Lets All Play Battletech and rewrite Inner Sphere history

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Pladdicus: Aug 13, 2010

Zaodai posted:

It's your movement when using MASC.

Fascinating! And terrifying!

I'm still basically paper, so, basically good securing sudden surprising flanks I suppose!

# ? Apr 25, 2016 04:59

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# ? May 25, 2024 05:08

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

Pladdicus posted:

Fascinating! And terrifying!

I'm still basically paper, so, basically good securing sudden surprising flanks I suppose!

That's why you've got two `Mechs.

Also you're a bit more resistant to energy weapons. Laser reflective armor halves the damage you take from lasers, PPCs, Plasma Cannons, Flamers, and any other energy weapon. But it's brittle so you take double damage from punches, kicks, and falls. Don't get punched.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 05:00

Zaodai: May 23, 2009; Death before dishonor?
Your terms are accepted.

And don't fall down. That pavement is slick and will force a piloting roll if you run on it, so you might just go Humpty Dumpty straight away.

I don't know if you take an even harder piloting roll if your MASCing on it.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 05:30

sebmojo: Oct 23, 2010; Legit Cyberpunk

Questions: what do the white lines round some hexes mean? Also how does movement/jumping work, can I move then jump?

I'm in the Grasshopper which is jumpy, not too heavily armed, heavily armoured and with a probe: am I right in thinking I should hoof it up to the top of that NW hill to cover it with a scan?

# ? Apr 25, 2016 05:31

dis astranagant: Dec 14, 2006

sebmojo posted:

Questions: what do the white lines round some hexes mean? Also how does movement/jumping work, can I move then jump?

I'm in the Grasshopper which is jumpy, not too heavily armed, heavily armoured and with a probe: am I right in thinking I should hoof it up to the top of that NW hill to cover it with a scan?

The white lines mark the ~~raptor pens~~ heavy woods, to contrast them better with light woods. They count double for the shooting and moving through them.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 05:36

apostateCourier: Oct 9, 2012

sebmojo posted:

Questions: what do the white lines round some hexes mean? Also how does movement/jumping work, can I move then jump?

I'm in the Grasshopper which is jumpy, not too heavily armed, heavily armoured and with a probe: am I right in thinking I should hoof it up to the top of that NW hill to cover it with a scan?

You walk, run, OR jump. You can't mix movement types.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 05:49

Ardlen: Sep 30, 2005; WoT

sebmojo posted:

Questions: Also how does movement/jumping work, can I move then jump?

You either move or jump, not both.

I'm in the Flashman, so I'm thinking of either moving northwest onto the hill to 2132 or southwest to 2137. Either way, I'll probably shoot at the Anhur in 1236.

I only have large lasers, so I don't think I am good at killing infantry.

Suggestions?

Ardlen fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Apr 25, 2016

# ? Apr 25, 2016 05:49

Corponation: Apr 21, 2007; Fantastic.

Looking at it again, I'm still tempted to take the champion to 2933. If everyone's immediately heading southwest though, it might be better to park myself closer to the group, say, hex 2434. It does put me closer to an infantry platoon, however.

Any suggestions?

# ? Apr 25, 2016 06:41

LegendairyBovine: Oct 6, 2014

Tentative orders for the Vulture are to 2039 and shoot the Anhur in hex 1035. This puts me in a decent position to shoot some of the heavier fighters next turn while still being safe from the infantry.

I think if we split fire fairly well we can disable all of the Anhurs this turn and be positioned to kill infantry or more aerospace in the next turn. We can also set ourselves up to defend against the Star of enemy mechs and the infantry if we move as a group towards the southwest.

I'm willing to take other suggestions, but if we end up wanting to split the company at all, for example to send a lance or part of a lance towards the hill just to the northwest of the tunnel, we need to make sure there is at least one active probe unit and one anti-infantry unit with each of the groups.

I also suggest we bypass/ignore the infantry in the buildings on the southeast edge of the map.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 07:02

Leperflesh: May 17, 2007

Zaodai posted:

And don't fall down. That pavement is slick and will force a piloting roll if you run on it, so you might just go Humpty Dumpty straight away.

I don't know if you take an even harder piloting roll if your MASCing on it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you only have to take a piloting roll for running on pavement if you attempt to turn on the pavement as part of your move. If you run in a straight line, you're OK.

The difficulty of the role is, I believe, related to how many hexes you're moving, so basically yeah the faster you're running the harder it is to stay upright when you try to turn. If you're MASCing it you're probably hauling rear end.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 07:06

GhostofJohnMuir: Aug 14, 2014; anime is not good

Gwaihir posted:

I think you can run all the way to 1739 and open up on the Visigoths or Vandals and kick the Anhur for good measure.

This sounds good, but I think i'll unload all guns into the Anhur directly adjacent just to keep both of the medium lasers in short range.

So unless someone raises some objection, sometime tomorrow i'll submit orders to run to 1739, fire all weapons into the nearest Anhur and then give it a kick.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 07:25

TheParadigm: Dec 10, 2009

Leperflesh posted:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you only have to take a piloting roll for running on pavement if you attempt to turn on the pavement as part of your move. If you run in a straight line, you're OK.

The difficulty of the role is, I believe, related to how many hexes you're moving, so basically yeah the faster you're running the harder it is to stay upright when you try to turn. If you're MASCing it you're probably hauling rear end.

This is something to talk to PTN about, but I believe masc uses walking modifiers, not running. It might dodge 'running on pavement' entirely. Don't quote me on that, though.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 07:40

Loxbourne: Apr 6, 2011; Tomorrow, doom!
But now, tea.

Screamer pilot, signing in.

My armament is wasted on infantry and I want to use my range, so I'm thinking of jumping aggressively up the hill and sniping. The danger is being the only target on the field for return fire, but this turn I don't see anything that can really shoot back. Just gotta decide who best needs plasma-y death.

Is there a Google doc being set up?

# ? Apr 25, 2016 08:05

mcjomar: Jun 11, 2012; Grimey Drawer

P-Hawk pilot checking in.
With ECM and BAP I'm wondering if I should help gun down/reveal the nearby infantry using my LPL and jumpjets to my advantage, or go charge over towards the nearest grounded flying thing and shoot that?

Seafox infantry squads are currently listed as having ACE status, so I don't know if shooting those will work out well?

I'm debating running to 1840 or 1940 so I can shoot the big birds and avoid the infantry - maybe I should leave them to people with machine guns and flamers?
If I hit 1840 then a lot of the southern woods will also be in range of my BAP, so if there's something hiding there I might reveal it that way?

The other option is jumping to 2332 facing north west so I can still try to shoot the grounded fighters, but also reveal the northern woods (some of them anyway).

# ? Apr 25, 2016 08:41

sebmojo: Oct 23, 2010; Legit Cyberpunk

Loxbourne posted:

Screamer pilot, signing in.

My armament is wasted on infantry and I want to use my range, so I'm thinking of jumping aggressively up the hill and sniping. The danger is being the only target on the field for return fire, but this turn I don't see anything that can really shoot back. Just gotta decide who best needs plasma-y death.

Is there a Google doc being set up?

I have some range, a probe and lots of armour so I'll come with you. Happy to take suggestions though.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 10:32

RA Rx: Mar 24, 2016

How do you define turning while running?

# ? Apr 25, 2016 11:56

SIGSEGV: Nov 4, 2010

If you need to use more than your walk value of MP to reach your destination, you are running. Don't forget that each one-hexside turn requires an MP. (This means that doing a 180� on rain-slick concrete in a 2/3/0 mech is risking a fall.)

# ? Apr 25, 2016 11:57

Scintilla: Aug 24, 2010; I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

For new players, here's a handy post made by user TheGate four years ago regarding movement and line of sight rules:

The Gate posted:

How to Kill Mechs and Make Friends

So, it seems like we have a lot of new players in here, and while there's been a ton of advice for them, most of it quite good, it's also scattered all over the thread. The same sorts of questions seem to get asked a lot, and part of that seems to be the complicated, and sometimes confusing, rules of the game. So, hopefully, this can serve as a sort of quick(ish) reference and a newbie guide for how to kill things and generally not die in Battletech.

First things first, movement modifiers (and we'll toss in other things that affect your chances to hit as well)! They're fairly basic and straightforward, and very important, so it's a good starting point. So, movement affects shooting in Battletech in two ways: how fast you move affects your chances to hit, and how far you've moved affects how hard you are to be hit by the enemy. For starters all mechs and vehicles have a Run/Walk value for their speeds. Some units also have a Jump value, and they're shown as something like 5/8/5. Those numbers indicate how many hexes your mech can move/turn. Running speed is always 1.5 times your walking speed, rounded up. Jumping MP is capped at your Walking MP when building a mech, until later-era tech shows up. If you take actuator damage, or are overheating certain amounts, your Walking MP is lowered, and then you recalculate your Run speed. Jumping MP is only lowered when you lose Jump Jets. So, losing 1 MP on a 5/8/5 mech would make you 4/6/5. -2 MP would leave you at 3/5/5.

When you move, changing your facing one hexside costs 1 MP, moving a hex costs 1 MP, entering a light woods costs 1 extra MP, heavy woods is +2 MP, and elevation changes are +1 per height difference. You can only enter a hex that is at most 2 hexes higher or lower than yourself without falling. So, if a mech wanted to turn to the right one hex, and move into a heavy woods that was 2 levels higher, that would cost 6 MP(1 for turning + 1 for the move + 2 for height + 2 heavy woods)!

If your mech moves at walking speed it suffers a +1 to hit any targets when you shoot. If it runs, it will suffer a +2 to hit. Jumping is a +3. How hard you are to hit, though, depends on how far you moved. Chart time:
pre:
Hexes Moved      Modifier
0-2                 +0
3-4                 +1
5-6                 +2
7-9                 +3
10+                 +4
Jumping          add'l +1
You can get a +5 by moving something crazy like 17 hexes or something, but really, that's not going to happen until we're in Fire Moths or much better tech, so don't worry about it. In an ideal world, if you move, you want to move so that your opponent is taking a higher penalty than you are inflicting on yourself (or the same penalty at the worst). So, if you walk, you really want to try and move at least 3 hexes so both you, and any targets, are at +1 to hit. If you run, you want to try for at least +2. Jumping is a special case, though! When you jump, you add a +1 to the enemies chances to hit you. Jumping for 5 hexes for example, gets you +3, which is the 'magic number' for jumps. If you can't jump 5+ hexes, you really only want to use it if you really have to avoid terrain or getting shot in the back. Obviously, Assault mechs have a hard time managing this. Slower heavies can have a rough time of it as well, where most mediums and lights can manage without too much trouble as long as the ground isn't too hilly/covered in trees.

Something to try and do, is plan 2 moves in the future. Don't necessarily make it exact, but try and have a path ahead of you that will let you maintain your highest mod possible. In a perfect world, you can always give your enemies more penalties than yourself! With a 5/8 for example, you'd want to try and set yourself up to walk forwards or backwards 5 hexes, or run 7. Running 7 means you only have the MP to change hex facing 1 turn or to go up or down 1 level of height, so looking at the terrain ahead of yourself can really help from keeping you getting boxed in and then targeted by multiple enemies as you suddenly lose a lot of speed turning around or changing heights.

Ranges are the next most important thing to consider, usually. Short range is no mod, medium is +2, and long is +4. Each weapon has different ranges, and some weapons have minimum ranges, which add +1 for each hex into that range you are. LRMs for example have a minimum range of 6, so firing them at range 5 would add +2 to your odds to hit. Look at your weapon ranges, and if you have longer ranges than your target, use that to your advantage! Stop a few hexes further away, sit in your short range, but their medium! If you can get a +2 movement mod, and stay in your enemies' medium range, that is better than moving for a +3 and ending up in his short range (+4 total vs +3 total). With Clan weapons, generally speaking, your ranges are worse than theirs, so unless your firing large energy weapons or LRM's against heavy autocannons or medium/small lasers, just assume you have worse range and go as fast as you can.

Last is cover and terrain mods. Light woods add +1 for each wood you are firing though. Heavy woods add +2 for each one. A unit standing in a hex with trees gets the bonus, as do units which are behind them. Partial cover is cover that is one height higher than the ground a mech is standing on, and that the mech is adjacent to. So a mech at height 0 standing next to a level 1 hill has partial cover against anyone firing across it at them. Partial cover adds +1 to hit, and any shots that roll leg locations are blocked by the cover. Small buildings can do this as well. It is important to note that a unit can only see through a certain number of woods hexes before LoS is blocked completely. 3 Light woods, 2 Heavy woods, or 1 Light and 1 Heavy woods will block LoS to anything past them. Hexes that a unit occupies do not count for this LoS blocking effect, but they still add their normal to-hit penalty. So a mech that was behind 2 Light woods, and standing in a Heavy woods would be visible, but would also have a +4 to be hit! Woods are great!

Line of Sight in Battletech is abstracted. It's necessary, but it really makes no sense when you look at it on a map, so I'm going to attempt to explain it. Mechs are considered 2 levels taller than the hex they stand on, as are trees. Therefore, forests that are on the same level as a firing mech will block Line of Sight if the target is on the same level or lower than the shooter only! If the trees are on a lower level than the shooter, they will never block LoS unless the mech is standing in them or is directly adjacent to them! It doesn't matter if the mechs are 15 hexes (450m) apart and only 1 height lower (5-10m or so), those lasers will make a right turn after they pass the trees and hit the mech without cover. Buildings and cliffs or other sudden height changes will only block LoS if they are in total higher than the highest mech or the lower target is directly adjacent to a building or cliff that is at least height 2!

Hopefully this picture shows up alright.

The Exterminator and the BattleMaster have no obstructions between them, LoS is clear. If the Exterminator were to fire upon the BattleMaster, however, the Light woods in the Battlemaster's hex would give it +1 to be hit. The Archer and the Exterminator can also see each other, but both units would have +2 to hit each other since the woods between them is the same height as the highest mech, the Exterminator, and since the Archer is adjacent to them. The Archer and the BattleMaster cannot see each other at all, there are 2 Heavy woods in the way on the same level as the BattleMaster, therefore no LoS can be drawn at all!

In this example, the Commando cannot see the Crusader, since the Crusader is directly adjacent to a building that is between itself and the Commando, and taller than the Crusader. The other two mechs cannot see each other since a building taller than either is in the way.

In this final example, the Commando and Crusader now have LoS to each other since the Crusader is no longer directly adjacent to the wall. Note that this would be true, even if the wall were infinitely long, and the Commando were infinitely far away on top of the infinite wall. It also would not matter if the wall were 500m tall instead of the 15m or so it probably is. Battletech gives no fucks about your geometry and angles!

A last note about Line of Sight. If you draw a line and it passes along the flat edge where two hexes meet, objects in one of the two hexes it is going between count against your line of sight. So if there's two Light woods in the way, and you skim the edge of a third, you're not going to have LoS. Technically the target decides LoS in these cases, but they have no reason to give you LoS, since you could simply deny it back and shoot them for free. Tall buildings can block LoS in these cases as well, which makes LoS in cities very tough to get.

So, now that we have all the modifiers out of the way, I'm going to give you some general tips. I've seen a lot of people overheating mechs on really really poor odds to hit, which hurts a lot. Not only are you most likely overheating for no reason, you're only making it worse on yourself in future turns as well. You can lose speed, and inflict targeting penalties upon yourself, which means you've crippled your damage output on the next turn where it might otherwise have been superior.

So, when is overheating worth it? Personally, only when you have good odds to hit, or are taking decent odds on very weak armor like someone's back or completely unarmored torso slots with armor or engine/gyro slots you could hit. So, what are good odds to hit? Contrary to what a lot of people tell you, 7's to hit are not good odds. It's about a 55% chance, which is only about half your shots landing. 7's are decent, but 5's are where I consider it a good idea to go overheat yourself if you can 1)do serious damage, 2)not get crippled in return (or your target is much more valuable than yourself), 3)or aren't going to be targeted by much anyway. 7's or 8's are okay if you're gunning for rear armor or critically damaged areas, you might get lucky. We all know luck is a part of Battletech! But make sure you're not going to be stuck in the open, nowhere to run the next turn. Doing a bunch of damage in one volley that scatters all over a mech and doesn't penetrate anything while you get vaporized the next turn is vastly worse than doing 75% of that damage for 7 or 8 more turns instead.

Overheating is also fine on mechs with decent jump jet range. You can hop into woods, over a building, behind most things that can shoot you, to long ranges, whatever. Anything to block LoS or make you very hard to hit while you cool off the next turn. Anything that can jump more than 5 hexes in this tech era is amazing at doing this, just be careful not to fall down on your alpha strike turn and lose your chance to jump away.

Always try to be as hard to hit as possible without screwing yourself out of a chance to hit. Risky maneuvers are exactly that. Be sure that your attempt for glory doesn't have you hitting on 9's or something that essentially guarantees you will fail and die unless it's your last turn as a functional war machine, or you're just trying to be .

Always assume you have not fired enough guns at the enemy. Unless something's CT is breached, or you're about to chop off a leg, it is not about to die, I don't care how much armor it is missing. You have great odds at not hitting weak locations, even with PTN's magically insane dice rolling, and if you're counting on hitting just the right spot for a kill, you really need to overdo it. You can't count on ammo explosions to finish guys off. It takes about 4-7 hits to nail any one specific non-head location on average. So, sure, maybe you only need 2 hits in the CT to kill something, that will probably take about 8 landed hits to accomplish! People have said there's no such thing as overkill, and it's true.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 12:00

sebmojo: Oct 23, 2010; Legit Cyberpunk

Thanks, that's awesome.

What's the game effect of mud?

# ? Apr 25, 2016 12:16

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

sebmojo posted:

Thanks, that's awesome.

What's the game effect of mud?

PoptartsNinja posted:

Utterly meaningless unless you're a tank.

Then it's a nightmare from which there is no escape.

To elaborate, vehicles suffer a +1 driving penalty and non-hover vehicles burn 1 additional MP on mud. BattleMechs ignore the effects of mud completely. The only reason it's mentioned is because heavy rain automatically turns every non-concrete hex into a mud hex.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 12:26

RA Rx: Mar 24, 2016

SIGSEGV posted:

If you need to use more than your walk value of MP to reach your destination, you are running. Don't forget that each one-hexside turn requires an MP. (This means that doing a 180� on rain-slick concrete in a 2/3/0 mech is risking a fall.)

Thanks!

What defines turning while running though? I've seen a lot of seeming turns in these matches that went without pilot rolls, as long as they didn't turn twice...?

---

You might all want to divide your Anhurs, since a single medium's alpha on called locations should be enough for each of them.
A few of you could probably kill two.

Physicals from units on the runway will be key to wiping the tougher aerospace in subsequent turns, as firepower is drawn away.

PoptartsNinja posted:

Well, the field is 33x49, which is 1,619 hexes. Up to four lightning strikes happen each turn. So assuming I roll 6s every turn for 15 turns that means as many as 60 hexes will get struck by lightning.

My money's on none.

But if this goes on for 8,640 turns per day, with 2.5 lighting strikes per round for 21,600 or about 13 hits per hex/sol (for an average of about a hit every two hours), wouldn't they eventually be wiped out from guard duty in this weather?

I guess the Republic specifically ordered this to happen when the weather turned the worst, but the Clans being the Clans decided it was the best time to bid an exercise.

RA Rx fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Apr 25, 2016

# ? Apr 25, 2016 13:27

SIGSEGV: Nov 4, 2010

RA Rx posted:

What defines turning while running though? I've seen a lot of seeming turns in these matches that went without pilot rolls, as long as they didn't turn twice...?

Any hexside changing maneuver is a turn, it's just only dangerous if you have to use running MP to complete your move and the hex you turn on is of the specific terrain concrete.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 13:49

Perestroika: Apr 8, 2010

PoptartsNinja posted:

To elaborate, vehicles suffer a +1 driving penalty and non-hover vehicles burn 1 additional MP on mud. BattleMechs ignore the effects of mud completely. The only reason it's mentioned is because heavy rain automatically turns every non-concrete hex into a mud hex.

Or maybe you've mentioned it because there's a full heavy tank battalion hiding just offscreen ready to roll in. :tinfoil:

# ? Apr 25, 2016 13:51

mcjomar: Jun 11, 2012; Grimey Drawer

So this is probably a dumb question, but is there something where we can co-ordinate goonmercs stuff, or should I just keep posting ITT?

# ? Apr 25, 2016 14:25

Centurium: Aug 17, 2009

mcjomar posted:

So this is probably a dumb question, but is there something where we can co-ordinate goonmercs stuff, or should I just keep posting ITT?

People have used a google doc in the past. In general, I think they found it harder to use and more prone to miscommunication than the thread. At least one iteration was silly because they didn't want PTN to know their super secret plans, when PTN has been a super friendly good advice giving "DM" of Battletech and plays for fluff. So basically, if you try to do something cool he's at least as likely as not to play along because it's a cool outcome. Witness: Steiner Rules Dueling.

Oh, and the thread breaks down into talking about how physics and economics are lostech without you, so it's a lot less fun for the observers.

EDIT: Calling it now, the emergency survival kit compartments in the Mauser IIC get mud in them, rendering the weapons slick and automissing on a targeting roll of 4. Also, infantry get trenchfoot on doubles. Counterintuitively, trenchfoot gives clan infantry a kick attack that auto-falls the targeted mech on a hit. IS infantry lose mobility when they get trenchfoot, of course. THAT'S why PTN gave us the heavy rain status.

Centurium fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Apr 25, 2016

# ? Apr 25, 2016 14:57

Axe-man: Apr 16, 2005; The product of hundreds of hours of scientific investigation and research.

The perfect meatball.; Clapping Larry

I find that if anyone starts pulling in the term "in reality" into battletech falls down hard. Most of battletech "inspiration" was done via 1970's robot anime. So pretty much reality is out the door.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:15

Scintilla: Aug 24, 2010; I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

I just used the thread when I played.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:16

Gwaihir: Dec 8, 2009; Hair Elf

mcjomar posted:

So this is probably a dumb question, but is there something where we can co-ordinate goonmercs stuff, or should I just keep posting ITT?

I'll make a gdoc for you guys to help keep track. In my mission it was super easy because there were only 4 of us and we talked about it endlessly on IRC all day while ~totally working~. But that doesn't work too well for a 15 player mission.

For these big missions it's super helpful to just have a column to see what hex everyone is moving to so you can prevent collisions, as well as seeing what people are shooting to prevent ultra overkill or target confusion.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:18

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

RA Rx posted:

But if this goes on for 8,640 turns per day, with 2.5 lighting strikes per round for 21,600 or about 13 hits per hex/sol (for an average of about a hit every two hours), wouldn't they eventually be wiped out from guard duty in this weather?

I guess the Republic specifically ordered this to happen when the weather turned the worst, but the Clans being the Clans decided it was the best time to bid an exercise.

'0' is also a number of lightning strikes that can happen, so 2880 of those turns will see no lightning at all, assuming the storm keeps to its current intensity (it won't).

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:22

Axe-man: Apr 16, 2005; The product of hundreds of hours of scientific investigation and research.

The perfect meatball.; Clapping Larry

I am laying out my plans, Right now I am going to jump into nearby some woods and use my superior range/inf killing to take out some infantry, but THERE IS SO MUCH CHOICE. This Komodo should be dressed up like a chaos space marine.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:25

Gwaihir: Dec 8, 2009; Hair Elf

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QFsYazXpGqU60EoAuAtLGB_1X9RKMVDnLC2jhBa49S0/edit?usp=sharing

There's a gdoc for you guys to use and abuse to avoid traffic jams/see if anyone has forgotten to put in plans, etc.

If I were you guys I would highly suggest focusing on the south west Aerospace park for the moment vs getting up on the hill with woods. (Aside from the Komodo, Ostscout, Salamander, and Lancelot, which should murder some poor infantry schmucks).

The hill works in your favor to block off LoS from the enemy already on the field, there's no reason not to make them come to you. There's no inherent high ground = better shots/harder to hit/whatever in Battletech that makes sitting on top of a hill a good thing.

The other thing is that even though the infantry are all aces, they only have 1 MP for the non jump troopers, and the jump guys only have jump 3. So they're not nearly as mobile as something like the evil Sylhps that wreaked havoc on the poor DracSuns RCT tanks a while back. They're also hideously vulnerable in the open, to the point where two out of the *ten* AP gauss rifles on the Komodo can probably eliminate a whole platoon.

Gwaihir fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Apr 25, 2016

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:27

mcjomar: Jun 11, 2012; Grimey Drawer

Thanks for setting that up and the advice - I was wondering if some early scouting south with my BAP while shooting grounded aeros would be a good idea.
Based on what you just said I'm leaning more towards my "run to 1840" idea, hitting the 1638 bird on 5s(?) rather than jumping to 2332 and hitting (I think) on 8s.
Plus my BAP would reveal some of the southern forest stuff.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:39

Corponation: Apr 21, 2007; Fantastic.

Gwaihir posted:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QFsYazXpGqU60EoAuAtLGB_1X9RKMVDnLC2jhBa49S0/edit?usp=sharing

There's a gdoc for you guys to use and abuse to avoid traffic jams/see if anyone has forgotten to put in plans, etc.

Thanks, we'll just have to see if everyone can coordinate correctly. Champion is moving to 2434, firing weapons at the 0942 Visigoth which I think is just within medium range for the gauss rifle.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:40

Night10194: Feb 13, 2012; We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

PoptartsNinja posted:

'0' is also a number of lightning strikes that can happen, so 2880 of those turns will see no lightning at all, assuming the storm keeps to its current intensity (it won't).

At the same time, you can totally see Clanners being like 'If you can dodge a lightning bolt, you can dodge a PPC! Get out there and start sidestepping!' for their training.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:41

Infected: Oct 17, 2012; Salt Incarnate

I'm guessing that the entrance hexes of the tunnel count as concrete and then starting with hex 2736 the traintracks count as something else.

As the Atlas my movement is a bit limited at the moment, so I figure it'd be best if I stayed with the bulk of the guys and started shooting the grounded planes/helis.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:48

dis astranagant: Dec 14, 2006

Loxbourne posted:

Screamer pilot, signing in.

My armament is wasted on infantry and I want to use my range, so I'm thinking of jumping aggressively up the hill and sniping. The danger is being the only target on the field for return fire, but this turn I don't see anything that can really shoot back. Just gotta decide who best needs plasma-y death.

Is there a Google doc being set up?

One thing to note is that you're basically impossible to hit if you jump 10+ hexes unless they want to stand still and let the rest of the team shoot them to pieces. Bonus points if you jump into a woods hex or keep a woods hex between you and guys you aren't shooting.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:52

El Spamo: Aug 21, 2003; Fuss and misery

Gwaihir posted:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QFsYazXpGqU60EoAuAtLGB_1X9RKMVDnLC2jhBa49S0/edit?usp=sharing

Excellent, thanks. I've input my preliminary orders which is to move to 1939 and primary target a contingency-based infantry unit and shoot the Anhur at 1437. Basically I'm going to try moving at least 7 hexes throughout this mission which gives me a whopping mix of 2 hex-face or height changes to play with.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:58

Axe-man: Apr 16, 2005; The product of hundreds of hours of scientific investigation and research.

The perfect meatball.; Clapping Larry

I am going to run forward 8 get in medium range for my apguass and use one hand to light up the infantry at 3245 it should be extreme range for them it might even be impossible. I would say I can also eat up those planes simply because the chance at a crit, but I will demolish infantry.

Thinking ahead, I can do a large arc, and hit another infantry, before doing a circle and hitting some planes, that is at least my general plan. I am betting some of thsoe buildings have infantry in them. With my dodgy hip, I do not want to get swarmed at all.

Axe-man fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Apr 25, 2016

# ? Apr 25, 2016 15:58

El Spamo: Aug 21, 2003; Fuss and misery

The planes are stationary, so they're great secondary targets and contingency targets. My Lancelot's plasma rifle melts infantry so I'll be hunting them, but those large lasers are going to shoot planes all day erry day.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 16:01

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# ? May 25, 2024 05:08

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

Gwaihir posted:

They're also hideously vulnerable in the open, to the point where two out of the *ten* AP gauss rifles on the Komodo can probably eliminate a whole platoon.

Don't count on this.

The Clans give their infantry (even their Solamha infantry) actual effective body armor compared to the literally nothing most House Infantry get. Clan infantry takes half damage from all attacks, so the x2 multiplier for being in the open is negated and they're a serious menace in even light cover. Forget about shooting them out of a heavy building since it'll take ~50% of the initial damage and then they'll only take half of the other half.

For comparison, the standard field kit for a DCMS infantryman is a trichloropolyester uniform which is stain resistant, water repellant, prevents mud from sticking, and is incredibly, lethally flammable.

# ? Apr 25, 2016 16:22

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