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And it's only going to get worse as we go into the future. It's machine guns now, in 50 years it will be a gun that fires a cloud of white hot razor blades, or a superheated block of polymer that combines the terror of napalm with the raw damage of a PPC.
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Apr 22, 2023 18:33
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Just leave some to me to napalm
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Apr 22, 2023 18:39
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Space Kablooey posted:Just leave some to me to napalm Odds are I leave a handful from this PLT. There's still the other PLT left too.
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Apr 22, 2023 19:06
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Scintilla posted:Welp. Now I get to write about how being caught out in the open by a mech with machineguns is every infantryman's worst nightmare. Ahem, Inferno missiles and Flamers want to have a word with you about that. 
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Apr 22, 2023 20:17
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Koorisch posted:Ahem, Inferno missiles and Flamers want to have a word with you about that. That's absolutely fair. There's a reason why Firestarters are one of the most feared anti-infantry mechs, and why their pilots tend to be summarily executed instead of taken prisoner.
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Apr 22, 2023 20:36
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glwgameplayer posted:I have officially joined the reserve. I look forward to piloting with you guys. Until my time comes I'll probably lurk, ask questions, and comment on how pretty exploding battle mechs look  I am ready to eject in ignominy
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Apr 22, 2023 20:49
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Scintilla posted:That's absolutely fair. There's a reason why Firestarters are one of the most feared anti-infantry mechs, and why their pilots tend to be summarily executed instead of taken prisoner. Historically, House Kurita didn't take prisoners until the 3050s; and House Davion had the most Firestarters so this isn't quite as cut and dry as it looks. Pre-Theodore House Kurita was just as likely to execute all the infantry the Firestarter didn't kill for not being brave enough to charge into the flamethrowers when their commander ordered them to. Nevermind that DCMS's unique brand of stain-immune uniforms were notorious for being highly flammable in an extremely unpleasant way where the burning uniforms would turn into a clinging, burning polymer goo like wearable napalm if exposed to an open flame. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Apr 22, 2023 |
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Apr 22, 2023 20:59
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Everything I hear about house kurita sounds like a shitshow
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Apr 22, 2023 21:01
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They are the setting's greatest monsters. They weren't pissed at the Smoke Jaguars for nuking Turtle Bay, they were pissed the Smoke Jaguars didn't have the intestinal fortitude to come down and machine gun the population face-to-face. 
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Apr 22, 2023 21:07
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The more I read about this dragon guy, the less I care for him
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Apr 22, 2023 21:17
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ilmucche posted:Everything I hear about house kurita sounds like a shitshow When they wrote four of the five Houses, they said "Okay, let's have each of them have some societal strengths and other things they struggle with." House Kurita got everyone's faults, plus several others that were made especially for them (like anti-Semitism). They're so bad that the writers had to give the Jaguars every bad trait about every other Clan just to keep up.
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Apr 23, 2023 00:50
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As someone who’s first experience with BT was the 2018 computer game, my opinion on light mechs was largely formed from that game’s version of the rules. Which Led me to believe that the runs hot and hits hard breed of light mech (Jenner and Javelin mostly) and the “has one gun well above it’s weight class” breed of light mech (Urbanmech, Panther) we’re pretty good. The rest (Locust, Commando, and Spider) might have been very fast, but their anemic armor and weapons meant one good punch was an instant subsystem loss and they were usually incapable of serious damage. This is mostly due to the game tying difficulty directly to tonnage, and the way that evasion pips work So far this match is convincing me that they are much better in the tabletop game.
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Apr 23, 2023 02:42
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glwgameplayer posted:As someone who’s first experience with BT was the 2018 computer game, my opinion on light mechs was largely formed from that game’s version of the rules. Which Led me to believe that the runs hot and hits hard breed of light mech (Jenner and Javelin mostly) and the “has one gun well above it’s weight class” breed of light mech (Urbanmech, Panther) we’re pretty good. The rest (Locust, Commando, and Spider) might have been very fast, but their anemic armor and weapons meant one good punch was an instant subsystem loss and they were usually incapable of serious damage. in the sense that "evasion doesn't degrade" in tabletop, that helps. Scenario play also helps lights as well, because without infantry on the field machine guns loving Suck and are a huge liability Also we're just in appropriate weight classes and low tech, it's very hard to make up for the modifiers that fast lights can make up. No Pulse or LBX, or Really Good Pilots, or anything of that sort
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Apr 23, 2023 02:52
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Captain Foo posted:in the sense that "evasion doesn't degrade" in tabletop, that helps. Scenario play also helps lights as well, because without infantry on the field machine guns loving Suck and are a huge liability The computer game gives you a lot of ways to get around all of the good stuff that light Mechs have. A high gunnery skill gives you a higher base chance to hit, Cover imposes a damage penalty instead of an accuracy penalty. Evasion pips degrade so every attack against a single enemy has a higher and higher chance to hit. If you become unbalanced you instantly lose all of your evasion, and melee attacks ignore evasion I think? And you personally have called shot which increases your chance to hit and also lets you direct your fire towards a single body part. The enemy doesn’t have some of those abilities but they do like to pick on the most lightly armored target so if a light unit gets tapped the entire army will smell blood. Also they just have the random number God on their side not necessarily that they have better luck but they do not care if their light gets obliterated since they get a fresh set each battle. If your mech explodes you’re the one who needs to replace it
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Apr 23, 2023 03:13
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glwgameplayer posted:As someone who’s first experience with BT was the 2018 computer game, my opinion on light mechs was largely formed from that game’s version of the rules. Which Led me to believe that the runs hot and hits hard breed of light mech (Jenner and Javelin mostly) and the “has one gun well above it’s weight class” breed of light mech (Urbanmech, Panther) we’re pretty good. The rest (Locust, Commando, and Spider) might have been very fast, but their anemic armor and weapons meant one good punch was an instant subsystem loss and they were usually incapable of serious damage. This is an irritating thing that basically all of the games do, only mech commander 1 bucked the trend as far as I know, you could only field a fleet of mostly heavy and assault mechs in the last few missions.
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Apr 23, 2023 03:19
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glwgameplayer posted:The computer game gives you a lot of ways to get around all of the good stuff that light Mechs have. A high gunnery skill gives you a higher base chance to hit, Cover imposes a damage penalty instead of an accuracy penalty. Evasion pips degrade so every attack against a single enemy has a higher and higher chance to hit. If you become unbalanced you instantly lose all of your evasion, and melee attacks ignore evasion I think? And you personally have called shot which increases your chance to hit and also lets you direct your fire towards a single body part. Yeah i haven’t played the base game in several years but I’m in a bta3062 play through and that changes the base assumptions of the game
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Apr 23, 2023 03:22
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Captain Foo posted:Yeah i haven’t played the base game in several years but I’m in a bta3062 play through and that changes the base assumptions of the game I should probably play one of the mods to be honest. It's been a while since I've played it too.
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Apr 23, 2023 03:29
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Yeah, BTA3062 makes some major changes to how evasion gets handled - light mechs can rack up a lot more evasion to begin with, and taking shots alone isn't enough to reduce it. Unsteady will still remove all evasion, though, so if a high-evasion mech is within kicking range you can bring it a lot of pain in a hurry. You definitely still want/need heavy hitting mechs, especially in the storyline missions that limit you to only four mechs, but lights and mediums are still very viable late/end-game instead of getting insta-killed like in the unmodded game.
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Apr 23, 2023 04:00
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glwgameplayer posted:The rest (Locust, Commando, and Spider) might have been very fast, but their anemic armor and weapons meant one good punch was an instant subsystem loss and they were usually incapable of serious damage. You're more or less right, but this particular combat doesn't have any heavier enemies and the usually higher skilled pilots that drive them. A Warhammer WHM-6D with a Veteran 3/4 pilot (We're all 4/5, the "Regular" MechWarrior) would destroy us one turn at a time. They're going to be rolling 8s standing at their medium range before we can even hit back, then dealing 10 damage to a single location at a time. Our Medium Lasers do half that. Both sides are light, fast and not particularly skilled. It's down to who can throw enough weapons at 9 to-hit (about 30% odds) to cripple something enough it can't keep running. The Commando I'd class with the Panther and Urbanmech. In TT in this era a little guy like the COM packing a LL is like a budget Panther, but much faster.
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Apr 23, 2023 04:26
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Over The Hills: Turn 4 “Ma’am, I’ve got Lieutenant Rockwell on the line! He wants to know our ETA!” Christine Hernandez scowled at her radio operator. “Tell him to go gently caress himself! We’re moving as fast as we can!” The radioman nodded curtly and spoke into his receiver, relaying a slightly more diplomatic version of Christine’s response. His name was Billy, or Bertie, or maybe Brian. Christine wasn’t sure; in fact she barely knew anyone under her command. As the sounds of battle ahead grew louder, Christine struggled to suppress a nervous shiver. Unlike Victor, she wasn’t a soldier. Her squad consisted almost entirely of second-liners and support staff – security officers, technicians and auxiliary members of the Eagle Standard’s crew, for the most part. The loss of Tiger Lance had spooked Captain Preston into mobilising everyone who was left. Anyone who even vaguely knew their way around a gun had been rounded up and pressed into service. Christine herself had been a quartermaster’s assistant, but since she was the best shot out of everyone she had been chosen to lead them. “What a joke,” she muttered under her breath as her motley crew of weekend warriors jogged towards the temporary field base they had spent the past fortnight setting up. “Put me in charge just because I shoot good? Who the gently caress runs an army like that?” Suddenly the ground shook, and a dark shadow loomed overhead. Christine turned, an icy fist gripping her heart as she saw a chequerboard-patterned Locust stalking through the valley towards them. How the hell had it got behind them? Had it really managed to circle the entire valley? Wasn’t Tschetter supposed to be guarding their flanks? All those questions became moot as the Locust’s weapon pods unleashed their fury. Lasers flashed out, twin beams burning a line right down the middle of the squad. Christine threw herself to the ground, crying out in pain as the roasting hot beams flash-burned every inch of exposed skin. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her radioman vanish as one of the lasers passed directly over him, its hellish energy vaporising him so thoroughly that not even bones remained. In a way, he was lucky. Half a second later the Locust’s machineguns opened up, mercilessly raking the survivors. Christine put her hands over her head and tucked herself into a ball as bullets scythed through the air around her, desperately praying that none had her name on them. Plumes of dirt erupted around her as the Locust walked its fire over the squad, swivelling its torso back and forth to maximise the number of victims. Men and women screamed as their bodies were torn apart, the storm of 50-caliber rounds shredding their flak vests like so much tissue paper. At last, the slaughter ceased. The Locust’s machineguns clicked to a halt as their loading mechanisms cycled in fresh belts of ammunition. Christine raised her head, blinking dirt and blood out of her eyes. The field around her was a sea of broken bodies and dismembered limbs. The groans of the wounded and dying filled the air, a wordless funeral dirge that made Christine feel even more nauseous than she already was. With an effort of pure will, Christine hauled herself to her feet. The Locust’s weapons were still re-arming. If they made a break for it now, they might just make it to cover. “Get up!” she shouted, gesturing wildly at the handful of men who were still able to move. “We need to run, now!” Her voice was shrill with terror, but Christine didn’t care. After enduring that, who wouldn’t be terrified?  Locust LCT-3V (Player) attempts to move to Hex 0505 but does not have enough MP; movement ends in Hex 0506!   Weapons fire for Jenner JR7-F (Player): -Holds fire! Weapons fire for Locust LCT-3V (Player): -Holds fire! Weapons fire for Locust LCT-3V #2 (Player): -Fires Medium Laser at Foot Platoon (Laser) #2 (Prowlers); needs 6, rolls 8: Hits! Direct fire weapon hits infantry; damage reduced from 5 to 1. Infantry caught in the open; damage doubled from 1 to 2! 2 troopers killed! -Fires Medium Laser at Foot Platoon (Laser) #2 (Prowlers); needs 6, rolls 12: Hits! Direct fire weapon hits infantry; damage reduced from 5 to 1. Infantry caught in the open; damage doubled from 1 to 2! 2 troopers killed! -Fires Machine Gun at Foot Platoon (Laser) #2 (Prowlers); needs 6, rolls 8: Hits! Burst fire weapon hits infantry; damage changed from 2 to 8! Infantry caught in the open; damage doubled from 8 to 16! 16 troopers killed! -Fires Machine Gun at Foot Platoon (Laser) #2 (Prowlers); needs 6, rolls 5: Misses! Weapons fire for Vulcan VL-5T (Player): -Holds fire! Weapons fire for Cicada CDA-3C (Prowlers): -Holds fire! Weapons fire for Commando COM-1D (Prowlers): -Holds fire! Weapons fire for Stinger STG-3R (Prowlers): -Fires Medium Laser at Vulcan VL-5T (Player); needs 12, rolls 4: Misses! Weapons fire for Galleon Light Tank GAL-100 (Prowlers): -Fires Medium Laser at Locust LCT-3V #2 (Player); needs 11, rolls 9: Misses! Weapons fire for Galleon Light Tank GAL-100 #2 (Prowlers): -Fires Medium Laser at Vulcan VL-5T (Player); needs 14, rolls 5: Automatic Miss! Weapons fire for Scorpion (Standard) (Prowlers): -Holds fire! Weapons fire for Foot Platoon (Laser) (Prowlers): -Holds fire! Weapons fire for Foot Platoon (Laser) #2 (Prowlers): -Sprinted last turn; cannot fire!  No melee attacks this turn!  Jenner JR7-F (Player) gains 4 heat, sinks 8 heat and is now at 0 heat. Locust LCT-3V (Player) gains 2 heat, sinks 2 heat and is now at 0 heat. Locust LCT-3V #2 (Player) gains 8 heat, sinks 8 heat and is now at 0 heat. Vulcan VL-5T (Player) gains 6 heat, sinks 6 heat and is now at 0 heat. Cicada CDA-3C (Prowlers) gains 2 heat, sinks 4 heat and is now at 0 heat. Commando COM-1D (Prowlers) gains 2 heat, sinks 4 heat and is now at 0 heat. Stinger STG-3R (Prowlers) gains 8 heat, sinks 8 heat and is now at 0 heat.   Foot Platoon (Laser) #2 (Prowlers) enters building in Hex 1406!  Player Status  Enemy Status    Special Abilities: -Toughness: Grants bonus to consciousness rolls. -Sprint: Infantry can move two hexes in one turn in exchange for not being able to fire. -Dig In: Infantry can dig in, removing the defence penalty for being caught in the open. Primary Objectives: -Capture Pirate Base (0/8 Enemies Destroyed / Driven Off) Next Orders Due: Tuesday 25th 9:00PM GMT. Scintilla fucked around with this message at 17:31 on Apr 23, 2023 |
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Apr 23, 2023 07:48
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That flavour text  The Prowlers mechanised units look to be in a good spot at least
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Apr 23, 2023 08:37
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ilmucche posted:That flavour text drat, infantry can't fire the round after they sprint? I had no idea. They were even more open than I thought. Sad my second MG wiffed, even rolling a 4 for damage would have been enough to finish it. What's our target this round Ruby Lance? Edit: Little suggestion about the enemy movement, I can't tell exactly where the Galleon in 1604 started due to the COM"s overlapping movement and ending hex. Maybe put a "+2" next to each enemy like movement dice on an IRL game to show movement mods. You could also color code the number to denote walking/running/jumping attacker movement so it's really easy and fast to calculate both their defensive bonuses and attacking penalties. I'd copy Megamek's colors for those movements, it would translate easily for those of us who used it before. But I'd also put a tiny legend in the corner for reference. This way you wouldn't need to put a "J" for jumping as it would have a red "+3" next to it. Amechwarrior fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Apr 23, 2023 |
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Apr 23, 2023 09:42
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Not having done much in the way of calcs I'm thinking of running to the heavy woods at 0512(0513?) and alpha striking at the stinger. Everything else at a glance looks pretty exposed
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Apr 23, 2023 10:53
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Amechwarrior posted:Edit: Little suggestion about the enemy movement, I can't tell exactly where the Galleon in 1604 started due to the COM"s overlapping movement and ending hex. That's a fair suggestion. Is this any better? 
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Apr 23, 2023 11:27
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ilmucche posted:That flavour text
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Apr 23, 2023 16:10
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ilmucche posted:That flavour text There's a reason they're called Poor Bloody Infantry
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Apr 23, 2023 16:19
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Scintilla posted:That's a fair suggestion. Is this any better? Yes! That's perfect. Just make a note somewhere for players that haven't used MegaMek: Blue: Walked Yellow: Ran Red: Jumped
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Apr 23, 2023 16:28
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Did the COM do anything? I can't find it on the shooting list.
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Apr 23, 2023 17:26
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Space Kablooey posted:Did the COM do anything? I can't find it on the shooting list. Sorry, my bad. No, the Commando didn't shoot at anything. Give me a sec, I'll edit the update.
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Apr 23, 2023 17:30
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My initial thoughts is to run up and unload on the COMScintilla posted:Sorry, my bad. No, the Commando didn't shoot at anything. Give me a sec, I'll edit the update. Thanks!
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Apr 23, 2023 17:36
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Like I said earlier my experience comes from the Computer game so my tactical acumen is more tuned to that than the tabletop, but I'll try and get in the spirit of things anyway From what I can tell neither side has taken any really big hits yet. I mean, aside from the infantry who obviously almost got obliterated in a single volley, and the Cicada who's lost their rear armor and taken a hit to the Gyro. But since we're playing with Light Mechs that could obviously change very quickly. A concentrated volley could smash off a limb very, very easily The Cicada is in kind of a sniping position so that's not ideal, but the rest of them are in the thick of it glwgameplayer fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Apr 23, 2023 |
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Apr 23, 2023 17:37
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Scintilla posted:That's a fair suggestion. Is this any better? yes this is great
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Apr 23, 2023 20:51
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So the CDA is very vulnerable right now, but I don't know if we want to suicide rush the field. It's got an amazing position, it can see over everything and keep pecking at us until it lands a hit without spending any MP. There's nowhere we can hide unless we're adjacent to a hill 2 levels higher than us. We will have to start dealing with it next turn or else it will provide superior direct fire support while we get tangled in the little guys. The Commando only moved for +2 but backed up with supporting cover from everyone else. The STG is out in the open, but the Galleon right next to it in 0909 is an easier target and almost equal in firepower. We could delete the Galleon with massed fire, or try to wound the Stinger, while keeping shots hard against the CDA. We'd need to prepare to rush the CDA next turn.
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Apr 23, 2023 23:12
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I think the COM is still a good target for us while we move to close in to the CDA. Tbh I'm a bit more scared of it's LL than the PPC because it didn't have a min. range.
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Apr 23, 2023 23:27
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How much can 'mechs torso twist? I'm assuming they can't turn 180deg normally...
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Apr 23, 2023 23:28
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Space Kablooey posted:How much can 'mechs torso twist? I'm assuming they can't turn 180deg normally... As a general rule, torso twist allows you to change one hex facing to either side of the direction of your legs for the purpose of firing torso, arm, or head mounted weapons. Arm mounted weapons on all mechs have an extra hex side of fire (based on which side the arm is - right arms can fire further to the right, left arms can fire further to the left). This means that an arm mounted weapon can always be fired directly to the rear with a torso twist (a fine compensation for the arms being the easiest parts of a mech to damage due to generally carrying lighter armor and being linked to the torso). Mechs that lack certain optional actuators (Hand and Lower Arm) in either arm (and aren't using the provision some heavy weapons have to spread critical slots between locations) can also flip arms, allowing them to fire all arm mounted weapons directly to the rear. The Jenner (with the four medium lasers) and both Locusts (for the machine guns) in this match should have this ability, but none of the others do (all the OpFor mechs have hands, the Vulcan lacks hands but has lower arm actuators). Making good use of this is tricky, especially in this kind of broken terrain where "just run past the enemy at full speed*" isn't really an option (jump jets negate the advantage because you can set facing to any direction when jumping).
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Apr 23, 2023 23:45
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thank you for the updated board image,  at the flavor text,  at me
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Apr 24, 2023 01:12
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I think i can get to 0803, face south (R7) for some lasers on the GAL#2?
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Apr 24, 2023 01:14
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Captain Foo posted:I think i can get to 0803, face south (R7) for some lasers on the GAL#2? You mean by running around the tree up the 04XX column? That's a great move to keep your defense up, but you're throwing 9s at the Galleon. You could also turn NW, run to 0305, make a 180 facing SE and finish by running strait to 0807 and get 7s for the ML and 9s on the MG vs the Galleon. You still keep +3 movement defense, but end up in short range. The Galleon ran(technically "Flank Speed" for vehicles, but same thing) so it would need 9s in return and the STG would need a 10. I'd only do this in concert with Mirage focusing on the Galleon from the same front arc to concentrate the damage, but not sure there's a good place for that. Mirage could run to 0906 and use the partial cover to makeup for only moving 6 Hexes, giving a total of +3 vs Galleon, but this is on the Right Arc, however with 4 ML at 7s, Mirage could kill the Galleon outright if 3 of the 4 hit the Right Side. Prime could get to 1107 in the trees, but this isn't as great for the next round, but does give a right arc shot and +3 defense thanks to the trees. As for myself and Razor, if we want to throw a little at the COM and setup for the CDA we're going to have to take a risky move. The CDA is going to get a good shot on one of us and both of us need to be in place for the next turn if one of us goes down to a lucky hit. I can get to the rear of the COM at 1711 facing SW for a lot of options next turn. That's 8s for rear of the COM and 12s on the MGs. You could get to 1311 or 1609 by jumping and be able to fire 2ML and the MGs. 1609 puts you at the rear of the COM, 9 to hit. 1311 sets you up much better for the CDA next turn, but only leaves you easy shots on the Scorpion.
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Apr 24, 2023 22:00
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Amechwarrior posted:You mean by running around the tree up the 04XX column? That's a great move to keep your defense up, but you're throwing 9s at the Galleon. You could also turn NW, run to 0305, make a 180 facing SE and finish by running strait to 0807 and get 7s for the ML and 9s on the MG vs the Galleon. You still keep +3 movement defense, but end up in short range. The Galleon ran(technically "Flank Speed" for vehicles, but same thing) so it would need 9s in return and the STG would need a 10. GAL#2 is only at +1 move mod? But otherwise this is another intriguing option
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Apr 24, 2023 22:48
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