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Looking over the map, it should be pretty easy for X2, X7, and X9 to get to the dropship without getting murdered. X7 and X9 can circle around that structure pretty easily and stay out of LOS long enough to make it to the dropship, and X2 is the Exterminator IIC, which so far has proven to be a dodgey little bitch, plus he's also close enough to get into cover after a round of maneuvering. X11 and the two Hell's Horses 'mechs on the other hand have a harder time. X11 is only a 4/6, so he can't really get into cover fast enough, while the two Hell's Horses 'mechs have nothing to break LOS with the three Assaults, meaning they're just going to have to use what limited cover they have left to try and get close to their own dropship and then just rush it. I mean, the HH 'mechs could circle left and board the DC's dropship, but that would be kinda stupid, because that'd be like walking right up to the Death commandos and asking for them to shoot you in the head and steal your 'mechs as soon as you walked up the ramp. Also, as a side note, if X2 does manage to board the Dropship and escape, that means House Laio will have a prime example of Clantech Pulse Lasers, LRMs, TAG, and the ECM Suite. I imagine the latter two techs would be of supreme usefulness for them to reverse engineer, given that Laio traditionally has always used Stealth and Artillery as part of their military doctrine. Sadly, since there's no techspec sheet of the IIC available, I can't tell whether the IIC has Endo Steel/XL Engines/Ferro Fibrous, but those are also possible techs that could be on the design, and thus could potentially be reverse engineered by the Capellans. Come to think of it, has any other House succeeded in salvaging Clan 'tech? Well, besides House Davion and the Kestrals, because I'm pretty sure they could at least salvage a few bits and pieces off the fallen 'mechs while they're busy trying to tape together enough of what's left of their broken Battalion to field a lance. Rorahusky fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Apr 4, 2013 |
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Apr 4, 2013 22:29
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Rorahusky posted:I mean, the HH 'mechs could circle left and board the DC's dropship, but that would be kinda stupid, because that'd be like walking right up to the Death commandos and asking for them to shoot you in the head and steal your 'mechs as soon as you walked up the ramp. Or, more likely, to forfeit the bet and be taken as bondsmen. If anyone's going to get executed after this, it's probably the DCs themselves, on the orders of the Chancellor. Because.
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Apr 4, 2013 22:34
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She's not that bad! Probably. Edit: Welp, that was only a matter of time. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Apr 4, 2013 |
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Apr 4, 2013 22:39
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PoptartsNinja posted:Edit: Welp, that was only a matter of time. Oh dear. 
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Apr 4, 2013 22:49
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Defiance Industries posted:Okay, then it's just Diamond Sharks who actually do it? Looking at the field manual, it says the Sharks allow warriors to temporarily retire to a lower caste as a reservist(something something heigra mumble), and as along as they pass an annual trial of position they can come back or be called up without too much fuss. If you're too old for this violently robutting poo poo elsewhere you're pretty boned and will probably get the old Soviet two men/one gun treatment or off yourself.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:10
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T.G. Xarbala posted:If anyone's going to get executed after this, it's probably the DCs themselves, on the orders of the Chancellor. Because. PoptartsNinja posted:She's not that bad! Yeah, clearly its Justin who's going to have them killed, since we know he is that bad.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:11
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jng2058 posted:Yeah, clearly its Justin who's going to have them killed, since we know he is that bad. Justin is a chill dude. Also a very deeply embedded Davion spy. He will just send everything and everyone to New Avalon. All roads lead to smug Hanse.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:20
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Breakout: Tactical Update 29 Combat Phase H2 Cougar D - Fires Large Pulse Laser at S3 Awesome (3 base + 4 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse = 9): rolled 5, miss! - Gains 23 heat, sinks 25! X2 Exterminator - Fires Medium Pulse Laser at S3 Awesome (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse = 7): rolled 10, hit Head (2/9 armor remains)! Pilot hit! - Fires Medium Pulse Laser at S3 Awesome (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse = 7): rolled 4, miss! - Fires Medium Pulse Laser at S3 Awesome (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse = 7): rolled 5, miss! - Fires Medium Pulse Laser at S3 Awesome (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse = 7): rolled 3, miss! - Gains 22 heat, sinks 26! X7 Vindicator - Holds fire! - Gains 4 heat, sinks 24! X9 Cyclops IIC - Holds fire! - Gains 15 heat, sinks 30! X11 Merlin - Fires LRM-5 at S3 Awesome (no line of sight to target)! - Gains 2 heat, sinks 27! H6 Gargoyle Tjris - Activates EI Implants! - Fires Heavy Large Laser at S3 Awesome (1 base + 4 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 heavy - 1 targeting computer - 1 EI Implants = 8): rolled 10, hit Right Leg (15/33 armor remains)! - Gains 1 heat, sinks 36! S1 Mackie - Fires Heavy PPC at H6 Gargoyle (2 base + 4 range + 0 movement + 2 enemy movement + 1 smoke + 1 heavy = 10): rolled 12, hit Center Torso (0/25 structure remains)! `Mech destroyed! - Fires HVAC/10 (Acid) at H6 Gargoyle (2 base + 4 range + 0 movement + 2 enemy movement + 1 smoke = 9): rolled 5, miss! S2 Battlemaster - Holds fire! S3 Awesome - Fires PPC at X2 Exterminator IIC (2 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 1 partial cover + 2 smoke + 1 light woods = 12): rolled 4, miss! - Fires PPC at X2 Exterminator IIC (2 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 1 partial cover + 2 smoke + 1 light woods = 12): rolled 6, miss! - Fires PPC at X2 Exterminator IIC (2 base + 2 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement + 1 partial cover + 2 smoke + 1 light woods = 12): rolled 5, miss! End Phase: S3 Awesome - Must pass a 3+ consciousness test: rolled 8, succeeds! Fingers of agony clawed their way through Tjris Amirault’s brain as his Gargoyle’s automatic ejection system fired him up and away from its toppling corpse. He squeezed his eyes shut, squinting to focus his thoughts on a single point of light and fought the feedback-induced nausea still rattling around his skull. He retched as the seizures subsided, barely noticing that at some point his parachute had carried him back to solid ground. The heat of the distant fires created a fierce draft at ground level, sucking his parachute towards the raging inferno—and Tjris along with it. His right side still paralyzed like the victim of an intense stroke, Tjris fought more fiercely to free himself from his parachute than he ever had before. His fingers fumbled, numb and unresponsive, with his command chair’s safety straps. It twisted and fell over as he freed himself from it, then vanished into the cloud of angry red smoke. He paid it no more thought, rising to legs made wobbly and uncertain with agony. His right hand clutched at the hilt of his laser pistol, seizing with the ferocity of a man trying to tear the head from a venomous snake. Mad eyes swept the battlefield with a fury, and Tjris dropped to one knee again to steady himself as he lined up a pistol shot at the Awesome’s cockpit. At this range, it couldn’t hurt the massive `Mech. But it could distract the pilot. Mission Objectives: Secure the Dropships (incomplete) Hold off the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers (incomplete) Optional Defeat the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers’ 2nd Battalion (37/40) Death Commandos: Defeat more Kestrel Grenadiers than the Hell’s Horses (18) Hell’s Horses: Defeat more Kestrel Grenadiers than the Death Commandos (19)  Key: X2 Exterminator IIC, X7 Vindicator, X9 Cyclops IIC, X11 Merlin, H6 Gargoyle Tjris Enemy Movement Mods: S1 Mackie +0 S2 BattleMaster +0 S3 Awesome +1 Player `Mech Status  Enemy `Mech Status 
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Apr 4, 2013 23:24
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Mackie finally claims a victim. Many more to follow.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:27
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Is "distracted" going to be a status effect?
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Apr 4, 2013 23:27
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Well I think the primary win condition might have just went out the window.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:29
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PoptartsNinja posted:S1 Mackie I was expecting this to happen eventually. As it stands, the players don't have enough big guns left to realistically kill the last three command mechs. I'd make a beeline for the dropships and settle for the partial victory right now.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:29
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Yeah, the Goons are simply running out of offensive options. The only weapon they have left that can get range on the enemy assaults are the Large Pulse and a few scattered LRM-5s amongst the survivors. Everything else is short range only, and none of them are gonna survive more than a round in close quarters with three assault 'mechs. better to bail and try and save as much hardware as possible.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:37
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The Cyclops can still lay into the Battlemaster with its UAC/20. It's a long shot, but it might work, and having a big gun firing on them might distract the Mackie and Battlemaster for a round or two while everyone approaches the ships.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:40
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Nah, better to have both the Vindicator and the Cyclops circle around that structure west of them. the mere threat of coming around the corner and eating an UAC to the face should keep the Kestrals from circling around. That way both 'mechs can escape without having to needlessly throw one away. Sometimes the threat of violence is enough. I'm still worried about the Merlin though. The Exterminator is agile enough that it could make it to the dropship relatively undamaged if you play your cards right, but the Merlin is too slow and too far to make the trip without exposing itself to the Kestral's murderous firepower.
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Apr 4, 2013 23:46
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Well poo poo. Nice to see Tjris is still alive and angry, though we'll very sorely miss that firepower. I won't have much opportunity to backstab the Mackie now that we're running low on high-priority targets for them to take out. If the DCs can somehow scrape an Awesome and Battlemaster kill, then we get to bring an CER Small Laser to the CapCon. And also hopefully some cLPLs, if nobody gets a lucky shot on the Cougar. Unfortunately, Sage and I aren't in `Mechs we can afford to lose. Zikan and Farseli theoretically could try for kamikaze attacks on the Battlemaster or Awesome. Even if winning the bet just means getting a handful of extra tech pieces to bring home, the strategic gains could be worth it. Ideally, Farseli could survive the trip back to the dropship side and make his last stand on that Battlemaster. However, Farseli's in no position to attempt any silly moves on the Awesome. Farseli. EDIT: I've sent my orders in, following this week's quota of BOTHERING PTN WITH STUPID QUESTIONS. However thanks to one of them, I've got confirmation that there may be some benefit to trying to tilt at the Mackie Windmill, though whether or not we'll pursue it depends on how the next few turns go. Runa fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 00:30
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The HH Dropship is secured--there aren't enemy mechs within range. If you skirt around the DS dropship and draw S2 over, that'll secure the DC dropship. I don't know if that means GUNS GUNS GUNS on the remaining DS mechs--I doubt it--but it does take care of that. With the dropships secure, you can go for broke and try to take down the remaining mechs to get the secondary objective.
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Apr 5, 2013 00:53
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There's the oppertunity for all remaining forces to focus on the Awesome this round though with only the Awesome firing back, and that's an awesome with only five points left in the head. With a bit of luck the Awesome will be gone and it'll be a Battlemaster without armor and a Mackie against the remainder. Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 09:09 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 08:34
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Readingaccount posted:There's the oppertunity for all remaining forces to focus on the Awesome this round though with only the Awesome firing back, and that's an awesome with only five points left in the head. We're still pretty short on weapons that will take that head off with one shot, even with only 5 armor. I wouldn't count on that.
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Apr 5, 2013 08:50
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I mean it's got 2 armor and 3 structure left, it only adds a couple of MLases that might kill it, but I think it's worth it. Hell, the way Xarbala has been playing I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up alone against the Mackie, after the Battlemaster dies from being its unarmored center torso being cored or explodes from its open left torso, and wins.
Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 09:11 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 09:06
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With that info, I'm pretty sure you can work out what my next move is going to be. EDIT: Hah, me vs. Mackie would only work if I had one more person to back me up for a very specific reason. Otherwise I'm just going to bugger off and retreat with everyone else. I've only been keeping Steve alive and playing defensively to give myself a turn's buffer worth of armor to go for the really crazy ideas later. Hopefully I'll get that chance. Runa fucked around with this message at 09:11 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 09:09
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Hmmm, you have a run speed of 9 hexes, but need some armor... does it involve charging into someone? 
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Apr 5, 2013 09:14
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Readingaccount posted:Hmmm, you have a run speed of 9 hexes, but need some armor... does it involve charging into someone? When I get close enough to the Mackie? Yes. Definitely. This is only if he's the last one remaining and we have a reason to believe salvaging all of the tech on the field outweighs the potential loss of a pilot and his `Mech. However, Steve's ride just doesn't have the damage output to reasonably dent the Mackie on his own and the Mackie has enough firepower to chew him up the instant I try for it. However, if we can flank him (which the Cougar could conceivably do safely, from a distance, at threat from only one or maybe two of the Mackie's weapons), then we can wear down his rear armor. He's got a lot of it, definitely, and he's not actually helpless if we try for it. But its our only real chance to bring him down, though this could well cost us dearly if we try. It's a matter of weighing the value of bringing the Clantech we have intact vs. the value of all the salvage, including the HPPC and Ventilators, and the possibility of losing a Clantech machine without getting a chance to salvage its remains. Circling the Mackie and trying for rear torso hits is going to make for a really, really risky rodeo. And Steve will probably die, as he'll be tanking the hits in this situation. Even if not, he won't last too long without others to also get shots in. But if we lost a MAD to a bullshit buttshot, hopefully some of that karma ought to come back around to our side. None of this matters unless we can take out the Awesome and Battlemaster without the Exterminator losing a weapon, though. And if DCs nab those kills and win the bet, then that's enough of a strategic win for me.
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Apr 5, 2013 09:26
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Readingaccount posted:I mean it's got 2 armor and 3 structure left, it only adds a couple of MLases that might kill it, but I think it's worth it. Hell, the way Xarbala has been playing I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up alone against the Mackie, after the Battlemaster dies from being its unarmored center torso being cored or explodes from its open left torso, and wins. Oh, yeah, that's actually way different. For some reason I read that as five armor, which ruled out a ton of stuff.
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Apr 5, 2013 09:41
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Awesome is very vulnerable to a suicide vindicator.
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Apr 5, 2013 13:35
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It's time for you guys to give it up already and leg it. You arn't going to win at this point.
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Apr 5, 2013 13:43
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They still can, but it's definitely gone from "if they play smart" to "if they get really lucky." The players have been doing really well though, I've been trying to kill that Merlin since about turn six! 
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Apr 5, 2013 13:48
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PoptartsNinja posted:"if they get really lucky." This is Battletech, someone is always lucky, it's just probable that it isn't you. 
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Apr 5, 2013 14:49
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Shame about the Star Colonel, but it was inevitable due to the state of his mech. I very much doubt that the remains of GoonStarCompany are going to pull this off now, legging it to the dropships while trading some potshots with the remains of the Command Lance is probably the best idea. You might be able to bag the Awesome with a lucky shot, especially after the headshot it took earlier this turn, but you guys would need to be extremely lucky for that to happen.
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Apr 6, 2013 00:24
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Out of curiousity, I decided to pick up and read through The War of Reaving sourcebook, after after reading 130+ pages involving the abuse of the words 'trial of annihilation', 'reaving', and 'dezgra', I came across this refreshing little statement. 'After a brutal four hours, a wounded Loremaster Kael Pershaw and several Elementals finally penetrated Etienne’s inner sanctum and, upon visually confirming the traitor’s presence, shot the scientist in the face.' Nice to know that even in a society as hosed up as the Clans, there at least one person who subscribes to a good, old fashion perscription of 
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Apr 6, 2013 02:27
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Rorahusky posted:Nice to know that even in a society as hosed up as the Clans, there at least one person who subscribes to a good, old fashion perscription of The clans are known to do this to anyone who says something particularly stupid or incriminating during council as well. It's not exactly an uncommon phenomenon.
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Apr 6, 2013 02:33
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Yes, but that's Kael Pershaw. The Best Jade Falcon.
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Apr 6, 2013 02:33
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PTN it is still in the "If they play really well" Ballpark. 
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Apr 6, 2013 04:18
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AtomikKrab posted:PTN it is still in the "If they play really well" Ballpark. 
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Apr 6, 2013 07:27
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Yes if they play absolutely good they should be fine 
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Apr 6, 2013 07:28
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I'd say Goonlancestar needs a moderate, not great, amount of luck. This round all guns can be focused on the Awesome, and though killing the Vindicator and Cyclops will be easier for the rest of our mechs the enemy will pretty much always need 9-12 to hit the Exterminator, Merlin and Cougar, and likely also have to deal with protection from leg hits. At any rate I'm sure Storm Lance will never abandon the Capcon dropship, since someone has already made it onto the HH one. Talyn can probably get away, but even if there's only 1 enemy left it'll probably choose the dropship noone's entered yet. Hmm... what about a DFA, Xarbala? I don't know what amount of damage it would do and the percentages for the various hit locations, but just guessing if it's for example 10 damage clusters of 5 with a double chance of a head-hit (5.55%) then there's a cumulative 43.5% chance of one or more head-hits (just putting down 43.5%, since the average 55,5% would include wasted hits). Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 08:10 on Apr 6, 2013 |
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Apr 6, 2013 07:55
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a DFA does what... 30% of the mechs weight in damage on a hit? The Big thing is it does it in 5 point clusters on the punch table.
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Apr 6, 2013 08:12
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Yes, now people are starting to see what I saw. Chugs also noticed it too when he realized the Awesome had five points of total hp left in the head, not armor hp. Readingaccount posted:Hmm... what about a DFA, Xarbala? I don't know what amount of damage it would do and the percentages for the various hit locations, but if it's for example 10 damage clusters of 5 with a double chance of a head-hit (5.55%) then there's a cumulative 43.5% chance of a head-hit. It's somewhat better than that. If I were shooting, each hit would only hit the head on a very specific doubles roll on a 2d6, which you can tell is a pretty naff chance to hit, and it's a spot of luck that it happened even once. Now. It's a flat 1 out of 6 chance to hit the head with each damage cluster, in 5-pt. clusters. The Exterminator IIC would, on a successful DFA, deal 20 damage (3*tonnage/10, rounding fractions up), meaning four chances of 5 pts. each to hit the HD on a flat 1d6 roll. If a single one of the 5-pters hits the head, the Awesome is dead. In the Extusie, Steve has a piloting score of 2, the Awesome's piloting score is 3, so that gives Steve a -1 TH bonus to help offset the inherent difficulty of the maneuver (jumping inherently gives a pretty steep penalty to all attacks, ranged or physical). A DFA is not quite a Hail Mary play but it sure as hell ain't a sure thing. However, it's the only option we have of reasonably taking out the Awesome in the next turn, and it's the reason I've been slightly more optimistic this turn than everyone thinks I probably should be. I'll probably take an HPPC to a naughty bit, but so long as it isn't the face it should be okay. I was okay with letting this be a surprise if nobody figured it out in thread, but all the old hands could tell what I was going to do anyway. I'd sent the order to DFA the Awesome mere hours after the last update was posted, delayed only by my asking questions about salvage and a very, very stupid jump jet question that he'd actually answered a long time ago.
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Apr 6, 2013 08:37
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I was like 50/50 on you trying a DFA or just opening up with all your medium lasers now that all of them will kill the Awesome on a headshot.
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Apr 6, 2013 09:06
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Defiance Industries posted:I was like 50/50 on you trying a DFA or just opening up with all your medium lasers now that all of them will kill the Awesome on a headshot. If Farseli steals my kill, I swear to god Just kidding. Waffle probably will.
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Apr 6, 2013 09:11
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