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Affi posted:Please do a rundown on what the heck is happening? Here you go. quote:All the abbreviations? ENE? ECM? Unit special abilities. I've let the players know what they do but I still won't copy/paste rulebooks. quote:How did the urbanmech become demoralized? The Spider has the Demoralizer Special Pilot Ability, which means it can frighten nearby enemies to make it harder for them to escape it and penalizes their attacks against the Spider.
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May 8, 2017 18:42
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Wow, talk about streamlined.  A pity there's no reason to individually list weapon loadouts anymore since theorycrafting alternate frankenbots from what's shown on the card was a good bit of fun.
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May 8, 2017 19:25
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Just looking at the turn report makes me imagine PTN rubbing his hands with glee at all the bookkeeping he doesn't have to do anymore.
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May 8, 2017 21:16
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Pooncha posted:Wow, talk about streamlined. It still is, `Mechs that aren't built well for tabletop play tend to eat penalties in Alpha Strike. So an Atlas with 4 AC/20s and a single ton of ammo to feed them doesn't count as an 8/8/-, it'd "only" be a 6/6/- due to not having sufficient ammunition for its AC/20s. It'd still have a point value like an 8/8/- though, not bringing enough ammo doesn't reduce that.
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May 8, 2017 21:45
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PoptartsNinja posted:And the player lances are all dances. Its similar in a lot of ways. Both require that the players don't get elliminated, for example. 
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May 8, 2017 23:05
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wiegieman posted:Just looking at the turn report makes me imagine PTN rubbing his hands with glee at all the bookkeeping he doesn't have to do anymore. For real. Not having to roll each weapon, hit location, and cluster results cuts down on a lot of the  , it seems like. Looks to be a good thing, but I guess some people would bemoan the loss of granularity in their giant robit fights.
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May 9, 2017 02:17
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GhostStalker posted:For real. Not having to roll each weapon, hit location, and cluster results cuts down on a lot of the And for those people, we have nice padded rooms staffed by muscular men and patient doctors.
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May 9, 2017 02:34
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wiegieman posted:And for those people, we have nice padded rooms staffed by muscular men and patient doctors. Yup. While some granularity is a good thing, most grog players take it way too far in their games. Base BT might not be that bad out of the box, but this is pretty much an improvement mechanically on that system and makes things go a lot faster and can involve a lot more combatants without increasing by a huge amount. Still, I miss individual weapon load outs (but not the rolls for them), and while keeping track of specific armor sections where weapons hit makes sense in a simulationist standpoint, it's just too much bookkeeping, especially with rolling for hit locations and all that.
GhostStalker fucked around with this message at 07:33 on May 9, 2017 |
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May 9, 2017 02:46
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There's always the optional rule in Alpha Strike to roll damage dice for each point of damage in the range bracket. You really get the "whelp Battletech" factor when you roll boxcars to hit and still manage to do no damage.
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May 9, 2017 05:17
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Alpha strike doesn't seem to have headcapping, either.
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May 9, 2017 05:37
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Eh, it depends on what you want to do. You want large scale battles, Alpha Strike works great for that. By smoothing out the granularity you get a faster, more balanced game. If that's what you want, more power to you. But you aren't really going to get the same level of  out of Alpha Strike like we did with the headcapped Dire Wolf last round. And sure, that is generally better game design to reduce those wild swings, but you kinda lose out some on the great stories afterwards. Besides, this isn't actually a competitive game per say. Game balance ain't really our objective. PTN ain't rolling over for us or anything, but it's a curated experience where the players have a ton of advantages and PTN in his role as gamesmaster puts in or leaves out reinforcements based on how the game is going. Which is great! So yeah, I'm happy we're experimenting with Alpha Strike as a change of pace and, if it works out, I think it could be possible for us to use it to do some large scale stuff previously undreamed of in the thread so far. But! We shouldn't completely abandon old Battletech. Sometimes you just want to put your life in the hands of unkind dice and let the wacky poo poo that is Battletech wash over you. And for all it's odd and numerous quirks, it's really those goofy experiences that keeps people playing this dumb game more than thirty years later!
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May 9, 2017 05:43
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Yeah, AlphaStrike definitely makes for a less interesting/flavorful
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May 9, 2017 05:45
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Leperflesh posted:Alpha strike doesn't seem to have headcapping, either. Nor will we ever see a quad legged mech disintegrate itself from shear bad luck like during the airfield raid.
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May 9, 2017 05:47
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jng2058 posted:Sometimes you just want to put your life in the hands of unkind dice and let the wacky poo poo that is Battletech wash over you. And for all it's odd and numerous quirks, it's really those goofy experiences that keeps people playing this dumb game more than thirty years later! Yeah, we couldn't have had the air raid mission with Alpha Strike either, but this system really does really smooth out things.
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May 9, 2017 06:10
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Leperflesh posted:Alpha strike doesn't seem to have headcapping, either. It does. 12 (and 2, which is an ammo explosion) on the critical hit table are both usually instant death. CASE reduces an ammo explosion to a single extra hit, ENE nullifies the result of an ammo explosion and turns it into a no effect.
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May 9, 2017 06:17
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I think I prefer BattleTech in small battles, lance vs lance, where the granularity is nice and the extra dice don't add huge amounts of extra work. Alpha Strike seems really nice for the larger battles. Companies fighting would be unwieldy in BattleTech, but much easier in Alpha Strike.
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May 9, 2017 13:37
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Remmon posted:I think I prefer BattleTech in small battles, lance vs lance, where the granularity is nice and the extra dice don't add huge amounts of extra work. Alpha Strike seems really nice for the larger battles. Companies fighting would be unwieldy in BattleTech, but much easier in Alpha Strike. Now that I think about it more, this makes sense. I mean, the base game is great for the :Battletech: stuff we've seen quite a bit of here in the thread, and it seems like you miss a lot of that wackiness here in Alpha Strike, for good and bad, at least from what I've seen so far, but then again that's only been one turn of combat, so things might produce more :Battletech: moments later as things progress. Still, for larger engagements, this seems like the better system with which to abstract more of the combat and cut down on the dice rolling to make it move a lot faster and easier to keep track of. GhostStalker fucked around with this message at 20:21 on May 9, 2017 |
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May 9, 2017 20:17
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Getting battleteched is fairly miserable for people who get to play once, maybe twice, tbf.
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May 9, 2017 20:25
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Disagree. Got battleteched early, spent the rest of the fight trying to provide moral support with Li Po quotations, got to fight in the next battle after popular acclaim. I have no complaints about any of that and had a great time.
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May 9, 2017 20:57
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AJ_Impy posted:Disagree. Got battleteched early, spent the rest of the fight trying to provide moral support with Li Po quotations, got to fight in the next battle after popular acclaim. I have no complaints about any of that and had a great time. PbP is different from playing in person. You can go back to other things after posting a few dank Tang-dynasty memes. But if you get battleteched in person, there's nothing to do but stand there and play with your smartphone.
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May 9, 2017 21:38
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Sometimes the Battletech swings both ways. I consider the dice sparing my mech's damaged head over multiple turns just as improbable as some of the thread turn-1 headcaps have been.
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May 9, 2017 22:07
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Just a reminder that orders are due tonight.
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May 10, 2017 00:44
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golden bubble posted:PbP is different from playing in person. You can go back to other things after posting a few dank Tang-dynasty memes. But if you get battleteched in person, there's nothing to do but stand there and play with your smartphone. Well in person you're usually controlling an entire lance so if you get battleteched so hard you're out, it just means the game's over and it's time to reminisce with your opponent about what just happened over a couple of beers.
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May 10, 2017 01:01
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Xarbala posted:Well in person you're usually controlling an entire lance so if you get battleteched so hard you're out, it just means the game's over and it's time to reminisce with your opponent about what just happened over a couple of beers. Or just laugh and do a rematch.
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May 10, 2017 04:10
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PoptartsNinja posted:Just a reminder that orders are due tonight. Orders sent. What is the deadline time in PST, again?
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May 10, 2017 06:00
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Realbarrow posted:Orders sent. What is the deadline time in PST, again? Honestly it's "by the time I wake up in the morning" I just set midnight as a "you should probably get them in Tuesday rather than Wednesday" measure.
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May 10, 2017 08:18
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Retaking Sirdar Update 3 Staff Sergeant Blom watched impassively as one of his SRMs passed through the rent his lasers had cut in a Capellan UrbanMech’s torso armor. The machine erupted in a flash as missile set off a fratricidal detonation in the barrel-shaped `Mech’s ammo bins. UrbanMechs had never really been designed with the safety of their pilots in mind. They were cheap gun platforms that could hold a position reasonably well but were mostly just a speed bump to buy time for heavier forces to redeploy. Blom had never been one to follow piloting statistics, but he had a sneaking suspicion the average UrbanMech pilot’s lifespan in actual combat could be measured with mere seconds. “Sarge,” Blom frowned as Corporal Daniels patched himself into the lance’s comms. “I think that hover’s pushing for the river. Do we intercept?” Dragoslava Blom cursed, he’d missed the Pegasus through the trees. The light scout hovertanks could be dangerous in numbers, but a lone Pegasus wasn’t much of a threat. But if it reached the river, there’d be practically no stopping it. Whether it turned upstream or downstream there was a good chance it could simply take cover by the steep banks and avoid incoming fire long enough to escape. “drat,” he cursed again. “This is do or die, newbie. Stop that tank or we’ll be stuck with Fungi’s stupid back-up plan.”   Movement Phase Orion (Player) - Attempts to enter hex 2012: insufficient MP (needs 6, has 4)! Combat Phase Hunchback (Player) - Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(B) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods + 1 partial cover = 9): rolled 9, hit! 4 damage sustained! Crit! Watchman (Player) - No Line of Sight to target! Shadow Hawk (Player) - Attacks Snake with Marksman (4 skill + 3 TMM + 4 range - 1 stationary = 10): rolled 9, miss! Blackjack (Player) - Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(A) (4 skill + 1 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods = 9): rolled 4, miss! Warhammer (Player) - No Line of Sight to target! Orion (Player) - No Line of Sight to target! Marauder (Player) - Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(A) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 3 woods + 2 jumped - 1 jumping jack = 10): rolled 6, miss! Grasshopper (Player) - Attacks Urbanmech UM-R63(A) (4 skill + 0 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods + 1 partial cover + 2 jumped = 11): rolled 9, miss! “Fire” Javelin (Player) - Holds fire! Scarabus (Player) - Attacks Snake with Melee (4 skill + 3 TMM + 0 range = 7): rolled 10, hit! 4 damage sustained! Wolfhound (Player) - Attacks Snake (4 skill + 3 TMM + 2 range = 9): rolled 6, miss! Spider (Player) - Attacks Urbanmech UM-R60L (4 skill + 0 TMM + 0 range + 1 woods = 5): rolled 10, hit! 2 damage sustained! Target destroyed! Snake - Attacks Wolfhound (4 skill + 2 TMM + 2 range + 2 jumped = 10): rolled 8, miss! Urbanmech UM-R63(A) - Attacks Blackjack (4 skill + 1 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods + 2 jumped - 1 sandblaster = 10): rolled 10, hit! 2 damage sustained! Urbanmech UM-R63(B) - Attacks Hunchback (Marksman) (4 skill + 1 TMM + 2 range + 2 woods = 9): rolled 8, miss! Urbanmech UM-R60L - Attacks Scarabus (4 skill + 4 TMM + 0 range + 1 woods = 9): rolled 8, miss! Crusader Prime - Attacks Scarabus (3 skill + 4 TMM + 2 range + 1 woods + 2 jumped = 12): rolled 7, miss! Men Shen Prime - Holds fire! Jinggau - Attacks Watchman (4 skill + 3 TMM + 2 range + 1 woods + 2 jumped = 12): rolled 11, miss! Lao Hu - Holds fire! Cyclops - Attacks Scarabus (4 skill + 4 TMM + 2 range = 10): rolled 6, miss! Stalker - Attacks Scarabus (4 skill + 4 TMM + 2 range = 10): rolled 2, miss! Sha Yu - Attacks Scarabus (4 skill + 4 TMM + 2 range = 10): rolled 6, miss! Vindicator - Attacks Scarabus (4 skill + 4 TMM + 1 range = 9): rolled 7, miss! End Phase: Urbanmech UM-R63(B) - Critical chance: rolled 3, Engine Hit!   Player Status:       Opposing Force Status:      Special Rules  Forced Withdrawal - `Mechs and Vehicles which suffer more than 50% structure damage will automatically attempt to retreat off the nearest friendly board edge. Units with only 1 point of structure will withdraw if all of their armor is destroyed.Primary Objectives Primary Objectives - Destroy or Drive Off All Enemy Scouts (0/8 destroyed) or - Destroy or Drive Off All Enemy `Mechs (2/12 destroyed) Orders Due: Midnight Saturday!
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May 10, 2017 20:25
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 UrbanMechs, wow those things go fast
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May 10, 2017 21:30
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They're doing exactly what they're supposed to.
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May 10, 2017 21:35
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PoptartsNinja posted:They're doing exactly what they're supposed to. Yea, wow, that is a shitload of little scout vees getting ready to swarm in. Even though most can be killed in a single shot, they still get to shoot back and players do not have :battletech: to protect them to nearly the same degree- Keep in mind that a potential victory objective is eliminating those two enemy scout lances, and the Pegasus hovertanks are the only ones that can't be one shotted by at least one of the player 'Mechs.
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May 10, 2017 21:47
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Guess I should've expected more scout vics to show up, as the objective numbers hadn't made sense unless you counted some of the lighter enemy mechs as scouts, but Urbanmechs don't really make good scouts, now do they.
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May 11, 2017 00:36
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Sure they do, it's just, you know, the area that they're gonna scout out is real small. That just means they're going to cover it all that much better.
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May 11, 2017 00:57
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As a random aside, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is exceptional. If you're waffling about seeing it in theaters, you should absolutely see it in theaters.
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May 11, 2017 00:59
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PoptartsNinja posted:As a random aside, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is exceptional. If you're waffling about seeing it in theaters, you should absolutely see it in theaters. Do you have a recommendation for a theater that shows it while serving waffles?
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May 11, 2017 01:11
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Zaodai posted:Do you have a recommendation for a theater that shows it while serving waffles? Here you go: http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2017/04/10/chicken-and-waffles-at-the-movies-amc-to-upgrade.html
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May 11, 2017 01:25
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Zaodai posted:Do you have a recommendation for a theater that shows it while serving waffles? If you live in a Texas city there is always Alamo Drafthouse, Studio Movie Grill, or Star Cinema Grill.
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May 11, 2017 03:51
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Zaodai posted:Do you have a recommendation for a theater that shows it while serving waffles? Cinetopia of you're near Portland (or Kansas City, I guess).
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May 11, 2017 05:21
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Cascade Jones posted:Cinetopia of you're near Portland. Current interstellar headquarters of Defiance Industries, so I can say this is accurate. McMenamins theaters are also an option, and more reasonably priced.
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May 11, 2017 05:32
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Yeah my blackjack already lost half its armor, this is going to be brutal and quick. Do you guys think I should keep fishing for crits with my shadow hawk? It's got 2 medium and 1 long range damage, I could keep at range or move it up a little and do slightly more damage but not roll for crits. Probably going to jump my blackjack to 1028 and hope to do something with it.
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May 11, 2017 06:10
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chutche2 posted:Do you guys think I should keep fishing for crits with my shadow hawk? It's got 2 medium and 1 long range damage, I could keep at range or move it up a little and do slightly more damage but not roll for crits. Marksman's a very situational ability. You're only likely to get crits if you're using it at short range or against targets that can't maneuver.
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May 11, 2017 10:13
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