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 Fledgling mercenary companies are almost always green and full of old or outdated equipment, compared to their House counterparts.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, henceforth abbreviated as the "AtB" rules. The AtB rules use
MegaMek and
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 Brigade1st 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 ValorMaster 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 AwardMaster 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 RibbonMajor Caden "Easy" Webb
Lieutenant Andrew "Duck" Gibbs
Master Sergeant Anders "Rapier" Bullman
Corporal Jean "Werewolf" Vidal
Milos Campaign RibbonMajor 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 RibbonOriginal Member RibbonMajor 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]