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dis astranagant posted:One key factor there is that WarShips are explicitly exempt from that. They are the purest possible military target and bring with them the implied threat of glassed cities and all that. Huh, I thought the Ares convention was no nukes at all. Learn something new every day!
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Sep 15, 2016 01:08
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 23:19 |
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I think the current story isn't about "Amaris vs The Clans", it's about the Demon Hawks successfully navigating "Amaris vs The Clans", and coming out alive and wealthy (or not, depending on PTN's dice).
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Sep 15, 2016 01:11
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Combat Theater Vote “You want a chance to prove yourself?” Duncan’s hands didn’t move from his pockets. He seemed to regard Azer with a wariness the large man found commendable. The outline of the pistol in Duncan’s pocket was clear, and the calm focus of the man’s eyes told him he’d be shot dead before he took two steps if he made a move on the leader of the Demon Hawks or Stefan Amaris. Azer would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t tempted to do just that, the leader of the Rim World Republic was right here, within striking distance. He’d go down in history as the man who killed the last Amaris, even if he died in the attempt. It was almost—almost—worth the risk, except his Clan would’ve never believed it. The Trueborns in charge would’ve taken any report of Amaris’s death as a deception and continued their attack—and the merchant caste whispered that even Amaris’s death wouldn’t be enough to turn the tide of the battle back to Clan Sea Fox’s favor. Tempted as he may have been, he kept his cool, trusting the warriors at his back to do the same. Duncan nodded perceptibly, as if sensing Azer’s resolve. “Very well. You will be allowed to join the Demon Hawks,” he began, pausing for a single dramatic heartbeat before continuing, “but only after our battle on Andurien is over. Until that time, you—and any future Clan defectors—will form the core of our second company: Demon Hawks, Company “D.” You’ll fight with our logo and in our name, but we have no time to attempt to integrate you into our command structure. Instead, you’ll be under the direct command of one of the Republic’s liaison officers. I can’t risk you ruining one of our battle plans if you’re unwilling to follow orders you may not like. Understood and accepted?” Azer considered, and asked, “We will be given an opportunity to actually fight?” Amaris interjected, “Oh, absolutely. It will probably be limited engagements at first—hunting enemy scouts or raiders—but once Duncan is convinced you’re trustworthy I’ll be more than happy to put you right where you belong: on the front lines.” Azer shut his eyes for a moment, considering the words of the spawn of the Great Deceiver. Neither promised the world—but both had shown respect in their own way. He nodded, “I find those terms acceptable. Bargained well and done, “Demon” Kalma. We will form this ‘Company D’ as you desire.” **************************************** Krel Ershmin coughed, and spat a glob of dusty phlegm to the sand. He lay in the shade beneath his DH-404 Desert Hawg, waiting out the noontime heat. The wind barely stirred, but a few grains of sand tumbled down the nearest dunes anyway. Enkra wasn’t the hottest planet in the Inner Sphere, nor was it the least hospitable, but the equatorial deserts were vast and expansive. Fortunately, the planet’s vast aquifers were near enough to the surface to allow the former-Taurian settlers to live in relative comfort. At least, it would have if Enkra had had the necessary minerals for drills. The Enkra system was so depleted of natural resources and, especially, metals that nearly everything the locals made was out of fired ceramic or glass. Even then, the sand was low in silica, so finding reliable deposits of construction materials was a full-time job in and of itself. It was honest, hard work—precisely the kind of job Krel had come to Enkra to avoid. He yawned, scratched his wiry stubble, and chewed on a local root that had been “creatively” named Starvation Root. In the years after the Taurian Concordat had left Enkra, the local colonists had fallen into fits of barbarism and desperation, fleeing the equatorial deserts for cooler, somewhat wetter climates to the north. Starvation Root was one of the few plants that grew in the desert, the long taproots stretched down hundreds of meters to the aquifer below, wicking water upwards which they then oozed out onto the surface to attract their pollinators. A one-foot chunk of Starvation Root held enough food and nutrients to keep a man going for a day at least, but the effort it took to extract them was exhausting. The thick, woody material had to be chewed for hours until it turned gummy and soft enough to relinquish its moisture. The northern- and southerners maintained that you could always identify a man or woman hailing from the central deserts because they always had necks thicker than their heads. Krel didn’t mind the thickneck appellation, even if it was untrue. If people wanted to think him a fool for scouring the deserts for wrecks and usable metals, so be it—he’d be laughing all the way to one of Enkra’s metal-starved banks any time he stumbled over a wreck. “Oy, bus.” The sand crunched as Riber Michls crouched beside the Desert Hawg. Her long legs were lean and spare, and her gaunt, close-set eyes were lined in shade. “Bus,” she pressed again. “Gut a radio from Ol’ Mackie, up in Derk’s foothills. Says he’s found somethin’ big, bus. An actual BattleMech, prime for the salvagin’.” “gently caress me,” Krel sat up, not even noticing when his skull bounced off the Desert Hawg’s oversized muffler. He crawled out from under the massive salvage vehicle and popped his back. As he emerged from the vehicle’s shade he practically withered in the noontime sun—drat, but it was hot. “He found a BattleMech and we’re the first salvagers he’s called?” “Neh, bus,” Riber drawled. “General broadcast. Says he’ll give 60% to the first salvage crew what makes it on site.” Krel squeezed his eyes closed, doing a little mental arithmetic. “gently caress me,” he exclaimed again. “Call up Ekran, Vohrs, Salis, and—” he stopped to think, then chose a forth, “Mehrens. Offer them five percent each if they’ll escort us and we beat the Devil’s Due and the rest to the site.” Krel and Riber shared a sly smile. His gunner was no fool—and while they were giving up twenty percent, she knew he was only offering twenty percent of his sixty percent—which meant the crews he asked for would only be making three percent of the gross each. Perfectly respectable for escort work. Riber laughed, and Krel grinned as she kissed him on the cheek. “Can do, bus. Meet at Arthel’s Oasis?” “Hell yeah,” Krel agreed. “I ain’t makin’ the drive to the loving Derks sober!” **************************************** 12th Amaris Legionnaires The battle for Andurien rages on. Incensed by their losses, the Clans have launched a series of methodical strikes against the Republic’s premier front-line regiments. The Amaris Legionnaires are bearing the brunt of these Clan assaults. The 12th Legion has just been rotated to the front to cover the retreat of the 7th and give the Clans a fresh stone to grind themselves against. Clan Sea Fox, 21st Assault Cluster, “Nagasawa's Foxes” The 21st Assault Cluster has identified a weak point in the New Rim World Republic’s lines. Through careful observation, they’ve noted that gaps in the Republic’s defenses tend to form as one regiment is rotated out and another brought in to replace it. With the battered 7th Legionnaires being withdrawn to repair and rearm, the 21st Assault Cluster has made a daring advance in an attempt to slip through the Republic’s lines and flank the besieged 323rd Amaris Dragoons. Demon Hawks, Company D Company D, the new Demon Hawks subsidiary company made up of ex-Clan defectors, is eager to prove themselves worthy of the name—and take revenge on their previous masters for years of ill-use. They’ve been placed under direct Republic command to test their willingness to follow orders they may not like, but have nonetheless been placed near the front lines to seek the battle they seem to crave. Clan Goliath Scorpion, 35th Scorpion Cuirassiers, “Scorpions of the Veil” The cold war between the Goliath Scorpions and the Widowmakers is heating up. The Widowmakers have raided a Scorpion world for ammunition and supplies, and the ilKhan has ignored the Scorpions’ formal complaint. The 35th elite, fanatical Scorpion Cuirassiers have been tasked with a single duty: to punish and humiliate the offending Clan Widowmaker unit so thoroughly that the Widowmakers will be forced to disband it. ?????? Goons seem to love mystery options. This is one of those. Dunerunners Salvage Crew A prospector on the Periphery world of Enkra has struck it rich! A genuine BattleMech was found on his land. Lacking the equipment or the technical acumen to recover it, he’s put out a call to all the prospector crews of the Zegara desert: the first crew to make it on site gets a 60% cut of the profit from the BattleMech’s sale. The Dunewalkers are more than up to the challenge, but will they make it to the prospector’s mountain in time?  Combat Theater Vote: A) 12th Amaris Legionnaires B) 21st Assault Cluster C) Demon Hawks, Company D D) 35th Scorpion Cuirassiers E) ?????? F) Dunerunners Salvage Crew PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Sep 15, 2016 |
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Sep 15, 2016 01:11
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Shoeless posted:Yes, a Stefan Amaris-class warship would not be able to defeat a McKenna warship. The warship's aren't what's important, it's the mass of ASF that's important. It's the Yamato all over again, only this Yamato doesn't have any AA guns. And with a pair of carriers that can each 12 and a half ASF regiments apiece, plus the Amaris' fighter compliments, plus whatever dropships they've got, plus the planet's own airbases... they could almost certainly have 100 ASF for every Warship the Clans brought. The McKenna has a 3-hex ECM bubble which fighters don't really have a way of contesting, meaning that each shot the fighters are making against the McKenna is at +3 unless they close through into point-blank range. If it has any escorts, they can add another ECM hex to make that a +4 penalty. It also has its own 50-man aerospace wing, and it possesses 12 NL55s, which can be switched to AA mode. Those will crit any fighter squadron they hit and have a very good chance of inflicting straight-up instant death criticals on them. Furthermore, AAA Naval Lasers use capital range brackets so they straight-up have twice the effective range as fighter weapons. In addition, the McKenna has 6 AR10s, which can pump out either 20 damage Barracudas with -2 to hits at long range or switch to 40 damage Killer Whales which have a decent chance of forcing a critical and deal more than enough damage to also force criticals on any fighter squadron. If you're merely swarming it with aerospace, it can also bring in its NPPCs on bracket fire against incoming ASF wings, which cuts their damage down by 60% but lets them hit your fighters on a 'mere' +2. Again, remember that the McKenna has ECM and capital range, so you'll be hitting on effective +4 (since its support ships will be adding to its ECM bubble) for ECM, plus another +2 for range. The damage race is not favoring you very much. This is while the Clan fighters and dropships it has are ruining your life too. The Carrier dropship, a Snow Raven favorite, has 10 ERLLs, 6 LPLs, 2 Ultra AC/20s and 8 gauss rifles as its self-defense armament and provides 6 AMS and 6 Machine Guns for point defense purposes-basically completely neutralizing your fighters' missile armaments. Each one of those has a further 10 ASF to the McKenna's 50. We'll assume the McKenna carries 4 Carriers and 2 Overlord-Cs-that's a lot of firepower which can ruin the lives of leakers. Strategic Ops has made aerospace fighters versus warships much, much less favorable for massed aerospace. MJ12 fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Sep 15, 2016 |
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Sep 15, 2016 01:13
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Man, I can't resist a mystery box. E Maybe we'll get some CapCon or FWL action.
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Sep 15, 2016 01:15
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B) 21st Assault Cluster Let's see how the NRWR looks from the other side of the table. And if the players win, Amaris faces actual pressure and a setback!
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Sep 15, 2016 01:17
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In addition to this, the Stefan Amaris-class is incapable of Bracket Fire. So while its secondary armaments are very good (and dangerous enough to threaten a smaller warship without needing the naval weaponry) any SLDF or Clan vessel that is given an opportunity to choose its engagement range will destroy a Stefan Amaris at ranges the Stefan Amaris can't effectively fight back at. It's a very short-range ship. Likewise, the Enterprise is a huge target--and the Rim Worlders didn't have any real means to determine how big the Clan fleet was in advance. So meeting them in a face-to-face engagement in a way that lets the extremely well-drilled Clanners pick their favored engagement ranges would've resulted in four dead carriers.
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Sep 15, 2016 01:19
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C Yes! Let's give these Trashborn an asskicking stravag style! Edit: we'll be piloting sweet golden century royal refits too! It's like getting to play with the clan version of classic muscle cars. Picard Day fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Sep 15, 2016 |
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Sep 15, 2016 01:32
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I was really tempted to vote for D Company. If Mystery Box doesn't win I hope they do.
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Sep 15, 2016 01:34
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MJ12 posted:The McKenna has a 3-hex ECM bubble which fighters don't really have a way of contesting, meaning that each shot the fighters are making against the McKenna is at +3 unless they close through into point-blank range. If it has any escorts, they can add another ECM hex to make that a +4 penalty. It also has its own 50-man aerospace wing, and it possesses 12 NL55s, which can be switched to AA mode. Those will crit any fighter squadron they hit and have a very good chance of inflicting straight-up instant death criticals on them. Furthermore, AAA Naval Lasers use capital range brackets so they straight-up have twice the effective range as fighter weapons. In addition, the McKenna has 6 AR10s, which can pump out either 20 damage Barracudas with -2 to hits at long range or switch to 40 damage Killer Whales which have a decent chance of forcing a critical and deal more than enough damage to also force criticals on any fighter squadron. Well yes, if you're using the optional ECM rules. You're also assuming the Clans get a change to launch their dropships and fighters. If you're waiting at the jump point and swarm them right as they arrive there's not a lot they can really do about it, is there? They might get some fighters launched, but would the Clans have been coming in expecting to need to scramble everything? Given that so far they've had total space superiority with no sign of warships. I'm probably gonna stop armchair generalling now though because I'll admit I don't know the extra stratops rules or fighter squadron rules anywhere near as much as you seem to. Also, voting E.
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Sep 15, 2016 01:40
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B This is one of the harder theatre choices I've seen in this thread. All of them sound like great fun. Except the mystery box, which is a mystery. It could be a boat! The Dunerunners are a very close second choice for me. All gorkamorka mad max with robots kind of thing! But I want the Sea Foxes to get a turn at always getting initiative, let's see how Amaris likes that!
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Sep 15, 2016 01:42
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Double post so I don't edit my vote! The mystery box is deep into the Duchy of New Syrtis, so I think it's a Death Commandos black op, who knows which side we would be though.
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Sep 15, 2016 01:45
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E
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Sep 15, 2016 01:48
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Voting F for what sounds like some Mad Max shenanigans
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Sep 15, 2016 01:51
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D We haven't played a single mission as the Goliath Scorps yet. That should be rectified. 
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Sep 15, 2016 01:54
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C kill the trashborn
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Sep 15, 2016 01:55
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Really having a hard time making up my mind. Capellan black ops could be great but so's kicking more trashborn rear end and Gorkamorka is never a bad thing.
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Sep 15, 2016 01:59
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D - Operation Scorpion Death Lock is a go! Let's go punch some 
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Sep 15, 2016 02:03
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I'm just going to vote for F because it makes me think of a Mechwarrior version of Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:03
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F! Because running back to more basic designs and lower-power in general will be a nice break from the last three missions where things kept escalating.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:04
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E Let's find out what's in the box!
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Sep 15, 2016 02:10
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Shoeless posted:Well yes, if you're using the optional ECM rules. You're also assuming the Clans get a change to launch their dropships and fighters. If you're waiting at the jump point and swarm them right as they arrive there's not a lot they can really do about it, is there? They might get some fighters launched, but would the Clans have been coming in expecting to need to scramble everything? Given that so far they've had total space superiority with no sign of warships. I'm probably gonna stop armchair generalling now though because I'll admit I don't know the extra stratops rules or fighter squadron rules anywhere near as much as you seem to. The ECM rules are optional because if you have a reasonably balanced fight you can sort of assume ECM/ECCM cancels out. If you have fighters only against warships + dropships, that's pretty much the opposite of the case. Also, swarming jump points is hard. You can have an ambush lying in wait at extreme range, but Bad Things happen to things which are too close to a jumpship emergence. There's also the L-F battery hot-jump possibility-they might go into a hot assault with a fully charged L-F battery so if you have an ambush you have maybe 1-2 good turns to fire before they jump out and you've failed. Remember, in the canon timeline the Clans didn't start bidding away their warships for a good while, because they had remaining concerns about IS warships.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:13
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LegendairyBovine posted:D This is pretty much the post and emoticon I was going to do  D
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Sep 15, 2016 02:19
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These are all really enticing! I'm going to have to vote for C, however.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:21
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Oh, gently caress that's a hard choice. Knowing what we don't pick suffers a setback, I can't go anywhere but C. F is so =very tempting, maybe next time?
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Sep 15, 2016 02:38
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C Destroy the Trashborn.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:38
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I'm gonna go with C as well. Smacking around the Clans as Filthy Freebirths is gonna be fun and good.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:39
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Voting D, but with an honorary nod to C because I want to read some fluff about trueborns getting MAD AS gently caress. D though, we've seen bits and pieces of this Goliath Scorpion/Widowmaker conflict for, like a hundred votes but we never quite get around to seeing it. Last time we almost got Goliath Scorpion Death Race 2000! We gotta see a little bit of that action eventually.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:46
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MJ12 posted:The ECM rules are optional because if you have a reasonably balanced fight you can sort of assume ECM/ECCM cancels out. If you have fighters only against warships + dropships, that's pretty much the opposite of the case. I thought the main issue with being too close to a jump is that if two jump drives engage without a certain distance, they both explode? If it outright damages anything within like, I dunno, 10 or so space hexes then yeah fair enough.The L-F battery is a good point and I hadn't considered that, however it relies on all of the Clan warships having them. Any that didn't would be left behind and then be even more outnumbered; I don't know off the top of my head and Sarna doesn't say either when the McKenna had one. As for the Clans not bidding away warships, I'm a bit surprised by that; in canon weren't the Wolf's Dragoons in the IS for a decade or so by that point, feeding them intel and letting them know things like there weren't any more Warships? Obviously that didn't happen in PTN 'verse, but by now it's been a year or more I believe, and this task force has traveled pretty much from one side of the 'sphere to the other without encountering any, so I could believe by now they'd be confident in the IS being bereft of them. I do appreciate your viewpoints, and you've definitely brought up some things I hadn't considered before.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:51
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C. It's time for Dog Company to demonstrate what it truly means to be fed up with Trueborn bullshit.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:53
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E is intriguing, F sounds fun, but clan-on-clan bitter chaos sounds amazing. Voting D.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:54
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Shoeless posted:I thought the main issue with being too close to a jump is that if two jump drives engage without a certain distance, they both explode? If it outright damages anything within like, I dunno, 10 or so space hexes then yeah fair enough.The L-F battery is a good point and I hadn't considered that, however it relies on all of the Clan warships having them. Any that didn't would be left behind and then be even more outnumbered; I don't know off the top of my head and Sarna doesn't say either when the McKenna had one. As for the Clans not bidding away warships, I'm a bit surprised by that; in canon weren't the Wolf's Dragoons in the IS for a decade or so by that point, feeding them intel and letting them know things like there weren't any more Warships? Obviously that didn't happen in PTN 'verse, but by now it's been a year or more I believe, and this task force has traveled pretty much from one side of the 'sphere to the other without encountering any, so I could believe by now they'd be confident in the IS being bereft of them. The Clan Refit warships pretty much all have LF batteries.
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Sep 15, 2016 02:58
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Come on guys! Mad max! Salvage wars! Cool rear end lovely mechs! It'll be like the tortuga fight. come on, I'm up next session! F
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Sep 15, 2016 02:59
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C for this one but yeah, all sound wonderful.
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Sep 15, 2016 03:04
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The mystery box is probably just no items, Fox only, Final Destination.  (I kid. Mystery box would get my vote if I didn't want to see Goliath Sorpions murder Widowmakers).
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Sep 15, 2016 03:04
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Neopie posted:Cool rear end lovely Fixed
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Sep 15, 2016 03:07
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C and D are both missions trolling assholes, so whichever one wins, goons also win.
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Sep 15, 2016 03:07
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Ugh but TANK MAD MAX time owns too
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Sep 15, 2016 03:10
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Gwaihir posted:C and D are both missions trolling assholes, so whichever one wins, goons also win. D is a mission intended to troll assholes so hard the Widowmakers will be forced to say "Welp, we didn't need that cluster anyway. Reassign everyone in it to another unit and pretend it never existed."
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Sep 15, 2016 03:12
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 23:19 |
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B GoonCompany just about won the war for Amaris, now let's take it away from the smug gently caress.
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Sep 15, 2016 03:15
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