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We're all Stravags now - [Battletech - MekHQ]

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It's a reasonable thought, but reinforcements don't contribute to enemy force strength in this campaign rule set.
 
[X] Alpha Lance

Much as I'd love to scoot around the battlefield and troll stuff with an AC/2, 1) Alpha can smack a lot harder and 2) that's a lot more relevant when backing up an aggressive recce force.

Plus, I'm not sure I have a new rotor disc installed yet.
 
Dicking around with it myself, it's kind of an "RP" system; MekHQ simply gives you the option to do whatever the fuck you want really, and if you decide you have a light/medium force on standby for assists then you can do that.

This makes fast vehicles and vtol's kinda cool and in-character.
 
har, har, I got an ambush in my game as well, have three guesses what happened here:

(Round 2)
Physical attacks for Marauder II MAD-4A (Sanctioned Parts List)
Kick (Left leg) at Ostsol OTL-4D (Draconis Combine); needs 5, rolls 10 : hits (using Punch table) HD
Ostsol OTL-4D (Draconis Combine) takes 20 damage to HD.
Armor destroyed.
SECTION DESTROYED.
*** Ostsol OTL-4D (Draconis Combine) DESTROYED by damage! ***
Critical hit on HD. Roll is 11; 2 locations.
CRITICAL HIT on Life Support.
CRITICAL HIT on Sensors.

Pilot of Ostsol OTL-4D (Draconis Combine) "Jack Murakami" is already dead, so no damage is dealt!
(Round 4)
Physical attacks for Marauder II MAD-4A (Sanctioned Parts List)
Kick (Left leg) at Grand Dragon DRG-1G (Draconis Combine); needs 5, rolls 7 : hits (using Punch table) HD
Grand Dragon DRG-1G (Draconis Combine) takes 20 damage to HD.
Armor destroyed.
SECTION DESTROYED.
*** Grand Dragon DRG-1G (Draconis Combine) DESTROYED by damage! ***
Critical hit on HD. Roll is 7; no effect.

Pilot of Grand Dragon DRG-1G (Draconis Combine) "Shohei Bogic" is already dead, so no damage is dealt!

And I nearly shot out the Grasshopper's engine with a double crit through the centre torso.
Lucky Marauder is lucky.

*edit*
Enemy morale dropped like a brick the next day, I guess broadcasting "thanks for the mechs"did was not the upbeat message they were waiting for, neither was bringing it to their atention as a "heads up for the DCMS folks"
 
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I changed my mind what I want my character's type of mech to be, when I get in - I know I won't get it immediately, but what they want to drive. Not cavalry like Crabs and Wolverines and stuff like I thought earlier, but rather Troopers like Hunchbacks and Centurions.

In fact, in MegaMekLab I took a Hunchback-4SP (y'know, the MAXIMUM SRM one) and modded it both for a minor mod that can be done almost in-field (yanking the head Small Laser in favour of a side torso CASE, moving the two tons of SRM ammo to that side torso, and loading a ton of Inferno missiles in place of one of those tons) and a later one once we get enough freezers to make replacements practical. Also got a Centurion modified to my liking, by starting with the standard CN9-A as a base and ripping out the AC/10 and its ammo in favour of an LB-10X, a ton of slug ammo and a ton of cluster for it, and some CASE. The later version compromise its long-range capability a bit by removing the LRM10 and putting an SRM6 in its place, swapping the two tons of LRM ammo for a ton of standard SRMs and a ton of Inferno. Then it uses the saved weight for armour.

I'm liking these kinds of alterations, that a merc unit in 3050 might do to an existing mech as a way of upgrading their capabilities without the massive up-front cost of a factory-new updated variant with all the (expensive) trimmings.
 
RecklessPrudence said:
a minor mod that can be done almost in-field (yanking the head Small Laser in favour of a side torso CASE, moving the two tons of SRM ammo to that side torso, and loading a ton of Inferno missiles in place of one of those tons)
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Pretty sure adding/removing CASE is a factory-level refit. Doing the refits in MekHQ's lab instead of MML proper lets you see the refit level and time.
 
Yeah, adding CASE to a location is apparently a full rebuild, not like swapping out a couple of lasers.

Heh, my future mechwarrior will happily take whatever mech is available. Beggars can't be choosers. Although said mechwarrior does prefer medium mechs with a 5/8/5 movement profile and no AC/5.
 
Ivan the Not-so-Terrible said:
Pretty sure adding/removing CASE is a factory-level refit. Doing the refits in MekHQ's lab instead of MML proper lets you see the refit level and time.
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NickAragua said:
Yeah, adding CASE to a location is apparently a full rebuild, not like swapping out a couple of lasers.

Heh, my future mechwarrior will happily take whatever mech is available. Beggars can't be choosers. Although said mechwarrior does prefer medium mechs with a 5/8/5 movement profile and no AC/5.
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Really? Dammit. Then what made older mechs built with CASE lose it - simple lack of proper maintenance?

And while I'd like a 5/8/5 medium, I'm of the opinion that unless you're building an entirely cavalry/striker force you need the line troopers with the smaller engines for bigger guns and/or thicker armour. I really like the Wolverine when it's not bringing an AC/5 (particularly the -6M), and the Crab and Griffin are great in almost every config, but a Centurion or Hunchback makes for a lot more spare tonnage even with being five tons lighter. Plus it means going to a 4/6 Heavy isn't as jarring for a pilot used to more speed and jumpjets (although I still really like JJs on anything 85 tons or lighter - a Battlemaster with Jumpjets can be a nasty surprise - and even the big boys at 90+ tons can have an argument made - I mean, the Highlander exists and is great, after all!).
 
RecklessPrudence said:
And while I'd like a 5/8/5 medium, I'm of the opinion that unless you're building an entirely cavalry/striker force you need the line troopers with the smaller engines for bigger guns and/or thicker armour. I really like the Wolverine when it's not bringing an AC/5 (particularly the -6M), and the Crab and Griffin are great in almost every config, but a Centurion or Hunchback makes for a lot more spare tonnage even with being five tons lighter. Plus it means going to a 4/6 Heavy isn't as jarring for a pilot used to more speed and jumpjets (although I still really like JJs on anything 85 tons or lighter - a Battlemaster with Jumpjets can be a nasty surprise - and even the big boys at 90+ tons can have an argument made - I mean, the Highlander exists and is great, after all!).
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If you're building a lance for table-top play with a non-persistent force, I agree that a 50-tonner with an AC/20 or a disco show and a crap-ton of armor can be highly effective and is important to add to the mix. On the fixed tabletop maps, the terrain is usually relatively flat and relatively open - you may have some woods or buildings or hills, but the whole map isn't covered with them. Additionally, because it slows the game down, people don't usually have weather or lighting conditions.

However, I find that AtB really favors jump-capable mechs. With very high odds of rough terrain (woods, city, rubble, swamp, etc), inclement weather or poor lighting, combined with AtB's love of generating swarms of tanks, walking-only mechs are at a very high risk of getting swarmed and/or not being able to meaningfully participate in the battle. Additionally, if you're getting beat up, a jumping mech has a much easier time retreating. And if I get a Chase or Breakthrough scenario, I'd much rather have a 5/8/5 than a 4/6.
 
QUOTE="Ivan the Not-so-Terrible, post: 11372126, member: 616"]Ammo explosion ruins the torso but CASE saves the mech, so you replace the torso with the non-CASE variant because the good variant had its factory wrecked by neighbors/ROM INTERRUPT. Also shitty maintenance.[/QUOTE]
Oh, yeah. Duh.

NickAragua said:
If you're building a lance for table-top play with a non-persistent force, I agree that a 50-tonner with an AC/20 or a disco show and a crap-ton of armor can be highly effective and is important to add to the mix. On the fixed tabletop maps, the terrain is usually relatively flat and relatively open - you may have some woods or buildings or hills, but the whole map isn't covered with them. Additionally, because it slows the game down, people don't usually have weather or lighting conditions.

However, I find that AtB really favors jump-capable mechs. With very high odds of rough terrain (woods, city, rubble, swamp, etc), inclement weather or poor lighting, combined with AtB's love of generating swarms of tanks, walking-only mechs are at a very high risk of getting swarmed and/or not being able to meaningfully participate in the battle. Additionally, if you're getting beat up, a jumping mech has a much easier time retreating. And if I get a Chase or Breakthrough scenario, I'd much rather have a 5/8/5 than a 4/6.
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Ah, okay - what few games of tabletop I have under my belt were all one-offs, not campaigns. Interesting. Would you say that all goes double against Clanners, where 5/8 is the minimum you need to keep up with their Heavies?
 
RecklessPrudence said:
Ah, okay - what few games of tabletop I have under my belt were all one-offs, not campaigns. Interesting. Would you say that all goes double against Clanners, where 5/8 is the minimum you need to keep up with their Heavies?
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Only if you're facing a moonwalker. Generally you want toughness over speed, because in a cav fight the XL toughness difference means clanners eat you alive.
 
Ivan the Not-so-Terrible said:
Only if you're facing a moonwalker. Generally you want toughness over speed, because in a cav fight the XL toughness difference means clanners eat you alive.
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Well, I meant non-XL ones, standard-engined 5/8/5ers. Or would 4/6/4s do the job in that case, mounting JJs to more standard trooper designs for rough terrain capabilities and potential ambushes of tankborn?
 
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