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 %