|
 Hey, everyone, it’s PoptartsNinja. I lost my last HBS BattleTech LP due to a hard drive crash and I’ve been wanting to restart it for quite some time. So I asked the last thread what they wanted to see, and the choice was clear: 1) L'étranger, a mysterious mercenary from the deep periphery (4 votes) 2) Johnny Fiveaces, a mysterious mercenary from Seattle (9 votes) 3) Zheng Liao, a not-so mysterious mercenary from the Capellan Confederation. (0 votes, lol) 4) Clown on story mode instead (16 votes) So we’re playing the Campaign, and I stole a few elements from the other choices that actually got votes. The catch for this campaign? I have to do everything in my power to keep Dekker alive. To those not in the know, Dekker is a starting Mechwarrior who begins the game in a Spider, a ‘Mech with the lowest offense potential in the game. So many players got him killed back when the game launched that “Dekker always dies” has become a meme. We don’t tolerate memes ‘round here. To make my job even harder, Dekker can only pilot the Spider. I don’t have to use him or his Spider on every mission but I do have to keep it around taking up hangar space and costing me money or preventing me from refitting something better. I will try to use him on every story mission I can until either I screw up and he dies or we successfully beat the campaign and, if I can get him there, the final caveat is that I have use Dekker to DFA the final boss. What does that mean? I guess we’ll see.  Fortunately, for as bad as it is at actually engaging and killing the enemy, Dekker’s Spider has a few real advantages we’ll be abusing the hell out of all game long. To aide us in our quest to make Dekker a big drat hero, we’re playing the game with a collection of mods, which give us a few new toys to play with but also have a chance to significantly strengthen the OpForce of some missions. These mods are scaled pretty well, so while we’ll see elements of them early they’re not likely to make a big impact until the midgame. Goon-Made Mods: - PoptartsNinja's Equipment Equalizers is a personal mod of mine. It adds a wide variety of cockpit mods that replicate the effects of the special ‘Mech equipment from the Heavy Metal expansion. It also buffs PPCs (by reducing their heat from 35 to 30) and slightly nerfs the Marauder to make other heavy ‘Mechs more competitive. - Klyith's SLDF Incoming mod adds several difficult enemy lance compositions to the game, and enables the OpForce to spawn with the game’s Star League spec ‘Mechs. They primarily start appearing towards the endgame, but I’m told we may bump into a few early-game surprises! You can find a link to Klyith’s mod here - Amechwarrior's QuickCam speeds up the in-game camera. Most of what the mod does was officially adopted by the base game, but I still find QuickCam just a little bit smoother. You can get it here Nexus Mods: - BTRandomMechComponentUpgrader allows the OpForce to randomly replace some of their equipment with +, ++, and +++ versions of the same weapons, and even occasionally replace standard weapons with LosTech versions. They can’t generate a ‘Mech that the Mechlab wouldn’t allow a player to deploy, but it means some enemies could wind up a lot more dangerous than they might otherwise be. This mod also affects enemy vehicles. - ColorfulCombatants is just for fun, it semi-randomizes Pirate and Mercenary OpForce colors to one of five flashy colors chemes. - Hangar of Stompyness adds a few new ‘Mechs to the game. I tweaked what was available to stop anything anachronistic from spawning (but I also secretly modded the game’s start year to 3045  ). These ‘Mechs don’t appear in shops, so we have to kill them to use them.All of these are managed and run by the ModTek mod manager, which is pretty vital to most BattleTech modding. You can get the Equipment Equalizers mod here. I also included a zip file of all the mods I'm running in case you want to play along. All credit belongs to the original mod creators, I just made a few minor tweaks to integrate my special equipment with the component upgrader and make sure we wouldn’t get anything too weird out of the Hangar. This will be a hybrid screenshot/video LP. There’s a lot of transcription involved, but I’ll do my best to keep an update schedule of at least once a week. Table of Contents Episode 1: “Judge me, the Thread Title was Almost ‘Have Fun Storming the Capitol!’” Episode 2: “Pimp My ‘Mech” Episode 3: “Grim Sybil” Episode 4: "Tournament of Champions" Episode 5: "Tanks for the Memories" Episode 6: First Strike Episode 7: Liberation: Panzyr Episode 8: Seep the Leg Episode 9: I Spoiled This Ages Ago Episode 10: Take the Bull by the Long Tom Artillery Cannon. I mean Horns. Episode 11: Nice Episode 12: That Bounty Hunter Knockoff Episode 13: Plot Bomb Episode 14: Vicky Did It Episode 15: Shopping Spree Episode 16: Endgame PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Jul 8, 2021 |
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 08:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 7, 2024 17:39 |
|
|
BattleTech: Restoration Campaign – Episode 1: Judge me, the Thread Title was Almost ‘Have Fun Storming the Capitol!’      Intro Cutscenes + Tutorial Missions (Important, no commentary)     [8 Hours Later]   My name is Darius Oliveira, and I'm the XO of Markham's Marauders. We're a mercenary outfit with ties to House Arano... we did some work for High Lord Tamati way back when. I'd introduce you to Commander Markham, but he was on a supply run in the Market District when the bombs fell. He, uh... well. He didn't make it. I’m sorry for your loss. Yeah... I am, too. He was a good man. A lot of good people died today. A few of the bad ones, too. We picked up your distress beacon on the emergency band as we were on our way off-planet. After seeing what'd happened to Markham, it didn't feel right leaving you in the hands of this new "Directorate." We did a sweep of the combat site, grabbed your ejection pod, and ran. What about Mastiff? Sir Raju Montgomery—did you find him? We found his 'Mech. It was completely cored out. Nobody survives a hit like that. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. We supported the Royal Guard on a handful of deployments, and Sir Raju earned my respect many times over. His death is a loss for us all. Were you able to recover my Blackjack? Yeah, our MechTech hauled what's left of it into the Mech Bay. It isn't pretty, but if you give him enough time, Yang can fix just about anything. Try not to take the loss too hard. Yang said that your 'Mech shows signs of deliberate sabotage... whoever you had working on it really did a number on the reactor. Punching out was the right move That explains why my jump jets all exploded after jumping once. So what happens now? Well, things aren't looking so hot around here, what with the coup and all. House Espinosa's Directorate is the new de facto government of the Aurigan Reach. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Lady Arano is dead. Her DropShip was destroyed on takeoff. It's all over the news. Well, poo poo. Our sentiments exactly. We're getting the hell out of Aurigan territory—I've already booked transport on the first JumpShip out. We're heading to a nice, quiet stretch of independent space all the way across the Frontier, on the Canopian border. Not a cheap trip, but we'll worry about how we're gonna pay for it later. Now. According to the info on your blood chit, you've got family in the Deep Periphery. I'm afraid that's going to make getting you back there difficult... there aren't many freighter captains who're willing to travel that far from the Inner Sphere. So the way I see it, you've got a couple of options. You could stay with us for the long haul if you wanted... that's Option A. When we get where we're going, we can drop you at the nearest planet; maybe you can make a place for yourself there. Of course, I'll need you to pitch in for your share of the fuel—plus food, lodging, and repairs on your 'Mech. Fair's fair, after all. ...Alternatively, you could find a place for yourself in the Marauders if you wanted to. Wouldn't take you long to work off your debt, and you ran with Mastiff, so I know you've got chops. Think it over. Sleep on it. You've had a hell of a day, and we've got a long road ahead.[3 Years Later] (Yes, really) Story Mission 1: Majesty Metals   No internal damage at least, so we’re not eating repair costs right at the outset. I'm fully aware of our financial situation, Meyer. But I can't just conjure up new clients out of thin air. Johnny, do me a solid and back me up on this. Is this why you all made me your Commander? So I could break up fights and review financial reports? drat right it is. It isn't like any of us wanted the job. Wait, hold on.  That’s better. That chair isn’t supposed to—nevermind. Darius, could you walk us through the details of this trouble we're in? It might help if you broke things down point by point. Sure thing, Yang. Point one, Meyer's right—we're in debt. Every C-Bill we make technically belongs to the banks. Point two, this corner Of the Frontier is a dead zone for mercenary work. There are clients, but they're terrible. That's just a fact. ...And that's it. There are no other points. What's our best-case scenario? How many jobs will it take to repay the loans? Truthfully? I can't even say. We're in a pretty deep hole, and from where I'm standing, I don't see a whole lot of daylight. The thing is, these banks... and I use that word loosely... they don't want us to pay off our loans. They'll do whatever they can get away with to keep us on the hook—hit us with fees, jack up our interest rates, "misfile" our paperwork. I'm trying to find us a way out of this, but it's gonna take time.  And every day that passes, we accumulate more debt. If we keep going like we have been, we’re screwed. Ok, so we’re in a bad spot. What are we going to do about it? I don't see what else we can do, Johnny. I'm already serving up every legitimate contract I can find. Unless you want me to sidestep the Mercenary Review Board entirely, we're basically out of options. Mercenary Review Board? You’re talking like it’s still 3025. The MRBC’s got no presence out here. It’s ComStar or no one. Go around the MRB? No thanks. Taking an uncertified job is a great way to wind up with a knife in your back. We just got betrayed on a Board-certified contract, Yang. How much worse could it get? Plenty. What happened down there was an exception, Boss. With uncertified jobs, it's the rule. Remind me again why we don't just skip town and head to a nicer corner of the Periphery? Because the banks and the JumpShip crews have an arrangement. Until we pay up, they're gonna keep us on a short leash. That's a good reason. This is sounding more and more like a conspiracy to keep us available for something. Look, Darius... Meyer's right. We need to start earning some real money, and we need to do it soon. It's only a matter of time before something breaks down that I can't fix with duct tape and good intentions. [Origin: Betrayed] I'm no stranger to betrayal, Yang—I lost my family to someone I thought of as a friend. That doesn't change the fact that we need money. Yeah, Boss... much as I hate to say it, I agree with you. We need to sidestep the MRB. Guess I'd better get mentally prepared for that knife in the back, huh? It's settled, then. I'll start digging for contracts outside of the MRB system. Who knows? Maybe it'll work out for the best. It isn't like we've got all that much to lose. In the meantime, we need to find another paying job, and our prospects in this system have completely dried up. I'd recommend booking travel to a neighboring system and seeing what the Review Board has for us. With any luck, we'll find enough work to keep going until something better rolls in. The banks are holding our JumpShip access hostage until we repay our debts. For now, we can only go between Ur Cruinne—that’s a ‘U’ with one of those cute little accents by the way, don’t ask me how the locals pronounce it—and the nearby systems of Alloway, Bellerophon, and Detroit. Our top priority right now needs to be finding work, so we can raise cash. None of the contracts here are very good; I picked out the only viable one I could find, and it helpfully includes our travel fees as part of the deal. Come by the Command Center when you're ready to review it. Good intentions, Darius, but wrong. Our first priorty isn’t to make money. … Boss? If we want to impress the marks, we need to make ourselves presentable. ‘Markham’s Marauders’ had a nice ring, but ‘Johnny’s Marauders’ sounds like hot steaming rear end. We’re all sporting different color schemes in shades of black and red, too. That makes us look like a disorganized band of pirates, not reputable mercenaries. We’ve gotta pretty ourselves up to catch some attention, and I know just the way. A name guaranteed to make employers look twice. Camo says we mean business, but a splash of hot pink says we’re confident enough that we don’t feel like we need it. Are you sure about— You made me the boss, now deal with it. Second order of business: spending money. What?! Oh. Unfortunate.PTN’s note: The Fuzzy Dice isn’t an ideal first chance at an Equipment Equalizer. +critical chance isn’t bad, but in the early game every weapon we don’t blow up is extra money.  Tempting… Cheap and vital, buying both! … Ha Haha MWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! poo poo. Better. Yang. YANG! Heyya, Boss. Welcome to the Mech Bay—my own little piece of heaven right here on the ship. Something I can help you with? I want an assessment on the Leopard. How much trouble are we in? Dunno. I mean, we’re doing okay for the moment, but give it a few months, maybe a year… You know how it goes. Eventually, everything falls apart. Maybe our drive system will give out. Maybe some debris will perforate the hull. Who knows? But on that day, we're gonna need to be able to cover our repair costs. And if we can't... well. That'll be that. But nothing’s broken right this moment? Other than your chair? No. Excellent. Tell me a little bit about yourself. How’d you wind up with this crew? That's a long story, Boss. Shortest version I can give you? I signed on after I served my term in the Third Succession War, fighting for the Capellan Confederation. If you want to know more, you can ask whatever you want. Otherwise, let's get back to talking shop. Where are you from, originally? Bryant, in the Confederation. You may have heard of our claim to fame: the Crowley Lizard Cow. ...No? Well, trust me, they're delicious. You had me sold at ‘Lizard.’ Anyway, as the story goes, Bryant was a really nice place once—a tourist spot, big with hikers and fishing enthusiasts. Pale blue skies, emerald-green seas, and a booming agricultural business. You know... the works. I never knew it that way, though. Stefan Amaris got to it a couple centuries before I was born, and, well... that was that. As the story goes, Bryant used to have these enormous orbital mirrors—"Storm Inhibitors," they called 'em. The Star League put them in place. When Amaris took the system in his civil war, he had his troops use 'em for target practice. Without those mirrors, Bryant reverted to its natural state: a miserable little ball of windblown dirt, actively hostile to human life. Sounds a bit like me. By the time I came along, the only places where people could live in relative safety were the planet's poles. Of course, you can't fit a planet's entire population into a handful of cities at its poles—there isn't enough space, no matter how far down you dig or how tall you build. A lot of people—mostly the poor—died in the early days. There's still a lot of overcrowding in Bryant's cities even now. That's my childhood home in a nutshell... way too many people jammed into a tiny, claustrophobic space, with nowhere to go but off-planet. I cleared out of there as fast as I could and never looked back. Gotta admit, though... I do miss the taste of Lizard Cow. Tell me about your time in the military. Who’d you serve with? The 2nd St. Ives Lancers, 1st Battalion, under Major Ling. We saw more action than most. The arm is a souvenir of my time in the service. I lost the original back in 3010, on St. Loris. Y'know, when we first arrived at St. Loris, I loved the place. It's an agricultural world... sort of a breadbasket for the neighboring systems. Green fields, rolling hills, you get the picture. We'd just walked out of hell on Kittery—the FedRats drove us out in '05 with our tails between our legs, so it looked like paradise to us. I remember kicking back in the Mech Bay, my feet propped up on an engine block, sipping on a snifter of Ambergrist vermouth. Not a bad way to spend a sunny afternoon. Anyway. Turned out, the Federated Suns weren't done with us yet. We were barely a month into our deployment when they sent the Ceti Hussars to burn us out. I'm sure that there were sound strategic reasons for House Davion to want St. Loris, but it sure felt personal to me. It’s ‘Mechwar, it’s always personal. Long story short, one of their scouts managed to slip through our perimeter and hit my Mech Bay. I was tinkering around in a Centurion's custom-made rumble seat at the time... being surrounded by all that armor is the only reason I made it out alive. Still, I didn't make it out unscathed. I lost two of my favorite assistants and my own right arm, and I've got this ugly thing grafted onto me as a reminder. ...And yet, here I am, doing mercenary work for a living. Some people never learn, huh? Why'd you leave the Capellan Confederation? After my tour of duty was up, you mean? I dunno, it was just... time for a change. Besides, the place wasn’t for me anymore. In a way, it never really was. I learned a lot from my time in the service. Got a first-hand view of the elitist bullshit that saturates Capellan culture, how it rewards highborn idiots at the common people's expense. Speaking as a thoroughly common man, that didn't sit right with me. When my tour was over, I packed up my things and made a beeline for the Periphery. Seemed like as good a place as any to find a new beginning. You’ll never really get away from the aristocracy, Yang. Hell, I was born a noble. As far as anyone here knows. Yeah, but you're a competent noble, and you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty. At the end of the day, that's all I really care about. I wonder how many times I watched talented engineers get passed over for promotion so some idiot with a title could advance? Too many to count. For what it's worth, I'm glad that you made that choice. You've brought my 'Mech back from the brink more than once. Heh... way more than once, if memory serves. Still, I appreciate the kind words. And for what it's worth, I'm happy to be here, with this crew. Going career military would've been an enormous mistake. In your position, I probably would’ve done the same. Let’s talk about something else. Wait. Have you just been buttering me up? Mmmmmmmaybe? We’ve got some forced downtime coming up while we hop to a new system. … So, what’s your crazy scheme this time? Ok. So, you know my Blackjack. … … I’m calling this the FLAKjack. That’s going to take at least two weeks to finish, we still have regular maintenance to do on the other four ‘Mechs too! Three ‘Mechs. I sold the Locust. What? But that’s our spare—if something were to happen— If something devastating happened and we had to rely on a Locust to pull our asses out of the fire, we’re already hosed. Trust me, I won’t let us hit that point. … Without the Locust, I think I can get this done in—thirteen days? Good. ‘Cause I’ve already sold our Autocannon/2s. What?! Don’t argue, they’re useless. Rip those puppies out of there and dump ‘em on some idiot who doesn’t know any better. You’re the best, Yang, I mean that! ‘Scuse me a sec, I have a date: need to finish up some post-battle training with the troops. … I hope he knows what he’s doing. And don’t worry! I know what I’m doing! Training Results: Johnny “Five Aces” Fiveaces - +1 Gunnery (Gunnery 4), +1 Guts (Guts 5) [Bulwark] Glitch: +1 Guts (Guts 4) Dekker: +1 Piloting (Piloting 5) [Sure Footing] Behemoth: +1 Gunnery (Gunnery 4) Medusa: +1 Gunnery (Gunnery 4), +1 Guts (Guts 4) PTN’s note: If we end the campaign and Medusa is still a 4/4/4/3 pilot, I will be quite pleased. You spent how much?! I know what I’m doing. I also offloaded a lot of crap that was eating up Mechbay space. Did you know we had SRM-2s onboard? Those were spares for the Shadow Hawk! Oh, right. Remind me to rip the SRM-2 out of the Shadow Hawk at the earliest convenience. Why?! Because it’s trash that I need to try to turn into diamonds before any of us die. It has ammunition in the Center Torso, Darius! I don’t— In. The. Center. Torso. Fine. Just, tell me you didn’t buy anything crazy? An Autocannon/10?! It’s insurance. None of our ‘Mechs even carries an Autocannon/10! If we don’t bump into anything better first? The Shadow Hawk does. We had a million c-bills before you went on this shopping spree. Gotta spend money to make money, Jack. … How much do we have left? 542,346 c-bills.   I think we’ve made a terrible mistake.
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 08:47 on Mar 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 08:38
|
|
|
It is such a shame that you can't give these mechs pink mohawks.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 09:32
|
|
|
I really wish they used dropship reinforcements in more missions. It would have solved a lot of the 8 v 4 scenarios missions have a bad habit of devolving into. Decker Survival counter: 1
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 09:47
|
|
|
This is gonna go juuuust fine.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 10:11
|
|
|
'(That mech) committed suicide' counter: 1
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 11:09
|
|
|
Ah, good ol' LBXes, how I love them, and the planet you start on in campaign tends to have at least a couple starting out.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 13:32
|
|
|
Aw right, a PTN narrative SSLP.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 15:06
|
|
|
Stacking the dekk with five aces
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 16:26
|
|
|
Downloaded the mod. Love the Quickscell items.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 18:03
|
|
|
I still have my Dekker. The only one of the initial pilots to survive to the end. He's a ways down the depth chart now, though, so I like to think he does administrative work first.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 18:32
|
|
|
AJ_Impy posted:Downloaded the mod. Love the Quickscell items. Please let me know if any of them break!
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 18:32
|
|
|
I note your spider missed hitting a building with a laser
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 18:47
|
|
|
That is going to happen with disappointing regularity (hit percentage is capped by gunnery and gunnery is not a key skill for an effective Spider). Gunnery is my third priory, most of the time. My general rule is: get Gunnery to 4 or 5 (depending on whether or not you want Multitarget, which I usually don't) for the early game, and then ignore it for a while. Unlock your two skills (usually Bulwark + something else). Once you're up to either Guts 5, and either Piloting, Gunnery, or Tactics 5, your top priority is the tactics tree (for your damage dealers) or the piloting tree (for your scout(s)). Maybe push for Gunnery 6 somewhere in there if you find yourself missing a lot more than you're expecting, but most sluggers are going to be better served with some extra points in Guts to boost their heat cap or piloting for Stability thresholds. I didn't get to comment on it, but Mastiff is a big ol' cheater. He has every Tier 1 skill and Master Tactician. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Mar 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 19:08
|
|
|
Quikscell best sell.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 21:14
|
|
|
PoptartsNinja posted:That is going to happen with disappointing regularity (hit percentage is capped by gunnery and gunnery is not a key skill for an effective Spider). It's extremely funny to me his default Centurion lasted that long against what, three lances? He ran out of ammo pretty drat quick there lol
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 21:17
|
|
|
BattleTech: Restoration Campaign – Episode 2: Pimp My ‘Mech Good, the next mission is twelve days out. We’ll have the FLAKjack ready shortly after we get there. You didn’t even check? Why would I need to? JumpShips can only charge so quickly. This is a straightforward battle, Commander. Finding a military lance in a backwater like this should be no challenge at all. Unless they do something intelligent, like buy a little camo netting. We've heard you're a competent mercenary. We've been having some trouble lately, and if you could resolve it for us, we'll ensure you're paid well. If not, so be it. We’re not likely to get decent salvage here. So long as your money’s good, I’ll get the job done. (neutral scales)     … Did you just delete that? We’ve never missed a payment, they’re just probing us to see if we panic. Fine. I don’t disagree, but I’m going to keep an eye on things for a while to make sure the banks don’t actually make any changes. Mission 2: Aggressive Intrusion (Story (sort-of), Commentary)   Decent money, no real salvage of note. Could’ve saved myself some money buying those Small Lasers, but they can be hard to come by and I’ll never regret having spares. Sadly, the only thing worthwhile in the shops here is an SRM-6. I’ll have to see if I can buy that while Darius isn’t looking— I’m not letting you buy that.PTN’s note: I actually just forgot about it. Fortunately, picking it up here wouldn’t have saved me any time.  Our operatives on Bellerophon recovered a functional piece of SLDF technology, but before they could deliver it to us, they were captured by pirate forces. We need a team to assault the location they're being held, recover the technology, and escape. I'm guessing the 'technology' is some broken piece of scrap, but the Magistracy of Canopus is willing to pay to recover it. We go in and get out before they even know what hit them. Commander, I hope you are in good health. This contract may interest you—it fits your skills and the strengths Of your company. With any luck, we'll both get what we want out of this job. Actually, I’d say it’s beneath us but you can’t build a reputation without killing a few Locusts. (Neutral scales)Mission 3: Asset Retrieval (Recovery, No Commentary) Rewards: 107,400 c-bills Reputation: Magistracy of Canopus +3, Local Pirates -2 Notable Salvage: 2 WLF-1 Wolfhound parts, 1 LCT-1M Locust part, 1 Large Laser That large laser means we can convert the Blackjack to a back-up plan if screw up and lose an autocannon. Who’s the client? Unknown—she didnt ID herself in the message. But she claims to be a member of the Canopian elite. She says that she's got a big job lined up, and she wants us for it. Us specifically. She called the Commander out by name. How would she even know about us in the first place? It isn’t like we’re drowning in publicity out here. Good question… and I’m betting we don’t have an answer. I do. It’s because we spent a little time to make ourselves flashy. Anyone could lead Markham’s Marauders, but there’s only one person who could possibly be in command of Johnny “Five Aces” Fiveaces’s Five Aces. Wait, you didn’t— You’re certain this “client” isn’t a bounty hunter? ‘Cause I can list off about five different banks that’d all love to repossess this ship. We're shopping for uncertified contracts behind the Review Board's back, Yang. Hell no, I'm not certain. But for what it's worth, I can confirm that she's rich. She reached out to us with a priority HPG message, and those things ain't cheap. Rich is good. I like rich. So do I… and the fact of the matter is, we’re hemmorrhaging C-Bills out here. Johnny. What? It’s worth the risk. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? There’re worse ways to go. Thanks for that delightful image, Yang. Look, Johnny—I'll admit, this is sketchy as hell. But it's also the best lead we're likely to find. If you want to follow up, plot a course to Bellerophon—the client will be waiting. The contract to meet with our Canopian mystery client is ready for review in the Command Center. Take a look when you're ready, Commander. Later.Training Results: Glitch: +1 Guts (Guts 5) [Bulwark] Dekker: +1 Guts (Guts 5) [Bulwark] Behemoth: +1 Piloting (Piloting 5) [Sure Footed], +1 Tactics (Tactics 3) Hey, Sumire. Hey, Commander. Something I can do for you? Does the decision we made about uncertified contracts satisfy your concerns? My concerns won't be satisfied until our creditors have been paid and the loan sharks are off our backs. But this is a step in the right direction, and that makes me happy. I'm not blind to the risks that uncertified contracts entail, by the way. I mean, I know that what we're doing is dangerous. But it's the best chance we've got to dig ourselves out of this hole. I’m collecting stories about the crew. Tell me something about yourself. Well... I'm from a noble family, like you. We're old money—made our fortune out in Rasalhague, then repatriated to the Taurian Concordat. That's where I grew up. I'm not sure if this is the kind of stuff you were hoping to hear, but we can talk about whatever. I'm not shy. Where in the Concordat are you from? I grew up on New Vandenberg. It’s a nice enough place, I suppose. Do you like birds? Not particularly. Then do yourself a favor and avoid New Vandenberg. Avoid it like the plague. Something like two-thirds of the native fauna has feathers, flutters on the wind, and splatters its excrement across every available surface. I dunno, it doesn’t sound all that bad to me. Try living there. I give you about six months of having your lunch stolen by gulls and your head shat on by finches before you change your tune. Where’d you learn to pilot a Leopard, anyway? The Taurian Naval Institute, on New Vandenberg. Well, among other places—it's a big campus. The low-gravity training station orbiting Lompoc was my second home for a time. TNI flight training isn't usually open to civilians, but my parents had good credit back then, and they could name-drop Protector Calderon. That'll get you pretty far in the Concordat... for a while, anyway. The other cadets in my class weren't especially happy sharing air with a civvy, but they couldn't say much. I was nobility and they weren't. Everyone sort of kept me at arm's length, so I had plenty of time to concentrate on my studies. What can you tell me about House Meyer? You're looking at it. My parents are both gone—blood cancer and heart disease, respectively. Both treatable, but they were out of money at that point, so into the ground they went. Ditto my brother David, who ran Off to serve in the Third Succession War and never came back. I’m no stranger to loss.jpg myself. David was thirteen years older than me, and had a foot out the door before I turned three. And my parents, well... they raised me by proxy, in the traditional noble fashion. There was no real bond there, even when I was young. None of this is to say that my folks were bad people. They weren't! They were just... doing what they knew. Their upbringings had been outsourced, just like mine was. Anyway, that's all I've got to say about my family. They're gone, I'm here, the end. So... you got another question? Or should we get back to our duties? Your family came from Rasalhague? It was a long time ago, but yeah. As my parents told it, we were landowners on Pomme De Terre... it's an agricultural world, sort of the breadbasket of the Draconis Combine. ...And yes, I know that "Pomme De Terre" means "potato." My ancestors came from the planet Potato. It took some time for me to accept that, but hey, here we are. ...Anyway. Moving on. House Meyer's holdings were meager, but the value of that land was astronomical. For minor nobility, we were really very wealthy. And then the Third Succession War broke out, and the political rhetoric got ugly. House Meyer didn't want a single part of what was happening, so my ancestors emptied their accounts and ran. I’ve gotta get back to it. Talk to you later, Sumire. Hey, do me a favor? Yeah? Could you have a little ‘drive trouble’ on the way to our next destination? Yang’s going to need a little extra time to finish what I have planned. … Thanks, Sumire. You’re the best. We've heard you're a competent mercenary. We've been having some trouble lately, and if you could resolve it for us, we'll ensure you're paid well. If not, so be it. We’re not going for the special contract? It’s an assassination, and Detroit isn’t that far out of the way. Could be lucrative (Salvage +1, Payment -1) Yang! Fire up the MechTechs, I have something for you! With this, the Vindicator is completely ammunition independent. Glitch can fight as long as she still has armor remaining. Dekker’s Spider gets an armament downgrade, and an extra ton of armor. This is the best we can do with the Spider, for now, but it can at least survive a medium laser hit. I couldn’t get my hands on enough SRMs for Plan ‘A’, Darius, so we’re going with the back-up plan for now. This is hopefully only temporary. It’s the end of the month, Commander. poo poo. It’s payday. We saved a little on maintenance by selling off the Locust. We could cut Mechwarrior pay a little to— gently caress that. If we want them to catch bullets for us we need to keep it worth their while. (Neutral budget, estimated cost 232,500) How many days to Detroit? We’re here. Great! Time to go shopping! What? No! ! Ahaha. Mwahahahahaha! PTN’s note: I wasn’t expecting to bump into this for a bit, the Power Monitors have a low weight on most planets where they can show up, so they should be fairly rare. Woof, that price tag. Let’s hammer out that mission and then see if they’ve still got this in stock when I get back.Mission 4: Middle Management (Assassinate, No Commentary) Rewards: 61,687 c-bills Reputation: Magistracy of Canopus -2 Noteworthy Salvage: 1 WLF-1 Wolfhound part, 1 WVR-6R part, 1 LCT-1M part Chassis Complete: Wolfhound WLF-1 PTN’s note: The Wolfhound is a ‘Mech added by the Hangar of Stompyness mod. As with a lot of PGI-ported ‘Mechs, it was copied over without much thought, so it has 11 energy hardpoints and nothing else. Medium lasers are solid performers, but I prefer support weapon slots on light ‘Mechs and we’re stuck using the Spider anyway.  Hey, free large laser. That’ll be a nice upgrade for— Our bank account. Selling it.     The Free Worlds League would like to offer you a choice contract, Commander. As the leader of a respected mercenary company, you should find the terms both fair and equitable, I think. We believe there is a pirate lance operating on Detroit, within a region we control. All Marik operations are at risk as long as this lance is allowed to move unimpeded. Patrol the area, find the enemy lance, and eliminate it. This is a straightforward battle, Commander. Finding a military lance in a backwater like this should be no challenge at all. Good, time to test our upgraded ‘Mechs in a brawl (Neutral scales)Mission 5: Patrol (Battle, No Commentary) Rewards: 301,200 C-Bills Reputation: Free Worlds League +3, Local Pirates -2 Noteworthy Salvage: 1 COM-1B Commando part, 1 LCT-1V Locust part, 1 Large Laser Terrorist strikes against our facilities have increased, and our intel says the Free Worlds League is bankrolling the terrorists and providing logistical support in the form of small arms, explosives, and medical supplies. We need you to intercept the Marik supply convoy and destroy it before it reaches the terrorists. Commander, this smells political, and that makes me nervous. I suggest we go in, take care of the convoy, and get out again, without too many questions. There's a bonus from the Locals if we clean up all the enemy forces, but that's up to you. Of course it’s political. That’s how we make money. If House Marik wants to fund a proxy war with the locals, they can hardly blame us for taking money from both sides. (Neutral scales)Mission 6: Terrorist Convoy (Ambush Convoy, No Commentary) Rewards: 237,750 c-bills Reputation: Free Worlds League -2 Noteworthy Salvage: TBT-7K Trebuchet parts Training Results: Johnny: +1 Piloting (Piloting 5) [Surefooted], +2 Tactics (Tactics 4) Dekker: +1 Piloting (Piloting 6) +1 Hit Defense, +3 Melee Hit Defense (piloting 6 is really good) We've had reports of Canopian activity near one of our outlying Oases. Unfortunately, we already have a military supply convoy in the field, and it will be easy prey for a force of 'Mechs. We need you to rendezvous with the convoy and protect it while it's being evacuated. Not much to say, Commander. the Locals made a tactical fumble, and we're going to bail them out. Take it slow and easy. Convoy escorts can be a real chore. Payment on this one is inordinately high, so the Locals must think the OpForce has something good. (+1 salvage, -1 payment)Mission 7: Ammunition Convoy (Escort, No Commentary) Rewards: 272,090 c-bills (this is at -1, remember) Reputation: Magistracy of Canopus -2 Noteworthy Salvage: 1 JR7-D Jenner part, 3 JVN-10A Javelin parts, 1 LCT-1V Locust part ’Mech Chassis Complete: Javelin JVN-10A The Javelin 10A has— Sold! We’re out of missions on Detroit, too, which means it’s time for some forced downtime. I’ll get the MechTechs ready. Not as good as a Griffin, but good enough. Now it’s time to head to Bellerophon and— Begin my special mission? What? gently caress no. They’re paying travel expenses only. This one is offering actual money. (Neutral scales) Training Results: Johnny: +1 Tactics (Tactics 5) -45 Meters minimum range (very important for the LB-5Xes) Now that we’ve arrived at Bellerophon—let me guess. Shopping trip? Now you’re getting it. PTN’s note: Not a rare mod, but a great early-game pickup. That’s going straight into the FLAKJack. If you take the time do to that, we’re going to hit— poo poo! Payday! Red Alert! Neutral budget.Mission 8: Supply Base (Destroy Base, Commentary) Rewards: 327,240 c-bills Reputation: Free Worlds League +3, Local Pirates -2 Noteworthy Salvage: 3 LCT-1S parts ’Mech Chassis Complete: Locust LCT-1S Should I even bother? Nope. Sold! Hey, Darius. Yes? We’re supposed to be hemorrhaging money right now, right? Yes. 
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Mar 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 21:35
|
|
|
RBA Starblade posted:It's extremely funny to me his default Centurion lasted that long against what, three lances? He ran out of ammo pretty drat quick there lol Periphery-made weapons, man...
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 21:47
|
|
|
If you watch the cutscene, Victoria misses near every shot. It's almost like Mastiff trained her wrong. As a joke.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 21:49
|
|
|
There's a couple of incorrect thumbnail image tags in the update. Also the background for Johnny's portrait keeps distracting me.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 22:32
|
|
|
The mission 3 link points at mission 4, the others are ok.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 22:33
|
|
|
lagidnam posted:The mission 3 link points at mission 4, the others are ok. Cooked Auto posted:There's a couple of incorrect thumbnail image tags in the update. Edit: Nevermind, I think I found it. I managed to reverse image 24 and 25. It should be primarily 'Mechlab pictures getting TMGd, or random event results I made up some extra dialogue for. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 22:50 on Mar 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 22:46
|
|
|
12, 13, 17, 22 and 24 come up as thumbnailed for me. But that might just be SALR doing something then. v  vOr not. You caught the one I saw in the Sumire chat though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2021 22:48
|
|
|
"Oh good, another Locust committed suicide." *shotgun fire* There's something about exploding Locusts that never gets old.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 02:25
|
|
|
It's been so long that I played unmodded battletech that having 3 parts be complete salvage keeps messing with my brain.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 03:41
|
|
|
LostCosmonaut posted:It's been so long that I played unmodded battletech that having 3 parts be complete salvage keeps messing with my brain. You can set it up to 7 I think in vanilla now in career mode. 4-5 is the sweet spot imo
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 04:01
|
|
|
You can go up to 8. I'm running with 3 because it's "standard" for the campaign (even if I did bump up OpForce lance difficulty to Hard so we'll stop seeing half-health pirates real fast). And because seeing lots of units is fun. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Mar 19, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 04:07
|
|
|
We're bleeding money here on these Review Board only jobs! *breaks a million Cbills* BUT MAH NARRATIVE
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 09:28
|
|
|
Good to see this back! (Well, 'back'. You know what I mean.)
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 10:39
|
|
|
Veloxyll posted:We're bleeding money here on these Review Board only jobs! The vote was for me to break the campaign over my knee, and I intend to oblige. I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit everything I filmed yesterday into one update or two, but by the end of filming we're rolling in it. We also get our first usable heavy 'Mech and finally upgrade someone out of their starter ( ). Feel free to speculate wildly which 'Mech I acquired, whether I bought it (gotta spend money to make money) or captured it, and which of the Five Aces got their ride upgraded.
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Mar 19, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 15:16
|
|
|
I was about to bet on a Quickdraw. I remember seeing so loving many of those things early. But then I realized you said USABLE. So, rifleman?
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 15:48
|
|
|
Grasshopper time!
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 15:50
|
|
|
PoptartsNinja posted:The vote was for me to break the campaign over my knee, and I intend to oblige. My guess is that it's a Grasshopper
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 15:56
|
|
|
I'm going to say Orion just because it's my favorite, and also you shot its head off
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 16:11
|
|
|
Jagermech. Just because I kept confusing it with the Rifleman when I played, many, many moons ago.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 18:56
|
|
|
Veloxyll posted:We're bleeding money here on these Review Board only jobs! To be fair it sounds like the creditors don't give a poo poo about the money, they instead want to manufacture a legitimate reason to "repossess" your dropship.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 19:24
|
|
|
You're going to use a Dragon just to troll us
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 19:31
|
|
|
Slaan posted:You're going to use a Dragon just to troll us I was incredibly tempted to do just that. Maybe I still will if I find TSM. The Dragon may not be an upgrade over the Shadow Hawk, but it is an upgrade over the Blackjack. I wonder if I can fit two LB-5Xes into one. 
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Mar 19, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 19:47
|
|
|
AltaBrown posted:Jagermech. Just because I kept confusing it with the Rifleman when I played, many, many moons ago. my favourite jaeger in MWO is the DD with twin lbx 10, 4HMGs and 2 medium lasers for flavour. I call it the METALSTORM.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2021 23:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 7, 2024 17:39 |
|
|
Super happy to see PTN back at a BattleTech LP! I'm thinking we just got ourselves a Firestarter...  e: I'll say a prayer to your drives this time around.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2021 00:27
|
|
