Adventures in AC20 land...

Apparently, after I logged off the other night, Megamek went through a rollback - meaning my 2 wins and the 2 mechs I bought were essentially gone from the game. No biggie - BJ-1's and COM-2D's are not exactly premium mechs - and the wins are not so important.

So I logged in last night and got re-promoted to Garrison Commander and bought my medium mech over again - this time getting a 4/4 Wolverine WVR-6R. A solid mech - but its high BV makes it a little difficult to use with what I've got. It is certainly a spot better than the BJ though - so no complaints from me.

I also bought another light mech and got a Stinger STG-3G - which is nothing special but again - a spot better than the COM-2D.

I started off with a tutorial match against a new player.

My army: HBK-4G [4/5], LCT-1E [4/5], LCT-1V [4/4], SDR-5K [4/5]; BV: 2594
His army: STG-3G [4/5], JVN-10N [4/5], LCT-1V [4/5], JR7-F [4/5NAG]; BV: 2534

His inexperience was plainly obvious, so I did my best to give him pointers when I could. Still, the match was over quickly even without my AC20 hitting anything. His biggest problems were movement modifiers though - he frequently was running his mechs to a +1 movement mod - and on a relatively open map, that will spell doom for them.

Anyway - I quickly got into another match so that I could do my faction some good. This time I attacked a Lyran in a patrol. Here's the makeup:

My army: HBK-4G [4/5], LCT-1E [4/5], LCT-1V [4/4], SDR-5K [4/5]; BV: 2594
His army: Goblin (LRM Variant) [4/5], UM-R60 [4/5], COM-2D [4/5NAG], COM-2D [4/5PR], STG-3R [4/5]; BV: 2601 (BV vs 4.0 units : 2731)
Map type: Volcano (with elevations as high as level 10!)

I placed my HBK first and it turns out - in the wrong position. I joked in chat that it would be round 6 before he got his first shot in. In actuality - it was round 7. By the time my HBK was in position to start firing, my LCT-1V had just cored itself by charging the UM-R60 off of the map (a very worthwhile trade off - the UM-R60 was camping over the Goblin tank) and my SDR-5K had exploded. So by the time it was in position - I had 2 mechs to his 3 mechs and 1 tank.

(Round 7 – first shot)
Weapons fire for Hunchback HBK-4G ID:1 (TelinArtho)
Auto Cannon/20 at Commando COM-2D ID:7 (Vorkosigan); needs 9, rolls 9 : hits LL
Commando COM-2D ID:7 (Vorkosigan) takes 20 damage to LL. Armor destroyed, <<

>>,
11 damage transfers to LT.
Critical hit on LL. Roll is 4; no effect.
Commando COM-2D ID:7 (Vorkosigan) takes 11 damage to LT. Armor destroyed, 1 Internal Structure remaining
Critical hit on LT. Roll is 4; no effect.

(Round 8)
Weapons fire for Hunchback HBK-4G ID:1 (TelinArtho)
Auto Cannon/20 at Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan); needs 9, rolls 9 : hits (using Left Side table) LA
Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan) takes 20 damage to LA. Armor destroyed, <<

>>,
13 damage transfers to LT.
Critical hit on LA. Roll is 9; 1 location.
<<>> on Hand.
Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan) takes 13 damage to LT. Armor destroyed, <<

>>,
5 damage transfers to CT.
Critical hit on LT. Roll is 9; 1 location.
<<>> on Heat Sink.
Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan) takes 5 damage to CT. 1 Armor remaining.

(Round 9)
Weapons fire for Hunchback HBK-4G ID:1 (TelinArtho)
Auto Cannon/20 at Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan); needs 8, rolls 11 : hits (using Right Side table) RA
Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan) takes 20 damage to RA. <<

>>,
18 damage transfers to RT.
Critical hit on RA. Roll is 4; no effect.
Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan) takes 18 damage to RT. Armor destroyed, <<

>>,
12 damage transfers to CT.
Critical hit on RT. Roll is 7; no effect.
Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan) takes 12 damage to CT. Armor destroyed, <<

>>,
Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan) has taken 6 engine hits this round.
Checking for engine explosion on 12, roll is 9.
Engine safety systems remain in place.

*** Stinger STG-3R ID:9 (Vorkosigan) DESTROYED by damage! ***
Critical hit on CT. Roll is 4; no effect.

My opponent surrendered after that last one to give me the victory despite having a lower overall BV.

After I repaired, I found I still had enough to buy a medium mech - so I grabbed one from the factories - a CN9-AH (AC20 variant). In the past, I've been particularly impressed with this variant - so I am happy to add it to my hangar. I did lose both the LCT and SDR as I mentioned above - but those losses were not so bad as to discourage me.

My last match of the night was an exercise in comedy. First off, my would-be opponent put in to the main channel that he was looking for a battle and my army was right on the money for one of his. I sent him a PM and he responded that he had put the wrong army up and that the actual BV was much higher.

So I made a small change to my lance and went active - immediately getting blinded for 148 above my BV with his other announced army. After I slapped myself on the forehead - I took the match and cringed.

My army: HBK-4G [4/5], CN9-AH [4/4], LCT-1E [4/5], JVN-10N [4/5]; BV: 3275
His army: HCT-3F [4/5], HCT-3F [4/5], WTH-1S [4/5], FS9-M [4/5]; BV: 3423
Map type: Tundra (pretty flat and open - some level 1 and 2 ground - some forest and rubble)

He declared that he was going to get decimated - but I wasn't so sure. My AC20s would sure pack a punch - but his 2 AC10s and his many medium lasers were sure to cause some damage.

To start off - we danced a bit at range - waiting until my HBK could get into a solid position for closing. A couple of LRM hits did nothing but scratch a HCT's armor a little. Then, the fireworks started:

Weapons fire for Centurion CN9-AH ID:6 (TelinArtho)
Auto Cannon/20 at Hatchetman HCT-3F ID:1 (VanZant); needs 9, rolls 10 : hits RA
Hatchetman HCT-3F ID:1 (VanZant) takes 20 damage to RA. Armor destroyed, <<

>>,
2 damage transfers to RT.
Critical hit on RA. Roll is 7; no effect.
Hatchetman HCT-3F ID:1 (VanZant) takes 2 damage to RT. 12 Armor remaining.

And then, in the next round:

Weapons fire for Hunchback HBK-4G ID:5 (TelinArtho)
Auto Cannon/20 at Whitworth WTH-1S ID:3 (VanZant); needs 10, rolls 10 : hits LT
Whitworth WTH-1S ID:3 (VanZant) takes 20 damage to LT. Armor destroyed, 2 Internal Structure remaining
Critical hit on LT. Roll is 7; no effect.

Weapons fire for Centurion CN9-AH ID:6 (TelinArtho)
Auto Cannon/20 at Firestarter FS9-M ID:4 (VanZant); needs 7, rolls 8 : hits LL
Firestarter FS9-M ID:4 (VanZant) takes 20 damage to LL. Armor destroyed, <<

>>,
Critical hit on LL. Roll is 10; 2 locations.
<<>> on Foot.
<<>> on Jump Jet.

In the mean time - he had opened up some armor on my JVN and had legged my LCT-E. However, once his firestarter fell - he wasn't too keen on continuing on.

On the very positive side here - I didn't lose a single mech and I managed to salvage his FS9-M (the Mirage Firestarter) - which is a nifty mech to have available. On the negative side - my CN9-AH pilot leveled up to 3/4 - which pushes its BV up to ~1400 and outside of the range that I can use it for now.

Right after the match - I was having connection issues - so I didn't get a chance to update my hangar listings - but there's nothing too special yet to report.

Performance (only for missions that didn't get rolled-back): 1 Bandit Reprisal (1 win, 0 lost), 2 Patrols (2 wins, 0 lost).

Net Percentage for the Faction: +2 %

Current Hangar

I forgot to include changes to my hangar last night. Well - I didn't lose any mechs in that one fight, but I did add a couple: a Blackjack BJ-1 and a Commando COM-2D - nothing special by any means.

And despite my third straight win - I haven't yet gotten a leveled pilot (which is good news for me because if my higher BV mechs get leveled pilots I wouldn't be able to use them due to BV spread).

I also forgot to mention that I started a Hit and Run versus a Lyran Confederation opponent. Unfortunately, I was having trouble with the dedicated host server and was disconnected after the first round of movement (no firing occured). We tried to fix it for about a half-hour but when it wasn't doing anything - he agreed to let me cancel the match. By all rights - he was likely to win that match - his army was going to decimate mine unless I got real lucky - but I would've been willing to fight it out if it came to it.

Explosions, Explosions Every where

Well, I returned to Megamek last night and found that I was still not promoted. As instructed, I contacted the mods that were online about it. The first told me to "wait for house leadership" - which is specifically something I asked about and was told that I could ask a mod for it. The second was the mod who told me to contact a mod - he eventually came back and promoted me.

So now I am a Garrison Commander and have access to patrols, hit'n'runs and similar activities. To commemorate this, I went active and got into a patrol mission with a member of the Federated Suns, Epiminodas. Here's the battle setup:

My Army: HBK-4G [4/5], LCT-1E [4/5], LCT-1V [4/4], SDR-5K [4/5]; BV: 2594
His Army: OTT-7J [4/5], FS9-H [4/5], LCT-3V [4/5], LCT-1V [4/5], WSP-1A [4/5]; BV: 2594 (BV vs 4.0 units : 2724)
Map Type: "Light Woods" - it actually had very few forest hexes and was mostly open but uneven terrain.

Anyway, I was setup on the northwest and he on the south east. We closed ranks in two rounds (with light fire in the first round).

The first major hit was in round 3, when my hunchback's AC20 hit the WSP's right arm and did enough damage to core the darned thing (as in - destroyed all of the armor and internal structure in the right arm, right torso and center torso...). Unfortunately, I had directed most of my weapons' fire at the WSP that round, so most of it was wasted.

In round 4, my AC20 strikes again - this time against the firestarter and leaves it on the ground with a heavily damaged leg and 34 total damage.

Now, with things clearly going in my favor - I lose initiative - which means I know my hunchback's backside will be exposed. Still - there's not much I can do about it - so I move to the best position I can and start working at it. Although the OTT had a few shots on it - he only landed a single shot against the rear center torso armor and didn't manage an ammo explosion (though he did get an engine crit).

The final result was his WSP, LCT-1V and LCT-3V were completely destroyed and I salvaged his firestarter. On my side - I had the engine hit on the HBK - but otherwise was mostly unharmed. I have rarely seen such a one-sided victory - especially when I was outnumbered and out-bved.

Megamek

While Maple works out the recent string of hacker infestations, I figured I would check out the new campaign for Megamek.net. After putting in the requisite tutorial missions, I decided to join the Draconis Combine (Kurita) and see how things go.

First thing I'm hit with is that the relative freedom of last cycle is gone. Each faction has separate sub-factions which dictate what units you can buy from the factories, what missions you have access to, etc. Unfortunately, the initial status affords the ability to purchase light mechs, light vees and medium vees and infantry - but that's it. Luckily it says I only need one mission to get promoted, so I don't worry about it.

Next surprise are the missions. At my initial status - I am allowed "Bandit Reprisal", "Tutorial", "Combat Simulation" and "HPG Assault". Now tutorial and combat simulation are easy - they involve little payout and have no risk involved (damaged/destroyed mechs are restored without cost afterwards). Bandit reprisal seemed like an actual mission and from what I have read about HPG assault - its just a "no-no."

So I figured I would get my bandit reprisal or tutorial and get promoted. I ended up in a battle with BTG (periphery). Here's the battle scenario:

My army: HBK-4H [4/5], JR7-F [4/5], FS9-H [4/5], TBT-5S [4/5]; BV: 3754
His army: JR7-F [4/5], HBK-4G [3/5], ASN-21 [4/5], FS9-H [4/5]; BV: 3701
Map type: City

I was a little apprehensive. The 3-gunner in the hunchback was nasty in close and for long range - I litterally had one option - my AC10. To complicate it - the city map made visibility difficult for long range - so it was going to be unlikely I'd be able to fire on it while staying out of range.

I decided to try to stay out of sight lines of the hunchback until I was able to get to his backside and while waiting - to try to knock out one or more of his units.

After a few rounds of skidding around (in the first round, his jenner skidded 5 hexes...), I managed to take out much of the armor on his firestarter and knocked it prone. At the same time, I missed a sightline on my own firestarter - so he took an AC20 to the torso - stripping off all of the armor there - but at least he still stood.

A moment later, I managed an ammo critical which led to a cascading engine failure - a new feature of the new cycle. Unfortunately for me - this led to a 3-hex radius explosion that nearly resulted in the destruction of my own firestarter (he took 21 damage...) and the damaging of my hunchback (he took 7 damage). He lost his firestarter - but I was starting to show plenty of internals.

In the next round though - I had initiative on him and position to move behind the hunchback as planned. The resulting ammo critical did not lead to an engine failure but did destroy the HBK completely. Now it was 4 vs 2.

Still - my opponent didn't immediately surrender and so we continued. His jenner, trying to get into a position on me, runs and tries to turn, but ends up skidding and falling down one level - meaning he wouldn't be able to fire at anyone - but no one else would either. As a last ditch effort, he tried a death-from-above attack on my HBK with his assassin. Unfortunately for him though, he missed the 9 target and fell down in the next hex.

So the mission was a success and I received my notification of eligibility to be promoted. I took it. My firestarter's pilot gained the survivalist skill (no bv change - just helps in recovering him if his mech is put into salvage)

On the next night, apparently my faction leader still hadn't logged in, so I just decided to see if I could get another bandit reprisal.

This time, I was opposed by Wyldcard (periphery). Here's the battle scenario:

My army: HBK-4H [4/5], JR7-F [4/5], FS9-H [4/5SV], TBT-5S [4/5]; BV: 3754
His army: FS9-H [4/5], WTH-1 [4/5], PXH-1 [4/5], Manticore Heavy Tank [4/5]; BV: 3708
Map Type: Volcano

This map had huge features - going up as high as 4 levels with many areas that had cliffs of 2 levels or more. Again, my opponent had vastly superior ranged capability - but at least it was diminished by having short range penalties.

I set up my hunchback on a level 3 spot behind a level 4 cover - hoping to snipe for a bit with his AC10. My trebuchet and jenner took up positions on the sides, while my firestarter jumped up the middle. In the 2nd round, I got off a lucky shot at the manticore with my AC10 to reduce its movement by half (down to 1/2).

Soon we were fully engaged and I spent most of my effort either being out of sight of the manticore or standing in its hex so that the only viable target for him would be the hunchback behind cover. This proved very effective until late in the game.

My trebuchet showed his strength by dealing much damage to the slowed tank - but only by exposing himself to fire. I got lucky on some rolls and soon the tank was not only immobilized, but also had its turret facing the north side of the map (which only had 5 or 6 hexes left). I legged his firestarter and started to wear it down while I continued to kick on the tank. Meanwhile, with the threat of the turret removed, my hunchback began moving in to help with 4 more medium lasers.

In the same round - a kick destroyed the last of the tank; a kick destroyed the last of the opponent's firestarter. He asked for surrender and I granted it.

No pilots leveled up, but my firestarter's pilot is now up to 3 kills as is my trebuchet (though - each has only killed 2...). Not sure on the math there - but I'll take what I can get.

Currently my hangar is fairly light:

HBK-4G (4/5), HBK-4H (4/5), TBT-5S (4/5) for medium mechs
JR7-F (4/5), FS9-H (4/5, SV), JVN-10N (4/5), STG-3R (4/5), LCT-1V (4/4), LCT-1E (4/5), SDR-5K (4/5) for light mechs.

If I haven't been promoted by the next time I log in - I've been instructed to contact a moderator about it - so hopefully things will continue to improve.