
Length: 3 months
Payment: 4,608,000
Command: Liaison
Salvage: 20%
Support: Straight/80%
Transport: 50%
   Jumps/Cost: 14/

Contract Three:
Employer: Federated Commonwealth
   Skill/Rating: Veteran/D
Contract Type: Objective Raid
Enemy: Capellan Confederation
   Skill/Rating: Regular/C
Length: 3 months
Payment: 4,608,000
Command: Liaison
Salvage: 20%
Support: Straight/80%
Transport: 20%
   Jumps: 11/

First thoughts: HOLY ****!  Somebody in the DC thinks we're the ****, apparently.  Maybe whoever gave the “pirates” that Crab.  Whatever the reason, we just got offered a contract into the FRR on a planetary assault, with independent command rights, against a Veteran enemy, with Veteran allies going in with us.  50% Salvage is pretty good, too, especially considering who we're talking about.  Planetary assaults pay good as you can see there, but they happen to be pretty long term, and it's easy to get beat up going hard for nine months.  On the other hand, doing that means everybody gets payed boukous bucks and gets to shoot all the things.  Transport is also free, because I rolled a 14 on that clause after bonuses.  Plus, 11 weeks gives me plenty of time to recruit a few more people and get that Vindicator back up and running and then some.  With that much time, I could reasonably expect to convert two or three of our stinkers to better variants (looking at you, Locust) with weeks to spare.

Neither of the other two contracts are much to write home about, aside from our Green/A allies on that other DC contract, and the general trend of everybody throwing Veterans at everybody right now, which is weird for BT in general but absurd for this point in time.  Green/A means I rolled a 3 for skill and a 12 for rating, so that unit could very well be a company/battalion of all noble's kids having fun for a few months, I dunno.  Both other contracts have good command rights (though not as good as the big one), but really ****ty transport rights considering that they're not, you know, 100.  Honestly, the only bonuses these have over the assault is that they have easier enemies to kill.  That goes both ways, though, because when I shoot down someone in game, I have the chance to capture them and either demand ransom, or they can defect and add pilots to the rolls who are really good.

I'm leaning hard toward the planetary assault (also because it puts us in the FRR through early 3050), but please, discuss.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 29, 2013, 03:29:42 pm
Since the planetary assault will end you up in the FRR in early 3050, pays well, has free transport and excellent salvage rights, and gives you veteran allies with Independent command rights, go for it.  I don't see a reason to pick the other two.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Goober5000 on June 29, 2013, 03:36:41 pm
bunch of fat, larper nerds

That's a personal attack.  You've been warned.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: IronBeer on June 29, 2013, 03:43:04 pm
I'm inclined to say go for the Planetary Assault. It looks like it'll be pretty high-stakes, but it should also be even owing to Veteran allies and our pair of Awesomes.

Not to mention all the other perks that Sparda already pointed out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Droid803 on June 29, 2013, 04:35:47 pm
Contract One ofc.
I mean, all those perks.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: FireSpawn on June 29, 2013, 04:36:50 pm
Just as long as you lad's bring those 'Mechs and rigs back in..."Mostly" one piece, I say rock hard for the PA.  Oh and Bullman? I took the liberty of putting a little...."War paint" onto your AWS.

(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTg3WDEwMjQ=/$%28KGrHqFHJFIE92ITLz10BPm0Ly%29Lrg~~60_1.JPG?set_id=8800005007)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 29, 2013, 04:50:12 pm
"Artillery lends dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl."
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 29, 2013, 04:54:18 pm
Oh and Bullman? I took the liberty of putting a little...."War paint" onto your AWS.
Nice, I like it. :yes: The'll soon learn to fear my mech (if any of "them" survives to tell the tale, that is :)).
As for the contract, well, I'd say let's go with the PA. That sounds really fun. I never really cared much for the FRR, and it seems like good enough of a shot. There's no way this could go wrong.
EDIT: That's what you get for skimming over the contract details... Mixed over two places on the opposite sides of the IS. :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 29, 2013, 07:02:19 pm
Since the planetary assault will end you up in the FRR in early 3050.

Since the planetary assault will end you up in the FRR in early 3050.

FRR in early 3050.

I foresee no possible way this could go wrong!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 29, 2013, 07:19:09 pm
I have a strong feeling that I'm going to be getting a lot people heading into my morgue and/or facility on that PA
Although what's with the FRR in early 3050 being something that can't go wrong?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 29, 2013, 07:55:43 pm
I would be happy to go contract 1, between the transport and salvage rights and the fact our allied forces will be relatively well equipped so should be able to absorb a few more blows before going down (thus giving the FRR something else to shoot at other than us) says to me that it should be the go contract
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Dragon on June 29, 2013, 08:02:23 pm
I have a strong feeling that I'm going to be getting a lot people heading into my morgue and/or facility on that PA
Although what's with the FRR in early 3050 being something that can't go wrong?
Nothing about the FRR itself, but... (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Invasion_corridor_-_Clan_Ghost_Bear)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 29, 2013, 08:30:05 pm
Although what's with the FRR in early 3050 being something that can't go wrong?

Mad Cats. Mad Cats everywhere.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 29, 2013, 08:42:15 pm
This is the part of the show where I ask everybody if they have any personal preferences for their rides' configurations.  If you are in a ****ty 'Mech, and want to be in a better version of that ****ty 'Mech, let me know now, before we get really underway for our 14 week journey.  At this piont, it should be obvious that we're taking the Planetary Assault contract.  A little bit more background on that:

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/NewContract_zpsdbfb6945.png)

Planet/System: Thule
Location: "North" Inner Sphere, Free Rasalhague Republic
Defenders: 1st Hussars
Allies: 14th Legion of Vega
Timeframe: mid-June 3049 to mid-March 3050.
Geography and climate: Varied.  Ranges from vast deserts to expansive ice caps.

We'll be taking some DC transports on the way there, without spending a penny beyond maintenance and salaries.  We'll make planetfall June 7, 3049 and immediately commence operations in support of the 14th Legion of Vega as they attempt to take the planet.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 29, 2013, 08:51:54 pm
Updated ribbons to have a black bg and make them double the size of the old ones, scaling them down wont be a problem if desired (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=84788.msg1696779#msg1696779)
Title: Re: Warbook Posting
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 29, 2013, 09:20:04 pm
(my kingdom for an LCT-1E conversion kit)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 29, 2013, 09:30:11 pm
The order for the kit is in.  None of the Techs for it are better than Regular, so it'll likely take a couple weeks but... well, weeks are what we have around here.

Anybody else who wants a conversion kit started (and a few I'll be starting regardless) should be in by tonight so I see it before I advance a dozen weeks and suddenly don't have time for it.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 29, 2013, 09:32:39 pm
ohh and btw here are a few repeat pins

(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/d8f2/ida7ajfsqjxicwa4g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/view/ida7ajfsqjxicwa/BronzePin.png)   (http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/4895/l38so6vyncd5w514g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/view/l38so6vyncd5w51/SilverPin.png)   (http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/ad4c/ho3jlx2im3sorb74g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/view/ho3jlx2im3sorb7/GoldPin.png)

edit
revised pin images.  The mediafire downloads have the transparent backgrounds, for some reason the share system converts to jpg with no alpha.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 29, 2013, 09:49:19 pm
Very nice.  Something very minor: could I get those with transparent backgrounds and about half-size?  They'd fit together perfectly like that.

Conversion kits ordered so far:
Locust LCT-1V -> LCT-1E
Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 -> PXH-1D
Shadow Hawk SHD-2H -> SHD-2K
Grasshopper GHR-5H -> GHR-5N
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: StarSlayer on June 29, 2013, 10:13:36 pm
Everybody send their messages out now, HLP network seems a might twitchy out by that way...
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 29, 2013, 10:24:35 pm
A little bit of explanation, because I'm am not going to be screenshotting every few days of transit time when the transit time is almost a hundred days.  Conversion kits take at minimum a certain a mount of time equal to the time it would take to strip the parts that no longer belong on the 'mech and put on a new on in its place.  Then, after that amount of time, the tech team rolls to see if the conversion was completed on time.  For a regular tech, at this point in the timeline, the average roll for this is an 11+.  If they roll an 11 or 12, the conversion is finished, then and there.  If not, the conversion is extended an amount related to the margin of failure on the roll.  For example:

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/ConversionRoll_zpsdfeb95c7.png)

This one is going to take a bit longer.  That's not a problem, because we've got a looooong time before we're needed anywhere.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Mongoose on June 29, 2013, 10:44:26 pm
*hauls out the toolbox of wrenches and elbow grease*
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: carbine7 on June 29, 2013, 11:22:58 pm
Although what's with the FRR in early 3050 being something that can't go wrong?

Mad Cats. Mad Cats everywhere.

Bah, only 3 entire Clusters worth, essentially an entire Galaxy, not an issue....
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 29, 2013, 11:40:16 pm
Mad Cats. Mad Cats everywhere.

From what I know about those, that would imply the statements I've been reading were sarcastic "Nothing can go wrong here"
If it's otherwise, I'm still slightly confused

Unless they're your allies who are riding those... which is counter to what I read a moment ago with The Clans being the ones who possess them, not Draconis, the employer...
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 29, 2013, 11:52:36 pm
The "Nothing can go wrong"s in this thread have been absolutely sarcastic.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: carbine7 on June 30, 2013, 12:12:22 am
Just picture fleets of JumpShips each loaded up with 2-4 DropShips a piece each carrying several lances of highly advanced Clan OmniMechs. Thule receives nearly a full third of Clan Ghost Bear's full force.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on June 30, 2013, 12:13:30 am
Tank tank tank got a new tank gonna tank

Absolutely OK with going to FRR and putting the hurt on everything. Gonna train on LRM launcher, gonna blast some missiles in some jerks.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 30, 2013, 12:52:31 am
The "Nothing can go wrong"s in this thread have been absolutely sarcastic.

I hate choo :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 12:54:41 am
3049-03-05

Targeted recruitment: One Green Mechanic, one Veteran MechTech (finally)!  niffiwan gets his slot, because I forgot all about him until I had to hunt down the ranks again and saw his request).  The other guy doesn't get a cool callsign because nobody wants to be mechanics.

In repair news, our techs managed to get the Vindicators torso back together in some semblance of fixed, so now it's just missing the arm and some armor.  I could, technically, take it into the field right now if I had a pilot.

3049-03-12

Recruits: A 4/6 2-man vehicle crew seeks employment.  I have vehicle crewmen to spare right now, so I pass on the team.

There seems to be a bug with replacing the armor on this Vindicator.  It keeps saying that Mongoose is attempting to repair but continually running out of time, even though it's only 275 minutes.  I'll circumvent the problem by, as soon as the 'Mech is finished aside from that, GM-mode-ing it to fixed and adding it to the hangar.  After that, I won't have any projects aside from conversions to do.

The very next day, the Locust kit finished, leaving the Shadow Hawk conversion the only one still under active work in the repair bay.

And then I discovered the cause of the bug!  Somehow, and I have no real idea how I did this, I managed to get Mongoose working on both the armor replacement and the Locust conversion kit at the same time.  This division of labor made both take significantly longer than expected, but it's fixed now and I won't have to finagle my way around it.

3049-03-15

Finally fixed the right arm on that Vindicator after it took no less than fifteen attempts to put the arm back on.  Sergeant Gary “Niffiwan” Reyes gets credit for the repair.  I'm thinking this might be one of those instances worth a Red Light Award.  What do you guys think?

With that, the entire Vindicator gets fixed that very same day.  The Shadow Hawk conversion kit finishes the day after.  Now everybody gets to sit on their asses until we get to Thule.  It's going to be a long several months in transit.

3049-03-19

Recruits: 4/6 dispossessed MechWarrior.  Welcome aboard!

3049-03-26

Recruits: 4/6 dispossesed five person vehicle crew.  Still got some vehicle crew unused as is, gonna skip on these ones, too.  If they were better than 4/6, they'd have a chance.

3049-04-01

Market time!  Except not really.  Thanks to my rolls, there's not a single thing for sale right now.  Oh well.  Tomorrow hopefully we'll get a decent recruit.  I could really use an admin right now.

3049-04-02

Recruits: 5/6 Aerospace pilot?  I... what?  I didn't even think there was support for aero stuff.  Huh.  Shows me.  He actually comes with his own craft, too!  When somebody shows up with their own vehicle, I have to pay half price in order to bring them on board, so it can be risky, but with a Light fighter it shouldn't bee too bad.  He brings a Sparrowhawk SPR-H5 to the table, and I gotta say I want it.

It's getting late, and I have stuff to do tomorrow morning, so I'll leave off with this for now.  The Hard Light Brigade now has some rudimentary organic aerospace assets, though, so I look forward to making house rules to actually use them!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Grizzly on June 30, 2013, 02:23:26 am
I have a strong feeling that I'm going to be getting a lot people heading into my morgue and/or facility on that PA
Although what's with the FRR in early 3050 being something that can't go wrong?

Play Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries FFS :P

Also, I'd like to sign up for this as well, as Joshua Holstein (recruit, has no callsign yet). I'd prefer a mech (obviously :P), although I have absolutely no problems with any other combat role.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Mongoose on June 30, 2013, 03:08:24 am
Personal log, addendum:

Our illustrious captain managed to assign me to both the Vindicator patch job and the Locust conversion at the same time, and then had the audacity to wonder why the former wasn't completed on-schedule.  I proceeded to ask him if he was capable of pissing in two urinals at once without dribbling any on the floor, and he got the idea.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: headdie on June 30, 2013, 05:38:50 am
updated repeat pins :D (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=84788.msg1696829#msg1696829)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 30, 2013, 01:57:53 pm
Well..

You could customize our Wasps with something a little less explosive in them, say, add a medium laser? :D

Wouldn't want us scouts to get blown up thanks to an ammo hit now would we?
Oh and yes, this involves doing a custom job instead of picking a refit kit.

I have now customized a fair few mechs in my own campaign, gonna see if i can net myself a contract to fight against the clans, September 49 hurrhurr.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 02:04:26 pm
3049-04-09

Recruits: A 4/7 dispossessed MechWarrior seeks employment.  With a piloting score like that, hell no.  I'm not in desperate need of a pilot to man the Vindicator anymore, so this guy can take a hike.  Maybe if I had an Urbanmech laying around?

3049-04-16

Recruits: A 4/6 Vehicle crew with a Hetzer seeks employment.  The Urban Renewal Box!  I'm short on cash, but if there's one thing that's awesome about Hetzers, it's that they are dirt cheap.  As in, I'd pay less than 350,000 to bring these guys on board, vehicle included.  At that point, I'd still have nearly 750,000 to get us where we're going, and that'll last a long way.  That does mean I won't be able to bring on any new crew that bring their own vehicles anyway, but I didn't even expect to get this lucky.  Welcome aboard!

Along with that comes some changes to the organization of the company in order to make it work.  In the intervening time I've filled the first lance up with 'Mechs, so these vehicles necessitate a change in the company.  I've switched people around some and made it fit by turning the 11th into a Heavy pure 'Mech lance, and the 13th into an augmented lance ala the Capellan Confederation with four vehicles and two 'Mechs, all medium weight save for the Brutus leading the formation.  Because it's six units instead of four, it's considered a Heavy lance, so they'll be facing some opposition when they get into the field, but with a Brutus, Vedette, two Hetzers, a Shadow Hawk, and a Vindicator, there's some solid firepower and armor in there, even if it's not very quick.

Here's how the roster looks right now:

11th Heavy Combat Lance "Daybreakers"
   Major Caden "Easy" Webb, 3/5, Awesome AWS-8Q (The_E)
   Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs, 3/4, Grasshopper GHR-5H
   Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman, 4/5, Awesome AWS-8Q (Dragon)
   Corporal Jean "Werewolf" Vidal, 4/6, Crab CRB-20 (Spardason21)

12th Light Scout Lance
   Captain Bowen "Polly" Borham, 2/5, Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Polpolion)
   Corporal Dereje "Esarai" bin Hassan, 6/5, Wasp WSP-1A (Esarai)
   Corporal Ian "Patriot" Fatin, 5/6, Wasp WSP-1A (Patriot)
   Corporal Richard "Night" Adeboro, 5/5, Locust LCT-1V (NGTM-1R)

13th Heavy Combat Lance
   Lieutenant Aaron "StarSlayer" Yi, 3/6, Brutus Gunner/Commander (StarSlayer)
      Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne, 3/6, Brutus Gunner (Scourge of Ages)
      Corporal Nancy Ma, 3/6, Brutus Gunner
      Corporal Kevin Huffman, 3/6, Brutus Gunner
      Corporal Cheng-gong Pak, 4/5, Brutus Driver
   Sergeant Allan "Toothless" Moore, 4/5, Vedette Commander/Gunner (Aesaar)
      Corporal Hanlon Turtle, 4/5, Vedette Gunner
      Corporal Monica Nasuton, 4/5, Vedette Gunner
      Corporal Mark "DJ" McMickan, 4/5, Vedette Driver (CommanderDJ)
   Sergeant Cliff "Dire" De, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner/Commander (DireWolf)
      Corporal Corey Lovegrove, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner
      Corporal Donna Lewis, 4/6, Hetzer Driver
   Corporal Esmail Osmani, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner/Commander
      Private Farraj bin Abu Bakr, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner
      Private Christian Pescaru, 4/6, Hetzer Driver
   Corporal Lage "Phantom" Duineveld, 6/5, Shadow Hawk SHD-2H (PhantomHoover)
   Corporal Alan "Mongo" Fisting, 4/6, Vindicator VND-1R (dsockwell)

2nd Aerospace Wing
Lieutenant Chris "Tophat" Valsan, 5/6, Sparrowhawk SPR-H5 (HerraTohtori)

Unassigned
Sergeant Dermott "Iron" Carver, 4/6 (IronBeer)
Corporal Zhong-xian Wang, 4/5

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/3049-02%20Post%20Hard%20Dawn/CompanyArrangement3049-04-16_zpsa6aff801.png)

Naturally, this means I need somebody to be the vehicle commander for the second Hetzer.  Any volunteers?  Unfortunately, I'm not able to put IronBeer into it right now.  The Hetzer came with a crew, so I can't just kick them out and say "thanks for the ride, now take a hike".

3049-04-23

Recruits: a Jump Rifle Infantry platoon seeks employment.  Jump platoons are worth a lot in the non-combat portion of this ruleset.  To sum up, briefly, there are five different tasks that infantry can accomplish, depending on their skill and type.  By the letter of the rules, infantry can:

Patrol – add a civilian unit on my side.  Green if foot platoon, regular if motorized, and veteran if jump.  I can only get one per battle, and only one per week per platoon, meaning I have a maximum of three infantry platoons that can be deployed in this capacity.  Civilian vehicles, as you've seen, aren't exactly the best things ever, and I don't get any bonuses for keeping them alive through the battle, so essentially these are fodder units that I can use to distract the enemy until they die.  I don't use them much.

Field Drop – Can deploy in any mission where I'm attacking, including big battles and special events that aren't duels.  Due to the generally ineffective nature of infantry on the field, I don't use this much, either.  This is restricted to jump infantry, so I could actually use these infantry for this purpose.

Defense – Can deploy in any mission where I'm defending, including big battles and special events that aren't duels.  This one is significantly more useful, especially when I'm doing something like a base defense mission that I cannot lose.  Any platoon can be this, so this is where the platoon will likely end up if I don't house rule something.

Rescue – The single most useful infantry type in these rules, Rescue infantry is able to rescue a single MechWarrior who would have otherwise died in combat that week.  They come back with five hits and lose a random point of gunnery or piloting.  It's well worth it to keep MechWarriors on the roles.  According to the rules, these guys can only be motorized infantry, but I'm going to houserule it a little bit by allowing any kind of infantry.  In my houserule, foot infantry can rescue a single MechWarrior as mentioned above, motorized infantry can rescue a single MechWarrior or any dead from a single vehicle crew at the same penalty, and finally jump infantry can rescue either up to two MechWarriors or vehicle crews with the above penalties, or up to one MechWarrior or vehicle crew with no penalties (but still five hits).  All of that would still be per week, not per battle, so the number of people I'm still capable of losing is a fairly high number if everything goes sideways.  I'll also impose the limit of three platoons on Rescue duty, and only one can be active per battle.

Scout – The second most useful infantry type, Scouts change the type of battle to either the one above it or the one below it on the battles table.  This can be very useful, because it gives very good chances of getting Base Attacks, and removes the possibility of having to do a Base Defense unless I manage to roll that one twice or more in a single week, which isn't very likely.  Platoons have to have scout training, which is fairly hard to get a platoon with without training them myself.

There's also a training status that I can put infantry in where it costs 100,000 and several weeks to retrain them to a different weapon or a different motive type.  I can't do both at once.  Changing weapons is 1d6 weeks, and changing motive types is 2d6.

So that's infantry!  Now I'll be needing an Infantry officer to command the new detachment.  If there's more than one person who wants it, I'll fill out the squad and team leaders.  There are 21 guys in this platoon, so I highly doubt that I'll run out of people..

...Or not, my brother volunteered for infantry officer, so that's that.  Anyway, only one more week in April, so I'll get that done before I finish this post.

3049-04-30

Recruits: Green Admin!  Wooooo!  Not having more Admins has been really hurting the support side of things, most notably contract generation and recruitment.  The recruitment gets a -2 to everything determining quality and vehicles if I don't have an HR admin, and even a Green one lessens the penalty significantly.  This one is going to be an HR admin, so please welcome her to the staff.  If anybody wants to play her, be my guest and volunteer.

That's it for the month.  I'll open the next post with the market for the next month, if there is any, and we'll navigate our merry way through May.

Well..

You could customize our Wasps with something a little less explosive in them, say, add a medium laser? :D

Wouldn't want us scouts to get blown up thanks to an ammo hit now would we?
Oh and yes, this involves doing a custom job instead of picking a refit kit.

I have now customized a fair few mechs in my own campaign, gonna see if i can net myself a contract to fight against the clans, September 49 hurrhurr.

We'll see about that.  I'll see how much it would cost and how much time it would take, and decide from there.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Patriot on June 30, 2013, 02:13:46 pm
Basically it would be the same process of a refit kit, except it takes a little longer(i think because the refit kit is easier to install or something)

But at least you can change the tech level to standard so you can mount Double Heat Sinks, Pulse Lasers, ER PPCs and whatever is available in 3049.
Currently upgrading my Banshee with a vast amount of weaponry, courtesy of an XL Engine(oh and lets not forget the extra armor i strapped on too)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 30, 2013, 03:41:32 pm
We're D-rated mercs in 3049.  We have zero access to Star League tech unless we pull it from the charred wreckage of our enemies.  Which means we've got to get our asses to Thule, kick FRR butt to loot everything that's remotely salvagable, then run like frak away from Clan Ghost Bear when they show up next year.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 30, 2013, 03:47:41 pm
It's unlikely, but possible, we'll actually be in the Clan Wolf corridor or near enough the two of them will fight over it.

(wtb chance to kill Vlad and totally screw up the timeline)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 04:09:07 pm
There are a few different ways this could go.  The contract we're heading to is on Thule, in the Free Rasalhague Republic.  We're being sponsored by a Veteran Combine force, so I'm calling them the 14th Legion of Vega based in one of the nearby systems.  The Clan Invasion visits Thule in the very beginning of March, 3050.  Our contract is up on March 7, 3050.  We'll have roughly a week of OH **** time to fight the Clans before the contract is up.

However, when the contract is up, that's when things could get really hairy.  Built into this ruleset is the previously-unknown emergency clause (I seriously had no idea about this until I really went digging) where, if the employer is in a state of war at the conclusion of the contract, they can invoke this clause.  There is a one in six chance (2 on 1d6) that the contract is changed immediately to Relief Duty and extended for another month, and a one in six chance (1 on 1d6) that the contract is changed immediately to Relief Duty and extended for again the length of the contract.  Both options involve a 20% bonus to the pay of the previous contract, and is recalculated based on my forces at the start of the emergency contract, not the original.  That said, there is a very real chance that we could be engaging the Clans for nine whole months in a series of fighting retreats from Thule to Wolcott, with no R&R period in between aside from single weeks in transit between battlefields.

On the refit side of things, I can outfit my Wasps with a trio of medium lasers, and the refit will take at least five days, which all things considered isn't too bad.  My techs have nothing better to do, and we're still over a month out, so why not?  Beginning the refits.  That said, when I started, the target numbers were 17+ for the majority of the Techs I could use.  This could take a while.  Still, nothing but time!

I'll have the next month up in an hour or so.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Grizzly on June 30, 2013, 04:25:52 pm
I'd like to volunteer for the urban renewal box, as Esmail "Scorpion" Oshmani.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 04:42:19 pm
Joshua: Noted!  I'll add you to the first post.

In other news:

3049-05-01

Time for the market.  Rolls show that I get one prospective vehicle from both Open and Employer markets.  Odds are I won't be buying anything, though, because dwindling funds make me want to keep a little bit in the bank, just in case, and for things like repairs.  In any case, the two vehicles are:

95% Bulldog Heavy Tank – 1,072,360
105% SRM Carrier – 2,029,440

Yeah, no to both.  I don't have enough money to buy either without going into debt, and going into debt is bad news.  No vehicles for this month.

3049-05-07

Recruits: Foot Laser platoon seeks employment.  I tend to like to keep my infantry to similar weapons, if not motive systems, and another 28 warm bodies would put a strain on my monthly overhead the likes of which I don't like.  That jump platoon we hired last month already increased the size of the company by almost 50% by its lonesome, and another one would start to really strain Dr. Deathfun's ability to treat them all if anybody gets shot.  Passing for now, though if I had more cash in the bank, or another doctor, I'd take them and put them on Rescue or Defense duty, after retraining them to auto-rifles (or retraining my jump infantry to lasers, whichever I liked better).

3049-05-11

Customization news: Both Wasps have been successfully converted to what has been dubbed the WSP-1M variant sporting three medium lasers and instead of a medium laser and SRM-2 launcher, with no other changes.  That brings our total converted 'Mech count to six.  Not bad at all for a D-rated mercenary company in 3049, even if none of it is more advanced than the generic standard for the last couple hundred years.

3049-05-14

Recruits: Green Mechanic.  Welcome aboard!  Any kinds of techs are always desirable, regardless of the unit's current status, financial or repair.  Everybody give a warm welcome to Private Clarissa Curry, newly inducted to the company.

3049-05-21

Recruits: 6/6 dispossessed MechWarrior seeks employment.  Once again, no.  It's kind of frustrating and kind of awesome at the same time to be able to afford to be picky about this kind of thing.

3049-05-28

Recruits: Regular Aero Tech.  Woo!  Needed one of these after picking up Tophat and his Sparrowhawk, so this is good news.  Welcome aboard, Master Sergeant Steven Kaynetli.  EDIT: Major promotion due to being the only Aero Tech in the company right now, and therefore the leader of his own entire section.

That ends the relevant portions of May.  Next post will be the first week of June and then the first week of our contract.  Planetfall is less than two weeks away.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Hobbie on June 30, 2013, 05:11:06 pm
If no one's in the Aerospace pilot slot I'd like to take it. If someone else has claimed him, well, I'll wait for the next Aerospace guy to show up. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: deathfun on June 30, 2013, 05:17:17 pm
Quote
ability to treat them all if anybody gets shot

Ahhh that's alright. I'll make a personal Mech out of their bones
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 30, 2013, 05:18:40 pm
Well, the question is, how does the ASF interact with the table? Because if they've done that automated that's kind of awesome.

Though I don't fancy a Sparrowhawk's chances against most OmniFighters, being able to bomb anything too offensive could really help us.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 05:30:23 pm
Herra's the aerospace guy for right now, since I only have one of them.  I actually am going to have to come up with what ASFs do in this campaign by myself, since they're apparently available to purchase/hire, but the campaign rules don't actually support them anywhere?  I dunno.

Potential rules I could add:

Similar to infantry, ASFs are assigned to one of several specializations/roles.  Such roles would be stuff like:

Escort - transportation costs would be reduced in the event of a non-100% Transport clause by providing ASF escort for dropships and jumpships. 

High/Low Altitude scouting/surveillance - fewer enemies due to spotting for allied indirect or ASF support.  High altitude would reduce one random enemy lance by the lightest unit, while Low altitude would reduce one enemy lance of my choosing by the lightest unit or one unit of my choosing from a random enemy lance, but result in damage to the friendly ASF on a 1d6 roll of 1 or 2.

Overwatch - Grants higher chance to catch an enemy dropship on the ground during a base attack, and allows the chance of altering the victory conditions one unit in either direction, either allowing me to claim victory earlier, or grab more salvage by pressing my advantage for another unit before they scatter out of range.

Strike - ASF deploys on the field during a mission where I'm attacking, and remains on the field for one strike or strafe.  I know this is technically possible in MegaMek, but I have no idea how to do it, so I'd be making it up as I go along, in all probability.  For a Sparrowhawk, this is a bad idea, but I could get more ASF eventually.

Another possibility is adding the concept of Aerospace battles to the rules as battle types.  Once I get a few more, I could conceivably deploy them as flights and engage other enemy aerospace forces in orbit.  I'm blazing new trails here.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Hobbie on June 30, 2013, 06:36:31 pm
Actually, what program are you using to play this? I wanna have a go and see how badly I can stuff up a merc company. :D
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 30, 2013, 06:37:37 pm
MegaMek and...whatever.

Actually the hardest part is finding the AtB rules.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 06:40:29 pm
Whoops, I thought I'd linked the rules, too!  My mistake.

You can find the link to download the most recent set of the rules (and the map seeds) here (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,23390.msg521754.html#msg521754).  I'll add it to the first post, where I know that the links to the programs I'm using to run it are both in the text, MegaMek (for the tactical portions of the game) and MekHQ (for everything else).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Polpolion on June 30, 2013, 06:48:43 pm
FYI you need to be a member of that forum and logged in to see the attachment. Took me a while to figure that out.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 06:54:21 pm
Really?  The things I take for granted.  Tell ya guys what, I'll upload it as an attachment on the first post so you guys don't have to do that.

EDIT: to avoid double post.  These are the provisional rules I'm using for Aerospace Fighters until I get some feedback both from the game and here about what works or doesn't work or is too powerful.

Escort - Reduces transport costs by the committed fighter(s)' BV divided by 100, in percent.  For example, I picked up a Sparrowhawk pilot, with a BV of 548.  In the Escort role, I would be saving 5.48% of transport costs (after transport clause considerations) on the way there.  If the bill was 300,000, the escorting Sparrowhawk would save me 16,440 c-bills, enough to pay my unit salaries for a full month or more.  More escort fighters would reduce it still further, though it would take 10,000 BV worth of fighters to 100% reduce transport costs to zero.  ALTERNATE: reduces costs by tonnage divided by 5, rather than BV divided by 100.  In that instance, the savings would be 18,000 c-bills.

High/Low Altitude Surveillance - Reduces the number of enemy combatants by spotting for allied indirect or ASF assets.  High altitude removes the lightest unit from a random lance or star, while low altitude removes either the lightest unit from a lance or star of my choice, or a unit of my choice from a random lance or star.  On a low altitude surveillance mission, an ASF has the potential to receive damage.  On a result of 1 or 2 on 1d6, the fighter returns with superficial armor damage (2) or internal damage (1).  On a result of 1, the ASF is shot down on result of 1 or 2 on a second 1d6 roll.  Additionally, when enemy civilian units are present in the battlespace, instead of removing a combat unit, surveilling fighters may designate a number of those civilian units to be destroyed before the beginning of the mission.  Light ASFs may designate up to two civilian vehicles, Medium ASFs up to three, and Heavy ASFs up to four.  The player may elect to not designate any units before a battle, for no penalty.

Strike Mission - Available whenever the player is the attacker, including Base Attack missions.  Strike missions deploy the ASF on the ground mapsheet to carry out strike or strafe missions until the player decides to have it exit the battlespace.  A fighter need not conduct a strike or strafe attack in order to leave the field.

Overwatch - Grants a higher chance of capturing enemy dropships whenever they appear on the field, improving to a result of dropship captured on any dropship destroyed/disabled in the battlespace, not limited to those destroyed/disabled by infantry.  Overwatch ASFs also allow the player to alter the victory conditions one unit in either direction, either by allowing the player to claim victory after one fewer enemy unit has been destroyed (does not reduce the number of civilian vehicles that must be destroyed if they are present), or to press the advantage and destroy one additional enemy unit before the rest scatter.

For any of the above missions an ASF/wing could undertake, all would have to be declared at the beginning of the week along with lance assignments, and may not be changed mid-week.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 09:35:39 pm
Double post

3049-06-01

Market time!  I'm running pretty short on cash, so I highly doubt anything is going to end up coming out of this, but I roll it up anyway.  Nope, nothing doing.  No results, so nothing to spend my little money left on.

Moving on.

3049-06-04

Recruits: 4/6 dispossessed Vehicle crew.  Pass again.

That gets us to June 7 and planetfall.  Fortunately, no battles on the first week (in fact, -4 of them, helpfully enough).  On a Planetary Assault contract, there is roughly a one-in-three chance of having at least one standard battle in a given week, the same as a Pirate Hunt.  At the same time, there is a one-in-fifteen chance of having a special event battle, so just slightly more than a one-in-three chance of having at least one battle in a given week, with a small but definite chance of having up to three battles per week.

3049-06-11

Enemy morale: Normal

June 11 rolls around, and everybody is assigned to their correct lances.  Our infantry platoon is on standby for search and rescue, while our ASF pilot is scanning the planet at high altitude looking for enemy troop movements. 

Quote from: Situation
Intelligence tells us our enemy this contract is the FRR 1st Hussars.  They're “officially” rated as a regular unit, but they're fanatically committed to Thule, so don't be surprised if they fight like madmen and significantly better than they're rated.  The Hussars boast a full regiment, at least, augmented by several regiments of local militia that is nearly as good thanks to frequent and intensive training operations.  The Hussars are no strangers to raids by our employers.  As much as possible, we're trying to avoid the bulk of the Hussars on planet, and instead leave that to our much better equipped sponsors.

Speaking of which, our allies, the 14th Legion of Vega, made planetfall at nearly the same time as us, and are the reason we didn't have any opposition making life difficult as we disembarked.  From what I heard, the 14th is tangled up skirmishing with the 1st Hussar presence on planet and not doing well.  The Hussars know this place better than the backs of their hands, and they're very good at using the terrain against their enemies.

Quote from: Mission
That is, the Legion was why we were unopposed.  Tophat commed in about twenty minutes ago with reports that we have a Hussar company in the way of our current objective.

For our part, we've landed on Husavik, the northernmost of Thule's continents, and by far the coldest.  There isn't much out here, but what there is happens to be pretty valuable, research stations and the like.  Our current objective is a research station very near the north pole, some unpronounceable nordic sounding name.  Here it is: “Norr Forskning”.  Whatever the hell that means.  We're going in to eliminate the defenders and then secure the area before moving on.

There are two standard battles this week: one Stand-Up Fight, and one Hold the Line, both of them with us as the attacker.  The Stand-Up Fight is exactly what it sounds like, a brawl until one side or the other backs off.  That happens at 50% losses for either side.  The 13th will probably be tackling that fight, since the six units gives me a bit of a buffer if any of the vehicles go down.  Remember that I don't get allied units for this.  While that means I'm not going to lose points for them going down, it means I don't get the extra firepower, either.  Hold the Line fights are a bit... less fair.  The attacker in a HtL fight has to destroy 50% of the enemy, while the defender only has to take out a third.  That said, the enemy is generally less painful on a HtL mission than they otherwise would be.  The 11th Daybreakers are going to be the hammer to smash that particular line, simply because I don't want to risk the more fragile vehicles with a margin for error so small.

In this instance, the HtL is on Friday, and the SU is on Saturday.  Because I'm concerned about the 13th's performance (they're unproven, and a majority are green), I'll be sending the 12th in to reinforce.

Quote from: Execution
Tophat, our eye in the sky, has discovered a set of hastily erected fortifications and defensive positions directly in our path to our objective.  Obviously, we don't want to fight against dug-in opposition.  Unfortunately, we don't exactly have a choice.  The Daybreakers are going in first, as the unit's most experienced attackers, and will knock the defenders out of their positions.  The Hussar units are a mix of vehicles and 'Mechs, and a mix of weights, though they average out at a medium.  The Daybreakers will first maneuver to outflank the established positions, and as soon as the enemy repositions to intercept the lance, will strike, catching the Hussars out of position and on an even playing field, which should favor the heavy firepower and armor of the Daybreakers over the relatively vulnerable Hussar vehicles and 'Mechs.

Once the Hussar 'Mechs and vehicles are in retreat, the 13th Heavy Combat Lance will advance, relieving the Daybreakers from direct combat to rotate back for repairs before they push back out again.  The 13th will make every effort to engage and destroy the Hussar elements before they can set up further defensive positions, aiming to keep the enemy off balance.  For this purpose, the 12th Light Scout Lance will engage in harassment operations to keep the Hussars from digging in until the 13th is upon them, at which point the 12th will engage in direct reinforcement of the 13th until the objective is accomplished.

Using this rapid, aggressive method of attack, the brigade should be able to push the Hussars away from Norr Forskning and enable us to secure our initial objective in a little more than a week – several days ahead of schedule.

Quote from: Support
Tophat will be providing aerial surveillance and spotting for allied artillery and aerospace assets.  Combine forces haven't yet secured total aerospace superiority, so their efforts won't be the most effective, but they should soften them up a little bit before the battle is fully engaged.

Repair and reloading will be accomplished by our integral tech teams at the end of the engagements.  Salvage and recovery ops by the same.  In the event of pilots downed, 3rd Jump will be scrambled to perform SAROPS.

Allied 'Mech and conventional forces will not, say again not be in the area.  We're on our own for this one.

Tophat is indeed performing high altitude surveillance for this week, so I'll be removing the lightest unit from the SU mission, meaning that, while the 13th will still have to take out four enemy units to claim victory, there will only be seven units on the field, instead of eight.  3rd Jump is on SAR jump-five status, and will be ready to rescue any downed 'Mech pilots and vehicle crew before things get too hairy out there.  For this week, the brigade will be deploying every single available asset for either direct combat or support ops, so this will either go very smoothly, or could end very badly.

Quote from: Signal
For this operation, codename LIGHT HAMMER, command and control will be handled by Captain Roberts, callsign “Strobe”.  Overall technical operations will be handled by Master Sergeant Kahiga, callsign “Red”.  Field command will be delegated to Major Webb, callsign “Easy” for sub-op HAYMAKER, and to Lieutenant Yi, callsign “StarSlayer” for sub-op BRAWL.  Captain Borham, callsign “Polly” will reinforce sub-op BRAWL and provide his lance to Lieutenant Yi's command for the duration of the sub-op.

In the event of the incapacitation of Major Webb, Lieutenant Gibbs, callsign “Duck” will assume field command for sub-op HAYMAKER.  In the event of the incapacitation of Lieutenant Yi, Captain Borham will immediately assume command and complete the objective.

Call for salvage and recovery will be “Sunglare”.  Call for withdrawal will be “Mirror”.  Call for enemy retreating will be “Burnout”.
 

HtL:
3/3 Bulldog Medium Tank
2/3 Bulldog Medium Tank
4/5 Bulldog Medium Tank
4/4 Vedette Medium Tank

2/5 Cicada CDA-2A
4/3 Locust LCT-3V
4/4 Mongoose MON-67
3/5 Hermes HER-1B

Terrain
Dustbowl
Dusk/Dawn
Light Fog
Start W
Enemy start CTR
35x35 map

SU:
2/3 Prowler Multi-Terrain Vehicle
Vedette Medium Tank (Destroyed by allied aero assets)
3/5 Scorpion SCP-1N
3/5 Scorpion SCP-1N

3/3 Hermes III HER-4K
2/4Trebuchet TBT-5N
2/4 Vulcan VL-2T
4/4 Urbanmech UM-R60

Terrain
some-trees
Daylight
Clear
Start W
Enemy start E
30x50 map

I now have a couple battles to go over!  Additionally, I rolled a special event, Betrayal, but luckily the roll came up as false alarm.  I still get a point for it, so good times. 

EDIT: I've added the maps I'm going to be using for this fight, and the enemy forces I'll be fighting to a .zip and attached it.  Just for ****s and giggles.

EDIT II:  Here's the Orbat again, for those who want to know before the OP starts.

Hard Light Brigade

1st Mixed Company
   
   11th Combat Lance "Daybreakers"
      Major Caden "Easy" Webb, 3/5, Awesome AWS-8Q (The_E)
         Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs, 3/4, Grasshopper GHR-5N
         Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman, 4/5, Awesome AWS-8Q (Dragon)
         Corporal Jean "Werewolf" Vidal, 4/6, Crab CRB-20 (Spardason21)

   12th Scout Lance
      Captain Bowen "Polly" Borham, 2/5, Phoenix Hawk PXH-1D (Polpolion)
         Corporal Dereje "Esarai" bin Hassan, 6/5, Wasp WSP-1M (Esarai)
         Corporal Ian "Patriot" Fatin, 5/6, Wasp WSP-1M (Patriot)
         Corporal Richard "Night" Adeboro, 5/5, Locust LCT-1E (NGTM-1R)

   13th Combat Lance
      Lieutenant Aaron "StarSlayer" Yi, 3/6, Brutus Gunner/Commander (StarSlayer)
            Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne, 3/6, Brutus Gunner (Scourge of Ages)
            Corporal Nancy Ma, 3/6, Brutus Gunner
            Corporal Kevin Huffman, 3/6, Brutus Gunner
            Corporal Cheng-gong Pak, 4/5, Brutus Driver
         Sergeant Allan "Toothless" Moore, 4/5, Vedette Commander/Gunner (Aesaar)
            Corporal Hanlon Turtle, 4/5, Vedette Gunner
            Corporal Monica Nasuton, 4/5, Vedette Gunner
            Corporal Mark "DJ" McMickan, 4/5, Vedette Driver (CommanderDJ)
         Sergeant Cliff "Dire" De, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner/Commander (DireWolf)
            Corporal Corey Lovegrove, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner
            Corporal Donna Lewis, 4/6, Hetzer Driver
         Corporal Esmail "Scorpion" Osmani, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner/Commander (-Joshua-)
            Private Farraj bin Abu Bakr, 4/6, Hetzer Gunner
            Private Christian Pescaru, 4/6, Hetzer Driver
         Corporal Lage "Phantom" Duineveld, 6/5, Shadow Hawk SHD-2H (PhantomHoover)
         Corporal Alan "Mongo" Fisting, 4/6, Vindicator VND-1R (dsockwell)

   2nd Aerospace Wing
      Lieutenant Chris "Tophat" Valsan, 5/6, Sparrowhawk SPR-H5 (HerraTohtori)

   3rd Jump Infantry Company
      Lieutenant Rostislav "Soos" Kalakay, 1, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Cornelia-Antonia Parent, 3, Jump Infantry
               Private Loren Manstein, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Kamilia Gramm, 5, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Anne-Sophie Qosja, 3, Jump Infantry
               Private James Noussen, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Xiao-yan Nao, 5, Jump Infantry
         Master Sergeant Askari Adel, 2, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Maximo Martinez, 3, Jump Infantry
               Private Phillipe Provost, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Tom Ramirez, 6, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Iwan Snel, 4, Jump Infantry
               Private Bommareddy Tyagri, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Samantha Takeuchi, 5, Jump Infantry
         Senior Sergeant Iman Alatas, 2, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Scott Tann, 3, Jump Infantry
               Private Ajaz Stanisic, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Simi Armstrong, 5, Jump Infantry
            Corporal Anne Ryan, 4, Jump Infantry
               Private Ed Williams, 4, Jump Infantry
               Recruit Carla Duret, 5, Jump Infantry

[attachment deleted by ninja]
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 30, 2013, 09:49:30 pm
Scorps and Trenchbucket could be trouble. Hard hitters with some range.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: SpardaSon21 on June 30, 2013, 10:23:08 pm
As long as Duck and I can screen the lights away from the Awesomes, we can break through their defensive lines.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Hobbie on June 30, 2013, 10:42:47 pm
I want that Trebuchet. Sign me up for a Mechwarrior spot if we have the space just so I can drive that thing if we get it (at least until we get a Cataphract or a Clan Loki). :D

Yeah, I've made up my mind. That lucky Aerospace jock can keep his wings. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on June 30, 2013, 11:40:41 pm
Orbat added to OPORD post for a quick refresher on who's doing what.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scourge of Ages on July 01, 2013, 02:11:15 am
Corporal John "Scourge" Aherne, planet Thule. Pre-op log, operation LIGHT HAMMER sub-op BRAWL

Here we go... got a new contract, spent a few months jumping around, and we're finally lined up and ready to go. Our objective is a research station called Norr Forskning, I think it's Old-Earth Norwegian for "cold as heck", cause dang it's cold up here.

I've spent much of our transit time practicing in the garage's vehicle simulator, training on the LRMs. They don't have the same kick as my ol' PPC, but should prove pretty effective anyway. I've done all I can, the rest of the tank crews are ready and raring to go, and StarSlayer is actually the guy in command of sub-op BRAWL, and our own 13th Combat Lance.

Not too much to say, the 13th is going to relieve the 11th after they hit the FRR guys first, and the 12th will be with us too. It's gonna be a looooooong bloody fight, but hopefully we won't get shot up too badly this time.

EDIT: Oh yeah! We got a company of grunts along this time. Jump troops, all set to haul our bones out of our smoldering wreck of a tank, if it should come to that. Or I guess they could rescue a mechwarrior too.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 01, 2013, 02:53:55 am
Shouldn't I have a -1E Locust now? (Among other requested changes. -5N Grasshopper, -1M Wasps, -1D Phoenix Hawk etc.)

Quote
Going in with the vehicles this time. The Vedette is worth its weight in used toilet paper. Hetzers gonna hetz. SHD and VND to back them up, and a Brutus. Heard good things about the Brutus in my days with the AFFC. Hoping they're for real, we could sorely use the kind of firepower people talked about. Even the SHD doesn't give me a huge amount of confidence, but the VND will be welcome. Maybe we put the 'Mechs out front and the Hetzers get to combat range, good things happen.

Hearing things about SCPs in the opposing force and maybe a TBT. Lot of firepower there. Wish one of the AWS had come with us.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech!
Post by: Scotty on July 01, 2013, 03:08:56 am
You are entirely correct, I have not yet adjusted models and variants.  Your Locust is a -1E, both Wasps are done, as are the Phoenix Hawk, Grasshopper, and Shadow Hawk.  Basically everything I even hinted at converting has been converted for quite some time.  I'll fix that sometime tomorrow when I get around to the post.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 01, 2013, 07:09:35 am
Quote
Corporal Ian Fatin, Callsign Patriot. Personal Log.

Looks like my yammering on about not having seen action in our last contract is biting me in the ass.
But at least our boss was kind enough to put my request for modification of our Wasps through to the techs, and both mine and Dereje's Mech have been converted from being an explosion hazard to having 3 Lasers, more firepower, less risk of getting blown up outright by a lucky shot to the torso.

Seems like the whole Lance has seen their mechs get refits to keep us from being blown to smithereens by our own ammo cooking off in the bins. Wonder if the boss deemed my note foreboding enough to do this or had lessening our ammo dependency as his first priority. Whatever the reason i'm grateful for having a little more firepower along with not needing ammo anymore. Besides, the 2-pack SRM launcher wasn't much to speak of anyway, and highly inaccurate to boot.

So, to get back at why my whining about not seeing action bit me in the ass.
Our lance is supporting the 13th Combat Lance in Op Light Hammer, our sub-op being Brawl. We are to harass the enemy FRR mechs and vehicles so they can't set up fortified positions until the 13th come in and take them off our hands for a proper curbstomping, luckily our new AeroSpace jock took out a Vedette Medium Tank, that coulda been a pain in the ass. According to him there's plenty of mechs to worry about though, 2 Scorpions and a Trebuchet. Well.. here's to a first sortie and a more or less whole mech to return with.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: esarai on July 01, 2013, 11:36:22 am
Personnel File:

Name:              Dejere bin Hassan
Callsign:           ‘Esarai’
Age:                  29
Training:           MechWarrior certification from Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy, 4 months DCMS service.
Homeworld:      New Samarkand, Draconis Combine

Appearance and Personality:

    bin Hassan is of mixed asiatic/arabic descent, possessing the black hair, oval face, small nose and sharp eyes of the Japanese, the heavy eyebrows and deep-set eye sockets and light-tan skin typical of Egyptian origins, though at this point this is hard to trace.  His sharp jawline and somewhat raised ears give him an air of severity that grossly misrepresents his personality.  He stands 5’ 7” tall, and is relatively thin, weighing in at only 143 lbs/64.86 kg.  While he won’t be winning a grappling brawl any time soon, he has advanced proficiency in both aikido and judo, making him an effective hand-to-hand fighter.

    SZMA records cite Hassan for numerous discipline violations and 'traitorous inclinations', yet during his service with the Hard Light Brigade he has proven himself steadfast and loyal.  He can be rambunctious and flippant, but there is an inherent respect for his comrades ingrained in his behavior.  When asked about his 'traitorous inclinations,' Hassan responded that his CO at SZMA was an idiot, the HLB command staff aren't.

Biography:
   
    As far as can be discerned from Combine records, bin Hassan comes from an inconspicuous background.  His family contains no individuals of note. All living relatives are primarily engaged in commodities trading and have amassed a significant fortune.  He was born on June 21st, 3021 and spent the majority of his life on New Samarkand.  He successfully graduated from SZMA in the 75th percentile and enlisted in the DCMS.  For reasons unknown, ISF and O5P units were ordered to apprehend him, followed by a dishonorable discharge.  He fled to Outreach, filed for employment in various companies via a freelance HR agent, and enlisted in the Hard Light Brigade.
 
    The HR agent he filed through thought ‘Esarai’ must've been some japanese word; it is actually an acronym: ‘S.R.I.’  Despite this inaccuracy, bin Hassan has neglected to change it, preferring the faux-japanese to the original.  It stands for ‘Squirrely Raging Idiot,’ a nickname he acquired during his tenure at SZMA for repeatedly irritating his company commander and disobeying orders.  The nickname solidified during his 3rd year final combat examination, when he used a semi-truck loaded with coffee and the contents of a gardening center as improvised weapons.  Analysis of the battle showed that had he obeyed his withdrawal order, his team would have suffered a decisive defeat, but his antics delayed the enemy advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive and secure victory.  Had the operation been live-fire, his Wasp would never have functioned again.  Thankfully, it was not, but his unorthodox piloting inflicted so much structural damage it took the techs 9 weeks to fully repair.  Despite his strategic insight, his CO remained irate with him well past his graduation in 3048.  It is possible his tangle with the ISF and O5P is a result of this.

Additional Notes:

Hassan is permanently banned from entering any cooking facilities under the control of the HLB. - Caden 'Easy' Webb
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Dragon on July 01, 2013, 02:26:34 pm
Personal log, Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman

So we've got our next contract, a big job for DCMS against the FRR. I'm looking forward to this. The Daybreakers are going to break through the enemy line to assault some forsaken station in the planet's polar region. Recon shows a bunch of medium tanks and light mechs. Shouldn't be a problem, but better be careful. An Awesome would be easily outmaneuvered by a light mech in close combat, but I hope we'll be able to at least leg them before it gets to that. We're not fighting in the city nor in the night this time, so there's hope we'll be able to engage at long range. Hopefully, we'll be done with this fairly quickly. Our smallest mech is a 50 ton Crab and we have two Awesomes, so we should walk over them, but surprises happen.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 01, 2013, 03:02:16 pm
Alright.  'Mech variants updated in the most recent Orbat (not on the first post, will get to that in a bit).  I've checked/unchecked a whole bunch of optional rules and stuff in MegaMek.  I'll describe a few of the most important here, in case something happens that would otherwise be a wtf moment.

TacOps Battlefield Wreckage - destroyed units are treated as rough terrain instead of clear.  Rough terrain makes it more difficult to move through the hex and forces a piloting skill roll.
(Unofficial) Extreme Temperature Survival - infantry that are exposed to extreme temperatures don't die instantly, but there's a short window to recover them.  Seeing as this continent on Thule is pretty ****ing cold, this is a necessary option.  The temperature for the next two missions hovers somewhere between -40 and -50.
Through-Armor Criticals will "Float" - instead of being inflicted solely on torsos, if a TAC is rolled, the location is also rerolled.  This makes it possible to knock out components in arms, legs, or even the head without breaching the armor.
TacOps Firing While Prone - prone 'Mechs may fire even if one arm has been destroyed, but at additional penalties.

TacOps Glancing Blows - this is a very significant optional rule.  Any hit that gets the target number *exactly* deals half damage for direct fire weapons, while missiles suffer penalties to cluster tables and critical hits are more difficult.
TacOps Direct Blows - also very significant.  Any hit that exceeds the target number 3 or more deals one extra damage per 3 it exceeded the target by.  Missiles get a +2 bonus per 3 margin of success, and critical hits get a +1 bonus per 3 MoS.

Those two right there tend not to really cancel each other out, and in general, make the game a bit more tactical because suddenly keeping the TN high isn't a hit-or-miss kind of thing: even on an almost guaranteed shot, keeping it as high as possible can save you some damage, and it can turn what normally wouldn't be a killshot into one if you get lucky, or are good enough to dish it out.  Overall, Glancing Blows happen more often than Direct Blows, so expect to see the game last a little bit longer.  Compared to the first battle, however, games should be relative skirmishes.

TacOps BA Critical Hits - this is going to be very important when the Clans arrive.  When a BA trooper takes a hit, a second hit location is rolled.  If the same trooper comes up, he takes a critical hit and is killed.  I honestly don't know if "killed" means six hits and dead, or just critically wounded enough to be out fo the fight.  I'm pretty sure it means I'd be able to snag some Elementals as salvage, assuming I get lucky enough.

TacOps Standing Still - units that don't move in a turn are easier to hit.  When a unit is fully immobile by engine damage or unconscious crew, that bonus is replaced with the standard immobile to hit bonus.
TacOps Leaping - 'Mechs are able to move down more than two levels in a single hex, at the chance of falling over and taking damage.
TacOps Backward Movement (Expanded) - 'Mechs and vehicles can reverse along elevation changes, with a PSR.  This is probably abusing the bot tendencies a little bit because it loves to fall over, but it's handy enough that I try to not take advantage of the bot more than I actually use it when I need to.
TacOps Hull Down - 'Mechs and vehicles can go hull down for additional cover.  Additionally, 'Mechs can rise from prone to hull down with a PSR that does *not* cause damage if the roll fails, and there is no roll to move from Hull Down to standing.  I essentially use it as a slower, less damaging attempt to stand up if the pilot in the 'Mech is really terrible.  Vehicles absolutely like it, though.
TacOps Falling (Expanded) - a 'Mech that falls can instead choose to go Hull Down rather than taking damage.  This might actually make the bot survive night city fights, but I'm not sure if it's intelligent enough to use this feature.
TacOps Careful Stand - a 'Mech can attempt to stand using all of its movement at a -2 PSR mod (making it much easier).  I typically use this is if the 'Mech needs to be moving quickly, but pilot safety is still more important.  This is a very helpful option to have, even if Hull Down and Expanded Falling makes it a little redundant.
(Unofficial) Vehicles Can Be Abandoned - exactly what it says.  If I'm close to losing a tank, I can abandon it to preserve the unit.  I should have used this on both the Hetzer and the Manticore on the city fight, but I was under a bit of a misimpression that I'd be able to salvage them afterward.  Oops.
(Unofficial) Ejected Pilots Flee - Pilots and crew from downed or ejected units flee the scene immediately.  This makes that Extreme Temperature Survival rule from earlier a little redundant, but the bot has that pathological hate of pilots and infantry, so this is for every pilot's safety.

That should be most of them.  I've also turned on the simultaneous firing/physical phases, so I don't have to wait for the enemy to pick his targets before I pick mine.  I lose a little bit of immediate tactical knowledge, but gain immensely increased speed of play, which after last time's debacle, I have decided is important.

Last little bit of housekeeping before I start up the fights:

The temperature for sub-op HAYMAKER is -45 C, while the temperature for sub-op BRAWL is a comparatively balmy -38 C.  Infantry are going to be hard pressed to survive (so they won't be present), and for every 10 C or fraction thereof below -30, 'Mechs sink an additional one heat and vehicles suffer a -1 reduction to cruising speed.  In short, 'Mechs are going to be running cooler than usual (which is excellent for the 11th) and vehicles are going to be going slower than usual (also excellent for the 11th, less excellent for the 13th).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: SpardaSon21 on July 01, 2013, 03:09:43 pm
Personal log, Corporal Jean "Werewolf" Vidal

We're going to be assaulting a research station in the middle of a polar ice cap where temperatures are expected to be -45 Celsius during the attack.  I'll never understand these FRR guys.  Good news is my Mech will run a lot cooler in that weather, and the bad news is I'll probably freeze to death in less than a minute if I need to eject, so I'm staying in my cockpit in case of catastrophic engine failure where my end will be quicker and a lot less painful.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 01, 2013, 03:13:02 pm
Oh god Scotty, what have you done.

Glancing and Direct Blows is gonna bite us in the ass, because this is a HLP Let's Play, IT SHALL

Disregarding my initial blabbering, YAY DIRECT HITS :D.
Oddly enough not using this myself, cause my crack warriors could seriously wreck some mechs much quicker with that option on :/
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 01, 2013, 03:23:45 pm
Glancing and Direct Blows is essentially the equivalent of Damage Roulette in XCOM.  So, I forsee lots and lots of glancing hits, and very very few direct blows.  We'll find out!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 01, 2013, 03:28:19 pm
And for that reason, i say it's gonna bite us in the ass, as demonstrated by Night's XCOM LP currently running :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on July 01, 2013, 04:01:21 pm
In the queue:
IronBeer - Aerospace pilot "Wormwood"
Hobbie - MechWarrior "Hobbie" (conditional, Trebuchet)
that_guy_melvin - MechWarrior "Melvin"
Aw, I'm not in the queue?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 01, 2013, 04:15:21 pm
Whoops, I missed your application in the thread somewhere.  Refresh my memory?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on July 01, 2013, 04:19:07 pm
Whoops, I missed your application in the thread somewhere.  Refresh my memory?
Ah, no worries; I expect to die horribly anyway.

This is totally awesome; if you need another 'Mech pilot to bravely get himself killed, "Archmage" reporting for duty.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 01, 2013, 04:30:19 pm
Added to the list of queued up callsigns for pilots.

Write-up of Operation: LIGHT HAMMER, sub-op HAYMAKER should be done before tonight.  Just as an fyi, I've also downloaded a set of camo/unit patterns for use in this campaign so I can fight things that are slightly less generic than red-for-enemy.  The Hussars helpfully have their own camo included in the pack, so you'll get a good look at the nifty parade scheme.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 01, 2013, 05:53:47 pm
Just an FYI, i'm in September 49 with my campaign and just found Thule on the map, noticed a nice little odd color in that area.

Guess what, we get the bastards that get curbstomped in just over 8 years! Clan Smoke Jaguar gonna nuke us all!(it's their invasion corridor..)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Hobbie on July 01, 2013, 06:12:03 pm
Yep, we're gonna be on Thule until the 7th of March. The Clans arrive on the 1st of March. Stick your head between your legs and kiss your booty goodbye.

In other news I want that Trebuchet. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Dragon on July 01, 2013, 07:04:28 pm
Just an FYI, i'm in September 49 with my campaign and just found Thule on the map, noticed a nice little odd color in that area.

Guess what, we get the bastards that get curbstomped in just over 8 years! Clan Smoke Jaguar gonna nuke us all!(it's their invasion corridor..)
Nope, Thule is in the Clan Ghost Bear invasion corridor. We're gonna get the entire 3rd Bear Strikers cluster on our heads. :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: deathfun on July 01, 2013, 07:12:42 pm
Pssh
-50 C
I eat that for breakfast. Literally, I ate it after breakfast as I walked to school 1.4km from my house in a few feet of snow when I lived in the Prairies


Personal Log - Dr. Bones

I'll be expecting the worst on this one. Temperatures this low can certainly wreck havoc even if someone is only exposed for a brief moment, and with the blood pressure inherently going to be elevated... let's hope I don't have anyone coming in here missing a leg with hypothermia.

I've informed the pilots that in the event of a hull breach, it's recommended to do their best in order to seal it. Cold air freely circulating into the confined space may at first be a welcome thought, but with the cooling vest, you could find yourself falling to the elements.

On top of that, I've informed the respective commanders to ensure that the pilots wear their environmental suits. While it may hinder their abilities to an extent, if they need to eject it may keep them alive long enough for them to be recovered



(Had to do some reading, but it is under my impression that both of these [cooling vest and light enviro suit] exist according to the MWO forum about Battletech facts)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 01, 2013, 07:48:24 pm
(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/001Pre-game_zps5cb515d4.png?t=1372725572)

Quote from: Major Webb
Strobe, this is Easy.  Hussar unit spotted moving north, break.  Two lances, mixed vehicles and 'Mechs, break, approximately 40 kilometers south of objective alpha.  Vehicles slowed by temperature, break, 'Mechs unaffected.  Time is now 1641 lima.  We are moving to engage, over.
Quote from: Captain Roberts
Easy, Strobe.  Roger that.  Cleared to engage.  Good hunting.
Quote from: Major Webb
Strobe, Easy.  Prep sunglare.  There should be plenty for them to do by the time we're done.  Out.

Contact.  Hussar units have fled their defensive positions to avoid getting outflanked, and run straight into the 11th Daybreakers.  The temperature has slowed the Hussar heavy vehicles considerably, which means that this contingent is unable to evade the heavier, nominally slower 'Mechs and the Daybreakers force an engagement.  Daybreakers attack from the west, targeting the quicker and unaffected by temperature light 'Mechs, and waiting to pick off the vehicles at their leisure.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/002HussarDeployment_zpsb5ef0774.png?t=1372725580)

The Hussars realize their predicament almost immediately.  The moment they realize they can't escape without being picked apart from the rear, they turn to engage.  The Bulldog in the back is either suffering from a minor breakdown or didn't get the message over the company net, it still has its soft rear armor to the advancing assault 'Mechs.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/003HardLightDeployment_zps1ae3464c.png?t=1372725593)

That's a fairly impressive oversight, considering that the Hard Light 'Mechs are already in range of the tank.  Technically, Easy and Rapier could both have opened up with full fusillades by now, and I can only assume they haven't in order to hold fire for a more devastating opening barrage.  Whatever the reason, that Bulldog is in for a world of hurt the moment they line up a better solution.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/004DeploymentMinimap_zps325044ac.png?t=1372725601)

Here's the whole picture on a handily enlarged minimap to get a look at where the forces started relative to each other.  Range is already at 390 meters and closing for the lead Awesome, piloted by Master Sergeant Bullman.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/005ShotsFired_zps24393f32.png?t=1372725607)

Lieutenant Gibbs and Corporal Vidal advance along the flanks and begin sparring with the two fast-movers that have started for the lance.  Easy and Rapier both target the Bulldog and unleash a full six-gun salute in his direction (at 8s).  Duck adds a few medium lasers to the barrage to not waste any heatsinks and a PPC at the Locust.  Werewolf opens up with his main guns on the Cicada.  He's not likely to hit, but he wants to make sure that the Cicada knows it's not getting a free shot at the vulnerable rear of the formation.

The Bulldog, incredibly, weathers the entire hail of beams and particle projectiles.  There's nothing to speak of left of the armor on the left side, but the new inclusion of the Glancing Blow rule means it's not a kill.  One PPC hit and a medium laser from Duck both glance, dealing a total of 7 damage between them.  Good, in a way, and in a spring of good news, Rapier's pair of connecting shots stun the crew and disable the engine, so he's going to be a sitting duck for next turn..  I want to try and disable the turrets on these guys to see if that's what it takes to salvage vehicles.  All enemy return fire also misses.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/006Flanked_zpsce04edf5.png?t=1372725617)

The enemy 'Mechs turn out to be significantly more bold than I expected.  Fanatical is damn right when it applies to the 1st Hussar pilots.  Werewolf and Duck find themselves out of effective response range, either out of medium laser range or out of a good firing arc.  In retaliation, both of them take aim at  relatively easier shots on vehicles.  Duck decides the next Bulldog is ready for harvest, and Werewolf spars with the Vedette at range.  Rapier goes for the turret on the first Bulldog, while Easy shows the Hussar 'Mechs the error of their ways.  Double PPC barrage goes out toward the Hermes, as the least affected by minimum range, and the Cicada is about to get a pair of punches and a Small Laser.

Once again, Rapier absolutely savages the Bulldog, a direct hit from a PPC gouging into the left side and leaving it a smoking pile of wreckage, right before the other two shots pop the turret off like a cork.  That thing's hardly going to be worth salvaging after this is all over.  Duck damages the other Bulldog, but only slows it down instead of crippling it.  A few random lasers from the Hussar 'mechs skip and glance from the Awesomes' heavy armor.  They'll have to be dealt with immediately.

Quote from: Master Sergeant Bullman
Rapier, splash one Bulldog.

Speaking of which, Easy's kick the same turn takes the Cicada's leg off at the hip in one stomp, and it falls to the ground in a heap while Easy stays standing.  Scratch one 'Mech; it'll be down and out by next turn, at the latest.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/007FirePhase_zps65066eea.png?t=1372725621)

The Cicada, impossibly, manages to stand up.  No matter, it's functionally immobile.  Werewolf closes back in to corral the 'Mechs, and succeeds in driving them out of close range.  Close enough.  Not pictured in that shot is Duck further north, taking the fight to the vehicles that haven't been engaged by the main lance.

The next round of fire sees the Awesomes take some non-trivial armor damage.  I'm going to have to start actually moving with them to keep the numbers up or these 'Mechs might actually inflict some meaningful damage.  On a contract like this, meaningful damage is a victory for the Hussars.  Duck and Rapier concentrate on the second Bulldog, and a shot from Rapier caves in the right side this time, and the tank is knocked out.  Easy takes the beatstick to the Cicada, which falls down again (this time missing both arms, too).

Quote from: Master Sergeant Bullman
Rapier, splash two.  Bulldog two is down.
Quote from: Major Webb
Easy, Cicada neutralized.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/008Brawl_zps5f909173.png?t=1372725630)

The Cicada knocks itself out trying to stand up (no surprise).  Werewolf gets the drop on the Hermes, but opens himself up for the Locust.  Good enough tradeoff.  This turn is going to be painful for the Hussars.

As it turns out, that tradeoff was not very good.  Werewolf takes a damaged heatsink thanks to a direct blow, but the Vedette loses most of its armor to a barrage from Rapier (seriously, he's getting a distinguished marksmanship award for this, or something) and the other Bulldog is stunned by Duck.  Easy's kick should put the poor Cicada out of its misery momentarily.  Or leave it with one point in the center torso and no more gyro.  At this point, I'm just going to leave it there and focus on things that can actually shoot at me.  Maybe I'll get the unconscious, immobile 'Mech as salvage?  We'll find out.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/009EndGame_zpsb4dd5eea.png?t=1372725634)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/010EndGameII_zps64722959.png?t=1372725639)

Duck and Rapier are about to utterly demolish the rest of the vehicles.  By the letter of the rules, once they're destroyed, the mission ends in victory as the enemy withdraws.  If I happen to kill more of them on the last turn, though...

The Bulldog takes a mauling enough from Duck to put it out of its misery, and the Vedette is on its last legs.  The Hussar 'Mechs are luckier even than they are skilled, landing enough damage on Easy's Awesome to drop it to the ground.  He avoids damage this time, so no Combat Wounds Ribbon for this engagement yet.

Quote from: Lieutenant Gibbs
Duck, Bulldog down.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/011ImminentWithdrawal_zps1f722358.png?t=1372725652)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/012ImminentWithdrawalII_zps81e53260.png?t=1372725679)

Here you see the 'Mechs make their first really fatal mistake.  Every single one of them is in melee range of one or more much larger 'Mechs.  If the Vedette doesn't buy it this turn, I will be very surprised, and one or more 'Mechs immobilized is more likely than not.  The Locust took a head hit last turn, so there's a chance that'll contribute to some decent salvage, too.

This turn, Easy takes a 2 point head hit, so enjoy that shiny new Combat Wounds Medal.  Again.  He stays standing despite weathering a painful array of fire, and Rapier rips up the Vedette.  The Locust, Hermes, and Mongoose are all in various states of pain at this point, but none of them are combat ineffective yet.  Time to fix that.

Quote from: Master Sergeant Bullman
Rapier, splash three.  Vedette down for the hat trick.

Physical phase happens, and everybody kicks Easy's 'Mech, all of them hitting the same spot and breaching the armor enough to take out a heat sink.  Damn, looks like the techs are going to have some stuff to actually do after this battle, unfortunately.  Then, he falls over and knocks himself out again.  This is becoming a disturbing habit, Easy.

In better news, the Locust and Mongoose both lose their legs in the return kicks, and the Hermes avoids the same fate by two points.  Regrettably, it looks like he'll get away, because all enemies begin withdrawing after the complete and total destruction of their armored column.  In this case, “all enemies” means something like the Hermes and nobody else, because every other Hussar unit on the field is missing legs or unconscious or both.

Quote from: Major Webb
Easy, Locust down.
Quote from: Lieutenant Gibbs
Duck, Mongoose is down.

I claim victory, and the Hermes limps away with a damaged foot actuator.  I'll see if the game is willing to award me those 'Mechs as kills or if they somehow manage to 'escape'.  Interestingly, the Cicada pilot managed to wake up on the last phase, so he could conceivably escape?  I highly doubt it, but I don't know how MekHQ calculates these things.

Quote from: Major Webb
Strobe, this is Easy.  Sunglare.  I say again, Sunglare.  Get those salvage teams out there.  We'll remain on station for one-five mikes before withdrawing to the rear for repairs.

Final count (according to end game screen):
Rapier – 3
Duck – 1

If I captured all of the legless 'Mechs, Easy will be credited with two, and Duck with another.

Awards to distribute for this sub-op:

Distinguished Marksmanship Badge
Master Sergeant Anders “Rapier” Bullman (he hit with at least one shot every barrage, every turn, and took down three of the vehicles with impressive shot grouping.  It's either this or a Red Light Award for Valor.)

Combat Wounds Ribbon
Major Caden “Easy” Webb (second award)

Thule Campaign Ribbon
Major Caden “Easy” Webb
Lieutenant Andrew “Duck” Gibbs
Master Sergeant Anders “Rapier” Bullman
Corporal Jean “Werewolf” Vidal

This time I'll go into a bit of the immediate post-battle stuff.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/013PilotStatus_zps3f333d5a.png?t=1372725682)

Here, I can look at who sustained injuries during the battle, and can manually readjust them if there's extenuating circumstances (like the 3rd Jump on rescue status).  As you can see, Easy is the only one to take a hit this time.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/014Salvage_zps99946456.png?t=1372725685)

Here's what I can salvage off the field, none of it functional.  Turns out, none of those legless 'Mechs were captured, despite my units controlling the field after the fight.  Even the Cicada with one leg and no arms managed to get away, inexplicably.  The next time I get into a situation like that, I'm going to manually eject the pilots who are in otherwise hopeless situations.  This is one of those places that the bot is really limited, and I'm paying for it.  I decline all of the vehicles, because all I'd be doing is stripping engines, armor and weapons, and I can build up a little salvage credit with my employer.  That 50% limit is for the whole contract, so anything I pass here goes toward the contract salvage total, and lets me grab a functional unit further down the road without getting a minor contract breach.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/015Killboard_zps8e501ead.png?t=1372725687)

Here I can review and assign kills.  If I disagree with one of the kills here, I can change it, and sometimes there will be unassigned kills (either units I don't normally control, like allies, or pilot error) that I can give credit to my pilots for.  This looks good for that mission, however, and will stay how it is.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/016FinalPreview_zpsdc8511bf.png?t=1372725696)

Here, I write the After Action Report and go over everything that I just clicked through to make sure it's all accurate.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/017FinalPreviewFinished_zps9014e227.png?t=1372725700)

And here it is all written up and ready to be submitted.  If I want to go read it again, I can click on the completed scenario and check both the briefing, committed forces, and after action report as many times as I want.  If anybody uses the saves I attach to these posts, you'll be able to see everything I've typed for everyone.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20sub-op%20HAYMAKER/018RepairBay_zpsf303ec90.png?t=1372725706)

I put Easy in the tender care of Dr. Bones, and head to the repair bay to take care of what I can before the next sortie tomorrow.  I want all of my techs to do as much as they can today before there are more repairs to do tomorrow.  I've already completed the Grasshopper's repairs in this picture, because it was missing a grand total of six points of armor.  Easy's Awesome has taken the most damage, though both he and Werewolf took some internal damage that needs to be repaired.  I set the techs on the 'Mechs, and get ready for sub-op BRAWL tomorrow.

It took less than a minute for the 11th Daybreakers to completely demolish this armored column, compared to the nearly 15 minutes they spent brawling in Milos Spaceport last time.  This is a lot closer to how games normally go, but this was pretty fast even against the bot.  Expect something like a happy medium for the majority of games.

The repairs end up taking a little bit more time than I have with my techs to finish.  I run out of armor in the company stores, too, and will have to get some more before the battle heats up tomorrow.  At this point, both the Grasshopper and Crab are fully repaired and the Awesomes are missing 74 points of armor between them; less than five tons.  I'm not going to have another battle until Monday, at the very earliest after these two, so I've got plenty of time to fix these up before then.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Hobbie on July 01, 2013, 08:06:44 pm
Awesome. We ripped them to pieces.

Even if we don't get the Trebuchet I'm happy to remain in the queue for another mech.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 01, 2013, 08:09:23 pm
Little update: the commendation list is now available in the first post, minus the Hard Light Service Ribbon, because that one has a really ****ing long list now that I've got infantry.

EDIT: Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman has enough experience to improve from 5 Piloting to 4.  He's now a 4/4, and in serious contention for the Command Sergeant slot I'll need if I get any more infantry.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 02, 2013, 03:33:14 am
Quote
Daybreakers smashed their opponents. No surprise there. FRR guys and gals apparently charged to melee range. Have to be careful about that when we face off, the SCPs are pretty fast. We copied flash traffic from the JumpShip reporting the arrival of unknown ships. They've passed along IDs as they were able to make but they think their WarBook is on the fritz. A Black Lion.

There hasn't been a Black Lion in the Inner Sphere since Kerensky packed up and hauled ass. There haven't been any WarShips at all in the Inner Sphere since the Second Succession War, when the LCS Invincible misjumped on the way back to Tharkad. That was nearly two centuries ago.

Please God, let it be a WarBook glitch.

Spoiler:
Star Colonel Cote, the Sharp Claw has detached from the Bear's Den and will arrive in orbit of Thule soon. 3rd Bear Striker has the honor of taking the planet. Be aware that our initial assessment from the Watch was not correct. The Spheroids fight among themselves, and elements of the Draconis Combine's 14th Legion of Vega are reported to be on the planet, with support from a minor force of lucrewarriors.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: The E on July 02, 2013, 04:56:28 am
Wait, it's clan time already? Have I missed the other engagement we were supposed to have before that?

Also, looking at Thule on the starmap, we'll have fun times ahead. Even if we manage to get away from the Bears*, we'd have a whole bunch of Smoke Jaguars to evade until we get back into DC territory; that's of course assuming that we're able to actually make a retreat instead of being thrown into the face of the clans.


*AAAAhahhahahahaaa we're sooo ****ed
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 02, 2013, 05:06:21 am
Wait, it's clan time already?

Transit time. They'd land next week, which even if they're burning at multiple Gs or coming from a pirate point probably means they're already insystem.

EDIT: Historically, the Bear attack was poorly planned and did not account for local conditions, resulting in the 1st Hussar inflicting very high casualties and forcing the Bears back to their opening bid to actually take the world. With the presence of the 14th Legion of Vega and our unit on the planet, there is a real possibility that the initial attack force will go down in flames before the remainder of the Bears can deploy.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: The E on July 02, 2013, 05:51:07 am
True that.

Too bad that we're not going to be able to use that to talk to the OpForce, I'd feel a lot better about this if we had undamaged units.

Still, even if we do manage to fend off the first wave, there's still the issue of getting away afterwards. If we knew about clan customs, we might be able to secure the planet, but as it stands...
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Dragon on July 02, 2013, 06:40:00 am
Personal log, Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman

So that was the HAYMAKER sub-op. We came across a bunch of Hussars and stomped them into the ground. I love fighting in the cold, makes heat buildup much less of a bother, meaning I can fire full salvos of PPCs almost as fast as I can pull the trigger. I've got 3 kills today, the only other one went to Duck. Oh, and Easy got knocked out. Again. Didn't woke up till we were all done. I hope he's not gonna make a habit out of it, of we're in trouble. For a bunch of lights, the Hussars managed to inflict plenty of damage, taking out Easy's heat sink, damaging Werewolf's Grasshopper and scrapping some armor off my Awesome. Not that it helped them, but the mechs somehow managed to crawl away when we were regrouping and not paying attention to them. Well, bummer, not that they had any good stuff to salvage. I guess they mostly done it to spite us, because it's not like those mechs will be good for anything but scrap. Overall, this was a good mission, but could've went better. Easy got a star on his Combat Wound Ribbon, while I got a DMA. And of course, a new campaign ribbon for all of us. I hope that BRAWL sub-op goes this well, too. The other lances are green as grass, but if they do make it, that's gonna be one profitable campaign.

At the ship, everybody is excited about how the campaign's going. DCMS is making progress, so are we. There are some rumors about an unidentified WarShip being spotted nearby. I have no idea where they come from, but I'm sure it's just rumors. There are no WarShips in the IS, and certainly not in FRR. It's probably a JumpShip that FRR is trying to use to reinforce the planet. DCMS better intercept it, and any DropShips it happens to be carrying, or we're in trouble.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: The E on July 02, 2013, 06:43:05 am
Small nit: Noone in the Inner Sphere will even think about shooting down a JumpShip, they're far too precious a ressource for that. Even DropShips are rarely engaged and destroyed.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Dragon on July 02, 2013, 06:59:50 am
Thanks, corrected. :) Forgot about that, Clans have somewhat less qualms about shooting things down than the IS (I'm currently playing MW2).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: FireSpawn on July 02, 2013, 12:31:23 pm
Personal Log:

Well ****. We're in the meat grinder now, assaulting a planet like some sort of badasses. I just hope our Robot Jox Warriors don't let their rigs get beat up more than they did in that last sortie. It's just no good for my health! I mean, I was replacing some armour on "Rapier's" AWS (I call it Norris. Dunno why, but with all the kicking things to death, it just feels like it fits) when my welder suddenly flares and sets my goddamn Junk on fire!

Sure I may have been drinking a bottle of...."Something" that also can double as coolant in a pinch, and suuuure I may have spilt some as I was welding with one hand and drinking with the other....But the fact of the matter is that it wouldn't have happened if those guys learned how to not get shot.

Now as much as I'd love to continue talking to a mic when I should be working, I'm gonna finish here. I think I have some calibrating to do. And drinking. And playing five finger fillet with the jump troops. Heh, those idiots don't realise how deft with your hands you have to be when fixing 'Mechs. Oh well, easy bills.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: esarai on July 02, 2013, 01:13:33 pm
Personal Log:
Cpl. Dejere "Esarai" bin Hassan

Wooo, finally an op!  Sounds like it's going to be heavy.  I felt a little left out on the last sortie... I wish I could've seen Easy and Rapier's mech-fu live.  Kicking in a mech is not an easy thing.  The way they describe it, it's like they tried to play soccer with a Vindicator.  Hmm... perhaps we should try that.  Get all our mechs out, giant balloon, soccer. 

Back on topic, the op is Light Hammer and I'm on sub-op Brawl.  13th is taking the 1st Hussars on a Stand Up, but they're worried about the 13th's untested status.  So that's where the 12th comes in.  We're their backup, in case it goes all to ****.

I'm gonna give the Hussars a merry rave party while the 13th drops as much brass and lead as they can.

I must thank Strobe for the upgrade to my Wasp.  This new 1M setup is nice.  3 medium lasers.  Superior to that pea-shooter SRM-2.  That thing was damn inaccurate.  Back at Sun Zhang, it hit Cmdr. Nakamura in the ass during a gunnery drill and I wasn't even pointing it at him.  Going to have to mind overheating, the mech's heat rating is at 9 now, and I've only got the engine sinks to chill it with.  The climate is frigid, the 11th was fighting at -50, so if the conditions persist it won't be a significant matter.

Ooh, gotta remember, cold air gives JJs a bit more kick.  Don't want to be falling down 'cuz of it.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 02, 2013, 01:41:59 pm
A little nitpicky bit of info Esa, you're forgetting the 1 heat for walking, 2 for running(replacing the walk heat) and however much Jump Points(minimum of 3 IIRC) you use is also worth heat.

BUT, with these temperatures, overheating is something us rookies have nothing to fear :D
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 02, 2013, 08:25:12 pm
Just so everybody is aware, the Clans don't hit Thule until March of 3050.  It's still June 3049 here.  There's nearly another nine months to go before they show up.  Plenty of chances to get the company beaten into splinters long before the Ghost Bears show up.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 02, 2013, 08:44:37 pm
Just so everybody is aware, the Clans don't hit Thule until March of 3050.  It's still June 3049 here.  There's nearly another nine months to go before they show up.  Plenty of chances to get the company beaten into splinters long before the Ghost Bears show up.

Curse you! You ruined everything!

...also that doesn't go with stuff from earlier in the thread. What.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 02, 2013, 08:55:23 pm
I'm leaning hard toward the planetary assault (also because it puts us in the FRR through early 3050), but please, discuss.

(bolded for emphasis)

...The Clan Invasion visits Thule in the very beginning of March, 3050.  Our contract is up on March 7, 3050.  We'll have roughly a week of OH **** time to fight the Clans before the contract is up...

3049-05-28

...

That ends the relevant portions of May.  Next post will be the first week of June and then the first week of our contract.  Planetfall is less than two weeks away.

No, it really doesn't.  Sorry if you misread it, but the timeline of events has been "June-March contract, early March Clans" for the whole time.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: deathfun on July 02, 2013, 10:17:09 pm
Patient Logs - Dr. Bones

Major Caden "Easy" Webb

St. Ives - Operation Daybreak

Brought in barely able to walk, definite head trauma. Reactions were slow, responsiveness was lacking. Will have to check for brain damage. Minor lacerations were found haphazardly around the patient.

Addition - Patient moved due to pipe smoke causing unrest from neighbor. No permanent brain damage detected.

Thule - HAYMAKER Sub-Op

Came in with another head injury. Not as severe, he was able to walk straight and there was only some minor bleeding. Signs of a concussion have not manifested yet, but given his previous injury, will have to hold patient for the time being.

Addition - Patient has been released, no concussion.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 08, 2013, 04:59:06 am
So Scotty, what's going on? :D

Also, had the weirdest thing happen to me, had to go to Damian(right next to Thule) on a Pirate Hunting contract. Start date went from September 1(day i was actually on) to February 27, the next year. And it's a 6 month contract. I am gonna get sooooo boned :(
Although it did give me enough time to convert my first Banshee, it is now officially a rape machine with a 0/1 pilot(gotta love skilled pilots making good kills every time they enter a battlefield) BV without pilot is 1422, with pilot it's 5131(wow..)

Hoping to see an update on the Brawl sub-op soon Scotty :3
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: The E on July 08, 2013, 05:12:53 am
A 0/1 pilot? In a BANSHEE? Poor bastard...

A pilot of that caliber (Which, for the uninitiated, means that this guy will almost always have target numbers to hit a target below 5 or 6 on 2D6, making him absolutely god-tier in a cockpit) deserves, nay, NEEDS a better machine. Or at least a Banshee variant that does not suck.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: niffiwan on July 08, 2013, 05:23:21 am
BNC-3S - Lyran variant from the late succession wars.  I'd take it over the stock Atlas any day :)

And that pilot - he's what, as good as Kai Allard-Liao?  :p
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 08, 2013, 06:12:03 am
Oh, but the banshee he's in is my recently refitted one E, had him pilot the 3E version since the get-go of my campaign(it was his starting mech)

It now has 4MPLs 2 PPCs and an LRM20 + Artemis, maxed armor. This all thanks to Double Heat Sinks and an XL Engine.
So, i think he has a machine worthy of god-tier skills. Had him pilot my Atlas(got that thanks to a Star League Cache mission) when it was being refitted.

So no need to worry bout him, i do have 2 Banshees now, salvaged another 3E in a battle against a bunch of Canopians, sadly couldn't get the Stalker(it got blown up with an ammo hit). But hey, i have another 1/1 pilot who has an 8Q Awesome, though not in the same lance.

Clans are in for a hurting regardless :3
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: The E on July 08, 2013, 06:17:39 am
More or less. Certainly up there with the best of the best.

Clans are in for a hurting regardless :3

Well, if you can get them into a bidding war, you're basically set for a huge win (But then, it took the IS a long time to figure out how clan honor works, and I do not know how much of that particular set of rules is represented in the game)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 08, 2013, 07:25:56 am
And that pilot - he's what, as good as Kai Allard-Liao?  :p

Depending on the sourcebook Kai has ranged from 1/1 to 0/0, with 1/0 and 0/1.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 08, 2013, 08:53:05 am
More or less. Certainly up there with the best of the best.

Clans are in for a hurting regardless :3

Well, if you can get them into a bidding war, you're basically set for a huge win (But then, it took the IS a long time to figure out how clan honor works, and I do not know how much of that particular set of rules is represented in the game)

There's actually nothing representing the bidding in the rules, as far as i've found it. Doesn't matter, i have 2 lances with Assault mechs, though only a lance worth is actually piloted.
Though i still have a few weeks in-game to even worry about seeing clanners.

EDIT: I just thought of something.

We should have some house rules about the possibility of encountering clans during the invasion.

If you're in a contract when the invasion is happening, you roll a 1d6 and on a 5 or 6 you instead encounter clan units as opposed to whoever you are supposed to fight. Let's call that the bad intel got me screwed over thing.
Of course you roll that right before you stick your RATs into the blender.
Though this does mean that you now have an extra unit in each lance to add, which will be whatever the lightest possible unit is for the given lance(a Heavy Lance will receive a Medium unit for instance).

If anyone cares to give feedback on it, i have no use of it just yet, so there's still time to fine tune this :)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scourge of Ages on July 08, 2013, 03:09:51 pm
Scotty posted a little bit about what will happen. I don't think there was any provision for accidentally running into them, Ghost Bear doesn't exactly seem the "sneaking around, posing as garrison" type. He mentioned that the employer has a chance to extend the contract and use us to fight though.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: SpardaSon21 on July 08, 2013, 03:59:42 pm
Yeah, the Ghost Bears will pretty much show up, declare their batchall, and start tearing **** up with Clantech weapons and Omnimechs while deriding us as freebirth scum the entire while.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 08, 2013, 06:06:01 pm
Scotty posted a little bit about what will happen. I don't think there was any provision for accidentally running into them, Ghost Bear doesn't exactly seem the "sneaking around, posing as garrison" type. He mentioned that the employer has a chance to extend the contract and use us to fight though.

This is true, they don't sneak around, hence i said Intel messed up. Or simply because they spotted Scotty's ASF(a good possibility)

I'm going to experiment with it when i have to, see if it's fun. Also lost half of my 2nd Company in terms of equipment. replenished it with monthly market(thank god for February).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Hobbie on July 10, 2013, 06:25:53 pm
So what's going on? Usually this thread is flying.

I had to start up another campaign of Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries just to get my Battletech fix. Davion-aligned Kell Hounds FTW.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 10, 2013, 07:37:44 pm
Dunno. I'm trying to figure out how to run a campaign like this of my own right now.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 14, 2013, 03:35:21 pm
No news Scotty?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 14, 2013, 04:56:44 pm
I've been in the middle of the Missouri wilderness for the last full week, and still have Army stuff to do for the next full week.  Expect updates to be slow for the duration, though now that I actually have internet in the evenings it won't be a dead stop like that.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 14, 2013, 05:48:16 pm
Fair 'nuff.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 21, 2013, 03:48:34 pm
I'm free!  Annual training plus drill is over!  I've now got three weeks at least before the next event, and it's only a weekend.

I'll be posting the write-up for Operation: LIGHT HAMMER, Sub-Op: BRAWL either tonight or when I get up tomorrow.  Between now and then I also have updated criteria and descriptions for all of the awards and ribbons, and will be going back through the games so far to award them or take them away as the new criteria dictate. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 21, 2013, 04:27:08 pm
Nice

I'm doing pretty well so far in the anti-Ghost Bear campaign.
Stuck on Polcenigo for 18 months, get to do garrison duty against the bears, and a subcontract(I'M RATING C NOW :D) for some minor bandit killing
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 22, 2013, 10:45:51 am
As promised, the updates to the awards ribbons as they exist now.  I'll probably come out with an Ace/Double/Triple pin sometime later which will just as probably be 'Mech kills only.

Blue Light Award for Valor:  Destroy eight (8) or more enemy 'Mechs or combat vehicles in a single sortie.  Civilian vehicles like flatbed trucks and APCs do not count, but primitive 'Mechs, IndustrialMechs, and Coolant Trucks do.  May be awarded multiple times.

Yellow Light Award (for Valor): Either destroy five (5) or more enemy 'Mechs or combat vehicles in a single sortie (same rules for valid targets as Blue Light Award), or perform an extremely difficult feat of repair (12+ and multiple days for techs), or heal 25 hits in one month (for doctors).  May be awarded multiple times.  In the event of a possible monthly earning, award will be granted at the end of the 30-day period.

Red Light Award (for Valor): Either destroy three (3) or more enemy 'Mechs or combat vehicles in a single sortie (same rules as Yellow and Blue Light Awards), or perform a very difficult feat of repair (11+ over multiple days or 12+ on one day for techs), or heal 15 hits in one month (for doctors).  May be awarded multiple times.  In the event of a possible monthly earning, award will be granted at the end of the 30-day period.

Distinguished Marksmanship Award: During the course of a single sortie, and while firing on at least three different occasions, achieve an overall accuracy of 80% or better after ten or more shots.  May be awarded multiple times.

Combat Wounds Ribbon: During the course of a single sortie, sustain at least one hit.  May be awarded posthumously.  May be awarded multiple times. (Note: This may be subject to change, after I get the Strategic Operations book and read up on actual pilot injuries beyond getting banged around in the cockpit some).
Long Service Ribbon: Awarded for participation in the active operations of the Hard Light Brigade for not less than three continuous years.  May not be awarded earlier than January 3052.

Thule Campaign Ribbon: During the course of the campaign on Thule from June 3049 to March 3050, engaged the enemy in at least one sortie.  Every five total sorties results in an additional award.

Milos Campaign Ribbon: During the course of the campaign on Milos in February 3049, engaged the enemy in at least one sortie.

Legacy Ribbon: After being a dependent of the unit for at least six months, joined the unit in a direct combat or support capacity.

Original Member Ribbon: Joined the unit on or before 1 January 3049.

Hard Light Service Ribbon: Awarded for joining the Hard Light Brigade at any time.  Officers recieve an additional award.

EDIT: I picked up Strat Ops, and discovered something almost immediately. When using a Tech/Mechanic to repair a unit they are not specialized in, instead of rolling 2d6 against the target number, I roll 3d6 and pick the two lower dice.  The more you know.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 26, 2013, 06:51:48 am
the suspense is killing me :(
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: esarai on July 26, 2013, 11:20:07 am
Given how long things have taken, I'm suspecting we may all be dead.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 26, 2013, 01:50:31 pm
Whoo! Time to roll up another company!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 26, 2013, 02:27:54 pm
Well, strictly speaking, and miraculously, nobody has yet died.  Yet.  The biggest bottleneck in the next post going up is currently moving all my **** from my old laptop to my new one.

You guys will get to see how badly BRAWL went pretty soon, though.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 26, 2013, 03:11:26 pm
Like I said, pretty soon.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/001Pre-game_zps74a116ec.png?t=1374868209)

Hard Light Brigade versus 1st Hussars on the icy plains of Thule.  This fight is set to be significantly more difficult than the last one, simply due to the fact that the 12th and 13th aren't nearly as experienced as the pilots of the 11th.

Quote from: Lieutenant Yi
Strobe, this is StarSlayer.  We have visual on a two lances of enemy units in 1st Hussar markings just over 20 km from objective alpha.  They are moving north toward the objective at roughly 35 km/hr.  Unit composition is six 'Mechs, two vehicles.  Current time is... 1104 lima.  Please advise.
Quote from: Captain Roberts
StarSlayer, Strobe.  Confirmed visual on two lances of Hussar units two-zero clicks south of objective alpha, moving north.  12th Scout is on station and able to assist.  Advise you hold distance for five mikes and then engage.  Allied air support should be able to assist.  A flight of Sholagars is en route, ETA... three mikes.  Designate target now, over.”
Quote from: Lieutenant Yi
Strobe, StarSlayer.  Roger that, holding distance.  Target is designated for air support.  Time to engagement is... four mikes.  We'll keep a seat warm for you at objective alpha.  Out.

In this instance, the 12th will be entering the battlefield right before turn 6 starts, so the 13th has a full minute on its own before the cavalry arrives to make everything easier.  Just as a reminder, the sortie in which the 11th just curbstomped a Hussar's armored column took exactly six turns from start to finish.  Food for thought.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/002HardLightDeployment_zpsf94661b4.png?t=1374868209)

I arrange the lance into buddy pairs of two vehicles or two 'Mechs each and keep them in range of supporting each other.  The vehicles are going to be damn slow no matter what I do, thanks to this cold, but the 'Mechs are capable of staying together on a map like this.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/003HussarDeployment_zpse5fc4f92.png?t=1374868209)]

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/004HussarDeploymentII_zpsaccf33b5.png?t=1374868209)

Here you can see how the Hussars deployed themselves, in conjunction with the deployment minimap right below this paragraph.  Their 'Mechs that can actually hurt me are focused up north, with the 'Mech that can barely hurt me (and can't get out of the way) closest to me, along with their lone vehicle.  A 'Mech that can barely hurt me is also down south: a Vulcan VL-2T.  Its autocannon has the potential to annoy the **** out of me, but two point plinks aren't going to be a huge pain unless it gets ridiculous with the direct blow shenanigans.  With the range on that thing, there's a potential there, but I don't intend to allow it to be realized.  The 13th is going to sweep across the middle of the map and then south, clearing the three units most vulnerable right now, and then wait for the 12th to engage the north contingent.  I only have to take out one of them, so the most vulnerable one is going to go down, and then it's victory celebration time.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/005Deploymentminimap_zpsaeb93904.png?t=1374868209)]

As promised, the minimap.  You can see the relative locations of all of the units on the map here.  The light green hexes are light woods, and the darker ones are heavy woods.  Amusingly, the units in blue camo appear in red, and the units in red camo appear in blue.  Now then, onto moving out!

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/006MovingOut_zpsb1fc67f1.png?t=1374868209)

I immediately move the vehicles closer together into a lance formation and get them moving, now that I know where all the enemies are.  The 'Mechs stay together to the north flank and are going to screen the more vulnerable vehicles if the 'Mechs up north decide to be nuisances.  I technically have a shot with the Vindicator at one of the north 'Mechs, but it's at a 12 and with glancing blow that means it's not even worth taking.  I very much doubt anything is going to happen this turn, but stranger things have been known to occur.

Then the fire phase rolls around, and that damned Trebuchet lands a hit on a 12 with an LRM-15.  Cheeky bastard.  He doesn't do much, but it does tell me I need to get the hell away from the north before they pick me apart on approach.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/007BattleJoined_zps2a9dda73.png?t=1374868209)

A quick look at the map after that turn shows me that the north 'Mechs are headed my way.  Crap.  I immediately dive south with all units that I can, heading southeast if possible, and make for the most vulnerable units I can.  I've got a bad feeling about this game.  New priority target is the Vulcan while I attempt to roll up the enemy flank.

While I do that, the enemy demonstrates with amusing timing why sometimes enabling Expanded Backwards Movement is kind of cheap.  One of the Scorpions tries to back up down hill and falls over.  That's even more spectacular because it's a quad, and quads are known for their stability.  Best part is that it actually manages to fall on its head, in some bizarre spectacle of flailing limbs and failure.

Everybody starts shooting at everybody while I scramble to reposition with my very unfortunately slowed vehicles.  The Prowler takes the brunt of the firepower aimed at it, while the Brutus starts to empty its substantial magazines in the Urbanmech's direction, hoping for a lucky hit early on, perhaps to make it even slower.

The Prowler gets a hit in on a Hetzer that leaves it well and truly dead in the water, with a destroyed engine and a vehicle immobilized results on two clusters of LRMs.  It's way out in the middle of nowhere with naught but an AC/20 that can no longer reposition.  I'll give it one turn, and then that juicy target is getting abandoned to save everybody in it.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/008DieProwler_zps97e7b944.png)

The Prowler finds itself the subject of an inordinate amount of firepower headed its way.  I want it dead, since it's the reason my Hetzer is a mission-kill already, at best.  The Urbanmech gets some token missiles too, but it's by far not the primary target here.  The Hermes and Trebuchet from the north side are on their way down, while both Scorpions hold their ground.  This has the potential to go either really well or really bad.  Let's find out.

The Prowler gets taken out by the sheer damage thrown at it, but at the same time my other Hetzer is first immobilized, and then the FUEL TANK EXPLODES on a critical hit through 15 points of armor.  At this point I'm rather pissed off at this game, because I'm down both Hetzers, and only one of them got a single shot off.  Fortunately (if you can say that), the Hetzer that just went up in a gasoline powered explosion was the one further back.  Unfortunately, that was Dire's ride, so he is probably dead right now.  On the other hand, this is exactly why the 3rd Jump is on rescue status.  They'll make it, unless someone else I like more also would buy the farm today, they just will all have massive burns across most of their bodies, and lose a point of piloting/gunnery for it.

[009 Urbanmech Next]

I abandon the Hetzer this turn.  No sense in it getting creamed too by LRM fire from outside of its range.  I still have four units to complete the objective, and can actually still lose one without suffering a defeat in this battle.  Additionally, the 12th is still on its way.

The Urbanmech is very clearly the next unit I have decided must die.  All the combined firepower of the lance is about to rain down on him until he stops moving.  The Vulcan is being surprisingly painful with its medium laser from the south, and the Trebuchet from the north is aggravatingly accurate.  I honestly can't decide which one will be the next target.

Every single thing fired at the Urbanmech misses.  Figures.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/009UrbanmechNext_zpsfa5a3093.png?t=1374868208)

Once again, most everything opens up on the Urbanmech.  Corporal Duineveld takes up a position behind the bugger and gets ready to punch his face off once he lets loose a PPC bolt at point blank.  The Vulcan has gotten entirely too close for comfort to StarSlayer, and I intend to use the 12th to dissuade him from getting that close again when they deploy at the start of next turn.  Corporal Fisting in his Vindicator lines up a couple shots, and Sergeant Moore lines up one with the AC/5 as well.

At this point, the Trebuchet immobilizes my Brutus as well.  That ****er has now immobilized all of my vehicles except Sergeant Moore's Vedette with impossibly accurate LRM salvos.  I seriously am not sure how to respond and keep my guys out of the line of fire from him, since as a Gunnery 2 pilot, he's pretty much not going to miss at all.

Phantom's fist glances off the Urbanmech, which is infuriatingly still standing.  This is not going well for the Brigade right now.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/011HardLightDeploymentIII_zpsaa55c007.png?t=1374868284)

And then the cavalry shows up.  Time to show that punk Vulcan the error of his ways before he manages to knock out StarSlayer's Brutus, the way things have been going.  I actually deployed the 12th behind the wrong stand of trees, so their approach was made a bit more difficult by that.  No matter, all but the Locust have jumpjets, and it's fast enough to push through the woods easily enough.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/012PlaygroundAntics_zps7eb106ce.png?t=1374868305)

The Vulcan doesn't want to play with the new kids, and hops around to go beat up some more on StarSlayer's crew.  I don't take very kindly to that, so he'll be receiving a faceful of lasers at the earliest opportunity.  Worth mentioning that playing Light 'Mechs in this game is an exercise in patience.  They're fragile as hell, so staying in the woodline, even if it means surrendering a better shot, is the only way to keep them alive for very long.  I've made something of a specialization of using small, under equipped Lights to take down enemies much heavier and better armed than I am using really bouncy, “I can barely hit you but you can't hit me at all” tactics.  Against a human player, I would be a colossal dick, but the bot doesn't get frustrated at my stalling.

In this turn, Captain Bowden demonstrates why I keep him around by having 6s to hit against a jumpy, low profile Medium that doesn't want to be hit, StarSlayer decides the Trebuchet isn't getting enough LRM love in return, and everybody else gangs up on either the Vulcan or the Urbanmech, whichever is closer.  This still isn't going well, but it's not going irretrievably sideways yet.

It's also in this turn that the bot once again demonstrates an absolutely infuriating tendency to tell my tank's turrets to go **** themselves, and buries every single shot it fired into the left side.  Seriously, the Brutus took one turret hit this game, and then everything else hit somewhere else.  The Brutus is knocked out, and probably unrecoverable.  Figures.  The bot really does not like my tanks.

I still have three units from the 13th active, so the game isn't over yet.  I just literally can't afford to lose any more of them, or I suffer a defeat for this mission.  This is already going to be damn expensive, simply from a lost equipment perspective.  Silly me to think that my tank would be able to weather a round of fire from low end mediums without exploding.  I'll have to abandon them more quickly next time, much as it annoys me to say that.  After this turn, all of the 13th will be withdrawing south and letting the 12th handle what's left to be handled before I can claim victory and get the **** out of here.

Probably the most annoying thing about that loss is that now I may very well have to choose if some of my tankers die or not.  Still, the 3rd Jump is good at that sort of thing, so more likely they'll all just be worse at their jobs instead of dead.

I'm getting brutalized by the initiative this game, for some reason.  I just cannot seem to trap the units that I most want to trap, instead watching them slip through my units since they get to go last every time.  Fortunately, when an Urbanmech “slips through” anywhere, it does it at merely a fast waddle, so it doesn't get too far.

The next fire phase, that ****ing Trebuchet takes off on of Corporal Adeboro's arms, leaving the Locust with half firepower.  I swear, the guy could be shooting tiny insects at this range and still not be missing.  It's frustrating and demoralizing, absolutely.  By some miracle, everybody who got shot at this turn is still standing.  Now, the next miracle I want is that damned Trebuchet to run out of ammunition.  He's gotta be getting close.  Phantom goes down to a kick in the physical phase, meaning I have a really tight window to still pull victory out of my ass.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/013NotGood_zps48cc274a.png?t=1374868209)

The battle has functionally dissolved into two smaller battles, neither of which is going well.  Phantom, Bongo, and Toothless trying to bring down the Urbanmech (the fact that it's taking so long is what's not going well) before it gets reinforced by both Scorpions from the north, and Night, Patriot, Polly, and Esarai dueling with the Vulcan with frustratingly few results while the Hermes and Trebuchet come to play.  None of the Light pilots are good at anything, which is why there's frustratingly few results.

I have discovered the primary flaw of the Brigade as it is organized now: the 11th is entirely too concentrated with the greatest experience in the unit.  If I could use them for every mission ever, it'd be great, but I can't, and the lack of skill is hurting me very badly this mission.  After this, the entire roster is probably going to get a rewrite while I figure out who is going to do best in what role.  Additionally, vehicles are going to be taken out of the first-in-line lances, and designated to a reserve lance strictly for reinforcing already engaged battles.  Both battles they've been in front, and both battles I've lost most or all of them before I got any utility out of them, sometimes to absolutely uncanny hit patterns, but lost nonetheless.

The lack of experience rears its ugly face again when two of my pilots fall over during the physical phase.

Several more turns of exactly the same thing pass tensely while I try with little success to worry the enemy down to a more manageable state.  Halle-****ing-lujah the Trebuchet finally ran out of missiles and is no longer able to sling laser-guided death at my 'Mechs, but I still have to take out three more 'Mechs before I can claim victory.

Then, finally, I get a break (and a terrible tragedy at the same time).  Polly manages to touch off the Vulcan's AC/2 ammunition, detonating it in a fiery explosion.  The at the same time, the enemy Hermes gets a shot that rips right through Night's left torso and into the gyro, shattering it and dropping the Locust to the ground in a useless heap.  It's still technically active, but it's not going to be able to do anything.  He'll be ejecting as soon as possible.  Still, that's one less enemy, and I only have to take out two now.

Everybody stays standing during the physical phase, so it looks like I have a chance of actually winning, however costly that may turn out to be.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/014SkirmishOne_zpsab3012a3.png?t=1374868284)

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/015SkirmishTwo_zps78ceb588.png?t=1374868315)

This is how it looks now.  Hermes is priority target for 12th Scout lance, now down to three 'Mechs.  Urbanmech is still priority for 13th Combat, as beat up as they are.  I gotta get those two down, and I can claim victory.  It's going to be damn tight.

Both Phantom and Bongo take big damage this turn, and both miraculously stay standing.  I'm honestly not sure how they're still up and moving, but I'm not about to complain about it.

Next turn is more of the same, my 'Mechs trying desperately not to get knocked down and trying to take out the two indicated targets.  Phantom succeeds on a piloting skill roll I was fully expecting him to fail hard on, and gets behind the Urbanmech, while the 12th converges around the Hermes and Trebuchet.  Without his missiles, he's much less of a threat, and I think Polly can actually outduel him handily with his Pixie.

Fire bursts back and forth, Patriot's Wasp falls over, and nothing dies, again.  It's getting pretty close, over on the east side though, and Phantom lost his PPC that turn.  He's reduced to an LRM-5 for effective weapons and one fist, because the other arm is missing and hip damage renders him unable to kick.  It's pretty bleak over there, to be honest.

Then, with a sudden burst of realization, I notice that the Trebuchet's medium lasers are all in his arms – arms that I have very nearly amputated over the course of the engagement despite his best efforts.  I could neuter the single most dangerous pilot on the field with a few good hits.  The 12th, despite losing Night's Locust, are still holding their own against the much more powerful opponents on the west flank, while the 13th have been sucking it up all game.  I might have to put a good portion of pure hope into those battered 'Mechs and hope they don't fall apart before I can take out two more.  It's a longshot.

A very long shot.  Phantom falls unconscious after falling over, losing a leg, and repeated head hits the next turn, and the Trebuchet isn't downed yet, nor the Hermes.  This doesn't look good.  I'm looking at the very real possibility of losing this fight.

Two turns later, Phantom still isn't dead, and the Urbanmech is missing a leg, finally.  Unfortunately, Bongo's Vindicator is missing one, too.  The Trebuchet is still alive, though it's starting to show signs of wear, too, with structure peaking through armor all over the place.  The two Scorpions and the Hermes show the least damage of any 'mech on the field except, inexplicably, Esarai's Wasp, which is still untouched by anything.  I feel like I'm going to regret saying that, but it's true.

Race to the finish!

There's something about BattleTech, every time I've played a game like this, where 'Mechs gain the ability to absorb absolutely ridiculous amounts of damage.  Case in point, the Shadow Hawk that poor Phantom has been piloting this game has been reduced to eight points of armor.  Total.  On the whole 'Mech.  It's still technically an active participant on the field.  Further, there are exactly 18 points of internal structure left.  Even if I win this, the damn thing is getting sold for scrap, because I do not have three months worth of techs to get it back into the fight.  If I could give it a medal I would, mostly because it'd be more effective armor than what it has left.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/016Punishment_zps352483cc.png?t=1374868209)

See?  That's dedication to not quitting, right there.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/017Desperation_zps59ca988b.png?t=1374868208)

And here we have something almost as desperate.  All three of them are overheating quite badly trying to bring that ****er down.  Phantom's Shadow Hawk has literally two points standing between it and the scrap heap, and this guy is in the way to getting it off the field.

To give you an idea just how close this race is:

1) I cannot lose any more units.  Period.  If I do, I lose.
   1. Phantom's Shadow Hawk has two points standing between itself and destruction
2) I must destroy two more units in order to win.
   1. The Trebuchet has 16 points standing between itself and destruction, most of it on the center torso.
   2. The Urbanmech has eight points standing between itself and destruction.
3) The combined firepower of my units shooting this turn is enough to kill both of those 'Mechs three times over, if it hits.
4) The combined firepower of a single machine gun shooting at Phantom would be enough to deep six his 'Mech.

So, that's how close this is.  One turn in either direction.  Thankfully, all of the 'Mechs that were shooting at Phantom inexplicably decided to go bug my Vedette, who has been plinking with an AC/5 most of the game at that damn Urbanmech.

The result of that turn makes it an even closer race.  The Urbanmech finally goes down in a pile of scrap, but at the same time my Vedette is now immobilized and under assault by two Scorpions, who have left the two crippled 'Mechs alone on the field.  Patriot's Wasp also lost a leg in the last exchange, so he's on the ground, too.

The Trebuchet now has eight points standing between me and victory.  The Vedette has between eight and 13, depending on the side the Scorpions hit this turn.

Odds are, I'm going to lose.  However, there is the ghost of a chance to win this that I have to hold onto.

And there the ghost goes.  Scorpions beat the **** out of our brave Vedette crew before I can pump enough lasers into the Trebuchet to gut it, and the brigade is forced to quit the field.

(http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/t577/Strobe238/Operation%20LIGHT%20HAMMER%20Sub-op%20BRAWL/018Wounded_zps4c9e2c36.png?t=1374868208)

This is what happens when vehicles get blown up.  I had eight crew come back with five hits.  Three of them (in the Hetzer) owe the jump infantry their lives directly.  It's a not-so-minor miracle every body came back not-dead, but most of them will be out of action for a long time.  That's not as big a problem as it sounds, because the company lost enough material to warrant consolidating into just two lances.  What it does mean is that Dr. Bones is going to have a lot of patients for a long time.

What it also means is that after that debacle, the brigade is seriously hurting for repairs.  Three quarters of the vehicles are gone, leaving me with a Hetzer that has some armor damage and wheels that don't work.  The Shadow Hawk is, as Sparda helpfully put on the IRC, a “fusion engine in a box” with no arms, legs, or torsos, and no armor.  The Vindicator has no leg, no arm, and very little armor.  The Locust has a destroyed gyro and is missing an arm.  One of the Wasps is missing a leg.

In short, the 13th got ****ed up hard, and the 12th is feeling the hurt too.  I honestly don't know how it's going to get organized after this, but what's absolutely certain is that I can't afford to keep all the best pilots and 'Mechs in the 11th.

Then a miracle occurs, and MekHQ bugs out on me.  It gives me back everything that should have been a smoldering husk on the field in pristine condition for reasons I can't fathom.  Since I'm 100% certain I shouldn't have gotten them back at 100%, but am just as certain I should have gotten their flaming wrecks, I'm going to sideline them for a full month (partly while their crews heal up, partly as pennance)

All that's left for me to do is the ribbons for this battle.

Everybody who deployed gets a Thule Campaign Ribbon.

Everybody but Esarai gets a Combat Wounds Ribbon.  Corporal Nancy Ma may well get a complimentary second (third) award, because this is the second time in a row she's come back with 5 hits.

Phantom damn near deserves some kind of award, for mixing it up in what amounts to an unarmored box, and keeping the enemy occupied for way too long, and then having the sheer balls to survive on top of that.  It was absolutely above and beyond, and I'll bend the new rules for the awards to get him a Yellow Light Award for Valor.

A brief summary:
Dr. Deathfun has 21 patients right now.
The Techs have their work cut out for them, even though MekHQ bugged out and gave me free vehicles.  The 'Mechs are going to take a while to be combat ready again.
Two more days until the next potential battle.

Until next time.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on July 26, 2013, 03:35:36 pm
Hurray, I was predictably useless!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: StarSlayer on July 26, 2013, 04:01:07 pm
 :blah:
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Mongoose on July 26, 2013, 06:17:10 pm
So that happened.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Aesaar on July 26, 2013, 06:32:46 pm
Wait, did the Vedette actually manage to kill that Urbanmech?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: IronBeer on July 26, 2013, 11:40:41 pm
Audio Log Entry 1- Sgt. Dermott "Iron" Carver
0709 hrs
--So, yeah.... well this is kinda awkward- I've never been big on journals or anything. Quite a few of the guys started keeping journals during the campaign, and I figured it might be a good idea. Except I can't be assed to type or write that much, thus the audio log. Since  I don't have a tank to command, the boss has me sitting out the entire op. It's frustrating, but without a ride, what am I gonna do? At least I know my boys'll give better than they can take.

0733 hrs
--*nomf**nomf**grom**nom* ....mmm, that's some good damn breakfast. God, the base feels so empty right now, what with the 12th, 13th, and all their buddies out on BRAWL. Guess I'll head down to the 'mech bay; harass the techs and listen in on the radio chatter.

++timeskip++

1059 hrs
--....that's what I've been saying, Red. "Tears Over Solaris VII" beats the **** out of "Steel Echoes" any day of the week. Vincent Ivanovich is a musical deity, and I *will not* accept any dissent on that matter, you hear!? ...Wazzat, Bones? Care to repeat that? .... False- "The Joy of Wilting" is so hilariously overrated, I can't even begin to- what!? You're arguing for it on THAT merit!? COME AT ME, BRO! I'll knock some sense into..... hold up! That's the 13th! Something's going on!
.....
Oh **** that's Dire's ride! GET OUT OF THERE, BRO!
.....OH GOD!
.....
****, Scorpion's hit too. No....
Oh no, not Scourge too. ....our tanks are getting creamed....
.....
Awwyeah! GO TWELFTH! KICK THEIR ASSES!
That was Scourge again! I KNOW YOU CAN'T HEAR ME, BUT DON'T YOU DIE ON ME, BRO! NOT JUST BECAUSE YOU OWE ME FIVE BUCKS!
.....
Ok, so... oh **** me this is ugly. The 13th is getting reamed.... Strobe says our guys might need to pull back if we lose much more...
.....(tense silence)
WAY TO GO POLLY- OH **** NIGHT!
....
No, no, no NO PHANTOM STAY WITH US!
.....
.....This is gonna be close....oh****. Toothless... why... no....
.....
We've lost....
......
Damnit I should have been there! I'd have probably gotten my ass kicked too, but at least that would beat the **** out of sitting here with both thumbs up my ass.... oh God, I hope they'll be OK.... RECORDING TERMINATED
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: esarai on July 27, 2013, 01:17:15 am
Wait did I actually manage to survive BRAWL without taking a single hit from enemy fire?  That sounds almost too good to be true.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scourge of Ages on July 27, 2013, 02:01:12 am
Excerpts from Audio Log recovered along with crew - 13th Combat Lance, Brutus Assault Tank. Timestamp: 12 June, 3049. Sub-Op: BRAWL

StarSlayer: They're in range. 13th, target the Prowler. Brutus, priority is the Urbie, take it out.
Scourge: Roger, firing.
[weapons discharge - LRM20 x3]
Scourge: Gunnery reports misses. Minor splash damage. Holy sheep, Stars, did you see that!?
StarSlayer: Was that Scorpion's Hetzer? Scorpion, StarSlayer, come in Hetzer 2! 13th, focus all firepower on that Prowler, I want it DEAD!
[comms] Scorpion: StarSlayer, Scorpion. We're hit and dead in the water. We're ok though, Farraj is a little banged up. Orders?
StarSlayer: Grab your hostile environment suits, and abandon the vehicle at your nearest opportunity.
[weapons discharge - LRM20 x3]
Scourge: Multiple hits on target, Prowler destr- AAAARGHHH! Hetzer 1 is hit! Looks like a fuel line!
StarSlayer: [redacted]! Hetzer 1, come in, Dire! [static] 3rd Jump, request extraction for crew of Hetzer 1. Repeat, engage NOW, extract crew, Hetzer 1.

*timeskip*

[damage received. See hit log for details and nature of damage]
Corporal Pak: Engine's out, sir. Nav and optics are down too.
[damage received]
Scourge: Crap it all, turret controls aren't responsive, manual turret crank is jammed. We're out.
StarSlayer: Anybody hurt?
Corporal Huffman: Ow. Think I broke something, I ca- OHGOD, Nancy! Oh mercy, she's still breathing. Pak, Aherne! Get the medkits!
StarSlayer: Polly, StarSlayer. Take command, we're blind here.

end excerpts
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on July 27, 2013, 07:49:58 am
mother ****..

Esa is one lucky sonuva beetch. How the hell did we manage to get ANYTHING back without controlling the battlefield though? O.o
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Phantom Hoover on July 27, 2013, 10:55:44 am
PERSONAL LOG



Ow.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 27, 2013, 11:51:18 am
mother ****..

Esa is one lucky sonuva beetch. How the hell did we manage to get ANYTHING back without controlling the battlefield though? O.o

That's the part I'm pretty sure MekHQ bugged out on.  Normally you wouldn't get anything back, but it gave me a couple of the vehicles (the abandoned Hetzer, the Brutus [which is totally not supposed to happen, and which I'll probably be manually removing]) back at full repair, and at least one of the 'Mechs (Phantom's Shadow Hawk) that were technically still operable but not really in any condition to do much of anything at all.

I'm genuinely not sure what happened with that.  Because of that, I'll be deliberately not using anything I got back in such a fashion for at least a month, and probably end up removing the ones that I know were destroyed but came back for whatever reason.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Phantom Hoover on July 27, 2013, 12:07:02 pm
So the Shadow Hawk is still a fusion reactor with a shell, even despite the bug?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: DireWolf on July 27, 2013, 12:36:43 pm
They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger
fourth degree burns speak otherwise

Some more Nitrous Oxide please

(What kind of financial situation is the Brigade looking at with all of these repairs/scrappings?)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Mongoose on July 27, 2013, 03:52:06 pm
Personal Log, Anthony "Mongoose" Sato, June 12, 3049:

(http://picardfacepalm.com/picard-facepalm.jpg)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: The E on July 27, 2013, 05:27:18 pm
I think we should consider investing in more medical personnel. I have a hunch we might need it.

Also, is it me or are our vehicles supremely unlucky, even by BT standards?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: FireSpawn on July 27, 2013, 05:53:35 pm
(http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luqifdf5Gj1qh7atr.gif)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on July 27, 2013, 06:35:53 pm
I think we should consider investing in more medical personnel. I have a hunch we might need it.

Also, is it me or are our vehicles supremely unlucky, even by BT standards?

I think you're correct on both counts.  I have never, in all my games, seen vehicles explode quite as readily as our tanks seem to be.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Hobbie on July 28, 2013, 02:06:23 am
The fine showing of that Trebuchet only makes me covet it more.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on August 07, 2013, 02:40:21 pm
any news scotty?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 17, 2013, 09:32:21 pm
Interim post coming up.  There's right around a 50-50 chance the next week won't have any battles, which would be an absolute godsend for the unit.  I'll update the TO&E as soon as I'm done with this week's stuff.  I don't actually remember if I still have to roll for special events this week, so that could be a major issue.

Expect something to be up by the end of the night, even if it's just a list of work orders and who's where on the roster.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 17, 2013, 11:16:56 pm
Okay.  Once I realized what happened with the vehicles and 'Mechs that I should no longer have popping up in the hangar, I removed the ones that I feel like I legitimately should have lost and kept a couple that I know I could have saved, even under their own power in a couple instances.  Reasoning: If that Cicada in the first battle on Thule could get away with one leg and no gyro, my Shadow Hawk can get away while the fusion bottle is still technically intact.

Total losses from that little spate of (painful) conscience include the Brutus (ow), one of the Hetzers, the Vedette, and the Prowler I 'salvaged' for parts.  The other Hetzer I abandoned, as did I Night's Locust, so I'm saying that both of those were recovered while the pilots and crew were at the same time.

That leaves me with a total of: One infantry platoon, one aerospace fighter, one combat vehicle (which will still be out of action next week as penance), and a total of ten 'Mechs of varying sizes and damage.  Of those 'Mechs, the Locust and Shadow Hawk will be out of action for at least a week each, and the Shadow Hawk will be out for a month, due to the fact that it was literally a fusion engine and cockpit held together with a few spare rivets at the end of the engagement.

With all that in mind, the new TO&E for equipment is as follows:

11th Heavy Combat Lance "Daybreakers"
   Major Caden "Easy" Webb, Awesome AWS-8Q, 3/5 (The_E)
   Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman, Awesome AWS-8Q, 4/4 (Dragon)
   Corporal Jean "Werewolf" Vidal, Crab CRB-20, 4/6 (SpardaSon21)
   Corporal Richard "Night" Adeboro, Locust LCT-1E, 5/6 (NGTM-1R)
   
12th Medium Combat Lance
   Captain Bowen "Polly" Borham, Phoenix Hawk PXH-1D, 2/5 (Polpolion)
   Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs, Grasshopper GHR-5N, 3/4
   Corporal Alan "Bongo" Fisting, Vindicator VND-1R, 4/6 (dsockwell)
   Corporal Dereje bin Hassan, Wasp WSP-1M, 6/5 (Esarai)

2nd Light Aerospace Wing
   Lieutenant Chris "Tophat" Valsan, Sparrowhawk SPR-H5 (HerraTohtori)

3rd Jump Infantry Company
   Lieutenant Rostislav "Soos" Kalakay, 4

Unassigned
   Coporal Ian "Patriot" Fatin, Wasp WSP-1M, 5/6 (Patriot)
   Everybody who was in a vehicle.

All techs have stayed the same.

After the realization that Hard Light Brigade vehicles are terrible, unlucky fire magnets, I have decided to refit the Hetzer we still have to an artillery support vehicle.  The AC/20 is gone, replaced instead by a Thumper field artillery piece and a few tons of ammo for it.  As soon as that modification is complete, the Artillery Hetzer will immediately begin supporting Brigade assets in a close artillery support function.  And there was much rejoicing from the crew, who have been nearly killed both times it went out.  Now they won't be dealing with that **** any more.

Repairs begin in earnest.  There's a lot of them, but fortunately the biggest, baddest hitters on the team were also the least damaged.  Easy's Awesome rolls out of the bay by the end of the week, and Rapier's looks fit to follow it not hours later.  On the other end of the spectrum, Bongo's Vindicator is on the slate for a rebuild of the entire lower structure, and Patriot's Wasp is going to be in for even longer.  Fortunately, only one of them is actually assigned to a lance right now, so I'm not really sorry to say that Patriot's Wasp is of a very much lower priority right now.  The other good news is that Polly's Phoenix Hawk only needs a few repairs done to the Right Leg and then to replace the armor, and it's good to go.  If I do come up with a mission where he's to be deployed, I can very well just slap the armor on and hope that it doesn't get tested without repairing the leg fully.  Welcome to Thule, everybody.

Medical problems are also dealt with effectively.  Dr. Bones manages to heal a sum total of 11 hits on his first day working on lots of patients, which means he's well on his way toward winning a ribbon for it.  Good job!  Day two brings that up to 21.  At the very least, he's now qualified to win a Red Light, with Yellow Light still up in the air.  A round of applause to our medical crew.  Notable nagging injuries include Polly and Night, both of whom are ready and able to deploy despite their minor dizziness and headaches.  At least, they better be.

Monday rolls around, so it's time to formalize the reconsolidation and reorganization.  The 11th and 12th, Heavy and Medium strength respectively, are officially kitted out to drop with an hour's notice.  2nd Aerospace Wing is sortied once every eight hours for a two hour high-altitude reconnaissance flight.  3rd Jump Platoon is similarly on one-hour status to be ready to engage SAR.

Turns out there's one battle this week.  Hide and Seek as attacker.

Quote from: Pre-Briefing
There's a reason Tophat has been sortieing three times a day every day since BRAWL went down.  His surveillance has kept the Hussar unit that did the deed in view the entire time, and we know exactly where they are.  Once Brawl went down, and the 12th and 13th were forced to withdraw, the Hussars quit the field, perhaps fearing an additional combat against the still relatively fresh - and newly pissed off - Daybreakers.  They withdrew, allowing the Brigade repair teams to drag a few otherwise inoperable units off the field.  Most were still lost.

The Daybreakers continued on mission, using the window gained from the Hussars' retreat to take the research facility that was the initial objective, mere hours behind the initial schedule, and well within contingency schedule limits.  Now, objective secured and with the newly reformed 12th Medium Combat Lance conducting a guard operation, the Daybreakers are free to exact revenge on the fleeing Hussars.  In the interim, the Hussars have managed to functionally repair most of their units, though any vehicles have long been left behind in the frigid cold.  What's left for the Daybreakers to hunt down is a pair of Medium lances.

As soon as the Hussars realized they were being actively tracked by Brigade aerospace assets, they immediately fled to the closest population center on this continent, a city by the name of Umpikuja, where they took up positions designed to inflict serious punishment on anyone that dares root them out.  The Daybreakers are up to the challenge, and will approach from the North side of town.

Meteorological surveys report a moderate winter storm approaching the city, which should hit less than an hour before Brigade forces enter the outskirts.  Forecast calls for a good amount of snow.  Temperature for the operation is projected to be a balmy -37 centigrade.

After reviewing battlecam footage from BRAWL, Captain Roberts has put out a 5,000 credit bonus for whoever can down Captain Lewis Cameron and his Trebuchet.

Mission at a glance
Name: Operation: PAYBACK
Time: Wednesday, 20 June 3049
Terrain: Town-Concrete
Size: 20x25
Conditions: Daylight, Medium Snow
Start Positions: Friendly North, Enemy Center.
Victory Conditions: Destroy four (4) enemy units while losing no more than one (1) friendly 'Mech.

Enemy forces consist of surviving enemy 'Mechs from Operation: LIGHT HAMMER, a two lances of Medium and Light 'Mechs.  Exact composition:

Captain Lewis Cameron, Trebuchet TBT-5N, 2/4
Hermes III HER-4K, 3/3
Scorpion SCP-1N, 3/5
Scorpion SCP-1N, 3/5

Cicada CDA-2A, 2/5
Locust LCT-3V, 4/3
Mongoose MON-67, 4/4
Hermes HER-1B, 3/5


Summary: This one should be.... interesting.  No vehicles to die early and give away the victory, but at the same time the numbers aren't favorable, despite the reorganized lances.  I expect Easy and Rapier to be doing most of the fighting, as with Awesomes they can both take and deal more damage per turn than damn near any three of the enemy 'Mechs.  That, and both Awesomes have already made good acquaintance with half of these 'Mechs, so getting to put them down for good would feel pretty nice.

In other news: No recruits this week, and our Techs stumbled upon a minor cache of parts in the research lab.  No one can figure out what they do at a curious glance, though, so it'll probably be until we get desperate and try slapping them on something before we figure out what they are.  Essentially, I got five "parts", of which I choose what they are when I decide to use them.  I got them from the Event Roll this week, which came up with the result "Bonus Roll".  That result came up with "1d6 Parts" and I rolled a five.  These parts can be literally anything, and I get them without paying for them or having to roll for availability.  Obviously, I could horridly abuse this gift and demand that I found five 400 XL engines, but I don't like to cheat like that.

Now that all that is accounted for, the next thing to do is play out the next scene of the Hard Light Brigade adventures on Thule.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: SpardaSon21 on August 17, 2013, 11:40:17 pm
I say march the Awesomes right up to their faces, blasting PPC shots while I support from the rear and the Locust tries very hard to not get noticed because it is a Locust and will melt the second something with a gun looks at it.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Droid803 on August 18, 2013, 12:08:52 am
Quote
I have decided to refit the Hetzer we still have to an artillery support vehicle.  The AC/20 is gone, replaced instead by a Thumper field artillery piece and a few tons of ammo for it.
A G.W. (Geschutzwagen) Hetzer, hmm?
Who's gonna end up being the scumbag(s) driving it?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 18, 2013, 12:19:35 am
Quote
I have decided to refit the Hetzer we still have to an artillery support vehicle.  The AC/20 is gone, replaced instead by a Thumper field artillery piece and a few tons of ammo for it.
A G.W. (Geschutzwagen) Hetzer, hmm?
Who's gonna end up being the scumbag(s) driving it?

Same scumbags as last time.  Whichever Hetzer crew doesn't have Nancy Ma in it, since she skirts death more often than I'm comfortable with.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: SpardaSon21 on August 18, 2013, 12:20:34 am
Oh, no, this is not a G.W. Hetzer, this is something far, far worse: STURMHETZER.

(And I'm pretty sure the G.W. is for Granatwerfer, not Gesuechtzwagen as that name belongs to the Hotchkiss tanks converted to carry the PaK 40 as tank destroyers.)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scourge of Ages on August 18, 2013, 12:45:50 am
Scorpion's (-Joshua-) Hetzer took the least damage last mission, since Dire's exploded a little, so that's probably the refitted one. I notice that it has two NPCs instead of named characters in the gunner and driver positions though...

Volunteering for a transfer to the Sturmhetzer, sir!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Droid803 on August 18, 2013, 06:29:35 pm
Oh, no, this is not a G.W. Hetzer, this is something far, far worse: STURMHETZER.

(And I'm pretty sure the G.W. is for Granatwerfer, not Gesuechtzwagen as that name belongs to the Hotchkiss tanks converted to carry the PaK 40 as tank destroyers.)

Welp don't blame me I just took it from this picture (http://wiki.worldoftanks.com/images/0/00/GWtiger1.jpg) so if I got it wrong, then whoever made this picture got it wrong.

And isn't the Sturm- prefix used for assault guns (which it already was, prior to conversion)? :p
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on August 18, 2013, 08:01:14 pm
Welp don't blame me I just took it from this picture (http://wiki.worldoftanks.com/images/0/00/GWtiger1.jpg) so if I got it wrong, then whoever made this picture got it wrong.

And isn't the Sturm- prefix used for assault guns (which it already was, prior to conversion)? :p

GW...might be correct here. Geschutzwagon translates roughly as "gun vehicle" and is a designation given to unarmored or minimally-armored vehicles that carry artillery.

More likely, however, everyone is wrong. The Hetzer is a fully-armored vehicle no matter what gun it carries, and fully-armored vehicles are always Panzers. (Separating them from Geschutzwagons and Waffentragers.) The proper method of reference is probably Panzerhaubitze (PzH) Hetzer (or in other words "armored howitzer").

This is why you don't leave me without a 'Mech, people, I get pendantic.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 18, 2013, 08:12:50 pm
You actually still have a 'Mech.  The Locust is actually set to drop for Operation PAYBACK simply because I grouped the jumpers and non-jumpers that could actually move and put them together.

Besides, it's clear to me after a few games with the Hetzers that the correct term is Granatpanzer. ;)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: IronBeer on August 18, 2013, 08:53:22 pm
Besides, it's clear to me after a few games with the Hetzers that the correct term is Granatpanzer. ;)
Terminology aside, how are we going to actually handle this nascent artillery group? Are the arty vehicle(s) going to be in their own lance?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 18, 2013, 08:54:52 pm
Arty is going to be handled much like aero assets are right now.  Vehicles in the Brigade simply explode too much for me to risk them in the direct combat role anymore.  Instead, they'll be doing damage and stuff off-screen.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on August 18, 2013, 09:46:01 pm
Despite its bad reputation, if we salvage an SCP-1N at any point, I'm more than willing to drive it. It'd actually fit in okay with the recon team if I remember the speed set well.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on August 19, 2013, 12:38:08 pm
As a 6/9 mech, it is nice in a support role for recon teams.

And the PPC doesn't hurt either, seems like can't have enough of the bloody things in here xD
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Herra Tohtori on September 10, 2013, 04:45:16 am
Any news? I've been doing three recon sorties a day for over three weeks now, battle fatigue is starting to set in...
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on September 10, 2013, 12:23:03 pm
New job has been eating copious amounts of time.  So has ME3 multi. :P  And, unfortunately, so has the difficulty of most missions.  At this rate, we'll be very, very lucky to even make it to Clans.  I believe NGTM-1R had the same problem during the first X-COM EU playthrough in that it's really difficult to keep going when all your named people keep coming back with crippling injuries or worse.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Phantom Hoover on September 10, 2013, 02:18:56 pm
Do I have anything to do again
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on September 27, 2013, 11:22:25 am
Unfortunately, and to my great disappointment, I'm going to have to stop this one (as if I had made any progress this month anyway).  A disagreement with the developers of MegaMek means I won't be using it until they fix something sensitive, and from the reaction I got that's not very likely.

For those curious: There's currently a pilot special ability in the BattleTech rules called "Jumping Jack" that makes it easier to hit something while jumping (+1, which is much better than the normal +3).  MegaMek added its own special ability halfway in between (+2), and called it "Jumping Jill"... which makes it categorically worse in every conceivable way.  When I mentioned it, I got told my opinion was horse **** and I should grow up and get over it.  Naturally, I won't be supporting that kind of attitude.  Most unfortunate.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Phantom Hoover on September 27, 2013, 11:31:52 am
Oh god, I hope IronBeer's LP is safe!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Polpolion on September 27, 2013, 12:12:26 pm
That seems like a pretty silly reason to refuse to use the software, tbh. Especially when you could roll your own build with the feature removed.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: IronBeer on September 27, 2013, 02:50:09 pm
Oh god, I hope IronBeer's LP is safe!
Relax. I'm not planning on very frequent updates, but I plan to keep picking at the LP for a good long while. Barring any catastrophic !!FUN!! that is.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on September 27, 2013, 06:02:33 pm
That seems like a pretty silly reason to refuse to use the software, tbh. Especially when you could roll your own build with the feature removed.

MegaMek has always presented themselves as a mechanized version of the tabletop exactly. Breaking from that is Kind Of A Big Deal
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on September 27, 2013, 06:09:34 pm
Breaking from the table top isn't why I would refuse to use it (they've had unofficial stuff for years, always marked "Unofficial" or "Legacy").  I'd refuse to use it because of the casual misogyny.

That said, Taharqa, the lead developer, did the next best thing, and agreed to change the name.  I still won't use that particular ability, in all likelihood for entirely different reasons (I just don't use it much), but the issue is mostly resolved.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Phantom Hoover on September 27, 2013, 06:21:19 pm
does this mean you will be continuing it or what
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on November 16, 2013, 07:14:12 pm
So, to keep this from totally dying, and because I feel like spreading around some of my homebrew designs, here is what happens to the Hard Light Brigade.  Obviously I haven't actually played out these battles.  Hello, author fiat.

Timeline of Events: Hard Light Industries

January 1, 3049 – Hard Light Brigade officially incorporated as a mercenary company.  CO: Major Caden “Easy” Webb.  CEO: Stan “Strobe” Roberts.

February 19, 3049 – Major Webb and the rest of the Brigade conduct anti-pirate operations in the St. Ives Commonality, on the planet Milos.  The Brigade unexpectedly lands almost literally atop the pirate base in the region, and over the course of nearly 15 minutes of heated combat deals a decisive defeat to the pirates.  Then-Corporal Anders “Rapier” Bullman lays the foundation for a brilliant career by single-handedly annihilating an entire company of pirate raiders during the engagement.

June 7, 3049 – Repaired and fully rested after the Milos contract, the Brigade is enlisted to support a full planetary invasion in the newly-formed Free Rasalhague Republic.

June 20, 3049 – During brutal fighting in the frozen north of the planet Thule, Major Webb is crippled by then-Captain Lewis Cameron of the FRR First Hussars regiment.  By September, Colonel Lewis is directly responsible for the destruction of six Brigade 'Mechs.

July/August, 3049 – Combat on Thule goes poorly for the Brigade.  Despite the defenders' numerical inferiority against the invaders, several incidences of promised reinforcements from their Combine allies result in numerous Brigade defeats.

September 1, 3049 – Elements of the 1st Hussars cripple the 14th Legion of Vega's command structure, personally led by Colonel Lewis and his Trebuchet, and the Combine begins to withdraw.  Combine dropships “forget” the Brigade is on-planet, and retreat without the mercenaries.

September 13, 3049 – Sergeant Major Bullman scores the second phenomenal victory of his career, engaging a full lance of Hussar 'Mechs by himself while dependents and support personnel for the Brigade retreat.  All four Hussar 'Mechs are destroyed, but Bullman is shot down by Hussar reinforcements and captured.

November 18, 3049 – Hounded for greater than two months across three continents, the Brigade is finally cornered and forced to surrender to the FRR garrison.  Despite the bitter fighting, Hard Light members are treated favorably by the greatly impressed Hussars. 

November 22, 3049 – After four days of hospitable treatment, the planetary governor of Thule, one Bernard Forsythe, buys out the remainder of the Brigade's contract upon ComStar arbitration. The interstellar communication conglomerate rules that by abandoning the mercenary group, the Draconis Combine had severely breached its side of the contract.

November 23, 3049 – The Hard Light Brigade is officially contracted by the Free Rasalhague Republic as a garrison force on Thule, though their strength after five months of combat against the cream of the Kungsarme crop is barely a lance of 'Mechs and single platoon of foot infantry.

December 25, 3049 – During their first engagement in the employ of the FRR, the Brigade savages a 14th Legion of Vega raiding party.  Master Sergeant Bullman, piloting the same Awesome he had been shot out of three months prior, personally decapitates the Combine commander.

January 1, 3050– One year to the day after its formation, the Hard Light Brigade consists of six 'Mechs, two Aerospace fighters, and one lance of artillery vehicles.  Nearly all of the growth between November and this point has come as payment from the FRR in lieu of hard currency.  Despite the lack of liquid capital, the 1st Hussars have provided full support to the mercenaries.  Several of the pilots and techs raise concerns about a “company store” scheme by the FRR.

February 19, 3050 – One year to the day after its first battle, the 14th Legion of Vega returns to the planet of Thule in battalion strength.  An initial beachhead is established in the “south”, and the Brigade is scrambled to engage.

March 1, 3050 – With the Draconis Combine forces on the run and numbering barely more than a dozen in number, victory seems all but assured for the Brigade.  Nine hours later, unidentified dropships issue a challenge to the defenders on the ground.  Lieutenant Arnold “Piper” Pettigrew is shot down attempting to investigate at impossibly long ranges.

March 7, 3050 – Six days after approaching seemingly decisive victory, the Brigade is once again in shambles.  Four combat units are still capable, supported by a skilled by tattered platoon of infantry, solely because the Brigade still plays host to an entire company (and more) worth of techs focused on that single mixed lance.  Captain Bullman is the senior surviving 'Mech pilot in his Awesome, along with Master Sergeant Richard “Night” Adeboro in a Phoenix Hawk salvaged over the course of the contract.  A modified Hetzer artillery vehicle rounds out the ground forces, and Captain Chris “Tophat” Valsan sports the sole remaining intact aerospace fighter on the planet.  Major Webb, since his injury, has remained Commanding Officer, but switched to a support role within the company.

The invaders, since learned to call themselves of “Clan Ghost Bear” take a special interest in Captain Bullman after he destroys a pair of Black Hawk Omnimechs in a duel.

March 8, 3050 – The Brigade's contract with the FRR reaches its “official” end.  The Prince of Rasalhague, recognizing that the Clans are a threat to the very existence of his fledgeling state, personally extends an offer to Major Webb.  Accept a contract extension, or be left behind as what remains of the Hussars retreat off-world.

March 15, 3050 – Despite immediately accepting the contract extension, it takes nearly a week for FRR dropships to arrive and pick-up the weary defenders.  No contact is made with Clan aerospace assets, despite their obvious presence.  Minutes before boarding the dropships, the Brigade is interrupted by a Clan “Star” of 'Mechs.  Their commander, Star Captain Quentin Kabrinsky, challenges Captain Bullman to a “Trial of Possession” for the Brigade's remaining personnel.

Over the course of the next six minutes, Captain Bullman cements his status as one of the Inner Sphere's premier pilots by systematically disabling and forcing the surrender of the Clan commander's Mad Cat.  When an upstart warrior of the remaining Star attempts to engage the victorious Awesome, Captain Bullman calmly lands three PPC hits in quick succession on the Loki's torso, destroying the engine.  The entire second engagement lasts less than ten seconds, and results in no damage to Bullman's 'Mech.  No other Clan 'Mechs attempt to engage, and the Brigade, now with two Clan 'Mechs salvaged off the field of battle and a Clan officer as a prisoner, escapes Thule.

March 29, 3050 – After two weeks of dedicated, nearly non-stop work, Captain Bullman becomes the first Inner Sphere pilot in the FRR to turn the Clans' Omnimechs against them.  Due to the nature of the Mad Cat's damage taken during his duel, Captain Bullman is forced to pilot a “custom” configuration of the powerful Omni, switching the five lost double heatsinks from the formerly A config's arms for an additional Streak SRM system, as well as a the Loki's electronics equipment.  Brigade techs experience the modular nature of the Omnimech firsthand, developing essential experience with the equipment.

April 4, 3050 – Another week after Captain Bullman's Mad Cat walks out of the repair gantry, he records his first kill in the 'Mech.  Significant experience fighting the Clans on multiple worlds encourages him to use their system of honor against them.  Though the fight is close, Captain Bullman successfully challenges and destroys Star Captain Helen Jorgensson's Executioner in single combat.

April 10, 3050 – With 42 kills to his credit, including no less than eight Clan Omnimechs, Captain Bullman is the single most experienced pilot to fight the Clans.  The rest of the Brigade quietly supports their champion, as his presence distracts many Clan pilots, and keeps attention away from other Brigade assets.  At this point, the Brigade re-christens a second lance – including the Loki salvaged on Thule.  With six 'Mechs, nearly a third of the Brigade 'Mech strength is composed of Clan equipment – and the Awesome Captain Bullman initially piloted receives Clan tech as well.

May 13, 3050 – Despite the best efforts of the Trondheim militia and the Brigade, Clan forces take the planet.  Recognizing the writing on the wall, the Prince releases the Brigade from their contract.

June/July 3050 – Against Captain Bullman's advice, the brigade sells the two Omnimechs salvaged from the Clans for an exorbitant price (in the form of a functional 'Mech production line) from the Free Worlds League.  Captain Bullman learns his Awesome has been upgraded with Clan weapons, and instantly stops complaining.

August 3050 – The Hard Light Brigade mercenary command is officially disbanded.  Hard Light Industries is formed, intent on using the production line to drive profit.  Pilots are allowed to leave the company if they so desire, while any and all Techs that stay on board are offered substantial bonuses.  Planning work immediately begins on retooling the line to produce a new variant of Hermes II geared toward effectively fighting the Clans, based on the extensive experience that the pilots of the company have accrued.

April 3052 – The first contribution of Hard Light Industries in a form other than line combat troops arrives in the shape of the Hermes II HER-2H.  Designed from a duelist's perspective, the -2H traded autocannon for ER PPC, flamer for medium laser, and switched to double heatsinks.  The saved tonnage went toward a third medium laser and an additional ton of armor, bringing the load to very nearly the maximum possible.  Similar to a Wolfhound in performance after the change, the -2H unfortunately suffered from the Hard Light techs' inexperience with designing new 'Mechs, and was more difficult to maintain than a normal Hermes II.  The trade-off was that Inner Sphere pilots suddenly found themselves able to engage Clan Light 'Mechs on roughly even terms.  In the early years of the Clan invasion, that was a significant step.

May 13, 3052 - “Dasher Slasher”, the only HER-2H on Tukayyid, during the climactic battle, claims its first kill – an Uller A.  It is subsequently destroyed by a point of Elementals, highlighting a change in design paradigm for the Hard Light production line.  While excellent at dueling, the -2H is specialized against 'Mechs.  A second variant, the -2H2, enters the planning stages, incorporating improved anti-infantry capabilities.

December, 3052 – Much faster than the previous variant, the -2H2 rolls off the lines in limited numbers, trading the extra ton of armor and all three medium lasers from the -2H for a single SRM-6 that comes standard with a ton of inferno ammunition.  Luck willing, the -2H2 is capable of neutralizing an entire point of Elementals in twenty seconds.  This capability is not overlooked by Inner Sphere commanders, and nearly a dozen -2H2s are sold before summer of next year.  Additionally, improved machining to mount the SRM system and tighter tolerances make the -2H2 much easier to maintain.

January 1, 3053 – Four years to the day after the initial formation of the mercenary company, the 'Mech production company celebrates the sale of its one-hundredth 'Mech from the lines.  Plans are publically unveiled for the first new 'Mech design to roll off the lines in the young company's history.  Impressive sales on the HER-2H and -2H2 spur expansion of the existing facilities to include a second production line.

[attachment deleted by an evil time traveler]
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: FireSpawn on November 16, 2013, 07:54:16 pm
(http://venturegalleries.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/And-they-lived-happily-ever-after.png)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on November 16, 2013, 07:58:15 pm
You should hold that thought.  I fully intend to explore this clear into the Civil War and Jihad.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Polpolion on November 17, 2013, 01:42:23 am
I must know: What happened to Captain Borham?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scourge of Ages on November 17, 2013, 01:46:57 am
I must know: What happened to Captain Borham?

Let's just assume that we all got pulled out of whatever smoking wrecks exploded around us safely (with some burns and junk), and led cushy lives as test pilots/fat executives.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: esarai on November 17, 2013, 11:32:22 pm
I'm kinda curious what happened to Dejere "SRI" bin Hassan.  The info is probably lost to the crypt of history, but I can't help but wonder.  For everything the HLB went through, the uncertainty bugs me.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on November 18, 2013, 12:21:59 am
If you guys really want to, I can figure up something for all of the "named" characters that went into this.  It's liable to not be very pretty for a few.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: esarai on November 18, 2013, 01:08:58 am
I signed up 75% expecting to explode spectacularly so I vote yes. Let's see what the others say.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: IronBeer on November 18, 2013, 11:48:35 am
I signed up 75% expecting to explode spectacularly so I vote yes.
Well said. I'd like to know what happened to my proxy and everybody else.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scourge of Ages on November 18, 2013, 04:33:09 pm
Sure, why not?

(The answer is because explosions)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: FireSpawn on November 18, 2013, 04:42:34 pm
Oh! Oh!I want to know if my guy's secret and completely unmentioned aspiration to create a TV show called "Pimp My 'Mech" became a reality.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 26, 2014, 08:40:05 pm
Hey guys.  MekHQ and MegaMek have recently gotten a lot more friendly to against-the-bot rules.  I've decided to avoid doing GM-y bull**** to put the unit in the middle of the worst harms way of all, and I think that in an era I'm more familiar with in terms of playing (3025) I'd be able to put together a better campaign.

Who's interested?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: esarai on August 26, 2014, 08:52:45 pm
Yo!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scourge of Ages on August 26, 2014, 09:04:39 pm
Yes!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: SpardaSon21 on August 26, 2014, 09:10:07 pm
I'm up for this.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Herra Tohtori on August 26, 2014, 09:14:48 pm
I'm in. Are you going to recycle any characters from the previous run? Top Hat never really got to do much besides flying a few recon sorties if I recall correctly. If you have use for aerospace pilots, that'd be my preference for a character, but I can deal with being a mech pilot, tanker or repair tech as well.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: niffiwan on August 26, 2014, 09:21:00 pm
Yes please!
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on August 26, 2014, 09:24:02 pm
Just stick me in an Assault 'Mech and point me towards whatever needs leveled.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 26, 2014, 09:30:05 pm
That's enough interest for me to want to do something again.  Odds are I'd recycle callsigns, but not full on characters (which won't change a lot, since I didn't have you guys pick full names last time anyway).  I'll open up a new thread for the next one once I've got a good amount of time to make a good OP.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 26, 2014, 09:42:35 pm
Everybody who wants a callsign or slot please send me a PM with callsign and preferred combat/support role.

Due to how salvage works and the fact that vehicles are fragile as ****, I will not be starting with vehicles.  MechWarriors to start, but you can put your name in for a role to come up later (infantry, vehicles, aerospace).
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 26, 2014, 11:49:16 pm
I have completed the initial company set up.  The next time I have enough free time and motivation to make a good OP, I'll slap one up in a new thread.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: TrashMan on August 27, 2014, 04:15:09 am
Ohhh.. a new run? Count me in!

I'll be you jack-of-all-trades. Stick me where you need me.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: FireSpawn on August 27, 2014, 04:04:04 pm
Well damn, sign me up!

I'd like to pilot something that will get in close, and get "Punchy"
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Hobbie on August 27, 2014, 06:22:50 pm
Yes yes yes yes yes.

I am so in on this. I might have to download the newest against-the-bot rules and have a go.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Phantom Hoover on August 27, 2014, 06:56:58 pm
i want involved
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on August 27, 2014, 07:02:38 pm
If you want to play along (or start your own campaign), you actually only need the next-to-latest MekHQ version.  It has the Against the Bot rules in its entirety, minus generating the starting company.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Hobbie on August 27, 2014, 07:37:40 pm
...Well then, there's something I can waste away my work hours doing. :P
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: NGTM-1R on August 28, 2014, 07:32:33 am
I missed signups. Oh well, time to write again. Creepy Crab, Away!

Time to fail your seatbelt check, kids.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: TrashMan on October 01, 2014, 01:29:19 am
Anything moving on this front?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Patriot on October 01, 2014, 05:13:43 am
I hope so, my own AtB campaign is getting heated up and i want inspiration :3
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on October 01, 2014, 05:11:45 pm
It's moving again as of today.  I didn't do anything with this because the recent MekHQ release had a serious problem with resolving missions (i.e. you couldn't) during a campaign, and totally forgot that new releases aren't announced on the BT forums anymore.

This has been rectified, and I'll be starting a new thread hopefully this evening.

EDIT: Feel free to suggest (serious) ideas for what to call the unit.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: FireSpawn on October 14, 2014, 07:33:59 am
How about "HLB: Bosch Beer Initiative" or "Task Force Electric Boogaloo"?
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: The E on October 14, 2014, 09:14:52 am
You're a bit too late, FireSpawn (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=88454.0)
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: FireSpawn on October 16, 2014, 02:39:43 am
I suppose this is what happens when I go dark for a month...Again.

Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on October 17, 2014, 12:33:17 am
Goddammit Firespawn.
Title: Re: Let's Play... BattleTech! Rise of the Hard Light Brigade
Post by: Scotty on October 17, 2014, 12:36:36 am
Locked so I stop mixing up which thread I'm posting in.