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Metacampaign 2010: A Steel Battalion Scenario
Posts
1) Dropping all switches will break lock. The fact that this can be done repeatedly with no cooldown or effect on the VT's combat effectiveness was meant to be addressed in a patch that never showed up. Some less scrupulous pilots hacked controllers to toggle those in software a few times a second - essentially a "locking cloak". As it stands, this will never be fixed, and it's a pain to watch for in online play. As this was meant to be fixed and breaks a core game mechanic, I consider this behavior ban-able in any venue where I make the rules. I encourage you to take a similar stance in your online play.
2) The reticle will not identify a powered down VT as lockable (colloquially, "ambush mode"). While toggled off in such a fashion, the pilot has about 60 seconds of usable oxygen. They will not be lockable until the switches go back up.
3) For whatever reason, Free Mission does not identify legging in the after-action report. As such, there is no way for the capture mechanic to work in a metacampaign. Believe me, I wanted it to. In theory, the VT death animation sequence is custom for hull or leg death, but good luck building a mechanic based on "i got you!"
M
Note to self: Now that this has become public knowledge for the rookies here, be on guard for powered-down snipers...
Edit: By the way, I just got Xlink Kai installed, and got my Xbox hooked up to the router. Xlink isn't recognizing the Xbox. How do I resolve this? I'm reading through the FAQs, as well.
Edit#2: Nevermind. Looks like everything is set. I'm ready for some 1st Generation VT mayhem until my Action Replay arrives on my doorstep.
It seemed like I could maintain a lock behind an obstruction. Are there terrain or range modifiers that come into play with sustaining a lock?
I haven't tried dropping my switches, but I thought you'd lose your viewscreens and have to go through the powerup sequence again. Is that not the case?
You need line of sight to make a lock, but not to hold it. Doesn't make a ton of sense, but that's how they roll.
You do lose your supplemental displays while toggled off, but the main screen stays on. The reactor's still lit, etc.
I may be to blame for underrepresenting melee as well. I was hellbent on keeping the PRF at arm's distance
and I probably shuffled a lot of options away from the tried and true methods of the weekend. Save for a couple missions, everytime I planned an assault saw us completely routed.
Only when I absolutely knew the map did I feel confident in our advances.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
I noticed this in some of the engagements we did over the weekend. You certainly used the Artillery a lot. I remember this one match where HSD used a Sheepdog during an assault map where they had to take out the parked transport jets. We knew about the Sheepdog and were able to deploy a Rapier to take it out in short order. While I guarded the airport, I could see a lot of artillery explosions in the distance.
That was probably when I realized the HSD was using artillery way too much, and that they lacked the defensive or offensive equipment to really make a difference during that phase of the campaign.
I must've been a luck charm then, whenever I went out with you, there didn't seem to be too many issues.
Another thing I learned this weekend was I'm not really cut out for devising the strategies, but possibly reviewing and definitely execution.
It's a must for anyone who wants to tinker with different setups. I found an awesomely multi-role setup for the Prominence M3: Main Weapon, 355-SB; Sub-weapon: RAIL-A, MM, and 305-HW. No fuel cells. This results in a STD-OVER weight limit, but still pilotable. This setup is capable of handling artillery, sniping, and mid-range combat.
Gonna tinker with it some more while I wait for someone to randomly appear in the SB room in Xlink Kai. I'm still unfamiliar with the multiplayer system here. :P
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
I would have loved to have everyone switch sides for a second run at the campaign...
PRF lacked sizable amounts of artillery and sniper rifles. I dont think anything other than the scareface and regal dress n *have* snipers, and the decider volcanic was a joke. Two hits with a 370-sr popped the torso off.
I did notice when the PRF turtled, they sent out patrols, which felt equivalent to a free kill. Once the point lead was back in our control, our snipers fell back to ambush positions over bases until they killed one or two prominences. then fell back further if necessary to tighten up defense.
that said, once they got in your grill with the railgun and dp missiles, it makes sniping a bit tougher. and our later artillery units had nothing to keep enemies away inside 800m. I told our behemoth pilots to just juke and jive and fight as hard as they could to survive until sniper rounds landed on their aggressor.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
PRF's primary differential capability is their ability to close fast and hit hard. If you're not exercising it, you're nullifying the good aspects of most of their VTs. Supplemental, stationary VTs are artillery and sniper food.
This isn't to say "PRF should always charge" - assaulting a planned position is a sortie point trap - but it's a good reminder to stay mobile.
Many of the original campaign strategy planks no longer apply today, as 3v3 was the max ever on US connections. It's scary consider that I have likely planned, played, or observed more 5v5 matches than anyone else on the continent. Most of that knowledge was condensed into the strategy appendix of the campaign manual.
Sadly, it seems that only a few people ever bothered to read those things. I can still remember that one guy you almost throttled. "Every question you've asked in the past 24 hours is in that manual, read it."
The PRF also had consistent issues with talking really god damn loud. The HSD, conversely, picked up real quick on just how quietly they could talk and still have the mics register the voices, which gave them a bit of an advantage in raw intel, and the last thing you want to do is feed the HSD positioning intel. That's a one way trip to Howitzer Land.
I've been there - it rains all the time and everyone tips 10%.
I don't mind that people don't read the manual - it's hard to expect someone to read a manual at a video game show. I do mind being monopolized when 10 people are on deck to play a game.
As for player dedication, the available player base waxed and waned all weekend. PRF got in more supplemental training matches and showed up earlier in the day, HSD stayed later and was more flexible in its pilot rotation. PRF had exclusive JAR participation until Sunday, HSD had longer briefings.
You can slice it up a zillion ways - at the end of the day, we're all drinking soda we didn't pay for, and PRF has something to prove next year.
I noticed this as well, though we had a few people who were around on a regular basis, there was a level of communication that was lacking in comparison to the HSD.
This was probably why we had no clue about the Earthshaker in that last campaign match, even though it had been fielded previously.
Maybe that had to do with some misconceptions about my hearing loss, that talking louder would help me understand better. :P I did try to keep their voices down...
Maybe next year, we can actually put something more physical in between the two teams' control rooms like the adjustable walls we've got at the convention center. That'd actually work. Also, maybe having large whiteboards (with digital projections of the maps) to help write out the movement plans would be helpful too, since that would allow us to reduce our chatter and focus on key points instead of trying to constantly reiterate things verbally.
Walls weren't an option based on the space we had available to us.
I think we all saw aspects of the Factions ebb and flow, which was an interesting aspect of the campaign, I'm guessing that it was a little bit like this during the real online campaign. You could be waiting by the campaign desk and see a fresh batch of pilots come up to Mara for pilot cards and you could say to yourself, I wonder if in this batch of green pilots lies a pilot of natural skill that will propel out faction to victory?
And I think we can probably sit here all day and point out different aspects that influenced the campaign in negative and positive aspects, but it all came down to that last map. HSD pulled it out. Simple.
BUT, We all had an awesome time, and a lot of us learned a lot and got some pretty good experience out of the campaign. It would be interesting to me to participate/watch what ever the case maybe, a campaign with set number of pilots for each faction say 7 to 10 player teams, I think this would make a big difference to both factions. Having a pilot next to you that you know as a decent understanding of strategy, VT loadouts/capabilities, and stick time would be awesome. I understand that was not the nature or purpose of the Meta campaign at PAX, but something I would be interested in participating in!
We had fun, and the Metacampaign hopefully encouraged some fresh pilots to take up the sticks and keep SB alive!
I do have to say hearing the "potato salad" charge up and seeing the distortion on the screen from the emp waves is unsettling, very unsettling, but if there is no challenge, there is no reason to play!
I knew they had an Earthshaker a couple minutes in to the last match and I told the team via com, you just couldn't hear it, not a big deal. HSD simply executed a great strategy at the end that they should be praised for, just learn from the situation. Earthshaker does not equal win. Not for me, and it shouldn't for you! (ps that is not a stab at you, i know it may seem so via the inter-webs, I just want you to have confidence as a pilot)
I just want to get the better of that Garpike next time. :P
Bring it! 8-)
I was thinking that if I got another crack at a campaign, it would be worth trying PRF instead. I think I honestly prefer the HSD underdogs and all their fiddly bits that keep you from jetting out onto the field, guns ablaze, but I'd like to try running counter to a ranged enemy. Or, better still, putting some HSD hardware to work for the PRF.
Why can't the PRF mount marker launchers, anyway?
EDIT: Matev needs to lern to loc.net!
I found it odd that the HSD had some PRF hardware rather easily for some reason, but the PRF couldn't seem to get their hands on HSD hardware. This is another example of poor team cohesion. :P
Or something.
I have a question about the Macabre, how is the shield binder used as a melee attack? Is it a ramming motion, or does the shield come around and perform a claw/pinching action?
It appears to be a ram attack, like other melee weapons, according the intel I dug up.
And I ended up blowing all of that Jaralaccs hardware to kingdom come, Mara, because of my own incompetence with indoor maps. :P In retrospect, I feel I would have done better with the Prominence M3s since the two encounters I had started at long range.
Granted, the hardware in the hands of the HSD may have been given to them by people who opted out of the campaign on the first day.
Would the shield binder be useful in a "breach the walls" scenario like we had in the last campaign match, using the Macabre as a means to deflect incoming rounds and provide attackers with cover?
This was an idea I had been rattling around in my head during the planning phase, but I wasn't sure if any of the VTs had a direct means of deflecting incoming attack like that.
Where did we snag PRF hardware? I know we had a large stockpile of RB and a splash of Jaralacc tanks, but in the strategy sessions I was involved with, we opted not trade to the other faction so we could retain our specific advantage of distance.
Siegzugs, but otherwise none that I know of.
There's evidence that the binder also prevents auto-knockdown when on the receiving end of a frontal melee attack, though it does not reduce damage as some believe. It didn't come up again, so we didn't get a chance to isolate it as a factor.
Am I correct in understanding that the binder must first be deployed to preform the melee attack? Or does the binder deploy as part of the "charging" melee motion?
In the glory days of online campaign play how common was a macabre?
I guess I need to do my VT unlock tonight to get some stick time on this bad boy!
1) No. If you see the bloom before deploying, it's time to get out of the way.
2) Yes. If it's not out, whatever sub weapon is active fires.
3) Extremely rare. Less than 100 estimated issued, ever.
I don't think it was a trade. I saw some HSD rookies with blue cards, which told me they had received them from PRF pilots. I saw them on the first and second day of PAX. It wasn't significant enough to impact the HSD's position at the time though.
I'm still waiting for my package with the Action Replay.
Edit: And maradine gets the answer done. :P
During campaign did you ever get to field a macabre?
It is also exciting to know out of the some 400 garpikes issued for campaign you were issued the AlphaPike!
One thing I did not get to see during the Metacampaign was any use of the flame thrower or napalm, how effective are they, also what is your preferred Garpike loadout?
P.S. Sorry for all the questions, I have some down time today as I wait for this video to render!
What did you expect? I ain't Quartermaster 'cuz I look good in a blue shirt.
I didn't go JAR like a lot of the HSD Pilots did in Turn 5, so I never got the chance to field one in a campaign match. I got a touch on one later, so I had plenty of fun in Free Mission with them. Macabres were frequently banned from generation 2 matches, but that didn't stop people from trying.
Napalm's really neat - it's like a short range incendiary mortar with a nice blast radius. It's great for winning the cockpit-workload war, especially against newer pilots. It's not a DPS king by any stretch of the imagination, but a pilot with one hand on the extinguisher button isn't doing something else important. The flamer is laughably close range - if you're close enough to use it, you really should have the needles out.
My 'pike loadout is unpopular - I opt for a 140-MG/135-MG main/sub combo. The 270-AR is obviously a bigger punch, but two self-loading weapons allows you to just pinch the controller and concentrate on dodging, confident the enemy will be dead in 30 seconds or less regardless of evasive maneuvers. I'm a queen bitch in a Garpike.
No worries, man - most of my team's on vacation so I have little immediate draw on my attention today.
You're the quartermaster because you're among the best, obviously.
Seriously, I have to wonder about your Garpike loadout, though when I think about it, it does make a lot of sense to have two 120mm+ sized guns as your main and sub at the same time...you're not restricted to firing one weapon at a time. So what you're putting out is essentially equal to a 320-sb.
We had some PRF artillery pilots (one even got qualified as such!) looking to move up from the Volcano, creating several interfaction trading conversations throughout the weekend, but I don't believe a trade actually materialized. Perhaps a suitable deal could not be reached? There was a bit of natural tension against dulling the tactical edge each faction possesses for certain strategies and maps. In retrospect, I don't believe the HSD ever got their hands on a PRF rail platform and in turn, we never picked up their superior ranged firepower options.
As for marker launchers, PRF did have a variety of RB hardware in hand but marking is (in my experience) just more useful for supporting the indirect weaponry PRF doesn't use as much of. Sometimes it's nice to mark a target when dueling inside a city, promoting easy flanking by teammates, but then you're potentially trading that feature for raw close range power in the late game.