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Warhammer Oops, should've double-checked my heat, now I'm a 3/5. It's fine, I'll still take my shots on Preston from 2311, I just won't have +2 movemod. If he was just a little more beat up I'd consider backing up to 1916 instead and gambling on taking him out to permanently silence the Dropship, but this is Battletech, you can never safely assume a kill is confirmed.
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Jul 27, 2023 04:57
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| # ? Jun 5, 2024 15:20 |
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Thank you all for the kind words. I enjoy writing, so it's nice to hear that you guys are enjoying my prose. Honestly, my eyes kind of popped when I saw that the Hunchback had landed both punches, and that the Phoenix Hawk had fallen over after missing a kick. It was such a perfect opportunity to write a melee takedown that I had to go for it.
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Jul 27, 2023 05:41
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Dachshundofdoom posted:Warhammer Does the hill not block 1916 from the ship?
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Jul 27, 2023 07:00
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Azhais posted:Does the hill not block 1916 from the ship? 1916 is safe from the Dropship as Scintilla confirmed with me over PMs last turn.
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Jul 27, 2023 07:10
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Blackjackanakha posted:I'm planning to back up to 2016 and firing on it - should have 7s to hit plus the Dropship has no LOS on me in that hex. Orders in for 2016 - easiest set of orders I've had to put in this match lol
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Jul 27, 2023 11:03
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Azhais posted:Does the hill not block 1916 from the ship? It does but if we all go into cover the dropship weapons will stay charged, until Preston is confirmed killed somebody has to bite the bullet and draw LRMs to free up our maneuvering space.
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Jul 27, 2023 22:16
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Preston’s Last Stand: Turn 13 The harsh glare of the Eagle Standard’s gunnery monitors glinted off Vidkun Withers’ flat, reptilian eyes. He watched in silence as Josiah Preston’s Phoenix Hawk wilted under the combined mercenary onslaught. One of the Blackjack’s Large Lasers caught the slender scout mech squarely in the head, and for a brief moment Vidkun thought it was all over, but Preston remained standing and even returned fire, albeit feebly. In the end, though, it was all for nothing. As Preston fought to remain upright, the Hunchback stormed forwards and delivered a shattering kick to the Phoenix Hawk’s left leg, shearing it off at the hip and sending the mech tumbling to the ground. As his battlemech fell Preston triggered his ejection mechanism. Unfortunately for him, the Phoenix Hawk’s head had been warped by the heat of the laser, preventing the cockpit from opening fully. The top of the ejection seat clipped the edge of the transplex canopy, causing it to tumble wildly through the air. When the parachute deployed the motion caused the rigging to wrap around the chair, preventing it from opening properly. Still spinning, Preston dropped like a stone towards the unforgiving earth. Vidkun blinked as the tangled mess slammed into the ground. Preston was a tough bastard, but an impact like that was simply not survivable. He drummed his long fingers against his desk for a moment, then opened a communications channel to his gunnery crews. “All crews, power down weapons. All crews, power down weapons,” he rasped. Without waiting for a response, he immediately switched to a second, more secure channel, linked to a group of men he trusted who had been on standby since before the battle had started. To these men he spoke a single phrase. “The rotten oak has fallen.” A single blip of static confirmed the message had been received. Vidkun turned off the communicator, then steepled his fingers and turned his gaze back to the monitors surrounding his desk. With Preston dead, it was only a matter of time before the mercenaries overran their defences. While they did, his men would be securing the Eagle Standard and taking both Arlene Sadler and Preston’s remaining loyalists into custody. It wouldn’t do much to improve Vidkun’s hand, but even a small amount of leverage was better than none. As he waited, Vidkun lamented all the opportunities Preston’s recklessness had squandered. The man had been a cunning and capable leader, but he had never been good at grasping the bigger picture. After the mutiny, Vidkun had argued strongly that they should flee north and seek asylum in the Lyran Commonwealth. It would have taken only a few jumps, and while House Steiner would certainly have regarded them with suspicion, they were unlikely to turn down a full company of battlemechs and their accompanying DropShip. If it was a choice between permanent garrison duty on some dingy Lyran backwater, or facing one of Janos Marik’s firing squads, Vidkun would pick the former every time. Instead, Preston had immediately resorted to piracy, burning all their diplomatic bridges before they could even be built. The raids had fixed their short-term supply issues but had hosed their future prospects beyond recovery. Deserters and rebels might be scorned and viewed as scum, but pirates were considered irredeemable by all the Great Powers and most of the Periphery. In indulging his darker impulses, Preston had doomed them all to self-destruction. Vidkun spared one final disgusted look at Preston’s broken body, then turned off the monitors and began to think through how he would respond when the mercenaries demanded their surrender. With luck, they would be merciful, and not summarily execute the lot of them for their wanton acts of theft and murder.    Weapons fire for Blackjack BJ-1DB (Player): -Fires Large Laser at Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 7, rolls 8: Hits Centre Torso! Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) takes 8 damage to Centre Torso, 7/23 Armour remaining. -Fires Large Laser at Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 7, rolls 8: Hits Head! Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) takes 8 damage to Head, 0/6 Armour, 2/3 Structure remaining. Pilot Hit! Critical Chance! -Critical Chance in Head! No critical hits sustained. Weapons fire for Hunchback HBK-4G (Player): -Fires AC/20 at Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 5, rolls 7: Hits Left Leg! Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) takes 20 damage to Left Leg, 0/15 Armour, 1/11 Structure remaining. Critical Chance! --Critical Chance in Left Leg! One Critical Hit sustained! Critical Hit on Hip! -Fires Medium Laser at Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 5, rolls 5: Hits Left Torso! Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) takes 5 damage to Left Torso, 8/18 Armour remaining. -Fires Medium Laser at Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 5, rolls 4: Misses! -Fires Small Laser at Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 5, rolls 7: Hits Right Torso! Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) takes 3 damage to Right Torso, 10/18 Armour remaining. Weapons fire for Trebuchet TBT-5N (Player): -Fires LRM-15 at Scorpion SCP-1N (Prowlers); needs 10, rolls 10: 9 Missiles Hit! Scorpion SCP-1N (Prowlers) takes 5 damage to Left Torso (6/11 Armour remaining) and 4 damage to Front Right Leg (6/10 Armour remaining). -Fires LRM-15 at Scorpion SCP-1N (Prowlers); needs 10, rolls 2: Misses! Weapons fire for Warhammer WHM-6D (Player): -Fires PPC at Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 8, rolls 7: Misses! -Fires PPC at Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 8, rolls 5: Misses! -- Weapons fire for Eagle Standard (DropShip) (Prowlers): -Fires LRM-20 at Warhammer WHM-6D (Player); needs 9, rolls 8: Misses! -Fires LRM-20 at Warhammer WHM-6D (Player); needs 9, rolls 7: Misses! -Fires PPC at Warhammer WHM-6D (Player); needs 9, rolls 6: Misses! -Fires AC/5 at Warhammer WHM-6D (Player); needs 9, rolls 3: Misses! -Fires AC/5 at Warhammer WHM-6D (Player); needs 9, rolls 6: Misses! Weapons fire for Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers): -Fires Medium Laser at Hunchback HBK-4G (Player); needs 7, rolls 6: Misses! -Fires Machine Gun at Hunchback HBK-4G (Player); needs 7, rolls 9: Hits Left Leg! Hunchback HBK-4G (Player) takes 2 damage to Left Leg, 3/20 Armour remaining. -Fires Machine Gun at Hunchback HBK-4G (Player); needs 7, rolls 8: Hits Right Torso! Hunchback HBK-4G (Player) takes 2 damage to Right Torso, 11/20 Armour remaining. Weapons fire for Scorpion SCP-1N (Prowlers): -Fires SRM-6 at Hunchback HBK-4G (Player); needs 6, rolls 8: 5 Missiles Hit! Hunchback HBK-4G (Player) takes 2 damage to Left Arm (14/16 Armour remaining), Right Arm (0/16 Armour, 7/8 Structure remaining (Critical Chance!)), Left Arm (12/16 Armour remaining), Left Arm (10/16 Armour remaining), and Right Torso (9/20 Armour remaining). --Critical Chance in Right Arm! No critical hits sustained. Weapons fire for Stinger STG-3R (Prowlers): -Fires Medium Laser at Warhammer WHM-6D (Player); needs 10, rolls 5: Misses! Weapons fire for Goblin Medium Tank (Standard) (Prowlers): -Fires Large Laser at Trebuchet TBT-5N (Player); needs 9, rolls 8: Misses!  Physical attacks for Hunchback HBK-4G (Player): -Kicks Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers); needs 4, rolls 5: Hits Left Leg! Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) takes 10 damage to Left Leg, 0/11 Structure remaining. Left Leg Destroyed! 9 damage transfers to Left Torso, 0/18 Armour, 9/11 Structure remaining. Critical Chance in Left Torso! --Critical Chance in Left Torso! No critical hits sustained. ---Mech Destroyed by Leg Destruction!  Blackjack BJ-1DB (Player) gains 17 heat, sinks 17 heat and is now at 2 heat. Hunchback HBK-4G (Player) gains 15 heat, sinks 13 heat and is now at 2 heat. Trebuchet TBT-5N (Player) gains 11 heat, sinks 10 heat and is now at 4 heat. Warhammer WHM-6D (Player) gains 22 heat, sinks 20 heat and is now at 7 heat. Overheating! -- Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) gains 7 heat, sinks 10 heat and is now at 5 heat. Overheating! Scorpion SCP-1N (Prowlers) gains 6 heat, sinks 10 heat and is now at 2 heat. Stinger STG-3R (Prowlers) gains 4 heat, sinks 4 heat and is now at 0 heat.  Josiah Preston has been defeated. Eagle Standard (DropShip) (Prowlers) powers down its weaponry. -- Piloting checks for Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers): -Left Leg Destroyed: Automatic Fail! --Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) falls on its right side, suffering 5 damage to Right Arm (0/10 Armour, 4/7 Structure remaining (Critical Chance!)). ---Critical Chance in Right Arm! No critical hit sustained. -Josiah Preston must roll a 13+ to avoid a pilot hit: Automatic Fail! -- Josiah Preston (Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers)) has taken 2 damage this turn! Josiah Preston must pass two consciousness tests or fall unconscious! -Josiah Preston must roll a 5 to remain conscious! Toughness bonus reduces target to 4. Rolls 5: Succeeds! -Josiah Preston must roll a 7 to remain conscious! Toughness bonus reduces target to 6. Rolls 6: Succeeds!  Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Prowlers) is crippled! Pilot Josiah Preston ejects! -Josiah Preston must roll to eject safely. Base is 5. Mech is Prone, +5 difficulty! Head structure damage, +2 difficulty! Landing in clear terrain, -2 difficulty! Needs 10 to land safely; rolls 3: Fails! --Josiah Preston takes 3 automatic Pilot Hits! Josiah Preston killed by deadly ejection!  Player Status  Enemy Status    Special Abilities: -Toughness: Grants a bonus to consciousness rolls. -Multi-Tasker: When splitting fire between multiple targets, secondary targeting penalties are reduced by 1. -Hopping Jack: Pilot suffers a +2 penalty when firing after jumping instead of +3. Primary Objectives: -Defeat Josiah Preston (1/1) Complete! -Neutralise remaining Prowler forces (6/9) Secondary Objectives: -Secure the crash site without damaging the Eagle Standard (250,000 C-Bill Reward) Next Orders Due: Tuesday 1st 9:00PM GMT.
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Jul 30, 2023 05:15
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gently caress yeah. Time to mop up the remaining targets.
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Jul 30, 2023 05:37
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God the classic hunch 4g is such a badass in this era of play. I love it.
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Jul 30, 2023 07:02
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Hell yeah, nice work on a well-executed decapitation strat. Hopefully the rest will go quietly, but who knows? The Stinger felt the need to fire this turn.
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Jul 30, 2023 08:32
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Blackjack I figure the best moves this turn would be for the Hammer, Hunchie and myself to gang up on the Scorpion while the Treb gets into the Golbin's rear arc and tries to finish off its already damaged rear. Next turn, I figure the Scorpion will be somewhere near where the Stinger currently is, so you can plan your moves now with that in mind. Planning to move to 2416 this turn which should be exactly 5 hexes away and in short range for the LLs. Next turn, a simple charge directly north should still keep me in position to keep firing on the Scorpion.
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Jul 30, 2023 09:05
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Warhammer Hell yeah, Phoenix down and I didn't even get chewed up by the dropship. This turn I'll head to 2611, give the Scorpion my lasers and a boot, and cool off in the process. Fingers crossed if I can force the Scorp to make a piloting roll it'll go down to its Hard to Pilot quirk.
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Jul 30, 2023 09:22
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I don't suppose they're ready to surrender now that their "glorious leader" is dead?
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Jul 30, 2023 10:08
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Koorisch posted:I don't suppose they're ready to surrender now that their "glorious leader" is dead? Nah, they're fighting to the bitter end.
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Jul 30, 2023 10:18
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Scintilla posted:Nah, they're fighting to the bitter end. Well, sucks to be them then!
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Jul 30, 2023 13:12
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Trebuchet Sadly with the way I’ve wedged myself into this corner I’m not sure if I can get behind the Goblin. The best I can do is back up to 1922 and fire my LRMs. Running won’t help since I would have to spend 3 movement to turn around. I still might get him through. If the stars align and my missiles hit home I could still destroy a side section.
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Jul 30, 2023 13:14
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glwgameplayer posted:Trebuchet You can move through the planted fields in hexes 2323, 2223, and 2124 without movement penalties. Scintilla provided this info over PMs when I was asking about those hexes: quote:Planted fields (crops of wheat, corn and so on) have no effect on movement modifiers. However, planted fields rise 1 level above the underlying terrain and impart a +1 to-hit modifier for every two full hexes of planted fields intervening between the attacker and target. A total of 6 intervening planted fields hexes blocks LOS. In addition, apply a +1 to-hit modifier against any infantry in a planted fields hex; damage against conventional infantry in a planted field is still doubled.
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Jul 30, 2023 15:14
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anakha posted:You can move through the planted fields in hexes 2323, 2223, and 2124 without movement penalties. Well, going the long way isn't ideal either because I'll be at medium range instead of short range. My missiles will have +2 difficulty hitting. Add +2 from the sprint and +1 from it's movement and I'm at +9 to hit. I could sprint to 1922... but then I'm stuck in the same place which I still don't think gives me a shot on the rear armor. But at least my evasion is better I guess? If I back up to 1922 I'll have 4 +1 for its movement and +1 for mine. 6+ to hit, Then again I suppose even if I roll low and only hit once, a single barrage has a good chance of crippling it if I hit the rear armor...
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Jul 30, 2023 15:35
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glwgameplayer posted:If I back up to 1922 I'll have 4 +1 for its movement and +1 for mine. 6+ to hit, Looking at the numbers, yeah, backing up might be better. E: I think the Hunchback's got MVP locked up for this fight. I mean, we got a judo throw AND a 'sweep the leg' moment in back-to-back turns. Only thing that was missing was 
anakha fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Jul 30, 2023 |
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Jul 30, 2023 15:52
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There goes that bounty 
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Jul 30, 2023 16:16
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anakha posted:E: I think the Hunchback's got MVP locked up for this fight. I mean, we got a judo throw AND a 'sweep the leg' moment in back-to-back turns. I'll gladly second that. The Hunchback also crippled the Firestarter, took out the enemy Trebuchet with an Engine Crit, and took out the LRM Scorpion Tank after it became paralyzed. The Hunchback is a Killer That said I think we've all done really well this round. Outside of a couple of kerfluffles with Line of Sight, I managed to get a Gryo crit on the firestarter, and blow up the fuel tank. The Warhammer has been our second biggest hitter and the one who's been drawing fire from the Dropship. And the Blackjack was the one who crippled the enemy Trebuchet, killed a Galleon, and helped me confirm the fuel tank explosion. I guess I shouldn't be celebrating yet though. The Scorpion mech is still around. Might get up to some shenanigans with it's SRMs or something
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Jul 30, 2023 16:34
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Once the battle is done, we should think about salvaging that Phawk. Maybe even modifying it to 1D specs. It would be a good replacement 'Mech for the Stinger
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Jul 30, 2023 16:41
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Space Kablooey posted:There goes that bounty That's on him for deciding to eject from a downed Mech instead of surrendering. I like to think the previous pilot hits had him loopy and made him think ejecting directly into the ground was a great idea. anakha fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Jul 30, 2023 |
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Jul 30, 2023 16:44
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Scintilla posted:Nah, they're fighting to the bitter end. Really!? More fool them, I guess.
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Jul 30, 2023 20:25
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You'd think the Stinger knows when to quit at least, since Harathi ran from the last fight too. Maybe the prospect is less appealing when facing capture.
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Jul 30, 2023 20:41
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The remaining Prowlers don't really have anything left to lose at this point. The death sentences hanging over their heads have shifted them all into cornered rat mode.
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Jul 30, 2023 20:53
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Tell the dropship captain he gets amnesty if he fires on the remaining prowlers and gives the dropship to S&S
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Jul 30, 2023 21:16
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He knows we don't actually have that authority. We can pressure him into doing so but our threats have a solid limit where the crew realizes we can't really be trusted and they also fight like cornered rats and or sabotage the dropship and then we lose the intact dropship bonus.
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Jul 30, 2023 21:30
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These guys have gone full-on pirate mode at this point. It is fully expected on both sides that if these people lose they are going to die, be sent to turbo prison, or given an "offer they can't refuse." They might be fighting with spite, hoping to bloody our noses and make our victory cost us something. They might be hoping to knock us down and make a getaway, which will extend their life for an unknown duration. Judging by the scene up there with the guy on the ship, some of them might have... other plans. If they had something to offer or were soldiers from another great power they might be able to surrender and expect negotiations, but these guys are just pirates. It's an eye for an eye, and they've poked out a lot of eyes. Yes, I did extend the duration of my message just to get that line in there. I just came up with it and was like, "yeah why not include it"
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Jul 30, 2023 21:43
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I picture turbo prison as like regular prison but with hockey armour and roller blades
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Jul 30, 2023 22:00
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Well Battletech is an 80s setting...
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Jul 30, 2023 22:11
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hunchback hunchback hunchback
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Jul 30, 2023 23:34
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There's a reason the Hunchback is my favorite `Mech 
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Jul 31, 2023 00:22
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Nice shooting! And that means hopefully no more artillery su pport from the Dropship.
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Jul 31, 2023 00:24
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The ship has powered down, so yeah.
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Jul 31, 2023 00:24
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Yep, the DropShip is out of play for the rest of the mission. I was worried it was going to be too overpowered, but I think it ended up being just enough of a threat to make things interesting.
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Jul 31, 2023 18:15
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Heading to 2514 and unloading on the scorpion. THE HUNCHBACK HUNGERS
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Jul 31, 2023 18:39
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Orders are in. Taking a casual backward stroll to 1922 and then unloading on the Goblin. I don't think I can kill it from this angle due to the damage variance of the LRMs but I could if I get lucky. Worst case scenario I should still soften it up a bit, and I can hopefully finish it off next turn. Also, I don't know why exactly but I'm noticing that I have a tendency to write why I'm doing something in my PM orders. I guess to remind myself why I thought the order was a good idea at the time. It does help me keep the stakes in mind, but it probably seems odd
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Jul 31, 2023 19:41
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i can't think of a good edit to do for the "i'm a genius / oh no!" meme for preston. my subconscious is insisting there's a good joke there, somewhere, but won't let me actually find it
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Jul 31, 2023 21:14
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| # ? Jun 5, 2024 15:20 |
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Reading that ejection failure just got me thinking about Blood On The Risers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWgsdexkv18 I feel like some permutation of this song almost certainly managed to survive until the 31st century.
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Jul 31, 2023 21:58
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